Book 11 of 52: The Paris Wife

A big thank you to Michele, Shelley and Sharon, who all recommended this book to me. I read it this past weekend. I also managed to consume far too much coffee and croissants while reading it. For some reason, a book set in Paris just asks for such a food pairing. I also needed the carbs and caffeine to keep me awake, as I didn't want to put the book down.

The story takes place mainly in Paris during the 1920's. It describes the amazing relationship between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife (of four), Hadley Richardson. It chronicles their courtship, marriage, as well as the ending of their marriage. The story is told from Hadley’s point of view. There was an occasional omnipotent view thrown in as well; like when Ernest had his affairs and the writer wanted you to know about it without Hadley in the picture.

I appreciated the vivid descriptions of Paris and the other places they spent time in Europe. I was amazed by the amount of travelling they did on what seemed to be a starving artists' income. I could completely relate to the struggles of Hadley with her newborn infant and loved the part where she described nursing him -- wonderful during daylight but a complete energy drain at night. (I was feeling the same way this weekend.)

The author does a great job weaving in other famous authors that Hemingway meets during his time in Paris: Scott Fitzgerald (and wife Zelda), Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and others.  This book says it is "fiction" but I do wonder where the non-fiction leaves off the the fiction begins.

It was a well-written, well-paced novel and I finished it in only two days. A great read that I would easily recommend to a wide audience. (Just beware of the coffee/croissant trap that I fell into).

Book 10 of 52: The Long Song

When I found out that we would be reading a book about slavery this month for book club, I had mixed feelings. I wondered if this book would have anything new to offer up, given all the books about slavery that are out there (many of which I've read). From the start, this one seemed different. Reading the back cover of the book the voice of our narrator tells us “you do not know me yet…” and tells her son that they should “let the reader decide if this is a novel they might care to consider.” Her voice draws you in immediately.

The story was surprisingly not as heavy and depressing as I anticipated. While it is based in a period a few years before the abolishment of slavery in Jamaica and the few years after, the story is lively and mischievous. These are the same words I’d use to describe the protagonist, Miss July, who speaks directly to you, the reader, and speaks to her son who is editing and printing the book. Miss July’s descriptions of the sugar plantation in Amity, the “big house”, its rooms, the landscapes, and the people that make up her world, make it feel like you’re sitting down for coffee and catching up with an old friend.

July is the daughter of Miss Kitty, who works in the fields and was repeatedly raped by the plantation’s white overseer. July is ripped away from her mother as a child and sent to the big house to be a personal maid to Caroline, the sister of the plantation owner that has just moved to Jamaica from England. The first part of the story describes the life that July lives as a servant in the big house before slavery is abolished. The second part of the book talks about her “freedom” from slavery, and her relationship with Mr. Goodwin, the new overseer of the plantation.

While this book has some horrific parts, Miss July is the type of person who, when handed lemons, tries to make lemonade and to see the good in her life when her world is falling apart. A lesson many of us need to be reminded of when things get tough.

I highly recommend this book. Other book lovers must agree with me, as it was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2010.

Book 9 of 52: Lost in Shangri-la

When I was a kid I used to come home from school and turn on the TV and eat a bowl of cereal while watching Gilligan's Island. I can still sing the entire theme song today. This book had a similar theme, a plane carrying WWII soldiers out for a "3 hour tour" of Shangri-La in New Guinea. It crashes into the jungle-covered mountains near a beautiful valley (named 'Shangri-La') on May 13, 1945. This part of the island is inhabited by over 100,000 spear-wielding natives that had never seen "outsiders" before. Unfortunately of the 24 on board there are only 3 survivors (one woman and two men). It is a true story of how these survivors, severely injured, managed to survive in the jungle and eventually get rescued, despite the fact they are unreachable where no plane or helicopter could ever get to them. It also tells of one of the last times a truly untouched culture on earth has been encountered.

Based on the intriguing story, and the fact I'm really starting to enjoy non-fiction books a lot more these days, I had high hopes for the book. I was a little let down. Parts of it read like a history text, with the author simply reporting the story based on diaries, interviews, and news accounts of those involved, including natives of the area who still remember. The author also goes off and gives us the family and career history of every single person remotely related to the crash or rescue efforts. These were some of the parts I actually skimmed over and didn't read in detail. Really, I only wanted to know about the 3 survivors and how they get out of Shangri-La. That said, parts of the book were very engaging, so I was happy I stuck with it in the end. The photos of the survivors and natives are terrific, and I'm glad I had a paper copy of this book. I'll be recommending this book to my dad, who likes wartime stories and does some writing of his own, but I hestiate to recommend it more broadly, unless you have an interest in WWII or a longing to revive your childhood memories of "Gilligan's Island".

Here's a video that I came across that introduces the book:

http://www.goodreads.com/videos/list_author/328012.Mitchell_Zuckoff

Book 8 of 52: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

"A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs." This is the perfect description of this creepy adventure novel.

