Big Snow by Jonathan Bean

  Big Snow by Jonathan Bean. Children's Picture Book.
                           Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013.

While the illustrations are just lovely, the story will touch your heart. David, a small boy, waits for snow. Everything he does only makes him want to check the weather. The fine white flour when he helps Mom make cookies, the white fluffy suds when he helps Mom clean the bathrub, the white and cool clean sheets that they put on his bed all drive David to the doors and windows. Each time he checks for snow, there is a little more. When Mom tells him that it might be a big snow, he curls up in the big armchair and drifts off himself to dream of snow outside and inside! Only Dad's stomping arrival home wakes him. The little family put on coats, scarves, hats, and mittens and go out into the BIG snow. The last page has a little added illustration of them back inside with drippy winter clothes, eating those cookies and drinking from mugs of warmth.

Several double-page illustrations portray what's going on outside. The view is not from David's own house, but shows his backyard and neighborhood. The two story houses, water tower, and street could be anywhere USA. The lovely chocolate colored family clean, bake, and are involved lovingly with each other.

What a lovely tribute to families! Big Snow is simple, childlike, realistic, and just plain fun. You'll read this one over and over as you wait for winter at your own house.

Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

    Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen.
                        Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster, 2013.

    Think you know the Edgar Allan Poe story? He married his cousin who was a young teen and they both died impoverished. His poetry is still studied in literature classes. His short stories are often deemed the original detective stories. Right?

     Just read Lynn Cullen's new book, Mrs. Poe, and you will come away with so much more! The narrator, a married writer named Frances Osgood, is changed forever by her encounters with Poe and his family. Cullen provides a fascinating backdrop for Osgood's probable love affair with Edgar.

      The book is dense, but reads easily. It is lush with period details of 1845-1847. I read an advanced copy and have recommended it to friends when it comes available in Fall, 2013. My conclusion is that Mr. Poe was immensely intriguing, brilliant, and could have wooed and won practically any woman he wanted. Just read the book and come to your own conclusions!

Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni

 The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni.
                          Clarion Books, 2013. (Teen and adult historical fiction).

In 1867, seventeen-year-old Verity Boone returns to her birthplace, a farming community in Pennsylvania. In the local cemetery, she discovers two graves that are outside the fenced area and that are enclosed entirely in iron cages. With the early death of her mother and what really happened in her own family about that time uncertain, Verity takes on the role of detective to find out the truth. The plot moves steadily as she explores rumors and tales of witchcraft, poisons, poor midwifery, family betrayals, and community secrets.  Salerni explores possible explanations for her own questions about two real graves and comes up with her own theory. A little bit mystery, a little bit teen romance, this title is full of surprises.

 

A Tudor Summer

 Queen's Gambit: A Novel by Elizabeth Fremantle.
                       Simon and Schuster, 2013. (Historical fiction, Adult)

What can be better during a long, hot summer than secrets whispered in palace corridors? Elizabeth Fremantle puts her own spin on the tale of Katherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII and does it with panache and style. Twice married and in love with someone else, Katherine becomes the sixth wife of the aging king. The book includes her stepdaughter, Meg, and her servant, Dot, who provide other viewpoints of the people and events swirling around the royal household. If you gave up on Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies or even enjoyed them but wanted a female perspective, give this debut novel a try.

 

The Outcasts by Kathleen Kent

  The Outcasts: A Novel
                              by Kathleen Kent. Little, Brown. 10/2013


First, a disclaimer: I am not a Western novel reader. We lived over a dozen years in San Angelo, home of Elmer Kelton, and my two sons were each assigned to read a novel of his. The two we all read would not be on our top ten of anything! But, the man became The King of Westerns so we all know how that story ends! When a respected publisher at ALA in Chicago asked me to read this book and let her know my thoughts, I agreed.

My surprise is that I really liked this book. The characters are fleshed out and readers will want to keep reading to find out what happens to them all. The Dr. Tom and Deerling characters are a little reminiscent of Gus and Call in Lonesome Dove, but don't copy them. Lucinda is definitely not the stereotypical "hooker with a heart of gold" so it's interesting to find out her past and try to predict her future. And, who couldn't root for good ole Nate with those sweet letters back to his wife and daughter??

Living now in Houston, I found the Texas touches and descriptions real. Kent lives in Dallas and has done her research. The mosquitos, the humidity, the Lafitte legends do abound. I loved the localisms like on page 87: "Enough blue to patch a Dutchman's pants," she remembered her father saying, his description of a clearing sky. My favorite Western judgment is on page 45: "Constancy in men is like fidelity in women. Much to be desired, but seldom found."  I would have loved a map (maybe on the end papers of the real book?) to show West Texas, Austin, San Antonio, Harrisburg, Galveston, and New Orleans though. That's a LONG way to travel and many people can't fathom the distances across Texas.

What I liked best was that Kent tied up all the ends. We know what happens to everyone. While some meet violent ends that we wouldn't wish on anyone, others seem to deserve their fates. The ending is not cloying, but sweet in its own way. Overall, a fun and very different read!

