Goldengrove by Francine Prose

Title: Goldengrove
Author: Francine Prose
Published: 2008 by HarpersCollins Publishers
Number of pages: 275

Sisters Nico and Margaret are sharking a beautiful, sunny day out on the lake.  As they casually row around in the water, they talk of the silly, mundane things all sisters talk of.  Thirteen-year-old Nico idolizes her beautiful, vivacious older sister Margaret.  So when Margaret salutes her and dives into the water, never to be seen alive again, Nico is crushed.  Her world and the worlds of her parents and Aaron, Margaret’s boyfriend fall apart.

As the girls’ parents drift through life, barely hanging on to their own sanity, Nico is left to deal with the death of her sister pretty much on her own.  Her father is wrapped up in writing a book and her mother self-medicates herself into oblivion.  As they fall into blaming each other, Nico withdraws into a seductive, dangerous relationship with her sister’s boyfriend.  Over that one haunted summer, Nico learns how to deal with the loss of her sister, thr mystery of loss, and the discovery of herself.

Goldengrove is beautiful.  It is a beautifully written look at the lives of sisters, of families, or friends and their lives after the death of a loved one. It’s a beautiful look at the healing process of parents, of siblings, of friends.  This book broke my heart and mended it within 275 pages.  The prose is just so gorgeous!

The house was so silent I could hear the ticking of a clock I’d never noticed before, the groans of the refigerator.  I moved swiftly, like a burglar. Then the energy drained out of me, and I longed to go to my room and lie down.  But I couldn’t afford to be suffocated by the thick melancholy seeping from the dusty airless rooms.

and

I left the hammock swing me through the hot, still afternoon.  I concentrated on rocking so as not to think about Aaron.  I tried to empty my mind so completely that when a mosquito landed on my forehead, I didn’t have the instinct to swat it away.  Let it have a big gulp.  I deserved to be bitten.

and lastly

Two Cleopatras in our royal barge, my sister and I reclined and let our little rowboat drift out onto the lake. Margaret arched her shoulders, flung one arm over the side, and trailer her fingertips in the water.  It was one of those actressy gestures she’d copied from the classic black-and-white movies to which she was addicted.  She liked me to watch them with her, and we were allowed to stay up, because our mother said we would learn more from Some Like It Hot than from a year of school.  It was often hard to tell what our mother meant, exactly, except that we learned to flutter our lashes and say “What’s a girl to do ?” in breathy little-girl whispers.

As someone who lost a loved one at a very young age, Goldengrove really spoke true to me.  The emotions of that loss were spot on.  The feelings of guilt, of remorse, of despair, hope and regret all rang true.  Nico’s pain never felt overdone or precocious.  All in all, I highly recommend Goldengrove for the powerful, emotional, and beautiful novel that it is.  This was my first ever read by Francine Prose.  It definitely will not be my last.

You can listen to Francine Prose discuss Goldengrove with Bookgirl on Blog Talk Radio here:

Thank you to TLC tours and the publisher for allowing me to join this tour.

Francine Prose’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Tuesday, September 22nd: Book Magic
Wednesday, September 23rd: Eclectic Book Lover
Thursday, September 24th: The Bluestocking Society
Thursday, October 1st: A Sea of Books
Tuesday, October 6th: Books on the Brain
Wednesday, October 7th: S. Krishna’s Books
Thursday, October 8th : Book Chatter and Other Stuff
Tuesday, October 13th: Caribousmom
Wednesday, October 14th: Literate Housewife
Thursday, October 15th: The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness

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Title: Secrets to Happiness
Author: Sarah Dunn
ISBN: 9780316013581
Pages: 288
Release Date: March 25, 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Chick Lit
Rating: 3 out of 5 (liked it okay)

Isn’t that just THE best cover?  Just looking at the title, Secrets to Happiness, coupled with the ecstatically happy, wriggly, grinning, blissed out happy puppy rolling in the fresh green grass; why, it just oozes happiness!!

Oh, how I wish it had lived up to that promise for me.

