The Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward

I started out by thinking I would not like this novel. I was expecting a schmaltzy, fluff of a novel. That could not be further from the truth. This is a wonderful book that will challenge all your beliefs about immigration.

The story follows two main characters, Alice, a forty something woman in Texas who has everything she wants in life except a baby, and Carla, a thirteen year old girl from Honduras.

As the novel opens, Alice and her husband have just lost a baby they had hoped to adopt when the mother changes her mind and keeps the baby. How Alice copes with this is at times maddening and there were times I wanted to shake her. However, Ward does an excellent job of making Alice a very real, flawed person.

Meanwhile, the novel also follows the journey of Carla from Honduras to Texas. When Carla’s grandmother dies, Carla believes her only option is to try to reach her mother who has been working in Texas illegally and sending home money. The brilliance of this novel is the way in which Ward portrays the conditions and circumstances that lead this young girl to attempt to reach her mother in Texas.

This is a novel that will challenge your beliefs on immigration. It is impossible to read this story and not be moved by the circumstances which compel young children to attempt to reach the United States.

Buy this novel and let Ward challenge you to not remain complacent about the plight of immigrant children.

Publication date is set for January 20, 2015

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

The Amber Keeper by Freda Lightfoot

 

The historical part of this novel tells the story of Millie, a young English nanny to a Russian family who witnesses the Russian Revolution first hand. This part of the novel is very interesting and well developed.

The other part is the modern day story of Abbie, Millie’s granddaughter. Unfortunately, this part of the book just isn't as good. It’s not bad per se, just not as well plotted. Abbie as a character is hard to like or sympathize with. She seems too flighty, not at all a strong person. This makes it hard to believe some of her actions towards the end of the book. In addition, the ending seemed rushed and not well plotted. It was as if the author just wanted to end the book.

All in all, this is not a bad book. It’s a quick read and the parts detailing Millie’s experience during the war are well worth the read.

Borrow it from your library.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

“Even in darkness it is possible to create light” Elie Wiesel

“Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light” Meister Johann Eckhart

If it’s possible for a book to actually exude light, then Doerr's novel does just that.

Set in Europe during WWII, the book follows the lives of two children, Marie and Werner.

Marie, a young French girl who goes blind at 6 years old loses the light in her world both physically and metaphorically. We follow her journey from Paris to Saint-Malo as the war swirls around her.

Werner is a young German orphan boy with a remarkable talent for fixing radios. It is this talent that will lift him out of the orphanage and set him on a path he could never foresee. In chasing the light of his dream, Werner will instead be thrust into the darkest of places.

As they grow up amidst the turmoil and uncertainty of war, Marie and Werner  become both hero and victim, connected to each other in a way neither of them could have predicted.

This is a book to read slowly and savor, for within its pages Doerr has created magic.

Ultimately it is a book you will remember for all the light you CAN see. 

The Death and Life of Nicholas Linnear by Eric Van Lustbader

This short story packs a lot into a few pages. In fact, it's hard to believe how much depth is here. I've read all the books in Lustbader’s Ninja series and even though it’s been years since his last book, it didn't feel like that in reading this story.

It’s very hard to describe this story without giving away spoilers. Let’s just say that it’s action packed and spans only a couple of days. It begins with a near death, and ends with several deaths.

One can only hope that Lustbader will pen another Linnear book in the near future. 

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

The Escape by David Baldacci

I have to start off by admitting that I’m a huge Baldacci fan. I started reading him from his first book, and he’s never disappointed me yet. Having said that, this is just a fantastic book. I have liked each of the other 2 books in his John Puller series, but this is by far the best. Did I mention that it’s a fantastic book?

This book centers around John Puller’s older brother, Robert. Robert Puller has been in each of the other 2 books, usually when John visits him in prison. Robert Puller is the disgraced brother convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison in Leavenworth Military Prison. It’s a prison that no one escapes from, until Robert does. What follows is a whirlwind of a book.

John Puller is charged with tracking down his brother Robert and bringing him in. It is a mission that will have John, and the reader, wondering who he can trust, and just who is playing whom. There are enough twists, turns, blind alleys and double crosses to keep the reader up late at night.

Well done, Mr. Baldacci. Well done. 

Veterans Day

No, this is not a book review. On this Veterans Day, it is important to remember what this day really stands for. For many Americans, it is a day when the post office is closed, banks and offices are closed. There will be lots of postings on social media of pictures about Veterans Day. The local news media will do stories about the Veterans in local communities. There will be Veterans Day sales at local stores. 

Yet, I fear that the actual Veterans, their service and sacrifice are being lost in all the noise.

The Veteran who stood guard in unimaginable heat and cold so that you could stand in line complaining about the wait at your store.

The Veteran who hasn't seen his or her family in a year while you complain about the long drive to see family on holidays.

The Veteran who came back with physical scars while you complain about the long walk from your parking place.

The Veteran who came back with mental scars because he saw things you will never have to see.

The Veteran who gave of himself until he could give no more, and then kept giving.

The Veteran who stood between you and all those who would wish to take away your freedom.

