On the Rim of Love

by Marie Astor

The middle of December I received an email from Meghan Williams offering me an ebook copy of Astor's 3rd book.  Since I knew I was receiving a Kindle for Christmas I jumped at the chance.  My first ebook!

As most of you know I am NOT a romance reader.  Guess I overlooked that in my enthusiasm to load and read my first ebook.  On the Rim of Love is a quick, light, easy romance.  The main character, Maggie, is a smart, pretty girl who has been dating a rich, egotistical jerk for two years and hasn't figured out yet that he is a jerk.  I'm not particularly smart but I had his number in the first few pages.

Maggie accepts a proposal of marriage from this Neanderthal and then goes to Vancouver with him for a proposal celebration that turns into a business trip.  And that's as much of the storyline I'm going to give away.

The thing about Kindle is that it keeps track of the reader's progress through the book.  I found it torturous at first to realize I had only read 35% and had so much more to read but when I reached 50% things started  getting more interesting.  I have to say that I rather enjoyed this book and found it to be a nice respite from the strenuous biography I was reading at the same time.

If you are a romance reader, I think you will thoroughly enjoy On the Rim of Love.  Let me just whisper the name Taylor to you... 

** I received a free copy of On the Rim of Love in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was received.

Fatal Grace

by Louise Penny

I had so much fun rereading Still Life that I decided to reread the 2nd in the Armand Gamache series.  I did so with some trepidation.  The first time through this book was on audio.  Candleman and I listened to it in Nov. 2009 on a trip to southern Utah.  I remember I had to do a song & dance routine to convince him to give it a try.  Now Louise Penny is his favorite author; he's read all 7 books in the series; and is rereading Still Life.  Makes me smile.

So if I love Louise Penny and this series so much why was I tempted to skip book 2 on my reread journey?  I remembered one of the characters - a wife and a mother - and I despised her so intensely that I didn't think I wanted to reread a book with such a despicable character.  I decided to because the first time through the series I didn't read the books in order and this time I wanted to capture the back story in the correct order.

I'm so glad I did reread this book.  As I mentioned with my 2nd review of Still Life, Penny's writing is excellent and the subtleties in the story and the characters is better captured on the 2nd reading.  Penny's nuances in theme development and character development are the best I've seen.  All the way through the book I thought the title, A Fatal Grace, referred to the 'ice lady' who is also exemplified in the Canadian title of this same novel, Dead Cold, but that's only one meaning.  Penny plays with this term several times throughout the book.  The most powerful meaning has to do with a painting by another character titled, The Three Graces. 

In my first review I wrote, "I am going to need to reread this one so I can book dart those many passages I loved while listening to it."  Just now as I pulled the book off the shelf to look at some of those passages I bookdarted, I discovered I had become so engrossed with the story that I only added two towards the end!

One of the passages I marked was a poem that appears, in parts, throughout the book but is completed here.

And when he things, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do.

'And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer." said Gamache in a whisper.
'Never to hope again.' Reine-Marie finished the quote.

 The other is from one of the women in the painting of The Three Graces.

   She knew then the answer to her riddle.  Why her father and his friends had cried 'F*** the Pope' as they went to their deaths.
   There was no answer.  They were his words, his life, his path and his death.
   This was hers.  She'd spent here entire life trying to solve something that had nothing to do with her.  She'd never understand and she didn't have to.  All she had to understand was her own life and death.

I look forward with great anticipation to the time I get to sit down in my reading spot and again turn the pages of book 3 in the series.  Alas, it will have to wait awhile because I've gone and accepted too many arcs that are piling up on my desk.  I thought I'd learned my lesson when it came to arcs - just don't accept them no matter how good they sound.  It's not that I don't love reading them, it's just that I don't read as much as I used to and so I'm slower getting thsose arcs read and reviewed.  I guess I could give up genealogy, quilting, spending time with my family, and playing a couple rounds of Catan on the computer but I can't face giving up any of those things.  You'll be happy to note that I've been very successful ridding my life of cooking and cleaning!  A journaling side note for my future benefit - At this period in time my granddaughter(8)  has gathered several of us together on a regular basis to play a variation of Canasta called Hand & Foot.  Most of the time it's been me, 2 daughters, and my granddaughter but we occasionally gather in my grandson, his father, and Candleman.  It's been loads of fun.

Still Life

by Louise Penny

I do not reread books as a general rule.  There are only 4 books that I can think of that I have reread:  Jane Eyre, The Book of Mormon, Still Life, and A Fatal Grace.  Five books if you'll let me count the New Testament.  (I read the Old Testament once and I think that will do it for this lifetime.)  You may have noticed that 2 of those books are by Louise Penny and can I just say, "The are even better the 2nd time around!"

My review of the first reading of Still Life can be found here (Feb 2009).  I remember liking the book and being impressed with Penny's style of writing and I enjoyed the characters, hoping we would meet them again in future books.  And we did get to chum with them in the sequels.  Penny unwraps parts of each character and lets us slowly get acquainted with them as we might a new friend.  In this reread I was reminded of earlier descriptions of the characters and to see them in light of what I knew about them from later writings.  My word, they are such multi-faceted, complex, flawed, and yet lovable people.  The following quote illustrates how well Penny brings her characters to life, as well as her understanding of human nature and her gift for expressing it in writing.

