The Lovely Bones: A Novel (Hardcover) Review

Alice Sebold has written a remarkable debut novel.The narrator, Susie Salmon, was raped and murdered in 1973 and now resides in her heaven; yet, her voice contains none of the bitterness one would expect.She is able to see into the lives of those who touched her in life and death. At times wistful - for she will never be able to experience growing up - and others matter-of-fact, Susie witnesses the changes and growth within her family and small circle of friends.Her story is not one about death, but about loss and affirming life in its face, about moving on not only for those she left behind but for herself.The reader won't be able to escape the sadness in these pages - I came close to crying several times - but the overall tone is hardly grim. Because Susie is secure and happy in her heaven, she keeps the story full of light and optimism.
This novel is not flawless, nor should it expected to be.The narrative loses some of its momentum near the end. In addition, Sebold makes the mistake of adding a scene (which I won't describe here) seemingly designed to lessen the reader's regret about Susie's missed coming-of-age, but instead the scene falls flat.Susie's loss is as much a part of this book as her family's is, and to pretend it can be reversed, even if only temporarily, defeats the story.Still, given the first two-thirds of the book, this misstep and others can be forgiven.

The Lovely Bones is one of those books you can pick up and not want to put down again until you finish.At roughly 325 pages, this novel demands to be read on a plane, or on the beach, or when you have good chunks of time available to sit with it. Don't frustrate yourself by allowing a half hour here and there.
This is one book that deserves its spot on the bestseller list.

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Morning, Noon and Night (Paperback) Review

I stumbled upon a discount copy of Spalding Gray's Morning, Noon and Night and was morbidly compelled to read it. Basically, he recounts a day in his life when his youngest son was still an infant.
Other of his works are better written and with sharper wit and insight, and to plod through this one - to get it - you have to hear Spalding tell it in your head, see his expressions and mannerisms.
This memoir is something of a reflection on parenthood, and, well, everything, in true Spalding fashion. The book is full of sentiments that everyone confronting parenthood can relate to. I found myself angry at him for saying some of it though (OK, so I'm not finished with my anger just yet). Toward the end he writes:
"Here it is only ten-fifteen in the evening and I'm wasted, and I didn't even go to work. I don't know how people do it. I don't know how people raise families and work at the same time. What's more, why would they want to do it? With only one life to live, why bring more life into the world to be responsible for? It's absurd. It's ridiculous, I think. Why complicate your life with more life that you are ultimately responsible for? I love my children, but they could only be accidents born out of a kind of blind passion. I could never have had a child if I had to think about it."
Although he didn't go to work, he didn't do much parenting either. His girlfriend, working from a home office, also cooked, managed the household renovations, tended to the baby. He was selfish and spoiled - yoga, bike-ride, drinking.
But in the light of his death this work also sketches a portrait of a very sad, confused, scared - desperately scared - childish man. (Lots of inky water imagery too.) The humour and the wonder had already started leaving him.
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On Wings of the Morning [Paperback] Review

What a wonderful way to tell a story!We're given two main characters to follow through the years of 1933 to 1975.Each narrates his/her own story, switching back and forth from chapter to chapter.Morgan and Georgia emerged from completely different backgrounds, yet shared a single passion.The passion of flight, so exquisitely expressed by Marie, that the reader is transported to the sky.At once a heartfelt and visual experience, it is impossible to not become fully invested in the lives of these two individuals as they fledge toward a relationship.
Although the book takes place during World War II and carries with it much historical content, it is so much more than just historical fiction.Marie has developed a variety of secondary characters, with colorful personalities.In doing so, she has livened up the mix, and given us the opportunity to feel a multitude of emotions toward everyone in the story.There are those that are sadly comical, the ones you love to hate, and those that have struggled through hardship and can only be an inspiration.This book had me both crying and laughing outright.
Wings of the Morning can be read simply, as an easy-flowing love story, or as an example of patriotism and the recognition of the women of the WASPs, or if you are so inclined, delve deeply, and delight in the spiritual side of the story, consider such intriguing topics as Nature vs Nurture.But most of all, enjoy what Marie so capably brings to the mind's eye.


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Product Description:
Marie Bostwick delivers a captivating novel of soul mates discovering each other as the country faces its greatest challenge...
Morgan Glennon's destiny points straight up into Oklahoma's clear, blue sky. It's been that way since he was four years old, imagining the famous flier father he's never met. Morgan leaves college to enlist as a Navy pilot, and his whole world suddenly changes when America goes to war. Watching his friends fall in battle, robs Morgan of the joy he always felt in the air. It will take one very unusual woman to help him get it back...
Georgia Jean Carter learned early never to rely on a man for anything but trouble. Airplanes are different: they take a girl places most boyfriends can't. Remarkably, the war makes it possible for Georgia to do her part as a pilot. Flying with the WASPs brings a special sense of belonging--yet there's something missing that Georgia doesn't recognize until a brief encounter sets her dreaming about a young flyboy she barely knows...

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Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper (Paperback) Review

Art and life.Life and art.The lines pf demarcation aren't' visible in this richly imagined story of the relationship between Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt (1847 - 1926) and her older sister, Lydia, who sometimes served as Cassatt's model.Using five of the artist's paintings as springboards the author offers a moving story of courage and creativity, while she renders a fascinating study of the times in which the women lived.
Although suffering painfully, from a terminal illness, Bright's disease, Lydia continues to model for her sister, relentlessly scanning each finished portrait as if it foretold her future.Chessman conceives of Lydia as a study in patience and resignation, imagining thatpainter Edgar Degas, who often visited the sittings, said to Lydia, "You show me how to live, if only I could do it as you do."
In addition to exploring a unique sibling bond "Lydia Cassatt Reading The Morning Paper" suggests aspects of Cassatt's daring life, hints at a liaison with the dynamic Edgar Degas, and presents thumbnail sketches of her interaction with such artists as Renoir and Caillebotte.
Lydia, we learn, died in 1882 while Cassatt lived to create for over thirty more years.
Rather than a sad reflection on a too short life, Chessman, with pitch-perfect prose, has penned a celebration of family, love, and art.
- Gail Cooke

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