lkernagh (Lori) reads more ROOTs in 2017

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lkernagh (Lori) reads more ROOTs in 2017

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1lkernagh
Edited: Dec 28, 2017, 9:04 pm

Hi everyone! This will be my fourth year of ROOT reading. 2016 was a bumper year of ROOT reading for me - 55 ROOTs read! Not sure I can manage that again in 2017 so I going to go with my original 2016 goal of 40 ROOTs and see what happens. As with previous years, the only caveat is that books read (or the audiobooks listened to) need to be books I own as of December 31, 2016. I am looking forward to starting the challenge on January 1, 2017.




Happy ROOT reading, everyone!

-------------------------

ROOTs Read:

1. Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley -
2. The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye -
3. Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith -
4. The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen -
5. Paris by Edward Rutherfurd -
6. The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith -
7. 11.22.63 by Stephen King -
8. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline -
9. The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson -
10. Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden -
11. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga -
12. These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon -
13. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith -
14. Daffodils by Alex Martin -
15. At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith -
16. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon -
17. 419 by Will Ferguson -
18. Out to Canaan by Jan Karon -
19. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith -
20. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson -
21. V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton -
22. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky -
23. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith -
24. Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen by Glen Huser -
25. A New Song by Jan Karon -
26. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith -
27. Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life by Allen Shawn -
28. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton -
29. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith -
30. A Common Life by Jan Karon -
31. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss -
32. When I Was Young And In My Prime by Alayna Munce -
33. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell -
34. In This Mountain by Jan Karon -
35. On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon by Kaye Gibbons -
36. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt -
37. The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner -
38. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith -
39. House of Daughters by Sarah-Kate Lynch -
40. W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton -
41. An Accident in August by Laurence Cosse -
42. The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb -
43. Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon -
44. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith -
45. The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson -
46. Light From Heaven by Jan Karon -
47. The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox -
48. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith -
49. The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong -
50. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith -
51. Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka -
52. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett -
53. Benito by Francois Gravel -
54. World Without End by Ken Follett -
55. You have to be careful in the land of the free by James Kelman -
56. The Ameriad: The Untold Founding of America by the Survivors of Troy by Duane Gundrum -

2rabbitprincess
Dec 31, 2016, 9:59 pm

Yay, Lori's back! Have a great reading year!

3Tess_W
Dec 31, 2016, 11:15 pm

Happy reading in 2017!

4lkernagh
Jan 1, 2017, 10:05 am

>2 rabbitprincess: and >3 Tess_W: - Thank you both! I am really looking forward to 2017.

I am starting my 2017 reading off with a ROOT I have had since December of 2013.... to get the momentum going, don't cha know! ;-)

-------------------------------------

Currently Reading:

5Familyhistorian
Jan 1, 2017, 6:34 pm

Best of luck with your ROOTing in 2017, Lori.

6enemyanniemae
Jan 2, 2017, 1:56 am

Happy to see names I recognize! Good ROOTing and very Happy New Year.

7Jackie_K
Jan 2, 2017, 4:45 pm

Welcome back, I hope you have a successful year ROOTing!

8MissWatson
Jan 2, 2017, 5:21 pm

Great to see you're back, Lori! Happy reading!

9avanders
Jan 2, 2017, 7:33 pm

Welcome back & Happy 2017 ROOTing!

10readingtangent
Jan 3, 2017, 6:37 pm

Wow, great job beating last year's goal. Best of luck with your 2017 ROOTs!

11connie53
Jan 5, 2017, 5:42 am

Welcome back, Lori. Happy ROOTing!

12detailmuse
Jan 5, 2017, 12:04 pm

Looking forward to your ROOTing!

13nerwende
Jan 7, 2017, 5:48 am

Happy rooting! Your first author is someone a couple of people have recommended to me but I haven't yet read anything by him. Curious to see what you think.

14lkernagh
Jan 8, 2017, 12:36 pm

Thanks everyone! Taking a bit of a slower than anticipated start to my 2017 ROOT reading. Still reading The Absent One. In the meantime, because I found myself with time on my hands and my current read not with me, I dived into one of my ROOTs stored on my phone. It is a short story - a mere 26 pages in length - but I am counting it as a ROOT read because Amazon sells the story as a stand-alone single.

15lkernagh
Edited: Feb 26, 2017, 4:09 pm


ROOT #1 - Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with One-Word title" and "Books page count (1-100 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: e-Book
Original publication date: October 2012
Acquisition date: April 19, 2016
Page count: 26 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:
Sometimes the young have no idea how good they have it… and sometimes that realization is acquired gradually along the precarious road to maturity. In a 9,000-word, nostalgia-steeped parable, Frances depicts the adventures that she, her brother Zander and their two cousins experienced years before. The cousins’ world, centered by their Auntie Winifred’s bakery, is a place of mouthwatering desserts, delicious exploits and enticing pursuits.
Review:
This story is big on nostalgia. The wonderful descriptions of the edibles available in Auntie Winifred’s bakery did have my mouth watering in anticipation. The adventures of Frances, her brother and their two cousins transported me back to my childhood and some of the innocent mischief my siblings, cousins and I could get up to when we would all gather at Grandma’s for an extended family visit. The descriptions of Auntie Winifred’s apartment over the bakery filled with old furniture as a play area for the cousins is one filled with the magic of childhood imagination.

A heartfelt story of childhood memories, the enduring bonds of family connections and how both shape our lives, even later on in life as adults.

…. And if you really want to know what the title is in reference to, “cupcakes” is the term of endearment that Auntie Winifred gives to the cousins.

16avanders
Jan 11, 2017, 11:44 am

>15 lkernagh: fun! I don't know that I could really read it though... I'd want cupcakes the WHOLE time!!

17lkernagh
Jan 22, 2017, 10:51 am

>16 avanders: - LOL, the mention of all the great baking in the story - fresh macaroons, etc - sure did have my mouth watering!

18lkernagh
Edited: Feb 26, 2017, 4:09 pm


ROOT #2 - The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - audiobook read by Stephen Boyer
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017, Category, ROOT
Category: "1st book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback - audiobook
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: May 10, 2014
Page count: 428 pages / 13 hours, 10 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:
Timothy Wilde tends bar, saving every dollar in hopes of winning the girl of his dreams. But when his dreams are destroyed by a fire that devastates downtown Manhattan, he is left with little choice but to accept a job in the newly minted New York City Police Department. Returning exhausted from his rounds one night, Tim collides with a girl no more than ten years old… covered in blood. She claims that dozens of bodies are buried in the forest north of Twenty-Third Street. Timothy isn’t sure whether to believe her, but as the image of a brutal killer is slowly revealed and anti-Irish rage infects the city, the reluctant copper star is engaged in a battle that may cost him everything…
Review:
I absolutely loved this one! Faye captures the very heart and soul of 1845 New York City - or more particularly lower Manhattan - and gave this reader the perfect antihero in Timothy Wilde. Wilde never planned on joining the newly minted NYC police force - known as the Copper Stars for the shape and metallic origins of their hastily crafted "badges" - and his relationship with his older brother Valentine is just one of many side stories captured in this enthralling, sweeping story of crime, religion, politics and friendship. Reading Faye's story, I found my senses of taste, sight, touch and smell responding to her wonderful descriptive writing. The descriptions of certain body mutilations are not for the faint of heart but the complex plot with its twists and detailed forensic analysis, and the well-rounded characters, kept me from shying away from this one. Bird, the homeless girl Tim encounters late one night, is a delight, as are the fast-talking pack of newspaper boys Tim befriends. At its core, this is a police procedural / crime story, but it is so much more than that. It is an exploration of Irish immigration, anti-Catholic sentiment and the essentially lawless state of a younger America and a rich historical fiction worthy of any historical fiction lover's attention.

.... so, am I happy to learn that Faye has written two more books focused on Timothy Wilde? You bet I am!

19lkernagh
Edited: Feb 26, 2017, 4:10 pm


ROOT #3 - Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook read by Paul Hecht
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "1st book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback - audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 128 pages / 3 hours, 51 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca website book listing:
The eminent (if shamefully under-read) philologist Professor Dr. Mortiz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute at Regensburg is unnaturally tall, hypersensitive to slights, and oblivious to his own frequent gaucheries. Even with these handicaps, von Igelfeld engages in a never-ending quest through a series of connected stories to win the respect he knows is due him, including when on a busman's holiday researching old Irish obscenities and when flirting with a desirable lady dentist.
Review:
Definitely not what I was expecting.... and not in a good way, either. Having fallen in love with Precious Ramotswe and the Botswana setting of Smith's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, I was kind of hoping for more of the same with this first book in his Professor Dr. von Egelfeld Entertainment series. Instead, I found myself reading a collection of loosely connected stories about a rather unlovable character focused on self-importance. Yes, the situations he finds himself in, usually of his own misguided contrivance, have the makings of good reading material - I admit, the battle of wits he engages in with Signora Cossi did have me raising an eyebrow or two! - but overall, this just didn't work for me. One reviewer has commented that this story is in a similar vein with A Diary of a Nobody where the focus of the story is to make much ado about mundane things and events and that may explain why this was a rather sub-par read for me. I really didn't enjoy A Diary of a Nobody when I read it a few years back.

Given that I do own the next two books in the series and in view of the fact that they are slim volumes, I will give book two in the series The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs a go and see if the Professor grows on me.

20lkernagh
Edited: Feb 26, 2017, 4:10 pm


ROOT #4 - The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Book with One (1) in the title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: December 16, 2013
Page count: 412 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:
Mørck is back. He’s settled into Department Q and is ready to take on another cold case. This time, it’s the brutal double-murder of a brother and sister two decades earlier. One of the suspects confessed and is serving time, but it’s clear to Mørck that all is not what it seems. Kimmie, a homeless woman with secrets involving certain powerful individuals, could hold the key—if Mørck can track her down before they do.
Review:
Second book in the Department Q series gives us a somewhat tamed down Mørck. Not sure what I think about that. Thankfully, his civilian assistant Assad remains true to character and I found Rose, the newest member to the Department Q team, to be exactly the type of police help Mørck would receive. As for the crime, well, this is one of those psychologically-driven stories where there is no mystery to solve... just a lot of very disturbing people to read about. I was able to maintain my interest in the story only because of the portrayal of Kimmie, and the way Adler-Olsen unraveled her story.

Overall, an okay installment by I am not exactly chomping at the bit to dive into the next book in the series, if you know what I mean.

21Tess_W
Edited: Jan 22, 2017, 6:20 pm

Thank you for those very excellent reviews!

22avanders
Jan 23, 2017, 12:11 pm

Congrats on 3 more ROOTs pulled!
and >18 lkernagh: sounds really good....

23connie53
Feb 2, 2017, 10:28 am

WOW, three more ROOTs! Congrats!

24lkernagh
Edited: Feb 5, 2017, 3:27 pm

>21 Tess_W:, >22 avanders: and >23 connie53: - Thanks! Last ROOT took a little time to pull - bit of a long read - but I managed to finish it earlier this week. ;-)

25lkernagh
Edited: Feb 26, 2017, 4:10 pm


ROOT #5 - Paris by Edward Rutherfurd - audiobook read by Jean Gilpin
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with One-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 809 pages / 38 hours, 30 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from multiple sources:
Paris : City of love. City of revolution. Opening in the golden hedonistic age of the La Belle Époque and moving back in forth across centuries following the lives of 6 families. The noble family de Cygne have served king and country through the ages, while their ancient enemies the Le Sourds embody the ideals of the French Revolution and the Paris Commune. The two Gascon brothers come from the dangerous slums behind Montmartre, but while Thomas goes to work building the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower, Luc makes a living in the underworld of Pigalle, near the Moulin Rouge. The Blanchards, ruined in the reign of Louis XV, rise again in the age of Napoleon and help establish Paris as the center of art, literature and style that it is today. The American Hadleys, the father a painter, the son a friend of Hemingway, find romance in Paris, while the Jewish Jacob family of art dealers, expelled in the Middle Ages, try to survive in the Second War. A story of intimate and thrilling tales of self-discovery, divided loyalty and long-kept secrets.
Review:
What to say, what to say. La Belle Époque is one of my favorite historical periods along with the Regency period, so of course I was happy that was the French period Rutherfurd chose to start this story off with. I am a big fan of the attention to historical detail Rutherfurd brings to his stories. I was particularly captivated when the story focused on a younger Thomas Gascon and the construction of the Eiffel Tower. The inclusion of fictionalized appearances by Hemingway and Monet was also a delight to read. The downside, for me – because, there is a downside to this behemoth epic tale – is the characters. I found the characters representing the 6 families to be rather flat and under-developed. I also found it highly annoying that Rutherfurd seemed to be more focused on flying the reading back and forth through time and ricocheting around the families that I ended up being a bit frustrated by the whole experience. Would a more linear progression have worked better, given the fact that Rutherfurd was already wrestling with making interesting connections happen between the families? Possibly. It is definitely an ambitious novel for any writer to tackle on the scale that is Rutherfurd’s stock and trade – Paris spans an enormous time range of 1260 AD to the late 1960’s – but ambitious doesn’t always equate into a spellbinding or enthralling read. I especially hated it when Rutherfurd proceeded to wipe out what I thought were some key characters with nothing more than a few emotionally-devoid sentences, like they were an afterthought that needed to be mentioned just to ensure no loose ends were left hanging.

Overall, as much as I enjoyed my read of Sarum many, many moons ago, I found Paris to be a story that left me with just an “meh” feeling. Maybe my tastes have changed. I still have London waiting for me on my TBR pile so I will give Rutherfurd another chance, but not right away. I can only recommend Paris to readers that may have an interest in the building of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty or a Parisian point of view of the two world wars.

26Tess_W
Feb 5, 2017, 4:37 pm

>25 lkernagh: I am a Rutherford fan. I've read New York and The Rebels of Ireland with both Paris and Russka on my TBR pile. I do agree with you though, he does away with major characters sometimes without even more than a sentence like: It's been 20 years since Jim saw his grandmother." On just the page before grandma as alive and well!

27Limelite
Feb 5, 2017, 6:53 pm

I've given Rutherford three tries: Sarum once and Paris twice. Could never finish any of the tries.

You can have him.

