Author: Rashad Harrison

Publisher: Atria Books, 2011

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Rating: B

Summary (from the publisher):

A stunning debut historical noir novel about a worker in the civil rights movement who became an informant for the FBI during the months leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Feeling unappreciated and overlooked, John Estem, a bookkeeper for Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), steals ten thousand dollars from the organization.

To the bookkeeper’s dismay, the FBI has been keeping close tabs on Dr. King and his fellow activists—including Estem—for years. FBI agents tell Estem that it is his duty, as an American and as a civil rights supporter, to protect the SCLC from communist infiltration.

Playing informant empowers Estem, but he soon learns that his job is not simply to relay information on the organization. The FBI discovers evidence of King’s sexual infidelities, and set out to undermine King’s credibility as a moral leader.

This timely novel comes in light of recent revelations that government informants had infiltrated numerous black movement organizations. With historical facts at the core of Our Man in the Dark, Harrison uses real life as a great inspiration for his drama-filled art.

My Thoughts:

Our Man in the Dark is a fascinating novel, especially for a debut novel. This was a little like reading a 1930s crime novel (a la Raymond Chandler) and listening to political gossip in the 1960s. That’s part of it, but it’ also a rather complex story..

I had no sympathy for John Estem, the main character. I also had no sympathy for the other scudzy FBI people or the underworld characters or some of the people in the SCLC.  But, at the same time, I was so curious to find out what John Estem would do next that I kept on reading.

One of the great things about reading this kind of historical fiction is that it feels so real. It’s based on facts and people of the time and situation. I had to remind myself that John Estem wasn’t real. It was hard when the others people in the story were.

Some readers may not like the parts of the story involving Martin Luther King. Over the years he’s become something close to a saint. The story involves a human look at the man including his foibles. This is also an unflattering look at the FBI. I confess that all of this was a bit self-satisfying. I lived during this tine period when there were rumors of all these events but nothing was ever official.

As I said above, it’s a complex story. Read it if you like this kind of story.

About the Author:

Rashad Harrison has been a contributor to MedicineAgency.com, an online journal of political and cultural commentary, and his writing has appeared in Reed magazine. As a Jacob K. Javits Fellow, he earned a Master of Fine of Arts in Creative Writing from New York University. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book and to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be a part of it all. To see other stops on the book tour, visit the schedule here: TLC Book Tours

Author

Publisher:

Genre: Christmas Tale

Format: Audiobook, Narrated by John Dossett

Source: Public Library

My Rating: B

I’m sure you are familiar with Scrooge, the star of Dicken’s A hristmas Carol. He was a ruthless, hateful man until he met the Ghosts of Christmas’ Past, Present, and Future. His meeting with the ghosts helped him take a good look at his life, as well as what his future would be if he continued.

The author of The Christmas List has done the same thing with his main character, James Kier. This modern day scrooge was a wealthy real estate developer who had hurt and alienated so many people. His son didn’t want anything to do with him. He abandoned his wife when he learned she had cancer. The only person who was his “friend” was his lawyer who was payed handsomely to do so.

One weekend he agreed to meet his girlfriend (also not a nice person) at an inn in the mountains. The snowfall kept her from coming and water killed his cell phone. James was alone at the inn and with no cellphone coverage. On Saturday he saw a newspaper headline announcing his death.

When he went to the newspaper’s webpage to correct the story but discovered a lot of comments from people who were happy he was dead. The only commenter who was sad about his death was his wife. James decided to let everyone think he was dead for a few days while he decided what to do. He, like Scrooge, took a serious look at himself and didn’t like what he saw. He knew he needed to make amends. His long-time secretary helped him develop a list of those he had hurt. This he called his Christmas List. He set out to set things right before Christmas.

My thoughts:

From the first time I heard the story of Scrooge, I’ve been skeptical about a person’s ability to change the way he or she lives, especially so quickly. My mind tells me that our personalities are formed early on and they tend to stay that way until we die.

Stories like The Christmas List and A Christmas Carol tell my heart something different. I still want to believe that it’s possible, that anyone who wants to, can change their behavior. My faith tells me the same thing. I think that change is what God had in mind that very first Christmas.

So I’ll stifle my urge to be skeptical and open my mind to this story. It made for a nice addition to my Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge.

