Mini-reviews: Death of A Smuggler, Book of Gothel, Searching for Sylvie Lee, The Wife Upstairs

It's time to get caught up on reviews, but there are so many to do now that I'm just going to have to do mini-reviews in groups. We'll start with four and see if I can get these all caught up by the end of the year!

Death of a Smuggler by M. C. Beaton and R. W. Green

6 hours, 34 minutes

Read by David Monteath

Published February 2025 by Grand Central Publishing

Publisher's Summary: 

All Hamish Macbeth wants is a quiet life in his peaceful home in the Highland village of Lochdubh. But when his newly-assigned constable arrives, he presents Hamish with a surprise and a secret. Getting to the bottom of the secret becomes the least of Hamish's problems when he meets a family who have a score to settle with a sinister man who has mysteriously gone missing. Discovering a murdered woman's body puts further pressure on Hamish, especially when it becomes clear that the murdered woman and the missing man are linked...

My Thoughts: 

Maybe I've just read/listened to enough of the Hamish MacBeth books that they've just lost their charm. Maybe it's the fact that it's a new writer. Maybe this one just wasn't as good. I'm not sure and it's been more than two months since I read it. It felt more convoluted than previous books and lacking the charm that I'd originally liked in these books. Or maybe I'm feeling like Lochdubh is a really dangerous place to be and I no longer understand why anyone would live there. 

Book of Gothic: Memoir of a Witch by Mary McMyne

13 hours, 30 minutes

Read by Vanessa Johansson

Published September 2023 by Orbit

Publisher's Summary: 

Haelewise has always lived under the shadow of her mother, Hedda-a woman who will do anything to keep her daughter protected. For with her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, Haelewise is shunned by her village, and her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, of an ancient tower cloaked in mist, where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it.

Then, Hedda dies, and Haelewise is left unmoored. With nothing left for her in her village, she sets out to find the legendary tower her mother used to speak of-a place called Gothel, where Haelewise meets a wise woman willing to take her under her wing.

But Haelewise is not the only woman to seek refuge at Gothel. It's also a haven for a girl named Rika, who carries with her a secret the Church strives to keep hidden. A secret that reveals a dark world of ancient spells and murderous nobles behind the world Haelewise has always known...

My Thoughts: 

I haven't read a good fairy tale retelling in a long time; and while this one had witch in the title and you all know how I feel about magic and witches in my books, I figured it was worth a shot. 

The reader was good, there were some really interesting ideas in this one that kept my attention. But I also felt like there was just too much going on, that the ending was a bit disappointing, and there wasn't enough of a tie to Rapunzel to really make it a back story for that fairy tale. If you're a fan of witches and fantasy, with a touch of feminism thrown in, you might enjoy this one more than I did. 

Searching For Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

12 hours, 9 minutes

Read by Angela Lin, Samantha Quad, Caroline McLaughlin

Published December 2020 by HarperCollins

Publisher's Summary: 

It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother-and then vanishes.

Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn't rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.

But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it's Amy's turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister's movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy's complicated family-and herself-than she ever could have imagined.

A deeply moving story of family, secrets, identity, and longing, Searching for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone-especially those we love.

My Thoughts: 

This one was a Read With Jenna pick but I didn't pick it because of that. I picked it because it was an audiobook that was available when I needed something and it gave me some diversity in my reading. Bush Hager calls this a "true beach read." I've gotta say that I think of beach reads as something lighter, but perhaps for her it had to do with it being a book she just couldn't put down. I didn't have that same reaction. 

I did feel like I learned a lot about other cultures and there were certainly plenty of a-ha moments in this one that I didn't see coming. I can certainly see why it would be a good choice for a book club - there is a lot to discuss here: migrants, different cultures, sibling relationships, family relationships, mysteries to be solved. But it's a book that starts sad and just stays that way. Perhaps my feelings about this one had more to do with me than the book. 

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

8 hours, 57 minutes

Read by Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, Lauren Fortgang

Published November 2021 by St. Martin's Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates--a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates' most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can't help but see an opportunity in Eddie--not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she's always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie's heart before her past--or his--catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won't stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature's most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?

