The House on Tradd Street, by Karen White

November 19, 200913 Comments

Finished 11-10-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2009

I recalled that when I was a child, before I’d learned to ignore such things, if I were paying very close attention, I could hear the murmur of very low voices all the time as if someone had left a radio on in a distant room. But tonight all I heard was silence, and the pressing thought inside my skull. The photo album.

I put on my robe and slippers and headed toward the guest bedroom, turning on every light as I went. Regardless of how many times I saw them, it was always easier to see dead people when the lights were on.

Chapter 11

Melanie Middleton is a very successful real estate agent in Charleston, an expert at selling historical homes while having no love for them at all. When she visits a new client one day and becomes the owner of his historical house a few days later due to his death, she is not happy. She is forced to live in the house for a year and is given an allowance to restore it. Only she is not the only one in the house. The spirits who stay there both fight her and push her into solving a generations old mystery.

Her best friend Sophie and estranged father are both on board to help, as well as a good-looking true crime author working on his next big story. Before long Melanie is forced to confront her past with her father and accept the help of a man she knows is silently grieving. And these ghosts are not the Casper kind. They can do real damage.

I really liked this book. Melanie is a feisty 39 year-old woman who has relied on no one to achieve success and I was rooting for her to comes to terms with her father and grow to love the house. The mystery of the missing diamonds was one that had me guessing til the end and the ghosts, while unnerving, added depth to the story.

White writes with great humor and attention to detail and I am looking forward to the next book with Melanie.

This was a library book.

Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding

November 12, 20098 Comments

Finished 10-31-09, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1996

completely exhausted by entire day of date-preparation. Being a woman is worse than being a farmer–there is so much harvesting and crop spraying to be done: legs to be waxed, underarms shaved, eyebrows plucked, feet pumiced, skin exfoliated and moisturized, spots cleansed, roots dyed, eyelashes tinted, nails filed, cellulite massaged, stomach muscles exercised. The whole performance is so highly tuned you only need to neglect it for a few days for the whole thing to go to seed.

Sunday 15 January

Bridget is a single thirty-something Londoner in a dead-end job who is shagging her boss. This is her diary of a year that details her weight, alcohol intake, cigarettes smoked and is an irreverent look at a woman not sure who she is or what she wants. Well, besides shagging her boss. She’s barely able to run her own life. let alone those of her parents, who are splitting up. Bridget is helpless, funny, and charming.

I was shocked to realize as I finished this book that I actually preferred the movie. Granted it is a favorite of mine, so expectations were high, but I really thought the movie was more fun and more romantic. The book had a harder edge and while I usually like that, the movie had already won me over. The mother in this movie was horrible and I was surprised that the movie did not really include the character of Tom, who I really liked.

This book was good and I liked it. Bridget is a character was easy to fall in love with and hard to forget. I think I’m going to watch the movie tonight and relive the laughs. Look for my review of the movie tomorrow.

This was from my personal library.

The Divorce Party, by Laura Dave

October 22, 200911 Comments

Finished audio 10-22-09, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 2008

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

If you knew that your marriage would end in a divorce party 35 years later, would you still go through with it? What’s the distance between staying and walking away? Gwyn and Thomas are part of the Hampton elite, rich, beautiful, two kids, grandchild on the way, and they are getting divorced because Thomas has found Buddhism. Or is this true?

Their son, Nate and his fiancee, Maggie begin the day of the divorce party at home in Brooklyn with secrets of their own that only get more complicated once they arrive in Long Island. Maggie is about to meet Nate’s parents for the first time at a party she can’t quite come to terms with. And Nate has kept his immense wealth from her. Why and is there more he’s not saying?

I love books and movies about marriages. The happy, the sad, the damaged. There is something so complicated about this relationship and no two are ever the same. Gwyn is facing the end of her marriage, but there is still something there, love or hope, or both. And Maggie is faced with a future husband who is willing to keep the most basic truths about himself a secret from her. The chapters alternated between the two women and I loved it. It was thoughtful and thought-provoking, meaningful and sad and I could not stop listening until it was done.

I have to be in the right mood for a book like this, but if you are I think you will really take something away. I was totally caught up in the lives of Gwyn and Maggie for 6 hours and I wouldn’t have missed a minute of the Divorce Party.

