Book Review: Broken Harbor by Tana French

A bit about the book: An entire family is murdered in their Brianstown home near the sea, and Mike "Scorcher" Kennedy is on the case. After appearing in Tana French's previous novel Faithful Place, Kennedy becomes the main focus of French's newest novel Broken Harbor. This pattern of connecting her novels will be familiar to French's readers. In each novel, beginning with In the Woods, French takes a minor character and transforms him or her into a main character in a subsequent novel.

As with French's previous novels, Broken Harbor is a multi-layered work. One layer is the investigation of the Spain family's deaths. Kennedy and first-time investigator Richie work the case methodically, pairing their detective work with the medical examiner's findings and the team of crime scene technicians' work. They try on first one theory and then another as their information changes.

On a deeper level is the character analysis French provides for Scorcher Kennedy. Always a straight arrow in the Murder Squad unit, he plays strictly by the rules. As a result, he is often the object of ridicule for other investigators. Because he finds partnering with other detectives difficult, Kennedy ends up as the trainer for new recruits; thus, his pairing with rookie Richie. He prefers this somewhat solitary life, and French slowly reveals the secrets about Kennedy's past and present that shape him.

Why you want to read it: Apart from the plot (which is cleverly crafted and engrossing) and the characterization (which is flawless), the thing Tana French does the best in her novels, including Broken Harbor, is describe the setting. She discussed the sense of place in her writing in an interview with Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact, after her third novel Faithful Place was published:

I was an international brat, grew up in three continents, so there’s nowhere I can really call ‘home’; but Dublin’s the nearest I’ve got. I’ve lived here since 1990; it’s the only city where I know all the details and quirks – the connotations of every accent and area, the slang and the sense of humour, where to go for a good pint and where not to go after dark. And I can list all the ways in which it’s crap, while being ready to leap to its defence if anyone from anywhere else suggests it might not be perfect. In a lot of ways, 'Faithful Place' is a love song to Dublin – its bad sides as well as its good ones.

She perfects her writing of Dublin's "details and quirks" in Broken Harbor. After focusing on the tenements of Dublin in Faithful Place, she switches to an entirely different (yet still dark) place in Broken Harbor. Brianstown, the setting for much of the novel, is a small area outside Dublin once called Broken Harbor. During an upswing in the economy, a building boom created what French now terms as "ghost estates" all over the outskirts of Dublin. Subdivisions filled with cheaply-built, fancy-looking houses dot the countryside, including Brianstown.

Few families still live on its mostly-deserted streets, and many houses were never finished because they lacked buyers. What remains is a creepy, ghost town with people struggling to make their mortgages. It is here that the Spain family meets their end, and here where French's Murder Squad detectives try to make sense of the crime.

The bottom line: No one writes about Dublin, Ireland, as well as Tana French. Few people write police procedurals as well as Tana French. And even fewer people are able to delve into a character's soul like French does in her novels. Mystery/thrillers are probably my favorite genre -- I'd say close to half the books I read fit into that mold -- and French is simply one of the best. Scorcher Kennedy and his demons are a perfect addition to the fictional world French is creating through her novels.

About the author: Tana French is the author of three previous novels, all connected to the Dublin Murder Squad. The first, In the Woods, was the winner of the 2007 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Subsequent titles have been 2008's The Likeness, which featured one of the main characters from In the Woods; 2010's Faithful Place, which focused on a character from The Likeness; and finally this year's Broken Harbor, which takes a character from Faithful Place and makes him the star. While interconnected, each novel also works as a standalone title for those unfamiliar with French's previous work. For more information about the author and her writing, you can visit French's website.

Book Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Yesterday, I reviewed Deborah Harkness's first novel A Discovery of Witches. Today, I'm telling you about Shadow of Night, the second book in Harkness's All Souls Trilogy. If you haven't read either title, I suggest you click over to my review from yesterday before continuing to read below. My review of Shadow of Night contains some unavoidable spoilers for the first book. If you don't mind, read on! I just like to give fair warning, as I detest spoilers myself.


A bit about the book: Time travel is a perk of the fantasy genre, and in her latest book Shadow of Night, Deborah Harkness makes excellent use of this convention. At the end of A Discovery of Witches, main characters Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont found themselves under attack by creatures of all sorts. After Diana requested a manuscript linked to the history of witches, vampires, and daemons in the Oxford library, she became an instant target.

In Shadow of Night, Diana and Matthew time travel back to the year 1590 in order to escape their current-world problems. Additionally, they hope to find some clues about Ashmole 782, the much-sought-after manuscript that began it all. As they travel to various locations in Europe, Harkness weaves a tale of love, mystery, and history all bound into one.


Why you want to read it: One reason I hailed A Discovery of Witches as a must-read rather than just another story full of vampires is because of Harkness's highly intelligent storytelling. She is not simply one more author throwing her hat into a genre because it seems like an easy sell. Instead, Harkness is gifting the world with a complex, well-written trilogy of books. Shadow of Night is a fantasy tale on par with The Lord of the Rings, not one of the many poorly-penned vampire series that popped up in the wake of Stephenie Meyer's success. If it seems like I'm repeating myself, I probably am -- but I just don't want these books lumped in with all the others.

Shadow of Night is rich with the European history in which Harkness is an expert. Even the title refers to Matthew's circle of friends, the real-life group called the School of Night. Members (both from history and from Harkness's novel) include explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, playwright Christopher Marlowe, poet George Chapman, and scientist Thomas Harriot, among others. Harkness brings these staid characters to life in the pages of Shadow of Night, no small feat in my opinion. Although historical fiction is never my first choice, in Harkness's hands it becomes fascinating. Harkness also populates her novel with other historical figures, including Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare himself.


The bottom line: History weaving and brilliant writing aside, in Shadow of Night Harkness has spun a tale that would capture the attention of almost any reader. The love between Diana and Matthew becomes much more complicated and deeper on every level. The plot is involved and intertwined delightfully with historical figures and events, including the growing fear surrounding witchcraft that results in trials and persecutions all over the world. And finally, there is the growing mystery surrounding Ashmole 782, which continues with a vengeance in this second book in the series. Harkness hasn't yet set a date for the third novel to be released, but suffice it to say I'll be reading it!

