Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg

Summary:  In this stunning novel, beloved bestselling author Elizabeth Berg weaves a beautifully written and richly resonant story of a mother and daughter in emotional transit.  Helen Ames -- recently widowed, coping with grief, unable to do the work that has always sustained her -- is beginning to depend too much on her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Tessa, meddling in her life and offering unsolicited advice.  Then Helen is shocked to discover that her mild-mannered and seemingly loyal husband was apparently  leading a double life.  When a phone call from a stranger sets Helen on a surprising path of discovery, both mother and daughter reassess what they thought they knew about each other, themselves, and what really makes a home and a family.  (Summary from book - Image scanned)

My Review:  Fear not!  Regardless of what you might infer from the above (aptly written) summary, this is not another book about a woman  who finds out her recently deceased husband was cheating on her.  Thank heavens!  That particular story, like vampire novels, is exceedingly overdone. 

Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors. Long before I began this blog, I had read (and loved) several of her novels, including The Year of Pleasures, Never Change, Ordinary Lives, The Pull of the Moon, and Open House. Her books are an exploration of emotion – of life, love, and loss as seen through the eyes of a variety of women. They move slowly and sometimes make me cry, but they feel so real that I can’t stop reading. Normally, I avoid sad books because I over identify with the characters (translation: they make me depressed), but Elizabeth Berg always manages to write heartache and loss in a way that feels uplifting, genuine, and cathartic.

Home Safe is a brilliantly rendered, tender, and insightful story about love, grief, regret, and the sometimes tenuous bond between mothers and daughters.  Helen’s heartache at the loss of her husband was painful to read, but I loved being able to watch her work through it. Helen’s transparent attempts to interfere in her daughter’s life, and Tessa’s subsequent exasperation with her, felt incredibly authentic and thoroughly relatable. When Helen attempts to cure her writer’s block by teaching a writing class to an eccentric group of aspiring authors, I fell even deeper into the story. I loved the additional dimension that these characters brought to the story, and I only wish I could have heard more of “their” writing.

Home Safe had a certain stillness about it and I finished it with a calm and contented sigh. If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller, look elsewhere, but if you’re looking for a story you can sink into and really experience, then pick up something by Elizabeth Berg.

Click here to visit Elizabeth Berg's website and see a list of her books (I haven't read them all!).

My Rating: 4.25 Stars

For the sensitive reader: A handful of F-words, uttered by one of her more colorful writing students and one mild conversation about sex.

Sum it up: A beautifully emotional story about a woman learning to let go and take control of her own life.

So Sexy So Soon : The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids - Diane E. Levin, Ph.D & Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D

Summary:  Thong panties, padded bras, and risque Halloween costumes for young girls. T-shirts that boast "Chick Magnet" for toddler boys.  Sexy content on almost every television channel, as well as in books, movies, video games, and even cartoons.  Hot young female pop stars wearing provocative clothing and dancing suggestively while singing songs with sexual and sometimes violent lyrics.  These products are marketed aggressively to our children; these stars are held up for our young daughter to emulate--and for our sons to see as objects of desire.

Popular culture and technology inundate our children with an onslaught of mixed messages at earlier ages than ever before.  Corporations capitalize on this disturbing trend, and without the emotional sophistication to understand what they are doing and seeing, kids are getting into increasing trouble emotionally and socially; some may even engage in precocious sexual behavior.  Parents are left shaking their heads wondering: How did this happen?  What can we do?

So Sexy So Soon is an invaluable and practical guide for parents who are fed up, confused, and even scared by what their kids--or their kids' friends--do and say.  Diane E. Levin, Ph.D., and Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., internationally recognized experts on early childhood development and the impact of the media on children and teens, understand that saying no to commercial culture -- TV, movies, toys, Internet access, and video games -- isn't a realistic or viable option for most families.  Instead, they offer parents essential, age-appropriate strategies to counter the assault.

Filled with savvy suggestions, helpful sample dialogues, and poignant true stories from families dealing with these issues, So Sexy So Soon provides parents with the information, skills, and confidence they need to discuss sensitive topics openly and effectively so their kids can just be kids.  (Summary from book - Image from www.dianeelevin.com )

My Review:  “Beth” usually wears a skintight top and low slung jeans. Like most girls, she worries about her weight and wonders whether boys find her attractive. She wants to be a superstar, like Lady Gaga, and loves singing along with I Like it Rough, while swaying her hips to the music. Beth isn’t 18, or 14, or even twelve-years-old. She’s seven. She wants to be “sexy,” and she has no idea what that means.

In recent years, a startling number of children, tweens, and teens have demonstrated signs of “early sexualization.” These children show an alarming interest in sexual behavior, language, and the exploration of sexual relationships, long before such behavior is considered developmentally appropriate. This sexualized childhood manifests in a variety of ways but is easily visible in the way young children dress, speak, and interact.

If you’re like me, and this trend scares you senseless, then So Sexy So Soon might be one of the most important parenting books you’ve ever read. Without proper guidance, children of all ages and genders can become confused by subtle and not-so-subtle messages found in popular culture (e.g. books, magazines, movies, television, the internet, music, music videos, video games, etc.). Through a series of unsettling examples and well-researched studies, this book shows the negative effects that early exposure to inappropriate imagery can have on our children. It also serves as a scathing indictment of industries that value profit over principle, targeting children through advertisement and spreading the idea that appearance determines an individual’s worth or personal happiness.

While we can and should control the flow of media into our own homes, our children will still receive mixed messages while standing in the checkout line, on the playground, from friends, or even older siblings. So Sexy So Soon alerts parents to possible dangers, but also provides useful ways to counteract harmful messages that slip through the cracks and promote healthy, age appropriate sexual development. For example, the authors describe how to establish relationships where children will feel comfortable asking questions or voicing concerns. They also provide tips for dealing with teenagers, combating negative stereotypes, teaching children how to evaluate images they encounter, and much more.

I read So Sexy So Soon with my three young daughters in mind, but there was plenty of information for families blessed with Y chromosomes. The authors’ explain how media and the early sexualization of young girls can negatively influence the perspective of young males. They also show how unrealistic standards of masculinity are established and maintained through early exposure to violent video games, music videos, toys, books, and other social media.

This book was a brutal wake-up call – the smack you in your face kind. It wasn’t always an easy read and occasionally blew things out of proportion, but it validated many of my concerns, helped identify other areas that need special attention, and offered reasonable solutions to problems I might encounter. I recommend this book as a compelling and invaluable resource to every parent who is concerned with the current trend towards sexualized childhood and looking for ways to limit media influence in the home.

My Rating: 5 Stars.  *I feel like I should qualify my rating because I'm wavering between 4 and 5 stars, depending on the day*  Occasionally this book slides into the sensational and scary.  In other words, it tries to scare the pants off you and most likely will succeed.  I gave this book five stars because I feel this book does a reasonably good job of addressing a subject that every parent should consider, NOT because every solution is perfect or the writing is amazing.

