The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a thoughtful, extremely well written novel by an author who loves words and their etymology. A widowed father of three boys reads a woman's classified ad saying "can't cook, but doesn't bite" and hires her sight unseen as the family housekeeper. The setting is 1910 rural Montana, with a one room schoolhouse for grades 1-8.

Written in eloquent but sparse first person prose, I felt that it was a nonfiction account of his grandfather, which it is not. This book was delightful, it made me laugh outloud, added some new words to my reading vocabulary and random facts to my store of knowledge. (Do you know what an orrery is? what the letters "chavivry" spell? what famous person was supposedly born in 1835 and died in 1910 with the coming and going of Haley's comet?) I enjoyed the audio version immensely and was sorry when it ended. I will read more of Ivan Doig.





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16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a short romance/soap opera without closure for a few of the characters which is to be expected I suppose since this is #1 in a very successful series by a very popular author. Not a squeaky clean read coffee table book, due to some minor sexual titallation, but at least there's no vulgar language.



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The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In addition to this book's overall high ratings, its intriguing title captured my interest. Yet it failed to enchant me and clearly I'm in the minority. Her visuals were good but the characters were not engaging. I thought the writing was a bit verbose, yet overall it's probably a good book for older YA *confident* readers. After reading several books in this genre I've come to the conclusion that fantasy fiction is just not my thing.









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A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I felt that the main character was not Jefferson, the wrongfully condemned man and the lesson he learned before his execution, but was Grant, the narrator and his anger, nay rage, and cowardice regarding the treatment of his people (Blacks), in 1940's. Both men learn a valuable lesson: how to become a man, Jefferson by dying for his people, and Grant by standing up for his beliefs. The book was slow going & somewhat repetitive until the last 100 pages when we read Jefferson's thoughts and see his transformation. I'd like to have read more about Jefferson. It almosts get there, but not quite.







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The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


If your passion is English history, specifically the Tudor & Plantagenet dynasties and 15th-16th century succession to the throne, then this is the book for you! It satisfies academically, but is definitely not entertaining fiction. The "daughter of time" is not a person, but "truth," as opposed to "authority." Tey, the author, presents a convincing argument: the "princes in the tower" were *not* murdered by their uncle, Richard III, and he was in fact a competent & highly revered monarch. This of course is in opposition to public school history books, Shakespeare's famous play, and popular thought. Henry the VII was the real bounder. I liked it very much; but then I'm a bit of a nut for this kind of thing & wouldn't recommend it to casual readers.



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Unless by Carol Shields

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is beautifully written and deals with some serious topics. The main character is a 44 year old mother of 3 girls, one of whom is a bright college dropout who is essentially homeless and spending her days/months as mute, wearing a sign around her neck that says "Goodness" and panhandling on a Toronto street corner. Any $ or gifts she receives she promptly gives to the poor. It is also a story of a self analytical writer (the mother), writing about a writer, as she attempts to unravel not only the reasons behind her daughter's disturbed state but about herself and the place of women in an increasingly insensitive society. It has a happy conclusion. Shields is Pulitzer Prize winning author of "The Stone Diaries," which I loved. This book was published in 2002, shortly before her death from cancer.



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The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I wanted to love this, afterall it is Steinbeck. Audio version could have been better because it is read slowly, making the story drag, bordering boring. I'm certain I would have enjoyed it more and appreciated Steinbeck's considerable talent as a writer if I had read instead of listened to it.



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Brokeback Mountain. CD by Annie Proulx

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This was a disturbing novella. It starts with a rape and ends sadly with what most of society would describe as destroyed lives. Actually, it doesn't "end;" it just stops. I felt like a voyeur and did not enjoy it, but I will remember it.



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2009 Book of the Year

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is an absorbing family saga that moves from India to a mission hospital in Haile Selassie's Ethiopia, to an inner city hospital in NYC, and back to Ethiopia. The intersection between skillfully drawn plot and characters with accurate medical scenarios creates both a sense that the story is true and disappointment at the realization that it is not. If you read and liked The Kite Runner, this is even better and I highly recommend it. I listened to audio version which is particularly well done.



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The Man in the Rockefeller Suit

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I found this especially interesting beause part of this stranger-than-fiction real life true story took place in San Marino, the town in which I was raised, and because an incident related to his life was close to home. The man who calls himself Clark Rockefeler is currently in prison for abductng his little girl and has been charged with a murder that took place in the 1980's. His preliminary hearing for the murder trial is scheduled this week.



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