Category: Book Reviews (Page 1 of 3)

The Dinner by Herman Koch

Wow!  This was a shocking story.  It had great build-up and it held the suspense.  As the reader, it kept me guessing the entirety of the novel.  I could not predict how this story was going to end.  Every time I thought I had figured it out, I was met with another surprise.  I think that I’m still unsure of what was true and what was in his mind.

I loved the structure of the book.  I loved that it was centered around a traditional meal and its stages of drinks, appetizer, main course, etc.  It was as if the story unfolded as we were given more substance.  And just like dinner, sometimes we aren’t happy with our choices.  Sometimes we are disappointed or choose something for the wrong reasons.  It was a great vehicle for this story.  It showed the propriety and the societal manners in which we approach our meal.  It was also the very mannerism that deconstructed the horrible events of the story.  The juxtaposition of eating a fancy dinner while trying to iron out a sinister action.

I really feel that the wife might have been the more manipulative and sinister of the four adults.  She was secretly plotting against her husband in every aspect of their life, all the while he thinks he is sheltering her from the horrific news.

This story was about finessing bad news and the ulterior motives to keep silent.   The “dinner” was all a ruse by all parties to manipulate the outcome of that evening.  It was the only way that these parents could “protect” their children from the terrible decisions they had made.

I think this book really highlighted how people view wrong and right.  And to what extent they are willing to except bad behavior when it could hurt someone they love.  There is a feeling that as a parent we need to protect our children and fight for their rights.  As a parent, we have this need to keep our kids from doing something wrong.  We need to help them know right from wrong and we need to protect them from bad situations.  That all changes when you realize your child has broken the law and has faltered morally.  We are also introduced to the fact that mental illness could be playing major roles in the “bad behavior” in society.  It also shows us how most people are choosing to handle mental illness…by sweeping it under the rug.

How much should we protect our children when they do something that is clearly morally wrong?

To what length would you protect your child from a moral and criminal action?

What kind of blame should the parents in this situation shouldered?

What did you think of the ending?

What does the ending reflect?

Is this something you feel could actually happen?  Is this an unrealistic plot and conclusion?

Did you actually enjoy reading this book?  Did you appreciate the moral dilemma?

Rise: How a House Built a Family by Cara Brookins

The premise of this story was intriguing to me: A single mom of four building her own home from the footings to the roof tiles.

‘Is it true?’ was my first question and ‘How is that possible?’ was my second question.  It seemed like an intimidating and insurmountable task to build a house without the “professionals”.  I’m not saying that I would take this on because this is not my dream but it was inspiring to know that those things we think that we cannot do are actually achievable and anyone can be successful at anything they take to heart.

It was an uplifting story overall and I applaud the main character for her bravery in facing adversity…. but (you knew it was coming), there were just so many missteps.  I am by no means a critic of people’s personal choices but I also feel that she kept getting involved with people who were abusive and put her children in jeopardy of being truly hurt.  I do not take lightly the fact that her husband tortured the family dog and she hid it…she didn’t report it!  Fear is paralyzing.  It is what keeps you on your toes and it represses its slave.  Fear is a tormentor to the tortured and this character was inhibited by it.

I felt like this book was really two books. One book is the inspirational anecdote of personally rising from ashes while dually building a house from the ground up.  The second book was all the wrong ways to raise your children while juggling several abusive husbands.  I wish the author had provided some insight into how her children felt during this time period of instability.  She conveys her own angst but barely touches on the children’s fears.  I’m still on the fence about recommending this book.  It had some highlights but also some very obvious holes.  There was a lot of information that was missing from this story.

Did you have empathy for the main character?

Did you like her?

What do you wish she would have done differently in telling this story?

Would you have exposed yourself personally by telling the same story?

What was missing from this story for you?

How do you think this family is functioning now?

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

There were a lot of people that were “unlikable” in this book.  From the cheating parents to the drunk author, there was a litany of characters in this book that weren’t good people but somehow they became endearing.  From the beginning, Bert Cousins was identified as a bad father and a bad husband.  Beverly Keating was a bored housewife on the verge of an affair.  Fix was a grumpy cop distrustful of all people and suspicious of everyone’s actions.  Teresa was the oblivious mother of four kids who was not domestically inclined.  Although these characters have bits of them that are unlikable to each other and the reader, they become endearing to us as the story moves on and as the family members grow older.

We remember things differently.  We have different views and perspectives on the same events.  Due to age, maturity and life experience, the characters weigh in on the same events with differing ideas and the “why” of something happening.  Two main events seen from different views are Franny’s baptism and Cal’s death.  Fix, Bert, Beverly and Teresa had their own version of Franny’s baptism and what it meant as a pivotal moment in all of their lives.  This moment impacted each of them and, by default, affected their children as well.  Cal’s death affected the parents but this event was mostly felt by the children.  They were each there but each of them had their own version of what happened and how it happened.

