The GUEST LIST-A Miss Hit Murder Mystery by Lucy Foley

The destination wedding of the beautiful, business savvy and chic Jules Keegan to the handsome TV star Will Slater is set off the coast of Ireland. The couple of self-involved influencers seemed made for each other. But, neither have a clue about what's going to go seriously awry with their pending nuptials,  tempers stewing.and tempest brewing. Despite all the accoutrements of a sensational and salacious wedding party about to assemble, all is not as it seems. It would seem author Lucy Foley fancies Agatha Christie's paradigm; a confined setting making the culprit culpable from amongst a limited brood. Unfortunately, Foley failed to write a clever who done it. Born in the UK, Foley is an author of mysteries, historical and contemporary fiction and best selling author of "The Paris Apartment". Foley relied on updating Chrities' mysteries with attractive people arranged in glamorous manors mixed in with modern day mayhem. Foley's characters have their own backstory baggage of issues meant to construe bigger quandaries to untangle. Jules has daddy issues and mommy complaints. Her beautiful half-sister Olivia has heartbreak galore we're meant to explore. But, Hell hath no fury like her sister Bridezilla. No one puts a crink Jules' day away from the limelight. Will has a posh group of boarding school friends including Johnny O who never did blend. When a dead body is found by a posse with torches, the possible perpetrators with motives have compounded. The big reveal fell well below making me dumbfounded. "The Guest List" is a bit of a plane ride distraction; worth only a fraction of your captive detention. If you're looking for a beguiling mystery, "The Guest List" doesn't make the cut. 

RABBIT MOON-an Enchanting Novel that Wanes and Waxes in Ways Unexpected

Jennifer Haigh's latest novel RABBIT MOON is a literary marvel which takes us across continents on a journey of self-discovery and sisterly love.The gravitational pull of this novel are the Litvak sisters: Lindsey and Grace. Lindsey is the older daughter born to Aaron, a successful entrepreneur and Claire, a frustrated, wanna be writer. Grace is the adopted daughter from an orphanage in China. Lindsey was 10 when she traveled with her parents to China where she first held her baby sister and the unbreakable bonds of love were formed and became unflappable. Their parent's marriage did not prove to be as formidable and ended in a divorce. Haigh's deft writing leads us to believe Lindsay, the beautiful, intelligent, polyglot is the central character. She's 17 when her mother finds her birth control pills. Claire's completely unraveled by Lindsey's revelation: the man she was sleeping with is the next door neighbor whom she and Aaron befriended. Lindsey is heartbroken that her illicit lover ends all communication after Aaron threatened him. Still, we feel empathy for the likable Lindsey. She feels unanchored at college and drops out. She decides to travel to China to teach English with her college boyfriend in tow. Lindsay severed ties with him and her parents and finds work as a highly compensated and coveted multilingual escort. Lindsey's only steadfast link is with her sister. Grace has always felt out of place being Asian in white suburbia despite being confident in the familial love she receives. An unexpected tragedy strikes Lindsey leaving her in a coma. Her estranged parents travel together to be by her bedside. The focus then shifts from Lindsey in a comatose state to the disparate mindsets of Aaron and Claire. "We live at the intersection of casuality and chance," is one of Haigh's astute observations along with opposing cultural/traditional theologies. Aaron is an atheist and very critical of any religious certainties or superstitions. Claire is far more open minded to Western/Eastern convictions. However, it's Aaron who believed "...in his shattered state, it seem{ed} to him that China has retaliated. For the offense of taking one of its daughters, they have been punished. China has taken one of theirs." When Grace's parents return home we follow her life as she becomes older, wiser and as fascinating as the other members of her family. Grace knows "The best predictor of female popularity is physical attractiveness. Every girl knows this. We are raised on Disney princesses; even our dolls are beautiful. From birth we're made to understand what's expected of us." Expect from award winning author Jennifer Haigh's exceptional novel to be transported by this family's saga interwoven with enigmatic and compelling storytelling. 

