The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman... A Review

What a perfect little murder mystery! Laura Lippman's novella, The Girl in the Green Raincoat, at 158 pages has quite a good "bang for the buck". We meet Tess Monaghan in her 11th outing as the very determined P.I. who decides to stick her nose into some dangerous business. How dangerous? Let's just say the sleazy Romeo involved may have killed his 3 wives and a girlfriend. To make it all more dangerous, the very pregnant Tess is confined to bed rest and can hardly get up from the chaise lounge she calls home during the day...

"I am being held hostage," Tess Monaghan whispered into her iPhone.

As Tess passes the day away people watching out her sun porch window, a fun nod to Hitchcocks thriller Rear Window, she notices one girl in particular - a girl in a green raincoat. What makes her stand out really is the fact that her dog is wearing a matching green raincoat. Every day like clockwork, Tess sees "the girl" walking that dog in that green raincoat... until one day Tess spies the dog running loose in the park, alone, leash still attached...

Add a few great side kicks who help flush out the bad guy, toss in a few dogs who know how to save the day and you've got a terrific and satisfying murder mystery that shows off Laura Lippmans' talent as a great storyteller, as she keeps the readers on the edge of their seats even at 158 pages. Originally serialized in The New York Times Magazine, The Girl in the Green Raincoat posed some problems originally for the author as she wanted to hold the attention of the reader, who could only read part of the story each week, satisfy them and yet have the reader want more. She definitely succeeded, and now that the story has finally been rounded up into one book, readers who missed the original serialized story can now enjoy it. I really did!

Do you need to have read the other 10 Tess Monaghan novels to enjoy this one? No! The story really stands up on its own, and Laura Lippman subtly gives us background on the characters as we're reading so we feel like old friends. If you are a fan of Tess Monaghan you will love this! You'll find her best friend Whitney helping, as well as her faithful dogs right by her side. I've enjoyed some of Laura's other novels, but Tess Monaghan P.I. was a new character to me and now I'm going to have to go back and read these novels! Tess is a feisty & fun character and I want more!

Like a good murder mystery?! You'll enjoy The Girl in the Green Raincoat! Like great female characters? Tess Monaghan is your girl! And how can you not like a story with a few dogs thrown in!

The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman is now available from your favorite bookstore! Plus, this book is Kindle Ready! I want to thank Harper Collins for sending along the review copy! Loved the book!

Memoir Monday... Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda

Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda

When thinking of Lawrence of Arabia, visions of a man in flowing white robes in a desert landscape will usually come to mind. But what of the real man? Of his real accomplishments? Michael Korda's book, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, has gotten high praise for illuminating this legendary man, T.E. Lawrence, a scholar and an archaeologist, who was sent to Cairo as a young man and helped unite the Arab tribes to defeat the Turks.

Michael Korda's Hero is the story of an epic life on a grand scale: a revealing, in-depth, and gripping biography of the extraordinary, mysterious, and dynamic Englishman whose daring exploits and romantic profile—including his blond, sun-burnished good looks and flowing white robes—made him an object of intense fascination, still famous the world over as "Lawrence of Arabia."... In illuminating Lawrence's achievements, Korda digs further than anyone before him to expose the flesh-and-blood man and his contradictory nature. Here was a born leader who was utterly fearless and seemingly impervious to pain, thirst, fatigue, and danger, yet who remained shy, sensitive, mod-est, and retiring; a hero who turned down every honor and decoration offered to him, and was racked by moral guilt and doubt; a scholar and an aesthete who was also a bold and ruthless warrior; a writer of genius—the author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, one of the greatest books ever written about war—who was the virtual inventor of modern insurgency and guerrilla warfare; a man who at the same time sought and fled the limelight, and who found in friendships, with everyone from Winston Churchill to George Bernard and Charlotte Shaw, from Nancy Astor to Noël Coward, a substitute for sexual feelings that he rigorously—even brutally and systematically—repressed in himself.

For history buffs, as well as people who enjoy biographies, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, should satisfy. I myself am looking forward to diving into this one. Not only to really learn about T.E. Lawrence, but to understand the political atmosphere that existed in the Middle East during WW I.

First Lines...

"It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure. Everyone else in my family has had the procedure already. My older sister, Rachel, has been disease free for nine years now. She's been safe from love for so long, she says she can't even remember its symptoms. I'm scheduled to have my procedure in exactly ninety-five days, on September 3. My birthday."

... Delirium by Lauren Oliver (release date Feb. 1, 2011)

Memoir Monday... The Man Behind the Nose by Larry "Bozo" Harmon

The Man Behind the Nose: Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals,

and Other Stupendous Tales... by Larry "Bozo" Harmon

Do you remember that famous clown with the flaming red hair? I came across this interesting book and was caught by what I read. Bozo the Clown was an American icon and thus people might forget that there was a man behind the nose. To Larry Harmon that wasn't a problem, because he loved portraying the happy clown - he WAS Bozo. And this memoir, which you might first expect to be the "other side of the nose", telling us how awful life as the happy clown was, looks to be far from that. Here's how the publisher describes it...

Did you hear the one about when Bozo the Clown ran for President and two assassination attempts were made on his life?

How about the time Bozo flew into the perilous jungles of New Guinea to see if he could not just survive but actually bond with dangerous cannibal tribes?

