Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

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Title: Ella Minnow Pea

Author: Mark Dunn

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 208 pages

Published: 2001 

Publisher: Anchor Books

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram,* "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island's Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl's fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

*pangram: a sentence or phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

This was a nice, light read. The brilliance Dunn shows as he weaves his words to form the scores of letters that flow between our heroine, Ella, and various members of her family and friends, as well as others among the islanders of Nollop. As more and more letters are dropped from the cenotaph, residents flee Nollop both by force and voluntarily. Writing letters becomes more and more difficult as Ella and the others are forced to use more creative words to explain what they wish. Eventually the Council allows the usage of other letters which sound like the missing letter, making for some very interesting word creation. 

And throughout most of the book people are working to create a sentence composed of all 26 letters of the alphabet that is 32 letters or less. It is not until 3 hours before the deadline, when there are only five letters remaining, that Ella finds the sentence. I'll let you find that sentence out for yourself. 

You can purchase Ella Minnow Pea through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Ella Minnow Pea? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

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Title: Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 335 pages

Published: 2007 (originally in 2006)

Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Orphaned, penniless, Jacob Jankowski jumps a freight train in the dark, and in that instant, transforms his future.

By morning, he's landed a job with the Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. By nightfall, he's in love.

In an America made colourless by prohibition and the Depression, the circus is a refuge of sequins and sensuality. But behind the glamour lies a darker world, where both animals and men are dispensable. Where falling in love is the most dangerous act of all...

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

I saw the film adaptation of this book awhile back and while it was very good, it doesn't completely do the story justice. The book is usually way better than the film, and that can't be more true in this case. It was a quick read, something I could not put down. 

The writing was excellent - the descriptions brought everything to life without drowning out the story. And, boy, what a story.

During a time when people were lucky to have enough food to survive on, a young man learns just before his final exams for veterinary school that his parents have died in a horrific car accident. Unable to make it through his exams because of his overwhelming grief, he heads out to ride the rails. Unbeknownst to him, Jacob has hopped aboard a circus train. Thrown into the circus life, Jacob ends up becoming the show's veterinarian, in spite of not having sat his final exams. 

The excitement of the show, forbidden love, a dangerous pair of adversaries, and an elephant who only understands Polish - that's what you will find in Water for Elephants. Definitely a must read for fans of romance.

You can purchase Water for Elephants through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Water for Elephants? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

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Title: Winter's Tale

Author: Mark Helprin

Genre: Contemporary Literature, Fantasy

Length: 673 pages

Published: 1983

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake, orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.

Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl, who is dying.

Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man, because of a love that, at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and besieged by unprecedented winters, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.

My Review:

I give this book a 3 out of 5. 

I had a hard time with this one. It was extremely descriptive, and that distracted me from the story itself quite a bit. The plot line was good, but hard to follow because of the excessive description. I understand why the author detailed everything so much, but it was tough to get through. I truly felt like the story could have been told in roughly half the pages. 

I found myself not wanting to pick it up and continue reading because it felt too tedious to devote the time and energy to in order to comprehend the events. In fact I found myself actually skimming a lot of the longer paragraphs, basically catching hold of the most important ideas and I still understood what was going on. 

All in all, the story itself is good. If you have time to kill this nearly 700-page story is worth it.

You can purchase Winter's Tale through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Winter's Tale? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Moving Day: A Thriller by Jonathan Stone

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Title: Moving Day: A Thriller

Author: Jonathan Stone

Genre: Thriller, Contemporary Fiction

Length: 284 pages

Published: 2014

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Forty years’ accumulation of art, antiques, and family photographs are more than just objects for Stanley Peke—they are proof of a life fully lived. A life he could have easily lost long ago.

When a con man steals his houseful of possessions in a sophisticated moving-day scam, Peke wanders helplessly through his empty New England home, inevitably reminded of another helpless time: decades in Peke’s past, a cold and threadbare Stanislaw Shmuel Pecoskowitz eked out a desperate existence in the war-torn Polish countryside, subsisting on scraps and dodging Nazi soldiers. Now, the seventy-two-year-old Peke—who survived, came to America, and succeeded—must summon his original grit and determination to track down the thieves, retrieve his things, and restore the life he made for himself.

