Sin In The Second City

I love Chicago! I consider it the most AMAZING city in the United States. Whether you’re into the arts, history, shopping, cuisine or sports, it can be found in The Windy City, all served up with genuine Midwestern hospitality (NYC and LA should take a page out of the how-to-be-awesome Chicago handbook!). So, when I received Sin in the Second City as a gift, I couldn’t wait to jump right in.

The book revolves around Minna and Ada Everleigh and the upscale brothel they opened in Chicago in the early 1900s. These Southern sisters were true marketing geniuses, knowing that if you had the best—attractive prostitutes, decadent food and drink, musical entertainment and beautiful décor—you could charge a fortune for the privilege of enjoying everything the Everleigh Club had to offer. Minna and Ada, unlike their rivals, seemed to know the secret of how to properly treat employees, customers and politicians to ensure their establishment maintained a reputation as the crème de la crème of whorehouses in the city’s Levee district. And these ladies were laughing all the way to the bank. Like the Donald Trump of madams, it is alleged the Everleighs amassed a fortune worth nearly $20 million by today’s standards. Crazy!

While I don’t read much non-fiction, the first half of the book provided intriguing, well-researched accounts of the corruption among the city’s leaders, the cut-throat competition between the madams, the profession itself and, of course, the infamous Everleigh sisters. Unfortunately, the second half of the book focused almost exclusively on the crusade by religious activists to abolish the sex trade, not only in Chicago but across the country. With their claims that young women didn’t become prostitutes by choice but rather were forced into the profession (it was labeled “white slavery” by religious zealots), Reverend Ernest Bell and his followers worked tirelessly to shut down the red-light district of Chicago. By this point in the book, Karen Abbott’s tone came across just a bit too preachy for my liking and my interest was waning. While I’m not trying to lessen the seriousness of human trafficking, this book left me annoyed that some people just aren’t content unless they’re ruining the fun for others. 

Speaking from Among the Bones

My favorite little sleuth is back! Flavia de Luce is up to her old tricks in the fifth book of this series—stumbling upon yet another murder! It’s springtime and the sleepy little town of Bishop’s Lacey is preparing to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of its patron saint, Saint Tancred. However, the celebration is nearly derailed when the church’s beloved organist is found murdered.

As usual, the charming, quirky Flavia must use her powers of deduction to help Inspector Hewitt (much to his chagrin) solve the crime. The story is filled with a sprinkling of Flavia’s love of poisons, a continued disdain for her two older sisters and a (very!) surprise ending.

Alan Bradley has created a wonderfully original series that is a joy to read. It’s too bad that he’s only planned six books in the series because there’s a lot of potential for this precocious 12-year-old. So, even if “detective/crime” books aren’t really your thing, I think these books might surprise you. Start with the first in the series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and I think you’ll be hooked!

Dancing for Degas

When I read a review of this book, I was intrigued at the possible similarities to one of my favorite novels, Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier. As a fan of historical fiction, my interest was piqued by the book’s premise: Alexandrie, a young French farm girl, lands a coveted spot as a ballerina with the celebrated Paris Opera ballet, a role that will allow her to create a beautiful new life for herself and provide financial support for her family.

Once in the City of Lights, Alexandrie works hard to impress the ballet master and unwittingly becomes a muse for French artist Edgar Degas, a frequent patron of the ballet. Performing in the Paris Opera comes with a price, however, and the “extracurricular” life these girls must lead is often an unseemly one.

This story, filled with love, art and dreams, sounds promising, right? Unfortunately, author Kathryn Wagner hasn't created one likable character. From Alexandrie’s selfish mother to the vapid dancers to the narcissistic male suitors lining up in the Green Room after each performance, there’s not one redeeming character in the entire novel. Yawn.

That said, avoid this book and pick up a copy of the aforementioned Girl with a Pearl Earring instead. 

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

To say this book is quirky would be an understatement! I had no idea that author Maria Semple was a writer for Arrested Development, one of my all-time favorite television shows, until I had finished the book; probably why I enjoyed the writing style so much. Anyway, titular character Bernadette Fox is a legendary Los Angeles architect with a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (or a “Genius Grant”) to her credit. After a complete project meltdown, she and hubby Elgin Branch (a rising star in the field of artificial intelligence at Microsoft) move to Seattle, a city that Bernadette loathes, and things go from bad to worse. The couple’s smarty-pants daughter, Bee, is enrolled in a hilariously depicted private school, complete with hyper-involved parents that Bernadette avoids like the plague (and refers to simply as “gnats”). Some of the book’s most ridiculous and laugh-out-loud moments involve interactions with fellow mom, neighbor and nemesis Audrey, the bane of Bernadette’s existence.

