Sunday Salon: A Cozy Spring

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer.
Also visit Mailbox Monday and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date. 

The sun has finally come out and the temps have warmed up a bit, slowly. No more snow in the forecast for the midwest, unlike states like Colorado. We took down our bird feeders (too many unwanted critters wanted to share the bird seed) and put away the birdbath (no mosquitoes this year, please), but luckily the birds have been coming on their own. Finches and black capped chickadees have been singing away in the trees, robins and starlings prowl the wet grass for worms and insects. A few sparrows are fluttering about among the trees. So happy to see them all. 

A few mystery books for review: 

The first in a new mystery series, A Useful Woman:  A Rosalind Thorne Mystery #1 by Darcie Wilde, to be released May 3, 2016 by Berkley
Inspired by the novels of Jane Austen, this new mystery series set in 19th-century London introduces the charming and resourceful Rosalind Thorne, a woman privy to the secrets of high society—including who among the ton is capable of murder...

Murder at Lambswool Farm: Seaside Knitters Mystery #11 by Sally Goldenbaum, to be released May 3, 2016 by NAL
Late summer blooms in Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, and while a harvest thrives, Izzy Chambers Perry and the other Seaside Knitters try their sleuthing skills to save a local farm. Unfortunately, finding a killer can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. .

A Finely Knit Murder: Seaside Knitters Mystery #9 by Sally Goldenbaum, published May 5, 2015 by NAL. The sleuthing skills of Izzy Chambers Perry and the Seaside Knitters are tested as death mars the beginning of the school year…

Murder in Morningside Heights: Gaslight Mystery #19 by Victoria Thompson, to be released May 3, 2016 by Berkley. Former police sergeant Frank Malloy and his wife adjust to life in New York high society as they investigate a death in the field of higher learning...

Is it spring in your corner of the world?

Poetry Review: The Jane and Bertha in Me by Rita Maria Martinez

Visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

The Jane and Bertha In Me by Rita Maria Martinez, published by Aldrich Press, Kelsay Books, January 12, 2016.

Genre: poetry

This spring marks the bicentennial of Charlotte Brontë’s birth. In her ambitious and timely debut,The Jane and Bertha in Me, Rita Maria Martinez celebrates Brontë’s classic novel Jane Eyre. Through wildly inventive, beautifully crafted persona poems, Martinez re-imagines Jane Eyre’s cast of characters in contemporary contexts, from Jane as an Avon saleslady to Bertha as a Stepford wife. These lively, fun, poignant poems prove that Jane Eyre’s fictional universe is just as relevant today as it was so many years ago. The Jane and Bertha in Me is a must-read for any lover of Brontë’s work. (publisher)

My comments:

There are approximately 38 poems in The Jane and Bertha in Me, divided into three sections: Femme Couvert, The Gothic Grotesque, and Promiscuous Reading. 

I found her poetry intense, very detailed and descriptive, imaginative beyond the ordinary. The poet has a keen eye for people and things and an original way with words that pulls the reader into her orb and into her experiences. 

From the first poem in the collection, "Reading Jane Eyre": 

I read in bed, on the bamboo love seat, beneath the shade
of my father’s banana trees. I scarfed the pages like pork rinds,
yuca chips, crackers slathered with guava jelly.
I binged constantly, sunk my canines into text ....

Here you get the sense of her profound interest, likening her enjoyment of the book to the pleasure of eating. 

From "Jane Addresses Edward": 

What you don’t know is that I tossedmy wedding veil from the window, witnessed its inevitable descent,speck of tulle splayed against ground like a wounded wren.

Beautiful use of imagery here, that veil floating down - clear and vivid. 

An entire poem that I loved, "Nautica": 

I was walking toward the post

when a guy whizzed by like a messenger. 

I can’t tell you what he looked like

or what he wore, only that the scent 

of his cologne lingered as if saying hello— 

and that he smelled like you, like the blue flask

of Nautica you kept in the glove

compartment, like my purple turtleneck

on nights I sank into bed carrying 

your scent the way little girls

carry dolls to their beds, the way men

carry loose change in their pockets

all day, without realizing.

The poet recaptured a strong feeling through a passing scent of cologne, a memory of someone that she conveys by skillful use of images of a blue flask, a purple turtleneck, and little girls and their cherished dolls. 

I am overwhelmed by the imaginative descriptive detail from lines in "Ode to Bertha Antoinette Mason": 

Your mandarin voice resonates

among the chinoiserie escritoire, 

the spiced meat stew, silver toothpicks,

spikes of spun sugar, bedizened scarecrows

and giggling fountains in shaggy gardens,

and the evocative imagery in "Reading Jane Eyre II":

I opened a can of alphabet soup

and searched for clues in letters,

life preservers in broth

I was very impressed by the power of Martinez's words. This is a collection of poems that I would like to have by my bedside to read slowly and absorb over time the ways in which Martinez interprets the characters in a book she clearly loves, Jane Eyre.

