Title: Young God
Author: Katherine Faw Morris
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: Nikki is a determined 13-year-old girl who watches her mom die in the first pages of the book. From that moment on she is on a mission to establish her presence in the world and protect what's hers.
Review: I'm not sure if I didn't like this book because it was poorly written or because it was about a 13-year-old girl dealing with situations that no 13-year-old girl should have to deal with. Despite some of the things Nikki did, she's a smart kid. It was just sad that she felt she had to do some of the things she did. She's clearly a survivor, it was just sad. On the plus side, it was a really fast read.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
The Lullaby of Polish Girls
Title: The Lullaby of Polish Girls
Author: Dagmara
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Summary: Anna lives in Brooklyn with her Polish parents who emigrated to the States as political refugees when Anna was a little girl. When Anna heads to Poland for the summer to visit her grandmother, she feels like she's discovered a missing piece of herself. That summer she meets Justyna and Kamila and their friendship begins and evolves as the three of them grow up.
Review: This book was short and quick to read, but it just didn't blow me away (especially not after reading The Boston Girl and Big Little Lies). For one, the summary on Amazon calls these girls best friends. I disagree that these girls are best friends. I agree that Anna and Kamila seem to have a connection, but Justyna in particular isn't part of this friendship. She doesn't even seem to really like Anna and Kamila. Point two, the book gets better, but it has a slow start. Three, I just didn't buy that these girls would stay in touch over the years. I'm not saying that friends who drift apart can't come back together. I just wasn't convinced it was going to happen for these three women.
Author: Dagmara
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Summary: Anna lives in Brooklyn with her Polish parents who emigrated to the States as political refugees when Anna was a little girl. When Anna heads to Poland for the summer to visit her grandmother, she feels like she's discovered a missing piece of herself. That summer she meets Justyna and Kamila and their friendship begins and evolves as the three of them grow up.
Review: This book was short and quick to read, but it just didn't blow me away (especially not after reading The Boston Girl and Big Little Lies). For one, the summary on Amazon calls these girls best friends. I disagree that these girls are best friends. I agree that Anna and Kamila seem to have a connection, but Justyna in particular isn't part of this friendship. She doesn't even seem to really like Anna and Kamila. Point two, the book gets better, but it has a slow start. Three, I just didn't buy that these girls would stay in touch over the years. I'm not saying that friends who drift apart can't come back together. I just wasn't convinced it was going to happen for these three women.
Book review: Big Little Lies
Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: This story revolves around three friends who live in an affluent seaside town: Madeline, Celeste and Jane. All three have children that recently started Kindergarten. Jane, only 24, doesn't fit the profile of the other moms, but Madeline and Celeste take her under their winds. At the kindergarten orientation, Jane's little boy Ziggy is accused of bullying a little girl. This event divides the town into who sides with the mother of the little girl and who sides with Jane, Celeste and Madeline. Meanwhile, Celeste and Madeline are dealing with their own challenges around family and husbands. Things come to a head on the school's Trivia Night. when somebody dies. Was it murder? Just an accident?
Review: I love Liane Moriarty's work, although I didn't realize until I finished this that this was her work. In the interest of full disclosure, I listened to this book on CD and because Moriarty is an Australian author, it was read by somebody with an Australian accent. That probably helped me like the book a little more, but I still really liked this book. There's a great buildup to the night of the Trivia Night where the murder happens. For some reason I thought at first it was a woman that had died but it wasn't. I don't want to reveal too much, but this was the kind of work that I couldn't stop listening to but I started to dread the book ending. Another awesome peace of work by Moriarty.
Author: Liane Moriarty
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: This story revolves around three friends who live in an affluent seaside town: Madeline, Celeste and Jane. All three have children that recently started Kindergarten. Jane, only 24, doesn't fit the profile of the other moms, but Madeline and Celeste take her under their winds. At the kindergarten orientation, Jane's little boy Ziggy is accused of bullying a little girl. This event divides the town into who sides with the mother of the little girl and who sides with Jane, Celeste and Madeline. Meanwhile, Celeste and Madeline are dealing with their own challenges around family and husbands. Things come to a head on the school's Trivia Night. when somebody dies. Was it murder? Just an accident?
Review: I love Liane Moriarty's work, although I didn't realize until I finished this that this was her work. In the interest of full disclosure, I listened to this book on CD and because Moriarty is an Australian author, it was read by somebody with an Australian accent. That probably helped me like the book a little more, but I still really liked this book. There's a great buildup to the night of the Trivia Night where the murder happens. For some reason I thought at first it was a woman that had died but it wasn't. I don't want to reveal too much, but this was the kind of work that I couldn't stop listening to but I started to dread the book ending. Another awesome peace of work by Moriarty.
Book Review: Boston Girl
Title: Boston Girl
Author: Anita Diamant
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: Addie Baum was born in 1900 to immigrant parents. She grew up in the North End of Boston. This story kicks off with Addie's granddaughter asking her, "How did you get to be the woman you are today"? Which leads to Addie telling her story.
Review: Wow. I'll be the first to admit that I might be a little biased to read a book where the main character's name is Addie (which happens to be the name of one of my daughters for those of you who don't know that) and it takes place in Boston, but wow. There are so many things to like about this book. For one, Addie is such an individual for a time when it wasn't easy to be a woman or an immigrant. She wants things but her parents don't support her dreams. There's a lot of sadness during this time period too, and while usually I like to see how characters really feel about pivotal events that shape who they are, in this instance I think the lack of this exploration works. I think it's also the point--many people died for various reasons and when it happened, the family wasn't really allowed to mourn. Great book!
