The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publish Date: January 15, 2013
Format: Kobo 
Pages: - 
ISBN: 9780345534699

For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.
 
Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

My Thoughts

While I had some knowledge of Charles Lindbergh and his life accomplishments, this book gave me so much more information about his personal life as well as professional, told through the eyes of his devoted wife, Anne Morrow.  There is nothing more enjoyable that learning about a strong historical figure and seeing how the driving force behind them is most often a woman.  A strong woman, who no matter what stood beside her controlling husband, sacrificed so much and was "his crew" until his death.

This novel had much more than I thought it would, assuming most of it would have been based on the famous kidnapping of Charles Jr. in 1932, this was only a portion woven in to a much deeper story.  A little bit too political for me at times, but that is a portion of Lindbergh I did not know about and still found it interesting to read about.  Charles and Anne's life and the fascination with it truly was the birth of paparazzi. 

This novel does what any great historical fiction novel does, gets the reader interested in the characters to then do a further search about them after reading to determine fact from fiction.  What I personally love about historical fiction is the just that, fiction woven in to make it interesting. As long as the basis of the novel stays factual, the small details that piece everything together can be as fictitious as the author can create, showing how much imagination an author really has, which is key when writing.

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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.

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

Publisher: Random House Audio
Publish Date: July 17, 2012
Format: Audio
Discs: 9
ISBN: 978 0307917379

When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Syria, she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke College, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language.  The First World War is spreading across Europe, and she has volunteered on behalf of the Boston-based Friends of Armenia to deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian genocide.  There, Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter.  When Armen leaves Aleppo to join the British Army in Egypt, he beings to write Elizabeth letters, and comes to realize that he has fallen in love with the wealthy, young American woman who is different from his wife he lost.  

Flash forward to the present, where we meet Laura Petrosian, a novelist living in suburban New York.  Although her grandparents’ ornate Pelham home was affectionately nicknamed the “Ottoman Annex,” Laura has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought.  But when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura’s grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family’s history that reveals love, loss – and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.

My Thoughts

"How do a million and a half people die with nobody knowing?  You kill them in the middle of nowhere."

I have to admit that I had never heard about the Armenian Genocide before this book.  It's sad, I know, but I'm defiantly not alone.  But once I started reading I needed to know more and spent hours devouring the internet to educate myself on this horrific event that is widely unknown.  The author take you away on such a heartbreaking journey of war and grief, love and loss and I loved how each character leaves a huge impact in unfolding this incredible story.  

I listened to this on audio and absolutely loved the alternating narration with Elizabeth and Laura - I think it's important in audio to have different voices if a story from multiple points of view.  It just makes for a more enjoyable listen in my opinion.

This was such a powerful and insightful novel that was overall unforgettable.  I encourage everyone to read this novel of an important piece of lost history.  This was my first novel by Chris Bohjalian and I am eager to read more.

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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.

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

Publisher: Algonquin Books
Publish Date: September 18, 2012
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 368
ISBN: 978 1616201937

When She Woke tells the story of a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but chromed – their skin colour is genetically altered to match the class of their crimes – and then released back into the population to survive as best they can.  Hannah is a Red; her crime is murder.

In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith.

My Thoughts

This would have never been a book I would have chosen for myself and was a bit skeptical - it was selected at my local library as the January Book Club pick - and I ended up really enjoying it.  I found the concept to be brilliant and devoured this novel in just a few days.  It really got me thinking - is this where we could actually be heading?  Imagine walking among criminals.  Chroming (maybe not totally like this) could be a way of the future - you just never know.  We already microchip pets, why wouldn't we start doing something like that with babies at birth?  

I have to say though that I did enjoy the first half of the book better than the last half.  It started to get a little too preachy and felt rushed.  I also felt like Hannah's character made a drastic change and by this I'm referring to the Simone encounter.  I just found it added no value and unnecessary to the plot of the story.  I understand what the author was trying to relay - that Hannah's outlook on gay people were wrong, but I still found it irrelevant.  The ending just didn't have enough closure for me.  I was left with too much wonder about some of the characters and how they fared.  I need closure in a novel - I crave it.  Even an Epilogue would have been amazing.  I would be okay with a sequel, I'm interested in seeing Hannah now living her new life.  Just leave Simone out of it.

Having never read The Scarlet Letter, I am very interested in reading it as there seem to be a number of similarities.

It is also good to know that the future still has Target and McDonald's...

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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.

A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore

Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publish Date: February 1, 2012
Format: Audio
Discs: 12
ISBN: 978 

Can dreams be passed down through families?  As a child Jude suffered a recurrent nightmare: running through a dark forest, crying for her mother.  Now six years later her six-year0old niece, Summer, is having the same dream, and Jude is frightened for her.

