The Mona Lisa Vanishes

 We all know about the famous painting the Mona Lisa created by Leonardo DeVinci and this new book tells us why.  Nicholas Day has written an intriguing history of the both the famous artist and his now famous painting.  

This is a book written for the Young Adult audience but very readable for an adult also.  Clearly spelled out is the time line that switches between the years 1503 when DiVinci paints the portrait in Florence, Italy, and 1911when the Mona Lisa is removed from the wall in Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

I have a few other accounts of the life of the Mona Lisa and this is a very clear definitive well outlined retelling.  Day also recounts some of the other storylines floating out there about the painting and is able to debunk them or put them in context to the truth.

Not only was the painting stolen, found and returned to the Louvre, but scientific advancements were made in forensic evidence recovery, fingerprinting and how police look for criminals based on this case.

Day has a delightful writing style that will be attractive to the Young Adult reader. The book is written in alternating chapters between the past and more current storylines. This is a fascinating topic and the story is told ina page turning style.  

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

What a fun debut novel by a new author, Eva Jurczyk.  She is a librarian writing about libraries. What could be more fun for a bibliophile ???

This is a entertaining mystery novel without a murder.  I kept waiting at the beginning for a murder but though there will be dead bodies at the requisite places in the story no one is murdered.  So a love story about libraries and their dedication and devotion to their books and how far one will go to savior the desire to hold a rare and priceless book in their hands.

This is also an interesting discussion about preserving first editions and the science of carbon dating old manuscripts to find out their real origins.  

Of course there is the plot of people's lives and how they interact.  The people who work together for years and how well they know each other or maybe don't really know each other.  The marriages, their ups and downs.  Coming back to work as an older woman about to retire, Leisel takes over the library's rare book room while her former boss, Chris is in the hospital in a coma. Leisel has many important decisions to make as a rare book goes missing.  Then a fellow employee is missing and the pressure is building from the University President and a group of major donors are waiting for the return of the missing book.

How Leisel and her fellow librarians handle the mysteries unfolding in the library keeps the reader interested in where all these problems will converge and how they will be resolved.

The Spectacular

 Fiona Davis, one of the authors I pull off the library shelf without even reading the front flap of the book, has written her newest New York historical fiction novel.  The Spectacular is another in a series of compelling novels.

Davis writes about the history of New York and this time she has focused on Radio City Music Hall.  She writes a story of the young women who try out for and become the iconic Rockettes.  So many young dancers grow up watching the Rockettes perform at Radio City dreaming of becoming one of the matching line dancers. 

Back in the 1970s I remember going into The City and watching the chorus line and their beautiful costumes and high synchronized kicks before a movie would play. The history of the Rockettes is amazing and the added to that this book tells the story of the Mad Bomber, who was setting bombs all of New York City and took the police a year to find.  The police for the first time enlisted the help of a criminologist and psychiatrist to give a psychological profile of the criminal. 

Davis brings all these elements into a suspenseful novel about Marion, a young girl from the suburbs destined to marry and have a family, who decides she wants more from life. She audtitions for the Rockettes and is surprised to be selected.  She lives in New York with other dancers and gets involved in solving the case of the "Big Apple Bomber".  

Read a entertaining novel and learn some New York City history with the Fiona Davis novel, The Spectacular

The Only Daughter

 The Only Daughter written by A.B. Yehoshua is the story of a young girl living with her parents and grandparents in Italy.  Rachele Luzzato is preparing for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah with an Israeli Rabbi who has come to Italy to teach.  She is also being asked to play the part of the “Mother of GD”  in the school’s Christmas play.  The teacher says Rachele would be perfect for the part because of her skin tone and curly hair.  Her father refuses to let her participate in the play.  

Her maternal grandparents are Catholic, though her grandmother describes herself as “a devout atheist who is nonetheless careful not to sabotage the Jewish faith of her only granddaughter.”  Her paternal grandfather survived the Holocaust masquerading as a priest.  Her father was born as the war is ending in a small Italian village, brought into the world by a Nazi sympathizing doctor, who saved the mother and baby’s lives.

Though out the novel runs a thread about the 19th-century Italian novel “Cuore” (“Heart”), by Edmondo De Amicis.  This book had special significance in Yehoshua’s life and he interweaves the stories in this book to emphasize the points he is trying to impress upon the reader.  There are so many topics in this novel to analyze and ponder.

The Prisoner and the Writer

 The Prisoner and the Writer is a slim novella that tells the story of Alfred Dreyfus and the author Emile Zola.  In simple language, author Heather Camlot, clearly explains the trial of accused Jewish French army captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was wrongly accused of spying. 

Author Emile Zola reads the newspaper and feels the conviction was unfair.  He has to make a decision that Alfred is innocent but it will be dangerous for his reputation and his career to take Dreyfus’ side.Beautifully illustrated by Sophie Casson this book tells about the two men and how their worlds intersect.

Tree. Table. Book

 Lois Lowry, the author of many books including The Giver and Number the Stars has a new book coming out for preteens.  Tree. Table. Book. is a book about friendship, trust and sharing.  A cleverly written plot brings together a young girl Sophie and her elderly neighbor, Sophie. 

They build a friendship on sharing tea and stories.  Young Sophie is very scientifically minded and does not have many friends and her neighbor Sophie is living alone, aging and showing signs of dementia.  Sophia’s son is planning to move her away to assisted living. Young Sophie wants to test Sophie’s cognitive abilities with the Merck Manual. 

Giving Sophie three words to remember and repeat back, sets Sophie off on memories from her childhood growing up in Europe at the outbreak of World War II.  This is a wonderful story written very realistically with a young narrator’s voice.  The Holocaust is written about in an understated way that is easy to read. It is a small part of the story.  The main thrust of the plot is how to treat friends with caring and acceptance. 

The Paris Novel

The Paris Novel written by Ruth Reichl is a little different many of her other publications.  The other books I have read by Reichl have been memoirs about her life, her career and her love of food. Check out the list at the bottom of this review to see all the amazing things Reichl has accomplished leading up to this novel.

In this novel we meet Stella who from childhood has always had a difficult relationship with her mother.  Now she has moved on, living in a small New York City apartment, working as an editor for a small publishing company.  When her mother dies, Stella is surprised by how upset she is.  Then she is given her only inheritance, a one way plane ticket to Paris.  This gift will take her completely out of the comfort zone she has built for herself.  But encouraged by her boss she leaves for Paris.  At the beginning she keeps a very low profile, eating in small unknown restaurants and visiting museums.  Then one day she sees a dress int he window of a second hand shop.  The owner convinces her to try it on and then follow a series of activities wearing the dress. The shopkeeper tells her something fabulous will happen while she is wearing the vintage Dior couture dress.  

That is when the real story begins, Stella meets a handsome elderly gentleman, Jules,  who opens Paris up for her.  She begins to enjoy herself and also to try and discover why her mother wanted her to travel to Paris.

As she eats in the Paris restaurants that Jules introduces her to, she realizes how much she really enjoys eating.  She finds that she can distinguish all the ingredients in a dish, she can imagine them in colors in her mind.  This is where Reichl brings in her expertise with recipes, foods and menus.  You can see that this Reichl's strongest writing skill, she brings the foods to life and you can almost taste and smell what Stella is eating in each of the restaurants.  The recipes hinted at.  

To add just a little more to make this such an entertaining novel Reichl adds some historical significance about the Dior dress, also a story about famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, and the plot twist where Stella uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery in a Manet painting.