About the author: Deborah Harkness is the author of one previous novel, A Discovery of Witches, and two non-fiction titles. She has been a scholar of history for more than twenty years, working in various college and library settings. She is currently a professor at USC, specializing in European history and the history of science. You can find more information about her books by visiting her website, adding her on Facebook, or following her on Twitter.

Gone Girl Thrills With a Tale of Marriage Gone Wrong

On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne wakes up to find his wife has cooked a gourmet breakfast of crepes. Married life hasn't suited either of them for quite some time now, so this move is out of character for Amy.

What happens next is anybody's guess. When Nick arrives at work around noon, he receives a call from a neighbor saying their cat is outside and their front door open. Amy's disappearance begins a police investigation that quickly spirals out of control. Throughout the media circus that ensues, readers are prisoners to Nick's first-person narration. By using his voice to tell the story, author Gillian Flynn ensures that readers of her third novel, Gone Girl, know only what Nick chooses to share.

As the police detectives increasingly begin to look at Nick as the prime suspect, the reader is forced to question his reliability as a narrator. Further discussion of the novel's plot would spoil some of the fun for those who haven't read the book yet, so I'll stop there. Suffice it to say that Flynn throws plenty of twists in to keep the novel interesting until the very last page.

What could have turned into a sensational, fictionalized version of the Scott and Laci Peterson story is instead a well-crafted masterpiece of a novel in Flynn's skilled hands. Although the storyline seems pulled from the headlines in a very Lifetime Movie Channel sort of way, Flynn manages to relate the story of Amy and Nick in a decidedly un-melodramatic manner.

Told in passages from Amy's diary, Nick's narration, and then a second first-person narrator halfway through, Gone Girl is a larger-than-life tale of suspense that also doubles as a genuine piece of literary fiction. Although the genre could be considered mystery, Flynn's skill as a writer allows a crossover into literary fiction status, as well. The writing elevates Gone Girl to a step above your everyday, run-of-the-mill mystery paperback and pushes it into the field of serious literature.

Gone Girl released last week to high praise from various sources. A smattering of what's being said:

• Entertainment Weekly: "On page 219, Flynn pulls the rug out from under you — and, by the way, you didn't even realize you were standing on one. Now I really am going to shut up before I spoil what instantly shifts into a great, breathless read." 
• New York Times: "Perhaps these sound like standard-issue crime story machinations. They’re not. They’re only the opening moves for the game Ms. Flynn has in mind, which is a two-sided contest in which Nick and Amy tell conflicting stories. . . . Both Nick and Amy are extremely adept liars, and they lied to each other a lot. Now they will lie to you."
• USA Today: "Flynn's 'first two books (Sharp Objects and Dark Places) showed her skill and dark imagination, but Gone Girl sits on another plane altogether. And it's a brilliant, often funny, and gothic take on a hugely fascinating subject: marriage.'"
• nomadreader: "Gone Girl is a thrilling, mysterious, awesomely deranged tale of a marriage. Flynn kept me guessing throughout the novel, but more importantly, she kept me marveling at her mastery of language, suspense, story, character and pace."
• Huffington Post: "Let's just say, you'll never think of marriage and wedding anniversaries the same way again."
• NPR's Morning Edition: "It opens with a rather sinister reflection: 'When I think of my wife,' Nick says, 'I always think of her head.... You could imagine the skull quite easily. I'd know her head anywhere.'"

Additionally, Gone Girl was named one of Amazon's Best Books of the Month for June 2012.

Gillian Flynn is the author of two previous novels: Sharp Objects and Dark Places. I've read both, and I think their darkness is largely what kept them both off bestseller lists. With Gone Girl, Flynn has finally struck the perfect balance between good writing and creepiness, ensuring that just enough nightmarish content is present to thrill, but not turn off, hoards of readers. Let's all hope that Gone Girl is the first in a long line of perfectly executed literary thrillers from the immensely talented Flynn. You can learn more about Flynn on Facebook or on her website.

Bethenny Frankel's Skinnydipping Puts Fictional Spin on Reality Star's Life

Part of the fun of reading Bethenny Frankel's newest book Skinnydipping is matching events and people in the novel to things from the reality star's own life. Although this is Frankel's first book of fiction after several nonfiction titles, main character Faith Brightstone is undoubtedly based on Frankel herself.

Frankel relates Faith's story from her early twenties into her thirties as she struggles to find herself and a place in the world where she fits. Traveling first to Los Angeles from New York City and then back to NYC, Faith tries on careers as though they're hats. First there is an effort to become an actress, then a stint as a bakery owner, and finally, a spot on a reality television show modeled after The Apprentice, which Frankel herself appeared on early in her reality television career.

The comparisons between Faith's fictional world and Frankel's real-life one don't end with similar career and geographic choices. Faith has a mouth that won't quit, much like the real-life Frankel; she adopts a dog named Muffin, modeled after Frankel's own pet Cookie; and both the fictional character and her real-life counterpart suffer from a long history of dysfunctional family relationships.

In spite of what could end up as one long, drawn out, fictionalized version of Frankel's life thus far, Skinnydipping manages to be quite the delightful read. I found myself rooting for Faith, even as she seemed to create her own problems (starting with her never-knows-when-to-shut mouth). I have long been a fan of Frankel, in all her... well, frankness. On first Bravo's Housewives of New York City and then later her own television series, Bethenny Getting Married and Bethenny Ever After, Frankel tells it like it is, doesn't suffer fools, and genuinely cares about the people who matter in her life.

Skinnydipping is a fun read, perfect for summer lounging by the pool or on the beach. Although Frankel fans will be obvious choices for the novel, I really think readers who haven't watched her reality shows will still enjoy the book. Faith is a feisty main character who has flaws that make her human, but a heart that won't quit. Readers will find themselves rooting for Faith, especially in the last half of the book as she strives to win the title of Domestic Goddess on the Apprentice-style reality competition.

