The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.by Nichole Bernier

Published in 2012 by Crown Publishers. 309 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Crown Publishers marketing assistant Danielle Crabtree, who had contacted me about reading and reviewing it.
Thanks, Danielle!
From the book jacket: Before there were blogs, there were journals. And in them we'd write as we really were, not as we wanted to appear. But there comes a day when journals outlive us. And with them, our secrets.

Epigraph: An excerpt from "Letter Much Too Late" - an essay by Wallace Stegner about his mother, written sixty years after she’d died, when Stegner was eighty:

Somehow I should have been able to say how strong and resilient you were, what a patient and abiding and bonding force, the softness that proved in the long run stronger than what it seemed to yield to. ... You are at once a lasting presence and an unhealed wound.

First paragraph: The George Washington Bridge had never been anything but strong and beautiful, its arches monumental, cables thin and high. Kate watched them spindling like ribs past the car window as her husband drove eastbound across the span. It was a testimony to optimism, a suspension bridge, each far-fetched plate, truss, and girder an act of faith against gravity and good sense.

From just these three bits of the book, I could tell that this novel was going to be a great read!


What I thought about the writing: An experienced magazine writer and editor, Nichole Bernier has readily applied her skills to her debut novel. With beautiful prose, she tells of Kate, who receives, following the sudden death of her friend Elizabeth, a trunk filled with Elizabeth's journals. Kate's story alternates between her actions in the present, as she reads Elizabeth's journals during her summer vacation, and her memories of Elizabeth and of her earlier life. It comes together in a stream-of-consciousness that reminded me of how my own mind works. Periodically interspersed in the third person narrative are excerpts from Elizabeth's journals themselves, and this epistolary form allows the reader insights into Elizabeth's life at the same time that Kate struggles to reconcile the woman she knew with the woman in the journal pages.

What I thought about the setting: Set in the summer following the September 11 attacks on the United States, the novel uses the general anxiousness of that time to add to the complexity of Kate's emotions after Elizabeth's death. Before I started reading, I had expected that Elizabeth's death occurred on 9-11. Initially I wondered why Bernier had complicated the story by having that event in the background, but I think it adds an emotional layer to the plot. The location of present-day action is also used effectively. Having Kate read the journals in a vacation house on beautiful Great Rock Island provides a nice juxtaposition to the anxiety and turmoil of coming to terms with her questions about Elizabeth - and the issues the journals raise in Kate's own life. By the way, I read a good chunk of this novel while on my own vacation, sitting in a beautiful garden; it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

What I thought about the themes: The best novels, in my opinion, are those that keep me thinking long after I finish the last page. The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. is such a book simply because of its many thought-provoking themes. Family. Friendship. Motherhood. Marriage. Stories. Secrets. Loss. And - most poignant for me - choice. An early passage provided a preview of what was to come:

"What are you guys talking about?" [Kate's young son] James asked.
"Just debating what we should do tomorrow," Kate said.
"I want to go to the beach. And play miniature golf," said James. "One in the morning, one in the afternoon. Then swim."
"Well, you can't do it all. Sometimes" - [Kate's husband] Chris wiped his mouth and glanced at Kate - "you have to make a choice."

Later, we read Elizabeth's words:

Every day consists of these tiny choices with 57,000 trickle-down effects. You catch a different subway and brush against a stranger with meningitis, or make eye contact with someone you fall in love with, or buy a lotto ticket in this bodega instead of that one and totally cash in, or miss the train that ends up derailing. Everything is so [freaking] arbitrary. Every move you make and a million ones you don't all have ramifications that mean life or death or love or bankruptcy or whatever. It could paralyze you if you let it. But you have to live your life. What's the alternative?

A brief note on content: If this novel were a movie, it would probably have a PG-13 rating - so although the passage I just quoted includes the f-word, profanity isn't pervasively used in the novel. Neither are there any explicit sexual situations or violence. I know that others are sometimes uncomfortable with content that I find acceptable - but I don't think most readers will be offended by the content of this book.

What some others have said about this book: Cindi aka Utah Mom said, "This contemporary piece of literature is honest, passionate and timely from a debut author." (Her full review is here.) Alison of Alison's Book Marks wrote, "A beautiful novel. At once an ode to friendship and a page-turning mystery." (Her full review is here.) Devourer of Books said that the book will "spark questions relevant to the reader’s own life." (Her full review is here.) Nancy Robertson reviewed the book for The Washington Post here.

For more information: Nichole Bernier's website is here. Her Facebook page is here.

To share in the love of a good book: Somewhat reluctantly - because I think I might want to re-read this one - I'm going to pass along my gently used copy of The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. to a randomly-selected reader of my blog. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post by Wednesday, August 15. (U.S. residents only, please.)

A final thought: The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. would be an awesome book club pick - and there is a Book Club Discussion Guide here.

A Conspiracy of Kingsby Megan Whalen Turner

Published in 2010 by Greenwillow Books.
Audiobook performed by Jeff Woodman.

