Next week, look for reviews of Lynne Hinton’s nun-turned-private-eye second in the series, as well as Rosamunde Pilcher’s family saga The Shell Seekers.
Book Review
Review: Making Your Mind Up by Jill Mansell
Jill Mansell writes satisfying stories. Here it is a week after I finished Making Your Mind Up, and I’m sighing with satisfaction at this complete, thoroughly developed, fun piece of fiction.
So Lottie lives in a little cottage with her two children (when they aren’t with their nice-enough but childish father). She feels chemistry with her new boss Tyler, but her children aren’t having it. They behave badly around him, and speak badly of him. So after a failed attempt at dating, Lottie moves on to ever charming Seb… who isn’t all that he seems to be. I KNEW there was something odd about that guy!
In the end, love prevails, as do family and loyalty and reason.
So besides phenomenal characters and a happily ever after, Making Your Mind Up illustrates the strength of family love. Most of Mansell’s novels are fun and flirty, but this one adds the dimension of children – truth-telling, tiring, joyful parts of us that keep us forever in love.
-calliope
Review: Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates
Well, well, well….I asked a friend about this author as I was reading this book. Of course I’ve heard of Joyce Carol Oates, but this is the first I’ve read. I asked him if her writing was always so weird. After finishing the last page, I am completely flummoxed. I am also wondering if her writing is always so…well….weird.
It’s just from the very start this had a feeling of a sort of Stephen King short story feel to it. Then lo and behold, SK is mentioned over and over in the book. Again, it was weird. It reminded me of something Richard Bachman would write. So it got even weirder. As this book was *written* in the voice of a famous author that was using a pseudonym that no one was aware of. The weirdness just got weirder for me.
It’s like once the little seed had been planted the entire book was glaring at me with the whole SK/RB/pseudonym thing….Was this intentional? Yes, i think it was….Intentional I mean, well…..okay…..you have to read the book to understand what I mean….but I reckon the best way I can explain it is that I don’t think another JCO would read this way…That’s why I really enjoyed this book. It’s amazing that an author could change a writing style so much just to suit a book. I mean, seriously, how often have you read a book and knew that it read just like a XY&Z book? Authors have a certain style to their writing, but throughout this entire book, I kept thinking, she’s writing like this on purpose! Just to weird me out. So now I have to wonder about all of JCO’s other books.
Of course…if it wasn’t intentional, I am soooo going to be disappointed! But never mind….I shall just pretend it was! Hahahaha
I really enjoyed the ending….this is a short, quick read….go on and give it a try….I’m glad I’ve read it…even though….still……weird…..
Until next time…
Urania xx
ARC provided by Edelweiss for an honest review
Buy it now Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates
Review: The Happy Hour Choir by Sally Kilpatrick
Some books are just magical, making me feel like I’m in another world, even though the plot and characters are pretty realistic. Some authors have a way of spinning a story into ethereality. The Crossroads Cafe by Deborah Smith, The Reluctant Prophet by Nancy Rue, and First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen all took me by surprise, embracing me into their twilight. And now The Happy Hour Choir joins the list.
Beulah is a poor southern young woman, living with a friend, working in a bar, rolling her eyes at religion, and avoiding the church rectory across the street. Until a new, good looking, patient, strong, God-loving pastor comes to town. Beulah certainly notices Luke, and even though she avoids talking about God with him, she appreciates his steadfastness and stability.
Luke doesn’t try to convert Beulah, but he does guide her in the areas of self-respect and leading others.
And that’s where the happy hour choir comes in. Beulah uses her connections from the bar to put together a new choir for Luke’s church. And it just happens to meet after Luke’s bible study… Also held at the bar.
Beulah and Luke wend their way through storms and calm, meeting up and lending support along the way. I loved to see their hearts changing and them shepherding the people around in amazing ways.
Maybe the magic is in the southern-ness of the story, maybe it’s conviction of faith, or maybe it’s just Luke’s strong silent alpha maleness, but whatever it is left me feeling warm and wanting more.
