The Family Tabor
by Cherise Wolas
Secrets (6/21/2018)
When you look at the Tabors from the outside, they look like the perfect family, but inside each person has a secret that could change the dynamics of the family. My problem with the book is that I didn't find the way the father dealt with his secret to be believable. A book club, though, might find it fascinating to discuss these secrets, as well as the nature of secrets themselves. How did the secrets affect the family? Why did they keep these secrets? These are just a few questions that could be discussed.
A Piece of the World: A Novel
by Christina Baker Kline
Christina's World (1/18/2017)
A Piece of the World is the story of Christina and how she becomes memorialized in Andrew Wyeth's famous painting, Christina's World. Christina has a degenerative condition, and at the end of the book she mostly just crawls. She can be compared to the house where she lives, the house in Wyeth's painting. As she becomes more disabled, her house becomes more dilapidated. The house is almost like a character in the book. Along with Christina, the house is a focal point in Wyeth's painting. In her childhood the house held all her dreams, but as she ages the house becomes an empty shell. Her dreams are gone.
I love reading the stories behind famous paintings. Anyone who feels the same way would love this book.
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
by Kathleen Rooney
An Enchanting Walk (10/26/2016)
Kathleen Rooney found an ingenious and charming way for 85 year old Lillian Boxfish to look back through her life. The author literally took her on a walk through memory lane by taking her through her beloved city of New York. She visits landmarks that were important to her and revisits both happy and sad memories at each landmark. As she walks to each landmark, she reflects on her life and the things New York taught her. Lillian also gains new insights into her life and the choices she has made.
If you want to read a book about an independent woman who is ahead of the times, this is the book for you. I think it would be great for a Book Club. Each member could talk about landmarks he or she might like to visit.
The Tea Planter's Wife
by Dinah Jefferies
Secrets Abound (8/11/2016)
For those of you who like reading books with secrets, you won't be disappointed in The Tea Planter's Wife for secrets abound. Although predictable and contrived at times, the suspense goes on right to the very end. It is important to pay attention to beautiful Ceylon. Through detailed descriptions of the land and weather, you can portend the future and suspense builds. You know something unfortunate is going to happen when Gwen gets lost in the dark forest or when monsoons take over the land. Gwen is a likeable character and we get to know her first as a young girl and then as a married women. We go through all her struggles and losses with her and hope she finds peace in the end. I would recommend this entertaining book.
Maybe in Another Life
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Your Bashert (7/15/2015)
We've all come across a fork in the road. You choose one. Did you ever wonder what would have happened if you had taken the other path? Some people believe that the one you take is the right one. It is your "bashert", the Yiddish word for fate or destiny. The person you marry is the one you were supposed to marry, whether it's a good or bad marriage because it was preordained by G-d. Taylor Jenkins Reid explores the concept of fate. In two parallel stories the author writes about what would happen if you took both paths. While I found the theme of "fate" a bit overdone, I wondered what would happen to each Hannah in the next twist or turn of the story.
Letters to the Lost
by Iona Grey
Timeless Love (4/13/2015)
In Letters to the Lost we meet two couples, Jess and Will from the present time and Stella and Dan from the WWII era. Both couples are deeply in love. Even though I didn't feel as much of a connection to Jess and Will, the story of Stella and Dan more than made up for this lack of connection. The reader learns about Stella and Dan's love story through a series of letters. Grey delivers each bit of new information on the love story like its a puzzle piece. We look forward to every new piece. In the end all the puzzles pieces fit together beautifully. The use of letters also adds excitement and suspense to the story. We get into the hearts and souls of these lovers through their letters to each other. Using two couples, one from the past and one from the present shows that love is timeless. The feelings people experience when they are in love transcend time. Love is a shared experience that unites people. Time period or age or background no longer matters. I enjoyed this book immensely. My advice to the reader is to keep some tissues handy!
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