The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright FIC Wri

 

This was a great summer read.  The main character is Che de Milan.  She has a busy life with her career and her long-time boyfriend Ned.  It is a long distance romance but it works for them.  They Skype every other night, text during the day and have wonderful romantic getaways frequently. Che has also been busy watching her mother die.  There is a memorial service.  Three weeks later she receives the urn with cremains.  In the bottom of the box is the coffee table book she had given her mom.  It was all about Canterbury - the history and also about the modern day pilgrims who walk to Canterbury.  And there was a letter.  Her mom wanted Che to do a pilgrimage and scatter the ashes along the way.  Really?  She probably would have found a million reasons not to do it until she opened the other letter that had arrived for her - from Ned.  Ned who has found someone new.  He is giving her some time to get used to it and he will call her on Monday so they can talk.  So that is how she ends up googling Canterbury pilgrimages and buys a plane ticket.  She has hired a private guide.  But when she arrives in London she is greeted by a message that her guide is in the hospital but she can join a group that is leaving that day.  Not what she had in mind!  But she joins the group and in the tradition of Canterbury Tales they all share a story.  It was an interesting and entertaining book.

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Death Wears a Beauty Mask: and other stories by Mary Higgins Clark MYS Cla

What a disappointment this book was. Mary Higgins Clark has been a favorite author of mine for a long time, and I think I’ve read all of her novels. She established herself long ago as an accomplished writer of mysteries. And I mean long ago. She is now 87 years old and the quality of her work is not up to her reputation. However, she is a guaranteed sales maker (and she rakes in a cool $12 million per book), so she and her publisher will continue to produce and sell her work because readers and libraries continue to buy them. And then we get stuck with a dud like this.

Death Wears a Beauty Mask is a collection of short stories written a long time ago. And nothing was done to update them at all. Mentions of the Watergate scandal, Jackie Kennedy seen leaving her apartment, and a small house in New York City that cost $20,000, for example. Some of the stories are weak; because of their brevity, there is very little character development; several have ended with very little sensible resolution.

It’s just a guess, but I doubt Ms. Clark needs the income from the sale of this book to be able to pay her bills. It is, in my opinion, a black eye on her reputation. Sometimes authors fail to realize – or care, maybe? – that their loyal readers have expectations for them, and when those expectations aren’t met, readers feel betrayed and suckered in. And some of them, like me, write about it on a public forum.  Maybe it’s time for this author to cap her inkwell and put away her quill.  There is a lot to be said for knowing when it is time to retire.

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The Far End of Happy by Kathryn Craft FIC Cra

This was a well-written book but the subject matter was deep!   It takes place during one day with lots of flashbacks to fill in the back story.  It is based on a real life event in Craft's life.  This is the story of Ronnie (Veronica), her husband Jeff, their two children, Will and Andrew, Beverly (Ronnie's mom) and Janet (Jeff's mom).  When the book begins we know that Ronnie and Jeff are on the verge of divorce.  Today is the day Jeff is to move out of the house.  He does not want the marriage to end.  Her kids run to Ronnie to tell her that daddy is drunk and he has a gun.  Soon the police are involved in a standoff with Jeff.  Ronnie and the kids are safely taken from the home and taken to another location where they spend the day with Beverly and Janet.  We often see this type of tragedy on TV but in this story we see it all from the point of view of the family.

The background story of how this day came to be was riveting, emotional and fascinating.  It was a good book!

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The Art of Baking Blind by Sarah Vaughan (FIC Vau)

Set in England, Eadens Grocery Stores are looking for the "New Mrs. Eaden."  Kathleen Eaden, wife of the chain owner, was celebrated not just as the author of the classic cookbook The Art of Baking but also for the way she nurtured her family through the food she cooked.  Now, a year after her death, the chain is looking for someone to once again be their public face.

We meet the five finalists who will have to cook their way through a baking competition in order to achieve their goal.  There's Jenny who's children are all away from home and who's husband has immersed himself in running marathons...and maybe something else?  And Karen whose perfect facade hides a tortured past.  Vicki left her teaching job to be a mother to her precocious three-year-old son and finds that it isn't quite what she expected.  Claire, a single mother, works for Eadens as a clerk and can't afford the expensive ingredients she sells there.  Last but not to be forgotten is Mike who is still grieving the loss of his wife but has two children to care for.

As the book progresses, we learn more about these people and what brought them to this point in their lives.  We also come to know more about Kathleen who is perhaps not the perfect figure everyone thought she was.

I enjoyed this book a lot.  At just over 400 pages it seemed long when I started it but I breezed through it in record time.  All of the characters grow (even Kathleen) as the book progresses and I came to like them all.

One word of caution, though - don't read this book if you're hungry!

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Hello From the Gillespies by Monica McInerney FIC McI

   

I had been reading some rather heavy non-fiction on my Kindle - and it was time for a change!  Enter this book which was just perfect for me at this time.  As in her previous books, Ms. McInerney has taken me away from my life and into the lives of a family on the other side of the world.  Angela Gillespie had come to Australia almost four decades ago where she fell instantly in love with Nick.  That led to 33 years of living on a sheep station (I think that is what they called it!) and four children. Every year she would send out a Christmas letter to friends, family and former paying guests who had become friends.  It would always sound like a perfect family.  This year Angela is struggling.  Things are not perfect.  There are issues with all of the children and she and Nick aren't communicating.  To get out her frustration she sits down and writes the truth along with a bit of her fantasy life and some things she assumes to be true.  She never intended to send it out but Nick sends it off in cyber space without reading and Angela is mortified when she finds out.

