The Thieves of Manhattan: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)"Thieves" is magically entertaining. I loved Langer's wonderfully inventive literary references. Famous author's names can become verbs or evocative nouns such as when Ian, the main character, gets fed up with his crazy life and wants to pull a salinger, meaning he wants to hide away for awhile a la JD Salinger. People at upscale literary readings and parties drink faulkners (whiskey) or fitzgeralds (gin rickys), they wear ecklebergs or franzens, both forms of eyeglasses.
In the beginning Ian, a failing writer, meets Jed, another failed author, or is he a scam artist? and they embark on an adventure as they rewrite Jed's memoir. Along the way they speculate about what literary talent is, who has it, who's a fake or real in the corporate literary world and among their fellow writers. I loved the inside look into book society as well as the adventure tale running throughout the story. There are also a few love stories along the way and some cloak and dagger adventure. Best were the humor and the sense of fun. I enjoyed Langer's book immensely.


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After You'd Gone Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm an avid reader, an oftentimes jaded reader, and a book has to be nothing short of remarkable to make me visibly emotional. But Maggie O'Farrell's book made me both laugh and cry out loud, and kept me up all night until I finished.
After You'd Gone is a series of flashbacks, written from different perspectives, that together form a highly emotional family portrait.
You can't help but be drawn in by the characters. You feel for them, you understand them, and you ultimately care what happens to them. Oftentimes, British novels with British characters are a little more difficult for American readers to relate to. But this is not the case with O'Farrell's book.
Male or female, young or old, everyone can appreciate this story. It is an easy read, full of humor, romance, and grief - a unique combination that will stay with you long after you are finished.

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Shark Dialogues Review

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(More customer reviews)Written by a woman of Hawaiian descent who clearly loves her people, this family saga is the story of Hawaii itself. The central character is the matriarch Pono, whose life includes harsh realities and surreal myths. Her long and passionate love for her husband Duke has caused her great joy, but the situations they had to face together have required strength and courage.
Pono's four adult granddaughters, each born of a different mixed blood heritage and who now live in various parts of the world, come back to Hawaii to visit, forcing them all to come to terms backgrounds.
Their stories are all revealed though flashbacks, going all the way back through seven generations, mixing history with myth in a wonderful array of unforgettable characters. I'll never forget the story of life in a leper colony, or of life on a plantation. I'll long remember the mythical quality of the sea and its ability to both nourish and destroy. There's life and death and passion and joy. There's war and peace and destruction by both human greed and natural forces.
At 480 pages, this is a book to sink into and look forward to reading at the end of the day. A book that brings the story of Hawaii alive to the reader and a fresh retelling of truths and legends

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The Distant Land of My Father Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me first explain how I came upon reading DISTANT LAND. I was in Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena, CA and noticed the book being promoted. I actually bought it thinking it was a memoir and only upon getting it home realized that it was a fictional memoir, in fact a first novel. Then I noted in Vroman's magazine that each year the city of Pasadena picks one book for the whole city to read, so that the city has a common cultural experience. For 2007 that book is DISTANT LAND. At the time I did not know the city of South Pasadena plays a significant roll in the narrative. Then next I had to over come the fact that I am not particularly found of novels told in the first person as DISTANT LANDS is narrated by Anna who we meet as a young girl in Shanghai in love with her surroundings and with her father. A Father who appears at ease with being a blond, blue eyed native born Chinese (born of missionary parents). The novel is epic (taking place from the late 30s to the early 80s), yet intimate and a very unique emotional telling of Anna's life and her Father's love of Shanghai which we discover consumes him as he commits one poor value judgment over another. The book is brilliant in creating a sense of place and character, you are constantly surprised and will find the last 100 pages will rip tears from right out of your eyes. I understand this is Ms. Caldwell's first novel and it is simply an amazing, entertaining, and enlightening achievement in what some might classify as an historical novel. But it is really in the end an intimate story of emotions, choices, and consequences, told through terribly real people that have to learn that love is
overcoming the serious faults of those we should (and must) love. The distant land of Anne's father may have been Shanghai, China, but it was really the emotional distance she felt when her father chooses his love for Shanghai over her and her mother. You come to fell this must be a true memoir as is so believable. This is an outstanding book and I trust you will be just as Wowed by it as I was.


