Mrs. Everything, by Jennifer Weiner 5 stars

Mrs. Everything, by Jennifer Weiner packs in so much of the popular culture and issues from the era it covers that if you lived them, you’ll be constantly thinking “oh yeah!” and if you didn’t, you might just shake your head at the adventures these sisters experience. And you may find yourself wondering: was that really a thing back then?  Abortion rights, drugs, homosexuality, women’s right to work outside the home, participate in sports, etc. etc.…these are all the issues of the Millennials, right.

Wrong.  In this vivid portrayal of growing up in suburban Detroit in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Weiner opens up a book of snapshots that seem too wild to be real. But they were.  And for two sisters, Bethie and Jo to experience them all…between them, truly, everything.

Their experiences take us through the trauma of a 50s style marriage, divorce, adultery, and recovery for awkward Jo, the athlete, and ultimately leads her to true love.  Bethie falls off the good girl track she’s been raised to ride, and finds herself immersed in sex, drugs and rock and roll.  The scenes at the commune where she lands are fascinating and colorful and make you want to live there, too.

Jennifer Weiner continues to grow as a writer and I look forward to each of her books. The setting and time periods are well researched and her characters are flawed and real. 

I received this book from NetGalley and am happy to provide this review. Publication date is June 11, 2019

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Woman 99 by Greer Macallister

Woman 99 by Greer Macallister

When Charlottes sister Phoebe is sent away to Goldengrove, a Progressive Home for the Curable Insane, Charlotte knows she must rescue her.  So, she figures out a way to be sent there too, unknown to her family and friends.  It takes weeks, and Charlotte learns the depths of the darkness of Goldengrove, where cruelty takes the place of actual treatment, and women with no problems other than being inconvenient for their male family members, are locked away without hope of release.  The women are used as slave labor, and deprived of all worldly comforts, fed the smallest amount possible to keep them alive and granted no freedom.

Charlotte hatches a plan with other sane inmates to escape, and the adventure unfolds, as she attempts to save her sister, and reunite with the man she loves.  In the spirit of Nellie Bly, she finds ways to improve both her own life, and that of those who truly need the services the ideal Goldengrove can provide.

I received this book from NetGalley.  The book was published March 5, 2019.

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Sunset from the Vortex.

Sedona, Arizona

The Liar's Child 3*

The Liar’s Child by Carla Buckley.

This book intertwines the stories of six characters, all who have suffered tragedies. It shows us how each of them copes and rather than gloss over their individual faults, the book seems to focus on them. It makes it hard to like any of the characters, and I was never sure who I should be rooting for, other than Boon, who is almost always the victim, intended or not.

The book does explore the details of complex lives, illustrating that the circumstances in which a person is born present challenges for improving their life. Hank, a sheriff whose life revolves around service fails his own family and himself. Whit, a handsome man who just want to keep his family happy and safe, whose wife creates havoc that makes it impossible. Cassie, the troubled preteen who can’t find herself, and whose actions ultimately will trap her in the cycle that has caused the family to fall apart. Little Boon, who can’t seem to catch a break anywhere, but who doesn’t seem to ever give up hope.

And then there is Sara, who’s grifter father has died in prison, who is supposed to be an informant who will help the FBI put the bad guys away, but who can’t seem to figure out who the bad guys really are.  She comes across, intentionally I think, as self-absorbed and selfish, though her humanity breaks through often enough to make us know that the only hope these characters have rests with her.

The writing is the saving grace for the book, as the author convincingly depicts the tension of the coming storm, the FBI always just off screen and the emotions of each of the characters.  It is harder to write complex characters, especially if the reader isn’t convinced they are good at heart.  Buckley skillfully creates humans… nothing cardboard at all about her characters.

The book also provides an interesting picture of the-- often idealized-- Outer Banks, and what happens to regular people when disaster and tragedy hit home. I didn’t find the ending particularly satisfying, because it didn’t seem to fit the projectory of the balance of the book.

I received this book from NetGalley. Publication date is March 12, 2019.

