Seven Days of Us: A Novel
by Francesca Hornak
A Really Good Story (5/12/2017)
A really good story. The Birch Family (mom/dad/adult daughters Olivia and Phoebe) retire to their country estate to spend the week between Christmas and the New Year. They are actually quarantined there as Olivia as just returned from working in Monrovia as an M.D. treating patients of HAAG, a dangerous, communicable ebola like illness. Olivia has made a point of avoiding family holidays for years so you already know the week will be a trying one. And, in the midst of the immediate family dynamics, there are 3 other characters added to the mix: Phoebe's fiance George, Olivia's love interest Sean, and another guy named Jesse. It is a thoughtful book about relationships and family dynamics, with a bit of comic relief. I found my feelings for the characters changing as I got deeper into the book. The characters all had reason to reassess the meaning of their lives and discover that they can have a hand in how they choose to live. I think it would be a great read for a book club. I particularly enjoyed the book as it made me reflect on my own familial dysfunction and I compared the characters to my own family. It struck me that we often base our opinion of someone from our initial contact (in the case of an acquaintance) or how we interacted with someone (parent, sibling, etc.) during our formative years. The key is formative years and I think we do ourselves a disservice by not being able to see that we all change as we age and we need to be open to changes in our own family as well as our fellow man.
A Piece of the World: A Novel
by Christina Baker Kline
Kudos (4/10/2017)
Knowing the back story of Christina Olson and her role as a muse for Andrew Wyeth, I was eager to read this. It's a historic novel based on the famous painting by Wyeth called "Christina's World". The back story is fascinating and Kline loosely portrays the life of Christina from birth to about age 56 and imagines her thoughts and feelings and her limited interaction with the outside world. The book covers the first 10 years of her friendship with Wyeth, though it continued for another 20 years. The painting is haunting and thought provoking and so is Christina Baker Cline's novel. Kudos.
The Book of Summer
by Michelle Gable
Chick Lit and then some (3/7/2017)
I am writing this honest review in return for receiving an Advance Reading Copy. Overall, I enjoyed the stories of the three generations of women who, over a span of 60 years, summered in a family house on Nantucket. The author wove the stories together in alternating chapters. All of these women were stronger then the men they married and it is interesting to see how each of them made a life for herself with pains and gains along the way. On the minus side, I felt like the author was writing for a YA audience as the writing at times seemed juvenile. Yet there was a graphic description of a sexual encounter that offended me and it detracted from the book. In the end, I would say a good summer read of the Chick Lit genre.
Castle of Water: A Novel
by Dane Huckelbridge
Highly Recommended Reading (12/5/2016)
I surprised myself by really liking this hard to describe novel. The author has a unique style and I had to get into his rhythm before I embraced it. Barry was a passenger in a small plane that crashed in the South Pacific. He survived and swam to a tiny abandoned island. Sophie was also on the plane, honeymooning with her husband. The death of Sophie's husband before her eyes was beyond traumatic. She subsequently drifted to the same island in a small lifeboat. When Barry found her she was traumatized and incoherent. What follows is three years they spent on the island, depending on each other for survival. Neither one liked the other at the beginning but they quickly learned tolerance and appreciation for the talents they each had. As the months passed, their relationship deepened as did their conversations. This novel evoked a range of emotions in me, not the least of which was humor. From the first page of the book to the end the author's wry sense of humor often made me laugh out loud. One would not think humor and castaway life would blend but they did. Kudos to Dane Huckelbridge.
Quiet Neighbors
by Catriona McPherson
A different girl on a different train (6/12/2016)
Quiet Neighbors begins with a girl on a train, from London to Scotland, obviously running from something/someone. She ends up in Wigtown, Scotland, where she once vacationed. This woman, Jude, is befriended and given a job and a place to live by a used bookstore owner. As the book develops, we slowly are given clues to Jude's past, as well as Lowell's, the shop owner. Wigtown is very small and new people are noticed. Shortly after Jude arrives, a young women (Eddy) arrives and claims that Lowell is her father. He accepts Jude as she is, he accepts Eddy as well. It turns out, they all have secrets in their past, as do other townspeople. Quiet Neighbors is the unfolding of all their stories. It's not a romance, yet it's a love story. It's not a comedic book, yet it's very amusing and wry. It's not gory, yet it's a murder mystery. In spite of the number of characters (3 main but many more on the periphery), McPherson relates a tale I could not put down. She fleshed out the characters in such a masterful way and created such an improbable cast of characters that I found myself rooting for a happy ending. I was not disappointed. A jolly good read.
The Book That Matters Most: A Novel
by Ann Hood
Ann Hood Nails it Again (6/2/2016)
I read anything Ann Hood. I also received an advance copy of this book to submit an honest review. And honestly, at first, I thought that this book was going to be about another middle-aged wife being dumped and wallowing in self-pity. It's not. Ava wins a coveted spot in a long-standing book club at the beginning of their new reading season. They will read and discuss a book that has meant the most to each of them. It's a multi-faceted story of how books affect us and makes the point that "When you read a book, and who you are when you read it, makes it matter or not... then it matters the most. At that time." Re-reading their favorites, brought a lot of introspection as well as new perspectives to all of them.
All the participants find themselves changed at the end of the year by the messages each got from the books. As the novel progresses, we learn more about the others but mostly it's about Ava and segues back and forth from a life changing event to the present.
Through her accomplished ability, Ann Hood explores how the spoken word has the capacity to influence our lives more often then once, in more ways then one.
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