Off to BEA!

The Girl and I are leaving for NYC tomorrow morning with Serena to do some touristy things and to attend Book Expo America on May 25-27.  We have a good idea of the things we want to see and do, but we're also playing it by ear so we don't get overwhelmed.  The Girl has never been to a big city on vacation before (she's been to D.C. and Baltimore, of course, but she considers those home), so she's been so excited she's had a hard time sleeping these last few nights.  I'm excited, but I'm also sad that Jerry isn't coming with us.  (However, I'm sure he's glad to have the house to himself so that no one complains when he watches ESPN or the same movies over and over again.)

Preparing for an entire week off from my job takes a lot of time and effort, and I've been really exhausted this week.  So I apologize for not stopping by all of your blogs and for failing to pre-schedule some reviews while I'm gone.  I will be completely unplugged until May 31, so I hope you all don't forget about me!

Since this post will be up during my break, I want to thank any new visitors to Diary of an Eccentric for stopping by.  To get an idea of what I like to read, feel free to browse my book reviews, which you can access from the navigation bar at the top of the page.  The Girl also reviews books here, and you'll find links to those on the same page.  Additionally, check out the Authors page for links to interviews and guest posts and the War Through the Generations page for information on the yearly war-related reading challenges I co-host with Serena.

And to those of you attending BEA who would like to trade contact information, feel free to e-mail me at diaryofaneccentric at hotmail dot com.  I'd love to meet you!



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

"...Mark my words, one day all the wicked deeds Violene Hobbs has done will gather together and form a big black boomerang of karma that will spin through the sky and strike her down."  Miz Goodpepper closed her eyes and sighed.  "I only hope I'm around to see it."

I stared at my hands, not knowing how to respond.  I'd never heard of a holy man named after a llama, I'd never heard of a great gaping vagina, and I didn't know a thing about the black boomerang of karma.  All I knew for sure was this:  I had been plunked into a strange, perfumed world that, as far as I could tell, seemed to be run entirely by women.  (from Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, pages 90-91)

After seeing so many rave reviews of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, I was worried my expectations might have been set too high, but I tried to push all that out of my mind when I opened the book and was carried along as 12-year-old Cecelia Rose Honeycutt journeys out of grief into a better life.  Beth Hoffman had me from the first page, and I enjoyed the book so much that I didn't want it to end.

At a young age, CeeCee is forced to care for her mentally ill mother while her father, a traveling salesman, drifts in and out of their lives.  Despite CeeCee's pleas, her father does little to help her mother -- who wears prom dresses and a tiara as she relives her crowning moment as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen.  Stuck in Ohio, her mother longs to move back to her home in Georgia, which is where CeeCee winds up when her mother dies and her father sends her to live with her great-aunt Tootie.

Saddled with guilt and hit hard by grief, CeeCee immediately takes comfort in Tootie's Savannah mansion and becomes fast friends with Oletta, who came to work for Tootie many years ago and is considered family.  CeeCee also meets a cast of eccentric characters, from Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who flings slugs over the hedge into her neighbor's yard and takes baths in the backyard, to Violene Hobbs, whose escapades in a see-through nightgown with feathers are hilarious.  CeeCee learns a lot about life from these women, helping her heal and find the self that had been hidden by hurt for so long.

Hoffman does a wonderful job balancing the heaviness of the family burden CeeCee carried with light moments, all due to the creation of quirky, loveable characters.  I love novels set in the South with strong female leads -- the descriptions of mouth-watering food, the architecture, the hospitality.  The book took me on an emotional roller coaster, from feeling CeeCee's loneliness and pain, understanding her love of books as an escape, and wanting to slap her father silly to laughing out loud at the women's antics and some of the stories they told.

Set in the 1960s, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt touches upon such weighty topics as mental illness, racism, and the definition of family.  Sprinkle in some humor, and you have the perfect recipe for a book that will make you laugh, tear up, and learn something about not letting past hurts stop you from living a full life.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt from Inkwell Management for review purposes.  I am an Amazon affiliate.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Interview: Beth Hoffman, Author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Tomorrow, I will be posting my review of Beth Hoffman's Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, a novel about a young girl from a troubled family whose life is upended when her mentally ill mother dies.  She is forced by her father to leave their home in Ohio and move to Savannah to live with a great-aunt she doesn't remember.  Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is an emotional Southern fiction novel about healing and love, and it's chock-full of eccentric characters (which you all know I love).

