Lying to Children

Title:  Lying to Children

Author:  Alex Shahla

Publication Information:  Fitzwilde LLC. 2017. 344 pages.

ISBN:  0997796529 / 978-0997796520

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Dear Annabelle and Peter, Not all books start at the end, but this one does."

Favorite Quote:  "Never forget, I love you just as much on your worst day as I do on your best day."

This book had me laughing on page 1, and I really did not stop until the end. The book defines itself on its first page:  "This is my side of the story. On day when you tell your future significant others, children, or therapists what horrible parents your mother and I were and how we ruined your lives, this book might help to exonerate us. It's what people who make mistakes call 'context.' And I've made plenty of mistakes, so I'm definitely in need of a lot of content. What follows is a series of vignettes - let's call them explanations for my actions, which often lack reason and always lack foresight - of what really happened while your mother and I were raising you."

What are the "lies" parents tell their children? In this book they cover the range of childhood. Daddy loves his job. If I kiss it, it will make it better. If you put a tooth under your pillow, a magical fairy will bring you money. The dog went to live on a farm with your goldfish where they'll have more room to run around. The doctor is not going to hurt you. I'm happy you moved out of the house and are going to college. These are some of the fifteen "lies" around which this book is based. As the beginning of the book suggests, each one can stand alone, like a collection of essays with a memoir like quality. That makes this book easy to pick up and put down. It also makes it more challenging to read all the way through quickly because there is a similarity to all the vignettes. Individually, they are all funny and fun to read so treat it as more a collection of stories and less a book to be read start to end.

So, my context in reading and reviewing this book. I am a parent and have personally lived through stories such as these. So, I totally relate to the parent in the book. I have my own stories of my children's childhoods and the things we did or did not do as parents to keep them safe and happy and to raise them into decent human beings. It continues to be a work in progress.

What I really appreciate about the book is the repeated refrain of love throughout the book. The words "I love you" are repeated often. The feeling is reflected in all the myriad of things this father is willing to do for the joy of his children. That again is something I totally relate to, and that I hope my children always see. Underlying everything - whether it be silliness, fun, anger, disappointment - is unconditional love.

Interestingly, I enjoy this book as a parent, but I plan on sharing it with my children. I think adult children, even those who are not parents themselves, will see and appreciate the humor in the other side of the story. Finding a book that appeals to me and that I think will also appeal to my children is always a wonderful thing. Book discussions sometimes spur the best conversations that go far and beyond the book, and it is always joyful to find laughter to share. That is no lie.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Best of Adam Sharp

Title:  The Best of Adam Sharp

Author:  Graeme Simsion

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2017. 336 pages.

ISBN:  1250130409 / 978-1250130402

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "If my life prior to February 15, 2012, had been a song, it might have been 'Hey Jude,' a simple piano tune, taking my sad and sorry adolescence and making it better."

Favorite Quote:  "And know your BATNA ... Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. What you'll end up with if the deal falls over - if the opportunity hadn't come along in the first place. The rule is:  don't make a deal unless it's going to give you a better future than you'll have without it."

First things first. The Best of Adam Sharp is nothing like The Rosie Project or The Rosie Effect. Yes, the book is centered on one main male character. That's about the only similarity. So, remove that expectation and then decide if this is a book for you.

Adam Sharp is a middle aged man in a long-term committed relationship. The book moves back and forth between two periods in his life - the present when an old flame who is not his current partner reaches out to him after twenty years and twenty years previously when that flame was still new.

Adam Sharp met Angelina Brown when he was on a work assignment in Australia. He was in Australia temporarily. She was living with her fame as an actress. She was also married. Sparks flew, and a relationship ensued.

Fast forward twenty years. Adam's relationship with Angelina was not to be. He is back home in England in a relationship with Claire. They have been together for years and are comfortable together. "We were a functioning household. We didn't fight; we enjoyed meals together on the weekends; we look out for each other. Good friends. Nobody writes songs about those things, but there is a lot to be said for them." However, are sparks still flying? That question becomes even bigger when out of the blue, Angelina reaches out to Adam again.

He is in a relationship. She is married. Where is this to lead? A trip down memory lane. A mid-life crisis. A regret for the path not taken. A dream of what might have been. A game of what if. A ditching of current responsibilities to run off into the sunset. The answer could be any one of these.

The book takes a circuitous and sometimes odd route getting there, but the end packages the answer in a nice neat package. Some of the turns, however, particularly the role of Angelina's husband and what happens in France, are not really for me. To paraphrase a saying, what happens in France stays in France. To each, his or her own. Unfortunately, that turn really takes the book in a direction, going from a sweet, reflective story about relationships and turns into a book on sexual encounters of a kind most definitely not for me. It's odd, not in keeping with Graeme Samson's other writing, and unnecessary to the story. It turns a memory of a young love into something else entirely.