I checked this audio book out of the library.

The Appeal, by John Grisham

October 14, 20093 Comments

Finished 10-14-09, rating 3/5, fiction, pub.2007

“There are two fees. First, a million as a retainer. This is all properly reported. You officially become our client, and we provide consulting services in the area if government relations, a wonderfully vague term that covers just about anything. The second fee is seven million bucks, and we take it offshore. Some of this will be used to fund the campaign, but most will be preserved. Only the first fee goes on the books.”

Carl was nodding, understanding. “For eight million, I can buy myself a supreme court justice.”

Wes and Mary Grace Payton have been fighting a huge chemical company in the courts for years, trying to get justice for a small Mississippi town decimated by years of poisoning by Krane Chemical Corporation. Carl Trudeau doesn’t take this lawyers seriously and is shocked when the jury sides with the plaintiff for $42 million and decides that it is time to put his money to work and buy an election.

This story has a bit of courtroom drama and lots of the ugly side of politics. There was a clear contrast between the haves and the haves nots, the rich and the poor, the power players and the powerless, and it was easy to root for the Davids as they battled Goliath. Most states still elect state supreme court justices and this books shows how easily these elections can be bought. And it is only the voters who suffer from the manipulation.

This was a cynical and probably very accurate look at the election process we have in place and it will anger you. Many of you know that I have been working at the elections the past few years and I encourage everyone to vote, but more than that I want people to vote with knowledge. This book shines a spotlight on this problem. I could go on for a while about this, but that’s a whole different post.

I really liked the first half of the book with the environmental focus, thought the middle was slow with way too much detail on the campaign play-by-play, and really hated the end. If you are interested in politics or are a Grisham fan you may like this more than me. Although, I’m interested in politics and I didn’t love it.

This came from my own library.

The Taking, by Dean Koontz

October 8, 20098 Comments

Finished 10-8-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2004

Nevertheless, though this cross-section of humanity had shared the same experiences and had drawn the same conclusions – that their species was no longer the most intelligent on the planet and their dominion of Earth had been usurped – they could not come together to devise a mutually agreeable response to the threat. Four philosophies divided the occupants of the tavern into four camps.

Chapter 19

Molly and Neil live in a small mountain town, secluded from the big cities and vacations spots. One night it starts raining, only the rain is not rain and it is raining everywhere in the world at once. Molly and Neil decide they need to join with others for safety and head to town, where they find four groups of people. At the meeting place in the tavern they are cut off from the world, no television, internet, phones and there are those who think the world is ending and they plan to meet their maker drunk and happy, those who say to wait to talk to the invaders, those who want to stock up on gun power and take the fight to the occupiers, and those on the fence, undecided between three bad choices.

Molly, with some prodding by a dog named Virgil, decides she and Neil need to round up all the children and get them to safety, although they have no idea where that may be. The world is being consumed by a fungus and ghostlike entities that can walk though walls. As Molly and Neil head around town there is peril at every turn and the Earth’s final days seem like a foregone conclusion.

This book is a spooky nightmare full of despair and surprising faith. It is an alien film come to life on the page and seen through the eyes of a young woman trying to do the right thing even if she doesn’t know what that is. This book will scare you and it may depress you, but it will also make you think. I wish I could tell you about the unexpected ending, because there is a lot to discuss, but I can’t without ruining the book.

I really enjoyed it and it is perfect if you are in the mood for some spooky Halloween reading.

This book was from my personal library.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s, by Truman Capote

October 4, 200910 Comments

Finished 10-02-09, rating 4/5, fiction novella, pub. 1958

“I could hear Doc Golightly’s footsteps climbing the stairs. His head appeared above the banisters and Holly backed away from him, not as though she were frightened, but as though she were retreating into a shell of disappointment. Then he was standing in front of her, hangdog and shy. “Gosh, Lulamae,” he began, and hesitated, for Holly was gazing at him vacantly, as though she couldn’t place him. “Gee, honey,” he said, “don’t they feed you up here? You’re so skinny. Like when I first saw you. All wild around the eye.”

