Author: Elizabeth Kostova
Pages: 564, pp
Published: April 2010
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
A story of obsession, love, and art. It takes the reader on a journey through history and the heart. The story is told through different perspectives--each chapter is labeled with the speaker or the era as it unfolds. In some novels, the change in perspective is jarring but Kostova handles it seamlessly. The setting moves through American art galleries to the streets of Paris and atmosphere is complete. The ending is almost a let down because I wanted one more chapter from Robert Oliver's point of view.
This was a great read. I didn't want it to end. It was a reading group selection and from what I can tell, everyone raves about it. There will be much to discuss. I want to pass it on to everyone I know so we can all talk about it.
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Title: The Scent of Rain and Lightning
Author: Nancy Pickard
Pages: 352, pp
Published: February 2011
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
It's a mystery set in a small town with a tight-knit community. From the publisher:
One stormy night in 1986, someone shoots Hugh-Jay Linder dead, and Laurie, his discontented young wife, disappears. The authorities arrest Billy Crosby, a disgruntled ex-employee of High Rock Ranch with a drunk-driving record, in whose abandoned truck Laurie's bloodied sundress is found. In 2009, Billy's lawyer son, Collin, who's certain of his dad's innocence, secures Billy's release from prison and a new trial. Father and son return to Rose, where 25-year-old Jody Linder, the victims' daughter, works as a teacher. Collin's pursuit of justice will force Jody and other members of her family, including her three uncles and her grandparents, to finally confront what really happened on that long ago fatal night and deal with the consequences.
I didn't figure it out.
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Title: One Good Turn
Author: Kate Atkinson
Pages: 352, pp
Published: September 2007
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The second of the Jackson Brodie mysteries: it is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident – an incident which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander – until he becomes a suspect. This story weaves together characters and plotlines and really left me guessing. I did not figure it out. And I want to read more.
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Title: When Will There Be Good News?
Author: Kate Atkinson
Pages: 400, pp
Published: September 2008
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Another great Jackson Brodie mystery! I was much more interested in the characters and their relationships than the actual mystery. But Kate Atkinson weaves the story lines into another compelling read. It was unpredictable and exciting. I couldn't put it down. And I want more of these characters!
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Title: The Children's Book
Author: A.S. Byatt
Pages: 699 pp
Published: August 2010
My Rating: didn't finish
I can't do it. I can't finish it. There aren't many books that I put down but I just can't do it. I don't care about the characters, the plot has too many threads to follow, and I just don't care enough to wade through page-long descriptions.
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Title: Med Head: My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle with My Brain
Author: by James Patterson, Hal Friedman
Pages: 302 pp
Published: April 2010
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
The full title is: Med Head: My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle with My Brain. The story of Cory Friedman’s intense struggles with Tourette’s Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive disorder—as well as depression and anxiety. It is a first person account although it is not a memoir. It was the February selection for my book group. We all felt there were too many gaps in the storytelling--it went from situation to situation without enough resolution.
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Title: Thereby Hangs a Tail
Author: by Spencer Quinn
Pages: 309 pp
Published: January 2010
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Chet, the crime fighting canine, and his private investigator owner, Bernie Little, are back in the follow up to Dog On It. Once again, Chet narrates this thriller as threats turn to kidnapping of the show dog and her wealthy owner that Chet & Bernie have been hired to guard. It's another quirky mystery, with Chet & Bernie getting tangled up with everyone from a corrupt small town sheriff to two Iron Butterfly obsessed hippies. There are some references to the first adventure but you don't necessarily have to read it to enjoy this one.
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Title: The Grift
Author: by Debra Ginsberg
Pages: 352 pp
Published: August 2009
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
The title refers to the term “grift,” which is a con or a swindle. Marina Marks’ grift is acting as a psychic, which she has been forced to do by her junkie mother since the age of 6 or so. However, Marina finds that her “grift” is suddenly a gift as she develops actual psychic powers.
I wanted to know more about the cause of the grift becoming a gift. The story has several plot lines and many characters but they weave together well. It did leave me wanting more. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or not. But it is very well-written and I enjoyed it.
