Lisa's Review: The Underground Railroad

Author: Colson Whitehead
Series: None
Publication Date: August 2, 2016
Publisher: Doubleday
Pages: 320
Obtained: Amazon
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Fantastical and Fabulous.
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

I have not known what to read for some time now and so I have not.  After focusing on academic reading (lots of it) for the last five years, it has been good to take a break.  A short trip to the airport and The Good Girl (I concur with Julie), turned that around.

I came to The Underground Railroad during Seth Myers’ recent interview of Whitehead. So intrigued was I, that two minutes in I popped out of bed to download the book to my Kindle.

It is hard to resist the concept of The Underground Railroad as a literal railroad (something we all believed to be true at some point in childhood or if you are a much older reality star. Ha!)  I have never read Gulliver’s Travels, so that explains why I spent the first half of the South Carolina chapter thinking “Really? South Carolina? During slavery?” before recalling the idea that each state Cora, (our protagonist) “visits” is presented as an alternate state of American history.

Whitehead is right. He puts Cora through a LOT. All of it heartbreaking – none more so than the subtle ironic reveal near the novel’s end. Throughout, I was despondent when Cora was, I cheered when she triumphed, even in small ways and I often wondered “what if?”  

It is not a perfect novel by any means and indeed my quibbles are minor, so to elaborate would be petty.  This is a novel worthy of the attention it is receiving.

Lisa's Review: What I Read on my Winter Vacation

I don't remember ever being as busy as I was in 2010. I literally for the first time in my life read about three books all year. So you can imagine my excitement for a planned weeklong vacation to Mexico at the beginning of this year. Was I excited to go lay out in the sun on the beach, not doing anything all day? Sure I was but honestly I was even more excited to catch up on my non work-related reading material. Seriously! I had a ton of books to choose from, so it was difficult to decide which ones to bring with me. I didn't want to spend my little free time reading crap, so I focused on recommendations from friends. I brought along The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, borrowed from a friend who all but assured me that it was a great book and I already had Game Change CD: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime loaded on my iPad. In addition to my planned magazine reading, I felt I was ready to go.

The Reviews

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

I finally fell for the hype. I resisted for as long as I could, but sometimes the hype is real,  for example Harry Potter. I resisted there as well and by the end I was one of the people in line at midnight.  Anyway, this book started slowly and the translation was clunky and I felt like I really had to slug through it, but I am glad I did.  Even though the book is titled The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I think Lisbeth was simply introduced and this book is more about Mikael Blomkvist. He gets invited to investigate a family tragedy after being found guilty for libel and being "fired" from his magazine. Lisbeth shows up in the beginning and we visit her throughout and you can't help but be fascinated by her. She's a bad-ass.  She joins Blomkvist in his investigation about halfway through and they finish it up together. It's a fascinating mystery too. Julie has a great in-depth review and I agree with her assessment. I felt like I didn't really know who Lisbeth was at the end, I really wanted that. Just a great read. Final Take: 4/5

 

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

Technically, I didn't read this on my winter vacation, but I had a short trip planned just after I got back from vacation, that I immediately borrowed The Girl Who Played with Fire as soon I got back. I read this on the very long flights to and from and was able to finish it. I gotta say, I love this one even better than I did the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  For one the translation got much better in this version. Thank goodness for that. This time the mystery was all about Lisbeth Salander. As I mentioned, I left Dragon Tattoo feeling like Lisbeth was still a bit of a mystery. This book told her story  and fleshed her character out more. You understand how and why she became this fascinating person. This one took a while to get going as well and once it did, we were off to the races once again. All in all, just another fantastic read. It's clear based on the ending Steig Larsson clearly had a plan in mind about how he wanted to tell these stories. I can't wait to find a spare moment to get into the final novel, it's going to be a while before that happens.  Final Take: 4.5/5



GAME CHANGE

Even though, I followed the 2008 presidential election with much interest, I'm not a big fan of non-fiction reads nor do I care much for political reads. However, more than one friend encouraged me to read this book, so I downloaded and figured I'd get to it when I get to it. I started this the day before I left and finished on the flight back and I immediatly wished I'd read this sooner. Talk about an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at all the drama. It was great. The things that were reported aren't nearly the half of it. I was was concerned that the writing would be tedious and technical, but it was such an easy read, that I needn't have been concerned. Besides, the details are so juicy, it was almost like reading a gossip magazine. Wait it was exactly like reading a gossip magazine.  I laughed out loud in places and was even more appalled in some. And Sarah Palin.... There are just no words.  If you were the least bit fascinated by that election, then you must read this book. Doesn't matter who you voted for - it's just too fascinating. Final Take: 4/5

