Book Review: The fall of Lisa Bellow - S. Perabo

I didn't dislike this novel enough to abandon it, but, while reading it, I kept thinking of what next I was going to read to give me an incentive to speed it up.
Overall, not impressed by this book, it is a well written story about a middle class American family which starts as picture-perfect but ends up with a lot of tragedy. The character I liked the most is Evan, the brother, who is funny and, despite his accident, keeps it together.
I disliked the father, not a very strong figure, and I had mixed feelings for the mother.
In summary, nothing really happens and we just read about the various reactions in the family in the aftermath of the tragedy. I found it quite dull and tedious at times.

Overall rating:  5   Plot: 6   Writing style: 5   Cover:  4

Title: The fall of Lisa Bellow 

Author: Susan Perabo
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 352
Publication year: 2017

The Plot:

A masked man with a gun enters a sandwich shop in broad daylight, and Meredith Oliver suddenly finds herself ordered to the filthy floor, where she cowers face to face with her nemesis, Lisa Bellow, the most popular girl in her class. The minutes tick inexorably by, and Meredith lurches between comforting the sobbing Lisa and imagining her own impending death. Then the man orders Lisa Bellow to stand and come with him, leaving Meredith behind. After Lisa’s abduction, Meredith spends most days in her room. As the community stages vigils and searches, Claire, Meredith’s mother, is torn between relief that her daughter is alive and helplessness over her inability to protect or even comfort her child. Her daughter is here, but not. How can life ever move forward again?

The Author:
Susan Perabo is the author of the collections of short stories, Who I Was Supposed to Be and Why They Run the Way They Do, and the novels The Broken Places and The Fall of Lisa Bellow. Her fiction has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize Stories, and New Stories from the South, and has appeared in numerous magazines, including One Story, Glimmer Train, The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, and The Sun. She is Writer in Residence and professor of English at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and on the faculty of the low-residency MFA Program at Queens University. She holds an MFA from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Book Review: The Subway girls - S. Orman Schnall

Loved this novel! Historical/girlie book set in New York City moving between the late 40s and the present.
I read it in a very short time as I was very engrossed by it, especially reading about the fight for her own career in the 50s by Charlotte, who is split between her duties towards her family, her ambition and her boyfriend. Nothing different from the struggles women nowadays have to face in dealing with their careers and family life.
The novel is centered on the women's power to chose for themselves and make of their lives what they really want, that being a family, a career or both and being able to learn from their experience and change their minds.
A very pleasant read, going straight into my NY set favourite novels.

Overall rating:  8   Plot: 7,5   Writing style: 8   Cover:  6,5

Title: The subway girls 

Author: Susie Orman Schnall
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin
Pages: 320
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

In 1949, dutiful and ambitious Charlotte's dream of a career in advertising is shattered when her father demands she help out with the family business. Meanwhile, Charlotte is swept into the glamorous world of the Miss Subways beauty contest, which promises irresistible opportunities with its Park Avenue luster and local fame status. But when her new friend - the intriguing and gorgeous fellow-participant Rose - does something unforgivable, Charlotte must make a heart-wrenching decision that will change the lives of those around her forever. Nearly 70 years later, outspoken advertising executive Olivia is pitching the NYC subways account in a last ditch effort to save her job at an advertising agency. When the charismatic boss she's secretly in love with pits her against her misogynistic nemesis, Olivia's urgent search for the winning strategy leads her to the historic Miss Subways campaign. As the pitch date closes in on her, Olivia finds herself dealing with a broken heart, an unlikely new love interest, and an unexpected personal connection to Miss Subways that could save her job - and her future.

The Author:

Susie Orman Schnall is the author of three novels: Her thought-provoking debut, ON GRACE (2014, SparkPress), is about turning 40. THE BALANCE PROJECT (2015, SparkPress), is about work-life balance and was inspired by The Balance Project interview series she started in 2014. And THE SUBWAY GIRLS (2018, St. Martin’s Press), is historical fiction about the fascinating Miss Subways advertising program.Susie’s writing has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, POPSUGAR, Writer’s Digest, and Glamour. She is also a frequent speaker at women’s groups, corporations, and book clubs about her novels and work-life balance.Susie grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and now lives just outside of New York City with her husband and their three sons who play ball in the house.

Book Review: Pleasantville - A. Locke

It is the second book by Attica Locke I read, I loved Bluebird, bluebird (read my review here) so I was curios to read her other novels.
Pleasantville is a very clever political/legal thriller set in a black community and centered around the run for Houston, Texas major elections and the disappearing of girls in the neighborhood.
Main character is the lawyer Jay Porter, who finds himself defending the accused in the trial.
Very interesting read about the dynamics of such a community and politics, but too much of political stuff in there which I have found quite tedious at times.

