The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

A number of people receive invitations to move into a new apartment building with low rent and wonderful amenities—even a doorman. There is commercial space for those who would like to open a business, and some do.  Some of the apartments have a view of the old Westing house, a largely deserted mansion where wealthy businessman Samuel Westing used to live before he moved away.

One day, some of the tenants see smoke from the chimney.

The next thing they know, sixteen of the tenants are called to a lawyer’s office for the reading of Samuel Westing’s will.  They have been named his heirs, but only one will get the bulk of the fortune—the one who solves the puzzle.  They are divided up into seemingly very mis-matched pairs and each pair gets an envelope with some words.  Each team is given $10,000.

Now it’s up to them to figure out the mystery.

The Westing Game is a children’s book written in 1978.  I’d heard good things about it for years, but had never gotten around to reading it until the Book Bingo prompt: read a book for children or young adults.  I wasn’t sure what to expect; in the very first chapters when I figured out a clue very early, I was disappointed and lowered my expectations.

I needn't have. What followed turned out to be one of the most engaging books I’d read in a while.  It brims with interesting characters, and while I’ll admit I was a little confused at times but I ended up absolutely loving this book.  Characters I didn’t think I liked at all turned out to be people I admired; some weren’t who I thought they were; and some characters who seemed to have little to offer were ones who touched me most.

I really liked the diversity of the characters; I expected children in a children’s book, but the characters were mostly adults and teens. People were also from different socio-economic statuses and backgrounds:  students, professional people, business owners, and retired people. One of the main characters is Turtle Wexler, a young girl who lives in the shadow of her beautiful older sister Angela. Turtle has a habit of kicking people in the shins when annoyed, and Turtle is annoyed a lot.  Theo, son of a coffee shop owner, is a frequent target, but track star Douglas Hoo comes in for his share. Turtle is paired with Flora, a sweet older woman who is a dressmaker. Dignified Judge J.J. Ford’s partner is the cheerful and somewhat excitable doorman, Sandy McSouthers. Social climber and aspiring interior decorator Grace, Turtle’s mother, is paired with James Shin Hoo, Douglas’ father, who is a frustrated restaurant owner and inventor.  And so on.

In between playing the game, various other mysteries arise and I fully admit I was taken by surprise.  The biggest surprise of all was how much I loved this book.

Nevermore: Happily Ever After and Everything in Between, Flesh, King's Mountain

 

Nevermore 6-16-26

Reported by Rita

 

Happily Ever After and Everything in Between by Deborah Tung

Inspired by Debbie Tung’s marriage to her extrovert husband, this collection of comics captures the essence of everyday love—showcasing both the sweet moments and the mundane experiences.

This was a fun, quick read - I really liked it.      -CD       4 stars 

 

Flesh by David Szalay

Teenaged István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy and new in town, he is a stranger to the social rituals practiced by his classmates and is soon isolated, drawn instead into a series of events that leave him forever a stranger to peers, his mother, and himself. In the years that follow, István is born along by the goodwill, or self-interest, of strangers, charting a rocky yet upward trajectory that lands him further from his childhood, and the defining events that abruptly ended it, than he could possibly have imagined.

It's minimalistic, with really short conversations. It was interesting and made me think, but I was kind of hoping for more of a plot.    -VC     4 stars

 

King's Mountain by Sharyn McCrumb

John Sevier had not taken much interest in the American Revolution, he was too busy fighting Indians in the Carolinas and taming the wilderness. But when an arrogant British officer threatened his settlement—promising to burn the farms and kill families—the war became personal.

That arrogant officer is Patrick Ferguson of the British Army—who is both charmingly antagonistic and surprisingly endearing. Inventor of the Ferguson rifle, and the devoted lover to his mistress, Virginia Sal, Patrick becomes a delightful anti-hero under McCrumb’s watchful eye.

Through varying perspectives, King’s Mountain is a saga of the Carolina Overmountain Men—the militia organized by Sevier (who would later become the first governor of Tennessee) and their victory in 1780 against the Tories in a battle that Thomas Jefferson later called, "The turning point of the American Revolution."

 

War is a depressing subject, but the book is good and worth reading.       -DC       4 stars

 

 

Other Books Mentioned

We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Before It's Gone by Jonathan Vigiotti

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

 

New Books

I Just Wish I Had a Bigger Kitchen: And Other Lies I Think Will Make Me Happy by Kate Strickler

Lidie by Jane Smiley

The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline

The Geography Book by DK

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Winter in Montreal can be very cold and snowy indeed, and Agnes Aubert is desperate to find a new place for her cat shelter.  The old shelter sustained a great deal of damage when some out-of-control magicians (are there any other kind?) staged a duel in the streets.  It’s said that one of them might even have been the Witch King himself, the notorious Havelock Renard, already wanted for nearly causing the end of the world a few years back.