Meanwhile, I am thrilled to welcome Beth Hoffman to Diary of an Eccentric today, and I want to thank her for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions.  I just love getting to know the authors behind the books I enjoy.

What's the best thing to have happened to you as a writer, aside from being published?

There have actually been two things. The day my publisher called to inform me that Saving CeeCee Honeycutt hit the New York Times bestseller list is a day I will always remember. And equally wonderful is the feeling I get when people come to my author events. When I stand at the podium and look out at all their faces, I feel enormously grateful; it's such a privilege to be in my position. My book tour has taken me all over the country, from Massachusetts to Florida and from Georgia to California, and everyone has been enormously kind and supportive.

Do you have a writing routine or a particular space devoted to writing?

Yes. I live in a circa 1902 Queen Anne that I fully restored. It's in a quaint historic district that's loaded with old world charm and shrouded by magnificent 100-year-old trees. I have what I call a writing library on the second floor of my home. Though the room isn't very large, it has three soaring windows in an ashlar-cut stone bay that opens to a view of the front gardens. Morning light floods into the room, and it has a large fireplace that I keep burning throughout the winter. My kitties love the room and spend the majority of their time lounging on a windowsill or curled up at my feet.

I'm a very disciplined writer and I usually spend at least six hours a day either writing, researching, or thinking. Sometimes when the muse is with me, I'll write well into the night.

What authors or books have influenced you the most?

Though I can't say that any one author has influenced me per se, I have always loved the writings of Truman Capote, Reynolds Price, Laurie Lee, and Bailey White. The first time I read Capote I was spellbound. His writing encompasses the senses and emotions so fully without falling into sentimentality. Roxanna Slade by Reynolds Price is one of those rare books that I've read twice due to its richly developed characters and remarkable sense of place. In Cider With Rosie, Laurie Lee brilliantly captures a child's view of rural English life during and after WWI. His prose is stunning. Everything Bailey White has written delights me no end. And, I read a collection of short stories by Pamela King Cable called Southern Fried Women that I absolutely adored. She's a wonderful writer.

Are there a few books you've read that you find yourself recommending over and over to other readers?

Yes, the books I've recommended the most are Illusions by Richard Bach, The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, and A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. And when it comes to short stories, I always recommend the writer I mentioned previously—Pamela King Cable.

What do you do when you're not writing?

In the spring and summer months I spend quite a bit of time working in my flower gardens, reading, and browsing through bookstores and antique shops with my best friend. I'm also involved in animal rescue. For all my life I've always been a quiet, introspective person. I call myself a home girl, and I happiest when I'm surrounded by what I love most—my husband, my kitties, books, and gardens.

Are you working on another novel? Any hints?

Oh, how I wish I were working on a novel. I've just completed a major author tour and I don't yet have my energy in alignment with my creativity. During the last several months I've had over a thousand emails, and the majority of the people ask that I write a sequel to CeeCee's story. I really miss writing full time, and though I have a few ideas and several new characters have arrived in my imagination, nothing has quite gelled. So, I'm writing character sketches and small scenes while I wait for the meat of the story to reveal itself. But one thing I know for certain is that I will definitely write another novel.

Thanks, Beth!  I wish you much success and can't wait to read more of your work!

Penguin is offering copies of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt to 3 lucky readers.  Just leave a comment telling me why you want to read the book, along with your e-mail address.

Because the publisher is shipping the books, this giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada only.  The giveaway will close on Sunday, June 6 at 11:59 pm EST.  The winners will be chosen randomly.

Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Review: Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell

She let out a squeak of dismay.  'That was your car?'

'My brand new car,' Jack emphasized.  'Only two days out of the showroom.  You left grease marks all over the window.'

'I said I was sorry.  It was an accident.  Unlike you,' Tilly added pointedly, 'splashing me when you drove through that puddle.  You did that on purpose.'