Phil Henley's Memoir SPELLBOUND-Dyslexia is Bound up with Issues and Issues of Others

As a mother of a son who is dyslexic, I realize the myriad of challenges that affect a child whose ability to learn to read is riddled with difficulties and compounded when being taught are misunderstood, misdirected and maligned by educators. Henley has a flourishing career as a standup comic. He's forthright in his memoir which charts his struggles in school with reading, school work, teachers and self-esteem. Children's self-esteem is incumbent upon parents and educators in their early learning years. The repercussions of being humiliated and made to feel inferior can be reverberated throughout their lives. Henley used humor to persevere and found a career he passionately pursues. Getting here followed laborious years as literacy never came nor ever will come, easily for him. Comparing Henley's experiences with those of my son's, I recognized numerous similarities. Reading Henley's book was distressing for me for several reasons. Firstly, the agony Henley expressed made me wince knowing my son's difficulties in school. Secondly, my son was in elementary school more than 2 decades prior and the lack of progress in  helping dyslexic students with reading or how they are abused by teachers and classmates is shamefully stilted. Being diagnosed with dyslexia doesn't reflect low intelligence; quite the contrary. But that is not the perception held by teachers and classmates for a child unable to read on par with their peers. Henley's blunt assessment, "When you're asked to do something that most people do effortlessly and that you simply can't do, it affects how you feel about yourself and it also affects how you feel about the world." is blazingly true. Dyslexia also affects life skills that pose additional obstacles which most people are oblivious to, "You see, dyslexia doesn't start and stop with reading and writing. It affects depth perception and organization which are automatic to most people." Poor eye-hand coordination and depth perception are oftentimes adversely affected. Fortunately for many with dyslexia, other strengths or coping skills may get honed. Henley credits his talent for entertaining audiences with his dyslexia. "I can trace my ability to do crowd work to being called on in class by a teacher who wanted my thoughts on a reading assignment that I hadn't even attempted to do. I had to be quick on my feet and have faith that if I started talking something would come out." What comes out of Henley's mesmerizing SPELLBOUND is all the loving support from immediate family members, close circle of friends, the cruelty he endured at school and his tenacity and talents that have served him well. I recommend this candid, clever and cogent memoir. It provides an understanding of what it feels like being dyslexic which makes many essential abilities difficult if not impossible to acquire. But thankfully, as in Henley's and my son's life, not an insurmountable roadblock for a successful and fulfilling life. SPELLBOUND is interwoven with empathy, wonder, resilience and humor.  

G Kingston's Memoir "Did I Ever Tell You" Mom's Posthumous Presents to Remain Present

Genevieve Kingston and her mother both shared the same February birthdate. "The best birthday gift I ever got," Genevieve "Gwenny" was told by her mom on every birthday they shared. Sadly, Gwenny's mom, Kristina Maillard, was diagnosed with cancer and died at 48 just days before Gweny's 12th birthday. Kingston's bittersweet memoir "Did I Ever Tell You" recounts her mother's legacy through a treasure trove of gifts and notes bequeathed her to sustain a loving connection to her daughter on her future birthday and momentous events. My first response to this book was that it would make a profitable, sappy screenplay. My more reasoned reaction though was of admiration for Kristina's determination to provide as much loving guidance and support for her daughter (and son) in a future she wouldn't be sharing with them. Kingston is oftentimes candid and pragmatic. During the final year of her mom's life, Kingston noted, "We couldn't sustain the urgency with which we'd been living our lives. It was exhausting, spending every moment together, living every day to the fullest." In a note Kristina left behind she wrote, "How is it that I can allow myself to drift through a day with you, even now, knowing my time with you is short! Why have I not learned how to seize the essence of each day, and suck the marrow from its depths." I was struck by Kingston's honesty when waiting for her mom's impending death. "I felt I'd spent my entire life at home, watching. But I'd never imagined death could be like this, so slow, so boring." Kingston takes us into her future without her mother although her mom is interwoven into Kingston's life. She shares the   numerous tapes, letters, beautifully wrapped gifts and eloquently written notes despite the emotional toil this exacted on her mom. The years following her mother's death are provided with loving support from her father, a community of friends and family. Her high school years are happy with her close group of friends and steady boyfriend. Her boyfriend came out as gay his freshman year in college. Unlike her friends, Kingston couldn't adjust to life outside her childhood home. Her first foray into college out east ends abruptly before classes begin. Trying again at Berkeley where she planned to commute from her father's house also ended before it began. Gwenny learns posthumously of her parent's failed marriage. She's resentful of her father for remarrying. Tragedy strikes again when Gwenny was back at Berkeley with her father's unforeseen suicide. Gwenny's constant support came from her close ties to her older brother, with counseling and within the theater. "The emotions I struggled to control at home and in every other context of my life were welcomed in this one. Onstage these were assets." And, by the omnipresence of her mother's treasure chest filled with presents which remained a constant presence in her life."Opening  the chest was, by now, a familiar ritual, like lighting birthday candles, or placing ornaments on a tree."This   tender and touching memoir is a tribute to the omnipotence of parental love. It's also testament to living. Kristina sagacious words echo from the grave "...birth to adulthood is only 1/4 of your life. 3/4s is spent looking back at youth. Enjoy it while you have it and enjoy each bit of it to the full. Take time to make friends with yourself. Take time to learn what interests you, what your opinions and feelings are, find your own sense of the world and which values you hold most dear." 

