The Printed Page

Taking June off was not only good for my hands and wrists but my reading benefited as well. I read 15 books, 5,246 pages and DNF’d two. There are no formal book reviews for June.

Title: The Angel’s Game
Author/website: Carkis Ruiz Zafon
470 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication date: June ’09
Genre: Fiction
I found this book interesting. Not something I’d typically read. It was dark and a bit on the strange side. I wasn’t real taken with the ending. I’m debating reading The Shadow of the Wind. I’m thinking I’ll download the sample chapters to my Kindle, read those and then decide.

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, 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.

Title: The Known World
Author/website: Edward P. Jones
432 pages
Publisher: Amistad
Publication date: August ’06
Genre: Historical fiction
I didn’t finish reading this one only getting about halfway through (216 pages). Personally I think this book is a mess and you’ll no get recommendation from me to read it. It doesn’t make sense, very confusing. You spend your time reading in circles chasing story lines that have nothing to do with anything. I know it’s award winning book but honestly I can’t understand why.

Caldonia Townsend is an educated black slaveowner, the widow of a well-loved young farmer named Henry, whose parents had bought their own freedom, and then freed their son, only to watch him buy himself a slave as soon as he had saved enough money. Although a fair and gentle master by the standards of the day, Henry Townsend had learned from former master about the proper distance to keep from one’s property. After his death, his slaves wonder if Caldonia will free them. When she fails to do so, but instead breaches the code that keeps them separate from her, a little piece of Manchester County begins to unravel.

Title: The Marriage Bureau for Rich People
Author/website: Farahad Zama
291 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Publication date: June ’09
Genre: Fiction
This is a debut novel for Mr. Zama. Though it is a bit rough around the edges I ended up really enjoying the story. It makes a good book to throw in the beach bag and enjoy a relaxing day reading.

A thriving arranged-marriage bureau in contemporary India resides at the heart of Zama’s charming debut. The customers who visit Mr. Ali’s bureau—a project he began in retirement to pass the time—are mostly pragmatists: they look for mates based on height, complexion, caste, economic status and religion. As business picks up, Mr. Ali, a Muslim, takes on a young assistant, Aruna, a poor Hindu girl, who helps him formulate happy unions. While the bureau prospers, Mr. Ali and his wife contend with their headstrong son, a human rights advocate who worries them constantly, and Aruna faces her dismal home life and a handsome young client who may want more from her than lists of potential matches.

Title: Valeria’s Last Stand
Author/website: Marc Fitten
259 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: April ’09
Genre: Fiction
This was one of those books that I’m glad I read the author interview in the back of the book before getting too far into the story. The background provided by the author helped me understand what he wanted to achieve with his novel. I can’t say I enjoyed this one as it was all a bit weird. I liked Part One more than Part Two. I finished but it wasn’t memorable.

Life in an isolated Hungarian village is turned upside down by an unusual love affair in Fitten’s promising debut. In the small hamlet of Zivatar, 68-year-old Valeria is known by all as a cantankerous woman, quick to criticize everything from the produce at the market to the mayor’s lofty ambitions to lure foreign investors to the town. But a chance encounter one day with the elderly local potter—a man Valeria has known for years but never noticed—changes everything. The widower potter falls just as hard for Valeria, despite his relationship with Ibolya, the owner of the village’s only tavern. Unaccustomed to being smitten, Valeria tries to maintain her normal routine, but the village is in an uproar over this unlikely love triangle. The arrival of a traveling chimney sweep intent on bilking the townspeople sends another ripple through what was once a placid village.

Title: The Dead Man
Author/website: Joel Goldman
408 pages
Publisher: Pinnacle
Publication date: April ’09
Genre: Suspense/thriller
I’m a sucker for popular, mass market suspense thrillers. Books that hook me right from the start, take me on a great ride and leave me wanting more. So it was with The Dead Man by Joel Goldman. He could quickly became favorite of mine. I’m looking forward to reading more novels from Mr. Goldman’s back list.

Careful What You Dream. Milo Harper wants former FBI agent Jack Davis’ help. People in Harper’s study of the human brain are starting to die – and dying exactly in the very ways they have dreamed…Harper wants Jack to get to the truth and counter lawsuits aimed at the foundation. But when Jack investigates, the truth explodes: a serial killer is lurking inside one of the most advanced research facilities in the world. For Jack, the case will shatter illusions, raise ghosts, and take him onto both sides of the law – and into the path of a murderer’s terrifying rage.

Title: Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret
Author/website: Steve Luxenberg
358 pages
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication date: May ’09
Genre: Memoir
I love memoirs and Mr. Luxenberg’s is as good as any I’ve read. He takes a family secret that was so well hidden that he didn’t realize his mother had a sister until well into his adult life. Thread by thread he weaves together the story of an aunt that who was mysteriously institutionalized and never mentioned within family circles. It’s amazing how his mother kept this secret from those close to her yet others acquainted with the family knew. This story is sadly touching. By the time you’re done reading his aunt is lovingly brought to life and appropriately remembered in death.

