A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

Waterstones Synopsis:

Her uncle, known as The Mouth, is head of the church, responsible for the harsh laws and cruel ‘shunning’, yet that doesn’t stop Nomi falling for the town’s most unsuitable boy – Travis. In such a secretive and god-fearing community, Nomi finds it impossible to find ways to express her many and growing passions. And despite her wish to keep everything together and look after her father, Nomi finds herself drawn towards revelations and self destruction, with Travis at her side.

I did not enjoy this book at all. I found it boring, unsettling and dissatisfying. The book follows Nomi as she struggles with life after her mother and sister both left her and her dad. Her dad is a man who has shut himself up and lives in a bubble to protect himself from hurt and anguish. Nomi wants to know why half her family left and her exploration leads her down a road of self-destruction.

The world she lives in is like a cult, which I found a bit unsettling to read about. They are so strict that even music is banned. Their community is so backward that tourists came to watch them go about their day-to-day lives. I didn’t like any of the characters. I couldn’t relate to any of them and I found them irritating.

I thought the writing was pretentious and arrogant. I don’t know what message Toews was trying to get across but I missed it and felt a bit patronised as I read the book. This is the second Toews novel I have read and I found them both similar, and not a huge fan of either. Her writing style bugged me, and I found the lack of punctuation really irritating.

Sadly I can’t really think of anything good to say about this book.

1/5

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

This is the very charming story of a gentle friendship between the author Helene Hanff, a writer trying to get by on her meagre earnings in New York, and the genteel English bookseller Frank Doel, who works at Marks & Co. Booksellers, at 84 Charing Cross Road, London.

It is told entirely through the letters exchanged between Helene and Frank (and later, his family and colleagues).  What starts as a business correspondence when Ms Hanff is seeking some books, soon becomes a true friendship as she sends gifts of food during rationing, and they learn about each other’s lives and friends.

It is a gentle and charming book, and some of the letters written by Helen Hanff, who has a fabulous sense of humour and turn of phrase, made me laugh out loud.

The book is undemanding, but delightful.  A gentle true story which I am sure I will read many more times in the future.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Waterstones Synopsis:

“Wuthering Heights” is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine’s father. After Mr Earnshaw’s death, Heathcliff is bullied and humiliated by Catherine’s brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible revenge for his former miseries. The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure, the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English literature.

This is not the first time I have read this book, but I must admit it was the first time I enjoyed it. The first time I read the book was for my English Literature course and I really did not like it, but this time I read it for enjoyment and it made all the difference. This time was different also because I listened to it, which I found helped me get into the story.

Wuthering Heights is a great classic. A tale of love, jealously and revenge set in the Yorkshire Moors. Catherine and Heathcliff are in love, but Heathcliff leaves thinking Cathy does not love him. When he comes back he is angry and out for revenge. The story follows their families, they way they clash and how they each manipulate one another.

Oddly, even though I enjoyed this book, I didn’t really like any of the characters. I found them all quite similar: selfish, grumpy and manipulative. Everyone was out for themselves, even Nelly the narrator. However, I think this added to the enjoyment of the book, because I was forming opinions about them instead of being indifferent to them all.

I liked how Emily Bronte wrote. The book was descriptive and it is a great story.

4/5

Audiobook: http://librivox.org/wuthering-heights-by-emily-bronte-2/

More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss

This is quite a difficult book to review, and when I looked at amazon, I wasn’t at all surprised by the mixed reviews. I think a lot depends on what you expect from this book. Personally, I almost put it down early on, but by the end I was glad that I’d finished it.

So, to the story.. the book opens with Josh getting a call that his baby son is at the hospital. According to his wife Dori, she took Zack to the hospital, where he was checked and discharged, then collapsed in the car park. She insists she mentioned blood in his vomit, the admitting doctor insists she didn’t. The hospital and the head Paediatrician now want to do lots of tests, Dori doesn’t them done. It’s a confusing picture, but they return home.

