Tag Archives: California

The Late Show by Michael Connelly

01 Wednesday Mar 2023

Posted by in action, crimes against, detective, Fiction, murder, murder and investigation, mystery, suspense, United States

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This was my first time reading the prolific Michael Connelly, and I loved this mystery that introduces us to Renee Ballard, a detective in LA working the overnight shift. Ballard is a great character and the cases she tries to solve in this first story are compelling.

The Late Show introduces a terrific female character: Detective Renee Ballard…The pacing of Ballard’s debut story is breathless…Ballard is complicated and driven enough to sustain the series Connelly doubtless has in mind for her.– “New York Times”

A hard-hitting police procedural that captures the imagination from page one.– “RT Book Reviews (4 stars)”

The most intriguing mystery in The Late Show, though, is Ballard herself. Connelly is too skillful to hand us her resume in one document dump; instead, he fills out her portrait with a subtle hand over the course of the novel, a little background here, a glimpse of her temperament there, the revelation of her unusual living conditions sketched in between.– “Tampa Bay Times”

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Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins

02 Wednesday Nov 2022

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, United States

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A New Yorker Best Book of 2022

Fifteen years after the publication of Evidence of Things Unseen, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Marianne Wiggins returns with a novel destined to be an American classic..(Amazon). I never wanted this book to end.  I just kept slowing down to forestall the inevitable.  A stunner.

“A changing American landscape is beautifully portrayed in PROPERTIES OF THIRST, a moving and gripping new novel by Marianne Wiggins.  At the start of World War II, while Japanese families are relocated to Manzanar, the Rhodes family, who live on a ranch near the camp are equally uprooted by memories and circumstances.  What follows is a rich and powerful portrayal of love, loss, and the enduring strength of family.  A novel to be read and savored.”—Gail Tsukiyama, bestselling author of Women of the Silk and The Samurai’s Garden

“A sweeping, cinematic story of love and family set against the dramatic backdrop of World War II and the American West…. What makes the novel soar is the way Wiggins can evoke landscapes both interior and exterior, especially the expansive valley that has come to exemplify America’s best qualities—and its worst. This majestic novel will satisfy those thirsting for an epic saga of love, family, and the complexities of the American way.”—Kirkus *Starred Review* 

“Wiggins manages to capture a big swath of mid-century America by placing a blue-blooded family into a desert inland complete with adobe haciendas, desert blooms, and Hollywood movie sets, while throughout, the Rhodes hold out hope for Stryker’s survival. Wiggins’s masterpiece is one for the ages.”–Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*

“[a] grand novel of principled and creative individuals caught in the vise of history… Loss, desire, moral dilemmas, reflection, and zesty dialogue with the do-good energy of Frank Capra films generate a WWII home front tale of profound and far-ranging inquiry and imagination, scintillating humor, intrepid romance, and conscience.”—Booklist *Starred Review*

“Masterful…. Readers won’t be able to look away. Wiggins’ characters are raw and honest… [her] writing, which can be fragmented or polished depending on the page, opens up microscopic universes and sprawling landscapes alike. It’s a joy to read.”—Bookpage *Starred Review*

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Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

04 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction

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Gifty is a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Stanford. She studies addiction and depression in mice, but both exist in her family as well. Gifty is very much a contemporary, forward-looking character—a Ghanaian-American woman who is excelling in science at one of the best schools in the world—but she is also drawn by memories of faith and family in Alabama where she grew up.  Quite different from her first book, Homegoing.  A compelling read.

“Unforgettable… Transcendent Kingdom has an expansive scope that ranges into fresh, relevant territories—much like the title, which suggests a better world beyond the life we inhabit.”—BookPage [starred review]

“Gyasi’s wise second novel pivots toward intimacy… In precise prose, Gyasi creates an ache of recognition, especially for readers knowledgeable about the wreckage of addiction. Still, she leavens this nonlinear novel with sly humor… The author is astute about childhood grandiosity and a pious girl’s deep desire to be good; she conveys in brief strokes the notched, nodding hook of heroin’s oblivion…final chapter that gives readers a taste of hard-won deliverance.”—Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

“Yaa Gyasi’s profoundly moving second novel takes place in the vast, fragile landscape where the mysteries of God and the certainties of science collide. Through deliberate and precise prose, the book becomes an expansive meditation on grief, religion, and family.”—The Boston Globe

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The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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“With strong female characters, author See deftly confronts the changing role of minority women, majority-minority relations, East-West adoption, and the economy of tea in modern China. Fans of See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan will appreciate this novel.”—Library Journal

“The story begins small, plunging us into the immersive detail of a single grueling day picking tea with the young girl, Li-yan, her mother, A-ma, and the rest of their ethnic minority Akha family…What makes life bearable for the Akha is their belief system, which infuses every aspect of their daily lives. The full sweep of their practices is flawlessly embedded in See’s prose…The hardships that confront Li-yan in her life are as compelling as the fog-shrouded secret groves where she and her mother cultivate a special healing tea. I could have hung out here in remote China forever, but See has wider ground to cover, including Chinese adoption, the international fine tea market and modern Chinese migration to the United States… A lush tale infused with clear-eyed compassion, this novel will inspire reflection, discussion and an overwhelming desire to drink rare Chinese tea.”–Helen Simonson, The Washington Post

