Teaser Tuesdays: Six Clicks Away, by Bonnie Rozanski

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On Teaser Tuesdays readers are asked to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between 7 and 12 lines.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.

It’s a chilly November Tuesday with a slate-grey sky promising a cold rain. I am working from my kitchen table today, a fall bouquet smiling at me, and one of my favorite mid-weight sweaters keeping me warm, so I can leave the back door slightly open. It’s the perfect day to alternate working with reading lovely books (although, since I’m wading through a stack of review books, that IS working).

Right now, I’m reading Bonnie Rozanski’s latest offering, Six Clicks Away, which she kindly sent me to review. In fact, she sent it in electronic format, and I transferred it to my Kindle. I’m enjoying it immensely, so thought it would be an appropriate teaser today:

Way in the back of the Second Cup Coffee Shop on College Street off of Spadina in Toronto, at a tiny table hosting one laptop and a grande latte, sat Julia, frizzy-haired, frenetic and angry.

“Is this Amazon Customer Service?” Julia was yelling into her cell phone. “Hello? Hello?”

The guy in back of the counter flashed her a dirty look and a wave to keep it down. He had nothing against a moderate amount of white noise. After all, the whoosh of steam from the espresso machine, the surround sound of low conversation, rustling papers, and tapping of keys were all integral to the Second Cup experience. But he had to remember that his clientele was mostly University of Toronto types: studying, preparing lessons, or writing papers, and they wanted some modicum of quiet. Anyway, he had a sneaking suspicion that this loud, aggressive lady was American. Canadians would know better.

Sadly, I can’t give a page number since I don’t have it in bound format. Still…it’s a great book, and it’s making me smile.

It’s also making me desperate for a venti, soy, no-water chai.

After we vote, I guess.

Review: Under Orders, by Dick Francis

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Under Orders
Under Orders
Dick Francis
Buy it from Amazon >>

Description (from Booklist):
After an absence of six years, Dick Francis comes thundering up the track with a thriller that resoundingly demonstrates that the acclaimed author, if anything, may have gained a few steps. Francis re-summons his most popular protagonist, Sid Halley, a champion jockey turned sleuth, whose racing career was shattered when a horse fell on him and then an adversary mangled his left hand. Last seen in Come To Grief (1995), Halley, who brings racing knowledge, spirit, and resilience to whatever case he tackles, remains one of the most exquisitely developed characters in crime fiction. This adventure starts with Cheltenham Gold Cup day, during which one racegoer drops dead, a horse collapses after a stirring win, and the victorious jockey is discovered shot to death in the parking lot. Juggling several sleuthing assignments, Halley finds himself working not only for the father of the slain jockey but also for a Lord who wants to know if the races his horses run in are being fixed. The plot keeps delivering shocks as Halley’s investigation is derailed by threats and violence against his new love. And Francis once again proves himself a master of detail, seamlessly incorporating fascinating facts about DNA technology, myoelectric hands, Internet gambling, and even stitches. Wow. Connie Fletcher

After seeing Secretariat the other week, I was desperately craving Dick Francis novels. I’m sure there are other writers who bring the racing world to life just as well, but his books always offer the perfect blend of mystery, horses, humor and even a touch of romance, all dressed up in British English. I mean, you get the sense that former jockey-turned-detective, Sid Halley would even remember to send thank you cards after going to dinner, without being reminded.

As this was my first Dick Francis novel in years (I’ve read almost everything he wrote prior to about 1998, and am now catching up), it took me a few pages to get back into the rhythm of his writing – but only a few. Soon enough we were clipping along at a lovely canter, and I enjoyed reading about Sid’s trouble with his artificial arm (nice use of that to foreshadow the climax of the novel, btw), his lovely, solid relationship with his Dutch scientist girlfriend, and his continued friendship with his ex-father-in-law.

I also enjoyed the mystery (two, really, one involving an online betting system, the other involving race performances) – and the fact that even in his last years, author Francis continued to embrace modern technology. Cell phones, online gambling, fixing races – his research is always evident but never showy, and really, the only flaw in Under Orders is that, like most Dick Francis novels, it ended too quickly.

