Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich

Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin’s Press, 2007
Mystery; 164 pgs

Started: 02/27/2007
Completed: 02/27/2007
Rating: (Fair)

First Sentence: Men are like shoes.

Where Book Came From: TBR room (since January 2007)

Reason for Reading: I wanted to read something light, funny, and quick after reading Ann-Marie MacDonald’s The Way the Crow Flies.

From the Publisher: Mysterious men have a way of showing up in Stephanie Plum's apartment. When the shadowy Diesel appears, he has a task for Stephanie -- and he's not taking no for an answer. Annie Hart is a "relationship expert" who is wanted for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Stephanie needs to find her, fast. Diesel knows where she is. So they make a deal: He'll help her get Annie if Stephanie plays matchmaker to several of Annie's most difficult clients. But someone wants to find Annie even more than Diesel and Stephanie. Someone with a nasty temper. And someone with "unmentionable" skills. Does Diesel know more that he's saying about Annie Hart? With Stephanie Plum in over her head, things are sure to get a little dicey and a little explosive, Jersey style!

Comments: When I need something light and funny, I can count on a Stephanie Plum novel to offer me a laugh. I admit that I was not all that impressed with her previous in between book, Visions of Sugar Plums, but for the most part, I enjoy the series immensely. Janet Evanovich is one of those authors who I am willing to spend hardback prices for. Fortunately with her most recent novel, Plum Lovin’, a filler for the Valentine’s Day season, before Lean Mean Thirteen comes out this June, I had a coupon in addition to my discount card. I spent less than I would have for the paperback version when it came right down to it. And I have to say, it was worth the price I paid. There were no out right laugh out loud moments, only a little chuckle here or there. It was nice to visit with my old friends, including the eccentric and adorable Grandma Mazur and the ever-flamboyant Lulu.

Favorite Part: My favorite scene in the book was when Grandma Mazur shows up at Jeanine’s apartment while Jeanine and Stephanie are watching the video. My second favorite scene is when Jeanine greets Stephanie at the door, expecting to find her date. Those were the closest I cam to little giggle out loud moments.

The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald

The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Perennial, 2003
Fiction; 820 pgs

Started: 02/18/2007
Completed: 02/27/2007
Rating: (Outstanding)

First Sentence: The birds saw the murder.

Where Book Came From: I first heard about this book through PAGES magazine. I pulled it off my TBR shelf where it has been sitting patiently since October 2004.

Reason for Reading: This is the second book read for the Chunkster Challenge. A review by a fellow book lover (Lesley over at Lesley's Book Nook) prodded me to read this one sooner than later.

From the Publisher: For Madeleine McCarthy, high-spirited and eight years old, her family's posting to a quiet air force base near the Canadian-American border is at first welcome, secure as she is in the love of her family and unaware that her father, Jack, is caught up in his own web of secrets. The early sixties, a time of optimism infused with the excitement of the space race and overshadowed by the menace of the Cold War, is filtered through the rich imagination of a child as Madeleine draws us into her world.

But the base is host to some intriguing inhabitants, including the unconventional Froehlich family, and the odd Mr. March, whose power over the children is a secret burden that they carry. Then tragedy strikes, and a very local murder intersects with global forces, binding the participants for life. As the tension in the McCarthys' household builds, Jack must decide where his loyalties lie, and Madeleine learns about the ambiguity of human morality — a lesson that will become clear only when the quest for the truth, and the killer, is renewed twenty years later.

Comments: As I sit here trying to decide where to start, I find my eyes welling up with tears. Again. On many levels, I anticipated that, having read other readers thoughts about this book over the last three years and all the glowing reviews and recommendations from fellow booklovers. I just had no idea how much this book would get under my skin, how much of my own life I would see flitting across the pages. Or echoes of it at least. My life was not—and has not been—nearly as dramatic, of course. No war criminals or murders to worry about.

