Hawaii

Hawaii
Author: James Michener
Fawcett Crest, 1959
1036 pages

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've written a book review. Believe me, it's not because I haven't been reading -- I have -- a very long book!

I'm a fan of historical fiction, and I've heard about Michener all my life, but this was my first book of his. Although I bought Hawaii a while back, it sat on the shelf until I packed my bag for the recent trip. I figured: first time going to Hawaii, first time reading Michener -- and I started reading it on the first leg of the journey. I was sucked in immediately. WOW! Michener knows his stuff! His writing was as amazing as his grasp of history and people.

Hawaii the book starts out with a short chapter explaining how the islands emerged slowly over time from volcanic action. The next chapters are long - hundreds of pages long -- excellent fictional tales of how the first humans might have come to Hawaii from Tahiti, the 19th century Christian missionary and native Hawaiian perspectives, and the Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino immigrant perspectives. Surely it was intentional that the book was first published in 1959, the year Hawaii became the 50th state in the USA.

I'm not exaggerating when I say the human drama in this book is unsurpassed in any other fiction I've ever read! I felt like I was in that tiny boat with the Tahitians when they saw "new" (northern hemisphere) stars for the first time. I was seasick with the missionaries during the month it took them to get around Cape Horn. It was as if I was working alongside the imported workers in the pineapple and sugar cane fields.

Covering the evolution of Hawaii from pre-history to just after World War II, this book is a true epic. Very highly recommended. I'm just sorry this review doesn't do the book justice. Truth is, I'm ready for a short, easy read now!

The Kitchen Garden

The Kitchen Garden
Author: Alan Buckingham
DK, 2010
352 pages

If you read Gypsy Roots (one of my other blogs), then you'll know that I've been spending a little time in the garden lately. I'm still a novice vegetable gardener, so I'm constantly on the lookout for resources that are basic but not too basic, with just the right info. I like things in small bites, otherwise I get bored. The Kitchen Garden is, in a word, perfect. For me, anyway.

It's divided into four main sections. 1) An introduction, with just enough of that basic info mentioned earlier. Particularly helpful for me were sub-sections on plot layouts and bed systems, tools/equipment, and crop rotation. 2) A month-by-month listing of tasks to be completed (specific to the northern hemisphere, I must point out), e.g., what seeds to start indoors (or outdoors). I wish I would have had this info in January. 3) Detailed info on various vegetables, in mini-sections divided by the type of vegetable (root, brassica, etc.) 4) A troubleshooting section, with helpful info on problems, pests, etc.

Like most DK books, there are lots of photos, and I find this to be particularly appealing. The layout and photos aren't just helpful, they're beautiful and inspiring. I want my vegetables -- heck, I want my gardens -- to look like the ones in this book. :-) I know I'll be referring to The Kitchen Garden on a regular basis. Highly recommended for beginners, and maybe even for those with several years of experience who are interested in growing something new.

A Reliable Wife

A Reliable Wife
Author: Robert Goolrick
Algonquin, 2010
320 pages

The year is 1907. The place: a small town in northern Wisconsin. A man named Ralph Truitt waits at a train station for the arrival of his bride-to-be, a woman who responded to his want-ad in a Chicago newspaper for "a reliable wife." As it turns out, neither of them is really who they seem to be, and the theme of trust (along with several other themes including loss and redemption) is a key component of Robert Goolrick's first novel.

Goolrick isn't exactly a spring chicken, and neither are his characters. Truitt is pushing 60, and Catherine Land, the beautiful woman he will marry despite trickery, plots, and schemes you simply cannot imagine until you read the book, is at an age where she is "no longer youthful."  Like his father before him, Ralph is a very successful businessman. He wasn't always responsible, but over time has become worthy of inheriting his kingdom. Catherine is equally interesting, a person with many secrets whose photographic memory enables her to make her way through the world in a chameleon-like fashion.

From northern Wisconsin with its long winters to the slums of Philadelphia to old world Europe to opium dens and whorehouses of Chicago and St. Louis we go, experiencing nearly every human emotion imaginable. I can't remember ever reading anything (fiction or not) that describes the "seedy" side of the early 20th century like A Reliable Wife does. It's disturbing, and (for me) it was difficult to put down. Nearly every chapter ends with something you didn't expect, leading you to keep reading . . . all the way to the shocking and unpredictable (for me, at least!) ending. I read it in about four hours - maybe less -- not in one sitting, but if I'd had the time it could have been so.

I read online that the movie rights have already been snapped up. It will be interesting to see how Hollywood interprets this story for the big screen. I'm perplexed by the negative reviews on Amazon and B&N's web sites. Both ratings are averaging 3 out of 5 stars, but it seems as if people either really love or really hate this book. If I'd seen the reviews before I read the book, I might not have read it. But I'm glad I did, and I'd like to give a shout-out to my co-worker friend Jan for the recommendation.

Hail to the Chef

Hail to the Chef
Author: Julie Hyzy
Berkley, 2008
328 pages

We last checked in with White House Executive Chef Olivia "Ollie" Paras in State of the Onion, the first book in the White House Chef mystery series. Several months have passed, and now it's Thanksgiving. Ollie and her crew are frantically trying to stay ahead of the game as they prepare Thanksgiving dinner and plan for the annual Holiday Open House.

Out of the blue, a bomb-like device is found in the White House, and Secret Service Special Agent-in-Charge Gavin wants all staff trained in new procedures. Then the chief White House electrician, a very experienced fellow, is electrocuted in a freak accident. In the meantime, the First Lady is having some trouble with some business partners who want her to sell her stake in a company. Her nephew Sean, a young financial advisor who has a bit of a crush on Ollie, is trying to help his aunt -- but is found dead of an apparent suicide.

The holiday season is obviously made somber by these events, and since Ollie's boyfriend Tom (a Secret Service agent assigned to the President) is traveling with POTUS, Ollie's pretty much on her own. She finds herself consulting with a retired electrician neighbor, who tells her about floating neutrals and encourages Ollie to bring this to the attention of the other White House electricians, lest they too fall prey to this electrical anomaly. But the electrician brotherhood is hostile to Ollie when she asks them about it. The First Lady's business partners are becoming increasingly hostile, too -- and now there are rumors that one of them is a murderer!

There are a couple of new characters in Book 2, such as Gavin (a potential rival of Tom?) and the Swedish bombshell Agda, whose excellent work in the kitchen (as a seasonal employee) cancels out her lack of English skills. (I'm hoping she'll become a regular.)

Although I figured out what was going on early, there were enough interesting twists and turns that my fingers kept turning pages. Actually, I enjoyed this book even more than the first. This series makes me want to go to culinary school and move to DC. :-)

Sunshine

Sunshine

Author: Robin McKinley

Berkley, 2003

405 pages

Wow, I just realized that this is the 75th book I've reviewed! Pretty cool, huh?!!

Sunshine came highly recommended by my co-worker friend Sandy T. (who also recommended the Karen Marie Moening series that begins with Darkfever). "Sunshine" is a nickname for Rae Seddon, who at first seems very ordinary: she works as a baker in the family diner owned by her stepfather Charlie. She has a Mom, two younger stepbrothers, a tattooed, motorcycle-loving boyfriend, Mel (who also works at the diner), and a mysterious landlord named Yolande. They all live in a sort of post-apocalyptic world where "Others" (vampires, werewolves and other weres, etc.) have come out of their closets.

One day Sunshine decides to drive out to the lake, where her family once had a cabin. She is kidnapped by a band of vampires, who hold her prisoner along with another vampire in a nearby old mansion. A sort of Beauty and the Beast story enfolds, and circumstances bond her with the vampire. Sunshine's memories of her paternal grandmother suddenly come forward, and as she realizes her father's family were magic handlers, she also realizes that she has inherited some special abilities.

No, Sunshine is not ordinary at all.

Without giving too much away, I'll just say that this is the kind of story that just sucks you right in. There's a lot of narrative, which I normally find off-putting but in this case actually helps provide context that is necessary to understand the last part of the book. I found myself really liking the main character Sunshine as well as Constantine, her vampire friend. I would have liked to know more about Yolande, and through her to learn more about Sunshine's father. Also, it was interesting that Sunshine's mother was referred to often, but never really appeared in the book. I found myself wondering about her: who was she, really, and why was she so hell-bent on separating Sunshine and her father (and his family)? 

The last 80 pages or so are full of action. I couldn't stop turning the pages. This book begs for a sequel, but so far, there hasn't been one. That's a shame.

Three To Get Deadly

Three To Get Deadly
Author: Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's, 1997
321 pages

This is the third Stephanie Plum book, and this time, bounty hunter Stephanie is on the trail of "Uncle" Mo, the popular proprietor of the local candy store who failed to make a court appearance. As Stephanie attempts to track him down, she faces the wrath of Mo's neighbors and friends, who not only don't want to help her find him, they're angry with her for trying. Suddenly, local drug dealers start dropping like flies . . . and signs point to Mo. Has the candy salesman turned into a vigilante? His neighbors and friends see him as a hero, but Stephanie may be about to uncover something that will shock everyone.

Three To Get Deadly is an easy read, and I should have finished it sooner. However, a houseful of guests knocked me off my routine in the middle of the book. I was able to recover, but for some reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as the last one. There was a lot of comedy in the book that at times seemed like filler material. Stephanie's relationship with Joe Morelli is heating up, so it'll be interesting to see where that goes (I can imagine, LOL!) Lula's character provides a certain comic relief; I can see lots of potential here. I missed Grandma Mazur in this one and hope she'll be back in future books.

All in all, entertaining, with several laugh-out-loud moments -- and some eye-rolling moments, too. Fortunately, there were more of the former than latter.

All She Was Worth

All She Was Worth
Author: Miyuki Miyabe
Oriel, 1996 (original publication in Japanese language 1992)
296 pages

My friend Elyse, who lived in Japan for almost a year when she was attending university, tells me that Japanese fiction is . . .  different. Unlike Western fiction, which tends to be very linear, Japanese fiction is more circular. In describing what this means, Elyse said the story might start with the mention of a train station . . . and then take the long way around (so to speak) as the plot unfolds, only to wind up back at the train station again. I haven't lived in Japan (but I've been there! And I've ridden the bullet train!) and I certainly haven't studied Japanese literature, but sure enough, All She Was Worth begins with: "The rain started just as the train pulled out of Ayase Station."

Miyuki Miyabe is a prolific writer who is very popular in her native Japan, but so far, only a few of her books have been translated into English. All She Was Worth is a detective story (the author also writes science fiction, historical fiction, and the highly successful anime series Brave Story) whose main character is Shunsuke Honma, a middle-aged widower/single father/Tokyo police inspector on disability leave. Out of the blue, he's approached by Jin, the nephew of his deceased wife. Jin is a successful banker whose fiancée, a young woman called Shoko Sekine, has gone missing. He asks Honma to find her.

Honma learns that Shoko was recently turned down for a credit card due to a bankruptcy a few years earlier. As he searches for the young woman, he realizes she isn't who she claimed to be - and the 'real' Shoko Sekine is also missing. Honma spends lots of times in train stations and on bullet trains as he chases clues up and down Honshū island. Along the way, his eyes open to a serious problem in modern Japanese society: ravenous consumerism, especially among the younger generation, and staggering amounts of personal debt. He learns that both the real Shoko and her impostor both paid huge prices for their financial sins, and in some cases the sins of their parents. All She Was Worth asks: is keeping up with the Joneses (or the Suzukis or Watanabes) really worth it? The answer: it's a lot more complicated than you might expect.

I was mesmerized by this book. True, it's not a nail biter, and I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat. But I couldn't stop reading it. There was nothing obvious about the story. The "bad guy" (or girl, in this case) wasn't even certain. The ending wasn't wrapped up nice and tidy-like (and that will drive many Western readers nuts.)

But it was mesmerizing, nonetheless.