Friends in Fiction discussion
THE LAST BOOK YOU READ
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan – 3.5*** A novel told in three parts – before, during and after WW2. Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans experiences the horrors of a Japanese POW camp during the war, but Flanagan seems to be saying that the drama of everyday life sometimes rivals that of war. I can believe this, but I wish he had done more to SHOW this. The audio version is capably performed by David Atlas. His pacing is good, but he does not do much to differentiate the various characters (other than the handful of women).
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Goldsmith’s Daughter by Tanya Landman – 2.5** A novel of the Aztec empire in Mexico. I enjoyed the information on the culture and society of the Aztec empire, and liked how Landman revealed the differences in the religious beliefs of the Spanish conquistadors and the Aztec people. I thought the “Romeo & Juliet” side story was predictable, but appropriate for the target audience. BUT I was sorely disappointed with the constant message that all the bad things that happened were the fault of fifteen-year-old Itacate and her defiance of the restrictions placed on women of that society.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford – 4**** A coming-of-age story set in a small mountain town in New Mexico during WW II. Bradford writes believable teens (and adults), making sense of a world whose rules have changed. I was caught up in the story of Josh and his family, as they tried to make the best of the situation. The setting shields the characters from the war, but war will intrude eventually. In the meantime Josh and his friends maintain some of the innocence of youth, while still stretching the boundaries as they rush head-long towards adulthood.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It's not fiction ... but everyone should read one or more of her books ...
The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom by Suze Orman – 3*** The subtitle of this book is: Practical & Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying. Orman includes practical information and clear, understandable definitions of various terms.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini – 4**** Hosseini is a great storyteller. This is his most ambitious novel, covering several generations over six decades and across continents from Afghanistan to Paris to San Francisco to Greece. There are many heart-wrenching scenes that echo what happens to Pari and Abdullah, the two motherless siblings whose story bookends this novel, but however far apart – in terms of time, or distance, or relationship – these stories are, they are all connected. His central theme is the moral complexity of life. The audio features three skilled narrators: Khaled Hosseini, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Navid Negahban.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
True Grit by Charles Portis – 5***** 14-year-old Mattie Ross hires Marshall Rooster Cogburn to track the man who killed her father. As Mattie tells the tale we see her outmaneuver, out bargain, and outsmart the hard men and women she encounters. Her indestructible vitality and basic innocence by turns amuse, horrify and touch the reader. Donna Tartt does a fine job narrating the audio book.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Serena by Ron Rash – 5***** In 1929 George Pemberton brings his new wife, Serena, back from Boston to North Carolina, where they plan to make their fortune in timber. Lady MacBeth has nothing on Serena. I can’t remember when I loved reading a book about a character I disliked so much. Serena is fascinating. I liked how Rash incorporated the history of the era, giving the novel a strong sense of time and place. Phil Gigante does a wonderful job performing the audio book.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
No! I Don’t Want to Join a Book Club by Virginia Ironside – 3*** Subtitle: Diary of a 60th Year, which pretty well sums up the (non)plot of this charming little novel. Marie Sharp is turning 60 and she’s a little cranky. She’s perfectly content with her age and doesn’t need advice on how to look and feel younger, thank you very much. This was slow to get started, but the diary style grew on me, as did Marie. I think I recognized several of my own friends in her.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jaws by Peter Benchley – 4**** A great white shark is terrorizing the residents of a Long Island community that relies on summer visitors for its economic health. I've read this book twice previously, and the rating is based on my first impression. I listened to the audio this time around, capably narrated by Erik Steele. I was struck by how long it takes for the shark hunt to happen, and how much time is spent on the political and marital difficulties that Sheriff Brody has to navigate before he even gets out on the water.