Books Set in North America: United States; New York and Massachusetts

Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley (2016)

 

The novel begins with a plane crash into the Atlantic Ocean just off Martha’s Vineyard.  Shortly after take-off, a private jet carrying a wealthy television executive and his family and a wealthy financial manager on the verge of being indicted for laundering money, crashes, the investigation quickly looks into whether or not this was actually an accident.

 

There were only two survivors: the 4-year-old son of the television executive and Scott Burroughs, a down-and-out artist hoping to break into the art world.  The novel goes back and forth between Scott Burroughs and the backstories of the deceased passengers and crew.  David Bateman, the television executive, works for a station like Fox, thus his programs have both a cult-like following and enemies.  Ben Kipling has been laundering money for years and is just hours away from being arrested.  

 

In addition to David Bateman, his family, and Ben and Sarah Kipling, the other passengers include Gil Baruch, the Israeli body man for the Bateman’s; Emma Lightener, the flight attendant; James Melody, the pilot; and Charlie Busch, the co-pilot, who got where his is due to his connections.  Each character has their flaws and enemies who may want them dead.  Are their enemies strong enough to actually pull off a fatal crash or was the crash simply an accident?

 

It was a fun read, but not a story that will stay with me.

 

Read:  May 30, 2021

3 Stars

 

 

Books Set in Europe: Switzerland

The Gustav Sonata, by Rose Tremain (2016)

 

Gustav Perle grew up in poverty in Switzerland in the years at the end of World War II.  His father died when he was too young to have any clear memory of him and is mother, whom he adores, is distant and bitter.  In kindergarten, Gustav befriends Anton Zweibel, a boy his same age, who is a promising musician.

 

The novel is written in three parts.  In Part One, Gustav and Anton are young boys who are constant companions.  Anton’s family, who are wealthy, take Gustav on vacations with them.  Emilie, Gustav’s mother is not keen on Anton and his family because they are Jewish.  She is bitter because she blames her husband’s death on saving Jews during the War.

 

Part Two focuses on Emilie and her early life and how she fell in love with Erich Perle.  Erich was an Assistant Police Officer.  In his position, he helped Jewish refugees into Switzerland after the country had closed its doors.  When his actions were discovered, he lost his job and was reduced to finding a menial job with poor pay.  Although Emilie loved Erich and called referred to him as a hero, she could never forgive him for plunging the family into poverty.

 

Gustav and Anton are middle-aged in Part Three.  After having been separated for years, each with his own life, the two friends come together again.  The bond they formed as children remained strong.

 

This was a beautifully written novel.

 

5 Stars

 

Read:  May 28, 2021

 

 

Books Set in North America: United States, Atlanta, Georgia

In the Neighborhood of True, by Susan Kaplan Carlton (2019)

In the Neighborhood of True is a coming-of-age novel set in 1958 Atlanta, Georgia.  Ruth Robb’s father recently died, so her mother packs Ruth, her sister Nattie, and they move from New York City to Atlanta, Georgia to live in her grandparent’s guest house.  Ruth’s mother grew up in Atlanta society and was Queen of the Magnolia Ball, as well as a handful of other balls.  Ruth’s grandmother, Fontaine, is all set to send her granddaughters into the debutante season.

Atlanta society is white and Protestant.  Ruth’s late father was Jewish and Ruth’s mother converted.  Ruth and her sister have been raised Jewish.  This would be a stumbling block to enter Atlanta society.  Ruth and her sister attend the private school, Covenant, that was established after the ruling in Brown v. Education, so it wasn’t subject to integration.

Ruth quickly falls in the popular girls and learns Southern etiquette from the little pink pamphlet her grandmother has given her.  She decides to keep the fact that she is Jewish a secret so she can be accepted with her new friends.  She also falls hard for Davis Jefferson, the handsome young classmate.  He is attracted to her, too.

Ruth and her mother come to an agreement, that Ruth can go to school dances provided she attend Shabbos services on Saturday mornings.  The rabbi at the local synagogue is pushing for civil rights.  Ruth is walking a fine line between her religious upbring and her desire to fit in with her classmates.

Ruth is aware of the violence towards Blacks and learns about the lynching of Leo Frank in the early 1900s.  As the story leads to an act of violent antisemitism, Ruth is faced with a moral dilemma.