Publisher: Harper Collins

Original Copyright Date: 1937

Genre: Mystery

My Rating: B

Dumb Witness starts out like many other classic novels. It’s set in a small village, in one of the old family houses. The story is concerned with the last remaining family member, Emily Arundell, a wealthy woman in her seventies, and her nephew, nieces and a paid companion.

Another key character in the story is Bob, the dog. He’s Emily Arundell’s cute little terrier. He loves to play run-and-catch outdoors, but he also has a favorite indoor game. He takes his ball to the top of the stairs and carefully nudges it till it rolls down the stairs. Then he likes to run down and try to catch it.

Miss Arundell isn’t too fond of her nephew and nieces as she knows they are just interested in her money. Nevertheless, she invites them to her home for the Easter holiday. One night Miss Arundell fell down the stairs in the middle of the night after supposedly stumbling over Bob’s ball. The only problem is, Bob was outdoors all night.

The fall didn’t kill her, but it prompted her to write a letter to Hercule Poirot. Somehow the letter was never posted until a few months later. By that time Emily Arundell was dead. What did she die from? Was it really natural causes?

At this point in the story I was hollering to Agatha Christie: “Don’t bother Hercule Poirot. I can handle this one on my own. But, of course, she brought in Poirot and Hastings anyway. They did serve as good “leg-men” for me. They ferreted out some of the missing facts. However, it took them way too long to suit my taste. Poirot felt like he had to talk at length to every single person who ever knew Emily Arundell.

This is book number 27 of 87 in the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge.

Check your local library or your local bookstore for copies of this book. Dumb Witness is also available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

Publisher: Camel Press, 2011

Genre: Thrillers

My Rating: B

A Summary of the book (from the publisher):

When a chance encounter in Florence’s Uffizi Museum plunges Women Now editor Laurel Imperiole and private investigator Helen McCorkendale into an investigation of missing persons and stolen Nazi art, the women find themselves ensnared in a deadly maze of greed and deceit.

Could the man Laurel bumped into have been Jeff Sargasso, an art dealer and friend who perished in the World Trade Center on 9/11? Was it possible he was still alive and had disappeared without a trace?

As she delves deeper, Laurel leaves the truth behind, telling lies to [her boyfriend] about her actions and the liaison she’s formed with Lior Stern, an Israeli Mossad agent with an agenda of his own. One lie leads to another, entangling everyone and everything the women encounter, including murder and the painting at the heart of the affair.

My thoughts: 

This was a good thriller. Sophisticated is the word that keeps coming to my mind. I liked that it skipped between New York and the continent. I especially liked the descriptions of Italy. 

The plot was intricate and fast paced. I’ve often thought the collapse of the twin-towers and disappearance of so many bodies could be used effectively as part of a mystery book. The author did it well. (Please note: I am not making light of the tragedy of 9/11. I’m only suggesting the use of a historical event as part of a story.)

The only part of the book that caused me to bring my rating down to a B was the main character. She didn’t feel real to me. I thought her a little dumb although she’s supposed to be  a smart magazine editor. She blundered about and seemed rude. I really wanted to, but I just couldn’t like her.

I don’t see too many of this sort of novel around much any more. That’s a shame. I think many readers will like this kind of multi-country, sophisticated intrigue. It could be those books are out there and I’m just not paying attention.  I hope the author will consider a second novel similar to this one. Cathi Stoler is a good writier. But, next time I want her to give me a more likable main character.

Check your local library or local bookstore for a copy of this book. Telling Lies is also available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

Author

Translated by: Michael Emmerich

Publisher: Melville House, 2011 (Originally published in Japanese by Foil Company, 2005

Genre: Japanese Literature

Format: E-Reader

Source: The publisher

My Rating: B

Summary of the story:

When I joined the Japanese Reading Challenge I wanted to read something by Banana Yoshimoto. Numerous reviewers praised the brillance of her work. When the publisher offered a review copy of this book, I immediately said yes.

The story is about a young woman, Chihiro, whose mother has recently died. She moves to Tokyo where she hopes to start a new life, although she is still mourning the loss of her mother.

Chihiro notices a young man standing in the window of an apartment across the street from her. Day after day they see each other and gradually become acquainted.  After meeting the young man, Nakajima, on the street, they become friends.

