Group Review: The Night Strangers

Summary:  In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.
The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain due to double engine failure. The body count? Thirty-nine. What follow is a riveting ghost story with all the hallmarks readers have come to expect from bestselling, award-winning novelist Chris Bohjalian: a palpable sense of place, meticulous research, an unerring sense of the demons that drive us, and characters we care about deeply. The difference this time? Some of those characters are dead. ~amazon.com

Alice's Review: I didn’t write this review right away. I couldn’t. I needed time to process it. This novel took possession of my thoughts; it dominated them. I thought about The Night Strangers every waking minute. Sadly, I’m not sure if it was because the novel was that good or that disappointing.  I am relatively new to Chris Bohlajian’s work, this being my second with The Double Bind being my first. I loved The Double Bind. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for this one.

Mr. Bohlajian is a master of mystery. He has an uncanny ability to write about emotions in a way that you as the reader experience them too. I also loved how he infused a perfect amount of creepy through the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed a few things about this novel. The first being the relationship between Emily and Chip. You could feel the genuine love they felt for each other, especially in Emily’s protection of Chip. Secondly, Reseda was a character I wish I had known. She seemed to genuinely care for Emily and the twins. And finally Chip. I loved Chip. I thought Mr. Bohlajian did an incredible job of adding realism to his character. There were times it read more as an emotional realistic account of what happened and not a work of fiction. Chip was flawed, troubled, and carried around the guilt of not going down with his “ship.” We all know the heroic effort of Captain Sully, Chips efforts were no less heroic but tragically his end result was catastrophic.

There was one aspect of The Night Strangers that felt a bit off the mark for me. A part of me wishes this had been more about Chip’s demons rather than the mysterious Herbalists (the witches) that live in Bethel. Although the stories merge in the end, one clearly dominated the other. The witches were too far fetched, they distracted me from the Captain’s battle with his demons. It’s not that the witches portion of the story was bad, far from it. But oddly this novel would have been better as two separate tales instead of one. However I can’t imagine having one without the other.

The one thing I totally give him credit is the very ending of the novel had that catch my breath, exploding stomach feeling I was hoping for. It was the same feeling I got at the end of The Double Bind, and that same feeling is what will keep me reading Mr. Bohlajian for years to come.

Final Take: 3/5

Julie's Review:  Mr. Bohjalian has done it again! He has written another book that leaves me breathless and stunned. Like Alice, The Night Strangers wasn't exactly what I thought it would be but I didn't mind the path the book ended up taking. I liked Chip, Emily, Hallie and Garnet. Immediately though I knew that I would like Garnet the best. Everyone had written her off as the weaker of the two sisters, but I didn't think that was the case at all. She had an inner strength that had yet to be realized.

I felt nothing but sympathy for Chip and for the one event that ruined his career and his psyche. I can not imagine trying to recover from an event like a plane crash. I understand why they family decided to hightail it to the mountains of Bethel. Immediately you get the sense that something is off with the town inhabitants.  That they are a little too happy to see the Linton's come to Bethel. They are a bit too interested in the twins and Emily, but they could take or leave Chip.

Meanwhile, Chip is dealing with his own psychological issues from the crash. He's going a bit nuts but keeps it together enough that Emily and the girls don't take much notice. Is he going crazy? Are the women of the town hexing him? What is causing him to slowly go mad?

Mr. Bohjalian does an excellent job of setting the scene. He describes the Linton's new house perfectly in all its creepy glory. You can picture the extra set of stairs that don't really lead to anywhere and the mysterious coal chute. The town seems cozy but there is definitely an air of eeriness coursing throughout the town. There are the herbalists and then there are the others.

I knew that Anise's interest in the twins wasn't for their own good or their own healing. She was a little to eager with her food and teaching the twins botany. On the other hand with Reseda I couldn't get a good feel for her and I know that was intentional. I kept going back and forth on her attentions.

As much as I'd love to spew a bunch of information here and engage in dialogue, I won't. I hope that I've peeked your interest in reading the novel. It's especially perfect on a chilly, partly cloudy fall evening. This book made me rethink my desire to move to a small town. (haha)

Another twist in the ending that had me going back to read the last few pages to make sure that I was correct in my understanding of the outcome and I was.

My favorite book by Mr. Bohjalian will always be The Double Bind. That is a piece of literature that I need to revisit and that I pimp out to anyone that will listen.

