A House for Happy Mothers

A House for Happy Mothers

Amulya Malladi

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): A stunning new novel—full of wit and warmth—from the bestselling author of The Mango Season.

In trendy Silicon Valley, Priya has everything she needs—a loving husband, a career, and a home—but the one thing she wants most is the child she’s unable to have. In a Southern Indian village, Asha doesn’t have much—raising two children in a tiny hut, she and her husband can barely keep a tin roof over their heads—but she wants a better education for her gifted son. Pressured by her family, Asha reluctantly checks into the Happy Mothers House: a baby farm where she can rent her only asset—her womb—to a childless couple overseas. To the dismay of friends and family, Priya places her faith in a woman she’s never met to make her dreams of motherhood come true.

Together, the two women discover the best and the worst that India’s rising surrogacy industry has to offer, bridging continents and cultures to bring a new life into the world—and renewed hope to each other.

Review: I think this would be a very interesting book to discuss with a book club.  One of the themes throughout the book is whether surrogacy takes advantage of poor people or provides them with an opportunity for a better life, and I could see this topic leading to an in-depth conversation.  After reading the book, my opinion is that it does both, although I would have liked to hear Asha's thoughts a year or two after the book ended.

Asha's character felt the most true-to-life, with her concern for her two children's lives and education, her worries about pregnancy, her attitude towards her husband, and her reluctance to bond with Priya.  I found myself annoyed with overly-hysterical Priya, and confused about the inclusion of snippets from her surrogacy board.

I wish that the book had continued past the rather abrupt ending.

Rating: 4 stars

The Nightingale

The Nightingale

by Kristin Hannah

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  In love we find out who we want to be.

In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen to the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime. 

from GoodReads

Becky's Review:  This is a heartbreaking tale of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, during World War II who live in France during the German occupation there.  They both sacrifice so much and do whatever it takes to survive during the war but also are so brave to stand up for what they believe is right.  The story shows us what happened to the women and children who watched their men go off to war and the loss of innocence in childhood because of the horrific things that happened all around them.  My heart just ached for all the characters in the story and their struggle.  Vianne puts up a quiet struggle against the Nazis later in the war and Isabelle is bold and daring and ready to storm into the war working for the Resistance.  Isabelle is a hard character to like at the beginning because she is so young and brash but her transformation throughout the book makes us love her by the end and root for her to survive.  By the end this book had me in tears and the story has stayed with me.

Becky's Rating: 4.5 stars

Marcie's Review:  I agreed with Becky.  A beautiful, heartbreaking book.

Marcie's Rating: 5 stars

The Same Sky

The Same Sky

Amanda Eyre Ward

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):In this heartrending and poignant novel, award-winning author Amanda Eyre Ward tells the story of Alice Conroe, a forty year old Texas barbecue owner who has the perfect life, except she and her husband long for a child. Unable to conceive, she’s trying desperately to adopt but her destiny is quickly altered by a young woman she’s never met.

Fearless thirteen-year-old Carla Trujilio is being raised by her grandmother in Honduras along with her four year old twin brothers. Her mother is sending money home from Texas where she’s trying to make a better life for her family, but she only has enough to bring one son to her. When Carla’s grandmother dies, Carla decides to take her fate into her own hands and embarks on a dangerous journey across the border with Junior, the twin left behind.

Two powerful journeys intersecting at a pivotal moment in time: Alice and Carla’s lives will be forever and profoundly changed. Heartbreaking, emotional, and arresting, this novel is about finding the courage to trail blaze your own path in life with faith, hope and love, no matter the struggle or the tragedy.
 
Marcie's Review:  I'm tired of writing reviews, and I read this book too long ago to remember all the details, so this is going to be short.  Carla's story was terribly tragic, but it was so well done, and she was such a sympathetic character that I just loved the story.  Alice's story was a little less interesting, but she seemed like quite a nice person.  I suspected how their stories were going to connect from very early on in the book, but I wish they had connected a little earlier, or that more of the story had been told after their connection.