Author: Anita Diamant
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: Addie Baum was born in 1900 to immigrant parents. She grew up in the North End of Boston. This story kicks off with Addie's granddaughter asking her, "How did you get to be the woman you are today"? Which leads to Addie telling her story.
Review: Wow. I'll be the first to admit that I might be a little biased to read a book where the main character's name is Addie (which happens to be the name of one of my daughters for those of you who don't know that) and it takes place in Boston, but wow. There are so many things to like about this book. For one, Addie is such an individual for a time when it wasn't easy to be a woman or an immigrant. She wants things but her parents don't support her dreams. There's a lot of sadness during this time period too, and while usually I like to see how characters really feel about pivotal events that shape who they are, in this instance I think the lack of this exploration works. I think it's also the point--many people died for various reasons and when it happened, the family wasn't really allowed to mourn. Great book!
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Book review: Everything I Never Told You
Title: Everything I Never Told You
Author: Celeste Ng
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: The Lees are an interracial Chinese American family living in small town Ohio in the 1970s. Marilyn and James have complicated relationships with their three children--Nathan, Lydia and the overlooked baby, Hannah. Lydia is her parents' favorite, but with this favoritism comes incredible pressure. When her body is found in a lake, the tenuous strings that were holding the family together begin to strain and fall apart.
Review: The perspective shifts from everybody in the family both before and after Lydia's death as each respective family member tries to process her absence. Marilyn pushes Lydia to be successful in school so she can have the career that Marilyn never had. James pushes Lydia to be popular. Lydia is neither but she doesn't have the heart to tell her parents. Nathan is heading to Harvard in the fall and Lydia is anxious that she's about to be abandoned and will have to deal with her oppressive parents on her own. Her hopelessness leads to her suicide.
For some reason it has taken me a long time to write this review. I thought about downgrading this from four stars to three but ultimately decided against it. I think the reason it took me so long to write this review is this book tackles complicated topics--family dynamics, marital strife and wanting the best for our children but being blind to the fact that our children are not mini versions of ourselves.
This book was particularly heartbreaking to read as a parent. Every parent wants their children to be successful, smart and have friends. I'm dreading the moments in my girls' lives when they are disappointed or hurt. As parents we try everything we can to shield them from that and yet we know we can't. And it can be hard to remember that our children are not us. They will have their own experiences and their own responses to those experiences. Hopefully we can provide a home that is slightly less dysfunctional than this one, but every family has problems. Perhaps this is the reason why it took me so long to write this review. Not necessarily because it was a *bad* book (it wasn't), but because it was so serious and layered. As a result, a serious and layered review.
Author: Celeste Ng
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: The Lees are an interracial Chinese American family living in small town Ohio in the 1970s. Marilyn and James have complicated relationships with their three children--Nathan, Lydia and the overlooked baby, Hannah. Lydia is her parents' favorite, but with this favoritism comes incredible pressure. When her body is found in a lake, the tenuous strings that were holding the family together begin to strain and fall apart.
Review: The perspective shifts from everybody in the family both before and after Lydia's death as each respective family member tries to process her absence. Marilyn pushes Lydia to be successful in school so she can have the career that Marilyn never had. James pushes Lydia to be popular. Lydia is neither but she doesn't have the heart to tell her parents. Nathan is heading to Harvard in the fall and Lydia is anxious that she's about to be abandoned and will have to deal with her oppressive parents on her own. Her hopelessness leads to her suicide.
For some reason it has taken me a long time to write this review. I thought about downgrading this from four stars to three but ultimately decided against it. I think the reason it took me so long to write this review is this book tackles complicated topics--family dynamics, marital strife and wanting the best for our children but being blind to the fact that our children are not mini versions of ourselves.
This book was particularly heartbreaking to read as a parent. Every parent wants their children to be successful, smart and have friends. I'm dreading the moments in my girls' lives when they are disappointed or hurt. As parents we try everything we can to shield them from that and yet we know we can't. And it can be hard to remember that our children are not us. They will have their own experiences and their own responses to those experiences. Hopefully we can provide a home that is slightly less dysfunctional than this one, but every family has problems. Perhaps this is the reason why it took me so long to write this review. Not necessarily because it was a *bad* book (it wasn't), but because it was so serious and layered. As a result, a serious and layered review.
Book Review: Catching Air
Title: Catching Air
Author: Sarah Pekkanan
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Summary: Kira Danner is looking for a new start. Frustrated and unhappy with her law career, she happily quits when Rand, her husband Peter's brother, asks if they want to join them in Vermont to start a B&B with Rand and his wife Alyssa. Peter and Rand aren't very close, so the request is surprising, but this might be what the brothers need to start over. The B&B gets busy fast, so they end up hiring Dawn, a mysterious stranger with secrets.
Review: This book is fluff in a good way, but not a great way. At the risk of giving the ending away, what I liked is I wasn't 100% positive that everything was going to work out in the end. I'm disappointed to say that it did. Bor-ing. It is wrapped up in a pretty little bow and that just isn't very interesting.
Author: Sarah Pekkanan
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Summary: Kira Danner is looking for a new start. Frustrated and unhappy with her law career, she happily quits when Rand, her husband Peter's brother, asks if they want to join them in Vermont to start a B&B with Rand and his wife Alyssa. Peter and Rand aren't very close, so the request is surprising, but this might be what the brothers need to start over. The B&B gets busy fast, so they end up hiring Dawn, a mysterious stranger with secrets.
Review: This book is fluff in a good way, but not a great way. At the risk of giving the ending away, what I liked is I wasn't 100% positive that everything was going to work out in the end. I'm disappointed to say that it did. Bor-ing. It is wrapped up in a pretty little bow and that just isn't very interesting.
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