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Wrapped in the Stars by Elena Mikalsen 5*

Wrapped in the Stars is romantic, historical and mysterious all at once and keep the reader guessing.  Maya has issues with her pediatric residency and takes a leave of absence that takes her to Scotland.  There she follows instinct, and a Robin, and buys an antique ring in a shop in Edinburgh.  Her dreams are haunted with a woman connected to the ring, who it turns out was also a physician before women were allowed to practice, over 100 years ago.

Mikalsen does a great job of putting the reader in all of her beautifully described settings and making the characters and era come alive.  I found myself looking for magical robins!

Great read!

I got this book from NetGalley.  I'm happy to offer this review.

California Girls by Susan Mallery. 4*

Three sisters, brought together by the decision of their mother to leave the family home, must deal with life changes and the evolution of romance.  Finnola, tv star and woman who has everything, learns in humiliating ways of her husband's infidelity.  Ali, a working class girl who believes she's about to embark on her happily ever after, is  jilted nearly at the altar, and her fiancee's brother is there to pick up the pieces.  Zennie, whose romantic life is more love em and leave em than forever, is asked to carry her best friends' baby.  Each of the sisters struggles with her relationship with the others and find their own path to happiness, not what any of them expected,
Susan Mallery writes great, complex characters and puts them in interesting situations that make the reader keep turning the pages. California Girls follows the pattern and will leave new and old readers of Mallery satisfied.  Nice to have intelligent characters in non- traditional situations.

I got this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Regardless, this is an honest review.

Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg. 4*

Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg. 4*

I loved The Story of Arthur Truluv, because it was hopeful and positive on the issues of aging, dying and loneliness. It was a simple and sweet book that made me love the characters enough to be thrilled to see a sequel. Night of Miracles picks up where Arthur left off with Lucille, the lovely neighbor who cooked, though never married and moved in with Arthur and his pregnant teen age “adopted” daughter Maddy to mother them both.

Now Maddy has grown up and her young daughter Nola have moved away and Maddy is engaged. Louise is giving her cooking classes but feeling her age every day. The book follows the story of what happens to Louise and Maddy, including a delightful haunting! While it is also hopeful and gives closure to the issues left open with Arthur everything is tied up almost too neatly.

That doesn’t take away from the feel-good easiness of this book, which was a joy with so much happening in the world and literature that fills our days. You may well cry with this book, but it won’t be from frustration or hopelessness.

I received this book from NetGalley.

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult 5*

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult 5*

 

We are used to novels by Jodi Picoult pulling their subject matter from headline news and making the issues of her characters pull us in with empathy and a need to understand. In A Spark of Light, she grabs hold of the issues of abortion, right to life, the rights of different parties to a birth and the rights of parents, grandparents, community members and even health professionals when the only health center that provides abortions in the State of Louisiana is attacked not only by right to life protestors, but a gunman who enters and opens fire. 

By using different characters, each with different and compelling purposes, Ms. Picoult is able to open up the issue so that no matter what your position going in, you will consider other sides.  Her skillful writing and wonderful characters will keep the pages turning until all you want is for everyone to be okay.  If you are looking for a book club selection that will raise tempers and emotions to the very highest, this one should be your selection. 

Be warned, though. The situations are intense and may trigger women who’ve been on any side of this debate, as well as health care professionals.  Be gentle with yourself when you read it.

The Girls of 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib

The Girls of 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib

5 stars

Anna is a dancer, married to Matthias, and together they are young and in love and happy.  Until the pressure of dance, injury and the ever-constant focus on thin ness, a loss of her position in a Parisian Ballet company, and a job offer for Matthias takes them from their home in Paris to St Louis, Missouri.  Her life dwindles without dance, and with Matthias working long hours.  Her eating dwindles too, until she is so sick she goes to 17 Swann Street, a rehabilitation house for eating disorders.  Told in first person narrative, with intermittent reposts from the recovery team, The Girls of 17 Swann Street is a heartbreaking, yet hopeful book. The girls who live in the house care for Anna, and cheer her on, even if they can’t do it for themselves.