Such a fun entertaining novel.  Enjoy the read.

Ruth Reichl, is an American chef, food writer and editor. In addition to two decades as a food critic, mainly spent at the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, Reichl has also written cookbooks, memoirs and a novel, and been co-producer of PBS's Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie, culinary editor for the Modern Library, host of PBS's Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth, and editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine

Artiface

Artiface by Sharon Cameron

Artiface is a thrilling novel that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat with their heart in their throat until the last page of the book.  From the first page until the last we are concerned about Isa de Smit’s welfare.  Isa is a young woman in Amsterdam, who before the Nazis invaded, lived a colorful,exciting life with her parents above their small art gallery. Now, her mother has died, her father seems depressed and uncommunicative and her best friend Truus has joined the secretive resistance.  The Nazis have started buying and confiscating all the artwork of the Dutch painters.  To get money for herself and her father to stay in their gallery, Isa takes a huge risk, bringing a forged copy of a Rembrandt painting her talented father has painted and selling it to the Nazis. 

Isa finds out that Truus is working to smuggle Jewish children out of Amsterdam and needs more money to save the children from the Nazi killers.  Isa runs into a young man from their childhood, when he would visit the gallery, who now wears a Nazi uniform.  He asks her for help to desert the army.  Isa decides to trust him and use him to help her negotiate one more art sale to Hitler himself.  Sometimes in both artwork and people it is not so easy to spot a fake.

Bringing into the novel real historical characters, Cameron builds the artiface, a subtle or crafty trick.   With twists and turns the reader is unsure what is real or who to trust and who is untrustworthy until the very end.  Based on the true stories of Han Van Meegeren, a master art forger who sold fakes to Hermann Goering, and Johann van Hulst who is credited with saving 600 Jewish children from death in Amsterdam. Cameron creates a realistic plot that shows how the citizens of Amsterdam helped the Jewish citizens and tried to fight against the Nazis invading their country. 

This novel is told from the point of view of the non Jewish citizens of Amsterdam.  There are clear references to the atrocities that were happening to the Jews and what could happen to those who tried to help the Jewish people, the righteous Gentiles.  This is a story of love, strength and the ability to look for the good in people under adverse circumstances.  There is no religious content in this novel.  The Jewish content is integral to the story line and makes it clear to all readers how dangerous living conditions were at that time.

Yosef Mendelevich. Leader of Soviet Jewry

 Yosef Mendelevich Leader of Soviet Jewry. a book for middle school readers by author Leah Sokol.

But this book turns out to be so much more.  I read this book to review for the Sydney Taylor book awards for young readers.  I found out there is always something new to learn even as a senior citizen reader.

I remember in the 1970 and early '80s that Soviet Jewry was all over the news. I remember wearing little metal bracelets with the names of Soviet Jews who had not been able to escape the Soviet Union for the freedom to practice Judaism in a land of their choosing.  There were Jews who had died trying to travel to Israel or the US.  There were Jewish children who could not have a B'nai Mitzvah and children here in the US would twin with them for their special day, mentioning their name during their religious service.

I remember Natan Sharansky, a name that always seemed to be in the news and was connected to Soviet Jewry, but in this book we learn about someone even more major to the world knowledge of Soviet Jewry. Yosef Mendelevich, was the part of an amazing plot to escape Russia.  He and others would commander a small plane and fly it themselves to Israel.. They bought all the seats on the plane, they hijacked the plane letting the pilots off, and they planned to fly the plane themselves.  They were caught and jailed.

Mendelevich was in various prisons for 17 years, but through the efforts of many who were publicizing the plight of Russia's treatment of Mendelevich and other the Jewish people and the protests that were happening around the world, at the end of his sentence he was released and sent to Israel. 

This book lays out the story of Yosef and his life story, but it also clearly tells the story of suppression of Judaism and freedom in the USSR. It is told in simple text that is precise, easy to understand and will keep the young reader's attention and interest until the end.  It is also a very interesting explanation of the life of Mendelevich for the adult reader.  There is a glossary at the end of any words young readers or non Jewish readers may need to help explain elements of the story.

As we live through the situation in the world today, there is so much of history that seems similar to our experience now.  Learning about for the first time or remembering the stories of the Russian Refuseniks is a reminder of  how far we have come to giving people religious freedom and how much further we still need to go.  

Swimming with Ghosts

 Swimming with Ghosts is the newest novel from author Michele Brafman.  Swimming with Ghosts is the story of family secrets.

Written in the style of a thriller, this novel starts out slowly and introduces the reader to all the

characters and building relationships. 

The action slowly builds as secrets are deftly revealed and relationships are altered.  Secrets can bring people together or they can pull families and friends apart. 

There are people who want to face adversity head on and there are people who want to

sweep trouble under the carpet and pretend it never existed. 

In the end the piles create such a lump under the carpet it is hard to walk over or around them anymore.  Gillian Cloud has made the River Run swim club her sanctuary. 

She brings her new friend Kristy Weinstein into the swim team world as they become inseparable. 

Kristy has reimagined her life by marrying the wealthy, Jewish, David Weinstein and

leaving her childhood and family behind. 

Gillian  also has secrets of her own she has left behind when she rewrote her family history.All the characters in this novel face addiction issues and childhood trauma. 

They each have to address those realities before they can heal and move forward. 

As the storm builds between the characters in this novel a derecho—a freak land hurricane, 

occurs, throwing the city into four days of darkness.

As the temperatures rise, so the tension between Gillian and Kristy and Gillian's husband Charlie .Our actions affect so many people that are a part of our lives. 

The end is an explosion of emotions and the final accounting for all the secrets

that have been building under pressure.

A well written novel that shows how confronting the secrets that seem

shameful can be liberating and open up better relationships.

The Mystery Writer

 This book is coming out soon., The Mystery Writer.... it is not as amazing as her two previous stand alone mystery novels, but I will not complain.  I love the work of Sulari Gentill... I have written about all her other books here, the Rowland Sinclair mystery series that takes place in Australia before World War II.

Then there are the stand alone mysteries where Gentill defies the accepted rules of mystery writing.  This newest novel follows the rules of mystery novels but creates a very far fetched scenerio that is complicated to follow, but sounds feasible in 2023 and our current political climate. 

This story is about a young woman who leaves law school in Australia and goes to live with her brother , a lawyer in Kansas.  When Theo quits law school, she wants to become a novelist.  Gus her brother suggests she get out of the house and write in the local coffee house.  There Theo meets another well known author who mentors her and they become fast friends.  When he turns up dead, Theo is under suspicion for his death and Gus is also being targeted.  Thus begins the race to find the real killer and get their lives back in order.  Easier said than done.  Bringing in conspiracy theorists and dooms day survivalists makes the story more surreal.

All of this can be scary in and of itself, but do not fear, Gentill has written a truly entertaining and original idea that will keep the reader engaged and trying to figure out who could possibly have committed the crimes until the very end.  Her ideas are all fresh and outside the box.

Spare

 Spare is the memoir of Prince Harry, written by Harry and I listened to the audio version which is narrated by the Prince.  The book was very controversial when it first came out and I was curious.  Thogh some people say that they have been inundated with stories of the Royal family of England in the last few years I have enjoyed watching The Crown and book was interesting.

First of all listening to the audio recording and hearing Prince Harry tell his story is an added bonus.  I love the British accent and listening to his voice throughout is a special treat.

