The Typist by Michael Knight- Review

Set in Japan 1945-1946 during the American occupation post WW II. A young soldier, Francis Vancleave, narrates the story about getting assigned to General Douglas McArthur's staff when it's discovered that he has typing skills. We get some scenes inside McArthur's family, especially with the general's eight year old son, whom Francis befriends beyond the request to babysit when he realizes how lonely it must be for a young boy so far from the familiar things of home and confined to a military compound. We also see his perspective of Tokyo and its nightlife with fellow soldiers, especially his bunk mate with whom he shares letters from home and the constant worries about what those letters may, and eventually do bring them. Francis has a new war bride waiting for him Stateside. 
While his bunk mate gets deeper into some shady dealings and entertains pan-pan girls Frances tries hard to stay faithful and out of trouble even while he worries about him. There are other aspects of the story I have not mentioned but I don't like to say too much in a review, I like to be surprised when I read a story myself. The writing is very smooth and the story moves at a good pace. At 208 pages it's an easy one day read and it's a smaller hardcover that fits the hand just right. The story is very true to life I thought. I'm familiar with the time period and military service and I believed every word of it. Highly recommended

This review was requested by Kathy at Bermudaonion's Weblog who asked...

"I'd like to know what you thought of The Typist - I met the author in September and he was charming."

Aspects of the story I think you'll enjoy:

-Francis is an Alabama boy whose Southern standards are very important to him.

-I know your father was military, mine was too, so many of the things mentioned will be more familiar to us.

-There's a army/navy football game arranged by McArthur in the story. This is based on a true incident that occurred in Japan at the time. I know how much you like watching men fight over a pigskin.

I think this story is made for you, Kathy. Thank you for asking.

My policy is to write brief reviews only by request of my readers. Any book I've read or am currently reading, please just ask.

My Favourite Reads

Hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.

"Each week features one of my favorite reads that I finished before I started blogging. I'm not reviewing the books, just giving a brief description (most likely the publisher's blurb) and telling you why the book is a favorite."

Do you have any old favorites that you haven't had a chance to blog about yet? Or some older reviews that you would like to feature? Please join us."

The week I chose:

The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt

Paperback 544 pages

Miramax (2001)

A young boy in London searches for the identity of his father by reading up on and searching out famous scientists and artists when his intellectual American mother refuses him any information about who he is. A single mother, Sibylla Newman, somewhat eccentric, has her hands full trying to support them by transcribing manuscripts and keeping a very gifted child stimulated and fulfilled. Ludovic, the kind of child that could read in three languages at the age of four, is determined to confront the man he thinks might be his father. Sprinkled throughout with scientific and literary references this book is a masterpiece of originality and a hoot as well. Sibylla's obsession with a Kurosawa film of the same name explains the title, not the Cruise film. This was one of the best books I read that year. It tells you how much I liked it that I went out and purchased a copy. Five stars. Highly recommended.

Comments, questions, links to reviews are always welcomed. I'd love to read them.

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón - Afterwords

Afterwords is my review. Forewords about the book may interest you too.

Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (June 16, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0385528701
ISBN-13: 978-0385528702

"...if Shadow of the Wind is the nice, good girl in the family, The Angel’s Game would be the wicked gothic stepsister."

That's how Zafon describes this novel of high suspense about books and writing, desire and ambition. It seems he's planned a series.

"to give each book a different personality, to show some of the same characters at different times in their lives. Since these books were, in part, about the world of literature, books, reading and language, I thought it would be interesting to use the different novels to explore those themes through different angles and to add new layers to the meaning of the stories.

...four different novels. They would be stand-alone stories that could be read in any order. I saw them as a Chinese box of stories with four doors of entry, a labyrinth of fictions that could be explored in many directions, entirely or in parts, and that could provide the reader with an additional layer of enjoyment and play. These novels would have a central axis, the idea of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, set against the backdrop of a highly stylized, gothic and mysterious Barcelona.

The Angel’s Game is a new book, a stand-alone story that you can fully enjoy and understand on its own. But if you have already read The Shadow of the Wind, or you decide to read it afterwards, you’ll find new meanings and connections that I hope will enhance your experience with these characters and their adventures.


The Angel’s Game has many games inside, one of them with the reader. It is a book designed to make you step into the storytelling process and become a part of it. In other words, the wicked, gothic chick wants your blood."

I have not read The Shadow of the Wind, this is not my usual genre. So I quote extensively because his explanation, though overblown, explains it all much better than I can.

