Tag Archives: contemporary fiction

North of Here, by Laurel Saville (@savillel) #review #tlcbooktours

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About the book,  North of Here North of Here

  • Hardcover: 257 Pages
  • Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (March 1, 2016)

Many may dream of a simpler life in the north woods, far away from the complications of the modern world. But in her absorbing and uncompromising second novel, North of Here (Lake Union; March 1, 2016), Laurel Saville reveals the dark side of such a life for four young people living in the Adirondack Mountains. This story of misguided decisions, a dangerous back-to-nature cult, and the universal search for meaning and love intertwines these troubled lives into a riveting blend of penetrating love story and persuasive page-turner. Saville, author of the #1 Kindle bestseller Henry and Rachel, once again taps her astute narrative powers in a tale of tragedy, survival, and love.

At the heart of the drama are four unforgettable, strikingly-drawn characters:

  • Miranda: A young “heiress” who discovers that the mountain property she has inherited is encumbered by her father’s debts and misdealing.
  • Dix: A self-assured “mountain man” who is really an educated, financially secure son of two accomplished professionals.
  • Darius: A preppy trust fund refugee who turns his own quest for meaning into a dangerous back-to-nature cult bent on healing lost souls
  • Sally: A brassy, street-smart social worker who, despite being perpetually unlucky in love, ultimately has the foresight to see the perils of loving Darius.

As this masterful novel unfolds, these four will become inextricably entwined in troubles that far exceed simple crimes of the heart.

Buy, read, and discuss North of Here

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Laurel Saville Laurel Saville

Laurel Saville is the award-winning author of the memoir Unraveling Anne, the novel Henry and Rachel, and the four-part short story “How Much Living Can You Buy,” as well as numerous essays, short stories, and articles. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from the Writing Seminars at Bennington College.

Once again, Laurel Saville applies her “poetic, lyrical voice” (Booklist) to a story that captures the complications of the lives we live—or wish to live.

Connect with Laurel

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

This book North of Here was my first exposure to Laurel Saville’s work, but reading her  work felt like curling up in a favorite couch – her language wasn’t at all simplistic, but it was still a very comfortable narrative style.

I really liked the way the four central characters, Dix, Miranda, Sally, and Darius, had distinct voices. At first Iwas concerned the Dix/Miranda story would play out like a cheesy romance novel, but Saville made both characters so real and flawed, and then turned the trope of the rugged handyman saving the spoiled damsel on its head, which I really appreciated. Similarly, in Sally and Darius she gave us two characters who were both difficult to suss out at first – Darius seemed like a nice, if slightly misguided guy, and Sally was portrayed as a white trash bitch – but then we were shown the truth of both characters.

In any other author’s hands the events in this novel – loss, death, depression, wanderlust, soul-searching, etc., would have been a story full of cliches and annoyances, something akin to old-school soap operas, and not in a good way.

Thankfully, Saville is incredibly talented. The Booklist quote above refers to her lyrical voice, and I have to agree. Saville’s storytelling never feels redundant, never slips into cliches or overly dramatic moments. Instead it is a gentle novel full of stark sadness  and incredible, naked truth.

It is that truthfulness that makes North of Here so gripping. The characters are completely vivid, and the book itself sings.

Goes well with homemade pie made with wild-picked berries, and a mug of strong coffee.

Laurel Saville’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS: TLC Book Tours

Tuesday, March 1st: Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Wednesday, March 2nd: Bibliotica

Thursday, March 3rd: Just Commonly

Monday, March 7th: Reading is My Superpower

Tuesday, March 8th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Wednesday, March 9th: It’s a Mad Mad World

Thursday, March 10th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, March 14th: Kahakai Kitchen

Tuesday, March 15th: Book Dilettante

Wednesday, March 16th: Kritter’s Ramblings

Thursday, March 17th: FictionZeal

Friday, March 18th: My Book Retreat

Monday, March 21st: All Roads Lead to the Kitchen

Tuesday, March 22nd: Puddletown Reviews

Tuesday, March 22nd: A Holland Reads

Wednesday, March 23rd: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, March 24th: Why Girls Are Weird

Friday, March 25th: Walking with Nora

Monday, March 28th: Life is Story

Tuesday, March 29th: Mom in Love with Fiction

Wednesday, March 30th: A Bookish Affair

Beneath Still Waters, by Cynthia A. Graham #review #TLCBookTours

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About the book,  Beneath Still Waters Beneath Still Waters

Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Blank Slate Press (March 31, 2015)

The swamps and bayous around Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas have always been dark and mysterious, but on this summer day two boys stumble across the remains of a baby girl, headless and badly decomposed. Hick Blackburn, a reluctant sheriff with a troubled past is called to the scene. With nothing to go on except the baby’s race and sex, the task of discovering who she is and how she died challenges all of Hick’s investigative skills. But Hick faces a deeper challenge. The vision of the infant has left him shattered, a reminder of a war crime he has tried to lock away, a crime that has begun to eat away at the edges of his life, destroying him one relationship at a time.

With the aid of his deputies, Hick will begin to piece together his investigation, an investigation that will lead him to question everything. As he is forced to examine the town he grew up in, he will come to terms with the notion that within each of us lays the propensity for both good and evil. His investigation will turn up lies and ignorance, scandal and deceit, and the lengths a mother will go in order to hide her shame.