In the end I do think he has an interesting story to tell. He is heartfelt and really it does seem to be the fashionable, glorious life we outsiders may have thought the lives of the royals would be.  Though we are only hearing the story from his perspective, it is not such an easy life being a part of the royal family and being on display all the time.  Maybe there should someone to give a different viewpoint to this story, but they have not come forward so I will believe Harry until I hear otherwise.

Mother Daughter Murder Night

 People start writing careers for any number of reasons. 

For debut author Nina Simon, the reason was to entertain her mother who was going through cancer treatments.

Mother daughter relationships can be  fraught in so many different ways.  In Mother Daughter Murder Night we explore the relationship between adult daughter Beth  and Lana, her ailing mother and aso Beth and her

teenage daughter Jack.

Lana, a tough business woman who has perfected the tough exterior to compete with men as

an executive in the world of real estate has been diagnosed with cancer. 

She joins her estranged daughter at the beach house Beth and her daughter Jack have made their home.

When Jack finds a dead body while leading a kayak group tour, she becomes a

person of interest in the investigation.  Lana finds the intrigue and metal stimulation of

trying to find the killer keeps her mind off her pain while going for chemo treatments.  

The murder investigation becomes a family affair and brings the three women together as

they start to understand each other and heal the tense relationships that had pulled them apart.

A delightful mystery and interactions between mothers and daughters will have you thinking

about your own relationships.

The Mystery Guest

 The Mystery Guest is the second in a maid novel series by Nina Prose.  Following the exploits of Molly Gray now the head maid at the Regency Grand, "a five star boutique hotel."

Once again Molly pushes her well stocked maid's trolley which she calls "a portable sanitation miracle", through the rooms as she brings them all back to clean order.  Molly knows she sees things differently and since her grandmother has passed on, she relies on her boy friend, Juan for giving her a clear perspective.

This time Molly gets involved in the murder of  J. D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, when he drops dead on the hotel's tea room floor.  In an effort to clear both her name and the name of  Lily, her new maid in training,  she steps in to assist in solving the mystery.  Molly may have more information about the case than she is letting on.  

She works once again with Detective Stark looking at and interviewing the multiple suspects.  Is it Serena the author's secretary, or Mr. Preston, her friend and the hotel's beloved doorman?  With a few misdirections Molly and Detective Stark will uncover the culprit and clean up the mess.

Hercule Poirot's Silent Night

 Hercule Poirot's Silent Night is written by Sophie Hannah.  But you would almost think it really was written by Dame Agatha Christie, herself.   The voices of Poirot and his trusty side kick Inspector Edward Catchpool are almost perfect.  Hannah has captured all of Poirot's eccentricities and his flamboyant manners.  Inspector Catchpool is a perfect foil with his reflective personality and doggedness.  Together they work well trying to get to the bottom of the mystery at hand.

This time they are summoned to thee crumbling mansion,  Frellingsloe House at Mundy-on-Sea.  This is the Laurier family house that has ben in the family for generations, but is now crumbling into the sea from erosion. The timing is fortuitous because the last patriarch of the family Arnold Laurier is dying of a terminal disease and wants to spend the last Christmas of his life in Frellingsloe House.  Then he will be moving into St Walstan’s Cottage Hospital to live out his last days.  

A murder has occurred in the room he will be occupying and Vivienne his wife is distraught that he wil be murdered also if he goes to the hospital.  Poirot and Catchpool are urged by Catchpool's mother to spend Christmas at Mundy-on-Sea and find the answer to the hospital murder and save Laurier's life. 

With any red herrings and misdirections working to confuse the reader Hannah does a powerful job of creating a entertaining mystery that creates tension and suspense as Catchpool tries to move the investigation along so that he can get home to London for Christmas and not celebrate with his mother at the country house.  

The Rye Bread Marriage; How I Found Happiness with a Partner I’ll Never Understand

 The Rye Bread Marriage is an interesting memoir written by Michaele Weissman.  This is the story of her courtship and marriage to John Melngailis.  Michaele describes him as a dashingly handsome Latvian refugee who loves rye bread.  She is an American Jewish young college student looking for adventure.  When they first meet, Michaele is not ready to get married and settle down.  Years later when John is now divorced from his first wife they meet again now ready to begin a life together.

This book tells the story of their marriage, of compromise and learning to adjust to another's behaviors and ideas.  How love if it is strong can keep a marriage together through the day to day disagreements and hurt.

Coming from different backgrounds Michaele works hard to learn about John's difficult Latvian childhood and learn to enjoy the rye bread that he is so passionate about.  They travel many times to Latvia, John returning to his childhood memories and Michaele to learn about the family he came from.  Finally they also travel to Lithuania to learn a little about her Jewish heritage.

This book shows how much we are shaped by our families and our childhood experiences.  They make us the person we are and have a strong impact on the relationships we have.  This is a very open look into the messiness of marriage, learning to tolerate and make concessions to stay in a relationship.

It is also about rye bread the difference between the original Russian bread and the American version.  It is learning to like the dense dark strong taste of a real rye bread.  The book leaves me feeling better about the messiness of my everyday life and also interesting in ordering some of the rye bread from Black Rooster Bakery, John's bakery where he has perfected the Latvian rye of his childhood.  I know my husband will love the taste, it will make him happy.  That is my goal.

The Book Thief

 The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak is an incredible story of life in Nazi Germany in 1939.

In a bold and unusual plot element the narrator of this novel is Death.  We learn the story of Liesel, a young girl being brought to Munich with her younger brother to be left with a foster family.  Her mother can no longer take care of her children and will be leaving them with a couple who will give them a better life.  On the train the brother is so sick he will not live to reach Munich and is buried along the way.

The sister Liesel experiences her first brush with death and book thievery. Left on her own, she encounters the hard life of adjusting to school, chores and living with new parents.  Her father, a painter,  is a kind man who she becomes close to.  Her mother is strict and a hard worker who washes the townspeople's clothes. 

This is a story of love, growth, and the realities of thee Holocaust. Liesel's family hides a Jewish man in thier home.  Liesel's father is against Nazism and refuses to join the party.  He is sympathetic to the Jewish people and suffers because of that. Liesel becomes the book thief in an effort to learn to read and to hold onto something that Hitler and his army are destroying.  This is a story of Nazi Germany from the point of view of a German family and their neighbors.  

This is an emotional story that still resonates today, in a troubled time.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil written by John Berendt was first published in 1994.  Interestingly I had just joined my first book group locally with a few women with small children.  We would meet late at night after the kids were asleep.  We were all sleep deprived and it was hard to read a book a month let alone understand and discuss it.

That was my excuse for not realizing that this book was supposed to be non fiction and not a novel. Though I remember not really understanding the plot at the time, it seems to have made a comeback now and is on many reading lists so when I was looking for a non fiction murder story for my group I added it to the list.

Though Berendt insists the book is non fiction he does mention that there are a few changes to the timeline to fit the facts he wants to emphasize. The story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute in Savanah Georgia.  Male prostitute, Danny Hansford was shot by his employer and possible lover, respected antiques dealer Jim Williams.  The book follows Berendt's time in Savannah before and during the murder trials, there were four trials, of Williams.  

The timeline of events is altered to add Berendt being in Georgia earlier in the sequence of events than he really was.  The book also is written to have the suspense and build up of a mystery novel.  It has been referred to as a nonfiction novel  in the press.  Berendt says he is the only fictional character in the book until he catches up with himself, meaning he adds himself to the beginning of the story when he was not there but hten later he is really a part of the timeline.

