Friday, October 18, 2013

The Archivist by Martha Cooley

An archive – specifically a collection of T. S. Eliot’s letters – is at the heart of this novel. But it is not about what’s in the letters as much as about the fact that they were written to the ‘other woman’ in Eliot’s life. It is about the archivist, Matt, whose wife, Judith, died in a mental hospital, as did Eliot’s wife, Vivienne. It is about love and betrayal and truth and lies, and the motivations behind them.
Roberta Spire is an Eliot scholar and poet who is trying to persuade Matt to give her access to the letters even though they’re sealed until 2020. There is an immediate connection between them – not physical, really – that causes each to reveal thoughts and secrets never shared before.

There are many parallels in The Archivist. Judith and Roberta are both Jewish and poets; the troubled marriages of Matt and Judith and Eliot and Vivienne; the complexity of Eliot’s relationship with Emily Hale and Matt’s with Roberta. There is much interweaving of themes and actions that keep drawing one further in.

I found myself in sympathy with various characters at different times throughout the book and repelled by them at others. This signals to me a depth of character development that is truly masterful. I dove into this book and didn’t come up for air until its totally surprising conclusion.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

A Curious Man by Neal Thompson

Prior to reading Neal Thompson’s A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe it orNot!” Ripley, my main exposure to “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” came from the TV show of the same name that Jack Palance hosted in the eighties.  I can clearly remember Palance’s dramatic whispers of “believe it or not” after he finished discussing a bizarre fact. What had always been murky for me is who Robert Ripley was and how the “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” franchise has continued in one form or another for over ninety years.

“Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” started out as a cartoon before becoming a successful series of books, carnival sideshows, and a radio program. Late in life, Robert Ripley even had a brief run on television during its early days. At different times in his career, Ripley was earning as much as General Motors executives and movie stars. He also became a celebrity known for throwing lavish parties at his palatial estate and, despite his less than handsome looks and sometimes awkward demeanor, for having beautiful girlfriends. Ripley travelled the world for his material, but he also relied on Norbert Pearlroth, an unsung assistant who supplied much of the material for “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” Pearlroth spent most of his time at the New York Public Library searching through stacks of books for odd facts. I kept waiting for a feud to develop between the two men, but Pearlroth was apparently happy to do his research and live in obscurity. Ripley, on the other hand, would attempt publicity stunts such as trying to buy a volcano.

A Curious Man couldn’t be more entertaining. The book is well researched, the writing is stellar, and I challenge anyone to find Robert Ripley’s oversized life a bore.

 John 

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe by Mary Simses

This novel is just as sweet as the title suggests.

Ellen Bradford has a wonderful life in Manhattan. She has a great career as an attorney and has a prominent,politically connected fiance. When asked to fulfill her grandmother's dying wish to deliver a letter to her first love, Chet, Ellen travels to Beacon, Maine assuming this would be a quick trip.

Arriving in this small town where her grandmother grew up, Ellen quickly learns that things are very different here than in the big city. No fax machine or cell hone service for miles. And Chet will not be that easy to find. However, one bright spot is the beautiful scenery. Ellen is an amateur photographer and one day decides to take pictures of the water off of a pier. A pier, by the way, that has a no trespassing sign. A pier that is not all that secure. Suddenly Ellen finds herself in the water fighting a dangerous current, and realizes that she is in major trouble. That is, until a handsome stranger suddenly appears...

From then on, The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe becomes a cozy, charming novel. Yes, there are mysteries, secrets, and drama, but overall it is really the story of first love and small town living.

A very pleasant read.

Karen

Read-alike novels: Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Burial Rites: A Novel by Hannah Kent

Based on a true story, Burial Rites is the story of Agnes Magnusdottir, a woman convicted of murdering her employer and another man in Iceland in 1828. With nowhere to house her while waiting to be executed, Agnes is sent to live with a family in a small village.  At first, everyone is afraid and Agnes is completely shunned by the townspeople, except for a minister who visits to help her find her "spiritual path" before she dies. This is when we learn about Agnes's past and how this has affected what has happened in her life.

Now I know this sounds like a terribly sad book (which in a way it is) but the character of Agnes is so interesting and complex that you begin to hope that this poor woman is shown mercy. But of course, the law had a different opinion.

If you enjoy novels that read more like non-fiction and if you like books set in unique time periods and places, then this well-written tale should appeal to you.

Karen

Read-alike author: Annie Proulx

Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi

Let me put it this way - if you do not work in a library but you are a big library user (which, if you are reading this, you probably are) then you will find Love Overdue cute, charming, and sweet.

However, if you do work in a library, then you will find this book irritating, condescending, and maybe just a little cute, charming, and sweet.

