Elysiana
by Chris Knopf
The Permanent Press, 2010, $28.00

The stories of a quirky cast of characters intertwine on an island off the coast of South Jersey in the summer of 1969. The Beach Patrol of Elysiana controls everything from the water to the pavement and the town cops rule the rest of the island setting the stage for an ultimate face-off. Hippies, surfers, tourists, a greedy council president and the mob make for a suspenseful, funny tale. I especially enjoyed the female characters including a headstrong seven-year-old named Sweetie. At first, there seem to be many unrelated stories but they eventually start to link together. Elysiana has a great sense of place that brings the Jersey Shore in '69 alive even for someone like me who never experienced it.

Saints in Limbo by River Jordan

Saints in Limbo
by River Jordan
WaterBrook Press, 2009, 352 pp.

Saints in Limbo by River Jordan is a prime example of why I love to read. Every hundred or so perfectly acceptable, entertaining, thrilling, inspirational books - with a half dozen real duds thrown in for good measure - you come upon a true gem. They are the ones you search for, wait for and hold your breath for as you read that first page, those first words, that first chapter. I had this feeling from the beginning paragraphs of Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible. It was the feeling that the words were so perfectly chosen, the descriptions and dialogue so clear and true that I could truly "experience" the book. It's true that certain books will click with certain people based on their background and preferences, however I think there is more to it than that. I think there is an art to stringing together the right words so that ink on a page comes alive and almost approaches a kind of poetry. Am I gushing? Well, yeah, I would admit that but I really think this one is worth it. There are strong, sassy women and humor, magic and suspense. This is a sweet story that never approaches saccharine. It has a moral but it does not preach. Although I mentioned The Poisonwood Bible, I can truly say that part of the charm of this work is that I cannot think of any book I have ever read that was quite like it. If you like good storytelling I recommend that you not miss this book.

All the Pretty Dead Girls by John Manning

All the Pretty Dead Girls
by John Manning
Pinnacle Books, 2009.

Going off to college for the first time is always an adventure, but for Sue Barlow, it promises to be so much more. She will finally be on her own, away from the stifling grasp of the grandparents who raised her after the death of her mother. Sue hopes that Wilbourne College, her mother's alma mater in upstate New York, will give her both the freedom that she has never enjoyed and information about the parents she never knew. What she finds there is far more terrifying than she could have ever imagined.

All the Pretty Dead Girls by John Manning reminds me of a Dean Koontz novel or something by Clive Barker, without being quite as tightly written. The plot moves along nicely, for the most part, except for the back and forth between the past and the present, which I found a little disconcerting at times. This is definitely a "page-turner" in the most positive way and the twists of the plot surprised me more than a few times. It is not predictable or boring. I found the characters believable and pretty well fully-formed and although their dialogue sometimes falls a little flat the characters are not. I found myself conjuring them up in my mind... seeing what they would look and sound like.

I liked All the Pretty Dead Girls even though it runs a little more toward horror than I normally go these days. I was drawn in from the first page and read it straight through to the last. If you are a fan of Dean Koontz or Clive Barker, or even Peter Straub, I think you will enjoy All the Pretty Dead Girls.

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir by Neil White

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir
by Neil White
William Morrow, 304 pp, $25.99
On sale: June 2009

Located on a drowsy bend of the Mississippi River in southern Louisiana, Carville is home to the National Hansen's Disease Museum. It was named for political personality James Carville's grandfather and was home to the Federal Medical Center, a minimum security facility for non-violent federal prisoners and inmates with chronic health problems. Carville, more importantly, was also home to the nation's only leprosarium, which in it's latter days - to both White's astonishment and my own - served as housing for leprosy patients and Federal inmates in the same building as well as an order of nuns within the grounds.

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is Neil White's memoir of the time he served as a inmate at the Federal Medical Center at Carville. Written as a series of chronological anecdotes, Sanctuary takes us through the circumstances that led to White's conviction for bank fraud, his sudden introduction to leprosy and his life as an inmate at Carville.