Goes well with: fish and chips and a beer

Feeling Bookish: Craving Dick Francis

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A friend and I went to see Secretariat tonight – in fact I got back less than an hour ago. I loved the movie to bits – loved the way they built suspense, so that even though you KNOW what the outcome of all those Triple Crown races really was, you’re still completely invested in the story, and bouncing in your seat, waiting for the caller to utter those famous six words: “And down the stretch they come…”

As the credits rolled, I told my friend that I really wanted to curl up with a Dick Francis novel. Those are about the British version of horse racing – steeplechase and grass tracks, not the fast sprints on turf that American racing – but it doesn’t matter. They’re cozy, horse-y novels with great characters, and just enough mystery to be compelling.

Sadly I have no Dick Francis in my library – at some point I must have purged them all…

Time to check the Kindle options, I suppose, because sometimes the best multivitamin there can be is an evening with dogs to cuddle and books to read.

Review: Baby Bonanza, by Maureen Child

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Baby Bonanza
Maureen Child

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
Twins? The startling revelation that his affair with Jenna Baker had produced two little boys was almost impossible to grasp. Tycoon Nick Falco had never considered himself the settling-down type, yet now that fatherhood had been thrust upon him, he was determined to give his sons his name. But their mother wasn’t about to let him back into her life…at least not without those three little words Nick had never, ever said.

Sometimes a Silhouette romance can be just as much of a boost to your mood as a multivitamin can be to your health, and this book was no exception. Formulaic? Of course. Dashing hero with feisty heroine in preposterous situation? You bet. But, at the same time it was also a lovely two hours or so of reading on a day when all I wanted was light fluffy stories with happy endings.

Of course, the fact that I got this book in Kindle version for free, didn’t hurt.

Still even with all the “required elements” that a Silhouette Desire novel has to have, and even though I don’t believe a woman finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand would keep the babies, author Child created a lovely mood and I’m seriously lusting after the beach house at the end of the book.

Goes well with hot tea and banana bread.

EcoLibris: Green Books Campaign 2010

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Green Books Campaign

Eco Libris Green Books Campaign

From the EcoLibris website:

On Wednesday, November 10, 2010, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time 200 bloggers will take a stand to support books printed on environmental paper by simultaneously publishing reviews of 200 such books.

Launched in 2009 by Eco-Libris, this campaign is aiming to promote “green” books by reviewing 200 books printed on recycled paper or FSC-certified paper. Our goal is to use the power of the internet and social media to promote “green” books and increase the awareness of both readers and publishers to the way books can be printed printed in an eco-friendly manner.

You can learn more about the campaign, or read the lists of books and bloggers, by following this link.

Otherwise, check back here on November 10th to read my review of Dave Thompson’s book Bayou Underground.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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On Teaser Tuesdays readers are asked to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between 7 and 12 lines.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.

If this was something I planned to submit to directories of book reviews, I’d have to confess that my “current read” really isn’t a book, but a 23-page long short story. But it’s a famous short story, and one most of us never read any more, learning the legend only from movies. Nothing against Johnny Depp’s performance – I own Sleepy Holloy on BluRay, after all, the original is better, moodier, darker, and, well, authentic.

So, for this Teaser Tuesday, which comes during the Halloween week, I offer this excerpt from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the revolutionary war; and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley, but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance. Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper, having been buried in the church-yard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head; and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the church-yard before daybreak.

I should add: this is the piece I gave the young man I tutor in English for his assignment this week. He loved it. And you will too, I’m sure.

Review: Dreams Made Flesh, by Anne Bishop

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Dreams Made Flesh
Anne Bishop

Product Summary (from Amazon.com):
The national bestselling Black Jewels trilogy established award-winning Anne Bishop as an author whose “sublime skill…blends the darkly macabre with spine-tingling emotional intensity, mesmerizing magic, lush sensuality, and exciting action.”* Now the saga continues-with four all-new adventures of Jaenelle and her kindred.

While billed as a collection of short stories, Dreams Made Flesh is really four novellas, and even though they’re not full novels, they’re all meaty enough to satisfy even the most ardent lover of the Black Jewels trilogy, containing everything from fighting to sex to romance to baby clothes. Okay, well, maybe not baby clothes, but since one of the four stories is about the early days of Lucivar’s relationship with Marian, and involves setting up his home – their home – there is quite a lot of shopping. We learn, for example, that Lucian’s mother kept the money Saetan provided so that Marian could re-outfit herself, and that Marian herself had such low self-esteem that she had a hard time buying things for herself even when she could.

