"The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt

    Okay, this novel won the Pulitzer prize for literature; is the favored child of book critics all over and is considered to be one of the finest examples of "literature" (yes, there is a reason I used parentheses) written in the past several years.
  It's not. It's definitely not. It's not even a good book, let alone literature. "The Goldfinch" is a hot mess and I'm guessing the great and grand and vaunted critics of the NYT's, VOGUE, Atlantic Monthly, etc. etc just collectively drank the damn koolaid. They probably didn't even attempt to read it.
  It so reminds me of fashion designers who create the most ridiculous, ugly and truly heinous designs; smack an exorbitant price on their clothes and then sit back and watch as a bunch of naive fools buy into the whole hype.
  I have no clue as to who started the tsunami of reviews,word of mouth, lit. specs., whathaveyou that propelled this book into the literary stratosphere. But, if I ever do find out who started this adulation and adoration of a book not worthy of any said praise I'm going to send them the entire oeuvre of James Lee Burke, a nice collection of John D. MacDonald, Dennis Lehane and I'll toss in the short stories of F.Scott and P.G. Wodehouse just for good measure.
  So. Yeah, I'm panning the book. Don't bother. It's smug dreck and not worth anyone's time.

STAY DEAD by Anne Fraiser

Now I have not been critiquing books lately; life just changed dramatically and I became remiss in reviewing books. However I was fortunate enough to connect with the author Anne Fraiser who kindly asked me to give her book a read and a review. (Thank you Anne for getting me back into a business that I love.)

STAY DEAD is not normally a type of book I would read….. the genre is somewhat indefinable. Is it a mystery, suspense, paranormal, romance……what? I have decided it fits into each and every category. While this might not appeal to readers who like their genres totally separate and defined, it worked for me.

Fair warning to readers: If you are thinking vampires, so passé, you won't like this book. I liked it because there were no vampires and no weak-minded, namby pamby female protagonists. Elise Sandburg is a helluva protagonist; with twisted and convoluted backstory, a spine of steel and a soft spot for her partner, Detective David Gould. Honestly, I kept seeing the character Olivia Benson from L&O SVU when reading Elise's story and that's definitely a good thing. Who doesn't love a strong and resilient female lead?

Serial killer novels, I also do not love. Too often the authors use the device as an excuse for poorly executed plot lines. Not here, not this book. Ms. Fraiser manages to take a tired, time worn, lazy excuse for a plot (serial killers) and make it fresh and interesting. That in itself is a rare feat these days. And the surrounding elements; location, side characters, characters on the periphery….. ? Ms. Fraiser obviously does not stint on fleshing out those characters.She manages to give even the most minor characters in her book a certain heft; an intricate portrait, a sense of who they are and what may or not be their motivation in regards to the plot line.  Add to that her evocative description of a city, Savannah, that has been described over and over and used as a backdrop ad nauseum for countless novels and you have a story that can captivate.

I like this book, I kind of like it a lot. I would probably give it a higher rating had it not been for several discrepencies in the timeline of certain events. I caught those mistakes quite quickly and they were highly confusing but I'm going to lay the blame on the copy editor.

I still cannot come up with an accurate description as to genre but I can say this; if you loved the books of Phyllis Whitney you are going to enjoy this novel. If you are a Stephanie Meyer fan, don't bother. This novel is probably too well written for you.

MAINE by J.Courtney Sullivan

  As one who has issues against Catholicism this book did not start out well for me. Actually it took me three tries to get past the first several pages. Once I got past the author's toe dipping into writing an updated version of any of Taylor Caldwell's or Mary McCarthy's novels I really enjoyed the story, sort of. The characters are somewhat stock in trade, i.e. the Irish drunken father, the sister who could have become a nun and the sister who spends her life trying to atone for a sin she did not commit. Shades of The Thorn Birds rear their ugly heads with the introduction of a handsome priest and the intertwined family members that make up the cast of literary characters. In the end none of that mattered. I actually really, really liked this novel. Certainly, the characters are mostly unloveable, the plot line is trite and hackneyed but Sullivan's writing; her descriptions of a dying familial archetype and the world in which they live in makes it one of those books that one cannot put down. While she may not be one of the most original or best authors today she can certainly weave a tale that is seductive and one that is "unputdownable". And yes, I am looking forward to reading another one of her books. Great literature, no, entertaining, most assuredly.