My Thoughts: 

This one was another case of my interest being piqued by a book that claimed to be a retelling of a story, a classic I've read several times. I'm not opposed to the idea that maybe Jane isn't the innocent that she was in Bronte version. Or that we're going to get a whole new image of Rochester and Bertha (the literal wife upstairs). But the names of the characters, the fact that Rochester is keeping his wife locked upstairs, and that a fire will end it all is as far as Hawkins gets to working from Charlotte Bronte's novel, which was disappointing. The disappointment didn't end there - the reason Bertha is locked away is preposterous, the big secret Jane was keeping that caused her no end of trouble turned out to be a big yawn, and not a one of the characters developed beyond what they were when the novel began. 

Mini-Review: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Read by Kirsten Potter

5 hours, 57 minutes

Published June 2016 by Hogarth Shakespeare Series

Publisher's Summary: 

Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she's always in trouble at work - her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don't always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner.

Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There's only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost.

When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he's relying - as usual - on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he's really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men's touchingly ludicrous campaign to bring her around?

My Thoughts: 

Vinegar Girl is the third book in Random House's Hogarth Shakespeare project, with contemporary writers retelling Shakespeare plays. Vinegar Girl is very loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. 

Here Kate is less a shrew and  more of a woman trapped by circumstances. While she is by no means a willing participant in her father's plot to find a wife for Pyotr to keep him from being deported, she's lured by the idea of a way out of her father's house, out of having to mother her fifteen-year-old sister. Truly, her father is something of a mad scientist, who has the family eating a hash meal every evening, who has no idea how to take care of himself or his youngest, who relies entirely on Kate to keep the household afloat. Can she be abrupt and a little too honest some of the time? Yes, she certainly can. But who can blame her? And Pyotr, while under the impression that he'll be the boss in the marriage, is also quite a nice guy when it comes right down to it. In this version of The Taming of the Shrew, Kate isn't so much broken, as she is presented with an opportunity that allows her to become a better version of her natural self. 

It's a little on the light side; but, overall, I enjoyed it. Now that I've finally gotten around to this one, I'll be looking for others in the series. 

The other books in the project are: 

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, a retelling of The Tempest

Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn, a retelling of King Lear

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson, a retelling of The Winter's Tale

Shylock Is My Name by Howard Jacobson, a retelling of The Merchant of Venice

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier, a retelling of Othello

Mini-Reviews: December 2023

I have been reading (some, at least), but I sure haven't been posting reviews! And this week totally got away from me when I got sick with norovirus just before Christmas - it took me out for five days! To make sure I get reviews posted in the year that I read the books, I'm going to bust out mini-reviews for the books I've read and haven't reviewed yet this year. 

Darling Girl: A Novel of Peter Pan by Liz Michalski

352 pages

Published May 2022 by Penguin Publishing Group

Source: discovered when the author commented on one of my Instagram posts

Publisher's Summary: 

Life is looking up for Holly Darling, granddaughter of Wendy—yes, that Wendy. That is, until she gets a call that her daughter, Eden, who has been in a coma for nearly a decade, has gone missing from the estate where she’s been long tucked away. And, worst of all, Holly knows who must be responsible: Peter Pan, who is not only very real, but very dangerous. Holly is desperate to find Eden and protect her son, Jack, from a terrible web of family secrets before she loses both her children. And yet she has no one to turn to—her mother, Jane, is the only other person in the world who knows that Peter is more than a story, but she refuses to accept that he is not the hero'she’s always imagined. 

Darling Girl brings all the magic of the classic Peter Pan story to the present, while also exploring the dark underpinnings of fairy tales, grief, aging, sacrifice, motherhood, and just how far we will go to protect those we love.

My Thoughts: 

It's not uncommon for an author to comment on an Instagram post, likely in search of finding a reader interested in taking a look at their work. I don't usually follow up but this time I did and was intrigued. By a coincidence, I also happened to be reading the next book at the same time. Two books inspired by classics, both where our perceptions from the classic are turned upside down. 

