Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Review: The Bones of Paris

The Bones of Paris
By Laurie R King
Bantam September 2013
432 pages
Won from Olduvai Reads

The Bones of Paris (Harris Stuyvesant, #2)

Harris Stuyvesant is hired to track down a missing girl in 1932 Paris. Philippa Crosby is a beautiful American woman who spent her days among artists and actors. As Stuyvesant investigates her disappearance, he discovers the dark side of the art world - the macabre theatre of The Grand Guignol and artists who create their pieces from bones. Which of them knows what happened to Pip? 

Historical characters play large and small roles in this novel. We meet Man Ray, Cole Porter, Sylvia Beach, and Ernest Hemingway on the street corner and sitting nearby in the bar. King does a wonderful job of placing these characters into the fabric of the story without stopping the plot to say, "Oh look! Here is a famous writer/artist/socialite. Wasn't Paris fantastic?" 

The Bones of Paris is very dark. At its surface, this is a story of women who disappear without a trace and men who murder without remorse. But more than that, it's about the line between entertainment and perversion when it comes to both sex and violence. The book is pervasively and consistently dark and heavy. The first World War is over and people are living with that pain and grief. They look for ways to deal with the horrors that they have experienced, but they don't know how to process what they have seen and done. This would be a great book to read in the fall when you are craving a dark story for Halloween It has lots of mystery, violence, and even a few visits to the catacombs. 

This is the second book in a series. I haven't read the first book and I didn't feel confused by the characters or the events. That being said, I felt some distance from the characters. Stuyvesant feels like that typical cop character - he is a loner and he looks for solace from a good drink or a night with a woman. But I missed that feeling of fear and hope for the characters you really adore. Perhaps readers who have also read Touchstone will relate better to these characters, but it's worth your time for a truly atmospheric story. 

Sunday, December 29, 2013

It's Monday and I'm back!


Hello, my reading friends. I hope you had a very merry Christmas! We have had a nice few days here - we had our church service on Christmas Eve, dinner at our house on Christmas day, dinner on Friday night with extended family who were visiting from out of town, and a Christmas celebration with my husband's side of the family. We are a tired bunch and the kids are appropriately spoiled.

I have been on a crazy reading spree these past few days. I set a goal to read 110 books this year and I'm only one book away now. Hooray!


Read This Week:
Rise and Shine
Rise and Shine
By Anna Quindlen

The Last Camellia
The Last Camellia
By Sarah Jio

When God Was a Rabbit
When God Was a Rabbit
By Sarah Winman


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Merry Christmas!


Still Reading:
Pinkerton's Great Detective: The Amazing Life and Times of James McParland
Pinkerton's Great Detective
By Beau Riffenburgh


Up Next:
Hild
Hild
By Nicola Griffith

The Arabian Nights
The Arabian Nights


What are you reading during this last week of 2013?

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

We are thankful for each one of you who visits us here at Literary Lindsey and chats with us about books.

May your Christmas be full of delicious food, new books, laughter and love.



Merry Christmas from us to you!




Sunday, December 22, 2013

It's Monday and Christmastime is here!


People, I have clearly not thought this thing out. I have five books to read before the end of the year. Obviously this would be the time that I would embark upon reading several books that have more than 400 pages. Le sigh.

I'm off to do Christmas type things with my handsome hubby and those two cutie kids of mine. I shall return after Christmas at some point to be determined. I will definitely be back in January with a bunch of reviews and my favorite books of the year. Enjoy some eggnog and cookies and I hope you find a large stack of books under your tree!


Read this Past Week:
The Bones of Paris (Harris Stuyvesant, #2)
The Bones of Paris
By Laurie R. King


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Reviews of Palisades ParkGod Is Able, and Bumped


Reading Now:
Pinkerton's Great Detective: The Amazing Life and Times of James McParland
Pinkerton's Great Detective
By Beau Riffenburgh

Rise and Shine
Rise and Shine
By Anna Quindlen


Up Next:
Hild
Hild
By Nicola Griffith


What are you reading this week?

Friday, December 20, 2013

Review: Bumped

Bumped
By Megan McCafferty
Balzer and Bray April 2011
323 pages
From the library

Bumped (Bumped, #1)

Melody and Harmony are identical twins, but they have never met. As infants, they were given away to two very different adoptive families - Melody is placed with parents who do everything in their power to ensure their daughter succeeds and Harmony becomes a member of a devout religious order known as Goodside. When Harmony discovers that she has a twin sister, she leaves the only home she has ever known to find the sister she desperately wants to know. The girls live in a future where women over 18 are barren and teen girls became famous for their ability to "preg for profit" and give children to the most wealthy and famous individuals. Melody is on her way to become one of the most famous surrogates, but Harmony believes that having a child for money is a sin. Their clashing beliefs and choices will change their lives forever.