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Title: Heart and Soul
Author: by Maeve Binchy
Pages: 576 pp
Published: February 2010
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Maeve Binchy does it again with a rich story of a heart clinic and the characters who work there. Nobody weaves together story lines like Binchy. People from previous books make appearances and it seems like a comfortable neighborhood. I don't know how she does it, but I felt so drawn in by the characters and their lives. I know these people. I didn't want this book to finish it was like a great visit with an old friend.
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Title: The Beach Street Knitting Society And Yarn Club
Author: by Gil McNeil
Pages: 432 pp
Published: December 2009
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is the story of starting over and enduring friendship. Great characters and a well-constructed setting. It was a quick read but I do want to know more about what happens next. So, I'll get the sequel.
And it made me want to learn to knit so I can be in a "Stitch and Bitch" group!
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Title: Narcissus and Goldmund
Author: Hermann Hesse
Pages: 320, pp
Published: sometime in 1930
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I read this as a college freshman more than twenty years ago. I was anxious to see how I responded to the novel after all this time. The story is of salvation and redemption in the two main characters, medieval men: one quietly content with his religion and monastic life, the other in fervent search of more worldly salvation. It is the ultimate story of head versus heart. I think I felt more sympathy for the characters in this go around.
It was a great choice for my book group. We'll have a lot to talk about.
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Title: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest
Author: Stieg Larsson
Pages: 563 pp
Published: May 2010
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
The final installment of the Millennium Trilogy was not disappointing. The action was different in this book--more investigative than kick-butt. There were a couple of sub plots that didn't really add to the overall story, other than they fleshed out the characters.
As the series finale, it is satisfying. But the characters do not ride off into the sunset.
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Title: Freedom
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Pages: 562 pp
Published: September 2010
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
I admit it took me a while to get into the book. Once I got into it, though, it read fast and I enjoyed it. More than I expected to. It's a kind of a coming-of-age story. It's a dissection of what freedom means. Choices and mistakes are made, joy and love are shared as the characters navigate living in our modern world.
It's for my book group and we are going to have so much to talk about.
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Title: Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Pages: 304 pp
Published: August 2010
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
This book is categorized as science fiction, one reason I almost didn't pick it up. But really, it's a dystopian look at post-war life and all the scientific changes that occur. It's a story-teller's story: slow-paced and conversational. That's not to say it's boring, for it's really rather literary. Several times I thought it was going to turn dark or become sinister because the atmosphere lures you into thinking there are lingering twists and turns. But then the relationships evolve and change into something more familiar.
I read some discussion guide questions and kind of wish I had someone to talk to about this book. It made me feel and it made me think.
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Title: The Likeness
Author: Tana French
Pages: 512 pp
Published: May 2009
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
This is the follow up to In The Woods, referencing some events and characters from but I don't think you need to have read it to get it. The premise is intriguing: the murder victim is an identity thief who stole an imaginary identity--the identity of an undercover cop's undercover identity, with whom she shares a remarkable likeness.
Although the murder is the backdrop, this is a story about the intimacy of friends--who you choose to have as family. Whitethorn, the communal home and setting becomes as much a character as those who inhabit it.
This book drew me in. It is a satisfying second installment in the Dublin Murder Squad Series--I can't wait to read more. Unlike In The Woods, I didn't quite know who did it.
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Title: Something Borrowed
Author: Emily Giffin
Pages: 352 pp
Published: April 2005
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
A nice tasty treat between some of the heavier mysteries I've been reading lately. One of the reasons I picked it up is because it's an upcoming movie. I wanted to read the book before the movie but I've seen previews and could picture the actors as I read.
So, to the book: Rachel is the straight-arrow central character. Her best friend, Darcy, hosts Rachel's thirtieth birthday party and that fateful night sets in motion an exploration of friendship, true love and loyalty. There are a lot of holes in the plot and a lot of cliches, but the cast of characters makes up for it. It's a good fantasy and fun escapism. It's not challenging literature--it's a beach read.
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Title: Faithful Place
Author: Tana French
Pages: 400 pp
Published: July 2010
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is an unusual series in that the three books are stand alone--tied together by their connection to the Dublin Murder Squad instead of sharing characters. In Faithful Place, Frank Mackey is an undercover detective, is a divorced father and is haunted by his dysfunctional family and childhood. He and his teenage girlfriend are planning to run away together but she doesn't make their appointed meeting place and Frank doesn't look back. Until her suitcase is found twenty years later. And Frank is once again drawn back into life in the old neighborhood.
