good books

What I’m Reading Now

July 14, 2021 by admin

My fiction tastes get fickle from time to time. After obsessing about fairy tales, I’m backing off a bit (not completely, mind you, but a little. I was reading one but not getting through it, so I jettisoned it for some straight up historical and contemporary fiction. I hope to get caught up on book reviews very soon!

So, while I wait to review something I really enjoy (for I won’t review it here if I don’t like it), here’s a list of my current line-up of books at the top of my TBR pile:

Bronte’s Mistress by Finola Austin – novel concerning an affair between Branwell Bronte, brother of the famous Bronte sisters, and the very married and much older Lydia Robinson. I’m a fan of all things Bronte, so I couldn’t pass this one up!

The Spinster’s Fortune by Mary Kendall – a gothic-tinged novel of family secrets. I found this one on Twitter, for writers who wonder if their books are ever really noticed there!

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin – Pro tip: if you want me to buy a book, put “bees” in the title and I’m already hooked. This story concerns a trio of unlikely friends who must work together to save the bees from a pesticide company.

There are more in my pile, but that’s what I’ll report today. Hopefully I’ll be back next week with some reviews!

Book Review: The Accidental Gatekeeper

June 16, 2021 by admin

*NOTE: I received an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.*

Carla Rehse’s new release, The Accidental Gatekeeper, is the first of a trilogy centered around Everly, a middle-aged woman who turned her drug-dealing husband into the Feds, and returned to her Central Texas hometown for safety…only to find she’s jumped from the proverbial frying pan into the fire.

Sitting next to Hell’s Gate, the town of Crossing Shadows, Texas, isn’t your ordinary Texas town. It may look like it, but it’s a chaotic mix of angels, demons, hellhounds, and a variety of other magical beings. Everly left years ago, denying her status as a “Marked” human, so she doesn’t get the warmest of welcomes upon her return.

Her main goal is to keep her grown daughter safe, a daughter who knows nothing of the family legacy. But before saving her daughter, she’s drawn into saving the town.

I liked Everly, in part because she’s not young. She has creaky knees and hot flashes, so she’s an unlikely heroine. I also loved the cheeky, snarky humor of the story. It kept me wanting to turn the page. The major characters were distinctive and fun, and the story moves less like a freight train and more like a supersonic jet…lots of action all the time.

This isn’t the type of book I normally read, so if you love what I’ve already written, you’ll enjoy this book. And I did, too, to a point. I would have liked to catch my breath here and there. The pace was a bit too breakneck for me. It also seemed like there were too many varieties of magical beings, which got a bit confusing.

Also, I am assuming (hoping) that since mine was a downloaded advance copy, the text formatting will get fixed in the final version. The formatting is inconsistent, making the book harder to read.

As a series, this book makes a good lead-in. It’s a complete story but leaves some unresolved threads as bread crumbs for the books to follow. I will probably want to know what happens next with Everly. (I have a pet peeve when a series book doesn’t have an actual ending, but this one does.) For an author writing a series, a reader wanting to continue is the ultimate goal.

The Factory Girl and the Fey comes out October 15! Coming soon: sample chapter and cover reveal. Stay tuned!

Book Review: Migrations

May 19, 2021 by admin

I’m always buying books, and sometimes they get lost on my Kindle app. Recently I found one I’d bought back in December but hadn’t read. It was well worth the wait, but why not sooner? I have no good answer for that. I’m just glad I finally took the time to read it!

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy is an extraordinary debut novel about a woman with a passion for birds. Franny Stone is determined to follow the migration of the Arctic tern, a bird that flies from the north pole to the south every year, but which is endangered. She talks her way onto a fishing boat, promising that as she tracks the birds, she will find fish for the crew whose livelihood has been decimated by climate change. NOTE: The story is set sometime in the future, but close enough to present to be uncomfortable.

As the boat heads out to sea looking for fish, Franny’s background is carefully unspooled by the author. We learn about her marriage and her need to be on the run at all times, breaking the heart of her loyal husband who loves her exactly as she is. We learn she is a troubled soul with a startling past. And, at the end, we learn the real reason for her journey, not the one she states early on (which is troubled enough).

As I was reading, I thought I had it all figured out. I was wrong. Well, not totally. I guessed correctly at some of it, but the journey there brought me to an unexpected place.

Migrations is a haunting book that will stay with me for some time. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading! Starting in June, I will be adding a second blog post per week about other topics, and I hope you’ll join me! I invite you to subscribe to my blog.

Also, please consider purchasing one or more of my books. The Factory Girl and the Fey, a historical fantasy, is coming this fall, so stay tuned for more details! For more info on my contemporary women’s fiction, click here.

Book Review: Joyous Lies

May 12, 2021 by admin

A former commune, now organic farm, is at the center of Joyous Lies by Margaret Ann Spence as a group of aging hippies is forced to confront what’s next in their lives. The catalyst is the arrival of a documentary film crew, approved by the group’s charismatic leader Neil but objected to by his partner Johanna. As filming commences, old hurts and jealousies arise.

Meanwhile, granddaughter Maelle is struggling to finish her Ph.D. thesis about plant communication. Raised on the farm, she has a strong connection to the land. When Neil’s parents (who owned the land) die, and his siblings want to sell the land, many questions are raised. If the land is sold, the pristine environment would be razed for expensive real estate. If it isn’t, how can a group of old hippies, now beset by arthritis and other age-related problems, continue to support themselves?