A successful auctioneer, Jude is struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband.  When she’s asked to value a collection of scientific instruments and manuscripts belonging to Anthony Wickham, a lonely 18^th century astronomer, she leaps at the chance to escape London for the untamed beauty of Norfolk, where she grew up.

As Jude untangles Wickham’s tragic story, she discovers threatening links to the present.  What have Summer’s nightmares to do with Starbrough folly, the eerie crumbling tower in the woods from which Wickham and is adopted daughter Esther once viewed the night sky?  With help of Euan, a local naturalist, Jude searches for answers in the wild, haunting splendor of the Norfolk forests.  Dare she leave behind sadness in her own life and learn to love again?

My Thoughts

Was this a story about trying to understand the reason for Summer's bad dreams or Jude finding love again or solving the mystery of the Wickham family and what happened to Esther or tracking down her grandmother's long lost childhood friend?  I'm not really sure because there were so many sub-plots going on that each got lost.  It was very slow paced and I just found the overall plot to be boring and uninteresting.  The novel had so much potential - why couldn't it just be about Jude unraveling the mystery of Esther and be done with it.  The dream aspect was just plain unrealistic and held no value to the story.  I also found the love story to be unnecessary and boring.  I felt zero engagement with the characters and couldn't wait for the story to end.

I listened to this on audio and I have come to the conclusion that I strongly dislike British narrators!  I have listened to a number of them and the attempt at doing different voices for each character (especially a man or child) makes my skin crawl.  

It had been a few weeks since I listened to this book and I can't real how it even ended.  Hate when that happens.

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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.

A Murder at Rosamund's Gate (Lucy Campion Mysteries #1) by Susanna Calkins

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publish Date: April 23, 2013

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 352

ISBN: 978 1250007902

 Lucy Campion, a seventeenth-century English chambermaid in the household of the local magistrate, life is an endless repetition of polishing pewter, emptying chamber pots, and dealing with other household chores until a fellow servant is ruthlessly killed, and someone close to Lucy falls under suspicion.  Lucy can’t believe it, but in a time where the accused are presumed guilty until proven innocent, lawyers aren’t permitted to defend their clients, and – if the plague doesn’t kill the suspect first – public executions draw a large crowd of spectators, Lucy knows she may never find out what really happened.  Unless, that is, she can uncover the true herself.

Determined to do just that, Lucy finds herself venturing out of her expected station and into raucous printers’ shops, secretive gypsy camps, the foul streets of London, and even the bowels of Newgate prison on a trail that might lead her straight into the arms of the killer.

My Thoughts

I'm a cover lover - there is no doubt about that and I found this particular cover so haunting and beautiful I knew I had to read it.  Then reading the synopsis and a promise of a good mystery set in the seventeenth century I was sold.  I loved the time period, loved the setting and the description of London and the premises of the story.  However there too much going on for me to fully engage in the story.  In addition to Lucy trying to solve the mystery of her friends murder there was also a number of other sub stories going on as well.  There was a romance budding with Lucy.  The plague struck and then became a focal point of the story.  There was also the political aspect and how during that time London had a corrupt justice system.  While the author did a great job of weaving everything together I found that it was all a bit too much. 

I liked her writing and glad that she chose to use modern language as opposed to what would have been used in the seventeenth century.  As she explains in her author's notes this is much easier for the reader, and as a lover and avid reader of historical fiction this is something even I appreciate.

This is the first book in a series and while I found the introduction to the series a bit slow I think it is a series worth reading and will continue on with the second book From the Charred Remains as I believe Calkins has so much room to grow as a storyteller.  I think Lucy is an interesting character and although not very complex (which is refreshing sometimes) am intrigued as to where the author takes her.  Although I didn't love the novel I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Calkins or this novel.

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.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Publisher: Random House Audio

Publish Date: January 10, 2012

Format: Audio

Discs: 15

ISBN: 978 0307939708

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother – a singer “Stolen” tp Pyongyang – and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows. A work camp for orphans.  There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor.  Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.

Considering himself “a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world,” Jun do becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his Korean overlords in order to stay alive.  Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves, Sun Moon, a legendary actress “so pure, she didn't know what starving people looked like.”

My Thoughts

"In North Korea you are not born, you are made."  If I took anything away from this novel it would be this quote and that's about it.  I did not find this an enjoyable book, mostly because half the time I had no idea what was going on.  Maybe had I read the book instead of listening to it I would have grasped more, but I have no desire to actually read it, I don't want to waste anymore time than I already have.  I found it very confusing, somewhat like reading a puzzle and there was no line between what was fantasy and what was real.  There are 3 narrators.  The first you hear is the radio announcer who spews nonsense to the citizens and then the other 2 narrators are actually the same person - just one in the past and one in the present.  I listened to this on audio and it eventually just became background noise while I was driving.