Peke and his wife, Rose, trace the path of the thieves’ truck across America, to the wilds of Montana, and to an ultimate, chilling confrontation with not only the thieves but also with Peke’s brutal, unresolved past.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

Amazon Prime's "Kindle First" program is pretty neat. You get offered the chance to get one of four books for free the month before the book is officially published. That's where I found Moving Day. I probably wouldn't have looked twice at this book before looking over the selections for April. But the description made me want to read it. And I'm glad I did. 

It's well written, descriptive but not overly descriptive, and intriguing. And you know when the main character manages to track down his belongings and gain them back that the book is not over - that there is more to the adventure and that a final showdown will take place with the thief who took Peke's things in the first place. 

The author leaves enough of Peke's past a mystery that you keep reading hoping to tease out another little tidbit. By the end, you know everything, as Peke comes full circle to the seven year old boy he was. 

The last several chapters are rather chilling, but it's definitely well worth the read. 

You can purchase Moving Day: A Thriller through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Moving Day: A Thriller? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews

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Title: Garden of Shadows 

Author: V.C. Andrews
Series: Dollanganger (Book #5 / Prequel)

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Length: 376 pages

Published: 1987

Publisher: Pocket 

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Before terror flowered in the attic there was a young girl. An innocent, hopeful girl...

When young Olivia arrives at Foxworth Hall, she thinks her marriage to handsome Malcolm will bring the joy she has longed for. But in the gloomy mansion filled with festering desires and forbidden passions, a stain of jealous obsession begins to spread— an evil that will threaten her children, two charming boys and one very special, beautiful girl. For within the halls of this cursed house a shocking secret lives. A secret that will taint the Foxworth family for generations to come...

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

This is more like a prequel than the fifth book in the series. This takes up the story from the grandmother's point of view, starting with how she met Malcolm Neal Foxworth and ending with the day Corinne returns to Foxworth Hall with her four children to hide them away in the attic. This book will tell you what caused Olivia to become the cruel grandmother that Cathy, Chris, Cory and Carrie find waiting for them in Flowers in the Attic. 

Even more, a shocking secret will be revealed that hasn't even been hinted at in the other books. This secret will blow your mind. To fully enjoy the series during your first read through, be sure to read this book last. If you decide to read again, then you can read in any order you want, since you'll already know the secret of the Foxworths. 

You can purchase Garden of Shadows through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Garden of Shadows? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

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Title: Labor Day

Author: Joyce Maynard

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 244 pages

Published: 2009

Publisher: William Morrow

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry—lonely, friendless, not too good at sports—spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates. For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele—a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new stepfamily. As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy. Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart. 

But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others—especially those we love—above ourselves. And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for. 

In a manner evoking Ian McEwan's Atonement and Nick Hornby's About a Boy, acclaimed author Joyce Maynard weaves a beautiful, poignant tale of love, sex, adolescence, and devastating treachery as seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy—and the man he later becomes—looking back at an unexpected encounter that begins one single long, hot, life-altering weekend.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

I first heard about this book after seeing a preview for the movie. I am eager to watch the movie now (and was when I saw the preview for it), but I am very glad that I read the book first. Told in the point of view of thirteen year old Henry, this is an amazing love story. I could not put it down. I just wanted to keep reading about Henry, his horribly depressed recluse of a mother, and the escaped convict they let into their lives. 

There were a few heartbreaking moments that made me stop for a minute and set the book down so I could collect myself, but those moments explained so much about Adele and why she has become such a recluse. The author did an incredible job using the voice of a thirteen year old boy to tell this story. She established early that Adele talked to her son like he was just another person - and about things most mothers wouldn't talk to their sons about. But you could still see his naivety and that he just didn't understand everything she talked about. 

I definitely recommend picking this up before watching the film adaptation of it. It's a super fast read that you will not want to put down!

You can purchase Labor Day through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Labor Day? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Seeds of Yesterday by V.C. Andrews

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Title: Seeds of Yesterday

Author: V.C. Andrews
Series: Dollanganger (Book #4)

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Length: 408 pages

Published: 1984 (original) 1990 (version I read)

Publisher: Pocket 

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) The horror began with Flowers in the Attic, the terrifying tale of four innocent children locked away from the world by a cruel mother. 

The shocking fury continued with Petals on the Wind and If There Be Thorns. Now V.C. Andrews has created the last dark chapter in the strange, chilling tale of passion and peril that has captivated millions of readers around the world. 

