The Long Way Home by Louise Penny***

I can't get excited about this. Clara's husband, Peter, has left on some kind of weird artistic journey, and hasn't appeared back in Three pines  when he promised he would, so Clara persuades Gamache to find him. I leafed through most of this.

So Big by Edna Ferber

I first read this book- and many more by Ferber- back when I was a teenager, so this was a re- read,although I remembered nothing about it.

It's the story of Selena, a motherless girl raised by her gambling father, who is killed when she is in her late teens. She gets a job as a teacher in the countryside near Chicago, and  becomes a successful vegetable farmer after her husband dies. The novel's title is the nickname of her son Dirk DeJong, who despite his mother's best efforts becomes part of the establishment on Chicago.

Selena is a very strong character and the book is well-written. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1920.

Finding Me by Michelle Knight ***

This is the story of the first of the three women to be kidnapped in the Cleveland house back in 2002,Michelle  Knight, who was 21 at the time of her kidnapping. She was the woman who, when the three women were found in 2013, did not wish to return to her home.

Reading this book certainly explained why she didn't want to return- unbelievably dysfunctional people, and it is so unfair that this young woman had to endure what she went through in that house with " the dude"( she refuses to use his name) after the neglect and abuse she suffered all her life.

But her imprisonment conditions! A filthy house, being chained to a pole or a bed for most of her years there, sometimes naked for months at a time, let alone the physical and sexual abuse she endured.

This was a difficult book to read, especially the early months of her capture, but once again showed how strong the human spirit is. Bravo, Michelle!

A Rhinestone Button by Gail Anderson- Dargatz ***

Joe is a farmer living on his farm near Godsfinger, Alberta- the hub of fundamental Christianity, it seems, and Job's brother Jacob, a useless twit who is an even more useless excuse as a pastor, is always trying to "save" him, while Job just wants to find a good woman and settle down. 

This novel is a good send-up of all those people who believe fervently in one thing and live self- centred lives around their beliefs, and think being saved will solve all their problems.

The Children Act by Ian McEwan ****

This short book- only 213 pages- has many different layers: a disintegrating marriage, a judge who has some difficult moral issues to deal with in her court, the fine line between professional life and daily sorrows, a musician( also the judge) preparing for a concert and the epiphany she has during that concert. 

But as I finished this, I couldn't get it out of my mind, so I went back and re-read the last two chapters. Lots of questions in my mind! Is the title a legal label or is it a sentence ( article, noun, verb)? Why did the author spend so much time re-telling the case of the lawyer who shares the concert with Fiona?

Was Adam Henry in love with Fiona or was he obsessed by her decision? What is the role of music in this story?

Might be a good choice for Book Club. Probably not the best or most engrossing novel, but certainly ideal for discussion purposes. We haven't had a book like this before. 

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr *****

What a beautiful story this is, set before, during and after World War II. Marie- Laure lives with her father, who is the locksmith at The Museum of Natural History. Werner Pfennig is a young German orphan who lives with his sister  in an orphanage. Marie- Laure is blind, Werner is a genius with radios and transmitters who finds himself in Hitler's Army Youth because of his expertise, Marie's father is a genius with keys. But mostly this is a story of war and its effects on everyone, and the author juxtaposes the hopelessness of war with the beauty of the natural world so effectively.

Much of the story takes place in Saint Malo during  the German occupation- the town to which Marie and her father flee to escape the Germans in Paris.The  other important character is the German sergeant- major who attempts to track down a valuable jewel which seems to be in athe,locksmith's possession. These three threads all come together in Saint Malo in August, 1944.

This book was hard to put down. The chapters were all very short, so you never lost track of a character. Despite being a war story, this was an uplifting novel, showing the basic goodness of so many people. Ken Follett's trilogy of war can't even begin to match this, both for the powerful story, strong characters, and excellent, excellent writing. 

Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss ****

It's taken me four months to read this book.The first section on sugar convinced me to cut down substantially on added sugar. After a month or so, I read "fat" and learned such words as "mouthfeel" and learned that labs exist in the food manufacturers to measure what happens to the brain when we eat fat in processed foods. Two months pass, and it's nearly time for Book Club, so I start on "salt" where I learn how awful some foods taste( like potato chips) without salt. 

I love all three, like everyone else, but after reading this book, subtitled "How The Food Giants Hooked Us", I have already cut down substantially on all three items, so much so that when I eat sugar, my mouth literally rushes towards the substance. And it is true that all three make us crave more.

Bliss point, mouthfeel, emulsion labs, brain imaging, marketing strategies, lawsuits, advertising- it's all here, and all these companies have only one aim- to get us to eat more of those items,

The author states in the epilogue what I've long adhered to - it's all up to us. We may not be able to resist these three things, but we can make a decision as to how much of them we'll succumb to.

It's a life- changer is what it is!

Sweetland by Michael Crummey ****

The setting is a remote island off Newfoundland's south coast,and the inhabitants of the island have been offered a compensation package to leave the island for good. The residents slowly accept the inevitable, all but Moses Sweetland, and the town of Sweetland's residents are upset with him, because if one person refuses the package, there is no deal for any of them.

Moses finds a way to stay on the island, and the majority of the novel is his story of solitude amidst the storms of both sea and sky, a struggle to survive on the island that has shaped him.

This is Crummey's third novel and he just keeps on getting better. Four stars for this one!

Schroeder by Amity Gaige ***

A father- daughter story, wth Eric Kennedy ( whose real name is Schroder and who has hidden his past for all of his life in America after fleeing East Germany in the 80s) and his daughter Meadow, who is visiting her father after a bitter divorce and custody battle. Eric was the chief caregiver before the divorce, and his heat is broken over his inability to see his daughter when he wants to. 

My reasons for reading this book are obvious, but it wasn't really any more enlightening than what we lived through four years ago. 

Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates ****

Another excellent novel by Oates, this one was published in 2013. This is the story of Cressida Mayfield, who vanishes in a forest preserve in upstate New York, Corporal Brett Kincaid, the wounded and damaged veteran of the war in Iraq, who confesses to having attacked and murdered Cressida, who is the sister of his fiancée, Juliet Mayfield, as well as the parents of Juliet and Cressida.

There are some riveting scenes in this book, especially the tour of Death Row in a Texas prison, and some very LONG sentences! I often re-read them just to figure out their construction, and even their meaning. However, Oates' novels are not difficult to read, she is an excellent writer and uses

 intricate details effectively. They are pretty well all dystopian in theme and content, but nonetheless, interesting and illuminating.

The other novels by Oates that I've read are: We Were The Mulvaneys, The Falls, Blonde, and The Grave- Digger's Daughter.

Piano Girl: A Memoir by Robin Meloy Goldsby

I read this book back in July, but forgot to post it. I enjoy memoirs, and this one about a bar-room pianist ( as Michael Barnes wanted me to be!) captured my interest. Robin started out as a bar pianist to pay her way through college, but it ended up being her career. The foreword is probably the most interesting part of the book, as she sums up her career, although she's had some interesting experiences, travelled the world, and met all kinds of people.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ***

An associate professor with Asperger's sets up a questionnaire to find a wife. Rosie and Dan become very close, but he considers her completely unsuitable as a life partner, and sets out instead to find out who her biological father is. A delightful novel, easy to read, with a good narrative. there's some wonderful scenes, especially the cocktail party where Dan serves all these weird cocktails to professors.

The Diairies of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing: II. If The Old Could.....

I wasn't sure if I would read this second novel, but it only took a few pages of reading for me to be thoroughly immersed in it.  Jane meets Richard just by chance one afternoon, and the two take an instant liking to each other, and embark on a quite intriguing relationship. At the same time, another niece, Kate, sister of Jill, asks to come and live with Jane, and she turns out to be an absolute slug. No one, including Jane herself, understands why Jane continues to put up with this nineteen-year-old who spends her days on the couch in Jane's pristine apartment, eating crisps and Mars Bars, forgetting to bathe and actually destroying furniture.

