Review : The Cruelest Month

Author: Louise Penny
Format: audio book 11.7 hours, 416 pages
Characters: Inspector Armand Gamache,
Subject: murder in a small town
Setting: fictional village of Three Pines, Quebec
Series: Chief Inspector Gamage
Genre: mystery, police detective
Source: public library audio b
Challenge: Support Your Local Library, Thrillers and Suspense

This not the final book in Louise Penny's wonderful Chief Inspector Gamage series, but it is the final one for me to read to be caught up.  While they are understandable on their own, given the choice, I would have preferred to read them in order.  In fact, that is one of my goals for later this year or next year, to read them back to back in order...hopefully before her next book BURY YOUR DEAD comes out later this year.

Of course, reading this one, now the fifth I done, I still put the book down and long to go and live in Three Pines.  But I ask myself why?  Why on earth would I want to live in a town where there are so many murders?  Where old women roam the street talking to ducks?  Where secrets seem to be hidden in every crack of every ancient building? 

Well.....because.....

Because all of these people seem to care. They care about the earth, the animals, themselves, their lovers, their neighbors, and most of all they care about their village--its history, its current state and its future. Who wouldn't want to be part of this? And who wouldn't want to stop by Olivier and Gabri's bistro every evening for a glass of wine, a poetry reading, a book discussion, or simply to watch the sunset, or the rain fall?

These are genuinely gorgeous books. They soak us in the warmth of this village. We know these people. They're our friends now, and we want them not to have to endure any more sorrow. But we know that life deals out sorrow with happiness and that's why we keep returning. They're real to us. And we want to be part of it. Penny's ability to write clear prose exploring human emotions and darkly buried secrets and terrors is special. She is in a league with Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and Donna Leon.

If you haven't read her, be sure to get these so you can be caught up when the 6th on comes out in the fall.The first in the series is STILL LIFE and it's every bit as good as this one.

"You may go now...I have wine and scotch and all the books I could want to read."-- I have to go back and double check which character said this, but I loved this quote. Whoever it was was sitting in the bistro by the fire...

Review: Shot to Death

Author: Stephen D. Rogers
Format: 257 pgs
Subject: crime
Setting: various
Genre: short stories
Source: ARC from author
Challenge: ARCs completed

This is a delightful collection of short (3-8 page) stories. While the title and cover would leave one to believe they all have a murder (or at least a death by gun) as a central motif. Actually, they are much broader in their scope, their actions, their plots, and their resolutions.

The author suggests that this is not a book to be read straight through. Rather, each story stands alone and can (and should) be read separately. This is exactly how I read it. It is a perfect book to pick up when you have only 5-10 minutes to read. Each story is robust enough that it could be expanded into a decent novella, if not full length novel or mystery story. Each leaves the reader pondering what just happened and what might happen if there were 20-100 more pages. For example, there is the story where a woman is trying to hire a hit man.  We never know who she wants to kill, or why, and we are left wondering what would have happened next if the story had continued.

It would be an especially good book to leave on the nightstand of the guest room. Perfect for sleepy guests who just want a little something to read, and much classier than a magazine or guide book.

Thanks to Stephen Rogers for the opportunity to get an early look by providing a review copy.

Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Format: 14 hrs audio, 400 pages equivalent
Subject: local organic farming
Setting: rural western Virginia
Genre: memoir
Source: Overdrive audio download from public library
Challenge: Support your local library, Audio Books

One of the few "year of this and that" books I really enjoyed. Kingsolver's family decides to live off the local area for all food for a year. They raise turkeys/chickens, bake bread, grow vegetables and fruit and gather anything they don't produce from local farmers markets and sources no more than 100 miles away.

They agonize over buying some items not locally produced - coffee, olive oil, flour, spices.  They debate whether to take a vacation when crops must be tended and chickens fed and watered.  The text is actually written not only by Kingsolver, but by her husband Stephen Hopp who gives us short 'articles' full of statistics and facts about the entire industrial agriculture empire in the world, and by her daughter  Camille, who left in the middle of this year of eating locally to attend college and try to implement the lifestyle on campus.  Her essays on various recipes and nutrition add quite a bit to the story.

The audio was read by the author, and I was engaged from the beginning. By the end, when we get quite a detailed lesson in the sex life of turkeys, I was rolling on the floor laughing, but came away with great admiration for this dedicated and loving family.

Mailbox Monday

It's Mailbox Monday, the wonderful meme sponsored by Marcia at The Printed Page, is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week.

Not a huge batch this week--in fact I only had two little yellow tickets in my box, but that's just fine, since I haven't caught up from the previous weeks'  largesse....

