Category: Fiction

Some Buried Caesar

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Stout, Rex. Some Buried Caesar. Bantam Books, 1938.

Reason read: to continue the series started in November.

It takes a lot to get Nero Wolfe to leave his New York brownstone apartment. As a self proclaimed recluse, food and flowers are his favorite indoor pastimes. He can devote a lot of time and attention to both without ever having to leave home. In Some Buried Caesar it is the chance to showcase his prize albino orchids at an update New York exhibition that draws Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, out of the apartment and out of the city. However, a blown tire and subsequent tangle with a tree leave Wolfe and Goodwin stranded at the Pratt home. Since the Pratts own a farm out in the country, Wolfe and Goodwin are captive guests while the car is being repaired. Once settled at the house they learn their host, Tom Pratt, has an interesting stunt to promote his chain of restaurants. He plans to cook and serve a prized bull as the very expensive main attraction at a barbeque. Eating a bull named Hickory Caesar Grindson was never on Wolfe’s agenda. Murder was not on his mind as he waited for his car to be fixed, either. All he wanted was to show his orchids and go home. But when Hickory Caesar Grindson gores a rival neighbor to death, Wolfe knows there is a case to be solved.

As an aside, I found myself questioning details almost in the same manner as Wolfe. Was Miss Rowan a plant?

One way I am like Nero Wolfe, “I like to stay at home, and when I am away I like to get back” (p 122). Another commonality: did you ever notice that Wolfe barely smiles? He does a lot of muttering and sighing.

Author fact: Stout spent some time in Wakarusa, Kansas.

Book trivia: the introduction to Some Buried Caesar was written by Diane Mott Davidson.
Book trivia II: Davidson included a recipe for baked beans in her introduction. I’ll have to try them.
Book trivia III: my copy of Some Buried Caesar (#6 in the series) also included the story The Golden Spiders (#22 in the series).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss” (p 226).

Hatwearer’s Lesson

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Joe, Yolanda. The Hatwearer’s Lesson. Plume, 2004.

Reason read: Yolanda Joe was born in March. Read in her honor.

When Grandmother Ollie speaks, her granddaughter, Terri, best sit up straight and listen with both ears wide open. Ms. Ollie knows a thing or two about life, love, and loss. When she couldn’t write Terri’s fiancé’s name (Derek) in her Bible she knew trouble was brewing. Terri might be a successful Chicago lawyer and one half of a gorgeous power couple soon to be married, but what is she to do when Grandmother says there is bad luck coming? Derek is wealthy, sexy, and smart. Terri, only thinking about image, cannot afford to lose Derek so she does what any practical woman would do. She ignores the mystical warnings. Terri thinks she has it all with her career and Derek, but her luck goes from bad to worse when first, she discovers her hunk of a boyfriend has been stepping out on her with a rival. Then her grandmother suffers a fall that lands Ollie in the hospital and in need of an operation. This health scare couldn’t come at a better time. Going back home to Alabama to care for Ollie gives Terri the much needed time away to clear her head. Except. What about her professional legal career? Will her absence jeopardize her place in the firm? She does have rivals sniffing around her clients. And what about her heart? Will she ever be able to trust Derek again? She has rivals sniffing around her man, too. Life becomes even more confusing when she meets an Alabama country boy who wears his heart on his sleeve and trustworthy honesty on his tongue.

Head scratcher: correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think you need to block your number when calling from a cell phone. No one will know if you are standing in your own bathroom or at the North Pole when you make a call from a cell.

Author fact: I am reading four Joe books for the Challenge. I finished Bebe’s By Golly Wow. Still to go are He Say, She Say and This Just In.

Book trivia: According to Joe, hat wearer is one word: hatwearer. My spell checker hates me right now.

Playlist: Gladys Knight, James Brown, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, and Luther Vandross.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “African American Fiction: She Say” (p 12).

Deep Blue Good-By

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MacDonald, John D. The Deep Blue Good-By. Fawcett Gold Medal, 1964.

Reason read: Florida became a state on March 3rd, 1845.

