The Long Fall by Walter Mosley

Leonid McGill is a PI who has decided to go from completely crooked to slightly bent, but severing all ties with the New York mob isn't as easy as he wishes it were. An Albany investigator hires Leonid to track down four men based only on the names they used on the streets in their youth, and he finds them, no questions asked. When the men come up murdered, one by one, Leonid realizes he's been duped and must track down the man who hired him.

Meanwhile, Leonid is busy running interference for his favorite teenaged son Twill, who, without Leonid's meddling, would likely be dead by now. With the help of a technophile friend, Leonid has access to all of Twill's e-mails and isn't ashamed to use that information to keep his son safe.

Then Leonid's mob connection shows up, asking him to do a job. Leonid doesn't want to bow to Tony "The Suit" Towers because it means giving in to the life the ex-boxer is trying to leave behind, but he also knows that Tony can make his life extremely difficult if he doesn't fall in line.

The Long Fall was y first Walter Mosley book. I know, I know; I've been living under a rock, I guess! But on the plus side, that means that I have no comparison point for any of his other novels. A lot of the reviews I've read focus completely on the fact that Leonid McGill is not Easy Rawlins. Well, of course he isn't because he's a completely new character. Sure, maybe some of the plot points and character backgrounds could have been developed a little bit more, but this was clearly the first novel in what I imagine will be quite a long series run. So there's plenty of time for Mosley to fill in the gaps he left here.

Overall, I thought that The Long Fall was a great detective story. It was gritty and Leonid McGill reminded me a lot of the old classic detectives, like Sam Spade and and Philip Marlowe, only with a modern edge. Some of the technology did some a little bit hokey, but I think Mosley will come into that with time as well; after all, he had been writing books set in the 1940s for quite awhile, so I think I can forgive him. This is definitely a great start to a new series and I can't wait for the next Leonid McGill book to come out!

Hold Love Strong by Matthew Aaron Goodman

Abraham Singleton's life began in the cramped bathroom of his extended family's small apartment in the New York City projects when his thirteen year old mother thought that her labor pains were gas. As Abraham grows older, he struggles to stay on the straight and narrow while many of his family members succumb to the crack epidemic that rages through New York in the mid-80s. When Abraham's mother bothers to come around at all, he barely recognizes her; she's so intent on getting her next fix that she begins stealing from him and other family members, but he still searches for her in the local crack houses when she doesn't come home after a few weeks. Abraham's uncle Nice gets shipped off to jail when he gets caught ferrying crack between suppliers and dealers, ending his NBA dreams (and a lucrative career).

Throughout the novel, Abraham's mother is the glue that holds the family together, even in their darkest days and she is determined that Abraham will have opportunities that other members of the family did not. Even though Abraham is the only member of his family to finish high school, he has no plans to attend college or leave the projects. But when he gets a phone call from a basketball coach at a small college, his entire future changes.

Hold Love Strong was absolutely fabulous. I couldn't put it down! It's narrated entirely from Abraham's point of view and he's a wonderful storyteller. I felt that Goodman captured the Singleton family's plight without going over the top and making their life story seem too awful to be believable. Overall, this was one of the best books I've read so far this year. Definitely pick it up for yourself!

Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr

When 49-year-old James Moses Johnson II is told by his friends that he's forgetting things a lot, he lashes out in anger and doesn't believe them; when he's told by his doctor that he has early-onset Alzheimer's disease, he's crushed. A former 70s soul singer, Mo was often away from his family and they suffered as a consquence; his son, Trey, is currently heading down a path of self-destruction with the help of two thug friends who think that robbing convenience stores to fund their debut rap record is a good idea. When one of the robberies goes wrong, Trey finds himself at the mercy of the law and forced on a road trip to visit Mo's dying father.

As the pair clock mile after mile in Mo's Cadillac Escalade, they seem to war with each other: old school vs. new school, man vs. boy, but Mo knows he must make amends with his son and teach him how to be a man (and a father to his own young son) before the Alzheimers takes over completely.

