So many of us have troubled marriages. So many of us are trying to work out our differences with our spouse and try to keep our marriage together or work out an amicable divorce. but somehow this book was so hard for me to get through. I started it multiple times and could not get into it.
Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner....
But I was determined and finally came back to it and pushed my way through. I did not like any of the characters. Especially not Fleishman. He is a doctor working in a New York hospital, with a good reputation as a surgeon. he has two young children who he seems to care more about than his wife. His wife who is missing for most of the book, is a social climbing snob, who is working hard to keep up with Jones on the upper West Side of the City. She is not really a warm fuzzy parent. She is working hard at her own job to make money to keep the family living in the lifestyle she has always aspired to. She does not really seem to care if Fleishman or the children want that life. It is what she needs.
So now the marriage is estranged and she is missing and Fleishman has the children for the summer and has to balance child care and work. If that were all it was I would sympathize with him, but the author has added in this, what I think is, sick sex fantasy. He spends his time on dating websites that cater to women looking for sex, but not a longterm relationship. he is constantly looking at texts from women begging him to have sex and sending pictures of themselves. I found this very unrealistic and low. It made the women look bad and it made him look degenerate.
When his daughter gets in trouble for sending a picture of herself to a boy she is trying to attract the camp sends her home, and Fleishman is upset that she would think so unkindly about herself to do what this boy asked her to do. When his son is caught looking at porn sites on the computer Fleishman is also upset. But he never seems to see how they are doing exactly what he is doing and he sees nothing wrong with his own behavior.
The book also tells the story from the viewpoint of an old girlfriend who also has personal problems, smoking pot and drinking, when she should be appreciating the life she has with a loving husband and children. In the end we do hear the story from the viewpoint of the wife, but it may a bit too late, for any sympathy in her direction. But I will admit that once I was reading her view, I could sort of see how the marriage had fallen apart.. maybe they can repair the damage.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
An Old Man's Game : An Amos Parisman Mystery
Andy Weinberger has created the mystery detective of a retired aging Jewish P.I. in Los Angeles.
He seems like a cute little older man who is coming out of retirement to find some excitement in his otherwise boring, depressing life. He is living with his wife, who is suffering from the beginnings of dementia . He has a caretaker who is coming in during the day to help his wife, so he is looking for something to keep him busy.
When the Rabbi of the local synagogue falls over dead in his matzah ball soup at Canter's famous deli in Los Angeles, the synagogue president calls Parisman in to help get tot he bottom of the situation.
Parisman calls on his assistant, who is a former small time criminal, to cover his back. He stirs up some trouble to try and shake out the killer. Many times during the book, you are not really even sure if there was a crime, it could have just been the Rabbi died of natural causes.
But of course there will be other deaths before we get to the final conclusion and find out the whole
scenario that pulls it all together and lays out the plot that leads to murder.
The Rabbi is controversial, but the ideas that he is chanting about are not believable. It is a fun mystery to read, especially if you know Los Angeles and are Jewish. So many fun connections to relate to.
He seems like a cute little older man who is coming out of retirement to find some excitement in his otherwise boring, depressing life. He is living with his wife, who is suffering from the beginnings of dementia . He has a caretaker who is coming in during the day to help his wife, so he is looking for something to keep him busy.
When the Rabbi of the local synagogue falls over dead in his matzah ball soup at Canter's famous deli in Los Angeles, the synagogue president calls Parisman in to help get tot he bottom of the situation.
Parisman calls on his assistant, who is a former small time criminal, to cover his back. He stirs up some trouble to try and shake out the killer. Many times during the book, you are not really even sure if there was a crime, it could have just been the Rabbi died of natural causes.
But of course there will be other deaths before we get to the final conclusion and find out the whole
scenario that pulls it all together and lays out the plot that leads to murder.
The Rabbi is controversial, but the ideas that he is chanting about are not believable. It is a fun mystery to read, especially if you know Los Angeles and are Jewish. So many fun connections to relate to.
The Mousse Wonderful Time of the Year
The Mousse Wonderful Time of the Year, the newest in the Gemma's Tea Shop mystery series
by H. A. Hanna.
Again I will say that H. A. Hanna is prolific. She has a number of mystery series running at the same time. This one features, a young woman Gemma, who has left the world of high finance to come home to her hometown and open a tea shop. She runs the shop with her oldest best friend. They have someone who bakes the best scones in the area working for them. A small group of elderly ladies like to hang out in the shop in the afternoon, referred to as the Old Biddies, and they are always there to help solve the mysteries.