 

Lisa's Review: One Amazing Thing

Summary:
Late afternoon in an Indian visa office in an unnamed American city. Most customers have come and gone, but nine people remain. A punky teenager with an unexpected gift. An upper class Caucasian couple whose relationship is disintegrating. A young Muslim-American man struggling with the fallout of 9/11. A graduate student haunted by a question about love. An African-American ex-soldier searching for redemption. A Chinese grandmother with a secret past. And two visa office workers on the verge of an adulterous affair.
When an earthquake rips through the afternoon lull, trapping these nine wildly individual characters together, their focus first jolts to a collective struggle to survive. There’s little food. The office begins to flood. Then, at a moment when the psychological and emotional stress seems nearly too much for them to bear, the young graduate student suggests that each tell a personal tale, “one amazing thing” from their lives, which they have never told anyone before. As their surprising stories of romance, marriage, family, political upheaval, and self-discovery unfold against the urgency of their life-or-death circumstances, the novel proves the transcendent power of stories and the meaningfulness of human expression itself. One Amazing Thing is a passionate creation about survival—and about the reasons to survive.
Review:
We've all been there, sitting for hours on end, in the passport office, in a jury pool or at the D.M.V., looking around you, wondering about the guy or gal in front (or behind) of you. At the end of the day, you'll likely leave never knowing who those people are, never connecting because you've been engaged in some sort of singular activity as you pass the time away. That's the reason, I was intrigued

Lisa's Review: The Help

Summary:
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Review:
Well before I got one third of the way through this book, I knew that it would get a rating of 5 from me, unless of course the second half of the book just went horribly wrong. Somehow I just didn't see that happening.

I was skeptical that a white author would truly be able to write in the voice of a black woman in 1960s Mississippi, but write she did and not just one woman but two. Aibileen and Minny are distinctly different women, both funny, smart, sad and ultimately brave. Skeeter was just also a joy to get to know. She's a modern woman torn between expectations and hoping for change until the opportunity presents itself. She teams up with the Aibileen and Minny to work on a project that is dangerous for the three of them. Segregation is still rampant and Mississippi is fighting the inevitable changes.

Race relations takes center stage in the novel. Ms. Stockett did an excellent job of treating the subject with careful respect by combining fact with fiction, pointing out injustices and the irony of it all without condemning either race. Really well done. My only disappointment - the Terrible Awful just wasn't enough of a price for Hilly to pay, evil woman. I shudder to think that people like her existed and likely still do.

Read this book...You will love it.

Final Take: 5/5

Lisa's Review: The Forgotten Garden

Summary:
A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book -- a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and with very little to go on, "Nell" sets out on a journey to England to try to trace her story, to find her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. At Cliff Cottage, on the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, Cassandra discovers the forgotten garden of the book's title and is able to unlock the secrets of the beautiful book of fairy tales. ~http://books.simonandschuster.com/Forgotten-Garden/Kate-Morton/9781416550549

Review:
When we meet Nell, an abandoned four-year old stowed away on an ocean liner who wouldn't even speak her name, she is adopted by a generous dock worker and his wife. Devastated to learn years later that she isn't who she thought she was, she becomes withdrawn and changes her life around. With nothing more than an old suitcase and book of fairy tales she sets off to learn the truth about who she is. The knowledge doesn't come easily though and her search is derailed when Cassandra, her granddaughter, abandoned by her mother (Nell's daughter) comes to live with her. Nell dies without ever knowing the truth of who she is, but her grandaughter, continues the search.

The early chapters change time periods consistently which is confusing and frustrating for the reader, but this doesn't go on for very long and the story unfolds in a comfortable rhythm. Though a little in long in places, the story unfolds in a combination of present day and flashbacks and interspersed with fairy tales, which is a unique storytelling style that I particularly enjoyed. The fairy tales added an extra allegorical layer to the storytelling and offers the reader clues to the mystery.

