The Thirteenth Tale — Review by Carole

Do you like creepy, gothic novels? Not out-an-out horror, mind you, but the type of book that gives you goosebumps and keep you up reading WAY past your bedtime. If so, then Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale is for you.

It's got it all — insanity, depravity, misdirection, ghosts, repression, tragedy. Even allusions to Jane Eyre. It all begins when Vida Winters, a world-renowned author, reaches out to lonely biographer, Margaret Lea, to finally tell her story.

"Everyone has a story," Vida explains to Margaret in one of their early meetings. Margaret isn't so sure. Her own story is one she has never told, yet she finds herself compelled to write Winters' story precisely because of her own. Their own remarkable stories of twinness and what that means to each of them makes for a fascinating read.

The tricky thing is that Winters has told her story many times over the years, but she hasn't ever told the truth. The truth, as Lea learns through her research, means so very much to some people, and yet, it has the ability to destroy others.

My sisters-in-law and I read this one for our book club, and it was a rousing hit with everyone. We loved Margaret's father and we want his bookshop to be real.

Setterfield takes you many places with this story — the challenge is to see what is really there. This was a re-read for me, and I have to say that I enjoyed it even more the second time around. I think when you re-read a book, which I don't do often, you get the opportunity to really look at how the author tells the story rather than just the story itself.

This was Setterfield's debut novel, and I look forward to seeing what she come up with next.

Bel Canto — Review by Carole

The bel canto technique in operatic singing focuses on perfect evenness of the voice and has its origins in an ancient vocal method. The late 19th century saw this style of opera reach its height. Bel canto singers of the last century included Maria Callas and Mario Lanza.

What do I know about opera? I know that my Italian grandfather adored it as did his father before him. They managed to go to the opera even during the Depression when money could have been used for other things, but maybe that was the point.

I know that my favorite Christmas music includes Mario Lanza singing "We Three Kings." That's about the extent of my knowledge of anything to do with bel canto or opera.

So, why would I read Ann Patchett's Bel Canto? I have to admit that the appeal wasn't that strong. I picked it up after Chris gave it to me, and I put it down. I picked it up again and read a few pages — I couldn't get into it. I took it on a trip and only read a couple of chapters. But then it took up residence on my nightstand, amongst many others, and I finally picked it up again. This time, I resolved to finish it. I wanted to finish it before the year was over, and I succeeded.

It wasn't an easy read for me. It took me several days even though the length of the book was such that I should have been able to read it in a couple of sittings. But the pace of the book has an evenness to it that doesn't encourage speed. Maybe the book itself employs a bel canto technique.

Patchett uses one of my favorite literary devices — a group of disparate people, who — under normal circumstances — would never interact, are drawn together in an unusual circumstance. The action and drama ensue from that contact. In this case, Patchett devises a birthday party for an influential Japanese businessman in a South American country, whose people are trying to persuade him to open a factory there. To convince him to come to the party, they have invited his favorite opera singer to perform at the vice president's home. He cannot resist the private performance and he accepts.

The party is for a couple of hundred people, quite an international cast of characters. It is a huge success. But just as Roxane Coss ends her last note, armed gunman invade the residence. The terrorists are there to kidnap the president, but he is not there. With their carefully laid plan thwarted, they take everyone hostage.

The impasse that is reached between the negotiators and the terrorists force a prolonged captivity for all concerned. What follows is the development of the relationships between the terrorists and their hostages. You know that it is not going to end well — Patchett tells you that early on in the story. Who is released, who dies, who comes to care for whom are the reasons you keep on reading.

Patchett unfolds the characters' back stories in a way that reminded me of why I became so engrossed in the television show Lost. Learning who each character is, where they come from, and what role they are going to play in this particular setting kept me turning the pages, albeit slowly.

I could picture these people that Patchett had drawn for me, and I became involved in what happened to them. I wanted to learn how it all turned out. Ultimately, though, I just wasn't satisfied with the ending.

Maybe I just don't understand opera.

Declaring a (gasp!) Moratorium on Book Collection

Carole and I are awash in great books. We have stacks teetering on our nightstands that are calling for us to read them. We also have lots of new books staring at us, books lurking from the shelves, scads of new books stacked on the counters and tables — and after the “Year in Review” and “New in 2008” book lists being published in the past month, there’s more on the horizon.

What’s a reader to do? Well, in self-defense, a reader can call a moratorium on book purchasing. Carole and I have agreed to not collect new books in January.

I can’t say it will be easy for me. I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking, looking at and pondering books.

Among my favorite pastimes is perusing the shelves of local thrift stores for that beautiful read-once hardback copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns or Water for Elephants.

I enjoy reading book reviews almost as much as the tomes reviewed and have discovered some incredible books before they hit the radars of book clubs.

I linger at My Borders and learn about what’s on the shelves (and what doesn’t belong there — which is a surprisingly high number, if the sloppiness of editing is as prevalent as cited in a recent New York Times book review article).

I regularly check out the books on assorted pages of Half.com and Amazon.com to see what’s out there: what’s selling, what’s rated by fellow readers, what’s on sale.

I visit my library’s list of award-winning books — and the more I search, the more awards and worthy recipients I discover from around the world.

Now, I did get some of the book-buying out of my system by using my gift certificates yesterday to purchase, among other things, The Vanishing of Esme Lennox.

My single possible stumbling block is People of the Book, which is set to hit the shelves today. I called Carole last week and asked her if she'd agree to allow a single purchase — and darned if she didn't say she could wait to purchase the book until she winnowed down her stack. I am weak.

However, I will try to resist the call of new books for at least a month. Carole and I have a few books we will be reading together and I have at least a half a dozen new novels from last year I haven’t even started. How can I enjoy a new Geraldine Brooks novel under the weight of so many excellent books? At least, that is what I will tell myself.

Wish me luck.