Novels Now

For those of us living in the United States, the suffering that goes on in other parts of the world is unimaginable. Darfur is one of the places where such suffering takes place. Genocide is occurring there and military power is constantly shifting. The reasons for this are complicated. However, this book contains an appendix that helps to explain it.

Daoud Hari is a brave man who risked his life repeatedly to take reporters into dangerous areas so that they could get the story out to the world. I found myself wondering constantly as I read his story if I would have the courage to withstand the things that he did to help his fellow countrymen.

I cannot say that this was a “good” book because it is so difficult to read about the suffering of these people. However, this was a very enlightening book and offers a lot of information about the situation in Darfur. (4.5/5)

I found this to be a very interesting story of the complexity of family relationships. It deftly illustrates how no decision we make is without repercussions for our family members.

Deborah chooses to shoulder the responsibility for Grace’s actions and inadvertently touches off a chain reaction of events that leads to family confessions about pressure, expectations and what it means to be accepted and loved in a family.

It also explores the pros and cons of living in a small town where everyone knows you and your business.

Overall, I think this is a very solid read and I will look for more books by Barbara Delinsky. (3.5/5)

I had a love-hate relationship with this book. I loved the fact that we see Tully and Kate from a young age and we get a sense of what makes each girl tick.

I hate the fact that Tully is such a selfish jerk and I find it hard to believe that anyone could maintain a friendship with her for that long.

This was a touching story in places but I feel like I have read this story before. For example, I guessed early on in the story what would happen to Kate and I was exactly right.

As mom to a teen-aged daughter, I felt like the author did an excellent job of portraying how painful and turbulent these years can be. However, toward the end of the book I felt like it was manipulated to make me cry and it irritated me because I did cry. I have to say that this book was just ok, despite the soggy tissues.(3/5)

I read The Tea Rose last year and when I heard that there was a continuation in the series, I couldn’t wait to read it.

I was glad to see Fiona and Joe Bristow make a reappearance in this book. After all the angst and drama they suffered through in The Tea Rose, they deserve to be happy. However, their lives are not perfect and they still face challenges.

I liked India Selwyn Jones as the heroine as much as I liked Fiona Finnegan in the first book. Jennifer Donnelly has the ability to make noble heroines without making them annoyingly perfect. They have flaws and often must suffer the consequences of their impulsiveness.

Sid Malone is a great hero. After years of being a victim of circumstance, he takes control of his life and rises to the top. Unfortunately, he rises to the top of a crime ring. Still, his compassion and caring for the people of Whitechapel, who are crippled by abject poverty, is admirable and I liked him a lot.

My only problem came when the setting of the story switches from London to the plains of Africa. It felt a little bit strange to me but that may be because I so enjoyed seeing Sid & India help the people of Whitechapel.

I still enjoyed the story quite a bit. This series is great for lovers of historical fiction. (4/5)

I have read one other book by Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders, which I liked, so I had high expectations for this book.

When I first started reading People of the Book I was sure it was on track to be one of my top reads of the year. There were places where I stopped to make notes of things that I wanted to remember:

“Of course, a book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind and hand. The gold beaters, the stone grinders, the scribes, the binders, those are the people I feel most comfortable with. Sometimes, in the quiet, these people speak to me. They let me see what their intentions were, and it helps me do my work.” - People of the Book, pg 19

“All of you, from the safe world, with your air bags and your tamper-proof packaging and your fat-free diets. You are the superstitious ones. You convince yourself you can cheat death, and you are absolutely offended when you learn that you can’t. You sat in your nice little flat all through our war and watched us, bleeding all over the TV news. And you though, ‘How Awful!’ and then you got up and made yourself another cup of gourmet coffee.”-People of the Book, pg 37

However, somewhere in the middle the story just started to lose momentum for me and I started to have trouble keeping the different storylines straight.

I love the concept of a story told about an ancient text and I felt like I got a good snapshot of what was going on in each time period I visited. For that reason alone, I am glad I read this book. I love history. However, I found that the characters in some instances were not what I was hoping they would be and I was disappointed.

Maybe my expectations were too high but this was just okay to me. (3/5)

Janice Erlbaum spent a couple of months in a homeless shelter when she was a teenager. It turned out to be an event that put her on the path to a successful and happy life. Twenty years later, she decided that it was time to give back and she begins volunteering her time to the same shelter’s current residents. She is warned not to play favorites but to listen and believe in the girls. She has a big heart and cares deeply about the girls but the day comes when she sees one that reminds her of herself and so begins her saga with the girl named Sam.

There were times during my reading of this book that I actually forgot that I was reading non-fiction and that these events happened to real people. It’s pretty fast-paced and written in a very conversational manner. As is the way with real-life, things don’t always turn out like we expect, which made for a fascinating read. I am just terribly sorry that people had to experience some of the events in their lives. (4/5)

This was an absolutely wonderful way to start the new year. This is one of those books that leaves you feeling slightly melancholy that it has ended.

The story opens with Grace in a nursing home reflecting on her past. We know from the beginning that she has held secrets and regrets close to her heart for many years but what unfolds over the course of this book is a multi-layered story that holds many poignant moments.

Grace leaves home at a tender age to learn how to be in service to the Hartford family. She learns to care about the entire family and the entire serving staff and begins to think of them as the family she never had. She sees their faults and she protects their secrets with devotion and a strong sense of duty.

However, she is not the only one bound by duty. I watched as one by one members of the family fulfill their duties for the greater good and I began to wonder who made the greater sacrifices. The aristocracy or the servants?

The theme of sacrificial service strikes a deep chord with me and I found this particular part of the story to be very haunting.

At the end of the book, the author lists several titles that she drew information from. Not surprisingly, I already have several on my TBR list and will be all the more interested in looking at them because of this book.(5/5)