Once again I found it rambling and difficult to follow.  There is quite a big build up of getting to know the characters and the setting of Savannah and its society scene.  An interesting story that has increased the attention to Savannah and its tourist visitations.  

Fahrenheit 451

 A classic, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is also one of my banned books.  So I finally read the book for my book discussion group.  It actually is a great book, but I probably would not have appreciated it in High School so I am glad I read it now.

451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns.  That and how the book was written add to the enjoyment of the actual story in the novel.  This is a science fiction, dystopian novel that is usually not my favorite genre but this plot is incredible.

Ever since houses were built so they could not burn, the firefighters have been engaged to burn books.  They now sit in the fire house and wait for someone to discover a house hiding books.  They then go and burn the books and the house. The occupants are arrested.  it supposed to be the future, which Bradbury writing in 1953 thought would be 1994.  People are supposed to b happier if they have no stress and no individual thoughts of their own.  Everyone the same.  There are receivers in your ear with someone telling you what to do, there are large screens in walls of your home with "friends" talking to you all day.

You should not read and think individual thoughts.  When Montage a fireman starts to think on his own and question the system things go awry.  Bradbury wrote and reworked this incredible book in a few weeks on a rented typewriter in a library.  The narrative is so well written you just want to quote so many of his thoughts.  He was tremendously inciteful about how people think.  Definitely a classic and should be read by everyone.  It is also especially relevant once again in today's political environment.

Pink Lemonade Cake Murder

 I think I have read every one of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson's murder mysteries. It has been 23 years of reading these entertaining easy cozy stories with recipes mixed into the plot.  She started back in 2000 with The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder and now I have just finished this, her newest though not yet last mystery, Pink Lemonade Cake Murder.

Back in the early days it was the new idea of writing a mystery detective who was in some way also a chef or baker.  The mystery was centered around the bake shop or the catering business and included recipes either throughout the book or at the end.  I was a young mother looking for fun new things to cook and it was fun to think about trying the recipes after I had solved the murder.

But now though I give credit to Joanne Fluke for continuing the series all these years, I think the mysteries themselves are getting a little too formulaic.  There were a few other authors who have disappeared who I also loved reading at the time. But to be honest I never really made any of the recipes because so many of them included large amounts of butter and cream and sugar at a time when we were all trying to cut back on those ingredients.

This time I found the actual mystery weak and forced.  I found the characters stale and old fashioned.  I know this takes place in Minnesota but I do not think the teenagers there and their parents are quite as rigid about social norms as the book stated.  The characater who is murdered seems to be killed because he was flirting with teen girls who rode on the back of his convertible car in bikini tops through the small town.  A little too unrealistic for me.

Then there are the recipes.  Maybe it is because these days I love to binge watch The Great British Baking Show, but all the recipes include many prepackaged products.  Recipes for cakes and cookies that use Kool-Aid and Cool Whip along with boxed cake mix.  I am not even tempted to want to make these desserts.

I will probably come back for the next installment of Hannah Swenson's life when the next novel comes out, just nto see if she ever gets married and who she picks..a 23 year romance with two men, Mike a police officer and Norman the town dentist, she has been able to keep them both interested and courting her all these years.

Murder Book

 Murder Book, written by Thomas Perry, was a interesting mystery novel about ex cop, Harry Duncan who can use unoffical methods to bring criminals to justice.  His ex wife is a Senator who hires him to look into some unsavory business dealings.

He can go undercover to figure out what is happening in the small unheard of town in the midwest where business are closing and the owners are being offered deals too good to pass up and protection for a price.

He keeps a murder book with the details of all the deaths he is encountering.  He starts off thinking this will be a small job and as things progress the crimes he is uncovering are getting bigger and bigger.

He reports back to his exwife but she needs more concrete proof.  Both their lives will endangered before he can solve the entire story of corruption .

Very involved but satisfying in the end.

Prom Mom

 Prom Mom by Laura Lippman was not what I had expected when I started reading.

There seems to be a small trend with books about girls who get in trouble and it comes to a climax around the high school senior prom.

This time Amber, who is the unpopular girl in school, tutors Joe the handsome jock, who needs help in French.  He has recently broken up with his girlfriend and Amber convinces him to take her to the prom.

He is described throughout the book as such a nice guy, so he cannot say no to Amber and takes her to the prom, but of course the night goes incredibly wrong and their lives are changed forever.

Now many years later, Joe and the love of his life, his wife, Meredith are living back in the same area he grew up in.  Amber who had created a life for herself in New Orleans comes back to close up her stepfather's house.  She decides to stay.  She opens a gallery and rents an apartment.

As Joe runs into Amber accidentally at first and then slowly gets involved and starts making plans to meet her.  He also has another affair he is stuck in and cannot extricate himself from.  All the while saying that Meredith is the only woman he really loves.

The pandemic breaks out.  All their lives are affected by the restrictions and fear of contracting Covid.  This is an interesting thriller that moves at a slow pace and delivers a slightly trick ending.

It all moved a little too slowly for me.  I found myself wanting to get to the crux of the plot more quickly than the author was getting there.

Once Upon a Wardrobe

 Once Upon a Wardrobe written by Patti Callahan Henry is a historical fiction book that reinterprets the original Lion ,Witch and Wardrobe story line.

Megs is a nineteen year old big sister to her nine year brother, George who is bedridden and very sick.  He reads The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and is drawing pictures from his imagination and questioning who the book came about and if Narnia is a real place.  Megs who is a very rigid, practical thinker wants to do something special for her brother. She goes to meet C. S. Lewis, a professor at Cambridge University.  On multiple trips to his home she has tea with Jack as he known to friends and his brother Warney.  As Lewis tells her stories of his life she takes diligent notes and returns to her brother to share the stories with him.  

As the novel progresses Megs slowly changes from a pragmatic, logical person opening up to be more imaginative, and impulsive.  She becomes a storyteller and also is willing to take a few risks to make her brother happy. 

This entertaining novel has an interesting plot line that presents C.S. Lewis's story and how his life experiences influenced the novel without just telling the story linearly in his words.

Recommended reading after this book is the original The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and also maybe Becoming Mrs Lewis also by Patti Callahan Henry

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

 The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, written by C.S. Lewis is a classic and a controversial book.

I reread this book after reading the new book, Once Upon a Wardrobe.  I remember most of the story from reading many years ago as a child.  The story still holds up as a good novel.  There is a little suspense and quite a few lessons.  The plot is the story of four children who are sent away from London during World War II to live with an elderly professor in the country away from the bombings.

I do not think I realized what that meant or was about when I originally read this book.  Now the four siblings are alone in this house with just the professor and his housekeeper.  They are exploring the house when they find the wardrobe and are able to walk through the back wall into the land of Narnia.  In Narnia is it is always winter, but there is never Christmas. 

The interactions of the children with each other and then with the animals they meet in Narnia are the basis of the novel. There is the Queen who has taken over the land and is evil.  Then there is Aslan the lion who is the king who is trying to win back control and bring good to the animals and other creatures that live in Narnia.

The novel I think can be read at face value as a interesting story with lessons to learn.  There are parts that can be given religious significance but it not direct and does not alter the story if you are not interested in that aspect. 

Bessie

 Bessie written by author Linda Kass.

Bess is an interesting interpretation of the early life of Bess Meyerson, the first Jewish Miss America. using facts and historical perspective of the times this novel is well written and holds the readers attention. We learn about the Miss America pageant and we see the conflict Bess feels about entering and then about being a role model for other Jewish girls, women and the Jewish immigrants coming to this country following on the heels of the Holocaust.

