Full Dark, No Stars; Stephen King

Title: Full Dark, No Stars

Author: Stephen King

Publication Year: 2010

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio

Edition: audiobook

Readers:  Craig Wasson and Jessica Hecht (both excellent)

Source: Library

Date Completed: 5/6/2011 

Setting: New England and Midwest

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommend: Yes

It has been many many years since I've read or listened to a Stephen King book, but recently I felt the need to read outside of my comfort zone, so I decided to try King once again.  I am so happy that I did. None of the stories were really gory, and I only felt the tiniest bit squeamish was with the first story, 1922, as there were some scenes with rats. Other than that, I think this book was a pleasantly toned down Stephen King.

The audiobook is on (12) cds, and the two readers, Craig Wasson and Jessica Hecht were simply fantastic. The book has (4) separate stories.

1. 1922 - is about a rural Midwest husband who murders his wife because she wants to sell off part of family farm, so she can move to the big city-Omaha. The husband, Wilfred, evens convinces his teenage son Hank to help carry out the deed. The story takes place in 1922, when farming was a way of life. In this story, nothing goes as smoothly as Wilfred Leland James envisioned.  In this story there are a few scenes that rats kept appearing, and that part made me a bit queasy.  Despite this, I liked the execution of this story and thin it was my 3rd favorite of the 4 stories.
2. Big Driver - Tess is an author of detective mystery books; she is in her 30s. She is invited to speak at the, Chicopee Public Library....(it's a real place in New England. I grew up in this Massachusetts city). After her talk at the library, she is given alternate directions for a shortcut by the head librarian. The shortcut, turns out to be a near deadly experience for her that she'll never forget.  In fact, all she can think of is getting her revenge. My 2nd favorite of 4 stories.
3. Fair Extension - The weakest story, in my opinion is about a man with cancer who makes a deal with the devil, at the expense of someone else, in exchange for a longer life.  It is quite funny at times, but this story ranked 4th out of 4 for me.
4. A Good Marriage was my favorite story...#1 out of 3 for me. In this story, Bob and Darcy Anderson, a couple from New England, have been married for 28 years, and have had a happy marriage and now adult children. When Bob is away on a business trip, as is often the case, Darcy, accidentally uncovers, the elements of her husband's secret life tucked neatly away in a secret area of the garage.  What is a wife to do when she discovers that her husband has a darker side which he has long kept hidden?

Each of these stories was good in its own way, and the first person narration worked like a charm . Stephen King is a master of his trade. I love the way he made me as the reader see just how easy it can be for some people, at least in these stories to be conniving, deceitful, and vengeful. There were times that the revenge even seemed right in these stories, and I found myself rooting for the person who was carrying out the act.  At least in one or two stories, I found myself wondering what I would do under similar circumstances.

If you enjoy audiobooks, and would like to give a gentler Stephen King a try, this book of (4) short stories may be just perfect for you.  My husband even got caught up in one of the stories on a brief trip, and commented how great the readers were. Seriously, I don't think you will lose sleep listening to these stories. I thought they were great.

May Giveaway ~ Square Cat; Elizabeth Schoonmaker

After reading my review here in April, childrens author, Elizabeth Schoonmaker was kind enough to send me an signed copy of her delightful book, Square Cat for a giveaway. I'd like one of my readers to have the chance to read this sweet book.

If you would like to enter the giveaway for this book, leave a comment with an email address, so I can contact you in case you win. International entries are fine.

Winner will be selected on Sunday, May 21st. Good luck everyone.

A Father's Love; David Goldman

Title: A Father's Love

Author: David Goldman

Publication Year: 2011

Publisher: Viking

Edition: Hardcover

Source: Publisher

Date Completed: 5/4/2011 

Setting: n/a

Rating: 4/5

Recommend: yes

A Father's Love tells the sometimes painful story of David Goldman's five year ordeal, in bringing his son back to his home in New Jersey from Brazil.

In 1997 when David was working in Italy, he met a Brazilian woman named Bruna Bianchi Soon the couple fell in love. The two married and made their home in a New Jersey seaside community where David resided, and two years later in 2000, their son Sean was born.

Since Bruna's family was from Brazil, the couple would often travel there a few times a year.  In 2004,  Bruna and Sean flew to Brazil for a two week vacation. David was to meet them there the following week, but four days into her visit she called her husband David to say that she wanted a divorce, as well as full custody of their son Sean.  Shocked and in a state of disbelief, for over three years David struggled to find someone to help him to get his abducted son back. He made several trips to Brazil to see his son, but was repeatedly denied access to the boy, except for occasional and brief telephone calls. Gifts and cards which were sent to Sean by his father were sometimes returned.

Despite international court battles and judgments, his wife refused to give up their son. She divorced her husband David, and she married a prominent Brazilian attorney named Juno Paulo Lins e Silva.  In August of 2008, the unimaginable occurred when Bruna died giving birth to her new husband's baby.  Bruna's new husband seemed even more determined to see that David remained out of his son Sean's life, and he petitioned the court in Brazil to have Goldman's name removed from his birth certificate after Bruna passed away.

David Goldman, however, had no intentions of giving up on ever seeing his son again. More determined than ever, and assisted by New Jersey State Rep Chris Smith, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama, David was finally successful in returning Sean to his home in New Jersey on Christmas Eve in 2009.  Even though Goldman was successful in bringing his son home, the Brazilan family continued to bring court actions against Goldman, believing that Sean should be raised by Bruna's mother.

Each day since Sean returned home with his natural father, the two have grown closer and closer, establishing routines and trust and respect for each other. Even though not every day has been perfect, Sean is thriving in school and at home, since being returned to his birthplace and the home where his life began.

Well told, A Father's Love, is a poignant look at just how far a parent will go to do what is right on behalf of their child. I enjoyed this book, and feel that it not only tells the Goldman's story, but opens the communication to expose the fact that this is not an isolated case. International child abduction by parents is a very real problem that needs more exposure, and harsher penalties for offenders.

Until Tuesday; Luis Carlos Montalvan

Title: Until Tuesday

Author: Luis Carlos Montalvan

Publication Year: 2011

Publisher: Hyperion

Edition: ARC

Source: My Stacks

Date Completed: 5/2/2011 

Setting: n/a

Rating: 3/5

Recommend: unsure

This memoir while interesting, is as much, if not more, about a dog's master, a wounded US Army Captain, as it is about a dog, a sensitive, Golden Retriever named Tuesday.

Luis Carlos Montalvan, spent seventeen years in the US Army earning combat action badges, two bronze stars and a purple heart. At home after his release he was a lonely, broken and bitter man. Not only was he left severely disabled by his war injuries, but he also suffered the traumatic psychological after effects of war as well, and learning to endure the painful memories of war through PTSD.

Tuesday, was an extremely sensitive service dog. In his early life, he suffered abandonment issues when he was moved from one prison inmate trainer to another. However, even a dog can find his true calling in life, and that he does as service dog to Luis Montalvan, helping to transform his life. Tuesday and Luis first met on Tuesday, election day 2008, hence the name Tuesday.

Until Tuesday, is the story of dog and man. It's a story of fate, of love and of the bonding of like souls. Although I was hoping to love this book, that did not happen. It took me forever to read this book because of the rambling writing style. I found the story heavily bogged down in detail and minutia. Detail upon detail of war and of the inept leadership of those military leaders who were in charge. In addition, detail upon detail of most every aspect of Montalvan's life, during his military service and afterwards. Perhaps I was expecting more of an upbeat story once Tuesday arrived as Montalvan's companion and service dog, but that just never happened. Don't get me wrong, this book has an important story to tell, a story of war, a story of a man left broken, and the story of a dog named Tuesday who helps a broken man cope with life in the aftermath of war. It's just that if are expecting a succinct story, more of a warm and fuzzy feeling book, about man and dog, then this book may leave you a bit disappointed, as it did me. It is just not that kind of story.

First Chapter~First Paragraph~Tuesday Intros

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am trying to be more selective with my books lately, hoping to read MOSTLY books I'll truly love. I've begun selecting what I read next, by whether the first paragraph grabs me. I know this isn't very scientific and I risk passing over some good books in the process, but for now, this is my book selection method.

Every Tuesday, I'll be posting the opening paragraph (maybe two) of my current read.  Last week's choice was Disturbing the Peace; Richard Yates (no review yet; I liked it, but did not love it).'

This week's pick is Faith, by Jennifer Haigh. Liked the first paragraph, and enjoyed her earlier book: The Condition as well.

(Harper Collins-5/11/2011)

Here goes.....

"Here is the story my mother has never told me.  It is a day she's relived a thousand times, the twenty-first of June, 1951, the longest day of that or any year.  A day that still hasn't ended, as some part of her still paces that dark apartment in Jamaica Plain, waiting.  I imagine the curtains closed against the five o'clock sun, hot and bright as midday; her baby boy peacefully asleep; her young self with nothing to do but wander from room to room, still filled with her dead mother-in-law's things."

Would you read this book based on that first paragraph?  Please feel free to join in, First Chapter~First Paragraph~Tuesday Intros.

Mailbox Monday - May 2, 2010

Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia at The Printed Page, is on blog tour—and the host for May is:  Mari @ Mari Reads.

This weeks loot:

(Can't seem to get enough of Richard Yates lately, hence, (5) new Yates acquisitions).

• The Collected Stories of Richard Yates 
• A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Works of Richard Yates
• Young Hearts Crying 
• A Special Providence
• A Good School

• Providence; Anita Brookner (a win from Thomas/My Porch - Thanks so much)
• Janeology; Karen Harrington (author win)
• The Watery Part of the World; Michael Parker (Algonquin)
• Noah Barleywatch Runs Away; John Boyne (David Fickling Books)

Hope that you had a great week in books.

Tomato Girl Author Jayne Pupek (1962 - 2010)

I just learned some sad news. Author Jayne Pupek, born in March of 1962 had passed away in August of 2010 at the young age of 48.  Her debut novel, Tomato Girl was a favorite novel of mine. Have you read it? Here is my review from September of 2008.

Here is a bit of info about Jayne that she had written.

I was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1962. As the story goes, my mother went into labor during a March blizzard. My father was stationed in North Carolina, where he served as part of the military police. In his absence, my uncle drove my mother to the hospital. They barely made it through the snow drifts, but they did. I'm here, that's proof.

My only sibling, a brother, was born two years later. There would be no more children, as this was about the time my parents learned that I had a form of muscular dystrophy, a condition that would show up in any female children they produced. My childhood included a lot of things that weren't fun: wheelchairs, braces, surgeries, casts, sandbags, and so on. But I had a devoted family, books and animals, and didn't seem to need much else. That's still pretty much true.

With the exception of the Bible and The Farmer's Almanac, books were not valued much in my childhood home. Bedtime stories weren't part of evening rituals. No one wrote poems or spent time reading novels. If anyone in my family kept a diary, I never knew it. Despite their own lack of interest in books, my parents saw that reading was something I could do and enjoy. They gave me all the books I wanted and allowed me to read anything I chose. One of the advantages of growing up in a family of nonreaders was that no one censored what I read. To this day, my mother undoubtedly thinks Anais Nin's Little Birds is a story about sparrows. I'm not about to tell her differently.

While I read and wrote constantly, I didn't consider becoming a writer. In rural communities like the one where I grew up, writers were akin to astronauts, jugglers, and movie stars—sure, they existed, but no one in their right mind talked about becoming one. I went to college at age seventeen and majored in psychology, completing first my BS, and then my MA, both from James Madison University. I used all my electives to take English courses, continued to write, and published my first poem. I was given awards from both the English Department and Psychology Department.

During the next years, I worked with several populations, including battered women and the homeless mentally ill, but I found my niche as a therapist working with inmates. I relocated to Central Virginia to work with incarcerated sexual offenders. After several years working with adults, I transferred to a correctional center for juveniles, where I continued to specialize in the treatment of sexual offenders and their families.

Soon after leaving the Shenandoah Valley, I met and married my husband, a librarian. He is sane, stable, and a calming influence in my life. As I once heard Joyce Carol Oates say on C-Span, no one tells you that you're going to need somebody like that to write, but you do. If you don't have someone like that, go find them.

Ed and I are parents to three amazing children through adoption. Kaity was born in India and came home to us at age five. She was quite the feral child, as she was blind (born without eyes) and autistic; she had never spoken a word and understood no English, nor had she been potty-trained or taught how to use a spoon. Travis was also born in India and came home to us as an infant. He was actually our first child, adopted a year or so before Kaity. And finally, we adopted Ryan, an African American boy born in the United States. He was only five months old when he arrived.

When my children were older, I turned more and more attention to writing. I became more focused, and started submitting work to publishers, receiving a number of rejections, but also more acceptances than I expected. My work has appeared in numerous print and online journals and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. I'm the author of two poetry chapbooks, Primitive (Pudding House Press 2004) and Local Girls (Dead Mule, 2007). My first novel, Tomato Girl, is forthcoming from Algonquin Books in 2008. That same year, Forms of Intercession, my first full length collection of poems, will be published by Mayapple Press.

—Jayne Pupek (August 2007)