Where We Belong (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

Having read a few of Giffin’s books before, I couldn’t help grabbing this one off the shelf in the library.  This one, Where We Belong, starts with a very interesting idea:  a successful TV producer who is trying to push her current boyfriend/boss into proposing suddenly finds herself face to face with the daughter she gave up for adoption 18 years before.  The story is told from both the mother and daughter’s voices and it quickly engages the reader.  Through a good part of the book, I was right there with the characters and looked forward to reading more.  Unfortunately, although, in truth only toward the very end, it gradually sinks into the realm of make-believe, where everyone accepts the uncomfortable situation and everyone is forgiving of each other.   It is a too-satisfying ending (never said that before!)…

The characters are very likable, and Giffin’s portrayal of both the mother and the daughter definitely reel in the reader.  The mother is very New York — penthouse apartment and a Barney’s habitue — and the daughter is a loner musician trying to find herself.  Each is trying to find happiness and I do like that the mother really learns from the daughter with respect to being honest with others and with herself.  It also brings up interesting issues around teen pregnancy and adoption as an option, perhaps, though, in a  very idealistic light.

I think it’s still a decent read, although this is not going on my top ten list!

The Middlesteins (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

This book, recommended on Oprah’s website, was about Edie, who is a strong-willed, strong-minded woman with a debilitating weight problem, which becomes the focal point of everyone around her.  Her children rally around her to help her try to eat healthfully and exercise.  Her husband leaves her because he feels she’s killing herself.  Yet she finds new love in a Chinese chef, who loves her for her exuberant appetite for food and for life.

It sounded to me like the makings of an interesting story; unfortunately, in my mind it fell flat.  The characters are developed to a point and then left behind.  The voice changes with each chapter, which so often works, but somehow in this book, feels like things get started and never finished.  The flow is choppy and details feel randomly thrown at the reader.  By the end, I found myself wondering what the point of the book really was.

In our weight-obsessed society, it is also hard to read more about the hardships of being overweight. We are valued by the scale, and no other accomplishments are considered.  If we are thin, we are good. And unfortunately, it seems that while they give Edie a strong personality, that works against her and makes her less loved — feared, even, by her friends! — and does not redeem her from her obesity.   This sadly upholds stereotypes that I was hoping would be dispelled.

A disappointment…

Flight Behavior (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors, and here is another beauty by her.  This story is about Dellarobia, who in her attempt to escape her dreary life climbs a hill at the rear of her property in anticipation of a tryst and comes upon a world of butterflies nesting in a forest there.  This jogs her out of her reverie and she retreats back into her life but her secret of the butterflies is soon revealed.  What are they doing there?  Why have they chosen this place?  This becomes the focal point of many interested parties, including a scientist who opens new doors for Dellarobia and forces her to be honest with herself about her choices and her life.

As usual, Kingsolver creates authentic, endearing characters that glue the reader to the book until the end.  The tender relationship that Dellarobia has with her son, Preston, and the strained relationship she has with her mother-in-law, Hester, are complicated and real-life.  Her frustration with her husband is palpable, but he is portrayed in a sympathetic light as well.  No one is truly bad and everyone has a past that helps explain who they are.

Most importantly, this story is well-researched (as are all her books) and she has a clear purpose in writing this book.  The story centers around the Monarch butterfly, which is uprooted from its nesting site in Mexico to an alternate place in the Appalachian mountains because of global warming and climatic change.  It draws attention to one example of the devastation of our environment about which man is in denial.  The issue is discussed at great length by the characters and a strong message is delivered within these pages.  The complicity of the media in promoting the denial is brought to the fore, as well, in some angering but some very entertaining scenes in the book.

What is most impressive about Kingsolver’s writing is that she is not formulaic nor predictable.  She chooses important topics and delves into them with such grace and knowledge that she makes an important statement every time.  This may be one of her most important ones yet.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

So you may have seen the movie already (I did), but this book is still a worthwhile read.  It is the story of Charlie as told by himself through letters to “a friend.”  Charlie is beginning high school with a quirky, honest personality and no friends.  He is befriended by a small group of seniors who are just as quirky and interesting and they make him feel, for the first time, like he belongs.  In the course of the year, he learns a lot about himself and friendship and love and gains insight into his past.

The writing is genuine adolescent and both adolescents and any adult who ever experienced adolescence can appreciate it.  Some of it is raw and sad and all of it carries great emotion.  And some of the writing is so beautifully subtle, especially in it’s revelation about his relationship with his aunt who had died.  The characters are also very real and by the end of the book, they all feel like they are your friends as well.  It reminds us adults that teenagers feel very strongly and think very deeply.

I rarely read a book after I’ve seen the movie (and often vice versa) but this was worthwhile in spite of having seen the movie.  It’s an elegant story told very simply and it works.

The Casual Vacancy (migrated from bookblogger)

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The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

This long-awaited adult novel by J.K. Rowling was given negative reviews in the press, but I actually disagree.  I actually found this book very engaging and emotional.  The story is a gritty view of a small town and the many, varied characters who were affected by the death of one of its own, a man named Barry Fairbrother.  Fairbrother, well-liked by many and who had been fighting to keep open a controversial methadone clinic, left a “casual vacancy,” a seat in the town council.  Three men vie for this office, each with a very different motive for doing so.  Undermining them are their teenage children, who are involved in a complicated small-town drama of their own.  At the center of this drama, is a very troubled youth named Krystal, the daughter of a drug addict whose success for any degree of recovery hinges on this very methadone clinic.  It is Krystal who turns out to be the character with the most heart and, in my opinion, is the most beloved in the book.