A savvy reader will have guessed the truth of the what happened to Nell, long before the end of the book, however Kate Morton does a great job keeping your interest throughout. It was a pleasure getting to know the characters particularly the primary female characters who are fleshed out and well formed. Their male counterparts are not as fortunate, but there are far less of them around so it doesn't matter much.

Part fairy tale itself, The Forgotten Garden features some minor fantastical elements, even a wicked witch, but it's certainly not overdone in anyway. I can't help but compare this to The House at Riverton which packed such a powerful punch at the end that it keeps me from giving this a higher score. Don't get me wrong though, with strong themes, of love and betrayal, The Forgotten Garden is certainly a worthy follow up and great read.

Final Take: 4/5

Lisa's Review: The Lost Hours

Summary
When Piper Mills was twelve, she helped her grandfather bury a box that belonged to her grandmother in the backyard. For twelve years, it remained untouched.

Now a near fatal riding accident has shattered Piper’s dreams of Olympic glory. After her grandfather’s death, she inherits the house and all its secrets, including a key to a room that doesn’t exist—or does it? And after her grandmother is sent away to a nursing home, she remembers the box buried in the backyard. In it are torn pages from a scrapbook, a charm necklace—and a newspaper article from 1939 about the body of an infant found floating in the Savannah River. The necklace’s charms tell the story of three friends during the 1930s— each charm added during the three months each friend had the necklace and recorded her life in the scrapbook. Piper always dismissed her grandmother as not having had a story to tell. And now, too late, Piper finds she might have been wrong.

Review
How have I never heard of Karen White before? This is her tenth(!) book and the first for me. I read the summary knowing that it was right up my alley and was excited when her publicist offered it to us for review. Full of wonderful characters, it was a little difficult to love Piper immediately. She was feeling sorry for herself and a bit stubborn and defensive. Her grandfather's death opened up a mystery for her. Her grandmother is stricken with Alzhiemiers and eventually dies. Piper reaches out to the only other person alive who can provide answers, but finds her efforts rebuffed. Determined, she sets off to dig further and finds her life being transformed as the mystery unfolds.

This is a heartwarming novel, about friendship, secrets, regrets, forgiveness and healing. With flashbacks to early 20th Century Savannah, by way of scrapbook entries, it was easy to guess at the answers to the questions Piper had, but it was never completely predictable, nor could I guess at all the secrets.

My issues with the novel are minor. The timeline at the beginning was a bit jumpy and I was left a little confused. In addition, I am not sure that I got a believable resolution to a minor character's story. I had a small problem with the point of view switching from Piper to other characters about 75 pages in. I'd gotten used to the third person at that point, however after I read an interview the author gave that explained her reason for switching and found it acceptable. Other than that I am happy to sing Ms. White's praises and wonder what other gems I've been missing.

Final take: 4.5/5

To Re-Read or Not to Re-Read? That Is The Question.

I went to see a movie Friday night and I saw two trailers for movie adaptaions of popular novels. I have a love hate relationship with movie adaptions, as I am sure most avid readers do, and I struggle with whether to see a movie that's been adapted from a novel. I often struggle with something else - whether to re-read the book before going to see a movie, or not. It's a big investment of time to re-read a book and lately I haven't a lot of time to keep up with and read the things I usually want to (I still have no idea what Stephanie was up to in Fearless Fourteen). With 5 major adaptations coming to the theatre this year, I am seriously wondering whether to invest the time. For some I already know the answer to this question, but for others, I still really don't know. Perhaps you all could offer up an opinion?

The Books/Movies

Angels & Demons
(May 15) - I vaguely remember the plot of this book. Yeah, I remember the big themes, the ending and I absolutely remember this book being really good, however the details completely escape me. Knowing what I know about adaptations in general and remembering how extremely pissed off I was at the cop-out that was The DaVinci Code movie, I wonder if a re-read is warranted?

My Sister's Keeper
(June 26) - This was one of the trailers I saw the other night and I can already tell you there are departures from the book. I still believe this will be a major tearjerker, though, that's not my issue. This book was so very good and so heartbreaking that I knew when I was done that I couldn't never read this book again. I want to, but I'm not sure I can.

The Lovely Bones
(December 11) - Umm, I haven't read this yet, so I guess I'll be reading it.

