Restoration by Olaf Olafsson

Published by: Ecco

Published on: February 7, 2012

Page Count: 336

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by a publicist for consideration

Available Formats: Paperback and eBook

My Review

Alice, the daughter of British ex-patriots living in Florence, gained a title when she married. Unfortunately, her husband offers little else than his title and her parents disapprove. Still, she finds happiness early in her marriage as she and her husband set out to restore a Tuscan villa. Unfortunately, after boredom sets in, she runs into a gentleman from her past with her mother’s blessings. Only heartache results. Meanwhile, Kristin, a young artist who is technically proficient if not lacking in her own spark, finds restoring older paintings for Robert Marshall, a reputable art dealer. Kristin makes the mistake many young women do and begins an affair with Robert. The consequences for both women are heartbreaking. Then, as WWII heats up, their lives intertwine in Tuscany. The novel’s title refers to art, the old Tuscan villa, and the lives of both women. When all is lost but your own life, what other choice is there?

Tuscany isn’t a part of the world I’ve spent much of my time reading. That is what drew me to Restoration. Sometimes I feel like I’ve overdosed on WWII historical fiction, but I love it when it is both good and unique to my experience. Restoration is just that. The way that Olaf Olafsson told Alice’s story, Kristin’s story and then weaved them both together sparked my interest from the very first page. There is something about a well written doomed affair that will always fascinate me, I absolutely loved Kristin’s work. Imagine having the talent to take a famous artist’s work and restore what has been damaged. It must be thrilling. At the same time, it’s a little less the work of the master. The more I thought about this, the more it shaped my reaction to the final pages of the book.

It is such a satisfying experience to read a book like Restoration that is both enjoyable and thought provoking. The title itself provides an initial frame of reference, but it is not static. Its meaning expands as the novel progresses. First there is the villa, then the art, and ultimately the lives of the two women left to fight for so much. Just remembering Restoration makes me want to curl up under my warm afghan and read. This was my first Olaf Olafsson read and it will not be my last. Having a taste for his writing and his story telling, each of his four previous novels sound wonderful. I highly recommend this novel and this author.

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Published by: Knopf Doubleday

Published in: 1985

Page Count: 208

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible.com using a credit

Audiobook Published by: Brilliance Audible Modern Vanguard

Narrator: Christian Rummel

Audiobook Length: 5 hours and 23 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook and Audiobook

Note: This review contains spoilers and emotionally charged commentary.

My Review

Back in December, I had a couple of Audible credits and I was at a loss for how to use them (it felt that way at the time, but I can’t explain how I could ever really felt that way). I decided to explore new-to-me narrators.  I found Christian Rummel. He sounded good, so I explored his catalog. I found Less Than Zero and I thought I found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Bret Easton Ellis is an author I’ve always wanted to read and a book upon which an iconic movie from my teen years was based. Best yet, it was less than 5 and a half hours long. Less Than Zero certainly featured its fair share of pot among other drugs, but that was as close as it got to my expectations.

I normally discuss the narrator near the end of the review. For this audiobook, I will start with Christian Rummel’s performance because it was the one bright spot in the whole experience for me. I thought his style worked very well with the story. Right from the beginning his reading gave the sense of how removed Clay was from his life. At the same time, he gave some life to characters, however superficial they may have been. There were only two times I cracked a smile while reading this book – when MTV and playing videos were mentioned in the same sentence and when Christian Rummel narrated an exchange between Clay and another character smoking pot. He did a wonderful job reading a difficult book. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for future Christian Rummel reads.

Less Than Zero tells the story of Clay, a college freshman returning to Las Angeles from his first semester away in New Hampshire. His parents are separated and no one is especially close. This was well depicted by the scene of Clay, his sisters and his mother heading to meet his father for a Christmas dinner. His sisters ride his case about locking his doors until he says that he locks his bedroom door. In exasperation, he explains it’s because they stole his cocaine the last time he didn’t lock his door. Their mother didn’t say a word.

