Summer reading

This is a fun reading season known for books that are impossible to put down. Not necessarily literary masterpieces, but often more than pulp fiction. But really it is whatever suits your mood, day, location. A book for the beach is different from the book for the hammock; the book for the rainy day doesn't always fit the summer afternoon. What's in the NYTimes best seller list isn't what calls you from the library shelves. And sometimes only a classic will do. And heaven knows what you will find at the library book sales or the yard sales at this time of year!

After a few crazy, gripping, exhausting, compelling books, I was delighted to have a gentle paced, absorbing read by Canadian author Susanna Kearsley Season of Storms. This would have been perfect for a Sunday afternoon in a hammock, if I'd had one. I love this author, and applauded her recent awards for The Firebird. I am hard pressed to chose a favourite, and recommend all: perhaps it is best to read them in order if you can find them! Mariana (1994), Spendour Falls (1995), Shadowy Horses (1997), Named of the Dragon (1998), Season of storms (2001), Winter Sea (2008), Rose Garden (2011), Firebird (2013). (A Desperate Fortune is expected 2015). I truly enjoy her Scottish characters in her most recent books, and her well researched historical details. Her historical novels often have paranormal elements, with a gentle love story.  She has also written classic style thrillers as Emma Cole (Every Secret Thing, 2006).  Season of Storms is soon to be (re?) released August /September 2014.

This book, Season of Storms,  takes place primarily in the villa Il Piacere, near Lake Garda, Italy, and is modeled after the grand home Il Vittoriale of the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio.  I loved the brief but historical details of London and Venice which set the stage for the drama that was to unfold. I enjoyed the foray into the theatre world, for the accurate portrayal of stars, old and new, the staging descriptions, the hard work involved in finding the character and the intriguing personalities, politics, and egos of the cast. There is a nice balance of family, again old and new, each contributing clues to the slowly revealing story (the mystery is always backseat in this plot). In addition, the historical elements of the mystery surrounding the first play 70 years prior add to the overall story.

This is not a fast paced mystery / thriller.
This is not necessarily a page turner, thrilling read.
This is not similar to her most recent paranormal historical books.
But it is a lovely, well written, atmospheric novel that will provide you with a strong sense of place, both of romantic Italy and the theatre world. This novel reminded me of Mary Stewart, My Brother Michael and Madam will you Talk. This is a wonderful thing as I sincerely miss her writing (and if it's any indication by the number of individuals and book clubs to which I have recommended Kearsley, many people miss Stewart and have leapt at a new author!). If you like this gothic suspense style, read on!
I hope the popularity of this author makes people more aware of other, earlier novelists: Anya Seton, Daphine du Maurier, Barbara Erskine, Barbara Michaels, Rosemary Sutcliffe and Elizabeth Harris.
It's a new book if you haven't read it!

NetGalley ARC
4 stars (five because it perfectly suited my mood/day)

Summer Reads

And then I was asked what was on my to be read pile.
Fiction
Susanna Calkins From the Charred Remains
Anthony Doerr All the Light We Cannot See
Martha Grimes Vertigo 42
Susan Elia Macneal Prime Minister's Secret Agent
Carol McCleary No Job for a Lady
Lauren Owen The Quick
Jill Paton Walsh The Late Scholar
Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter The Long Mars

Non fiction
Tim McGrath Give Me A Fast Ship

But I dropped everything as soon as Deborah Harkness' The Book of Life was in my hands. I finished it in the middle of the night, was bereft that the story had ended (especially as I want to know more about several characters: Gallowglass where are you!?), then went back and reread it savoring every word. That helped me let the story go, become a book again, instead of what I was living through. I also bought the hardcover book to read again after a friend finishes it and we discuss it. And yes, I will probably read the entire series again.

Several ARC books have arrived
Robin Hobb Fools Assassin
Susanna Kearsley Season of Storms
David Liss Atonement

Book Quote:
"It is the despair of book- lovers that they cannot read all the good books and it is their delight constantly to discover new ones. " Burton Rascoe


What's ahead?
Hysterically a Benedict Cumberbatch calendar is available on September 1st! Followed shortly by a Bio by Justin Lewis.

Summer mysteries

I love a good mystery, and many of my favourite authors have extended series. Three recent books are interesting page turners which keep you guessing. I have to caution you to read these in order though, so if you don't know these great authors, you're in for a treat (and a lot of summer reading!) These also have some brutal moments not for the faint of heart.

Field of Prey by John Sandford is the 24th installment of the Lucas Davenport series. It's all there, the same cast, the same plot, still in Minnesota, but the same scary suspense that keeps you reading to the end. It won't disappoint his loyal following, but some days I am glad I no longer live in Minnesota.  This time the violence was a bit over the top for me and there were a few glaring holes/oddities. While I enjoyed the character development of Letty, his daughter, (to the point where I suspect she will be the main character?!) it was hard to believe she was allowed on site. I didn't find many moments of comic relief and a more than a few odd details (really Lucas? Karma?).  I enjoy the Flowers series more, even with similar depressingly accurate criminal tendencies. This felt like watching the new Fargo: too real and too unpleasant. But hundreds of five star reviews on amazon.

And why aren't there hundreds of five star reviews for Christopher Brookmyre mysteries?! His intense police procedurals take place in Glasgow Scotland with two principle characters: DS Catherine McLeod and PI Jasmine Sharp. The third in the series Bred in the Bone has just been published (read Where the Bodies are Buried and When the Devil Dances!) and is an excellent, clever and intelligent mystery, well researched, perfect portrayal of Glasgow criminal underworld (not as dark as Denise Mina's mysteries) and has a fine sense of black comedy/humor. The Glasgow patter/slang may confuse you a bit, but it is an accurate, insightful portrayal mixing social commentary, politics and riveting action.  I find the complex plots rewarding, but the character development also makes reading them in order important. "This is Glasgow, we don't do subtle." I love the writing and language, at home with blether, craich, wee dram, jakey, polis, dodgems, and the places (Dunfermline's Alhambra, Crammond, spooky woods and the steamie).
 "...Beware the vengeance of a patient man."
"When you're living in a jungle, it helps if you have friends among the predators."
If you like Ian Rankin or Val McDermid, both top notch Scottish crime writers, you will enjoy this. And he has written a number of other books (I love his titles too- e.g Quite Ugly One Morning).

And then there are series that have made the move to television.   The 8th Walt Longmire mystery is also now in bookstores, and season 3 is on A&E. And while I am addicted to the program, I love the books. I think Any Other Name is Craig Johnson's best yet. Really. BUT with the character development and overlapping cases, you should read this series in order. This time he is helping his crusty old boss (still with pistol in hand) Lucian Connally solve a suicide of a friend/colleague, but he has a crucial deadline to solve it before the birth of his first grandchild. I love Walt's idiosyncrasies, the deadpan humor, the walking encyclopedia, and Dog. And while bad things happen, there is a warmth and sense of humanity that made this a great reading experience. And it is much better than the tv.
Walt is the stuff of Wyoming legend and this book doesn't disappoint on any page.

When did Dog become part dire wolf? Is everyone reading game of thrones? He's also a pet Kodiak (-and Smokey's evil twin, at least when eating ham). "They say dogs have a vocabulary of about 20 words, and I was pretty sure seventeen of  Dog's were ham."

"You're the first one to still be standing after that." (Cast waffle iron to to the head)
"I shrugged down the rest of my iced tea like Phillip Marlowe."
"She was worse when she had all her teeth."
"Every time you lie to me, I get the urge to finish writing this ticket."
Don't you think scars make better stories than tattoos? If that.s he case the  I've got a whole library on me. I've read it and I really liked the ending."
"She reached over and took a piece of my bacon, along with a little bit of my heart."
"Did I just see you imitate a buffalo? Don't quit your day job."
"You will stand and see the bad. The dead will rise and the blind will see."
"He was a hit man- not exactly somebody you'd find in Craigslist."

Book Of the Moment

It’s officially summer! There is much reading to be celebrated, especially after our blackberry winter: this is a delightful weather term for the unexpected late May snowstorms that occasionally plague northern climates. I won't forget our 17 inches of snow on May 2nd this year for awhile. But blackberry winter is also the title of a wonderful song by Hilary Kole, which inspired the book by Sarah Jio.

As many of you know I love to recommend Sarah Jio’s books, especially perfect for summer reads.

Blackberry Winter takes place in Seattle in 1935 and the present with two snowstorms separated by nearly a century on the 2nd May. During the first snowstorm a child is kidnapped and never found although his mother relentlessly searches. Decades later after another storm, a reporter Claire Aldridge awakens to a similar snow and is asked to write a story on the unsolved abduction. She investigates with unexpected family consequences. Claire herself is undergoing a difficult time with the premature death of her child and estrangement of her husband.

There is a gentle mystery with interesting character development and an uplifting resolution of family threads. I enjoyed the historical details and found the lives of the present day families moving.  Illustrating the power of hope and dreams, this is a heartfelt and engaging novel, perfect for that lazy summer weekend. Don't miss her newest novel The Last Camellia.

Quotes

Every child deserved a taste of cake, even poor ones.

…just one button remained. At 5 cents apiece, it seemed frivilous to think of replacing the ones that had gone missing.

Seattle seems to have an insatiable appetite for condos and Starbucks

His life was like a tragic novel missing the final chapter, a beautiful one. We’d found it, dusted it off, and now it was time to read it.

Your heart never forgets your mother.

Summer Beach Reads - NonFiction

It is time for beach reads again, although I read anything and everything over the summer. I am really looking forward to a chance to read, having spent months packing, sorting, pitching and moving. Well, I have continued to read, but haven't had a chance to write, yet so want to share some wonderful reads. Hopefully that will happen over the next month or two.
I have a list of authors I follow antcipating their next book, that I simply must read. Locate that sun umbrella, the chaise lounge, the iced tea and then lose myself in another world. Sometimes it is a place (Paris, London, Yellowstone), sometimes it is a person (Shakespeare, memoirs, presidents), sometimes it is a time (medieval Scotland, Puritan New England, the 1960s) and sometimes it is a taste (single malts, organic foods, what to eat next). Entertaining, educational and edifying, these authors never fail me.

Nonfiction writers

Heavily weighted towards history and natural history.

A. Peter Ackroyd, Margaret Atwood (Payback), Stephen Ambrose

B. Nick Bunker, Bill Bryson, Geraldine Brooks, Iain Banks, Alan Bennett

C. Rachel Carson, AJ Cronin, Winston Churchill, William Cronon

D. Bernard DeVoto, Michael Dirda, Richard Dawkins, John Gregory Dunne

E. Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Edward

F. William Fiennes, Niall Fergusson, David Hackett Fischer, Shelby Foote

G. AAGill, A Greig, Stephen Jay Gould, Doris Kearns Goodwin

H. Edward Hoagland, Tony Horwitz, William Least Heat-Moon, Bernd Heinrich, Stephen Hawkins

I. Ian Frazer

J. PD James, Clive James

K. Verlyn Klinkenborg, Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Kennedy Jr, Tracy Kidder

L. Louise Leaman, Robert Leckie, Aldo Leopold

M. David McCullouch, John McPhee, John Muir, Farley Mowat, William Manchester

N. Stephen Nelson, Cynthia Ne
O. Edna OBrien
P. Michael Pollan, Nancy Pearl, Annie Proulx

R. Oliver Rackham, Tim Russert, Teddy Roosevelt

S. Marjori Santani Persepolis, Simon Schama, Ernest Thompson Seton, Arthur Schlessinger, Jr., TC Smout

T. Studs Terkel, Thoreau, Alisdair Taylor,

U. Robert Utley

V. Voltaire
W. Patricia Wells, Simon Winchester, Daniel Worster

Beach Reads 2012

I am trying to define what constitutes a beach read. Heaven knows I love to read almost all genres, regardless of season. So far this summer, a number of books stand out that I would like to recommend.

*Simon Beckett An unmarked Grave Elly Griffith House at Sea End *Mark Haddon The Red House **Deborah Harkness Shadow of the Night Susan Hill Betrayal of Trust *Katherine Howe The house of velvet and glass *Craig Johnson Dark Horse (Walt Longman) Laurie R King Keeping Watch **Laurie King The beekeeper's apprentice : series *Hilary Mantel Bringing up the bodies *Paula McLain The Paris Wife China Mieville The City and the City *Stef Penney The Invisible Ones Thomas Perry Poison Flower, The Informant (butcher boy sequel) *Oliver Potzsch The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale *Imogen Robertson Instruments of darkness James Runcie Canvey Island **Natasha Solomons Mr Rosenblum dreams in English Olen Steinhauer An American spy **Charles Todd The Confession, An Unmarked Grave **Jacqueline Winspear Elegy for Eddie **A study in Sherlock : stories inspired by the Holmes canon ed Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger ; stories by Alan Bradley ... Science Fiction Moses Siregar The Black Gods War Dave Duncan Against the Light Charlaine Harris Deadlocked Sookie Stackhouse China Mieville Un Lun Dun Karen Marie Moning Into the Dreaming **Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter The Long Earth **Patrick Rothfuss The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1 and The Wise Man's Fear Book 2, Romance MC Beaton Sweet Masquerade *Carol Carr India Black (series) **Gail Carriger Timeless Madeline Hunter The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne Jayne Ann Krentz Twist of fate; Crystal Gardens; Falling Awake Amanda Quick Quicksilver Childrens **Kristin Cashore Bitterblue **Adam Gopnik The Steps Across the Water **Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children

Summer Beach Reads

Light summer reads are always in demand, especially when they relate to bibliophiles. A new series by Kate Carlisle: Homicide in Hardcover (2009), then If Books could kill (2010) are funny, witty, humourous while providing some interesting commentary on communes, book restoration, wine country, book dealers and general family politics.
Brooklyn Wainwright is a dedicated book restorer in San Francisco - you will find many personal details as the author has lived a lot of this life (see her website katecarlisle.com). This is not the People of the Book (Geraldine Brooks), but there are a couple of passages where she is completely lost in her work and the beauty of ancient texts.
This can barely be classified as a celt read, except that the new 'love interest' is Derek Stone, an english security man, who she finds irresistable, as well as 'hot', to say nothing of his 'accent'. Yes, so much of this is farfetched (a Continental GT Bentley?), a teary reunion just before the murder, an unknown daughter, an inheritance of outrageous proportions, etc. First class tickets to the Edinburgh Book Festival (next book), where another of her fiances (she had three so far) is found murdered. .... Hardcover was nominated for an RT first mystery award. Praise from many other 'serial' authors is all positive.

Summer Beach Reads is also the next topic for prizes by the Friends' Bookstore/Blog (see their blog for details this week). AND there will be a reading contest, for adults, of any and all books read this summer. Yes, I am excluded, so you will have a chance to win... ;-)