Every Note Played

Every Note Played

by Lisa Genova

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: An accomplished concert pianist, Richard received standing ovations from audiences all over the world in awe of his rare combination of emotional resonance and flawless technique. Every finger of his hands was a finely calibrated instrument, dancing across the keys and striking each note with exacting precision. That was eight months ago.

Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed. His fingers are impotent, still, devoid of possibility. The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce—his divorce.

He knows his left arm will go next.

Three years ago, Karina removed their framed wedding picture from the living room wall and hung a mirror there instead. But she still hasn’t moved on. Karina is paralyzed by excuses and fear, stuck in an unfulfilling life as a piano teacher, afraid to pursue the path she abandoned as a young woman, blaming Richard and their failed marriage for all of it.

When Richard becomes increasingly paralyzed and is no longer able to live on his own, Karina becomes his reluctant caretaker. As Richard’s muscles, voice, and breath fade, both he and Karina try to reconcile their past before it’s too late.

Poignant and powerful, Every Note Played is a masterful exploration of redemption and what it means to find peace inside of forgiveness.

From GoodReads

Review:  I've read all of Lisa Genova's books and really love how she ties in medical issues to each of her books.  I generally find them very intriguing.  This one wasn't as compelling as her other books to me.  I don't know if that is because I am more familiar with ALS than the other diseases she has written about and have read other books about ALS.  Or perhaps it was because I didn't find Richard a relatable or sympathetic character.  He was very arrogant and selfish.  While he did want to change later in the book, it almost came too late.  I also found Karina, Richard's ex-wife, to be fairly unlikable as well.  The story moved slowly even though the disease progresses quickly.  Because the disease robs Richard of control over his muscles, he isn't able to do much which makes the book slow.  We are in his thoughts much of the time which makes the book drag.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Girls at 17 Swann Street

The Girls at 17 Swann Street

by Yara Zgheib

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.

Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears – imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.

Yara Zgheib's poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting, intimate journey of a young woman's struggle to reclaim her life. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street.

From GoodReads

Review:  This book was beautifully written even though it deals with a topic such as anorexia.  This is my first book about an eating disorder and I didn't know what to expect.  I didn't expect to be brought to tears several times and have to put the book down because I just couldn't keep reading because of how emotional it was.  My heart broke for the characters at 17 Swann Street and the hopelessness they felt at needing to eat.

Anna is  a former dancer and develops body image issues.  She falls into a trap of eating less and less and can't get herself out of the hole she has created.  She and her husband move to the United States from Paris and she falls into a deep depression.  She doesn't see what has happened to her and her husband doesn't know what to do.  Eventually Anna enters an inpatient treatment center at 17 Swann Street where she meets other young women who are like her.  Some have been battling eating disorders for years.

The book is written alternating between the present and flashbacks to things that happened earlier in Anna's life that lead to her issues.  We get a glimpse into how her eating disorder came about but yet the cause isn't pinpointed exactly.  Maybe that was done intentionally because perhaps there isn't just one defining moment.  During therapy, we are able to hear Anna's thoughts which she does not voice to the therapist.  We know that tragic events happened in her childhood.  Personally I felt that Anna's transformation comes a little too easily.  She didn't seem to deal with all her issues, her past, her depression, etc while at the treatment center.  I felt like there were a lot of unresolved issues and that her improvement couldn't have happened without dealing with all her issues.  The end seemed to come too quickly.  This is why I couldn't rate this book with 5 stars.

I still very much enjoyed reading this book even though it was highly emotional.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing my book club complementary copies.  We will enjoy discussing this book!

Rating: 4 stars

Before We Were Yours

Before We Were Yours

by Lisa Wingate

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize that the truth is much darker. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together—in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions—and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation . . . or redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