You'll have to accept a big of magic (but then you know that going in, of course), that you might never understand some of the "science," and that Eden was kept a secret from everyone for years. The sense of urgency I would have expected was somewhat missing. But I really enjoyed the way Michalski incorporated the key characters from the classic and picked up from that storyline to craft her own work. It was a good escape from heavy reads while also touching on heavy themes. I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for commenting on my post, Ms. Michalski, and introducing me to your novel!

The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale by Virginia Kantra

384 pages

Published December 2023 by Penguin Publishing Group

Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary: 

Dorothy “Dee” Gale is searching for a place to belong. After their globe-trotting mother’s death, Dee and her sister Toni settled with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em in Kansas, where Dee attends graduate school. But when Dee’s relationship with a faculty member, a bestselling novelist, ends in heartbreak and humiliation, she’s caught in a tornado of negative publicity. Unable to face her colleagues—or her former lover—Dee applies to the writing program at Trinity College Dublin. Dee’s journey to Ireland leads her to new companions: seemingly brainless Sam Clery—who dropped out of college and now runs a newsagent’s shop—is charming and hot, in a dissolute, Irish poet kind of way; allegedly heartless Tim Woodman—who stiffly refused to take back his ex-fiancée—seems stuck in his past; and fiercely loyal Reeti Kaur, who longs for the courage to tell her parents she wants to teach underprivileged girls rather than work in the family business. 

In a year of opportunities and changes, love and loss, Dee is mentored by powerful women in the writing program, challenging her to see herself and her work with new eyes. With her friends, Dee finds the confidence to confront her biggest fears—including her intimidating graduate advisor, who may not be so wicked after all. Faced with a choice with far-reaching consequences, Dee must apply the lessons she’s learned along the way about making a family, finding a home...and recognizing the power that’s been inside her all along.

My Thoughts: 

This one takes the original classic and moves it into the twenty-first century. Dorothy is now "Dee"; sister Toni's nickname is "Toto." After they're orphaned, they move in with their aunt and uncle on a Kansas farm, where they're provided everything they need but never feel the warmth of love Dee craves. So when that tornado of bad publicity, instead of moving home, she travels to Ireland (Oz). There she meets her scarecrow, tin man, lion, Glenda, and a wicked witch. 

This being not just a retelling of The Wizard of Oz, but also a romance, you know that everything will end well. The fun is all in the getting there, in seeing each of the characters get what they want (or, in at least a couple of cases, what they deserve), in seeing the ways that Kantra works in so many parts of the classic while still telling a story that sounds contemporary. It was just what I needed when I read it - fun, an ending I wanted, and all of the familiarity I seemed to have craved. 

Wellness by Nathan Hill

Read by Ari Flakes

18 hours, 56 minutes

Published September 2023 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the gritty '90s Chicago art scene, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in the thriving underground scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to suburban married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter the often-baffling pursuits of health and happiness from polyamorous would-be suitors to home-renovation hysteria. For the first time, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process, Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other.

My Thoughts: 

I'm seeing this one on lots of "best of 2023" lists and it was an Oprah's Book Club pick. And I get that there's a lot of meat to this one, a lot to think about, a lot to discuss. But it's so, so long and reading a book about a marriage falling apart was just not the thing I wanted to read when I was listening to this one. Maybe if I had read this one at a different time of year, instead of a time of year when I was trying to work so hard to keep in the spirit of the season, I would have enjoyed it more. Publisher's Weekly called this one Dickensian and it certainly did have that feel; things just kept getting worse and worse. It also says that this book never loses sight of its humanity; but, for me, it felt more like Hill was interested in getting his ideas out into the world. Hill asks the questions: do the narratives we craft give our lives meaning, do they harm us or do they help us? I don't know. What I do know was that I felt like both Jack and Elizabeth decided it was easier to give up because things didn't turn out easy and the way they expected. And I found that far too frustrating to enjoy the book.

All The Beauty In The World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

240 pages

Published February 2023 by Simon and Schuster

Publisher's Summary:

Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They’re the guards who roam unobtrusively in dark blue suits, keeping a watchful eye on the two million square foot treasure house. 

