Category: 5 Star Books

11/22/63 by Stephen King

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11/22/6311/22/63. Finished 3-16-16, rating 5/5, fiction, pub. 2011

Unabridged audio perfectly read by Craig Wasson. 31 hours.

Life can turn on a dime—or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in a Maine town. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family. Jake is blown away . . . but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the era of Ike and Elvis, of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke. . . . Finding himself in warmhearted Jodie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten . . . and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful.   from Goodreads

Stephen King sure does know how to tell a  story.  Everyone knows how imaginative he is based on his otherworldly horror novels, but what gets lost sometimes is just how good he is at drawing you in and keeping you there in his world well after the last page has turned.  This book is a departure of sorts and showcases just how well King can charm any reader.

In this ambitious novel, Jake Epping tries to become the hero the world needs.  In many ways he succeeds just by trying and in others his personal steadfastness saves the day.  In 2011, Jake is a high school teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, when he is approached by Al Templeton, owner of a local diner.  Al has a fantastical story to tell.  There is a time portal in his diner that goes back to 1958 and he wants Jake to go back in time to save President Kennedy from assassination.  Al has gone back many a time and gives Jake money, a plan, and all he needs to know to stop Oswald.  Is this a time travel story? Sure, but it’s also a love story, an inspirational story, a historical story…it packs a punch.  As it should since it’s over 800 pages!

I’m no JFK expert but I’ve read a few books and seen a few movies, so I was intrigued by the possibilities.  What if JFK had never been shot?  King weaves a thrilling story and the ending, haunting in its bleakness, will stay with you.  But so will Jake, and Sadie, and Jodie, Texas, and the many other colorful characters that fill the pages.  And if you’ve read It you’ll enjoy the stop in 1958 Derry.

Don’t miss this one!

 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

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fpoThe Rosie Project. Finished 1-22-16, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 2013

Unabridged audio read by Dan O’Grady. 7.5 hours

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don’s Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

I’m a Big Bang Theory fan and mother to a boy on the spectrum and I loved this book.  I was afraid to read it, characters on the spectrum make me nervous, wondering if the characterization will make me cry in my bed at night instead of getting what sleep I can.  No worries here though, Don hilariously lectures to a group of Asperger kids about the diagnosis never for a moment making the connection that he is talking about himself.  Somehow the story never laughs at Don, but with him as his quirks and earnest truthiness win the reader over quickly.

Don’s Wife Project leads him on a series of dates, hands full of a 16 pages questionnaire to weed out the  women who were unsuitable (which left about .0001 percent of the population).  When his slimy friend, Gene, sends Rosie to Don, he thinks it’s because Rosie has ‘passed’ the test. Don is looking for a wife and Rosie is looking for her biological father and the two embark on one adventure after another that leads Don to rethink his questionnaire.

I loved this charming love story and fans of The Big Bang Theory will too.  Stories about ‘Aspies’, those intelligent people on the high functioning end of the spectrum, too often make people think most people on the spectrum are this high functioning.  They are not. I do hope my guy will eventually grow up and find someone to love who loves him back, much like Don 🙂  I didn’t care for the ending, I had to go back and listen again to understand what happened, but that’s my only complaint.  I know the movie has been optioned and I’d love to see it on the big screen!

 

I Must Say by Martin Short

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fpoI Must Say. Finished 1-12-16, rating 4.75/5, humor memoir, pub. 2014

Unabridged audio read perfectly by Martin Short himself. 8.5 hours

In this engagingly witty, wise, and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz obsessed kid from Canada transformed himself into one of Hollywood’s favorite funnymen, known to his famous peers as the “comedian’s comedian.”

Short takes the reader on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live, and from memorable roles in such movies as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride to Broadway stardom in Fame Becomes Me and the Tony-winning Little Me.

But there is another side to Short’s life that he has long kept private. He lost his eldest brother and both parents by the time he turned twenty, and, more recently, he lost his wife of thirty years to cancer. In I Must Say, Short talks for the first time about the pain that these losses inflicted and the upbeat life philosophy that has kept him resilient and carried him through.   from Goodreads

I need to say right off the bat that I’ve long been a fan.  His energy is infectious and because of that I think you must listen to this one.  Short is funny and sweet and you will love him.  And if you aren’t familiar with Martin Short I think you should still pick this one up.  Honestly, I laughed out loud and I cried for this man who, while bringing so much light to others, has dealt with deaths that came too soon.

Short grew up just outside of Toronto and during his senior year of college he decided to give comedy a year to see if he could make it.  He landed a role in Godspell with his BFF Eugene Levy and met Paul Shaffer, Gilda Radnor and a slew of other Canadian pranksters: John Candy, Dan Ackroyd, Catherine O’Hara… I had no idea that so many successful comics started there and worked together at the same time.   He landed a gig on Saturday Night Live that made him both a household name and miserable.  He was lucky to last a year but it did get him to the big time.

