Review: The Year of Fog

The Year of Fog – Michelle Richmond

From the book jacket -

Life changes in an instant.  On a foggy beach.  In the seconds when Abby Mason – photographer, fiancee, soon-to-be-stepmother – looks into her camera and commits her greatest error.  Heartbreaking, uplifting, and beautifully told, here is the riveting tale of a family torn apart, of the search for the truth behind a child’s disappearance, and of one woman’s unwavering faith in the redemptive power of love – all made startlingly fresh through Michelle Richmond’s incandescent sensitivity and extraordinary insight.

Six-year-old Emma vanished into the thick San Francisco fog.  Or into the heaving Pacific.  Or somewhere just beyond: to a parking lot, a stranger’s van, or a road with traffic flashing by.  Now, as the days drag into weeks, as the police lose interest and fliers fade on telephone poles, Emma’s father finds solace in religion and scientific probability – but Abby can only wander the beaches and city streets, attempting to recover the past and the little girl she lost.  With her life at a crossroads, she will leave San Francisco for a country thousands of miles away.  And there, by the side of another sea, Abby will make the most astounding discovery of all – as the truth of Emma’s disappearance unravels with stunning force.

My thoughts -

The Year of Fog  is a pretty excellent novel.  It has everything I desire in a book – great characters, an intriguing plot, a decent amount of suspense, good writing – what more is there for a girl to want?  Michelle Richmond is a very talented author and I will definitely be looking for more from her in the future.  Basically, from the moment I picked up the book, I hated having to pause my reading of it for any length of time… it sucked me in from the beginning and I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next.  One of the things that made this book so wonderful is how well the emotional rollercoaster of losing a child was written.  I cannot imagine going through something so terrifying (especially considering the fact that I don’t even have any children) but what I can imagine is that Richmond wrote the way it would feel pretty darn accurately. 

I also really loved the characters in this novel, especially Abby.  I just couldn’t help feeling empathetic toward her, she racked herself with guilt over this situation that honestly could have happened to anyone, made herself feel so terrible about it, and at the same time realized she loved this little girl WAY more than she had really thought before she went missing.  Her emotions were just so raw and real… I could really feel her pain with her as I was reading.  Oddly enough, i wasn’t too huge a fan of Jake, but then again, I don’t think Richmond wrote the character in such a way that the reader is supposed to feel as sympathetic toward him – he was very cold to Abby, and basically deserted their relationship when he should have stuck with her in solidarity, which made me SO mad.  But I guess different people react to these types of crazy situations differently, which Richmond captured very well.  

And the ending… my goodness what a great ending.  I mean, of course there are about a million ways an author could have ended a book like this, but I think that Richmond did an excellent job presenting us with a fulfilling conclusion that didn’t seem forced or fake.  I mean, I gotta admit that it was slightly unbelievable… but it is fiction after all, so I’ll take it.

Highly recommended.  Definitely read this book!

Also read by:

 

• Lynne at Lynne’s Little Corner of the World
• Susan at Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
• Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?

Review: The Pages In Between

The Pages In Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home – Erin Einhorn

  From the book jacket – To a young newspaper reporter, it was the story of a lifetime: a Jewish infant born in the ghetto, saved from the Nazis by a Polish family, uprooted to Sweden after the war, repeatedly torn away from the people she knew as family – all to take a transatlantic journey with a father she’d barely known toward a new life in the United States.

Who wouldn’t want to tell that tale?  Growing up in suburban Detroit, Erin Einhorn pressed her mother to share details about the tumultuous, wartime childhood she’d experienced.  ”I was always loved,” was all her mother would say, over and over again.  But, for Erin, that answer simply wasn’t satisfactory.  She boarded a plane to Poland with a singular mission: to uncover the truth of what happened to her mother and reunite the two families who once worked together to save a child.  But when Erin finds Weislaw Skowronski, the elderly son of the woman who sheltered her mother, she discovers that her search will involve much more than just her mother’s childhood.

Sixty years prior, at the end of World War II, Weislaw Skowronski claimed that Erin’s grandfather had offered the Skowronskis his family home in exchange for hiding his daughter.  But for both families, the details were murky.  If the promise was real, fulfilling it would be arduous and expensive.  To unravel the truth and resolve the decades-old land dispute, Erin must search through centuries of dusty records and maneuver an outdated, convoluted legal system.

