The Lost Recipe for Happiness eBook editions

Ghost stories are not my thing.  Nor, frankly are lonely, deeply damaged individuals.  And yet, I was entranced by Barbara O'Neal's The Lost Recipe for Happiness.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon.  A nap seemed like the thing so I picked this book up as something to read myself to sleep by.  Six hours later, ravenously hungry and snuffling slightly I put the book down with a sigh.  Seems I read the whole thing in one sitting.

The writing is fluid, the plot tight and the characters surprisingly complicated with out being terribly convoluted even if all of the characters are damaged in some way.  On some level, you have to admire them because they have found ways to function and cope. 

These are quintessentially lonely people who almost in spite of themselves begin to recover.  At some point each of them realizes that somehow happiness has crept up on them.  Even when they know that happiness never lasts.

As a sideline, one of my favorite aspects of the book are the recipes between the chapters.  They are bound to make you salivate -- especially if you love good Southwestern/Mexican cooking the way I do.  I might actually try a couple of them. 

O'Neal not only loves food, but she obviously loves the Southwest; particularly Colorado and New Mexico.  Her descriptions of the scenery are beautiful and evocative.  Made me want to take a quick trip to Aspen and/or Santa Fe.

This is a story of recovery, new starts and taking chances.  It will make you laugh and cry.  And I guarantee you these characters will haunt you long after you finish the last chapter. This is a great read; don't miss it!

Here are the publishers notes:

In this sumptuous new novel, Barbara O’Neal offers readers a celebration of food, family, and love as a woman searches for the elusive ingredient we’re all hoping to find….

It’s the opportunity Elena Alvarez has been waiting for–the challenge of running her own kitchen in a world-class restaurant. Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother’s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is–and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own.

Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He’s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don’t die quietly, yet a chance to find happiness at last is worth the risk.

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"Of course, I've Read that Book!" or Readers Lie

Shocking news last week!

According to a BBC poll 46% of men and 33% of women admit to lying about what they have read. In other words about 40% of the population would rather impress you than tell the truth about their reading habits.

Seems men want to appear intellectual or romantic and women want to make a good first impression.  Men are impressed by women who read news sites and women are impressed by men who read Shakespeare.  Hmmmm!

Of course this brings up a question for me.  What do you do about those books that you just can't make your self finish?  You know, the ones you bought, read the first (and possibly the last chapter) and then quit.  Does that count as having read it?

This is my dilemma:  Is it necessary to read every word of a book to consider it read?  Does skimming count?

Did I really read A Thousand Splendid Suns?  I read the first three chapters, skimmed the middle and read the last chapter. . . I wanted to read it; but somehow I just couldn't make myself do it. My mind kept wandering.

Does it count that I picked up The Forgotten Man and after a couple of chapters found it too depressing to keep going on?

I mean, I really wanted to like My Jesus Year.  But unfortunately Benyamin Cohen is no A. J. Jacobs. And no matter how much I would like it to be, My Jesus Year is no substitute for The Year of Living Biblically.  I actually made it about half way through; did I read it?

Then of course there is the problem of memory.  As a life long prodigious reader, I would be hard put tell you exactly what I have read or not read.

And finally, there is the movie adaptation thing. . . Did I read The Hours or do I just remember the movie?  Actually this is one I know.  I read the first couple of chapters and threw the book in the trash in disgust.  Turns out, however, that I loved the movie.  Can I say I read it?

No matter how you answer these questions, the fact remains that the desire to look good will always trump the thirst for knowledge.  Always has, always will.  And not all books or writers are equal.  For every great best seller there is one that is "literary" and boring. And face it, some books make better movies than books.

And -- just so you know -- I almost never write reviews of books I haven't read.

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Armageddon in Retrospect (eBook edition)

When it comes to Kurt Vonnegut, I am not exactly a dispassionate reviewer.  I admit it, up front, I am a fan. 

Reading Kurt Vonnegut's Cats Cradle was a transformative literary experience in my young (15 years old) life. 

so even if Slaughterhouse Five  was his "break through" book, I have a special affinity for his earlier works:  Cats Cradle and Player Piano.  They will always be my favorites.

Last week, timed to the first anniversary of Kurt's death, Armageddon In Retrospect was released.  This is a collection of never before published Vonnegut stories loosely themed on the horrors of war, the importance of peace and the experience of being a prisoner of war..

The book starts with a wonderful piece by Mark Vonnegut talking about his Dad.  He reminds us of his father's incredible gift as a storyteller and his love and admiration come through in every line.  The introduction all by its self makes the book worth buying.

