Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt
Fiction

Esther Hammerhans is a young, gentle widower trying to rent out a room in her home. When Mr. Chartwell arrives to inquire after the room, he is much different than Esther expected; a massive black talking dog. Esther learns that Mr. Chartwell has business in the area, which we soon find out is with Winston Churchill while he retires from the government after his many years of service.

For those aware of famous Churchill quotes (I was not before I started this book), Churchill called his depression a "black dog". Mr. Chartwell is exactly that to Churchill and he starts to work his charms on Esther as well.

There is light, entertaining dialogue throughout the novel to balance the serious, negative subject matter. These conversations are held between Esther's friends, characters that I would have liked to see developed a bit more as they play a pivotal role in Esther's bout with depression.

Using an actual character, one that is a dog no less, to represent depression is very unique and quite creative. I was slow on the uptake though, because it took me about 75 pages to figure out what was going on. This was partially due to the fact that I never know Churchill called his depression a "black dog", but it didn't set me off on the right foot with the book. When I finally understood what Hunt was doing, I appreciated what she was getting at but felt like I had missed out not understanding that from the start of the novel.


Buy this book

See more at HarperCollins

First Line: "Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill's mouth was pursed as if he had a slice of lemon hidden in there."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

The Three Fates of Henrik Nordmark

The Three Fates of Henrik Nordmark by Christopher Meades
Fiction/Literature

Henrik Nordmark is a bald , middle-aged security guard who is the most ordinary person alive. He has no romantic possibilities and drives people away from him by saying or doing the wrong thing. Henrik drops a plum at the grocery store one day and when the plum rolls into the street Henrik's life is saved by a tuxedo clad stranger.

Henrik decides to change his life and become unique. Henrik is targeted for assassination in a case of a mistaken photo taken of him and not the tuxedo-ed stranger. The assassins are a team of elderly men - one blind, one deaf and one mute.
They are the world's worst assassins.

Also at the grocery store that day were Roland and Bonnie whose lottery tickets were switched in the chaos. Roland is everything Henrik is not, successful, in love and charismatic. When he thinks he has won the lottery he chucks everything. Bonnie is married to Clyde and her greatest wish to kill Clyde.

All these characters cross paths several times to create a hilarious book full of comedic slapstick.

I loved this book. Every person has felt to be ordinary and invisible from time to time and this book while very funny also makes the point that each of us can be unique at times.

First Line: "Until that fateful day, Henrik Nordmark had always been an unremarkable fellow."

Rating:
(4.0/5)

The Poet by Michael Connelly

The Poet by Michael Connelly
Mystery

When Jack McEvoy, a reporter from Denver, learns that his brother committed suicide something doesn't add up. McEvoy's brother was a cop and the police blame his suicide on a case that was eating at him. McEvoy decides to write a story about his brother's death and uncovers some inconsistencies. Soon, McEvoy finds similar cases in other cities and goes to the FBI to get more information from their database of cop suicides. He manages to get pulled in to an FBI investigation after he convinces them that there's a serial killer on the loose killing cops and making it look like a suicide.

Each cop that they find to fit the pattern leaves behind a line from Edgar Allan Poe as their suicide note, which dubs the serial killer as 'The Poet'. They follow the leads from different parts of the city and soon get a suspect in sight, while McEvoy starts falling for one of the lead agents Rachel.

Though there were some aspects of this book that were plain unbelievable (do you really think the FBI would ever allow a reporter to follow their investigation and take them to their sting operations?), it was still a great book. I didn't guess the plot twist until a couple of pages before hand, which had me turning the pages quickly as I read. Connelly did a great job with this book outside of the Bosch series. I also enjoyed reading about these amazing things called digital cameras (the book was written in 1996, pre-digital camera takeoff!).

First Line: "Death is my beat."