For the sensitive reader: Some frank discussion of sexual topics and media that kids might encounter. Some of the language used could be considered offensive, but I really felt it was necessary to illustrate the problems our children are likely to encounter.

Sum it up: A must read for any parent.

To learn more, visit the So Sexy So Soon website at http://www.sosexysosoon.com/ or click here to read the introduction.

The Dirty Life : On Farming, Food, and Love - Kristin Kimball

Summary:  Single, thirty something, working as a writer in New York City, Kristin Kimball was living life as an adventure.  But she was beginning to feel a sense of longing for a family and for home.  When she interviewed a dynamic young farmer, her world changed...On an impulse, smitten if not yet in love, she shed her city self and moved to five hundred acres near Lake Champlain to start a new farm with him.  The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of their first year on Essex Farm , from the cold North Country winter through the following harvest season--complete with their wedding in the loft of the barn.

Kimball and her husband had a plan: to grow everything needed to feed a community.  It was an ambitious idea, a bit romantic, and it worked.  Every Friday evening, all year round, a hundred people travel to Essex farm to pick up their weekly share of the "whole diet"-- beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, maple syrup, grains, flours, dried beans, herbs, fruits, and forty different vegetables -- produced by the farm.  The work is done by draft horses instead of tractors, and the fertility comes from compost.  Kimball's vivid descriptions of landscape, food, cooking-- and marriage -- are irresistible. 

"As much as you transform the land by farming," she writes, "farming transforms you."  In her old life, Kimball would stay out till four a.m., wear heels, and carry a handbag.  Now she wakes up at four, wears Carhartts, and carries a pocketknife.  At Essex Farm, she discovers the wrenching pleasures of physical work, learns that good food is at the center of a good life, falls deeply in love, and finally finds the engagement and commitment she craved in the form of a man, a small town, and a beautiful piece of land.  (Summary from book - Image from amazon.com )

My Review:  Kristin Kimball never imagined herself on a farm, slaughtering pigs, planting beets, and driving a team of horses. When a chance interview leads to few days of grueling farm work, Kristin falls in love, first, with a way of life, and then with Mark – a farmer, who is equal parts eccentric, romantic, and world-class chef. Despite all good sense and the concerns of her family, Kristin moves to a ramshackle farm located on 500 acres of land in upstate New York, to cultivate a life of agricultural bliss with her soon-to-be husband.

The Dirty Life follows Kristin’s transformation from a single, freelance writer and devoted city slicker, to that of a wife, mother, and down-home farm girl.  In a fit of idealism, Kristin and Mark embark on an agricultural venture that, given their lack of capital, equipment, and expertise, has very little chance of success.  Their goal is to grow and eat their own food – all of it – and to give their community the same opportunity by building a cooperative, CSA-like farm that will provide members with a year-round, complete diet of organic fruit, vegetables, beef, chicken, pork, milk, eggs, butter, cheese, grain, dry beans, maple syrup, and more).  If that isn’t ambitious enough, they plan to do it all without chemical fertilizers or heavy-duty machinery.  Mark is determined.  Kristin is sure they are crazy.

After endless days of what Kristin calls, “trying to hammer out this big, awkward thing, [and] bring it from theory into being,” a farm begins to emerge from the dust and the wilds. It hobbles at first, and then it runs, as each week more members arrive at the farm, boxes in hand, to pick up their increasingly unlimited supply of food. While it was thrilling to watch the Kimball’s dream come true, it was Kristin’s description of the journey that I found most interesting – the successes, failures, and frustrations of living a life both gloriously simple and tremendously difficult.

Passionate and evocative, The Dirty Life had me at the prologue, with an irresistible blend of food, romance, and farm life that continued throughout the book. I was absorbed in the particulars of cooperative farming, the authors’ eloquent imagery, and unexpected sense of humor. I savored every page of it. Whether you are in love with country living, looking for a little inspiration, or just longing for a good book, The Dirty Life won’t disappoint you.

*POST EDIT* While I read the hardcover version of this book, the paperback version released April 12th, 2011, complete with recipes and photographs. *Yay!*

My Rating: 5 Stars

For the sensitive reader:  There were two moments of profanity and a few scenes of slaughter and gore that, though realistic in a farm setting, made my stomach a little squeamish. 

Sum it up:  A riveting agricultural love story that is compelling, realistic, and well worth your time.

Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

Summary: Gone With the Wind is a sweeping, romantic story about the American Civil War from the point of view of the Confederacy. In particular it is the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a headstrong Southern belle who survives the hardships of the war and afterwards manages to establish a successful business by capitalizing on the struggle to rebuild the South. Throughout the book she is motivated by her unfulfilled love for Ashley Wilkes, an honorable man who is happily married. After a series of marriages and failed relationships with other men, notably the dashing Rhett Butler, she has a change of heart and determines to win Rhett back.    (Summary from amazon.com and image from casablancaauthors.blogspot.com)

My Review:  After reading this novel I feel like I've read four, maybe five, books.  It is LONG--1024 pages to be exact.  Bear that in mind if you decide to read it. 

I hardly know where to begin.  Should I start with the way I was wrapped up in the storyline?  Or, should I write about all the ways the book bothered me in both moral and personal levels?  I guess I'll start with Scarlett.  She drove me crazy.  No, not slightly annoyed, not irritated, not even disgusted, which was a how I felt constantly while reading her thoughts.  CRAZY.  Understandably, she was spoiled, very young, beyond wealthy, impetuous, selfish, and honestly cultivated to be such.  Still, I cannot let that excuse her behavior or thought process.  While Scarlett has a period of time in her life--the worst days according to her--where I can almost stomach her, almost pity her, and almost like her, she eventually goes right back to her amoral and selfish ways.  It's amazing to me that the men around her didn't loathe her as much as the women did.  I don't want to ruin the story, but will name a few events vaguely that I felt were beyond understanding: what she did to her sister, what she did to Melanie, how she tried to steal Ashley away, how she treated Rhett, and how she treated practically everyone in the book.  Scarlett's obvious lack of interpersonal intelligence was probably the aspect I could fathom least about her.  If she could have stepped outside of herself for even one moment, she wouldn't have been such a despicable character.  I just kept telling myself: she's onlysixteen, she's only eighteen, she's only....wait!  That line of thinking doesn't work any more when she's twenty-eight. 

Rhett was harder for me to distinctly like or dislike.  There were times where I sincerely didn't like him, and yet others where his motives and actions were very clear and, for his circumstance, understandable.  How he could adore Scarlett as he did, again, is beyond me.  How he turned the rejection from his family into a personal victory was fascinating; it was cloaked in a screw the world attitude, but was actually his way of saying, "You can't reject me because I've already rejected you."  At the end of the story, the event that crushes him would have crushed me as well.  There were many moments where I felt his actions were heroic and chivalrous and others downright deplorable.  He was a flawed, yet captivating, character.