Slowly, a romance develops. Chihiro gradually realizes that Nakajima has experienced some kind of childhood trauma. She’s not sure if it was physical abuse or something psychological. When Nakajima takes Chihiro to visit friends who live beside a beautiful lake, she begins to understand the mystery.

Both Chihiro and Nakajima have suffered pain as children. As they fall deeper in love we see how their love has the power to heal them both.

My thoughts:

The story came to me, the reader, from Chihiro’s point of view. She narrates the story in a very conversational voice. It’s as if she is chatting with me, telling me about what has happened and what she is thinking and how she is feeling about it.

One part that really interested me was Chihiro’s work as a graphic artist. Her specialty is painting large murals on the sides of buildings. During part of the story she is working on a mural at a children’s center. I found it interesting to hear of how the picture just sort of developed in her head and on the side of the building. Also interesting was the politics involved in the picture. For instance, we wonder if the mural will save the building from demolition. And, what about putting the sponsor’s logo in a prominent place in the picture as he has requested?

Overall, I was fascinated with this book. It was, however, rather dark at times. It was certainly more mysterious than the stories I normally read. I wasn’t exactly sure what to think about the people at the lake. They felt otherworldly or as if they were part of some strange cult. Were they evil? I didn’t get it until the end.

I enjoyed Banana Yoshimoto’s beautiful writing, even if her story is dark. A nod should also be given to the translator who did a great job using comparable idioms and modern slang in English.

Can I recommend? Yes. I think most of you who appreciate good literature will enjoy this side trip into Japanese literature.

Check your local library or your local bookstore for copies of this book. The Lake is also available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.) If you decide to purchase the book, you should know that a portion of the proceeds will go to the Japan Disaster Relief Fund.

Author

Publisher: Seal Press, June 2011

Genre: Travel Memoir

Source: The publisher for the TLC Book Tour

My Rating: B

Why do we love to travel? What is it that causes our feet to itch for new landscapes? I’ve always thought it was something I inherited from my parents and grandparents (all immigrants). We may never know the exact cause, but I certainly recognize the feeling when it comes over me.

Elizabeth Eaves, the author of Wanderlust: A Love Letter to Travel and Exploration, has been consumed with a desire and a passion for traveling. It started when she was nine and her family spent a year in Spain and a summer in a VW bus traveling Europe’s campgrounds.

Then her first serious boyfriend set off on an around-the-world trip and sent her aerograms from exotic places. That did it. She wasn’t sure whether she loved him or his traveling life style.

In her sophomore year of college Elizabeth enrolled in a study-abroad program and she never looked back. She went from the Middle East to the South Pacific to Europe. She worked to keep on going. For Elizabeth, travel wasn’t to keep moving or about seeing the next new place. She had a deep desire to explore and understand new cultures and meet new people.

Wanderlust is a memoir written with intelligence and honesty. It’s more than a travelogue. It’s about living in the places she discovered. We meet the people she meets. and see the rooms and apartments she lived in.

I was surprised by the number of men she accumulated along the way. A part of me said, “Well, why not – she’s young.” The other part of me was concerned that there were too many men. The traveling was supposedly for the purpose of discovering herself. It took her a while before she saw that she had accomplished that goal. By age thirty-four she was ready to go home. When I turned that last page my first thought was, “I wonder where she is now.” I don’t think her itchy feet will let her stay in one place for long.

I’d recommend Wanderlust for anyone who loves travel memoirs and people with their own bug to travel. It will probably appeal more to women.

Check your local library or your local bookstore for Wanderlust. It’s also available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book and to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be a part of it all. For other reviews on Wanderlust visit the schedule here: TLC Book Tours

One Man’s Extraordinary Year of Trying to Do the Right Thing

Author: Lee Kravitz

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2010

Genre: Inspirational Memoir

Source: Author/Publisher for TLC Book Tour

My Rating: B

Summary:

Lee Kravitz was many things: 54-years-old, an editor-in-chief at Parade Magazine, a work-aholic, a husband and father, and then one day he was suddenly unemployed. He had spent his whole life striving to achieve more and more.

In the weeks after he lost his job he had a hard time knowing what to do. Then one day he received thirteen boxes of mementos that had been in storage. In the boxes were various things he’d been saving his whole life. As he sorted through the boxes, he became aware of all the things in his life that were unfinished. He took the next year off to resolving all those issues.