Jane has also continued to visit Annie, another old, sick, angry, poor woman who regards Jane almost as a daughter. Once more, we are treated to wonderfully rich illustrations of Annie's condition and the pattern of her days, as well as those who come to help, especially Maureen, who is stealing what little money Annie has.

Jane and Richard are a usually followed about when they meet by Richard's daughter Kathleen, who could be a shadow for Kate, back in Jane's apartment. Kathleen just.....follows them, that's all, a dark brooding presence. 

It was a real revelation for me to read these two novels, and I'm so glad this volume was the one I chose to read!

The Diaries of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing: I. The Diary of a Good Neighbour

Our Book Club theme for September is Nobel Prize Winners, and since we're doing an Alice Munro book later on this year, I chose Doris Lessing, who won the Nobel Prize in 2007, the most recent woman winner other than AM. I've never read her books, since I understood she was a very intellectual writer, but I took myself off to our library and found this one.

This title covers two books actually, originally written by Lessing under the pseudonym Jane Somers , and titled "The Diary of a Good Neighbour" and "If The Old Could". When she revealed thenauthor's real name, they were re-published In this form. As Lessing says in the Preface, writing under a pseudonym was an experiment, and she always intended to "come clean".First, she wanted to be reviewed solely on merit, not on her name. she also wanted to "cheer up" young writers by illustrating that their efforts to become published don't have anything to do with their talent.

Jane is an assistant editor of a fashion magazine. Both her mother and her husband have recently died; she has remained unaffected by their deaths, and feeling guilty as a result. ONe night she meets an ancient woman named Maudie Fowler in a pharmacy, and finds herself increasingly involved in her life. Maudie lives in a state of filth, and is herself unable to care for her own physical needs, and she has no money to purchase food. She has refused help from social agencies,but seems to accept Janna's help most of the time. Janna visits her often, nearly every day.

Quote from the second novel, which sums up everything: " As I went in at her door, I entered the world I once hardly knew existed, that of the poor, the old, the sick; and those people who minister to them,,social workers, Home Helps, Good Neighbours, Church Visitors; a world so different from mine, which is populated with those who keep themselves successfully balanced on life, people who do not expect to trip, fall over, and find themselves incapacitated in a bed sitting room somewhere, being kept going by visits, food brought in, moral support; a world which few of us, ever, want to think about until,we have to"

The author did an excellent job of depicting the life of an old woman living in poverty, the life of the Home Helps, her sister Georgie, with whom Janna has an uneasy relationship. The various characters, all of whom are women, are clearly drawn; the only man in this novel is Charlie, who becomes editor of "Lillith", the magazine  and he is an ineffectual person at best. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. It was extremely well-written and easy to read. I can't see how reviewers or publishers wouldn't think the writer was experienced in writing, because it is so well-structured.. Just when the reader starts wondering where the story of these two women can go, she introduces both Annie and Eliza, two other old women who need help, plus her niece Jill,comes to live with her. When Maudie goes into hospital, there is another world presented- the big doctor who brings his students into the ward to poke at Maudie, how the nurses really do all the work, and get little credit for doing so. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. *****

I absolutely ate up this book, loved every minute and didn't want it to end! 'Nuff said.

The Grave-Digger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates *****

The Schwartz family arrives in a small New York State town from Germany, where they had been persecuted by the Nazi's. Jacob, a university professor and soccer coach back in Germany, is only able to find work as a grave-digger, and the family of five live in a tiny, mouldy stone cottage on the edge of the graveyard. Anna, the mother, suffers from depression, can hardly leave her home, and is largely absent for her children. Jacob is demonized by events back home, so much so that a few years later, he has alienated his two sons,  finally kills his wife, and tries to kill Rebecca, although she is spared because "you were born here", then turns the gun on himself.

