Review: Trespasser by Paul Doiron

Author: Paul Doiron
Publisher-Format: MacMillan Audio, 9:39, 320 page equivalent
Narrator: Henry Leyva
Year of publication: 2011
Subject:Maine Game wardens 
Setting: coastal Maine
Series: Mike Bowditch (2)
Genre: mystery- law enforcement professionals
Source: public library download
Recommended? - Yes if you like mysteries or Maine

 In this second installment of the (mis)adventures of Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch, Paul Doiron has given us a protagonist who is still recovering from the events in the first book of the series, The Poacher's Son.  While this one could stand alone, I think readers will not grasp the full extent of Mike's inner turmoil, and the demons he is still wrestling with unless they've read the first one. 

The book opens when Mike is called by a demanding and irate citizen who cannot understand why the warden must follow certain procedures before just barging off to "arrest those dirt-bags."  At the same time, he is called to the scene of a car-deer encounter on a dark, foggy road (an not uncommon occurence in Maine), only to discover that the deer (presumably dead) is gone, and the driver of the vehicle is missing. When an obnoxious state trooper finally appears on the scene (he should have been the one to handle the case to begin with) and dismisses the missing driver with a remark that she was probably trying to avoid an OUI, Mike is outraged but too tired and muddy to stick around and challenge the other officer.  Once at home, the niggling clues that don't fit the trooper's assessment begin to bother him, and his rebellious and hard-headed nature once again kicks in.  What happened to the girl?  Is she OK?  When he tries to find out, he meets roadblocks at every corner, while his inner radar continues to pick up vibes that something is definitely wrong.  When the girl is found dead, the town and local cops are spooked by the resemblance to another murder seven years ago.  From there on, we watch as Mike becomes a self-destructive one man posse bent on proving everyone else wrong.

Girlfriend Sarah has returned, but doesn't appear inclined to make their relationship more permanent until Mike agrees to counseling.  Mike's boss Kathy has only a cameo appearance in this one, as do his old friends the retired game warden Charley and his wife Ora.  Once again, the book is replete with lush descriptions of Maine's natural settings, its wildlife, and its citizens; it shows us again the very intense and necessary role the Game Wardens play in law enforcement in Maine. There are bodies, bad guys, suspects, and bosses galore.  Doiron shows us the close relation between the local sheriffs, police departments, the state police and the game wardens.  His portrait of Maine continues to enlighten and delight, and his mystery plotting is spot-on.

I do hope that Mike and Sarah can get their relationship back onto a positive track and begin moving forward.  Mike is young (he's only been a warden for two years) and he has a lot to learn in the life department, but readers have become invested in getting this young man to adulthood, and look forward to the next novel in the series.

More Life as it should be - Maine Hospitality

Down East Magazine, one of my favorite publications, posted this on their Facebook page yesterday.  It so captures the essence of the Maine sense of humor, hospitality, and general love of life that I had to share it with you.  They do a great job at Down East.....be sure to grab a copy at your newstand to see more of life as it should be.

P.S.  I'm posting a copy of this one in my guest room!!

Review: Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Author: J. Courtney Sullivan
Publisher Format: Knopf (2011), Hardcover, 400 pages
.....also audio - Books on Tape, 17 hours, 14 minutes
Narrator: Ann Marie Lee
Subject: Irish Catholic dysfunctional family relations
Setting: Boston, Ogunquit Maine
Genre: fiction
Source: public library audio download

This is not a novel about Maine, although the gorgeous beaches of Ogunquit form a backdrop for most of the story. It is a story of the Kelleher family, Irish Catholics who hailed from Boston and summered in Maine.  The matriarch Alice, is a recovering alcoholic, tautly holding on to every piece of tradition and superstition she inherited from her family, the Church, and society in general. 

The story gives us a summer when three generations-- mother, daughters (and daughter-in-law), granddaughters-- come together in bursting clashes of culture, expectations and memories of unhappiness past.  This is a family that takes the words dysfunction and grudge to new heights.  Alice is a grande dame who is epic in her ability to ignore everyone else around her. Since her husband died, she has returned to her alcoholic past.  Daughter Kathleen, who lives (in the unholy state of sin) with her partner in California raising worms for their excrement, has vowed never to interact with the family or set foot in Maine again.  She comes however in response to her daughter Maggie's cry for psychological help in the midst of a crisis with her own relationship.

The apple-polishing daughter-in-law, who fawns over Alice in hopes of inheriting the compound, is a personality guaranteed to produce finger-on-the-chalkboard chills in all who must interact with her.  Each woman has a secret she is holding onto.  Each woman holds a grudge that is standing in the way of growing.