His memoir also spans his Hollywood years (Three Amigos, Father of the Bride) and the many friendships he formed there.  The spark he is on screen must carry over to real life because he has maintained friendships from the Toronto years (Levy & Shaffer) while becoming close with Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, and Kurt Russell and other famous pals.  Actually it was him talking about these friendships and the love that he had for his wife of 30 years that enabled me to see a new side to Short, a genuine guy who loves and is loved

He is so upbeat that you will love his life story and the interludes with his most famous characters.  As optimistic as he is, the part of the book dealing with his wife’s cancer will leave you in tears.  Tears that I didn’t mind because they were part of his story.

 

 

Night by Elie Wiesel

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fpoNight. Finished 12-21-15, rating 5/5, Holocaust memoir, 120 pages, pub. 1958

Unabridged audio read by George Guidall. 4 hours.

Night is a work by Elie Wiesel about his experience with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945, at the height of the Holocaust and toward the end of the Second World War. In just over 100 pages of sparse and fragmented narrative, Wiesel writes about the death of God and his own increasing disgust with humanity, reflected in the inversion of the father–child relationship as his father declines to a helpless state and Wiesel becomes his resentful teenage caregiver.

Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary Of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.    from Goodreads

Wow. This book is such an emotional experience that I really didn’t want it to end. At just over 100 pages there is no excuse not to pick it up and spend a few hours in the presence of a great author in the throes of the Holocaust.  Wiesel was a young teen when all the Jewish families in his neighborhood were torn apart and taken to concentration camps. 

This book made me cry, smile. love my life a little more, and worry that I am not doing enough to stand up to the people who would be okay with something like this happening again.  As has been pointed out since, it is those of us that remain on the sidelines and say nothing that are just as dangerous as those that perpetuate evil.

Elie won the Nobel Peace Prize and his powerful acceptance speech in 1986 is included in the new additions. 

I think this should be required reading for everyone.  There is a trilogy of sorts, with next, Dawn, being a fictional novella.  I’m not sure how that works but I’m willing to find out.

This was my 7th selection for the Classics Club.

Last Night’s Reading by Kate Gavino

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Last Night's Reading: Illustrated Encounters with Extraordinary AuthorsLast Night’s Reading. Finished 11-27-15, rating 5/5, graphic non-fiction, 160 pages, pub. 2015

Why do we go to book readings? For a chance to see the authors we love come to life off the page, answering our questions and proving to be the brilliant, witty people we catch glimpses of through their work. Illustrator Kate Gavino captures the wonder of this experience firsthand. At every reading she attends, Kate hand-letters the event’s most memorable quote alongside a charming portrait of the author. In Last Night’s Reading, Kate takes us on her journey through the literary world, sharing illustrated insight from more than one hundred of today’s greatest writers—including Zadie Smith, Junot Diaz, Lev Grossman, Elizabeth Gilbert, and many more—on topics ranging from friendship and humor to creativity and identity. A celebration of authors, reading, and bookstores, this delightful collection is an advice book like no other and a love letter to the joy of seeing your favorite author up close and personal.  from Goodreads

What a delightful little book!  This was just released at the end of October so when I picked it up at the bookstore I hadn’t heard anything about it. The author loves to attend author events in the New York City area, draw the authors and make notes on what they say. She drew this charming book and included her story interspersed with quotes and sketches of the authors she met.

It’s beautifully made and a smaller size making it a perfect gift, either for yourself or a friend.  It’s inspiring and will make you want to attend every author signing you can.  In case you can’t tell, I love it!

You can check out her tumblr or instagram for some of her work.

http://lastnightsreading.tumblr.com/archive

https://www.instagram.com/lastnightsreading/?hl=en

 

Displacement:A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley

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fpoDisplacement. Finished 10-10-15, rating 4.75/5, graphic memoir, 161 pages, pub. 2015

In her graphic memoirs, New York Times-best selling cartoonist Lucy Knisley paints a warts-and-all portrait of contemporary, twentysomething womanhood, like writer Lena Dunham (Girls). In the next installment of her graphic travelogue series, Displacement, Knisley volunteers to watch over her ailing grandparents on a cruise. (The book s watercolors evoke the ocean that surrounds them.) In a book that is part graphic memoir, part travelogue, and part family history, Knisley not only tries to connect with her grandparents, but to reconcile their younger and older selves. She is aided in her quest by her grandfather s WWII memoir, which is excerpted. Readers will identify with Knisley s frustration, her fears, her compassion, and her attempts to come to terms with mortality, as she copes with the stress of travel complicated by her grandparents frailty.  from Goodreads

I wasn’t sure I wanted to read another Knisley book since I wasn’t a fan of her highly lauded French Milk, but when I started to see some of the reviews I decided to give her another shot.  I’m so glad I did because this was a great graphic memoir of Knisley, 27, volunteering to go with her grandparents, 91 & 93, on a Caribbean cruise.  What could have been all fluff and jokes turned out to be a very real and mature look at aging and what we do for the people we love when they reach this point in their lives.

