The Friends We Keep by Susan Mallory is a novel about three women in a small southern California town, each dealing with their own family problems; from divorce, to teen pregnancy to being unable to have a baby. They are there for each other through thick and thin. It was a decent read, with well drawn characters, but a bit too predictable and easily forgotten.
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is a brilliant novel. Nao, a sixteen year old Japanese girl writes a diary about her life and her 104 year old grandmother who is a Buddhist nun. The diary washes ashore an island in the Pacific Northwest inside a Hello Kitty lunchbox where Ruth, a writer, finds it. The story is at times very sad and disturbing, but it is also funny, wise and tender. Both stories and characters are…
Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai, author of The Inheritance of Loss, is a satire about life in a small Indian village. Sampath, a twenty year old boy unremarkable in every way, decides he is tired of his life, his family, his job, etc. He climbs a guava tree in a nearby orchard and promptly takes up residence there. Suddenly he is seen by the town as a holy man and all manner of chaos ensues as people…
The Power of Meow by David Michie is part of the Dalai Lama’s Cat Series. Another great little story written from the point of view of HHC or His Holiness’s cat as she is known. This book is filled with simple wisdom, Buddhist teachings and funny moments as HHC observes the everyday happenings in her neighborhood, has dreams of her past lives, and learns to meditate. Profound life lessons are given here in a simple and humorous way; it’s hard…
Yarn Harlot, The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is a book I thought was a novel but is actually a series of essays by a very obsessed knitter. Pearl-Mcphee has a blog by the same name and these often felt like reading blog entries. Some were very funny, others mildly amusing, all would have surely been much more enjoyable if I were actually a knitter. In fact, I felt like giving this book to all my knitting…
A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson is a novel I picked up because of the catchy, but somewhat misleading title. In 1923, English sisters Eva and Lizzie and friend Millicent head to Kashgar as missionaries. Eva does not feel a religious calling, but wants to write a book about her trip, and keeps this secret. A parallel present day story finds Frieda just returning to London after months working abroad and drifting a little lost when she…
Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera is a novel set in Sri Lanka during the long years of Civil War. It tells the story of two girls, one Tamil, who grew up in the North during the war, the other Sinhalese, whose family fled to LA to escape the war. This is a beautifully written novel evoking the sights and sounds, smells and tastes of Sri Lanka as well as chronicalling the immigrant experience in the States. It…
Morning Glory by Sarah Jio is set in a Seattle houseboat community in the 1950’s and present day. It’s an interesting story paralleling the lives of two lonely women living in the same houseboat 50 years apart. I usually enjoy Jio’s books, but I found this one a little too perfectly wrapped up to be believable. Everything came full circle at the end, all loose ends are tied up and the stories converge in a very unrealistic way. An ok,…
To My Dearest Friends by Patricia Volk is a novel about a woman who dies of cancer and leaves a letter to her two best friends who’ve never met each other. They are unsure what to do with the secrets contained in the letter, and unsure if they even like each other. The novel is a love song to New York City and to female friendship. A quick easy read with an unexpected ending, well written, enjoyable, but also forgettable.
Open House by Elizabeth Berg is a novel about a woman dealing with divorce and raising a child on her own. I usually enjoy Berg’s books, but this was not one of my favorites. Samantha, the protagonist played the victim almost the entire book and I found it really tiring. Berg is a wonderful writer who gets straight to the heart of the emotions of her characters, yet this was not a book with characters I felt I could relate…