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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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.
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….