A Window Opens

A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan is a novel about a woman who thinks she has it all, the perfect balance of part-time work at a job she loves, and a wonderful family life. That is, until her husband loses his job and her perfect life is thrown into chaos.

Egan creates such wonderful, well developed characters, I felt like they were old friends and I didn't want this book to end. She writes with humor, intelligence and heart.

 A great debut. A recommended read.

Sorcerer to the Crown

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho is a rather strange book, full of characters I never really understood, liked or believed in, other than the Sorcerer Royal, Zacharias.

Cho creates a world where British magicians and Sorcerers are having their magic drained by nearby Fairy; the head Sorcerer is a former slave, and eventually an Indian woman.

A British novel of magic and manners written by Malaysian born Cho, it never felt quite right to me, and I wasn't able to escape into it as I'd hoped. Perhaps other readers might find it more enjoyable than I did.

The Lake House

The Lake House by Kate Morton is maybe her best novel yet, and I love all her books.

Set in present day London and Cornwall and in 1930's Cornwall, it tells the story of the seemingly happy Edevane family, Mother, Father, three daughters and a precious and beloved baby boy. One day at a Mid-Summer's party, baby Theo disappears and is never found. The family abandons the house and it is left unopened for 70 years, until a young female detective on holiday, stumbles across it during a run and reopens the case.

Morton is a brilliant writer. I couldn't put the book down, and in fact stayed up many nights reading until the end, then  had to go back and retrace my steps to untangle the mystery and see how she did it!

A great read, highly recommended.

Unfinished Desires

Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin, author of Evensong, takes place in a Catholic girls school in North Carolina in the 50's. Decades later the headmistress looks back on that time, and tells the tale of one group of girls and what happened on a fateful night.

Goodwin exposes all the hidden parts of each personality, the queen bee, the brain, the girls in the background, and the jealousy and passion and concealed emotions that move them all.

Goodwin is a talented writer and I found the book interesting, but just didn't like the characters enough to really care about any of them, and was left mildly disappointed by the end of the book.

The Japanese Lover

Isabelle Allende is one of my favorite writers, I love everything she's ever written. The Japanese Lover is her latest.

Now an old woman looking back on her life, Alma tells the story of coming to San Francisco from Poland when she was 8 years old and meeting 8 year old Ichimei, the Japanese gardener's son. This is the beginning of a life long forbidden love affair that survives WWII.

Allende is a wonderful writer and a fantastic storyteller. This is not my favorite of her books, and I didn't like some of the characters, but it's still worth a read.

The Little Paris Bookshop

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George is a wonderful book for book lovers. Monsieur Perdu has turned a floating barge into a bookshop he calls the Literary Apothecary.

After losing the love of his life 20 years earlier, he finally opens her last letter to him. This sets him on a journey of self-discovery, friendship, good food, and bookselling down the rivers and canals of France all the way to the sea.

This is a beautifully written story, I loved every minute of it.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is a book about an aging punk rocker, now music producer, and all the troubled people in his life, past and present. It is more a set of short stories than a novel, and I found it hard to follow all the characters that were introduced or even care about them.

Egan, author of Look at Me has a unique and compelling writing style and for a while it pulls me in, but by the end I am left tired and depressed. I was happy to see this book finally end.

Tibetan Peach Pie

Tibetan Peach Pie, A True Account of an Imaginative Life by Tom Robbins is a wonderful collection of stories, an almost memoir, although the author doesn't refer to it as such.

Fans of Robbin's novels will love this book. Robbin's never sit still imagination is on full parade here, and even in his eighties, his wonderful way with words has not left him.

A must read for Robbin's fans.

A Year by the Sea

A Year by the Sea, Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson is a book about a year on Cape Cod away from husband and kids where the author goes to try to rediscover herself. It is reminiscent of Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, though not nearly as lyrical and beautifully written as that book.

A slim little volume delving into the inner world of a woman who has been defined her whole life by her role as wife and Mother and finally is putting herself first. If only we all had cottages on Cape Cod to escape to when the need arose!

The Paying Guests

The Paying Guests is a brilliant novel by Sarah Waters about life in Post-War London, circa 1922. A widowed mother and daughter are forced to take in tenants and let the servants go, due to their changing circumstances. An unexpected friendship arises between the daughter and the young wife, both in their twenties, and the pace of the novel really picks up from there.

Waters is a masterful storyteller, and her writing is refreshingly original, there were times I had to linger over a single sentence, re-reading it over and over again. I was fully pulled into this story and stayed up several nights in a row to finish the book.

A well written, suspenseful and engrossing read.

Broken Wings

Broken Wings by Carla Stewart is a sweet, but predictable novel. A friendship between an older woman, Mitzi, volunteering at a hospital in Tulsa and a young woman, Brooke, in an abusive relationship begins with a chance encounter. Recalling Mitzi's time as a famous Jazz singer is a nice touch, and of course all ends well.

I didn't realize Stewart was a Christian writer when I picked up the book. It was filled with a bit too much prayer and too many references to God for my taste in a novel.

A nice, easy, forgettable read.

Family Baggage

Family Baggage by Monica McInerney is a novel about an Australian family that owns a travel agency. The two boys and one girl are joined by a foster sister when her parents tragically die in a car crash in Ireland.

McInerney is a great storyteller, and as the story of the family unfolds, mysteries and long held secrets come to light that could shatter the bonds that hold the family together. Amidst this family drama is the hilarious tour through England with 12 elderly people following the plot of a long ago TV series still watched in Australia.

At turns hilarious, moving, sad, hopeful, romantic, all things that make for an entertaining read.

Crossing to Safety

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner was our latest book club pick. I wanted to love this book, but I didn't. Depression Era, two couples meet and become lifelong friends, one poor from the west, one wealthy and privileged from the East, all well educated.

