Books: March Reviews

Books: March Reviews

I've become fascinated with cookbooks. This genre has morphed into books with recipes, stories, knowledge sharing, and amazing photography.

I read three novels in March, and a few other books for review (below).  I'm discovering what's available beyond the novel on NetGalley, a good experience.

Reviews in this post: 8
Favorite Novel: The Good Daughter
Favorite Cookbook: Madhouse Cookbook
- now that my work project launched, I hope to shift back to posting reviews as I finish books.... fingers crossed!

2013 Stats: Novels read this year: 8
Books reviewed (all genres): 18

Have you read any of these titles?  A few wonderful books to share.

Fiction:

The Good Daughter: Her fortieth birthday is right around the corner, causing Kit to consider some wilder notions, like skipping right past the love and marriage to raising a child all by herself . . . A girls’ weekend away is just the reprieve Kit needs from school, Mr. Wrongs, and life-changing decisions. It’s there that she meets a man who’s dangerous; a man who challenges who she thought she was, or rather should be.

Review: Another good story!  Jane writes books about real women, exposing insecurities, strengths, family issues, friendships, etc...  I gave my copy book one in this series to a friend who doesn't read women's fiction, she loved the book, we talked about Meg.  I gave her my copy of The Good Daughter to read! So while I recommend Jane's books, having someone who doesn't read this genre love it is great testimony.

I can't wait to discuss The Good Daughter with Jane, and the Manic Mommies Book Club on April 3.  

My goodreads rating: 4 stars
Review copy from the author

The Comfort of Lies:The intertwining and heart-wrenching stories of how three women come to terms with the decisions they've made and those yet to make will touch you and stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

Review:  I saw this book everywhere, getting praise from fellow authors. This is another good story about a gut wrenching decision and the aftermath.  Well written and a page turner.  This is a good vacation read, weekend read.  Book clubs will enjoy it (there's a lot to discuss).  

My goodreads rating: 4 stars
Review copy via NetGalley

Classic:

The Great Gatsby:  The mysterious Jay Gatsby embodies the American notion that it is possible to redefine oneself and persuade the world to accept that definition. Considered Fitzgerald's best work, The Great Gatsby is a mystical, timeless story of integrity and cruelty, vision and despair.

The timeless story of Jay Gatsby and his love for Daisy Buchanan is widely acknowledged to be the closest thing to the Great American Novel ever written.

Review: I'm nervous to share my thoughts of this book!  I didn't love it.  The language and sentence structure was wonderful... but with so many characters in the book it was to know who was talking to whom.  I'm glad I read it though, if only to experience Fitzgerald's writing style. 

My goodreads rating: 3 stars

Personal Copy

Cookbooks:

Madhouse Cookbook: packed full of delicious food that addresses one of the most challenging problems experienced by busy parents: finding time to cook meals for their family. The recipes are simple, easy to shop for and quick to make, with shortcuts and prepare-ahead tips. There are three chapters – ‘Monday to Friday Survival’, ‘Busy Weekends’ and ‘Cling onto your Social Life’. These chapters feature recipes for every meal and eventuality, including weekday kids’ teatime recipes that will go down a storm, dinners that will wow your friends, and Sunday lunches to make the most of those precious moments of relaxation with your family.

Review: I made a recipe from this cookbook over the weekend, loved it!  It was so easy and I had the ingredients in my pantry.   I highlighted several others that I can't wait to make.  

My husband seems equally excited since we have making quesadilla's tonight.  It's a fun twist on an old favorite.

My goodreads rating: 4 stars
Review copy via NetGalley

New York a la Cart: Divided into neighborhood sections (Uptown, Midtown, Downtown, the Boroughs, etc.) New York a la Cart will spotlight the best of the Big Apple's cart cuisine, profiling 50 vendors and including their most popular recipes. 

Review: I LOVE this book.  It's an amazing mix of NYC food cart history, spotlighting neighborhoods, top food carts and sharing some recipes.  I liked this book so much that I bought several copies (which arrived today)! I know a few people who will really enjoy the stories - the recipes... run, quick, get a copy!

My goodreads rating: 5 stars
Review copy via NetGalley

Eat your Vegetables: A collection of eclectic vegetarian and vegan recipes for singles as well as lone vegetarians in meat-eating households, from the beloved Washington Post editor and author of Serve Yourself.

Review: The subtitle is was got my attention, recipes for one!  I have been a vegetarian for thirty years, am always looking for new, simple recipes with good flavor.  

When meet someone and they tell me they are a vegetarian, I tend to ask them a few questions to understand what vegetarian means to them.  I'm not trying to judge, I'm just interested (and it's a good conversation starter).  Over the years I have met countless "vegetarians" who eat fish, and/or chicken.  According to this book 3% of Americans call themselves vegetarian, but 8% polled never eat meat.  I'm not sure is I believe that 8% of this country doesn't eat meat but it's facts like this that intrigue me.

This cookbook has a good mix of simply and more complicated recipes, both in taste and preparation skill level.  This is another book that I have ordered,  I can't wait to read the stories and try a few new creations.

My goodreads rating: 4 stars
Review copy via NetGalley

Life and Health:

5 Days to Clutter Free: No matter how cluttered and disordered your house, professional organizer Sandra Felton and time management expert Marsha Sims encourage readers to transform their homes from chronic disorder to beautiful and organized. 

Review: Do you remember the TLC show where a team of people come into your home and spiff it up? This book follows that concept, recruiting people to help, making piles to give/throw.  I think I was expecting something different with this book and because I'm an organizing 'junkie'... I didn't learn much.  

Here are a few tips that I noted: fall in love with an organized life, done is better than perfect, there's something called emotional based clutter, try to resist excuses to keep things, be practical, give yourself a ten minute tidy.  

When building lists, it's helpful to use four quadrants: Go, Call, Do, Buy

I know a few people who could use this book!  Sadly, giving it might end some friendships though since it would come across as judging.  I've made a strange observation over the years... messy, clutter loving people feel judged and are always providing excuses.  I tell them "just own it, it's okay to be messy".  Messy and dirty are different. 

