Her Book Self

When I was little, I hated coffee.  I thought it smelled bad, looked gross, and on the rarest of occasions when I tasted it my main reaction was "ewww - yuck!" followed by immediate expectoration.   And then, I went to college and met a bunch of people that liked to hang out in coffee shops.   I stared at the menu of Espresso Royale (exotic sounding cafe, right?) and tried to decide on a choice of tea when one of my friends prompted me, "Get the Caramel Royale, even if you're not a coffee person, you'll love it!"  I followed that sage piece of advice and it remains a turning point of my college education: the day I liked coffee.  Granted the drink I chose was hardly "coffee" in that it contained a shot of espresso, a lot of steamed milk, and a more than generous helping of caramel, caramel, and caramel; but it still gave me a taste for the beautiful brewed beverage.  And recently, I came across an author that combined my love of coffee with my love of a good mystery in a cute book that starts off a whole series of coffee-house based detective work.

Maggy Thorsen is eager to open her new coffee shop Uncommon Grounds with her two friends, but none of them predicted murder to be on the menu for their opening day. The small town of Brookhills, Wisconsin produces a surprisingly long list of suspects and when Maggy and her business partner Caron are both on it, Maggy decides to take on the task of investigating the murder herself.

Sandra Balzo constructs a clever and intricate mystery in this novel. There were multiple suspects with motive and opportunity and new clues were revealed slowly throughout the story to keep the reader guessing to the very end. Maggy was a smart and witty heroine, likable and believable, and I look forward to reading more of Balzo's mysteries centered around Thorsen's coffee shop adventures.

I tend to lay off coffee a bit in the summer, but especially in the winter, I love to start my morning train ride with a cup of joe to go with my book du jour.  How about you?  Coffee-fiend?  Soda-holic? Tea-meister?   Any special beverage that you like to pair with your current read?

I've been on a bit of a historical fiction kick this year and as I've said before, I really enjoy learning through reading.  The Quickening was a book that was educational about farm life during The Great Depression, but it was also an emotional character study with a look at the perspectives of two very different women living in the same time and place.  To offer a little more insight into this well-drawn book, I'm thrilled to present my interview with Michelle Hoover.

*applause, applause*

With so many places and time periods to choose from, how did you choose the setting of The Quickening?

Though I don’t name the actual location, in my mind the book takes place in central Iowa. It’s a setting I grew up in, and it’s so much a part of me that, even though I now live in the northeast, it carries a great deal of emotional and thematic resonance. But for some reason I’ve had trouble writing more contemporary stories about the place. I suppose I sense such a deep history there, even if only a geographical one, that it feels old to me. The novel was inspired in part by the few remaining pages of my great-grandmother’s journal, and so the time period in the book is her own, or at least the years among her own that had the most dramatic possibility for me.

I've heard writers say that a key to good plot is to essentially torture your main characters. Both Mary and Eddie suffer great hardships in the story, was it challenging for you to write these difficulties for them?

Novelists may appear to “torture” their characters, but what they’re really doing is forcing their characters to confront the wounds, flaws, or desires that have shaped the core of their personalities. Stories focus on characters at a time in their lives that best defines them, that reveals to the reader the “mystery” of who they are and what they promise to be. That’s why we’re watching that particular character at that particular moment. Of course, you must have compassion for your characters, but not so much that you don’t allow them to make the mistakes that their personalities are driving them toward.

But my answer to this question is still yes. Writing is always challenging, and paying enough attention to your characters to follow the truth of a situation takes an extremely concentrated mindset. And I did find one scene very emotionally difficult to write because I was empathizing with my character so heavily. The scene simply broke my heart. I tried to write around it for months, tried to avoid it and take the novel to a different place, but I couldn’t ignore the inevitable result that my earlier scenes had given me.

Which character do you think is most (and which is least) like you?

I think they both have parts of me, though I admire Enidina far more. I was actually surprised at an Amazon review in which the reader considered neither woman admirable. For me, Enidina has the strength, perseverance, tact, honesty, sense of goodness, and love for her family that the women I have always known, that I grew up around, have. These are traits that I try to foster in myself every day.

What projects are you currently working on?

Another family story. A couple summers ago I discovered that two of my teenaged great aunts disappeared together from their family farm. I have a photograph of their whole family shortly before the girls went “missing” and am fascinated by the faces there.

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

Go to http://www.michellehoover.net/ for news about events and the story of the book’s inspiration. Thanks!

For those interested, also, Michelle is currently on tour to promote The Quickening!  Her schedule includes a stop in Chicago, as well as several other cities, so check out her website to see if she will be visiting a bookstore near you!

"Debut novel" is always an interesting descriptor for a work. Previously, I was very neutral on the words.  If anything the label was only an assurance that I wasn't being introduced to an author mid-series.  In the past year though, I've found myself very impressed with debut works and have become a fan of several new writers as their careers have just begun to blossom.  One such author is Michelle Hoover and her first novel The Quickening is an elegantly written historical fiction that reveals the pen of a masterful writer.

