Thursday, March 28, 2013

Keeping Faith

Keeping Faith
by Jodi Picoult


Genre: Women's Fiction

Synopsis: Somewhere between belief and doubt lies faith. For the second time in her marriage, Mariah White catches her husband with another woman and Faith, their seven year old daughter, witnesses every painful minute. In the aftermath of a sudden divorce, Mariah struggles with depression and Faith seeks solace in a new friend… a friend who may or may not be imaginary.

Faith talks to her "Guard"constantly; begins to recite passages from the Bible— a book she's never read. Fearful for her daughter's sanity, Mariah sends her to several psychiatrists. Yet when Faith develops stigmata and begins to perform miraculous healings, Mariah wonders if her daughter-- a girl with no religious background-- might indeed be seeing God. As word spreads and controversy heightens, Mariah and Faith are besieged by believers and disbelievers alike, caught in a media circus that threatens what little stability they have left.
What are you willing to believe? Is Faith a prophet or a troubled little girl? Is Mariah a good mother facing an impossible crisis— or a charlatan using her daughter to reclaim the attention her unfaithful husband withheld? As the story builds to a climactic battle for custody, Mariah must discover that spirit is not necessarily something that comes from religion, but from inside oneself.
Fascinating, thoughtful, and suspenseful, Keeping Faith explores a family plagued by the media, the medical profession, and organized religion in a world where everyone has an opinion but no one knows the truth. At her controversial and compelling best, Jodi Picoult masterfully explores the moment when boundaries break down, when illusions become reality, and when the only step left to take is a leap of faith.
Review: Wow!  I just finished this book (I read it in about a day).  It was not a book that I could put down.  It has been a while since I've read a Jodi Picoult book and I think that helped me keep reading.  After reading several books of hers in a row, you may become bored and things will become predictable.  This book raises such interesting questions.  Do you believe in miracles?  Can someone who has no religion have God come to them?  Can people heal others?  I was really intrigued by this concept of a little girl who has God visit her and perform healings through her.  It reminded me a lot of The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn.  I haven't read that book for a while but the topic is the same.  Of course, there was a legal trial like every Jodi Picoult book but I was quite happy with the ending which is not the case with many of her books. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a Jodi Picoult book.

Rating: 4 stars

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Blankets

Blankets
by Craig Thompson


Genre: Graphic Novel

Synopsis: At 592 pages, Blankets may well be the single largest graphic novel ever published without being serialized first.
Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith. A profound and utterly beautiful work from Craig Thompson.

Review: I read this book as one of my book club friends recommended it to me and lent it to me.  I struggled with this book but I don't think it's due to the quality of the book, it's due to the book being a graphic novel.  This is my first graphic novel and I'm not sure I will read another.  I felt that I had to infer the author's meaning many times in order to understand the story.  The author/illustrator is quite clearly a talented illustrator as the drawings were amazing.  At times there weren't enough words-just drawings.  It's quite a different way to read a story.  I also felt that there wasn't too much of a plot.  At times the book seemed to be going in one direction and then at other times in a different direction.  Perhaps it touched on too many issues to make a complete story.  It is a fast read even though it is a long book because most of the book is graphics.

Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Monday, March 25, 2013

True Sisters

True Sisters
by Sandra Dallas


Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: In 1856, the Church of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons) conceived the idea of bringing impoverished converts from Europe to Iowa, where they would be fitted with handcarts instead of ox-drawn wagons. The emigrants would pull and push the carts the 1,300 miles to Salt Lake City. The carts, which were essentially square boxes on two wheels, cost a fraction of the price of wagons, and emigrants would not have the care of oxen or mules.

The idea might have been a good one, but the execution was poor. The carts were not waiting for the converts when they arrived in Iowa. The people had to build the vehicles themselves, and out of green lumber. That not only delayed their departure but meant the carts fell apart as the wood dried. Moreover, supplies were not waiting along the trail for the travelers, as they had been promised. Worst of all, the last two of the five handcart companies left late in the year and were trapped in the snow. More than a quarter of the 575 members of the last company, the Martin Company, froze or starved to death.

True Sisters is about four women, three of them converts, who are members of the Martin Company. They are Nannie, who is traveling with her sister and brother-in-law, after being abandoned on her wedding day. Louisa is married to a church leader, a man she believes speaks for God, although others find him overbearing. Jessie and her brothers hope to find land in Zion where they can farm. And Anne, who fails to convert to Mormonism, has no choice but to follow her husband, since he has sold everything to make the trek to Utah. The characters are fictional, but they are based on journals, stories, and accounts of real women who braved the horror and hardship of the handcart trek, finding faith, friendship, and even joy in the journey.
From the author's website

Review: This book was so incredibly tragic but it parallels what happened in real life.  This story is based on true events but the stories of the women are entirely fiction.  The women are portrayed as such strong women who continued on their journey to reach Salt Lake City (what they called Zion) no matter the weather, the lack of food, the death of family members.  They rarely lost faith or questioned God.  I really liked the women in the story for the most part but I couldn't understand their desire to get to Salt Lake City with all that happened to them.  The leaders kept saying that those strong in faith would reach Salt Lake City. I struggled with trying to be respectful of their religion but I just kept finding myself calling their decisions dumb and the decisions were made by the spiritual elders of the community.  I liked the book in spite of how tragic it was.  The epilogue provided closure but I felt it was a little contrived.

