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#265 ~ Not That Kind of Girl

Not That Kind of Girl by Carlene Bauer

Published by: HarperCollins

Published on: June 29, 2010

Page Count: 288

Genre: Memoir

My Reading Format: Trade paperback review copy provided by the publisher.

Available Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook

Today it is my great pleasure to be Carlene Bauer’s host on his TLC Book Tour for her memoir, Not That Kind of Girl.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours. They always have great books and authors on tour. Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

Summary from the Publisher

Raised in evangelical churches that preached apocalypse now, Carlene Bauer grows up happy to oblige the God who presides over her New Jersey girlhood. But in high school and college, her intellectual and spiritual horizons widen, and she becomes skeptical of the judgmental God she’s been given. Still, she finds it hard to let go of the ideals she’s been raised with, and to rebel as she knows she should. She loves rock and roll, but politely declines offers of sex and drugs; she thinks the Bible and the Norton Anthology of American Literature are equally authoritative guides to life. Since there are no churches worshipping the Jesus Paul Westerberg sang about in “Can’t Hardly Wait,” and no tidy categories for those who are neither riot grrrls nor altar girls, she hovers between a hunger for the world and a suspicion of it.

In her twenties, however, determined to make up for lost time, Bauer undertakes a belated and often comic coming-of-age in New York City. Between late blooming at parties and staying late at work, it seems that she might become as bold as she’d hoped to be—even if the late blooming is a little more hapless than highly erotic. And yet the city and its pleasures do not distract her from another hope: that she might learn how to have a faith that she can truly call her own. Enter the Catholic Church, and a conversion. But then she falls in love, and loses her religion—which leaves her wondering just what it means to be good.

Sharply written, hilarious, and touching, Not That Kind of Girl is the story of one young woman’s efforts to define worldliness, ambition, and love on her own terms—while believing in, among other things, The Smiths, Virginia Woolf, and the transformative power of New York City. Fellow restless seekers will find solace in Bauer’s struggle to create meaning in the face of overwhelming doubt, and fall in love with the highly original voice at the center of this unforgettable debut.

My Review

All things pointed to me loving Not That Kind of Girl, a spiritual memoir by Carlene Bauer. She tells of her upbringing in an evangelical Christian home, her conversion to Catholicism, and ultimately letting go of God and her inner good-girl. I’m intersted in the stories of those who grew up in an evangelical household because it’s so much different than my own, Catholic upbringing. That she later chose to become Catholic made me want to find out why. Once I started reading, I discovered that we are roughly the same age and that we share very similar musical tastes and influences I became even more excited. While very well written, Not That Kind of Girl did not work well for me. Bauer is extremely intelligent and is logical in the examination of her spiritual history. It’s just that cerebral approach that kept me at an arm’s distance. She provided intellectual arguments for who she was and the choices she made, but she doesn’t let her readers see into her heart.

While very different memoirs, Not That Kind of Girl reminded me of Eat, Pray, Love. In both memoirs, I felt that the author were prone to over-analyzing. In tone, this memoir reminded me of The Mistress’ Daughter. Both are well written memoirs, but with a cynical edge that made the authors remote and untouchable. That’s not why I read memoirs. I read them because I want to share in another person’s experiences, be they delightful or terrifying. It’s a way of connecting to others and consider my own life. I just wasn’t able to get that close this time.

Because of the potential it had at the start, I wish that I had enjoyed this memoir more. I have always been curious evangelical churches. To someone used to the same routine week in and week out, those services seem so alive. Having attended many such services over the years, they just haven’t clicked with me. As lively as they are, they’ve never clicked with my soul the way the Mass has as I’ve grown older and matured. I really wanted to know why Ms. Bauer left and joined the Catholic Church. In the end, I never really understood. She related to Dorothy Day and her conversion. She liked the Liberation Theology and the focus on social justice. Still, knowing about the history of the Church and the sexual abuse scandals, she converts. Shortly thereafter, she finds herself unable to sit through Mass thinking about what the priest might have done, might have thought to do, or might have covered up. Without the emotional connection to the author, it all seemed hollow.

I am glad that Ms. Bauer is happy with her life in New York and with the spiritual choices she’s made. Perhaps her memoir would be more up your alley, though. If you’d be interested in reading Not That Kind of Girl, I would be happy to send you my gently read copy. Leave a comment here letting me know. I’ll use my favorite Randomizer to select the lucky reader.

Please be sure to check out the rest of the stops on this tour:

Thursday, July 1st: Tales of a Capricious Reader

Tuesday, July 6th: The Book Nest

Monday, July 12th: Drey’sLibrary

Wednesday, July 14th: As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves

Thursday, July 15th: she reads and reads

Tuesday, July 20th: Heart 2 Heart

Friday, July 23rd: Knowing the Difference

Monday, July 26th: Bookshipper

Tuesday, July 27th: Life In Pink

Wednesday, July 28th: my books. my life.

