Finished January 30
Songs without Words by Ann Packer, read by Cassandra Campbell
This audiobook is told in the voices of three women, Sarabeth, her good friend Liz, and Liz's daughter Lauren. Liz and Sarabeth have been friends since they were children. First neighbours, then friends, then "almost sisters" when Sarabeth lived with Liz's family her senior year, after the suicide of Sarabeth's mother and her father's move to a new city.
Liz has married and had two kids, deciding to be a stay-at-home mom. Sarabeth has a creative artsy life, working as a home stager and making unique lampshades.
Lauren is caught up in the despair some adolescents encounter, feeling bad about herself and how others see her. As her feeling become apparent to the others in her world, Liz and Sarabeth's relationship also becomes rocky, and they both reexamine their lives.
About friendship, families, the ways we think of ourselves, this book looks at the roles we take and how others see us. A strong and engaging story with good characters.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Great Read
Finished January 28
Tinkers by Paul Harding
This little gem of a book was one I received with my Indiespensable subscription from Powell's. It has two narrators, George Washington Crosby, an elderly man lying on his deathbed and observing the world around him as well as reminiscing about the past. George was a machinist and took up clock repair after retirement, repairing all types of old clocks in his basement workshop. He is surrounded by his family: his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, as well as his sister.
From a time decades in the past, we also see the world from the point of view of George's father, Howard Aaron Crosby, who was an itinerant tinker, travelling the countryside with a mule and wagon. Howard was an epileptic and married to a woman who wasn't happy with her lot in life.
As we see their lives through their own lenses, we see not only how they got to where they ended up, but also how they viewed their own relationship as father and son, the commonalities between generations.
There is also a relationship to nature here that runs through the book.
The writing is lyrical and I found myself slowing down to better enjoy it, and take in all that it was imparting.
Tinkers by Paul Harding
This little gem of a book was one I received with my Indiespensable subscription from Powell's. It has two narrators, George Washington Crosby, an elderly man lying on his deathbed and observing the world around him as well as reminiscing about the past. George was a machinist and took up clock repair after retirement, repairing all types of old clocks in his basement workshop. He is surrounded by his family: his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, as well as his sister.
From a time decades in the past, we also see the world from the point of view of George's father, Howard Aaron Crosby, who was an itinerant tinker, travelling the countryside with a mule and wagon. Howard was an epileptic and married to a woman who wasn't happy with her lot in life.
As we see their lives through their own lenses, we see not only how they got to where they ended up, but also how they viewed their own relationship as father and son, the commonalities between generations.
There is also a relationship to nature here that runs through the book.
The writing is lyrical and I found myself slowing down to better enjoy it, and take in all that it was imparting.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Memoir
Finished January 26
Nothing Was the Same: a memoir by Kay Redfield Jamison
This memoir is a very intimate look at Jamison's life with her late husband Richard. She talks of her own struggles with bipolar disorder and how her husband helped find a way for the two of them to cope with it by applying his scientific mind and methods to it.
She talks frankly about their relationship, how it began and how it progressed, and how much they shared with each other.
She also talks about their struggles with Richard's battles against cancer, how they coped and how their friends helped them in finding assistance and investigating new treatments.
She also talks about how she has coped with Richard's death, about the differences between depression and grief and how her disorder prepared her in some ways to cope with the grief. She talks about how poetry and then music helped. And she talks about how she lives now.
A very frank intimate memoir, this book is well-written and inspiring.
Nothing Was the Same: a memoir by Kay Redfield Jamison
This memoir is a very intimate look at Jamison's life with her late husband Richard. She talks of her own struggles with bipolar disorder and how her husband helped find a way for the two of them to cope with it by applying his scientific mind and methods to it.
She talks frankly about their relationship, how it began and how it progressed, and how much they shared with each other.
She also talks about their struggles with Richard's battles against cancer, how they coped and how their friends helped them in finding assistance and investigating new treatments.
She also talks about how she has coped with Richard's death, about the differences between depression and grief and how her disorder prepared her in some ways to cope with the grief. She talks about how poetry and then music helped. And she talks about how she lives now.
A very frank intimate memoir, this book is well-written and inspiring.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Christmas Mystery
Finished January 26
Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle
The main character here, Clare Cosi, one of the co-owners of a NYC West Village coffee shop, drinks coffee like it was going out of style. Clare owns the store with her ex-husband Matt, in a building owned by her mother-in-law and good friend. Clare also lives in the apartment above the store.
Just before Christmas, Clare and her staff are developing a line of flavoured lattes for the season, and when their neighbourhood Santa (who came up with the idea of the lattes) hasn't shown, Clare goes out to track him down. She finds him alright, but he is dead and the reaction of the police lead her down the road of her own investigation. Clare's significant other is a NYPD detective and while he supports her in trusting her instincts, he also has a big caseload himself, as well as some other issues.
The book includes a lot of information about coffee, including terminology and how-tos. It also includes a bunch of recipes, that sound really good.
Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle
The main character here, Clare Cosi, one of the co-owners of a NYC West Village coffee shop, drinks coffee like it was going out of style. Clare owns the store with her ex-husband Matt, in a building owned by her mother-in-law and good friend. Clare also lives in the apartment above the store.
