Sometimes kismet happens and another event in the blogosphere happens to coincide with the war we’re covering here at War Through the Generations. In this case, a WWI-related mystery series written by Charles Todd — a mother-son writing team — is having a read-a-long at Book Club Girl. The series is those starring Bess Crawford.

If you’re interested in joining, here are some of the details:

The “Book Time with Bess Read Along” kicks off now and runs through the publication of the newest book in the series, An Unmarked Grave in June 2012.

As an added bonus to get you started, the e-book of A Duty to the Dead is just $1.99 for a limited time, so order up today and get reading!

The read-along officially kicks off today (but don’t worry, our first discussion won’t take place until March 26th) and it runs through the publication of the paperback of the most recent Bess Crawford novel, A Bitter Truth (on sale 5/1), as well as the new Bess Crawford hardcover, An Unmarked Grave (on sale 6/5). We’ll end the read-along in June with a Book Club Girl on Air Show with the Charles Todd writing team to discuss all the books in the series.

Here’s the schedule of when I’ll post questions about each book for us to discuss:

March 26th – A Duty to the Dead discussion
April 30^th – An Impartial Witness discussion
May 1st – A Bitter Truth paperback goes on sale
May 29^th – A Bitter Truth discussion (May 28^th is Memorial Day)
June 5^th – An Unmarked Grave – the new hardcover goes on sale
June 25^th – An Unmarked Grave discussion
June 28^th – Book Club Girl on Air Show with Charles Todd to Discuss the Entire Series

Look for updates along the way here, on Twitter (#besscrawford), and on the Book Club Girl and Charles Todd Facebook pages.

Please check out the rest of the details and sign up here.

Welcome to the 138th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2012 Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Please visit the stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour from April 2011 and beginning again in April 2012.

Today’s poems is from Sara Teasdale:

The Look

Strephon kissed me in the spring,
      Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
      And never kissed at all.

Strephon's kiss was lost in jest,
      Robin's lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin's eyes
      Haunts me night and day.

What do you think?

Resilience edited by Eric Nguyen is a collection of essays, poems, stories, and advice for young gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender teens and young adults, but there are lessons in these stories for everyone, including those that bully, talk down to, or otherwise belittle people.  The world would be a much better place if we were secure in ourselves and didn’t give others’ hate speech the credence that we do or given them the power over our own lives, but those of us who need support, deserve a system of people and community willing to stand up for others.

The collection has some powerful short stories and inspiring essays, and there are poems that demonstrate the pain, confusion, and bullying that LGBT teens experience daily.  It is both heartbreaking and inspiring.  There are letters to the younger self, plays, monologues, and more.  While some of these cry out the injustices experienced by the writers or their characters, others share the regret of not stepping forward to defend their friends and family from bigots and those narrow minded people who tortured and ostracized others because they were different.

From When the Bully Apologizes by J.J. Sheen(page 79):

“Something about the stillness of sitting there in the dark with Marie’s hand all wrapped up in mine made everything boiling inside me fall out and I started crying in a way that I had never allowed myself to.  I tucked my head into my hands and felt like I might be stuck that way forever.  I felt so embarrassed and exposed and wrong and sitting next to the only person who really knew me, I felt lonelier.”

Emma Eden Ramos, whose poetry collection Three Women: A Poetic Triptych and Selected Poems was nominated for the 2011 Indie Lit Awards, offers a genuine short story, “Where the Children Play,” that will have readers by turns anxious and hopeful.  These are the stories readers will cling to, hoping that the world will begin to emulate the acceptance and the unconditional love in these pages.  Readers may have a tough time reading the collection cover to cover, but its meant to unsettle conventional thoughts and open readers’ eyes to the struggles of LGBT teens as they struggle to find themselves and “come out” to their friends, parents, and loved ones.  Although they may accept themselves, telling someone who has a different perception of you is a conversation wrought with fear and longing.

Resilience edited by Eric Nguyen is a collection for not only the community it represents in its stories, poems, and essays, but also for those of us who need to be reminded that these teens are people struggling with issues that go beyond what clothes to wear and what activities to engage in at school and outside of it.  For those without role models or who live in cloistered families with traditional beliefs, this can be restrictive and even more difficult to overcome.

