Flashback Friday: The Stolen Child

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Flashback Friday is a weekly tradition started here at Bookshelf Fantasies, focusing on showing some love for the older books in our lives and on our shelves. If you’d like to join in, just pick a book published at least five years ago, post your Flashback Friday pick on your blog, and let us all know about that special book from your reading past and why it matters to you. Don’t forget to link up!

My Flashback Friday pick this week:

The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
(published 2006)

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“I am a changeling-a word that describes within its own name what we are bound and intended to do. We kidnap a human child and replace him or her with one of our own. . . .”

The double story of Henry Day begins in 1949, when he is kidnapped at age seven by a band of wild childlike beings who live in an ancient, secret community in the forest. The changelings rename their captive Aniday and he becomes, like them, unaging and stuck in time. They leave one of their own to take his place, an imposter who must try — with varying success — to hide his true identity from the Day family. As the changeling Henry grows up, he is haunted by glimpses of his lost double and by vague memories of his own childhood a century earlier. Narrated in turns by Henry and Aniday, The Stolen Child follows them as their lives converge, driven by their obsessive search for who they were before they changed places in the world. Moving from a realistic setting in small-town America deep into the forest of humankind’s most basic desires and fears, this remarkable novel is a haunting fable about identity and the illusory innocence of childhood.

This beautiful, haunting book is both fairy tale and a story of disillusioned adulthood, drawing on the myth of the changeling to follow two characters who feel isolated and alienated in their lives. It’s a sad look back at the lost days of youth, with a fantastical twist serving to explain why a man might feel so strange in his own life, always feeling like there’s a part of himself missing.

The Stolen Child is really quite lovely to read. I’ve seen it described as a fairy story for adults, which sounds just about right to me. I’d put it on my shelf right next to Graham Joyce’s Some Kind of Fairy Tale, which also conveys the sense of unfulfilled purpose and a lost life while dwelling in realms both mortal and magical.

I’ve yet to read Keith Donohue’s two subsequent novels, but both (Angels of Destruction and Centuries of June) sound like books that are right up my alley.

What flashback book is on your mind this week?

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: To join in the Flashback Friday fun:

Grab the Flashback Friday button
Post your own Flashback Friday entry on your blog (and mention Bookshelf Fantasies as the host of the meme, if you please!)
Leave your link in the comments below
Check out other FF posts… and discover some terrific hidden gems to add to your TBR piles!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

26Feb2014

Thursday Quotables: The Husband’s Secret

Posted in Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
(published 2013)

I’m right in the middle of reading this one, and mixed in with all of the really moving family moments, there are quite a few funny bits too:

One of the mums from school, who had three sons almost exactly the same ages as Cecilia’s three daughters, had said that some remark Cecilia had made was a “teeny weeny bit sexist,” just before they started the Fete Committee meeting last week. Cecilia couldn’t remember what she’d said, but she’d only been joking. Anyway, weren’t women allowed to be sexist for the next two thousand years or so, until they’d evened up the score?

And another:

Actually, what she remembered most about that trip to Berlin was kissing a handsome, brown-haired German boy in a nightclub. He kept taking ice cubes from his drink and running them across her collarbone, which at the time had seemed incredibly sexy, but now seemed unhygienic and sticky.

Can’t resist:

Cecilia had noticed that beautiful women held themselves differently; they swayed like palm trees in the breeze of all that attention. Cecilia wanted her daughters to run and stride and stomp. She didn’t want Polly to bloody sway.

Last one! Short but sweet:

She was a far better mother when she had an audience.

I’m really not all that far into the book yet — but based on how many lines are making me laugh or kind of shake my head in recognition, I’m betting that I’ll keep on enjoying it.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Leave your link in the comments — or, if you have a quote to share but not a blog post, you can leave your quote in the comments too!
Visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

26Feb2014

Book Review: City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn

City of Jasmine Love, intrigue, and adventure are set against a backdrop of gorgeous desert vistas and an ancient Middle Eastern city in this new novel from Deanna Raybourn, author of A Spear of Summer Grass and the Lady Julia Grey series.

In City of Jasmine, lovely but broke Evie Merriweather Starke is gaining lots of attention as an aviatrix setting out to fly over the seven seas of antiquity — hoping to keep sponsorships coming in just a little while longer before her cash and stamina run out. Evie has spunk and daring, but she’s also still nursing the heartbreak of her failed marriage. Evie eloped with Gabriel Starke on the day she met him, ringing in the new year of 1915 together. But their marriage quickly soured, and when Gabriel was lost at sea with the sinking of the Lusitania, no one but Evie knew that she’d been about to divorce him.

