March was a pretty good month for reading. I read 11 books and half of another one that I put on my DNF pile. I enjoyed most of the books and they were a wide range of genres. I hope you can find one or two that you like.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
This is an interesting book written by the author of “Money Ball”. If you are interested in Wall Street and the workings of it, you may be a stock broker. Reading this book, you discover early on that there are very few people who understand how Wall Street works, but there are definitely holes and ways to manipulate it. The book follows Brad Katsuyama and his evolving understanding of the market and it’s fallacies. Mr. Katsuyama sets out to make it a honest market that favors the investor in a correct way. There were a lot of things that I don’t think I ever fully understood, but I do understand the big picture. It paints a scary picture of how the ones you trust with your investments are often times the ones you should fear.
The Suspect
by Fiona Barton
The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg
The Au Pair by Emma Rous
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
by Anthony Ray Hinton and Laura Love Hardin
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Naked in Death by J D Robb
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
This is the “One Book, One Community” read for Baton Rouge. It is an easy read. Holmes and Watson are called to help solve a mystery of a death and to protect another man from death. The dead man, Sir Charles Baskerville, died of fright. The mystery is – what frightened him so? Was it the hound of the Baskervilles, a legend of a monster dog that has haunted their family, or something not as supernatural? Will the heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, suffer a similar fate? And who is behind it all? These are the questions that must be answered. If you are looking for a lighter detective book, this is the one.
This is based on a true story of a Jew from Slovakia. Lale, who actually “volunteered” to go to a prison camp. Of course, he didn’t know that was his destination. He stepped up to be the one from his family that reported, not knowing what the results would be. Once at the camp, he eventually ended up as a tattooist – tattooing the numbers on the people as they came into camp. This gave him some protection and a little liberty. Lale tattooed Gita upon her arrival and it was love for him at first sight. The story of their life has many twists and turns as you can imagine and of course it is not an easy life while at the camp. It is interesting reading the survival instincts and tactics and it’s sad reading of the brutality and inhumanity that existed.
Having said that, I was a little disappointed in this book. This disappointment comes from the writing style of Ms Morris. I almost felt like I was reading a report, not a life story. I know some things about the personalities of Lale and Gita, but I never felt connected to them at all. It’s still worth a read to be reminded of this horrible time in history so that we will do all we can to make sure nothing similar happens again. Just not told the way I would prefer.
This is an interesting book written by the author of “Money Ball”. If you are interested in Wall Street and the workings of it, you may be a stock broker. Reading this book, you discover early on that there are very few people who understand how Wall Street works, but there are definitely holes and ways to manipulate it. The book follows Brad Katsuyama and his evolving understanding of the market and it’s fallacies. Mr. Katsuyama sets out to make it a honest market that favors the investor in a correct way. There were a lot of things that I don’t think I ever fully understood, but I do understand the big picture. It paints a scary picture of how the ones you trust with your investments are often times the ones you should fear.
The Suspect
There are a lot of twists and turns in this story of 2 teenage girls who travel to Thailand and end up missing. The girls, Alex and Rosie, are very different. Alex sees the trip as a way to experience a different culture and to see the great sights. Rosie sees it as freedom and one big party. Needless to say this creates several issues that both keep hidden from their parents. Then the communication with the girls ceases and the parents, thinking the girls are having a great trip, wait a few days before alerting authorities. They first contact Thailand, but there is a language barrier. The parents then alert the police in their home country of the UK. The detective passes the info on to Kate Waters, a reporter, in hopes that getting the word out will help find Alex and Rosie.
As the story unfolds Kate becomes more than a reporter as her son, Jake, who is also “missing” becomes part of the story. This complicates things a little, but also gives Kate reason to pursue the story, even if she can’t be the one reporting. Ms Barton does a great job with her character development. I felt connected to almost all involved, the detective, the reporter, the parents, the teens…..all. Well written and worth the read.
As the story unfolds Kate becomes more than a reporter as her son, Jake, who is also “missing” becomes part of the story. This complicates things a little, but also gives Kate reason to pursue the story, even if she can’t be the one reporting. Ms Barton does a great job with her character development. I felt connected to almost all involved, the detective, the reporter, the parents, the teens…..all. Well written and worth the read.
It seems odd calling this a sweet story, but that’s the description that always comes to my head when I think of this book. The red address book belongs to 96 year old Doris. It was a gift given to her as a child from her father. Through the years Doris has entered the names of many people who came into her life in varied ways. As she is nearing the end of her life, Doris has written about some of these people and how they played a role in her life. She never married and has no children so this is for her great niece, Jenny. There is sadness, adventure, joy and love in these stories. In between the stories, we meet 96 year old Doris and get to experience her current life, one where she has outlived almost all of her friends and family.
This is a well told story that left me a little introspective. I find as I get older I think back on different people that have come into my life and the effect they have had on me. So many people influence us through life – some good and some not so good – and we have so many experiences. I am thankful for them all. (Now excuse me while I go look through my address books and reminisce.)
I feel a little mixed about this book. This is an interesting story told through the perspective of 2 people – Seraphine, a twin who is questioning if she really is a biological sister to her brothers, and Laura, the Au Pair to the family over 25 years ago. Laura was the Au Pair for the oldest brother, Edwin, the year that Seraphine and her twin brother, Danny was born. The story opens right after the death of their dad. Seraphine finds a photo of Edwin, their dad and mom Ruth, holding one of the babies. This had to be taken the day of the twins’ birth as their mom had committed suicide that same day. This picture launches Seraphine to search to find the truth – which baby was this, why only one, who took the picture, why was it hidden, why did her mom who looked happy in the picture commit suicide the same day. The story told by Seraphine is present day and Laura’s story goes back in time to when she was the Au Pair.