It really doesn’t matter who was involved. The results speak for themselves.  The cat shelter had already been struggling; people tend to see cats as vermin, not pets, and while her sister helps as she can, Agnes has to carry most of the load.  Agnes is also still grieving for her late husband, Robin, who helped found the shelter. Now they’re almost out of money and have to find a place to stay before winter sets in in earnest.

But Agnes is on a mission to find them all a safe place to stay. She finally finds someon who is willing to rent a space to her at a surprisingly—perhaps suspiciously-- reasonable rate. It isn’t long before Agnes begins to wonder if illegal magic is going on, but as long as she can care for the cats and help them be adopted into loving homes she will turn a blind eye.

Which Agnes is able to do until the shop comes under attack from a witch who believes Havelock Renard himself is on the premises. That’s bad enough but what’s worse is that she may be right.

Despite the admonition not to judge a book by its cover, I totally chose this book because of the delightful artwork that adorns the front. I was not disappointed.  It accurately portrays the feel of the book, the 1920s time period, and the charming contents.  Agnes is a no-nonsense, highly organized woman whose courage and determination have seen her through many trials.  Her sister Elise is much more glib and silver-tongued, but intent on seeing Agnes safe and settled.  Havelock is abrupt and darkly handsome, or Agnes thinks he would be if he weren’t such a scoundrel.

He is also allergic to cats.

I thoroughly enjoyed the vividly realized setting of the book.  I could almost smell the baked goods from the oven, feel the cold wind and snow down my neck, and enjoy the sights in the shops along the street. 

Then there were the cats: the haughty and sometimes malicious Your Majesty, a regal long-haired tuxedo who only tolerates Agnes; the somewhat addlepated Banshee who silently yowls; and dear old Thoreau, an elderly cat who endeared himself to Agnes and to me.

This is a light but fun tale of magic mixed with adventure, danger, spells, and most of all, felines. Please forgive me but I have to say it:  this book was like catnip to me.

Moonlight Murder by Uzma Jalaluddin

Reviewed by Jeanne

Nearly twenty years ago, Kausar Khan’s sixteen year old son Ali was killed by a hit and run driver.  His death sent her into a spiral of grief and depression. She moved away from  Toronto to avoid being reminded of Ali’s death. Kausar had not planned on coming back, but when her daughter needed her help Kausar steeled herself to face the memories from the past.

Now her granddaughter Maleeha is asking for Kausar’s help. One of her classmates, a gifted writer named Qasim, has been found dead.  The police think it was a suicide but Maleeha is sure he would never have killed himself and implores her grandmother to find the truth.  Kausar knows what it is to grieve the loss of a child, so she begins to investigate Qasim’s death. The similarities in the two cases make Kausar decide that perhaps it is time to find answers about Ali’s death as well.  Perhaps she can put two ghosts to rest.

But there are other things going on in the neighborhood as well, and Kausar may be putting herself in more danger than she knows.

I loved the first book in the series, Detective Aunty, so I was delighted to have a second book.  Kausar is a wonderful character.  She’s been wounded but has found the strength to come back to help her family. She is still learning how to navigate life after the death of her husband, but her compassion and intelligence will see her through. 

Most of all, I loved learning about the South Asian culture.  It’s one of the things that draws me to fiction, discovering other ways of life and beliefs.  Wrap that up in a good mystery and compelling characters, and I’m one happy reader.

Here's hoping for a third book!

Nevermore: Calamity Club, St. Dale, Familiaris

Nevermore 6-9-26

Reported by Rita

 

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

In 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, Prohibition is on the wane, and the Great Depression is tightening its grip. Poor and rich folks alike have fallen on hard times, even as the old social order remains. For women on the margins, the options are few and the price of dignity and self-determination is unbearably high.

Eleven-year-old Meg, one of the unadoptable “big girls” at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford on a mission to ask her social-climbing sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. And Charlie is a woman with a past, running low on luck but driven by fire, fury, and grit. When their fates converge, they come up with an audacious plan to take back control of their lives. Together, they form an unlikely sisterhood—but in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife, women’s freedom is fragile, and making an enemy can have dire consequences, will the price they pay for their outrageous risk-taking be too high?