Final Take: 4.5/5

Jenn's Review: Slim to None

Summary:  Abbie Jennings is Manhattan's top food critic until her expanding waistline makes staying incognito at restaurants impossible. Her cover blown on Page Six of the New York Post, her editor has no choice but to bench her and suggest she use the time off to bench-press her way back to anonymity. Abbie's life has been built around her career, and therefore around celebrating food. Forced to drop the pounds if she wants her primo gig back, Abbie must peel back the layers of her past and confront the fears that have led to her current life.


Review:  You may have noticed I'm on a Food-lit kick as of late.  Author Jenny Gardiner did, and suggested her book, Slim to None.  Of course, I purchased it immediately.

Abbie Jennings is not at home in her own skin which made it hard for me to be comfortable with her.  No doubt, weight is a sensitive subject for most women, but that's not what made me uncomfortable.  (For me, the person I see in my head is not the same as the one in the mirror... but I am fitting into some clothes I haven't worn in a while so... that's good, I guess.)  No, it has to do with the same reason I can't watch most comedies; I have an abundance of empathy.  I don't find embarrassing situations humorous, I find them highly distressing.  Abbie doesn't know who she is,which can be okay if one is at peace with that, but Abbie isn't.  She's not thinking and she's making bad decisions ~honestly, I just want to help her.  I think this says quite a lot about Ms. Gardiner's writing style that I feel this strongly about her main character.


That said, I do love the interweaving stories and the respective characters.  As a matter of fact Slim to None isn't so much about food as it is about relationships (with people and food).  It's more women's lit with some food thrown in rather than food-lit.   I thought the recipes, though befitting a food critic, were a little over the top for my personal repertoire and, though appreciated, almost a little extraneous.  There are some lovely twists to the plot making a happy ending seem dubious.  I love when an author can keep me guessing on that front.  


It's not often I feel this entangled with a character, even if it wasn't necessarily all positive.  Jenny Gardiner has a great 'voice' and it permeates the novel.  If you are looking for a solid read about relationships and being comfortable with yourself, Slim to None is for you.  


Final Take:  3.75/5

Children's Corner: Noodle Man: The Pasta Superhero

Summary:  Pasta is the passion of the Dente family. Their business is a fresh-pasta deli, but business, frankly, is slow. The neighbors in the town of Durum are ordering pizzas, not pasta. Their son, Al, has a brilliant idea: the world's first portable, fresh-pasta maker. Unfortunately, he is no good at selling pasta door-to-door. But pasta, it turns out, is a remarkably adaptable food ideal for catching crooks, saving children, and making heroes. Served up with fun illustrations and outrageous puns, this wacky treat is sure to have children clamoring for second helpings. Never underestimate the power of pasta!

Review:  This is a favorite read in our house, especially for us carb-loving girls.  Although some of the puns and humor might be a little beyond my almost-four-year-old, there is still plenty of laughs to be had.  Al Dente unwittingly becomes the the community super hero, saving his fellow citizens with pasta and in the process, he manages to save the family business ...and find a girl friend.  The illustrations, though not overly bright, are delightfully busy with lots of new things to discover with each read.  My daughter loves naming all the different types labeled at the front and back of the book. We can't finish reading it without reviewing all the different pasta shapes!

It's also a good book for children who need encouragement to add variety to their food repertoire.  The town is only eating pizza and it's a good time to discuss that it's okay to have a favorite food, but you can't eat it all the time.

This is definitely a book that will grow with children with new things on which to focus.  We will enjoy revisiting this.  Noodle Man pasta power!

Julie's Review: Domestic Violets

Summary: Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious archnemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety. Tom’s life is crushing his soul, but he’s decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness—even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way. ~amazon.com

Review: You know how you hear hype about something, you buy into it and then you get disappointed that it really wasn't worth the hype? Yeah, not with this brilliant debut novel by Matthew Norman. Domestic Violets is honest, raw, brilliant, funny and relevant. Immediately you like Tom Violet. He is perfectly flawed and brutally honest from the first page. You can't help but identify with him on some level, regardless of your gender. You root for him and at times you want to smack him. He is your brother, your best friend, you or perhaps your husband. Perhaps you are Anna, his wife and this could be your marriage. Perhaps it's not your marriage but you can understand how some one's marriage could get to where Tom and Anna are.

I found myself laughing throughout the book and then found myself getting choked up on the next page. Mr. Norman takes you through a variety of emotions as we tag along with Tom on his journey of self-discovery. Not only is Tom well-developed but the cast of other characters jump off the pages as well. Curtis Violet, Tom's famous author father, could have easily become a caricature but he didn't.

