April, Or The Month I Read Five Books But Take Forever To Post

April 2008

Books Bought:
The Secret History of Moscow - Ekaterina Sedia
Then We Came To The End - Joshua Ferris
Thud! - Terry Pratchett
Scandal of the Season - Sophie Gee

Books Received Gratis:
None

Books Read:
I Was Told There'd Be Cake - Sloane Crosley
Holy Cow - Sarah MacDonald
Carolina Moon - Nora Roberts
The Secret History of Moscow - Ekaterina Sedia
The Seduction of Water - Carol Goodman


When you take almost a month to post about the preceding month, it can be difficult to remember what you've read. Especially when your brain is likely to be mush from lots of work and you've already moved on to another couple of books. So while I stared at my shelves for a long while trying to remember that fifth book I read, I swore I would post about May as soon as it was over.

I started off the month very well. At least, book wise. I finished two books I had started in March thanks to the lovely spring cold I had. Spending a day or two in bed because you're so sick that you've got green shadows under your eyes is is the perfect time to polish off a few books. It was under these conditions that I read Holy Cow and I Was Told There'd Be Cake.

Sloane Crosley, the nicest publicist in Manhattan, debuted with her darkly hysterical collection of essays I Was Told There'd Be Cake. Her first story "The Pony Problem", had me hooked instantly. Getting a little "I spotted it first!!" thrill, I was eager to read and then recommend it. In fact, I sold my coworker D on it without reading any more than "The Pony Problem". Since then everyone else has discovered Ms. Crosley and I get to feel smug and self-satisfied. (Trust me, that's a rare feeling for me).

Riverhead, Ms. Crosley's publisher, hyped the book as "mordantly funny" and compared her writing to that of Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris. I'm a fan of Vowell - if you haven't, go read Assassination Vacation. Any book where a historical figure gets dubbed Jinxy McDeath is brilliant - but I'm not that thrilled with Sedaris (half my bookstore and nearly all of the book blogging/reviewing community just gasped and clutched their hearts). Sedaris is a popular writer and I enjoyed Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim, but it didn't make me laugh. Smart books - the type of book you want to love and be able to lord over your book hipster pals - should make you laugh. And I don't mean to yourself, no, you must laugh out loud and not be able to prevent the sound from escaping your body despite the potential for stares if you are in public. Between confessing to her secret shame toy pony stash and facing mystery poo left on her bathroom floor after a dinner party, Sloane Crosley's acerbic wit turned me into a fan girl.

(In fact, I was such a fan girl that when I discovered she'd be at our rival's store for a reading the same night I had an author event, I emailed her publicist and used all my power as an author events manager to beg for her to stop in and sign our stock. She did, and I was at the info desk when she came in. She really is incredibly nice and signed the few copies we had in store (it was flying off the shelves then) and signed my copy. As a thanks I gave her a candle shaped like a slice of cake, thinking she'd appreciate the irony. A few weeks later she sent me an email saying thank you and that she enjoyed the candle. )

Holy Cow, a travel/clash of cultures memoir by Sarah MacDonald, an Australian journalist who moved to India to be with her boyfriend and future husband who was stationed there as the Australian Broadcasting Co's correspondent, was our April book club selection. Despite her initial impression of India as a grimy, crowded, disgusting place during a trip in her 20's, MacDonald breaks her vow never to return when Jonathan is sent there for work and she realizes she can't stay behind in Australia. Struggling to adjust to Indian ways of life and fill her days while Jonathan is on assignment, Sarah begins a spiritual quest to experience all India has to offer. She visits holy sites and attends festivals and retreats and gets hugged by living saints as she samples Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Parsisim....and every other religion India has to offer. Though the tour de force of spiritualism begins to feel like a "if it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium"-type trip, MacDonald's irreverent and realistic reactions are a nice antidote. She says what she - and let's admit it, we - thinks even if it's not the most politically correct response. However, she remains polite, open-minded, and optimistic as she slowly adopts India as her new home. When 9/11 breaks through her yoga-doing, navel-gazing cocoon and Jonathan faces real danger on assignment in Afghanistan, the story is quickly wrapped up as the newlyweds return to Australia.

