Start Without Me (Book Review)

Title: Start Without Me
Author: Joshua Max Feldman
Publication: William Morrow, Trade Paperback, 2018 (originally published 2017)
Genre: Fiction

Plot: This novel explores questions of love and choice, disappointment and hope in the lives of two strangers who meet by chance in a story that unfolds over one Thanksgiving Day.

Adam is a former musician and recovering alcoholic who is home for Thanksgiving for the first time in many years. Surrounded by his parents and siblings, nieces and nephews—all who have seen him at his worst—he can’t shake the feeling that no matter how hard he tries, he’ll always be the one who can’t get it right.

Marissa is a flight attendant whose marriage is strained by simmering tensions over race, class, and ambition. Heading to her in-laws for their picture-perfect holiday family dinner, her anxiety is intensified by the knowledge she is pregnant from an impulsive one-night-stand.

Adam and Marissa meet in an airport restaurant on Thanksgiving morning. Over the course of this day fraught with emotion and expectation, these two strangers will form an unlikely bond as they reckon with their family ties, their pasts, and the choices that will determine their way forward.

Feldman casts a knowing eye on the traditional Thanksgiving family gathering, as he explores our struggles to know—and to be—our best selves. Ironic and sad, Start Without Me is a thoughtful and sometimes painful page-turner for the holiday season.

Audience: Fans of bleak dark fiction such as Revolutionary Road (which my book group read in 2014) or movies like Lost in Translation

My Impressions: This was a fast and somewhat entertaining read that was a vivid contrast to my family’s upbeat Thanksgiving where criticism, if any, would have been for the person (usually me) who offers to help once all the work in the kitchen is complete. I know I am fortunate in my family and it was not very appealing to read about so many dysfunctional individuals. I think I would have liked the family of Needham police the best and they were just a distant memory to Marissa, the main character. Still, it was interesting to see how these two lonely characters connect and how that fleeting intersection has the potential to change their lives – at least, we think so, although the author doesn’t make any easy predictions, leaving the reader to guess what will happen.

“Because what if I get back inside and do something stupid?”
She grinned back at him, also knowing, and a little sad. “Imagine that.
He looked at the house, looked back at her. “I feel like I’m nine again and I have to play Chopin in front of a thousand people. What am I supposed to say to them?”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just walk in the door. That’s all you have to do.”

Purchase Links: HarperCollins * IndieBound * Barnes & Noble * Amazon

Off the Blog: I was reading this dark tale of Thanksgiving over Thanksgiving weekend and at the same time as The Perfect Weapon by my talented classmate, David Sanger, which also portrays a bleak future - but under cyberwarfare rather than people warfare. It is also well written and very accessible, and my book group enjoyed hearing him speak tonight.

Source: I was provided a copy of Start Without Me by the publisher and TLC Book Tours for review purposes. You can visit other stops on the tour and read the reviews by clicking below:

Tour Stops

November 15th: Write – Read – Life

November 26th: Instagram: @kate.olson.reads

November 26th: Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile

November 28th: Instagram: @the_need_to_read

November 29th: Instagram: @notthepathtonarnia

December 4th: Comfy Reading

December 5th: Jackie Reads Books

Monday, December 10th: As I turn the pages

TBD: bookchickdi

TBD: Wining Wife

Five Things

I found the missing wine in the freezer! I remember now I popped it in to chill for a few minutes before my book group arrived. . . several weeks ago. It’s lucky they were satisfied with the first bottle – usually we can polish off two to three. And also lucky it did not explode.

I just made Pumpkin Pie as well as the Caramel Cashew Bars my friend Jen served at the last Betsy-Tacy party. Cross your fingers they pass muster!

I concentrated the cashews on the left in case anyone dislikes nuts

Fun book – Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating.   

Most emotional moment: Monday night when Harvard coach Tim Murphy awarded the Yale game ball to former player Ben Abercrombie who had traveled from Alabama to Boston for The Game.

