Review: Otherwise Engaged by Suzanne Finnamore

Review by Lora (DivaBetty)

Rating:  An infinite quantity of bacon. As good as bacon itself.

Confession:  This is my favorite book of all time. I can quote long passages and snort with hilarity over them despite repetition. If I had to pick one book forever, it wouldn't be the life-affirming A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or the ambitious allegory East of Eden (both of which I adore) but this one--the snarky, bittersweet, romantic look at marrying for the first time in one's thirties. So I may be just slightly worshipful of the tome, its author (I want to have her babies), and its distinctive, biting voice. If you want unbiased, go elsewhere cuz Diva loves her some OE.

Premise:  The interior monologue of Eve, an advertising executive with a rocky relationship history, as she plans her wedding to Michael, a once-divorced commitmentphobe.

The Quote (If this doesn't hook you, trust me you won't enjoy the rest of it): 

And those Harvard researchers? The ones who claim a woman is more likely to be kidnapped by terrorists than to be married after age thirty-five? May they fall into open manholes where hard body lesbians with blowtorches await them. I am thirty-six years of age.

Backstory:  This is a thinly-veiled account of author/ad exec Suzanne Finnamore's engagement to Mark Feingold (their fertility struggle and the birth of their son are chronicled in the sequel The Zygote Chronicles, which is much more melancholy in tone). The third tome in this trifecta is called Split, the journey of their divorce. I haven't read it--I responded to the second one like a trauma victim so I'm not sure I can handle it. So if it bugs you that their relationship doesn't end with HEA ultimately, just try not to think about it.

Review:  Eve yearns for, hints for, demands a proposal from Michael ("The free introductory trial period, I tell him, is over."). Then she commences therapy to reconcile her sense of impending doom with her belief that she has "won" by getting engaged.

Some of her observations are quirky but she strikes at the heart of things.

"This ring is my one time lump-sum payment for every bad thing that has ever happened to me. I don't feel I can tell people this because they will ruin it."  She says, going on to detail her troubled relationship with her late father, a charming but selfish alcoholic, and an ex she refers to only as The Semi-Professional Basketball Player, who was an abusive addict who tried to strangle her. It ain't all hearts and flowers in Finnamore-ville, ladies. There's a darkness here and a poignance that make her wry self-awareness hit home.

Anecdotes involving her friend Jill are the most hysterical, in particular a rant in which she characterizes specific antidepressants as wizards and fairies.

We follow Eve on a business trip, wedding gown shopping, and to the deathbed of her former gym teacher/gay recovering alcoholic artist Dusty whose Southern drawl makes his dialogue even more immediate and priceless.

She shares wisdom such as, "When you are planning a wedding everything costs a thousand dollars, except the things that cost more than a thousand dollars. The band, for example. The guitarist was in Ray Charles' touring band. Ray Charles is referenced, therefore it costs one thousand dollars."

Her doubts both about her own ability to become a wife and her level of emotional damage are resonant and unflinching, and her humor makes the insight bearable, even delightful.

The depth of Eve and Michael's love is never questioned, although they both question the wisdom of marrying and fear failing at marriage. It is the truly romantic and uplifting ending that makes me choke up every time.

I love love love it.

I also need to buy a new copy because the friend I loaned it to cannot find it. It was falling apart anyway.

Enjoy, my lovelies.  As a Halloween treat.

Review: Until the Real Thing Comes Along by Elizabeth Berg

Review by DivaBetty
Rating 4 strips of bacon--good enough to read more than once but not without flaws

The Premise:  Thirtysomething Patty Murphy is an unsuccessful realtor who feels doomed to be alone forever. She isn't lonely though--she has the friendship of bestie Ethan, the handsome gay man she has loved since childhood. Her yearning for family life--a husband and a houseful of kids--leads her to decide that she wants a baby, with Ethan.

The Review:  Before you start groaning about Will & Grace, trust me this is not that sitcom.

Patty is immediately lovable, wry, and honest. She knows what she wants and takes steps to get it. She is a big-hearted character struggling toward maturity and happiness.

Her lovely and humorous observations about her dream life--grocery shopping with four kids, nap time, cooking big suppers--highlight her desire for kids realistically--she loves children and knows how hard it will be. After some bickering, Ethan assents and they make a baby. She's pregnant for most of the book so this is not a spoiler.

