Dog on it by Spencer Quinn

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Chet and Bernie are partners in a detective agency.  Okay, Bernie really owns the agency, but in many ways Chet is the heart and soul of the operation. He’s loyal, dedicated, and he would work for Slim Jims. He also narrates these stories as only Chet can. He has a unique point of view, both worldly and innocent, and he can be very opinionated, especially on the subject of Bernie, who is the greatest guy in the world.

At this point I should probably make sure that you know Chet is a dog.

You should also know that he’s a very smart dog who knows enough to worry about “cash flow problems” even though he’s not quite sure what they are but they make Bernie wake up at night and pace and even start smoking again.

This time around Bernie is hired to look for a lost girl, which is a lot better than divorce work because in divorce work you sit in the car in front of motels a lot. The trouble is, this case turns out to be a lot more complicated than it seemed at first.  First of all, the girl turns up and everything’s okay except that Bernie doesn’t seem to think it’s okay. Then the girl disappears AGAIN, and Bernie is definitely sure it’s not okay.

That’s okay with Chet, though, because he knows Bernie will figure it out.  He’s the smartest guy in the world, as well as the greatest guy.  And Chet will be right by his side the whole time.

I’d heard a lot about this series and decided to try it for myself.  My tastes tend to run to classic or cozy mysteries, which this is definitely not.  It’s a bit more hard-boiled, for one thing; there’s danger and people get hurt; and it’s not a “solve the puzzle based on clues” sort of mystery.  It’s more of a crime novel, and the reader finds things out along with the protagonist, even if Chet may not quite grasp all of the situation. 

Which is more than fine, because it’s Chet’s narration that makes the story for me.  Chet repeats what he hears even if he doesn’t understand it and goes off on very canine-like tangents based on what he smells at the moment.  Humans are a puzzle to him, but he is perfectly willing to go with the flow.

This book was a lot of fun, mostly because of the unique perspective Chet offers.  I’m not sure we would get along because Chet hates cats, but I will admire from afar.

A Man and His Cat by Umi Sakurai

 

  

Reviewed by Jeanne

 

Since I seemed to be on a roll with magna after Cat + Gamer, I went for the first two volumes of A Man and His Cat by Umi Sakurai.  This one really tugs at the heart strings in a very good way.  A chubby, unattractive kitten waits and waits in the pet shop, seeing all the cute kittens being adopted.  No one seems to want him, and as he grows into a cat it seems he will live out his life in the pet shop. Then one day an older man named Mr. Kanda comes in and, astonishingly, wants to adopt the cat!

Now named Fukumaru, the cat is deeply grateful even though he doesn’t understand why he was chosen.  It turns out that Mr. Kanda is a lonely widower. His late wife loved cats and he had promised her they would get one, but she died before that happened.  The story is told from both the point of view of Fukumaru and Mr. Kanda.  Fukumaru adores his daddy and wants to please him, but sometimes isn’t sure how to do that.  Mr. Kanda is learning about the charm and most especially the comfort of cats.  In fact, he’s turning into something of a cat aficionado, delighting in cat sweaters and such, much to the consternation of some of his friends and co-workers. 

I was surprised at how moving I found these stories to be. Mr. Kanda and Fukumaru are two lonely souls who find hope and love together.  Mr. Kanda is a kind, generous man who is a superb musician, which sometimes causes others to envy him and to offer slights to which he is annoyingly oblivious.  I am so rooting for continued happiness for Mr. Kanda and Fukumaru, and since there are at least four more volumes in the series there should be ample opportunity.

The emotional depth was unexpected, or maybe it’s just that I’m finally getting the hang of reading manga! I became more emotionally invested in these characters, and I am sort of getting used to the art style.  Fukumaru is very much a stylized cartoon cat, his eyes often welling with tears of happiness or concern.  Mr. Kanda seems to be an older man but the art doesn’t really convey that except as a few lines on his face. He appeared to me to be an attractive man, and a couple of reviews mentioned that as well—well, actually those reviews used the words “hot” or “hottie.” I concur.

Also, Mr. Kanda inspires me.  I’d like to be as kind, considerate, and gentle as he is. 

I am certainly going to read more of these!

