If It Isn't Broken, Don't Fix It

Remember back in July (was it really that long ago?!) when I won a complete set of Tana French's books and I said I would write my review of the new one ASAP?

Apparently "ASAP" is actually an abbreviation for 2.5 months later.  Sheesh.

I decided to re-read her first three books (reviews here and here) which is part of what took me so long.  That and the whole "taking a break from blogging" thing, and the fact that I'm traveling a lot, and am in the midst of some pretty big life things.  It's not even like I read it a long time ago and haven't written about it yet.  I just finished it last weekend.  Finally.  But let me tell you, the first three were just as good the second (third or fourth) time around.

Just like her other books, she follows the familiar formula of focusing on a character that was first introduced in the book before.  In this case, the detective solving the murder in Faithful Place is the lead in Broken Harbor.  I've noticed a trend after reading all four back-to-back that she has been tying the books back into the previous stories less and less, which I miss.  Nonetheless, this novel does not disappoint.

"Scorcher" - the aforementioned detective - stumbles upon a case that at first glance is open-and-shut.  An entire family is murdered, the mother barely hanging on, and a suspect is in custody (well not at first, but whatever... not really a spoiler in a detective novel that there is a suspect in custody at some point.)  But everything about this case is not what it seems.

I can honestly say that I had no freaking clue what had actually happened until just as the catharsis was unfolding.

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a friend who had also read In the Woods who was really upset with the ending because we were never really given all the answers.  But I will say that (again, after reading the books back-to-back) I have to disagree with my friend.  I think the beauty of French's books is that she doesn't give it all away.  You're still left with questions.  It's what makes these mysteries so haunting.  Can anyone disagree that the creepiest horror movies are those where the creature / spirit / evil being aren't actually shown clearly?!  Has anyone seen Signs?!  That movie is ruined when the creature is shown.  These books wouldn't give me chills if French revealed exactly what happened.

In the case of Broken Harbor, I'm left with a few very important questions that will eventually be answered...

1 - When is her next book coming out?

2 - Who will she feature as her next lead character?

3 - Will she begin tying the characters back together?  Because that would make me very happy.

...and a few that probably won't ever be answered...

1 - How much of a psychological mess is Scorcher really?

2 - Should he really have seen was was going on?

3 - (Ok, I can't reveal number three because it would give away the ending)

There you have it.  Another excellent read by Tana French.  Like I said in my post heading - if it isn't broken, don't fix it.  Keep bringing up these mysteries full of intrigue but lacking answers and I can guarantee I'll keep reading.

Nostalgic Storytelling

I just realized that I'm still sitting at work. I've been here alone for almost an hour. I very rarely work late. Yes, I'm being productive but I could be productive at home.  

I'm sitting here to avoid going home to an empty apartment, so that I don't have to sit there and listen to my cat cry constantly like she's lost something (I know exactly what you're feeling, baby), and because the thought of going home and eating "our" leftovers is enough to make me want to cry into my microwaved steak.

Just call me that girl.

Instead of working some more, I thought I'd put off the inevitable by writing for a bit.

Even before this (incredible, awesome, and amazing) weekend, I've been feeling homesick. I was getting used to going home every few weeks this summer. Yes, it was exhausting and expensive, but it was so wonderful to see my family and friends on a regular basis. Things are so incredibly good here in Kentucky right now but I, of course (and not unexpectedly), miss home.

Whenever I get nostalgic, I reach for old favorites from the bookshelf. It hit my exceptionally hard while traveling a few weeks ago, however, and I didn't have my trusty books to turn to. Thankfully, a few months ago while organizing the ridiculous backlog of Kindle stories I had downloaded to read, I added in a few classics - it started with a few of the Anne of Green Gables books. I then downloaded a few shorter books by L.M. Montgomery that I had yet to get to in all my years of reading. I am so glad that I did. 

I know fall is coming when I'm feeling down, lonely for home, and just want to curl up with something enchanting. My old friend Lucy Maud did not disappoint.

I started with The Story Girl, the story of a young girl who takes everyone to another world with her story-telling ability. I've marked it as a new favorite. If I had children, I would want to read it out loud to them, one chapter at a time, like my mom and dad did for us with so many of the classics. The children in the story get into the most delightful antics and scrapes and this book is meant to be read to others, with a piece of pie balanced on one knee and a childish giggle just waiting to be  let loose on the other. (I tried reading it to the cats - you wish I were kidding - and it just didn't do the trick.)