Now, five years later, Evie is trying her best to move on with her life, with her eccentric Aunt Dove for companionship, when she receives an anonymous piece of mail containing a picture of Gabriel, dated 1920 and captioned “Damascus”. What does it mean, and why would someone send it to Evie? Seeing how she’s in the area anyway, Evie sets off for the ancient city to either find her presumed dead husband or to lay his memory to rest for good.

Adventure awaits. Damascus is dusty, confusing, and full of old-world glamor and mystery. Evie finds herself in the company of a group of archaeologists, who have apparently made a startling discovery way out in the desert at their dig site. Meanwhile, the Middle East is simmering with post-War political tensions, as the European powers attempt to carve up the former Ottoman Empire — which doesn’t necessarily sit very well with the Arab locals and the desert-dwelling Bedouin tribes.

City of Jasmine is at heart a romance, and that shines through despite occasional dives into historical politics that get a bit too dry at times. The love story is really what this book is all about, and it’s at its best when the mystery of Evie and Gabriel’s marriage and estrangement is explored. Why did the lovely man Evie married turn into a cold-eyed stranger so quickly? Why did he fake his own death? What is he doing in Damascus, disguised as an antiquities expert in dusty robes and a nasty beard? And why, even now, must he treat Evie with such aloofness and mockery?

There’s quite a bit of action in City of Jasmine, and at times it has a frantic, almost Indiana Jones-ish feel to it. There are double-crosses and triple-crosses, chases through the desert, gunfire, escapes via camel, truck and airplane, hostile tribes and friendly tribes, and all sorts of talk of relics, artifacts, and priceless treasures. This being a romance, though, there are also quite luxurious descriptions of Turkish baths and spa treatments, flowing robes, absolutely scrumptious-sounding food, and desert tents filled with lovely carpets and cushions.

The history feels somewhat shoe-horned in. There’s a lot of talk about the politics of the time and their implications, but this mostly just scratches the surface of the complicated issues involved. I suppose the political atmosphere of the day is necessary for the events and setting to make sense, but between that and the archaelogy and the action sequences, the romantic elements are often in danger of being buried by plot.

I did enjoy City of Jasmine, but felt that the relationship between Evie and Gabriel needed to be explored further. Interestingly, the publisher released a prequel novella entitled Whisper of Jasmine in early February, several weeks before City of Jasmine‘s release. Whisper of Jasmine tells the story of Evie and Gabriel’s first meeting at a New Year’s Eve party, their intense and immediate attraction, and their elopement. It’s all quiet breathless and passionate and very, very romantic. I have to wonder, though, if the overarching story might have been better served by including this prequel as a prologue within City of Jasmine itself. Without having read the prequel, it’s hard to see the marriage as anything but an impulsive decision that ended in failure, and we don’t see enough of Evie and Gabriel together to get a sense of the feelings between them. Of course, I can’t really judge since I did read the prequel first — but I wonder what impressions a reader might have who hadn’t read Whisper of Jasmine ahead of time.

If you’ve read A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn, then you’ll be happy to recognize a few familiar characters popping up here in City of Jasmine, kind of like encountering old friends unexpectedly. If you haven’t read A Spear, no worries. It’s nice to have the connection to the previous novel, but not essential to understanding the characters and events of City of Jasmine.

I enjoyed the flapper-esque sensibility and dialogue of Evie and her aunt, who is the quintessential elderly relative with a notorious, scandalous past:

“We’re travel-fatigued,” Aunt Dove pronounced. “It happens when one passes too quickly from one culture into another. I’ve always said trains were uncivilized. One ought only ever to travel by steamship or camel.”

Likewise, there are moments of prime bantering between Evie and Gabriel that are quite charming:

When I reached his side, he paused and gave me a penetrating look. “How much did you enjoy pulling that trigger at me?”

I thought a moment. “Less than I expected but more than I should have.”

He nodded. “That sounds about right.”

Overall, I found City of Jasmine — while overly hectic in places — an engaging, romantic tale of adventure and love. If you enjoy a light taste of history mixed in with your exotic locations and passionate pairings, give City of Jasmine a try!