I listened to the audiobook and loved it! 10 out of 5 stars!      -WJ        5+ stars

 

 

St. Dale by Sharyn McCrumb

This is a modern-day retelling of the Canterbury Tales, following a group of unlikely friends on the Dale Earnhardt Memorial Pilgrimage. The “Number Three Pilgrims” travel to several of the sites of prominent victories of the late NASCAR legend and North Carolina native. In the course of their journey, they visit Piedmont, North Carolina, “the land of textile mills and furniture factories, of tobacco fields and hog farms — and race tracks.” At stops at the Richard Petty museum in Randolph County, the North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, and the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, the pilgrims find solace and inspiration in the life and legacy of Earnhardt.

It was good. I learned a lot about racing.      -AH       5 stars

 

 

Familiaris by David Wroblewski

It is spring 1919, and John Sawtelle's imagination has gotten him into trouble ... again. Now John and his newlywed wife, Mary, along with their two best friends and their three dogs, are setting off for Wisconsin's north woods, where they hope to make a fresh start—and, with a little luck, discover what it takes to live a life of meaning, purpose, and adventure. But the place they are headed for is far stranger and more perilous than they realize, and it will take all their ingenuity, along with a few new friends—human, animal, and otherworldly—to realize their dreams.

The characters are unusual, but the story is enjoyable.       -WJ       5 stars

 

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

The Dark Hours (DCI Harry Grimm, #13) by David J. Gatward

In the Fields of Fatherless Children by Pamela Steele

The Safe Room by Lisa Unger

The Garden of Lost Souls by Kelly Bowen

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Idiot by Elif Batuman

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Misadventures With a Professor by Sierra Simone

 

 

New Books

 

Art From the Garden by Kerry Michaels

The Family Man by James Lasdun

Jane on Her Own: A Catwings Tale by Ursula K. Le Guin, illustrations by S.D. Schindler

 

Reviewed by Kristin 

Book Bingo can make all of us here at the library read outside of our usual fare. I have a square for “…with an animal on the cover” and I was charmed by the juvenile fiction book featuring Jane, a flying cat. 

Jane lives on Overhill Farm with her siblings, all of whom have wings. Big sister Thelma doesn’t know why they have wings. Their mother didn’t have wings, but she still lives back in the city. One day, Jane flies up, up, up, and goes out on her own for some adventures. 

This small chapter book has delightful illustrations. Jane is solid black with yellow eyes, and of course, wings. After a brief brush with fame (and captivity) Jane’s “Homing Instinct” takes her back to reunite with family. 

Of course, there is a happy ending. If there wasn’t, it would have scared this cat lover off before the end of the book. 

Catwings Tales include: 

   Catwings (1988) 

   Catwings Return (1989) 

   Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings (1994) 

   Jane On Her Own (1992) 

   Tales of the Catwings (1996) 

   More Tales of the Catwings (2000) 

   Cat Dreams (2009) 

Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Mebel Tanadi is a trophy wife and proud of it.  She’s even trophy shaped. She’s been groomed to be the perfect trophy wife practically since birth. Her son (because of course she produced a son, just as expected) says she is a CHIP—a Chinese Indonesian Princess, and Mebel thinks that is a perfect description. It’s hard work keeping one’s face and figure, not to mention being sure one is perfectly dressed (Mebel is not going to be caught dead in last year’s fashions) and sport flawless make-up.

Then her husband drops a bombshell.  He’s leaving her for Wendy, their 26 year old chef.

Once the shock wears off, Mebel knows what she has to do.  Obviously, Henk is leaving her because Wendy is a fabulous cook and not because she’s 40 years younger so all Mebel has to do is learn to cook.  There’s a cooking school in Paris which she takes as a sign because that’s one of the places she likes to shop.  So she packs her monogrammed Louis Vuitton luggage and head for the City of Lights.

Cooking—how hard can it be?

I’ve enjoyed several of Sutanto’s books (I adore Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers) so I decided to give this one a try even if it wasn’t a mystery. I was amply rewarded.  Like Vera, Mebel is a force of nature and laugh-out-loud funny.  There are so many passages that beg to be read aloud that I lost track.  What I love best about the book is that while as we readers are discovering Mebel, Mebel is discovering Mebel. 

For me this book was a delight from start to finish.  Not only is it very funny, but it has heart. I found myself cheering for Mebel as she learns to navigate knives, fellow students young enough to be her children, and a dorm room smaller than one of her closets.  I didn’t recognize all the luxury brands named dropped in the book but that didn’t matter. Mebel’s sincere delight shone through in every mention of Birkin bags or Kate Spade.

I’ll be recommending this to a lot of people!