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California Bookwatch
Table of Contents
Reviewer's Choice
Around the Table
Diana Henry
Mitchell Beazley
c/o Octopus Publishing Group
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781846016004, $26.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Around-Table-Essays-Food-Life/dp/1846016002
Around the Table: 52 Essays on Food & Life cements the notion that Diana Henry produces more than just foolproof cookbooks. Here she enters into literary food writing, gathering some of her best essays from some two decades of cookbook writing and exploring wide-ranging food topics through discussions of ingredients, recipes, and worldwide culinary explorations. From an investigation of salt which began with a salt craving to how chicken has always been part of her culinary life, these vivid stories are passionate explorations of the food world and ingredients that introduce culinary excitement to cooks and literary audiences who appreciate delicious food writing.
The Environmental Studies Shelf
NetZero City
Bill Bivins
By the People Press
9798998632136, $12.95 pbk / $24.95 hc / $6.99 ebook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJXVC7VF
What happens if we do nothing? Say nothing? Those are the questions that keep Bill Bivins up at night and which prompted the Navy veteran to write NetZero City, examining a future that is closer than we think. Those who expect the usual depressing assessment of failures and the results of ennui will be happy to learn that Bivins offers positive perspectives about possible futures that can evolve right here and now, from available tools. His opening introduction reinforces the solutions to major problems facing cities are not dictated by technological prowess or a lack thereof, offering a thought-provoking roundup assessment from the start:
"I didn't write this book because I needed to say something. I wrote it because I've seen too much of what happens when people don't. I've stood in landfills that were once green fields. I've watched local governments struggle with budgets that can't stretch far enough to cover clean water, safe energy, and basic services. I've seen frontline communities poisoned, ignored, and pushed aside while corporations promised "recycling" would save us - then kept profiting from pollution. But I've also seen what's possible when a city says "enough."
Bivins charts a course to the evolution and realization of NetZero emissions with a practical eye as to what it will take to not just revise, but revitalize agriculture, energy, and human habits. He tackles issues that range from mobility and traditional American dependencies to local civic actions that can encourage upward-bound political and social change. His marriage of these subjects focuses on how achievement, prosperity, and new possibilities can arise with a NetZero perspective foremost in the decision-making process.
Bivins loads his examples with reinforcing, practical applications to make them not just pipe-dreams of idealism, but perfect possibilities for an immediate (not the far) future. What "sparks ignite a movement"? Those which embrace practical applications, social change which feels easy rather than devastating, and a purposeful drive to modify engrained habits and perceptions:
"...this transformation isn't just about individual choices. It's about shifting cultural mindsets and behavioral norms that have long prioritized convenience over sustainability. The transition to a NetZero and zero-waste society demands that we reframe how we value resources, responsibility, and relationships."
The result is a powerful analysis that should be in any library strong in environmental, social, and political books that embrace change, positivity, and practicality. Filled with specific details on the pathways that can produce real NetZero gains, NetZero City offers an unprecedented blueprint for change. It should reside not just on the reading lists of ecology-minded individuals, but in discussion groups ranging from book clubs to civic leadership meetings in which NetZero goals and ideals are the objective.
The Health/Medicine Shelf
Surprised By Nothing
Kathryn Kyker
GFB
www.girlfridayproductions.com
9781964721606, $17.95
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Nothing-Surviving-Worst-Case-Scenarios/dp/1964721601
Surprised By Nothing: Surviving the ER World of Worst-Case Scenarios teaches readers the ins and outs of the ER medical system using examples gleaned from Kathryn Kyker's own in-system experiences. As such, it's a powerful survey of snafus, survival tactics, and how consumers can better understand ER processes by absorbing the stories of those who have lived through surprising (and seemingly impossible) situations. Readers will quickly discover, however, that these are more than just fantastic or intriguing tales of potential disasters. Kyker has another goal in mind for assembling this collection: ".. though my experience is unique, I believe what I've learned about my personal response to stress and trauma is relevant to most of us, no matter where or if you work."
Her tour of duty as a social worker in the ER exposed her to many teams that work there, the patients who wind up there, and the fine lines between intention and outcome that can be crossed by patient follies and the serendipity of life hazards. Kyker's self-assessment is as candid as are her revelations about the environment in the ER she worked in (which, she admits, may be different from others - each ER has its own culture): "I worked in an ER from age twenty-eight to fifty-seven. I came in as one person and left as another. I like to think that the ER changed too, that my time there made it better in some small way, but the ER sheds without sentiment anything that no longer works or has become too much trouble in the eyes of whoever calls the shots."
Especially unexpected and pointed are social insights that accompany and often preface these stories: "Most elder reports made are for "self-neglect." They may have been brought to the ER due to the worsening of these conditions, an injury from a fall, or reports that they've been wandering, lost in their own neighborhood. Usually, these patients arrive by ambulance, and medics paint a dire picture of the home... The medic tells me emphatically that we can't let them return home. I nod my head. I don't have the heart to tell them that the patient will almost certainly go back home, and I don't have the time to explain why. Soon enough the medic will discover that conditions they find deplorable, that they believe are inconsistent with the most minimal quality of life, are considered "good enough" by our culture. They saw the patient living in a way they didn't think existed in this country. They wouldn't tolerate any of their relatives living like that, and they can't imagine anyone else tolerating it. But people live in conditions that defy imagination, sometimes because they cannot stomach the alternatives."