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert – 5***** The novel spans decades, from the birth of Henry Whittaker in 1760 to his daughter Alma’s old age in 1883. I struggle with expressing how this novel moved me – and frustrated me. Alma’s life is both tediously boring and exceptionally adventurous. I found her fascinating and was entirely engrossed in her story. But for all her scientific vision, Alma seems completely blind to human relationships. While I have a few quibbles with the work, I still give it 5 stars. The audio book was wonderfully performed by Juliet Stevenson.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Plainsong by Kent Haruf – 4**** In this gentle, unassuming yet impactful novel Haruf introduces us to several residents of the small town of Holt, Colorado. With little in common but the realities of a hard life, these seven people hesitate to reach out to one another, but find comfort when they succeed. There are scenes of tenderness that took me by surprise, and some violent scenes that had me nearly breathless with worry. The prose is crisp and clean as the winter air in the Great Plains. The story is at once simple and profound.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In This Sign by Joanne Greenberg – 4**** The novel follows a deaf couple – Abel and Janice – through their lives from shortly after WWI to the mid 1960s. When their daughter is born Hearing, they begin to rely on her to be their ears and voice in a world they barely understand. Margaret struggles to find her own life in the face of the duty she feels to help her parents. Poignant and thought-provoking.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell – 4**** In this sequel to The Sparrow , Emilio Sandoz returns to Rakhat to face the consequences of that initial human contact. Once again, Russell gives us a morality play wrapped in science fiction. It’s a fascinating story, deeply spiritual (as the title suggests), but which lacks the impact of her first book. Anna fields does a marvelous job performing the audio version.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sabriel by Garth Nix – 4**** What an extraordinary fantasy adventure! I love that Nix chose for the hero a young woman – Sabriel – who is smart, resourceful, courageous and determined, if inexperienced and sometimes rash. The plotting is wonderfully complex and full of danger. I don’t know if I’ll read any more in the series (this kind of fantasy is just not my genre of choice), but I’m glad I read this one. Tim Curry is nothing short of fantastic performing the audio version.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – 5***** and a ❤ This is a singularly powerful novel that has touched generations of readers in the 50-something years since it was first published. It is a novel of personal integrity and courage, and shines a light on a particular time and place in America’s history. The characters, even the minor ones, are richly drawn; Lee peoples this small town with a wide range of personalities, strength, weaknesses and ethics. My favorite book of all time. Sissy Spacek capably narrates the audio version.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith – 3*** This is book 3 in the Austen Project series, wherein authors take on Jane Austen’s classic novels, reimagining the scenarios in contemporary times. In this outing, Mini Coopers replaces carriages, and cappuccinos take the place of tea, but the characters, relationships and basic scenarios remain the same. I enjoyed this light romantic comedy, but it is not as good as the original. The audio version is capably performed by Susan Lyons. She has good pacing and sufficient skill as a voice artist to differentiate the various characters.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl – 5***** and a ❤What a wonderful tribute to a mother’s love and lasting gift to her child. Reichl narrates the audio book herself and she is magnificent. She conveys humor and compassion, frustration and pride, and above all a great love for her mother who helped make her what she is – and is NOT – today.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth – 4**** An epic story set in the mid 1700s when man had a “sacred hunger” for power and position, and entered the slave trade as a means to expand the British empire. There are two storylines and frankly, one of them bored me to tears. I would much rather have had more of the “paradise” society formed by the sailors and slaves who survived the journey, and less of the favored son’s attempts to woo a woman of the upper class. Some graphically brutal scenes where hard to read. Much food for thought.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard – 5***** Gripping, fascinating, and informative, Millard’s novel clearly shows that she is on a par with Erik Larsen and Laura Hillenbrand when it comes to writing history with the pace of a thriller. A few short months into his presidency, James A Garfield was shot at close range by a delusional office-seeker. The bullet didn’t kill Garfield, however, his physicians did, by repeatedly introducing infectious agents into the wounds. Paul Michael does a superb job narrating the audio version of this book. He has great pacing, and skill as a voice artist to differentiate the many male characters.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you read nothing else this year - READ THIS !
