The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Literature

Enzo is a dog like no others. He knows that when he dies he will return as a man and so hopes by watching the humans around him he will learn his lessons well. He educates himself by watching TV and listening to his master, Denny.

On the eve of his death Enzo recounts his life story. He starts off when he was picked by Denny and goes through Denny's life. The hardships Denny has faced trying to become a professional race car driver. The marriage and then loss of his wife to cancer. The ugly custody battles with his late wife's parents over his daughter Zoe. All Enzo hopes for is for Denny to have Zoe beside him when he wins the ultimate race.

Enzo draws on car racing as an analogy of life. Enzo's way of looking at life is funny, quirky and sometimes sad. One wonders if dogs really see us this way. Even though I knew Enzo was dying I cried buckets at the end. Loved, loved this story

First Line: "Gestures are all that I have; sometimes they must be grand in nature."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

The Great Stink by Clare Clark

The Great Stink by Clare Clark
Historical Mystery

Below the streets of mid-1800s London, England runs the city's sewer system. It's an endless maze of decaying brick pathways that smell horribly and are used by many to hide things, including bodies.

William May returns from the Crimean War an almost broken man. He has what is obviously post traumatic stress syndrome and the only way he can act normally around his wife and son is to go down into the sewers to cut his wrists. Eventually, May gets a job with the city to help transform the sewer system. This leads May in to some tricky scenarios from corrupt city workers that make him lose his mind and his family. Did he witness a murder in the tunnels? Or was it just his deranged mind?

I found this book to be a fairly slow read even though it was very interesting. I'm not sure if it was the structure of the book that made it slow as I was definitely engaged. I was surprised that someone would pick this subject for their book but it worked! Though there is some history in this book from the little bits of Crimean war and how the sewers were overhauled, I didn't find this as much as a historical fiction as a fictional mystery. Though I do wish the mystery had started a bit earlier in the book, there was still enough tension to keep me engaged. Definitely an interesting read.

First Line: "Where the channel snaked to the right it was no longer possible to stand upright, despite the abrupt drop in the gradient."

Rating:

(4/5)

Margarettown

Margarettown by Gabrielle Zevin
Literature

N falls madly in love with Margaret Towne while a grad student. When he goes to visit her family in Margarettown he finds several women named Margaret: May, a little girl, Mia, a sullen teenager, Marge, a cynical middle-aged woman, Greta a 50ish woman who has committed suicide and Marge, old and full of advice.

The first half of the book describes N's and Margaret's love and the struggle of N to understand all the variations of Margaret. The second half belongs to Jane their daughter reading her father's letters and version of his courtship with Margaret, their affairs and eventual 'getting back together'.

Every person does have a multitude of people that make up their whole. That is the gist of the book but I found this book just a bit too philosophical for me.

First Line: "When I first met Margaret, I lived in a basement apartment."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

It Must be Love by Rachel Gibson

It Must Be Love by Rachel Gibson
Romance

Gabrielle Breedlove (doesn't this just set the tone for the entire book?) co-owns an antiques shop with her friend Kevin, is in to aromatherapy, and believes that people have auras and karma. When Gabrielle notices at bulky man following her for a week, she takes the man down with a can of hairspray only to find out it's property crimes detective Joe Shanahan. Shanahan believes that Kevin has stolen a Monet painting and needs Gabrielle to help. Shanahan poses as her boyfriend and does some carpentry work in her store so he can keep his eye on Kevin. Typical to any romance novel, the two can't stand each other at first but desire always wins out and they fall in love.

This book is nothing more than fluff as a break from the more serious books I've been reading. It's not written all that well, though I have definitely read worse romance novels. And the fight between hate and lust started to annoy me after the first 150 pages or so. Yes, I understand you hate him but he's soooooo dreamy - insert the eye roll here. There were a couple steamy scenes near the end, which I guess, in more ways than one, is the climax of the book? HA!

First Line: "Detective Joseph Shanahan hated rain."

Rating:

(2.5/5)

Isabel's Daughter

Isabel's Daughter by Judi Hendricks
Literature

Avery James was a foundling. Brought up in institutions and foster homes she leaves at the age of 13 to find her own way. At first she stumbles upon Cassie who teaches her about herbs and healing.

She eventually finds her way to Sante Fe where she is an assistant to a caterer. Working at a wealthy art dealer's party she comes upon a painting of a woman who is her mirror image. Avery has found her mother. What follows is a search. Her mother died in a tragic accident 8 years ago. Avery initially declines wanting to know anything about her mother but she ends up wanting to know all about her. From her lover and friends, her enemies and even her isolated cabin and journal she finds out about her mother and herself.

First Line: "The first time I saw my mother was the night she died."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb
Mystery

The stakes are high in this installment of the "In Death" series. Eve Dallas is called in to what looks like an open and shut case of a jealous woman killing her lover. Then Eve gets discs of people claiming to have a political cause and threaten to blow up parts of the city if their demands are not met. Are these two cases to linked? When Dallas' aide's brother comes in to town and starts to build cabinets for the deceased's brother, Dallas doesn't like the coincidence. Then a hotel lobby blows up and Eve must focus on stopping this group.