The Veteran who never came home.

Please take a moment today and pause to think about the Veteran. If you have one in your family, please thank them for their service.

 If you see a Veteran today, thank them, remember them, honor them.

 These men and women are the true heroes.

“All gave some, some gave all.”

Gray Mountain by John Grisham

While I've read both good and bad reviews for Grisham’s latest offering, I have to come down solidly on the side of it being a really good book. Yes, it’s an ‘issue book’. The issue is Mountaintop Removal, a method of strip mining that destroys the mountains, wildlife and water supply in coal country. The novel tells the story of Samantha, a young lawyer from corporate New York who takes a position in a legal aid clinic in Virginia, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Instead of big money clients, hers are the regions poor. It is a foreign world to Samantha, one that will tug on her emotions, and the reader’s too. This is not a powerful, literary novel. It’s a good story, told in classic Grisham style. Settle in by the fire with a good glass of wine and prepare to be entertained. It’s what Grisham does best. 

Stillwater Rising by Steena Holmes

Holmes new book deals with the aftermath of a school shooting. Fans of Jodi Picoult’s 19 Minutes might worry that Holmes book may be similar and thus unworthy. Rest assured, this is a solid book that stands on its own.

Most of the book focuses on two women, friends, who react differently to the shooting; the mayor, Charlotte Stone whose husband is the school principal and Jennifer Crowne who lost a son in the violence. Charlotte wants the town to heal, to move forward, and to understand that the shooter’s mother is a victim also. Jennifer wants the school torn down and blames the shooter’s mother for the violence. The schism this causes between these women overflows to encompass everyone around them. It is Holmes ability to make these women come alive that makes this a great book.

While the book does have a resolution, Holmes throws one last curve ball on the last page, and it is masterful!

Due to be published November 11^th, this is a book to buy as soon as it comes out.                                           

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Ruth's Journey: The Story of Mammy from Gone With The Wind

By Donald McCaig

McCaig’s book Ruth, is a prequel to Gone With The Wind that tells the back story of Scarlet’s mammy, Ruth.  

This is a hard book to review. While I enjoyed the book itself, I don’t believe it accurately portrays the true slave experience in the South during this time period. While Ruth/Mammy’s life isn’t always easy, neither does she appear to suffer what I believe to be the reality most slaves faced during this period. Ruth is at times portrayed as almost friendly with the whites who seem to genuinely care for her. There is some brutality in the book, but it is almost glossed over. 

That being said, McCaig has definitely been faithful to the mint julep, happy slaves, kind Masters, pro slavery of Gone With The Wind. I’m just not sure that’s a good thing. 

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

Okay, I have to admit that this is absolutely NOT a book I would have picked to read. However, since I received an ARC from the publisher to review, I decided to give it a chance. I’m very glad I did. This is a great book with a little bit of everything: a mystery, a little bit of magic and mysticism, an almost gothic atmosphere, a multigenerational saga, all wrapped up in a tidy little package that really, really works.

When 14 year-old Trevor arrives with his father, Jones at Riddell House it is to accomplish one task: convince Jones’s father to sign over power of attorney so Riddell House can be sold to developers. However, Jones’s father, and several ghosts, have different ideas. As Trevor discovers just who his ancestors were, he uncovers secrets, lies, deceptions, and cruel men whose only concern was the accumulation of more wealth. But he will also discover love, joy and the possibility of redemption, not only for the Riddell family, but for Riddell House.

Stein gradually unfolds the history of both Riddell House and the Riddell family, until the House becomes the family, and the family IS the house.

An absolute must read! 

  

  I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

                                                                                                                                                  

First to Fall by Carys Jones

Take one big city lawyer transplanted to a small sleepy town, add a capital murder case and stir with a cast of local characters who will do anything to protect one of their own, and you have a rolicking good thriller. 

This was an interesting book. The author did a good job of capturing the flavor of a small town and the tendency of locals to close ranks against outsiders.
The town's determination to protect a local football hero was especially believable. 
While this is a thriller, it is also a study in small town dynamics.
Like any town, some of the inhabitants are nice, likeable people and some are just nasty folks. 
There are a few cliches in the book, and a few of the characters could have been better developed, but that does not detract the reader from enjoying the book. 

The only truly negative aspect of this book was the use of English phrases and language clearly not spoken in America. The author is from England and there are several phrases and words used that are obviously not commonly used in America. While not a major detraction, it is annoying to find language and words that are not correctly used for the book's setting. A good editor should correct this.
I look forward to reading more by this author. 

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

This is one of those novels that you hate to see end.
Diamant uses the voice of the grandmother (The Boston Girl) talking to her granddaughter to propel the story.
Beginning in 1915 and moving forward to 1987, the novel captures what it was like to be a female during that period.
This is a book about life, its joys, sorrows, hardships, friendships, family.

Diamant writes beautifully here as she has done in previous novels.

'you never looked at me with anything but love: no pity, no judgment………you made it possible for me to forgive myself’

This is one of those novels that stays with you long after the last page has been read.