Before I Forget was an amazing book. I couldn't put it down. Sure, it wasn't action-packed and there wasn't any mystery to solve, but I absolutely loved the characters; even though Mo had been a callous cocaine-addicted jerk while Trey was growing up, I still admired that he was at least trying to make an impact on Trey's life, even if it may have been too late. At the beginning of the book, I wanted to dislike Trey and his stupid choices and lifestyle, but he matures so much throughout the course of the book that I couldn't help but like him by the final pages.

I like character driven books a lot, where the characters advance the plot more than events in the book. I felt like I really got to know Mo's history throughout the novel through flashbacks in his life and in his parents' lives. Honestly, I was worried that this was going to be a melodramatic weepy family tale, but it wasn't. Pitts put in just the right amount of drama without it being over the top. I can't recommend this one enough!

The Little Lady Agency in the Big Apple by Hester Browne

Melissa Romney-Jones' Little Lady Agency is a smashing success; she's helping legions of girlfriend-less men gain self-confidence and better wardrobes as Honey Blennerhesket, her alter ego. But when her seemily perfect boyfriend Johnathan Riley wants to whisk her away to Manhattan for a month, she balks at the thought of leaving her business (and her friends) behind in London.

He persuades her to join him and she truly does try to enjoy herself without trying to come to the aid of any socially-inept men. Really. But when she runs into an old school mate turned actor at a party who desperately needs her help, it's almost impossible for her to turn down his agent's pleas for help. Of course, the mission doesn't turn out to be as covert as planned and, soon, the entire mess blows up in Melissa's face with Johnathan and his ex-wife there to witness it all.

The Little Lady Agency in the Big Apple is actually the second book in a trilogy focusing on Melissa's exploits both as herself and as Honey, but I didn't realize that when I picked up the book; it actually works fairly well as a stand alone book, I thought. I really liked the character of Melissa, even if she was a bit naive at times (she often doesn't get jokes and doesn't realize that people may have ulterior motives).

I've been bad at reading over the past month or so, and I'm trying to get back into it, so I figured that easing in with some chick lit was in order. Overall, I ejoyed this book. If you like chick lit and British comedies, defintiely pick this up. It's a fun read!

Homestead by Rosina Lippi

In a series of interconnected vignettes spanning from 1909 through 1977, the people in Rosenau, an isolated dairy-farming community nestled in the Austrian Alps, are brought to life. Each chapter focuses on a segment of different women's lives, mainly: Anna, a young wife living in a household run by her mother-in-law, who receives a postcard from an outside man and sets the whole village talking; Johanna, a spinster living with her sister's family, who falls in love with an Italian deserter in her beloved alpine meadow and lives with the secret for the next 50 years; Angelika, Johanna's sister, who measures her own worth by the quality of the cheese she makes for her husband; and Katharina, who desperately wants to ride in one of the new automobiles of the Nazi soldiers.

When I picked up Homestead, I didn't realize that each woman's story wasn't directly connected to a larger story. I was confused and disappointed when I read the first two chapters of the book because it seemed that there wasn't any continuity. But I solidered on through a few more chapers, and I found myself really enjoying the book.

While it was great to get little tidbits about each woman in the village, I wish that Lippi could have spent more time giving more background information on each character. I think I would have been sucked into the book immediately had Lippi focused on one or two characters intimately instead of trying to hold my interest by giving me stories from a lot of different women. All in all, though, if you like historical fiction that's set outside the United States, Homestead is worth picking up.

Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup

Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphan, has been arrested after facing accusations of cheating on a TV game show. How else could a poor, uneducated young man who grew up in the slums win a billion rupees? Ram, however, maintains his innocence, claiming that he was lucky and just happened to know the answers to the questions he was asked. The police and the show's creators, on the other hand, don't believe him and decide to torture him in order to get a confession; seconds before the torture begins, Smita Shah, a lawyer burts in, and she is determined to reveal the truth.

Smita and Ram sit down together and watch the as of yet unaired tape of his bid on Who Wants to Win a Billion? As the show unfolds, Ram reveals bits and pieces of his life story and explains how he came to know each answer to the show's questions. Ram lived an incredibly difficult live from his abandonment in a clothes donation box to working as a servant for India's elite.

