A Playdate With Death

A Playdate With Death

Ayelet Waldman

In the third book of the Mommy-Track series, former defense attorney and stay-at-home mom Juliet Applebaum arrives at her L.a. gym to find that her personal trainer and friend has been found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gun-shot wound. Juliet has her doubts that upbeat Bobby would have committed suicide, and when his fiancé also expresses doubts, Julist launches her own personal investigation into his death.

These books are both entertaining and interesting. Juliet Applebaum is such a fun, relatable character, and there always seems to be an interesting facet to the mystery: in this case adoption plays a key role.

I definitely enjoy these and will read more of them in the future.

No Place for a Lady: Adventurous Women Travelers

No Place for a Lady: Tales of Adventurous Women Travelers

Barbara Hodgson

This book is about one of my favorite subjects; women who were daring enough to buck convention, escape the narrow confines that defined their societal role, and who saw, explored, and experienced the world at large.

I have to admit that the writing was a little weak. Especially the structure of the book was a little choppy.

That being said, who cares? What was lacking in structure was more than made up for by the adventure, and by the lavish, beautiful illustrations. I was especially enthralled by the gorgeous maps from Victorian-era atlases.

I've learned that Barbara Hodgson is a book designer as well as an author, and it shows.

I totally fell in love with this book.

The Seamstress: A Novel

The Seamstress: A Novel

Frances de Pontes Peebles

Set in Brazil in the 1920's and 1930's, The Seamstress is about two sisters who each long to escape from their small, backcountry village. As they each find what seems to be their means of escape, their lives diverge, yet they retain strong, though obscure ties.

Emilia marries into the family of a wealthy, highly respected doctor and moves to a coastal city.

Luzia, or Victrola, as she is called, chooses to align herself with the cangaceiros, a viscious gang of bandits who roam the interior, and with their magnetic leader, The Hawk,

While Emilia struggles to fit into her new family, and the upper echelons of society, Luzia is transformed into The Seamstress, the most notorious bandit of them all.

I loved this book for so many reasons! The characters were phenomenal, the historical detail was wonderfully rich, the separate plots were enthralling, and harmonized beautiful.

I think that this book would make a terrific selection for book clubs; it embodies so many interesting topics for discussion.

Captain Alatriste

Captain Alatriste

Arturo Perez-Reverte

Set in Seventeenth-Century Spain, this is the first in a short series about the adventures of Captain Alatriste, a sword-for-hire.

When the captain is hired to waylay a pair of foreign travelers by a group of mysterious masked men who are headed by a prelate whose power is such that he needs no disguise, he makes a split-second decision which may cost him his life, and which will affect not only Spain, but much of Europe.

This was a rollicking, swashbuckling, fun read. At the same time, the elegant prose was a pleasure.

I enjoyed the heck out of this book!

Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia

chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia

Tim Bascom

Tim Bascomb is the son of American missionaries, and, as a result, spent much of his childhood in Ethiopia in the 1960's.

Like the children of many former missionaries, he had to adapt and make adjustments to Western culture on his return to the United States. Unlike many that I've read about, he seems to have done a good job of adapting.

I also really like that he seems to be particularly clear-sighted about religion and about his past experiences. His views, on the whole seem very balanced, IMO.

This was a very good memoir.

The Blue NIle

The Blue Nile

Alan Moorehead

This book is a history of the Western exploration of Northeast Africa and Egypt. I have not read the companion volume, The White Nile.

Having been written in 1962, some dated attitudes were apparent, but overall, it was very interesting and informative. I'm glad I read it. I learned of edplorers I'd not heard of before, and even though I'd known that Napoleon had occupied Egypt for a while, I'd never known the details, and found them fascinating.

Astrid and Veronika

Astrid and Veronika

Linda Olsson

This is a novel about a friendship between two women, one a recently bereaved writer who has come back to Sweden from New Zealand after the loss of her fiance, and the other a reclusive older woman who has been living with her own painful secrets and loss.

I enjoyed this, but it seemed, to me, pretty typical women's fiction fare. There's absolutely nothing wrong with women's fiction. I read it and enjoy it, but it seems to me to be a glutted market, and to really appeal to me, a women's fiction book needs to stand out from the rest. This one just didn't, IMO.

To sum up, it was a decent book, but nothing to get excited about.

