The Girl With No Name

This memoir was recommended to me by a friend of mine who shares similar likes and dislikes in books and whose opinion I trust wholeheartedly. So when she recommended this, I was excited to read a good book. And this book is wonderful. Partly because it's a true story.

A 4-year-old girl from Columbia found herself alone deep in the jungle of South America. She does eventually get out of the jungle when she's a preteen. The book is divided into two parts - her time in the jungle and her time after she got out. And as fascinating as her time in the jungle was, it's her life after that was compelling.

This book opened my eyes a little bit more to the capacity for evil that is in human beings. And the capacity for sacrifice and love.

This book is a must read!

Fly Away

This is one of many novels by Kristin Hannah, a new-to-me author that I think I've fallen in love with. Her writing is so interesting and well done. The plot of Fly Away is compelling. Heavy themes, but a light read. The characters are frustrating and endearing. I love them and hate them - a sign of a good novel to me.

I don't think I have anything bad to say about this book. It's a wonderful story of redemption and friendship. How you can't judge one's current actions without judging their past.

Actually, now that I think about it, I have one thing to say that can either be negative or positive, depending on your personality and preferences. The novel reads a little bit like a Hallmark movie. Do you know what I mean? It's the classic outline for one. Meet the sweet characters. There's a dying mom. There's a teenager full of angst and a newly single dad trying to parent her through the grief. Then comes the conflict. Teenager goes wild. The mom's best friend becomes an addict. But the ending turns out well. Wraps relationships up nicely. Maybe that's what I mean about a Hallmark movie. The book is full of conflict that ends up all fine. I'm not giving away anything though - I knew all would end well as I was reading the book. A little cheesy. Because it's destined to be a Hallmark movie.

All that to say, if you like books that have lots of broken relationships that make you mad, but then all ends well - this is a good book for you. It's an easy read. And because it was written well with interesting narration, I'll read some of Hannah's other books.

The Woman Upstairs

What a strange book. It's definitely for those who love literature. Claire Messud is a New York Times best selling author and after reading this book, I can see why. It's literature. It's artistic. It's beautifully written and the vocabulary is amazing. It reads sort of like poetry at times (but readable and understandable!). It's a highly intelligent novel and Messud paints pictures with her words of not only things, but emotions and thoughts.

But it's a weird book. Over half-way through and I still didn't know where the book was headed. What the point was. Even what the plot was. Is that good or bad? Perhaps if I were a more introspective person I'd get it?

The book was told through what I'd call conversational narration. Nora Eldridge is a single 37-year-old 3rd grade teacher who describes herself as "the woman upstairs". This woman has tried to be all things to all people, getting approval by denying herself.  She thinks she's independent, but as she invests herself fully and completely in a friendship with the mom and dad of one of her classroom kids, she realizes the woman upstairs isn't actually a happy one.

I get the sense that the author is trying to be edgy in her view of women and their identities. But in the midst of trying to pull that off, her main character, Nora, just comes across as insecure. Overall, I'd put this novel in the camp of feminist literature.

If you are interested in reading this book, it's helpful to know what it's about. Read some reviews and see what literature buffs think the book is about. Because even after finishing it, I still feel like I need to go read reviews to see what it was really about.

And The Mountains Echoed

I really loved Hosseini's other novels, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I have anticipated reading this one for a while. I was disappointed with the book. It definitely is not as good as his other ones.

It was slow. It caught me a little shy of 50 pages, which in general is my sweet spot. If I don't like a book within the first 50 pages, usually I don't like it after I finish drudging my way through it and I feel like I've wasted my precious reading time on a bad book. So, I give books 50 pages. And The Mountains Echoed got interesting for me around page 47.

I loved the opening chapters. Hosseini opened by telling a story and I love how that story ended up relating to the real life of the characters. This novel is not compelling. I didn't ever feel like I needed to keep reading to find out what happens because I don't think that's the point of the novel. It's about the characters, not about a dramatic plot.

At first I thought the book and the narration was all over the place. The author tells the story of the characters through different time periods and different narrators that change every chapter, which left me confused and playing catch up for half the chapter before finally understanding how it all relates. It took work when he brought in new characters to figure out who they were and how they related to the story of the main characters.

But as I continued to read, the authors back and forth between time and characters was interesting and got easier to follow. The "I wonder what happened to her?" got answered just when you thought she was out of the book.

While it is slow and requires concentration, while it is not compelling, and it took me longer than most novels to read, it's a well written book. Just keep low expectations going in and know it's more about characters than story lines and riveting plots.