Marcie's Rating: 5 stars

Becky's Review:  Oh my, I have no words now that I finished this book.  Normally I am not a fan of books where there are two parallel story lines and the reader has no idea how they are going to merge and that they don't merge until the very end of the story but both stories were captivating on their own that I didn't mind.  Unlike Marcie I did not guess how the stories were going to merge, I thought that they would merge in a totally different, much more naive way.  There were times that I would rush through Alice's chapters so that I could get to Carla's once Carla decided to make the journey to the United States.  Carla's story was so heartbreaking.  Her life in Honduras was so very tragic and her journey was not better.  Reading about what an illegal immigrant has to go through to get to the United States, where life is generally not rainbows and sunshine but better than their previous home, was incredibly sad.  Alice's story was heartbreaking as well but had some humor and quirkiness tied in so that the book was not completely depressing.  The beginning of the book was a little slow for me and I spent many of Carla's chapters wondering how the author had the authority to write about a young girl growing up in Honduras with no mother and then no adult and I was trying to figure out what I would rate it.  But by the time I got to the end I was so caught up in the story and the characters that I loved the book and forgot all my previous hesitations.  While this book is not easy to read because of all the issues it deals with, it was definitely a great read!

Becky's Rating: 4.5 stars

Five Days Left

Five Days Left 

by Julie Lawson Timmer

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  Mara Nichols seems to have it all.  She is a successful lawyer, devoted daughter, adoring wife to a handsome doctor, and adoptive mother to a child she loves more than anything.  At first, when Mara's husband becomes alarmed by changes in her behavior, she is angry.  But as time goes on, Mara can no longer deny that something is truly wrong.

A thousand miles away, Scott Coffman is a middle school teacher committed to bettering the lives of his underprivileged students.  He and his wife want a baby of their own.  When the younger brother of a former star pupil needs a home, Scott can't resist taking in the boy, despite his wife's misgivings.  Instead of parenting an adorable newborn baby, he and his wife are mastering the art of disciplining a rambunctious eight-year-old boy.

When the reason for Mara's behavior changes becomes clear, and the boy Scott has been looking after is scheduled to return to his mother, Mara and Scott suddenly have only five days left with the ones they love most.  And both face the most difficult decision of their lives.

from the book jacket

Review: The book jacket description makes you think that you are going to read about Mara and Scott much earlier in time than you actually read about.  This book takes place over the course of 6 days and you read about their stories in flashback and also in what is happening on those six days.  From the very first sentence you know what the five days are counting down to and I really had to stop myself from reading the end to find out if she actually did what she said she was going to do.  I wasn't sure I could read the book thinking that Mara was going to go through with it.  But I restrained myself and kept hoping that Mara would change her mind.  This book is emotional and sappy but I love sappy so I'm not complaining at all.  I did shed some tears while reading this book.  This was a fast read that I couldn't put down and read in less than a day.  When I got to the end, I was torn.  I'm still trying to decide if the ending was what as best for the book.  I think it was but I'm not sure it was what I wanted  to see happen.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Still Alice

Still Alice

by Lisa Genova

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build.  At fifty years old, she's a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children.  When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease changes her life.

As the inevitable descent into dementia strips away her sense of self, fiercely independent Alice struggles to live in the moment.  While she once placed her worth and identity in her celebrated and respected academic life, now she must reevaluate her relationship with her husband, a respected scientist; her expectations of her children, and her ideas about herself and her place in the world.

from the book jacket

Review: I wasn't sure how much I would like this book and relate to it since it is about a fifty year old woman who has Alzheimer's but I could not put this book down!  As the book goes on, Alice just gets more and more disoriented and confused and your heart just breaks for her and her family.  There were times I teared up while reading about Alice's difficulty recognizing her children and her husband.  There was a time that Alice gave a speech about what she wanted for patients with Alzheimer's and it makes you really think about how patients should be treated.  My one complaint with this book is the technicalities and all the science terms.  There were parts I just had to skim because I wasn't following the science/medicine that the characters were talking about.