It's a dazzling, bold, deeply involved novel in which the characters are well drawn, the individual stories and secrets crawl to a rather transparent (to the reader anyway) conclusion.  It is summer reading at its best.   As an audio, it's very well done. If  had one gripe, it's that the blurb doesn't really match the story.  Just ignore the jacket and read the book.  I was actually able to get the audio before I was able to get the print copy from the library. It's one that is going into my permanent collection shortly.

No matter your preferred format, don't miss it!

Hull Creek - The Winner

I'm very excited to be able to announce the winner of our giveway for Hull Creek.

It's Amy!!!

entry #22 of 71. 

We have sent her an email, and as soon as she gets me her snail mail, I'll get the book sent out to her.

In the meantime, those of you who missed this chance, the book is now out and available at all traditional outlets. It's a great summer read.  Our local author and publisher (Down East Books) have a winner on their hands.

Meet the Author - Paul Doiron

The Rockport Public Library in Maine ( a couple towns up the road from Tutu's little library and town) had a party on Friday to honor local resident and now famous author Paul Doiron.  After reading from his fabulous book The Poacher's Son, he signed copies, accepted our ginger ale/hard cider toasts, joined us in cake (I wish I'd gotten a picture) and answered questions about being a writer, birthing the book, and what's up next.

I asked Paul for permission to write up some of the Q&A, and he graciously agreed. (NOTE: these are not exact quotes...I was furiously taking notes, but I think I have captured the gist.)


How long did it take to write?
That answer is hard to pin down as I wrote it over a longer period of time.  Now since I have a contract with Minotaur for two more books- one a year--it's much easier to say how long.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I knew from the time I was 15 or 16 that's what I wanted to do, and tried to write all the time. I got an MFA from Emerson College, and have been honing my skills ever since.  The DownEast job of course provides me great writing opportunities.

Do you write every day?
Not really. Since I write for my day-job as Editor in Chief of DownEast Magazine, I don't have much writing energy left to write at night after work, and I've never been an early morning writer.  So I do most of my writing on weekends.

Did you choose the title?
Yes, I did, although I will share that it was not the first title. I won't tell you the original one I had in mind because I think it becomes a spoiler, and I changed to The Poacher's Son (which was suggested by a friend who read an early draft) because I realized that while the book is a mystery,  it is also very much a novel about the relationship of a father and a son, and I wanted to emphasize that.

Do you take reviews and online discussions into consideration as you're writing these next two books (for example the Barnes and Noble First Look Club where we discussed the book)?
I try not to.  When I set out to write this story, I had a firm picture in my mind of who Mike Bowditch (the protagonist) was, and what his character was.  I was tired of detectives who were typically 35 years old and who were going into mid-life crisis. They all had wives who had died, or they were divorced.  I wanted a character who was just starting to find himself, and who would question things, but who was fairly black and white about what he believed in.  I've noticed that some readers in their comments don't seem to remember being 24 years old, or never had a son or brother who went through this stage in life.

You're obviously familiar with Maine and its wilderness.  Did you do much research, or was this subject matter one you were already comfortable with?

I'm a registered Maine guide, so I'm writing about a subject that is near and dear, but I can never know everything.  There were pieces that required more research than others, and you always want to check that what you're saying is still current - for instance, as I completed the first draft, I learned that the Maine Warden Service had completely changed its uniform, so I had to go back and re-work that.  For the next book, I did a 'ride-along' for a day with a warden, including a fly-over.  You get a very different perspective from the air than from the ground.  At this point they were focusing on the drug war, and I learned it's much easier to identify marijuana from the air in early fall, because it's the last plant on the forest floor to change color.  That green sticks right out!

The setting seems to play a huge role in this book.  How much of that was intentional?
Oh, it was definitely intentional. The book is as much about the Maine wilderness as about Mike Bowditch...the Maine Woods can really be a character of its own.  In fact, I've been asked to be a panelist at the New England Crime Bake in the fall where the topic is something like "Setting as Character."  The wilderness - its depth, its inaccessibility, its wildlife and vegetation, has definite implications for the plot. 

The character of Mike Bowditch is portrayed as a kind of loner.  Do you think this is true of all wardens?
The warden's job requires hours and days of being alone in the woods.  The warden has to be comfortable being alone with his thoughts, and must be able to put family and personal concerns aside.  It's no accident that Mike is portrayed from the very beginning as someone who didn't mind being alone.

"...I had chosen to be alone. An empty house was what I'd wanted all along, even if it had taken Sarah years to realize it...and it was only after I had gotten posted in coastal Knox County that she realized that being a game warden was a twenty-four-a-day, seven-days-a-week way of life, and for reasons neither of us fully understood, I'd chosen it over her.   So she left." (pg. 10)

In books 2 and 3 I'm trying to show how Mike grows, how he grapples with the real question of whether he's cut out to be a warden, and how (and whether) he resolves his relationship with Sarah.

