Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu (2019)

Mar-a-Lago

Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu by Les Standiford

I love non-fiction that reads like fiction! Author Les Standiford makes this history of Palm Beach and the people who created it come to life. Central to much of the story is Marjorie Merriweather Post, who built Mar-a-Lago and her incredible influence on many of the ways the world has changed. Fascinating and great research makes for a excellent read! Even as I was engrossed, the History Channel was showing a program that reinforced many things in the book.: "The Food That Built America".

FIRST LINE: "On May 25, 1914, about two weeks after its subject had dressed himself in his Sunday finest, laid himself down in the master bedroom of his Santa Barbara manse, and blown off the top of his head with a hunting rifle, the will of cereal magnate C.W. Post was filed for probate in Washington, D.C.

WHAT I THOUGHT: I found it interesting that as Marjorie grew older, she attempted to find a buyer for Mar-a-Lago. She first approached the state, then the Federal Government with the idea that it would serve as the Winter White House. Ultimately no one was willing to commit to the enormous expense of maintaining the house as a private home until Donald Trump stepped forward.

BOTTOM LINE: Highly recommended. I've even considered reading it again to better absorb all the information. Standiford has also written several other books about the area but readers may know him better as the author of crime fiction featuring Detective John Deal set in southern Florida. Here is a list of all his books.

Disclaimer: A copy of Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu was given to me by Atlantic Monthly Press/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (November 5, 2019)
ISBN-10: 0802128491
ISBN-13: 978-0802128492

Les Standiford is the author of the bestselling Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean, Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles, and Meet you in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America, among many other works of fiction and nonfiction. He lives with his wife, Kimberly, in Florida. (From Amazon.com)

THE SWALLOWS (2019)

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me forever to read The Swallows. I was first drawn to the story by the boarding school setting, but the cacophony of voices telling the story in first person was a challenge. And although the story was darkly humorous, it was rather unpleasant. Relevant to the #MeToo conversation, the boys take and share revealing pictures of girls and rate sexual encounters. The battle eventually turns into a war where no one is left unscathed.

FIRST LINE: "Some teachers have a calling. I'm not one of them."

THE STORY: Alex Witt reluctantly takes a job teaching creative writing at an elite Vermont boarding school where her parent's friendship with the Headmaster means her recent past will be overlooked. 

It starts with a simple writing prompt from Alex Witt in her effort to get to know the students. When the answers raise disturbing questions, Ms. Witt suspects there's more going on at the school than the faculty wants to see.

WHAT I THOUGHT: I am always attracted to a story that takes place in a boarding school, but apparently I wasn't the only reader who found the book slow going (It took me over two months to finish.) Filled with anonymous notes and secret meetings, Lutz pays homeage to spy novels with a reference to Magnus Pym, a double agent in a book by John le Carré. The actual writing is sharp and funny. And, by the way, swallow has many meanings. One is "a female agent employed to seduce people for intelligence purposes." You can guess at the others.

I enjoyed her earlier book, The Passenger, a thriller, but I'm not familiar with the Spellman series.

BOTTOM LINE: Some reviewers loved this book, some reviewers did not finish reading. The amount of frank sexual description may be too much for some readers.

Disclaimer: A copy of The Swallows was provided to me by Ballantine Books/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher:  Ballantine Books (August 13, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1984818236
ISBN-13: 978-1984818232

Lisa Lutz is the New York Times bestselling author of the six books in the Spellman series, Heads You Lose (with David Hayward), and How To Start A Fire. Her latest offering is the thriller The Passenger (March, 2016 from S&S).

Lutz has won the Alex award and has been nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Although she attended UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, the University of Leeds in England, and San Francisco State University, she still does not have a bachelor's degree. Lutz spent most of the 1990s hopping through a string of low-paying odd jobs while writing and rewriting the screenplay Plan B, a mob comedy. After the film was made in 2000, she vowed she would never write another screenplay. She lives in the Hudson Valley, New York. .(from Amazon)

Upcoming Reviews Fall 2019

My reading schedule for this fall.

1. Olive, Again (Random House, Oct. 15) by Elizabeth Stout - This is a sequel to her Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge, dealing with the complicated and poignant life of Olive in Crosby, Maine.

2. The Family Upstairs (Atria Books, Nov. 5) by Lisa Jewell - Three siblings who have been out of touch for more than 20 years grapple with their unsettling childhoods, but when the youngest inherits the family home, all are drawn back together. (Kirkus)

3. Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu (Atlantic Monthly Press, Nov. 15) by Les Standiford - The author recounts the creation of the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, by cereal company heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her husband, E.F. Hutton in 1927.

4. Good Girls Lie (Mira, Dec. 30) by J.T. Ellison - The heroine of this high-tension thriller from bestseller Ellison, leaves the U.K. after the death of her parents to attend the Goode School, an exclusive girls’ boarding school in Marchburg, Va.