Rating: 4.5 stars

A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis:  The monster showed up after midnight.  As they do.  But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting, the one from the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

This monster is something different, something ancient, something wild.  And it wants the truth.

from the back of the book

Review:  To be honest I didn't want to read this book.  I saw it on the shelf of Abe Lincoln award winners (Illinois's award for young adult books) and I put it back.  The description of the book and the darkness just didn't draw me in, in fact it did the opposite.  Then a librarian told me I HAD to read this book.  It's been sitting in my house for a while and I tried picking it up once or twice but the monster just threw me off.  I finally buckled down and picked it up again and then had a really hard time putting it down once I got farther into the story.

This book uses a monster and darkness to portray Conor's grief.  Throughout the book the monster visits to try to teach Conor to deal with his grief.  This book uses fantasy to describe the feelings and emotions that a child goes through as his mother is sick.  At first I wasn't sure how the stories that the monster told related to Conor nor how they were connected but the end tied everything together and then  you could see how well crafted this story was.  I was in tears several times while reading, tears that were hard to stop because I felt Conor's anguish and I felt for him.  My heart broke for him.  No child should have to go through the grief that he did.  I wanted to go into the book, hug Conor, and make everything all right.

It's hard for me to figure out more to say about this book because it was so dark and painful.  Normally I say things are beautifully written when I really like a book and have an emotional connection to it but there was nothing beautiful about this book due to the subject matter.  This book is deep, dark, ugly and full of emotion.  I felt like I was in the trenches with grief.  Patrick Ness clearly has a way with storytelling.  As an adult reader I'm not sure that the illustrations helped the story along but I could see how a younger audience would find them appealing.  

So why not a 5 star rating?  Because I can't say I loved the book.  I really liked it but it is hard to love something that was so emotionally raw.  Am I trying to convince you not to read the book?  Not at all.  In fact I would recommend reading this book.  Just be prepared for tears.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Whistling Past the Graveyard

Whistling Past the Graveyard

Susan Crandall

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): The summer of 1963 begins like any other for nine-year-old Starla Claudelle. Born to teenage parents in Mississippi, Starla is being raised by a strict paternal grandmother, Mamie, whose worst fear is that Starla will turn out like her mother. Starla hasn’t seen her momma since she was three, but is convinced that her mother will keep her promise to take Starla and her daddy to Nashville, where her mother hopes to become a famous singer—and that one day her family will be whole and perfect.

When Starla is grounded on the Fourth of July, she sneaks out to see the parade. After getting caught, Starla’s fear that Mamie will make good on her threats and send her to reform school cause her to panic and run away from home. Once out in the country, Starla is offered a ride by a black woman, Eula, who is traveling with a white baby. She happily accepts a ride, with the ultimate goal of reaching her mother in Nashville.

As the two unlikely companions make their long and sometimes dangerous journey, Starla’s eyes are opened to the harsh realities of 1963 southern segregation. Through talks with Eula, reconnecting with her parents, and encountering a series of surprising misadventures, Starla learns to let go of long-held dreams and realizes family is forged from those who will sacrifice all for you, no matter if bound by blood or by the heart.

 
Marcie's Review:  It took me a while to get into this book; I wasn't sure I enjoyed Starla's voice, and I felt like too many things were happening without getting a good understanding of the characters.  But about a third of the way into it, the book clicked, and I didn't want to put it down.

This is a Southern coming-of-age story, set in pre-civil-rights era Mississippi.  Starla is a spunky, sassy, adventurous nine year old, who ends up learning some tough lessons about family, race and segregation.  She ends up traveling with Eula, an abused black woman, who struggles to come to terms with her past.  It was difficult to read about how Eula was treated in the deep south, and hard to believe that those things happened only 50 years ago in our country.

My two complaints about this book are that Eula's behavior at the start of the book seemed unrealistic for the time, and that the lessons Starla learned about race seemed too adult for her young age.  A point could be made that she approached differences in race with the innocence of a child, but her character was able to verbalize her thoughts well beyond what I would expect of a nine year old.

But I still loved Starla's connection with Eula and her desire to do the right thing.  The ending was satisfying in every way.

