The Quick: A Novel

Title:  The Quick: A Novel

Author:  Lauren Owen

Publication Information:  Random House. 2014. 544 pages.

ISBN:  0812993276 / 978-0812993271

Book Source:  I received this book through the GoodReads First Reads program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quote:  "And how odd, how interestingly perverse, to be frightened by happiness. It was the dread of getting things wrong, fear of losing this friend he had (by sheer luck) managed to find."

James and Charlotte are brother sister growing up in a remote home with no mother and a father who returns home only as he is dying. After their father's death, they are in the care of a relative. Essentially, each one are all the other has.

Charlotte remains in that environment, while James leaves to pursue studies at Oxford and then a literary life in London. Then, one day, James disappears. Charlotte leaves her sheltered home to try and discover what happened to her brother. Where that leads is a direction I completely did not expect.

The dilemma with this book is how to review it without revealing more the story. If you plan on reading this book, do not read any reviews that speak of the direction this story goes in. That will completely change the experience of the book.

Based on the back description of the book, it should be a historical mystery, somewhat Gothic in nature. That is all. This book is that somewhat, but then story line goes in a surprising direction, even more so for the 1800s London setting. It's not a story line I particularly enjoy. Had I known, I probably would not have read the book.

That being said, the book is Lauren Owen's debut novel. The book is well written, with a writing style that moves quickly and is easy to read. For its story line, the book would get a lower rating from me, but the writing helps improve it. The story line of the book was not for me, but I do look forward to seeing what Lauren Owen writes next.

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The House on Mango Street

Title:  The House on Mango Street

Author:  Sandra Cisneros

Publication Information:  Vintage Contemporaries, Vintage Books, Random House, Inc. 1984. 110 pages.

ISBN:  0780743229 / 978-0780743229

Book Source:  I read this book because the title and cover appealed to me.

Favorite Quote:  "You can never have too much sky."

The House on Mango Street is semi-autobiographical fiction. It is the tale of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl coming of age in an urban Chicago neighborhood. The neighborhood is fairly self-contained, consisting mostly of Hispanic immigrants like Esperanza and her family. She is growing up poor and dreams of leaving the world she knows in search of a better life. She is surrounded by difficulty but also with love.

This book is not written as a traditional novel.  At about 100 pages, it is very short and a very quick read. Also, it is written in a series of vignettes, each a page or two long.

The dictionary defines a vignette as "a brief evocative description, account, or episode" and "a small illustration that fades into the background without a definite border."

This book meets both definitions. Each vignette describes an episode or a memory in Esperanza's life. The subject matter is often difficult including poverty, accidents, rape, and death. The writing is beautiful, almost poetic in nature. Each vignette is a point. Yet, when you take a step back, each fades into the other. The points connect, and you see a picture of Esperanza's life.

Esperanza's story seems symbolic of the story of many first generation immigrants, regardless of culture and of young people growing up to define their own place in the world:

"When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are."

The lesson appears to be that every step, every moment in your life makes you the person you are. Your heritage, each home you live in, each person you meet remain a part of you. Own that past, and then create your own future.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Rise & Fall of Great Powers: A Novel

Title:  The Rise & Fall of Great Powers: A Novel

Author:  Tom Rachman

Publication Information:  The Dial Press. 2014. 384 pages.

ISBN:  0679643656 / 978-0679643654

Book Source:  I received this book through a publisher's giveaway free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quote:  "Friends required a life story. Your past mattered only if others sought to know it - it was they who demanded that one possessed a history. Alone, you could do without."

In the first three chapters of this book, we meet Tooly Zylberberg at three points in her life.

In 2011, Tooly is thirty-something and living a quiet life. She owns a small bookstore in the Welsh countryside. Her bookstore does not generate an income to sustain itself; yet, Tooly seems to have an independent source of income. She seems to have no ties to anyone except for Fogg, who works in the bookstore. Yet, she spends considerable time searching the people of her past on the Internet.

In 1999, Tooly is a young-adult living in New York City, somewhat adrift but finding herself a place among the students of the city.

In 1988, Tooly is a young girl moving from place to place with Paul, who may or may not be her father. Paul is somewhat absent-minded and has a reason that he cannot go home. So, he takes on a job that requires him to move every year to two years. Tooly moves along with him and then beyond him.

