The Place of Shining Light

Finished July 21
The Place of Shining Light by Nazneen Skeikh

This book has suspense, romance, and spiritual enlightenment.
There are several related storylines that the reader follows here. One of them is that of Khalid, a Pakistan antiquities dealer, who steals to order, makes very good fakes, and engages in illegal import and export of art. His wife Sofia loves him very much, but is happy with a simple life, and still cooks all the meals for the household, even when he has numerous guests. Khalid has two sons, one of whom, Hamza, lives overseas and works for the family business from there. The other Hassan, is the apple of Sofia's eye, but a disappointment to Khalid who finds him a playboy who is always asking for financial handouts. Khalid relies on his nephew Faisal as his closest confidante in all business matters.
Adeel is an ex-military officer who has been hired by Khalid to steal a Buddhist statue from Bamiyan (the place of shining light). Adeel is a reliable young man, very close to his mother, who has done work like this before. This time however, the statue causes him to have a spiritual awakening, affecting him in a way he has never felt before. He wants to keep the statue for himself.
Ghalid is a wealthy land-owner, a wannabe politician, with a predilection for young boys and girls, preying on the people of his own village. He is not well-liked locally, partly due to his predation, and partly due to the lack of help he has given the locals over time.
As Khalid tries to track Adeel and the statue when they go missing, he engages both his military contacts that recommended Adeel, and a more criminal element that may have connections to the Taliban.
Adeel is resourceful and has many skills, but when he finds himself joined by a young woman who is looking for a new life, he finds both himself both exasperated and attracted.
An engaging novel with a lot of interesting characters.

Hope Has Two Daughters

Finished July 18
Hope Has Two Daughters by Monia Mazigh, translated from French by Fred A. Reed

This author is the wife of Maher Arar, a Canadian man imprisoned, tortured, and cleared of terrorism charges. Monia was thrust into the limelight during her fight for her husband and his rights.
This novel takes place in two time periods: 1984, and 2010-2011, both periods of revolution in Tunisia. In 1984 Nadia is in her final year in the lycee when a short-lived revolution takes place. Nadia has been exposed to a wide variety of books and thinking through her father's extensive library, and finds her actions lead to her suspension from school. She begins studying English at the American Cultural Center where she meets a young Canadian man, Alex, who is adding technology to the school's library. Nadia's best friend Neila has been dating a young man Mounir, who is from the disadvantaged part of town, Ettadamoun Township, and has been studying to be a lawyer. Mounir is implicated in the uprising and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Nadia finds that her future in Tunisia is limited due to her actions, and believes moving to Canada as Alex urges her to do is a wise move despite her parents' feelings.
In the more recent time period, Nadia's daughter Lila is visiting Tunisia for the summer to improve her Arabic. She is staying with her mother's old friend Neila and her husband, but finds the school boring and not offering the learning she expected. When she is unexpectedly befriended by a neighbour woman her own age, she finds herself drawn into a new group of friends, young people who come from both the wealthy neighbourhood and Ettadamoun Township, and who believe the time is ripe for a new kind of society, beginning with the revolution dubbed the Arab Spring.
As both mother and daughter go through their own enlightenment during each revolution, they also find the Arab Spring bringing them together not only with each other, but with family and friends.
A very useful glossary to terminology is supplied at the back of the book.

Happiness for Beginners

Finished July 16
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

Helen Carpenters is 32. She's been divorced for a year from her immature husband Mike. She's trying to figure out how to give herself a kickstart to a new beginning, and decided to sign up for a wilderness survival course that her younger brother Duncan mentioned. When she gets to Duncan's to drop off her dog, she finds that he has forgotten entirely (typical for him) and she must take the dog to her vet to board. She also finds that Duncan's long-time best friend James is also going to the course and is expecting to drive out to Wyoming with her.
Helen is disgruntled by all these surprises, especially as she was looking forward to some solo driving time to belt out the tunes, and a good visit with her grandmother, who brought up her and Duncan in Evanston, along the way. She gets more surprises along the way, from James, from her beloved Grandma Gigi, and from the company, BCSC, who is running the course.
Helen finds the group taking the course mostly consists of university students: guys wanting a near death experience to fuel their adrenaline, and sorority girls wanting to tone their bodies. She ends up befriending a young woman named Windy, beautiful and nice, and a good listener. The challenges of the trek are daunting to many: no soap, no washing, no deodorant, no toilet paper, sleeping under tarps rather than in tents, and only one book each. But Helen welcomes these, reading the company's guide as her book, and relying on the advice in Chuck Norris jokes she has grown to know from her boss at work. She also learns that she must deal with all the issues of her past to move forward.
This is a story of learning one's strengths, working as a team, and recognizing that we sometimes need help in recognizing love when it comes along.