Lake Magic - an Early Review copy from LibraryThing by Kimberly Fisk.  I don't remember requesting this one, but it looks like a nice easy read.  I'll always be interested in those Navy fellers!!! From Amazon's blurb:


A captivating, heartwarming debut novel.

After the loss of her fiancé Steven, Jenny Beckinsdale has more than a broken heart to deal with-their fledgling seaplane service is going under. In debt to Steven's best friend and fellow Navy pilot, she plans to convince the sexy, cynical flyboy to help save the business...and in the process these two lost souls may find they're saving each other.

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The Executor by Jesse Kellerman.  An ARC from Putnam Books.

The blurb makes it sound like one I want to get to quickly:

Things aren't going well for Joseph Geist. He's broke. His graduate school advisor won't talk to him. And his girlfriend has kicked him out of her apartment, leaving him homeless and alone. It's a tough spot for a philosopher to be in, and he's ready to give up all hope of happiness when an ad in the local paper catches his eye. 'Conversationalist wanted', it reads. Which sounds perfect to Joseph. After all, he's never done anything in his life except talk. And the woman behind the ad turns out to be the perfect employer: brilliant, generous, and willing to pay him for making conversation. Before long, Joseph has moved in with her, and has begun to feel very comfortable in her big, beautiful house. So comfortable, in fact, that he would do anything to stay there forever.

So that's plenty to keep me busy.................what was in your mailbox?

Sunday Salon...The Magazines are piling up!

I had planned to do this one last week, but spent most of the day reading and watching Olympics. In fact, that is the main reason my posting has been a bit thin this week. Blame it on the big "Os". We are certainly having fun, in spite of being a bit sleep deprived these past two weeks. Add to that the Lenten reading I've been trying to do, a hard drive crash, and the horrible Nor'easter that knocked our power out for over 12 hours, and there's not been much chance to sit and post.

Last Sunday, I also decided to attack the magazine pile which seemed to have decided to breed indiscriminately (perhaps to get my attention?). I found several articles to read in National Geographic (particularly a very interesting article on modern day Polygamy), Atlantic Monthly (a marvelously timely article on Walmart's attempt to introduce local/organic produce into its grocery line), DownEast (several pieces giving me a heads-up on new places to visit when we break out of our self-imposed winter hibernation). I also took the time to leaf leisurely through several cooking magazines I get and pulled out two or three promising recipes to try very soon. The article on Walmart was quite interesting since I'd just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle. I hope to get a review of that one posted in the next few days.

Today, while I watch the hockey game, I plan to browse through the latest issue of MONEY magazine, do some more cross-stitch, and of course read some more.....

Current reads are:

Thomas Merton's Seven story Mountain ---I'm taking this one slowly and will finish by the end of Lent.
Eastern Stars - be sure to enter the giveaway.  This one is really getting me in the mood for spring training to start next week after the Olympics are over.
Shot to Death, a collection of mystery short stories.
The Cruelest Month - the only Louise Penny Three Pines Mystery I haven't read---this one is on audio --have to have something to listen to while working out!

And a final note on the BIG storm. Once again, we seem to have dodged a bullet. We did have really strong hurricane force winds, and a lot of rain, but there's no water in the basement,and we only lost power for 12 hours. We have a lot of firewood to 'harvest' from downed trees, but none of them did any damage (although there is one that is going to have to be brought down quickly because it's leaning dangerously across the driveway). We have a wood burning stove, we cook with gas, and we're just fine. Thanks everyone who asked. We hope you all are safe, warm and dry also.

Enjoy your Sunday! Can you believe February is over?

Review: House on Beartown Road

Author: Elizabeth Cohen
Format: 272 pages, 7 hrs, 35 min audio
Characters: Elizabeth, Daddy, Baby
Subject: Aging, Alzheimer's, single parenting
Setting: current, upstate New York
Genre: memoir
Source: Overdrive audio book download through public library
Challenge: Audio Books, Support Your Local Library


A heartbreaking story about a woman who moves from Arizona to an old farmhouse in upstate New York with her artist husband and one year old daughter. Subsequently, her 80 year old father comes from Arizona to live with them. Daddy has Alzheimer's. Hubbie has a total lack of marital commitment and leaves, and she is left to raise the baby and the father. She writes eloquently of the struggles her father has to remember and the struggles of her daughter to learn.

Daddy walks around now this way, dropping pieces of language behind him. The baby following picking them up. 

She writes about the surprising (to her) neighborliness of others on the street as they bring wood up to her porch, plow her driveway and shovel her walk. She tells us about her attempts to find help, her sister's problems dealing on the opposite coast with their mother. Through it all, her daughter is the shining star who brings everyone together.

