A Gaggle of Book Reviews

My longtime friend Ms. Pope commented recently, “What do you think of the recent memoirs that were found to be fabricated?” I had been thinking and reading columns about the bogus memoirs, and her question spurred on me to write more. My brain was percolating last night as I listened to On Point discuss the topic as I drove home alone. On Point is an NPR show recorded in Boston; they were hoaxed on Friday by the most recent false memoirist (Margaret B. Jones, aka Margaret Seltzer), and they focused Wednesday’s show on the repercussions.

As a book reviewer, I’m on the fringes of the publishing world, but I see the sheer quantity of memoirs and novels published; the information in Wednesday’s On Point helped me understand how a bogus memoir could make its way into print, as most publishers don’t do in-depth fact checks, they trust the author. Copy-editing is performed to ensure accuracy enough to avoid libel, but one would think the publisher could double check that the author’s basic identity and story is accurate as well. I wish Margaret Seltzer/Jones had written her “memoir” as fiction, as it sounds like an engrossing book that would fit beside the wonderful novels of fictionalized reality, True to the Game I & II. But because she lied and cheated, we won’t have the opportunity to read the book as a novel. As I was looking into falsified memoirs, nothing has explained my burning question: why would someone write fiction and publish it as if it was a factual memoir?

I am disappointed and appalled that an author would do this, and it boggles my mind that anyone would try to sell a false memoir as fact. I can completely understand why someone would want to be published, and that if the memoir market is hot, authors aim for publication in the hot market. However, I can’t understand why someone would risk everything by lying so profoundly about their lives, with the hubris of believing they wouldn’t get caught, when in truth it was relatively easy to disprove their story. Read more

Leave a comment on my review of The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People- I’ll be giving away one copy on 3/3, and it will definitely give you a well deserved laugh during the bleak times at the end of winter. Keep your eyes on the this site, as the authors agreed to do an email interview! Don’t miss our interview with Lisa and Lauren! So leave a comment!

Check out this video of the authors – they are hysterical!

Scroll down for lots of great reviews!

Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry are the authors of the hysterical The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People, and they agreed to do an email interview, following up our review. Readers will also want to check out this video of the authors. PS – Today’s your last day to leave a comment and try to win a copy of the book!

1. This book is so unique, what prompted you to write it?

   Along with everyone else we know, we got sick and tired of those obnoxious holiday letters from those perfect people (The Couple Who Write The Holiday Letter Telling You How Their Little Timmy Just Discovered An Alternative to Fossil Fuels) and several years ago, Lisa sent out her response letter (see the same chapter). People were forced to read about her mundane life about deciding whether or not to buy mint-flavored floss, or how she figured out how many frequent flier miles she had and came to the conclusion she had enough for a coupon for a free drink (provided she paid full coach fare). The revenge was sweet. Realizing how enjoyable it was to send out inane letters at Christmas, the next year Lisa sent out “Why Polygamy Should Be Embraced During the Christmas Holidays” (see the chapter on The Woman Who Has Her Christmas Cards, Shopping and Decorating Done Before Thanksgiving). Lots of people including Lauren kept telling Lisa she should write a book, and Lisa said that would take too much energy, so she asked Lauren to help her, and although she didn’t want to expend much too energy either, she agreed.

2. I know you self-published the book at first – what led you down that road? And what brought you to Grand Central Publishing?
   

   At first we were really just doing the whole thing for fun. Someone suggested we attend the Colorado Independent Publishers Association, and before long, we had a self-published book, and to our surprise, had even won a couple of awards. Then a fabulous, dashing literary agent saw our book on Amazon, ordered it, watched his wife laugh over the book until she was sick, and then contacted us. Together we shopped around for the best possible editor and best possible publishing company for our book, and found Emily Griffin, who has been just wonderful, with Grand Central Publishing. We couldn’t be happier with how it worked out.

3. You take real insecurities and the quirks of real people and exaggerate them a bit, okay a lot. How did you decide how far to take it? Did you need to scrap some potential chapters for crossing the line into ridicule?
   