from GoodReads

Review:  This book broke my heart so many times but yet I really enjoyed listening to it.  The story is told in alternating perspectives between Rill and Avery.  Rill, a twelve year old girl who grew up with her young parents on the Mississippi River, has such an emotional voice in this story.  Avery is a strong, confident woman who knows her duty to her family.  Rill's story of being torn away from her home and sent to live with her siblings in a horrible orphanage was so difficult to read but yet her love for her siblings shines through.  The fact that this story is based on real events was shocking as it unbearable to think about the treatment of children under Georgia Tann's direction.  My heart broke for all of the children who were victims of this so called adoption agency and the horrors that they endured.  There were many times that I was almost brought to tears thinking about these children.  There is not much that the author explicitly says as to what happened but the reader is left to infer what happens and that might even be worse!  Avery's story is not quite as interesting but she is the person who is trying to discover a connection between her family and a story she hears from a woman at a nursing home, May Crandall.  Avery is persistent in digging through her family's history as she discovers that she may not want what her family wants for her.  I feel that Avery's story was there as a means to end for the reader to figure out how her family is connected to Rill's story.  While my review may make this book sound too depressing or horrific, this book is not that!  This book is eye opening to something that happened in our history.  It's compelling and well written.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Harmony

Harmony

by Carolyn Parkhurst

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: How far will a mother go to save her family? The Hammond family is living in DC, where everything seems to be going just fine, until it becomes clear that the oldest daughter, Tilly, is developing abnormally--a mix of off-the-charts genius and social incompetence. Once Tilly--whose condition is deemed undiagnosable--is kicked out of the last school in the area, her mother Alexandra is out of ideas. The family turns to Camp Harmony and the wisdom of child behavior guru Scott Bean for a solution. But what they discover in the woods of New Hampshire will push them to the very limit. Told from the alternating perspectives of both Alexandra and her younger daughter Iris (the book's Nick Carraway), this is a unputdownable story about the strength of love, the bonds of family, and how you survive the unthinkable. 

from GoodReads

Review: This book appealed to me because of Tilly and her "undiagnosable" condition. Right from the beginning you can tell that Tilly sees the world differently than other people.  Her language can be quite crude just to give you the head's up.  You see the family's world mainly from Iris's perspective who tells the story of the present day.  She is Tilly's younger sibling who is a more typical child.  You also get the perspective of the mother, Alexandria, but only as to what happened before the family decided to move to the family camp.  There are a few chapters from Tilly's perspective but her chapters don't tell the story of what was currently happening.  Her chapters are more about the future.  Generally I don't care for books that change first person perspectives because the voices generally aren't that different but I didn't care for the change from first person to second person perspective in this book.  The voices were totally different but all of Alexandria's chapters use the pronoun "you" which confused me.  It just didn't work.  As for the plot, I liked the premise of the story but Scott Bean creeped me out quite early on.  There was something off about him as we kept getting hints about him that showed he wasn't all sunshine and rainbows and we knew that something happened in the middle of the summer but we didn't know what.  My mind went a different direction that what actually happened (which actually is a good thing).  The climax was anything but.  I just didn't buy into what happened.  This was just not the right book for me.

Rating: 2 1/2 stars

The Confusion of Languages

The Confusion of Languages

by Siobhan Fallon

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  Both Cassie Hugo and Margaret Brickshaw dutifully followed their soldier husbands to the U.S. embassy in Jordan, but that's about all the women have in common. After two years, Cassie's become an expert on the rules, but newly arrived Margaret sees only her chance to explore. So when a fender-bender sends Margaret to the local police station, Cassie reluctantly agrees to watch Margaret's toddler son. But as the hours pass, Cassie's boredom and frustration turn to fear: Why isn't Margaret answering her phone, and why is it taking so long to sort out a routine accident? Snooping around Margaret's apartment, Cassie begins to question not only her friend's whereabouts but also her own role in Margaret's disappearance.

from GoodReads

Review:  I am greatly interested in how people live in other countries and cultures so I thought I would enjoy this book about women living abroad in Jordan and what their experiences were.  I had different expectations from what this book was about.  This book really only focuses on Cassie's and Margaret's relationships with each other and a few other people.  Cassie expects the worst from everything and things everyone is dangerous.  Margaret tries to experience life in Jordan but is too carefree and doesn't consider cultural ramifications.  I didn't really like any of the characters in this book especially Margaret's husband.  I found this book a bit dull at times but also I wanted to know what happened to Margaret.

Rating: 3 stars

Close Enough to Touch

Close Enough to Touch

by Colleen Oakley

Genre: Fiction, Romance

Synopsis:  Love has no boundaries...

Jubilee Jenkins has a rare condition: she's allergic to human touch.  After a nearly fatal accident, she became reclusive, living in the confines of her home for nine years.  But after her mother dies, Jubilee is forced to face the world-and the people in it-that she's been hiding from.

