http://www.donnetempo.com/index.htmlBook Reviews from Donne TempoenDonnne TempoCopyright 2008 Donne Tempo2009-06-20T16:30:48-04:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:53:23 -0400Donnne TempoFictionRomance2009-06-20T16:30:48-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/beginners-greek-novel.php#unique-entry-id-23http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/beginners-greek-novel.php#unique-entry-id-23What a wonderful love story this is. It begins with love at first sight and takes the reader on a tumultuous trip tas the main characters find each other again. The characters are fascinating, good and bad, altruistic and selfish, they all seem interesting- people you would like to know! ...Our heroine is Holly, beautiful, kind, engaging, and desperately in love with Peter, although married to his friend. The friend, Jonathon- a true cad- dies, in a surprise lightening on the golf course accident, leaving the lovers free- except for Peter’s recent marriage. His wife, Charlotte, discovers that Peter and Holly are in love, seeks out her own true love and leaves our hero kindly and without guilt. The contributing characters, Charlotte’s father and stepmother, Jonathon, Holly’s father, and Peter’s boss, must all find it within themselves to offer the true lovers a chance at life together. The manly men are irredeemable womanizers, the manipulative women are self-serving , and the generous boss is dealing with a broken heart of his own. These characters are so true themselves, while being drawn with a wide brush, that the reader must suffer alongside them as they seek their higher selves in order to clear the way for true love. ]]>Donnne TempoFiction2009-06-19T22:16:05-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/the-dissappearance-of-irene-dos-santos.php#unique-entry-id-22http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/the-dissappearance-of-irene-dos-santos.php#unique-entry-id-22novel inhabits the psyche- and with specific descriptions of mentalities, politics, races, religions and histories - of a variety of Venezuelans in such a way as to clarify populations with deft characterizations of seemingly clear characters. In most novels a surprise ending seems like a speedy exit- or a tricky re-interpretation of the truth as the reader has come to know it. ...In this novel the stories that make up the eight primary books of the novel are as independent as short stories. The connections between the characters weave the tale more tightly and yet, even as a devoted fan of the character based novel I can accept the final challenge as part of the story without doubting the whole. ...It is the magic realism that pervades the unfolding tale, regressing through history to fill out the past lives of the vibrant characters, Lily- the pregnant wife suffering from childhood trauma, Luz, her jealous compatriot, Ishmael, her freedom singing father, Consuelo, her magically captivating mother, Ephraim, the engaging boy prophet, and a host of other deepening relationships that flesh out the life of Lily’s birth story. As an appreciator of magical realism and its brilliant proponents such as Amy Tan and Isabel Allende The Disappearance of Irene dos Santos calls forth ardent love for the magic in our daily lives, and thankfully in my reading material. ...I can’t wait to see what her next project brings. ]]>Donnne TempoFictionRomance2009-06-18T23:33:37-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/i-loved-i-lost-i-made-spaghetti.php#unique-entry-id-21http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/i-loved-i-lost-i-made-spaghetti.php#unique-entry-id-21One thing that did bother me was there are actually way more downs than ups – as Melucci, who has never been married, readily admits. ...Yet I became frustrated reading over and over again about relationships that seem to have clear warning signals portending their doom from the very beginning and then do indeed fail. ...And it’s hard to read about one train wreck of a romance after another, especially when what’s in store is obvious to everyone but her. I’m still not sure whether the author simply didn’t see these fatal flaws or if she just chose to ignore them for the sake of optimism or perhaps for the sake of effective storytelling. After all, there really isn’t much suspense in saying I dated an alcoholic, or a guy that wasn’t that into me, or a psychopath, or someone with commitment/sexual/honesty/fill-in-the-blank-you-get-the-picture issues for a while, but we broke up. ...I’m not much of a cook so it’s difficult for me to judge if a recipe is good or not. ...Furthermore, by being offered the details of the meals she prepared and consumed with instructions on how to recreate them, the reader feels a proximity to the unfolding events that wouldn’t exist with narration alone. Also, Melucci’s relaxed competence in the kitchen is a welcome counterbalance to her incompetence in the love arena, which makes her a more sympathetic character. ]]>Donnne TempoBiography2009-04-15T21:57:34-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/book-review-blue-hour-rhys.php#unique-entry-id-20http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/book-review-blue-hour-rhys.php#unique-entry-id-20Rhys, born Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams in 1890, on the Windward Isle of Dominica grew up on the island. ... She suffered a scant two years at a girl’s school where her shyness, accent, and overall otherness alienated her from her peers. Jean left school to study acting and experienced a few years as a chorus girl before turning to writing. ... She is best known as the author of Wide Sargasso Sea, the story of Bertha Rochester, before she became “the madwoman in the attic,” which was published to acclaim in the 1960’s. ...Pizzichini’s prose brings the angst and anger of Rhys to the page, explores her self-destructive habits, and allows for her brilliance to shine through. ...Rhys’ own focus on the failings of Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre as well as her awareness of the collective struggle of women writers concentrated her personal frustrations and pushed her to write. While not a happy story it is a fascinating portrait of a gifted writer whose inner struggles became illuminating novels, whose personal life shocked and informed a generation. ]]>Donnne TempoNon-FictionFamily2009-04-11T16:48:36-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/book-review-emilys-ghost.php#unique-entry-id-19http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/book-review-emilys-ghost.php#unique-entry-id-19Emily’s reality is her family, her home, and the ghosts she hears in the graveyard and on the moors. ...Patrick Bronte educated his family to the best of his abilities and gave them the space to be what they could. ...The brilliant Bronte’s, daughters of a poor, North England minister, in the midst of their tightly conscribed world, produced Jane Eyre (by Charlotte), Wuthering Heights (by Emily), and Agnes Grey (by Anne). Their contributions to the literary world cannot be overstated and yet Emily’s Wuthering Heights stands out. ...Giardina imagines Emily was her own model