Book Review: Now’s The Time by Larry Strauss

Saturday 31 July, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: Now’s the Time
Author: Larry Strauss
Publisher: Kearney Street Books; First edition
Publication Date: December 1, 2009
Paperback: 175 pages
ISBN: 978-0972370677
Genre: Literary Fiction

From the Publisher:

Part mystery, part journey, completely heart-felt, “Now’s the Time” follows jazz trumpeter Didi Heron as she searches for the lost tape of her father’s last gig before he tragically died. A celebration of family ties and musical legacies, “Now’s the Time” is a meditation on jazz and jazz players. Drawing inspiration from a potpourri of stories from the American jazz tradition, notably those of trumpeter Clifford Brown, Strauss has created a fictional work rooted in historical fact.

My Review:

Blending historical fact and fiction, Now’s the Time by Larry Strauss is a beautiful and lyrical novel about a young woman’s coming into her own in the jazz industry. In February 1956, Pianist Billy Heron and three other band members were in a fatal car accident. Twenty years later Didi Heron learns that a tape recording was made of the last performance given by the LB Quintet. A trumpet player herself and blues aficionado, Didi makes it her mission to discover what has happened to the last recording of her father’s music. Now’s the Time creates the tone of the dying out blues-jazz movement, mentioning the greatest names throughout the history of jazz and the evolution and progression of jazz music over time. Strauss writes with a deep emotion, evoking in the reader a passion for jazz music whether the reader has ever heard of the greats or not. Now’s the Time is a beautiful look at history with the added bonus of a mystery and a young woman coming into her own in the jazz world. Steeped in the history of jazz, I would recommend this novel to any music aficionado.

I received a complimentary copy of Now’s the Time by Larry Strauss from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Pieces of Happily Ever After by Irene Zutell

Saturday 31 July, 2010 By 5 Comments

Title: Pieces of Happily Ever After
Author: Irene Zutell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: September 1, 2009
Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN: 978-0312540098
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

What happens after “happily ever after”? Alice Hirsh is about to find out…

Alice, a former New Yorker who thought she’d never feel at home in the bizarre world of the San Fernando Valley, was adapting, raising her 5-year-old daughter while trying to keep her job and make her new house a home. When her attorney husband lands a trophy client – box-office queen Rose Maris – things begin to look up. Then Alex starts working late – a lot. He crunches his paunch into a six-pack and trades his Gap ensembles for Armani everything.

Soon, Rose and Alex’s affair blazes in the tabloids and Alice is plunged into trash-gossip hell. Her life crumbles around her as she navigates her newly single self through suburban LA –a place rife with porn stars, psycho soccer moms and nutty neighbors.

Is there a chance to wrest Alex from the Sexiest Woman Alive? And if so… would Alice want him back? And what about George–her college sweatheart? Or Johnny, a walking charm-bomb paparazzo? As Alice inventories the rubble of her life, she desperately searches for her bearings and is forced to ask herself what she really wants from life, love and herself.

My Review:

Pieces of Happily Ever After by Irene Zutell takes a look at what happens when a seemingly fairytale life turns out to be horribly wrong. Alice Hirsch has it all: A new home in the San Fernando Valley, Alex, her husband of six years who is an entertainment lawyer, and Gabby, their beautiful 5-year-old daughter. Life appears to be going well until the fateful day Alice is recovering from an ectopic pregnancy and learns her husband is all over the tabloids for an affair he is having with well-known celebrity Rose Maris. Suddenly Alice finds the paparazzi camped out on her lawn while her husband is off trying to decide which woman he wants to be with. Pieces of Happily Ever After is well written with plenty of wit and charm. The characters are full of life and while I liked the voice of Alice, I was not too fond of her. My discord with Alice started with her pre-judging a mother who wore a Winnie-the-Pooh sweatshirt and it escalated when she was thrilled her 5-year-old daughter was making her way into television, the autographs sealed the deal. I think people will either really adore Alice or not quite care for her attitudes and beliefs. She is witty though, and I enjoyed her wit as well as her internal dialogues. Zutell’s novel raises many issues brought on by divorce as well as those looking to change their life, especially the issues of what to do when one’s life is suddenly altered, finding one’s true identity and what is important. Pieces of Happily Ever After makes for light and at times witty reading that would be fun for a light discussion group pick or for anyone looking for a fun afternoon of reading.

