2015 Book #101 – A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, Terryville - Fiction Lovers by rebeccabook17

Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Date finished: 9/21/15
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Riverhead
Publication Date: May 22, 2007
Pages in book: 372
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from the cover:

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul–they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman’s love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.
A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I read this book for the Terryville Library’s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group discussion for this month (September). This book probably wasn’t something I would have picked up on my own but I’m very glad that I read it. I also thought it was interesting that I’ve never read books on this subject matter before but my other most recent read had a very similar story line and I couldn’t help but make parallels between the two novels. This book tells the story of two women: Miriam who grew up near Herat but moved to Kabul when she married, and Laila who grew up in Kabul and was born on the night of “the uprising.” These two women had very different childhoods. Miriam was a bastard child of a man who already had 3 wives, and she was raised out in a one room shack in the woods in order for the family to avoid being shamed. Laila was the third child of a couple in Kabul who ended up having to send their two first-born children (boys) to war, and while her father was doting her mother never recovered from having to send her boys off to war.

As Miriam and Laila journey through their lives in Kabul, regimes change hand again and again. Rules and restrictions are placed on the citizens of Afghanistan and women lose many basic rights and basically become prisoners in their own homes in many cases. Things are especially bad for women who are married to men like Rasheed, Miriam’s husband. Rasheed lays out rules with his fists and his belt, and when Miriam has one miscarriage after another, Rasheed wants even less to do with her. Miriam and Laila must both find their way in this world where they are treated as less, as if they are owned by their husbands and are not people on their own.

Overall I really liked this book a lot. There were a lot of interesting relationship dynamics between the characters and there were some unexpected twists thrown in there. Honestly I’m surprised I liked it so much considering how depressing it was. There was just so much violence in this book, and almost all of it was directed at women. This was a very powerful story though that really made me appreciate how lucky I am in life to not have to face such terror and heart-break. Both of these women were amazingly strong and I cannot imagine going through the things they experienced. Definitely an eye-opening novel and something I think everyone should read.

The bottom line: I really liked this book a lot. The subject matter was pretty depressing but overall it was a great novel.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

17Aug2015

2015 Book #87 – I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Historical fiction, Terryville - Fiction Lovers by rebeccabook17

Title: I Shall Be Near To You
Author: Erin Lindsay McCabe
Date finished: 8/16/15
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Crown
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Pages in book: 297
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from the cover:

An extraordinary novel about a strong-willed woman who disguises herself as a man in order to fight beside her husband, inspired by the letters of a remarkable female soldier who fought in the Civil War.
Rosetta doesn’t want her new husband Jeremiah to enlist, but he joins up, hoping to make enough money that they’ll be able to afford their own farm someday. Though she’s always worked by her father’s side as the son he never had, now that Rosetta is a wife she’s told her place is inside with the other women. But Rosetta decides her true place is with Jeremiah, no matter what that means, and to be with him she cuts off her hair, hems an old pair of his pants, and signs up as a Union soldier.
With the army desperate for recruits, Rosetta has no trouble volunteering, although she faces an incredulous husband. She drills with the men, proves she can be as good a soldier as anyone, and deals with the tension as her husband comes to grips with having a fighting wife. Rosetta’s strong will clashes with Jeremiah’s while their marriage is tested by broken conventions, constant danger, and war, and she fears discovery of her secret even as they fight for their future, and for their lives. Inspired by more than 250 documented accounts of the women who fought in the Civil War while disguised as men, I Shall Be Near To You is the intimate story, in Rosetta’s powerful and gorgeous voice, of the drama of marriage, one woman’s amazing exploits, and the tender love story that can unfold when two partners face life’s challenges side by side.

My rating: 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I read this book for the Terryville Library’s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group discussion for this month (August). This book was actually already on my TBR list before I joined the book discussion group at the library, so I was really excited when I saw this one on their to read list. This book is about a young woman named Rosetta who marries Jeremiah Wakefield, a boy she has loved for years, before he goes off to join the Civil War. Two weeks later though, he leaves to enlist. Rosetta can’t face the idea of life without Jeremiah, living on his parents’ farm and being forced to stay inside every day doing woman’s work. And so she dresses up as a man and goes to join the army so that she can fight alongside her husband.
What follows is her story of living inside the Regiment. When she first arrived, Jeremiah was livid that she followed him and masqueraded herself as a man to join the Army. Rosetta never folded in with what was expected of her though, and that was one of the reasons Jeremiah fell in love with her in the first place. And as mad as he is, in a way he is also glad she is there and that they can be together. He doesn’t want her to be in harm’s way but she is just about as stubborn as a mule so without getting her in trouble by tattling, there isn’t much Jeremiah can do to get her sent home.
Overall I really just enjoyed this book a lot. There is such strength in Rosetta and I admire her so much for facing something that I’m not sure I would ever be able to face. Obviously being in a war is not something for the weak, and the descriptions of the battle fields and the wounded and dying that Rosetta describe would be hard for anyone to come to terms with. And also with war comes loss; loss of loved ones and loss of innocence. I loved Rosetta’s character and it warmed my heart to see how much mutual love there was between Rosetta and Jeremiah. This book was heart-wrenching and wonderful.

