Review: The Boston Girl

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a wonderful book. It followed a young woman in the early 1900's whose Jewish family was living in the North End of Boston. Her family was fearful of America and its influences, but she takes her love of books and learning and parlays it into a more modern and full life than what her parents have to offer. I'm sure part of what I liked about the book was that it is set in Boston, but I also loved the descriptions of things like her dates, her apartment, and even her clothing, meals, and friendships. It was a good view of what my grandparents' lives may have been like.

The only criticism I have is that it was written as if it were a grandmother telling her grandchild about her childhood, so it had a reasonably simple conversational style. But that also made it easy to read. I definitely enjoyed this.

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Review: Island Beneath the Sea

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was like an Outlander book, but with more serious writing and more meticulously researched.

At its center was a young slave and her inexperienced master, who first meet in Saint-Domingue when he inherits his father's plantation. The story follows the two of them through several decades, and most interestingly though a major revolt that ultimately freed the slaves of S-D. There was plenty of heartache in this book, and violence - but also love and friendship.

All in all a wonderful read.

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Review: Luckiest Girl Alive

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I knew this was chick lit when I picked it up, but I didn't remember how bad chick lit could be until I started reading it.

The story was about a woman who had been badly shamed in childhood, but had found her way to a dashing fiance and seemingly happy life. However, in the days leading up to her wedding, a documentary filmmaker decides to make a film about her childhood incident, and she is suddenly embroiled again in the shame and hate.

I didn't like the writing or the story, and thought the main character to be pretty unlikable. Quick read but not a recommended one.

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Review: Fourth of July Creek

Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was spectacular.

It was about a social worker in Montana who becomes involved with a family of survivalists. He tries to help their children and befriend the father, but building trust takes a long time. Meanwhile, his own family is falling apart - his wife takes his daughter to live in Texas, and his daughter runs away. The parallels of different broken families was well-crafted but not over-wrought.

I literally can't think of a single thing negative (or even neutral) to say about the characters, plot, writing, style, or composition of this book. Just amazing.

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Review: Hotel Moscow

Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Meh.

I picked this book up at the Harvard Bookstore Annual Sale, and going to that was fun. But this book was underwhelming. It was about a successful American businesswoman who joins a mission to recently-un-communisted Russia to mentor female entrepreneurs. She and the other women on the mission find that there is still excessive bribery, corruption, and danger in the business world, and that it is hard in ways they can barely imagine for female entrepreneurs to succeed.

Sound farfetched? It felt that way reading it.

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Review: The Guest Room

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like Bohjalian the way I like Jodi Picoult - always a good reliable read a few steps above chick lit, and this was no exception.

The story follows an otherwise happy family who is suddenly in crisis after the husband throws a bachelor party for his brother where two people are unexpectedly shot. The book explores not just what happens to the family, but also to the murder suspects, who are trafficked women serving as prostitutes.

It was a quick read that I enjoyed for what it was.

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Review: Black Flies

Black Flies by Shannon Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had this book on my list to read for several years - from a year-end NYT list I think. I liked it, but not sure it was worthy of a multi-year stint on the to-be-read list.

It was about a young man who becomes a paramedic in NYC. It follows him and his colleagues through their daily routines, making life-and-death decisions. What was most unique about this was the way it was written. There were short vignettes depicting different patients and situations, often without a lot of background and with indeterminate time lapsing between scenes. It forced me, as the reader, to focus on certain things and ignore other aspects of character or plot development I may have otherwise paid more attention to.

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Review: Woman on the Edge of Time

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hands down, one of my favorite books I've read in a long time. I don't know why I have never read Piercy in the past, but she is an amazing writer - reminiscent of Margaret Atwood, both in her poetic prose and in her affinity for sci-fi, or as they like to call it, speculative fiction.

This book is about a woman who has a history of mental illness, and is sent to a hospital. While she is there, she discovers that she can communicate with the future, the year 2173 to be exact, and she begins to spend her time both in the present and the future. She becomes central to ensuring that the future unfolds as she and her new future-friends expect, based on her decisions in the present.

The writing was great, the story compelling, and the characters were incredibly well-crafted. If you're into this kind of story, I can't recommend this particular book enough.

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Review: My Year of Meats

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book - Deena recommended it to me and I appreciated its being very different from a lot of other stuff I've read in the past.

It's about an American filmmaker who works with a Japanese studio to produce a television show about meat. As she learns more about the industry, she uncovers the dark side of cattle raising, and in particular the impact to human health. In parallel, the story also follows the wife of the show's producer, who has several problems of her won back in Japan.

I thought the story was unusual, and I really liked "meeting" the new characters that she found for each episode. The ending wrapped up a little too neatly, but I did enjoy the book overall.

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