The book contains twelve pieces in all:  His last speech, a copy of a letter to his parents, three stories about POWs that explore the thin line between complicity and survival and more.  There is a wonderful story about hunger and food obsessed GIs along with a couple of dark of reflective pieces written about the aftermath of war in times of peace.  The rest of the book covers some familiar Vonnegut territory:  four stories about the bombing of Dresden which are the precursors of Slaughterhouse Five and a piece that is clearly the beginnings of what later because Mother Night.

The thing that struck me most was how serious these pieces are.  The publisher claims that they are written with "Vonnegut's trademark rueful humor."  I disagree.  These pieces are full of raw emotion.  They are certainly funny in places, but it is obvious that Vonnegut has not yet developed his more dispassionate ironic observer persona or rueful voice.

It would have been nice if there had more connective material in the book like information about when these pieces were written.  But that is a minor complaint.

They are, finally, incredibly disturbing, powerful and primitive. I have no idea how a "regular person" would view them but for a Vonnegut fan they are a fascinating study in how a writer develops this voice and his craft.  

Here's the official stuff:

To be published on the first anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut's death in April 2007, Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace.

Written with Vonnegut's trademark rueful humor, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II-a piece that is as timely today as it was then-to a painfully funny story about three privates and their fantasies of the perfect first meal upon returning home from war; to a darker and more poignant story about the impossibility of shielding our children from the temptations of violence.

This is a volume that says as much about the times in which we live as it does about the genius of the man who wrote it. Also included here is Vonnegut's last speech, as well as an assortment of his drawings, and an introduction by the author's son, Mark Vonnegut.

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The Good Father eBook edition

The Good Father delivers a punch that left me breathless (and speechless).

I am not sure that the title or the synopsis would have pulled me in if I were not already a Marion Husband fan.  She always creates vibrant characters and solid plot lines.  The Good Father is the latest example of her writing skill.

The book has stayed with me over the last few days. And I have struggled with how to explain it -- both the emotional affect and the actual book. 

The story is VERY British -- placid exterior facades and seething interior lives, quiet suffering and explosive emotions.  All very restrained and mostly proper, at least on the surface. 

The year is 1959 and Ms. Husband returns to the small English town of Thorp.  The story centers on Peter and Jack but with strong side stories about Harry (the lawyer) and Val (the girlfriend).  There are several cameo appearances by characters from other books just to spice things up.  These are multidimensional characters and each one is an integral in telling the whole story.

I have to admit that I didn't figure out the main plot twist -- unusual for me.  The ending actually astonished me.  I kept shaking my head in disbelief.  And yet, upon reflection, I can see that it was really the only ending that made sense.  I am actually thinking about rereading the book to figure out how the author so successfully pulled me through the story without giving herself away.

This is a great "literary fiction" piece that I highly recommend.

Here's the "official stuff":

When Peter Wright's father dies he leaves his entire fortune to Peter's best friend Jack. Over a few weeks in the summer of 1959 the consequences of the old man's legacy seriously affect three men's lives, Jack, who has brought up his three children alone since his wife was killed, Wright's solicitor Harry, who is trying to rebuild his relationship with his estranged son Guy, and Peter himself, whose friendship with Jack is threatened by his father's death and the terrible secrets he has kept since his return from the Japanese POW camps.

The Good Father explores the nature of fatherhood and the bonds between fathers and their children in a gripping story of love, betrayal and adultery.

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Wife for Hire eBook edition

Stephanie Plum and I go back a long way; every since One for the Money, as a matter of fact.  Now, female bounty hunters are not exactly my thing, but Evanovich is an engaging and funny writer and Stephanie is a great companion for a rainy afternoon.

This at least helps to explain why I bought and read Wife for Hire.  To be fair (and accurate), I had several excuses for buying it.  I bought it because:

• I have enjoyed Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series over the years.
• It was raining in the desert (something we haven't seen in a VERY long time) and I wanted to sit by the fire and read.
• You can't always tell how good (or bad) a book will be by reading the synopsis.
• It is on the New York Times Best Seller list -- how bad could it be?

I am going to very carefully avoid the last question and try to to tell you the good things about this book.  It is  a very easy read.  Evanovich's sense of humor is alive and well. It is short -- about 2 hours worth.

Unfortunately, I can't help my self; I have keep going.  Basically I wonder why I wasted the time since this is an especially stupid and silly excuse for a novel.

The whole plot revolves around a man hiring a schoolteacher (who wants to be a novelist) to pose as his wife.  Within three pages he is in love and she's in heat; or maybe it is the other way around.  At any rate there is a lots of heavy breathing, a few kisses but no explicit sex.

