Monday, August 25, 2014

Fangirl

Fangirl
Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?


Review:  This is another book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and did not want to put down.  It's a coming of age story about a nerdy and awkward college freshman who spends most of her time living in the made-up world of a popular young adult magical fiction series.  Cath is quirky and charming and completely relatable, and the supporting characters are also entertaining.  It's obvious to the reader what Cath needs to do, to grow up and live in the real world, and it's also obvious who her true friends are and who her romantic interest should be, but it's not obvious to poor Cath, who struggles through a difficult first semester.  I would have rated this book a 5, until I got to the ending.  There's nothing wrong with the ending, but it fell flat for me; in fact, I kept reading the acknowledgement section, thinking that it was another chapter, because it seemed like the end of a chapter, and not the end of the novel.

Rating: 4.5 stars

The Far Side of the Sky

The Far Side of the Sky
Daniel Kalla

The Far Side of the Sky

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  November 9, 1938—Kristallnacht—the Nazis unleash a night of terror for Jews all across Germany. Meanwhile, the Japanese Imperial Army rampages through China and tightens its stranglehold on Shanghai, a city that becomes the last haven for thousands of desperate European Jews.

Dr. Franz Adler, a renowned surgeon, is swept up in the wave of anti-Semitic violence and flees to Shanghai with his daughter. At a refugee hospital, Franz meets an enigmatic nurse, Soon Yi “Sunny” Mah. The chemistry between them is intense and immediate, but Sunny’s life is shattered when a drunken Japanese sailor murders her father.

The danger escalates for Shanghai’s Jews as the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Facing starvation and disease, Franz struggles to keep the refugee hospital open and protect his family from a terrible fate.

The Far Side of the Sky focuses on a short but extraordinary period of Chinese, Japanese, and Jewish history when cultures converged and heroic sacrifices were part of the everyday quest for survival.


Review:  The premise of this story is unique, educating readers about the thousands of German and Austrian Jews who escaped to Shanghai prior to World War 2.  The descriptions of the city were fascinating, and the plot was enjoyable.  But I felt like the characters were a little flat, the dialogue occasionally awkward, and some events too stereotypical.  The author also depicts snippets of life during a four year period, often skipping 6 months or a year before moving on to the next section.  Some of these gaps didn't bother me, but others seemed like they skipped too many important parts of the story.  The ending also came at a surprising time, about halfway through the war, and I would expect that the second half of the war would be equally challengeing for the Viennese refugees.  I wonder if a sequel is planned?  I wanted to love this book, but instead, I'll just say that I enjoyed it.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Mambo in Chinatown

Mambo in Chinatown
by Jean Kwok

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  The elder daughter of a ballerina and a noodle-maker, immigrants from Beijing, Charlie Wong grew up in Manhattan's Chinatown.  Although she is an ABC (American-born Chinese), at twenty-two she has hardly left that neighborhood, her entire world fitting within its familiar boundaries.  She still lives in the only apartment she has ever known, a tiny one-bedroom she shares with her widower father and eleven-year-old sister.  And she works as a dishwasher at the neighborhood noodle shot that employs her father.  Neither academically gifted like her sister nor exceptionally pretty like her neighbor, Charlie does her best to accept her limited options, taking joy in helping to raise her sister and support her father, and practicing tai chi whenever she can.

When Charlie then surprises even herself by landing a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio uptown, her expectations are upended.  Far from the streets of Chinatown, she is introduced to an entirely new world, one that encourages her to imagine a bigger life than what she has know.  Keeping it an elaborate secret from her father, with his suspicion of all things Western, she spends more and more time at the dance studio, and awkward Charlie's natural talents-and dreams-begin to emerge.  But as a local witch has told her, "What one sister gains, shall the other lose," and soon enough, Charlie's blossoming coincides with the appearance of chronic illness in her younger sister.  With his distrust of Western medicine, her traditional father insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices, to no avail.  Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds-Eastern and Western, old and new-to rescue her sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.
from the book jacket

