Picador
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What do you think? Would you keep reading? Feel free to join us by linking your First Chapter post below.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Norumbega Park; Anthony Giardina
Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros,
where I share the first paragraph or (a few) of a book I am reading or
thinking about reading soon. Care to join us? Today's pick has been on my wish list since 2011. It takes place in the suburbs of Boston.
"The Palumbo family, beholden to tradition, drives every year into the country on the last weekend before Thanksgiving to buy the turkey. Beyond Lexington, beyond Bedford and Concord, where the country opens up and darkens, there are still farms where large cages hold white, startled birds. "That one, " says Joannie, the little girl, pointing, then runs back to the car, and before she is even inside, she covers her ears against the knowledge her big brother chooses not to protect her from. In the back seat, keeping her company as he's ordered to, Jack repeats it: "They cut off their heads." Already (he is eight), he has mastered a certain smile that will make him, years later, catnip to women. But not now; now he is only Jack, her tormentor" .
Monday, December 9, 2013
Mailbox Monday - December 9th
(Hoping for a white Christmas)
Rose City Reader
is our Mailbox Monday host this month. Mailbox Monday was started by
Marcia as a way of sharing your new books and having fun at the same
time. The future of Mailbox Monday is up for review – vote in the polls here.
- The Thursday Night Men; T Beneacquista (Europa Edition) - from a paperback swap member
- The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly; Sun Mi Hwang - Penguin
- The Forgiven; Lawrence Osborne (Amazon Vine & Random House)
- The Second Chance Dog; Jon Katz (Amazon Vine & Random House)
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Sea Creatures; Susanna Daniel
Harper - 2013
Sea Creatures by Susanna Daniel covers a lot of ground. Job loss, sleep disorders, marital discourse, a young child who stops speaking and communicates only by signing, death of a parent, a hurricane and more.
The story begins with Georgia's husband Graham losing his tenure at Northwestern University in Illinois. There is a scandal associated with the situation as well. Graham has a rare sleep disorder (parasomnia) which has caused him to do some strange things he is not aware of. He has terrified others in the process, and the situation seems to only be getting worst.
To save face and start fresh the family, which includes a young son named Frankie, moves back to the Miami area where Georgia is from. However, Georgia wonders if she and Frankie are safe.
While I loved the setting of the novel and how the author does a terrific job creating an atmospheric feel through most of the story, I struggled to stay engaged with this one. There is way too much going on in this novel. The story is also told in the form of flashbacks, which on my opinion does nor work all that well in a story like this with so much going on. I was curious to find out what had caused little Frankie to stop speaking and whether the sleep disorder surfaced again once the family moved, so I kept reading. Unfortunately, this novel just did not work out that well for me.
2.5/5 stars
Friday, December 6, 2013
The Homecoming Party; Carmine Abate
The Homecoming Party; Carmine Abate
Europa - 2010
The Homecoming Party by
Carmine Abate was a short novel (fewer than 200 pages) which I enjoyed.
The story begins with a father and son enjoying
a bonfire on Christmas Eve outside of their village church. It
is a happy day for Tuillio and his son Marco, as work is scare in Hora, a village near Calabria in Italy. Trulio
has had a hard time finding enough work to support his family, so he often must travel to France and
work in dangerous conditions like coal mining, in make a living. He has just returned from one of his absences.
While he is away, Marco, his preteen son, likes to think he is the man of the house, watching out for the family: his mother, his grandmother and older college-age, half-sister, Elisa who comes home from school on the weekends.
As father and son catch up at this latest Christmas Eve bonfire reunion, the reader learns about Trulio's past. While Tuillio tells of things that happened to him while he was away, Marco recalls the day that he was roaming the rural terrain with his dog Spertina. On that particular day, he sees his sister lying down in a field with her blouse opened. He also catches a glimpse of an older man with “salt and pepper hair”. Although Marco does not know it, the “salt and pepper hair man”, is not a stranger to Trulio and, even Spertina the dog is familiar with the mystery man.
I had a hard time putting my thoughts to paper on this one even though I liked it. It was a coming of age story and a story about a fractured family as well. It’s difficult to say too much about this one without revealing spoilers, except that there was a shocking revelation that I had not expected. The writing and translation was very good. I especially loved the descriptions of the region, and its people. Although people had to endure difficult circumstances in order to take care of their family, life did not seem all that terrible and had a nice slow-paced feel. Unfortunately, I never got a good feel for when this story took place, and that I would have liked to know. I loved that I was able to read this one cover to cover in just a few hours. It really held my attention and loved how it packed a punch as well.
4/5 stars (my shelves)
While he is away, Marco, his preteen son, likes to think he is the man of the house, watching out for the family: his mother, his grandmother and older college-age, half-sister, Elisa who comes home from school on the weekends.
As father and son catch up at this latest Christmas Eve bonfire reunion, the reader learns about Trulio's past. While Tuillio tells of things that happened to him while he was away, Marco recalls the day that he was roaming the rural terrain with his dog Spertina. On that particular day, he sees his sister lying down in a field with her blouse opened. He also catches a glimpse of an older man with “salt and pepper hair”. Although Marco does not know it, the “salt and pepper hair man”, is not a stranger to Trulio and, even Spertina the dog is familiar with the mystery man.