Child of the Jungle

Child of the Jungle

Sabine Kuegler

This is the autobiography of a European woman who spent her childhood in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Her parents were linguists/missionaries and her playmates were the children of one of the most remote tribes in the world.

Her eventual re-adjustment to Western society proved quite difficult for her.

I found this book so readable and so incredibly fascinating that I finished it in less than 24 hours.

the author's childhood was both idyllic and full of painful lessons at the same time. One thing for sure; it was an endless adventure.

I know that I say I love a lot of books, and I do. Add one more to the list of books I love!

St. Patrick's Day Murder

St. Patrick's Day Murder

Leslie Meier

This is one of the Lucy Stone mystery series, which I enjoy. This cozy series features a mom of four/small town newspaper reporter as the amateur sleuth and is set in the quaint New England town of Tinker's Cove, Maine.

In this book the owner of the town's most disreputable bar is found in the harbor - minus his head.

When his brother, an actor of some reknown in Ireland, arrives with his diva wife and imaginative child to take part in the parish church's production of the play Finian's Rainbow, it seems just a bit too pat for coincidence. But there are others who held a grudge against Dan.

These are fun, light reads. I always enjoy them,

One thing bugs me a little, though. In most of the books Lucy ends being rescued by either her husband or some other man. I'd prefer it if she were strong enough, confident enough, and smart enough to get herself out of harmful situations.

Still, , this is a fun series. I especially like that they are almost always set around a holiday or other special occasion.

A Morbid Taste for Bones

A Morbid Taste for Bones

Ellis Peters

This is the first in the Brother Cadfael mysteries.

When a Welsh saint, St. Winifred, appears to have cured a Shrewesbury Abbey Brother of fits, the prior takes it as a sign that St. Winifred's bones should be removed from the Welsh village where they've lain peacefully, yet seemingly neglected, and brought to Shrewsbury Abbey to be honored and venerated, to the glory of the abbey, and the personal glory of the prior.

However, the Welsh villagers prove reluctant to disturb their saint's rest.

When a rich landholder is found dead, and an honest man stands accused, while a brother of the abbey is locked up for allowing the man to escape, Brother Cadfael determines that he must uncover the truth.

The Brother Cadfael mysteries are as addictive as crack, (or chocolate). I love these books!

One Corpse Too Many

One Corpse Too Many

Ellis Peters

This is the second in the Brother Cadfael Chronicles and the first in the series that I've read.

The year is 1138, and war rages between the forces of King Stephen and those of Empress Maud. At Shrewesbury, where Brother Cadfael is living out his vocation is a Benedictine monk and tending to the gardens and herbarium of Shrewesbury Abbey, King Stephen has given the order to hang a number of men who have been condemned to death as traitors.

Brother Cadfael has taken on the task of perparing the bodies for Christian burials. When he discovers that there is one more body than there was supposed to be, he also takes on the task of finding finding the murderer.

I became so smitten with this book, that I rushed to the library to check out the first in the series.

This was an intelligent mystery that was well-articulated, and a real pleasure to read.

I intend to eventually read the entire series, in order. I've decided not to devour them all at once, though, but to savor them a bit at a time, and make them last - like the most delicious dessert that you would like to make last forever!

Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings

Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings

Amy Kelly

This was a very informative biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who ruled in France and England during the 12th Century, thanks to two marriages. She also bore two kings of England, Richard-the-Lionhearted, and King John.

I don't believe I've ever read the facts behind these two legendary kings, nor had I ever read anything of Eleanor.

I appreciated the research that so obviously went into this book, and I also appreciated the readable style.

This book has caused me to become more interested in the Middle Ages.

The Wilder Shores of Love

The Wilder Shores of Love

Lesley Blanch

This book is a compilation of four mini-bios of women who lived from the 18th Century to the very early 20th Century. The thread that weaves these women's stories together is that their hearts and lives were inexorably bound to the Near East, and all bucked convention in one way or another.

As a biography, it was written far too subjectively to be very good. The author made too many conjectures about her subjects' motives and about the states of their minds without very strong supporting evidence.

On the other hand, I loved this book, which read more like historical fiction, to me. I must admit, here, to a guilty-pleasure weakness for romantic exoticism, and this was thoroughly satisfying on that level. It's also always satisfying to read about and root for women who were strong enough to live lives outside the narrow confines of the role of women from earlier eras.