Jubilee finds safe haven at her local library where she gets a job.  It's there she meets Eric Keegan, a divorced man who recently moved to town with his brilliant, troubled, adopted son.  Eric is struggling to figure out how to be the dad-and man-he wants to desperately to be.  Jubilee is unlike anyone he has ever met, yet he can't understand why she keeps him at arm's length.  So Eric sets out to convince Jubilee to open herself and her heart to everything life can offer, setting into motion the most unlikely love story of the year.

from the book jecket

Review:  This book had such an interesting premise that I had to put it on my to read list!  I loved Before I Go by Colleen Oakley that I had high expectations for this book due to the author's ease of writing and ability to make the reader feel for the characters.  Unfortunately this book did not grab me and tie me in with the emotional connection I wanted to have.  I found Jubilee's condition absolutely fascinating and was intrigued by how she dealt with it by becoming a hermit but I was not as interested in Eric's story.  The chapters alternated between Jubilee's and Eric's points of view.  I spent the early chapters of Eric's story skimming through trying to get back to Jubilee's life.  Eric really seemed to struggle connecting to people whether it be Aja, his adopted son, Ellie, his biological daughter, or Jubilee (once they met).  As the story moved along I became more invested in Eric's story because he connected with Jubilee.  I really started enjoying the story more and wanted to see Eric and Jubilee get together.  The ending was not satisfactory in my mind and was much too rushed. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Compound Series

The Compound Series (#2-4)

Mother Before Wife, Just Keep Sweet and Prophet Take All

by Melissa Brown

Genre: Fiction, Suspense

Synopses:

Mother Before Wife: Secrets. 

So many secrets. Nothing but secrets.

I started another life with a new husband, thirteen new sister wives and a new place to call home.
But the secrets weigh on me, on all of us.
And every secret leads back to the Prophet the, self-proclaimed, mouthpiece of God.
The man I’ve worshiped since childhood, the man we obey without question.
And he’s the man who will destroy us all.

I must reveal his secrets. 
Prove his betrayal, his lies and his deceit.
I will not be silenced, no matter how hard he tries.

And I will never give up. Ever.  

Just Keep Sweet: Obstacles.

So many obstacles. Nothing but obstacles.

Months ago, I agreed to help Aspen Black take down the Prophet of the FLDS—to prevent her daughter from being married at an early age, and to save innocent lives from systemic abuse on the compound.

The obstacles in this case are mounting, as are my feelings for Aspen. The tension between us is palpable and I know there’s more to our connection than the increasingly difficult case at hand. But, she’s not only married to the Prophet’s brother, she’s equally devoted to her faith. Two obstacles that just may be insurmountable.

But, no matter what happens, I will close this case. 
Even if it kills me.

Prophet Takes All: Fools.

So many fools. Nothing but fools.

That worm of a detective, my mother, Paul. Fools—all of them. But Aspen, oh Aspen…she was the biggest fool of all.

Aspen Black, a seemingly ordinary woman of the compound, transformed into the utter bane of my existence in just a matter of months. She had the gall to question me, to seek the counsel of an outsider, and to disobey my word.

To add to her list of transgressions, Aspen recruited my own brother in the crusade against me. For this, they must both be punished. And their daughter, Ruthie, is the key to their retribution.

Aspen and Paul will pay for their crimes against the one true prophet. If it’s the very last thing I do. 

from GoodReads

Review: First of all I just need to point out that I'm rating these three books with 1 rating and reviewing them as one because I read them back to back and even though there is an end to each of the books that doesn't mean that the story is over.  The story isn't finished until the end of Prophet Takes All.  If you don't have all of them in your hands, you'll be left in suspense.  Don't say I didn't warn you!  I could have seen these three books compiled into one longer book as the story flowed directly from one book to the next.

These three books are so much more than the first book in this series, Wife Number Seven.  They are not romance novels although there is a sex scene or two scattered in the books, the most being in Wife Before Mother.  There is drama, suspense, mystery, conflict and more.  I was so drawn to these stories and needed to know how the situation would be resolved.  I was sickened by what was revealed in Just Keep Sweet and became increasingly angry with the prophet.  Each book has a different narrator with a different voice, Aspen in Mother Before Wife, Jonathan, a police detective, and Paul, Aspen's husband, in Just Keep Sweet, and Clarence, the prophet, in Prophet Takes It All.  It was hard to read a story from the prophet's perspective as he was such a unlikable man.  My blood boiled by the end and I was so disappointed by the turn of events.  Thankfully the story finished as I wanted it to!

