Connie ’s Comments (group member since Nov 11, 2013)

Connie ’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Thanks, Elizabeth.

I would like to use Anne Youngson in a combo.

https://www.litlovers.com/reading-gui...

10.9 Sisters

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

"When We Left Cuba" is a story about love, intrigue, and revenge set in Florida and Cuba. Beatriz is one of four daughters in the exiled Perez family. They left behind their home and sugar plantation when they escaped from Cuba during the Cuban Revolution. Beatriz wants revenge for the death of her twin brother at the hands of Castro's revolutionaries, and she is recruited by the CIA. She also becomes romantically involved with an idealistic Senator. The novel is set against the important events of the Kennedy presidency in the early 1960s--the Bay of Pigs incident, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the assassination of President Kennedy.

While this book can be read as a "stand alone" novel, I would recommend reading "Next Year in Havana" first for the fascinating tale of the Perez family during the administration of the corrupt Batiste, followed by the Cuban Revolution. I enjoyed the mix of romance, history, and espionage in "When We Left Cuba" which showed several different viewpoints concerning Cuban-American relations. It's a book that's hard to put down.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 535

15.5 AbC

Flights of Love: Stories by Bernhard Schlink

Germany Welt-Literaturpreis 1999

Task total: 20
Season total: 515

20.10 Asia

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

I loved the emotional warmth that was present in Min Jin Lee's writing. "Pachinko" is a Korean family saga spanning four generations during the 20th Century. Although there were many characters, the reader will feel like they have seen into the heart and mind of each one through their actions. The author also weaves Korean and Japanese history into her story, including the hardships of World War II.

Sunja, a teenager in a Korean fishing village during the Japanese occupation, is seduced by Hansu and becomes pregnant. Unknown to her, Hansu already has a wife so he cannot marry her. Isak, a kind missionary heading for Japan, saves her from disgrace by offering to marry her. The story follows Sunja's mother, Isak and Sunja, their two sons, and their families in Japan.

The Koreans live in poverty in Japan where they are treated like second-class persons. Even after several generations of Koreans have been born in Japan, they still must register as outsiders because they do not have a Japanese bloodline. One character decides to pass as Japanese to create a better future. Only certain jobs are open to Koreans, including working at Pachinko parlors. Pachinko is a game similar to a pinball machine. Sunja's younger son, Mozasu, "believed that life was like this game where the player could adjust the dials yet also expect the uncertainty of factors he couldn't control".

The younger generation had their own set of challenges in the final, weakest section of the book. They had more education and money, but also more temptations. It was sad leaving this hardworking, loyal family at the end of the book. They did what it took to survive, and help the next generation. But the question of national identity still hangs over them as Koreans living in Japan.

+20 task
+ 5 combo10.5 Civil War (Lee)
+10 review

Task total: 35
Season total: 495

10.6 Public Domain

A Lost Lady by Willa Cather

Twelve-year-old Neil Herbert is charmed by Mrs Marian Forrester, the wife of the older Captain who was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the West. Set in a Nebraska town in the late 19th Century, Neil has his idealized view of the beautiful, gracious Mrs Forrester changed as he discovers some indiscretions. But Mrs Forrester is not the only lost lady. The American pioneering spirit is being replaced by exploitation by the bankers, industrialists, and other capitalists at the turn of the century. The bonds between people and the land, the passing of time, and the symbol of roses also are important in this delightful novella.

+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.8 Megafinish
+10 review
+10 oldie

Task total: 35
Season total: 460

10.8 Megafinish

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

Reporter Ellis Reed was working on a society page feature when he was shocked to see a sign on a farmhouse porch. It said "2 Children for Sale". His photograph of the sign was the start of a succession of events that led a mother, newly diagnosed with a terminal disease, selling her two children. It was 1931 during the Great Depression, a desperate time for many people who had trouble putting a meal on the table. When the mother finds out she has been misdiagnosed, Ellis and his friend Lily investigate the situation and try to reunite the mother with her daughter and son.