28lkernagh
Feb 13, 2017, 2:47 pm

>26 Tess_W: - Glad to see it isn't just me who finds Rutherfurd to be a bit dismissive of his characters! ;-)

>27 Limelite: - It sounds like you gave Rutherfurd more than enough chances to win you over. Good thing there are a lot of other authors out there. ;-)

29lkernagh
Edited: Feb 26, 2017, 4:10 pm


ROOT #6 - The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "2nd book in series" and "Books page count (101-200 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: December 28, 2004
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 128 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.30 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com booklisting webpage:
Welcome to the insane and rarified world of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology. Von Igelfeld is engaged in a never-ending quest to win the respect he feels certain he is due–a quest which has the tendency to go hilariously astray. In The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, Professor Dr. Von Igelfeld is mistaken for a veterinarian and not wanting to call attention to the faux pas, begins practicing veterinary medicine without a license. He ends up operating on a friend’s dachshund to dramatic and unfortunate effect. He also transports relics for a schismatically challenged Coptic prelate, and is pursued by marriage-minded widows on board a Mediterranean cruise ship.
Review:
True to the character McCall Smith presents to readers in Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Professor Dr. von Ingelfeld continues to find himself in awkward situations of his own devising, all due to his ingrained belief in his own self-importance. The connected short stories in this book had a smoother flow to them as the stories seem to be more closely connected, more like chapters in a novel. It helped that my previous exposure to von Ingelfeld via Portuguese Irregular Verbs helped me to anticipate some of the inane behavior and decisions of our illustrious professor, but even then, McCall Smith manages a couple of “OMG” moments for me as I was reading. I still find von Ingelfeld to be a rather despicable individual but at least the author has now given von Ingelfeld the occasional bouts of conscience, tempering his self-importance arrogence, especially after the very poor way in which he treats his ‘dear’ (and possibly only) friend, Professor Dr. Unterholzer. As annoying as I continue to find von Ingelfeld, I have to admit that he is starting to grow on me. This is a character who consistently manages to dig himself a deeper hole when he attempts to get out of a situation, which lends to the comic side of things. The misadventures von Ingelfeld encounters on the Mediterranean cruise were quite funny and did give me a chuckle or two.

If, like me, you read Portuguese Irregular Verbs and consider not wasting your time with the other books in the series, I will gently nudge you towards The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs. It is a short read and may convince you, like it did me, to continue reading the further books in the series. Just be forewarned that the humour still continues to be very dry and might not appeal to all readers.

30readingtangent
Feb 23, 2017, 10:09 am

>18 lkernagh: A BB for me, I believe.

31lkernagh
Feb 26, 2017, 4:05 pm

>30 readingtangent: - I hope you enjoy it!

32lkernagh
Edited: Mar 8, 2017, 11:09 pm


ROOT #7 - 11.22.63 by Stephen King - audiobook read by Craig Wasson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Book with Two (2) in the title"
Source: TBR
Format: Tradepaperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 740 pages / 30 hours, 30 minutes of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:
Dallas, 11/22/63: Three shots ring out. President John F. Kennedy is dead. Life can turn on a dime—or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in a Maine town. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family. Jake is blown away...but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the era of Ike and Elvis, of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke... Finding himself in warmhearted Jodie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten...and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful.
Review:
There are a ton of reviews out there for this one so I am just going to provide some very quick comments. Wasn't sure what I would think of this one, having never read a Stephen King novel before and not a big fan of the horror genre, having spent my teenage years avoiding the movie adaptations of Christine, etc. The voice King gives to Jake Epping is absolutely perfect. A wonderful "real to life" kind of character. King's portrayal of the early 1960's time period is excellent and I give King kudos for coming up with such a great ending. So why just a 3.7 rating? The story really dragged for me in the middle and I was pretty much ready to throw in the towel until the story reached that historical day.... that is when things pepped up and grabbed my attention again.

Overall, a decent read, just not the action-packed thriller I was kind of hoping for.

33lkernagh
Edited: Mar 8, 2017, 11:09 pm


ROOT #8 - Look Again by Lisa Scottoline - audiobook read by Mary Stuart Masterson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Two-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2009
Acquisition date: January 22, 2011
Page count: 385 pages / 9 hours, 27 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:
When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a "Have You Seen This Child?" flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again… The child in the photo looks exactly like Ellen's adopted son, Will. But how could it be if the adoption was lawful? Everything inside her tells her to deny what she sees. But Ellen won't rest until she finds out the truth. And she can't shake the question: If Will rightfully belongs to someone else, should she keep him or give him up? Ellen makes the wrenching decision to investigate, following a trail of clues no one was meant to uncover. And when she digs too deep, she risks losing her life?and that of the son she loves.
Review:
Scottoline does a good job navigating the legal, ethical and moral journey of the story's premise but beyond that, there really wasn’t a whole lot for me to love, or even like about this one. The writing is rather light-weight, more suited for a ChickLit or contemporary romance novel than a gut-wrenching thriller as this one is billed to be. Ellen as a character was impossible for me to accept. When she isn't day-dreaming about being romantically linked to Marcelo (her immediate supervisor at the newspaper) or engaging in some passive-aggressive office battles with her fellow journalist Sarah, Ellen is off throwing caution (and her job) to the wind when she decides that "she" needs to find out for herself Will's true lineage and embarks on a solo investigation to the point where she engages in behaviour akin to stalking and at some points in the story, comes across as a bit unhinged, and not in a very realistic way. I get that Scottoline is a single parent and may view things from a perspective different than mine (I am not a parent), but I found it very disturbing how focused the messaging is on mothers and how Ellen communicates that a mother's love is different, regardless of whether the mother is the birth mother. The story downplays male roles in general and IMO really takes a bit of a swipe at relegating the father to a secondary role as a parent and care-giver, which I found disturbing. I expected the story to have a bit more objectivity to it and not have such a "blinders on" female focus. It doesn't help that some of the dialogue was a weird mixed-bag of 40-something/20-something lingo and didn't always flow like a normal conversation would. There are also some continuity and just general common sense issues that if this had been a movie, would have driven me crazy.

Overall, this story probably works for readers who like their action-packed thrillers to be of the soap opera/romance beach read variety.

34lkernagh
Edited: Mar 8, 2017, 11:09 pm

.
ROOT #9 - The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, ROOT
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: e-book
Original publication date: February 21, 2017
Acquisition date: December 2, 2016
Page count: 294 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com booklisting webpage:
Riptide, Oregon, 1983. A sleepy coastal town, where crime usually consists of underage drinking down at a Wolf Point bonfire. But then strange things start happening―a human skeleton is unearthed in a local park and mutilated animals begin appearing, seemingly sacrificed, on the town's beaches. The Mercy of the Tide follows four people drawn irrevocably together by a recent tragedy as they do their best to reclaim their lives―leading them all to a discovery that will change them and their town forever. At the heart of the story are Sam Finster, a senior in high school mourning the death of his mother, and his sister Trina, a nine-year-old deaf girl who denies her grief by dreaming of a nuclear apocalypse as Cold War tensions rise. Meanwhile, Sheriff Dave Dobbs and Deputy Nick Hayslip must try to put their own sorrows aside to figure out who, or what, is wreaking havoc on their once-idyllic town.
Review:
Rosson has woven an enthralling read creating an alternate reality/history of early 1980's in the small coastal fishing community of Riptide, Oregon and its citizens. Grief is a poignant and overarching emotion which Rosson accompanies with the dark, rain-filled atmosphere anyone who lives on the Pacific West coast knows to expect during the winter months. The town has a poor, almost destitute feel to it, fitting well with the Armageddon-like news of the Cold War era. The twist that I really like is how Rosson entwines the very human tragedy with local aboriginal/First Nations mythology, exposing his fictional community and its grief-stricken residents to a nightmare that is both horrific and spell-binding. The plot and the slow-building reveal has the depth of a seasoned writer. Rosson's character build is first rate. The crimes and grisly discoveries are described in good detail but I like how Rosson tempers their focus and instead focuses on delivering his characters to the reader, and what excellent characters they are! These are not cookie-cutter, two-dimensional puppets pantomiming the author's wishes. These are characters that one can envision encountering walking down the street. My heart really went out to all the characters, although I have to admit that Nick is a character that dances a little to close to that fine line between brilliance and insanity, and the bed and breakfast owner/operator is just one very creepy strange dude.

Overall, a stunning debut novel and a perfect example of a story that defies being categorized as fitting into a single, ore-determined genre.

35floremolla
Feb 27, 2017, 5:38 am

first class reviews - definitely piqued my interest with The Mercy of the Tide, thanks!

36lkernagh
Mar 8, 2017, 11:07 pm

>35 floremolla: - Thanks! Always happy to share great reads - or warn about potentially bad reads - with others.

37lkernagh
Mar 8, 2017, 11:08 pm


ROOT #10 - Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - audiobook narrated by Robert Ramirez and Ruth Ann Phimister
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, Root
Category: "Book with Three (3) in the title" and "Books with Three-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2005
Acquisition date: December 17, 2011
Page count: 382 pages / 15 hours, 51 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:
It is 1919, and Niska, the last Oji-Cree woman to live off the land, has received word that one of the two boys she saw off to the Great War has returned. Xavier Bird, her sole living relation, is gravely wounded and addicted to morphine. As Niska slowly paddles her canoe on the three-day journey to bring Xavier home, travelling through the stark but stunning landscape of Northern Ontario, their respective stories emerge—stories of Niska’s life among her kin and of Xavier’s horrifying experiences in the killing fields of Ypres and the Somme.
Review:
Some stories are crafted to just tell a story. Nothing wrong with that. With Three Day Road, Boyden has done more than just tell a story. He has crafted a journey. A literal journey in the three day canoe trip Xavier and his Aunt take to travel from town to their home deep in the bush country. A moral journey as we experience the fine line between heroism and homicide against the backdrop of World War I trench warfare and Cree folklore about the Windago, a monster that is a symbol of despair who comes to hunters who become consumed by an unceasing craving for what is unnatural (cannibalism, morphine addiction, human blood-lust). A cultural/racial journey as we experience, through Niska, the sad decline of Cree culture heralded by the creation of reservations and residential schools, with Niska representing one of the remaining traditional natives who live rough in the woods with their wits and traditional teachings to guide them.

I really liked this one. An awful lot to pack into a debut novel, but under Boyden’s pen, this merging of complex stories is handled with a skill and grace that works wonderfully.

38lkernagh
Edited: Mar 19, 2017, 11:49 am


ROOT #11 - The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - audiobook read by John Lee
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Three-Word title" and "Books with either White/Yellow or Light Blue cover or the colour mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback/audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 304 pages / 8 hours, 8 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life - having nothing but his own wits to help him along. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem - but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.
Review:
As a social commentary piece, Adiga scores with this story depicting the huge inequalities of Indian life: from the shining “Light” of the prosperous and booming tech/ movie industry of the cities to the feudal hardships of “the Darkness” in rural India where brutal landlords hold sway over peasants and elections are routinely rigged affairs. Revolution and insurrection are topics Balram raises in his 7-day letter to the Chinese premier. As a parable, the story works quite well, excusing the fact that the characters are exaggerated caricatures of the different social classes that make up Adiga’s tale and making allowances for some of the rather overdone scenes. Balram makes an interesting anti-hero but I found the story to have a rather mean-spirited voice in Balram’s witty barbed observations, so that I was rather happy to see this satirical story come to an end.

39lkernagh
Mar 19, 2017, 11:13 am


ROOT #12 - These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon - audiobook read by John McDonough
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "3rd book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback/audiobook
Original publication date: 1996
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 333 pages / 13 hours, 50 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the penguinrandomhouse.com booklisting webpage:
Come away to Mitford, the small town that takes care of its own. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Mitford is a crazy quilt of saints and sinners — lovable eccentrics all. Seen through the eyes of Father Tim, the long-suffering Village Rector, Mitford abounds in both mysteries and miracles. In These High, Green Hills, Father Tim fulfills Cynthia’s conviction that deep down he is a man of romance, panache, and daring. Though his cup of joy overflows, his heart goes out to those around him who so badly need the healing aid of a loving heart. Chief among these is Dooley, his teenage ward, whose rough edges grate against the boarding school he both loves and hates. Can Father Tim face the much deeper needs of Dooley’s mother, Pauline, and the battered young girl Lace, whose childhood has been a horror story of neglect?
Review:
It took me a bit of time to re-acquaint myself with the town folk of Mitford as three years have past since my last visit to Mitford via A Light in the Window, Book 2 in Karon’s The Mitford Years series. Even with that time gap, my memory was able to place most of the characters easily, Karon’s characters are that memorable! While some of the circumstances come across as a bit contrived – I am thinking about the cave scene and Father Tim’s on-going ability to control his dog Barnabas by quoting scripture to the dog – the story does an wonderful job capturing the overall quaintness of small town life. Definitely a slow-paced story, which works well when dealing with routine activities of town and parish life but seems a bit out of step in the sections where Father Tim has to face urgent social services issues or a medical crisis and the story maintains that same sedate pace.

Overall, another quaint home style read I found to be a soothing balm as it hearkens back to a less complicated way of life. A life with no social media, flashy gadgets and where computers were big black boxes of mystery that were used, grudgingly, for only basic office functions like managing parish accounts and creating mailing labels.

40lkernagh
Mar 26, 2017, 2:17 pm


ROOT #13 - Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook read by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "3rd book in a series" and "Books page count (201-300 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback/audiobook
Original publication date: 2002
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 227 pages / 8 hours, 11 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:
Precious Ramotswe, founder and owner of the only detective agency for the concerns of both ladies and others, investigates the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important “Government Man,” and the moral character of the four finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest, the winner of which will almost certainly be a contestant for the title of Miss Botswana. Yet her business is having money problems, and when other difficulties arise at her fiancé’s Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, she discovers the reliable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni is more complicated then he seems.
Review:
The third installment in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is like slipping into an afternoon visit with Precious Ramotswe, her fiance J.L.B. Matekoni and her assistant detective Mma Makutsi. In this installment, the focus is more on Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. I enjoyed reading more about Mma Makutsi and loved how she handles takes on a case on her own while managing the apprentices at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and implementing some sound business changes in Matekoni's absence. As with the previous books in the series, it reads more like a collection of stories and the mysteries brought to Mma Ramotswe have more of a moral vein to them, which I enjoy as we get to see Mma Ramotswe assessing how to best solve the moral problems in a manner that is best for all parties, compared to more straightforward decisions of right and wrong from a strictly legal perspective. That being said, some of the sub-plots, like the mystery of the wild child found in the wilderness, seemed to be just unresolved filler.

Overall, another enjoyable visit to Mma Ramotswe's Botswana.

41lkernagh
Mar 26, 2017, 2:17 pm


ROOT #14 - Daffodils by Alex Martin
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with March, Jonquil (Daffodil) or Aquamarine in title or author/main character name" and
"Books with either White/Yellow or Light Blue cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: e-book
Original publication date: 2014
Acquisition date: September 7, 2016
Page count: 352 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:
Katy, dreams of a better life than just being a domestic servant at Cheadle Manor. Her one attempt to escape is thwarted when her flirtation with the manor’s heir results in a scandal that shocks the local community. Jem Beagle has always loved Katy. His offer of marriage rescues her but personal tragedy divides them. Jem leaves his beloved Wiltshire to become reluctant soldier on the battlefields of The First World War. Katy is left behind, restless and alone. Lionel White, the local curate, has just returned from India, bringing a dash of colour to the small village, and offers Katy a window on the wider world. Katy decides she has to play her part in a world at arms and joins up as a WAAC girl. She finally breaks free from the stifling class-ridden hierarchies that bind her but the brutality of 20th century global war brings home the price she has paid for her search.
Review:
I really like how the novel focuses on the village life of a manor house and its outside workers (gardeners, etc). A refreshing change from the inside servants POV of the TV series Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, and the like. The pacing of the story is slow moving. It is really more of a historical romance/family saga with a WWI focus kind of read. Some of the characters are well developed, I am thinking of Jem Beagle and Cassandra. Katy strikes me as a bit flighty, a bit emphatic with her emotions of grief and only partially developed as a character. As for Lionel, the local curate, Martin has crafted a character that seems to be far removed from anything realistic or believable. He acts more like a petulant child than a grown man trying to provide succor to his flock, be that flock the villagers or the soldiers in France. He just does not work as a character for me. For me, the best parts of the story are the chapters that focus on Jem's war experience. I really cannot accept Katy role in this story, which is a huge negative given that she is the lead character.