As she tries to help the Skowronski family, Erin must also confront the heart-wrenching circumstances of her family’s tragic past while coping with unexpected events in her own life that will alter her mission completely.

My thoughts -

When I was offered this book for review, I jumped at the chance because I was extremely intrigued by the premise.  Two of my favorite kinds of books – memoirs and history-related books – both wrapped into one!  I figured it would be a very interesting read, and it definitely was.  Traveling with Erin as she uncovered information about her mother’s past, and about the circumstances that led to her own birth and life was fascinating.  She met members of her mother’s first “family”, and became somewhat close to them, and her own mother hadn’t seen these people in 50+ years!  In addition to being very historically interesting and rich with detail, this memoir was also extremely well-written.  Einhorn definitely has a huge future in journalism, because this book was very tightly put together and the writing flowed very well.  It was really a joy to read in many aspects, and I do have to recommend this memoir, but with a few caveats.

Unfortunately, there were a few parts in this book that dragged, in my opinion, and she may have been able to leave some things out while perhaps adding some information that would have been more intriguing and served her story more appropriately.  In addition, my major problem with this book is that I simply did not feel a connection to the author.  Einhorn’s writing was wonderful, but if I’m reading a memoir, I want to feel like I really know the narrator and understand his/her point of view.  Perhaps Einhorn is TOO good a journalist, because I did not feel she was as connected to her own story as I would have wanted her to be.  It was almost as if she was reporting about someone else’s experiences, rather than writing about her own.

I don’t want to pick on Einhorn, though, because in truth I did enjoy this book and I really appreciate her telling her story, and allowing me to experience it through her eyes.  I truly do recommend reading The Pages In Between, I just can’t say that it will be making my top ten list. 

Also read by – Heather at Age 30+… A Lifetime of Books

Review: Happiness Sold Separately

Happiness Sold Separately – Lolly Winston

From the book jacket -

Elinor Mackey has always done the right things in the right order – college, law school, career, marriage – but now everything’s going wrong.  After two painful years of trying, Elinor has learned that she can’t have children.  All the doctors can tell her is that it’s probably because of her age.  As she turns forty, she withdraws into an interior world of heartbreak.

Elinor’s loving husband, Ted, a successful podiatrist, has always done the right thing, too.  Then he meets the wrong woman at the wrong time, and does the wrong thing.  Ted’s lover, Gina – a beautiful and kindhearted nutritionist – always eats the right thing, but is unlucky in love and always falls for the wrong men.  Soon Ted has to fight to make everything right again.

Can Elinor and Ted’s marriage be saved?  The answer is alarmingly fresh and unexpected as New York Times bestselling author Lolly Winston introduces us to characters as memorable as those of Anne Tyler and Nick Hornby, but who are indelibly all her own.

My thoughts -

I found this to be a very charming, quick read.  Just the kind of thing to curl up with on a rainy day… not too heavy, but not sticky-sweet either.  The story in this novel moved along pretty quickly, and had enough surprises to keep me interested the entire time.  What I liked most about this novel, however, were the characters.  The interesting thing was that the most flawed characters – Ted and Gina – were the ones I ended up enjoying the most, and feeling the most empathy for, while Elinor pretty much just annoyed me.  I know I was supposed to feel intense amounts of sympathy for her, but I simply did not find her as real as the other two.  Gina was probably, oddly enough, my favorite of the three.  Although she was the most minor of the major characters, I liked her personality the best, and I felt like of all three of them, she was the most authentically written.  Even the minor characters in this story, such as Gina’s son Toby, were well-written, and positively affected the book.

I thought the ending to the book was just OK.  Obviously I’m not going to share how it ended, but for those who have read this novel, what did you think of the ending?

I’d recommend this book for a quick, light read with enjoyable characters.

Also reviewed by:

• Jill at Under the Dresser
• Gayle at Everyday I Write the Book Blog

Review: The Shack

The Shack – William P. Young

From the back cover -

Mackenzie Allen Philips’ daughter Missy has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.  Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare.  What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?”  The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him.

