Attachments

Finally! After reading many mediocre (at best) books for the past month , I finally get one that's good. Not just good but great. Unique. It is now on my list of favorite books.

Do not read a thing about this book before reading it. All you need to know is that it's endearing and maddening novel filled with tragic timing and is so funny and clever. The editing and grammar references are fantastic. I loved this book so much that it made me immediately get Rowell's other books from the library. And it made me want to take her to coffee to ask what happens next after the last sentence of the story. This was truly a delightful read.

A House in the Sky

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was fiction that read like a memoir. Then I realized that this sounds too real to be made up; it is in fact a memoir. A haunting one. It's an amazing story of depravity and hope. The novel is one big juxtaposition.

Amanda and her friend get kidnapped by an extremist Islamic group in Somalia. She is in captivity for a long time and this book is her telling of the story. It is one that will stay with me for a long time and I think is a must read for everyone. It will open your eyes to the world. To terrorism. To the ethics of paying ransoms or not. To many other things that are just too complicated to even mention on a blog. Not many memoirs have me googling the author. This one I did immediately. I even stalked her Instagram. Crazy, right? And once you read it, you'll find out why I became a crazy stalker.

I Kill the Mockingbird

This is a cute juvenile fiction book and is a great read for book lovers and kids. My 4th grader read it and liked it. I wouldn't call it great literature or a great book, but it's cute. And it has potential to inspire kids to read actually great books. It's about a small group a friends who love the book To Kill a Mockingbird and start a conspiracy to try to get other kids in their town to read it for their summer reading. Their campaign gets more out of control than they anticipated. And their plan ends up working. Overall, a good book for middle elementary aged kids. And I will say that I took some notes on other good books mentioned in this one for my kids to read.

The Shoemaker's Wife

This is your classic immigrant novel about an Italian teenage boy who was forced to immigrate to America and your atypical Italian teenage girl who immigrated with her father in hopes of making money for their family back home in the Italian Alps. The beginning of this book had such potential and I was falling in love with the characters and their endearing personalities. Then they came to America and the book went downhill. If Trigiani had just stuck to the characters of Enzo and Ciro, the book would have been great; the characters development in the beginning was excellent.

But then the author moved the novel into less about the actual story and into more about the culture of Italians. Interesting, to be sure. There were just too many details in the things that don't even matter. All that extraneous detail, along with the length of the novel made it tedious at times. Many times. So much so that by the end of the book, I didn't actually care what happened to anyone, I just wanted the book to end.

I wanted to badly to give this book a raving review. And at points, I could have. Unfortunately, those parts that held the most potential were rushed and forced and written in such a way as to not make you really care.

Girls in White Dresses

This is a book about...uh...I'm not actually sure what the plot was. If I had to describe it, I'd say a dumb book about annoying women and their dysfunctional relationships with men. I usually love dysfunction, but this is dumb dysfunction. Perhaps this is the biggest fluff novel I might have ever read. Don't waste your time people. Even if you need a fluff novel. This one is not worth the time.

One More Thing, The Reason I Jump, By Nightfall, Notes From the Internet Apocalypse

One more thing by Bj Novak. Really really dumb stories. And not even in a funny way. Gave up 3 stories in. Don't waste your time on this one.

The Reason I Jump. This is a book written by a 13 year old boy with Autism. I found it to be self-righteous, unbelievable, and simple. The format was question-answer with a few short stories thrown in. It got old but I felt like I needed to finish it in case that ah ha moment come; I even got close. However, I ended up picking up a good book and by the time I had the opportunity to come back to this one, I wasn't interested. I hate to sound harsh, but I think this kid should have had more help in writing the book or waited until he was a bit older.

By Nightfall. I loved one of Cunningham's other books, The Hours so one day when I was perusing the library looking for a book to read, I migrated to Cunningham to see what else he's written. Oh dear. I couldn't even finish this book. Fifty percent of it I don't understand. No, 75%. The actual story line is somewhat interesting. However, the pretentious commentary is not.

Notes From the Internet Apocalypse. Stupid. Poorly written. Dumb. I usually make myself read to page 50 of a book before stopping. I got to 26. And that was about 25 pages longer than I wanted.

The Boy in the Suitcase

This is a very quick read. Be prepared to stay up too late and neglect responsibilities to finish reading this book.

