Review of UNDERLYING NOTES by Eva Pasco

Reading Eva Pasco's novel about a woman's mid-life transition was, for me, engrossing, fascinating, and complex. It left me informed and deepened.

Carla Matteo worked with her husband Joe since their marriage, building a successful business together. But she chose to pursue the business, even after she had trained for a career of her own, because she made the personal decision to show her love by working along side Joe to grow his company; his dream.

With midlife, however, complexities arose: in marriage, in family secrets revealed, and in friendships. With Carla there was also a restlessness. Carla wasn't sure she wanted to live out the rest of her days without having explored her own dreams, her own career. And so she quit the business she had been such an integral part of, and began her adventure.

Carla's was an internal adventure, filled with nuances, layers, secrets revealed, and "underlying notes" - just like the array of perfumes she's collected, studied, and befriended since childhood. When Carla "takes to the bottle," she's talking about the perfume bottle!

I found Carla's story captivating, not just in its content, but also because of author Eva Pasco's talent. Pasco's writing is like the scented labyrinths of her perfumes - we are treated to different layers of the story at different times. And when a "note" - or a story segment - comes together, it's as if the last piece of a puzzle turns the fragments into a whole picture.

Like the many layers of a fine perfume, all the pieces of Carla's seemingly separate puzzles do come together - and we see, along with Carla, how her life makes sense, how her transition into her new life comes to be.

I love the almost poetic style of Eva's novel. I love the obsession with and references to the perfumes her character has loved and lived with throughout her life. And Eva skillfully weaves in captivating "notes" about many of the perfumes' origins and the details of their ingredients.

Eva's attention to detail, too, was almost life-changing for me. How her character Carla went about calmly and carefully solving the mysteries of her life was an inspiration.

The essence of Underlying Notes will stay with me always. I totally recommend it 100%

Review of RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles

What a wonderful writer Amor Towles is. I saw his Goodreads Live video, too, which added to the richness of his "voice".

And richness is what this book was all about, for me. The story, the characters, the descriptions - it was all textured and layered to the point where the scenes pop off the page and play themselves out like a movie.


(I guess I write short reviews. The book is a page-turner, I couldn't put it down, and finished it in about 2 days.)

Review of MR..PENUMBRA'S 24 HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan

Review 1 of 2: I'm only halfway through it but I had to post.

It's a joy to read Robin Sloan. He has "It": perfect plotting, delightful characters, 3-dimensional settings and descriptions, incredible wit and humor, and - for me the most important - a voice, an attitude, a way of being in the world that could be cynical but chooses not to be.

Sloan's metaphors are amazing. We all try to think up great metaphors, but Sloan's read smooth and easy, and at the same time surprise you to the point of having to re-read them just to experience their high again!

Will post more in a few days.

11/16/12 It's a few days later:

Loved it, voted for it for the Goodreads awards, am recommending it to all my friends. It was absolutely delightful, brilliantly crafted, and totally inspired. 

(c) 2016 Suzann Kale

Review of THE FEAR INDEX by Robert Harris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Robert Harris' THE FEAR INDEX was one of the most exciting books I've read. From the first paragraph, I was hooked - and I couldn't put it down until the last page. What a brilliant writer Mr. Harris is. He is able to keep the action going at a fast pace while still creating a 3-dimensional atmosphere. When he describes a place, I am there - I can feel myself in that place. It's quite amazing. I personally love to be transported when I read a novel, and I'm always looking to experience places, settings, moods. I like detail. I like lighting, weather, colors, spaces. To be able to keep a story moving without skimping on the details is quite a skill.

I'm not going to get into the plot, because there are layers upon layers of it, all possible "spoilers," but in general it's a story about technology and the world stock markets, and a guy who totally understood how to merge the two.

It was how I would define the genre "thriller." 

(c) 2015 Suzann Kale

Review: PROOF OF HEAVEN by Eben Alexander

The author describes his experience of life on the other side as "the perfect storm." A million details came together with stunning perfection. And because Eben Alexander is a neurosurgeon, his story is very much a bridge between science and spirituality.

I was very moved by the book and grateful to read of Dr. A.'s experience.

Review: ABSENCE FROM FELICITY: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles

This biography of Helen Schucman, the scribe for "A Course in Miracles," is absolutely riveting. Such a detailed accounting of Ms. Schucman's experience could only be written by someone who was there. Dr. Kenneth Wapnick was deeply embedded in the late Ms. Schucman's life, and his chronicling of the Course is, for me, an important addition to the Course itself. 

Despite its 511 pages of small type, filled with letters, conversations, important dates, notes, and pieces of Schucman's own unpublished autobiography, the book reads smoothly, because Dr. Wapnick is awesomely organized. I can't imagine putting together a book like this!

"Absence from Felicity" is packed with fascinating information - both about the Course and about Schucman's personal issues she faced while scribing this important work.

I'm so glad I "went for it." It deepened my understanding of the Course immensely.

(c) 2015 Suzann Kale

Review: Thirteen Ways of Looking

Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was a mysterious, dreamy, stream-of-consciousness that engaged me from page 1. The title novella, Thirteen Ways of Looking , told the story of a man's death, and yet through the brilliant narrative we learn all about his life. And we are drawn into his life - the family dramas everyone has, the daily miseries and joys we all experience, it's all there - but it builds up to the character's last day on earth. And yes, we see all different ways of looking at his life, and at our own.

One of the many brilliant things author Colum McCann does is to use details to give us an accurate picture of the larger whole. I love that about him. It's the small things- and the way the narrative wanders just like a mind does - that make everything else glow with fascination.

The other novellas in this collection, What Time Is It Now, Where You Are? , Sh'khol , and Treaty , were just as absorbing and intriguing.

(c) 2016 Suzann Kale