Instructions for a Heatwave

Instructions for a Heatwave (2013) by Maggie O'Farrell. This novel is set in 1976, a time when England was, indeed, suffering a heatwave. There were water shortages, and laws were passed in an effort to conserve water. It is against this background that Robert, an old retired geezer, leaves his wife Gretta back at the house as he goes out to get a newspaper. Only this time, Robert doesn't come back. He disappears, and the rest of the book is spent with Gretta and her three grown children -- Michael Francis, Monica and Aoife -- trying to find him. In the meantime, each of Gretta's children has issues of their own to work out, and in the course of the book they do get worked out -- for good or ill. It's an interesting read, and very skillfully written. No matters of great moment are discussed in this book -- it's just one family, with their own peculiarities, irritating each other and working out their differences. The main problem I had with it was the daughter named Aoife. I never could remember how to pronounce her name. Grade: A-

Saints of the Shadow Bible

Saints of the Shadow Bible (2013) by Ian Rankin. I've read and enjoyed Rankin's mysteries before, but this one is a sub-par entry. It's part of the Detective Inspector Rebus series, although at this point Rebus has retired and come back as a Sergeant. This book harks back to the Good Ole Days, when Rebus was first starting out, and when the police were given a little more leeway in arresting and interrogating suspects. An old case comes back to haunt the police force, and there is some question as to whether a suspect who was being questioned was in fact murdered by the authorities. Several killings take place in the course of the book, including one shooting. Rebus does his thing, using his connections to find guilty parties and bring them to justice, but this book just lacks the zing I've noticed in previous books by Rankin. The "Shadow Bible" refers to the Scots Criminal Law, a guide book issued during earlier times to help detectives determine proper procedure. Grade: B

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London. This book is billed on its cover as an "Oxford Children's Classic," and I think this is appropriate. It's a thrilling tale of a dog named Buck who is kidnapped from his comfortable life in California and forced to work in Alaska as a sled dog. London does a fine job of describing reality as seen from a dog's point of view, but of course we can never really know how a dog sees the world. My opinion is that London has anthropomorphized Buck to an excessive degree, giving him insight and wisdom that is beyond human. The book is a good read, but exaggerated in the extreme, to the point where Buck comes off as a supernatural being, almost with superpowers. Which brings me back to my original point. I think children will be able to suspend disbelief more easily than adults, and will be pulled unquestioningly into the story. It's a great children's book. It's only a passable book for adults. Grade: B 

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen. I scarcely feel worthy to review a novel which is considered a classic and which, to tell the truth, I frequently had trouble understanding. But review it I must, so I set down here my thoughts on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. First of all, it is the book equivalent of a chick flick. It is bound to appeal chiefly to women, as it is all about women and their unjust treatment by the old British practice of entailment. For those who don't know, entailment is a legal maneuver whereby it is arranged that property shall not be inherited by female heirs, but that it shall go to the nearest male heir. In this book, the Bennet family has five daughters, and the family's property is entailed to a male cousin, the odious Mr. Collins. A woman's only strategy to get around entailment is to marry a man who is rich. In this novel, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet, both in their early twenties, manage to get engaged to a Mr. Bingley and a Mr. Darcy -- but only after much ruffling of feathers and gnashing of teeth. The book consists mostly of gossip, either verbal or in letters, speculating over this one or that one's marriage prospects. All that said, it is a cleverly written novel, and at times a joy to read. I can only but give it the highest recommendation, and a Grade: A  

The Telling Room

The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese (2013) by Michael Paterniti. In the quaint village of Guzman, Spain, in a cave dug into the hillside on the edge of town, an ancient door leads to a cramped limestone chamber known as "the telling room." This is where villagers have gathered for centuries to share their stories and secrets -- usually accompanied by copious amounts of wine. It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a larger-than-life Spanish cheesemaker named Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras as he spun an odd and compelling tale about a piece of cheese. It was a special piece of cheese, made from an old family recipe, and was reputed to be among the finest in the world. But then, after Ambrosio had developed his cheese and expanded production to sell it worldwide, everything went terribly wrong. This book, equal parts mystery and memoir, travelogue and history, is an astonishing work of literary nonfiction which you will not soon forget. Grade: A-

Lost Girls

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery (2013) by Robert Kolker. Investigative reporter Kolker delivers a true-life account of the search for a serial killer still at large on Long Island, in a mildly compelling tale of unsolved murder and Internet prostitution. There are several murder victims enumerated in this book, and some of them have not yet been identified. Kolker provides us with several possible suspects, but the police are yet to be convinced who is responsible for the deaths of about ten prostitutes who used Craigslist to hook up with their clients. Perhaps the book's most interesting aspect is how Kolker has researched and revealed the shadowy world of Internet prostitution, and how it makes it so easy for a would-be killer to find his victims. The details that Kolker gets into about the reactions of the families of the murdered escorts are less interesting, and begin to feel like just padding. I found this book readable, but the plethora of victims and their relatives and suspects just got to be too much after a while. Grade: B

& Sons

& Sons (2013) by David Gilbert. & Sons is a brilliant novel which contains a joke in its title. The central character of the book, A. N. Dyer, is a famous author, one of whose books is titled Ampersand. The book begins with the funeral of one of Dyer's oldest and best friends, Charles Topping, and in fact the book is told from the first-person omniscient point of view by Charles' son Philip. It's a strange point of view to tell a story from, and it makes the novel a bit hard to follow at first. But once you get into the rhythm of it, it becomes a delight to read, with Dyer's sons Richard, Jamie and Andy alternating as the characters who come to the fore in the narrative. I would not rank this as one of the best books I've ever read, but it is certainly very good. Grade: A-  

The Signature of All Things

The Signature of All Things (2013) by Elizabeth Gilbert. From the author of "Eat, Pray, Love" comes this unexpected novel, about a family named Whittaker and their far-flung interests in botany in the middle of the 19th century. The novel begins with Henry, a low-class boy in London, who rises to become the  patriarch of the family. But Henry is really only the prelude to Alma, his daughter and only naturally born child. Alma is a homely girl (she looks like her father), but smart as a whip. The family transfers to America, where Henry grows rich and where Alma grows rich in the knowledge of botany. Eventually, she makes it her life's work to study mosses, and becomes an expert in the field. She also develops, independently, the theory of evolution. This is a book that starts slowly, but gradually gains momentum until it becomes hard to put down. Alma's adventures are so extraordinary that I found myself fascinated with a novel that I had at first taken to be rather boring. All in all, it gets a high recommendation from me. Grade: A-