Having grown up with family connections to Atlantic City, NJ and  swimming this book was interesting.  The descriptions are so well written that it brings back many memories of the boardwalk, the Steel Pier and the beach.  

The Miss America pageant has been under scrutiny for many years now and it is interesting to read that the questions about the swim suit contest and importance of beauty have been controversial since its inception.  The talent and congeniality parts of the requirements were more emphasized in earlier years.

Bess is at first reluctant to get involved but the need for the cash prize was enticing enough to overcome her reservations.  Then when she became involved the people who looked up to her and were supporting her as the first Jewish Miss America became very important to her.

This was a fun, entertaining but also important book to read.

Girl, Forgotten

 Girl, Forgotten is the follow up mystery novel to the Pieces of Her both written by author Karin Slaughter.  I did read this novel without knowing about the other novel and it was a fun exciting book.  So it can be read separately.

This is the story of Emily Vaughn , a teenager in 1982 about to graduate from high school and head to college. All that comes to an end when a night spent at a party changes the trajectory of her life and her friends. Belonging to the Clique with friends she has known since grammar school she is shocked by their behavior and response to her after the fateful party.  

Forty years after Emily’s unsolved murder, Andrea Oliver a new US Marshall arrives in Longbill Beach to protect a judge from death threats, but her personal mission is to find justice for Emily and uncover her killer.

This was a fast page turner that kept you guessing until the end .  A good mystery with many moral dilemmas to debate when you finish reading.

The Lioness

 Chris Bohjalian is a prolific writer and I have read many of his books over the years.  The Lioness is one of his newest and it was a thriller and mystery.

Written about a historic time period in Hollywood it was a entertaining story about the social hierarchy in the movie industry and the stars of the time.  But that is not the main thrust of the story.  This is a plot about intrigue, spies and corruption.  Famous movie starlet, Katie Barlow wants to travel to Africa on a safari. She invites friends along on her honeymoon with her husband David Hill.  Joining the trip to the Serengeti  include Katie’s best friend, Carmen Tedesco, and Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film “Tender Madness”.

Along with guides they set out to see giraffes and other animals in their natural surroundings.  All seems peaceful until a group of Russian mercenaries kidnap them killing the guides and taking them off in different jeeps to abandoned huts.  

This is when the reader sees the different reactions to the situation by each character.  How does one react in dangerous situations, is it the way you would expect or do some rise to the occasion and act bravely and others cowardly.  

Of course this is a mystery and the ending delivers some twists and turns to create a satisfying ending.

Moss

 Moss is a short novella by NH author Joe Pace.  

This was an interesting short story about Oscar Kendall, a professor and aspiring writer.  He grew up with his mother and never really knew his father.  His father is a famous author, Isaiah Moss.  He sent money and letter to Oscar, but never wanted to be a father.

When Moss dies he leaves his writing cabin to his son.  Oscar goes to the cabin and finds he is able to write and he also begins to find out more about his father’s life. He meets the people who were in his father’s life.  

A story of acceptance, love and loss.

Waiting for the Night Song

 Waiting for the Night Song written by NH author Julie Carrick Dalton is an engrossing novel and holding onto a childhood secret.  You may think you have come to terms with your actions and have moved on but it is always there with you …

This is the plot for this entertaining novel.  Cadie Kessler is a forestry researcher studying the effects of  forest fire prevention.  She grew up with her friend Daniela Garcia, who one summer brought to the surface many secrets that they have both tried to hide since.  Now circumstances bring the friends back together to face the oaths they made to each other and decide whether to open up about the secrets they have kept since the last summer they spent together.

Of course sometimes what you think you saw and know as a child are very different int he light of day as adults. An fast moving plot with twists and turns keeps the reader engaged as the secrets are uncovered and the misinformation exposed what you thought you knew may not always be the case.

The Limits of Limelight

 The Limits of Limelight written by Margaret Porter is a novel based  on the real life story of Helen Maurine Brown Nichols.  Helen is best remembered if known by the name Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner.

Porter brings to life the journey of Phyllis Fraser from Oklahoma to Hollywood as an aspiring movie star and onto New York as journalist, wife and mother.  She was a New York literary fixture and wife of Bennet Cerf and after his death she married former mayor Robert F. Wagner.  This book is really about her early life going to Hollywood as the cousin of Ginger Rogers.

An interesting and enjoyable novel that takes the reader back to the early days of movies and life in California with the movie stars of the big screen.  Enjoy the name dropping and stories of the stars of the day, Fred Astaire, Clare Bow, Irene Dunn and Myrna Loy among others.  Also the important players of Hollywood, Busby Berkeley and RKO studios.

A fun look back and an entertaining storyline of one woman’s life during the time period and her rise to fame.

The Last Songbird

 Debut novel The Last Songbird, by Daniel Weizmann... takes the reader on a car ride through the dark and lonely streets of Los Angeles.  Looking through the windshield from the passenger seat as the driver tries to both find the murderer of Annie Linden and also to discover who she really was.    

The story is told from the perspective of Adam Zantz, a down on his luck Hollywood wannabe.  He has tried many career paths, music critic, recording engineer but has not succeeded at any.  The latest job is as a Lfyt driver.  One night his fare is singer, songwriter, Annie Linden, a pop icon. Maybe Adam's luck is changing.  Annie contracts him as her personal “off app”, Lyft driver and offers to mentor him as he strives to become a songwriter. Her last text summons Zantz with a cryptic message for a ride, “ AZ beach house 8pm come to my arms.” Before Adam arrives to pick her up she has been murdered. 

Zantz, sleeps in the storage space of a recording company that is going out of business and picks up rides to earn a living. While he cruises he writes song lyrics in his head. His troubled mother died when he was young and he was raised by his uncle.  His sister, technically cousin, Maya, is a successful lawyer with a family.  His friend and confidante, Ephraim Freidberger, known as Double Fry, is also a lost soul.  He lives on a houseboat, which he has christened The Shechinah.  Double Fry studies Torah and is a paparazzi-style photographer for TMZ.  

Adam seems to be looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. His mother deserted him, now Annie Linden has deserted him.  He decides to pull out his dusty expired Private Investigator ID, uncover Annie’s killer, and clear his own name from the suspect list.

Riding on the soundtrack of the ninety seventies, each chapter heading is a line of song lyrics. 

The reader is along for the ride as Adam cruises the Pacific Coast Highway meeting the people in Annie Linden’s life and trying to eliminate each of them from his suspect list. As he learns the story of Annie's life, she does not turn out to be the person Adam had imagined.   Cruising through the seedy darkside of Los Angeles, Adam stumbles around discovering the truth about damaged relationships and long held family secrets.

Author Daniel Weizmann has come a long way from using his Bar Mitzvah money to start the early  L.A. punk fanzine called Rag in Chains.  With his incredible pop music knowledge he has written a terrific debut fiction mystery novel that looks like the beginning of a series.

Also reviewed on the Jewish Book Council website.

www.jewishbookcouncil.org

Our Missing Hearts

 A dystopian novel that digs at the problems of our society in a very interesting way.  Written by Celeste Ng who explores what can happen if our society goes too far down a very dark path.

Dystopian novels are not usually my cup of tea, but after finishing the novel I cannot stop thinking about it. Now I am actually going to re-read it and use it for a book discussion group about banned books.  So obviously this novel has grown on me.  

