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…
Euphoria by Lily King is historic fiction based on the life of Margaret Mead during the 1930’s while she was working as an anthropologist in New Guinea. This is a well written novel about Mead and her husband and a fellow anthropologist, who is in love with her, and their differing approaches to learning about the native tribes they are studying while revealing even more about themselves. It is a fascinating portrayal of human behavior and relationships, of the tribes…
For All the Tea in China, How England Stole the World’s Favorite Drink and Changed History by Sarah Rose is a fascinating real life adventure of botanist Robert Fortune sent in the mid 1800’s by the British East India Company into the mountains of China, disguised as a Chinese businessman to steal tea plants, seeds, and the secrets of processing tea held for 2000 years by the Chinese. This is an incredible adventure story full of mystery and intrigue, espionage,…
The Nest by Cynithia D’Aprix Sweeny, is a novel about four grown siblings in a very dysfunctional New York family each counting on a nest egg from their deceased father. All four have their reasons for wanting the money, yet one brother gets himself in trouble and almost all the money goes to bailing him out. What ensues is a complex story of how each of the siblings tries to deal with the problem alone and through coming together as…
The Secrets She Keeps by Deb Caletti is a novel based on the divorce ranches that existed in Nevada in the 50’s. Women would come and stay for six weeks to get residency, then legally get a divorce. The atmosphere was often like a big party, with cocktails and dancing and city women falling for cowboys, there were Hollywood stars who came and of course a lot of heartbreak. Caletti moves back and forth from present day to the Summer…