The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Kim Edwards's stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome.

Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this beautifully told story that unfolds over a quarter of a century--in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that winter night long ago. 

A family drama, The Memory Keeper's Daughter explores every mother's silent fear: What would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? It is also an astonishing tale of love and how the mysterious ties that hold a family together help us survive the heartache that occurs when long-buried secrets are finally uncovered.

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This is a hard one for me to review. I really liked the premise of the book. I thought the idea of how one split decision could alter the course of one's life and have a ripple affect was intriguing. However, I had a hard time connecting with a lot of the characters, especially David and Norah. I had an easier time connecting with characters like Caroline and Paul, but even they got on my nerves.

Instead of being wrapped up in the story, I found myself checking the bottom corner of my Kindle for the "percent left" number. At times, the narrative felt like a chore to get through. It dragged and took turns that made no sense. I kept waiting for the climax, the big reveal, the lesson learned, but when it came, it felt incredibly anti-climatic and flat to me. In my opinion, this one was just okay.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

A sensual and protected young woman, Antoinette Cosway grows up in the lush natural world of the Caribbean. She is sold into marriage to the cold-hearted and prideful Rochester, who succumbs to his need for money and his lust. Yet he will make her pay for her ancestors' sins of slave-holding, excessive drinking, and nihilistic despair by enslaving her as a prisoner in his bleak English home.

In this best-selling novel Rhys portrays a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind.

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I was intrigued by the idea of this novel because Jane Eyre is one of my favorite novels of all time. Despite my many readings of Jane Eyre, I have never really given much thought to Rochester's crazy wife. She was always an obstacle and I'm sorry to say that I probably didn't have as much sympathy for her. I think mostly because her story was told through Rochester's bias. So the idea of getting her story from her point of view drew to this novel.

However, I thought this novel was lack luster. I found the narrative to be convoluted, disjointed, and confusing. Despite being a fairly short novel, it took me some time to get through it. I frequently had to re-read sections in order to understand them. I found most of the characters to be flat and underdeveloped, making it hard to connect with the characters, especially with Antoinette. In the end, I was left with the same indifferent attitude towards Antoinette that I had prior to reading the novel. I was disappointed.

2015 Reading Challenge: A book written by an author with your same initials

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.

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This is an incredibly beautiful book, desperately sad, but beautiful. It's remarkable how choices can send a ripple affect, not only through our own lives, but the lives of those around us. With it's ever changing point of view, this novel leaves the reader feeling sympathy for each character in turn, only to find themselves questioning those same feelings when presented with another side of the story. This multifaceted story is woven together wonderfully. It is a powerful book about forgiveness, justice, and loss. I loved every minute of it.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets. At the core of this rich, expansive, layered novel, Lauren Groff presents the story of one such marriage over the course of twenty-four years.

At age twenty-two, Lotto and Mathilde are tall, glamorous, madly in love, and destined for greatness. A decade later, their marriage is still the envy of their friends, but with an electric thrill we understand that things are even more complicated and remarkable than they have seemed. With stunning revelations and multiple threads, and in prose that is vibrantly alive and original, Groff delivers a deeply satisfying novel about love, art, creativity, and power that is unlike anything that has come before it. Profound, surprising, propulsive, and emotionally riveting, it stirs both the mind and the heart.

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The word I would use to describe this book is TOO (I know, it’s not an adjective...stay with me…).

This book:

• Was TOO verbose, almost to the point of distraction.
• Tried TOO hard to be something it’s not. The narrative attempted to imitate a classic novel, with its flowery descriptions and unique cadence, but it fell short.
• Tried TOO hard to be shocking. 
• Had TOO many metaphors and similes. Almost every sentence had a metaphor or simile attached to it. It was serious overkill.
• Had characters who were TOO much. The characters were ridiculous, selfish, egotistical, and not very endearing.

I thought the second part of of the book, Furies, which focused on Mathilde’s side of the story, was much better than the first part, which focused on Lotto. I thought that Mathilde’s character was much more developed and more dynamic than Lotto’s character, but I still didn’t find her to be a very likable character. Lotto was charming, but his character development felt shallow and superficial. Not one of my favorites.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. 

Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages...maybe ever.

