McNally's Folly

McNally's Folly by Lawrence Sanders
Mystery

Desdemona Darling has arrived!! She is to be the star of the Palm Beach Community Theater's production of Arsenic and Old Lace. Archy has been coerced into directing. The cast and the crew are among Palm Beach's rich and famous.

At a cast party Desmonda's husband, Richard Holmes, sips some elderberry wine and drops dead. Now real life is imitating the play. Furthermore Richard had just asked Archy to find out who was blackmailing his wife. Now Archy must find out the real murderer among a cast of murderers.

I did not enjoy this one as much as the others but I will continue the series.

First Line: "What could be nicer than holding the hand of a beautiful young lady with the lights turned low?"

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Fiction/Literature

When Jacob learns that his parents were killed in an automobile accident, he can no longer focus on finishing his final exams at Cornell to become a vet. Instead, Jacob jumps on a train wanting to escape and winds up on a travelling circus train and experiences the travelling circus live in the 1930s. Jacob soon becomes the vet for the show and learns all about how the circus operates, friendship, and love.

The story is seamlessly told between past and present, as Jacob remembers his life in the circus when the circus starts across the street from his retirement home. He talks about Marlena, his love, and his "bull" (elephant) Rosie, which is a different tale of love and is just as endearing.

As soon as I started this book I couldn't put it down. The characters and animals grabbed me and the tale of living on a train was enchanting. This is one of the better books I've read this year and I've already recommended it to people!

First Line: "Only three people were left under the red and white awning of the grease joint: Grady, me, and the fry cook."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
Non Fiction

A "stickler" for proper punctuation, Truss takes to the pages of Eats, Shoots & Leaves to give the reader a lesson. Where did the comma originate and what are its uses? Why are apostrophes so often used incorrectly by grocery stores? These questions and everything else you want to know about punctuation are answered in the book.

I had heard many good things about this book, which is why I picked it up. Yet I found that it in no way lived up to its hype. The American/British comparisons weren't as relevant because Canadians use similar spelling and grammar to the British. Instead, I found Truss to be rather preachy and the lessons to be dull. I'm sad to say that I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, though I do have a co-worker that is interested in reading regardless of my lackluster recommendation.

First Line: "Either this will ring bells for you, or it won't."

Rating:

(3/5)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Fiction/Literature

A middle-aged financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist has been sentenced to jail for slander. He is hired by Henrik Vanger, the retired CEO of a large family-owned conglomerate, to solve the mystery of his disappeared niece 40 years ago. She disappeared from the family island and now Vanger wants Blomkvist to investigate family and find out who is responsible for her death.

The girl with the dragon tattoo is Lisbeth Salander, an investigator for Dragon Armansky. She is incredibly details oriented and very very good with computers. But she is asocial and a ward of the state even though grown and her finances are controlled by a trustee.

Larsson has developed a story with a large number of characters, each with their own story. The Vanger family is immense and each had a motive to be involved in the mystery. Blomkvist is dogged in his following of a tidbit of a trail. He ends up hooking up with Salander who originally investigated him for Vanger. Blomkvist the humanist and Salnder the anti-social make a formible duo.

Larsson has written a brilliant story about women as victims and their rise above it. I will be looking for the next book in the series.

First Line: "It happened every year,was almost a ritual."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

Kafka on the Shore

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Fiction/Literature

To describe Kafka on the Shore as 'off the wall' is an understatement. The story starts with Kafka Tamura leaving home and going to the seaside village of Takamatsu. Kafka talks to a crow and reassures himself that he is the strongest 15 year old in the world. There he spends his days in self-education at a small private library. He is befriended by the clerk and a very remote head librarian. He dreams about his long-lost mother and sister.

A parallel story is about a illiterate elderly Toyko man who finds cats by talking to them. he commits a murder and decides to leave Tokyo. He is befriended by a truck driver who seems to be willing to do anything for this man.

It is absolutely surreal what happens afterwords. Fish fall from the sky, WWII soldiers never age and Colonel Sanders points the old man in the right direction.

This book would be a delight for those who love to interpret and have an intellectual read. Although the book is also a delightful straight-forward read, it is sometimes easy to get bogged down in the weirdness.

First Line: "So, you're all set for money, then?"