It was a great afternoon. Thanks to Molly Larson, director of Rockport Library for arranging the festive occasion, and many thanks to Paul's gracious wife Karen Lindquist for taking the photo of Tutu and Paul. Again I thank Barnes and Noble for the opportunity to have read this one pre-pub. See my review here if you missed it earlier.

And definitely check out Paul's website. We wish him continued success and absolutely can't wait for the next installment.

Weekend Cooking

I'm late getting on this train, but with as much food posting/tasting/talking as I do, I'm hopping onboard.  Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

This weekend marks 'official' the beginning of 'summah' here in Maine. While it's still chilly compared to temps down south, our skies are that gorgeous clear blue, and the air is fresh and invigorating.  We returned from our recent trip south to visit family and found ourselves longing for (what else?) lobstah!   In fact, I hadn't even finished my question "Lobster Ok for dinner?"  when hubbie was smiling and shouting "YES" across the room. So after running errands, picking up the mail, and mowing the lawn, we headed for our nearby seafood shack (only 3 minutes away!), picked out two big bubbas, watched them go into the steamer, and came home to add some fresh cole slaw, and a big bowl of melted butter to enjoy the most delicious seafood ever hatched in the sea.

Imagine our surprise when we realized we both were suffering from "eyes bigger than tummy" disease!  Aw shucks, that leftover lobster now becomes lunch today.  The lobster roll is perhaps the most famous dish sold in Maine and I often buy an extra lobster just so we do have enough left for sandwiches next day.   There are as many varieties and recipes for this simple sandwich as there are mommas who serve lunch.  As with the crab cakes I enjoyed so much last week, for me less is more.

You need nothing more than a tiny bit of chopped celery, your favorite mayo, some good lobster meat and a good roll.  Forget all the fancy-smancy additions and permutations you see in various articles, TV shows and cookbooks.  This is the real deal.  We use those wonderful New England style hot dog rolls which I'd never seen until I got to Maine.  Our mid-atlantic rolls open from the side.  New Englanders open from the top. Whichever bun you use, the result is mouth-watering, tummy filling, and soul satisfying.
 
These are so beloved that even McDonald's has them on the menu in Maine.

Spring Has Sprung

Fiddlehead Ferns

Every area of the country has its own harbinger of spring.  In the Mid-Atlantic where I grew up, we knew spring had really come when the dogwoods and azaleas were in full bloom.  My friends in West Virginia rave about their ramps.  When we lived in Japan, it was the Cherry Blossoms, in Florida and Hawaii spring simply meant higher temps and having to mow the lawn more often.  

Here in Maine we have the fiddleheads pushing through the still damp earth, and the peepers calling loudly in the pond every evening.  We have windows open--after all it's over 50!--and sun shining between the clouds blown in by the afternoon sea breezes.  Ok yes, there are a few black flies, but those don't tend to reside here on the mid-coast.  There are ticks, coyotes, and mosquitoes, but for these few glorious weeks, the ferns and the peepers give us hope for a beautiful summer.

Incidentally, Fiddleheads are considered a Maine delicacy when sauteed with new red potatoes and garlic in butter.  I also saw a recipe for a Fiddlehead Martini--they put pickled fiddleheads into a mixture of peach or pear wine with vodka.  Whew....that would have me opening the windows!

Poacher's Son

Author: Paul Doiron
Format: paperback galley - 324 pgs
Characters: Mike Bowditch, Jack Bowditch, Charley Stevens
Subject: father-son relations; Maine Warden service
Setting: Maine wilderness
Genre: fiction
Source: Barnes and Noble First Look Club
Challenge: ARCs completed

My first participation in Barnes and Nobles' First Look Club. This is a very impressive debut novel/mystery. The author, who is editor of DownEast magazine, lives right here in my neck of the woods. He presents us with a well-defined cast of characters with a wide range of motivations. The setting is lush and well painted, and the plot is a true page-turner. Mike Bowditch, 24 yrs old, is a Maine Game Warden whose father is a suspect in a double murder. The book starts quickly with Mike tracking a bear on the loose who has stolen a pig; when he returns to his cabin hot, tired, thirsty, and lonely, he gets a call from his father who says he needs help. Mike hasn't seen him in over two years, and learns the next morning that Jack Bowditch is suspected of killing two people in the North Woods of Maine, and has escaped into those woods.