Marcie's Rating: 4.5 stars

Becky's Review:  This book took a while to get into but once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  I loved the connection between Starla and Eula.  Eula needed someone to love and Starla needed someone to love her.  My heart ached for Starla as she tried to find someone who would accept her and love her as her family.  She was a nine-year-old looking for acceptance and learned about kindness in the least expected places.  My heart also ached for Eula as she was bound to do the right thing but up against the obstacle of race relations.  There were moments of the book that were hard to read because of the way Eula was treated even though I imagine this was a very honest portrayal of how life in the South would have been in the 1960s.  I love how the author brought everyone together at the end but perhaps it was not the most realistic of endings.

Becky's Rating: 4 stars

Little Mercies

Little Mercies

by Heather Gudenkauf

Genre; Fiction

Synopsis: Veteran social worker Ellen Moore has seen the worst side of humanity-the vilest acts one person can commit against another.  She is a fiercely dedicated children's advocate and a devoted mother and wife.  But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear and trapping her between the gears of the system she works for.

Meanwhile, ten-year-old Jenny Briard has been living with her well-meaning but irresponsible father since her mother left them, sleeping on friends' couches and moving in and out of cheap motels.  When Jenny suddenly finds herself on her own, she is forced to survive with nothing but a few dollars and her street smarts.  The last thing she wants is a social worker, but when Ellen's and Jenny's lives collide, little do they know just how much they can help one another.

A powerful and emotionally charged tale about motherhood and justice, Little Mercies is a searing portrait of the tenuous grasp we have on the things we love the most and of the ties that unexpectedly bring us together.

Review:  Heather Gudenkauf is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors to read.  I know that I will enjoy her books and that they will be quick reads that are hard to put down.  I literally read this book in just over a day and that included me going to work and sleeping at night!  I started reading this book and I just couldn't stop so I stayed up too late.  I knew what tragic event was going to happen to Ellen and I almost couldn't keep reading because I didn't know if my emotions could handle it.   But I kept going and I felt heartache for Ellen and her family.  There were times that I teared up while reading her story.  I felt a connection to Ellen as a mother and as an advocate for children.  I liked Jenny's storyline and how she fit into Ellen's story but I did think that there were some unrealistic aspects of Jenny's story.  I didn't feel the emotional connection with Jenny's story.  I read through her chapters so that I could get back to Ellen's story.  There were a couple secondary characters who lacked depth and their actions just seemed thrown into the story, Ellen's daughter Leah being one of them.  Overall I really loved reading this book and I would definitely recommend it!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Station Eleven

Station Eleven

Emily St. John Mandel

Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of "King Lear." Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur's chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them.

Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten's arm is a line from "Star Trek: " "Because survival is insufficient." But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave.

Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty. As Arthur falls in and out of love, as Jeevan watches the newscasters say their final good-byes, and as Kirsten finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the prophet, we see the strange twists of fate that connect them all. A novel of art, memory, and ambition, "Station Eleven" tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.
 
Review: I went into this book expecting it to be similar to Stephen King's The Stand, and it really wasn't.  That may have affected my rating a little.

This book follows the popular trend of shifting narrators and jumping back and forth in time, but I found the way it was handled a little distracting.  The summary indicates that it follows the story of Arthur Leander, moving through his past life and catching up with the present.  However, it seemed to follow his first wife, Miranda, even more than it followed Arthur, so that added yet another narrator to the story.  I think for me to enjoy a book written in this way, it has to be done perfectly, and this seemed a little disorganized.

Now, with that out of the way, I really enjoyed quite a lot about this book.  While I wanted to know more about life during and immediately following the pandemic, I was fascinated by descriptions of life 20 year after the pandemic is over.  The characters were vividly drawn, and the story was alternately beautifully moving and terrifyingly horrible.

Rating: 4 stars

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis:  You can't stop the future.  You can't rewind the past.  The only way to learn the secret...is to press play.

Clay Jensen doesn't want anything to do with the tapes Hannah Baker made.  Hannah is dead.  Her secrets should be buried with her.

Then Hannah's voice tells Clay that his name is on her tapes-and that he is, in some way, responsible for her death.

All through the night, Clay keeps listening.  He follows Hannah's recorded words throughout the small town...

...and what he discovers changes his life forever.