The young adult novels I enjoy most are the ones that are excellent books that just happen to be written for young people. Some young adult novels - even if enjoyable - scream "YA" to me. But the best ones appear equally at home in my hands as in the hands of one of my teenagers. The four installments of Megan Whalen Turner's fantasy series that began with The Thief are such books. With complex characters, elaborate plots, and meaningful themes, these are just fabulous reads.

A Conspiracy of Kings is the fourth - and to-date the last - book about the thief Eugenides and his associates. This one is focused on and partially told from the viewpoint of Sophos, friend of Eugenides and heir to the throne of Sounis.

I absolutely loved it! This one may be my favorite of the four (although it's certainly difficult to pick just one). Sophos is a terrific character, and there are lots of twists and turns on his path. I also found the political intrigue fascinating. Megan Whalen Turner is a wonderful storyteller - and Jeff Woodman, who narrates the audiobooks, is one of the best narrators I've heard.

If you haven't read this series, be sure to start with The Thief (which I reviewed here) - and be sure to do it soon! (My thoughts about the second and third books, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, are here and here.)

The publisher has posted the author's discussion guide for the series here.

Bliss, Remembered by Frank DeFord

Published in 2010. 351 pages.

I really enjoyed this historical novel, which I read with my long-time book club a few months ago. I first became aware of the book when it was a Salt Lake County Reader's Choice nominee last year, and although I didn't find the time to read it then, I heard good things about it and was happy that the book club decided to read it together this year.

The novel starts as follows:

The summer after my mother [Sydney Stringfellow] found out that she was dying of cancer, she asked me to come visit and watch the Olympic swimming on television with her. It was 2004, when the Games were in Athens. Mom had been on the United States swimming team in the Berlin Olympics in 1936, when she was eighteen. While she never talked about the experience - she was, in fact, mysteriously silent on the subject - she would say, "That's the only thing of any real consequence I ever did in my life."

The story of Sydney's adventures in Berlin in 1936 and the aftermath of her love affair with the son of a Nazi diplomat is revealed to the reader primarily in her own voice as she shares the story with her son. I know that the narrator constantly calling her son by name ("Teddy ... Teddy ... Teddy") made my friend Chelsea crazy - but I think this story is well worth the read. The older Sydney is a delightful character, and the experiences of her younger self made for a compelling read.

NPR posted a fun story about the book and author Frank Deford here.

This year my book club has also read Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, and I think the three tie together nicely for a look at Hitler's Germany, the 1936 Olympics, and World War II.

As a group, my book club seems to gravitate toward stories set during World War II. Among the other novels we've read are Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Sarah's Key, Skeletons at the Feast, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel. What are some other WWII books that you'd recommend to the group?

2012.32

Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson

Published in 2009 by William Morrow & Company.

I started reading this culinary mystery series many years ago - and I found this fifteenth episode still a fun diversion. As my friend Linda says, Davidson weaves a good story - and I love all the talk of yummy food!

I've recently started borrowing some Kindle books from my local library. The system is not entirely user-friendly - but it is convenient having a book automatically downloaded to my Kindle and then removed on the due date. Fatally Flaky is one of those I borrowed.

2012.33

By the NumbersOne-Half of 2012

Total books read year-to-date: 36.
(At this point last year, I had read 44 books. In each year beginning with 2007 - the year I created this blog - I read more books than I did the previous year. If I'm going to repeat that result in 2012, I think I'm just going to have to read faster!)

Fiction: 26.
Non-fiction: 10.

Audiobooks: 13.
(That more than one-third of my "reading" happened during my commuting time is somewhat disconcerting to me.)

On the Kindle: 5.
(I own three of these. I borrowed the other two from the Kindle Lending Library.)

Published in 2012: 0.
(Of all these numbers, this one surprises me most!)
Published prior to 1990: 1.

Books by male authors: 6.
Books by female authors: 30.

Books by new-to-me authors: 22.
(Some of those are debuts but most are just my first experience with the author. In most cases, I will be looking for more of the author's work!)

Books that are the first of a series: 4.
Books that are part of a series I started prior to 2012: 5.

Historical fiction: 5.

Biography, autobiography, or memoir: 6.

Young adult: 15.
Juvenile: 2.

Review copies: 2.

Read for my Teaching Through Literature class: 4.
Read with the "book lunch girls" (aka Natalie's Book Club): 6.
Read with my long-time book club: 5 (counting one that I also read with the "book lunch girls").

5-star rating: 4.
4-star rating: 22.
3-star rating: 9.
2-star rating: 1.

How is your 2012 reading adding up?

We Have a Winner

Very belatedly, I have selected the winner to the Return to Exile give-away using random.org. (My sincere apologies for the tardiness. I guess I've prioritized the work that puts funds in my bank account, the sleep I need to function, and my reading time over this blog of late. Hopefully, I'll soon find a way to put more hours in my day!)

And the book goes to ... Sue.

You may be interested to know that E.J. Patten has posted a Book Group Discussion Guide for Return to Exile on his blog here.

You may also be interested to know that I have several review copies in my reading queue - so stay tuned for additional give-aways!

The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner

Published in 2008 by WaterBrook Press. 307 pages.
2009 Salt Lake County Library's Reader's Choice.