And these are the books I am reading for In Good Company, our book group:

October - Milkman (Ann Burns)

November - Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)

December - A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)

29 SECONDS (2019)

29 Seconds by T.M. Logan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There seems to be much repetition and hand wringing by our heroine Sarah in the beginning; but once things start to happen, you'll read right through until the end. A perfect summer choice.

FIRST LINE: "The Rules were simple enough."

THE STORY: Sarah has been playing the academic game and waiting patiently for her reward - a permanent seat on the faculty. Her boss is a well-known BBC personality and a terrible womanizer. He is making Sarah's life unbearable.

Then one day she is given a gift. Having stopped a kidnapping, the child's wealthy father offers Sarah the chance to name a person she would like to disappear. She has 72 hours to decide, but things are never that simple.

You may think you know where this story is going, but there are lots of twists and turns. What a surprising ride!

WHAT I THOUGHT: This is my second book by T.M Logan. My first one was Lies, which I actually liked better; but this was still another great read. The sexual harassment Sarah endures will resonate with many readers.

BOTTOM LINE: Recommended. Watch for T.M. Logan's newest title The Holiday, which is currently only available in the United Kingdom.

Disclaimer: A copy of 29 Seconds was provided to me by MacMillan/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher:  Macmillan Press/September 10, 2019
ISBN-10: 1785770802
ISBN-13: 978-1785770807

Bestselling author TM Logan was a national newspaper journalist before turning to novel-writing full time. His debut thriller LIES was one of Amazon UK's biggest ebooks of 2017, selling 350,000 copies and gathering more than 1,400 5-star reviews so far. It was published in the USA in September 2018 and has also come out in South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and the Netherlands.
(From Amazon)

BIG SKY (2019)

I have been a Kate Atkinson fan since Stephen King raved about Case Histories a number of years ago in Entertainment Weekly. Her earlier books are mostly literate mysteries featuring Jackson Brodie, former police inspector now a private investigator. I loved them all not to mention the free standing Life After Life, which I read twice.

This is the 5th book in the series which includes:
1. Case Histories (2004)
2. One Good Turn (2006)
3. When Will There Be Good News (2008)
4. Started Early, Took My Dog (2011)

Although you don't have to read them in order and Big Sky is certainly able to stand alone, there's much to enjoy by reading the whole series. Visit Kate Atkinson's offical website here.

FIRST LINE: "So what now?" he asked.

THE STORY: Jackson Brodie is living in a quiet seaside village on U.K.'s northeastern coast in order to share custody of his teenage son and an aging dog, with his ex-partner Julia. Now a private investigator his jobs seem reduced to spying on an unfaithful husbands.

While walking along the sea cliff one evening he ends up saving the life of a desperate man which draws him into a sinister network and back across the path of his friend Reggie. Old secrets and new lies intersect.

WHAT I THOUGHT: There are lots of characters to follow in this intricately plotted story with the narrative jumping from present to past and back again (but then that's typical Atkinson). If you pay attention, you'll have a sense of what's happening.

Of course, we are all in love with Jackson Brodie but other characters caught my attention this time out. Nathan, Brodie's recalcitrant son, is a typical teenager especially contrasted with Harry, Crystal's stepson, who is an amazing big brother to his half sister. Crystal herself is a character with a past but a heart of mostly gold. Actually Atkinson finds a way to keep us interested in all the various good and bad actors in the story.

Another bit of fun comes from identifying the popular allusions although I must confess I don't get them all. Doesn't matter. This is great storytelling.

QUOTES: "Perhaps the past was no longer the concept for the present. Perhaps none of it mattered anymore. Was this how the world would end - not with a bang but a 'So'?"

"He was becoming a walking, talking history lesson, a one-man folk museum, except that nobody was interested in learning anything from him."

BOTTOM LINE: All the usual features are here: fascinating characters, an elaborate story line, and literary and social media references. Do be aware that sex trafficking is involved. Highly recommended if you like literate mysteries.

Disclaimer: A copy of Big Sky was provided to me by Little, Brown and Company/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher:   Little, Brown and Company (June 25, 2019)
ISBN-10: 0316523097
ISBN-13:  978-0316523097

Kate Atkinson’s first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year Award. She has been a critically acclaimed, bestselling author ever since, with over one million copies of her books in print in the United States.

She is the author of a collection of short stories, Not the End of the World, and of the novels Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Case Histories, One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News?, and Started Early, Took My Dog. Case Histories, which introduced her readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, was made into a television series starring Jason Isaacs.

Kate Atkinson lives in Edinburgh (from Amazon).