The following chapters are full of flashbacks to a less than happy childhood, a lousy relation with his father,  his current on again/off again contact with his mother and step-father, descriptions of his previous and current relationship with his girlfriend Sarah, and Mike's struggle to decide where his loyalties lie.  Will he be able to keep his job and remain objective when the very people tracking his father are his fellow game wardens and the state police?    The action is concise and believable. There is a vast array of possible suspects.  Mike is truly conflicted, trying to balance his feelings for his father with his desire to do his job and his need to feel validated in many of his life choices. NO spoilers. It is definitely recommended if you like good characters and lots of action. It is especially recommended if you like the great outdoors, Maine, and wildlife. Let's hope that Warden Mike Bowditch appears in future works.

The author Paul Doiron is scheduled to do a book signing at one of our local libraries in May when it is published (pub date is showing as May 11th).  You can bet I'm going to be there!

Many thanks to Barnes and Noble for the copy of the book and the great online discussion at the First Look Club.

Dodging the bullet

The Storm came....
                      The Snow fell....

then it turned to rain, with a big wind,

and the temperature ROSE!!

So we have patches of bare ground, big hills of drifted snow, and nice wet slushy patches of road  just waiting for the temp to fall so they can turn to ice. We're 1000 ft off the main road, and we aren't paved.

I love snow.

I hate rain.

I detest ice.

Anyway, I've got three books almost finished, but must report that Christopher Buckley's Supreme Courtship is going to win out, because I can't put it down.  Reviews by Wednesday...

And Life in Maine

Back in the 70's, we lived in Hawaii for two years. There was little live network TV (we called the morning NBC Show the "Yesterday Show.")   I found it somewhat amusing that the Hawaiian language has no word for weather, nor did the local TV news shows have any kind of weather report.  What was to report?  Sun, sun, rainbow, breezes, temperature 75, sun, sun....you get the picture. Lovely but actually, I found it quite boring.

Here in Maine, we tend to stay tuned to the weather reports, only because we want to know if the weather is going to be conducive to outside activity (e.g., do I have time to get a walk in before that storm hits?).  The winter weather reports tend to be of the "oh...by the way, we're going to get about 3-5" of snow today, so be careful driving." And we're on to the sports report.

Yesterday, however, when the weather person said the expected accumulation was going to be measured in feet, not inches, we all paid attention!  Our wood pile is stocked, there's bottled water for cooking (AND COFFEE), we've ground enough coffee to use the French press for at least 48 hours, the emergency phone # for the power company is on the wall by the phone, new batteries are in flashlights, and most important, the books to be read have been identified and the clip on book lights are ready to go.

As you can see above, we're in a small lull between storms - have about 3-5" on the ground right now, but I'm thinkin' 16-20 when it's all over. 

BTW...if I don't post for a few days, it may not be due to power loss.  Our internet comes through a sattelite dish on the roof.  When the dish gets buried in snow, we tend to go "down" for a while.

Sunday Salon

What a delightful Sunday it was....we decided to drive about 2 hours north to see the Bicentennial exhibit "Abraham Lincoln, Self-Made in America" at the Castine Historical Society in Castine Maine.  This is a traveling exhibit featuring reproduction artifacts from the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield Illinois.  We had both been to the actual Illinois complex many, many years ago but wanted to refresh our memories. What was so special for me however, was the exhibit next door.  The Castine Historical Society is restoring the Noah Brooks library in the Nelson House.  For a book lover, it was a wonderful journey into the past.

Here is a quote from the Bangor Daily News of 11/09/09:

Brooks was a Castine native, born just a few doors away from the Abbott House, the home of the Castine Historical Society, where the exhibit is located. He became friends with Lincoln while he was still in Springfield, Ill., and before he entered politics. Brooks was a newspaper reporter, editor and author who worked in Washington, D.C., and he and Lincoln renewed their friendship after Lincoln became president. He was one of the last people to see the president on April 14, 1865....

Brooks was a welcome visitor to the White House, according to the display at the historical society, and the two met at Lincoln’s office on the afternoon of April 14 to discuss the possibility of Brooks becoming the president’s private secretary. There is some indication that, if not for a bad cold, Brooks might have been with Lincoln at the Ford’s Theatre later that night when Lincoln was fatally shot in the theater.
Although he lived in California for a time, Brooks lived much of his later life in Castine at a home on Main Street. He died in 1903 in California and is buried in the Castine Cemetery beside his wife.

 While I wasn't reading in a salon this Sunday, I was certainly still connecting with books.  Being able to see the role a good library plays in the lives of important people in our heritage is affirming.  And taking a drive through Maine's peninsulas on a crisp, clear, sunny autumn Sunday is downright warm and fuzzy.

