Alecia’s Comments

Alecia’s comments from the 75 Books...More or Less! group.

Note: Alecia is not currently a member of this group.

Book # 70 November Road 4.5/5 stars

This very well-written and well-plotted thriller (with some romance tucked in) gets 4.5 stars from me. I enjoyed the last book I read by Lou Berney (The Long And Far Away Gone) and this one confirms to me what a terrific writer he is.

The action takes place in 1963, within hours of JFK's murder. Frank Guidry is a loyal lieutenant to a New Orleans mob boss, and he discovers that he has inadvertently been involved in the assassination. People involved are turning up dead and Frank suspects he's next. Guidry heads to Las Vegas to seek help from another ruthless man, and on the way he sees a broken down car on the road with a woman and her two young daughters. He devises another scheme that involves the woman, Charlotte. We have learned Charlotte is herself on the run with her kids from her drunken husband, looking for a new start.

The story proceeds with Frank manipulating Charlotte and discovering that she is smart and funny. And Frank, a confirmed ladies man, finds himself more and more attracted to her. This attraction lends a poignancy to this thriller and Frank finds humanity within himself that he did not know was there. This is a very good read.

Book # 69 A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts 3.5/5 stars

I am giving this interesting, but not terribly engrossing book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. This historical fiction is about Alva Smith, who became Mrs. William Vanderbilt. The story begins after the Civil War, and Alva is a woman of her times. Although Alva and her sisters come from a good family, they are nearly destitute, and it is up to Alva to save the family by marrying well.

Marrying well she certainly did, at least in terms of financial well-being. Alva's smarts help William and his Vanderbilt family (who were known as "nouveau riche" and not accepted in the established New York society) become accepted, and she designs and builds mansions and hosts grand balls. But her marriage is not particularly happy, and the story continues as Alva finds a solution for that. In the mean time, she is very committed to having her daughter, Consuelo, marry into foreign nobility, and that is an interesting thread of storyline.

The writing is good, but not particularly exciting. However, I found the story compelling enough and well-done, and the author did a good job bringing the gilded age to the page.

Book # 68 Fear: Trump in the White House 4/5 stars

This was a well-researched, frightening book by a very credible author. Unlike other books out at this time on this subject, I thought this one was worth my time, having lived through the Watergate era when Woodward and Bernstein did such excellent reporting. It is disheartening to those of us who are very unhappy with what is going on right now in the White House. Woodward has captured a few years of the story so far, but there is more to go

Book # 67 The Death of Mrs. Westaway 3/5 stars

The first Ruth Ware book I tried to read was a DNF. So at least this one I finished and it wasn't bad. But Ruth Ware is not the author for me, as I find her writing just mediocre. There are too many examples of a writing style that doesn't sit well with me: an overabundance of italics use for emphasis, the main character always having a lurching stomach (or some variation of this) and I could go on and on.

Briefly, Harriet Westaway ( a twenty-something young woman known by her nickname, Hal) is down on her luck and has a kiosk doing tarot card readings. She is deeply in debt to a threatening loan-shark when a letter comes for her bequeathing an inheritance from her grandmother. The only trouble is, Hal knows this is a mistake as her grandparents are long dead. The mystery ensues as Hal decides to pursue this inheritance out of desperation. And the action takes place in a creepy gothic mansion with all of her putative relatives gathering for the funeral and reading of the will. I found the cast of relatives confusing, and the final mystery was not of any great interest to me as I struggled to finish this book. I see many others enjoyed this and Ware's other books so, as always, reading is up to individual taste.

Book # 66 Gateway to the Moon 4/5 stars

This is my first book by Mary Morris, and I was pleased to find what a good writer she is. She has penned an ambitious project with this book, an intertwining of two eras and an examination of a little-known historical phenomena of the crypto-Jews. Morris did her research and came up with this novel. It starts in 1492 when the Jewish and Muslim populations were expelled from Spain. Many Spanish Jews chose not to flee and became Christians in name only, maintaining their traditions in secret to their peril. They practiced what the Inquisition referred to as "the dead Law of Moses" and were known as secret or crypto-Jews.

This book has chapters that are set in the 15th and 16th centuries and then mostly in 1992. The locations include Spain, Mexico and New Mexico. It is a sprawling work with many characters. Interestingly, many of the present day characters lived as Catholics in the remote hills of New Mexico while still maintaining their Jewish traditions...without knowing why. Morris makes these characters come alive, and the theme of the importance of knowing one's identity streams through this book.

book # 65 The Way of All Flesh 3.5/5 stars

I would give this book 3.5 stars for being a well-done, atmospheric mystery novel. A Scottish husband and wife writing team make up the pseudonym of Ambrose Perry. The husband is a mystery writer and the wife is a medical Dr. Usually writing "teams" make me a bit uneasy...who is writing what? But this seems fairly seamless in it's tone and voice. I found the mystery part of the book a little lagging in the first half and it moves rather slowly, although it is not boring.