Up until the last section, this novel followed Clay from one awful party full of equally privileged drugged out teens to another. None of them have anything of substance to talk about and are equally uncaring about anything unless it annoys them. Clay had a sexual relationship with Blair, but then again he has a sexual encounters with Griffin and a couple other young men. As with the casual drug use, there is nothing but casual sex. I got the idea that something mysterious was going on with his long time friend Julian, but it never seemed to go anywhere. Before and after Clay lent him a substantial amount of money couldn’t find him when he needed him.

Leading up until the end, I was glad I didn’t grow up with anything my heart desired by friends and family who cared about me. I was glad I grew up in the Midwest. I was glad I took Nancy Reagan’s advice. With approximately an hour and 15 minutes remaining, I was more than ready for Clay to go back to New Hampshire and put this painful Christmas vacation behind me (Yes, me. I never really thought Clay deserved much better than his life – for heaven’s sake he cared more about a dying coyote than he did a mother stranded along the side of the road with her kids in the middle of the night). Then it got ugly.

As per my tweet to author Kristina Riggle (@krisriggle), I sum up the novel thusly: “privileged collegiates drugging their way through Christmas break, then WTH, then WTF, then OMG this is messed up!” I’ve covered the privileged druggy collegiates on Christmas break. Here we go with the rest (note that emotional cursing as well as mental images you may not want are forthcoming):

What the Hell?

Things that happen at the parties and places Clay hangs out at get increasingly awkward. The novel’s turn for me happens when Clay is at a house watching what may or not be a snuff film. To Clay’s credit, he leaves the room after the raping of a bound young woman and man, but before they were actually murdered. He can’t escape the screams from the film as he does a line of cocaine outside. Afterwards, his friends were enamored by the whole thing: how much it cost and whether it was real. There wasn’t a hint of concern about the people who would have been the victims of the film were it were a snuff  film after all. They were just excited about how gruesome the castration was. His friend Trent, a male model, walked up to him with a hard on and couldn’t figure out why Clay left the movie. Isn’t degradation wonderful?

What the Fuck??

Shortly thereafter, Clay finds Julian, who drags him to yet another house in order to get his money back. Clay there discovers the kind of trouble Julian has gotten himself into. In order to get out from under a huge debt to a drug dealer, Julian turned to Finn. To pay Finn back, he had to become a male prostitute. Clay is uncomfortable, but when Finn “requests” that he follow Julian to his next job because the man likes to have another beautiful young man watch, he goes along fairly readily. There is a part of him that feels somewhat responsible for Julian’s safety (Julian tried to get Finn to let him out of his obligation because he was so unhappy and tired, but Finn just shot him up with heroine instead), but mainly he wants to get his money back and was curious to see just how bad it could get. With friends like Clay… In the end, Clay spends five hours watching a friend he’s known since 5th grade being degraded with not a word or thought as to how he could help Julian escape his personal hell.

Oh, My God!

Just when I thought I had discovered the full extend of Clay’s hedonistic self-absorbed world (for the record, I don’t feel that anyone really got much joy out of their hedonism, but who’s to say, right?), it got much, much worse. Rip, Clay’s drug dealer, invites Clay back to his apartment for something especially amazing. What could possibly be so amazing? Well, somehow rip got a 12 year old girl into his apartment, tied her naked to his bed to be used as a sex slave. He kept her drugged, which may have been a small mercy for her, but Clay could see the evidence of how badly she’d been used with his own eyes before Rip invites those there to have their own turn. Despite friends like Trent trying to talk him in to staying, Clay leaves the room. The conversation that followed made me feel like vomiting almost as much as the mental image of what was happening in that room. Rip felt he was entitled to this girl because he should have everything he wants. Clay pointed out that Rip had everything already and questioned him about what more he possibly could want. Rip said he didn’t have anything to lose.

There was a glimmer of hope in my heart that Clay would do the right thing and take action. I begged him to call the police and safe this girl from further abuse. There had to be some redemption to this novel. Instead, he never seemed to give the girl another thought after he left Rip’s place. What was she worth, anyway? At that point, I had to turn the audiobook off to calm down. I couldn’t believe this complete lack of humanity Bret Easton Ellis has created. If I listened further, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t vomit.