Caught up in his glamorous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought he’d be one of them. Then his older brother was diagnosed with fatal cancer and he found himself needing to escape the mundane clamor of daily life. So he quit The New Yorker and sought solace in the most beautiful place he knew. To his surprise and the reader’s delight, this temporary refuge becomes Bringley’s home away from home for a decade. We follow him as he guards delicate treasures from Egypt to Rome, strolls the labyrinths beneath the galleries, wears out nine pairs of company shoes, and marvels at the beautiful works in his care. 

Bringley enters the museum as a ghost, silent and almost invisible, but soon finds his voice and his tribe: the artworks and their creators and the lively subculture of museum guards—a gorgeous mosaic of artists, musicians, blue-collar stalwarts, immigrants, cutups, and dreamers. As his bonds with his colleagues and the art grow, he comes to understand how fortunate he is to be walled off in this little world, and how much it resembles the best aspects of the larger world to which he gradually, gratefully returns. In the tradition of classic workplace memoirs like Lab Girl and Working Stiff, All The Beauty in the World is a surprising, inspiring portrait of a great museum, its hidden treasures, and the people who make it tick, by one of its most intimate observers.

My Thoughts: 

Now this one, at a relatively slim 240 pages, caught my interest immediately, and held it tight. Bringley does a lovely job of weaving together the circumstances of his life that brought him to the Met and how those circumstances made it the perfect job for him in that moment. 

Bringley has a tremendous appreciation of the works housed in the met and had me looking up works of art constantly. I have always regretted that the hubby and I had devoted so little time to the Met when we went there while in NYC on our honeymoon (seriously, I saw the Brooklyn Bridge, I could have skipped walking on it) and now I'm feeling like a trip to NYC just to spend a couple of days there might need to be scheduled. 

This is a lovely book filled with appreciation for the working people of the Met and the wonders displayed there. It's also a lovely book about how one man dealt with grief. I highly recommend this one. 

Meg and Jo by Virginia Kantra

Meg and Jo by Virginia Kantra
Published December 2019 by Berkley
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Publisher’s Summary:
The March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy, and shy Beth—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook and secret food blogger.

Meg appears to have the life she always planned—the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you’ve ever wanted isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

When their mother’s illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they’ll rediscover what really matters.

One thing’s for sure—they’ll need the strength of family and the power of sisterhood to remake their lives and reimagine their dreams.

My Thoughts:
To say that I went into this book hesitantly would be an understatement. In general, I’m not a fan of fan fic of my beloved classics and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is one of my most beloved beloveds. And as you might have figured out by looking at the cover, Virginia Kantra is a romance writer. Which is why, after 30 or so books, I've never heard of her. But, oh, Jo March! I always wanted to be Jo March when I was growing up - fearless, independent, a writer. So I decided to see what Kantra would make of her.

I gotta tell ya, I enjoyed this one. It's not great literature and there are some issues I had with some plotting. But Kantra is clearly familiar with both Little Women and Alcott's sequel, Little Men, as well as the truth of Alcott's father, Bronson Alcott. So how'd Kantra do with the girls I grew up loving?

Meg: modern Meg is very much the Meg of Alcott's books - wonderful mother, devoted wife. And she still has her richy rich friends.  But this Meg also wants more - she wants to pursue her passion for numbers and be a partner in her marriage, not just the little woman (ha! you see what I did there?!).

Jo: still wants to be a writer, still wants to find her way in the big city, still doesn't want to end up with Laurie (although he's Trey here) and is still impulsive. But now she's battling modern writing problems. She gets downsized out of her journalist job and is working to build an audience for her blog. But now there's a whole lot of cooking involved. And she has to come to terms with the person her father really is.

Beth: this was the tough one for me. Because (cover your eyes if you don't want to have Little Women spoiled!) Beth never gets to be an adult in Alcott's books. There's not a lot for Kantra to work with. Beth is still sweet, still loves music, and still would rather fade into the background. While Kantra does put her out in the world and make her stretch her wings, she doesn't find a way to bring Beth out of the shadows.

Amy: still the baby of the family, still the one obsessed with her looks and fashion and art. Still driving Jo nuts. Except...this Amy is growing up. She is starting to think of others. And she is not taking any one's leftover boys (if you've read Little Women, I think you'll know what I'm talking about). I think I was most impressed with how Kantra took the material Alcott gave her for Amy and ran with it.