For those in NYC:

On March 17 at 3-5PM, an Open Mic night will be held for contributors to the collection at WordUP Books.

For more information about the Resilience project, visit the blog.

This is my 13th book for the 2012 New Authors Challenge.

This is the 1st book for my 2012 Fearless Poetry Exploration Reading Challenge.

The Odds by Stewart O’Nan is a slim volume that begins each chapter with a probability that sets the tone for the following chapter — a gimmick that is extraneous to the story he’s telling about an older couple — Marion and Art Fowler — whose marriage in on the brink of complete failure as they face insolvency and an empty nest.  Rather than prefacing each chapter with the odds of a married couple having sex during the week or the odds of getting food poisoning while on vacation, O’Nan could have allowed the decision to gamble away their life savings while on vacation in Canada speak for itself about the couple’s dire financial situation and marriage.  But this is a minor quibble.

O’Nan does a good job of demonstrating the tentative way in which each maneuvers around the other in conversation and shared space, which demonstrates the unspoken pain between them and the tentative hope that they can find something to spark a passion they thought they once had and maybe even shared.  However, through the oscillating narration between Art and Marion, readers soon discover that they have very different takes on what this Valentine’s Day trip is about, with Art hoping to save his marriage and Marion waiting for it to end so she can move on.

“They weren’t good liars, they were just afraid of the truth and what it might say about them.  They were middle class, prey to the tyranny of appearances and what they could afford, or dare, which was part of the problem.”  (page 1)

More than anything, The Odds is about deception. Art is deceiving himself that he can erase his past transgressions and right the wrongs with a Valentine’s Day trip to Niagara Falls and can remedy their financial situation with gambling. Marion is deceiving herself that Art will accept that she wants a divorce and to move forward.  We deceive ourselves about our motivations, our emotions, and our dreams, but how long can we deceive ourselves and others before there are consequences?  Midway, there is a deeply ominous feel to the book as a horse-and-carriage ride brings with it a couple tales of daredevils who needed rescuing after going over the falls and lovers who were parted by a freak thaw in 1912 that washed them away on the American side of the falls.

The Odds by Stewart O’Nan is not a typical love story, but in a way it is similar to how love stories come about, through chance and taking a risk.  In the end, we all have regrets and at times those regrets eat away at us, but how many of us would completely change our decisions and lives, giving up our children or spouses, for the unknown after so many years together?  Then again, O’Nan’s prose clearly demonstrates that even if you have regrets, you can change your luck and your direction with the one you love at your side — even against the odds.

This is my 12th book for the 2012 New Authors Challenge.  I borrowed this one from the library after reading Ti’s review at Book Chatter.  Also check out the review from Literate Housewife.

The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy was published in January 2012 and already has received a number of praising reviews and even one blogger, Anna of Diary of an Eccentric, says that the book will be on her best of 2012 list.  With all of this praise, I’m looking forward to my TLC Book Tour stop in March, but I also wanted to see the author in person.  Who is this woman who has generated so much buzz in the blogosphere with her sophomore book?  (Her first book for those interested was The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico)  Lucky for me, Novel Places in Clarksburg, Md., was hosting a reading with this author and I could make it with some finagling by me to have the hubby watch “Wiggles.”

I’ve loved the few readings I’ve been to at Novel Places because the store is cozy and the readings are intimate — more like a conversation with a book club and author than a formal reading.  People arrived early to get copies of the book and chat with the author before 7 p.m., and I just sat and listened.  What I learned from the event was that most authors have the same type of personality in that they love listening to their characters in their heads and garnering inspiration from the people and things around them.

The Baker’s Daughter is actually inspired by a German woman whom Sarah met at a farmer’s market once and who told her how she married an American soldier at the end of WWII before coming to the United States.  That was all that was said, and while Sarah has not seen the woman since, it was enough to send her off on a journey of history, relationships, and more, which is all housed in her second book.  Although she says that she will never hand the woman a copy of the book and tell her that she was the inspiration, I think the woman would be happy to know that she touched the author in that way.