Becky's Review:  After reading Jean Kwok's Girl in Translation, I was excited to read this book when I saw it on the bookshelf at the library.  But unfortunately this book fell short of my expectations.  This book was far too contrived and convenient for me.  Everything lined up too well and changes in characters were highly uncharacteristic.  The book kept me reading so something was well done.  But the more I thought about the story, the more unrealistic it seemed.  Charlie was a terrible receptionist but yet the studio would take a gamble on her dancing abilities after she's shown her clumsiness?  The other thing that bothered me was Charlie's willingness to sit by and watch her sister deteriorate but not try harder to get her to a medical doctor.  I understand the cultural differences but Charlie seemed much more Western than Eastern. I just wish that this story wasn't wrapped up so neatly.  It had potential.

Marcie's Review:  I have seen this book at the library for the last few months, and I kept picking it up and putting it back because I thought Becky had read it and not rated it highly.  But I wasn't entirely sure, and it kept calling to me with its bright red cover, dancing shoes and story about ballroom dancing, so I finally checked it out.  It was a fast read that I definitely enjoyed; I loved learning more about ballroom dancing and seeing the transformation in Charlie from an awkward girl to a confident woman.  But there were quite a few things that took away from my enjoyment, namely that so much of the story was unrealistic.  How Charlie got hired at the studio, how she became a teacher, how quickly she picked up dancing and became a professional, how she didn't take her sister to a Western doctor, her romance with her partner, and how neatly and quickly everything was tied up at the end of the book.  It was just too unbelievable.  Basically, I agree with Becky's review 100%.

Becky's Rating: 3 stars

Marcie's Rating: 3 stars

Friday, August 22, 2014

Me Before You

Me Before You
Jojo Moyes

Me Before You

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.


Marcie's Review:  This was a wonderful book!  The blurb and the cover and the author's history make it seem like this is going to be a romance, but it is definitely not.  Yes, there's a bit of a love story, but this is nothing at all like a traditional romance.  It's so much  more than that!  It's about Lou's process of self-discovery, Will's struggles with the limitations of his new quadriplegic life, and the difficult topic of euthanasia.  The author presents the challenges of life in a wheelchair, including how Will and Lou are treated by strangers, and then tackles Will's desire to end his life, and his family and friends feelings about that.  It made me think about euthanasia in a different way.  I cried buckets towards the end!

The only complaint I have is that the author included a few chapters written from the point of view of some of the other characters - Will's mom and dad, Lou's sister, and Nathan the medical caretaker.  It disrupted the story a little - I guess I don't read the chapter titles at all, because I didn't realize those chapters were from someone else's perspective until I was a page or two in, and I was very confused!  It was interesting to hear snippets from Will's mom and dad, and it helped me understand them better as characters, but I think I would have preferred the story without them.

Marcie's Rating: 5 stars

Becky's Review:  I almost didn't read this book because of the cover art.  It looked like a light romance novel or maybe chick lit and generally looked unappealing to me as a reader.  (I hope the publisher takes note of this and other people's complaints about the cover!)  I am so glad that Marcie made me read this book as it was very addicting!  I stayed up far too late many nights to read this book.  I needed to know if Louisa could make Will happy and I truly wanted Will to learn how to enjoy life as a quadriplegic even though it would be enjoying life in a different way.  The author made me love these characters and feel very deeply for them which is why this book has stuck with me.  I think it will be a while before I forget about it and that is the mark of a good book!  I could not stop tearing up and crying at the end of this book.  My heart was breaking while reading this book.  I agree with Marcie's complaints about the chapters written by other characters-I didn't feel that they were necessary and in fact I found them distracting.  I'm still trying to decide if the ending was what needed to happen or if I would have been as content with the book if it ended a different way.  This is definitely a 5 star book and if I had more stars I would have given it more!

Becky's Review: 5 stars

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The Shadow Throne

The Shadow Throne
by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  One war.  Too many deadly battles.  Can a king save his kingdom, when his own survival seems unlikely?

