What I Read Wednesday

Back to school means... I'm way behind on reading.

All My Puny Sorrows
As Barb said two weeks ago when discussing this book, it is not an easy or uplifting read, but it is still enjoyable. Yolandi and Elfrieda are sisters. Raised together in a strict Mennonite community, neither of them truly fit in--especially Elfrieda (Elf). Shunned for being a musical prodigy in a community that doesn't believe in music, Elf rebelled in every way she could while also fighting crippling depression. As adults, Elf and Yoli both have their demons. Elf wants to die and Yoli struggles with whether or not she should help her sister die or watch her continue to make failed suicide attempts. Truly, this book opened up a lot of thoughts within me. I believe that terminally ill people should have the right to choose to die, and I believe that depression is an illness as much as ALS, but bridging the gap to whether or not chronically depressed people should have the right to die was not something I could wrap my brain around, no matter how much I thought about it. On top of this, the characters in this book are truly relatable. Human. Flawed. Could be anyone. I loved it.

The Hand That Feeds You: A Novel
A psychological thriller one [mostly] right. So rare these days! There were parts of this that were predictable, but it hooked me in immediately. I had to cut myself off of reading Monday night, otherwise I knew I would be up all night. Morgan is a newly engaged psychologist. Her fiancee Bennett is not the most attractive, does not like her dogs, but there is just something about him. Until one day, Morgan comes home and finds her dogs covered in blood and Bennett dead in the bedroom. Soon after, she discovers that she wasn't Bennett's only fiance oh and also, his name wasn't really Bennett. As Morgan looks further into his life, she begins to follow a bloody trail leading back to all the women with whom he was involved, leaving her to wonder if he really died in her apartment that day. There were some minor issues with the ending, but overall, I enjoyed this book.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

Back to work and busy busy, but I managed to squeeze this in before Wednesday ended!

Three Graves Full
Jason Getty has a secret. There is a body buried in his backyard, and he's responsible. Over the course of a year, he's learned to live with this, but after a landscaping crew discovers one body in his front yard and police unearth another, Jason is forced to live again with the fear of discovery. As Jason tries to stay one step ahead of the police, he delves into the past to explain how he became a haunted man. This was engaging. I love a good mystery type novel that I can just lose myself in.

Oxygen: A Novel
This was very much a Jodi Picoult type book, but it was what I needed to enjoy the last little bit of summer. Marie is an anesthesiologist who is enjoying her career. She loves her work because she gets to be with patients at their most vulnerable, but when something goes wrong during a surgery and a child dies, Marie faces losing it all through a malpractice suit. In the midst of this, Marie has to face that her aging father needs help and with forced time off from work, she is able to handle that issue--plus others that crop up as the trial progresses. While this book was easy to follow and the plot twist was identifiable very early on, it was still a good summer read.

Palisades Park
Palisades Amusement Park is the place to be in the early 1900s in New Jersey. Diving girls, amusement park food, a saltwater swimming pool, one could spend every day at Palisades and never be bored. At least, that's how it is for Toni who grew up with her parents running a french fry stand in the park, surrounded by her dreams of someday becoming a high diver. In the midst of this, times goes on, the Great Depression and Pearl Harbor loom, casting a shadow on the park. I loved this book. The story of Toni and her family was engaging, along with the background of the amusement park. Definitely a well done period piece.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

I feel like I've been striking out a lot with books lately, but I did read two that I thoroughly enjoyed this week.

Days of Awe: A novel
In one year, Isabel goes from a happily married mom with a best friend who shares her days to a soon-to-be divorced, hated by her daughter mom whose best friend is dead. Isabel struggles in this time to figure out who she is and who she wants to be and what follows is a journey between the past Isabel and the new Isabel. I was caught up with Isabel's story because I could relate to it in many ways, though my own life is fortunately not as filled with drama.

Make Your Home Among Strangers: A Novel
This book was such a strong, enjoyable read. Lizet is a first-generation college student struggling to fit in as a minority at a prestigious New York university. Lizet's first semester is fraught with stress, struggles with grades and struggles to bridge the gaps left between her new education and her obviously lacking high school education. In the midst of this, her family in Miami becomes entangled with the life of Ariel Hernandez, a Cuban refugee whose mother died on the raft to America and who is now the middle of a media circus and legal battle (this portion obviously based on Elian Gonzalez). Isabel struggles to find her footing in a new world, while still being there for her family back home. Isabel was absolutely the type of character you root for, in the midst of not being perfect.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

It's still Wednesday! Just barely, but I really wanted to finish a book first.

Speak: A Novel
This book was interesting. Narrated by a Puritan girl, almost a child, traveling to the New World with her husband, a mathematician in the early 1900s, a computer science professor in the 60s, a young girl in the almost present and a computer software programmer in the current time, this book tells the story of technology gone awry and the voices the bridge the gap between. Stephen, the computer software guru, creates bots that act as humans, that have ruined a generation of children. As he sits in prison, contemplating life and what he did, the voices that make up the bots fill in the past. This was a complex story that hinted at a dystopian future without being overly dramatic about it. Some of the skips made it hard follow, but the story was real and good.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest: A Novel
I don't really know how I feel about this book, except that I feel a lot about this book. This book begins with Lars and his wife Cynthia and follows a path that begins with Cynthia abandoning her newborn daughter, Eva, and running off with a sommelier. From there, it follows that each chapter discusses a different character and a different dish. The people are all related, of course, but in different ways. I will admit that I loved the stories within this book. Loved the characters. But each time, I was left wanting more when the author would move on to a different story. That said, I think that's a good sign. I was incredibly engaged in it and why did this book have to end?

When I Found You
Nathan is up early one morning duck hunting when his dog, Sadie, discovers something beneath a tree--a newborn baby who Nathan mistakes for dead, until the baby moves his mouth. Nathan decides on a whim that he wants to adopt the child, until he finds out that the boy has a living grandmother. She decides to name him after Nathan, though the boy goes by Nat, and every year on his birthday, Nathan leaves a gift. Nat's grandmother doesn't tell him how he came to be in this world, instead leading him to believe that every baby is found in the woods by a man and Nathan just happens to be his man. Until Nat's grandmother has it with Nat's anger and defiance and brings him to Nathan's doorstep, where the two meet face-to-face. What follows is a story of unconditional, somewhat unexplainable love that Nathan gives to Nat. Although there were parts of the book where I found Nathan's character to not be entirely believable, because he was just so good, I still liked the story.

What are you reading?