Author Sarah McCoy at Novel Places

I love that Sarah brought the red hat from the cover and although she’s too young to be in the Red Hat Society, she agreed to become a Pink Lady.  She was asked about her writing and revision process, which she says is long with journaling about her characters at the start, rather than plot outlines, and about 10-12 rounds of revisions once the first draft is written. Her research process is narrowed by the characters she is inspired to write about, limiting research to a particular year in a particular region or city in Germany for example for The Baker’s Daughter.  She says that otherwise, she would just research too much, get overwhelmed or after 10 years still not have written a book.

Her younger brother also was in attendance and was apparently not only chauffeuring her around to each event while she’s in the area, but also taking photos.  It was obvious from the way she interacted and talked about him and her family that they are all close.  It’s wonderful to see those family connections in person, especially given that her novel touches upon family connections and interactions during some difficult periods in history.

Answering Questions at Novel Places

She talked about her MFA program and her teaching stints in Texas where she now lives with her husband, though she is a former Virginia resident (her parents still live in Fairfax County).  Overall, it was an engaging and conversational event.  She’s affable, delightful, and vivacious, and obviously very outgoing; I think I was in awe of her — too in awe to actually ask any questions, though there were many buzzing in my head.  Perhaps, I’ll get the chance to interview her once I’ve had the chance to read the book and review it here for the blog tour.

Hopefully, I didn’t miss much in the conversation, but that sickness is going around and I think it has finally reached me because my head was feeling awfully foggy.  I’m lucky I remembered my book and Anna’s for Sarah to sign and to talk to her about how much Anna loved the book — by the way, she remembered Anna from that blue cat tattoo icon she uses. . .how cute is that?!

Thanks to Patrick for hosting another AWESOME event!

Additionally, this is a stop on The Literary Road Trip since Sarah McCoy is a former resident of the area and her family still lives here.

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose (my review) is a suspenseful mystery that takes readers through time from Egypt to present day New York City and Paris.  As with her other books in the series, Malachai Samuels is seeking memory tools to aid in his reincarnation work, but there is more at risk here as friends of his are endangered by his search and are embroiled in international political struggles.

 Today, I’ve got a treat for my readers from the author about what inspired her to write about lost fragrances in her latest reincarnationist book.

Without further ado, here’s M.J. Rose; Please give her a warm welcome.

M.J. Rose:  I’ve been fascinated with lost fragrances since long before I started writing The Book of Lost Fragrances… since I found a bottle of perfume on my great grandmother’s dresser that had belonged to her mother in Russia. Here is one of those lost fragrances that stirs the senses and the imagination… (researched and described with the help of the perfume writer Dimitrios Dimitriadis)

ISSEY MIYAKE – LE FEU D’ISSEY

A creation that came well ahead of its time, Le Feu d’Issey was launched amidst countless androgynous, unisex releases in the mid 90s, and represented the polar opposite of the scents that found their success at that time.

Sichuan pepper, amber and benzoin leant a combustable warmth to the composition, whilst Japanese lily, Bulgarian rose and lactic milk accords an opulent facet. Regarded as a huge commercial flop upon its release, Le Feu d’Issey is a perfume which many look upon now, some 15 years later, as an abstract masterpiece.

Click for the rest of the tour

Thanks, M.J. Rose, for sharing your inspiration with us.  Please follow the discussion on Twitter:  With Hashtag: #LostFragrancesVirtualBookTour

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a Gothic novel with strong themes of corruption, innocence, and the “grand” Faustian bargain.  The novel begins with Basil Hallward who speaks of a mysterious and beautiful young man, Dorian Gray, to his friend Lord Henry Wotton who has some very hedonistic world views.  With elements of Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, Wilde has created a critique of the Victorian era by exaggerating elements of the Romantic age, particularly the horror, awe, and aesthetic experience, which is embodied in Lord Henry and eventually Dorian Gray — in the most absurd way.

Dorian is an insanely narcissistic man who meets Basil and Lord Henry, two men obsessed with beauty and pleasure and its fleeting nature.  Basil is more obsessed with Dorian’s stunning beauty as a fuel for his art, while Lord Henry pontificates his various theories about pleasure and beauty and its transient nature in an effort to garner Dorian’s favor and fuel his own ego that loves the art of influencing others.  Dorian is ripe for Henry’s picking as he seems to be — at least initially — like a child seeking stimulation and knowledge, but like a child, he does not have the tools to question what he is told and what he experiences.