War has come to Carthya.  It knocks at every door and window in the land.  And when Jaron learns that King Vargas of Avenia has kidnapped Imogen in a plot to bring Carthya to its knees, Jaron knows it is up to him to embark on a daring rescue mission. But everything that can go wrong does.

His friends are flung far and wide across Carthya and its neighboring lands.  In a last-ditch effort to starve off what looks to be a devastating loss for the kingdom, Jaron undertakes what may be his last journey to save everything and everyone he loves.  But even with his lightning-quick wit, Jaron cannot forestall the terrible danger that descends on him and his country.  Along the way, will he lose what matters most?  And in the end, who will sit on Carthya's throne?
From the book jacket

Review:  As the third book in this series, it seemed very similar to the first two.  King Jaron of course is going to get himself into a pickle and use his sharp wit and clever strategies to save himself and his country.  He did very similar things in the second book with the pirates.  But in this story some things seemed very convenient to save King Jaron.  It just got too unrealistic for me and too similar to the first two books.  This book did have suspense that the other two did not.  I had no idea what was going to happen at the end.  I had hoped for the best but I wasn't sure that things would turn out well with the direction that the author took the war.  Overall this series was enjoyable, probably intended for late middle school and early high school due to the violence, and a good series for boys.

Rating:  3 1/2 stars

Friday, August 15, 2014

My Family for the War

My Family for the War
Anne C. Voorhoeve

My Family for the War

Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Summary (from Goodreads):  Escaping Nazi Germany on the kindertransport changes one girl's life forever

At the start of World War II, ten-year-old Franziska Mangold is torn from her family when she boards the kindertransport in Berlin, the train that secretly took nearly 10,000 children out of Nazi territory to safety in England. Taken in by strangers who soon become more like family than her real parents, Frances (as she is now known) courageously pieces together a new life for herself because she doesn't know when or if she'll see her true family again. Against the backdrop of war-torn London, Frances struggles with questions of identity, family, and love, and these experiences shape her into a dauntless, charming young woman.

Originally published in Germany, Anne Voorhoeve's award-winning novel is filled with humor, danger, and romance.


Marcie's Review:  I really enjoyed the story of Franziska, a young German Protestant with Jewish ancestors, who escapes to England on one of the last kindertransports.  I hadn't realized that even people with Jewish ancestors were subject to persecution, and it was interesting to watch Franziska (known as Frances in England) learn about her Jewish faith through her foster family and friends.  As a heroine, Frances had her faults and her personality wasn't always likable, but I felt like that made her realistic - she's a tween girl after all.  What did confuse me is why her friend Bekka played such a prominent role in Frances' memory, while she seemed to forget about her mother so easily.  Perhaps it's a reflection that friends are more important to tweens than parents, but as a mother, I was saddened at how badly she treated her mother and how quickly she replaced her birth family with her foster family.  While I would understand a refugee child needing to do this to survive, it seemed like the author could have spent more time developing that need, and not treat it so casually.

Marcie's Rating: 4 stars

Becky's Review:  I found this book quite fascinating because I did not realize that people of Jewish heritage who never had been Jewish but in fact Protestant were persecuted by the Nazis and had to flee from Germany if they could.  It was ironic that Ziska was taken in by an Orthodox Jewish family in England and she learns what it means to be Jewish from the family.  I enjoyed reading about Ziska's experiences in England.  I had to remember while reading that this is a young adult book so there wasn't as much meat to the story as I am used to.  I felt like events and subsequent feelings were being told to me rather than trying to let me experience them. I didn't feel an emotional connection to any of the characters in the story and I didn't feel anything while reading the story.  I also didn't understand how Ziska could forget about her mother and I didn't feel that the author adequately explored the relationship between Ziska and her mother at the end.   There were times that I was confused by what was happening in the book.