Buy, read, and discuss Beneath Still Waters

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Cynthia A. Graham Cynthia Graham

Cynthia A. Graham has a B.A. in English from the Pierre Laclede Honors College at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. She was the winner of several writing awards during her academic career and her short stories have appeared in both university and national literary publications. Cynthia is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, the Missouri Writer’s Guild, and Sisters In Crime. Beneath Still Waters is her first novel.

My Thoughts MissMeliss

Every once in a while, you come across a book that manages to merge two seemingly disparate elements into something amazing, compelling, and a thrill to read. For me, Beneath Still Waters was that kind of book.

First there was the mystery at the heart of the novel, a dead, decomposing infant is discovered and Hick the sheriff has to muster all his investigation skills to find the baby’s family, and determine the truth behind her cause of death. His interactions with the town doctor, who goes by Doc, are both honest and interesting. These are two men who have known each other forever, and that relationship jumps off the page.

Similarly, Hick’s more personal story, that of his relationship with Maggie, also pops. This is a couple that used to be together, isn’t when we meet them, and seems destined for reconciliation.

I loved the use of dialogue and dialect to be really deft in this novel. It gave a sense of time and place without ever creeping into caricature, and I also appreciated the rhythm of Graham’s prose. These characters, this story, really sing. I felt like I was visiting their town, and walking around with them.

The plot, too, was incredibly well crafted, and I particularly like that Hick’s sensitivity was a key point in both the story’s development and his own arc. He is a man of great feeling, but that makes him stronger rather than weaker.

While the infant plot is more than a little disturbing, especially in the early scenes where the state of the corpse is discussed in detail, the novel as a whole is cohesive, interesting, and manages to be homey and kind of creepy at the same time.

Goes well with a reuben sandwich and a cold beer.

Cynthia A. Graham’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS: TLC Book Tours

Thursday, February 11th: Buried Under Books

Wednesday, February 17th: Bewitched Bookworms

Thursday, February 25th: Bibliotica

Monday, February 29th: Stranded in Chaos

Wednesday, March 2nd: Life is Story

Friday, March 4th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, March 7th: Kahakai Kitchen

Tuesday, March 8th: Kritter’s Ramblings

Wednesday, March 9th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Thursday, March 10th: FictionZeal

Friday, March 11th: Luxury Reading

Monday, March 14th: SJ2B House of Books

Tuesday, March 15th: Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The Opposite of Everyone, by Joshilyn Jackson (@joshilynjackson) #TLCBookTours #review

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About the book, The Opposite of Everyone The Opposide of Everyone

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (February 16, 2016)

A fiercely independent divorce lawyer learns the power of family and connection when she receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother in this bittersweet, witty novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Someone Else’s Love Story and gods in Alabama—an emotionally resonant tale about the endurance of love and the power of stories to shape and transform our lives

Born in Alabama, Paula Vauss spent the first decade of her life on the road with her free-spirited young mother, Kai, an itinerant storyteller who blended Hindu mythology with southern oral tradition to reinvent their history as they roved. But everything, including Paula’s birth name, Kali Jai, changed when she told a story of her own—one that landed Kai in prison and Paula in foster care. With the two of them separated, each holding her own secrets, the intense bond they once shared was fractured.

These days, Paula has reincarnated herself as a tough-as-nails divorce attorney with a successful practice in Atlanta. While she hasn’t seen Kai in fifteen years, she’s still making payments on that karmic debt—until the day her last check is returned in the mail, along with a mystifying note: “I am going on a journey, Kali. I am going back to my beginning; death is not the end. You will be the end. We will meet again, and there will be new stories. You know how Karma works.”

Then Kai’s most treasured secret literally lands on Paula’s doorstep, throwing her life into chaos and transforming her from only child to older sister. Desperate to find her mother before it’s too late, Paula sets off on a journey of discovery that will take her back to the past and into the deepest recesses of her heart. With the help of her ex-lover Birdwine, an intrepid and emotionally volatile private eye who still carries a torch for her, this brilliant woman, an expert at wrecking families, now has to figure out how to put one back together—her own.

The Opposite of Everyone is a story about story itself, how the tales we tell connect us, break us, and define us, and how the endings and beginnings we choose can destroy us . . . and make us whole. Laced with sharp humor and poignant insight, it is beloved New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson at her very best.

Buy, read, and discuss The Opposite of Everyone

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Joshilyn Jackson Joshilyn Jackson

Joshilyn Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of six previous novels, including gods in Alabama, A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, and Someone Else’s Love Story. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages. A former actor, she is also an award-winning audiobook narrator. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, with her husband and their two children.

Connect with Joshilyn

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts MissMeliss

Joshilyn Jackson is one of those authors you can always trust to tell a complex and interesting story, and The Opposite of Everyone is no exception. It sucked me in so deeply, that I devoured it in a single afternoon, not even aware of the thunder and lightning outside my window until I was done.