Travis McGee lives on a 52′ barge-like houseboat docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His occupation is to recover items for people from time to time; whenever he needs the cash or is bored. Sort of like a freelance detective or repo man without structure. In a nutshell, McGee’s friend Chookie knows of a girl who needs help recovering something. She starts with the fact that her daddy went to prison for killing a man. While there David Berry divulged to his cellmate, Junior Allen, that he stole something of great worth. After David dies the cellmate is released from prison. He does the only thing a criminal fresh out of prison can do; he makes a beeline for the daughter’s residence to see if he can take possession of the stolen goods for himself. But first he has to completely traumatize a few women along the way. McGee does not know what the items are or where they might be. What he does know is that women should not be treated that way. In addition to getting the items back he wants to make the guy pay for brutalizing the fairer sex. What follows is a convoluted mix of violence, brainwashing, womanizing, and Florida sunshine. McGee is a flawed good guy who has his moments.

Quote I liked, “And I do not function on emotional motivation” (p 19).

As an aside, I would like to see his Rolls Royce that had been converted into a pickup truck.

Author fact: Macdonald wrote two books on my Challenge list: Only Girl in the Game (October 2036) and The Deep Blue Good-by.

Book trivia: Almost all of MacDonald’s books have a color in the title.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Florida Fiction” (p 89). It must be said that on the cover of MacDonald’s book the title reads, The Deep Blue Good-By. Not Goodbye.

Their Cruel Lives

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Hart, Alastair MacDonald. Their Cruel Lives. Self Published Kindle Edition, 2024.

Reason read: Every month (or so) I get to review cool books from LibraryThing.

Confessional: in the early pages of Their Cruel Lives I had the feeling I was not supposed to like the protagonist of the story. From the onset I learned that Archibald Hennessy is supposed to be charmless, friendless, and a veritable loner. He is out of work, but not knowing his story, this made me highly suspicious of Hennessy’s intentions. I had no idea know why. I think that is the sign of an accomplished writer. Hart had the ability to make me feel something for the main character almost immediately even though it was not a positive reaction.
But. Back to the plot. Archibald Hennessy lands an overnight janitorial job at a World War I veterans home. His main responsibility is to clean up after the patients. On his very first night he befriends Herbert, a man destined to be a man of God until his father convinced him to go to war. He enjoys talking to Herbert and learning about his life. From there, Archibald meets Arthur, a man with childhood ambitions of being an Olympic athlete until the war took his legs and Norman, a simple farm boy who left home to be a sailor. Each man moved Archibald to consider what would have happened to these men had they not been gravely injured in World War I. He felt it was a travesty that all the men of the Excelsior Institute listlessly sat around without conversation or companionship; they ate barely decent food and didn’t have worthwhile entertainment beyond television. Even though Archibald was not injured in a war or had a limb amputated, he connected with the lost souls of the Excelsior Institute. It became his life’s mission to fix the broken system that did not respect its veterans.
Building upon my previous confessional: I would have loved it if Hart could have had Archibald interview Nurse Jocelyn, the antagonist of the story. Who was she? Why had she worked at the Excelsior Institute for so long and what did she think when it started to decline? I would have thought it would be a great plot twist if Archibald had been able to emotionally connect with Jocelyn and get her to have a change of heart. She could have been the heroine of the story. Also, Hart could have told us more about Archibald Hennessy. Who was he? Where did he come from? What was his story? I think I would have celebrated his successes more if I had connected with him from the beginning.

Please note: I usually love to quote authors when I think they have written something especially brilliant or moving or profound. I will not be sharing anything from Their Cruel Lives due to copyright constraints.

Author fact: Hart has written a bunch of books. None of them are on my Challenge list.

Book trivia: My downloaded version of Their Cruel Lives did not include any cover design.

Playlist: “All Creatures Great and Small”.

August

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Rossner, Judith. August. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.

Reason read: February is Psychology month. Maybe that is because so many people want to know what happened to their commitment to new year resolutions?

Two women: Dawn Henley is a patient with obsessive tendencies, latching onto daddy types as lovers. Her mother committed suicide when Dawn was only six months old. Her father drowned soon thereafter. She was raised by Vera and Tony, a lesbian couple. Do any of these early tragedies have anything to do with her current neurotic behavior of dependency? Like any person raised without really knowing their birth parents, Dawn is on a journey to find herself. Her identity is tied to people she doesn’t remember.
Lulu is Dawn’s therapist. The telling of her side of the story mostly happens in August, when she is on vacation and away from being a therapist. While on holiday, she can be a mother to two young sons and try to rebuild a relationship with her estranged adult daughter, who resurfaces after seven years. Lulu is also trying to justify a romantic relationship with a married man. She knows it isn’t right, but she can’t help herself. Lulu’s character reminded me of Brenda Leigh Johnson, the main character on the television show, The Closer. Brenda’s professional life hid a very chaotic personal life. Both women are great at their jobs, but behind the scenes, they were a mess.