As for the supporting cast? Marmee is now Momma but she's still the rock of the family. To get the family to learn to stand on their own, Kantra has to sort of set her to the side. But she also gives Momma the backbone that Marmee (and Abigail Alcott) both lacked when it comes to her husband. Laurie (now Trey) was a bit of a disappointment; he never seems move beyond his love of Jo, which he does in Alcott's books. As for Professor Bhaer? He is now a smoking hot, world-renowned chef with an ex-wife and two teenage sons.

Although the resolution of Jo and Eric Bhaer's relationship doesn't entirely work for me (Jo never does seem to take responsibility for what she does that drives a wedge between them and I felt a little bit like his sons were mere props) and the book lacks the weight of the source material (even though Kantra does address concerns about PTSD and homelessness among veterans), overall I enjoyed the way Kantra wrapped up the book. Everyone has learned something and grown. Even though there are still some things to be worked out, you're left knowing that everything will be alright.

Macbeth by Jo Nesbo

Macbeth by Jo Nesbo
Published April 2018 by Crown/Archetype as part of the Hogarth Shakespeare Series
Source: my ecopy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
Set in the 1970s in a run-down, rainy industrial town, Jo Nesbo's Macbeth centers around a police force struggling to shed an incessant drug problem. Duncan, chief of police, is idealistic and visionary, a dream to the townspeople but a nightmare for criminals. The drug trade is ruled by two drug lords, one of whom—a master of manipulation named Hecate—has connections with the highest in power, and plans to use them to get his way.

Hecate’s plot hinges on steadily, insidiously manipulating Inspector Macbeth: the head of SWAT and a man already susceptible to violent and paranoid tendencies. What follows is an unputdownable story of love and guilt, political ambition, and greed for more, exploring the darkest corners of human nature, and the aspirations of the criminal mind.


My Thoughts:
Confession: I was well into this book before I realized this was a modern retelling of Shakespeare's play. Yes, yes, I know the name of the book, and title character, are a dead giveaway. As is the fact that Macbeth's lady love is, in fact, called Lady. And it's only been a year since I've seen the play! Which may account for why it was the secondary character's names that started to ring a bell with me.    No need to shame me; I'm already hanging my head in shame.

Here's my only excuse: for the first 75 pages or so, this was just the wrong book at the wrong time. My mind was just not engaged. Until the little light bulb went off in my head. As soon as I wised up to the fact that this was a modern retelling of one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, I was hooked.

The mood is dark, the action is nonstop, and Nesbo has done an impressive job moving the story into a 1970's, post-industrial country. And an even more impressive job of keeping the reader sucked in to a story when the outcome is a given.

Have you ever read or seen the play and felt sorry for the Macbeths? No, I'm sure your answer is no. Because as brilliant as Shakespeare's play is, the Bard gave us zero information on their histories. Nesbo takes advantage of his longer medium, giving his characters backstories that make readers, if not care for them, at least understand their motivations. The payoff is that it's even harder to watch so many of them die. Because they are going to die. We know that going in (well, at least those who aren't me and know that this is the Macbeth).

If you're a fan of Nesbo, you will not be disappointed. If you're a fan of Shakespeare, you will not be disappointed. I accepted this book for review simply because it was time for me to read something by Nesbo. Count me now as one of his fans.

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg
Published March 2018 by Holt, Henry and Company
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review, through Netgalley

Publisher's Summary:
Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children's stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief.

Unfalteringly faithful to its beloved source material, The Merry Spinster also illuminates the unsuspected, and frequently, alarming emotional complexities at play in the stories we tell ourselves, and each other, as we tuck ourselves in for the night.

Bed time will never be the same.

My Thoughts:
This is one of those "right books at the right time" books, coming as it did for me on the heels of a monster historical fiction book. Familiar stories that harken back to the darkness most of these stories originated from, Ortberg takes on fairly tales, folk tales, children's stories, and myths.

In Ortberg's hands, the Little Mermaid is no fawning girl just yearning to "where the people are;" Beauty isn't much of a beauty and the Beast truly is a beast; and the Velveteen Rabbit is, well, sort of evil. There's a whole lot of gender bending going on here - females are husbands (or wives, if they want to be) and female names and daughters turn out to be male. Ortberg explores obligation and the ways it can be abused in many of the tales.