I really liked Paula/Kali, the narrator and main character in this novel. I love the way she described her entry into the world with a mix of brutal candor and poignant humor, and I like the way we see her as an adult for the first time – a lawyer on a case – texting completely wrong things to her ex lover who is also her go-to man when she needs a professional snoop. Her acronym BANKs- a twist on DINKs – made me snort with laughter, but also nod my head, because who doesn’t recognize people like that?

That’s really one of Jackson’s strengths, I think: creating characters who are incredibly real, flawed, and sometimes even scarred, human beings. This was evident with Birdwine, the afore=mentioned ex-lover, and with Kai – Paula’s mother who we never spend much time with in person, but get to know through memories and stories nevertheless. I think if she had been more present, instead of being more of a Presence – it would have changed the dynamic of the novel a lot.

While it would be easy to dismiss Paula’s cases as fluff or filler, I believe they’re more telling than we realize, not only because it gives us a context for how Paula lives her life, but because the irony of a woman who specializes in divorce but who becomes the driving force in keeping her family together is perfect.

And that, right there, is the essence of Jackson: perfect stories told about incredibly imperfect people.

Don’t buy this book if you think it’s going to be another fluffy relationship novel. There’s a place for those stories, too, but this one, The Opposite of Everyone, has more depth.

DO buy this book if you like contemporary fiction about strong women who sometimes have weak moments.

Goes well with tandoori chicken, jasmine rice, and iced hibiscus tea.

Joshilyn’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

Tuesday, February 16th: Doing Dewey

Wednesday, February 17th: M. Denise Costello

Thursday, February 18th: A Soccer Mom’s Book Blog

Friday, February 19th: Good Girl Gone Redneck

Monday, February 22nd: BookNAround

Tuesday, February 23rd: Bibliotica

Wednesday, February 24th: Jens’ Book Thoughts

Thursday, February 25th: Lavish Bookshelf

Monday, February 29th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, March 1st: BoundbyWords

Wednesday, March 2nd: Book Journey

Thursday, March 3rd: Joyfully Retired

Friday, March 4th: Thoughts On This ‘n That

Monday, March 7th: Novel Escapes

Monday, March 7th: Worth Getting in Bed For

Wednesday, March 9th: Books and Bindings

Thursday, March 10th: Dreams, Etc.

Thursday, March 10th: Queen of All She Reads

Friday, March 11th: she treads softly

The Ramblers, by Aidan Donnelly Rowley (@adonnrowley) #review #tlcbooktours

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About the book, The Ramblers The Ramblers

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (February 9, 2016)

For fans of J. Courtney Sullivan, Meg Wolitzer, Claire Messud, and Emma Straub, a gorgeous and absorbing novel of a trio of confused souls struggling to find themselves and the way forward in their lives, set against the spectacular backdrop of contemporary New York City.

Set in the most magical parts of Manhattan—the Upper West Side, Central Park, Greenwich Village—The Ramblers explores the lives of three lost souls, bound together by friendship and family. During the course of one fateful Thanksgiving week, a time when emotions run high and being with family can be a mixed blessing, Rowley’s sharply defined characters explore the moments when decisions are deliberately made, choices accepted, and pasts reconciled.

Clio Marsh, whose bird-watching walks through Central Park are mentioned in New York Magazine, is taking her first tentative steps towards a relationship while also looking back to the secrets of her broken childhood. Her best friend, Smith Anderson, the seemingly-perfect daughter of one of New York’s wealthiest families, organizes the lives of others as her own has fallen apart. And Tate Pennington has returned to the city, heartbroken but determined to move ahead with his artistic dreams.

Rambling through the emotional chaos of their lives, this trio learns to let go of the past, to make room for the future and the uncertainty and promise that it holds. The Ramblers is a love letter to New York City—an accomplished, sumptuous novel about fate, loss, hope, birds, friendship, love, the wonders of the natural world and the mysteries of the human spirit.

Buy, read, and discuss The Ramblers

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Aidan Donnelly Rowley Aidan Donnelly Rowley

Born and raised in New York City, Aidan Donnelley Rowley is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, but her dream (long unconscious) was always to write. She is the author of a novel, Life After Yes; blogs at IvyLeagueInsecurities.com; contributes to The Huffington Post; and is the founder and curator of the popular Happier Hours Literary Salons. The middle of five sisters, she lives in New York with her husband and three young daughters.

Connect with Aidan

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

My Thoughts MissMeliss

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I agreed to read The Ramblers, but it certainly wasn’t a triptych of love stories, combined with a dual homage to both E. B. White and the city he loved to write about, New York.

Almost like the different neighborhoods in the city, the three main characters have their own sections of the book, even though their stories overlap. Clio, whom we meet first, is, in many ways, the heart of the novel. Smith and Tate, despite having stories of their own, also serve as a sort of Greek chorus for Clio. It’s her story that opens the book, her story that closes it, and even the title refers to her tours of Central Park, and desire to ‘know everything about the Ramble.’

I found all three main characters, as well as the unofficial fourth main character, Clio’s lover, Henry the hotelier, to be very well drawn. My aunt used to teach Clio, Smith, and Tate’s alma mater, Yale University, and I attended enough social gatherings at her home to recognize all three of them as perfectly plausible graduates of that institution. I also thought Henry and his brother Patrick felt equally believable, and all of the characters were dimensional, flawed, and interesting.