I love the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and wanted to read the novella it originated in. This is a short story that is edgy and provocative in a way the movie was not. There were many passages that were in the movie word for word, but oftentimes they were completely out of context. The movie was romantic and Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly was flawed and vulnerable, but not so with this amazing story.

Paul writes the story of his time spent with Holly Golightly years after they have seen each other for the last time, when he puts her on a plane to Brazil. He decides is finally time to document the refreshing Holly and his love for her. They lived in the same apartment and saw each other in passing for a while before their friendship blossomed. His position was to view her from afar for the most part as the friendship stopped and started often.

Holly Golightly was an independent woman who knew what she wanted and didn’t let things like facts get in the way. She was a phony, but a good phony. Truman Capote wrote a beautiful novel and even though it differed quite a bit from the movie, I loved it on its own merit. If you are a fan of the movie you really must read this. At around 100 pages it won’t take you long.

The Last Ember, by Daniel Levin

September 24, 2009October 22, 20125 Comments

Finished 9-24-09, rating 4.5/5, thriller, pub. 2009

“The Temple Mount was surrounded by fifty thousand Roman soldiers,” he said, turning to the professor, “and the priest escaped through here, along this aqueduct.”

His flashlight revealed a narrow stone aqueduct stretching into the darkness. It appeared to float across the dark chasm that lay on either side.

“And he took with him the one artifact that brought down a Roman emperor.”

Chapter 7

Jonathan is an archeology scholar and Rome Prize winner turned New York City lawyer. He is sent to Rome by his firm to help them in a stolen artifacts case and he is almost immediately confronted by his ex-girlfriend and a centuries old mystery involving the world’s three main religions. Jonathan past study of the traitor Josephus gives him special insight into the clue this stolen artifact provides, a clue that he thinks could lead him to the Tabernacle menorah that was stolen from Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. As he travels with his ex Emili to the Colosseum and other hot spots in Rome they follow a series of clues while the police are trying to find them. Using Emili’s UN credentials the two race back to Jerusalem to stop the Waqf and their destruction of the what is beneath the Temple Mount.

This is a religious thriller that I compare to the da Vinci Code in only the post positive aspects. The pace, story and setting were top notch and had a hard time putting it down. Since our vacation to Italy last year I’ve loved reading stories that take place in Italy and this book made me want to go back and take a tour of all places Jonathan visited, but since many of them are under the city that is probably not going to happen.

It was also complicated and loaded with historical and religious facts. The only thing that slowed down my reading at all was the multitude of knowledge that I tried to take in. I do not normally read historical fiction, so most of this was new to me as were many of the names. To make all of this history interesting, the plot is lightning quick and full of fantastic and seemingly far fetched occurences. And that was okay because I loved it.

I highly recommend this if you love thrillers, historical fiction, The daVinci Code, Italy, Jerusalem, suspense, religious mysteries, or archeology. That covers a lot of people. Does it include you?

I attended a book signing with Daniel Levin and he will be featured in one of my 9 in ’09 interview soon.

Silk and Stone, by Deborah Smith

September 23, 20097 Comments

Finished 9-20-09, rating 4.5/5, romance, pub. 1994

The earliest Scotch, Irish, and Dutch immigrants had been drawn to the misty, ancient mountains of western North Carolina by rumors of rubies and other precious gems mined by the Cherokees. The rumors were more than true. The newcomers plucked fine stones from the riverbanks, from the hillsides, from the ruts in deeply churned wagon roads. They riddled the mountains with mine shafts, looking for more.

Chapter 2

This is a sweeping love story that spans decades. In Pandora, North Carolina, the Cherokee and mountain people are mainly overlooked by the outside world and that’s the way they like it. The Ravenclaws, a Cherokee family with a special connection to the mountain, are able to find things, like gems and people. The Vanderveers are the royalty of the mountain and treat everyone with respect. Then Alexandra enters the picture and causes an irreparable rift between these two family and changes the town of Pandora forever.

Doesn’t sound like a love story? Well, Jake Ravenclaw and Samantha, niece to Alexandra, have a connection that started when Sam was four. Over the years they see each other occasionally, but in secret and love blossoms. The two agreed to be married when Sam was about five and Jake ten and they both clung to that. Of course, neither is ordinary and both felt like outsiders, so the connection to each other was great.