Although the writing was beautiful, I just didn't care much about any of the characters and found the book emotionally quite empty and easily forgettable. Stegner is a beloved author by many, just not my cuppa tea.

How to be Both

How to be Both by Ali Smith is two novels in one that eventually converge and overlap. It's written in a totally original style and voice, and once you allow yourself to be taken away by the book, it becomes a wonderful, playful journey.

There is Francesco del Cossa, an Italian Renaissance painter, and George, a modern day teenage girl dealing with the loss of her Mother. Through questions of art, time, gender, etc, the two become linked.  

Smith pushes the boundaries of what a novel can be, and for this alone, it's worth a read.

Sacred Hearts

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant is historical fiction set in a convent in 16th century Italy. Almost half of all noblewomen of the time were put into convents as their families could not afford to marry off more than one daughter. The novel takes place entirely within the walls of the convent and is populated only by women.

What could have been a rather boring story is brought to life in the most fascinating way by Dunant. There is the angry young novice put into the convent entirely against her will, there is the strong Abbess who is as politically cunning as she is spiritually evolved, and there is the dispensary mistress, who would have been a doctor had she been a man.

Well developed characters, beautifully written, I couldn't put this book down. A recommended read.

The Death of Vishnu

The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri is an imaginative novel centering around an apartment building in Bombay, all the families that live there, and Vishnu the man who has lived for many years on the landing and now lies there dying. This provokes various responses from the tenants who have known Vishnu for years.

Suri skillfully weaves Hindu Mythology in and out of the story and transports the reader on a wonderful journey. At times funny, at times sad, at times mystical, this is a fully entertaining novel full of universal themes.

The Hatmaker's Heart

The Hatmaker's Heart by Carla Stewart is a novel about a young English girl living in NYC in the 1920's trying to make her way as a hatmaker and designer. Its a wonderful story, full of the fashion and jazz scene of the times, even taking the reader to England for a royal wedding.

I was enjoying this book until the end when the author suddenly starting talking a lot about God. It seemed strange and out of place and I felt disappointed that this was thrown in. I discovered that Stewart is a Christian writer and I felt the ending was heavy handed and didn't stay true to the characters. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable book

The Children's Crusade

The Children's Crusade by Ann Packer is a novel about four kids growing up with an unhappy mother and a stable father south of San Francisco on a piece of property that would eventually become very valuable. We meet them first as kids, then later as adults when one wants to sell the house they grew up in.

Although the title is misleading, it is an engrossing and well written family saga. Packer has a way of delving into family dynamics and showing a situation from many different points of view. However, other than the Father, I didn't really like any of the characters, and by the end I found the book tiring.

In the Shadow of the Banyan

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner is an incredible novel based on true events in Cambodia at the time when the Khmer Rouge came to power in the late 70's.  Ratner lived through this with her mother when she was a little girl, the rest of her family was killed and only she and her mother got out alive. She went back as an adult and researched this story for many years.

What makes it a truly incredible book is her art of storytelling, her love of language. This is a beautifully written book that tells of one of the most horrible times of our human history. A heart wrenching story of hope and survival, although at times painful to read, I highly recommend this novel.

The Legacy of Eden

The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy is a family saga about an Iowa farm named Aurelia and generations of the family that lived and died there. At the head of the family is Lavinia Hawthorn, the matriarch who helped build the farm up and then destroyed all those who cared about it.

After the last family member on the farm dies, three estranged sisters who grew up there are called back to tie up loose ends. This brings all the ghosts to life, and Davy has a way of dishing out only a little information at a time to keep the reader hooked until the end.  A dark and haunting tale.

Mercury in Retrograde

I was looking for something to read that was less intense than my usual fair, Mercury in Retrograde by Paula Froelich fit the bill. A slightly silly, inconsequential, at times funny novel about three women in their late 20's/early 30's living in NYC whose lives have all taken a turn for the worst, They end up living in the same building, doing yoga together and becoming best friends.

A good book for a day at the beach. Fans of Sex and the City will enjoy. Mildly entertaining, mostly forgettable.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow is a novel about a biracial young girl who survives a family tragedy.

Beautifully written, yet heartbreaking; this novel takes on issues of race, addiction, family, identity and ultimately survival.

Although some of the characters could have been more fully developed, it is still a powerful book.

Lamp Black, Wolf Grey

Lamp Black, Wolf Grey by Paula Brackston is a novel set in Wales both past and present day. Laura, an artist moves from London to the Welsh countryside with her husband Dan, hoping to find a quiet place to paint and finally conceive a child. What she doesn't imagine is that the veil between worlds is thin here, for those who have the eyes to see, and before long she encounters none other than Merlin himself.

Brackston had me hooked from the beginning, this is a marvelous book to disappear into, I was transported to another time and place. However, I felt the novel took an unnecessary disturbing turn and devolved into a far less magical novel than it could have been by the end. Disappointing.

Hold on to Your Kids

Hold on to Your Kids, Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gorden Neufeld, Ph.D. and Gabor Mate M.D. is a parenting book I think all parents should read. Updated to include a section on raising kids in a digital world, this is a profound rethinking of how we are raising our kids.

Rather than looking to their peers for direction, values, and identity, children should be looking toward their parents and the adults in their life for guidance. This is something we have lost in our culture and this book shows how important it is for us to collect our children, nurture them and be their compass point.

A highly recommended read.

On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon

On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon is a beautiful novel by Kaye Gibbons. It tells the story of Emma Garnet, looking back on her life of Southern privilege, growing up on a plantation with an over beaing and cruel father, a loving mother and the slaves that raised her. Later, she escapes her father when she marries a doctor and works by his side tending to wounded soldiers throughout the Civil War.