Review: The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo

" Tutu" is hawaiian for 'grandmother' and although this Tutu doesn't usually review children's books, this one is super special. Toni Buzzeo, the author, is a fellow Maine librarian, author of many gorgeous children's books, and when this one came into our town library last week, Tutu could not resist buying one to give to our grand-daughter for her upcoming birthday. Buzzeo has a long list of wonderful children's books to her credit, and I urge you to take a look on her webpage, if for no other reason than to dispel the stereotype of the uptight, rigid librarian of mythology.

Besides the beautiful prose, the illustrations by Mary GrandPre (she of Harry Potter cover fame) which are done in oils, are breathtaking.

The story, one of quiet beauty, portrays the intense loneliness of the life of a small girl living alone with her parents on an island off the coast of Maine where the lighthouse helped protect ships at sea. A violent storm washes ashore a seachest with a special treasure inside. This gorgeous book is spellbinding for the 4-8 age group, and inspiring for adults. The illustrations are absolutely spectacular.

If you are looking for a special gift for a special child, this is it. If you don't have a special child in your life, then treat the child in yourself and wallow in this book for awhile. It's a stunner.

Heads up FTC: Although we both work in Maine libraries, I've never met Toni Buzzeo, and paid for this book myself.

Mixing It Up in New England

This month we are celebrating our 100th member in the New England Bloggers group hosted by Elizabeth at Thoughts from An Evil Overlord.  To encourage us to party hearty, Elizabeth suggested that we really get around and visit as many fellow NE bloggers as possible and then blog and link about the experience.

I started with my fellow Mainers-their list of accomplishments spells food, fun, and lots of creativity in scrapbooking, cooking, home-schooling, gardening, traveling, sewing, etc.  Here's the list of those I visited in Maine:

Eva at Wrestling With Retirement - my kinda woman- go check out her current ROAD TRIP
Julie at Stampin With Julie - I didn't know a thing about Stampin but boy--this blog is a wealth of information- and really pretty too!
Lori at A ScrapMom's Musings - Wow - there's a site that made me wish I had an extra 20 hours in my week so I could take up scrapbooking.  What an elegant site.
Penny at Penny's Art Room -another wealth of gorgeous fall photos and lots of creative ideas.
Jenny at ...My Perfectly, Imperfect Day who instantly wins the best looking doggie on the blog prize.  Her project 365 posts put her in my blog reader for sure.  They're wicked lovely.
Catherine at Art from the Heart- another fantastic site full of creative art techniques, and resources.
Dawn at C&G Design where doll making and crafting rule.
Debbie at Blueberry Plains whose photos of the recent harvest made me green with envy.
Lisa at Pink Porches - Whose blog isn't pink at all, but who can tell some great stories.
And April at coff-a-cup - her post Curtain rods in the land of make believe gets my nomination for tears-to-my-eyes laugher of the year.

Now my favorite New Englander tho has to be a fellow book blogger and she's Gwendolyn from Rhode Island at A Sea of Books.  Hubbie and I met in Newport RI 43 years ago, and made our honeymoon trip a trek through Maine...so I'm tied to both ends of this road.  Gwendolyn's insights on books, and things literary, along with her musings on living by the sea, and wonderful contests make her blog a winner in my book.

Later this week, I hope to peruse other blogs to see if I can't find other fellow book bloggers from New England.  If you're out there, stop by and say hello.  We can't expect Elizabeth to provide a dating service to match us all up.  In fact, let's definitely all make sure we stop by Thoughts from an Evil Overlord (be sure to read how she came up with that name!) and give Elizabeth a great big virtual hug for hosting this mixer.  It's been lots of fun and I look forward to her final mix-it=all-together post after the 20th.

Maybe we should look for a central NE Bloggers get-together site in the next few years!

Review: Primal Obsession

This is a good stay up all night to finish it book. Up front I must admit that I have met Susan Vaughan....she is a local author who taught at the same school where my husband taught. Then I must also say that I'd never read any of her other books. When she found out I reviewed blogs, she offered a copy of this for our library and I offered a review. I don't read a lot of romance, and I'm just starting to be able to read 'thrillers', so I'm not quite in my element. Primal Obsession is a well-done combination of both those genres. There is a delightfully spunky, intelligent herione, Annie; there is the 'hero' Sam: a has-been Boston Red Sox player, no longer able to play due to injuries and who is now a Maine wilderness guide; there is "The Hunter"- a bad bad dude if there ever was one, and there is a beautiful setting - the Maine wilderness, which can make any book a delight to read. Ms. Vaughan writes as if she has definitely been there and makes the reader feel and hear and smell every tree limb, lake shore, campground and pine tree Sam and Annie see. Vaughan manages to artfully weave several stories at once:

• There's Annie's tale: she's a newspaper reporter who first made the connections between the killer's various victims, who is now receiving threats from him; at the same time, she is mourning a friend who was a victim of the serial killer and has actually gone on this wilderness expedition to fulfill a promise to her dead friend to spread her ashes in the woods.
• The pshycho thriller story-- a very nasty serial killer stalking his prey (Annie) and the law enforcement types trying to find him before he kills again; one of the lawmen is Annie's brother who thinks that 'parking' her on a Maine wilderness adventure will keep her safely out of the Hunter's reach.
• Sam's attempt to stop drinking to drown his sorrows at not playing baseball anymore and prove to himself and his family that he can be a successful wilderness guide; as things start to happen on the adventure, he finds himself tested - can he truly live up to his and everyone else's expectations?
• Sam and Annie's almost stereotypical romance: Girl meets Boy, boy meets and immediately likes girl, girl rebuffs boy and refuses to acknowledge the attraction; boy and girl suddenly are faced with the physical threat to girl from the killer and boy must save girl.

The writing grips the reader from the beginning, and the book becomes a good old-fashioned page-turner. Ms. Vaughan has done an excellent job of taking what could have been a garden variety romance or a standard ho-hum thriller and combined the two into an exciting, vibrant, well-plotted story with well-drawn (if unsurprising) main characters, and enough plot twists and other characters to hold the reader's interest to the end. Even while changing point of view often (something I normally find distracting in a book) she manages to hold our attention and keep the story moving forward. I only wish the romance had been less cliched. I could already figure out exactly what was going to happen, and when this kiss would lead to that, or what Sam was going to run through his mind while watching her in a wet tee-shirt, etc. Probably the reason I don't read too many straight romances. The suspense action saves the book. It's real, it's thrilling, and it goes right to the end. I'd strongly recommend you try this one if romance and/or thrillers are for you, and especially if you love the Maine woods. You won't be disappointed.

They're Everywhere!!

As you can see , my TBR shelf is full--in fact it's grown to four shelves.

Since I confess to being someone who likes to seem like I'm in control, I decided to take today to prioritize things so I could leave town next week with a clear conscience:

• I have my sister Cheli lined up to do a guest review of one of the books she 'borrowed' from my TBR pile
• I'm taking my last 999 book (Saudade by Katherine Vaz) with me to finish while cruising (or flying over the Atlantic)
• I've been trying to straighten up the office and blog space because my daughter is going to house-sit/vacation/work here, and I'd like her to have a place to put a coffee mug at least.

So what happens when I return on Labor Day?

Although I'm participating in several personal reading challenges, I'm going to give priority to ARCs and Early Review copies I've agreed to read and review.

First priority: I have four books that I personally received from the authors:

• Susan Vaughan, a local author who has written several suspense romances, gave us a copy of her latest book Primal Obsession. Knowing how difficult it can be for Indie presses to get wide coverage, I offered to review for the blog. It's first up when I get back.
  
• Sam Moffie offered me a copy of No Mad. I confess it wouldn't be something that I would normally go out and buy, but I have been trying to expand into new genres and this looks like it will be interesting.
  
• Circle of Souls was sent by Preetham Grandhi -- another story with a young psychiatric patient with visions, her pyschiatrist, a murder, art therapy; the book cover calls it a "Stunning pyschological thriller". After reading The Rapture I think I can handle this and am looking forward to it.
  
• The Saint and the Fasting Girl was sent by the author Anna Richenda. It arrived just as I finished Sacred Hearts and I wanted to put some space between the two. It will be an excellent read for my 2nd 999 challenge's Historical Fiction category.
  

Then there are two Early Reviews I received from LT-- they will be the next up. Both are books I really wanted because the suspense thriller is a genre I am coming to enjoy more and more.

• Rizzo's War by Lou Manfredo
  
• Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini
  

Shortly after those, I have to get to ARCs I've received from publishers, and I'm going to try to behave myself and not request any more (unless they are to die for!) until I get this pile under control. In no particular order they are...

• The Maze Runner, by James Dasher - due out in October. I'm trying to expand and read more YA, and fantasy: genres I don't normally read. This one really caught my attention.
• The Weight of Silence, a book about children lost in the woods by Heather Guedenkauf. After I survived reading Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,I guess I can do this one without fainting.
• Half-Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World by Douglas Hunter. I love biography, and this book is a topic that really interests me.
• The Boy who Harnessed the Wind LP: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba. Set in Malawi, this is a true story of courage and inventiveness. I have enjoyed the previous books I've read this year set in various countries of Africa, and this will be another to help expand my knowledge. I'm hoping this will also be suitable for the YA group in our library.
  