This is a grand sweeping love story that is not sticky sweet at all. First, Alexandra is a character that was filled with so much hate, maybe the best ‘bad guy’ I’ve read in quite a while. She keeps this story grounded in manipulation and lies. Second, there are great secondary characters that carry some of the heavy lifting in the storytelling. And the last thing keeping this love story from sugar overload? The fact that the prologue is written when Sam is waiting for Jake to visit her for the first time after he is released from prison and they haven’t spoken in the ten years he’s been sent away.

I loved this story and recommend it to romance lovers who like the romance, more than the hot, steamy sex and for anyone interested in the mountain culture or Cherokee traditons.

While My Sister Sleeps, by Barbara Delinsky

September 20, 2009September 20, 200913 Comments

Finished 9-17-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2009

“Let’s take it step by step,” the doctor said. First, stabilization. Beyond that, it’s really a question of waiting. There’s no husband listed on her tag. Does she have kids?”

“No.”

“Well, that’s something.”

“It’s not.” Molly was desperate. “You don’t understand. I can’t tell my mother Robin is lying here like this.” Kathryn would blame her. Instantly. Even before she knew that it truly was Molly’s fault. It had always been that way. In her mother’s eyes. Molly was five years younger and ten times more troublesome than Robin.

Chapter 1

Molly and Robin are sisters. They live together, work together, depend on each other. Robin is a world class marathoner and Molly has spent her life helping Robin accomplish her running goals. Their mother, Kathryn, is a strong-willed woman with love for Robin and little understanding for Molly. The dad, Charlie and brother, Chris are the silent support. When Robin has a heart attack when running the family must come to terms with the grim possibility that Robin may never fully recover.

This is the story of a family facing an unspeakable tragedy. Robin is only 33 and her family is shell shocked. Molly tries to figure out what Robin wants and Kathryn vents on anyone who comes her way, even the good Samaritan who saved Robin’s life. When Molly discovers a long kept family secret and does something about it, Kathryn is horrified.

Molly was a great character, sort of a good friend who has no idea how great she really is. Her mother expected her to support Robin in her lofty goals and she always felt like a disappointment. Which leads to Kathryn, who I really wanted to shake for most of this book. I did become less frustrated with her as the story continued, but she was not a feel good character. I liked Charlie, but Chris and his troubles were really my least favorite parts of the book. He had way too many excuses to not try to make his marriage work.

There was a lot going on in this book and it was a fast and thought provoking read. The characters were all well drawn and the secrecy, favoritism, and medical issues all made for an engrossing read. It was also the story of personal growth and the full circle of life. I really enjoyed it.

Travel Writing, by Peter Ferry

September 16, 2009September 20, 20094 Comments

Finished 9-11-09, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 2009

See, I think that’s Pete’s problem,” said Carolyn. “He knew what was going to happen. You know what I mean? He could see it happen before it happened, and then it happened.” (Of course I now know that even if for a moment I could see what was going to happen to Lisa Kim, I had no idea what had already happened to her and would not for a long time.)

Chapter 1

High school teacher Pete Ferry (you may notice the similarity with the author’s name) sees a woman driving erratically one night and watches in horror as she crashes and dies. The police say it’s an accident, but Pete is not convinced. His guilt at not having stopped her fuels his obsession with finding out everything about that night and the victim, Lisa Kim. Pete’s distraction takes it toll on his relationship with his girlfriend of many years and he can’t seem to work up enough energy to save it.

Of course, this may all be a lie, a story. Pete is telling this story to his students so they see how a great story is pieced together, with truth and lies. What is real and what isn’t? Or is it all a dream?

This clever concept was interesting, and it mostly worked. I guess I had more of an issue with Pete. I didn’t ever quite warm up to him or understand his motivations. And if I was to take his character at face value I guess I didn’t really like him much.

I thought it was original and I liked the alternating storylines and flashbacks. It’s a solid debut that will keep you guessing to the end. I liked it enough to try this author again.

I received this book from the pubisher.

Stacy's Books

books, movies, and boy

Tag: fiction