I enjoyed the story. Its minor characters are so well developed that I often found them much more interesting than David Martin, our young writer. Their feelings and motivations seemed more fleshed out. After getting into writing David puts out a series of potboilers that the public eats up but are known only under a pen name. David can write well, he even writes a great book for a friend and no one knows him as the writer of that book either. The Sempere and Sons Bookshop figures large in the story, so does the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, and a woman he will do anything for. An offer from a French editor to write the book of a lifetime, a book that can change the world, lures our protagonist into the dark, gothic side of ambition. There is an element of fantasy to the novel which threw me, only because nothing outside the real world ever happens in my usual reading, so I didn't clue in to what was happening on one level. I suspect that Zafon's readers like that he will go in any direction to sustain a story. And it's certainly an interesting story.

It's set in Barcelona, about two decades earlier than The Shadow of the Wind. The story moved quickly enough that it did not feel like a long novel, it made you want to know what's going to happen next. The novel is a mystery but a highly evolved one, with intrigue, romance, tragedy, and with much more at stake for our protagonist than is usual. I think people are going to enjoy this book for the most part. It's not perfect, but it's a fun read. Four stars out of five. I recommend it.

Have you read The Angel's Game? What did you think? Any plans to read it? If you've reviewed it, leave me a link, I'd love to read it.

Have you read other books by Zafon, and which do you recommend? The Shadow of the Wind-did you love it or hate it? No Spoilers please.

Ex-Cottagers in Love by J. M. Kearns - Review

Review

Ex-Cottagers in Love by J. M. Kearns (2008)

Fiction, 380 pgs. Paperback, Key Porter Press

This is a guest review written by Claire of kiss a cloud.

Ex-Cottagers in Love is a touching story about emotional attachments--to family, the past, childhood places, newfound loves.

Dave, in mid-life, is working as a paralegal in L.A., but his dream career, really, is to be a musician/songwriter. He works the music on the side, waiting for his "big break." He is dating his dream girl, and everything in his life is just as it should be.

Until he gets an invitation from his sister in Canada to spend a week's vacation in Muskoka to relive old times. Their family used to own a cottage by the lake where they spent their summers in. That cottage was recently sold, and Dave's sister is trying to gain back the sense of place they used to have when they were younger by renting a place right across their old cottage. Excited at the chance, Dave brings his girlfriend Maggie along.

While there, however, Dave's idea of a relaxing vacation turns into a painful and desperate trip into nostalgia. Suddenly, he expects Maggie to completely understand his feelings about summer vacations in cottage country, and despises her when she deviates from what he expects. He begins to yearn for the old days, and ponders on what it all means: his current life, his job, his relationships. He plunges into full-blown soul-searching.

When I began this book, I didn't expect to see much depth, but I was pleasantly surprised that, not only was the protagonist not shallow, the writing was actually very good.
What I loved from the start was the feeling of summer that I got. How could one not love reading about summers by the lake?

But it wasn't all about summer and cottage country. Dave had to go back to his reality in L.A. His family moved on. Along the way, we are given glimpses into the lives of members of two other generations: Dave's aging father, and his teenage nephew. The struggles each of the three characters faces intersect with one another and we are pulled into their affairs as a family, and as individuals finding their own place in this world.

The themes are familiar. The fragility of life. The inability to articulate our feelings. Self-absorption into our own dramas that we forget to pay attention to others who matter. And that, sometimes, things are a little too late.

The book also made me thoughtful: How important are memories in our lives, and are they worth that importance we give them over loved ones that are living, breathing beings, hovering in the midst of the present, the now?

There were many things in the book that moved me. And I was so glad that this turned out to be something with more substance than I initially expected. It was a delight to read, bittersweet and hopeful, like how life is. Thank you, Mr. Kearns, for this endearing book.

Two of my favourite passages:

One of the most fun things you can do is to lie on the bottom of a canoe. I did it once in the daytime. I had my life preserver on, and my mom was in the canoe. It's way more dangerous at night, like this. It's like having no sense of balance. The stars don't tell you when you're tipping and when you're not, so you feel like you're tipping all the time.

The conversation continued. My diaphragm humming with pleasure, I watched as he just kept getting things right. We had never had a chat so leisurely, so steady, so intimate. It was as if we had climbed a mountain in a freezing rain, to find at the top a sunny meadow.