It was more so the little things that I found myself connecting with: the long car rides with my brother and I sitting in the back seat, playing games, sometimes arguing, stopping along the way at various historical landmarks; the packing up and moving again and again, something most military families grow accustomed to no matter the country; making new friends and learning where to fit in; and the security and community of living on a military base; the crush on the teenage heart throb, and the duck and cover drills. Even the search for the missing girl brought back memories of the community at Camp Pendleton coming together to search for a missing child one summer day, the concern and fear clear on everyone’s faces. Fortunately in my reality, the child was found safe and sound, having just wandered off. The novel is also full of pop culture phrases and references that, although some are a bit before my time, are well known enough to be very familiar.

All of this sets the stage for an intriguing and complex story about a family whose secrets begin to erode away their relationships with each other and themselves. Ann-Marie MacDonald painted a vivid and thought provoking novel, in which the reader can empathize with the anger, frustration and guilt that several of the characters struggle with. There is Jack who faces an ethical dilemma that spills over onto his family; Mimi who wants to be a good wife and protect her family as she sees the family unit begin to show signs of cracking; and Madeleine who falls victim to one of the worst kind of predators imaginable.

The Cold War served as the perfect backdrop for the telling of The Way the Crow Flies. It was a time when hopes and patriotism are high after the end of World War II and the focus from the Nazis onto the Soviet Communists shifted. It was peacetime and yet the governments of the Western World stood on eggshells, afraid of what their enemies might do. And while the West raced to be the first to the moon and overcome the East with technology, morality became a little blurrier. Ann-Marie MacDonald weaves the history of the times into her story seamlessly, adding depth and complexity to the characters and each of their stories.

My mind is swimming with thoughts about this powerful novel, and yet, I do not dare lead you down that path for fear of spoiling the story any more for you than I already have.

Favorite Part: What was not to like about this book? Among my favorite bits were the trips it took me down memory lane, Jack and Mimi’s relationship, Mike and Colleen as characters, and the eccentricities of the Froehlich family. I especially liked how well drawn the characters were. Ms. MacDonald did an excellent job of creating a story and character with whom I felt right at home.

Quotes:
If your father is in the air force, people ask you where you are from and it’s difficult to answer. The answer becomes longer the older you get, because you move every few years. “Where are you from?” “I’m from the Royal Canadian Air Force.” The RCAF. Like a country whose bits are scattered around the globe. [pg 12]

Canada was one-third of the great North Atlantic Triangle poised between Britain and the United States. This triangle worked in cunning ways. Under the Lend-Lease plan, many of the airplanes were built in the U.S.—“the arsenal of democracy”—but until the Americans entered the war the planes could not be flown into Canada without violating the United States Neutrality Act. So pilots would fly the new aircraft to Montana or North Dakota and land just shy of the border. Only feet away, a team of horses waited on the Canadian side. The airplane was hitched up and hualed into Canada, then flown to the RCAF stations to supply the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. [pg 29]

Afterwards, in bed with a book, the spell of television feels remote compared to the journey into the page. To be in a book. To slip into the crease where two pages meet, to live in the place where your eyes alight upon the words to ignite a world of smoke and peril, colour and serene delight. That is a journey no one can end with the change of a channel. Enduring magic. [pg 123]

In pop culture and folk tales, ghosts haunt creepy houses at night, appear in old photographs of church picnics, are glimpsed in the rain-lashed beam of a headlight on a country road amid endless fields of corn. In life, they arrive when you are emptying the dryer at ten a.m.

The shadow is the same. It chooses mundane moments. Like most ghosts, it does not wish to scare you off. It needs to be seen. That’s why it has come. Imagine the sheer exhaustion of making the journey up from the shades time and again, only to have your long lost one shriek and run away. That’s why it learns to approach in the open, when you are engaged in familiar tasks, guard down. Doing the dishes. Driving. It doesn’t necessarily want you to crash, but it does want your attention. [pg 661]

Note About The Author: Ann-Marie MacDonald was inspired to write this novel because of the story of Steven Truscott, then 14, who was tried and convicted of murdering a 12 year old girl, and who to this day maintains his innocence. At my reading of the novel, the Ontario Court of Appeal is reconsidering the matter.