Rating: 4 stars

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Dressmaker

The Dressmaker
by Kate Alcott


Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she’s had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be her personal maid on the Titanic. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men—a kind sailor and an enigmatic Chicago businessman—who offer differing views of what lies ahead for her in America. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes, and amidst the chaos, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat.  
 
The survivors are rescued and taken to New York, but when rumors begin to circulate about the choices they made, Tess is forced to confront a serious question.  Did Lady Duff Gordon save herself at the expense of others? Torn between loyalty to Lucile and her growing suspicion that the media’s charges might be true, Tess must decide whether to stay quiet and keep her fiery mentor’s good will or face what might be true and forever change her future.

From the publisher

Review: I wanted to really like this book because of its subject.  Sadly, I was disappointed by the writing and the story.  Based on the description of the book, I thought that more of it would take place upon the Titanic.  There was very little of the story aboard the ship-the ship sank within the first 50 pages or so of the book (I can't tell you exactly as I was reading it on my ipad).  Most of the story focused on life after the sinking and the hearings afterwards and I found it to be not so thrilling.  The book also promises to be romantic and while there was some romance, it was not well developed and seemed very one note.  Another problem I had with the book was the characters.  I felt that the characters did not stay true to themselves nor did they seem believable.  The writing style just seemed weak.  The author also threw in some random events-like the suffrage movement that really didn't fit in the story.  It was a quick read and somewhat enjoyable but I spent most of the book noticing its flaws.

Rating: 3 stars

Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Secret Keeper

The Secret Keeper
Kate Morton

The Secret Keeper

Genre: Women's fiction

Summary: (from the publisher)
From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Distant Hours, The Forgotten Garden, and The House at Riverton, a spellbinding new novel filled with mystery, thievery, murder, and enduring love.

During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy—her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.

Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.

Dorothy’s story takes the reader from pre–WWII England through the blitz, to the ’60s and beyond. It is the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined. The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring. It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told—in Morton’s signature style—against a backdrop of events that changed the world.

Review:  I enjoyed learning more about life in London during the blitz, but I felt like the constant jumping back and forth between the present and several different times in the past was too confusing to make this a pleasurable read.  The book was long, took a while to get into, and I didn't find myself liking any of the characters.  While the ending helped me understand the characters better, it was too little, too late.

Rating: 3 stars

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore



Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
by Robin Sloan
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Genre: Fiction

Summary: (from the publisher)  A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life—mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead “checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.

With irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan has crafted a literary adventure story for the twenty-first century, evoking both the fairy-tale charm of Haruki Murakami and the enthusiastic novel-of-ideas wizardry of Neal Stephenson or a young Umberto Eco, but with a unique and feisty sensibility that’s rare to the world of literary fiction. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave, a modern-day cabinet of wonders ready to give a jolt of energy to every curious reader, no matter the time of day.

Review: This was such a fun book - reminiscent of "The Shadows of the Wind" but much easier and more enjoyable to read.  It's part mystery and part fantasy, with code-breaking, code-writing, enduring friendship, quirky characters, love of printed books, love of technology, random funny bits, and even a little romance.  Some of the secondary characters seemed to have more personality than the main character, which was a little unusual, and I wondered if Google had sponsored the book since it was mentioned positively so often.  While I couldn't put the book down in the beginning, I felt like the end was a little lackluster, although certainly more believable than the ending I had been imagining.  It definitely appealed to the book lover and the geek in me!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Thursday, March 14, 2013

The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife
by Paula McLaine
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time—Paris in the twenties—and an extraordinary love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.