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J. M. Kearns has also written these non-fiction books:

Why Mr. Right Can't Find You: The Surprising Answers that Will Change Your Life (January 2008)

Better Love Next Time: How the Relationship that Didn't Last Can Guide You to the One that Will (January 2009)

Key Porter Presshttp://www.keyporter.com/BookDetail.aspx?ISBN=1554700000

J.M Kearns Home Page:http://www.jmkearns.com/

Thank you Claire. Please visit Claire at kiss a cloud, it's a lovely book blog with insightful reviews of literary fiction.

The Lost City of Z by David Grann

Review and Giveaway

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

368 pgs. Paperback

Doubleday

This is a guest review written by Tamara of Books by TJBaff.

This is not a fictionalized account of Percy Fawcett's adventures in the Amazon basin. This strives to recount quite accurately the information that Fawcett recorded about his explorations. It is mixed with the stories of a couple of other explorers that also attempted to find the lost city of El Dorado...and David Grann who tried to follow the footsteps exactly that Percy had travelled while searching for his mythical city of Z. It is unsure about why he even called it Z but he seems to have become obsessed with the idea of it and it had assumed an almost nirvana-like mysticism in his dreams.

This was a time in history when technology hadn't caught up with the dreams and needs of the adventurers in the jungle and when people went exploring they often disappeared for months and sometimes years...with no way of contacting those in the civilized world. Some never returned to their loved ones and the assumption was that they had perished in the 'green hell' that had taken over their lives. Hostile natives, disease or being the prey of carnivorous hunters was most probably the fate of all who disappeared but these mysteries just seemed to fuel the enthusiasm for hundreds of men and they all hoped to be the one to crack the mystery of The Lost City Of Z.

I was intrigued in spite of myself (I have always enjoyed a good adventure story) and quickly read through this book although it was a little dry and I needed to read it over several nights. It required thinking about as I was reading unlike a piece of fiction. The account also felt disjointed through parts of the book and I grew to wish that David Grann had just written about Fawcett and not muddied the waters by introducing some other explorers. After all, David Grann was interested in following Mr. Fawcett's footsteps...no one else's.

I did enjoy the story and was thrilled to read the last chapter. It brought the quest for the lost city of Z to a satisfactory conclusion. This book has been sold and is presently in production for a 2010 release starring Brad Pitt as Colonel Percy Fawcett.

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Thank you Tamara.

For those interested in more background on the story here is a fascinating interview with David Grann about the book at Powell's Books.

The Lost City of Z was also enthusiastically reviewed by:

Colleen at Foreign Circus Library.
Alyce at athomewithbooks.
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Thanks to the generosity of Doubleday I have two copies of The Lost City of Z by David Grann to give to my readers.

To enter:

1) Become a follower or subscriber (if you're not already) and just tell me you want to read this book. If you already follow, just remind me and I'll enter you.

2) Blog about this giveaway and put a link back to it and I'll give you a second entry. If you don't have a blog, email 3 friends telling them about this giveaway and copying me at sfuhringer (at) sympatico (dot) ca.

Entry is open worldwide until midnight Sunday March 8, 2009. Be sure to leave an email address if you don't have a blog where I can contact you.

Winner will be announced on Monday March 10, 2009.

If you've read or reviewed this book, leave a link to your review (or leave comments, but NO spoilers please) and I'll add it to the post.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Knopf US 2007 (Australia 2005)


This is a guest review written by Colleen of Foreign Circus Library.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Book Thief, a novel I'm afraid a lot of people are missing because it was marketed as a Young Adult book here in the U.S. Set near Munich during WWII, this novel tells the story of a young German girl living with a foster family and trying to cope with the daily realities of the war. She exerts a measure of control over her life by stealing books even though she is illiterate when her story begins. Though marketed as a teen book, I think The Book Thief far transcends that limited label. The message, the sensitivity of the subject matter, and the stunning prose mark this as a powerful novel of the Holocaust. This book is by turns gritty and ugly and redemptive, but is it always real and always gripping.

Populated with strange and wonderful characters, the story itself is narrated by Death, whose reflections lend even greater poignancy to the sad tale that slowly and artfully unfolds through the novel. Death often offers commentary on both the life of the Book Thief and on the war itself in a voice that sent chills down my spine:

An abridged roll call for 1942:
1. The desperate Jews- their spirits on my lap as we sat on the roof, next to the steaming chimneys.
2. The Russian soldiers- taking only small amounts of ammunition, relying on the fallen for the rest of it.
3. The soaked bodies of a French coast- beached on the shingle and sand.

