Robin Nolet’s book starts out with a very applicable quote from Anne Morrow Lindbergh. "Out of the welter of life, a few people are selected for...moreRobin Nolet’s book starts out with a very applicable quote from Anne Morrow Lindbergh. "Out of the welter of life, a few people are selected for us by the accident of temporary confinement in the same circle. We never would have chosen these neighbors; life chose them for us. But thrown together on this island of living, we stretch to understand each other, and are invigorated by the stretching."
In 'The Shell Keeper', the island is the Colorado skiing town of Blue River and the shells tossed on the beach are Gwen, Claire, and Del. Thrown together by tides they cannot fathom, the women find a common thread that brings them together as friends despite their best intentions to remain strangers.
The book lets us spend time with each of them alone, and as a group. Like most people who have spent any time at all in the sea of humanity, all three have the bumps and bruises from being caught in the surf of relationships. Del’s emotions are the most raw, her marriage is crumbling and the whole town seemed to know of her husband’s infidelity except her. While Del struggles openly with the collapse of her marriage, Claire internalizes her feelings of betrayal from a long-ago cheating husband and an inconsiderate friend. Gwen is the rock of the group, but also not without a philandering ex and some baggage that occasionally boils to the surface.
The scene is set mostly in the bakery that Gwen attempts to keep in the black with the help of her new husband and college-age son. The walls of the bakery are adorned with her water-color paintings, not of the town’s inhabitants, but of the town’s inhabitants - if they were seashells. Her one brush with the sea when she was 12 has given Gwen a perspective of humanity as hermit crabs, trying on this shell or that, trying to make one work as a permanent identity.
Nolet’s writing is direct and to the point, but it doesn’t lack for charm. In this paragraph, Del has taken a new job at a women’s shop and I enjoyed the detail of this description:
"Del wrapped the cardigan in Imagine’s trademark powder blue tissue, sealed the tissue with a white sticker embossed with a pearlescent “I” and tucked the package into a beautiful, powder-blue lacquer-finished bag with powder blue ribbons for handles. Across the front of the bag was another pearlescent “I”. She inserted the customer’s receipt into a small, matching envelope and added it to the bag"
The women aren’t as well sketched as the shopping bag. We get some clues to their physical appearance, but not a full picture. Nonetheless, we can picture them; the somewhat matronly Gwen, the pretty but slightly severe Claire, the tussled Del who is stronger than she thinks. We may even know them, or people very similar to them.
The book explores love, betrayal, redemption, friendship, and family in a way that is very relatable. By the end, you can’t help but think about the shells you’ve tried on yourself, the ones that never quite felt right, the ones that looked good but didn’t fit, and the ones that ultimately felt like home. In 'The Shell Keeper', Robin Nolet paints three compelling portraits of realistic women leaning on each other to get through a rough patch in their lives. (less)
The best Misfit McCabe yet! The series gets stronger with each new title. Still dealing with the fallout of losing her father and going to live with ...moreThe best Misfit McCabe yet! The series gets stronger with each new title. Still dealing with the fallout of losing her father and going to live with her much stricter uncle, our hero moves past her injuries from the school bully to deal with book banning and the murky waters of relationships. Her old friend Timmy is joined by colorful new friends which give this book heart. (less)
You might look at the words “Historical Fiction” and “Young Adult” and decide to pass on The Raven Girl by Kathy Cecala. I almost did, there are othe...moreYou might look at the words “Historical Fiction” and “Young Adult” and decide to pass on The Raven Girl by Kathy Cecala. I almost did, there are other reviewers who typically review the young adult titles and historical fiction isn’t necessarily my thing. I’m glad I didn’t though, because it turned out to be a delightful book; very hard to put down and a quick but interesting read.
The Raven Girl is set in Ireland circa 1488. A strange girl washes ashore on a small island near Galway. Her skin and hair are dark and around her neck is a large pearl from a far-away sea. She is rescued by a young boy, the son of the local priest, who hides her away knowing that the villagers would probably kill her out of superstition. He names her ‘Marra’ meaning ‘of the sea’ and tends to her needs. She convalesces but has brought with her a fever that quickly spreads throughout the village.
Meanwhile, in a small church in the city, a young man named Aedan studies for the priesthood. He is the son of a Spanish wine merchant who had an affair with a woman from the town where Marra has appeared. The woman died in childbirth and Aedan was brought to live with the priests. Although he has recently come to know his real father, he feels closest to the priest who took him under his wing when he arrived at the church.