Thursday, July 29th: Suko’s Notebook

Friday, July 30th: A Fair Substitute for Heaven

Monday, August 2nd: A Certain Bent Appeal

Wednesday, August 4th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

June 29, 2010 | Filed Under Memoir, book giveaway, book review, book tour, female author | 8 Comments

#254 ~ The Brothers of Gwynedd (Pt 1) ~ Sunrise in the West

When Danielle from Sourcebooks announced her book club around the upcoming release of Edith Pargeter’s four novels about the first true Prince of Wales in one single edition, I jumped at the chance to take part of the four month discussion and to host one of the monthly discussions. Given recent events, this might not have been the best decision I could have made. Please keep my overall attitude about books in mind when reading what I have to say about Sunrise in the West, the first book in The Brothers of Gwynwedd quartet. While some of my reservations would have been the same regardless, I know that my state of mind was a factor.

Sunrise in the West begins with the struggle between Llewelyn the Great’s two sons – the eldest illegitimate while the younger is born of marriage. They are fighting over who would take their father’s place. This fight continues into the next generation. Their fight against each other and England is narrated by Samson, the loyal servant to Llewelyn the younger.

I genuinely liked Samson, the narrator. He is an honest, moral, and noble man. He took the cards that were dealt to him and played them to the best of his ability. The story of his birth and early life were interesting, but it seemed that they were told at a distance. In fact, much of his narration felt that way. It was as if he didn’t want anyone to get close to him at all. Here he was in the middle of what must have been an exciting period in Welsh history and he discussed it almost clinically. I am not sure if the author’s lengthy and rather passive sentences were the cause of this or simply exacerbated it. Regardless, this lack of emotional involvement on Samson’s part made much of the novel feel as though nothing was happening when in reality the world was changing all around him.

When Samson became emotionally engaged there were flashes of the story that became compelling and easily readable. As much as I hate to say that it took the advent of a love interest to catch my full attention, Cristin did just that. I wished that the whole book could have been more like that chapter.

Overall, I found reading this first installment somewhat trying due to the author’s writing style. As such, I ended up reading a chapter or less each night. Sunrise in the West is clearly fiction, but it often read like a textbook. I cannot say that I didn’t find the overall story interesting because I did. Now that I’ve had some experience with Pargeter’s writing, I’m hoping that the upcoming installments will be more enjoyable to read.

If you are interested in finding out more about the book or see what others think, there is going to be an online chat about each section of the quartet hosted at a different blog. The discussion of Sunrise in the West will be hosted by Amy at Passages to the Past on Monday night, May 24 at 7pm EST. You can alsocheck out what other people in Sourcebook’s summer book club had to say about their experiences of reading this part of the book.

#250 ~ South of Broad

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Published by: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Published on: August 2009

Page Count: 528

Genre: Literary Fiction

Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher

Availability: hardcover, eBook, and audio book

Giveaway: The publisher is graciously allowing me to giveaway one trade paperback copy of South of Broad to one of my readers. Please see the end of this review for more details.

Today it is my great pleasure to be Pat Conroy’s host on his TLC Book Tour for his novel, South of Broad. I would like to thank his publisher for sending me a review copy. I would also like to thank them for providing a copy to giveaway on this blog! Please see the end of my review for a list of the blogs who are on this tour with me.

My Review

Leopold Bloom King has a great deal to live up to. He’s named after James Joyce’s most famous characters and his mother, a former Roman Catholic nun, is his local school principal. After the suicide death of his older, beloved brother, Leo has trouble dealing with his own grief and the weight of knowing that he can never live up his brother Steve’s potential. He spends much of his adolescent years in treatment for mental illness, including a stay at a mental hospital. As a high school freshman he finally returns back to the world only to be arrested on a serious drug charge. His life is a mess on Bloomsday of 1969, the day his mother asks him a few favors. Those favors lead him back into a normal life and introduce him to the first friends he’s ever had in his peer group. His life is forever changed, but not without a price.

There is so much going on in South of Broad. it is split up into two time periods – the 1969-1970 school year, and 1989. Half of the time, it’s like reading about the grandparents of the cast of Glee during the prime of their lives. You have a misfit band of high school students thrown together by circumstances not always to their liking. In addition to awkward middle class Leo, there are the glamor twins Sheba and Trevor, the high society trio of Chad, Fraser, and Molly (doesn’t every Leo need his Molly?), the near-wild orphans Niles, Starla, and Betty, and finally Ike, the son of Peninsula High School’s first black football coach. During their senior year of high school, the adults create just as much havoc for them as their own fumblings toward adulthood. The other half is like attending a 20-year high school reunion. You see how their beginnings shaped their lives. You see how single events can have shocking and far-reaching impacts long down the road.