Chasing Vermeer

Chasing Vermeer

Blue Balliett

This was a book for tweens.

Coincidences, patterns, and art all come in to play when an original Vermeer painting is stolen.

Petra and Calder forge a friendship when they are each mysteriously drawn to the painting, and when it goes missing, they are drawn to find it.

Calder's pentaminoes, Petra's mysterious book Lo!, and their wonderfully creative teacher Ms. Hussey help them to see patterns emerge from things that others dismiss as incidental. However, they find that it becomes difficult to distinguish real patterns from imagined.

Will they be able to find the painting in time? Is Ms. Hussey involved in its disappearance? Is she in danger? Are they?

This book with its mystery, secret codes, and problem solving was a fun way to spend a morning!

Hamlet

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

This is probably the most famous play in the world. It is so well-known that I don't think I need to outline the plot.

I can see why this play, and Shakespeare, have wowed audiences and readers through the ages.

I find my reactions to the bard's work quite interesting. I don't know if I've gained in literary maturity, or if his writing is so uneven. In either case, while I've certainly enjoyed his works in the past, it isn't until I read Richard III recently that I understood why Shakespeare has been considered so great, so far above any other playwright since his time. I've certianly enjoyed his work, previously, but I had thought him slightly over-rated. Now I know that I was so wrong!

In any case, I'm now a confirmed fan of The Bard, and look forward to reading more of his work!

Hamlet

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

This is probably the most famous play in the world. It is so well-known that I don't think I need to outline the plot.

I can see why this play, and Shakespeare, have wowed audiences and readers through the ages.

I find my reactions to the bard's work quite interesting. I don't know if I've gained in literary maturity, or if his writing is so uneven. In either case, while I've certainly enjoyed his works in the past, it isn't until I read Richard III recently that I understood why Shakespeare has been considered so great, so far above any other playwright since his time. I've certianly enjoyed his work, previously, but I had thought him slightly over-rated. Now I know that I was so wrong!

In any case, I'm now a confirmed fan of The Bard, and look forward to reading more of his work!

Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman

Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman

Marjorie Shostack

Marjorie Shostak was an anthropologist studying the women of the !Kung hunter-gatherers on the edge of the Kalahari in the 1960's and 1970's.

This book is the result of her interviews with one of those women, Nisa It is Nisa's life story as told to Marjorie in conversations that took place over a period of many years, left off, to be taken up again during Marjorie's next visit.

What I liked best about this book is that the translation seemed to me to capture Nisa's voice and the rhythms of African oral storytelling tradition.

It was also an interesting study, and sad to see how the way of life of the !Kung, and all of the San people have changed so dramatically.

The House at Riverton

The House at Riverton

Kate Morton

90-yr-old Grace was once in service with the Hartford family at Riverton. Her life is deeply entwined with the family, especailly with the independent Hannah and her glittering, butterfly sister, Emmeline.

Out of loyalty, Grace has kept the family's secrets, including the secret of what really happened on the fateful night that a poet died at Riverton.

Now, many decades later, a film producer who is making a film about Riverton approaches Grace, which prompts her to reminisce about her days with the family. Riverton is now open to tourists, and the family has long since passed, but Grace saves the last, deeply held, dark secret until she nears the very end of her life.

Morton is a wonderful storyteller. I was swooped up and carried away on the wings of this tale.

Not that there weren't a few flaws. For instance, the denouement was signalled far to early and too obviously. The storytelling was so fabulous, though, who cares?

I loved this book!

The End of the Alphabet

The End of the Alphabet

C.S. Richardson

This is a very bittersweet story about a man who discovers that he has only 30 days left to live, and who decides to use that time to travel the world with his wife, visiting places in alphabetical order.

The love story between Ambrose Zephyr and his wife, Zipper, was very sweet and tender. For me, the travel portion was a bit of a disappointment. I'm a bit of an arm-chair traveler, so I'd hoped for more.

Overall, it was a gentle, little book that, at only 119 pages, was worth reading.

The Measure of a Man

The Measure of a Man

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier is one of my favorite actors, and I enjoyed his autobiography. Some of it I found surprising.

I felt that this was written deeply from the heart, and that it must have been a sort of catharsis for him. It was very introspective and self-analytical.

I'm glad that I read this. Poitier is an interesting guy with a unique perspective and has had a distinctive life and career.