My Thoughts:

Almost all of us have an event in our lives in which we find ourselves stopping and evaluating our own “unfinished business”. Those events could be a life-thretening illness, the loss of a spouse or a parent or a job. The smart ones take advantage of the evaluation and do something about it. We all have things we regret: friendships lost, people we haven’t thanked properly, poor decisions, debts unpaid, or other things we regret.

I thought Lee Kravitz did a good job of taking a serious, thorough look at his life. And then, he went on to do the difficult job of actually tackling those things. What he did takes courage. He not only took care of his unfinished business, but he learned from his mistakes.

I’ve read a few criticisms of Kravitz because he had enough money to take a whole year off to deal with his issues. I disagree. He could have put that severance money away in savings for retirement or his kid’s college or whatever else. He could have started his search for another job right away. He could have thrown himself right back into his work-aholic life style. Instead he stopped and not only took the time to examine and fix his life, but he took the time to share what he learned with the rest of us. He is to be applauded for that.

Lee Kravitz’s memoir is inspirational. I believe we are going to see more of this type of memoir in the future. As the great number of baby boomers retire and look back at their lives, they will add to the list of memoirs. They are an introspective group and I think they’ll take great pleasure in doing so.

This book would make an good book for group discussion. There are discussion questions in the back. You’ll also find a section called a Toolkit. This is a set of strategies for examining your own life and for making amends.

If this is something you are feeling the need to do, check out Unfinished Business by Lee Kravitz. Check you local library, your local bookstore, or Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

The author’s website: Lee Kravitz

The rest of the stops on the tour are here:  TLC Book Tours

The new series, Main Street Mysteries, features a Wisconsin crime-beat reporter, AnnaLise Griggs. In this new book, Running On Empty, she has come home for a long weekend visit with her mom. Home is a small tourist town in North Carolina.

The town’s residents are used to boating accidents, but when more people than normal are dead, AnnaLise starts to help investigate. Since this is a small town she knows most of the people and that helps her connect with the right people.

Speaking of connecting, I had a hard time getting with AnnaLise in this new series. I was nine chapters in before I felt like anything was happening. It seemed as if the author was taking forever to introduce all the characters, set the time and place, and in general, to get things going.

I decided to stop and download the author’s first novel in her first series. I figured I would read that one and compare it to the new series.

In Uncommon Grounds, Maggy Thorsen is one of those protagonists you want to pull for. She is a never-say-die person. On the first day when she and her two partners are about to open their new high-end coffee shop, one of the partners is electrocuted by the espresso machine. It wasn’t an accident.

Maggy’s coffee shop is also in a small town and she knows most of the people too. She manages to get people to talk to her, share their secrets and help her solve the mystery. I had a couple of people I suspected, but I wasn’t positive until near the end.

After finishing this book I went back and finished reading Running On Empty. What I liked here were the quirky characters, especially “Mama” who owns the Main Street cafe. She loves to serve name-brand recipes and lots of comfort food. AnnaLise’s mom with her memory problem is a sympathetic character. Some of the other characters I couldn’t buy. For me, the story just seemed to ramble around.

Overall, I was disappointed in Running On Empty. It’s probably just me. Sandra Balzo is a good writer and knows how to tell a good story. Her other series of six books is very popular. Will I read the second book in this new series? Probably. I don’t want to give up on a good author.

RUNNING ON EMPTY:  Publisher: Severn House, 2011:   My Rating: C

UNCOMMON GROUNDS:  Publisher: Worldwide Library, 2007:   My Ratings: B

Author

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2011

Genre: Romance

Format: Paperback, 368 pages

Source: The publisher for a TLC Book Tour

My Rating: B

This is Book 3 is Mariah Stewart’s Chesapeake Diary Series. I read and reviewed the second book (Home Again) last September so I was looking forward to this one. The main character, Steffie,  in Almost Home made a small appearance in Home Again and I knew I wanted to know more about her.

Actually, I knew I’d like a whole story about Steffie. Steffie is a young woman who’s very creative, particularly when it comes to ice cream. She owns her own shop, One Scoop Or Two, in the tourist town of St. Denis, right on the Chesapeake Bay. What makes Steffie a unique ice cream maker is that she creates all her own ice creams.

She uses cream from organically raised cows and other pure ingredients to enhance the ice cream flavors. Every day Steffie makes up fresh batches of her regular flavors of ice cream and then also creates new flavors like lemon meringue or chocolate monster mash. She’s also becoming known for her special cone creations.