In Chicago in 1920, Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and finds herself captivated by his good looks, intensity, and passionate desire to write. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group of expatriates that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
But the hard-drinking and fast-living café life does not celebrate traditional notions of family and monogamy. As Hadley struggles with jealousy and self-doubt and Ernest wrestles with his burgeoning writing career, they must confront a deception that could prove the undoing of one of the great romances in literary history.
Review:  This book was slow for me to get into but I finally did.  The Paris Wife is a fictional story of the first wife of Ernest Hemingway.  I found it hard to like this book because Hadley (Hemingway's first wife) was such a weak woman.  She was surrounded by women in Paris who were strong albiet had loose morals and drank a lot but yet Hadley never stood up for herself and Hemingway walked all over her.  Hemingway was not a likable character either.  Perhaps in real life Hemingway was not a likable person and maybe the portrayal of him in the book was accurate.  I find it hard to like a book when I don't like the main characters.  I also greatly disliked their life style.  Again, this is probably how the "lost generation" as they called themselves lived but it was so hard to condone their activities.  I feel like the book is well written but just not a book for me.
Rating: 3 stars

Monday, March 4, 2013

Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop

Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop
by Lisa Shulman
Illustrated by Ashley Wolff


Genre: Picture book

Synopsis: Old MacDonald is busy building something.  One by one, all the animals on the farm come to help too.  All of them except for the babies, who hover at the door, trying to see what it is.  With a rurr rurr, tap tap, chip chip, scritch scratch, squeak squeak, and swish swash, soon the project is done.  What do you think it is?  With fun sound effects and a familiar cast of animals, this twist on the classic nursery song is sure to be a hit with any kid who loves tools or loves to sing.
From the book jacket

Review:  My kids really like books that are set to music and the also really like tools!  This book is right up their alley.  Old MacDonald is a female sheep who is building something and other animals come to help.  With each verse, another animals comes in with a different tool and the sound effects are the noises that a tool would make.  It's a fun song to sing and a nice twist on an old classic song.

Rating: 4 stars

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Cock-a-Doodle Dance!

Cock-a-Doodle Dance!
by Christine Tricario
Illustrated by Rich Deas


Genre: Picture Book

Synopsis: In rootin', tootin' Texas is a gloomy, grouchy farm where animals work overtime and life has lost its charm.  But when Rooster catches a jitterbug, all the animals catch boogie fever and can't stop dancing!  Pigs polka.  Sheet shimmy and swing.  Chickens cha-cha.  What will Rooster cock-a-doodle do to stop the barnyard bash?
From the book jacket

Review: This story is so fun and so are the illustrations!  All the animals on the farm catch dancing fever and do that instead of doing the work that they are supposed to do like producing eggs and milk.  The story is written in rhyme and is full of dance vocabulary.  The back inside cover of the book actually explains all the different dances that they use in the book.  My kids really enjoyed listening to this book although the vocabulary is more advanced than my children's vocabulary so I had to stop often and explain words (because I was asked what the words meant).  I even enjoyed reading this book and was entertained by what else the author and illustrator would come up with!

Rating: 5 stars

Saturday, March 2, 2013

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
by Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui


Genre: Memoir

Synopsis: “I’m a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no.”
 
Forced by her father to marry a man three times her age, young Nujood Ali was sent away from her parents and beloved sisters and made to live with her husband and his family in an isolated village in rural Yemen. There she suffered daily from physical and emotional abuse by her mother-in-law and nightly at the rough hands of her spouse. Flouting his oath to wait to have sexual relations with Nujood until she was no longer a child, he took her virginity on their wedding night. She was only ten years old.

Unable to endure the pain and distress any longer, Nujood fled—not for home, but to the courthouse of the capital, paying for a taxi ride with a few precious coins of bread money. When a renowned Yemeni lawyer heard about the young victim, she took on Nujood’s case and fought the archaic system in a country where almost half the girls are married while still under the legal age. Since their unprecedented victory in April 2008, Nujood’s courageous defiance of both Yemeni customs and her own family has attracted a storm of international attention. Her story even incited change in Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries, where underage marriage laws are being increasingly enforced and other child brides have been granted divorces.

Recently honored alongside Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice as one of Glamour magazine’s women of the year, Nujood now tells her full story for the first time. As she guides us from the magical, fragrant streets of the Old City of Sana’a to the cement-block slums and rural villages of this ancient land, her unflinching look at an injustice suffered by all too many girls around the world is at once shocking, inspiring, and utterly unforgettable.

From the publisher

Becky's Review: Nujood's bravery is remarkable for a 10 year old.  How amazing she is that she journeys on her own to the courthouse to ask a judge for a divorce from her husband!  This story is simply written and is told by Nujood to Minoui.  At that time of Nujood's marriage, she was only literate enough to write her name.  Other reviews have a problem with this book because Minoui clearly added flowery language and that maybe it should have been written by her as a 3rd person memoir.  While that all may be true, I did not read the story as a critique of its writing style.  I read it for the compelling story which is so tragic but yet true in parts of the world.  It's an easy read, one that I read in a day.  I think it's a great story to read as it's eye opening.

Marcie's Review: I completely agree with Becky's review.  Certainly there were some flaws in the book, but I kept reminding myself that the author was a 10-year-old abused child.  My biggest complaint was that sometimes the voice of 10-year-old Nujood came through, and at other times, the voice of Minoui was obvious.  Becky said it was an easy read, and I would agree, except that the topic is disturbing and thought provoking.

Becky's Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Marcie's Rating: 3 1/2 stars