I had a very hard time relating to either Melody or Harmony. It seems satirical, but it felt as if Ms. McCafferty took the most extreme versions of obnoxious teen and obnoxious religious zealot and tried to make characters out of them. It drives the reader a little crazy, especially when nothing happens in the first few pages except for a ridiculous trip to the mall where teenager girls are, of course, obsessed with boys, shopping, and social media.

However, after a slow start, the writing does carry these caricatures through a pretty interesting story. The concept of teens having babies in order to sell them and secure their future seems simultaneously horrifying and not that far from our current reality. Teens have lots of sex and then broker a deal with adoptive parents so the teens can go to college or buy their first apartment. Beautiful and intelligent teens are represented by talent agents who will find the perfect partner to make the most appealing infant. Popular music encourages teens to "bump" and stores sell prosthetic baby bumps. McCafferty succeeds at creating a very fascinating (and terrifying) world and carrying her readers through it with aplomb.

But I still missed something with the characters. I get the satire of it all, but it makes the girls hard to connect with and I didn't understand how they came to make their decisions. Through the events of this book and their new relationship, both Melody and Harmony come to rethink their beliefs about family, love, sex, and "pregging." I missed the moment that made them change beliefs that they had held for their whole lives.

Bumped is an interesting concept well-executed by a talented writer. But the danger with satire is that we lose empathy for and connection with the characters. I wanted more from Melody and Harmony and I'm not convinced that I will be picking up the sequel. 

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Review: God Is Able

God Is Able
By Priscilla Shirer
B & H Books October 2013
157 pages
Received for Review from Publicist

God is Able

Everyone has a thing - that one thing that you think cannot be changed or fixed. There's a fear or a broken relationship or a problem that is so big that it seems insurmountable. In her book God Is Able, Priscilla Shirer reminds us that nothing is impossible with God, not even that one thing you think cannot be fixed. She takes just two verses - Ephesians 3:20 and 21 and revolutionizes the way you see God's power and the possibilities of your relationship with Him.

There are an awful lot of inspirational books that help you to closely study portions of the Bible. In my experience, some of them are good. Some of them are pretty bad. It's a very difficult thing to balance deep analysis of Scripture and a conversational tone. I've read some books where the authors go so far out of their way to be friendly and accessible that their points get lost completely. I've read other books where the subject becomes very dry and boring because the personality of the author is completely missing from the pages. I am happy to report that this is not a problem in God Is Able. Ms. Shirer manages to strike a perfect balance. Reading her book means that you are learning, but it feels like learning from a close friend or beloved teacher instead of a boring lecturer. 

At first glance, it seems like 150 pages is a few pages too many for an author to indicate that God is capable of doing anything. But this book is the perfect length. The first chapter deals with only one word: now. The first thing we must realize as we gaze at our problems is that God can solve it in this moment - not down the road, not when some smaller problems have been dealt with, but right now. Then Shirer brings the reader's attention to one of our greatest follies as Christians. We believe that God can do miracles, but we are just not sure we are the people God will give them to. She points out that God loves us enough to give us big miracles and that He knows more than we do. He will give us not just what we think we need, but the things we never imagined we could have.

Ms. Shirer is a wonderful writer. She writes like the charming Southern lady that she is, peppering her points with "I'm telling ya" and "come on." Her Biblical study is right on point without giving away any of her delightful and friendly personality. God Is Able is a book for the new Christian who isn't sure of God's capabilities, the woman who can't seem to find joy in the minutiae of life, or the man who believes in a heavenly Father but doesn't believe that God will solve his problem.



To the ladies and gents of the FTC: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Review: Palisades Park

Palisades Park
By Alan Brennert
St. Martin's Press April 2013
416 pages
From the library

Palisades Park


Toni Stopka grows up in the shadow of Palisades Park. Her parents own a french fry stand, Toni learns to swim in the park pool, and their friends work at the boardwalk stands and rides. As they live through the turbulence of the mid 1900s, each member of the Stopka family dreams of finding success. Father Eddie thinks of opening a restaurant, mother Adele dreams of the thrill of applause, Toni wants to become a high diver, and her brother Jack pursues becoming an artist. Ambition and conflict drive the family apart, but can their beloved Palisades Park bring them back together?