Well then, you must know about the time his size 83 AAA shoes saved him from being swallowed whole by a giant, murderous python in Thailand, right?

Then I guess you might not know as much as you think about the world's most famous clown. Sure, you know the giant shoes, the red bulbous nose, the big ruby smile, and the twin shocks of red yak-hair bursting from the sides of his head. And obviously you know the many clowns inspired by him, from Ronald McDonald to Krusty the Clown.

So perhaps it's time you learned about Bozo, and the man behind the nose. Because the wild, inspirational stories in this book are all true. As real as the nose on your face.

One day, Larry Harmon, a World War II private harboring dreams of becoming a doctor, met the most famous entertainer of the time, Al Jolson. After seeing the young man on stage, Jolson told him he shouldconsider a career change.

"Being a doctor of medicine is honorable," Jolson advised. "But you'll touch so many more lives as a doctor of laughter!"

A decade later, Jolson's prophecy came true when Larry Harmon, trying to make it as an actor in Hollywood, auditioned to portray a character named Bozo the Capitol Clown.

The character spoke so much to Larry that he simply became it—overnight. He soon turned Bozo into a cultural icon, creating one of the biggest children's television franchises in the world. But that was only the beginning.

In this unputdownable book, which Harmon completed just before his death at age eighty-three, are far more incredible stories of astronauts, cannibals, celebrities, assassins, and deep-sea divers—all encountered in full Bozo regalia, and with photos to prove it.

Not only is Harmon's life by turns incredible and hilarious, it's also an inspirational testament to the power of one man's positive attitude, dedication, and work ethic—and how he changed the world.

Looks to me like Larry Harmon is still bringing smiles to people's faces with these wonderful tales of an extraordinary life. I remember Bozo the Clown as a little girl, and with a career that spanned 50 years, Bozo and Larry touched many peoples lives. I look forward to reading these larger than life, but true, tales! How about you? Do you remember Bozo the Clown?!

Raven Stole The Moon by Garth Stein... A Review

Raven Stole The Moon by Garth Stein...

And Garth Stole my Attention!

A Tale of Grief, Devotion, Redemption, and Timeless Mystery...

When a grieving mother goes to the remote Alaskan town where her young son drowned, she discovers that the truth about her son's death is shrouded in legend...

Back of the Book...When Jenna Rosen abandons her comfortable Seattle life to visit Wrangell, Alaska, it's a wrenching return to her past. Long ago the home of her Native American grandmother, Wrangell is located near the Thunder Bay resort, where Jenna's young son, Bobby, disappeared two years before. His body was never recovered, and Jenna is determined to lay to rest the aching mystery of his death.

But the spectacular town provides little comfort beyond the steady and tender affections of Eddie, a local fisherman. And then whispers of ancient legends begin to suggest a frightening new possibility about Bobby's fate. Soon, Jenna must sift through the beliefs of her ancestors, the Tlingit--who still tell of powerful, menacing forces at work in the Alaskan wilderness.

The beliefs are shared by Dr. David Livingstone, a Tlingit shaman, who warns Jenna about the danger of disturbing the legendary kushtaka--soul stealing predators that stalk a netherworld between land and sea, the living and the dead. But Jenna is desperate for answers, and she appeals to both Livingstone and Eddie to help her sort fact from myth, and face the unthinkable possibilities head-on.

Armed with nothing but a mother's ferocious protective instincts, Jenna's quest for the truth about her son--and the strength of her beliefs--is about to pull her into a terrifying and life-changing abyss....

Garth Stein is an amazing writer. Each sentence is like a piece of poetry. The images his writing creates are powerful, but it's his ability to get to the raw underlying emotions of his characters that what will hook you. Garth knows people. His characters are authentic and believable. And he is able to easily transfer the emotions of his characters to the page. You can feel the pain of a mother who has lost her child, the frustration of a man who doesn't believe in anything but the mighty dollar, and he makes you believe in the connection of your soul to something other than what is explainable. Raven Stole The Moon is such a wonderful mix of fiction with rich Native American folklore of the Tlingit Indians. Garth slowly guides us from life in Seattle to the beautiful Alaskan wilderness. He weaves the story of Jenna Rosen seeking answers to her sons death and attaining some peace with it all, with the legends of her ancestors the Tlingit effortlessly. (The Tlingit are also the ancestors of Garth, as his mother is a native of Alaska and she descends from Tlingit Indians) There are plenty of interesting characters to flush out the story including Jenna's distraught husband, the shaman hired to deal with evil spirits, and a detective hired to bring Jenna back home. Raven Stole The Moon is a heart-wrenching, sad, yet wonderful read. If you loved Garth's book The Art of Racing in the Rain, you will enjoy this book too! (If you haven't read The Art of Racing in the Rain YOU SHOULD!)

Would you like to read an excerpt? Here's a link to Raven Stole The Moon at Harper Collins. And you can read all about Garth and his books at Garth Stein's website! I want to thank Sarah from Terra Communications for sending me a copy of Raven Stole The Moon! It was wonderful! Raven Stole The Moon is available now from your favorite bookstore! Raven Stole The Moon is actually Garth's debut novel originally published in 1998! We're all very lucky that it's been re-released by Harper Collins!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!