World Without End by Ken Follett

image from LibraryThing

I must admit I was a little disappointed. I feel like sort of a traitor admitting that.

I so loved Pillars of the Earth!
 I've had World for quite a while and have saved it until I had the time to really sink into it....

I did like it, but World was almost the same as Pillars - just 200 years later.

The deep love relationships are thwarted again and again.
The pompous, hypocritical church tries to control events again and again.
The main characters are the only town members with vision and common sense - again.
The nobility are cold, heartless, twisted and only cared about appearance and money - again.

There were chapters I felt like I was watching a traffic accident. I was too curious to stop, but it was so painful to read the details.

Had I read this first - I think I might have called it my favorite.
I cared about the characters more than Pillars. The plague and the 'witch' accusations are a part of history that I've actually heard of - so it made it all more plausible.

But - I also need to admit that I read into the single digits of the night more than once with this story.

Bottom line - I really liked the story, the characters, the whole plot. But, standing on this side and looking back - it felt too much like a rerun for a wholehearted recommendation.

Shucks!

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

image from LibraryThing

Our December/January book club book.

This is a World War II story about two naive University of Iowa girls and their decision to move to New York City for the summer. They were led to believe there were easy to find and lucrative jobs for dependable Iowans. Instead, they find loads of girls for every opening in all the posh stores.

On a whim they decide to try Tiffany's. They are surprised to be hired as the first two girls on the sales floor. But, they aren't selling - they are pages earning $20/week. Hardly enough to pay for the rent of their two room flat, bus and subway fare and a little left for food. But, the adventure of living in the City makes the lack of money unimportant.

They meet more than one famous person - from a gangster with Marjorie's last name to Marlene Dietrich. They are also in the midst of NYC when a plane hits the Empire State Building and in Times Square with 2 million other excited New Yorkers when the end of the war is announced.

Marjorie discovers love, friendship and excitement. As well as a deep appreciation for her roots back in Iowa.

This was a fun and fast read. Although it reminded me again that memoirs aren't my favorite. I'd rather read a novel based on this summer!

I wish I had read this before our trip to NYC this summer. It would have been fun to find some of the places she mentioned. We did find New Yorkers to be every bit as friendly and supportive as Marjorie did! Maybe some things don't change.

Your Oasis on Flame Lake by Lorna Landvik

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This is another great Lorna Landvik book.

Devera is a woman in the midst of a mid-life crisis - she has a wonderful family -a quirky husband who cares for her, two daughters - Lin in the midst of of teenage angst and Darcy a sweet and quirky 11 year old.

Her best friend is a spoiled rotten biddy name BiDi. BiDi believes that she is the best, the brightest, and the most of the small town of White Falls. Really she is a tease still living in her high school fantasies. Her first marriage to Big Mike fell apart and she fell in love again with Sergio, a high energy latin baker. BiDi's daughter Franny follows her father Big Mike's size and hockey skills much to BiDi's dismay. She expects her daughter to follow her size two shape.

Into all of this mix Dick, Devera's husband opens a night club in the redone basement of their home. He has decorated with movie posters, candles, black curtains and lots of love. He christens it Oasis on Flame Lake. And much to everyone's surprise it's a big hit.

But Dev makes a terrible choice that will shake their foudations. Franny is vicisouly attacked after she scores a winning goal in a hockey championship and the retailiations put Darcy, in grave danger.

Once again I like that Landvik takes a normal small town life and adds the drama of life. Each of the chapters in this book are written by one of 5 characters - Darcy, Sergio, Dick, BiDi or Dev. The consistency of their point of view added to my sympathy or lack there of.

Another strong recommendation!

The Tall Pine Polka by Lorna Landvik

image from LibraryThing

This is another great book!

I had read almost 400 pages. I had enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot. I thought I knew what to expect as the book was coming to a close and then.....I actually shouted "NO!!" I was so surprised by one sudden turn of events I couldn't be quiet!

That's what Landvik did for me in this story!

Fenny Ness is a stay at home, afraid of her shadow, twenty-something hidden away in the tiny Northern Minnesota town of Tall Pines. Fenny is surrounded by her good friends; Lee, the owner of the Cup'O Delight coffee shop, Slim, the barking bus boy/man overcoming the lingering remnants of Post Tramatic Stress Disorder, Frau Katte and Miss Penk the aging lesbian couple, Pete the shoe repairman who secretly runs a thriving mail-order business for handmade shoes, and the mayor. Each of these people works to fill the holes created by the sudden deaths of Fenny's parents. She is happy in this old lady life where everything is predictable and safe.