Overall, a okay historical fiction romance type of read but didn't capture my attention enough for me to consider reading the other two books in the trilogy.

42lkernagh
Mar 26, 2017, 2:18 pm


ROOT #15 - At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook read by Paul Hecht
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "3rd book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 128 pages / 3 hours, 54 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the local library catalogue book listing:
Von Igelfeld is quite pleased with his role as a visiting scholar at Cambridge, even if his English colleagues can be difficult to comprehend. They frequently speak in metaphors and make peculiar assumptions, saying such odd things as "I take it your journey went well, " when that is not the case at all. But von Igelfeld settles in the best he can, and is soon deeply embroiled in some shady political scheming at the university. After returning to the comfort of his perfectly rational Germany, von Igelfeld is invited to Colombia for a special fellowship. But while there, he gets caught up in some decidedly unscupulous behavior.
Review:
As much as von Ingelfeld struck me as an unlikable character in the earlier installments in the series, I have to admit that he does have some likeable traits (like importance be places on being true to the family motto Truth Always which leads to interesting awkward moments for von Ingelfeld as he struggles to not lie while at the same time steer a visiting professor from learning of the whereabouts of the washroom facilities located across the hall from von Ingelfeld's Cambridge quarters. The fact that most if not all of von Ingelfeld's attempts for preferential self glory tend to backfire on him makes the stories in this installment entertaining. If the story has a moral message it is that "The grass is not always greener on the other side." I found the episode in Colombia to be rather far-fetched but still entertaining and I did enjoy von Ingelfeld's bafflement at the oddities of his Cambridge colleagues. Nothing better than having a von Ingelfeld appear rather "normal" compared to the behaviour of the Cambridge master!

Overall, this is a series that has grown on me and I am really glad that I did not let the tepid experience of Portuguese Irregular Verbs deter me from continuing with the series.

43lkernagh
Mar 31, 2017, 10:21 pm


ROOT #16 - The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - audiobook read by Dan Stevens
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Three-Word title" and "Books with either White/Yellow or Light Blue cover or the colour mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: September 9, 2011
Page count: 544 pages / 15 hours, 30 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martin, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city’s underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Close to despair, David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book unlike anything that has ever existed — a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, and perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realizes that there is a connection between his haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.
Review:
Really, really difficult to come up with a rating for this one. On the one hand, Zafon delivers another fantastic tale imbued with evocative writing, atmospheric feel and solid Gothic quality, shrouding the mystery playing out on the pages. Zafron’s depiction of 1920’s Barcelona is a Gothic reader’s delight, filled with crumbling Gothic piles, labyrinthine streets, damp cemeteries and eccentric architecture like the tower house where David lives. As with Zafon’s previous book, The Shadow of the Wind, literary references abound, with Great Expectations – my favorite Dickens novel – receiving repeated references throughout the story, exemplifying David’s Dickensian like childhood, making it easy for this reader to glimpse similarities between Dickens’ London and Zafron’s Barcelona. The concept of a writer possibly making a pact with the Devil is not a new idea for a story-line, but Zafon handles it with a flourishing finesse, giving the idea a refined quality.

So, what not to like? Well, my main complaint is that in the second half of the story Zafron gives up all pretense of eloquent, refined brooding Gothic atmosphere and slides the story squarely into pulp fiction madness mode with a barrage of rather absurd subplots and an escalating dead body count that seems completely superfluous to the main story. Even the ending – via a rather strange epilogue – leaves me wondering if Zafron started out writing one story and midstream decided to head in a different direction. As for the characters, Isabela is a delight and the perfect feisty counter to David’s detached manner, but none of the other characters stand out as amazing or memorable. Even Corelli, our villein, takes second fiddle as a character to the mystery that surrounds him.

Oh…. did I mention that the audiobook is narrated by Dan Stevens (Matthew of Downton Abbey fame and the Beast in the latest reboot of Beauty and the Beast)? Stevens does a fabulous job reading the story and is one of the reasons the story is receiving a rather generous rating from me.

Overall, I am a bit disappointed with how such a fabulous story deteriorated into such a pulp fiction mess. This story is probably not for readers who steer clear of pulp fiction and senseless violence. This has not deterred me from looking forward to reading more Zafon... I just now know that I cannot expect the reaction I had when reading The Shadow of the Wind.

44Tess_W
Apr 1, 2017, 1:05 am

Sounds like a possible read...I mean, after all, it's gothic! I have a Gothic group here: http://www.librarything.com/groups/gothicnovels. Could you post your review there? Plz and ty!

45floremolla
Apr 1, 2017, 7:21 am

>43 lkernagh: thanks for the warning! I enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind but won't rush to buy The Angel's Share.

46lkernagh
Apr 2, 2017, 6:14 pm

>44 Tess_W: - Ask and you shall receive... review now posted over on the Gothic group. Thanks for providing the link! I see some great reads being posted over there!

>45 floremolla: - Like you, I really, really enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind, and I am not a big fan of pulp fiction (the movie Kill Bill was really senseless, in my opinion) but I continue to hope that his other books stay more firmly in the Gothic, literary mystery genre.

47Tess_W
Apr 2, 2017, 6:27 pm

>46 lkernagh: TY TY TY!

48lkernagh
Apr 12, 2017, 11:17 pm


ROOT #17 - 419 by Will Ferguson - audiobook read by Pete Bradbury
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOTs
Category: "Books with Four (4) in the title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: June 7, 2014
Page count: 411 pages / 13 hours, 2 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa. And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims. Lives intersect. Worlds collide. And it all begins with a single email: “Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help…”

When Laura Curtis, a lonely editor in a cold northern city, discovers that her father has died because of one such swindle, she sets out to track down—and corner—her father’s killer. It is a dangerous game she’s playing, however, and the stakes are higher than she can ever imagine. Woven into Laura’s journey is a mysterious woman from the African Sahel with scars etched into her skin and a young man who finds himself caught up in a web of violence and deceit. And running through it, a dying father’s final words: “You, I love.”
Review:
It is probably a very rare individual – someone who either: 1) does not have an email account; 2) has an absolutely amazing spam filter; or 3) lives “off the grid” – who has not received what is generally referred to as a “phishing” email. Phishing emails take many forms, but at their heart, they are emails purporting to be from reputable companies/individuals seeking to induce the receiver of the email to either disclosure personal information, click on a link provided that will enable the sender to control/damage the individual’s computer or, as is the case with Ferguson’s novel 419, to obtain money or goods under false pretenses. 419 is an interesting read. Part police procedural, part autopsy of a familiar Nigerian email scam and part cautionary tale for any who might seek revenge by attempting to scam the scammer, Ferguson’s novel starts out a bit convoluted as he creates four distinct narratives: Laura, a reclusive copy editor and daughter of an e-mail scam victim; Winston, the educated but futureless Nigerian email scammer; Amina, a pregnant woman fleeing her northern Nigerian tribal ties for a promise of new life in the southern cities and Nnamdi, a fisherman’s son co-oped to work as a “mechanic” in the petroleum black market in the lawless frontiers of Nigeria.

This story is an ambitious examination of the complexities of reparative justice. Ferguson does a great job depicting a divergent cast of characters who are all shaped by the email scam industry. He also does a fantastic job presenting Nigeria so that the reader can “experience” the country through his story, but the overall effect is a bit of a literary mess. I found the myriad of story lines detracted the overall story from the book’s main focus. A number of the characters are underdeveloped, all of them – with the exception of Laura’s boorish brother – coming across as weak or weakened individuals with idealized views that do not fit with the circumstances they find themselves in. As much as I enjoyed Amina’s and Nnamdi’s stories, they do not appear to be ancillary to the main story, or at least not in a way that would explain the amount of focus – roughly half of the book – Ferguson gives them. I felt more frustration than satisfaction by the end of the story. Frustration that Ferguson’s attempt to present a story from the point of view of both victims and perpetrators comes cross lacking the earnestness Ferguson tries to convey. I also do not see 419 as a dark literary thriller unless we go a bit low key with the ‘thriller’ classification and go mainstream with the ‘literary’ classification. I am also a bit surprised that this one won the 2012 Giller Prize, beating out, among others, Kim Thuy’s Ru, which I absolutely loved.

Overall, an interesting read about internet email scams and the Nigerian turmoil experienced by the oil industry’s presence in Nigeria, but lacking the powerful delivery I expected from an important literary prize winner.

49floremolla
Apr 13, 2017, 4:00 am

>48 lkernagh: very topical and interesting - I'm always aware that the people behind these scams might be serious gangsters and no matter how tempting it is to string them along for fun or to call them out on the scam, it's not a good idea. It's so easy for us to be traced to our homes now through our social media presence! Pity the book didn't live up to the blurb and once again your review means I won't be adding it to my wishlist.

50connie53
Apr 17, 2017, 12:19 pm

Hi, Lori, Just stopping by to see what you have been reading while I was from LT for weeks. Good job.

The Stephen King book 22-11-1963 will move up the TBR-pile.

51LauraBrook
Apr 23, 2017, 10:20 am

Hi Lori, just checking in too. You're nearly halfway to your goal - wow, that's majorly impressive! :)

52lkernagh
May 1, 2017, 12:55 am

>49 floremolla:, >50 connie53: and >51 LauraBrook: - Thanks for stopping by and posting!

53lkernagh
May 1, 2017, 12:56 am


ROOT #18 - Out to Canaan by Jan Karon - audiobook read by John McDonough
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "4th book in a series" and "Books page count (301-400 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 1997
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 342 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the goodreads.com book listing webpage:
Father Tim, the Episcopal rector, and his talented and vivacious wife, Cynthia, are pondering the murky uncertainties of retirement. They're also trying to locate the scattered siblings of Dooley Barlowe, the mountain boy they love as their own. A brash new mayoral candidate is calling for aggressive development, and a tough survivor must hunker down for the fight of her life. Worse, the Sweet Stuff Bakery may be closing, and a suspicious real estate agent is trying to turn the beloved house on the hill into a spa. Can change be coming to Mitford? The buzz on Main Street says yes. Change is certainly coming to the tenderest regions of several townspeople's lives. A woman struggles every day to stay on course after years of hard living. A man tries to forgive himself for a tragic mistake. And the town's most eligible bachelor leaves Mitford -- and returns with a stunning surprise.
Review:
I continue to enjoy Karon’s wonderful slice of American life. Mitford continues to charm me, with the affable and sometimes bumbling Father Tim, his practical and supportive wife Cynthia and the memorable characters that comprise the town’s citizens as a whole. The story this time focuses on the scramble of Father Tim’s approaching retirement, a mayoralty race that has the town folk buzzing with opinions, and other changes and challenges that one would expect to encounter in a sleepy, close-knit community. Easy reading to escape the reality busy work weeks, demanding deadlines and the never-ending crush of errands. It is great to “experience” Father Kavanagh’s charge, young Dooley Barlowe, growing up. I found the scene where Father Tim tries to explain the “birds and the bees” to Dooley to be a hoot, second only to Father Tim’s experiences getting haircuts – and a facial! – at the hands of the non-stop talking Fancy.

As with any series, a reader will get the most enjoyment by reading the books in series order. What not to like? Well, the only thing that is starting to wear a bit thin with me is how Father Tim calls his wife Cynthia “Kavanagh” whenever he praises or cajoles her. I realize that Father Tim is in his early 60’s and all, but I find it odd that the “pet” name that Karon has ascribed to Cynthia in the stories is Father Tim’s last name and not something that would be unique or specific to her. Let just say this makes my nose twitch as not something I would consider endearing if my other half started to refer to me by his last name in the same way as Father Tim does with Cynthia. Otherwise, another good visit to with the fine folks of Mitford.

Overall, looking forward to continuing the series.

54lkernagh
May 1, 2017, 12:56 am


ROOT #19 - The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "4th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2002
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 208 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com book listing webpage:
Now that The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she’s reached her late thirties (“the finest age to be”), has a house, two children, a good fiancé -- Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni -- and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe’s sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe’s delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day?
Review:
Another good installment. This time the story provides more focus on Mma Makutsi. As with previous books in the series, the story is more about daily life in Botswana and provides a wonderful window into the unique cultural aspects of Botswanan life and society and how traditional ways are being impacted by First World priorities and points of view. Some may call these stories to be “cozy mysteries” but I like to think about them as stories where one gets to examine moral implications of actions, traditional folk wisdom and how common sense can prevail in sticky situations. Justice is not always best served when one does not take into account how an action may impact all parties involved. I really enjoyed the business ingenuity as Mma Makutsi looks to establish a new business to help her make enough money to live and care for her ailing brother. On a downside, McCall Smith does paint certain scenarios - such as the presence of a new, competing detective agency in the community - with a brush that focuses on pointing out extreme contrasts between the two agencies and fails to provide any real value, except as an easy mechanism to introduce further discussion about proper behaviour between Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi.

Overall, An enjoyable series for readers seeking a light-hearted view of life from a different perspective, where discussions of proper behaviour occupies as much space in the stories as the cases to be solved.

55lkernagh
May 1, 2017, 12:57 am


ROOT #20 - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - audiobook read by Peter Altschuler
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (301-400 pages)" and "Books with Four-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2010
Acquisition date: January 21, 2012
Page count: 384 pages / 13 hours, 9 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the local library catalogue book listing webpage:
When retired Major Pettigrew strikes up an unlikely friendship with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani village shopkeeper, he is drawn out of his regimented world and forced to confront the realities of life in the twenty-first century. Brought together by a shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship on the cusp of blossoming into something more. But although the Major was actually born in Lahore, and Mrs. Ali was born in Cambridge, village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as a permanent foreigner. The Major has always taken special pride in the village, but will he be forced to choose between the place he calls home and a future with Mrs. Ali?
Review:
Love this one.... absolutely loved it. At is heart, this story has a wonderful vibe and had me thinking of a lighter version of Jane Gardam's Old Filth, kind of like Old Filth meets The Last of the Summer Wine what with the fantastic descriptions of the village of Edgecombe St. Mary and its inhabitants. Simonson has written a story with heart. All of the characters are well drawn - even the Major's son Roger, who I found to be the epitome of the modern day self absorbed corporate and social climber, completely oblivious of how inappropriately some of his comments and actions are. Major Pettigrew is all regimented in manners and action on the surface with a warm compassionate soul lurking underneath. Simonson captures the issues of cultural and tradition with a realistic eye, portraying Mrs. Jasmina Ali as a women caught between two worlds, struggling to be the contemporary English woman she is while her family's cultural values are pulling her back. The villagers are the perfect foil and through their various bumblings, Simonson is able to communicate a myriad of themes about culture, race, age-related prejudices and that it doesn't matter how old one is, courtship can have its awkward moments.

