Remarkably Bright Creatures

"Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt is a remarkable book, pun intended. It's "that octopus book" as people refer to it, but it's not about an octopus - not only about an octopus. It's about people finding themselves, finding each other, finding happiness. It's a gentle, hopeful, uplifting bok.

I can't wait for the sequel, which will be set in the same smaal town.

Exerpt:

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

"Family Family" by Laurie Frankel

Where do I even start? I feel like I know these characters, I believe the story is true to the letter, and I refuse to accept it's fiction and that I won't be able to meet India Allwood in real life.

What a book! 5 stars out of 5 for plotting, pacing, author's voice and beautiful writing. And thank you, Laurie, for tackling the important issue of adoption.

This book is not about adoption, though. It's about what makes a family. And what makes a family - family.

Blurb:

“Not all stories of adoption are stories of pain and regret. Not even most of them. Why don’t we ever get that movie?”

India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actor. Armed with a stack of index cards (for research/line memorization/make-shift confetti), she goes from awkward sixteen-year-old to Broadway ingenue to TV superhero.

Her new movie is a prestige picture about adoption, but its spin is the same old tired story of tragedy. India is an adoptive mom in real life though. She wants everyone to know there’s more to her family than pain and regret. So she does something you should never do—she tells a journalist the truth: it’s a bad movie.

Soon she’s at the center of a media storm, battling accusations from the press and the paparazzi, from protesters on the right and advocates on the left. Her twin ten-year-olds know they need help–and who better to call than family? But that’s where it gets really messy because India’s not just an adoptive mother…

The one thing she knows for sure is what makes a family isn’t blood. And it isn’t love. No matter how they’re formed, the truth about family is this: it's complicated.

"The Wrong Girl" featured in the Writers' News

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The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger

"The New Couple in 5B" by Lisa Unger is - yes, naturally a thriller - but also something else. Something more. Or different. There's a mood to the book that's absent from the author's other works. The setting is a periodic piece of a historic apartment building in New York, potentially plagued by ghosts and definitely plagued by weird neighbours and weirder paranormal social gatherings.

Definitely a must-read. Oh, and incidentally, the author has recently won the International Thriller Writers Thriller Award for Best Short Story with her work "Unknown Caller". Well deserved, it's brilliant!

Blurb:

Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.

At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. Why is the doorman ever-present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes occurred there throughout the years? When one of the neighbors turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner

"Still See You Everywhere" by Lisa Gardner is the third book in the Frankie Elkin series. This one is set on a tropical island. I love Lisa, I love Frankie, and I love islands. That would have been enough to persuade me to read it, except that everything by Lisa Gardner is on my preorder list by default anyway. 

If you still need convincing, here's a list:

• a cool setting
• super quirky characters
• relentless pace.

Blurb:

A lifetime missing. Just three weeks to find her. The brand new thriller from the New York Times no. 1 bestselling author. A remote tropical island. Countless dangerous secrets. No way to call help. 

Missing persons specialist Frankie Elkin is on an isolated island off the coast of Hawaii. Her mission- to find Lani, the missing sister of a Death Row serial killer known as the Beautiful Butcher who is awaiting execution in just three weeks' time. According to the Beautiful Butcher's sources, Lani is being held captive by her millionaire ex-boyfriend on the island. The only way to gain access is for Frankie to go undercover. 

But can Frankie really trust the word of a serial killer? Plus, this island is no paradise with deadly creatures and suspicious co-workers at every turn, and an incoming tropical storm about to cut her off from the outside world. Could this be Frankie Elkin's most dangerous case yet?

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you probably would have noticed that I hardly ever review books set in World War Two (notable recent exception here). Having grown up in Poland, I've had my fill of war stories - every anniversary of Berlin falling, Warsaw uprising, or just because, the television screen would be full of images too traumatic to contemplate.

However, "The Kitchen Front" by Jennifer Ryan is a gentle book. Yes, the war is raging. Yes, her husband's plane was shot down. Yes, there are raids and rations. And yet, against the backdrop of all that is sad, there is family and love and cooking inventive dishes despite the food shortages.

Simply beautiful. Read it.

Blurb:

In a new World War II-set story, four women compete for a spot hosting a wartime cookery program called The Kitchen Front - based on the actual BBC program of the same name - as well as a chance to better their lives.

Two years into WW2, Britain is feeling her losses; the Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is putting on a cooking contest--and the grand prize is a job as the program's first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the contest presents a crucial chance to change their lives.

For a young widow, it's a chance to pay off her husband's debts and keep a roof over her children's heads. For a kitchen maid, it's a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For the lady of the manor, it's a chance to escape her wealthy husband's increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it's a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.

These four women are giving the competition their all--even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together serve only to break it apart?

The Big Thrill Discusses The Wrong Girl With Yvonne Eve Walus

Yvonne Eve Walus recently sat down with The Big Thrill to discuss her latest domestic thriller, THE WRONG GIRL.

Q: When you first created your protagonist for this book, did you see an empty space in crime lit that you wanted to fill? What can you share about the inspiration for that character?

A: The recurring character in my crime fiction is Constable Zero Zimmerman who’s a mixture of very analytic and orderly (almost on the autistic spectrum) but also very good at reading body language and sensing whether someone is telling the truth or not (something an autistic person struggles with). She’s... (read the rest here)