Throughout her life, Luxenberg’s mother, Beth, reveled in her status as an only child. Then, a few years before her death in 1999—and utterly out of the blue—she admitted to having a mentally and physically disabled younger sister named Annie, who died in 1972. Beth’s failing health precluded Luxenberg and his siblings from learning any more. After Beth’s passing, Luxenberg set out in search of answers. His dual roles as reporter and son proved both blessing and curse; the journalist dug furiously for facts, while the son wondered if long-buried secrets were best kept that way. His questions were many: What prompted Annie’s commitment, at age 21, to Eloise Hospital, southeastern Michigan’s sprawling psychiatric facility? Why was there next to no record of her early years? Most baffling of all, why did Beth, two years Annie’s senior, refuse for so long to acknowledge her sibling’s existence? Armed with superb investigative skills and relentless determination, Washington Post senior editor Luxenberg tracked down remaining family and friends and interviewed an exhaustive list of experts who might shed light on Annie’s plight. Part memoir, part mystery, part history of the mental-health movement, Annie’s Ghosts is a fascinating account of a life lived in the shadows and a family beset by despair.

Title: Elvis Takes A Backseat
Author/website: Leanna Ellis
320 pages
Publisher: B&H Fiction
Publication date: January ’09
Genre: Fiction
Sweet with a certain charm but not anything new. It wasn’t difficult to tell how this one would turn out. Does have some Christian overtones but nothing preachy.

When Claudia, a 40-something Texas widow, holds a garage sale to offload some of her late husband’s belongings, she discovers a note he scribbled in the last days of his illness, asking her to return a bizarre three-foot bust of Elvis Presley to Memphis. Reluctantly, Claudia embarks on a return to sender road trip to Tennessee with her 60ish aunt, who knew Elvis personally, and a caustic teenage girl who is harboring a secret.

Title: Dragon House
Author/website: Dragon House/John Shors
347 pages
Publisher: NAL Trade
Publication date: September ’09
Genre: Fiction
Here it is plain and simple: I loved it! Personally I think you should read all his novels. And I’m looking forward to next May when I get my hands on an ARC of his next novel.

Dragon House tells the tale of Iris and Noah—two Americans who, as a way of healing their own painful pasts, open a center to house and educate Vietnamese street children. In the slums of a city that has known little but war for generations, Iris and Noah befriend children who dream of nothing more than of going to school, having a home, and being loved. Learning from the poorest of the poor, the most silent of the unheard, Iris and Noah find themselves reborn. Resounding with powerful themes of suffering, sacrifice, friendship, and love, Dragon House brings together East and West, war and peace, and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.

Title: Saving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3)
Author/website: James Patterson
416 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Publication date: May ’07
Genre: Fantasy/YA
Rarely do I read YA fiction but this is one series I’m hooked on. I enjoy spending time with Max and company.

The time has arrived for Max and her winged “Flock” to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of “Re-evolution”, a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race…and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them–but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another?

Title: Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz
Author/website: Perfection/Julie Metz
340 pages
Publisher: Voice
Publication date: June ’09
Genre: Memoir
I can’t say I enjoyed reading about someone else’s pain and loss but I didn’t put it down. At times she’s a bit too honest and provides more information than I needed to read.

As recounted in this dark and affecting memoir, Metz’s discovery of her husband’s long trail of philandering well after he died reveals the state of willful ignorance and comfortable self-deception that reigned in her marriage. At their home in the northern suburbs of New York City on June 8, 2003, Henry, her husband of 13 years, suffered sudden cardiac arrest, leaving the author, a 44-year-old graphic artist, widowed and the sole caretaker of their six-year-old daughter, Liza. Initially unable to face the details surrounding his death, she left to her friends the task of cleaning out her dead husband’s office, though those same well-meaning people hid from her the truth they gleaned from Henry’s computer files and correspondence: he had been enjoying a two-year affair with another woman in their town, as well as numerous other dalliances. Metz, after the shock of Henry’s death, found solace in shopping and flirting with a much younger artist, Tomas, who was also friendly with Henry; once Tomas intimated that Henry had another life, the author began digging, calling and e-mailing every woman she learned had had a relationship with her husband, obsessed with finding the truth.

Title: Still Life
Author/website: Joy Fielding
384 pages
Publisher: Atria
Publication date: March ’09
Genre: Fiction
Interesting premise for a story. It’s been a year or two since I read a novel by Joy Fielding and I enjoyed Still Life.

Casey Marshall has it all: a successful interior-design business; a handsome, loving husband; wonderful friends; and a boatload of family money at her disposal. But just as she’s contemplating starting a family, she’s the victim of a hit-and-run accident that leaves her in a coma. But she’s not completely out of it, so she’s a witness to everything that happens in her hospital room. But is that so bad? Isn’t it everyone’s dream to be a fly on the wall, to hear what might be said at our funerals? Even though Casey is privy to everyone’s “private” remarks and conversations as they visit, she feels trapped and helpless, especially when it becomes abundantly clear that the incident with the car was no accident. Her frustration mounts as her sister, the wayward but bighearted Drew, becomes a suspect, along with everyone close to her.

