JUNE BOOKS

KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED & ANOTHER MAN'S MOCCASINS/Craig Johnson/A-
The 3rd and 4th books in the series following Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire. KINDNESS takes place in Philadelphia where Walt has come to visit his daughter, Cady. But he arrives to find Cady in a coma after a beating and now Walt is after the men who did it. The western tone and atmosphere survives the East coast just fine and ends with a beautiful sequence in a city park. MOCCASINS is set back in Wyoming with large sections flashing back to Walt's first murder investigation 40 years before in Vietnam. When the body of a Vietnamese girl is found alongside a Wyoming highway, Walt has to dig into the past to find the killer of today. Johnson is a wonderful storyteller and if you ever have a chance to hear him speak in person--grab it. He's phenomenal.

THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT/Barbara Vine/B+
The pen name that Ruth Rendell uses for her stand-alone psychological suspense novels. Ivor Tesham becomes a Tory MP at 31 and seems destined for stardom. But his propensity for sexual games proves his downfall. When a birthday gift for his married mistress ends in her death, Ivor spends months trying to pretend it had nothing to do with him. But his mistress had a friend who knows too much, a twisted and difficult woman who may or may not want to blackmail Ivor. Not my favorite of Vine's novels, but she would be hard-pressed to write anything that didn't satsify as a story.

INK EXCHANGE/Melissa Marr/A-
Leslie was once Aislinn's best friend. But since Ash has started hanging out with Keenan (whom Leslie doesn't know is actually a fey and the Summer King), Leslie has kept her distance. She has secrets of her own, painful ones she'd do anything to hide. But Keenan's friend, Niall, is watching and Leslie begins to think he might be her answer. Everything changes when she gets her tattoo--a symbol that links her to Irial and his Dark Court in a terribly personal way. Leslie's choices have been taken away--can Niall help her find her way to independence? This is easily my favorite of Marr's books and I hope she plans to bring Leslie back in future stories.

THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE/Mary Roberts Rinehart/B
Wealthy spinster Rachel Innes is persuaded to take a country house for the summer by her wards, Gertrude and Halsey. Set at the turn of the last century, this story has things that go bump in the night, a dead body, ill-fated love, a bank scandal, and a possible hidden room. What really works in this dated story is the voice--Rachel Innes is marvelously sarcastic and self-aware and refuses to take her own fears seriously. It was a fun read for the beach.

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO/Stieg Larsson/C+
Gotten lots of word of mouth and big promotions, but just not to my taste. Liz is the girl with tattoos (the dragon being just one) who does freelance work investigating security risks. When she's asked to investigate a journalist who has just been convicted of libel, Liz can't get him off her mind. The main story is Mikael's (the journalist) who is asked by a wealthy recluse to help him discover who killed his great-niece 40 years ago and has been taunting him with it ever since. It's a classic closed-circle mystery (in this case, an island in Sweden) and Mikael's work soon stirs up threats against himself. The premise is solid, but the execution didn't work for me. It didn't help that I didn't really like any of the characters.

SONS OF THE PROFITS/William Speidel/B-
A history of the first 50 years of Seattle, starring the profit-minded men in all fields who helped Seattle evolve from a mud-swamped camp to the Northwest's biggest city. The voice is distinct and brash, but mostly worth it for the funny stories layered in. Like the men lynched by a mob--on their death certificates, the coroner listed as Cause of Death "Irate Citizens."

INTO THIN AIR/Jon Krakauer/A
In May 1996, journalist Krakauer reached the summit of Everest just hours before a storm blew in and killed 7 people, 5 of them from his team. This is an amazing adventure book and a meticulous account of a disaster that should never have happened but is in the nature of attempting the world's highest mountain. Krakauer brings to life not just the people, but the conflicts and the mountain itself. Highly recommended.