A saving grace of the book is that the book has a soundtrack. As the author's notes says, "it is also a nod to the music and musicians that contributed so much to the life of my generation. If you don't know the songs in this book, I encourage you to download them and listen as you read:  there is a playlist at the end." The playlist is pretty long and has many songs that I know and enjoy. The playlist  exists in a number of online music services. Just search the name of the book. So, I took the author's advice and listened while I read. The book may not have been for me, but much of the playlist is.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Trophy Son

Title:  Trophy Son

Author:  Douglas Brunt

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2017. 288 pages.

ISBN:  1250114802 / 978-1250114808

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "In the end, man shapes the world, but the world gets the first crack at us."

Favorite Quote:  "I wondered then what hero meant. what does it take to be the hero of your own life? choice, certainly. You have to be in charge of  your life to be the hero of it. What if you make bad choices, or just-below-average choices? Do you need to reach the cheese to be the hero, and then what the hell is the cheese anyway? Self understanding? Happiness? A Wimbledon title? Could the cheese be to perform one noble act in an otherwise unremarkable life spent not in charge of it?"

First, a disclaimer. I enjoy watching tennis, but am not an avid fan tracking the sport. I am not that avid a fan of any sport, but I do enjoy watching a good competition in any sport. As such, my reading of the book clearly differs from that of an avid tennis fan. In other words, as with any other book, the reader's background impacts their enjoyment. This is true of any book, but I feel the topic of this one merits a disclaimer.

Second, another disclaimer. This book is a work of fiction even though the first person narration makes it sound like a memoir. In addition, reference is made by name to actual major, world class tennis players. References are made to their choices which I have never heard in the news or heard associated with those names. Substance abuse is a serious business. It might be naive to think that major sports are all clean, and this book is clearly marketing as fiction. However, the name-dropping adds nothing to the story, but even fiction should be limited in the liberties it takes while naming names and alleging wrongdoing.

Disclaimers aside, I read this book more for the family story than the sports story. Anton Stratis is not your average teenager. He has been groomed to be an elite tennis player and to fulfill the dream of winning that this parents as former Olympic athletes could not achieve. Anton practises for hours on end. Tennis takes precedence over school. Tennis takes precedence over friends. Tennis takes precedence over family. Pretty much, tennis takes precedence over everything. In a nutshell, tennis has been Anton's entire life as directed by his father. As Antons grows up, he wishes for what he feels is a more "normal" life of school, parties, friends, and relationship. 

The description of the book leads more towards the family story not the sports story. I expect it to center on Anton's relationship with his father, his father's drive to make his son a star, and the son's struggle to assert his independence. The book does begin with that, but as the book progresses, the relationship hovers on the periphery of the story. This book really becomes about Anton growing up in the world of elite athletes. It is about the choices he makes as his life expands beyond the world of tennis. It begins as a child rebelling against a parent and ends with an adult make choices about the path of his life.

The book is quick read. It is an easy read. The dynamics between Anton, his parents, and his brother are interesting. The details of tennis are voluminous. As a whole, this is a book about extremes. The father's focus on practice is to the point of abuse. The girlfriend is famous and driven in her own career. The substance abuse problem not just exists but extends to everyone. The choices is all or nothing. Everything is an extreme, which in turn means that nothing stands out. Interesting but perhaps a little over the top.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Roanoke Girls

Title:  The Roanoke Girls

Author:  Amy Engel

Publication Information:  Crown. 2017. 288 pages.

ISBN:  1101906669 / 978-1101906668

Book Source:  I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The first time I saw Roanoke was in a dream."

Favorite Quote:  "As a little girl I'd tried to please, tried to live by a simple refrain my mother repeated  like a desperate prayer in my ear:  be good be good be good. But I'd known even then it wouldn't work..."

Jane, Sophia. Penelope. Eleanor. Camilla. Emmeline. Allegra. Lane. These are the Roanoke girls with Allegra and Lane being the youngest generation. Roanoke is a family home that "looked like something an insane person would build..." Lane comes to Roanoke for the first time as a teenager when her mother's death leaves her orphaned. At that time, Allegra is the only other Roanoke girl in residence. Lane loses her mother as a teenager while Allegra lost her as a toddler. Lane has known another life while Roanoke is all Allegra has.

Their grandparents Yates and Lilian are raising them both. A friendship blossoms between Lane and Allegra. So does a rivalry as is likely to happen at that age. Lane also learns the dark history of the Roanoke girls. They either run or die. All of them. Things happen; a rift happens; and Lane leaves, promising never to return. Lane runs.

Fast forward many years. Lane finally returns for Allegra has disappeared. Did she die or did she run? What underlies the darkness at Roanoke? Set in a small town in Kansas, that is the premise of this book. This premise underlies many a wonderful family and small town stories. Like other books in the genre, the book moves between past and present. Reading such a book is the process of slowly peeling back the years of history to finally get at the answer. Sometimes, the answer is satisfactory and sometimes not. More often than not, the process of getting there makes for an interesting read.