Geraldine Brook's MEMORIAL DAYS-Memoir and Tribute to her Late Husband Anthony Horowitz

The sudden loss of a spouse is a heartbreaking tragedy that befalls many. Grief is the response to the loss of a loved whom one bestowed their love and is no longer there to receive it. The process for giving is as individual as one's fingerprints. Accomplished writers like Joan Didion and Joyce Carol Oates were able to channel their emotions into their forte of writing. Brooks' husband, Tony Horowitz, died suddenly at age 59, leaving Brooks with their two sons and an immeasurable void after decades together in a blissful marriage. Writing about their unlikely coupling, their even more surprising successful literary careers and the morass of loneliness following her husband's death was a means for Brooks to process her mourning and challenges of widowhood. Having read both Didion and Oates' memoirs, comparing them felt required. All three writers have received numerous literary honors including Pulitzer Prizes in Literature. Of the three, Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" resonates poignantly with her ephemeral references when confronting her husband's death and daughter's flailing health. Oates' memoir,"A Widow's Story" is blatant in her tactile descriptions of her husband's corpse. Oats' writing felt too harsh and detached. Conversely, Brooks memoir, "Memorial Days" resounds candidly and clearly when sharing her suffering and state of mind. Brooks' prose ebbs and flows like the tides on the shores of their home recounting their courtship, the arduous/adventurous years of foreign reporting to falling in love and becoming a family four folded into the welcoming arms of each other's parents and siblings. Brooks is direct concerning her financial status which left her secured in their dream home on the Vineyard and the joys derived from raising their sons. Brooks Admitted to being thrust into handling fiscal matters she gladly left to her husband such as taxes and insurance which reverberated with the fears for many of not only losing one's soul mate but the guilt associated with many couples who gladly turn over various responsibilities knowing they should take more responsibility for knowing what to do. Both Brooks and her late husband's paths fortuitously intertwined into a loving couple hood, expanding family each establishing a literary legacy and most of all a legacy of having lived, simply put, happily-for-what-it's worth and while it lasted in a most congenial way - where July and August never got too hot. MEMORIAL DAYS provides solace in its calibrated allotments of grief. This eloquent memoir tugs gently at the heartstrings resounding with sorrow offset by blessings that abound in life, 