As Leo’s group of friends range from just about every social class in Charleston during a time of desegregation, they had to cover a great deal of new territory in order to make their friendships work in the beginning and last over the long haul. Perhaps in order to mask their insecurities and discomfort, they were often sarcastic with each other, relying on stereotypes and not-so-PC name calling. After a while, this got to be a bit much for me. I would hope that after 20 years I wouldn’t need to hide behind my classifications within society to communicate with my friends – regardless of the region in which I grew up. I wished that as the characters grew into adulthood that they would have developed a little more in that way as well. It kept me an arm’s distance away from the characters, muting what might have otherwise a much more emotional experience.

One of the toughest and most fulfilling classes I took as an undergraduate (or even as a graduate student) was devoted to studying James Joyce. I studied with an amazing professor and have been forever proud of my accomplishment of reading that book. For this reason, I connected with South of Broad immediately. It made my heart happy how the book began and ended on Bloomsday. Despite Leo and his father’s propensity to roll their eyes at her, I know exactly what excited Leo’s mother about Ulysses. Conroy’s inclusion of Ulysses wasn’t simply name dropping. South of Broad shares the themes of class structure and faith with Ulysses. Leo’s paper route brought me directly into Charleston, giving the story the same strong a sense of place that Joyce did. Despite not getting as close to the characters as I would have liked, I loved this novel and look forward to reading more of Conroy’s work.

Giveaway

For a chance to win a trade paperback copy of South of Broad, leave a comment on this post by 11:59pm EST on Sunday, May 2nd. In your comment, tell me about a novel you read and enjoyed that referred to another classic book that you loved. I’ve found that I really like that combination.

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Pat Conroy’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Now that you know what I think, why not check out these other reviews?

Thursday, April 1st: Jen’s Book Thoughts

Monday, April 5th: Lit and Life

Tuesday, April 6th: Rundpinne

Wednesday, April 7th: Meanderings and Muses

Friday, April 9th: Luxury Reading

Monday, April 12th: Books and Cooks

Tuesday, April 13th: The Brain Lair

Wednesday, April 14th: Po(sey) Sessions

Thursday, April 15th: Raging Bibliomania

Monday, April 19th: Life in the Thumb

Tuesday, April 20th: Maggie Reads

Thursday, April 22nd: Stephanie’s Written Word

Friday, April 23rd: Sherri’s Jubilee

Tuesday, April 27th: Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, April 28th: Library Queue

Thursday, April 29th: Lakeside Musing

Friday, April 30th: A Circle of Books

April 26, 2010 | Filed Under book review, book tour, fiction, male author | 18 Comments

#245 ~ Seeing Stars

Seeing Stars by Diane Hammond

Published by: Harper Collins

Published on: March 23, 2010

Page Count: 459

Genre: General Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by the publisher

Available Formats: paperback and eBook

Giveaway: please see the end of my review for details

Today it is my great pleasure to be Diane Hammond’s host on her TLC Book Tour for her novel, Seeing Stars. I would like to thank her publisher for sending me a review copy. I would also like to thank Harper Collins for sending me a copy to giveaway on this blog! Please see the end of my review for a list of the blogs who are on this tour with me.

My Review

If your child showed a talent for acting and wanted to give Hollywood a try, would you do all that you could to help him or her live their dreams? Ruth Rabinowitz decides that she will when she moves to an apartment in Hollywood with her daughter Bethany, leaving her dentist husband behind in Seattle. She quickly learns that however special she believes Bethany to be, there’s so much more to acting in LA than talent. Together, the two of them forge a place of their own amidst the agents, managers, casting, directors, other actors, and, most especially, others wanting to act. Do they have what it takes to survive and make Bethany’s dream come true?

Seeing Stars brought to light an interesting juxtaposition there is between two types of parents bringing their children to Hollywood – those committed parents shuttling their kids from auditions and acting classes and those parents who happily drop their children off under the Hollywood sign never to look back. With committed parents, you wonder why they are sinking thousands upon thousands of dollars into such an illusive career for children who have barely begun to live their lives? Is it their child’s dream they’re helping them to pursue, or is it their own? The other situation is simply sad, making the stories of Allison and Quinn so compelling. Their parents found it easier to let LA raise their children than to let them get in the way of budding relationships with new spouses. While this may not be anything new, it seems particularly irresponsible to allow a place like that to raise your child. It’s a form of prostitution in and of itself. God only knows what happens to such kids who are not successful. Allison and Quinn are the lucky ones, I’m sure.

Just as there are more actors in Hollywood than there are legitimate roles, there were too many characters in Seeing Stars. For long stretches of time, Ruth and Bethany disappeared from the story. Other than seeing some of these characters at an occasional audition or party, Laurel and her mother and even Quinn are not even on Ruth and Bethany’s radar screen. Even though I really enjoyed Quinn‘s story, I lost interest in Laurel’s fairly quickly because they just did not seem relevant to Bethany’s story other than she and her mother have been at the game longer. Had those three characters not been included, this novel would have read much more quickly and the second half wouldn’t have seemed as long.