As an aside, I tried really hard to not think Don Henley when reading about Dawn.

Author fact: I think I remember seeing Looking for Mr. Goodbar on my parent’s bookshelf when I was a kid. I am only reading Nine Months in the Life of an Old Maid for the Challenge (after August, of course).

Book trivia: August details the plot of an actual movie called “Seconds.” I put it on the list because I think it sounds interesting. Will I actually watch it? Who knows.

Music: Gershwin, and “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Shrinks and Shrinkees” (p 221).

Too Many Cooks

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Stout, Rex. Too Many Cooks. Bantam Books, 1983.

Reason read: to continue the series started in November in honor of Rex Stout’s first Nero Wolfe mystery.

The only thing that can get Nero Wolfe to leave his brownstone in New York City is…not much. In Too Many Cooks he is persuaded to join a group of chefs for a sauce competition as their guest of honor. Even though he is the judge of honor that doesn’t mean someone can’t be murdered right under his nose. Indeed, someone is stabbed in the pantry. This is a case in which Archie and Nero do not get much sleep. Everyone must be interviewed and interviewed again. The slightest lie could crack the case. But when Nero’s life is threatened, the question becomes will he have enough time to figure out the mystery before he is the next dead man?
Every time I read a Nero Wolfe mystery I learn a little more about the man. This time I discovered that Wolfe hates things that move (especially trains). He calls it enginephobia. He doesn’t like to be touched nor does he like to haggle. He still loves his beer, though! In Too Many Cooks he also loves a particular sausage recipe. Archie, his main sidekick, describes himself as a secretary, a bodyguard, an office manager, an assistant detective, and a goat.

Quote I loved, “…Once again I had to follow his taillights without knowing the road” (Archie talking about working with Nero) (p 81-82). Archie exaggerates. He knows the meaning behind every gesture Wolfe makes. Here is another: “Do you realize that that fool is going to let that fool make a fool of him again?” (p 128).

Author fact: Rex Stout’s parents were Quakers.

Book trivia: the foreword to Too Many Cooks is hilarious. Archie is worried about the spelling of French words.

Playlist: Beethoven and Wagner.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss (p 226).

Eye of the Fleet

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Woodman, Richard. An Eye of the Fleet. Pinnacle Books, 1981.

Reason read: February is History Month.

Woodman draws from actual events to bring the action in An Eye of the Fleet to life. His detailed descriptions of the various sailing vessels is extraordinary. Readers cannot say they do not know what a frigate looks like after reading An Eye of the Fleet. Beyond boats, readers will build an extensive lexicon of nautical terminology by the end of the book. Phrases like carrying canvas and yardarms blocks will become common knowledge. If you have ever wondered what a battle at sea sounded, looked, or even smelled like, Eye of the Fleet will take you there hook line and sinker.
Beyond a nautical education readers will meet Midshipman Nathaniel Drinkwater as he begins his nautical career aboard the HMS Cyclops. It is a thrilling coming of age of sorts as young Drinkwater helps his crewmates capture other vessels and battle privateers with cannons, pistols and hand to hand combat. The skirmishes are bloody and deadly but so is life aboard the HMS Cyclops. Drinkwater has to navigate relationships with his fellow sailors as well. One particular run-in with a bully forces Drinkwater to fight back with intensity. This antagonist adds tension beyond the battles at sea.
Gradually, Drinkwater comes into his own as a leader and a romantic. An Eye of the Fleet ends with Nathaniel dreaming of a young woman back in England.

Author fact: I think this goes without saying judging by the detailed descriptions of the boats in An Eye of the Fleet, but Mr. Woodman has sailing experience in all kinds of ships. He was a member of the Society for Nautical Research.

Book trivia: An Eye of the Fleet is the first book in the Nathaniel Drinkwater Midshipman Series.
Second book trivia: my (borrowed) copy of An Eye of the Fleet was signed by Mr. Woodman.