The race and slavery thread was one of the most disturbing.  The descriptions of the black characters was offensive and awful most of the time.  Still, it amazed me how southern families felt such a strong attachment to the people they didn't even view as completely human.  Mammy's character was one of my favorites.  Her loyalty went to the point of charity.  So much of this book was hard for me to fathom, hard for me to swallow, yet was written so nonchalantly, as if writing and thinking this way about another race was acceptable and normal.  That disturbed me the most.  It also amazed me how you could view someone of a different race as less than human, but then allow them to nurse your child.  I just don't understand that.  It's a contradiction in my mind to allow such a personal and intimate action to be done by someone you don't even treat as an equal.  Blows my mind.

While the above characters and depictions disgusted and disturbed me, there were characters that were noble...from a southern, slave-owning view point.  Melanie was the embodiment of humble strength.  Her character, although somewhat unrealistic to some, was very real to me.  There are still people as good, genuine, and charitable as she, and it's nice to be reminded how important they are and how they hold together a society.  Mammy was an amazing caregiver and stabilizing force.  Dilcey was hard work epitomized.  There are many good people throughout the story, flawed though their perspective on slavery may be.

While I won't be reading this book again, I did learn a lot.  I loved learning about southern culture.  Most of my education of the civil war was union focused, so I loved learning the history of that time period from a different view point.  I was swept up by a storyline that drove its characters into a world where they had no idea how to function.  I was also intrigued by Scarlett's determination to survive and thrive.  The societal rules that restricted women at the time, reinforced how blessed I am to live in the USA today.

Despite its length, I finished this book much faster than I expected.  While I could write more -- there's so much to cover in 1024 pages -- I'll save my comments on the over-done details, and the shrewd and intelligent mind of Rhett, for my book club night.

This wasn't my favorite book, nor was it the easiest to get through, but I'm glad I read it.  I won't be recommending this to my students, as I believe it's for a more mature audience that would be able to recognize it as a depiction of a specific time period, and why the opinions, attitudes, and sayings are not acceptable today.  I don't think an impressionable mind should pick it up just yet. 

My Rating: 4 Stars

For the sensitive reader:  Racist depictions typical of the era in which the book is set.

Sum it up:  A period piece from a Southern/Confederate/Female perspective during the Civil war and after.

Mockingbird - Kathryn Erskine

Summary:  In Caitlin's world, everything is black and white.  Anything in between is confusing.  That's the stuff her brother, Devon, always explained.  But now Devon is dead, and her father cries a lot.  She wants to help her dad -- and herself! -- but as a ten-year-old girl with Asperger's syndrome, she doesn't know how.

She turns to textbooks and dictionaries, easy for Caitlin because they're full of facts in black and white.  After reading the definition of Closure, Caitlin knows this is just what she and her father need.  And she is determined to find it.  In her search she discovers that not everything is really black and white -- the world is full of colors, messy and beautiful.  And perhaps if she "Works At It," Caitlin and her father can have Closure and Empathy, too.  (Summary from book - Image from abebooks.com )

My Review:  Life with Asperger’s is hard and Caitlin is always Working At It. Her brother, Devon used to show her what to do, how to act, and what not to say, so that people wouldn’t laugh or stare. Only now Devon is dead, and Caitlin feels adrift, unsure how to behave without him, confused by her father’s erratic behavior, and unable to explain or even understand her own feelings. In her grief, Caitlin struggles to decipher the emotions that swirl around and inside of her, but it is through her conversations with the school counselor, an unlikely friendship, and a special project, that Caitlin discovers how to find happiness in the midst of heartbreaking loss.

I read Mockingbird from cover to cover while my youngest daughter took her morning nap. Reading a book in one sitting is a gift, in and of itself, but this book would have been beautiful even with a million interruptions. Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime and written “in the hopes we may all understand each other better,” Mockingbird is a poignant glimpse into the mind of a child with Asperger’s syndrome. Erskine’s delivers a stunning and tender portrayal of grief and recovery, with a voice that is unique and brilliantly rendered. Although this book could have been completely depressing, I closed it feeling strangely uplifted -- as if Caitlin’s journey from black and white to color was somehow my own.

Perhaps as its greatest achievement, Mockingbird offers insight into the behavior, mannerisms, motivation, and thought processes of someone with Asperger’s. By the end of the book, I felt a greater understanding for how Caitlin’s mind worked and a deeper empathy for families dealing with this particular disease. I highly recommend this book to everyone, but especially those who know someone with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Go ahead. Buy it, borrow it, or check it out. You will not be disappointed.

My Rating: 5 Stars

For the sensitive reader:  Read away. 

Sum it up:  A convincing and eloquent portrayal of loss, recovery, and Asperger's Syndrome. 

Kabul Beauty School - Deborah Rodriguez

Summary:  Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan with nothing but a desire to help and a degree in cosmetology.  There she joined the Kabul Beauty School, which welcomed its first class in 2003.  Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez, one of the school's first teachers and its eventual director, stumbled through language barriers and overstepped cultural customs as she learned how to empower her students to become their families' breadwinners, teaching them the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup.

Yet within the small haven of the beauty school, the line between teacher and student quickly blurred.  As these vibrant women shared their stories, Rodriguez found the strength to leave her own unhealthy marriage and allow herself to love again, Afghan style.  With warmth and humor, Rodriguez reveals the magnificence behind the burqa--and present the remarkable tale of an extraordinary community of women who come together and learn the arts of perms, friendship, and freedom.  (Summary from book - Image from http://www.kobobooks.com/ )

My Review:When I saw this book sitting on the shelf at my local used bookstore, I all but leaped at the chance to skip the luggage fee, leave my burqa behind, and experience life behind the veil in Afghanistan. Kabul Beauty School tells the story of Deborah Rodriguez, an American woman fleeing a terrible marriage and who hopes to make a difference in a post 9/11, war-torn Afghanistan by establishing a beauty school. The author's descriptions of the Afghani people, their culture and traditions, and her stories of courage, friendship, and adversity were definitely worth the trip. I loved being able to experience Afghanistan with her, in all its wonder, but without the inherent dangers.

More than a simple travelogue, Kabul Beauty School carries an important message.  While some of the more extremist elements of Afghani culture frown on the education of women,Afghan men are not allowed in beauty salons as a matter of propriety (the women’s hair is uncovered). In an exclusively female environment, Deborah’s students were able to learn a skill that could financially support their families in a country that suffered from 40% unemployment. The school also provided an escape from abusive homes and helped create strong bonds of friendship between students and teachers. Each student's story was heartbreaking and, while difficult to read, especially with eyes used to certain freedoms, these accounts only helped to emphasize the everyday struggles faced by Afghani women and the genuine need for programs like KBS.