Rebecca is alone in the world, but manages to scrape out a living for herself. She marries Niles Trignor, who abuses her and their child, Niley, and after a catastrophic beating, Rebecca flees with her child. She re-names herself Hazel Jones, a name which refers to a chance encounter very early in the book, which is explained some twenty years later.

The second half of the book - and it is a long book, some 575 pages- mainly focuses on her son, whom she has re-named Zack,and he is a child prodigy at the piano. I enjoyed this part of the book the most. Hazel also meets and has a relationship with Chet Gallagher, a jazz pianist who also had a broken relationship with his wealthy father.

However, the ending left me with many questions, although the epilogue was well- done. This is the fourth Oates novel I've read - We Were The Mulvaneys, Blonde, The Falls - she's an excellent writer, and I found I wanted to read every word. Her novels are certainly dystopian, but not morbidly so. I read some reviews, and most we're not all that taken with the book, but it will definitely be on this year's favourites list for me!

Vienna Nocturne by Vivian Shotwell **

Historical fiction, this novel tells the story of a young woman named Anna who was Mozart's favourite soprano and perhaps someone he loved very much. it was mildly interesting. I skimmed most of the last 100 pages, but at least I can say I finished it!

Memory Palace by Mira Bartok ***

This book is the memoir of the author's childhood and adulthood living with a mother who was a psychotic schizophrenic. Her father, who disappeared very early in Myra's life, was an alcoholic, the the mother, an aspiring concert pianist whose life spiralled downwards until her two daughters had to change their names and addresses, move away to an unknown location, and only communicate with their mother by letters delivered to a postal box for 17 years. 

Mira's story of her growing- up years is sad and chaotic, living with grand-parents who hated one another, their mother in and out of psychiatric hospitals after particularly violent episodes, the two girls never knowing which mother they 'd encounter at any given moment- the warm, loving one or the Medusa -like monster who attacked with knives and fire.

The author herself later suffers a brain injury which deeply affects her own artistic life, but the two girls and their mother finally re-unite just before their mother dies, after living in one homeless shelter after another.

Very well- written, no holds barred. 

Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story

I guess the most striking thing about my reading this book is the fact that my friend Shirley scoffs derisively whenever I mention that I'm not only reading it, but enjoying it. In most books we read, there's always someone we dislike, but does that keep us from reading on, or even picking up the book in the first place?

In spite of the many failings, lies and deception of Rob Ford, his story is a fascinating glimpse into several worlds I wouldn't otherwise experience- the world of entitlement by belonging to a wealthy, tightly-knit family ( I have a little experience with this, actually, from David's disastrous marriage to Brooke AND her family), the murky world of excessive drinking and drug- dealing, the world of journalism and the life of a busy newspaper, and of course, the world of municipal politics.

This is an excellent piece of investigative journalism written by a young woman only 12 years out of school, and read like an extended well-written article- clearly written, getting right to the point, and not dwelling too much on the long story leading to this fascinating period in Toronto's history. Right from the beginning, she clarifies how such a person could ever have won the 2010 election- it was our old foe Mike Harris, who by creating a mega-city with the amalgamation of all the boroughs placed the people from the suburbs directly in opposition to the downtowners , and this is also why, near the conclusion of the book, she states the reasons why Ford could win again in October.

Here are some other reasons, which I want to remember: 

1. While 70% of Torontonians want him to step down and get help, over 40% still have a favourable view of his performance as mayor.

2. He'll be running as an underdog, and that means more competition. Someone could win with less than 40% of the vote.

3.He has delivered on some of his goals- he contracted out garbage collection, made the TTC an essential service and rescinded two unpopular taxes for home buyers and car owners.

4. he hasn't saved the city a billion dollars, but he did save 400 million dollars.