My problem is Ethan. When Berg "Tells" about their relationship, it's golden and bewitching to read. When she "Shows", Ethan seems exasperated with Patty's enduring love for him and is, at best, grumpy. He wants the baby for his own reasons and I think truly wishes he and Patty could have been together in different circumstances. But I'm editorializing because, until right at the end of the book, he's not all that lovable himself.

This was my gateway drug to Elizabeth Berg. Her writing is gorgeous and as the highest praise I can give her, she's truly an author of women. Her female characters are layered and behave realistically.

This book is wonderful (dh adores it, calls it The Baby Feet Book because of the cover). But be warned it is not a fluffy chick lit romp.

Interesting Factoid:  The story was optioned by Goldie Hawn in the 90's to develop into a star vehicle for her. God save us all from such a day. I cannot imagine what she would have done with this role except make it intolerably shallow with bubbliness. Ugh.

Mini Review Monday-- The Sequel

It's a mini review... by me!  Also, the move is definitely on, so my internet access will probably be spotty for a week or more.  You can try emailing me with your mini reviews, but it might be a better bet just to add them to the comments.

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

This book had a problem that seems to be common in long running series.  Stuff happens, but stuff is not the same as a plot.  There was a small story arc that started about half way through the book, so it wasn't totally plotless.  There was also a long and rather pointless info dumpy conversation between Eric and Sookie, with no pay off in this book.  It might mean something later, but in that case I'd rather have read about it in that later book.  By the time the next book rolls around I will have forgotten the details.  (I have a mind like a steel sieve, I swear.)  There were some things I liked about the book, however.  Sookie seems to be reconnecting with her roots.  She spent a lot more time with Sam in this one than she has lately, and her relationship with her brother seems to be getting back on track.  I also like how Harris uses real people as vampire characters.  She introduced a new one in this book, but I won't ruin the surprise.  The fairy problems seem to be pretty well resolved, and I'm hoping that means we'll be getting back to more vampire action soon.

In other Charlaine Harris news, I heard a rumor the other day that her Harper Connelly series, about a woman who was struck by lightning as a teen and can now sense the dead, has been optioned by CBS.  I don't see anything about it on Harris's website, so it may just be a rumor.  I'll be watching this one closely, because I really like this series, and it will be interesting to see how it makes the transition to TV.

Review: Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn

*Warning* This review may contain spoilers for the first three books in the Lady Julia Grey series.  If you haven't read them yet, and you don't want to be spoiled, don't read further.  Also, if you haven't read them yet, what are you doing here?  Go read them!  They're really good.

And now, on to the review.

I love Deanna Raybourn.  The relationship between Julia and Brisbane crackles with sexual tension in the first three Lady Julia Grey novels.  And her stand alone novel, The Dead Travel Fast, was creepy, romantic, and very entertaining.

Her latest, Dark Road to Darjeeling, is a continuation of Julia and Brisbane's story.  At the end of Silent on the Moor Julia and Brisbane resolve their romantic problems, and when we pick up in Darjeeling they are married and on their honeymoon tour.  All should be blissful in paradise, right?  Um, not so much.

Julia's sister and brother, Portia and Plum, have tracked them down in Egypt.  Portia has received a letter from her former lover, Jane, and all is not well at her new home in India.  Portia and Plum have come to collect Julia and Brisbane and find out what is going on.

But an untimely interruption is not the only fly in the ointment.  Julia and Brisbane's courtship, if you can call it that, was liberally seasoned with murder and intrigue.  After months of travel, things are getting a little, well, dull.  Brisbane has turned out to be a far more conventional a husband than Julia imagined he'd be.  He's even more resistant now to the idea of Julia joining him on his investigations than he was before they were married.  She's beginning to wonder if this was the right choice.  And worse, she's beginning to wonder if he thinks the marriage was a mistake, too.