'Semi on purpose,' Jack conceded.  'It was only meant to be a little splash.  Hey, I'm sorry too.  But look on the bright side, at least now you know I wasn't spinning you a line.'  His eyes glittered good-humoredly.  'I knew I remembered you from somewhere, I just didn't know it was from the night you ended up spread-eagled across my new car.'  (from Rumor Has It, page 45 in the ARC)

I love Jill Mansell's romantic comedies for her easy writing style and their quirky characters, and Rumor Has It didn't disappoint.  Mansell's latest U.S. release focuses on Tilly Cole, who decides to move from London to small town Roxborough after her boyfriend unexpectedly moves out and leaves her with an apartment she can't afford on her own.  Tilly isn't too upset about his leaving; she has commitment issues that prompt her to withdraw or act so horrible she forces her boyfriends to leave her first so she doesn't have to leave them.

She accepts a Girl Friday position for wealthy interior designer Max Dineen, helping him on the job and taking care of his teenage daughter, Lou.  Through Max, Tilly meets the irresistibly gorgeous Jack Lucas, who has a reputation for bedding every woman in town.  Tilly is attracted to him but determined to remain friends, especially with everyone warning her not to fall for Jack's charms.  Like most romances, Rumor Has It is pretty predictable, at least where Tilly's story is concerned, but that never detracts from my enjoyment of her novels.  I couldn't help but fall for Jack myself, and even though I liked Tilly and found her endearing, there were several times that I wanted to reach inside the book and slap her silly.

Mansell is brilliant at creating secondary characters whose stories are so compelling that they just have to share the stage with the main character.  There's a lot of humor in Rumor Has It, and a lot of sadness as well.  Tilly's best friend, Erin, has finally found love, but she must deal with an angry, arrogant, and downright bitchy ex-wife.  Lou is teased by classmates because of her father's sexuality, and her actress mother, Kaye, feels the world come crashing down when she becomes the subject of a scandal played out in the public eye. At first I wondered if there was a tad too much going on in this novel, but I soon became so invested in each of the characters and their stories that it almost felt like I knew them in real life. Mansell perfectly balances the drama and humor to create a fun book that is impossible to put down.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Rumor Has It from Sourcebooks for review purposes.  I am an Amazon affiliate.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Guest Post: Jill Mansell, Author of Rumor Has It

I don't read too many chick lit novels, but you can bet that when I hear about a newly released Jill Mansell novel, I'm all over it.  Mansell's novels are chick lit at its best.  Her books are humorous romances with quirky characters, and Rumor Has It is no exception.  You'll have to wait until tomorrow for my review, but you can read my reviews of An Offer You Can't Refuse, Miranda's Big Mistake, and Millie's Fling.

Today, I'm thrilled that Jill Mansell has stopped by Diary of an Eccentric to talk about her journey toward publication.  Please give a warm welcome to Jill Mansell.

My Road to Writing and What’s Next!

Hi there, and thanks for inviting me back to your lovely blog!  And what a great question too, because I know exactly where my road to writing started. I was in my early twenties, just married and very poor. Working in a hospital meant I was never going to earn a fortune. Then one day I happened to pick up a magazine in our hospital waiting room and inside was an article about women like me who had transformed their lives by becoming best-selling writers. Well, as you can imagine, I was enthralled by this idea. I decided to give it a try and started writing that very same day. OK, I was a bit unfocused for a while, basically not even knowing what I wanted to write, but I joined a local evening class in creative writing and it was a thrill to meet other people with the same goals. I settled on trying to write Harlequin/Mills and Boon books and wrote several. The publishers were lovely and said I could write, but that my style was too jokey, too lacking in emotional depth for them. So I made the decision to write the kind of book I would be interested in reading myself, with drama and quirky likeable characters and plenty of humour too.

I wrote the whole novel and sent it off to an agent, who said it wasn’t publishable because too much happened in it. A second agent then rejected it, saying that not enough happened in it. The price of posting the parcel and enclosing an SAE was a drain on my finances so the third agent was going to be my last. Luckily she loved my book and sold it within weeks to a great publisher. It was the most exciting time of my life. I have to say, people talk about the difficulty of writing the second book but I was so thrilled to have been accepted that the second novel flowed out of me in record time. That was the easiest one I’d ever written.

So that’s how it all started. I found my style, my writing niche, and twenty years later I’m still going strong. I don’t have ambitions to write a great literary novel – I’d far rather entertain people, make them laugh and cry and cheer them up. I have lovely readers and just hope I’ll never run out of ideas. My other hope is that I don’t die in the middle of a book. If I could just quietly keel over and pass away moments after writing those magic words The End, that would be perfect!