Reading this novel was an enjoyable and educational experience. Although I’ve seen the same made for TV movies, read the same interviews with former child actors, I really had no idea about the workings of the Hollywood machine. I found the terminology and background information fascinating. Diane Hammond wrote this novel after experiencing Hollywood as the mother of a hopeful child actor. Her experience and knowledge is readily apparent in Seeing Stars. You felt the hope and shared the disappointments. Unlike other books I’ve read set in Hollywood, the characters and their stories weren’t sensationalized. It tells about real people and how they survive in a world that is dominated by all that is artificial. After reading this book, you’ll find that you no longer look at child actors or the bit roles on TV shows the same way.

Giveaway

Let’s have some fun with this giveaway. If you’d like a chance to win a copy of this novel, leave a comment telling me about your childhood dream. Did you want to be an award winning actor? An astronaut? A mountain climber? A ballerina? Or were you like me and aspired to becoming a radio DJ?

Let me know – and if you have lived out your dream, include that, too. I did get to guest DJ on my 21st birthday for an hour and it was so much fun.

Leave your comments by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, April 7th for a chance to win this novel.

Diane’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS

Monday, March 1st: Lit and Life

Wednesday, March 24th: Clever Girl Goes Blog

Tuesday, March 30th: Metroreader

Friday, April 2nd: Booking Mama

Sunday, April 4th: BookNAround

Wednesday, April 7th: Write Meg

Thursday, April 8th: A Sea of Books

Monday, April 12th: Confessions…of a Real Librarian

Tuesday, April 13th: Serendipitous Reading

Friday, April 16th: Café of Dreams

Wednesday, April 21st: Book Club Classics!

March 31, 2010 | Filed Under book review, book tour, female author, fiction | 13 Comments

#238 ~ The Wives of Henry Oades ~ Review & Giveaway

The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran

Published by: Ballantine Books

Published on: February 2010

Page Count: 384

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: ARC snagged through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program

Availability: paperback and eBook

Today it is my great pleasure to be Johanna Moran’s host on her TLC Book Tour for her novel, The Wives of Henry Oades. I would like to thank LibraryThing and her publisher for sending me a review copy. I would also like to thank Random House for a copy to giveaway on this blog! Please see the end of my review for a list of the blogs who are on this tour with me.

My Review

During the late 19th century, Henry Oades was looking to get ahead in his career and make an even better life for his family when he agreed to take a position that required he move his family from England to a much less civilized New Zealand. His wife Meg didn’t really want to leave her family, but supported her husband because it would only be for a few years. What neither of them anticipated was the hostility between white settlers and the native Maori increasing after their arrival. One evening, in revenge of a Maori beating, Henry’s family is kidnapped while he is away at work. From there begins a heart wrenching nightmare almost beyond comprehension. After holding out hope longer than most people felt sane, Henry eventually leaves New Zealand for America. In San Fransisco, he discovers a love for farming and eventually falls in love with a young widow. Shorty after Henry and Nancy marry, Meg brings her family out of captivity. When Henry and his first family reunite, a struggle of a much different kind begins.

When I saw information about The Wives of Henry Oades while reviewing the list of Early Reviewer books last year, I knew it was one that I’d have to read. I could not imagine what it would be like to be in Henry Oades’ shoes. He believed he had lost his entire family and it was only reluctantly that he set off to start his life over again. Just when he found purpose and contentment, he learns that his original family was alive and well. What would you do? Worse yet, what would or could a woman in the late 19th century do if she was given up for dead and her husband remarried? What would or could a young widow with a small baby do when her new husband’s dead wife shows up on her doorstep. I was so thrilled to learn that I had snagged it because I was going to be able to find out.

This book was a perfect match for me. I love that it was told mainly through the voices of Meg and Nancy, Henry’s two wives. I was intrigued from the very first when Meg and Henry set off to New Zealand and I didn’t want to put the book down until it was finished. Some parts were difficult to read, especially the scenes of the kidnapping and the direct aftermath, but I could not stop reading. I also found it interesting how Berkeley society, now seen as such a liberal, accepting place, could not see the difference between purposeful bigamy and an accident of fate that fell upon both halves of Henry’s family. The community was too busy titillating themselves with what might be happening behind the Oades’ doors to take take stock of what really did.

The Wives of Henry Oades was inspired by a legal extract about the Oades case that Moran’s father brought home to her mother. What an interesting launching pad of a novel. I enjoyed it all the way through. I do have one lingering question about a decision Henry makes along the way, but mentioning that here would give too much of the story away. My question aside, there would be an evening’s worth of topics to discuss after reading this novel. It would also be interesting to read this novel and The 19th Wife back to back and discuss the impact of bigamy on the women involved during the 19th century. I highly recommend this novel. There are so many ways to look at this novel and the events it brings to life. I would love to hear what you think.

*****

Giveaway

I am excited to offer one lucky reader an opportunity to win a copy of this novel from the publisher. To enter, leave a comment to this post with your thoughts about how bigamy impacts the women involved. There is so much to say about it. As much as I could never see myself coping well with that kind of living arrangement, I wonder how much cleaner my house would be if I had a sister wife around here…

This giveaway will be open for entries until Thursday, March 18 at 11:59 EST. I will use the wonderful Randomizer to select the winner and will make the announcement soon thereafter.