5. He promised to build more subways, and has federal aid in place to get it done.

6. He took on contract negotiations with the unions and won, saving over 2million dollars.

So come November, we'll see- just this week there's a story out about a woman arrested for DUI and she was driving Ford's truck near the rehab he's in near Bracebridge.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd *****

This is a wonderful book depicting the lives of two women in Charleston in the early 19th century. Sarah Grimke's mother gives her a slave, named Handful, for her 11 th birthday. Sarah, despite her young age, is an abolitionist, and tries to set Handful free, but is thwarted by her family.  The chapters alternative between Sarah's story and Handful's so right from the beginning we get a clear picture of the slavery each endures- Handful by discrimination, outright abuse, and Sarah's by the conventions of the time, plus her mother's utter control over everyone. Sarah and Handful share a special bond of friendship through all the years this novels covers.

Sarah and her younger sister, Angelina, later leave Charleston to become well-known both as abolitionists and feminists, not without obstacles, though, as they travel throughout the US preaching their platform of justice and equality. 

This was a quick read for me, because I enjoyed it so much, and the author's short essay at the end is also illuminating. five stars for this one!

Longbourn by Jo Baker *****

Subtitled "Pride and Prejudice: The Servants' Story", this is the story of the servants and their lives downstairs. there is the housekeeper, Mrs. Hill, the maid, Sarah, who spends her days washing out linen, polishing floors and emptying chamber pots, another maid, Polly, and a footman, James, who arrives mysteriously and is central to their story.

I loved this book- the story, the writing, the wonderful love story that develops, as well as the artificiality of the "upstairs" people.  I didn't want it to end, but I even enjoyed the ending itself.

This will likely be on my top ten list come next December!

The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith. ****

Number 14, and still such a pleasure to read. Mma Makutsi has a baby and takes a leave from her post. Mma Ramwotse solves two mysteries: who has posted defamatory posters in front of the new beauty salon, and who is the boy on the farm out in the country who is due to inherit the farm?

JLB Matekone goes to a course to learn how to be a modern husband, and Phuti, Mma Makutsi's husband, finds snakes in their home.

Such warmth and wisdom, expressed in such beautiful phrases with gentle insights into human nature.  These  books are pure gold!

Paris by Edward Rutherfurd ****

The first "long" book that I've read in a while, this came in at over  800 pages, but it held my interest for all that time. I liked this male author because he doesn't get carried away with background information that goes on for pages. He did go back and forth in time, from the 13 th century right through to post WWII, but he made everything work so smoothly that I didn't have to struggle too much to keep the various families straight, and telling this from the point of view of the people of Paris, rather than the big names like Louis XVI, Napoleon, Marie Antoinette. 

There was lots of interesting stuff, from building the Eiffel Tower to the artistic communities of the 20s, the confinement of the Jews in Paris, plus the fact that the men who signed up for WWII went to the lines in taxis- the only way to get them there quickly!

A good read, and even- dare I say it- a good ending!. 

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

This is historical fiction, based on a true story from Iceland, which took place in 1828, when Agnes Magnusdottir became the last woman to be executed in Iceland. She and another man apparently murdered her lover, Natan, because he had spurned her affections for a young woman whose lover was the second murderer. Anyway, Agnes is placed on a farm to await her execution and is assigned a young priest to become her confessor . So the story is about what actually happened leading up to the murder, plus her relationships among the people who live on the farm, and the young priest who visits her every day.

There was a lot of local color in this novel- at first I found the names and locations difficult, but I decided to ignore that and just enjoy the story. There is no moral tale here, and the author appears entirely unprejudiced one way or another. She explains in the Afterword that she preferred to make a more " ambiguous portrayal" of this unfortunate young woman.

A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

I heard the author interviewed by Shelagh Rogers on CBC, and I was impressed by Ruth. An Asian who suffered from bullying similar to Nao in the story, Ruth choose her own name and that of her husband, Oliver, as the Canadian couple who discover a Hello Kitty backpack on the beach of BC, and thus discover Nao's diary, a teen living in Japan at the time of the tsunami in 2011. Ruth sets about trying to find what has happened to Nao, in between reading her diary and getting to know this 16 year old girl who really has a pretty grim life, from her parents' difficulties with depression and attempts at suicide, to the extreme physical bullying she endures at school. It is only in spending a summer at the tBuddhist temple of her grand-mother high in the mountains of Northern Japan that Nao finds ways of coping with her life.

I was more impressed with the interview, and the character development in this book. I found the excellence of writing a little less than I would have liked, something which becomes even more important to me as I read more books. 

Road Ends by Mary Lawson. ****

The third by Mary Lawson, takes place in the fictional town of Struan in Northern Ontario- I find myself thinking Charlton. A very quick read, took me two days, and I enjoyed it although I thought it ended rather abruptly.

The story is based in the late 60's and is told by three members of a family- Megan, who holds things together in the upkeep of the house, but who leaves to go to England to work, Tom, her oldest brother, whose friend Rob has just committed suicide, and their father Edward, who spends all of his time at home in his study researching cities of the world he has never visited.

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Finally, a novel read from beginning to end! 

This Anne Morrow Lindbergh's story of her life with Charles Lindbergh, and what a difficult life she had with him, as I imagine life with a super-hero or a genius must be. Her life was given over completely to him, all decisions were made by him, she was " his crew". She learned to fly, and became his navigator. After their first child was murdered, she gave birth to five more, none of whom had any kind of a relationship with him, and indeed they almost seemed frightened by him. He had a home built for them a long way from any neighbours, so they would be safe, but they just ended up being lonely, for he was away most of the time, often not telling them where he was.

This is a story of marriage, of loss and of finally finding ones self, as Anne did. It was well- written and a pleasure to read.

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

The description of this novel appealed to me- a Lebanese woman of 72 who has lived alone for many years, is estranged from her family, is mostly ignored by her neighbours, and who translates a novel every year from English into Arabic, but instead of seeking to publish it, stacks it in a room in her apartment. There are 33 of these translated books in her apartment.

Instead, I found this book a bit too cerebral for me! So I skimmed through large portions of it, and it probably doesn't even deserve a "read" heading. 

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman ***

The story of Huguette Clark, one of the richest women in America who spent the last 14 years of her life in a hospital, leaving behind two huge mansions which to this day are kept up, priceless jewellery, paintings, etc. She died at the age of 104, leaving millions of dollars to her nurse, and nothing to her family members. She was a divorcee who never had children, and a recluse for over 50 years.

C.S.Lewis: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alistair McGrath

"Mere Christianity" by Lewis was, I think, the book which solidified and confirmed the faith I was living at that time; I was 17 when I read it. Then there's The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, a children's book I read when I was teaching Language Arts.

I don't much enjoy fiction these days, and I find my concentration wandering, so I thought this would be interesting, and it was. I enjoy books about intelligent, academic people, and he was certainly that.

The movie Shadowlands was about his marriage late in life, and his wife died not long after they married. the biographer draws her as someone who was after some security for herself and her children after her marriage to a man being investigated in the US during the McCarthy era. Lewis didn't have a lot of money, but with his literary celebrity status, she managed to wangle herself into his life.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I had two over- 500 page novels reserved at the library here in Panama City Beach.  The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, a novel which won both the Man Booker and the Governor- General's Fiction award, was the first one I received, and I read 189 pages of that before I asked myself if I was really interested enough to continue; the answer was "no", so back it went to the library.

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, was the second one, with 770 pages of reading. I've read both of Tartt's previous novels and enjoyed them, so I was quite anxious to get started on This one, which took her nine years to write. Well, I did read it to its completion, although I found my interest flagging often, and ended up skimming the last 100 pages. There is some wonderful writing in here, and Tartt can sustain a novel of this length, unlike Catton, who is only a few years older than the publication date of the novel!

I don't consider my time wasted with either of these novels, but I am more than ready to read something a bit crisper and less Dickensian.

The question continues in many readers' minds as to whether it's a better read when it's a "real" book as opposed to an e-book. I did find these very heavy and awkward to hold, especially The Luminaries.

However, I am glad I didn't purchase either one of these two!