   We personally thought that perhaps the conversation between Jesus and his wife might be somewhat tasteless, but no one with any decorum (namely our editor) had any qualms about it. And to be frank, we don’t worry our pretty little head much with any of it. Although one aspect was important to us, in that we didn’t want to write a book with much profanity, and that our kids could pick up and read without us having to leap from the sofa and cover their eyes (because if the truth was told, we’d rather not have to get up off the sofa unless absolutely necessary).

4. In the acknowledgments you thank your perfect friends, how have they reacted to the book?
   

   Our friends brag about being the perfect people in the book, such as Lisa’s friend who is the perfect birthday mom or another friend who is the perfect scrapbooking mom. They tell everyone they are in the book.

5. Did you end up caricaturing many of your own quirks?
   

   Sadly, the book is tragically autobiographical. Lauren actually had her bumper fall off at the car wash, and her thigh high stocking fall down during a social event. Lisa tried the spray-on tan which didn’t even bring her skin tones up to the level of a cadaver.

6. In addition to laughing, I felt validated by your book – I’m an imperfect parent and that’s OK, there are others out there like me! Is there a theme to the responses to “The Woman Who is Always Tan”?
   

   Our motto is: Never be overly competent at anything. The reason is that then you get stuck having to bring the homemade treats that everyone loves to the classroom parties which seem to be held every other day. There is a theme from readers as far as the husband chapters are concerned, in that everyone seems to be married to the husband who has a cold but believes it’s malaria.

7. I noticed that the chapters only mentioned the names of Lauren’s husband and child. What was the thinking behind that choice?
   

   We used Lauren’s first name and Lisa’s last name, and a fictional name for our child. Since we are both Jackie Kennedy fans, we named our daughter after Caroline.

8. Has writing this book changed your outlook on other parents? Has it changed how other parents react to you?
   

   Nothing has really changed. Imperfect parents flock to us with stories of making fun of perfect parents, and perfect parents flock to us giving us ideas about how a new chapter can be written about them. They all seem satisfied with who they are, and we love that!

   (We, of course, more identify closely with the imperfect parents. We saw a bumper sticker the other day that we believe sums up parenting: “Raising Children is Like Being Pecked to Death by Ducks.” The truth had been finally spoken).

Thank you, Lisa and Lauren, for such a great interview and book!

No Humans Involved is the newly released paperback by New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. No Humans Involved is the 7th book in Armstrong’s “Women of the Otherworld” series, and as such it continues a theme of strong, sexy, magical women and otherworldly mysteries. While I am sure that if you have read the first 6 books you will pick up on the characters and background quickly, this book is a fabulous read as a stand-alone book, too (though it will encourage you to read the first 6 books!).

Jaime Vargas is a spiritualist who has been performing on TV and on stage her whole life, but unlike most spiritualists, she really does “see dead people”, and is an accomplished necromancer. Jaime walks the line between the otherworld and the mundane – she is on the Interracial Council, helping to regulate the actions of the members of the otherworld, and yet she is also hoping to boost her career with a new TV show. In No Humans Involved, Jaime has agreed to be a part of a reality TV show in which 3 spiritualists attempt to contact deceased celebrities, culminating in a séance attempting to reach the ghost of Marilyn Monroe.

Once ensconced in the Brentwood home “on location” where the spiritualists are staying, Jaime finds fractured ghosts in the garden, ghosts which she cannot banish, nor can she fully contact; they won’t leave her alone. Jaime’s spirit guide is unavailable, so she and her fellow council-member Jeremy use research, other spirits, and his werewolf-nose to try to understand and solve the mystery. Readers who are sensitive about human sacrifices and worse may not want to read this book, as No Humans Involved does involve the death of children and S&M. Armstrong does a good job of minimizing the amount of gore, but the deaths are not good bedtime imagery!