A delightful story filled with heart, compassion and humour. A refreshing reminder that things like joy and dignity can continue to exist, even in our crazy, fast forward materialistic world.

56Nickelini
Edited: May 1, 2017, 1:28 am

>55 lkernagh: I read that one about a month ago and loved it too. Didn't expect that!

A delightful story filled with heart, compassion and humour. And also some damn fine writing.

57lkernagh
May 1, 2017, 10:37 am

>56 Nickelini: - I know! Such a surprisingly good read. I agree, "also some damn fine writing." :-)

58Jackie_K
May 1, 2017, 11:01 am

>55 lkernagh: Nickelini's review nearly made that one a BB, and yours finally tipped me over the edge! It's now on the wishlist :)

59lkernagh
May 1, 2017, 11:19 am

>58 Jackie_K: - Definitely a good book to take a BB on.

60floremolla
May 1, 2017, 11:37 am

>59 lkernagh: just been BB-ed - thanks!

61lkernagh
May 1, 2017, 11:55 am

>60 floremolla: - Awesome! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

62connie53
May 1, 2017, 1:46 pm

BB! And it's translated into Dutch. I will ask my brother if he can find the digital version somewhere.

63lkernagh
May 7, 2017, 8:07 pm

>62 connie53: - Glad to see that the book has been translated! It is such a good read!

64lkernagh
May 7, 2017, 8:08 pm


ROOT #21 - V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton - audiobook narrated by Judy Kaye
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books set predominantly in the month of May" and "Books page count (401-500 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2011
Acquisition date: July 14, 2013
Page count: 448 pages / 15 hours, 11 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
Private detective Kinsey Millhone feels a bit out of place in Nordstrom’s lingerie department, but she’s entirely in her element when she puts a stop to a brazen shoplifting spree. For her trouble she nearly gets run over in the parking lot by one of the fleeing thieves—and later learns that the one who didn’t get away has been found dead in an apparent suicide. But Audrey Vance’s grieving fiancé suspects murder and hires Kinsey to investigate—in a case that will reveal a big story behind a small crime, and lead her into a web that connects a shadowy “private banker,” an angry trophy wife, a spoiled kid with a spiraling addiction, and a brutal killer without a conscience…
Review:
This installment showcases Kinsey at her peak of prickly, feisty behaviour, to the point where Kinsey even manages to find herself at odds with her client. Probably not the best way to retain a client, but I guess when you take on a case mainly out of a sense of guilt, one can be a bit prickly when said client comes across as rather narrow-minded. I always enjoy the “trips back in time” to California circa 1980s. I get the impression that Grafton enjoys researching and depicting the time period and has fun with it, given here attention to detail. For example, I loved how at one point she has Kinsey listening to the radio in her car while on a stake out and the DJ announces Whitney Houston’s “Where do broken hearts go” has just overtaken Billy Ocean for top spot in the charts (something that did occur in real life the week ending April 23, 1988) and has Kinsey musing over whether or not that is a good thing,. ;-) I find that Grafton always does a great job researching areas of crime. I found the detailed information about organized shoplifting syndicates in this installment to be fascinating reading. Supporting characters like Kinsey’s former love interest Cheney Phillips, landlord Henry Pitts, his brother William and wife Rosie are included in this installment but their involvement is kept to a minimum.

Grafton continues to flex her writing prowess and treats the reader to a main plot and not one, but two subplots to sink their reading chops into. While the story does have its slow areas – I felt that one of the subplots received more attention than is warranted and the head of the crime ring doesn’t seem to have the “grit” I would expect of a Mafia boss – but overall, I feel that Grafton has reached new heights with this installment in her ability to present a well written and absorbing crime read, and a story that delivers a satisfying resolution for the various plots.

65lkernagh
May 14, 2017, 12:48 pm


ROOT #22 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - audiobook narrated by Noah Galvin
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Green cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: February 1, 1999
Acquisition date: December 16, 2013
Page count: 213 pages / 6 hours, 15 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 5.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the local public library catalogue book listing webpage:
Most people think 15-year-old Charlie is a freak. The only friend he had killed himself, forcing him to face high school alone. But then seniors Patrick and his beautiful stepsister Sam take Charlie under their wings and introduce him to their eclectic, open-minded, hard-partying friends. It is from these older kids that Charlie learns to live and love, until a repressed secret from his past threatens to destroy his newfound happiness.
Review:
Striving to correct the deficiencies in some of my reading when I was a teen/YA (and having a desire to finally watch the film adaptation) I found this to be a very compelling read. Charlie is a wonderful narrator. I was never part of the “In” crowd during my high school years. My friends and I were, while not “wallflowers” we were on the fringes of high school social life and were more observers than active participants in some social activities. I am also a big fan of “stream of consciousness style of writing – so apropos IMO when the writing takes is in a series of letter that have a quasi-journal look and feel. The themes are meaty (and potentially unsettling for some younger readers) but not unknown to the average teenager struggling with that awkward transition from child to adulthood: mental health, substance abuse, sexuality and sexual abuse, inhibition and family issues. For me, this book is a reminder of both the joys, the freedom and the heart-wrenching angst that represents adolescence. The fluid storytelling approach employed by Chbosky works beautifully. It really captures the extreme highs and lows Charlie’s emotions cycle through, and does so in a very believable fashion. While I never knew a Charlie when I was growing up, I did know a handful of individuals that, when drawn together, would create a composite Charlie. It is the authenticity with which Chbosky writes that makes this such a wonderfully moving coming of age story to read.

Favorite Quote:
"I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."
Words to live by.

66connie53
May 20, 2017, 3:58 am

That sounds real good, Lori. BB! But not available in Dutch!

67detailmuse
May 20, 2017, 5:36 pm

>55 lkernagh: I've been resisting Major Pettigrew since its ARC days (why?!) but, I think, no longer, thanks!

68lkernagh
May 21, 2017, 8:37 pm

>66 connie53: - It is a wonderful read Connie and I am floored that it is not available in Dutch! I would have thought the movie adaptation that was released in 2012 would have seen a new interest in the story. Here is hoping that it will be translated into Dutch at some point.

>67 detailmuse: - If it helps any, I resisted Major Pettigrew for a number of years myself. I managed to completely ignore it, even with a copy on my own bookshelves. ;-)

69lkernagh
May 21, 2017, 8:38 pm


ROOT #23 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - audiobook narrated by Kate Burton
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (401-500 pages)" and "Books with Five-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 1943
Acquisition date: November 5, 2011
Page count: 493 pages / 14 hours, 55 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 5.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the local library catalogue book listing webpage:
Johnny Nolan is as loving and fanciful as they come, but he is also often drunk and out of work, unable to find his place in the land of opportunity. His wife Katie scrubs floors to put food on the table and clothes on her childrens' backs, instilling in them the values of being practical and planning ahead. When Johnny dies, leaving Katie pregnant, Francie, smart, pensive and hoping for something better, cannot believe that life can carry on as before. But with her own determination, and that of her mother behind her, Francie moves towards the future of her dreams, while always carrying the beloved Brooklyn of her childhood in her heart.
Review:
A wonderful, poignant coming-of-age story, capturing pre-World War I Brooklyn as seen through the eyes of young Francie, a girl of grit and determination. As a social documentary, it captures the struggles of the poorer working class of Brooklyn of the time period and warns of how pride can be both an anchor of protection and a lodestone that can drag you down. As a coming-of-age story, Smith has provided the perfect protagonist in Francie, capturing all of her hopes, fears, dreams and the crushing realities of growing up while trying to rise above the teeming milieu, even when all of the cards seem to be stacked against you. After reading this one, I can see why it was such a popular book when it first came out in 1943 and why it remains such a popular book, even today.

I have nothing more to add to all the great reviews already written. A Must Read!

70lkernagh
May 21, 2017, 8:39 pm


ROOT #24 - Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen by Glen Huser
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Five-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2006
Acquisition date: May 3, 2015
Page count: 192 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the book back cover:
The numbers swim in Tamara's head. The modeling course costs twenty-five hundred dollars. No point in asking her current foster parents, Shirl and Herb. At the end of each month, Herb does a lot of moaning and sighing over bills and pops Rolaids by the handful while Shirl keeps saying she has a plan for cutting down on groceries. A plan that never seems to work. Who in the world has twenty-five hundred dollars? And then Tamara thinks of her. Miss "Killer Tomato" Barclay and her diamond-studded opera broach. The idea is a crazy one. Miss Barclay looks tougher than the Wicked Witch of the West. Little does Tamara know, her request leads to Miss Barclay suggesting they - a ninety-year-old former schoolteacher and a teenaged foster-home reject - take the road trip of a lifetime. The only question is, will the brandy-swigging Miss Barclay and the aspiring model Tamara fulfill their very different dreams or will they throttle each other first?
Review:
This was a quick read. The plot formula is a tad familiar. What can two tough individuals, separated by a huge generational divide of 75 years, learn from each other? The road trip they embark upon is a bit fanciful - Tamara has virtually no experience driving a car and yet seems to manage the insane traffic of Greater Vancouver with only a couple of minor mishaps - and "lessons learned" doesn't seem to be high on either Tamara or Miss Barclay's agendas but I did enjoy the local setting of a road trip from Edmonton, Alberta to Seattle Washington and Vancouver, BC. It is obvious that the author is a fan of Charles Dickens' works and Wagner's operas, in particular Wagner's Ring Cycle. Huser manages to incorporate both of these into the story. Great Expectations is the book Tamara is reading as part of her Language Arts class at school so it isn't surprising for references to that story to abound here, with Tamara referring to Miss Barclay as "My own private Miss Havisham." and Miss Barclay reading various Dickens stories as a way to deal with her age-related insomnia.

Overall, one of those books one reads for the anticipated character personality clashes, the adventure of the road trip and for me, the bonus of familiar local settings.

71avanders
May 23, 2017, 8:08 pm

Looks like you're reading a lot of great books & doing great w/ your ROOT goal! :D

72lkernagh
May 26, 2017, 9:56 pm

>71 avanders: - This year my category challenge gives me more flexibility in choosing books to read, which has been a big help with my ROOT reading.

73lkernagh
May 26, 2017, 9:58 pm


ROOT #25 - A New Song by Jan Karon
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "5th book in a series" and "Books page count (401-500 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 1999
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 416 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
Mitford's longtime Episcopal priest, Father Tim, retires. However, new challenges and adventures await when he agrees to serve as interim minister of a small church on Whitecap Island. He and his wife, Cynthia, soon find that Whitecap has its own unforgettable characters: a church organist with a mysterious past, a lovelorn bachelor placing personal ads, a mother battling paralyzing depression. They also find that Mitford is never far away when circumstances "back home" keep their phone ringing off the hook.
Review:
I have to say, I enjoyed this installment more than the previous installments. I know some readers may not like the idea that Karon has moved on from the familiar setting of Mitford to the unfamiliar setting of Whitecap. For me, this is a logical progression in the story arc with new characters and new situations for Father Tim and his wife Cynthia to encounter, including: an eccentric musically inclined neighbor; a lovelorn bachelor seeking a wife through personal ads; a church organist with a mysterious past; stormy weather; and the isolation one can experience while living on an island. The Whitecap characters are just as unique and lovable as the unforgettable Mitford characters. Even with the change in locale, Karon does not abandon the wonderful folks in Mitford. I found it heartening to be able to continue following Dooley’s development from a shy lad into a teen, eager to own his first car, gain some independence and learn some valuable life lessons.

Overall, one of the better installments in Karon’s Mitford series, IMO, although I do have one pet peeve to share: I do wish Karon had referred to a thesaurus more frequently. I lost count how many times she used the word "trot", in all its variations, to describe Father Tim's actions. It got to the point where I would cringe every time the word surfaced. The poor man (Father Tim) should be exhausted by all the "trotting" he was doing in this story!

74lkernagh
May 28, 2017, 9:53 pm


ROOT #26 - The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook narrated by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "5th book in a series" and "Books with Five-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2003
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 208 pages / 7 hours, 40 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
Mma Ramotswe and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni are still engaged, but with no immediate plans to get married. Mma Ramotswe wonders when a wedding date will be named, but she is anxious to avoid putting pressure on her fiancé. For indeed he has other things on his mind -- particularly a frightening request (involving a parachute jump) made by Mma Potokwani, the persuasive matron of the orphan farm. Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady to check up on several suitors. Are these men interested in her or just her money? This may be difficult to find out, but it’s just the kind of case Mma Ramotswe likes and she is, as we know, a very intuitive lady. Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi -- plucky assistant detective and deputy manager of the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors garage -- is moving. Her entrepreneurial venture, the Kalahari Typing School for Men, is thriving and with this new income she has rented two rooms in a house. Her spare time is occupied with planning the move, the décor and her new life in a house with running water all to herself.
Review:
Another good installment in the series. This time, the focus of the story is more personal, introspective as Mma Ramotswe questions when her engagement will become a marriage, Mma Makutsi's success is bittersweet as her focus is more on her family. Smith has done a better job this time balancing the focus of the story so that we get more or less equal time in the minds of Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. Mma Ramotswe's musings about life's peculiarities - like her musings in this book of why do people focus their energies on showering adoration on entertainment personalities they have no close association with? - are always a delight to read, and I usually find myself nodding my head in agreement as I am reading along.

75lkernagh
May 31, 2017, 8:50 pm


ROOT #27 - Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life by Allen Shawn
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2007
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 288 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
In addition to being the son of famous New Yorker editor William Shawn and brother of the distinguished playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, Allen Shawn is agoraphobic-he is afraid of both public spaces and isolation. Wish I Could Be There gracefully captures both of these extraordinary realities, blending memoir and scientific inquiry in an utterly engrossing quest to understand the mysteries of the human mind. Droll, probing, and honest, Shawn explores the many ways we all become who we are, whether through upbringing, genes, or our own choices, creating "an eloquent meditation upon the mysteries of personality and family"* and the struggle to face one's demons.
Review:
Shawn’s examination of his agoraphobia and his family life as a possible “trigger” for his phobia reads like a rather strange blending of introspective analysis, family memories and a textbook spanning the scientific fields of neurosciences, evolution and psychotherapy. Shawn’s personal research journey is far reaching in both scope and time. I found it interesting to learn about the phobias of Emily Dickinson and Hans Christian Anderson, and found Shawn’s account of his twin sister Mary to be a very sad one. Whether Shawn’s phobia can be attributed, even partially, as being inherited from his high-strung father and overprotective mother is used to help connect the memoir side of this book with the science side. While Shawn attempts to come across as candid, his writing is restrained, almost rigid. In Shawn’s own words:
” In writing the book I came to the conclusion that the shame I originally felt at the prospect of writing it was a fear worth conquering. My hunch is that beneath the surface of even the most smoothly functioning lives (and families) there are always fissures – psychological crises, deficits, conflicts. By putting my own worst foot forward, as it were, I mean to challenge our assumptions about what a normal person is.”
Overall, an interesting read if you are interesting in reading about a personal struggle to understand and overcome agoraphobia.
Notable Quote:
"However full of inner resources we may be and however many outer connections we may have, we as individuals are still absolutely, irrevocably singular. Our brief life span is bounded on all sides by nothingness. The living earth moves through the infinite dark."