SCARS LIKE WINGS (2019)

Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Taking my own advice, I decided to read a young adult novel. They tend to be shorter but no less compelling. This one and The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake were my choices. See May 21, 2019 entry). I guess I should point out that both books won't be available until October 1, 2019.

FIRST LINE: "One year after the fire, my doctor removes my mask and tells me to get a life."

THE STORY: What's it like to lose everything you love including yourself? 16 year old Ava survived a fire that left her alone and disfigured. How she faces trying to find a new normal is heartbreaking and inspiring. This is an amazing view into what burn survivors live through, but then all of us have scars, although some aren't as visible.

WHAT I THOUGHT: I was immediately drawn into the story by the awful facts of Ava's situation. At first she turns away from everyone but, forced to go back to high school, she encounters and makes friends with Piper and Asad.

"For each species on the planet, finding this community is not a luxury; it's an essential element of survival."

I loved the social media aspects and the musical theater references. Ava makes some bad decisions that worried me, but these issues were overcome by others who love her enough to help her find appropriate outcomes. Ava's world will never again be what it was before the fire but there is a new normal that is worth living.

BOTTOM LINE: Well written, plotted, and paced, this debut novel is worthy of the attention it has garnered. Although the story is about teenagers, I think anyone can read and take away a message of hope. Appropriate for 12 and over/7-9th grades.

Disclaimer: A copy of Scars Like Wings was provided to me by Delacorte Press/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher:  Delacorte Press (October 1, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1984848828
ISBN-13:  978-1984848826

Erin Stewart is the author of Scar Like Wings, her debut novel. Erin is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern and a BYU undergraduate who works as a freelance writer and editor, as well as a weekly columnist in Salt Lake City.

Erin lives in Utah with her husband and three children. She is represented by the amazing Brianne Johnson of Writers House.

Short Takes 6/24/2019

Don't have enough time to read? Check out this excellent list of 50 Must-Read Short Books Under 250 Pages from BookRiot.

Do you know the difference between a cozy and a traditional mystery? Here's an article that interviews the Agatha Award nominees before they attended Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland.

An what about using Instagram/Bookstagram? I didn't even know that was a thing until recently. Here are some tips from blogger Dominique: My Top 5 Bookstagram Tips.

WE WERE KILLERS ONCE (2019)

After seeing a number of mentions and reviews of Becky Masterman's first thriller Rage Against the Dying (2013), I got a copy from my local library and devoured it. Now I watch for each new title as it is released.This is the 4th book in the series but can be read as a stand alone.

Other titles in the series are Fear the Darkness (2015) and Twist of the Knife (2017).

FIRST SENTENCE: "Little Brigid Theresa Quinn, with a band-Aid on my knobby knee from jumping of a banyan tree o a dare, and a ponytail of red hair that should have been washed four days ago--I'm only six years old when I first hear about the murder of the Walker Family on December 19, 1959."

THE STORY: Inspired by Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD, Becky Masterman has created a modern crime thriller on the Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. The story alternates between the past and today.

Brigid Quinn, a 60 year old retired FBI agent, has recently married and started a new life in Tucson, Arizona. Her husband Carlo, an ex-priest, is now a professor of philosophy and a good balance for Brigid.

Jerry Beaufort, out of prison after years behind bars, worries that somewhere there is a written record of the time he spent with two killers in 1959. His attempts to find the document that could implicate him will pit Jerry against the last person he'll see as a threat: Brigid Quinn.

QUOTES: 

"Cold cases, they call them, as if they're frozen harmlessly in the past without any power to wreak new havoc."

"That I hadn't killed anybody in about a year didn't feel like a huge point in my favor."

WHAT I THOUGHT: A most fascinating story whether you are knowledgeable about the Clutter Murders or are just hearing about them for the first time. And the author gets inside Jerry's head and lets us see the twisted thinking that the reader couldn't imagine.

BOTTOM LINE: Highly Recommended - just keep the lights on. 

DISCLAIMER: An advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book was provided to me by Minotaur and Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher:  Minotaur Books (June 4, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1250074525
ISBN-13:  978-1250074522

An acquisitions editor for a press that specializes in medical textbooks (forensic examiners and law enforcement!), Becky Masterman grew up in Florida and received her M.A. in creative writing from Florida Atlantic University. She and her husband actually live in Tucson, Arizona. This is her first thriller.

BUZZ BOOKS 2019 YOUNG ADULT FALL/WINTER

This year is the eleventh Young Adult Buzz Book. I don't usually read teen books but decided to venture into this popular genre.

The Book Expo's Young Adult Buzz Editor's Panel picks several titles to recommend and the first two were also the ones I chose after reading synopsis and part of a chapter.

Julia Drake's The Last True Poets of the Sea (Hyperion, October 1, 2019) is the story of "a lost shipwreck, a missing piece of family history, and weathering the storms of life." I love that it's set in Maine.