THE LACE READER/Brunonia Barry/A+
Ah, a book one will either love or hate. Towner Whitney tells the reader in the first paragraph that she lies, setting you up for a fabulous story about the past, memory, and identity. Towner left Salem, Massachusetts 15 years ago after the death of her twin sister, Lyndley and Towner's own stay in a mental hospital. Now, at 32, she comes back home when her aunt vanishes. Coming home means confronting her mother, who takes in abused women on her tiny island, a past lover, and a police chief who suspects a cult leader of more than brainwashing. The title refers to the practice of lace reading, wherein gifted women could look through lace and see a peron's future. Read it! And then let me know if you're in the love it or hate it camp :)

RANDOM JUNE

Is it really almost July? I suppose I should just be thankful that the faster summer goes, the faster school comes.

Here's my month in random:

1. Fish Killer. Just carve it on my tombstone. My daughter caught me at a weak moment last month and begged for permission to bring home a bala shark from her class aquarium. So I bought a tank . . . and gravel . . . and plastic plants . . . and food . . . and water chemicals . . . about which time I wanted to scream, "This is why I don't want a pet!"

But I was trying to be A Good Mom. Poor fish, he didn't know what was coming.

We duly set up everything and got Chester home. He wasn't happy about it. He didn't eat. He darted around a lot--not happy, joyful darting, more like panicked, get-me-out-of here darting. By the second night, I had a dream that Chester finally ate and I was delighted. When I woke up I thought, "Dreaming about a fish? This is why I don't want a pet!"

My husband came home from a trip four days later and said, "I haven't seen the fish. Where is he?" We walked into my daughter's bedroom (she was gone with her grandparents) and I started scanning the tank for Chester. He wasn't darting. He was floating.

"That's a dead fish," my husband said.

And so it was.

When I told my sixteen-year-old, "I killed the fish" he said, "Accidentally?"

And that is why I Don't Want a Pet.

2. Three states and one trip to Mexico. By tomorrow night, I and my two youngest children will be returning from our second visit to Idaho in June. At least this trip doesn't require 12-hours in a car and a long drive through part of Montana. Though I have to admit that Coeur d'Alene was strikingly beautiful and we couldn't beat our lakeside condo. It was a fun week with the little ones, my parents, and my best friend and her two kids. But that 12-hour drive each way . . . there's a reason I like airplanes.

Especially when the airline bumps you to first class. On our flight home from Cabo San Lucas, our entire six-person family got moved into first class (due to my frequent-flying husband). I thought my second son would burst for joy--he's been deadly jealous that his older brother got bumped to first class on a flight last year. My daughter thought it was lovely. The seven-year-old, however, took it in stride. It's the baby you've got to watch for, I'm telling you. They fly first class, they stay in nice hotels . . . they have no memory of the early years of a family when you're just glad there aren't any visible blood stains on your motel carpet.

3. Books. I love summer. I love summer reading. And I love that my revised manuscript is finished, because now I can love my reading with a clear conscience.

4. 40 Days of 40. It's my husband's turn. He's not as excited as I was. He keeps moaning about refusing to turn 40 next month. I remind him that every insult he makes about 40-year-olds lowers the bar for anything he'll get from his already-40-year-old wife.

5. Portland. Next week I'm going to Portland for four days with two fabulous friends. We have our various reasons for going--getting away from the kids, sleeping without interruption, eating out and no dishes to do--but my primary reason is simple.

Powell's.

Simply put, the best bookstore in the world. Five floors of new, used, and rare books. I've been there multiple times during my trips to Portland over the years, but I've never been able to spend more than a couple hours. That is going to change. This trip, I plan to spend an entire day.

The only problem is we're flying, so I'm not sure how I'm going to get all the books home. Note to self: Find the nearest post office to Powell's and plan to ship a box. Or two.

MAY BOOKS

HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION/Thomas Cahill/A+
A relatively short but utterly fascinating account of the coming of Christianity to Ireland and the subsequent spread across Europe of Irish and Irish-educated monks and nuns during the Middle Ages. The title refers to the fact that the fall of the Roman Empire wiped out many libraries and even literacy itself and that, without the Irish monastaries, even more would have been lost forever. I absolutely fell in love with this book and have been talking up the Irish ever since.

WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS/Kate Atkinson/B
This third novel with P.I. Jackson Brodie hinges on a series of odd links. As a child thirty years ago Joanna Mason was the only survivor of a knife attack by Andrew Decker. Now he's been released from prison. Jackson, after boarding the wrong train, winds up in Scotland in a train crash that nearly kills him. He's saved by 16-year-old Regina Chase, who nannies for Joanna Mason's baby son. And in the hospital, Brodie discovers that he has the wallet of paroled killer Andrew Decker in his pocket. Now Joanna and her baby are missing, no one can find Decker, and Detective Louise Munroe is confronted with Brodie at a time when her new marriage is crumbling. I loved the multiple storylines and characters--except for Louise. I just couldn't stand her in this outing. I hope she gets over her fits of self-righteousness before the next book.

BLOODY SUNDAY/James Gleeson/B
There have been several "Bloody Sundays" in Irish history. This book recounts the one in 1920, when Michael Collins' agents simultaneously assassinated 19 British spies in Ireland and broke the back of England's intelligence service. Within a year, Collins had a treaty and the Republic of Ireland was born. This book was a little dry, but gives excellent background on the final push to Irish nationhood, including the Easter Rising of 1916.

SOVEREIGN/C.J. Sansom/A-
The third Matthew Shardlake mystery, set in the reign of Henry VIII. In this outing, Matthew is asked to travel to York where the king is set to visit just five years after a Northern rebellion. His job is to make sure a recently-arrested traitor makes it back to London for questioning. But then a glazier falls to his death and Matthew finds himself in the center of a mystery that stretches back to Richard III and may shake the throne of England. The great strength of this series is its ability to make me feel that I am there, in Tudor England, in all its grandeur and misery.

DUBLINERS/James Joyce/A-
I picked up, fittingly, in Dublin, this collection of short stories by one of Ireland's most famous writers. Joyce is an acquired taste and not entirely mine, but I found these stories compelling in spite of the overall sense of melancholy. Araby is in here, a story that many read in English classes.

THE YEAR OF WONDERS/Geraldine Brooks/B+
Pulitzer Prize winner Brooks (for MARCH) writes about a 17th-century English village and its infection by the plague. They have a choice: run and spread the plague with them, or stay and contain it? Due to the charismatic nature of the village pastor and his beloved wife, the village seals itself off for one years. As people die, brutally and often, relationships change. The story is told by Anna Frith, a young widow who works for the pastor and helps his wife tend to the sick and dying. Nothing is as it seems in this book, especially the people. I did not like the ending, but otherwise it was a remarkably fine story.

MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH/Ariana Franklin/A
In the 12th-century England of Henry II, four Christian children have been mutilated and killed in Cambridge. The Jews of the town stand accused. Enter Adelia, a trained physician and coroner from Salerno who Henry wants to read the secrets of the dead children and clear the Jews of the charges. Adelia hates England--especially having to hide her training from people who would burn her as a witch--but the case takes a personal turn and when royalty is involved, personal choice rarely enters into it. A strong beginning to a new historical mystery series.

FRAGILE ETERNITY/Melissa Marr/B
Follow-up to her first novel, WICKED LOVELY, this urban fantasy returns to Aislinn who has now taken her place as Summer Queen. But she's finding it hard to balance her human boyfriend, Seth, with her duties to Keenan, her Summer King. And the pull isn't all professional--as summer warms, the temptation to be everything Keenan wants grows stronger. And as conflict threatens to become war, even Sorcha, Queen of the High Court, is taking an interest . . . in Seth. Quick read, the story worth overlooking the occasionally labored writing.

THE LANGUAGE OF BEES/Laurie R. King/A+
The return of Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes. Sigh of pleasure. I liked this one better than the previous two, which took place outside England and with long sections from Holmes' point of view. This book sticks almost entirely to Mary and is set firmly in England (except for the end, which takes place on a Scottish island). Holmes is asked by a Bohemian artist to investigate the disappearance of his wife and 3-year-old child. It's a request Holmes, for personal reasons, cannot refuse. But those same reasons make it hard for him to be objective. So Mary has the uncomfortable task of sifting facts her husband won't. A wonderful mix of Bohemians and dangerous cults and early airplane pilots, with the voice that only Mary Russell has. I just hope the next book doesn't take too many years to be written.

News at Jacob's Journey.