My goodreads rating: 3 stars
Review copy via NetGalley

Is it me or my Hormones: Marcelle helps you understand how the right diet, exercise, supplements, herbs, and psychological support, occasionally complemented with bioidentical hormones, can free you from hormone disruption.

Review:  In this book, they talk about the struggles to maintain good hormonal balance while providing suggestions for healthier estrogen metabolism, hormonal imbalance  It's a good all around book, I think I might buy a copy since a few friends were asking to borrow it.  It will be good to have this book on the bookshelf.  

Knowledge bytes:
Sleep is extremely important
Beware of GMO's (eat organic)
DHEA is a must

My goodreads rating: 3 stars
Review copy via NetGalley

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Review: Brooklyn: a novel

Review: Brooklyn: a novel

With my parents growing up in Brooklyn in the mid-40’s/50’s, this book was a must read for me. I was interested to see if the novel resembled any of the stories my parents have shared from growing up in Brooklyn.

This is the story of Eilis, a young woman, who lives with her family in Ireland before immigrating to America. We follow her through her everyday life, working in a local store, small town gossip and the importance of status in town, socials for singles and family dynamics.

Eilis is moving through life, reading this book you sense that she is not leading a fulfilling life but she’s doing what is expected of her. Everything changes when her older sister (also single and living at home) arrives home one day letting Eilis know that she has negotiated for Eilis to move to Brooklyn. The rest of the book deals with Eilis building a life for herself thousands of miles from home, the decisions she makes and the consequences.

I don’t want to give the story away by sharing too much… the central themes include Irish society, living abroad and finding ones personal identity. I couldn’t put this book down, wanting to see how it would end. I didn’t expect the ending, which is another plus! If you like books like Olive Kitteridge, The Wednesday Sisters, The Help and Sarah’s Key you will love this one.

I was able to find another bloggers review, click here to read Compulsive Over Reader’s review.

I wasn’t able to find any information about the author online other than his bio as listed in Wikipedia.

Links of interest:LA Times review
UK Times online
NY Times review

BWAV rating of this book: 5 stars
Type: Fiction, 272 pages, Hardcover

Synopsis:
Small towns everywhere can seem like stage sets in the theater of respectability. Sidewalks are washed, the facades are painted, the performers go to church in their Sunday best. But in fiction, such towns fester with whispery gossip, small betrayals, hidden hypocrisies, petty tyrannies, and calculated arrangements of everything from jobs to marriages. The residents could be living in Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, or in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, in the Republic of Ireland.

Enniscorthy is a real town (today's population: about 3,700), located on the River Slaney, dominated by St. Aidan's Cathedral. It's the homeplace of the fine Irish novelist Colm Toíbín and has inspired much of his fiction. But in his previous novel, The Master (2004), Toíbín gave us, to high critical applause, a portrait of Henry James and lived imaginatively in London, Paris, Rome, and Florence. In Brooklyn, he returns to Enniscorthy.

Reviews:
"Brooklyn" is a modest novel, but it has heft. The portrait Tóibín paints of Brooklyn in the early '50s is affectionate but scarcely dewy-eyed; Eilis encounters discrimination in various forms -- against Italians, against blacks, against Jews, against lower-class Irish -- and finds Manhattan more intimidating than alluring. Tóibín's prose is graceful but never showy, and his characters are uniformly interesting and believable. As a study of the quest for home and the difficulty of figuring out where it really is, "Brooklyn" has a universality that goes far beyond the specific details of Eilis's struggle… click here to read the complete review

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Review: Second Nature: a love story

Review: Second Nature: a love story

Why I picked it: The plot sounded interesting, different, and I was ready for a darker story.

Synopsis: A fierce and moving tale of one woman’s fight for her identity and her life when fate holds out a second chance. Sicily Coyne was just thirteen when her father was killed in a school fire that left her face disfigured. Twelve years later, a young surgeon, Eliza Cappadora, offers hope in the form of a revolutionary new surgery that may give Sicily back the grace and function she lost. Raised by a dynamic, tenacious aunt who taught her to lead a normal life, and engaged to a wonderful man who knew her long before the accident, Sicily rejects the offer: She knows who she is, and so do the people who love her. But when a secret surfaces that shatters Sicily’s carefully constructed world, she calls off the wedding and agrees to the radical procedure in order to begin a new life.

Her beauty restored virtually overnight, Sicily rushes toward life with open arms, seeking new experiences, adventures, and, most of all, love. But she soon discovers that her new face carries with it risks that no one could have imagined. Confronting a moral and medical crisis that quickly becomes a matter of life and death, Sicily is surrounded by experts and loving family, but the choice that will transform her future, for better or worse, is one she must make alone.

An intense and moving story of courage, consequence, and possibility, Second Nature showcases the acclaimed storyteller at her very best.

Type: Fiction

Quick Take: Before writing this review I read a few reviews online to read reactions to the novel.  While it's well crafted I struggled with a few things in the book.  What I'm learning, about myself, is that I need to stay away from books with fire. 

When Sicily is thirteen she loses her father in a fire and she herself is badly burned. As an adult, she has built a life for herself, filled with friends and is engaged to a wonderful man.  After learning a deep, dark secret about her fiance, she calls off the wedding and decides to go forward with a life changing surgery that turns her from burn victim to beauty. Post surgery she finds love but the isolation is overwhelming.  Her life may have been better before the surgery.

One reviewer wrote:

I challenge anyone to read Ms. Mitchard's description of that fire and NOT be affected in some way; I found myself haunted by it. Her words will mesmerize and terrify you simultaneously, and at the end of the first chapter you will not be able to put the book down.

Having lived through a fire (I was actually in my house with my nine year old son), I am still haunted by the smells, the crackle of the flames, the post events...  if you don't have first hand experience, it's hard to explain/understand how it impacts you the rest of your life. Let me get off my soapbox and back to my review...