After finishing The Story Girl, I moved on to Kilmeny of the Orchard. Like so many of Montgomery's books, it dwells in a simple time where an innocent, albeit admiring, friendship blossoms into love - love that is without caring about the challenges that stand in their way. Can anyone say "bawl like a baby when the plot finally comes together?" Because I did that. Not ashamed to admit it.

If you haven't read these two stories by a classic favorite, go out and do so immediately. Did I mention they're both free for Kindle? Perhaps the best thing about classics. Pour yourself a glass of wine or make some cocoa on the stove (or both), put on your sweatpants, pop some popcorn and settle in for a night. Just ignore the fact that it may still be 90 degrees where you are (like it is here) and pretend that it's actually fall. 

While reading these new favorites, your mind slows down and you're able to just breathe for a while. A refreshing change for someone whose brain always moves to fast, who has too much on their plate, and who wants to be transported.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I won something! I actually won something!

I just did a happy dance in my living room (well, the happy dance started in the lobby of my apartment building, continued up the elevator, and culminated in my apartment but that's besides the point.)... I just got the most amazing package in the mail.

Backing up.

Have you ever entered one of those "I'll never win it but I should try anyway" Facebook contests? I rarely enter them but am so glad I did for once.

I was super excited to see that one of my favorite authors, Tana French, had a new book coming out. (You can read my review of her first two books here and her third book here...)

And then I was not-as-super-excited to see this on her Facebook page:

because I never win anything ever but I entered anyway because I figured, what the heck?

Last week when I got this email:

I honestly thought it was fake but replied anyway and just hoped that it wouldn't actually be an ax murderer coming to get me.  I received another email saying my books had been shipped and I waited not so patiently to see if it was all a scam.

Considering that I just received this in the mail:

I'm glad that I said, what the heck back when I saw the Facebook posting!

Squee!  So excited to read the new one and have copies of all the others!  She's amazing - without even reading the fourth book, I highly recommend you run out and grab a copy RIGHT NOW.

Kristin Hannah Does it Again

I have found my new favorite "book club" author - that author who no matter what the title is, you know you will want to read it and then sit around drinking wine with your girlfriends to discuss it.  You might remember my earlier post about her book Firefly Lane, which I wil continue to dub as my favorite summer read.

Last week I discovered another book by here, True Colors, that talked about the jealousy between sisters instead of focusing on best friends.  As someone with two sisters, both who I have had good times and bad with, this book resonated loud and clear.

Their story couldn't be more different than ours, but the bottom line is that all sisters are sisters.  We have this weird bond with one another that cannot be broken.  No matter what happens in the end, no matter how long we go between fights or how many months we spend avoiding each other, we are sisters and that is something no one can take away.

It's wonderful to me that my little sister is also counted as one of my best friends.  This hasn't always been the case and we definitely fight plenty, but if I really need something, there are very few people who will come running as quickly as Abby will.

I can't help but think back to 5th grade, when I got the shit kicked out of me in the hallway.  I was sitting in the office, a giant goose egg on my head, and my headstrong little sister comes charging in fists flying.  She may have been 3 years younger than us, but she was ready to knock the snot out of anyone who messed with her big sister.

Ok, sappy post aside, my ladies need to read this book.  It's perfect for book clubs, like I've already mentioned, but it's also great for sitting in front of the fireplace while the wind whistles around your house or lounging on the deck on a sunny day or snuggling in bed for a lazy afternoon or pretty much anytime you want a good read.

That Irish Lady Again...

Tana French's new book came out last week.  I finished it Saturday and if it weren't for the surprisingly wonderful read from Saturday night*, you would have heard about it already.  I finished both of her first books in (close to) one day, but I made this one drag out a bit.  Her first book was such a surprisingly good read that I couldn't help myself.  When I read the second book, I already knew the third one was coming out in a few weeks.  But this one just came out.  Which means it had to be savored.

The new book, Faithful Place, once again centers on a character we were introduced to in the last book.  I'm a bit nervous because I have no idea what character might be featured in the next one.  Plus this one didn't have anything to do with the last story other than that it had a shared character, but nevertheless, the story was fantastic.  I love that her stories usually bring up crimes that happened in the past - very Cold Case, which not surprisingly is one of my favorite shows - but make the fact that they've surfaced right now seem so plausible.  This one involves young love, family issues, and police drama, all of the best ingredients for a truly wonderful book.  Oh, and the ending isn't totally satisfying again, in the best possible way.  We don't ever really know what happens.  She knows when to stop giving us details, which in my opinion is one of the best things about her books.  They leave us haunted.