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Check out Johanna Moran’s other TLC Book Tours Tour Stops:

Monday, February 15th: Luxury Reading

Wednesday, February 17th: Book Club Classics!

Thursday, February 18th: My Friend Amy

Friday, February 19th: Beth Fish Reads author guest post

Monday, February 22nd: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Tuesday, February 23rd: The 3 R’s Blog

Thursday, February 25th: It’s All About Books

Friday, February 26th: Thoughts of an Evil Overlord

Monday, March 1st: Rundpinne

Tuesday, March 2nd: Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, March 3rd: A High and Hidden Place

Friday, March 5th: Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-aholic

Monday, March 8th: Bibliofreak

Tuesday, March 9th: A Lifetime of Books

Wednesday, March 10th: Starting Fresh

Thursday, March 11th: Savvy Verse and Wit

Monday, March 15th: The Calico Critic

March 4, 2010 | Filed Under Historical Fiction, LibraryThing, book review, book tour, female author, fiction | 27 Comments

TSS ~ Sometimes It Even Happens Here

Every time I read about people getting the chance to meet authors on book tours, I get really jealous. Living in SouthWest Virginia, the opportunity to visit an author while on a book tour is few and far between. Next Saturday, that will change at least for the day.

Kathleen Grissom, the author of The Kitchen House, will be stopping in Lynchburg at Givens Books at 2pm on February 13th. The book was published on the 2nd, so it’s hot off the presses. It got me out of my reading blahs. I just could not put it down. I read The Kitchen House last month and absolutely loved it. Check back here on Friday for my review. I will also be posting about the book tour during my next Sunday Salon post. If all goes well, I’m hoping to have a signed copy to giveaway.

In the meantime, you can check out Kathleen’s site. On her About The Kitchen House page. There are some great resources there, including pictures I wish I had seen while I was reading the book. There is a book trailer as well. I just finished watching it. A slight word of caution: if you don’t like to know much about a book before reading it, you might want to hold off on it.

Now, be honest. How many of you thought I was referring to this weekend’s snow storm? Well, that news also fits my post title. We had a great time sledding in the snow and making a snowman. Thankfully we were able to make it to church this morning and then to the mall. I had a serious case of cabin fever since this weekend was the second in a row that we were snowbound. Yesterday morning I took a short video of our front yard. We didn’t get hit as hard as some of my book blogging girlfriends in Northern Virginia or Maryland, but it was an anomaly for the Roanoke Valley. I want to thank everyone who stopped by on our Friday snow day.

Reading and Reviews This Week

This week I read and reviewed Tainted by Brooke Morgan as part of the author’s TLC Book Tour. I’m hosting a giveaway of Morgan’s debut novel, so be sure to check out my review.

I also finished Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. I started that during my reading malaise and put it down because I didn’t want it to be ruined by my lack of reading enthusiasm. I thought it was a great companion to The Glass Castle and will be reviewing this novel soon.

For those of you not watching the Super Bowl (I’m assuming anyone reading this isn’t – who watching the big event would also read book blogs during the show?), I hope you enjoy your evening snuggled up with a good book. I’ll be reading Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliot.

February 7, 2010 | Filed Under The Sunday Salon, book giveaway, book tour | 13 Comments

#225 ~ Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Today it is my great pleasure to be Lisa See’s host on her TLC Book Tour for her novel, Shanghai Girls. I would like to thank her publisher for sending me a review copy. Please see the end of my review for a list of the blogs who are on this tour with me.

My Review

Pearl and May are young women growing up at a time just after foot binding was banned and arranged marriages seemed to be heading in the same direction. It was the 1930s in Shanghai, the Paris of the Orient. Pearl is oldest sister and college educated, but May has the love of her parents. She is prettier, has a gorgeous complexion, and can seemingly get away with murder. Pearl takes her role as being the oldest sister seriously and tries not to let her jealousy of May come between them. They are not traditional Chinese women anyway. They are out all night posing as Beautiful Girls. Their painted images used to sell anything and they live as if they own Shanghai. They do until their father’s gambling debts force him to sell them into arranged marriages to a man whose sons lived in America. At the same time, the Japanese attack Shanghai, shattering their hope completely. They need to discover if they are more than simply Beautiful Girls, able to survive whatever fate life brings them.

Shanghai Girls is in equal parts a novel about Chinese life and immigration and the bond between sisters. Just as in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See’s work brings Chinese history, particularly as it relates to women, to life. In this novel, women have more freedom and options under the Republic than they had previously, at least for those women living in as cosmopolitan a place as Shanghai. While these changes are for the good, they bring about additional stress within families. This change in culture is so apparent in the opening scenes with Pearl, May, and their parents. It was interesting to watch their attitudes and beliefs evolve with their life experiences. Still, when you take away the Beautiful Girls, their heritage, and the environments in which they live, you are sisters. They grew up in the same house with the same parents and they each notice anything and everything that is not the same. Who has a sibling and doesn’t do that? What I found exceptional about these particular sisters is how they loved each other so fiercely despite the jealousies and resentments that accumulate over time. They each take their roles as older and younger sister every bit as seriously as their culture once dictated.