When I got around to finishing the novel, the blame for all the twisted shit that happened was lousy parents. I wanted to throw something. Certainly there were no responsible parents to be found in this fucked up landscape, but I bet there are sociopath’s who would find the people who inhabited Less Than Zero morally bankrupt. I have no idea how this novel would have come across in my teens or 20s, but as an adult mother of two young girls, I was horrified by the ending. Parents can scar a person. I understand that. At some point, every person has to take responsibility for their own soul. That the characters in this book lost theirs isn’t a sin that can completely be laid at the feet of their parents. There was not an ounce of redemption anywhere. Clay’s commentary at the end fell flat. It is cop out, utter bullshit.

Certainly there is something to be said for the reaction it generated within me. Never before have I felt so dirty and ashamed for having born witness to what I have read a book. As if my tweeting  wasn’t enough, I immediately began writing this post the minute I got home. Likewise I had to discuss it with my husband the moment he walked in the door. He told me that his friends were reading this book in college. They didn’t have anything good to say about it. That it was vapid kept him from reading it himself. After he listened to my rage, he said something brilliant. He said, “And Salman Rushdie was the one under a death threat?” Exactly!

I understand that Bret Easton Ellis was making a cultural statement about the Reagan era with Less Than Zero. When you go bold with your delivery, your message may very be obscured. Perhaps once I  have come to grips with the fact that I can never unread this novel I will care enough to give it further thought.  I wouldn’t suggest holding your breath waiting on that anymore than I would suggest you read Less Than Zero.

The Odds: A Love Story by Stewart O’Nan

Published by: Penguin Group

Published on: January 19, 2012

Page Count: 192

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: eGalley requested from NetGalley

Available Formats: Hardcover and eBook

My Review

Art Fowler, a middle aged man, has lost his job and his life is falling apart. He and his wife Marion are on both the verge of foreclosure and divorce. In a last ditch effort to save both their marriage and their home, they cash out all of their money and head to Niagara Falls with the hopes of doubling their money in the casino. Art plans the trip and sweats every single detail. Marion is simply going along for one last ride before divorcing. Together they spend Valentine’s Day weekend trying to make up for a marriage full of mistakes and regret.

There is so much to like about The Odds. Each section of the novel begins with different statistical odd that sets the mood for the section to come. This both kept the title close in mind and brought focus to what was to come for Art and Marion. There was also an incredible scene at a Heart concert full of middle aged drunkenness and drug use. I defy any reader familiar with Heart to leave this book without having at least one of their songs playing in your head (and there’s “Baracuda” again). Best of all was simply the way in which the story of this Valentine’s Day weekend in Niagara Falls was told. The weekend develops in sections alternately narrated by Art and Marion. There is always two sides to every marriage and this narrative decision made me feel as though I knew the couple well. As Art made his plans, I was anticipating Marion’s reaction, feeling sorry for them both. There isn’t another way I could have felt more invested in the story.

Last Night at the Lobster remains my favorite O’Nan novel. It may always be because it was my first. Unlike Songs for the Missing, The Odds evoked the same emotion. It left me amazed that I would find a story about a common occurrence and feel as though the outcome very much was about me. The Odds is classic O’Nan. Within an intimate situation fraught with the stress of imminent loss, he shines a light on a small spot on the map and makes it feel universal. The more O’Nan I read, the more I seriously consider making appreciating his work a requirement for friendship.

The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant

Published by: Scribner

Published on: January 10, 2012

Page Count: 288

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy provided by the publisher for consideration

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Thoughts about Format: The audiobook is narrated by Hillary Huber. After reading this in print, I wonder how my experience might have been different had I read this in audio. If you’ve listened to this audiobook, I’d love to know what you thought.

My Review

Elly has a unique physical trait. Her body holds a thin layer of fat just under her skin much in the same way as a seal. This allows her to swim in waters normally too cold for a typical person. She is married to Fred, who has just won a pub in Baltimore, a small town near the Southern coast of Ireland. They set out on this grand adventure as excited soul mates. Fred is thrilled to be a pub owner and have time to write his novel. Elly is excited for new places to lose herself in the water. They leave the United States passionate about their lives, each other, and the future. They didn’t anticipate becoming entangled in a local feud that would tear them apart.

