The Book Review Club (March Meeting)

We're baaack! It's the second meeting of The Book Review Club! We had a GREAT response last month and we're back with a bunch of book reviews in an attempt to TOPPLE your to-be-read pile. So grab a mug of java and a handful of cookies. Pull up a chair and join us for the March get-together of The Book Review Club.

You remember KELLY HAYES, one of my Denny's Chicks critique partners? Kelly's the one who's EXTREMELY well read and has a mind like a steel strap when it comes to book premises. AND Kelly's reviewing a book for our book club this month. Take it away, Kelly!


THE MEMORY OF RUNNING
by Ron McLarty

This is one of those rare novels that has it all: loss, love, adventure, humor, hope, redemption. And at the core of it is a journey of discovery that starts out as an unconscious act of blind grief. Despite all that, this is not a depressing book. Far from it.

Smithy Ide is a big fat loser, literally and by his own admission. He’s a friendless drunk whose only companions are his parents. In the space of a week he loses them both in a car accident and then finds out that his estranged, mentally ill sister has been declared dead in L.A. His response is to get on his old Raleigh bicycle and keep riding. At first it’s to escape the grief he can’t let himself feel. Then it becomes a cross-country journey to claim his sister’s remains. With no money and very few coping skills, Smithy gets by with the help of a few strangers and a childhood friend named Norma.

The road trip is intercut with flashbacks of his years growing up with his misdiagnosed schizophrenic sister, Bethany, who by turns loved him and betrayed him. And their caring parents whose love and resources were exhausted by Bethany’s tragic illness.

In Smithy Ide, Ron McLarty has created a truly unique character. He’s a man who for many reasons has shut himself off from life. But this journey across the country peels back all his protective layers, one by one, leaving a gentle, kind soul in need of love. At the end of this book I just wanted to put Smithy in my pocket and take him home with me. Which, in a sense, is what I did. Such is the magic of a beautifully drawn character.

This is a book that sneaks up on you. It doesn’t bludgeon you with tragedy and comedy. I found myself surprised by tears in one scene and laughing out loud in the next. Smithy’s take on life is so simple and unpretentious, you can’t help but believe it. It has the ring of truth to it. Which is the key to this book—it’s a novel about what’s true. And it’s a truth I think we can all recognize.

And here’s an interesting fact about the author. Ron McLarty is a well known actor and audio book narrator. He tried for years to get this, his first novel published, with no luck. Then he gave it to an editor at Recorded Books and she loved it. She bought and published it as an audio book read by the author. Of course, it did so well, it was then picked up by Penguin and published in hardback. I guess publishers just have to be hit over the head sometimes to see the brilliance of a work.

The film is slated to come out in 2010, so read the book soon!

THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT REVIEW, KELLY! YOU SO ROCK!

And, now, folks, here they are! Our incredibly intrepid reviewers! They've put forth a lot of effort for your reviewing pleasure. So, please visit them and enjoy! (The following are basically in the order I received them. Yes, I know. There must be a much better method. One that is even organized. But we're a new club; give us time. :) )

Thao of Serene Hours: TAKEN BY STORM by Angela Morrison (Young Adult)

Sarah Laurence: BRETT MCCARTHY: A WORK IN PROGRESS by Maria Padian (Young Adult)

Alyssa Goodnight: AUDREY, WAIT! by Robin Benway (Young Adult)

Patti Abbott: THE GREAT MAN by Kate Christensen (Contemporary Fiction-Adult)

Scott Parker: THE SHANGHAI MOON by SJ Rozan (Mystery Series-Adult)

D.A. Riser of the Writing Greek: THE TROJAN ODYSSEY by Clive Cussler (Action Thriller-Adult)

Linda McLaughlin: THE REINCARNATIONIST by MJ Rose (Thriller-Adult)

Jenn Jilks: BOOTLEGGER'S DAUGHTER by Margaret Maron (Mystery Series-Adult)

Keri Mikulski: THE LOVER'S KNOT by Clare O'Donohue (Mystery-Adult)

Stacy Nyikos of Out There: PEAK by Roland Smith (Young Adult)

Kathy Holmes: BET ME by Jennifer Crusie (Romance/Chick Lit-Adult)

Sarahlynn of Yeah, but Houdini didn't have these hips: LIFELINES by CJ Lyons (Medical Suspense-Adult)

Jody Feldman: THE WHIPPING BOY by Sid Fleischman (Middle Grade)

Prairie Rose of Prairie Rose's Garden: I HEARD IT FROM ALICE ZUCCHINI by Juanita Havill (Children, Poetry about Gardening)

PJ Hoover of Roots in Myth: THE DUST OF 100 DOGS by A.S. King (Young Adult-Historical & Action Adventure)

Ellen Booraem of Freelance Ne'er-do-well: CONRAD'S FATE by Diana Wynne Jones (Middle Grade Fantasy)

Bee Drunken: CAPTURING PARIS by Katharine Davis (Contemporary Fiction-Adult)

Mitch of The Sphagnum Patch: THE GOD OF ANIMALS by Aryn Kyle (Contemporary Fiction-Adult)

Beth Yarnall: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas (French Literature-Classic-Adult)


AND our next scheduled meeting is Wednesday, April 1. (Not an April Fool's Joke! Ha!) You're all invited! (Also not an April Fool's Joke. ;) )

Apology in advance: If you posted a review and I didn't link to you, sorry, sorry, sorry. Just let me know in the comments. I'll get right on it.