Ragtime Cowboys / Loren D. Estleman / 268 pages / Western

  When the word Western is mentioned what comes to mind? Horses, cowboy hats, spurs and dust. Always dust. What about a detective western? Not ringing a bell?! Well to be honest they are few and far between. Most westerns seem to involve vengeance of some kind, a long trail to follow or Indians somewhere in the picture. Ragtime Cowboys is a fun departure with snappy dialogue, cowboys long in the tooth and an ending that may or may not be satisfying.
  Real life Pinkerton detective Charles A. Siringo and Dashiell Hammett join forces to find Wyatt Earp's horse and end up running into political corruption. Siringo is eking out an existence writing stories when Earp offers him a chance to earn some money. He encounters Hammett and the two work together to find out why the mystery points them towards Jack London's farm and beyond to the beginnings of the Teapot Dome scandal and Joseph Kennedy.
   The novel is set within the confines of Southern California with some Western cinema thrown in. The book is light, fast paced with snappy snarky dialogue. Unfortunately I wasn't up to date on my 1920's slang and political machinations so most of the book wasn't making sense until I read a couple of articles online. Bad language wasn't a factor but there was some unexpected violence. If Westerns are your thing it wasn't out of place. There was a 'buddy' feel to it and to see some true historical figures in an unexpected light was a treat. A perfect different take on a Western novel.

Reading connections: The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry; Road to Reckoning by Robert Launter; The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini.

An Old-Fashioned Book-Group Leader?

 Another great post from the district's own Sue D about book discussion groups! Check out her current Book Group Buzz blog post on The Booklist Reader:

I'm an Old-Fashioned Book-Group Leader - and Proud of It!

The article has some interesting and useful points for consideration, no matter how a leader or group runs their book discussion.

RA Tip: Great Tips for Discussion Leaders!

Well, it's two for two for our own Sue D, the newest Booklist Online blog contributor! 

Check out her informative post, "Time-Management Tips for Book-Group Discussion Leaders," on The Booklist Reader.

Book Group Leader Extraordinaire!

Check out "What Makes a Book Worth Talking About? A Veteran Book-Group Leader Weighs In" on The Booklist Reader! Staff may recognize the author of the post - one of SCCCLD's own staff! 
 
Congratulations to Sue D for a job well done! Can hardly wait to read what she blogs about next!  

 Don't forget to check out her bio on the Contributors page.

The Black Hawk / Joanna Bourne / 304 pages / Romance

     Romance isn't my usual stomping ground. I am extremely picky when it comes to things like plots and believability. The Black Hawk is fourth in a series following spies for France and England during those countries' wars and disputes. Adrian Hawkhurst was a boy with no family or name and was taken in by the King of Thieves in London. Eventually he was caught and the government turned him into a spy and a very good one at that. He rose to become the Head of the British Intelligence Service. Justine DeCabrillac was a French count's daughter and saw her family destroyed by the French Revolution. After serving time in prison, she was taken under the wing of a famous Madam who actually was a spy. Both Adrian and Justine had come across each other during their various missions. Sometimes they worked in concert and others against each other.
     Our book begins after Napoleon has been utterly defeated and Justine has retired to England to be an ordinary shopkeeper. But her instincts warn that something is happening - various people around the city of London have been stabbed. Justine decides she must tell Adrian and when she leaves her shop in a downpour, she is viciously stabbed and left for dead. She makes it to Adrian's headquarters and the mystery starts from there. The narrative switches between the present day and the past. The plot is tightly drawn often referring to earlier missions from the earlier books but that isn't a problem. Of course the murderer is figured out and stopped. And our spies fall in love. A tightly woven plot with not a lot of graphic words. Some scenes that will make chaste readers uncomfortable but the majority will be satisfied.

Reading connections: The Escape by Mary Balogh, The Captive by Grace Burrowes, The Secrets of a Scoundrel by Gaelen Foley.

RA Training Session / Wednesday, March 5, 2014 / Six Degrees Technique

A number of great Six Degrees lists were presented and discussed during our meeting last week. Scroll down to find those lists already posted on the blog. 

More fun came at the end of the meeting with everyone participating in a 'Group Think' six degrees brainstorming session! Titles were thrown out, connections were made, and the result was a great on-the-spot Six Degrees list ... :-)

Impromptu ‘Group Think’ Six Degrees Exercise

1. How to be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman – a woman wakes up not trusting her husband.

2. Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson - the main character wakes up every day and 

doesn't remember anything then gradually begins to wonder if things are being hidden from her.

3. ‘50 First Dates’ feature film - due to a car accident, a young woman can’t remember anything from day to day. Her family tries to keep her from being traumatized (again) by pretending each day is the same until a young man becomes romantically interested.

4. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings – a story of family trauma dealing with a wife and mother on life support after an accident and the husband’s discovery of her involvement in secret affair.

5. A Perfect Murder - feature film with Michael Douglas, Viggo Mortensen and Gwyneth Paltrow; a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, where the husband learns of his wife’s secret affair and hires someone to kill her.

6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – when his wife disappears on their 5^th anniversary, the husband is assumed to have killed her especially when her friends tell the police she was afraid of him and had been keeping secrets.