There was much I enjoyed about this novel. Bondurant’s writing was beautiful. I loved the pictures he painted both of Elly and Fred’s early marriage as well as the beauty of Ireland. Elly’s voice and the way she described her love of Fred and her passion for swimming was as intoxicating as the massive amounts of cocktails and beer the two of them drank. I loved the picture of a young couple making a unique life for themselves. The supporting characters, especially those on Cape Clear Island were I nestled right in to their story and it felt good.

The darker mystery of the Cape Clear Island and the novel’s conclusion were more puzzling to me than satisfying. I wanted the whole of the novel to captivate me the way the tone and the setting did, but it wasn’t there for me. I finished the book feeling that I had missed something major. I appreciate a subtle hand in an author, but I just left the novel feeling sad.

The Night Swimmer is fascinating as a character study and makes a beautiful, wind swept escape from everyday.  Bondurant writing, characters, and settings are marvelous and make up for the lack of punch in the end. I have a feeling Elly and Fred will stick with me over time. I have no doubt that I will be reading more Matt Bonderant.

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

Published by: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Published on: February 1999

Page Count: 368

Genre: Literary Fiction

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased through Audible.com with a credit

Audiobook Published by: Harper Audio

Narrator: Andre Dubus III and Fontaine Dollas Dubus

Audiobook Length: 13 hours 53 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

My Review

Kathy Nicolo, a former drug addict who was recently left by her husband, had been receiving letters from the county requesting back taxes for a home-based business. Kathy never owned a home-based business, so after informing the county in writing, she does not follow up further. She regrets throwing the letters from the county away when she is awoken by local authorities who begin to evict her. She is angry but soon realizes that she has no immediate recourse but to leave and contact a lawyer, something she cannot afford on her own. Meanwhile, Massoud Behrani, a former Iranian military official who exiled to America during the Iranian Revolution, is tired of living two lives. In order to arrange for a good marriage for his oldest daughter, he and his family had to live well above their means. They could afford to do so because they left Iran with a great deal of money, but after so many years, the money is running out and the only jobs he has been able to find in San Francisco are menial. He is forced to change back into respectable clothes at the end of his work day in order to keep up appearances in his apartment complex. Finally, with his daughter on her honeymoon, he feels able to act upon a plan to make a new life for himself, his wife and his son. His plan is to buy property that has been repossessed by the government at auction and sell it for a profit. His first purchase is the home vacated by Kathy Nicolo.

House of Sand and Fog is populated with flawed characters. Although Kathy Nicolo and Massoud Behrani come from such different worlds, they share a few things in common. They both have no locally whom they can rely on for help. Kathy has put her family in Boston threw so much, she can’t bare to let them find out that her marriage failed, let alone that she allowed the home left to her and her brother by their father to be repossessed because she ignored communication from the government. She has no choice but to fight to get her house back alone. Behrani is also a man alone. He has his wife and children, but their success and safety are his alone. He loved his life back in Tehran, but because of his military involvement, they cannot return. Most of all, both characters are stubborn in their sense of entitlement. Kathy realizes that her inaction cost her the house, but she refuses to take responsibility for the county’s error. When the county can’t make right their error, she continues to refuse to work through the legal process, going straight to Behrani herself. She even gets her new boyfriend involved. For his part, Behrani holds tight to the letter of the law refusing to work with the county or with Kathy. He almost gets off on shouldering the complete burden for his family on his own. Kathy’s ease with which she plays the victim and Behrani’s out right refusal to be victimized leads all involved straight to hell.

I have wanted to read this novel for at least 10 years. Andre Dubus III has long had this aura surrounding him that both excited and intimidated me in equal parts. It wasn’t until I read this memoir, Townie, that I decided now is the time. Dubus again narrates along with his wife, Fontaine Dollas Dubus, who reads the sections written from Karen’s point of view. For someone who loves what a talented professional audiobook narrator brings to an audiobook, I might not have given this novel a chance in audio had it not been for my previous experience with Townie. Dubus has a quality to his reading that simply works well with the material he writes. Fontaine Dollas Dubus worked equally well as the voice of Kathy Nicolo. Kathy is not a polished person and her personal unabashed reading made her come alive for me.

