The Shore; Sara Taylor

The Shore; Sara Taylor

Hogarth - May 2015

The Shore, is a tough novel for me to review. It certainly was a good book, but definitely not my favorite type of fiction.

The novel is a collection of (13) connected stories beginning in 1995 and covering a period of some 250 years past and well into the future.  The first chapter alone packs a punch and that shock factor continues throughout most the book.

It begins with 13 year old Chloe and her sister Renee who live on remote Accomack Island off the VA coast.  Their mother is out of the picture, their father a meth dealer and user, and he has of violent temper asw well. Of course, the kids have a horrible life, dirt poor, no stability and not even basic electricity.  They crab for food to eat, not for the fun of it like some children.  One day while getting bait for crabbing, Chloe overhears a conversation between two people about the violent murder of a man named Cabel Bloxom, and by the end of just that first chapter there is more violence that surfaces.

So why did I continue reading?  I fell in love with Chloe and her sister in the first chapter, and just hoped she'd resurface the more I read (she did). She's a tough cookie who was taught to shoot a gun by the age of 5. She also becomes obsessed with the murder of Cabel and for good reason too.

I thought that the writing was amazing, and it was hard to believe that this is a debut novel. The descriptions of locales, people and events come alive on the pages, yet having said that, this was probably the toughest read I had in a while.  First, it's tough material: racism, plagues, violence, rape, abuse --substance, emotional and sexual, and even some magic. Secondly, the story is rolled out in nonlinear fashion and it was extremely hard to keep facts and dates straight even with a notepad.  I'm happy I started this book not knowing "anything" about it, as I might have skipped the book entirely based on the violence, missing out on a great experience.  Definitely, not for readers who prefer lighter reads, and in many ways this one seemed like the type of novel Oprah might pick for her bookclub selection.

4.5/5 stars
(review copy)

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Lemon Table; Julian Barnes

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.

The Lemon Table; Stories; Julian Barnes

Vintage - 2005

A Short History of Hairdressing

1

"The first time, after they moved, his mother had come with him.  Presumably to examine the barber.  As if the phrase short back and sides, with a little off the top, might mean something different in this new suburb.  He'd doubted it.  Everything else seemed the same: the torture chair, the surgerical smells, the strop and the folded razor--folded not in safety but in threat.  Most of all, the torturer-in-chief was the same, a loony with big hands who pushed your head down till your windpipe nearly snapped, who prodded your ear with a bamboo finger.  General inspection, madam? he said greasily when he'd finished.  His mother had shaken off the effects of her magazine and stood up.  Very nice, she said vaguely, leaning over him, smelling of stuff. I'll send him by himself next time. Outside, she had rubbed his cheek, looked at him with idle eyes, and murmered, you poor shorn lamb."

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Sunday Blatherings and New Books

Last weekend we were in NYC for a Bar Mitzvah and although the weather,  ceremony, luncheon, and gala evening affair were wonderful, I was so happy to come home.  For some reason NYC and especially the Times Square area, where we stayed were so very crowded. It felt like Christmastime in NY. We moved along the sidewalk at a snails pace and ended up feeling like a pancake by the time we got back to the hotel.  My husband ended up with a horrible cold and sore throat Tuesday, and by yesterday, I got it as well ugh...I definitely will not be cooking this evening, soup sounds perfect for our colds. I did get the patio furniture out on the deck, because it was 75 yesterday and today and 80's predicted for this week.

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately and my April stats proved that. I usually read about 3-4 books a week, but April's total was just (9) books - about 2 per week for a YTD total of 46. Yet on a positive note, I enjoyed most of what I read.

1. Where Women are Kings; Christie Watson; 4.5/5 (arc) (April)
2. ZooBorns: Motherly Love; Bleiman and Eastland - 4/5 (eGalley) (April)
3. The Children's Crusade; Ann Packer - 4/5 (eGalley) (April)
4. Inside the O'Briens; Lisa Genova - 4.5/5 (eGalley) (April)
5. Someone is Watching; Joy Fielding - 4/5 (eGalley) (April)
6. West of Sunset; Stewart O'Nan - 4/5 (personal copy) (April)
7. Accidents of Marriage; Randy Susan Meyer (eGalley) 3.5/5 (April)
8. I Regret Everything: A Love Story; Seth Greenland (library) - 4.5/5 (April)
9. Eileen; Ottessa Moshfegh - (arc) 4.5/5 (April)

I got quite a few new books over the last 2 weeks, and I plan to try The Shore, by Sara Taylor (Hogarth) first.

• The Second Life; S.J. Watson (Harper)
• The Wolf Border; Sarah Hall
• Love May Fail, Matthew Quick (Harper)
• Summer Secrets; Jane Green (St. Martin's Press)
• The Gracekeepers;Kirsty Logan (Crown)

• Find the Good; Heather Lende (Algonquin Books)
• The Secret Sister; Fotini Tsalikgolou (Europa purchase)
• I Saw a Man; Owen Sheers (Nan Talese)
• Delicious Foods; James Hannaham (Little Brown-Hachette) 
• Child 44; Tom Rob Smith (Hachette)

Have a good week!

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You - Our Souls at Night; Kent Haruf

Here's a book I am looking forward to reading, by an author I've enjoyed in the past. The book releases the end of May, and every review I've read has been 5 stars!

Our Souls at Night; Kent Haruf

Knopf - May 2015

(Description)

A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future. 

