Letter to My Daughter

Author: George Bishop
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2011
Pages: 176
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: A fight, ended by a slap, sends Elizabeth out the door of her Baton Rouge home on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Her mother, Laura, is left to fret and worry—and remember. Wracked with guilt as she awaits Liz’s return, Laura begins a letter to her daughter, hoping to convey “everything I’ve always meant to tell you but never have.” In her painfully candid confession, Laura shares memories of her own troubled adolescence in rural Louisiana, her bittersweet relationship with a boy she loved despite her parents’ disapproval, and a personal tragedy that she can never forget. An absorbing and affirming debut, Letter to My Daughter is a heartwrenching novel of mothers, daughters, and the lessons we all learn when we come of age.

Review: I saw this sitting out on a shelf at the library and the title grabbed me; I guess having two daughters of my own and all. I also found it intriguing that the author is a guy and was writing from a mother's perspective. I thought, "no way is this going to work." I was wrong, and it was so very very good. 

It only took me a couple hours to read this 176 page book, and it proves that a lot can be said in a few short pages. It's a small book that packs a big punch. Highly Recommend.

As a perk, I can check off the category, "a book you can finish in a day" from my 2016 Reading Challenge.

Me Before You

Author: Jojo Moyes
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2013
Pages: 416
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

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

Review: I fell in love with this book from page one, and that was completely unexpected. It's not the type of cover (I know, I know) that I typically read. It's also very popular right now, and I typically shy away from books that everyone is reading. The only reason I gave it a chance is because I needed a book that is being turned into a movie in 2016.

I was also unsure about reading a British book. I actually loved that aspect of it, and even found some of it quite humorous.

This was one of those books that makes you want to read faster and faster because you need to know what happens next, but you want to savor each page as well because when it's over, it's over. I forced myself to put it down so that I could enjoy more of it later otherwise this would have been a one-sitting read.

There was definitely an opportunity for the author to develop the interpersonal relationships and characters, but in thinking about it that may have detracted from the intent of the story. I didn't get the ending I wanted, but what a read. Loved it.

Also by JoJo Moyes:
The Peacock Emporium

King's Oak

Author: Anne Rivers Siddons
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishing, 2001
Pages: 608
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Leaving behind a disastrous marriage, Andy Calhoun moves to the small town of Pemberton, Georgia, "in search of banality." What she discovers, though, is not serenity, but Tom Dabney, a passionate and magical man.

An exuberant poet who worships the wilderness surrounding Pemberton, Tom is everything Andy doesn't need in her life right now. But despite warnings from friends, Andy is soon deeply immersed in Tom's life and his world . . . a world he will do anything to protect. When Tom declares war on the enemy poisoning his woods, it becomes clear that Andy must choose between her life with Tom and the one she left behind . . . if Pemberton society will take her back.

Review: After scouring the library for books over 600 pages, I settled on this one despite Siddons not being one of my favorite authors. The books I've read by Siddons in the past were light, fluffy reads so I figured how bad could it be. The answer is. . .pretty bad. It was good for a couple hundred pages in the middle, but the beginning was slow and the end was slower. I also had no idea this was a mystery of sorts until the last chapter. Dumb.

The characters annoyed me, more and more as the story plodded along. Eventually, I found myself in too deep to stop, but it's not one I recommend. There are too many good books out there to trouble yourself with this one.

This wasn't the first time I've read Siddons. I didn't love The Girls of August, but it was better than this one.

The Good House

Author: Ann Leary
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 2013 (print book: St. Martin's Press, 2013)
Pages: 8 discs (print book: 304)
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Ann Leary's The Good House tells the story of Hildy Good, who lives in a small town on Boston's North Shore. Hildy is a successful real-estate broker, good neighbor, mother, and grandmother. She's also a raging alcoholic. Hildy's family held an intervention for her about a year before this story takes place—"if they invite you over for dinner, and it's not a major holiday," she advises "run for your life"—and now she feels lonely and unjustly persecuted. She has also fooled herself into thinking that moderation is the key to her drinking problem.

As if battling her demons wasn't enough to keep her busy, Hildy soon finds herself embroiled in the underbelly of her New England town, a craggy little place that harbors secrets. There's a scandal, some mysticism, babies, old houses, drinking, and desire—and a love story between two craggy sixty-somethings that's as real and sexy as you get. An exceptional novel that is at turns hilarious and sobering, The Good House asks the question: What will it take to keep Hildy Good from drinking? For good.

Review: My coworker came in one day all excited about this book, and told me not only did I have to read it, she highly (strongly) recommended the audio version. She said the narrator was excellent, and now, having listened to this, I wholeheartedly agree. The novel is well-written, and it's quite an entertaining (and at times, sobering) story, but Mary Beth Hurt (the narrator) takes it to a whole new level.

