I was almost finished with my reviews for the month when I hit the wrong button and deleted it all. Fortunately I had a chocolate chunk cookie to help me handle it, but the reviews this month may not be that detailed for the most part. I read 9 ½ books again. Some good ones, some so-so and one not worth finishing.
Upstate by James Woods
Having taken a trip to Upstate New York last fall, this book title caught my eye. I enjoyed this book. It is about the Querry family from England. One of the daughters, Vanessa, lives in upstate New York. She has suffered with depression or unhappiness most, if not all her life. It seemed to intensify when her mom passed away when she was younger. Her boyfriend contacts her sister, Helen about Vanessa’s latest dark period and Helen and their dad, Alan, fly to New York to check on her. The story is a reflective one – about current time and past in their lives, about the family relationship and about the individuals. It is a well written story that left me wondering the same thing that Alan did – Why do some people find living so much harder than others? Is happiness a skill that can be learned or an accident of birth? A nice start to the month.
Boom Town by Sam Anderson
I decided to change it up a bit and read a historical book. Boom Town is about the history of Oklahoma City. It is interspersed with stories from the founding of the city to present day. They are all somewhat tied together and it is an interesting look at this unique city. There are several “booms” in the book – the land boom, the sports boom, the weather booms, the bomb boom, the development boom, etc. It is an interesting read with several interesting people.
Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
This book is not for everyone as it is realistic as to the affects that ASL has on a person. Richard, a renowned concert pianist is diagnosed with ALS when his right hand becomes paralyzed. Richard is alone having divorced his wife, Karina, and with no current girlfriend. Richard and Karina did not have a friendly divorce. Richard is also isolated from his family having grown up with a father who gave more weight to participation in sports than in the arts. Karina hears about Richard’s diagnosis at a party and does not believe it at first. She goes to his home to see for herself. At first, she is still unsure, but soon finds that he does indeed have ALS with basically nobody to help him. For some reason that she cannot understand, Karina becomes Richard’s primary caretaker. There are other characters in this story – their grown daughter, Grace, Karina’s best friend, the specialist and a home health care helper. These all contribute to the story and bring a reality to what it must be like dealing with this devastating disease. As a side note, Ms Genova is the author of “Still Alice” about early onset Alzheimer. She does a lot of research into the diseases she writes about and tells interesting stories.
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
I really liked the first 2 chapters of this book. These are the chapters that cover Mrs. Butterfield’s conversion to Christianity. It is an interesting story of how basically she was loved into God. I enjoyed reading about her life before, her friends, her job and how she was transformed. The last half of the book, while interesting, did not seem to fit with the first part. It was a little disjointed to me. The second half covers after her conversion, her job and family life. I admire the open home they have and their faith, though I don’t agree with all of the beliefs they have. I would have liked more detail of how she got from point B to point C. Something to read and reflect on though.
N ight of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg
This is the second in the Arthur Truluv story. Once again Ms Berg tells a good story. Lucille is back, living in Arthur’s home and giving cooking lessons. She has a new family as neighbors and they need her help which she gives and is blessed by. There are new characters, some love interests and just a general good small town story. I didn’t enjoy this as much as “The Story of Arthur Truluv” but a good read.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
This is an aptly named book as there are little fires throughout. The book starts with a prologue of sorts where the Richardson’s house was set on fire. This was done with little fires started in bedrooms, most likely by their daughter Izzy. The story then goes back to the previous June and tells the story of how things reached that level. The Richardson’s have 4 children – all teenagers, 2 boys and 2 girls. They are a well off family living in a very planned community. They have a rental apartment that Mrs. Richardson likes to rent out to someone who needs help. Enter Mia and her teenage daughter Pearl. Pearl and one of the Richardson’s sons, Moody, become instant friends and soon Pearl is spending a lot of time at the Richardson home. When Mia is offered a part time job as housekeeper/cook she takes it so she can “spy” on her daughter and the people she is spending so much time with. From there the story takes off in many levels all involving relationships between these people. It is a well written story that will keep you engaged and in the end leave you thinking about these people and wondering where they are now.
Small Fry by Lisa Brennan Jobs
This is a memoir written by Steve Jobs first daughter. Her parents were never married and at first Jobs did not always acknowledge Lisa. Her mom though always had a relationship of sorts with him and he was around at least occasionally. As the years went by, he became more a part of her life. I almost gave up on this book and can’t say I would have missed a lot if I had. The writing seemed a little sophomoric to me – in fact I googled Ms Jobs’ age because I thought it was written by someone younger. (Since I read it I have read some reader reviews that praise her writing style, but I didn’t like it.) The book has a sad tone to it as Ms Jobs never got what she desired/needed from her dad and it seems that her dad was doing the best he could emotionally to show his love. It is hard to tell the exact nature of each and at times I felt like it was a little whiny. Overall, to me, not a book I’d highly recommend.