I found myself caught up in the characters and atmosphere. As the story unfolds the threads weave together into a taught mystery. Even if you figure out who-done-it the hows and whys keep you reading.
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Title: One Day
Author: David Nicholls
Pages: 437 pp
Published: June 2010
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Interesting premise--following the lives of Dexter and Emma from their university years on through twenty years. Each chapter visits them on the same day and we get to see their lives unfold. There are great secondary characters but the story rests with Dex and Em, Em and Dex.
I was more interested and drawn to Dexter's epic rise and fall than Emma's timid girl becoming a self-confident, secure woman although I really enjoyed Emma. When one's up, the other's down. And that is what I didn't like about the book. It felt predictable although there is a twist at the end, which I will not give away.
I know some people are raving about this novel. I'm not.
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Title: Mercury in Retrograde
Author: Paula Froelich
Pages: 262 pp
Published: June 2010
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I've been staring at the screen for a few minutes trying to figure out if I liked this book. The premise is good the execution is not so good. I liked that the characters were invested in their careers and their families. I didn't like that the secondary characters were one-dimensional cliches. I liked how the three women are brought together. I liked how their friendships grew and they supported each other. I didn't like the cutesy horoscopes that introduced each new section. I didn't like how each section was in a different character's point of view; well, I think that's what the author was trying to do.
When I was looking up the publishing information, I read a blurb about the author who is a Page Six gossip columnist who is giving us an insider's perspective. And that makes sense. It had the feeling of authenticity in the absurdity of the hustle and social climbing.
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Title: In The Shadow Of Gotham
Author: Stefanie Pintoff
Pages: 400 pp
Published: April 2009
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
A fast-paced police procedural set in turn-of-the-century New York City. The story opens with the murder of a young woman, Sarah Wingate. Sarah is a resident of the city but visiting relatives in the outskirts. Simon Ziele, the detective, had fled the city but finds himself drawn back to it. He meets Alistair Sinclair, a professor in the new field of criminology who suggests a suspect. Ziele and Sinclair become caught up in the scientific exploration and the investigation takes them through the beauty and the grime of the city--where things are not always what they seem and people are not who they seem.
The setting was as much a character as the people in this book. It wove history into the story and never lost a beat. And it kept me guessing, I didn't quite figure it out although I was on the right track.
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Title: The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted
Author: Bridget Asher
Pages: 448 pp
Published: March 2011
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I wished I was a character in this book. It is a great story about love, loss, grief and joy. The house in Provence is as much a character as the people. Heidi is stuck in her mourning of Henry. She finds her senses dulled with loss. Her son, Abbott is struggling with his own fears of death and obsessive compulsive disorder. And Charlotte, Heidi's niece, is struggling with her place in a broken family--defining her role in the family. The three rescue each other in the magical house in Provence, after being forced to start over from scratch.
I wished it was a warm summer day with lots of sunshine and a gentle breeze when I read this, instead of the dreary rainy day it was.
It is the kind of book I was sad to finish because it was so sensual--engaging my senses. I could feel and hear and taste the book. I laughed out loud and I found myself tearing up. It had the feeling of Under the Tuscan Sun. I will definitely check out more novels by this author, Julianna Baggott (writing under the pseudonym Bridget Asher).
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Title: Millie's Fling
Author: Jill Mansell
Pages: 512 pp
Published: September 2009
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
I didn't realize how long this book was until I looked it up. It's almost 500 pages but they flew by. I didn't get bogged down because most of the characters were so charming and fun that I just went with their antics. Millie saves the life of famous author Orla Hart and gets dumped by her horrible boyfriend. And so begins the great friendship of Millie and Orla. Lots of over-the-top characters but they're so fun and charming it wasn't annoying. There were a couple of times I chuckled out loud while reading this book. It's fun chick-lit.
What bugged me is the shift in point of view between the characters--there was no delineation to indicate that the point of view was shifting from Millie to another of the characters. That made me kind of scratch my head at the second half of the book.
This was a Barnes & Noble freebie a few months ago. I'm glad I was introduced to such a fun author.