Mikal is a 3-year-old boy who gets kidnapped. A Red Cross nurse, Nina finds him in a locker and yes, he is in a suitcase. Nina has an obsession with helping people, so she tries to find out where the boy belongs.

It's a Nordic crime fiction book and that's about all I can say about the book. It does get a little confusing as you read it since there are multiple parties involved throughout, but it's easy enough to follow.

My only criticism is that I think some of the book gets lost in translation. My guess is that if you are from Denmark or Lithuania or know a lot about their cultures, you will understand and get this book better than the American lens through which I read it.

I've heard that this may be the first of a series, which would then make this book even better. To see the why behind what makes people the way they are would certainly make Nina a more interesting character. Were it this book alone, Nina would be a little maddening. But if the authors put more background on her story, her characters and this book would come more to life.

No Country for Old Men

I really liked The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Interesting characters, story, and writing. I decided to read No Country For Old Men. Yikes. This is one of the most violent books I've read in a while. And not redemptive.

It's about a man who comes across a drug deal gone wrong and he ends up taking the money that's left behind. From then on, he's a hunted man by multiple parties to try to recover the money.

On the surface, this book is just about a drug deal. But, going deeper it's about sin, temptation, sociopaths, and making right choices.

I'm not sure what I think about this book. It's not as good as The Road. It's not a book I'd recommend. It's not one I'd go see the movie adaptation. It was fine. A quick read, but I was left disappointed in the end, which is obviously where McCarthy wants you to be. It's just not a comfortable place to be given the topic of the book.

I left this book feeling hopeless and angry, which I don't like to feel. So, I can't give this one a great review.

The Underground Girls of Kabul

I usually stick to fiction novels because I don't have the emotional energy to invest in thinking about an actual, real, life issue. However, I heard an interview with the author of this book and decided to give it a go since it sounded interesting and the middle east is a mess and I wanted to learn more about the culture.

The Underground Girls of Kabul is a book about a reporter who travels to Afghanistan because she heard of an undocumented anthropological issue and wanted to pursue the truth of it: families who dress their daughters as sons. 

Afghanistan is one of the worst places to be a woman. Under the Taliban rule, women couldn't leave their homes unescorted by a man...even it that is a young child. They couldn't show any part of their skin. They couldn't work. They were forcibly married at unthinkably young ages. Ages where girls should still be playing with dolls, not have their own real life one to take care of.

I had always thought that Afghanistan is so oppressive to women because of the Taliban. But this book has shown me that the oppression goes much deeper than whom is ruling the country. It's the culture and the Afghans themselves who are so oppressive.

This is a fantastic book full of tragedy and hope. It's an interesting commentary on the lives of women in Afghanistan. It's also opens a discussion on gender roles, a patriarchal society, and what does it in fact mean to be a woman.

The Road

This is a Pulitzer Prize winner from 2006 and I'm not sure why I've just now heard of this book. Especially since it was adapted to film (starring Viggo Mortensen no less). This book is due to become a classic for sure.

It's about a post-apocalyptic journey of a father and his son across a burned America. Vegetation and animals were all destroyed. There are few people left and many of those have resorted to murder and cannibalism to stay alive. 

While the plot is poignant, compelling and interesting, it's the delivery that is the real star of this novel. The prose is absolutely beautiful.

There is almost no character development which is genius since there is very little human development and life on earth has all but stopped. There's no reason to develop characters and yet you are left with strong feelings one way or the other for just about every person you come in contact with. 

It's written in 3rd person most of the book and the one of my favorite things is that the main characters are never named. There is only 1 name throughout the whole book and that's a fake name that's given.  Never hearing their names shows a depth of literature and thoughtfulness of McCarthy.

The book shows the depth of depravity and the height of love and hope. It evokes raw emotions never fully expressed due to the strength of the Father trying to protect the son. It will be a book that makes you look up other reviews and see how others translated meaning and one that will stick with you. 

Read it. But be forewarned that it's dark and tragic. It's not a happy beach novel. But one well worth reading.

The Children Act

I heard an interview with Ian McEwan on NPR and the book sounded absolutely fascinating. However, when I read it, it was less about the morality of difficult family law cases and more about the judge and her declining marriage.

Judge Finona Maye is a 60-year-old woman who leads the family courts in the UK. She is highly renown in her profession, but her marriage is falling apart. Her husband has come to her and asked for her blessing for him to have a quick affair with a younger woman. She says no and the book is the aftermath of her answer, with some of her difficult cases thrown in. I felt like the personal drama was maddening and boring. The judicial cases were the interesting parts of the book.