The writing style remained the same from Wife Number Seven to these three books so the same issues I had with the writing were present in the next three books.  There were chapters that were third person narratives scattered in between the first person narratives which were disruptive.  I do feel that the writing improved by the end (there were no flashbacks with ellipses!) which kept me engaged in the books.

Overall this is a good series and you could skip the first in the Compound series if you are not a fan of steamy romance novels.  Brinley and Porter do appear in future books and we do realize why Porter had the issues that he had but if you haven't read Wife Number Seven there is enough explanation that you would be fine.

Rating: 4 stars

Swimming Lessons

Swimming Lessons

by Claire Fuller

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides them in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When Ingrid has written her final letter she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her beautiful but dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two daughters, Flora and Nan.

Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he’s getting older and this unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed her mother drowned, returns home to care for her father and to try to finally discover what happened to Ingrid. But what Flora doesn’t realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a passionate and troubled marriage. 

from GoodReads

Review:  I read over 50 pages into this book and was just completely uninterested in the story.  I was remotely interested in Flora's life and what would happen to her when she went back home but the letters that Ingrid wrote just turned me off from the book.  I think all her letters were written later but they were looking back when she first met Gil.  But her letters were pretty confusing and the time jumping really threw me off plus Gil seemed very strange.  I could not relate to any of the characters at all. 

Rating: abandoned

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

by Bryn Greenwood

Genre:  Fiction

Synopsis: As the daughter of a drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents.  It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight.  Struggling to raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around.  Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night when her stargazing causes an accident.  After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold.

By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery.  When tragedy rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world.

from the book jacket

Review:  Reading about the life that Wavy and Donal had was hard as they grew up with drug addict parents who didn't care about them at all.  Wavy clearly had so many emotional issues that could only be healed by a lot of therapy.  At first the relationship between Wavy and Kellen started off as very innocent and I love how much Kellen watched out for Wavy and how Wavy changed when she was with him.  But then the relationship got stranger and much less appropriate.  Clearly Wavy needed love and any type of love was OK with her.  She needed boundaries but Kellen got not give them to her.   As the book progressed it was harder and harder to read about their relationship.  I was disturbed by the end.  This book is somewhat graphic and vulgar.  Go into this book knowing that you will be torn by what you know is wrong but what may have been the best for a character.

Rating: 3 stars

Everything I Never Told You

Everything I Never Told You

Celeste Ng

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

Review: I picked up this book solely because it had shown up in the top 10 on a booklist that I follow on Goodreads.  I figured that if so many women my age were reading it, I should try it, too.  And it was the kind of book that I would normally enjoy - a quiet and contemplative look at the difficulties of family dynamics, exacerbated by the unrealistic expectations that the parents have for their oldest daughter.  James, the son of a Chinese gardener, was sent to a private school on a full scholarship, but always longed to fit in among his snobbish peers.  Marilyn, an intelligent woman who chose to get married and have a child rather than pursue a medical degree, always wanted her daughter to have the opportunities that she missed out on.  Unfortunately, Lydia isn't interested in going along with her parents' expectations, and tries to find out how to stand up for herself.  There is very little communication going on within the family, but the author gets inside each character's head so that the reader can empathize with them.  Tragic and poignant.

Rating: 3.5 stars

A Robot in the Garden

A Robot in the Garden

Deborah Install

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Warm-hearted fable of a stay-at-home husband who learns an important lesson in life when an unusual creature enters his life.

With all the charm and humour of THE ROSIE PROJECT and ABOUT A BOY mingled with the heart-swelling warmth of PADDINGTON BEAR MOVIE.

A story of the greatest friendship ever assembled.

Ben Chambers wakes up to find something rusty and lost underneath the willow tree in his garden. Refusing to throw it on the skip as his wife Amy advises, he takes it home.

Review: It's been a while since I read this book, and truthfully I don't remember very much about it.  The story was quirky and charming with a feel good ending.  I mean, who wouldn't love a story about a lonely man and his stubborn little robot sidekick?

