Unexpected Saturday-morning post...

It’s a sunny, chilly Saturday morning, and we’re going to be heading out to the local farmers market soon, but I just finished a book last night that I wanted to tell you about before I started a new book and the impact of this one begins to lose its gravity. 

Last week I read The Drowned by award-winning Irish author John Banville.  This novel opens with a reclusive man, Denton Wymes, returning to his caravan after a day of fishing and coming upon an abandoned car in the middle of a field.  He knows he shouldn’t get involved, but against his better judgement, he heads towards the vehicle.  As he is about to leave, a man runs towards him claiming that his wife has drowned in the sea, or maybe she hasn’t drowned, but she’s missing.  Trying to extricate himself from the situation, Wymes indicates the big house up the lane, but this man wants Wymes to accompany him.  What follows is the search for this missing woman by DI Strafford, along with Detective Crowley, a man well past retirement and a nasty piece of work, as well as a whole cast of unique and interesting characters.  I was intrigued by this book, as I associate Banville with Booker-Prize-winning literary fiction, and this plot seemed to focus on the search for a missing woman, so more mystery, less literari-ness.  But I was surprised to learn that this literary master is also the author of a whole series of mysteries featuring Strafford and his pathologist colleague, Dr Quirke, written under the pseudonym Benjamin Black.  It appears that Banville has revealed his true identity and brought together his two halves, first in The Lock-Up, and now in The Drowned.  It was a literary tour de force, managing to successfully blend these two genres together, keeping this reader on the edge of my seat and making time to read more because I wanted to know what happens next, yet imbuing every word with significance. This novel was a deep-dive into the darker side of human nature and motivation, and an exploration into the human condition.  It was not an uplifting book in any way, but the glimmer of hope at the end, while faint, somehow took the edge off my initial feeling of despair. I’m now intrigued to read the Benjamin Black books, and have made a list so I can try to find them at the used book stores and read them in order.  I’m always excited to discover a new mystery series, and if The Drowned is anything to go by, this one will not disappoint. 

That’s all for today.  Stay warm and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Super-quick post on a Tuesday evening…

It’s 8pm on a Tuesday, a school night for me, but I have about five minutes to write a post about the book my Volunteer Book Club discussed on the weekend, The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick.  All but one member was able to make it, and, while not everyone loved the book, everyone seemed to enjoy it.  This novel tells the story of Martha, a woman approaching middle age, who volunteers at a small public library in her small English seaside town.  Martha takes on all kinds of tasks for others, never considering doing something for herself… until one day a mysterious book turns up for her at the library with a cryptic dedication.  What follows is her search for the truth behind this book, uncovering shocking family secrets, making friends in the most unusual places and discovering who she really is along the way.  This is not an original idea (these types of books seem to always involve a used bookstore or library!), but it was an easy read, just the kind of “feel-good” book we all needed as we come to the close of another year.  It actually had the perfect ending, Christmas and a book group meeting, which was a pleasant surprise.  We mostly all felt sorry for Martha, but understood how a life can slip away one day at a time until decades have passed and you look back on a life unfulfilled, particularly in a small town.  We discussed Martha’s grandmother, her parents, and her relationship with her sister.  We discussed the eccentric used bookstore owner Owen (they’re always eccentric!!), as well as the enigmatic Siegfried.  One thing we noted was that there were almost more things to discuss that were left out of the book than things that were actually mentioned and written about. All in all, it was a great discussion, and I would recommend this for any book group looking for an uplifting, feel-good novel.

That’s all for tonight.  Stay dry and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

A very short post...

I’ve got a killer headache tonight but wanted to get this written before my book club meeting tomorrow night.  I finished reading our book choice today, Alice Feeney’s Rock, Paper, Scissors, and I have to say that I didn’t really enjoy it.  I won’t bother giving a summary, but I’ve read or listened to a couple of her books in the past, I think Daisy Darker and Sometimes I Lie, and I think I enjoyed them more than this one, but I don’t really recall any details.  Anyway, I found this book to be repetitive and totally unrealistic, even by “unreliable narrator” standards.  I would not recommend it.  I wonder what the others will say. But since there were “word of the year” headings for some of the chapters, I at least learned a couple new words:  Metanoia, literally changing one's mind, means a change in one’s way of life as the result of penance or spiritual conversion; and schadenfreude, a term I’m familiar with but never quite knew the proper meaning, is the the emotional experience of pleasure at another’s misfortune. 

That’s all for tonight.  Stay warm and keep reading!!

Bye for now... Julie

Amazing book, but short on time...