I had a hard time putting my thoughts to paper on this one even though I liked it. It was a coming of age story and a story about a fractured family as well. It’s difficult to say too much about this one without revealing spoilers, except that there was a shocking revelation that I had not expected. The writing and translation was very good. I especially loved the descriptions of the region, and its people. Although people had to endure difficult circumstances in order to take care of their family, life did not seem all that terrible and had a nice slow-paced feel. Unfortunately, I never got a good feel for when this story took place, and that I would have liked to know. I loved that I was able to read this one cover to cover in just a few hours. It really held my attention and loved how it packed a punch as well.
4/5 stars (my shelves)
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Guests on Earth; Lee Smith
Shannon Ravenel Books-2013
Guests on Earth is worth checking out. (4/5 stars)
Guests on Earth begins with a newspaper article about the tragic fire in 1948,
which claimed the life of Zelda Fitzgerald and eight other women at
Highland Hospital, in Asheville, NC. Zelda, although she does appear several times in the story, is not the focus of the novel.
The
story is told through the eyes of a young narrator named Evalina
Touissant. Evalina was the illegitimate daughter of an exotic dancer from New
Orleans. After her mother commits suicide when she was just thirteen,
Evalina is placed in Highland Hospital by her guardian Dr. Carroll who was the
head of the hospital. Evalina, surprisingly, adapts well to life at the hospital. She spends free time
reading Nancy Drew novels, and taking piano lessons from Dr. Carroll's
wife. In some ways she seemed too well-adjusted considering that she had
lost her own mother. She was mature beyond her years, extremely
talented and a good read of other people like Zelda. She always seemed
to know what to say and how to act around the other "guests" ---for example the times when Zelda mistook Evalina for
her own daughter Scottie.
The
novel's title comes from a letter that Fitzgerald wrote where he
stated “the insane are always mere guests on earth......" Another reason why,
Highland Hospital's residents are always referred to as “guests.”
The reader knows early on that tragedy will strike Highland Hospital
before the story is over, but even though this was the case, I did not find the story too depressing. I
enjoyed reading about the workings of Highland and the activities of the "guests"
who were hospitalized there for mental illness. Guests came, stayed for a while, left
and came back again and again. There were many references to the friendships of the "guests", as well as the various activities they were encouraged to
pursue to stretch their imagination.
Highland Hospital certainly wasn't like some of the turn of the century mental institutions I've read about in the past. Of course, even at an upscale institution like Highland, back in the 1930's-40s, unconventional methods like lobotomy, shock therapy and insulin induced comas were used to treat clinical depression.
Highland Hospital certainly wasn't like some of the turn of the century mental institutions I've read about in the past. Of course, even at an upscale institution like Highland, back in the 1930's-40s, unconventional methods like lobotomy, shock therapy and insulin induced comas were used to treat clinical depression.
I liked this story and the setting and
time period, but the story did feel a bit flat at times, even though
the
author did a good job creating some believable characters (even the
minor ones). Lee Smith is someone who is familiar with what she writes.
Both of her parents
suffered from mental illness and both her father and son were "guests"
at Highland Hospital as well.
(eGalley received via NetGalley)
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Waiting on Wednesday - All the Birds, Singing; Evie Wyld
Is there a book that you recently read about, that hasn't been published yet, but that you are anxious to read? Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
April-2014 - Pantheon
***Shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Award for Best Novel***
From one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists, a stunningly insightful, emotionally powerful new novel about an outsider haunted by an inescapable past: a story of loneliness and survival, guilt and loss, and the power of forgiveness.
Jake Whyte is living on her own in an old farmhouse on a craggy British island, a place of ceaseless rains and battering winds. Her disobedient collie, Dog, and a flock of sheep are her sole companions, which is how she wanted it to be. But every few nights something—or someone—picks off one of the sheep and sounds a new deep pulse of terror. There are foxes in the woods, a strange boy and a strange man, rumors of an obscure, formidable beast. And there is also Jake's past—hidden thousands of miles away and years ago, held in the silences about her family and the scars that stripe her back—a past that threatens to break into the present. With exceptional artistry and empathy, All the Birds, Singing reveals an isolated life in all its struggles and stubborn hopes, unexpected beauty, and hard-won redemption.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - A Nantucket Christmas; Nancy Thayer
Random House - 2013
"On Nantucket, the Christmas season is different.
Really.
The island, fifty-two square miles of flat sandy land, lies in windswept isolation almost thirty miles away from the continent and all its institutions and entertainments. In the summer, the sun shines down on the golden beaches and a serene blue sea. In the winter, gale force winds lash and howl over the ocean, cutting its residents off from family, friends and often fresh bread and milk as Nantucket Sound freezes over and no planes fly, no boats sail, to or from the island. When the sun sets early and rises late, deep black water surrounds the land in infinite darkness.'"
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What do you think? Would you keep reading? Feel free to join us by linking your First Chapter post below.
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