Becky's Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The Summer Kitchen

The Summer Kitchen
Lisa Wingate

The Summer Kitchen  (Blue Sky Hill #2)

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  With her adopted son missing and the rest of her family increasingly estranged, Sandra Kaye Darden is drawn to the little pink house where her Uncle Poppy once provided security. What begins for Sandra as a simple painting project, meant to prepare the house for sale, becomes a secret venture that eventually changes everything.

Cass Blue is having trouble keeping food on the table since she ditched foster care. When Sandra Kaye shows up with lunch one day, Cass has no way of knowing that the meeting will lead to the creation of a place of refuge that could reunite a divided community.

In this moving story of second chances, two unlikely allies realize their ability to make a difference...and the power of what becomes known as the Summer Kitchen to nourish the soul.


Review:  Years ago, I read a couple of Lisa Wingate's early novels, and I enjoyed the gentle stories and positive messages they passed along.  This book was just what I expected - a nice story about a  suburban mother who is facing some challenges in her family life and steps outside her comfort zone by providing food to hungry children in a poor area.  It is also told from the perspective of Cass, a young runaway girl who is struggling to make ends meet while caring for a preschooler.  It's well-written and easy to read, although Cass's chapters are written in a young girl's dialect that I found a little distracting....  There weren't any surprises in this book, but I was looking forward to the typical happy ending, and so I enjoyed it.  The only complaint I had is that everything happened a little too coincidentally and easily to be realistic.  But it was a delightful read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rating: 4 stars

Sisterland

Sisterland
Curtis Sittenfeld

Sisterland

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Curtis Sittenfeld, New York Times bestselling author of American Wife and Prep, returns with a mesmerizing novel of family and identity, loyalty and deception, and the delicate line between truth and belief.

From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny.

Funny, haunting, and thought-provoking, Sisterland is a beautifully written novel of the obligation we have toward others, and the responsibility we take for ourselves. With her deep empathy, keen wisdom, and unerring talent for finding the extraordinary moments in our everyday lives, Curtis Sittenfeld is one of the most exceptional voices in literary fiction today.


Review:  I quite liked this book about two very different sisters and the relationships they have with the people around them. 
 
The summary was a little misleading, making the reader think it's going to be primarily about an earthquake and a psychic, when really it is Kate's relationship with her family and her desire to suppress her psychic abilities.  Parts got a little tedious - the author provides a lot of details around Kate going about her every day life and since she's a stay-at-home mom, I found I didn't really need to be reminded of all those details while I was reading to try to escape them.  The book is set in St. Louis, which was interesting to me, but the author name dropped a lot of streets, parks, shops, restaurants, etc, and it got to be a little much.  Yes, it's set in St. Louis, thanks for reminding us about that AGAIN.  And if Kate and Vi are identical twins, why do the girls on the cover have different color eyes?  Pay attention, cover designers!

I was also perturbed by the change in the book about 90% through; the author threw in a twist that I did not see coming, and that I didn't think really fit the characters.  It completely changed the focus of the book in a not-positive way.

Hmmm, so my review is pretty negative, but while I was reading it, I enjoyed it and didn't want to put it down.

Rating: 4 stars (maybe 3.5 stars, after writing the review)

Monday, August 11, 2014

Pssst!

Pssst!
by Adam Rex

Genre: Picture book

Synopsis:  What happens when a bunch of animals have been cooped up for too long?  Pssst!  You're about to find out.
from the book jacket

Review:  My kids LOVE this book!  They giggle and giggle and giggle when reading this book.  They actually started to recite it in the car the other day because we had read it so much and they enjoyed it that much!  As an adult, I also enjoyed this book.  There is humor that kids won't get but yet adults will find funny and punny.  The humor is mostly in the illustrations and there are very few words-most are dialogue between the girl who goes to the zoo and the animals that talk to her.  The author/illustrator includes so many small details in the pictures and you need to look at all of them because they are funny!  Definitely an enjoyable book for all ages!