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I found this narrative to be humorous, entertaining, and a prime example of serendipity. I loved how each character had their own story line and how Moyes weaved them together to create a well developed story. I found myself laughing, tearing up, and cheering several times throughout the book, and loved how it all came together in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish. Highly recommend this one.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking, Colm Toibin's sixth novel, Brooklyn, is set in Brooklyn and Ireland in the early 1950s, when one young woman crosses the ocean to make a new life for herself. Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the years following World War Two. Though skilled at bookkeeping, she cannot find a job in the miserable Irish economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn to sponsor Eilis in America--to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood "just like Ireland"--she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind. 

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, a blond Italian from a big family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. He takes Eilis to Coney Island and Ebbet's Field, and home to dinner in the two-room apartment he shares with his brothers and parents. He talks of having children who are Dodgers fans. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love with Tony, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future. By far Toibin's most instantly engaging and emotionally resonant novel, Brooklyn will make readers fall in love with his gorgeous writing and spellbinding characters.

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As someone who is mostly of Irish descent, I am always interested in stories about Irish immigrants. I heard good things about this book and for the most part I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed the story and felt sympathetic towards Eilis, who found herself torn between two lives - her old, familiar life in Ireland and her new life in America. The narrative was entertaining, heartbreaking, and well written. I wasn’t crazy about the ending. It felt a little unfinished to me, like there was more to be said. Overall, I would say that this novel is worth the time.

The Girl In the Spider's Web (Millennium Trilogy #4) by David Lagercrantz

She is the girl with the dragon tattoo—a genius hacker and uncompromising misfit. He is a crusading journalist whose championing of the truth often brings him to the brink of prosecution.

Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it . . .

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When I saw this one pop up on my new releases list, I was shocked. I loved the original trilogy, but was surprised that there was another sequel because of Stieg Larsson’s passing. I apparently missed all commotion surrounding the publication of this novel, so I went into it fairly unbiased. There were definitely differences between Larsson and Lagercrantz’s style. I found Larsson’s narratives to be somewhat darker, and Lagercrantz’s Lisbeth to lack some of her bite. Nevertheless, I still found the story engaging. Lagercrantz obviously took pains to mimic Larsson’s style, creating a narrative with many different characters with many moving parts that weave together. Overall, I think it was a successful sequel, and while Lagercrantz certainly didn’t surpass his successor, he certainly did the world and characters created by Larsson justice.

After You (Me Before You #2) by Jojo Moyes

“You’re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. But I hope you feel a bit exhilarated too. Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live. Love, Will.”

How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

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After You picks up shortly after Me Before You ends, and we get to see the fallout caused by Will’s death. Although the story promises some “bombshell” revelations, it was a fairly predictable story. This sequel is similar to the first novel in terms of humor and character, and I find that I rather enjoy Moyes’s writing style. It’s not the most sophisticated, but is is full of wit, humor, and heart. Even though I was able to foresee or figure out quickly most of the “twists” in the story, I still enjoyed reading this book. I would have liked a bit more at the end...to me, it felt like as soon as the story had finally come together, it veered off into another direction. I’m not sure if there is another sequel planned or not, but I think she definitely left it open for one.

The Man Without a Shadow by Joyce Carol Oates

In 1965, neuroscientist Margot Sharpe meets Elihu Hoopes: the “man without a shadow,” who will be known, in time, as the most-studied and most famous amnesiac in history. A vicious infection has clouded anything beyond the last seventy seconds just beyond the fog of memory.

Over the course of thirty years, the two embark on mirrored journeys of self-discovery: Margot, enthralled by her charming, mysterious, and deeply lonely patient, as well as her officious supervisor, attempts to unlock Eli’s shuttered memories of a childhood trauma without losing her own sense of self in the process. Made vivid by Oates’ usual eye for detail, and searing insight into the human psyche, The Man Without a Shadow is eerie, ambitious, and structurally complex, unique among her novels for its intimate portrayal of a forbidden relationship that can never be publicly revealed.

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I thought this was a really interesting premise for a story. I thought the characters were remarkably well developed. The developing relationship between the two main characters, Eli and Margot, was intriguing. At times the story was repetitive, but I think that was done to give the reader a sense of what Eli’s life was like. I wish Oates had given us more in terms of the flashbacks from Eli’s past. I thought that part of the narrative was particularly interesting, but at times it gave the overall narrative a choppy feeling because of the way that they were dispersed throughout the story. In the end, I liked the book, but I wasn’t crazy about it. The idea behind the story was really interesting, but the narrative itself fell short in fully capturing my admiration.