All books that are a part of a series have to walk a fine line between enough information to help acclimate new readers, but not so much that it slows down the storyline. Armstrong does an admirable job with No Humans Involved, introducing characters from previous books with enough background information that we don’t feel lost, yet leaving enough questions so we will still find surprises in the earlier novels.
It’s always interesting to see the paranormal world created by a new-to-you author, and the otherworld in No Humans Involved is filled with half-demons, werewolves, necromancers, and spirits; all of whom follow their own rules and come to life through the characters. All of Armstrong’s characters have strengths and weaknesses that make them realistic – Jeremy’s werewolf heritage makes him gun-shy about women, and Jaime keeps recalling her mother’s intense stage-mothering and verbal abuse. Faithful readers will enjoy seeing friends from earlier books pop up, helping Jaime and Jeremy research the phenomenon of the fractured spirits. Hope, the main character of the upcoming hardcover Personal Demon, plays an important role in No Humans Involved, whetting your appetite for more.

No Humans Involved is an engrossing, suspenseful, thrilling read, which quickly pulls readers in and is loath to let them go. Parts of the book are disturbing, but the characters and plot pull you through to the next chapter. If you’re an urban fantasy lover, a lover of suspense/thrillers, or a sci-fi/paranormal reader, you should at least check out the first chapter, you will quickly be pulled into Armstrong’s world and No Humans Involved. I want to learn more about one of the secondary characters, Hope, and she’s the lead character in Personal Demon (Women of the Otherworld, Book , to be released in hardcover at the end of March – it’s available now for pre-order!

Pick up No Humans Involved for your Kindle, and read it right away!

This book was received from the publisher for review

Jackfish, The Vanishing Village is a new novel by Sarah Felix Burns, published by Inanna Publications of Canada. The story is a mix of real historical events and places, combined with a fictionized storyline of a woman which reads like a memoir, moving back and forth between the past and the present day. Jackfish, The Vanishing Village is a deeply moving and haunting book that will stay in your thoughts long after you put it down. It is not an easy read, but it is one will help you understand the lives of others, and be grateful for your own life.

Jackfish, The Vanishing Village is divided into 4 parts, each section dealing with the emotional growth of Clemance, our narrator and main character. Clemance is trying to cope with a multitude of emotional baggage that all comes to a head when she is taken off her anti-depressant due to an unexpected pregnancy at 42. The book is dedicated to all those who "battle the demons of guilt, shame, addiction, and mental illness", all of which are present in Clemance. Sarah Burns’ writing deftly brings us inside the mind of a woman trying to cope with her present life and her past life, as the demons of her past haunt her daily.

The town of Jackfish, Ontario is was a real town, one that was kept alive through the fishing and logging industries; it was abandoned when trains started using diesel, and no longer needed to stop in Jackfish for coal. Sarah Burns has adapted Jackfish to fit her story, just as she has utilized other real people, places, and events to create a book that feels incredibly real. The rawness of emotion in Jackfish, The Vanishing Village also pulls the reader into the story, Clemance’s story tugs at you.

I had to put down Jackfish, The Vanishing Village a few times during the time I was reading it. Though I am a fast reader, it took several days to read this book; I needed to intersperse it with other, lighter fare. Clemance, her husband Bernie, her friends, and her family are drawn so clearly they jump to life, and the story follows these intense characters. Just as this is not a light read, it is not an easy read, either. Clemance’s life was not an easy one prior to her marriage and pregnancy, and the medication-free pregnancy is triggering memories of those hard times.

Switching back and forth between the present and the past is not easy for authors, nor for the reader. However, in Jackfish, The Vanishing Village, Sarah Burns has written segues that help us understand why Clemance’s mind drifts to the past from the present. The flashback style works so well because we can see inside Clemance’s mind and understand what she is thinking. There are many mysteries locked within Clemance’s brain, though, and we uncover them slowly as she is ready to deal with them. We, the readers, also grow to really like Clemance, and her earlier actions are easier to accept when we have developed a relationship with her.

