Reviews in the News: Books for a Trip

by Judi Baxter, PW Daily for Booksellers -- Publishers Weekly, 3/11/2005

Currently on an annual girlfriend trip in Washington State's San Juan Islands, our intrepid correspondent discusses three books she has taken with her:

Six years ago, I introduced my friends to Anne Lamott by reading aloud humorous and pithy snippets from her 1999 bestseller, Traveling Mercies; I have a feeling I will be doing the same with her follow-up, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith (Riverhead, $24.95).

Lamott, novelist and writer for Salon, is not your typical Presbyterian, with her dreadlocks, Dalai Lama-blessed red chord bracelet and Virgin Mary medallion. She is a skilled story-teller though, and her thoughts on compassion, forgiveness and faith blend seamlessly with observations on hormones (her adolescently-charged son's and her own menopausal-type), the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, environmental devastation, her mother's battle with Alzheimer's and the passing of time as she turns 50.

The liberal democrat tells how, after watching Bush win re-election, she turned to prayer: "I closed my eyes and got quiet. I tried to look like Mother Mary, with dreadlocks and a bad back."

In a four-star review in People, V.R. Peterson writes: "Beyond her bold humor, however, lies a compelling quest to recognize the spiritual challenges that surround us and to answer the gambit implied by the book's title: If your personal Plan A fails (hers appears to have been voting Bush out of office), what's next? As Lamott puts it, 'Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort and letting it be there until some light returns.' "

"Connie May Fowler is the kind of writer best read while wearing a cozy robe and fuzzy slippers," writes Ellen Emry Heltzel in the Seattle Times. "Her books celebrate human connection, the circle of life and the need to be true to one's self while not forgetting the value of others."

The Problem with Murmur Lee (Doubleday, $21.95) is the perfect book for this trip. Fowler has crafted a touching story, blending elements of a mystery with varied voices, colorful characters and poignant sense of place.

The idiosyncratic Murmur Lee--free spirit and focal point of the community of Iris Haven--has just connected with the man who she believes may be the love of her life. But then she is quickly gone--drowned in a local river. Was it an accident, suicide or even foul play? Her grieving friends are groping with these questions and trying to come to terms with the loss of a woman who they loved and depended on.

"Murmur's death comes down hard on her eccentric band of buddies--a Marine who has had a sex-change operation, a grieving doctor, a Harvard dropout and a yoga teacher with a bad attitude," Heltzel continues. "In the wake of her death, their grief blends with doubts about what happened and who's to blame. They know some things, but not enough, about the woman whose earthly presence meant so much in their lives.

"In the end, Fowler tells a story that's far more reassuring than mysterious, which shows where her real strengths as a writer lie. The Problem with Murmur Lee is only a problem to those who don't appreciate the vagaries of the human heart."

And for our collective sweet tooth I have tucked in Big Fat Cookies by Elinor Klivans (Chronicle, $17.95), which, as Natalie Haughton says in the San Bernardino County Sun, is "filled with gigantic cookies any cookie monster would appreciate." (That would be us).

The book is cleverly arranged in a trio of chapters--chewy, crispy and sandwich. The 50 recipes range from Oatmeal Trailblazers to Lemon Whoopie Pies to Toasted Coconut Washboards. And for my friends with a super big sweet tooth there are Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Klivans also includes practical, time-saving tips for mixing, baking and storing (if there are any left to store), and tasty ideas for tailoring cookies for both casual and more formal desserts.

"If you're a cookie aficionado, you'll want to add a copy of this book to your collection, " encourages Haughton.