Through these accounts and this social worker's eye for identifying bigger-picture thinking, readers may come to the collection expecting the usual plethora of tales of physical horror, but will leave with a greater knowledge of social and psychological decision-making processes which underlie not just ER protocols, but life choices. The blend of first-person experiences, patient encounters, and passages of deeper reflection offers medical students, general-interest readers, and sociologists a better inspection of not only what goes on in an ER, but why and how conundrums emerge.
Libraries will find Surprised By Nothing simply outstanding in its ability to take what would seem like a medical review and turn it into a broader social inquiry and revelation that's highly recommendable to a wide audience. Readers who partake of Surprised By Nothing will find its astute examination of the intersection of the medical ER with the needs and problems of the community surrounding it to be especially engrossing. It will raise all kinds of questions and answers suitable for book club debate and medical student assessment as well as general-interest readers.
The Gardening Shelf
Water Harvesting 101
Martha Retallick
Western Sky Communications
https://westernskycommunications.com
9798986857718, $17.95
Western Sky Communications
https://westernskycommunications.com/water-harvesting-101-book
Water Harvesting 101 surveys various methods of collecting, preserving, and using water, and should be on the reading lists of any gardener or water conserver interested in the applied theory and mechanics of water harvesting techniques. Martha Retallick does the legwork in compiling all kinds of water management systems, contrasting passive and active systems with related issues of flood control. She inspects the process of managing not just water, but an entire planting system, covering graywater, cisterns, and low-tech harvesting methods. These topics, accompanied by a wealth of close-up color photos, capture exactly what is involved in building water systems. Water Harvesting 101 illustrates what they look like, taking all the guesswork out of a gardener's efforts to build sustainable and effective, interlinked systems. These include such water sources as dishwater, laundry, and earthworks construction, demonstrating how they may be utilized and managed in the best possible ways.
Many books promote water conservation. Few contain the nuts, bolts, and piping to actually build, maintain, or contrast the options involved in creating systems that are life-sustaining for seeds and bulbs. Creation tips, plumbing specs and photos supporting them, and a wry sense of humor about the user's (Martha, in this case) employment of these systems makes for an enlightening book that is simple to understand and perfect for practical application.
Libraries may see plenty of books advocating water conservation in the garden, but few hold the visual emphasis and specifics of Water Harvesting 101. It's a standout and a "must have" for any gardener interested in building, maintaining, and using a water harvesting system. Quite simply: there's nothing quite like Water Harvesting 101 on the market. It's time to grow the garden not from the roots up, but from the water system downward.
The Biography/Memoir Shelf
Fourteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival
Leslie Johansen Nack
She Writes Press
https://shewritespress.com
9781631529412, $16.95 Paperback/$12.99 eBook/$21.99 Audiobook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Fourteen-Daughters-Adventure-Sailing-Survival/dp/1631529412
Simon & Schuster
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fourteen/Leslie-Johansen-Nack/9781631529412
Fourteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival will appeal to a wide audience, from aspiring teens who love boats and the water to sailors looking for inspirational memoirs about youth achieving their goals. It's more than a book about sailing, however. Fourteen is about resilience, abuse, survival, and coming of age. Daughter Leslie Johansen Nack becomes immersed in her father's round-the-world travel dream even as she emerges from his repression to find her own strength to resist his pull on the family.
Of special note is the contrast between her developing love of sailing and her growing resistance to the forces that hold her in thrall. Thankfully for her readers, this resistance isn't against what she loves, but from what holds her back. As Nack navigates her dreams, her father's personality and impact, and builds a growing love for nature and the ocean, she brings readers into her family's struggles with a keen eye to distinction, observing the landscapes influencing all their choices: "Mom cemented us to Dad in a way nothing else in the world could. Her behavior, instead of bringing the family together, often resulted in aligning us with Dad."
From navigating the doldrums and developing her sea legs to equating ocean experience with family angst, Nack creates a powerful series of connections to capture the sailboat experience and the ebb and flow of her family's emotional compass: "The sails hung motionless from their halyards like emptied balloons, shriveled and lifeless. There was no place to hide when the boat stood like a picture on painted water. The stillness served to magnify Dad's impatience with the current, and his navigation." Her growth into acknowledging and noticing males and honing her own skills and expectations for a different future contrasts nicely with boating experiences.
Librarians seeking a nautical coming-of-age story that is immersive, compelling, and as insightful about the sea as it is about the tides buffeting family life will find Fourteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival a powerful memoir that deserves to be highly recommended to teens and adults alike. Replete with life encounters, family struggles, and personal growth, Fourteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival is a vivid story as notable for its development of connections to nature as for its foray into new opportunities and realizations.
Getting My Hands Dirty: A Memoir of Resilience and Transformation from the Gridiron to the Garden
Chuck Hutchison
GFB
www.girlfridayproductions.com
9781967510047, $9.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Hands-Dirty-Resilience-Transformation/dp/1967510040
Getting My Hands Dirty: A Memoir of Resilience and Transformation from the Gridiron to the Garden weds two seemingly disparate topics - gardening and pro football - and comes from an Ohio football player who made it to the NFL. He grew not only sports skills, but life values in the process of becoming a champion player. Against many odds, he struggled with physical and mental challenges, retired early from football, and undertook a venture that, on the surface, seemed entirely different from his training - becoming a professional gardener. These endeavors lend to a powerful memoir that will appeal to more than just football fans.