Rating: 5 stars

The Wrap-Up List

The Wrap-Up List
by Steven Arntson

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Gabriela has just received a very disturbing letter.  It was sent by a Death-an eight-foot-tall shimmering gray creature with gills.  The letter is short and to the point: Gabriela has a week left to live, and next Wednesday her Death, Hercule, will show up to escort her into the afterlife whether she's ready of not.  Gabriela is devastated.  Dying is bad, sure, but dying without ever having kissed the dreamy Sylvester Hale is even worse.

Gabriela isn't the only one in need of a first kiss-three of her friends would love theirs too.  She's determined to put their romantic affairs in order before her time runs out.  There is one last hope, though: Gabriela's Death has a secret weakness.  If Gabriela can figure it out, she might be able to trick him into letting her go...

It's a week of firsts for best friends, but Gabriela has to play it smart.  Otherwise, this week will be her last.
From the book jacket

Review:  What an enjoyable, quirky read!  At first I thought that this book would mainly be about teenagers finding romance but I was wrong.  While there was an aspect of the book since that was what she put on her wrap-up list, this book was about so much more.  We really get to know Gabriela and watch her grow up and try to figure out what Death's weakness is.  I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen to Gabriela on her departure day.  There are moments that are laugh out loud funny.  Gabriela's Death is quite funny and had me giggle out loud at times.  There were also moments that made me tear up.

While this book was an enjoyable read, it also had flaws.  This book seems like it is set in the present day USA but yet there are Deaths and we are on the verge of war over immigration.  There was no explanation on what happened to our world to make it that there are Deaths and departures.  There also was some randomness of Gabriela's thoughts.  It appeared like the author was trying to Gabriela from point A to point B but couldn't figure out how to get there so added some very odd details in her thought process.  I chose to overlook those moments and just move on with the story but if you try to figure them out, you may get quite lost.  I think the author tried too hard with Gabriela's friends-they are quite multicultural and diverse.  I didn't think that needed to be there in order to make a good book but yet the author kept pointing out their diverseness.  Gabriela's religion, Catholicism, also played a big role but yet religion didn't seem to matter that much to Gabriela, it was important to her father.  It just didn't seem to make the most sense in the book.

Was this book enjoyable?  Absolutely!  Did this book have flaws?  Of course!  Did the flaws outweigh the good parts of the book?  Not at all.  I enjoyed the story that I was willing to overlook most of the flaws and keep reading which is why I'm struggling with the rating.  Was it good?  Of course!  Did I really like it?  Maybe.  It is a fast, easy read and relatively short so you might as well give it a shot to see what you think.

Rating: 4 stars (or maybe 3 1/2 stars)

Saturday, August 9, 2014

The Runaway King

The Runaway King
by Jennifer Nielsen

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Juvenile Fiction, Adventure

Synopsis:  A kingdom teetering on the brink of destruction.  A king gone missing.  Who will survive?

Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation.  Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting within Carthya.  Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it.

As his adventures lead him into dangerous new territory, Jaron must learn to tell his friends from his enemies and decide who he can trust-if he can trust anyone at all.  But the further Jaron is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far.  Will he ever be able to return home again?  Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his kingdom.
From the book jacket

Review:  The second book of this trilogy was certainly full of adventure!  This book was less about the development of characters and more about what Jaron could do to save his kingdom.  Jaron certainly was a brave king and a quick thinker.  At times his way of getting out of sticky situations seemed implausible.  I think the book was well written and it kept my attention but it became more adventure-y than I normally read.  But I think this would be a great read for younger readers just like the first book.  I will read the third book as the author ended this book with a set up for the third book.

