THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

Just finished All the Light We Cannot See. Besides a lovely crafted story (see other reviews for plot outline), I especially liked the author's technique for introducing a concept, an idea or a new scene (and, really, the whole book is a series of such). While using wonderful descriptions, metaphors, analogies and/or other methods, he paints a vivid picture that, somehow, still leaves the reader plenty to visualize on their own. I frequently felt like a movie director telling the cameraman to be sure to pan during the dialogue.

I finished The Stranger by Harlan Coben. Adam Price attends the lacrosse team draft in his NJ town to make sure his son makes it onto the best team. While there a young
man - 'the stranger' - tells Adam that his wife Corinne faked her recent pregnancy and miscarriage. Adam confronts Corinne who admits the deception and asks for a day to explain herself. She then disappears, sending Adam a message that they need time apart.
As Adam searches for Corinne he discovers that 'the stranger' and his friends make it their business to discover and expose people's secrets, sometimes engaging in blackmail along the way. This leads to a couple of murders, about which Adam is questioned. To add to the hubbub, money is missing from the lacrosse team funds, and Corinne - who's on the lacrosse team board - is a suspect.
There are a large number of characters and several threads in the story along with some interesting twists.
I have some problems with the book: First, the motives of 'the stranger' and his friends doesn't ring true. A group that feels compelled to reveal people's secrets for the good of society? Really? Second, in real life Corinne would probably have told Adam some things she kept secret. Thus the plot seems more contrived than realistic.
Still, the book's a suspenseful page turner and an enjoyable mystery. Overall, I'd recommend it to mystery fans.

KOMET wrote: "Barbara wrote: I don't know if you watch TV (or DVDs) but from your posts I think you might like the TV series 'Brotherhood'. Description from Wikipedia: "an American television drama series about ..."

I read that book a while back and enjoyed it.

I have read and finished EMBRYO 5: SILVER GIRL - J.A. Schneider. Now I think I might carry on reading Missing Gretyl - Only Fools and Trollops - Si Page.

I finished Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner. Following an auto accident Nicky Frank is injured but able to crawl back to try to rescue her daughter Vero. Vero's not in the car, however, and the police search for her in the surrounding woods with no success. When Nicky is brought to the hospital her husband Thomas tells the cops that the couple have no children. Moreover, Nicky has recently suffered several head injuries, resulting in amnesia and delusions.
The police wonder if Vero really exists and if Thomas is responsible for his wife's 'accidents'. Police Sgt. Wyatt Foster and his team investigate the case with the unofficial help of Foster's girlfriend, PI Tessa Leoni.
The book is an intense psychological thriller full of twists and turns but it has some problems. Nicky comes across as not only disturbed but whiny and repetitive - contstantly going on and on about finding Vero, and saving Vero, and Vero wanting to fly, and Vero's tea parties, and Vero this and Vero that. More editing may have made for a better story.
The book comes to a sensational climax that explains all the mysteries in the story. All in all a pretty good mystery. 3 stars.

I Will Follow You by Kristi Sayles is a delightful book for children in 2nd and 3rd grades.

Children love repetition. The title of this book is repeated as the son grows to manhood. Then the repetition cycles to begin again.

This Kindle Edition will delight and entertain your children

Sold by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Just finished GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson. A truly magnificent work. The beauty of language has never been realized better and with such heartfelt emotion. Amazing. Each sentence flows like water. Sometimes I read the same passage a second time so I wouldn't miss a drop. After finishing the book, I felt glad having experienced something quite rare in its total enjoyment. An I was sorry that it ended.

Luther Butler's novels are based on the Civil War, Settling of the Western United States, World War 2 and Korean War with just some historical and one or two Biblical novels thrown in. The Bible novels such as the one about Adam, Eve and their family (Death Rode a White Horse)only remotely resembles the Biblical account. Example the character Satan, is not the Satan of Genesis except the Snake does a great deal of harm to Creation.