Getting My Hands Dirty surveys the process of growth, developing life values, and honing skills for tackling life issues. It translates all of this into a milieu that built a better world for Chuck Hutchison and those around him. From the start, Hutchison creates a dialogue that pairs his professional growth with the shifting perspectives that led him away from possible mediocrity to becoming a standout:
"When I reported to camp my senior year, it was like an extreme makeover from the player I was the year before. I'd been above average on most skills across the board, but in the league I was playing in, that made me only pretty okay. And pretty okay doesn't make you a starter. I'd taken a gamble, sacrificing size and betting that I could make my strengths - like being quick off the ball - even stronger. That it would make me a standout. I figured I had a better chance at that than trying to focus on improving my weaknesses. Instead, I was going to live or die by what I did best."
Readers who progress through his training receive an insider's view of how sports achievements and experiences intersect with realizations that allow Hutchison and his readers to better understand life, as well. One example comes from one of his (self-professed) favorite moments in life which helps him better understand coaching, his team, and reactions to winning and losing:
"Entering the locker room afterward, I expected to come upon a major celebration. I was surprised, then, at the fairly subdued tone. Typically, when a team wins, especially after a long dry spell, the atmosphere is all high-fives and jubilation. There's a release of pent-up frustration. But I observed none of that. Then it hit me. This season's team had only ever experienced losing. They were conditioned to it, and their reaction was similarly conditioned."
As he makes the difficult transition to an entirely new life which somehow rests on the foundations of what he's built as a football player, Hutchison reveals the ups, downs, despair, and hope of an individual who uncovers new ways to grow under adversity and success alike. This creates moving life examples on and off the football field which will attract and excite an especially wide audience.
These features of Getting My Hands Dirty are why librarians will want to consider highly recommending this memoir beyond the usual sports audience. It reaches well into self-help and life coaching circles, promises to engage book club readers with topics that examine and reinforce resiliency measures and lessons, and contains a spirited, involving set of examples that stem not just from Hutchison's life, but his observations of society as a whole. Steeped in thought-provoking moments of achievement and revelation, Getting My Hands Dirty is an inspirational read that is attractive, enlightening, and a beacon of hope for personal change and envisioning a better future.
The General Fiction Shelf
The Gilded Butterfly Effect
Heather Colley
Three Rooms Press
https://threeroomspress.com
9781953103628, $18.00 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Gilded-Butterfly-Effect-Heather-Colley/dp/1953103626
The Gilded Butterfly Effect, a debut Dark Academia novel from PhD candidate and BookTok influencer Heather Colley, follows introverted loner Penny into the hopes of starting anew at a Midwestern college. Making the plot even more powerful, Heather Colley employs alternating voices that contrast and reinforce Stella and Penny's perspectives, opening with Stella's observation that:
"I don't really get weak at the knees. I'm not much of a romantic. Quite honestly, I haven't got the time. Romantic types make me feel strange, as if I'm playing the part in a movie for which I've been entirely miscast. Romantics are all well and good until they use up my time for fun, and glory. There is only so much weekend, and after I got to Michigan, I stopped wasting it on romantics. I wasted a great deal of time on boys. But there was nothing romantic about it."
As these very different young women assess their pasts, college lives, and future potential, readers are drawn into a dangerous dance of contrasts and challenges. These lead each girl down a raw path of surging hormones, collegiate pressures, and shifting relationships with boys and life. The reflections are nicely detailed and compelling, creating different approaches and experiences in a manner readers will find compellingly realistic:
"If this is the start of my romantic tale, I am disappointed to find that it has the unexpected eeriness of a contorted flirtation. There is an offish feeling that you get every so often, like when you've wind up in the darkened halls of your high school alone at night, or when you dream that you're at the senior prom, and you're watching everybody have their best day ever, and you wonder whether you are, in fact, really there. Whether you can really be there at all, if nobody sees you."
From critical errors to crashes and bad judgment, Colley brings to life relationships which emerge from unexpected influences in college life. Libraries seeking New Adult novels that cover the female college experience, from desire and friendship to impossible beauty standards and experimentation, will find The Gilded Butterfly Effect perfect for fans of Mona Awad's Bunny. It juxtaposes the lives and relationships of two very different college girls who move into their worlds with disparate connections and influences. Filled with enlightening moments of self-discovery and insights into male and female relationship-building, The Gilded Butterfly Effect's powerful study in contrasts is hard to put down.
Last Call at Smoky Row
Pat Camalliere
www.Patcamallierebooks.com
Campat Publications
9798987162439, $17.99 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Call-at-Smokey-Row/dp/B0FD8R79ZS
Last Call at Smoky Row tells of Jane, who finds herself alone and unloved in her early thirties, despite having followed the formula for a good life, getting a solid education and marrying appropriately. At this point, her daily routines embrace living alone, working in a grocery store, hanging out at the local small-town bar, and considering when the formula for a perfect life went wrong. Ironically, the very place she hangs out and the characters she meets there form a foundation for new beginnings that sends Jane into a direction different from either the successful path she thought she was on or the downfall she thinks she's experiencing now.
This peek into her life opens with Jane and her husband of forty years, Rusty, considering the closure of Sami's bar due to Covid. The bar wasn't where everything ended - it was where their lives began, changing their directions by its mere presence and clientele. As Jane reviews the patrons of the bar, how they begin "dropping like flies," and the changing relationships and reputations that bind such disparate personalities together, readers enjoy a story steeped in character decisions and life experiences. It brings these oddballs to life, setting their courses in sync with events that propel them in new directions.
Pat Camalliere's story is as much about growth and adaptation as it is about a woman's ability to reinvent her future from a present which looks decidedly different than any definition of a successful life that she's absorbed in the past. The bar atmosphere and characters offer nice contrasts to her experiences and objectives, and are satisfying offsets to the narrator's fear of failure and new things.
