The Rabbit's Paw Book Reviews

    Jane Weber, an elderly woman, lives in a cottage on Emerald Lake and is keeping secrets from her youth that would have died with her, had it not been for her visiting granddaughters discovering those human bones on her property.    This is a story with mysteries that start to unfold in the late 1970s in a picturesque lake resort area in Canada. There are the locals and the "summer people," who swoop in for a couple months every year and begin to believe, or assume, ownership. Of course, this leads to some fiery tensions that turn tragic. The events that slowly unfold in this novel happen in the summer of 1955 and have grave, lasting effects on many lives. The author tells this story with alternating timelines, which I found to be very effective in keeping me curious and motivated to read more, though things do get off to a slow start. There are lots of moving parts and characters in this story that need to be introduced, which is slightly challenging. Emerald Lak...

It's always exciting to hear about a new Haruki Murakami release, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to read his new short nonfiction book. Abandoning a Cat is Murakami's attempt to illuminate for us and himself the essence of his father's life. Though he spent many years almost estranged from his father, Chiaki Murakami, there was obviously much love between them. The author explores his father's tastes and life experiences, contrasting them with his own, in an attempt to understand their distant relationship.  Murakami's autobiographical exploration of his family's history and his father's accidental recruitment as a soldier in WWII are told in the author's signature style, which is always intriguing.  There is an undercurrent of sadness in this account, of course, since Chiaki Murakami is no longer here to help tell the parts of his life that his son will never know, though he has attempted to find out as much as possible.  Haruki Murakami h...