This novel has so many facets that it touches: work, love, dreams, family and realizing what you want out of your life. Mr. Norman has a gift for writing prose and he's witty. He also is honest and perhaps it's not what those of us in our 30s and married want to hear. Here is a passage that I loved:

A women never wants to be with someone else. Not really. That's the business of men, and for some reason we destroy things because of it. But not them. They're better than us. They only choose someone else when we push them away. ~page 244

It's like he had a way of getting into women's psyches. I could sit here and quote the book, but instead you just need to read it.

There are a few surprises along the way and by the end of the book I was crying and I couldn't stop. Not because it was particularly sad but because it was real, true and honest. By the end of the book you are connected to these characters and their lives; you want them to be ok.

I haven't read anything like Domestic Violets before and I'm pretty sure I won't read another thing like it again.

I urge you to run out and get yourself a copy, I really don't think that you'll regret it.

Final Take: 5/5

If I had a rating higher than 5 this book would get it!

I also want to thank fellow book bloggers who continually raved about this book on Twitter, causing me to get my hands on it.

Alice's Review: The Monsters of Templeton

Summary:  "The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass." So begins The Monsters of Templeton, a novel spanning two centuries: part acontemporary story of a girl's search for her father, part historical novel, and part ghost story, this spellbinding novel is at its core a tale of how one town holds the secrets of a family. In the wake of a wildly disastrous affair with her married archaeology professor, Willie Upton arrives on thedoorstep of her ancestral home in Templeton, New York, where her hippie-turned-born-again-Baptist mom, Vi, still lives. Willie expects to be ableto hide in the place that has been home to her family for generations, but the monster's death changes the fabric of the quiet, picture-perfect town her ancestors founded. Even further, Willie learns that the story her mother had always told her about her father has all been a lie: he wasn't the random man from a free-love commune that Vi had led her to imagine, but someone else entirely. Someone from this very town. As Willie puts her archaeological skills to work digging for the truth about her lineage, she discovers that the secrets of her family run deep. Through letters, editorials, and journal entries, the dead rise up to tell their sides of the story as dark mysteries come to light, past and present blur,old stories are finally put to rest, and the shocking truth about more than one monster is revealed. ~amazon.com

Review:  I remember reading Julie’s review when she first read this novel. I know she was fond of it so I was excited she suggested I read this one as part of our List Swap Challenge. I have to admit, the beginning of this novel began in fits and starts for me. It took me a while to get into it but once I did, I got wrapped up on the story. I loved Willie from the word go.

Willie is the main character in this novel, the prodigal daughter returned shamed after a tryst with her very married college professor. And if that isn’t bad enough, she’s knocked up. She has a bun in the oven she (somewhat) lovingly refers to as The Lump. The thing about Willie is that she’s heartbroken (and I love the brokenhearted) and remorseful and so lost she doesn’t know what to do with herself. To help her recover, her sweet former hippie turned Christian mom tells her that her father is a “Random Templeton Man” and Willie’s mission is to find out who it is with minimal help from dear old mom. That sets Willie off on a crazy chase into her family’s past to find out who this mystery man is.

The next thing I loved about this novel is the darkness. About 7 or 8 years ago I read a book called Dating Big Bird by Laura Zigman. Although the pages where blinding white, the novel was shroud in darkness. This novel was the same. Even as I got to know Willie and her struggles, it felt like I was reading The Monster of Templeton in the dark. I guess it’s appropriate to feel that way because I’m sure that’s how Willie felt. She was in the dark about who her father was and what to do about the Lump.

This novel was filled with a crazy cast of characters from Willie’s crooked family tree. Their stories are told mostly in chapters dedicated to flashbacks. Of those wacky branches, my favorite had to be the correspondence between Cinnamon Averell and her best friend Charlotte Franklin Temple. I wish there was a novel dedicated to their story, especially Cinnamon. She was a spicy little gem full of moxie. Oh to sit with her for a cup of tea and hear her sordid little secrets.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Monsters of Templeton. Lauren Groff is a gifted writer with the ability to write in lyrical, poetic prose and expressive descriptions. I will admit by the end of the novel, I couldn’t care less who Willie’s father was. I guess it was the point to all this but really, it didn’t matter to me. My desire to know got lost in the pages and pages of the town and Temple family history. I am glad I read it and would recommend it but I wouldn’t read this novel again. I would, however, read Ms. Groff’s other novels. She has a gift, that much is true.

Final Take: 3/5

And the Winner is...

Congratulations to Diana, the lucky winner of an Ember e-book.  Jenn has emailed you with details about how to collect your prize.

As always, Girls Just Reading Blogspot uses Random.org to select our winners.