The Time Traveler's Wife
(August 14th) - Have you read this book yet? Seriously, this is a must read. I read it when it first came out, and like Angels and Demons I can't recall a lot of the details. I have some serious love for this novel, so I really won't mind another visit.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(July 15) - There's no question. Oh wait! Just one - Have you seen the new trailer?

Lisa's Review: Delicate Edible Birds

Review:
I can't think of many people I know who seek out short stories or short story collections as consistent reading material. I can count on three fingers the number of short stories, I've sought out in the past few years, maybe even my post-college/adult life. Brokeback Mountain and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Lame. I know and as much as I would like to prove that I'm not that lame, I can't remember the name of the 3rd story.*

Suffice it to say I came to Delicate Edible Birds a little unsure what to expect, so this was an interesting read. As I read, I noticed a theme emerging tying the stories together. None of the stories are similar to another, even the tone of the opening paragraph of each story is very different. Each story revolved one main female character, each from a different walk of life, living in a different time period and their story told from a different point of view. These are some of the attributes that made me love the entire collection, with Lucky Chow Fun, L. DeBard & Aliette, and Blythe standing out as favorites.

And though each story on it's own isn't a winner, it's clear that Lauren Groff is exceptionally talented writer and this collection of short stories is all the evidence needed.

Final Take: 3.75/5

* Remember that 3rd short story I mentioned further up? In short, it's about a guy who is on some sort of journey and somehow comes to the realization he's dead. I'll give you a $20 gift certificate to Amazon if you can tell me the name of it.

Lisa's Review: The Other Queen

Summary:

This dazzling novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory presents a new and unique view of one of history's most intriguing, romantic, and maddening heroines. Biographers often neglect the captive years of Mary, Queen of Scots, who trusted Queen Elizabeth's promise of sanctuary when she fled from rebels in Scotland and then found herself imprisoned as the "guest" of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his indomitable wife, Bess of Hardwick.

The newly married couple welcome the doomed queen into their home, certain that serving as her hosts and jailers will bring them an advantage in the cutthroat world of the Elizabethan court. To their horror, they find that the task will bankrupt them, and as their home becomes the epicenter of intrigue and rebellion against Elizabeth, their loyalty to each other and to their sovereign comes into question. If Mary succeeds in seducing the earl into her own web of treachery and treason, or if the great spymaster William Cecil links them to the growing conspiracy to free Mary from her illegal imprisonment, they will all face the headsman.

Philippa Gregory uses new research and her passion for historical accuracy to place a well-known heroine in a completely new tale full of suspense, passion, and political intrigue. For years, readers have clamored for Gregory to tell Mary's story, and The Other Queen is the result of her determination to present a novel worthy of this extraordinary heroine.

Review:

Other than my review of The Other Boleyn Girl movie and Julie's Review of the book, this is my first experience with Philippa Gregory. The Other Queen focuses on the first three years of Mary Stuart's captivity in England and it was definitely interesting. The research seemed to be well done and the little digging I did on my own, seemed to match up. Frankly, if anything there wasn't true, I wouldn't be able to poke any holes, so I have to trust her research.

The novel is well written. It is told from the point of view of the three main characters, George, his wife Bess, and Queen Mary. George is an earl given what he believes to be the honorable task of hosting the Queen until she is restored to her throne in Scotland. He is soon mistaken as he becomes infatuated with the beautiful young queen . Bess, is a shrewd "business woman" or, you know, golddigger, who sees the keeping of the queen as an opportunity to advance her fortunes as well as those of her children. She is soon mistaken because Mary is a queen and expects to be treated as such. Mary is portrayed as an arrogant beauty, who believes that her claims to the thrones of France, Scotland, and England makes her untouchable.

I believe Ms. Gregory made a mistake choosing to write about this point in Mary's story. A lot of backstory has to get filled in with excessive exposition. The first three years of Mary's captivity are filled with plots to free her, one of which came close to succeeding, however, characters are hardly, if ever a part of the action and the story certainly suffers for it. With fifteen years of captivity left when the book ends, the story is wrapped up all to neatly and Mary's march to execution was relayed in dream sequence. Seriously? Hmm, definitely not what I was expecting.

All in all, I didn't hate this book, mostly I wasn't sure what to expect, so my reaction is mostly ambivalent.

