Is this Tomorrow

4.0 out of 5 stars - "When someone disappears, what happens to the people who are left behind?"

This was a novel that I read and savored slowly, turning the pages was like peeling back an onion as the story unfolded and the characters developed. It is 1956 and Ava Lark is different. She works outside the home and is the only divorced, Jewish single mother in the quiet Boston suburb where they have moved to start a new life. Lewis, 12 years old, doesn't understand why his father has not come to claim or visit him, but he finds friendship with two other children on the block whose father has died. Jimmy and Rose, along with Lewis, roam free and are constant companions until the day that Jimmy goes missing.

The police and the suspicious neighbors question Ava and search diligently for Jimmy until they finally give up, believing he has run away, been kidnapped, murdered, had an accident...no clues were ever found. Lewis feels guilty because he was supposed to meet Lewis the day he disappeared and did not show up. Rose moves away with her devastated mom. Ava is marginalized by her connection to the family and because she is so different from the other women in the neighborhood so she's left without friends or solace as her son retreats further from her in his own loneliness and guilt.

Lewis leaves home as he searches for a connection that will restore him to the person he was before Jimmy disappeared and for some sort of absolution. Ava, left on her own again, finds fulfillment in a surprising way.

I thought the tone of this novel was sad and it was touching and beautiful in a way that left me a little bit depressed. Even when the mystery of Jimmy's disappearance is solved, the happy ending I so wanted for them all was not assured.

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin books for the ebook to review.

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I love to read advance copies of upcoming books and write reviews of them. Happy reading!

5 stars! The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

5.0 out of 5 stars - "There is no greater sorrow than to recall our time of joy in wretchedness." (~Dante)

When I closed this book after being glued to the pages for hours, I was struck by many emotions -- chief among them -- satisfaction. It has been quite awhile since I've read a novel that touched me on so many levels. Simply, it is an enthralling tale of enduring love, family bonds, war's devastation, of inexplicable loss, and unending bereavement. It drew me in immediately and never let go. Put this one on your BUY list at publication: July, 2013!

The noble Rosati family lives in quiet luxury in a lovely villa south of Florence in 1943. War is raging throughout Europe and the Germans occupying the area initially come to their door seeking Etruscan artifacts from an ancient burial ground on Rosati land to send out of the country, demanding allegiance from the Italians, and eventually commandeering their property. What was once an idyllic life becomes a nightmare and their villa a prison as little by little the family is shattered.

Flash to 1955 and witness a cold blooded murder of the Rosati's daughter-in-law, Francesca, who had suffered horrendously at the hands of the Germans as they were fleeing Italy ahead of the Allies in 1944. The detective assigned to the investigation for the Florence Police Department is Serafina Bettini. She has unspeakable memories of the war and the scars to prove her own involvement and painful history.

Suspenseful and beautifully written, the story is both mystery and historical fashion blended into a book that will have the reader thinking about it long after the ending. I'm afraid I can't do the review justice or describe all the reasons explaining how much I loved it, but I'll be recommending it to everyone I know!

Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday Publishing for the ebook to review.

Seduction: A Novel of Suspense by MJ Rose

4.0 out of 5 stars - "There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees." (Victor Hugo)

This is a novel that inspired the researcher in me! I am a huge fan of author Victor Hugo so I was quite curious when reading the summary of the plot and wanted to see how he fit into this story of reincarnation and mythology. The book blends fact and fiction smoothly and the reader learns of Hugo's fascination with seances and his obsession with the spirit world.

This is the second novel (follows The Book of Lost Fragrances) featuring Jac L'Etoile, a mythologist, who travels to Jersey, Channel Islands, Great Britain, to investigate sites that are thought to be from the time of the Celtic Druids. Despite her intentions, she is drawn into another mystery by an old acquaintance, Theo Gaspard, who is desperate to uncover information about Hugo's conversations with the spirits he claims visited him during the over 100 seances held at the house he lived in during his exile from his beloved Paris. The seances were Hugo's grieving attempts to contact his beloved daughter who had drowned, but Gaspard's grandfather believed Hugo had communed with the Shadow of the Sepulcher (Lucifer?) and wanted to find any manuscripts that detailed this. Theo, whose family still lives on the island, seems haunted and he is a very troubled soul. Jac agrees to accompany him on his search through the secret caves that may hold the answers.

The narrative shifts back and forth in time and place from the 1850s to present day but is mostly set in Jersey. Jac, who doesn't believe in reincarnation, finds again that she has the ability to remember because scent is a trigger for her to experience certain happenings that seem to be from past lives. Not her own previous lives, but of those who lived there in ancient times.

I enjoyed the blend of fact and fiction that made this a very interesting reading experience. I loved the descriptions of the island and all of the other details about the ruins, the caves, and fragrances. It may seem complicated as there are quite a few plot lines coming together, but it meshes quite satisfactorily in the end.

Jac is an unusual character and I think it best if you read the previous book before this one so that her history is known; she has had a very troubled life and is very sensitive and it would help the reader understand her abilities a bit better. I hope there is another book featuring her.

I would recommend this book to fans of mysteries, and anyone interested in the subjects of reincarnation, Druid activity, and Victor Hugo. I really enjoy historical fiction and, though I don't believe in reincarnation or the ability to commune with the dead, the topic was fascinating.

ARC from publisher Simon and Schuster and Netgalley.

She Matters: A Life in Friendships

Sonnenberg, Susanna

3.o out of 5 stars - This memoir about female friendships was not exactly what I had expected, it was the author describing the ups and downs with her...more

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January 2012

I was tired of writing book reviews -- it got to where it was like having homework and I procrastinated. I decided that I would not keep writing a review for every book I read in many different places and would just do a quick review on Goodreads.

I'd love to have more friends on Goodreads and have the ability to see what everyone I follow is reading as well. I like that people who read my reviews can't mark NOT HELPFUL but they can leave comments for me to answer or "like" my opinions about a particular book. I've had some great discussions with others on this site as well.

A remarkable event for me this year is the fact that I finally took the plunge and got an e-reader. Long an opponent, merely on principle I'm sure, I went ahead and told my daughter that I would indeed like to try this and thus I received a Kindle Fire for Christmas!

So, my first book on the Fire was Night Road by Kristin Hannah -- a great experience reading on this new format and I'm hooked already. On to the next book: Room (which I'll review on Goodreads).
I like it a lot -- and I hope to diminish my collection of hardcover bestsellers as I trade them off on Paperback swap or give my ARCs away after I read them.

Traveling is going to be great -- tons of books available and no extra weight and space consumption in the luggage.

More to come as I get comfortable using the Fire and figure out all the bells and whistles. Mostly right now, I'm just reading. Ok, I'm playing a few games too :)