Catching up with five book reviews

I have been woefully behind on my summer book reviews so I decided to combine the rest of them into one post. I’ve read a bunch of books since then and if I don’t do something, I will never catch up! So here are five brief reviews.

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak – 5 stars

What can I say about this book that will make you want to read it? I’ve been on a bit of Russian history and culture binge ever since I read The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport. I’ve also been learning to play piano compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Nikolai Medtner (very difficult – I’m not sure I will ever master them!). So it was only natural that I would pick up Doctor Zhivago, a book I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. It took me a month to read this epic novel which begins in 1905 and follows the life of Yuri Zhivago through his childhood and the Russian Revolution and the country’s civil war, ending in 1943. Along with the backdrop of the country’s extreme social and economic upheaval, war, and poverty, is a love story between Zhivago and two women, his wife Tanya and his soulmate, Lara. Throughout, Zhivago battles his conflicting feelings of love, duty, and honor during a time when families, separated for long periods, must fight to survive. In addition, Zhivago feels conflicted about his true purpose. He’s a doctor and a soldier, but his true calling is poetry. Pasternak also does what I love in a long book: he includes many characters and side stories that intersect throughout, giving you a great picture of Russia during this period. I know I haven’t done this book justice by writing such a short review. But if you like classic long books about history, love, and conflict, this one’s for you!

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whittaker – 5 stars

Here’s another terrific book, this one set in the Missouri Ozarks during the 1970s through the 2000s. The story follows two childhood friends, Saint and Patch. When Patch intervenes to save his childhood crush, Misty from a sexual assault, the attacker kidnaps him. Saint won’t give up on finding Patch and her heroic actions result in changes no one can predict. Included is a troubling mystery about a serial killer and other missing children. Throughout, Whittaker explores many themes, including the lasting effects of trauma, the search for identity, and women’s struggle for independence. Although this a dark book, I felt lifted by the love between the characters. Highly recommend.

Table for Two by Amor Towles – 4.5 stars

I bought this book a long time ago and it had been waiting patiently on my Kindle ever since. I had good intentions and started it a couple years ago, but got sidelined. So it was a perfect choice for my summer reading challenge to read a book I’d started but never finished! This is a collection of six short stories based in New York City mostly during the 2000s and a novel set in Los Angeles in the 1930s. The characters are unrelated but Towles connects them through themes of the search for happiness, power, money, and society’s expectations. I loved A Gentleman in Moscow and recommend this one too!

Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang – 3.5 stars

I was intrigued by the premise of this book which follows the career of a top-rated rental hire in New York. The unnamed narrator assumes a variety of roles, including father to a young girl, jilted lover, a funeral attendee, and alcoholic brother. As you can imagine, having a job like this requires a lot of detachment. Soon his gigs become complicated as they overlap and the narrator’s personal attachments grow. I thought this was going to be another dark book, but it turned out to be a feel-good one, and that worked for me!

Fractured Tide by Leslie Lutz – 3.5 stars

Based on the cover, I thought I was going to read a classic book-at-sea thriller but Fractured Tide, a young adult novel, turned out to be science fiction too! I tend to pick books without doing a lot of research—that makes it more fun and interesting to me. Set in the Florida Keys, Fractured Tide follows the story of seventeen-year-old Sia, who helps with her mom’s scuba-diving charter. Disaster strikes in the form of an unknown monster and Sia and the rest of the crew must fight to survive. Fractured Tide is full of teenage drama, relationship issues, and more serious family conflict. Although I don’t usually read science fiction, I was glad I went in blind and would recommend it to readers looking for a quick and suspenseful read.

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Book Review: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express
by
Agatha Christie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

You may find it hard to believe that I had never read the classic mystery Murder on the Orient Express. I’d also never seen any of the movies so I had no knowledge of the plot or characters. I went in blind!

If you are like I was and plan to read this for the first time, here’s a quick spoiler-free description of the plot.

Set in Europe during the early 1930s, the story takes place on a train, the Orient Express, which has become stranded in a snowstorm in what was then Yugoslavia. One of the passengers is Hercule Poirot, a famous Belgian detective. When another passenger, Mr. Ratchett is murdered, Poirot takes on the case, at the urging of his friend and train company owner, M Bouc, who is also on board.