Darjeeling is most definitely a transitional book.  The sparks between Julia and Brisbane were what kept me coming back for more in the first three books.  But the tension in a relationship changes after marriage, and that's where they are right now.  Trying to find their footing in their new relationship.  There are some classic moments between the two, but there is also more worry and sadness.  They also seemed to spend more time apart this time, with Brisbane working off screen for large parts of the book.  The ending gives me hope that they will find a better balance in their relationship, but in book four they are missing some of their sparkle.

The whole mood of this book is different from the first three.  Most of the story takes place at a tea plantation in India, which greatly affects the tone of the book.  And there are far more deaths in this book than the others.  Six in total, two occurring before Julia and her family arrive.  And the deaths in this one all seem so pointless (in a human condition kind of way, not that the author was killing off characters for no reason).  One of these deaths is particularly painful, capping off the gloomy atmosphere of the book.

There were some very interesting surprises, however.  We meet a few characters that I wasn't expecting to see again, and one new one who was really out of the blue.  I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of this character in the future, and I can't wait to see how Raybourn handles that.  (I'd love to discuss this particular character more, but my absolute loathing for spoilers forbids me from saying anything further.)  There was also a real "finally!" moment between Julia and Brisbane at the end of the book, and I can't wait to see how it impacts future books.

I give this one a B.  It may not be my favorite of the series, but it's still entertaining, and there's some can't-be-missed info for the future.  Dark Road to Darjeeling is available from Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble and many other stores.

It was hard, but I pre-ordered this one, paid for it with my own money, and then waited FOREVER for release day.

Review: More Than You Know by Beth Gutcheon

Review by DivaBetty

Rating: Five strips of bacon. Practically perfect.
Plot Summary: Elderly Hannah tells the story of her passionate, doomed romance with Conary Crocker in her youth. Hannah Grey goes to Dundee, Maine for the summer with her hateful stepmother, Edith, and half-brother Stephen. In their rented lodgings, Hannah hears weeping and begins seeing a black shrouded figure that appears only to her. The unhappy seventeen year old crosses paths with rebellious Conary who fills her in on the century-old murder that happened on nearby Beal Island. Together they uncover the true story behind the crime that led to mild-mannered schoolteacher Sallie Haskell’s conviction as an ax-murderer and discover that Conary can see the ghost as well. Forbidden to see each other by snobby Edith, the two must keep their passionate romance hidden. Thanks to the ghost and her unfinished business, however, their idyllic love is doomed to end in tragedy.
Review: Love the book. Unforgettable. Ah, let me count the ways

The Intriguing Opener: “Somebody said, ‘True Love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen.’ I have seen both and I don’t know how to tell you which is worse.”
The Narrator: Hannah’s voice is clear and rueful, so crystalline and painfully true that the scary bits with the malevolent ghost rattled me as though I were there. The narration is so excellent that I find myself wanting to quote long passages of it in the review. The prose is gorgeous and austere and Hannah is stubborn, lonely, and raw. She chops her hair off at the barber shop back when the only women with short hair were psychiatric patients, she insists that the ghost is real despite skeptical Edith’s ridicule, and she knows that Conary is a kindred soul who belongs with her despite anyone’s objections.

The Guy: Handsome, troubled Conary is the town rebel, a berry raker trying to support his younger sister and their drunken father. Sincere, passionate, and breathtaking--he throws blueberries at her window late one night, leaves messages for her in a copy of Dickens at the library--the perfect first love.

The Romance: Swoon. Honestly, I have lent this to many people from colleagues and friends to my grandma and each has remarked how incredibly romantic it is and how real and thus how excruciating at times. My husband and I read passages to each other over the phone during our courtship and quote lines of it that capture intimacy and hope like no other. Practically nothing melts my heart like him turning to look over his shoulder at me and raising an eyebrow and saying, “Do I look like a potato farmer to you?”, to which the correct response is a breathless, “Why not?” Trust me. Extremely romantic.

The Villain: is so immensely hateable that no one including my own grandmother felt that he didn’t deserve to be murdered long before he was. The principle reason I persuaded then-boyfriend to read it was because he had confided his dream of naming a son Daniel Marino after legendary Dolphins qb Dan Marino. Well, hell no to that. So I smuggled him the novel with cowardly, oppressive, cruel Danial Haskell to ruin it for him. It worked. He called me late one night and said, “Now I could never name anything Daniel this is horrible why isn’t he dead yet?” (Grins mischievously)

The Ghost: Equally hateable. Vindictive and soulless, she roams Dundee looking for ways to cause Hannah pain in an effort, presumably, to “save” her from a similar fate. I confess she scared the living daylights out of me. When she rocks in the rocking chair by Hannah’s bed, scuttles across the floor on all fours with the black hollows where her eyes should be and seems bent on driving Hannah insane, I clutched at the covers on my bed and darted unsettled glances at the shadows in the corner.