My thoughts -

I did not expect to like this book.  It was loaned to me by a family member, and even though this is not the typical book I would read, I decided to give it a try anyway.  I was truly surprised when I came away very, very happy that I had given The Shack a chance.

I can’t say that I LOVED the book, especially since the so-so quality of the writing turned me off a bit, as well as the fact that the dialogue felt very unnatural.  However, the actual content of the story was so true to my actual beliefs that I couldn’t help but be happy with the overall effect.  I was going to write this review with spoilers, just to give everyone an idea of what specifically I loved about this story, and what aspects of the ideas in the book I agree with (most of them), but I just at this second decided against doing that.  Instead, if you’ve read the book and/or want to read the book and would like to discuss it further, please leave your questions/input in the comments, and I will carry on a conversation through email instead.  I think that this book is a worthwile read, no matter what your religious beliefs are, and I do not want to ruin anything for someone that may pick it up in the future.

Also reviewed by:

• Should Be Reading
• Raych at Books I Done Read
• Leah at The Friendly Book Nook
• Dar at Peeking Between the Pages

Review: Unaccustomed Earth

Unaccustomed Earth – Jhumpa Lahiri

From Publisher’s Weekly -

The gulf that separates expatriate Bengali parents from their American-raised children—and that separates the children from India—remains Lahiri’s subject for this follow-up to Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake. In this set of eight stories, the results are again stunning. In the title story, Brooklyn-to-Seattle transplant Ruma frets about a presumed obligation to bring her widower father into her home, a stressful decision taken out of her hands by his unexpected independence. The alcoholism of Rahul is described by his elder sister, Sudha; her disappointment and bewilderment pack a particularly powerful punch. And in the loosely linked trio of stories closing the collection, the lives of Hema and Kaushik intersect over the years, first in 1974 when she is six and he is nine; then a few years later when, at 13, she swoons at the now-handsome 16-year-old teen’s reappearance; and again in Italy, when she is a 37-year-old academic about to enter an arranged marriage, and he is a 40-year-old photojournalist. An inchoate grief for mothers lost at different stages of life enters many tales and, as the book progresses, takes on enormous resonance. Lahiri’s stories of exile, identity, disappointment and maturation evince a spare and subtle mastery that has few contemporary equals.

My thoughts -

Reading this collection of short stories solidified for me the fact that Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my absolute favorite authors, by far.  I became completely immersed in each one of these eight stories… I LOVED reading this book.  The characters were so incredibly well-developed that even though each one only graced the pages for approximately one-eighth of the book, I completely understood them and felt like I truly knew each and every one.  Although not every character was inherently likable, because of how well Lahiri wrote them, I felt compassion and empathy for each of them… perhaps especially the few that were the most flawed.

The stories themselves were simply perfect in every way.  The stories had the exact format of beginning, middle, and end, but told in such a way that just when you thought it might be over, something else monumental would occur in the characters’ lives.  And then, when it really was over, there was almost always something left to the imagination… always some aspect to the stories that allowed the reader to make a few guesses about how things might end up. 

The funny thing is that I am not typically a short story person… I’m not usually attracted to reading short stories, and when I do, I frequently find myself bored with them or impatient with the lack of depth.  Lahiri’s short stories, however, in both Unaccustomed Earth and Interpreter of Maladies, are so very wonderful that I want to pick up every short story I can find, in the hopes that they might be half as good as Lahiri’s.  I have tried here to explain how great I thought this book was without giving too much away, and I hope I did that.  Read this book, just read it.  I’m so glad I did.

Also – for fans of Unaccustomed Earth, I highly recommend reading The Namesake, Lahiri’s only full novel.  It’s actually my favorite of her three books, so if you enjoy her writing style, I really think that’s a book you should pick up.