The dynamic between the parents and children is unconventional and is probably why the reader will find some commonality with this dysfunctional family.  The parents are unaffected by the kids and their feelings.  The parents never consider how the children will feel if they divorce, relocate, don’t move, remarry, or ignore them.  The kids seems to be perfectly happy to be ignored.  The children in this book are left to their own devices, which results in a deadly incident.  Many other incidents could have ended just as badly.  It’s a stark comparison to today’s parenting that hovers over their children and doesn’t make a decision without contemplating the children’s opinions.

I enjoyed this story because it was so real.  It didn’t hide the mistakes that they each had made in the past.  It accepted them with realism.  It reminded me of “stories” from my family.  It reminded me of the crazy, unbelievable things we do to each other as families and the things we choose to accept and to forgive.  Despite all of the things that went wrong in their lives, they loved one another and these pivotal moments brought them together in good ways.  Baby Franny was the common thread that brought them all together.  She is the constant element to the story and the one that keeps the story moving forward.  In the end, it is Franny who is still holding them all together.

Was it love at first sight when Bert first met Beverly?  Or was she just something he couldn’t have?

Did this story revolve around Franny?  Why?  Why not?  Is she the main character?

What does the writing/publishing of the “book” and movie mean to the family?

Why is Albie the only one that is offended by the book by Leo Posen?

What does this book say about families and time?

What does this story say about forgiveness and time?

Did you think (initially) Cal died from the gun shot or from the bee sting?

Why do Franny and Bert have such a strong connection?  Is it because he named her?

Why don’t any of the girls keep in touch with each other?

Were you surprised that Franny ended up with Kumar?

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

I’m so glad that I picked up this book.  I’m so used to reading historical fiction from WWII and I forget how significant our own U.S. culture and history really is.  I will say that I picked up this book because of how little I knew about the Underground Railroad.  The extent of my knowledge came from school history books that didn’t quite portray this heroic part of our history with much detail and definitely did not spend much time other than some history regarding Harriet Tubman and her association with the movement.

This books conveys an amazing journey during slavery.  The process of getting to a free state and remaining free must have been anxiety laden.  I can’t imagine the complexity of making the decision to flee the only home you’ve ever known, to travel through unknown paths, all the while trusting that your mode of transportation and destination will bring you freedom and keep you alive.  You must have a deep trust of people to think that not everyone is like those that have oppressed you.  Cora trusted that when she arrived at her destination, slavery would not exist and she would be free…but, what if freedom wasn’t at the end of the railroad?  Cora found out that South Carolina had a different kind of slavery and control over its citizens and North Carolina was worse than Georgia because it did not allow blacks at all and had no tolerance for those who helped slaves.  It seemed that Cora could not escape and was still being hunted.

Cora’s story is an Everyman story during our country’s time of slavery.  Her journey to survive and thrive was hard fought and difficult.  At every turn, she was bound again and challenged to fight harder.  Her final act in “the secret beneath us” and following “the one who escaped” was in defiance and she won.  She escaped her hunter and used her salvation, the Underground Railroad, to make her final passage.

I think that we fail as a nation to honor our past by addressing the good and the bad things about our country.  I think in order to appreciate the good, we need to understand where we went wrong morally, culturally and justly.  Our problem is not with the mistakes we made but with how we have dealt with them since their execution.  By ignoring our past and pretending that these atrocities did not happen, we ourselves and future citizens a disservice.  We forget.  We re-commit the crime.

I think that we allow Europe to “relive” the past, good and bad, and we understand their ability to reassess, retell, and feel those betrayals again.  Why don’t we allow ourselves, the U.S., to look back and reengage those acts that embarrass us so much?  Are we too good to learn from them still?  Do we think that we are so far removed from them that we don’t need to talk about it anymore?  I just moved from the state of Georgia and I saw more Confederate flags waved there in 2 years than I did in my 40 years of life.  This racism exists today…we only pretend to be better than it.  It is still there.  How do we address it?  We read about it and learn from it.

What was Terrance Randall’s obsession with Cora?  Why was she so important to find?

Why was Ridgeway a failure in his ability to catch Mabel and then Cora?

Why did Cora trust so many people along her journey?

Would you have been as trusting of other humans, black and white, if you were in her place?

Should Cora and Caesar have continued on their escape further North?  What did Cora learn from her stay in South Carolina?  North Carolina?