It is reminiscent of Marilynne Robinson's wonderful novel Gilead, where a congregational preacher writes a letter to his young son at the end of his life. In both books the voice of the main character is so true, honest and moving, you feel as if you are sitting on the porch talking story with an old friend.

A vivid and powerful novel, a recommended read.

The Grace Keepers

The Grace Keepers is the debut novel by Kirsty Logan, a young Scottish author. This is truly an otherworldy novel that transports the reader to the misty islands of Scotland where the world is divided between "landlockers" those who live on the mainland, and "damplings" those who live on boats on the sea.

It tells the story of Callanish, a young woman who lives a lonely existence tending to burials in the sea, and North, a young woman who lives with her bear as part of a floating circus.The novel is filled with Scottish myths and folklore. A beautifully written, magical, melancholy tale that leaves the reader breathless.

The Lowland

Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite writers and The Lowland doesn't disappoint. It is the story of two brothers, very close in age, yet very different, growing up in Calcutta in the 60's. Their paths diverge as one joins a revolutionary movement in India, and the other moves to Rhode Island to study oceanography.

This is a compelling family saga, steeped in history and spanning decades and continents; Lahiri at the height of her abilities. A recommended read.

Together Tea

Together Tea by Marjan Kamali is a book as comforting and sweet as Persian tea sucked through a cube of sugar held between the teeth.

It tells the story of a displaced Iranian family living in America after escaping the revolution. The men in the family seem to have adjusted to life in the States, but for Darya and her daughter Mina, home still means Iran.

A well written enjoyable read, bursting with Persian culture.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, is an incredible book by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Katherine Boo. Although non-fiction, it reads like a novel and the story will captivate you. Boo spent years researching Annawadi, a Mumbai slum built up right next to the luxury resorts surrounding the airport. While India is experiencing massive economic growth and its rich and middle class are getting richer, it's poor are still stuck in dire poverty and trying to find a way out.

This book is heartbreaking, captivating, intelligent, filled with humor and compassion; not one you will easily forget. Highly recommended read.

I Do Not Come to You by Chance

I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a novel that explores the strange and dangerous world of Nigerian email scams. In a poor country overrun by corruption, sometimes a University degree is not enough to ensure a good job and money to feed your family.

Kingsley, the protagonist of the story, finds this out the hard way as his girlfriend leaves him and his father's hospital bills are more than the family can afford. Against his better judgement, he goes to work for his corrupt, but very rich uncle and his world changes overnight.

A fascinating look into a hidden part of Nigerian culture by an accomplished new writer.

We Are Called to Rise

We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride is a novel set in Las Vegas. It tells the story of 8 year old Bashkim, a brave Albanian boy living with his immigrant parents and baby sister, Luis, a wounded young Mexican-American veteran just back from Iraq, and Avis, a 53 year old woman who has lived in Vegas her whole life and just finds out her husband is leaving her.

McBride draws us in as each of their stories unfold and eventually intersect. Heartbreaking, beautiful, hopeful, I couldn't put this book down. A recommended read.

Brick Lane

Brick Lane by Monica Ali is a novel about Bangladeshi immigrant families living in London. Nazneen, married to a man twenty years older and living in London, leaves her small village in Bangladesh and leaves behind everything she knows for a new life that she doesn't understand. She speaks very little English, and hardly leaves the apartment, yet somehow, slowly she begins an internal journey that is even greater than the external journey she has already made.

Her sister stays behind and marries for love, then struggles though many hardships. Part of the book is written in letters between Nazneen and her sister. A beautifully written, powerful novel that unfolds slowly and draws you in, as Nazneen navigates her way between accepting her fate and making her own choices. A good read.

Magic or Madness

Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier is a book about a young girl named Reason living with her mother in the Australian outback, hiding from her wicked Grandmother in Sydney who is supposedly a witch. When Reason's mother has a nervous breakdown and is sent to a mental institution, Reason is forced to go live with her Grandmother. From the moment she arrives, she tries to reconcile the stories her mother told her all her life with the clean beautiful house she finds herself in. Trying desperately to escape, she unlocks a mysterious back door and finds herself in the dead of winter in New York City and realizes magic is real.

This could have been a good book, but being the first in a trilogy, Larbalestier didn't give anything away, the reader was left completely hanging at the end. Reason's questions were never answered and I felt as frustrated as she did. A disappointing read.

The Hypnotists Love Story

The Hypnotists Love Story by Liane Moriarty is a novel about a clinical hypnotherapist in Sydney, Australia, who falls in love then finds out her boyfriend is being stalked by his ex-girlfriend. At the beginning, she is more intrigued than frightened, until things begin to get creepy.

Moriarty is one of my favorite writers, she makes you empathize and care about all her characters, in this case even the stalker. She shows that nothing is black and white; she examines all the shades of gray, the different motivations that cause us to behave the way we do and the consequences of our actions.

Intelligent, funny, thrilling, a great read by a great writer.

Mambo in Chinatown

Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok is a novel about a girl who has always been awkward, clumsy, not good in school and ends up washing dishes in the restaurant where her father is the noodle maker.

Her younger, smarter, more beautiful sister helps her find a job working in a Ballroom dancing studio and suddenly her whole life and self image begin to change. Kwok is a great writer, she creates well drawn characters that we can't help but care for, and draws us completely into their world.

I loved Kwok's earlier novel, Girl in Translation a bit more, but Mambo is still a really good read. It just felt a little to easy for Charlie, the protagonist, to transform so completely in such a short time.

The Secret of the Nightingale Palace

The Secret of the Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs is a novel about a road trip taken from NY to SF by a grandmother and her estranged grandaughter. The story moves back and fourth between present day and 1940's San Francisco.

