Lit List Short Reviews: Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith; How to Survive Ghosts, Cats, and Psychopaths: A Delia Sanchez Mystery by Diana K.C. Gill; Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey: A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity by Griff Johnson

 Lit List Short Reviews Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith; How to Survive Ghosts Cats and Psychopaths A Delia Sanchez Mystery by Diana K.C. Gill; Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity by Griff Johnson

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith

Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith

Larry G. Goldsmith's Bashert is a moving emotional story about a Jewish attorney meeting the love of his life at Woodstock and reconciling his faith with her more traditional family.

The plot begins when attorney, Michael Goldman, attends the famous 1969 outdoor concert where he encounters an 18 year old student named Shira Leifkowitz. It's a sweet tender moment that illustrates the Meet Cute convention in the backdrop of a time period that was considered the embodiment of free spirited and unconventional. 

The chapters of Michael and Shira's romance and early married life are stuffed with the minutae of everyday living in which couples try to navigate their compability and relationships with family and with each other. After a whirlwind romance ends in Shira's pregnancy, Michael proposes to her. The couple get the approval of friends and family, particularly Michael's widowed mother and Shira's orthodox Rabbi father. Goldman's married life starts with the usual struggles of money, conflicting schedules, differing opinions, and early childhood with the birth of their son, Ben. 

The book veers from romance and family drama to a more political novel about the effects of the Cold War on Russian Jewish immigrants. What was a personal story becomes political as Michael's father in law is arrested because of a scandal involving money being illegally distributed to aid immigrants fleeing the Soviet Union. Michael agrees to represent his father-in-law but has to find out some uncomfortable truths about his wife's family and his own views. He finds that people that he was once close to and were held up as unimpeachable pillars of the community have ulterior motives and are taking advantage of people who only wanted a better life for themselves and their families.

Bashert means "spouse" which is how Shira refers to Michael. It almost is a synonym for soulmate. That's what this book has, a lot of soul and a lot of heart.

How To Survive Ghosts, Cats, and Psychopaths: A Delia Sanchez Mystery by Diana K.C. Gill

Diana K.C. Gill's, How to Survive Ghosts, Cats and Psychopaths: A Delia Sanchez Mystery is a fun, entertaining, spooky, and at times moving supernatural mystery.

Former police officer turned mystery author, Delia Sanchez is recovering from the death of her mentally challenged brother. She becomes interested in buying Loring Mansion,  an old house and when other buyers mysteriously drop out leaving her with the best and only offer, she gets it. She learns the mysteries of the mansion when she gets it and all that comes with it, including ownership of two cats, Esmeralda and Zoeth Vander Loring that are the house's true heirs as well as Elise Vander Loring, a human ghost that haunts the place.

This book goes through several emotions. It has some humorous moments particularly between the more skeptical Delia and Dora, Delia's cousin, a believer in the supernatural with a very eccentric psychic on retainer. She also has some cute moments when she adjusts to the very furry real home owners who now have a human servant.

Delia's encounter with the ghost of Elise is terrifying because she has the ability to transform into other people. She changes to someone's late wife or former boyfriend leaving them to fear the familiar person performed by someone unfamiliar.

There is also some real drama and tension that compliments the supernatural elements. Delia still mourns for her deceased family members and strives to protect others including a new friend hiding from her abusive boyfriend.

This book is a fun, scary, and moving good time.

Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity by Griff Johnson

Griff Johnson's Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity is an interesting concept which features the Biblical Eve coming to the 21st century and seeing her future progeny for herself. Unfortunately, it is formatted so poorly that it's hard to follow and the great idea gets lost in the writing

Johnson describes Eve as his muse and artistic inspiration. This book is a dialogue heavy short novel in which the Narrator meets the Biblical character. She proves to be a bright and witty character who wants to share her point of view with the world so she befriends the Narrator's girlfriend, a news reporter and her colleague, a traffic reporter. After all, Eve's story has been translated and interpreted by the Bible and its many scholars, mostly men. She feels it's about time that she spoke for herself.

Eve is the highlight of the book. She uses "ME" (Mother Earth)to refer to herself and has a very almost childlike way of expressing herself. ("Just because ME never had a mother doesn't mean you have to fill in as Mr. Mommy to Eve.") She is bright and curious about modern society, everything from fashion to doughnuts. 

Eve also isn't without her criticisms for the modern world. Much of it is focused on the so-called religious right, the people who quote the Bible but withdraw love and charity to the people around them. The people who use God and biblical doctrine as an excuse to justify their prejudice, hatred, and biases. The hypocrites and charlatans who use all the buzz words to attract a gullible audience and believe that God's will is for them to live in tax free prosperity far from the rabble who donate to them.

The book is a brilliant concept and it makes the most of its lead character, however its format and length are difficulties that keep the Reader from experiencing and fully immersing themselves in the book as much as they could. It is all dialogue with no description, no internal thought, and no salutation over who said what. That makes the plot incredibly confusing when with the exception of Eve, everyone else's dialogue is written the same way. It's hard to tell who said what.

Also some incredible things happen throughout the book, such as when Eve and the Narrator disappear into a world called Alternate Eden. This passage would come off so much better with descriptions of Alternate Eden, The Narrator's confusion, and his friends anxieties over where he is and what they witnessed actually meant. Instead, it's just talked about between two characters making the scene somewhat shallow and only to be comprehended on a surface level. If ever a book needed the advice "show don't tell," it's this one.

Eve is a great character and this book could do so much better for her. However, a great idea falters if it doesn't have the writing style to back it up.