War makes up a great part of Shanghai Girls. Pearl and May’s time as Beautiful Girls would have come to an end at the hands of the Japanese during World War II if it hadn’t been because of their father’s weaknesses. This perspective of China under attack is something I haven’t read about before. Even before the war, the scene with the girls stepping over a baby that had been left to die on the street was sickening. When war broke out, it was that much more fascinating and horrific. The fear and chaos came across so clearly in Pearl and May’s reactions to all that they witnessed and survived. As this tied in to the girls’ experiences in Los Angeles as immigrants, I was reminded of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. These novels would go together quite well if one wanted to explore the experiences of Chinese immigrants in the United States during WWII.

After reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I bought Peony in Love very quickly. I loved Snow Flower so much that I kept looking at my copy of Peony in Love with longing nearly every time I looked through my bookshelf. I didn’t have to think very hard when I was asked to take part in this tour. I wanted and needed the excuse to pick up another of Lisa See’s books. I was not disappointed in the least. Although there was much sorrow and darkness to this novel, I could not tear myself away. There was one scene in particular between Pearl and her mother which will remain with me for a very long time. It brought tears to my eyes and made me feel lucky to be alive, which is saying quite a lot under the circumstances. I fully connected to this novel as a sister, a woman, and as a human being. My only regret was not being able to make time with this book during the holidays in time to send questions to the author. She remains one of my favorite modern authors.

Lisa See’s TLC Tour Dates

You’ve read what I think about Shanghai Girls. Why don’t you check out what other have and will be saying this month:

Monday, January 4th: Suko’s Notebook
Wednesday, January 6th: Stephanie’s Written Word
Thursday, January 7th: She is Too Fond of Books
Friday, January 8th: Book Club Classics
Monday, January 11th: Luxury Reading
Tuesday, January 12th: Diary of an Eccentric
Wednesday, January 13th: Peeking Between the Pages
Thursday, January 14th: Caribousmom
Friday, January 15th: The Book Faery Reviews
Monday, January 18th: Booking Mama
Tuesday, January 19th: Savvy Verse & Wit
Wednesday, January 20th: Dolce Bellezza
Thursday, January 21st: Book, Line, and Sinker
Friday, January 22nd: Word Lily
Monday, January 25th: The Brain Lair
Tuesday, January 26th: A Lifetime of Books
Wednesday, January 27th: The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness

January 5, 2010 | Filed Under Historical Fiction, book review, book tour, female author, fiction | 23 Comments

#218 ~ When She Flew ~ Book Tour and Giveaway

Cover of When She Flew

When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge

Today it is my great pleasure to be Jennie Shortridge’s host on her TLC Book Tour for her novel, When She Flew. I would like to thank her for sending me both a copy of her book for review as well as one to give away to a lucky reader. Please see the end of my review for a list of the blogs who are on this tour with me.

My Review

What our ancestors would have considered minimally acceptable living conditions greatly differs from what would be considered acceptable today. Houses are not a recent invention, but even in the early 1900s people in the United States lived in sod homes as the America expanded West. Those same ancestors survived and thrived, leading us to where we are today. Regardless, choosing to live in the outdoors on property you don’t own is now against the law. If you do so with your minor child, you run the risk of having your family broken up by Social Services and being charged with neglect. Raymond Wiggs discovers just after bird watchers tip off the police after spotting his daughter Melinda alone after she wandered off too far entranced by a beautiful blue heron. After locating the two along with several of her fellow police officers from Columbia, Oregon, Jess Villareal questions whether the state is capable of determining what is best for this family. She questions whether she can actively participate in taking Lindy away from Ray – even for a short time. As divorced mother estranged from her only daughter and grandson, her career in the police force is the only thing that makes her feel whole. Is Jess willing to risk even that to ensure that this small, peculiar family remains together?

Birds play a prominent role in this novel. The title evokes flight and Lindy is fascinated by them, devouring all that she can about the birds native to the Pacific Northwest. It is not surprising that from the very beginning of this novel, which opens with Lindy’s report on barn owls, I was reminded of the following verse from the Gospel of Matthew:

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? ~ Matthew 6:26

While I might not want to live in a forest, many birds do and they are just fine. Ray and Lindy had made peace with nature and lived there happily for many years before they were discovered. Given that it has been done since the beginning of time, why couldn’t – and why shouldn’t – someone with the proper knowledge of the outdoors live in a well-constructed tree house? If that person is a loving parent who makes his child’s well-being and education a priority, why shouldn’t that person be left alone to raise his family as he sees fit? Yesterday’s luxuries are today’s requirements it seems. In another 100 years, would society find our homes and our parenting neglectful? Has society lost sight of what is truly important to sustain life? There isn’t an easy answer to these questions, which are sure to spark some interesting and lively conversations.