DRUM ROLL

(And you know we have actual drums in our basement, so that's not an idle threat.)

What are you doing October 13?

I'll tell you what . . .

Picking up a copy of HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick. Because you know you want to be the first to join the frenzy.

And if you want to know how to identify the book by its cover, then click away. Be sure and click on the cover itself for a larger view.

Now tell me, isn't that the coolest cover for a YA book you've seen in ages?

(Although I have to say my favorite detail is that Becca's name is in red. How awesome is that?)

A MOMENT OF PRIDE

Actually, 36 minutes and 31 seconds worth of pride.

Saturday, I ran my first ever 5K. It was my second son's idea, and who am I to argue with a 13-year-old who, one year ago, was undergoing chemotherapy?

My fear? That I would finish last. And be laughed at. Or possibly flogged.

My goal? To run the 3.2 miles in less than 40 minutes. I know that's not fast. But it isn't quite walking, either.

My finish? 36 minutes and 31 seconds. I didn't finish last--out of the approximately 1000 runners, I finished solidly in the middle, at 562.

But in my age and and gender group (yes, I had to join the 40-44 age group) I finished 26 out of 65.

I may not be a size 6 yet, but I never thought I'd do this. I'll take my satisfaction where I can find it.

WHINING

I just finished my April Book post. And lost it.

I so don't want to re-do it.

I read good books in April. Is that enough?

Sigh. I suppose not. How about I just tell you my two favorites of the month?

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins (YA set in a future American continent where the wealthy Capitol every year chooses two teenagers from each of the twelve outlying districts to compete to the death in the Hunger Games--the winner to receive food and privileges for his or her district. Katniss takes her younger sister's place and has to figure out how to survive without becoming the killer the Capitol wants to see.)

DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY by Erik Larson (history of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, twined with the story of H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer--the book is brilliant.)

I also read CONSOLATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY by Alain de Boton in an attempt to make myself as smart as my oldest son. It didn't work--when I was complaining about the fact that my weight is not changing and/or slightly increasing in spite of my trainer and running and a good diet, my son said, "Did you read that philosophy book?" (Alluding to the consolations that philosophy provides when we think we're not good enough.)

I, however, misheard him. I thought he said, "Did you eat that philosophy book?"

Clearly I have a long ways to go, both physically and mentally.

TOP 10 IRELAND

10. Language: I simply loved seeing every sign in both Irish Gaelic and English. But not as much as I loved listening to the Irish talk. I'm a sucker for certain accents.

9. Gogarty's Pub: I swore I'd eat in a pub, and I did. An old pub, to boot. Temple Bar is a section of Dublin on the south bank of the Liffey river full of tiny cobbled streets, old buildings, lots of music and bookstores and more pubs than any one section of any city should rightfully have. It wasn't easy choosing where to eat, but we finally settled on Gogarty's, a four-story, brightly decorated corner building. The restaurant is on the top floor with low, beamed ceilings and wonderful views of Temple Bar below. And how can you beat a recipe that's more than 200 years old? That's the claim of the Sackville Street Chicken casserole, and my tastebuds agreed with every year of its worth.

8. St. Stephen's Green: Our hotel was kitty-corner from this park in central Dublin and I went through it half a dozen times a day. It's beautifully green (naturally) and spring flowers and fountains and swans on the water added to its charm. And I fulfilled my other promise--I went running in the Green one afternoon while listening to U2. As my husband had said from an earlier experience doing the same: "Listening to U2 in Dublin is practically a religious experience."

7. National Museum: Relatively small, but stuffed with wonderful treasures. I'm not much of a gold person, but that went right out the window when I walked in the ground floor and hit the Bronze Age gold room. Everywhere I looked were wonderful gold pieces from hundreds to thousands of years old. Bracelets and torcs and dress fasteners and cloak fasteners . . . I'm surprised I ever made it out of that exhibit. But I did, onto textiles and religious artifacts and medieval treasures such as reliquaries and altar crosses. They even have one room of Egyptian artifacts (although, for anyone who's read Elizabeth Peters' Peabody/Emerson novels, you can imagine I walk through Egyptian treasures hearing Emerson's voice in my head criticizing the dating and provenance and general fitness of every Egyptologist but him . . . but that just adds to the fun.)