Rating:
(4/5)

Winter Garden

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Woman's Fiction

Meredith and Nina Whitson are sisters who have grown up with a cold, disapproving mother. Each of them coped in their own way. Meredith did so by having a family, running the family's apple orchard, and becoming a super achiever. Nina coped by becoming a world famous photojournalist taking pictures in grief stricken areas of the world, constantly travelling and running away.

When their beloved father falls ill he extracts a promise from Nina that she will get her mother to tell the Russian fairy tale story that they had loved as children. But he wants Nina to get her mother to tell it through to the ending which the girls have never heard. When he dies the sisters and their mother are pulled in opposite directions, each dealing with the grief in their own way. Meredith throws herself into her work alienating her husband, Nina runs away to Africa and Anya, their mother, sits in her garden even in the winter in her nightgown and looks to be becoming more and more forgetful.

Nina finally turns toward home and starts her mother telling her and the reluctant Meredith the Russian fairy tale. A tale about a young girl and her fairy tale prince and their falling in love in Leningrad. Only it is really their mother's tale about Leningrad and the infamous siege of Leningrad.

This is such a wonderful tale. I especially enjoyed the historical fiction portion about the siege of Leningrad. The ending was such a great surprise and so up-lifting and just plain feel good. Great book!!

First Line: "On the banks of the mighty Columbia River, in this icy season when every breath became visible, the orchard called Belye Nochi was quiet."

Buy this Book
Read an excerpt from this Book
Rating:

(4.0/5)

Betrayal in Death by J.D. Robb

Betrayal in Death by J.D. Robb
Mystery

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is at a party with her husband Roarke when she's called to a scene within the hotel with one of the staff being beaten, raped, and murdered. To no one's surprise, Roarke owns the hotel. Eve's investigation leads her to a hired killer, which soon gets the FBI on her tail because they've been hunting this guy for a long time. Another murder, a distant friend of Roarke's who is also employed by him, makes the FBI want to take over the case. Eve doesn't allow that happen and suspects the murders may be personal, targeting Roarke.

As always, Eve is stubborn and persistent as she searches for the killer and comes closer than the FBI ever did. This was just like any other Eve Dallas book. You're always sucked in by the relationship between Eve and Roarke, you go along for the ride, and you usually aren't surprised by the ending. These books are still entertaining and I look forward to the next one.

First Line: "A murder was taking place."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Handle with Care

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
Fiction/Literature

Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe with their two children, Amelia and Willow, plan a very longed-for vacation to Disneyworld. They have not been on vacation in ages because Willow has OI, a disease of brittle bones. Willow has broken numerous bones in her 5 years and spent countless hours in ERs and in casts.

Willow slips on a napkin and ends up in the ER. Abuse is suspected and Amelia goes to foster care and Charlotte and Sean go to the police station. Once home Sean is so upset he consults a lawyer to find out there is nothing he can do but there is a potential lawsuit of wrongful birth.

When Charlotte was pregnant and had an initial ultrasound the brain showed up as being very clear, a possible harbinger of the disease. Instead a secondary ultrasound found the problem when it was too late to do anything. Charlotte's best friend and OB should have found the problem or at the very least monitored the situation. Charlotte and Sean are very strapped for cash to handle Willow's medical expenses.

Charlotte decides to proceed with the lawsuit. She feels that she is doing this for the best of her child. In the meantime, poor neglected Amelia starts throwing up (bulimia) and cutting.

I absolutely hated Charlotte and felt there was no redeeming qualities about the character. What mother tells her child she loves her and then turns around and says to the court she wishes she aborted her and does this just for the money. Sean is the worst kind of wimp. He doesn't agree with Charlotte and starts divorce proceedings and then turns around and comes back to her. I have not had such a negative feeling about two characters in a long time.

The story is an interesting take on What if? and is very similiar to My Sister's Keeper.

First Line: "Things break all the time."