76lkernagh
Jun 18, 2017, 10:51 am


ROOT #28 - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton - audiobook narrated by Caroline Lee
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (501-600 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: December 3, 2011
Page count: 560 pages / 20 hours, 48 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book—a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled.
Review:
I really enjoyed Morton’s book The Distant Hours and was hoping that this one would have the same effect on me. Morton presents an intriguing multi-generational family secret mystery to unravel. The location – Blackhurst, a gloomy, sprawling manor located on the coast of Cornwall, complete with a garden maze, a secret walled garden and an isolated cottage on the cliffs – provides a wonderful backdrop for this family mystery. The three main narrators (Eliza, Nell and Cassandra) are interesting but I found they lack the development I would have expected in a story of this magnitude. I also found the intersecting narratives to be a rather meandering way to present this story, rehashing certain events from different narrator perspectives, with only a few "Aha" moments for the reader. As much as I adore fairy tales – having grown up on generous doses of tales by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson and the like – the inclusion of fairy-tales and fairy-tale symbolism made this story a tad more convoluted than I felt was necessary. Yes, the “reveal” at the end is a good one and does make up for some of the slogging this reader experienced, having to wade through pages of unnecessary details and what I felt was too much dialogue to reach the end. Overall, I found this story to be heavy on the cross-generational narrative, rather flat in its delivery and light on the Gothic atmosphere that I tend to love in family secret stories of this nature. An okay read but anyone looking for a good atmospheric Gothic read would be better off reading books like Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale or Sarah Waters’ The Little Stranger.

77lkernagh
Jun 18, 2017, 10:52 am


ROOT #29 - In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook narrated by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "6th book in a series" and "Books with Six-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 256 pages / 9 hours, 27 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
Precious is busier than usual at the detective agency when she discovers an intruder in her house on Zebra Drive - and perhaps even more baffling - a pumpkin on her porch. Her associate, Mma Makutsi, also has a full plate. She's taken up dance lessons, only to be partnered with a man with two left feet. And at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, one of Mr. J.L.B Matekoni's apprentices has run off with a wealthy older woman. But what finally rattles Mma Ramotswe's normally unshakable composure is a visitor who forces her to confront a difficult secret from her past.
Review:
Best installment so far in this series! Interestingly, while the detective agency does have a case to solve, for the most part this installment is more about the personal lives of the main characters. McCall Smith continues to bring reflections on the ever changing culture of Botswana as the country continues to modernize/industrialize and adopt more first world values, not all of which are worthy of adoption. The secret from Mma Ramotswe's past even caused me to give a small gasp, I found it to be so unexpected!

Overall, continuing to enjoy this cozy/comfort detective series filled with social and moral insights.

78floremolla
Jun 18, 2017, 4:02 pm

>76 lkernagh: Great progress with your ROOTing and some interesting books. I've wishlisted The Thirteenth Tale - I've never thought about whether I like Gothic novels but looking at the list of similar books I definitely do - thanks!

79lkernagh
Jun 19, 2017, 11:42 pm

>78 floremolla: - Thanks! It feels good to be finally reading books that have been patiently waiting for me to read them. ;-0 Gothic novels can creep up on a reader. I never thought I was a fan of Gothic novels until I had read a half dozen and notices a pattern in the elements I appreciated. The Thirteenth Tale is a goodie....

80lkernagh
Jun 19, 2017, 11:43 pm


ROOT #30 - A Common Life by Jan Karon
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "6th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2001
Acquisition date: May 12, 2012
Page count: 208 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
Mitford's Lord's Chapel seats barely two hundred souls, yet millions of Jan Karon's fans will be there for the most joyful event in years: the wedding of Father Tim Kavanagh and Cynthia Coppersmith. Here at last is A Common Life, and the long-awaited answers to these deeply probing questions: Will Father Tim fall apart when he takes his vows? Will Cynthia make it to the church on time? Who'll arrange the flowers and bake the wedding cake? And will Uncle Billy's prayers for a great joke be answered in time for the reception? All the beloved Mitford characters will be there: Dooley Barlowe, Miss Sadie and Louella, Emma Newland, the mayor; in short, everybody who's anybody in the little town with the big heart.
Review:
A delightful short read - almost a novella in size - Karon takes a step back with this sixth installment to provide details of the wedding between Father Tim and Cynthia. If following story trajectory order, this book would probably have appeared between installments 3 and 4, but no matter. For me the favorite take-aways are the snapshots Karon provides of the various Mitford community members as news of the engagement and the wedding day play out. Karon obviously appreciates that people can get "territorial" about involvement in wedding planning activities, and that wedding guests can be prone to mind-wandering while all the "official" stuff takes place. Yes, the story does get a little sappy and does get a bit preachy but overall, it is all about the wedding, community and how even the best laid plans can encounter some unexpected hiccups. You just need to roll with them when they happen.

Overall, a delightful and quick read with a focus on the importance of the simple things in life.

81lkernagh
Jun 25, 2017, 11:16 pm


ROOT #31 - The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss - audiobook narrated by Chrsitopher Lane
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (501-600 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: May 10, 2014
Page count: 560 pages / 19 hours listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
America, 1787. Ethan Saunders, once among General Washington's most valued spies, is living in disgrace after an accusation of treason cost him his reputation. But an opportunity for redemption comes calling when Saunders's old enemy, Alexander Hamilton, draws him into a struggle with bitter rival Thomas Jefferson over the creation of the Bank of the United States. Meanwhile, on the western Pennsylvania frontier, Joan Maycott and her husband, a Revolutionary War veteran, hope for a better life and a chance for prosperity. But the Maycotts success on an isolated frontier attracts the brutal attention of men who threaten to destroy them. As their causes intertwine, Joan and Saunders both patriots in their own way find themselves on opposing sides of a plot that could tear apart a fragile new nation.
Review:
I will give Liss credit. He can write a fascinating historical fiction story based on genuine events. I know very little about 1780-1790's post-revolution American history. Liss does a great job portraying the Federalist-Republican divide and a country at the epoch of new beginnings. I was particularly interested in the bank shares certificate swindle being enacted by Duer. As for the characters, I grew to develop a soft spot for Ethan - I always seem to have a soft spot for characters who can be described as being "a wastrel and a scoundrel, but with a sentimental heart for so selfish a creature." Joan is a strong willed, intelligent woman able to hold her own in the male-dominated world of America at the time. While Liss employs shifting narrative, for the most part the story follows a linear path, which made for easy reading for this reader.

Overall, a solid historical fiction read with the added bonus for me of an intricate financial markets manipulation.

82lkernagh
Jun 25, 2017, 11:17 pm


ROOT #32 - When I Was Young And In My Prime by Alayna Munce
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Cream cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2005
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 256 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 5.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
What's left of us when we're gone? In When I Was Young and In My Prime, a young woman watches her grandparents begin to decline. As she sorts through the couple's belongings, she reflects on the untold stories and unsung bonds that make up our lives. Meanwhile, modern urban life places strains on her own marriage and on her sense of what, ultimately, we owe each other.

Weaving together voices, diary entries, poems, conversations and lists, When I Was Young and In My Prime cuts to the heart of our search for intimacy and family, for what makes life meaningful and love real. The result is a smart, moving novel about personal and cultural decline, dignity and work, the urban and the rural, the old and the new, and the search for something ageless.
Review:
This book really resonates with me. At its core, this is a story about a family struggling with the mental and physical decline of their family elders, Peter and Mary, and the inevitable event we all must face at some point: Death. Munce makes use of her writer's toolkit to weave a story through a collection of poems, conversations, lists, snatches of observations made in sharp relief and memories triggered by words, objects, and events. Words fail me to describe how connected I feel to this story. Munce writes as only one with first hand experience can, on a phase of life that many families struggle with. In an interview, Munce suggests the book is “not the masterpiece that when I was young I imagined my first book would be, the Great Canadian Novel. It’s just this book, this modest, imperfect, flawed offering, but I can live with it. Maybe it has some good moments and has something to offer.” Very humble words from an author who has written what I consider to be a very worthy read. Highly recommended.

83Nickelini
Jun 26, 2017, 1:15 am

>81 lkernagh:
Wow. The only David Liss I've read is The Ethical Assassin, which I enjoyed very much, but it was set in modern day Florida, and not one thing of it suggested the author can write historical fiction. .....and now I see I have his the Coffee Trader in my TBR stacks somewhere, so of course he writes HF. And I'm looking forward to it . . .

84MissWatson
Jun 26, 2017, 6:44 am

>81 lkernagh: >83 Nickelini: Oh, I remember reading positive reviews of the Coffee Trader years ago. Thanks for putting him on the radar again. This time they both go on the wishlist.

85lkernagh
Jul 1, 2017, 12:57 am

>83 Nickelini: and >84 MissWatson: - David Liss did surprise me with his ability to craft a wonderfully engaging historical fiction novel based largely on actual events.

>83 Nickelini: - I think I will by-pass The Ethical Assassin, only because it doesn't seem to appeal to me. As for The Coffee Trader, I will need to see if I can track down a copy. I read Anthony Capella's The Various Flavors of Coffee back in 2009 and really liked the historical fiction deep dive into the coffee trade.

>84 MissWatson: - All the more reason for me to try and track down a copy!

86lkernagh
Jul 1, 2017, 12:58 am


ROOT #33 - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (501-600 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: May 12, 2012
Page count: 528 pages / 20 hours listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilization — the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.
Review:
Ooooohhhh.... David. What were you thinking when you composed this one? Thought you would go "big" and try and capture all of humanities misgivings - and provide a harbinger message for the future in three sweeping narratives? As well written as this story is - and kudos for nailing the unique narrative voices for each, shall we say, loosely connected story - my mind swims in a sea of words, settings and experiences that left me chomping at the bit, wondering when the shoe was going to finally drop. Well, drop it did. If you are looking for a key message to this story, just flip to the end and read the last 3/4 pages. If you are looking to be entertained... good luck with that. I found the majority of the book to be nothing more than well written six stories - six stories for the price of one! - only to have Mitchell leave a reader hanging at a key point and suddenly drop you in a new setting with new characters and a new story-line. I found this to be one of the most frustrating audiobooks to listen to because I felt that Mitchell was just spinning yarn after yarn after yarn. Even having six narrators taking their turn telling their respective stories did not help keep my interest.

As much as I loved Black Swan Green and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, this one just came across, for me, as an ambitious literary mess. Well written, yes, but still drove me crazy with the "where are we going with this one" constantly echoing in my head.

87floremolla
Jul 1, 2017, 4:29 am

>86 lkernagh: I loved Cloud Atlas but see exactly where you're coming from! However I thought the six different narrative voices and individual stories were very well done and I enjoyed discovering the links between them, however tenuous. I also liked the whole theme of connection through time - and then later the connections to his other novels when characters reappear, for example, the daughter of the composer in Cloud Atlas turns up as an elderly woman in Black Swan Green. I recommended it for my RL book group a few years back and half liked it, half didn't, so it does seem to be one that divides opinion quite strongly!

88Tess_W
Jul 1, 2017, 6:07 am

<86 My best friend told me just about the same thing concerning Cloud Atlas. I also did not care for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet so you have confirmed that I should definitely pass on this author!

89lkernagh
Jul 9, 2017, 11:26 pm

>87 floremolla: - I probably was taking on more than I was bargaining for when I thought of listening to Cloud Atlas. I do love Mitchell's writing and he did do a fabulous job writing such unique stories and connecting them, as I failed to make the connection of the elderly woman showing up in Black Swan Green!

>88 Tess_W: - Always happy to help if trying to decide whether or not to pursue reading Mitchell's works!

90lkernagh
Jul 9, 2017, 11:27 pm


ROOT #34 - In This Mountain by Jan Karon - audiobook narrated by John Mcdonough
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "7th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2002
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 382 pages / 6 hours, 39 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book backcover:
Now at home again in Mitford, Father Tim and Cynthia find change in the air. Though Father Tim dislikes change, he dislikes retirement even more. A new challenge seems promising until an unexpected event propels him on a painful journey. For years, Father Tim has helped others find forgiveness; now he must find the courage and grace to forgive himself.
Review:
This one is probably my favorite book in the series so far. It is a little darker in tone and a bit more serious than the previous books in the series as Father Tim's painful journey, both physically and spiritually, is triggered by a health crisis. What I really liked is how the story is not just told from Father Tim's point of view. This time, the reader also gets to see what is going on inside the heads of some of the Mitford town folk, such as Father Tim's tenant at the Vicarage Helene Pringle, Hope Winchester, who runs the Happy Endings Bookstore and Hessie Mayhew.

Another good installment in this charming, heartwarming and uplifting series.

91lkernagh
Jul 9, 2017, 11:27 pm


ROOT #35 - On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon by Kaye Gibbons
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Seven-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 1998
Acquisition date: February 22, 2009
Page count: 273 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazoncom book listing webpage:
Emma Garnet Tate Lowell, a plantation owner's daughter, grows up in a privileged lifestyle, but it's not all roses. Her family's prosperity is linked to the institution of slavery, and Clarice, a close and trusted family servant, exposes Emma to the truth and history of their plantation and how it brutally affected the slave population. Her father, Samuel P. Tate, has an aggressive and overpowering persona that intimidates many people -- including Emma. But she refuses to conform to his ideals and marries a prominent young doctor. Together they face the horrors of the Civil War, nursing wounded soldiers, as Emma begins the long journey toward her own recovery from the terrible forces that shaped her father's life.
Review:
This is my first foray into a Kaye Gibbons book. Gibbons portrayal of an elderly woman's musing about her life stuck all the right chords with me. The tone is muted, reflective in nature but there are no rose-coloured glasses at work here. The Tate family, under the rule of Emma's bigoted, self-made father is dysfunctional, so it comes as no surprise that Emma seeks escape in a marriage to a doctor from a well-to-do Boston family. Gibbons may have been a bit extreme in her portrayal of Emma's tyrannical father (a man Emma's sister tries to explain by saying "''You know he thinks he himself is the South,'') and her mother's quiet acquiescence to his raving demands, but even that effect is dulled down by the portrayal of the ravages the Civil War inflicted on everything and everyone in its path. Through it all, Clarice is the skilled navigator of choppy waters and it is her wisdom that shines through in this story:
"We knew what she believed to be moral, and while at the top of her list was eliminating slavery, she did not interfere in its flourishing. Her mission was not to change history but to help both white and black prevail over the circumstances of living in that place, the South, in our time. She worked with the consequences dealt her by others, in the travails of her race. She was not merely dignified, and to label her such would be not an error of judgement but one of degree. No, she was dignity herself."
As summarized by one reviewer, this novel is "above all, a story of how Southern women suffered and endured the deprivations of the home front during the Civil War. But it is so much more." A worthy read, IMO.