Miscellaneous: This weekend we saw Music & Lyrics (pretty good, cute) and El Laberinto del Fauno (aka Pan's Labyrinth--fantastic! ).

I am the unlucky recepient of a stomach virus and a cold all wrapped in one. Thank goodness for modern medicine.

New York Times Notable Book Challenge

As February comes to an end, it has become clear to me that I need to revise my reading goals for the year. My intention to continue with my series reading has fallen by the wayside as I seem to be straying away from those particular books in order to read others in my TBR collection. That does not mean I will not return to my favorite series, just that my focus in reading material lies elsewhere at the moment. Currently my reading choices seem to be dictated by the challenges I have agreed to participate in, all of which have been worthwhile experiences so far.

I did not have any intention of joining in on another challenge. I do not want to limit all of my reading this year to books on lists. I also have been striving to only choose books to read for the challenges that are already on my TBR shelves. And so, when I first heard about Caribousmom's New York Times (NYT) Most Notable Fiction Challenge, I immediately discounted the notion of joining in. I mean, I only recently came into possession of two of the books on the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2006, and one other I have read.

Caribousmom was relentless (okay, so not really. I just want to throw the blame on someone other than myself) in her endorsement of the challenge, and when I tried to squirm out of it by asking if there was a minimum requirement (what if I only wanted to read 2 books on the list?), she immediately made it clear that it was up to me. She told me that I "can read as many or as little" as I want and that I do not have to chose the titles ahead of time. The point of the challenge is not to read as many of the books on the list as possible or even a set number, but to provide an opportunity for the challengers to discuss our experiences with the books we do read. A forum was set up for that very purpose, in fact.

My firm resolve to not get tangled up in any more challenges faltered and collapsed. Are you really surprised? As a consolation, I am going to allow myself a lot of freedom with the NYT Challenge. I will not be setting a number of books to read from the list. I have jotted down a few titles that appeal to me, and my choices will come from that list (subject to change based on other books that catch my fancy or recommendations by others).

Without further ado . . .

Fiction:
Forgetfulness by Ward Just (read 12/2006)
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
The Inhabited World by David Long (read 06/2007)
Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Absurditan by Gary Shteyngart
Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta
Digging to America by Anne Tyler

Nonfiction:
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Booking Through Thursday: Writing in Books

It is that time again: Booking Through Thursday. I almost decided to skip this one but decided to go ahead and take a stab at it.

A couple weeks ago, we asked about how you take care of your books, with one of the questions asking whether you write in your books. Well, what about books that are meant to be written in? Like, say, a journal or diary? Do you keep one? Obviously, if you're answering this, you have a blog--do you just let your blog be your journal? Or do you also keep one for private stuff also?

First let me say that I love journals. There are quite a variety out there, many of them that catch my eye and make me wish I could take them home with me. Alas, I am not a very faithful journaler, and I prefer to type my thoughts rather than hand write them if truth be told. That makes those pretty little journals not so useful to me, I'm afraid.

When I was a child, I kept a diary which I would begin faithfully, hoping to write in it every day. As time would go on, I would write in it less and less frequently. I always liked the idea of keeping a journal or diary, but never got into a regular habit of doing so. A few years ago, my mother discovered one of my childhood diaries in a box and returned it to me. It was fun to read through it, returning to the thoughts of the 12 year old girl that I once was. A common theme I discovered was how often my parents got upset with me "for no reason." Of course, I was always the most perfect child who could do no wrong. Weren't we all? At least we thought so anyway.

Early on I discovered a love for writing. And in my middle school days, I entered the world of pen palling. Oh, how I loved to write letters! I had pen pals from all over the world and when I realized that I could have pen pals from all over my own country, I suddenly had many of those kind too. I still enjoy writing letters, although I am not as prolific as I once was. In some respects I suppose my letter writing was my way of journaling, making a record of my life and my thoughts, whether it be something going on in my life or that of my pen friend. I did not hold onto those letters, mailing them out to my friends across the country or seas, but the act of putting my thoughts into words has often proven to help me through some of the rough spots in life and to celebrate the joys in life.