The story shifts between the three time periods consistently throughout the book. The characters start to overlap between the time periods. Each section tells a little bit more about Tooly's life that helps create more sense out of either the past or the future.

The book is a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle - you have bits and pieces that don't seem to belong. Yet, as you fit more and more pieces in, a picture emerges. To some extent, that seems to be Tooly's journey as an adult - to try and make sense of her disheveled life.

What I love about the book is the character of Tooly, particularly as a child. I want to reach out and protect her from some of the adults in her life and from the life she led as a child. I find myself cheering for the adults who do reach out and provide a stability in her life.

What I also love is the writing. The changing time periods and the overlapping characters make the book difficult to follow at times. I find myself flipping often to the chapter titles, which identify the time period. Yet, at the same time, the writing weaves it all together like a tapestry, and Tooly's character throughout is the binding force of the book.

What I do not enjoy about the story is the fact that the book implies a great mystery about Tooly's life as a child. The book description even says, "Tooly ... believes she will never understand the true story of her own life." Yet, her life story - one of adults who don't behave in the best interest of a child - is not that extreme and not that unusual. As a result, I find the mystery and its resolution at the end disappointing.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

On the Island

Title:  On the Island

Author:  Tracey Garvis Graves

Publication Information:  Penguin Group. 2011. 328 pages.

ISBN:  014219672X / 978-0142196724

Book Source:  I read this book as this month's selection for my local book club.

Favorite Quote:  "Some of the things you wanted me to experience already passed me by, and I can't go back."

The premise of this book is that a relationship that would probably never even have started in the "read world" can exist and thrive under extreme circumstances, perhaps because of the extreme circumstances. The question is can that relationship survive when the circumstances change, and people re-emerge into the everyday world?

TJ is a young man in remission from cancer. His family is headed to a vacation in the Maldives in an effort to put the illness behind them. However, since TJ has missed so much school due to his illness, he needs the summer to catch up. Anna is a teacher, who takes on the job of tutoring TJ over the summer.

The book begins as TJ and Anna take a flight to join his family in the Maldives. The plane crashes, ad the two of them end up stranded on a deserted island. They are stranded for years. A large part of the book is about how they survive and about the relationship that develops between the two of them during this time.

A relationship certainly does develop. TJ's mother asks him "What kind of relationship did you and Anna have?" TJ responds, "Exactly the kind you think we did."

The latter part of the book is about whether that relationship can survive outside of the island.

I would call On the Island a summer beach read except for the fact that it begins with a plane crash on the way to a summer vacation in a beautiful tropical location. Anna and TJ's start on the beach is not such a positive one.

I would have liked this book if everything had not ended in a neat package - on the island and off the island. The characters were a little too perfect in their actions, reactions, and understanding. Even though the book started with a life-threatening illness and the extreme disaster of a plane crash, everything else about the story has a very rose-colored tone. Everyone understands each other's motivations and emotions. Everyone puts the other person ahead of their own needs. It's all a bit too perfect. That fact was the surprising and disappointing note in the book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

China Dolls

Title:  China Dolls

Author:  Lisa See

Publication Information:  Random House. 2014. 335 pages.

ISBN:  081299289X / 978-0812992892

Book Source:  I received this book through a publisher's giveaway free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quote:  "Age is a number, and I have an unlisted one ... A female performer is a lot like a camellia, which doesn't fade, wilt drop petal by petal, brown on the stem. At the height of its beauty, a camellia drops whole from the bush. You can't escape aging no matter how talented you are."

China Dolls is the story of Grace, Helen, and Ruby, three young women who meet in the San Francisco Chinatown in the 1930s. Two are of Chinese heritage; one is of Japanese heritage; and all are Americans. It charts their lives through World War II, and what it meant to be of Oriental heritage in the United States at that time.

The book vividly brings to life San Francisco in the 1930s and the 1940s. The book also brings to life the three young women. Grace has escaped her childhood home in the Midwest and seeks to make a life based on her dance ability. She has grown up used to being the only Oriental in the community, and the ridicule and pressure that often entailed. Helen is from an affluent and influential Chinatown community. She finds herself bound by tradition and expectations. Ruby too comes from a past and a heritage that she would rather not reveal. She looks to reinvent herself into the "China doll."