Two of the characters in the novel are the city itself – specifically Central Park and the area around it – and E.B. White’s essay, “Here is New York,” both of which i mentioned above, and both of which offer key insights into the characters and their lives. In fact, the references to the essay (and my own experience with White’s work, both as a child, and since) pushed me to order a copy of his collected essays as soon as I finished reading the novels.

This is a lovely contemporary story that demonstrates the way even the people who seem to have it all are just as perfectly imperfect as the rest of us. It’s a feel-good novel, but it’s one that works through heavy personal truths in order to arrive at the feel-good place. It’s not fluffy, it’s just hopeful, and very, very real.

Goes well with a hot dog from a street-vendor and a beer from a local pub.

Aidan’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

Tuesday, February 9th: BookNAround

Wednesday, February 10th: I’d Rather Be At The Beach

Thursday, February 11th: A Bookish Way of Life

Tuesday, February 16th: West Metro Mommy

Tuesday, February 16th: Bibliotica

Thursday, February 18th: Read. Write. Repeat.

Monday, February 22nd: Books and Bindings

Tuesday, February 23rd: Book Journey

Wednesday, February 24th: Curling Up by the Fire

Thursday, February 25th: Thoughts On This ‘n That

Friday, February 26th: She’s Got Books On Her Mind

Monday, February 29th: Write Meg

 

 

The Christos Mosaic, by Vincent Czyz

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About the book, The Christos Mosaic The Christos Mosaic

  • Hardcover: 531 pages
  • Publisher: Blank Slate Press (October 27, 2015)

A suspicious death in Istanbul leaves one ancient scroll and clues to finding another in the hands of Drew Korchula, a thirty-two-year-old American ex-pat, a Turkish dwarf named Kadir, and Zafer, a Special Forces washout. Drew is desperate to turn everything over to the academic community, and in the process redeem himself in the eyes of his estranged wife, but Kadir and Zafer are only interested in what they can get for the scrolls on the black market. None of them anticipated a coven of shadowy Church operatives determined to prevent the revelations embodied in the priceless manuscripts from ever going public.

An action-packed, intellectual thriller unraveling a theological cold case more than two thousand years old, The Christos Mosaic is a monumental work of biblical research wrapped in a story of love, faith, human frailty, friendship, and forgiveness. The novel takes the reader through the backstreets of Istanbul, Antakya (ancient Antioch), and Cairo, to clandestine negotiations with wealthy antiquities smugglers and ruthless soldiers of fortune, to dusty Egyptian monasteries, on a nautical skirmish off the coast of Alexandria, and  finally to the ruins of Constantine’s palace buried beneath the streets of present-day Istanbul.

Buy, read, and discuss The Christos Mosaic

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

About the author, Vincent Czyz Vincent Czyz

Vincent Czyz is the author of The Christos Mosaic, a novel, and Adrift in a Vanishing City, a collection of short fiction. He received two fellowships from the NJ Council on the Arts and the W. Faulkner-W. Wisdom Prize for Short Fiction. The 2011 Truman Capote Fellow at Rutgers University, his stories and essays have appeared in New England Review, Shenandoah, AGNI, The Massachusetts Review, Tin House (online), Boston Review, Quiddity, The Tampa Review, The Georgetown Review, and Skidrow Penthouse, among other publications. He spent a total of nearly a decade in Istanbul, Turkey before settling in Jersey City. His work often deals with the existential themes found in art, myth and religion, dreams, and primal ways of perceiving the world.

My Thoughts MissMeliss

I confess, it took me a bit to really get into this book. I just didn’t connect with the main character, Drew, as he was in college, and at first, I couldn’t see why the Drew-at-university chapter was even there. At some point I realized that part of my reaction was because I received this book – which is a meaty 531 pages long – later than I’d hoped, so I didn’t have the time to sit with it, and the material, which basically boils down to “Was Jesus Real?” deserves, and even requires some digestion.

In terms of the subject of his novel, the theological and historical context, the mystery of the scroll in question, etc. Vincent Czyz has shown himself to be incredibly well-read, either from intense research or lifelong knowledge (probably both). You may not agree with some of the theories this book includes, but you can’t deny that the various arguments are supported.

As a novelist, author Czyz is a bit less polished, a bit more uneven. His dialogue is good, and even engaging, but I felt that his characters, especially Drew, could have used a little more depth. The plot was interesting, but the ending was predictable. Where he excelled was with his descriptions of places. In those cases, I felt like I was in Turkey, or on a college campus, or wherever the story was taking us.

If you’re really into religious history and the ages-old argument between fact and faith, you’ll probably enjoy this novel. If not, it’s likely to be the kind of thing that will appeal if you’re in the right mood when it comes into your life.

I believe Czyz has potential to grow as a novelist, and I liked this book enough that I’d definitely read his work again, but I’d be sure to set aside more time than I had.

Goes well with honeyed lamb, couscous, and mint tea.