While Aedan tries to be a dedicated student, his heart calls him to adventure and discovery. When word of the maiden reaches him, he sets off with his priestly ‘father’ to disprove that she is a witch or a mermaid and perhaps to convert her to Christianity. He does find her, and with her the trouble that follows her everywhere. Together they must fend off the pirates from whose vessel she escaped, Aedan’s biological father who would sell her to be a slave, and the villagers who are sure that she is a witch.
In her query, Kathy Cecala mentions that she tutors English classes, and her mastery of the language is evident in this book. While it is clear that she researched the book extensively, she weaves the historical details into the book subtly, not making them the central point of the story, just the colorful backdrop. At its heart The Raven Girl is a good story. As readers, we connect with the characters and cheer them on. Here, Marra explains a bit of her story to Aedan:
She told him of how she had been a pearl-fisher with her father, of her gentle little lagoon and her gentle people, but also of the fierce tribes who lived south, the tribes who killed her mother and brothers. She told him of her father, who she had loved so much, and how he taught her many things. How she and her father had been fishing together far out in the ocean beyond their lagoon, too far, and how Urraco’s ship had come from nowhere, dragging them up out of their canoe. How Urraco killed her father, so quickly. And then the terrible voyage, and the drift of the ship into ice. The fever that had raged aboard the ship. But also, how she had learned Basque, by carefully listening to the sailors.
While this book will appeal to older teens because of the young main characters who persevere against tall odds, it might be disturbing for younger readers due to some depictions of violence and death. The technical details of the book are top notch, I didn’t find a typo until page 85 and that may be a record for the self published books I’ve read.
You won’t know you’re reading a self published book. You won’t know you’re reading a young adult book. You won’t know you’re reading an historical fiction book. All you’ll know as you read The Raven Girl is that you’re reading a good book. (less)
Despite the fact that the Da Vinci Code is tops of the list of worst books ever, I personally like Dan Brown's books. I thought this one was better t...moreDespite the fact that the Da Vinci Code is tops of the list of worst books ever, I personally like Dan Brown's books. I thought this one was better than Angels and Demons and, even if it was a little impractical, I enjoyed the 'solve the ancient puzzle' story line.(less)
I've always enjoyed Shannon's writing since I first read Stealing Wishes. When I learned that he had published a new book, I immediately downloaded it...moreI've always enjoyed Shannon's writing since I first read Stealing Wishes. When I learned that he had published a new book, I immediately downloaded it to my Kindle and devoured it in short order.
This is an ambitious undertaking, telling the story of one family through the eyes of its members. I enjoyed the fact that everyone was represented, even those family members that were there in memory only. Like every family get together, there is no small amount of drama, jealousy, and feelings of inadequancy. There is also no shortage of love and, ultimately, understanding. It's a 300 page shapshot of one family dinner that gives the back story so we can pull up a chair and dish up some mashed potatoes.
I enjoyed the writing and the story, but my copy had a variety of formatting and editing issues that sometimes made it difficult to determine who was talking. That's a minor concern though, and the pleasure of reading the book more than makes up for it. Hats off to Shannon for another crowd pleaser!(less)
I Miss Your Purple Hair is a good book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I’ve read 100 page books that felt like they’d never end, but this was a 300+ pag...moreI Miss Your Purple Hair is a good book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I’ve read 100 page books that felt like they’d never end, but this was a 300+ page book that was over before I knew it. I became invested in the characters and was genuinely curious how they would overcome their dilemma.
As dilemmas go, this is a big one. As our heroes and heroines visit the zoo one day, the world ends. Earthquakes and Tsunamis wipe out most of the coastal regions of the earth and 3/4s of the earth’s population is wiped out. Instead of taking a holistic view of the carnage and destruction, Chandler gives us a snapshot of 14 individuals caught in an undamaged valley surrounded by newly formed mountains, volcanoes, and more than a few newly released zoo animals. When the bottled water and animal crackers give out, it becomes obvious that no one is coming looking for them.
So what would you do? I can almost guarantee that you wouldn’t handle it as calmly as these folks. They pitch in, take each setback as it comes, and … well, you’ll have to read the book to find out the ‘and’. There is an undercurrent of new age philosophy that pervades this book, but it’s not overdone. The main characters are Mateo and his 15 year old daughter Veronica, or Violet as she is also known. As we meet more individuals, we have to piece together how they all fit. All is eventually revealed.