The book is a classic “locked room mystery” because the passengers are completely isolated from the outside, making it clear that someone on the train murdered Mr. Ratchett. Poirot investigates the scene and interviews all the passengers with the assistance of M Bouc and a Greek doctor, Constantine. Poirot discovers several suspicious clues that suggest certain passengers were in Mr. Ratchett’s compartment on the night of his death. Christie also throws in a couple red herrings to further confuse the reader.

The diverse group of passengers include Mrs. Hubbard, a talkative American, a Hungarian count and his wife, a young British governess, a British army officer, a Swedish nurse, a Russian aristocrat, an Italian-American salesman, and others. Each provides a feasible alibi, but Poirot’s questions and his reactions to their answers indicate that the detective has an idea who is responsible for Ratchett’s murder.

Because Poirot has no outside access to information, he must rely on his astute psychological assessment of the passengers on the train, resulting in an interesting and entertaining read. Once the case is solved, readers will question the idea of justice versus retribution.

I enjoyed reading this clever mystery. I always prefer to let the story unfold rather than figure things out and, because of that approach, I was able to enjoy Poirot’s personality and insight into human nature. I enjoyed the subtle humor and I liked the ending because it made me think.

This is my third Agatha Christie mystery, so I’ve barely made a dent in her collection of sixty-six detective novels and fourteen short story collections! Here are the others I have read.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles
And Then There Were None

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Book Club Mom’s Author Update: News from Priscilla Bettis

Hi Everyone! My friend Priscilla Bettis recently shared news with me about her latest book, Whispers of a Southern Moon, a collection of inspirational fiction and poetry. Read what it’s all about here!

Priscilla Bettis

Author name: Priscilla Bettis

Genre: Christian Fiction

Book: Whispers of a Southern Moon

An artistic, new collection of inspirational fiction and poetry by Priscilla Bettis.

Includes the award-winning story “Fix Your Face,” a “wonderful Southern Gothic piece akin to the work of Flannery O’Conner!”—Brooke Dreger, Editor, Solid Food Press

A simple man in rural Alabama risks his sanity to keep his sister alive. Lines of poetry celebrate the symphony of a Southern night. A sentient house deep in Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp lures those it seeks to protect.

In Whispers of a Southern Moon, Priscilla Bettis intertwines short stories and poetry to create an inspirational collection of literary fiction and verse. Bettis explores questions about faith, love, and our perceptions of reality, and she does so with an elegant but fierce grip on the reader. This collection spans everything from Southern Gothic prose to Biblically inspired haiku. By the end of the collection, readers will be encouraged that even in the most twisted circumstances, God is present, and we are loved.

About Priscilla Bettis: Priscilla Bettis is an avid reader and a joyful writer. She lives in small-town Texas with her two-legged and four-legged family members. She is a former secular horror author who now writes Christian short stories and poetry inspired by her awe of God and love for fellow human beings. You can find her on The Well Read Fish, a blog that reviews all sorts of Christian fiction from historical romance to science fiction and everything in between.

Website/blog link: https://thewellreadfish.com/

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Are you working on a new book? Have you won an award or a writing contest? Did you just update your website? Maybe you just want to tell readers about an experience you’ve had. Book Club Mom’s Author Update is a great way to share news and information about you and your books.

Email Book Club Mom at bvitelli2009@gmail.com for more information.

Open to all authors – self-published, indie, big-time and anything in between.

Author submissions are limited to one per author in a six-month period.

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BINGO! I won my library’s summer reading challenge!

Hi Everyone,

You may have seen in an earlier post that I won my library’s summer reading challenge. Well now I have my prizes and I want to show you what I got. Watch me unwrap them and see what’s inside!

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Book Review: Bear by Julia Philips

Bear
by
Julia Philips

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I did not fully understand this novel it until I read an analysis of the book after I finished. It’s a story of two adult sisters who live on San Juan island, off the coast of Washington State. They’re both in their late twenties and struggle to take care of their mother who suffers from a terminal lung disease. Elena Arthur, older by a year, works full time at a golf club and Sam works part-time on a ferry that travels back and forth to the mainland. One day, Sam spots a bear swimming in the channel. She’s excited and tells her sister. They think the bear is on its way to Canada, but then they see it outside their house. They’re still excited to see a bear up close. It’s an amazing animal! But while Sam soon becomes wary, Elena is enchanted by the bear’s magnificence.

When they discover the bear has damaged a corner of their house, Sam calls Madeline Pettit, an agent from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to investigate. Madeline gives stern advice not to go near or feed the bear. Before long, however, Elena, who views the bear as a magical creature, begins following it and leaving it food.