At this point, where I was expecting to get more into this story, we are taken to a group of ex-convicts coming out of hospital, then onto the head doctor’s past story. For me, this proved frustrating, and was where I almost gave up. Persevering with it however, the story returns to baby Zack.

Dr Stokes, the head Paediatrician, starts to suspect the mother of Münchhausen’s By Proxy (MBP), a condition where a parent will cause illness in a child, usually for attention.  With this, we are taken through a legal battle, poor (clever?) media coverage, and issues of race.

This isn’t a fast paced court drama, such as we expect from the likes of Jodi Picoult. It’s a slower, dark, complex story, with rather unlike-able characters. The earlier distracting chapters do have a point to them, but this takes a while to show. There’s no big reveal at the end, but rather it’s shared with the reader early on whether Dori is guilty of MBP or not.

Personally speaking, I did feel that the story was a little too drawn out, and that some of the earlier chapters were distracting. However, I was glad to persevere, and the book has stayed with.. especially the rather dark character of Dori. It’s an interesting view of MBP, but it also explores other issues.

Published by http://www.atlantic-books.co.uk
Buy at Amazon

Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

This is the fourth and final book in Adriana Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap series.  I was sorry to finish it and know that there was nothing more to read about Ave Maria MacChesney, and her friends and family.

In this book, Ave feels that life is changing – and she isn’t sure she liked it.  Her good friend Iva Lou seems to be keeping secrets, Ave’s daughter Etta has got married and is living in Italy, and scariest of all, Ave’s husband Jack is taken into hospital with a suspected heart condition.  The prospect of losing Jack makes both of them face up to what they still want to do with their life, and face up to the changes taking place around them.  Ave has to face her fears and Jack has to face his mortality.

I love these books.  As always, in this slice of life, there is a colourful cast of funny, flawed, compassionate and eccentric characters, who are by now familiar to readers of the series.  I find myself really investing in the characters and caring about them.

The way of life in the mountains is well depicted, and the closeness of living in a small town is so well portrayed, and as always, this book left me wanting to visit Big Stone Gap, Virginia, for myself.

Adriana Trigiani novels are the written equivalent of curling up on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate – undemanding, enjoyable and a treat to be savoured.  Highly recommended.

The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

It’s hard to know where to start with this book, as it so much to commend it. I suppose the most important issue to deal with is the title.

Ida MacLaird does in fact have glass feet, and it appears that the rest of her body is gradually following. This worried me when I read the synopsis, because I generally like things to be believable, but somehow this works. For some, this will work on the level of an adult fairy story, an unusual occurrence which is just accepted. For others, however, the condition can be seen to represent any medical condition which slowly takes over a body, especially cancer.

Ida returns to the island where she believes her condition started, trying to look for a reclusive man who she feels may be able to help her. Whilst there she meets Midas Crook, a man with his own problematic background, and they start to fall in love.

The bulk of the book is about the various relationships on the island, and the way they interleave – although Ida’s condition remains important, it’s not central, and it is the various characters and these relationships which caught me.

The way that Ali writes about the island itself is almost poetic, and this makes the book a joy to get lost in. His writing is descriptive, but to the point, a rare combination.

For me, the ending to the story was done well, and is very emotional.

This is a book over which I had some reservations when starting, but these were soon overcome. It’s a book which has stayed in my thoughts, and is highly recommended.

Published by http://www.atlantic-books.co.uk Jan 2010

Buy At Amazon

A Cutthroat Business by Bente Gallagher

From the book ~

Everyone has warned new-minted Realtor® and Southern Belle Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business. But Savannah doesn’t take the warning seriously… until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the other side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about.

My review ~

Everyone has warned new-minted Realtor® and Southern Belle Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business. But Savannah doesn’t take the warning seriously… until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the other side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about.

