Love Anthony

I have a favorite author - Lisa Genova. She's newish to the fiction novel scene; she just released her third book, Love Anthony. What I love about her is that she's actually a scientist. She has a lot of letters behind her name, which makes her very qualified to write about the subjects she writes about: Early Onset Alzheimer's, Left Neglect, and now Autism.

Love Anthony is about a mother with a child with Autism. And another mother who's husband is having an affair. And how their lives intersect. I loved it up until the end. It then became a little too spiritual hokey. I won't go into details because I don't want to spoil it for others. I'll just say this: being a Christian changes the way I read things. If I don't believe in something, it's hard to love the book because it's lost some authenticity for me.

That being said: I recommend the book. Lisa Genova is a fantastic writer. If you've never read any of her novels, find Left Neglected or Still Alice and read one both. And Love Anthony was just as well written. The way she gets into the head of a child with Autism is astonishing. It gives the child a voice and whether it's accurate or not, it touches your heart.

All-in-all, I enjoyed it enough. I love how Genova intertwines the lives of the women together. And most of all, I love the redemption throughout it.

The Pilot's Wife

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve was one of my beach reads this year. When will I learn. It's an Oprah book club book. I need to stop reading those. Like the other ones I've read, this one was not great.

It's about, you guessed it. A pilot's wife. The pilot dies, leaving his wife with lots of questions. It was good enough to finish (I am not shy about putting down a book), but not good enough to recommend.

Year of Wonders

I loved this book. It had romance. It had tragedy (I mean, it's a fictional account of the Plague...just about everyone dies). It had witches. It had religious controversy. Geraldine Brooks may have struck out on People of the Book, but hit a home run with both March and this one.

I devoured this book. I couldn't put it down. Here's the story line:

All the people in a country village decide to take a pledge to stay in town when the plague strikes, so as not to spread it more.

It's an amazing book that I think I'll recommend for book club next year...mainly because I want to discuss the ending with people. I'm not sure if I liked it.

The more I read, the more I realize that the ending of a book is the hardest part. 

I'm pretty sure this book ended the only way it could have, but it was just so strange that I'm not sure if I liked it. In any case, it's a great book. And where it not for the odd ending, would have made my list of favorites.

Cage's Bend and Mudbound

I tried to read it. I got halfway through. Then I realized I didn't care about the characters enough to finish the book. So, I put it down. I don't recommend this one.

I've seen this book everywhere so I decided to read it. A good friend of mine said that she has been reading it on and off for a year. A YEAR. She said it's not interesting enough to keep her reading, but interesting enough to pick it back up occasionally. So, I tried to read it and guess what....she's right. While not a terrible book, it didn't capture me at all. The first page is written in a way that I thought to myself: "Wow! This is going to be a great book!" Well, it wasn't. I put it down after a few chapters. There are too many good books out there to read mediocre ones.

The Kitchen House

I cannot say enough good things about the historical fiction book The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. It made it on my list of favorite books. In fact, I can only think of one negative thing to say. I was a little disappointed in the lack of authenticity in the accent of the slaves. While most of the language is still believable, I would have liked there to have been more of a Southern slave accent. Grissom answers this criticism herself by saying she started out with a thick accent, but it made the book too hard to read. I get where she is coming from. In my opinion though, that is the one thing that is separating this novel from being on par with the likes of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

It's hard to believe this is her debut novel. This is set in Virginia in 1700-1800s. The author sheds interesting light onto white indentured slaves and the interesting relationship between a particular little white indentured girl and the black slaves on a plantation.

I fell in love with the endearing characters. I was opened to the plight of the big house mistress who may not have always agreed with her husband on how he ran his plantation, but could do little about it. I devoured this book, staying up later than wise to finish it. And when I did, I was sad. Not because there seems to be sad things on every page, but because I did not want it to end.

If you are in a book club, you must read this book. It's one of those books that gets better as you talk about it and process it with others. If you are not in a book club - buy the book, read it, pass it to friends, then talk about it.

Slammed and Point of Retreat

 
I am not a trend setter. Never have been; never will be. This is not only true with fashion, but with books. I'm usually not the one to read a book first and then recommend it to my friends. I have a few friends who are big readers (CV, JV, AM) who I usually get my book recs from. Well, I sought  to change that by these books. I decided to look on the New York Best Seller's list and pick a book to read that no one had recommended to me. So, I chose...

Slammed by Colleen Hoover and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover. The later being the sequel to the former. I'm not even sure how to review these books. Juvenile is the first word that comes to mind. Just okay are the next.

Slammed got good reviews on amazon.com so I thought I'd give it a go. I don't regret the time spent reading it, but it wasn't what I would call a good book. The story was good. The writing was, well. Juvenile. Not good literature. Corny. Predictable.

I'm about to say something that might be divisive. Forgive me if you take offense. These books reminded me a great deal of Nicolas Sparks. I've read only one of his novels (I realize judging an author by one of her books is not fair, but I do think that it's fair in the case of Nicolas Sparks). But Colleen Hoover's books seems to be on par with the easy, somewhat trashy romantic novels.

So, if you like Nicolas Sparks, you'll like these books.

March

                                        

March by Geraldine Brooks. A must-read if you read and liked Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was hesitant to read this book, afraid that the March family name would be defamed. And it was, a little - which turned out to be a very interesting and good thing. For anyone who has read Little Women or seen the movie, Mrs. March is made out to be motherhood perfected. March brings her back down from her sainthood status to just one of us - a person with faults.

If you decide to read this book, I'd actually recommend reading the afterward first. It will help to set up the book because you learn here about where (and who) Brooks got the inspiration for the character of Mr. March (since he missing for the most part of Little Women).

The author writes perfectly for the period (Civil War) and gives a great voice to the slaves in the book. The way she paints the picture of slavery makes it seem like you are there and are fighting the cause.

One of the things I love most about the book is that it's unpredictable. Just when you think you know what's going to happen with a character, Brooks surprises you. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to those who like Civil War books, the topic of slavery, Little Women, or just good stories.