'The Girl on the Train'

Here in Oregon, our Summer has been very hot.  And I don't mean sexy.

Hot, hot, hot.  Hot enough to make breathing difficult.  Hot enough to make a person live inside their air conditioning units.  

For this little Book Hog, it was hot enough to push me to the park, with a book in my hand.

I've had this particular book on my Hold list for quite a while.  I heard that it's comparable to 'Gone Girl', a book I really liked.  So when the library notified me that 'The Girl on the Train' was finally waiting for me, I took my time in retrieving it.  

If I had known then how good this book was, I would have RUN to the library.

Yes, it's comparable to 'Gone Girl', but the tension....lordy, the tension!  When I got to a certain point in the story, I had to put the book down and slowly back away.  I felt uncomfortable, much more than I did while reading 'Gone Girl'.

Rachel take the same commuter train every morning and night.  Every day, while the train stops at the signal, she lets her mind wander as she looks over at a row of cozy suburban homes.  And every day, she sees the same couple having breakfast on their deck.  She calls them 'Jess' and 'Jason', and she pictures them living the perfect life, not unlike the life she recently lost.

But then she sees something shocking, and everything changes.  Rachel goes to the police, but is she really as unreliable as they say?  Soon she is deeply entangled in the lives of almost all involved.

Author Paula Hawkin's was a journalist, and you can certainly tell.  Her sentences are clear and sharp.  Her characters are people you would meet on the street, in your neighborhood, or in the local coffee shop.  And Rachel is deeply flawed, which made this story so good.  You never know if she's in her right mind.  I cared for her; I was worried about her, which isn't unusual when you're so involved in a good story.  

And once you find out 'who dunnit', everything does change.  I was quite surprised.

I loved this story, I give it a hundred thumbs up, and I can't wait to see what Hawkins next brings to the reading table.

'The Girl on the Train' is available at your local library or favorite independent book store.  ISBN 978-1-59463-366-9  

'A Pleasure and a Calling'

While reading a book, I'm sure that many of us mentally cast the actors for the film version. We dream about the perfect Heathcliff, or the best Harry Potter (actually, the chosen actors were fantastic).

So, while I was reading Phil Hogan's new book, 'A Pleasure and a Calling', who should pop up in my mind but....Benedict Cumberbatch.  Although the character of Mr. Heming remains physically unremarkable (the way he wants it) and unnoticed, Cumberbatch is noticed and very memorable.  But he's a fine actor, a chameleon, actually, and I think he would do the part justice.

But enough about Cumberbunny, and back to this creepy story.  Yes.  Creepy.

The narrator is our antagonist, Mr. Heming, and he's quite a smooth character. He's always a step ahead of the game.  He plots and lies with great confidence.

He's also very creepy.

Mr. Heming loves the leafy English village where he lives. As a local real estate agent, he knows every square inch of the town and sees himself as its protector, diligent in enforcing its quaint charm.  Most people don't pay much attention to him; he fades easily into the background.  But Mr. Heming pays attention to them.  He has the keys to their homes; he has the keys to every home he's ever sold in town.  Over the years, he has kept them all so that he can observe his neighbors, not just on the street, but behind locked doors.

As disturbing details emerge about Mr. Heming's childhood, his disturbing hobby begins to form a clear pattern, and the reasons behind it come into focus.  But when a dead body is found in the backyard of a client's home, Mr. Heming realizes it may only be a matter of time before his secrets are found out.

I kept thinking about Patricia Highsmith's brilliant 'Ripley' series.  Just when we think the anti-hero's movements are going to be discovered, he smoothly covers his tracks.

Mr. Heming is a cool character, sure of himself, yet there are times when he's worried that some people are getting a bit too close. 

I love this book.  I couldn't put it down. Hogan's a fine writer; he kept me turning the pages, and the suspense was killing me.  

Author Phil Hogan

It's made my Summer....creepy.  And it will make your Summer creepy, too.

It just might make you dust off those 'Ripley' books and have a good reread.

But just keep your house key safe because you...never.....know.....

And don't forget to check the attic.

'A Pleasure and a Calling' by Phil Hogan is available at your local library and favorite independent book store.  ISBN: 978-1-250-06063-1

'Circus Mirandus'

It's been a very crazy month.  Actually, it all started in early May, when I was diagnosed with anxiety.  So, I took some time off, read some books (thankfully, reading calmed me so much), walked A LOT, ate healthy food, stopped drinking caffeinated coffee (I miss it, though), and saw my doctor many times. 