for Heathcliff and gives her the depth of emotion and otherworldliness to develop him. ...Emily Bronte, the individualistic author, who yearned for freedom enough to walk alone to the library and on the moors, and turned down the proposal of her true love because she could not compromise the freedom she had, clearly defines the search for self. ...Emily’s Ghost is a revealing and compelling imagining of one of the defining characters of our world by a talented literary historian. ...Her book Storming Heaven was a Discovery Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and received the 1987 W. ... Her 1998 novel Saints and Villains was awarded the Boston Book Review fiction prize and was semifinalist for the International Dublin Literary Award. (source: Wikipedia) ]]>Donnne TempoNon-FictionFamily2009-04-09T15:41:20-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/live-through-this-a-mothers-memoir.php#unique-entry-id-18http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/live-through-this-a-mothers-memoir.php#unique-entry-id-18Author and mother Debra Gwartney's answer seems to have been: Shut down, fake it and live in denial. Live Through This: A Mother's Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love (Houghton Mifflin; ISBN: 978-0-547-05447-6) suggests police for hire and tough-love camps. ...Live Through This: A Mother’s Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love is a saga of parenting that leads us through Debra’s separation, divorce, loss of daughters, attempts to retain daughters (various facilities, outdoor camps, foster homes) and final tentative relationship with her now adult daughters. ...The two oldest of Gwartney’s daughters, separated from their father and home in Texas, find a haven there in the Grunge scene of music and freedom, leaving their mother angry, rejected, and hopeless. ...She writes of her vision of the “perfect family” and her personal loss as she realizes that it has never been real. ...The emotional quandary of the divorce, the anger of their parents, and the separation from their support system understandably left them adrift. ...These seeds contributed to the loss of her daughters and the ex-husband was far from involved as their situation deteriorated. ...I imagine Debra Gwartney could be a sensitive and capable teller of tales but her own story leaves too much out- her part of the story is the less dramatic, the story of the one who was left; and her lack of emotional response or empathy, or outreach to the girls, particularly her second daughter, over their many attempted reconciliations limits the readers ability to relate to her. ...Debra Gwartney is the author of the memoir, Live Through This, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in February 2009. Debra is a member of the nonfiction writing faculty at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, and is co-editor, with Barry Lopez, of Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, published in 2006 by Trinity University Press. ]]>Donnne TempoFictionFamily2009-04-09T15:14:17-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/old-world-daughter-new-world-mother.php#unique-entry-id-17http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/old-world-daughter-new-world-mother.php#unique-entry-id-17This book is a study in the politics of parenthood. ...Laurino writes, “ If equality is truly to be within reach for women- we must rid ourselves of our fictive notion of independence; we are nested in a complex, ancient, and biological system of attachments and dependencies.” ...Laurino reports on the studies that have demonstrated lower academic and social abilities in children directly relating to the number of hours a week they spent with a care giver other than their mother. ...In the world of academia and feminist theory, and later in the workplace Laurino found that “Strength through sacrifice was not a virtue to be applauded but a response considered weak and stereotypically female.” ...“ It is perhaps impossible to pinpoint the time when reasoning switches, and I began thinking about adding a new life into ours instead of imagining how the freedoms we had enjoyed would be taken away.” ...Laurino writes, “ In leaving the old world my ancestors allowed me to embrace the New World’s most precious gifts: individual freedoms, universal education, and an order in the world which places women alongside men. ...It is a complete collection of information and thoughts on a question that modern women face, how can we feminists lack a standard of care. ..., a national best-selling memoir about ethnic identity, as well as the forthcoming memoir Old World Daughter, New World Mother: An Education in Love and Freedom (W.W. ... A former chief speechwriter to NYC Mayor David Dinkins and a staff writer for the Village Voice, Laurino's work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, the Nation, Salon.com, and numerous publications. ]]>Donnne TempoFictionRomance2009-03-25T21:55:34-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/one-deadly-sin.php#unique-entry-id-16http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/one-deadly-sin.php#unique-entry-id-16Instead there are endless pages of Edie’s internal, angst-filled debate over whether to confess her plan to get revenge on the men in her hometown who contributed to her father’s death (by sending each of them a figurine of a black angel) to her new beau, Holt Drennen. ...The dead guys, of course, are exactly the same men she’s targeted, which makes Edie look like she’s out to do more than just shake the men up so they’ll confess what really caused her father’s death. Yet since we know that Edie isn’t responsible for the murders the suspense of the story is supposed to come from wondering if Edie will indeed take the rap anyway or if Holt will be able to trust her after he learns of her plot for payback and clear her name. ...One character that does hold some intrigue is Sam Fish, the young woman who is Holt’s deputy. A former soldier, she is drawn to law enforcement because of her need for strict rank and order. Sam believes Holt is being lead astray by Edie and she’s torn between following the orders of a boss who’s been good to her (and who she might be sweet on) and doing what she thinks is right. ...Some suspense does develop near the end of the story as Holt’s credibility is called into doubt and none of the suspects likely to exonerate Edie turn out to be responsible for the murders. Yet it is too little too late as far as a satisfying plot goes, especially when the far-fetched culprit is finally revealed. ]]>Donnne TempoFiction2008-11-04T08:54:27-05:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/widows-of-eastwick.php#unique-entry-id-15http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/widows-of-eastwick.php#unique-entry-id-15Donnne TempoNon-Fiction2008-09-12T18:50:17-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/walking-an-ancient-path.php#unique-entry-id-14http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/walking-an-ancient-path.php#unique-entry-id-14blog_tags('post', 'walking-an-ancient-path.php', 'Walking an Ancient Path by Karen Tate')