While I haven't seen the Slumdog Millionaire movie yet, I understand that it's quite different from the book. Honestly, after reading the book, I'm not so sure if I even want to see the movie; I'm afraid that the movie will be a complete and total disappointment after the book, which I thought was amazing.

The book is told in flashbacks as Ram shares how he knew the answer to each question he was asked on the game show. While not having a full, chronological story was somewhat annoying at times, I liked how Ram's life story was carefully revealed in relation to each question. That aspect made the book completely different from anything I've ever read before. If you've seen the movie, I highly recommend the book!

Apologize, Apologize! by Elizabeth Kelly

Elizabeth Kelly has given us a truly dysfunctional, crazy, charming, quirky family with her introduction of the fabulous Flanagans. Collie, who is named after his parents favorite dog, and his brother Bingo, are reared in a house on Martha's Vineyard fueled by alcohol, adultery, and activism. These fantastic Flanagan's lead a tumultuous life that bleeds over into the dogs and pigeons they live with. Collie lives in a house of chaos with his mother, father, Uncle Tom, and Bingo - all larger than life characters with charm and cruelty to spare. He longs for the quiet and security to be found at his grandfather's home, but is too caught up in the bitter rivalry between his stern media-mogul grandfather and his irascible parents to ever find peace there.

Collie's life is then further torn apart by a terrible tragedy that sends him into a world of indecision and guilt. Unable to decide what to do with his life on his own, he puts himself into several dangerous situations, at the suggestion of others, that almost cost him his own life. Collie finally attempts to settle down by becoming a doctor, thinking that helping others will help him overcome his grief, and feelings of guilt, but this too does not hold the answers he is searching for.

Kelly is a gifted writer, "I grew up on Martha's Vineyard in a house as big and loud as a parade—the clamor resonated along the entire New England coastline. Calliope whistling, batons soaring, trumpets bleating, everything tapping and humming, orchestrated chaos, but we could afford it. My mother was rich, her father's money falling from the sky like ticker tape, gently suppressing the ordinary consequences of all that noise." Elizabeth Kelly is a gifted writer, and she does an excellent job of showing us how Collie tries to find some of the magic inherent in his family for himself. We can only watch as Collie struggles with his ManPlan in an attempt to reach redemption. Funny, shocking, and poignant, Apologize, Apologize! is most of all a story about love, and these Fantastic Flanagans may be wild and crazy, but deep within the love is there.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

It's 1962, and 22-year-old Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a recent graduate of Ole Miss; while the rest of her friends were busy working on their "Mrs. degrees," Skeeter set her sights on becoming a writer. However, Skeeter was unable to find a job, so she was forced to return to her family home in Jackson, Mississippi. Normally, Skeeter would spend time with the family's maide, Constantine, the woman who raised her, but she is suspiciously gone and Skeeter can't get any information out of anyone. Skeeter returns to a life of civic clubs and playing bridge with her friends. But then she recieved a letter from woman who works from a prestigious publishing house, advising her to write about something that disturbs her. Skeeter then sets her sights on telling the stories of the black maids in Jackson, Mississippi.

Inititally, the maids are reluctant to divulge their secrets since Skeeter is familiar with all the white women involved in their stories. However, as the Civil Rights Movment heats up, the women become more willing to speak to Skeeter.

The Help is narrated by three different women: Skeeter, Abileen, and Minny. Abileen and Minny are best friends and have been working for white women all their lives; Abileen raises babies, but leaves families as soon as the children begin to see the line that separates white from black. Minny, on the other hand, doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut and has been fired more times for mouthing off than any other maid in town. I really enjoyed the shifting perspectives and I felt it made for a much richer book. If we would have only seen things from Skeeter's perspective, we would have missed out on a lot of meat in the story; but Skeeter offered a great point of view as well, since she seemed to be the only white woman in the story to recognize the plights of the maids.

All in all, The Help was an excellent book and I can't recommend it enough. It's on the longer side, but the pages will just keep flipping because you'll be so immersed in the story.