Cathy and Chris, entwined with the evil that haunts their children, living with the fearful spectre of Foxworth Hall, are awaiting the final, shuddering climax... prisoners of a past they cannot escape.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

This takes place a good 15 years after the events of If There Be Thorns. Chris and Cathy arrive at the newly reconstructed Foxworth Hall. Bart says there is a surprise waiting for them. They are there to start overseeing some of the plans for Bart's twenty fifth birthday party, where he will come into his money and he'll have all the money left to him by his grandmother. Soon Cindy will join them, as well as Jory and his wife Melodie. They will be a family again. Cindy, Chris and Cathy will go to Hawaii after Bart's birthday party and that will be the end of it. Or so they think.

Setting foot in that house was just another tragic story waiting to happen. Event after horrible event keeps them in that house for far longer than they desired initially. The question running through the whole book is "Will Bart be redeemed in the end?". He can't forgive or forget that Cathy and Chris are brother and sister. He can't look at Chris as anything more than his mother's brother. He loves Cathy intensely but also hates her. And throughout it all, there's yet another bitter old man leading him along.

This book was excellent and closed up a lot of loose ends. I can't wait to read the fifth book in the series (which is truly a prequel but I was told to read it last so that I got the full effect of the situation without spoilers), Garden of Shadows, as it should help shed some light on some of the mysteries around the Foxworth family.

You can purchase Seeds of Yesterday through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Seeds of Yesterday? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

If There Be Thorns by V.C. Andrews

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Title: If There Be Thorns

Author: V.C. Andrews
Series: Dollanganger (Book #3)

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Length: 374 pages

Published: 1981 

Publisher: Pocket 

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Fourteen-year-old Jory was so handsome, so gentle. And Bart had such a dazzling imagination for a nine year old.

Then the lights came on in the abandoned house next door. Soon the Old Lady in Black was there, watching their home with prying eyes, guarded by her strange old butler. Soon the shrouded woman had Bart over for cookies and ice cream and asked him to call her "Grandmother."

And soon Bart's transformation began...

A transformation that sprang from "the book of secrets" the gaunt old butler had given him... a transformation fed by the hint of terrible things about his mother and father... a transformation that led him into shocking acts of violence, self-destruction and perversity.

And now while this little boy trembles on the edge of madness, his anguished parents, his helpless brother, an obsessed old woman and the vengeful, powerful butler await the climax to a horror that flowered in an attic long ago, a horror whose thorns are still wet with blood, still tipped with fire...

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

The third installment of the Dollanganger series starts with a prologue by Cathy, summarizing what would be found within the pages of the novel. The book then follows alternating viewpoints of Cathy's two children: Jory and Bart. Jory is the golden child who feels loved and content in his world. Bart is the child that feels as though no one loves him. He's clumsy, awkward, has shortened nerve endings so he does not feel pain like others, and feels like he doesn't belong. 

Then the abandoned house next door is fixed up and an old, veiled lady in black moves in with her elderly butler and a few maids. Chris and Cathy are unsuspecting that their secret is about to come out to their children - in a way they did not choose. 

Bart is torn between loving his mother and hating her as he befriends not only the old lady next door, but her elderly butler: a spiteful, wicked, scheming old man who gives him Malcolm Neal Foxworth's journal and makes him read it. 

The conclusion is terrifying and heart-breaking at the same time. I admit fully that I teared up during one of the final scenes. Though it can be difficult at first to distinguish between which brother is narrating, you soon get a feel for their different viewpoints and styles. Jory is ever the optimist and Bart is always a pessimist. Definitely worth the read!

You can purchase If There Be Thorns through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read If There Be Thorns? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews

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Title: Petals on the Wind

Author: V.C. Andrews
Series: Dollanganger (Book #2)

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Length: 439 pages

Published: 1980 (original) 1990 (version I read)

Publisher: Pocket (version I read)

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) For Carrie, Chris and Cathy, the attic was a dark horror that would not leave their minds, even while they built bright, promising new lives. Of course mother had to pretend they didn't exist.

And Grandmother was convinced they had the devil in them.

But that wasn't their fault. Was it? Cathy knew what to do.

She now had the powers she had learned from her beautiful mother. She knew it in the way her brother still yearned for her, in the way her guardian touched her, in the way all men looked at her.