Deborah’s understanding of Afghani behavior was limited by both a substantial language barrier and some massive cultural differences. Her diligent attempts to navigate the morass of societal rules and traditions provided ample entertainment whenever she would unintentionally horrify the local population. Throughout the book, Deborah's take-no-prisoner’s personality conflicted with more extremist elements in the country (like the time she kicked down her neighbor’s gate, machine gun in hand, after they threatened one of her workers). While I wonder at the wisdom of such action, I certainly enjoyed reading about it. It was also fascinating to read about Deborah’s struggle to reconcile American with Afghan in a marriage that is, by western standards, extremely unconventional.

I experienced the same internal conflict reading Kabul Beauty School that I felt when I read Three Cups of Tea. Both books relate the story of a humanitarian that traveled to Afghanistan in the hopes of educating women, and in both books, they left families behind. I long to travel the world, making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate, but now that I have children, I can’t reconcile doing any of those things if it comes at the expense of my own family. I admire Deborah greatly for her compassion and dedication to the women of Afghanistan, and while I understand the passion she found in dedicated service, I wonder at the cost to her own children. Did they understand? Did they miss the time they could have spent with their mother? Where was she more needed? That question weighed on my mind as I read the book, and it is a question with no easy answer.

I will admit to being saddened and a little disappointed by the end of this book (mostly the afterword). Deborah’s program could make a profound difference in the lives of countless women, but is hindered by a culture that seems resistant to change, especially in regard to women’s rights. When faced with the loss of a particularly close friend, Deborah writes,

“There are many of us Westerners who want to help Afghan women, but our efforts don’t always help them in the ways that we hope they will. There are so many ties that bind these women and hold them back, and many of the ties aren’t visible to the Western eye. It takes a long time to understand how the complexities of these women’s lives differ from the complexities of ours. Sometimes we can’t help, even when we understand these complexities. The culture is changing so much more slowly than their dreams are.”

 I can only hope that the political atmosphere in Afghanistan will eventually become one that will welcome and nurture this type of humanitarian aid.

Similar to Three Cups of Tea or The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, I thought this book offered an increased understanding of a complicated issue and that its value lies less in its literary quality (eh.) and more in the humanitarian concepts that it promotes. Education and the promotion of strong, self-sufficient families is a vital step towards a securing civil rights, a better economy, and a more peaceful world.

My Rating: 4.25 Stars

For the sensitive reader: This book contained some profanity and brief discussion of sexual matters, though usually within the context of cultural differences.  There are also several horrifying (but essential) stories that illustrate the difficulties of growing up female in Afghanistan. 

Sum it up: An aesthetician’s Three Cups of Tea.

The Heretic's Daughter - Kathleen Kent

Summary:  Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived. (Summary taken from author's website)
  
My Review:  I'll cut to the chase and say that although I did not like the first half of this book the second half made reading through it worth it.  The first half was too raw, mean and salacious*.  It left me feeling mean, which I don't really need in my life.  I just have a hard time with the portrayal of the 1600s as such a glum, hypocritical and hardscrabble world.  Was it?  I don't know.  Do you know?  No.  So lets not assume that all life in this century was callous and unkind.

With the second half of the book I was drawn in, the characters became more caring and human, rather than the carnal portrayal that the book began with.  And of course, this could have been purposeful, as the daughter began to grow up (because of the dreadful circumstances she was in) she could see a greater dimension to her mother, to life in general and therefore I, as the reader also became aware of it.  This was accomplished so well that when I finished the book I was willing to dismiss the beginning and say that I enjoyed the reading.  

I recently read The Year of Wonder set in 1666 (this was set in 1692) which dealt with many of the same issues in this book.  Greed, superstition, sexism among the similar topics.  And frankly, both had that sort of glum bias against the century, which perhaps it deserves (bubonic plague in one and witch trials in the other). However I thought that The Heretic's Daughter handled the issues more realistically and in a way more applicable to the here and now.  The story explained well how something like the Salem witch trials could come about in that time and place.

The book took a broader view (culturally and geographically) than what I remember The Crucible focusing on, which is really the only other witch trials book I've read.   Despite my living in and loving the town the trials took place (because that should mean I automatically know everything) I ended up spending a lot of time on wikipedia and other reference sites brushing up on my history.  There was definitely some literary license taken and it was done in a way that told the story "better" than it might have been told. 

A final note.  What is with authors' lately taking a pass when it comes to naming their books?  Please, no more wife/daughter titles.  Nothing relegates a book to being viewed as "for women only" than a title like that.  Give your book credit as having a broad appeal by naming it better.  (FYI, Kathleen Kent's next book is titled The Wolves of Andover.  A big improvement.)

My Rating:  4 stars.  

To Sum it Up:  An examination of one family embroiled in a tragedy for human-kind that deserves an audience beyond women's book clubs.

*Salacious is apparently my new favorite word as I used it in this review, and this one.  Authors, let it be known - although not as bad manipulating me, feeding me salacious details is a waste of my time.

The Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs

Summary:  Juggling the demands of her yarn shop and single-handedly raising a teenage daughter has made Georgia Walker grateful for her Friday Night Knitting Club. Her friends are happy to escape their lives too, even for just a few hours. But when Georgia's ex suddenly reappears, demanding a role in their daughter's life, her whole world is shattered.

Luckily, Georgia's friends are there, sharing their own tales of intimacy, heartbreak, and miracle making. And when the unthinkable happens, these women will discover that what they've created isn't just a knitting club: it's a sisterhood.   (From the publisher.  Image from http://www.trashionista.com/images/fridaynight.jpg)

My Review:  Reading this was like eating a store-bought cookie.  You enjoy it, it wasn't much work, and sometimes there are small bit and pieces that aren't your favorite, but it's good enough you'll consume the whole thing.  The writing was ok.  For me, Jacobs is the queen of fragments used for impact.  While I understand the use, and often it is very helpful, it was overdone in the Friday Night Knitting Club.  The other aspect that fell short in my eyes was the way her characters were crafted.  Every single character had a foul mouth.  In today's age, this isn't that uncommon or surprising, but one of the characters I don't believe should have had a cleaner vocabulary.  A woman in her 70's who lived a privileged lifestyle in New York City, married and from a religious Jewish background just didn't fit that she should be dropping four letter words.  The other characters, fine.  Anita?  No.  That and the way the characters swore so often, they started to sound alike.  James, the only male character you spent much time hearing from his perspective, started to sound like the Friday Night Knitters.

Aside from those inconsistencies and the overdone fragments, the story was charming and feel-good.  I won't ruin the ending, but even with a twist thrown in that those of you who've read the book would probably contend is NOT feel-good, I left with that same feel-good experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning about knitting--what I could imagine.  I enjoyed getting to know the characters and their back stories.  I also loved reading about New York.  I can't help myself when it comes to New York.  It's such a fascinating and amazing city.  I haven't done my research, but now I'm curious to know if there is a quaint yarn shop on the second story of a building in New York.  I'm sure there is, but I'd love to have visited when we went to New York.