Me Before You (Me Before You #1) by Jojo Moyes

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A love story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

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I came across this book on a list to books to read before they become movies, and after checking out the movie’s trailer, I decided to give it a go. It is an unconventional love story about a girl named Louisa, who falls in love with quadriplegic after becoming his care companion, only to discover that he has made plans to end his life at an assisted suicide facility in six months time. Louisa sets out to change Will’s mind and in the process, the two fall in love and Louisa finds herself.

I liked Louisa’s character a lot. I found her to be charming and funny, and her personality is infectious. She is a surprisingly dynamic character who is easy to relate to and who you can't help but root for. The narrative is largely told from her perspective, but it does switch to other characters periodically. The author is British, so the narrative has that dry, self-deprecating humor and quite a few slang terms that I had to look up.

This story is much more than a traditional love story. It is a story that acknowledges love’s many facets and explores what it means to truly love someone through several different “love” relationships, not just Louisa and Will’s story.

In the end, it wasn't quite the emotional tearjerker I was expecting, but it was still a good story and worth the read. I liked it enough that I'm still interested in seeing the movie, which is scheduled for release this summer and checking out the book’s sequel.

2016 Reading Challenge: A book that's becoming a movie this year

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

A forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro—the Father of Impressionism.

Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel’s mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel’s salvation is their maid Adelle’s belief in her strengths, and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle’s daughter. But Rachel’s life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father’s business. When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frédérick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France.

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When I read the synopsis, I thought that this was going to be a simple love story. You know the one - boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, enter some sort of obstacle, but in the end, love conquers all. This novel is anything but a simple love story. It has many moving parts and explores many different facets of love. Yes, there is a passionate love story, but this novel also speaks to the love between a father and daughter, the love between a mother and daughter, the love between friends, the love of a mother for her son, the love between unequals, the love one feels towards their community, forbidden love, love versus companionship, and love for oneself. 

The story centers around the main character, Rachel, and chronicles much of her life from her early teens through her latter years. I found Rachel to be an incredibly complex character. She was defiant and strong-willed, yet at times obedient, but only to certain people. She refused to back down when her love affair caused a scandal, yet she refused to acknowledge her son's relationship when he went against her wishes. Like so many other great women, Rachel is a well of contradiction. Her life story, which is based on fact, is incredibly fascinating and compelling.

Although Rachel's story is the central story, there are several other "love" stories happening in and around her story that intersect with hers at different times throughout the novel. Alice Hoffman does an amazing job weaving together these various love stories, and even manages to throw in a surprise or two. She brings the cultures of St. Thomas and London alive beautifully and vividly, and this narrative is artfully written. This might be my favorite novel by Hoffman yet. Well worth the read.

2016 Reading Challenge: A book that takes places on an island

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined.

Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced audiobook explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold has.

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Let me start by saying that I am a fan of Alice Sebold. I loved The Lovely Bones, but there is not much good I can say about this book. The main character, Helen Knightly, is one of the least sympathetic characters I have ever met between the pages of a book. I wanted to feel bad for her. She had great potential for sympathy. Her childhood, her father's death, her mother's slow decay, should have all inspired feelings of compassion, but her actions and the motivations behind them had the complete opposite effect. The plot was insipid and the ending was abrupt and incomplete. I didn't like this one at all.

Room by Emma Donoghue

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

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This was another audio book pick for me, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this story. The audio book was done extremely well, with different actors (is that what you call them? readers?) reading each part. The story is told from the perspective of Jack, which makes for an entertaining and interesting read. Because Room was the only thing Jack knew, having never left it, his perceptions of the "outside" world were both hilarious and heartbreaking. The narrative is full of the innocence and naivete that one would expect from a five year old narrator.

The relationship between Jack and his mother are at the heart of this story. His relationship with his mother was touching and a bit odd. Cut off entirely from the world, these two did what they could to survive. Their interdependence is both natural and unnatural. Jack's mother is perhaps one of the bravest characters I have ever had the privilege to encounter, and I can't even begin to imagine how I would survive, let alone keep a child alive, if I found myself in the same situation. Things don't prove any easier once they do escape. Both Jack and his mother face challenges as they try to integrate into the world beyond their small shelter.