Vincent Czyz’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS: TLC Book Tours

Monday, February 8th: It’s A Mad Mad World

Thursday, February 11th: Bibliotica

Monday, February 15th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, February 17th: Ace and Hoser Blog

Monday, March 7th: Life is Story

Date TBD: Patricia’s Wisdom

 

What the Waves Know, by Tamara Valentine (@tamjval) #review #TLCbooktours

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About the book What the Waves Know What the Waves Know

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 9, 2016)

“A beautifully written story of a daughter’s journey to find her voice, both literally and figuratively. Valentine reminds us that to be fully human is to be both a storyteller and a story dweller.”—Christina Meldrum, author of Madapple and Amaryllis in Blueberry

On the sharp crags of tiny Tillings Island lies the secret of Izabella Rae Haywood’s sixth birthday. That night, her father vanished, taking her voice—and the truth of what really happened—along with him. In the autumn of 1974, after eight long years of unsuccessful psychiatrist visits and silence, Iz’s mother packs up the tattered remains of their life, determined to return to Tillings in one last attempt to reclaim Iz’s voice—and piece together the splintered memories of the day her words ran dry. But when the residents of Tillings greet them with a standoffish welcome, it becomes clear that they know something about Iz, and the father she adored, that she does not.

Now, as the island’s annual Yemayá festival prepares to celebrate the ties that bind mothers to children, lovers to each other, and humankind to the sea, Iz must unravel the tangled threads of her own history . . . or risk losing herself—and any chance she may have for a future—to the past.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Tamara Valentine Tamara Valentine

Tamara Valentine obtained an M.A. with distinction from Middlebury College and has spent the past fourteen years as a professor in the English Department at Johnson & Wales University. Presently, she lives in Kingston, Rhode Island, with her husband and three children.

Connect with Tamara:

Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts MissMeliss

There’s a line near the end of this novel, She will gather her children back together beside the sea, that has been pinging at my brain since I finished reading this in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I don’t have children of my own, but I understand that sentiment as if it was bred into me – the bond between mothers and daughters, and the bond some of us have with the sea = they go hand in hand.

Tamara Valentine clearly has an intrinsic understanding of both those concepts, as well, because her novel What the Waves Know is imbued with it.

Izzabella Rae Haywood, the narrator of this story, jumps off the page and crackles with life and electricity. Reading her POV is like sitting in a room with an old friend, hearing her tell a story you know you were meant to be part of, but somehow weren’t. Her voice is a storyteller’s voice. It catches you and sucks you in, which is all the more ironic when you learn that the character herself doesn’t speak, hasn’t for years, since the night her father disappeared.

But this book isn’t really about childhood trauma. It’s about the way our brains protect us from knowing too much, or feeling too much, and it’s about the way mothers and daughters, whether they’re blood family or the chosen kind, also protect us. It’s about the power of the sea as as secret keeper as well as a force of nature, and its about the way we perceive and later create, our own versions of Truth.

What I loved about this novel was that Valentine kept everything grounded in a tiny Rhode Island town (okay, Rhode Island isn’t exactly huge anyway, but tiny, run down towns have a special kind of magic, and Valentine used it well).

I also especially loved Grandma Jo, and the way she would spout pieces of utterly profound wisdom in an almost casual manner. I’ve known so many people like that.

This book affected me so much that, as you can read, my thoughts are barely coherent.

So here’s what you need to know: It’s the story of mothers and daughters, and the way generations of women forge strong bonds. It’s about family secrets and family love. It’s short enough to be read, well, devoured, in a single day, but so deep that you’ll want to take breaks.

It’s full of messy truths and rough affection and the whole thing feels wind-tossed and salt-licked.

And you’d be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn’t read it.

Goes well with homemade fish-n-chips and strong iced tea, eaten somewhere where the tang of sea air becomes a part of the meal.

Tamara’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

Tuesday, February 9th: Bibliotica

Wednesday, February 10th: Kahakai Kitchen

Thursday, February 11th: Ms. Nose in a Book

Friday, February 12th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Friday, February 12th: A Soccer Mom’s Book Blog

Monday, February 22nd: Novel Escapes

Tuesday, February 23rd: Lesa’s Book Critiques

Wednesday, February 24th: Luxury Reading

Thursday, February 25th: From the TBR Pile

Friday, February 26th: Kritters Ramblings

 

The Big Rewind by Libby Cudmore (@libbycudmore) #review #TLCBookTours

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About the book, The Big Rewind The Big Rewind

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 2, 2016)

Listening to someone else’s mix tapes is a huge breach of trust. But KitKat was dead . . . and curiosity got the better of me.

When a mix tape destined for her friend KitKat accidentally arrives in Jett Bennett’s mailbox, Jett doesn’t think twice about it—even in the age of iTunes and Spotify, the hipster residents of the Barter Street district of Brooklyn are in a constant competition to see who can be the most retro.

But when Jett finds KitKat dead on her own kitchen floor, she suspects the tape might be more than just a quirky collection of lovelorn ballads. And when KitKat’s boyfriend, Bronco, is arrested for her murder, Jett and her best friend, Sid, set out on an epic urban quest through strip joints and record stores, vegan bakeries and basement nightclubs, to discover who the real killer is. However, the further Jett digs into KitKat’s past, the more she discovers about her own left-behind love life—and the mysterious man whose song she still clings to. . . .