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Title: Still Missing
Author: Chevy Stevens
Pages: 352 pp
Published: July 2010
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
This is the story of Annie's abduction experience. It is a series of therapy sessions, although always from Annie's point of view, there is no dialog with her therapist although it is evident the therapist helps her process the ordeal. It was a difficult and harrowing experience--with a year's worth of rape and mind games, manipulation and control; and the reader explores how Annie copes for that year. The book is also an exploration of Annie's relationships, how they sustain her and challenge her from before the abduction and after.
It was a difficult book to read. But it was compelling and it was hard to put down. What I didn't like was the use of obscenities--it didn't ring authentic to me. For such an educated go-getter like Annie to use such common terms seemed to take away from her intelligence.
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Title: Silver Sparrow
Author: Tayari Jones
Pages: 352 pp
Published: May 2011
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
“My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.”And then the story is told from the point of view of each of James' daughters. One daughter knows that she is the "secret family" and the other daughter is living a comfortable life in oblivion. It is inevitable that the girls live parallel lives and that there is a confrontation.
I was drawn into the story, into the lives of the girls and their mothers. I even felt a little sorry for James.
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Title: A Hopeless Romantic
Author: Harriet Evans
Pages: 544 pp
Published: October 2007
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
A bon bon of a book. It is the story of a hopeless romantic whose life is shattered when her romantic view collides with reality. The cast of characters are fun and believable. The relationships she has with her family are also real--how they talk to each other reminded me of how I talk to my siblings, especially. The story isn't convoluted and kept me engaged even though I knew it was going to end happily ever after. And in this case happily ever after is finding herself as well as finding Mr. Right.
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Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages: 384 pp
Published: July 2010
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The world of Panem comes to life in the beginning of the book. Panem, which is formerly the United States, is divided into Districts. Every year, each District contributes a teenage girl and boy for the Hunger Games. Games to the death which remind the citizens of Panem that the Capitol is in charge. Once the Games began I was really hooked on this book. The characters show vulnerability and feisty spirit.
I might have to read more!
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Title: State of Wonder
Author: Ann Patchett
Pages: 368 pp
Published: June 2011
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I don't even know where to start with my love for this novel. I was drawn in by the language. Patchett's writing is almost edible in its richness. I could feel the jungle closing in around me. The secondary characters were perhaps the best I've ever read, they were real people. I can't wait for my book group to choose this because there is just so much to talk about.
From the Publisher:
Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist with a Minnesota pharmaceutical company, is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have all but disappeared in the Amazon while working on what is destined to be an extremely valuable new drug, the development of which has already cost the company a fortune. Nothing about Marina's assignment is easy: not only does no one know where Dr. Swenson is, but the last person who was sent to find her, Marina's research partner Anders Eckman, died before he could complete his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding her former mentor as well as answers to several troubling questions about her friend's death, the state of her company's future, and her own past.
Once found, Dr. Swenson, now in her seventies, is as ruthless and uncompromising as she ever was back in the days of Grand Rounds at Johns Hopkins. With a combination of science and subterfuge, she dominates her research team and the natives she is studying with the force of an imperial ruler. But while she is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices to be made are the ones Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina, who finds she may still be unable to live up to her teacher's expectations.
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Title: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Pages: 321 pp
Published: September 2010
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
From the Publisher's overview:
To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.
Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.
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Title: House Rules
Author: Jodi Picoult
Pages: 532 pp
Published: November 2010
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the main characters and sometimes I lost track of whose turn it was. But that's my only complaint with the story.
As I read it I imagined it as a movie. I can't wait for my reading group to talk about it to pick their brains as to how they would cast it.
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Title: Minding Frankie
Author: Maeve Binchy
Pages: 400 pp
Published: March 2011
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I was engaged in the story and enjoyed it. I like Binchy's no-nonsense style of writing and the atmosphere she creates. It felt like home.
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Title: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
Author: Beth Hoffman
Pages: 320 pp
Published: October 2010
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.
In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.
A great summer read--filled with the sultry days of Savannah. It's a coming of age story that is at times poignant and at times funny.
I liked the strong women and the story itself. What I didn't like was the inconsistency in narration, slipping from CeeCee's point of view.
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Title: To Fetch A Thief
Author: Spencer Quinn
Pages: 309 pp
Published: September 2010
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Chet, an almost-graduate from K-9 Cop school, narrates the tale of a missing circus elephant and trainer. Bernie Little, Chet's owner and detective agency owner, uses his contacts in the shady world to piece together clues which take them into Mexico.