As the story continues, it takes on a surreal quality, and that’s because the author was inspired by the Grimms’ fairy tale, Snow White and Rose Red. I didn’t know this until later—haha! I can’t believe I didn’t get it. I was getting frustrated with the characters, especially Elena, because they weren’t thinking straight and the bear’s presence was beginning to take over their lives.

The immediate problem with the bear is only one of their concerns, however. First is their mother’s deteriorating health and second is the overwhelming cost of her mother’s medical care. For years, Elena has carried most of the family’s heavy financial load. Sam looks forward to eventually quitting her job and leaving the island with money from the sale of the house, a dream she and her sister have shared since they were girls.

As their mother’s health deteriorates and the situation with the bear becomes increasingly dangerous, the simmering conflict between sisters reaches a full boil. The sisters will face a spiraling crisis from which they cannot turn back. Although I was frustrated with the story, once I read the analysis, I appreciated how clever it was.

I’m glad I read Bear and dug further to understand it better. Have you ever read a book you didn’t fully get right away? Leave a comment!

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Book Review: The Magician by Colm Tóibín

The Magician
by
Colm Tóibín

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The Magician had been on my list for a long time and I finally got around to reading it this month. At nearly 500 pages, it took me over two weeks to read this historical novel about the author Thomas Mann. I never race to finish a book, and although I enjoyed this one, I felt more driven to finish so I could read something lighter!

Thomas Mann (1875 – 1955) was a German author of seven novels, including Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family (1901), Death in Venice (1912) and The Magic Mountain (1924). In 1929, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature and later became an outspoken opponent of Hitler, making speeches in Germany and later in the United States where he lived in exile. Mann, who loved German art and culture, had a complicated relationship with his homeland and in his later years, struggled to find a place where he belonged. He fled to the U.S. at the onset of World War II and was well-regarded by both the public and political dignitaries. After the war, however, he felt less welcome, due in part to the crackdown against communism. Although not a communist, investigations into his family members’ political stances made him wary. He was criticized upon returning to Germany, especially after a visit to East Germany. Mann eventually left the United States and lived in Switzerland until his death in 1955.

I enjoyed reading this fictionalized account of Mann’s childhood in Lübeck and his family life in Munich where he lived from 1919 – 1933. In 1905, he married Katia Pringsheim, from a wealthy family of Jewish descent, and together they had six children. There was a lot of sadness in his family, however. Two sisters committed suicide as adults and later, two of his children. They were all cultured intellectuals and their varying political views caused tension. Mann and his brother Heinrich were literary rivals in their early years and were at one point estranged because of Heinrich’s radical views. Mann would later lock horns with his son, Klaus.

Mann was bisexual but careful to project his image as a family man. Tóibín portrays this struggle with Mann’s sexuality at various points during the novel. Mann kept a journal throughout his life, depicting many private thoughts. He destroyed a portion of them, but kept some to help him write later works. These journals were made public in 1977.

I was very interested in the historical elements of The Magician because I’d read The Magic Mountain in college and didn’t remember much about the author. I found it more difficult to warm up to Tóibín’s portrayal of Mann, who came across as cold and inward. Yet there were moments of warmth, particularly when the children were younger, earning him the nickname “The Magician” because of the magic tricks he performed for them. All in all, Mann was a complicated man who lived during a period of great upheaval. His books continued to be read and studied. I tried to read The Magic Mountain about ten years later after college but I found it too difficult to get through. I’m going to give it another try, but not right away because, at 720 pages it is also a long one!

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Book Review: Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

Planet of the Apes
by
Pierre Boulle

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I never would have considered reading Planet of the Apes if I hadn’t been required to read a science fiction for our library’s summer reading challenge. I don’t usually read science fiction so I set out to find an eBook I could download from the library with the requirements that it wasn’t too long and that it wasn’t filled with aliens or a lot of technology.

I loved the Planet of the Apes movies so it was a no-brainer when I saw the book as an option!

First of all, I had no idea that the Boulle (1912-1994) was a French author and that he also wrote The Bridge over the River Kwai (1952) which was made into an award-winning film. A trained engineer, he served during World War II as a secret agent with the Free France resistance movement in Singapore where he was captured and subjected to two years of forced labor. He used these experiences to write The Bridge over the River Kwai.