Nevermore: Dying of Politeness, New Jersey Turnpike, Romeo Catchers, Vanishing Half

Reported by Garry

Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis is the new memoir from the two-time Academy Award winner, activist, producer and all-round screen icon. At age three, Geena decided she was going to be a movie star, and set herself on the path to realize her dreams. Paths are never typically a straight line, though, and Geena’s definitely wasn’t. Along the way, Geena has had to learn that always being the polite “Good little girl” that she was raised to be is not going to help her, and that her “journey to badassery” is a lifelong one in which she slowly has learned to revel. MS

The New Jersey Turnpike by Mike Lapolla and Thomas Suszka. This slender book chronicles the planning, construction and enduring impact of one of the most (in)famous turnpikes in America – the New Jersey Turnpike. The 117.20 mile long highway runs nearly the full length of the state, from the border with Wilmington, Delaware, in the south to the George Washington Bridge into New York City in the north. Initially built as a four-lane utilitarian highway, the turnpike has expanded over time and is now the economic engine of the state, with more than 240 million vehicles per year travelling it. This book was especially meaningful to a number of our readers as they either lived or grew up in New Jersey and have fond memories of the turnpike and its impact on their lives. MF

The Romeo Catchers by Alys Arden is book two in the supernatural themed The Casquette Girls series, set in modern day New Orleans. Seventeen-year-old Adele LeMoyne is scouring the city in order to uncover the truth about her family’s magical past. Packed full of magic, mystery, vampires, witches and SO much more, our reader highly recommends this YA series with its compelling writing, excellent character development and superbly gothic sensibilities. SH

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is a multigenerational look at race and identity in today’s America. Desiree and Stella Vignes are identical twins who grew up in the small town of Mallard, Louisiana, a town that prides itself on having very light-skinned African Americans. The twin sisters run away at age 16, and then 14 years later Desiree comes back to town with her daughter to take care of her mother. Stella has decided to pass as white and learns to hide every detail and aspect of her past in order to maintain her new identity. But family ties have a habit of creeping back into your life when you least expect them to, and despite our best efforts the past often-times refuses to remain silent. This heartbreaking but realistic look at family, racial and gender dynamics has won multiple awards and is one of President Barack Obama’s favorite books. PP

Also mentioned:

The Asylum Confessions by Jack Steen

To All the Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han

A Year of Positive Thinking by Cyndie Spiegel 

La Guerra De La Limonada by Jacqueline Davies

On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson-Sexton

The Lake Woebegone Virus by Garrison Keillor

Outlawed by Anna North

Winter Harvest by Nora Loft

The Journal of John Vance

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

The Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Galatea: A Short Story by Madeline Miller

J.D. Vance is a Fake Hillbilly by Frank Kilgore

The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks

Dead and Gondola: A Christie Bookshop Mystery by Ann Claire

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Everyone has their dream job.  For Ellie Christie (no known relationship to Agatha), that dream job is to run the family book shop, the Book Chalet, nestled in the mountains of Last Word, Colorado.  Now her dream is coming true, after her parents decided to retire early and leave the running of the shop to Ellie and her sister Meg.  Ellie’s been working elsewhere for a while, so she is just getting back into the swing of things.  One surprise is finding that ex-Hollywood star turned book influencer Morgan Marin has moved to Last Word and is patronizing the shop, including the book club. This is not to the liking of Mrs. Ridge, the long-time assistant who has very definite opinions as to how the book club is to be conducted. Having a séance is not part of a book club meeting, even if one takes place in this month’s book selection.  It only gets worse when the Ouiji board spells out “D E A D M A N” just before a real life corpse turns up. . . .

This is a first in series book, and I do hope there will be more. The characters were likeable, the mystery was certainly competent, and the setting was intriguing.  The “gondola” part of the title refers to the ski gondolas used to get up and down the mountain and which figure in the crime.  I did figure out part of the solution, but there were still a few surprises in store.

Mostly, I enjoyed all the Agatha Christie references.  I started reading Christies in my youth when I was well and truly baffled by the Victorian Flower Language that Miss Marple employed so freely, and I remain a fan of Christie in particular and fair play mysteries in general.  I liked that the author was so knowledgeable about Dame Agatha and the books she wrote, even mentioning that Ellie guided tours to Torquay, England where the mystery writer was born. A book that Christie wrote under her Mary Westmacott pseudonym figures in the story.   One teensy weensy quibble is when Ellie comments that they have tried to find a genealogical link to Agatha Christie: if they did, based on the name, the relationship would be not to Agatha herself but to her first husband, Archibald Christie, who cheated on her.  Of course, they could then claim a relationship to Archie and Agatha’s daughter Rosalind, so it’s still a connection. (Agatha was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller.)

And there is a cat-- of course there is a cat-- and her name is Agatha.  She is adorable.

And if, like me, you enjoy Christie’s work, I highly recommend the movie “See How They Run.” It’s set in 1950s London where there’s a plan to make a film of this new play, “The Mousetrap.” A murder on the set brings in two police officers to investigate in this delightful dramedy starring Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Ruth Wilson, and Adrien Brody.

Christmas Reading Beyond A Christmas Carol and A Visit From St. Nicholas

 

Appalachian Christmas

Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb blends two plotlines of Christmas in the region.  In one, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood has to serve an arrest warrant in one of the “hollers,” while in the other Nora Bonesteel is called on to investigate a haunting. As usual, McCrumb does a wonderful job of capturing the people and places of Northeast Tennessee.