Disclaimer: It’s searing and will make you cry. Don’t get it from the library because you will feel compelled to underline passages and repeat them aloud because the writing itself is luminous.
　

The Inaugural Mini Review Monday!

It's our first ever Mini Review Monday!  Many thanks to our very first test subjects volunteers.  If you have a mini review you'd like to share with the class, please email it to us or feel free to post it in the comments.  Can't wait to see what you're reading!


And now, London Mabel!

Juliet by Anne Fortier. 

Though I wasn't a big fan of the writing, this was a nice little page turner. A romantic Da Vinci Code, via Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Likable characters, good twists, satisfying ending. Favourite part: I liked Juliet's meddling hotel concierge.

Room by Emma Donoghue

I read this almost in one sitting. A touching story about a kidnapped woman and her son--told from the latter's point of view, who has never seen the world outside the one room he was born in. An elegantly simple and creative treatment of a horrifying subject. Favourite part: Jack's step-grandfather.

London Mabel also wanted me to mention that she got Room as an advance reading copy through her job.  (Where do you work, Mabel, that you get ARCs?  And, more importantly, are they hiring?)

Next, one from one from Atomic Betty!

Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich
This is one of the Between the Numbers series, a slightly paranormal set of books featuring Stephanie Plum running around with Diesel, a guy who randomly appears in her kitchen from time to time, without needing to use the door (one of several unusual skills Diesel has).  I like this series within the series because the slight elements of paranormal, seen through Stephanie's eyes, and the interaction between Stephanie and Diesel make a good fun read.

This mini review comes from DivaBetty.  And keep an eye out tomorrow for another review from Her Divaness!

Hmm mini monday sounds like a yummy candy bar, possibly with nougat...


Anyway, I'm happily reading Lord of the Far Island by Victoria Holt. I read it in high school and remember liking it but that's been a while. I'm really enjoying it because Ellen's voice is witty and confident and it's set in nineteenth century London among the gentry. I'm not loving the names like Esmerelda, Rollo and Jago personally but I'm superpicky about names in books (don't get me started on Katniss from Hunger Games). So far my favorite part has been Ellen's smug and vindictive enjoyment from inviting her overbearing hateful aunt to visit her wealthy future in-laws the Carringtons.

Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler is the most horrifying novel I've read all year.  And it's not a horror story.  Lisabeth Lewis is anorexic and suicidal, and she's just been handed a role as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse-- Famine.

With a set up like that, you'd think this book was about the End of Days, or that it's a dark fantasy.  But most of the emphasis is on Lisa's real life, which is dark enough.  The descriptions of her experience with anorexia are heartbreaking.  The extreme exercise, the compulsive counting of calories, the symptoms she's experiencing but not connecting to her self-imposed starvation, the Thin voice constantly whispering in her head are all disturbing.  And the scene of Lisa's friend binging and purging is graphic and nauseating.

The fantasy elements of Hunger were less compelling.  We meet the other three Horsemen, and she learns a little bit from each of them.  But Lisa is mostly left on her own to figure out what her powers are and what she's supposed to be doing.  By the time she gets a handle on her powers, the fantasy part of the story was over.  Other than providing a larger than life backdrop for an examination of eating disorders and a way for Lisa, and the audience, to understand some of the problems of world hunger, the fantasy element didn't add much to the overall story. 

I was concerned that Lisa's anorexia would be "solved" by her role as Famine, but as the Thin voice said,

What did you think? the Thin voice asked.  That it would all just go away?  That you'd suddenly not be fat anymore? ... That's something out of a fairy tale.

Fairy tale, indeed.  Lisa's work at recovery happens off the page, and even at the end of the book we're shown that her struggle with anorexia isn't over.  We're left hopeful for her future, but it's clear that there is more work to be done.

