Geoffrey, a 42 year old bachelor, is asked to be the executor of his friend Laura's estate. Once, best of friends, he hasn't seen her in 20 years. He meets Marion, her best friend, who lost her husband 10 years before and is still mourning. Both Geoffrey and Marion are in …more convenient relationships, but that changes when Geoffrey falls in love with Marion and convinces her to take a chance on love again. This book wasn't stimulating enough for me. A book for a lazy afternoon at the beach - quickly read and forgotten.(less)
The book follows two characters over a three week period in Africa. In 1899, Jeremy, a young engineer from Maine with a "shameful" secret is sent to British East Africa to build a railroad with hundreds of Indian laborers. Besides the malaria and primitive working …more conditions, he must hunt and kill the two lions killing his men. In 2000, Max a brillant botanist with Aspergers travels to to Rwanda to find a plant that could save many lives. She shadows a family of gorillas who hopefully will lead her to it. Both characters are misfits in their worlds; both have challenges - Jeremy the lions, Max, the Kutus (boy soldiers). The stories never intersect except at one small point which ties everything together. There's lots of interesting information and lots of suspense. Couldn't put it down.(less)
The story grabs the reader from the first page. Mary Saint, lead singer for the hardrock band, Sliced Ham - almost famous, and then Garbagio, bandmember and Mary's lover dies and it's over. The characters are unique, real, and marvelous. You laugh and cry with them. I'm not …more a hard rock fan but loved the words to "The Back of My Ass" and "Sewer Flower", and the reaction of Mary's mother to the concert is priceless. Watching Mary overcoming her past, reconnecting with her mother, and beginning a new life is a joy to read.(less)
Proof of Heaven: A Novel
by Mary Curran Hackett
Good choice for book clubs(8/28/2011)
I personally did not like the book. It reminded me of The Shack. The first chapter was great, but after that the characters weren't developed, and the plot was predictable. I felt it was written on a Young Adult level. However, there are lots of discussable issues - Do …more miracles happen? Does heaven exist? Is religion necessary? I think book clubs would have lots to talk about.(less)
Low Town: A Novel
by Daniel Polansky
not for the faint-hearted(6/6/2011)
The title, Low Town, describes exactly what the reader is in for. If you enjoy reading about drunks, druggies, and degenerates, this is the book for you. It is a mystery; and Warden, an ex-government detective, discovers the first of several murdered children and becomes …more involved. A glossary would have helped to define words - scryer, wyrm. Most of the characters had few redeeming qualities, and I didn't care what happened to them.(less)
Reading the first page, I was thinking The Lovely Bones with Native American and cowboy characters. Pony Jones, a fiesty 26 year old rodeo bull rider is dead and she doesn't know her murderer. Titus, her father and Jo Beth Dawson, an alcoholic former detective, wanting …more answers, form an uneasy truce. The reader will laugh and cry; there are miracles, totems, and lost of Cherokee roses, The book was enjoyable. I did have to look back several times to understand the family history, but I never lost interest. Pony Jones is a character the reader will remember long after the book is done. Waiting for the next novel!(less)
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