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

Flora and Ulysses:The Illustrated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo. Candlewick, 2013. (Children's fiction)  (Advanced Readers' Copy)

Holy baguma! What a tale! When Mrs. Tickham vacuums up a squirrel, it leads to chaos, friendship, and new adventures. Flora Belle Buckham is a self described "cynic", a reader and an animal lover who is quite familiar with Terrible Things Can Happen to You! and a superhero called Incandesto. Ulysses, the squirrel, is certainly the opposite of the first and definitely a hero in his own right. He can type, write poetry, and loves to eat.  Flora and Ulysses are just made to become loyal friends. Other characters like the temporarily blind William Spiver, the jelly sandwich making Dr. Meescham, Maryann the Sheperdess lamp, neighbor Tootie Tickham, and Flora's own "unique" parents provide laughs and mayhem. The morale? Life is good. Life is funny. Choose joy in your own life.

Master of the children's novel, Kate DiCamillo always features quirky characters, strange and funny action, and diverse story threads that she manages to wind together by the end of her tales. Although Candlewick is touting this new novel as "an exciting new format--a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences as well as full-page illustrations", young readers will have no trouble recognizing favorite elements of other favorite books. When an adult friend asked about this book, I described it to her as "a little squirrely" and I think the author would laugh and agree!

The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

  The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig.
                         St. Martin's Press, 2013. (Adult fiction)

A total change from her Pink Carnation historical spy series, this novel by Lauren Willig is a winner! Young lawyer Clementine Evans works hard and has little time for family or a love life. When she attends her grandmother Addie's 99th birthday, she finds an intriguing family mystery. Alternating between 1999-2000 New York for Clemmie's life and 1920's - present  in London, Kenya, and NYC for Addie's life, the combination is like Downton Abbey meets Out of Africa. Who really is the beautiful cousin Bea whose pictures are a dead ringer for Clemmie herself? How will Clemmie ever learn to combine work and play? Willig weaves the stories into a lovely fictional ribbon that is a satisfying read.

Strange and Ghostly: The Drowning House: A Novel and Her Fearful Symmetry: A Novel

Strange and Ghostly...                                      

     The Drowning House: A Novel by Elizabeth Black.
                           Nan Talese, Doubleday, Random House, 2013. 

Elizabeth Black, a Houston resident, has penned her first novel, The Drowning House: A Novel. With her child dead and her marriage coming apart, photographer Clare Porterfield returns,after a ten year absence, to the home of her childhood in Galveston, Texas. Clare's family history is closely tied to that of the wealthy Carradys. Local legends say that Stella Carraday died in the 1900 flood by getting her hair caught up in the chandelier. (Hence the book's cover photo of a gray ceiling and an elaborate light fixture.) When Clare studies a local photo archive in preparation for a project, she learns more about Galveston, her family, and her neighbors. Black well evokes the weather and setting's lure of the past happenings affecting the future. Suspenseful and begging to be taken for a little reading in a beach house this summer, this one is a fast read. Follow the clues carefully and you may not be surprised what happens though.

 Her Fearful Symmetry: A Novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
                         Scribner, 2009.

With her second novel, Audrey Niffenegger opens a Pandora's Box of mystery and ghosts. Twin sisters, Valentina and Julia, inherit a flat next to Highgate Cemetery in London. The terms of the inheritance from their aunt (and their mother's twin) require that they live there a year and that their parents do not enter the apartment. With their aunt's lover as a neighbor, and another neighbor suffering from OCD, the scene is ripe for strange doings. Add a ghostly spirit who may have ulterior motives, girls who are more than a little different to start with, and an old city to  explore, and readers may be a little spooked by the possibilities described!

Graduations and More                                          


 The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan.
                                Voice (Hyperion), 2012

Billed as Mary McCarthy's The Group meets The Big Chill, this novel about Harvard's class of 1989 is full of both humor and drama. Every five years after graduation, the students are asked to submit an essay about themselves and their current lives. This "Red Book" is then sent to everyone. As the 20th reunion approaches, a small group of women prepare to meet those friends that they think they know...and find a tremendous amount they do not know! 

Debt Novels: Cascade, The Last Telegram

Debut Novels                                     


 Cascade by Maryanne O'Hara. Viking, 2012. (Adult fiction)

In this debut novel, O'Hara tells of a young woman, Dez, who searches for love and a fulfilled life in the 1930's. Vital to the story is the little town of Cascade, Massachusetts which may soon be flooded in the interest of "progress". Shakespeare, a theater, death and betrayal all play into the happenings. As Dez examines prejudice, feelings, and love, what will her future hold? Will she choose the wrong man, but for all the right reasons?  O'Hara creates compelling characters that readers will want to know about, but few will predict the plot twists or the final events. Watch for more from this talented new novelist!


The Last Telegram by Liz Trenow. Sourcebooks, 2013. (Adult fiction)

Lily Verner's family has run a silk mill in England for generations. WWII brings new opportunities and challenges when they begin to make silk parachutes. The war changes the lives of all the characters. As an older woman, Lily looks back on past mistakes and she believes no one gets second chances. A striking debut, the novel is multilayered and rich with details as well as strong women who take on new responsibilities during wartime.