"It isn't fatal Daddy, you could live a long time.  You'll just forget things. " That's the same thing as being dead.", he says.

The story is poignant in its outlook, but surprisingly not a tear jerker. It is inspiring.

Writing gives me a sense of control. It has its own special alchemy. I can make what is terrible turn beautiful.

Highly recommended to anyone who is dealing with, or may ever have to deal with issues of aging.  It's not preachy, it's not a how-to.  It's simply a well-written moving story very worth reading.

Unfinished Friday - Shadow of Wind

Now Officially Abandoned

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Format: 485 pages
Setting: Barcelona Spain
Genre: Fiction
Source: Public Library




I tried, and I tried again.  I tried it in audio, I tried it in print.  It just doesn't work for me.  I was just in Barcelona this past summer, and could actually visualize all the setting, but the characters were just not ringing, singing or grabbing me.  Perhaps in 10 years it might be different.

Mailbox Monday

It's Mailbox Monday, the wonderful meme sponsored by Marcia at The Printed Page , is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week   Living in rural Maine, we get our mail at the PO, and Michele, our wonderful post lady always greets me with a rundown of how many packages I have before I even get to the box to dig out the little yellow ticket.  As you can see, books don't fit into these boxes!

It's been a very busy week here.  Several ARCs arrived, including my first B&N First Look volume.
Here are the cover or publisher blurbs to whet your appetite.  They've all gone onto the TBR Pile, and I'll publish full reviews when they're done.

This is Not the Story You Think it Is.....An ARC  from Shelf Awareness. When Laura Munson's essay was published, The New York Times was so flooded with responses that they had to close down the comment feature. Readers wrote in saying that they had sent the column to all of their friends. Therapists wrote Munson to tell her that they were passing it out to their clients.

What did Munson write that caused such a fervor?

Laura detailed what happened when her husband of more than twenty years told her he wasn't sure he loved her anymore and wanted to move out. And while you might think you know where this story is going, this isn't the story you think it is. Laura's response to her husband: I don't buy it.

In this poignant, wise, and often funny memoir, Munson recounts a period of months in which her faith in herself-and her marriage-was put to the test. Shaken to the core after the death of her beloved father, not finding the professional success that she had hoped for, and after countless hours of therapy, Laura finally, at age forty, realized she had to stop basing her happiness on things outside her control and commit herself to an "End of Suffering." This Is Not The Story You Think It Is... chronicles a woman coming to terms with the myths we tell ourselves-and others-about our life and realizing that ultimately happiness is completely within our control.

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Lost Love Found.  An ARC from the author, I'd requested this one several months ago.  Tim Gomes indicates that he delayed publication to do a major re-write.  This one appears to be the story of high school sweethearts meeting up later in life, and promises to be more than just a beach read chick lit.  I don't normally read a lot of romances, but this one looked like it had a little more to offer.

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Stressed in Scottsdale.  Another romance that looks like fun. Cover blurb: With the absurdities of desert living set in her literary cross hairs, Fine once again skewers some of Scottsdale's finest while her protagonist, Jean, tries to find sanity in a world where it rains dirt and blind sheep fall off mountains. Modern living isn't for sissies and Fine addresses the deeper issues of the environment and political corruption as she couches them in laugh-out-loud lines. It is wickedly funny.

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The Poacher's Son.  This is  one I'm really excited about.  It's my first book from the First Look Club at Barnes and Noble, and it's their first Mystery club book.  Not only are mysteries one of my favorite genres, but the author is a Mainer who lives down the road, and the story is set in Maine. I KNOW this one will be fun.

It's the first in a planned series featuring Mike Bowditch, Maine Guide.  Doiron, editor of DownEast magazine, is himself a licensed Maine Guide, and this murder mystery, where Mike tries to find a murder to clear his father who's been accused of the crime, promises to be a good one.
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Shot to Death, a collection of 31 mystery stories, by another New Englander.  Stephen Rogers is a member of the New England Mystery Writers, and offers us this variety of stories, all set in the cities and small towns of his native New England.  Perfect for Maine winter reading in front of the fire.

Review: The Case of the Missing Books

Author: Ian Sansom
Format: Trade paperback, 336 pages
Characters: Israel Armstrong
Subject: bookmobiles (mobile libraries)
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: public library
Challenge: Support your local library

Another new series for me.  I'd seen this one recommended by several readers on LT threads, and our local library had a copy to check out.  It's not great lit, not even great mystery writing, but it is an amusing, pleasant cozy read.  Israel Armstrong, a down and out librarian wannabe from London, tires of his job working in a bookstore, and prodded by his girlfriend (who appears to be tiring of his "Poor me" attitude) takes a job as librarian in Tumdrum, County Antrim.  He arrives to find a notice on the door that the library is closed due to 'reallocation of resources'.  He is shocked and dismayed to find that he is expected to drive a mobile library (i.e., a bookmobile), live in a renovated chicken coop, and Oh yeah....by the way, the library's books --all 15,000 of them--- seem to have disappeared.

