Book Review: My Mother's Funeral by Adriana Paramo

Title: My Mother's Funeral by Adriana Paramo
Published October 1, 2013; Cavankerry Press
Genre: memoir; creative nonfiction
Objective rating: 4.5/5

About the book:  Adriana Paramo, who had left her home in Medellin, Colombia to become an anthropologist, gets a phone call about her mother Carmen's sudden death and returns home from Alaska to attend the funeral. She and her four sisters and a brother, all older siblings who had remained in Colombia, meet up again to pay final respects to their mother, reminisce about her life, and claim sentimental items from their family home.

The book flashes back to Adriana's memories of growing up without their father, who had left them when Adriana, the youngest, was only five or six years old. The book explores Carmen's life, her marriage, her love for her husband before and even after he deserted her, and her raising six children by herself. All of this from Adriana's viewpoint as an impressionable child, then a rebellious adolescent and as an independent adult.

My comments: 
A moving family story, expertly written, with the life and personality of Adriana's mother fully developed as creative nonfiction. Carmen came through as a determined personality who wanted more for her children and demanded more from them as well. She was successful in moving them on to a better life, where they could help both her and each other.The book was also very informative of Colombia's customs, dynamic society, and its volatile politics during that time period.

As the last of six children, myself,  I was amazed at how much I could relate to this narrative of the relationship between the mother and daughter. Adriana came to know Carmen more deeply as she had spent more time with her as the youngest child. As Adriana's brother said, Carmen was a different person and mother in the 1960s-70s than she was in the 80s when she had Adriana. I highly recommend this book on several levels.

Paramo has written another work of creative nonfiction, Looking for Esperanza, which has won several awards. I would really like to read that book also.

Adriana Páramo is a cultural anthropologist, writer and women’s rights advocate. Her book “Looking for Esperanza,” winner of the 2011 Social Justice and Equity Award in Creative Nonfiction was one of the top ten best books by Latino authors in 2012, the best Women’s Issues Book at the 2013 International Latino Book Awards, and the recipient of a silver medal at the 2012 BOYA, Book of the Year Awards. “My Mother’s Funeral,” a creative nonfiction book set in Colombia, was released in October 2013 by Cavankerry Press.

Her work has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize and her essays have been included in the Notable American Essays of 2011 and 2012. She currently lives and writes in Qatar. Connect with Paramo at http://www.paramoadriana.com/

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book. Click on the link for more reviews by book tour participants. 

Sunday Salon: a Cozy Kind of Winter

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday at it's permanent home, and Stacking the Shelves at Tyngas' Reviews.

I've been reading cozy mysteries in between my book tour books. They seem to fit winter - lighter and often entertaining, except for some grisly details on occasion as they are crime novels, after all. Here are a few that arrived in the mail for review, thanks to Penguin and Berkley Prime Crime.

A Fatal Slip: A Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mystery by Meg London will be released February 4.

  "For Valentine’s Day, Emma Taylor and her aunt Arabella have organized a special evening for men only to shop for their sweethearts in the Sweet Nothings lingerie shop. But when art dealer Hugh Granger is pushed from the balcony, Aunt Arabella is framed… for her old flame’s murder." (goodreads)

Pecan Pies and Homicides: A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery by Ellery Adams, published January 7, 2014. 



" Owning the Charmed Pie Shoppe and serving enchanted treats in Havenwood, Georgia, seemed like a little slice of heaven for Ella Mae LeFaye. When an enchanted grove is set ablaze, Ella realizes  she’s going to have to sleuth from scratch to stop an arsonist who has no respect for sacred ground—or human life…." (goodreads)

A Chorus Lineup: A Glee Club Mystery #3 by Joelle Charbonneau, published January 7, 2014.

"Paige Marshall, the high school show choir coach, is fighting to keep her singers in a national competition despite charges of sabotage…. So-called accidents keep befalling the other choirs. Yet Prospect Glen remains untouched. Paige needs to discover who’s behind the sabotage, or end up singing her own swan song…." (goodreads)

For my final book tour for January, I'm now reading and enjoying Last Train to Paris by Michele Zackheim, an historical fiction set in Paris in the mid-1930s.

What are you reading this winter? Any cozies planned? 

Book Beginnings: Playing With Fire by J.J. Cook

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader.

page 56:

"What's up?" Stella asked. "You're one of my best people. What happened today?"

