Wordless Wednesday, Aug. 19

Quiet time with water and mountains, all in calming blue!

Review: Rooftops of Tehran: A Novel by Mahbod Seraji

The Rooftops of Tehran

From the publisher's description:

"In a middle class neighborhood in Iran's sprawling capital city, seventeen-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend, Ahmed, joking around and talking about the future. Even as Pasha asks burning questions about life, he also wrestles with a burning secret. He has fallen in love with his beautiful neighbor Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to another man. And despite Pasha's guilt ridden feelings for her, over the long, hot days his tentative friendship with Zari deepens into a rich emotional bond.

But the bliss of those perfect stolen months is shattered in a single night, when Pasha unwittingly acts as a beacon for the Shah's secret police. The violent consequences, awakens Pasha and his friends to the reality of living under the rule of a powerful despot, and lead Zari to make a shocking choice from which Pasha may never fully recover.

In a poignant, funny, eye-opening and emotionally vivid debut novel, Mahbod Seraji lays bare the beauty and brutality infused in the centuries old Persian culture, while reaffirming the human experiences we all share: laughter, tears, love, fear, and above all, hope."

This is a touching love story of two young people who have deep feelings for each other in spite of tradition and custom that have made other plans for them, and despite political circumstances that also change their fate. Pasha and Zari are neighbors whose innocent and seemingly carefree summer suddenly becomes serious and tragic.

"And so every night, Zari and I get together on the roof. I never see her. She sits on her side of the wall, and I on mine. Ten centimeters of brick separate us, but I can almost feel her warmth. I press my palms against the wall and imagine I'm touching the curves of her face."

The author, Mahbod Seraji, is working on a second novel and says that he may write a sequel to Rooftops of Tehran, continuing where Pasha and Zari left off. We can only hope he does that! I gave this book four stars.

(Book given by the publisher for my objective review).

Book Review: Sweet Mary, a Novel by Liz Balmaseda

"Sweet Mary shimmers with authentic Florida heat," says author Carl Hiaasen, right on the glossy front cover of the book. This arrived in the mail and is a new novel I'm looking forward to reading.

The plot revolves around a case of mistaken identity. In this case, a woman with a long name, Dulce Maria "Mary" Guevara, is accused of being a "cocaine queen" and sets out to clear her name by going after the real culprit. This begins a set of adventures in Florida!

The author, Liz Balmaseda, is a Cuban-American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who works for The Palm Beach Post. She knows Florida and her territory. Sweet Mary is her first novel.

Update:I've finished the book, a fairly quick read. I found the plot pretty predictable and the book a "routine" mystery. There are no twists or turns in the story line, no violence per se, and no elaborate endings. A nice mystery that's definitely not a thriller as initial descriptions may have suggested.

Enjoyable, especially for the portrayal of a divorced mother trying to clear her name so she can take care of her son Max while avoiding any new conflicts with her ex-husband Tony and his new wife. Tony tried to get sole custody of Max while Sweet Mary was in jail and even after charges against her as the "cocaine queen" were dropped.

An answer to a plot query from Michael re the plot: Mary set out to prove her innocence so she could regain joint custody of Max and avoid a drawn out custody battle with said ex! A lot of people will find her quite a sympathetic character. Great mom! I do recommend this for a nice summer read!

(Book received from the publisher for my objective review.)

Book Review: Bangkok Dragons, Cape Cod Tears

Bangkok Dragons, Cape Cod Tears, a mystery by Randall Peffer: the title and the cover were intriguing.

Bangkok Dragons, Cape Cod Tears by Randall Peffer

Setting: The characters, escaping to protect a priceless ruby from getting into the wrong hands, don various disguises on a train from Bangkok into Malaysia and then on a boat to Singapore. And if you check the title, you'll see that the action also moves to Cape Cod, Mass., by plane, of course. The novel includes some violence, and has transgender themes. The writing is fast paced but often poetic, and the mystery plot engaging, much of it character driven.

Publisher's description:
" When Michael Decastro gets an email from Tuki, his long-gone client, the lady of ten thousand mysteries, he doesn't hesitate a moment. He heads to Bangkok to find... what? He doesn't know. To face what dangers? He hasn't imagined. All he knows is that she's beckoned, and he can't resist her call.

Ane now face to face with Tuki and a ruby so beautiful it has its own name, Michael must make a choice: moe forward to protect Tuki, get to the bottom of her involvement with the nak lin ( cruel Thai gangsters) and see that she's safe, or run back to his father's fishing boat, hiding from the ills of the world beneath a watchcap and a raincoat.

Fooolhardy, compassionate Michael hardly has to think..."

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. The first novel in the series - Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues, was nominated for the Lambda Award.