Alan Brennert cuts through a wide swath of history with his novel Palisades Park. It opens with Eddie as a child in the early 1900s and follows the Stopka family for the next 70 years. The Great Depression threatens to cripple the Stopkas and the park and Eddie and Jack feel the call to serve their country during WWII and the Korean War, respectively. Adele and Toni face a rapidly changing world for women as the wars redefine their roles in the family and the workplace. 

While Toni is the main character of this novel, the focus is really Palisades Park itself. It almost becomes a character as we see it grow and change through the years. We learn about so many of the people who gave it life - the performers, the people who ran the food and game booths, and the owners. It becomes a home for the characters, just as it did for many people in real life. 

At times, though, it feels like the characters and their stories are serving the history that Brennert want to cover instead of the other way around. The author decides to utilize the civil rights movement as a plot point and, while it is certainly an important part of US history, it feels jarring to suddenly discover that members of the Stopka family have such passion for the cause when it has never been mentioned before. I would have rather spent some more time with Jack and Adele, the two members of the family who get the smallest number of pages. I would especially have liked to see some of Adele's journey as she strikes out on her own hoping to find success in show business after many years of being a committed wife and mother. 

Palisades Park is both a sweeping epic of American history and a microscopic look at one family and the park where so many people made memories. The Stopka family begins to feel like your family - you can't help but cheer as they go off on their own to achieve their dreams, but it doesn't feel quite right until they are all back together. This is a perfect book to read during a cold winter so you can dream about a perfect summer at the boardwalk. 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

It's Monday and December is in full crazy mode!


Hi there, my fellow book lovers. How are things in your corner of the universe?

I managed to read three books this week, which hasn't happened in a while. I think some of it had to do with the snow we have been getting - there is nothing like curling up with a cup of coffee and a book! We did manage to make a lovely snowman though and give Miss Becca Grace her first experience with snow.


How are you doing getting ready for Christmas? I'm...well, nowhere near done. I should probably go work on that right now (slinks off)....


Read This Week:
Palisades Park
Palisades Park
By Alan Brennert

God is Able
God Is Able
By Priscilla Shirer

Bumped (Bumped, #1)
Bumped 
By Megan McCafferty


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Wednesdays with David: Battle at Teth 
Reviews of Novel IdeasThis Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, and The Christmas Town


Reading Now:
The Bones of Paris (Harris Stuyvesant, #2)
The Bones of Paris
By Laurie R. King


Up Next:
Pinkerton's Great Detective: The Amazing Life and Times of James McParland
Pinkerton's Great Detective
By Beau Riffenburgh


What are you reading this week?

Friday, December 13, 2013

Review: Christmas Town

The Christmas Town
By Elyse Douglas
Broadback October 2013
246 pages
Sent for review

The Christmas Town

Megan Jennings and Jackie Young end up sharing the very last rental car when a snowstorm forces their plane to land in Montpelier. As they drive through the terrible weather, they pass over a covered bridge and are sent back in time to 1943. The women meet Jeff and Danny, two handsome soldiers about to head off to war. As Christmas approaches, can the girls return to their own time? Do they want to go home if it means leaving behind the men they love? 

When reading The Christmas Town, it is obvious that the authors (the husband and wife team that comprise Elyse Douglas) spent a great deal of time researching the World War II era. Specific products are placed throughout the story as we learn which foods were available during war time and which things were sold in stores during the 1940s.

However, I did have a couple of issues while reading this book. The first was that I never felt like the characters could be real people. Megan and Jackie appear to have completely flunked just about every grade from 6th through 12th, since neither of them had the slightest understanding of WWII. In fact, they had no idea when it started or ended or even which countries were involved. I also had several moments where one of the girls had a thought and I couldn't imagine any person actually thinking that thing in that specific moment.

The other problem with this story is that the authors seem to suffer from telling instead of showing. It feels clumsy when an author inserts a giant chunk of description of a character or a setting and really interrupts the story without making the descriptions particularly memorable. This would be a stronger book if we learned about the characters as we took in the story instead of occasionally reading half a page of description.

The Christmas Town might whet your desire for a Christmas themed story. It has plenty of snow and flirting and even features a sleigh ride. The characters feel unbelievable at times and the book is badly divided between description and story, but it would work as a light holiday romance. 

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Review: This is the Story Of A Happy Marriage

This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage
By Ann Patchett
Harper November 2013
320 pages
From the library  

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Ann Patchett is known as a novelist. Her books Bel Canto, Run, and State of Wonder are beloved by readers all over the world. But Patchett began her career as a magazine writer. She provided articles for publications like Seventeen and Atlantic Monthly on topics as diverse as traveling cross country in an RV to taking care of her elderly grandmother. While these selections may seem a random collection, they work together wonderfully and show readers a new side of Ms. Patchett's writing and her personal life. 