Some clarifications need to be made before I continue:

Not everyone that works in a library wears their hair in a bun ( even more so for the males).
Not everyone wears sensible shoes (OK, I do. But check out my co-workers - they wear amazing styles!).
Not everyone wears glasses on the tip of their nose (OK, once again, I do. But just for reading!).
Not everyone in a library wears frumpy suits (actually, not one single person does that here).
WE DO NOT SAY SHHHHH!!! EVER!

All that aside, Love Overdue is the story of Dorothy Jarrod, who has recently moved to a small town in Kansas to (you guessed it) become the head librarian in a very small, dated library. DJ (as she likes to be called) is really excited about making a fresh start. Her whole life has been mundane, except for one small indiscretion. While on vacation on her 21st birthday, she met the "hot guy" and engaged in a few activities she would rather forget. Now jump ahead 10 years, and here she is with a whole new life ahead of her and her past behind her. Or so she thinks...

Karen

Read alike series: Library Lover's Mysteries

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Doc: a Memoir by Dwight Gooden

Long-time baseball fans (especially Cubs fans) remember Dwight "Doc" Gooden vividly.  The "19-year-old rookie phenom" (as we all called him) came up in 1984 and was shelled by the Cubs in his first appearance against them.  He vowed never to let the Cubs do that to him again and dominated them for the next two years.  We also remember that his career self destructed after the 1986 World Series championship.  Doc: a Memoir gives us the whole sordid story. (It is actually a follow-up to his 1999 memoir Heat, which recounts his early episodes of tragedy and triumph, culminating with a great 1996 season with the Yankees.) It begins with the World Series victory parade the morning after--a parade Gooden missed because he was hung over from his own cocaine and vodka-fueled all-night celebration.  That episode sets the tone of the book.  The reader cringes at the disasters unfolding on the page but, much like a car crash, simply can't avert his eyes and stop turning the pages.  Although Gooden has loving and supportive parents (his dad taught him everything Dwight knows about baseball) he basically had a dysfunctional extended family.  When he was five years old he witnessed the near shooting death  of his older sister by her husband in their own home, and that trauma was certainly a factor in his dug and alcohol abuse years later.  Dwight has been in and out of rehab, has been arrested several times, and even spent a year in jail.  None of that motivated him to stay clean.  He recounts an episode where a Gospel song moved his heart and caused him to accept the invitation to appear on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2011.  He took the show seriously and credits the doctors and counselors for keeping him clean.  As of this writing, however, TMZ reports that his estranged wife (the couple is in divorce proceedings) obtained a restraining order against him in March.  As a result, Dwight moved out of their house, and in August the rest of the family was evicted for not paying the rent.  Baseball fans hope Dwight can stay clean, but his family turmoil will certainly make that a challenge.

One final note:  Dwight spends a fair amount of time talking about his relationship with teammate and 1983 Rookie Phenom Darryl Strawberry, who wrote his own memoir in 2009 (Straw: Finding My Own Way).  Basically both players went down the same path, even though Staw has been a vocal critic of Doc over the years.  Doc is disappointed over this turn of events, especially since fans continue to link both players together.

Dawn


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me by Nathan Rabin

I first came across Nathan Rabin’s writing in his long-running “My Year of Flops” blog. The blog took an exhaustive journey through movies that flopped critically and/or commercially. (Think Ishtar or Kevin Costner failures such as Waterworld and The Postman.) Rabin would write a fresh critique of each flop and end each blog post by rating the movie a failure, fiasco or secret success. Rabin’s odd new memoir You Don’t Know MeBut You Don’t Like Me: Phish, Insane Clown Posse, and My Misadventures with Twoof Music’s Most Maligned Tribes most definitely falls into the fiasco category, and the author even admits as much several times. However, the book is a fiasco in the best way as it is highly entertaining and unpredictable and often on the verge of completely falling apart.

Rabin goes on journeys similar to those of many Phish and Insane Clown Posse fans, and it’s his break from the traditional reporter role that really makes the book. Rabin does not bring a reporter’s detached eye to the two bands he follows on and off over the space of several years. Instead, he immerses himself in the scene, often to his own detriment. He naturally spends time discussing the music of each group but what he really investigates is what differentiates the cult-like following of Phish and Insane Clown Posse from the fans of other more popular artists. What he finds is that fans of Phish and Insane Clown Posse have a very personal connection to their bands. Rabin freely admits that at one point while following Phish from gig to gig he became so severely burned out that he pretty much joined the scene, even partaking in some illegal activities.  He wisely never immerses himself in the culture of Insane Clown Posse fans, known as Juggalos. He does attend the Gathering of the Juggalos, a sort of convention for Insane Clown Posse and its fans, several times. I won’t go into too much detail about what he observes at the Gatherings, but it does take hedonism and the rock and roll lifestyle to a whole new, absolutely-anything-goes level.

With both groups, Rabin does a good if chaotic job of documenting how music can become not just a lifestyle but almost a religion. It’s Rabin’s mostly uninhibited descent into the madness that really drives this point home.

John