Savannah Martin is a true Southern Belle. From the antebellum mansion she grew up in to the finishing school she attended. Now, after a short lived marriage and a stint as a make-up consultant, Savannah is trying her hand at being a Realtor. While working her Saturday morning shift in the office she gets a call from a client who had a meeting with Brenda Puckett, the star seller in their office.  Brenda hasn’t shown up for the meeting and the client would like to see the house. Savannah heads over and comes face to face with Rafe Collier, town bad boy and hot guy du jour.  What she doesn’t expect to find is the butchered body of Brenda Puckett. While Brenda isn’t the most liked person around, Savannah can’t believe that someone could hate her enough to actually kill her.  Savannah has every intention of not getting involved in both the police investigation or with Rafe Collier, but when things don’t add up, she can’t help but start digging.  And every time she turns around, there is Rafe.  When a second body soon turns up Savannah realizes she just can’t stay out of it, that she needs to figure out who the killer is before they strike again. Infidelity, positions of power, star crossed teen lovers, little old ladies and backroom deals are just a few of possible reasons for the murders. But just which one brought Brenda, and the other person down? And while all of this is going on, Savannah has to deal with the old high school boyfriend her mother would like to her to be with and the hot, sexy, bad boy Rafe, who no one wants her to be with. A Cutthroat Business is a fun, new, exciting entry into the cozy genre, showing us a whole new side to what has become a cutthroat real estate business. Savannah is young, fresh, and such fun to get to know.  I like Savannah because she knows she’s very ‘green’ when it comes to the real estate business (not to mention sleuthing) and doesn’t try and be something she’s not. A Cutthroat Business is a great start to a new series. It’s a quick, lively cozy read that will keep its readers entertained and when they are done have them anxiously awaiting the next book in the series, Hot Property, to find out just what happens with Savannah and the men in her life!

Release date: June 1st

Hannah’s List by Debbie Macomber

From Amazon ~

On the anniversary of his beloved wife’s death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him. In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request. I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn’t spend the years he has left grieving her. And to that end she’s chosen three women she asks him to consider. During the months that follow, he spends time with Winter, Leanne, and Macy, learning more about each of them.and about himself. Learning what Hannah already knew. He’s a man who needs the completeness only love can offer. And Hannah’s list leads him to the woman who can help him find it.

My review ~

It’s been a year since his beloved wife Hannah’s death and Dr. Michael Everett still grieves for as much today as the day he lost her.  He manages to get himself to the gym and to his practice, where he is a pediatrician each day, but nothing else much matters to him. And then on the one year anniversary of her death, her brother Richie gives him a letter Hannah wrote months before her death.  She asks him for one last favor – to not grieve for her forever. To find love again, to marry again and to have the family that they were unable to have. But Hannah goes one step further and gives Michael the names of three women she feels will bring him happiness and love again.

Winter Adams (from the Blossom Street series) and owner of The French Cafe is Hannah’s cousin.  She is a strong, professional woman trying to figure out where she and Pierre, her long time on-again off again boyfriend stand.

Leanne Lancaster was one of Hannah’s nurses who helped her through the last months of her illness. She has just gone through divorce, a decision she is now second guessing, and can empathize with Michael and his feelings of loneliness and grief as she is going through similar emotions over the loss of her marriage.

Macy Roth is the wild card. She’s young, impetuous, carefree, and counts her three cats, a stray dog, and a crotchety old neighbor as her family.  She is habitually late, stubborn, terrified of love and everything that Hannah is not.


Winter, Macy and Leanne each have issues in their private lives they need to settle before they can give romance with Michael a chance.  But each of these women also has something different to offer Michael in terms of learning to find his way back to the land of living and to opening his heart to love again.  Over the next few months Michael will spend time with each of them, getting to know them and often wondering what Hannah could possibly have been thinking when she picked each one.  But most importantly Michael finds himself again, and with some help from his beloved Hannah, he also finds love.  A moving story of three woman, each struggling to find their way in their own relationships and one mans struggle to realize that life does go on after loss and you can find happiness again.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

March 6th 2007 starts off like any normal day at Sterling high School, New Hampshire.  All that changes when one of its students, Peter Houghton, walks into the school armed with guns and starts shooting people.  Ten people are killed and a further nineteen are seriously injured.  Peter has been bullied and victimised at school ever since he can remember, and it seems that when it all got too much for him, he snapped.

