Now Listening to Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

Listening to this new book on audio (checked out and downloaded from the library). Talk about guilty pleasure! I love the reader for this series and can't wait for the movie.  I hope its great!  I keep seeing Sherri Shepard as Lula and that makes me laugh. 

More later!

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

Have you ever wished to know what happened to Elizabeth Bennet after her marriage to Mr. Darcy? I know there are many books that take up this question but imagine the genius of P.D. James exploring the question!  Here it is...turns out Ms. James is as enamored with Jane Austen as many of us are in this modern age.

The book begins 6 years after the Darcy's wedding.  Elizabeth has found her footing as the mistress of this great house and is the mother of two sons.  Her sister Jane lives nearby and her father comes to visit often.  They are preparing for the yearly autumn ball. 

The peace is shattered when a carriage speeds up the long drive of Pemberley to the door on the night before the ball.  The carrige carries Lydia Wickham, Elizabeth's disgraced sister, who along with her husband Mr. Wickham have been banned from visiting Pemberley.  She is hysterical and crying out that her husband, has been killed dead in the woods of Permberley. 

Ms. James continues the story of Pride and Prejudice; includes all the characters from this classic as well as some characters from other beloved Austen stories and weaves a wonderful story that updates their lives in wonderful, even believable fashion.  I had the feeling reading the novel that Ms. James found some of the original book's situations needed a bit more attention and needed to be looked at in more depth.  This novel satisfied all the loose ends found at the end of Pride and Prejudice as well as gave me an inside look at life in Pemberley and the life of the landed gentry in the early 1800's.

Farishta by Patricia McArdle

When this novel opens, Angela Morgan is still recovering from a huge loss suffered 20 years earlier. Now, with her diplomatic career languishing, she is assigned a year in Northern Afghanistan working along side British troops.  Often the only woman, she forges a niche in this world of male dominated and tribal mores. She befriends a young interpreter as well as a young woman law student who are both from Afghanistan. She finds a meaningful project helping the Afghan provide simple solar ovens for families to cook their food. And she finally learns to deal with her long time PTSD.

This book is about a woman who finally heals and finds her passion. The best part of this book is the sense of place. I loved seeing Northern Afghanistan through this American woman's eyes.  She speaks the language fluently, is respectful of the customs, yet wants women to thrive and the country of Afghanistan to find its way.

A Small Hotel by Robert Olen Butler

A Small Hotel by Robert Olen Butler is a small novel that takes place in present time over a 12 hour period but goes back over a twenty year marriage. The day the divorce is to be finalized, Kelly Hays skips the trip to the courthouse and drives instead to New Orleans to the special place she and her estranged husband, Micheal, shared. The author moves back and forth in time weaving the story of this marriage in which two people struggle to find ways and the words to express love.

The novel has a wonderful sense of place. I felt taken to New Orleans and the sites and sounds of the French Quarter.  I could smell, hear and taste the distinct qualitites that makes New Orleans such a rare place. I could feel the Olivier House Hotel and intimacy this place gives travelers even in the midst of Mardi Gras.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

A delightful teen novel about two high school kids who live in different Chicago area suburbs. They meet in the flurry of great personal upset one night.  The meeting changes both their lives. One Will Grayson is best friends since childhood with Tiny Cooper, a gay line backer who has an autobiographical musical he is striving to produce at their high school.   Other Will Grayson is gay and is cooresponding with a boy online who he is hoping to meet soon.  As their stories intersect, they find valuable information about themselves, love, friendship, and how not to be a jerk. Laugh out loud funny and more than enough to feel a few tears from; I loved this book!  I think every adult should read it to see what the teens in your life are going through or remember what your teen years were like and to let go of that huge, long ago trauma (well it was for me).

Reading now...comments to follow

The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon. A Commisserio Burnetti mystery that takes place in Venice. As usual, my favorite parts of this book is Burnetti's home life with his wife and children. I also love hearing his movements through this city on water with the long lunches (with wine) and espressos in between as well as the Prosecco in the evening with dinner.

Listening to the audio of Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro. I can't believe these are the first Alice Munro stories I've experienced. I have listened to one whole story and am on the second one.  I may need to get the book to read since these stories are meant to take completely in during one sitting. Amazing. The first one, "Dimensions", is about a young woman moving forward from a horrific occurrence in her life. The unfolding of her story was perfect even if I could see it coming, I felt denial of the outcome.

Facebooking in San Francisco

If only I had a better phone! Sitting at an Italian Resturant on a July sunny day in San Francisco just down the street from City Lights Bookstore. We had a nice lunch after going to see the Picasso exhibit at the De Young.

Amazon is taking over the World!

Be afraid, be very afraid!?  Actually, I'm not that fearful but it is something to watch.  Three news items came across my desk last week.  This will take a bit more time than I have now to write about but since I haven't written much of late, I thought I would start. 