Submitted to (2009 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

Book Review: Lizzi & Fredl, A Perilous Journey of Love and Faith

Lizzi and Fredl is a detailed and touching memoir and history recorded by William B. Stanford of California, who wrote down and compiled information from his parents, Lizzi and Fredl Steiner about their lives before, during, and after WWII.

The couple left their home in Austria in 1938 to escape the encroaching threat of Nazism, only to find themselves in danger in France, the country where they had sought refuge. Lizzi and Fredl barely escaped with their lives and only much later revealed their full stories to their son, William Stanford.

The publisher's description:

"Twenty-seven-year-old Fredl is an accomplished master jeweler, while twenty-six-year-old Lizzi is a professional dressmaker. When Fredl receives papers ordering him to Munich, Germany, to serve the Nazis in their war preparations, the couple knows they have no choice: they must leave Austria. As Hitler and his troops gain force in their homeland and annex Austria, Lizzi and Fredl endure a harrowing flight to France, uncertain whether they will ever see their country again.

But France holds no safety for them. Fredl is captured by French Nazi sympathizers and must outwit his captors to survive in Vichy-controlled concentration and labor camps. Separated from Fredl, Lizzi evades arrest and relies on her guile and chutzpah to search for her beloved husband.

What follows is an incredible seven-year odyssey filled with danger and endurance. From their long, arduous journey to Paris to Fredl's unbelievable rescue from a train bound for a Nazi death camp, Lizzi and Fredl delivers a remarkable true story of courage, faith, and overwhelming love."

A news release from Kelley & Hall clarifies further the book's historical significance and the efforts that went into its writing:

"Awarded both Editor's Choice and Publisher's Choice by iUniverse, Lizzi & Fredl is a story elucidating that France had concentration, internment and labor camps thought mostly to exist in Germany. This memoir is also a love story of unconditional devotion and resilience between a happily married couple whose lives were disrupted by a seven-year nightmare. It took many years for Dr. Stanford to get his parents to share their stories, and once they did, it was apparent to him that they had not even revealed their individual horrors to each other over the years.... Lizzi & Fredl delivers a remarkable true story of courage, faith, and overwhelming love."

Publisher: IUniverse (April 17, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0595433111
ISBN-13: 978-0595433117

Book received from the author for my objective review.

Lucky Dollar Finds: Aug. 9

Ronnie: The Autobiography by Ronnie Wood

My Lucky Dollar Finds this week include the biography of Ronnie Wood, guitarist and member of The Rolling Stones band for over 30 years. (This book goes to my son, the music lover).

Publisher's description: " A fascinating portrait not just of the Stones but of the greatest rockers of the 1960s and beyond - from Eric Clapton to Rod Stewart, Jimmy Page to Keith Moon, Jimi Hendrix to Pete Townshend - Ronnie is a rich revelatory book." St. Martin's Press, 2007.


The People's Princess: Cherished Memories of Diana, Princess of Wales, From Those Who Knew Her Best by talk-show host Larry King is a collection of essays, published on the tenth anniversary of Diana's death, 2007. (This book goes to my sister-in-law, who loves Diana books). Publishers Weekly says at least three of the essays were written by people who never met the princess. One Amazon reviewer says the book should have been titled "From Those Who Met Her." British actress Joan Collins is one of the contributors.


Three Sisters (Charlie Moon Mysteries" by James D. Doss.

Colorado Ute rancher and tribal investigator Charlie Moon and his aunt Daisy, a Ute shaman, combine their talents to help find the killer of one of three sisters, daughter of a wealthy rancher. This mystery-thriller is number 12 in the series. St. Martin's Press, 2007. (This book is for me, a mystery lover).

What books have you been lucky enough to find for $1?

Book Review: Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan

Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A solid three and a half to four stars. I liked the idea of magazine writers in a novel trying to figure out a crime as if they were writing it as fiction.

The main character, the mysterious Mr. Loogan, arrives in the university town of Ann Arbor, Mich. and tries his hand at writing stories for the local magazine, Grey Streets. He is "discovered" and hired as an editor for the magazine by publisher Tom Kristoll. Later, when Tom's apparent suicide turns out to be murder, Mr. Loogan becomes involved.

Loogan bowed his head and his eyes were lost in shadows. "If this were a story in Gray Streets, I'd catch the killer myself. It would be my responsibility."

"This isn't a story in Gray Streets, Mr. Loogan.

(from Ch. 9 of the Advance Readers Copy, which may differ from the final printed version of the novel.)

Lots of twists to this mystery plot, with several more murders, plus an affair between Loogan and Tom's wife Laura that began before Tom's death. The plot is not predictable, a sign I think of a good mystery.

The spare prose throughout reminded me of Hemingway, though there is a lot of dialogue and the book I think is longer than any of Hemingway's.

I would describe the book as a mystery written as literary fiction. Two good reasons to like it.


Advance readers copy received from the publisher for my objective review.