In addition to Skinnydipping, Bethenny Frankel is the author of several nonfiction lifestyle and nutrition books, including Naturally Thin, The Skinnygirl Dish, and A Place of Yes. She is also the creator of an entire line of Skinnygirl products, including a health and beauty line, a line of alcohol, and a shapewear line for Macy's. Her newest television endeavor, a daytime talk show called simply bethenny, debuted this week in six major television markets.

Beneath the Shadows Tells Haunting Story Set on English Moors

Abandoned, the baby carriage sat on the doorstep, just out of the wind that whipped across the moors.

This is the image that haunts Grace Lockwood in the year following her husband Adam's disappearance. One afternoon as she was out shopping, Adam vanished into thin air, their weeks-old daughter Millie left at their front door. The couple had only just moved from London to the countryside of North Yorkshire, to a cottage Adam inherited from his maternal grandparents.

One year later, Grace returns to the village of Roseby and to the scene of her heartbreak in a determined effort to discover the truth about that day. Under the guise of clearing out the house and preserving family heirlooms for her daughter, Grace delves into the history of her husband's family and the sparsely populated area in which they lived. She discovers a land steeped in tradition and teeming with ghosts from the past.

Sara Foster's Beneath the Shadows, previously published in Australia and the U.K. but a new release in the U.S., is a breathtaking look at the wild moors that comprise the English countryside. The ghosts of the moors factor heartily into the novel, creating a spooky setting for the novel's events. I adored everything about this novel -- the characters, the unsettling mood Foster creates, the chilling landscape she paints, as well as the carefully drafted plot.

Foster peoples her novel with characters as ominous as the setting in which they live. Meredith, the kind but intimidating neighbor, is oddly kind to Grace, leaving her wondering what lies behind such uncharacteristic kindness. Ben, a handsome Australian house sitting for another neighbor, begins renovations on the cottage, but refuses to discuss him past. And a third neighbor keeps to himself, choosing to surround himself with birds rather than humans. Providing a stark contrast to these mysterious characters is Grace's vivacious sister Annabel, who whips into town several times to help her sister.

The mysteries in the village, with Adam's disappearance, and even within the cottage itself, drive the plot to a  crashing crescendo. No one is left unscathed as all is at last revealed in an exciting resolution.

A visit to Random House's Australian website for the book will reveal all sorts of goodies, some of which shouldn't be viewed until after you read the book. For example, Foster wrote a bonus chapter for the book which can be read here. A copy of the (fictional) article that journalist Annabel wrote about the moor ghosts can be found here. The one extra you can peek at before you read is this illustration of the inside of the cottage.

Sara Foster is the author of one previous novel, Come Back to Me, which hasn't yet been released in the U.S. (but via a Twitter conversation, she assures me it's in the works!). A new novel, Shallow Breath, will be released in December 2012. You can follow her on Twitter, add her on Facebook, or read her blog to keep up with the latest news from this author.

Laura Dave's The First Husband Is Romantic Comedy at Its Best

Think back to your favorite 1990s romantic comedy, Julia Roberts and/or Hugh Grant-style. Perhaps Notting Hill or My Best Friend's Wedding comes to mind. Or maybe you're more of a 1980s Meg Ryan/ Tom Hanks fan. When Harry Met Sally? Sleepless in Seattle? You've Got Mail? Whatever your favorite might be (and I know you have one), I've found the perfect book for you.

Laura Dave's The First Husband is today's answer to all those great romantic comedies, in book form. This isn't excellent literature we're talking about (which, let's be honest -- can sometimes be a boring drag); rather, it's pure entertainment at its very best. I devoured Dave's latest novel in record time -- less than 24 hours, I think.

Annie Adams is a travel writer for a major national newspaper, living in Los Angeles with her longtime boyfriend Nick. They have what she believes is a happy existence, until the day when Nick comes home and announces that he needs a break. That break turns into a break up, one in which both Annie and Nick begin other relationships.

Laura Dave explores relationships of all kinds in her novel The First Husband -- true love, love at first sight, friendships, families. Each character in the novel is fully developed and well-rounded, and they complement one another perfectly. Annie's best friend Jordan factors into the novel just enough; Annie's new love interest Griffin and his family provide both a romantic flair and comedic value.

Never cheesy, always authentic, The First Husband is a delightful look at life in all its hilarity and seriousness. It seeks to answer the question: what is love and how do we recognize it? As Annie is forced to make life-changing decisions in both her personal life and in her career, Dave pushes readers to examine their own feelings about life and love.

Photo via LauraDave.com

Laura Dave is the author of two other novels, The Divorce Party and London is the Best City in America. You can follow Dave on Twitter, add her on Facebook, or visit her website for author updates. The First Husband was also a favorite book pick for respected magazine and news sources, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Marie Claire, and People.

Weekend Cooking -- Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner

Giada De Laurentiis is Food Network's tiny Italian fireball -- small in stature, but on fire in the kitchen. Her large personality fills the television screen each week during her latest cooking show Giada at Home, where she cooks delicious eats for her friends and family. She is also a coach for this season's Food Network Star, which debuted last Sunday.

Although primarily an expert in Italian food, Giada also throws other foods into the mix at times. Her newest cookbook, Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner delivers exactly what it promises. Recipes with ten ingredients or less that busy families can cook during the week. As in her television show, Giada focuses on Italian, but includes a section titled "Change of Pace" where she features Asian, Spanish, and Greek cuisine, as well.

While included are photographs of Giada's food and family, the meat of this cookbook are the recipes themselves. This is not an ode to a television star, but a real cookbook that real people can use. Weighing in at 240 pages, there is a recipe for everyone in this cookbook. Giada divides the recipes in Weeknights with Giada into some basic sections (i.e., "Veggies & Sides" and "Dessert") but also some more innovative, personalized sections such as the aforementioned "Change of Pace" or "Breakfast for Dinner."

