Marti's November Picks

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore

This is a interesting, humorous, coming of age book. The Supremes, now in their 60s are three woman that have been friends since teenagers. Every Sunday they meet with their husbands at Earl's All All-You-Can-Eat after church. The story goes back in time for parts and stays in the present for other parts. Odette, Barbara Jean and Clarice have gone through ups and downs but always has been there for each other. Earl's All-You-Can-Eat also plays a large role in the book.

Odette has started to see a lot of her mother recently, however her mother is dead and hanging around with Eleanor Roosevelt. That wouldn't normally worry Odette except Eleanor Roosevelt usually only shows up to a person when they are going to die. Clarice finally leaves her no good philandering husband. Barbara Jean's husband has died. While she is dealing with the grief of his death, and old love shows up. The story has points of humor and irony that make you smile and maybe even chuckle. Some of the other characters that show up are so interesting! I love how they stuck together no matter what came their way.

This is a book to enjoy in happiness and sorrow as the Supremes reveal some of their deepest secrets while moving forward together in life.

Looking For Me by Beth Hoffman

Beth Hoffman's new book Looking For Me is a study in belief. Belief that she can accomplish her goals. Belief that her family would be there for her. Belief that her brother was alive.

Teddi Overman knew she wanted to work with furniture when she was older. As she moved on her journey, her old life in Kentucky became a world away from her home in Charlestown. She continued to move between the worlds, heart-broken over the family farm and her missing brother.

I am not sure what about this book struck such a positive chord with me. The characters are well thought and drawn out. The passion of the characters for their land and life was touching. The settings were clearly selected and made alive. I have a secret love for hawks and eagles (well not so secret anymore). The book had the rhythm of a story told in pieces both in the past and in the present. I cried in sections, smiled deeply at the love in others and felt anger and desperation in others. The emotional feel to the books was not over drawn or too much. And I believe this book is awesome. Enjoy the flow of the story.

Deadline by Sandra Brown

I like books that keep me on the edge of my seat with constantly changing parameters that I have to keep up with. Deadline by Sandra Brown was that type of book. The twists and turns kept coming with a number of wow moments.

The crux of the story has an FBI most wanted criminal and an older FBI agent are still after each other. The human story was about Dawson Scott, a news writer covering a trial where Amelia Wesson was testifying. The man on trial supposedly has killed her ex husband and literally threw him to the dogs. Scott knows there is more to the story and continues to trail Amelia and her two sons. That is only a part of one twist. The rest have you spinning.

Sandra Brown knows how to hold her audience in the palm of her hand when she writes her mind and heart stopping scenes. Places where you know something major is going to happen, but you are unsure how it is going to play out... all the way to the end of the book!!

While clearly, the story is fiction and meant as a suspenseful thriller, Sandra Brown did weave in some very important truths about the soldiers who were in Afghanistan and subjected to horrors returning to the US with PTSD. How disabling PTSD is for the ex soldiers and their families.

A great book with wonderful twists and turns. Some sobering reality about the twists and evil mind can take. Tragically good main characters struggling their way out of a situation beyond their knowledge and control.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Snedker

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Snedker centers on the Burmese people during the 20th century. It is a land and time of contrasts of poverty and riches. The book is about love. Not that all consuming burning love, but a strong burn that maintains its flame through hard times and absence.

Julia's father left on the day after she graduated from Law School. He left his family, wife, son and daughter without a word or explanation. Four years later, Julia finds a hint of where he went and decides to find her father. At the end of her journey she comes upon U Ba, who tells her a story about a remarkable love between Mi Mi and Tin Win.  This story is rolled out slowly with a rolling of the sounds and sights of their town, their life and their love. Within the story are points of understanding where Julia must come to grips with a life that is diametrically opposite from what she expects.

For me, the language of the story with its rhythm of a rich life in a poor town was the highlight. The learning from the monastery and the acceptance of life as it is was very powerful.