Daily Archives: May 23, 2014

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2 from Marian Keyes

Picked up these two from one of my favorite authors, Marian Keyes.  Just what I need to see me through my recovery.  About a month ago I sprained my ankle, really badly, rolled it completely.  We’ve tried the casts and the braces and just giving it time and….nothing.  Finally, I had an MRI and they determined that I had 1 torn tendon, 1 inflamed tendon, and a hairline fracture of my ankle…fun times.  Anyway on Thursday, they did an Amniofix implantation to try to fix it.  My doctor raved about the procedure..”it’s great, I’ve done hundreds recently, only about 2% of people need surgery after it”…all happy, happy about this, then the tagline  “there is something I need to make you aware of …you will be in excruciating pain for 3 to 4 days afterwards and there is nothing I can do about it, any pain killer I give you will just take the edge off, won’t really touch the pain”  He made this announcement with a big smiley happy face.  Anyway, I stocked up on books to read through my “excruciating pain period” and thought Marian Keyes would be a good option.

Anybody Out There, is a book about recovery, grief, and of course as in most of the Marian Keyes’ books I have read, family.  I love the way this book drew me completely in, I felt immersed in the characters, their lives and their neighborhood.  I can’t really discuss the main point of the book without giving away some key points, but enough to say that the book tackles real world problems, with Marian Keyes’ unique perspective.  The writing style is highly engaging and pulls the story along at a pretty quick pace.  First rate storytelling, wonderful characters, humor and emotion realism, all aspects of truly great fiction.

The Other Side of the Story, has darker humor and less lightness than other Marian Keyes’ works.  The focus in this book is on the mother-daughter dynamic, which most people would agree (or maybe it is just me) is a dynamic filled with landmines.  A great study of the effect of infidelity on, not just the partners involved,but the extended family as well.  The push and pull of a young career woman, whose mother’s needs conflict with her employers and even her own, is extremely well drawn here.  Excellent storytelling, characters and pacing.  Anyone who has ever felt pulled in all directions will be able to relate to this story.

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Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown

 

Just finished this last night, the third in the A Consignment Shop Mystery series.  I am really enjoying the humor in this series!  The antics of Reagan, her Aunt Kiki and the rest of her sidekicks add quite a bit of comic relief to the mystery.  The plot is peppered with red herrings and lots of clues to follow up on.

This series is very character driven and that definitely adds to the appeal.  I enjoy series in which the reader really gets to know the characters and this is certainly one of them.  The dialogue is very well done and part of the humor of the book.  The consignment shop theme is kept relatively low key and doesn’t get in the way of the characters or the mystery.   All in all, a very well done mystery in a fun series.