This is mystery takes place around the Christmas holidays so now Hanna has written the Christmas mystery that so many series have in their repertoire . This is a fun locked room mystery. meaning that everyone involved arrives at the mansion for a Christmas party. Someone is murdered and a snow storm keeps all the people involved stuck in the house and no one can come or go until the storm abates. So the murder is definitely in house. No police can get to the scene of the crime so Gemma and the Old Biddies are there to get as much information and clues before the scene is disturbed. Gemma now gets to interview all the suspects, guests.
Things reach a climax just as the storm ends and the police can get through to finish up the solving of the crime. Hanna is good at creating a clever entertaining mystery even though they are not very intricate, and they are definitely following a formula.
I look forward to her next novels.
by H. A. Hanna.
Again I will say that H. A. Hanna is prolific. She has a number of mystery series running at the same time. This one features, a young woman Gemma, who has left the world of high finance to come home to her hometown and open a tea shop. She runs the shop with her oldest best friend. They have someone who bakes the best scones in the area working for them. A small group of elderly ladies like to hang out in the shop in the afternoon, referred to as the Old Biddies, and they are always there to help solve the mysteries.
This is mystery takes place around the Christmas holidays so now Hanna has written the Christmas mystery that so many series have in their repertoire . This is a fun locked room mystery. meaning that everyone involved arrives at the mansion for a Christmas party. Someone is murdered and a snow storm keeps all the people involved stuck in the house and no one can come or go until the storm abates. So the murder is definitely in house. No police can get to the scene of the crime so Gemma and the Old Biddies are there to get as much information and clues before the scene is disturbed. Gemma now gets to interview all the suspects, guests.
Things reach a climax just as the storm ends and the police can get through to finish up the solving of the crime. Hanna is good at creating a clever entertaining mystery even though they are not very intricate, and they are definitely following a formula.
I look forward to her next novels.
Murder at the Book Club
Murder at the Book Club written by Betsy Reavley.
This is the first in a cozy mystery series.
It is entertaining but not that intriguing. There are so many characters it is hard to keep them all straight. The book very much follows the cozy formula with a set up of the book discussion group, most of the characters being introduced, then a murder, then some clues and another murder and the murder revealed and the conclusion to pull it all together. Slow and not very interesting dialog and so many sad unhappy characters.
The idea for a mystery novel about a book club is a clever idea but this book does not take full advantage of the medium to use the sources available to its full potential. You could develop the characters according to types of books they like to read. You could explore different kinds of mystery novels they could be reading and see if that makes them more likely to be the killer depending on how the victim had been murdered. So many ideas come to mind and this author did not take advantage of any of these thoughts. All the characters are sad depressed and have problems in their lives. So sad.
I did not like any of the characters and was not drawn in enough to want to try and figure out who done it. I just kept reading to see how the author would pull it together at the end. Not so convincing.
This is the first in a cozy mystery series.
It is entertaining but not that intriguing. There are so many characters it is hard to keep them all straight. The book very much follows the cozy formula with a set up of the book discussion group, most of the characters being introduced, then a murder, then some clues and another murder and the murder revealed and the conclusion to pull it all together. Slow and not very interesting dialog and so many sad unhappy characters.
The idea for a mystery novel about a book club is a clever idea but this book does not take full advantage of the medium to use the sources available to its full potential. You could develop the characters according to types of books they like to read. You could explore different kinds of mystery novels they could be reading and see if that makes them more likely to be the killer depending on how the victim had been murdered. So many ideas come to mind and this author did not take advantage of any of these thoughts. All the characters are sad depressed and have problems in their lives. So sad.
I did not like any of the characters and was not drawn in enough to want to try and figure out who done it. I just kept reading to see how the author would pull it together at the end. Not so convincing.
Saturday, December 14, 2019
AKIN
Emma Donoghue has written a novel here that touches on so many topics. There are many balls that she throws expertly int he air and keeps them all aloft until the very end. She touches on the Holocaust, and Nice, France, intersecting that with modern life in New York and contrasting the bravery of the resistance and those secreting children out from under the Nazis noses to undercover confidential informant who is working to help the police expose a drug dealer.
We are introduced to Noah Selvaggio, the grandson of a famous photographer, Pere Sonne and son of Margot Sonne. He is turning eighty years old and for his birthday he is off to Nice, France for the first time since his mother sent him, by himself, at the age of three, to America, 1944 to escape the war, to meet up with his father, Marc Selvaggio. His mother joined them three years later. Noah never learned anymore about his mother's background and now she has passed on. His sister has also died and left him some pictures he is taking with him to France to try and identify.
Days before his departure, he receives a call from a social worker who informs him that his nephew who died, estranged from the family, from a drug overdose, has left an eleven year old son, Michael Young, who needs a home at least temporarily and Noah is the closest living relative.