Book beginning:

Sweet Pepper Fire Chief Stella Griffin stood in the middle of a field of red, yellow, and green hot pepper plants that looked as if it went on forever. The August sun beat down on her head and made her question why she's worn long jeans, instead of shorts, on this outing.

Book description:

"Welcome to Sweet Pepper, Tennessee. Nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains, it’s home to the hottest and sweetest peppers in the world—as well as at least one ghost and a hotbed of secrets….
GETTING WARMER.  Fire Chief Stella Griffin is working to solve the mysterious death of her predecessor, Eric Gamlyn—who also haunts her cabin. Just as Stella thinks she has a lead from Deputy Chum, someone snuffs her hopes—and the lawman. Stella’s parents soon arrive—with her ex-boyfriend—hoping to persuade her to return to Chicago. Now Stella is torn between the life she left behind and uncovering what happened to her ghostly friend. "

Title: Playing With Fire by J.J. Cobb
Published January 7, 2014; Berkley
Source: publisher

What do you think of the teaser and the beginning paragraph? Do they make you want to read the book? 

The Storycatcher by Ann Hite

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: The Storycatcher by Ann Hite
Published September 10, 2013; Gallery Books
Genre: Southern fiction, historical novel

Opening paragraph, first chapter:

September 1935 

The salt from the ocean hung thick and heavy in the air. The only breeze came from the boat moving. Roger and me stood together side by side at the boat's wheel, him driving, me watching.
Ebb tide gave me the creepy crawlers. Ebb tide was unnatural, bad, nothing but bad.
"That sorry fool Mr. Benton is bringing his colored mistress to stay for two weeks. Mr. Tyson be letting them sleep in his house. He never struck me as one to put up with that mess, but by gosh he is...." 

Publisher description:
"Shelly Parker never much liked Faith Dobbins, the uppity way that girl bossed her around. But they had more in common than she knew. Shelly tried to ignore the haints that warned her Faith’s tyrannical father, Pastor Dobbins, was a devil in disguise. But when Faith started acting strange, Shelly couldn’t avoid the past—not anymore.

Award-winning author Ann Hite beckons readers back to the Depression-era South, from the saltwater marshes of Georgia’s coast to the whispering winds of North Carolina’s mystical Black Mountain, in a gothic tale about the dark family secrets that come back to haunt."

Based on the opening paragraph and book description, would you keep reading? 

Book Review: Short Leash: A Memoir of Dog Walking by Janice Gary

Title: Short Leash: A Memoir of Dog Walking and Deliverance by Janice Gary
Published August 1, 2013; Michigan State University Press
Genre: memoir

About the book: Janice Gary slowly finds healing through her dog Barney, through her frequent walks in the park with the dog, and in her writing. She details in her memoir her progress in overcoming her fear of strangers and deserted places such as the park, while her dog Barney learns to accept other dogs and curb his aggression towards other dogs.

My comments: This is a very personal account of an individual's attempts to recover from mental injuries and be the confident, outgoing person she was before. To overcome traumatic events, namely the memories of a brutal attack by a stranger and the traumatic suicide of her father, the author walks and writes her way to recovery with the help of her second dog, Barney, and her new interest in writing. Her books takes you along on her walks in the park and tracks her thought processes along the way. This also very much a "dog book," as it deals with the happy times, the responsibilities, and the heartbreak that can come with owning a dog.

Excellent writing, but expect a book that is often very reflective and slow paced. The book reads as a personal journal that takes you season by season through the author's observations of nature and her thought processes as she walks to recovery with her dog Barney.

Short Leash: A Memoir of Dog Walking and Deliverance, was chosen as a “Groundbreaking memoir” by Independent Publisher and a New Pages “Editor’s Pick”. Janice Gary is the recipient of the Christine White Award for Memoir and the Ames Award for Personal Essay. As a writing coach, she helps others writers find their unique voice and stories. She blogs at janicegary.com

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book.
Click on the link for more reviews by the tour participants. 

Sunday Salon: Book Tours Make Me Read Faster

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday at its permanent home.

I started out the year by reading books for book tours as I found I had scheduled six books in January alone and three more in February. So I am on a reading frenzy at the moment to keep up. So far, I have finished writing reviews for four of the books.

Reviews for Short Leash, My Mother's Funeral and A Different Sun will be published in the next two weeks, starting tomorrow. I have just begun reading While We Were Watching Downton Abbey and will finish up with Last Train to Paris.