Currently reading . My second book in a row by this great thriller writer.

I just finished The Martian by Andy Weir (to be a movie November 2015) and am now reading Percy Jackson series.

I've finished the funny Missing Gretyl - Only Fools and Trollops​ - Si Page. You can find my review on Amazon, Goodreads and my 2 blogs. Now I am off to listen/read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa Seefor a buddy read.

Now available at many International Universities

http://unishop.uow.edu.au/book/the-st...

I'm reading The Pyramid of Doom by Andy McDermott and it's really good so far. It's the fifth in the series. It is like Indiana Jones meets Fast and Furious.

I finished Worth Dying For by Lee Child. Jack Reacher stops in a Nebraska town as he's hitchhiking south and has coffee in a bar where the local doctor is drinking. Reacher ends up driving the doc to treat Eleanor Duncan, who was punched in the face - presumably by her husband Seth. Reacher finds Seth at a steakhouse and breaks his nose. After this all hell breaks loose.

The Duncans (Seth, his dad, and 2 uncles) have intimated everybody in the local farm coummunity and aren't about to take any flak from Reacher. Moreover the Duncans are involved in illegal trafficking and are in trouble because of a late shipment. Since the Duncans already hate Reacher they tell their customers that the shipment is delayed because Reacher is sniffing around. Before long a slew of people are out to kill Reacher including a bunch of former football players and 3 sets of hitmen - sent by the Arabs, Italians, and Iranians who are awaiting the shipment.

Reacher is very tough and his encounters with these creeps generally ends badly for the would-be assassins. Child is good at describing scenes of combat and carnage - and there's lots in the book.

While all this is going on Reacher hears about the disappearance of a local young girl 25 years ago and decides to find out what happened to her. Most of the story is about Reacher playing cat and mouse with the killers chasing him and there's a lot of violence and unpleasant behavior. However Reacher figures everything out in the end and there are some surprises and twists. Pretty good thriller, recommended for fans of the series.

I'm reading FINDING JAKE because it was sent to me for review, I'm intrigued by the subject, I like the tension and drama, and I want to find out what happens externally and internally to the characters.

www.writeradvice.com

I just started reading My Lunches with Orson by Henry Jaglom. I'm a huge fan of his and love his films so I was excited to find this at the public library. It's actually kind of funny. He speaks his mind and holds nothing back. Could we expect any less?

Reading TINKERS by Paul Harding because it won a prize and a friend had it in her bookcase when I was snowed in in the Georgia mountains a month ago and let me borrow it. Am also reading MY STRUGGLE, book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgard to see what all the fuss is about. Am about finished TINKERS. May be a while with Knausgard.

I finished Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned" by Lena Dunham(creator of the TV show 'Girls'). Parts of this memoir I liked and parts I didn't. Dunham describes too many sexual exploits that don't provide enlightenment about anything and put pictures I don't need in my head.
More interesting were descriptions of Dunham's demons. She was a troubled child, fearful of everything. Dunham was obsessed with death and felt compelled to spread the fear to everyone. She was disorganized, hid half-finished homework under her bed, and couldn't make friends. Her parents took her to analysts and Dunham's closest relationship as a child/young adult was apparently with a professional who helped her cope.
In the 5th grade Dunham's problems relating to peers led to a close relationship with her male teacher - a "friendship" that became slightly inappropriate. Dunham's irate mother descended on the school where the story mostly ends (too bad, because I was curious to know more). Dunham also had problems with summer camp, everyday sleeping arrangements, her mother, her dates, and so on.
Interspersed with the essays are 'lists' such as: things Dunham learned from her mother, things she learned from her father, e-mails she'd write if she had the nerve, etc. Believe it or not, a lot of this stuff is fairly humorous.
Through all the stress and anxiety Dunham recognized her gifts and eventually achieved success. Even this wasn't all good because some "Hollywood Men" glom onto successful women to enhance themselves.
I imagine Dunham will have plenty more to say about her life in the future, which might be interesting to read about.