She knew it was time to put what she knew to the test. To show her mother and grandmother that the pain and terror of the attic could not be forgotten... Show them.

Show them—once and for all.

My Review:

I give this book a 4 out of 5. 

This was good, but slow starting. The book picks up with Chris, Cathy, and Carrie on a bus south to Florida. While on the bus, Carrie gets violently sick and a mute black woman makes the driver take the four of them to her "doctor-son", who she works for. Chris and Cathy relate most of their story leaving out some of the details, such as information about Cory and his death. The doctor takes the three of them in and arranges to become their legal guardians. 

The book follows through several years of their lives, as they continue growing up (though Carrie doesn't do much growing). Cathy relates some of the awful things Carrie went through at school because of her size. Chris is on his way to becoming a doctor and Cathy is on her way to becoming the prima ballerina she wants to be. She is also intent on revenging Cory's death, and their imprisonment against both her mother and grandmother. 

It took me awhile to get into the story, and all I kept thinking was "wow, Cathy is such a wanton creature". The story ends with Cathy, Carrie and Chris back at Foxworth Hall, as Cathy's quest for revenge is carried out. 

All in all it was a good book just a little slow in starting as the three remaining Dollanganger children try to come to terms with the horrors of their youth.

You can purchase Petals on the Wind through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Petals on the Wind? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

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Title: Flowers in the Attic

Author: V.C. Andrews
Series: Dollanganger (Book #1)

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Length: 411 pages

Published: 1979 (original) 1990 (version I read)

Publisher: Pocket (version I read)

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) The four Dollanganger children had such perfect lives -- a beautiful mother, a doting father, a lovely home. Then Daddy was killed in a car accident, and Momma could no longer support the family. So she began writing letters to her parents, her millionaire parents, whom the children had never heard of before.

Momma tells the children all about their rich grandparents, and how Chris and Cathy and the twins will live like princes and princesses in their grandparents' fancy mansion. The children are only too delighted by the prospect. But there are a few things that Momma hasn't told them.

She hasn't told them that their grandmother considers them "devil's spawn" who should never have been born. She hasn't told them that she has to hide them from their grandfather if she wants to inherit his fortune. She hasn't told them that they are to be locked away in an abandoned wing of the house with only the dark, airless attic to play in. But, Momma promises, it's only for a few days....

Then the days stretch into months, and the months into years. Desperately isolated, terrified of their grandmother, and increasingly convinced that their mother no longer cares about them, Chris and Cathy become all things to the twins and to each other. They cling to their love as their only hope, their only strength -- a love that is almost stronger than death.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

Words can not describe how much I loved this book. A very good friend of mine has been telling me for a very, very long time to read this series. I've been putting it off. I finally got around to it (mostly because of the Lifetime version of the movie which just came out last month). I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN.

I spent the entire book rooting for these poor children who are locked away in an attic. I spent the entire book hating their mother for doing this to them in the first place and hating her even worse at the end. I was not expecting the twists at the end. I almost threw the book, but then I realized that I wanted to find out what happened even more. (I won't say more because I don't want to spoil things for anyone!)

I can not wait to start in on the second book in the series, Petals on the Wind. I have high hopes it will be just as thrilling as this one. 

You can purchase Flowers in the Attic through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Flowers in the Attic? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Alice Close Your Eyes by Averil Dean

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Title: Alice Close Your Eyes

Author: Averil Dean

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery

Length: 288 pages

Published: January 1st, 2014

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) With haunting prose and deft psychological insight, Averil Dean spins a chilling story that explores the dark corners of obsession–love, pain and revenge.

Ten years ago, someone ruined Alice Croft's life. Now she has a chance to right that wrong–and she thinks she's found the perfect man to carry out her plan. After watching him for weeks, she breaks into Jack Calabrese's house to collect the evidence that will confirm her hopes. When Jack comes home unexpectedly, Alice hides in the closet, fearing for her life. But upon finding her, Jack is strangely calm, solicitous . . . and intrigued.

That night is the start of a dark and intense attraction, and soon Alice finds herself drawn into a labyrinth of terrifying surrender to a man who is more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. As their relationship spirals toward a breaking point, Alice begins to see just how deep Jack's secrets run–and how deadly they could be.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

I won an advance copy of this book through Goodreads. 

