Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
Continue »
I remember reading John Grisham years ago - when he first wrote The Firm. More than anything, he draws you in with his stories. I'd very much enjoyed his Theodore Boone books and had been looking forward to reading Calico Joe, his latest novel.
I'm not that knowledgeable about baseball, so the baseball stats in Calico Joe didn't register with me, the way that I expect they will for more baseball savvy readers. But the real story and its drama was easy to follow.
The story is told by eleven-year old Paul Tracey, the son of New York Mets pitcher Warren Tracey. As a boy, admires his father but has a healthy fear of him as well.
"Baseball was my world, and little else mattered. My father pitched for the New York Mets, and I lived and died with each game. I pitched too, for the Scrappers in the White Plains Little League, and because my father was who he was, great things were expected of me. I rarely met those expectations, but there were moments of promise."
The baseball season of 1973 is marked by the sudden appearance of young Joe Castle. Castle was sharing a cheap apartment with four other minor league players when the first baseman of the Chicago Cubs was injured. Joe was called up and found himself "starting at first and hitting seventh". Joe hit a home run on his first pitch and made baseball history. Joe Castle captured the hearts and imagination of baseball fans all around the country - and our narrator shares his own excitement and admiration of the young player.
Grisham's description of young Calico Joe and the spontaneous surge of affection from baseball fans everywhere sort of reminded me of Jeremy Lin - although I admit that many things remind me of Jeremy Lin nowadays - because of the unexpected show of talent and graciousness. Calico Joe clearly loves the game, is excited by the opportunities opening up for him, and his consistently gracious and likeable. Calico Joe is a great role model -"cocky but not the least bit arrogant" - "a fresh-faced kid who looked all of twenty-one and was on top of the world.
While "everyone was falling in love with Calico Joe", Warren Tracy was jealous of Joe's popularity, success and skill. When the New York Mets face off against the Chicago Cubs, Warren Tracy somehow hits Calico Joe. The action destroys both their professional and personal lives. Decades later, when Paul learns that his father Warren Tracy is dying of cancer, Paul tries to arrange for the men to meet. John Grisham's Calico Joe digs into the what happened that fateful day in 1973 and in the years following. Calico Joe is an engrossing story of rivalry, jealousy, vengeance, forgiveness - and baseball.
ISBN-10: 0385536070 - Hardcover $24.95
Publisher: Doubleday (April 10, 2012), 208 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher.
I loved this book - the characters were each so different and so compelling. I admit that it took me a while to get used to the sounds of the Southern and Irish voices but once I got over the first few pages and could focus on what Troy's characters were saying, I carried the book with me everywhere.
On the one hand, you might expect the book to be depressingly heavy since the lead characters go through so much - from the Great Famine in Ireland to slavery in the American South to the American Civil War and an escape to freedom. But while Peter Troy gives us a full sense of what it must have been like - undoubtedly drawing on his background as a history teacher - he also delivers characters with such heart, hope, and integrity that we come to care about them.
The book opens with the funeral of Ainslinn, the young sister and closest friend of twelve-year-old Ethan McOwen in Ireland during the Great Famine (The "Hunger"). The Hunger killed one million people and forced one million more to migrate to other lands to survive. Ethan and his family are on the verge of starvation and have decided to leave their home for New York. Ethan, his mother and his Aunt Em can only bring what they can carry during their 50 mile walk to the harbor. They have some raw potatoes, Aunt Em carries some of her wedding china and Ethan carries the six precious books he shared with his sister Ainslinn. There's this heartbreaking scene that sort of reminded me of The Gift of the Maji when Aunt Em can't carry her china and Ethan leaves behind some of his books to carry the plates for his Aunt Em. It had me crying as I read on the subway.
"Ethan watches his Aunt unwrap the six ceramic plates her husband had bought her as a wedding present. They're handpainted with different designs, and she looks each of them over before picking out her favorite.
Well, dis one'll have to be enough to remember better days, she says, and wraps it back with her extra dress.
Don't, Em, Ethan's Mam protests. Moichael gave 'em to ya.
I have to, Nora, I can't carry 'em anymore....