This story was based on an actual act of antisemitism that occurred in October 1958 in Atlanta, Georgia.  Although 60 years have lapsed since, antisemitism is on the rise.  Many synagogues in the South have police protection during Friday and Saturday services.  The attitudes and events of this novel could conceivably occur today.

Read: May 26, 2021

5 Stars

Books Set in North America: United States, Madison, Wisconsin and Seattle, Washington

This Is How It Always Is, by Laurie Frankel (2017)

 

When Dr. Rosie Walsh is pregnant with her fifth child, she hopes for a girl.  Her four other children are all boys.  Her fifth child is also a boy, whom they name Claude.  By age 3, Claude announces that when he grows up he wants to be a fireman, a truck, a girl.  All the things that young children imagine they will be when they grow up.  By age 5, however, he is wearing dresses and wants to be a princess.

 

The family takes Claude’s quirks in stride.  Then they realize that Claude is transgender.  He decides his name is Poppy.  To her older brothers, Poppy is just another sibling.  In kindergarten, her classmates just treat him as another kid in the class.  All is well until the father of a classmate freaks out and threatens the family.

 

The family moves from Madison, Wisconsin to Seattle, Washington where they feel the environment will be more welcoming to a transgender child.  Once in Seattle, however, Poppy’s birth gender is kept a secret.  A secret that the whole family keeps, but one that can’t be hidden forever.

 

This novel dealt with the issue of raising a transgender child.  It provided a lot of research in the trials and tribulations that the family and the child encounter.  In this book, the family was loving and accepting, but the author also emphasized problems trans children encounter when their families are not so accepting.

 

Sadly, for me, this book fell apart in the last section when Poppy and her mother travelled to Thailand where Rosie would temporarily be practice in a remote clinic in the Thai jungle.  I understand why the author took us there, but it just didn’t seem in keeping the the tenor of the rest of the novel.

 

Read:  May 25, 2021

 

4 Stars

 

Books Set in North America; Atlantic Ocean and United States, Massachusetts

The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger (1997)

 

The Perfect Storm describes a terrible storm that took place in the north Atlantic Ocean in October 1991.  The convergence of several weather patterns formed a massive storm.  A large portion of the book focuses on the final voyage of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat that left out of Gloucester, Massachusetts.  The boat and its crew of six disappeared.  Only later a few on deck debris, including fuel drums, were found either drifting in the ocean or ashore.

 

The book delves into the life of fishermen.  Fishing is a very hard industry.  The crew are out at sea for weeks at a time.  They are paid based upon their catch, which can be significant.  When ashore, however, the crew often go on benders and can go through their money very quickly.  The author introduces us to the crew of the Andrea Gail.  Two fisherman had planned to join the crew, but had a bad feeling and opted out at the last minute.  The captain found substitutes.  The author describes the technical mechanics of fishing and fishing boats, but in language that the lay person can understand.

 

The Andrea Gail went out near the end of the swordfishing season.  It was one of several boats in a fleet to venture out.  When out on the seas, fishing crews from various boats keep in contact with each other and often meet up to provide gear assistance.  The last communication from the Andrea Gail was at 6:00 p.m., on October 28.  The captain had promised to communication with another fishing boat at 11:00 that night.  The communication never occurred.  Due to several other miscommunications, it was days before people realized that the Andrea Gail was gone.

 

There were several other boats out in the Atlantic during this storm as well.  The author introduces the reader to these crews and their rescues.  This was a true adventure story as the reader learns of all the details that must go into an ocean rescue.  The reader meets those brave people who train for years to prepare for such rescues.

 

The Andrea Gail portion of the book was made into the movie also entitled to The Perfect Storm.

 

I loved this book.  It was a real page-turner.

 

Read:  May 22, 2021

 

5 Stars

Books Set in Asia: Mumbai, India

Murder at the Grand Raj Palace, by Vaseem Khan (2018)

 

Ashwin Chopra is a retired police inspector who has started his own investigation agency.  Somehow, after his retirement, he was gifted with a baby elephant that he named Ganesha.  Ganesha follows wither Chopra or his wife, Poppy, everywhere … even to the posh Grand Raj Palace.

 

The novel begins when art collector Hollis Burbank was found dead in his hotel room with a knife in his chest.  He had just outbid a rival collector for a painting by one of India’s most famous artists.  The police commissioner is ready to call Burbank’s death a suicide, but the officer in charge thinks otherwise so calls Chopra to assist with the investigation.  When the commissioner learns that Chopra has been called in to assist, he quickly tells him to back off the official investigation.