The description of the fire wasn't emotional for me, it didn't haunt me.  That said, the fire is just one chapter and told from a young girls eye so I moved past that quickly since this novel is 'post fire'.  What bothered me was that the novel revisited events/feelings over and over and over.  

Now that I'm done reading the book, I like it more than I did while reading it.  The concept was great and I loved the ending.

I seem to be alone in my opinion as this novel is getting 5 star reviews on BN.com.  I'm sure it has to do with my personal experience. 

Book'd Out and I read/chatted about this one via comments, neither of us loved it.  Click here to read her review.

Rating: 3 stars
Source: Review copy, NetGalley

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Book Reviews... in a flash!

Book Reviews... in a flash!

Sharing a memoir and two cookbooks with you today. While I enjoyed reading each, I struggled to 'rate/review' two of the three. 

Glitter and Glue When Kelly Corrigan was in high school, her mother neatly summarized the family dynamic as “Your father’s the glitter but I’m the glue.”

After college, armed with a backpack, her personal mission statement, and a wad of traveler’s checks, she took off for Australia to see things and do things and Become Interesting.

This is a book about the difference between travel and life experience, stepping out and stepping up, fathers and mothers. But mostly it’s about who you admire and why, and how that changes over time.

Quick Take: I often struggle with mother/daughter/family stories, and this was the case with Glitter and Glue.  While I did not love this book, I did appreciate the story, and like I often say 'who am I to rate someone's life story'.

I read several reviews on goodreads hoping to have an ah-ha moment before writing my review.  For me the story has a good message, yet reads bland at times. My favorite part was probably the last page, when she looks for the family online.

Source: Review Copy (netgalley)

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My Paris Kitchen (Pub Date, April 8): A collection of stories and 100 sweet and savory French-inspired recipes from popular food blogger David Lebovitz, reflecting the way modern Parisians eat today and featuring lush photography taken around Paris and in David's Parisian kitchen.

In My Paris Kitchen, David remasters the classics, introduces lesser-known fare, and presents 100 sweet and savory recipes that reflect the way modern Parisians eat today. You’ll find Soupe à l’oignon, Cassoulet, Coq au vin, and Croque-monsieur, as well as Smoky barbecue-style pork, Lamb shank tagine, Dukkah-roasted cauliflower, Salt cod fritters with tartar sauce, and Wheat berry salad with radicchio, root vegetables, and pomegranate. And of course, there’s dessert: Warm chocolate cake with salted butter caramel sauce, Duck fat cookies, Bay leaf poundcake with orange glaze, French cheesecake...and the list goes on. David also shares stories told with his trademark wit and humor, and lush photography taken on location around Paris and in David’s kitchen reveals the quirks, trials, beauty, and joys of life in the culinary capital of the world.

Quick Take:  I enjoy reading cookbooks for the stories, ingredients, and understanding how a dish is made more than the actual process of cooking! This book is filled with stories and having spent time on the streets of Paris I was able to imagine the places, kitchens, moments. 

The photography is wonderful, the recipes are well planned and easy to follow.  This book contains everything you could ever want; it's a good must have cookbook for any kitchen.

Source: Review Copy (netgalley)

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Simple Thai Food (pub date, May 13): Thai takeout meets authentic, regional flavors in this collection of 100 recipes for easy, economical, and accessible Thai classics—from the rising star behind the blog She Simmers.

All of Leela’s recipes have been tested and tweaked to ensure that even the busiest cook can prepare them at home. With chapters on key ingredients and tools, base recipes, one-plate meals, classic rice accompaniments, and even Thai sweets, Simple Thai Food is a complete primer for anyone who wants to give Thai cooking a try. By the end of the book, you’ll be whipping up tom yam soup and duck red curry that will put your local takeout joint to shame. But perhaps more importantly, you’ll discover an exciting new world of Thai flavors and dishes—including Stir-Fried Chicken with Chile Jam, Leaf-Wrapped Salad Bites, and Crispy Wings with Three-Flavored Sauce—that will open your eyes to all the wonderful possibilities that real Thai cooking has to offer.

Quick Take: This cookbook was a challenge for my family since I'm a vegetarian and my husband doesn't like chives or onions. {ha}.  It has sparked an interest to go to the local Asian market for spices, which I view as a step in the right direction.

Have you tried cooking traditional Thai? Do you have any favorites?

Source: review copy (netgalley)

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Review: Good to a Fault

Review: Good to a Fault

Why I picked it: I bought this novel as a new release, on a business trip to Toronto in 2008.  I decided to read it in October, along with two other novels that I have been meaning to read for a while. 

When I mentioned my plan, Judith (Leeswammes Blog) mentioned she had a copy of the book and also wanted to read it so we decided to read it together.  She asked me a few questions (answers below), make sure you click to her review to read the rest of our conversation.  A great way to read/discuss a book!

Type: Fiction

Synopsis: Clara Purdy is at a crossroads. At forty-three, she is divorced, living in her late parents' house, and near-ing her twentieth year as a claims adjuster at a local insurance firm. Driving to the bank during her lunch hour, she crashes into a sharp left turn, taking the Gage family in the other car with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara decides to do the right thing. She moves Lorraine's three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house—and then has to cope with the consequences of practical goodness: exhaustion, fury, hilarity, and unexpected love.

What, exactly, does it mean to be good? What do we owe each other in this life, and what do we deserve? Good to a Fault is an ultimately joyful book that digs deep, with leavening humor, into questions of morality, class, and social responsibility. Marina Endicott looks at life and death through the compassionate, humane lens of a born novelist: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance in between.

Quick Take: I didn't care for the characters all that much but that's okay, this book is a story of humanity and the testing of boundaries (the message jumps off the page).

Judith's email mentioned that she 'loved the happy-family feel and how others helped out Clara.' I had a different response while reading the book, I struggled with Clara's decisions.  I guess I was narrow minded in my reading experience... looking back I understand Judith's comment but I still don't understand Clara.

Can I say I loved the writing and descriptive nature of the book?  Dolly, Lorraine's daughter and the Grandmother kept my interest.  I wanted to know what happened to them.  Click over to Judith's review to read the rest of the review.