House of Sand and Fog was well worth the wait, although I never should have waited so long. Dubus is a wonderful author. His work is dark and brooding, certainly not something to pick up when feeling lonely or on a rainy day. Dubus is unafraid to lay bare all there is to see about his subjects. His characters aren’t written to be loved or even liked. They are written to be real. Prepare to be both moved and prodded in those tender places you would rather forget existed. The journey is well worth it.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published on: October 11, 2011

Page Count: 416

Genre: Literary Fiction

My Reading Format: Personal copy, hardcover

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Note: There may be spoilers in the comments section as this post will serve to allow those who participated in the readalong to post their final thoughts about the book.

My Review

I like to think of The Marriage Plot as Jeffrey Eugenides 40th birthday present to me. Don’t roll your eyes! I celebrated my 40th birthday during a Bahamas getaway – the gift from my husband and my best friend, not Jeffrey Eugenides – and the book arrived the day I got back. There’s no way that could have been mere coincidence. And then, there’s the billboard:

@EugenidesVest I fucking delivered for Jennifer's birthday. #FTW

You know you can’t just make this shit up.

In a year of some really great books, The Marriage Plot came out on top. It started out at a steady pace in the first section. From that point on, I couldn’t stand to be away from it for long. What I planned on reading over a three week period ended up finished in less than three days. Although they are two completely different novels, I can remember where I was and how I felt when I finished both The Marriage Plot and Middlesex. They both gave me pause and I’m thankful that I was in a quiet, contemplative place at the end.

Imported from Michigan, Jeffrey Eugenides is one of my favorite contemporary authors. After reading his books I am thankful to be living right here and now.

I organized a readalong to discuss this book during November. We had some great discussion during Week One and Week Two of an intended three week series. Unfortunately, life intervened and I never was able to host the last week. I would like for anyone who participated in the readalong and is still interested to share their thoughts on the ending here. I hope you loved the ending and the book as a whole as much as I did.

The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan

Published by: Minotaur Books

Published on: September 2009

Page Count: 280

Genre: Mystery/Crime Fiction

My Reading Format: Audiobook provided to me by the publisher for consideration

Audiobook Published by: AudioGo

Narrator: Simon Vance

Audiobook Length: 8 hours 20 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

My Review

After publishing his memoir, we find Charlie Howard in Paris, teaching a Frenchman named Bruno how to break in to his own apartment. Charlie meets Bruno at an after-party following an impromptu book signing at a local Paris bookstore. Charlie would have rather been cozying up with Paige, a young American woman who set up the signing, but she is occupied with other males at the bar. Knowing it was a mistake to take 500 euros to teach this man the tricks of his trade, he accepts the job anyway. A mistake it was, and from there Charlie is soon on the run from the French police, the chief subject in a murder investigation. Charlie has more to worry about than just the police. Victoria, his long time agent and confidante, is determined to meet him in person. Charlie is going to have one come to Jesus moment after another if he doesn’t do some artfully dodging.

This second novel in the Good Thief’s Guide series gets off to a fun start with Charlie and Bruno breaking into the apartment, but overall, Charlie seems rather sad as Paris begins. He can’t seem to get any traction on his current novel and his arthritic fingers could very soon get in the way of his thieving livelihood. His humor has a morose edge and his relationship with Vic, a part of his life that keeps him centered, is strained. Simply because he doesn’t have the time to dwell on it, Charlie seems to perk up when his freedom is on the line. The adrenaline rush he gets from the chase and dangerous heists pushes him out of his fog. This gave a good deal of insight into his character.

While Charlie may have begun the novel more somber, The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris has many hilarious moments. The scene when Charlie and Vic come face to face was well worth the wait. The two clicked just as well in the same city as they did over the phone in The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam. There is also one scene in particular that brought tears to my eyes I was laughing so hard. When Charlie is in a real pickle, he describes it like no one else.

As befitting Charlie’s mood, Simon Vance’s narration is not as light-hearted as it was in the first book. You could hear the strain in Vic’s voice while she spoke on the phone with Charlie. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to me any longer, but I was impressed with how well his narration picked up on and expressed the tone of the writing.