Since at least Ainslinn's funeral, Ethan's felt like he's let everyone down. Da told him he was the man of the house when he left, and even if he was just kidding about that, seein' how he was just a lad of ten when his Da said it, Ethan still feels like he's failed to take care of all of them the way he should've, the way his Da would've, or even Seanny. And to see Aunt Em leave this treasure behind, after all she's already left back home, is about all he can take of that shame without doing something drastic. So he ducks behind a tree, unwraps his satchel, and makes the difficult decision in just a few seconds. Shakespeare, Homer, Milton and Chaucer make the cut, while Shelley and Swift are left behind. Out of sight form his Mam and Aunt Em, he places the two books side by side and leans them against a tree, hoping they'll be adopted by passersby for something more than kindling or to wipe their arses. Then he walks over to the discarded plates and begins to wrap them carefully in his satchel.
Ethan, what're ya doin? Aunt Em asks.
I can carry dem, he says with confidence.
Now don't be stahrtin'--
I can carry dem, he interrupts like he never would, somehow stumbling upon a man's sense of resolution, what with how neither his Aunt, nor his Mam, say anything more about it."
There's only enough money for Ethan's passage in steerage on the "cattle car" to America. His mother and aunt stay in Ireland and work until the family can raise money for their trip. On each leg of Ethan's journey, he somehow makes friends and it is by tenacity and luck that he survives. The friends that Ethan makes, his openness, his deep interest in the world around him stayed with me long after I'd finished the book.
We begin Micah's story when he's sixteen. We learn that Micah's family is well regarded by their master, so much so that his father is able to strike a bargain on the day of Micah's birth. Micah's father asks permission to plant and grow indigo in a small unused portion of the plantation. He works during his free time and the harvest goes towards paying for Micah's freedom. They have agreed that 1,000 lbs of indigo will buy Micah's freedom. This endeavor is a testament to Micah's father's hard work and their master's good faith, but it also depends upon the condition being complied with before any change of circumstance - and Fate is not kind to Micah or his family or his master. We learn the cruel fate of a slave, and the ways that Micah tries to cope and builds his life, drawing on the pride in work, integrity, and skills that he learned from his father.
Micah and Ethan are only two of the four main characters. Mary and Marcella are just as complex as they struggle to establish their identities and independence. All characters come together in a deftly crafted plot. If you enjoy historical fiction or are just looking for an engrossing read, do not miss May the Road Rise Up to Meet You.
ISBN-10: 0385534485 - Hardcover $25.95
Publisher: Doubleday (February 28, 2012), 400 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher.
Even if you don't usually read memoirs, you still might enjoy Agorafabulous! Sara Benincasa is hilarious while being quite frank about what it was like to deeply depressed and agoraphobic. There's no sugarcoating here but her frankness and sense of humor leaves one sympathizing and relating to what she went through. While it's hard to read about bowls of pee in Le Creuset bowls to avoid entering the bathroom, Benincasa makes you understand just how one might feel this way.
Benincasa takes us to different chapters of her life. The trip to Sicily with other high school kids tells us about her early panic attacks and her place in the social hierarchy:
'I was generally liked in my own grade (I cracked jokes in class and wrote funny editorials about the cafeteria for the school newspaper) but had few friends on the trip to Italy. And I was certainly not loved by Amber, who seemed particularly irritated by people who liked clowning around for laughs. She disliked them even more than she disliked people who made art on their own time, people who wore vintage clothing, people who listened to non-Top 40 music, and people who read books. And Amber really hated people who read books. I once heard her say in an English elective, "I have a boyfriend. I don't have time to waste on a fu#@ing book."'
The anecdotes throughout the week long high school trip kept me chuckling and wincing in equal amounts. When she weaves in how she told her best friend about her weak attempt to cut her wrists, I felt like I was there in the restaurant and wanted to cheer her up.
Agorafabulous! is a funny, frank, and engaging account of a young woman growing up and into herself.
ISBN-10: 0062024418 - Hardcover $24.99
Publisher: William Morrow (February 14, 2012), 272 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Jennifer Haymore has a talent for weaving comedy into her historical romances. In Secrets of an Accidental Duchess, we have the beautiful, protected and slightly naive Olivia Donovan. Olivia spent much of her life in a small island in the West Indies and hasn't learned all the nuances of London society. For instance, it takes her a while to realize that the good looking Mr. Buchanan (a.k.a. Max a.k.a. Lord Hasley) is heir to a dukedom - and to call him by the right title. But all of this fits her personality. She's not bowled over by titles, power or money as she expects never to marry and to end her life as the "spinster aunt". When tempted by Max, she points out that she doesn't intend to be the "disgraced spinster aunt".
Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is full of these fun quips and well set up disasters of sorts. Both romantic leads are extremely likable. The villain of the piece is a little overdone -- he is a cad in every possible way. But as Jennifer Haymore's books are meant to be a fun escape, Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is exactly that - an engrossing romance with danger, comedy, and a satisfying ending.
ISBN-10: 0446573159 - Mass Market Paperback $7.99
Publisher: Forever (February 1, 2012), 432 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Jennifer Haymore has a talent for weaving comedy into her historical romances. In Secrets of an Accidental Duchess, we have the beautiful, protected and slightly naive Olivia Donovan. Olivia spent much of her life in a small island in the West Indies and hasn't learned all the nuances of London society. For instance, it takes her a while to realize that the good looking Mr. Buchanan (a.k.a. Max a.k.a. Lord Hasley) is heir to a dukedom - and to call him by the right title. But all of this fits her personality. She's not bowled over by titles, power or money as she expects never to marry and to end her life as the "spinster aunt". When tempted by Max, she points out that she doesn't intend to be the "disgraced spinster aunt".
Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is full of these fun quips and well set up disasters of sorts. Both romantic leads are extremely likable. The villain of the piece is a little overdone -- he is a cad in every possible way. But as Jennifer Haymore's books are meant to be a fun escape, Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is exactly that - an engrossing romance with danger, comedy, and a satisfying ending.
ISBN-10: 0446573159 - Mass Market Paperback $7.99
Publisher: Forever (February 1, 2012), 432 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
gaby317 has commented on (290) products.
Calico Joe by John Grisham
gaby317, April 3, 2012
I remember reading John Grisham years ago - when he first wrote The Firm. More than anything, he draws you in with his stories. I'd very much enjoyed his Theodore Boone books and had been looking forward to reading Calico Joe, his latest novel.I'm not that knowledgeable about baseball, so the baseball stats in Calico Joe didn't register with me, the way that I expect they will for more baseball savvy readers. But the real story and its drama was easy to follow.
The story is told by eleven-year old Paul Tracey, the son of New York Mets pitcher Warren Tracey. As a boy, admires his father but has a healthy fear of him as well.
"Baseball was my world, and little else mattered. My father pitched for the New York Mets, and I lived and died with each game. I pitched too, for the Scrappers in the White Plains Little League, and because my father was who he was, great things were expected of me. I rarely met those expectations, but there were moments of promise."
The baseball season of 1973 is marked by the sudden appearance of young Joe Castle. Castle was sharing a cheap apartment with four other minor league players when the first baseman of the Chicago Cubs was injured. Joe was called up and found himself "starting at first and hitting seventh". Joe hit a home run on his first pitch and made baseball history. Joe Castle captured the hearts and imagination of baseball fans all around the country - and our narrator shares his own excitement and admiration of the young player.
Grisham's description of young Calico Joe and the spontaneous surge of affection from baseball fans everywhere sort of reminded me of Jeremy Lin - although I admit that many things remind me of Jeremy Lin nowadays - because of the unexpected show of talent and graciousness. Calico Joe clearly loves the game, is excited by the opportunities opening up for him, and his consistently gracious and likeable. Calico Joe is a great role model -"cocky but not the least bit arrogant" - "a fresh-faced kid who looked all of twenty-one and was on top of the world.
While "everyone was falling in love with Calico Joe", Warren Tracy was jealous of Joe's popularity, success and skill. When the New York Mets face off against the Chicago Cubs, Warren Tracy somehow hits Calico Joe. The action destroys both their professional and personal lives. Decades later, when Paul learns that his father Warren Tracy is dying of cancer, Paul tries to arrange for the men to meet. John Grisham's Calico Joe digs into the what happened that fateful day in 1973 and in the years following. Calico Joe is an engrossing story of rivalry, jealousy, vengeance, forgiveness - and baseball.