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

Almost everyone knows the basics of this story along with the opening lines and the closing lines.

This was Dickens at his absolute best! The horrible cruelty of the French Revolution, the virtue and bravery of some of the characters, the oppression that caused other hearts to turn to stone - it all made for quite a ride, indeed! Dickens really hit with a one-two punch with this book!

Omigod, what a book! It has now become my favorite Dickens, and that is saying a lot!

The Green House

The Green House

Mario Vargas Llosa

This book is mainly about a village in Peru that lies between the jungle and the desert. A brothel that is built on the outskirts of village is at the heart of the story, and the effect it has on the lives of the village residents and the surrounding area are the threads of the story.

I've never before read Llosa. It was an unusual reading experience for me, and at times I found it hard to follow. Even now that I've had plenty of time to reflect, I don't know if I loved it or hated it, or if it was brilliant or if it was mediocre. I would definitely read Llosa again, just because I'd like to figure him out. He's somewhat of an enigma to me ... and I like that.

Pearl Buck in China: Journey to the Good Earth

Pearl Buck in China: Journey to The Good Earth

Hilary Spurling

Obviously this is a biography of the author Pearl Buck. Emphasis was on the forces that shaped her as a writer.

I'd never read a biography of Pearl Buck previously. Of course I knew the basics ... that she had lived in China, and that China had formed her as much or more than the West. I assumed she'd grown up there, and further assumed it likely that she was the daughter of missionaries.

The details of her early experiences were fascinating to me.

I knew that she was an advocate for Human Rights, etc., but hadn't known that she was quite such a pioneer. Her anti-colonial views about mission work were ahead of their time as well.

This was an excellent biography and was so absorbing that I read it in just a couple of days.

Tuva or Bust: Richard Feynman's Last Journey

Tuva or Bust: Richard Feynman's Last Journey

Ralph Leighton

It all started in thre mid-1970's with an animated dinner-table discussion between friends about obscure geographic locations.

When Richard Feynman produced a postage stamp that had been part of his childhood stamp collection from a country called Tuva, the two friends at once became interested in finding out more. When they discovered that the capital of Tuva is calldd Kyzyl thdy became nearly obsessed with the idea of visiting Tuva.

Unfortunately, getting to Tuva would not be easy. It lay deep in a remote corner of what was then the Soviet Union, and in the mid-70's, the Cold War raged on. Meanwhile, Feynman was also battling cancer.

This story, while poignant, is told with great humor and wit. I felt I got to know a bit about who Feynman was. In the process, I also learned about a place I'd never heard of before. Throat-singing? Who knew?

I definitely enjoyed this book, and I plan to read some of Feynman's work in the future.

Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow

Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow

Dedra Johnson

Sandrine is coming of age in 1970's New Orleans.

All she wants is to be loved and cared for, but after Mamalita, her grandmother, dies, no one seems to want her. Her own mother, Shirleen doesn't seem to want her. She only seems to value Sandrine's labor, and hits her wth a paddle if everything isn't done to her satisfaction ... or if Sandrine speaks certan truths. Her father is a busy doctor who has room in his life for his mean-spirited new wife and her hapless young daughter, but seems to have no room for Sandrine.

After Mamalita's death, Sandrine comes to realize that Shirleen seems to actively hate her, even blaming her for the unwanted attention from adult men, which she is trying desperately to avoid. Sandrine feels she would be safer away from Shirleen and moves in with her father who has left his wife, but still has no time for Sandrine.

This was an outstanding debut novel. It was written in a strong, clear voice and told with such immediacy that it felt as if the author were telling her own story, which she most likely was. Whether or not she was, though, she did an excellent job of bringing the reader into her - or Sandrine's world.

Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys

This book provide's the background story of Brontë's famous mad woman in the attic from Jane Eyre.

I felt that it was excellent as a stand-alone book, but, being a huge fan of Jane Eyre I really didn't feel much of a connection. The character of Edward Rochester, especially, felt like an entirely different character from the original. There were other discrepencies as well, although they are harder to pinpoint.

Setting aside the Jane Eyre connection, this was a strong, powerful book - dark, ominous, threatening, intense. A chaotic world where evil is ubiquitous, and often wears a smile. These were the forces that, in the end, caused the madness that afflicted Antoinette/Bertha Mason, and the reader is made to feel them. It is a primal read, one that grabs the reader, and one that you feel in your gut. The short length just saves it from bding too dark and difficult to read.