Rating: 3.5 stars

Today Will Be Different

Today Will Be Different

Maria Semple

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): A genius novel from the author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette, about a day in the life of Eleanor Flood, forced to abandon her small ambitions when she awakes to a strange, new future unfolding.

Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action-life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office-but not Eleanor-that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret.

TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT is a hilarious, heart-filled story about reinvention, sisterhood, and how sometimes it takes facing up to our former selves to truly begin living.

Review: I had high expectations for this book because of how much I loved the author's first book, Where'd You Go, Bernadette?  Sadly, this book didn't live up to the hype.  Eleanor was a mostly unlikeable, spoiled and self-involved woman, which may have made for an interesting book if she wasn't also completely dull.  There were definitely a few funny parts in the book, but overall, I just didn't care for it.

Rating: 2.5 stars

IQ

IQ

Joe Ide

Genre: Mystery

Summary (from Goodreads): A resident of one of LA's toughest neighborhoods uses his blistering intellect to solve the crimes the LAPD ignores.

East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the neighborhood's high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, lost children unrecovered. But someone from the neighborhood has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the police can't or won't touch.

They call him IQ. He's a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence. He charges his clients whatever they can afford, which might be a set of tires or a homemade casserole. To get by, he's forced to take on clients that can pay.

This time, it's a rap mogul whose life is in danger. As Isaiah investigates, he encounters a vengeful ex-wife, a crew of notorious cutthroats, a monstrous attack dog, and a hit man who even other hit men say is a lunatic. The deeper Isaiah digs, the more far reaching and dangerous the case becomes.

Review: An interesting take on a Sherlock Holmes type mystery, with young, black, inner-city hoodlum-turned-savior Isaiah as the brainiac hero.  Getting a glimpse into Isaiah's early life with his brother and friend Dodson gave some insights into his personality quirks in the present.  I found myself turned off by the amount of time and effort Isaiah put into committing crimes as a teenager, and would have liked to have seen some remorse on his part.  But I guess that's too idealistic for inner city LA.  In any case, Isaiah is a fascinating new hero with a new age vocabulary.  I'll definitely look for the next book if it becomes a series.

Rating: 4 stars

After the Storm

After the Storm

Linda Castillo

Genre: Mystery

Summary (from Goodreads): In this electrifying thriller by New York Times bestseller Linda Castillo, Kate Burkholder must uncover a family's long-hidden past to solve a brutal murder

When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones--and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident and Kate finds herself plunged into a thirty year old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged.

Meanwhile, turmoil of an emotional and personal nature strikes at the very heart of Kate's budding relationship with state agent John Tomasetti. A reality that strains their fragile new love to the breaking point and threatens the refuge they've built for themselves--and their future.

Under siege from an unknown assailant--and her own personal demons--Kate digs deep into the case only to discover proof of an unimaginable atrocity, a plethora of family secrets and the lengths to which people will go to protect their own.

Review:  A bit grisly and gory when describing the murder scene and speculating about the remains, this novel is nevertheless an entertaining read.  While this is book number seven in Castillo's Katie Burkholder series, it read well as a stand alone novel.  I do think it would have helped to have read the earlier books in order to better understand the relationship between Burkholder and Tomasetti, and to help keep some of the minor characters straight.  I had expected this book to dwell more on the Amish community, but it focused more on Burkholder and her life as Chief of Police in a small town.

Rating: 3.5 stars

22 Britannia Road

22 Britannia Road

Amanda Hodgkinson

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): In her powerful debut, Hodgkinson takes on the tale of a family desperately trying to put itself back together after WWII. Silvana and Janusz have only been married a few months when the war forces them apart. Silvana and their infant son, Aurek, leave Poland and disappear into the forests of Eastern Europe, where they bear witness to German atrocities. Meanwhile Janusz, the sole survivor of his slaughtered military unit, flees to France. There, he takes up with a local girl and, though he loves her, awaits the war's end so that he can go in search of his wife and son. He eventually finds them in a refugee camp and they travel to England together, where they attempt to put the past behind them. But the secrets they carry pull at the threads of their fragile peace. Hodgkinson alternates viewpoints to relay the story of three desperate characters, skillfully toggling between the war and its aftermath with wonderfully descriptive prose that pulls the reader into a sweeping tale of survival and redemption.