As a lover of fairy tales, I really enjoyed the retellings of some of my favorite. But my favorite tale in this collection was "The Rabbit," in which Ortberg plays on the original premise of the children's classic The Velveteen Rabbit, exploring what that stuffed rabbit might be capable of if it truly imagined becoming real. Not for your kiddos!

I downloaded this one from Netgalley, but I may just have to buy a copy to have so I can read it again! Some of you may know Ortberg from The Toast - clearly something else I need to check out. Off to do that now!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
Published  January 2012 by Fiewel and Friends
Source: bought for my Nook

Publisher's Summary:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Thoughts:

• Why I Read It: Because it's fairy tale based and because Rhapsody Jill (Rhapsody In Books) told me four years ago that I should read it. And because it fit with the Once Upon A Time X challenge. Except that I didn't read it in time for the Once Upon A Time Challenge (just like I didn't do any of the other things for that challenge - hangs head in shame).
• Why I Didn't Read It Sooner:  Because it's also sci-fi and young adult, neither of which I pick up a lot. Which doesn't make them not perfectly lovely genres. Just out of my usual comfort zone.
• What I Didn't Like About It: Well, let's just get this out of the way, shall we? I can only assume that the last thirty pages or so are intended to include a major surprise. But I wasn't surprised. Maybe if I were in the target audience? But that would be shortchanging the minds of young adults - I'm pretty sure they wise on to it early as well. Plus, super abrupt ending. I knew going in that this was the first in a series; I just didn't know that it wouldn't be at all self-contained.
• What I Liked: Cinder - she's fierce. A teenaged girl who who has more than the normal share of things to stress about, when the going gets tough, Cinder puts on her big girl panties and does what needs to be done. Meyer hangs on to the basics of the fairy tale and it's fun to see how she manages to update some of them (including a fairy godmother who's not exactly what you'd expect and a pumpkin that runs on gasoline). The book could have stood on its own even without the Lunar plot line - for a relatively short book, there was a lot going on. 
• Will I Read The Next Book In The Series? Yep. These are just the kind of books I need to break things up. Probably won't even wait four years to decide to read Scarlet.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Published April 2016 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley

Publisher's Summary:
This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s fortieth birthday fast approaches.

Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming. . . .

And yet, first impressions can be deceiving.

My Thoughts:
While I was reading Eligible, I was enjoying a lot about the book. I was impressed with Sittenfeld's ability to find ways to try to update a 200-year-old novel, her ability to retain each of the characters' essential attributes, and the jabs she takes at so many of the things we take so seriously these days. I had a lot of fun with much of the book and was willing to overlook a lot, particularly in the beginning of the book. I appreciated Sittenfeld taking some liberties, acknowledging that the world is a bigger place than it was for Austen's characters.

But...

(Doesn't it seem like I'm using that word a lot in my reviews lately?)

For me, the more I've thought about this book, the more I'm feeling that Eligible lacked both the bite and the warmth of its source material, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. For example, the relationship between Liz and Mr. Bennett didn't have closeness that Elizabeth and Mr. Bennett shared.

It also felt like Sittenfeld may have tried to put in too many modern updates. Honestly, I think Sittenfeld could have largely stuck to Austen's version of Wickham's previous transgression (here in the character of Jasper Wick) but went with something that wasn't nearly as shocking or nearly as likely to have inspired so much discord between Wick and Darcy. I don't want to spoil the shocking bit of Lydia's elopement but it wasn't because the man she was running off with was, at heart, a bad man. Instead it was for a reason that seemed to have been chosen simply to bring in a more modern issue, a reason that hardly justified Darcy riding in to save the day, which was one of the turning points of P and P.

In Sittenfeld's defense, much of what makes P and P so great just cannot be updated too literally. In trying to stay fairly true to the original story, Sittenfeld is hampered by the fact that the story just doesn't ring true in 2016. A mother might be disappointed to have five adult unmarried daughters but she's unlikely to be desperate to get them all married off and in most parts of the world a family is not likely to risk losing their home because there's not a male heir to inherit the property.