92Tess_W
Jul 10, 2017, 11:01 pm

>91 lkernagh: sounds like a great book. It goes on my wishlist!

93lkernagh
Jul 16, 2017, 10:11 pm

>92 Tess_W: - I did find it to be a lovely read. I do hope you are able to read it at some point!

94lkernagh
Jul 16, 2017, 10:12 pm


ROOT #36 - The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt - audiobook narrated by Rosalyn Landor
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (601-700 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2009
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 624 pages / 30 hours, 17 hours listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
Olive Wellwood is a famous writer, interviewed with her children gathered at her knee. For each, she writes a private book, bound in its own colour and placed on a shelf. In their rambling house near Romney Marsh the children play in a storybook world - but their lives, and those of their rich cousins and friends, are already inscribed with mystery. Each family carries its own secrets. Born at the end of the Victorian era and growing up in the golden summers of Edwardian times, a whole generation was unaware of the darkness ahead; in their innocence, they were betrayed unintentionally by the adults who loved them.
Review:
What to say... what to say. The arts and crafts movement - covering the last ten years of the Victorian period, through the Edwardian period and into the House of Windsor period - is richly captured. Byatt brings minute details to focus, allowing this reader to "experience" the industry of potters, metals workers, puppeteers, play dramatists and writers against the backdrop of the Fabian and Suffragettes movements. The lifestyles of Byatt's characters are languid, steeped in a kind of drunkenness a warm summer day in a fragrant garden can produce. Beneath that outward display of calm roils deep set frustrations and a desire for.... something different. One one level, this book is a masterpiece depicting time and place. The weaving of fairy tales in to the story-line imbues the story with as sense of magic and wonder, but the characters are for the most part unappealing in their aimlessness. I get that the times being depicted were a mix of heady escapism and rising socialistic purpose/fervor, but I found myself getting lost in the descriptions and losing the tenuous plot threads. All emotion comes across as muted, or as a bit of hysterics. Even the more horrifying elements of WWI appear to have been written to cloak the resulting image as being veiled, removing some of the sharp focus certain parts of the story call for. One reviewer has commented that The Children's Book is a human story of responsibility, with the characters "attempting to define their responsibilities, whether to fulfill them or to evade them; with those in pursuit of enlightenment or seeking to manipulate it; and with some simply attempting to unearth who they are and what they should do to survive." From that perspective, Byatt has delved deep and produced results that may appeal to readers seeking a story about the human condition and all its flaws. While I loved the details depicted in the story, I never felt a connection to any of the characters, expect for Philip Warren, one of the few characters who knew all along what he wanted to accomplish.

Overall, a good read but I felt like an observer peering in from afar as a group of actors fumble their way through their roles.

95floremolla
Jul 17, 2017, 4:42 am

>94 lkernagh: great review and very similar to my thoughts on this novel - there was so much to like and admire about it but in the end I felt...unsatisfied.

96connie53
Jul 21, 2017, 3:01 pm

Hi Lori, just stopping by to say Hi. I've been away from LT due to RL things, but I'm trying to be better about keeping up.

97lkernagh
Jul 23, 2017, 12:12 pm

>95 floremolla: - Thanks! I tend to struggle a bit when I write a review that seems to go against the grain of other reviews, so I am glad to see you had similar thoughts when you read it!

>96 connie53: - Hi Connie!

98lkernagh
Jul 23, 2017, 12:13 pm


ROOT #37 - The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Red cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2007
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 384 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the barnesandnoble.com book listing webpage:
A mysterious gypsy boy, Yann Margoza, and his guardian, a dwarf, work for the magician Topolain in 1789. On the night of Topolain's death, Yann's life truly begins. That's when he meets Sido, an heiress with a horrible father. An attachment is born that will determine both their paths. Revolution is afoot in France, and Sido is being used as a pawn. Only Yann will dare to rescue her from a fearful villain named Count Kalliovski. It will take all of Yann's newly discovered talent to unravel the mysteries of Sido's past and his own and to fight the devilish count.
Review:
For a YA novel, this one has a little bit of everything: history, romance, mystery, secrets and magic. Using the lead up to the French Revolution as a basis, Gardner's story has a few unique focuses: a Romany gypsy angle and a sprinkling of magical realism. While the character development isn't all that amazing - I had to remind myself that the book was written with a much younger audience in mind! - I did enjoy the 1780's European setting of Paris and London and the automatons. I found the descriptions of the Paris massacres to paint a rather disturbing mental picture for me, which has me worried as to how a younger reader may react when reading this story.

Overall, a different take on an area of French history that has been the focus of many other books. While a bit far-fetched at time, Gardner's story does provide for a decent YA version of Dickens' sweeping story, A Tale of Two Cities.

99lkernagh
Jul 27, 2017, 9:28 pm


ROOT #38 - Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook narrated by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "7th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2006
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 256 pages / 8 hours, 19 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com book listing webpage:
Life is good for Mma Ramotswe as she sets out with her usual resolve to solve people's problems, heal their misfortunes, and untangle the mysteries that make life interesting. And life is never dull on Tlokweng Road. A new and rather too brusque advice columnist is appearing in the local paper. Then, a cobra is found in the offices of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Recently, the Mokolodi Game Preserve manager feels an infectious fear spreading among his workers, and a local doctor may be falsifying blood pressure readings. To further complicate matters, Grace Makutsi may have scared off her own fiance. Mma Ramotswe, however, is always up to the challenge.
Review:
Another fine installment. No huge mysteries or issues outside of the interesting case of blackmail. I tend to appreciate these stories for their examination of the human condition, the growing divide between traditional Botswana and modern ways and the subtlety with which Mma Ramotswe approaches the challenges that are brought to her attention. Some readers may find Mma Ramotswe more "gentle, caring busy-body" approach to detection a bit of a snooze but the stories do make for "feel good" light reading. I enjoy following Mma Ramotswe as she tries to find the best path for good results and minimal impact to her fellow Batswana. In this installment we get to see more of the personal side of various characters as Mma Ramotswe struggles with the idea of going on a diet and Mma Makutsi worries that her views on feminism may have driven her fiance away.

100lkernagh
Aug 1, 2017, 12:13 am


ROOT #39 - House of Daughters by Sarah-Kate Lynch
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: July 29, 2008
Acquisition date: February 22, 2009
Page count: 320 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
Lonely Clementine is the rightful heir to the House of Peine, the vineyard that has been in the family for generations. She has spent her whole life caring for the vines, not to mention her sour brute of a father. But now the Peine patriarch is dead, and to Clementine’s distress his will stipulates that she must share the vineyard with a half-sister she hasn’t seen in twenty years and another she didn’t even know existed. Secrets tumble out as the three sisters struggle to rescue the family heritage while overcoming their own differences.
Review:
Another light-weight beach read. Published in the UK as "House of Paine", I enjoyed Lynch's depiction of life on a family-run French vineyard. I also really enjoyed the details about the champagne-making. Lynch outlines at the start of the book the extensive research she conducted about the history of champagne and its process, and it really comes through in her story. I learned so much!

A vein of eccentricity runs through this story - from the rumbling ruin of a family home, a miniature pony as Clementine's indoor family pet and Le Petite Noix, the wizened sharp-witted gypsy who suddenly shows up one day, stays through the picking season and tries to guide the three sisters in their relationship. As for the sisters - Clementine, Mathilde and Sophie - they all harbour resentments, bitterness, pain and regrets, but their differences are sharply defined, as is the antagonism between Clementine and Mathilde. Mathilde is just mean, with a viperous tongue and I really grew tired of her constant barbs. Clementine I found to be frustrating. Hard working but prone to resorting to running away and eating when trouble or disappointment comes calling. Not surprisingly, Sophie, the youngest, is also the sweetest of three. What I found strange is that Clementine does not come across as a woman who has lived her entire life in rural France... she comes across almost as American as her sister Mathilde. As the story progresses, we get to see the complexities of the characters emerge - kind of like the hidden complexity of the champagne they work to create.

Overall, an alright summer read with some bubbly wit, a light dosing of magical realism against the backdrop of a French vineyard.

101lkernagh
Aug 20, 2017, 7:01 pm


ROOT #40 - W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton - audiobbok narrated by Judy Kaye
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: July 14, 2015
Page count: 486 pages / 17 hours listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
The first victim was a local PI of suspect reputation who’d been gunned down near the beach at Santa Teresa. The other body was found on the beach six weeks later—a homeless man with Kinsey Millhone’s name and number written on a slip of paper in his pants pocket. Two seemingly unrelated deaths, one a murder, the other apparently of natural causes. But as Kinsey digs deeper into the mystery of the John Doe, some very strange linkages begin to emerge. Not just between the two victims, but also to Kinsey’s past. And before long Kinsey, through no fault of her own, is thoroughly compromised…
Review:
Another solid installment in the Kinsey Millhone series. I really enjoy the stories where we get to see parts of Kinsey’s past, where unknown family members come to light. What makes these stories such a treat to read (for me) is the detailed 1980’s California setting and Kinsey’s personal code of ethics, which leads Kinsey to involve herself in cases that other PI’s would probably turn a blind eye to. This story has a sadder atmosphere to it as the issues on tap in this installment are the plight of the homeless, the challenges (and perils) of navigating tricky family relationships and the ethics when running a human drug development clinical trial. Grafton continues to provide her signature escalation to a suspenseful (and for me, unpredictable) plot climax, while pulling two seemingly divergent storylines together into a cohesive unit. Yes, I was a little saddened that Kinsey’s love life continues to be on the skids but it was still great to see her three exes all back in this story, along with her wonderful landlord Henry Pitt and his hypochondriac brother William.

102lkernagh
Aug 20, 2017, 7:02 pm

I have completed my goal to read 40 ROOTs in 2017. I will continue to read ROOTS for the remainder of the year to help out the group totals.

103lkernagh
Aug 20, 2017, 7:02 pm


ROOT #41 - An Accident in August by Laurence Cosse
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with August, Gladiolus or Peridot (or variation on name) in title or author/main character name"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2003 - Original French language; 2011 - English translation
Acquisition date: August 24, 2015
Page count: 192 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.65 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
On August 31, 1997. An accident that cost the lives of three people - Lady Diana, Dodi al Fayed, and Henri Paul. One person involved in the tragedy, the driver of a white Fiat Uno that was in the Alma Tunnel at the time of the accident, remains unidentified. Cossé's story focuses on the driver of this car, fictionalized as being a young French woman, 25-year-old Louise Origan, we follow as she sees her life thrown into turmoil when, scared and alone, she flees the scene of the accident. While there are no immediate repercussions resulting from her flight, as news of the event spreads and TV stations, papers and radio talk of nothing else for weeks, she is assailed by a growing sense of guilt. Terrified of being found out, questioned, arrested, and thrown headfirst into a media whirlwind, she finds herself paralyzed by fear, paranoia, and a growing sense of remorse. When finally it seems she has evaded both the police and the media spotlights, a mysterious man appears who will force her into a decision that will dramatically change her life.
Review:
Interesting premise but other than that, this really felt like an attempt to capitalize on that famous accident, especially as the release of the book’s English translation coincided with the 14th anniversary of the accident. Originally written in 2003, the focus of the story is on one of the remaining mysteries from the investigation into the crash – that a slow-moving car, described as being a white Fiat Uno, might have caused the accident. Told from the point of view of the Fiat Uno car driver, Cosse tries to present Lou as a character readers may be able to identify with and feel empathy for. Unfortunately the story came across as contrived. Lou’s overactive imagination, coupled with a lack of a friends/family support group produces escalating levels of guilt, paranoia and evasion of crime activities - all good elements for a page-turning thriller read - but Lou comes across as a weak character focused only on making her own escape, even to the detriment of her own relationship with her boyfriend and her work. It is that singular focus that I found so frustrating and alienating as a reader to accept. As for the ending, I found it to be a lame one that, sadly, is not outside of the realm of possibilities.

Overall, a rather disappointing read for what I had hoped would be an interesting suspense read.

104connie53
Aug 21, 2017, 2:35 am

Congrats, Lori, on reaching your goal!

105Tess_W
Aug 21, 2017, 3:21 am

Congrats on meeting your goal!

106MissWatson
Aug 21, 2017, 6:45 am

Congrats on reaching your goal!

107floremolla
Aug 21, 2017, 5:46 pm

Well done, and good for you going on to contribute to the group goal :))

108lkernagh
Aug 22, 2017, 12:11 am

Thanks everyone! It has been a good reading year so far!

109lkernagh
Aug 22, 2017, 12:12 am


ROOT #42 - The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb - audiobook narrated by George Guidall
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (701-800 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: September 13, 2014
Page count: 768 pages / 25 hours, 21 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.15 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from various sources:
When high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, a school nurse, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in the library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed. Miraculously, she survives, but at a cost: she is unable to recover from the trauma. When Caelum and Maureen flee to an illusion of safety on the Quirk family's Connecticut farm, they discover that the effects of chaos are not easily put right, and further tragedy ensues. While Maureen fights to regain her sanity, Caelum discovers five generations' worth of diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings in his family's house. As unimaginable secrets emerge, Caelum grapples with the past and struggles to fashion a future from the ashes of tragedy.
Review:
Without a doubt, this is a very ambitious story. Against the backdrop of the Columbine High School shootings, Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War, Lamb tackles a myriad of complex issues like marriage, drug addiction, post traumatic stress disorder and prison reform. Lamb "spokesperson" is everyday man Caelum Quirk. Quirk is not a hero, he is not a philosopher, he is not a healer. He is ordinary person trapped in a downward spiraling life of pain, grief and yes, even a bit of the absurd, enough to make one wonder what kind of hand he has been dealt by the card dealer in the sky. As much as I appreciate the voice of Caelum, the book itself tends to get mired down in the details. It is a case of trying to cram way to much stuff into one book.

One reviewer has summed up this book quite nicely:
"melodrama that justifies platitudes via seemingly endless ugliness."
Lamb imbues his story with a frankness that is refreshing, but could have come up with a better story if he had controlled the rambling tangents the story dips down.

Favorite Quote:
"We all have the power to free ourselves from prisons of our own or others' making, but doing so depends on our willingness to take that crucial leap of faith and realize that angels are real, not really the product of wishful thinking, and that they are all around us. We are, my friends, or can be, angels for one another."