The grands, married 67 years, signed up for a cruise through their community home and their children were worried because they needed so much help.  Knisley decided to volunteer herself as their aide and in return received a lot of admiration and a free cruise.  She took along her Grandfather’s war memoir and we were able to experience, along with Knisley, her grandfather as a young soldier at the same time as we were seeing him as an elderly man who can’t control much of what goes on.  Knisley signs on without realizing how difficult and exhausting it would be to take care and keep track of them but she does her best and she does it with love.  I’m a sucker for grandparents and seeing her love for her grandparents shine through the pages gave me new insight into the author. 

Growing old is no joke and much of the book was sad and sometimes difficult to read, but Knisley’s great illustrations and light touch with the storytelling made this one hard to put down.  I pretty much loved everything about it.  Even with the heavy reality of aging it managed to convey the love of family and this made it a very satisfying read.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

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fpoAnd Then There Were None. Finished 10-14-15, rating 5/5, mystery, pub. 1939

Unabridged Playaway read by Dan Stevens. 6 Hours.

First, there were ten – a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal – and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.   from Goodreads

“Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon; One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Indian boy left all alone; He went and hanged himself and then there were none.”

Eight strangers and a married couple on a deserted, cut-off island don’t even have time to get to know each other before they start to die one by one in creative ways similar to the rhyme.  It’s a slight book so at first ten seems like a lot of characters to tell apart, but since the numbers start to dwindle early on it isn’t much of  problem to know who’s who.  Just when you have a suspect in mind, it becomes an impossibility due to death or alibi and that’s what makes this a fabulous read.  There is a reason that this is the bestselling mystery of all time and not to be missed.  I don’t want to reveal too much because I do think that it’s best to go in with only that information so you can see how it all sorts itself out.

I think any lover of mysteries, Christie or the board game Clue should read this if they haven’t already.

I read this for my Classics Club Challenge.  My goal is to read these 50 classics by January 1020.  This is number six 🙂  Which one should I read next?

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

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fpoThe Space Between Us. Finished 9-29-15, rating 4.75/5. fiction, 321 pages, pub. 2005

Unabridged audio read by Purva Bedi. 12.25 hours.

Poignant, evocative, and unforgettable, The Space Between Us is an intimate portrait of a distant yet familiar world. Set in modern-day India, it is the story of two compelling and achingly real women: Sera Dubash, an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife whose opulent surroundings hide the shame and disappointment of her abusive marriage, and Bhima, a stoic illiterate hardened by a life of despair and loss, who has worked in the Dubash household for more than twenty years. A powerful and perceptive literary masterwork, author Thrity Umrigar’s extraordinary novel demonstrates how the lives of the rich and poor are intrinsically connected yet vastly removed from each other, and how the strong bonds of womanhood are eternally opposed by the divisions of class and culture.

from Goodreads

This is a tough one to review because I have such mixed emotions about the book.  I’ll start with where I picked it up, at a 2012 book signing the first time I met Thrity and thought she was smart and engaging.  So, it makes sense that I’m only reading my first book by her over three years later, right?  Sadly, it seems par for the course for me these days.  As I make more of an effort to read what I already have on my shelf I often start with the audio and pick up the book if the time allows.  This was such a perfect choice with this book.  For almost two years Gage had a play date/social group every week with Advi and during these two hours I got to know his mom, who is a doctor from India.  This group stopped meeting in August and listening to this perfectly read audio made me miss her.  The accents were uncanny in their similarity.  Anyway, this led to warm and fuzzy feelings about the narrator, Purdi Bedi and I resisted picking up the book just so I could listen to the whole thing.

This beautiful look at Bombay’s unforgiving class issues was at times slow, but always had me wanting to hear more.  Bhima, living in the slums with her pregnant granddaughter, was all old-school subservience.  Sera, living in comfort with her pregnant daughter and son-in-law, while more advanced than her friends, still harbored feelings of superiority toward Bhima even after all of their years and trials together.  The stark contrast of their living circumstances and intimacy of their working relationship lend both women to question where loyalty and friendship end and the status quo remains.  I wish Dinaz, the bright light for most of this story, could have provided a much-needed shot of happiness, but in the end, no one is unscathed.

