First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Girls From Corona del Mar; Rufi Thorpe

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? Here goes..... (my friend and I use to do the exact same thing with the lemon juice when we were teens...many, many, many years ago)

;

The Girls From Corona del Mar

Rufi Thorpe - 2014 - Knopf/Random House

CHAPTER 1 

The Best Tea in the World

"You're going to have to break one of my toes, I explained. Lorrie Ann and I were sunning ourselves, in the tiny, fenced-in patio of my mother's house on thin towels laid directly over the hot, cracked pavement.  We had squeezed a plastic lemon from the supermarket into our hair and were praying to be blonder, always blonder, our eyes closed against the sun. There was jasmine on the wind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you think? Would you read more? I just started this one and I'm enjoying it so far.

Feel free to join in and post the Intro from one of your reads and link below. 

Elizabeth is Missing; Emma Healey

Elizabeth is Missing; Emma Healey

Harper - June 2014

Maud Horsham is an elderly woman with dementia who is desperate to find her friend Elizabeth, who she believes is missing and in danger. She tries to make her daughter Helen, granddaughter, Katy, her doctor and even the police realize the urgency in finding Elizabeth. Maud seems certain about her friend's disappearance, despite reassurances by others to the contrary -- this from a woman who sometimes doesn't recognize her own family.  No matter how much she tries to let go of her obsession about her friend's well-being, she cannot let it pass.

As the reader, I found Maud to be a compelling and likeable character. I found myself anxiously turning the pages trying to find out what's the real deal with Elizabeth? The story takes the reader on a journey back to Maud's traumatic childhood, WWII era, when her sister Sukey went missing and was never found. Maud's memory of those younger days, particularly during the time when her sister Sukey went missing seemed crystal clear.

I found Maud to be my favorite kind of narrator -- sympathetic and yet unreliable. As the storyline moved from present to past and back again, some events seemed confused and unclear, just like Maud's mind. I enjoyed reading about the spirited, feisty Maud in her youth, as much as the confused, anxious woman in her declining years. What could have been a sad story, given the dementia factor,  actually had me smiling from time to time, but yet the author never pokes fun at the seriousness of dementia either. 

Elizabeth is Missing is a terrific debut novel that kept me guessing as I read. There were even a few twists that were quite unexpected.  Readers who enjoy psychological mysteries will enjoy this one. Emma Healey is a talented new voice to watch for moving forward.

4.5/5 stars

(eGalley and audio download)

Davina Porter narrates the audio version and did a terrific job.

July Reading - Month in Review

It seems like we say this all the time, but it really is hard to believe another month is over.  Summer always seems to fly by faster than any other season for me as I find myself busier.  Still time for reading, but not as much as in the colder months.  

How was your July for books?

1. The Transcriptionist;  Amy Rowland - (eBook) - 4.5/5 - July 
2. The Highway; C.J. Box (audio) - 3.5/5 - July
3. Mr. Tiger Goes Wild ; Peter Brown - (library) - 5/5 -July
4. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; Chris Bohjalian (audio and eGalley) - 4.5/5 (July)
5. The Storied Life of AJ Fikry; Gabrielle Zevin - (audio and eBook) - 5/5 (July)
6. The From-Always; CJ Hauser (arc) - 3/5 (July)
7. A Man Called Ove; Fredrik Backman - (arc/eGalley) - 5/5 (July) 
8. My Gentle Barn; Ellie Laks (NF) - (eGalley/audio) - 4/5 (July) 
9. The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing; Mira Jacob - 4/5 - (eGalley) July 
10. Elizabeth is Missing; Emma Healey - 4.5/5 arc/audio - no review yet
11. The Maytrees; Anne Dillard (audio) -  4/5 no review yet

I read (11) books in July and enjoyed most of them.  (3) books really stood out for me in July.

 YTD - 80 books

August Reading Plans - 

• Finish Mr. Mercedes; Stephen King (60-more pages)
• Review (2) books from July - The Maytrees; Dillard and Elizabeth is Missing; Healey
• The Story Hour; Thrity Umrigar
• The Conditions of Love; Kurshner
• The Girls from Corona del Mar; Thorpe
• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage; Murakami
• (a few random picks)  

Any end of summer reading plans for you?

Coming Soon to a Book Store Near You - A Sudden Light; Garth Stein

Here's my "Coming Soon to a Book Store Near You" pick for this week.  What do you think about this novel -- would you try it? 
Description

A Sudden Light; Garth Stein

Simon & Schuster - August - 2014

When a boy tries to save his parents’ marriage, he uncovers a legacy of family secrets in a coming-of-age ghost story by the author of the internationally bestselling phenomenon, The Art of Racing in the Rain.