I'd recommend this to my friends and probably acquaintances, but definitely not to my mother.  I don't think she could get past the four-letter-words sprinkled  generously throughout.

My Rating: 3 stars--Warning for sensitive readers: Lots of four-letter-words, albeit rare with the most offensive.

Sum it up: A easy-reading, feel-good story.

Precious and Fragile Things - Megan Hart

Summary:  He's not about to let her leave.  And she cannot stay.

Gilly Soloman has been reduced to a mothering machine, taking care of everyone and everything except herself.  But the machine has broken down.  Burnt out by endless days of crying children and menial tasks, and exhausted from always putting herself last, Gilly doesn't immediately consider the consequences when she's carjacked.  With a knife to her throat, her first thought is that she'll finally get some rest.  Someone can save her for a change.

But salvation isn't so forthcoming.  Stranded in a remote, snowbound cabin with this stranger, hours turn to days, days into weeks.  As time forges a fragile bond between them, she learns her captor is not the lunatic she first believed, but a human being whose wasted life has been shaped by secrets and tragedy.  Yet even as their connection begins to foster trust, Gill knows she must never forget he's still a man teetering on the edge.  One who just might take her with him.  (Summary from book - Image from kobobooks.com - Book given free for review)

My Review: I was a little wary of starting this book. It had an interesting premise, but one that could tank if done poorly (case and point).

I’m still trying to wrap my head around how this book made me feel. Gilly’s frustration with the constant demands of stay-at-home mothering was both palpable and familiar. Her thoughts and emotions echoed my own more often than I would like to admit, though in slightly less dramatic ways. I would love to say that I think only happy, fluffy thoughts about motherhood, but that would be flat out lying. I love my kids, but some days it’s tough being their primary source of food, entertainment, rides, and clean clothes.

Gilly is a worn-out mother on the verge of a mental breakdown who, in a moment of desperation, makes a decision that is both horrifying and difficult to fathom. It took me a while to come to terms with her choice, but through the course of the novel I began to understand her fears and motivation. I still can’t say that I would have made the same decision, but I understand why she did.

Kidnapped and dragged to a remote cabin in the woods, Gilly is held captive by a young man named Todd, who never meant to take her but will not let her go. Trapped by snow and circumstance, the two gradually form a tenuous bond. Their interaction becomes almost filial, as they open up about their own tragic pasts and draw comfort from each other. I thought the relationship between Gilly and Todd, or, more precisely, it's development, was one of the more intriguing aspects of this book.

Todd is at once pathetic, psychotic, and oddly endearing, but not the monster that Gilly expects him to be. His severe emotional issues are grounded in a childhood trauma so sickening that I couldn’t help but be sympathetic. However, I was disappointed by the sheer volume of F-words (and others) in this story.   I suppose, it helped Todd seem more intimidating and spoke to the both of the character's emotions, but the average one to two F-bombs a page was a bit much, even for me, and distracted from the story.  

One of the more obvious themes of this book was the intensity of motherly love and what a beautiful, horrible, ferocious thing it can be. As a young girl Gilly suffered through her mother’s own mental health issues, and is overcome with fear that she will put her children through the same fate. So, she bites her tongue and screams into her pillow, determined that her children never see her fears or imperfections and ultimately, it is a mother’s love that saves them all.

I was unprepared for how this story ended. For some reason, I thought the story was going to go another way, and was pleasantly surprised (in a very disturbing way) that it did not end all sunshine and butterflies. It ended in a way that I didn’t necessarily enjoy, but could respect.

Precious and Fragile Things was more than I thought it would be. While the story slowed occasionally, I couldn’t tear away from the interaction between Gilly and Todd.  Because of the subject matter, I wouldn’t read this book again or recommend it to just any reader, but I thought the overall concept was fascinating, and that it could be an excellent pick for the right book club.

My Rating: 3.25 Stars

For the sensitive reader: This book has LOTS of profanity, crude language, and some discussion of sexual matters.

Sum it up: An expertly titled and disturbing tale about the complexities of motherly love, loss, and the relationships that change our lives. Oh, and I’ve hit my lifetime quota for the F-word now.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

Summary: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the effects of the atom bomb; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live, and struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.
Summary from book, cover photo from indiebound.org

My Review: Chances are you have heard of Hela cells. They make regular appearances in articles and on news channels as scientists use them in research to discover how human cells react to various toxins and come up with new medications and vaccinations from studying them. But not much has been said about where these cells originated from. This book takes us behind the scenes of Hela cells back to the woman whose body they were cut from more than fifty years ago - Henrietta Lacks.

This book is more than a scientific study on Hela cells. It's a touching story of the Lacks family - a mother who died of cancer too early leaving her young children and husband behind. It's about the legacy of Henrietta Lacks, whose body passed on but whose cells not only still live but continue to reproduce at astonishing rates.

This book is perfectly laid out to create a beautiful, yet educational story. It contains some interesting information on chromosome mapping, cell reproduction, and cell research in general. The information is provided mostly in layman’s terms making it easy to understand and read. At the same time it brings light onto the woman who was Henrietta Lacks from her childhood to beyond her death with a detailed look inside the lives of her children. The author has done an amazing job of reporting as a neutral party (for the most part) and yet humanizing the Lackes. There were a few parts toward the middle that felt a bit over dramatized. Yet there is no doubt that Henrietta's children suffered greatly, especially her daughter, Deborah. Their torment is adequately portrayed.

This book will leave the reader puzzled with feelings on the equity of tissue ownership. Parts produce outrage toward the abuse of power by the medical profession, Yet where would we be without the medical advancements led to by Hela? What a miraculous legacy Henrietta left behind. This would certainly make for an excellent book club discussion with some warmer moments.

My Rating: 4 Stars

To Sum it Up: So much more than a scientific article yet so much more than a memoir, this is a book that begs to be read.

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand

Summary: On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, seven years in the making, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in her blockbuster bestseller, Seabiscuit.  Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.
Summary from book, cover photo indiebound.org

My Review: Before he was drafted into the army during World War II, Louis Zamporini was an Olympic runner. His successful running career was surprising to many. His survival of WWII was miraculous to all. Unbroken is the inspiring true story of Louie's life.

Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit, has dug deep to research Zamporini's life. She opens with a brief overview of Louie's youth, giving the reader a feel for his character and determination. She then settles into WWII where the bulk of the story takes place. Mixed into this compelling story is a plethora of information on WWII POW camps housed in Japan.

When the bomber he was aboard crashed into the ocean, Louie managed to survive weeks on a small raft surrounded by sharks with minimal provisions. Against all odds he reaches land only to be met by Japanese forces who quickly sweep him off as a POW.  Soon it becomes clear that Louie's fight for his life has only just begun.