Several of the recipes from Weeknights with Giada will make it onto my table this summer, as they simply sound like warm-weather treats. I can't wait to make a version of Giada's Caramelized Onion, Chicken, and Grapefruit Salad, which sounds big on flavor without including soft cheeses. Finds like that are a plus for me as a pregnant woman struggling to enjoy salads without feta, bleu cheese, or some other forbidden-during-pregnancy cheeses. (The delicious-sounding Fig and Brie Panini will just have to wait until after October!) The Apricot Oat Bars (using both apricot preserves and dried apricots for ease and simplicity) sound like perfect summer-month treats, or even breakfast.

However, my instinct is to turn immediately in Weeknights with Giada to the "Pasta and Grains" section. Not only because Giada's Italian expertise makes this a no-brainer, but because I am a pasta lover. I could eat it almost every night (whole wheat, of course), but I get tired of the same old ingredients and preparations. Giada includes several easy, new takes on pasta that I'll be trying. Penne in Almond Sauce, for instance, which includes shredded rotisserie chicken, frozen peas, lemon, and basil, sounds delicious. So does the Sweet Corn and Basil Lasagna, the recipe for which you can find on Amazon's page for Weeknights with Giada.

The recipe I will probably make first, however, is one of the most simple. It just speaks to me for some reason:

Wagon Wheel Pasta with Pancetta and Peas, 

from Weeknights with Giada

Photo from Weeknights with Giada

1 lb wagon-wheel shaped pasta

1/4 c plus 1 T olive oil

8 oz pancetta (for which I will probably substitute bacon, as pancetta isn't readily available where I live)

2 large or 4 small shallots, chopped

1/2 c low-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 c sugar snap peas, cut into 1-in pieces

1 1/2 c shelled edamame beans

1 c frozen peas, thawed

1 c grated Parmesan

1 t kosher salt

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1/4 c chopped fresh mint leaves

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. 

Add the shallots to the pan and cook until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir in the snap peas and simmer for 2 minutes, until tender.

Add the pasta, cooked pancetta, edamame, petite peas, Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, the salt, pepper, and mint. Toss until coated, adding the reserved pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed to loosen the sauce. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

This is a post part of the Beth Fish Reads blog series Weekend Cooking, which is open to anyone with a food-related post, including: book and movie reviews, photography, recipes, and other items. To browse this week's posts from all over the web, click on over to her post from today, about the book Farmers' Markets of the Heartland. 

Kimberly Brock's The River Witch Charms Me (And Possibly a Few Alligators)

Kimberly Brock's The River Witch begins with the death of an unborn child, a circumstance which almost caused me to abandon it completely. Although most definitely a part of life, it was an event this mama-to-be couldn't handle contemplating, even in a work of fiction.

But a day or two later, I found myself thinking about main characters Damascus and Roslyn -- while at work, while driving, while shopping for groceries. I don't know how you judge a book; perhaps strictly on its literary merit, perhaps on its descriptions, or maybe largely on the buzz it has been creating. The moment I know I've found a book worth reading is when I find it creeping up during my day, in my non-reading hours. 

Roslyn, a former professional ballerina, has fled her life to spend the summer on a fictional Georgia barrier sea island. Roslyn is rough around the edges, close to no one, and a bit difficult to find sympathetic in the beginning. After she has a disturbing reaction to the end of her pregnancy, I found it difficult to like her. That didn't, however, mean I didn't wonder what would happen to her next. (And it also doesn't mean I didn't eventually grow to understand and like her as a character -- I did.)

Damascus, on the other hand, steals the reader's heart immediately. Wild as the island on which she lives, Damascus is a ten-year-old almost-orphan whose mother died long ago and whose father largely leaves her raising up to others. When Roslyn rents her family's house on Manny's Island, Damascus is instantly drawn to her. Fearful of connecting with anyone, Damascus longs for her mother -- and resents Roslyn for occupying her family's space.

Despite her unhappiness with the new tenant in her ancestral home, Damascus can't seem to stay away. She and Roslyn form a tenuous bond which holds the book together. The growth of their relationship and its effect on each party is the true meat of the novel. Both Roslyn and Damascus have been searching for something unnamed, and bit by bit they help each other work towards their unspoken goals.

Brock peoples her novel with characters as alive as the island itself. The island teems with alligators bellowing, birds soaring, and a population of island natives as strange and magnificent as their environment. Urey, Damascus's father, embodies the wildness of the island. His sister Ivy struggles with her devotion to island and family coupled with a desperate want to explore the mainland. A bevy of locals who practice or believe in hoodoo also make life complicated for Roslyn during her stay on the island, enriching The River Witch in the process.

The River Witch is Kimberly Brock's debut novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Summer in Mossy Creek and will be published in the upcoming Sweeter Than Tea. You can keep up with her on Facebook, on Twitter, or on her website. An excerpt of the first two chapters of the novel can be read here.

Sisterhood Everlasting Examines Women's Friendship at Thirty

I read (and adored) Ann Brashares's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books years ago, in pre-book blogging days. Since then, I was somewhat disappointed with her next effort, an adult novel titled The Last Summer (of You and Me). In fact, I didn't finish it. Brashares has also released a second adult novel called My Name is Memory which I haven't yet picked up. The plot sounds eerily similar to The Time Traveler's Wife -- which I liked, but don't necessarily want to repeat.

But then I heard that Brashares was releasing a follow-up to her Sisterhood novels, in adult rather than YA format. Although I was skeptical, given her other adult efforts, Brashares truly wrote a spectacular follow-up to her bestselling novels with Sisterhood Everlasting. Reading it was like diving back into a well-worn, comfortable place.  In spite of a return to the same characters, Brashares manages to make the plot fresh and new.

Additionally, I feel that this is a novel that would appeal to many readers, not only those who have previously read and loved the Sisterhood novels. For one thing, it had been long enough that I only vaguely remembered the four main characters. While I did recall some details -- the long-ago trip to Greece, for instance -- Brashares provides just enough background that the novel reads seamlessly even with no previous knowledge of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants world.

