Anne's Book Club

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Why We Write About Ourselves

If you like reading memoirs, you’ll like “Why We Write About Ourselves,” a book that tells us why 20 memoirists do write about themselves.

Among the people sharing their stories are Sue Monk Kidd, Ayelet Waldman, Nick Flynn and James McBride.

Honest, compelling and funny, the book really does give the reader an insight into the writer’s mind. They answer questions like “how true is true?” and how much they should write about other people.

Waldman, for example, writes, “If you’re not uncomfortable and scared while you’re writing, you’re not writing close enough to the bone.”

If you don’t like reading memoirs, this book might lead you to making a trip to that genre.

“Why We Write About Ourselves” is edited by veteran editor Meredith Maran, who is currently working on another memoir of her own.

You can listen to my talk with Meredith Maran here: WESB.com/on-demand. Click on LiveLine for 01-27-16.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Where It Hurts
By Reed Farrel Coleman

Reed Farrel Coleman is back and better than ever.

"Where It Hurts" has all kinds of bad guys: Mobsters, gangstas, mean cops, corrupt cops, drug dealers. Retired cop Gus Murphy is trying to figure out how they all fit together after – on the day he went to Gus for help – a man is killed in a shootout.

Tommy D, a petty thief Gus had arrested a few times, wanted Gus to find out who brutally murdered his son. He says he wants Gus to help him because the working Suffolk County police officers are ignoring the case, and Gus is the only honest cop he knows. Gus flies off the handle because he thinks the real reason Tommy D came to him is that Gus’s son is dead, too, and his grief would compel him to help. When he goes to Tommy D’s home to apologize, Gus gets caught up in the deadly shoot out.

It’s after that he decides he should try to figure out who killed TJ, Tommy’s son. He finds it strange that, not only are the police ignoring the case, they’re warning him to stay away from it.

Of course that’s a red flag. As he digs deeper, and gets closer to the truth, he also puts himself in more danger.

And all of this is going on while Gus is dealing with the unexpected death of his son from a never-diagnosed medical condition, the break-up of his marriage, his daughter’s acting out over her brother’s death, and the possibility that he may want to start a relationship with a new woman.

The book also has some secondary characters that are central to the story: Slava, Gus’s hilarious sidekick; Father Bill, the former priest who still dispenses advice, spiritual and other; and Smudgie, who is hard to describe, other than to say he’s a kind of likable oddball.

I spoke with Mr. Coleman this morning and he told me Slava, Father Bill and Smudgie will all be back in the next installment of the series. Hooray!

If this gives you any idea how much I loved this book: It's 368 pages and I read it in one sitting. You can hear my interview with Reed Farrel Coleman here: WESB.com/on-demand and scroll to "LiveLine 01-26-16 Bestselling Author Reed Farrel Coleman on Where It Hurts."

Monday, January 25, 2016

The Drifter
By Nicholas Petrie

Nicholas Petrie, where have you been all my thriller-reading life?

I ask because his debut novel, “The Drifter,” has all the thrills and chills, heartache and laughs, as well as suspense that you’d want in a thriller. Plus, it has a reptilian bad guy, a Marine veteran good guy, and a dog with his own mind. Hard to beat that.

The plot centers around Peter Ash, a retired Marine lieutenant living in the wilderness – by choice – who finds out his best friend killed himself. He knows Jimmy’s wife needs help so he heads to Milwaukee to offer that help. As he’s fixing her porch he finds a suitcase with $400,000 and some plastic explosives in it. And the dog guarding it.

As he tries to find out where the money came from he gets a feeling Jimmy didn’t kill himself after all. Trying to prove it, mixes him up in a plot that – if carried out – could cause more destruction and devastation than the Oklahoma City bombing. And on Veterans Day, no less.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is that it shows the many ways Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can manifest itself. (In Peter’s case, it actually helps him near the end of the book.) It also points out – not in a blatant or preachy way – that we, as a country, need to treat our veterans better.

Back to the book: It’s written in five parts. I have some advice for you. Before you start the fifth part, make yourself a cup of tea or pour yourself a glass of wine and settle in because you won’t be able to put the book down until the end.

Welcome to the world of thrillers, Nicholas Petrie. I hope you stick around for a long time.

You can hear my interview with Nicholas Petrie here: WESB.com. Scroll to LiveLine for 01-25-16.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Mermaid Moon
By Colleen Coble

This is the second in Coble's "Sunset Cove" series, center in what she says is the non-touristy part of Maine, and after reading it I'm looking forward to more.

Besides bringing back characters from the last book, she introduces us to new residents of the area, and to Mallory who comes back because of a, lets's just say, family matter. While she's dealing with that, she must also contend with a teenage daughter (she's a single mom) and Kevin, the man whose heart she broke many years ago.

To hear Coble talk about the book you can go to . Scroll down to "LiveLine" for January 7, 2016.

Friday, January 8, 2016

The Forgotten Soldier
By Brad Taylor

Brad Taylor brings Pike Logan and the Taskforce -- and ISIS -- back in "The Forgotten Soldier," but it's still a departure from the other Taskforce tales. You can hear my conversation with Brad Taylor at WESB.com/on-demand and go to the LiveLine tab.