Mama, Me, and the Holiday Tree:  A Contemporary Fantasy by local author Jeanne G’Fellers has Centenary Rhodes returning home to try to make peace with her mother.  It may take magic to make that happen.     

Christmas Stories by North Carolina Writers and Twelve Poems, Too edited by Ruth Moose is a wonderful collection of stories, remembrances, and poems including contributions from Lee Smith, Sue Ellen Bridgers, and Kaye Gibbons.  The selections are perfect for that little break in between holiday chores. 

Lee Smith’s Christmas Letters tells the story of a family over three generations through the annual Christmas letter. The story begins in 1944 with Birdie, who is both a new bride and a new mother. She’s living with her in-laws while her husband is overseas fighting the war.  The letters follow Birdie, then her daughter, and finally her granddaughter. Besides getting to know the characters, and then seeing them from a different perspective, the reader also is aware of how times change while some traditions -- like the Christmas letter-- remain the same.

Christmas Fiction

Christmas at the Cat Café by Melissa Daley is a heartwarming tale told through the eyes of Molly, a former stray cat who has found a home with Debbie and her daughter.  Then Debbie’s sister moves in and tensions rise in the family. Not only that, but two of Molly’s kittens go missing. It’s going to take a miracle to make things right again. Even though I am a sucker for cat books, I still was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one.  Part was the setting (UK) and part was having the book told from the cat's viewpoint as she worries about her kittens and about what is happening with her human family as well.

Irish author Felicity Hayes-McCoy’s The Mistletoe Matchmaker celebrates the season with a tale set in the Finfarran Peninsula.  Canadian Cassie decides to visit her grandparents and to see where her father grew up in Ireland. She is soon immersed in the lives of the villagers in this warm and cozy tale of families, friendships, and secrets, filled with memorable characters. It’s the third in a series but can be read as a standalone. 

Luther Krank has decided to skip Christmas. No presents, no tree, nor cards or festive parties.  Instead they’ll go on a cruise and get away from all the madness. Obviously, thing are not going to go as planned. . . John Grisham’s take on the holiday is memorable fun, but don’t take our word for it. Just read Skipping Christmas for yourself. There is also a movie entitled Christmas with the Kranks.  The library has a copy of the DVD.

Even though it's a considered a children's book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is beloved by adults as well.  Who can forget the Herdmans? Laugh out loud funny, it still gets to the meaning of Christmas in a way few stories do.

Christmas Memories

An Irish Country Christmas by Alice Taylor is a short but lovely memoir of a rural Irish Christmas in the 1940s. Alice was one of six children who grew up on a farm.  Her account covers the traditional twelve days of Christmas as her family celebrated, and includes details of rural life. (Don't get too attached to the goslings.  Just sayin'.) 

A Gift from Bob is James Bowen’s account of a difficult Christmas. Bowen was an addict struggling to get clean with the help of his friends and a stray orange tabby cat. It's a sequel to the best-selling book A Street Cat Named Bob.  Two movies were made from the books, A Street Cat Named Bob and A Gift from Bob.  Both books and movies are recommended for being sweet but not saccharine, and for being uplifting.  The library holds both books and movies.

A Foxfire Christmas collects stories of Appalachian holiday traditions, including how to make toys like corn husk dolls, recipes, and party games.  These were collected by students in Georgia and are a charming window into the past.

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd is a semi-autobiographical collection of essays about a little boy and his burning desire for a Red Ryder air rifle.  Sound familiar?  It should, because Shepherd’s tales became the basis for the beloved movie.  Originally published in two other collections, the stories were pulled together for this special edition.

 

Christmas Series

A number of authors have regularly turned out Christmas tales which have proven very popular.  The list includes Anne Perry, Richard Paul Evans, Debbie Macomber, Donna VanLiere, Susan Mallory, Janet Dailey, Nancy Thayer, Elin Hilderbrand, “Cape Light” series by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer, and Donna Andrews.