The novel is so well written, the reader will cringe with each bite that Anna must take of the foods she’s eliminated one by one. The calorie goals seem huge, but Anna gains slowly. We learn of the terrifying effects self-starvation has on the body and the very human psychology that deludes those with eating disorders. 

Yet ultimately, this is a love story.  Of Anna and Matthias, of the girls for one another, but ultimately, one woman’s desire to reclaim life.  A compelling read.

I received this book from Net Galley with no strings, but I wanted to review it.

My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd. 5*

My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd.

A beautiful book about children forced to grow up faster than they should, with character beyond what most adults portray.  Venus, the title character, is a straight A student, the kind everyone wants their kids to be friends with.  That is until she is sent to Juvie when she is 16, for murder.  It is a heartbreaking and tragic commentary on the way the law treats girls and kids.  Venus serves her time, but when she gets out, everything has changed.  Shortly after her incarceration, her beloved brother who exhibits the characteristics of autism, is kidnapped. When she is finally free to look for him, Venus does everything she can to restore some sense of her family.

Along the way, we meet more characters to love. Leo, the brother, Tessa, the sweet girl who befriends him, and many more.  Heather Lloyd writes exquisitely. I appreciate that she tied up the loose ends for her readers, especially the mysterious conviction. I’ll leave that for your discovery.

This book would be great for book clubs as it has many touchy areas for discussion.  It is also great for anyone who doesn’t mind shedding a few tears along the way of a great novel. 

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley with no strings attached. Publication date was February 27, 2018.

The School for Psychics by K.C. Archer 4*

The School for Psychics by K.C. Archer

 

Teddy is a young woman adrift.  She has some unique abilities, but she tends to use them only for personal gain, and it doesn’t take long for that to backfire.  She’s run out of options when she meets Clint Corbett and he not only gets her out of her terrifying situation, he invites her to apply to a top-secret government program called “The School for Psychics.”

As Teddy learns about the school, along with classmates with their own gifts, she also learns more about who…and what…she is.  To say it confuses her is an understatement.  Old wounds are re-opened, and her innate lack of trust emerges to cause her even more trouble, and to save her from some.

Part Avengers, part Harry Potter, Part Allegiance, this governmental – or spy, who knows? -- conspiracy sets itself apart in a few ways.  First, the characters are all college age or more…some are returning to school after years in jobs where they never quite fit. Everyone must be invited. They are twenty something plus, there is a blend of private school rules added to a young adult need for fun… including parties, substances and sex.  This is not a book for kids.

There are a lot of characters to get to know, but by the end of the book we feel bonded with them.  Something is going on at Whitfield College.  These psychics may figure it out.

I confess that I didn’t notice the “Book One” connotation at the beginning of this novel, which explains why I kept hoping for resolution of all the open questions. I didn’t get them in Book One.  For sure I will be reading future releases.  I can’t leave these young people alone! It was an easy fun read…and I’m hoping the series doesn’t go on too long.

I was invited to read this book by the publisher, Simon and Shuster, Inc. with no strings attached.

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Book Review: How to Walk Away, Katherine Center. 5*

How to Walk Away. Katherine Center

I'm very far behind on my book reviews.  My only excuse is my incessant need to keep reading, so stopping to review feels like a speed bump!  But I've read some great books lately, some of which are not yet released, so I'll try to catch up today.  It's easier to review books I love, so I'll start there.

One of my favorite authors of contemporary women's fiction is Katherine Center. She has a new book hitting the shelves on May 15, perfect to indulge in on those lengthening spring nights. 

On the day that should have been one of her happiest, Margaret’s worst fears are realized.  This book is about a brilliant young woman with her future laid out like stair steps to the stars and then literally crashes. It illustrates resilience in its most powerful form. As Margaret’s sister tells her at the beginning of the book, “Dying is easy, it’s the not dying that’s hard.”