Listening to The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris made me glad that I started this series. Like the Maisie Dobbs and series, I find that I enjoy coming to a book already invested in the characters. This novel fleshed both Charlie and Vic out, giving them and their relationship more depth. While I love Charlie’s antics, I appreciate very much that he’s more than a good thief who makes some less than stellar decisions that lead him into peril. I look forward to further adventures in Las Vegas, Venice and beyond.

I’m posting this review today to participate in Jen at Devourer of Books‘ weekly Sound Bytes meme. If you have an audiobook review to post, why not participate with us?

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Published by: Harper Perennial

Published on: August 2011

Page Count: 352

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Paperback copy purchased from a local indie bookseller

Available Formats: Paperback, eBook, audiobook

My Review

I had a hard time getting my hands on Domestic Violets. I was bound and determined to buy it from an bookstore in my area, preferably an indie. Unfortunately that is easier said than done. The first store I entered didn’t have a new book published this year (or since 2003 it looked like) that wasn’t from a huge author such as Jodi Picoult. It felt more like a museum exhibit of an indie bookstore than a true bookstore. As the Barnes and Noble was on the way back to work, I stopped in there. Not a single copy was available. Finally, I called the final indie bookstore in the area, which gladly ordered it for me. I definitely felt like I’d run the gauntlet by the time I actually got my hands on my copy.

Domestic Violets was well worth the effort and wait. This novel about a wannabe writer’s marital and career crisis was entertaining from the very first chapter. Tom’s inner dialog is fantastic. While one shouldn’t laugh at another person’s erectile dysfunction, I couldn’t help myself. His work life was even more hilarious. I loved the way that Tom drafted complaints about him to HR from his coworkers. Sometimes those types of coping techniques are essential to surviving. This is not to say that this book is one laugh after the other. Serious subjects are broached and the novel questions the validity of marriage, the importance of faithfulness, and what it means to be successful.

Domestic Violets, as it turns out, was the last book I started in my 30s and the first book I finished in my 40s. I highly recommend reading it on a cruise ship or while relaxing in a hammock on your own private Caribbean island. It’s a quirky and ultimately optimistic look at modern life and marriage. I certainly hope this won’t be my last Matthew Norman read. I’m thinking I might have to use each of his next books as occasions to go on a cruise (No pressure, Mr. Norman!).

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming

Published by: Penguin

Published on: December 2002 (reprint)

Page Count: 272

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased with a credit from Audible.com.

Audiobook Published by: Blackstone Audio

Narrator: Simon Vance

Audiobook Length: 7 hours 52 minutes

Available Formats: Paperback, eBook and audiobook

My Review

James Bond, who first encountered SMERSH in Casino Royale, is back on the Russian radar when members within the organization look for a way to discredit the British government. Killing Bond and ruining his reputation in the process was found to be the best way to do so. They plan on entrapping Bond outside of England using the beautiful Tatiana Romanova as bait. When she arrived in Istanbul, she contacted Darko Kerim, the head of the British Service Station in Turkey. Claiming to be in love with Bond from what she gathered in his files in Russia, she promised to hand over the Spektor, a Russian decoding device that would be a great coup for the British. When Kerim contacted M, Bond was sent to Istanbul with the assignment of wooing Tatiana in order to bring her and the Spektor back to England.

From Russia With Love got off to a slow start for me. The novel opens with members of SMERSH planning and plotting against England and against each other. While necessary to build up what was to come, I became bored with their bureaucratic procedures and non-stop politics. What took place during several chapters could have easily been boiled down to one or two without losing anything.

From the  slow start, we are introduced to Darko Kerim, a man who quickly becomes Bond’s friend. Kerim is an interesting character given his childhood within a near harem. His attitude toward women brought back some of the less pleasant moments of Casino Royale. While his tale of keeping a woman chained up in his house naked may have been a cock and bull story meant to impress Bond, it left a sour taste in my mouth. Following that up with a trip to a gypsy camp in the midst of two half and then totally naked gypsy women fighting each other to the death over a man and I had had enough for the day.  Luckily, the conclusion of that cat fight brought an end to the over-the-top sexism though I had a hard time stomaching the fact that Bond thought so highly of Kerim.