My brother’s new puppy Chloe, just eight weeks old, is the cutest dog ever. I can’t wait until he and his family go on a trip so I can puppy sit and have her all to myself.


Happy Thanksgiving to all!

A Dangerous Duet (Book Review)

Title: A Dangerous Duet
Author: Karen Odden
Publication: William Morrow, trade paperback, November 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Nell Hallam lives in 19th century Victorian London with her brother Matthew, a young Scotland Yard detective. A gifted pianist, she wants to study at the Royal Academy, and to earn the tuition she has taken a position at the Octavian music hall, disguised as a man. Two men guess her secret: Jack, the taciturn son of the owner, and Stephen, a well born musician down on his luck. However, when the crime ring Matthew is investigating intersects with Nell’s theater world, she is plunged into danger and must make life-changing choices.

Audience: Readers who enjoy quality historical fiction with some romance and suspense; authors such as Tracy Grant, Kate Ross, Diana Norman (all of whom I admire greatly)

My Impressions: What a delightful story!  I don’t know how I missed this author’s debut, A Lady in the Smoke, but A Dangerous Duet is exactly the sort of book I like: well written and well researched historical fiction set in England, varied characters. an engaging heroine (you know how much I like orphans) who is poor but honest, ambitious, and loyal to her brother and friends.  For an attractive young woman to operate in disguise as a man requires suspension of disbelief but, as I always say, a talented storyteller can either charm or distract you from thinking skeptical and disruptive thoughts.  This is an enthusiastic recommendation, and I look forward to more from Karen Odden.

Purchase Links: Barnes & Noble * IndieBound * Amazon * HarperCollins

Off the Blog: It’s Harvard-Yale weekend and the 50th anniversary of the famous 29-29 tie! I ran into several members of the ’68 team at a book signing tonight and look forward to several fun days. Beat Yale!

Source: I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and TLC Book Tours for review purposes. You can visit other stops on the tour and read the reviews by clicking below:

Review Stops

November 6th: Into the Hall of Books

November 7th: Jessicamap Reviews

November 8th: Write – Read – Life

November 9th: Literary Quicksand

November 12th: The Desert Bibliophile

November 14th: I Wish I Lived in a Library

November 18th: Ms. Nose in a Book

November 19th: Instagram: @biblio_files

November 20th: Thoughts From a Highly Caffeinated Mind

November 21st: Reading Reality

The Spite Game (Book Review)

Title: The Spite Game
Author: Anna Snoekstra
Publication: Mira Books, Trade Paper, October 2018
Genre: Fiction

Plot: Everyone does bad things when no one is watching

Mercilessly bullied in high school, Ava knows she needs to put the past behind her and move on, but she can’t—not until she’s exacted precise, catastrophic revenge on the people who hurt her the most.

First, she watches Saanvi. Flawlessly chic and working hard at a top architectural firm, Saanvi has it all together on the surface. But everyone does bad things when they think no one is watching and Ava only wants what’s fair—to destroy Saanvi’s life the way her own was destroyed.

Next, she watches Cass. She’s there as Cass tries on wedding dresses, she’s there when Cass picks out a cake, she’s there when Cass betrays her fiancé. She’s the reason Cass’s entire future comes crashing down.

Finally, Ava watches Mel. Mel was always the ringleader and if anyone has to pay, it’s her. But one tiny slipup and Ava realizes the truth: Mel knows she’s being watched, and she’s ready to play Ava’s games to the bitter end.

Audience: Fans of very dark suspense, books like The Chalk Man and I Know You Know

Purchase Links: Barnes & Noble * IndieBound * Amazon

My Impressions: Anyone who has ever been bullied or offended has contemplated revenge. Usually, the bright light of day sends such thoughts back to one’s most ignominious depths. Ava, however, is obsessed and can’t move on with her life until she has punished all of those who made her last year of high school so miserable. This poses a problem for the reader: while she was indeed unfairly tormented, her revenge plots are excessive and are hurting her more or as much as her victims, which makes it very hard to root for Ava. Why can’t Ava recognize her machinations are ruining her life? Will she survive her own plots?

