The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

Its not that often that you come across a book that is just fun to read.  Its interesting and well told, doesn't require changing your mind about anything, you are transported someplace else, and there's no serious violence or controversy to make you cringe.  Its just a great story told by a talented author.  The Art Forger is just that book.

B.A. Shapiro lands us in the cut throat world of the high end art business where talent is king and ego is the name of the game.  We follow Claire, a young struggling artist who has been wronged by the gallery set and is asked  by an influential owner to copy a notorious painting for good money and a one woman show at his Boston gallery.  The painting was one of the 13 stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 in a now infamous and unsolved case where the brazen thieves dressed as police officers broke into the museum in the middle of the night, tied up the guards  and stole $500 million in paintings.  Among the paintings was a Vermeer, two Rembrandts, five Degas drawings, and a Manet.  Claire, who has been copying paintings for an online copy house, has become quite good at copying Degas, and is asked to copy his After the Bath II.  Aiden, the gallery owner assures her that there is no way for her to get in trouble, as he is poised to sell the copy to one of his Mideastern collectors and will return the original to the Gardner.  What follows is an intricate story of art and forgery, complete with detailed painting techniques, dusty archives, secret rooms and the FBI.

What makes this book so much fun is the details.  The story is well crafted and interesting.  Shapiro has really done her homework and understands Claire's world of pigments, chemicals, collectors and ambition.  She has obviously studied the processes that forgers use to copy great old works of art and how they negotiate the art world to be successful.  She certainly knows a whole lot about Degas and his painting techniques, Isabella Gardner and her collection, and the heist that remains perhaps the most famous unsolved art theft in history.  All that detail supports a great story with a likable but somewhat naive character who finds herself plopped right in the middle of a dark and dangerous world of international art forgery.

This book could have been light and trite had a different author had the helm.  I am intrigued with books about art and artists. I've read quite a few, and many come off as simplistic; the starving artist, the powerful gallery owner and the bad guys who are always on the fringes of any market that deals in millions. Without the detail and the insider's view into a mostly closed and interesting world, the story could have been just another art book, but in fact Shapiro made it believable.  She is deft at creating complicated characters that move in unexpected ways. Plot twists engendered great suspense with a big payoff in the end.  Most art books are written about the New York City Art world.  I think an unintended consequence of writing about the Gardner heist is that, for once we're reading about Boston, a new twist on an old theme.

Coincidentally, as I was beginning to read The Art Forger, the news came out that the FBI thinks that they have identified the thieves in the real Gardner Museum heist.  While they won't reveal names at this point, it is thought that they have ties to Whitey Bulger and Boston Irish mob.  Even having identified the criminals, they have yet to actually recover any of the stolen paintings. Thirteen years later, the case is still considered unsolved.

I wouldn't say that The Art Forger was a deep and meaningful novel.  It didn't change my life or tell the great American story, but it did engross and entertain me for a few days.  When I finished it, I turned to my husband and said "Boy was that fun!".  If you're reading for entertainment, then what better way to feel when you read the last page.  Bravo Ms. Shapiro!

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

True Confessions:  I love Barbara Kingsolver.  I love her stories, her characters and her subject matter.  I buy her books in hard copy when they are first released.  Her novel "The Poisonwood Bible" is among my top ten books of all time.  I even loved "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", her collection of essays about the joys of eating close to home and supporting local farms.  I love Barbara Kingsolver.  With that in mind, I'd like to have loved her newest novel, "Flight Behavior" but I really didn't.

When I bought the book I was so excited to read it.  Its about a young mother in the mountains of Virginia, who stumbles upon an environmental disaster waiting to happen.  Monarch butterflies that usually famously overwinter in the mountains of Mexico, suddenly change their roosting place and move to the Virginian mountains instead.  Scientists gather in a race against the weather to find out why they have moved, sure that snow and freezing temperatures will kill off what they believe is the entirety of the North American monarch population before they can breed and start their migration back in the spring.  The small town where the woman lives is turned upside down as the media, the scientific community, and a host of monarch spectators descend upon the mountain.  Enter a mysterious and exotic scientist, in laws from hell and a sweet but simple best friend, and the story takes off.  The woman is transformed by the butterfly happening and soon finds herself at a crossroads in her life.  Those of you who know me would immediately think that I'd have this book perched on the top of the pile of books eagerly waiting the opportunity to read it.  But in fact it was a chore to finish.