Thanks, Jill.  I wish you much success and look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

******

About the Jill Mansell

UK bestselling author Jill Mansell has written nearly twenty romances and women’s fiction novels and sold over 4 million books.  A master of romantic comedy, her smart, sassy style has an irresistible appeal for women of all ages.  A full-time writer, Ms. Mansell worked for many years at the Burden Neurological Hospital, Bristol. She lives with her partner and their children in Bristol, England. For more information, please visit http://www.jillmansell.co.uk/ or follow Jill on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JillMansell. 

******

Rumor Has It -- In Stores May 2010

Would you be tempted?

Newly single, Tilly Cole impulsively accepts a job offer in a small town as a “Girl Friday.” Fun job, country house, fresh start, why not? But soon she finds herself in a hotbed of gossip, intrigue, and rampant rivalry for the town’s most desirable bachelor—Jack Lucas.

Rumors of Jack’s “love ’em and leave ’em” escapes abound, and Tilly decides to do the mature, sensible thing...avoid Jack at all cost. But the more time Tilly spends with Jack, the more the rumors just don’t make sense. Tilly doesn’t know what to believe...and Jack’s not telling.

******

If you're interested in reading Rumor Has It, you're in luck.  Sourcebooks is offering copies to 2 lucky winners!  Just leave a comment with your e-mail address.  Because the publisher is shipping the books, this giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada addresses only.  This giveaway will end Sunday, June 6 at 11:59 pm EST.  The winners will be chosen randomly.

Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate.


© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Giveaway: On Folly Beach by Karen White

You'll have to excuse my absentmindedness. I'm still playing catch-up with everything (sleep, reviewing books, visiting blogs) since the short hiatus after my sister-in-law's passing.

Some of you may have seen my review earlier this week of On Folly Beach by Karen White.  Well, I have some good news that I forgot to include in my review post.

Penguin is offering copies of the book to 2 lucky winners!  All you need to do is leave a comment with your e-mail address, though I do hope you'll take the time to read my review if you haven't already.

Because the publisher is shipping the books, this giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada addresses only.  The giveaway ends Thursday, May 20, at 11:59 pm EST.  Winners will be chosen randomly.

Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Review: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

What he liked about his brother, he said, is that he made people become what they didn't think they could become.  He twisted something in their hearts.  Gave them new places to go.  Even dead, he'd still do that.  His brother believed that the space for God was one of the last great frontiers:  men and women could do all sorts of things but the real mystery would always lie in a different beyond.  He would just fling the ashes and let them settle where they wanted.  (from Let the Great World Spin, page 154)

The 2009 National Book Award winner, Let the Great World Spin, is set in New York City in 1974, when the Vietnam War had everyone on edge.  Colum McCann's novel focuses on numerous characters in chapters that read almost like short stories and are tied together by a real-life event:  Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974.

The novel opens on the morning of the tightrope walk, when hundreds of men and women of all races and social classes join together on the city streets and look up at a tiny speck in the sky.  The tightrope walker, never mentioned by name, is causing a buzz, with people taking sides as to whether he will make it across or fall to his death.  From there, McCann introduces a set of diverse and oftentimes eccentric characters:  an Irish monk torn between his radical religious beliefs and romantic love; a grief-stricken prostitute who worked the streets with her daughter; a troubled young boy obsessed with graffiti in the subway tunnels; a woman hit hard by the loss of her son in Vietnam; and a drug-addicted artist, among others.

Right away I was drawn into the stories of these people, characterized by intense pain and a need for love.  Considering the rough lifestyles of several of the characters, one could argue that they were lost causes, but the more I thought about it, the more I saw a bit of hope in each of their stories, even if things didn't end well.  Although I found their stories extremely interesting, it felt like I was far removed from them, and I couldn't really connect with them emotionally.  The story of the Irish monk, Corrigan, for instance, was told from the point of view of his brother, but he was such a unique character -- more so than the brother, in my opinion -- that it would have been interesting for the story to have come out of his own mouth.  Yet I think I understand McCann's choice in narrator, so it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.

McCann connects the characters in ways that I didn't necessarily expect, but they were believable connections.  However, it took awhile for some of these connections to be made, and I spent much of the book wondering what these people had to do with the tightrope walker.  I think connecting the chapters with the tightrope was a neat idea; and while I understand that the use of this real-life event helps to set the scene and I see the connection between the tightrope walker perched precariously above the city and each of the characters on the brink of something, I don't believe it was necessary and often felt like a digression.