This book deals with some tough topics. It is not graphic per-say, but it certainly doesn't shy away from some of the heavier experiences of the characters. Sorry if that statement seems vague. I don't want to give too much away. Ultimately, this book is about more than just survival. It's about courage, determination, resilience, and the bond between mother and child. I'm curious to see how they will translate such a dramatic and complex story to film, with the film version of Room set to release soon.

I can't speak to the reading of this novel, as I listened to the audio version, but I would recommend giving the audio version a chance. I really feel that the way the audio book was done enhanced the story. It made it more personal. I liked how they used different people to read each part, rather than one person using different voices for each character. It made the reading feel more like a play, rather than a novel. Regardless of the format, I do feel that this novel is worth a read, as it is a very touching story.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and her relationship with her family and the world--forever.

At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease that is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Judith Guest's Ordinary People.

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Alzheimer's is a terrifying disease. The idea of losing everything that makes you, you, is just so frightening. To forget your spouse, your children, memories, both good and bad, to me seems like the worst kind of torture. I can't imagine what that must be like or how devastating it must be to the loved ones around them.

To be honest, this novel wasn't what I was expecting. In fact, I didn't realize it was a work of fiction until I started reading it. For some reason, I had it in my head that it was based on a true story. In a way, I guess it is. It is certainly realistic fiction. I am sure that Alice's story is reminiscent of many sufferers of Alzheimer's disease. 

I think the novel did a fine job of depicting the disease, especially it's progression. It was heartbreaking to watch this strong, intelligent woman, lose everything - her career, her independence, everything that made her life what it was. It was hard to watch how the diagnosis affected her husband and her children. It was hard to see how drastically her life changed in such a short span of time. It wasn't all bad though. There were sweet moments between Alice and her husband and children. There were moments of triumph when Alice successfully forms a support group for people with Alzheimer's and when she speaks successfully at a medical conference about what it's like to have the disease. But the truth was never far away. There is no cure, and the inevitable will always happen.

Overall, this wasn't a bad read. I can't call it spectacular, but I did enjoy it. It's a quick read and only took me a few days to finish. I liked the story well enough that I am interested in checking out the film adaptation. I am curious to see how the story translated to film. A three star read for me.

The Shining by Stephen King

Terrible events occur at an isolated hotel in the off season, when a small boy with psychic powers struggles to hold his own against the forces of evil that are driving his father insane.

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Confession: This is the first Stephen King novel I have ever read. I have purposely avoided reading any of his books until now. 

Why? Because I've seen several of the movies based on his novels and they freak me out! The Shining still ranks as one of the scariest movies I have ever seen in my life. Not because there is tons of blood and guts, but because it is a normal enough situation that it could almost happen. The story borders just enough on the edge of reality to make it truly terrifying. I always said that Stephen King's head was not a place that I would ever want to be lost in, nor is he someone I would want to come across in a dark alley. This is grossly unfair to Stephen King, because I am sure he is a very nice person, but his imagination scares me. 

This book was no different from the movie and there were some nights when I truly regretted reading it just before bedtime. It is fairly similar to the movie story line (probably because King wrote the screenplay too), but certainly not a carbon copy. The book was everything a good thriller should be, and if you are a fan of the genre, then King is certainly right up your alley. I can't say that I "enjoyed" the book, because honestly, it creeped me out big time, but I did like it for what it was.

2015 Reading Challenge: A book that scares you

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, an “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she has written a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. 

As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on the fan and compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together they endure the agony of foot binding and reflect upon their arranged marriages, their loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace in their friendship, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their relationship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

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I enjoyed this book from start to finish. It is a well researched historical fiction novel about 19th Century China. I liked reading about the customs that governed female relationships, even if some of them (foot binding! ouch!) seemed totally barbaric to me. I thought the idea of Nu Shu, or the secret language of women, was really intriguing, as well as the idea of laotong. 

Lily and Snow Flower's laotong relationship was really fascinating to read about, particularly since their relationship basically took a 180. Lily was originally the one in a lower position, but through marriage becomes someone of great importance. Snow Flower started out as the one in the higher position, but in the end falls from grace. Watching these two women navigate their fates, while still trying to hold on to each other was at times emotional. Each stage of life brought with it new adventures and challenges. 