This book has left me thinking, for that alone it deserves four stars.

Let's get to the questions:

Judith: After reading my review, is there anything that you had a totally different reaction to? We don't always enjoy the same books, but with Good to a Fault we did, so I'm wondering if we liked/disliked the same elements in the book.

Mari: My first reaction, while reading this book, wasn’t a good one. I found myself disliking it so much yet I couldn’t stop reading. I wanted to know what happened to Clayton (Lorraine’s husband) and I enjoyed the roughness of Lorraine. Being homeless and longing to provide for one’s family… unthinkable. I cared about this family. I would love to know what happened five years later. How’s Dolly? Is Lorraine healthy? Is the family settled? I wasn’t all that invested in Clara.

Judith: What did you think of the reverend, what was his role in the book? Did you notice how he lost some of his faith straight after the break up with his wife but later gained it again (or do I see this wrongly)?

Mari: He tried to explain to Clara that she didn’t need to get involved with the family post crash, and I was surprised that he wasn’t interested in going to the hospital to visit with Lorraine (at Clara’s request). I didn’t like him all that much, he was a weak person. But again… maybe this is what happens to someone after years of a terrible marriage. I agree with you, he seemed to be a stronger person by the end of the novel.

Judith: And what about Darwin, Lorraine's brother? Why was he introduced as a drunk but then later helped out so brilliantly?

Mari: Darwin is a free spirit! He brought a lightness to the book, he really wanted to help Clara while helping Lorraine’s family. Did you ever wonder, if the family was there temporarily, why he made all the house improvements? Could you imagine coming home and discovering someone built a room in your basement without asking? I’m a literal/rigid reader… you can see why I struggle with imaginative stories!

Judith: Of course I also want to know what you thought of Clara. Could you imagine being like her? What would you do the same/different?

Mari: What can I say about Clara… the situation was so strange, she invited a circus into her home. In America there would have been housing options for the family. If I was faced with a similar situation and chose to help the family (I like to think I would)… I would pay for an apartment for a month/two rather than getting lost in my home. Compassion is wonderful but boundaries need to be set (smart decisions).

In the end, Clayton’s family walks out of Clara’s life as we would expect, only to leave a new grieving process to begin for Clara. I think she realized how important family is, she really wanted to keep the children.

It was great reading a novel together and having a chance to discuss it.  Let's do this again sometime. Thanks Judith!  

Rating: 4 stars
Source: Personal Copy

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Review: Precious

Review: Precious

Thank you Lisa for inviting me to read Precious for the TLC book tour last month.

Precious is Sandra Novack’s first novel. She has been published in The Iowa Review, The Mississippi Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The Gettysburg Review, and Gulf Coast. She has three times been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and currently resides in Atlanta.
This is the story of the Kisch family – they give new meaning to the term dysfunctional. The mother has an affair and returns months later to find her family hostile and angry. The father is dealing with his own demons and their two young girls (17 and 9 years old) are trying to survive from day to day.

In the opening pages we learn that Eva and Sissy’s mom has left the family. Natalia, the mother, is having an affair and followed the man to Italy. Sissy’s best friend Vicki is missing and Eva is angry.

As the story unfolds we follow Eva down a dangerous path. Her mother has left and she needs to take care of her 9 year old sister and the house. With Vicki, the neighbor girl, missing everyone is on high alert and afraid to let the children play. Eva is not prepared to be a mother figure and take on this responsibility. We watch her struggle with the reality of her life and she starts to make bad decisions, one which results in sleeping with her English teacher and carrying on an affair with him.

I do not want to give away the story but can assure you this is a story worth reading, each character is well developed and interesting. The plot has many twists and keeps you engaged. There is a lot to discuss and I recommend this to book clubs. I will be recommending Precious to my local book club.

A conversation with Sandra NovakTell us a little about yourself: I grew up in a blue-collar family in Pennsylvania, and I have two older brothers and sisters who are about 10-15 years older than I am (which makes me the condom that broke!). Unlike some, I didn't always know that I wanted to be a writer and had plans to perhaps go into counseling. I came into writing during my Masters program, though, and continued on for an MFA. I'm a huge lover of books and reading, have taught workshops in a variety of places, and have lived in about five different states since leaving PA. Right now, I'm currently living in GA but will be moving to Chicago this summer, which is great because my husband and I love variety and love various ethnic foods. Is there a better thing than eating a great dinner with someone you love? We also have entirely too many pets, which is an issue best left to the shrinks. My husband, Phil, is a paleontologist and does weird things, like lick fossils, which makes us very compatible in our weirdness, because I do weird things like smell Vick's Vapor Rub (spelling?) and tape, just for the heck of it. We were made for each other! We have no children, by choice, because I always think I'd be a horrible mother. But all in all, at thirty-six, I'm happy and content with my life, which is much different than I was at, say, age eighteen. I think time does wonders to improve us all, like good wine. At least I hope so! That said: some of my closest friends have told me I'm much sweeter at 36, but also much crankier...Oh, and yes, this brings me to the final point: I curse an awful lot. It upsets my mother, who "didn't raise me that way".

Do you write daily? I do try and write each day, yes. It keeps me level! Plus, I find that when I'm "off" my schedule it's more difficult to get back into it. When I was on the reading tour for Precious, I didn't write for almost a month and it took about that long to start up again once I got home. Mostly a good writing day is one in which I wake up, walk the dog with my husband, write from maybe about 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. If I can acoomplish that (no matter how badly the writing is!) I feel like I've had a successful day. Like most writers I know, I also fart around a lot.

What was it like getting your first novel published (I have heard some great stories and would love to include your story if you would like to share your experience)? My agent landed me a two-book deal with a partial novel and a completed story collection. So I wrote most of Precious under a nine month deadline. That was exciting, to just have my life seem to change overnight. And the entire process was really educational, actually, if not a wee bit tiring. Mostly I'm a process girl and feel best when I'm just writing; it's like that's when I have a purpose. But actually having the first novel published and in hand? I don't know. I found it to be a bit of a downer. It's like you get your book delivered and everything that was once beyond you and bigger than you is suddenly packaged and sold for 16.50 (automatic discount on Amazon!). On my launch day, my editor and publicist sent flowers and told me I should celebrate, but you know mostly I just sat around and slept. That probably wasn't the story you wanted to hear.