Rating:
(4.0/5)

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol by Dan brown
Mystery

Robert Langdon is summoned to deliver a lecture in the US Capitol but instead of orating he discovers Soloman's severed hand with five symbols on it. Soloman who is a Mason has been kidnapped and Landgon is expected to solve these ancient symbols and lead the kidnapper to the holy grail of the Masons.

The Lost Symbol is a page-turning thriller much like Brown's other reads. Masonic history is covered including how famous statesmen were heavily involved in Masonic rites to the point of embarrassment and potential security risks (?) The D.C. architecture described is indeed fascinating especially how convoluted the basements of the Capitol and other building are. They harbor a myriad of rooms and tunnels.

Langdon and Soloman's sister Katherine must solve the riddles and symbols to save Peter Soloman's life while running away from the CIA.

I enjoyed this thriller but found the ending a real let-down. It just didn't live up to the angst and anguish of solving all the mysteries. The twist was great but I also felt that Katherine's work could have been more fully explained instead of continually hinted at. So the end synopsis is this is a great thriller BUT

First Line: "The secret is how to die."

Rating:
(4.0/5)

The Time In Between by David Bergen

The Time In Between by David Bergen
Fiction/Literature

Charles Boatman has carried around a secret with him about his time fighting in the Vietnam War his entire life and it has weighed heavily. During one of his missions, he shot and killed a Vietnamese boy. After reading a novel of a Vietnamese soldier, Charles decides to return to Vietnam, searching for closure. He soon goes missing and two of his children come to Vietnam to retrace his footsteps and try to find him.

Ada and Jon Boatman meet some of Charles friends. Ada grows close to Charles friends as she chases his shadow. Jon copes by delving into the gay urban nightlife. The authorities provide no help and both Ada and Jon feel like this is going to be a fruitless search.

This book won the Giller Prize and is follows the same formula that any prize winning book follows; authors trying to make themselves look smarter by using longer words, lots of similes, and being incredibly descriptive. This isn't my favourite kind of writing (if you couldn't tell). Unfortunately the past couple of Canadian books I've read I've found slow and hard to connect with the main characters. Is this a trend in Canadian literature of have I just picked up a series of wrong books?

I did enjoy the first half of the book. I felt like there was purpose and I could see where the book was going. However once the kids found their father, I didn't know how Bergen was going to make a story of the remaining 100 pages or so. That's where he lost me. Ada and Jon started behaving worse and worse and I started caring less and less. Then the book just ended. Not very fulfilling.

First Line: "The typhoon arrived that night."

Rating:
(3/5)

The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon

The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon
Historical Fiction

Emilie Seldon has been crafted by her father to be an alchemist. His goal has been to teach her everything he knows so that she can do great things as a young adult. What her father doesn't understand is that keeping her tethered to his estate and not letting her grow up as a normal kid has left her vulnerable to other's influences.

When Aislabie arrives at the Seldon estate in 1725 to inquire about the nature of fire to protect his ships, Emilie falls in lust. Her father sees Aislabie as a fraud, who just wants to use alchemy to be rich, and kicks him out of the house. Emilie can't let go as easily and continues to see Aislabie.

When Emilie's father learns that she is pregnant with Aislabie's child, he does not talk to her again and she is banished to London. Emilie has to deal with being in a large city by herself, an insolent maid, a distant husband, giving up her passion of alchemy, and her homesickness. She grows up very quickly and though eventually makes the right decisions for her.

This book has a lot of interesting hypotheses of what scientists thought about fire in the 1700s. That's not the main story here, though it provides interesting context. This is a story about Emilie becoming a woman and all the correct and incorrect choices she makes.

Each chapters was broken down in to sub-chapters which I found a bit annoying as it made the story a bit disjoint. Despite this, when I got closer to the end of the story, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know how Emilie was going to deal with her husband and the other predicaments she was in. Quite a good historical fiction novel!

First Line: "In one of my earliest memories I walk behind my father to the furnace shed."

Rating:
(4.5/5)