This collection was stunning. I am starting to believe that Patchett can write about anything. A part of her power as a writer comes from her gentle honesty. She is willing to write about some of the most painful and difficult periods of her time with kindness for herself and for the others in her life. While the subjects in the essays vary from her husband to an elderly nun to a dog, her compassion for each sheds light onto Ann Patchett as a person. 

While reading this book, I vacillated between wanting to hide away and read every single page and wanting to read each selection slowly, leaving time to really let Patchett's words sink in. There is a unique and wonderful feeling when you finish an article or short story and just feel satisfied as a reader. You feel as if there is no need to read another article or book because that one piece was just perfect. I felt this way at the end of each article and I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite because I enjoyed all of them.

One of my favorite passages is from her article about writing, but it is so relevant to everyday life. "Forgiveness. The ability to forgive oneself. Stop here for a few breaths and think about this because it is the key to making art, and very possibly the key to finding any semblance of happiness in life. Every time I have set out to translate the book (or story, or hopelessly long essay) that exists in such brilliant detail on the big screen of my limbic system onto a piece of paper (which, let's face it, was once a towering tree crowned with leaves and a home to birds), I grieve for my own lack of talent and intelligence. Every. Single. Time. Were I smarter, more gifted, I could pin down a closer facsimile of the wonders I see. I believe, more than anything, that this grief of constantly having to face down out own inadequacies is what keeps people from being writers. Forgiveness, therefore, is key. I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing. Again and again throughout the course of my life I will forgive myself."

This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage is one of my favorite books of the year. Non-fiction sometimes lives in the shadow of fiction, but Patchett writes as beautifully about the details of opening her bookstore or finding her beloved dog as she did about the lives and loves of the characters in her novels. By reading this book, I feel that I know Ann Patchett better, have new respect for her art, and found new inspiration for creating my own. This book is one you don't want to miss. 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Wednesdays with David: Battle At Teth

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Battle at Teth
Adapted by Kristen Mayer
Grosset and Dunlap 2008
32 pages
From the library 



The story: During the Clone Wars, Clone Captain Rex and Jedi Anakin Skywalker set off on a rescue mission to retrieve a baby Hutt from the droid army. They are greatly outnumbered and reinforcements are far away. Can they complete their mission?

Mama opines: To be honest, I have zero experience with The Clone Wars. I can talk to you all day about Star Wars or the Empire Strikes Back, but I have little interest in the newer stories. This story is directly adapted from the movie, so it will be familiar to any little ones who love the adventures of Anakin Skywalker as a young Jedi.

Thoughts from David: Battle At Teth was...well, the clone troopers were courageous. Their white belts were nice and white. I couldn't believe that there were so many spider droids, super battle droids, and battle droids! I couldn't really believe that there was so much battle fire that even Asajj Ventress was at that castle. Plus...I couldn't believe that there was a dark assistant here. Do you know what Anakin Skywalker, Clone Captain Rex, the other clone troopers, and Ahsoka Tano did? They used everything they had and boom! The battle droids, the super battle droids, and everything else of the bad guys were blown up!

Favorite part: When they destroyed the super battle droids at the top of the tower and the spider droids and battle droids at the bottom of the tower.


Happy Reading!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Review: Novel Ideas

Novel Ideas
By K.B. Dixon
Inkwater Press 2013
122 pages
Received from Author for Review

130614cover sm001

Author Stephen Styles has donated his personal papers to the University of Washington. Students studying library science compiled the papers into the book Novel Ideas. The slim volume holds his letters and emails to his friend and fellow writer Alan Dodd. Styles ponders the differences between writing fiction and nonfiction, updates Dodd on what is going on in his personal life, and muses about why one becomes a writer in the first place.

Novel Ideas would be a great read for someone who doesn't have many opportunities to sit and read for a long stretch. It is broken up into little snippets, so it would be easy to read a page or just a few paragraphs. The detriment of this, of course, is that it can sometimes feel like it lacks a real narrative structure. Characters are introduced and then forgotten just as quickly. Random thoughts are recorded and then left hanging. For example, "Have you ever wanted to drive a bulldozer? I have not. But, of course, now as I think about it...well..." And that's it. Bulldozers are given no more thought and there is no context in this book for discussing bulldozers in the first place. 

This book has a sort of dry humor to it and it certainly has some real insight into the life of an author. Finding inspiration and the will to continue writing are common problems and our protagonist observes them wryly and with hope that he will find a muse and eventually, success as a writer. This book is less a chance to get to know a character and follow a story than it is a look into the inner life of a writer. 