Even though all of my books come from the library, this one doesn't seem to fit any of the other criteria on my 2016 Reading Challenge. I'm counting it toward that one.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Author: Shel Silverstein
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishing, 1974
Pages: 183
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins. There you'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings is one of Parent & Childmagazine's 100 Greatest Books for Kids. School Library Journal said, "Silverstein has an excellent sense of rhythm and rhyme and a good ear for alliteration and assonance that make these poems a pleasure to read aloud."

Review: Of course I've known about Shel Silverstein and this book for years, practically since birth, but I had never sat down and read it. When my 2016 Reading Challenge required a book of poetry Where the Sidewalk Ends immediately came to mind. It was cute. While most of the poems are nonsensical and simple in their meaning, his use of alliteration and rhyme was just fun.

I highly doubt some of these would be published if written today, guns and death are just a couple of the themes that I found questionable in my 2016 mind.

Reflection

Author: Diane Chamberlain
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher, 1996
Pages: 403*
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Rachel Huber returns to her hometown of Reflection to care for her ailing grandmother. Twenty years ago, a tragedy occurred in Reflection and the people hold Rachel responsible. Now she finds herself the object of anger and hostility. She is not without her allies, however. Lily Jackson, a young woman who was personally touched by the tragedy, perplexes everyone by treated Rachel with compassion. And Michael Stoltz, the minister of the Mennonite church, is elated by Rachel's return. He and Rachel were close friends as children, and that childhood bond quickly evolves into a loving relationship that must be hidden. It is Rachel's grandmother, Helen, however, who becomes her strongest advocate, surprising Rachel with her wise counsel and rare strength - and with a wealth of secrets she has long been concealing.

Review: Chamberlain's writing has certainly evolved over the years, and now having read a few of her books, I like her newer books better (Reflection was republished in both 2010 and 2014). That isn't to say this wasn't good. I did enjoy it. However, the story line was pretty typical or expected, although there was a bit of a plot twist toward the end. It took me longer to get into this novel than it had several of her others, but as an author I really like, I hung in there knowing it would pick up.

It took me a few days to get 3/4 of the way into it, but the last 1/4 was excellent. I binge read that portion this afternoon while my children "destroyed" the house.

If you're a Diane Chamberlain fan, you will like this. If you haven't read Chamberlain before, this is not the book to read first. I recommend Necessary Lies instead.

I'd like to read all of Chamberlain's novels, and luckily this was set in Pennsylvania, my home state. That was a requirement for my 2016 Reading Challenge.

Other Diane Chamberlain Novels
Big Lies in a Small Town
Necessary Lies
Pretending to Dance
Summer's Child
The Courage Tree
The Dream Daughter
The Last House on the Street
The Silent Sister
The Stolen Marriage

Assassination Vacation

Author: Sarah Vowell
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2005
Pages: 272
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates and contributor to NPR’s "This American Life" Sarah Vowell embarks on a road trip to sites of political violence, from Washington DC to Alaska, to better understand our nation’s ever-evolving political system and history.

Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. With Assassination Vacation, she takes us on a road trip like no other — a journey to the pit stops of American political murder and through the myriad ways they have been used for fun and profit, for political and cultural advantage.

From Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to the Dry Tortugas, Vowell visits locations immortalized and influenced by the spilling of politically important blood, reporting as she goes with her trademark blend of wisecracking humor, remarkable honesty, and thought-provoking criticism. We learn about the jinx that was Robert Todd Lincoln (present at the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley) and witness the politicking that went into the making of the Lincoln Memorial. The resulting narrative is much more than an entertaining and informative travelogue — it is the disturbing and fascinating story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including literature, architecture, sculpture, and — the author's favorite — historical tourism. Though the themes of loss and violence are explored and we make detours to see how the Republican Party became the Republican Party, there are all kinds of lighter diversions along the way into the lives of the three presidents and their assassins, including mummies, show tunes, mean-spirited totem poles, and a nineteenth-century biblical sex cult.

Review: I wanted to love this, but I just didn't. It was my "road trip" pick from the 2016 Reading Challenge.

The premise was there and the book held promise, but the author and her writing style grated on me. I've read and studied Lincoln's assassination in depth. My husband is an avid James Garfield fan and through him I've learned about his assassination. The chapter on President McKinley was weak, but not horrible. In other words, I didn't learn a whole lot, but suffered through the author's high opinion of herself anyway.

I'm going to read another Sarah Vowell book at some point because I hate to judge an author, particularly one who writes about history, by only one book. This is an older one too so maybe something more recent will be a better option.