The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

This is the second of the Liz books (remember I mentioned her in the review for The Woman Who Wouldn't?) and I devoured this book in one day as if it were made of sugar and instead of a stomach ache my heartaches because I know I will miss these characters.

The Sugar Queen is a finely spun tale that feels like a wisp of cotton candy on the tongue.  Josey is 27 and lives with her mother who is a bitch not so nice to her. Then Della shoes up in Josey's closet and and pushes Josey to spread her wings.

Under the influence of the visitor in her closet Josey meets Chloe. Chloe is having her own crisis and Josey becomes as important to her and she becomes to Josey.

There is a bit of a twist in this story so I won't say much more. Just that this book was as satisfying as a big huge fudge brownie with an ice cold glass of milk to wash it down with and I now must read more of Allen's work in hopes that they too are wonderful treats for my mind and heart.

Liz, you are 2 for 2 so far, thank you!!!
 
(finished June 29, 2013)
 

My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares

I read this because of a review in EW and because I loved the movie based on her book The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and have meant to read it and will at some point.

While I liked this book I didn't love it.

Reincarnation is real. Among those reincarnated a rare few can remember all of the details of all of their past lives. Imagine then that you do something you feel horribly guilty for in your first life and it sticks with you for centuries and as you try to right this wrong you find you have fallen in love with the soul of the person you hurt. And imagine then that she at times loves you too. But she can't remember. So for lifetime after lifetime you keep trying to get to her. That is the premise of the story of Daniel and Lucy. He remembers her and he has loved her for hundreds of years. Lucy is just a high school senior with a crush on the cute quiet boy.

What follows is the tale of how they have connected and been separated over and over as told through Daniels memories. There is also the thread of what happens when a soul is so black and evil that there is no love but only anger and hatred and the desire for revenge.

All of this should have come together to make a really great book. The writing is wonderful. The characters are lovable. However, the start of the story was a bit slow to grip me. Now if you have read any of my reviews you know that a slow start doesn't keep me from loving a book if once it picks up it is great. But then the end of this disappointed me. It felt abrupt. Sort of like Brashares slammed on the breaks and instead of feeling left with imagining where they went after the last page it was more like, hey that's it? I would say it is worth reading at some point but nothing to run out and get ASAP.

So while I liked the story, I didn't love the book.

(finished June 28, 3013)

Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan, I call him The Food Whisperer but you might know him as The Hot Pocket Guy, is very funny in his standup acts. But will that carry over to the printed page? Yes!! I often laughed out loud.

Jim lives in NYC in a 2 bedroom 5th floor walk-up with his wife and FIVE kids. That right there is a funny. But this goes further. Dad Is Fat is all about parenthood, being a husband and food.

Do not expect a great piece of classic literature but rather expect a funny, relatable, and insightful collection of essays that will make you smile often and laugh a lot.




(finished June 25, 2013)

Oh Dear Sylvia by Dawn French

I loved Dawn French's first two books. The first was her memoir Dear Fatty and the other was the novel A Tiny Bit Marvellous so when I heard this book was announced I per-ordered it immediately. 

Oh Dear Silvia was sad but funny. It was the kind of funny you almost feel bad about laughing at but not enough not to laugh.

Silvia is lying in a hospital bed in a coma after falling off her balcony. As she lays there her housekeeper Tia, ex-husband Ed, best friend Cat, sister Jo, nurse Winnie and daughter Cassie come in and visit. The story is told as if you were a fly on the wall watching and listening to what is said to the woman who can't say anything back. Her housekeeper's visits are really, really funny. Her sister's visits are cringe worthy, sad and at times funny, there is a bit with a stripper that is hysterical.

As the story unfolds you learn more about each visitor, the kind of woman Sylvia is and how she got there in that bed.

I start to have a feeling about how she fell but when it was revealed and I was right I still did a WTF and had to reread it because it was said in the middle of a rant and in such a matter of fact way that it was shocking in the how if not the who of the reveal.

I ended up loving Winne, Ed and Cassie. They were such wonderfully drawn characters, very full and interesting. I want to tell you what I thought of Sylvia but I will refrain because I think to tell would take something away from your experience in reading this book.

I was well pleased yet again by the talent of Ms Dawn French.

