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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

    April 19, 2023
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    This book was a national best seller before it even was available. So I was excited to read it. But I came away underwhelmed. I still recommend it, it was very good. But it wasn’t the spectacular read I was expecting from all the hype. Napolitano is the author of the highly acclaimed Dear Edward. This is her next novel. Despite some misgivings I enjoyed it nonetheless. Here is my book review Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.

    Fissures in the Family

    Sisters. Sisters who are so closely bound together nothing could possible tear them apart…and yet…

    William – a lonely childhood ignored by his parents, basketball is the one thing that kept William sane…an yet

    When the eldest sister Julia meets William in college, she sets her sights on a future with him…manipulating him to be what she wants him to be. Meanwhile Julia’s three sisters are forging ahead with their own lives, finding out who they are individually without being under the constant watch and demands of eldest Julia.

    But when Charlie, the sisters father dies unexpectedly, the family ties begin to unravel even as Julia continues to try to control all aspects of her life, William’s life and the lives of her sisters. When mother Rose sells the family home and moves to Florida leaving the sister behind Julia continues to believe she can hold the shattered family together.

    But William is reaching his breaking point…after decades of neglect from his own parents, a hidden tragedy never spoke of and a career ending knee injury. William will walk away from the only family he has ever know.

    Regret

    This family is fractured…broken…and Julia will make a selfish and unexpected decision.

    Napolitano explores the issues of mental illness, gender identity, unmarried mothers and more than anything family ties in Hello Beautiful. The story is a long saga of selfish choices, and a sad narrative on pressure to be someone we can not be. How will love and loss reunite this broken world? Who will regret all they have done and everyone they have hurt? Find out in Hello Beautiful.

    Thank you for reading my book review Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.

    Read last week’s Book Review The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

    What I’m reading today – The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

    April 5, 2023
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    Quinn brings to life a remarkable cast of characters in her debut novel, destined for every award possible. Here is my book review The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn.

    At the heart of this novel is the meaning of family. What is family? Is it blood or is it love? Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theatre explores all ascpect of family in this unique and irresistable novel.

    What is Family?

    It’s 1928 and Cristable Seagrave is a young and headstrong girl on the barren coast of the English Channel where she lives in her family estate Chilcombe Manor. But most of her family is dead. Her mother died when she was a baby. Grief stricken, her father remarried but died soon after. And then step-mother married Cristable’s uncle and two more children are born. But Cristable is an outsider always, especially in the eye’s of her step-mother who is recklessly spending the family fortune.

    When a whale washes up on the beach 12-year old Cristable claims it as hers…and her life will never be the same. Through determination and creativity Cristable, her siblings Digby and Flossie (who are actually her cousins) and a collection of household staff and local community members create The Whalebone Theatre. Drawing guests from around the region the theater becomes the lifeblood of Cristable and her siblings as World War II rears it’s ugly head.

    WWII

    Cristable and Digby will be thrust into adulthood and become British Spies in the war while Chilcombe crumbles taking the Whalebone Theatre with it. Flossie will become the unsuspecting matriarch of the manor, finding ways to keep it afloat. The war will seem endless as Britian’s occupation creates hardship for everyone. As friends die, faith goes with them, and Cristable will hold out hope only for the safety of Digby and a future back at Chilcombe.

    A very clever take on the hardships of WWII through the eyes of the young and ambitious Cristable and her family. Heartbreaking and hopeful. Family is those you love and Quinn will bring this inventive story around to it’s satisfying conculsion for the reader…you will not want it to end.

    Thanks for reading my book review The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn.

    See last weeks book review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    March 29, 2023
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    This book was excruciating to read at times because of the sheer pain of many of its characters. Here is my book review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    As a beautiful 17 year old black women, Kiara should be living and loving her life. But circumstances have her nowhere near happiness. Her family life is in shambles with death, prison, drugs and poverty. Kiara has not where to turn – including to her brother who has been her one strength. Brother Marcus has his own demons, and is drifting farther away from Kiara.

    In a desperate decision to try to earn enough money to not be evicted, Kiara turns to the streets. A chance meeting with a local prostitute and an unexpected moment in a bar, will hurl Kiara into the life of a Nightcrawler in Oakland.

    The consequences of her choice will loose her friends but keep the rent paid, until she is caught up into a scandal inside the Oakland Police Department.

    Gut wrenching, horrific and brutal – Nightcrawling is a story of the failure in our society to protect minors, deal with drug abuse and mental illness. It is also the story of powerful abuse and occasional police brutality hidden deep and overlooked by the justice system. Based loosely on a real life event in Oakland years ago, Mottley’s fictional tale will take your breath away even as a story of survival.

    Thank you for reading my book review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    Four stars for Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    Read last week’s book review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell

    March 22, 2023
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    O’Farrell is one of my favorite authors, in fact three of my all-time best are by her; The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Hamnet and the Marriage Portrait. So I was sure I would like this older novel of hers…her very first. Here is my book review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

    O’Farrell is a master at character development. In this novel she creates some interesting characters in two parallel storylines across a fifty year time period. Of course you know these stories will interject at some point, but even when they do you will be taken aback. It is a story of three strong-willed women and their connection.