“One of the fascinating elements of See’s epic novel is the contrast between the isolated lives of the Akha and the globalized world of China’s larger cities — a contrast bridged by tea…Fans of the best-selling Snow Flower and the Secret Fan will find much to admire in The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, as both books closely illuminate stories of women’s struggles and solidarity in minority-ethnic and rural Chinese cultures…In rendering the complex pain and joy of the mother-daughter bond, Lisa See makes this novel — dedicated to her own mother, author Carolyn See, who died last year — a deeply emotional and satisfying read.”—Emily Gray Tedrowe, USA Today

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Daisy Jones & the Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid

22 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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An episode of the (sadly, defunct) VH1’s Behind the Music in book form.  Reid’s descriptions will make you wish this fictional band’s songs were real.  The gossipy, often conflicting input from multiple narrators makes it a perfect, juicy summer read.  I enjoyed it even more than Reid’s previous hit – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

““I devoured Daisy Jones & The Six in a day, falling head over heels for it. Taylor Jenkins Reid transported me into the magic of the ’70s music scene in a way I’ll never forget. The characters are beautifully layered and complex. Daisy and the band captured my heart, and they’re sure to capture yours, too.”—Reese Witherspoon

Reid’s novel so resembles a memoir of a real band and conjures such true-to-life images of the seventies music scene that readers will think they’re listening to Fleetwood Mac or Led Zeppelin. Reid is unsurpassed in her ability to create complex characters working through emotions that will make your toes curl.”—Booklist (starred review)

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean

12 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by in 20th century, Non-fiction

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief, on the surface is a whodunnit.  Who set fire to the Los Angeles Public Library on April 28, 1986? Why did he/she do it? What was the outcome? Orlean chronicles the investigation into the fire that reached 2000 degrees and destroyed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.  In addition, the author also tells the broader story of libraries and librarians as well as a fascinating social history of California.

Orlean has written a detective story that is a love letter not just to the Los Angeles Public Library, but to all public libraries and what they represent in a democratic society – a place for free access to information.   Public libraries are a combination of a people’s university, a community hub, and an information base, happily partnered with the Internet rather than in competition with it.  Public libraries are a government entity that is nonjudgmental, inclusive and fundamentally kind.

A dazzling love letter to a beloved institution—and an investigation into one of its greatest mysteries—from the bestselling author hailed as a “national treasure” by TheWashington Post.

 A WASHINGTON POST TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018

“A constant pleasure to read…Everybody who loves books should check out The Library Book.” —The Washington Post

“CAPTIVATING…DELIGHTFUL.” —Christian Science Monitor * “EXQUISITELY WRITTEN, CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINING.” —The New York Times * “MESMERIZING…RIVETING.” —Booklist (starred review)

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Bound for Gold: A Peter Fallon Novel of the California Gold Rush by William Martin

14 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, Uncategorized

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Just published!  William Martin, local author and very frequent Weston library patron, gave a presentation about his book at the Weston Public Library on July 26th.  Now we have read it.  Expertly researched, vivid details, and nimble writing guarantee a rollicking wild read! Highly recommended.

“Plenty of skullduggery and labyrinths of mystery lace this gem about the California gold rush. The prose and plot are as sharp as a broken piece of glass. Another masterpiece from the master of historical fiction.” ―Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author

“Epic in scale, eloquent in execution, Bound for Gold is a pure delight. The great Forty-Niner gold rush comes to vivid life in William Martin’s skillful, suspenseful, and original retelling, and its resonance into the present is nothing short of mesmerizing.” ―John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author

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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by in 20th century, case studies, Non-fiction

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This is one of my favorite non-fiction books “that reads like fiction”. When Lia Lee, the 13th child in a family of Hmong refugees who had settled in Merced, was three months old, she was diagnosed with severe epilepsy. The series of events that cascaded from this diagnosis illustrate the potential thorniness of cross cultural interactions. Everyone wanted the best for Lia – especially her devoted parents and the dedicated doctors and staff at the hospital where she was repeatedly treated.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award

“Superb, informal cultural anthropology–eye-opening, readable, utterly engaging.” ―Carole Horn, The Washington Post Book World

“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down changed how doctors see themselves and how they see their patients. Anne Fadiman celebrates the complexity and the individuality of the human interactions that make up the practice of medicine while simultaneously pointing out directions for change and breaking readers’ hearts with the tragedies of cultural displacement, medical limitations, and futile good intentions.” ―Perri Klass, M.D., author of A Not Entirely Benign Procedure

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Veronica Mars, Season One (TV show)

25 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Comedy, Fiction

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Veronica Mars is an outcast at her rich California high school after her best friend’s death. While solving mysteries with her private investigator father, she is also determined to figure out who killed her friend. This is a funny, well-written, suspenseful show with great characters and a “film noir” feel.

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