(finished June 20, 2013)

The Birth House by Ami McKay

This was the June book pick for book club. I wasn't expecting much, but it sounded interesting when I read the inside of the cover. After reading the prologue and about 15 pages I was already loving Dorie and Miss B.

At first I was noticing all the Mary worship going on and was wondering if it was going to be a preachy book, it wasn't and after awhile it just seemed part of who Miss B. is.

Dr. Thomas was infuriating and every time he stepped on to the page I wanted to slap him silly. He was a quack and the only thing he was good for was introducing Dorie to the newest invention around, a vibrator to cure hysteria.

The message of the story is that women should have the freedom to choose where they have their babies, who delivers their babies and who is present for the birth. Many message stories feel preachy but this one didn't. It just presented a group of women who relied on each other and their midwife and didn't want to be forced to go to a hospital setting with a male doctor who wanted to knock them out until after giving birth and was not at all interested in the women or their needs and wants.

The writing is really nice. I know that sounds like it could be almost an insult or low praise but it isn't. It just was really nicely written and enjoyable.

The community of Scots Bay comes to live between the covers of this novel. I was some pleased by Dorie Rare and her circle of friends.

(finished June 17, 2013)

interpreter of maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

My friend Beth insisted I borrow this book from her, she loved it and even said something about she could just kiss Jhumpa on the mouth for writing it. So I trusted her and took it home.

I'm sure anything I say about this book of short stories won't do it justice but I am going to try because that's what I do here, I tell you about the books I've read. 

Do you know those Russian dolls that nest? That's what this book reminds me of, if the dolls were Indian and wearing the most amazingly beautiful saris, the colors like jewels and all so vivid you can feel the silk in your fingers. Each story is a little gem inside the gem of this book. You could start anywhere and randomly pick a story to start with or do what I did and go in order. I should point out that each story feels like a moment of a person's story, none of them feel like a start to finish life story but rather a brief glimpse into the lives of the characters. While this may sound awkward or annoying I promise it was not, though you will probably end up like I did and want more. It doesn't matter, each story will make you feel. And as I have said numerous times, I love a book that makes me feel things, well not bored but otherwise, make me feel something.

There are 9 stories and there wasn't one I disliked.

In the story Mrs. Sen's, it was so dry in its sadness. It was just a short glimpse into the days Eliot spent going to the Sen's after school. You can feel Mrs. Sen's discomfort of being away from her native land and living in the US while her husband Mr. Sen (no first names given in the story) teaches at a university. You can feel her isolation and desire to go home. It isn't in your face, it just is and you can see her home as Eliot does and you can smell the mothballs and spices.

In the story A Temporary Matter watching two people who loved each other once not be able to find their way back together is so heart wrenching but the way they come out on the other side is so human and honest it is also heart warming.  

Lahiri writes with a style that is open and blunt but subtle at the same time. There is no beat you over the head message but there is a sense of acknowledging that life is a journey and sometimes it hurts and sometimes it isn't what you expected and always it is beautiful.


(finished June 12, 2013)

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

I figured out what was going to happen before it did, something I usually hold against a book but don't in this case.

If I tell you this book is about a baker, a Holocaust survivor, a 95 year old Nazi soldier living in the US and hiding in plain sight and vampires you would probably roll your eyes and say thanks but no thanks, heck I almost did. Doing that would be a big mistake.

Since this is a Jodi Picoult book there is some sort of legal drama involved but this time it isn't the main focus.

Josef tells Sage his deep dark secret and asks of her something she isn't sure she can or wants to do. She just wants to spend her time hiding what she thinks is her hideous face away from the world and just keep baking. Leo is a Department of Justice lawyer who spends his time hunting Nazi war criminals. Mary is an ex-Nun who owns the shop Sage bakes for and Rocco is the guy who works the counter and only speaks in Haiku. And then there is Minka, Sage's grandma who is a Holocaust survivor. They are quite a cast and they make for an amazing foundation for this story.

Can you forgive someone who did something so horrible that they could be called monster? Can you forgive someone on behalf of others? Does it matter of you are forgiven by others if you can never forgive yourself? Those are some of the questions raised in this story.

While I figured it out before the reveal at the end, there is a bit of a surprising twist to the story and figuring it out didn't ruin the experience for me.

I have real just about every book Picoult has written and really enjoyed them all, well all except Songs of the Humpback Whale which was horrible, and The Storyteller was my favorite.

(finished June 11, 2013)