The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the thread where you can submit reviews for the Best Review contest. The thread is open for submissions and will close at Midnight EST on November 19, 2016. Voting will start the next day and run until the end of the GR day on November 30. The person whose review gets the most votes will get to design a 20 point task for the Winter Challenge.

To be eligible for this task opportunity you must have achieved at least 100 points on the Readerboard by Midnight EST on November 18, 2016.

Just a reminder that each person can only submit one review - but you can make edits to your review up until the end. The review does not have to be any particular length and doesn't have to be a positive one (i.e. you can choose to review a book you didn't like).
Please include your Readerboard Name.

PLEASE DO NOT comment on people's reviews in this thread - this is for submissions only - you will be able to comment when voting begins.

SPOILER ALERT!- These reviews may include spoilers.

An Inquiry Into Love and Death by Simone St. James

3 Stars

When Oxford student Jillian Leigh receives news that her uncle has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Rothewell, she drives down to the coast to identify his body and set his affairs in order. After a series of sinister events not to mention a visit from Scotland Yard, Jillian comes to believe that her uncle's death may not have been an accident and that a malevolent ghost may have had a hand in it…

St. James's debut novel, The Haunting of Maddy Clare is an atmospheric and gripping tale of murder, vengeance and reaffirmation of life and love. Unfortunately, her second book, An Inquiry into Love and Death does not quite succeed in living up to its potential, and is an uneven mix of weak historical mystery with ineffectual paranormal elements and a unsatisfying minor romance.

The mystery starts out well enough with a suspicious death, but rapidly deteriorates into a mish-mash of illogical clues that send the intrepid amateur "sleuthette" on a circuitous route until she inevitably stumbles across the truth. The villain is predictable and the motive mundane and uninteresting.

The ghostly manifestations feel contrived rather than spooky and are virtually unrelated to the mystery. Consequently, they contribute little to the tension or suspense.

The romance between the sheltered and naïve Jillian and the handsome and more worldly detective, Drew Merriken feels forced as their attraction is inexplicable and their chemistry non-existent.

All in all, a disappointing follow-up, but St. James's writing style is decent enough to read another. On a final note, Rosalyn Landor's narration is immersive and manages to somewhat compensate for the ineffectual storyline.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
4****

Audiobook narrated by Alexander Spender and Susan Adams

Does anyone really need a synopsis? If you’ve seen any of the movies, you know the basic plot, but the original novel is so much more!

Stoker wrote the work as a series of journal or diary entries, letters and newspaper clippings. This could easily become disjointed, but in this case, it serves to give a certain immediacy to the writing. It also builds suspense, as we leave one character to jump to another’s perspective, frequently with a disconnect in terms of what each of the characters knows about the full situation. The danger they are in is frequently a result of not having the full picture, of not truly understanding the force against which they are pitted.

But the novel is more than just a horror story. There are several themes which would be great for book group discussion.

To begin there is the typical Victorian theme of strong men coming to the rescue of pure damsel in distress. However, Stoker turns the tables a bit when he gives Mina the intelligence, foresight and courage to fight the evil forces in her own way. Yes, the men do the actual fighting, but it is Mina who first puts together all the individual notes into a coherent chronological story, and ultimately gives the men what they need to go up against Dracula. The woman has steel!

Stoker also includes a fair amount of sexual – or at least sensual – tension. Bosoms heave, blood quickens, breathing is rapid, and people are completely overcome and overwhelmed by desire. They are simply helpless in the face of their base instincts … or are they?

The novel is wonderfully atmospheric; from the delights of a new culture as Harker first experiences the loveliness of Eastern Europe, to the growing sense of doom when surrounded by howling wolves, to the creepy, skin-crawling scene with the hordes of rats (I feel squeamish as I type this), and finally to the “pure-white” snow of the mountain blizzard, time and again Stoker puts the reader smack dab in the middle of the scenes.

There are several different audio versions. The one I had from my library was masterfully performed by Alexander Spander and Susan Adams. Each voiced the journals / diaries based on the gender of the character writing that segment.

Chris MD



A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

I really want to visit Three Pines, the tiny Quebec village near the Vermont border that produces "bodies and gourmet food in equal proportion." Murder has all but become a cottage industry in Three Pines, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Because when a body turns up, it means Armand Gamache and his agents from the Surete de Quebec homicide division won't be far behind. The police and the village residents have become old friends by this seventh installment in the series, and yet I never tire of their interactions and the new revelations about their personalities.
Three Pines artist Clara Morrow has finally had her day in the limelight, a solo show at the biggest venue in all of Montreal followed by a large, informal celebration back in Three Pines. But when the sun comes up the next morning, there's a body in Clara's flower beds. Now it's up to Gamache's art of detection to determine whodunit.
The story centers on the themes of forgiveness and whether it's possible for people to actually change who they are. Several of the regular characters have made big mistakes over the past couple of books, and they're all seeking forgiveness or trying to forgive. Some need to do both.
But despite the murder and maudlin sentiments, Penny still writes with her wonderfully dry sense of humor on display. There were several places that are laugh-out-loud funny, perhaps my favorite being when she describes a woman appearing in jodhpurs, riding hat, and leather crop: "She was either going to go for a ride or direct a Max Sennett short."
Yup, I definitely want to book a room at Olivier and Gabri's B&B. I only hope I live to tell the tale.

Commonwealth Ann Patchett

With this novel, Ann Patchett continues her reign as a master story teller. She has called this book, which is more personal than any of her others, the book she has been been avoiding writing for years. Not autobiographical but drawing from her own experiences and continuing her theme of groups of people coming together under unexpected circumstances, this is a wonderful read in every way. Instead of the group of hostages in a South American vice-presidential mansion forced together by terrorists that she gave us in Bel Canto, here we have members of two American families forced together when the patriarch of one makes a fateful decision to crash the christening party the other with a hastily-grabbed, very large bottle of gin (so he doesn't arrive empty handed-after being asked by his wife if he even has a gift for the baby, so surprised is she that he is attending this virtual stranger's party-without her). The gin...and California oranges..make appearances throughout this story which spans almost fifty years, taking that baby into adulthood and the adults at the beginning of the story into old age. In the years between, Patchett shows us how the children, as well as the adults in the families are affected by that long ago decision to attend the party and how it continues to influence and have an impact on every aspect of their lives, from their relationships with each other to the their life, romantic relationship and career choices. She does it with humor and grace and manages to tug at heartstrings more than once. The fact that she does it in just over 300 pages and yet gives us a story where we really get to know more than a dozen characters, is a testament to her truly being a master of the craft. As a bonus for book lovers, there's a thread involving a well-known award winning author who after becoming involved with one of the characters, uses their family story as the basis of a blockbuster novel. Questions about who a story truly belongs to and who really has a right to tell it-and what happens when that story is out in the world-are woven throughout the book, both in terms of this fictional character's novel within Patchett's novel and in terms of the stories each of us carries within ourselves about our own lives and experiences. If you are a fan of Ann Patchett, pick up this book immediately. If you have never read her before, this is a great place to start. And for those who want to go further, Patchett's collection of essays, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage offers a glimpse into the author's own life, showing some of the inspiration for the tale she tells in this beautiful novel.