Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

Ugh. Sometimes I wish friends would not give me books. This one was passed to me from a person who I normally trust with the comment that it gets rave reviews online. And it does! Over a 4* review from Goodreads which generally means it's worth reading. And yes... it starts out with promise.

The novel starts in Japan after the war when a young girl is dropped off at her grandmother's house and left there by her mother. From there, the author must have had a list of every possible horrific thing that could happen to this girl, and she methodically checked them off. Locked in an attack, abused, tortured, raped, disowned, car accident, attempted suicide..... and the list goes on. My major complain is the overly melodramatic way the book is written. I could open to almost any page, but here is one passage towards the end. At this point, she has passed out (maybe gone to heaven) and sees the love of her life, her brother. Akira. Yes, her brother.

His eyes are brimming with warmth, and he leans forward to plant a kiss in the center of my forehead. "Oh Nori. You're stronger than you know. You don't need me anymore." 

"Don't leave me," I whisper, leaning forward so that our foreheads are touching. 

Already I know that he is right when he says I cannot stay here.  I can almost hear the sand slipping through the hourglass. We don't have much more time. If there is forever for the two of us, it does not start now. 

Akira wraps his arms around me and tightens his grip, holding me close with all his strength. 

"Never," he says simply. "I will never leave you."

We don't say anything else. We don't need to. I won't waste whatever time I have left with him on words. There is nothing I can say to Akira that he does not already know, and there is nothing I can do to stop the sand from slipping away.  All I can do is hold him, right here, right now."

And it goes on and on from there. Did I mention this is her dead brother? And what's with the sand slipping away? Gag me.

I'll return the book to me friend and tell her I finished it (skimming like wildfire through the last half). And be very cautious of future recommendations. - June

The Mysteries of Linwood Hart by Richard Russo

Sometimes book titles just pop-up on my Kindle, and generally I just ignore them. But when I saw Richard Russo's name, I paid attention. At first I thought he had a new novel out, and when I saw the price was $.99 I thought it was too good to be true! And I was right. It's just a short story, and one that is a part of his book called The Whore's Child. I rarely read books of short stories so I hadn't read this one, but I was in the mood for something quick and easy to read. AND something well written, which I knew would be the case with Russo.

Lin is a young boy who is struggling with his parent's marriage troubles, his baseball skills, and growing up. Parts of the story are sweet and others tug at your heart. But it's definitely worth a read. Anything by Richard Russo is worthwhile in my opinion. - June