The book is sweet in moments, tense at times, and sometimes down right crazy. There is redemption in an interesting way all throughout the book. I'd probably rate it a 3.5 out of 5. That being said, it's almost the perfect book for a book club or to talk about with friends because of the morality of difficult cases throughout and to some extent the drama of her marriage.

Going Public

Going Public is a non-fiction Christian book about putting your child in the very secular and anti-God public schools. I found some of the points to be interesting, but nothing life changing. There were basically examples from his experiences and how they dealt with them, which is good to include in a book, but not be the main point of the book. I might recommend this book to someone who has never thought about the issue and wants a starting point, but not for those who have given any amount of thought to the issue already.

Fallen Women

Fallen Women is a fantastic fiction novel about women's view of prostitution in the early west. It is extremely well written. I don't think it can actually be called historical fiction, although it's halfway there.

I don't have time to write a brief summary, so here's what Amazon.com says:

"It is the spring of 1885 and wealthy New York socialite Beret Osmundsen has been estranged from her younger sister, Lillie, for a year when she gets word from her aunt and uncle that Lillie has died suddenly in Denver.  What they do not tell her is that Lillie had become a prostitute and was brutally murdered in the brothel where she had been living.  When Beret discovers the sordid truth of Lillie’s death, she makes her way to Denver, determined to find her sister’s murderer.  Detective Mick McCauley may not want her involved in the case, but Beret is determined, and the investigation soon takes her from the dangerous, seedy underworld of Denver’s tenderloin to the highest levels of Denver society.  Along the way, Beret not only learns the depths of Lillie’s depravity, but also exposes the sinister side of Gilded Age ambition in the process."

Basically, the novel is a fast paced, thriller of sorts that gives a different perspective of prostitution and what life might have been like for desolate women (either financially or socially) in the late 19th century. I highly recommend this book to those who like prior eras, women's studies, or psychological thrillers.

Ape House

Ape House was an interesting book. It's a quick read, but just okay characters. While most are a little flat and stereotyped, some are more complex and interesting.

The plot itself was fine. A little silly and not very believable. Isabel is a woman who helps run a linguistic project for Bonobos, a primate that is similar to a Chimp. John is a reporter who interviews her for a newspaper piece. Their lives become more entwined than they both thought they would ever be.

I felt like the novel was trying too hard to be an expose' with a thrilling plot. Gruen lost the magic of what could have been in this book. It had potential, but turned out to be just an okay book. The best I can say about it is that it is well researched. The plot, characters, and writing itself fell short.

The Lady Elizabeth

I have been enjoying historical fiction books on Tutor England lately and this one is perhaps my favorite. I can't say a bag things about it except it ended.

It's a fascinating perspective on queen Elizabeth I and her life since childhood; a royal coming of age novel.

I highly recommend it and will reading Weir's other books. She has done her research and is a beautiful writer.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

This book has mixed reviews for me. The modern day story was a little dumb and forced. The 1940s one was engaging and good. The modern day characters were annoying, archetyped, and fake. The 1940s ones were endearing, authentic, and surprising.

Sookie is an older woman who gets some unexpected news that threw her off kilter. A family secret is reveled and she begins researching to get some answers. Her response to the secret seemed unrealistic and weak. I didn't like her for it.

Fritzi was one of four sisters in the 1940s whose family ran a gas station. They are a precious family of strong women and the juxtaposition and irony between weak Sookie and strong Fritzi didn't get by me. If Flagg could have written about them and left Sookie out, the book would be great!

Usually I really like books where the narrations goes back and forth between times and people. But this book didn't have any cliff hangers to leave you interested while you read about the other time. So I ended up just not caring enough to keep reading. I had to finish the book because it's a book club book, but were it not for that, I'd have put it down.

Now. All that said, it probably wasn't as terrible a book as I've made it out to be. I  had just read a stellar book, The Book of Unknown Americans. And when you read a mediocre book right after an excellent one, the former is even worse. Had I read this one first, I probably wouldn't be so harsh.

Mad About the Boy

This book is highly inappropriate but highly funny. Rated R, but you know Bridget Jones...it's funny. There's really nothing of substance or anything else to say about the book. It's funny, but I can't recommend it.