 

Lisa Taylor, the art broker who convinced Burbank to go to Mumbai for the auction, then hires Chopra to continue with the murder investigation.  Lisa is a sexy young British woman who always seems to pop into Chopra’s investigation when Poppy is around.  Poppy, who has trying to plan a special 25^th wedding anniversary, begins to get jealous.

 

While Chopra is looking into the potential murder of Burbank, Poppy becomes involved in the wedding plans of two aristocratic families with a decades-long family feud.  The two families are ostensibly marrying to protect one family from the brink of bankruptcy.  Poppy’s advice to the young bride to follow her heart, leading the bride-to-be to vanish without a trace.

 

Meanwhile, Burbank, it seems, was a very unpleasant man.  No one liked him and he made enemies everywhere he went.  Thus, Chopra quickly comes up with a long list of potential killers.  The list grows longer when Chopra learned that 30 years earlier, Burbank was known as Roger Penzance and was a chemical engineer at a company involved with a chemical leak.  The chemical disaster had been covered up, but some survivors continued to harbor guilt.

 

This mystery was light-hearted and fun to read.  The solution came with a twist, but was very satisfying.  This is a delightful little “cozy mystery” that takes place mostly at the Grand Raj Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India.  It’s the fourth mystery in the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series, although it’s the first one I read.  I will definitely go back and read this series from the beginning.

 

Read:  May 18, 2021

 

5 Stars

 

Books Set in North America: United States, Nashville, Tennessee

No One Knows, by J. T. Ellison (2016)

 

No One Knows, by J.T. Ellison is a fast-paced thriller.  The novel begins on the day that Aubrey Hamilton’s husband, Josh, has been officially been declared dead.  He disappeared 5 years earlier, shortly before amending his life insurance policy listing Aubrey as the beneficiary of his $5M policy.  His mother, Daisy, however, always had an intense dislike of Aubrey and threatens to contest the policy.

 

Josh disappeared on the eve of his best friend’s wedding.  Aubrey and Josh were to attend separate bachelor parties, but Josh never showed up at the groom’s party.  What happened to him?

 

All that was left was a large pool of blood in their home.  Aubrey was immediately cast as suspect in foul play and was tried for his murder.  She was subsequently acquitted, but the experience, along with her past encounters with law enforcement left her shattered and bitter.

 

As we delve into the shared history of Josh and Aubrey, we go back and forth in time from Aubrey’s troubled childhood.  Her parents were killed in a car accident when she was a young child and Aubrey spent much of her childhood living in a foster home.  Her best friend there was her foster brother, Tyler, who became a druggie and minor criminal.  Josh had his own childhood traumas.  He grew up believing that his biological father was dead and was adopted by Tom, his step-father.

 

It was serendipity that Aubrey ran into Chase Boden, a man who resembles Josh.  After a one-night stand, Aubrey finds herself falling for him.  Chase claims to be from Chicago but is always just a few short minutes away from Aubrey.  What are his motives?

 

Aubrey begins to hear rumor that Josh is still alive, so seeks to find out more of his past.  The story is told from many points of view: Aubrey, Daisy, Josh, Tom, Chase … There is also Meghan, the care-free spirit who owns the coffee shop where Aubrey works to supplement her salary as a Montessori teacher.

 

Ultimately, the ending left me unsatisfied.  The ending just come to any logical conclusion.

 

Spoiler Alert:  I felt that Meghan should have played a greater role in the novel’s resolution.  Furthermore, when Josh did appear, his behaviour over the past 5 years changed him from the loving husband to a mean, bitter and controlling man.  We also learn that Daisy had been briefly been married before she was married to Josh’s father.  She had a brief affair and gave birth to a son, who turns out to have been Chase.  Thus, it was no coincidence that he resembled Josh and that he “bumped” into Aubrey.  Then, we learn that Aubrey was in on the disappearing scheme all along.  Sorry.  Up until the last few pages, however, I enjoyed the book.  I probably won’t seek out other books by this author, however.