• An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkerson by Andro Linklater. I requested this one because it's set in a period I love to read about- the American Revolution- and it's about someone I'd never heard of. Curiosity is a great reason for picking books...
• Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron. I love the Deborah Knott series, so when Hachette Books offered me the chance to review and run a contest to share this one with others, I could not resist.
  
• The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel by Ann Pearlman. I am a Christmas cookie nut...I go absolutely crazy baking for weeks before the holidays, and if I'm not going to be with people, I actually mail giant boxes of them. I'm always looking for new recipes and new mysteries, so in spite of the plain red cardboard wrapper on the galley proof, this one looks great. I'm hoping to be able to try some of the recipes as I read it, so I can share the results in my review.
• The Evolution of God, by Robert Wright. I honestly don't remember requesting this one, but it is an area in which I read a lot. I've tried three times to read Karen Armstrong's History of God but just couldn't get into it. Maybe this one will be better.
• South of Broad by Pat Conroy. Another of my favorite writers, and settings.
• The Brutal Telling (An Armand Gamache Novel) by Louise Penny. Another of my favorite authors. I was thrilled to be able to be among the first to get this one. My sister also wants it, so I may try to eek out a spot in the luggage to take it along for the cruise. The Armand Gamache books are some of the best in the genre today. I hope this one doesn't disappoint.

And finally, there are three others that I received as prizes from other people's contests that I am itching to get to:

• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
• The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander.
• The Woman Who Named God: Abraham's Dilemma and the Birth of Three Faiths by Charlotte Gordon.

So if you are OCD and counted the books in the pictures, there are 75 there. The ones that are left after the ARCs, and ERs are books that were on my original list to be read for various challenges during 2009. I'm not sure I can finish all 75 of them before New Years but I'm going to have a wonderful time trying.

Sunday Salon: August 2nd

If you read this on Sunday, I will be reading on the plane or in an airport, or on another plane. I may also be audio 'reading' as I drive home from the airport. It will be a long day. The grand-daughter has to return to her parents in Virginia, and this time Tutu gets to be the plane escort. She is a delightfully fun traveler, and even with the 3 hr drive to the airport, the short flight to DC, and a turn around and do it in the other direction trip, it will be worth having had her for two delightful weeks. We got a lot of reading done, and a lot of lobsters eaten; we discovered a new museum- the Coastal Children's museum in Rockland Maine--if you are ever in the area with a child between 1 and 12, it is a fantastic way to spend an hour or spend a day. I got a tatoo, I was served plastic lunch, we figured out the gear wall, and I got a new black and red doll shaped bookmark to go with the Red to Black ARC I happened to be toting along. After we spent several hours at the beach Saturday on a perfect Maine summer blue sky day, we checked on the puffin cams at the Project Puffin visitor center, and sadly returned home to separate the library books from those that would go home with her, do the dirty laundry, make some last entries in her trip journal, put the pictures on CDs to take home, and have a final Jeremy and the Ghost story hour with Grampa. We will miss her, but will cherish the thoughts that our love of books and story hours has taken hold. Aside from liking lobsters, I can't think of a better value to pass to our grandchild.

The View from the Attic

I think summer has chosen to skip us this year. I should be reading, but since the weather refuses to warm up (it's still in the 50's here in coastal Maine and we haven't seen the sun in over a week.) I decided to take advantage of the cool weather and climb to the attic to work on the 65 cartons of books that remain to be unpacked, cataloged in LT, and shelved someplace (YIKES!). It's perfect weather for the attic--not too hot, not too cold. My wireless laptop works fine up here in the tree tops and sits on a work table by a window where I can see lots of fog on the river thru the trees and sometimes, if I'm lucky, the Bald Eagle comes to sit on the branch right in front of the window. Yesterday I cataloged some books we inherited from my Dad: Samuel Eliot Morison's entire History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. My husband has coveted those ever since he met me, and Dad left them to him when he died back in 2007. I'm also working on the Great Books of the Western World set we got from him. Today, I grabbed a box we inherited from hubbie's great aunt who died at age 92 in 2000. She was an incredibly well-read woman and going thru her boxes always yields up treasures. I found three I was especially pleased with. The first two were real finds for my "Things Portuguese" category in the 999 challenge: These Portuguese by Manuel Cabral, a 1930's self-published monograph written in English and Portuguese that describes the Azores islands for descendants of Azorean immigrants so they would know about their heritage; and A History of the Azores Islands by James H. Guill--this one is listed on Alibris and Amazon as selling for over $150!!! (It's considered 'very rare'.) WOW. Both of these are going downstairs onto the TBR shelf. The final find of the morning is an incredible volume (1585 pages!!) : An Anthology of World Prose, edited by Carl Van Doren. The tome has selections (in translation thank goodness) from Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, Arabian, Persian, Hebrew, Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Scandinavian, Russian, English, Irish, and American literature. I had to wonder why Auntie chose it since it had no Portuguese!!! It was published in 1935 by Literary Guild and is a real masterpiece. I figure if I can read one selection a week, I might finish it before I die. Come to think of it, it would make an incredible challenge for my fellow LTer's. Hmmmm...... Maybe if I make Treasures in the Attic a weekly post, I'll be forced to get through these cartons in another year or so.