The only bad thing about Faithful Place, like I already mentioned, is the fact that I don't know when her next book is coming out.  The story went quickly, the characters felt real, and the love and hate expressed in her words were both so real.  If you weren't convinced by my earlier post about her other stories, I hope you'll take the time to read them now.

*It's worth mentioning it again.  Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.  Read it.  I finished it yesterday afternoon and pretty much had only put it down to get some sleep.  It's not the quickest read, which for someone like me is a good thing, but I enjoyed every single minute of it.  Perfect for Saturday afternoons by the pool, a long road trip, or just kicking your feet up after a long day at work.  A lot of the story focuses on the music from whatever decade they are living in - all of the songs we grew up loving are featured.  Ok I'll stop... but seriously, I'll probably buy it just to keep it on my bookshelf.

A Post in Which I Get a Little Vulnerable

I had planned to write about the book I finished this morning when I got a chance to get on the internet, but I can’t right now.  It’s 12:06 on a Saturday night and I’m reading a book that has brought me to tears more than once.  It hits close to home and late night on a weekend when you haven’t spoken to a soul other than your cat and your mother is not the time you want to be reminded of your shortcomings.

The book, Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah, is about two girls who become best friends when they are fourteen. The book follows their lives thereafter.  Their friendship might not be the most realistic if you ask me, but the outright love that is portrayed through the book is.  And the  other central story of the book is more realistic than I care to admit.  One of the woman falls in love with a man who has fallen in love with the other woman.  Not to give anything away, because it’s pretty easy to see early on anyway, but the first woman ends up getting the man, marrying him and having his children.  Even so, she always feels like she was his second choice.

Now, I’m only half way through the book but it has cut me to the core.  Forgive me for getting too personal, too involved in a freaking paperback novel.  I’ve never fallen in love with a man who loves my best friend but I do know what it feels like to feel like the second choice.  What kills me is that men are so damn closed off that half the time we don’t know whether we really are the second choice or whether we just think that.  I don’t know that it matters.  Because what a woman feels and thinks are more powerful than what is real most of the time.  And just like the story in this book, where the man really truly does love his wife but is still half looking for what could have been with the other woman, men do that to us all the time without even realizing it.

Like I said, it’s after midnight on a Saturday night and I’m feeling lonely.  And this book isn’t helping.  It’s beautifully written and makes me long to be the other girl.  She’s free spirited, beautiful, even if she’s more vulnerable in the inside than she looks.  But at least she can hide it.  Instead of pretending I’m fine, I’m checking my phone obsessively for a text message that I know will never come, from a man who’s a lifetime (and time zone) away, writing about it in my blog.  But I couldn’t just let the night pass without mentioning this book.  Read it.  I dare you to open yourself up the possibility that friendship and love can both be this real.

John Grisham for Women

Ok, I promised a post about the great book I was reading last week.  House Rules, the newest book by Jodi Picoult - an author I discovered years before her My Sister's Keeper fame - was one of those books that I literally couldn't put down.  It was fantastic.  Truly remarkable.  Like all of her books, I felt myself truly feeling for the characters.  I cannot tell you how many times I've read one of her books on an airplane and had the lady next to me hand me a tissue or ask if I'm going to be ok.  She writes these stories that everyone can relate to but we all hope never to deal with... terminally ill family, school shootings, rapes and murders, general family issues.  All of her books have the added bonus of being very character-in-a-courtroom driven.  I've always called her John Grisham for woman and I'll stand by that.

I mean I love a good John Grisham, or John Grisham-like, novel but sometimes I can't bring myself to care for another boardroom executive who steals the companies money or murders someone in cold blood.  But a mother who is trying to protect her family?  That I can drawn into time and time again.