Blurbs:

The Jane and Bertha in Me is a Rubik’s Cube(TM) of Janes. Each poem is a smartly annotated, hauntingly revisionist homage to Jane Eyre. Martinez’s astounding poems are literary, conversational, personal, fun, as she confidently transports her Janes from the Moors to Macy’s, from Thornfield Hall to the world of tattoos.  —Denise Duhamel, author of Blowout

 The Jane and Bertha in Me gives an unusual twist to the well-known characters from Jane Eyre, envisioning Jane at the guidance counselor, Bertha getting a makeover. These persona poems give us greater insight into the minds of madwoman and governess alike and even minor characters like Blanche and Alice, with beautiful, lush language and empathetic vision. Even casual fans of Brontë’s great book will enjoy this lively re-imagining.  —Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of The Robot Scientist’s Daughter

Poet Bio:

Rita Maria Martinez is a Cuban-American poet from Miami, Florida. Her writing has been published in journals including the Notre Dame Review, Ploughshares, MiPOesias, and 2River View. She authored the chapbook Jane-in-the-Box, published by March Street Press in 2008. Her poetry also appears in the textbook Three Genres: The Writing of Fiction/Literary Nonfiction, Poetry and Drama, published by Prentice Hall; and in the anthology Burnt Sugar, Caña Quemada: Contemporary Cuban Poetry in English and Spanish, published by Simon & Schuster. Martinez has been a featured author at the Miami Book Fair International; at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida; and at the Palabra Pura reading series sponsored by the Guild Literary Complex in Chicago. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Florida International University.

U.S. residents can purchase a signed copy of The Jane and Bertha in Me from the author’s website, http://comeonhome.org/wordpress_development/

Poetic Book Tour Stops:

April 4: Musings of a Bookish Kitty (interview)
April 10: Emma Eden Ramos (review)
April 12: Everything Distils Into Reading (review)
April 15: Book Dilettante (review)
April 16: Suko’s Notebook (review)
April 18: True Book Addict (review)
April 22: Jorie Loves a Story (review)
April 25: Diary of an Eccentric (review)
April 26: Unabridged Chick (review)
April 27: Pretty Purple Polka Dots (review)
April 28: Impressions in Ink (review)
April 30: Create With Joy (review)

Thanks to Serena from Poetic Book Tours for the copy for review. 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Art of Murder by Elaine Viets

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted weekly by Jill at Breaking the Spine. What new releases are you eagerly waiting for. Link your post to Breaking the Spine.

The Art of Murder: A Dead-End Job Mystery #15 by Elaine Viets, to be released May 3, 2016 by NAL
From the national bestselling author of Checked Out , Helen Hawthorne must pose as a painter at Fort Lauderdale’s famous Bonnet House Museum to catch an artful killer . . .

I have visited Fort Lauderdale beach many times but never knew about the Bonnet House Museum featured in the book. It's definitely worth a visit next time...

What new release are you waiting for?

Moss Hysteria by Kate Collins

Moss Hysteria: A Flowershop Mystery #18 by Kate Collins, published April 5, 2016 by NAL
Flower shop owner Abby Knight and her husband Marco’s new neighborhood isn’t as rosy as it seems in the latest Flower Shop Mystery from the author of Florist Grump and A Root Awakening.

Publisher description: When a body is found floating in a nearby pond, the police think Abby and Marco’s helpful next door neighbor is the culprit, but the newlyweds aren’t convinced. 

Opening paragraphs:

"Marco, would you get the door, please?" I waited for a response, but my request was met by silence. The doorbell pealed again, so I stopped unwrapping our mismatched wineglasses to call, "Marco? Where'd you go?" 

He didn't answer - he was probably taking our dog, Seedy, to the backyard - so I stepped around the pile of crumpled newspaper in the kitchen and hurried to the front hallway.... 

I opened the door to find nine women on my porch....

Judging by the number of books in this series - 18 - the flower shop mysteries are pretty popular. Readers who are gardeners and flower lovers as well as cozy readers abound. This series combines the themes. 

The specific topics of Moss Hysteria are newlyweds, a new neighborhood, new neighbors, and secrets to be found in a new environment by our old friends - the amateur sleuths. 

Book Review: The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter

Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph every Tuesday. Share the first paragraph(s) of your current read or book interest, with information for readers.

