Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood September 25, 2006

I love Margaret Atwood’s books, even though I still haven’t yet recovered from the painful return trip to childhood that was Cat’s Eye. This book is considered short stories, though the stories are connected. (Really that is the only reason I would read this book, since I’m not a short story reader.)

The book begins with an elderly couple beginning their day, then moves back in time to the wife’s childhood, on to her adolescence, and then on again to her choice to live in the country with her husband, who was married to another woman at the time. The stories at the end focus on aging parents.

I loved the beginning stories, with the anxious sister whose arrival transforms an entire family, and the stories of life on the farm. I didn’t really enjoy the last stories, and found myself skimming the text. There’s not much in the way of a plot in these stories, but it doesn’t really matter, since the characters and the writing are so wonderful.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson September 25, 2006

I decided to re-read this book since the sequel is coming out next month. I loved it just as much this time around. It begins with a number of stories that all seem very different, but end up having a great deal to do with one another.

This novel has everything—mysteries, interesting characters, and even some humor that sneaks up now and again. Kate Atkinson is an interesting writer. I’ve read two other books of hers that I can think of, and she really manages to surprise me with plot twists. This makes her books such a pleasure to read again, since hints of what’s to come can be spotted when you read the book a second time.

The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman September 19, 2006

I always enjoy Carol Goodman’s novels. I can’t think of another author who writes such literary mysteries. This one was full of love triangles and art and mythology, and it really kept me interested. And the main character had animals that managed to survive to the end of the book. So unusual in a mystery novel (at least the ones I tend to read).

The setting of the story really came alive in this novel. The factory where the main character lived and worked, the river, the mental institution, and the college all seemed to be, themselves, characters. I really felt that I could see the setting clearly as I read.

The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue September 19, 2006

In this book, a young boy named Henry runs away from home one morning and is captured by a group of what look like children. In reality, they are hobgoblins, and their leader changes his shape and takes over Henry’s life, returning to Henry’s family and leaving Henry to live in the forest with the other hobgoblins. The real Henry will spend years and years as a child, never able to grow up or go home.

The book is narrated alternately between the new Henry and the real Henry (called Aniday in the forest). The new Henry has a difficult time adapting to life after 100 years as a hobgoblin, but it’s hard to feel sorry for him when you know that he was the one who actually stole the real Henry’s life from him. Aniday learns to live a different kind of life in which he has to be almost feral, yet becomes close to the other hobgoblins who live in the forest.

This was an interesting and well-written book about belonging—to people, to yourself, to the world. It was a sad story, but always an interesting one.

Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand September 10, 2006

This book really looked like it was going to be a good one. The story sounded interesting and there was praise from critics all over the cover, so I had high hopes. When I started it, and just couldn’t get into it, I figured that I would keep going and that it would make sense eventually. And it just never really did. I finished it in the same state of confusion.

So that’s my review—”Huh?”

Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik September 10, 2006

I picked this book up because I liked the author’s first novel, Same as it Never Was. Claire LaZebnik has a good sense of humor, which definitely finds its way into this novel.

This was one of those books in which you can tell immediately what is going to happen to every character. You know who is going to end up with whom after reading the first few chapters. There really were no surprises in this book at all. But it was a good Saturday-afternoon read that kept my interest, despite my dislike of knitting.

Transgressions by Sarah Dunant September 3, 2006

Sarah Dunant is a very talented writer and I love it that she can write historical fiction, mysteries, and thrillers that are all very different books. It’s hard to believe that the same author who wrote In the Company of the Courtesan wrote this thriller, but both are very intelligent and well-written books.

In this novel, a woman slowly realizes that she is being stalked. She lives alone and is translating a not-very-well-written crime novel from Czech to English. (Portions of that novel appear in the book.) As she realizes just what is going on and finally meets the man who is stalking her, she becomes as obsessed with him as he is with her.

Parts of the book are a little hard to stomach and at times to believe. But the story keeps moving and keeps you interested. One weird thing I noticed in the book is that italics were often emphasizing the wrong word in the sentence. That kept bothering me and took me out of the flow of the book. Of course, that is most likely just my own weirdness.

One thing I would like to see in other thrillers or mysteries is if a character realizes that she is being stalked or targeted or anything like that, that she immediately gives her cat away to a new home. Because you know as soon as you learn that the victim has a cat that something bad will happen to it.