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.

In addition to the treasures the library found for me this past week, the postman (or in my case it's often the big brown truck!) delivered these:

 
The Unnamed -  an audio book I won from a contest on So Many Precious Books.....thanks Teddy Rose

I love audio books, and am looking forward to this one.  According to the back cover blurb:

Tim Farnsworth is a handsome, healthy man, aging with the grace of a matinee idol...

He loves his wife, his family, his work, his home...

And then one day he stands up and walks out. And keeps walking..

...a dazzling novel about life and marriage ...a heartbreaking story of a life taken for granted and what happens when that life is abruptly and irrevocably taken away.

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Postcards from a Dead Girl- another contest win , this one from Alyce of At Home with Books.  
Amazon's sales pitch says:

... the tragicomic story of Sid Higgins, a twenty-something telemarketer in the midst of a crisis. His sales are down, he thinks he might have a brain tumor, and his ex-girlfriend, Zoe, keeps sending postcards from exotic locations but he's pretty sure she's dead. Sid's family isn't much help. His sister Natalie accuses him of being a hypochondriac. His mother has been deceased for years, but complains occasionally through a bottle of '67 Bordeaux. And his dog, Zero, hounds him to stop worrying so much. Intent on solving the mystery of the postcards, Sid embarks on a journey to trace their origin. His search takes him from New Jersey laundromats to Barcelona discotheques, but he's always one step away from the truth. Part Walter Mitty, part Woody Allen, Sid must come to terms with the dark reality of his past to make way for something (or someone) good in his future.

Doesn't this just sound like a hoot?
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The Man from Saigon -This one is my snatch from the February list of Early Review books on LibraryThing.  I'm really excited about this one since I'm participating in the War Through the Generations Challenge reading about Vietnam this year. Here's the description from the Early Review posting:

An enthralling and beautiful new novel about love and allegiance during the Vietnam War, from the author of Daniel Isn't Talking and Dying Young. It's 1967, and Susan Gifford is one of the first female correspondents on assignment in Saigon, dedicated to her job and passionately in love with an American TV reporter. Son is a Vietnamese photographer anxious to get his work into the American press. Together they cover every aspect of the war from combat missions to the workings of field hospitals. Then one November morning, narrowly escaping death during an ambush, Susan and Son find themselves the prisoners of three Vietcong soldiers who have been separated from their unit.
Now, under constant threat from American air strikes, helpless in the hands of the enemy, they face the daily hardships of the jungle together. As time passes, the bond between Susan and Son deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult for Son to harbor the secret that could have profound consequences for them both.

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The Swimming Pool - An ARC from the publisher that I got through Shelf Awareness.  Here's the blurb:

A heartbreaking affair, an unsolved murder, an explosive romance: welcome to summer on the Cape in this powerful debut.

Seven summers ago, Marcella Atkinson fell in love with Cecil McClatchey, a married father of two. But on the same night their romance abruptly ended, Cecil's wife was found murdered—and their lives changed forever. The case was never solved, and Cecil died soon after, an uncharged suspect.

Now divorced and estranged from her only daughter, Marcella lives alone, mired in grief and guilt. ....In what is sure to be the debut of the season, The Swimming Pool delivers a sensuous narrative of such force and depth that you won't be able to put it down.

So many books, so little time......what was in your mailbox this week?

Sunday Salon

In spite of my good intentions last week, I ended up taking a long nap. The fire was warm, the wind was blowing, and the cat curled up in my lap. I made the mistake of flipping the handle on the recliner and ZONK....I was gone.

This week, even after losing an hour's sleep, I'm enjoying a true reading Sunday. I have to backtrack about a week....I had seen so much press about Henrietta Lacks and her incredible cells, that I put a hold on at our local library. I was told I was 48th on a list for 37 copies in the system. So I mentally put that one in the queue for sometime in May, figuring it would be a good one to slide in when I finished my lenten list. Then I was talking to my mom and we somehow got onto the subject of cruising, and I was looking up the name of one of the Holland America Lines ships that our family loves to sail on whenever they scrape up enough money to take a cruise. One of the tidbits that appeared in my google search was a book about a Holland America ship THAT SUNK....and voila....that one was also available by inter-library loan, so I put in a request for it, thinking that when it ever arrived from that far distant library in upper Maine, I'd just page through it, show it to my husband, the old sailor, and then send it back to the library.