The narrative is well written, including a lot of rich historical detail, without sounding like a textbook. Lee weaves the story of these two women together beautifully. It is a book that I would not hesitant to recommend to my female friends. There are so many things in it that are universal to the female experience, even though the story takes place centuries ago and in a culture vastly different from my own. I'm glad I listened to my mom and read it. :)  

2015 Reading Challenge: A book your mom loves

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Rose Gardner #1) by Denise Grover Swank

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen-- do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.

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Just to show you how much of a book nerd I really am, I agreed to join a second book club, and this was the pick for the month. One thing that I really enjoy about being in a book club (or two) is that they often push you to read books that you would normally not consider. This book definitely falls into that category. Had I come across this book on my own, I confess that I might not have given it a read. The mystery genre is just not a genre that I tend to gravitate to on my own. Nothing against it, I’ve read some really good mysteries, it’s just not my first pick.

This is what I would call a "beach read" - one of those books that doesn't require a lot of thought, has a fairly predictable (but not boring) plot line, but is still enjoyable. I confess that if I found myself in the same situation as Rose, I would also probably make a "bucket list" of sorts (I'm too Type A not to!), although, I would hope that mine would be a bit more adventures than wear a lacy bra. At times, Rose's naivete was unrealistic and annoying, but for the most part, I found her to be an endearing character. I think I would have bought the whole "sheltered from the world" thing a little bit more is she was younger. I also wish Joe had a sexier name...I'm sorry, but "Joe" just doesn't do it for me.

The plot was fairly predictable, but written well. I had the book pretty much figured out about half way through. Nevertheless, it kept my attention and I was able to read it straight through in one day. There are several more books in this series and I do foresee myself checking them out eventually. If you are looking for an easy read to pass the afternoon with, this isn't a bad one to try.  

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a mesmerizing, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

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My first impression of this book? It’s long! Be prepared for a commitment if you decide to pick this one up, but I do believe that you will not be disappointed if you do. I was engaged in the story from the very first chapter, and at no point while reading did I feel like picking up a red pen and slashing unnecessary passages. At no time was the author overly verbose, the book is long because Theo’s story is involved.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I started to read this book, but my idea of the story that developed in my head after reading its synopsis, is not the book I ended up reading. The story is very cyclical in nature and Theo often finds himself circling back to people and places from his past at different times. Theo is a complicated character and I found myself alternating between dislike and pity as his story unfolded. At some points, I was overcome with compassion for the tragedy that forever changed Theo’s life, but at others I couldn’t help but shake my head at some of the choices that Theo made, especially when he himself knew they were not the best ideas. The story line was unexpected and so intricate that for the most part, I had no idea where it was going. I do wish the ending had been a bit happier/more complete, but other than that I really don’t have any complaints.

2015 Reading Challenge: A book with more than 500 pages

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war.

His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he's committed to flying, he's trapped by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, the bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he's sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

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So, this is one of those novels that I feel like everyone read in high school, but I somehow managed to avoid. Not for any particular reason, it just never ended up on any of my reading lists. As an endearing example of the American novel (and parent to the phrase "catch-22"), it always seems to show up on those "must read" book lists. So, when I needed a book with a number in the title for my 2015 reading challenge, I decided to take the opportunity to finally read it.

This was an interesting read for me. From all the reviews that I have read, it seems like a book that people either love, or hate. I'm in between. I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. I simply appreciate it for what it is. I appreciate it's ironic and often disturbing sense of humor. I appreciate it's disjointed plot line and how it reflects the chaos of war. I appreciate Yossarian's desire to live and the lengths he took to avoid the war going on around him. I can understand why this book makes those "must read" book lists.

I am glad that I read it, but it is not a book that I will re-read and recommend to others (although I wouldn't not recommend it either). For me, it will simply live on as one more book that I can cross off on those "must read"  lists.

2015 Reading Challenge: A book with a number in the title

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together – how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth can’t possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.

A few miles away, at a local rodeo, a Wake Forest College senior’s life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward -- even life and death – loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite . . . if the secret he’s keeping doesn’t destroy it first.

Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.

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It's been awhile since I have read an NSparks book, and this one doesn't disappoint. NSparks did a great job of weaving two seemingly different stories together, although I had an easy time figuring out how the two stories would converge and the overall ending. I would have preferred a bit more drama to the story, but other than that, the story had everything that we have come to expect and love about an NSparks novel. In the end, it was a pleasant read and a fine way to spend an afternoon.