The Book of Unknown Americans

I thought this book was refreshing and amazing and different and funny and lovely. It's about Latino Immigrants to America and how they survive and acclimate to the US. It was an extremely quick read and shocking at times.

I heard about this book on NPR and it sounded intriguing since I don't know much about the experiences of immigration and how America is defined by new immigrants.

Mayor's family is from Panama and he sees a beautiful girl, Maribel and immediately falls in a love unlike any other. Maribel's family just moved from Mexico for her education and the two families become friends and their extraordinary stories are unfolded.

Woven throughout the main story are the mini stories and voices of other Latino immigrants whom they come in contact with. Most of the stories are seamlessly told and will inspire and break your heart at the same time.

I highly recommend this book and it's on my list of favorites. Not in the top 10, but on the list.

Best quote in the book as it relates to ethnic identity:

"I wasn't allowed to claim the thing I felt and I didn't feel the thing I was supposed to claim."                                                                  Mayor, page 78

Quit It

This is a book that my 4th grader picked up and read before I could get to it. It's about a 7th grade girl, Carrie, who has Tourette Syndrome. It's a great story chocked full of good things. Because it has some great things to discuss that really should be fleshed out, it's a great read-aloud for a 4th-6th grader or parents can read it before to know what questions to ask. 

Carrie is best friends with a boy who has OCD and is obsessive about the West Nile Virus. Both kids are different that their peers and get made fun of because of their differences until they decide to join the school counselors "Lunch Bunch" where a few kids get together over lunch every day to talk about their issues and problems. This presents its own new problem for Carrie as her friendships change.

I enjoyed reading it, even though it is juvenile fiction and meant for a middle schooler. It was a nice change from my usual and was good to be able to discuss with my 4th grader. 

The Hurricane Sisters

This was one of those books that I picked up because it was audio and I needed something to listen to in the car on a road trip. It was an interesting book. The plot was good, the characters were cute. There is quite a bit of language though.

It stars three generations of women. Maisie is the spunky, fiesty, opinionated grandmother. Liz is the judgmental mom. And Ashley is the 20 something daughter who dreams of becoming an artist and marrying the South Carolina senator.

It was a fine book, but nothing to praise. There's a bit of everything in the book, which makes it a little all over the place. It has something to say on families, domestic violence, Southern charm, affairs, and more. However, it's mostly a story on a family and how they stick together and love one another through difficult things.

My Name is Mary Sutter

This historical fiction gets mixed reviews from me. It's definitely worth reading though; I loved it. The story of Mary Sutter is amazing. What a remarkable woman she was! The characters were dynamic and it was a hard book to put down.

Mary Sutter was a midwife in the late 1800s who wanted to become a surgeon. Of course, women in that time should not and thus did not have those kinds of ambitions and definitely not the opportunities to fulfill those ambitions. Mary Sutter used her vast intelligence of facts and people to attempt to get what she wanted.

My only criticism of this book is the history part. It wasn't flawlessly woven throughout. It almost seems like Oliveria stops the story of Mary Sutter to throw in some facts about the politics and the war and the people involved.

That aside, the book is great and if you enjoy stories about strong women, unrequited love, the Civil War, or medicine this is a great book for you.  

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

This book got great reviews, so I decided to read with without knowing anything about it. Sometimes that works in my favor, as some books are just perfect when you don't know what to expect. This wasn't one of those books.

This was an interesting book. I didn't know it was fantasy until I was into the book. Had I known beforehand, I may have enjoyed the book better. It is an interesting story and fairly entertaining. It's a cross between Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time Ransom Rigg's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children but it's not nearly as good as either of those. It is a very simple book and had almost no explanations to the fantasy. At first I thought maybe it would be good for a child to read, but it's not appropriate for kids.

It's about a man who comes back to his childhood home and remembers a friend he had, Lattie Hempstock and some adventures they had together. The plot is ho hum. The characters are boring. The fantasy is just okay.

I will say that it has a bit of an interesting commentary on human nature, but not complex enough to really make anything of the book.

The Girl You Left Behind

This was a really, really good book. I do have some complaints, but they aren't big enough to not read the book.

Sophie, a Frenchwoman from the early 1900s is left with the task of keeping her family safe while her husband is fighting in WWI. Germany occupies the village and her life changes when German officers eat dinner at her inn every night.  The Commander sees a painting of Sophie, painted by her husband, and immediately falls in love with the art. That painting becomes a pivotal piece of what happens to Sophie and her family.

