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?