Let the Great World Spin brings New York City to life, underscoring the diversity of its boroughs and its residents and how even people in a big city can be linked to one another in interesting ways.  McCann tackles some heavy topics, like the Vietnam War, addiction, and faith, through the eyes of people who are anything but ordinary.  It was like a disaster, with part of me wanting to shield my eyes from all the tragedy and part of me unwilling to stop staring.  There's so much more that could be said about the characters, but I really think it's best to start reading without knowing too much about them so as not to spoil the moments when they come together.  McCann is a very talented storyteller, and I can see why Let the Great World Spin is an award-winner.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to participate in the Let the Great World Spin tour.  To check out the rest of the tour dates, click here.

Let the Great World Spin is the 6th book I've read for the Vietnam War Reading Challenge at War Through the Generations.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Let the Great World Spin from Random House for review purposes.  I am an Amazon affiliate.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Review: Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop

If I could speak now to my fifteen-year-old self, I might tell her to be more forgiving of her parents.  Maybe they were doing the best they could.  It's possible.  If adulthood has taught me anything, it's that even grown-ups are fallible.  We're not a whole lot smarter than we were when we were fifteen.  We still feel the same stir of emotions, the same awkward human needs and doubts we felt when we were teenagers.  Only the shell grows thicker; the inside, the more tender parts, remains surprisingly unchanged.  Often -- and this is a secret that not many parents will tell their children -- often, we don't know what the hell we're doing.  And so we yell, we shout, we slap our children.

We still make mistakes, daughter.  Oh yes, all the time.  (from Letter to My Daughter, page 71 in the ARC)

Letter to My Daughter is George Bishop's debut novel, told in the form of a letter written by the worried mother of a 15-year-old girl who took off in her parents' car after an argument.  Laura regrets the fight that led to her slapping Liz, and while she stands by her decision not to allow her daughter to celebrate spring break in Florida, she also remembers what it's like to be a teenager.

Laura spends the time during Liz's absence writing her a long letter, telling the story of her youth in the hopes of showing Liz that she understands and is sorry for the mistakes she's made as a parent.  Laura's story opens in 1969 in farm country in Zachary, La., where she suffers under the rule of self-righteous parents.  They don't approve of her relationship with Tim, whose family is Cajun and of low social status, and they ultimately try to keep them apart by sending Laura to a Catholic boarding school in Baton Rouge.  The two eventually are separated when Tim enlists in the Army and is shipped off to Vietnam, but their relationship continues through letters.  While their relationship blossoms, then stagnates as Tim's letters become more grim and filled with horrible images of war, Laura is alone in a school where she feels like an outcast and struggles to find herself.

One might think that a book written in the form of a single letter might ramble or eventually lose steam, but it doesn't.  Laura is very eloquent and calm, despite the fact that she is worried about Liz and dredging up the hurts of the past at the same time.  The epistolary format means readers don't get to hear Liz's side of the story or get to know her outside of the few tidbits revealed by Laura in the letter, but the story really is about Laura using the lessons of her past to put the present into perspective and take steps to build a stronger relationship with her daughter down the road.

Letter to My Daughter is a slim novel that easily could be read in one sitting.  I fell in love with the book right away, and it was hard to pull myself away from it to go to work or do the nightly household chores.  It's hard to believe that it's Bishop's first novel; beautifully written, it perfectly captures the ups and downs of the mother-daughter relationship.  While my daughter is much younger than Liz, I could relate to Laura's desire to not make the mistakes her parents made, then realizing that it's impossible to be a perfect parent.  Bishop writes about first love with tenderness, and he does a good job showing how difficult war can be both for soldiers and the ones they leave behind.  It's one of those books that ends right where it should, but because I was enjoying it so much, I didn't want it to end.

Random House is offering a copy of Letter to My Daughter to one lucky reader.  Simply leave a comment with your e-mail address.  Because the publisher is handling the shipping, the giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada only and will end Wednesday, May 19, at 11:59 pm EST.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be part of the Letter to My Daughter tour.  To check out the rest of the tour dates, click here.