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Rising Tides (The Chesapeake Bay Saga, Book 2) Review

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(More customer reviews)Rising Tides is the second book in the trilogy of the Quinn brothers. This second book of the trilogy was my favorite so far! I haven't read the third one yet but I will. This book was very simple with a few twists and turns. I would highly reccomend this novel!
Ethan is the eldest brother and a fisherman, still living in the Maryland shore town where he was raised by Ray and Stella Quinn. He is a quiet, seemingly content man but you later learn that he has kept his emotions and such to himself for many years. Ethan shared Ray's loves of the sea, boating, and fishing. Ethan seems satisfied with his life until he comes to face his past demons when youngest brother, Seth joins the family and with a similar past. Ethan is drawn to Seth having realized they both experienced horrific abuse at the hands of their natural parents during their early childhood. Because of this common thread, the story of their relationship is quite an emotional read. Ethan establishes a strong paternal relationship with his youngest brother and together, they are both able to put their past to rest. During the course of this book, Ethan realizes he is worthy of a loving relationship with Grace Monroe and her daughter Aubrey whom you will meet in Rising Tides and fall in love with. Ethan is the strongest of the Quinn brothers and through his love for his family and his job, he is able to give each of this brothers the emotional grounding they need to get through their family tragedy and learn to enjoy their lives once more.
I love Nora Roberts books! I like it when she writes something more than a romance or mystery. The real life topic in this book is child abuse and the devastating, life long effect it can have on families and people. Nora manages to get across this very disturbing subject and still write an enjoyable book with a wonderful romance!

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Sea Swept (Chesapeake Bay, Book 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)Cameron Quinn is at the top of his game! He is a champion at his first love racing boats, famous, and a different woman every night. His world comes crashing down around him when he is notified his adopted father, Ray, is dying from injuries received in an accident. Cameron arrives in time to say goodbye along with his brothers Phillip and Ethan. It is then they find out that they have another brother named Seth. Since they were all adopted, they all come together to make sure Seth is taken care of.
Anna Spinelli is responsible for Seth as his caseworker. She is a no nonsense take no prisoners type of woman. Anna is straightforward and doesn't play any games. She knew that mixing business with pleasure was a no-no but she couldn't deny her attraction to Cameron.
Cameron decides to move home to provide the stable environment Seth needs. Phillip, Ethan, and Cameron have never raised children before, and they have no idea what to do in many circumstances. Anna is sympathetic to them, and helps them as much as possible. As Cameron and Anna grow closer, they must find a way to balance all the needs of this family.
This is a wonderful start to the new series. Each of the brothers is very different, and it is a struggle for them to learn to be a family unit. There are some very funny antics, and some very touching heartwarming moments. Cameron and Anna are good together, and have great chemistry.


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The Forgotten Garden: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)A four-year-old girl waits alone on a dock in Australia for parents who never come. Her only possession? A tiny white suitcase containing no information about who she is or how she came to be abandoned.
Nell is a foundling, and what a rare foundling she is. A stow-away on an ocean liner, she refuses to tell even so much as her name. Until in her 60s, over-protected by a loving foster father, she has no clue how she came to be alone on that dock. Hers is the mystery that unfolds in this long novel spanning more than a century, five generations, and two distant continents.
Enthusiastic fans of Kate Morton's first novel, "The House at Riverton," will thrill to her second, "The Forgotten Garden." Like her first, this is a novel whose female characters are finely and fully drawn, and whose males are wispy and insubstantial. How its women interact, how they love and hate one another, how their interplay moves through tragedy and redemption will provide hours of pleasure for her fans.
Morton's excellent pacing creates a page-turner that is hard to put down, although its length might give pause to those who suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. Morton tells her story not only through the actions of her characters but also through fairy tales that work on several levels and provide clues to the mystery's final solution. Many readers will have guessed the solution long before the end of the book. Nevertheless, Morton maintains reader interest throughout.
Overall, this is a highly satisfying read. It's fun to watch the author weave the lives of women into a rich tapestry of life and love, anger and betrayal. However, the novel is not without its weaknesses. First, as mentioned above, Morton's male characters are weak and insipid and never come to life. Second, the love interest at the end of the book does not mesh with the rest of the work. It is almost as though an editor said, "You'd better add a little love story here," so Morton did.
The book's flaws, while mildly unsettling, are not serious enough to spoil a great read. If you enjoy long stories about generations of women, you will love "The Forgotten Garden."

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