Pleasant Day

Pleasant Day is Southern fiction, published in 2015, the eighth novel by author Vera Jane Cook.  I chose to read this book because I'm drawn in by the idea of this geographical genre, which has captured my imagination.  This story is set in a small town in South Carolina, Hollow Creek.

This novel is the story of Pleasant Day, a girl growing up in Hollow Creek.  Fifteen years old and pretty, she is starting to be noticed by the teenage boys in town, including Angus and Bodean.  Pleasant's very close to her father, who she loves in spite of his imperfections (I thought less of him, because he cheats on his wife), and would like to feel closer to her mother, Martha, who seems to favor Sawyer, Pleasant's handsome, older brother.  Pleasant has just learned that her one armed best friend, Millie Grady, has been killed, and that the girl's dead body was discovered  in the box-spring mattress of her friend, John Peter Clottey.  Pleasant is very distraught.  She doesn't think that John Peter killed her; she thinks he's a gentle and sensitive boy, who wouldn't hurt a fly (or kill a frog without undue anguish), and desperately wants to talk to him to find out what happened.

"I wanted to see John Peter real bad, get the story straight from the horse's mouth about poor Millie Grady's dead body showing up in his box-spring.  He'd never paid any attention to her.  He wasn't one of those goons that made fun of her either."
~ Pleasant Day, Vera Jane Cook

Soon after receiving the news about Millie, Pleasant is riding her bike on a summer day when she crashes into sixty-year-old Clarissa Blackwell, not far from The Fine Fettle café in Hollow Creek.  Clarissa notices Pleasant's strong resemblance to her goddaughter, Chloe, who had been killed many years earlier.  Clarissa possesses some unique psychic abilities, and senses that this meeting is somehow meaningful.  This is the beginning of a relationship between Pleasant and Clarissa, and a very absorbing novel.

Pleasant is a terrific protagonist.  Smart, sensitive, and sassy, she cares about people, and she cares about knowing the truth.  She's determined to find out what happened to her friend, Millie, the girl who was killed.  In chapters headed by the names of the characters, the book is told in the first person by Pleasant, and also in the third person by Clarissa (there are a few other characters as well who are the focus of other chapters, toward the back of the book).  Pleasant Day is full of dialogue between various characters, informal and believable dialogue which seems natural, written the way people really speak (it includes some cursing).

This book held my unwavering attention.  It is charming, funny, and altogether fabulous. As I read Pleasant Day, I tried (unsuccessfully) to figure out who killed Millie (and there is another mystery that comes up as well).  The book features flawed characters and "messy" relationships, and has many references to sex, and violence, including bullying and murder, so it's most appropriate for mature readers.  Many of the characters are likable, including Pleasant and Clarissa, who share a love of literature.  Initially somewhat wary of Clarissa, Pleasant becomes more fond of her after she learns that Clarissa is a retired English teacher; they play Jeopardy with literature as the subject (this will resonate with readers as well).  Members of the Day family, Clarissa, the neighborhood boys, and other characters, are brought to life by the author's brilliant writing.

Pleasant Day is definitely a:

page-turn·er

(pāj′tûr′nər)n. Informal

A very interesting, exciting, or suspenseful book, usually a novel.

(From The Free Dictionary)

This was my first book by Vera Jane Cook, but it will not be my last.

Thanks to Teddy from Premier Virtual Author Book Tours for sending me a complimentary copy of Pleasant Day.  For more reviews and giveaways, please visit the other stops on Vera Jane Cook's Pleasant Day book tour.  Thanks for reading!  Have you read any books by this author?  I think I want to read The Story of Sassy Sweetwater next.  Your comments are welcomed.

On Surfing: A Guest Post by Holly Peterson, and a Giveaway

Holly Peterson is the author of the best-selling novel The Manny, published in 2007.  Last month, I participated in the cover reveal for her new book, The Idea of Him, and today I'm honored to feature her guest post on an unexpected topic.

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On Surfing: A Guest Post by Holly Peterson

Many people don’t know that I surf.  Or that I started when I was 42 years old.  It’s a pretty crazy story that is very much linked to my writing this book.  I have to go back and tell you in my thirties, like so many women, I was charging ahead at full speed and had very little time to reflect.  Now I understand that was intentional. Three kids, a horrible Manhattan renovation, a job working for a very demanding magazine, and a beautiful sister-in-law who was dying of breast cancer.  All at once.  I had no time to breathe let alone manage the sadness of Meredith being ill.

Instead, I rushed full speed ahead to just tap dance as best I could.  That August when Meredith was really dying and there was no denying it anymore, I got into the Atlantic Ocean on a clear day in Long Island, paddled out for a surf lesson, got pushed into a wave, and actually stood up on my first try.  It was just exhilarating.  I did it again, and again, and again.  And then I started going in every morning and afternoon to feel that rush…always with an instructor pushing me into waves which is fully cheating on a major level…but the point is I was standing on the board for maybe a dozen waves an hour and I didn’t care how I got in them, just that I was doing it.

