47. Book Review: A Sudden Light (2014)

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

Synopsis

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, divide up the profits, and live happily ever after. 

 But as Trevor explores the house’s secret stairways and hidden rooms, he discovers a spirit lingering in Riddell House whose agenda is at odds with the family plan. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.

Review

I picked this book up on a whim from the library recently without having previously heard anything about this book or even having read this authors very popular previous book.  Which is pretty rare for me these days, usually I read on a recommendation.  I love it when I  randomly choose a book and then  absolutely fall in love with it. It is like winning the reading lottery.

This book was beautiful and eloquent and a definite page turner.  To say it is merely a "ghost story" doesn't do it any justice, but is in fact a ghost story in the best way possible. Ghosts, old dilapidated mansions, abandoned cottages, secret passageways and difficult family dynamics are a few of things that make this book irresistible.  I loved, loved, loved this book!  

In addition to an amazing story the author writes so candidly and tenderly about family and family obligations.  This book was an A+ in my book. I highly recommend it.  It's the perfect snuggle up and read by the fire book.  This would be a really great book club read as well… there are so many great opportunities for discussion.

Other books you may like (that are kind of "ghosty" in the best possible way)…

Her Fearful Symmetry

Thirteenth Tale

Bellman & Black 

44. Book Review: We Were Liars (2014)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Synopsis 

A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. 

 We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review

There is something about young adult that always draws me in. I suppose it is the allure of a quick read.  But don't just buzz through this book.  The ending demands that you pay attention throughout.  Or if you did buzz through like me, re-read it.  I guarantee you will want to!

Great YA book here… I highly recommend!

Other books you may like…

The Fever: A Novel

The Fault in Our Stars

43. Book Review: Mariana (2014)

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

Synopsis

Julia Beckett believes in destiny, settling into her rustic new home, Julia encounters haunting remnants of a beautiful young woman who lived and loved there centuries ago. It's seems Mariana has been waiting for Julia. 

 Review

I am now officially a Susanna Kearsley fan for life.  Similar in mood and readability as The Winter Sea, Kearsley effortlessly blends historical fiction and love into an absolute page turner.  These characters are instantly lovable and the scenery is so well written I absolutely felt like I was right in the action.  After I finished this book all I wanted to do was start another book by the same author.  Also the end has a very sweet twist that I loved.  I highly recommend this book!

Other books you may like…

anything by Susanna Kearsley

anything written by Kate Morton

41. Book Review: Eleanor and Park (2014)

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Synopsis

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be, she says, we’re 16. What about Romeo and Juliet? Shallow, confused, then dead. I love you, Park says. Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be. 

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Review

This was a great young adult read.  The characters brought back fully the awkward and often land-locked feelings of youth and adolescence.  The characters were lovable and totally believable.  There were a few points that were so frustrating as a reader.  Thinking of how difficult the teen years can be - especially for those with non-traditional family situations at home.  I will add that I really loved the books' innocence as well. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend… or even to my kids when they get a little older.  

Other books you may like…

The Fault in Our Stars

If I Stay

40. Book Review: The Vacationers (2014)

The Vacationers: A Novel by Emma Straub

Synopsis

For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan. But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated. 

 This is a story of the sides of ourselves that we choose to show and those we try to conceal, of the ways we tear each other down and build each other up again, and the bonds that ultimately hold us together. With wry humor and tremendous heart, Emma Straub delivers a richly satisfying story of a family in the midst of a maelstrom of change, emerging irrevocably altered yet whole. 

 Review

I would call this book part family saga, part coming of age and part spying on a family during their family vacation.  As modern "literature" is these days, it was predictable and borderline sophomoric - but as far as beach reads or quick reads go, this one was a success.  I felt like the characters were a bit stereotypical, but also lovable at the same time so the author redeemed herself there.  This book is like your favorite rom-com.  Definitely pack it for your next weekend away - preferably somewhere warm!

Other books you may like…

One Plus One: A Novel 

  What Alice Forgot

39. Book Review: The Winter Sea (2014)

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Synopsis

History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. 

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write. But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her…

Review

I originally picked this book up a few years ago to read and just couldn't get into it - I have no idea why! I started again from the beginning and just flew through this book this time around. I loved every single page!  I could feel the sea air on my face, picture Carrie's cozy little cottage and loved the gentle unfolding of the two love stories as well.  This is historical fiction at it's best.  This is a great fall or winter read when you can snuggle up with a cup of tea by the fire and devour a great book.  I would be curious if Kearsley's other books are this delicious.  Have you read any others by this author?

