Book Review: The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition

Publish Date: March 22, 2011

Paperback, 432 pages 
Fiction
ISBN: 978-0061624810

My Review:
Why I read this: It sounded like an interesting book.

My thoughts:  I really enjoyed this book and it's deep look into the psychology of the various characters in the book, especially Zee. 

The storyline of this book is wrapped really tight.  Ms. Brunonia does a beautiful job weaving this story, starting with Zee in the present and alternating some back and forth to learn more about Zee and what makes her what she is and how her father and mother have affected her.  I was never bored and had a hard time putting this one down.  I like looks into the psychological aspects of characters and that is what this novel seems to be all about.

I liked Zee, she's got a wonderful professional life with a great practice and a fiance who seems to adore her. Then when one of her patients commits suicide it starts to unravel things for Zee as she goes back to help her dad and begins to delve deeper into her past and secrets kept.  Zee is a fascinating character, she has insecurities yet she has confidence at times, she's been a rule-breaker but she plays by the rules.  Her mother was manic-depressive, but is she?  It's fascinating to see how the other characters affect her as well and I just enjoyed her character thoroughly.

If you like novels that make you feel like you are the character exploring your way to find yourself then this is a book for you.   If you like dealing with the psychological aspects and family secrets then this is for you.  In fact I can't think of anyone I wouldn't recommend this one to, it's an enjoyable and fascinating read and I will have to go back and read Ms. Brunonia's The Lace Reader now - I have heard wonderful things about it and since I enjoyed Ms. Brunonia's writing style I am anxious to read another one of her books.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0

About the Book:

Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats—a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She’s now a respected psychotherapist working with the world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She’s also about to marry one of Boston’s most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee’s patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she though she’d left behind.

What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly’s funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.

Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the stars, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.

About the Author: 

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Brunonia Barry lives in Salem, with her husband and their beloved golden retriever, Byzantium.

Connect with Brunonia:

• On her website
• On her blog
• On Facebook
• On Twitter: @BrunoniaBarry

FTC Information: I received this book through TLC Tours for a honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Blog Tour : The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks

Publish Date: March 22, 2011

Paperback, 432 pages 
Fiction
ISBN: 978-0061624810

***My review is coming later today and I can tell you now this book grabs you from the first page, Zee is interesting and you know there is something more there about her and her life and that is what keeps you reading***



About the Book:

Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats—a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She’s now a respected psychotherapist working with the world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She’s also about to marry one of Boston’s most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee’s patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she though she’d left behind.

What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly’s funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.

Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the stars, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.

About the Author:

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Brunonia Barry lives in Salem, with her husband and their beloved golden retriever, Byzantium.
Connect with Brunonia:

• On her website
• On her blog
• On Facebook
• On Twitter: @BrunoniaBarry

Brunonia’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, March 22nd: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Thursday, March 24th: Rundpinne
Monday, March 28th: Jo-Jo Loves to Read!
Thursday, March 31st: Confessions of a Bookaholic
Tuesday, April 5th: Life In Review
Wednesday, April 6th: Unputdownables
Thursday, April 7th: Peeking Between the Pages
Friday, April 9th: Colloquium
Tuesday, April 12th: Bookstack
Wednesday, April 13th: Wordsmithonia
Thursday, April 14th: My Reading Room
Friday, April 15th: Café of Dreams

 

Winners

It's time to do a winners post again, this time for several books that the giveaways have ended in the last few days.

 

The Dragon Lady by Gary Alexander (ebook):

Yel (The Itzel Library)

Nickel Plated by Aric Davis

Ricki @Reading Challenged

 

Song of the Silk Road by Mingmei Yip

Vidisha Singh

The winners have been contacted and have 48 hours to respond.  Thanks to all who entered.  Be sure and check out the sidebar for other giveaways going on right now and there will be more to come.

Teenage Garage Sale by Aric Davis

Teenage Garage Sale by Aric Davis

 (sponsored by The Teen Book Scene Tour)

Screeching Weasel LP, white vinyl, silk screened jacket.
It was my understanding that Screeching Weasel made 100 of these that were signed, 300 just like mine,
and 1000 on black vinyl. Pretty much impossible to get, because a lot were lost, and those who have
them do not want to sell. This has been my favorite record that I’ve never heard for almost half of my life.

Leather Jacket.
Still have it, way too fat to wear it in a zippable way. Covered in patches and paint, all I have to do is look
at this thing and I can smell high school, piss, and vinegar.

Composition Books, by Mead.
My journals. Mostly songs, some reflections. The majority of stuff in these make me cringe, but the other
stuff? Kinda good. I could at least write part of a decent song, even when I didn’t know anything about
girls, the world or myself. The good stuff sticks out, the rest is dreck.