I'll save you a couple of hours and tell you that I should have been warned by reading the publishers synopsis:

Hank Mallone knows he's in trouble when Maggie Toone agrees to pretend to be his wife in order to improve his rogue's reputation. Will his harebrained scheme to get a bank loan for his business backfire once Maggie arrives in his small Vermont town and lets the gossips take a look?

Maggie never expected her employer to be drop-dead handsome, but she's too intrigued by his offer to say no . . . and too eager to escape a life that made her feel trapped. The deal is strictly business, both agree, until Hank turns out to be every fantasy she ever had.

Call me old fashioned, but if I am going to read a "bodice ripper'" I want a few costumes, a castle or manor house and an occasional Lord or Lady thrown in.

Not everyone will agree with me, however, and if you are looking for a no-brainier or a cheap stocking stuffer this will do (barely). 

This is definitely not one of her better works!  If it had been my intro to Evanovich, I promise it would be my last attempt to read anything she has ever written. Fortunately she has grown as an author.

Wife for Hire is one of her early books that has been re-released for the holidays.  It is striking how much better Evanovich has gotten at her craft. The writing in the Stephanie Plum series is light years better than this!

If I were less of a cynic I would wonder why Harper Collins resurrected this early 90s Loveswept romance.  But then -- I bought it,  didn't I?

Professional Books Reviews vs The Citizen Book Review

Been reading a lot lately on the “tragedy” of newspaper cutbacks in book sections with a corresponding drop in literary books reviews and a great deal of moaning about citizen reviewers.

Because we live in the 21st century, there is a campaign involved: The National Book Critics Circle Campaign to Save Book Reviews. John Freeman of the NBCC explains that they must “become activists in order to ensure that these venues are going to be around in the future."

The NBCC consider their job a formal erudite, discipline and they are appalled at the informal, free-for-all amateur reviews that crop up on the web and in places like Amazon.

All this chatter came into focus this weekend as I read the New York Times Book Review. There was a piece on Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee as reviewed by LIESL SCHILLINGER. Ms Schillinger has impeccable credentials -- she is after all a writer and a graduate of Yale with a degree in comparative literature.

I waded through her very academic review with a lot of high minded stuff about feminism, Middlemarch, Trollope and Henry James. All very scholarly and VERY dry!

There was NOT one sentence in the review that made me want to read the book. That really caught my attention!

I finished the book a week or so ago, and have told anyone who would listen that it is “the best fiction I’ve read this year”.

This is a extraordinary story about being the perpetual outsider, about living in the modern world with the inbred values of the old, of finding a place that is comfortable for you (under your own terms). It is an exploration of racism and prejudice from both sides of the equation.

Consider Casey Han. She wants to please her parents and be a modern woman. She wants glamour and insight but she also wants respectability and success. She wants to earn her own way but she wants luxury (expensive) clothing. She wants to be accepted in the non-Korean world but yet she cannot escape her Korean (and more importantly her immigrant) heritage.

With all these contradictions it is no wonder that she is forever shooting her self in the foot and creating pain and chaos for herself in both her personal and business relationships.

Her life is constantly in contrast with her “perfect” almost friend Ella. She is wildly ambivalent about who Ella is and how she (Casey) should relate to her. After all Ella seems to do everything right; she even marries a successful Korean investment banker and has a child.

Did I mention that there are passages that our laugh out loud funny. Casey, as the narrator of her life, has an angry, witty, often self depreciating sense of humor.

The official synopsis reads like this: Casey Han's four years at Princeton gave her many things, "But no job and a number of bad habits." Casey's parents, who live in Queens, are Korean immigrants working in a dry cleaner, desperately trying to hold on to their culture and their identity. Their daughter, on the other hand, has entered into rarified American society via scholarships. But after graduation, Casey sees the reality of having expensive habits without the means to sustain them. As she navigates Manhattan, we see her life and the lives around her, culminating in a portrait of New York City and its world of haves and have-nots.

Free Food for Millionaires is avaiable as an eBook in the eBooks About Everything store.

Which bring me back to reviewers. . .

Literary criticism is a great intellectual discipline. Lofty, scholarly discourse about the significance of a particular book may even have a certain value. But I am not convinced that the citizen reviewers degrade the value of the professional reviewer’s work. These citizen reviews have a different and equally valid perspective on how to view a book. They are more concerned with things like readability, voice and experience. Go to Amazon and read some citizen reviews.

These lowly citizens get it. For most us a book doesn’t have to be literary; it just has to be a damn good read. Free Food for Millionaires is!