First an article in the October issue of Vanity Fair by Keith Gessen examines the world of publishing through the story of his friend and college mate who just had a book published with lots of fanfare.  The friend is Chad Harbach and his book, The Art Of Fielding, hit the Best Seller list fast.  At the end of this very interesting article, Keith observes that Amazon hired David Blum an editor from The Village Voice to be the editor of Kindle Singles.  Amazon's attitude is, "The only necessary parts of the business are authors and readers." And with eBooks, Amazon is proceeding to bring readers and authors together without all those messy in-between people.

The second piece of the puzzle that came across my desk was the fact that Amazon wants to start a Netflix type of rental service for eBooks.  Whew...what will become of libraries in that situation?

The final piece was the realization that when one "checks out" an eBook for a Kindle from the library the patron is taken out to Amazon.com to complete the transaction.  When the loan period is finished for the "library" book, the patron gets an email from Amazon notifying the loan period is up and a suggestion that the patron buy the book from Amazon. And, as Sarah Houghton points out we California librarians are not upholding California privacy principles as our patrons' lending patterns are being tracked by Amazon.com. This was all a surprise since our vendor did not forewarn librarians that Amazon would do this as an exchange for allowing Kindle downloads.

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is the master of the crime novel and uses Los Angeles as one of his characters. In this second in his Lincoln Lawyer series, the novel opens two years after the first novel. Mickey Haller had a tough recovery from the injuries he suffered from at the end of the last book.  His recovery led to a particular difficult addiction to pain medication. Now his colleague has been murdered and Mickey was the attorney in line to step in upon an event such as this. He now has a high profile case involving a studio head who is accused of murdering his wife. But why was the collegue murdered?  Is Mickey now in the line of fire.

Great action and intrique.  I have not read Connelly's other series featuring world-weary homicide detective Harry Bosch but Bosch shows up in this book as a minor character.

I like Mickey Haller and it does not hurt to have Mathew McConaughey in my mind as the main character.

A Trick of Light by Louise Penny

It is so fun to see a writer develop her craft and follow her though the development of characters one misses when the book ends. I have read all of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache novels, except for the first one...the library didn't have it so I started with the second novel. The last rhree have been nearly perfect with ongoing stories of each character continuing drawing the reader into their lives more and more. The focal point is Chief Inspector Gamache with his second in command and citizens of Three Pines are also portrayed.

Three Pines is a village on the Vermont and Quebec boarder in Canada. Inspector Gamache lives in Montreal as does his team. Yet, there is a lot of crime in this little village of Three Pines. With each book, the reader is drawn more into the lives of the citizens of Three Pines.

This was a great read and when it finished I couldn't believe I'd have to wait to read what happens next in this series!

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Just finished listening to this teen novel on audio.  Libba Bray is the reader and I am convinced she acted sometime in her past. She seamlessly does all the voices as well as the timely commercial interruptions and footnotes throughout the reading. This novel begins as a satire and farce of media, advertising, reality shows, the series Lost and of course beauty pageants.  This book really is about the beauty myth and the ideal that our society is feeding all women. These girls learn to survive on an island and are empowered to see beyond the beauty myth to their own strengths and ambitions.

AND it is ridiculously funny!!  It is a book I will revisit more than once!

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

A book that seemingly is about the music industry from the late 70's Punk Era into the future where society is driven by "handhelds".  The book moves back and forth in time focusing on a different character with each chapter. Some reviewers describe it as novel of intersecting short stories. There is no main character but a group of characters whose lives touch each other through the passage of time. Music is the binding ingredient; music is the touchstone of this era. How many of us flash back to an event when a song makes a surprise entry into our day?

The characters both of main importance and not include: Homicidal dictator; publicist jailed for dumping oil on 500 the who’s who of NYC by making a mistake with lighting scheme; a kleptomanic office assistance how ran away from a violent childhood to among other places Naples; a record producer who moves his family to a Westchester like suburb where his dark skin is not fully accepted; and a bipolar journalist who makes a career ending mistake.  We move between New York City, San Francisco, Naples and Africa on safari.  

These are only some of the characters and only some of the wonderful places Jennifer Egan takes us with language that is poetry. Language that shows the inner lives of characters such as a man's description of his emotionally fearful reduction of desire for his wife and its destructive effect on their marriage. 

I highly recommend this novel; it is a celebration of our cultural lifetime.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

"The circus arrives without warning." A novel of magic set from 1873 and 1903. It is a story with dream like imagery centered around a mysterious circus that travels the world. Only a few know that the circus is actually the setting for an endless competition between the students of two master illusionists, a gentleman's wager. The wager proves to effect countless lives as the "gentlemen" watch like distant puppeteers as the drama they put in motion continues without end. The writer weaves the story full of description of fantastic environments contained within the circus back and forth through time. Reading this on my Kindle, I resorted to writing the names of each chapter containing the date in a notebook so I could keep track of the events' timeline. I enjoyed this novel and would love to continue with the next generation of Le Cirque de Reves or the Night Circus.