Death views war as a harsh taskmaster, and marvels that humans have so perfected the means for mass killing. While Liesel's story focuses on the realities of the war from a personal perspective, Death's commentary keeps the big picture in focus, and reminds the reader of the context of the tale. I would highly recommend this book to any adult reader.

Other reviews of The Book Thief:

Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit
Tricia at Library Queue
Josette at Books Love Me
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Thank you Colleen. I thoroughly enjoyed this book when it came out and would give it five stars myself. I was prepared to reject it as outside my comfort zone when I knew that Death was the narrator of the story. I first heard about it when it won a prize in Australia and was shocked when its US publisher later decided to market it as "Books for Young Readers". It is and was written as adult fiction. It is a book that should not be missed.

Feel free to leave a link if you've reviewed The Book Thief or any comments you may have about it.

My Father's Paradise by Ariel Sabar

Review and Giveaway

My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar

Non-fiction, Algonquin Books, 334 pgs.

This is a guest post written by Colleen of Foreign Circus Library.

Though Ariel Sabar may regret that his relationship with his father was so contentious, readers have cause to rejoice because that fractured relationship led Sabar to pen this elegant tale of his father's life and language.

Yona Sabar, a Jewish Kurd, grew up speaking Aramaic, an ancient language now all but lost. He is also a celebrated linguist who has worked tirelessly to document his language before it dies. This book traces that effort, weaving a colorful tapestry of Jewish life in Iraq, Kurdish life in Israel, and immigrant life in America.

Though the portions of the book dealing with Ariel himself were less compelling, the tales of Yona's early life in Kurdistan are hypnotic- I had a difficult time putting this book down. The writing is excellent and the character of Yona breathes throughout the book. The book is never technical about linguistics; the story of Yona's work is presented as I believe he experienced it- a treasure hunt generating excitement with each new clue.

Five stars. Highly recommended!

Thank you Colleen, I thought it was an excellent book too. Thank you to Algonquin Books for the ARC they sent. I am offering it to one of my readers. To enter:

1)Tell us the best book of Jewish interest you've read, fiction or non-fiction.

2)Blog about this giveaway and put a link back to it and I'll give you a second entry. If you don't have a blog, email 3 friends telling them about this giveaway and copying me at sfuhringer (at) sympatico (dot) ca.

Entry is open worldwide until midnight Sunday February 8, 2009.Be sure to leave an email address if you don't have a blog where I can contact you.

Winner will be announced on Monday February 9, 2009.

This giveaway is part of the Bloggy Carnival. Check it out for other giveaways.

TSS Books Read This Week

This week's Sunday Salon consists of tag reviews of books read this week:

Hannah's Dream***** by Diane Hammond

I loved this book, based on a true story. Washington state, an old elephant (Hannah) and keeper, been together 41 years; old run down circus/wildlife park created by past eccentric, we get parallel stories of parks origins and eccentric's talks withthe elephant keeper over the years, but now the elephant keeper is ill and must retire; no one know's Hannah and can care for her the way keeper and his wife have. Bossy and rigid park manager, has odd ideas how to attract people to park, but brings in smart young keeper to look after elephant who realizes Hannah is sick and will not survive poor the conditions or the keeper retiring. Plan afoot to transfer her to elephant sanctuary in Tenessee (sanctuary is real, I've seen documentaires on it), boss is kept out of loop deliberately as long as possible. Boom falls, complications, tension, ultimately a happy ending. A heartwarming story, highly recommended.

The Rabbi's Cat 2**** by Joann Sfar (translated from French)

Graphic novel, hard cover, only the second one I've ever read, they are not my cup of tea. The first was The Rabbi's Cat*****, charming and funny, beautifully illustrated by France's top graphics artist, and a good story. This one is the second book. A rabbi and his daughter in Algeria, pre war, the rabbi's cat can speak, argues Torah, points out incongruities in people's behaviour. Two stories here, one about an old man and his old pet lion. Fun to read. Second about racism but I wasn't impressed, arguing got loud and physical (perhaps in attempt to prove author's point ?) despite everyone being of the same religion; author gratuitously threw in the "f" word-once, it spoiled the tone for me. Glad I wasn't reading it with a child on my lap. No faulting the artistry or original story but I am not the one to judge graphic novels.

*Marie at The Boston Bibliophile has a weekly graphic novel review and has read these books. You can find her review of both Rabbi's Cat books here.