I feel like I say this a lot, but...I could not put it down. Right from the beginning I was intrigued by Alice. What secrets was she hiding? Why was she in Jack's house?

Throughout the course of the novel, you learn Alice's secrets. In many cases, they don't come out and say what happened, you just sort of learn about them through short flashbacks as she tells her story. It starts out with Alice breaking into Jack's house looking for his "box" where he keeps his memories and tokens from the past. Jack catches her...then lets her go. As the story goes on, she becomes aware that he is stalking her right back. Eventually she agrees to have dinner with him.

From that point on, interspersed with hot sex scenes that consistently get more violent and dangerous, you learn more and more about Alice's past and why she really broke into Jack's house. As things with Jack progress far past what she ever intended, Alice begins facing her demons and learns things about herself that she never knew. 

The obsession ends on a dark, yet somewhat hopeful note. I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend you check it out when it comes out next month!

You can purchase Alice Close Your Eyes through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. ***Publication date is set for January 1st, 2014! 

Have you read Alice Close Your Eyes? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

White Noise by Don DeLillo

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Title: White Noise

Author: Don DeLillo

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Satire

Length: 326 pages

Published: 1984

Publisher: Viking Books

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) A brilliant satire of mass culture and numbing effects of technology,White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, a teacher of Hitler studies at a liberal arts college in Middle America. Jack and his fourth wife, Babette, bound by their love, fear of death, and four ultramodern offspring, navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. Then a lethal black chemical cloud, unleashed by an industrial accident, floats over their lives, an “airborne toxic event” that is a more urgent and visible version of the white noise engulfing the Gladneys—the radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, and TV murmurings that constitute the music of American magic and dread.

My Review:

I give this book a 4 out of 5. 

This was...bizarre. I don't think I've read a book this odd in a long time - probably not since I read Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk at the beginning of the year. Strangely enough, the oddity of the book is exactly what made me like it.

The conversations that take place throughout the book and even just the general narrative are stilted. This adds an extra layer of bizarre to the story - just sort of makes you keep thinking and wondering what other strange thing is going to happen. 

The story is told in the voice of the main character J.A.K. Gladney (or Jack) who is a college professor that lectures solely on Hitler. He tells about his strange life, his many wives, his children, his step-children, and his colleagues. These tidbits of information about his family and himself are interspersed throughout the whole novel.

The book is in three parts: Waves and Radiation; The Airborne Toxic Event; and Dylarama. The first part gives basic background information on the narrator, his wife, their family, and a friend of his. Throughout this you see hints of events to come: his wife is on some mystery medication, the family watches as a train spills a toxic substance into the soil and air. The second part delves into the evacuation that happens because of the toxic substance. And the third part draws to a conclusion the events after that toxic spill and what happens with the mysterious medication that Babette (his wife) is on. 

The most maddening part of this book was the sheer amount of denial the narrator is in. But considering his other issues, it just seems to fit with the whole scheme of things. All in all, this was a decent book and definitely worth the read if you enjoy bizarre stories.

You can purchase White Noise through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read White Noise? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

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Title: The Namesake

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 291 pages

Published: 2004

Publisher: Mariner Books

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies established this young writer as one the most brilliant of her generation. Her stories are one of the very few debut works -- and only a handful of collections -- to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among the many other awards and honors it received were the New Yorker Debut of the Year award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the highest critical praise for its grace, acuity, and compassion in detailing lives transported from India to America. In The Namesake, Lahiri enriches the themes that made her collection an international bestseller: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and, most poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the perfect detail -- the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase -- that opens whole worlds of emotion. 

The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name. Lahiri brings great empathy to Gogol as he stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves. The New York Times has praised Lahiri as "a writer of uncommon elegance and poise." The Namesake is a fine-tuned, intimate, and deeply felt novel of identity.

My Review:

I give this book a 3 out of 5. 

First off, I liked the story. The plot was interesting enough to keep me reading. I enjoyed reading about the early struggles of Ashima and Ashoke when they first married and first immigrated to the U.S. The culture shock, the grief of being thousands of miles from everything you know and the people you love: these were all very realistic and compelling. As time goes on, they meet other Bengali couples, and band together for all major occasions. They don't spend much time interacting with the Americans around them except as needed. This remains the same throughout the whole book; as their children (Gogol and Sonali) grow, nearly every Saturday is spent at another family's home for a birthday party, or just a get-together. 