jennie2 Until agreeing to host this TLC Book Tour, I had never read any of Jennie Shortridge’s fiction. I am so thrilled that I took a chance on her and on When She Flew. I found it to be thought-provoking, fast-paced, and fun to read. The plot never suffered as we learned more about Jess and Lindy’s past, their insecurities, their regrets, and their joys. It felt right that a mother longing to be part of her own daughter’s life again would fight so hard to see that Lindy and Ray stayed together. She provides Lindy with the strong and secure female role model her mother could never be. It also made me question my perceptions of what makes a home both physically and emotionally. I was as entertained throughout this novel as I was satisfied when I finished it.

Giveaway

American_robin3 I have a copy of When She Flew to give away to one of my readers. This contest is open to readers from the United States only. I would love to make it international, but my shipping budget isn’t what it used to be earlier this year.

Entering this contest is easy. Simply leave a comment here telling me what your favorite bird is and why. The contest is open until 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, December 19th. I’m planning on announcing the winner on December 20th, my dear husband’s birthday.

For the record, my favorite bird is the American Robin, the State Bird of Michigan. Isn’t he beautiful against the backdrop of the tulips? I wonder if he isn’t really Dutch like me?

+++++

Jennie Shortridge’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Thursday, December 3rd: The 3 R’s Blog: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness

Monday, December 7th: Linus’ Blanket

Tuesday, December 8th: Book, Line, and Sinker

Wednesday, December 9th: Luxury Reading

Monday, December 14th: Book Addiction

Tuesday, December 15th: Hey, Lady! What’cha Readin’?

Wednesday, December 16th: A Novel Menagerie

Thursday, December 17th: Book Club Classics

Monday, December 21st: Entertainment Realm

Tuesday, December 22nd: Dolce Bellezza

Monday, December 28th: Book Chatter

Tuesday, December 29th: Caribousmom

Wednesday, December 30th: Presenting Lenore

Monday, January 4th: The Brain Lair

Tuesday, January 5th: Redlady’s Reading Room

December 10, 2009 | Filed Under book giveaway, book review, book tour, female author, fiction | 36 Comments

#208 ~ Looking After Pigeon

Cover of Looking After Pigeon

Looking After Pigeon by Maud Carol Markson

Today it is my great pleasure to be Maud Carol Markson’s host on her TLC Book Tour for her novel, Looking After Pigeon. I would like to thank her for sending me a copy of her book for review. Please see the end of my review for a list of the blogs who are on this tour with me.

My Review

Pigeon is five. She is the youngest of three children, all named after birds. Her sister Dove is about 10 years older than her and her brother Robin is 10. Her mother, Joan, married their father to get away from her family and has found herself disillusioned with motherhood. Things only get worse when Pigeon’s father loses his job and leaves the family with no means of support. They are forced, in the dead of night, to flee their New York apartment to go live with Joan’s brother Edward, who lives in a beach house not far from Atlantic City. It is there that those left in her family are forced to pick up the pieces and figure things out on their own.

At the beginning of the novel, an adult Pigeon is encouraged by her unnamed live-in boyfriend to write about the summer she moved to live with her Uncle Edward when she refuses to see a psychiatrist. That, in conjunction with the book’s title, leaves me waiting from the first page for something extremely terrible to happen to Pigeon. What I imagine never takes place. Part of me is relieved because of this as I finished the book, but part of me is also wondering why the novel began that way. Having a father desert you at the age of five and then be left alone a good deal of the time to take care of yourself would be traumatic. Still, I never was able to relax into the story because I was waiting for the “real” reason summers made her blue and her lover wanted her to do something to look after her mental health. I could never really warm up to Uncle Edward or her mother’s boyfriend Cary for fear of what they were going to do to her.

I never really warmed up to Dove or Pigeon’s names, although Robin’s name seemed like a good fit. He was by far my favorite character in the book. Likewise, I never really warmed up to Joan. Even in the scene after Pigeon comes back from her trip to New York City with Edward, I found her extremely cold. Just that little bit of warmth wasn’t enough to change my opinion of her. Living that summer the way she did, lost in the current of everyone else’s drama, I can also understand why Pigeon holds everyone at arm’s length, even down to leaving her current day lover nameless. He could be anyone from her romantic life past, present, or even future. Despite the glimmer of hope that she might one day open herself up more fully to someone else, she never names him. I found that quite sad, yet authentically Pigeon.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed Looking After Pigeon more than I did. The detachment I felt from the narrator from the very beginning carried through for me as a reader. Because I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop as soon as Uncle Edward entered the picture, I didn’t really engage with otherwise sympathetic characters. There was one touch I found very nice. Pigeon would make her own paper dolls from people in magazines and spend her time creating stories of their lives. More than anything else, it was in this detail that I felt closest to Pigeon. Still, I found myself wondering how this story would have been told from Robin’s perspective. There was that touch of magic in his soul that might have added just the right touch for me.