This is an engrossing story read with clamped hands and an accelerated heart-rate yet told in a compassionate manner. The material is many times disturbing but written with balance of detail to portray the horror while not overly done for pure shock value. Unbroken is a swiftly moving story that is quickly consumed but will not be forgotten.

My Rating: 5 Stars

To sum it up: An account of one man's sacrifice for his country and his will to survive.

The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin

Summary:  A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will.  And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger--and a possible murderer--to inherit his vast fortune, one thing's for sure: Sam Westing may be dead...but that won't stop him from playing one last game!  (Summary from back of the book and image from  http://4.bp.blogspot.com/)

My Review:  What a fast paced book!  I've had The Westing Game on my to-read pile for far too long.  I still don't know why I hadn't read it before.  Raskin is the opposite of wordy--every chapter, every description gave the reader just enough to stay engaged with new information, but just vague enough to cause a little confusion and keep the reader wanting more.  I felt like I needed the little paper slip you get when playing Clue to keep everything straight.  The whole time I was reading I kept getting the feeling I'd read this before.  Because I didn't intuit the ending, I believe this feeling came from the similarities it had to playing the game Clue as a child.  There were so many twists and turns, connections, and associations that by the end I felt a deep respect for Raskin and her story telling abilities, as well as the mystery element she wove so perfectly.  I'm not surprised in the least this was Newberry Award winner.  It's a fantastic Young Adult book, one should pick up for yourself if you haven't already.

WARNING: SPOILER!

If you look up the book online you'll find two inconsistencies: 1) Somehow, Grace Windkoppel is Sam Westing's niece despite the book clearly stating more than once that Westing was an only child of immigrant parents--I had noticed this, but figured Sam Westing had lied somewhere along the way in order to stay as anonymous as possible. 2) That the quick-diagnosing Dr. Deere did not diagnose a fairly clear case of Münchausen syndrome--this I did not catch.  Besides that, the book flows smoothly.

My Rating:  4.5 Stars


Sum it up: A great introduction to mystery books for young adults.

The Quilter's Apprentice - Jennifer Chiaverini

Summary:  When Sarah McClure and her husband, Matt, move to Waterford, Pennsylvania, she hopes to make a fresh start in the small college town.  Unable to find a job both practical and fulfilling, she takes a temporary position at Elm Creek Manor helping its reclusive owner, Sylvia Compson, prepare her family estate for sale after the death of her estranged sister.  Sylvia is also a master quilter and , as part of Sarah's compensation, offers to share the secrets of her creative gifts with the younger woman.

During their lessons, the intricate, varied threads of Sylvia's life begin to emerge.  It is the story of a young wife living through the hardships and agonies of the World War II home front; of a family torn apart by jealousy and betrayal; of misunderstandings, loss, and a tragedy that can never be undone.  As the bond between them deepens, Sarah resolves to help Sylvia free herself from remembered sorrows and restore her life--and her home--to its former glory.  In the process, she confronts painful truths about her own family, even as she creates new dreams for the future.

Just as the darker sections of a quilt can enhance the brighter ones, the mistakes of the past can strengthen understanding and lead the way to new beginnings.  The powerful debut novel by a gifted storyteller, The Quilter's Apprentice tells a timeless tale of family, friendship, and forgiveness as two women weave the disparate pieces of their lives into a bountiful and harmonious whole.  (Summary from back of the book and image from  http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/)

My Review:  For the purpose of this review, I feel that I must mention that I am not a quilter and have never been exposed to the world of quilting besides a quick jaunt through the State Fair buildings.  Although, I have always admired quilts and have "peice and sew my own quilt" on my bucket list of things to do before I die.  I think quilt makers/lovers would probably eat this book up.  I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of the quilting process, even if at times it was hard to picture.  The author kindly put pictures of the quilt squares Sarah worked on for her sampler quilt at the beginning of the book and I referenced them regularly while reading.  I also enjoyed the camaraderie the ladies shared in their quilting group.  The way Chiaverini describes the friendship it makes you want to take up quilting just to have the good friends and treats.  This is a good, clean read, one I wouldn't mind recommending to any age based on content.

The reason I couldn't give this book a higher rating was because, time and again, I had to force myself to pick up the book and finish.  It wasn't that it was a bad book, or that the characters are unrelatable.  I just didn't have a hard time putting it down.  It might have been from the sadness that hovers around Sylvia's life and my hesitation to learn more of the ghosts that haunt her.  Maybe it was because I read this just before and during the Thanksgiving break from school and my mind was on other things.  Regardless, I wasn't so wrapped up in the story that I couldn't put it down and therefore I could not give it quite a 4 star rating.

Rating:  3.75 stars

Sum it up: A charming tale of personal growth, forgiveness, and the love of quilting.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

Summary: This novella by English author Charles Dickens was first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visitations of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. 

The tale has been viewed as an indictment of nineteenth century industrial capitalism and was adapted several times to the stage, and has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.  (image from virgin media and summary from Wikipedia)

My Review:  Not only is this A Christmas Carol, it is THE Christmas Carol...a story that most Americans have seen in multiple movie recreations or plays and one referred to at Christmas time as often as any bible story or tale of reindeer.  But, have you read it?  I hadn't until it was the book club pick for December.  If you haven't read it, forget about picking up this year's NYT bestselling holiday tearjerker - get this instead.

At 100 pages this book is easily adapted into a movie.  The script is generally taken directly from Dicken's words and you will probably find no surprise plot twists.  It is simply the act of reading that gives this story a greater depth.  In fact, because the visual "imagination" of reading it is unnecessary (I pictured a cross between Mickey's Christmas Carol and Muppet's Christmas Carol...judge me as you may) as I read my mind wandered instead to the whys of the story.  Why did Dickens include certain details?  Why did the ghost of Christmas Present phrase it that way?  And of course the most interesting question of all...how does this apply to me?

The book club discussion was an excellent way to start to the holiday season.  Our discussion focused less on the caricature of hard hearted Scrooge and more on the reasons that young Scrooge turned away from life and towards money.  You see, not many of us are extremely wealthy and frugal business men.  If we are wealthy we spend the money, mostly on ourselves and family, and if we are poor...well, we may be frugal, or we may just be envious and equally self-serving.  And so we talked about how to avoid becoming obsessed with money and about how incredibly blessed we are to live in our luxurious 1st world homes (I say this with no sense of irony as I sit in my 850 sf condo after two years of my husband being partially employed).  We talked about how giving a gift gives you more dopamine than getting a gift.  We talked about wealth as a curse...or not.  We discussed the merits of Santa verses parents as the prime gift giver.  We talked about a lot more questions.  All of this, from 100 pages; from a story I've heard at least thirty times in my life.