It’s Monday evening and I’m tired from a long week (book fair last week) and a busy weekend, but I just finished a fabulous book that I wanted to tell you about before I forget too much about it.  I just finished Claire Messud’s latest novel, This Strange Eventful History, which was brilliant.  This novel, loosely based on Messud’s own history, follows the Cassar family over three generations and across several continents. From 1927 to 2010, this strange, nomadic family seem never to find a place to call home, but whose members keep wandering, relocating and searching for happiness and a place to belong.  I can’t really tell you much more about the plot than this, but the themes that are dealt with are ones of family, relationships, what “home” means, and what it means to belong somewhere. She also explores the power of words, and I found L.J. Austin's concept of "performative utterances" (the idea that saying something makes it so), as well as the notion of anti-performatives (if I din't say it, it's not real) fascinating.  Messud’s use of language is brilliant and every character is riveting.  I don’t usually enjoy novels that portray family histories, particularly ones that are multi-generational, but this one was gripping from the opening page to the final paragraph.  I would highly recommend this literary novel if you’re in the mood for a gripping story that has you wanting to race ahead to find out where the story will lead while simultaneously wanting to read slowly, to savour each word and phrase.

That's all for tonight. Stay warm and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Short post on a dreary evening...

It’s been busy this past week, and this weekend was also super-busy, as we went to see the musical “Something Rotten” in Stratford yesterday - it was excellent!  I would highly recommend it to anyone, so if you get a chance to see it, don’t pass it up!!  These past few weeks I’ve been finishing books in the middle of the week, which kind of throws me off-schedule. 

Last week I finished reading Liane Moriarty’s latest novel, Here One Moment.  If you could know your age of death and cause of death, what would you do?  Would you want to know?  And if you knew, would it change the way you lived your life?  These are just some of the questions that this novel asks readers to ponder as we’re plunged into what appears to be an elderly clairvoyant delivering age of death and cause of death proclamations to passengers on a short flight from Hobart to Sydney, held hostage in their seats as the plane is mid-flight.  Some of the passengers who receive this news are middle-aged workaholic Leo, newlywed bride Eve, eighteen-year-old Kayla, and twenty-eight-year-old flight attendant Allegra.  Initially these are not taken too seriously (but a little bit seriously), until first one death occurs at the time and in the same manner as predicted, then two more follow.  Suddenly everyone is doing their best to avoid death by the causes predicted by the "Death Lady".  But as we follow the passengers into their futures, we delve into the deep and detailed past of Cherry Lockwood, the “Death Lady” herself, and discover what has occurred in her life that would lead her to be on this flight.  I don’t want to give too much away, but it was an excellent read, and in true Moriarty fashion, the conclusion looks very different from what we are led to assume at the beginning.  We get stories from many different points of view, so also in typical Moriarty fashion, it may seem a bit confusing at first, but soon you’ll know who everyone is and also what their prediction is.  I would highly recommend this to anyone, whether you’re already a fan or new to this bestselling Australian author’s books.  I guarantee you won’t be disappointed! 

That’s all for tonight.  Have a good week and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

First post for November...

It's hard to believe, since we’ve had such mild, late-September-like days, but this is, in fact, the beginning of the first full week in November, for many a difficult month due to shorter days and more dreary, drab weather.  We’ve actually had lots of sunny, clear days, so hopefully that’s helping some people who usually suffer at this time of year.  I like November, with generally crisp, chilly days, bare tree branches and brisk winds.  Strangely enough, I still have my sandals out, as it’s going to be 22 degrees one day next week!  Anyway, it’s a “long” weekend, with the extra hour due to the time-change, so I finally feel like I'm “ahead of the game”. 

Yesterday my Volunteer book group met to discuss Laura Dave’s bestseller, The Last Thing He Told Me, which prompted great discussion, even though most of us thought the book was just OK.  This novel tells the story of Hannah, a wood sculptor who is left to cope with her sixteen-year-old step-daughter Bailey after her husband Owen disappears following the announcement that the tech company he works for is under investigation for fraud.  Hannah has no idea where Owen is or how to connect with the reluctant, distant Bailey, but she manages to piece together clues that lead her to Austin, Texas, where she believes she will find the truth.  What she discovers, however, is not what she expected, and she must find a way to go forward and do the right thing for not only herself, but for Bailey and Owen.  This novel was not perfect, but we all agreed that it was a page-turner that kept us reading (or listening) to find out what would happen next.  It had many moments that made us go “What??”, moments that forced us to suspend our sense of disbelief, but we all finished it and had many things to discuss.  We talked about Hannah’s choices at the beginning and at the end of the book, and how she determined what to do based on little information.  We discussed her relationship with Bailey, and how difficult the discoveries at the end of the book would have been for her.  We talked about whether Hannah told Bailey about her choices or whether she as the adult just made the choice for both of them.  Mostly we discussed the ending, the improbability of it, how confusing it was, how Dave left many questions unanswered, and how difficult it would have been for Hannah to live her life after making the choices she made for everyone involved.  We also discussed the writing, which we felt was fairly simplistic, so this was not a book you would choose to read if you were looking for a literary mystery. Overall, while we didn’t love the book, it was a great discussion and so I would say that if you’re booking for a mystery/thriller, this would not be a bad choice. 

