The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

An interesting plot but just not well written. This is the story of two sisters who are sent away from London during the war to live in the country. The older sister creates a magical story world for her younger sister to distract her from the separation from their mother and from the horrors or the war. While they are living in Oxford with a woman and her son, the younger sister, Flora, disappears. 

The story shifts in time between the 1960s and the time the girls were sent to the country. In the 60's, the older sister comes across a book depicting the world she created for her sister leading her to believe her sister is still alive.

Getting to the end was painful. If you removed all the repetitive text in the novel, it would be a short story. We are told the same basic storyline over and over. There's a love interest, and we are told a million times how she's attracted to him. We get it. So I read the first half and skimmed the second half only to find out the ending was pretty ridiculous. So I don't recommend this one. - June

This Little Book Blog

Hello Reader. I started this blog years ago as a way of communicating to a just a few friends about the books I've been reading. I also use it as a way to remember what I've read and what books I want to recommend to friends and family. Only a small handful of people have the link to the blog.

According to the stats that are available to me, I can see that the number of views has increased dramatically, and it's reaching people around the world!! Yesterday, over a thousand people viewed it! I'm shocked and happy to know that my little blog is being read by others!!

Please post a comment and let me know how you found this blog and where you live! I'm curious!

Thanks.

June

Redemption Road by John Hart

If this novel were a movie, I would have walked out after twenty minutes. This is just not my type of book at all. Way too much violence.... rape, torture, murder, corruption, fraud, blood, more torture. I'm not sure why I kept plowing through it but I guess I wanted to know how it would end. But it was not an enjoyable journey to get there.

The book is well written, I guess. And maybe that is why it was tolerable. There's a series of murdered women who are found in a church, a female policewoman who doesn't believe the man in prison did the killings, and a couple of young kids who are mixed up in all this, and they also are caught in this web of violence. The ending is a little far-fetched but it's over now. I need to read something funny. - June 

Whistler by Ann Patchett

I adore Ann Patchett. I love her writing. I love her bookstore. I love how she can get up on a stage in front of a thousand people and charm every person in the audience with her knowledge, her love of literature, and by just being herself.

Whistler is a great novel. But then I think I've loved them all.

Great characters... and a beautiful story. Daphne and her husband are at the Met in NYC, and they run into a man who was Daphne's stepfather for a brief period when she was 9. They reconnect and realize they had always had a special bond, but she hadn't seen him in many years after his divorce from their mother. We learn why and how the marriage ended and the heroic story of how Daphne saved Eddi's life.

Just loved it!!! -June 

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende

I hate to read a book in bits and pieces which is what happened with this one. I'd read a few chapters, put it down, then start again... over and over. But this one kept me coming back. It's a beautifully written book with very memorable characters. Interesting that an uber conservative friend recommended it and this novel is highly critical of the current US administration and it's policies. 

The book dives into the topic of immigration. An elderly man reveals his story of being sent away from his home and Jewish family in Europe during the war. He was only a child but he was lucky, and he lived with a wonderful couple who raised him. Eventually he married and continued his life as a musician. The other story is about a young girl from El Salvador who comes to the US with her mother, is separated from her, and is now living in facilities and foster care. Her social worker finds a lawyer who will take her case and they both try to locate the mother. It all comes full circle when all these characters come together.

Great story. Wonderful characters. Highly recommend it. - June

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Strout. Olive Kitterege is one of my favorite characters, and she appears in several of Elizabeth Strout's books in the Agwash, Illinois, series. This novel is also in that series but just doesn't compare to the others, in my opinion. Maybe Olive should have made an appearance.

Most of the novel takes place during the time that Lucy Barton is hospitalized, and her estranged mother comes to sit by her bed. Their conversation reveals a history of poverty and abuse, and clearly their relationship is awkward and strained. Lucy's mother rambles on about people they knew mostly recounting stories of failed marriages. And some of the stories are just random and have no real message in them.

I won't give up on Elizabeth  Strout. She has a new book out that is not part of this series, and I'm anxious to read it. But this one I wouldn't recommend. - June

P.S. I listened to this novel, and the narrator was not the best which definitely makes a difference.

The Shadows We Hide by Allen Eskens

I've been in a reading slump the past few weeks - just too much going on and not focusing on books. I'll get back to them. But in the meantime, I had to drive to central Illinois so listened to this novel on the road.

It's a sequel to the book I read a few years ago, The Life We Bury. In the first book, we're introduced to Joe Talbert, his autistic brother, his mess of a mother, and his girlfriend. As a college student studying journalism, he interviews a prisoner and ultimately proves his innocence.  In The Shadows We Hide, Joe is now a working journalist but he puts all that on hold when he learns his estranged father has been murdered. He goes to the small town where his father lived and mingles with the locals... and once again he solves the mystery.

