Paradox Bound

This science fiction book by Peter Clines is based on the premise that The American Dream is actually a physical thing "a powerful incarnation of the values of the Founding Fathers, who summoned the Egyptian God of Creation to forge their totem" (Kirkus). It has, however, in spite of the best efforts of the (literally) "faceless government men" to protect it, disappeared. And whoever finds it first, will control the destiny of the country and, therefore, significantly influence the future of the world. There is an entire cadre of people who are roving through history in antique cars and trains (the reasons for this are explained) looking for the hiding place of the dream. Over the decades, the mission of the faceless men has shifted from protecting the Dream to killing those hunting for the dream, the Searchers. Eli Teague has lived a relatively mundane life in the backwater town of Sanders, Maine. There's still a video store in town. There's not great phone access and no internet, so he works as an IT guy in the bank of a nearby town. But the reason he hangs around are two extraordinary encounters he has had when younger with a woman in a frock coat and tri-corne hat driving a souped up Model A. She appears out of nowhere and has, on one occasion, disappeared pursued by a large black car with men shooting at her. Eli, now nearly 30, encounters Harry (short for Harriet) Pritchard once again and this time he goes with her on a fast-paced chase across the country and back, through several time periods in her quest to find the Dream. Occasionally a little tricky to wrap your head around, but a fun read nevertheless. In addition to the review from Kirkus (above), here's a review from Publishers Weekly.

The Long Quiche Goodbye

Writing as Avery Aames, Daryl Wood Gerber is the author of several series, including "The Cookbook Nook" mysteries, the "French Bistro" mysteries, and the "Cheese Shop" mysteries ( 7 so far); this is the first in that last named series. It won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel (2010). Charlotte Bessette and her cousin Matthew have bought out Charlotte's grandparents who have been running the cheese shop in Providence, Ohio for some time. Because Matthew knows wine, they have annexed the space next door for a wine shop and are revamping the shops for a new look and a new name, Fromagerie Bessette. But at the opening event, their landlord is found murdered--stabbed to death with one of Charlotte's elegant olive-wood handled cheese knives. But the person who discovers him, the mayor of Providence and local theatrical/dance booster is none other than Charlotte's grandmother, Bernadette. The mayoral race is just days away and to complicate things, the wife of the dead man is running against Bernadette and insisting that she be locked up in jail. Charlotte feels she has to investigate, egged on by a friends and employees, in order to clear her grandmother's name. Overall, although I loved the discussions of cheese dishes, I found this disappointing. Little too much silly female dithering over gossip, hurt feelings and heart throbs, and too little good character development. I had to agree with one reviewer that I could hardly tell the characters apart--whether they were the sycophants of Kristine, the political rival, or Charlotte's own friends. Which may be why, I never guessed who the real killer was. And the juicily baited fish hook at the end about love interest Jordan was just trite. Read only if you are desperate for a cozy. Or better yet, read some good ones, like Laura Childs or Miranda James or the original Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie.

Classified as Murder

This the 2nd installment in Miranda James' "Cat in the Stacks" series starring rare book cataloger, Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel (see my post on Murder Past Due, the 1st in the series). Diesel has his own Facebook page here by the way. And why not? He has been Charlie's constant companion ever since Charlie's wife and his aunt Dottie died a couple years ago and he always seems to understand what Charlie is saying. He goes with Charlie everywhere-- on a leash when they walk to work at the university library archives where they live in Athena, Mississippi, or in the car when Charlie runs errands. On one of the Friday afternoons when Charlie is volunteering at the reference desk of the public library, a frequent patron, James Delacorte, asks Charlie if he would consider doing an inventory of Delacorte's rare book collection. He is afraid one of his family members has been stealing books from his personal library. Since the university is on spring break, Charlie agrees, but first he must meet the family, who all live in the Delacorte mansion: a hypochondriac sister, Daphne; her ne'er do well son Hubert and his wife, Eloise, who spends a lot of her time in a world long past; a great niece, Cynthia, a nurse at the local hospital; a great nephew, Stewart, who is a professor at the university; and the very proper English butler, Nigel Truesdale, who has been with Mr. Delacorte for decades. Mr. Delacorte isn't sure who is stealing his priceless books, or even if they have been stolen, but before he can find out, he is murdered with cookies--he was deathly allergic to peanuts. Deputy Sheriff Kanesha Berry as well as Mr. Delacorte's attorney think Charlie should complete the inventory, and maybe also keep an eye on the rest of the family while he's at it. With the help of his son, Sean, who has unexpectedly quit his job as a corporate attorney in Houston and moved home, Charlie discovers that several valuable first editions have indeed been swapped out for inferior copies, and that Delacorte's most recent purchase, a near-priceless copy of Poe's Tamarlane, is, in fact, missing. Diesel solves the theft, but it turns out it's not the same culprit that murdered Mr. Delacorte. This series continues to hold up with interesting characters, local color, and solid plotting.