Titles and connections courtesy of:

Lisa K (KR), Sheri K (DE), Sue D (MK), and Lucy L (the RAT Queen)

The Water Witch: A Novel / Juliet Dark / Six Degrees of Reading

The Water Witch by Juliet Dark
Callie McFay, a professor of gothic literature takes a job in a small town of New York state. She moves into a Victorian home that has been taken over by a demonic force.

   which leads to

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
  Nora Fischer a doctoral student takes a walk and ends up in a different world. She falls in love and is soon married to the man of her dreams. That is when things begin to go off-track. Nora escapes and finds herself being an apprentice to a magician named Aruendriel.

   which leads to

A Kiss of Shadows (Meredith Gentry) by Laurell K. Hamilton
   Meredith is the High Princess of Faerie. She is avoiding the job her aunt wants her to perform: to be a constant companion to the most beautiful immortal men of the the world.

   which leads to

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
   Nicholas Flamel is the greatest alchemyst in the world and has eternal life in the bargain. He must keep The Book of Abraham, the Mage hidden and protected at all costs.

   which leads to

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
   Diana Bishop a scholar and descendant of witches discovers an alchemical manuscript.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
   A young woman finds a book in her father's library that leads to the discovery of an evil that has been hunted for centuries.
 

Snow in August / Pete Hamill / Six Degrees of Reading

The Snow in August by Pete Hamill
In 1947, a young boy befriends an immigrant Rabbi in New York City. They summon a golem to confront the violence in their lives.

    which leads to

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley
  Set towards the end of World War II, Evelyn Roe finds a body buried in the clay of her yard. It begins to form itself into Evelyn's vision of Adam.

   which leads to

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
   It is 1946 and Laura McAllan is struggling to raise her family on a Mississippi Delta farm. Two men return from World War II to help with the farm and face what happened in combat and prejudice at home.

   which leads to

I'll Be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes
   Two American women begin a correspondence during World War II, helping each other with the absence of the men in their lives. The letters help them deal with loss, prejudice and the joy of living again.

     which leads to

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole
   In 1912 Elspeth Dunn a poet in Scotland receives a fan letter from David Graham from New York City. A romance develops and World War I intervenes. In 1940 Margaret, Elspeth's daughter discovers the trove of letters and their secrets.

     which leads to

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
   Set in 1899 New York a golem is left without a master and a jinni is released from his bottle. They become best friends and navigate the unfamiliar world of New York.

The Snow Child: A Novel / Eowyn Ivey / 388 pgs / Literary/Mainstream

Jack and Mabel live in the wilderness of Alaska in the 1920s. They moved there after the death of their baby. It is a lonely and hard existence. So much so the two of them have stopped talking to each other and to themselves. During a gentle snowstorm one night, the two of them build a snowman and dress it as a child. The next morning the snowman has been destroyed but there are footprints leading off into the deep woods. What follows isn't a straight forward fairy tale but there are enough elements to make the reader think there may be some magic left in the world after all.

Based on a Russian fairy tale, this debut novel is a stunner. The descriptions of Alaska and how cold is it (Hello, Polar Vortex!) help the reader understand the isolation of the place. What the snow person is and what she becomes is left up to the reader. Jack and Mabel have some neighbors that are part comic relief and part teacher. When these families begin to break down the barriers both mental and physical they begin a trek down a trail full of love and heartache. Excellent to read with a roaring fire going in the fireplace.

Reading connections: No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel, Mary Coin by Marisa Silver.

Swamplandia!: A Novel / Karen Russell / 316 pgs / Literary/Mainstream genre

  Meet the Bigtree alligator wrestling tribe of Swamplandia! Florida. The Chief is the master planner of this Southern Florida attraction. His wife Hilola has just died from cancer and their children are coping the best they know how. Their oldest Kiwi is rebelling against life as he knows it, Osceola has begun communing with ghosts while Ava is planning on saving the park and taking her mother's place as the headliner of the show. But the park is failing, people stop coming and the bills are mounting. What is a family to do?

  This family is as messed up as they come. The children have never been to public school and are woefully socially inept. The father lives inside his own mind and doesn't recognize reality needs some serious attention. Kiwi leaves to work at a place that feels like Disney gone wrong, Osceola thinks a ghost wants to marry her and disappears one night into the swamp. Ava seems to be the only normal one but falls into a dream world where she can make everything good again. Not a happy book. There is some gorgeous writing and descriptions of Florida that take your breath away. A serious and dogged literary read.

Reading connections: The Family Fang: A Novel by Kevin Wilson, Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides

Wide Open / Deborah Coates / 304 pages / Horror

Sergeant Hallie Michaels serving in Afghanistan was killed in action. She was brought back to life with the ability to see ghosts.  There is also news her sister has died back in South Dakota. In returning to her town Hallie finds the past isn't always done and finished. What exactly did happen to her sister and why has the town suddenly stopped answering questions? And what are the ghosts doing?

 A novel with many open ended questions about what the town/people are hiding. There is a bad guy but in my opinion not a fully developed one. What evil does he control and why? The deputy sheriff keeps popping up and is so laconic it is frustrating. What is it with all the elliptical sentences? An interesting tale with great potential but ultimately exasperating. The beginning of a series: Deep Down is second installment. 

Some novels with similar themes: American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett and The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan.  

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling / Michael Boccacino / 239 pages / Horror

A cryptic Gothic horror novel by a debut novelist has a young widow take a governess job with a family dealing with a recent death and a house full of secrets. A deal has been made with an evil being with consequences impacting the present and the future. Will Charlotte figure out the mysteries and keep the family safe?

Not a book for the seasoned horror reader but good for paranormal fans. Charlotte is a believable character who has to make some difficult decisions. The manor house with its hidden rooms and revealing cupboards is a great character in itself.

Some comparable novels are: Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield and A Spirited Manor by Kate Danley.