As the family plans to travel to Antarctica, a reward for Bee acing her report card, Bernadette resorts to planning the entire trip with the help of a virtual assistant in India. Her email correspondence with the assistant is hysterical!

As the novel progresses, however, Bernadette becomes even more irrational and insular. Then she disappears. The desire to find out where Bernadette went kept me up late turning the pages, even though the storyline lost a bit of steam.

All in all, if you’re looking for an amusing, clever read, this is the book for you!

The Snow Child

The Snow Child is a remarkable blending of an old fairy tale and a modern story of love, longing and loneliness. Add to that a picturesque Alaskan wilderness shortly after World War I and you have the recipe for a beautiful debut novel. 

The story revolves around middle-aged Jack and Mabel, who left a comfortable life in Pennsylvania to escape the sorrow over the stillbirth of their only child ten years prior. I personally fail to see the enjoyment of becoming a homesteader in Alaska, but that’s just me!

One night, on a whim, the two fashion a snow girl, complete with scarf, mittens and berry-stained lips. The next morning, their creation has been reduced to a simple lump of snow, the scarf and mittens nowhere to be found. During the next several days, Jack and Mable spot a small, blonde girl at the edge of the woods near their home. They see footprints in the snow. None of the townsfolk, however, have any knowledge of a young child living in the area. And what’s more, no one seems to believe the “child” is even real. How could she possibly survive in such harsh conditions?

Eventually, husband and wife form a relationship with this undomesticated, quite possibly otherworldly child, and a magical tale unfolds.

Eowyn Ivey has taken her love for Alaska and written a book that skillfully contrasts beauty and austerity, joy and tragedy. I must say that in order to really love this book, a reader must be willing to suspend disbelief. If you do, you’ll experience something enchanting from the first page to the last.

The Night Circus

How do I even begin to describe this book? Enchanting. Stunning. Ethereal. All words that come to mind. The Night Circus is magical realism at its best, and Erin Morgenstern has created a fantastic adventure that reads like a dream, carefully constructed of magic and intrigue. She has a brilliant imagination.

The primary story line revolves around Marco and Celia, two magicians who, unbeknownst to them, are pawns in a fascinating game of cat-and-mouse. While there are several additional story lines, this is the most captivating. And, as the title indicates, everything takes place among the setting of the night circus (Le Cirque des Rêves), one of the most original creations I think I’ve ever encountered.

From the vividly striped black and white tents that seem to appear out of thin air at night to the colorful, well-defined cast of characters and their spellbinding performances, Morgenstern proves a master at creating mesmerizing images that leave you wondering how any of this is even possible. Her writing blurs the line between what’s real and what isn’t while providing a nice dose of sensory overload!

Thanks to my mom for suggesting this crazy good book. And even though it was a tad too long for my short attention span, I promise it will not be a read you soon forget. I also hear a movie is in the works, which, with the right director and cast, should be absolutely amazing! 

Life of Pi

In anticipation of the movie, I thought I would post my thoughts on Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, one of my all-time favorite books. I hope Director Ang Lee can do it justice on the big screen.

When sixteen-year-old Pi Patel’s family (his father is proprietor of the Pondicherry Zoo) decides to move from India to Canada and boards a Japanese cargo ship (with many of the zoo’s animals in cages below deck), the story that unfolds is an incredible, unnerving one. Only days into the journey, the ship sinks and leaves Pi the only survivor aboard a life boat with an ailing zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. How can Pi possibly survive?

But Life of Pi is not really about a young castaway and a tiger. Rather, it is an exploration of faith and tolerance. As Pi is set adrift (literally!) with only himself and God to chart the waters of survival, he must learn to live with Richard Parker, who represents all of life’s fears and challenges.

I loved this book because it leaves you asking a lot of questions. What actually happened on that life boat? Be warned that this is not a light read, especially the first section. But, I’d love to know what you think once you’ve had the chance to read this award-winning novel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.