110lkernagh
Aug 22, 2017, 12:13 am


ROOT #43 - Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon - audiobook narrated by John McDonough
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "8th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2003
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 304 pages / 6 hours, 9 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.35 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
Father Tim has always lived what he calls "the life of the mind" and has never learned to savor the work of his hands. But that changes when he f inds a derelict nativity scene that has suffered the indignities of time and neglect. Does he have what it takes to restore the assembly? It's the beginning of a small journey of faith that touches everyone around him, and that reminds us all about the true Christmas spirit."
Review:
I am one of those readers who feels that Christmas stories can be read year round, not just in December. Shepherds Abiding is a special book as the reader gets glimpses into Father Tim's childhood and fond memories of those Christmases past. The book does not contain any of the sadder, social issues of previous stories. The focus here is on good will, light, peace and joy for everyone... my kind of Christmas story.

While my print copy only has the story Shepherds Abiding, the audiobook version I listed to also contained two bonus short stories - "Esther's Gift" and "The Mitford Snowmen". In "Esther's Gift" we get to experience Esther, of the marmalade cake fame, pondering the cost of continuing to make her signature cake as Christmas gifts for some of the Mitford community. The story even includes the recipe for the marmalade cake! "The Mitford Snowmen" is a fun romp during a sudden snow downfall where the adults of Mitford find themselves involved in what we would call today a "flash mob" building of snowmen up and down Mitford's main street. Perfect bonus reads!

111lkernagh
Aug 27, 2017, 8:09 pm


ROOT #44 - The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook narrated by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "8th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: April 17, 2007
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 240 pages / 8 hours, 24 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
There is rarely a dull moment in the life of Precious Ramotswe, and on Zebra Drive and Tlokweng Road many changes are afoot. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni wants be put in charge of a case involving an errant husband, and Mma Makutsi is considering leaving the agency, taking her near perfect score on the Botswana Secretarial College typing exam with her. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe has been asked to investigate a series of unexpected deaths at the hospital in Mochudi. Along the way, she encounters other tricky mysteries, and once again displays her undying love for Botswana, a country of which she is justly proud.
Review:
Another good installment in the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series. McCall Smith continues to depict ordinary life in Botswana with a solid cast of characters that, after 7 previous installments, have grown into reasonably complex characters. I loved that Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni gets involved in a case of his own to solve which, inadvertently, produces a new mystery of a more personal nature, but it is Mma Ramotswe's keen observation skills, her understanding of human nature, her common sense and the ability to turn the other way that ensures happy results for almost all involved. Mma Makutsi is annoying for the first half of the book - I don't think I could work closely, day after day, with someone of that vocal a personality - but thankfully, she settles down into a more sedate and more forgiving character. Also, I really like how Charlie, the older mechanic apprentice, learns the hard way that starting a business of your own can have unexpected pitfalls.

Another insightful depiction of the "slice of life" activities at Zebra Drive and Tlokweng Road.

112lkernagh
Sep 4, 2017, 12:52 pm


ROOT #45 - The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Nine-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: May 4, 2013
Page count: 352 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: summary from the allreaders.com book review summary page:
Olivia Hunt is a Hollywood producer who has just been fired after her last movie entitled "Lyold the Hamster", tanked at the box office. To make matters worse, Olivia has been given her walking papers by her boyfriend, Michael. While wallowing in a heap of self pity, Olivia's younger sister Maddy has been diagnosed with leukemia. Olivia rushes home to Shawnee Falls, Ohio to be with her sister and her family as they struggle to process the devastating news. Olivia and Maddie have always been close, although their lives are radically different. While Olivia has been wheeling and dealing in Hollywood, Maddie has married a stable and loving guy and settled down in their hometown of Shawnee Falls. While Olivia is a cynic, Maddie is an optimist. Despite the grim news, Maddie firmly believes she will successfully battle the leukemia. As Olivia provides her sister a shoulder to lean on, Maddie challenges her older sister to chase her dreams and produce the film she has always dreamed of making, despite the odds being stacked against her.
Review:
I see mixed reviews and predominately average ratings for this one but I have to say, I loved this book. It really hit home for me. Robinson has taken her own real-life experiences - she worked in the film business for 10 years and watched as her optimistic sister died of leukemia - and has written a heartfelt story that was probably a therapeutic release for the author. Robinson succeeds where other authors might fail with the epistolary style: The story is told strictly through Olivia's correspondence. Even using this "one person" perspective, Robinson is able to bring the other characters to life. The reader experiences the near manic highs and gut-wrenching lows as Maddie's disease runs its course. Robinson also portrays how life cannot be placed on hold when a family member becomes ill. One just logs a lot more Air Miles, get a lot less sleep and try to continue to face work as "business as usual". For Olivia, business as usual is the highly demanding life of a film producer. Robinson takes her film business experience and writes a cracking good satire about Hollywood. When I wasn't crying for Maddie, I was laughing at the scathing missives as Olivia does everything she can to get her project - the latest adaptation of Don Quixote - to screen. To fully appreciate this story, and not just the Hollywood satire aspect, it would help the reader to have a good understanding of the subtle nuances and underlying themes of Don Quixote, and not just the fact that some supposed madman raced at windmills.

Lev Gorssman says it best:
"Tough, tender and tearful, The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters helps us make sense of it all."

113floremolla
Sep 4, 2017, 7:01 pm

>112 lkernagh: It's great when a book really resonates - sometimes you can't put your finger on it but the emotion it evokes is just...right. Wishlisted!

114lkernagh
Sep 8, 2017, 8:59 pm

I agree!

115lkernagh
Sep 8, 2017, 9:00 pm


ROOT #46 - Light From Heaven by Jan Karon - audiobook narrated by John Mcdonough
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "9th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: 2005
Page count: 384 pages / 15 hours, 21 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com book listing webpage:
On a century-old valley farm where Father Tim and Cynthia are housesitting, there’s plenty to say grace over, from the havoc of a windstorm to a surprising new addition to the household and a mystery in the chicken house. It’s life on the mountaintop, however, that promises to give Father Tim the definitive challenge of his long priesthood. Can he step up to the plate and revive a remote, long-empty mountain church, asap? Or has he been called to accomplish the impossible? Fortunately, he’s been given an angel—in the flesh, of course.
Review:
As the last installment in Karon’s Mitford series – readers can continue to follow Father Timothy in Karon’s Father Tim series – this one seemed to come across a bit flat. Mitford and its wonderful town folk take a back seat as Father Tim and Cynthia have moved out to Meadowgate Farm for a year and Father Tim comes out of retirement to revive an old unused missionary church, Holy Trinity. Yes, there is a new cast of vivid characters to meet and fall in love with, but I found the story seemed to peter out instead providing a more satisfying plot resolution, almost as though Karon was rushing to meet a publishing deadline and didn’t have the time to wrap the story up properly.

I will miss my visits to Mitford but at least I can look forward to more stories with Father Timothy.

116lkernagh
Sep 29, 2017, 10:25 pm


ROOT #47 - The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Dark Blue cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback - ARC
Original publication date: 2006
Acquisition date: May 13, 2009
Page count: 720 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.8 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amzon.ca book listing webpage:
“After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn’s for an oyster supper.”

Raised in straitened circumstances by his novelist mother, Glyver attended Eton thanks to the munificence of a mysterious benefactor. After his mother’s death, Glyver is not sure what path to take in life. Should he explore the new art of photography, take a job at the British Museum, continue his travels in Europe with his friend Le Grice? But then, going through his mother’s papers, he discovers something that seems unbelievable: the woman who raised him was not his mother at all. He may in fact be the son of one of the richest and most powerful men in England, Lord Tansor, but Glyver lacks the evidence to prove his case. In his search for evidence, Glyver adopts an alias and in the process, learns of the one person who stands between him and his birthright: his old schoolmate and rival Phoebus Rainsford Daunt, a popular poet (and secret criminal) whom Lord Tansor has taken a decidedly paternal interest in after the death of his only son.

Glyver’s mission to regain his patrimony takes him from the heights of society to its lowest depths, from brothels and opium dens to Cambridge colleges and the idylls of Evenwood, the Tansor family’s ancestral home. Glyver may be a bibliophile, but he is no bookworm. Employed “in a private capacity” by one of Victorian London’s top lawyers, he knows his Macrobius from his First Folio, but he has the street-smarts and ruthlessness of a Philip Marlowe. Glyver is tough and resourceful, but Daunt always seems to be a step ahead, at least until Glyver meets the beguilingly beautiful Emily Carteret, daughter of Lord Tansor’s secretary. As this extraordinary story of betrayal and treachery, of delusion and deceit unfolds, one has to wonder, is Glyver a callous and brutal killer or is he a victim of a series of betrayals, twists, lies, and obsession?
Review:
I think readers who love Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White or Michel Faber’s Crimson Petal and the White will also love this one. Cox skillfully provides readers with a revenge mystery not only set in Victorian England – and filled with characters with Dickensian names – but also accurately reproduces the style of a Victorian-era sensation novel. The “gimmick” to this one is that the story is presented in the format of a genuine 19th century manuscript, complete with footnotes. The story has all of the atmospheric experience of the seedier underside of 1850’s London, juxtaposed against the pristine and awe inspiring Evenwood country estate. If the Victorian atmosphere doesn’t draw you in, then maybe the ”complicated web of happenstance, circumstance and conspiracy” will. If not that, there is always the suspense as Cox sends his characters on an intricate waltz of secrets, deceits and greed. Whether our narrator Glyver is a reliable character deserving of a reader’s sympathy or just a madman ranting, you will have to read this one to reach your own conclusions.

Overall, a richly complex and engrossing Victorian-styled read.

117lkernagh
Sep 29, 2017, 10:26 pm


ROOT #48 - The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook narrated by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "9th book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 240 pages / 8 hours, 36 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.80 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amzon.ca book listing webpage:
Under the endless skies of Botswana, there is always something Mma Ramotswe can do to help someone and here she finds herself assisting a woman looking for her family. The problem is the woman doesn't know her real name or whether any of her family members are still alive. Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi is the recipient of a beautiful new bed that causes more than a few sleepless nights. And, at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni has come under the influence of a doctor promising a miracle cure for his daughter's medical condition, which Mma Ramotswe finds hard to accept. Nonetheless, Precious Ramotswe handles these things in her usual compassionate and good-natured way, while always finding time for a cup of red bush tea.
Review:
Another great installment. Even though there is an ominous undertone the story with threatening anonymous letters addressed to the ladies at the detective agency, I continue to enjoy Mma Ramotswe's quiet contemplation on society as she goes about her day to day business. It was also refreshing to have both Both Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe find themselves making some incorrect assumptions that they have to make amends for. A very good lesson here about not jumping to conclusions! Overall, another charming visit to McCall Smith's Botswana.

118floremolla
Sep 30, 2017, 9:38 am

>116 lkernagh: great review! having enjoyed The Crimson Petal and the White I've added this to my wishlist. :)

119Tess_W
Sep 30, 2017, 9:54 am

>116 lkernagh: Great Review, on my wishlist it goes!

120rabbitprincess
Sep 30, 2017, 1:29 pm

>116 lkernagh: Thumb! Great review!

121detailmuse
Sep 30, 2017, 5:33 pm

Congrats on progressing beyond your goal!

>109 lkernagh: I loved George Guidall's reading of Don Quixote -- spry and animated, not sure that would fit for The Hour I First Believed but did you enjoy his narration?

122connie53
Oct 4, 2017, 3:21 am

I always love your reviews, Lori.

123lkernagh
Oct 16, 2017, 11:44 am

Glad to see everyone taking an interest in the review for the Michael Cox book! What a great read!

>121 detailmuse: - Good point. Guidall's narration of the Wally Lamb book was good. He wasn't as animated as he was for Don Quixote.... had more of a level "teacher's" kind of voice throughout the Lamb book.

>122 connie53: - Thanks Connie!

124lkernagh
Oct 16, 2017, 11:44 am


ROOT #49 - The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Nine (9) in the title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: February 12, 2008
Acquisition date: December 3, 2011
Page count: 432 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
Charlotte Taylor lived in the front row of history. In 1775, at the young age of twenty, she fled her upper class English country house and boarded a ship to Jamaica with her lover, the family's black butler. Soon after reaching shore, Charlotte's lover died of yellow fever, leaving her alone and pregnant in Jamaica. In the sixty-six years that followed, she would find refuge with the Mi'kmaq of what is present-day New Brunswick, have three husbands, nine more children and a lifelong relationship with an aboriginal man. Using a seamless blend of fact and fiction, Charlotte Taylor's great-great-great-granddaughter, Sally Armstrong, reclaims the life of a dauntless and unusual woman and delivers living history with all the drama and sweep of a novel.
Review:
What kind of story would you expect a journalist, documentary filmmaker and human rights activist to write as their first foray into fiction writing? For Armstrong, the answer was simple: Write a fictionalized account of a strong-willed, resilient and independent-thinking woman straight from Armstrong's own family tree. As many book reviewers tend to note, a good historical novelist has to not only present the facts and tell a story, but also has to be able to communicate the feel of former times, transporting the reader to that earlier place and time. Armstrong does a fabulous job bringing to life the harsh, frontier world of 18th century New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The story captures an interesting period in Canadian - and American - history: The return of Acadians previously ex-pulsed from the area by the British; the conflicting points of view of the Loyalist and the pre-Loyalist settlers and the plight of the native Indian populations as their traditional hunting lands were being taken away from them. While the historical information is well researched, Armstrong does tend to skim over certain events that I wish she had provided more details about. That being said, it is Charlotte's multi-dimensional character, her tenacity, her resourcefulness and her determination to adapt to the harsh environment and make a living that made this such a wonderful read for me.

Overall, a wonderfully written story about the first female settler on the Mirimichi and a great read for anyone with an interest in 18th century Canadian Maritimes history.

125lkernagh
Edited: Oct 16, 2017, 11:46 am


ROOT #50 - Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook narratted by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: 10th book in a series
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2009
Acquisition date: May 3, 2015
Page count: 240 pages / 8 hours, 24 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
Precious Ramotswe faces problems both personal and professional. The first is the potential demise of an old friend, her tiny white van. Recently, it has developed a rather troubling knock, but she dare not consult the estimable Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni for fear he may condemn the vehicle. Meanwhile, her talented assistant Mma Makutsi is plagued by the reappearance of her nemesis, Violet Sephotho, who has taken a job at the Double Comfort Furniture Shop, whose proprietor is none other than Phuti Radiphuti, Mma Makutsi's fiance. Finally, the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency has been hired to explain the unexpected losing streak of a local football club, the Kalahari Swoopers. But with Mma Ramotswe on the case, it seems certain that everything will be resolved satisfactorily.
Review:
An okay read but not as entertaining as some of the previous books in the series have been. I do enjoy the reoccurring characters - in particular, Violet Sephotho - as providing some intrigue to these stories. While Mma Ramotswe's musings are usually enjoyable, I am starting to find her decisions to not adapt with the times to be a bit tiring, like clinging to a vehicle for sentimental reasons when it is obviously on its last legs is not the best decision to make. I did enjoy the excitement young Puso displays at going to see the Kalahari Swoopers game with Mma Ramotswe and the use Mma Ramotswe makes of the observant nature of children as she works on the case.