In addition to creating characters that are interesting, complex and engaging, the author weaves a story that depicts themes of prejudice, stereotypes and class differences.  Prejudices that the parents have are thrust on their children and this either permeates their children’s behavior or it backfires in a dramatic way.  And the teens have prejudices of their own and both the leaders and the followers are punished for them in different ways.  Sadly, too, there are innocent victims and this is where the book is very real.

This book differs starkly from the Harry Potter books.  There, magic helps to save the heroes.  Here there is no magic — it’s real life.

The Art of Racing in the Rain (migrated from bookblogger)

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The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I am still reeling from the emotional effects of this book.  So beautifully told from the perspective of a dog, this story is about a race car driver named Denney, who is married and has a little girl.  His wife develops a brain tumor and her parents sort of take over her care and the care of their daughter.  On the very day that the wife dies, the parents propose that they gain custody of the daughter, and so begins a Denney’s heroic battle to gain custody of his daughter.  The battle becomes unbelievably ugly and the reader is sucked in and kept breathless over the course of the fight.

The beauty of this book is in the voice of the dog.  I am sure I am not the only one who has seen dogs appear to understand everything that is going on and wonder if they really do.  The voice of Enzo, this particular dog, gives a warmth and a humor to the story that really engages the reader.  He is extremely philosophical and wise and has awareness of things beyond what people are able to sense — and it feels entirely plausible when you are reading it!

This is another book that after finishing, I could not rush into the next book because I really just wanted to sit with the characters in my mind for a day or two.  I love when a book does that!

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (migrated from bookblogger)

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The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker

The Art of Heating Heartbeats is an absolutely beautiful story about a young lawyer, Julia, who takes a leave from her job to investigate her father’s disappearance.  Her father, Tin Win, had mysteriously left for a business trip and never returned and the only hint of his whereabouts was a love letter that had been found from him to a woman in Burma, in his home town.  When Julia arrives in this tiny town, she is met by a stranger who begins to tell her the story of her father and his upbringing and about the heart-wrenching love story he had been embroiled in during his youth.

The story is poetically woven, capturing the reader’s attention at the first page and never letting go.  The characters are as unique as the story itself and the reader cannot help but be drawn in to their story.  Tin Win’s teacher when he was a young boy, for example, became a tender father figure to him and was patient and kind and shared with Tin Win (and the reader) much wisdom.  Even Julia, who starts out as a daughter who feels hurt and angry and abandoned, develops a compassion for her father that she did not know she was capable of.

This is a powerful “love conquers all” story that wins your heart with every beat.

The Innocents (migrated from bookblogger)

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The Innocents by Francesca Segal

This book is one of almosts…  The main character, Adam Newman, a young lawyer in the close-knit Jewish community in London is almost happy being engaged to his long-term girlfriend, Rachel.   Unfortunately, when her cousin, a tall, beautiful but vulnerable model called Ellie, returns from America amidst scandalous circumstances, he almost falls for her instead.  Too many times, Ellie leaves just before Adam can do anything about his feelings for her.   And when he is just about to confess his feelings about Ellie to Rachel, suddenly something major happens and distracts him from the task.  Honestly, this happens just too many times to feel plausible.  The reader is waiting and waiting for something major to happen, and it sort of does but it’s anticlimactic.  Again, almost.

While there are some potentially interesting characters, the author seems to stop short just before they can become really human to the reader.  Most of the characters are unidimensional and flat.  One character almost discovers Ellie and Adam’s relationship but again it’s just almost.

This book was good, almost…

One Last Thing Before I Go (migrated from bookblogger)

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One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper

Here’s another fun read by Jonathan Tropper.  This story, which centers upon Silver, a divorced, ex-rock star,  middle aged man living in a sort of limbo of a life, who discovers that he has a potentially fatal illness for which he needs surgery and is deciding whether or not to have the operation.  That is, he is struggling over whether his life is actually worth saving.  In the meantime, his daughter presents a dilemma of her own, his ex-wife is about to remarry, and his father, a rabbi, tries to push him toward a decision, which brings him back into the lives of those he loves and has let down.

Tropper’s characters are almost always endearing.  His wit and sarcasm shine through and make the reader laugh out loud in spite of some very unhappy underlying story lines.  Even while Silver and his two close buddies are pathetic and sad, they make the reader laugh as they laugh at themselves.  And even when there is disappointment and resentment between father and daughter, Tropper enables the reader to see the underlying affection that still exists between them.  What Tropper is good at is balancing truly biting sarcasm with just enough warmth to pull the reader in to liking the characters enough to really need to know what happens to them.  And even while the characters are suffering, the reader laughs in spite of herself because they are really funny!

Thanks, once again, Mr. Tropper!

Barefoot Season (migrated from bookblogger)

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Barefoot Season, by Susan Mallery

This is an unusual story about a woman (yes, a woman) who returns home to Blackberry Island off the coast of Washington State from 10 years of army service in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  She brings home with her not only her PTSD but her previous baggage from a broken family and a broken best friendship.  She returns to an inn which she owns and has to readjust to managing and which her recently deceased mother has run down financially.  The story is an inspiring one of how she rebuilds her own personal life with the help of those around her, as she rebuilds the inn’s stability.

While the story is a bit predictable, it still has some surprises and it is written with humor and warmth.  It has many layers and the characters are lovable even while often brutally honest.  I sometimes felt that nobody really speaks quite as bluntly as these characters often do, but probably there are those who do.  (It was refreshing, actually, and sometimes I’d love to speak like that!)

A little bonus comes at the end, where the author shares recipes from the inn!