Rating:  3 1/2 stars

To see my review of The False Prince, click here.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

The Life List

The Life List
by Lori Nelson Spielman


Genre: Woman's Fiction

Synopsis:  Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend.  All in all, a charmed life.  That is until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she'd written when she was a native girl of fourteen.  Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother's decision-her childhood dreams don't resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest.  Some seem impossible  How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago?  Other goals (be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future.  As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear.  Sometimes life's sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.
From the back of the book

Becky's Review:  Simply put, I loved this book!  The author has an amazing ability to invoke emotions in readers.  Within the first few pages I was tearing up as I felt Brett's emotions after her mother died and I teared up at another point as well.  There are so many unexpected events in this book and I loved reading about how Brett met her goals in unexpected ways.  The one complaint I had was that Andrew, Brett's boyfriend at the beginning, was clearly not a good guy nor in it for Brett but Brett couldn't see that.  It irritated me how she stuck with him for so long (I really don't like unlikable characters!)  Luckily Brett moves on and discovers so many things about herself and the world around her while she tries to meet the goals on her list.  I love that by the end of the book she is no longer meeting the goals to get her inheritance, she is meeting the goals for herself to make her happier.  This was a really great read!

Marcie's Review:  I really enjoyed reading this book - I read it in two days and did NOT want to put it down.  When I started it, I was concerned that it was going to be too light, too superficial, too chick-lit-y.  There were lots of references to fancy product brands (I hate that) and the main character acted pretty immature (I thought she was in her early 20s instead of 34).  But as the book continued, Brett changed and matured, and I found myself crying along with her, rooting for her to find herself, and hoping that she would have her happy ending.  The author does a lovely job portraying Brett realistically, foibles and all, making her seem like the kind of girl I'd want to be friends with.  Spielman has a knack for creating conversations that are both poignant and funny.

So, why didn't I give it 5 stars?  Well, I reserve my 5 star ratings for books that are so fantastically wonderful that I would recommend them to absolutely everyone, and this was just a tad bit light and romance-y.  Plus, I thought Brett's change from heiress to philanthropist happened too quickly, and she had moments of being too preachy and nonmaterialistic to seem real.  And why on earth did she ever put up with her first boyfriend for so long?  If she's as smart as she thinks she is (about to become CEO of a major company), you think she'd be smart enough to realize he's a terrible person.

My library had this book categorized as romance, but I think it is so much more than that.  Is it a great work of literature?  Definitely not!  But is it enjoyable and also thought-provoking?  Yes, for sure.

Becky's Rating: 5 stars

Marcie's Rating: 4.5 stars

Landline

Landline
Rainbow Rowell

Landline

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.

Maybe that was always beside the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?


Review:  I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it as a good summer read.  I debated what genre it belonged in, because it was a little romance-y (except that the main characters were already married) and a little chick-lit-y (except that the characters are grown-up and responsible), so I settled on Women's Fiction.  It's not the kind of book I'd recommend to absolutely everyone; I think it would be most appealing to women like me - married with young kids.

I've never read a book by Powell before, but I thought she had a gift for natural dialogue and character development.  Her depiction of a relationship between a stay-at-home parent taking care of young children and a working parent was spot on, although it was unusual in that the father was the stay-at-home parent.   I appreciated the different relationship layers that the author touched on, and the complexity involved in deciding what is most important in life.  The paranormal element introduced by the time-bending rotary dial phone was a little bit of a bizarre twist, but it made sense as a way for Georgie to reflect back on her early relationship with her husband. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

The False Prince

The False Prince
by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  Four boys. One treacherous plan.  An entire kingdom to fool.

In a faraway land, civil war was brewing.  To unify his kingdom's divided people, a nobleman named Conner devises a cunning plan to place an impersonator of the king's long-lost son on the throne.  Four orphans are forced to compete for the role, including a defiant and clever boy named Sage.  Sage knows Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point-he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be filled.  As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of duplicity and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.
From the back of the book

Review:  At first I wasn't sure what to think of this book.  The beginning was fairly slow and I wasn't invested in the characters.  It took a while before the action picked up and you could really see the story line coming together.  But once I got into the book, I had a hard time putting it down!  I wanted to find out if Sage would be picked as the prince (although I figured he must be since there are 2 more books to this series!)  This book is very much intended for boys to read as most of the characters are males and there is sword fighting and plenty of trouble.  But that doesn't mean girls (and adult women) won't enjoy it as well!  My library had this in the juvenile fiction section so I expected a book that was a faster read but I think this book is better for the older kids-late middle school/early high school so there was much more meat in this story than I expected.   There is a twist in this story but it may be predictable to some.  I'm looking forward to the next books in this series.