Yesterday....the library called.....

Well....today I have spent five hours reading FOUR (repeat) FOUR wonderful pieces of non-fiction.  A new first for me. Haven't finished any of them yet, but by this time next week, I'm sure they'll all be done.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (I missed the piece on today's CBS Sunday Morning and as of 3:30 today they haven't posted a replay yet).  I figured I would just sort of page through this one.  NOT---it is fascinating, well-written, and of course, since it is largely set in Baltimore, my hometown, I'm sure I'll have lots to chat about with all my relatives.  I have to finish this one because with that many holds at the library, I know I won't be able to renew it.  It will not be a hardship to finish it  ( I suspect I may even be up late tonite --choir practice after dinner will take out a time chunk-- to get to the end.)

Burning Cold: The Cruise Ship Prinsendam and the greatest sea rescue of all Times.   This is another one that is really easy to read.  I started to say fun, but I suspect since we haven't gotten to the fire that resulted in the disaster, that the fun of boarding, dining, and enjoying the cruise is about to end.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the Coast Guard and Holland America managed to save EVERYONE (mostly elderly).  Believe me, I'll definitely pay big attention next time to the lifeboat drills!

The Woman Who Named God This is one that I won in a blog contest several months ago and started reading about 10 days ago.  I thought it was fiction, I thought the title referred to Sarai (Sarah) Abraham's wife, but now in the middle, I'm finding it may refer to someone else.  It's fascinating reading, and Charlotte Gordon, the author has done a great research job to present material that could have been very dull in a very easy to read and understand story.

The Seven Storey Mountain - an autobiography.  I believe this is the first book written by the very prolific monk Thomas Merton. We inherited an entire collection, and I've been determined to read at least one.  I have been taking it slowly, savoring it.  Published years ago, the font is small and tightly packed, the writing is fairly formal, and Merton isn't going to miss telling us about every little detail of his life before he became a cloistered monk.  It is interesting though, and I'm about half-way through.  I'm hoping to finish by Easter.

Now....during the week I plan to listen to more of  WOLF HALL--- a book that deserves every accolade it's been receiving.  I thought I knew a lot about the era, but I'm finding much new information.  The narration on the audio is fantastic, and I almost look for excuses to exercise, clean house, or do my cross-stitch so I can listen.

Finally, spring training has begun, and the Red Sox game is on the TV (muted) so we can keep track of how they're doing---winning of course!  Let's just hope choir doesn't drag on forever tonite.....

Wrapping up the wrap up

Well.....as I said before.....

for some reason (I suspect it has to do with the number of links) the post just before this one refused to allow me to edit it any further.  I saved it as a draft, but now cannot get into any of it to edit, nor can I add the ending wrap it up paragraph.   I was planning to keep it as a draft, add the rest of the books I read in March, and then publish at the end of the month.

HOWEVER.............it appears that I'm going to have to post a 1/2 a month end of month March report later to complete.  And I'll have to be careful about how big/long these wrap ups get.  Hmmmmmm....any suggestions ???  Is there a limit on the length of a post? 

Monthly wrap up- Feb and March

Well.... I'm not as caught up as I wanted to be, and I didn't get a monthly wrap-up posted for February, but I'm still having fun reading a variety of old, new, fiction, non-fiction, short and long books for all the challenges on my side bar.  So here's the scoop for February and March.


The composite report indicates that for February and March , I've read  and reviewed  25 books, and officially abandoned only one (Shadow of the Wind) .  Of those my top five are

1. The Cruelest Month
2. The Khan Dilemma
3. War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam
4. The Poacher's Son
5. The House on Beartown Road


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So here's the progress for the month--the Challenge Title links to that blog's contest, and the Book title links to my review:

Books Won Reading Challenge: Read 10 or more in 2010
Progress: 4/10
The Woman Who Named God

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Reading from My Shelves Challenge: Read 20 in 2010
Progress: 6/10
The Women Around Jesus
The Seven Storey Mountain
Rome Has Spoken

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Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge 
 COMPLETE 12 Books read!  Anything past now is a bonus!