******

Maud Carol Markson’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS

maud carol markson

Wednesday, October 21st: Dolce Bellezza

Monday, October 26th: A Sea of Books

Thursday, October 29th: Steph and Tony Investigate

Monday, November 2nd: A Reader’s Journal

Tuesday, November 3rd: The Scholastic Scribe

Wednesday, November 4th: Raging Bibliomania

Monday, November 9th: Clever Girl Goes Blog

Tuesday, November 10th: Book Club Classics

Thursday, November 11th: Caribousmom

Norma Fox Mazer; novels captured troubles associated with youth; at 78 (boston.com)

October 27, 2009 | Filed Under book review, book tour, female author, fiction | 15 Comments

#197 ~ The Lace Reader ~ Book Tour and Giveaway

Cover of The Lace Reader

Today it is my great pleasure to be Brunonia Barry’s host on her TLC Book Tour for her novel, The Lace Reader. I have had this book on my shelf now for almost exactly a year, so when I was asked to take part in this tour I was excited to say yes. Because I already had a copy of this novel, I am making the copy from the book tour a giveaway.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours. Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

Review

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

My name is Towner Whitney. No, that’s not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time.

Thus begins The Lace Reader, a novel about a young woman, a family, and a city plagued and, in some cases, haunted by history. Towner has spent a good portion of her adult life in mental hospitals or dealing with her mental illness and the complications of the shock treatments she willingly underwent. She grew up on Yellow Dog Island, just off the coast of Salem, Massachuttes. After leaving the mental hospital, she leaves for California in hopes of running away from the death of her twin sister Lindley. She does not get on well with her agoraphobic mother, and may not have ever returned to Salem if it weren’t for a call from her brother telling her that Eva, her grandfather’s second wife, was missing. She was recovering from a hysterectomy, but she could not stay away from her hometown. Eva, a woman reknown for her lace readings who encourages Towner to embrace the gift she has as well, means so much to her. What Towner finds when she returns is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. She must pull the pieces of her life together and come to terms with her past because running away mearly delayed the inevitable.

Ipswich Lace

If you’ve read my blog long enough, you know that I really enjoy an unreliable narrator when that character is done well. Towner fits into this category so very well. How could I not be drawn into her life through those opening lines? Brunonia Barry goes one step further and makes the reader wonder if Towner is as unreliable as she thinks she is and then, in my case, forget altogether. This is accomplished throughthe vivid characters, a truly awful set of religious fanatics that take the city back to the 17th century, and the introduction of Rafferty, a Salem police officer, who takes over the narration. The interplay between Towner and Rafferty’s narration is suble and the outcome is one terrific read.

I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity reader in that I enjoy and can relate to male characters just as well as female characters. It’s been a long time since I have felt for male characters in a novel the way I felt toward Rafferty. He is not originally from Salem. He’s worked in the police force there for two years. He as a teenage daughter and an ex-wife in New York City. He is a recovering alcoholic looking to live a useful, sober life. While Towner was living in exhile in California, Rafferty grew close to Eva and, for lack of further explanation, learnned to rely upon her readings and opinions. His desire to make Salem a safe place for all and to protect Towner and Angela, another lost soul, endeared him to me. As much as I grew to love Towner, Rafferty made this novel for me.

The Lace Reader was fantastic. This modern view of Salem and how the ciy’s history plays a role in the lives of her citizens, such as Ann, the local wiccan spokeswoman, is interesting and thought provoking (where is a local book club when I need it?). Although I’ve never been to Salem, I got the feeling of what it would be like to live in such a popular vacation destination, one where people reenacted the city’s darkest and most shameful historical periods on a daily basis. I bought this in hardcover when it first came out after reading many wonderful reviews, but it sat on my shelf for almost exactly a year. It waited patiently on my shelf until I joined this tour. As much as I really enjoyed my first read, I’m kicking myself because this could have been my opportunity to re-read it. As soon as I had finished it, I wanted to start all over again. Novels don’t get much better than that.

Brunonia Barry’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS

Monday, August 24th – books i done read
Wednesday, August 26th – Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?
Monday, August 31st - Savvy Verse & Wit
Tuesday, September 1st – Cindy’s Love of Books
Thursday, September 3rd - Eclectic Book Lover
Friday, September 4th – Shhh I’m Reading
Monday, September 7th – Literate Housewife
Wednesday, September 9th – Bookopolis
Thursday, September 10th – The Book Lady’s Blog
Monday, September 14th – Biblioaddict
Tuesday, September 15th – Trish’s Reading Nook
Thursday, September 17th – Books and Movies

Contest

For a chance to win a paperback copy of this novel, please leave a comment. I’ll use List Randomizer to draw the winner on Friday, September 11.

*****

To buy this novel, click here.

September 7, 2009 | Filed Under book review, book tour, female author, fiction | 35 Comments

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