The gritty reality of Bombay became almost another character.  I was there, thanks to Umrigar.  The city, the issues concerning women, friendship, class, and how you deal with heartbreak, all combine to make this story completely satisfying.  I wish there had been different fates for some, but that’s because I want everyone to have a happy ending.

Quality storytelling in the alluring city of Bombay is why  I loved this one so much.

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

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The Homecoming of Samuel LakeThe Homecoming of Samuel Lake. Finished 9-3-15, rating 5/5, southern fiction,344 pages, pub. 2011

Unabridged audio read beautifully by Catherine Taber. 10 hours, 30 minutes

Every first Sunday in June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at “the old home place,” a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year, Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved wife, Willadee Moses, and their three children back for the festivities. The children embrace the reunion as a welcome escape from the prying eyes of their father’s congregation; for Willadee it’s a precious opportunity to spend time with her mother and father, Calla and John.

Samuel and Willadee’s outspoken eleven-year-old daughter, Swan, is a bright light. Her high spirits and fearlessness have alternately seduced and bedeviled three generations of the family. But it is Blade Ballenger, a traumatized eight-year-old neighbor, who soon captures Swan’s undivided attention. Full of righteous anger, and innocent of the peril facing her and those she loves, Swan makes it her mission to keep the boy safe from his terrifying father.           from Goodreads

In 2012 I won this book from the gushing Lisa at Southern Girl Reads and it finally made it to the top of my reading list. Why, oh why, do I wait so long to read the books I win because the blogger loves them so much? (take heart Lloyd, The Language of Flowers will be coming to the top of my reading pile soon  :))  I started listening to this because that is how much of my reading happens these days, but there were times that I had to pick up the book and read ahead because I just couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.  This is Southern fiction at its best and it’s a debut novel too.

I know that the synopsis from Goodreads focuses on Swan, but I fell in love with this entire family.  Set in 1950’s Arkansas it brings to life a simpler, yet harsher time.  A time when playing in the woods with your siblings filled the days and men being able to put food on the table made them worry at night.  It was a coming of age summer for Swan, her brothers, and neighbor Blade, but even the adults went through a metamorphoses. Swan will win your heart with her spirit, but so will Toy, probably my favorite character.  He was the solid and intimidating uncle who was known for killing a man and getting away with it and the kids loved him.  Samuel, the preacher without a church, spent much of the book as peripheral character for me, one I didn’t understand much until he too became as sympathetic as Toy.

There was not a false word in this book. It was honesty infused in warmth and it made me smile and it broke my heart.  If you like Southern fiction you cannot go wrong with this book.  This is not the type of story I usually pass on to my husband, but I did because it is sure to be a favorite at the end of the year and he loved it too.  One night he even quoted from it while making a joke.  That alone should be recommendation enough 🙂

 

The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

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The Perfect MatchThe Perfect Match. Finished , rating 4.75/5, romance, 439 pages, pub. 2013

Blue Heron series #2 (1-The Best Man)

Honor Holland has just been unceremoniously rejected by her lifelong crush. And now—a mere three weeks later—Mr. Perfect is engaged to her best friend. But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there… or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn’t easier said than done. 

Charming, handsome British professor Tom Barlow just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson, Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States—and leave Charlie behind. 

from Goodreads

I loved the first book if this series, but admit that of all of the Holland clan in Manningsport, New York, Honor was my least favorite, so when I learned that this second book was her story I wasn’t setting my sights very high.  But in the hands of the hilarious and capable Higgins this story worked and I was surprised that I liked this one better than the first!

Honor is the most reserved and responsible of the Holland siblings that work on the family vineyard in the Finger Lakes region of New York and she has put up with a friends-with-benefits relationship for far too long.  When her doctor tells her, “The years are precious. Egg-wise,” on her 35th birthday she decides that it’s time to go for broke and proposes to the man she’s been in love with for most of her life.  Honor was rejected and then betrayed by the two people she cared for most and a catfight ensues.

Okay, I feel like I could go describing this book forever because I loved it so much.  Here are a few reasons I loved it-

*The hero, Tom, was a man with a heart of gold and a flirtatious streak to match. He was very sexy.

*Honor’s grandparents are so hilarious.  Fans of Stephanie Plum’s Grandma Mazur will find much to love here.

*There is humor on every page.

*Doog Dragul, possibly the worst online date ever, grows on you.

*Real life issues like abandonment, aging, toxic friendships, and trust were handled with care and love.

*I finished the last 50 pages or so while I was at the pool during Gage’s swim lesson and I had tears in my eyes during the climax.  Seriously, this never happens and I was shocked.  I didn’t realize that I had been drawn in so easily!

*I love the Holland family and their little town. I want to move to this fictitious town and be adopted by the Holland clan.

That is all.  If you like romances told with a great sense of humor then this is the series for you!