On My Nightstand - The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Book Summary (source):

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time—Paris in the twenties—and an extraordinary love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

In Chicago in 1920, Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and finds herself captivated by his good looks, intensity, and passionate desire to write. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group of expatriates that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

But the hard-drinking and fast-living café life does not celebrate traditional notions of family and monogamy. As Hadley struggles with jealousy and self-doubt and Ernest wrestles with his burgeoning writing career, they must confront a deception that could prove the undoing of one of the great romances in literary history

My thoughts:

I kept seeing this book come up in my recommended reads (you know from Chapters on line) and after reading the book description, I quickly knew this book was not something I was interested in.

And then it gets picked for book club, so I borrowed it from the library, did not read the description again and started reading it.

I was instantly drawn in and had a hard time putting this book down and actually had to Google Earnest Hemmingway to learn more about him because I was so drawn into the story and fascinated.

Trust me – this book is fantastic!

My rating: 5 out of 5!

On My Nightstand - The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale (408) – Diane Setterfield
Source: Library borrowed book

On the back cover:

All children mythologize their birth… So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter’s collection of stories, which are as famous as the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as the yare for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself – all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret.  Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life.  She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain.  Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter’s story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized.  It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida’s storytelling but remains suspicious of the author’s sincerity.  She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them wile becoming finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

My thoughts:
This book came highly recommended from a friend who has completely different taste in books than I do (actually she hates the books I love and vice  versa), and although the back cover description kind of bored me, I gave it a shot.

I really liked this book.  It kept me engaged the whole way through; there is a mystery to figure out and the characters are well rounded and the writing is in my opinion quite good.

Also, the main character Margaret has a love even bigger than mine with books, how can I not love her.

This book would make for a great book club discussion book too.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons - By Lorna Landvik

Source: Borrowed book from a friend (396 pages)

On the back cover:

The women of Freesia Court are convinced that there is nothing good coffee, delicious desserts, and a strong shoulder can’t fix.  Laughter is the glue that hold them together – the foundation of a book group they call AHEB (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons), and unofficial “club” that becomes much more.  It becomes a lifeline.  Holding on through forty eventful years, there’s Faith, a lonely mother of twins who harbors a terrible secret that has condemned her to living a lie; big, a beautiful Audrey, the resident sex queen who knows that with good posture and an attitude you can get away with anything; Merit, the shy doctor’s wife with the face of an angel and the private hell of an abusive husband; Kari, a wise woman with a wonderful laugh who knows the greatest gifts appear after life’s fiercest storms; and finally, Slip, a tiny spitfire of a woman who isn’t afraid to look trouble straight in the eye.

This stalwart group of friends depicts a special slice of American life, of stay-at-home days and new career, of children and grandchildren, of bold beginnings and second chances, in which the power of forgiveness, understanding, and the perfectly timed giggle fit is the CPR that mends broken hearts and shattered dreams.


My thoughts:
I read this book years ago back when it first came out, back before I had kids or was even married, back before I was in a book club (or two), so when this book was picked for one of my book clubs, I knew I had to read it again.

Although I remembered a lot about the book, I did not remember quite a few of the details, so it was very much like I was reading it for the first time, and also my life is so much different than it was back when I read it for the first time. 

I remember reading this book and really wanting to join a book club, I actually spoke to a few friends about starting one, but the interest just wasn’t there.  This time I am in 2 book clubs, but none of mine have the same bond that Landvik describes in this book, I would love to have friends that I was that close with and also lived close to.

This is a fun summer read type book.   There are a few twists and turns but the book is pretty predictable, but it also makes for a great beach read.

I loved it and will probably read it a third time a few years from now.

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Outlander

Outlander – By Diana Gabaldon
Source: book I own (850 pages)

On the back cover:

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dog the British Isles.  Suddenly she is a Sassenach – and ‘outlander’ – in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord… 1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire’s destiny is soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch.  She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairs and spies that may threaten her life… and shatter her heart.  For here, James Frazer, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire… and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

 

My thoughts:

I know I am really late to the game on this book, but better late than never right?

This is my mother-in-laws favourite book and she gave me a copy for Christmas years ago, but at the time I didn’t read as much as I do now, and I was not into historical fiction like I am now either.
So finally I got down to reading it, and guess what?  I really liked it.

Now, I am not in love with Jamie like so many women I talk to, but I did really like his character.

I thought Gabaldon did a great job in painting an accurate picture of how difficult it would have been for Claire to go from 1945 to 1743, I can’t imagine how much harder it would be if that happened to someone today – I would be lost without the internet, my cell phone and my blow dryer!

My one problem with this book was that it is huge – and normally I love a nice long book that I can sink my teeth into, but the book I was reading was a pocket book size – and it was really hard to hold and keep open as I do a huge portion of my reading in bed at night.

