Blood on Snow, by Jo Nesbo - Book Review

Blood on Snow is my first foray into the world of Jo Nesbo, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. First, let me begin with the reasons I chose this book. One, the book has been on many “2015 must read” lists. Two, I’ve been focused on female-centric books lately and wanted a change of pace. And finally, Nesbo’s bio - “a musician, songwriter, and economist, as well as a writer”. Perfect.

The story is told by Olav, a “fixer”, or contract killer in the frigid Norway winter. As he tells us about himself, we think he’s perhaps a bit dim. But we find quickly that while he has dyslexia, Olav is quite clever. He tries to deceive us often with, “but what do I know” comments after explaining that he’s read a scientific journal or idealized the romance of Les Misérables. Olav fixes situations for his bosses, but he also fixes stories - both in books and his own reality to turn them into a newer, more interesting and romantic version.

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The Children's Crusade by Ann Packer - Book Review

The Children’s Crusade is a deeply thoughtful book about a California family struggling to overcome “maternal deprivation”.  Author Ann Packer slowly builds up steam in her recent novel, and she brings to life a very real household whose inhabitants could live next door.  She begins with patriarch Bill Blair as he ends his Navy service and finds a beautiful piece of undeveloped land on which to build a legacy of home and family.  A caring and thoughtful, respected pediatrician, we hear throughout the book Bill’s mantra, “children must be cared for” - a poignant consideration as he progresses through his career, marries and raises four children.

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Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith - Book Review

Glaciers is a careful and quiet book. Alexis M. Smith uses straightforward prose in an authentic voice to bring her lead character, Isabel to life in her debut novel. Isabel is a 28-year old native of Alaska, living in Portland. She works with damaged books in the library, and we get to know her as she reminisces about childhood, the appeal of objects with past lives and an intriguing man. The reader picks up with Isabel during a single day of her life.

We learn throughout Glaciers that everything has an intimate story - either real or imaged. Isabel has collected old portraits of people and places, vintage dresses and used dishes. She thoughtfully conceives the journey and lives of these objects, pondering their significance, and weaving tales around them. Isabel describes recurring dreams, visiting far off locales, and has an understanding of literature, as simple as love notes on old postcards purchased in thrift shops, and the powerful pull of escape to those imagined places and times.

With delicacy in one of the chapters, Smith places us with Isabel and the object of her affection at work, having coffee together in the morning, yet knowing little about each other and the awkward energy between them. She then guides us to their brief, but close and personal encounter. We see again how important these stories are for Isabel.

While unassuming, Glaciers has just the right amount of complexity. It’s subtle with layers that build Isabel into a young woman of depth. A finalist for two literary awards when it was first published in 2013, it’s a very short book, read in a day. I’m looking forward to Smith’s next work.

Published: 2013
Publisher: Tin House

Vickie’s rating: 4 stars

The Shadow of the Crescent Moon by Fatima Bhutto - Book Review

Fatima Bhutto’s debut novel is a thought-provoking story, taking place in a troubled region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. The Shadow of the Crescent Moon is the tale of three brothers in the dangerous city of Mir Ali. It takes place over the course of a single day, with flashbacks to the past, filling in clues over time.

Bhutto is related to the well-known Bhutto family and has herself been victim to Pakistan’s tumultuous political and religious tragedies. She writes in present-tense about a very real nation in conflict, but with fictional characters. Using the time of day instead of chapters, she writes with emotions and details unfolding over the passing hours and minutes. Recently interviewed on NPR, Bhutto describes the region she writes of as divided from the rest of the country, suffering from military and militia attacks and where “violence is ordinary”. The people of Mir Ali identify strongly with their own region and feel at odds from the rest of Pakistan, distrustful of the central government and outsiders alike. 