Two of the supporting characters were the most entertaining part of the story.  (Which is not a slam.  Lisa's problems were gripping, but to call them entertaining would be to take them way too lightly.)  Death, as the leader of the Horsemen and a, pardon me, dead ringer for Kurt Cobain, had the most page time of the rest of the Horsemen, and I suspect he will continue to play a significant part in the series.  (The next book, Rage, is due out in April 2011.)  He was a strange mix of formal and casual, modern and antiquated, kind and frightening.  I really hope he gets a book of his own so that we can get an inside look at his own struggles.

The other really fun character was Famine's steed.  What would a Horseman be without a horse?  The steed, which Lisa names Midnight, loves pralines, although he's willing to make do with eating Mrs. Lewis's garden.  Lisa bonds with Midnight more than anyone else in the story, and we're left with the impression that it's unusual for the Horsemen to take such notice of their steeds.  Midnight defends and protects her, which is something that Lisa desperately needs in her life, as her parents are too wrapped up in their own lives and problems to pay much attention to her.

As a woman who thought she was fat as a teen (although I was a perfectly healthy weight) and is morbidly obese as an adult, Lisa's issues with food are not my own.  But it was frightening to realize as I read how many of her thought processes were familiar to me.  I would be interested to know what someone who has dealt with anorexia or bulimia thinks of their portrayal in this book.  Our attitudes about weight and food in the West are not healthy, and it's taking a toll on our mental and physical well being.  Hunger is well worth reading on its own, but it would be a particularly good choice for mothers and daughters to read together or for teen reading groups.  I give this book a B+ for the intense look at the inner life of someone dealing with anorexia.  I would also like to point out that the author is donating a portion of the proceeds to the National Eating Disorders Association.  Good for you, Ms Kessler.

Hunger was scheduled for release on October 18th, but it appears that it's already being shipped by Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble, and it's definitely available for download on the Kindle.

I received a free advance copy of Hunger through NetGalley, but this in no way affected my review.

Announcing Mini Review Monday!

I'm feverishly reading behind the scenes here at Bacon Central to prepare new reviews for you.  Yes, I know I missed Tuesday.  There were technical problems.  (Technically, I haven't finished reading the book yet.)  But I want you to participate, too.  So I've come up with an idea.  Mini Review Monday!

Mini Review Monday is simple.  All you have to do is tell us the title and author of the book you're currently reading and whether or not you like it so far.  In a nod to Sweetness, we also want to know: What's your favorite part?  (But, please, no spoilers.)  In the spirit of Universal Positive Regard, please refrain from bashing the author personally.  (I'm not too worried.  This is the Betties, after all.  But just to cover all the bases....)  "This was not the author's best work."  A-OK.  "Author X must have been smoking crack when she came up with this idea."  Um, not so much.

Email your mini reviews to booksandbacon (at) yahoo dot com, and be sure to put Mini Monday in the subject line.  I can't wait to see what everyone's reading!

And don't forget, I'm still looking for regular and guest reviewers.  So if you've got a review in you just dying to get out, let me know!

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery- a Non-Review

I picked up The Blue Castle again recently and felt the urge to write about it.  But I feel absolutely no desire to review it.  You see, reviewing something requires analysing it.  Looking at what was good and what was flawed.  This book has been magic for me since I was 11 years old, and I have no desire to look for flaws and risk killing the magic.

Our heroine, Valancy Stirling, is in a bad way at the start of the book.  It's the morning of her 29th birthday, and she's decided it's time to face the truth.  She is old and unloved, living with family who intimidate and stifle her, and the secret chest pains she's been experiencing are getting worse.  The only pleasant thing in her life are John Foster's books, which she manages to sneak by her mother.

At 11 I *so* identified with Valancy.  What teen or preteen hasn't felt ugly and unwanted, misunderstood by her family?  And I know that books, like those by L.M. Montgomery and the ones my parents always called my "trashy teen novels", were my solace and escape from that pain.  I was right there with her with the shyness and thinking that no boy would ever love me.  (At 11.  Oy.)  By the end of the first chapter I was hooked.