Being Mortal by Atul Gawunde – 5***** SUBTITLE: Medicine and What Matters in the End Just because physicians CAN do something, should they? At what cost – not to society or to our wallets, but at what cost to our humanity and dignity? Atul Gawunde, a surgeon in Boston Massachusetts, explores the ways in which medicine (and specifically American medicine and American society) helps and hinders the aged, the infirm, and the dying.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Ocean in the Closet by Yuko Taniguchi – 4**** This beautifully written, poignant novel tackles the aftermath of war and how those aftereffects ripple through multiple generations. I feel I learned a little of the Japanese mentality by seeing things from Hideo and his wife’s points of view. I thought Taniguchi captured the way in which a child thinks, the kind of logic a child would use in piecing together an explanation for what is going on around her. . I loved Helen – her tender heart, her courage and resilience. And Hideo’s quiet strength, endurance and healing heart. And while there is no clearly happy resolution, the novel’s ending looks to the future with hope.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier – 4**** A wounded soldier walks away from the hospital, determined to return to his love on Cold Mountain. Meanwhile that young woman, raised to be a flower of Southern womanhood, is finding her way alone, with the help of a homeless waif with reserves of strength and the knowledge to survive. The novel moves back and forth between Ada/Ruby and Inman, giving different perspectives on this time during the Civil War. What I loved most about the novel was the relationships between and personal growth of the women – Ada and Ruby. Charles Frazier read the audio version himself. This was a mistake. Were I evaluating the book based on the audio it would get only 2 stars.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee – 4**** What most resonated with me about this novel is how Jean Louise comes to realize that the father she adored as a child actually has some significant faults, and that his tumble off the pedestal on which she has kept him is perhaps more painful to her than to it is to Atticus. Lee puts the reader smack dab in the middle of this setting. Her prose brings the culture, the physical heat, the townspeople, the smells, sounds, tastes and sights of Maycomb to life. Reese Witherspoon does a marvelous job performing the audio version. From the beginning I felt as if Jean Louise, herself, was telling the story.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown – 4**** At the 1936 Olympics nine working-class boys from the University of Washington in Seattle took the gold medal in eight-man crew at the Berlin Olympics. This is their story, but particularly the story of the man in the #7 seat – Joe Rantz. It’s a marvelous story, inspiring and heartfelt, and Brown does a superb job telling it. The late Edward Herrmann is a marvelous narrator and does a superb job of the audio version.
My full review: HERE
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper – 3.5*** The second (and most popular) of the Leatherstocking Tales is set in 1757, during the French and Indian wars. It’s an adventure novel and romance with a loner hero, “noble savage” trusted companion, lovely heroines in danger, and a plot full of chases and epic battles. William Costello does a fairly good job of reading the audio version, though his slow pace at the beginning made me reconsider whether I wanted to keep listening. I think, however, it was more due to Cooper’s style of writing, than to Costello’s skill as a performer.
Full Review HERE
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – 3.5*** I was immediately caught up in the “present day” story of these nine people trapped in a basement. I liked the way that the author revealed their strengths and weaknesses as they acted / reacted to the situation. But when they begin telling “one amazing thing” from their lives, the story arc lost momentum, and it became more of a collection of short stories. I don’t mind this too much, because I love short stories, and Divakaruni writes them well. However, this sort of hybrid between a short story collection and a novel seemed a little awkward.
Full Review HERE
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – 3.5*** There is much about this novel to like, and quite a few things not to like. In the end I’m struggling with how to rate it because of these conflicting issues. I like the way Tartt writes, particularly the way she so vividly depicts the scenes in this book, but I thought the book needed stronger editing. How often must we read about their drunken episodes to get the point? And I was really unhappy with the ending. David Pittu does a superb job narrating the audio version of this novel. He has great pacing, and his skill with voices made the characters come to life. He’d get 5* for his performance alone.
Full Review HERE
The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle – 4**** Subtitle: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist. This piece of historical fiction is told entirely in verse, the medium which Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda (a/k/a Tula) chose to voice her opinions on slavery and women’s rights. Engle’s poetry is moving and elegant; I marvel that she can convey so much in so few words. At the end of the novel she includes some historical background on Gertrudis, as well as some of her original poetry (in Spanish, with translation). I highly recommend this for everyone, but especially for young women.