My second choice is Scars Like Wings (Delacorte, October 1, 2019) by Erin Stewart. It's been a year since the fire in which Ava Lee "lost everything. Her parents. Her best friend. Her home. Even her face."

BUZZ BOOKS 2019 FALL/WINTER

A seductive preview of the best of the new books for the season and it's FREE!

First introduced for the 2012 Book Expo America, the FREE digital Publishers Lunch Buzz Books has become the place for both industry professionals and book lovers in general to discover and read about the books expected to spark high demand BEFORE they are published!

There are 45 fall and winter books for adults in this edition of Buzz Books. A second volume handling the burgeoning young adult titles is available.

"Publishers usually release their most prominent literary titles in the fall.The Introduction gives an overview of the upcoming publishing season broken down by literary fiction, debut fiction, commercial fiction, and followed by non-fiction conversation starters, memoir, and biography".

What's really great is that after many selections in Buzz Books, you have the option to follow a link and request the complete galley copy from Net Galley if you qualify as a 'professional' reader.

The fiction titles that caught my eye included Elizabeth Berg's The Confession Club (Random House, November), a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale from Margaret Atwood titled The Testaments (Nan A. Talese, September), another sequel from Elizabeth Strout called Olive Again (Random House, October), and I have already received copies of T.M. Logan's 29 Seconds (St. Martin's, September) and Lisa Lutz's The Swallows (Ballantine, August).

Personal favorites Louise Penny and Linwood Barclay both have books coming out this fall: Penny's A Better Man (Minotaur, August) and Barclay's Elevator Pitch (William Morrow, September).

In non-fiction, I was interested in Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know (Little, Brown, September), the latest offering from Malcolm Gladwell. Elton John's The Autobiography (Holt, October) and Patti Smith's Year of the Monkey (Knopf, September) both caught my eye too.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR AVID BOOK READERS EVERYWHERE!

THE SUSPECT (2019)

The Suspect by Fiona Barton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book in which reporter Kate Waters is featured but can be read as a stand alone. I was often surprised by the twists and turns, which kept me reading past my bedtime.

This is Fiona Barton's third mystery following The Widow (2016) and The Child (2017). Scanning reviews revealed this is considered a series and certainly Barton has found a formula that works. Each book is told by three different participants, one of which is journalist Kate Waters.

FIRST SENTENCE: "The call comes at three a.m."

THE STORY: Two young girls travel to Thailand for a gap year adventure and then go missing. Told from three viewpoints (the Mother, the Detective, and the Journalist), the author creates sympathetic, if imperfect, characters.

Alex was supposed to go to Thailand with a good friend. Instead the friend cancelled and Rosie volunteered to take her place. Alex has carefully planned the trip but Rosie only wants to party. After a couple of weeks, they both disappear and it is obvious something bad has happened. Complicating things for Kate, is the fact that her son has also gone off the grid in Thailand. 
  
The puzzle is who is telling the truth (and is it the whole truth?) and who is lying. The answers slowly come into focus.

QUOTES: ". . .we look for the familiar in everything, don't we? We look to anchor ourselves in safe waters."

"When I hit a dead end in a story, my instinct is always to go back to the beginning and see what I missed ."

WHAT I THOUGHT: I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book based on what I knew about the plot, but once I started reading, I was totally immersed. The exotic locale, the variety of voices, and the mystery itself were all compelling due to the careful plotting and excellent story telling skills of Fiona Barton.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. You'll want to read ALL the books in the series.

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Berkley (January 22, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1101990511
ISBN-13: 978-1101990513
 
DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of  The Suspect by Fiona Barton from NetGalley/Berkley  for my honest review. 

 

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Guardian Spirits and Random Thoughts

Austin Kleon wrote about how he has chosen 'guardian spirits' for each of his notebooks. I decided to choose him for mine since my copy of Steal Like An Artist has been read and reread a number of times.

I'm currently reading Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams, which has been sitting on my shelf for over five years. In fifth grade I was the Inca specialist inspired by the 1954 movie Secret of the Incas. I rewatched it the other night on You Tube and was not particularly impressed although it is obvious that Harrison Ford got the basis for Indian Jones from Charleton Heston's character. (Thomas Mitchell, Robert Young, and Yma Sumac were also involved.)

WARLIGHT (2018)

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Warlight refers to the dimmed lights that guided emergency traffic during wartime blackouts and we see the story in the same way. What remains of a mysterious childhood?

In 1945 Nathaniel (14) and his older sister Rachel are left in London by their parents with an odd and mysterious man they call The Moth. The first part of the book are his memories of people and places. The second part becomes his quest to learn about his mother's past as an important part of the intelligence work during and after the war.

Beautifully written and haunting, a reminder that the effects of war are far reaching.