Ten years after the close of the last novel, the four best friends -- all born within a month of one another -- have gone their separate ways. Bridget, or Bee as she's known to her friends, lives in San Francisco with her long-time boyfriend; Carmen has a successful television career in New York City; Lena is a professor at a college near NYC; and Tibby is living in Australia. Brashares shows each girl, now almost thirty, living her separate life. While all four are living the lives they've chosen, at times they miss one another -- especially Tibby, living on the other side of the world.

When three letters arrive, one for each girl in the U.S., they learn that Tibby has booked them a trip back to the magical place they visited so long ago. They each eagerly begin looking forward to Greece, and to rekindling their lifelong friendship. After they arrive, however, they are in for a surprise of the not-so-great variety. This plot twist sends the novel careening in a new direction altogether.

Tibby forces each friend to re-examine herself and her life. Although a learning experience, the journey each character must take is not without its heartache. What does each girl truly want out of life? And has she made the correct choices along the way so far?

Perhaps it was because my friends and I recently turned thirty ourselves (last fall), and probably because I have a close group of longtime friends, but I strongly related to the girls this time around. I was already in my twenties when I read the first four Sisterhood books. Although I really enjoyed them, I didn't necessarily identify with the characters, who were all teenagers in those books. Sisterhood Everlasting poses questions that women are asking themselves as they near thirty: is this the life I want for myself? If not, how can I change that?

Although at times deeply sad, Sisterhood Everlasting is ultimately full of hope and optimism. It is, as the girls think of Bridget, "a thing with feathers. . . . the thing that perches in the soul. . . . and never stops." In an interview at the novel's end, Brashares reports that, although she initially thought she was writing a closing for the Sisterhood girls, she now feels differently. She hopes to continue their journey into adulthood with future novels -- and I hope she does so, too.

Read an excerpt of Sisterhood Everlasting by clicking here. Ann Brashares can be found on Twitter, on Facebook, on Tumblr, and on her blog. The Sisterhood novels have, of course, been made into two major motion pictures. I haven't seen either one, but perhaps I should!

Catch Me Delivers Thrills from Lisa Gardner

D.D. Warren has been through some serious changes in her personal life recently. She delivered a healthy baby boy, Jack, ten weeks ago. Just before that, she moved in with her love interest and fellow police officer, Alex. A visit from her not-so-amicable parents is almost enough to send the Boston homicide detective over the edge.

Before she loses it, thriller writer Lisa Gardner sends some saving grace her way: two complicated cases, perfect distractions for her stress at home. D.D. dives headlong into the first case, the shooting death of a convicted pedophile, out after time behind bars. When the case is linked to another similar death, D.D.'s squad finds themselves investigating a rogue citizen bent on ridding Boston of its child molestors. It's not exactly a case anyone particularly wants to solve. However, always the homicide investigator no matter the victim, D.D. and her team are putting as many hours into this case as they would any other.

As D.D. leaves the scene of one of the murders, she runs into a second case. This time she isn't quite so gung-ho, as the crime hasn't actually happened. Rather, a girl wants D.D. to investigate her own own murder -- which she claims will take place in a few days. Although intrigued, it isn't exactly what D.D. does -- solve crimes that haven't yet occurred. She can't quite decide if the girl's crazy or scared, but something tells her the answer is scared. And so, despite her misgivings, D.D. listens to her story and begins a tentative investigation.

Lisa Gardner always tells an excellent story, but she is particularly adept at doing so in Catch Me. She gives readers both the story of the detectives, but also the background for the cases. Catch Me begins two decades ago, with the story of an abused child. With several flashbacks, Gardner fleshes out the present storyline with details from the past.

Additionally, for the first time Gardner really examines D.D.'s character with some depth. As aforementioned, her parents arrive from Florida and play roles in several scenes. Although D.D. has detected her way through half a dozen novels, little time has been spent developing her character. Longtime readers of the series will recall detective Bobby Dodge from the first few books, a character who changed and grew as the series developed. Although his character doesn't appear in Catch Me, Gardner does the same thing with D.D.'s character, allowing her to grow and mature in this latest novel.

If you want to go back and read the D.D. Warren series in order, visit Lisa Gardner's website, or glance back through my previous reviews:

Alone (2005)
Hide (2007)
The Neighbor (2009)
Live to Tell (2010)
Love You More (2011) -- I've never reviewed this? What? Okay, will solve this soon! It's fantastic.
"The 7th Month" (2012)

Gardner is also the author of the FBI Profiler series (whose characters make brief cameos Catch Me), as well as three standalone novels. As far as mystery/thrillers go, you really can't find anyone better than Lisa Gardner. The audio versions of all of her books are amazing, but the print versions are excellent, too!

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty... Swoon. Faint. Beginning-of-Every-HBO-Series-Sound.

Joshilyn Jackson has (thus far, at least) established a certain set of ground rules in her novels. There will be strong, flawed female characters; they will be from the south; and a shadow of darkness will lurk in the corners, just beyond where the light manages to reach. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, Jackson's latest novel, contains both a lot of light and a whole heck of a lot of darkness, all blended into a particular Jackson-style piece of fiction.

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty introduces a whole host of fabulous characters, both sort-of heroes and definite villains. At the novel's center are three generations of Slocumb women: Ginny (also known as Big), Liza, and Mosey (or Little). Grandmother, mother, and daughter all live in a little house in the fictional small-town of Immita, Mississippi, which lies somewhere along the Gulf Coast. After Liza suffers a stroke at the age of 29, Big and Mosey serve as caretakers for her. It's not an easy life, but it's their own.

That is, until a pulled-up willow tree in their backyard reveals a secret none of them is prepared to discuss. During the subsequent police investigation, Big and Mosey conduct their own covert operations in an attempt to discover the truth behind the unearthed box. For Big, that means serious rehabilitation work with Liza, as it's clear she holds the truth deep within her broken body. In Mosey's case, it means she and her sidekick Roger turn their investigative abilities into high gear. Roger invents one wild goose chase after another, until Mosey is worn out with his eagerness.