I loved the resilience.  Ever hopeful, Margaret, her family, even her medical professionals, face and overcome challenges that ordinary people would find difficult or impossible.  Katherine Center’s wry and funny characters may whine a bit, but in a way where the reader knows they will just “do it” …whatever the “it” may be.  And the characters don’t just deal with obstacles, they overcome adversity in unique and personal ways that resists foregone conclusions of a happily ever after format.  Satisfaction with outcomes will be there, but her characters may not get everything they want, or think they want.

This book benefits from extensive and interesting research on flight, spinal injuries and rehabilitative therapy. The characters teach the reader; there are no sidebar lectures on what needs to happen. We understand what we should expect and what is possible. These are people we care about, with some appropriate exception for the characters you will come to love to hate.   Even the main character’s mother has her moments.

Katherine Center’s books don’t shy away from controversial subject matter. How to Walk Away is filled with difficult topics but is a pleasure to read. Any group that is ready for a heroine they can cheer for, without reservation, will love it.

I got this pre-release copy from Net Galley with no strings attached.  How to Walk Away will be released by St. Martin’s Press on May 15, 2018.

Author Elizabeth Berg creates three more beloved characters 5 stars!

Arthur Moses is an eighty-five-year-old widower who fills his days caring for his cat Gordon, and with walks to the cemetery to have lunch with his dear departed wife Nola, who’s been gone six months.  He is a gentle, intuitive soul who acknowledges the dead in Nola’s cemetery neighborhood, accepting their value even in death.

One day he meets Maddy, a troubled teen who doesn’t fit in at school or home. Maddy has trouble with her widowed father, and with a boyfriend who has no respect for her. Arthur and Maddy forge an unlikely friendship that restores hope for both. Along the way, they add Arthur’s quirky neighbor, Lucille, who’s cooking will make your eyes tear up, it sounds so good.

The bond forged by the three of them makes this book one I hated to see end. People who loved of A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman or Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow will equally enjoy Arthur Truluv. 

I received this book from Net Galley.

Magical Prequel to Practical Magic. Alice Hoffman, 4.5 stars

The Rules of Magic
Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman has again spun a magical world within the familiar, weaving in history, geography and the mythology of the Craft.  Following siblings Jet, Franny and Vincent from their youth to old age as they deny and then embrace their unique gifts to navigate a world hostile to their magic. These three young witches, raised by parents who want to keep them safe, travel to see their Aunt Isabelle in their teens and everything changes.  It is here they learn of the family curse, that anyone they fall in love with will be ruined. 
 Falling in love isn’t as easy to prevent as each young witch hopes, and one by one they encounter their own weaknesses.  They learn that the rules they’ve grown up with are the opposite of how witches live, and learn that love and curses are out of their control.
Blended with lovely classic poetry, The Rules of Magic casts an unforgettable spell as it covers four generations of the Owens family dealing with a legacy that dates to the Salem witchcraft trials.  It is a spell from which we hate to awaken.

 I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

Merry and Bright, and easy and sweet Christmas romance. 5 stars

 

Merry and Bright

Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber has a gift for portraying regular people in a way that makes the reader understand that no one is really “regular.”  In this remake of a “you’ve got mail” kind of story, Merry Knight struggles to earn the money for her tuition as a temp while helping her mother, afflicted with MS, her brother Patrick, whose down syndrome seems more beautiful characterization than disability, and her overworked father make ends meet.  She’s working for Boeing, helping to get a final bid out to a customer before Christmas, and works overtime so often she has no time for a life of her own.

Feeling bad about that, her Mother and Patrick sign her up for an online dating site.  They upload a picture of the family dog as her profile, and soon she is chatting with a man who also uses his dog as his photo.

Merry doesn’t realize that the charming Jay is really her irritating boss, Jayson Bright.  The series of near misses and endearing communications, along with the interference of the trusting Patrick makes this a warm and funny Christmas story.  A perfect read for the busy holiday season where everyone wants to feel a little Merry and Bright and in love.  

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

The Best Kind of People, Zoe Whittall. three stars.