Rating: 4 stars

Monday, August 4, 2014

Enrique's Journey

Enrique's Journey
Sonia Nazario

Enrique's Journey

Genre: Non-fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, this astonishing story puts a human face on the ongoing debate about immigration reform in the United States. Now a beloved classic, this page-turner about the power of family is a popular text in classrooms and a touchstone for communities across the country to engage in meaningful discussions about this essential American subject.

Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. As Isabel Allende writes: “This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one.”


Review:  While reading this book, I learned a lot about the plight of Central American children illegally immigrating to the United States, and was horrified by the violence many of them suffer during their journey.  While Nazario doesn't seem to try to sway readers to a certain point of view on immigration, I felt that her book made me think about immigration in a different way - a HUMAN way.  And that regardless of how I felt about the illegal immigration issue in general, Nazario's book serves to remind us all that these are human children  that we should be caring about.

However, the book read like a compilation of newspaper articles rather than a novel, and the character of Enrique could have been developed better.  It felt more like a retelling of the things that happened to Enrique on his journey, juxtaposed with stories about other immigrants, and I would have liked to know more about how Enrique was thinking and feeling.

Rating: 4 stars

The Glass Kitchen

The Glass Kitchen
Linda Francis Lee

The Glass Kitchen

Genre: Women's Fiction, Romance

Summary (from Goodreads):  Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan... and never cook again.

But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream.

The Glass Kitchen is a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.


Review:  I quite liked this book, but the title The Glass Kitchen - A Novel of Sisters was a little misleading, since the relationship between the different sets of sisters was secondary to the relationships between Portia and Gabriel, and Portia and Ariel.  So, if you are looking for a book that is primarily about sisters, this is not the book for you.

Having said that, it was a perfect summer read for me; it was well-written and easy to read, with a fun premise.  Portia's talent of being able to predict what kind of food people need added a little whimsy to the story, without being too unbelievable.  I enjoyed watching Portia and Gabriel's relationship blossom, but my favorite character was Ariel, a quirky twelve year old who is looking for a place to belong after the death of her mother. 

Rating: 4 stars

Without Warning

Without Warning
David Rosenfelt

Without Warning

Genre: Thriller

Summary (from Goodreads):  Years ago, Katie Sanford’s husband was convicted of the murder of Jenny Robbins, then died himself in prison. It’s a small town and memories are long, and Katie and Jenny’s husband, Chief of Police Jake Robbins, have had to work at putting the tragedy behind them. But it's all brought up again in the wake of a hurricane which has just wreaked havoc on their quiet Maine town. Since its founding, Wilton has had a quaint tradition of creating a time capsule every fifty years, and the storm unearthed the most recent capsule. As the editor of the local paper, Katie joins Chief Robbins to supervise its opening. Neither of them is prepared for the macabre set of predictions, dating back to months before Jenny’s murder, that they find inside. Someone predicted her death, as well as eleven other tragedies, which are still occurring even long after the death of Katie’s husband.

At last, after all these years, Katie has reason to hope that her husband might not have been guilty of Jenny’s murder after all. But as she and Jake race to stop the next predictions from coming true, they find themselves caught in a terrifying mind game with no rules…and life or death consequences.

In Without Warning, David Rosenfelt has written another tightly plotted thriller that will hold readers in its grip from the opening page all the way through to the stunning conclusion.


Review:  This was the first book by David Rosenfelt that I have read, and I enjoyed the clever plot - a time capsule is opened that contains predictions for murders, and police chief Jake Robbins has to figure out why the murders all seem to be connected to him.  But I thought the character development was lacking; newspaper editor Katie Sanford started out as a strong, interesting character, but then her voice disappeared a short while into the novel, and the relationship that develops between her and Jake seemed to happen way to quickly.  The dialogue was somewhat stilted, especially in the scenes between Jake and Katie; I felt that Rosenfelt's writing was stronger when dealing with the police investigation than when dealing with relationships.  I had a few other small complaints, like why Jake scheduled the finale on such a tight timeline, but those were minor.  I may try out another Rosenfelt book, but I don't think I've found a new favorite author.