The Whirlpool**** by Jane Urquhart (Canada)

Set in 1889 in Niagara Falls, and the story's quirky Victorian characters are each busy with their own obsessions; whether for a woman-from a distance, nature and poetry, war history, details of death-by the undertaker's widow, or Niagara Falls and the lives its whirpool claims. Robert Browning's last days in Venice are also present as brackets (first and last chapters) to the main story. Rich language, fascinating historical details. Highly recommended. I have read four others of her novels:

Away***

The Underpainter****

The Stone Carvers*****

A Map of Glass**** (my favourite)

What are you reading?

The Gate House by Nelson DeMille

Review and Giveaway


The Gate House by Nelson DeMille

Fiction, Hardcover, 688 pgs.

Grand Central Publishing


This review is a guest post written by T.D.Fuhringer at Popular Fiction, who regularly reads and enjoys Nelson DeMille's novels.


The Gate House is a worthy successor to DeMille's classic The Gold Coast. The main plot holds no big surprises, however John Sutter's association with Mafia thug Tony Bellarosa is a source of tension since we know the outcome is inevitable. The secondary plot is where the book shines as John deals with his ex-wife, his grown children, and his former in-laws, facing the issues left unexplored at the end of The Gold Coast. The scenes involving John's increasingly inventive torments of his ex in-laws are laugh out loud funny and are easily worth the price of the book. After the resolution of the Bellarosa plot, we are treated to a powerful and very satisfying emotional climax.

Fans of The Gold Coast will want to read The Gate House. Those looking to experience Nelson DeMille suspense might be better off reading Nightfall which is his best book to date. The Gate House is a different kind of story, both satirical and comedic, and alternatingly heartbreaking, but ultimately rewarding.

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Thank you Teddy.

Thank you to Miriam at Little, Brown and Grand Central Publishing for the lovely review copy.

I am giving away a harcover copy (gently read) of The Gate House by Nelson DeMille to one of my readers.

1) To enter leave a comment telling me the best novel you read in 2008. If you're already a DeMille fan, please tell us your favourite Nelson DeMille novel.

2) Blog about this giveaway and put a link back to it and I'll give you a second entry. If you don't have a blog, email 3 friends telling them about this giveaway and copying me at sfuhringer (at) sympatico (dot) ca.

Entry is open worldwide until midnight Sunday, January 18 2009. Please note that this is a large heavy book and will be have to be mailed at the least expensive postal rate. It may take some weeks to get to you depending on where you live.

Be sure to leave an email address if you don't have a blog where I can contact you.

Winner will be announced on Monday January 19,2009.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson

Review and Giveaway

The Mighty Queens of Freeville
by Amy Dickinson

Memoir, Paperback, 224 pg.

Hyperion Books (February 3, 2009)


This is a guest review, written by Colleen of Foreign Circus Library.

I received my copy of The Mighty Queens of Freeville in the mail and finished it the same day! Though I only intended to read a few pages to get a feel for the writing, I simply couldn't put it down. This book is a memoir, the story of "a mother, a daughter, and the people who raised them"; the Mighty Queens of Freeville are the women of Dickinson's extended family who live and thrive in tiny Freeville NY.
Author Amy Dickinson writes "Ask Amy", the syndicated advice column that replaced that of the late Ann Landers. This book though is not about Dickinson's career; it is about the women who ultimately gave her the skills she needed to make a success of her job.
This memoir follows Dickinson from her divorce in England (when daughter Emily is a toddler) to Emily's freshman year of college. Dickinson's writing is no-nonsense and engaging. The women in her life are simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary- her mother rises above her father's abandonment and the loss of the family farm to eventually find her niche as a college professor. Dickinson is by turns funny and touching, and the book is a wonderful tribute to her family and its resilience.
I highly recommend this wonderful book. Definitely five stars, and would make a great gift for the important women in your life. I gave this book to my mom and sister, both of whom loved it.

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Thank you Colleen.

Foreign Circus Library is Colleen's lovely book blog. Do visit, she reviews a much wider selection of fiction genres than Fresh Ink Books, as well as non-fiction.

And thanks to Hyperion Books a new ARC copy of The Mighty Queens of Freeville is available to one of my readers.

1) To enter tell me which book from this list Read in 2008 you'd be interested in reading or hearing my comments on.

2) If you blog about this giveaway and put a link back to it, I'll give you a second entry. If you don't have a blog, email 3 friends telling them about this giveaway and copying me at sfuhringer (at) sympatico (dot) ca.

Entry is open worldwide until midnight Sunday January 18, 2009.
Be sure to leave an email address if you don't have a blog where I can contact you.
Winner will be announced on Monday January 19, 2009.