Wave

I've decided to read more books on the best seller lists. I came across Wave and it looked interesting.
I read it in a few hours and it was just okay. While it was really interesting and educational to hear a first hand account of the tsunami in Sri Lanka, on the whole, I found the book lacking. It felt more like a book she wrote for therapy and while there is nothing bad with that, the way it was done left me skimming. She bounces all over the place and her memories of before the tidal wave are a little boring if you don't know the people and the places. Overall, a 2.75 out of 5 stars and not a book I'd highly recommend.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Bernadette is a stay at home mom who wears many hats. And by that I mean her hats look different to different people. She was a prominent figure in her past. A disappointment in her present. And found in her future. And found is figurative and literal - she rediscovers something about herself, but it takes her disappearing to do it.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is about a woman who moves her family from LA to Seattle and finds that she doesn't like it. Her 15-year-old daughter is really her only friend, besides her husband who works too many hours.

While the story is wonderful, what makes this book fantastic is the form and narration. The 15-year-old narrates it and the book is mostly letters, emails, and other correspondence of different people who have intersected the life of Bernadette.

I enjoyed this book immensely and would recommend it!

Orange is the New Black

Let me confess: I really enjoy reading and watching movies about prison. There is a strange sense of awe and wonder and intrigue about prison culture. Ever since I went to a minimum security women's prison as an undergrad, I've had this odd fascination.

So when I saw that this was on a best seller list, I picked it up quickly. It was not at all what I expected and that was a good thing. Most prison books I've read or movies I've seen are meant to shock and awe you as the reader/watcher. You are meant to feel sickened and creeped out. This was not that kind of a book.

It wasn't an expose' on how depraved prisoners are. Prison (at least Kerman's experience) was not as perverted as you think it will be. I kept waiting for the rape scene and I was thrilled that it didn't happen. While some prisons are terrible and dangerous places, I love that she gives a kinder and more gentle portrayal of her fellow inmates.  It was really an expose' on how poorly they are treated and how the system doesn't prepare them for life outside of prison.

It was a good book and well written. I liked it and would recommend it - particularly for book clubs as it would illicit great discussion of the justice system.

A Wind in the Door

This is the second book in the A Wrinkle in Time series. And while I thought A Wrinkle in Time was magical, A Wind in the Door was not. The story got old, tedious, and boring. I lost interest in the characters and what happens to them. The plot didn't move fast enough so I ended up not really caring about how the book ends. I give this one 2 out of 5 stars. Let's hope her next in the series makes up for it.

Mansfield Park

I really love Jane Austen, although I'll admit that I've only read one of her books, Sense and Sensibility. And I didn't actually get all the way through it. And not because of what you think. See, I've seen almost all the movies. (Mansfield Park is the only one I haven't seen.) So when I started reading Sense and Sensibility, I realized it's exactly like the movie. So I stopped reading and just put on the movie again.

I decided to go old school and actually read the book this time. Well, it was read to me. Audio book is the way to go with this. The British accent alone is worth it. Plus, my guess is that it's easier to follow than reading it on my own.

The story is precious. The language is beautiful. Really, the book is a piece of art. And while it's not her best work, it's definitely worth reading. Now I'm off to watch the movie.

The White Queen

Not believable. That's what this book is. It's historical fiction and apparently it's supposed to be more fact than fiction in this novel by Philippa Gregory. Which is why I was thrown off (and put off) by the witchcraft in the book. I don't mind books with witches in them (especially because of the fear and popular notion of witchcraft during this time era), but when they can make storms come and mist appear, it moves from interesting to stupid...quickly. If she had left those parts out, the book would be commendable.

Other than that, The White Queen was an okay book. It kept my attention and I learned a lot about the War of the Roses. I enjoyed that there wasn't a character that I loved fully. I both hated and loved most of them, which seems very authentic of royals in that time who are fighting, manipulating, and turn-coating for the throne.

I can't say I'd recommend this book and I certainly won't be reading her sequals to this series, but I will read The Other Boleyn Girl. I've heard that is excellent.