]]>Donnne TempoNon-Fiction2008-09-11T00:43:15-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/sacred-places.php#unique-entry-id-13http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/sacred-places.php#unique-entry-id-13blog_tags('post', 'sacred-places.php', 'Sacred Places of Goddesses by Karen Tate')

]]>Donnne TempoFiction2008-08-25T23:30:42-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/the-feast-of-love.php#unique-entry-id-12http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/the-feast-of-love.php#unique-entry-id-12blog_tags('post', 'feast-of-love.php', 'Feast of Love by Charles Baxter')

]]>Donnne TempoFiction2008-08-25T23:14:50-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/july-august-novel.php#unique-entry-id-11http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/july-august-novel.php#unique-entry-id-11Donnne TempoFiction2008-08-25T22:39:39-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/end-of-manners.php#unique-entry-id-10http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/end-of-manners.php#unique-entry-id-10blog_tags('post', 'end-of-manners.php', 'The End of Manners by Francesca Marcianor')

]]>Donnne TempoFiction2008-08-15T20:58:57-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/broccoli-tales-food-love.php#unique-entry-id-9http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/broccoli-tales-food-love.php#unique-entry-id-9blog_tags('post', 'broccoli-tales-food-love.php', 'Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love by Lara Vapnyar')

]]>Donnne TempoNon-Fiction2008-08-15T20:45:29-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/autobiography-wardrobe.php#unique-entry-id-8http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/autobiography-wardrobe.php#unique-entry-id-8blog_tags('post', 'autobiography-wardrobe.php', 'Autobiography of a Wardrobe by Elizabeth Kendall')

]]>Donnne TempoFiction2008-08-15T17:31:07-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/ask-convertible.php#unique-entry-id-7http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/ask-convertible.php#unique-entry-id-7Donnne TempoFiction2008-06-12T13:44:59-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-opposite-of-love.php#unique-entry-id-6http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-opposite-of-love.php#unique-entry-id-6Donnne TempoFiction2008-06-12T13:39:07-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-palace-of-illusions.php#unique-entry-id-5http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-palace-of-illusions.php#unique-entry-id-5Donnne TempoFiction2008-06-12T13:29:41-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-future-of-love.php#unique-entry-id-4http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-future-of-love.php#unique-entry-id-4Donnne TempoFiction2008-05-09T16:54:58-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/9a710d2244f2bde6c01d3ba24346326e-3.php#unique-entry-id-3http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/9a710d2244f2bde6c01d3ba24346326e-3.php#unique-entry-id-3Donnne TempoFiction2008-05-08T16:48:32-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/014012ea72e43d6b01e7f9a4ec05cded-2.php#unique-entry-id-2http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/014012ea72e43d6b01e7f9a4ec05cded-2.php#unique-entry-id-2Donnne TempoBiography2008-06-08T16:39:47-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-audition.php#unique-entry-id-1http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-audition.php#unique-entry-id-1Donnne TempoFictionRomance2008-06-08T15:30:20-04:00http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-love-th-one-with.php#unique-entry-id-0http://www.donnetempo.com/library/books/files/books-love-th-one-with.php#unique-entry-id-0