From the back of the book

Becky's Review:  I found the concept of this book quite intriguing-recorded messages from a girl who commits suicide and leaves the notes for the people who played into her reasons for ending her life.  From the beginning I was hooked and had to keep reading.  At some point this book lost steam for me.  Perhaps telling stories about the 13 people and how they affected Hannah were just too much for me to keep straight-I lost track of which boy was which boy.  There were twists and turns in the plot and since I didn't get to read this all in one sitting and had a few days in between, I was confused by what was going on.  I also don't buy that Clay fit into Hannah's 13 reasons why.  Obviously the author needed a reason for Clay to be listening to the tapes but it was a weak reason.  What Hannah explained on the tapes as why she thought about suicide and then ultimately killed herself, don't seem to be strong enough reasons why she would do something like that.  It was hard to buy into. The ending didn't make much sense to me either.  I know this seems like a lot of negatives but I still did like it and I think it's a great read.  One of the things that was great about the book was the dual narrator.  In between Hannah talking on the tapes, we heard Clay's reactions to what he was listening to.  I thought this made Hannah's story stronger.

Becky's Rating: 4 stars

Marcie's Review:  This is a tricky book to rate.  On one hand, I was drawn into the story immediately, and didn't want to put the book down to go about my day.  It was suspenseful and gripping, yet it wasn't light and fluffy reading; it really made me think.  It deals with a sensitive topic, and provides a lesson for teens (and everyone) to understand how their words and actions can affect others.  As soon as I finished the book, I called Becky to see if she had read it, and I told my friend Diana that she should put it on her hold list at the library so that I could discuss it with her.  All of those things should mean that I would rate it very highly.  I certainly reacted more strongly to this book than any other book I've read this year.

But on the other hand, I just didn't fully understand Hannah.  I'm not a teen (and haven't been one for a long time, ha ha) and I have never had issues with serious depression (thankfully), so I just couldn't understand why some of her reasons were serious enough to make her commit suicide.  So some guy said she had a nice ass.  Of course girls shouldn't be made to feel objectified, of course it was harassment, but it seems like it would have been a better reason for suicide if he'd said she had the worst ass.  I understand that it was all these reasons building on top of each other until she couldn't cope any more, and she must have had some underlying depression or something, but some reasons seemed so minor and others so major, and the focus on each was about equal.  Then she makes claims that no one was trying to help her, but it seemed to me that she wasn't letting anyone help her, that she wasn't letting anyone see the real Hannah.  Certainly SHE is responsible for that herself.  And her motive for making the tapes was so vengeful.  Does she see that she is now hurting people in the same ways that she has been hurt? Does she see that her actions could be causing other people to also have suicidal thoughts?   I wanted to feel sorry for her, and I did, but she was so awful.

And the sensitive issues around suicide....  It seemed to me that this book could provide a dialogue for teens who are concerned about their friends, and it also listed help lines for those who are considering suicide.  It could make readers consider how they treat others, how their words and actions can affect others in major ways.  And those are all GOOD things.  But, does it romanticize suicide?  Does it give teens the idea that they can do the same things as Hannah?  That they can tell their enemies how much they've hurt people, and then end their own lives.  I don't know. 

So, why the four rating?  Well, because I think the good discussions it can foster with teens, and the idea that one's actions can affect others are more important than my own thoughts about Hannah.  And it was really fascinating reading.

Marcie's Rating:  4 stars

Cutting for Stone

Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel — an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father's disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics — their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him — nearly destroying him — Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man's remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.

Review: We read this book for my book club, but we didn't have much of a discussion about it at all.  It's such a long book that I'm not sure anyone but me actually finished it in time.  I don't mind long books if they are captivating; in fact, I prefer them to be long so that I can spend as much time as possible with the characters.  And this was one book that I was sad to put down.

I enjoyed learning about Ethiopia (did you know it is pronounced Eeth-yo-pya by natives, not Ee-thee-o-pee-a?) and about the medical profession in Africa contrasted to the United States. Having said that, there was an awful lot of medical jargon that I just didn't understand or care about, and some of it was a little graphically disturbing.  It wasn't an easy read, and I'm not sure there was a single character that I liked unreservedly, but overall, I am very glad I read it.

Rating: 4 stars

The Aviator's Wife

The Aviator's Wife

by Melanie Benjamin

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century—from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator’s Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage—revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure.