Libraries looking for evocative, atmospheric novels that depict microcosms of experience and life will find Sami's bar and its denizens to be compelling, realistic reading. Last Call at Smoky Row is highly recommendable to those who look for an easy entry into reviewing conundrums and life changes. Readers seeking a story that moves its main characters from a seeming end of life to new beginnings will find Last Call at Smoky Row a thought-provoking tale of how change happens, relationships and connections form, and institutions as venerable and lowly as bars can become incubators for change.
The Life We Have
T.D. Holt
tdholt.com
Independently Published
9798329048063, $16.99 paperback; $7.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Life-We-Have-T-D-Holt/dp/B0FPBC41X3
The Life We Have represents contemporary fiction at its best, synthesizing elements of a philosophical life inspection, a consideration of romance, the application of AI (Artificial Intelligence), and the impact on present-day lives of a journey into the past. It focuses on the life of Bodock (Bo), an "older" Gen Zer, who is at a pivotal point in his relationship with his girlfriend - lovely, intelligent CJ - and at a crossroads regarding his startup company that is developing unheard of sentience detection and guardrails for AI. His trek into the Papua New Guinea rainforest in search of a missing ancestor seems the ticket to gaining perspective, but this venture brings a confrontation with death, revised insights about life thanks to the influences of a native guide, and tools he can bring back home and apply to his thoroughly Western world.
Of special note are the many references T.D. Holt adds about the different perspectives of Gen Z and other generations which brings newfound realizations about values, life approaches, and how different types of relationships mend or fail. The Life We Have is billed as a novel, but at times its first-person reflections feel so intense that they assume the countenance of a memoir of self-inspection. That's another one of the strengths in a story that walks a fine line between philosophical, social, and personal examination.
Libraries seeking adventure stories firmly embedded in the "aha" moments and realizations that promote spiritual and personal growth will welcome The Life We Have as a particularly outstanding example of how the intersections of various values systems can bear fruit to something greater in peoples' lives. The ups and downs of Bo's life and his measurable growth from influences that come at him from different directions makes the story outstanding, thought-provoking, and a standout as Bo reinvents virtually everything he knew about life, his place in it, and his relationships, spirituality, and values:
"Take a risk... that's part of life... you've taken plenty with your company and by searching for Digger. Now you have one more decision: risk losing a relationship with CJ that may bring you more happiness than you can imagine, or risk foraging through more unknowns. Is not CJ worth the risk?"
The Historical Fiction Shelf
Of Saints and Rivers
Jim Logan
Yorkshire Publishing
www.yorkshirepublishing.com
9780988928152, $19.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Saints-Rivers-Jim-Logan/dp/0988928159
Of Saints and Rivers is a historical novel that follows three generations of the McClellan family from the 1800s to the 1950s. The story is told from the perspective of youngest son Jordan, who is forced to assume duties beyond his interests when tragedy buffets his family. From the start, Jim Logan's use of the first person adds an immediacy and interest to the history that bring the narrator's personality to life:
"I never viewed myself as a criminal, but I killed someone. Not a day passes that I don't think about it. In a life strewn with doubt, abandoned gods and regrets, there's much I wish I could undo. I've searched for answers in unlikely places. And I know what it is to love someone deeply."
Jordan captures insights about changing times and influences. The story traverses his roots on a ranch in western Oklahoma as the youngest of a father he both worships and fights with to the family's heritage of frontier living. It details encountering Indians to forge new lives while navigating different cultures, in addition to his reluctant involvement in the family's farming legacy. These lend realistic, absorbing atmosphere to the story of adaptation, change, and, ultimately, a search for meaning and redemption as Jordan journeys far from the family fold into other countries, cultures, and environments. Jordan finds himself navigating literacy in a prison, reconsidering notions of God's influence on his life, and teaching others some thought-provoking realizations:
"I didn't find it especially difficult to believe in the existence of God - it seemed plausible that someone or something created all we see around us. The more relevant question, for me, concerned whether he's a personal, caring God who intercedes in the affairs of humanity - or one who created and then walked away, leaving us to determine our own destinies. I told her I felt the idea of being on our own in a vast universe to be every bit as meaningful and exciting as that of being in the presence of a loving God."
As readers learn about the region's history and this family's struggles in particular, they will appreciate the insights on how relationships come together, break apart, and flex under the weight of shifting social and environmental conditions. Of special note is how political and social changes bring new meaning to not just Jordan, but his entire family. As Jordan struggles to become a free man against all odds, he comes to realize his privilege and God's hand in not only directing his choices and life, but delivering an outcome to his predicaments that revises his life purpose. The spiritual reflections incorporated into Jordan's life are especially thought-provoking:
"...the larger question concerned the nature of God. Did he create - and then stand aside - to let choice and chance and human free will shape all future happening? That would explain, as much as atheism, the unanswered prayers and perceived, meaningless disorder we see around us. Or is he a knowing, caring God who - when he sees fit - intervenes in the affairs of man? There have been times in my life when each has seemed true. It remains for me a defining question that I carry still."
Libraries looking for historical fiction steeped in family, faith, social and political issues, and personal redemption will find Of Saints and Rivers especially well suited for book club recommendation, where its many vivid scenarios and dilemmas will attract a diverse readership. Whether the novel is chosen for leisure read or study, its vivid portrait of families and individuals under psychological and spiritual siege is hard to put down.