I finished Golden Son by Pierce Brown. This is the second book in a trilogy that begins with 'Red Rising'.
As the book opens, Darrow - a former Red miner who was converted to a Gold warrior - is employed by Nero au Augustus, the hated man who killed his wife. Darrow's plan is to rise high in the House of Augustus, obtain a fleet of warships, and help the rebel group, Sons of Ares, overthrow the Golds and free the lower Colors (Blues, Grays, Coppers, Pinks, etc.) from Gold domination.
However both Darrow and Augustus have deadly enemies and Octavia - the Sovereign who governs the Golds - has a deal with Augustus' enemies and a huge war fleet at her disposal. The action is non-stop as Darrow, assisted by friends, tries to achieve his goals against overwhelming odds.
Darrow has to be inventive and clever, constantly thinking outside the box. He even joins forces with the Jackal, who was once his deadliest enemy. To add to the drama Darrow can't trust all his friends, some of whom are ready to turn traitor as soon an opportunity arises.
There's romance in the book since Darrow has fallen in love with Mustang, the daughter of Nero au Augustus. Unfortunately, Darrow's infatuation sometimes makes him reckless and foolish - but it's all part of the story.
There's a great deal of graphic violence and many deaths in the tale, along with a few surprises and twists - and the ending is an intense cliffhanger. I look forward to Book 3 in the trilogy.

A week ago, I attended a book reading for the following book ~

When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 by Professor Ronald C. Rosbottom

It was a very interesting talk about a subject that utterly fascinates me. PARIS. A place that I was lucky enough to visit twice in a decade, and also the place where, in July 1946, my father received his discharge from the U.S. Army.

It is interesting to learn how Parisians coped during the 4 years that Germany occupied their city.

Just started Etta and Otto and Russell and James - Emma Hooper, hope I can get into it. Not sure from the some reviews whether it's my kind of book. But I will give it a shot x

I finished The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey. This is the 2nd book in a trilogy that started with "The Fifth Wave".
Most humans have been wiped off the Earth by an alien race and a few survivors are holed up in a run-down motel infested with rats. The book follows several storylines. First, teen girl Ringer takes off to scout out a better home for the winter and runs into big trouble.
Meanwhile, Ben, Cassie and some others remain in the motel. Cassie is awaiting the return of Evan, an unusual boy who promised he'd find her after the catastrophic finale of book one.
For the most part, there's not a lot of action in this book. The characters speculate a lot about the alien's reasons for coming to Earth, why they didn't just annilihate everyone with a meteorite, why some aliens have invaded human bodies, and so on. I hoped some of this would be explained in book two - but it wasn't.
This book is clearly just a bridge in the trilogy. By the end Ringer has had some experiences which (presumably) will be important in book 3 and the other surviving members of the crew are also poised to forge ahead.
I was disappointed with this book but I'll read book three to see how everything plays out.

Currently reading Everything Is Illuminated and Alias Grace.

Everything is Illuminated is a bit hard to get into; I do enjoy it but there are times when I feel that the book is far too purposeful, crafted to an extent that it becomes hard for the reader to fully immerse oneself in the book. Three stories are simultaneously going on, one in the far past, the other recent past, and the other current(represented through letter exchange), making it a little hard to keep track of in the beginning. It's humorous, though, and improves quite a bit as you go along.

Alias Grace, which my English teacher and I are jointly reading, is just lovely and I am enjoying it very much. As a huge fan of Margaret Atwood, however, I may be a little biased. I can't say too much yet, since I'm not that far in.

Just finished Koontz's 'Watchers' which was terrible. I'm moving onto Hedges' 'when atheism becomes religion'.

Ha! Hit enter before the why! I read Watchers as it was a friend's favorite book, and she recommended it because I had just adopted a Golden.