I didn't really like the grandmother, but the writing is good and there are enough twists and turns that keep the story interesting all the way until the end. Also, wonderful images of early Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. A good, but not great read.

First Frost

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen is a follow up to her novel Garden Spells. Centered around the Waverley sisters and their mysterious apple tree, the book is full of Southern charm and magic.

Allen creates likeable characters that draw you into their story and their magical world. Although not my favorite of her books, First Frost is a quick, easy, enjoyable read; it goes perfect with a hot cup of tea on a chilly Fall day.

The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is a Gothic novel set in Yorkshire, full of ghosts, creepy old houses, and enough twists and turns in the story to keep you up reading all night.

This is a book for book lovers. Great writing, great characters, great story. A bookish biographer gets a letter from a famous author who says she wants to finally tell the truth about her life, now that she is dying; thus begins the story....

A great read.

Language Arts

Language Arts by Stephanie Kallos is a novel about an English teacher, who teaches his students Language Arts, while he himself has a grown autistic son who is completely non-verbal. It is a sad, beautiful and compelling story.

Kallos is a masterful storyteller and throughout the novel, she weaves in stories of the father's early handwriting education by his formidable fourth grade teacher, his letters to his grown daughter, and stories of his early marriage to his wife, from whom he is now separated.

I had to go back several times to see what I had missed. Well written, thought provoking and full of compassion. A recommended read.

Bless Me, Ultima

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a coming of age story set in New Mexico. Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima, a curandera, one who heals with plants and magic, comes to live with his family.

As he grows up in rural New Mexico and struggles to fulfill his mother's and father's dreams, he is guided on an inner journey by Ultima.  A compelling book that sheds light on New Mexican culture and landscape; a wonderful story and a worthwhile read.

Lucky Us

Lucky Us by Amy Bloom is a novel about a young girl named Eva, growing up in the shadow of her older sister Iris after her mother leaves her on her father's doorstep when she was is just a child. The story moves from Ohio to Hollywood, to New York and Europe with a cast of offbeat characters hard to forget.

Bloom weaves their stories together masterfully and in the end redefines what family means. A totally original, entertaining and never predictable read.

Flame Tree Road

Flame Tree Road by Shona Patel is a novel set in Bengal at the end of the 19th century. The main character, Biren Roy, is a nobel man inspired by Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, Ramakrisna and Sri Aurobindo. Those are big shoes to fill, and Roy does a good job, working ceaselessly for women's rights in India.

This is a beautifully written, yet tragically sad novel. All the women Roy cares for are lost to him. The novel becomes almost predictable and loses some of its early beauty.

A worthwhile read, but not quite as good as Patel's debut novel, Teatime for the Firefly.

The Winter Witch

The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston is a novel set in 19th century Wales that follows young, silent Morgana as she begins her new life in an arranged marriage to a man she doesn't know. She soon falls in love with the wild country around her husband's farm, and begins to feel happy, until the townspeople slowly start to suspect something strange about her and begin turning against her.

Full of mystery and magic, beauty and romance, this is an engaging and enchanting story. The reader can't help but hope for the best for Morgana and Cai. A fun read that will transport you to another time and place.

Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novel based on the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-1970. It follows three people as their lives unfold in this very difficult time. Adichie writes with great honesty, she brings the personal element to this tragic part of Nigerias history.

This is a beautifully written, yet hard to read novel. Adichie is one of the most talented writers I've read in a long time. Highly recommended.

The Witch's Daughter

The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston is a tale of witchcraft and sorcery that moves through time from the 1600's to the present day. What's not to love?

Although I found the story entertaining, the warlock Gideon, who pursues the witch Bess Hawksmith through the centuries is such a repulsive character, it basically ruined the book for me.

Disappointing.

Ishmael's Oranges

Ishmael's Oranges by Claire Hajaj is a novel about the conflict between Palestinians and Jews for the land that is now Israel. beginning in 1948 Jaffa, moving to London, Beirut and back again, the novel follows the life of Salim, a displaced Palestinian boy who falls in love with Jude, a Jewish girl he meets in London.

They try desperately to overcome their families prejudices and hatred of each others culture. They commit to raising children who are the best of both worlds, but it proves more difficult than either can imagine.

This is a beautifully written and illuminating novel. Hajaj, sharing both Palestinian and Jewish heritage, sheds light on a very difficult conflict that has been going on for decades. There is great sadness in the unbroken cycle of hatred that travels down through families and poisons children, even in these more modern times.

A recommended read.

For the Time Being

For the Time Being by Annie Dillard, author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, is a book of Dillard's reflections on what it means to be here and why. She reflects on clouds, sand, the writings of Teilhard de Chardin to name a few. Her thinking and her writing go to places that only she can go.

Fans of Dillard will probably enjoy this book. I found it interesting, thoughtful, but not nearly as eloquent as Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

Americanah

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is the story of Ifemelu, a beautiful Nigerian girl who leaves military-ruled Nigeria for America and leaves behind Obinze, the love of her life. It is about her experience as a non-American black woman in America, which she begins to blog about. Obinze is not granted a visa for America, but goes instead to London and lives the life of an illegal immigrant there, until they both eventually end up back in Nigeria.

Ngozi Adichie's writing is current, intelligent and beautiful; she explores themes of race, identity, culture, family, community, love. Her characters are so completely drawn, I had a hard time saying good-bye to them at the end of the book, I was totally caught up in their story.

A highly recommended read.

The Pearl That Broke It's Shell

The Pearl That Broke It's Shell by Nadia Hashimi is a novel about the lives of Afghan women in the present day and 100 years ago. It is a complex and often tragic story.