 

The Best Kind of People

Zoe Whittall

I admit to being a bit triggered the first time I tried to read this book about a beloved schoolteacher accused of molesting teen-aged girls, and the effect it has on his family.  But I gave it another shot, and frankly found it too quiet for the subject matter, and pretty much unbelievable. 

Things I had trouble believing:

-No bail, incarceration in prison for 8-9 months when the accused was a member of a founding family, a local hero and beloved teacher?  Because he was a flight risk? No.

-The length of time George was in prison gave his family time to shift from “hell no” to probably guilty. 

-That two books could be written and published after the arrest and before the accused went to trial.

-that a high school senior was basically set “free” …not attending classes, not accounting to anyone, and apparently had unlimited funds, but still got into Columbia.

-that no one sued anyone else civilly.

Despite the inability to suspend disbelief, the writing felt authentic.  I am not sure about choosing three different narrative points of view though, and the book didn’t impress me enough to want to read more.  To be fair, it is tough subject matter that requires facility with teenagers, the legal system, the gossip and publishing worlds, gay issues and the psychological effect all those things have on a “typical suburban (wealthy) family.” To the extent that the author took those risks is commendable.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

Catching up on book reviews: Any Dream Will Do, Debbie Macomber

Any Dream Will Do

Debbie Macomber

While I admit to being a fan of Romance, and most often anything Debbie Macomber writes, I didn’t love this book.  I didn’t care for the alternating point of view chapters, between Shay, the protagonist, and Drew, the love interest. Mostly because it felt like reading parts of their personal journal, and I want characters to interact more.  The number of times these two conversed, or more, was very limited.  The result was a set of cardboard characters who only did the right thing or the wrong things.  Characters, like people, need to have depth for me to feel invested in them.  There was ample opportunity for this, but that wouldn’t serve what felt like the simplistic happily ever after that we knew was coming. 

I’m especially disappointed with the way the author handled Shay’s family… while she was willing to give up her dreams, job, and reputation for her brother, by stealing money for him and going to prison, he seemed to have no feelings for her at all.  Shay befriends a couple of homeless people along the way, but we get very little of their story as well. Why not let Shay have conversations with these people?  The story is merely told, not experienced.

I’ve been a long time Macomber reader and while I was disappointed with this book, I don’t think it will keep me from reading her next one. I know her writing well enough to know she could have done better.

I accepted this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl from Summer Hill, Jude Deveraux, A fun romance.

The Girl from Summer Hill, by Jude Deveraux

I'm a reader who needs to have something lighter, easier to read after reading heavy, important books, like Lilac Girls, in my last review.  Jude Deveraux is on of the writers I can count on to let me imagine different lives and can count on a happy ending. I know that sounds formulaic for romance novels, but that doesn't mean there isn't great character development, full plot arcs and wonderful settings.

 In The Girl from Summer Hill, Deveraux chose to overlay Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice over a completely contemporary setting and characters.  "Lizzie" is played by Casey, an accomplished chef who's come home to her hometown to recover from her last stressful job in DC.  Darcy is played by Tate Landers, an honest to goodness movie star, who owns the estate where Casey comes to rest.  Aside from the sizzle between them, the town is putting on Pride and Prejudice for charity. So the book is structured as a play within a play, within ... well, You'll see.  It's a sweet romance with just enough Hollywood thrown in to make it almost, but not quite, over the top.

I received this book from NetGalley for this review. For more information, contact Random House Publishing. This book will be released on May, 2016.

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelley. Five stars

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

For anyone who loved Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale or Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Lilac Girls is a perfect book. Told from the perspective of three women during WWII with unique and important perspectives, The Lilac Girls will give you an understanding of how life continued in three very different ways.  I thought there had been enough WWII books for a while, but this one was well worth the time and impossible to put down.

Caroline Ferriday is a member of the New York aristocracy working as a volunteer in the French Embassy assembling comfort packages for French orphans when she meets handsome and charming French actor Paul Rodierre.  Though Paul is married, the two fall in love and much of Caroline’s story revolves around finding Paul again after he’s returned to Paris. In the process, she learns of the Rabbits, Polish prisoners at Ravensbrück, Hitler’s only major all female concentration camp upon whom some of the horrible medical experiments were conducted.