Hedges because I'm an agnostic caught between some pretty contentious opinions. I see fundamentalism on both sides. The eradication of religion will not remove the real human behavior issues that atheists blame religion for. An Islamic friend recommended it. Short and should be interesting.

Hazel wrote: "Currently reading Everything Is Illuminated and Alias Grace.

Everything is Illuminated is a bit hard to get into; I do enjoy it but there are times when I feel that the..."

I'm an Atwood fan as well

I have read Hard Ride #1: A Novel in Three Parts, Hard Ride #2: A Novel in Three Parts, Hard Ride #3: A Novel in Three Parts - Opal Carew, Etta and Otto and Russell and James - Emma Hooper, At His Service: Part 1 and At His Service: Part 2 - Suzanne Rock and I am reading At His Service: Part 3 - Suzanne Rock

I finished World Gone By by Dennis Lehane. World War II is raging. Joe Coughlin, a former crime boss in Tampa, is now a businessman gangster living with his 9-year-old son Tomas. Joe is an advisor to current Florida crime boss Dino Bartolo and is on good terms with other gang bosses - so he's surprised when he hears a hit on him is scheduled for Ash Wednesday.

Meanwhile Bartolo's gang is short on personnel because so many men have been drafted. This opens lieutenant spots for some ambitious but inept criminals like Freddy DiGiacomo. Freddy wants to push out Montooth Dix who rules 'Brown Town', the neighborhood where African-Americans and Cubans live. During Freddy's failed attempt to kill Montooth he loses two men, then insists Montooth be murdered because he killed two white men. Joe, who likes Montooth, is ordered to set him up. Joe's life is further complicated by his torrid affair with the mayor's wife and by the ghost of a young boy who seems to be related to him.

The author does an excellent job creating a dangerous atmosphere as Joe hobnobs with gangsters. It seems that being a gang boss is a tricky business, as there's always someone ready to bump you off and take your place.

This is a good story with vivid, interesting characters - recommended for fans of mystery/thriller or gangster books.

I have finished the whole series of Riding Steele: Kidnapped, Riding Steele: Untamed, Riding Steele: Collide, Riding Steele: Wanted, Riding Steele: Crossroads and Riding Steele: Aftershock - Opal Carew. Which I thoroughly enjoyed. Now I am going to read In the Blood - Lisa Unger for a buddy read with someone off Goodreads.

I finished Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke. The sleuth in this cozy series is Hannah Swensen who owns the 'Cookie Jar' bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota and has two beaus - dentist Norman and detective Mike.
Lake Eden is planning a winter carnival. TV star Connie Mac - who hosts a cooking show, writes cookbooks, and own cookery shops - is in town for the festivities. Connie Mac is haughty, conceited, and bossy. When her carnvial cake suffers a mishap she commandeers the Cookie Jar to bake a replacement and is soon found dead on the premises. There are plenty of suspects, including Connie Mac's husband, her harassed employees, and even Norman - who was asked to photograph her.
Though warned by detecitve Mike to stay away, Hannah jumps in to investigate the murder with the help of her sister Andrea. As usual in this sereis the actual police investigation is minimal, which I find very unrealistic.
The winter carnival activities add interest, as does Hannah baking and distributing cookies around town. The book includes several recipes for Hannah's cookies; the multiple choice cookies seem particularly intriguing.
Nothing too exciting happens but if you're a fan of cozies you'll probably enjoy this book. 3 stars.

"Chet Baker - his life and music" by J. de Valk. I've always been a big Chet Baker fan. The book starts out with his sparsely attended funeral & the circumstances surrounding his death. The second chapter begins with his birth & early childhood. Interspersed throughout are quotes from people who knew him i.e., musicians, former wives, promoters etc. The book reads like a cinema verite film & also has a complete discography.
J.M. Garlock
"The Centurion Chronicles"
"Knight Hunter: Vampires"

A little more than 2 weeks ago, I went to see the documentary "MAGICIAN: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles", which was AMAZING.