Kingsolver likes to explore social issues in her novels; Native American parentage, missionaries in indigineous culture, environmental and political issues to name a few.  She is outspoken about social change and for that I applaud her.  She has a science background and her husband is a biologist by trade, so environmental issues like climate change are no great stretch for her.  But here's where it went wrong for me.

Flight Behavior is pedantic and preachy.  Her characters are cutouts of real people and their story just doesn't ring true for me.  I felt like Kingsolver took a speech that she or her husband gave about climate change, with key points and issues, and crafted characters to say her words and illustrate the points.  She hit every one. Her characters are stereotypical and their words sound as if they are parroting what the scientific community is telling us about the issue. Not that the message doesn't need to be told, but I would expect a more creative treatment; one with more finesse than what Kingsolver gave us.  In the telling of the story, the local mountain folks are painted as dumb hicks from the back country, an (I'm sure) unintended consequence of the stark contrast between locals and the scientific elite. Frankly, her portrayal of these people was depressing and sad.  Reading it each night proved to be a downer, not an interesting and enlightening experience.

Now, for the record, I am an environmental education professional in my real life, so I have heard the climate change rhetoric for years.  I know the key points and have taught about the issue for the better part of 30 years in one form or another.  So maybe reading this book felt a little like a bus man's holiday for me, but I was saddened to think about those that don't believe and needed to hear the issue spelled out, because I think they got a school house lesson thinly veiled as a novel.  Even the end was not as satisfying as it could have been.  I'm not sure that this approach is one that will entertain people and take them on a ride that will help them understand and change their views, but will give them the feeling of being hit over the head with a two by four until they get it.

Come on Barbara, teach if you want, but don't put away your beautiful storytelling skills while you do it.  They are what engender more understanding than a lecture.  You're better than that.

Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill

I was going to write about another book today, but when I sat down to do it, I couldn't remember the title, just that I didn't like it much.  So I decided that it wasn't really worth writing about if I couldn't even remember the title not 3 weeks after I finished it. 

Instead I wanted to tell you about another book that I read a few weekends ago.  Someone Knows My Name is an epic tale of Aminata, a young African girl who is kidnapped from her village in 1757 and sold into the US slave trade.  She survives the grueling trip aboard a slave ship to be sold onto a South Carolina indigo plantation.  Eventually she is bought by an indigo inspector who takes her to New York City where she eventually escapes and hooks up with abolitionists who take her to Nova Scotia, Sierra Leone and eventually to England to testify in Parliament against slavery. 

It’s a gripping tale.  I started it on Saturday morning and by about 1:00 that day I was already to page 104.  I didn't want to put it down.  Aminata’s life is interesting and action packed and tragic and reads a little like an overview illustration of the slave trade and practices that were so abundant in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries.  It was a topical book to read during February when we celebrate Black History Month. 

The story is simply written and well drawn so it moves and reads easily.  In fact if not for the blatant violence and somewhat lurid sexual overtones, it might read a little like a Young Adult novel. Imagine “Roots For Girls”.  It was a fun read, something to lose yourself in on a cold rainy weekend.  Even with all the history I've learned and the historical fiction I've read, I was introduced to some new parts of the slave story and gained a new insight on what that journey would have been like for a young woman. 

After the Revolutionary War, the British Government offered those black people who fought or supported their side, the opportunity for freedom and a new start in Nova Scotia.  Runaway slaves and freed blacks were registered in the Book of Negroes, a registry of sympathizers and, with the promise of land ownership, were systematically sent by ship up the coast to Nova Scotia to start over.  Of course the promises were never really fulfilled and the land and climate was such that farming was virtually impossible, so many came back or moved elsewhere.  A group of British abolitionists convinced some of those who were disillusioned to travel back to Africa and begin a colony in Freetown Sierra Leone, right in the backyard of the center of the slave trade.  Its not hard to imagine why that wasn’t such a good idea.  Aminata’s life chronicles these footnotes of history and gives a voice to those who made these amazing journeys. 