And if you’ve read City of Jasmine, I’d also recommend:

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn: A terrific historical romance set in colonial Africa in the 1920s, with a remarkable, memorable heroine.
Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell: For those wanting a deeper dive into the history and politics of the Middle East in the years following World War I, you really can’t do better than this brilliant historical novel.

_________________________________________

The details:

Title: City of Jasmine
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Publication date: February 25, 2014
Length: 354 pages
Genre: Romance/historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of Harlequin MIRA via NetGalley

25Feb2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: The Paying Guests

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

There’s nothing like a Wednesday for thinking about the books we want to read! My Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday post is linking up with two fabulous book memes, Wishlist Wednesday (hosted by Pen to Paper) and Waiting on Wednesday (hosted by Breaking the Spine).

My most wished-for book this week is:

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
(expected publication date: August 28, 2014)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.

For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the ‘clerk class’, the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

This is vintage Sarah Waters: beautifully described with excruciating tension, real tenderness, believable characters, and surprises. It is above all a wonderful, compelling story.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters is one of my all-time favorite, most recommended, you’ve-absolutely-got-to-read-this books… so I’m pretty much willing to read whatever new book she comes up with. Granted, it seems like there are a ton of books out right now set in 1920s London — but no matter. I’m sure, in the hands of Sarah Waters, it will be genius! And meanwhile, maybe between now and the end of summer I can catch up on the two of her previous novels I’ve yet to read.

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

24Feb2014

Top Ten Tuesday REWIND: Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy…But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Tuesday Rewind:
Where we pick a topic we’ve done before, or one we skipped the first time around, and come up with a whole new top 10!

I wrote my first version of this list in March 2013… and sad to say, some of the same books are still on it! Yes, I’m the type who buys candy while waiting in line at the check-out stand, who picks up goofy souvenirs at the airport gift shop two minutes before boarding — I’m totally prone to buy on impulse, and nothing attracts me more than a brand new, shiny book THAT I HAVE TO HAVE RIGHT NOW.

Here are the top 10 books that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on, bought in a fit of total urgency, preordered months in advance… and they’re still sitting there on my shelves (or on my Kindle), taunting me with their pristine dust jackets, uncreased spines, and 0% completion.

1) S. by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. I was so fascinated by this book when I first heard about it, couldn’t wait to get my own copy… and then once it arrived, I realized I had no idea how to actually go about reading it. It felt kind of like a chore, so I put it aside and never picked it up again.

2) The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott: A friend recommended this historical novel centered around the Titanic, and I thought it sounded like something I’d love. And I’m sure I will enjoy it, when I finally read it.

The Dressmaker

3) The Buffy graphic novels: I’ve read all of Buffy season 8, but I fell seriously behind on season 9 and its various spin-offs, so now I have several volumes of Buffy, Angel & Faith, and Willow to read.

4) Other Kingdoms by Richard Matheson: This ended up being one of Richard Matheson’s last novels, published two years before his death in 2013. I loved the plot description for Other Kingdoms, and bought a copy as soon as it was released.

Other Kingdoms

5) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote: I was absolutely convinced that I was going to read this right away… and that was last September.

In Cold Blood

6) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes: I know this book is supposed to be amazing! I swear, I will read it in 2014!

Me Before You

7) Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh: Picked this one up in a bookstore a few months ago…

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened

8) Small Damages by Beth Kephart: The reviews were excellent, and I couldn’t wait to read this young adult novel:

Small Damages

9) If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman: After reading Just One Day, I knew I needed to read more by Gayle Forman, and quickly got myself copies of these two books. I know, I know… gotta read them ASAP.

If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)

10) All the books from last year’s various TBR lists that I still haven’t gotten to:

Once again, this top 10 list is a good reminder to me of all the amazing books I ALREADY OWN that I need to read. (In other words, note to self: STOP BUYING BOOKS! Or more realistically, buy fewer books and read the ones I already have!)

Have you read any of these? Which of these should I dive into first?

24Feb2014

Review: The Time Tutor by Bee Ridgway… plus a giveaway!

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I absolutely loved Bee Ridgway’s debut novel, The River of No Return, which was released in 2013. (You can read my review here). And so… I’m incredibly excited to share two goodies today: A review of The Time Tutor, a novella set in the same world as The River of No Return, and a giveaway of the brand new paperback version of The River of No Return!