As an aside, I couldn’t ignore the Natalie connection to An Eye of the Fleet. Natalie released an album called Leave Your Sleep. It featured a song called “Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience” originally written by Charles Causley as a poem for children. Woodman’s description of battle-scarred boats reminded me of Natalie singing, “and the flash and rigging were shot away…”

BookLust: from Book Lust in the simple chapter called “Sea Stories” (p 217).

Man Who Fell to Earth

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Tevis, Walter. The Man Who Fell to Earth. Narrated by George Guidall, Recorded Books, 2018.

Reason read: February is Science Fiction month.

Meet Thomas Jerome Newton, a humanoid alien from the planet Anthea. Standing rail thin at 6’6″ with pale skin and odd features, Newton has come to Earth in a desperate attempt to save his dying planet’s population. Less than three hundred souls are clinging to life while the planet dies away from drought and mismanagement. Newton’s brilliant plan is to use the earth’s resources to build a spaceship large enough to bring the surviving Antheans to Kentucky, of all places. Only, as time goes on, America’s vices get the better of him. Alcoholism and loneliness start to cloud his judgement. As suspicions about him grow, the question of human destiny becomes philosophical in nature.

Author fact: Tevis also wrote The Hustler, The Color of Money, and The Queen’s Gambit. All titles on my Challenge list.

Book trivia: The Man Who Fell to Earth was made into a movie starring David Bowie. This is one that I will watch because I borrowed the DVD from a library.

Music: “Oh Lordie, Pick a Bale of Cotton!”, “Faith of Our Fathers”, “I You Knew Susie, Like I Know Susie”, Haydn, “Jingle Bells”, Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A Major, “Rock of Ages”, Strauss’ The Poet and the Peasant Overtures, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”, “White Christmas”, and “Adeste Fideles”.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Child Prodigies” (p 43). So. The Man Who Fell to Earth does not have a child prodigy anywhere in its plot. This, and other Tevis books, should not be in this chapter.

Mistaken Identity

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Scottoline, Lisa. Mistaken Identity. Harper Paperbacks, 2012.

Reason read: to continue the series started in December in honor of Pennsylvania becoming a state.

Bennie Rosato is a former criminal lawyer who specialized in police misconduct. She spent her career suing the police department.

Confessional: there are so many things I question about this story. A woman jailed for killing a cop reaches out to Bennie because she claims she is Bennie’s twin sister. Bennie just happens to be a criminal defense lawyer. For me, Bennie lost all credibility when she thought it was bizarre to get a DNA test to confirm or deny this claim. Surely Alice, the woman claiming to be her twin, would agree to it immediately if it were true. By doing so would put all doubt to bed. DNA is the irrefutable evidence that all lawyers, prosecutors and defense, love. Bennie claimed that at her core, blood mattered. Family mattered. If it is all that important, why did she consider taking a DNA test bizarre? I have to ask why Bennie is not more skeptical of Alice. Could it be possible that Alice researched Bennie’s life in order to mirror it as a twin? As a lawyer, wouldn’t Bennie be wary of con artists no matter what they look like?
Here is another weird one. Bennie notices Alice’s nails are shaped into neat ovals. If Alice has been in prison for over a year, is she visited by a manicurist? I doubt she would be allowed to have a nail file in her prison cell. And, And. And! I have to ask. Why would Bennie go to victim’s place of residence to cut her hair to look like Alice? How is it that the apartment is not rented to someone else after a year? Why is it that all of the accused belongings are still in the basement? Is Alice still paying rent? Like I said, so many questions!

Pet peeve: the writing tic is still there. Scottoline overuses “like a” simile to describe people an actions: like a riptide, like flames, like the sun, like a storm cloud, like a pinwheel, like a shadow, like an urban, like a kid… I could go on and on. As the saying goes…if I had a dollar for every time Scottoline writes the word like…

Author fact: Scottoline will celebrate a big birthday later this year.

Book trivia: Mary DiNunzio, from Everywhere That Mary Went, is portrayed as a bumbling law clerk in Mistaken Identity.

NEXIS is the go-to database for all Scottoline mysteries. I guess WestLaw wasn’t a thing.

Music: Barry White, Bruce Springsteen, and “Ave Maria.”

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Philadelphia” (p 179).

Red Box

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Stout, Nero. The Red Box. Bantam, 1937.

Reason read: to continue the series started in December in honor of Stout’s birth month.