Buy, read, and discuss The Big Rewind:

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Libby Cudmore Libby Cudmore

Libby Cudmore worked at video stores, bookstores, and temp agencies before settling down in upstate New York to write. Her short stories have appeared in PANK, The Stoneslide Corrective, The Big Click, and Big Lucks. The Big Rewind is her first novel.

Connect with Libby:

Blog | Twitter

My Thoughts MissMeliss

I read this book the second it arrived on my kindle a few weeks ago, because I was so intrigued by the concept. Between the time lag since I actually read it, the fact that in writing this sentence I’ve been interrupted by dogs three times, and the fact that it’s a mystery and I’m loathe to spoil the plot, this review may be a bit disjointed.

So, here’s what I loved: Jett is a great narrator POV. She has a snarky inner monologue that really appealed to me – that combination of observational skills and dry wit is one I especially appreciate, and her comments, largely unspoken, inject much needed humor  – even if it’s sometimes gallows humor – to what would otherwise be a grim story.

Sid – Jett’s best friend. I love the setup of that relationship, and the way he’s both protective of her but also challenges her. We all need someone like that in our lives.

KitKat – the deceased. How can you not love a woman you only meet in flashbacks and through other people’s experiences? She seems like the slightly eccentric person we all know, and secretly want to be, maybe, a little. I love that she was the epicenter of her found community and chosen family.

Author Libby Cudmore has a fresh voice that spans the Gen-X and Millenial generations. She’s got the knack for writing the voices of modern hipsters with their love of all things retro (care to buy an album on vinyl, anyone?) but she also lends perspective that isn’t limited to one generation, one culture, even one person. Her dialogue is always believable. Early in the novel, in the wake/apartment-cleaning party where everyone is picking through KitKat’s belongings, she spotlights several different people – Natalie, Mac, Hilary – and they all have distinct voices. I felt like I was sitting in a chair in the corner, hearing all the bits of dialogue. That’s how realistic her writing is.

The mystery plot and the mix-tape that’s mentioned one the first page are both nostalgic (somewhere I have a box of Maxtel tapes. I liked the 90-minute-long translucent ones with the pink and orange highlights) but also completely contemporary. Similarly she blends the use of modern technology (the community has a group on Facebook, on the subway people display their dead friend’s picture on iphones), with the gritty reality of face-to-face communications.

What results is a mystery that is grounded in human relationships and rounded out with music, art, fashion, and all of the other things that give our lives shape and form.

Don’t dismiss this novel as something cheeky and fun. It is that, but it’s also a gripping mystery laced with wry, and sometimes biting, social commentary.

Goes well with a latte made with organic milk (soy is 35 cents extra) and fair-trade, single origin espresso, and a vegan brownie.

Libby’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

Tuesday, February 2nd: Bibliotica

Tuesday, February 2nd: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Thursday, February 4th: The Reader’s Hollow

Tuesday, February 9th: Raven Haired Girl

Thursday, February 11th: fangirl confessions

Monday, February 15th: Novel Escapes

Tuesday, February 16th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, February 17th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Thursday, February 18th: 5 Minutes For Books

Friday, February 19th: A Chick Who Reads

The Readers of Broken Wing Recommend, by Katarina Bivald #RafflecopterGiveaway #review

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About the book, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (January 19, 2016)

The International Bestseller.
Once you let a book into your life, the most unexpected things can happen…
Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy’s funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist—even if they don’t understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that’s almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend’s memory. All she wants is to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel and to convince them that reading is one of the great joys of life. But she makes some unconventional choices that could force a lot of secrets into the open and change things for everyone in town. Reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, this is a warm, witty book about friendship, stories, and love.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Katarina Bivald Katarina Bivald

Katarina Bivald grew up working part-time in a bookshop. Today she lives outside of Stockholm, Sweden, with her sister and as many bookshelves she can get by her. She’s currently trying to persuade her sister that having a shelf for winter jackets and shoes is completely unnecessary. There should be enough space for a book shelf or two instead. Limited success so far. Apparantly, her sister is also stubbornly refusing to even discuss using the bath room to store books.

Katarina Bivald sometimes claims that she still hasn’t decided whether she prefer books or people but, as we all know, people are a non-starter. Even if you do like them, they’re better in books. Only possible problem: reading a great book and having noone to recommend it to.

Läsarna i Broken Wheel Rekommenderar/The Readers in Broken Wheel Recommend is her first novel.

Connect with Katarina

Website | Instagram

My Thoughts MissMeliss

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is a sweet, hopeful story from Swedish author Kataina Bivald. I was hooked by the title, and fell more in love as I began to read of Sara’s arrival and subsequent adventures in rural Iowa.

As someone who has lived in a town without a bookstore, and who mourns the loss of independent bookstores even as she fills her Kindle with ebooks from Amazon, I completely empathized with Sara. I’ve flirted with opening a bookstore (well, a bookstore/cafe) for lesser reasons than honoring a friend, and only the hard fact of being done with working retail has prevented me from doing so (but I still dream).

I like Sara herself as well. At first she seemed a bit mousy, but once she found her footing, she was a force to be reckoned with, though her version of being forceful was always more of a summer downpour rather than a full-scale squall. The supporting characters were all well drawn, also. It is because of them that Broken Wheel felt like every small midwestern town I’ve ever been in, and a couple I’ve lived in, and while I wouldn’t want to live there forever, I was happy with my virtual visit.