May I just say how much I love that author Anne Bishop injects so many things into her worlds? I mean, we know that Jaenelle can’t function before her morning coffee, and that even in the twilight and hell regions of this planet chocolate is considered an appropriate guilt gift from men to women. And the clothes…while I don’t know for sure what Earth-period the clothes match, I love the details…the fact that Jaenelle and her friends wear schmata clothes at home, and prefer trousers to skirts most of the time, or – as is the case in the above-referenced story – that the tailors are accustomed to adding wing-slits to the clothing Eyrians purchase, so were unphased about serving Marian.

Of course, the ultimate story in this collection is the post-trilogy story of Daemon and Jaenelle – the return of Witch, as well as the continuation of their romance. It also involves a lot of clothing – in this case dressing for court, and plotting at a party – but it’s more than just a fashion show.

In the seven Black Jewels books that exist, two are not part of the Jaenelle story, and the other is sort of a one-off in Jaenelle’s time, but about Surreal, though there’s another collection of Jaenelle stories coming out next year, I think.

In any case, these stories are a nice bridge, and made for a lovely, entertaining ramble through Kaeleer.

Goes well with: coffee and cheesecake.

Review: Getting the Pretty Back, by Molly Ringwald

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Getting the Pretty Back
Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick
Molly Ringwald
Buy from Amazon >>

Summary (from Publishers Weekly):
Famous for her roles as an angst-ridden teen in John Hughes classics like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, Ringwald, now a 40-year-old wife and mother living largely outside the celebrity spotlight, seems a credible source of advice for young women and a likely fount of behind-the-scenes Hollywood anecdotes; unfortunately, she provides little of either in this uninspired self-help memoir. Like a well-meaning but distant friend, the actress shares advice and observations on topics like love, clothes, and food, often focusing on the inane and obvious (souvenir t-shirts are both ugly and ill-fitting; rushing into sex is usually a mistake) rather than the personal or perceptive: “When you’re a teenager, you’re forever thinking: Do they like me? When you’re a grown-up… the question becomes: Do I like them?” Ringwald occasionally involves her personal history, including the fact that the early stages of her romance with husband number two were mostly conducted over email, but she skimps on the details that her fans are probably looking for, with surprisingly little reference to the movie work that made her an icon of suburban youth in the 1980s. Color illustrations.

When my friend Deb told me she had a copy of Molly Ringwald’s book, I immediately asked if I could borrow it when she was through. I finally had a chance to read it earlier this week, and I loved it.

First, let’s be clear, in this book Ringwald gives advice on health, fashion, self-esteem, love and any number of things we women need advice about, without claiming to be an expert in any of those. In fact, she freely admits she’s sharing her own experiences in the hope that others will gain from the life lessons she’s learned. Also? She’s the kind of person – at least as presented here – that you’d be instantly comfortable meeting for a cappuccino, or hanging out with at the bookstore. For an actor, she’s incredibly real and accessible. So, don’t expect her to wax rhapsodic about hoodia gordonii or plastic surgery. She’s all about small, common sense changes.

As to my impressions of the book – I loved it! She’s not telling us anything that Tim Gunn doesn’t tell women every day, but she’s filtering it through her own experiences – especially where turning forty, having children later in life than the current trend, and marrying a younger man are involved. She’s candid in the way that someone you grew up watching in cool movies but isn’t actually someone you know seems candid. She’s playful. She’s self-deprecating.

She’s a thoroughly engaging writer, and this is a thoroughly engaging book.

If you’re over thirty-five, you NEED this book. If you’re under thirty-five, go rent Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and For Keeps and then go buy this book.

Because it really is a wonderful compilation of whimsical turns of phrase and really good advice.

Goes well with French onion soup and a glass of wine.

Review: Key Lime Pie, by Josi S. Kilpack

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Key Lime Pie
Key Lime Pie
Josi S. Kilpack
Buy from Amazon >>

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
When Sadie Hoffmiller’s new friend, Eric Burton, receives word that his missing daughter’s body may have been found in Florida, he immediately packs his bags. Sadie is determined to stay home and prove to everyone that she is not a busybody. But when she senses Eric is hiding something, Sadie is compelled to take action. Before she knows it, she’s in the heart of Miami, trying to piece together a trail that might just give Eric the answers he’s so desperately searching for. In the process, Sadie finds herself in the company of some colorful characters and some good ol’ southern cooking. But despite the drama and intrigue, all Sadie really wants is to go home … as soon as she does just one more thing.