The Red Box opens with a peculiar murder. Fashion model Molly Lauck was poisoned after eating a piece of candy. The mystery seems impossible to solve. Molly provided the box of candy from somewhere. This all happened in the middle of a fashion show with hundreds of people in attendance. Nero Wolfe does not need to visit the scene of the crime to know what happened. Based on interviews and the observations of his partner, Archie, Wolfe solves the case. Of course he does.
Nero Wolfe fans will be pleased to know that the details remain the same after four books. I know I love it when mysteries refer back to previous cases or when details remain consistent. Wolfe still lives on 35th Street in a brownstone. He still has over 10,000 orchids. Plant time is still between 9am and 11am and 4pm to 6pm without fail. Theo Horstmann is still Wolfe’s orchid caretaker. Archie Goodwin is still his trusty sidekick (and has been for nine years now). Fritz Grenner is still his chef. [As an aside, one detail I did not remember was Wolfe collecting bottle caps.]

As an aside, I went to high school with a woman with the same exact name as one of the characters. We were not exactly friends but people were always comparing us because we looked similar. I wonder what happened to her?

Quotes to quote, “I am not immoveable, but my flesh has a constitutional reluctance to sudden, violent or sustained displacement” (p 3), “Of course there was the off chance that she was a murderess, but you can’t have everything” (p 77) and Archie to Nero, “You’re the without which nothing” (p 209).

Author fact: Stout was the sixth of nine children.

Book trivia: Red Box was published in 1937 as the fourth book in the Nero Wolfe series. It includes an introduction by Carolyn G. Hart.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss” (p 226).

Eddie and the Cruisers

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Kluge, P.F. Eddie and the Cruisers. Viking Press, 1980.

Reason read: Kluge’s birth month is in January. Read in his honor.

If you think about it, the premise for Eddie and the Cruisers is pretty simple. A year out of college, in 1958, Frank “Wordman” Ridgeway joins the band Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers. Front man Eddie is a charismatic and ambitious singer who knows his music is going to make it big. For awhile Eddie is right. He’s got the talent. He’s got the looks. He’s got the girl. Like all creatives, Eddie’s demise comes when he takes his music in another direction and his listeners don’t understand; worse, they hate it. Eddie rages into the night and has a horrible accident, ending his life. Back to narrator, Frank Ridgeway. Twenty years later, Frank is an English teacher and has put Eddie and the Cruisers far behind him. That is, until he starts hearing Cruisers songs on the radio and he is visited by a reporter wanting to know about recordings that went missing – Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers tape recordings from “that” night. Memories come flooding back and all of a sudden Wordman needs to know what happened to the rest of the band. More importantly, where are those tapes?
While the novel takes a dark and ominous turn towards the end, I enjoyed Frank’s naïve narrative. It truly was a coming of age story for the Wordman.

Author fact: Kluge wrote a bunch of books and I am reading seven of them for the Challenge.

Book trivia: Kluge is clever. There are a bunch of sly references that people might not get: Gary Gilmore. Do people even know who he is anymore? And who will get the “Fairly Ridiculous” reference? I only did because I went to the Teaneck Ridiculous (as apposed to the Madison campus Kluge referred to in the book).
Additional (obvious) book trivia: I think everyone knows Eddie and the Cruisers was made into a movie of the same name. I actually got to see it for the first time last weekend! And! And. And, there is a sequel…Eddie Lives! Great googly moogly!