This is a story you should READ once in your life...if not every year.  And then discuss it. 

Merry Christmas.

My rating: 5 Stars

Sum it up:  Discuss it over the Thanksgiving table next year in order to influence your gift giving and general Christmasy attitude in 2011.

Eat Cake - Jeanne Ray

Summary: With her suddenly unemployed husband, her elderly mother, and a petulant teenage daughter sharing space under her roof, Ruth has enough stress already. Then she gets the phone call saying her father, a bar-hopping piano player, has broken both wrists and needs someone to take care of him. Since dear old Dad and Ruth’s mother are sworn enemies, it looks like stormy territory ahead.

Ruth reverts to her favorite stress-reduction technique, visualizing herself sitting in the warm, safe haven in the center of a bundt cake. She feels protected there, open to the universe but safe from it. Ruth’s husband Sam, a former hospital administrator, thinks he needs a career change and dreams of buying old sailboats, refurbishing them, and selling them for profit. Jarred by the risk-taking and potential for financial ruin, Ruth wonders if she could launch a mid-life career as a cake baker. She bakes all the time anyway, why not do it for profit?

The whole family gets into the act. Daughter Camille makes business cards that say “Eat Cake”, and thus a name is chosen. Ruth’s father contacts old cronies in fine restaurant service and offers them samples. Ruth’s mother sews elaborate presentation boxes for the cakes. Even Sam is enlisted into service on the production end. When Ruth loses the nerve to approach businesses to buy her cakes, Camille steps in, asking for double the price her mother had contemplated. Business takes off, and family happiness ensues.  (Summary from http://www.enotes.com/ and image from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/.)

My Review:  I feel a bit guilty giving this book only a 2.5 star rating.  It's not that it's that bad.  It just did not call to me.  Reading about how someone finds solace in the midst of a enormous cake doesn't make any sense to me.  I have a hard time understanding how cake could make everything all better--it just doesn't do that for me.  Even eating chocolate (my true vice in life aside from shoes) doesn't take me to a happy oasis where my problems don't exist, nor do I believe would it be able to do that for my family.  It might scratch the itch I'm having for chocolate, but it does not make me feel better.

There were parts to the book that I enjoyed: the happy perspective the characters give despite their difficult situation, the healthy relationship of the Ruth and Sam, some of the anecdotes about Ruth's father and his trials of having two broken wrists.  Where it fell flat for me was how everything was somehow magically fixed by Ruth being able to sell her cakes at a price unrealistically high.  That this pulls her family together as well detracts from the believability.  In a rose-colored-glasses world, yes this could exist.  Reality?  No. 

I have to agree with a friend of mine who said this seems to be a trend in books for middle-aged women: somehow making good money by doing something they love, particularly baking or cooking amidst a mid-life crisis.  Maybe Eat Cake was the first to start that trend (I wouldn't know because I don't read this type of book much), but regardless it still feels like a trend and one that I'm not about to join, let alone understand. 

Don't take my review as the end all be all for this book.  If you're a foodie, if you like to bake or cook, if you are going through a difficult trial and need an optimistic lens to look through, this just might be your fix.  It definitely wasn't mine and be sure to understand that is because cooking and baking are not that important to me.  Overall it's a good, clean book and I'm sure there's an audience out there for it.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Sum it up:  A book about trials where cake makes everything better.

Room - Emma Donoghue

Also reviewed by Heather.

Summary:  To five-year-old Jack, Room is the world. It’s where he was born, it’s where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose on Jack’s imagination—the snake under Bed that he constructs out of eggshells, the imaginary world projected through the TV, the coziness of Wardrobe below Ma’s clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night in case Old Nick comes.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it’s the prison where she has been held since she was nineteen—for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven foot space. But Jack’s curiosity is building alongside her own desperation—and she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Told in the poignant and funny voice of Jack, Room is a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child. It is a shocking, exhilarating, and riveting novel—but always deeply human and always moving. Room is a place you will never forget.  ( Summary from book - Image from indiebound.org )

My Review: The man said his dog was sick. She only wanted to help. Seven years later she is trapped, imprisoned in an inescapable shed with her five year old son. Her story would be a frightening thing, but Room is not her story. It is the story of her son, Jack, fathered by a rapist and born into horrid captivity.

I realized, after only a few sentences, that Room wouldn’t be like most books I have read, because Room is narrated by five-year-old Jack.  His observations of the world inside Room are at times funny, insightful, or troubling. He tells of the spider that lives under Table, his love for Dora the Explorer on TV, the unruly Tooth that bothers Ma and makes her take killers, and his paralyzing fear of the ogre, Old Nick, who comes in the night while he is tucked away in Wardrobe. This unique voice and creative literary style makes it easy to slip into Jack’s world and see Room, and eventually Outside, through his eyes.

“We stand beside Table and look up, there’s the most hugest round silver face of God. So bright, shining all of Room the faucets and Mirror and the pots and Door and Ma’s cheeks even. “You know,” she whispers, “sometimes the moon is a semicircle, and sometimes a crescent, and sometimes just a little curve like a fingernail clipping.” “Nah.” Only in TV.

Jack’s relationship with his mother is central to the story. She tries to protect him—to make life as normal as possible in such an insular setting—and through it all, Jack maintains all the innocence, curiosity, and stubbornness common in children his age. It is this innocence perspective, which allows the reader to see and understand some of the darker aspects of this book, such as Old Nick’s nightly visits, even when Jack does not.

I appreciated the author’s ability to say very little, through Jack, and still speak volumes. A simple word or phrase let me not only feel his emotions, but to see and understand those of his mother. As Jack describes the clench of his mother’s jaw, the extra painkiller, or a particularly vacant expression, I could easily perceive her feelings and motivations without hearing from her directly.

As Jack’s curiosity grows and Old Nick’s behavior becomes increasingly volatile, his mother knows they must somehow escape. Her plan is extremely perilous and the repercussions are far-reaching. Room is her prison, but it is Jack’s home. It is all that he has ever known and the prospect of life on the outside is daunting, to say the least. Soon, Jack is torn between love for his mother, fear of the Outside, and a desire to be in a place he feels safe.

The only downside to Donoghue’s childlike narration was that it is the literal equivalent of having a five-year-old chattering in your ears while you read. I already have several young children, and it was mentally exhausting to have to live in Jack’s mind while the book was open, and experience theirs when it closed.

When this book finally comes full circle, I was brought to tears by an ending that offered tender, yet bittersweet, closure. Donoghue’s depiction of escape and recovery from a truly harrowing experience may not be your traditional suspense novel, but it simmers with tension, nonetheless, and the result is an unforgettable experience.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars   For the sensitive reader: While this book did contain some darker subject matter, Jack’s point of view remained fairly innocent. I appreciated that the author found a way to be shocking and emotionally evocative without being graphic or vulgar.