Nevermore: 81 Days Below Zero, Salt Path, Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, Paul Newman

 

Reported by Garry

81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness by Brian Murphy. A few days before Christmas in 1943, Leon Crane and four other Army aviators took a retrofitted B-24 bomber out for a test flight from the Ladd Field in Fairbanks, Alaska. The flight ended in disaster, crashing in the wilderness and killing all on board except Crane – a city kid with no wilderness experience or training. Armed with the clothes on his back, a Swiss army knife, and the remains of his parachute, Crane fought for his survival by using his instincts and intellect against some of the harshest landscape in the world. Our reader says that this book is harrowing in its descriptions of the extremes that Crane had to endure, but she absolutely loved it due to the depth of research and descriptive writing. CD

The Salt Path: A Memoir by Raynor Winn is also a tale of survival in the wilderness, albeit set on the South West Coast Path of Britain. Evicted from their home after losing their life savings in a bad business deal, Winn and her husband decide to trek the 630-mile trail from Minehead, in Somerset, along the coast of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbor in Dorset. Camping on fields and hiding in private properties, Winn and her husband find that they begin to thrive in the adversity, surviving on ramen noodles and sleeping in sub-standard camping gear in the at-times brutal and always unpredictable British coastal weather. This true story of resilience, love and persistence really moved our reader, who herself has a history of long treks in the wilderness. BM

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick is quickly becoming a favorite book amongst our readers. Arthur is a sixty-nine year old widower who, on the anniversary of his wife’s death, sorts through her possessions. He comes across something that he has never seen before: a gold charm bracelet. What did this mean to Miriam? Why did she never wear it in the many years they were together? How well did he really know his wife? These questions send Arthur on a series of journeys to find out the stories behind the charms – in doing so, he uplifts and expands the lives of those he finds, and changes his own life for the better. Sweet without being sappy (and the audiobook has an amazing reader!), this is a beautifully written book about finding hope and healing in unexpected places. DC/WJ/NH

The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir by Paul Newman. Distilled down from thousands of pages of transcripts from an oral history project that Newman and his close friend Stewart Stern began in 1986, this memoir is a raw, unflinching, and deeply human look at one of the true film icons of the past 75 years. Newman began acting at age 7, studied drama, served in the Navy, and landed his breakout film role in 1956 in the film “Someone Up There Likes Me”. What followed was one of the most storied, successful, and iconic film careers of the 20th century. Our reader was brought to tears by this book and commented on how disarming and fascinating she found this look at the life of one of the biggest movie stars in history. NH

Also mentioned:

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t by Adam Grant

Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey by Florence Williams

Strange Things in the Woods: A Collection of Terrifying Stories by Steve Stockton

The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker

The Northminster Mysteries series by Harriet Smart

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner

Just As I Am: A Memoir by Cicely Tyson

The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind by Richard Restak

Gilded Mountain: A Novel by Kate Manning

Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Treacherous Strand by Andrea Carter

Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld

An Irish Country Christmas by Alice Taylor

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Alice Taylor was one of six children growing up on a farm in County Cork in the 1940s. At the time of this story, she was nine years old, an age when Christmas is still magical and filled with wonder. In this book she relates all the activity surrounding the twelve days of Christmas in a tight-knit community.

The book opens with a local merchant receiving his orders of dried fruit, knowing almost exactly how much each household will want for the Christmas baking. There’s a lot to be done to get ready, and Taylor describes it in vivid and loving detail, from going out to gather the holly to cleaning the chimneys.  There are letters to Santa to be written.  Cards arrive, even some from America. The one from Aunt Kate in New York is a glittery wonder this year, arriving far too early for Mr. Taylor’s taste, but the cheerful Santa gives the children hope that Christmas will indeed come—eventually.  The last to arrive is always the one from Uncle Dan, who left when he was 18 to become a sheep farmer in Oregon.

While Taylor beautifully captures all the excitement and anticipation of Christmas, she doesn’t shy away from the realities.  Those darling little goslings, raised so tenderly by Mr. and Mrs. Goose are destined for holiday tables and their wings will be used as dusters. The children all have to help with the farm chores, and lend a hand to neighbors when needed.

Some of these customs will seem familiar but others are relics of their time, or are family specific. The Taylors always bought new records, for example.  After Christmas Eve dinner, the gramophone is brought out so everyone can hear the new records. This year the favorite tune was “Come Back, Paddy Reilly, to Balljamesduff.” Taylor writes that the song was played constantly “until my father began to regret that his mother had not drowned Paddy Reilly in his baby bathwater….”

I was particularly intrigued by the “Hunting of the Wrens” which took place on December 26.  Thankfully, by this time real wrens weren’t hunted.  Instead, people wear disguises and go from house to house to sing for a reward.

I was charmed by the writing, especially the loving descriptions of cooking and chores.  There’s a bit of low key humor, too.  Their jennet is notorious for biting any unwary human who gets too close—Alice thinks it’s a good thing the jennet was not at the stable or baby Jesus would have been at risk, and the heifers don’t care for being rounded up.  Unpleasant things can happen around unhappy heifers. 

There’s no particular plot to this book, just a warm and wonderfully detailed account of Christmas celebrations of times past. I will admit that there were some things I wish had been explained a bit better (Women’s Christmas, for example, which is mentioned in passing as another name for Little Christmas which is January 6) but overall I just went with the flow.   It’s the perfect book to relax with during a hectic season.