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.