I think I'm doing well, actually.  I'm not letting this anxiety business take over my life.  I'm determined to get through this; I thank my dear friend, Dawn, for getting me into yoga again, and I've found a great psychologist.  My new phone has been keeping me busy, too.  So much for me to explore, stuff that most people take for granted as they scan, download, and text.

As I said, reading calmed me; the books took me out of myself and offered a safe harbor.  I reread all the Harry Potter books, read some great non-fiction, and just yesterday, I finished a most marvelous Independent Reader book.

'Circus Mirandus', the first novel from Cassie Beasley, was delightful.  It carries the theme that magic is everywhere; you just have to pay attention.  There's also love and devotion, and frustration seasoned with a bit of anger.  Friendship comes into play in a big way, but the greatest relationship in this story is the one between the boy and his grandfather.

Micah Tuttle's grandpa Ephraim has always told him wonderful stories about Circus Mirandus, a magical circus he visited when he was a boy.  But now Grandpa Ephraim is dying, and terrible, grouchy Great-Aunt Gertrudis has arrived to take care of Micah. All the magic of Micah's childhood seems lost until Grandpa Ephraim finally tells him the truth:  Circus Mirandus is real, and the Lightbender, the circus's greatest magician, owes Ephraim a miracle.

With his best friend, Jenny, in tow, Micah goes in search of the circus in order to find the man who can save his grandfather's life.

Author Cassie Beasley

Beasley has done a wonderful job in creating characters that grab your heart, or make your blood run cold.  One in particular, Great-Aunt Gertrudis, is the relative from Hell, and she and her brother are as different as night and day.  

And then there's Micah's grandmother.  She's a character you love to hate.

The love between grandfather and grandson is precious, indeed, and their devotion to one another brought tears to my eyes.

I may be on to another book (I'm giving 'The Goldfinch' another try), but I won't forget 'Circus Mirandus'.  Cassie Beasley is a writer to watch.



'Circus Mirandus', written by Cassie Beasley, is available at your local library or favorite book store.  ISBN 978-0-525-42843-5

'Patience is a Virtue'

I wish to take this time to thank all of you for your patience regarding Book Hog's book reviews.

I am going through a rather difficult time right now; maintaining good health can be a tricky thing.

So, thank you so much for enjoying my reviews, and, hopefully, I'll be posting in the near future.

Take care and happy reading!

~Jacki

'Rooms'

If I could, I'd read ghost stories every day.   

Every.  Damn.  Day.

Especially if it's a good one.  Not too scary, yet not absolutely terror-free.  

And it has to have a gothic flavor, even in a modern setting.  A twist ending is nice, too, but I'm asking for a lot as it is.

My fellow book blogger friend (and artist, I might add), Michelle, loaned me a copy of Lauren Oliver's new adult novel, 'Rooms', and I couldn't put it down.  

It wasn't a 'chilling' story, but it did have some suspenseful moments.  The ghosts weren't supernatural terrors (I rather missed that element); they were situated in a home in which they once lived and died.  They were stuck, with no way out.  Both ghosts were very introspective, and their histories made them somewhat tragic figures.

Estranged patriarch Richard Walker has died, leaving behind a country house with many rooms filled with the detritus of a lifetime.  His alienated family--hard drinking, bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna--have arrived for their inheritance.

But they are not alone.  Alice and Sandra, two long-dead and restless ghosts, linger within the house's claustrophobic walls, bound forever to the structure. They observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscing about their past lives.

The living and the dead are haunted by painful truths that surface with explosive force. But when a new ghost appears and Trenton begins to communicate with it, the spirit and human worlds collide.

Author Lauren Oliver

Oliver is the author of Young Adult and Independent Reader novels (the 'Delirium' trilogy, and 'Liesl & Po', to name a few), and she has a talent for fleshing out characters that could easily be one-dimensional.  Despite their little faults (and nasty habit of keeping secrets from one another), I felt sympathy for each one. Caroline with her drinking, Trenton with his lack of friends, and Minna with her need for constant sexual intimacy. They are all seeking a way to escape, yet, at the same time, craving a sense of family.  The only character that's free of baggage is Amy, Minna's little daughter.  If given the chance, she would have provided great comic relief, something that the story really needed.  