K Morton's Novel HOMECOMING-You Can Never Get Your Wasted Time Back Reading It

Kate Morton is a best selling author who hails from down under. As far as I'm concerned, her novel HOMECOMING should remain under wraps. It's underwhelming, overly convoluted and a complete waste of time. The heroine Jess also hails from Australia and studied literature abroad in the UK as did Morton. The relevance is of little importance to the story. A call from overseas regarding the flailing health of her beloved grandmother (GM), Nora Turner, brings Jess back to care for her GM. Nora raised Jess from early childhood and only went to her mother Polly's sporadically. Jess' life in the UK was floundering. She just had a recent breakup with her longtime boyfriend and her career was stalling. There were no ties holding her in England. Neither is anything else in the story tied into Jess' years abroad.  Upon returning, Jess visits her GM in her hospital bed.  Nora's cryptic comments set Jess on a whirlwind quest to decipher what her GM's last words meant. The story is told in the present and 3 decades prior; Christmas Eve just before Nora gave birth to Jess' mother Polly. A terrible tragedy befell the Turner family which was kept in the dark from Jess. Nora's sister-in-law Isabel who was married to Nora's beloved brother was in the UK at the time of his family's infamous catastrophe. Isabel died along with 3 of her 4 children. The bodies of Isabel and her 3 eldest children were discovered in repose on the estate. The serene picnic setting of the mother and children alongside their lake belies the horror of discovering the 4 of them are deceased and the infant missing. The tawdry tale of what befell this robust family is a mystery that is confusing to unfold.  Worse, this befuddling and turgid crime/mystery with its numerous trajectories are all misfired. The plot is a painfully slow burn saga. The final payoff when it finally arrives is a complete bust. Pass on this morass read.  Do not stop at home, the library or bookstore. I regret the arduous hours spent with HOMECOMING and I can never get my time back. 

ORDINARY GRACE-W Krueger's Extremely Ordinary Coming of Age Novel In Midwest Mid 60's

If you're a fan of Stephen King's novels or short stories (especially the non-horror ones) you'll recognize William Kent Krueger's style of story telling told by an older but wiser narrator looking back on a pivotal, early-teen year in which life-altering events augur him towards adulthood. Frank (an overly obvious choice of an honest sounding name) is the middle child of Methodist Minister Nathan Drum and his wife Ruth (a biblical name worthy of rubies). Frank's beautiful, older, Juilliard bound sister Ariel and younger, "Howdy-Doody looking," brother with a stuttering issue, Jake, live modestly in their church relegated home in a small, riverbed town an hour or so outside the Twin cities. The story is entrenched in the good v. evil attributes of small rural town; neighborliness with hosted block parties replete with pop and jello molds, bigotry towards the few Native Americans living on the fringes. There's the rapid gossip hot-line and railroad tracks that divide the town; literally. It's too easy to compare Krueger's story and writing to King's, but I will. The story begins with the gruesome discovery of a young boy's body along the train tracks. Secondly, the story focuses on the close knit relationship between the brothers within a virtuous family, i.e. sagacious, altruistic father and admirable wife and daughter; both are leading assets to the church's choir. King and Krueger set a similar scene in a bucolic haven. The neighborhood kids have pickup games, the local drug store has an old fashioned soda fountain and listening to a Twins' game or getting a haircut at the local barbershop is de rigueur. King's novella "The Body" which was made into a blockbuster pick "Stand by Me" stood as a paving stone for setting the tone of Krueger's "Ordinary Grace" (OG). The simple life for the salt of the earth citizens is soon badly shaken in the summer of '61; a time when innocence died (along with several others) in Krueger's coming-of-age/crime novel. As Frank tells us right upfront in the story, young Bobby was only the first of several deaths to occur during the coming lazy days of summer vacation days. Along with mounted bodies, Frank's dawning empathy and his appreciation for his father rose. The story is driven by Ariel's disappearance and Frank's inner turmoil. Ruth's refusal to accept God's grace after tragedy strikes their family and the racist, quick to condemn attitudes of many in town, and perhaps his own, gave Frank plenty to grapple with. Overall, this is an easy read with obvious clues to culpabilities. If you're already a King fan you'll likely enjoy this easy read, or as in my case, take umbrage at obvious appropriations made. Either way, ORDINARY GRACE is an end of innocence/coming of age story that is nothing out of the ordinary. And, not a worthy Library Book Club   Selection.