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…
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…
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…
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, 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…