Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe

Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe

This is a slice of life in Miami – the deep underbelly of Miami, not necessarily the glitzy side we see in the media.  Mainly, the story is about Nestor Camacho, a Cuban-American cop, who always tries to do the right thing, but always manages to really, really, really annoy one cultural group or another.  Many neighborhoods are represented, all seem to be stereotypical representations in the novel, but it gives an idea of how varied the population of the greater Miami area is. 

LISTEN to this book.  It’s edgy, weird and sometimes disturbing, but always entertaining.  Lou Diamond Phillips is an amazing reader.  He pulled off Cuban, American, Haitian and Russian accents with ease.  The varied accents and tones really make the book come to life.  The music even changes depending on where in Miami the story is going to move next.  Be forewarned, it’s long: 19 discs.  I have to admit, if I wasn’t listening I probably would have given up on the story a hundred or so pages in since the point of the plot takes a long while to show itself and it read more on the surface – you didn’t get to the meat of the characters at all.  Light fare, like pop tabloids, but again entertaining on audiobook.

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

Members of the Rosati family are being gruesomely murdered.  Who would want to kill them, and why?  One detective thinks the answers lie in the past in events that occurred at the family villa over ten years before during World War II.  The Germans occupied that section of Tuscany and tried to make a stand against the Allies at the villa.  But why would the killer wait so long to exact revenge?

The story is told in three different interspersed sections: during the war at the Rosati villa, the present of 1955, and the killer’s point of view.  I felt that I should have been able to guess the identity of the killer before I did, knowing the killer’s inner thoughts, but I just didn’t put it all together.  War is awful and horrible things happen, yet not everyone seeks individualized retribution the way the killer in this novel felt was warranted.

Not one of Bohjalian’s best, but I’m not going to give up on this talented writer.  He’s not afraid to try something new and different, which I think is wonderful, but this time I don’t think it worked out very well.

Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler

Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler

Lilly, raised by wealthy parents who don’t seem to like each other much, escapes to the sea at every opportunity.  While playing at the shore one day she discovers a small creature struggling against gulls in a tidal pool.  She rescues the creature, a kraken she names Octavius, who eventually grows to the size one would imagine a sea monster would.  Through the years the two become great friends, until the day Lilly is forced to leave her home and discovers that Octavius has been captured.

This is a novel about the enduring power of friendship and how far someone is willing to go to help out a friend.  In the case of Lilly, and the hardships she endures to ensure Octavius’s release, the lengths she will go are very far indeed!  Witches, trolls, magical beings and the undead are only some of the creatures Lilly meets on her quest.  This is a very dark and unsettling faery tale realm, best journeyed to by adults.

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

Nora Eldridge had hopes and dreams, but she put them aside to pursue a practical career and care for an ailing mother.  Now her artistic side has been reawakened with the arrival of the Shahid family in her life.  Reza, a wonderful student in Nora’s third grade class is exactly what she envisions the son she is never to have would have been.  Through an incident at school she meets Reza’s mother Sirena.  Sirena is an exotic woman who pursued a career in art and is on the verge of becoming famous.  At Sirena’s urging the two women rent a studio together to work on their art.  Skandar is the intellectual father/husband Nora enjoys conversing with on long walks home from dinners with the Shahid’s.  Nora falls in love with all three and is horribly betrayed by at least one of them.

Nora is a woman alone who seems to be content and then after meeting the Shahids detests being alone.  She constantly describes herself as the woman upstairs, alone and forgotten, but not nearly as cool as the madwoman in the attic.  She is approaching a mid-life crisis and what happens throws her off the edge.  It’s a late in life coming of age story and the study of people who are hard to like, but easy to understand.

From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjon

From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjon

This is the story of the exile of Jonas Palmason to a remote island off the Icelandic coast. His story starts in 1635 but through flashbacks and flashfowards we receive an understanding of the life of this man and the trials he has endured for learning. Jonas's nickname is "The Learned" and he suffers greatly for his quest for knowledge.

Sjon is a poet and you need to chew on his words for a bit sometimes to really absorb their meaning. A short book, but by no means a quick read. He delves into religion, philosophy and psychology, all which resonant in modern times, but he never loses the time period he set his story in -- you never forget that you're in the 1600s. It is also most definitely Icelandic. The more I read about the country and the literature of the country the more intrigued and puzzled I am by life there.

Joyland by Stephen King

Joyland by Stephen King

I was in the mood for another amusement park book after reading Palisades Park and a day of strolling around Coney Island.  Joyland seemed the natural choice!

The story is told in remembrances of times gone by.  The action takes place during a summer and fall at Joyland, an independent amusement park in North Carolina.  Devin Jones leaves New England for the sandy NC shores in the summer of 1973 to be a jack of all trades.  He runs the rides, stocks the games and even wears the fur…  Yes, Devin is the best Howie the Happy Hound that season bringing joy to kids in a gigantic fur costume.

This book is not just a coming of age story; it is a murder mystery with a touch of the supernatural.  After one of Devin’s friends sees the ghost of girl murdered in the only dark ride in Joyland, the haunted house, Devin decides to stay on at the park and investigate.

In this slim book King manages to build wonderful (and unexpected characters) who will be with you after you shut the covers.  I’ll admit it.  My eyes filled with water.  I don’t usually get that caught up, but the end of this one choked me up.  The book wasn’t a tear jerker at all, it was a great mystery; it was just a poignant bittersweet scene that really got to me and also made me smile. 

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

How far would you go if you were about to be left with nothing?  Jodi has been the loyal and caring wife to Todd for over twenty years.  She keeps up their Chicago apartment, prepares thoughtful meals and ignores the many affairs he has had.  Until now.  Now Todd is threatening to leave her for another woman and leave her with nothing.  Jodi must decide what to do next.