(When the bookclub met to discuss Holy Cow, we had a very interesting discussion of the culture clashes and the criticism MacDonald drew from Parsis for her slightly satirical remarks on their burial practices. Several new members joined the club, including one woman who was very, erm, chatty. While B, K, and I were trying to escape her after the meeting, my favorite Red Sox player, Jonathan Papelbon, came into the store with his wife and bought books. I totally missed him, and was so jealous of L, who got to ring him up. And yes, I know what they bought, but that's a little secret we'll be keeping for them. Let the Papelbons have their privacy.)

Following HC and IWTTBC, I dipped into a guilty pleasure. Yes, my secret book shame is a predilection for Nora Roberts novels. They're like junk food, or as C's daughter puts it, "potato chip books". I had a full, two days in a row weekend off - something that has been a rarity for me since February - and several busy weeks and working weekends up ahead. I wanted a cozy book I could read in a weekend. Combining mystery, buried secrets, romance, and a wee bit of the paranormal, Roberts's novels are comfort reading without getting too trashy. She does write strong heroines and absorbing-if-shallow plots. I chose Carolina Moon, mostly because I had caught the made-for-TV Lifetime movie adaptation staring Claire Forlani and Oliver Hudson while channel surfing one lazy day. The story of Tory Bodeen, a survivor of an abusive, poor white trash upbringing who just happens to have The Sight, returns to her hometown to face the shame and secrets surrounding the murder of her best friend, little rich girl Hope Lavelle. As you can guess, Tory solves Hope's murder, faces backstabbing and whispers, makes friends, and outwits the killer stalking her while falling in love with Hope's brother Cade. This is one of the rare times when I will say this, but the movie was better than the book. (Blasphemy!!)

Next, I read Ekaterina Sedia's fantasy novel, The Secret History of Moscow. With a blurb from Neil Gaiman claiming the book to be "[a] lovely, disconcerting novel", and a very interesting premise, I picked it up despite my previous disappointment with Russian Fantasy (Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko). The novel follows Galina, a troubled young woman, and Yakov, a disillusioned police inspector, as they enter an Oz-like otherworld populated by folklore characters and people who have slipped through the cracks in history. Galina is trying to find her beloved sister Masha who was turned into a jackdaw and Yakov is investigating several similar disappearances. Joined by Fyodor, an alcoholic street painter, and some fairy tale characters, they discover a plot that threatens both Moscow Above and Moscow Below. Enjoyably creepy and unfamiliarly fresh, SHoM redeemed Russian Fantasy a little. Something got lost in translation (a common problem with these books it seems) or there is an assumption that the reader is very familiar with Russian history and folklore, but unlike Night Watch, SHoM had just enough explanations to keep my head above water. Sedia shows promise, and if the plot and characters had been fleshed out a little more the book would have been amazing. I will most likely read it again, and hopefully it will improve with a second look.

Rounding out the month and meeting my five books goal was Carol Goodman's The Seduction of Water. This was a reread for me. I 'discovered' Goodman when I first started working at the bookstore. There was an advance copy of The Ghost Orchid, and it sounded just interesting enough to make me go "hey, it's free, so if it sucks, who cares?" I ended up enjoying Ghost Orchid and went on to read all her other works which were much better. She's most famous for her Secret History-like The Lake of Dead Languages, but I prefer The Seduction of Water. Maybe it's the layers of Irish myth or the fairy tale motif or even the romance between main character Iris and her Irish ex-con beau Aidan. Whatever it is, Seduction of Water is a deliciously absorbing gem of an atmospheric literary thriller. There are not many books in that genre or authors that can pull them off, but Goodman is adept and pulls you in with that snuggle-under-the-covers feeling from childhood when mommy tucked you and told you a favorite bedtime story. On a second read, the fairy tale motif seemed much more heavy handed than before, as does the reliance on coincidence, but if you can suspend your disbelief, Goodman makes it worth your while. In August, her latest book - The Night Villa - is coming out and I'm looking forward to reading it.

May will soon be over, and I cannot say I will read as much as I did in April. However, I read something amazing (Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman) and am working on a book that pubs in June (Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson) that I will enjoy reviewing for you. And I may also write about Lucie Whitehouse's novel due out in June, which would be two sneak previews for the price of one blog post. Unless I actually manage to write a monthly post plus reviews. Now wouldn't that be something?