Almost a century later, Liv gets that same painting as a wedding present from her husband, who died young. By chance, the paintings value is discovered and the troubled history of the painting resurfaces.

Overall:
1. Perfect balance of suspense, tragedy, and relief. This would be a great book club book or beach read.
2. Some sex and language, but an amazing story.
3. The way Moyes narrates these stories can get a little confusing.
4. Although I really, really loved Sophie's story, Liv's was just ok. I felt that it was too modern. Too much of a juxtaposition from Sophie's story. Perhaps that was the point, but it made me care more about Sophie than Liv. In fact, the novel could have just been Sophie's story on its own and it would have been just as good, if not better. The modern story line was too contrived, too drawn out, and just not great.
5. You should read this.

The Martian

The Martian is on lots of book lists as a must read. I took one look and saw that it was SciFi and decided to skip it. Not my thing. When I kept seeing it come up everywhere, I told myself to buck up and read the thing. So I did.

I was under the impression that SciFi was aliens, different worlds and species, fighting space creatures, or people with tall pointy ears who live in large space ships. The Martian is none of those things. What enlightenment!

It's about Mark Watney, an astronaut who gets left behind on Mars. There are no aliens. There are no creature scenes. And there are no pointy ears. The SciFi in the novel is just the unrealistic or unscientific (at least as of 2014) reality of being able to survive on Mars.

This novel is gripping. Suspenseful all throughout the book, from the first page to the final. Although I will say that the end of the novel is a bit anticlimactic. I would have liked the ending to be just as tense as the beginning and middle.

There is quite a bit of language, but it's forgivable based on the setting of life and death tension. And it's pretty mathematical and has lots of engineering in it. Watney ends up having to make a lot of modifications to his space things in order to survive. Following all of the changes and the details of what things do and how they work is a bit tedious. Not in a bad way, but in a I-need-to-read-this-a-little-slower-than-the-average-book way. It took me longer to read it since I wanted to pay closer attention to the details.

Overall, I'd recommend the book. I enjoyed it and was happy to read something other than my usual stuff.

All the Light We Cannot See

I can't say enough about this book. Seriously, I can't really say much. It's our first book club book and I don't want to give anything away.

Even the very first page is beautiful. It opens with two epigraphs, one for each of the main characters in the novel, Werner and Marie-Laure.

Werner is a German orphan and Marie-Laure is a blind French girl. All the Light We Cannot See is a book written in the Nazi Occupation time of 1941-1944 and tells the story of how the two lives are connected. The weaving back and forth between time is outstanding. Doerr leaves you in agony as you have to wait to see what happens. And unlike other books that go back and forth between time and people, this one isn't confusing at all.

It's a new and interesting viewpoint of WW2.  A different side of German soldiers and the civilians they keep. What hatred can do to shatter peoples lives irrevocably. And the good we can find in others.

The book is in my top favorite 3 books and I highly recommend to everyone to read it. You will experience shock, terror, joy, sadness, and delight.

All the Light We Cannot See is remarkable and moving. I can only say I hope Doerr's next novel doesn't take another 10 years to write.


Update: My husband read this book and wrote his review on Goodreads. Because it's a great review and exactly what I think, I put it here:


All the Light We Cannot See 
by Anthony Doerr (Goodreads Author) 

Matthew's review 

Sep 03, 14

5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: entertainment

Read in September, 2014

I want to give this book six stars; it is perfection in what I enjoy in literature. I feel there is so much I can say and yet anything I attempt to say would feel ridiculously inadequate. Some quick-hit reactions:

*HISTORICAL FICTION: I love and read a lot of historical fiction and can say that this author has nailed the genre with this book. Clearly he did a ton of research and it is beautifully and seamlessly woven throughout.

*LITERATURE: The writing is simply a masterpiece and an instant classic. It was so beautiful to read and yet so very readable.

*NARRATION: The narration style jumping back and forth between several characters and several time periods was incredible. It takes a few chapters to get used to it, but once you get into the book you appreciate the incredible depth that this narration style provides. Well done!

*CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Like every great book, at its core this book was character driven. I cared about every main character. I love the humanity, the depth and the growth of each and every one of them.

*MYSTERY: He pulls off the underlying mysteries of the book so well and I loved the last few chapters in particular, but won't give any spoilers here.

I am sure there is so much more that I can say, but ultimately there is only one thing to say: READ THIS BOOK.

