Review: Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

book 3 of 5 for the War Through the Generations Challenge: WWII
book 2 of 5 for the Jewish Literature Challenge
genre: historical fiction

Let me start off by saying I could not put this book down. I must also say, that this book ripped my heart into tiny pieces and I'm not sure I'll ever be the same. Really. Maybe it's because I'm a mom or maybe I'm just an incredibly sensitive person. But I now have images in my brain that will never leave.

Sarah's Key takes place in France - switching between the modern day and the early days of World War II. I really like books like this, and I think the author did a fine job of transitioning us back and forth and filling in the blank spots. Sarah is a 10 year old girl living in Paris when her life is shattered by the French Police, who come into her home to arrest her parents and deport them, along with thousands of other French Jews. Her haunting story is intertwined with that of Julia, a journalist who stumbles upon Sarah's story as well as learning about the involvement of the French Police in the deportations.

Julia's fascination with the story leads her on a journey of not only self-discovery, but also a discovery of a her family's past, a country's past, and the consequences of a terrible secret.

Review: Hanna's Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson

book 3 of 3 for the Well Seasoned Reader Challenge
genre: fiction, translated
rating: 5/5

I'm still reeling from the depth of this book. Hanna's Daughters is a story of three generations of Swedish women, trying their hardest to find out who they are in a world that never seems to fit them completely. Hanna, Johanna and Anna - grandmother, mother and daughter, their lives winding through Swedish history: war and famine, prosperity and vague pleasures, from a mountain cabin on a lake in the mid 1800s to the streets of modern Göteborg.

The narrative is both personal and real, each women's experiences woven through everyone else's and we see each generation from the other's point of view. I loved this book for its history and the appreciation I've found for Sweden and its past, the class struggles and the people's desire to truly be a land of human rights. I loved the book for its words - an excellent translation that even gives you a sense of the rural dialect of the grandmother's family. I loved the book for the reality of these women whose relationships are so familiar - heartbreaking and poignant. I didn't love that most of the men seemed either weak or dominating, but I also feel like I understand the characters enough to know why there were together - and that the men did have much to offer these strong and struggling women.

At times the chronology and unfamiliar names and geography got confusing, but I eventually felt I belong in this land of water and life. I wished, sometimes, that their stories had been happier ones, but I think part of my love of this book is that they had to find a way to work it out, despite their choices and circumstances. And because their was so much difficulty, their epiphanies and those moments when things finally seemed clear became that much sweeter.

The Classics Challenge 2009

Yeah, I'm doing this one again. I loved it last year and I've found some books I'm really excited about. This'll be Classics Snack PLUS bonus :)

1. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (heck, it says "classic" right on the back!!)

and for my bonus:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, Frank Doel, and Marks & Co.

Review: Wild Talent: A Novel of the Supernatural by Eileen Kernaghan

genre: young adult historical fantasy
rating: 3.5/5

Jeannie Guthrie's ordinary life as a farm hand in Scotland abruptly changes when, at 16, she believes herself to be the cause of a possibly disastrous circumstance. When she flees to London, she meets the adventurous and deeply curious Alexandra David, who introduces Jeannie into the Victorian world of spiritualists and esoteric thought. Jeannie becomes employed in the home of Madame Helena Blavasky, the theosophist, author and do-er of psychic feats like levitation and out-of-body projection.

In Blavasky's home, Jeannie is introduced to all kinds of London society and starts to realize some powers of her own. And while scientists are attempting to give some kind of credibly to Blavasky (or some proof to decry her as a fraud), Jeannie's relationship with Alexandra leads her into salons all over London and even into Paris.

The book had several things about it that caught my attention. The backdrop of late 19th century London and Paris was intriguing and felt very well researched - especially since I knew nothing about the this world of salons and seances and meta-physical feats. Jeannie's journal entry-type narrative felt so authentic, I was impressed with the author's consistency in Jeannie's tone and voice . I think young adult readers could really respond to both Jeannie's emotions as she gets to know herself and what she wants, as well as Alexandra's constant drive for "truth" and a "higher plane."

