Total Recall (2001)

I used to be a regular reader of Sara Paretsky but it's been years since I picked up a V.I.Washawski novel. Total Recall was in a tumble of mysteries at the library Friends' booksale, so I grabbed it. Maybe my tastes have changed, but I didn't find the book up to my expectations. The plot, which involved insurance fraud dating back to the Holocaust and forward to the South Side of Chicago, was intriguing but started getting complicated when recovered memory was introduced. All ends were not tied up but I didn't really care. This was an angry book and I was actually uncomfortable with V.I.'s agressive behavior.

Years ago I heard Sara Paretsky speak in Michigan and I was awed. We were late getting to the session and only the front row was open. She spoke about things that were important to women that I hadn't heard anyone else say. Later I traveled to Chicago for a conference where she was scheduled to speak again. I arrived in the room early so I could choose to sit in the front row this time. Her first words were to ask if there was anyone in the room from Michigan. A number of people, including me, raised hands. She suggested we might find the talk boring because it would be basically the one she had given before. NO ONE LEFT.

Sara was also the founder of Sisters In Crime (1986), which fought to get women mystery authors in the United States reviewed more widely.

It's not a bad book. I would still recommend it to mystery lovers. Her writing is intelligent and her characters are interesting.

Killer Smile (2003)

Killer Smile is one of the titles I found at the library book sale a couple of months ago. Lisa Scottoline writes her mysteries with an emphasis on what she knows: law firms, Philadelphia, and Italian-Americans.

The first book Lisa Scottoline published was Everywhere That Mary Went and somehow I came across a pre-pub copy and was fascinated because it was set in Philadelphia where I grew up. That was 1993.

A few years back I had the opportunity to attend Book Expo America and stood in line to get my copy of Devil's Corner (2005) signed by the author. Lisa actually came out from behind the signing desk and gave me a hug before realizing I wasn't who she thought I was. She may not remember the incident, but I do, because it made the trip for me!

If you haven't discovered these legal mysteries, I recommend them. Whether you listen on CD or have the book in your hands, the stories are all great reads! And Lisa Scottoline's website is fabulous. Each of her fifteen books has the first chapter online along with background information on the books, the author and her beloved dogs.

From the Typewriter to the Bookstore: A Publishing Story

Become smarter in 2009 by understanding the complicated world of publishing.

Book Journals

I have been keeping track of what I read since November 10, 1986 (over 21 years!) when my friend Ann Marie gave me a journal as a gift. It was called The Cat Notebook and was illustrated with felines throughout. The last entry was October 30, 1994.

My next journal was chosen by me and is fabric covered with a small print that reminds me of a guest room I frequently slept in as a child. Begun in November of 1994, it ends in October of 2005. In it, especially, I commented on other events in my world from time to time.

My third and current journal has room for three more titles. I purchased it in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in a charming bookstore when I was on vacation with my daughter Lynn. The book is called Books I've Read: A Reader's Journal, which has specific places to list the author and date published and such and asks how you felt when you finished the books, who you would recommend it to and so on. I've enjoyed having it to guide me.

However, I realized looking back at the earlier journals that the information I wrote down when I was not prompted to answer certain questions was far more interesting and entertaining. I am looking forward to choosing a new journal with blank pages or nothing more than lines to guide my writing!

The Minotaur *(2005)

Barbara Vine (AKA Ruth Rendell) never disappoints. This is one of the titles I picked up at the Book Exchange recently when I met with Kathy Krentz. Out of 60,000 items I chose one that she had traded in several years earlier!

Through a friend, Kristin Kvist finds a position as a nurse at Lydstep Old Hall near a small English village. Her patient is a grown man who has been deemed schizophrenic. His sisters and Mother keep him heavily sedated and Kristin begins to suspect that there are secrets to be discovered. Her first puzzle is to find the labyrinth mentioned by her friend.

Even if you suspect the twists and turns the story is going to take, you will still find this a clever read to get lost in.

*In Greek mythology the minotaur is a half man/half bull creature that lived in a labyrinth.

Blindness (1997)

Blindness, originally published in Portuguese in 1995, was translated into English in 1997. Saramago's body of work apparently has some similar styles and themes. For example, he uses little or no punctuation to delineate dialogue in incrediby long and intricate passages. He avoids proper nouns and refers to characteristics to identify people. While this might seem to be a difficulty, his precise writing carries the reader along. There are times when confusion causes the re-reading of certain sections but this is could be viewed as drawing the reader in to the the uncertainty the characters are experiencing.

Author Jose Saramago won the Pulitzer Prize in Literature for his body of work in 1998.

Unfortunately this book was made into a movie.

In an unnamed city, the citizens inexplicably begin to go blind with the infliction spreading by contact with an infected person. The author has imagined both external and internal upheaval and how it would affect civilization through a group of people led by the one woman who retains her vision.

The pictures he draws with words are not easy and they will haunt you and perhaps change how you look at the world around you.

Diana Gabaldon Comes to Town!

A number of years ago, a small group got together at the Jackson District Library to create an event to bring well-known authors to Jackson. I was lucky to be a part of that group. This year Word Wise 2009 features Diana Gabaldon, who writes the best-selling Outlander Series. Mark Friday, May 8 & Saturday, May 9 on your calendar now!