His misadventures due to language difficulties and his personal fuddy-duddiness (is that a word?) are somewhat humorous, and are the stuff of which BBC comedy shows are made.

As I said, it was a fun read, but nothing to rave about.  I'm not sure how on earth the author is going to make a series out of this, so I'll probably try one more just to see how the rather thin plot is expanded.

Review: Buried Strangers

Author: Leighton Gage
Format: hard copy 308 pages
Characters: Mario Silva, Arnaldo Nunez, Hector Costa
Subject: crime, police corruption
Setting: Sao Paolo, Brasilia Brasil
Series: Chief Inspector Mario Silva Investigation
Genre: police procedural
Source: public library
Challenge: Support Your Public Library

Mario Silva, Chief Inspector for Criminal Matters of the Federal police of Brazil, is trying to solve a crime in the city of Sao Paolo. What are these bones discovered when a dog dug one up? They're obviously human, but there appears to be a mass grave with 30-40 bodies. When the local cop on the scene, Delegado Tanako, is killed,  Silva's boss reluctantly lets the team go from their base in Brasilia to investigate, although he'd much rather they stay in town and dig up some dirt on the man who is running against him in the upcoming elections.

While in Sao Paolo, Silva, his deputy Arnaldo and his nephew Hector also become involved in locating a family missing from that cities' infamous favelas (slums).  Could this disappearance be connected with the bodies in the mass grave?  Many theories are advanced, many palms greased, a little romance blossoms, and Silva goes back and forth between Sao Paolo and Brasilia, while his crew continues to track clues. Who are these people?  Are they related?  Why were they killed?  And what happened to the witnesses who reported the other family missing? There are characters who are quite nasty, others who are quite likeable, and the plot certainly contains enough action and clues to keep us turning pages. In fact, I was so engrossed in finding out how it ended, that I read the last 35 pages while working out on the eliptical!

Leighton Gage, the author of this well-plotted who-dunnit, lives part-time in Brazil.  His knowledge of this huge country is obvious, and his ability to weave the language, the regional diversity and the mores of this nation into the story is exceptional. The reader gets a clear picture of modern day crime activities in Brazil, and gets a crime detective who hopefully will appear in upcoming episodes.

Ash Wednesday Already? It's too early to be Lent!

Every year, many of us who belong to Christian religions undertake a forty (more or less) day period of preparation for the celebration of Easter-LENT. When I was growing up in a Lutheran-Catholic household, we strictly observed the laws of fast and abstinence. It meant my Mom packed my father's lunch with only one sandwich (not two), and fruit for dessert vice cookies or cake. Daddy would forsake his one bottle of beer and pretzels in the evening (no eating between meals was allowed) and we kids (because we were under 21 and not obliged to fast) were encouraged to 'give up' something. Since my Mom never allowed us to drink soda, eat potato chips or candy anyway, there wasn't much to 'give up.' Instead, we got up at 5:00 every morning to trudge up the hill to the Catholic church for daily mass. The nuns (who were our teachers at the Catholic school) also saw us come in with our father and believe me, we earned lots of brownie points for that trip. Of course, we sat behind the nuns with our noses buried in the missal, and they didn't see us sleeping! 

As an adult, I've gotten away from the fasting bit....it's too much like dieting, and the motivation is all wrong. I try to put in more time exercising, and since my exercise involves either a 1 hour round trip drive to the pool, or at least 30-45 minutes on the eliptical down the basement, I have plenty of time for 'reading' (albeit the riding is "ear" reading from audio books.) Now that we have only 1 priest to cover 7 parishes here in Maine, daily mass is no longer an option.....

So I've started spending my Lenten time enriching my understanding of the spiritual side of life, and the role religion and its rituals plays in our lives. Yes, my husband (who is far more traditionally religious than I am) and I will still attend Ash Wednesday services; we'll still have special prayers at evening meals, and we may even participate in a lenten Bible study again this year. But I found my Lenten reading challenge last year quite fulfilling, and have decided again this year to spend the next 7 weeks making sure that at least part of my reading comes from the Lent shelf. The widget on the side has those books I've pulled from my TBR pile to read starting tonite when I will go through the introductions to all of them.