Sitting at the bus stop and waiting for Gatsby.

      There is no such thing as too many books but there is such a thing as too many bad books. It has been awhile since I wrote any reviews but that is because my life fell apart and more importantly I could not find one damn book worth reviewing. My life is still a hot mess but I did finally read some books that were worthy of my attention. Attention being that I fell into them and did not, could not resurface until the last and final page. I hesitate to go into great detail about the novels that sucked me into them merely because I have read so many excellent novels in such a very short time.
      I will however give a brief synopsis of my reading. First up was Jodi Picoult's LONE WOLF.
LONE WOLF does follow her usual trajectory of a vaguely Shakespearean love story/tragedy but somehow it all comes together as something slightly different from her normal writing. The morality tale is still evident but it is much more subtle this go round. Her patently obvious struggle with incendiary rulings re. "the right to die", "assisted suicide" and other medical practices are first and  foremost the backbone of this story but she does not let it get in the way of the narrative.
    Next up was SHANGHAI GIRLS by Lisa See. I have read several of this authors books despite my disconnect with the Chinese culture. She writes lyrically most of the time, drawing the reader into a story most of us would never understand. This book was no less lyrical but the plot was so much meatier, the characters so much more flawed and complicated that I honestly read the book cover to cover in one day. This is no love story nor is it a tragedy, it is a well researched tale of a war that did not become part of our history until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
    Next on my list was GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. I knew/know it has been on the bestseller list for months but perhaps that is why I did not read it. I hesitate to read books that have been so overly hyped because basically I abhor the supercilious critiques of reviewers who obviously like to read their own words and are hoping for a book deal of their own or see visions of Gore Vidal and Truman Capote in their future. It pains me no end to read such reviews. But here's the thing, I liked the book, I really did. It deserves the accolades it has received and I enjoyed it. Enjoyment in reading is so much more important than the feeling that one has conquered a "great novel", say anything by James Joyce or    
Umberto Eco or even that bloviated author J. Franzen.
     Gillian Flynn wrote an entertaining story and in the end that is truly what matters. I would much rather read a book that entrances and transports me rather than a novel that has been "critically acclaimed" for all the wrong reasons.

When Good Writers Go Bad and the Vicissitudes of Life Life

     On a personal level life has been fairly horrendous as of late. Two weeks ago I had to take our beloved Yorkie, Teddy, to the vet and have him put to sleep. We had him for almost sixteen years and he had recently suffered a series of mini-strokes, was blind and mostly deaf and had lost control of his bladder and bowels and was basically in pain all the time. This was only the second time in my entire life I had to put a dog to sleep. It is not an easy thing to do. One questions themselves for days and weeks as to whether it was too soon or if I could have done something differently. On a brighter note we did get a new puppy. His name is Neville (from Harry Potter). He was the last one in his litter, nobody had chosen the little guy, so we did. He's a fluffy ball of happiness; a Morkie with so much love to give. He has alleviated our pain at losing Teddy and has entertained us for hours on end. Hence the lack of reviews lately. I haven't been reading like I normally would and what I have read leaves me unimpressed. I have a huge problem when highly successful authors just "dial it in". I am not going to name these authors but I have reviewed some of their books before and at the time was wildly impressed. This time, not so much. Therefore I have decided that my next review will be the new novel by Cornelia Read, VALLEY OF ASHES. I can always count on her to write well. She never rests on her laurels and she never disappoints. I need a good book and I know she will deliver. As a matter of fact I started the book last night and was impressed from the "git go". If anyone is exhausted from reading books by authors that have made little to no effort in their later books, please read anything by Cornelia Read. She doesn't skate, she isn't lazy and her social commentary is snarky enough to be featured in Vanity Fair. Dominic Dunne and Christopher Hitchens may be dead but their laser ability to dissect a certain segment of Society lives on in the books by Ms. Read.