Bird is a 12 year old boy who is growing up with his father and disowning his mother.  Now he begins to question the rules he has been taught to follow since he was nine years old.  Being quiet, not standing out and pretending his mother does not exist.  His father is a meek man who also keeps his head down and has forgotten his wife in a society that is against mixed marriages and differing points of view.  Bird’s mother is a Chinese American poet who wrote what she believed and threatened the  “American culture”.  

He sets off to find his mother and make some decisions and choices of his own.  He takes the risks his father has been trying to protect him from .  It is a story of power and love.  The idea of art to create change and the legacy we want to pass onto to our children.

Murder Your Employer

 Murder Your Employer  written by the clever author, Rupert Holmes.   

Clever writing with many puns and wordplays and double entendre...

Interesting concept, but slow moving mystery about people who want to murder someone who has wronged them. They are educated in the art of murder or as the school refers to it, they become "delitists" . There are rules to being able to take a life and the students are taught how to get away with murder. If you fail you are eliminated .

This novel follows a few characters who have joined the current class of “delitists” , people who have a grudge or issue with someone they feel deserves to die for their sins.  The school teaches you how to murder the person in question without getting caught.  the methods are unusual and the person will know who is killing them and why they are dying.  The teachers and administrative staff of the this unusual school also want to make sure you are justified in your desire to murder.

So the concept was interesting and of course leads not only the protagonists in the book to think about the ethics and moral dilemmas of their actions but also the reader to think about how you feel about this idea in general and the individual cases.

Ms Demeanor

Elinor Lipman is on my list of favorite authors.   I have read all her books.  She has a funny, sarcastic, and realistic writing style.  You can laugh out loud at the antics she puts her characters through. They are the over top exaggeration of things many of us think about but never do or at least not to the level here characters go to.

This time we meet Jane, a up and coming lawyer, who meets with a fellow law clerk on the roof of her apartment building in New York City one evening for drinks.  When they are discovered on the roof in stages of undress, Jane is given a leave of absence from the law firm and sentenced to house arrest.

What looks like the end of her career and a very unpleasant six months ahead of her, becomes much more interesting when she meets a fellow convict in the building.  The antics only grow from there. 

Creating extreme escapades and taking silly behavior to the upmost limit, Lipman builds a very entertaining life for two people who cannot leave the building. Finding ways to entertain themselves within their two apartments and build their relationship is the center of the novel.  Adding in a twin sister who is there for support and the tattletale neighbor who, Jane has not heard the last of after she accuses her of indecent exposure, becomes the comedic plot that this novel revolves around.

Elinor Lipman has done it again.  A novel you become absorbed in and do want to put down until the end.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman

 Portrait of an Unknown Woman is the twenty second book int he Daniel Silva series of books with Gabriel Allon as the protagonist.  He is a spy and art restorer who in the past has worked for the Israeli intelligence.

In this book he has retired and has decided to live quietly with his family in Venice.  His wife, Chiara is working for a art restoration company and they have two young children who have been enrolled in a neighborhood elementary school.  Gabriel is planning to spend his days wandering the streets and canals disassociating himself from his past demons and finding peace.  

This of course does not last long and once again Allon finds himself in the middle of intrigue and the unlawful resale of a centuries old painting.  As he tries to find out the artist who painted this clever fake of a masterpiece, he gets caught up in a journey to the dark underworld of art market.  Working with wealthy investors who are willing to pay large amounts of money without questions to unscrupulous dealers who also ask no questions.  Those dealers sell recently uncovered unique artwork to those unknowing investors who are buying them like any other commodity to show their wealth.

Allon steps in as a art forger to follow the path of the art to the dealer to the collectors home.    Uncovering a plot and once again showing there is no one who can out smart Gabriel Allon.

The Kunstlers in Paradise

 

Cathleen Schine takes the Covid pandemic head on in her new book, Kunstlers in Paradise.

A trip down memory lane for many of us who during the early days of the Covid pandemic either spent time with family we don’t usually get to live with or possibly ended up spending time somewhere we had not expected to be for longer than was the original plan.

That is how Julian Kunstler, the twenty something grandson ends up living with his grandmother Salomea Kunstler known to family as Mamie.  Julian has suffered a severe blow when his girlfriend breaks up with him, his best friend and roommate decides to go to law school and leaves their shared apartment and the bookstore he has been working in closes its doors.

He is lost.  His parents do not want him moving back in with them. He has no career ambition or direction.

When his grandmother Mamie breaks her wrist and needs a little assistance, Julian travels from New York City to Los Angeles to help out.  He moves into Mamie’s guest house at her Venice beach bungalow.  Thinking this is a stop over while he tries to find himself, Covid changes everything.  Now he is stuck living with his 93 year old grandmother and Agatha her live-in assistant.  Though it is a wonderful way to be isolated during the pandemic, Julian feels guilty that he is not suffering as much as his parents and friends in New York. 

To pass the time Mamie starts to share stories of her life.  She reminisces about leaving what the Kunstler family will remember as paradise, their home in Vienna, until 1939, Hitler marched into the city.  The family came to America and settled in Los Angeles.  Mamie was a youngster and traveled with her mother, father and grandfather.  

The book tries to compare the horrific trauma of Mamie and her family leaving Europe and settling in America, being exiled to being unmoored during Covid.  Leaving your home and not being able to return. Feeling guilty when you survive and others do not. Mamie quotes Christopher Isherwood: “I am bitterly ashamed that I am here in safety.”

Later Julian will also quote Isherwood when he meets Sophie, a fellow dog walker who lives across the street, as he walks his grandmother’s dog. They meet daily to walk the dogs on opposite sides of the street shouting to each other to converse.  As they become friendlier, they meet on Sophie’s lawn with masks and Julian shares the stories his grandmother is telling him.

As the story develops we hear how Mamie and her family escaped Vienna and came to Venice CA. How her mother found work in Hollywood, her father a composer was not as successful and found this new country difficult to navigate. Her grandfather was her closest friend when Mamie was a child, they strolled the beach together and talked to people they met. She talks about the movie stars they knew. Julian writes it all down and thinks he may write a play based on Mamie’s story. He starts to enjoy hearing her remembrances about famous people like Greta Garbo and famous composer, Arnold Schoenberg.  Mamie goes onto to become a violinist.

In this crazy tapestry of family life, we see how a family left a life they thought was paradise until it was no longer a place of beauty, to a place that tries hard to be paradise.  We see how people can make a place a paradise when they need to find happiness during a difficult time fInding themselves and creating a happy life during hardship.

The Talk

 The Talk by Darrin Bell is one of the best graphic novels I have read.

Along with fascinating storyline, a memoir about his life and thoughts on racism and being a minority in this country, his artwork is engaging to look at and his lettering is easy to read.  His page layout also keeps the story flowing and is never difficult to follow.

Darrin Bell grows up the child of a white Jewish mother and a Black father. His mother is always super aware that she needs to protect her son from the world around them.  He is growing up in Los Angeles, Ca in the 1980s.  The Rodney King riots will not even happen until 1992, but his mother is aware of the dangers of a young black boy on the streets, being mistaken by the police.  He is never aloud to own a realistic looking water gun.  She also defends in school when teachers do  not understand him or try to stereotype him.  Though as he grows up he is hyper aware of the trouble that can befall him for no reason other than his appearance, he learns to stand up for himself.  There are examples of being pulled over by the police when he is driving a rental car and of a teacher accusing him of plagiarizing when he writes a really good paper. 