My only complaint with the novel was that Aminata’s story is a little coincidental. Some reviewers likened her character to an 18^th century Oprah.  She’s just a little too talented and fortunate.  She reads and writes, can translate two African languages, is a talented midwife and healer, speaks well in public, can set type and edit, keep books and write law and survives four long ocean voyages. She even is the scribe for the Book of Negroes.  There’s really nothing she can’t do.  But then again, her story is meant to be extraordinary. 

What struck me as brilliance is the level of detail with which Lawrence Hill writes Aminata’s story.  He must have employed an army of researchers to fact check every detail that lends the color and atmosphere to the book.  He really knows his stuff.  Son of two Canadian civil rights activists, Hill has the perspective and understanding of his subject matter that comes from being around it his whole life.  He is a talented storyteller and understands how to hook a reader and keep them interested throughout the whole book while learning something along the way.

So on these cold and rainy March weekends, give yourself a treat and pick up Someone Knows My Name.  Light a fire in the fireplace, curl up on the couch with some snacks and a warm drink and dig in.  You won’t be sorry you did.

Don't Miss Laura Lippman

The Most Dangerous Thing

by Laura Lippman

Its appropriate that, the week that the Baltimore Ravens will take the field at the Super Bowl, I should write about a true daughter of Baltimore, Laura Lippman. Over the weekend, I finished one of her recent books, The Most Dangerous Thing and realized that I'd never written about her.  She's one of my favorites.

Lippman started her career as a journalist at the Baltimore Sun  and began writing crime novels while she worked there.  I started reading her mysteries years ago.  They are good stories, set in Baltimore with a female hero and lots of plot twists and character.  I have enjoyed these books and liked the way she writes. If you haven't tried them, you should.  Then in 2003, Ms. Lippman began writing stand alone books - ones not in the Tess series - and that's when she really started to shine for me.

The Most Dangerous Thing is about a group of preteens who become fast friends and roam the vast wooded park near their home in Dickeyville, the Baltimore neighborhood where Lippman grew up.  As they approach high school, the kids are part of an event that becomes the secret that changes their lives and those of their parents.  Fast forward to present day when the kids are now in their 40's and one of them is killed in a car wreck (possible suicide) and they all meet again at the funeral.  Eventually the story of that fateful night unfolds.  The story and its characters keeps you engaged and Lippman creates a tension and suspense that keeps you reading and makes your stomach hurt at the same time.

Instead of telling the story in a linear fashion, Lippman tells it from different points of view. First the kids, both young and middle aged, then the parents, both in flashback and present day. In this format, the reader can see how the story unfolded in the way that it did, with innocent kids and self absorbed, closed mouthed parents.   Lippman is a master of character who understands the way people think and how their life changes in different stages.  You really understand their motivations, their sorrows and their reasons for acting the way they do.  She breathes life into the story and gives insight into how the events of the novel proceed.  Since the novel is set in 1979 and 1980, it helped me consider those women of my parent's age who had teenagers on the cusp of the equal rights movement while they came of age without the benefits that their daughters enjoyed.  An interesting perspective on my mother and her friends and sets up a dynamic that makes me think of my relationship to my own preteen daughter.

Baltimore is a weird place.  For those of you who don't know it well, it is a dichotomy of old world class and campy funky kitsch. Its gritty and cultured at the same time. Think a mixture of "Homicide Life on the Streets", "Hairspray" and "Accidental Tourist" rolled into one.  People who live there love their town, their sports teams and their landscape.   One of the fun parts of the novel for me is that Ms. Lippman is obsessive about placing her characters in Baltimore.  She names real streets, restaurants, landmarks and places them in historical context.  Full disclosure here - My husband is from Baltimore and so I've spent some time there.  His family still lives there and I hear a lot about the places and events that happen there.

So, as you settle in this weekend to get ready to watch the Ravens beat the 49ners, you can augment your Super Bowl experience by delving into the one of Laura Lippman's books to steep yourself in the world of Baltimore.  Snuggle up, have a beer and some cheese dip while you read and you might even be able to skip the game.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

One of 2012's "it" books was Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. I saw a lot of folks reading it around the pool and at the beach.  I put it on my hold list at the library and found that I was like 56th in line. Definitely a popular book.

A few weeks ago, I saw the author interviewed on Face the Nation and decided to go ahead and take the plunge.  The story was touted as "gripping" and "a thriller" and she was an interesting interviewee.  The premise for the book was vague though, and now I see why.

