The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan is a family saga tracing four generations of a Southern Indian Brahmin family during the first half of the 20th century. The family is headed by Sivakami, married at ten, widowed at eighteen, and left alone with two small children. She sticks to her conservative Brahmin customs throughout her life, even as her own son and the world around her begin to change and shift away from the caste system. A fascinating,…
Peanut Butter and Naan, Stories of an American Mom in the Far East by Jennifer Hillman-Magnuson, is a memoir of one family’s journey to India for 6 months while the Dad was transferred there for work. I should have put this book down as soon as I read the title, since when is India considered the Far East? Being an American that has spent a lot of time in India, I really wanted to like this book, I hoped it…
Turn Right at Machu Picchu, Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time, by Mark Adams is an interesting and funny travelogue written by an adventure magazine writer who finally gets out from behind his desk and onto the trail. He retraces the steps of Hiram Bingham, who has the claim of being the “scientific” discoverer of Machu Picchu. I enjoyed reading about Adams’ Ausrtalian trail guide, John Leivers, who brings to mind Crocodile Dundee, as well as all…
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, is a novel about a 39 year old woman, Alice, who falls at the gym and bumps her head, wakes up with a concussion and no memory of the last ten years of her life; she believes she is 29 years old and pregnant with her first child. She soon finds out that she has three children, she is getting divorced, and is estranged from her sister and her neighbor and has no idea…
The Bolter, The Story of Idina Sackville, who ran away to become the chief seductress of Kenya’s scandalous “Happy Valley set,” by Frances Osborne is a book written by “The Bolter’s” great-grandaughter. Osborne never knew the story growing up, as her mother told her ” you dont want to be known as the Bolter’s gandaughter.” Lady Idina Sackville, with little black dog Satan by her side, cigarette in hand, and wearing only the most fashionable clothes, created quite a stir…
Saving the World by Julia Alvarez is historical fiction based on the voyage made by Dr. Francisco Balmis at the turn of the 19th century to bring the small pox vaccine from Spain to the New World. Twenty-two young orphan boys were brought on the journey to be live carriers of the vaccine, accompanied by one woman, Isabel, who was their rectoress. Alvarez weaves a present day story in with this account, of a writer named Alma, whose husband goes to…
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…