The documentary "looks at the remarkable genius of Orson Welles [1915-1985] on the eve of his centenary - the enigma of his career as a Hollywood star, a Hollywood director (for some a Hollywood failure), and a crucially important independent filmmaker. Orson Welles's life was magical: a musical prodigy at age 10, a director of Shakespeare at 14, a painter at 16, a star of stage and radio at 20, romances with some of the most beautiful women in the world, including Rita Hayworth. His work was similarly extraordinary, most notably 'Citizen Kane', (considered by many to be the most important movie ever made), created by Welles when he was only 25.

"In the years following 'Citizen Kane', Welles's career continued to change as he made film after film (some never finished, many dismissed) and acted in other projects often to earn money in order to keep making his own films. Magician features scenes from almost every existing Welles film, from 'Hearts of Age', (which he made in a day when he was only 18 years old) to rarely-seen clips from his final unfinished works like 'The Other Side of the Dream', 'The Deep', and 'Don Quixote', as well as his television and commercial work."

I'm reading The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Great story so far, with a witty and compelling outsider of a Vietnamese main character offering a unique view of American war and culture.

The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen . His Scandinavian crime novels are very good

A few days ago, I began reading "I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War" by Jerome Charyn. So far it's shaping up to being one of the BEST novels I've read to date. Very well written. Charyn brings Abe Lincoln and his voice very compellingly before the reader.

I have been making my way through Barry Eisler's John Rain thrillers. Currently on book six. Very well researched books

I finished Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton. When a woman in the Scottish village of Cronish falsely reports that she was raped Sergeant Hamish Macbeth thinks of her as the 'woman who cried wolf' and ignores her next call. Unfortunately her body is soon found in her house and her death seems to be connected with the disappearance of a couple who recently moved to Hamish's village of Lochdubh. Hamish investigates the cases and as usual, Detective Inspector Blair - an alcoholic and barely competent officer - tries to sideline Hamish and get the credit for himself.

Hamish also socializes with his ex-girlfriends as he simultaneously tries to get a date with Anka, a polish beauty who's a deft hand at baking baps.

Through it all Hamish gathers clues that help him discover the connection between the crimes and solve the cases.

A large part of the fun of the series lies in the interactions between Hamish and the other characters, especially those that recur from book to book. Hamish resents Dick Fraser for cramping his style with the ladies. dislikes Blair for messing up investigations and trying to get the Lockdubh police station closed, and longs for a lady to love.

The mystery plot of the book is engaging and satisfactorally resolved. A good addition to the series. 3 stars.

Just What Kind Of Mother Are You? - Paula Daly.

Am now reading The Desert Hawks: An American Volunteer Fighter Pilot's Story of Israel's War of Independence, 1948 by Leo Nomis.

The author -- who had also served as a fighter pilot in the Second World War -- shares with the reader his experiences as a volunteer fighter pilot in the fledgling Israeli Air Force during the country's War of Independence in 1948. Fascinating stuff, as this is a rare account from someone (a foreigner and non-Jew) who fought in the 1948 war.

I just finished "Rhodes The Mojave-Stone" by M.M. Gornell. This is an outstanding story that takes place in the desert and has all kinds of twists and turns. Gornell has turned into one of my favorite authors, and she writes a series that takes place along Route 66. Not humorous, which is what I usually gravitate to, but the stories are haunting.
Rhodes The Mojave-Stone

Last night, I read the Introduction to Swansong 1945: A Collective Diary of the Last Days of the Third Reich, which explains that the book is representative of Walter Kempowski's efforts to bring to the reader the reality of the last days of the Second World War in Europe from the perspective of everyday people and historical personages like Churchill, Stalin, Eisenhower, Goebbels, and Hitler himself.

Books of this genre and magnitude fascinate me on so many levels.