Rahima, born into a family of all girls, is turned into a boy in the custom of bacha posh, and is given previously unimaginable freedom. It all ends when she turns 13 and is married to a man old enough to be her grandfather. Her only hope is in the story of her great-great grandmother Shekiba, told to her by her aunt.

Beautifully written, but hard to read tale of life in modern day Afghanistan, that has improved very little for women in the last century.

Malinche

Malinche by Laura Esquivel, author of Like Water for Chocolate, is historical fiction about the life of Malinche, the Native woman who became Hernan Cortes's interpreter during his conquest of Mexico. Today the word malinche is used pejoratively by Mexicans to describe someone who betrays their heritage.

In this slim novel, Esquivel re-imagines Malinche's life as a slave and places her inside her cultural context to help us understand the decisions she made. Accompanied by a codex, pre-Columbian style drawings, the book is part myth, part incantation. Lyrical and rich with imagery it brings ancient Mexico and its Gods alive.

If you are expecting something similar to Like Walter for Chocolate, you will be disappointed, nonetheless, Malinche is a magical novel that sheds light on a tragic part of Mexico's past.

The Glassblower of Murano

The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato is set in Venice, in the present day and in the 17th century, when Venetian glassblowers were the best in the world.

Although this is a novel, and Corradino Manin, the protagonist, is a fictional character, the story is based on fact. In the 13th century, all glassblowing in Venice was moved to Murano, an island in the Venetian lagoon. Here, the glassblowers stumbled upon the secret of how to make perfect, clear, large glass mirrors and this knowledge was strictly guarded. Venice's ruling council threatened the glassblowers and their families with death if they ever divulged their methods, yet many still escaped to France during the reign of Louis XIV and helped construct the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versaille.

A fascinating story of murder, mystery, culture, art, love, family...

A God in Ruins

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson is the follow up novel to Life After Life, not so much a sequel, as a companion novel. Here we meet Teddy, Ursula's younger brother, and move back in forth in time following his life as a young boy, an old man and father, and a fighter pilot in WWII.

Teddy is a likeable character, but his daughter Viola is awful and I never connected with the character of his wife Nancy, I just found that I didn't care about any of the characters very much by the end. Atkinson is a wonderful writer and the novel is intelligent and thought provoking. However, as a follow up to Life After Life, it is a bit of a letdown.

Orphan Train

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is historic fiction at its best. Baker Kline tells the story of Irish Catholic immigrant Niamh, later called Vivian, a young girl, orphaned in New York City in 1929 and sent on an "orphan train" to Minnesota to hopefully be adopted by a family there.

Between 1854-1929 orphan trains ran regularly from the East Coast to the Mid-West carrying thousands and thousands of children who we be taken to lives servitude and farm work. Some were lucky enough to end up with kind families who adopted them, but they were far removed from everything and everyone they knew.

Baker Kline has done her research well, even meeting with several 90 year old train riders still alive today. A beautifully written novel that highlights a little known part of American history. Recommended read.

Heart and Soul

Heart and Soul, by Maeve Binchy, author of Minding Frankie and many other novels, is a book about a close knit community in Dublin centered around a new heart clinic that has just opened.

Binchy writes feel good novels, creating characters the reader comes to know and care about, and although there are a few not so happy moments, mostly they are full of happy endings for all concerned.

An enjoyable, if a bit predictable read.

The Rosie Effect

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion is the follow up to The Rosie Project. Don Tillman, the Australian geneticist, with Asperger's syndrome, now living in New York with his wife Rosie, finds out she is pregnant. As he approached the problem of trying to get Rosie to marry him, he now approaches the problem of how to become a good father, very scientifically and with slightly odd methods that land him in trouble with the law.

Both books are laugh out loud funny and hard to put down. However, things keep going from bad to worse for Don in this sequel and I was starting to feel really bad for him and hoping he would catch a break, which he eventually does. I didn't love it quite as much as The Rosie Project, but still a hilarious and worthwhile read.

Pomegranate Soup

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran is a thin novel set in a small town in Ireland where three Persian sisters open a cafe. Each chapter starts with a different recipe.

The book is mildly interesting and the recipes pleasing, but it is over before the characters are developed enough to really care about any of them.

An entertaining, yet forgettable read. It did give me a craving for pomegranates.

The Ghost Bride

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo is a novel set in 19th century Malaysia, about a Chinese family whose daughter is supposed to marry a recently deceased man. Although not common, this was practiced by some Chinese families at that time.

What follows is a fabulous exploration of Chinese myth, folklore, superstition, and intrigue, as the reader is taken on a journey into the afterlife where a parallel world exists and young Li Lan tries to find her way in this world of ghosts and spirits. Along the way she encounters some fantastic creatures who make it almost impossible for her to return to the human realm.

Choo is a wonderful storyteller. I loved this book, much more than I expected to. A fascinating read.

Light of the Moon

Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice is a very romantic novel set in the French Camargue. Full of white horses, saints, gypsies, full moons, ancient cave paintings, love at first sight and more, the novel is full of mystery and romance as only Rice can write it.

Susannah Connolly is on a journey to France that she promised her late mother she would make. Little did she know it would change her life. There she meets Grey Dempsey, his wounded daughter and the beautiful white horses. As their story unfolds, the reader is transported into another world.

Although this is not my favorite of Rice's novels, her writing  is still beautiful, lyrical. If you are willing to suspend your disbelief that such passionate love at first sight in such a romantic setting actually exists, then you will enjoy this novel.

The Toss of a Lemon

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan is a family saga tracing four generations of a Southern Indian Brahmin family during the first half of the 20th century. The family is headed by Sivakami, married at ten, widowed at eighteen, and left alone with two small children. She sticks to her conservative Brahmin customs throughout her life, even as her own son and the world around her begin to change and shift away from the caste system.