Also reviewed by:

• Sher at A Novel Menagerie
• Melanie at LitChick
• 3m at 1 More Chapter
• Gentle Reader at Shelf Life
• Laura at Novels Now
• Adventures in Reading
• Tricia at Library Queue

TSS – Review: An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines – John Green

 From the book jacket -

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine.  And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped.  Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his tail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun – but no Katherines.  Colin is on a mission to prove the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

My thoughts  -

I thought this book was good, but it did not live up to the high expectations that I had for it, based on what I’d heard from other bloggers and reviews.  I liked the character of Colin, but I liked his best friend, Hassan, even more; he was funny and sarcastic and the touch of reality that Colin so desperately needed.  I thought the way Green wrote the book was very interesting… I loved the footnotes especially.  Something about this story reminded of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, though I can’t really figure out what exactly about the two stories are similar, I think it had something to do with the main characters in both being sort of antisocial and lost, but also really sweet, wonderful kids that just had to come into their own over the course of the stories.  I don’t know… honestly, I thought this was a pretty good book and I would really like to read more from John Green, I just cannot think of the right words to describe what I particularly liked about it.  I’d suggest reading it, even though I did not love it, I know An Abundance of Katherines was a decent book with wonderful characters and an okay plot. 

Also reviewed by:

• Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews
• Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot
• Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf
• Melissa at Book Nut
• Suey at It’s All About Books
• Fyrefly’s Book Blog
• Raych at Books I Done Read

Review: That Summer

That Summer – Sarah Dessen

From the back cover -

For fifteen-year-old Haven, there’s just too much going on.  First, there’s her father’s wedding to Lorna Queen, the local television “Weather Pet”.  Then her sister Ashley’s wedding to boring Lewis Warsher, who doesn’t seem to suit Ashley at all.  And Haven can’t ignore the fact that she’s nearly six feet tall and still growing.  Haven can barely figure out who she is anymore or where she fits in.  Then Ashley’s old boyfriend, Sumner Lee, shows up and sparks Haven’s memories of the summer when her parents were happy, her sister was plucky and carefree, and everything was perfect… or so it seemed.

My thoughts -

I thought this YA novel was just okay.  I had read Someone Like You, another of Dessen’s novels, pretty recently and really enjoyed it.  Compared to that, That Summer was kind of a disappointment actually.  I just didn’t connect to the characters or the story in the same way, and I didn’t find myself caring too much about what happend to anybody or with any situation.  I’m pretty sure, however, based on what I’ve heard about Dessen’s other works, that this book (and my feelings on it, specifically) is kind of a fluke in a collection of awesome YA books.  I think the fact that I LOVED the other Dessen book I read made me have unreasonably  high expectations for this one, which made it less than great in my eyes.  I do think that it is a pretty decent YA book, but I was expecting a little more.  I will still read more of Dessen’s books, for sure, and I’d still highly recommend her as an author.  I’d just suggest reading Someone Like You over That Summer (if you’re only going to pick one).

*I can’t seem to find any other reviews on my Google Reader… if you’ve reviewed this, please let me know and I’ll link to you on this post!

Anyone want a free book?

So I’m in a bit of a quandry and I’d like some assistance from one of you wonderful bloggers.   I was sent a copy of Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith to review.  I’ve been reading it for a little while now, have gotten about a third of the way through the book, and I am simply not connecting with it at all.  The thing is, I can see that this is a pretty decent book and I would really like for someone else to enjoy it.  Here is what Amazon has to say about Walking Through Walls:

Smith, an artist and former managing editor of GQ magazine, reflects on his youth in 1960s Miami. He wanted a father who mowed the lawn, drank beer, and fell asleep in front of the TV. Instead, his dad, Lew Smith, was a successful interior decorator, who went through a macrobiotic transformation and began tuning into mystical vibrations. Young Philip was introduced to fasting and yogic diets, while Lew explored esoteric spirituality, reincarnation, Bach Flower Remedies and such metaphysical arcana as the akashic records, an ethereal Library of Congress of every soul in human history: [Philip] wasn’t sure if this endless invisible database also included reruns of I Love Lucy or Perry Mason, but it probably did. After a 1968 encounter with famed trance medium Arthur Ford, Lew found his true calling as a psychic healer, and overnight our isolated house became Lourdes central. Smith’s fine flair for waggish anecdotes is especially evident in his riotous recall of being suckered into Scientology at age 17. He looks back at his father with much affection in this mirthful memoir that bounces between the comic and the cosmic. Smith is a gifted humorist, and readers are certain to request more merriment.

