The weather has been so much milder the past few days, dropping to the low - mid - 20s. Much more comfortable. Now a bit of rain wouldn't hurt, but who am I to complain.
So since my last post, I completed a book and also got one in the mail. I'll provide my review of the completed book and the synopsis of the next one on my list. I'll also provide the synopsis of the book I just received. And then today I'll continue with my look at Women Authors whose books I've been enjoying.
Just Finished
"[book:The Wreckage of My Presence: Essays|54798456] by [author:Casey Wilson|1702706] is a series of essays by the comic actress. My wife and I saw her first on a great gang comedy, Happy Endings (2011 - 2013) where she played Penny Hartz. It had a great cast and so many laugh out loud moments. Penny was probably our favorite character, although they all worked so well together.
The book is a bit of a wild ride as Casey deals with her life; childhood, budding acting career and her marriage and own family. While there is humor, I wouldn't necessarily classify it as a 'humor' novel. The essays cover many issues; depression, anger, cults / fads, eating issues, dealing with death of loved ones, so many subjects and how they impacted Casey's life and also those of her friends and family.
It shows that you don't know a person from their exterior image, that there is a back story and every person has issues and life crises that they have to deal with. There is a growing in her person and character as the novel progresses; as Casey talks about the death of her mother, the trauma it caused her and her family and how they tried to deal with it; depression, eating disorders. anger, all those things. Her parents are fascinating and her childhood was also. Her acting career progresses from improv, an unsuccessful attempt with SNL, until she hit the big times with Happy Endings, where she also discovered the lover of her life.
Each essay / chapter covers a specific theme but they also wander about and finally get to the point as we come to resolution. Casey is an excellent story - teller and the book flows upstream (or is it downstream?), following tributaries until it gets to the crux. It's all very interesting, emotional and humorous. I liked each chapter; People Don't Know How to Act is one of my favorites but each has something to offer. Even if you don't know Casey, it's an excellent read. (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
"How do you move on when the world won't let you?
12:46: Claire Bingley stands alone at a bus stop
12:47: Ted Conkaffey parks his car beside her
12:52: The girl is missing . . .
Six
minutes in the wrong place at the wrong time--that's all it took to
ruin Sydney detective Ted Conkaffey's life. Accused but not convicted of
a brutal abduction, Ted is now a free man--and public enemy number one.
Maintaining his innocence, he flees north to keep a low profile amidst
the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake.
There, Ted's
lawyer introduces him to eccentric private investigator Amanda Pharrell,
herself a convicted murderer. Not entirely convinced Amanda is a
cold-blooded killer, Ted agrees to help with her investigation, a case
full of deception and obsession, while secretly digging into her
troubled past. The residents of Crimson Lake are watching the pair's
every move . . . and the town offers no place to hide."
New Books
"Following a shocking
death that dredges up memories of their father's murder, Kinsey and
Tyler Locke are thrown into choppy emotional waters, and turn to their
new friend, Zack Wells, for support, little suspecting Zack's dark
secret.
Meanwhile, six-year-old Bode Locke tries to puzzle out
the secret of the head key, and Uncle Duncan is jarred into the past by a
disturbingly familiar face.
Open your mind - the head games are just getting started"
Women Authors I'm Enjoying - Daphne du Maurier
English author, Dame Daphne du Maurier was born in London in 1907 and died in 1989 in Cornwall. Back in my university days I read The House on the Strand, a time travel / drug induced / love story. I've since read a couple of more times But it wasn't until a few years back that I started trying some of her other works. I really don't know what took me so long because she has written some fantastic novels and also short story collections. I have now read 5 of her books and have two more awaiting my attention. I'll look at those and also the last two books I completed.
Daphne du Maurier
"I've read a few books by Daphne du Maurier the past few years, short story collections, Rebecca and I'm growing to enjoy her stories more and more. My Cousin Rachel was another excellent story, even if it was kind of depressing.
Ambrose Ashley who has raised his cousin Philip since a child, has to start spending winters on the continent (Italy) due to health issues. Philip stays at the estate in Cornwall and runs it in Ambrose's absence. The two are confirmed bachelors who live a staid, comfortable existence, managing the estate, spending time with relatives and local friends and both are very satisfied.