Douglass' Women by Jewell Parker Rhodes

When Anna, a freewoman, first meets Freddy Bailey, a slave working on the docks in Baltimore, she immediately falls in love with him. He's young and handsome, and while she's well-past usual marrying age (she's 28) and isn't considered traditionally pretty, she and Freddy become romantically involved. He's disappointed that she's illiterate, but promises to teach her to read and write after his freedom is secured; they intend to move North together, but their plans are dashed when Freddy has to leave unexpectedly for his safety. Anna gives him the money she has saved, and she doesn't hear from him for months. However, he does send for her, and upon her arrival in New Bedford, Massachusetts, they are married by the Quakers who aided Freddy - now Frederick Bailey Douglass - in his escape.

However, Frederick, as he demands Anna call him, has changed since he left Anna; he has become a prominent figure in the abolition movement and is frequently asked to speak at gatherings. Anna, pregnant with Frederick's child, is often left to her own devices for months at a time while Frederick is on speaking tours. At one event, Frederick meets Ottilie Assing, a German ex-patriot who joined up with the abolition movement when she came to America. She and Frederick form a fast bond, and become lovers when he is forced to escape to Europe when his owner begins looking for him. In the years that follow, Frederick divides his time between Ottilie and Anna, eventually growing to resent Anna because she is unable to keep up with intellecutal conversations.

While Douglass' Women is primarily fiction, Jewell Parker Rhodes based the story on actual accounts, including Ottilie Assing's journals, Frederick Douglass' letters, and things that Anna had told her children. So it is true that Frederick Douglass had a life-long affair and regretted marrying Anna. Some of the intervening details, such as how Fredrick and Ottilie met were exaggerated, but their closeness and the fact that she actually lived in Frederick and Anna's Albany house were all real.

If you have a rosy little picture painted of Frederick Douglass, then this book is definitely not for you. But if you're interested in historical fiction with a bit of a bite to it, I highly recommend Douglass' Women. Rhodes has an excellent writing style and really made these historical characters come to life.

Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby

Mead Fegley is a lonely 15-year-old genius who flees his oppressive mother, his laid back father, and other well-meaning family members to attend Chicago University. Once there he immediately tests out of freshman classes and delves into higher mathematics. After being dumped by his original advisor he ends up working with the perfect mentor and they attempt to conquer the Riemann Hypothesis, a problem that has been baffling mathematicians since the mid-19th century. They fail in the attempt, but in the process Mead begins to understand himself and his family, and to overcome the barrier of his genius that has separated him from others.

The plot and story line of the novel are not a surprise, although the author tries hard to make the story seem a mystery. The story line bounces back and forth, past to present, in an attempt to draw out the drama. It also makes it difficult to place the time the story is taking place. If it wasn't for the fact that the computer Mead uses to test this hypothesis wasn't around until the eighties one would think that this story was taking place back in the fifties. There is also the odd business of Mead's family owning a combination furniture store/funeral parlor that adds an extra touch of weirdness to Mead's character. As if being a genius is not enough to separate you from your peers, let's add in the creepy family business to make people steer clear.

Actually, the one thing I really liked about this book was the character of Mead. His total isolation from society, and his yearning to be a part of it, are what made the story for me. His attempts to define friendship, to understand who to trust, and comprehend the human condition take you from tears to laughter. Mead is unable to read if someone is using him, or truly wants to be his friend, and this applies his family as well as friends. When he tries to connect to people he so over analyzes the situation it is a wonder he tries at all. Mead's every move is premeditated, and every result is carefully analyzed to see what was done wrong, and how can he do it as effortlessly as everyone else does. And every action made against him is observed as if under a microscope as Mead tries to understand why that person choose that action. It is almost painful to read as Mead's anxieties overshadow his desire to trust, make friends, and change his life. But there is also humor in Mead's actions, and we can all ruefully share in his angst as we laugh with him, and perhaps at ourselves for having the same fears.