Music (and you know there is going to be a lot): “Auld Lang Syne”, “Ballad of Davy Crockett”, Barry Manilow, Bee Gees, Bill Haley, Billy Eckstine, Bo Diddley, Bobby Freeman’s “Do You Want to Dance?”, Buddy Holly, Captain and Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”, Carly Simon, Charlie and Inez Foxx, Chuck Berry, Coasters’ “Searchin'”, “Young Blood”, Debbie Reynolds’ “Tammy”, Del Vikings, Diana Ross, Dinah Washington, Donna Summer, Drifters’ “Ruby Baby”, Elvis Presley’s “Teddy Bear”, “Love Me Tender”, Eddie Cochran, Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, Frankie Laine, Frankie Lyman’s “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”, Funky Company, Gene Vincent, Glenn Miller, Gogi Grant, Howlin’ Wolf, Ike Turner, Ink Spots, Isaac Hayes, James Brown, James Taylor, Janis Joplin, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shaking Goin’ On”, Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name”, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Reed, John Denver, Johnny Lee, Johnny Mathis, Jose Feliciano, Judy Garland, Kay Kyser, Kris Kristofferson, LaVern Baker, Lee Andrews and the Hearts’ “Teadrops”, Leonard Warren, Liberace, Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou”, Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Mills Brothers, Muddy Waters, national anthem, Nolan Strong’s “The Wind”, Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay”, Pat Boone’s “Love Letters in the Sand”, Paul Anka’s “Having My Baby”, “Peggy Sue”, “Purple People Eater”, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”, Ray Charles’ “Moonlight Gambler”, Rod Stewart, Roy Hamilton’s ” Ebb Tide”, Roy Orbison, Rufus Thomas, Russ Colombo, Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come”, the Stones, “Stranded in the Jungle”, “Sunday Kind of Love”, Teresa Brewer, “When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie”, Wayne Newton, and Woody Herman.

Eddie and the Cruisers Songs: On the Dark Side, Blue Lady, Down on My Knees, Far-Away Woman, Fast Exit, It’ll Happen Tonight, Leaving Town, Some Kind of Loving, These Oldies But Goodies Remind Me of You, the Tide, and Call On Me.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “P.F. Kluge: Too Good To Miss” (p 139).

Caspian Rain

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Nahai, Gina B. Caspian Rain. McAdams, 2007.

Reason read: the Iran hostage crisis ended on January 20th, 1981. Caspian Rain takes place in Iran. Read to celebrate a moment in history.

Twelve year old Yaas tells the sad tale of her mother Bahar’s marriage to her father, Omid. Bahar had come from a poor family full of shame. Her mother was a seamstress who cannot sew and her father was a cantor who could not carry a tune. Why Omid would want to marry beneath him is anyone’s guess. Baha left school to get married during her eleventh grade year and not even a year into her marriage she was desperate to return to school. Iranian custom did not allow her to continue her education as a married woman. Like a child who keeps running away from home, Bahar kept trying to stretch her independence, only to be dragged back to the life of a housewife. One has to feel sorry for Bahar. The old adage is true: you do not know what you do not know. Bahar was so poor she didn’t recognize a poor gift as a snub or insult. Iranian culture states that a divorced woman is a shame upon the family. She who separates from her husband has no rights, no family, no home, no money; nothing to call her own. So when Omid starts a public affair with another woman, Bahar can do nothing but suffer the disgrace in silence. Nahai gracefully details the gender and religious expectations of life in Iran.
I think Americans have a difficult time with the characters of Caspian Rain because of the cultural divide. We cannot relate to a woman who suffers so much abuse. I know I had a difficult time with the sister who was repeatedly beaten and locked in a shed with pigeons. To escape cruelty she made the only logical decision available to her.

The best line in the whole book, “For every sin, a virtue; every cruelty, a measure of mercy” (p 229). So beautiful.

Author fact: Nahai also wrote Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith. I will be reading it in the month of June a few years from now.

Playlist: Nahai rarely mentions specific songs in Caspian Rain although there is plenty of opportunity. There is a character called the Opera Singer who tries to sing. There is a Tango Dancer who never names the songs she dances to by name. Of the music Nahai does mention: “On This Moonlit Evening”, Ringo Starr, and Doris Day.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the obvious chapter called “Iran” (p 109).

American Fuji

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Backer, Sara. American Fuji. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001.

Reason read: there is a interesting day in Japan called “Coming of Age” and it is celebrated in January as a national holiday. It is always the second Monday in January.

At first glance, American Fuji seems like a satire. The title of the book is tongue-in-cheek and the company Gaby Stanton works for is ridiculous. Gone with the Wind promises fantasy funeral services; even selling people travel to the moon to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” or the obvious “Fly Me to the Moon” for a loved one’s remains. A grieving American father came to Shizuoka, Japan, under the guise of promoting a self-help book, but really looking for answers as to why his teenage son was shipped home in a casket. Cody Thorn was an exchange student and only twenty years old. Japanese culture stonewalls his father, Alex Thorn, at every turn because he didn’t research his options before arriving. All he knew was that Gone With the Wind was responsible for sending his son’s body home so logically, he starts there. Interestingly enough, Gaby Stanton had three connections to Alex’s deceased son. She had been a professor at the University where Cody had been studying (until she was mystifyingly fired), she now works at the same funeral home that had unceremoniously shipped Cody’s body home after a motorcycle accident took his life, and her only Gone With the Wind client is the recipient of Cody’s transplanted heart. Here are some other coincidences that startled me. Alex Thorn travels to the university by himself and manages to meet the very professor who took Gaby’s job. He also meets Gaby’s British friend completely by accident as well.
Together, Gaby and Alex pair up to solve their individually mysteries. Throw in a chronic illness, corruption, the Japanese mafia, and the summer heat and cultural prejudices and there you have American Fuji. Despite being a busy book with too many coincidences, I enjoyed American Fuji.