The biggest issue with this book is that it drops a bombshell near the beginning of the book as to the reason for the history of the Roanoke girls. It's difficult to discuss without a spoiler, but let's just say, the answer is a disturbing topic so reader beware. More than that, its placement in the book removes much of the mystery surrounding these young women and, as such, removes much of the interest from the book. Even more than that, after the big reveal, the book proceeds in a relatively predictable manner; no further surprises really come except for the extent to which the darkness prevailed in that household. Even at the end, the books wraps up this twisted family into a neat package of hope for the future - neither satisfying not realistic. Although not graphic, the repeated explanations of what happens at Roanoke conjures up disturbing images I wish I could unsee.

The crux of engaging in a book about an emotionally charged topic is engaging with the characters. The characters in this book fall into four groups. The townspeople who have no idea what goes on in their midst. Those who suffer. Those who inflict suffering. Those who watch and allow it to happen. The book is narrated through Lane's eyes who falls into one of these groups, but I fin her a difficult character to engage with. She is one of the Roanoke girls but perhaps not the most interesting one. Through her eyes, the rest of the story then becomes a distanced and somewhat limiting view.

 All these things combined with the unpalatable topic makes this a challenge book to finish.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Extraordinary Adventures

Title:  Extraordinary Adventures

Author:  Daniel Wallace

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2017. 336 pages.

ISBN:  125011845X / 978-1250118455

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The news came just after dinner via a telephone call from a representative of an organization called Extraordinary Adventures."

Favorite Quote:  "As impossible as it may have seemed months ago, there was a remote chance that he could have been here with any one of three women ... She was the only one he would have wanted to remember having gone with."

A promise of a free vacation to a resort in exchange for listening to a time share marketing pitch.
A somewhat clueless and apparently friendless main character.
A mother who paraded "uncles" in front of her young son.
A dug up skeleton of a childhood pet.
A robbery of an apartment.

All this within the first few chapters of the book with an expectation of more to come. The first two sounds doable; the rest, not so much.

Edsel Bronfman (what a name!) is the main character. The book opens when Edsel receives a phone call saying he has won a free stay at a resort. There are two caveats. The first is that he must listen to a time share marketing pitch for the resort. Just listen. That's it. Easy enough. The second is that the stay is for two. Edsel must bring a companion on this adventure. Therein lies the issue. Edsel cannot think of one single person that he could or would want to ask. He seems to have no friends. He would definitely not ask his mother. He probably cannot ask a coworker. What to do? Edsel Bronfman has seventy nine days to figure it out because he cannot let this free offer go by.

Books about quirky but endearing characters are a common story line, particularly since the success of The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. This book is another in the same genre.  Unfortunately, instead of quirky and endearing, the characters in this book are simply odd and sometimes a little creepy. This is true particularly towards the beginning of the book when as a reader, I invest in the characters. Books about odd and creepy characters can sometimes be quite the adventure to. Unfortunately, this one does not reach that goal either for its aim is to charm and amuse. The goal of the book and the setup of the story clash and draw me away from the book. Instead of being charmed, I find myself putting the book down and walking away. It takes some doing to come back to it.

The book aims for a journey of self-discovery and growth as thirty-four year old Edsel Bronfman seeks to find himself a companion. His interactions with his mother sadly point to an emotionally abusive childhood. As an adult, he finds himself her only caretaker as she declines further and further into dementia. As an adult, it is now Edsel's time to find his path. It is an interesting premise, but somehow, I find myself just not connecting with the character at all. Again, I find myself putting the book down and walking away.

The book also aims for a romantic comedy as Edsel's inexperience with the ladies is on full display in his feeble attempts to reach out in friendship. This aspect of the book has the expected highs and lows and a predictable ending.

Both the self-discovery and the sweet love story do emerge in the book, but the beginning and the lack of engagement with the characters unfortunately make it very difficult to get there. By that time, I find myself completely uninvolved in Edsel's story. Sadly, not much to say other than that this was not the extraordinary adventure for me.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Bedlam Stacks

Title:  The Bedlam Stacks

Author:  Natasha Pulley

Publication Information:  Bloomsbury USA. 2017. 336 pages.

ISBN:  1620409674 / 978-1620409671

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Although I hadn't been shot at for years, it took me a long time to understand that the bang wasn't artillery."

Favorite Quote:  "Stop looking at it as an impossible thing and start looking at it as a thing that must be done."

Bedlam - noun meaning a scene of uproar and confusion, or, in archaic use, an insane asylum or madhouse. Bedlam aka Bethlehem - a small village in the hills of Peru. How much one definition has to do with the other, I leave you to discover.