Kindred by Octavia E Butler
I get a lot of my book recommendations from the Read it Forward website. When I went to the site last month I saw that they had started an online book club so I decided to at least read the book they were reading. I joined the FB group and saw for February this was the book. I had never heard of the book nor would I have chosen it on my own. However, it was a good read. Kindred is about a black woman, Dana, in 1976 that is married to a white man, Kevin. In June of 1976 Dana finds herself transported back in time to 1815 and a slave plantation in Maryland. She has a purpose of helping the son of the owners, Rufus. After she saves his life, she feels her life is threatened and she is transported back to 1976. After this initial time, Dana is transported several times, all with the purpose of saving Rufus. She is never able to return, except upon the threat of death. We are taken through this adventure with Dana as she tells it. Rufus knows she’s his guardian angels of sorts, but she is also a black women without freedom papers so when she is transported, she is also subjected to the life of slavery. The additional purpose of her transporting seems to be to protect her lineage as her family are slaves on this plantation, This is an interesting story and at times a cringe worthy story. I’m glad I stumbled on it.
The New Iberia Blues by James Burke
It’s been a while since I read a Dave Robicheaux story but it was good to get back into one. Mr. Burke has a wonderful way with words and can paint a picture, sometimes a little gruesome, but most of the time just a great word picture. Being a little familiar with some of the areas he writes of, I read his words and know exactly what he is talking about. This story was a little hard for me at first to get all the characters straight in my head. But as the story went along, it fell into place. There are some twists and turns and of course loose ends during the story that made me constantly try to figure out who the bad guy or guys were. It was a mixed result as I had it figured out but had also suspected some as being involved that weren’t. My main issue with the story was Robicheaux’s age. It just seemed unrealistic that he would be doing some of the things he did at the age of a man that could remember things that happened in 1945. I even went back in the book at one point to see if a date was set that would make him younger, but didn’t find it. Otherwise, a great book.
My half book this month was “The Air You Breathe” This book sounded promising – about friendship between 2 girls on a sugar cane plantation in Brazil - one kitchen help and the other the owners daughter. The story goes through how they became friends, their mutual love of singing and music and the friendship through the years. I read about half of the book before returning it to the library. It seemed slow, never really engaged me and I couldn’t even picture either girl in my mind. I don’t usually strike out with books this often, so hopefully March will be better.
Having taken a trip to Upstate New York last fall, this book title caught my eye. I enjoyed this book. It is about the Querry family from England. One of the daughters, Vanessa, lives in upstate New York. She has suffered with depression or unhappiness most, if not all her life. It seemed to intensify when her mom passed away when she was younger. Her boyfriend contacts her sister, Helen about Vanessa’s latest dark period and Helen and their dad, Alan, fly to New York to check on her. The story is a reflective one – about current time and past in their lives, about the family relationship and about the individuals. It is a well written story that left me wondering the same thing that Alan did – Why do some people find living so much harder than others? Is happiness a skill that can be learned or an accident of birth? A nice start to the month.
I decided to change it up a bit and read a historical book. Boom Town is about the history of Oklahoma City. It is interspersed with stories from the founding of the city to present day. They are all somewhat tied together and it is an interesting look at this unique city. There are several “booms” in the book – the land boom, the sports boom, the weather booms, the bomb boom, the development boom, etc. It is an interesting read with several interesting people.
Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
This book is not for everyone as it is realistic as to the affects that ASL has on a person. Richard, a renowned concert pianist is diagnosed with ALS when his right hand becomes paralyzed. Richard is alone having divorced his wife, Karina, and with no current girlfriend. Richard and Karina did not have a friendly divorce. Richard is also isolated from his family having grown up with a father who gave more weight to participation in sports than in the arts. Karina hears about Richard’s diagnosis at a party and does not believe it at first. She goes to his home to see for herself. At first, she is still unsure, but soon finds that he does indeed have ALS with basically nobody to help him. For some reason that she cannot understand, Karina becomes Richard’s primary caretaker. There are other characters in this story – their grown daughter, Grace, Karina’s best friend, the specialist and a home health care helper. These all contribute to the story and bring a reality to what it must be like dealing with this devastating disease. As a side note, Ms Genova is the author of “Still Alice” about early onset Alzheimer. She does a lot of research into the diseases she writes about and tells interesting stories.
