A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

Published: 
Publish Date: September 10, 2013
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 367
ISBN: 978 1451645606

As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales.  At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress in Calgary, Alberta, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe.  Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan.  In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter.  And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia – “the most dangerous place on earth.”  On her Fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road.

Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda converts to Islam as a survival tactic, receives “wife lessons” from one of her captors, and risks a daring escape.  Moved between a series of abandoned houses in the desert, she survives on memory – every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity – and on strategy, fortitude, and hope.  When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman is kept in chains, in the dark, being tortured.

Vivid and suspenseful, A House in the Sky is the searingly intimate story of an intrepid young woman and her search for compassion in the face of unimaginable adversity.

My Thoughts

This is one of those books that every time I was in a bookstore would stop, pick it up, contemplate and then put back down and tell myself another time.  When it was selected as Chapters Indigo's October pick for their #worldsbiggestbookclub I knew it was finally time to dive in.  And am I ever glad I did.  Such a powerful and moving read full of real emotion.

This memoir either seems to speak to you or it doesn't.  There are a number of reviews out there that seem to think that Amanda Lindhout may have gotten what she deserves.  This is very disheartening.  Yes, she may have exposed herself to danger and been naive in thinking she was invincible but no mater if you are traveling in a "safe" country or a war torn country you never know what can happen.  No one deserves to be raped, beaten and torched.  I found it hard to understand how she remained so positive during her whole ordeal and has even gone as far as to forgive her captors.  Just goes to show how strong of a woman she is, and I have nothing but respect for her.

I found the first third of the book very interesting, while others found it boring I began to develop jealousy towards Lindhout, she was traveling to all the countries I've only dreamed about visiting and living the dream that many will never get to experience.

At the end of her memoir she mentions that Nigel wrote a book about his experience in Somalia and I would be very interesting on hearing his take on being imprisoned and his point of view.  I am also excited that the book had been optioned into a movie and it will be very interesting to see how it comes out.  What a true story of inspiration and perseverance.  

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Ellis Island (Ellis Island #1) by Kate Kerrigan

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publish Date: June 28, 2011
Format: Paperback
Pages: 356
ISBN: 978 0062071538

Sweethearts since childhood, Ellie Hogan and her husband, John, are content on their farm in Ireland – until John, a soldier for the Irish Republican Army, receives an injury that leaves him unable to work.  Forced to take drastic measures in order to survive, Ellie does what so many Irish women in the 1920’s have done and sails across a vast ocean to New York Coty to work as a maid for a wealthy socialite.

Once there, Ellie is introduced to a world of opulence and sophistication, tempted by the allure of grand parties and fine clothes, money and mansions…and by the attentions of a charming suitor who can give her everything.  Yet her heart remains with her husband back home.  And now she faces the most difficult choice she will ever have to make; a new life in a new country full of hope and promise, or return to a life of cruel poverty…and love.

My Thoughts

This novel started out good and pulled me right in.  I loved the concept and if I were Ellie I probably would have been mesmerized by all the glitz and glamour of a big city in America if I had come from poverty ridden Ireland.  But once Ellie got there and settled in she transformed into a completely different character I could hardly stand to read about.  Her and her husband John decided she would travel to American and for one year then she was to return home.  When you begin to part one and it's titled 1920-1024 you know it just isn't going to be a year.

What transpires over the last half of the novel is a whiny, selfish, uninspired Ellie returning to Ireland kicking and screaming.  And then continues to do so for the rest of the novel.  All I wanted was the be swept away in Ellie and John's love story and instead got an ungrateful Ellie.

This is the first in a trilogy and although I was not a fan of Ellie's character at the end of the first novel I am still interested in the story line and where the author intends to take her.  I just feel like this novel had so much potential - I hope the next 2 redeem themselves.

My Rating: «««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

Publisher: Gallery Books
Publish Date: September 25, 2012
Format: Audio
Discs: 8
ISBN: 978 1442354128

Two women, each cast adrift by unforeseen events in their lives, meet by accident on a Nantucket beach and are drawn into a friendship.

Olivia is a young mother whose eight-year-old severely autistic son has recently died.  Her marriage badly frayed by years of stress, she comes to the island in a trail separation to try and make sense of the tragedy of her Anthony’s short life.

Beth, a stay-a-home mother of three, is also recently separated after discovering her husband’s long-term infidelity.  In an attempt to recapture a sense of her pre-married life, she rekindles her passion for writing, determined to find her own voice again.  But surprisingly, as she does so, Beth also finds herself channeling the voice of an unknown boy, exuberant in his perceptions of the world around him if autistic is his expression – a voice she can share with Olivia – (is it Anthony?) – that brings comfort and meaning to them both.

My Thoughts

I've had a hard time writing this review as the book and author came highly recommended by a number of people and it just fell flat to me and was rather disappointing  I'm not a fan of a story told from multiple POV and 2 separate story lines when they have no connection to each other until later on in the book.  This is a huge pet peeve of mine.  While I loved the audio narration,  done by Debra Messing, I found the story to be pretty boring and uninteresting.  Olivia's life is boring.  Beth's is equally as boring.  There was no character development  Then Beth starts writing a very unrealistic novel about a boy with autism, who happens to be exactly like Anthony, Olivia's son.  Her novel is told from his perspective which I found to be a bit far fetched. Beth's novel ultimately ties her and Olivia together (shocker) which I felt was an awkward friendship.  Overall I just wasn't a fan of this novel, my first of Lisa Genova's.  I fell like 3 stars was being generous with his one, it just wasn't for me.

My Rating: «««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.