The Strangler Vine, historical fiction by M.J. Carter, published March 15, 2015 by Putnam's Sons 
Setting: India in the early 1800s
Source: library book

The significance of the title as I see it: The strangler vine, a plant in India, feeds on other bushes and trees and covers them up eventually, smothering them. The vine in this case seems to refer to the British East India Company from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century in India, when it took over governing large areas of the country and according to the author, later began to strangle the native culture, customs, and habitat as it became itself enriched.

The book begins with an Historical Note:

The East India Company was launched in 1600 by a group of British merchants with ambitions to trade with the East. Over the next two centuries, it built up[ its own private army and gradually gave up its trading interests in favor of taking over and ruling large parts of India, making money out of taxation and out of its monopoly in the opium trade with China. It became a peculiar mixture of private company and instrument of the British state, and was arguably the world's first multinational. By 1832, the Company dominated the subcontinents, controlling much  of what is now India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, with Calcutta as its capital....

First sentence in the Prologue:
Central India, June 1832

He stumbles out from the mango grove and at that moment the thick monsoon clouds, which color the night a dull charcoal gray, shift. A sliver of moonlight shines through and he sees their bright, curved knives. Had the clouds not parted he would have blundered, laughing, straight through the gates, straight onto their blades. 

Recommendation:
Some of the characters in the novel are historical, but the main characters are fictional, though in realistic settings. William Avery, a young soldier, is asked to accompany a secret political agent, Jeremy Blake, to locate a missing writer who is known for his writings about Calcutta society. The writer has gone missing somewhere in India, possibly to find out more about the notorious bandits or Thuggees. What the two searchers find out on their perilous travel shocks them and shocked me as well. And it all revolves around the British East India Company and the lengths it went to in order to justify its position and hold on to India for so long.

Fascinating and somewhat suspenseful storytelling, meticulous background research, and intriguing characters and settings make this a book I would recommend for readers of British/Indian colonial history and fiction.

The novel was LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2014

FINALIST FOR THE CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER AWARD

My rating for The Strangler Vine was 5/5.

Sunday Salon: Winter's Last Hurrah

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer.
Also visit Mailbox Monday, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date. 

Snow surprised us this morning, as almost eight inches fell overnight. It was very picturesque while it lasted, but the sun came out later and melted much of it from the trees and sidewalks. It may have been winter's last hurrah, at least we hope so. 

New books for review, a variety of genres:

Wedding Girl by Stacey Ballis, to be released May 3, 2016 by Berkley
Top pastry chef Sophie Bernstein and her sommelier fiancé were set to have Chicago’s culinary wedding of the year…until the groom eloped with someone else in a very public debacle, leaving Sophie fifty grand in debt on her dream wedding and then losing her job and her home…. Sophie moves in with her grandmother, Bubbles, and looks for a new career.
The Kingdom by Fuminori Nakamura, to be released July 12, 2016; advance uncopyedited edition from Soho Press. A noir novel about a freelancer in the Tokyo underworld who blackmails for an unknown organization for her living, until someone discovers her secrets. 
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, published April 5, 2016 by Simon & Schuster. 
Ani FaNelli is the woman you love to hate. The woman who has it all. But when Ani's immaculate façade begins to crack, she soon realises that there's always a price to pay for perfection.
And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer, to be released May 3, 2016 by Harper.  A novel inspired by historical events—about two women, one European and one American, and the mysterious choral masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that changes both their lives.
The Summer Guest, historical fiction by Alison Anderson, tp be released May 24, 2016 by HarperCollins. Blinded by a fatal illness, young Ukrainian doctor Zinaida Lintvaryova is living on her family’s rural estate in the summer of 1888. When a family from Moscow rents a cottage on the grounds, Zinaida develops a deep bond with one of their sons, a doctor and writer of modest but growing fame called Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
LaRose by Louise Erdrich, to be released May 10, 2016 by Harper. A contemporary tale of a tragic accident, a demand for justice, and a profound act of atonement with ancient roots in indigenous culture.

Contemporary fiction, thrillers, and historical fiction - a lot to read this spring!
What's on your reading desk this spring? 

Book Beginning: White Ghost by Steven Gore

The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

White Ghost: A Graham Gage Thriller by Steven Gore, published March 29, 2016 by Berkley

Book beginning:

The slug's impact wasn't anything like in the Hong Kong movies. It didn't throw Peter backward or knock him off his feet or send him twisting and flailing. No, it wasn't like that at all. His body just...went...limp. And it made no sense. He'd known for certain nobody would get hurt....

Page 56:

"Lester," Gage said. "I know you're just a guy trying to get along, support yourself, and stay out of trouble." 

Book description:
For over thirty years Graham Gage has faced down enemies both near and far, but now he faces one from within. Diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, Gage must delay treatment in order to repay the woman who saved his life in San Francisco's Chinatown thirty years earlier when he was homicide detective. (publisher)