Includes eight new mouthwatering recipes, tested and approved by the official bakers of Sadie’s Test Kitchen

While I’ve been reading culinary mysteries for decades now, ever since I first discovered Diane Mott Davidson’s work, I haven’t really read a lot of them recently. I mean, yes, Cleo Coyle’s coffeehouse mysteries do have recipes, but she puts them all at the end of the book. Josi S. Kilpack’s Key Lime Pie is the first I’ve read in a long time that has the recipes after each chapter, and while it took me a while not to find that jarring – it pulls me out of the book – eventually I was able to simply sink into the story.

I like Kilpack’s protagonist, Sadie Hoffmiller, woman of a “certain age” and ersatz detective, a lot. She’s smart, confident about most things, but retains a bit of the reserve that women who aren’t twenty tend to embrace. It’s nice to read a book about adults, and even see the way adults who are a bit older than I am handle relationships. I could see Sadie’s attraction to Eric – he’s a bit younger, a bit of a mystery, a bit of a scoundrel – but I like that she was honest with herself about him, and about her feelings for Pete, the steady, stable cop.

As to the story, while I thought the plot was interesting – follow your friend to Florida and help him find his lost daughter who may be dead – at times I thought things were just a little too convenient, a little too easy. Yes, people were injured, and people were killed, and yes, the ending provided a plausible resolution (I can’t say more without spoilers) – it was probably just me being overly picky as I’d read this novel in the middle of a personal marathon of the first four seasons of Bones (thank you, NetFlix).

Overall, I like Sadie, and I like Kilpack’s storytelling, and I’ll probably go read the earlier books in this series for a better picture of the character and her world.

I did not try the recipes, however. Well, not yet.

Goes well with key lime pie (obviously) and really good coffee.

Booking Through Thursday: Rewrite

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btt2

On Thursday, October 14th, Booking through Thursday asked:

If you could rewrite the ending of any book, which book would it be? And how would you change it?

Even though I have a laptop and a netbook and an iPhone and a Kindle already, I spent a good part of last night surfing laptop deals lusting over the newer tech I don’t have. I say this because it’s the reason I’m answering “Booking through Thursday” on Friday morning at eleven.

As to rewriting the ends of novels: Sometimes I wish Jane had not returned to Rochester at the end of Jane Eyre, because I don’t think their relationship was terribly healthy. I maintain that J.K. Rowling’s final chapter of the Harry Potter saga, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a cop-out meant to appease fan-girl shippers. (I also maintain that Snape would have known how to avoid death by snakebite, and in MY world he’s alive, but that’s not the actual ending, just the precursor to it.) I don’t believe that most people marry their high school sweethearts, and I think Hermione would have quickly outgrown Ron – or, as often happens – Ron would have embraced adulthood and grown beyond Hermione – he’s the more well-rounded of the two.

It is Dracula, however, that has an ending which really irritates me, although it didn’t do so until I read Fred Saberhagen’s series of post-novel pastiche/sequels, beginning with The Dracula Tapes. Why does it it annoy me? Read the passage again:

As I looked, the eyes saw the sinking sun, and the look of hate in them turned to triumph.

But, on the instant, came the sweet and flash of Jonathan’s great knife. I shrieked as I saw it shear through the throat. Whilst at the same moment Mr. Morris’s bowie knife plunged into the heart.

It was like a miracle, but before our very eyes, almost in the drawing of a breath, the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight.

If you read it carefully, you note three things:

1) Dracula’s throat was sliced, but he wasn’t beheaded.
2) His heart was pierced by another knife – NOT a wooden stake.
3) He crumbled into dust.

A casual reader would dismiss this as a death scene, except that earlier in the novel when listing Dracula’s powers, Stoker tells us that he can crumble into elemental dust. I maintain, therefore, that the ending of Dracula is flawed because Stoker did not follow the rules of his own world – rules he created. Either the scene needs to make it explicit that the Count’s head was separated from his body, OR, Stoker was leaving it open for a sequel, and I just can’t credit Stoker with that much forethought.

So, yes, I would rewrite Dracula.