Letter to My Daughter is the 5th book I've read for the Vietnam War Reading Challenge at War Through the Generations.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Letter to My Daughter from Random House for review purposes.  I am an Amazon affiliate.





© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Review: Bundle of Trouble by Diana Orgain

"Are you feeling overwhelmed?"

What an understatement.  One infant, three murders, a jailed husband, and a new career.  No.  I wasn't overwhelmed!  (from Bundle of Trouble, page 184)

Bundle of Trouble is the first book in Diana Orgain's Maternal Instincts Mystery series, which centers on amateur sleuth and young mother Kate Connolly.  In this first installment, Kate learns that her brother-in-law's belongings were found on a pier on the San Francisco Bay in the general vicinity where a body was recovered, then immediately goes into labor and delivers a baby girl, Laurie.  Soon after the birth, Kate and her husband, Jim, learn that the murder victim isn't George, but George may somehow be involved in the crime.

George is the black sheep of the family; he can't hold a job, might be homeless, and is virtually impossible to reach.  After Kate re-connects with an old high school friend who happens to be the wife of the man whose body was found in the bay, someone breaks into Kate's car, she finds her friend dead, and is questioned by both the police and a private investigator hired by her friend's mother-in-law.  Meanwhile, Kate is learning the ropes of parenthood, enjoying all the one-on-one time with her daughter, and trying not to think about the fact that she will have to return to work in a few weeks.  When she realizes that the private investigator makes $200 per hour to drive around and ask people questions, Kate embarks on a journey to find the murderer, find George, and start her own investigation business -- all while toting around an infant.

Orgain does a good job balancing the motherhood aspect of the story with the murder mystery, and her writing style pulled me in from the first page.  Although my daughter is long past the infant stage, I remember what it was like to be a new mother working on zero sleep and wondering why there weren't enough hours in the day to take care of the baby AND take a shower and do the dishes.  I liked Kate and thought her initial worries, perceived failures, and fumblings were very realistic, though how she found time during the first six weeks of her daughter's life to seek out a killer is beyond me.  I had to admire her ambition and determination.

Bundle of Trouble is a fun book that I liked but didn't love.  I wasn't really pulled in by the murder mystery because I didn't feel like I had a chance to get to know any of the victims and really care about their stories.  As all the various characters and possible suspects are introduced, I didn't really get a good sense that any of them could have been the murderer.  Maybe I just didn't pick up on the clues or maybe there really weren't enough clues for me to guess at the murderer, but either way, I was glad that I didn't have it all figured out five chapters before Kate.  I found Kate entertaining in a bumbling sort of way, and I enjoyed the interactions between her and her husband.  Overall, I wasn't disappointed, given that it was Kate's first "case," and I'm assuming they'll be some growth as the series progresses.  I look forward to reading the second book in the series, Motherhood Is Murder, at some point.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Bundle of Trouble from the author for review purposes.  I am an Amazon affiliate.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Review: On Folly Beach by Karen White

Paige left, leaving Emmy clutching the jar of beach sand from a place she'd never been.  Emmy closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of it again, imagining she smelled salt air and some other nameless thing:  a heavy, pungent odor of sun-warmed earth and stagnant water.  And she imagined something else, too:  a shimmering in the air that hinted of unsaid good-byes and unpaid guilt.  Or maybe it was the scent of new beginnings.  The thought sent a shock of fear and anticipation through her that lifted the skin from her neck.  It reminded her again of the wind in the bottle tree the night she'd become a widow, and as she sat down in front of the box of books, she began to think in possibilities.  (from On Folly Beach, page 30)

On Folly Beach is a beautiful novel by Karen White, with two stories from different eras told side-by-side and connected by the love two women share for the written word.  The book opens in Indiana in 2009, with Emmy Hamilton waking up to the knowledge that she is a widow.  Her husband, Ben, is a soldier serving in Afghanistan, and Emmy has a supernatural gift that means she knows he has been killed before the military delivers the heart-breaking news.  After grieving for several months, Emmy's mother convinces her to move to Folly Beach, S.C., and purchase Folly's Finds, a local bookstore, as a way to start rebuilding her life.  Emmy decides to follow her mother's advice after discovering that several books her mother ordered from the store contain cryptic love letters.  She is consumed by the need to uncover the story behind these notes, but the one person who has the answers is a hard nut to crack.