Life After Genius is not a great book, but Mead Fegley is a great character, and makes reading the book well worth your while. We can only watch as Mead wends his way through the maze of his life, and by the end we are ready to cheer as it seems that he has finally found his way. At the end, Mead jumps off the edge of childhood, and makes his first move towards being a man, and we are left to watch in awe as he takes that giant leap.

The Fortune Teller's Daughter by Lila Shaara

Harry Sterling has lost much in recent years: his brother, his marriage, his job, his self-esteem. A teaching post at a small college in northern Florida has given him an opportunity to reevaluate his life and reconnect with his teenage son. But Harry is above all a reporter, so when he stumbles upon a rumor about physicist Charles Ziegart–world-famous for a breakthrough discovery in electrical conductivity–he feels compelled to investigate. Could it be true that the highly respected scientist stole the credit for the “Ziegart Effect” from one of his students?

Harry’s pursuit of the story leads him into extremely unlikely and colorful company–the notorious Purple Lady, the fortune teller Madame Dupree, and Miss Baby Thorpe. He also meets the intriguing if peculiar Maggie Roth, a short-order cook with an affinity for the woods, who has suffered terrible losses of her own.

Overall, I enjoyed The Fortune Teller's Daughter, but if even I can unravel the mystery aspect about halfway through the book, I'm sure most people will figure it out even sooner. Okay, I'll be honest, there were a few things that I wasn't able to uncover on my own, but I got the important parts. I also thought Harry was extremely whiny and self-pitying at times; I wouldn't expect a grown man to lament over his mistakes and lost chances with a woman as much as he did, so he annoyed several times throughout the book.

On the other hand, I really liked Maggie and all of her quirky idiosyncrasies. She was an extremely interesting character and I liked that she was difficult for anyone to get a handle on. Even her extreme awkwardness in the face of any social interaction was endearing.

Cold Rock River by J.L. Miles

In 1963 rural Georgia, with the Vietnam War cranking up, pregnant seventeen-year-old Adie Jenkins discovers the diary of pregnant seventeen-year-old Tempe Jordan, a slave girl, begun as the Civil War was winding down. Adie is haunted by the memory of her dead sister; Tempe is overcome with grief over the sale of her three children sired by her master.

Adie is married to Buck, her baby's womanizing father, and is completely unprepared for marriage and motherhood. She spends her time caring for baby Grace Annie, working on her chicken farm, and talking with Willa Mae Satterfield, a midwife who used to live in Addie and Buck's home; Buck, on the other hand, spends his time with Imelda Jane, his boss' conniving daughter. Adie grows close to Willa Mae and confides that her baby sister, Annie, survived choking on a jelly bean only to drown in Cold Rock River a few months later. Willa Mae replies, "My two little chillins Georgia and Calvin drowns in that river, too."

When Willa Mae leaves for the Carolinas, she leaves Tempe's journal in Adie's care, she is quickly taken in by Tempe's life. After "the freedom" comes, Tempe sets out to find her lost children and meets Tom Barber, another freed slave. Tom and Tempe marry and have one daughter, Heart. Heart eventually marries and gives birth to two children. Adie is filled with questions: Could Willa Mae be Heart? How—and why—did the children die?

I really enjoyed the twin stories in Cold Rock River; while Adie and Tempe lived in different time periods and lived vastly different lives, there were still comparisons between the two young women: both were young and pregnant and neither had steady men in their lives to help raise their children. Their experiences were real and believable.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was J.L. Miles' habit of revealing something before it actually happened. When Adie's sister Annie survived choking on a jelly bean, Adie comes right out and tells us that Annie dies later in the book. And that's not the only instance of the reader finding out too much information from one of the characters in the book. I like my foreshadowing a lot more subtle and ominous, thanks. Cold Rock River was still an excellent read, though, as that's my only complaint. It's definitely worth picking up.