From GoodReads

Review: This book was a deep look into the lives of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh.  It is hard for me to figure out what to rate this book because Charles was portrayed as a not very nice man and Anne was quite timid, meek and fairly weak at the beginning of the book.  I didn't really care for either Charles nor Anne and that always makes me like books less when characters aren't likable.  Anne did eventually learn to stand up to Charles some but not enough for my taste.  I did have to remember that women in that time weren't like women today and that husbands had much more power and control.  The story was captivating enough and flowed well between the time of Charles' death and the beginning of their story and lives together.  I felt heartbroken for Anne at times, especially during the kidnapping of her first son.  You also have to remember while reading that this book is based on Anne's and Charles' lives but it is fiction and that was hard to do at times.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Reconstructing Amelia

Reconstructing Amelia

by Kimberly McCreight

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Synopsis:  When Kate, single mother and law firm partner, gets an urgent phone call summoning her to her daughter's exclusive private school, she's shocked.  Amelia has been suspended for cheating, something that would be completely out of character for her over-achieving, well-behaved daughter.  Kate rushes to Grace Hall, but what she finds when she arrives is beyond comprehension.  Her daughter Amelia is dead. 

 Despondent over having bee caught cheating, Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of impulsive suicide.  At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. 

In a state of shock and overcome by grief, Kate tries to come to grips with this life-shattering news.  Then she gets an anonymous text: Amelia didn't jump.  The moment she sees the message, Kate knows in her heart it's true.  Clearly Amelia had secrets, and a life Kate knew nothing about.  Wracked by guilt, Kate is determined to find out what those secrets were and who could have hated her daughter enough to kill.  She searches through Amelia's e-mails, texts, and Facebook updates, piecing together the last troubled days of her daughter's life.  

Reconstruction Amelia's a stunning debut page-turner that brilliantly explorers the secret world of teenagers, their clandestine first loves, hidden friendships, and the dangerous cruelty that can spill over into acts of terrible betrayal.

From the ebok

Review:  I could NOT put this book down-I read it in one day and stayed up way too late!  This book was fast paced and engaging.  I tried to figure out the whole book what happened to Amelia and who would have hated her enough to push her.  I would think one person but then the author would make me believe someone else was guilty.  More and more secrets were revealed and I had to keep reading.  This book really hits on angst of high school and the cruelty that can come along with it.  There were curse words and discussion (and some description) of intimate moments (not too graphic) that could make the book slightly uncomfortable especially knowing that we are talking about high school students as young as sophomores.  I was disgusted by what some of the high school students did but I had to view this as a book and nothing else (or else I would have been more disturbed).  Towards the end, pieces start to get put together and some of them just didn't seem to fit together well.  We figured out character motivation at the end but some of them seemed to not make too much sense to me (unless I just didn't follow because it was late by the time I finished the book!)  Some things seemed superfluous.  The end was a little anti-climactic as well. But overall it was a really good, fast enjoyable read that I would recommend when you are in the mood for a thriller.  

Rating:  4 stars

The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret

Liane Moriarty

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  From the author of the critically acclaimed What Alice Forgot comes a breakout new novel about the secrets husbands and wives keep from each other.

My Darling Cecilia
If you're reading this, then I've died . . .

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all - she's an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia - or each other - but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband's devastating secret.

Marcie's Review: This was such a captivating book to read - I couldn't put it down!  I had a bit of a hard time keeping the characters straight, but perhaps that's because I was usually reading while distracted by a small child.  Moriarty's strength, I think, is in making her characters seem so real; I could identify, in some way, with almost all the characters, and their thoughts and voices struck a chord with me.  I spent most of the book wondering how on earth she was going to resolve the conflict around the secret, and while I didn't exactly like the ending, it was certainly creative and thought-provoking.

Becky's Review:  I had a hard time getting into this book.  Perhaps I am not in the mood to read books such as this one but I wanted more depth.  While I felt like this book was very well written and engaging, I wanted more which is why I think my feelings towards this book may be based on what I was in the mood for reading.  I really dislike when authors hint at something and dangle the carrot in front of me for a long time before they finally let me in on the secret.  It is really one of my pet peeves in life!  I hate knowing there is a secret but not knowing what it is.  The fact that I knew about the letter that Celia's husband wrote but yet I don't know until half way through what was in the letter drove me nuts!  Once I got into the book, it was a quick and easy read.  Just make sure you are in the mood for the book before picking it up!