About the Author:

Irene Zutell began her career as a journalist. She has written for People, Us Weekly, The New York Times, the NY Daily News, Newsday, USA Today and others. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. You can visit her at www.irenezutell.com.

I received a complimentary copy of Pieces of Happily Ever After by Irene Zutell from BookSparks PR. Receiving a review copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden

Saturday 31 July, 2010 By 7 Comments

Title: Deadly Fear
Author: Cynthia Eden
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: July 27, 2010
Paperback: 416 pages
ISBN: 978-0446559249
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Suspense

From the Publisher:

TWO BRILLIANT AGENTS
FBI Special Agent Monica Davenport has made a career out of profiling serial killers. But getting inside the twisted minds of the cruel and the sadistic has taken its toll: She’s walled herself off from the world. Yet Monica can’t ignore fellow agent Luke Dante, the only man who ever broke through her defenses.
ONE DREAM TEAM
Luke has the unique ability to put victims at ease . . . professionally, he and Monica made a perfect team. Now they’re reunited to catch a murderer who uses his victims’ deepest, darkest fears for sport – but their investigative skills aren’t enough. Luke and Monica will have to face the secrets from their past, the ones that terrify them the most, if they are to have a future together.
But can they catch a killer whose weapon is . . .
DEADLY FEAR

My Review:

Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden is a fast-paced thriller with the added elements of romance and mystery amongst the members of the Serial Services Division of the FBI.  Special Agent Monica “Ice” Davenport is a profiler with a hidden past who is about to be partnered up with an old fling, Agent Luke Dante, who is new to the Serial Services Division of the FBI and eager to show the team he is worth being there.  Luke and Monica are sent to coordinate efforts with Jasper County’s sheriff Hank Davies to help stop a serial killer who is intelligent, sadistically brutal, appears to know his victim’s biggest fears, and is not only escalating in his killings; he is also targeting Special Agent Davenport.  Agent Davenport may need to confront her past to survive this case.   Deadly Fear is a definite page-turner, which takes the reader through a maze of clues, setbacks and plot twists making Deadly Fear an exceptional book to read.  I have two minor complaints about the novel and the first is not legitimate and the second is minor.  I know this is a romance suspense novel but it would have been just as good without the romance sections and as I mentioned, that one truly is not a valid complaint as it is the genre of the book.  The second is more a pet peeve of mine and in this case it came in the form Luke’s apparent habit of calling Monica “baby”, pet names have always irritated me, minor as I said and did not detract from the novel.   With those being my only grievances, minor as they are, I can say without a doubt, this is a brilliant suspense novel.  The characters are flawed which makes them all the more vulnerable and realistic.  Deadly Fear is the first novel in Cynthia Eden’s newest series and fortunately her next book, Deadly Heat will be available in February.  I recommend Deadly Fear to anyone who likes a well thought out and planned suspense novel.

About the Author:

Cynthia Eden also writes tales of paranormal suspense and erotic romance for Kensington Brava, Avon Red, and Red Sage. In college, she majored in Communication and Sociology, graduating summa cum laude and spending many hours working on the campus paper. She soon decided writing fiction was much more fun than just sticking to the facts. Later, as she traveled the long and bumpy road to romance publication, Cynthia was employed as a teacher and a college counselor. She is a member of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the RWA and Mensa.

Further Information:

Visit the author’s website.
Follow the author on Twitter.
Five Fun Facts.
The author’s FaceBook page.
The author’s MySpace page.

I received a complimentary copy of Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden from Hachette. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Never A Bride by Amelia Grey

Friday 30 July, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: Never A Bride
Author: Amelia Grey
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: September 7, 2010
Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-1402239786
Genre: Fiction, Historical Romance

About the Book:

Her name is on everyone’s lips . . .
When he left for America six years ago, the handsome Viscount Stonehurst never suspected that he would return home to England to find his lovely fiancé embroiled in the scandal of the decade. The woman he planned on making his wife has been kissing every man in London . . . except him!

But scandal doesn’t matter in search of the truth . . .
Engaged and then abandoned, Mirabella Wittingham is determined to find the man who drove her cousin to suicide, even if it means ruining her reputation and disgracing herself in the process . . .

When her plans go awry, Mirabella has no choice but to turn to her long-lost fiancé for help. But can she trust the man who deserted her so many years ago, or is he destined to fail her yet again?

My Review:

Amelia Grey sweeps the reader back to the Regency era where within the ton, all ladies are proper and men are gentleman, or so it appears.  Appearances can be quite deceiving and deception is well played in Never A Bride.  Lady Mirabella Wittingham has been quite the talk of the ton, first her fiancé Viscount Camden Brackley up and leaves her for America, and worse is Lady Mirabella’s obsession with kissing all the eligible men in the ton.  True, Lady Mirabella has just cause for she is searching for the rogue who lead to the tragic end of her young cousin’s life.  However in so doing, she may destroy her reputation unless her wayward fiancé is able to assist her in the quest.  Never A Bride is a fairly predictable read in one sense and a delightful mystery in another.  Grey does an excellent job combining mystery and romance amongst the Regency era backdrop.  Grey’s characters are without a doubt interesting and quite unconventional, especially the main characters Camden and Mirabella.  Overall, Never A Bride makes for a charming afternoon of reading.  Her next Regency book A Viscount to Wed will be released in the spring of 2011.  Fans of Regency romance novels with strong and unconventional characters will most likely enjoy this novel.

About the Author:

Amelia Gray won the Booksellers Best Award and Aspen Gold Award for 2004. Writing as Gloria Dale Skinner she has won the coveted Romantic Times Award for Love and Laughter, the prestigious Maggie Award and the Affaire de Coeur Award. Her books have been sold in many countries in Europe, Russia and China, and they have also been featured in Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Clubs.

Amelia Grey grew up in a small town in the Florida Panhandle. She has been happily married to her high school sweetheart for over 25 years. She has lived in Alabama, Connecticut, New Hampshire and now lives in Panama City Beach, Florida.

I received a complimentary copy of Never A Bride by Amelia Grey from Sourcebooks. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller

Friday 30 July, 2010 By 4 Comments

Title: The Land of Green Plums
Author: Herta Müller
Publisher: Metropolitan Books; First Edition edition
Publication Date: November 15, 1996
Hardcover: 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0805042955
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

Set in Romania at the height of Ceauescu’s reign of terror,The Land of Green Plums tells the story of a group of young people who leave the impoverished province for the city in search of better prospects and camaraderie. But their hopes are ravaged, because the city, no less than the countryside, bears everywhere the mark of the dictatorship’s corrosive touch. All the narrator’s friends—teachers and students of vaguely dissident allegiance—betray her, do away with themselves, or both. As they do so, we see the way the totalitarian state comes to inhabit every human realm and how everyone, even the strongest, must either bend to the oppressors or resist them and thereby perish.
Herta Müller, herself a survivor of Ceausescu’s police state, speaks from intimate experience. Scene by scene, in language at once harsh and poetic, she constructs a devastating picture of a society and a generation ruined by fear. In simple images of hieroglyphic power—policeman filling their pockets and mouths with green plums; girls sleeping with abattoir workers for bags of offal; a docile proletariat making things no one wants—”tin sheep and wooden watermelons”—Müller anatomizes a country and its citizens and the corruption that has rotted the core of both.

My Review:

Rich, symbolic and full of lyrical prose, The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller takes the reader to Romania and through the oppression suffered by the people under Ceausescu’s totalitarian regime.  The narrator does not tell the story in a linear pattern, rather in bits and pieces that become interwoven to bring forth a masterful tapestry, rich, deep, and dark.  The reader learns about Lola and the days leading up to her apparent suicide, which is what brings the narrator together with Edgar, Georg, and Kurt.  The four speak of freedom and hope without ever uttering the words.  The narrator refers to the proletariats as sheep and wooden melons and speaks of barbers, graveyards and ailing mothers, all seemingly random topics, yet deeply symbolic of a life that offers little happiness or hope.   Müller has once again created an intensely intellectual novel, filled with the bleakness that comes from living under such a brutal regime, yet Müller offers up blooms of hope.  The Land of Green Plums is a short novel, yet deeply intense, symbolic and intellectual, commanding the reader’s full attention.  While the subject matter of those living in oppression is neither light nor cheerful, I strongly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a deeply intellectual read.

About the Author:

Born in Romania in 1953, Herta Müller lost her job as a teacher and suffered repeated threats after refusing to cooperate with Ceausescu’s Secret Police. She succeeded in emigrating in 1987 and now lives in Berlin. The recipient of the European Literature Prize, she won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for The Land of Green Plums.

I received a complimentary copy of The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller from Henry Holt and Company Publishers to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: And One Last Thing… by Molly Harper

Thursday 29 July, 2010 By 4 Comments

Title: And One Last Thing…
Author: Molly Harper
Publisher: Gallery; Original edition
Publication Date: June 27, 2010
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-1439168776
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

“If Singletree’s only florist didn’t deliver her posies half-drunk, I might still be married to that floor-licking, scum-sucking, receptionist-nailing hack-accountant, Mike Terwilliger.”

Lacey Terwilliger’s shock and humiliation over her husband’s philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike’s company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of “administrative support” his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike’s family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before one can say “instant urban legend,” Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town, a media punch line, and the defendant in Mike’s defamation lawsuit.

Her seemingly perfect life up in flames, Lacey retreats to her family’s lakeside cabin, only to encounter an aggravating neighbor named Monroe. A hunky crime novelist with a low tolerance for drama, Monroe is not thrilled about a newly divorced woman moving in next door. But with time, beer, and a screen door to the nose, a cautious friendship develops into something infinitely more satisfying.

Lacey has to make a decision about her long-term living arrangements, though. Should she take a job writing caustic divorce newsletters for paying clients, or move on with her own life, pursuing more literary aspirations? Can she find happiness with a man who tells her what he thinks and not what she wants to hear? And will she ever be able to resist saying one . . . last . . . thing?

My Review:

And One Last Thing by Molly Harper is a clever and humorous look into a situation that most would not be able to laugh about.  Lacey’s life changes on the morning flowers for her husband Mike’s mistress, BeeBee Baumgardner, mistakenly get delivered to her.  Rather than confronting her husband, Lacey airs her grievances in the monthly company email.  Realising what she has done and at the advice of counsel, Lacey goes out of town to stay at the cabin on Lake Lockwood, left to her by her Gammy Muldoon.  Harper details the characters and the small Kentucky town of Singletree as well as those in Buford and on Lake Lockwood.  The characters are lively, moody, obnoxious, witty, charming, flawed and creatively realistic.  And One Last Thing is an endearing novel that will have the reader laughing even as Lacey struggles with divorcing her cheating husband, a small town knowing all the details and Lacey’s struggle to pick up the pieces of what remains of her life and dignity.  I would recommend And One Last Thing to anyone who is looking for a feel good, funny, snarky, witty, and all around fun book to read.

About the Author:

Raised in Mississippi and Kentucky, Molly Harper graduated from Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. She worked for six years as a reporter and humor columnist; her reporting duties included covering courts, school board meetings, quilt shows, and once, the arrest of a Florida man who faked his suicide by shark attack and spent the next few months tossing pies at a local pizzeria. Molly lives in western Kentucky with her husband and daughter.

I received a complimentary copy of And One Last Thing… by Molly Harper from Simon & Schuster to review. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen

Thursday 29 July, 2010 By 6 Comments

Title: The Opposite of Me
Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Original edition
Publication Date: March 9, 2010
Paperback: 400 pages
ISBN: 978-1439121986
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

Twenty-nine-year-old Lindsey Rose has, for as long as she can remember, lived in the shadow of her ravishingly beautiful fraternal twin sister, Alex. Determined to get noticed, Lindsey is finally on the cusp of being named VP creative director of an elite New York advertising agency, after years of eighty-plus-hour weeks, migraines, and profound loneliness. But during the course of one devastating night, Lindsey’s carefully constructed life implodes. Humiliated, she flees the glitter of Manhattan and retreats to the time warp of her parents’ Maryland home. As her sister plans her lavish wedding to her Prince Charming, Lindsey struggles to maintain her identity as the smart, responsible twin while she furtively tries to piece her career back together. But things get more complicated when a long-held family secret is unleashed that forces both sisters to reconsider who they are and who they are meant to be.

My Review:

Delightfully witty and endearing, The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen is a beautiful story that will capture the reader’s heart.  Lindsey is the smart twin and Alex is the pretty twin, or that is how they were raised.  Lindsey has it all as an add executive at a prestigious New York firm, until one slip-up found her without a job and returning home to her parents and her sister.  Alex is a successful model, works in television and is about to be married causing all the old jealousy and inadequacies Lindsey has felt her entire life to return.  The Opposite of Me is told by Lindsey in a bright, witty, and absolutely charming manner.  The book starts out as a rather light and predictable read until Pekkanen takes the reader through some very serious issues with her characters and which point the novel picks up speed and intensity.    I found myself truly enjoying The Opposite of Me and could not set the book down (we order takeaway) as I wanted to know what would happen to Lindsey, Cheryl, Alex, Bradley and Matt.  I adored Pekkanen’s writing style and would recommend The Opposite of Me to any reader, especially reading groups.

About the Author:

Sarah Pekkanen’s work has been published in People, The Washington Post, USA Today, The New Republic, The Baltimore Sun, Reader’s Digest, and Washingtonian, among others. She writes a monthly Erma Bombeck type column for Bethesda Magazine, and has been an on-air contributor to NPR and E! Entertainment’s “Gossip Show.” She is the winner of a Dateline award and the Paul Miller Reporting Fellowship. Sarah lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband and three young sons.

I received a complimentary copy of The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen from BookSparks PR.  Receiving a review copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society by G.P. Skipworth

Wednesday 28 July, 2010 By 4 Comments

Title: The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society
Author: G.P. Skipworth
Publisher: Rosslare Press; First edition
Publication Date: March 24, 2010
Paperback: 242 pages
ISBN: 9978-0982471074
Genre: Historical Fiction

About the Book:

Card shark and ex-nun Farika Zingarella won the town of Simpering, North Dakota in the greatest card game ever played at The Huffy Hussy Casino & Billiards Parlor. Gathering five female geniuses to her side, she assembled a sisterhood so powerful that even the United States government had to watch its step. There wasn’t much to laugh about in 1919 – World War I had ended, fascism was already rising in Italy and American women took up the suffrage question. Then along came The Literary Society. You’ve never lived in a town like this!

My Review:

The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society by G.F. Skipworth is a marvelous novel filled with a delightful mix of flowery prose and sharp wit.  Simpering is no ordinary prairie town, rather it all came about when a nun from St. Ursula’s won at poker, not once, but again and again, making money for St. Ursula’s and herself, as it was not proper for a nun to be gambling.  With St. Ursula’s back in the black, Sister Farika Zingarella re-enters society determined to bring about change and on no small scale.   Eventually a committee comprised of the “Mighty Five” is set up consisting of Edielou Zingarella, Mary Beth Tomes, Priscilla Thistlewaite, Gillian Bolzner and Ida Bolzner; five completely different women who have come together to follow Farika’s goal of improving the very society they live in.  Skipworth has created a brilliant view of what life could have been like in 1919 North Dakota if five women of such power, intellect and force where to come together.  Each character has extraordinary breadth and depth, the descriptions of the various locations in the book are both vivid and intriguing in the view into this new era for women.  The ending is absolutely brilliant, at least in my opinion, as my favourite character (I cannot say who for fear of giving the story away) saved the day, so to speak.  I highly recommend The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society to anyone and believe it would be great fun to read as a group.

About the Author:

G.F. Skipworth has toured much of the world as a concert pianist, symphony/opera conductor, composer, vocalist and opera coach. Along the way, however, he also worked as a speechwriter, in comedy and as an academic author. His formal education includes Whitman College, Johns Hopkins, Harvard and UCLA. As he describes it, one day he sat down to write a fourth symphony, but a four-volume fantasy series came out instead, which he affectionately refers to as a “shoot ‘em up clang clang.” Following the “Fables of the Carpailtin Campfire,” he wrote a fantasy based upon the twenty four poems of Franz Schubert’s great song-cycle, “Winterreise (Winter Journey.) Moving on to historical fiction, he released “Stormfield – Tales from the Hereafter,” based on Mark Twain’s final incomplete work. Dr. Skipworth often refers to “The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society” as his personal favorite, although writing dialogue for a cameo appearance by the razor-sharp Dorothy Parker was maddening, even worse than for Mark Twain (at least he paused to light a cigar now and then.) Currently, he resides in Portland, Oregon with his wife Barbara, where he serves on the faculty of Lewis & Clark College. Upcoming works include “The World-Weary String Quartet of Alliance, Nebraska” and “The Madonna of Dunkirk.”
For more information, please visit his website.

G.F. Skipworth’s THE SIMPERING, NORTH DAKOTA LITERARY SOCIETY VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘10 officially began on July 6 and ends on July 30, 2010 www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of July to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society by G.P. Skipworth from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review and Tour: Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

Wednesday 28 July, 2010 By 4 Comments

Title: Labor Day
Author: Joyce Maynard
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition
Publication Date: August 3, 2010
Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN: 978-0061843419
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

The dog days of August . . . All summer long, thirteen-year-old Henry kept hoping that something different would happen, but it never did.

Then, just as the Labor Day weekend gets under way, in the Pricemart where Henry?s mother, Adele, on one of her rare forays out of the house and into the wider world has taken him to buy pants for school, a bleeding man approaches Henry and asks for help.

Frank is a man with a secret, and a man on the run. Adele is a wounded soul whose dreams of family life and romantic dancing died years ago, even before her husband left her and their son. And Henry is a “loser” and a loner, a boy on the cusp of manhood who, over the next five days, will learn some of life?s most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect peach pie, and the importance of placing others–especially those you love–above yourself.

My Review:

Thirteen-year-old Henry and his mother Adele meet Frank Chambers in Pricemart and bring him back to their home, beginning 6 days that change the course of several lives in the novel Labor Day by Joyce Maynard.  Henry narrates the story giving the reader insights into his life prior to meeting Frank, the life changing six days of Labor Day weekend of his 13th year and then Henry jumps forward in time eventually bringing the reader to present day, two decades later with the lessons he has learned and .  The characters are richly detailed from Henry’s eccentric and possibly unbalanced mother Adele, his remarried father Richard, his step-mother Marjorie, his half-sister Chloe, Eleanor, and naturally Frank.  While the story line may appear far-fetched, it is after all a story and quite a loving, heart-warming and endearing one.  Frank worked his way into my heart, even if he was an escaped convict. Maynard takes the reader into the life of a thirteen-year-old boy living in Holton Mills, New Hampshire and shares what has to be one of the most circumstantially bizarre yet wonderfully profound holiday weekends I have ever read about.  Labor Day is a quick read filled with hope, family and love and one I enjoyed and would recommend to others looking for a light yet beautiful novel of how one act could impact the lives of so many people.