As for actual journals, I do keep a travel journal, which only gets used when Anjin and I travel or have some sort of big event (like our wedding). It comes in handy for remembering all the little details so I can return to the memories again later in life. As soon as I get home from the trip, my notes go into the computer in a more organized fashion.

I do keep an annual journal file on my computer where I record events in my life (sometimes small and sometimes big), memories I want to hold onto, sometimes thoughts I want to put down, but it's nothing formal and I often neglect it.

There is also my reading journal. I started it a few years ago as a way record my thoughts about the various books I read. My reading journal is simply a Word document in my computer. I do have an actual reading journal in book format, which I use to jot down notes as I read a book. It comes in especially handy for books I am reading to review formally or discuss with a reading group.

My blog is an extension of my reading journal in most respects. I am a rather private person, and so the amount of personal information I share is limited. Although, I imagine you could figure out a lot about me by reading my thoughts on the books I read or even by my reading choices.

What about you? Do you keep a journal?

"Talking's something you can't do judiciously unless you keep in practice." - from The Maltese Falcon

I've been as bad an influence on American literature as anyone I can think of. –Dashiell Hammett

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Vintage, 1930
Mystery; 217 pgs

Started: 02/18/2007
Completed: 02/18/2007
Rating: (Very Good)

First Sentence: Samuel Spade’s jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth.

Where Book Came From: The book is actually one of my husband's collection.

Reason for Reading: I wanted to read something fun and light for my final book in the Winter Classics Challenge.

Comments: While some may want to argue my choice of considering The Maltese Falcon a classic, I would argue that it is a novel that has stood the test of time and has influenced other authors and works within the same and similar genres. Dashiell Hammett is considered one of the forefather’s of the hardboiled detective novel, The Maltese Falcon being the most well known of his novels. Dashiell Hammett’s name often comes up as a favorite and influencer to many of my favorite mystery writers. It seemed appropriate that I should eventually find my way to one of his books.

Perhaps the most famous medium of the story The Maltese Falcon was the 1941 movie starring Humphrey Bogart, which the Library of Congress classified as being “culturally significant.” The movie is a classic all its own.

What better setting for a mystery involving a jeweled bird, a beautiful woman, hired gunmen, and greedy thieves than the city by the bay, San Francisco? In Dashiell Hammett’s classic hardboiled mystery, private detective Samuel Spade pulls out all the stops. When the lovely Miss Wonderly walks into his office one day offering up two hundred dollars on the spot, both Spade and his partner, Miles Archer, agree to take the case to follow a man in hopes of locating her sister. With the deaths of Spade’s partner and the man who allegedly had run off with Miss Wonderly’s sister, it becomes clear that Miss Wonderly is not who she says she is, and the story she fed the private detectives was far from the truth. The cynical and confident Spade is determined to uncover the truth, no matter how tight lipped his client may be or how much danger he will face.

Sam Spade is the quintessential hardboiled private investigator. He has a talent for getting at the truth and smooth talking his way out of trouble. It’s no wonder he steals the hearts of women. Although I had seen the movie before and knew the story, there is nothing like reading it in print. Dashiell Hammett proved to be a talented writer, taking readers back into the late 1920’s and putting them right into the story. It is no wonder so many mystery authors of today look to Dashiell Hammett as their inspiration.

Favorite Part: I loved reading about Sam Spade in action. He is quite the smooth talker! His confrontations with Lieutenant Dundy were quite amusing. My favorite character, however, would have to be his secretary, Effie Perine, who always came through in a pinch.

For the dish on the author, check out: MysteryNet.com

Read what Pussreboots had to say about The Maltese Falcon.

Miscellaneous: It is a terrfic feeling to have completed the Winter Classics Challenge. Many thanks to Booklogged at A Reader's Journal for hosting the challenge. She motivated me to crack open a handful of classics that I had been meaning to get to for a long while now.