The plot moved pretty slowly, but I was interested enough that it didn't bother me too much, I was always happy to pick it up when I had a moment. A love story was there, a minor part of the book but pleasant all the same. The threads of "fantasy" are pretty thin, in the sense that it's really just historical fiction with a hint of "other worldliness." Often you get the sense that all that spiritual stuff of Madame Blavatsky's is just a con but then something happens that makes you think that there is some other sphere beyond our own that Jeannie and few others have access to. I think readers of the young adult genre would find this an interesting read.

Review: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan

genre: historical fiction/romance

Lizzie and her Mr. Darcy have gotten married at the end of the 2005 movie version of Pride and Prejudice. This book begins where that left off and occasionally even flashes back to exact scenes from the movie. The book takes us throughout the first several months of their marriage as they fall even more in love and as Lizzy settles into her role as Mrs. Darcy and the mistress of the Pemberly estate.

One thing I think the author does particularly well is surround us by the Regency period. The language, the tones of conversations and the atmosphere felt authentic to original Austen (although, like I said, the plot is truer to the movie version than to the original book). Even the characters, for the most part, felt genuine and their behavior consistent. What did not feel so authentic to me was the amount and level of detail in the "bedroom" scenes. To be completely truthful, I would classify the book as a romance novel, chiefly for the fact that I was sometimes skimming through two, three pages of detailed romantic interludes.

I liked the interactions between husband and wife when they were not being "intimate," but these scenes felt cut short, always, by their desires for each other - often making me feel that the plot was lacking. It got a bit frustrating because I did like the world that Lathan had created and wanted to spend more time with Lizzy and Darcy out in it! Scenes where Lizzy was meeting Derbyshire society and when she was acting as hostess at Pemberly stand out as ones I particularly liked reading.

In the end, I think your pleasure in this novel will be what you are interesting in finding there. If you want a story of true love - a couple perfectly matched and infatuated with each other and living in a splendid historical time period, than this is the book for you.

Review: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

genre: travel/non-fiction/memoir
rating: 3.5/5

What is it about some people, some places, that makes them inherently happier than others? What about those places that rate lowest on the "happiness scale," what can they teach us? Weiner, an NPR correspondent, traveled the world trying to answer these questions. A self-described grump, Weiner casts a skeptical eye on such places as Qatar, Bhutan, Switzerland and Moldova as he travels and meets with locals and local celebrities alike, attempting to get at the root of a happy place.

I don't know why this book rubbed me the wrong way sometimes. Some chapters I loved and found nearly laugh out loud humorous - the chapter on Iceland was this way. I felt like he opened up the core of Icelandic culture for me and I got an interesting view of a place I have traveled in briefly but very much enjoyed. Qatar, too, was a memorable chapter. Other times, though, I felt like his humor brushed past me like a lame Saturday Night Live joke and I wanted more of the place and less of his humor and grumpiness.

The studies and statistics that he interspersed throughout the text gave some depth to his memoir, although they broke up the flow of the story for me. It was like he switched between zany/drunk storyteller-nomad and NPR journalist, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. I was amazed by how numerous his contacts were around the world and the personal stories of actual residents/immigrants to the different countries made his story even richer. America, as both a superpower and as a melting pot, is put into context within the happiness research also.

I can't say it's not worth reading - it certainly gives the reader food for thought. I wouldn't think TOO hard though, because one thing we learn is that sometimes, THINKING too much about happiness actually DECREASES our happiness :)

Review: The Laodicean by Thomas Hardy

genre: fiction
rating: 3/5

I have read Thomas Hardy before, so I wasn't afraid to read this very-small-print-and-many-pages book that my book club chose for this month. Sadly, The Laodicean took me far longer to get into than Tess and I never did find any love or real sympathy for the main characters.