What do you think of the electronic book (kindles and such)? I think they are changing the way people read, and that this all will have ramifications for the industry. Personally, though, I love the feel of a good book, and I am so low-tech I barely even use my cell phone. I don't have an Ipod, and I wouldn't know what to do with a BlackBerry, so I suspect it will be quite a while before I personally get a KINDLE. That said, I have recently thought that KINDLE would be an excellent way to store those books I can't seem to live without but probably won't ever read again. (I know, I know, I hoard.) Having the knowledge that the words are there, stored electronically, would be comforting, I think. Plus, it would mean I don't have to pack up 100 boxes of books, like I did the last time we moved. Boxes of books are surprisingly heavy.

What is one tip that you can share with aspiring writers? Read, anyone you love, and learn from those writers. Also, don't be afraid to fail. (I realize that's two tips; sorry.)

What are you reading now? John Irving's The Cider House Rules (he's so wonderfully sensitive toward his characters!) and I plan to start reading Bound South, by Susan Rebecca White. She's a debut writer I recently did a reading gig with in Atlanta. She's very funny on the page, and she has a great first-person voice.

Lastly, share one or two of your all time favorite novels read, excluding classics: Atonement, by Ian McEwan, and Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson. The list changes, though, depending on my mood.
Just for fun:Favorite Season: Fall
Morning or night: Morning
Favorite ice cream flavor: Potato chips
If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go: Italy, but did I mention I hate to fly?

BWAV rating of this book: 3.5 stars
Type: Fiction, 288 pages, Hardcover

Synopsis:The summer of 1978, ten-year-old Vicki Anderson rides her bike to the local park and goes missing. The face of her tight knit, blue collar Pennsylvania neighborhood, where children roam the streets at night playing lightening tag, above-ground pools litter the back yards, and flowers scent the air, will never be the same.

Down the street from Vicki's house, another family is in crisis. Troubled by her past, headstrong Natalia Kisch has abandoned her husband and two daughters for another man. Frank Kisch, grappling with his anger, is left to raise their girls alone, oblivious to his daughters' struggles with both disappearances: Eva, seventeen, plunges into an affair with her married high school teacher, and nine-year-old Sissy escapes to a world of imagination and storytelling that becomes so magical it pierces the reality of the everyday.

When Natalia unexpectedly returns, the struggles and tensions which have built over the summer erupt into a series of events that change the Kisches irrevocably—forcing them to piece together their complicated pasts and commitments to one another.

In this haunting, atmospheric debut, Sandra Novack examines loss, loyalty, and family. Lyrical and elegiac, Precious underscores our attempts to make sense of the volatility that surrounds us, and explores our ability, even during the most trying times, to remember and hold onto those we love most.

Reviews:
"[A] lyrical and finely crafted first novel...The graceful prose and bleak atmosphere underscore the loneliness of each character. Novack takes the massive distance between friends, husbands and wives, and makes it her home."—Publishers Weekly
"[A] dramatic, elegantly rendered debut. In this accomplished first novel, [Novack] writes tellingly of the complex relationships among families, lovers, and friends."—Booklist (Starred Review)

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Review: Little Bee

Review: Little Bee

Why I picked it: Little Bee was recommended to me over and over yet I kept passing it by, so I was happy to hear we were going to read this for The Omaha Bookworm's.

Synopsis: On a beach in Nigeria, the lives of Little Bee, a teenager from a small village, and Sarah O'Rourke, editor of a posh British women's magazine, are brought into brutal conjunction. Little Bee and her older sister have the misfortune to live on valuable Nigerian oil deposits, for which their family pays a deadly price. Sarah and her husband, heedless tourists out for a walk in the sand, are confronted in an instant with a choice: Save the girls at great personal cost or ignore them. (source: Washington Post Review)

Type: Fiction

Quick Take: My book club read/discussed this book in March and unfortunately I was only at the half way point the night they discussed it.  When they called me, it was a wonderful experience to listen to them talking about the book, breaking it down and mentioning that a few of them highlighted the same text (flagging it as brilliant).

Little Bee's story is very sad but with a glimmer of hope. Sarah does not welcome Little Bee into her home with open arms, but as the story unfolds Little Bee becomes a part of their broken family. Sarah is willing to do just about anything to keep Little Bee safe.

There are so many things to love about this novel, the writing a given... I adored Sarah's little boy and that he only wore a super hero outfit.  He is aware that his Daddy isn't coming home, yet waits for his return (heartbreaking).  Sarah is complicated, loved her! 

I wish I had finished this book before our discussion, I would love to chat about it.  Click here to read Lit & Life's review (Lisa runs our book club)

I wonder if I would be willing to give up something for a complete stranger.... Have you read this book?  I would love to hear your thoughts (or link to your review).

Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Audio (Library)

Country: Nigeria/England
Challenge: Teresa's Audiobook Challange

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Review: The Golden Notebook

Review: The Golden Notebook

I wanted to like this book. It’s very well written, flows easy and grabs you in the first 50 pages.

This is a story of two women with a slanted view of life, cup half empty types. Richard, the ex-husband of one of the women is self absorbed and actually unlikeable. We follow the lives of the three as they act without remorse and direction.

I enjoyed the idea of the four notebooks and Anna’s struggle to keep sanity in her life. I also enjoyed the historical references, the idea of feminism and living a messy life. What I didn’t enjoy was the lack of emotion for decisions made, the idea that having multiple affairs being okay as long as it makes you happy. This is how the book read for me. I wonder how I would feel reading this book in college and unmarried. It might be a different experience.

