Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger

A book club member recommended this one and said it was an adventure and love story.  Hmmmm.  Maybe some people would consider Shades of Grey an adventurous love story.  My first red flag was a comment I read in a review on Amazon.  "Henry David Thoreau meets Nicholas Sparks in this poignant love story..."  I guess I have nothing against Nicholas Sparks, but I always have a hard time with men who write romantic love stories that are marketed to women.  But since it came recommended by a friend and receives great reviews online, I read it.  And I'll admit it is very well written.  The author captures the outdoor, nature scenes beautifully and his descriptions make you feel like you are there.  But I had two problems with the book.  The first is the relationship between the Cobb and Mary, the two central characters.  Have you ever been with a couple who are so in love and so physically turned on to each other that they can't keep their hands off each other?  And you feel like you should look away or you might throw up?  That's the way they act.  The story is told from Cobb's point of view, and he is constantly and repeatedly telling us how much he loves Mary, how wonderful/beautiful/perfect she is.  We get it.  You love her.  Move on with the story.  They never fight or disagree, and they have all kinds of cute personal jokes that they banter about in every chapter.  We know from the first chapter that Mary will die, and even the difficult conversations about how she will die become tedious after a while.  The second problem I had with the book is that all the minor characters are also perfect.  Cobb's father, Mary's mother and brother, their friends, everyone is good looking, smart, politically active, kind, etc. etc.  The last book my club read was Gone Girl, and we discussed how we can enjoy a book and dislike the characters.  But in this book, all the characters are completely loveable and yet I didn't like the book.  I'm not sure what that says about me, and maybe I don't want to know.  -June

The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman

On the cover of this book is a quote from the New York magazine describing the book as "an atmospheric thriller".  Not sure at all what that means exactly, but I was expecting something like Daphne du Maurier perhaps.  The only atmosphere in the first 100 pages is life in New York City.  Generally if I haven't fallen into a book after reading 100 pages, I give up.  But while I wasn't sure about this book, I kept on reading.  Fortunately, it did get better once Iris returns to her family's upstate hotel to research her mother's life and her mysterious death.  This book has many characters that often make the plot confusing and complicated.  There are references to her mother's fantasy books that are strange and yet are supposed to be helpful in figuring it all out.  I think the book manages to be a bit of a love story, a mystery, and a fantasy novel - and it just didn't work for me.  I read to the end to find what Iris discovered - but frankly, I was relieved to have it done. -June

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

This is another one of those quiet, well-written books that is just a nice read.  It reminded me a bit of Major Pettigrew - in fact, in the movie in my head as I read the book, the same actor played Harold and Major Pettigrew.  Harold, however, is not as clever and quick as MP.  He's actually kind of a boring guy until one day he just sets out on this journey to see a dying friend.  Like other books I seem to have read lately, the main character spends a great deal of time looking back on his life as he walks, and he often is filled with regret.  I enjoyed the beginning of this book, but frankly found the middle a little slow.  As Harold walks, he encounters many people and learns their stories.  This happens over and over again until I was ready to just skip to the end.  There's a twist a few chapters from the end that fills in some of the blanks and makes the ending a bit more satisfying.  I told a friend to read the first third and the last third.  That's my recommendation.  -June