As Noah and Michael set off for France they will experience a few huddles to overcome in how to relate to each other and how to work together. Donoghue tries to create the tension that happens when two people who have never met and have such different backgrounds need to work together. Noah has never been a parent, and Michael is that tough inner city kid who is worldly and not necessarily good mannered and polite. He is obsessed with his cellphone and video games.
I felt some of this was unrealistic for these unlikely traveling partners. I did not find that the emotional relationship between the two was well defined. As they are traveling together, Michael is helping Noah to recreate the history that his mother may have lived through during the war in Nice. But we are never told the real story which felt unfulfilling. Also, Michael seems to figure things out without any real facts. Noah, at the same time, is realizing that you don't always know the whole story and we make assumptions based on prior knowledge that could be wrong. So as he realizes that he may have missed judged his nephew, he becomes more sympathetic to Michael. But again we never get to find out the true story, which felt frustrating.
There is a happy ending and it is nice to see that each of the characters has grown and that there is a positive outcome, that life should treat these characters well in the future. That people are strong and resilient.
We are introduced to Noah Selvaggio, the grandson of a famous photographer, Pere Sonne and son of Margot Sonne. He is turning eighty years old and for his birthday he is off to Nice, France for the first time since his mother sent him, by himself, at the age of three, to America, 1944 to escape the war, to meet up with his father, Marc Selvaggio. His mother joined them three years later. Noah never learned anymore about his mother's background and now she has passed on. His sister has also died and left him some pictures he is taking with him to France to try and identify.
Days before his departure, he receives a call from a social worker who informs him that his nephew who died, estranged from the family, from a drug overdose, has left an eleven year old son, Michael Young, who needs a home at least temporarily and Noah is the closest living relative.
As Noah and Michael set off for France they will experience a few huddles to overcome in how to relate to each other and how to work together. Donoghue tries to create the tension that happens when two people who have never met and have such different backgrounds need to work together. Noah has never been a parent, and Michael is that tough inner city kid who is worldly and not necessarily good mannered and polite. He is obsessed with his cellphone and video games.
I felt some of this was unrealistic for these unlikely traveling partners. I did not find that the emotional relationship between the two was well defined. As they are traveling together, Michael is helping Noah to recreate the history that his mother may have lived through during the war in Nice. But we are never told the real story which felt unfulfilling. Also, Michael seems to figure things out without any real facts. Noah, at the same time, is realizing that you don't always know the whole story and we make assumptions based on prior knowledge that could be wrong. So as he realizes that he may have missed judged his nephew, he becomes more sympathetic to Michael. But again we never get to find out the true story, which felt frustrating.
There is a happy ending and it is nice to see that each of the characters has grown and that there is a positive outcome, that life should treat these characters well in the future. That people are strong and resilient.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
The World That We Knew
Alice Hoffman has once again created a fascinating novel. I loved so many of her previous novels, including The Dovekeepers, The Museum of Extraordinary Things and The Marriage of Opposites. Her newest novel called The World That We Knew, is a historical novel that mixes reality and magical mysticism to build a story of love, loss and bravery during a time of hate and fear.
Though Hoffman has included Judaism in some of her other books, this time she has written indirectly about the Holocaust. She brings the reader into the room with a mother who wants to save her young daughter from the atrocities of war that she knows are coming. Lea Kohn has narrowly escaped being raped and her mother Hanni realizes that Berlin has become too dangerous to survive. Hanni does not want to leave her own mother behind so she contrives to send twelve year old Lea away.
To protect Lea she she goes to the Rabbi to create a Golem to accompany Lea as she travels to Paris and hopefully freedom. The Rabbi's daughter is convinced to create this mystical creature and also wants to send her young sister Marta along to escape. The Golem, Ava is created from mud on the banks of the river Spree. She is brought to life with the recitation of the secret name of G-d.
She is supposed to have no feelings of her own, just the desire of Lea's mother to love her like her mother would and protect her. Ava is tall, strong and confident. She learns languages — including birdsong — in minutes and can kill on Lea’s behalf.
As they travel together so many things change along the way. They relationship develops and changes. The reader more and more accepts the reality of Ava and her developing feelings for life and the world becoming more human as time goes on.
Ava represents all the parents who risk their lives and take extreme measures to save their children and protect them during the Holocaust. Using this fairy tale like soulless supernatural protector out of Jewish folklore to call attention to the harsh realities of World War II.
Though Hoffman has included Judaism in some of her other books, this time she has written indirectly about the Holocaust. She brings the reader into the room with a mother who wants to save her young daughter from the atrocities of war that she knows are coming. Lea Kohn has narrowly escaped being raped and her mother Hanni realizes that Berlin has become too dangerous to survive. Hanni does not want to leave her own mother behind so she contrives to send twelve year old Lea away.