Because of Mr. Terupt

This is a precious little gem of a young adult book. It's about a 5th grade class who gets a 1st year teacher, Mr. Terupt. There is some name calling and an introduction to mean girls in the book, so if you don't want your kids to be exposed to that yet, pass on this book. However, the redemptive value of this book is amazing.

It helps you see that everyone has a story and when kids in your class act a certain way, it's usually for a reason. Good issues to discuss are bullying, things happen for a reason (the sovereignty of God), blame and guilt, and prayer. Keep in mind, this is not a Christian book. But, one of the 5th graders is a Christian, so she pray throughout the book.

The only negative thing I can say about the novel is the lack of strong good fathers. But that is accurate for many, many kids so that criticism is just due to my bias. But I like that the teacher was male and the book showcases why having men in the teaching profession is important especially for the multitude of kids without a father figure.

Counting By 7s

Counting by 7s is a great little Young Adult fiction book about a genius kid (she's 12 years-old) who's life changes when her counselor brings her home one day from school. I loved the book and my 9 year old also loved it. Issues to discuss with a child who reads it might include: adoption, kids who are different, sacrifice, community responsibility, labeling kids. If you are an adult, you may find it a bit unbelievable at times, but that's not the point. It's not a book about the process of adoption or foster care system. It's a book about an endearing little girl who is not like her peers and how she changes the lives of those around her.

So, adults - read it. And if you have kids who like to read, have them read it too.

The Rosie Project

The Rosie Project is a quick cute little read. When starting it, you think it has no substance, but when you finish it you realize the redemptive value in it. It's about a 39 year-old University Genetics professor who is quirky to say the least. Although it's never named, he probably has Aspergers. The beginning of the book is very clever and funny. This man decides that he would like to get married and sets out to find an appropriate wife. I couldn't put the book down and read it in a day. The sequel, The Rosie Effect comes out in the spring of 2014 and I can't help but think movie rights will be sold.

Great beach read, very engaging book, and very funny.

The Invention of Wings

I really liked The Secret Life of Bees. So I read Mermaid Chair; I hated it. It basically endorsed adultery and I can't stand books like that.

When I saw that Sue Monk Kidd came out with a new book and the setting was Charleston in the early 1800s, I had a gut feeling this was going to be a stellar book. I had very high expectations for this book and they were exceeded.

If you read my blog, you know I love stories that weave the lives of two people together, alternating the narration of the chapters. This is one of those books and it was masterfully done. Hetty is one narrator, and is a slave. Sarah is the other narrator and is the white aristocracy of Charleston. The way their lives entwine and divorce throughout the book is wonderful. The voices of their characters (who actually existed - this is historical fiction, which I didn't learn until the end of the book but was hoping it was the whole way through) were so beautifully written and distinct.

The story itself was riveting and one I can't describe...the book is better when you have no idea who these people really were and what they did. So, do NOT research anything about it, just read it. And after you read the novel (being a little depressed that it's over), read the authors notes and then be ready to be awed and a little more depressed.

The language in Kidd's novel is just beautiful. To quote my husband, Matt: "I read a lot of books and every now and then I read literature." This is in the later category.

Just one of the many beautiful art written in this book:

"There's no pain on Earth that doesn't crave a benevolent witness."

The Magician's Assistant

I so badly wanted to love this book. I wanted it to end redemptively. It didn't though. The book was an interesting character study, but just not all that well written, which is a shame since I loved State of Wonder and wanted to jump into another fantastic story.

This book drags on and while I can't call it slow, it's boring. The author tried to keep you interested and while it was a quick read, I still don't like it. Sabine is the magicians assistant and is thrown into depression when her husband (who is the magician and happens to be gay) dies. All though out the novel, her husbands partner and love of his life, Phan, visits her in her dreams. And while I'm all for using dreams to move on in life, I think Patchett tried to hard to make them something they weren't.

All in all, I can't recommend this book. But, I will recommend State of Wonder, by the same author!

China Dolls

I really really liked Lisa See's book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It was such a fascinating look into China during the feet binding era. I've read some of her other books and didn't like them. So, I thought I'd give See one last chance.

China Dolls is set in the United States spanning the 1930s-1980s. It's mostly a story about 3 women who put ambition and jealousy before their friendship. Throw in some sad history about the internment camps for Japanese during WW2. The novel shows the damage of war pretty accurately and discloses the harshness of early to mid century showbiz. Over all it's a good book and I was happy to see that Lisa see can write about more modern time Chinese.