Overall, an okay read but not one of the better stories in the series.

126rabbitprincess
Oct 16, 2017, 3:39 pm

>124 lkernagh: Ooh that sounds really good! Darn it! ;)

127lkernagh
Oct 16, 2017, 3:52 pm

;-)

128MissWatson
Oct 17, 2017, 4:39 am

>124 lkernagh: I agree, it sounds fascinating.

129floremolla
Oct 17, 2017, 5:51 am

>124 lkernagh: - sounds right up my street too! Wishlisted.

130lkernagh
Oct 28, 2017, 10:54 pm

So glad to see the interest in the Armstrong book. Fascinating reading of a place and time that does not exist anymore. I wish more family members would come forward with family stories from that time period.

131lkernagh
Oct 28, 2017, 10:55 pm


ROOT #51 - Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Yellow cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2007
Acquisition date: May 3, 2015
Page count: 320 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
On an idyllic patch of English countryside a handful of migrant workers spend their days picking strawberries and dreaming of a better life, and their nights in two tiny trailer homes—one for men and one for women. All is harmonious in this cozy vale until Farmer Leaping’s wife comes upon him and the berry-picking boss, Yola, in a compromising position. Fury ensues, the police are called, and the migrant workers pile into one of the trailer homes and hightail it out of their little Arcadia, setting off on one of the most enchanting, merry, and moving picaresque journeys since Chaucer’s pilgrims set off to Canterbury.
Review:
It is obvious that Lewycka decided to experiment with shifting formats, producing a unique blending of first and third person narration, including epistolary (Emmanuel’s narration takes the form of letters written to his sister) and the all caps grammar-deficient monologues of a stray dog. Part romance, part adventure, part social commentary, Lewycka attempts to tackle a number of serious social issues – illegal immigration, worker exploitation, environmental activism, factory farming, – from an almost tragicomic perspective. The migrant workers dreams of “freedom” and the ability to earn good money is quickly shown to be a thinly veiled illusion, which would have made for completely depressing reading except for the naïve innocence of some of the characters, with a focus on humour first, social commentary second.

Overall, as much as I enjoyed the growing romance between Irina and Andriy and the use of fractured English and the language barrier to produce comic moments, the manner in which Irina continues to encounter the sleazy Eastern European gangster/exploiter Vulk (in the most unlikely of places) is fanciful in the extreme. That and the fact that some of the story just comes across as rather ‘odd’. An okay read but IMO, not as good as Lewycka’s debut novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian.

132lkernagh
Nov 11, 2017, 10:13 pm


ROOT #52 - The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - audiobook narrated by John Lee
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (901-1,000 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 1989
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 973 pages / 40 hours, 54 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul . . . of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother. A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England.
Review:
Whoever said that a writer of spy thrillers should not attempt to write a historical fiction piece, especially one of such an epic format at The Pillars of the Earth? According to Follett, his editor, for one. Always nice when a writer goes against the grain. In Pillars of the Earth, Follett relies on the things he knows – how to pace a story to build suspense, how to create multi-faceted characters, and his personal love for cathedrals – to write a highly readable epic tale (spanning 50 years) of political upheaval, corruption, greed, and self-discovery. This story will not appeal to all readers. Follett detailed descriptions of the cathedral build appeals to my love for architecture as do the descriptions of the 12 century English feudal system and the strong role of the church and its pageantry. Follett does not present some “cookie cutter” view of medieval England and there really is an awful lot of that time period not to like. Even so, it is the characters that really drew me in and kept me enthralled. Follett’s characters are so “real”. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Follett has included some very strong, independent women as key characters in this story.

On a downside, I am not sure what exactly was running through Follett’s mind in wrapping up the story - I am guessing that it written as a stand-alone novel and only due to its publication success that it morphed into a trilogy – but the ending came across as just a little to “tidy” for me and ended up ending on a slightly lower note after 900 pages of riveting reading.

Overall, a fabulous story, rich in history, strong on drama and filled with memorable characters. A book I can highly recommend to readers who have enjoyed Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies.

133floremolla
Nov 12, 2017, 3:50 pm

Great reviews as usual and I'll be adding Follet's book to my wishlist. :)

134Tess_W
Nov 12, 2017, 4:32 pm

>132 lkernagh: I have that book on my TBR shelf. It's daunting because of the page count, but I know I'll love it! Twill be one of my 3 extra big tomes for 2018.

135detailmuse
Nov 15, 2017, 10:35 am

>132 lkernagh: I too really liked this ... but admit I cut the huge paperback into 3 or 4 sections! Haven't decided whether to read the follow-ups.

136floremolla
Nov 15, 2017, 5:18 pm

>135 detailmuse: never thought of cutting up a large book to make it more manageable - not sure I could do it! Maybe one for Kindle or audio then...

137detailmuse
Nov 16, 2017, 12:38 pm

>136 floremolla: Definitely Kindle-worthy! (Except I don't ever "bond" with an e-book as well as with paper, weird.) I couldn't do it with a book I'd want to keep. I learned my lesson and acquired Outlander on Kindle :)

138floremolla
Nov 16, 2017, 2:28 pm

>137 detailmuse: I understand what you mean about the bonding - can't beat a paper book for that!

139connie53
Nov 17, 2017, 1:32 pm

>132 lkernagh: I have that book on my shelves! Up the TBR it goes!

140lkernagh
Nov 26, 2017, 4:47 pm

Thanks everyone!

>135 detailmuse: - Great idea to make the book more manageable in your hands, and yes, definitely a "Kindle-worthy" read. :-)

141lkernagh
Nov 26, 2017, 4:51 pm


ROOT #53 - Benito by Francois Gravel
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Orange cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 1987
Acquisition date: September 20, 2012
Page count: 161 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
Benito - thirteenth child of an absent-minded father and amnesiac mother - grows up in a comfortably undemanding anonymity, and spends his childhood contriving ways to remain inconspicuous. But in time he discovers that his carefully cultivated anonymity casts an extraordinary spell over other people: If they so much as meet his eyes, they are irresistibly compelled to pour out their innermost thoughts. They can then go on their way relieved and unburdened - even if Benito has been lost in daydreams and hasn't paid the slightest attention to their confessions. Listening - or rather, not listening - becomes Benito's life work, but despite his growing fame he remains a bemused and innocent observer of the world around him.
Review:
An interesting blending of quirky existentialism and fanciful satirical insight, this little gem brings to mind books such as Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, Voltaire's Candide and the dreamlike magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A hard book to describe so I will just reproduce the comment found on the book's back cover:
"A droll and charming tale of the power of love, and the miracles it works; behind its gentle comedy lies a shrewd and pointed vision of human folly."
Gravel has a keen eye and uses his pen to point out - in a light, humorous manner - some of the crazy things that happens in society. An author worthy of a wider readership. Love the advise a 6-year-old Benito receives from his father:
"Now listen to your father: life stinks but there's nothing can beat it. Work is the key to success. Beware of monopolies, and respect women. Any questions?"
Note: This may be an obscure book for non-Canadian (and non-French speaking readers) to grab a copy of. My copy is an English translation.

142lkernagh
Edited: Nov 28, 2017, 8:02 pm


ROOT #54 - World Without End by Ken Follett - audiobook narrated by John Lee
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books page count (1,001-1,100 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2007
Acquisition date: May 10, 2014
Page count: 1,014 pages / 45 hours, 30 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from various sources:
Two centuries after the townspeople of Kingsbridge finished building their exquisite Gothic cathedral, four children slip into the forest and witness a killing... and event that will make Kingsbridge once again the centre of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge. As the children grow into adults, so to does their world drastically change into a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, with intrigue and tension quickly reaching a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race — the Black Death.
Review:
Not as good as The Pillars of the Earth, but still a solid read for anyone interested in feudalism, religion, architecture and medical practices of the late Middle Ages. The only hold overs from book one is the location - Kingsbridge - and some minor references at the start of the book to identify certain descendants of some earlier characters. Beyond that, this book could be read as a stand alone, and maybe it should. I can understand that a writer may feel compelled to reproduce a successful story plot formula, but short of making use of the Black Plague as a mechanism for some interesting plot dynamics (Who lives? Who dies? Who runs and hides?), Follett reproduces a number of his themes from the first book. Same/similar themes, different characters. I guess if I had read Pillars of the Earth when if first came out and then had to wait 17 years for the sequel (instead of reading the two books almost back-to-back as I did) I probably would have been enthralled, and not noticed the plot/theme similarities. The violence found in the first book continues in this one - actually, I think this one is a bit more violent - so be forewarned if you tend to shy away from books that contain vivid descriptions of killing for revenge (or just for the sake of killing). That, and I have to admit that I found Caris to be an annoying character, which detracted me from fully enjoying the story... I was too busy being ticked off by some of her "entitlement" behaviour. As he did with the first book, Follett wraps everything up in the end with a nice, tidy bow, maybe thinking he was stopping with the sequel. Kind of makes me wonder whether the third book, A Column of Fire - published 10 years after World Without End - will be another bit of "same old, same old". Might just have to bite the bullet and find out.

Overall, Follett does write a good story, even if parts of this story come off as being annoyingly familiar.

143lkernagh
Nov 28, 2017, 8:07 pm

Hoping to finish my current ROOT read by Thursday, but no guarantees.

144lkernagh
Dec 28, 2017, 9:02 pm


ROOT #55 - You have to be careful in the land of the free by James Kelman
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Eleven-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 410 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com book listing webpage:
Jeremiah Brown, a Scottish immigrant in his early thirties, has lived in the United States for twelve years. He has moved as many times, from the east coast to the west coast and back again, all in the hope his luck would change. To add to his restlessness and indecision, he now has a nonrefundable ticket to Glasgow to visit his mother for the first time in seven years. The question is, will the visit help him get over the pain of separation from a woman he met and loved in New York and with whom he had a little girl, or will it make it worse? In this rich, funny, superbly crafted novel, Kelman has once again created a memorable character-compulsive, obsessive, self-doubting, beer-loving, and utterly engaging-and a singular portrait of an immigrant's America.
Review:
I struggled through this one. In fact, I struggled with the book for 4 weeks before finally finishing it. I like the idea of the experiences and perspectives of a "furnir" as he analyses both his experience of living in America (as a Red Card class III immigrant, aspiring to Green Card status) and what he finds to be his failures as a partner, father and son. Why the struggle, you might ask? Well, for starters, every time I dipped into the book, I had to reacquaint myself with chosen words written in a phonetically accented Scottish tongue, with "huis"="house"; "Skarrisch"="Scottish"; "Uhmerka"="America"; "mair"= "more"; etc, etc.

It also didn't help that our narrator has the attention span of a bunny rabbit, with a habit of embellishing his stories, only to make retractions later. Irvine Welsh, the author of Trainspotting found this to be a "brave and provocative" that will delight Kelman loyalists and should win him many converts among Americans..." is probably deserving praise, but as I have never read Welsh's works, there is a good change that I am not the target audience of their works. Even if this one is "A beautiful embodiment of moral, social and political outrage portrayed on the most human level", it was a darn challenge to find any quote-worthy phrases that did not contain profanities or other derogatory expletives. Below are the two rare exceptions worthy of mentioning here:
"Naw, I said, sometimes life can be beautiful. But sometimes things are the opposite of that, if there is an opposite of that: being honest I don't think there is; just there can be bad times, we get these bad times. You says ugly there Rita, odious stiff like that; but I'm no sure if they are opposites. To me beautiful is out there on its ayn lilke if it's there in yer life, if beautiful's there in yer life. Nothing can touch that. There isnay nothing else."

"Ye know what like it is when ye hear something greeting be it a dumb animal or a child, it breaks yer heart. That is if ye are a genuine person. A lot of bodies arenay genuine persona aarh jack lad they be persons by proxy, they have trained themselved no to be genuine persons, their morality becomes a politics and the actual argument has to do with whether or no morality exists or whether or no an individual has an obligation to be moral."
Overall, a struggle of a read for me. While the story contains some wonderful literary references and some fantastically insightful moral and social commentary, the whole airport "persian bet" aspect of the story just left me baffled.

145lkernagh
Dec 28, 2017, 9:03 pm


ROOT #56 - The Ameriad: The Untold Founding of America by the Survivors of Troy by Duane Gundrum
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Twelve-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: e-Book
Original publication date: April 3, 2013
Acquisition date: February 17,2014
Page count: 218 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.35 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com book listing webpage:
The Greeks had their Iliad and Odyssey, the Romans had their Aeneid, and the British had their Britannia and those continuously changing King Arthur stories, starring wannabe Shakespearean actors slumming it until something better came along. But America got nothing. Until now. Finally, an epic has emerged, from the lost annals of time (whatever that means...just go with it...it sounds scholarly), that tells the true story of America's foundation. The Ameriad tells the story of the Trojan warrior Amereaus, who has been chosen by the gods to found a new land somewhere across the Great Sea (capitalized because it's that great a sea). Running away from his domineering wife Democrita, Amereaus travails the many forgotten lands of yesterday to battle new gods and new evils (because the old ones were boring), leading to a new land previously occupied by other people until Amereaus kicks them out. For the glory of a new land that will one day be called Amereausland (placeholder until a better name comes along). So join Amereaus, his much smarter assistant Lyddius, and a cast of many others (because it's a novel and just having two characters would have been really boring), including a translator of the epic who really should have never quit his day job but just so happened to be in the right place at the right time to become the greatest translator of all time (Editor's Note: Please do not let this guy write any more of his own back copy!).
Review:
This was a rather fun read. While I was never a devout reader of Greek mythology, I have read enough to understand that this one is a parody of The Iliad and The Aeneid and I was able to enjoy the elements borrowed to create this “what if” American mythology story. Gundrum dials up the satire/humour with descriptive monikers for various mythological gods (Amereaus’ parents are the god Head Honcho and the goddess Fluffy) and lesser gods like Beer and Shop Teacher. The names alone should give you an idea of the type of story this is. Through the story, Gundrum pokes fun at everything from powerful corporations, economic globalization (the Trojan Horse is discovered to display an undecipherable text: “Made in China”), the atom bomb, junk food to modern morals and ethics. Some of the satire was easy to pick up on but other aspects were more obscure to identify. The section where Amereaus meets Socrates is fabulously done but I never did figure out why the focus on “The Pillars” or its significance as a satirical element for the story. Just have to chalk that up to an aspect of American history / modern culture that I do not have much knowledge / understanding of.

Overall, a fun, quick read and one I can recommend to anyone who with a basic understanding of Greek mythology and happens to likes their comedy to be of the Monty Python / Mel Brooks style or for readers of Marie Phillips’ Gods Behaving Badly.

146lkernagh
Dec 28, 2017, 9:03 pm

And that is my last ROOT read for 2017.

147connie53
Dec 29, 2017, 3:03 am

Good job, Lori. Happy ROOTing in 2018!