I started to realize it wasn’t the surfing so much as the slowing down to reflect.  It was also the saltwater.  I believe saltwater heals.  I also think since we all came from water, that there’s something “amniotic” about floating around in water…yes, it feels like the womb somehow and we get very elemental out there in those waves.  Surfers are so nuts about their time in the water and I think it's some kind of magic nirvana out there we feel that is linked maybe 40% to the sport and 60% to the craving for the sloshing of the ocean around us.

In the water that summer, I started coming to terms with some very important things in my life.  How I needed to be on my own, how my marriage, while a great partnership, was not fulfilling either of us, how terrified I was of taking a leap out of it…all those fears and tears I put into a novel called, THE IDEA OF HIM.  It’s out this week and the protagonist Allie is facing a tough marriage, a possible divorce, a soul mate from her past who haunts her and a new sexy guy who taunts her…most of all, she’s dealing with trying to find happiness for herself.

Like so many women, Allie’s trying hard to make things work well for her family, but the stumbling blocks are just huge.  Her swirl of emotions, her escape from her past, her fears of being on her own…are not “mine” per se…but I know I created a relatable, likeable character in Allie that so many women out there will feel for and relate to and laugh and cry with…and root for and she finds strength to make some better choices for herself.  I hope everyone takes some time to reflect through sports or hobbies that they feel passionate about.

Holly, I sometimes kid around and say that I want to be a blond surfer in my next life--it sounds so appealing!  Whenever I spend time in the ocean, (which is not very often, even though I live in CA), I don't want to get out of the water, because it feels so incredible and natural to me (as it did when I was child).  Thank you for this guest post, and best of luck with your new book!

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Thanks to Teddy from Premier Virtual Authors Book Tours for including me on the tour for Holly Peterson's new novel, and to both Teddy and the author for offering a giveaway for one copy of The Idea of Him (U.S./Canada only).

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment. 
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower.
• For an additional chance, post about this contest on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

Enter by 5 PM PDT on Monday, April 21.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Tuesday, April 22.  Please visit the other stops on this book tour for The Idea of Him for reviews and other features.  Thanks for reading! 

The Idea of Him: Cover Reveal

The Idea of Him, the new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Manny, Holly Peterson, will be released on April 1.  The Idea of Him is women's fiction about "the dangers of falling for the idea of a person, and why facing reality is more liberating than we ever dreamed it could be" (description from the author's website).   I'm featuring the cover of this book as part of the The Idea of Him Virtual Author book tour.  I think it's a pensive and fitting cover.  What do you think?  Next month, I'll present a guest post by Holly Peterson.

Mr. Monk Helps Himself: Review and Giveaway

Have you met Monk yet?  This was my first meeting with detective Adrian Monk, "a brilliant San Francisco detective whose obsessive compulsive disorder just happens to get in the way". Published in the summer of 2013, Mr. Monk Helps Himself by Hy Conrad is a cozy mystery, the first novel in the series to be written by this author, who spent eight years writing for the Monk television series.  The book is set in San Francisco (one of my favorite cities), and is narrated by Monk's assistant, Natalie Teeger, who's studying for her PI license.

"Monk himself isn't a licensed PI.  For one thing, he's horrible at tests.  Not because of the questions, but because he has to sharpen and resharpen the pencil and then fill in every circle so that it's completely black and within the borders. So it's up to me to get the license and incorporate and make our business legit.  Monk and Tegger, Consulting Detectives."
~ Mr. Monk Helps Himself, Hy Conrad    

Natalie is at a Best Possible Me retreat when the leader, Miranda Bigley, suddenly jumps off a cliff.   Her death looks like suicide, but Natalie supects it's murder.  Adrian Monk is also at the self-help retreat at Half Moon Bay, to rescue Natalie from this apparent cult.  But Detective Monk, who suffers from OCD and has numerous issues with cleanliness, aardvarks, and other things, is mostly concerned about helping the SFPD solve the case of a murder of a clown, even though he suffers from intense coulrophobia, the fear of clowns.

My first impression of the Monk series is quite a favorable one.  The title of this book is perfect, Hy Conrad's writing seems effortless, and the book is funny and riveting.  I loved the humor that runs through the book, which brings us Monk's obsession with cleaning light bulbs, and a shop named Poop on Union Street, although the book has an affecting, underlying sadness as well, because Monk's wife, Trudy, was killed by a car bomb, which remains a devastating, unsolved murder.  We have empathy for Monk, who was fired from the SFPD when his fears grew disabling, and hired back four years later as a consulting detective because of his keen ability to solve perplexing cases.

Although I like to figure things out myself whenever I read a mystery, perhaps most importantly, I've rediscovered something else--cozy mysteries are fun and entertaining!  At least, good ones are.  Additionally, Mr. Monk Helps Himself sparked my interest in watching the TV series, which I'd heard of but have never seen.  (Naturally, I turned to Wikipedia for help in this area.)  Monk (2002 - 2009; eight seasons) is an American detective television series created by Andy Breckman, starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk.  Having read this one book, I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy watching the TV series as well, largely because the characters, especially Natalie, Monk, Ellen, and Devlin, are great.  By this I mean that they're quirky and caring and likable; I'm eager to see these mysteries enacted (and I love another TV mystery series, The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series).  I truly enjoyed reading this comedic yet heatrending mystery novel.  More Monk, please!