A fascinating, beautifully written portrait of life in India at a certain time and place that no longer exists. I was transported completely by this complex and captivating story. I could almost hear the music of the veena playing while I was reading. Although this is a work of fiction, there is much truth in the descriptions of India's journey towards independence, and those who held on tightly to the old ways and those who wanted a more modern life. Neither side is judged here, Viswanathan simply shows how centuries of tradition shaped a nation.

A recommended read.

Peanut Butter and Naan

Peanut Butter and Naan, Stories of an American Mom in the Far East by Jennifer Hillman-Magnuson, is a memoir of one family's journey to India for 6 months while the Dad was transferred there for work. I should have put this book down as soon as I read the title, since when is India considered the Far East? Being an American that has spent a lot of time in India, I really wanted to like this book, I hoped it would make me want to travel there again with my daughter, but it just left me feeling dismayed and slightly embarrassed for all Americans in India.

The author tries so hard to be funny, but I found her annoying. She is so proud of herself for spending two hours alone in an Indian market with her daughter without their driver/bodyguard and thinks she has crossed the cultural divide when she buys an orange soda in a bottle and drinks it. I was so saddened by all the experiences this family missed, and by how many times she talked about how dirty India is.

I'm sure they're all nice people and in the end they helped out at a local orphanage, which the Mom considered a good photo-op; but where was the editor for this book? Lord Shiva is an Indian goddess with a Mona Lisa smile, ugh! This is one to skip.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu

Turn Right at Machu Picchu, Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time, by Mark Adams is an interesting and funny travelogue written by an adventure magazine writer who finally gets out from behind his desk and onto the trail. He retraces the steps of Hiram Bingham, who has the claim of being the "scientific" discoverer of Machu Picchu.

I enjoyed reading about Adams' Ausrtalian trail guide, John Leivers, who brings to mind Crocodile Dundee, as well as all of Adams' local Peruvian guides. The book is filled with the history of Machu Picchu and the Incas, intermixed with interesting anecdotes; did you know Indiana Jones is based on Hiram Bingham?

An engaging read, a fun way to enjoy the Inca trail without leaving the comfort of your home.

What Alice Forgot

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, is a novel about a 39 year old woman, Alice, who falls at the gym and bumps her head, wakes up with a concussion and no memory of the last ten years of her life; she believes she is 29 years old and pregnant with her first child. She soon finds out that she has three children, she is getting divorced, and is estranged from her sister and her neighbor and has no idea why.

Moriarty is a wonderful storyteller and I was hooked from the first page, I couldn't put this book down. When Alice wakes up and believes she is her younger self, she has forgotten all the things she is supposed to be so stressed out about.

It's a funny, thoughtful novel that makes one reflect on their own life, and all the things we do that keep us so busy. A great read.

The Bolter

The Bolter, The Story of Idina Sackville, who ran away to become the chief seductress of Kenya's scandalous "Happy Valley set," by Frances Osborne is a book written by "The Bolter's" great-grandaughter. Osborne never knew the story growing up, as her mother told her " you dont want to be known as the Bolter's gandaughter."

Lady Idina Sackville, with little black dog Satan by her side, cigarette in hand, and wearing only the most fashionable clothes, created quite a stir in high society London of the 20's and 30's. The book traces her life and her decision to leave her two young boys behind and run off to Kenya with a new lover. She married 5 times, had inumberable lovers, wild parties, and defied all convention at the time. Although she was her own woman, she was often defined by the man she was with, and in the end, was quite lonely.

A fascinating read.

Saving the World

Saving the World by Julia Alvarez is historical fiction based on the voyage made by Dr. Francisco Balmis at the turn of the 19th century to bring the small pox vaccine from Spain to the New World. Twenty-two young orphan boys were brought on the journey to be live carriers of the vaccine, accompanied by one woman, Isabel, who was their rectoress.

Alvarez weaves a present day story in with this account, of a writer named Alma, whose husband goes to her native country, The Dominican Republic, to help set up a health clinic and gets caught up in a hostage situation there.

I loved the account from the past, but the present day part of the story was quite depressing. Alvarez is a wonderful writer,  and although I liked this book, it is not my favorite of hers. Still, a worthwhile read that brings light to this fascinating expedition to try to save the world.

Winter Garden

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is a novel set in present day Washinton State, and in the Leningrad of the past, during Stalin's reign of terror. Meredith and Nina grow up with a cold Russian mother who doesn't seem to love them, and only when they are called home, when their father is dying, do they begin a real relationship with their mother.

Told partly through the form of a fairy tale, Hannah weaves together these two tales seamlessly. I was totally captivated as I was taken on a journey along with the daughters to discover who their mother really is.

Part fairy tale, part historic fiction, beautifully written storytelling at it's best. A worthwhile read.

The Look of Love

The Look of Love by Sarah Jio is a novel about a woman who can see true love; her vision clouds over and she feels faint. It's a silly premise and a silly novel. Reading this book felt like eating a big bag of greasy potato chips, you keep reading even though you know you shouldn't, and end up feeling mildy sick by the end.

Jio's earlier novels were much better, so I'm not sure what happened here. The writing is bad, I didn't care about the characters and the story was ridiculous. Might appeal to those who like to overindulge in junk food. Otherwise, skip it.

Etta and Otto and Russel and James

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper is a story about love and friendship, and what happens in old age when memories begin to slip and merge, it is more a walking meditation than a novel.

At 83 years old, in the first stages of Alzheimer's, Etta takes off alone to walk 3000 miles across Canada to see the ocean. A coyote, who she names James, joins her and becomes her companion. The story is told in the present and in the past, often through letters, when she was just a young schoolteacher and met Otto and Russel, who both fell in love with her, Otto going off to war and later marrying her, Russell staying nearby as their best friend. They are all deeply connected, yet each have their own journey to complete.