A Greyhound of a Girl

Finished July 14
A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle never fails to grip me with his stories. Here Mary O'Hara, twelve years old, is doubly unhappy. Her best friend, Ava, moved to another part of Dublin and the two girls won't see each other daily as they were used to. And Mary's grandmother, Emer, who she is close to, is in hospital dying. As Mary walks home from the school bus, past the group of chestnut trees near her home, a woman she's never seen before appears among the trees and speaks to her. At first, Mary thinks that it is an older woman, but as she gets closer, she realizes that the woman is just wearing old-fashioned clothing. The woman knows who Mary is, and gives her a message for her grandmother. She says "Tell your granny, it'll all be grand."
Mary lives with her parents and two older brothers. Her mother, Scarlett, talks in exclamation marks most of the time, something that Mary lets her know frankly. Mary's brother's are lumbering, exuberant, and shy with woman. They are Dominic, 14 and Kevin, 16, but seem to Mary to have become a different species lately, going by the nicknames Dommo and Killer. After a snack, Mary and Scarlett head off to the hospital to visit granny.
When Mary meets the strange woman the next afternoon, she has to admit that she forgot to pass on the message, and the woman, identifying herself as Tansy, makes herself known to Mary's mother as well. As they both become aware that Tansy is the ghost of Emer's own mother, who died when Emer was very young, they together commit to a road trip to the past of the four generations of women.
This is a tale of love, and comfort, with many touches of humour. We see Tansy and Emer's lives in more detail as we go back in the past.
The book copy I got described itself for all ages from nine up, and I totally agree with that. A keeper.

The Garden of Small Beginnings

Finished July 13
The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

Lilian Girvan is a single mom, widowed suddenly three years earlier when her husband Dan was killed in a car accident near home. She's always been close to her sister Rachel, but when she collapsed in mourning following the accident, Rachel stepped in to support her and look after Lilian's two young daughters. Now, Annabel is 7 and Clare is 5. Lilian works as an illustrator for a small textbook publisher, Poplar Press. She also has a lovable dog named Frank and a long-time babysitter named Leah. Rachel works for an art importer, and plays the field.
Lilian has recently been asked to take on the illustration job for a book on vegetables by the Bloom Company, which sells flowers and seeds. One of the corporate owners is running a free gardening course on Sundays over six weeks at the local botanical gardens, and Lilian's boss wants her to go. While children are allowed, Lilian asks Rachel to look after the girls, but Rachel thinks it is a better idea to come along.
The group taking the course is small, consisting of two retired teachers, Francis and Eloise; a retired banker, Gene; a young man who seems into nature, Mike; and a single mom Angie, who brings along her 5-year-old son Bash after the first week. The teacher is also young, part of the Dutch family who owns the company, Edward. There is also an assistant, who helps with a lot of the physical work and garden preparation, Bob, whom the women immediately dub "impossibly handsome."
The dynamic between these characters make up the substance of the book as when Lilian asks Edward for advice improving her own garden, the group takes turns going to each member's home after their weekly class and doing a project on each garden.
Each chapter starts with helpful gardening advice, and there is lots of humour in the plot.
A feel-good novel about the power of nature and friendship to heal.

The Last Wave

Finished July 12
The Last Wave by Gillian Best

This novel moves around in time from 1947 to the present. Martha is at the core of the story, which includes her husband John, her children Iain and Harriet, Harriet's partner Iris, and their daughter Myrtle, and Martha and John's neighbor Henry.
Martha became a swimmer at a young age after a new drowning incident in 1947. This incident brought out a reaction in her father and her taking swimming lessons helped calm his feelings around it. Martha found the sea to be a natural fit and she increased her distance and endurance simply for the love of the act itself. She had never thought of swimming competitively until an insistent reporter, looking for a story, put it in her head. But marriage was imminent for the young Martha at that point and she turned her back to the sea to take on the role of wife and mother. Ten years later, the call became too strong, and she broke out of the traditional role she had chosen to take on the challenge of swimming the English Channel. By the end of her life, she had swum across the channel ten times, and tackled health and aging issues. For Martha, the sea is an escape from her life, a calming influence, a place that she can stop thinking and just be.
This is a story of relationships, of intolerance, of anger and regret, of families and those who become family through the act they take on for us. A wonderful book

The Whole Town's Talking

Finished July 10
The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg

This novel takes place in Elwood Springs, Missouri as many of her novels do, but this one covers more time and takes a different view.
The book starts in 1889 with Lordor Nordstrom, the found of Elwood Springs as he settles in the United States, and starts a community that includes many other Swedes, but also those immigrants from other backgrounds. It tells of his search for a wife, one that has the support and assistance of the other men and women of the small community. As Lordor looks at the community, he picks a place on a hill in town with a pleasant view in all directions, and donates it for a cemetery, calling it Still Meadows. It introduces us to his friends and neighbours: Birdie and Lars Swenson, Henry and Nancy Knott, Old Man Henderson, and many others.
The story takes us through the years, with each new generation moving in, and learning about them, but until 1911 when the first town person was interred in the cemetery this is just background. Because something special happens to those buried here, and the reader will enjoy the premise of this story as it takes us up to 2021.
This is a story about community, about what life is really about, and about lasting love. I really enjoyed it, especially the little twist at the end.