To the ladies and gents of the FTC: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

It's Monday and I have a six year old!



So, I have somehow come into possession of a six year old boy. I'm not sure where my five year old boy went, but now I have this very tall boy who seems to need new pants every few days or so. We celebrated this week with pancakes and a present on his actual birthday, a family party on Saturday, and a few friends over for cupcakes on Sunday. Yes, the daddy and I are quiet tired but we hope that the birthday boy had fun.

Bookwise, we are moving at the usual pace of two books a week. I've almost met my Goodreads goal of 110 books. Are you close to meeting your yearly goal?


Read This Week:
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage
By Ann Patchett

The Christmas Town
The Christmas Town
By Elyse Douglas


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
November Wrap-Up
Wednesdays with David: The Birthday Boy!
Review of The Facades 


Reading Now:
Palisades Park
Palisades Park
By Alan Brennert

Up Next:
God is Able
God Is Able
By Priscilla Shirer


What are you reading this week?

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Review: The Facades

The Facades
By Eric Lundgren
Overlook September 2013
215 pages
From the library

The Facades

Sven Norberg is stymied when his opera singer wife disappears without a trace. He wanders the streets of their Midwestern town looking for clues that will lead him to his wife. As he struggles to keep some sort of connection with his teenage son, he reaches out to Molly's voice teacher, a music critic who may be leaving him clues, and a policeman who has mysterious insight into the case. The Facades is a mystery and a perceptive look at the disconnect in families and communities.

This is a book that can be read on so many different levels. On the most basic, it is the story of Sven not knowing how, when, or why his relationships have fallen apart. His wife is just gone one day and he has no idea what happened to her or what has been going on in her life. It isn't until his wife vanishes that he seems to give any attention to his son Kyle. His effort are too little too late as he realizes that Molly was the only glue holding the family together. 

On a broader note, The Facades examines the difference between our perception and the reality of the places where we live. The city of Trude was once recognized as a pinnacle of culture, but it is now on the decline. While opera still thrives, particularly with the talent of Molly Norberg, the library has shut down and most social interaction seems to take place around the local mall. The dissonance between the architectural masterpieces and abandoned buildings covered with graffiti parallels the lives of its inhabitants as they excel in their tiny fishbowls while wishing to break out into the larger world.  

The world of Trude is close to the one you live in, but the differences are telling. Things feel just a bit off, as if you are in a dream instead of reading a book. The quick clues and allusions are reminiscent of Paul Auster, but with a liberal dash of humor. (Keep an eye out for red herrings....) This slight book is quirky and unexpected  - in Trude, as in life, nothing is as simple as it appears. 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Wednesdays with David: The Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to the little boy who makes me smile and cracks me up each and every day.

Happy Birthday to the little boy who is so much a baby and so much a big boy.

Happy Birthday to the boy who loves the bravado of Star Wars and the Transformers, but will run over in a second if his sister cries.

Happy Birthday to my fearless American Ninja Warrior, my brave Jedi, and my curious bookworm.

I love you.


                                           

                                                   


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

November Wrap-Up

It's here! It's December! It's time to run around like a crazy person. Or not...I really hope not. The December calendar definitely looks packed, but that is what happens when your husband is a pastor, you work in church music, and your little boy has a December birthday. Ok, everyone stop for a moment and take a deep breath. We shall all get through December. I promise. 

Bookwise, November was an ok month. There were a few duds and then a few books I carried around with me, hoping to find a few spare seconds to read just one more page. 

Books reviewed in November: 10
Pages Read: 3,415
Fiction/Non-fiction: 9/1
Female authors/male authors: 6/4
My books/library books: 3/7
Lindsey's favorite books in November: The Returned 


Books Reviewed with David: 4 
David's favorite book in November: Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia 


What was the best book you read in the month of November?

Happy December from the cutest of little readers!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

It's Monday and it's been a long week...


Hello everyone! I hope your Thanksgivinga and Hanukkahs were wonderful. We had a good time here celebrating Thanksgiving with some family and then rounding out the weekend with a visit to the other side of the family, some Christmas decorating, and celebrating with my parents as they renewed their vows after 30 years of marriage. We have also lost two teeth this week (David) and discovered a serious passion for cranberry sauce (Becca Grace).


Read This Week:
The Facades
The Facades
By Eric Lundgren

Novel Ideas
Novel Ideas
By K.B. Dixon


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Wednesday with David: Weird But True! 
Reviews of Songs of Willow Frost and The Sweetest Hallelujah


Reading Now:
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage
By Ann Patchett

Up Next:
The Christmas Town
The Christmas Town 
By Elyse Douglas

What are you reading this week?