Articles

February BOTM

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“Repressive societies always seemed to understand the danger of ‘wrong’ ideas.”
― Octavia E. ButlerKindred

In honor of Black History month my February pick is Kindred by Octavia Butler. It is an amazing book that I read many years ago. It is powerful in its message and likely one of the most profound books I’ve read to date. I believe everyone can benefit from reading a book like this. 

February Book of the Month Synopsis 

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

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About Octavia Butler 

Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant.  
Website  |  Goodreads   

Love Water Memory Book Review

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Publisher: Gallery Books

Cover: Jae Song 

Synopsis:

If you could do it all over again, would you still choose him?

At age thirty-nine, Lucie Walker has no choice but to start her life over when she comes to, up to her knees in the chilly San Francisco Bay, with no idea how she got there or who she is. Her memory loss is caused by an emotional trauma she knows nothing about, and only when handsome, quiet Grady Goodall arrives at the hospital does she learn she has a home, a career, and a wedding just two months away. What went wrong? Grady seems to care for her, but Lucie is no more sure of him than she is of anything. As she collects the clues of her past self, she unlocks the mystery of what happened to her. The painful secrets she uncovers could hold the key to her future—if she trusts her heart enough to guide her. 

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Review 

Love Water Memory is an excellent read and I’ve discovered a new author in the process. This book is a bit different from my usual reads. It covers a wide range of issues, focusing primarily on mental illness and self discovery.

Lucie Walker experiences amnesia prompted by an initially unknown event — traumatic in nature. She can’t remember much about her life prior to being found knee deep in the San Francisco Bay waters. As she begins to unravel the mystery that is “Lucie” she finds out she has a fiancée — Grady Goodall. They begin working on Lucie’s recover, but soon also begin to work on rekindling their relationship. All Lucie is sure of is she feels a sense of comfort around Grady and this comfort is the closest feeling to love Lucie can imagine. She takes a chance and begins to rediscover who she was and who she is now. The differences are night and day. 

Grady Goodall is everything a woman would want, but he has trouble expressing himself. His frustrations, his anger, his love, everything — he bottles his emotions. Lucie soon discovers that before the amnesia she behaved in a very similar fashion. She shared very little information about her past and rarely discussed her feelings. She was content with Grady’s companionship but the new Lucie was seeking a partner someone to share her feelings, someone she could trust. Her uncertainty of Grady’s feelings and bashfulness prevents them from moving into intimate territory but for most of the book the reader experiences what it’s like to love, lose and how things can be different when given a second chance at love.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt the ending fell a little short — mostly because I wanted more. I understood why it ended in that manner though which in a way made it perfect especially for the pace and tone of this book. There were a lot of beautiful parts. The dynamic between Grady and Lucie is interesting as well as the interactions with other characters. The book is told from three character perspectives and gives you a look at the person experiencing the illness as well as two others who are both affected by her diagnosis and recovery.

This book is thought provoking and carefully crafted, creating a beautiful and powerful love story while unearthing the mystery of mental illness and how it affects all involved. This book moves slowly at times, but I was never bored. It isn’t action packed, erotica or a book filled with cliché lines. It’s fresh and well written providing you the ability to think and reflect. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend this read to my women’s fiction/adult fiction/contemporary romance/chick lit fans.

 

 

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About the Author

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Jennie Shortridge has published five novels: Love Water Memory,When She FlewLove and Biology at the Center of the Universe,Eating Heaven, and Riding with the Queen. When not writing, teaching writing workshops, or volunteering with kids, Jennie stays busy as a founding member of Seattle7Writers.org, a collective of Northwest authors devoted both to raising funds for community literacy projects and to raising awareness of Northwest literature. 

Blog  |  Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 

November BOTM

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November Book of the Month Synopsis 

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view .. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Tomboy Scout Finch comes of age in a small Alabama town during a crisis in 1935. She admires her father Atticus, how he deals with issues of racism, injustice, intolerance and bigotry, his courage and his love. 

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South ― and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred. 

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

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October BOTM

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October Book of the Month Synopsis 

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. 

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. 

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance? 
          
Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

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September Book of the Month

September BOTM – Defending Jacob by William Landay

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Synopsis

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control

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The Kitchen House Book Review

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Synopsis

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

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My Thoughts

I read this book a few months ago and I loved it. It is  a truly timeless masterpiece. The stories of Belle and Lavinia are reminiscent of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Deeply moving and intense.

This was an extremely powerful book. If you’re looking for historical accuracy reign in those claws, this is a novel, and while there are many accurate details concerning slavery and indentured servitude, don’t over analyze this book. I read a few reviews that bashed the book based on its so called historical accuracy. Let’s remember, this is a work of fiction, not a history book. With that said, it is an excellent work of fiction, especially for a debut novel.

The Kitchen House does a magnificent job of exploring families and what family truly means. The story is told from both Belle, a slave, and Lavinia, an Irish indentured servant’s POV. Belle becomes “the mother figure” to Lavinia after she is brought to the plantation. It is mostly told through the naive eyes of Lavinia who doesn’t even realize who she is. She doesn’t fully comprehend slavery nor her position in this society. In fact, she doesn’t recall many moments of her youth prior to her arrival on the plantation.  With her arrival they become an unconventional family. The slaves bring Lavinia into their fold and nurture and love her as their own but Belle keeps her at an arms length still hesitant to love and care for her.