I think it I had been reading it on my Kobo I would have found it easier to read and possibly easier to get into at the beginning.

Anyway, as much as I did like the book, I am not racing out to buy the second book, I do want to read it eventually, but I am okay to wait a little while in-between books.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby - by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source: purchased e-book and read on Kobo

Book summary (from Chapters.indigo.ca):

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

My thoughts:

I chose to read this book mostly because it is coming out as a movie very soon, and if Hollywood thought it would make a good movie, why not start wit hthe book right?  And especially since it is considered an American classic.

I really liked this book.  I have read very little set in the thism (1920's), but i thougth Fitzgerald did a great job in painting a picture as to what life was like back then - which is sometimes rare.  Often books written in their current time don't spend a lot of time describing the everyday - but he did a really good job.

It is a pretty easy short read - I recommend it for everyone.

I have not seen the movie yet, but I look forward to seeing how well Hollywood did with this book.

My ratings: 4 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

 

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Source: purchased e-book and read on Kobo

Book description (via Amazon.com):

Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While “scholarshipping” at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel’s dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family’s belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice–words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.

My thoughts:

I have had this book on my list to read for a while, I suggested it to book club but it wasn’t picked which is unfortunate because I think it is a great book and would lead to a wonderful discussion.

In the past few years I have this weird draw to historical fiction books set during and around World War II, maybe that was what attracted me to this story, or the fact that reading the description brought back a conversation with my father where he told me about the Japanese internment camps Canada and US had during WWII.

I also remember learning a little bit about them in school, but not much, maybe it was not highlighted because this was a part of WWII that we are not proud of how we acted?

Anyway, I really liked this book.  I told a story so often forgotten.  It was an easy read and kept me reading right to the end of the book.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Atonement

Atonement - by Ian McEwan
Source: borrowed book (372 pages)

On the back cover:

On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house.  Watching her is Robbie Turner, their childhood friend.

By the end of the day Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined as its start, and Briony will have witnessed mysteries and committed a crime that resonates through the war and through the characters' entire lives.

My thoughts:

I had heard rave reviews of this book and so when it was chosen for book club, I was really looking forward to reading it.  And then I started reading it and honestly, if it wasn't a book club pick, I probably would have stopped reading.

The first half of this book is so long and drawn out, I kept thinking, 'seriously, when is Briony going to commit this crime?'  The first half of the book reminded me a lot of Cutting For Stone - just in that the story took so long to develop and bored me to death.

As boring as the first half of the book was, the second half more than made up for it and made me put this book down and declare it a fantastic book.

If you are reading this book and like me feeling like it will never end, push through, trust me it gets so much better.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Left Neglected

Left Neglected – by Lisa Genova

Source: Kobo

Book description (from Amazon.ca):

Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.

Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny—her new, true life—may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.

My thoughts:

I really liked Lisa Genova’s other book Still Alice, so when I had heard people talking about this one and saying good things, I was pretty excited this was picked as a book club read, but honestly thought I did not love this book.

I really, really did not like Sarah’s character (although she did get better as the book went on) and I found the story dragged on for me.

I do like the concept though, and we had probably the best ever book club discussion about this book – so in that regard it was fantastic.

It really gets people thinking and talking – the whole what if this happened to you kind of scenario.
If you are in a book club and are looking for a book to get the discussion going - this would be your book.

My rating: 3 ½ out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Before I Go To Sleep

Before I Go To Sleep – by S. J. Watson

On the back cover:
Christine wakes up every morning in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar man.  She looks in the mirror and sees an unfamiliar, middle-aged face.  And every morning, the man she has woken up with must explain that she is Ben, he is her husband, she is forty-seven years old, and a terrible accident two decades earlier decimated her ability to form new memories.

But it’s the phone call from a Dr. Nash, a neurologist who claims to be working with Christine without her husband’s knowledge that directs her to her journal, hidden in the back of her closet.  For the past few weeks, Christine has been recording her daily activities – tearful mornings with Ben, sessions with Dr. Nash, flashes of scenes from her former life – and rereading past entries, relearning the facts of her life as retold by the husband she is completely dependent upon.  As the entries build up, Christine asks many questions.  What was life like before the accident?  Why did she and Ben never have a child?  What has happened to Christine’s best friend?  And what exactly was the horrific accident that caused such a profound loss of memory?

Every day, Christine must begin again the reconstruction of her past.  And the closer she gets to the truth, the more unbelievable it seems.

My thoughts:

I had been looking forward to this book for quite some time.

I heard about it over a year ago, and just never got around to reading it myself.  Then it was picked by both book clubs I am in, and I made a vow to try and read book club books closer to the actual meeting date.  I read so much that sometimes I read the book months ahead of time and then it is hard to remember all the details when discussing the book.