The best I can say about the book is that it's a quick read and would be fantastic to take to the beach. It's just not great literature. It won't win any awards or be a best seller. But it is an interesting story with complex characters and a good read.

Hollow City

Hollow City is the book that comes after Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. It started off a little slower and more bland than the first novel did. But about halfway through I loved it and couldn't put it down. Just like his first book, the way Riggs incorporates a story into real-life-really-strange pictures is amazing. Very creative and unique. And well worth the read!

I'm looking forward to the next book, which comes out in 2015.

Keep Quiet

Keep Quiet is about a family torn apart when a tragedy happens. In a split second decision, the family members decide to forgo going to the police and hide the secret instead.

The secret destroys lives and the novel answers both who done it and can the family survive. It's good...just too similar a format to her other books and the characters are flat. Which I guess is fine since the book is about the story and not character development or complexity of character.

Overall, I'm done with Lisa Scottoline. I feel like she's turned into a female John Gresham. All her books are the same format with flat characters. If you are looking for a quick fluff read though, this one is fine.

Icy's Sparks

It kills me to start reading a book with such potential, only to put it down a little ways in. Icy Sparks is that book. It's narrated by a girl who ends up getting Tourette's Syndrome, but because she grew up in rural Kentucky in the 1950s, no one really knew about it so they just made fun of her.

The novel had potential, but wasn't fast enough for me. The beginning was weird. And the characters just were boring. So, I put it down. You may have better luck though and it's one of those books that I may have been able to get into on another day.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

This is the strangest book I've ever read; I loved it! This book is well, peculiar. It's beautiful storytelling and extremely unique. It's brilliant actually.

The author takes real photographs and weaves a story using them. And the pictures are quite strange, haunting, weird, and lovely. The story itself is a classic good v. evil, with a unique twist. I can't say more since this novel is so much more lovely when you know nothing about it.

If you read this book (which you should), just know it's more along the lines of a fairy tale than real life. But so so so worth the read. One of my faves for sure. And there's a sequel and the movie rights to this book have been sold. Which means I'm making a trip to my library and penciling in the date one year from now for the movie. 

The Housemaid's Daughter

I really wanted to love this book just because of the format. When I saw that the Madam's diary had a role in the novel, I thought it would be wonderful. It had such potential and I was let down, although it did get good reviews from Goodreads and Amazon.

It's about a white family in South Africa and how the housemaid's daughter gets intermingled with the family. A dangerous thing to do since it's during the period where Apartheid began.

The story itself was great. The writing was not. The book was slow, the author was redundant, and the housemaid's voice was not captured well. I think Mutch wanted the voice of the servant to sound naive, but she just came across as dumb and I felt insulted by the redundancy of her words.

Overall, I'd give this a 2.5 out of 5.

Thirty Girls

This is a historical fiction novel (my favorite genre) about a group of girls kidnapped from a Catholic school in Africa by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). The school nun went after them and managed to convince a commander to let some go. She had to choose the thirty that had to stay. Minot weaves the story of the girls in through the story of a thirty something single woman, Jane, who has come to Africa to write a story on the girls. Jane is trying to find herself and has some interactions that become defining moments in her life.

This novel is captivating. Haunting. Lovely language and use of words if a bit pretentiousness at times. The ending is a big surprise, which I always like even if it's heartbreaking.

The character development was masterfully crafted. Minot gave you enough emotion and fondness for the characters to be invested about what happens so that you continue to read the story. But not so much that when one of the main characters have something tragic happen that you are devastated. It was a good balance. Especially considering the heaviness of the rest of the book.

Rated R though for sex and violence. And for the tragedy of what has happened in Africa over the years and continues to happen.

I highly recommend this book to open your eyes to the capacity the LRA has and the evil done to man. And because it's a unique and interesting book. But mostly for the resilience of people. This is one of those books that will stay with me a long while.

South Of Superior

I really liked this book; it is good writing, a great story, and lovable characters who have flaws (I love to see that in novels).

It's about a woman, Madeline, who moves to Lake Superior to help take care of an aging family friend. She left her life in big city Chicago to move to a small town with a harsh economy. She meets people who are vastly different from her and learns a lot about herself from her experiences. And of course, there is a maybe romance with a man in the town.