Other books you may like…

The Secret Keeper: A Novel

The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

38. Book Review: If I Stay (2014)

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Synopsis

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. 

 Review

I saw the preview for this movie and knew right away I wanted to read the book first - not sure yet if I'll catch the movie.  And it didn't disappoint.  This was a great young adult quick read.  I was surprised by how fast I flew through this book and I can definitely see my daughter enjoying this book one day.  I wouldn't say this book was ultra "deep" but it did offer a thoughtful point of view on death.   If you are looking for a quick vacation read or fall weekend read - this is the book for you!

Other books you may like…

The Fever: A Novel 

The Fault in Our Stars

36. Book Review: Lucky Us (2014)

Lucky Us: A Novel by Amy Bloom

Synopsis

“My father’s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us.” 

 So begins this remarkable novel by Amy Bloom, whose critically acclaimed Away was called “a literary triumph” (The New York Times). Lucky Us is a brilliantly written, deeply moving, fantastically funny novel of love, heartbreak, and luck. 

 Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris’s ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island. 

 With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine though a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war. Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life, conventional and otherwise. From Brooklyn’s beauty parlors to London’s West End, a group of unforgettable people love, lie, cheat and survive in this story of our fragile, absurd, heroic species.

Review

If the book was anything like the synopsis this would have been a fabulous book.  The characters were hardly developed, the storyline was often too quick and random and the book left me wanting for more in many ways. This was our recent book club selection.  I chose it after hearing the author on NPR and having my interest piqued, but the book fell short in so many ways that I can't really give it a good review.  

Other books you may like…

Rules of Civility: A Novel

A Hundred Summers

29. Book Review: Maine (2014)

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Synopsis

For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. As three generations of women arrive at the family's beach house, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago. 

 Review

This was a true summer beach read in all senses of the word.  I mean, just look at the cover, right? While I will say that I enjoyed this book I won't say that I absolutely loved it.  Although I really do find myself thinking about the characters even days after I have finished it.  And with such a cliff hanger of an ending I almost feel like a sequel could work for this book.  I loved the complicated family dynamics and how the author portrayed the story as a whole from the individual characters points of view - even though at times it was a little confusing reading about the events twice.  Each character was so brilliantly written that I found I quickly related to and understood each character - which I think can be difficult for an author to do.  My verdict: definitely pack it in your beach bag this summer.

Other books you may like…

A Hundred Summers

Summer Rental

27. Book Review: One Plus One (2014)

One Plus One: A Novel by Jojo Moyes

Synopsis

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever. 

 One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.

Review

I just love Jojo Moyes… I can't deny it. And while the reading is light and border-line "chic-lit" I don't care. I love her books.  Not everything you/I read has to be super literary. This book was no exception, I absolutely devoured it in 26 hours flat.  Two sessions reading at the pool and one super late night session. I couldn't resist! 

This is yet another touching and against all odds love story with absolutely endearing characters. This is one book you absolutely have to pick up for this summer… or any of her other books if you haven't already.

Other books you may like…

Me Before You: A Novel

The Last Letter from Your Lover

The Girl You Left Behind

25. Book Review: The Museum of Extraordinary Things (2014)

The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel by Alice Hoffman

Synopsis

Mesmerizing and illuminating, Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century. 

 Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River. 

 The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie. 

 With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is Alice Hoffman at her most spellbinding.

Review

This is the half way point! 25 more books to go!

The synopsis of this book totally hooked me… and I was really excited to dig into this book.  Right away the book drew me in but by about mid-way through this book totally fell flat for me. The tough thing about challenging yourself to read 50 books in a year and then reviewing them is that sometimes the book isn't as good as you wanted it to be and then you have to write about it. It's so hard for me to say even remotely negative things about a book.  I will say that the characters were great, I just loved Eddie, Coralie and Maureen… but the story line felt so terribly slow at some parts and break neck fast at others.  I am glad I read this book as it really was a fascinating story but I wish the story line flowed a little better. I can't ever give a book a "bad" review but I will say that if you read this, prepare yourself for a few slow spots and then hold on tight when the story finally "starts" about 50 pages until the end.

