Bluff City Pawn

As you can see, I've made a few changes. I've set up my review a little different this time just to give it a little more structure. I added my Goodreads currently-reading list to give you an idea of what reviews are coming up. And I've also teamed up with IndieBound. They support local, independent bookstores. I have their Next List to the right there and also a link at the end of this review for those of you who may be interested in buying this book. Their link will help you find a independent bookstore in your area with the book available. Great for supporting small businesses and your local economy.

Bluff City Pawn: A Novel by Stephen Schottenfeld
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What it's about:
Huddy Marr owns Bluff City Pawn in Memphis, TN in a neighborhood that's on it way down. When a long-time customer and avid gun collector dies, Huddy sees his ticket out and on to a better life. With the help of his brothers, Joe the land-developer, with his money and Harlan, the wanderer recently come home, to move the load, Huddy just has to find the right buyers. Just when everything looks like it's going smoothly, the trouble between brothers comes out.
Why I think what I do:
I thought this was a great novel. It is slow at first but I felt it was deliberate. Stephen Schottenfeld takes his time, using his language and style, to introduce you to the characters, show you their true selves and their relationships and really show you the world they live in is just like ours. This is a story that could being happening to anyone right at this moment. He doesn't get to the main event until almost half way through the book, but in this case, because he is building it up just so, it's not a drag at all. You get the chance to be inside Huddy's mind and see everything he is thinking. As a pawnshop owner, he knows people and he knows his brothers. This book was like watching a train wreck through the only pair of eyes that could have done something to stop it or at least slow it down.
Schottenfeld really gets down to the nitty gritty of how the economy affects everyone from the rich to the poor, from the up-right to the two-faced, and brother to brother.
Who it's for:
Anyone with an interest with pawnshops, family discord especially between brothers, gun collecting, and economics.
When it's available:
August 5, 2014
Where you can find it:

First ARC Giveaway Review!

It's been a couple weeks since I've updated but I have finally finished my first Goodreads ARC giveaway! It took me two weeks to read this book, though I do admit I took a break and read another, more upbeat, one in the middle. Also, with my one year old I really only get to read a couple hours a night after she's asleep. Just a little background on this author: The Story of Land and Sea is Katy Simpson Smith's debut novel. She is from Jackson, MS but received her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (I'm assuming this may have influenced her novel as it is near Beaufort, NC) an currently resides in New Orleans. This novel will be available Aug. 26, 2014.


The Story of Land and Sea by Katy Simpson Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**I received this book free from a Goodreads giveaway.

To start, I'm not big on stories about ships and the sea, especially in a historical context but I saw it was set on the North Carolina coast and I used to live there so I entered the giveaway and won! I am glad I gave it a chance, though I would not categorize it as the most amazing and profound book ever.

We are introduced to Tabitha, a 10 year old girl in the coastal town of Beaufort (pronounced Bow-fort, not Bu-fort if you talk to anyone from there), NC in the 1780's and 90's. She lives with her ex-pirate, ex-solider father, her mother, Helen, having died in childbirth. She spends her days enjoying the sea and little treasures she finds, visits with her grandfather who brings her to church, and attending school occasionally in a town where many have left since the war with the British ended the previous decade. When she falls ill, we see the struggles her father and grandfather go through, having already lost her mother, and in her grandfather's case, his daughter's mother as well. The trials and relationships between Tabitha and her father, as well as, her mother and grandfather are echoed with the story of Helen's slave Moll and her son.

The story is not simply about land and sea but the struggles of loss and loneliness, of finding, losing and questioning God, and moving forward. I gave it a rating a three stars because I did like the story but found it difficult to get through for a couple reasons. It is a very melancholy novel. Katy Simpson Smith uses present tense through the entire novel, which has three sections: Tabitha's time, her mother's time and back to Tabitha's time. By using it, the reader feels as if everything is happening right now and they are essentially transport to that time period and place and experience it first hand. This, for me, added to the sadness each character goes through. The other reason this was a tough read, was her adding in the story of Moll, the slave, and her son. It's not bad and I did like it by itself as it is very touching and presents its own struggles and it is, technically, historically accurate, but I felt it made the story drag in the third section and it didn't feel as connected as the other two father-daughter stories.

What I did like was the historical aspect because it takes place in an area I have visited. Normally, I'm not a fan of American history but I do like hearing about the way people lived in the past. I also liked her unique twist and retelling of the local lore. Without revealing too much, it includes an interesting use for a rum barrel, Blackbeard is mentioned, and an accurate description of the Battle of Beaufort that occurred in April 1782. Overall, this is a great book for those who love pre-Civil War American history, relationship studies between parent and child, or novels on love and loss.

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