Heather, The Totality

Finished July 7
Heather, The Totality by Matthew Weiner

This short novel is told in five parts, with two storylines that come together.
One storyline is Heather's, and it begins with the meeting of her parents Mark and Karen. Their date was a setup. Mark's dad was a high school football coach, perpetually disappointed in Mark for his lack of sports prowess. This made Mark determined to be a success in business and he applied himself to that goal diligently. Karen was in PR and also a hard worker, but a successful career wasn't a goal for her, and she was quite happy to take on the role of society wife and mother. Heather is the center of their lives.
The second storyline follows Robert (Bobby) Klasky, beginning with his childhood as the son of a single mom in Newark. His mom was a promiscuous drug-user, and he grew up having to fend for himself, and having a decided lack of social skills. He spent some time in jail after a social misunderstanding that led to an assault, but managed to stay away from the life of crime many of his peers led. He learned how to run a forklift and worked in construction.
The main action of the book as the story lines come together occurs as Heather is fourteen. She is a pretty girl, but also smart and well-liked. She is on the debate team and cares about people. The condo building that she and her parents live in is undergoing major renovation, but her father is too stubborn to move out during this phase as most of the other condo owners have. Karen is finding herself more at loose ends now that Heather is more independent, and is thinking of ending her marriage which she no longer finds fulfilling. Mark is also unhappy with the marriage, but not sure how to fix things. When he notices a young man on the construction crew eyeing Heather with interest, he is determined to deal with the situation himself.
And that changes a great deal.

Cottage Cheese Thighs

Finished July 6
Cottage Cheese Thighs by Jenn Sadai

I took my time reading this book to think about the issues that Jenn highlights here. This is a book about body image, and about the society pressures around women's body image. It is also a memoir of Jenn's only journey from yoyo dieting to meet these unrealistic body images, and her move aware from that dynamic to a more realistic, healthy, and happier life loving her body, taking care of it, and not worrying about external judgments. Other than for the purposes of the book to show her change in lifestyle is not one of denial, she also eschews the use of a scale in her life.
Jenn used an image of her own body for the book cover, and had to veer away from some of her new choices to show the "cottage cheese" look she wanted.
She talks to other women, friends and acquaintances about the need to stop letting media dictate what a woman's body should be and love our own bodies for the work they do for us. Yes, that means giving them healthy fuel to do that work, but it doesn't mean giving up all tasty foods in chasing an unrealistic ideal.
Her message is a good one, and I hope that others will read this book and think hard about the way they treat their own bodies.

The Twenty-Three

Finished July 5
The Twenty-Three by Linwood Barclay

This is the third and final novel in the trilogy that started with Broken Promise and continued with Far From True. The book starts in a very dramatic way, with detailed descriptions of several people as they start their day as normal only to find things going horribly wrong. A librarian is one of the first people to die. As the reader gradually begins to suspect that there is large-scale poisoning of some sort going on, we look at all the players that we found in the first two novels. David Harwood, living with his son Ethan and his parents is worried about a woman he's come to have feelings for, and her son.
Cal Weaver is worried about his sister Celeste and the unfriendly attitude of his brother-in-law, but he also has strong feelings for the little girl Lucy Brighton that he met recently. When Lucy telephones him for help, he knows that he must assist this special girl that he's made a strong connection with.
Marla Pickens, still recovering from the dramatic events that restored her son to her, worries about her father Gill, as well as her young son Matthew.
George Lydecker's parents worry about where he is, now that he's been missing for longer than they've known him to be before.

Detective Barry Duckworth, worries about his son Trevor, and about the community in general. He's also beginning to put together some of the pieces to the puzzling crimes in the town. While the boyfriend of a cold case murder victim is starting to pull himself together after years of guilt and sadness, his girlfriend's father has finally given up trying to help him. 

Duckworth finds that a new murder victim with the same look as two previous unsolved murders may hold the key to finally finding the killer. The larger community catastrophe of the mass poisoning also has him making the connections to finally figure out the meaning of the number 23 that has been appearing all over town. 

At the college, the new head of security finds a lot on her plate as well, and she works closely with Duckworth to make the crimes occurring on campus get the attention they needed all along. 

Lots going on here, grief and relief, but the ending leaves us with new questions.