Pieces of Blue
by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Loved This Story (2/5/2023)
The book was a slow start for me, but I'm so glad I stuck with it. The characters felt like people you know. The children are so enjoyable to get to know, especially Sena. I appreciated how the author told the background story of Lindsey's marriage without separate chapters or the back and forth style many use. I wasn't expecting the climax.
The only thing I thought was lacking was exploring how the children handled the reappearance and then disappearance of their father. I felt that piece was crucial to the new path their mother took after the hurricane. Otherwise, a 5-star rating.
Honor
by Thrity Umrigar
This Author Doesn’t Disappoint (11/5/2022)
The author was inspired by an event that her father witnessed in India. She researched it thoroughly, that’s very evident, and tells a story that enfolds beautifully. I was most intrigued by the observation of the Indian American journalist toward the end of the story : how journalism gives the voiceless a voice and creates empathy in readers, but to what end? Doesn’t the world sometimes “remain as sad and brutal a place as ever?”
The conflict Stima felt and the compassion she grew to have for Meena and Abru was very well developed. The horror of honor killings was so vivid. It’s a great read.
The Last Grand Duchess: A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and Revolution
by Bryn Turnbull
A Good Read for fans of Romanov history (12/26/2021)
This story focuses on the family life of the Romanovs. The author reveals the deep love and devotion the tsar Nicholas II had for his family and how he held onto his dignity and theirs to the very end. It was interesting to see how the author intertwined the events of history with the Olga's growth as a young woman who came to understand that the people of Russia were suffering immensely as she and her siblings lived a sheltered existence in a fairytale built by her parents who believed, and never questioned, in the divine nature of their reign. The book led me to look up several places, events and people referenced in order to learn more about the Romanov dynasty and Russia. I found the first half to be slow and I had to put it down more than I would have liked but found the second half more intriguing. It was refreshing to read historical fiction centered on Olga, as many books are written about Anastasia. Although she was thought to be less mature than women of her age due to the seclusion imposed upon her and her sisters by her mother in order to hide the illness of her younger brother from the world, Olga proved to be a strong and perceptive character.
Take My Hand
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Enjoyed, but wished for more. (9/6/2021)
I enjoyed learning about a chapter of American history not often explored in novel form. Some characters were well developed, especially the sisters at the center of the legal controversy and their grandmother. But I was left wanting to read deeper into the lives of Civil's parents, the relationship between Ty and Civil and Civil's therapy experience to resolve her issues with childbearing and motherhood. Things were just a little too spelled out at times or glossed over. But overall, this story and this book could easily be placed on a high school reading list to teach about the forced sterilization that happened to poor black children in the south and still happening in other places of our society today.
All the Little Hopes: A Novel
by Leah Weiss
Better Times (6/29/2021)
I really enjoyed this book. The time period of WWII can often seem overdone but the topics in this story were new and fresh. POW camps in North Carolina, the role of American apiaries to name a few. The female characters are strong and resilient. I especially enjoyed the themes of friendship, community and what family and home really mean. Lu and Bert seem to have qualities that every girlfriend I have also possess in some degree. Lu’s love of vocabulary and some of the quips she came up with had me laughing. When I finished the book I thought how great it would be to live in a place where people really cared about each other regardless of race or class. If
Morningside Heights: A Novel
by Joshua Henkin
Couldn't Put It Down (4/30/2021)
I haven't enjoyed a book like this one in awhile. Characters who are real and funny and honest, a plot that flows and a difficult subject matter depicted with respect and sensitivity. It's so much more than the book jacket describes. Read it!
The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt: A Novel
by Andrea Bobotis
It's Just Stuff (7/20/2019)
Judith is taking inventory of heirlooms that have been in her family for decades. This is the story of the lies, secrets and history revealed by this list of items. The author does a fantastic job of helping the reader completely imagining the main characters as if in a movie. And the character - Judith- I wasn't sure I liked too well developed into one that I did. There was only one twist I didn't see coming. And only one loose end I would have liked to know: What really happened to Charlie? This is a nice addition to southern genre if you want to read something new and different.
More News Tomorrow: A Novel
by Susan Richards Shreve
Underdeveloped (5/5/2019)
This book had so many layers that could have made a good novel become a great novel. I found myself less interested in the murder and wanting more story about being a young widow, the House of Incurables and what this meant to Georgie and who lived there, William's life as an immigrant, the role segregation played on the affair between William and Clementine, Thomas' adjustments after the death of his father, the character of Venus. I liked it but it kind of felt like an outline of a really good story to come.
The Last Romantics
by Tara Conklin
All Over the Place Reaction (12/28/2018)
I was really intrigued by the development of the 4 main characters as children experiencing and surviving the death of a father and debilitating depression of a mother. The story takes a dark turn as the siblings grow into adults. Joe's decline into drug and alcohol use was steeped very much in reality and the tone of the book changed drastically. The author introduces a touching twist toward the end that I loved, but can't say I agree with Fiona's decision to keep it from her sisters. Had she really evolved enough to make such a mature choice? The dysfunction depicted in this family seemed realistic- sad and normal at the same time. I would like to have seen more time devoted to a Noni as an empty nester and how she came to view her children as they encountered their complicated adult lives and if she ever attributed The Pause and her part in it as a cause of her children's difficulties. She acknowledges it at her death but too little-too late for me. I agree with a previous review- the last page and last paragraph save the book.