If you’re not familiar with the storyline of Planet of the Apes, it’s about a spaceship that lands on a planet very similar to Earth. As the three astronauts explore this twin planet, however, they discover a civilization where humans are savages and Apes rule. They are soon captured and during their captivity, Ulysse, one of the astronauts, befriends several Chimpanzees, known as the intellectuals. He has so much to discover. How did Apes develop and how did humans remain savages? But showing his intelligence also brings trouble. The Gorillas, the most powerful class, but also the most ignorant, are in charge and want to capture and keep the humans in cages for study. Perhaps the secret to how the civilization came to be lies in the Orangutans’ account of history. They have excellent memories, but lack original thought. Ulysse will need help from the Chimpanzees. But what kind of future does he have in this flipped world?

I enjoyed reading Planet of the Apes and the way the author explored history and the question of evolution. What is the distinction between civilizations that develop by imitation and not by independent evolution? Who came first on this twin planet and what might happen in the future, here and back on Earth?

I recommend this quick science fiction to all readers because of its enjoyable plot and interesting questions about human civilization.

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Book Review: Drawn Testimony by Jane Rosenberg

Drawn Testimony
by
Jane Rosenberg

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I was fascinated by this memoir sharing the author’s experiences as a courtroom sketch artist. Rosenberg, a classically trained portrait artist, describes her years working in this ultra-competitive field in which a limited number of artists vie for assignments as well as the best seat in the courtroom. Courtroom artists must quickly draw all the players in the room, hoping their sketches capture the high drama of a testimony or case. The author covered many high-profile defendants, including Bernie Madoff, John Gotti, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Bill Cosby, and Tom Brady. It was her sketch of Brady that went viral, comparing the likeness to Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and others!

The author includes many of her sketches. Seeing them underscores how highly skilled she is. Being able to sense what might be a good scene and to quickly draw it takes a great deal of talent. Short of seeing sketches in the news, I had never thought about the demands of a courtroom sketch artist and thoroughly enjoyed reading about the author’s experiences.

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Audiobook Review: Never Lie by Freida McFadden

Never Lie
by
Freida McFadden

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I forgot to include Never Lie in my list of the books I read during my break. Because it was an audiobook, I didn’t take notes, so I’m going to be winging this review! When you listen to an audiobook, you really must let go of the idea of keeping close track of things and just enjoy the story. So that’s what I did.

I chose Never Lie as part my summer reading challenge to listen to an audiobook and I admit, I picked one that wasn’t overly long because you need to strategize! In addition, I chose it because I had recently read The Housemaid by McFadden and thought it was good.

Set outside NYC, we meet Tricia and Ethan, a young and wealthy newlywed couple on their way to see a mansion for sale. There’s a big snowstorm and no cell service and they almost get lost. When they arrive, the place is dark except for a light on an upper floor. And no sign of the realtor. What do they decide to do? Look for a key and go in on their own, of course. They can’t stay outside because the snow is piling up outside. They may even have to stay the night if the roads aren’t cleared.

The house is the former home of a famous female psychiatrist who was murdered, so it’s kind of creepy. And the place is dusty and unlived in except for a fresh pack of cold cuts in the fridge. Weird, huh? But no thriller is a thriller unless the characters make foolish decisions. I got pulled in right away. The two notice many other strange details, but they stay strong with their decision to keep going with the plan.

And of course there are secrets between Tricia and Evan. When Trish goes off on her own she finds a hidden room full of audiocassettes, recordings of the psychiatrist’s sessions with her patients. You can guess what Tricia decides to do next!

As Tricia listens and Evan works upstairs, she attempts to tie the past to the present. Alarming and confusing details emerge. You may think you have it figured out, but don’t count on it.

McFadden builds the suspense right to the final chapters and finishes with a wild outcome. I didn’t guess, but I never try because with thrillers, I prefer to just go along for the ride!

If you enjoy thrillers and suspense, I think you’ll like this one. It was a fun listen and cleverly written.

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Catching up

Hey Everyone!

I’m back from my summer break and I have a lot of catching up to do with all your blogs and with posts of my own. I would have jumped back in earlier, but I was in the middle of reading Doctor Zhivago and I wanted to finish before I logged in again. Phew! It took me almost a month to properly read it and I’m looking forward to telling you about my experience.

I was busy reading throughout the break and have eight additional books (pictured here) to tell you about! In addition, I finally won our library’s summer reading challenge (it took ten years and some stiff competition) and I am excited to receive my prize! More to follow on that.

I hope you have all been well. I’ve missed you all and look forward to reading your news.

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