6. Cathedrals: Dublin has two--Christ Church, the oldest cathedral in Ireland, and St. Patrick's. The first building on the Christ Church site was built in the 11th century by the Viking Sitric Silkenbeard. St. Patrick's is next to the well where Patrick himself is said to have baptized the first Christians in Ireland (the cathedral houses an ancient carved stone that is believed to have covered that well). I love old churches and these two had plenty to love: monuments (from 17th-century gaudy to 14th-century simplicity to 20th-century war memorials), medieval side chapels with original tile floors, stained glass, organ lofts with amazing acoustics, and the perfect, soaring grace of Norman architecture. One of my favorites experiences was attending choral evensong at St. Patrick's, sung by members of the choir school.

5. Kilkenny: one of the best-preserved Georgian towns in Ireland. An hour and a half south of Dublin by train, we spent the weekend walking the marvelous streets lined with buildings going back to the Tudors and with portions of the city wall even older. There's a medieval cathedral here, St. Canice's, with a round tower built in the 9th century as a protection against the Viking raiders (we actually climbed that--me in a long skirt--quite an adventure for someone who's afraid of heights) and a genuine medieval castle. Kilkenny Castle was built by the Normans in the 12th century and for 600 years was the home of the Butler family--Earls, Marquesses, and occasional Dukes of Ormonde--until it was sold to the nation in the 1930s. (Trivia: Anne Boleyn's mother was the daughter of an Earl of Ormonde.) 12th-century round tower, 18th-century drawing room, 19th-century long gallery and kitchen . . . it was all food to my historical soul.

4. Butler House: was once the Dower House to Kilkenny Castle (where the mother would move once her husband died and her son gained the title). Just across the road from the castle, it's now a hotel. Our hotel, in fact. In this restored Georgian townhouse, we ended up with the best room(s) in the house--a two-room suite, both bedroom and sitting room being equally large with high ceilings, original fireplaces, elaborate stucco work, and half-circle bay windows with enormous shutters that closed up into the sides of the windows. I loved everything about it--although I was glad to be there in May and not, say, December. People must have spent most of their lives frozen before central heating.

3. Scones: Someone told me they'd heard the food in Ireland was awful. Not so. At least not the food I ate. Lots of fresh fish, bacon with hardly any fat, wonderful yogurt, and breads to die for. Wonderful desserts--I had creme brulee at least three times. Dozens of little cafes with homemade soups and tarts and thick sandwiches. And, of course, scones. Scones for breakfast, scones for tea, scones anytime I felt like popping off the street and buying one . . . I miss scones.

2. Newgrange: or in Irish, Bru na Boinne. Whatever you call it, Newgrange is absolutely remarkable--one of the best examples of a Neolithic passage grave in Western Europle. It's more than 5000 years old, estimated to have been built around 3200 B.C. (that's a thousand years before the Egyptian pyramids). The outside is large hilltop cairn, a grass-covered mound surround by a drystone wall with some slabs still bearing their original decorations. It does have an astronomical significance--on the day of the winter solstice, the sun rises across the Boyne valley and for approximately 15 minutes lights the interior of the tomb. As someone who's much more moved by recent history (meaning within the last 1000 years), I was astonished by how much Newgrange moved me.

1. Inspiration: Pubs, castles, cathedrals, and passage tombs--one trip to Ireland. Literary inspiration--priceless. I'm almost two-thirds of the way through my second draft of my time-travel romance set in 1800. It doesn't take place in Ireland. But for a novel set in northern England, I was struck my moment after moment of dazzling inspiration. I haven't had that experience since I went to London for the second time and had the story for The Boleyn King practically fall into my lap. Some of it was detail--like Newgrange and Butler House. But some of it was sheer, startling, force of lightning that gave me, not only the plot for the next book in this hopeful series, but the motivation for a major character in this book. Who knew? I'm just glad I was there to take advantage.

Thank you, Ireland.

And thank you, Chris. It's totally worth turning 40 for this gift.

Snapfish Slideshow