Tethered by Amy MacKinnon

Ms. MacKinnon's debut novel is filled with vivid imagery, an eerie ambiance, and a main character so emotionally wounded by the world around here she is only lightly tethered to it. Clara Marsh in an undertaker's assistant who only finds peace in the preparation of the deceased for burial, and the flowers she grows in her own greenhouse. For her there is only the now, no future, no past, and she wants as little contact with the living as possible. She is only content in her basement; where she carefully washes and prepares the bodies for burial while deciding which flower will best represent the deceased. All is fine until the world around her insists on grabbing a hold of her, and forces her to deal with the living.

Things begin to change for Clara when Trecie, a little girl, begins hanging around the funeral parlor. Trecie may be involved in a child pornography ring, and have information pertaining to the death of Precious Doe, an unidentified child who was brutally murdered three years ago. Det. Mike Sullivan, who is suffering from the death of his wife and unborn child, insists Clara help him with the investigation even as she fights to retain her solitary, unattached life. The events that surround her force Clara to confront her own fractured past as she struggles to make connections with the world around her.

It is not the mystery in the story that is riveting. The mystery is easily unraveled as the story unfolds. It is the characters and the writing that makes this novel a compelling read. Clara's apathy can be frustrating, but MacKinnon manages to give us a fully fleshed out character. Even as I was frustrated by Clara's emotionally wounded state of being, I still found myself unable to put the book down. Clara fights to stay apart from humanity, yet in the end she finds she is to firmly tethered to the world around her to not be a part of it.

Tethered is an interesting read from a first time novelist, and we can only look forward to upcoming works from Ms. MacKinnon. It is more character study than mystery, yet the writing is compelling, and the story flows along, pulling the reader along with it.

The Outcast by Sadie Jones

It's 1957 and 19-year-old Lewis Aldridge is on his way home after a two-year stint in prison; however, his homecoming is definitely not going to be celebrated, and especially not by his father who seems to barely tolerate him. The rest of the town views him with thinly veiled disgust, the only exceptions are Kit and Tamsin Carmichael.

A decade earlier, Lewis' family experienced a different sort of homecoming. Gilbert, Lewis' father, returns from WWII anxious to return to his life of evening cocktails and stuffy gatherings with work acquaintances. Lewis and his mother, who have become accustomed to being on their own, are reluctant to return to that lifestyle. One afternoon, Lewis and his mother embark on one of their picnics in the woods. Lewis decides to go swimming in the nearby stream, while his mother remains on the bank, drinking a bottle of wine. When Lewis' mother jumps in to swim, she gets stuck under a sunken canoe, and despite Lewis' efforts, she can't pull her to the water's surface. Gilbert blames Lewis and Lewis' friends don't know how to treat a boy who watched his mother die, so he becomes increasingly isolated; when Gilbert remarries just a few months later, Lewis feels even more alone when his new stepmother moves in. He tries to hide his pain, but soon both his pain and his rage become all too evident.

The Outcast lyrically depicted Lewis' anguish and his downward spiral as he draws further and further into himself. I couldn't help but feel as though Gilbert and Lewis' friends deserved at least some of the blame because they completely ignored him when he was grieving for his mother. I mean, I do realize that Lewis made his own choices and he decided how to deal with his anger over his mother's death and his subsequent isolation, but I think that his life would have been easier if everyone in his life hadn't turned and walked away.

Overall, this was an excellent character study and I loved all the character development; there wasn't much of a plot to be advanced, but The Outcast was much more character-driven, and I really liked that.

Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips

Lark & Termite straddles a parallel six-day period in July. One part of the story takes place in 1959-during which 17-year-old Lark; her brother, Termite, who can't talk; and their aunt and caretaker, Nonie, are struggling to balance hope and despair in smalltown West Virginia. The other part of the story is dedicated to Termite's father, Robert Leavitt and chronicles his experiences during the Korean War, nine years earlier.

Lark, living with her aunt without knowing who her father is or why her mother gave her up, was nine years old when baby Termite landed on their doorstep. Nonie works long hours at a local restaurant to support the hodgepodge family, leaving Lark to take over mothering duties. Inititally, Lark is content to act as Termite's sole caretakers, but as Lark finishes secretarial school and realizes how limited the options are for her and Termite, long-held family secrets are forced out into the light of day, changing Lark and Termite's lives forever.