Don't get me wrong, its a good book; it keeps your interest and you want to find out what happens in the end. Its a story about a young couple who move from New York City to Missouri to take care of the husband's ailing father. One day he comes home to a wrecked living room and a missing wife.  He calls the cops and an intricate police investigation begins.  The husband is put directly in the police cross hairs as the missing person case morphs into a murder investigation.  

Pretty straightforward, one would think.  However, the story takes many twists and turns, unveiling the couple's dark past and a plethora of really nasty dysfunctions that make The Real Housewives look like a bunch of June Cleavers.  

I like mysteries, especially ones with surprises and this didn't disappoint.  The story followed the husband and wife, not the traditional police detective, and was more about their relationship than the investigation.  It was well written and plotted.  But about two thirds of the way through the book. I realized that I really hated both of the main characters.  They were miserable!  Both of them had mountains of emotional baggage and their marriage was built on lies and misdeeds.  I didn't care if they made it through the story.  I would have been just as happy if they offed each other and therefore were unable to breed successfully. The only thing I cared about was that they didn't bring children into such a toxic environment.

In the end, I got to wondering.  What makes this book so popular?  Why did it gain such popularity that it was added to almost all of the "Best of 2012" lists?  What does this say about our society?  I would venture to say that all popular mysteries investigate the depravity of our society - I have no problem with that. A voyeuristic glimpse into the dark side of suburbia can be fun. This seemed different because it was depraved, but within everyday limits and the outcome did not provide a good verses evil closure, but a evil verses pathetic one. Miserable!  Had the premise been more illustrative, I think I would have stayed away.

Maybe that's the trick that Ms. Flynn's publisher played on us. They hooked us with a vague story line, when once started, was gripping enough to be hard to put down, even though you wanted to.  Kind of like a train wreck, you didn't want to look, but you couldn't look away.  In this case, the train wrecked, and those that walked away were not the ones we care about.

Book Addict's Best Books of 2012

One of my first posts on this blog was my recap of the best books of 2011.  Since it was the most popular post of the year, it is evident that it should become an annual event.  Every year, I keep a log of how many books I read and, on a very rudimentary scale, I rate the ones I liked the best.  By the way, if you don't keep track of your reading obsession, you might try it this year. Its really helpful when you're buying gifts or can't remember the name of a book in conversation and its fun to look back and remember all the books that you read.  So this year, I read 33 books, mostly fiction plus one classic, one story collection and two memoirs.  Here are my top rated books for the year.

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier

This is about a woman living a solitary existence in the mountains of North Carolina when she is visited by social services and asked to raise her murdered sister's twins.  Set in the early 60's this book is reminiscent of a time long gone before internet and mass media when people lived more simply.  Frazier knows his mountains and the people who live there and he weaves a beautiful story that gives us a glimpse inside their lives.  Reviewed in April

Running the Rift by Naomi Beneron

A gripping and beautiful story about war torn Rwanda - not what you'd expect. About a young man who is training as an Olympic long distance runner.  Its about his coming of age in a world full of chaos, and the political hopes that are placed squarely on his shoulders.  I thought I'd hate the story about the 1996 fratricidal war in Rwanda, but in fact I loved it, especially as it was a summer Olympic year.  It made me thoughtfully consider the athletes from small African countries and what they went through to get to London.  Quite possibly the best read of 2012.  Don't miss it.  Reviewed in May

In One Person by John Irving

John Irving always gets my vote.  He's talented and interesting and ALWAYS takes his readers places that they never thought they'd go.  This one is no exception.  A gorgeous book about sexuality of all kinds.  Irving allows us to follow a bisexual man through his life from adolescence through adulthood, full of quirky characters, poignant plot lines and an exploration of what tolerance really means. I've read all of Irving's work and loved them all.  Reviewed in June

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Here's an unexpected one.  The Dog Stars is a post apocolyptic story set in the near future after a terrible epidemic has swept through the world, killing most of the people.  I know, I see the words "post apocolyptic" and my eyes glaze over, but this was one wonderful read.  We follow an airplane pilot and his dog as they search for other survivors and begin to start living with compassion and love again.  Thought I'd hate it, but couldn't believe how much I liked it.  Action packed, sad, happy and hopeful all at once.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides

Based on Victorian romance novels, the story is about a modern day love triangle.  Its an uber character study, rich with detail and voice.  The story follows Madeline, Mitchell and Leonard from college days through young marriage as they grow up, graduate, marry and find out who they really are.  Since I read it, I have heard that some people loved this one and some hated it.  I happen to be in the first category.  Reviewed in February

The Book of Joe by Jonathon Tropper

I love when I get introduced to a new author.  This year, I started reading Tropper, a sarcastic and funny author who writes like many of us think.  This one is about a young writer who writes a scathing book about the small hometown he has escaped from.  The problem is that he has to go back and face the town as he takes care of his ailing father. A great book about guys and friendships, I started my husband reading Tropper and he likes him too.  Reviewed in June

Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Jazz in Berlin on the eve of World War II.  African American musicians who go to Europe to escape the American Jim Crow laws get caught up in the racism of Nazi Germany.  Its a book about friendship and forgiveness and age.  This is one of the hidden jewels of the year, a gripping novel about this little known substory of World War II.  Really interesting characters and something about the war that I didn't know.  I have recommended it to my book group this year.  I think we'll have lots to talk about.

So there you have it.  The List of 2012.   

I hope you find something you haven't read and or be reminded of something you wanted to read all along.  Happy New Year!

The Future of Book Addict

When I started this blog a year ago, it was a great experiment.  I told myself I'd blog for a year and see what happened.  Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but hoped that I'd be able to interact with people about one of my great passions in life.  A year later, I look back and reflect, not sure how to proceed in 2013.

I started out strong and initially enjoyed the experience of reading and thinking about the books in a way that I could write about.  I looked for meaning in my books and thought about them in interesting and sometimes new ways.  I liked the idea of talking to people about the books I love.  Initially it was fun to watch the follower count grow and get some comments.

But by fall, my interest began to wain.  Sometimes I found that I didn't have much to say about a book.  It was ok, some people might like it, but I didn't have much to report.  Maybe it was just a cookie bookie, a filler book to cleanse my pallet from a more difficult read, or maybe it was really straight forward and didn't lend itself to discussion all that well.  I like letting others know about a fun read or a great author, but sometimes I read the same author several books in a row and don't have much new to say. I also found that I read differently - more publicly when I knew I had to blog about it.  I found myself choosing books with more awareness to what my readers might like or changing genres so that I wasn't telling about the same kind of books each time.  Frankly it started to feel more like work and not so much like fun so I quit blogging for a while.  I felt like I was writing an assignment out there that nobody read or was much interested in.

Well, now its a year later and I'm trying to decide what to do about this blog.  Do I continue or do I shut it down?  My audience is small, I'd like it to be bigger. I sort of thought it might take on a life of its own...it hasn't.  Do I still want to review the books I read, or would it be better to fade off into the blogisphere.

I hadn't looked at the blog for a while, and so today I decided to check and see what was happening there.  Surprisingly I had some page views today, As I look back at what I've read, its fun to see what I have written about and remember how excited I was to review.  Several of my friends mentioned the blog over the Holidays and said how much they like it and have read an unexpected jewel because of it. So with trepidation, I think I will continue....with some changes.

This year, I won't be assigning myself to writing about every book I read, but the ones that are particularly good, bad or thought provoking.  The reviews won't be as long unless they need to be, and may not include a complete plot summary - gets boring and book report-y.  You will still get my unvarnished opinion, and I still will review books that I hated as well as those that I liked.  The point is to help you find some great reads you might not know about and save you from some bad ones.

Finally dear reader, Some of this depends on you.  Writing without feedback is really hard and not particularly rewarding.  If you agree (or don't agree) with what I've written, please let me know.  Instigating discussion was a big part of my mission here, and with a few exceptions, there hasn't been much.  If you have any suggestions or ideas about how to make the blog better, let me know too.  I'm new to this, and am not sure how to get the word out better.  If you'd like to hear more about a particular subject or kind of book or if you want to suggest a book, let me know. Spread the word.  The more people we have here the better.  Invite your book group members, friends and other bookies.  Let's see what we can do together.

Now Let's ring in 2013 and see what reading adventures are in store for us.  Happy New Year!