Execution Dock
Monkey's Raincoat
206 Bones
The Cruelest Month
The Weight of Silence
The Khan Dilemma
Blood of the Wicked 
Buried Strangers
The Case of the Missing Servant


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Typically British Reading Challenge    Read 3 in2010

Progress: 2/3

Execution Dock
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Audio Book Challenge - Listen to 20 in 2010
Progress: 16/20
The Case of the Missing Servant
Execution Dock
Monkey's Raincoat
206 Bones
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
The Cruelest Month
Morning Show Murders
House on Beartown Road


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ARC Reading Challenge    Going for the Gold Level- read 25
Progress: 12/25  (There are still 12 from 2009, and 4 new ones sitting on the shelf.  The pile goes down.....the pile goes up.  How FUN!)
 
The Weight of Silence
The Khan Dilemma 
Eastern Stars
Shot to Death

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TBR Challenge This one is a pre-stated list, and I'm not doing as well as I'd like to. The Challenge is to read 12 from a predesignated list of 24.

Progress: 2/12

The Woman Who Named God

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Support Your Local Library Read 50 in 2010

Progress:17/50

Execution Dock
206 Bones
War Torn.....
Morning Show Murders
Blood of the Wicked
The Cruelest Month
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
House on Beartown Road
The Case of the Missing Books
Buried Strangers
The Case of the Missing Servant
The Monkey's Raincoat

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War Through the Generations Challenge
 Read 5 in 2010
Progress: 1/5

War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam




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Medical Mysteries Read 6 in 2010

Progress: 1/6

206 Bones

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Review and Giveaway reminder - EASTERN STARS

Only one more week to enter....

Spring training has started, and I'm sure there is at least one player from San Pedro de Marcoris playing today.

Here's my review................

Author:Mark Kurlansky
Format: paperback galley 288 pgs
Subject; baseball; sugar cane; poverty
Setting: San Pedro de Marcoris, Dominican Republic
Genre: non-fiction
Source: ARC from publisher
Challenge: Completing ARCs

This is a fact-filled report of the town of San Pedro de Marcoris in the Dominican Republic. The author takes us back almost to Columbus, and marches forward through every 'owner/exploiter' of the town, explaining how economic circumstances changed as the sugar cane industry went thru a series of ups and down. The story presents more the history of baseball and stories of individuals and their struggles with baseball teams, terms, contracts, etc. I was especially interested in the impact the US embargo on Cuba has had on this whole issue, something I never realized before. There is also some discussion about how much impact baseball had on the town, and there is an excellent chronological listing of all the players who came to Major League american baseball from this town.

While I was personally disappointed not to find any mention of players from other towns in the DR, the author never stated that he intended otherwise. A good solid book for someone doing research on socio-economic development in the Dominican Republic, or someone who is a die-hard baseball trivia fan. Especially if your favorite team has one of the dozens of natives of San Pedro de Marcoris.

So step up to the plate and enter to win by clicking here.

Review: Morning Show Murders

Author: Al Roker
Format:8 discs (9 + hrs), 320 pg equivalent
Narrator:  Al Roker and Dick Lochte
Characters: Chef Billy Blessing,
Subject: murder; TV shows
Setting: New York
Genre: amateur sleuth detective mystery
Source: public library
Challenge: Audio books, Support your Local Library

A very predictable, run of the mill mystery. Chef Billy Blessing (a poorly disguised stand-in for Al Roker of NBC's TODAY Show fame) runs a restaurant, lives in digs upstairs, has a running gig on the Morning Show doing interviews, food segments, Man-about-town, etc.  However, he does not get along with one of the show's producers who turns up dead early in the story. Food from  Chef Blessing's restaurant is found at the victim's home, and the poor guy seems to have died from poison contained in the food.  Chef Blessing is of course accused of the murder, and decides he'll have to take things in his own hands and solve this crime.

There is a believable but non-too-exciting side cast of  characters, and several plot twists that aren't twisty at all.  They were basically ho-hum.  I listened to this one on audio-- it was OK, but much as I like the real Al Roker on TV when I only have to listen to him in 3-4 minutes segments, I found his voice very irritating for long run narration.  The whole thing was so unimpressive, I almost abandoned it out of boredom.

And there weren't even any good recipes.