In the process of attempting to solve the mystery under the willow tree, all three generations mature in various ways. Big learns to overstep what she refers to as her "bad year" (which happens once every fifteen years, so far); Liza works to recall the words she needs to communicate; and Mosey gains a deeper understanding of exactly what it means to be a family.

Jackson's villainous characters are every bit as interesting as her mostly-good ones. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty offers up a character list peppered with drug users, self-righteous private-school moms, and cheating ex-wives. Most of the time, Jackson allows just a glimmer of goodness to shine through their cold veneers, but a couple of these characters simply never redeem themselves -- as in life. Their inclusion is a perfect foil for the radiating goodness of the more sympathetic characters.

The deep south is as much a character in the novel as are the characters themselves. As she grew up along Florida's Emerald Coast and currently lives in Atlanta, Joshilyn Jackson is a southern girl born and bred. In short, she knows of what she speaks. She is the south. This is highly apparent in her novels, and A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty is no exception. Immita, fictional though it may be, has the bones of a true southern small town. It's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone (and everything), where the Baptists believe they're going to heaven (while everyone else rots in you-know-where), and where there are backwoods sects like the Duckins that are the stuff of legends.

Full of humor and raw emotion, A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty is quite simply southern literature -- or any literature, for that matter -- at its best. Jackson pulls out all the stops in this fifth novel. Well-drawn characters, a finely nuanced setting, and a darn good story.

Joshilyn Jackson is the author of four other novels, including gods in Alabama (my review here); Between, Georgia; The Girl Who Stopped Swimming; and Backseat Saints (my review here). You can follow her hilarious ramblings on her blog Faster Than Kudzu, or even catch her on book tour for A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty between now and February 18.

The Accident Propels Linwood Barclay Onto My To-Read List

Linwood Barclay's latest thriller starts off with a bang -- literally. Although the author kills characters off at every turn of the page, all that death only serves to accelerate his novel rather than squash it. Barclay won't be winning the National Book Award for his efforts anytime soon, but he might just snatch an Edgar or a Dagger. I read this novel every chance I had, and finished it in about two days.

The Accident begins in New York City with a crime in Chinatown in a back alley knockoff handbag shop. Barclay then takes the action to Milford, Connecticut, a suburb, where Glen Garber and his wife live a sedate, family-driven life. But when Sheila Garber is killed in an accident which she seems to have caused, their quiet life is turned upside down.

Things in their small Connecticut town continue to spiral downward, as one crime after another pops up. Glen fights to clear his wife's name, but causes a domino effect as he does so. The most surprising characters in this novel reveal their inner criminal, and I'll just have to stop there. Truly, no plot point can be discussed at any length without revealing too much.

The Accident is about the crimes inside us all, from the smallest white lies to the larger, punishable-by-law crimes. Barclay's characters are well-written and his plot flawless. I had previously only read one Barclay thriller, 2009's Too Close to Home; now I'll be downloading his backlist onto my Kindle Touch. If you're looking for a fast-paced, engaging thriller, The Accident is the book for you.

Lost Voices Begs the Question: Are Mermaids the New Vampires in YA Fiction?

Fantasy fiction, whether it be supernatural or otherworldly, caters to escapist fiction readers. In the YA genre in particular, it feeds teen (and older) readers' deep-seated need to travel somewhere outside the adult-driven universe in which they reside. Sarah Porter's new YA novel Lost Voices works doubly in this scenario; not only can her readers use the novel as a means of escape, but so do her characters.

Lost Voices relates the tale of those often overlooked: the beaten down, the neglected, the abused. In Porter's alternate world, girls who experience such travesties at the hands of adults -- primarily their family members or guardians -- have a way out of the chaos. They can become mermaids, free of all human responsibilities and cares. And, of course, abuses. However, nothing is at simple or easy as it seems. The cliche "too good to be true" comes to mind.

While the characters in Porter's novel escape the human world in favor of a seemingly fantasy-like life, complications arise almost from the get-go. First of all, a tribe full of adolescent female mermaids is much like a boarding school dorm or summer camp cabin -- full of jealousies, rife with conflict, and one power struggle after another. Although these girls (now mermaid creatures) have escaped their abusive human lives, they remain in many ways still very much human. Anyone who has spent any length of time around teenage girls (or boys, for that matter) know that drama is never more than a split second away, given the right atmosphere and hurt feelings, imagined or otherwise.

During my first teaching assignment out of college, I had a boy literally hurl a desk across my classroom. I believe the entire incident stemmed from another boy's comment about his girlfriend. That quickly, teenage emotions can erupt in poor decisions with (sometimes) dire consequences. Of course, we all know teens are not the only individuals who lack restraint; our prisons are full of grown-ups whose emotional reactions also got the best of them.

The mermaid tribe, led by the beautiful Catarina, rules itself based on an oral constitution of sorts. Luce, the novel's main character, quickly discovers after landing in the sea off Alaska that the mermaids all claim to follow their rules to the letter, but in actuality use them as best befits their needs or wants. She finds herself swimming among them, but feeling out of place even here. The mermaids spend their days swimming, diving, eating mussels, avoiding predatory orcas, and enjoying other (sometimes much darker) mermaid pursuits.

Luce begins to have second thoughts about her new self-made family when she is forced into situations -- and to commit acts -- she regrets. The advent of new characters keep the book interesting, despite the limitations involved in setting a book in such a secluded location. The buzz is that Lost Voices is the first novel in a trilogy the author has planned. Although I felt there were some issues (lack of plot in some places, a bit too dark in others), I will definitely read the second book in this trilogy to find out where and what main character Luce is doing.

Despite the darker themes, the writing and characters makes this an appropriate title for my middle school classroom as a book for individual students to read on their own. I would hesitate to read it aloud or teach it as a class novel simply because it is so female-centered; I doubt the thirteen- and fourteen-year-old boys in my classes would appreciate it as much as the girls would. It is also a novel I would hesitate to recommend to readers outside the YA world. If you are a teen or a YA book lover, you will most likely enjoy Lost Voices. However, it doesn't have the far-reaching power of other recent YA books such as The Hunger Games or Twilight.

