Have you ever been to a Murder Mystery Weekend? In a charming location, far away from the maddening traffic? Somewhere with outstanding food, sticky buns and fried Snickers? If the answer is yes, then you must read Judy Fitzwater's charming romp of romance, murder, death, trust, betrayal, and ghosts.
If the answer is no, then run, don't walk, to your nearest computer and order Vacationing With The Dead. It is funny, sweet, engaging and downright enjoyable. The cast of characters Fitzwater introduces are delightfully wacky from Rex Ferris (the former computer animator struggling to manage the most outrageous troupe of actors you've ever met), to Talia East (a young career woman who will do almost anything to reach the next rung), to Bo Bristol (lawyer and Talia's sometime boyfriend, at least in his own mind), to Throckmorton, Symington P. (professional medium) and his sprite guide, Princess Falling Rain, to Nathaniel Ferris (Rex's great, great uncle) who started the whole circus by dying in the wrong place.
This is a light, fun read that is fast paced, always surprising and filled with LOL scenes. Really, pick up Vacationing With The Dead and you'll have the read of your life.
Four shining, gold stars.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Gone With The Wind, or GWTW as some call it, was Margaret Mitchell's first and only book. She won a Pulitzer for it. Maybe she figured she couldn't top that, so she stopped writing. Or, maybe she had just a single, huge, sweeping book in her.
I'm re-reading GWTW, mostly because I read a colleague's posts on Facebook about her impressions when reading the book for the first time. She'd seen the movie (who hasn't?) and thought it was about time to read the book. She hates Scarlett. Finds her immoral, sly, Machiavellian, and thoroughly unlikable.
I thought back to the first time I read GWTW. I was maybe 20. I'd seen the movie with my mother when I was 12 or so and had been overwhelmed by the scope and grandeur of the story. I do remember, even at that tender age, wondering why in the world Scarlett was in love with Ashley? OK, he's refined, handsome, gentle, learned, and sophisticated - everything Scarlett is not. Still haven't figured that one out completely. However, she couldn't have him, which made him even more attractive, especially to a very spoiled and very willful 16 year old (when the book begins). That emotion I understand.
But that doesn't really drive the story. It doesn't make Scarlett make the awful decisions she makes - I want to smack her and tell her to think before she does silly things, like marry Charles Hamilton. I mean, except for an attempt (failed, I might add) to spite Ashley, what did it get her?
She walks over, pushes aside, kicks away any thing and anyone who gets in her way. She is conniving, sly, selfish, and an altogether unlikable character. And yet we love the book. We love the way Mitchell gives voice to the dying South before and after the war and makes us realize what actually was lost in that conflict. As well as what was gained. Scarlett may have been born into a dying society, but unlike Ashley and Melanie, she adapts to the changes of war, loss, and sorrow with strength and drive. However, at the same time, she remains that young girl who could charm anyone and who can't seem to see why the few things and people she really loves leave her.
GWTW gets five stars even if I can't love the heroine.
I'm re-reading GWTW, mostly because I read a colleague's posts on Facebook about her impressions when reading the book for the first time. She'd seen the movie (who hasn't?) and thought it was about time to read the book. She hates Scarlett. Finds her immoral, sly, Machiavellian, and thoroughly unlikable.
I thought back to the first time I read GWTW. I was maybe 20. I'd seen the movie with my mother when I was 12 or so and had been overwhelmed by the scope and grandeur of the story. I do remember, even at that tender age, wondering why in the world Scarlett was in love with Ashley? OK, he's refined, handsome, gentle, learned, and sophisticated - everything Scarlett is not. Still haven't figured that one out completely. However, she couldn't have him, which made him even more attractive, especially to a very spoiled and very willful 16 year old (when the book begins). That emotion I understand.
But that doesn't really drive the story. It doesn't make Scarlett make the awful decisions she makes - I want to smack her and tell her to think before she does silly things, like marry Charles Hamilton. I mean, except for an attempt (failed, I might add) to spite Ashley, what did it get her?
She walks over, pushes aside, kicks away any thing and anyone who gets in her way. She is conniving, sly, selfish, and an altogether unlikable character. And yet we love the book. We love the way Mitchell gives voice to the dying South before and after the war and makes us realize what actually was lost in that conflict. As well as what was gained. Scarlett may have been born into a dying society, but unlike Ashley and Melanie, she adapts to the changes of war, loss, and sorrow with strength and drive. However, at the same time, she remains that young girl who could charm anyone and who can't seem to see why the few things and people she really loves leave her.
GWTW gets five stars even if I can't love the heroine.
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