Better than the story is the story telling. Chandler’s writing is fluid, smart, and literate. In this short paragraph, a character named Mia leads a group to explore their surroundings:
They moved on, with Mia in the lead. The stainless steel walking stick she employed had been acquired from the wreckage of the snack bar. A distasteful hint of sulphur merged with the pleasant aroma of indigenous foliage to create a unique scent. It had become oddly familiar, this mixture of perfume and poison, stinging the sensitive tissue around their eyes, noses and mouths and irritating their throats. It laced the breeze that snuck in from the northwest, passed over the rocky barriers that formed the perimeter, and then swooped down across the basin they traversed.
I had several pages earmarked to share with you because this phrase or that turn of a word amused or delighted me. This description of aftershocks begins chapter eighteen:
The tremors arrived unannounced, and like a bank of oafish trespassers, rudely left chaos in their wake. Obscured behind the sound of the rolling thunder, they caught the band of survivors off guard, sending them reeling across the concrete floor. While they were flung about the room, the tremors did what they were designed to do. Succinct and purposeful, the seismic waves reshaped the geography, continuing the work initiated by the earlier quakes.
The mechanics of this book are excellent. Often self published books feel raw or a little rough around the edges. This one isn’t like that. Each chapter starts with a quote, be it from Jung or Ayn Rand or Albert Schweitzer. Unlike some books where these quotes feel like an afterthought or distraction, I found myself reading them for hints about the upcoming chapter. The cover looks professional, the editing is impeccable, and even the business cards Chandler stuck in with my copy were well done.
At $17, this book also points out the down side of self publishing. The more pages, the more cost. To produce a substantial work of fiction and to make a couple of dollars from your hard work, the price is high. Still, I Miss Your Purple Hair is worth the price of admission, and I look forward to reading more books from Robert Chandler.
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There’s good confused, and there’s bad confused. As I read John C. Stipa’s No Greater Sacrifice, I was good confused. If you’ve read any of the Dan ...moreThere’s good confused, and there’s bad confused. As I read John C. Stipa’s No Greater Sacrifice, I was good confused. If you’ve read any of the Dan Brown novels you know the confused I’m talked about, where the characters leap to the right conclusion time and again when presented with sketchy puzzles while you’re left in the dust.
It helps that our heroes are super-hot Renee D’Arcadia, an archeologist running from her leukemia diagnosis and David Arturo, ex-special forces history professor running from his past. They’re good at these puzzles where I would still be trying to figure out the first one. When they are summoned to France for the reading of a will, they are given the first few pieces and thrust into a circle of ne’er-do-wells who, as fate and plot development would have it, are trying to give them just enough rope to hang themselves.
As we learn more about our protagonists, we discover that they have met before and the meetings were not necessarily good ones. This time, however, romance blossoms as they must lean on each other to solve the puzzles and find the next clue. A small but strong supporting cast gives them assistance in sorting through the centuries-old mystery. We are dragged along into under-ground caverns, crypts, and cathedrals as the pieces slowly start to fall in place.
Stipa’s dialogue is crisp and the pacing of the novel is unrelenting. It bogs slightly as the heroes gather to work through most of the ‘thinky’ parts of the puzzle, then speeds off again once we’re given enough pseudo-history to explain why they’re getting shot at, stabbed, and chased. While the action parts are fast paced and well described, the characters also dive into their emotions and motivations with dialogue such as this:
'David rocked back and rested on his heels. “People are raised thinking relationships require a certain level of deception, as if it’s some sort of psychological game. And they think it’s normal! We learn the ploys and tricks as early as middle school. Girls play hard to get, boys tease them instead of showing emotion. I never got it. I wasn’t smart enough to keep up with a lie. It was easier to be truthful.”'
This slow building of sexual tension between Renee and David doesn’t detract from the story. When a misunderstanding temporarily divides them, they (and we) quickly realize that they are much better together as a team. Still, the hook of this book is the action and that is where Stipa’s writing shines. As the heroes close in on their final objective they are being pursued by a killer and we get this description as he climbs across a rope with bleeding hands in chase:
'Dropping to the ground, he braved a glimpse at the ragged peels of skin and shredded rope mixed with dirt and blood. He dabbed the seeping mess against his trousers. Pulling out his pistol, he stole into the chamber and hid below one of the outer stones. The man and woman were talking, something about a Telesterion. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. ‘For the Lord has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.’ Like fog creeping in a cemetery, he moved to the inner circle.'
Technically, the book was a treat. Well edited with great cover art and some helpful illustrations inside (I would have loved to have even more), it feels like a polished and finished piece. More importantly, I enjoyed the writing and the story of No Greater Sacrifice. Even if most of the history and puzzles left me confused, it was a good confused. The good guys solve the puzzle, prevail over the bad guys, and find each other in the process. In the end, that’s what a good romantic thriller is all about.
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