Jackfish, The Vanishing Village is an amazingly intricate and intense book, one that truly feels real. If you are a memoir buff, and are considering reading some fiction, this is the right book for you! If you enjoy women’s fiction or literary fiction, you will not be able to put down Jackfish, The Vanishing Village. If you are very sensitive and easily troubled, I would not suggest this book. That said, I am incredibly glad that I read Jackfish, The Vanishing Village, it put my own troubles into a new perspective, and also helped me understand Clemance’s world, and the world of others struggling with abuse, addiction, poverty, and mental illness. Clemance’s life story is one that I will never forget, one that others should read.

Yay! February 26 – the day Kim Harrison’s newest book is released! If you haven’t already bought The Outlaw Demon Wails (Rachel Morgan, Book 6), click on that link and order it. If you’re impatient and own a Kindle, then you can buy it and have it downloaded in moments. The rest of us will need to wait for shipping or drive to a store.

While you’re awaiting your copy of The Outlaw Demon Wails, be sure to read our (spoiler free) book review, as well as our (also spoiler free) interview with Kim Harrison.

Don’t forget to pick up the mass market paperback of For a Few Demons More, it has a Rachel & Kisten short story at the end that is absolutely worth the price of the book!

WIN IT!!!

Leave a comment on this entry, and you could win a copy of The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People! Winner will be selected at 12 midnight March 3.  Don’t miss our interview with Lisa and Lauren!

Lauren Anderson and Lisa Perry have written the ultimate book to help imperfect parents feel normal – The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People. Have you ever felt like the only woman who doesn’t knit? Have you ever wanted to thwack your husband on the head for obsessive video camera use? Have you ever felt intimidated by the homes that are decorated for every holiday? Have you ever needed an antidote to the Martha Stewart factor in suburbia? Don’t worry – The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People is here for you!

But wait, there’s more! Lisa Perry and Lauren Anderson have taken written snapshots of those people, the ones that make you feel inadequate and irate, all at once. Realizing that you aren’t alone in those feelings is one of the first steps toward acceptance of your imperfect self. Laughing at caricatures of “perfect” people, and even caricatures of ourselves can help you get through the dark, dull winter days. I could see myself on both sides – as the caricatured person and as the imperfect person, and I laughed equally hard at both.

Each annoying person is given their own short (2-5 page) chapter in which we see the imperfect author vs the annoying person. The caricatures are beautifully written – they stay within the bounds of humor, but with a bit of an edge. The book includes chapters about:

• The Husband Who Either Asks for Inane Instructions or Else Gives Inane Instructions
• The Woman Who Has Her Christmas Cards, Shopping, and Decorating Done Before Thanksgiving
• The Perfect Soccer Mom Who Knows All the International Rules of Soccer
• The Wine Connoisseur Woman Whose Wine Rests More than I Do
• The Woman Who Cleans Out the Refrigerator Every Thursday Whether It Smells or Not
• The Infomercial Couple Who Start Every Sentence with “But Wait! There’s More!”
• The Husband Who Doesn’t Notice When His Wife Redecorates the Living and Dining Rooms

There’s nothing quite like a book that contemplates polygamy as a solution for a stressful holiday season! (One wife to make the cookies, one for shopping, one for writing the cards, one for decorating…) I can understand why Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry self-published The Woman Who Is Always Tan in 2005, it needed to be out in the world. In their introduction they thank their “perfect” friends, “Without you, our self-esteem would never have plummeted and we never would have written about our many inadequacies.” These women have a flair for bringing humor to parenting and self-esteem issues, and an ability to help the reader laugh at herself and rejoice in her imperfect self.

This book was so much fun, and if laughter counts as exercise, I giggled away several pounds! Anyone who needs a laugh should pick up a copy of The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People. Carry it with you so it can perk you up on days when you’re down. It’s a nice, thin book that’s easy to carry, with short chapters that can perk you up in moments. Be sure to buy copies of The Woman Who Is Always Tan for your other mom friends – they will thank you!  Don’t miss our interview with Lisa and Lauren!

Don’t forget to comment on this entry, and try to win a copy of The Woman Who Is Always Tan! Leave your comment before March 3 for an opportunity to win!

This book was received from the publisher for review