Lark & Termite was an amazing book. It was hands down the best book I've read so far this year. I absolutely loved the character of Lark; she was such a complex character and I really admired her dedication to her family, but I also liked that she recognized that her life could end up going nowhere fast if she spent her entire life caring for Termite.

Phillips created vivid scenes and, while I normally don't care too much for war novels, I found the Korean War parts to be extremely well-described, but Phillips didn't go into so much detail that her writing became gory and gruesome. Even Termite got his say in chapters that read more like poetry than prose. All in all, an awesome read and I highly recommend that you pick it up!

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Peony, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the wealthy Chen family, has grown up in the lap of luxury, but she's also lived an extremely sheltered life; despite the fact that she is an extremely educated young woman, she has never been beyond the walls of her family's estate. Peony has dedicated much of her life to studying The Peony Pavilion, an opera published in 1598, so when her father plans for a production of the opera to take place on the estate, Peony wrongfully believes that the opera is in honor of her birthday.

During the opera, Peony escapes the watchful eye of her family and commits an unspeakable broach of etiquette when she happens upon an unmarried young man and begins speaking to him. They agree to meet two other times, and after their last meeting, Peony falls into a deep depression because she knows that she will be married soon and no man could compete with her stranger. She throws all of her energy into writing a commentary on The Peony Pavilion, never stopping to eat to attend to her other physical needs, and she is soon slipping away. Upon her death, she becomes a "hungry ghost" because her distraught family did not make the proper arrangements to ensure her a smooth pathway to the afterworld.

I love reading novels about other cultures and time periods and Peony in Love was no exception. Lisa See described the setting perfectly; even though I've never been to China (and really, who has?), I could visualize the Chen family's villa and Peony's life there. Some parts of the novel were somewhat dry, especially the scenes from the opera, but See successfully wove the opera's text and themes into the book.

There were times when I really didn't like Peony when she was both a depressed young girl and an even more distraught ghost. I thought she was really melodramatic and whiny, but then again, I guess becoming a hungry ghost wouldn't exactly be the best experience. And she did evolve as a character even in death, which I liked. Overall, Peony in Love was an awesome, sweeping historical tale about one girl's experience in 1600s China.

Precious Cargo by Clyde Ford

Charlie Noble, a former Coat Guard officer turned private eye, just wants to enjoy two weeks at sea with his new girlfriend, Kate Sullivan; unfortunately, a case gets in the way of their fun in the sun. When Charlie's friends Marvin and Angela bring up a body of a young woman along with their anchor while out boating, Charlie is reluctant to take on the case until he learns that Marvin and Angela lost thier daughter years ago and that finding out this young woman's identity and murderer would bring them peace.

The local police and Coast Guard are no help, so Charlie enlists Raven, a salvage diver, to help him look for evidence. Instead, Charlie and Raven find two more young Hispanic women at the bottom of the ocean. Soon, Charlie becomes embroiled investigation that sends him and his boat all over the Northwest coast on the hunt for those involved in transporting human cargo and the sex trade industry.

Precious Cargo was riddled with a few too many nautical terms for me. I know absolutely nothing about boating, and I felt that Clyde Ford expected his readers to have at least some knowledge of the subject before reading the book. I liked that the book had such a unique setting, and maybe Ford explained this boating terms in the first Charlie Noble book he wrote, but I just felt confused in a lot of places. Charlie Noble was a great character (it's rare to read about a black private eye, especially in the Northwest), but I wasn't that impressed by the case he was supposed to solve and I thought things were wrapped up a little too neatly for my tastes. Overall, though, I would probably read another Charlie Noble mystery. Precious Cargo was entertaining, and if you like books with unique settings, it's worth picking up for a quick read.

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Ever since her daddy got his first plane for dusting crops, Ida Mae has followed in his foot steps; the only thing she's missing is her pilot's license. After her daddy died, Ida Mae's mother reluctantly let Ida Mae take the flight exam to get her license, but the flight instructor wasn't willing to pass a young woman, and especially not a black woman, even if she is extremely light-skinned.