This novel had two interesting villains, Red Grant and Rosa Krebs. Red Grant is an asexual powerhouse of a man. Although he could feel pain, I was reminded a great deal of Niedermann from Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series during his scenes and I wondered how much if at all Red Grant figured into that character when Larsson created him. Rosa Krebs is an equally terrifying figure. The stories of her torture sessions send shivers down the spine of almost everyone at SMERSH. Her scenes in this book are among my favorite.

Once Bond and Tatiana meet up in Istanbul and begin their journey to England, From Russia With Love picks up full speed ahead and doesn’t let up. Had I been reading this series at the time it was published, I would have been desperate to find out when the next book would be published. Thankfully, I only have to wait another month to read Dr. No along with the ever reliable Simon Vance as narrator. Listening to this series in audio makes the less pleasant aspects of Fleming’s writing much more palatable.

Shaken, Not Stirred: If you haven’t given Bond a chance, I’d highly recommend it. I’d love to have you participate in Shaken, Not Stirred. It’s never too late to get started. We’ll be discussing From Russia With Love on Twitter as well as watching the film on Saturday, October 22nd beginning at 9:30pm EST. Just use the hashtag #shakennotstirred to join the conversation.

I’m posting this review today to participate in Jen at Devourer of Books‘ weekly Sound Bytes meme. If you have an audiobook review to post, why not participate with us?

How the Mistakes Were Made by Tyler McMahon

Published by: St. Martin’s Press

Published on: October 11, 2011

Page Count: 352

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by the publisher for consideration

Available Formats: Paperback and eBook

Note: While it’s not relevant to the review, I loved that author Tyler McMahon gave a shout out in this novel to shoegaze, my current music obsession.

My Review

Laura Loss is a punk legend of sorts. She was the younger sister of Anthony Loss, the lead singer of Second Class Citizen, or SCC, a much lauded early punk band. Due to her own interest in music and their family situation, Anthony adds Laura to SCC as the base player. She’s underage at the time and grows up in the spotlight of passionate and often violent punk fans. After a tragic incident kills SCC, Laura continues in the music business in other underground bands than never seem to go anywhere until she meets Nathan and Sean, two younger men from Montana. She notices their talent at a show and gives them her phone number on a lark. When they take her up on her offer to help them get serious about their music, the Mistakes were made in more way than one. From the beginning the reader knows that she will join Yoko Ono’s club and be demonized for destroying the Mistakes. She wants to set the record straight.

If there was a ever a novel that was perfect for me right here where I am now, it’s How the Mistakes Were Made. The music coming out of Seattle from the late 80s into the mid 90s laid the framework for what I’m sure will be lifelong musical preferences. Sure, I love the pop and new wave music of the 80s, but I came of age with grunge music. When offered a review copy, I couldn’t pass it up, regardless of the close publication date. I was in no way disappointed. I was immediately sucked into Laura’s life and read the novel in a 24 hour period. Had I had uninterrupted time, I would have finished it in a sitting. Really, who needs sleep, food or even a bathroom break when a once in a lifetime band is forming and soon thereafter imploding right in front of you? Not I.

I am very excited about this book. It makes me wish I was in a book club with my good friends from that time. I’m sure that they would all love it and it would make for great discussions about living in the 90s, the role a band’s structure and relationships impact their music, what fans owe bands and what bands owe fans. Outside of the music environment, it would start an excellent discussion on how men and women use sex to get what they want, be it a gift to another person or a weapon to be used to maim or kill. The role of the sexual act as well as gender are everywhere in this novel. Rock bands are typically be top heavy in men, so it’s rather easy and convenient to blame a female influence when things turn ugly. How much of that ugliness can be directly attributed to the woman? How much of the blame is placed there simply because it’s easier for the male band members to bury their own failures? Isn’t it easier for fans to demonize an outside force than to think less of their beloved rock heroes?

Pull out your Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sugar, L7,  Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, clear off your most comfortable reading space and settle in for How the Mistakes Were Made. Tyler McMahon’s writing and storytelling will take you back to the time when underground music was just breaking through to the mainstream. It was an exciting time to be alive and I loved every single minute of Laura’s journey.