“There was something terribly enthralling in the exercise of influence.  No other activity was like it.  To project one’s soul into some gracious form, and let it tarry there for a moment; to hear one’s own intellectual views echoed back to one with all the added music of passion and youth; to convey one’s temperament into another as though it were a subtle fluid or strange perfume:  there was a real joy in that — perhaps the most satisfying joy left to us in an age so limited and vulgar as our own, an age grossly carnal in its pleasures, and grossly common in its aims . . . ” (page 26)

Wilde’s prose is full of contradictions and theories about the age in which these characters live, and many of these theories (contradictory and otherwise) are espoused by Lord Henry, who remains a catalyst for Dorian’s thinking, which ultimately leads to his tragic downfall.  What’s interesting is that the Faustian bargain is not an outright bargain made by Dorian, but simply an expressed wish that comes true.  This technique is typical of Gothic literature in that some supernatural elements occur and are not explained.  However, Dorian is not blameless in the events that befall him because he is given several opportunities to amend his ways and to experience life more deeply than his superficial pleasure seeking.  For instance, he meets a young woman, Sibyl Vane, who mirrors his older self in that she is innocent of influence and able to see the good and beauty in all of life before her, in spite of its obvious crassness and dingy elements.  But rather than seizing the moment to become something more, Dorian again falls into Lord Henry’s mold, only able to see the superficial and abandons Sibyl, who like Ophelia and Juliet has little choice but to exit from his world.

“There is something of a child about her.  Her eyes opened wide in exquisite wonder when I told her what I thought of her performance, and she seemed quite unconscious of her power.” (page 39)

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is like a flippant response to an age where pleasure was the main concern, but its dark, Gothic undertones provide a horrifying examination of how pleasure-seeking and narcissism can lead to a corruption of the soul.  Dorian is a young man led willingly astray by his peers and willingly ignores reason and his conscience to improve his treatment of others and himself.  When the portrait takes on his sins, he becomes free of accountability and engages the world in more than one way that dirties his soul and that of those around him.

***This was the first selection for my new book club***

Only one member did not finish the book, and he said that the language and dialogue between the male characters was unrealistic to him and he had a hard time connecting with the characters and their story.  Other members seemed to like the book well enough, but no one was overly impressed with it, though it did generate a great deal of discussion as to whether Lord Henry was the devil or merely an influencer and why Dorian was so eager to follow the path laid out for him by Lord Henry.  There was a great deal of discussion as to what caused the painting to reflect Dorian’s sins and how that came about and whether the fact that the painting absorbed all his evilness allowed him to not be accountable for his actions and fueled his downfall.

There were some in the club who wanted to know more about certain events in the book (i.e. a poignant blackmail letter), and most of us agreed that the pages of description of Dorian’s collection of fabrics, jewelry, and musical instruments was dry and excessive, it did point to Dorian’s excessive existence.

While it was no one’s favorite book, it certainly generated a great deal of discussion.  I may have liked the book a little more than others and kept pimping the movie version with Ben Barnes.

We’re looking forward to March’s pick:  Star Wars & Philosophy by Kevin Decker and Jason Eberl

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose continues the search for the 12 memory tools that Malachai Samuels continues to search for as part of his research and obsession with reincarnation.  The novel focuses not on Samuels per se, but on the history of the L’Etoile family and their development of perfumes and fragrances.  Jac has given up the family business, even though the family has insisted that she has the more discerning nose for scent, but her brother Robbie continues to believe that their family business can be saved from the brink of bankruptcy through the development of a new line of scents rather than from the sale of their trademark scents.

Rose weaves Napoleonic history with that of China and the oppression of Tibet and then brings those ties even further back into history to Egypt and Cleopatra.  In addition to archeology, her characters delve into mythology, history, and hieroglyphics translation and more, creating an even denser and more mysterious novel than expected.  How these moving pieces come together is unexpected and absorbing.

