The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Gilbraith (JK Rowling) (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This is a fun read!

   Cormoran Strike, an endearingly flawed private detective with a complicated past, is hired by a lawyer named John Bristow, to investigate his sister’s death, which had been ruled a suicide.  Bristow, distraught over his supermodel sister’s death, does not believe the suicide theory and convinces Strike to pursue the real killer.

   In usual JK Rowling form, the writing is crisp, witty, and engaging and each of the characters is so genuine.  Strike, in particular, evokes such sympathy, affection, and respect, as he goes about his cleverly conducted inquiry with a Columbo-like air of feigned innocence.  In going into Strike’s own story, Rowling makes the mystery almost personal and gives it much deeper dimension.

   And of course, as it is a mystery, the story itself runs through twists and turns and occasionally takes the reader completely by surprise.  It actually made me wonder why I don’t read mysteries more often!

   I’d hurry and read this one — it’s a great summer read and it’s already the end of July!

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This is a very unusual story of an unlikely couple who have run away from an institution where they’ve been living in order for the woman to give birth to a baby girl.  They seek shelter from an older woman named Martha, who takes them in.  Unfortunately, almost immediately, they are pursued by the officials of the institution, who capture the woman, while the man runs away.  Fortunately, they do not seem to be aware that there ever was a baby, and the parting secret words of the woman to Martha are “Hide her.”  The rest of the story is the unfolding of the lives of these characters and the impact that this one even has on each of them.

This is a difficult book to read in that the experiences of the characters are difficult.  There are some moments that are uplifting and hopeful but many are discouraging.   What is important about the book is that it does give the reader an appreciation for the long struggle of those with disabilities to gain rights and access to appropriate treatment.  Prior to the exposure by the media and a few concerned individuals, these people were all too often locked away in dilapidated conditions and physically and mentally abused.  As this book begins in the late 1960’s and ends in the 2000’s, it follows the progression of society towards more acceptance and nurturing of children with special needs as opposed to ostracizing them.

The book is a little awkwardly written, but it attempts to provide the thought processes of those characters with disabilities.  Sometimes it achieves this and sometimes it just feels awkward.  But there is suspense and there is a lot of human drama that engages the reader and kept at least me interested in the story.

Interesting book, but not a must-read.

 

Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Another fun book to add to your list of lighter, summer fare!  When Grace finds her husband having sex with her personal assistant and in her fury drives his very expensive sports car into their pool, she is sentenced by the judge to a “divorce recovery group.”  It is here that she meets her new allies who really do support her through the unfamiliar terrain of going through a divorce and landing back on her own two feet.

What makes this book fun is really the multiple lines of the story.  There are different relationships that develop among the characters who I felt I came to really like, there is an illegal scam to be uncovered, and of course, a romance that is budding even from the group itself.  And the outrageous behaviors of ex-spouses taking revenge also add a sometimes comedic/sometimes tragic note to this story.  In any case, there were a number of times I had to exclaim out loud at this book!

If you’re on your way to the beach be sure to pack this book next to your towel!

The One and Only by Emily Griffin (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Shea is a football fanatic in a small town in Texas, who has found herself stuck in a small-time job , with a small-town relationship. Her best friend’s father, the coach of the local college football team whom she has idolized, suggests to her that she needs to get out of her rut.  In the process of making some needed changes, she sort of comes full circle in discovering what she really wants in her life.

With her usual uncanny ability, Griffin scooped me right up with this very engaging story.  Her characters are smart and sassy and there is a lot of humanity in them as well.  There are real conflicts with real layers just as in real life, but there’s just enough glamor mixed in to make it fun to read.  And even though I know nothing about football -it’s got to be one of my least favorite sports! – I still was able to follow the gist of what was going on.

Basically a great summer read – perfect for the beach, which exactly where I read it!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This non-fiction book is the story of Henrietta Lacks, made immortal by her cervical cancer cells that were essentially stolen from her and used for medical research without her consent or knowledge.  Known only as HeLa cells for many years, the cancer cells divided at such a steady, rapid pace that they were essentially the earliest and most successful cells to be grown in a lab.  Since they were so hardy, they were able to be cultivated and shipped around the world and used by researchers to conduct studies and develop medical breakthroughs never before even imagined.

Unfortunately, though, the fact that they were taken from a real person with a life and a family was pretty much ignored.  The uncovering of this story by the author became a revelation to both her and to the family and she reveals the impact of this as the story unfolds.  There is, in the telling of this injustice, a chronology of sorts of many other injustices and the resultant development of informed consent for medical research.  (One horrifying fact this book reveals is that our country had developed laws regulating the treatment of animals in research even before we had laws protecting humans!  Imagine that!)