Full Review HERE
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – 3*** Is there anyone who doesn’t know the basic storyline of Alexei Karenin, his wife Anna, and her lover Count Vronsky? Tolstoy’s novel explores much more than this love triangle, but this central story was what I found compelling. Too bad I had to wade through all that other stuff. Nadia May does an okay job of narrating the audio version. She does tend to “read” rather than perform but her pacing was good and her diction clear.
Full Review HERE
The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O’Connor – 4**** This is a story of a portrait of a beautiful Viennese Jewish salon hostess, the now-vanished turn-of-the-century Vienna cultural scene of which it became an emblem, the atrocities of the Nazi regime, and the efforts of Adele’s heirs to recover this and other paintings from an Austrian government that wished to hide the realities of war-time complicity. I was interested from beginning to end, though wish a little more time had been spent on Klimt and Adele.
Full Review HERE
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl – 4**** The subtitle – The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise – is a pretty good synopsis of Reichl’s memoir of her tenure as a restaurant critic for the New York Times. I loved her stories of the various restaurants, but what I really appreciated was a glimpse at her growth as a person. A delicious memoir, and I devoured every word.
Full Review HERE
Aloft by Chang-rae Lee – 4* Jerry Battle is the narrator of this character-driven novel. It is his unavailability – emotionally and physically – that colors all the relationships he has. My reactions to Jerry were as puzzling as his own reactions to what’s going on around him – I was angry, confused, frustrated, ready to give up, wanted to go on, and ultimately loved him and his family.
Full Review HERE
The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith – 3*** This is the third installment in the series featuring philosopher Isabel Dalhousie. What I really like about this series are Isabel’s philosophical musings, and this one is no exception. The central ethical dilemma seems to be when to keep one’s mouth shut vs when to tell all one knows. Hilary Neville does a fine job performing the audiobook. She has good pacing and I love the way she voices Isabel.
Full Review HERE
Mr Ives’ Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos – 4**** This Pulitzer finalist (1996) is a lovely, contemplative novel – a character study and philosophical exploration of one man’s search for spiritual peace. Hijuelos paints a picture of a gentle man, with a quiet strength born of his circumstances, and of the influences of both the Church and his adoptive father. It is through them that he learns to love and to endure. I’ll be thinking about this gem for a long time, and I’m certain I’ll re-read it.
Full Review HERE
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – 4**** Updating a traditional Russian folk tale, Ivey gives us the story of an older, childless couple, and the little girl they find and “adopt” in the snowy woods of Alaska, circa 1920. I really liked how Ivey explored the relationship between Mable and Jack, and how it evolved throughout the book. I also liked that Ivey kept me guessing about Faina. Ultimately, the message of this charming novel is to encourage us to “choose joy over sorrow.”
Full Review HERE
Yes Please by Amy Poehler – 4**** In general, I’m not a big fan of celebrity memoirs, but this one was getting great reviews from friends whose opinions I value, so I decided to give it a go. I could NOT stop listening. Poehler is funny, engaging, self-deprecating, kind, funny, outrageous, honest, funny, intelligent, dynamic and funny.
Full Review HERE
Hi everyone. My first post with this group. I just finished Sarah Addison Allen's First Frost. Allen writes magic realism, people with gifts that usually involve everyday magic like Claire, who cooks and bakes with flowers from her unusual garden that have the power to alter people's live, or how they experience it.It's a family of women who each have a gift and are struggling to make normal life and family work. Allen's gift is the ability to weave word spells when talking about smells and tastes. Magical yet down to earth.
Judy wrote: "Allen's gift is the ability to weave word spells when talking about smells and tastes...."Love this description...
Welcome to the group, Judy.
The Women by T C Boyle – 3*** Boyle tells the story of Frank Lloyd Wright through the eyes of the women who loved him: his three wives and his mistress. The chronology moves back and forth, beginning with Wright’s last love, and the story line seemed somewhat fractured. Despite the title and the organization of the book, the women come off as secondary to the man. Frank Lloyd Wright is a bigger-than-life presence here, and I grew tired of him.