Wonderful news!  Author Hy Conrad is generously offering a copy of Mr. Monk Helps Himself as a giveaway to one randomly chosen reader.  This giveaway is international (U.S./Canada, choice of print or ebook; ebook elsewhere)!

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment. 
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower.
• For an additional chance, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 
• Have you read other Monk books, or watched the TV show?  If so, leave a comment about this for an additional entry.

Enter by 5 PM PDT on Thursday, October 10.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Friday, October 11.  Good luck!

Thanks to Teddy from Premier Virtual Author Book Tours for sending me a complimentary copy of this mystery novel.  I am the last stop on this book tour.  For more reviews and giveaways, please visit the other stops on the Mr. Monk Helps Himself book tour.

Tim Rowland's Creature Features

Animal, vegetable, or mineral?  In this case, it's animal, animal, and animal.

Tim Rowland has written for magazines and news syndicates nationwide, and is an award-winning columnist at the Herald-Mail Media in Hagerstown, Maryland, a newspaper that serves cities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Tim Rowland's Creature Features is a collection of over 75 of his animal essays dated from 2008 through 2012, originally published in the newspaper.  Dedicated to the very animals he writes about, these essays focus on a variety of animals, pets owned by Tim and his wife, Beth, and the many farm animals the couple add to their menagerie.  We meet numerous animals, many with ridiculously cute names, such as the belted cows Cleopatra and Heifertiti, goats Hillary and Horsefly, Chuckles the rooster, Juliet the Siamese cat, Beth's beloved bulldog, Hannah, Opie the Bouvier des Flandres, and other creatures including donkeys, pigs, horses, chickens, geese, and turkeys (who assault Clorox Bleach bottles).

Ha, ha, ha....

No, I'm not laughing at my own jokes, I'm thinking about the hilarious writing in this book.  I could just tell you this book is funny, that I laughed out loud countless times while reading Creature Features.  While I don't live in "The Show Me State" (Missouri, for those of you who are interested), showing you what I mean is probably a better idea, so I've chosen some examples to share with you.  I've only included a few "funny lines" (because I don't want to get in trouble), but these will give you a taste of the humor prevalent in these animal stories.  Without further ado, here are some "funny lines" from the book:

Essence of bovinity something to chew on

April 27, 2009 

"I happen to have two cows at the moment, Cleopatra and Heifertiti, whose genetic makeup would likely show that they evolved from the Marx Brothers."

Pants on the trees keep water in the trough

August 3, 2009

"Cappy did her best to wave it off, but the moment was clearly awkward.  When a horse feels embarrassed for you, something's seriously amiss."

Pigs have to be hogtied for photo session

May 4, 2011

"I don't know how many marriages break up over swine photography, but if a couple can make it through a session of pig picture-taking, as required by national registries, they are on solid footing indeed."


What do you think?  These are darn funny, if you ask me. They cracked me up.  The humor starts with the names of the stories (previously columns), and continues throughout them.  Like Tim and Beth, I like animals a great deal, but their antics can be quite funny, especially when recounted by a talented storyteller.  In one of the stories, Tim mentions a word he heard used by a judge to describe a dairy goat at an agricultural fair, 'overconditioned', a euphemism for the word 'fat'.  This story immediately brought to mind a photo I took of a cow in jeans by artist Jean Wells Hamerslag, from my cow blog (yes, I have a cow blog), La Vache Intéressante, to which I added a caption.

Do these pants make me look overconditioned?

Because of Tim's dog, Opie, I became interested in the dog breed Bouvier des Flandres.  I found this adorable picture and a good description on--where else?--Wikipedia.  Ronald Reagan's dog, Lucky, was a Bouvier des Flandres. And although Tim says that Opie is a bit too happy and spirited, this breed sounds wonderful to me; they are described as gentle yet protective dogs on Wikipedia.

Bouvier des Flandres, courtesy of Wikipedia

As mentioned before, I like animals, but I worried that it might get monotonous to read story after story about them.  To my amazement, though, I didn't get tired of reading all of these stories about them, because the various animals came to life, and their personalities and antics kept me entertained.  I read one story after the next over the course of a couple of days, and was sorry when the book ended.  In case you couldn't tell (or just skipped to this part of my review), I enjoyed Tim Rowland's Creature Features very much.  Infused with humor, it's a pleasure to read about the animals at the "Little Farm by the Creek".  I'd like to also read Tim Rowland's earlier book, All Pets are Off, as well as his newspaper columns.

Thanks to Teddy from Premier Virtual Authors Book Tours for sending me a complimentary copy of Tim Rowland's Creature Features.  For other reviews of this book, and a few giveaways for it, please visit the other stops on this book tour.

Your comments are welcomed.

Update, March 12:  All Pets are Off is now available for the Kindle.