The Girl's Guide to Homelessness: More Twenty-something Memoir, Less Account of Homelessness

Brianna Karp has lived a tough life, and she hasn't yet reached thirty. That's the basic idea behind Karp's newly released memoir, The Girl's Guide to Homelessness. I had mixed emotions about this book. First, the good things: Karp has an exceptional voice. She told her story flawlessly, her words perfect, tone measured, story interesting. She kept my interest throughout the book. She told a tale that was by turns shocking and heart-wrenching.

Karp divulges the details of her life thus far, from early childhood days spent tip-toeing around her bipolar mother to teenage jobs working full-time to support her family. She also recounts her formative years spent in the Jehovah's Witness church, which she refers to as "a cult". (In quotations because I personally know nothing about said church's doctrine and therefore cannot make a judgment call on this one. Also, I have known several people in the church who were actually quite nice and not cult-member-like at all.) She discusses her first "real" job making lots of money, and then the inevitable lay-off that occurred when the market took a down-turn. She is strong, and she has overcome much; that is evident in the book.

It would be nice if Karp's was a voice that could stand for the "new" homeless in America -- the homeless we Americans don't like to think about. Not the bum on the street corner muttering to himself, ragged jacket and two Wal-Mart bags slung over his shoulder. Not the toothless prostitute jones-ing for a next hit. But a homeless person who looks more like you or me -- fairly clean-cut, educated, dressed in regular clothes. Just fallen on hard times with no family to fall back on. That is the homelessness Karp wants to epitomize.

My problem is that she doesn't quite meet the mark. She overshoots a bit. Her memoir is finely-written, and she has a lot to say. But to call her the "new voice" of homelessness is a bit of an exaggeration. For one thing, she isn't exactly homeless. She lives in a trailer, although it is in the Wal-Mart parking lot without water and electricity. And she has both a job and other job opportunities, albeit crummy ones. She also has a laptop and a cell phone and receives unemployment benefits whenever she isn't working.

It's not that Karp's situation isn't dire or that I am trying to discount her tale. As I said, she has gone through many terrible things and survived. But to consider herself "homeless" and to call her book The Girl's Guide to Homelessness -- it just seems a bit much. After all, she borrows money at one point to go overseas to visit her fiance, met online via a homeless website. I have personally never been out of the country other than one trip to Mexico; it simply hasn't been within my budget.

Karp's memoir also takes a turn halfway through the book, from memoir about hard times to memoir about her new romance. She makes poor decisions, as many young people do in love. I won't spoil the book for you; it really is a good read. It is just a little more "Brianna Karp's memoir of her life so far" and a little less "girl's guide to homelessness."

Brianna Karp is the author of the blog The Girl's Guide to Homelessness, the predecessor to this memoir.

Skinny by Diana Spechler Examines Hunger and Grief

Gray Lachmann is a fabulously flawed main character whose story jumps off the page in Diana Spechler's new novel Skinny. Although some have billed it as a young adult novel, Gray herself is 27 years old. After her father dies, she spirals off the deep end, giving up everything important in her life in a quest to squelch her guilt. Because, of course, she claims to have killed him.

Gray has a successful business booking and selling tickets at comedy clubs, a career she embarked upon after meeting her long-term comedian boyfriend. She is good as what she does, and she looks every inch of successful -- thin, well-dressed. She gets her obsession with being fit and eating healthily from her mother, a woman who she claims can "eat a block of unseasoned tofu" for dinner.

These two are in direct opposition with the other member of their family -- Gray's father, who is hundreds of pounds overweight. Gray calls him a "active obese," however, as a man who still cannonballs into the swimming pool and jokes with friends at backyard barbecues. But his eating habits affect Gray and her mother in an extreme manner.

After his death, Gray goes over the deep end, eating everything in sight and gaining weight over the course of a few months. She withdraws from her boyfriend, looks into her father's private affairs, and embarks on a "fat camp" adventure as a camp counselor with an ulterior motive. Most of the story takes place at the camp, which Spechler peoples with bizarre characters who all seek some sort of miracle cure for their weight loss issues.

Things quickly seem a little off at the camp, but the entire tale spirals downward in unison with Gray's own dive into self-injurious behavior. Spechler makes important statements about grief, emotional eating, and self-esteem in Skinny. While Gray's actions seem over-the-top in some ways, I feel that Spechler successfully captured the emotional roller coaster that occurs with the loss of a parent. She also addresses eating topics from both sides -- overeating and eating disorders like bulimia.

 A (short, not boring) book trailer for Skinny:

Semi-Sweet: A Novel of Love and Cupcakes Tells Charming Irish Tale

In her latest novel released to the U.S., Roisin Meaney channels the best of one of my favorite authors, Maeve Binchy. Set in Ireland, her novel Semi-Sweet: A Novel of Love and Cupcakes boasts charming characters, a lovely small town setting, and a deftly-woven plot. Semi-Sweet is the Irish equivalent of a cozy mystery, minus the mystery. I suppose you could categorize it as "chick lit", although I often dislike that term; still, if ever a book fit that bill, this one probably did.

Meaney calls on a large cast of characters to populate Semi-Sweet. Although cupcake shop owner Hannah is arguably the novel's main character, her fictional town of Clongarvin is speckled with equally interesting characters: her parents, Geraldine and Stephen; Geraldine's boss Alice and Stephen's fellow dentist Tom; Hannah's best friend Adam and his sister Nora; Hannah's ex, Patrick and his new (pregnant) girlfriend Leah; Leah's mother (and Geraldine's fellow bridge player) Fiona; and musicians Wally, John, and Vivienne.

Readers get a glimpse into all of these characters lives, from their triumphs to their extreme failures. Through her rich characters, Meaney fairly brings Clongarvin, Ireland, to life.

The plot is (as most plots are) based around a series of problems, most of which sort themselves out in one way or another as the novel moves along. Hannah has just opened a cupcake shop, a daunting task in the slow economy. Almost at the same time, Patrick leaves her for his pregnant mistress Leah. Leah's mother Fiona is not exactly thrilled with either her daughter bearing an illegitimate child or with facing Hannah's mother Geraldine at bridge club.