Between the chapters about Emmy and her struggle to overcome her grief are chapters set in wartime Folly Beach in 1942 and 1943.  Maggie, the original owner of Folly's Finds, is raising her 9-year-old sister, Lulu, who spends much of her time building beautiful bottle trees, reading Nancy Drew mysteries, spying on her family, and pining for Jim, who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Jim's widow, Cat, is Maggie and Lulu's beautiful -- and difficult -- cousin.  Cat's desire for attention from men, her need to feel loved in the absence of her parents, and her jealousy of Maggie's relationship with Peter -- a Polish immigrant who constantly travels to sell products from his father's factory as part of the war effort -- turn all of their lives upside down.

It soon becomes obvious that Emmy's and Maggie's stories will intersect, and alternating between the stories makes it easy to keep track of all the characters.  However, given that the most of the details of Maggie's story are presented to readers long before Emmy figures them out, I kept hoping that the pace would pick up.  It started to drag a bit toward the middle, but I think I felt that way because Emmy's story didn't grab me as much as Maggie's.  That's not to say that Emmy isn't an interesting character or that her story isn't compelling; it's just that White fictionalizes an aspect of World War II of which I was previously unaware:  the presence of German U-boats off the coast of the United States and Nazi spies on U.S. soil.  White also brilliantly sets the scene; you can see the soldiers and the young girls dancing on the pier, the atmosphere charged with both excitement, fear, and sadness as U.S. involvement in the war picks up.

In the present, however, White does a great job with character evolution, particularly with Emmy and Lulu.  The adult Lulu is harsh and comes off as mean, but alternating from the past to the present gives readers a better idea of how she ticks.  (And you can bet I Googled bottle trees to better visualize Lulu's beautiful creations.)  Most of all, I appreciated the ending of Emmy's story because it didn't feel forced or over-the-top for a recently widowed woman.  In short, it just felt right.

On Folly Beach is the fourth book I've enjoyed by White (read my reviews of The House on Tradd Street, The Lost Hours, and The Girl on Legare Street).  Her writing is beautiful, her characters are authentic, she really knows how to set the scene, and there's always an eccentric character to add some entertainment.  You can be sure that I'll read more of her work in the future.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to take part in the On Folly Beach tour.  To visit the other tour stops, click here.

Disclosure: I received a copy of On Folly Beach from Penguin for review purposes.  I am an Amazon affiliate.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Finally, I Can Stop Piling Books on the Floor!

When Jason from CSN Stores contacted me about reviewing one of their products, I was ecstatic.  Some of you might remember the story I told ages ago about how I came home from work one day to find books all over my bedroom floor.  The bookcase I'd owned for almost a decade already was fed up with each of its four shelves having two rows of books, and when I started stuffing books into any available opening, it just gave up altogether.

Given our plans to replace much of our bedroom furniture and re-do the living room in the coming months, I had not yet selected a replacement bookcase.  But with CSN's help, my husband, The Girl, and I chose this one:  the Wildon Home Westonville Display Cabinet in Cappuccino  -- 911375.  I wanted something elegant and a little different, and I can't wait to see if it's as beautiful in person as it is in the picture.

While you wait for my review of this bookcase, I encourage you to check out CSN Stores.  If I like the bookcase, I plan to order some for The Girl's bedroom.  (She's a book collector, just like her mommy!)  But CSN offers an array of products, from recessed lighting and cookware to toys and shoes, so there's a lot to choose from.

I know many of you received bookcases and other products from CSN in recent months.  Feel free to tell me about your experiences in the comments.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.

Thank You!

I just want to thank you all for your support, prayers, and generosity after the passing of my sister-in-law.  It truly means so much to us to know how much you all care.  When I started blogging almost three years ago, I never expected to make so many friends and that you all would become such an important part of my life.  I truly feel blessed, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate all of you.

We're slowly getting back to our routines.  Jerry and I both are back at work, and The Girl is back to school.  I hadn't done much reading until yesterday, and I was glad to have a book in my hands once again.  I really needed the escape.

I haven't been in the mood to write book reviews, understandably, but I plan to be back and posting reviews next week for sure.  I haven't been blog surfing much either; I admit that the "mark all as read" button in Google Reader has come in handy, but please let me know if I missed any reviews of books that you're sure I'd like.  I miss "visiting" you all, and I'll be back soon.



© 2010, Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or reproduce content without permission.