Rating: 3 stars

The Vanishing Act

The Vanishing Act
Mette Jakobsen

The Vanishing Act

Genre: Fantasy

Summary (from Goodreads):  On a small snow-covered island—so tiny that it can't be found on any map—lives twelve-year-old Minou, her philosopher Papa (a descendent of Descartes), Boxman the magician, and a clever dog called No-Name. A year earlier Minou's mother left the house wearing her best shoes and carrying a large black umbrella. She never returned.

One morning Minou finds a dead boy washed up on the beach. Her father decides to lay him in the room that once belonged to her mother. Can her mother's disappearance be explained by the boy? Will Boxman be able to help find her? Minou, unwilling to accept her mother's death, attempts to find the truth through Descartes' philosophy. Over the course of her investigation Minou will discover the truth about loss and love, a truth that The Vanishing Act conveys in a voice that is uniquely enchanting.


Review:  I picked this book off the Staff Picks shelf of the library, and chose to take it home because it had a lovely review by Erin Morganstern, author of The Night Circus, on the back.  I thought it was odd that the back of the book didn't have any kind of a summary of the plot, but after reading the book, I understand why.

There was no plot.

Parts of the book were written beautifully, and I can see why some people would love it.  But I found it disconcerting that the characters had no names, that the story skipped around in time, and that the adults on the island were incapable of raising a child.  And more importantly, NOTHING HAPPENED.  I kept thinking Minou was going to come to some philosophical discovery, but I got to the end of the book, and she didn't.  Unless I was too clueless to pick up on it....

Rating: 2 stars

Friday, August 1, 2014

Necessary Lies

Necessary Lies
by Diane Chamberlain


Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: It is 1960 in North Caroline and the lives of Ivy Hart and Jane Forrester couldn't be more different.  Fifteen-year-old Ivy lives with her family as tenants on a small tobacco farm, but when her parents die, Ivy is left to care for her grandmother, older sister, and nephew.  As she struggles with her grandmother's aging, her sister's mental illness, and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.

When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County's newest social worker, she doesn't realize just how much her help is needed.  She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her client's lives, causing tension with her new husband and her boss.  No one understands why Jane would want to become a caseworker for the Department of Public Health when she could be a housewife and Junior League member.  As Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm-secrets much darker than she would have guessed.  Soon she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing a life-changing battle.

Set in a time and place of racial tension and state-mandated sterilizations, Necessary Lies is the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy.  Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: How can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it's wrong?
From the book jacket

Review:  I really enjoyed reading this book.  It took me a while to get into the book but once I finally did, it was hard to put down!  I was really engrossed in the story of how Jane, a new social worker, could help Ivy's family even when the other social workers told her she was doing the wrong thing.  This book infuriated me at times due to the social workers' attitudes towards the poverty stricken families.  I was also irritated with Jane's husband because of his view's of Jane's job and Jane herself.  I had to remind myself that this book took place in the 60s and women were expected to stay home and human rights weren't where we are today.  I really applaud Jane for standing up for her beliefs and trying to do what was right.  That's not to say that Jane made major mistakes but I think she did everything out of her true desire to help families and be honest with them.  One of the topics in this book is the Eugenics Program where people were sterilized due to various reasons-low IQ, medical issues, etc and I found this appalling!  Make sure to read the author's note at the back of the book to find out about the real Eugenics Program in North Caroline.  Sure opened up my eyes!  Chamberlain really touched on the reader's emotions in this book and knew how to draw the reader in.  This book was so much different than the last book I read from her, The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes.  I liked this one so much better so if you haven't loved her books in the past, try this one!

Rating:  4.5 stars