    The Women

    Lexie – wants so much more than the provincial life laid out for her in the country home of her parents post WWII. She plots her escape thanks to the love of her life Innes. But Innes has his own secrets that will, after his death, haunt Lexie forever.

    Margot – Innes daughter will do anything she can to ruin Lexie’s life. She is Lexie’s nemesis but as the story unfolds we realize that their connection will be greater than either could ever have imagined.

    Elina – present day a new mother struggling with her near death experience giving birth to her son, tries to navigate motherhood, while dealing with her husband Ted’s memory issues. Ted refuses to admit he is ill, and Ted’s parents – especially his mother – is secretive and aloof. What memories is she trying to suppress from Ted?

    The revelations will come to light in a painful way, but Elina will be the hero as she helps her husband grasp his new reality, recover from the shock and repair the fractured family through her never-ending love.

    The Hand That a First Held Mine

    Not her best work but a superb story nonetheless, in true O’Farrell fashion. I enjoyed the plot and the outcome. Thanks for reading my book review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

    ****Four stars for The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

    See last week’s book review The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

    March 8, 2023
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    This story of two friends spans thirty years. Thirty years that will bring Sam and Sadie, two childhood nerds, to wild success. But at what cost to each individually and their lifelong friendship? Here is my book review Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

    Sam and Sadie meet as young children in a hospital of all places. Sam is recovering from a horrific auto accident while Sadie spends hours at the hospital while her sister undergoes chemotherapy. But these two seemingly unlikely friends will find a very common bond in video games. And build a friendship around video games and gamers.

    Six years later Sadie is at MIT and Sam at Harvard. They will reconnect, again over the burgeoning video game design industry and their lives will never be the same. Both brilliant, competitive and driven, they set out to change the “gaming” industry right from their college apartment.

    This coming of age story may be difficult for readers not familiar with “gaming” – the multi-billion dollar industry that took hold of an entire generation. But at the core of this story, which sometimes feels a bit like a YA novel, is friendship. Love. Trust. Respect.

    The book is long (over 400 pages) and it dragged a bit for me. But overall I enjoyed it and learned a lot about the gaming industry too…something I knew little about.

    Reviews range wildly. I’m firmly in the middle. Three stars for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

    Thank you for reading my book review Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

    See last weeks book review Becoming Duchess Goldblatt.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

    February 22, 2023
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    This book. Mind boggling. Described by critics as both brilliant and confounding…for me I’m going with brilliant. It’s not for everyone, but I was astonished. Here is my book review To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara.

    If you are looking for an easy read…this is not it. This book is intense and sometimes horrific. But Yanagihara has a beautiful ability to develop characters that take your hand and bring you right into the story. Or stories in this case.

    Because this novel is essentially three stories…three stories that seemingly don’t connect, but keep reading. They will. The three stories are placed 100 years apart; 1893 in New York City, 1993 in Hawaii and 2093 in New York City.

    But none of these places will be familiar to the reader. An alternate New York City exists in this book. In 1893 it’s not in the United States, it exists in an alternative country after a revolution. It’s openly Lesbian/Gay friendly. Arranged marriages are common. History is rewritten through the bold yet quiet imagination of Yanagihara.

    In the second story we find ourselves in Hawaii in 1993. Unrest, global warming, and family legacy in the island nation finds the characters searching for meaning. But wait these characters all have the same names as 100 years ago. What exactly is going on here?

    And then boom. We are back in New York in the year 2093. This astonishing third story for me was gripping, and a bit too close to home. Pandemics, intense heat, unbreathable air, and a country in utter chaos. Here the characters are honest and emotional and so believable – even given the dystopian world they occupy.

    With all this angst and uncertainty can this story end happily? The overriding theme through-out is hope; hope for the survival of the planet, our human species, family, love and happiness.

    An extraordinary work, that may take some time to digest. But I give high praise to the imagination and beautiful story telling of Yanagihara. Thank you for reading my book review To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara.

    *****Five stars for To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara.

    Read last week’s book review The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

    February 15, 2023
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    A whodunit that mixes poverty, race and the high society of classical music in an intriguing mystery. Here is my book review The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb.

    A poor black child from North Carolina, Ray has few options. Despite his apparent musical talent his mom wants him to drop out of school and get a job. She wants him to pay rent and work…and stop making all that noise with his beat up school loaned violin.

    But Ray’s grandmother sees something special in his talents, and when she bequeaths him an old beat up family violin he is thrilled. Helped along by a handful of people who see beyond his race to his exceptional talent, Ray soon discovers the beat up violin is a priceless Stradivarius.

    Ray’s life changes dramatically as he is recognized, more for the story of the unsuspecting Stradivarius, but also for his burgeoning talent. Then he is invited to the renowned Tchaikovsky Competition, and the media storm grows around Ray and his violin.

    But the unthinkable happens, the violin is stolen right from under his nose. Ray feels like one of his arms has been cut off. How will he get it back? How will he pay the ransom? Who would do such a thing? There are lots of suspects, friend and foe.

    Will Ray find the violin in time for the competition? You’ll need to read The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb to find out.

    ****Four stars for The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb.

    Thank you for reading my book review The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb.

    Read last week’s book review Delicious by Ruth Reichl

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