Eligible is a fun enough romp and if the reader doesn't find themselves constantly comparing the book to Pride and Prejudice, I suspect they will actually enjoy the more than those who can't help but do so.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
Published January 2012 by HarperCollins

Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher and TLC Book Tours for this review


My paternal grandmother's people were Scottish; one of my favorite books is Jane Eyre. How could there ever have been any doubt in my mind that I would read this book?


Gemma Hardy is an orphan who has been taken in my her uncle and his family. When her uncle dies, her aunt (who has never cared for her) ships Gemma off to a boarding school where she is a "working girl." Certainly Gemma spends more time working than she does studying and even among the other working girls, Gemma is unable to make friends. Eventually, Gemma is forced to find her own way in the world, taking on a job as an au pair for the niece of a Scottish gentleman. When a secret comes to light, Gemma runs only to find that she is not the person she thought she was but also finding that she can be loved.


As the book began, I worried that I liked the book because it was so very much like Jane Eyre and I knew that I would soon lose interest if things continued that way. I'm not a fan of derivative works; they really have to be able to stand on their own.

Much to my delight, things were enough different to keep me interested and then things really took a turn that veered well off the source material. Livesey has kept enough of the story so that those who have read Jane Eyre will recognize the essentially the same plot. She has also brought in enough new characters, altered the existing characters, and added enough plot elements to allow this book to stand on it's own.

Margot Livesey

For other thoughts on this book, check out the full tour.  You can also learn more about Margot Livesey and her other books at her website, "Like" her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter. Thanks to the ladies at TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour!

Now I might have lost interest in the book during Gemma's wanderings a bit except of two words: Castle Menzies. Gemma finds herself talking refuge in the small town of Aberfeldy, Scotland and at one point, when she is out walking in the hills, Livesey has Gemma overseeing Castle Menzies. Which, of course, means nothing to most readers. Unless you happen to have ancestors who were of Clan Menzies. Oh yes, Gemma was wandering in the lands that my ancestors had roamed hundreds of years ago. I knew where she was at then - could picture the castle, the surrounding lands. I guess an author can never really know what will hook a reader!

Castle Menzies

Dead Beautiful by Melanie Dugan

Dead Beautiful by Melanie Dugan
Published May 2012 by UpStart Press
Source: my copy courtesy of the author and TLC Book Tours

In the traditional version of the myth, Persephone – the daughter of Demeter, Goddess of agriculture and fertility, and Zeus, the top god on Olympus – is abducted by Hades, God of the Underworld. Demeter, devastated by the loss of her daughter, refuses to do her job until her daughter is returned to her. No crops grow, cold settles on the earth. It turns out that while in Hades, Persephone has eaten six pomegranate seeds. As a result, for six months of the year, she must live with Hades; this is when it is fall and winter on earth. For six months she lives with her mother – then we have spring and summer. Dugan asks the question: what if Persephone wasn't kidnapped at all - what if she chose to go with Hades?

In Dugan's modern retelling of the tale, Persephone is a headstrong teenager who is disenchanted with the idea of life on Olympus, tired of the drama of the other girls her age, and completely smitten with Hades. So smitten that she begins plotting ways to win him over.

Why I Picked This Book: I couldn't resist the opportunity to read a modern take on a well-known myth.

What I Liked About The Book: I liked the idea of the book much more than I liked anything about the finished product. It was interesting to see the ways that Dugan dropped the story into a more current time period. But I was very happy that this was a short book and a quick read.

The Writing:  The story is told from multiple first-person points of view: Persephone, Demeter, Hades, Zeus. It was interesting to see events from multiple points of view but there were just too many points of view for me to enjoy them. I got confused, too, by what time period Dugan was trying to drop the story into - sometimes the gods and their cohorts were clearly in our time period but then there were numerous references to Jesus and how he was stirring things up. One character was a plumber and the methods were certainly hundreds of years old yet the young girls talked like some of the girls my daughter knows. I was never sure what audience Dugan was aiming for either. It felt like a YA novel...sometimes.


What I Didn't Like: I was certain, as I was reading the book, that I was reading a first novel, perhaps by someone who has only just graduated from college. Imagine my surprise to discover that Dugan' is a journalist and this is her third novel. There were grammatical errors, the characters lacked depth, the various voices didn't really sound different to me.