Final Take: 3/5

Related: Other works by Philippa Gregory

Lisa's Review: The Secret Life of Bees

Summary:

Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory--the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her "stand-in mother."

When Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily knows it's time to spring them both free. They take off in the only direction Lily can think of, toward a town called Tiburon, South Carolina--a name she found on the back of a picture amid the few possessions left by her mother.

There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters named May, June, and August. Lily thinks of them as the calendar sisters and enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Maternal loss and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness entwine in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most.

The Secret Life of Bees has a rare wisdom about life--about mothers and daughters and the women in our lives who become our true mothers. A remarkable story about the divine power of women and the transforming power of love, this is a stunning debut whose rich, assured, irresistible voice gathers us up and doesn't let go, not for a moment. It is the kind of novel that women share with each other and that mothers will hand down to their daughters for years to come. www.suemonkkidd.com

Review:
I'd never heard of The Secret Life of Bees. Maybe I had, and it never registered. When I'd learned of of the movie and realized it was based on a novel, I knew I had to get to reading.

Unfortunately I found myself detained by Edgar Sawtelle. Anyway, I was careful not to read Julie's review of the movie, because I wanted to savor. And savor I did!

I really would just be repeating Julie, telling you just how wonderful this book is. To say it was well written, heartwarming and relevant would just be redundant. Getting caught up with getting to know the Boatwright Sisters, the colorful Daughters (and Son) of Mary, and learning about their livelihood was nothing short of a pleasure. I was unfortunate enough to find myself, on a crowded train, nearing the end of the book, with nary a tissue in sight, no desire to stop reading and absolutely not caring.

I thought the ending was a bit saccharine and tied up really neatly, probably more than I normally would, and the cynic in me knew that this element would get played up in the movie. I saw this as the biggest detriment to my enjoyment of the book-knowing about the movie. I was not truly able to create my own versions of the characters myself, due to visions of Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson dancing in my head.

Inability to compartmentalize aside, I had a truly emotional reading experience and you will too.

And finally, I'm off to the theatre.

Final Take: 4.5/5

Lisa's Review: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Review:
WTF? I'm very tempted to let those three letters be my review, but it would just be unfair. So I'll try to be fair, however, this may end up being more rant than review, so bear with me.

First rule of reading, follow your instincts. I really should have followed mine. I was mildly intrigued by the premise when I saw the author interviewed on the today show. The critical acclaim and numerous positive reviews led me to buy this although I was not at all swayed by the summary. Hold on - let me move my hair so you can brand "sucka" on my forehead.

For starters, it is long - it could easily have been 150 pages shorter, without losing anything. No one needs a 3 page dissertation on playing canasta, particularly when it does nothing to enhance the plot, move it forward or explain motivations.

With the exception of Edgar and one or two others, the characters are one dimensional, unrelatable or in some instances, flat out useless. Knowing their motivations for their actions might have helped some.

There was at times a saving grace that came in the form of delightful prose. Other times, especially when discussing the elements of dog breeding, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Tedious, convoluted, laborious, and sleep-inducing immediately spring to mind. Let's just chalk that up to me being wholly uninterested in dog breeding.

All of the elements of a coming of age story are evident and the overall plot was interesting at times. The execution, though left much to be desired. I don't blame the author that much, it's his first time, but his editors... It's been a bestseller, so obviously I am not the only one that got suckered in. And that is the source of my disappointment, I didn't follow my own mind and wasted 4 weeks of valuable reading time.

Its a good thing I can fight the urge to spoil the ending for those of you who are still interested.

Final Take 2/5

Book to Movie: The Kite Runner

I've been anxious to see this movie ever since I read A Thousand Splendid Suns. Of course, I wanted read The Kite Runner first...book lover first and all that. That also means that I don't go into these movies with any expectations, however, I figured that the producers would have to work extra hard to ruin this movie.

Of course, some details were sacrificed for time, but the movie maintained the essence of the book for the most part. The acting here was superb, all of the actors well chosen, particularly the younger actors and especially the young man chosen to portray young Hassan. I'd heard there was quite some controversy regarding the filming of the pivotal scence, but I think that the director handled it with handled with grace.

The tone was the same as the book, you feel the sadness and despair and ultimately the hope. I think this movie was beautifully made. I shed a tear or two.

When I think about the movie, I don't count it as one of the greatest of all time, but it's good. I enjoyed it.