I enjoyed listening to this book. There were a few things that irked me but I guess they had to happen to move the plot along.... like information just sort of falling into his hands. But I liked the characters and the ending was a surprise.

Recommend this one especially if you liked the first one. - June

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Whew! I made it to the end!!! The first quarter of the book was wonderful, and the ending was shocking, somewhat satisfying, and revealed that virtually everyone had a secret. But the 400 pages in the middle just dragged for me. When my Kindle said I was just 50% done, I wanted it to wrap up. 

Patch and Saint are teenagers and become friends when both seem to be social outcasts. Something terrible happens to Patch, and it alters his life from then on. The book takes place over the next two decades as both he and Saint try to solve a mystery that affects the lives of many others in their community.

The characters are well developed and the writing is good but maybe sometimes needed some grammar checking?? Or maybe that was just his style. Anyway, I'm glad I finished it because I had no idea how this could possibly end. But I recommend it because I loved a couple of the characters and it's worth reading to get to know them. - June

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

This fabulous novel will take me some time to process. It's the story Cyril Avery, a Irishman, born in 1954 to an unmarried woman and adopted by an eccentric couple who raised him. Cyril knows early in his life that he is gay, and his life in Ireland is filled with bigotry and violence. The hypocrisy of many of the Irish people (mostly Catholic, of course) is front and center. 

The author reveals his life story by skipping 7 years in each section which sounds awkward but it works. As we leap from one part of Cyril's story to the next, we catch up with what has happened in each step. Even with all this leaping, the book is well over 500 pages. But worth it.

Somehow this book manages to be funny, clever, tragic and sad. Some of the dialogue is almost too witty and cute, but it's fun to read. And the ending brings this wonderful cast of characters all together. 

I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend. - June

When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzen

When a book is translated into English and it's beautifully written, who should get the credit? The author or the translator? Because it seems it isn't just a matter of throwing the words into Google Translate - there is so much more to it. This book was originally written in Swedish.

This is a wonderful book. It is sad, touching, emotional, lovely. It must be that I'm on a roll with books about elderly gentlemen, and I know few will agree with me, but I prefer this novel to Theo in Golden... although the books differ greatly.

Bo lives alone since his wife has had to move into a memory care facility. He is struggling with normal age issues like balance and muscle weakness, and so his son, Hans, has hired caregivers to come in throughout the day and help him. Most of the book is told in Bo's mind as if he is speaking to his wife. He often brings up old memories or thoughts of her and their life together, and these are constantly interrupted by the present. He keeps one of her scarfs in a jar and opens it whenever he wants to smell her scent. And he finds comfort in caring for his dog. However, Hans feels that he can no longer handle the dog and plans to move it to a family nearby which makes Bo furious.

This book is all about aging and the frustration of having to give up control to children and others to make decisions for us. It's also about regrets and ultimately wanting to make things right with our family and friends before it's too late. 

A nice little touch throughout the novel is there are notes left by the caregivers documenting Bo's activity for the next person who will visit. 

This is one that will stick with me for a while. Highly recommend - June

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

I'm the last among my friends to read this novel. Everyone's been raving about it for months, so I pushed other books aside and was anxious to read this one. It's a lovely story about a kind, generous man who arrives in the southern town of Golden. His background is a mystery but he soon befriends the locals and his kindness is contagious. It isn't until the end that we know who he was and why he chose to live in Golden for a year. 

You know how those first few bites of a sugary cereal can taste really good but after three or four bites your teeth hurt? Terrible analogy, I know, but that's the way I felt reading about Theo. He's this perfectly wonderful man... but after one act of kindness after another, I started to get a little bored. And frustrated with the big "secret" that we'd find out at the end. 

Everyone says that because of all the terrible things going on right now, we all need a little kindness and love. Agree. I'm just not sure I found it here. I guess when it comes to elderly protagonists, I prefer Ove and the woman from The Correspondent. They were more interesting characters. 

Still think you should read it so we can agree/disagree. - June

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

We need to update our wills. I need to give G my passwords and he needs to show me where our financial records are kept. 

Memorial Days is a memoir by Geraldine Brooks, a wonderful Pulitzer Prize winning author, as she grieves the sudden death of her husband. Like her, he was an award winning journalist who packed a lot into his 60 years of life. The book shifts between the days immediately following his death and a time three years later when she goes to a remote island in Tanzania to officially mourn his death. It is a beautifully written memoir and a lovely tribute to her husband, Tony Horowitz, and their marriage.

Definitely recommend it.

Only one little tiny thing nags at me.... she wrote extensively about her solitary life on the remote island and how it helped her heal to be alone with her thoughts. However, in looking up information about the two of them online, I saw a documentary of her trip to the island. So technically she was not alone. There was a film crew with her??  I tell myself that maybe they were just there for a few hours to capture some footage before bolting away to leave her in peace. I'll stick with that. - June