Another quick read and fun romp with Bernie & Chet getting involved with an amusing cast of characters--from a sad circus clown to a woman of ill repute, with corrupt Mexicans tossed into the mix.
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Title: The Weird Sisters
Author: Eleanor Brown
Pages: 336 pp
Published: January 2011
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
We came home because we were failures. We wouldn’t admit that, of course, not at first, not to ourselves, and certainly not to anyone else. We said we came home because our mother was ill, because we needed a break, a momentary pause before setting off for the Next Big Thing. But the truth was, we had failed, and rather than let anyone else know, we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around ourselves like a cloak to keep out the cold truth. The first stage: denial.
When I read this first paragraph I knew I was in for it. This is a book about the intricacies of the sister dance. I couldn't put it down. There were paragraphs and sentences I had to re-read just for the deliciousness of the wording.
What I liked about it was the narrator's perspective--one of the sisters yet all of the sisters. That omnipresent being who was part of the weird sisters yet apart. Another thing I liked was the use of Shakespeare throughout--the characters speak in verse and couplets easily. Named for Shakespeare's leading ladies: Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia, they come together with their own complex, private dramas.
I can't come up with anything I didn't like. This was a great summer read.
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Title: Miranda's Big Mistake
Author: Jill Mansell
Pages: 488 pp
Published: June 2009
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Title: Big Machine: A Novel
Author: Victor LaValle
Pages: 384 pp
Published: March 2010
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Not every book I read this summer has to be one I love. Right?
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Title: A Discovery of Witches
Author: Deborah Harkness
Pages: 587 pp
Published: February 2011
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
From the publisher:
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.
The book is full of rich historical detail and the authenticity of atmosphere. I could see and smell sections of the book. I liked that the characters were well-developed and even if they veered close to cliche--with star-crossed lovers and rescuing the damsel in distress--they were people.
This is the first book of a trilogy and I can't wait to read more.
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Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 309 pp
Published: August 1997
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I think the writing is sophisticated. The language is rich and the sentence structure is complex, unlike other young adult literature I've read. I admit I've seen the movie recently but I had read most of the book before viewing it. The movie did not ruin the book.
So now I'm on to book two.
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Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 341 pp
Published: January 1999
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
I look forward to Book Three!
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Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 435 pp
Published: September 1999
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I'm off to the fourth book!
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Title: Year of Wonders
Author: Geraldine Brooks
Pages: 352 pp
Published: April 2002
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."
Who knew a book about plague could be so compelling and interesting. There are challenges to what it means to be neighbors, friends, and faithful. I was fascinated that this book is based on a true story of the village Eyam. I'm a fan of much historical detail and the rich story and characters kept me reading. What I didn't like about the book was the ending. It was... contrived.
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Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 752 pp
Published: September 2002
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I'm excited for book 5!
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Title: Ape House
Author: Sara Gruen
Pages: 336 pp
Published: April 2011
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn't understand people, but apes she gets—especially the bonobos Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena, who are capable of reason and communication through American Sign Language. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she's ever felt among humans—until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter writing a human interest feature. But when an explosion rocks the lab, John's piece turns into the story of a lifetime—and Isabel must connect with her own kind to save her family of apes from a new form of human exploitation.
Sara Gruen certainly did her research for this book. The stars of the story are definitely the bonobos. Having said that, it was hard to figure out what this book was trying to be. Is it an exploration of a marriage? A study of friendship? An examination of what and who parents? I suppose it's a good thing that I put the book down and had lots of questions.
It's an engrossing book. I wasn't sure if I would like it. But I liked it. A lot.
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Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 870 pp
Published: June 2003
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
From the publisher:
There is a door at the end of a silent corridor. And it's haunting Harry Potter's dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror?
Here are just a few things on Harry's mind:
• A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey.
• A venomous, disgruntled house-elf
• Ron as keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team
• The looming terror of the end-of-term Ordinary Wizarding Level exams
. . . and of course, the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. In the richest installment yet of J. K. Rowling's seven-part story, Harry Potter is faced with the unreliability of the very government of the magical world and the impotence of the authorities at Hogwarts.