A short dissertation on James Lee Burke

No spoilers here. This not a review of a novel. This is a review of the author. I discovered James Lee Burke many many years ago. I own, in hardback, the entire oeuvre. I re-read them almost every year. It is a gift I give myself. There are no words rich or deep enough to describe J.L. Burke's writing. His writing goes so far beyond being transcendent and evocative that is impossible for a mere mortal to even begin to come up with a way to describe his writing. I have loved every sentence, every word that wafts through the live oaks, words that spangle like gold on the bayous and estuaries in the setting of the sun. I feel the moist air filled with the scent of spawning fish and barbecue and beignets from Cafe du Monde. I can walk the Quarter and the Desire Project and the decimated Ninth Ward. I can see the pecans on the ground; crushed and green and I can hear the plink plink of them as they hit the tin roofs and galleries of shotgun homes. I stroll the streets of New Orleans and New Iberia and the air, redolent with the tannic smell of lightening in the clouds out on the Gulf invade my senses. I hear, as if they are right in my living room, the harmonica and accordion and warped piano and the deep throated wailing of a saxophone mixed with the sweet voices of young Cajun girls as they all become one in a sad lament for days long gone. I know the grifters, the pickpockets, the hookers, the pimps and the Mobbed up men with slicked back hair and expensive watches. I know Molly and Alafair and Dave and Clete and Tripod and Snuggs as if they we were sitting on a picnic table by the Teche with me and we were drinking long neck beers and Dr. Pepper's slicked with ice. I can taste the fried oyster po'boys and the gumbo and the étouffée. So too, can I envision the fetid jungles and rice paddies of Viet Nam. I can hear the rat-a-tat of machine gun fire from overhead slicks and the screaming of the dead and dying. I, through James Lee Burke's novels, have seen the Hell of war, have smelled the magnolias and the roses and the countless other flowers that climb up and down the intricate railings and balconies of the Garden District homes. I have seen fish feeding on the salt flats and heard the plop plop of their bodies as they jumped to swallow insects and bait and then rolled beneath lilly pads the size of a pie tin. This is who James Lee Burke is; a grand master of his craft. He is a teller of great tales, mysteries, but so much more than that. His writing gives the reader transportation to his world, another realm, a place so filled with the beautiful, the sublime, the evil and the good and the sounds and smells of Louisiana. Once you read his books you will never ever be as you once were. He's that great. His writing is so profound as to alter one's perception of life.

STALKING SUSAN by Julie Kramer

   I'm gonna be honest here. I was reluctant to read this book. Not because I disliked the authors work; I had never read any prior to this foray. I was hesitant because the last book I attempted to read (note the "attempted") was also situated in the Twin Cities where I now reside. The previous mystery written by a "writer", and I use the term loosely, also took place within a few blocks radius of my home on Summit Avenue. I only managed to read twenty pages of that book before I quit, totally disgusted by the lack of geographical research and the total lack of knowledge into police procedure. (That author shall remain anonymous, so don't ask.) However I did read STALKING SUSAN by Julie Kramer and I liked it, I really liked it. She knows her stuff. She knows the area, she has a great eye for detail in regards to the Cities and her plot is not one dimensional nor are her characters. Obviously this author has done her "homework". Riley Spartz is her multi-faceted protagonist and is well-fleshed out. Even her secondary and minor characters are given attention. She does not resort to "stock" characterization as so many writers do. I found this book to be delightful, well-written and pretty much "unputdownable" as we say in the reviewing biz. I am definitely going to be reading more of Ms. Kramers work. And believe me, that's high praise indeed.