Overall rating:  6   Plot: 6   Writing style: 6,5   Cover:  6

Title: Pleasantville

Author: Attica Locke
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Pages: 432
Publication year: 2015

The Plot:

It's 1996, Bill Clinton has just been re-elected and in Houston a mayoral election is looming. As usual the campaign focuses on Pleasantville -- the African-American neighbourhood of the city that has swung almost every race since it was founded to house a growing black middle class in 1949.

Axel Hathorne, former chief of police and the son of Pleasantville's founding father Sam Hathorne, was the clear favourite, all set to become Houston's first black mayor. But his lead is slipping thanks to a late entrant into the race -- Sandy Wolcott, a defence attorney riding high on the success of a high-profile murder trial.

And then, just as the competition intensifies, a girl goes missing, apparently while canvassing for Axel. And when her body is found, Axel's nephew is charged with her murder.

Sam is determined that Jay Porter defends his grandson. And even though Jay is tired of wading through other people's problems, he suddenly finds himself trying his first murder case, a trial that threatens to blow the entire community wide open, and reveal the lengths that those with power are willing to go to hold onto it.

The Author:

Attica Locke’s Pleasantville was the 2016 winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. It was also long-listed for the Bailey’s Prize for Women’s Fiction, and made numerous “Best of 2015” lists. Her first novel, Black Water Rising, was nominated for an Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, as well as a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her second book, The Cutting Season, is a national bestseller and the winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. A former fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Feature Filmmaker’s Lab, Locke has worked as a screenwriter as well. Most recently, she was a writer and producer on the Fox drama, Empire. She serves on the board of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. A native of Houston, Texas, Attica lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.

Book Review: The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - S. Turton

Imagine to find yourself in a Cluedo game turned into a book, with a mystery to solve and different characters involved. This is what I thought reading this peculiar and fascinating crime novel. A bit Agatha Christie with an evil spin, this book has a great crime plot, very difficult to guess the culprit, plus the twist of the main character waking up in seven different bodies to solve the murdered.
A very interesting and enjoyable read.

Overall rating:  7   Plot: 7,5   Writing style: 7   Cover:  6,5

Title: The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Author: Stuart Turton
Publisher: Raven Books (Bloomsbury)
Pages: 528
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed. But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden - one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party - can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot. The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath..

The Author:

Stuart Turton is a freelance travel journalist who has previously worked in Shanghai and Dubai. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is his debut novel. He is the winner of the Brighton and Hove Short Story Prize and was longlisted for the BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines competition. He lives in West London with his wife.

Book Review: After Anna - L. Scottoline

I could not put this book down! Very engrossing, the tension builds up and up between Maggie's recounts of the "before Anna" and Noah's court case.
One of this thrillers where you know something is not right but it is almost impossible to guess the truth until it is revealed. Yes, probably the end is a bit too improbable and diminishes a bit the very realistic tone of the book, but overall is a very good, gripping thriller.

Overall rating:  7,5   Plot: 7,5   Writing style: 7,5   Cover:  6

Title: After Anna

Author: Lisa Scottoline
Publisher: Headline
Pages: 448
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

Dr Noah Alderman, a widower and single father, is finally content after marrying the wonderful Maggie. And they're both thrilled when Maggie gets an unexpected chance to be a mother to Anna, the daughter she once thought she'd lost forever.But when seventeen-year-old Anna arrives everything changes - and the darkest turn of events will shatter their lives in ways no one could have imagined.

The Author:

Born in Philadelphia, Scottoline earned a B.A. in English magna cum laude (in three years) from the University of Pennsylvania, then graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She clerked for judges at the state and federal appellate courts and later became a litigator at the Dechert firm in Philadelphia. After the birth of her daughter, she left the law firm and started writing. Final Appeal received an Edgar Award, for excellence in crime fiction. She has since written 30 bestselling novels, including Look Again and Don't Go, both which reached number two on The New York Times Best Seller list. she has served as President of the Mystery Writers of America and won many other honors. Her novels have been translated into 30 languages and she has 30 million copies in print.

Since March 2007, Scottoline and her daughter Francesca Serritella have been writing the "Chick Wit" column for The Philadelphia Inquirer. A collection of those humorous nonfiction columns has been published in a series of bestselling books co-written with her daughter Francesca Serritella, the first of which is entitled Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman and published on November 24, 2009.

Book Review: The innocent wife - A. Lloyd

Bland, dull, tedious. You wait and wait for something to happen, which doesn't.
You can guess how the plot will end up from the very beginning, the writing style is flat and the characters are all very dumb and I wanted to shake them for the entire novel!

Overall rating: 3  Plot: 4  Writing style: 3  Cover: 5

Title: The innocent wife

Author: Amy Lloyd
Publisher: Arrow
Pages: 400
Publication year: 2017

The Plot:

You're in love with a man on Death Row in Florida, convicted of a brutal murder twenty years ago.
You're convinced he didn’t do it, and you're determined to prove it. You're part of a mass online campaign that picks holes in the case, uncovers evidence of police incompetence, and agitates for this miscarriage of justice to be overturned.
Now you're married to him, and he’s a free man, his conviction thrown out. You have the rest of your lives to spend together.
You’re overjoyed. After all, he’s innocent.
Isn’t he?