Final Take - 3.75/5

Lisa's Review: The Kite Runner

Summary:

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him. ~www.khaledhosseini.com

Review:

After reading, A Thousand Splendid Suns, I put The Kite Runner closer to the top of my To Be Read pile, however it still took a year for me to get to it, because I felt that it would take a toll emotionally and I wasn't wrong. Frankly, there's not much you can say without spoiling this book.

Amir, a privileged young Afghan comes of age shortly before the country becomes embroiled in war. His servant and friend, though Amir could never admit it, Hassan grows up with him. Amir longs for his father's approval and try as he might, seems only capable of getting it for a short while. Tragedy strikes and Amir takes a cowardly route and has to live with that and his subsequent betrayals for the rest of his life. There are some surprises and then you saw some things coming a mile away. I suppose that's to be expected in a story about redemption. Hosseini's use of language and imagery is vivid and emotional and somewhat autobiographical, I suspect!

I'm sure I prefer A Thousand Splendid Suns to The Kite Runner, but it's a slight, indiscernible preference.

Final Take: 4.5/5

Lisa's Review: Eat, Pray, Love

Review:

This book was given to me by a friend as a birthday gift and I cracked it open immediately, simply because everyone, everywhere (on the trains in my city at least) was reading this and I enjoyed.

The premise is a simple one - after a nasty divorce, a despairing Liz (I feel I can be informal) embarks on a yearlong journey, literal and figurative to find herself. She divides up her year by visiting Italy to experience pleasure, in the form of eating pasta until she is 25 pounds heavier. In India, she spends another four months at an ashram, seeking the divine through meditation. Finally, she tries to find a balance between earthly pleasures and spiritual clarity by visiting Indonesia. I am not sure if she found balance, but she found something over there in Bali.

When I was done, I too wanted to take a year off to eat my weight in pasta in Italy and relax on the beaches of Bali, (sorry Ms. Gilbert, but I have no desire to emotionally exhaust myself by singing a prayer for hours on end). The writing is witty and clever and I saw her evolve from a broken individual to someone more whole.

I've read a few reviews where people hated this book, by stating it was too self centered. It's a memoir, so that didn't bother me. In the end this is all about Ms. Gilbert's experiences and how she found her peace. It's not a manual on how one another should live their life. I liked it because it was clear to me that she felt that it is important to be brave, when making life choices, difficult as they may be - a concept, I wholeheartedly agree with.

Final Take - 3.75/5

Lisa's Review: A Northern Light

Review:

Harry Potter aside, young adult novels don't often find themselves in my To-Be-Read pile, but my current fascination with all things Jennifer Donnelly, lead me to pick up A Northern Light. A simple novel, easy to read and understand, that is set in the early 1900's. Here, we meet Mattie Gokey, the eldest daughter of a poor farmer in the Adirondacks, who is working in a hotel to earn extra money, though she is unsure of what she plans to do with her earnings.

Mattie happens to be working at the hotel when Grace Brown, a real person whose story is told in An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, disappears during a boat ride. Shortly, before her disappearance, Grace handed Mattie some letters. This re-writing of history and mixing of fact with fiction is quite clever and it allows Grace's senseless death to serve a higher purpose in Mattie's journey.

Mattie has some decisions to make. She is struggling with a promise she made to her dying mother to look after her father and her siblings. Does she, a self proclaimed plain girl, marry Royal, the handsome and ambitious second son of neighboring farmer, who doesn't understand or care for her love of words, reading books and writing stories? Or does she selfishly focus on that love, the one which got her accepted to Barnard College, miles away in New York City.

I liked that Donnelly conspicuously incorporated vocabulary words into the novel, which we learned the meanings to via Mattie's word of the day games. I'm all for learning while we read. That simple device proves quite enjoyable.

Though, I prefer the more 'adult' books that Donnelly has written, this is a stunning coming of age novel that examines the themes of poverty, racism and feminism in a real and powerful way.

Final Take: 4.25/5

Related Reviews:
The Tea Rose - Lisa
The Winter Rose - Julie Lisa

Book to Movie: The Tenth Circle

When Julie alerted me to the fact that The Tenth Circlewas adapted as a Lifetime movie, I set my TiVo with decided ambivalence. Since then, it has taken me a little over a month to finally sit down and watch it. My expectations were low and as it happens I was smart not to expect much.