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"The Possibilities" By Kaui Hart Hemmings

The author of The Descendants, which became an Oscar® winning film has written The Possibilities, set in Breckenridge, Colorado.  In it, we experience the tragedy of the death of a son expressed with a mix of honesty, grief and wit. As our protagonist looses her son in an accident, we see her navigate the crooked path of moving on with life. She deals with her return to work and her changed perspective on her role as a t.v. anchor for a tourist-focused channel in Breckenridge with caustic sarcasm, realizing the frivolity of it.  She finds both solace and frustration in her relationships with her live-in father, ex, and best friend, who is experiencing her own tragedy of divorce. As her struggles continue, a stranger enters their lives - a young woman who knew her son. This opens wounds and helps to heal, and takes all of them on an emotional journey.

Kaui Hart Hemmings' lead character, Sarah narrates with brutal honesty, and we are privy to her inner voice in a way we can all relate, but often afraid to admit. She talks of the guilt a little joy can bring following her son’s death. “Guilt came from feeling hungry, for having that sensation. It came from yawing, putting on makeup, dressing nicely.”  We hear her inner thoughts about her son, best friend, father and those around her and her self-judgement as a result, cutting, lonely and sometimes funny. Sarah struggles to understand her son better through his death and brace herself for life without him.  

What I enjoyed most is the book's honesty, intelligence and humor. It appears an authentic and incisive way in which people may manage bereavement, and is filled with messy raw emotions. It’s a heartbreaking tale with a twist, delivered with quick and easy dialogue, and at times unsettling. Overall, I really recommend this book. There is however, it's a little predictable and there is one scene that is a bit hard to buy into, but I’ll forgive it that because its sense of authenticity.  

Vickie’s rating: 4 stars

"All My Puny Sorrows" By Miriam Toews

I first selected this book because of the title.  With so many to choose from, it’s probably just as good a reason as any. then there is the fact that it’s published by McSweeney’s.  If you are unfamiliar with McSweeney’s, it’s run by Dave Eggers and publishes authors with a rather quirky, unique styles.  It’s a nice departure sometimes.

It was slow going at first for me with All My Puny Sorrows (AMPS), but once I made it through the first quarter of the book I was hooked.  It’s heartbreaking, quick-paced and intelligent. The style has a cadence that takes a little getting used to.  Author Miriam Toews doesn’t use quotation marks and has dialogue flow through paragraphs - unusual, but easy enough.  It seems to suit her characters and their emotional states.

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"I Capture the Castle" By Dodie Smith

If you haven’t played bookstore roulette, I highly recommend it! The rules are simple: walk around the bookstore until you find a book that catches your eye. Don’t read the back of the book, grab it off the shelf and see what you get. This is exactly how I found this gem of a book titled I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith. The plain green cover sat on the shelf right next to my favorite author, Betty Smith, of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

 

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"The Nightingale" By Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale is a beautifully written account of WWII France - a broken family, German occupation and survival.  This is my first time reading Kristin Hannah’s work, and I was more than pleased.  From the beginning, it was difficult to put this book down.

The epic opens with this wonderful line - “In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are”.  Sisters Vianne and Isabelle have lived very different lives - one with love and comfort, the other alone and impetuous.  Each gets caught up in their own stories of survival when the Germans march in to occupy France. The book follows these sisters and their different paths in a tale that describes the women’s war, heartbreaking loss and the will to live.

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"Before We Met" By Lucie Whitehouse

This Lucie Whitehouse novel, “Before We Met” takes the reader to London and New York, through a mystery of a husband’s unknown past.  Protagonist Hannah is blissfully in love with Mark, but a missed flight home to London propels Hannah to look into the reasons behind it.  One clue uncovers another - each one more confusing than the last, until she is forced to piece together the truth.

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"City of Thieves" by David Benioff

What a surprising delight “City of Thieves” was to read. Not that I expected David Benioff’s novel to be bad, but I did not expect to enjoy it in so many ways.  This 258-page book is set in 1942 war-torn Leningrad, where the residents fear the German siege, their own forces and each other.  It’s a dangerous place for a 17-year-old boy who reluctantly finds himself with a new best friend on an impossible mission for a Soviet colonel.  

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