The story on its surface is about Merrick, an adventurer who finds himself depressed and stagnating because of what he considers a career ending injury. A friend offers him a commission on behalf of the East India Company. The treasure being sought is a source of quinine for India; this source is found in the remote regions of Peru. Merrick's expertise and connections are of value for his grandfather once traveled to and lived in these very regions. Merrick is intrigued and agrees to the mission. Things come full circle when the grandson returns to the grandfather's history.

The Bedlam Stacks is the second novel by Natasha Pulley. Her first book, The Watchmaker of Filigree is a dark and atmospheric book that sends you around in circles like the intricacies of the clockwork it features. It is a book set in a fictitious 1800s London but with a somewhat futuristic feel. It begins with a bomb blast and ends focused on a friendship.

In some ways, The Bedlam Stacks is similar. Both are set in the same 1800s universe, but this book begins in England but brings you to the forests of Peru. Both books are very visual tales. Both are centered on a main character, who for the most part is alone in life. Both become focused on a friendship (perhaps more?) between two men of disparate ages. Both involve clockworks as a recurring motif. Certain characters from the first book even make cameo appearances in this one.

In other ways, the comparison between the two books flat. Perhaps, that is a risk of a second novel that attempts to follow the themes and style of a very successful first book. A understandable inclination perhaps but, in this case, for me not a successful one. I requested this book expecting to be carried away as I am by the first, but I was not. Perhaps, that is the book, and perhaps that is my expectations as a reader.

Perhaps the reason is also partly the characters themselves. The clockmaker at the heart of the first book is a character shrouded in mystery. The book develops the character through his relationships. In this book, Raphael (who plays the comparable role) is a much more present character. A mystery about his past is the heart of this story, but the character loses some of his mystery by being so much a part of the story.

Perhaps another reason is that the first book is a mix of the historical setting and a futuristic fantasy with many elements associated with steampunk literature. This book mixes in a lot more - Inca mythology, science fiction about the essence of time, futuristic technology, and magic. The story is still a visual one, but the elements become muddled. Disappointing for I was so looking forward to this book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

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The Witchfinder's Sister

Title:  The Witchfinder's Sister

Author:  Beth Underdown

Publication Information:  Ballantine Books. 2017. 336 pages.

ISBN:  0399179143 / 978-0399179143

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "1645, and the Civil War in England has begun its fourth year."

Favorite Quote:  "Resentment buried is not gone. It is like burying a seed:  for a season it may stay hidden in the dark, but in the end, it will always grow."

The Witchfinder is historical figure Matthew Hopkins. The Witchfinder's sister is Alice, a fictional character. The book is the story of this historical figure told through the perspective of his fictional sister.

Matthew Hopkins lives in the town of Manningtree in Essex in England during the 1600s. England is in the middle of a civil war between the Parliamentarians and the royalists. Suspicion and superstition abound. For many, the objective is to find someone to blame for anything and everything that goes wrong. More often than not, that blame falls on the women, particularly those not living a traditional lifestyle of child rearing and drudgery.

That is where Matthew Hopkins comes in. In his self-appointed role as Witchfinder, it becomes his job to confirm or deny the claim of witchcraft. History tells us that most of the claims were confirmed; in his short career, Matthew Hopkins is said to have been responsible for the death of over 300 women.

Historically, very little is known about Matthew Hopkins' family life. What remains is his mark on history. This book presents a fictional story of what that life would have. It tells of a childhood accident that leaves his scarred, the death of his father that changes the family's circumstances, and Matthew's gradual submersion into this life he chooses. His sister is not marred by visible scars and finds a different path through the same circumstances. Widowed young, she is forced to return and forced to be dependent on his brother. Once back in Manningtree, Alice is pulled more and more into the darkness of the times and the darkness of her brother's choices.

More than Matthew Hopkins' story, this book is Alice's story. It is only her perspective the reader sees. Her emotions and her shock at what she finds in Manningtree after being away for over five year. It is also her conversations and relationships that take center stage in the witch hunt. The much more interesting story would be that of Matthew Hopkins himself, of those proclaimed to be witches, and of the trials. Because of the narrator of the story, the book does not give the broader historical picture and feels like a sideline view of the main plot.

What accentuates this feeling even more is the fact that the pace of the book is very very slow. The first third of the book seems almost all back story. It lasts a little too long and keeps me from engaging for I spend that time waiting to get to the main story.

Even more than Alice's story, this book is the story of the darkness. The writing does a beautiful job of creating a cold and grim picture of the small town of Manningtree. The entire book has an overwhelming dark and somber feeling which carries forward through to the end. The ending too leaves a lingering thought of darkness with one word - Salem. The atmospheric writing is perhaps my favorite part of the book and makes me look forward to seeing what Beth Underdown writes next.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

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