A surprise is in store for Philip. He gets a letter from Ambrose stating the Ambrose has married a distant cousin that he has met in Italy. Rachel is a widow, previously married to Count Sangalletti. Philip's life is turned upside down, especially when follow-on letters from his cousin seem to indicate that Ambrose's health is deteriorating and that he suspects that Rachel might have poisoned him. Philip goes to Italy to see to Ambrose, only to discover that Ambrose is dead and that Rachel has disappeared.
Returning to Cornwall, Philip soon receives a visitor, that being Rachel. Thus begins a strange, winding suspenseful story. Philip's anger at Rachel changes the longer she stays in Cornwall. It's a story with twists and turns, suspicions of Rachel's motives and actions, suspicions from Philip's godfather and his daughter about what Rachel wants. Philip wanders from love to confusion. Clues pop up, discovered Ambrose letters, a visit from Rachel's friend from Italy, Rainaldi. Philip must reconcile his strong feelings for Rachel with disturbing concerns that she might have murdered his cousin.
I don't think the story is as great as Rebecca but it's still an excellent, suspenseful dramatic work of fiction (4 stars)"
"Classics of the Macabre is a collection of short stories by Daphne du Maurier. I had previously read another collection; The Blue Lenses and other books by du Maurier; The House on the Strand and Rebecca and the more I read, the more I've enjoyed her stories and writing style.
Classics of the Macabre contained a couple of stories I'd already read from The Blue Lenses, but I scrolled through them again to remind myself about how much I'd previously enjoyed them. This book contained 6 of her short stories; Don't Look Now, The Apple Tree, The Blue Lenses, The Birds, The Alibi and Not After Midnight. I was particularly interested reading The Birds as I've enjoyed the movie many times. It didn't disappoint and had a similar theme to the movie (obviously, I guess), but was more focused on one particularly family in England. The ending was also not quite so optimistic.
Each story was interesting, not scary really, just odd and strange. Don't Look Now is set in Venice and tells the story of a young couple getting over the loss of their daughter and people they meet who seem to have the ability to see spirits. The Apple Tree tells of a husband who ignores his wife even to her death and is haunted by an apple tree (his wife's spirit?????). The Blue Lenses (a favourite) tells of a woman who has an eye operation with interesting after effects. The Birds tells of an invasion of England by birds, birds and more birds. The Alibi is another tale of a husband is tired of his life and wants something more exciting... and finds it. Not After Midnight is the story of a man's visit to Crete on a solitary vacation who is caught up in a strange situation.
du Maurier is an excellent story teller and her tales are always unique. Well worth trying (4 stars)"
"'Perhaps we shall not see each other again. I will write to you, though, and tell you, as best I can, the story of your family. A glass-blower, remember, breathes life into a vessel, giving it shape and form and sometimes beauty; but he can with that same breath, shatter and destroy it' Faithful to her word, Sophie Duval reveals to her long-lost nephew the tragic story of a family of master craftsmen in eighteenth-century France. The world of the glass-blowers has its own traditions, it's own language - and its own rules. 'If you marry into glass' Pierre Labbe warns his daughter, 'you will say goodbye to everything familiar, and enter a closed world'. But crashing into this world comes the violence and terror of the French Revolution against which, the family struggles to survive. The Glass Blowers is a remarkable achievement - an imaginative and exciting reworking of du Maurier's own family history."
"The coachman tried to warn her away from the ruined, forbidding place on the rain-swept Cornish coast. But young Mary Yellan chose instead to honor her mother's dying request that she join her frightened Aunt Patience and huge, hulking Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn. From her first glimpse on that raw November eve, she could sense the inn's dark power. But never did Mary dream that she would become hopelessly ensnared in the vile, villainous schemes being hatched within its crumbling walls -- or that a handsome, mysterious stranger would so incite her passions ... tempting her to love a man whom she dares not trust."
The complete listing of du Maurier's books can be found at this link. Enjoy.
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