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?

A Trick of the Light

by Louise Penny

I am a big fan of Louise Penny's and have loved all her books, so far.  I didn't like this one so much.  I know it was the language that kept getting in my way.  The characters, writing, story were fabulous but the heavy use of the f word kept getting in my way of settling comfortably into a mystery by my favorite author.  That said, the objectionable language did fit in with the story and it did make a point.

Three passages that caught my attention:

"Armand Gamache knew no good ever came from putting up walls.  What people mistook for safety was in fact captivity.  And few things thrived in captivity."

"Our lives, when we were drinking, were pretty complicated.  Pretty chaotic.  We got into all sorts of trouble.  It was a mess.  And this is all we ever wanted.  a quiet place in the bright sunshine.  But every day we drank we got further from it."  (probably true of most addictions)

"And he recognized it for what it was.  Chief Justice Thierry Pineault was pissing on him.  It was delicate, sophisticated, genteel, mannerly.  But it was still piss.  The problem with a pissing contest, as Gamache knew, was that what should have remained private became public."

I am looking forward to her next book.  If the f word is used as much as in that book, I'll probably quit reading this series.  I hope it's not because I love the characters, love Penny's story telling abilities and love the intricate mysteries.

This was my husband's favorite of the series.  Read his review on his blog, Live and Learn.

Broken Birds, The Story of My Momila

by Jeannette

I didn't like this book.  The beginning was very interesting about the mother's and dad's experiences during the war.  This book claims to be the story of her momila but it was more about the children and their problems.

Kiss Her, Kill Her

by Lisa Dewar

My goodness but I'm so far behind on writing my reviews.  I'm still reading, albeit not as much, but I'm not keeping a record of what I've read.  I sent a stack of books off to my daughter a couple of months ago, all books that I had read but not recorded.  I did make a list but now I've lost my list.  A word of advise - Don't take up other time-consuming hobbies that interfere with reading and blogging.  Once you do there will be no turning back!  Last winter I started quilting and this summer I started doing genealogy.  Both fun, interesting and addictive.  Now that the temps have cooled down I'm back to quilting.

At one point last winter I read a review copy of Kiss Her, Kill Her by Lisa Dewar.  It was very interesting and took an unexpected turn early in the book.  Here's the write-up from the back of the book:

THE PREDATOR
New York City has a monster on the loose and his name is Tarryn Cooper Love.
No one had given a second glance to the handsome taxi driver, but in reality he had been molded to be a killer since early childhood. His mother, who valued a juicy murder above all else, had taught him well. Just one more trophy and he is set to reach his goal, surpassing his mother's idol, the infamous Ted Bundy.
THE PREY
When a beautiful young woman gets into his cab flashing a wad of cash, he thinks he's hit the jackpot. As she starts confessing her plans for ending her own life he decides to listen to her story, hoping to charm her back from the brink of death, to heighten his game.
What he discovers is a twisted tale that has taken her from the hardened streets of LA to the upper crust of New York...a story that might even rival his own.
Tarryn has to decide within the space of 24 hours, if he should kill her or save her - and perhaps save himself in the process

 The rating on GoodReads for this book was 4 stars.  I would only give it 3 stars because it didn't really have the intensity that made me want to keep reading.  I didn't like either character, although I did sympathize with both of them.  I think I suspected a direction the book was going to go (something I don't usually do because I tend to just float along through a book without thinking too much) and the book didn't take that direction.  That could have resulted in a good, surprising twist but it didn't.  Instead the book just plodded on, sharing the back stories of the 2 main characters.  That was interesting, but I kept waiting for some conflict to develop and it didn't.

I do hope Lisa Dewar will continue to write.  She does have talent and I would be interested in reading future novels.

Postcard Killers

by James Patterson & Lisa Marklund

I just remembered another book that I read in the spring that didn't get reviewed.  This book was pretty sleazy and is one I would have quit if I'd have had anything to read.  I took a book with me to Cedar City when I went to help my sister after her operation.  My mistake was not taking it to the hospital.  In my defense, I didn't know I'd be staying all night but after the operation both my sister and I felt I should stay.  Luckily she had a book she thought she'd feel good enough to read.  She didn't. 

The one good thing about Postcard Killers was that it kept my interest piqued throughout the night and I was able to stay awake.  Being one of James Patterson's, the chapters were short and the writing a bit large.  Many would have finished it in a few hours - it took me most of the night. 

Do I recommend it?  Not really.  There's too many descent books that are really good to waste time of this type of read under normal circumstances.

Dear Strangers

by Meg Mullins

It was a slow start for me getting into this book for a couple reasons.  First, I just haven't been reading the first couple months this year so I was trying to coming out of a reading slump.  Second, this book was a bit confusing at first.

Luckily, I kept reading and finally reached the point where I was hooked.  As the disconnected story lines, as they seemed to me, began to join together I had to keep reading to see how they all finally blended into one.  Usually I really like this technique.  I think I had a harder time this time due to the reading slump.

There was a third reason I had a hard time getting into this book rather than just bobbing along and enjoying the ride was the main character, Oliver.  His father died of a heart attach when Oliver was 6 or 7 just days before his adoptive brother was delivered.  The brother did not stay, so Oliver experienced 2 losses close together.  That I sympathize with but I still thought Oliver was quite overboard in his reaction.  Later in his 20s he's still behaving very weirdly as a result of his losses.

I really liked the characters of Miranda and Mary.  Miranda is working on completing a very interesting art project that requires willing participants that don't ever meet her.  Not going to tell you more!  

Overall, I'm glad I read Dear Strangers.  Definitely liked the last half best but can see the need for the first half.   There were several passages that caused me to pause and ponder the book and life in general.  Meg Mullins is the author of The Rug Merchant.