Their friendship forms in the Forbidden City nightclub of San Francisco. It ebbs and flows throughout their lives. It has its highs and lows as their individual goals and needs take precedence over the friendship. They bring each other joy and heartache. "I loved those two, but together and separately, they caused me some of the worst pain of my life."

This story is told through the alternating perspectives of the three women. The book is very slow to start. It does eventually pick up some speed, you have to persevere well into the book. The second half is the more interesting one.

The three main characters and their relationship seem somewhat juvenile. They go from meeting to instant friendship. They fight over things and over young men. They are quick to love and quick to betray. I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. China Dolls lacks the depth in both character and story that Snow Flower and the Secret Fan had.

My favorite part of the book is the history it brings to life. I learned a lot about San Francisco and the Chinese community in the city. The book also brings to life the prejudices that existed at the time, and the impact of Pearl Harbor and World War. It is a better history than a story.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Art of Arranging Flowers

Title:  The Art of Arranging Flowers

Author:  Lynne Branard

Publication Information:  Berkeley Trade. 2014. 320 pages.

ISBN:  0425272710 / 978-0425272718

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quote:  "Sometimes we think there is supposed to be this great spiritual awakening that happens before we make a change in our lives. We expect some 'aha' moment, some beautiful enlightening experience to shape us into the people we want to be, but sometimes it just happens from the circumstances in our lives that present themselves. We become who we are meant to be because of the things along our edges that pull us into existence."

Ruby Jewels has been a florist in a small town for over twenty years. She understands flowers and the language of flowers. She also understands her customers and their needs, sometimes even before they themselves do.

Ruby has created this sheltered world for herself, surrounding herself with her friends and with her dog Clementine. Yet, as she quietly addresses the needs of those around her, her own emotions and needs go unaddressed. In bits and pieces, we learn that Ruby's sister died many years ago and that Ruby has never recovered from that loss. In fact, that loss and the facts of her childhood have defined her life since.

Will Ruby break free of the past? Will someone find their way past the walls she has built? Will friendship and love persevere?

Surrounding Ruby is an equally sweet cast of characters. Two recovering alcoholics who provide support for each other. A young boy who has lost his mother. A gentleman fighting the last battle of his life. Young lovers. Shy lovers. Weddings. Funerals. Someone new to town.

"Sweet" is the best way to describe this story. Anyone interested in flowers and flower arranging will find all the descriptions inviting. The story itself is predictable but warm and inviting. No major drama. No major highs. No major lows. Just people living life in a small town and coming to terms with their own pasts and futures.

Enjoy it with an afternoon cup of tea or under the umbrella at the beach.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Vacationers: A Novel

Title:  The Vacationers:  A Novel

Author:  Emma Straub

Publication Information:  Riverhead Hardcover. 2014. 304 pages.

ISBN:  1594631573 / 978-1594631573

Book Source:  I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quote:  "Everything was fine, except the things that weren't."

The Vacationers is the story of one family and one two week vacation. Through the day by day account of the two weeks, it tells the story of the cracks in the family and the issues they are collectively and individually dealing with.

The vacationers are the Post family. Jim and Franny Post are married 35 years and facing a crisis. Their son Bobby is a real estate agent turned yoga aficionado. He comes to vacation with his girlfriend Carmen. The Posts' daughter Sylvia has just graduated from high school and will work on her language skill with a tutor over the summer although she has more on her mind than languages. Also along for the vacation is Franny's best friend Charles and his partner Lawrence and their quest to adopt a child.

The setting is the beautiful island of Mallorca because as Franny says, "Mallorca was less cliché than the South of France, and less overrun by Americans than Tuscany." The Posts have rented a house on the island for two weeks.

Throughout the book, we learn about the cracks in the family. An affair. A loss of a job. A career that is not going anywhere. A relationship that may not be grounded for long term love. A tension between a friendship and a marriage. An adoption process fraught with heartbreak. The tensions emerge throughout the two weeks, coming to different resolutions by the end of the book.

This book is a summer beach read. My biggest issue with it is that I do not like any of the characters. The book follows an expected plot line. As such, I end up not caring about the characters, their problems or the resolutions. The best thing about the book for me is the beautiful setting.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.