I was totally wrapped up in their lives.  Nick has been withdrawn because of business decisions he felt he had to make for the family.  The oldest girls (twins) are off on their own and both are making terrible decisions which will force them to return home.  Their younger sister has already been forced to return home because of financial reasons.  And the youngest child (who was a late life surprise) has been kicked out of boarding school so he is back home too - along with his imaginary friend.

It's summer - relax with a good novel!

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Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina MacLaughlin (694 Mac)

Having spent her twenties at a desk while working for a Boston newspaper, the author yearns to do something different.  She quits her job...and then figures out what that might be.

Several jobless months later she answers an ad on Craigslist from someone looking for a "Carpenter's Assistant:  Women strongly encouraged to apply."  After an application process which included a one-day tryout (where she was forced to admit how little she knew about carpentry) she got the job and found herself working for and with Mary.

From dealing with commas and periods, she finds herself working with wood and tools, developing muscles she didn't know she had and learning more than she thought possible.  Oh and making mistakes.  Many mistakes.  But under the careful tutelage of Mary she falls in love with the physical work and the joy of making something out of nothing.

I grew up in a family of builders.  At times over the years all of us worked with wood and tools.  And also at times I have contemplated what might have been.  Reading this book gave me an idea of what that might have looked like.

I enjoyed this book from the explanations and histories of the tools she uses in her work, to the frustrations not being able to get something completely right on the first attempt, to her fear of lasting side effects from all the dust and carcinogens she was breathing in.  It was fun and uplifting at the same time.

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Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight FIC McC

Loved this book!  Small town, secrets from decades ago, relationships between parents and children and husbands and wives, a dead baby, rumors.......it has everything to keep you interested!

The newborn's body is found near a creek that runs along the edge of a prestigious college in a wealthy town in New Jersey.  Molly Sanderson is new to the town.  Her husband is a professor at the college and she has been doing freelance journalism.  She actually is a lawyer but she gave it up a few years ago when she gave birth to a baby who was already dead.  Molly was in a very dark place and her husband, Justin, had to make sure their daughter, Ella, was taken care of.  Now Molly receives a call from her boss.  She is the only one available to cover the breaking story.  When her husband finds out that the victim is a baby he tries to get Molly to walk away from it because he isn't sure she can emotionally do it.

But do it she does - and she starts digging into some other crimes that happened in the same vicinity years ago.  Secrets are going to be uncovered!   A good story.

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Dead Wake: the Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson 940.4 Lar

Of course I have known the story of the Lusitania for decades. Yet as I listened to the audiobook I found myself trying to warn these people of what was going to happen.  Hoping against hope that in this story the ship won't sink.  That is how involved I became with this historic event.  You don't just hear the story from the point of view of those on the ship but from those in the U-boat also - seems a very secret British intelligence group was tracking that boat.

It is also an interesting look into the society of the early 20th century - the class system was alive and well.  The people who boarded the luxury ship were warned about the dangers of travel but they didn't pay much attention to it.  After all it wouldn't be right for a civilian ship to be attacked.  People didn't do that!  But Germany changed the rules without notice.

Throughout the book I became very invested in these people and worried about learning their fate.  A fascinating piece of history brought to you by a very gifted writer.

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Our Souls at Night FIC Har

"And then there was the day when Addie Moore made a call on Louis Waters".  So begins author Kent Haruf's last novel, Our Souls at Night, in his signature, understated style.  

Addie is a widow, she's 70, and what she asks her long-time neighbor, Louis, is a doozy --she wants him to sleep with her.  It's nothing tawdry; she's not asking for sex.  She's lonely, and what she wants is someone to talk with and help her make it through the night.  

Louis is certainly surprised by the call.  While his late wife and Addie were close, he barely knows Addie beyond a friendly wave.  But he agrees. 

These innocent evenings ease the loneliness of widowhood, and a deeper friendship begins. But, of course, small towns being what they are -- Addie and Louis soon find themselves in the crosshairs of the town gossips.  But that's nothing compared to what happens when their adult children find out ...

I love all of Kent Haruf's novels, and with his death this year am sad to say goodbye to the fictional town of Holt, Colorado.  In this last book, the characterization of Addie and Louis are particularly good.  I promise you will fall in love with them too.

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Less Medicine More Health by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch 362.1 Wel

 

If you watch or read the news you will have seen lots of debate about health care.  One of the questions asked is why our health care is so expensive compared to some European countries that have state health care - and the statistics don't always come out in our favor when it comes to the results.  Some of those questions might be answered for you in this book.  It is well-written and reads quickly and easily.  Welch suggests that in many cases we are not always healthier because of more medicine (and he is not just talking about medicine that you swallow!) and in many cases we are less healthy.  It certainly will make you think about some things.  He has one section where he talks a lot about breast cancer - preventative care, false-positives, biopsies, etc.  Since I have just begun treatment for breast cancer I was very interested in this part.  He brought up some good points but I am glad I went through the retests and the biopsy.

He talks about the less invasive surgeries that are taking place today.  One that he references has to do with knees.  There have been several studies (and I have to say I questioned whether this should have been allowed to happen!) where patients with the same complaints and conditions were randomly divided.  Half had the surgery.  Half believed they had the surgery.  Basically there was no difference in the outcome - Yikes!  That is something to think about.

An interesting book that will make you think and perhaps question things about your health.

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