ISBN-10: 0385536070 - Hardcover $24.95
Publisher: Doubleday (April 10, 2012), 208 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher.
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You by Peter Troy
gaby317, March 9, 2012
I loved this book - the characters were each so different and so compelling. I admit that it took me a while to get used to the sounds of the Southern and Irish voices but once I got over the first few pages and could focus on what Troy's characters were saying, I carried the book with me everywhere.On the one hand, you might expect the book to be depressingly heavy since the lead characters go through so much - from the Great Famine in Ireland to slavery in the American South to the American Civil War and an escape to freedom. But while Peter Troy gives us a full sense of what it must have been like - undoubtedly drawing on his background as a history teacher - he also delivers characters with such heart, hope, and integrity that we come to care about them.
The book opens with the funeral of Ainslinn, the young sister and closest friend of twelve-year-old Ethan McOwen in Ireland during the Great Famine (The "Hunger"). The Hunger killed one million people and forced one million more to migrate to other lands to survive. Ethan and his family are on the verge of starvation and have decided to leave their home for New York. Ethan, his mother and his Aunt Em can only bring what they can carry during their 50 mile walk to the harbor. They have some raw potatoes, Aunt Em carries some of her wedding china and Ethan carries the six precious books he shared with his sister Ainslinn. There's this heartbreaking scene that sort of reminded me of The Gift of the Maji when Aunt Em can't carry her china and Ethan leaves behind some of his books to carry the plates for his Aunt Em. It had me crying as I read on the subway.
"Ethan watches his Aunt unwrap the six ceramic plates her husband had bought her as a wedding present. They're handpainted with different designs, and she looks each of them over before picking out her favorite.
Well, dis one'll have to be enough to remember better days, she says, and wraps it back with her extra dress.
Don't, Em, Ethan's Mam protests. Moichael gave 'em to ya.
I have to, Nora, I can't carry 'em anymore....
Since at least Ainslinn's funeral, Ethan's felt like he's let everyone down. Da told him he was the man of the house when he left, and even if he was just kidding about that, seein' how he was just a lad of ten when his Da said it, Ethan still feels like he's failed to take care of all of them the way he should've, the way his Da would've, or even Seanny. And to see Aunt Em leave this treasure behind, after all she's already left back home, is about all he can take of that shame without doing something drastic. So he ducks behind a tree, unwraps his satchel, and makes the difficult decision in just a few seconds. Shakespeare, Homer, Milton and Chaucer make the cut, while Shelley and Swift are left behind. Out of sight form his Mam and Aunt Em, he places the two books side by side and leans them against a tree, hoping they'll be adopted by passersby for something more than kindling or to wipe their arses. Then he walks over to the discarded plates and begins to wrap them carefully in his satchel.
Ethan, what're ya doin? Aunt Em asks.
I can carry dem, he says with confidence.
Now don't be stahrtin'--
I can carry dem, he interrupts like he never would, somehow stumbling upon a man's sense of resolution, what with how neither his Aunt, nor his Mam, say anything more about it."
There's only enough money for Ethan's passage in steerage on the "cattle car" to America. His mother and aunt stay in Ireland and work until the family can raise money for their trip. On each leg of Ethan's journey, he somehow makes friends and it is by tenacity and luck that he survives. The friends that Ethan makes, his openness, his deep interest in the world around him stayed with me long after I'd finished the book.
We begin Micah's story when he's sixteen. We learn that Micah's family is well regarded by their master, so much so that his father is able to strike a bargain on the day of Micah's birth. Micah's father asks permission to plant and grow indigo in a small unused portion of the plantation. He works during his free time and the harvest goes towards paying for Micah's freedom. They have agreed that 1,000 lbs of indigo will buy Micah's freedom. This endeavor is a testament to Micah's father's hard work and their master's good faith, but it also depends upon the condition being complied with before any change of circumstance - and Fate is not kind to Micah or his family or his master. We learn the cruel fate of a slave, and the ways that Micah tries to cope and builds his life, drawing on the pride in work, integrity, and skills that he learned from his father.
Micah and Ethan are only two of the four main characters. Mary and Marcella are just as complex as they struggle to establish their identities and independence. All characters come together in a deftly crafted plot. If you enjoy historical fiction or are just looking for an engrossing read, do not miss May the Road Rise Up to Meet You.