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

This is a sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes and I loved it! I think I love this book and the first book because it is about a high school girl (yes it is a teen novel) who finds her own power and her own mind/gumption etc. I like it since it took me 'til I was 30 to do what she does in this novel. The Last Little Blue Envelope takes place 6 months after the first novel ends. And the existence of this book is in itself, a bit of a spoiler. Once again Ginny's aunt who dies of brain cancer, is directing her through Europe on an artistic scavenger hunt.  The last one proved to enrich Ginny both exponentially and financially. The book, which I am 60 % through (on my Kindle, hence the %) is funny yet emotionally satisfying.  Update: having finished the book I must add that Ginny's journey also shows her who is worth her love and regard and who is not. Ginny also gains an inkling of her own voice as an artist and grows to know herself in relation to others.

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

I am a bit more than half way through this book.  I love Jennifer Weiner's books.  This is becoming one of my favorites of her books. Four women's stories are told in alternate chapters. They are unknowingly (at this point in the novel) connected by a surrogacy baby procedure. One woman donates her eggs for money to help her father, one woman is the surrogate, one woman is the second wife of a very rich man and the 4th is the daughter of the very rich man. I love how woman's struggle transcends the possession of money or lack of money. Yet, Jennifer Weiner is writing about the class differences in our society how so very far apart we all are even within a few miles geographically, the class separations are as strong as ever.

There is scene of the surrogate, Annie, moves through her day. Without saying it, I as the reader, gets the tacit feel for her lack nor real interest in wealth. She worries about what she wears to meet with the woman whose baby she is carrying. Will she judge her Target bought purse? Will she notice her inability to dress well?

What I also love is the character of Bettina who is the rich daughter-in-law is so unimpressed with wealth, so conservative. She admits that she should have been born in the 1800's to really fit in. She only wants her family back together again, for her mother to regain her sanity and come back from New Mexico, get back with her father and push the new, gold digging wife out of the New York (luxury) apartment. Her heart break over her parent's divorce overwhelms her sense of herself.

And Jules, the egg donor, a Princeton graduate, really needs to discover AA!

I'm Over All That and Other Confessions by Shirley MacLaine

I finished reading this book from the library over the weekend, well, kind of finished it.  I read parts of this book.  When she would get into the New Age stuff I would start skimming. But I must say, she has lived such an interesting life. Her courage and determined independence is very admirable and really such a role model. I also love that she is over sex at her age and is looking for companionship.  She has had such interesting love affairs including the her long marriage. I also love that her best companion is her dog Terry (love the name).

If one is into New Age thought, Shirley is a very good resource for this information. She is very sincere and knowledgeable. My reaction is kind of interesting.  I am a bit repelled by reading and talking about it.  BUT, I have incorporated many principles that Ms. MacLaine talks about into my own belief system. I am simply not interested in studying this particular subject right now.  I believe in reincarnation but not in the same way she sees it. I do know of the power of nature, power of minerals and colors (look at my jewelry).

What to read next?

I am determined to read the books I own...books on my shelf as well as recently bought books on my Kindle.

Here's my list of books on my shelf that I want to read next:
The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon
Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough
The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo
A Course in Weight Loss by Marianne Williamson

On my kindle:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch

This is what I'm reading now (I'm reading three books including an audio book).  I bought it when Roger and I were in San Francisco for my birthday.  We had just been to the deYoung to see the Picasso exhibit and we went to North Beach for a fabulous Italian lunch.  We visited City Lights Bookstore and I found this and another about the love of reading.

This book inspired this blog. I am good at book talking.  Why not start practicing my book review/talking skills with my own reading.

The author reads one book per day for a year.  I cannot come anywhere near that rate of reading. She weaves her account of the healing power of books with a memoir of growing up in an immigrant family with two sisters. Her account of the death of her sister is heartbreaking. She began her year of reading as a way of stepping back into life two years after the death of her sister. She had been running so hard from her sister's hospital room she realized that she needed to slow down and really sit in her grief to truly live. Books had been such an important connection in her family. Turning to books was a natural way for her to slow down and feel.

Personally I wonder if one book a day is really slowing down but I'll see as I continue reading the book.

Bent Road by Lori Roy

I am listening to this book on audio CD.  I do not like the audio book reader but I am pushing forward with it.  A man moves his family from Detroit in reaction to the Detroit race riots of 1960's to his hometown in the Kansas farmland. Here old secrets and new ones make him and his family confront the reality of small town living.  He had left after the unsolved murder of his sister.  His other sister has married the man most feel is responsible who is a drunk and beats his wife. 

I am not finished but will check back when I do.  I am caught by the story.  It is dark but I'm hooked.

Cleaning Nabokov's House by Leslie Daniels

Barb Barrett walked away from her marriage which was a good thing, only the way she walked away had very bad consequences. She was able to buy a home with money from her father's estate but she was left without a good paying job, without a direction and most importantly without her children. 

While cleaning her home, a house Vladimir and Vera Nabokov once lived in, Barb finds a hidden manuscript.  Could it be an unfinished book by Nabokov? In searching for the answer to this question, Barb finds a direction for her life.

Barb continues to make questionable decisions.  Find out how they turn out in this very funny, sometimes heartbreaking novel.