Translating something from another language is always difficult, and yet, this novel didn’t feel like it had been written in anything but English. It’s a lovely novel guaranteed to appeal to those who browse bookstores and take home too many books, and to those who read the occasional bestseller.

Goes well with hot apple pie with a wedge of cheddar cheese, and coffee.

Rafflecopter Giveaway

(This giveaway is administered by the blog tour coordinator, not by MissMeliss.)

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RBW Blog Tour

The Past, by Tessa Hadley #review #ThePastbook #TLCBookTours

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About the book, The Past The Past

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper (January 5, 2016)

“An exquisite writer, a writer’s writer, with a fine eye for detail and a way of crafting sentences that make you stop and inhale . . .  Hadley should be a bestseller rather than literary fiction’s best kept secret.”—The Times (London)

Three sisters and a brother, complete with children, a new wife, and an ex-boyfriend’s son, descend on their grandparents’ dilapidated old home in the Somerset countryside for a final summer holiday, where simmering tensions and secrets rise to the surface over three long, hot weeks.The house is full of memories of their childhood and their past—their mother took them there to live when she left their father—but now, they may have to sell it. And beneath the idyllic pastoral surface lie tensions.

Sophisticated and sleek, Roland’s new wife (his third) arouses his sisters’ jealousies and insecurities. Kasim, the twenty-year-old son of Alice’s ex-boyfriend, becomes enchanted with Molly, Roland’s sixteen-year-old daughter. Fran’s young children make an unsettling discovery in an abandoned cottage in the woods that shatters their innocence. Passion erupts where it’s least expected, leveling the quiet self-possession of Harriet, the eldest sister. As the family’s stories and silences intertwine, small disturbances build into familial crises, and a way of life—bourgeois, literate, ritualized, Anglican—winds down to its inevitable end.

Over five novels and two collections of stories, Tessa Hadley has earned a reputation as a fiction writer of remarkable gifts. She brings all of her considerable skill to The Past, a work of breathtaking scope and beauty—her most ambitious and accomplished novel yet.

Buy, read, and discuss The Past

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Tessa Hadley Tessa Hadley

Tessa Hadley is the author of five highly praised novels: Accidents in the Home, which was longlisted for The Guardian First Book Award; Everything Will Be All Right; The Master Bedroom; The London Train, which was a New York Times Notable Book; and Clever Girl. She is also the author of two short story collections,Sunstroke and Married Love, which were New York Times Notable Books as well. Her stories appear regularly in The New Yorker. She lives in London.

My Thoughts MissMeliss

It’s a good thing this book had me gripped from page one, because my iPhone neglected to remind me I had a review due until one o’clock this morning! I’m a fast reader, but reading with any real speed requires that I find the material truly engaging.

And this novel, The Past, is truly engaging.

It’s a perfect example of contemporary fiction: a bit of family drama, a bit of the interpersonal relationships among women, a bit of loss of innocence, and a bit of coming of age, all rolled into one sometimes tense, often poignant, family holiday at the cottage they’ve owned (collectively) for years.

We meet the players in ones and twos: Harriet, the pragmatic sister whose hair is going white, Alice and her quasi-stepson Kasim (age 20), Fran and her twin children Ivy and Arthur, and Roland, the brother, with his newest wife, Pilar, and his daughter from a previous marriage, Molly (age 16).  In a move that would feel like something out of an Agatha Christie story if this novel were an overt mystery (it’s not, though there are little bits of mystery), everyone is together at this house, there’s no signal for anyone’s mobile devices, and the configurations keep changing.

The twins are drawn to the Anglo-Indian Kasim, Harriet and Pilar bond, Alice buries herself in nostalgia, Fran grumbles a bit (her husband didn’t join the family on this holiday). Roland is the most opaque of the characters, sort of there as a presence, but without having the strong influence of the other characters, but that makes sense, I guess, because it’s the women – Harriet, Alice, Fran, and Pilar, and the girls, Molly and Ivy, who really move the plot while Kasim, Arthur, and, yes, Roland, observe, nudge, and stabilize. New configurations come from the original ones: Kasim and Molly discover each other, for example.

While the overarching theme of The Past had a lot to do with the way women approach aging, and the way we all must let go of things from our pasts, I felt, at times, that it was almost a graceful collection of character studies, interwoven with realistic dialogue and vivid descriptions of the house and its environs.

It was a great book to read quickly, but would probably be even better if savored.

One issue I had was with the presentation: dialogue, at least in the digital proof that I read, was set off by dashes rather than quotation marks. As someone who tends to use a lot of dashes within dialogue when I’m writing my own stuff, this choice combined with the lateness of the hour to muddle some of the attributions. I don’t know if the completed copies of the novel use this structure, so consider it a word of warning – it’s good, sometimes, to know what to expect.

Goes well with endless mugs of tea, and slices of navel oranges, with the occasional butter cookie.