ISBN-10: 0385534485 - Hardcover $25.95
Publisher: Doubleday (February 28, 2012), 400 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher.
Agorafabulous!: Dispatches from My Bedroom by Sara Benincasa
gaby317, February 16, 2012
Even if you don't usually read memoirs, you still might enjoy Agorafabulous! Sara Benincasa is hilarious while being quite frank about what it was like to deeply depressed and agoraphobic. There's no sugarcoating here but her frankness and sense of humor leaves one sympathizing and relating to what she went through. While it's hard to read about bowls of pee in Le Creuset bowls to avoid entering the bathroom, Benincasa makes you understand just how one might feel this way.Benincasa takes us to different chapters of her life. The trip to Sicily with other high school kids tells us about her early panic attacks and her place in the social hierarchy:
'I was generally liked in my own grade (I cracked jokes in class and wrote funny editorials about the cafeteria for the school newspaper) but had few friends on the trip to Italy. And I was certainly not loved by Amber, who seemed particularly irritated by people who liked clowning around for laughs. She disliked them even more than she disliked people who made art on their own time, people who wore vintage clothing, people who listened to non-Top 40 music, and people who read books. And Amber really hated people who read books. I once heard her say in an English elective, "I have a boyfriend. I don't have time to waste on a fu#@ing book."'
The anecdotes throughout the week long high school trip kept me chuckling and wincing in equal amounts. When she weaves in how she told her best friend about her weak attempt to cut her wrists, I felt like I was there in the restaurant and wanted to cheer her up.
Agorafabulous! is a funny, frank, and engaging account of a young woman growing up and into herself.
ISBN-10: 0062024418 - Hardcover $24.99
Publisher: William Morrow (February 14, 2012), 272 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Secrets of an Accidental Duchess (Donovan) by Jennifer Haymore
gaby317, February 10, 2012
Jennifer Haymore has a talent for weaving comedy into her historical romances. In Secrets of an Accidental Duchess, we have the beautiful, protected and slightly naive Olivia Donovan. Olivia spent much of her life in a small island in the West Indies and hasn't learned all the nuances of London society. For instance, it takes her a while to realize that the good looking Mr. Buchanan (a.k.a. Max a.k.a. Lord Hasley) is heir to a dukedom - and to call him by the right title. But all of this fits her personality. She's not bowled over by titles, power or money as she expects never to marry and to end her life as the "spinster aunt". When tempted by Max, she points out that she doesn't intend to be the "disgraced spinster aunt".Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is full of these fun quips and well set up disasters of sorts. Both romantic leads are extremely likable. The villain of the piece is a little overdone -- he is a cad in every possible way. But as Jennifer Haymore's books are meant to be a fun escape, Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is exactly that - an engrossing romance with danger, comedy, and a satisfying ending.
ISBN-10: 0446573159 - Mass Market Paperback $7.99
Publisher: Forever (February 1, 2012), 432 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Secrets of an Accidental Duchess (Donovan) by Jennifer Haymore
gaby317, February 10, 2012
Jennifer Haymore has a talent for weaving comedy into her historical romances. In Secrets of an Accidental Duchess, we have the beautiful, protected and slightly naive Olivia Donovan. Olivia spent much of her life in a small island in the West Indies and hasn't learned all the nuances of London society. For instance, it takes her a while to realize that the good looking Mr. Buchanan (a.k.a. Max a.k.a. Lord Hasley) is heir to a dukedom - and to call him by the right title. But all of this fits her personality. She's not bowled over by titles, power or money as she expects never to marry and to end her life as the "spinster aunt". When tempted by Max, she points out that she doesn't intend to be the "disgraced spinster aunt".Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is full of these fun quips and well set up disasters of sorts. Both romantic leads are extremely likable. The villain of the piece is a little overdone -- he is a cad in every possible way. But as Jennifer Haymore's books are meant to be a fun escape, Secrets of an Accidental Duchess is exactly that - an engrossing romance with danger, comedy, and a satisfying ending.
ISBN-10: 0446573159 - Mass Market Paperback $7.99
Publisher: Forever (February 1, 2012), 432 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
1-5 of 290next