A few books trickled into the mailbox whenever the mailman came during the sometimes Level 3 snow emergencies we had last week.

I got this new edition of What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, (see my 2011 review) plus a canvas tote bag with the imprint of the cover of The Husband's Secret. I believe these were a contest win. 

Three cozy mysteries came, thanks to Penguin:

Poison at the PTA by Laura Alden: As the Tarver Elementary School PTA president, Beth Kennedy is always on the go—especially when someone puts murder on the agenda.

Murder With Ganache by Lucy Burdette: Hayley Snow, the food critic for Key Zest magazine, has her plate heaped high with restaurant reviews, doughnut and sticky bun tastings, and an article on the Hemingway cats. But this week she’s also in charge of her best friend’s wedding. And then someone adds a side of murder….

Throw in the Trowel by Kate Collins: The couple that sleuths together… . Flower Shop owner Abby Knight has just returned from a romantic honeymoon with Marco, the man of her dreams.  But when Marco discovers a skeleton buried in the basement of his bar, it is a bit of a mood killer. When the body is identified as a carpenter who went missing back in the 1970s, Abby and Marco decide to cultivate the clues to solve the cold case.

What are you reading this week, for a tour,  for entertainment, information, or...?  Do you think that if you had book tours scheduled for all your TBR books, you'd read much faster? 

Pets Rule: A Guest Post by author Annie Knox

Welcome to Annie Knox, whose first book in a new cozy mystery series, Paws for Murder: A Pet Boutique Mystery, was released January 7 by Signet.

Pets Rule 

a guest post by author Annie Knox

In our house, we occasionally joke that the cats need to get jobs and start earning their kibble.  But the truth of the matter is that they already earn their keep every day.  They make us laugh, they ease our stress, and they provide unconditional affection.

Am I giving the cats too much credit?  I don’t think so.

There’s a growing body of scientific research demonstrating the amazing emotional benefits of having companion animals in our lives.  Dogs are working with prisoners, the elderly, the chronically ill, veterans and students—all people living with considerable stress—and studies indicate that those dogs make a difference in the lives they touch.  Cats, too, are providing comfort to people with depression and anxiety disorders, helping them cope with their emotions.

Our cats have definitely made a contribution to our happiness.  When my husband was recovering from major surgery, Squeak-a-doodle provided the best kind of physical therapy.  Together, my husband and Squeaky would make laps around the house, stopping at the end of each circuit for a quick petting session.  Iphy, our old girl, has lost her hearing; she spends her evenings moving from lap to lap and gazing up at our faces with a look of complete contentment. You can’t help but feel loved when she’s staring at you!

The real stress relief champion in our house is Todd.  Todd was a stray for at least a year before he joined us.  One day, he wandered up on our porch with a big wound on his neck.  We got him fixed up at the vet and planned to find him a new home, but he walked into our house, peed all over the basket of cat toys, jumped on our bed, rolled onto his back, and fell asleep.  Clearly, he was already home.

Todd teaches us the art of relaxation every day.  He conks out on his back, belly bared to the world, front paws tucked beneath his chin.  He loves to have his belly scratched, and will roll over for a scritching without any real regard for the position of his body (he’s fallen of the couch more than once).  When he snuggles, it’s a full contact snuggle.  He’ll inch his way up your body until he’s nose-to-nose with you.  And he loves everyone who walks through the front door.  Our cuddle ninja, our snuggle pirate, our nap hero  . . . he’s a living testament to the joy of loving with abandon.

Our pets enrich our lives in so many ways.  That’s one reason I had such a great time writing about Izzy McHale’s dorky pug-bulldog mix Packer and her regal Norwegian forest cat Jinx.  Throughout Paws for Murder, this dynamic duo contribute comfort, clues, and welcome comic relief.  Throw in Rena Hamilton’s kleptomaniacal ferret Val, and you’ve got yourself a menagerie of fun.

I hope you get a chance to cuddle up with Packer, Jinx, and Val, and I hope they provide you with a fraction of the joy our real furry friends have to offer!

About the author: While Annie Knox does not commit--or solve--murders in real life, her love of animals is 100% real.  She's also passionately devoted to 80s music, Asian horror films, and reality TV.   Annie, her husband, and their spoiled cats (Todd, Iphy, and Squeak-a-doodle) make their home in a small town in north Texas, just blocks from the town’s courthouse square.