Despite this (or perhaps because of it), he finds depth and strength in his friends, beyond what even he knew, boundless loyalty; and unbearable sacrifice.
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Title: Sarah's Key
Author: Tatiana de Rosnay
Pages: 320 pp
Published: September 2008
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
From the publisher:
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
I didn't know anything about the Vel' d'Hiv' and was so saddened to learn about this Parisian roundup of Jews--especially of all the children. The chapters alternate perspective between the stories of Sarah and Julia. Sarah's story captured me more than Julia's did. When Sarah's voice is abruptly cut off, I was racing through the story to get back to Sarah.
It's a poignant book. Naturally it's being made into a movie.
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Title: Barefoot
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Pages: 528 pp
Published: August 2009
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Three women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a Nantucket native home from college for the summer. Burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues, the women— two sisters and one friend—make their way to the sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're all trying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failed in-vitro attempts, learned her husband was having an affair, and then discovered she's pregnant; Brenda embarked on a passionate affair with an older student that got her fired from her prestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sister Vicki, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, acting as babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, lover.
I haven't quite made up my mind about this book. What I liked: the relationships between the women was authentic. The sister dance felt real. Each of them took turns being the third wheel. I liked the setting. Nantucket is as much a character as any of the people. What I didn't like: the author's style of writing. Since there are no actual chapters, the delineation bounces between point of view and it isn't smooth. I didn't like the men. Other than Josh. So, yeah, there were things I did like and things I didn't like.
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Title: The Song Reader
Author: Lisa Tucker
Pages: 320 pp
Published: June 2005
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
She can hear the music in peoples' souls.
Mary Beth and her younger sister Leeann are trying to support themselves in their small Southern hometown. So Mary Beth works to make ends meet by practicing her own unique talent: "song reading." By making sense of the song lyrics people have stuck in their heads, Mary Beth can help people make sense of their lives. In no time, Mary Beth's readings have the entire town singing her praises, including the handsome scientist Ben, who falls hard for Mary Beth and her unearthly intuition.
What happens when she can't make out the lyrics?
When Mary Beth reveals a long-muted secret in the community, however, she turns off the music and gives up song reading for good. Soon everyone's lives are out of tune: Leeann worries she'll never graduate from high school, and Ben can't conduct his experiments. Without Mary Beth's music the town's silence is louder than ever. Could it be that all the lyrics to all those foolish love songs really aren't so foolish after all?
It was a quick read. I think it's considered Young Adult. What I liked were the characters, the narration, and the premise. Music was threaded throughout the story, it was almost a character too. I didn't like the abrupt ending.
I am interested to hear what my nieces have to say. I'll have to suggest the book to them.
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Title: Unsaid
Author: Neil Abromson
Pages: 368 pp
Published: August 2011
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
I liked how it turned from a story of grief into a courtroom procedural and that the intensity built naturally. I liked the non-human characters and the interdependence of them with the humans.
I haven't been moved to tears by a book in a long time; I found myself sniffing at the end. It is a beautiful book.
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Title: Blind Submission
Author: Debra Ginsberg
Pages: 352 pp
Published: September 2007
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
I liked the characters and the insider glimpse at the literary world. I liked the fast-paced story. I liked the snippets of submissions that Angel is forced to read for her job. And I liked that it kept me guessing. It's not a great book but it is fun.
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Title: Perfect Timing
Author: Jill Mansell
Pages: 441 pp
Published: November 2009
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 672 pp
Published: July 2006
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Of all the books, this is the darkest: good does not always triumph over evil, the "bad guys" seem to be gaining power, a beloved character dies, and life at Hogwarts might come to an end.
Most of this story is spent at Hogwarts--with the relationships between Harry and Dumbledore strengthened by their working together to uncover the history of Voldemort, with Harry discovering feelings for Ginny, and Ron and Hermione bickering like an old married couple. I liked trying to figure out who the Half-Blood Prince was.
When I put this book down and wiped my tears (and yes, I did shed a few), I couldn't wait to pick up book 7 to see how it all ends.
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Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 778 pp
Published: July 2009
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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Title: Cutting for Stone
Author: Abraham Verghese
Pages: 688 pp
Published: January 2010
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
This is a book I never would have picked up on my own. I'm so glad I read it, it's a beautiful book with real characters and a rich history. I kept forgetting that it was a novel.