What did freedom mean during slavery?  What was Cora seeking?

What does freedom mean in the U.S. in 2017?  Has the definition changed?

Why did Homer let her go?  Why was Homer so dedicated to the slave catcher Ridgeway?

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This memoir was heartbreaking, empowering, sad, happy, joyful, depressing and hopeful.  I couldn’t keep it out of my mind that these children were real and that they really lived through these “adventures” concocted by their own parents.

To some extent I think that it made them stronger but to the other extreme it made me sad that they never really were cared for like I try to care for my own kids.  I could never fathom letting my children go hungry and then hiding food from them because I was hungry too.  Or deny them clothes and food because you don’t want welfare but also don’t want a job.

This was a tough story to read.  I will admit that the first chapter actually had me laughing at the ridiculousness of their lives.  But as the story went on, it was more disturbing to know that the parents were intentionally keeping their family poor.  I feel that there were many levels of mental illness and simple laziness happening in the parental dynamic of this family.

I know that there are things that can be viewed as situations that make people stronger but most of the situations that these kids were put in were sometimes dangerous and definitely exploitative!  This book was difficult to take when the children were denied food and a clean home.  It was difficult to read that they were sexually exploited.  It was difficult to know that the parents didn’t believe them when others harmed them.

This book made me feel like we are all just one bad decision from being homeless, from starving, from poverty, and from dysfunction.  If my husband and I were to suddenly lose our jobs and not be able to replace them, it would be detrimental to our family.  But, I would like to think that I would do anything to keep us from not feeding our kids or from clothing them.  I would do everything in my power to make a decent home for them.  I could never just sink into my bed and not come out of my room.  Unless, I was mentally ill.  I think this book says a lot about the mental state of people and their ability or inability to make rational decisions.  Who lets their 3 year old make their own dinner on the stove?  Who lets their 3 kids and a newborn ride in the back of a moving truck?

I do feel like the dad really did love his children, especially Jeannette, but he sure had a strange way of caring for them.  He also couldn’t get passed his own demons and alcoholism.  I’m still not sure I forgive the mother.  After all, she should have protected her babies no matter what.  I feel like the kids were an inconvenience to her.  Although this family lived a very bizarre and tortured life, their many situations made them into a family.  The kids became closer because they had a common mission…to survive!

What was your initial view of this book?  How did you feel at the end?

Who do you think was to blame for the dysfunction of the family?  Why?

Was is difficult to know where this family was coming from?  Do you know similar families in this type of situation?

What would you have done differently?

Does it amaze you that the children (most of them) became successful adults?

How did they survive?

Would you survive?

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

To say this was an inspirational story, simply does not do this book justice.  Although it is written from the point of view of a teenager, it conveys the true feelings and emotions that people of Pakistan feel on a daily basis.  The story of Malala demonstrates the horrors of war and the casualties of constant political upheaval as it affects normal, everyday people.

This story made me grateful.  Grateful that I grew up in a country that not only “allows” education for women, but provides it as well.  I am grateful that I had a father, just like Malala, that saw value in a woman graduating from high school, college and other higher learning.  I am grateful that I live in a society that values life more than their strict religious edicts.

This story taught me the importance of your family.  Malala was encouraged to attend school in a society that does not value it.  Malala was encouraged to be vocal in her beliefs, even though they were contrary to their society.  Malala was encouraged to stand up for herself and against the changing beliefs, just like her father.  Malala was encouraged to stand by her father and speak out against injustices.  Without the guidance and support of her parents, Malala would not have been the outspoken young woman that she was at the time of her shooting, nor would she be the person she has become afterward.

The plight of other nations, and the women who live there, can be shocking!  This book was a reminder that we should not take our freedoms for granted.  Simply going to school or speaking your mind is a punishable offense in some cultures.  We should be grateful for the opportunities we have in our society.  And, we should appreciate these “luxuries”, as others do not have them.

Malala talks about her belief that she has a “second chance” at life after her shooting.  She has every reason to be frightened and to run away, but instead of being frightened and going into hiding, she has new resolve to finish school and save her beloved Pakistan.

Could Malala’s family have protected her more?

Should Malala’s family have allowed her to have a public voice or should they have kept her pseudonym?

Did you think that Malala’s father was to blame for her shooting?

As a parent, would you encourage your child to speak their mind and go against society?  To what end?

How did this story make you feel about women’s rights and education?

Do you feel that Pakistan will be able to overcome the Taliban’s rule?

Why do you think the Pakistani army leaders were so intent on saving Malala’s life?

Do you think Malala and her family will ever be able to return to Swat?

Do you think that Malala deserved the Nobel Peace Prize?  What will she be able to accomplish with it?