On the pile are

• Rome has Spoken - a guide to Forgotten Papal Statements and How They have Changed through the Centuries by Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben editors (a signed copy that has been on my TBR shelf since publication in 1998)
• The Woman Who Named God- Abraham's Dilemma and the Birth of Three Faiths by Charlotte Gordon (a book I won in a blog contest recently and can't wait to read)
• Jesus The Son of Man - his words and his deeds as told and recorded by those who knew him by Kahil Gibran 
• The Women Around Jesus by Elisabeth Molotmann-Wendel (another on the TBR shelf too long)
• Rabbi Jesus- The Jewish Life and Teaching that Inspired Christianity by Bruce Chilton. This one I got for Christmas in 2001 and just never got (or took) time to read.
• Nearer My God, An Autobiography of Faith by William F. Buckley Jr, - an inheritance from Auntie
• The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton.  We own practically everything Merton ever wrote, but I've never read anything by him. So I am determined to get through this one if I don't finish any of the others.  If nothing else, it should be a great contrast to WFB.

At the end of this period I hope to have a better understanding of my heritage and perhaps some inspiration to help in the years to come.

So what about you?  Do you do anything special for Lent?  Are you reading anything that you might not read at other times of the year?   Chime in and  let's compare notes.

Review: The Case of the Missing Servant

Author: Tarquin  Hall
Format: audio book 8 hrs, 23 minutes, equivalent 340  pgs
Characters: Vish Puri, Rumpie, Tubelight, Facecream, Flush
Subject: solving crime in India (non-fiction)
Setting: modern day India
Series: Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator Series
Genre: mystery - private detective
Source: Overdrive download from public library
Challenge: Support your local library, Thrillers and Suspense, Audio  Books

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  The author manages to take a basic mystery cozy format and give us a well drawn portrait of life in modern day India by contrasting the lives of haves and have-nots.  Vish Puri is a fascinating, intelligent, well-educated, detective who lives with his "Mummie-ji" (think Grandma Mazur from Janet Evanovitch), his wife Rumpie (she calls him "Chubbie" and tries unsuccessfully to regulate his caloric intake) and several servants who are well paid and well treated.

Puri's office crew all have wonderfully descriptive nicknames (they call him "Boss") -Tubelight, Flush, Facecream-- and they go about helping him not only serve a large clientele of parents researching prospective spouses for the arranged marriages so common in India, but also helping to prove the innocence of a famous lawyer accused of the murder of his servant Mary who has disappeared.  The family only knows her name was Mary and she was not from their town.  No last name, no picture, no registration papers, etc.  Puri smells a rat and goes about trying to find Mary (how many gazaillion women in India are named Mary?) find out if she was murdered, and if so, who did it.

The portrait of India reminded me of Alexander McCall Smith's loving portrait of Botswana in the 1st Ladies Detective Agency series.  Vish Puri is a believable, likeable detective and readers should hope that more of his adventures are forthcoming.

Happy ?!? Valentine's Day

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Well...thanks to a local establishment's awesome Valentines/Presidents Day sale, I bit the bullet and got a new laptop. Now I will have to spend the next several days living at our public library as I install and download updates on all the stuff I want to load back on this new one. As you can see Bruiser (our 15 lb FIV+ rescue kittie) thinks he is going to do this for me!

Not exactly how I'd planned to spend Valentine's day, but I figured at least I could sit and watch the Olympics and the Uof Md (sibs + inlaws are grads) vs Clemson (daughter's alma mater) ladies basketball game while I made backup discs, and did basic installs.  These I can even do while listening to an audio book.  However...........NOT to happen on the TV end....

Suddenly our TV satellite has decided to dump all the network TV stations leaving us a screen that says:

No need to call us- we are aware that this TV station is temporarily unavailable.  We'll have this channel back as quickly as possible.  Sorry for the interruption.

How quickly we become dependent on technology.  I don't watch much TV, but really do enjoy the Winter Olympics and women's basketball.

Anyway, I did manage to get some reading done. Right now, I'm reading two different books and listening to a third. They all seem to have a rather depressing premise: corruption is part of everyday life in each of these. I'll have post reviews when I finish each of them, but this premise of humans having to be immoral to get something done is handled differently in each.  I'm currently reading

• The Singer's Gun by Emily St. Martin .  Here the protagonist (and perhaps murder victim?) is dealing in stolen goods, black market documents, etc.  The setting is NewYork and the island of Ischia off the coast of Italy (although we haven't spent much time on the island yet)  With over 1/2 the book finished, I'm still not sure if I'm supposed to like or feel sorry for this gentlemen, and I'm certainly not likely many of the other characters or their morals.  This is a book that had better show me more in the second half if it's ever going to get me to recommend it to anyone. It's an ARC from Unbridled books, and it's readable enough that I'll finish it and give it an honest review.