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
by Anissa Gray
A Big Question (10/11/2018)
This book gets right into the lives of 4 adult siblings who are living with the scars of their mother's death as a young mother and an abusive father. For me the question at the center of the story is this: If you suffer from a childhood of neglect and abuse and a parent's undiagnosed mental illness does that excuse you from making grave mistakes and behaving badly as an adult? Each member of this family suffers differently from the childhood they endured but in the end each has to take responsibility for their actions. The author keeps the story moving constantly and the dialogue real. I read it in 2 sittings. This book would be a very good source of a variety of topics for a book club. Each character is strong and believable and relatable. The ending is hopeful but not neatly wrapped up and a sequel would be awesome.
Never Coming Back
by Alison McGhee
Mothers Were Teens Once Too (9/5/2017)
The author of this book gives an insightful look into a mother-daughter relationship that has ups and downs and lots of missed opportunities for real conversations about each other's lives. Clara has heartfelt regrets and questions about some of her mother's decisions and actions that come to light as her mother is plunged into Early-Onset Alzheimer's. I really enjoyed the author's style of writing and the gentle respectful way she presented Clara's mother's deterioration. Realizing that mothers are real people who were once young, vibrant and interesting people before they became mothers of teenagers is just one of the take-always from this story.
The Stars Are Fire
by Anita Shreve
Strong female character (3/8/2017)
The main character of this book, Grace, experiences the Maine fires of 1947. She overcomes the devastation of her home and marriage with strength and determination during a time period when women were expected to be homemakers and wives. Shreve does an excellent job of creating the image of the destruction the fires created and the survival attempts the citizens endured.
The Second Mrs. Hockaday
by Susan Rivers
Strong female character (1/3/2017)
This book held my attention due to the format (told in a series of letters) and the fact that it presented another new Civil War storyline. I loved the strength of Placidia who was a teenager swept up in a marriage to an officer whom she comes to love and for whom she makes an enormous sacrifice that costs her reputation and family.
The Children
by Ann Leary
wrapped up too soon (5/10/2016)
The early descriptions of this book are deceiving. I thought I'd be reading a story about a family dealing with the death of a patriarch. But it's really much more than that. The characters are believable and well developed. They felt like people I know. But I didn't expect the dark twist of the story in the form of the character Laurel. Sort of a Gone Girl character, whom I didn't enjoy at all. I know stories don't always have happy endings but I was disappointed in how the author wrapped up the loose ends in this book. The descriptions of the lake and the family home are very well done. Easy to imagine and beautiful.
The Same Sky
by Amanda Eyre Ward
Eye-Opening (2/1/2015)
He heartache of Alice and the terror and real-life horror experienced by Carla, a 12-year-old immigrant child, are depicted so expertly that you really feel for these characters as if you know them personally. I don't think I will ever have the same views on immigration and its implications again.
Mating for Life
by Marissa Stapley
A good read (4/13/2014)
If you like a good book about mothers and daughters trying to live as responsible adults after a crazy childhood with a free spirited mother who didn't live by traditional guidelines, then you'll enjoy this book. It took me awhile to really get into it but once I did I wanted to find out how each daughter turned out. I especially liked the way the author wrote - she didn't spell everything out for the reader. You have to read between the lines and make connections for yourself.
The Headmaster's Wife
by Thomas Christopher Greene
A Fast-paced Read (12/23/2013)
A story that grabbed me from the beginning. It's the kind of story that you think you have figured out but you don't until small details are reveled at the end. This book is a sharp turn from Greene's "Mirror Lake" but has the same superb character development and unique writing style.
The Forgetting Tree: A Novel
by Tatjana Soli
Decide for Yourself (8/26/2012)
After reading this book I can't decide whether or not it's a story that is really believable. Although the author does a very crafted job making the reader think the events of this book could indeed happen. She attributes the decisions and events that occur to the main character, Claire, to "chemo brain" and the need to love and be loved for who she really is. But could a strong independent woman give up her lifetime's work, her home and her own daughters for the relationship with a young woman, Minna, a Haitian drifter who is hired to care for her and ultimately almost destroys her? I just didn't like the women in this book and was left with an unfinished feeling after reading it. I would like to have learned more about the demise of Claire's marriage to Forster and been more convinced that her two daughters could have been so clueless as to what was happening to their mother by only visiting her once during her treatments. There were just too many far-fetched details in this story for me to give it a better review.
The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great
by Eva Stachniak
The Winter Palace (1/8/2012)
If you are a big fan of stories that take place in the European courts of the 1600-1700s, you will enjoy this story of the rise of Catherine the Great of Russia. As with most novels describing court life of this era the story is full of the usual lies, conspiracies, self-serving patrons and courtesans, greed and opulence. It is also the story of two girls growing up together in parallel lives where one becomes an empress and the other her spy and friend. The characters and events of the story were historically accurate but I was disappointed that the author didn't tell the story of the conditions of the Russian citizens at the time of Catherine the Great or some of the accomplishments of her reign. Perhaps the authors upcoming sequel will delve into these areas.
Secret Daughter: A Novel
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Strong Female Characters (1/25/2010)
I had a hard time getting interested in this book for the first 5 or so chapters. The characters were not "coming to life" for me. But as I read on I was anxious to see how Somer and Asha, her adopted daughter from India, learned from their mistakes and grew up together. I was disappointed that the author didn't do the same with the main male character of the story, Krishnan, who never seemed to own up to his part in the marital problems. This book will appeal to readers who are interested in the role cultural differences play in marriage, family dynamics, adoption and the mother-daughter relationship. This book requires a lot of "reading between the lines." The author paints a very vivid picture of the contrasting economic, social and physical conditions that exist in India.
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