From Wikipedia: In 2007, Lessing won the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was described by the Swedish Academy as "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny".[1] Lessing is the eleventh woman to win the prize in its 106-year history,[2][3] and also the oldest person ever to win the literature award

Because of her campaigning against nuclear arms and South African apartheid, Lessing was banned from that country and from Rhodesia for many years.[12] Lessing moved to London with her youngest son in 1949 and it was at this time her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, was published.[10] Her breakthrough work though, was The Golden Notebook, written in 1962.[9]

If you are thinking about reading this book or have read it, there is an interesting website dedicated to The Golden Notebook. The comments are insightful.
BWAV rating of this book: 3.5 stars

Type: Fiction, 672 pages, Trade paperback

Synopsis:
Anna is a writer, author of one very successful novel, who now keeps four notebooks. In one, with a black cover, she reviews the African experience of her earlier years. In a red one she records her political life, her disillusionment with communism. In a yellow one she writes a novel in which the heroine relives part of her own experience. And in a blue one she keeps a personal diary. Finally, in love with an American writer and threatened with insanity, Anna resolves to bring the threads of all four books together in a golden notebook.

Doris Lessing's best-known and most influential novel, The Golden Notebook retains its extraordinary power and relevance decades after its initial publication.

Reviews:
“No ordinary work of fiction…The technique, in a word, is brilliant.” – Saturday Review

BN.COM Review: I was really disappointed. The story is too wordy and doesn't grab the readers attention. Definitely not worth the effort of reading 600 pages.

BN.COM Review: This is a really great book for anyone but I guess its for girls you could say anyway I loved this book it was so good and such a great page turner.

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Review: The Canterbury Tales

Review: The Canterbury Tales

I am pleased to say I finished reading Canterbury Tales last night and have to say this is an entertaining novel. Click here to read my previous post explaining that I am participating in an online class discussing the novel. I especially enjoyed ‘The Miller’s Tale’ which treads an ambiguous line between the serious and the comic.

Type: Classic, 626 pages, Trade paperback

Synopsis:
An illustrated retelling of Geoffrey Chaucer's famous work in which a group of pilgrims in fourteenth-century England tell each other stories as they travel on a pilgrimage to the cathedral at Canterbury.

Like Charles Lamb's edition of Shakespeare, Hastings's loose prose translation of seven of Chaucer's tales is more faithful to the work's plot than to the poet's language. This is not a prudish retelling (even the bawdy Miller's tale is included here) but the vigor of Chaucer's text is considerably tamed. In the original, the pilgrims possess unique voices, but here the tone is uniformly bookish. The colloquial speech of the storyteller is replaced by formal prose; for example, while Cohen (see review above) directly translates Chaucer's ``domb as a stoon'' as ``silent as stones,'' Hastings writes ``in solemn silence.'' Cartwright's startling paintings skillfully suggest the stylized flatness of a medieval canvas, but often without the accompanying richness of detail. Like Punch and Judy puppets, the faces and voices of these pilgrims are generally representative but lack the life and charm of the original text.

Reviews:
I found this anonymous review on BN.COM that is worth sharing.

A subjective review of a seminal masterwork: I was taught Chaucer including the Canterbury Tales at Harpur College State University of New York by Professor Bernard Huppe. Professor Huppe was the most prominent exponent along with Prof.Robertson of the Christian interpretation of Chaucer. In other words the entire Canterbury Tales were seen as the work of a believing Christian whose anti - clerical passages were a true exposure of the faults of a society of sinners. The high comedy and low were according to Prof. Huppe a way of reenforcing this ideal Christian message. For most readers I suspect the pleasure of Chaucer is less however in the ideology than in the realistic and humorous depiction of character. And there are great characters, often drawn only in a few lines in the prologue .The Wife of Bath is perhaps the most outstanding and memorable of these, but the whole cast taken together provide a kind of typological picture of medieval mankind as a whole. The low laughter, the farce of the Miller's tale, the romantic chivalry of the Knight's tale I must admit never really charmed me. But what I loved in Chaucer and I can hear today Prof . Huppe's rich and deep enunciation was the sound of the lyric and the rich poetry .The music of Chaucer, the swift telling of a character and a story in a few lines, the realistic look at human pretension and foible make the work feel true . One reservation and here my claim has been roundly denied by Chaucerian scholars including the formidable Professor Lawrence Besserman is that the Parson Nun's tale does promote the 'blood libel'. Sophisticated readers however contend that I in reading it this way miss the subtlety of Chaucer's broad humanism. Would that they are right. In any case the delight and disaster of much of human life is in this great work.

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Book Review: The Here and Now

Book Review: The Here and Now

Why I picked it: I've read a few books written by the author, I enjoyed My Name is Memory (time travel with historical content) and my book club read one of the traveling pants books (summer fluff selection).  Just good fun.

Synopsis: Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

Meet seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. But everything changes when she falls for Ethan Jarves.

Quick Take:  I'm not sure what to say about this book, it's YA and a quick read. It's much lighter than the Divergent series, but good. The adult version would have delved more into the impact of everything on the future, global warming, disease, etc.  

If you are looking for an entertaining, quick YA selection this is a good choice. I'm curious to see if reader's will love this one... I really enjoyed My Name is Memory, click here to read my thoughts/review.  

Click here to read Ti's review (Book Chatter) 

Rating: 3 stars
Source: Review Copy (NetGalley)

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Book Review: Night Sweats

Book Review: Night Sweats

Why I picked it:  I enjoy reading memoirs, and decided to read this after reading Joy's review.   Her review is lovely, and she has a connection to the author (always love reading these tidbits).

Synopsis: Laura Crossett was thirty-five years old, one month into a relationship, and six months into a new job when she sat in a staff bathroom and looked at a stick that told her something she already suspected.

Almost half the pregnancies that occur in the United States each year are unplanned. Some of them happen to married women, some to unmarried; some occur due to failure to use contraception; some due to contraceptive failure. Some happen to women who hope one day to have children; some to women who never wanted children at all.

In a political climate that polarizes around issues of sexuality and choice and a popular culture that glamorizes pregnancy and fetishizes motherhood, we rarely hear the stories of women who did not seek to become pregnant. Night Sweats is one of them.