• Buried Strangers by Leighton Gage.  This one is set in Brazil, and I checked it out of the library having seen it recommended someplace, but can't remember where! Chief Inspector Mario Silva seems to be the only honest person in the entire country's crime fighting bureaucracy and while it's interesting, this is not yet a Brazilian Commissario Brunetti (by Donna Leon).  The plot is riveting enough, and the settings well drawn, so I'll probably get this one finished tonite (particularly if there's no TV!)

• The Case of the Missing Servant: A Vish Puri Mystery by Tarquin Hall  I just finished this one on audio, and it was delightful.  Private detective Vish Puri leads a motley crew of cunningly named operatives (Tubelight, Flush, FaceCream) as they try to find a missing servant named Mary who has disappeared from the household of a wealthy attorney who has been accused of her murder. Quite different than his normal business of screening prospective spouses for India's numerous arranged marriages, Puri must wend his way through layers of bribes, payoffs, and corrupt doctors, lawyers, cops, judges, etc.  Tarquin Hall gives us a picture of present day India by juxtaposing the haves with the have-nots.  At one point, I wondered if anyone was above palm-greasing, but in the end, the reader should be satisfied with the outcome.

So, the rest of my Sunday is going to be spent trying to get pills down Bruiser's throat-he' suffering from a severe upper respiratory infection and his wheezing sounds like a coffee pot as it perks its last drops into the pot.  He likes to sit in my lap while I do needlework and/or read, so maybe, just maybe he'll let me con him.

Wish me luck...........

Giveaway-Spring Training Opens soon

The Eastern Stars

How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town

of San Pedro de Macoris

by Mark Kurlansky 

Somehow somewhere there's mouse twitch in the air.  I think I entered the form for an ARC of this delightful book twice, because I got two copies.  Lydia at G.P. Putnam's Sons / Riverhead has given me the thumbs up to offer the extra to all of you in a giveaway.  Spring training is coming up soon, so for all of us baseball fans, this should be a delightful way to get a jump on the season.

I haven't read my copy yet, but here's what's on the cover to whet your appetite:

By the year 2008, seventy-nine boys and men from San Pedro had gone on to play in the Major Leagues--that means that one in six Dominicans who has played in the Majors has come from one tiny, impoverished town.  Rico Carty, Alfredo Griffin, Robinson Cano, Sammy Sosa, Alfonso Soriano, and legions of other San Pedro players who came up in the local sugar-mill teams flocked to the United States, looking for opportunity, wealth, and a better life......For those who make it, the million-dollar paychecks from Major League Baseball mean that not only they, but their entire families as well, have been saved from grinding poverty.  The successful few set an example that dazzles the neighbors they left behind.  But for the majority, this dream is illusory.


Because of the sugar industry, and the influxes of migrant workers from across the Caribbean to work in the cane fields and factories, San Pedro is one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the Dominican Republic.  A multitude of languages are spoken there; a multitude of skin colors populate the community; the constants are sugar and baseball.  The history of players from San Pedro is also a chronicle of racism in baseball, of changing social mores in sports and in the Dominican Republic and the United States, and of the personal stories of the many men who sought freedom from poverty through playing ball.


Mark Kurlansky reveals two countries' love affair with a sport, and the remarkable journey of San Pedro and its baseball players.  As he did in Cod and Salt, he follows the common threads to the story, and here he discovers wider meanings about place, identity, and above all, baseball.

About the Author: Mark Murlansky

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times-bestselling author of many books, including The Food of a Younger Land; Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World; Salt: A World History; The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester. He reported from the Caribbean for the Chicago Tribune for seven years and wrote both A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny and The White Man in the Tree and Other Stories about the area. A finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for science writing and a winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, he lives in New York City.

So Here are the Rules:

One COMMENT only 

PUT EVERYTHING IN THE SAME COMMENT

(if you leave more than one it won't count!)

I'll figure out the bonus points.

 In your comment put the following

• Your email address (use a spam busting format like myname (at) myemail provider (dot) com) (+1)--no email--NO entry--I have to be able to notify you if you win.
• Which baseball team your root for (or if you're not a fan just say so)--no extra entries for BOSOX so don't try to suck up, just fun to know who's getting set for opening day. (+1)
• Say if you're a follower (you can become a follower on the left side of this blog) (+2)
• Post on your blog about the contest and leave a link to the  specific post (+4)
• Post this in the contest sidebar on your blog (+3)
• US and Canada only,  PO BOXES are acceptable (I'm paying for this one so I'll do the Post Office!!)