Book trivia: American Fuji is Sara Backer’s first novel.

Author fact: according to the back flap of American Fuji, Sara Backer is a poet, essayist, and short fiction writer.

Because Gaby’s boss only speaks in Beatles lyrics, there were a few to mention. Here’s the whole playlist: Bach, Beatles, Beethoven, Brahms Fourth Symphony, “Camptown Races”, Chopin, Debussy, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” and “My Way”, “Swan Lake”, “Hey Jude”, “I am the Walrus”, “Jingle Bells”, Karen Carpenter’s “Close to You”, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, “Revolution”, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, “Whistle While You Work”, and “Yesterday”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Japanese Journeys” (p 116).

Crazy Creek

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Lampman, Evelyn Sibley. Crazy Creek. Doubleday & Co., 1948.

Reason read: When I was a child, every January I would chose a stack of books to read over the course of a year. This is in memory of that child.

In a nutshell, a young girl named Judy takes a refurbished boat out on Crazy Creek without knowing the river or how to control the boat. After she crashes the boat, two boys rescue her. Strangely enough, they have her last name. Stranger still, she recognizes one of them as her grandfather.
Confessional: when I realized how the ending was shaping up I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Wizard of Oz. I hope that wasn’t too much of a spoiler alert, but the conclusions are very similar. It also explained why Judy was never overtly homesick while away from her modern day family. She is away from her true family for a year and yet the only time she gets weepy is at Christmas, remembering their traditions.

Author fact: Lampman was born in 1908 and died in 1980.

Book trivia: Crazy Creek is not the most popular of books written by Lampman. The Shy Stegosaurus gets more attention. I’m not reading that one for the Challenge.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the introduction (p x).

Final Appeal

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Scottoline, Lisa. Final Appeal. Harper Collins, 2004.

Reason read: Scottoline was born in the month of July and since I have been reading her other mysteries lately, I thought I would throw this one on the pile. Read in honor of Scottoline’s birth month.

Grace Rossi is a law clerk, assigned to a death penalty case and in way over her head. Even though she isn’t one hundred percent qualified, Judge Armen Gregorian believes in her and wants her to work with him on a high-profile death penalty appeal case…until the judge winds up dead. Grace must act like a cop, sniffing out the truth because the little clues are not adding up to a supposed suicide. Plus, there is her truth to face. It must be said that she was in love with the deceased and she had sex with him the night before he died. He said he loved her. She is convinced he was murdered.
Final Appeal has all the hallmarks of a thriller: Grace Rossi’s case is controversial and full of racial tension, sexual rejection, silencing the witness, and clandestine love affairs. Truth be told, I thought the death penalty case would have more to do with the mystery of the judge’s death until Scottoline throws in the possibility the judge was crooked.
I could have done without the subplot of of Grace’s memory of child abuse. I disliked that she was quick to accuse each of her parents. she even went so far as to question her child about inappropriate touching. It was completely unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the overall storyline.
My only complaint is that Scottoline has a writing tic that becomes more and more noticeable with every chapter. She uses the simile “like a…fill-in-the-blank” technique a lot. Examples: like a bouquet, like a skinny…, like a black-eyed Susan, like a thirsty…, like a traffic…You get the point. I could go on and on. There were so many similes I lost count.

Natalie Merchant connection: you know that if there is the slightest connection to Miss Merchant, I am going to make it. In the penultimate line of the 10,000 Maniacs song, Natalie sings “Who will read my final right and hear my last appeal?”

Book trivia: Final Appeal won an Edgar Award.

Playlist: C+C Music Factory’s “Everybody Dance Now”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Big Ten Country: the Literary Midwest – Pennsylvania” (p 31).