“The corpse on the left didn’t have his arms crossed on his chest, as was the custom.  Instead his right hand was extended and holding the hand of a woman with whom he’d been mummified.  Her left hand was knotted with his.  The two lovers were so lifelike, their bodies so uncorrupted, it appeared they had been buried months ago, not centuries.”  (Page 5 of ARC)

Through shifting time periods and places, readers travel with Rose’s characters to the deep recesses of their past lives, their memories, and their discoveries, while at the same time feeling the time pressure build as the House of L’Etoile draws nearer to demise and Jac’s brother Robbie disappears following a murder.  Jac must confront the loss of her mother and the expectations of her family as she strives to find her brother, find the perfume that people would kill for, and stay alive and grounded.  Jac must learn that forgetting or ignoring the past will not help her move into the future; she must accept what has happened, take it into herself, and move forward with those memories as a part of her.

“His family’s maison in Paris dated back to the mid-eighteenth century.  One shouldn’t tear down the past to make way for the future.  That’s how lessons were lost.  The art of keeping a civilization alive, like the art of making perfume, was in the blending.”  (page 46)

Meanwhile, Xie, a young calligrapher and artist in China, is living a secret life as a subversive.  Outwardly, he is the model citizen never saying too much but always thankful for opportunities presented to him by his teachers and the government.  He’s eventually chosen along with other artists to leave China on a European tour with their artwork, which makes him incredibly nervous given his communications with outsiders through his paintings.  He strives to free Tibetans from Chinese rule.  Although he is friends with others who are more outwardly subversive than he is, he tries desperately to rein in their tendencies, which could get him in trouble as well as ruin all of his plans.

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose blends history and mystery in an intellectual game of espionage and mythology surrounding a lost book of fragrances from the time of Cleopatra and a perfume that can help those who smell it relive their past lives.  But the novel also is about finding one’s soul mate, rekindling lost faith, and persevering against all odds.  Another winner from Rose in her series of books that will keep readers guessing adn second-guessing themselves until the memory tolls are discovered.

Also Reviewed:

The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose
The Memorist by M.J. Rose

About the Author:

M.J. Rose is the international best selling author of eleven novels and two non-fiction books on marketing. Her next novel THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES (Atria/S&S) will be published in March 2012.  Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in many magazines and reviews including Oprah Magazine. She has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio.  Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the ’80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors – Authorbuzz.com.  The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose’s novels in the Renincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and runs the blog- Buzz, Balls & Hype.  She is also the co-founder of Peroozal.com and BookTrib.com.

Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.

For more information on M.J. Rose and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE. You can also find her on Facebook.

Click for the rest of the tour

Please follow the discussion on Twitter: With Hashtag: #LostFragrancesVirtualBookTour

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch. This month’s host is the Metro Reader.

Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.

Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1. Nostalgia for the Criminal Past by Kathleen Winter, which I purchased.

2. The Receptionist by Janet Groth, which came unrequested from Algonquin.

3. A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez, which came unrequested from Algonquin.

4. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear, which I receive from Harper.

5. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear, which I received from Harper for a TLC Book Tour.

6. Hurrah’s Nest by Arisa White, which I received from the poet.

7. Real Courage by Michael Meyerhofer, which came from the poet.

8. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, which I bought at Novel Places for the WWI Read-a-Long this year.

9. Harlem’s Hell Fighters by Stephen L. Harris, which I bought at Novel Places.

10. Star Wars & Philosophy by Kevin Decker and Jason Eberl, which I bought at Novel Places for Book Club in March.

11. City of Thieves by David Benioff, which I bought at Novel Places for Book Club in May.

What did you receive?

Welcome to the 137th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2012 Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Please visit the stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour from April 2011 and beginning again in April 2012.

Today’s poems is from Molly Peacock:

Couple Sharing a Peach

It's not the first time
we've bitten into a peach.
But now at the same time
it splits--half for each.
Our "then" is inside its "now,"
its halved pit unfleshed--

what was refreshed.
Two happinesses unfold
from one joy, folioed.
In a hotel room
our moment lies
with its ode inside,
a red tinge,
with a hinge.

What do you think?