To help with her expenses after Patrick leaves, Hannah's best friend Adam moves in with her and rents his own apartment to his sister Nora, freshly home from living in America. Alice and Tom face problems brought about by Tom's constant drinking. The musicians from the local wine bar insinuate themselves into the other characters' lives with one love affair after another. Geraldine and Stephen are almost narrators in the novel, as no action revolves around them, but they provide commentary on all the other characters' escapades.

Semi- Sweet and the town of Clongarvin are charming, as is Meaney's cast of characters. I highly recommend this novel, especially if you enjoy books set in Ireland as much as I do. Bonus: the cupcake recipe included at the novel's start.

Diane Chamberlain's The Midwife's Confession Is Excellent Women's Fiction

Repeat after me: I will not call it chick lit. I will not call it chick lit. I will not... You get the picture. For some reason, "chick lit" has gotten an extremely bad rap. To me, women's fiction is some of the best writing out there. But the term "chick lit" seems to carry with it the connotation that it is somehow less-than in terms of writing quality, that it is only about things women care about (i.e., handbags and make-up?), and that it is generally shallow rather than deep in terms of theme.

I suppose that Diane Chamberlain's new novel The Midwife's Confession could be termed "chick lit" by some. It is, after all, written by a woman. It is also (mainly) about female characters. It deals with "women's issues": pregnancy, motherhood, etc. However, it is also much more than that. The Midwife's Confession also explores themes of loss, relationships, depression, and guilt.

Noelle is a midwife; her mother was a midwife before her. When she takes her own life, friends Emerson and Tara are left to pick up the pieces. They are put in charge of her estate, of cleaning out her house, even of throwing one of her friends a birthday celebration that had been planned for some time. Em and Tara are shocked by their friend's suicide, but they are also surprised at the unfinished business she left behind. They soon learn that Noelle hid more than she shared, and her secrets will affect them all.

The Midwife's Confession contains a multi-layered plot that keeps the action moving at a frantic pace. While the midwife's story is the main plotline, Chamberlain weaves into that several other side plots. One involves the head of the Missing Children's Bureau, Anna Knightly, whose daughter Haley fights leukemia from a hospital bed in Washington, D.C. Another flashes back to the three friends' college days. Yet another reveals the death a few weeks prior to the novel's beginning of Tara's husband Sam, and follows the progression of her and her daughter Grace's grief.

Chamberlain expertly tells the story of all of these intertwined plots through a variety of narrative voices. She gives readers the opportunity to see the story from multiple perspectives; some tales are told by Noelle, others are narrated by Emerson or Tara, and still others are related by Anna or by the teenage Grace. Each voice reveals much about the narrating character and creates a landscape rich with dynamic characters.

Chamberlain was new to me as an author. She will be an excellent author to read at the beach, where I will be at the beginning of June! I look forward to reading her previous novels. (And, of course, she is a southern author, which doesn't hurt!)

The Girl in the Green Raincoat Shows a Softer Side of Tess Monaghan

It's no secret that I'm a Laura Lippman fan. I read her Tess Monaghan series years ago, then somehow abandoned it for a while. Last year, I listened to a Tess book I hadn't yet read (possibly a result of me forgetting about the series for a year or two) and -- wham. Just like that, I was officially obsessed again. One of the key things I love about series novels is the way you get to know both the main character and the city he/ she lives in so well. Case in point: Harry Bosch & L.A.; V.I. Warshawksi & Chicago; Kinsey Milhone & Santa Barbara (oops! I mean the fictional "Santa Teresa"); Izzy Spellman & San Francisco; Sookie Stackhouse & Bon Temps, Lousiana; Valentine Roncalli & NYC; Archie Sheridan & Portland, Oregon; and so many more.

The Tess Monaghan series, beginning with Baltimore Blues in 1997, details not only private investigator Tess, but also her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. If you thought you learned a lot about the city while watching Charm City Cakes, think again -- Lippman's books are the way to go. I recently read all but one of Lippman's standalone novels, and I'll assure you they are every bit as good as -- while very different from -- the Tess series. Basically, pick up a Lippman novel and you can't go wrong. Tess is a tough character, Baltimore born and bred by a stable, middle-class family. Tess is somewhat of a black sheep in her family, and lives an independent life first as a free-lance writer and newspaper reporter, and eventually as a P.I.

Until, that is, she meets Crow midway into the series. Crow is lovable and as unlike Tess as they come. The unlikely duo, however, has come to a new place of commitment in Lippman's new Tess novel The Girl in the Green Raincoat. The novel, which was first published in the New York Times as a serial, depicts Tess as readers have never seen her before: pregnant. Close to term and banished to bed rest to keep the baby in utero a bit longer, Tess is as bored and uncomfortable as she's ever been. The world outside her window is unavailable to her except through observation, which she incidentally does fairly often. Frequent passers-by become new obsessions for Tess, especially a beautiful woman who walks her dog past Tess's house each day. When the pair don't show up one day, Tess begins worrying about the woman -- and her dog.

She ropes longtime friend Whitney Talbot into helping her investigate the woman's disappearance, an investigation she runs from her sunroom. Whitney takes care of the legwork, and Tess's interviewees come to her rather than the other way around. Crow continuously tries to stop his unborn child from being harmed by Tess's nonstop investigative urges, but she is determined to follow through with the case -- if there even is a case, that is. Overall, this is a lighter-than-normal Tess book (both in size and in topic), but an ultimately satisfying one. It's nice as a reader to see a human side of Tess, a book in which her story is as important -- if not more important -- as the case she's trying to solve.

Lippman once wrote that she felt the Tess series was ending with The Girl in the Green Raincoat. She then goes on to say that she is unsure this is true, but currently has no plans for her most famous character. Let's all hope that isn't true. If it is, we can only hope Lippman will continue writing her fabulous standalone novels so that we can continue to catch glimpses of her Baltimore.