I received this novel from the publisher, Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This is a very good follow up to Chan's first novel: The Mill River Recluse. Having said that, it is not necessary to read that novel to enjoy this one. 
This is a novel about families, their connections and what happens when those connections seem irrevocably broken. 
The novel focuses on one woman, a widow, raising two daughters and follows them through the years. 
At first, it was hard to like the 'bad' sister, but that changes as more of the history of these women is revealed. 
A solid second novel from Chan and one that fans of Jan Karon's Mitford series will enjoy. 

I recieved this book courtesy of Random House for a fair and honest review. 

I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. It wasn't a bad book, just a long mostly boring book. The book unfolds in four different characters voices; a young boy, a CASA volunteer (think social worker), a wounded veteran and a middle-aged woman facing a divorce. The first half of the book is essentially a character study of these four people. That, in my opinion is the first major problem with the book. Any book that requires the reader to get 50% through the book before anything happens, will have lost most readers. However, I kept sloughing through hoping it would get better. While it did, it wasn't enough to save this book.
The second major problem with We Are Called To Rise is the ending. While the author spent the first half of the book setting it up, the ending seemed too rushed and just too neat and convenient. It was a happily ever after all, neatly tied in a bow, redemption of humanity ending. Perhaps the author thought this ending would alleviate the sad, gloomy tone of the rest of the book. It didn't. It just felt like a saccharin overload.
I would like to give this book more than one star, but I just can't. Since this is a debut novel for Ms. McBride, perhaps her next novel will be better.
Bottom line: if you're stranded on a desert island with this book, go ahead and read it. Otherwise, there are far too many good books out there.

An enchanting fairytale for adults, this atmospheric tale has it all: enchanted forests, magic spells, witches, time travel and more. The wonderful aspect of this book is that the author successfully weaves all this together into an edge of your seat mystery.

The book opens with Revelation (Reve) Dyer accidentally shooting and killing her husband during their Las Vegas magic performance when someone exchanged the real bullets for the blank ones. Propelled by grief, Reve takes her three daughters and moves back to Massachusetts and her roots. Here Reve will learn that these roots contain a line of powerful, magical female ancestors extending back hundreds of years; all documented in the 'Hawley Book of the Dead'. As she learns of her heritage, Reve will realize that her husband's murder is tied to events in her past and that past has returned.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This novel reads like a stream of consciousness, and not in a good way. I suppose there are people who will enjoy this, but I'm just not one of them.

Example:

'I thank God, if He has not by now entirely acquiesced to the rural cause, that we ventured east and not west, as Mr. Greeley would have liked it, because I doubt I would be here to complain had the opposite occurred. That we chose to head south, though, is a blow no God who retained even the smallest affection for His American subjects would have dealt us, and that we settled in so useless a stretch of the kudzu is a masterstroke no combination of Jeffersons could feasibly have arranged.'

I must admit, I threw in the towel about half way through the book. I just couldn't read anymore.
So, if the example sounds like something you would enjoy, knock yourself out. I'm moving on to better novels.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.

A deceptively simple and deeply complex novel. Meet Ove, a recent widower who wants nothing more than to die and join his wife. The first part of the book details the many ways in which Ove attempts and utterly fails in his efforts to commit suicide. Ove is a grouchy, rigid and completely unsocial man who wants nothing more than to be left alone to kill himself. His efforts at this are thwarted at every turn and his life turned completely upside down when a new family moves in next door. The complex interplay between Ove and his neighbors is in turns poignant and uproariously funny. This is so much more than just the story of Ove. It is a novel of love, loss, loyalty and friendship. A great read. 

I received this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.

The premise of this book sounded so good. The unsolved murder of a young boy last year on the grounds of a posh girls boarding school; new evidence that points to one of eight girls at the school. Unfortunately, the potential was far greater than the finished product. While the writing was at times beautiful and even lyrical, I found myself slogging through the book hoping it would get better. While it eventually did, it wasn't until 3/4 of the way through the book. The victim is never really fleshed out, and the eight teenage girls seem to be more cardboard caricatures then flesh. The only reason this book rates 2 stars rather than one is for the author's ability to paint some beautiful descriptive verses. Borrow from a library or friend, otherwise don't waste your money. 

An unlikely detective, a murder, a teacher suspected of having sex with a student, and a fire from the past shrouded in mystery. What a combination, and what a ride! 
This book belongs on my shelf of 'can't put it down' books. 
This is the first in a series by the author featuring detective Cab Bolton. To say that Bolton is not your typical detective, is an understatement. He's quirky, rich and does not play well with others. 
There are plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing all the way to the end. 
Brian Freeman's other books will definitely be added to my to-read list.

This book is so hard to describe. Reading it is like watching a flower slowly open. At first the colors are perfect and bright. Then as it opens further, you notice some of the petals are a little faded and some have some dark diseased parts. The question becomes whether or not the diseased parts will kill the entire flower.
Big Little Lies slowly opens and reveals parts at a time. There are secrets and lies, both little and large. Each of these are revealed a little at a time until the reader is confident in knowing the deceptions each character harbors, until the final explosive secret is revealed.