Blood Favors
Donna Joppie
DartFrog Books, LLC
www.dartfrogbooks.com
9781965253465, $15.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Favors-Chambers-Donna-Joppie/dp/1965253466
Blood Favors opens in 1967 New Orleans, where a boatload of men are held hostage and commandeered for unknown deadly duty, forced to obey lest their loved ones die. The second chapter moves to Arizona, where Rob Chambers shows the FBI that his training (to confront kidnappers and dangerous men) is moving along nicely. Having survived kidnappers and a dangerous organization in the past, he's going to be prepared, this time, for anything... even though he was in a witness protection program that should have given him a peaceful new life.
Donna Joppie builds her story with fine tension and realization as readers come to know Rob's background, family, involvements with a dangerous drug organization, and determination to thwart the forces that would destroy him and his family. His love for wife Wanda, the forces which follow them and threatens them constantly, and the cat-and-mouse games which emerge between FBI, Rob, and high-level drug gang interests make for an absorbing contrast of perspectives and purposes as New Orleans becomes the focal point for conflicts, revelation, and revised lives. Joppie injects a whirlwind of supporting characters into Rob's life, juxtaposes the interests of hardworking people and contracts with special interests that are dangerous and purposeful, then mixes in drugs and killings for added tension and value.
Libraries seeking stories that juxtapose family interests with bigger-picture confrontations and thinking will relish how Blood Favors toes the line between novel and thriller in an astute examination of partnerships and problems that demand extraordinary actions and reactions. Filled with satisfying tension, well-developed interpersonal relationships and conundrums, and unexpected confrontations, Blood Favors is a story hard to predict or put down.
The Literary Fiction Shelf
The Radical Radiance of the Fishing Fly
Lewis K. Schrager
LFEA Press
9798992719918, $.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Radiance-Fishing-Fly-ebook/dp/B0FL53DV5L
The Radical Radiance of the Fishing Fly is a novel about brothers fly fishing in the Alaskan wilderness, who experience more than good catches. From the start, the protagonist reflects on his uncertain relationship with his brother, which seems to be an unlikely foundation of strength for a successful joint fly fishing expedition:
"On the few occasions where we found ourselves thrown together, like at an occasional high school party, he'd notice my subtle signals of embarrassment at his behavior and would talk more loudly, act more wildly, dance more crazily, until I shrunk away into a kind of nothingness and headed home on my own. I could never even think of taking him on physically when he pushed me past my breaking point as he was taller and far stronger than I, and a champion wrestler as well. I tried to convince myself that this fishing trip would work out fine. So much had changed since our high school days."
Larry's cancer has prompted this trip and the need for revised relationship efforts. Although many changes have occurred since Larry's diagnosis, the one thing that has not shifted is their uncertainty:
"...that's the way it always was, a distance between us reaching back into childhood that I couldn't narrow or even begin to understand."
As the brothers encounter and are changed by others who participate in the fishing expedition, new revelations emerge not only about their relationship, but the lengths they will go to in the quest for survival and connection. Lewis K. Schrager creates an engaging story of adventure, growth, interpersonal relationship shifts, and discovery. The realistic backdrop of Alaska, the fly fisherman's focus and interest, and the wilderness encounters with beasts larger than fish makes for a gripping saga of survival that proves hard to put down - one in which the backdrop of relationship-building is part of a bigger picture.
Libraries looking for a celebration of life will find it in The Radical Radiance of the Fishing Fly, which challenges the classic A River Runs Through It with a wilderness experience that probes heart, mind, and soul as well as relationship dilemmas. Packed with riveting "you are here" atmosphere and unexpected personality intersections from a variety of tertiary characters, The Radical Radiance of the Fishing Fly is an unforgettable read as highly recommended for book clubs as it is for those interested in navigating the currents of sibling and life relationships.
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf
Breath Play
Larry Terhaar
www.larryterhaar.com
Hat City Publishing
9798990036246, $19.99 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FH7MLZGK
When Dan Burnett finds a young woman's body rolling in the surf in Long Island Sound, his proclivity for uncovering trouble is unmistakable. In Breath Play, he becomes involved in a probe throughout Westchester County, NY, for the circumstances that led to the deadly beach find. It seems that retirement isn't leading him to peace, but into more trouble that only his special brand of investigative expertise can address. In short order, Dan faces a stolen sports car that ends up at auction, multiple missing nurses, and working with the 50th precinct in an ever-widening investigation into a possible serial killer; all while addressing his evolving romantic future with Mia.
Larry Terhaar juxtaposes professional and personal lives so seamlessly that readers interested in either facet of Dan's world will be completely satisfied at how intrigue dovetails with new possibilities in a realistic, engaging manner. Also notable is a simmering mystery that builds suspense, motivation possibilities, and intrigue into its plot to temper Dan and Mia's personal explorations. Dialogues between characters develop the full-bodied feel of lives in flux, adding an alluring emotional connection to the mystery along with bigger-picture thinking about the future:
"Our commitment to each other is something we feel in our hearts. That's enough for me."
"It's your call, sweetheart. Just so that you know how important you are to me."
Holding my head in her hands, she touched her forehead to mine with misty eyes and said. "If that was a proposal, thank you. I'm not saying no; I'm saying why. You must know I love you more than anything in this world."
Readers may not expect speedboats, breathless pursuits, and a story that grows beyond U.S. borders, but Larry Terhaar couples swift action with the unexpected to keep readers guessing on many levels, whether it's about the couple's future or the latest challenge to Dan's investigative skills. Libraries seeking a thriller that is immersive, emotionally captivating, and operates on different levels of attraction will find Breath Play notable and recommendable for its many satisfying twists and turns. With its special pairing of action and emotional conundrums, Breath Play creates a focused tale of intrigue and discovery that will keep readers thoroughly engaged and wondering to its unexpected conclusions.