I will admit that it is quite unfair to judge a movie sight unseen, however history has taught me not to expect too much when I learn a book, especially a favorite, has been adapted. I have always firmly believed that there is no real way to adapt 400-odd pages of plot development, emotion and character development into 2 hour movie, a picture being worth 1000 words or no.

Jodi Picoult always packs her novels with twists, fills her characters with depth and emotion, giving us insight to their motivations, while leaving us with some questions. I read The Tenth Circle, when it was first released and haven't again since then, so I didn't remember much. Once the movie started, I was able to recall the larger plot points, which the movie seemed to follow, until three quarters of the way through, where the plot diverges. The juxtaposition of Daniel's comic and Dante's Divine comedy, central to the novel, is merely mentioned in the movie thereby stripped of it's importance.

Far more important than plot, is the emotions a book makes you feel, which is lost in the movie. You don't feel any of the confusion, desperation and despair, even though Kelly Preston and her co-stars do an adequate acting job.

This movie will be repeated continually giving you ample opportunities to view it, but I suggest you pick the book up and spend the two hours getting engrossed in Picoult's writing.

Final Take: 2/5

Lisa's Review: The Tea Rose

Summary: East London, 1888 - a city apart. A place of shadow and light where thieves, whores and dreamers mingle, where children play in the cobbled streets by day and a killer stalks at night. Where shining hopes meet the darkest truths. Here, by the whispering waters of the Thames, a bright, defiant young woman dares to dream of a life beyond tumbledown wharves, gaslit alleys, and the grim and crumbling dwellings of the poor.

Fiona Finnegan, a worker in a tea factory, hopes to own a shop one day, together with her lifelong love, Joe Bristow, a costermonger's son. With nothing but their faith in each other to spur them on, Fiona and Joe struggle, save and sacrifice to achieve their dreams. But Fiona's plans are shattered when the actions of a dark and brutal man force her to flee London for New York. There, her indomitable spirit – and the ghosts of her past – propel her rise from a modest West Side shop front to the top of Manhattan's tea trade. Fiona's old ghosts do not rest quietly, however, and to silence them, she must venture back to the London of her childhood, where a deadly confrontation with her past becomes the key to her future.

The Tea Rose is a towering old-fashioned story, imbued with a modern sensibility, of a family's destruction, of murder and revenge, of love lost and won again, and of one determined woman's quest to survive and triumph. Authentic and moving, The Tea Rose is an unforgettable novel – one certain to take its place beside such enduring epics as A Woman of Substance, The Thornbirds, and The Shell Seekers. ~back of book.

Review:
Here's the thing about romance, in literature, once you realize that you've chosen a romance, you know things are going to end in one of two ways and more often than not, that ending is going to be a happy one. Therefore, any novel with a romance at its core becomes about the journey, not the destination and The Tea Rose is one heck of a ride.

I'd read The Winter Rose, the second book in the trilogy, first and knew if only by summary the path Fiona and Joe's story took, so I was concerned that the urgency would be diminished. An unfounded fear if there ever was one. As a matter of fact, I feel incredibly compelled to pick up The Winter Rose again, just to see if the story takes a different shape, now that I've gotten more of a foundation.

Here again, Ms. Donnelly's characters are rich, well formed and a pure delight to know and love (or hate)! Fiona is spirited and stubborn, strong in the face of adversity (of which there is quite a bit). Joe, equally determined and strong, is a man tortured and paying for a mistake, he hardly knew he was making. The secondary characters are just as brilliantly written, right down to Jack (the Ripper, that is).

Set in the time when Jack terrorized London, Donnelly, obviously takes her research seriously. The details packed a powerful punch and Ms. Donnelly's prose evokes emotions and images that make you feel a part of the action. I don't doubt that an anachronism exists here and there , however you are so caught up in the story, I couldn't care less about such trivialities.

So apart from an "Oh come on" moment - there were one too many near misses for Fiona and Joe- I have no complaints. The Tea Rose has joined The Winter Rose at the top of my "Best of 2008" list and Jennifer Donnelly cements a spot amongst my favorite authors. I can't wait for the third of the trilogy and in the meantime, I'm tackling A Northern Light and planning my re-reading sessions.

Final Take:4.95/5