How Do I Save My Marriage

This book was excellent. It was beautifully written, well thought of and inspiring. The details the author provides of Greece and Europe make one feel as though one is present at every scene. The book is also filled with the finer intricacies of the human condition, so often volatile to the very real pain that comes from that which is “life.” I found many times throughout the book that I was entangled within the emotions of the characters, Simon and Katarina; most especially Simon for his overwhelming loss, and his enduring strength to go on.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved and lost, as I found reading it brought a sense of hope back to me; and for that I am profoundly grateful to the author.

Product Description
Simon Alexander has reached the pinnacle of the San Franciscorestaurant game but he’s paid a heavy price for fame and fortune.¿ On the eve of changing his life, tragedystrikes.¿ Now Simon must decide betweenretaining his restaurant and plodding on or selling everything and rebuildinghis life in Europe.Set in the Greek Islands, the hills of southern Germany and SanFrancisco, Little Kingdoms follows Simon Alexander and Katarina Hagen as they find their way through love,loyalty, and deceit amid the high stakes game of haute cuisine.

About the Author
Michael Lubarskyearned a B.A. in English from Indiana University and an M.A. in EnglishLiterature from the University of Indianapolis.¿ He lives in Indianawith his wife and two sons.

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The Golden Hour is amazingly fresh and funny.The protagonist, Bill Schoenberg, fat, drunk and furious at his faithless soon-to-be ex-wife chooses a string of unlikely ways of blowing up his life to clear the way for a fresh start.The side characters are vivid, the pay-offs are deeply satisfying, the whole enterprise is a gem.

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Wrong Conclusions is a solid effort from a first time published author.The author’s depth of knowledge, both in terms of setting and of subject matter, is evident, as is the possibility that living life in a big city can put you innocently in the wrong place at the wrong time.There is clever, if sometimes convenient, intertwining of fact and fiction, and one can feel empathy for the main character, who is portrayed as an accomplished salesman but a sometimes hapless bystander to the circumstances occurring in and around his own life.A pivotal action scene in the book is handled with good sense of urgency and good attention to detail. While the book’s ending might be predictable, it is an entertaining read, and as this author continues with his craft, I will follow.

Product Description
Tom Tyler, a salesman for a food service company, doesn’t believe in luck. For twenty-five years, he’s worked hard to achieve success at his job and in his marriage, even resisting the temptation to have an affair with a beautiful co-worker. But Tom’s luck is about to change. After discovering his car has been stolen, he stumbles into the underbelly of Chinatown, where a violent underworld thrives. All he wants to do is get to a police station, but before he can, two thugs confront him on a quiet side street. Tom barely escapes the encounter as a man known only as Fong, a Chinese gang leader, watches from the shadows. When Fong sees Tom enter a police station, he assumes the worst and orders him killed. Now, Tom finds himself battling for his life. Likewise, so does Ming Yee Lin, an illegal immigrant who Fong has snuck into the country and enslaved. To free themselves from the gang, both Tom and Lin will need some breaks to start going their way. Otherwise, they will find themselves dead because of Wrong Conclusions.

About the Author
Richard Uhl majored in history in college, where he first became interested in Asian culture. He called upon his love for New York City’s Chinatown while writing Wrong Conclusions. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two children.

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Adrian Mole is back, hitting 35, and his life is still a well intentioned shambles. Working at a used book store, deeply in debt, he still retains the charming naivite that made his youthful diaries so entertaining. I read Sue Townsend for the first time when I was in high school and much like the “35 Up” film series, keep returning to catch up with her delightful creation every five to seven years. Adrian never really changes, just accumulates more life experience and muddles on. He is as original a character as any I’ve ever read.

This volume is attuned to the times… the title itself hints at the emotional arc of the story. Adrian has some growing up to do, and does it by the journal’s end. “Mass” is not without its poignant moments — Adrian’s son is serving in the war, for instance– but it is never a downer.

Highly recommended to fans of the original. You won’t be disappointed.

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Kirsten Waller, a famous poet, is found dead in her bath in a lonely Cornish cottage.The verdict is suicide.

Ms Waller’s daughter, Sam refuses to accept this.Is she right? Kirsten’s journal is missing as is the poem she was working on – The Murder Bird – just before she died.This novel combines Sam’s search for truth with aspects of the lives of others who are also (however inadvertently) caught up in the circle around Kirsten, Sam, and her mother’s former partner Raph. Sorting red herrings from facts, interpreting some of the psychological mind games and finding out what really happened and why, makes this an enjoyable novel.A great combination of crime and mystery.

This is the first novel of Ms Hines’s that I have read.I’ve added the others to my `must read list’.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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