Wallet.
Leather with a chain, Harley patch de-threaded and removed. Changed my mind, not for sale. I still use this thing every day.

Three row pyramid spiked belt.
Again, I still wear this every day, so you’re going to need to make a heck of an offer. I’ve cut new belt holes about fifteen times, and sometimes because I lost weight!

The Bounty Hunters, The Answers Don’t Mean Anything, cassette.
I always knew that I would be in a punk band, when I wound up in a good one it was incredible! Our second demo tape sold a few hundred copies, and though I’m not proud of this as much as I used to be, I can listen and remember where I was. If nothing else, that tape let me see about half of the continental US.

White Chuck Taylors.

This was what I wore when I wasn’t wearing Doc Martens. Kind of a revolt against the Ramones,
because they weren’t cool anymore, but had yet to die-they’re cool again after death-so the white Chuck’s
were a small rebellion against their signature black, major label, stretch pant wearing ways. I wear black
now, though I did go pink for a year because I got the pair for eight bucks.

Avail, live with Snapcase in 1996.
This is, and always will be, the best concert that I’ve ever seen. I would rather see it again than sell you
the ticket, but I can tell you about it. There was a stage and a P.A., and the kids came from miles around,
to get messed up on the music. I walked in and a skinny man said, “Hi, we’re Snapcase.” Every show
I played after that, I said the same thing, with my band’s name in place of Snapcase. They killed that
night, instantly becoming one of my favorite bands. But Avail was even better. I was there, I bought the
shirt. Avail was unreal, they knew they were as good as they were going to get, and they loved it. It’s
one thing to play to a crowd, another to be loved by one, and they knew they were loved. A year later,
I met Beau-Beau, their roadie/hype man/back up singer, and he saw my Avail tattoo in a hotel hallway.
He said, “dude, you like my band”, and showed me his own Avail tattoo. I told him about the show, and
about how they may have saved my life a time or two. He hugged me and he meant it. The hug is not for
sale.

Cigarettes.
I’m quit of them now, but I couldn’t get enough in high school. Please just take them off my hands.

Seeing The Riverdales live.

Ben Weasel-of Screeching Weasel fame-in his other band. He swore Weasel was done, but I was there
when Jughead walked on stage at the end of The Riverdales set, plugged into an amp and they played
the song “Slogans”. I have never seen a riot with so many smiling faces.

Autism Awareness Hop

When I first saw this hop I didn't have anything to contribute though I really wanted to be a part of it, then I read The Promises We Keep by Erin Healy.  In this book there is a boy/man with autism and through him I learned about some of the life of someone with autism and someone who is caretaker for one with autism.  This book is about so much more, but I was fascinated by the autism part of the book and the beautiful light that Ms. Healy paints this character in.

So that is what I am offering, my once read, almost brand new copy of The Promises We Keep by Erin Healy.  Open to the US/Canada, simply fill out my form below.  This giveaway is open April 11-14.  If you can't see the form below, you can find it here.

To learn more about autism, these sites are helpful:

Autism Speaks

Autism Research Institute

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - April 11

Come post weekly and see what others are reading too just so you can add to your tbr - I always do! For more information see Sheila at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books and join in! 

Books Completed Last Week 

• Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank
• Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner-Molaski
  
• The Face of God by Bill Myers
• Night Road by Kristin Hannah 
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger

Reading Now: 

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (audio, car)
• Drought by Pam Bachorz (audio, mp3 player)
• Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

Next:

• The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry
• The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf by molly Harper
• Toys by James Patterson
• Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter
• The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry
• Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
• Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

Summary -

Well I expected this to be a great reading week with the read-a-thon, but the truth is I got most of myr reading done early in the week and didn't do much  with the read-a-thon due to being at the ball field most of Saturday.  It was a great reading week and I have hopes to do well again this week in the midst of ball practice, museum night and filing my taxes :)

Best of the week:  Close one between Night Road by Kristin Hannah and The Face of God by Bill Myers.

How was your week?

Dewey's 24-hour-read-a-thon mid-event meme

 

1. What are you reading right now?  Night Road by Kristin Hannah
2. How many books have you read so far?  0
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Finishing Night Road
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?  I was involved with my boys' baseball for almost 8 hours then a nap, so no
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?  See above - but I'm hoping for several hours of limited interruptions later.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? That I missed out on so much
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No - I think you do a wonderful job!
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?  Pray that there are no ballgames during the read-a-thon! :)
9. Are you getting tired yet? No, I took a nap earlier.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Not that I can think of, but I think the cheerleaders have been awesome!

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  I do not receive money for my amazon links since I live in NC (something about some law), so they are up purely for my readers to have a place to check out the book.***