-calliope
Review: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
So maybe you’re hanging in on a Friday night (like me), wondering what to read next (like me). Or maybe it’s Saturday and you’d like a book to help you procrastinate, because really, who wants to clean the bathroom right now? Look no further. Barbara Kingsolver is a five star author. And if you’re lucky, you’ll be reading her instead of doing anything else.
The first novel I read by Kingsolver was The Bean Trees. Loved it. So clever. I reviewed it on this blog. Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior – even more clever. See, Barbara Kingsolver writes in layers, so I can effortlessly enjoy the superficial layer: Dellarobia and her family living in Appalachia; the beauty of butterflies and the wonder of their migration.
And then I can look underneath… at the marriage struggles, and the secrets, and the desires to stop the cycle of poverty and ignorance. I can understand the socioeconomic and ecological divisiveness that microcosms create.
And as I keep reading, the deepest layer peeks out: the hows and whys of nature gone wrong; the right way to be honest with the ones you love; the flight of survival, even when it takes you away from the comfortable, predictable place you’ve always called home.
There’s even more, of course. Love, religion, education, science, living off the land… Kingsolver addresses myriad facets of life and polishes them from underneath. She keeps putting pieces together… And when you see the result you’ll be amazed.
This is a five-star read.
-calliope
Review: The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1) by Jussi Adler-Olsen
How many times to you keep seeing a title of a book and remind yourself weekly that you *really* should get around to reading it? Well, “The Keeper of Lost Causes” is a book I’ve been meaning to read for years. For one reason or another it just kept getting pushed to the back burner.
Now that I’ve finally finished it I feel that I need to give myself a swift kick up the arse for being a total idget and not reading it sooner! This is a detective novel for sure…there’s plenty of mystery and suspense to go around. The storyline and the suspense is truly enough to satisfy anyone that loves Thrillers. However, what is even more remarkable with this novel are the characters. Not the main character. Granted, once again, the head of Department Q is plenty enough to satisfy anyone…there is so much to his inner workings that you can’t wait to spend more time with him….however, the secondary characters are truly outstanding. There isn’t a single one that you don’t long to know more of. There are many that you can easily hate (but in an, “I LOVE to hate you” kind of way) but there are also a few that you will absolutely fall in love with. You will want to rush out and finish the rest of the series just so you can see where Adler-Olsen takes them. You will long to hear their background history…You will thirst to know what happens next. I simply can’t wait to revisit them all soon and to see what is happening with them.
Adler-Olsen has done a brilliant job in laying the foundation in a series that will have you wishing the characters were not only real people….but also part of your intimate circle of friends.
Until next time…
Urania xx
Buy it now The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1) by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Review: Hold Me by Susan Mallery
Talk about character development! You’ve got Kipling Gilmore as a secondary character in previous Fool’s Gold books, and though he was always okay, I never felt the need to know him better. In Hold Me, Mallery highlights Kipling’s intuitiveness, protectiveness and good will toward his community.
Destiny Mills’ character drives forward the plot as she changes from living a superficial life with defensive walls up, to a woman who embraces and rejoices in the challenges and blessings that befall her. Destiny gets in touch with her inner musician, and subsequently thrives. 🙂
I loved Destiny’s relationship with her sister and the other women of Fool’s Gold. But I also had a lot of fun reading the male bonding scenes. Mallery put an authentic voice to husbands and brothers who want to appear macho while staying out of the proverbial doghouse.
Well done, as always, and I can’t wait for the next book.
-calliope
Review: The Traveling Tea Shop by Belinda Jones
Here’s the premise: Ex-pat Laurie takes British pastry chef Pamela on a food tour of New England. On a red London double decker. Driven by Pamela’s mom… and then later by Pamela’s true love… who has a really good-looking and nice son about Laurie’s age. Sigh.
Oh sorry I got carried away with the romance part.
Most of the book brings you to bakeries in the New England states. You read about gorgeous kitchens and quality ingredients, talented chefs and scrumptious treats. And then you get back on the bus with Laurie et al, check the itinerary, and go on to the next one. And maybe you watch some people fall a little bit in love.