Full Review HERE
The Love Queen of the Amazon by Cecile Pineda – 4**** This is a wonderful send-up of magical realism, with a decidedly feminist bent. I laughed out loud at the ridiculous antics and over-the-top descriptions. I was engaged and pulled into the story from page one, and when I finished, I wanted to start from the beginning and read it again.
Full Review HERE
The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel – 4****The wives of the original U.S. Astronauts had just as much of the “right stuff” as their hero-husbands. Koppel reveals their strengths, their weaknesses, their fears and joys, their stumbles and triumphs. These were some STRONG women, and it’s about time they were recognized. Orlagh Cassidy does a marvelous job narrating the audio book. Her pace is good, and she has enough skill as a voice artist to give the women sufficiently distinct voices (most of the time), so there is little confusion.
Full Review HERE
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – 4****A blind French girl and a young German orphan find their lives intersect in the walled Brittany town of Saint-Malo in August 1944. Doerr gives us wonderful descriptions, letting the reader experience the world as Marie-Laure or Werner does. Doerr peoples the novel with a wide assortment of characters, but the two young people at its core will stay with me for a long time, as will the haunting strains of Clair de Lune. The audio version is performed by Zach Appelman, who does a marvelous job. His gift as a voice artist makes it easy to believe he is speaking for a blind teenaged girl, a confused German boy, an elderly uncle, or a gruff soldier.
Full Review HERE
Mod
Did anyone read a book over spring break that you absolutely loved? Do share!!
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng – 4**** “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Ng explores the nuances of family dynamics – how a parent’s own disappointments may translate into dreams for a child’s future, how a child may feel burdened by those dreams, how siblings may compete for or retreat from parental attention. Cassandra Campbell does a fine job narrating the audio version. She has good pacing, and I felt connected to the characters by her performance.
Full Review HERE
Monday, Monday by Elizabeth Crook – 4**** In August 1966 Charles Whitman shot and killed or wounded dozens of students, faculty and first responders from the clock tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin. This novel explores the effects of that event on the lives of three fictitious characters. What a wonderfully complex character-driven story. As the story follows them through the decades we come to know their strengths, weaknesses, dreams, and fears.
Full Review HERE
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious – 3*** While I can certainly see that the inclusion of domestic abuse, incest, abortion, teen sex, etc would be shocking and titillating to a mid-1950s readership, I kept wondering “What’s all the fuss about?”. Metalious was trying to show the strength and growing independence of three women in a culture that tried to restrict them. I’m not sure she was entirely successful, though the story line did continue to pull me along, and overall I was entertained.
Full Review HERE
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter – 4**** What a delightful story! Moving back and forth in time, and with multiple styles and points of view, Walter has crafted a love story with wide appeal. I was engaged and entertained from page one, and was so sorry to see it end. Edoardo Ballerini was simply marvelous performing the audio version. I loved the way he voiced Pasquale, Dee, Michael Deane and the many supporting cast members.
Full Review HERE
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick – 3.5*** Talk about your gothic mystery! Betrayal, an abandoned mansion, a long-lost son, and the isolation of a Wisconsin winter are just the beginning. The characters employ duplicity, obfuscation, coercion, prevarication, and downright lies. I was completely caught up in the story and surprised by more than one twist.
Full Review HERE
Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom – 3*** Grissom’s debut - The Kitchen House - became a best seller; this book follows one of the characters in the first book over several decades. There is a good story idea here, a runaway slave who passes for white and builds a successful life. There are a number of twists and turn in the plot and I was caught up in the story and wanted to know how the characters would fare. However, Grissom uses multiple narrators and the result is that there is less cohesion in the story-telling. In summary, it’s a good story and kept me turning pages, but the writing fell short.
Full Review HERE
Friends in Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (other topics)The Angel's Game (other topics)
The Summer Before the War (other topics)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (other topics)
Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House (other topics)
More...
Keane does a fine job with this work of historical fiction of a complex character facing an unimaginable scenario. Her “Typhoid Mary” is at once sympathetic and infuriating. I could not help but think of the recent Ebola scares in the U.S. – we imposed quarantines on those exposed, and some of them, just like Mary, refused to follow those restrictions.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...