Review: A different type of World War II book, this novel dealt more with the aftermath of the war when a married couple is reunited after seven years of separation.  Silvana is a Polish refugee who managed to survive the war with her young son by living in the forest.  Janusz escaped Poland early on, fought for the Allies and established himself as a factory worker in a small English town.  When Silvana and her son Aurek finally arrive in England, they not only experience a huge cultural adjustment, but they also have to learn to live with Janusz and the secrets he carries from the war.

The author beautifully captures the relationship between Silvana and her disturbed young son, and writes convincingly about the marital relationship and Silvana and Janusz are trying to establish after years of absence and tragedy.  The flashbacks were gripping and disturbing, as one would expect from a World War II drama.  I was engrossed in the story, but I did find it easy to guess the big secrets that each character was hiding.

Rating: 4 stars

My Name is Leon

My Name is Leon

Kit de Waal

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): For fans of The Language of Flowers, a sparkling, big-hearted, page-turning debut set in the 1970s about a young black boy’s quest to reunite with his beloved white half-brother after they are separated in foster care.

Leon loves chocolate bars, Saturday morning cartoons, and his beautiful, golden-haired baby brother. When Jake is born, Leon pokes his head in the crib and says, “I’m your brother. Big brother. My. Name. Is. Leon. I am eight and three quarters. I am a boy.” Jake will play with no one but Leon, and Leon is determined to save him from any pain and earn that sparkling baby laugh every chance he can.

But Leon isn’t in control of this world where adults say one thing and mean another, and try as he might he can’t protect his little family from everything. When their mother falls victim to her inner demons, strangers suddenly take Jake away; after all, a white baby is easy to adopt, while a half-black nine-year-old faces a less certain fate. Vowing to get Jake back by any means necessary, Leon’s own journey—on his brand-new BMX bike—will carry him through the lives of a doting but ailing foster mother, Maureen; Maureen’s cranky and hilarious sister, Sylvia; a social worker Leon knows only as “The Zebra”; and a colorful community of local gardeners and West Indian political activists.

Told through the perspective of nine-year-old Leon, too innocent to entirely understand what has happened to him and baby Jake, but determined to do what he can to make things right, he stubbornly, endearingly struggles his way through a system much larger than he can tackle on his own. My Name Is Leon is a vivid, gorgeous, and uplifting story about the power of love, the unbreakable bond between brothers, and the truth about what, in the end, ultimately makes a family.

Review: Written from the perspective of an eight year old boy, this novel brought to life the harsh realities faced by a biracial boy abandoned by his mother and sent to foster care in the 1980s.  Leon's voice is pure and authentic and brought me to tears several times throughout the novel.  The story starts with Leon taking care of his baby brother Jake while his mother battles mental health issues and drug addiction.  Leon is broken-hearted when the boys are sent to foster care, but he quickly adjusts to a relatively happy life with Maureen, his doting foster mother, until Jake gets adopted and Leon is left alone.  Leon doesn't understand everything that happens to him, but the author captures his confusion and his love for his brother and his desire to bring his family together again in an authentic and remarkable way.  It was impossible not to fall in love with Leon.

Rating: 4.5 stars

The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness

The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness

Maddie Dawson

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Three women, three lives, and one chance to become a family…whether they want to or not.

Newly orphaned, recently divorced, and semiadrift, Nina Popkin is on a search for her birth mother. She’s spent her life looking into strangers’ faces, fantasizing they’re related to her, and now, at thirty-five, she’s ready for answers.

Meanwhile, the last thing Lindy McIntyre wants is someone like Nina bursting into her life, announcing that they’re sisters and campaigning to track down their mother. She’s too busy with her successful salon, three children, beautiful home, and…oh yes, some pesky little anxiety attacks.

But Nina is determined to reassemble her birth family. Her search turns up Phoebe Mullen, a guarded, hard-talking woman convinced she has nothing to offer. Gradually sharing stories and secrets, the three women make for a messy, unpredictable family that looks nothing like Nina pictured…but may be exactly what she needs. Nina’s moving, ridiculous, tragic, and transcendent journey becomes a love story proving that real family has nothing to do with DNA.