Making ice cream every day is one of the things Steffie has wanted to do since she was a teenager. As a teen she’d also dreamed about being married and having a family. Unfortunately, those dreams haven’t turned out so well. Primarily because she’s always had this “thing” for Wade MacGregor. He’s four years older, went away to college and has been gone ever since, except for an occasional visit.

Wade has always been out of Steffie’s reach yet she is still attracted to him. She thought he might be interested in her for one night about six months ago when he was cozy with her at a wedding. But then, he went back to his home in Texas and she heard nothing more.

Then, one day Steffie looked up from her ice cream scooper and he was right there in her shop. Along with him was a cute little boy who was calling him Daddy. Until the day he came back to town, no one knew anything about Wade’s son. Not a relative or a friend. Wade does not want to talk about it. He closed his successful brewery in Texas and is back in St. Denis. Everyone wants to know what’s going on, including Steffie.

Almost Home was as good a story as the previous one. I like the way Mariah Stewart tells a story. She will drop a little part of the story in one chapter that has the reader eager to know more. Then she’ll keep up guessing for several more chapters until we learn a little bit more and so on.

The characters Mariah Stewart writes are close to real. She especially knows how to make children lovable. I like that all the characters play a part in this series. Each book will focus on one or two people and the other characters are there in supporting roles. Then it’s other character’s turn in the next book. This means that every book stands alone. I like it that way as it’s fun to re-visit with the characters who were featured in previous books.

If you like romances that are a lot more than a love story, you’ll like these books. I’d recommend this series for a good summer vacation stash.

GIVEAWAY

The publisher has agreed to send one copy to one of my readers. (US/Canada only. No PO boxes.) Please tell me in the comment section if you wish to be considered for a free copy. I’ll keep it open for a week.

If you’d rather buy a copy, they are available at Amazon (I am an Amazon Associate.)

For additional information on Almost Home check these links:

• Mariah’s website HERE
• Mariah on Facebook
• Other blogs on the tour:  TLC Book Tours

Thanks TLC Book Tours for asking me to join the tour. I don’t know how you manage to get the best books, but I’m grateful.

Summary

It’s June of 1965 when Wrecker enters the world. The war is raging in Vietnam, San Francisco is tripping toward flower power, and Lisa Fay, Wrecker’s birth mother, is knocked nearly sideways by life as a single parent in a city she can barely manage to navigate on her own. Three years later, she’s in prison, and Wrecker is left to bounce around in the system before he’s shipped off to live with distant relatives in the wilds of Humboldt County, California. When he arrives he’s scared and angry, exploding at the least thing, and quick to flee. Wrecker is the story of this boy and the motley group of isolated eccentrics who come together to raise him and become a family along the way.

My Thoughts:

I knew I’d feel sympathetic toward this little guy. I’ve never met a three-year-old I didn’t love. However, it would take some strong loving to handle this little guy. He’d spent the first three years of life in very unstable conditions and all he knew how to do was run and live recklessly.

It’s true that his feats acquired the status of legends. The day Wrecker jumped from the barn roof (two stories!) to bounce from the hay bales below. The day Wrecker was lost and they scoured the pond bottom for his body. The day Wrecker climbed into the pick up and released the brake, took it out of gear, and rode it all the way downslope into the field, where a big rock slowed it down by lodging itself in the oil pan. He seemed to need to feel his body collide with the physical world to know he existed.

To put it very mildly, Wrecker was a handful. Yet he managed to touch something inside every person in his little world. Wrecker seemed to bring out the best in each of these unconventional characters. They became first protective of him and then nurturing and loving. They managed to give new definition to the concept of family.

The story traces this ragtag family centered around Wrecker for fifteen years. If you like family sagas as much as I do, give this one a try. Just be aware that this is not a family in the conventional format. But – they are a family none the less.

There was one short clip in the promotional material that peaked my interest:

“For readers taken with the special boy at the center of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Wrecker will be a welcome companion.”

I’m turning the quote around – I was taken with the little boy, Wrecker. Now I need to read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Have you read either of these books? What are your thoughts?

GIVEAWAY

The publisher (Bloomsbury) has offered a free copy of Wrecker to one of my readers. (US only)

Please let me know in the comments section if you are interested. I’ll announce a winner on May 11th.