Dark Corners in Skoghall
Alida Winternheimer
www.alidawinternheimer.com
Wild Woman Typing
9780997871456, $4.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Corners-Skoghall-ghostly-mystery-ebook/dp/B0FR7GFQ3P
Dark Corners in Skoghall continues Alid Winternheimer's Skoghall mystery series with Jessica Vernon's foray into new trouble, which occurs just when she is confident she's finally set aside her involvement with ghosts and intrigue. So far, her move to a tiny Mississippi River arts community has been anything but quiet, It's involved her in all manner of ghostly conundrums that have allowed her to not only put the past to rest, but find a boyfriend. End of story. But, it's actually not.
The yarn that plays out in Dark Corners in Skoghall indicates that events are just beginning to heat up as Jessica becomes involved in trouble when her best friend is accused of murder. Jess's connections to ghosts may be the only avenue for proving innocence and solving the whodunit, and so she is reluctantly drawn back into a world filled with unusual encounters, twists and turns of perp identity, and smoking guns and weed. As her probe of Dan Gunther's demise turns a deadly eye into her own affairs, Jess can't help but become more and move involved in all kinds of dangerous intersections. Someone wants Jess dead. If she can't solve the crime, she's next.
Winternheimer creates a wonderful dance between small-town atmosphere and big trouble simmering underneath the facade of propriety: "A middle-aged couple sat on the porch of the Skoghall Inn at the wrought iron cafe set, demitasses before them on demure saucers, a dish of sugar cubes with an antique silver tong between them. Sitting beside that, a plate of biscotti. Carrie and Mike Cummings did a nice job charming their guests. Welcome to picturesque Skoghall on the Mississippi! Enjoy the arts, the eagles, the garden, the water wheel... the murders. Jess snorted at the thought of how her experience of Skoghall had changed since moving here."
The delicate, fine characterization, the dances between different personalities, ghosts, and romance, and the slowly-building tension over what's next are elegantly presented, creating a thoroughly engrossing mystery that's hard to predict or put down. Libraries and readers seeking an elemental blend of supernatural and small-town influences will welcome how both coalesce neatly in the powerful story of problem-solving, perps, and possibilities that makes Dark Corners in Skoghall an evocative read. Filled with surprises as the dangerous games of spectators and special interests play out, Dark Corners in Skoghall is a winning draw that should be in any library interested in stories that conjoin intrigue and the paranormal.
Part of the Solution
Elana Michelson
Torchflame Books/Top Reads
https://torchflamebooks.com
9781611536041, $19.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Part-Solution-Mystery-Elana-Michelson/dp/B0FGK2DW7X
Part of the Solution is a mystery set in 1978 and revolving around New Yorker and grad school dropout Jennifer Morgan's foray into a small counterculture village in Massachusetts, where her search for peace is broken by a murder that occurs right under her nose. Suddenly the bucolic town with its artistic residents doesn't seem as innocent as she'd initially thought. Beneath the currents of village life is a deadly thread of violence that rivals anything a bigger city could deliver.
Jennifer's intellectual expertise come is challenged as she confronts a mystery that delves into the heart of literary, social, political, and psychological alignments. No sooner does she arrive in Boston than she runs into an old friend from the past who is in law enforcement. As the town of Flanders touches them both, Elana Michelson builds the foundations of her mystery from disparate insights and connections, drawing together a cast of supporting characters, from Zach to co-op owner and organic farmer Annie McGantry who each hold contrasting experiences and lives. She flushes out these characters with special interests, discoveries, and connections which will prove very satisfying to mystery readers, adding more emotional undercurrents than might be expected from the usual small-town mystery to lead readers in unanticipated directions. The contrasts in their lives, outlooks, and the outcomes that emerge from social and cultural differences lends an aura of discovery to the story's progression that operates on personal and social levels of inspection.
As the relationship between Ford and Jennifer grows, Michelson contrasts their perspectives nicely, adding a full-bodied feel to the mysteries that swirl around them. Libraries seeking a story about small town amateur sleuthing, relationship developments, and characters whose insights and choices impact not just themselves and each other, but the mystery at hand, will find Part of the Solution delightful. Readers will appreciate its contrasts, conundrums, and the ease in which Flanders, Jennifer, and Ford come to life in a way that is compelling, unexpected, and itself a satisfying contrast between ideals and perspectives.
The Poe Puzzler
Neil MacNeill
https://www.neilmacneill.com
CarKnack LLC
9781960299888, $21.99 Hardcover/$16.99 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Poe-Puzzler-Ravens-Apprentice-Mystery/dp/1960299883
Retired English teachers should have nothing to do with mystery, unless it involves research. But The Poe Puzzler does, indeed, involve research that draws aptly-named Nathan Poe beyond the walls of his study and into a puzzle involving cryptic literary riddles that draw him steadily into danger.
Poe is no stranger to problem-solving or investigating. His small quasi-PI business specializes in odd cases, so this situation is right up his literary alley. What is less obvious is the insidious nature of these mysterious literary allusions, which become threatening to the point that Poe can well see where this is going. And so he enlists the help of his bike shop friend and a dubious police patrolman to help uncover the truth. In a bow to literary openings, the story begins with "Don't Call Me Nathaniel," a fun nod to literature and the origins of names: "What were my parents thinking? At least they didn't name me Edgar. That's what happens, I guess, when you have a famous last name, and your folks are obsessed with classic American literature."