I did find learning about North Korea fascinating - and it gave you a glimpse into how this devastating country really is and will also say that it is well written that is rich in symbolism.  North Koreans truly believe it is the greatest nation in the world. 

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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.

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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.

Cross Roads by Wm. Paul Young

Publisher: FaithWorks
Publish Date: November 13, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Pages 287
ISBN: 978 1455516049

Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high.  A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU.  He ‘awakens’ to find himself in a surreal world, a ‘living’ landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt.  It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to the authenticity and perhaps, redemption.  The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to ‘see’ through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is “blind” to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerges to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart?  Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?

My Thoughts

When I first read The Shack I had very mixed feelings about it.  I used to think it was just okay but now I have great respect for the novel and the author.  It brought a new meaning to my life and it was a breakthrough for millions of others.  When I found out Young had a second book that branched away from The Shack I was very excited to read it.  I don't know what I was expecting when I started this book but I was hopeful that it would be a new and fresh idea.  This one is very similar to his first book in that the Holy Trinity is the starting role.  As I progressed with this read I found it to get a bit tiresome and it seemed to be the same theme.  I found the only difference to be in The Shack you rooted for Mack from the beginning and in Cross Roads Tony was the villain who might of gotten what he deserved.

While both novels were about self discovery and self acceptance, it took much longer to root for Tony.  I also felt like I had to take a more imaginative approach to Tony's story.  What I have come to expect from Young is a compelling and thought provoking story.  I feel like this fell a bit flat to me.  It was full of "filler" and I felt like the story could have been 100 pages less.  Sometimes I was just confused at what the point the author was trying to get across.

It wasn't a horrible read, but I'm not sure if it is something I recommend to others.  It is one of those in between books that I can't love but can't hate.  

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.

Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publish Date: April 14, 2009
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 305
ISBN: 978 0312385187

Hennie Comfort is eighty-six and has lived in the mountains of Middle Swan, Colorado since before it was Colorado.  Nit Spindle is just seventeen and newly married.  She and her husband have just moved to the high country in search of work.  It’s 1936 and the depression has ravaged the country and Nit and her husband have suffered greatly.  Hennie notices the young woman loitering near the old sign outside her house that promises “Prayers For Sale.”  Hennie doesn't sell prayers, never has, but there’s something about the young woman that she’s drawn to.  The harsh conditions of life that each have endured create an instant bond and an unlikely friendship is formed, one in which the deepest of hardships are shared and the darkest of secrets are confessed.

My Thoughts

I unexpectedly really enjoyed this book.  It wasn't one I would normally pick for myself and am happy I ended up liking it so much.  This book is filled with many great life lessons and stories told by Hennie that she wants passed on long after she is gone.  There are many factors that made this a great story: friendship, faith and forgiveness.  

I really enjoyed the theme of the story - Hennie taking young Nit under her wing and trying to teach her the ways of mining living in the mountains of Colorado and the hardships that come along with it.  There were a few unexpected twists the made my want to keep reading...and what an amazing ending!  Although I knew what the outcome would most likely be (and was right) the secret I didn't see coming.  

Just an overall heartwarming read from an author that is new to me. Now I'll be sure to check out her other novels.

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.

The Shack by Wm Paul Young

Publisher: Windblown Media
Publish Date: June 2008
Pages: -
Format: Kobo
ISBN: 978- 0964729292

Mackenzie Allen Phillips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.  Four years later in the midst of his “Great Sadness,” Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to the shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintery afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare.  What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

My Thoughts

This was a very challenging book to read, so much that I read half in May and the other half today.  You have to break it into two stories: the actual novel and the theological.

I had a tough time rating this one; first it was a 4, then a 2 then settled on 3.  There were parts that I really liked, parts that were ok and some parts left me thinking wtf? (Can I say that about a spiritual novel?)  I've been very back and forth about my feelings towards this book.  In my opinion it was not a well written novel, and seemed to be a little over the place and in a sense just sloppy.  I had very high hopes for this one and it fell a bit short.

The other aspect that I didn't like, and again this is just my personal opinion and preference, is I like closure at the end.  I'm not one of these people likes a storyline left "open for interpretation."  I prefer to have a  "pull me in" beginning, climactical middle and a drawing conclusion and delivered to me on beautiful crisp pages (or in this case neatly on my ereader.)  I'm not one to sit and have discussions on what I think happened in the end...although this is what I'm finding myself doing with a colleague.  I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.  

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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.