The Last Will of Moira Leahy

by Therese Walsh
Enough. Just light enough. Just dark enough. Just perfectly balanced and just enough.
Maeve and Moira were twin girls who lived with their family on the Penobscot. They lived
with loving parents, an adventuring grandfather and good friends and neighbors.

Like so many twins they shared a special closeness, and even a language between just the
two of them. For years they had all that they needed in just themselves in the security of their
family. Time passes. Things change. A mothers well meaning choices came back to haunt them all. One
day, a boy came into their lives and things changed forever.

The story of how Maeve lived after the changes, and what happened to this loving family..
is entrancing, magical at times and filled with sorrow and loneliness. Just for a while.. and
then as they do, things changed. They changed because Maeve found a strength in her she didn't know she had.
She was prodded by her father to step out, step forward and to live. A wise man, he was. He set both of his daughters free.

Read this book. Highly recommended.

The Music Teacher

By Barbara Hall

This is a book that is rather hard for me to define. It is, most of all, a book about a woman that never really knew who she was. Even by age forty, Pearl was unable to define herself with any confidence. It seemed to me that she was moving purposelessly through life, waiting for someone else to tell her what her life's purpose was to be. This was perhaps due to the fact that she was allowed to drift through her childhood without the anchor of love and security that she craved.

An intuitive and empathetic woman, she taught music in a small music store. The other characters were mostly other musicians who put in some time working behind the counter of this small independent music shop. They were an idiosyncratic crew, brilliant like so many artists, and flawed like all people everywhere. Rather than developing any close friendships, they seemed to be at odds with each other, for the most part.

Pearl's interaction with the children that she taught was an important aspect of this novel . She came closest to feeling as if she could define herself when she was teaching. Without a doubt she was a caring teacher at times. Other times found her as much at odds with her students as she was with her colleagues.

The characters are compelling and rich. For this reason, it is well worth reading. The story itself is well told and a bonus.

Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens: How Synesthetes Color Their Worlds… by Patricia Lynne Duffy

Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens: How Synesthetes Color Their Worlds… by Patricia Lynne Duffy

This is an interesting and simple to understand book on the phenomenon of synesthesia. Iimagine seeing numbers as colors or words as shapes. What would music be like if you not only heard it, but saw it in your minds eye?

This book also explains that some synesthetes "see" time in a different way.

Intriguing read

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

This is by far the best sci-fi novel I have ever read. It has compelling characters, that stay with you long after the story is done. I strongly recommend this for anyone who is interested in good story telling, good research and a well written book.

Anyone who is an avid reader understand how it is to wonder what the characters have been up to while you are away from the book. Such a book is this. Jesuits going into space? Naturally. Political intrigue? Of course. Nothing this writer suggests will seem improbable once you sink into one of the best stories written in this genre in years.

This story revolves around some of the most lovable literary folk I have ever come across. You will laugh, cry and mourn. You will sing and ache and ultimately, I predict, come back and read this one again.