Other books you may like…

The Night Circus

The Swan Gondola: A Novel

24. Book Review: Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls (2014)

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls: A Novel by Anton DiSclafani

Synopsis

It is 1930, the midst of the Great Depression. After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, passionate, strong-willed Thea Atwell, age fifteen, has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes. High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty, and girls’ friendships, the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is a far remove from the free-roaming, dreamlike childhood Thea shared with her twin brother on their family’s citrus farm—a world now partially shattered. As Thea grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her here, she finds herself enmeshed in a new order, one that will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family, her country. 

 Weaving provocatively between home and school, the narrative powerfully unfurls the true story behind Thea’s expulsion from her family, but it isn’t long before the mystery of her past is rivaled by the question of how it will shape her future. Part scandalous love story, part heartbreaking family drama, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is an immersive, transporting page-turner—a vivid, propulsive novel about sex, love, family, money, class, home, and horses, all set against the ominous threat of the Depression—and the major debut of an important new writer.

Review

This book is a coming of age/sexual awakening story and while I don't want to give this book a bad review I think parts of it were just done in poor taste.  Without giving away the story or plot line I won't go further, but maybe when you read it you will think the same thing.  

The writing was in my mind exceptional. It was very visual and I love the present to past changes it made up until the height of the plot line.  Most readers will guess where the story line is going, but I still think there were some good twists along the way. I could totally picture each scene from this book and the characters were all described in amazing detailed.  So the final verdict was that I loved and hated this book all at the same time. I loved the writing but I think the story line could have been just as provocative with a little more decency given to the subject matter.  

Other books you may like…

The Interestings: A Novel

The Starboard Sea: A Novel

Seating Arrangements

21. Book Review: The Goldfinch (2014)

The Goldfinch: A Novel by Donna Tartt

Synopsis

Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art. 

 As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love--and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. 

 The Goldfinch is a mesmerizing, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

Review

After hearing so many polarizing opinions (I LOVED IT! I HATED IT!) reviews about this book I was pretty sure I was going to avoid it.  I was afraid it was overhyped and I usually like to know in advance of reading a book if I am going to remotely like it… and since it was polarizing I didn't think I would take the chance or I would at least just wait for a copy to show up at the library randomly (fate! then it's meant to be, right?!).  

Then it became the next book club selection for my book club and I realized I was actually glad it was "assigned" reading.  Now I could find out what all the hype was about with out buying into the hype (or something… that was my reasoning).  Let me say that this book really did live up the hype. It was moving and sad and thought-provoking and redeeming and full to the brim with humanity.  It was quite a long book but I read it less than a week… just pouring over the pages and absorbing them and not even realizing what was going on around me.  And for all it's depth and sadness and tragic story lines… it absolutely redeemed itself at the end.  And even if it hadn't of (which it absolutely did - the last chapter is so beautiful and meant to be read and re-read) it still would have been an amazing literary experience.  I am now quite curious as to what this authors other books are like.  This is a great book club selection with so many juicy parts to dissect and discuss among friends.

Other books you may like…

The Interestings: A Novel
Tell the Wolves I'm Home: A Novel

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  

(for some reason The Goldfinch reminded me so much of Dragon Tattoo… plus, Goldfinch even references Dragon Tattoo… funny, huh?!)

20. Book Review: What Alice Forgot (2014)

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Synopsis

Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. 

 So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over… 

 Review

I absolutely LOVED the premise and the story line of this book. But with one caveat, this book seemed to take me FOREVER to read.  The story line moved dreadfully slow at some points and Elizabeth & Frannie's story lines seem to detract at times from Alice's - or I just found myself only wanting to read about Alice.  But that is the only bad thing I am going to say about this book.  Because really it was so well written and so visual - I could totally picture the whole thing.  The meringue pie making scene was so hilarious and one I think I will always remember.

What I loved most about this book was the way it made me look at my own life (and isn't that what we love so much about books?) as if it were through Alice's point of view.  What decisions do we make in life that take us to where we are now versus ten years ago or ten years in the future?  Are we building the life we always imagined or are we off course?  This book was a thinker for sure. And for a reader that is usually hypercritical of book endings, I really liked the way this book ended.  To make the book even more interesting I just heard about a real-life example of memory loss like this that mirrored the book quite closely on The American Life's recent episode.  Check that out - it's in Act 2 and is definitely worth a listen!

Other books you may like…

The Husband's Secret by the same author (review found here)

The Light Between Oceans: A Novel