The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson

I'll preface this post by saying that I am not a poetry fan, nor am I a fan of Emily Dickinson. But, I loved this novel. Jerome Charyn amazingly inhabits the character of Emily, writing in her voice, and realistically imagining her reactions to the events of her life.

Charyn admits to taking some liberties with her biography -- mainly by adding a few fictional characters -- but those characters serve to add depth and spice to the story, and serve as a foil to showcase Miss Dickinson's inner life. And what a rich inner life she has. For a 19th-century never-married lady, she is portrayed as having an active sexuality (which is possibly entirely imagined by the author).

Yes, she was quirky and eccentric, but she was also smart as a whip and had a wonderful sense of humor. I like that Charyn doesn't include any poems in the novel, because it seems that Emily was rather private about her "scribblings". And now I may pick up a volume of her poems to see if I find a hint of what Charyn imagined in Emily.

The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson: A Novel

The Weaver and the Factory Maid

First, a shout out to my friend Shari for letting me know about this series by Deborah Grabien. I wisely decided to start with the first book, which was published a few years ago. In the series Grabien uses folk ballads as a basis for mysteries, and in this story we have the ghosts of the title song to deal with.

I have to admit, I had a hard time getting into the story at first. The characters are so VERY British, with their, "Ta, love, ever so much," that I didn't really like them at first. But Ringan and Penny grew on me. And you know I like fantasy, so I really enjoyed the ghost story, and looked forward to how it would resolve.

Grabien kept my interest to the end, and resolved the story very nicely. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, and hope that she involves the secondary characters of Liam, Matty, and Albert more - they seem like fun.

The Weaver and the Factory Maid (The Haunted Ballad Series)

Medium Raw

Hello all you No Reservations fans, Tony is back. This is an awesome follow-on to Kitchen Confidential, better even I think than The Nasty Bits. Yes, Tony has gone a little soft - he's happily married and has a daughter now - but he is still foul-mouthed and still brutally honest about how he feels about people and things (and the Food Network).

Tony is still SO very quotable. It seemed like almost every page I wanted to read something out loud to Mike (or whomever was near by) but had to stop myself. For instance, I will from now on call every mediocre, mass-production, unhealthy, "family" restaurant, "TGI McF*#&wad's". And I love "the 'Grandma rule' for travelers. You may not like Grandma's Thanksgiving turkey... But it's Grandma's turkey. And you are in Grandma's house. So shut the f*#& up and eat it."

A definite must read for fans and foodies alike. And I will never look at Sandra Lee the same way again.

Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

The Hour Between

This is a really nice coming of age novel about a bunch of rich kids at a wacky boarding school in Connecticut. The author, Sebastian Stuart, writes very likeable characters who are imperfect, quirky, funny, and interesting. It's set during the late sixties, and he does a good job incorporating the free love drug culture. And even though the kids come from backgrounds I could never imagine, they still struggle with the same issues all kids struggle with as they enter into adulthood.

My only disappointment with the novel was the ending. I wanted more. Stuart ended his story without giving me the information I wanted, but I think he did that on purpose. He gave me everything I really need to know.

The Hour Between: A Novel

The Serpent's Tale

Okay, so this is book two in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. I read it quickly - in about 5 days - but it's probably my least favorite of the three. I'm not sure exactly why. The characters are all great, and I had basically NO clue who the murderer was until Adelia revealed it, and then I said, "Oh, of course, how did I miss that?" I think probably I just read all three books in too close succession, and burned myself out on Adelia and her Old English adventures.

To be clear, I didn't NOT like the book, I just didn't like it as much as the other two. But there are always weak links in series, aren't there?

Happy 4th everyone!