Anyway, I finally got around to reading it – and loved it.
I loved that I could figure out some things that were going on, I guess correctly, and then there were other things that I never saw coming.

You might feel like this story has been done before (Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler movie, 50 First Dates, and most recently The Vow), but trust me, this book is so, so much better.

I loved it, and I am sure you will too.

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Divergent

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Source: purchased on Kobo

Book Description: (from amazon.ca)

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My thoughts:

Oh my god!  I was told if I liked the Hunger Games books I would like this book.

How right they were.
I really liked the Hunger Games – but I LOVED this book.
It is absolutely killing me right now that I still have to wait until May 1^st to get the second book Insurgent – and then who knows how long I am going to have to wait for the third.
Aggghhhh, so good and I am sure it will be worth the wait.
If you liked The Hunger Games, trust me, you will like this book.

My rating: 5 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – by Ransom Riggs
Source: Library e-book, read on Kobo

Book Description: (from goodreads.com)

As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

My thoughts:

I have seen this book floating around for quite some time now, and to be totally honest, it completely freaked me out and I had no desire to read it at all.

And then it was picked for a book club pick (not by me, but by everyone else instead).  I saw it was available for download at the library as an e-book, so I borrowed it and decided to try reading it.
Let me tell you, I loved this book!

It is not scary like you might think it would be – it was so far from what I thought it would be and I loved it.

I don’t want to say much more because it will give away some of what I liked about it, but trust me – this is a book to read!

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Child 44

Child 44 (436) by – Tom Rob Smith
Format: Borrowed book

On the back cover:

Stalin’s Soviet Union strives to be a paradise for its workers, providing for all of their needs.  One of its fundamental pillars is that its citizens live free from the fear of ordinary crime and criminals.

But in this society, millions do live in fear… of the State.  Death is a whisper away.  The mere suspicion of ideological disloyalty – owning a book from the decadent West, the wrong word at the wrong time – sends millions of innocent into the Gulags of to their executions.  Defending the system from its citizens is the MGB, the State Security Force.  And no MGD officer is more courageous, conscientious, or idealistic the Leo Demidov.

A war hero with a beautiful wife, Leo lives in relative luxury in Moscow, even providing a decent apartment for his parents.  His only ambition has been to serve his country.  For the greater good, he has arrested and interrogated.

Then the impossible happens.  A different kind of criminal – a murderer – is on the loose, killing at will.  At the same time, Leo finds himself demoted and denounced by his enemies, his world turned upside down, and every believe he’s ever held shattered.  The only way to save his life and the lives of his family is to uncover this criminal.  But in a society that is officially paradise, it’s a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer – mush less a serial killer – is in the midst.  Exiled from his home, with only his wife remaining as his side, Leo must find and stop a criminal that the State won’t even admit exists.

My thoughts:

I really liked this book.

As you know, I like historical fiction and this book is set in the mid-50’s in Russia; a place and time that I have never read about, I found it fascinating.

I also thought the book was really well written, we were kept guessing about certian things throughout.  Smith did a great job in letting the reader understand how different a time it was; where human life is some ways had the same importance that it has today, but for the most part back then it was nothing to kill someone.

Anyway, I thought it was a great book and well worth the read.

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

On My Nightstand - The Wednesday Sisters

The Wednesday Sisters – By Meg Waite Clayton

On the back cover:

Friendship, Loyalty, and Love lie at the heart of Meg Waite Clayton’s beautifully written, poignant, and sweeping novel of five women who, over the course of four decades, come to redefine what it means to be family.

In the late 1960’s, Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett and Ally find themselves meeting every Wednesday at the park in Palo Alto, California.  Defined at first mainly by what their husbands do, the young homemakers and mothers are far removed from the Summer of Love.  These “Wednesday Sisters” otherwise seem to have little in common, brutally blunt Linda is a remarkable athlete, Kath is a Kentucky debutante, quiet Ally has a secret, and quirky, ultra-intelligent Brett wears little white gloves with her miniskirts.  But the women are bonded by a shared love of literature – Fitzgerald, Eliot, Austen, du Maurier, Plath, and Dickens – and the Miss America Pageant, which they watch together every year.

As the years roll on and their children grow, the quintet forms a writers’ circle to express their hopes and dreams through poems, stories, and eventually, books.  Along the way, they experience history in the making – Vietnam, the race to put a man on the moon, and a women’s movement that challenges everything they have ever though about themselves – while at the same time supporting one another through changes in their personal lives brought on by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success.

My thoughts:
I thought this book was only okay.  Not terrible, but by no means great.

I found it frustrating how the author (Clayton) would spend so much time on one specific event in time (like the Walking on the Moon) and so little time on other things.  This story only seemed to skim the surface of these woman’s lives.  It almost felt like a glossed over story, yes there were parts that difficult aspects of their lives, but it did not feel real.  They seems to have unlimited amounts of energy to be able to stay up all night writing and then still deal with their kids during the day.  If I did that – I would have a very horrible day with my kids the next day and not like myself.