Readers develop a fondness for protagonist Nathan and his first-person reflections fairly early in the story, which lends attraction and insights to situations that push Nathan well beyond his comfort zone. Equally well-done are the small-town characters which surround Nathan with expectations and quirky habits and the wry sense of humor which permeates many of his interactions with them:
"I tried very hard not to look at my Saab's flat tire as I walked down the block to explain all the reasons for being late to my Number One client. Mrs. Murphy was waiting on her front porch. Not a good sign.
"Some of us have a different definition of 'first thing,'" she said, hands on her hips. "I'm sorry, but you wouldn't believe what I've gone through this morning."
We locked eyes, and I waited for some sign of sympathy. "I got a flat tire, and then I got all dirty trying to sort that out, and then... well, I never got to Positively 4th Street for blueberry muffins."
I decided not to mention the Puzzler's latest note. No need to get into that discussion. The silence between us dragged, but a subtle shift in her expression told me she was softening up."
The clear, appealing sense of place rooted into these encounters builds a satisfying story of intrigue as the puzzles grow to assume center position in Poe's world and the reader's eye. This approach engages audiences in the mystery with a personal draw that builds nefarious possibilities in a host of lives. Neil MacNeill cements familiar-sounding characters and unfamiliar situations with a sense of struggle and personal descriptions. These are sometimes funny and often thought-provoking as readers join Poe in trying to decipher what, exactly, is going on, and who is behind these messages. The outcome seems to be to make Nathan suffer for his failures in different ways, but the story builds further excitement to create thought-provoking, startling revelations that cozy mystery readers will appreciate.
Readers seeking a story steeped in literary and small-town allusion will find The Poe Puzzler an attraction that will delight those seeking atmospheric mysteries filled with quirky characters and intriguing possibilities. Laced with spectacles created by the clash of disparate personalities, The Poe Puzzler is a wonderful cozy read that's perfect for a cold night in front of the fire.
The Reckoning of Grace
Ronald Chapman
https://www.ronaldchapman.com/the-saga-of-grace
Terra Nova Books
c/o Mango Moon Media
https://www.mangomoonmedia.com
9781948749893, $21.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Reckoning-Grace-Book-Saga/dp/1948749890
The Reckoning of Grace continues the story of investigative journalist Kevin Pitcairn and his love Maria Elena as they navigate the darker side of American affairs with a dual attention to spiritual reflection and survival tactics. Christian mystery and suspense readers will appreciate how these topics dovetail in an atmospheric survey that covers the reshaping of spiritual, psychological, and physical terrain in the nation.
Kevin "vacillated between agnosticism and atheism" before Brother Samuel gave his life for the couple. Their ties to the spiritual Community which embraced Samuel despite the flaws of his past and the circumstances of his life have reached out to immerse Kevin and Maria Elena in new tasks and perspectives today:
"Pitcairn thought about the extraordinary events a few years before that had made the two of them the face of a cultural movement known as the Watching. Thousands of spiritually motivated people had taken to the streets across America to silently and watchfully counter-protest the increasingly divisive politics and violent actions of the populist right wing."
The Reckoning of Grace evolves a story based on this foundation, which will especially attract prior fans who have followed Pitcairn's life and world. Here, prophets, AA steps, spiritual reflection, Native American communities, and New Mexican interests dovetail in a tale that embraces group efforts to alter the world. Ronald Chapman focuses as much on empowerment and enlightenment as he does on building the mystery and thriller components that lead Pitcairn into trouble. From the hoodoos of the environment around them and the nature that serves as a backdrop for their world-saving efforts to insights on good and evil that need addressing, the characters reflect on their strengths and the consequences of their actions:
"Emmy," he said, "there's a whole lot of good happening. A whole lot of healing." He nodded, as much to himself as to her. "And a lot of shit still flying around."
Since much of what happens reflects the milieu of modern times, readers will be especially intrigued by the juxtaposition of everyday and loftier concerns that draw the characters into great shifts, violence, and issues of redemption and revelation. A great Pilgrimage and higher purpose evolves to captivate readers on different levels while circumstances of socio-political turmoil introduce new facets of conflict and possibilities. Libraries seeking a reflective spiritual work that assumes the guise of a thriller amidst community-changing efforts will welcome the opportunity to highly recommend The Reckoning of Grace to spiritual thinkers, who will find its blend of entertainment and reflection especially appealing.
Supercharged with mental and physical action, The Reckoning of Grace is a vivid intersection of beliefs and approaches to life that will prove especially intriguing to book clubs looking for stories replete with bigger-picture thinking and discussion topics. From solving crime to prioritizing children, avenues of connection are built against a backdrop of special interests and perceptions. This translates to a thoroughly engrossing, unpredictable story that builds on prior books while providing new avenues for understanding transformation and healing, community involvement and interactions, and the changing relationship between Pitcairn and Maria Elena as their choices and perceptions of the world and each other lead to unexpected insights.
The Spectacle
Anna Barrington
Union Square & Co.
9781454960485, $18.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook, $25.19 Audiobook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1454960485
The Spectacle is a novel steeped in intrigue. It introduces art dealer extraordinaire Rudolph Sullivan, whose reputation has skyrocketed among New York art collector circles. It's no wonder that novice art gallery assistant Ingrid falls for his good looks and successful countenance. However, underlying those qualities is a simmering mystery that rises to the forefront in the story's opening lines, posing questions and intrigue from the start:
"Diving off the boat, Rudolph thought of her. He'd expected the water to be cold, ice-cold, like it was on the Cape, but to his surprise the tropical ocean felt warm and forgiving on his raw skin. He opened his eyes underwater, precious bubbles escaping his lips. It was so beautiful down here in the bright deep blue, with the pink and gold fish swimming past him and something ominously darker flashing below. He remembered that sense of opulence then, of nervous self-invention in the city that was no longer his."