I would recommend this book for sure. And while it won't win any awards, it is a good read and worth the time.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

This book is a mixed review for me. The story was well told and well written. The weaving between lives, cultures, and dates was flawless. I loved the setting of Burma and how different this is than other novels. The character development was fine.

The story is about a New York father who disappears, leaving his family behind. Julia, his daughter who just graduated from Law School decides to follow the small trail he left behind. That leads her to Burma.

The story, characters, and style of writing was good. It's a page turner to see what happened. However, it's the message underneath the words that left me with a sad taste of the book.

The moral of this novel is to follow love at all costs. To do what feels right regardless of whom else it may hurt. To make others pay for your poor choices in your earlier life.

All that being said, I'd still recommend the book. Just reader beware of the deeper issues throughout.

Accidental Mother

This is a great book. It's about loss and while that's a deep subject, the book itself isn't too deep, although I did shed a few tears. This is a it's-worth-staying-up-until-2am-to-finish book. Sophie is a successful single woman who is highly committed to her career as a party planner who ends up with 2 young kids that she doesn't really want.

While it's not going to win any awards in literature, it tells a good story and is worth reading.

Sweeping Up Glass

I bought this book at Goodwill, just for its title. I know, I know. You can't judge a book by its cover and that is true for this one. It had potential if the story moved quicker, but it was too slow and boring to continue, so back to Goodwill it goes.

Save Me

Look Again is one of my favorite books, and definitely my favorite from this author. I came across this one and decided to give it a try and it wasn't bad. It was a very quick read and I couldn't put it down. It's a great beach read and doesn't have any depth. It's about a mother who is volunteering as a lunch helper and ends up being involved with something fatal. I can't give details, since the surprises in the book are what makes it one worth reading.

The only real complaint I have against the novel is that it's unrealistic. However, by the time I realized the facts weren't believable, I was hooked and didn't care. Not the best writing but one of those books where it doesn't matter.

Rasputin's Daughter

I now know more than I ever cared to know about Rasputin. This dude was crazy sick. This book is really about Maria, his daughter and his life is seen through her eyes, thankfully, as it lessens the blow of evil.

While this was a good book, readable, well written, organized well, good characters, and interesting, it is very dark and sexually explicit.

The character development is very interesting. I started out really liking Maria when she was naive and didn't know what her father's real character was life. But as soon as she saw some things her father did, but failed to speak up or put a stop to it, I rapidly grew to dislike her. But I still respect her for some things, which is why I continued to read it.

If you are interested in reading about the crazy Rasputin this would be an entertaining book to say the least.

Figures in Silk

The setting for this book is just after the War of the Roses. I have recently read several historical fiction books on or near this era and this one was probably the best. That being said, I did grow weary of the silk industry by the end of the book. And Bennett could have done a better job at being more concise in her descriptions.

The story focuses around the two Lambert daughters who get married off after the war. Jane, who becomes Jane Shore is widely written about in other books in this era, as she becomes the mistress to King Edward IV. It was very interesting getting a new glimpse into her life as a sister and the power she had at court. Isabel became Isabel Claver and married into the silk business. This story line is unique to similar books in the genre, which I enjoyed. Isabel is really the main character in the book, as she unknowingly falls into a relationship with the king's brother, Richard after she is widowed young. The book is full of shady dealings and relationships, which is true to the period. If you like 15th century London books, this is a good one to read!

Emma and Me

Character development matters. This book is proof. I have been reading this book for the past few nights and got to page 65 before I put it down. The story sounds interesting. The writing is fine. However, I didn't care about the characters enough to get the through the boring spots. If Flock had set up her characters better, I would have kept reading to see what happens to the girls. So, I wouldn't recommend this book on that factor alone.

While Beauty Slept

This is a great book! It's an extremely creative book and very well written. The characters were believable and complex, even while being archetype.

The story is told by a great grandmother (Elise) once she hears her great granddaughter tell the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. She proceeds to recount the real story behind the fairy tale and it is fantastic.

So many fairy tales or books that give a different account of the fairy tale, they are full of magic and unbelievable details. While Beauty Slept thankfully isn't. It's a creative account of how the fairy tale could have come to pass.

I highly recommend this book to those who like a good story, a well written book, and enjoy surprises and trying to figure things out. Just remember the time period and setting (fictional as it may be). Women are not well taken care of and are treated as objects, so there are some inappropriate relations in the novel.

It's on my list of favorite books and I hope Blackwell writes more novels like this one!