Homicide in Hardcover

I have discovered a wealth of new mystery series recently with bookish themes. This one by Kate Carlisle is the first in her "Bibliophile Mystery" series that features rare book restorer Brooklyn Wainwright. She has opened her own business in a live-in/work-in loft in San Francisco after studying since childhood with her mentor, Abraham Karastovsky. She is delighted to receive an invitation to the opening of a fantastic new collection Abraham's been working on because they have been estranged ever since Brooklyn struck out on her own. After a cheerful reunion, he invites her to come see the rare edition of Faust that he is restoring in the basement workrooms later in the evening. But when she shows up, Brooklyn finds Abraham bleeding to death on the floor, living only long enough to whisper to her "Remember the devil." The copy of Faust he is clutching is supposed to be cursed, and when a 2nd --admittedly somewhat shady--book restorer dies, and Brooklyn herself is threatened, she begins to believe it might be true.  Brooklyn decides to investigate, not only because Abraham deserves justice, but because the police, and a handsome private security consultant,  think she might be involved. Brooklyn is a quirky and endearing character who will hopefully grow with future installments. There's certainly enough here to keep me going....and there are 12 more in the series!

White Teeth

This debut novel by Zadie Smith was also one of those chosen for PBS's Great American Read, and was my 2nd choice for this month's (January 2019) book group. Once again, I failed to complete the book I chose (see A Confederacy of Dunces) and seemed not to grasp what the critics found so gratifying in this novel; after 300 pages, I still did not care about any of the characters. Briefly stated, Kirkus says it's "An impressively witty satirical first novel, London-set, chronicling the experiences of two eccentric multiracial families during the last half of the 20th century." Publishers Weekly calls the book "A remarkable examination of the immigrant's experience in a postcolonial world, Smith's novel recalls the hyper-contemporary yet history-infused work of Rushdie, sharp-edged, fluorescent and many-faceted." While the New York Times asserts that "Zadie Smith's debut novel is, like the London it portrays, a restless hybrid of voices, tones and textures. Hopscotching through several continents and 150 years of history, White Teeth encompasses a teeming family saga, a sly inquiry into race and identity and a tender-hearted satire on religious antagonism and cultural bemusement."
A summary of numerous reviews is offered in The Guardian. 

A Confederacy of Dunces

This book, written by John Kennedy Toole and published posthumously after he killed himself at age 32, was awarded the Pulitzer and received lots of rave reviews. I chose it from the PBS's "The Great American Read" list of 100 books for my book group --we all selected one book we had always wanted to read-- but after two nights of trying, I gave up. Walker Percy, who was convinced to read the manuscript by Toole's mother, read it 3 times and calls it "A great rumbling farce of Falstaffian dimension..." and the Chicago Sun-Times says of the book "What a delight, what a roaring, rollicking, footstamping wonder this book is!" It did NOT make me laugh. I did not find the characters amusing or even pitiful. They just annoyed me, so I gave up. The Indepdendent calls it "the book of a lifetime" and goes on to say, "A Confederacy of Dunces is a story of loneliness amid crowds, a comedy that hurts. At the centre is an anti-hero named Ignatius J Reilly. If Don Quixote had been thrust into the underbelly of modern New Orleans, this is exactly who he would have become. Hypochondriac, melancholic, a walking catastrophe..."It is, indeed, set in New Orleans and they have even erected a statue of the main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, on Canal Street.
This review in The Guardian tells you more about the author and the book. Other rave reviews come from Kirkus, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.