Marcie's Rating: 5 stars

Becky's Rating: 3 1/2 stars

The Whole Golden World

The Whole Golden World

Kristina Riggle

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  An astonishing novel from the acclaimed author of Keepsake that pushes the boundaries of storytelling. At turns shocking, provocative, and heart-wrenching, and inspired by a true story The Whole Golden World forces us to ask the question "How well do we really know our children?"

To the outside Dinah and Joe have a perfect family-three lovely children, a beautiful home, and a café that's finally taking off. But their world is rocked when it's discovered that their oldest daughter, 17-year-old Morgan is having an affair with her married teacher, TJ Hill.

Their town rocks with the scandal. When the case goes to trial, the family is torn further apart when Morgan sides not with her parents-as a manipulated teenage girl; but with TJ himself-as a woman who loves a 30-year-old man.

Told from the perspectives of Morgan, Dinah, and TJ's wife, Rain, this is an unforgettable story that fully explores the surprising, even shocking, events that change the lives of two families.

Review: What's interesting about this book is that I didn't really like any of the characters, and I found the subject matter disturbing, but I still loved reading it. In fact, I couldn't put the book down - I think I read it in two days!  Riggle made the characters seem so life-like as they struggled with their various problems; she realistically captured the voices of the troubled teenage honor student, her overprotective short-tempered mother, and the doormat-like wife who struggled with infertility.  I sympathized with all these characters at times, but also wished they would learn to see themselves the way they truly were and stop making so many mistakes!  This would be a great book to discuss with a book club!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

by Matthew Dicks

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: I am not imaginary...  Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go.  He's been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends.  But Budo feels his age and things constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him.  When that happens, Budo will disappear.

Max is different from other children.  Some people say he has Asperger's, but most just say he's "on the spectrum."  None of this matters to Budo, who loves Max unconditionally and is charged with protecting him: from the class bully, from awkward situations in the cafeteria, and even in bathroom stalls.  But he can't protect Max from Mrs. Patterson, a teacher in the Learning Center who believes that she alone is qualified to care for this young boy.

When Mrs. Patterson does the unthinkable, it is up to Budo and a tea of imaginary friends to save Max-and Budo must ultimately decide which is more important: Max's happiness or his own existence.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is a triumph of courage and imagination that touches on the truths of life, love, and friendship as it races to a heartwarming...and heartbreaking conclusion.

From the book jacket

Review:  At first I wasn't sure of what to think about this book because the beginning is just about Budo introducing himself and Max and telling us all about the quirkiness of Max.  I was wondering where the book was going to go.  But then once Mrs. Patterson does the unthinkable, the book really picks up.  Budo has the mentality of an eight year old (or maybe a little older) and has to figure out how to save Max.  It's interesting to see what he decides to do and who he gets to help him.  You have to keep remembering while you are reading that you are not reading the perspective of an adult-its a young child.  It is also quite a unique point of view from an imaginary friend because he can't communicate with very many people except Max and other imaginary friends.  It was quite an interesting read!

Rating: 4 stars

The Wedding Gift

The Wedding Gift

by Marlen Suyapa Bodden

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  Despite their disparate circumstances, the lives of these two women in 1852 Alabama are inextricably entwined: Sarah, a slave who is the daughter of the master of a vast plantation, and Theodora, his wife.  Their journey is one that both binds them together and sets them free.

When prestigious plantation owner Cornelius Allen gives his daughter's hand in marriage, she takes with her a gift: Sarah-her slave and half sister.  Theodora knows that her daughter, Clarissa, is not the proper Southern belle she appears to be, with ambitions of loving whom she chooses.  Sarah, in turn hides behind the facade of being a docile house slave as she plots to escape.  Both women bring these tumultuous secrets and desires with them to their new home, igniting events that spiral into a tale beyond what you ever imagined possible, and it will leave you enraptured until the very end.