“Clara shrugged and immediately knew her betrayal of Peter. In one easy movement she'd distanced herself from his bad behavior, even thought she herself was responsible for it. Just before everyone had arrived, she'd told Peter about her adventure with Gamache. Animated and excited she'd gabbled on about her box and the woods and the exhilarating climb up the ladder to the blind. But her wall of words hid from her a growing quietude. She failed to notice his silence, his distance, until it was too late and he'd retreated all the way to his icy island. She hated that place. From it he stood and stared, judged, and lobbed shards of sarcasm.

'You and your hero solve Jane's death?'

'I thought you'd be pleased,' she half lied. She actually hadn't thought at all, and if she had, she probably could have predicted his reaction. But since he was comfortably on his Inuk island, she'd retreat to hers, equipped with righteous indignation and warmed by moral certitude. She threw great logs of 'I'm right, you're an unfeeling bastard' onto the fire and felt secure and comforted.”

One thing I didn't fully appreciate the first time was the beauty of Penny's writing.  She is a literary genius without seeming to be.  Patrick Anderson of the Washington Post said, "Penny is a writer blessed with considerable sophistication and literary skill."  He described her 6th book as a fascinating hybrid: a cozy that at best reads like good literary fiction. I totally agree.   I especially like how she examines meaning of an object or a simple term like 'still life.'  In the book there is a piece of art that is a 'still life'.  Myrna, the bookstore owner and former psychiatrist, described a personality trait - the people who lead "still" lives.  The ones who aren't growing or evolving, who are standing still.  Penny presents the title, in this case an object in another book, and throws light on different meanings or connotations of the term or object or situation.

My husband is currently rereading Still Life.  When I picked it up from where he keeps it, I was surprised at the wear evident from its being a well-loved and well-read copy.  Beside he and I reading it twice, my mother, sister, and daughter have all read this copy.  It has sticky notes left by DH and Bookdarts left by me. What a treat it's been to look through these marked spots and linger on them. 

Reverence

by Paul Woodruff

I learned about Paul Woodruff several months ago while watching one of the last episodes of Bill Moyers.  I had never seen the show but have admired Moyers and was saddened to hear the show was ending.  I wanted to TiVo all the episodes but I was too late on the scene.

I ordered Woodruff's book thinking my husband would enjoy it but, as things turn out, I read it instead.  At times the philosophy end of things was a little much for me but the major concepts were relished.  I used lots of Bookdarts and have already enjoyed rereading passages.

Woodruff defines reverence as "the capacity to have the feelings of awe, respect, and shame when these are the right feelings to have."  He presents his reasons for writing a book on reverence, among others because "reverence lies behind civility and all of the graces that make life in society bearable and pleasant" and "reverence fosters leadership and education.  Reverence kindles warmth in friendship and family life."  "Unlike rules, virtues (like reverence) give us strength to live well and to avoid bad choices.  Reverence gives us the ability to shudder at going wrong."  We live in a world where rules are passed that govern every minute detail of our life - how much better off we would be if we all cultivated reverence.

"Reverence stands in awe of something--something that dwarfs the self, that allows human beings to sense the full extent of our limits--so that we can begin to see one another more reverently as well.  An irreverent soul who is unable to feel awe in the presence of things higher than the self is also unable to feel respect in the presence of things it sees as lower than the self."   I think that something Woodruff speaks of is nature, God, truth, people's talents, the workings of our bodies, love, integrity, sacrifice - well, the list can go on and on and it should.

Being a teacher, a post shared by each of us, I especially liked the chapter dealing with education.  "Reverent teachers believe that students can match them in hunger after knowledge, that they can learn what they wish to, and that they need to make learning their own."  And, "At every level in the ladder of learning there are human beings perched with astonishing--but limited--powers of understanding and creativity.  Obviously they are unequal in attainments; that is why they need to be reminded of the equality they have in reverence for the the truth."

I'm glad I happened upon that Bill Moyers show and was introduced to Woodruff and his insightful book on reverence.

The Girl on the Cliff

  

by Lucinda Riley

This is the second novel by Riley.  Her first, Hothouse Flower, was a hugely successful debut.  I didn't read that one but because of its good reviews I was willing to accept Girl on the Cliff as an ARC.  

The story is about a young woman, deeply in love but wounded, who returns to her Irish home to stay a short time with her parents.  While there she meets an ethereal-like child who captures Grania's heart.  As her caring for Aurora deepens, Grania finds herself drawn to her mysterious father.  Grania's mother warns her to stay clear of the family but, of course, Grania doesn't listen and finds herself in a web of mystery that she can't unravel.

I really enjoyed this lengthy tale.  I like when books go back and forth in time and circumstances and keep the reader slightly mixed up about what is really going on. 

The Irish scenes are described well and I wanted to fly there and sit on that cliff and feel the breeze through my hair.  A rock, a book, the surf, and the breeze would be soaked into every pore.  Delightful.  And, yes, I would love a tour of Aurora & her father's house.  Maybe even fix up a light luncheon and eat it in that marvelous kitchen and be dined by candlelight by my husband.  Wow!  I really lost myself inside the settings, didn't I?