Two well known revenge books are The Count of Monte Cristo and Mockingjay, third in the Hunger Games series. I was trying to think of revenge stories I enjoy and wondering if all of them threaten to destroy the life of the revenge-seeker. One frequent theme is heroine seeking to punish a man by making him fall in love with her, whereupon she will dump him. Invariably, she falls in love with him and he can’t forgive her – or at least not right away. There are also books where the hero is trying to make the heroine fall in love with him for revenge. My favorite revenge story doesn't fall into either category: The Dinosaur Club by William Heffernan, in which a man who has been downsized gathers together his fired ex-colleagues, and calling themselves “The Dinosaur Club” they plot to ruin their former employer. It’s a page-turner I recommend.

Off the Blog: In addition to finishing The Spite Game, I used this day off from work to plant tulips and catch up on The Resident, which features Matt Czuchry from Gilmore Girls.

Source: I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and TLC Book Tours for review purposes. You can visit other stops on the tour and read the reviews by clicking below:

Review Tour:

October 29th: @scaredstraightreads

October 30th: From the TBR Pile

October 31st: Jathan & Heather – excerpt

November 1st: Cheryl’s Book Nook

November 2nd: Wining Wife

November 5th: @wherethereadergrows

November 6th: 100 Pages a Day… Stephanie’s Book Reviews

November 8th: Why Girls Are Weird

November 9th: Books & Bindings

Monday, November 12th: Midwest Ladies Who Lit

November 13th: @thecityofdarkclockwork

November 14th: @mountain_reader and Really Into This

November 15th: Books a la Mode – excerpt

November 16th: @novelgossip

November 19th: Thoughts from a Highly Caffeinated Mind

November 20th: @bibliotrix.lestrange

November 23rd: Kahakai Kitchen

Tasting Italy: A Culinary Journey (Book Review)

Title: Tasting Italy: A Culinary Journey

Author: America’s Test Kitchen

Publication: National Geographic, hardcover, November 2018

Genre: Cookbook/Travel

Description: Explore Italy, region by region, and recipe by recipe with stunning photography and mouth-watering recipes.  The experts at America’s Test Kitchen in Boston and National Geographic bring Italy’s magnificent cuisine, culture, and landscapes–and 100 authentic regional recipes–right to your kitchen – or your armchair.

Massachusetts Election Haiku

Question 1

Better access to
Nurses is preferred until
Fear of high costs equals No


Question 2

Repeal Citizens
United so Koch Brothers
Can’t buy elections


Question 3

Discrimination
Is wrong when based on gender
Or any other time

or

Discrimination
(Gender-based identity)
Must be prevented

(Q3 needs work: the longer words are a challenge)


Early Voting

Early voting’s great
But even Nate Silver lacks
Knowledge who will win


Voting

Why don’t people vote?
When so many fought so hard
For the privilege

On Election Day
The Bay State will lead the way
Repudiating Trump

Will you vote today?
Send a message to DC
That hate won't prevail

Man in the White House
Is more appalling each day
Not my President

Politics is grim
Root root root for the Red Sox
Escape ‘till November


Midterms

If the Midterms fail
To send the needed message
We’ll feel even worse





It's harder than it looks!   Anyone want to join in?

Marilla of Green Gables (Book Review)

Title: Marilla of Green Gables 
Author: Sarah McCoy

Publication: William Morrow hardcover, October 2018

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: This book imagines the life of Marilla Cuthbert before she took in orphaned Anne Shirley, beloved heroine of Anne of Green Gables.  In 19^th century Prince Edward Island, Marilla and her older brother Matthew lived in Avonlea in the newly built homestead known as Green Gables.