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Title: The Marriage Plot
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Pages: 416 pp
Published: October 2011
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
This is a literary novel. I loved it.
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Title: Wench
Author: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Pages: 294 pp
Published: January 2011
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The four women featured in this book have varying understanding of the relationships they have with their masters. It's also the story of friendship and how these women blossom in their friendships, even though they only have contact with each other at the summer resort. The reader can see the boundaries separating the characters even when the characters cannot.
A very good book.
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Title: Running After Antelope
Author: Scott Carrier
Pages: 134 pp
Published: March 2002
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
From the publisher:
Radio meets print journalism in this slim, entertaining anthology of outtakes from Carrier's last 20 years as a writer, hitchhiker, radio producer and occasional war correspondent. The book consists of stories originally broadcast on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Public Radio International's This American Life; magazine articles originally published in Harper's and Esquire; and a narrative detailing Carrier's obsessive attempts to literally run down a pronghorn antelope. As with all anthologies, some pieces are more successful than others. The best story, "The Test," chronicles a temp job in which Carrier interviewed people on Medicaid support for schizophrenia, taking the agonizing responses and reducing them to statistics and cold data; in the piece's shattering climax, Carrier turns inward and forces himself to answer the same questions. Other stories focus on Carrier's rough-and-tumble encounters with memorable, oddball characters like his brother (a vertebrate morphologist who collected roadkill in the name of science) or the fundamentalist carpenters of "Windfall" (who were obsessed with Star Trek, the Trilateral Commission and Ted Kennedy). The least effective parts are Carrier's experiments as a foreign correspondent in Kashmir, Cambodia, and Chiapas, Mexico, where his touristic narratives are too thin for the gravity of the tragedies he's writing about. ("You'll never figure it out in ten days," a woman in Chiapas told him angrily. "It's pretty arrogant and stupid to even think you could.") The rest of the book, however, is more perceptive and honest, as well as funny.
I liked the voice. It made me look up his stories on the NPR website so I could hear him as well as read him. It was our book group selection and we had plenty to talk about.
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Title: Pictures Of You
Author: Caroline Leavitt
Pages: 336, pp
Published: January 2011
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Two women running away from their marriages collide on a foggy highway, killing one of them. The survivor, Isabelle, is left to pick up the pieces, not only of her own life, but of the lives of the devastated husband and fragile son that the other woman, April, has left behind. Together, they try to solve the mystery of where April was running to, and why. As these three lives intersect, the book asks, How well do we really know those we love—and how do we forgive the unforgivable?
A very interesting premise that is thoughtfully carried out with complicated yet believable characters and story. The story explores the after effects that a devastating accident has. I kind of wish our book group chose this book because I want to talk about it--all the layers in characters and plot lines.
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Title: Rumor Has It
Author: Jill Mansell
Pages: 416, pp
Published: May 2010
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Title: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Author: Helen Simonson
Pages: 384, pp
Published: November 2010
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
In the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English countryside lives Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), an unlikely hero. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, the Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and regarding her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?
I was charmed by this book. It was amusing that the Major tries to solve all the problems in the book with his upright, proper, old-fashioned manners and behavior. He doesn't seem to realize that times and society have changed. There were a lot of witty moments and some poignant moments. Some moments of almost slap-stick moments and some serious, thoughtful moments.
I'm sure we will have a lot to talk about in reading group. It is a great book for discussion.
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Title: The Widow's War
Author: Sally Gunning
Pages: 336, pp
Published: January 2007
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Married for twenty years to Edward Berry, Lyddie is used to the trials of being a whaler's wife in the Cape Cod village of Satucket, Massachusetts—running their house herself during her husband's long absences at sea, living with the daily uncertainty that Edward will simply not return. And when her worst fear is realized, she finds herself doubly cursed. She is overwhelmed by grief, and her property and rights are now legally in the hands of her nearest male relative: her daughter's overbearing husband, whom Lyddie cannot abide. Lyddie decides to challenge both law and custom for control of her destiny, but she soon discovers the price of her bold "war" for personal freedom to be heartbreakingly dear.
Set in my favorite historical time, I felt such a strong bond with this story. Lots of historical detail and authentic characters created a rich atmosphere. There were twists and I wanted to know what was going to happen with Lyddie.