Darrin becomes a talented cartoonist and draws for the school newspaper. then becomes a editorial cartoonist and eventually wins a Pulitzer prize for his artwork.  He chronicles all the historic moments of his life from the "Black Lives Matter "movement, the deaths of so many young black men at the hands of the police to the "Twin Towers" coming down. He writes about having children of his own and how he has to decided how and when to have "The Talk" with his own young son. 

Lets hope that soon it will not be necessary for these kinds of discussions between parents and their children and that we will all find a way to live in harmony and equality here in the United States.

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall

 The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is the debut novel of Katie Lumsden.  This is a entertaining and intriguing manor house mystery novel.  

Beautifully descriptive the author takes the reader back to 1852 and the English countryside.  On a dark and stormy night Margaret Lennox, newly widowed, arrives at her new place of employment.  The large rundown and isolated country house is where Margaret will be the governess to ten year old Louis.

As Margaret tries to figure out the unusual relationship between Louis and his mother, she is hearing strange rumors in town about the house and the people who live there.  It is a lonely place until she befriends Paul the gardener. 

But all is not as it seems, secrets are being kept by everyone in the house, from the handsome gardener, Paul to the kitchen staff.  Of course Margaret is also seeing stranger figures in the dark and hearing noises coming from the closed off East Wing of the house.  

Should she investigate or keep quiet because Margaret has secrets of her own she does not want to share.  

An entertaining novel in the gothic tradition.  A manor centered mystery with twists and turns around every corridor  and down every hallway. Secrets kept behind closed doors.

The Chateau

 The Chateau written by Jaclyn Goldis is labeled as a thriller.

This novel starts out slowly as a simple story of four college friends coming together years later for a reunion.  They became close friends during their year abroad and visited Darcy's grandmother's chateau a few times during that year.  But now as they come together for a reunion requested by Darcy 's grandmother, each one finds out that even though they thought they all were close friends there are secrets that have never been revealed. Even  Lady of the Chateau, Séraphine Demargelasse has secrets she wants to share with her granddaughter and her friends.

Wonderfully descriptive as the women travel through markets and the small towns of France.  Perfect build up of each character's personality and the secret they are holding close to their chest.  Suspense builds slowly in this thriller mystery novel.  

The Mitford Affair

 The Mitford Affair is written by one of my favorite authors, Marie Benedict.   It is a historical novel about a topic and family I had never heard of before.  So that combined with the fact that it is just written to pull the reader in, the subject material is also fascinating.

The Mitford family lives in Britain in the 1920-30s. The Mitford sisters are well liked and are part of the best social circles. The oldest sister, Diane is beautiful and married to a very important and wealthy man. Then she divorces her husband and gets involved with a fascist leader.  Unity is the most quiet and plain sister, with questionable political views.  She becomes enamored of the German chancellor rising to power, Adolf Hitler.  Sister Nancy is clever and an author, who watches her sisters becoming more and more involved in the atrocities happening in Germany.  She writes a novel using her sisters and their friends in a thinly veiled call to action. 

This novel shows the power of words to hold sway over people.  Also the need for love and attention to draw people together and pull them apart.  A look at how the people were drawn in by Hitler and Mussolini.  

James and the Giant Peach

 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl is a classic, but it is also a Banned book.  So we read it for the BNC Banned book group.  

It is a cute children's story about a young boy who loves his parents but they both go away together and are killed by a runaway hippopotamus.  That is so extreme it is funny.  they a series of silly and funny things happened to James.  He is taken in by two aunts who treat him terribly.  One day he meets a small man who gives some magic green bugs which he drops under a peach tree.  It magically grows a giant peach.  Inside the peach are a number of bugs.  James joins them on an adventure. 

The book was written in a different time and there are some inappropriate words or phrases that were acceptable then but are not appropriate today.  But I think instead of banning or changing the book, it should be read and the inappropriate passages discussed.  Also there are ideas that children can read about and laugh at to make them feel more secure and safe.  Like reading about how the mean aunts are killed by the giant peach and how there is a happy ending.  So children can feel that even if things are bad sometimes there are also good outcomes and positive experiences.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murders

 Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murders is a new delightful novel written by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

Vera Wong is a sweet little Asian woman living in San Francisco's Chinatown.  Her husband has passed and her son is a very busy lawyer.  He does not listen to her motherly advice and is always too busy to answer her text messages and phone calls.  Vera Wong owns and runs the Vera Wang Famous Teahouse.  She brews just the correct tea mixture for every person and every occasion.

When a dead body is found in her tea room one morning, Vera's quiet life is turned upside down. Vera decides to take matters into her own hands and investigate the death of the young man found on her tearoom floor.

In the course of her investigation she meets four very nice young people.  They all have a connection to the victim. They all have secrets they are keeping.  Slowly Vera tries to solve the crime as she cooks her way to being friends with these young people.  The victim's wife and daughter, Julia and Emily ar in need of some loving care.  Sana and Riki are looking for love and also benefit from Vera's delicious meals. Oliver needs some love and the protection and support of a Chinese mother.

This is a funny, warm story of how lonely people find each other and support each other.  The food description make your mouth water.  Sutanto is the author of the Dial A for Auntie mystery series.  I thin k I will look those up and try reading that series also.

Come See the Fair

 Come See the Fair  by Gavriel Savit is the newest book by this wonderful author.

This time the novel is a fantasy that takes both the reader and the characters to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair .  "Come see the Fair!" is a call that 14 year old Eva Root cannot resist.  She is an orphan, who rescued from the orphanage, by Mrs. Blogget, now works for her conducting seances.  One night during a seance, the voice calls to Eva and she is the only one who hears it.  Later that night she takes all her worldly possessions with her and jumps a train to Chicago.  One the train she meets Henry, a young artist who is sketching intricate drawings of places he has never seen.  He also has been called to the fair.

Eva who has always wanted to be a part of a family is quickly enveloped in the magical world the fair and Mr Magister.  Henry becomes her best friend, something she has never had before.  Together they spend their days going through the twists and turns of the Pavilion of Magic.  There is no sense of time and it is impossible to get an understanding of the layout of the building.

Henry is given special glasses, but he is not sure if they help him to see better or if they distort his perception even more.  Eva never really had any power call up the dead but maybe she has more magic in her than she thought,  She has a peach that she can eat and then holding the pit she can bring back the delicious fruit again. 

But sometimes what we wish may not always be for the best.  Eva wants what she thinks is family and closeness.  She learns that there are compromises and you have to give as well and receive. There are people who are too controlling and only think of themselves.  

This is an entertaining novel, but also there are some difficult passages, the Chicago fire and death.  Learning to how to suffer a loss and how to stand up for one's self.  These are important lessons in this book.

A Likely Story

A Likely Story, is such a fun mystery novel written by Leigh McMullan Abramson.

Written as a coming of age story about Isabel Manning who grows up the daughter of a famous author, Ward Manning,  and her mother, Claire, the perfect society hostess.  Ward is the epitome of a selfish self  made man.  He thinks only of himself and never wants to reveal the low income family he left behind.   

Claire, who cam from a wealthy family but has put her devotion to her husband and his career before everything else.  Until she has her daughter Isabelle.  Isabelle becomes here reason for staying in the marriage and she focuses all her energy creating a wonderful life for her daughter.   Ward, who never wanted children, now finds he loves encouraging his daughter to emulate him. For Isabelle, being an author becomes her life's dream.  