Belle, the beloved but illegitimate daughter of the Captain (The Slave Master/Plantation Owner), is in charge of the Kitchen House. The relationship between Belle and the Captain, which unbeknownst to his own wife is one of a father and daughter, but gives her cause to speculate an affair. Her father loves her fiercely and it is obvious in all his actions but his lack of communication with his wife and family regarding his close relationship with Belle is a secret that causes a domino effect for years to come.

And yes, this book does have a few romantic trysts but the story is also laced with some pretty heavy situations that may make your stomach turn.

I would’ve loved to read this book from a few different character perspectives but Belle and Lavinia were an integral part of this family and their stories were meant to be told. This is a great read. I highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction or cultural pieces. I rated this book 4/5 stars.

Purchase The Kitchen House for Kindle  |  Paperback
Author Links
Website  |  Goodreads  |  Facebook (The Kitchen House Fan Page)
 

August BOTM

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

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August Book of the Month Synopsis
When Astrid’s mother, a beautiful, headstrong poet, murders a former lover and is imprisoned for life, Astrid becomes one of the thousands of foster children in Los Angeles. As she navigates this new reality, Astrid finds strength in her unshakable certainty of her own worth and her unfettered sense of the absurd.

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Me Before You Book Review

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Synopsis

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

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“This book was….WOW.”

That is the extent of my goodreads review. I thought I’d expand on that and discuss what I loved and disliked about this book. I actually loved everything about this book. It was powerful, emotional, deeply moving and something about it stuck with me. The love, the loss, the growth, all make this a beautiful yet complex novel. I cried like a baby but I seriously recommend the hell out of it.

This was a book club read for my friends and I. Yes, somehow between all my blog reads and life I make time for a book club haha…don’t judge me! I roped my sister into giving her input for this review. She begrudgingly agreed. LOL. These are our shared opinions…

What’s it about?

Me Before You is a tragic yet heartfelt journey of self discovery. It will most certainly make you shed a tear…or a thousand. I certainly did. My sis says, “Me too!”

Lou Clark lived a simple, run of the mill life. She is a girl who doesn’t know what she wants when the book begins. For much of the story she is still trying to figure her life out. She can’t fathom having any sort of definitive life plan. She is an eccentric girl with a very unique sense of style. This made me laugh for much of the book because her quirky sense of style was something that stuck with me. It doesn’t seem like a very important fact but when you read this story there will be moments like this that stick with you. I think you will also understand why it stuck out to me after reading.

When Will Traynor enters her life…or rather, when Lou enters Will’s life the things she accepted as the status quo she now begins to question. He makes her question her entire life, starting with the reason why she remains in a loveless relationship. He challenges her and makes her challenge herself. Will had his entire life planned out. He can’t understand how someone can live their life without a plan. Even after his life-altering accident he creates a plan; one that many disagree with but a plan nonetheless.

This oddball combination brings out the very best and worse in one another. I really liked the dynamic character development and the story overall.

I will give you one spoiler…this is not a typical love story, in fact it isn’t so much about love as it is focusing on finding your own path in life and making decisions that are right for you. This is a must read.

My rating – 5 star
My sister’s rating – 5 star

We firmly stand by our ratings and highly recommend it.

*Note – If you are a Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks fan this is a book you will appreciate.

Purchase Me Before You for   Kindle  |  Paperback

About the Author:

Website  |  Goodreads  |  Facebook  |  Twitter

Girl in Translation Book Review

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Synopsis
Introducing a fresh, exciting Chinese-American voice, an inspiring debut about an immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures.
When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family’s future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition. Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.
Through Kimberly’s story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that we rarely hear about. 
Written in an indelible voice that dramatizes the tensions of an immigrant girl growing up between two cultures, surrounded by a language and world only half understood, Girl in Translation is an unforgettable and classic novel of an American immigrant-a moving tale of hardship and triumph, heartbreak and love, and all that gets lost in translation.
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Review
I read this book a couple of months ago and I really loved it but then I was left in a state of distress. An ending to a fantastic novel that fails to meet my expectations usually ruins an entire book for me, but this book was so well written and moving that I still can’t help but rate it high on my list. While I was disappointed with the ending the book deserves notable mention as a good read. I just felt a little warning was needed especially to those who are easily disappointed by less than stellar endings.

 

The story documents the life and times of a Chinese immigrant girl Kimberly Chang and her mother who are thrust into a new life in America, namely New York City. Their lives are rough from the start. I rooted for their success throughout the book, but how far would you go to escape poverty? How much would you be willing to sacrifice?
Kimberly was an extremely selfless person who considered the future of not only herself but those who would be affected by her choices. She grew up quickly and became the one her mother depended on due to the language barrier. This explores her struggles, her accomplishments, her decisions and the outcome. Her selflessness was noble but at what cost?

 

This book is a quick read and really explores the difficulties the protagonist Kimberly and her mother face adjusting to a new culture and country. I was all in, until the last few pages and not because there wasn’t a happy ending or it wasn’t necessarily a love story but it really was anticlimactic. I was disappointed, to say the least, but I really thought over how affected I was by the story as a whole and in retrospect, it was well written.

 

Jean Kwok paints a vivid picture of life as an Asian American immigrant. She adequately describes the struggles many immigrants face entering a new country and essentially a new way of life. It shows not only the American experience but the struggle to achieve the American dream. This book is definitely worth a read but I’m giving you fair warning you may or may not love the ending. I’d love to know your thoughts on this book so comment, email, tweet, facebook, smoke signal, whatever  ℓσℓ

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