There are twists and turns and while I had figured part of it out, I didn’t have the whole picture until the end. The end is where my mixed feelings come in. While most of the book was engaging and interesting, I got to the end part and had to suspend some of my natural beliefs about how real life operates. Throughout the book I had a problem with the mom, Ruth, committing suicide hours after giving birth at home without a midwife since it involved her walking from the house to the cliffs where she jumped. I could convince myself that could happen, but honestly it was a little stretch. You would think that if nothing else, her husband would have noticed her up and walking, left the babies with the grandmother and gone with her. But even with the somewhat disappointing ending, I’d still recommend this book. Others may not be as grounded in realism as I am.
by Anthony Ray Hinton and Laura Love Hardin
This is an inspiring true story of a falsely convicted death row prisoner in Alabama. Yes, I know, everyone claims they didn’t do it, but in this case he didn’t do it. When you read about his case you will be flabbergasted and angry. But I get a little ahead of myself. Ray was raised outside of Birmingham. He was born 2 days before I was and I was a little surprised at the environment he, as a black man, grew up in. I know racism was alive and well back then, but honestly I thought what he described had decreased some by the time I was in High School. I’ve no reasons to not believe that it was definitely going on around him though. Ray was raised by his mother after his dad suffered a horrible accident working in the mines. He had a good mom who taught him to trust God and to do good to all. His mom, her love for him, his upbringing and his friend Lester’s unconditional love is what got him through when he was sent to death row, after an arrest and trial that was a sham.
On death row Ray was angry at first – for a long time. But then one day he realized he had a choice – to be bitter and angry or to choose love. Ray chose love. His story is one of faith, love, perseverance and prayer. His big break came when the Equal Justice Initiative became involved. (The EJI was started by Bryan Stevenson who wrote “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption”. I read that book in April 2016 and recommend it.)
I highly recommend this book. It will do both – leave you disappointed in humanity and also encouraged and inspired.
I put off reading this book because of its popularity. I know that sounds like a bad reason but there are so many times that I get sucked in to reading an extremely popular book and I’m disappointed. Reading the summary of the book, I was also unsure. When the Read It Forward Group on Facebook chose it for its Book Club read, I decided to dive in. I am so glad that I did.
Kya lives in the marsh land of North Carolina by herself having been abandoned by her family, her pa being the last to leave when she was 10. Kya is known in town as the Marsh Girl and is ostracized. She does not attend school but learns a lot about life from the marsh and from the books she learned to read thanks to an older boy, Tig, who befriends her. Due to her isolation and her reputation, when a former star football player for the local school is found dead, Kyra becomes the chief suspect.
The book does a great job of telling of Kyra’s life growing up and the events regarding why she is suspected in the death. It is a lyrical book that is so well written. It not only tells a good story, it also paints a wonderful picture of the world of the marsh. It is a book that will stay with you. Read this one!
I was invited to join a book club this month and this was the chosen book. For those who don’t know, J D Robb is a pseudonym of Nora Roberts. This is the first of her “in death” series. This story is about a serial killer who is targeting licensed companions. In addition to murder, the story has power, money, corruption, romance and all the normal things you would expect in such a story. There were parts of the book and some characters that I did not really like, but the story was basically a good one that kept my interest. It's not one that I would have chosen for myself, nor one that makes me want to read the series, but it wasn't a bad read. It was interesting hearing other's views of it.
This is a story of how delicate shelter can be and where we can find it when we are unsheltered. It revolves in a way around a house in the 1870’s and modern day. Every other chapter switches time and tells the story of the 2 families that lived in the house. One family is dealing with the man of the house teaching high school and not given the academic freedom he desires in teaching science. He becomes friends with a neighbor who shares his love of the science of nature. The house, which is a family house on the wife’s side, is always there with his family in it or him dealing with issues with the construction. The modern day family is dealing with a man of the house who just took a job at the local college after they had inherited the house through the wife’s family. This is an older couple who have moved a lot due to various circumstances and the husband has not been able to obtain tenure. They have grown children, but that doesn’t mean the house is empty. They too are dealing with construction issues of the house and have interesting neighbors.
Ms Kingsolver has views that do not line up with mine, and I’ve read some reviews that said the book was too preachy. I did not feel that way while reading – I just took it for what it is, someone who has different views about things than I do. But just a warning that you may feel different. Another one I’d recommend.
This book should have made me afraid to go to sleep, but it didn’t. A small town in California is hit with a sleeping epidemic. It starts at the college with one girl who falls asleep and ends up dying. It is soon apparent that this was not a one time thing as others begin falling asleep. It spreads past the college and through the town. We are introduced to several families and people and the ways that they deal with this unknown disease as there seems to be no known source or way to control it. A very well written story with great character development.
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
UGH! I made it about half way through this one and then chucked it. This is written as random thoughts by a literary woman. Her close friend has passed away and she has taken his dog to live with her. Instead of being about the dog, it is about her thoughts of the friend, a literary professor, and how hard it is to be an author. A whiny, depressing book that I thought was going to be an enjoyable read about a reluctant dog owner. If you are really into quotes by other authors and a disjointed writing style, then this is the book for you. If not, stay away.
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