Rating:

(4.0/5)

The Amateur Marriage

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
Fiction /Literature

Pauline blows into Michael's Polish family grocery just after Pearl Harbor with a bloodied brow. Michael takes one look and falls deeply in love. Shortly after he goes to war but returns home with an injury probably caused by one of his unit's soldiers. What follows is marriage and three children. At first Michael and Pauline live over the shop with his mother. Once they save enough they move to the suburbs. They have a very normal and everyday kind of marriage.

Then their eldest daughter runs away from home and everything goes awry. Fights seem more intense and the lack of passion is missed.

Tyler takes the ordinary and breathes life into it. I did however at times find the story too ordinary and wished something different would happen.

First Line: "Anyone in the neighborhood could tell you how Michael and Pauline met."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
Fiction/Literature

Max Tivoli is born in the early 1900s in San Francisco with an unknown condition. Max is born an old man and ages backwards. Based on his rough calculations, be believes he will die in his 70s. He becomes friends with Hughie, who is his age and quickly accepts him for who he is. Their friendship endures for their entire lives as they seem to be the only people that understand each other.

When Max's father disappears, he and his mom have to rent out part of their house. This is when Alice Levy enters Max's life. She is his one true love and he tries to spend the rest of his live making her love him. Alice and Max meet each other three times in their lives. Since Max doesn't like to try and explain his situation, Alice doesn't always know that it's Max, as he ages backwards while she ages like we all do.

This is really a story of friendship and love. I enjoyed Hughie and Max's relationship, but I found that I couldn't quite understand Alice and why she was so afraid of Max.

I've seen the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and even though the story line isn't the same at all, the premise of the main character is the same. Oddly enough, I found that having seen this movie kind of ruined the book for me. I could only picture Brad Pitt aging backwards as Max Tivoli. It was weird.

First Line: "We are each the love of someone's life."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Gods in Alabama

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
Fiction/Literature

Arlene Fleet figures God has gone back on his promise when she answers the door to someone from her hometown asking questions. She made a deal with God not to lie, fornicate and never go home if the body wasn't found.

In the meantime, Burr her African American boyfriend wants to meet her family and it becomes a deal breaker. So Arlene, after 10 years, decides to return home.

Home is the redneck South full of racism. There is Aunt Florence, the strong matriarch of the family, holding everything and everyone together. Mama is eccentric and not quite there. Cousin Clarice is as sweet as pie.

The story is told in a series of flashbacks about the demons and secrets Arlene is trying so hard to forget.

I loved this story for the family affection portrayed and the true outpouring of love. The twist at the end was unexpected and seemed so proper.

First Line: "There are gods in Alabama: Jack Daniel's, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

High Five by Janet Evanovich

High Five by Janet Evanovich
Mystery

Stephanie Plum and the crazy cast of characters are back in the fifth book of this fun series. This time, it seems that Stephanie's uncle has disappeared, after fighting with the garbage company for a lousy $2. Since there are no big catches to make as a bail enforcer, Stephanie sets out to find where Uncle Fred has gone to, for lack of something more interesting to do. Soon she realizes that she's being followed during her investigations. Bunchy introduces himself as a bookie, but Stephanie knows better.

As with every book in this series, the banter between the character is what makes it so enjoyable. I'm starting to wonder if Stephanie and Joe are ever going to commit to each other, though I suppose there would be less teasing and frustration if this were to happen, which could detract from the book.

I recommend starting this series from book one, as you'll get a better understanding of the character's backgrounds. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

First Line: "When I was a little girl I used to dress Barbie up without underpants."

Rating:

(4/5)

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande

Complications by Atul Gawande
Non-Fiction

Dr. Gawande is a surgical resident in Boston and writes about the somewhat taboo subject of how medicine isn't an exact science. This book covers many subjects, including how doctors really are just humans, how easy it is for them to make mistakes, and when good doctors go bad. Then, Dr. Gawande supplies lots of examples from his career and others that prove these points.

Some of the points that Gawande raise are alarming, but as you read through the reasoning behind them, you can understand them. For example, how do doctors get practice on new technologies or methodologies? They have to practice somewhere and you'd be surprised how little they get before their first patient is subjected to the new procedure.

The first third of the book had me captivated. It was kind of scary, yet very interesting. I found that the middle of the book dragged a bit but that things picked up again near the end.

First Line: "I was once on trauma duty when a young man about twenty years old was rolled in, shot in the buttock."

Rating:

(4/5)