When her mother dies unexpectedly,  Ward and Isabelle's lives are turned upside down.  Their worlds were dependent on Claire for success and connection.  As Isabelle struggles to write a publishable novel, Ward is struggling to write his final work.  He tries a variety of ways to find the inspiration that usually helps him write and nothing is working.    Isabelle is looking for her father's adulation and publication and neither are coming through. Though the one person who adores her, Brian tries to be there for Isabelle she cannot see how he cares and ignores him.

The novel moves through the narrative with different voices telling the story from different viewpoints, and there are secrets and unexplained tragedies that are revealed slowly as the plot unfolds.

When Isabelle finally discovers what her mother sacrificed and her father hid from her , all her relationships are changed forever.  Can Isabelle find the satisfactory fairytale ending that every good novel desires?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night

 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, by Mark Haddon.  This is the second time I am reading this book.  It definitely holds up to the test of time.  

This a wonderful story about a young boy, Christopher John Francis Boone, who is on the autism spectrum.  He is living with his father and his mother has left them.  The father led his son to believe that his mother is dead. The story opens with the boy going out at night and finding a dead dog in the neighbor's yard. 

We hear the story from the young child's point of view.  He talks in a very patterned tempo that is rhythmic and sounds like a young person on the spectrum.  He loves prime numbers.  It is an interesting cadence to the story that the author develops very well.

We follow him as he interacts with his father, who loves him, but is also suffering his own loss of his marriage.  We watch Christopher learn to interact with his neighbors and travel across London by himself, totally out of his comfort zone.  He is trying to find his mother.  He is writing a story about his adventures for his teacher at school.

We watch all the relationships unravel and then fall into place agin in a different order at the end.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the second novel, written by Jonathan Safron Foer is as unconventional as his first novel.  

Written in multiple voices, this novel examines love, loss and how to process these emotions. In alternating chapters we read the story of nine year old Oskar, who has lost his father in the World Trade Tours on 9/11.  As he tries to come to grips with the loss and the emotions he is feeling, he sets off on a journey.  He finds a key in a vase in his father's closet.  The envelope has the word Black written on it. He uses this small clue to find a person named Black who would have met his father. 

He goes through the New York phone book and lists all the people there under the name Black.  He travels around the five boroughs ringing doorbells and asking about the key and his father.  Along the way he makes friends and learns life lessons. In alternating chapters there are stories of other people who have suffered loss in other major tragedies.  Oskar's Grandmother, who writes about her husband, Oskar's Grandfather who looses his first family in Dresden, Germany.

Oskar has Asperger's syndrome and finds comfort in truth.  He is looking to keep his father close even in death.  He would say he is not emotional but he is  trying to keep a connection to his father.  He is also rational and scientific.

The Prison Minyan

 Recommended to me by a friend, The Prison Minyan, by Jonathan Stone is a very unusual novel.  

Cleverly, Stone has built a novel around the news story that Michel Cohen, President Trump's, fixer was sentenced to prison and requested being sent to Otisville Prison.  This is a real minimum security prison 75 miles outside New York City. Because of the number of Jewish white collar criminals housed here they actually offer kosher meals, religious classes and Shabbat services.

In this novel we are introduced to thee minyan attendees.  Fifteen men who have been convicted of a variety of white collar crimes.  The rabbi leads the service and then leads the men in Talmud discussion afterwards.  Rabbi Morton Meyerson, in for five years for embezzling 3.5 million from his New Jersey congregation.  Among the members are Abe Rosen, an art dealer, in for forgery of old masters, Matt Sorcher, four years for funneling a portion his clients tax refunds electronically into his own account, Manny Levinson, serving six years for bribery and graft.  The list continues as we meet all the members of the minyan and also Big Willie, who is the prison guard who watches over this group of inmates. 

Life is pleasant for these men, taking a poetry class, exercising in the yard and eating delicious meals with treats like rugelach and blintzes.  When a new celebrity prisoner is introduced to the group things begin to change.  When the new prisoner nicknamed "The Pisk" joins the group unidentified outside forces, directed by an unnamed sitting president, attempt to make Otisville ever more unpleasant place for The Pisk and his fellow prisoners.  The minyan is slowly reduced to less than ten men being able to gather together. Then the chef is transferred and the rugelach and blintzes are gone.  

The prisoners decide to take matters in to their own hands.  Using their discussions about Judaism and the poetry writing class they participate in to look into the thoughts of these criminals, we watch them first use their abilities to change the system but also think about their crimes. 

The novel presents the ideas of right and wrong, teshuvah and repentance, exploring whether they can really change, learning from their mistakes or remain the same, learning instead how to be a better criminal, not to make the same mistake again that landed them in jail.  Using Talmud and Torah to set out the lessons they should learn the plot also touches on the Holocaust and White Nationalist and Anti Semitism.  An entertaining plot with serious messages.

The Fashion Orphans

 The Fashion Orphans written by Randy Susan Meyers and M J Rose.... fabulous.

Two terrific authors have joined forces and written a very entertaining novel.  Randy Susan Meyers has written a number of interesting novels about family relationships and MJ Rose is also a prolific author writing historical novels about fashion and jewels.  Together they took the story of two half sisters who have grown apart and brings them back together after their mother dies and leaves her apartment and belongings for them to work together on distributing and clearing out.

Like so many sisters each has a very different personality with ideas and lifestyle differences.  Like so many sisters they have to find a way to connect and not argue.  Gabrielle is the first born daughter and she grew up in a in a luxury apartment on the upper east side of Manhattan.  She is a costume designer on Broadway and recently  divorced.  Lulu grew up in a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, mainly  raised by her grandparents.  She is a grieving widow now, working to make ends meet at a bakery owned by her in laws.

The two sisters come to the reading of their mother's will each hoping to divide the estate and walk away with enough money to set their lives in order and leave the other sister behind.

To their surprise they have been left a secret collection by their mother, who it seems starts talking to them from the next life through inspiring messages she has left behind in her vintage clothes and accessories.

The sisters become closer to each other and to the group of friends they never knew their mother had. These friends also help the sisters learn so much about their mother and each other.

Written in a light and entertaining style there really is a great depth to this novel, so much to think about and aa great discussion starter.

Sam

 Allegra Goodman takes this plot in a different direction for the new novel, Sam.  This novel is about family similar to her previous work, but this time the topic of religion does not play a major role. 

This is the coming of age story of Sam, a girl living in a very dysfunctional family situation and how she finds herself and makes a success of her life.  We meet Sam when she is seven, living with her mother, Courtney, a hairdresser and her half brother, Noah who is two.  They are living in Beverly, MA in a small cottage on the property of Noah.s father's parents.  When the relationship between Courtney and Jack, Noah's volatile father goes wrong, Courtney moves the children out to an apartment in town.  She takes on a second job and tries hard to impress on Sam how important success in school is for her future.

Sam's father, Mitchell, is a dreamer, making his living as a magician, juggler and poet.  He is in and out of Sam's life over the years, never able to really settle down and be successful.  He introduces Sam to wall climbing and that becomes her saving experience.  She becomes involved in rock climbing both in the indoor gym and out in the boulder filled public park, Red Rocks, in Gloucester.  The rock climbing is a beautiful way to watch Sam grow from a child lost between the cracks to a young woman who can look at the rock formation and figure out the way to use each stepping stone on her way to the top.

Though she falls off the wall aa few times in the end she finds the footholds that take her to the pinnacle.

We watch her struggle through the relationship with her mother, her father and learning about love.  her relationship with a brother who has behavior and learning issues. We are routing for Sam all the way through the book.