Holly Frick has just suffered the worst kind of breakup…she’s still in love with the guy.  And, her best friend just told her she’s thinking of having an affair.  AND another woman has come to her for love advice…the woman who is dating Holly’s ex!  So Holly decides that if everyone can take pleasure where ever the heck they want to, she’ll just go do that too.  So she adopts a puppy and a much younger lover.  And there things get a little crazy…

I don’t know you guys; I think I’ve outgrown chick-lit.  I used to love chick-lit.  Yet, I haven’t actively pursued chick-lit in a few years and then when I did this year, I haven’t enjoyed it nearly as much as I used to.   The characters just seem so shallow, self-absorbed and wrapped up in their own pain to get through to me.  I failed to identify with any of these characters.  And the clichés…nothing seems original to me any more.  Which is just probably me, since I really don’t read a lot of it. 

Despite my problems with it, I can tell that it is well written and would be an engaging read for *gulp* younger, single ladies and/or those that enjoy chick-lit.  It’s a light read that doesn’t get very deep into anything and isn’t bubblegum-popping happy either.  It has a nice balance.  And Dunn is a funny lady.  There were a few parts that had me laughing.  I just couldn’t that all important connection, but it’s ALL ME y’all.

Sarah Dunn has moved from Los Angeles to New York five times, and from New York back to Los Angeles four times, which means, at the moment, she is happily residing in New York.  Her first novel, The Big Love, has been translated into 23 languages.

I have two copies of Secrets to Happiness to give away.  Leave me a comment if you would like to win one and I’ll pick two winners when I return from vacation.  Good luck!

Participating Blogs:
http://nevernotreading.blogspot.com/
http://www.writeforareader.blogspot.com/
http://www.acircleofbooks.blogspot.com/
http://abookishmom.blogspot.com
http://bfishreads.blogspot.com/
http://zensanity.blogspot.com/
http://scribevibe.blogspot.com/
http://thereviewfromhere.wordpress.com/
http://www.iheartmonster.com/
http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/
http://hiddenplace.wordpress.com/

http://books-movies-chinesefood.blogspot.com/

http://thisbookforfree.com/
http://bookopolis.blogspot.com/
http://mindingspot.blogspot.com/
http://www.amberstults.com/
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/
http://confessionsofaromancebookaddict.wordpress.com/
http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com
http://chikune.com/blog
http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/
http://www.foreigncircuslibrary.blogspot.com/
http://cafeofdreams.blogspot.com/
http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/bookcase
http://www.readingwithmonie.com/
http://enroutetolife.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookthoughtsbylisa.blogspot.com/
http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com/

http://danys-san.blogspot.com

http://www.myspace.com/darbyscloset
http://epicrat.blogspot.com/
http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/
http://jennsbookshelf.blogspot.com/
http://www.linussblanket.com
http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/
http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com/
http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/
http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com
http://everydayiwritethebook.typepad.com
http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com

I haven’t mentioned it in a long while, but I do adore books by smaller publishers.  I have a small collection of some lovely Virago Modern Classics, the lovely little lesser-known books with the pleasing green covers – that are becoming increasingly hard to find!  I am also dying to get my hands on a few from Persephone.  They are absolutely gorgeous.  And now, I’m lucky enough to have a lovely little edition of one of my favorite classics ever, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  Alma Books has launched a new series of classics called OneWorld Classics, and they were so gracious as to send me this copy to examine and I want to share my love of it with you.

The edition I received has a gorgeous cover.  And after perusing the website, ALL their covers are gorgeous, and we all know what a cover junkie I am!  The book is very well put together.  The text neither too big nor too small; something I hate about some classics – their miniscule print!  The best part is they are very reasonably priced.  Their catalog is full of beloved classics like some of the popular English-language titles such as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, and also some of the new translations of major international classics such as Decameron, Master and Margarita and Anna Karenina.  Also, in September of 2007, Oneworld Classics acquired the legendary Calder Publications list, which includes works by Pirandello, Duras, Trocchi, Céline, and Robbe-Grillet, among many others.  Do check out their catalog here.

I hope that you will take a look at their glorious catalog and visit their blog The Bloggerel, where their “editors, translators, authors and readers are sharing their views on books and on the publishing world. We love being involved in the literary blogging community and we would like to keep you aware of our latest news”.    I guarantee you’ll find a lot of books you’ll be drooling over. 

