The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman is a bit misleading by it’s title. It is about an antique cookbook collection, not the collector himself. We also don’t even get to the cookbooks until about half way through the book, which is a shame, as they were the best part of this novel. It is a modern day story about those who made it rich in the internet hey day of the late 90’s. Interspersed with this story are gems from…
The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo by F.G. Haghenbeck tells the story of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s tumultuous life from her her blue house in Coyoacan Mexico to her travels to America and Europe, her marriage to Diego Rivera and the many artists she surrounded herself with throughout her life. I know the story of Kahlo’s life well, so there wasn’t a lot new here. In this book, Haghenbeck brings her to life through dream images, journal entries and the…
The Signature of All Things is the new novel by Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame. It is a big sweeping epic novel spanning the mid-18th through19th centuries, focusing on one family of explorers and botanists. The novel centers around the life of Alma Whittaker, a brilliant woman born into luxury at the turn of the19th century in America. With a curious mind and the freedom to explore it, she becomes one of the best naturalists of her time,…
The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh follows the life of Frances Irvine, a wealthy young woman in Victorian London. After her father dies, she is left with no money and forced to accept a marriage proposal to a distant cousin living in South Africa. Once there, she discovers as much about herself as the place. In stunning prose, evoking vividly the wide open plains and the horrors of the diamond mines, McVeigh brings the town of Kimberly and the surrounding…
I finally got around to reading The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson. Murder mysteries are not really my thing, but with so much hype around this book, I thought I would read it. The character of Lisbeth Salander is certainly compelling, and Larsson has created a well written, intelligent mystery that keeps you up late at night turning the pages. What I wasn’t expecting was the level of violence against women, and I found it very hard…
Trains and Lovers is the latest novel by Alexander McCall Smith, although by the time I finish writing this he will probably have a couple more novels out, as he is the most prolific writer I have ever read. This novel isn’t part of any series he writes. It is the story of 4 people who meet briefly as they take a train together from Edinburgh to London and share their stories of life and love and trains with each…
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer, is a novel for those who enjoy time travel. Greta is deeply depressed in 1985 after the death of her twin brother and departure of her longtime lover. She consents to undergo an experimental treatment similar to electric shock which sends her into other lives in other times. With a little suspension of disbelief it is possible to travel through time with Greta as she inhabits each of these three…
The Shortest Way Home by Juliette Fay tells the story of one family torn apart by death and loss. Sean, the 43 year old protagonist returns home to Belham, Massachusetts after 20 years away working as a nurse in the most war torn Thirld World countries in the world. He is burnt out and plans to recuperate a while before heading back out into the field. At home he finds his younger sister, tired of holding down the fort in…