The Author:
Amy Lloyd studied English and Creative Writing at Cardiff Metropolitan University. In 2016 she won the Daily Mail Bestseller Competition for her debut novel The Innocent Wife which, when it was published, became a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. Amy lives in Cardiff with her partner.

Book Review: The suspect - F. Barton

Loved it!!! Such a gripping, tense, full of surprises crime novel.
I have read all three of Fiona Barton's novels (The widow - click here to read my review; and The child - click here to read the review) and enjoyed very much both the previous ones, but I have to say this third one I really loved.
Same characters as before, journalist Kate Waters and DI Bob Sparkes, but this time both have very personal problems they are facing which reunite them and set them apart in their working/friendhsip relation.
The plot is very clever, it gives you hint all the way through to keep guessing what really happened to the two backpacker girls in Thailand, if Kate's son is a hero or a murderer.
I also met Fiona Barton at the Guildford Book Festival in 2017 (read it here).
Great crime fiction/journalism fiction, one of the best of this genre read so far this year and last. Highly recommend it!

Overall rating: 9  Plot: 9  Writing style: 8  Cover: 7

Title: The suspect

Author: Fiona Barton
Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 384
Publication year: 2019

The Plot:

When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing on their gap year in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft and frantic with worry. 
Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth – and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, who she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling. This time it’s personal.
And as the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think . . .

The Author:
Fiona Barton's debut, The Widow, was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and has been published in 36 countries and optioned for television. Her second novel, The Child, was a Sunday Times bestseller. Born in Cambridge, Fiona currently lives in Sussex and south-west France.
Previously, she was a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.
While working as a journalist, Fiona reported on many high-profile criminal cases and she developed a fascination with watching those involved, their body language and verbal tics. Fiona interviewed people at the heart of these crimes, from the guilty to their families, as well as those on the periphery, and found it was those just outside the spotlight who interested her most . . .

Book Review: La testa perduta di Damasceno Monteiro - A. Tabucchi

Romanzo ambientato ad Oporto e letto in vacanza ad Oporto, Un romanzo piacevole ma strano, non lo definirei giallo, e' piu' un'inchiesta dentro la parte piu' emarginata e corretta di Oporto. Un inno alla sua bellezza, ma soprattutto una denuncia alla sua parte piu' problematica, povera.
Di certo mi ha fatto vedere una Oporto che non e' quella a cui i turisti sono abituati.

Overall rating:  6,5   Plot: 6   Writing style: 7   Cover:  4

Title: La testa perduta di Damasceno Monteiro

Author: Antonio Tabucchi
Publisher: Feltrinelli
Pages: 240
Publication year: 2013

The Plot:

Nell’antica e affascinante città di Oporto (ma potrebbe trattarsi di una qualsiasi altra città della cosiddetta Europa civile), avviene un feroce assassinio. Ne nasce l’inchiesta giornalistica di un giovane inviato di un giornale popolare. I problemi dell’abuso poliziesco, della tortura, della giustizia, della marginalità sociale e delle minoranze etniche sono il lievito di questa storia narrata con l’andamento del thriller, ma che è insieme la cronaca di un fatto di cronaca.

The Author:
Antonio Tabucchi (Pisa, 1943 - Lisbona, 2012) è stato considerato per tutta la sua lunga carriera come uno dei più profondi conoscitori della lingua e della cultura del Portogallo. La sua passione per questi argomenti fu chiara fin dalla sua giovinezza: non è un caso che si laureò in Lettere con una tesi sul surrealismo portoghese.

February 2019 Wrap up

Not a very good month, as far as my reads are concerned... A lot of disappointments...
But glad to have finished the month with a great crime novel!

The nightingale - K. Hannah

Interesting plot, but writing style not for me.

Rating:  Abandoned

A death in the family - K. O. Knausgaard
A very introspective memoir, gripping at times, slow at others/ Mixed feelings.
Rating:  5 out of 10

Bluebird, Bluebird - A. Locke

God crime novel set in extremist East Texas, Very interesting dynamics. Highly recommend it.
Rating:  7 out of 10

The outsider - A. Camus
Very, very sad. I am really not sure how I feel about this short classic.
Rating:  6,5 out of 10

Normal people - S. Rooney
Really sad how problematic youth can be. A book about finding yourself despite everything.
Rating:  8 out of 10

La testa perduta di Damasceno Monteiro - A. Tabucchi
Ambientato ad Oporto dove ero in vacanza. Interessante per come e' scritto e come denuncia i problemi della citta'.
Rating:  6,5 out of 10

The innocent wife - A. Lloyd
Terrible, plain, dull, no surprises, tedious.
Rating:  2 out of 10

The house of gold - N. Solomons
Too descriptive and quite tedious for me.
Rating:  Abandoned

The suspect - F. Barton
Great crime novel, really loved it!
Rating:  9 out of 10