Many thanks to Clémence for sending the gorgeous copy of The Scarlet Letter.  I can’t wait to reread it.

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

The Convenient Marriage
By Georgette Heyer
Sourcebooks 2009
318 Pages

I am pretty sure the term “screwball comedy” had not been coined when this book was published, but that is a more than adequate description. I can not remember the last time I laughed out loud at a book. And I don’t mean a lady like chuckle. I mean full-on belly laughs. This book is just SO FUNNY. Like Jane Austen on laughing gas.

Our Heroine is a Miss Horatia Winwood. Miss Winwood is described as a plain girl. A plain girl with what is apparently a rather enchanting stutter. She is the youngest of three girls, all of marriageable age, but Horatia just barely. She is seventeen. When her eldest sister is offered for by the much older Earl of Rule and thoroughly heartbroken because of it (she loves another, lesser man), Horatia proposes to marry the Earl of Rule instead. Finding himself quite taken with her spirit and vivacity, he consents and the two are in due time wed and are pretty happy with their arrangement. All is going well, until the Earl of Rule’s arch enemy Sir Robert decides to woo and scandalized poor Horatia. In true Georgette Heyer fashion, all kinds of mishaps ensue, including holdups, sword fights, and a rather froufrou-ish hat may have been completely destroyed at the hands of, erm, well, a boot.

I’ve only read one other book by Georgette Heyer, Charity Girl, which I also really, really liked. But I just loved this one. It may have been a timing thing, but it was a read I really needed; lighthearted and fun. I don’t think I have ever laughed so much at a period novel. Horatia was wonderful, so lighthearted, but also stubborn, willful and petulant, but not in an overt way; just enough to be charming. Rule was sly and witty and had a great sense of humor. And rather, you know, sexy as well. The character of Crosby Drelincourt, who is the Earl of Rule’s heir, is just fall-down and roll-around-in-the-floor hilarious. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a character quite like him.

All in all this is a fantastic little historical fiction romp through England and I’m glad I got the chance to read another book by Heyer. I plan to read many, many more of her books. This would be a great book to take on vacation.

Hunted A House of Night Novel

Hunted: House of Night, Book 5
P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
St. Martin’s Griffin, March 10, 2009
Dare to enter the House of Night: WWW.HOUSEOFNIGHTSERIES.COM

Book Description

What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil and all he wanted was you?

At the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey’s friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren’t Neferet’s secrets any longer.  But an unexpected danger has emerged. Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses.  Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn’t want to hear and truths she can’t face?

On the run and holed up in Tulsa’s Prohibition-era tunnels, Zoey and her gang must discover a way to deal with something that might bring them all down.  Meanwhile, Zoey has a few other little problems.  The red fledglings have cleaned up well–they’ve even managed to make the dark, creepy tunnels feel more like home–but are they really as friendly as they seem?  On the boyfriend front, Zoey has a chance to make things right with super-hot ex-, Eric, but she can’t stop thinking about Stark, the archer who died in her arms after one unforgettable night, and she is driven to try to save him from Neferet’s sinister influence at all costs.  Will anyone believe the power evil has to hide among us?

I am not going to bother telling you want these books are about, hence the book description is being provided for you.  Either you know or you don’t.  If you don’t, you probably don’t care to know and for that I applaud you.  I can’t begin to say how pathetic this series is.  The writing is horrible.  The premise, while should be exciting, is decidedly not.  The weird romantic…uh…quadrangle (?) is ridiculous.  The totally idiotic use of teenage vernacular almost dates the books before they even come out.

And I can’t stop reading these.

It’s insane.  I hate them.  Absolutely despise them.  But I just have to know WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. 

I’m pathetic.  And I’ll keep torturing myself.  At least for one more book.

And, PS, the full pull-out poster of Zoey is hilarious.  Serious.  Gut-splitting laughter.  Is it for the GUY READERS of the series?  Because seriously?  What girl is going to put that on her wall?

Also reviewed by:

Bookshelves of doom | Darque Reviews | Karin’s Book Nook | Reader Rabbit | The Story Siren |