I finished The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah. This Hercule Poirot mystery emulates the style of Agatha Christie. As the story opens Poirot is enjoying a meal at Pleasant's Coffee House in London when an agitated woman rushes in. Poirot learns that her name is Jennie and that she believes she'll soon be killed. Later that night 3 people are found dead in 3 separate rooms of the Bloxham Hotel, each body neatly laid out with a monogrammed cufflink in his/her mouth.

Poirot - thinking the murders are somehow connected to Jennie - investigates with Scotland Yard Inspector Edward Catchpool. Poirot discovers that all the victims are from Great Holling and know each other. Poirot talks to local witnesses and dispatches Catchpool to Great Holling.

The story has lots of characters, including the waitresses of the coffee house, the employees of the hotel, and citizens of Great Holling - who are reluctant to talk to Catchpool. Nevertheless the detective discovers that something terrible happened 15 years ago that led to the current deaths. I won't say more to avoid spoilers.

In typical Christie style Poirot figures out what happened and assembles the suspects to explain everything and reveal the perpetrator. Unfortunately Hannah doesn't capture Christie's writing style and the story is dragged out. Worse yet it leads to a denouement that's contorted, labored, and not believable. 2 stars for me.

Barbara wrote: "I finished The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah. This Hercule Poirot mystery emulates the style of Agatha Christie. As the story opens Poirot is enjoying a meal at ..."

Definitely sounds like a book I would love. Great post Barbara!

Marja wrote: "I just finished "Rhodes The Mojave-Stone" by M.M. Gornell. This is an outstanding story that takes place in the desert and has all kinds of twists and turns. Gornell has turned into one of my favor..."

New author for me Marja. Will definitely check out that book. Thanks!

Just about to start The Bostonians by Henry James. I started it years ago but was put off by his dismissive and prejudiced portrayal of women's rights advocates. However, it occurred to me that even if it was heavy-handed, at least he was putting them into fiction rather than shutting them out.

So I'm coming back to it.

Shelley
http://dustbowlstory.wordpress.com

I finished The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Detective Carl Morck's 'Department Q' in Denmark - which investigates cold cases - has a new task. Two boarding school students were killed 20 years ago and a clique of fellow students were suspects but never charged. Then a decade later one of the students confessed and went to prison. The others went on their way, the men becoming rich and the lone woman in the group becoming a homeless bag lady. Morck believes the whole clique was guilty and re-investigates.

The delinquent students are psychopaths who delight in beating up and killing people. Their activities continue into adulthood and Morck's team uncovers a series of crimes the clique may have committed. The men in he group are worried because Kimmie (the bag lady) has a box of trophies from their victims. Thus Kimmie is being sought by thugs as well as the police. The criminal inclinations of Kimmie and the men are described in some detail and it's clear that the men are evil and Kimmie is deranged.

On the lighter side, Department Q is given a new employee, secretary Rose Knudsen. Rose is smart and determined to enhance the facilities of Morck's squad. Morck doesn't like her though and plots to get rid of her. The interactions between Morck and Rose provide some of the more amusing moments in this dark story.

The book is well-written and comes to a satisfactory conclusion. However I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book in series (The Keeper of Lost Causes) - which seems more balanced in terms of evil people/horrible crimes vs. amusing characters/scenes. Nevertheless, this is a good book, recommended for mystery fans. 3.5 stars.

This morning, I began reading on the subway "Pietr the Latvian" --- the first of the Inspector Maigret novels --- by Georges Simenon.

I've already several other Inspector Maigret stories and they are a joy to read. They put you, the reader, fully into another place and time.

I am reading Sycamore Row by John Grisham. I just enjoy his novels.

KOMET wrote: "This morning, I began reading on the subway "Pietr the Latvian" --- the first of the Inspector Maigret novels --- by Georges Simenon.

I've already several other In..."

I like the Inspector Maigret books also. He's so laid back, with a glass of wine here and there and conversations with his lovely wife....