If you check out the full blog tour, you'll discover that I'm pretty much alone in my opinion of this book. Most of the other blogs appear to read and review a lot of YA and maybe that's why, maybe this really is a YA novel. If you're a fan of YA, particularly if you're also a fan of mythology, this might just be a book you'll enjoy.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine

The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine
292 pages
Published February 2010 by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux
Source: bought this one for my mom for Christmas last year

If you are one of the three Weissman women, life has suddenly taken a dramatic left turn. When Betty's husband of fifty years, Joseph, announces that he wants a divorce, she suddenly finds herself needing a place to live. When her cousin Lou suggests he come stay in a cottage he owns in Westport, daughter Miranda (going through a professional crisis that has her funds all tied up, perhaps never to be seen again) suggests that she and her sister Anne also move into the cottage. Anne, a single mother, who is a librarian, balks at the idea but, as she always has, she eventually agrees. It's only for a short while, after all, until Joseph either comes to his senses and comes back to Betty or agrees to let her leave in the apartment. Besides, Anne knows that between them, Miranda and Betty will never be able to manage financially. Even with her constant admonitions, the pair have a hard time understanding that a new suit or a new kayak are not in their new budget.

When Miranda takes that new kayak out for the first time, she suddenly finds herself flipped upside down and in danger of being pulled out into the Atlantic. That is until she is rescued by the oh so very handsome Kit Maybank. Miranda is soon smitten, not just with Kit but also with his young son, Henry. Miranda's always one to fall fast and hard but this time Anne senses that Henry is the one Miranda is most in love with.

Anne, in the meantime, is spending all of her daydreams on author Frederick Barrows, a man she has had a brief fling with. A man who still seems to be interested but also a man who has made almost not attempt to contact Anne for the longest time. It seems that his grown children are not wild about the idea of his spending time with a librarian.

Betty is going through all of the phases of grief. Yes, grief. Betty insists that she is a widow despite that fact that she is spending a tremendous amount of time with lawyers trying to get the settlement her husband has promised her will be "very generous" but which he doesn't seem to be producing. To top it all off, Betty soon discovers that Joseph didn't just wake up one day and decide he was tired of being married to her. There's another woman who, as it turns out, is also Frederick Barrow's sister.

Throw in a parade of characters who congregate at Cousin Lou's house, including his annoying wife Rosalyn, and friend Roberts and you've got the makings for conflict, humor and misunderstanding.

Taking Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and dropping it squarely onto the East Coast of the United States, Schine does a fine job of re-imagining Austen's characters and story lines while making changes that make the story her own. Fan of Austen's novel will enjoy comparing the two works throughout the novel and watching the stories blend then go off their own ways. Here there is no half-brother taking the family home away from the Dashwoods; there is always the hope that Betty will be able to return to her own home. The daughters are older, and, theoretically, able to make their own way in live without the help of a good marriage. But that doesn't stop all three of the Weissmanns from hoping for a happily ever after that includes a good man.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, certainly owing, in no small part, to the fact that I love Austen's book. But I also relished Schine's observations about relationships.

"Over the years, Betty began to forget that she liked Joseph. The large breakfast seemed grotesque, the drink obsessive, the light super an affectation. This happened in their third decade together and lasted until their fourth. Then, Betty noticed, Joseph's routines somehow began to take on a comforting rhythm, like the heartbeat of a mother to a newborn baby. Betty was once again content, in love, even."

Come on, those of you who have been married this long, you have to admit that you've had thoughts like this yourself. The "oh my god, I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life" moments when you're not sure you can take it any longer.

Schine's central characters a well-rounded and the reader learns just enough about the supporting cast to make them interesting but not so much that it bogs down the plot. Perhaps my favorite parts of this book were not the ways in which it was like Austen's novel, but in the ways in which it took off on it's own. The Omaha Bookworms will be reading this one in December and I can't wait to discuss it with them and to see how the opinions might vary between those who have read both The Three Weissmanns of Westport and Sense and Sensibility and those who have only read this one. I'll keep you posted on how that discussion goes!