Quick Take: I find it challenging to review a personal story, knowing that life is filled with unexpected moments that define us.  That said, the author has a lovely voice and captures the emotions of her story while keeping the reader interested.

I enjoyed her honesty in writing about the struggles she dealt with while pregnant (relationships, family, values, the future, her career).  The only complaint I might have it that it's just 104 pages!

If you enjoy memoirs, pick up a copy of this book.

Rating: 4 stars
Source: Personal Copy

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Review: The Secret Scripture

Review: The Secret Scripture

A beautiful cover, a beautiful story.

Short listed for the man Booker Prize 2008 and winner of the Costa Book of The Year 2008.

I enjoy reading award winner books, some I like some I find challenging to finish. This is a splendid story about a woman who is nearly 100 years old. Told in multiple voices, Dr. Greene is evaluating Roseanne who has been living in an asylum for years. Roseanne’s story is one of valor. As the pages turn we learn her life story, which is difficult (see the BN review below which provides a solid recap along with a good review).

Found myself caring for what would happen to Roseanne and couldn’t wait to hear the ending to her story. I loved the ending of this book.

Links of interest:
- Sebastian Barry may be the most exhilarating prose stylist in Irish fiction. His new book weaves together strands from Ireland's past -- and his own. Click here to read the complete article with Salon.com
- He is a greatly admired figure and, unusually in Ireland, I haven't met anyone who doesn't like him - History and family fuse in the work of the hot tip for this year's Booker, Click here to read the complete article in the Guardian
- The Costa Book of the Year prize has been awarded to Sebastian Barry for his novel The Secret Scripture even though the judges found the book to be 'flawed'. Click here to read the complete article in the Telegraph
Type: Fiction, 320 pages, Trade paperback
Synopsis:A gorgeous new novel from the author of the Man Booker finalist A Long Long Way
As a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful and beguiling girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life.
As Roseanne revisits her past, hiding the manuscript beneath the floorboards in her bedroom, she learns that Roscommon Hospital will be closed in a few months and that her caregiver, Dr. Grene, has been asked to evaluate the patients and decide if they can return to society. Roseanne is of particular interest to Dr. Grene, and as he researches her case he discovers a document written by a local priest that tells a very different story of Roseanne's life than what she recalls. As doctor and patient attempt to understand each other, they begin to uncover long-buried secrets about themselves.
Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, The Secret Scripture is an epic story of love, betrayal, and unavoidable tragedy, and a vivid reminder of the stranglehold that the Catholic Church had on individual lives for much of the twentieth century.

Reviews:
BN.COM review: It is literary Irish fiction at its best. It records the past dominance of church in secular relations and the maltreatment of women in the hands of men. The story is heard in two voices the elderly Roseanne Mc Nulty a patient and Dr.Greene a psychiatrist. Roseanne is a very old woman who records her secret history in her secret journal and in vivid poetic prose. The doctor is forced to re-evaluate his patients in the asylum and see if they can be released into the community, therein lies the plot of the tale. Our purpose is to discover the reason for Roseanne's admission and in doing so we get a history of Irish life in Sligo in 1930. Dr. Greene too records his interviews with Roseanne. His voice is in a different more modern tone to hers. He is an independent impartial observer to her tale. Gentle not to upset her he teases information from her and so we are left to discover the truth for ourselves. The paradox of the imperfection of human memory as opposed to the factual written word is show here. She develops a wonderful relationship with the doctor based on empathy. He too is grieving the death of his wife and his own imperfection as being the ultimate healer. Roseanne was a beauty in her day living on the outskirts of society who has been maltreated by her community. By recording her tale she gives a voice to the woman who was institutionalized by priests and by society unjustly. In recording her annals she healed herself. She is not so much a victim as a survivor. While some were dismayed by the ending I enjoyed the novel for me it is a wonderful tale on compassionate, love, life and on human inter relations. It is story telling and dialogue at its best. What he records is important but equally so is his eloquent language.

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Books: April Reviews

Books: April Reviews

April reviews... yes, I'm behind but being confined to the house for four days has provided ample time to catch up with a few book reviews - all solid books that I would recommend to a friend going on vacation over the summer.

A mix of memory loss, missing girl suspense, a memoir, and a new favorite cookbook.

Have you read any of these? Have you read anything worth recommending?

Reviews in this post: 4
2013 Stats: Novels read this year: 10
Books reviewed (all genres): 22

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Why I picked it: I adore the author's writing and prose.

Synopsis: A bittersweet masterpiece filled with longing and hope, an emotional novel explores the raw, tender complexities of relationships and personal identity.

Quick Take:  I read this a while ago, while on a family day trip.  This let me dive in and become attached to Lucie.  An interesting take on memory loss, I was invested from start to end.  Eating Heaven and When She Flew are two wonderful fiction novels - add them to your list!

Goodreads rating: 4 stars
Source: Review Copy (Netgalley)


Why I picked it: Manic Mommies Book Club May selection

Synopsis: What happened to Linsey Hart? When the Cornell-bound teenager disappears into the steamy blue of a late-summer morning, her quiet neighborhood is left to pick apart the threads of their own lives and assumptions.

Quick Take: This is a great summer read for those who want suspense without gore.  A quick read with a LOT to discuss, my book club read/discussed this for an hour.

This story is told from the eyes of several neighbors - I enjoyed Reeva's story, she's flawed and breaking her moral code.  We also hear from Linsey's ex-boyfriend, Linsey's mom and a few others households in her neighborhood.  The story is woven together nicely but in a refreshing way.  

Rating: 3 stars
Source: Review Copy


Why I picked it: I enjoy  memoirs and have a dream to sail for a year or so one day.

Synopsis: The story of Hurley's 2-year outward odyssey, deterred by rough weather and mechanical troubles, combines keen observation, poignant thoughts, and deeper introspection with glorious prose.