Tessa’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

Tuesday, January 5th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Wednesday, January 6th: BookNAround

Thursday, January 7th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Monday, January 11th: Kritters Ramblings

Tuesday, January 12th: A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, January 13th: Bibliotica

Thursday, January 14th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Friday, January 15th: Thoughts On This ‘n That

Monday, January 18th: Broken Teepee

Tuesday, January 19th: Bibliophiliac

Wednesday, January 20th: Curling Up by the Fire

Thursday, January 21st: From the TBR Pile

Friday, January 22nd: A Book Geek

Monday, January 25th: Novel Escapes

Tuesday, January 26th: Dreams, Etc.

The Restaurant Critic’s Wife, by Elizabeth LaBan (@ElizabethLaBan) #review #giveaway

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About the book, The Restaurant Critic’s Wife The Restaurant Critic's Wife

Paperback: 313 pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (January 5, 2016)

What could be better than being married to a restaurant critic? All those amazing meals at the best restaurants…pure nirvana, right? Well, Lila Soto, the heroine of Elizabeth LaBan’s charming new novel, The Restaurant Critic’s Wife (Lake Union Publishing; January 5, 2016), might tell you otherwise. Sure the food is heavenly, but the downsides are considerable—especially being married to a man who is obsessed with his job and paranoid to the point of absurdity about being “outed” from his anonymity. Add to the scenario the fact that Lila has given up her own career to follow her husband’s job to a new, unfamiliar city, and that she is now a fulltime stay-at-home mom—a gig she never aspired to, despite loving her kids—and you begin to see why Lila is doubting every life decision she’s ever made.

Though it Ais not an autobiography by any means, it can’t be overlooked that Elizabeth LaBan is herself married to Philadelphia restaurant critic Craig LaBan. “This book wouldn’t exist without my husband,” she says, “who brings excitement, adventure, love, and great food into our lives every day, and has always been open to my writing a novel about a woman who is married to a wacky restaurant critic. For the record, Craig is not obsessive or controlling like Sam—and Craig did not tell me to say that.” But, even if her main characters are fictitious, there is no denying that Elizabeth draws on aspects of her own life to lend a delicious verisimilitude to the novel.

The Restaurant Critic’s Wife is a charming portrait of the complexities of life that many women face when dealing with their marriages, their children, their friendships, and their careers. All the talk about exquisite food is merely the icing on a one-of-a-kind cake. 

Buy, read, and discuss The Restaurant Critic’s Wife

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Elizabeth LaBan Elizabeth LaBan

Elizabeth LaBan lives in Philadelphia with her restaurant critic husband and two children. She is also the author of The Tragedy Paper, which has been translated into eleven languages, and The Grandparents Handbook, which has been translated into seven languages.

Connect with Elizabeth

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts MissMeliss

This novel, The Restaurant Critic’s Wife, was the perfect novel to begin a new year of reviews. It was well written, engaging, drawn from aspects of the author’s life, but vastly different than her actual story, and most importantly, the characters were all incredibly real with quirks and flaws that made them feel just like those people at the next table over in the restaurant you’ve been dying to try.

From the first, I really empathized with Lila. I’ve got dogs, not kids, but I know all too well what it’s like to find yourself in a life you didn’t really choose, even if there are bits of it that you like, and I also know what it’s like to be in a new place without a support system. LaBan set up Lila’s isolation and need for community incredibly well, and I felt that it was especially poignant when juxtaposed with Sam’s obsession with secrecy and anonymity.

Lila’s mother annoyed me at first, but I think that’s only because some of her points were valid – points I’ve heard from my own mother over the years  – trust me: you are never too old to resent that your mother is almost always right.

Overall, this book was a great read. It was meaty without being too heavy, and nicely balanced drama and wit. I haven’t read any of Elizabeth LaBan’s other work, but after reading The Restaurant Critic’s Wife, I really want to.

Goes well with baked brie en croute and a glass of wine.

Giveaway The Restaurant Critic's Wife

One person in the US/Canada can win a copy of The Restaurant Critic’s Wife. How? You have two options:

  1. Follow me on Twitter (@melysse) and retweet MY tweet with the link to this review.
  2. Leave a comment (make sure there’s a valid email address – no one will see it but me) telling me about the best (or worst) restaurant meal you’ve ever had.

You have until 11:59 PM on Wednesday, January 13th.

Winner will be informed by email or direct message on Twitter (as applicable).

Elizabeth LaBan’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS: TLC Book Tours

Monday, January 4th: A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall

Tuesday, January 5th: Why Girls are Weird

Wednesday, January 6th: All Roads Lead to the Kitchen

Thursday, January 7th: Bibliotica

Monday, January 11th: Kahakai Kitchen

Tuesday, January 12th: Chick Lit Central – author guest post

Wednesday, January 13th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Thursday, January 14th: A Chick Who Reads

Friday, January 15th: Kritter’s Ramblings

Monday, January 18th: Books a la Mode – author guest post

Tuesday, January 19th: Bookchickdi

Wednesday, January 20th: I’m Shelf-ish

Thursday, January 21st: Patricia’s Wisdom

Friday, January 22nd: From the TBR Pile

Monday, January 25th: Read. Write. Repeat.

Tuesday, January 26th: Read Love Blog

Wednesday, January 27th: Mom in Love with Fiction

Thursday, January 28th: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, February 1st: Just Commonly

Wednesday, February 3rd: Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

Friday, February 5th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers