Tribute by Nora Roberts (2008)

Why do I always feel like apologizing for really enjoying some of Nora Roberts' books. This is again one of the broader novels with a child star returning to her grandmother's country house to make a new life for herself. I really liked the details of house remodeling and landscaping. I liked the guy too - a graphic novel author and artist. I liked the slow progression of their relationship. And a big part of the story line is actually a mystery story, all woven together very well.

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich (2008)

I've been needing to read something light and funny, and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum fit the bill. She and the characters around her had me laughing out loud quite a few times.  In this particular story Stephanie is helping her hunky friend Ranger bodyguard an aging country singer. Meanwhile her cop boyfriend Joe Morelli ends up taking care of a graffiti artist teenage son of a kidnap victim. There are always numerous story lines going on. I particularly enjoyed the outrageous wedding plans of Lula, Stephanie's big black mama side-kick, without the conscious consent of the supposed bridegroom Tank.  Just a lot of fun. Though I've read some of these before, I'm planning to tackle them in reverse chronological order.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb (2005)

Suggested by an old college friend in Vermont, this book has a totally new take on the metaphysical world of death and ghosts. Helen died over a hundred years ago, but didn't end up in heaven or hell, but continues an existence of sorts by hanging out close to particular live beings. And then she meets James, who is like her, but in a body - a body deserted by a young drug addict. Wonderful to watch them trying to communicate.

Though I have no set view of life after death, I do have a sense of souls, and think reincarnation could be an explanation why certain things happen to us. Though I don't believe in ghosts as such, I do believe our departed loved ones can be with us, watching over us. My parents used to dream of departed friends and relatives all the time. I don't, but I have a sense of my mother being with me at times. (She would have been 83 tomorrow, if she had lived.) Maybe it is my own thought patterns evoking a sense of her, but whatever it is, there is some power to it. That is why this story doesn't bother my reasoning, as vampire stories do - it makes more sense to me. The concept that people could be so beaten by their lives, that their souls choose to desert their bodies seems more heart-wrenchingly sad than improbable. So a wonderfully unique book. I am glad such good books are being written for young adults.

Sleeping Arrangements by Madeline Wickham (2008)

An enjoyable light read about two families who are forced to spend their vacations together in a mutual friend's villa in Spain. Turns out they are quite connected. Chloe is hoping to relax with long time partner Phillip, who is in danger of losing his job, and her two sons, one a sulky teen. Hugh, a busy executive is hoping for some fun time with high strung Amanda and his two small daughters. But Chloe and Hugh were an item 15 years ago. I liked looking a relationships that have been going on for a while, and the challenges they face. The punky nanny adds delightful color to the story.

Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert (2002)

Since I loved Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love so much, I wanted to read more by her and picked this up at our library. This is actually a non-fiction book about Eustace Conway, a real, still living man, a few years younger than me. I get the sense that Gilbert too was in love with this man, but was able to maintain a friendship over the years and step back enough to write about him. This guy could hunt as a child, and decided that the thing to do was to live off the land - which he has been doing all his life and continues to do so. He also wanted to change the world by educating kids about his life style, in speeches around the country and in the camp he has built on a thousand acres in North Carolina. Oh, I could imagine being enthralled by him in my back to the land days, though I am not sure I would ever want to live off of things I have killed, nor would I ever want to work as hard as he did and expected those around him to work. I didn't understand his two big trips around the country on horses. The first, he rode on the back of a horse from the Atlantic to the Pacific with his brother and a friend in record time. They did not stop to enjoy the people and beauty around them, but plowed on as if in a race to see how far humans and animals could be pushed. His other trip was in a horse drawn cart around the Midwest - also at a numbing pace. He has driven all the women who fell in love with him away, by being so demanding and inflexible in his lifestyle. Fascinating man, fascinating story, though sort of sad in the end.

Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner (2008)

I just couldn't handle graphic details about molested children and dead prostitutes right now, and it sounded like the creepy guy wasn't going to be caught any time soon, so I gave up on the 3rd CD of this book. Maybe at some other time this pregnant FBI agent will appeal to me, but not now. Kind of weird quotes about spiders at the beginning of each chapter. I could have studied many spider species while painting my house - disturbed many a spider web with its large and small inhabitants.

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich (2008)

This is one of those Stephanie Plum detective stories I picked up because I needed something light and funny - and it fit the bill - getting me laughing. I've read some of these before, so I remember Stephanie living in a Trenton, NJ working class neighborhood. In this book she is working on security detail for Brenda, an aging country western singer, with Ranger, one of the men she likes. But she seems to be mostly spending time with Joe Morelli, who reminds me of the Italians in my high school in northern New Jersey. There are plenty of fun characters including the video game playing, graffiti spraying kid Zook, who she ends up taking care of for a while, a gentle stalker, Stephanie's colleague Lula planning a wedding to Ranger's right-hand man, Tank, without his input or approval, and more.

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks (2001)

Not exactly a joyousy book, but again a well researched historical novel about a town in England in 1665-66 that had the plague and quarantined itself from the rest of the world for a year until the epidemic was through. I have heard the plague mentioned when reading about history many times, but I somehow could not imagine the devastation, even when they said half or three quarters of the population died. This made it very real, personal, as each family loses members, maybe all, and what happens to those left behind, especially children. What happens when people filling certain roles in a town die? How does everyone cope?

I really appreciate it when an author explains where the idea came from and how much is real, how much has come from the author's imagination. Brooks provides her explanations in an afterward. Brooks visited the village of Eyam, which really did suffered the plague, and has quite a few books and plays written about the event, though she said there weren't many real facts, but quite a few anecdotes. I liked her comment: "William Styron once wrote that the historical novelist works best if fed on 'short rations' by the factual record." The voice of the novel is Anna, who is mentioned in a letter as: "My maid continues in health; which was a blessing..." Amazing that Brooks could take that brief mention and weave this elaborate tale of Anna's family, her miner husband who gets killed before the plague in a mining accident, her children, her work with the minister and his wife Elinor, etc. I really liked the way Anna and Elinor learned about herbs and their healing qualities, when the local wise woman and her apprentice were no longer available. And I enjoyed looking into the life of a small English village in the 17th century.

Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts (2008)

Two kids run away from Spearfish, South Dakota, after the woman they were living with dies in a Wal-Mart. They head to Las Vegas to find their father. Lutie is the 15 year old sister who has a foul mouth, shoplifts, but loves her 12 year old brother dearly and tries to provide for him. Fate is the brilliant little brother who loves books and facts and hangs out in libraries, when possible. I have to say at times it was hard to listen to their down and out life in Las Vegas, but you know that they will pull through and they do - someone helps them and takes them someplace where they can heal and find themselves.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (2005)

I have been avoiding this very popular young adult series, because I heard it was about vampires, and as I have stated before, they are not my favorites, though I seem to keep running into books about them. I decided I was going to wait when this first one of the series was available in the audio book store, and so there it was.

The story is set mostly in Forks, WA on the Olympic Peninsula. Since I was going to Seattle for a conference, and was going to have a day to see something, I was looking closely at maps of the area and found Forks. A friend suggested La Push as a good beach to go to, and the characters in the book go to the beach at La Push. Unfortunately both Forks and La Push were too far for me to visit, but I got close and got the feel for the dense, lush forests described in the book. I later went on Stephanie Meyer's site and found that she needed a very rainy part of the country for her setting and she had found Forks through Google. Love it!

The story itself starts out as a fairly typical teen story - girl goes to live with her father in Forks, so her mother can follow her current husband as he travels playing ball. I think Meyer did a good job of capturing the awkwardness of going to a new school and slowly making friends. But then she is drawn to a gorgeous boy who always sits with his siblings and seems to avoid her. They do become friends and I don't think I would be spoiling the plot to say she discovers he is a vampire - but one of the good kind, that doesn't drink human blood. It definitely makes for an interesting relationship. Other than the slow parts where she keeps harping on how beautiful he is and why would he want to spend time with her, I think it was engaging, and I might even read the rest of them.