We can't have everything, can we?  It isn't scary.  It didn't make me want to hide under the covers.

But it was a well-written, interesting story.  It flowed, and, as I said before, I honestly couldn't put it down; I was very upset that my coffee breaks only lasted fifteen minutes.

I will keep an eye on Oliver and see what she does next.  She has potential.

A great deal of potential.




'Rooms', written by Lauren Oliver, is available at your local library and favorite independent bookstore.  ISBN 978-0-06-222319-7

'The Incarnations'

It seems that the older I get, the longer my illnesses last.  Well, at least it feels that way.

I've had a horrible cold for almost a week, and it is just now tapering off.  I still have a scratchy throat and a ton of mucus, but the worst thing of all is that I can't taste anything. Or smell anything.  No chocolate.  No potatoes or chicken. No beer/wine.  No anything.  I feel no joy in eating just enough to keep my engine running.

At least I still have books.   

There are gifted authors who make me think about my past and past pasts in a way that doesn't contain a new age vibe.  I believe in reincarnation and it's evil stepchild, karma, so that's why Susan Barker's newest novel, 'The Incarnations', hit the spot and made me forget all about my big, bad, nasty cold.

The first letter falls into Driver Wang's lap as he flips down the visor in his taxi on Worker's Stadium road in Beijing, a polluted, congested city preparing for the 2008 Olympics.

Who are you? you must be wondering. I am your soulmate, your old friend, and I have come back to this city of sixteen million in search of you.

More letters follow, telling Wang more stories about his previous lives with this past soulmate.  Driver Wang suspects that someone is watching him, and with each letter, he feels the watcher grow ever closer.

I was spellbound from the very first page.  Who is this mysterious 'watcher'? And why is this person suddenly making an appearance in Wang's life?  I never guessed the answer; never came close.  And that's why this story is so, so satisfying.

Barker's powerful voice pulls you into present-day Beijing, and across pivotal points of Chinese history.  It is brutal and heartbreaking and each letter evokes a time of utmost desperation.  

Author Susan Barker

As for her characters, there's a thin line between love and hate.  Wang's father is a brutal, domineering man who has a pathetic karma.  And his second wife is not the easiest character to like, although I found her refreshing, to some extent.  Wang's wife and daughter suffer the pangs of living near the edge of poverty.  You fear for this little family, but, most of all, you fear for the emotional health of Wang, a man stalked by someone he thinks he knows.

It is a story full of love and longing, hatred and revenge.  

This is a novel that is very hard to set down...  

...and hard to forget.





'The Incarnations', by Susan Barker, will be published by Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster, in August 2015.

'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August'

Time travel books suck me in.  

Sure, they are hard to follow at first (as in 'The Time Traveler's Wife'), but once you get with the program (and make a diagram; I've done it, so don't laugh!), the rest of the story is easy to understand.

And so it was with 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August', by Claire North (a pseudonym!  It was really written by Catherine Webb!  Pseudonyms, like bow ties, are cool).

No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry August always returns to where he began--a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before.  Nothing ever changes.

Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside and says, "I nearly missed you, Doctor August!  I need to send a message!"

This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

As I started reading this story, I have to admit that I wasn't sure I wanted to write a review about it.  I honestly couldn't follow it well enough to form an honest opinion.  Harry's back story is a real bear, and you have to relive it several times.  

But things changed about halfway through it.  When the antagonist is introduced, the story takes off and you almost cheer Harry as he dies again and again, hoping to stay ahead of his enemy and vanquish him.

The writing is gorgeous, and very clever.  Very literary, actually.  You can almost taste every era, and you so want to embrace those who share a place in the Chronos Club.

But the antagonist is clever; just when you think he will finally show his basic decency, he fails us and Harry.

If you read this, please stay with it.  As I've said, it takes a while to 'get into it', but it's well worth the effort.  Claire North, a.k.a. Catherine Webb, is such a fine writer, and very dedicated to her craft.  Books like this are rare.

Give it a try.  Give it a chance.  You'll be so pissed off, but very rewarded.



'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August', by Claire North, is available at your local library and favorite independent bookstore. ISBN 9780316399616