In The Time Tutor, we revisit the world of time travelers and their mysterious secret society The Guild, this time through the experiences of Alva Blomgren. In The River of No Return, we meet Alva as a woman of the world, running a house of ill repute with a secret basement holding all sorts of goodies from her travels through time. Alva is a strong, beautiful woman who interacts with the main character, Nick, but her role in the novel is as a supporting, secondary character. In The Time Tutor, we get to know Alva’s backstory and see how she becomes the person she is, breaking free of the Guild’s hold and finding a way to use her skills, brains, and power for her own purposes. The Time Tutor is short and to the point, so don’t read it expecting a lot of scene-setting or build-up. Instead, it’s a fast-paced story that includes passion, intrigue, deception, and of course, leaps through time. Some familiar characters appear in addition to Alva, but note that this is a prequel, so knowledge of the events of the novel is not essential in order to enjoy this novella. The Time Tutor works on its own, but of course its greatest appeal will be for fans of The River of No Return who are eagerly awaiting a new installment!

And now, a giveaway! Thanks to Plume Books/Penguin, I’m able to offer one copy of the brand new paperback edition of The River of No Return, which is scheduled for release on March 25th.

Gorgeous cover, right?

The giveaway is available for residents of the US and Canada only. To enter, click the link below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

24Feb2014

The Monday Agenda 2/24/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Time Tutor After I'm Gone

Better off Friends Whisper Of Jasmine

The Time Tutor by Bee Ridgway: A review — plus a giveaway of the new paperback edition of The River of No Return — will be up a bit later today. Check back to enter!

After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman. Done! My review is here.

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg: Done! My review is here.

Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn: This romantic novella is a prequel to City of Jasmine (see below), and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Fresh Catch:

No new books this week… but in book-related news, Game of Thrones season 3 arrived on DVD!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

City of Jasmine The Husband's Secret House of Glass

I’m *this close* to finishing City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn, and should have a review up in the next couple of days.

Next up, I’ll be reading:

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (which I’ve been wanting to read — and now need to read for a book group discussion)

House of Glass by Sophie Littlefield

And also in the works:

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths In the never-ending struggle to keep my kiddo engaged with books, we’re now reading assorted stories from D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths each night before bed, and he’s really enjoying it. It’s been so long since I’ve looked through this book, so I’m getting a kick out of it too!

And my ongoing project:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 29 – 33. Want to join in? Contact me and I’ll provide all the details!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

22Feb2014

Book Review: Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Better off Friends

A little like When Harry Met Sally for teens, Better Off Friends asks the question, “Is it really possible for a boy and a girl to be just friends?”

Macallan (yes, she’s named for the whiskey) and Levi just click from the very start, when Levi moves from California to Wisconsin right at the start of 7th grade. He’s the new kid worried about fitting in and making friends. Macallan has troubles of her own, still recovering from her mother’s shocking death in a car accident the previous year. Yet somehow, these two get each other, moving quickly from the discovery of a shared loved for a (fictitious) BBC comedy to best friend status, finishing each others’ sentences, being relatively unsufferable to those trying to get a word in edgewise, fitting into each others’ families, and really connecting in the way only true friends can.

Their friendship continues, with its share of ups and downs, into high school. They manage to survive the awful fall-out from Levi dating Macallan’s best girl friend, as well as a variety of other awkward moments that might break up a less solid friendship. But Levi and Macallan are totally strong and inseparable — until things start to fall apart. As Levi finally gets what he always thought he wanted — guy friends, success in sports, a crowd to hang out with — he has less time and attention for Macallan. Meanwhile, she’s realizing that friendship with Levi isn’t quite as easy or comfortable as it was in their younger days.

For years, people have always assumed that these two were “together” — and they really can be quite frightful when they’re on a roll with their in-jokes, ignoring everyone else around them, completely oblivious to their other friends, or even their current boyfriend or girlfriend. An attempt at a double-date is never repeated, after it ends disastrously (and also somewhat hilariously).

But when Levi finally starts to wonder what it is that he feels for Macallan, their friendship enters rocky territory, to the point where it looks doubtful that they can survive it at all. Plagued by doubts and worries and serious miscommunication, Levi and Macallan each have to decide whether it’s worth pursuing something more… or whether they really are better off friends.