I chose The Shape of Mercy, which had been on my to-read list since 2009, as the June read for Natalie's Book Club. Only three of the group members read the book, but the six of us who were able to meet for lunch earlier this week still had a great discussion.

Back row (l-r) - Sue, Natalie, Holly.
Front row (l-r) - Leslie, Alison, Linda.
Like Katherine Howe's The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, this novel alternates between a contemporary storyline and one set during the Salem witch trials - which I find to be a fascinating time in history. It tells of the lives of three women - Lauren, a young college student, who goes to work for Abigail, an elderly librarian, to transcribe the diary of Mercy, a woman accused as a witch in 1692. The historical aspects actually seemed to be better developed, even though that story is told only through sparse diary entries.

A work of Christian fiction, The Shape of Mercy addresses the important theme of judgment. I think I agree with a member of the book group who described the moral message as "a little heavy-handed" - but it also provided me with good food for thought. What assumptions do I make about other people? How does that affect my ability to connect with or compassionately serve them? Do my judgments ever harm others?

Just today I discovered that Susan Meissner wrote a blog from October 2008 to November 2010 related to The Shape of Mercy. (You can find it here.) As explained in the first post of the blog:

Have you ever wished the characters you've read about in a book lived on after you turned the last page, that you had a backstage pass to their lives beyond the confines of the book's pages?

Here on The Shape of Mercy blog, Lauren, Abigail, Clarissa [a secondary character], and even Mercy, will live on in posts that will appear on Mondays and Fridays. We begin where the book left off.

What a fun concept!

A day or two before the book group meeting, I jotted down some possible discussion questions while I waited at the auto repair shop for my car. We considered some but not all of these at our lunch. (NOTE: I don't consider any of the questions to necessarily be "spoilers" - but if you, like my friend Chelsea, don't want to know much about a book before reading it, come back later to read the questions.)

• What did you think of the title? Consider the implications of the word shape as well as those of mercy. What do you think Meissner was trying to say in the novel about "the shape of mercy"?


• Comment on the theme of judgment. Did the juxtaposition of the two storylines as illustration of this theme work for you?


• How much did you know about the Salem witch trials before you started reading this book? What did you think about Abigail's requirement that Lauren not research anything about the trials while she was transcribing the diary? Why do you think Abigail did that?


• Did Mercy's story's ring true to you? What did you think about its conclusion? Was it satisfying to you on both an intellectual and an emotional level?


• Were you surprised to discover why Abigail had chosen not to marry the man she man she loved? [By the way, I am almost always surprised by such "revelations" - but one book club member said it was quite obvious.] How do their circumstances further illustrate the theme of judgment?


• What similarities and what differences do you see among the three main characters of the novel - Mercy, Abigail, and Lauren?


• Comment on the quality of "Christian fiction." Among things to consider: Are excellence in writing and "cleanliness" mutually exclusive in modern works of fiction? Can a book have a positive moral message without being overly focused on religious practice? Why does much fiction ignore the spiritual or religious lives of people? [By the way, I frequently avoid Christian fiction because my experience has generally been that the writing is not stellar. I'm always pleased to find a novel - such as The Secret Life of Bees - that enhances my spiritual understanding without sacrificing superb writing.]


• Do you love the feelings behind the following passage from the book as much as I do?

  In the beginning, I [Lauren] chalked up [Abigail's] talkative moods to being a retired librarian who missed being around people who loved books. I suppose that was a small part of it. But there were other reasons Abigail pounced on any opportunity to discuss a book we had both read. Dissecting a book was the same as making sense of life. You have to find a way to interpret life, or you'll go nuts. That's her way. It is also mine.

2012.35

What I've Been "Reading" As I Commute

Seven of the last ten books I've read were audiobooks. Unfortunately, my "day job" is cutting deeply into my reading (and blogging) time at present - but at least I can "read" while commuting. Here are three of the books on CD I've finished in the past two months.

Innocent by Scott Turow
Published in 2010 by Hachette Audio.
Audiobook read by Edward Herrmann
and featuring Orlagh Cassidy.

I loved Presumed Innocent when I read it twenty-two years ago. I also loved this sequel, which continues the story of Rusty Sabich and Tommy Molto who are again - twenty-two years later - pitted against each other after the mysterious death of Rusty's wife.

Innocent is more psychological than I remember the original to be but with the same tightly-woven plot that kept me guessing. Listening to this one - about fourteen hours long on twelve CDs - made two weeks' worth of commuting almost fun!

(This book definitely contains adult language and themes.)

2012.23


The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
by Aimee Bender
Published in 2010.
Audiobook read by the author.

I quite enjoyed this odd tale of magical realism. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, and the premise is unique. I will be definitely be looking for more from this author.

For the record, I was bothered about a couple of the realistic aspects, such as why no one seemed to have ever heard of a cell phone. I think that for the magical to be "believable," the realism has to be fully real.

2012.26


Ten Miles Past Normal
by Frances O'Roark Dowell
Published in 2011.
Audiobook narrated by Jessica Almasy.

Delightful, even sweet, Ten Miles Past Normal is a wonderful depiction of a fourteen-year-old learning to be herself, striving to "live large" and accepting the fact that she can happily exist at a place "ten miles past normal."

2012.19