This is really more of a story about Ellis and Lily who are trying to prove their worth working for the press. They each have family issues which act as an extra push to get ahead in their careers, but also gives them more empathy for children. Truth in journalism and photojournalism--and the consequences of deception--are important elements in the book. The story incorporates many historical details from the Prohibition era of the 1930s.

The book deals superficially with three women who lost their children in various ways, the feelings of the two children who were sold, as well as some romantic relationships. With so much going on, I never felt a strong emotional connection to any of the characters. While the plot held my interest, the story didn't touch my heart as much as I would have expected.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 425

Valerie, your trip to Italy sounds wonderful. Have fun!

We have relatives coming from the West Coast the first two weeks of May. I'm trying to get my three library book group reads for May finished before they arrive. Like Lynn, I'm thinking about all the cleaning I need to do! This won't be one of my higher scoring challenges, but I've been enjoying the books I've read.

10.8 Megafinish

The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman

Quebec is divided into the French and the English by language, religion, and wealth. Fifteen-year-old Maggie Hughes chooses to be English like her father, although she has a French mother, and hopes to take over her father's seed business someday. But she falls for a poor French Canadian, Gabriel, and soon finds she is pregnant. It is 1950 so her family sends her away, and forces her to give up her baby girl, Elodie, who is raised by nuns in an orphanage.

During the administration of Premier Maurice Duplessis, a law was passed that gave much larger subsidies to mental institutions than to orphanages. Orphanages were changed into mental institutions by the Church, and orphans were labeled by doctors as "mentally retarded". The mentally ill were mixed with the orphans who were used as cheap labor putting in long hours housecleaning, sewing, and caring for the mentally ill residents. The Church used the homes as money-making institutions run by overworked, judgemental nuns. The orphans were physically and emotionally abused by many of the staff members. Elodie's education stopped when she was seven-years-old except for a kind nun who taught her to read from her Bible.

The narrative alternates between Elodie, and Maggie who has gone on to marry a wealthy banker, but is still haunted by memories of her baby. The book follows Elodie as she is put out on her own in Montreal at age seventeen with few life skills. Maggie continues to try to find her daughter, but is stopped by the lies of administrators.

The book has a theme of new life and nurturing starting in Maggie's father's seed store, and going on to several pregnancies in the family, parenting styles, and the nurturing (or lack of nurturing) of the young. It is a heartbreaking look into the treatment of children born out of wedlock, and the living conditions of the mentally ill. The story also has thought provoking elements about the role of women in the 1950s. "The Home for Unwanted Girls" was an interesting look at a sad part of Quebec's history.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 405

15.4 AbC

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

South Africa-Exclusive Books Boeke Prize 1999

Task total: 15
Season total: 385

20.4 Nefertiti

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

"Beneath a Scarlet Sky" is based on the true story of Pino Lella, an Italian hero during World War II. As a seventeen year old, he guided Jews over the Alps into Switzerland, working with Father Luigi Re who ran a school for boys in northern Italy. When Pino reached the draftable age of eighteen during the German occupation, he had to enlist in either the Italian Fascist Army or the German Army. His parents made him join the German Army since it had a lower mortality rate. (The Italian Army was being sent to fight in Russia.) Pino just fell into the job of being the personal driver of Nazi General Hans Leyers after he helped fix his car. General Leyers was in charge of the Organization Todt (OT) in Italy that built fortifications with slave labor, stole food, and manufactured everything from uniforms to weapons. Pino became a spy for the Allies, reporting on General Leyers' activities and risking his life again. Fluent in several languages, Pino also acted as an interpreter for the General which gave him more access to important information.

When they were both teenagers, the future Ferrari race car driver Alberta Ascari taught Pino to drive on narrow, winding mountain roads. Pino's expert driving saved him and the General several times when their car was being attacked.