It also presents a rare and much-needed point of view on the familiar spiritual-journey narrative. It offers a star-crossed love story wrapped inside a rollicking good sea tale, but it also has something important to say to the reader about relationships, faith and disbelief, life and death, love and marriage, and what really matters.

Quick Take: This is one of the better memoirs I have read recently.  I learned something (boating), the author is very honest, and the story is unique. I kept underlining words of wisdom, things to remember as I read this book.  The most important moment for me in the book was the author's writing on failure and marriage.  We are so afraid to fail that we stay in failing marriages, yet aren't we failing the commitment we made the the definition of marriage? To love and cherish (vs being room mates).

I'm sending my copy to a friend, and hope my marked up copy is enjoyed.

Rating: 4 stars
Source: Review Copy

Why I picked it: Soup is probably my favorite food category!

Synopsis: This broad collection of soups, broths, bisques, and chowders ranges from summer coolers and hearty, warming stews to smooth, creamy soups and fiery broths.

The bread recipes alone could fill a cookbook. Loaves, buns, sticks, and flatbreads are here, along with pretzels, pitas, toasts and focaccias. Organized by season and complemented by evocative photographs, The Soup & Bread Cookbook is an ideal volume for anyone who takes comfort in the essential pleasures of a bowl of soup and warm bread.

Quick Take: I have been searching for the perfect carrot/ginger soup for years.  I reluctantly tried it and now am in love with this soup.  Some of the soups I intend to make are: Ginger-Carrot, Spicy Mango Melon, Asian Lemon Ginger, Summer Day Herb-Scented, Chilled Carrot and Orange, Chilled Avocado-Potato, and so many more.

The photography is amazing, I can eat popovers every day! Who doesn't want to eat Orange Toast, I might make this with soup this week. Oatmeal batter bread with dried fruit?  Divine...

I enjoyed the ecopy of this book so much that I have preordered a copy for myself.  I can't wait to make several of the recipes, and it's filled with tips that I will use.  I'm getting to a comfort level to experiment with a recipe (ie: if I don't have an ingredient... this book includes a few great tips).

Rating: 4
Source: Review Copy

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Review: The Yellow House

Review: The Yellow House

Manic Mommies Book Club Selection (April 2010)

I love reading about Ireland and historical fiction is one of my favorite genres so one can only conclude that I was excited to read this book.  Have you read it yet?  It's filled with one life turning event after another... hard to put down!

Patricia Falvey came to America at the age of twenty, with $200. She landed in New York and made her way via Greyhound bus to Omaha, Nebraska.

Synopsis:  THE YELLOW HOUSE delves into the passion and politics of Northern Ireland at the beginning of the 20th Century. Eileen O'Neill's family is torn apart by religious intolerance and secrets from the past. Determined to reclaim her ancestral home and reunite her family, Eileen begins working at the local mill, saving her money and holding fast to her dream. As war is declared on a local and global scale, Eileen cannot separate the politics from the very personal impact the conflict has had on her own life. She is soon torn between two men, each drawing her to one extreme. One is a charismatic and passionate political activist determined to win Irish independence from Great Britain at any cost, who appeals to her warrior's soul. The other is the wealthy and handsome black sheep of the pacifist family who owns the mill where she works, and whose persistent attention becomes impossible for her to ignore.

Type: Historical Fiction, pages, Hardcover

Quick Take: Recommend - We will be discussing this book with Patricia Falvey this Wednesday and I can't wait.  Eileen is one of the strongest women I have read, ever.  Life throws just about every challenge her way and she finds a way to persevere.   The Publisher's Weekly review below sum up my reading experience.

I have a list of questions for our discussion - this novel is steeped with so much history that I can't imagine how much time was spent researching this book.  Thank you Patricia for a wonderful story!

More Reviews:
Peetswea

Source: Review copy

To listen to our discussion, click on the green arrow below. The call is about 45 minutes - spoiler alert... we did talk about the book, in detail.  If you would like to download the call, please visit the MMBC page.



Author Q&A:

Tell us a little about yourself: I was born in Northern Ireland and lived in England before emigrating to the U.S. at age 20. I pursued a career in the finance area for many years, but finally was able to make the leap to my first love - writing. Becoming a writer is the realization of a dream.

Do you write daily? When I was writing The Yellow House I was also working full time and travelling a great deal for business. So I was not able to write every day but took chunks of time when I could on weekends and holidays. Now that I'm working on a deadline for a second book I find more and more that a daily writing routine is the only way to finish a novel within a set timeframe.

What was it like getting your first novel published? I met my agent through pure serendipity. I was on a business trip to New York and a friend cancelled a dinner engagement. Alone in the hotel restaurant I met a woman who runs a fitness studio in NYC and she invited me to join her and some of her clients on a wellness week in Jamaica. Something told me to grab the thread and so I took a chance and went. Lo and behold, two of the women there were literary agents, and I told one of them about a book I was planning. The rest is history. Although, I have to say that when I got the phone call that we had a two book contract I couldn’t think of anything to say for about a day.

What do you think of the electronic book (kindles and such)? At first I didn't like the idea of them. But since then I have spoken to a lot of people - mostly on airplanes - and they all say if the story is good you get caught up just as if you are reading a book. And I think people buy more books because its so easy to download them. In the end if it means more people read my book then I'm happy.

What is one tip that you can share with aspiring writers? First of all write about something that is really important to you – that fires your passion. Writing a novel is a major undertaking of time and emotional energy - so it should be about something you care deeply about. Second of all - it's true what they say about revising - a book is not so much written, as re-written, so be prepared.

What are you reading now? Colm McCann's Let The Great World Spin; Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout; and two memoirs: Nothing was the Same by Kay Jamison, and Just Kids by Patty Smith.

Just for fun:
- Favorite Season: Definitely Fall - which is what I miss most since I'm living in Dallas
- Morning or night: I think mornings are fantastic - full of promise - but unfortunately I miss most early mornings because I'm a "night person".
- Favorite ice cream flavor: Mint chocolate chip.
- If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go: Australia and Japan. But I would be delighted to travel almost anywhere in the world.

Source: Review copy

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