Review: A feel good story about a woman who finds her birth mother and sister and manages to bring them together to build an unusual new family.  It had a few too-good-to-be-true moments, and Nina's attitude was a little too Pollyanna-ish to seem real, but it was an enjoyable and comfortable read.  I will look for other books by this author, because her writing style made me think that I could be friends with her characters.

Rating: 4 stars

Keep Me Posted

Keep Me Posted

Lisa Beazley

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Two sisters share the surprising highs and cringe-worthy lows of social media fame, when their most private thoughts become incredibly public in this fresh and funny debut novel.

Sisters Cassie and Sid Sunday have not done a bang-up job of keeping in touch. In their defense, it hasn’t been easy: life veered in sharply different directions for the once-close sisters. Today, beautiful and big-hearted Sid lives an expat’s life of leisure in far-off Singapore, while harried, iPhone-clutching Cassie can’t seem to make it work as a wife and a mom to twin toddlers in Manhattan.

It doesn't help that Sid spurns all social media while Cassie is addicted to Facebook. So when Sid issues a challenge to reconnect the old-fashioned way—through real, handwritten letters—Cassie figures, why not?

The experiment exceeds both of their expectations, and the letters become a kind of mutual confessional that have real and soul-satisfying effects. And they just might have the power to help Cassie save her marriage, and give Sid the strength to get her life back on track.

But first, one of Cassie’s infamous lapses in judgment comes back to bite her, and all of the letters wind up the one place you’d never, ever want to see them: the Internet...

Review: I am tired of books about women in Manhattan looking down on everyone who doesn't live in Manhattan.  That wasn't the focus of this book, of course, which was about a disorganized and whiny SAHM NYC mom handwriting letters to her sophisticated ex-pat sister who lives in Singapore.  But every so often, Cassie would shoot off these one liners about fat tourists from flyover country that would make me so mad.  Her superior point of view didn't add to the story (other than making her sound even more selfish and pretentious than she already was) so why bother to include them?  Is the author trying to alienate women who don't live in Manhattan?  Seems like that would give her a pretty small reader base...

Anyway, that quibble aside, the premise of this book was interesting, and I enjoyed seeing the sisters connect through the hand written letter they mailed each other, which allowed themselves to express their innermost thoughts with an honesty that was missing in their other everyday communications.  However, I found it impossible to like Cassie, given that she is a stay at home mom with a part time nanny, who has the time and money to take yoga and get pedicures every week, and who has no problem shopping for an entirely new wardrobe online just because she feels like it.  If she acted grateful for all these luxuries, that may have been different, but she constantly whines about her life.  I also didn't really buy into the huge drama about her letters going viral - would that really have happened?  No.  Would that have been a big deal in anyone's life?   Probably not.  

Rating: 3 stars

Salt to the Sea

Salt to the Sea

Ruta Sepetys

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

Review: It was fascinating to learn more about the little known Lithuanian refugees during World War II; I always appreciate a book that teaches me something new about history while telling a compelling story.  I was astonished to learn that this book was based on the true story of the largest maritime disaster of all time; the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, which I had never even heard of.  The author has clearly done lots of research about the subject, and managed to bring the story to life in a gripping and tragic way.

However, I had a heard time connecting with the characters, possibly due to the narrative jumping around quickly between the four different narrators.  In the beginning, it was even hard to remember which character was which, and that didn't improve as the story went on.  In my opinion, this book would have been so much better with more depth of character.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin

The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin

Stephanie Knipper

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Sisters Rose and Lily Martin were inseparable when they were kids. As adults, they’ve been estranged for years, until circumstances force them to come together to protect Rose’s daughter. Ten-year-old Antoinette has a severe form of autism that requires constant care and attention. She has never spoken a word, but she has a powerful gift that others would give anything to harness: she can heal things with her touch. She brings wilted flowers back to life, makes a neighbor’s tremors disappear, changes the course of nature on the Kentucky flower farm where she and her mother live.

Antoinette’s gift, though, puts her own life in danger, as each healing comes with an increasingly deadly price. As Rose—the center of her daughter’s life—struggles with her own failing health, and Lily confronts her anguished past, they, and the men who love them, come to realize the sacrifices that must be made to keep this very special child safe.

Written with great heart and a deep understanding of what it feels like to be “different,” The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin is a novel about the lengths to which people will go to protect the ones they love.

Review: Full of beautiful prose

Rating: 4.5 stars