Will Malala be the next Benazir Bhutto?

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

This novel is the perfect example of how a traumatic event in your life can change the trajectory of your future for good and for bad.  The story of Theo and the Goldfinch painting is a parallel of how we are bound to an event, like tragedy, and how we cannot escape it unless we set ourselves free.  In the final pages, Theo reflects and says: “if I could go back in time I’d clip the chain in a heartbeat and never care a minute that the picture was never painted (page 765).”

The explosion, the painting, the guilt, the bad relationships and Theo’s addiction were his chains.  All of the negative elements stemming from that final moment with his mother seem to be that catapult from which everything bad would continue to plague him.  But was it really the explosion that cast the spell?  Theo was being suspended from school and his parents were separated.  Maybe the explosion propelled and set into motion all the negative things that were going to happen to Theo…the literary “fork in the road.”

A big part of this book was based on relationships, good and bad.  Theo seemed to have people in his life that were either trying to help him and love him or he had those that were doing him harm.  The main source of negative relationships started with his father.  How could a parent be so conniving and narcissistic at the expense of their own child?  But on the opposite side of the spectrum, you have strangers (Hobie and the Barbour’s) who love and protect Theo just as his mother would have.

Now for Boris, he was the good and the bad all together.  He was Theo’s only friend after Andy.  Boris took care of him but he also fueled the additive nature in Theo.  Boris stole the only thing that Theo valued after his mother died.  Boris got Theo into trouble as a teenager and as an adult.  Boris was extremely influential on Theo’s life and seemed to “appear” when life seemed bleak.  I’m still not sure how I feel about Boris.

I thought this book was very well written.  The characters were fully developed and had depth to them.  There were just a few characters like Kitsey and Platt that never truly revealed their intentions but maybe that was the point since they were peripheral characters.  It was a long book and I really felt that there were some lengthy periods that might not have needed so much attention but overall I enjoyed reading this.  It dealt with the desperation of tragedy in an honest and real approach.

Do you feel that fate brought Theo and Welty together in order to lead Theo to Hobie?

What was the purpose of Theo marrying Kitsey?  Why did Kitsey want to marry Theo and not Tom?

What were Platt’s intentions?  Did he have an ulterior motive?

Do you think that Mrs. Barbour always loved Theo?  Why did she seem so cold when he came to live with them?

After the tragedy of his mother’s death, why did his father, Mr. Barbour and Andy have to die?  What was the significance in those deaths?

Why was Hobie so understanding and accepting of Theo’s lifestyle?  Was Hobie just a loving “dad”?

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I am not normally a fan of most thriller-type novels…except Stephen King (of course!) and the ones I pick up are few and far between.  But, let me just say that the hype on this one was pretty accurate.  I was anxious, suspended in disbelief and completely engrossed in the story.

The story begins with a mysterious occurrence right from the start and it begins our “foggy” view of reality as well.  Anyone who has ever been sleep deprived and tipsy knows that our judgement and perception of things becomes severely skewed.  A person cannot function rationally on short burst of sleep and then be expected to make lucid decisions or react to life in a practical way.  Lo is our “cloudy” lens for this novel and she is a great foil to the mystery occurring on the boat.

This story reminded me of an Agatha Christie novel, specifically Murder on the Orient Express.  It is confined to a small space making it frustrating to understand how no other passenger knows what is happening.  We are in international waters, throwing customary laws out the window.  We have a plethora of motives by different passengers.  We travel in luxury shrouded in suspicion.  No one is who they seem to be.

I was so frustrated with a few aspects of the story but they added to my anxiety and suspense.  First of all, why wasn’t the internet working?  Lo was unable to email or text or call anyone!  In this day and age of constant communication, that would be my biggest worry!  The secret doors and passageways were so chilling.  When Lo went for a massage and someone had slipped in while she was in there.  That’s is frightening.  Also the fact that the crew was able to access all rooms (just like in a real hotel) was worrisome.  But probably the strangest was Lo’s kidnapping and imprisonment by the Woman herself!

My favorite part, and probably the most suspenseful, was when Lo escapes from the boat, barely able to get from the water to the pier.  Then, arriving at the hotel and asking for help only to be betrayed by the hotel owner…then the boat comes back!  That gave me chills.  I really did not think that Lo would survive and I thought that everyone must be against her.  It was a nail biter.

This book was such a quick read and it was so suspenseful that I think I need another thriller in the near future!  Although a few little holes here and there, this book was well written, well thought out and delivered on suspense.

Were you frustrated with Lo, the main character?  Why?

Were you frustrated with the other passengers?  Why?

Did you think that Lo made up the story of the Woman next door?