In the familiar setting of Holt, Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf’s inimitable fiction, Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis’s wife. His daughter lives hours away in Colorado Springs, her son even farther away in Grand Junction, and Addie and Louis have long been living alone in houses now empty of family, the nights so terribly lonely, especially with no one to talk with.

Their brave adventures—their pleasures and their difficulties—are hugely involving and truly resonant, making Our Souls at Night the perfect final installment to this beloved writer’s enduring contribution to American literature.

Eileen; Ottessa Moshfegh

Eileen; Ottessa Moshfegh

Penguin - 2015

Just who is Eileen? In a town only referred to as X-ville in Massachusetts lived 24 year old Eileen Dunlop. Some might see her simply as a lonely young woman with low self esteem who cares for her alcoholic ex-cop father.  To me, Eileen was much more complex and unbelievably disturbed. I thought she could have easily been a sibling of the Anthony Perkins character in the movie Psycho.

It's the 1960's and poor Eileen has a horrible life. She hated her mother who died a few years earlier, and now cares for her alcoholic, verbally abusive, father. She has no friends, works as a secretary at a correction's facility for troubled,under aged boys. When day is done, she pretty much stops off for booze for her father, returning home to their filthy, disgusting house, and then retreating to a room in the attic.

One day Rebecca, an attractive, educated young woman from work becomes friendly with Eileen, and invites her over one evening. Rebecca's interest in Eileen is self-serving, and leads to an unexpected turn of events for Eileen. 

In some ways, after all the buildup, the ending seemed somewhat unsatisfying. Don't get me wrong, Eileen is a fascinating character study. I was glued to her every depraved thought and word. She's a woman who was obsessed and excited by things that would repulse most normal people. [This author can write and dig deep into the psyche]

I read this book while travelling to and from NYC recently, and honestly, could not put it down. It's one of those stories where just when you think things can't get any worst, they do. The story is told from Eileen's perspective now as an old woman, looking back to the month around Christmas when she was 24. Despite my disappointment in the ending, I still highly recommend this to readers who love twisted protagonists.

4.5/5 stars

(review copy-amazon vine)

 2 quotes from Eileen ---"A grown woman is like a coyote--she can get by on very little.  Men are more like housecats. Leave them alone for too long and they'll die of sadness.  Over the years I've grown to love men for this weakness.  I've tried to respect them as people, full of feelings, fluctuating and beautiful from day to day. I've listened, soothed and wiped the tears away.  But as a young woman in X-ville, I had no idea that other people--men or women--felt things as deeply as I did.  I had no compassion for anyone unless his suffering allowed me to indulge in my own. My development is very stunted in this regard."

"I pulled on a pair of old woolen tights and went and found a spare bottle of gin I'd hidden in the closet and handed it to my father. He took it and flipped the light on with his free hand.  When his newspaper slipped from his knees, I caught sight of the dark patch of pubic hair in his lap.  That terrified me.  I saw, too, his gun sitting on the edge of the sink.  I'd wondered about that gun from time to time.  In my darkest moments, I'd imagined easing it out from under my father's sleeping body and pulling the trigger.  I'd aim straight through the back of my skull so that I'd slump down over him, my blood and brains oozing all over his cold, flaccid chest.  But honestly, even in those darkest moments, the idea of anyone examining my naked corpse was enough to keep me alive.  I was that ashamed of my body.  It also concerned me that my demise would have no great impact, that I could blow my head off and people would say, That's all right. Let's get something to eat."

I Regret Everything: A Love Story; Seth Greenland

I Regret Everything: A Love Story

Seth Greenland - Europa - 2015

I Regret Everything: A Love Story by Seth Greenland, isn't a sappy story as some readers might expect. It's a beautifully written piece of literary fiction about two individuals who care deeply for one another, but the odds are stacked against them.

Jeremy Best is a 33 year old NYC estates and trusts attorney, a boring job, but one he does well and, for which his efforts will be rewarded as he is on the partner track for the law firm he works for.  He's a pretty lonely guy and his secret passion is writing poetry under the name, Jinx Bell.

Spaulding Simonson 19, is the daughter of one of the managing partners of Jeremy's law firm, Thatcher, Sturgess and Simonson She has spent time in a psych hospital, and her feuding divorced parents just don't seem to have any time for her. She longs to be q writer herself, and she knows Jeremy's Jinx Bell secret.  Initially, she tells Jeremy that at 33, he is already half-dead, but it's soon obvious that there is a mutual attraction, especially after Jeremy learns something that makes him reassess his life.

Without saying too much more about what happens, other than that the odds are against them, this is one of those wonderful surprise reads where the flawed characters just come alive on the pages. There is a lot to love about this story, so if you are the least bit intrigued, do yourself a favor and read this one.

4.5/5 stars

(library)

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Mill River Recluse; Darcie Chan

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.

The Mill River Recluse; Darcie Chan

2013- Ballantine Books

PART 1

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark.  The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. --Plato--

CHAPTER 1

As she gazed out the bay window in her bedroom, Mary McAllister knew this night would be her last.

Outside, the February darkness was suffused with light from the town of Mill River.  Thick snowflakes streamed past the bedroom window.  Only the Mill River itself, for which the small Vermont town was named, escaped the snow covering. Its unfrozen center flowed, black and snake-like, along the edge of the sleeping town."

With her left hand, Mary stroked a large Siamese cat curled next to her on the adjustable bed.  With her right, she tucked a few strands of fine white hair behind her ear.  Mary's eyes, one clear and blue, the other gray and cloudy, were fixed on the storm outside."

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