 

Read:  May 15, 2021

 

3 Stars

 

 

Books Set in the Middle East: Israel

Homesick, by Eshkol Nevo (2008)

 

Homesick takes place in a small village somewhere between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv where we become acquainted with several of its residents.  The book with college students, Amir and Noa, young college students looking for their first apartment in the fall of 1995.  Amir is studying psychology in Tel Aviv and Noa is a photography student at the Bezalel Art College in Jerusalem, hence their need for a place in between both cities.

 

Most of the residents in the village are Jewish immigrants from Kurdistan.  Amir and Noa find a small apartment in a home inhabited by Moshe and Sima Zakian and Moshe’s parents, Avram and Gina.  Their landlords are about their same age but married young and have two small children.  They share a common wall with their landlord, and in fact, much reach through a small hole in the wall to turn on the hot water to their apartment.

 

The house across the street belongs to Reuven and Nechama Averni.  Amir and Noa mistakenly enter the Averni home when they first arrive, thinking that is their intended destination.  The Averni’s are sitting shiva for their son Gidi, who was kill fighting in Lebanon.  Nechama is unable to stop grieving for her son and neglects her younger son, Yotam, who befriends Amir.

 

The home where the Zakian’s live had formerly been owned by an Arab family prior to 1948.  Saddiq A’adana, a middle-aged Arab, has been working on a construction site nearby.  He recognized the Zakian’s house as the one he lived in as a young child.  He is determined to get into the house to look for a gold chain that was left behind when his family fled.  He tries to make conversation with Gina, but she is fearful of him.

 

In Israel, the title of the book literally means Four Houses and Longings.  This title aptly describes the characters we are introduced to.  Each has his or her own longings, some of which they keep to themselves, causing rifts with their loved ones.  I just loved the way the characters came alive.

 

I first read this book in July 2017.  I still loved it upon a 2^nd reading.

 

Read:  May 12, 2021

 

5 Stars

 

~~~~~~~~~

Homesick, by Eshkol Nevo (2008)

Homesick by Eshkol Nevo takes place in a small village somewhere between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We are introduced to the town when we meet Amir and Noa in the Fall of 1995, who are looking for their first apartment together. They find a tiny apartment in a house that before the War of Independence had belonged to an Arab family. Now the house is home to Sima and Moshe, a young couple with two small children, and Moshe's parents, who have the upstairs apartment. The family next door just lost their eldest son in the war in Lebanon. Because the parents are so distraught, they ignore their younger son, Yotam, who befriends Amir. Nearby, another family is adding on to their home. One of the Arab construction workers, Saddiq, once lived in the house now home to Sima and Moshe.

This novel is told through the voices of many characters. Thus, we experience the everyday experiences and interpersonal relationship from many points of view. This really made the characters come alive. I loved this book. 

Read: July 21, 2017

5 Stars 

Books Set in North America: United States: Arizona

Credible Threat, by J.A. Jance (2020)  //  Ali Reynolds Series # 15

 

This is the first book I have read by J.A. Jance, but it is the 15^th book in her Ali Reynolds series.  The author spends some time providing the reader with some background from prior books in the series, but the novel can stand on its own.  Apparently in prior novels, Ali works with her husband B. Simpson in solving mysteries.  In this book, B. Simpson is abroad working on his own project, so Ali is left to work on her own to solve this mystery.

 

Rachel Higgins is a 70-year old woman whose marriage to a controlling husband has fallen apart.  When their only son, David, died of an overdose years earlier, her husband basically lost his will to go on.  He lost his job and spends his days making bird houses.  Rachel and her husband barely speak to each other.  The book begins when Rachel learns that David turned to drugs because he had been abused by a priest when in high school and he couldn’t confide in anyone.  

 

Rachel vows to take revenge upon the Church and her target is Francis Gillespie, the aged Archbishop in Phoenix, Arizona.  Little does she know that the Archbishop had taken a strong stand against the pedophilic priests in his diocese.  Rachel begins by sending the Archbishop threatening notes that she drops into the collection plates in a number of churches throughout the diocese.  The Archbishop went to the local police; however, he was told that the threats were not credible, hence, he turns to his friend Ali.

 

Rachel has gone to great lengths to create the “perfect” crime as she continues to plot her revenge on the Archbishop.  Can Ali stop Rachel before she kills?  Will Rachel’s husband come out of his shell and thwart Rachel’s plans?

 

Great literature this is not, however, it was a fun and quick read.  I will definitely go back and start reading this series from its first book.

 

Read:  May 7, 2021

 

4 Stars