The bottom line: I just loved this book. It was sad, yes, but it was also a great book about what strength we as women are capable of. I would highly recommend reading this one.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

20Jul2015

2015 Book #75 – Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, Terryville - Fiction Lovers by rebeccabook17

Title: Skipping Christmas
Author: John Grisham
Date finished: 7/20/15
Genre: Fiction, Holiday
Publisher: DoubleDay
Publication Date: November 6, 2001
Pages in book: 177
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from the cover:

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty, they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash, they aren’t even going to have a tree. They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences—and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined.
A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.

My rating: 2.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I read this book for the Terryville Library’s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group discussion for this month (July). I went to my first book club discussion with this group last month (June) and I really enjoyed last month’s book and the discussion, I think it is a great group for me to participate in so I wanted to keep going. I have to say I am really looking forward to next month’s book (I Shall Be Near You) which has already been on my TBR list for awhile. Anyway so this month’s book was Skipping Christmas by John Grisham and I actually had already read this book when I was in Middle School and my Mom and I read it for a Mother-Daughter book discussion that we were part of at the time. In 2004 this book was actually made into a holiday film, Christmas with the Kranks, starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis.
This book is amazingly frustrating to me. I felt that way the first time I read it and again when I saw the movie, and then again when I read it this time. I just get so mad about some of the blow back that the Kranks get as a consequence of telling people that they’re skipping Christmas. And really, what is so wrong with that? All they have for actual family is a daughter who they thought would be in Peru until the next Christmas. Really, what’s so wrong with treating themselves for one year and taking a cruise. And to be honest, how is it anyone else’s damn business what they decide to do with their holiday?? It really just gets me so fired up. I mean, yes it all turns out well in the end and the neighborhood assholes (excuse my French) band around the Kranks to make a nice homecoming for (surprise!) Blair and her fiance who call about 7 hours before they arrive (also ridiculously rude). But really I was still mad at everyone in that neighborhood in the end. If someone gave me that much hassle about putting a damn lighted snowman on my roof, I would’ve snapped way before then. If I don’t want a damn Frosty on my roof then I’m damn well not going to put one up there, I don’t care what any of my neighbors say. I pay the mortgage and I pay the taxes so you can get off my damn lawn. Also it kind of bothered me how much Luther talked about all these other women that he though were “hot” or “cute.” I don’t think I noticed that as much when I was younger but it is pretty creepy. Also why did they care whether Blair’s fiance was light skinned or dark skinned? What was up with that?
So as you can probably tell, I don’t especially like this book. I think people should have been up in the Krank’s business a bit less and not been so intrusive. Also I think Nora and even Luther are annoying main characters. Nora should’ve been a little nicer to Luther in the end, yes the whole cruise thing was his idea but she was all about it just the day before. And Luther should’ve been ogling young women in stringy bikinis a little less, or like not at all.

The bottom line: I know this is a pretty popular book (and movie) but I just find it so ridiculously frustrating. I would say people should try it but as you can tell, this is not my favorite book at all.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

15Jun2015

2015 Book #57 – The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, Historical fiction, Terryville - Fiction Lovers by rebeccabook17

Title: The Light Between Oceans
Author: M. L. Stedman
Date finished: 6/14/15
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: July 31, 2012
Pages in book: 343
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.
Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

My rating: 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I read this book for the Terryville Library’s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group. I have been thinking about joining the group for awhile but even though it is only one night a month, I always find it hard trying to add one more thing into my schedule. I realized a couple months ago though that I have such a passion for reading and that I get such joy out of discussing good books with other people that I really should be making this group more of a priority. I had planned to start going with the May meeting (the book was one of the Liane Moriarty books and she’s been on my to read list for awhile) but we were on vacation when they were meeting in May so I decided to wait for the June meeting. And when I saw what the book for the June meeting was, I was excited since this book is on my to read list as well. And thank goodness I was able to finish the book since the meeting is tomorrow! (I’m writing this on Sunday 6/14 and waiting to post it until after the meeting tomorrow so I don’t give away my thoughts!)

I was hooked on this story from the very beginning. And though it was a tiny bit slow to start up in the beginning, the last half of the book just flew by for me, I couldn’t put it down. I could barely convince myself to look away from the pages long enough to eat my dinner. The characters of the story will completely draw you in and you’ll feel as if you’re there living on Janus with the Sherbournes and you’ll be a witness to everything that happens through the story. The emotions that are woven into the story will take your breath away. When you’ve raised a baby its whole life, even if that baby isn’t biologically yours, is it right to have that baby taken away? What is really right and wrong in a situation like that? What is fair? The contents of this book and the questions it brings up in the reader’s mind are just so thought provoking. What would you do if you were in this exact situation? Though for much of the book I was mad at Isabella for some of the choices she made, once she fell in love with that baby, I can’t say that I can know whether I would have done anything differently.

For those of you who would like to have your own book discussion with this book, here is a site with some reading discussion questions you can use.

The bottom line: I loved this book so so much. It was amazingly touching and moving and just so great. Everyone should read this as soon as possible, be ready though it’s going to tug hard at your heart strings.

Favorite quotes:

“He struggles to make sense of it- all this love, so bent out of shape, refracted, like light through the lens.”

“You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things.”

“I’ve learned the hard way that to have any kind of a future you’ve got to give up hope of ever changing your past”

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page