It’s a very personal story, particularly as it relates to Deborah, Henrietta’s daughter, and a very public story as it relates to the history of medical research.  It does jump a bit from topic to topic and the writing is a bit choppy, but it is a fascinating and honest story nonetheless.

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

For a long time I put off reading this book…  The topic here, sex trafficking of minors, is not for the feint of heart.  Or for anyone with a heart, really.  On the other hand, it’s probably one of the most important topics we could be reading about.  It is a billion-dollar, world-wide nightmare for millions of underaged, vulnerable children and women and we need to understand the problem fully.

This also happens to be an incredible book.  The story is about 2 Indian sisters, Ahalya and Sita, who, after a tsunami has drowned their whole immediate family, are kidnapped and sold into slavery.  Meanwhile, Thomas, an American lawyer who is going through his own emotional crisis, is sucked into the sisters’ plight and plunges through a fight to save them.

There is utter suspense, there are twists and turns, and there is an emotional roller coaster the reader rides on that makes it absolutely impossible to put this book down.  Furthermore, I have to admit that a book has not made me sob like this one did in quite a long time.

It’s an important book for all of us to read and I’m glad I finally did.  Now we have to see what we can do to end this hideous crime!

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This gorgeously written novel is the story of Alma Whittaker, the physically and intellectually imposing daughter of a self-made botanist/pharmacist, who has a forceful need to understand their world.   Circumstances of her childhood, such as the adoption of a second daughter by her parents, and the development of her only friendship as a child, prove to have an enormous impact on the course of Alma’s life and shape the woman and scientist she grows to be.  Her life experiences take Alma and the reader to fascinating places with unusual characters and lead to some extraordinary ideas on Alma’s part.

It’s the elegant use of language that really makes this book stand out.  The imagery is stark and beautiful.  The characters are colorful and the settings often exotic. Alma is an extremely sympathetic character, in spite of all her awkwardness, and I felt myself rooting for her almost out loud at certain moments.  There is also some very interesting historical fiction and quite a bit of science to the plot and I never felt bogged down by it.

This book is smart and interesting and altogether unique. Try it!

The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This book is absolutely intriguing.  It begins as a story about a few vastly different characters in different situations in even different time periods who, over time, come together in a cleverly knitted plot.  One beloved character is an African-American man who because of poor luck and lack of resources ends up in jail in spite of truly being innocent, and after he comes out, all he wants to do is make good so that he can find the daughter he hasn’t seen since she was 2.  Another character is a the son of a Jewish lawyer who was very involved in the civil rights movement who is himself trying to revive his failing career as a history professor at Columbia.  A third main character is an elderly Jewish man who is a Holocaust survivor who is a patient at Sloan Kettering.  Each story gradually winds its way around the other to come together in a beautiful denouement.

The writing is interesting as well.  There is a lot of repetition of an almost musical style.  In going back and forth between the characters and the story line, this is not only helpful but it also feels also like a refrain in a song or a poem.  It is almost as if each character cannot believe s/he is who or where s/he is and needs reminding of what is happening.  Occasionally the repetition is more than is necessary, bit it is certainly unique.

I will say that as many books as I’ve read about the Holocaust, this has some of the most graphic descriptions of the death camps that I’ve encountered.  There are vivid details of the gas chambers and the crematoria such that this book is not for the feint of heart.  That said, it is also inspiring and uplifting in its own way as well.

I highly recommend this book both for its literary and historical beauty!

 

Family Pictures by Jane Green (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

After Silvie has lost the love of her life, in the death of her first husband, Mark comes along and pretty much sweeps her off her feet.  Handsome and charming, he is the ideal husband and step-father to her daughter, Eve.  Until he’s not…

This book is a sort of Pilot’s Wife of the Facebook era.  And unfortunately, it is so much more contrived that it’s less plausible.  The characters are vague and stereotypical and undergo miraculous changes that are just too hard to believe.  And the voice changes from first person to third person, depending on whom it is referring to and the choice of voice is particularly strange because the main character is the one who does not get her own voice.

It is a quick read and it has some suspense, but all in all, it’s so implausible that it is a little absurd.

Her Father’s House by Belva Plain (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

My favorite books are those with multiple plots that intertwine and bring characters and stories together in a clever twist; unfortunately, this was not one of those kinds of books.  While it was somewhat engaging and had a little suspense, it was a straight line story that was only fairly well told.  The story is about Donald Wolfe, a young lawyer new to New York City, who falls in love with Lillian, a captivating young woman, who he learns fairly quickly is a social climber who has just used him as a stepping stone.  When she discovers she’s pregnant, he insists she keep his child and what happens with the child is at the heart of this story.

I think I really read this book because of a nostalgia for the oh-so-popular Evergreen (from many moons ago!) and thought I’d be carried back to that time.  This had my attention but it was no Evergreen…