The plot is thus: George Somerset is a young architect who stumbles into the life of the lovely Paula Powers. Not only is Paula the heiress of her late father's railroad fortune, she is also the new owner of Stancy Castle, the ancestral home of the De Stancy Family. Paula's desire to refurbish the castle often throw George and Paula into each other's company and a one-sided romance ensues. I won't share any more of the drama, in case you choose to read this, but let it be said that there is a plethora of drama, of the serialized, soap opera type. People are wooing, people are illegitimate sons, people are forging telegrams - misunderstandings and deceits abound.

An ongoing theme throughout the book is the contrast between historical and modern, forward and backward thinking, staunchly kept vows and lukewarm devotion. Paula is the ultimate representative of all that is lukewarm - her vagueness and indecision was incredibly frustrating, although she does reap the consequences, somewhat. Her desire to be both avant-garde and yet a part of a grand old family makes her a bit of an enigma. George is steadfast and honest, but far too simpering for me. They each have companions that help and hinder them, providing a good portion of all that aforementioned drama.

I like how Hardy set up the plot - always omniscient narrator but giving us a vision of the same scene from different viewpoints and cluing us in to things the other character's don't yet know. I enjoyed having architecture and design itself as a subplot to the book. He is a magnificent writer, I'll give him that, even though I thought this book as a whole was not really up to par. For example:

I have thought of fifty things to say to you of the too far sort, not one of any other; how unfortunate then is your prohibition, by which I am doomed to say things that do not rise spontaneously to my lips, but have to be made, shaped and fashioned.

Although I liked his style and found it, for the most part, fairly readable - this book went on way too long. Even if I hadn't known that it was a serialized publication, I could've guessed based on how certain scenes dragged on. I won't say it's not worth reading - I just don't think I'll be picking it up again.

Review: The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner

2 out of 12 for the 2009 Young Adult Reading Challenge
genre: young adult
rating: 4/5

Lauren's a rich girl - but she's always taken pride in the fact that she didn't think like one. Instead of going to an ivy league school or letting her Daddy pay for a posh condo to live in, she chose a state school and lives in the dorms. She's out to prove that life hasn't been handed to her on a platter.

Except it has.

And despite her efforts to not judge or make assumptions about people, she does, and much of this book is Lauren working her way through her own thought processes about people. What's interesting is the way the author has combined this storyline with another: that of a girl, about Lauren's age, living during the Salem witch trials. Lauren comes to learn about her life as she takes a job translating Mercy's diary, at the request of Abigail, the elderly owner of the diary who has far more in common with Lauren than she initially thinks.

I always appreciate a story that can go back and forth in time and do it well. Of course, the "historical" periods are only diary entries, but these entries felt authentic and we really do get a sense of who Mercy is - as well as events around her - through her writings. As a coming of age story, Lauren's struggle to find out her role in her close relationships had a moral undertone that never felt in your face but yet had a really good message: we all have the ability to choose how we are going to act and react, especially when we are dealing with those we care about the most. And sometimes this act of choosing is the most important act of all.

Review: Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

genre: adult fiction/chick lit
rating:3/5

I suppose you can guess the plot of this book from the title. Rebecca is a bit obsessed with shopping (can you feel the drips from my sarcasm?) Her daily shopping sprees have run her into a pound or two of debt, which she manages to put out of her mind by: shopping some more! Her shopping prowess and command of London style serves her well as she searches the urban jungle for the "perfect" scarf, luggage, make-up etc. etc. etc. to make her feel as good as new once again.

She is bored to tears by her job doing, ironically enough, financial writing and she spends much thought on how to improve her circumstances. Cut back? Make more money? Marry a millionaire? All are options to be tested out.

I loved the first person narrative of this book - it slayed me, making me laugh out loud. Her constant stream of consciousness monologue is witty and incredibly entertaining. It's a fine piece of chick lit fluff. Sometimes she drove me batty with her rationalizing and dishonesty - as well as her ability to get into horrible situations. A couple times I had to just set down the book and take a quick break because of the horribleness. But, I was enjoying myself all the while, of course :)