A sparse, beautiful, book. Sad, magical, haunting. Hooper lets the reader's imagination fill in the empty spaces. A wonderful debut.

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by Romain Puertolas is a very funny novel about exactly what the title says. This fakir flies from India to Paris, takes a taxi to Ikea, spends the night, hides in a wardrobe then ends up traveling to England, Spain, Italy and Libya all in a matter of days.

It is a hilarious ride full of wit and charm, and along the way our fakir falls in love, is chased by Gypsies, writes a book and ends up with a lot of cash. Puertolas' novel is full of heart and also brings to light the plight of illegal aliens, and the lengths they will go to, to get to one of the "good countries."

If you are able to suspend your disbelief, then you will find this an intelligent, funny read.

Counting by 7's

Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan, is a novel about a very gifted twelve year old girl, Willow Chance, who loses her adopted parents in a car accident and has nowhere to go.

Willow is a genius, and most likely on the aspergers spectrum, although it never says that for sure. She is taken in by a Vietnamese family, who she barely knows. She is also placed in the care of a lazy school counselor, and befriends a Mexican taxi driver. All their lives are changed forever by their friendships with Willow.

This is a beautifully written story, told mostly in the first person through Willow's unique perspective. It is impossible not to fall in love with her, and laugh and cry and hope with her.

A wonderful read, not soon forgotten.

Small Blessings

Small Blessings, by Martha Woodroof, is a sweet and funny novel about second chances. Set in a small college town in Virginia, four unlikely people come together to form a family.

Woodroof  has a gift for creating characters that the reader cares about. I found myself rooting for them all from the beginning. 

Funny, witty, charming, Small Blessings is a worthwhile read.

Her Fearful Symmetry

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife is a fascinating book that had me hooked for the first three quarters. Niffenegger is an intelligent writer, who creates unusual charcters that really draw the reader in, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen.

It is about two 21 year old twins from Chicago who inherit their aunt's flat in London when she dies. They have never met her and can't figure out why she left it to them. There they meet the kind upstairs neighbor with OCD who cant leave his apartment, and the younger lover of their aunt who lives downstairs. The flat borders London's famous Highgate Cemetery.

The book was wonderful until its very weird and disturbing last quarter which left me wishing for a totally different ending. It felt as if Niffenegger got tired and just abandoned all these characters she had worked so hard to create. Very disappointing.

Buster Midnight's Cafe

Buster Midnight's Cafe by Sandra Dallas is a story set in Butte, Montana. Dallas is a good storyteller, but I found the character names all a bit distracting, Effa Commander, Whippy Bird, Buster Midnight, to name a few.

The story is about three friends growing up in prohibition era Montana. One of them first becomes a prostitute, then makes it big as a movie star in California. They fall in love, get married, live through the war, and through it all they remain friends.

A charming, yet forgettable read.

Lost Lake

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen is an enchanting book about family, friendship and second chances, filled with just the right amount of magic.

Addison Allen brings the world of Lost Lake Georgia so vividly to life in these pages, I could almost feel the humidity and sense the presence of alligators. I was longing to visit there.

A wonderful read, that fans of her earlier novels will love, as well as readers new to Addison Allen.

A Wedding in Haiti

Its not often that a book just stops me in my tracks, so much so that I have to keep putting it down and walking away while I let certain passages sink in. A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez is just that type of book. Julia Alvarez is one of my favorite Latin American writers

Alvarez is from the Dominican Republic. I have always loved her novels and her poetry, but this little book is something much more personal. It is her account of a promise she made to a young Haitian friend to come to his wedding if he ever got married. When she was called upon to keep that promise, she embarked on an unforgettable and life changing journey. We as readers are all the richer because she chose to share it with us.

A rare and beautiful book, a recommended read.

That Part Was True

That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay is a novel about two unlikely friends; one a famous American author and the other a shy English woman, who loves to garden. They find a common interest in their love of food and cooking. Their relationship takes place only through correspondence, yet it quickly becomes the most important relationship in both of their lives.

At first I wasn't drawn in to the characters, it seemed just another story of privileged people whining 'poor me.' However, it quickly rose above that cliche and I found I couldn't put it down 'til the end. I loved reading about all the food, even though I'm a vegetarian and vegetarians are given a bad rap in the book.

A fun, enjoyable read, filled with just enough English charm that is goes perfectly with a cup of tea and cookies (recipe in back of book.)

Vienna Nocturne

Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell is historical fiction based on Mozart's life in late 18th century Vienna, and the life of opera singer Anna Storace. Shotwell imagines Mozart and Anna in love, even though they are married to other people. In this story Anna is his muse.

It's a wonderful picture of life in the opera at the time, in London, Italy and especially Vienna. Shotwell, an opera singer herself, has done much research and fills the book with vivid details that make the music come alive on the page.

An enjoyable read.

Look at Me

Look at Me by Jennifer Egan is a novel that has a fascinating concept, but didn't really work as a good story. Egan explores the idea of image, that we are what we see.

It is the story of a model in NYC who gets in a horrible car crash and her face, though still beautiful, is unrecognizable even to those who used to know her well. A plain looking teenage girl embarks on her own dangerous journey to be seen. A terrorist changes his image completely to fit into American society, and a half crazy history professor is writing a book about the changes in the world once glass was invented and we could see clearly, see ourselves for the first time.

The book got stuck in its own cleverness, and the characters were unlikeable and even harder to relate to. I wanted to like this book, but I just didn't.