The author traveled to Europe several times to interview Pino Lella and others, but chose to write a historical novel rather than nonfiction. The Nazis had burned most of their documents before leaving Italy so there have been fewer World War II nonfiction books written about Italy compared to other countries in the war. After the first few chapters showing Pino as a carefree teen, the book becomes fast paced--full of danger, suspense, and strong emotions. Mark T. Sullivan combined the skills he obtained as a journalist and a mystery writer. He wrote a fascinating historical story that's also a page-turner.

Edit: I have found out since I wrote this review that the book contains a lot of historical inaccuracies, including the identity of the general. So it should be read as exciting fiction only.

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 Scrabble
+10 review
+ 5 jumbo 513 pages

Task total: 40
Season total: 370

20.2 Rebecca

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

Mrs Palfrey moved into the Claremont Hotel in London after her husband died. A small group of older residents were living there--Mr Osmond who writes letters to newspaper editors, Mrs Burton who has a few too many drinks, Mrs Post who never misses the happenings in the lobby, and Mrs Arbuthnot with her strong views on society and literature. Time moved so slowly for them that the most exciting thing of the day was seeing the menu for dinner posted. Mrs Palfrey tried not to feel lonely, but her daughter was in Scotland and her grandson was too busy to visit her.

Mrs Palfrey enjoyed an occasional short walk, but she tripped and fell one day. She was rescued by a poor, young writer who bandages her knee and helped her back to the hotel. To express her gratitude, she invites him to dinner. To save face in front of the other residents that she has a neglectful grandson, Mrs Palfrey asks the young man to pretend to be her grandson. Although the young writer is not totally sure he wants Mrs Palfrey's attention, he is kind and likes to observe people as possible characters for a future novel. The story touches many emotions. It's darkly humorous, heartwarming, sad, and very realistic.

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 Scrabble
+ 5 oldie published 1971
+10 review

Task total: 40
Season total: 325

10.1 Square Peg

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware has written another suspenseful, contemporary mystery in The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Harriet Westaway was working on the Brighton Pier as a tarot card reader. She didn't have the money to pay the rent, and loan sharks were threatening her. She was surprised to receive a letter saying that her grandmother had died, leaving her an inheritance. Harriet thought the letter was probably sent to the wrong person, but she was in desperate circumstances so she headed to the funeral in Cornwall. She was hoping the skills she used in "cold-reading" her clients as a tarot card reader would help her with the scam.

She found the dysfunctional Westaways were hiding dark family secrets. The atmosphere in their crumbling family mansion was dangerous and gothic. Black magpies and a scary housekeeper added to the atmosphere. The deceased Mrs Westaway was a mean woman trying to stir up trouble from her grave with her bequests. Harriet wondered who she could trust as she unraveled the family's history. The book has a spunky, likable protagonist, and the tarot card readings added interest to the story. I would recommend it to fans of Daphne Du Maurier's psychological suspense novels.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 285

10.8 Megafinish

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

"In a Dark, Dark Wood" opens with twenty-six year old Leonora Shaw in a hospital bed with a traumatic head injury, memory loss, and contusions. She fearfully notices the police officer guarding the room, and wonders what she has forgotten.

Leonora, a reclusive writer, had been invited to a hen do (bachelorette party) for a friend that she had not contacted for ten years. It was held in a glass house in a remote part of a forest in Northumberland. The house is almost another character with the guests feeling like they are actors with the trees looking in. The cell reception is almost nonexistent.

The first part of the psychological mystery introduces the guests at the party, and sets up conflicts among them. Memories from their high school years add to the unsettled atmosphere. I really didn't trust any of them with their "mean girl" psychological games. Most of the second half of the story involves Leonora regaining her memory. As a suspect in a crime, she needs to figure things out quickly before the police arrest her. Although I guessed who was responsible for the crime, the book was entertaining as the mystery was revealed, layer by layer.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 265

20.8 Poetry

The House on Marshland by Louise Glück 42 pages

and

The Wild Iris by Louise Glück 63 pages

The House on Marshland is Louise Glück's second book of poetry. This collection is rather bleak and directed inward. She wrote poems about childhood, mythology, religion, and nature. She also included love poems, but they are about the difficulties of love, and emotional pain.

