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.

What Alice Forgot

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. Amazing book. Well written. Easy to read and follow. It's a captivating story about a woman who falls down and hits her head. She wakes up thinking she is 10 years younger - when she is pregnant with her first child. She wakes up and doesn't remember her children. It's a fluff book that would be great for the beach!

Cutting For Stone

I just finished Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese. It's one of the books for book club this year. Had it not have been, I would have probably put it down. Too. Much. Detail. I have very low tolerance for extraneous detail. Sometimes all the details are necessary. I felt like it wasn't in this book. The actual story was good. Just too much detail. Geography that didn't really matter. Politics that didn't further the story. Details about medicine that was just too much.

In the end, I'm glad I read it. I just didn't connect much with the characters. The narrator (the main character) was a male...which I find difficult to connect with anyway. I grew up with 3 sisters. I have 4 daughters. I am female. I get female. Male? They are like aliens to me. So some of my disconnect to Marion is because he's a he and not a she. In general though, I didn't find that there were too many characters in Cutting for Stone that were very likable. Some, but not many.

But that is kind of what makes it an interesting book. You don't really like some of these people because of the poor choices they make. And by the end, they redeem themselves somewhat (well, some of them) but you still don't love them. I can appreciate that they made a great choice in the end...but what about the choices in the middle? They count, too. It's not like you can live a self-centered life and then redeem your bad choices by making one good choice at the end.

Anyway, I'd recommend this book for literature lovers, medicine lovers, lovers of different countries and cultures, and book clubs. Because even though I didn't love it, it gives a lot to talk about.

Finding Alice

Finding Alice, by Melody Carlson - read in 2012. I got this book from a friend and thought it sounded really interesting. It's about a woman in college who gets Schizophrenia. Intriguing, right? It started out great. Then got better and better. Then it crashed. I didn't realize it was Christian fiction until too late to stop reading. I wanted to see how it ended.

Please don't hate. No emailing me nasty trash talk. I have nothing against Christian fiction. Well, that's not true. I don't like it. At all. I have yet to find a Christian book that it well written and not hokey.

So, while I was taken aback by the genre of this book and while I did think it was a little hokey at times, it was written well-ish. So, if you're looking for a slightly hokey, not great but not awfully written, Christian Fiction book - this one's a good one.

The Sugar Queen

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen - read in 2012. Interesting book. Weird book. Not sure if I liked it or not. Some parts were hokey and reminded me a little too much of juvenile fiction. I don't think I'd recommend it to just anyone. And it's not one of those books I can say much more about since it's the kind of book you don't want to know anything about until you read it.