There seemed to be much more on the line for Eve this time which made the store more gripping. The previous wars that Robb had thought up were interesting to read about. This includes an Urban War and some unimaginable terrorism events. Unfortunately, the story was ruined by horrific dialog between Zeke, Peabody's brother, and the wife B.D Branson, the deceased's brother. This part read out like a low quality romance novel and I almost had to put the book down.

First Line: "On this particular night, a beggar died unnoticed under a bench in Greenpeace Park."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Taft

Taft by Ann Patchett
Literature

John Nickel manages a bar in Memphis. He was a musician but has gotten a job to prove to his girlfriend, Marion, he can provide for her and their son, Franklin. Marion, however has moved away taking Franklin with her. John now worries that his son is not getting some paternal guidance in his life.

John hires Fay, a young white waitress who lied about her age in order to get the job. Fay has a brother Carl who is into drugs. Fay and Carl's father has recently died of a heart attack and they have come to Memphis to live with their aunt and uncle.

John finds himself consumed with the idea of Taft, Fay and Carl's father and he soon envisions scenes between the family members. In the meantime Fay becomes more and more attracted to John and Carl begins to bring his druggie friends to the bar.

This was a strange book for me with really no satisfying ending. An okay read but nothing special.

The cover is very strange with a baby being thrown in the air. Any parent would know that it is too high and frankly dangerous. Goes in the category of What were they thinking?

First Line: "A girl walked into the bar."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

The Summer Kitchen

The Summer Kitchen by Karen Weinreb
Fiction/Literature

Nora Banks has the perfect life. She is wealthy and well-liked. Her boys attend a prestigious private school and her eighteenth century house is renovated to immaculate and tasteful perfection. Nora's life is filled with volunteering, driving her boys to school and getting together with the other mothers to gossip.

When Nora opens her door before dawn one morning to find federal agents there to arrest her husband Evan for a white collar crime, she is astounded. She never expected this to happen. All the other mothers snub her. What is she to do?

Nora decides with the help of her nanny Beatriz to go back to work. She starts off by doing a midnight shift in a bakery. Soon she decides to indulge her passion and start baking her own goodies to sell.

Nora is furious with Evan to the point of being barely able to talk to him and take the boys to visit their father in jail. She feels the isolation and finds herself encouraging an affair with her lawyer. The lawyer besides helping her with the legal mess her husband has left her with is also trying to help himself to Nora's house. Nora is also dealing with a mum who is determined to run her out of town and out of business.

I loved this book. It brought back what values are really important in life. Nora finds out eventually what is really important in life: family, love and real friends. Sometimes books have a profound effect on their readers. That is what happened to me as I realized what a deep love my husband and I share. Thanks to Weinreb for making me think about my important things in life and realizing what I truly have and can cherish

First Line: "It was raspberry season in Bedford, New York."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Fiction/Literature

Edgar Sawtelle lives with his parents in Wisconsin on a farm that sells Sawtelle dogs. Between Edgar, his dad Gar, and his mom Trudy, they manage to train the pups until they are ready for placement with families. Each one of the is responsible for a different part of the process. Edgar is a mute who communicates through his own form of sign language. The only one who seems to really understand Edgar is his dog Almondine. She has been his friend since birth and is always by his side.

When Gar brings his brother Claude back to the farm after being released from jail, the dynamics change. Claude and Gar argue a lot and Edgar doesn't quite understand why. When Gar dies, it's up to Edgar to help keep the business alive and learn everything he can about his grandther's vision for the Sawtelle dogs. Claude starts moving in and taking Gar's place in the family which pushes Edgar to his limits. What results is a story of finding oneself in adversity and the journey required to get there.

This book is divided in to different sections and within each you get the perspective of different characters. I really enjoyed Almondine's perspective. She is such a wise and loyal dog and it was amazing how she understood that Edgar couldn't communicate as soon as he was brought home. These chapters seemed like some of the most important ones in the novel.

This novel was definitely a page-turner. Yet there were some passages that I didn't quite understand. At first I wasn't sure if it was because I was reading the book too quickly but I went back and re-read and still couldn't get a clear picture of things. Maybe the author left some of these items partially explained because he wanted the reader to use their imagination?

I really enjoyed this book even though I hated some of the characters and didn't feel too good about where the book was going. But that's part of what makes a book so good I guess!

First Line: "After dark the rain began to fall again, but he had already made up his mind to go and anyway it had been raining for weeks."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell
Historical Fiction

A short time in to Queen Elizabeth's reign, a stranger shows up at her door with a diary. The stranger claims to have been one of Queen Anne Boleyn's ladies in waiting during her last days as she waited in the Tower of London for her death. Elizabeth only knows what others have told her about her mother. This diary gives her a look in to her mother's most private thoughts from before her courtship with Henry, her engagement, marriage, and subsequent demise.

The book gives a great history lesson of both Anne and Elizabeth's early days. Having watched the TV show The Tudors, I already had a rough idea of the history and recognized most of the names that Anne wrote about. I think it would have been harder to pick up on who was who without this background.

The most enjoyable part of the book was how Elizabeth was affected by reading the diary. She didn't know much of her mother and seemed to learn a lot by her mother's past experiences and mistakes. Elizabeth draws on this to help her make an important decision that parallel's Anne's life.

First Line: "'God's death!' roared Elizabeth."

Rating:

(4/5)