My ratings: 2.5 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Matterhorn

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

On the back cover:

An incredible publishing story – written over the course of thirty years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, and widely acclaimed in hardcover – Matterhorn is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood.  Standing in their way are not merely the North Vietnamese but also monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, disease and malnutrition.  When the company finds itself surrounded and outnumbered by a massive enemy regiment, the Marines are thrust into the raw and all-consuming terror of combat.  Matterhorn is a visceral and unforgettable novel that transforms the tragedy of Vietnam into a powerful and universal story of courage, camaraderie, and sacrifice.

My thoughts:

I know nothing about the Vietnam war, I don’t even remembering studying it in school, although I am sure we touched on it a bit.  So I found this book a bit complicated at first (but thankfully the glossary at the back helped a lot), but I found it incredibly fascinating.

I read a lot of book set in WWII, and this is the first I have read and learned a little about a much more recent war.

Because this book is written by a Vietnam vet, it feels so honest, as I am reading about the things that happened that today we would think ridiculous and impossible, I am sure those things did happen to Karl and his fellow comrades.

I would recommend this book to everyone, such an eye opener!

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Secret Daughter

Secret Daughter – By Shilpi Soaya Gowda

On the back cover:

On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl.  But in a culture that favours sons, the only way for Kavita to save her newborn daughter’s life is to give her away.  It is a decision that will haunt her and her husband for the rest of their lives, even after the arrival of their cherished son.

Halfway around the globe, Somer, an American doctor, decides to adopt a child after making the wrenching discover that she will never have one of her own.  When she and her husband, Krishnan, see a photo of the baby with the golf-flecked eyes from a Mumbai orphanage, they are overwhelmed with emotion.  Somer knows life will change with the adoption but is convinced that the love they already feel will overcome all obstacles.

Interweaving the stories of Kavita, Somer and the child that binds both of their destinies, Secret Daughter poignantly explores the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss, identity, and love, as witnessed through the lives of two families – one Indian, one American – and the child that indelibly connects them.

My thoughts:

Overall I liked this book, but there were a few things I did not like.

I did not really like Somer’s character.  I had a hard time with how she treated her husband’s and daughter’s culture.  She made no effort what so ever to understand and help her daughter know where she was from.

I felt there was so much more missing from this book – it seems to only scratch the surface of the emotions that were happening, the struggles both families were facing.

As I said, it was a good book, i liked it, I would tell people to read it, but for me it could have been even better.

My rating: 3 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - One Day

One Day By David Nicholls

On the Back Cover:
It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met.  But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another.  Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day – July 15^th – of each year.  Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears.  And as they true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they m7ust come to grips with the nature of love and life itself.

My thoughts:

I LOVED this book!  First I loved the concept, I read quite a bit so when someone comes up with a great book and a new concept, it feels so fresh and new.  I loved how because you only saw one day at a time, sometimes you did not know exactly what was going on but had to read until the next chapter (or year) to find out.

I don’t want to say much more about this book, I would hate to ruin it for anyone interested in reading it, but let’s just say it is a wonderful book that I had a hard time putting down.

 My Rating: 5 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter – By Tom Franklin

Format: Paperback - 272 pages

On the back cover:
In the 1970’s, Larry Ott and Silas “32” Jones were boyhood pals in a small town in rural Mississippi.  Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry was the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, black single mother.  But then Larry took a girl to a drive-in movie and she was never seen or heard from again.  He never confessed ... and was never charged.

More than twenty years have passed.  Larry lives a solitary, shunned existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion.  Silas has become the town constable.  And now another girl has disappeared, forcing two men who once called each other “friend” to confront a past they’ve buried for decades.

My thoughts:

I really liked this book.  The writing style and character development reminded me of a John Irving book (just not as long).
I read the whole book over one weekend and had a really hard time putting it down.  It made me want to keep reading to find out who really was responsible for the missing girls but I found the book read much more like a drama novel than a mystery novel.

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

On My Nightstand - The Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

Format: Paperback (543 pages)

On the back cover:

The poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959.  They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it – from garden seeds to Scripture – is calamitously transformed on African soil.  What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

My thoughts:

I have to admit, I had no desire to read this book, but it was chosen for book club, and I have discovered some gems before through book club picks that were not mine, but this book did not turn out to be a hidden gem.

It took me a really long time to read (which is so out of character for me), but I found I did not like very many of the characters.

It was a time in history that I am sure many people are not proud of (the nations involved in essentially killing not just the African jungles, but the people and their heritage as well).  I was shocked at what this book revealed (of course this was not taught in my history class).

But, just because I did not like this book, does not mean you will not as well.  This book is a New York Times bestseller, so at least a few people liked it.

My rating: 2 out of 5.