The commune was not as idyllic as presented, and author Margaret Ann Spence unspools secrets, denials, hypocrisy, and lies. There is a huge chasm between the ideals of the commune, set up by hopeful young draft dodgers, and the harsh reality of survival.

I saw this novel as being, in part, about reflecting on one’s earlier life and choices. Are there regrets? Did we do the right thing? How can we face the big mistakes we made without being utterly destroyed by them? In other words, people are complicated…something young, idealistic Maelle will need to learn.

Thanks for reading! Starting in June, I will be adding a second blog post per week about other topics, and I hope you’ll join me! I invite you to subscribe to my blog.

Also, please consider purchasing one or more of my books. The Factory Girl and the Fey is coming this fall, so stay tuned for more details! It’s a historical fantasy, quite different from my other books. For more info on my contemporary women’s fiction, click here.

Book Review: The Vanishing Half

April 21, 2021 by admin

When I was a little girl I announced to my family that the best way to achieve racial harmony and to eliminate bigotry was to have all races intermarry so we would all end up the same color.

This did not go over well.

So decades later, when I started reading The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, I was astounded to read a story about a town of light-skinned black people who wanted to stay that way. Here was my childhood theory! Naturally, however, the reality turned out to be much more complicated.

The Vanishing Half focuses on a pair of twins, Desiree and Stella. Both witnessed the lynching death of their father (as his light skin did not create the protection hoped for), and this trauma naturally stays with them. They run away together, but Stella soon disappears from Desiree’s life. And Desiree, arguably the wilder one who was most determined to leave their small town of Mallard, Louisiana, returns with a daughter in tow…who happens to be a deep blue-black.

Little by little we see the lives of both sisters play out in ways that are sometimes surprising, even jarring. Stella passes as white and creates a life to escape her past. Desiree makes a live in Mallard. Both must live with the consequences of their choices, and the author handles their divergent paths with both honesty and compassion.

What does color mean? In The Vanishing Half, Desiree’s daughter Jude has to face bullying from black locals because she’s too dark. And let’s not forget that in the Deep South of that time period (the book starts in the 50s), it took very little black blood for someone, such as the twins’ father, to be lynched and murdered by white men.

There’s an LGBTQ element to this novel as well. Some reviewers have complained about this because it seemed like too much to tackle in one story. However, I think the story does a good job of intertwining the issues and struggles of gender and race.

My favorite character was Jude, Desiree’s daughter, who struggles in a community where she is bullied for her dark color but also develops a deep determination that she’ll need for the many challenges in her life. Her key role in the unfolding of this story is, in my opinion, what makes it great.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out that The Vanishing Half is also about family, relationships, and how our pasts inform our future choices.

Beautifully written, The Vanishing Half is a must-read for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of the impact of race and gender, and/or anyone who loves a good family drama

IN OTHER NEWS:

Starting in May (or thereabouts) I will be adding a second blog post per week that will be unrelated to book reviews. As always, I respectfully decline to review books as a favor to authors. I feel too much pressure to give a good review when one isn’t always warranted. Thanks for understanding.

If you enjoyed this content, please consider purchasing one of my books. Details can be found here. Thanks!

What Ifs and Wales

November 6, 2014 by admin

What if a man finds himself a prisoner in a place of great beauty, unable to go home? What if he loses his name and is known only as Number 6? What if he raises his fist and refuses to conform, saying, “I am not a number. I am a free man!”

Debonair, charismatic British actor Patrick McGoohan asked those questions in the 1960s during a visit to Portmeirion Village in Wales. The result was The Prisoner, an iconic miniseries that remains a cult favorite.

It’s not surprising that Portmeirion inspired a classic. Sitting on the edge of an estuary, Portmeirion has the look and feel of a hillside Italian village in miniature. Upon seeing it for the first time, I let out an involuntary gasp at the stunning, elegant buildings and the abundant nature surrounding them.

Portmeirion was the brainchild of Clough Williams-Ellis, who asked himself, what if he could create beauty without disturbing the surrounding environment? He spent 50 years working on the answer.

What if? It’s my favorite question. Sometimes “what if” paralyzes me with fear when I’m trying something new and fear the worst. “What if” helps me plan ahead and solve problems before they happen. “What if” ponders my fate had I made different choices as a young woman.

As a writer, I rely on “what if” to come up with story ideas. What if an ambitious female money manager gets caught up in the Madoff scandal and loses the life she knew? What if a troubled young woman with low self-esteem and a burgeoning alcohol problem is the only person who can stop a dangerous bully? What if my great-great grandmother, the one who bore a child out of wedlock and died ten months later of typhoid, was not the victim her story would suggest?

“What if” brought me to Wales. When we decided to visit the U.K., I said, “What if I ask Juliet Greenwood, a Welsh author I met online, if she wants to meet in person?” I did ask, and she said yes. We met first in her home, then she joined us later to relax in Portmeirion.

Juliet recently wrote about her visit here. As you will see, she gathered some incredible nighttime photos!

Juliet is one of those writers for whom I have great respect. She works hard at her craft and has created two lovely novels, Eden’s Garden and We That Are Left. Getting to know her better in person in Portmeirion made the experience that more magical.

What if I worked as hard to build my stories and skills as Juliet does? Hmm. Something to think about.

Rested and recovered with creative juices flowing, we left Portmeirion for Bronte Country. What if we find a Bronte ghost walking on the moors? More about that next week! As they say in The Prisoner, “Be seeing you.”