Ida Mae all but gives up her dreams of becoming a pilot, focusing her energy on cleaning houses with her best friend Jolene, but she still has the flight bug. When World War II hits, Ida Mae's older brother puts medical school on hold and enlists in the Army. Then Ida Mae hears about the WASP (Women's Airforce Service Pilots), female pilots who ferry planes to the front lines; even though Ida Mae doesn't have her pilot's license, she applies to the program and doctors up her father's old license. Ida Mae knows that a black woman has little chance of being accepted in the program, but with her light skin, she's convinced that she'll be able to "pass" as a white woman. However, she doesn't anticipate how difficult hiding her true race would be, both emotionally and physically. But she's willing to sacrifice all to follow her dreams.

Flygirl is written for a young adult audience, but I definitely think it has a much wider appeal. I had first heard about the WASP while watching a bad sci-fi movie (strange, I know), and I checked out a few books and a documentary on the women pilots; I thought the program was extremely fascinating and I wondered why I hadn't heard more about it. So, I was really happy to see Flygirl on the new books cart, especially since it was a novel geared toward teen readers.

While Ida Mae and her friends were created solely for this novel, many of the other names mentioned (Nancy Love, Jackie Cochran) are real; Ida Mae's general experiences as a trainee and again as a WASP pilot were based on true events as well. Smith did extensive research on the WASP, but she also put a lot of effort into making the characters in the book well-rounded and fully developed. Overall, a great read.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The inside flap of Little Bee's cover begs readers to keep the the book's plot under close guard and not to spoil it for others. While I do feel kind of silly listening to a book's warnings, I'd also feel bad for ruining the book for someone else, so I'll just give you the bare-bones rundown of what happens in Little Bee.

All you really need to know is that one horrific event on a Nigerian beach binds an African girl to a rich British journalist for the rest of their lives. No matter what each does, neither can forget about each other. Now it's on you to read the book and become immersed in Little Bee's life, from her first pivotal meeting with Sarah to their reunion.

Little Bee is like no other book I'd ever read before. First of all, I'd never had so little of the storyline revealed to me before reading it, nor have I ever been warned to NOT tell people about a book. Chris Cleave is a very imaginative author and he writes female characters better than any male author I've ever read before.

Little Bee is such a fascinating character; she spends a lot of time trying to figure out how she would explain Western society to her girlfriends back home in Nigeria, but she soon realizes that it would take her an eternity to tell even one of her stories because of the disconnect between the two cultures.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Little Bee is one of those books that you have to read to believe.

Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout

From the cramped bowels of a dimly lit radio station, Ghost Radio is beamed onto the airwaves. More than a call-in show to tell scary stories, Ghost Radio is a sanctuary for those sleepless denizens of the night, lost halfway between this world and the next.

Joaquin, the hip, melancholy host, fields calls from believers and detractors alike. He is joined in the booth by his girlfriend, Alondra, and his engineer, Watts. When a huge radio conglomerate offers to syndicate the show, neither Joaquin, Alondra, nor Watts is remotely prepared for what is about to happen.

Joaquin remains a skeptic even as he begins to feel himself drawn further and further into the terrifying stories he solicits on the radio. Slowly he finds himself unable to distinguish between the real world and the world populated by the nightmares on Ghost Radio. He is forced to confront his past and his own mortality in order to save that which is most precious to him and repair the crumbling wall between the living and the dead.

I really enjoyed Ghost Radio, even though I'm still not quite sure exactly what happened at the end. I normally don't read horror novels, but this one caught my eye because it didn't seem like Gout was setting out to shock his readers with gore. Ghost Radio is more of a suspenseful horror book, relying on our own fears to make parts of the book truly frightening.

Interspersed between chapters about Joaquin, his friends, and the daily grind of working on a radio show are snippets from phone calls that had been featured on Ghost Radio. I found myself really liking the stories told by random callers because a lot of them seemed like they could have happened to anyone, and I think that's what Gout was going for. Ghost Radio is a definite must-read if you like spine-tingling books that will make you think.