From the book jacket

Review:  This is a much more honest book about slavery than the other ones I've read.  It talked about about some of the horrific treatments of slaves but also about how kind some of the masters could be.  While it was honest, it wasn't too hard to read because it didn't focus on those events-you could skim past those events if you are really squeamish.  The book focuses on the lives of the two women who are connected together by the plantation.  This story wasn't action packed but it did keep my attention and made it hard for me to put the book down.  There was some suspense that you could try to guess but wasn't confirmed until the very last page when Sarah talks about what she had to do.  I felt this book fell a little bit short because of the characters.  I didn't have an emotional connection to them as I have in other books.  I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to them but I didn't feel their emotions.

Rating: 4 stars

Emma's Secret

Emma's Secret

by Steena Holmes

Genre: Women's Fiction

Synopsis:  For two years, Megan, Peter, and their two older daughters, Alexis and Hannah, dream of nothing but being reunited with the family's youngest child, Emma, who is kidnapped just before her third birthday.  When Emma is miraculously found living with an elderly couple just miles from the family's home, they are hopeful that her return will heal the wounds her disappearance created.

But Emma is vastly different from the sunny toddler they remember.  She barely remembers her parents or her older sisters.  She is quiet and withdrawn, and, worst of all, longs for the very people who kidnapped her.

Megan is consumed with bitterness, while Peter works later and later nights in the company of his gorgeous business partner.  And in the middle of everything, Megan's best friend has become suddenly distance and secretive.

Then a chance encounter in town leads to a secret that changes everything again for Emma.  And Peter must decide between the happiness of his youngest daughter and the trust of his family.

From GoodReads

Review:  I love that there was a follow up to Finding Emma.  I fell in love with the family in that book and wanted to know how they coped with having their daughter back after 2 years and how Emma was able to fit into the family again.  My heart also ached for Jack, the man Emma knows as Papa as his life has completely been taken away from him.  He was such a kind, old man who made the toughest but yet best decision he could.   I wanted his happiness as well.  This story told of the trials everyone had being reunited with Emma.  It talks about the tough transitions and also how hard it was on Megan and Peter's relationship as they both seemed to think different things would help Emma.  I felt like the part with Emma's best friend was superfluous but other than that, I thought it was a great sequel.

Rating: 4 stars

Finding Emma

Finding Emma

by Steena Holmes

Genre: Mystery, Women's Fiction

Synopsis:  Megan sees her daughter Emma everywhere.  She's the little girl standing in the supermarket, the child waiting for the swings at the playground, the girl with the ice cream dripping down her face.  But it's never Emma.

Emma's been missing for two years.

Unable to handle the constant heartache of all the false sightings, Megan''s husband threatens to walk away unless Megan can agree to accept Emma is gone.  Megan's life and marriage is crumbling all around her and she realizes she may have to do the thing she dreads most: move on.

When Megan takes a photo of a little girl with an elderly couple at the town fair, she believes it to be her missing daughter.  Unable to let go, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could destroy both families lives.

From GoodReads

Review:  The first of two books in this series is emotionally charged and captivating.  The story goes straight to your heart and draws you into reading the book.  The story is one that so many of us fear to have happen to us and it is heart wrenching to see what the mother and family are going through in this book.  I felt for all the characters in this book, not just the mother and her family.  Holmes did a great job bringing the characters to life and making us feel not only the pain but the hope that this book provides.  A very enjoyable read!

Rating: 4 stars

Ghost Bride

Ghost Bride

by Yangsze Choo

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

From GoodReads

Review:  This book was fascinating to me.  The story mainly takes place in the ghostly world of the Chinese afterlife.  It is so interesting to read different culture's views of what happens after a person dies.  Li Lan is able to visit this world even though she isn't really dead.  This novel is part romance, part paranormal, part mystery as well as historical fiction.  You might think that it is weird to read about a character who is in in spirit form the majority of the book but it really wasn't because the story of Li Lan is very captivating.  I couldn't wait to read where Li Lan was going to go next and what she was going to be able to discover.  The ending was a little weak for me.  We know what choice she made at the end but I really did want to know more!  Overall a very good read!

Rating: 4 stars