How many times have you seen a character in a book or movie use the excuse “I don’t want to ruin our friendship” as a reason for not going out with someone? Totally lame, right? Well, in Better Off Friends, not ruining the friendship is the crux of the problem, and it’s not at all lame. I loved seeing how much Levi and Macallan care about each other and how vital their friendship is for both of them. Neither of them can stand the idea of ruining it… but their inability to be honest and take a risk may destroy the friendship anyway.

Told in alternating voices, we get to hear in first-person perspective from both Macallan and Levi the history of their friendship and to see how it grows and changes over the years. Each chapter ends with a bit of banter between the two. It comes across like a recounting of their history, so that after Macallan tells the story of the first time she met Levi, we hear a few choice comments from Levi –usually snarky and funny — telling what he thinks of Macallan’s version of events. It’s a nice touch, and it lets the reader know that they’re in this together and enjoying the tales from their past. It does also remove a little element of suspense: Since the story is told as the two of them looking back on their shared history, there’s really no fear that they won’t end up at least as friends, if not more.

Insta-love seems to be all too common in YA fiction these days. They meet, they exchange five words, they looks into each others’ eyes — and BAM! It’s true, deep, soul-scorching love. (It definitely helps if one is from the wrong side of the tracks, or has a troubled past, or is hiding a deep, dark secret). Better Off Friends is like the antidote to insta-love: When romance finally becomes a possibility, it’s after years of friendship and a true, deep connection. We feel like the characters have earned it; love feels organic for these two, and not something forced on a pair of characters in order to fit a formula.

In fact, Better Off Friends is so far from formulaic that reading it feels like a breath of fresh air. Other than the fact that a main character has lost a parent at a young age, nothing in this book feels like a retread of what’s trendy in teen fiction at the moment. I enjoyed the originality of the characters and the care and detail devoted to letting us get to know them. Their struggles to pursue their own interests and passions, balance these with school and home demands, and figure out how to still be a good friend felt realistic and appropriate for their ages, and it was interesting to see how the two grow over the years from nervous middle school kids to confident high school juniors.

Last year, I read Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg, and loved the honest way in which the author approached the problems and challenges of a terrific main character. (You can check out my review here.) After reading Better Off Friends, I’m adding Elizabeth Eulberg to my list of incredibly talented YA writers whose work I’ll always want to check out.

If you enjoy contemporary young adult fiction with main characters you can care about, definitely give Better Off Friends a try!

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The details:

Title: Better Off Friends
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication date: February 25, 2014
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Young adult contemporary
Source: Review copy courtesy of Scholastic via NetGalley

21Feb2014

Flashback Friday: Stardust

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Flashback Friday pick this week:

Stardust by Neil Gaiman
(published 1999)

Synopsis (Goodreads):

In the sleepy English countryside at the dawn of the Victorian Era, life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall–a secluded hamlet so named for an imposing stone barrier that surrounds a fertile grassland. Armed sentries guard the sole gap in the bulwark to keep the inquisitive from wandering through, relaxing their vigil only once every nine years, when a market fair unlike any other in the world of men comes to the meadow. Here in Wall, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to beautiful Victoria Forester. But Victoria is cold and distant–as distant, in fact, as the star she and Tristran see fall from the sky on a crisp October evening. For the coveted prize of Victoria’s hand, Tristran vows to retrieve the fallen star and deliver it to his beloved. It is an oath that sends the lovelorn swain over the ancient wall, and propels him into a world that is strange beyond imagining.

But Tristran is not the only one seeking the heavenly jewel. There are those for whom it promises youth and beauty, the key to a kingdom, and the rejuvenation of dark, dormant magics. And a lad compelled by love will have to keep his wits about him to succeed and survive in this secret place where fallen stars come in many guises–and where quests have a way of branching off in unexpected directions, even turning back upon themselves in space and in time.

Neil Gaiman works his unique literary magic in new and dazzling ways in “Stardust, a novel that will shine in the heart and memory far beyond the turning of its final page.

I consider Stardust a modern classic — a dreamy fairy tale with touches of witchy evil, struggles for a throne, and flying pirates! As far as I remember, Stardust was my very first Neil Gaiman book, and I love the fact that it’s perfect for adults but really accessible for kids too.

Stardust is also one of the rare cases where a great books is adapted into a pretty terrific movie… but still, if you’ve only seen the movie, read the book! It’s fun, it’s romantic, it’s exciting, and totally enchanting.