Should her home invasion been tied to the experience on the boat?  Why do you think it wasn’t?

What part got your heart racing the most?

Did you figure out who did it before it was revealed?

Did you enjoy this book?  Do you enjoy the “Thriller/Suspense” genre?

The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Well, I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say about this book.  I was disappointed.  After so many positive and rave reviews of this book, I bumped it up in my queue so that I could get to this “awesome” book faster.  But to my surprise, it was not what I thought.

I will begin by saying that the majority of the book was pretty good…entertaining and captivating. I found the feeling of peer pressure and longing to fit in a relatable subject.  The drama of being a teenager was well conveyed and revealed what happens to people when they succumb to the peer pressures of high school. Sadly, I think these types of sexual situations happen more than we know.  There are things that teenagers do that don’t always come to light.  But, I also think that the spreading of rumors and the “mean girl” effect is a universal dreaded feeling.  The author did a great job of describing this point of view from a teenager’s perspective.

The issue I have with this story is that the adult version of the protagonist was a total jerk!  Even though she had some episodes of empathy, she was truly a snob.  She was a terrible, daughter, fiancé, employee and overall person.  She was even still trying to have an affair with her former teacher who was also married!  I get it.  She went through something traumatic.  But just because she is mentally damaged doesn’t give her the right to be a bad person.

The other issue I have with this story is the improbability of the end.  Really?  Not only did you survive a gang rape but you also survived a high school mass shooting?  Really?

My disappointment stems from the fact that the author revealed that she had been raped in real life as well. I think she really demeaned the openness and honesty that she conveyed during the rape ordeal.  She diminished my compassion for her story.  It just completely changed my perspective of the character and the author.

What was your initial reaction to this story?

If you had been the main character, what would you have done differently?

Why do you think she succumbed to the peer pressure so willingly and easily?

Did you feel sorry for her or did she make you mad?

What did you think about the school shooting scenario?

Did you like this book?

How do you feel about the author?

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

When I say this is a timely story, I mean that a story about immigrants couldn’t be more appropriate for our country right now.  This beautifully told story from the immigrant child point of view is the perfect way to show the plight and process of coming to our country…legally.  And in spite of the legal route they took, it was still s struggle to come to this country.  It was still a struggle and the American Dream was not guaranteed nor was it instant.

This story is about two immigrants from Hong Kong, a young girl and her mother.  It is the retelling of their struggles in learning a new language, assimilating into a new country and culture, and the struggle to survive in a hostile environment.  These two ladies probably shouldn’t have thrived as they did but through their hard work and dedication to education, they were able to overcome the boundaries that few immigrants are able to cross successfully.

This story had an extremely grown-up point of view from its teenage narrator.  Due to the language barrier, Kim becomes the adult with the weight of success and survival on her shoulders.  Where or when Kim decides to take on the burden of getting herself and her mother out of poverty and servitude, is really only concurrent with their arrival in Brooklyn.  It seems that Kim’s mother was a great provider in Hong Kong even after her father’s death.  But the change in cultural and societal status, forces Kim and her mother to change roles.

I really felt that the author left me with more questions than answers in the end.  I realize it is loosely based on her own experiences but I really felt that she could have created a better life for Kim’s mother by cultivating her musical talents.  Couldn’t she have given private music lessons to make extra money?  I feel like the mother’s talent was highlighted and then quickly forgotten. I think more could have come from that and then maybe their struggle wouldn’t have been for so long and the burden would have been less on Kim.

Although this book was thought provoking and entertaining for 90% of the book, I found that the last chapter and Epilogue did not have the same tone as the rest of the novel.  I was disappointed in the ending.  Maybe it was the author’s choice to make the end disjointed but I felt that it was an injustice to the two main characters.  Maybe it was what happened in real life but it didn’t seem to stay true to the rest of the book.

Did you feel desperate for Kim and her mother to change their lot in life?

What (in your opinion) could Kim and her mother have done differently to change their living situation?

Why do you think the aunt was so cruel?  Was it jealousy or was it retaliation for forcing her to marry the American?

Why didn’t Kim’s mother fight back?  Do you feel that most immigrants don’t want to “rock the boat”?

Even though Kim and her mother were legally citizens of the U.S., why were they so afraid to go out on their own?  Why were they so dependent on the aunt to provide their housing and work?

What did you think if the book in its entirety?  How did you feel about the ending?

Do you feel that Kim was lucky in all the educational opportunities that came her way?  Or do you think it was simply her talent that gave her those opportunities?

What did you think about Kim’s “mistake”?  Were you disappointed?  What would you have done in her situation?  Was her mother’s reaction appropriate?