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.