As the community of Sterling tries to come to terms with the aftermath of the horrific event, Peter’s family question what could have made their son do something like this, and if they missed any warning signs.

I thought this was a wonderful, compelling read.  Jodi Picoult always creates entirely believable characters, and I found myself caring for these people and eager to know how their individual stories would turn out.  Although a large number of key players in the story are introduced into the story very early on, it did not get confusing, and they were all instantly distinctive, with their own stories well told.

The main characters the story focuses on are Peter and his parents; Josie Cormier – former best friend of Peter’s and now the girlfriend of Matt Royston, one of Peter’s main tormentors and also one of the casualties of the shooting; Alex Cormier, Josie’s mother and the Judge likely to be sitting on the case; Patrick Ducharme – the policeman in charge of the investigation, (who apparently also features in an earlier book by the author), and who was my personal favourite character; and Jordan McAfee and his wife Selena – Jordan has the difficulty of being defence attorney at the trial.  Each of them have their own part to play in the tale and the shooting and subsequent trial causes them all to look at their lives in a new light.

The story is told in two parts.  The first part starts with the events of the day of the shooting, and then the narratives goes backward and forward; from years beforehand when Peter was a young child, taking in several stages of his life, up until very soon before the incident; and to various times afterward, which show the wheels being set in motion for Peter’s trial, and how fellow students are coping with the tragedy.  The second part concentrates on the trial itself, with just a few very short flashbacks to the day of the incident.

Clearly this is a very sensitive subject – sadly there will be very few people who would be able to read this book without being able to recall hearing of a similar incident in real life.  Jodi Picoult does a good job of examining what might lead up to such a horrific event, and also manages to create interest in and sympathy for each character, even including Peter himself.

Certainly a very thought provoking story, which made me want to explore the subject further.  It’s quite a thick book – just shy of 600 pages – but none of the story felt superfluous, and my interest was held throughout.  Highly recommended.

My Father’s Notebook by Khaled Abdolah

This book is translated by: Susan Massotty

Waterstones Synopsis:

On a holy mountain in the depths of Persia, there is a cave with a mysterious cuneiform carving deep inside it. Aga Akbar, a deaf-mute boy from the mountain, develops his own private script from these symbols and writes passionately of his life, his family and his efforts to make sense of the changes the twentieth century brings to his country. Exiled in Holland a generation later, Akbar’s son, Ishmael, struggles to decipher the notebook, reflecting how his own political activities have forced him to flee his country and abandon his family. As he gets closer to the heart of his father’s story, he unravels the intricate tale of how the silent world of a village carpet-mender was forced to give way to one where the increasingly hostile environment of modern Iran has brought the family both love and sacrifice.

I picked up this book as it not what I would usually read. This was a good book and I am glad I chose it. The majority of the book is narrated by Ishmael, who is trying to understand his father’s notebook. But his dad is a deaf mute who is also illiterate. His story is told as a series of pictures and hard to decipher scribbles. Ishmael also retells memories of his life in Iran, where life is changing quickly – both politically and economically.

This was an interesting read. It enabled me to learn more about Iran in the last century and also about life with a deaf mute. This book was a bit disjointed and I did sometimes wonder where we were in the recollections. That said, learning about life in this time was wonderful and reading about Iran’s countryside and traditions was very enlightening.

I liked the characters and the honesty Ishmael showed as he retold his father’s life stories. His involvement in politics and how he felt about the current situation was interesting. I felt sorry for Akbar, but also admired how he managed to work, gain respect and provide for his family.

This was an enlightening read, which reminded me a bit of A Thousand Splendid Suns. I thought it was worth reading.

3/5