That’s all for today!  Get outside and enjoy the sunshine!

Bye for now... Julie

Last post for October...

It’s late afternoon (well, really it’s early evening) and it’s been a busy, productive, tiring weekend.  I wish I had more time to discuss the book I read last week, because it was amazing, but alas, I’m tired and hungry so this will be another quick post. 

Last week I flew through The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz, which was, you got it, a sequel to her previous bestselling literary thriller, The Plot.  Here’s what I posted when I first read The Plot:   

“I also read a page-turner last week, The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz.  Jacob (Jake) Finch Bonner is a middle-aged writer with one successful novel to his name.  After failing to produce anything else of worth, he’s been reduced to teaching a Creative Writing workshop in a low-residency MFA program in the less-than-noteworthy Ripley College.  Trudging through his third year of this workshop he meets Evan Parker/Parker Evan, an arrogant, over-confident student who is convinced he needs nothing from this program because he is going to write a bestselling novel with the kind of plot that will make him famous:  everyone will be reading it; Oprah will want to interview him; book clubs will discuss it; it will be optioned for a film with an A-list director.  He is very private about his writing, but one day during a one-on-one session, he reveals his plot to Jake, who is shocked into finally believing that Parker may indeed have the makings of a bestseller.  The workshop ends, and three years later, Jake is working at a hotel that has been repurposed as a writers’ retreat, still with no new work worthy of publication.  He is reminded of Parker one day by a brash, cocky resident, and he goes online to find out if this amazing book was ever written.  What he finds instead is that Parker died shortly after his time at Ripley.  Jake ponders this new information, and wonders (briefly) what to do now that he alone is in possession of this amazing plot.  Well, write the book, of course!  After all, as any writer knows, stories are meant to be told, even if they belong to someone else.  Fast-forward another three years, and Crib is published to great acclaim.  Everyone is reading it, it is optioned for a film being directed by someone who could certainly be classified as “A-list”, he’s met a wonderful woman, and life is good… until he receives that first message accusing him of being a thief, and his life begins to spiral out of control.  I would love to tell you more, but that would spoil the fun.  I wish I knew someone else who has read this book, as the plot was so complex and detailed, with so many twists and turns, that it would make for a really interesting discussion.  Alas, I will settle for telling you that it was a roller-coaster read that kept me wishing for more free time.  According to the “Kirkus” review, this isn’t even Korelitz’ best book, so I will definitely seek out her other books.  I will agree with most reviews that it was easy to guess in which direction the novel was going well before it was revealed, but I was still shocked by the "BIG" reveal.  It began as a study of the writing process and the struggles writers go through to put together a new book, a great example of metafiction, but from the point where he receives his first threatening message, it becomes a mystery-thriller that, while very compelling, somehow felt a bit flat.  Having said that, it was totally worth the time spent to read it, if only because it has introduced me to a writer I'd never read before, which is much like opening a door I’d never realized was there!”  

I don’t want to give anything away in case you haven’t read The Plot, so I’ll just say that The Sequel takes up where the previous book left off, and answers all the questions I felt were left unanswered at the end of the first novel.  But it’s the way that this book answered these questions, the narrative taking us on a twisting turning road through the recent and not-so-recent past of the characters to reveal even more family secrets, hidden agendas and nefarious deeds (I just wanted to use that word!) of these characters, that makes it  one helluva roller-coaster ride that brought this reader to a most satisfying-I was hooked to the very last page.  And I mean the actual last page, which held a surprise of its own.  I now want to read Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley!  If you haven’t read either of these novels, I would encourage you to place a library hold on The Plot asap, and when you’re finished, request a copy of The Sequel (which was every bit as wickedly good as the first book!). 

That's all for today.  Happy Hallowe’en!!

Bye for now... Julie