Title: While My Sister Sleeps
Author/website: Barbara Delinsky
336 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication date: February ’09
Genre: Fiction
Interesting that I chose two books in row that dealt with women in comas (see Still Life above). I’m a fan of Ms. Delinsky’s novels and for the most part I enjoyed While My Sister Sleeps. I thought the blackmailing of Chris was an unnecessary plot line and didn’t add anything to the story.

An Olympic marathon contender, self-centered Robin Snow often rubs her younger sister, Molly, the wrong way. After many years in her sister’s shadow, Molly takes out her resentment with petty actions, such as refusing to accompany Robin on a run. Fatefully, Robin has a heart attack while training and falls into a coma. As Robin’s condition fails to improve, Delinsky digs tediously into the family’s woes: Molly’s touchy relationship with Robin’s ambitious reporter ex-boyfriend; middle son Chris’s dealings with a would-be blackmailer; mother Kathryn’s trouble coming to terms with Robin’s dire prognosis.

Title: The Blue Notebook
Author/website: James Levine
210 pages
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Publication date: July ’09
Genre: Fiction
I was hoping for something more or, maybe, something different. The story telling style of The Blue Notebook didn’t really appeal to me. I’m in the minority on this one.

The Blue Notebook brings us into the life of a young woman for whom stories are not just entertainment but a means of survival. Even as the novel humanizes and addresses the devastating global issue of child prostitution, it also delivers an inspiring message about the uplifting power of words and reading–a message that is so important to hold on to, especially in difficult times. Dr. Levine is donating all his U.S. proceeds from this book to help exploited children. Batuk’s story can make a difference.

Title: Relentless
Author/website: Dean Koontz
368 pages
Publisher: Bantam
Publication date: June ’09
Genre: Suspense
I’ve read almost every novel this man has written. I love his classic (older) novels and run hot and cold on his newer stuff – more suspense and less horror. His writing style has changed over the last few years and I’m still trying to adjust. While I enjoyed Relentless as with some of his more recent novels I thought the ending was ‘too easy’. That said I’ll buy Breathless when it’s released in November.

Bestselling author Cullen Cubby Greenwich is mortified when Shearman Waxx, the nation’s premier literary critic, savages his work. Cubby manages to find the syphilitic swine at Roxie’s Bistro in Newport Beach, Calif., where the author’s six-year-old prodigy son nearly pees by accident on Waxx in the restaurant’s men’s room. In retaliation, Waxx threatens Cubby with doom and gets things started nicely by blowing up his house. With almost superhuman ease, the book critic keeps track of Cubby and his family as they flee for their lives.

Title: Easy on the Eyes
Author/website: Jane Porter
332 pages
Publisher: 5 Spot
Publication date: July ’09
Genre: Women’s fiction
My least favorite JP novel. I never really warmed up to Tiana. I knew exactly where this story was headed before I’d read more than a few chapters – knew how we were going to get there and where we’d end up. Even the revelation wasn’t much of a surprise to me.

At 38, Tiana Tomlinson has made it. America adores her as one of the anchors of America Tonight, a top-rated nightly entertainment and news program. But even with the trappings that come with her elite lifestyle, she feels empty. Tina desperately misses her late husband Keith, who died several years before. And in a business that thrives on youth, Tina is getting the message that her age is starting to show and certain measures must be taken if she wants to remain in the spotlight. It doesn’t help that at every turn she has to deal with her adversary–the devilishly handsome, plastic surgeon to the stars, Michael Sullivan. But a trip away from the Hollywood madness has consequences that could affect the rest of her life.

Title: The Other Queen
Author/website: Philippa Gregory
448 pages
Publisher: Touchstone
Publication date: September ’08
Genre: Historical fiction
So even with the less than stellar reviews I really wanted to read The Other Queen. It’s been sitting on my Kindle since December of ’08 when I bought it to read on vacation. Never having gotten around to ‘cracking’ it open I decided it was time to give it a go. Boy oh boy were the other readers right – this isn’t her best work. I love PG’s other novels having reading several of them. I didn’t finish TOQ – DNF’d at page 147. Talk about repetitive storytelling. Every chapter is a rehash of the chapter before told from a different character’s POV. And not only are you a frustrated reader because of this but the two female characters keep constantly reminding you of their lofty positions. I just wanted shake some sense into these ladies and say ‘get on with it already’.

In 1568, after fleeing rebellious Scottish lords, Mary is placed into the custody of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. This turns their Derbyshire estate into a hotbed of intrigue and possible treason. George, normally loyal to a fault, falls in love with Mary; Bess secretly reports to William Cecil, Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, while fretting about her foolish husband and the continual draining of their funds; Mary plays them against one another while plotting to escape, with Cecil noting her every move.

And a very short novella, Serial, by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch. It’s only 44 pages.

***
Favorite book: Dragon House by John Shors
Least favorite book: The DNFs – The Known World and The Other Queen