The Burgess Boys

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout is a novel about family; two brothers and a sister raised in Maine, the brothers both become lawyers and move to New York, they drift apart and come back together through a family crises.

Strout is a master at creating characters that feel so real it's almost as if we already know them. She delves into the inner life of each character and brings their emotions to the page in the way few writers can

The problem is her characters are always so unlikeable its a bit of a painful process. Although I admire Strout for being a master of her craft, her books always leave me feeling mildly depressed.

A worthwhile read nonetheless, especially if you are from New England.

Leaving Before the Rains Come

Books by Alexandra Fuller always take my breath away and leave me speechless for a while after I finish reading them. This remains true with her latest, Leaving Before the Rains Come. If you haven't read Alexandra Fuller you are in for a rare treat and a wild ride. Start at the beginning with Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight, about her childhood in Africa in the midst of the Rhodesian wars, and just keep reading all her books from there.

Leaving Before the Rains Come focuses on the slow decay of her twenty year marriage to an American river guide she met in Africa, who she believed would save her from her life of chaos. Once settled in their big, expensive, sterile home in Wyoming, Fuller felt lost, lonely, and full of anxiety.

Her writing is superb; told with gut wrenching honesty, it is a book you won't soon forget.

Prince Lestat

Prince Lestat by Anne Rice is the latest in The Vampire Chronicles, the first new addition to this series in over two decades. I loved the original books, but was underwhelmed by this latest installment.

Rice continues to enchant with her wonderful details of place, decor, clothing, etc, but the story was bogged down by the sheer scope of all the vampires included in this novel. It felt like a 500 page encyclopedia, a whose who of the vampire world. Although the characters mostly appeared in past books, its been so long I could hardly keep them all straight, thus the need for an index at the back of the book.

Still, a fairly fun read for those hooked on her past books, but I wouldn't recommend starting with this one if you are new to The Vampire Chronicles.

The Unexpexted Waltz

The Unexpected Waltz by Kim Wright is a wonderful novel about starting over after fifty. A woman whose very rich, older husband dies and leaves her wealthy and alone in his big house, comes out of mourning to find herself a little lost.

By chance she wanders into a Ballroom Dancing studio in her town and thus begins her journey into a whole new world. This novel could only have been written by a Ballroom Dancer, as Wright brings the scene so completely to life I could almost smell the hairspray and see the spray on tans!

Filled with great characters, this novel kept me engaged the whole way through, and even made me want to get up and dance. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas

2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino is a day in the life of almost ten year old Madeleine Altimari. Madeleine doesn't have any friends in her fifth grade class at school, she's just been expelled, her mother has recently died, her father is lost in grief, and all she really wants to to is sing.

Bertino weaves together beautifully the stories of Jazz Club owner Lorca, in debt and about to lose his club, Madeleine's teacher Sarina, recently divorced, and of course Madeleine herself, as they all find their way to The Cat's Pajamas, Philadelphia's once premiere Jazz Club, on Christmas Eve Eve, where Bertino brings Philadelphia's Jazz scene to life.

This is a wonderful, well written story, at times funny, at times heartbreaking, ultimately redeeming. I loved it.

Lost in a Good Book

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde is the second book in his Thursday Next series. If you enjoyed his first book, you will surely enjoy this one, as it is more of the same.

Next's husband has been eradicated, and to get him back she has to find her way into the poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Before she can do that, she must enter Great Expectations, to apprentice with Miss Havisham and learn how to book jump.

If you can suspend your disbelief, this is a fun adventure through some of the classics of literature, with a very modern twist.

Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, is a beautifully crafted post-apocalyptic novel unlike others in the same genre. After a flu wipes out 99 percent of Earth's population, those left are finding a way to live.

The novel moves back and forth through time, from an actor who dies on the night the pandemic starts, to the paramedic in training who tries to revive him, to a child actor who survives, and 20 years later is living with a Traveling Symphony performing Shakespeare plays to other survivors.

These characters are linked together through wonderful details and images, not least of which is the comic Station Eleven, from which the book gets its name.

An original, well written and haunting novel that you won't soon forget.

The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fford is the first novel in a series of novels about detective Thursday Next. Set in Britain in the 80's, Fford has created a world where the barrier between literature and reality is bendable and it is possible to steal characters out of novels and poems, or even enter into them yourself.

You must completely suspend your disbelief to enjoy this story. Sometimes it worked for me and sometimes it didn't, but it's hard not to like the heroine of the story, Thursday Next, a SpecOps Literatech tracking down an evil villain hidden deep in the pages of Jane Eyre.

A fun and clever read, if you're up for a truly fantastic journey.

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate is the second book in the Isabel Dalhousie Series by Alexander McCall Smith. These books have a weightier quality to them than the more lighthearted Ladies No.1 Detective Agency Series. Set in Edinburgh, Isabel Dalhousie is another wonderful, strong, intelligent, female lead character. She is a philosopher and a bit of an investigator herself.

In this book, she meets a man who has recently had a heart transplant, and now is having strange dreams, almost like memories. She decides to investigate and we wander through Edinburgh with her, getting acquainted with the neighborhood, as well as listening to all the philosophical musings going on in her mind.

McCall Smith is always clever, charming and original. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Good Things

Good Things is the debut novel by Mia King. After five years of her own TV show in Seattle called 'Live Simple,' Deidre's show is cancelled. She also looses her apartment the same week and is conveniently offered the use of a country home by a gorgeous, rich stanger she happens to meet.

Its all a little too good to be true for my taste, which seems to be a theme in the books I've been reading lately. What are supposed to be struggles and hardships for Deidre in the following months, seem like more abundance heaped onto her supposedly challenging life.

I never really bought into any of it, or cared about the characters. King has some promise as a writer if she digs a little deeper next time.