Here is a picture of the cover of this memoir:

Ok, bloggers, so here’s my question for you: would anyone care to read and review this memoir?  I will happily send the book along to the FIRST person who comments on this post requesting it.  I just ask that you do review the book on your blog, since I did commit to the publisher that I would take care of that myself.  Please do not request the book if you do not think you will actually read/review it.  If this sounds like a good offer, please comment promptly and you will receive this book!!

Thank you!

Review: Princess Academy

Princess Academy – Shannon Hale

From the book jacket -

High on the slopes of rocky Mount Eskel, Miri’s family pounds a living from the stone of the mountain itself.  But Miri’s life will change forever when word comes that her small villiage is the home of the future princess.  All eligible girls must attend a makeshift academy to prepare for royal life.  At the school, Miri finds herself confronting bitter competition among the girls and her own conflicted desires to be chosen.  Yet when danger comes to the academy, it is Miri, named for a tiny mountain flower, who must find a way to save her classmates – and the future of their beloved villiage.

My thoughts -

Princess Academywas my first endeavor into Shannon Hale’s work, and I was very pleased with what I found between its pages.  What a delight of a story this one is!  I loved the characterization of the girls and their families, and I especially was enamored by the character of Miri.  Another thing I enjoyed about this novel was the elements of fantasy interspersed with a more realistic story.  It was a story of normal girls, in a fantastical setting (is fantastical a word?  If not, I just made it one).  I think I REALLY would have loved this book had I read it in 5th or 6th grade.  It is just the kind of story I was devouring about that time in my life.  I don’t know what else to say about this one, really, just that it was a treat to read and I’ll definitely be picking up more of Hale’s work in the future.  I’m so glad I finally decided to try reading one of her books!

Also reviewed by:

• Jessica at The Bluestocking Society
• Natasha at Maw Books
• Tricia at Library Queue

 

Review: The Farther You Run

The Farther You Run – Davida Wills Hurwin

From the book jacket -

When your best friend is dying, you wonder what life would be like without her – but nothing prepares you for the reality.  This past May, Samantha lost her “one and only”, Juliana, to cancer.  Now there is no one to share secrets, gossip, and dreams; no reason to go to dance class by herself.  The way she sees it, there’s only one thing to do: close that door and try to move on.

Then Samantha meets Mona in summer school.  Mona has challenges of her own - her mother is bipolar, and growing up has been a tangle of new schools, an ever-changing roster of “friends”, and neighbors who never understand.

The two of them click right away.  Mona can make Samantha laugh, and Samantha never asks questions when Mona needs a break from her mom.  By summer’s end they’ve found jobs, boyfriends, an apartment in San Francisco, and a brand new identity – as best friends.

But doors don’t always stay closed, and living across the Golden Gate Bridge won’t guarantee that your past remains on the other side.  Just before the anniversary of Jules’s death, things begin to fall apart.  Mona’s old self-destructive streak starts to sabotage her new relationships.  Samantha’s struggle to be free of Jules has failed – because memories don’t simply disappear.  And the distance between them grows.  What their friendship really needs is honesty, and a long, clear look at reality.  If they truly wish to move on, Samantha and Mona must redefine their relationship, their future – and in the process, themselves.

My thoughts -

When I spotted this book on the YA shelves at my library, I was somewhat intrigued.  Then I realized that it is the sequel to A Time For Dancing, a book that I read years ago and loved (didn’t even know it had a sequel!), and of course I grabbed it right away.  This YA novel was good, not great.  I liked the characters and the story kept me turning the pages… in fact, I finished it in one sitting.  But nothing in the book was all that memorable, and I probably will stop thinking about it as soon as I finish this review.  I don’t recall specifics about A Time for Dancing since I read it so many years ago, but I do know that it was a novel that grabbed me and stayed with me for a long time.  The sequel, unfortunately, just didn’t have that punch.  It is a decent book, and if you liked A Time for Dancing and want to know more about what happened to Samantha after Juliana’s death, than this is a good use of a few hours of your time to get through.  Otherwise, there are much better YA novels out there, and I’d skip this one.