Gena's Reads

The Printmaker’s Daughter by Katherine Govier, is historical fiction based on the life of the daughter of Japan’s most famous painter, Hokusai, the legendary printmaker famous for his images of Mount Fuji, and The Great Wave. According to Govier, much of Hokusai’s work, especially later in his life, was actually done by his daughter, Oei, even though she was never given any credit for it. It’s a fascinating picture of nineteenth-century Edo, as well as the lives of artists and…

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I generally like Elizabeth Berg’s novels. She is good at creating very real and honest, believable characters. She often delves specifically into women’s issues, all things I love. However, in Until the Real Thing Comes Along, I just didn’t really like Patty, the main character, very much. I liked Ethan, her gay best friend much better. It is the story of a woman in her late 30’s, obsessively longing for a baby, a husband, and a home. By the end, she gets…

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Saving CeeCee Honeycut by Beth Hoffman is as sweet and syrupy as a tall glass of sweet tea on a hot Georgia day. It’s a feel good, girl power novel filled with all sorts of eccentric Southern women and a 12 year old protagonist who is taken under their wings. There’s nothing particularly original about this novel, but it’s hard not to root for CeeCee, even if you know from the start that she’s going to be just fine. A…

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I love Kate Morton’s novels, and The Distant Hours is no exception. It’s a big thick gothic mystery set in a crumbling old castle in the English countryside, spanning time from WWII until present day. I was drawn in immediately to all the characters and just couldn’t put the book down. Morton is a master storyteller. This is the darkest of her novels, filled with intrigue and suspense and lost love. The Forgotten Garden remains my favorite of her books,…

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The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan is a memoir about a woman and her father who both survive cancer. I wanted to like this book-I really did, and although there were some funny and tender moments, overall I found it tiresome, and I couldn’t wait to be done. I’m sure Corrigan is a lovely person, but that doesn’t make her a great writer.

Local Knowledge by Liza Gyllenhaal is a novel I immediately got drawn into and couldn’t put down. It is about Maddie Alden, a small town girl in New England, now a realtor selling second homes to rich urbanites who come to the country for the weekend. Gyllenhaal probes the disparity between these two groups of people, as Maddie finds herself walking the line between lifelong bonds and new friendships springing up with the wealthy new crowd she longs to be a part…

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The Favored Queen, A Novel of Henry VIII’s Third Wife, by Carolly Erickson, is historical fiction lite. This is a novel about Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s wife following Anne Boleyn. It was mildly entertaining, but way too  much of the story was fabricated. It left me disappointed, and longing for a more in depth tale of Tudor England.

Look Me in the Eye, My Life with Asperger’s, by John Elder Robison is a memoir about growing up different from everyone else, but not knowing why. Robison wasn’t diagnosed with Asperger’s until he was 40. Until then, he was told all sorts of reasons why he was different. That he was a deviant sociopath seemed to be a recurrent theme, because he was percieved as being rude, and he would never look people in the eye when talking to them….

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The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff is historical fiction based on polygamy within the Mormon church, both in the past, and as it exists today. It is the fascinating story of Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young’s infamous 19th wife, who divorced him, left the church and fought to get polygamy made illegal in the United States. Her story, and the story of the founders of the church and it’s first pioneers, is intermingled with a modern day story of a…

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Empress by Shan Sa is historical fiction based on the life of China’s only female Emperor, Empress Wu (AD 625-705) who lived and ruled during the golden age of the Tang Dynasty. Her story is written in the first person, beginning by narrating her own birth. EmpressWu, known as Heavenlight in the novel, rises from obscurity through her own intelligence and determination to become China’s only female Emperor in 5000 years. She is wise and strong and sometimes very cruel….

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