It’s a page turner.  I have to admit that.  But there isn’t anything standout-ish about it.  It was good, I enjoyed it, but I finished it three days ago and I’m having trouble writing this blog entry.  There was a dog, I remember him, and I liked the way the ending came together, but nothing was wow.  If you want a quick thriller, it’s a good summer read!

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

Prohibition is in effect in New York City and one precinct has the dubious honor of cracking down on the local speakeasies.  Rose is a typist at that precinct, recording interrogations and confessions.  An orphan, who was given preferential treatment by the nuns because of her pleasant and trustworthy nature, she takes her work very seriously but longs for more in her life.  When Odalie, the new typist walks into the precinct, “more” suddenly enters Rose’s life.

This is the story of how much the people around you can transform who you are.  Rose starts the book as one character and we see her change into a very different person.  Odalie is a bit of a mystery – her stories are fantastic but conflicting.  Rose sees that as just another wonderful thing about her new best friend.  Rose and Odalie’s friendship is heading towards disaster, a disaster that is foreshadowed throughout the book, which makes you want to read faster and faster to see what happens next.

I put both the audiobook and print copy on hold and they came in on the same day.  So I decided to alternate between reading and listening and both were equally wonderful experiences.  Gretchen Mol reads the book and you can just picture her character from Boardwalk Empire as Odalie.  Only problem with the audio is that I can read faster than I can listen so I found myself reading every chance I could.  Knowing that something horrible was going to happen just made the story that much more compelling.

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

I am a Mary Roach fan.  Her explorations of the weird world of science always leave you knowing more about a subject than you thought you would ever want to know.  Gulp is no exception.  Starting with one end and working her way towards the other Roach talks to the unsung experts in the fields surrounding spit, vomit and poop trying to get across how amazing these processes are and how weird it is that no one really wants to talk about them.  While I am not saying that you’ll feel comfortable engaging strangers on the street about the possible alimentary reasons behind Elvis’s death (well, maybe you will…) you will have a greater appreciation for your own food tube.

I listened to this book, which was interesting and even fascinating at times.  I do not recommend listening to certain parts while preparing food.  Trust me.  I know from experience. 

A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon by Anthony Marra

A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon by Anthony Marra

This is the story of an unlikely group of people thrown together by war.  When Dokka is disappeared for the second time his friend Akhmed fears he will not return from the Landfill (which is as horrible as it sounds).  Haava, Dokka’s eight-year-old daughter, escapes when her father is taken away and Akhmed takes it upon himself to care for her.  Akhmed takes Haava to the safest place he can think of – the local hospital.  There they meet the head of surgery, Sonja, a woman who is one of only two employees in the entire hospital.  Akhmed becomes the third employee, having graduated in the bottom tenth of his medical school class he is still better than nothing.  This unlikely trio bands together and discovers friendship, or something like it, despite the circumstances.

The writing style was unique and very appealing: literary and chatty at the same time.  I found myself re-reading sentences that were beautiful, odd or thought provoking.  And the plotting was masterful.  So many instances that seem almost trivial keep looping back again and again and make the trivial of the utmost importance.

This is the first book I have read that was set in Chechnya.  While I have heard of the conflicts in the region and how brutal the war affected civilians, I never really knew the reasons behind the war.  After reading this book, I’m still not quite sure why the war was being fought.  Just like the people in this book, I was more focused on the survival of individuals then in the reasons behind what seems to me (and seemed to them to a large part as well) a long-lasting, life-changing event to live through as best they could.

A Conspiracy of Faith: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Alder-Olsen

A Conspiracy of Faith: A DepartmentQ Novel by Jussi Alder-Olsen

Carl Morck and the rest of Copenhagen’s Department Q (that would be the two other members, Assad and Rose) are intrigued by a recent find.  Police in Scotland found a plea for help in a bottle a long time ago and only recently sent it to Denmark (since the language is Danish).  Because the note is so old it’s sent to the cold case squad of Department Q.  Rose and Assad are trying their best to decipher the letter and are making great progress.  Meanwhile, the reader knows that the kidnapper, turned killer, is right now holding two more children hostage.  It is only a matter of time before the message-sender’s fate becomes that of the kidnapped children. 

I am a huge fan of the Department Q novels and was eagerly awaiting the third in the series on audiobook.  I love the accents the reader switches between – it really brings the characters to life.  I found myself bringing the discs from my car, to my house, back to my car, just so I could keep listening for every second I could.  Following the kidnapper/killer in alternating chapters with Department Q’s investigation is enough to give you heart palpitations towards the end.  Add that with the joys (sarcastically speaking) of Carl’s home life and this is a great addition to the already wonderful series.  This is a page turner (disc changer!) that will keep you hooked.

Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant

Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant

Dunant takes on one of the most infamous historical families in her latest: the Borgias.  The novel covers the time period from Rodrigo Borgia’s election as Pope Alexander VI until Lucrezia’s third marriage.  It is a time of political intrigue, murder and war in Italy, everything carefully maneuvered so the Borgia family attains and holds more and more power.

I have enjoyed all of Dunant’s novels.  She makes the past come to life and sheds light on familiar times and people in history.  We have all heard of Lucrezia Borgia, but in this novel you feel for this woman and all she if forced to endure for the good of her family.  This girl, turned woman, is a pawn of her male relatives.  If you think the Pope is the worst of the clan, wait until you get to know Lucrezia’s older brother.

This book is available soon (July 16^th) so place your holds now!