No mistake, there is a dark kind of beauty to the work, as well. I would definitely recommend this book for it's outstanding, powerful, unique writing, and for anyone who is interested in exploring the deeper shadows of the human soul.

The Charterhouse of Parma

The Charterhouse of Parma

Stendhal

This book is about the adventures and loves of Fabrice del Dongo, the younger son of an Italian count.

Swashbuckling, romance, adventure and humor made for a fun read!

It was also quite an indictment of the Italian political system in the first half of the 19th Century.

I enjoyed this, not only for the fun aspects, but for the historical perspective, as well.

The Sultan's Seal

The Sultan's Seal

Jenny White

This mystery is set in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.

When the nude body of an English governess is washed up a bank of the Bosporus River it is up to the local magistrate, Kamil Pasha, to investigate.

He determines that she was murdered, and discovers a possible link to the death of another English governess eight years prior. Both women were wearing a distinctive necklace inscribed with Chinese pictographs and an authentic seal of the Sultan's, which very few people would have access to.

Kamil Pasha is aided in his investigations by police surgeon Michel Sevy, and by the British Ambassador's daughter, Sybil.

I found this book to be one of the best mysteries I've read in a while. I especially found the political intrigue absorbing, while the mildly romantic vein made it entertaining. It seemed a bit different from the usual mystery I read, but refreshingly so.

The White Rhino Hotel

The White Rhino Hotel

Bartle Bull

High adventure set in Kenya in the days just after WWI is the best way to describe this book.

What a colorful cast of characters - from Olivio, the Goan dwarf, to Anton Rider, the young Englishman who was raised by gyspsies. Africa means something different to each of them, yet lies at the heart of each of their dreams. I was entirely caught up in following each of their fortunes.

I am definitely going to read more by this author. It was an exciting read, for sure!

The Mistress of Niothing

The Mistress of Nothing

Kate Pullinger

This novel is based on the true story of Sally Naldrett, lady's maid to Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon. When Lady Duff-Gordon is sent to Egypt for its warm, dry climate, in order to try to slow the progress of the disease that was slowly wracking her body, she is accompanied by her faithful maid, Sally,

In Egypt, Sally finds a freedom that she'd never dreamed possible back in England in the 19th Century. However, when she falls in love with an Egyptian dragoman, she finds that the freedom she'd found may only be an illusion.

I whipped through this book in two days. Yes, it's short, but I could hardly put it down. Had I not been busy, I'm sure I'd have finished it the same day.

It's a page-turner, and even though the tone is strongly romantic, it also deals with some solid themes - addressing differences in class and religion, for instance.

This was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

Tony Horwitz

Did Columbus redally discover the New world? Did the pilgrims really step ashore at Plymouth Rock to found the first permanent colony in what would become the United States? Was Ponce de Leon really searching for the fountain of youth? These are lessons that are learned by every American schoolchild, and are an integral part of the fabric of the American national identity and culture - but, are they true?

Horwitz set out to discover, as much as possible, the truth about the discovery and colonization of the New
World, with almost all of the emphasis on North America, and in particular, the United States.

I found this book interesting and engaging. To use a cliché that's been beaten to death, Horwitz makes history come alive. He interviewed many interesting people, and explored many landmarks and relics.

This book brought home to me how many versions there are of the same historic event, and that many times, it's the small, uncelbrated events that have the greatest impact on the developement of history.

Dancing With Colonels: A Young Woman's Adventures in Wartime Turkey

Dancing With Colonels: A Young Woman's Adventures in Wartime Turkey

Marjorie Havreberg

Dancing with Colonels is a collection of letters written by the author when she was a young woman working for a Senator's aid in 1936, and for the War Dept. in Ankara, Turkey, 1944 - 1946 to her family in South Dakota.

The letters are so vibrant that they hum with excitement as she gets her first taste of the wider world - which seemed so much larger then. Ankara seems to have been an endless round of glittering, glamorous parties with people from around the globe, many of whom were international VIPs. She certainly did dance with colonels, and with countless others as well!

A sense of humor and a great sense of fun shine through her letters.

I enjoyed this book so much. It does make me regret that we've lost the art of letter-writing. I include myself in that collective we. It also makes me, in some ways, long for a time when the world was larger and seemed more full of wonder.