Review: Blood of the Wicked

Author: Leighton Gage
Format: hardback, 304 pgs.
Characters:Chief Inspector Mario Silva, Delegado Hector Costa
Subject: crime and corruption
Setting: Brasil, 1970-80
Series: Chief Inspector Mario Silva
Genre: detectives, police procedural
Source: public library
Challenge:Support your Public Library, Thrillers and Suspense

This one is a bit violent and bloody for me, but I finished it anyway. I had read the next one in the series, Buried Strangers, and was anxious to back-fill information about the main character. Blood of the Wicked is the first of the Inspector Mario Silva series, set in Brazil. Silva is a member of the Federal Police force, so he is called to various locations throughout the country. Gage gives us a good solid introduction to Brazilian justice in the 60's and 70's during the military rule--not a brand we'd like to have here, and not a pretty site.

In this story, we get Silva's background and motivation for being a cop. We meet his nephew Hector Costa, also a cop, and are introduced to the theory of Liberation Theology, prevalent in South America during that period, but in this story recently condemned by Rome. The story opens with the murder of a Bishop. I don't like to do spoilers, but will say that in solving this murder, Silva must deal with street crime, pedophiles, corrupt (and I mean Very Corrupt) local and state police, even more corrupt judges, more murder, torture, child abuse, martyrs, selfish landowners, landless peasants, corrupt (yes Very Corrupt) and evil priests, saintly priests, abused women, and an obnoxious boss more worried about his image than justice.

In spite of this ugliness, Silva, with the help of a couple of holy people, manages to bring the severest perpetrators to justice.  Nuf said.  It's a great read, and, if you haven't read any of the others, holds great promise for more to come in future books.

Sunday Salon

This week I'm taking it easy after a long morning choir practice --we're getting ready for Easter, so will be having long practices on Sundays after early Mass when everybody's in town.  When  I get home, I'll have a leisurely breakfast (I'm thinking croissants, Canadian bacon, poached eggs and cantalope), and then settle down for some cross-stitch avec audio book, and then some reading.

It's been a good reading week, although I've not finished too many.  Two that I have finished are The Singer's Gun by Emily  St John Mandel and The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron.  I'm going to post the review for the Mandel book  for the The Spotlight series being hosted by Aarti at Booklust.  It was a fun read, so stay tuned for this one.

The Poacher's Son is an outstanding debut work by a fellow Mainer, Paul Doiron, who just happens to be the editor of DownEast Magazine.  This one is a winner, so look for it when it pubs in May.  In the meantime, we have a lively discussion going on at the Barnes and Noble First Look club, so I don't want to get ahead of the group  with a posted review.  We'll wrap up by Easter, so I'll post in mid to late March.

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Then I've been plugging away at the Lenten Reading pile. I browsed (fairly intensely) through  Rome Has Spoken, a book I'd started years ago, and periodically picked up. I finally got it finished.  The subtitle really says  it all:  A Guide to Forgotten Papal Statements and How they Have Changed Through the Centuries.
It's a very academic but interesting volume reviewing various "issues" that seem to have been interpreted and enforced differently over the two centuries of Roman Catholicism. The topics cover the range from evolution to the slavery, from Galileo to usury, and include the current buzz topics of contraception, women's ordination and divorce.  It's not recreational reading but it's been personally enriching.
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So what's up for this week? 

I'm listening to Al Roker's Morning Show Murders- it's a slow starter, but I'm not ready for any intense audios right now. Roker reads his own work and it's an easy listen while I'm stitching.

I'm still plowing through Merton, and I started two new books---very different, but both really good:
The Woman Who Named God is one I won in a contest last year.  Although it's different from what I expected, (for some reason I thought it was fiction and it's not), I'm really impressed with the first 50 pages I've read.  It is not a quick read, but neither is it ponderous.
 
I was so enchanted with the Leighton Gage's Inspector Silva book that I read last month (Buried Strangers) that I got the first book in the series (Blood of the Wicked) from the library this week, and dove right in.  If anything, it's better than the other one.

And finally I need to get started on one of my LT Early Review books --Lake Magic by Kimberly Fiske since I just found out I was selected for another: Man from Saigon by  Marti Leimbach.  So Sunday's Salon looks to be a wonderful one.

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.