Pulitzer Prize winner, The Wild Iris, is a collection of 54 poems telling about changes in a garden. The poems are written in the voices of individual flowers, the poet-gardener, and the God of the garden. Themes of transformation, suffering, death, and rebirth are present in the poems. The flowers die in the autumn and are reborn in the spring, while the poet-gardener can be emotionally and spiritually reborn. God's voice comes in poems about the seasons, light and darkness, and water and dryness. These elements lead to transformations--physical, emotional, and spiritual. Changes--time, aging, loss, our choices--can lead to feelings of despair, but also to new beginnings.

+20 task
+10 review
+ 5 oldie

Task total: 35
Season total: 245

15.3 AbC

Hotel Silence by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Iceland--Icelandic Literary Prize for Fiction 2016

Task total: 15
Season total: 210

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "In case anyone is still looking for a German award, I found one that is for lifetime achievement, and includes authors from other countries.

Welt-Literaturpreis

I think this doesn't link from th..."

That's good to know, Elizabeth. I might be going to a "read the book, then see the movie" discussion for The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, a disturbing book I first read years ago.

20.7 Anna Karenina

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Prince Hamlet of Denmark is visited by his father's ghost who instructs him to take revenge for his murder by the hand of Claudius, Hamlet's uncle. Claudius took the throne and married Hamlet's mother. The play is brilliant in that we don't know if Hamlet is mad--or pretending to be mad--as he discovers the truth and plans his revenge. Both Hamlet's actions and Claudius' plans set off a series of tragic events in a domino effect.

The play features beautiful soliloquies, punchy phrases, and humorous plays on words. The sad events are broken up by occasional amusing scenes with the actors using double meanings or riddles. Corruption, passion, deception, insanity, and revenge can still resonate with people four hundred years after Shakespeare wrote the tragic play. People are still trying to figure out the multi-faceted, tortured character of Hamlet. It's a fabulous classic!

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.8 Megafinish
+10 review
+25 oldies (1600)

Task total: 60
Season total: 195

10.3 Scrabble

The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams

Julie Yip-William's early life involved a series of miracles. She was born in Vietnam with congenital cataracts causing blindness, and the surgeons had fled the country at the end of the Vietnam War. Her grandmother wanted the disabled girl to be given a lethal poison, but the herbalist refused. Then her family escaped to Hong Kong on an overloaded, leaky boat. They eventually came to the United States where she had surgery on her eyes. She was still legally blind, but could read with a magnifying glass. Julie was resilient and extremely intelligent, going on to graduate from Harvard Law School and traveling to seven continents. She met her husband while working at a prestigious New York law firm, and they had two young daughters.

Julie faced her largest challenge in life when she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer at age 37. Life became five years of hopes and disappointments, doctors visits, scans, side effects from chemo, precious time with her family, and rage that life was so unfair. She loved her husband and daughters, and tried to spend quality time with them. Julie put plans into place so that her daughters would have caregivers and mentors to help them when she died.

Her two young daughters watched videos of fatal airline crashes, and nature documentaries showing animals hunting their prey in the wild. This is on top of seeing their mother dealing with episodes of pain, depression, and rage for five years, starting when the sisters were toddlers. I often felt it overloaded their young minds with so much emphasis on death. I hope readers will check with professionals about the best way to help children through the difficult journey.

The writing in this book is full of emotion and emphasizes living with joy, although she is honest about times of pain and depression. The book was made from Julie's blog posts so there was quite a bit of repetition, especially as she told about her early life. It would have been a better book if it had been edited down more. I would recommend this book to people who are close to someone going through cancer treatments. Julie is not afraid to honestly put all her feelings out there, and she exhibited amazing courage.

+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.9 Sisters (the two daughters of the author)
+10 review

Task total: 25
Season total: 135

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I got selected to contribute a book to task 10.10. It is my second time in the nine years I have been on Goodreads."

Your choice can be used for the sisters task too! Way to go, Jayme!