About the Author:

Joyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of her New York Times cover story “An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a freshman at Yale. Since then, she has been a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in more than fifty papers nationwide, a regular contributor to NPR. Her writing has also been published in national magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine; Newsweek; The New York Times Magazine; Forbes; Salon; San Francisco Magazine, USA Weekly; and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Charlie Rose, and on Fresh Air. Essays of hers appear in numerous collections. She has been a fellow at Yaddo, UCross, and The MacDowell Colony, where she wrote her most recently published novel, Labor Day.

The author of nine books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. Her novel, The Usual Rules—a story about surviving loss—has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the ten best books for young readers for 2003.

Joyce Maynard also runs the Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in Guatemala, founded in 2002.
Additional information about the author:

Joyce’s website.
Join Joyce’s mailing list.
Joyce Maynard will be on Blog Talk Radio with Book Club Girl on August 30th at 7:00pm EDT.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of Labor Day by Joyce Maynard from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Book Review: How To Be An American Housewife

Tuesday 27 July, 2010 By 9 Comments

Title: How To Be An American Housewife
Author: Margaret Dilloway
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Publication Date: August 5, 2010
Hardcover: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-0399156373
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

A lively and surprising novel about a Japanese woman with a closely guarded secret, the American daughter who strives to live up to her mother’s standards, and the rejuvenating power of forgiveness.

How to Be an American Housewife is a novel about mothers and daughters, and the pull of tradition. It tells the story of Shoko, a Japanese woman who married an American GI, and her grown daughter, Sue, a divorced mother whose life as an American housewife hasn’t been what she’d expected. When illness prevents Shoko from traveling to Japan, she asks Sue to go in her place. The trip reveals family secrets that change their lives in dramatic and unforeseen ways. Offering an entertaining glimpse into American and Japanese family lives and their potent aspirations, this is a warm and engaging novel full of unexpected insight.

My Review:

How To Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway is a beautiful story of love, family and traditions encompassing four generations of women.  The novel is told through the beautiful voice of Shoko who takes the reader through her life in Japan, her culture, heritage and how she came to be an American wife of a naval officer.  The novel tells of her daughter Suiko and her daughter Helena, who at Shoko’s request, travel to Japan, a culture Suiko “Sue” never identified with before her visit.  It is a story of the struggles she faced, her joys and sorrows and her dreams for a mother-daughter bond with her daughter Sue and her desire to be reunited with her brother Taro with whom she has not had contact for fifty years.  Dilloway beautifully captures not only the Japanese culture before, during and after WWII, but also the American culture after Pearl Harbor and what it was like to enter the country as a foreign bride.  Interspersed through the book are excerpts from the fictional handbook, How To Be An American Housewife, which was to help Japanese women assimilate into the western culture.  While Dilloway’s novel is primarily a work of fiction, she does indeed base several of Shoko’s experiences and mannerisms on her mother’s life and captures the cultural thinking of the time.  How To Be An American Housewife is a beautiful, tender novel rich in character and depth.  I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a beautiful, heart-warming, uplifting novel.

About the Author:

Margaret Dilloway was inspired by her Japanese mother’s experiences when she wrote this novel, and especially by a book her father had given to her mother called The American Way of Housekeeping. She lives in Hawaii with her husband and three young children. How to Be an American Housewife is her first novel.

Additional information about the author:

Margaret’s website.
Margaret’s on Twitter.
Reading Group Guide for How To Be An American Housewife.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of How To Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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