Waiting for Sunrise; William Boyd

Title:  Waiting for Sunrise

Author:  William Boyd

Publication Year: 2012

Publisher: Harper

Edition: ARC

Source: Amazon Vine
Setting: London and Vienna

Date Completed: 3/7/2012

Rating: 4.5/5
Recommend: yes

William Boyd's latest novel,  Waiting for Sunrise, which releases next month, is unlike anything I've read in a long while.

The story begins in 1913 when a 28 year-old English actor by the name of Lysander Reif has taken all of his money and headed to Vienna.  It seems the handsome, educated man has a bit of a sexual dysfunction issue.  In Vienna, Dr. Bensimon, a highly regarded psychoanalyst, considered an expert in the field, and a former student of Freud, is the man Reif is confident can help him overcome his sexual performance issue.

While at an analysis appointment, Reif encounters, Hettie Bull a brazen woman, who bursts into the doctor's office during one of his sessions without an appointment.  The woman is an attractive British artist (sculptor), who after a second run in asks him to pose for her.  The two begin an intense affair complete with steamy imagery.  Although the affair cures him of his sexual dysfunction issue, he ends up with trouble he never imagined.

Entering into the story is a second individual, Alwyn Munro, who he also met during his analysis sessions. Munro works for the British Consulate.  When Reif is charged with rape by Hettie, it is Munro who aids in his escape from Vienna, but not without the government expecting something from him in return.  The reader, along with Reif are pulled into a world full of deception, intrigue and espionage.

The story for the most part was fast paced. The writing is well done, very descriptive, steamy and sensual, combined with a bit of mystery, WWI background, lots of intrigue and plot twists.  In honesty, it is not the type of story that I expected to enjoy, but I did, which tells me that I'll be a lot less hesitant to move outside of my comfort zone in the future.  RECOMMENDED

The Beginner's Goodbye; Anne Tyler

Title:  The Beginner's Goodbye

Author:  Anne Tyler

Publication Year: 2012

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Edition: ARC

Source: Amazon Vine
Setting: Baltimore, MD

Date Completed: 3/4/2012

Rating: 5/5
Recommend: yes

Anne Tyler, in my opinion, is one of those talented authors known for her in-depth character studies.  By the time I've finished reading one of her books, I usually feel like her protagonist is someone I have known for a while.  Her subjects tend to be quirky, flawed, yet very ordinary, and often they are dealing with a troubling issue.

In her newest novel , The Beginner's Goodbye, which will release next month, the  protagonist, Aaron Wolcott, is a man who looks much older than his years. Only in his mid-30's, Aaron walks with a limp and uses a cane, ever since a childhood illness left him slightly paralyzed.  He graduated from Stanford with a degree in English, but after college ended up working in the family's vanity press publishing business editing books.  He's a loner by nature, but one of those sad sacks I couldn't help but feel sorry for.  At 24, he meets Dorothy, AKA, Dr. Dorothy, who is 8 years his senior, and, an introvert and loner like himself. After just 4 months, they marry and have a happy, yet unremarkable marriage of 10 years.  All of that ends when one day Dorothy dies in a freak accident, when a tree falls through the roof of their small home. She was only 43.

Aaron's life is torn apart after Dorothy's passing. While he is having the home repaired, he moves in with his single sister, Nandina, who still lives in the family home where they grew up.  Aaron's room is exactly as it was before he left for college, and although his well-meaning sister gets on his nerves at times, he can't bear the thought of ever going back to his house where his wife had died, even after the repairs are complete.  Poor Aaron's a mess, he is questioning himself with all the "what if" scenarios that might have prevented his wife's death. He finds no pleasure in life, and can't even enjoy reading his books before bed.

" Reading is the first to go", my mother use to say, meaning that it was a luxury the brain dispensed with when under duress.  She claimed after my father died she never again picked up anything more demanding than the morning paper.

Before long, Aaron begins to see Dorothy making a brief appearance here and there.  It is through her brief appearances that he is able to reflect on their years together, and see things at times in a whole new light.  Her visits make him recall not only the good times, but all of Dr. Dorothy's annoyances as well,  helping him work through the grieving process.

"But put yourself in my place. Call to mind a person you've lost that you will miss to the end of your days, and then imagine happening upon that person out in public  You see your long-dead father sauntering ahead with his hands in his pockets. Or you hear your mother behind you calling, "honey?"  Or your Little brother who fell through the ice the winter he was six, let's say, passes by with his smell of menthol cough drops and damp mittens.  You wouldn't question your sanity, because you couldn't bear to think it wasn't real.  And you certainly wouldn't demand explanations, or alert anybody nearby, or reach out to touch this person, not even if you'd been feeling that one touch was worth giving up everything for you.  You would hold your breath.  You would keep as still as possible.  You would will your loved one not to go away again."

Needless to say, The Beginner's Goodbye, is a deeply moving story. It's a story about love, loss, forgiveness and acceptance.  It's a story told with humor, so that as the reader, I was never left with a sad or empty feeling. In fact, quite the opposite, the story left me with a lot to think about, and the ending ultimately left me smiling. Highly Recommended - I Loved it!

Waiting on Wednesday - Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World; Sabina Berman

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating! Want to participate? Post your own WOW entry on your blog, and leave your link at Breaking the Spine. My pick is a debut novel that I came across this week.

Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World

Sabina Berman - Henry Holt

August 2012

(description)

A transporting and brilliant comic novel narrated by an unforgettable woman: Karen Nieto, an autistic savant whose idiosyncrasies prove her greatest gifts. As intimate as it is profound, and as clear-eyed as it is warmhearted, Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World marks an extraordinary debut by the award-winning Mexican playwright, journalist, and poet Sabina Berman. Karen Nieto passed her earliest years as a feral child, left alone to wander the vast beach property near her family's failing tuna cannery. But when her aunt Isabelle comes to Mexico to take over the family business, she discovers a real girl amidst the squalor. So begins a miraculous journey for autistic savant Karen, who finds freedom not only in the love and patient instruction of her aunt but eventually at the bottom of the ocean swimming among the creatures of the sea. Despite how far she's come, Karen remains defined by the things she can't do?until her gifts with animals are finally put to good use at the family's fishery. Her plan is brilliant: Consolation Tuna will be the first humane tuna fishery on the planet. Greenpeace approves, fame and fortune follow, and Karen is swept on a global journey that explores how we live, what we eat, and how our lives can defy even our own wildest expectations.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros

Every Tuesday, I'll be posting the opening paragraph (sometimes maybe a few) of a book I decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s). Feel free to grab the banner and play along.  This week's selection is from a book by an author I've enjoyed in the past, (Caribou Island) by David Vann.

Dirt; David Vann

Harper Collins - June 2012

(Intro paragraphs are from an ARC)

"Galen waited under the fig tree for his mother. He read Siddhartha for the hundredth time, the young Budda gazing into the river.  He felt the enormous presence of the fig tree above him, listened for the no wind, for the stillness.  Summer heat pressing down, flattening the earth.  Sweat in a film covering most his body, a slick.

The old house, the trees ancient.  The grass, grown long, making his legs itch.  But he tried to concentrate.  Hear the no wind.  Focus on breath.  Let the no self go by.

Galen, his mother called from inside, Galen.

He breathed more deeply, tried to let his mother go by.

Oh, there you are, she said. Ready for tea?

He didn't answer. Focused on his breath, hoped she would go away.  But of course he was waiting for her,  waiting for tea." 

 What do you think?   

Although those intro paragraphs alone did not hook me, let me tell you if you keep reading on, you'll be hooked before 20 pages -- really enjoying this one.

Mailbox Monday - March 5

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week. Mailbox Monday, for March, is being hosted by Anna at Diary Of an Eccentric.

(last week's Mail Box loot) 

• Peepsqueak ; Leslie Ann Clark (Amazon Vine)
• A Surrey State of Affairs; Ceri Radford (Pamela Dorman Books)
• The Uninvited Guests;  Sadie Jones (Amazon Vine)

How was your week for new books?

Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by http://athomewithbooks.blogspot.com/

Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online. 

Most of my regular followers know that we love cats -- have (3). Unlike some cats, ours love to be part of  our television time, sleep time, etc.  So it is probably no surprise why I fell in love with this the art piece below when I saw it several years ago.....beach, cats.....it says it all:

 (click on photo to enlarge)

 (why we love it)

(click on photo to enlarge)

Have a great weekend everyone!

(off to see your photos now)

Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss and Moving Forward; Lisa Niemi Swayze

Title:  Worth Fighting For: Love Loss and Moving Forward

Author:  Lisa Niemi Swayze

Publication Year: 2012

Publisher: Atria Books

Edition: hardcover

Source: Library

Date Completed: 3/1/2012

Rating: 4/5
Recommend: yes

Ever since I first found out Patrick Swayze had pancreatic cancer, I began to read everything that I could find about his life, and his illness.  I totally enjoyed the book he and Lisa wrote: The Time of My Life, which told the story of their 34-year marriage, and touched somewhat of his battle with cancer.  Having lost (2) loved ones to pancreatic cancer, I've witnessed first-hand how awful and just how hopeless everyone feels when a loved one gets the diagnosis Swayze received.  Swayze's battle was a long and hard fought one, lasting (21) months from the time he was diagnosed with Stage IV in January of 2008. He died in September of 2009.

In this book, listed under biography / autobiography, Lisa Niemi Swayze details her husband's cancer battle, his debilitating on-going treatments, and constant changes in treatment plans when one plan was no longer working.  We not only learn about what Patrick went through, but what it was like for Lisa, a dedicated caregiver, to watch the man she loved for 30+ years to become weaker and weaker and no longer even resemble the man she had spent her life with. The details about the illness were very painful to read at times, especially what his final weeks and days were like.  When things were at their worst, she speaks of the strength that comes to you in situations like this that you never imagined you possessed.  Her courage and commitment to him during his illness, is testament to the power of the human spirit.

Her story seems brutally honest, as she shares with the reader the happy times they had, surprises along the way, and other personal facts that I hadn't be aware of before.  She also details the rocky periods of their marriage when her husband's drinking was out of control, they separated, and she was uncertain as to whether their marriage could even he saved.  Especially touching was the epilogue where is writes about her life one year and eight months after Patrick's death; it seemed very heartfelt. This book is not for everyone, but I was very happy I read it.

"I tell you, I am a different person now.  One who has been thrown into the fire and forged."