I really liked the first 2 chapters of this book. These are the chapters that cover Mrs. Butterfield’s conversion to Christianity. It is an interesting story of how basically she was loved into God. I enjoyed reading about her life before, her friends, her job and how she was transformed. The last half of the book, while interesting, did not seem to fit with the first part. It was a little disjointed to me. The second half covers after her conversion, her job and family life. I admire the open home they have and their faith, though I don’t agree with all of the beliefs they have. I would have liked more detail of how she got from point B to point C. Something to read and reflect on though.
This is the second in the Arthur Truluv story. Once again Ms Berg tells a good story. Lucille is back, living in Arthur’s home and giving cooking lessons. She has a new family as neighbors and they need her help which she gives and is blessed by. There are new characters, some love interests and just a general good small town story. I didn’t enjoy this as much as “The Story of Arthur Truluv” but a good read.
This is an aptly named book as there are little fires throughout. The book starts with a prologue of sorts where the Richardson’s house was set on fire. This was done with little fires started in bedrooms, most likely by their daughter Izzy. The story then goes back to the previous June and tells the story of how things reached that level. The Richardson’s have 4 children – all teenagers, 2 boys and 2 girls. They are a well off family living in a very planned community. They have a rental apartment that Mrs. Richardson likes to rent out to someone who needs help. Enter Mia and her teenage daughter Pearl. Pearl and one of the Richardson’s sons, Moody, become instant friends and soon Pearl is spending a lot of time at the Richardson home. When Mia is offered a part time job as housekeeper/cook she takes it so she can “spy” on her daughter and the people she is spending so much time with. From there the story takes off in many levels all involving relationships between these people. It is a well written story that will keep you engaged and in the end leave you thinking about these people and wondering where they are now.
This is a memoir written by Steve Jobs first daughter. Her parents were never married and at first Jobs did not always acknowledge Lisa. Her mom though always had a relationship of sorts with him and he was around at least occasionally. As the years went by, he became more a part of her life. I almost gave up on this book and can’t say I would have missed a lot if I had. The writing seemed a little sophomoric to me – in fact I googled Ms Jobs’ age because I thought it was written by someone younger. (Since I read it I have read some reader reviews that praise her writing style, but I didn’t like it.) The book has a sad tone to it as Ms Jobs never got what she desired/needed from her dad and it seems that her dad was doing the best he could emotionally to show his love. It is hard to tell the exact nature of each and at times I felt like it was a little whiny. Overall, to me, not a book I’d highly recommend.
I get a lot of my book recommendations from the Read it Forward website. When I went to the site last month I saw that they had started an online book club so I decided to at least read the book they were reading. I joined the FB group and saw for February this was the book. I had never heard of the book nor would I have chosen it on my own. However, it was a good read. Kindred is about a black woman, Dana, in 1976 that is married to a white man, Kevin. In June of 1976 Dana finds herself transported back in time to 1815 and a slave plantation in Maryland. She has a purpose of helping the son of the owners, Rufus. After she saves his life, she feels her life is threatened and she is transported back to 1976. After this initial time, Dana is transported several times, all with the purpose of saving Rufus. She is never able to return, except upon the threat of death. We are taken through this adventure with Dana as she tells it. Rufus knows she’s his guardian angels of sorts, but she is also a black women without freedom papers so when she is transported, she is also subjected to the life of slavery. The additional purpose of her transporting seems to be to protect her lineage as her family are slaves on this plantation, This is an interesting story and at times a cringe worthy story. I’m glad I stumbled on it.
It’s been a while since I read a Dave Robicheaux story but it was good to get back into one. Mr. Burke has a wonderful way with words and can paint a picture, sometimes a little gruesome, but most of the time just a great word picture. Being a little familiar with some of the areas he writes of, I read his words and know exactly what he is talking about. This story was a little hard for me at first to get all the characters straight in my head. But as the story went along, it fell into place. There are some twists and turns and of course loose ends during the story that made me constantly try to figure out who the bad guy or guys were. It was a mixed result as I had it figured out but had also suspected some as being involved that weren’t. My main issue with the story was Robicheaux’s age. It just seemed unrealistic that he would be doing some of the things he did at the age of a man that could remember things that happened in 1945. I even went back in the book at one point to see if a date was set that would make him younger, but didn’t find it. Otherwise, a great book.
My half book this month was “The Air You Breathe” This book sounded promising – about friendship between 2 girls on a sugar cane plantation in Brazil - one kitchen help and the other the owners daughter. The story goes through how they became friends, their mutual love of singing and music and the friendship through the years. I read about half of the book before returning it to the library. It seemed slow, never really engaged me and I couldn’t even picture either girl in my mind. I don’t usually strike out with books this often, so hopefully March will be better.
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