The story begins with a family tragedy that sends 16-year-old Jacob off on a journey with his father to a remote island off the coast of Wales. There he discovers an old abandoned orphanage and some old photos of some strange looking children. The photos shown in the book are actually real (borrowed from vintage photo collections) and helped the story to come alive. The children that once inhabited the house are very unusual, or "peculiar", and some may even say dangerous. The adventures that follow have Jacob learning more about these children, their headmistress, and his own family history.

What a terrific story! It kept my interest over a few late nights. While I think the intended audience may be teens, I throughly enjoyed it. (Just as I have enjoyed many other YA series like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter). This particular book has Tim Burton written all over it.  It will be perfect for the screen, and he would be the only director to do it justice.

This book was set up for a sequel. I was glad I knew ahead of time or else I would have been disappointed by the ending. Too much was left unexplained. But I'm looking forward to the next book which I've heard is supposed to come out in a few months. My big problem with this book was that I had a hard time reading the hand written letters and seeing the details of the photos on my Kobo. Despite my love of e-books, I recommend getting a paper version. I also recommend waiting until the sequel is available. If you're like me, I much prefer to read the books one after another, and not have to wait months (or years) in between.

Book 7 of 52: You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up: A Love Story

This book was lent to me by a friend at work. We had got talking one day and I was telling her about my love of reading, as well as my frustrations with my husband (unrelated of course), and she said she had a great book for me to read.

I never read a book on the topic of "marriage" before, so this was new territory for me. This is a memoir of the authors relationship, Annabelle and Jeff, who have been married for 13 years. On a personal note, I've been married almost 12 years, so I was very curious how this couple was doing at about the same point in their marriage.

I was expecting a bit of of "self-help" book feel, but it read more like novel -- a really funny one. It was touching and honest and made me realize that a lot of our day to day challenges in our household and my own relationship are probably the same as many people. The book was set up so each chapter had a theme and followed a timeline: dating, moving in, pets, the wedding, in-laws, pregnancy, child rearing, etc; with each chapter having a "he said" and "she said" view. I didn't really relate to the book until the pregnancy part and everything that followed from that. The weird "mommy groups" (been there, done that), late night feedings and sleep deprivation (still living it!), and using your spouse as an emotional punching bag because no one else but him would take such crap (we're both working on that!) were all things I could relate to. If Annabelle and Jeff can make it, maybe there's hope for Glen and I yet!

I read that this book has been turned into a theatre production and I suspect that since Annabelle and Jeff are both working in Hollywood, it might hit the TV or movie screen one day. This book isn't a 10/10 (maybe a 7 or 8), but it was an enjoyable and amusing read. I wouldn't hestiate to recommend this, especially as it would reasonate with most of my friends -- couples with young children.

Book 6 of 52: How to be an American Housewife

How To Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway is an uplifting story of love, family and traditions of four generations of women. The title of this book is what drew me to it. Since starting back at work the last few weeks, I've been anything but a good "housewife". Even though I knew this was fiction, I wondered if it might contain some secret that might help me cope better.

The story is about a young Japanese woman, Shoko, who marries an American soldier after WWII and moves to America with him. At the same time she is estranged from her brother who believes American's are the "enemy". In America, her husband, Charlie, gives her a book called  How To Be An American Housewife to help her learn more about American culture and advice about how to keep a home in the "American style". The story and the book are based in the 1950's and reflects that time in history.

Dilloway cleverly crafts Shoko's narrative so that everything Shoko thinks is written in perfect English, while everything she communicates to everyone around her comes out as broken English, showing how hard it is to deal with learning a second language. The second half of the book focusses on Shoko's daughter, Suiko (or Sue), and is written in her narrative. Suiko, a sinlge mother, travels back to Japan to learn more about her roots and meet long lost relatives. It is through this trip she learns to accept and embrace her strict upbringing and heritage.

This book gardnered mixed reviews on various websites, but I loved this short and uplifting story. It was well-written with some terrific character development. The end, without giving it away, made me realize that I'm still not too old to make some big changes in my life and leave the world of suburbia and cubicles behind one day.

Check-in on a beautiful Sunday afternoon

I just finished book #6 (will post about it in a few minutes, as long as Charlie stays down for his nap). I'm amazed that I'm actually doing this and managing to put some time aside for myself. That said, maybe I need to re-direct it to getting to the gym more often? The 2013 blog will be about my crazy workouts and new sculpted body...LOL!

I learned a new term this morning: "bibliophile" as I was searching other blogs of people that read and review books. I think I'm an "e-bibliophile" as I've been hoarding e-books over the last few months since I got my Kobo. I also came across a blog of a woman that read 280 books last year. I just don't know how that's even possible? And people think I'm crazy for trying to read 52.