So you could have a total of 11 entries from one comment - isn't that EASY????

Deadline is March 19th.

PLAY BALL!

Challenge Complete! Thrillers and Suspense

I knew this was going to be a no-brainer for me.  I love mysteries.  Although in the past, I've read mostly what would be termed as cozies, I've been branching out into other genres of mysteries.  So when Book Chic City proposed this challenge, I knew I had to join.  The challenge was to read 12 books during 2010.  I was really going to try for 12 each month, but decided to allow myself to branch out into other books besides mysteries.  I finished my 13th last night .They could be broken down as follows:

Authors: 8 women/ 5 men
Amateur detectives : 4 1/2 (Spencer-Fleming has a team of cop and amateur)
Police procedurals:  7
Private Detectives: 1
Forensic detectives: 1
Series: 12 of the 13  were parts of a series- and let's hope Ron Goodreau makes a series out of Max Siegel.
New Series to me: 5
Library books: 9, ARCs or contest wins : 2, from my TBR shelves 2

And...........my favorite......................drum roll please.......... comes down to a tie between

The Khan Dilemma and A Fatal Grace (although there isn't a bad one in the bunch)

Here's the list.
1. Death Goes on Retreat by Sr. Carol Anne O'Marie
2. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
3. Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke 
4. True Blue by David Baldacci 
5. The Body in the Cast by Katherine Hall Page
6. The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
7. China Lake by Meg Gardiner
8. Death of a Valentine by M.C.Beaton
9. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
10.The Khan Dilemma by Ron Goodreau
11. 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs
12. Execution Dock by Anne Perry
13.The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais

 Even tho I've techically completed the challenge, I'm never going to give up reading mysteries.  In fact, I'm going to try to see how many of the different genres of mysteries I can read before the year is out.

Review: The Monkey's Raincoat

Author: Robert Crais
Format: audio 8 hrs, 237 pgs equivalent 
Narrator: Patrick Lawlor
Characters: Elvis Cole, Joe Pike
Subject: murder, abduction
Setting: Los Angeles area
Series: Elvis Cole detective series
Genre: mystery - private detectives
Source: Overdrive audio download
Challenge: Thrillers and Suspense, Support your local library, Audio books

Robert Crais has published over a dozen Elvis Cole/Joe Pike detetive mysteries.  While this is the first one I've read, it certainly will not be the last.  The Amazon product description catches you right off the bat:

Taking the mystery community by storm, this Elvis Cole novel was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards and won both the Anthony and Macavity for Best Novel of the Year. Crais, a VP at Paramount, was previously head script writer for Quincy, Hill Street Blues, and Cagney and Lacey.... When quiet Ellen Lang enters Elvis Cole's Disney-Deco office, she's lost something very valuable - her husband and her young son. The case seems simple enough, but Elvis isn't thrilled. Neither is his enigmatic partner and firepower Joe Pike.

Their search down the seamy side of Hollywood's studio lots and sculptured lawns soon leads them deep into a nasty netherworld of drugs and sex - and murder. Now the case is getting interesting, but it's also turned ugly. Because everybody, from cops to starlets to crooks, has declared war on Ellen and Elvis.

As Elvis begins detecting, he finds himself embroiled in a nasty fight over drugs, with the requisite dealers, Hollywood talent scouts,  did I say it was set in Los Angeles? domineering friends, Mexicans, Eskimos, a friendly cop willing to help him, and the stereotypical upper level "special ops" cop pushing him out of the picture.  At one point, all I could think of was Rockie and Dennis in The Rockford Files. The story had a believable plot, with terrific dialogue and characters I could believe. I may have wanted to smack a few of them upside the head, but I could believe them, root for (or against) them, and although I didn't care for some of the tactics used by either side in this undeclared war, I found they read true  This is a series I'm definitely looking forward to getting into.  I want to know more about Elvis and his very puzzling partner Joe Pike.  I want to see if they can keep up this pace.

Still Unplugged

There are times when I HATE computers....and this is one of those times. Several $100's later, and much 'maybe this, maybe that' my out-of-warranty by only 2 months computer is back from the hospital, but still acting achy-breaky. We are trying to decide if it really needs another $200-$300 of work, or if I can limp along. I'm thinking it's time for a new cheapy instead.

We gave up two years ago buying fancy coffee pots because our water here is so hard on the pumps that we went to a cheap $10 import. When it dies (as it will after 9-12 months, we just buy a new one!) I hate that throw away mentality. I grew up in a house where the whole basement looked like a junk yard for electronic parts, appliances, and whatever 'might be useful someday'. It's bad enough for $10 coffeepots, but when I start doing it for computers, I need to knock myself upside the head and say "Wait a minute."