PS – In case you need encouragement to see the movie… how about these magic words? Henry Cavill. The guy who plays Prince Caspian. Are you convinced yet? 🙂

What flashback book is on your mind this week?

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: To join in the Flashback Friday fun:

Grab the Flashback Friday button
Post your own Flashback Friday entry on your blog (and mention Bookshelf Fantasies as the host of the meme, if you please!)
Leave your link in the comments below
Check out other FF posts… and discover some terrific hidden gems to add to your TBR piles!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

20Feb2014

Book Review: After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman

After I'm Gone Secrets, lies, and obsessive love lie at the heart of this new mystery novel by Laura Lippman. Felix Brewer, a wealthy but not quite legitimate businessman, flees the country in 1976 rather than face a prison sentence, leaving behind the wife he loves, three daughters, and a young, devoted mistress. When the mistress is reported missing in 1986, the natural assumption is that she’s finally gone to join Felix. But when her remains are discovered years later in a local park, it’s clear that Julie Saxony has been murdered. The investigation goes nowhere for 15 years, until retired detective Roberto “Sandy” Sanchez pulls the cold case file and starts to dig… and notices connections that had been missed the first time around.

The story starts with Felix’s escape, and then moves forward over time, through all the years since his disappearance, focusing not on Felix himself but on the shattered lives of those he left behind. He’d intended to provide for the family financially, but the money never surfaced, and his wife Bambi and her daughters live in the years since always on the verge of ruin. Meanwhile, Julie was given ownership of one of Felix’s businesses and expanded from there into a restaurant and B&B — so did she have the missing money? And would someone have killed to get hold of it?

We follow Sandy’s investigation into the meager pieces of evidence and the random witnesses who might have new light to shed on the past, while in alternating chapters, we learn what’s become of Bambi, her sad and troubled daughters, and their families as well. The clues start to pile up, and as Sandy remarks, the murderer in a cold case is usually someone whose name appears in the original investigation file. Nobody connected to the Brewer mystery has led a spotless life. Greed, callousness, disappointment, and bitterness all play a part. As close as Bambi and the girls are, each one is hiding secrets from the others, in misguided attempts to protect their loves ones from unpleasant truths or to avoid letting their mother down.

In a way, this book is quite sad. Bambi truly loved her husband and he adored her as well, but she spends most of her adulthood alone, scrounging to maintain the life she wanted for her daughters, and always suffering the indignities of her abandonment. The daughters have issues, to say the least: Trust issues, feeling like their father ruined their lives, the constant air of scandal surrounding the family, worry for their mother — and later, relationship problems, marital difficulties, and the pain of knowing that their father chose a life of exile rather than doing time and then resuming life amidst his family.

The mystery itself is clever and confounding. There are red herrings galore. At several points, I thought I had it all figured out… but mostly, I was dead wrong. (I will pat myself on the back and say that I did in fact pick the killer — but I got the circumstances and motivation completely wrong, so I suppose it was mostly a lucky guess!) The book covers quite a big chunk of time, dipping in and out of the family’s life over a span of 35 years, but it doesn’t feel like too much. Instead, we get samplings of what Bambi and the daughters go through at various points in their lives post-Felix, with glimpses of Julie as well, and it’s just enough to start connecting dots and figuring out which pieces fit together — and where and when the true secrets are hidden.

Sandy is a good investigator with a sorrowful backstory, and if I had any quibbles about this book, it’s that perhaps too much time is spent on Sandy’s history. It really has no bearing on the mystery itself, other than to humanize the law enforcement side of the story, and I could have done with less focus on him and more on the Brewer family, who truly fascinated me. I had the sense, based on the wrap-up, that the author intends to introduce Sandy into future mysteries involving her ongoing character Tess Monaghan. Since I’ve never read anything by this author before, this aspect didn’t matter to me, but I’m sure it will be exciting for fans of the Tess Monaghan series.

Overall, I found After I’m Gone terrific, suspenseful, and smart. I’m not usually a big fan of mystery or crime fiction, but this book had everything I need to really enjoy a good read: engaging characters, unusual plot twists, startling and unexpected scenarios, and some plain old great writing. I tore through this book as quickly as I could, and felt really irritated every time little things like sleep got in the way. If you like books that grab you and don’t let go, check out After I’m Gone!

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The details:

Title: After I’m Gone
Author: Laura Lippman
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: February 11, 2014
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of William Morrow and TLC Book Tours