Just before Christmas, Clare and her staff are developing a line of flavoured lattes for the season, and when their neighbourhood Santa (who came up with the idea of the lattes) hasn't shown, Clare goes out to track him down. She finds him alright, but he is dead and the reaction of the police lead her down the road of her own investigation. Clare's significant other is a NYPD detective and while he supports her in trusting her instincts, he also has a big caseload himself, as well as some other issues.
The book includes a lot of information about coffee, including terminology and how-tos. It also includes a bunch of recipes, that sound really good.
Monday, 25 January 2010
Italian Mystery
Finished January 24
About Face by Donna Leon
This is always one of my favourite series and I enjoy the complexities of the plot and Brunetti's questions around morals and ethics. I also enjoy his family and the interaction between them. The other wonderful things about this series are Venice and the food. I'm always dying to eat Italian after reading one of these books.
This mystery has Brunetti drawn into two investigations that aren't really his. One is a very non-official one where his father-in-law has asked for information on a potential business partner. The other is where a Carabinieri officer has asked for assistance in locating a suspect in a murder. As Brunetti looks into these two, he also looks at who he can trust. We see more of some of the other officers he works with as well as more of his wife's parents.
A joy to read, as usual.
About Face by Donna Leon
This is always one of my favourite series and I enjoy the complexities of the plot and Brunetti's questions around morals and ethics. I also enjoy his family and the interaction between them. The other wonderful things about this series are Venice and the food. I'm always dying to eat Italian after reading one of these books.
This mystery has Brunetti drawn into two investigations that aren't really his. One is a very non-official one where his father-in-law has asked for information on a potential business partner. The other is where a Carabinieri officer has asked for assistance in locating a suspect in a murder. As Brunetti looks into these two, he also looks at who he can trust. We see more of some of the other officers he works with as well as more of his wife's parents.
A joy to read, as usual.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Thoughtful Read
Finished January 22
The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
This book, taking place at Christmas and the days just before it, is a fable that emphasizes what is important in life. When Lou Suffern, an ambitious executive, with his eye on a possible promotion, sees a homeless man on his way into work, he is inexplicably motivated to give him his coffee. Talking with the man, he is intrigued and arranges to give him a job in the company's mailroom. But when the man, Gabe, keeps appearing unexpectedly in Lou's life, Lou begins to wonder what Gabe is angling for and how he seems to be in two places at once.
Lou is struggling to manage his work and personal life and both seem to be slipping out of his grasp. Gabe helps him identify what his true priorities are and gives him the gift of time to fix things in his life while that is still within his power to achieve.
An easy read, but it does get you thinking about what is important in your own life.
The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
This book, taking place at Christmas and the days just before it, is a fable that emphasizes what is important in life. When Lou Suffern, an ambitious executive, with his eye on a possible promotion, sees a homeless man on his way into work, he is inexplicably motivated to give him his coffee. Talking with the man, he is intrigued and arranges to give him a job in the company's mailroom. But when the man, Gabe, keeps appearing unexpectedly in Lou's life, Lou begins to wonder what Gabe is angling for and how he seems to be in two places at once.
Lou is struggling to manage his work and personal life and both seem to be slipping out of his grasp. Gabe helps him identify what his true priorities are and gives him the gift of time to fix things in his life while that is still within his power to achieve.
An easy read, but it does get you thinking about what is important in your own life.
Mystery Audiobook
Finished January 22
Death Wore White by Jim Kelly, read by Roger May
This book has a lot going on. DI Peter Shaw has been teamed up with DS George Valentine, his father's old partner, demoted after the last case the two had.
There are still questions around that last case and the behaviour of the police.
When the two are sent out to the coast to check out hazardous containers that have washed ashore, they find more than they expected. Shaw already has an eye injury from a previous incident with hazardous waste washed ashore. When they find the container he is cautious and they search the beach, only to find a body in an inflatable ding, with human bite wounds.
When Shaw climbs a hill, he also finds a line of stranded traffic on the nearby road. When the two go to the road to find out what has happened, they find many hard to explain things, the largest of which is a dead body in the lead vehicle, with no footprints leaving the vehicle.
As the cases expand, and intersect in interesting ways, and another body is found we see into the heads of the two detectives and the motivations that drive them.
This was a very interesting book, with no easy answers.
Death Wore White by Jim Kelly, read by Roger May
This book has a lot going on. DI Peter Shaw has been teamed up with DS George Valentine, his father's old partner, demoted after the last case the two had.
There are still questions around that last case and the behaviour of the police.
When the two are sent out to the coast to check out hazardous containers that have washed ashore, they find more than they expected. Shaw already has an eye injury from a previous incident with hazardous waste washed ashore. When they find the container he is cautious and they search the beach, only to find a body in an inflatable ding, with human bite wounds.
When Shaw climbs a hill, he also finds a line of stranded traffic on the nearby road. When the two go to the road to find out what has happened, they find many hard to explain things, the largest of which is a dead body in the lead vehicle, with no footprints leaving the vehicle.
As the cases expand, and intersect in interesting ways, and another body is found we see into the heads of the two detectives and the motivations that drive them.
This was a very interesting book, with no easy answers.
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