Set in Edinburgh, 1847, young women have been found dead, seemingly pregnant or attempting to get abortions. Will Raven, a young medical student, is about to start his apprenticeship with the renowned Dr. Simpson. In Dr. Simpson's household, the excellent female character, Sarah, works as a housemaid. Sarah, an intelligent, inquisitive young woman, also helps with clinical duties as well as housework, and her yearning to be something more than a maid is evoked well. Sarah and Raven meet and team up to try and solve the mysterious deaths.

For lovers of historical fiction, this has some interesting facts about the development of anesthesia during childbirth and surgeries. It is not exactly riveting, but it was a pleasant enough read.

Book # 64 All We Ever Wanted 3.5/5 stars

This gets a 3.5 for enjoyment of reading. It is my first book by Emily Giffin, and her writing reminds me of Elin Hilderbrand. It's a breezy style, confessional, and easy to relate to.

This is a domestic drama, and it focuses on Nina Browning, who has been living a very nice life married to one of Nashville's wealthiest men. Lyla and Nina's son, Finch, go to the same prestigious private school. But Lyla is on a scholarship and is the daughter of Tom, a carpenter and single father. Each chapter is told in first person point of view by Nina, Lyla, and her father, Tom.

The story takes off when a photo taken at a party of a drunken Lyla is spread. Finch is accused, and his acceptance to Princeton is in jeopardy. Nina discovers behavior by both her husband and her son that appalls her, and she starts to have an awakening.

The concept is good, but has been done before. This is an easy to take book, as it does not burrow very deeply into the characters. It is a brisk, easy and enjoyable read, but not particularly gritty or memorable. But sometimes that is not a bad thing.

Book # 63 The Space Between 3.5/5 stars

This book rates a 3.5 from me. It is a pretty well-done done domestic/mystery, not many surprises. It moves along fairly well with some nice writing.

The story is told in the first person by Sarah, a renowned astronomer. She has come home from a major scientific breakthrough presentation to find her husband, Ben, has disappeared. Her teenage son saw his father, but can not offer much information. As the police become involved, information about their marriage and Ben's dealings come out. The ending is not a surprise, as there is immense foreshadowing beforehand. This is readable, but not especially memorable.

Book # 62 Little Sister 3/5 stars

I found the pacing to be much too slow for me in this book, and it dragged. Yes, there are some twisty turns in this psychological drama about two sisters, but it seemed to have too many unnecessary details to make it move along well.

Jess and Emily are two sisters, one year apart in age, and they are recently reconciled after a long estrangement. Jess is babysitting for her sister's baby when on New Year's Eve little Daisy disappears while in her care.

What follows is sometimes less about where Daisy is and more about the drama between the sisters, Emily and her husband (well actually not her husband as he would never marry her) and her step-daughter. There is a lot of drinking going on, and back and forth in time exploring the sister's history together. The ending is supposed to be a twist, but it was not very shocking.

Book # 61 The Man Who Came Uptown 4/5 stars

This was a different kind of book...a hybrid of a mystery, noir and a character study. I have read a book or two by George Pelecanos in the past, and have seen some of his TV show creations/writing. He really seems to be very knowledgeable about the down and dirty grit of the streets, and in that way he reminds me of Richard Price. But they are very different writers. Pelecanos is more spare with his words than Price, but both convey a reality and believability in how certain cultures think and behave.

I really liked the beginning, which portrays a young inmate, Michael Hudson, becoming enamored of reading. A young woman named Anna is the prison librarian, and she takes great pleasure recommending books to the prison population, especially Michael. I enjoyed reading about their book groups, the type of books they liked, and why.

When Michael becomes suddenly released, he is determined to stay on the right path. He gets a new job and continues his love of reading. But he owes the man who arranged his release, and decisions need to be made. He also bumps into Anna in the outside world, and her life, filled with ambiguities, is also described nicely.

I enjoyed this book, and will look forward to reading more of this author's stand-alone novels.

Book # 60 I Know My Name 3/5 stars

Although I enjoyed the mystery of the first 1/2 or so of of this book, I eventually found it to be a bit overlong and it dragged for me in parts. So what started out as a 4 star rating for me slowly devolved into a 3 star, and in some spots, a 2 star rating. I think some sharper editing might have benefited the book in it's totality. The ending is quite interesting, and I thought it made this quite a different type of book. I have read that it has been picked up for a TV series, and that might be interesting.

The chapters toggle back and forth between Eloise, who we know is the woman washed ashore on a remote Greek island with no memory at all of who she is, and her husband, Lochlan, blindsided by her disappearance, and left with their infant daughter and four year old son. It is rather clever in it's plotting and ending, and many. people seem to have loved it.

Book # 59 Sunrise Highway 4/5 stars

Many years ago, I read Slow Motion Riot by Peter Blauner. I thought it was terrific, and read one or two more books after that one...not so terrific. But I thought I'd give his newest book a try, and once again I really enjoyed the book!

This is the second in a series featuring Lourdes Robles, a young Latina detective for the NYPD. I did not read the first book, so this one was fine as a stand-alone. She finds herself on the trail of a serial killer, but also pitted against a tainted, complicit police department. And the bad guy is really quite a complex psychopath. The story toggles back and forth in time from when the various crimes were committed, and the coverup of these crimes, to the present day. The characters are layered, the plotting complex, and the story kept me going. I look forward to reading more by this author once again.