Ingrid's heady involvement in Rudolph's life and world has brought her to this dangerous point in life, introducing a scenario that brings readers right into the fold of a demise and a decision. By prefacing this story with an ending, Anna Barrington introduces the unexpected into chapters that then chronicle a rise to power, its costs, and how events reach out to absorb and trap Ingrid in a deadly embrace of fortune, fame, and failure. As Rudolph forays into illegality begin to percolate from the messes he's made in the past, Ingrid becomes central to his latest plots and plans for redemption. She's the perfect choice because she is virtually unconscious of his follies and failures, but this attitude changes during the course of a powerful thriller that presents a cat-and-mouse game not just between Ingrid and Rudolph, but Rudolph and the rest of the world. Barrington captures both these characters' mental dances with vivid descriptions that bring the story and their emotions to life:
"The music was rising to a crescendo. It was rising, rising, into some kind of pagan religious chant. The floor exploded into a rainbow of pink and acid violet and Prussian blue, so startling they had to shut their eyes. The crowd was shoving them together, the margins of their bodies becoming one, and even as he started to lie, he realized with a sudden frightening clarity that he really did love her, and a heaviness came over his body like a claustrophobic gas. She was crying. Then he leaned down to kiss her, and the chorus hit another dark peak and wave."
Especially notable is the journey Ingrid undertakes from naivety to knowledge as she delves deeper into Rudolph world and past, making savvy determinations from the inconsistencies and ironies she observes there:
"Ingrid couldn't shake the feeling that a lot had changed in the fifteen years since Rudolph left Roxbury, which he had described as a mire of dust and bottles and piled-up dishes, Eloise's unsavory boyfriends rotating in and out interchangeably. Now Eloise appeared to live in the big house, and she and Lyndon whispered into each other's ears like lovers. It was obvious to Ingrid that Rudolph's presence had somehow disturbed the fragile natural laws at work here, broken some tenuous understanding between the aging siblings."
While it's tempting to bill The Spectacle a thriller and recommend it to genre readers (which, of course, it lends to), libraries should be cognizant that the story delves much deeper into relationship-building on different levels, creating psychological paths of discovery and angst that are compelling, exciting enhancements to the story's thriller component. The result is an eye-opening foray into moral and ethical choices, the dangerous consequences of illegal actions, and deadly relationship outcomes that many readers won't see coming. Satisfying and unexpected in its depth and psychological dances, The Spectacle offers an astute and completely compelling journey into not just art world circles, but into dangerous attractions where one can become truly lost.
The Religion/Spirituality Shelf
A Truth Versus The Truth
Stephen B. Roberts
www.StephenRobertsBooks.com
Next Steps Publishing
9798999388001, $28.00
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Truth-versus-Religious-Recognizing-Everyday/dp/B0FHJTPZFL
A Truth Versus The Truth comes from a rabbi who offers a wide-ranging discourse on faith and what divides and connects people. Stephen B. Roberts wrote this book with the intention of crafting a new paradigm for these connections, defining this as the Modernity Spectrum and considering how it helps those of faith understand forces in the modern world. One notable achievement of this approach is that it embraces all faiths, unifying seemingly disparate perspectives under an umbrella of re-envisioning the world and humanity's place in it with an overall spiritual foundation supporting the insights into past, present, and future. Another important strength is that this Modernity Spectrum can be utilized as a tool to promote interfaith understanding by providing a guideline to where people of faith fall on its chart.
Bounded by modern and non-modern thinking at either end, the spectrum provides a new way of viewing faith and its incarnation in daily life which helps all readers understand group identity, practices within specific groups such as Hindus to Eastern Orthodox Christians, and the perspectives and forces that guide their habits, daily lives, and belief systems. This is not a singular coverage, but a wide-ranging set of insights that contrasts educational processes, perspectives about science and religion, family structure, and all kinds of intersections between faith and society. Many of these receive insights on connections as well as places of divergence. One example is how faith communities around the world embrace science and technology.
In creating a model for better understanding that embraces all faiths, A Truth Versus The Truth offers many points for better understanding lending itself to group discussions and debate. Libraries selecting A Truth Versus The Truth will thus find it especially recommendable to thinking audiences who want an approach that unifies, rather than divides, different groups and faiths. Filled with points of contemplation and better understanding, A Truth Versus The Truth is just the ticket for fostering connectedness in an increasingly divided modern world, providing a framework for analysis and understanding that does not elevate a particular group or approach, but allows all to feel interconnected on the subject of faith, truth, and values.
The Self-Help Shelf
Lost in the Forest
Colin Heber-Piercy
Gaia/Octopus Publishing Group
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781804192313, $24.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Forest-belonging-English-countryside/dp/1804192317
Lost in the Forest: Notes on Not Belonging from the English Countryside is an encouragement to get lost in the world, setting aside social labels, institutions, and limitations in favor of losing oneself in the world to ultimately find new perspectives and purposes. Supplementing Colin Heber-Piercy's tales from his local Savernake Forest with bigger-picture thinking about social constructs, limitations, spirituality, and life's riches, Lost in the Forest sports a jaunty spirit and inquisitive mind. It will prove inspirational, reflective, and engrossing to readers interested in nature's seasons, new directions, and signposts pointing the way to a different form of living.
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
www.midwestbookreview.com
Diane C. Donovan, Editor & Senior Reviewer
12424 Mill Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
phone: 1-707-795-4629
e-mail: donovan@sonic.net
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