Review: Lobster Chronicles

My second time around for this one--our online Maine reading group is going to discuss this one. It's a well-written true story of what is involved in lobstering and living on a small island. Linda Greenlaw was a deep sea fisherman. She is the woman sea captain in the movie "The Perfect Storm." In her late 30's, she decides to give up fishing, return to her home on Isle Au Haute Maine and take up lobstering. With her father as her sternman, she takes us through an entire year's cycle of painting buoys, cleaning traps, launching boats, laying traps, and then harvesting (or hoping to harvest) lobsters. It's the story of folks who live without a resident doctor, without a movie theater, or big modern grocery store, whose mail comes by boat. The relationship of the townspeople with summer people provides some amusing anecdotes, while the story of local lobsterman protecting their fishing grounds against outsiders gives us a true picture of the uncertainties of making a living from the sea. It's extemely readable and presents a charming but realistic story of this difficult way of life.

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Review: Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay

Nancy Mitford presents such thorough, insightful, compelling, and penetrating look at one of America's premier poets, that I often felt at times like shouting "Too much information!" Millay, her husband, her sisters, her mother, and most of her lovers/friends (they were often the same) of both sexes seemed to be inveterent letter writers. Not only did they write letters, they often left numerous drafts of those letters giving us an intimate portrait of emotions, intentions, and life in the first half of the twentieth century. Their drinking, carousing (is that a nice enough way to say "lots of sex of all varieties?"), international traveling, neglect of family and friends, and late life drug addiction is well detailed. Our herione led a less than stellar life depending on one's perspective. At times I tired of her pouting promiscuity, her incessant mooching on the generosity of others, the constant indebtedness, and the incredible selfishness which most who knew her seemed to regard as part of her genius. Her husband's acceptance of and participation in their "open marriage" was difficult for me to understand. And swimming au naturel in Maine's island waters at any time of the year was not something I was impressed with....I thought it proved she was a bit "off." I guess we can accept that anyone who downed the copious amounts of alcohol she and hubby did was probably pickled to the point that they didn't feel the water temp! In addition to many photographs, there are numerous samples of her poetry, used to illustrate the various passions and favorites in her life. Taking the time to read and absorb the poems meant this book of over 500 pages took me almost 5 weeks to finish! In spite of the subject's tragic life and its ending, the author presents us with her life in an objective yet sympathetic way without passing judgment. That made it easy to read and recommend the book to others.

Review: Audio --New England Days by Sarah Orne Jewett

I've been trying to acquaint myself with as many Maine authors as possible (we have almost 100 in our little town library) and stumbled across this one on the state's audio download list. It is actually a collection of some of Jewett's best. There are 8 stand alone stories set mostly in Maine, many of them featuring 'old' (or as we pc people now say 'chronologically advantaged') women and how they dealt with the hardships of either widowhood, or spinsterhood. Many highlighted how their fellow townspeople helped out. One story "Flight of Betsy Lane" features 3 woman who are living in the 'poorhouse' ---an actual instutituion that existed here in Maine until 1977 (I looked it up!). One of them (Miss Lane) is visited by an old friend who gives her some money. She neglects to tell the town selectmen about her good luck (shades of early welfare fraud?), nor does she share the news with her friends. Instead, one mornin' she ups and walks off -- she wanted to go see the exposition in Phillie. Those left behind begin to believe she may well have 'done herself in.' When she returns, with small gifts for each of them, she brings enough wonder and stories of what she saw to keep them all in gossip for at least a lifetime. The last story, "The Hilton's Holiday", almost made me cry. It is the story of a couple who have a barebones existence on a farm, whose only son, who would have been expected to help out and do the hard work with the father, had died. The Hiltons however, instead of bemoaning their bad luck, were thankful for and accepted, nurtured and valued their daughters. In fact, Mr. Hilton decides the girls need a little vacation, so he hitches up the wagon and takes them to town (17 miles away!) for a day of sights, treats , and just enjoying a day off from chores with their dad. The fact that he was able to show off his girls made it a great trip for dad too. Many years ago, my dad drove me and 5 of my friends to high school (I went to private school so there was no bus) every day and that time we spent together was precious beyond words. This story brought it all back. So well written, and exceptionally well narrated, it just made you ache for the simple life and people who could live with so little and still be happy.