For anyone who is astounded at the very idea of leprosy - or Hansen's disease, as it is now called -- being a malady of the modern era (current US Department of Health statistics estimate that there are 6,500 cases as of this writing), this book will give you some insight into a few patient's experiences as well as dispelling some common myths about the disease. One woman's story is especially touching. Ella Bounds was committed to Carville at the age of 12, delivered to the front gate by her father, never to see her family again. Ella, in her 80's at the time of White's incarceration, had spent the vast majority of her life in the institution.

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is not a scholarly study of Hansen's disease in America, although it gives patients stricken with the disease a very human face. Moreso this is the story of one man's growth -- a sort of mid-life "coming of age" tale -- and a window into one mans very unique experience. By turns it is funny, intriquing, irreverent, shocking, and profoundly moving. Sanctuary is highly readable and deeply satisfying.

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain
by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
William Morrow, 2009, 416 pp.

What a scary, thrilling ride! I took The Strain to bed the first night to read before going to sleep. Big mistake. It became my daylight-only book because it scared me so badly that I could not read it after dark. It reminded me of my first Stephen King novels - the ones that kept me awake at night and made me jump at the slightest noise. The story is well written and well paced. I did not find any slow passages and as I read I could see it, as it will no doubt one day be, on the big screen - a real blockbuster. These are not nice vampires and you are not going to fall in love with them. I had forgotten how much fun a good scary book can be and I look forward to the next installment with bated breath and delectable dread.

The Pleasure of My Company: A Novella by Steve Martin

The Pleasure of My Company: A Novella
by Steve Martin
Hyperion, 2003, 176 pp.

I found The Pleasure of My Company to be a charming, tender and witty little book. Daniel Pecan Cambridge (our neurotic narrator) proves that we are all just a little more alike than we might think. I also enjoyed Mr. Martin's previous novella, Shopgirl. As a person who delights in experiencing the world, and most definitely books, in a visual and tactile way, there is something that I just loved about these slim volumes. I suppose that means I will never stand in line to buy a Kindle (yikes!) because for me a book is a total experience and this whole package is a true delight.

Guest Shot by David Locke

Guest Shot
by David Locke
Jove, 2001, 432 pp.

Exciting thriller written by New York Times best-selling art historian Robert Rosenblum under the pseudonym David Locke. A booking agent for a nationally televised talk show receives a call from someone offering to be a guest on the show. The Mystery Guest, as he comes to call himself, intends to discuss a murder that he is going to commit. He then plans to "do the deed" and subsequently return to the show to talk about it. And - even more chilling - he believes that he will be able do it over and over without being caught. The premise is a good one for a suspense novel and it is well-written with good plot twists and fully formed characters. I enjoyed every quickly turned page!

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

The Wednesday Sisters
by Meg Waite Clayton
Ballantine Books, 2008, 304 pp.


The Wednesday Sisters is the endearing story of five young women in 1960's California, transplants from around the country, meeting by chance in the neighborhood park. Each woman comes from a different background and brings a unique backstory to the group. They share a love of the Miss America pageant, their families and books. A chance remark leads to the start of a writing group and becomes a springboard for the bonds of friendships to form. NASA, the Women's Movement, questions of race and religion, anti-war protests all form the historical context in which the five mature as women, as mothers and wives, and as writers.

This is the third "chick-lit" novel I have read in just a little over twice as many months that uses a relatively recent era as it's backdrop. Each of them used pop culture to represent the time period...songs, events, clothing styles, fads, etc. One of them used pop iconography to such an extreme that it distracted the reader from the storyline and called attention to itself in a kind of irritating pop culture name-dropping. In the second, the story was a bit more evident but the pop culture references were still pesky and overabundant. In The Wednesday Sisters, though, the historical references work to both inform and propel the story forward. The characters have depth and voice and even though I was not immediately drawn to all of them, I was drawn in by their stories and I wanted to know more about each of them. Most of all, I suppose, I wanted to know why Brett always wears white gloves. But then, didn't everybody?

I would recommend this as a great book club pick!