One of the Rabbits is Kasia, who was arrested as a young teen for helping her would be boyfriend in the Polish Resistance.  Kasia’s story from before the war through the trials after the war is as mesmerizing as they are awful. 

Perhaps the most original perspective comes from Herta, though. A German patriot, and gifted surgeon, Herta found herself closed out of the male-only community of physicians in Germany.  Even after passing all the tests, she was only able to find part time work as a dermatologist, and thus was unable to support herself or her mother, who depended on her.  When offered the opportunity to serve as a full physician at Ravensbrück, she reluctantly agrees. The progression from compassionate physician to puppet of the Third Reich is heartbreaking, and if it were possible, almost understandable.

This fascinating book is made even more so by the Author’s notes, where we learn not only that these women were real people, (though some conglomeration and literary license added to bring the story together. I won’t spoil the story by adding more facts here, but will just say that the author’s journey alone, finding the facts and putting them together is enthralling.  One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

I received this book from NetGalley for this review. For more information, contact Random House Publishing. This book will be released on April 5, 2016.

The January Revival

Ah January, time for renewal! This morning I’ve read three articles in the New York Times dealing with three areas where I’m always looking for renewal: time management, diet and exercise. They were motivational and they suggested ideas that would work!  Resolutions and time management, healthy eating, and getting to the gym, if you want to check them out for yourself.)

For me though, the issues seem to be different, in that I have that elusive treasure, time.  There are benefits to reaching a certain age and letting go of the 9 to 5 world, and benefits as well to having a spouse who took on the task of financial support and retired able to keep those commitments.  But without stress or money woes to motivate me, what makes me get up in the morning?

For the past year, I’ve struggled with that.  There were days that I slept until noon, because I didn’t need to be up before dawn to do anything.  A year.  A whole year just blowing in the breeze. Now here, January 11, 2016, not the first, I realize that if I don’t figure it out, I’ll wake up closer to dead than ever before (isn’t that every single morning?  The cause of death is, after all, life.) So I need to figure out what I want to leave behind and how I want to spend the time I have.  I am not ready, it seems to roll over and wait life out.

It’s easier to know what I don’t want to leave behind, and easier to address that, though most of it makes me want to run and do anything else. Getting rid of all the skeletons in my figurative closets. Going through my files and disposing of the work that I’ve grown beyond.  Throwing away broken toys from when my children (in their late 20s and early 30s now,) have left behind.  Even moving out of the huge family home to something more fun and manageable.

But honestly, that’s just stuff. What do I want to do next?  When I pose this question to my inner psyche, ask it, what is important to you?  I came up with a few answers. 

1. My family.   Maybe that goes without saying, having devoted the last 30+ years in that direction, but I really do love them and am delighted when I can spend time with them or help them out. So I’ll keep that.

2. My freedom.  That includes the ability to write, the ability to move around freely, the ability to say and do as I genuinely want.  Stays in the “keep” pile.

3. My curiosity.  A long time ago someone coined the term “life long learner.”  Truth be told I’m happiest when I’m learning, whether that be following links on the internet, or traveling.  I love classes.  I keep signing up for ones that are a bit of a hoop jump to get to, but I make it.  So I’ll officially recognize this and find more.

4. My health.  This sounds like one of those things I’m supposed to write down on lists like this, but when I can’t sleep because something hurts, or I can’t climb that next mountain because my knees ache, the other things that are important to me get pushed aside.  It takes so little effort to be healthy… half an hour a day moving and eating things that aren’t junk.  I don’t have to treat my body like the low man on the totem pole. And I can enjoy this process so long as I don’t get crazy.  Walk the dogs, not run marathons.  Just not my aspiration.

So that’s where my focus will be in 2016. Not specific resolutions, though I’d like to do those too, because it helps me satisfy the inner list crosser offer…and because it is good to have short-term goals to measure long-term success. That will be my next task.

Gratuitous Dog Photo