To protect Lea she she goes to the Rabbi to create a Golem to accompany Lea as she travels to Paris and hopefully freedom. The Rabbi's daughter is convinced to create this mystical creature and also wants to send her young sister Marta along to escape. The Golem, Ava is created from mud on the banks of the river Spree. She is brought to life with the recitation of the secret name of G-d.
She is supposed to have no feelings of her own, just the desire of Lea's mother to love her like her mother would and protect her. Ava is tall, strong and confident. She learns languages — including birdsong — in minutes and can kill on Lea’s behalf.
As they travel together so many things change along the way. They relationship develops and changes. The reader more and more accepts the reality of Ava and her developing feelings for life and the world becoming more human as time goes on.
Ava represents all the parents who risk their lives and take extreme measures to save their children and protect them during the Holocaust. Using this fairy tale like soulless supernatural protector out of Jewish folklore to call attention to the harsh realities of World War II.
Monday, December 9, 2019
The Crepes of Wrath
As the snow is falling outside and winter has set in to stay for awhile, reading mystery novels that involve some delicious recipes to go along with a good crime to try and solve.
So I settled in with Tamar Myers series about Magdalena Yoder, the owner and hostess of the PennDutch Inn. But be careful when you book a room at this Bed and Breakfast, because this is the ninth in a series of murder mysteries that are happening in around this Pennsylvania Dutch Inn.
Magdalena has grown up in a Mennonite family in this Amish small town of Hernia. She inherited this house and now runs it as a B&B with her aunt Freni cooking in the kitchen.
In previous books these characters have been developed and details of their background has been elaborated on. In this book we find Mags with a full house, including a Hollywood couple and gym teacher. She tries to help her guests get the full Amish country experience, including paying extra to help clean, cook and even gather the eggs from the hens. At the same time she is trying to help solve the murder of town
Her sister, Susannah, is married to the Police Chief, Melvin Stoltzfus, who is very busy running his political campaign to get elected local councilman. So he deputizes Mags to help him discover the killer of both Lizzie Mast and then the subsequent death of Thelma Hershberger. Lizzie Mast was a friend but it is well known she was a terrible cook. But why would anyone want to kill her? Then it is even more complicated when Thelma is killed and we need to figure out how they were connected.
This just another fun cozy mystery that will keep you warm and comfortable as you read this formulaic novel and then you can eat some delicious comfort food as you eat some crepes with a variety of fillings.
Tamar Myers likes to write these simple cozy formulaic style mysteries and she has a following for this series and her other antique dealer series also. This Pennsylvanian Dutch series with recipes now has twenty one books.
More interesting might be that she is also writing a Belgian Congo mystery series, about which she has quite a bit of knowledge because she grew up there in the village of a headhunters. Her parents were missionaries and her childhood sounds incredible. I will possibly try and read one of the books in this series.
So I settled in with Tamar Myers series about Magdalena Yoder, the owner and hostess of the PennDutch Inn. But be careful when you book a room at this Bed and Breakfast, because this is the ninth in a series of murder mysteries that are happening in around this Pennsylvania Dutch Inn.
Magdalena has grown up in a Mennonite family in this Amish small town of Hernia. She inherited this house and now runs it as a B&B with her aunt Freni cooking in the kitchen.
In previous books these characters have been developed and details of their background has been elaborated on. In this book we find Mags with a full house, including a Hollywood couple and gym teacher. She tries to help her guests get the full Amish country experience, including paying extra to help clean, cook and even gather the eggs from the hens. At the same time she is trying to help solve the murder of town
Her sister, Susannah, is married to the Police Chief, Melvin Stoltzfus, who is very busy running his political campaign to get elected local councilman. So he deputizes Mags to help him discover the killer of both Lizzie Mast and then the subsequent death of Thelma Hershberger. Lizzie Mast was a friend but it is well known she was a terrible cook. But why would anyone want to kill her? Then it is even more complicated when Thelma is killed and we need to figure out how they were connected.
This just another fun cozy mystery that will keep you warm and comfortable as you read this formulaic novel and then you can eat some delicious comfort food as you eat some crepes with a variety of fillings.
Tamar Myers likes to write these simple cozy formulaic style mysteries and she has a following for this series and her other antique dealer series also. This Pennsylvanian Dutch series with recipes now has twenty one books.
More interesting might be that she is also writing a Belgian Congo mystery series, about which she has quite a bit of knowledge because she grew up there in the village of a headhunters. Her parents were missionaries and her childhood sounds incredible. I will possibly try and read one of the books in this series.
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