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

 But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future.

 A Sudden Light is a rich, atmospheric work that is at once a multigenerational family saga, a historical novel, a ghost story, and the story of a contemporary family’s struggle to connect with each other. A tribute to the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, it reflects Garth Stein’s outsized capacity for empathy and keen understanding of human motivation, and his rare ability to see the unseen: the universal threads that connect us all.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Conditions of Love; Dale M. Kushner

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? This week's pick seems like a good summer read to me.

 The Conditions of Love

Dale M. Kushner

Grand Central Publishing - 2013

Chapter 1
MERN

" My mother was dead set against me calling her Ma.  When the offending sound passed my lips, she pinched my chin and enunciated very slowly, the way she talked to her parakeet, Mr. Puccini-- 'Baby say Mern not Mama. Baby say Mern.' She was hoping, no doubt, that with time and a little encouragement, I might grow into an adaptable companion whose demands were minimal, someone with whom she could discuss Cary Grant's perfect profile, Shelly Winter's yen for men.

Mern was different and I was different too.  I was the only kid who didn't have a father.  Do you miss him? neighborhood kids would ask. 'He's gone,' I'd say, shrugging. Will you see him again? Why did he leave? 'Don't know,' I'd answer. And I didn't."

What do you think? Would you read more? I haven't started this one yet, but I think it's going to be a good one.

Feel free to join in and post the Intro from one of your reads and link below. 

 

 

The Sleepwalkers Guide to Dancing; Mira Jacob

 

The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing

Mira Jacob

Random House - 2014

The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing is quite an amazing debut novel. It's a family saga, spanning some 20 years. The Eapens are a dysfunctional family, originally from India and now living in the US. Each family member has their own demons they are dealing with.

As the story begins, daughter Amina, once was a successful photojournalist, is now doing mostly wedding photography, for reasons which we learn later. In her 30's, she is living in Seattle, and is called home to Albuquerque, NM by her over bearing and religious mother, Kamala. Her mother is concerned because Amina's father, Thomas, a brain surgeon, has begun to act somewhat strange. He awakens during the night and carries on conversations with his deceased mother and others who have died.

The story pulls the reader back into the family's history, the immigrant experience, Thomas's desire to come to America so that any children born to him and Kamala would have a chance for a better life. For Kamala, her heart remained in her home country, a place she would have preferred to stay.  From Albuquerque to Seattle to India, readers will learn of the tragic events experienced by family members, which include the loss of the couple's son Akhil.

I found Akhil and Amina's story to be very compelling. Fortunately, there is humor peppered here and there, so that for me this story never felt depressing, despite some of what occurs. Sleep and "sleepwalking" surface throughout the novel and I think the title of this book could not have been more appropriate.

The writing is very good, but I thought the beginning was a tad confusing. It took me about 40-50 pages to begin to feel like it was a book worth continuing. There is a lot that happens in this book, so I was happy I did feel fully engaged after the somewhat rocky start. I found the last 150 pages or to be the most engrossing.  It's a story that was very different from anything I've read in a long time. It is clear that this author is a newbie worth watching for moving forward.

Try it!

4/5 stars

(eGalley)

Sunday Blatherings and New Books

Can't believe how beautiful this weather has been so far this summer. With July almost over we've been thrilled that we've had very few hot hot humid days thus far. Perfect weather for the beach (Portland, ME - above photo), long walks, gardening, or relaxing on the deck with a good book. DH is anxious for fall and football season, but I'll take this weather and summer for as long as possible.

I've got a few books to review that were really good -

• Elizabeth is Missing; Emma Healey
• The Maytrees; Anne Dillard

I just started Mr. Mercedes; Stephen King and am really enjoying it. As well as, The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing; Mira Jacob/

Here are my new book arrivals over the last 2 weeks.

•  The Silkworms; Galbraith (Little Brown & Co / Hachette)
• Most Wanted Man; John LeCarre (Scribner)
• Mariana; Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Little Brown/Hachette)
• City of Bones; Michael Connelly (Hachette)
• Don't Talk to Strangers; Amanda Kyle Williams (Random House)
• The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing; Mira Jacob (Random House Audio)

• Breakwater Bay; Shelley Noble (William Morrow)
• Dear Daughter; Elizabeth Little (Viking)
• Euphoria; Lily King (Atlantic Monthly Press) - paperback swap member
• The Children's Act; Ian McEwan (Nan Talese)
• How to Build a Girl; Caitlan Moran (Harper)
• Ballroom; Alice Simpson (Harper)
• The Stone Wife; Peter Lovesey (Soho Crime)

Enjoy your Day!