I loved the food, the traveling, the allusions to quirky state stereotypes, the Newport, R.I. scenery, and the cathartic hotel stays. The Traveling Tea Shop gives you a cozy, family feeling, like you’re home on holiday, eating cakes and baking for friends. If I were going to take a road-trip with some friends, this very well might be our guidebook.
-calliope
Review: The Love Letters by Beverly Lewis
Like much Amish fiction, The Love Letters ties together family love, religious obligations, and personal faith. Beverly Lewis successfully illustrates these themes when young Marlena agrees to move in with her grandmother and care for her baby niece. During this time Marlena finds conflict between her parent’s church and her new community’s way of worship… And it doesn’t bode well for her courtship with Nat back home.
The plot, subplots, characters, and dialogue were all on point, and what I expected from a well-known and -loved author. However, I struggled with the uneven pace. The beginning was slow and drawn out, with each day taking several pages to describe. When I approached the last 20% of the book, the plot suddenly fast-forwarded. Lewis described several months’ time in one page, and then another length of time on the next page. I wish the beginning of the book had gone a little faster (editors! so much could have been tightened up)! If it had, there would have been plenty of room for a fleshed-out ending.
The story was satisfying, though. Beautiful sub-plots surfaced in the middle of The Love Letters: a boy’s readiness to grow up, a wife’s love for her flawed husband, and a father’s heart softened by God. Lewis’ characters demonstrate a peace and love that truly comes from Above.
You know I’m a fan of the romantic happily-ever-after, right? Well, I was pleasantly satisfied with Marlena’s new romance, the doctor’s reunion, and the rekindled love of a long-married husband and wife.
-calliope
Review: The Nightingale (revisited) by Kristin Hannah
So are you a fan of Kristin Hannah? Read this book! Wait! You’re not a fan of Kristin Hannah? Oh well, read this book!!!! This is a book worth reading. From start to finish it had me completely captivated.
A few weeks ago I was talking to a customer about the War. I now live in England and of course the War still has a presence here. Sometimes you run into people who remember what it was like. Having to take in strangers that were forced from their homes…and their lives….This customer was one such lady…It was just a random conversation that comes up unexpectedly…but leaves you pondering the entirety of the conversation…voicing my thoughts about what people had to go through…well, it has left me to wonder about life for long hours after the conversation ended. See here’s the thing I pointed out to her….it’s not Hitler I wonder about….it’s the every day people….we are so quick to judge….so quick to say, “I would NEVER do that.”…however…..how can you ever know? If your child is near death and hasn’t a drop of milk and you only have to nod your head when a neighbor’s name is mentioned…what would you do? If you only had to pretend to not hear the knock at your door of a person in need of hiding to protect your family….would you turn a deaf ear? If you were starving and there were five bites of sawdust bread for your entire family, would you be tempted to eat two bits of the bread? How easy would it be to walk away and close your eyes to Jews being marched down the street to their deaths? How hard would it be to take a step forward and show your support knowing you might be forced to join them?
Here is that story that attempts to give you some insight to these hard questions. Here you have two sisters and a father…a father that has already come home from one war and now finds himself watching another….two sisters that each have different views of how to get through this war…Even though all three might have different ways of “living” during this time….who is to say which is the right way? As they perhaps judge one another for the choices they are making it is soon apparent to them all that there is no black and white in such circumstances.
The only clear truth one can surmise is that even though the three all take different courses of action to survive….that there isn’t a right or a wrong choice…
I don’t know what else to say….I love books like this…..because they make me realise how your life can change in an instance….it makes you realise just how bad and just how evil people can be….and just how pure people can be…it makes you realise that everyone has reasons why they make the choices that they do….it makes you realise that no matter how simple it is to judge someone by their actions that in reality you have no idea what is powering those choices…
Such a wonderful read…..not a comfortable read….but a wonderful one…
Until next time…
Urania xx
ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review
Buy it now The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
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