What Valancy discovered, and what I discovered through her, is that there can be so much more to life than your current situation.  She got a pretty major piece of news, and it inspired her to let go of her fear.  When she let go of her fear she discovered that even though she'd felt alone, there was a dear friend just waiting for her.  She found purpose in her life.  She found love, and thought it was small, she found a family, community.  It was all right there once she moved past her fear and reached for it.

"Fear is the original sin," wrote John Foster.  "Almost all the evil in the world has its origin in the fact that some one is afraid of something."

I've used this quote in much the same way Valancy did-- to find the courage to move past fear and open up my life.  There have been times when it was written on a notecard and taped to the mirror or the closet door.  Sometimes I just had to pick up the book and skim until I found it.  That quote has become an anchor for me, one of my fundamental beliefs that makes me the person that I am.

I've read it at least once a year for the last 25 years.  (I'm on my third copy.  All lovingly treated, but there's only so much use a modern paperback can take before it falls apart.)  Every time I read it, it soothes something in my soul, and every time I read it I find something new.  I've even read The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough, a version of the novel set in the mountains of Australia.  (My Blue Castle was better.)

As an adult I still relate to Valancy, although hopefully in a slightly more mature way.  I still have my moments when I feel unloved and unlovely.  I still get sucked into the story and root for her when she.. well, I'll leave that part out.  Spoilers, you know.  It can still make me cry a little bit when everything comes out right in the end.  And it still makes me want to be brave.  I'd say that's pretty darn good for a silly little novel I read when I was 11.

Review: Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick

"The things I draw: They tend to die."

There are things the people of Winter, Wisconsin, would rather forget. The year the Nazis came to town, for one. That fire, for another. But what they'd really like to forget is Christian Cage.
Seventeen-year-old Christian's parents disappeared when he was a little boy. Ever since, he's drawn obsessively: his mother's face...her eyes...and what he calls "the sideways place," where he says his parents are trapped. Christian figures if he can just see through his mother's eyes, maybe he can get there somehow and save them.
But Christian also draws other things. Ugly things. Evil things. Dark things. Things like other people's fears and nightmares. Their pasts. Their destiny.
There's one more thing the people of Winter would like to forget: murder.
But Winter won't be able to forget the truth, no matter how hard it tries. Not as long as Christian draws the dark...

Wow.  This was a fantastic read.  Mysterious and intense and creepy, this YA novel is definitely not for younger readers.

Christian is a boy who is troubled and isolated, ostracised by many in town.  But unlike many YA stories, he has the benefit of a loving and very present parental figure in his Uncle Hank.  Hank may not always understand what Christian is going through-- it would take a leap of faith that a logical, law and order type like Hank has trouble making.  But he always loves Christian and struggles with letting go and allowing him to fight his own battles, like many parents do. 

There was a little bit of bait-and-switch in the mystery, however.  The cover copy references Christian's parents, who disappeared separately when he was little.  But most of the book focuses on an unsolved murder from 1945 and other strange events that occurred at that time, and Christian's frightening, unexplained abilities.  The murder and other events are wrapped up through a combination of Christian's talent and the work of a forensics team.  The issue of his parents is raised again at the end of the book as Christian steps out into the unknown.  It's a satisfying resolution overall, and the mysteries that take up most of the book are very involving.  They just aren't the mysteries that the first few chapters suggest.

While not a religious book, religious identity plays a part.  How could it not when the history of a Nazi PW camp is discovered, and a whole Jewish community has disappeared?  Also, Christian's only friend is a PK.  (Preacher's Kid)  It was refreshing to see that both faiths are treated respectfully in the story, with no one coming off as a caricature and no one viewpoint presented as The Truth.

There was one other big thing I loved in this novel-- the descriptions of Christian when he is drawing.  As a writer I really related to how Bick described that all-consuming place you go when you create.  I'm sure that anyone who has a passion, whether it's art or music or writing code or running or a million other things, will recognize it and relate to Christian in those scenes.

I definitely recommend this book.  Engrossing and well written, the author pulls a lot of different ideas into a cohesive, entertaining story.  A-.

And just to keep everything on the up and up, I received this book as a free digital ARC through NetGalley.  No money or other goodies were offered or exchanged for this review.

Review reposted from my blog: It's All About Me.