Book # 58 The Seasons of Doubt 3.5/5 stars

This gets 3.5 stars from me for straightforward storytelling about a single woman and her 5 year old son, set in the late 1800's. Mary and Ezekiel are left to fend for themselves as Mary's husband abandons them. Mary takes her son in the freezing cold from their abandoned farm and arrives in a small town. She struggles and works extraordinarily hard to survive and her son grows up before his time.

I do think the afterward stating that this is a story based on real people might have been more interesting in the beginning of the book. But it was a very good telling of the grim life of a hardworking and very enterprising woman (and her son) during that time.

Book # 57 Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret 4/5 stars

I enjoyed this one, so 4 stars for enjoyment! It's not a novel, per se, but musings and anecdotes (not necessarily in a linear fashion) in each chapter. And they are all about the person that was Princess Margaret. After watching two seasons of The Crown, I became interested in her, and this book title intrigued me. Although not always the most likable person, she was certainly interesting. She was torn between an affinity for the bohemian world and those people who populated that world, and also determined to remind everyone of her station in life and she needed to be paid due deference. For those readers who have an interest in her, it is told through the eyes of those around her, and is full of gossip.

Book # 56 Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein 4/5 stars

Because I have been such a fan of Leonard Bernstein's glorious music for West Side Story, Candide and On The Town, this book was of interest to me. When I was growing up, he was a larger than life figure to me, as I would watch him on The Young People's Concert Series on TV. He was so full of obvious passion for music that his conducting and educating was inspiring and fascinating to view as a young person. When I was older, I remember reading about his personal life (complicated) and his quest to be remembered for more "serious" classical pieces than West Side Story (unfulfilled). What must it have been like to be brought up by such a complex, incredibly talented man as one's father?

Jamie Bernstein, the eldest of his three children, does a very good job of letting the reader know what this experience was like. Jamie describes her childhood and beyond with empathy, honesty and compassion towards her father, mother and her two younger siblings. There is plenty of name-dropping as the Bernstein's lives included very famous people such as the Kennedys. Mike Nichols, John Lennon and more. She does a very good job of explaining how the music Bernstein composed became intertwined into their lives.

This is an unflinching look at what it was like to be the child of such a complex, extraordinarily gifted father, and it also gives insight into her parents marriage. There is humor, poignancy and love in this memoir, and I thought it was very well done.

Elyse wrote: "Alecia wrote: "Book # 54 The Book of Essie 2/5 stars

I found myself skimming and growing quite bored with this book. The concept is interesting: a "behind the scenes" look into a f..."

Maybe it's me...a lot of people seemed to like it. I don't know why;-)

Book # 55 The Line That Held Us 3.5/5 stars

I would give this 3.5 stars for the wonderful writing. This is a work of Southern noir, with the stress on noir. A little reminiscent of the writing of Donald J Pollack (a good thing), it is an unrelentingly grim story. With a very bad decision starting off the book, the characters and behavior spiral downwards from there.

Darl Moody is hunting when he mistakenly shoots a man instead of the game he thinks he has shot. They are both poaching, and neither one is supposed to be on that property. To make matters much worse, he has killed the brother of a man known for violence and vengeance. Darl calls on the help of his best friend, Calvin Hooper and a nightmare begins for both of them.

The writing is very good and the characters are fully fleshed. It was the unending grimness that kept me from giving this 4 stars. But I will read this author again.

Book # 54 The Book of Essie 2/5 stars

I found myself skimming and growing quite bored with this book. The concept is interesting: a "behind the scenes" look into a fictional realty show about an evangelical family that isn't what it appears. But the characters to me were cardboard, and the drama anticlimactic and too drawn-out. Although this got many positive reviews, it was not for me.

Book # 53 Where the Crawdads Sing 4.5/5 stars

This was quite a lovely book that is hard to categorize, and I would give it 4.5 stars. In the short prologue, we know that the body of Chase Andrews was found in the swamp by two boys. The mystery of who killed him weaves gently through the book until the trial. But the story is much more than a mystery.

Kya, known as the "Marsh Girl", has been left on her own since six years old. Her mother walked out and one by one, her older siblings left the shack they lived in, leaving Kya with her brutal, drunken father. One day, he leaves also, and she, amazingly, fends for herself. This is another book among others I've read recently where the setting is a central character in the novel. The natural world of the marsh is Kya's world and she becomes an expert in all the nature around her. Her one day experience in school, when all the children laughed at her, cause her to hide from the authorities and never go back. She is quite a bit older when she finally learns how to read, thanks to lessons from a young man who lives nearby.

This is by parts, a love story (a love between humans and humans and nature), a survival story and a mystery. There are wonderful parts that dwell on loneliness and the human need for interaction. I thought it was very well done, parts of it are quite poignant, and a very good read.

Book # 52 Her Pretty Face 1.5/5stars

I will round this up from 1.5 starts to 2 as I did finish it. Contrary to all the many good reviews on Goodreads, I found this book to be cliched and predictable, with inconsistent, cardboard characters. It was not for me.