The thing with her novels is that she writes from so many different perspectives.  The very first book of hers I remember reading, Perfect Match, is about a woman who prosecutes sex offenders - until her young son gets molested himself.  The terrifying ordeal that follows tears apart her family, challenges her faith, and gives everyone new perspective on the court system in our country.  Never mind that Picoult writes multiple chapters from the perspective of the young boy as he sits on some man's lap.  We all know what is going on but she writes from the point of view of the child, who is much more oblivious than the enlightened adults who follow his story.  Her description of the boy sitting on a man's lap, petting the man's cat as the molester gives reason for the boy to trust him still haunts me today.  *shutters*

I could point out moments in almost every story of hers that stick with me.  Moments that made me look at my life a little differently and know that I would react exactly the same way, no matter how irrational the character seems.  Regardless of if a woman gets in trouble for shooting the man who hurt her family... wouldn't you do the same thing if you had the opportunity?  Wouldn't you want to protect the people you love no matter what?  I know that I would.

I remember when I was a young girl and someone beat me up in the 5th grade.  My little sister, a tough 2nd grade tomboy, stormed into the office out for blood.  She was prepared to beat the hell out of whoever had hurt me, no matter how much bigger or stronger he was.  I look at her now as she's preparing to move across the country with her boyfriend and someday soon build a family of her own and know that she would still do the same thing today.  We all would.  Because that's what families do.

Bottom line, read anything you can get your hands on by this wonderful woman.  Plus, look at her.  I want to be her friend... I want to sit down for coffee and pick her brain.  Her stories are those that I could only dream to write someday.  They are so involved and the authors intelligence is evident as each and every story unfolds.  But so is her compassion, her ability to empathize with a family's suffering.  I would love to see her interact with her own children on Christmas morning.  Because someone who writes this well must live a life we can only dream to build for ourselves some day.

Tana French: The Intriguing Irish-woman

Ok, it's been far too long since I blogged and I haven't even actually launched the damn blog yet.  Already failing.

I knew when I started writing this that I wanted to talk about Tana French's books so I figure why not today.  A few years ago I was strolling through the airport, flying from Nashville to Minneapolis, when I realized I had nothing to read.  I ended up buying her first book, In the Woods, and it's memorable both because it's a good book and also because some annoying guy chatted me up at the airport that day for hours before asking me out (who does that at an airport?!) and I didn't even get around to reading it for quite some time.  Once I did, I knew I had found a new favorite author. The book is a murder-type mystery but packs a punch.  An unsolved crime from the main character's childhood serves as a psycological backbone for the story.  An it's a doosy.  When he was playing in the woods as a young child, something happened.  No one really knows what and he can't remember.  But he came home alone with blood in his shoes and his friends have never been seen again.  I won't give away the ending, but I was disappointed.  Until I read it again and realized it's better this way.  Anywho...

Since then, she's released a second book, The Likeness, which I would probably put on my top five or six favorite books list.  Both books delve into characters who you fall in love with, in part because of their utter imperfection.  Her books are linked together through the characters but each book features someone new - someone you were introduced to in the last book but who you didn't really get to know yet.  It's a wonderful idea and leaves you wanting more.  This book is also murder mystery-esque but features a woman who's previous undercover character is found murdered.  Or something like that.  Suffice it to say that it's a great read.  And way at the end of the book there's a little gem of wisdom that goes something along the lines of, "you can't love someone who's not ready to be loved."  Nothing to do with the book (really) but come on.  Brilliantly simple.

Her third book comes out soon and is already on request from the library.  Can't wait.

The thing about Tana French is that she's goofy looking.  She's Irish - which is very evident if you've ever been to Ireland and seen the Irish people - and she looks like she writes the weird books that she does.  I want to be her friend.  I want to sit down at the pub, pull up a stool, and chat about her books over a pint of Guinness.  Maybe someday I will.  Doubt it but whatever.  Don't judge.

I guess this is where I'm supposed to give my review and say how this relates to whatever else is going on in my life.  Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  Ok, here goes.  I love them both and I couldn't put them down.  The end.  Don't get caught up in the overtly Irishness of the writing - both books are police procedure driven with a little intrique, romance, and real life drama thrown into the mix but carry what I call a cloudy day effect.  They remind me of the windy, rainy, sleety, cold days I spent in Ireland last year.  There's something about them that makes me want to stand on a street corner under and awning, smoking a cigarette while I wait for the rain to let up.  They aren't easy reads exactly, but I don't always want things to come easily.  Some days the greyness is exactly what I need.  And Ms. French delivers.  Neither story ends up the way I really want them to.  Neither story gives me everything I'm looking for and in some areas gives me way too much.  But that's fricking life.

God, I'm a rambler.  This blogging idea isn't going to go anywhere, is it?  Maybe... doubt it... but maybe.