Of course, I'll admit, I really wanted to use all this computer fix-it money to buy a new HDTV for the Winter Olympics (I'm a snow junkie- you all know that), but I guess we'll be viewing on our good old more than adequate screen.

Anyway, I'm going to be carefully trying to restore all (well, most) of my programs, bookmarks, files, etc over the next several days. I have 800+MBs of updates just for Windows, 11 other programs I use that have to be reloaded (I do have all the discs thank goodness) and updated, and since my internet service only allows me (and hubby together) 425 MB a day, I'm going to be up at the town library doing updates FOREVER. I'll someday get back to doing book reviews and contests, and all that fun stuff so stayed tuned and don't give up.

While all this stuff is running at the library, if there is another free public computer, I'll do some posting about goodies in the mailbox, upcoming books of interest, etc. In the meantime, everyone please stay safe in all these horrible storms. We've dodged everything up here in Maine. It's cold, but sunny, and at least the roads are clear and the schools are in session.

Spotlight Series-

Aarti at Booklust has begun a new adventure for all of us: The Spotlight series, a reading and discussion series focused on small press publishers, their authors and their books.  The first session will be from March 14-27th.  So grab a book from Unbridled Books, and run over to the blog to sign up and join the fun.

Edited  Monday 8:00pm:

After Caite's comment, I realized I should have indicated whassup!  So, I already have (and actually am currently reading, The Singer's Gun, by Emily St. John Mandel- to be published by Unbridled Books in May 2010.  I've just started, and will save my comments for the actual online sessions at Spotlight Series, but I am enjoying it so far.  The link to the series (and subsequent link to the publisher) has all kinds of other information.

Review: Execution Dock

Author: Anne Perry
Format: audio book, 12 discs (13 hrs.) 304 pgs equivalent
Characters: Hester and William Monk, Oliver Rathbone,
Subject: murder and child enslavement 
Setting: Victorian England
Series: William Monk novels
Genre: detective mysteries
Source: Overdrive download from public library
Challenge: Thrillers and Suspense, Audio Books, Support Your Local Library, Typically British Reading

This is #16 in Anne Perry's William Monk series, and although I eventually enjoyed it as much as the others, this one almost had me giving up. She spends an inordinate amount of time to say the same things over and over again.

We understand that Monk has identity issues. We understand he has an inferiority complex. We understand the complexities of his relationship with Oliver Rathbone. We quickly figure out that Hester is suffering for her husband's mental anguish and wants to help, but good grief....get over it and get on with the book. It's #16, and while the author certainly needs to identify issues for 1st time readers, we don't need all 15 previous books worth of finger wringing.

In this story, Monk's mentor Durbin is dead. Monk and his 2nd in command Orme, capture one of their top ten criminals - a notorious peddler of pre-pubescent males for pornographic pictures and for catering to the 'needs' of gentlemen of Victorian England with the cash and discretion to participate in these sorts of activities.

NO Spoilers, so this may be a little thin....Oliver Rathbone is hired to defend the wretch and Monk and Hester are called to testify.

The ensuing trial and its aftermath add more and more plot twists, give us more of Perry's incredible insight into the mores of the period, and culminate in a great splash of an ending. Definitely worth reading if you're a Perry fan. If you're new to the series, it might do to start back a bit further.

Review: The Weight of Silence

Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Format: paperback review galley - 384 pgs
Characters: Calli, Deputy Sheriff Louis, Petra, Martin, Antonio
Subject: missing children, selective mutism
Setting: small town in Iowa

Genre: fiction
Source:  ARC from Mira books (pub date Aug 2009)


An absolutely heart-pounding read.  I picked it up last night to start it so I could get an idea of about how long it would take.  I finished it 3 1/2 hours later.   I was reluctant to start it since it dealt with missing children, and after some of the darker reading I've been doing, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it.

Briefly (NO SPOILERS) Calli and Petra - BFFs- aged 7, go missing early one morning. Parents, police, and townspeople begin the search in the woods behind the girls houses, where they liked to wonder.  Ben, aged 14, Calli's brother goes into the woods to search.

Gudenkauf writes from knowledge of disabilities.  One of the little girls who is missing suffers from 'selective mutism.'  Much of the book deals with the mystery of why she is unable to speak.   There is an element of mystery, a poignant lost love, great emotional development of all the characters. I was on the edge of my chair throughout, unable to put the book down.

The results of the search for the girls, the well-drawn players and the predictable (no more) ending are well worth staying up half the night.


Challenge: ARC completion 
Many thanks to Mira Books (www.MIRABooks.com) for the review copy.