Sheri Richey's Blog, page 35

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five young men in her life—to d
rugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: Why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth—and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships. Jesmyn says the answer was so obvious she felt stupid for not seeing it. But it nagged at her until she knew she had to write about her community, to write their stories and her own. 

My Take:   This book received rave reviews but I was not crazy about it.  I did finish it, although there were times when I had doubts.  It took perseverance.  The writing seemed choppy and the story timeline jumped around to different periods.  It was supposed to be a memoir, but it seemed more the telling of the dead boys' stories rather than the author's life.  So much of the description was conflicting.  There would be a blunt simple statement and then a flowery out of place descriptive sentence thrown in (See example below).  I just didn't think it flowed well at all. I lived in Mississippi and I know the life she speaks of, so it was not any amazing revelation to me.  Maybe that's why I wasn't awed.  I couldn't recommend it.

Excerpt from Page 78:  "Mimi, Demond's been shot." I heard her, covered my eyes, breathed.  Death rushed me like water does the first summer jumper into a still-chill spring river.  "What the fuck!" I said. 

 

Damage by John Lescroart

San Francisco homicide chief Abe Glitsky takes on a particularly nasty villain in Lescroart's hair-raising 16th novel featuring Glitsky and lawyer Dismas Hardy (after A Plague of Secrets). After Ro Curtlee serves 10 years of a long prison sentence for the rape and murder of one of his family's housekeepers, an appeals court orders a new trial and his wealthy and powerful parents post bail of million for his release. Cocky and ruthless, Curtlee eliminates one of the witnesses who testified against him and threatens Glitsky's family, while his parents, who own San Francisco's #2 newspaper, and their favorite columnist, Sheila Marrenas, apply other kinds of pressure to new DA Wes Farrell, among others. Either influence or lack of hard evidence frustrates every move Glitsky and his colleagues make to try to nail Curtlee. What at first appears to be a stunningly stark black-and-white portrayal reveals many subtle shadings by book's end.

My Take:   I liked it.  I've read many Lescroart novels featuring Dismas Hardy and was concerned that the absence of Diz would make this novel less attractive.  But Glitsky was engaging and I enjoyed it despite the fact that Diz only had a small cameo.  If you enjoy Lescroart's Dismas Hardy novels, you will like this one too.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn't seen or heard from in 20 years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.

Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce's remarkable debut. Harold Fry is determined to walk 600 miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live.

Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the way he meets one fascinating character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him - allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.
And then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessy.

My Take:   I enjoyed the book and didn't hesitate to finish it, but the first half was better than the last for me.  I didn't enjoy the group walker characters in the book and I was a little disappointed with the ending.  There was so much build up to the meeting with Queenie and then it left me flat.  I would have done it differently. 

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Goodreads Book Giveaway



Protecting Eden - Book #4
by Sheri Richey

Giveaway ends February 04, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

My Take: The arrival of a child to a barren couple brings unconditional love and begins the decline to destruction. A beautiful story with lovely characters and a sweet simple ending. I enjoyed it immensely!

New Release Coming Soon!

Willow Wood by Sheri Richey

Nolan Ramsey thinks he wants to be alone. He leaves his life in the city, leaves his job as a news reporter, and buys a house in the middle of nowhere. He plans a life of complete isolation with just his dog, Scuba, for company.

Calinda Willow returns home to help her aging father at the end of his life. She copes with the loss by throwing herself into her work, rejects social invitations from her friend, Jackie, and thinks she is content with her solitary life.

They are both wrong.

Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy by Nora Roberts

The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy is a romantic series of the Montgomery brothers: Beckett, Owen & Ryder and three best friends: Clare, Avery & Hope. Each book evolves with each couples individual story as the Inn Boonsboro is remodeled and opened for Bed & Breakfast business by the Montgomery family.

My Take: I've read a lot of Nora Roberts' romances and other than the really early ones, I've loved them all, especially the series. I say that because perhaps I'm biased in her favor before I read them, but I enjoyed these books as I have the others. My favorite was the final book in the trilogy and the second book was probably my least favorite, but that was due to my preference in character types rather than her writing style. This wasn't my favorite trilogy she's ever written, but it was definitely worth reading. I especially enjoyed the little bit of ghostly influence in there. I'm not a sci-fi, paranormal or fantasy reader, but who doesn't love a good-spirited ghost once in a while? I have the Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy on my Christmas list.. Stay tuned!

World Without End by Ken Follett In 1989 Ken Follett asto...

World Without End by Ken Follett

In 1989 Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England centered on the building of a cathedral and many of the hundreds of lives it affected. The sequel, World Without End, takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroad of new ideas--about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race--the Black Death.

My Take: I LOVED this book. It is even better than the first and I couldn't imagine it possible. It has a perfect ending, sweet and satisfying. The families and characters intertwine magically and you can't help but become attached to each of them. This has taken the seat of my favorite book of all time. If you like fiction that feels meaningful, this is the book for you!

I did it-- Done. Yeah me!

I did it-- Done. Yeah me!

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke

Burke's sixth novel pits New Orleans homicide detective Dave Robichaux against the mob, the contras, the Feds and just about all the other cops. The trouble starts when Robichaux insists on investigating the murder of a young prostitute and discovers that it isn't only the crooks who don't want the truth to come out: the police don't want it revealed, either. The underworld and the authorities combine to cobble up a frame against Robichaux, and suddenly he's on the run. Burke's maverick detective and his gritty, realistic dialogue and convoluted plotting are reminiscent of Elmore Leonardwhose latest novel, Bandits, has a contra angle, too. The matter of subterranean government policy running amok suits the world of suspense fiction well, serving it in the 1980s the way Cold War themes fed the genre in earlier decades. With its fine local color and driving action, this novel is both chilling and first-rate entertainment.

My Take: It was not my favorite by James Lee Burke but I stayed with it. It was just okay to me. It is the beginning of a series but I don't think I'll read any more of this series. There was a lot of description of Louisiana to weed through. I think the author probably loves the area but my mind wanders through that kind of thing. It was also very "gritty" and some people love that, but it just isn't my thing.