Into this cliched small town life a movie director is dropped, and Fenny is 'discovered.' Fenny becomes Inga, the fresh mail-order bride, ordered by Ike, a Minnesota lumberman. So, not only is Tall Pines over run with the film makers, but Fenny is also the reluctant star. Her no-nonsense charm washes over the actors, directors and the audience alike transforming a mundane little film into something as magical as the actual Tall Pines.

Midway though the story - Bill, a 1/2 Chippewa and 1/2 Hawaiian piano playing jack of all trades also drops into the scene and the real life in Tall Pines takes turn after turn for both Lee and Fenny.

In that real life there is a shooting ( the gun kind, not the film kind), a death, a birth, a marriage, and a couple of fights.

It's one of those books that could have stopped long before it did. I would have been satisfied, but longed for more. Instead, it rode out the turmoil and resolved itself in a way that only Landvik could.

This is a really good one!!! :)

No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

This was our book club's November book. It was one of those that once you are into it...time seems to evaporate as you follow the story.

The premise is 14 year old girl who wakes up and finds her family gone. No note. No sign of struggle. Just gone.

The story then skips 25 years ahead to the making of a news program trying to solve this unsolved mystery. Cynthia Archer is a semi-neurotic over-protective mom of an 8 year girl old who needs to check the night sky to make sure asteroids won't strike their house by the next morning.

The story is told by Cynthia's husband Terry, a highschool creative writing teacher. Terry believes Cynthia, yet as oddities begin to appear in and around her he begins to question... was she more involved than she says?

Then tragedy strikes - Tess, Cynthia's aunt is brutally murdered as is the private detective who is looking into the family's disappearance. Terry doubts seem to grow and Cynthia takes Grace and disappears to get away from the stress and Terry.

That was the last straw - Terry begins his own quest for the truth. This leads him to Vince, the thug Cynthia was with the evening her family disappeared. And then the mystery begins to unravel....

I really liked this book. I thought I knew what was going on - I was only partially right. I like books that do that. There is something comforting in thinking you have a mystery solved. Yet the twist made life more interesting.... I don't want to say anymore - because I don't want to give anything away.


The part I didn't like was the name. It's so corny that I wouldn't have picked up this book on my own.

But, after I read the back - I was looking forward to it.

I also thought it would be more creepy - I do have a 16 year old. But, the book isn't creepy at all. From the beginning it doesn't feel random. That is what makes it ok for me to read!!

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos

This is another one that I enjoyed - although it took me a while to get into it.

The book is told by two characters - Cornelia and Clare. Cornelia is living in a world created by old movies - and hoping for her one true love to walk in the coffee shop that she manages.

Clare is an 11 year old living with a mother on the edge of madness.

The chapters go back and forth between the two of them - picking up the story as they go.

This is one those books that have a great story that I really love - but the writing style bogged me down time after time. Cornelia is constantly living in movies - detailing bits and pieces that I didn't think really added to the story.

Clare's story was much clearer and more childlike. Clare carefully hides her mother's fall into darkness with expert care. She makes sure that she can take care of herself - hiding from all exactly what is going on. That works until her mother completely disappears.

That's when Clare and Cornelia cross paths and Love trully walks in...

This is a sweet and tender story -yet not completely predictable!

Yippee!!

Lorna Landvik at Live from Prairie Lights

Jill, Marlinda and I went to Prairie Lights to hear Lorna Landvik tonight.

It's very intriguing to hear how an author works. To hear how a story unfolds. Lorna described how two characters kindly visit her imagination along with the title of her book. She obliges them by telling their story. She made it all sound so cheerful and possible.

Later she described what she went through to publish her first book "Patty Jo's House of Curls." She wrote the book in long hand then retyped it all. She found her hands were wet as she finished typing the story on a stormy May night. She thought that there was a leak above her - actually she was crying...the final death scene still moved her.

Then she followed 'the book' on getting published. She mailed query letters to dozens of agents before one accepted. Then after 4 years and 30 rejection letters she was accepted by a tiny publisher with ties to big newspapers.

It all sounded so difficult - but she was so positive...

She was also really funny! She does a one woman improve show in the Twin Cities. She did voices and told funny stories of her life pre-writing.

So - what does that mean for aspiring writers? I think it means you need to listen to your inner voice. You need to trust your instincts. You need to laugh. And you need to give candy to all those in your life who want to know more about you!!

I"m so glad that we went...

And I bought her new book - "The View from Mt. Joy"