Sum it up: Room is everything it promises to be (shocking, exhilarating, riveting) and so much more. It is a beautifully written, achingly innocent view of a ferocious love, a Room that should never exist, and the possibility of life on the Outside.

Perfection : A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal - Julie Metz

Summary:  Julie Metz had seemingly the perfect life--an adoring husband, a happy, spirited daughter, a lovely old house in a quaint suburban town--but it was all a lie.  Julie['s]...life changed forever on one ordinary January afternoon when her husband, Henry, collapsed on the kitchen floor and died in her arms.  Suddenly this mother of a six-year-old became the young widow in her bucolic small little town.  But that was only the begininng.  Seven months after Henry's death, just when Julie though she was emerging from the worst of it, came the rest of it.  Henry had hidden another life from her.

Perfection is the story of rebuilding both a life and an identity after betrayal and widowhood.  It is a story of rebirth and happiness--if not perfection.  (Summary from book - Image from http://www.amazon.ca/    - Book given free for review)

My Review:  Perfection is a novel that, like the grieving process, manifests in stages. At turns lyrical, raw, and profoundly emotional, Julie Metz begins with Fog, the story of her marriage to her enigmatic husband, Henry, and life with their precocious daughter, Liza. I was enthralled by Julie’s romantic writing style, Henry’s extravagant dinner parties, and their shared love for Liza. Yes, her life seemed nearly perfect, until the day it all fell apart.

When Henry dies suddenly, Julie’s grief is overwhelming and made worse when she inadvertently uncovers the secret that Henry managed to conceal throughout their marriage. Like Julie, I didn’t realize or anticipate the depth of Henry’s betrayal and was horrified on her behalf.

In Storm, the contrast in Metz’s writing style and emotional state is immediate and arresting. When Julie finds out what Henry has done, it shatters her rose-colored world and she retreats into a dark abyss of blinding sorrow and torrential rage. This section of the book contains graphic profanity and occasional stream-of-consciousness ranting, which, though distinctly unpleasant, accurately portrays the depth of Julie’s fury. If this were a fiction book, I would probably say that the profanity was unnecessary. However, Perfection is a memoir, and Julie is not a fictional character. While I found this section of the book difficult to read, I cannot fault Julie’s chosen form of expression. I would probably use several of those words myself, and with liberal application, if put in the same situation.

I will admit to being intensely relieved when Julie emerges from Storm into Wind. In my mind, wind has always signified change and, as Julie regains some of her former sanity, we see a new assertiveness emerge. Julie examines the past, cataloging all the missed signs and attempting to differentiate between the lies and the genuine moments of her life with Henry. Through a series of life changes and some dating trial-and-error, she begins to look toward the future – toward Daylight.

As the title might imply, the primary theme of this book is the idea of perfection -- what it meant to Julie, what it meant to Henry, why we struggle to capture it, and how we lose it. Through brief reference to the Japanese culinary concept of umami, or a savory perfection, Julie’s overall message seems to be that while life may not be perfect, we can each appreciate the individual moments of umami in our personal lives.

Perfection is a brutally honest portrayal of a life broken and rebuilt. However, I have read stories of maddening grief that raked me across the coals, emotionally. This one did not. I felt her pain, but not my own. While I wanted to love this novel, I could not convince myself to do more than sincerely admire the author’s writing style, her ability to convey emotion, and her willingness to share such an achingly personal experience.

My Rating: 3.75 Stars   For the sensitive reader: This book will likely offend those sensitive to profanity or somewhat graphic sexual descriptions and situations.

Sum it up: A poignant and savory novel that is more than the sum of its parts.

Room - Emma Donoghue

Also reviewed by Mindy.

Summary: 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.  Summary and cover image from indiebound.org

My Review: Upon opening this book you are thrust into the world of a five-year-old. Jack narrates this story through the eyes of an innocent child. At first it is a struggle to get into character but within a few pages the transport from adulthood back to childhood is complete. It must be quite a challenge to write from this perspective, yet Donoghue masters it flawlessly.

Jack is an energetic, inquisitive and creative five-year-old. Other than being particularly bright, he is the average child. Yet his surroundings are anything but typical. Jack and his mother live locked within a 12 by 12 foot room. Knowing no different, Jack is quite content in his singular world with his mother, a small television, his snake friend made from egg shells and his Sunday treats. His mother, however, knows Room to be a life-draining prison, one they must escape before it smothers them both.

This powerful novel is at once absolutely appalling and undeniably beautiful. This is an all-consuming book which begs to be read in a single sitting. Jack's innocence is presented with bits of humor and heartache. His mother's battle between doing right by her son and her need for freedom will capture the hearts of readers. Her struggle to remain courageous while being absolutely powerless perfectly displays the undeniable bond between a mother and her child. Book clubs take note this is a story that demands to be discussed.

*See the room and hear Jack's voice at www.roomthebook.com, a very cool addition to the book that puts it all into perspective

My Rating: 5 Stars, though the nature of the story is rather dark there are really no details into the terrifying events and, other than a choice word or two, this book is clean.

To sum it up: A tender and horrific tale told in the most unique voice.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Also reviewed by Mindy and Heather.

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. 
(Image from http://reviewsbylola.files.wordpress.com/ and summary from book jacket.)

My Review:  I'm going to admit right now that I didn't blast through this the way it seems most do.  I just had this foreboding feeling that nagged at me until about two-thirds the way through the book.  Until that point I found myself avoiding reading and worried (yes, I know it's fictional) about the outcome of the characters. I would attribute this attachment to the characters to Kathryn's great writing.  The dialect feels natural and authentic, the characters three-dimensional and endearing. Once I got past the first two-thirds I rushed through it like going over a waterfall.  At that point I couldn't put it down.

The divisive force of racism, for me, was the strongest message.  And for Skeeter, tragically so.  How do you accept the fact that the people you've known and loved your whole life are so polarly different from you in their beliefs about equality?  And then, once you do realize, and they realize the differences, how do you move on with your life?  Knowing so few actually agree with you, being a woman from the South, without a set path for your future, has to be heartbreaking.  Throw in two women from the other perspective, one who wants to love despite being hated, and the other who's grown to hate and you have an amazing, moving story.

I loved the story.  I loved the message.  I can only wish that more would read this book, feel the empathy for others that we either don't allow ourselves to feel or are blind to feeling through self-absorption.  Change is not easy, but I can only imagine this story would help open eyes or reinforce kindness in everyone who reads it. 

The book doesn't wrap up perfectly, but that's another aspect that makes it feel right.  There's enough closure to the character's lives that you leave feeling content.  I will definitely be passing this book along to any and all who will read it.

Rating: 5 Stars

Sum it up: Eloquently written, touching on both the beauty and the cruelty of the Southern racial experience of the 1960's, The Help stays with you.

Also reviewed by Mindy and Heather.