Enidina (Eddie) Current and Mary Morrow are the neighboring women and alternating narrators of Michelle Hoover's debut novel The Quickening. Drawn together in the sparse farmlands of the Midwest in the early 1900's, Eddie and Mary have a relationship based more on mutual dependency rather than on their similarities. As the years pass, the reader sees both women grow and change through the seasons - spring innocence, the growth of summer, decay of fall, the harsh unforgiving winter - and the story is about the land as well as those who call it home.

The novel was told in a unique manner, and Michelle Hoover plays freely with the time-line. Through snapshots of their lives, the tale jumps in and out of the memories of the dual narrators, and events are hinted at long before they are revealed which keeps the pace of the book rolling smoothly. The setting was remarkably vivid and reveals Hoover's expertise at historical research. Poignant and intriguing, The Quickening was a unique novel that perfectly captures the complexity and richness of the Midwest in the early twentieth century.

I'm curious what others think about seeing a book labeled "debut novel".  Does it act as a persuader or a deterrent to new readers?  Do you see "debut" and think of the work as a fresh new voice to hear or do you consider that perhaps you don't want to take a chance on a new author?

And stay tuned this week for my blog interview with Michelle Hoover!

Mercy Rising by Amber Robinson is true to its subtitle and involves Simple Ways to Practice Justice and Compassion. Aimed mostly at women, Robinson discusses practical ways of serving in everyday life including educating readers about organizations, opportunities, and websites that deal with combating poverty and other social justice issues, locally and internationally.

Drawing from her experiences as an advocate for Compassion International - a Christian child sponsorship organization - Robinson points out easy ways to help better the lives of others. Some of her suggestions seemed rather obvious (donating clothing) but others were new to me (searching websites that report on companies agreeing to stop human rights violations). Mercy Rising is a book that could be a valued resource to those taking the first steps towards justice around them as well as to those that have been making strides for years.

A friend of mine is fond of saying that to start serving others, people just need to get off their "buts" (But I'm too busy, But I don't have money, But I'm not good at that). Robinson takes this philosophy one step further and centers her book around the idea of each person starting with just "one thing". For anyone who's ever been overwhelmed at injustice in the world but doesn't think that one person can make a difference, Mercy Rising is a great place to look to have a change of heart and realize that even small steps can have a positive impact in the world.

Set in Barcelona in the 1920's, Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game is a haunting and captivating novel. David Martin is an aspiring writer gifted with talent but unlucky in life - the woman he loves ignores him, his health is fading, and his greedy publishers care only about his next work. When the wealthy Andreas Corelli appears in David's life offering a contract - a book writing deal that seems a bit too good to be true - the young author hesitates at first, but is soon drawn to accept the bargain. What follows is a dark series of events leading David to seek an escape from the deal and to discover the truth behind the demise of another author Diego Marlasca. Marlasca once lived in the supposedly haunted house that David resides in and also had dealings with David's mysterious benefactor.

This is the first work of Zafon's that I have read, and it wasn't until I finished The Angel's Game that I learned it to be the prequel to Shadow of the Wind. Angel's Game easily stands on its own though, and I really enjoyed Zafon's serpentine storytelling. The plot was thoroughly unpredictable and the mystery and suspense were painted as beautifully as the historical details of the setting. For those that enjoy gothic mysteries with a supernatural twist, this is definitely the book to check out.

Congratulations to Ellen, winner of The French Blue giveaway!

On favorite gems, Ellen said, "My favorite gemstone is the one on my left hand. I know that's overtly sentimental, but it's true."

Thanks again to everyone who entered the contest!  I wish you all could win and I really enjoyed reading your responses.   Since there were so many entrants, stay tuned for another Her Book Self Giveaway later this year! 

"Never read a book through merely because you have begun it."
~John Witherspoon

This is another book that's been on my radar for quite some time, but it was a friend's blog post, with a charming quote from this book that most made me want to read it.

Sarah Addison Allen's The Sugar Queen might just be the definition of a comfort read. I picked this book up after multiple friends raved about it, and it turned out to be even more delightful than I expected.

The story follows twenty-eight year old Josey Cirrini who has always lived in the shadow of her high-society mother. Josey's escape from the pressures of others' expectations lies in a secret compartment in her closet filled with forbidden sweets and romance novels. Josey's paradise is disturbed one day when she finds Della Lee Baker, a local free-spirited woman, camped out in the closet hiding from an abusive boyfriend. With Della's help, Josey learns to stand up for herself and breaks out of the image that her mother has imposed on her. Josey learns to see herself as strong, beautiful woman - a lesson that will likely echo in the hearts of most female readers.

I loved the way the characters in this story were interwoven and the magical realism that tied the various subplots together was wonderfully done. The Sugar Queen is a novel that will leave readers with a smile and a sigh - a warm and intriguing love story that is as sweet as its charming title.

With Josey's secret closet filled with sweets and romance novels, I started thinking about my own comforts.  I could definitely relate to Josey turning to books as a means of escape - for me, it's more likely to be fantasy novels than romances - but if you had a secret comfort closet, with what would you stock it?