Most of the book is in Gogol's point of view, as he struggles against his parents in his teens and early twenties. He never understands his father or the reason for the odd name "Gogol". Not until the night his father tells him the real reason they chose the name Gogol. And even then, he still seems to resent his parents and their culture; as they just float through life in their tight circle of Bengali friends and never branch out or seem to enjoy things. 

As I said, the story was interesting enough to keep me going. It was the writing the style got me. To me, this book read more like a history of their lives, than a novel. That is the only reason I had to bump this down to 3 stars. You may pick this up and find that the author's writing style is more your cup of tea than it was mine.

You can purchase The Namesake through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read The Namesake? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

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Title: The Handmaid's Tale

Author: Margaret Atwood

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Science Fiction

Length: 311 pages

Published: 1998

Publisher: Anchor Books

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

I kept hearing how great this book was, so I finally picked it up to read. Holy cow! They were right! It was excellent! The story is told by Offred, and intermingles remembrances from her past before everything changed and the present day. 

The story unfolded slowly about Offred's past and how the world came to change, through small glimpses. I loved how you got just enough at just the right times to tell you what you needed to know to keep reading. It was definitely like listening to someone tell a story, divulging just enough, skipping around to other matters. That was one of my favorite things about the novel. 

At several points Offred mentions that "this is a reconstruction" about a particular scene, leading the reader to believe that she's telling this later on, after the fact - but just to whom is unknown. She inserts her desires of what happened into the narrative, as well as what actually happened. You find yourself hoping she can find some way to get out of her situation. 

I definitely recommend you pick this up. And when you do, make sure you read the "Historical Notes" section after the narrative ends. This is really important to read to help understand the story.

You can purchase The Handmaid's Tale through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read The Handmaid's Tale? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall

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Title: A Quiet Storm

Author: Rachel Howzell Hall

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 256 pages

Published:  2002

Publisher: Touchstone

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) In this vividly written, suspense-driven novel, the secrets shared between two sisters erupt in tragedy.

Rikki Moore was always the star of the family, easily outshining her younger sister, Stacy, at every turn. Smart, kind, and beautiful, it was no surprise when Rikki met and married the perfect man -- pediatrician Matt Dresden. Her students at 59th Street Elementary School adored her, the church matrons solicited her help on every committee, and everyone wanted the golden couple to put in an appearance at their parties. Stacy? She was just the overweight little sister who couldn't get her love life together.

But the world didn't know about the storms that rippled just beneath the surface of Rikki's image of perfection. Ever since she was a teenager there were emotional breakdowns and obsessive behaviors -- secrets that Stacy was left to bear alone. Folks whispered, but they didn't know. When Rikki's husband, Matt, mysteriously disappears, however, the Moore family's carefully constructed image comes crashing down.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

Mental illness is often overlooked by those close to the person involved. The author does an amazing job of showing this, as well as showing just how awful and draining a mental illness can be: on the person with the illness, as well as her family and friends. 

The story is told in the voice of Anastasia (Stacy), the younger sister. Though by the way she had to grow up and take care of her older sister since their childhood, she definitely seems much older. Their parents fight a lot, but always make up. Their mother is in denial that Rikki has a problem. Both parents are - until the day she tries to kill herself. Then their mother keeps denying everything, even to the point of not sending her daughter to a therapist (what will the neighbors think? is pretty much the way their mother handles everything), while their father starts staying away for longer periods of time because he can't handle things.

Rikki stabilizes once their father dies and she goes away to college, where she secretly sees a therapist and starts taking lithium on a regular basis. When Stacy joins her at school, Stacy begins to see all of her ups and downs and often is the only one that can calm her sister or break her out of her depression. 

The story continues with the girls' marriages to handsome doctors, and the continuance of Rikki's highs and lows - with Stacy there to save her every single time. Stacy's life only seems to be better when Rikki is not around. 

I won't go further with any more details from the story, as you really should pick up this book and give it a try. I really enjoyed this one (could not put it down!). It read easily and while some of the stories of Rikkis highs and lows seemed repetitive, it only helped to really show the depth of her mental illness.

You can purchase A Quiet Storm through Amazon in hard copy format. 

Have you read A Quiet Storm? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.