Jennifer Niesslein, Practically Perfect in Every Way

The subtitle for this book is "My Misadventures through the World of Self-Help--and Back" and that pretty much covers it. Jennifer Niesslein cofounded the literary, smart, funny, witty parenting magazine, Brain Child in March 2000. I am a big fan of the articles written on both sides of various mothering debates such as product influence, correcting other people's kids, and the pros and cons of being an only child. So I was eager to read Ms. Niesslein's book. Well, it's not as good as the magazine, but it would make a great article for the magazine. (And actually parts of it have.) I did enjoy reading about a "real mom" who confesses that she wears yoga pants even though she had never done yoga and looks it. I got a kick out of her attempts to organize the house are thwarted by her husband's pile of keys that don't belong to anything. When it dips into mortality and fate though, she makes me wish the book was left as a series of to be continued articles. Still, a mostly fun read (though I'd wait for the paperback--sorry Jennifer.)

Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

This is my book club's pick for the month, by the author of The Kite Runner another book club pick that everyone in my group enjoyed. I didn't think I would enjoy this book--and perhaps enjoy isn't the best word since the story is essentially an ongoing tragedy about the volitile situation in Afghanistan over the past thirty years. Yet, I was completely drawn in by the strength of the women and their unlikely friendship as well as the shocking description of ordinary life for women under the warlords and Taliban. Though you hear about it and see news stories, reading about burkas (full coverings with a mesh screen that women must wear outside the home) and the harsh restrictions on literally every aspect of a female's life actually felt more "real" in this novel. Perhaps because reading a news story you only see a piece of a life but you get to know these fictional characters from birth to death and how their life is controlled by a culture they are not permitted to participate in.

Mariam, a child born from an a affair between a wealthy man and his servant is given to a rough, rude, traditional Afghani shoemaker as his wife after her mother commits suicide. When Mariam is unable to provide the son he craves, a second wife is brought into the household. Again, this is a forced marriage. Eventually, the two wives realize that their salvation can only be found in each other.

Interestingly, the characters with the least depth in this novel are the men. Rasheed, the husband, in particular has no redeeming qualities. Even his love for his son seems to stem from his desire for a re-creation of himself. Jalil, Mariam's wealthy father is weak and his wealth allows him to indulge in that weakness. Tarik, Laila's love since childhood, is so good, so likeable, that even he doesn't really show much dimension. But this doesn't bother me. If anything it shocks me since the author, Khaled Hosseini, is a man who was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and moved to the United States in 1980. And his previous novel, The Kite Runner is about a young man. It is a rare talent to be able to write convincingly from both a male and a female point of view. And in this book, the characters are the women. That's who we need to see and feel.

Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

I always feel like I'm cheating just a little when I review a New York Times bestseller. It's essentially been reviewed by thousands already right? Anyway, this was another book club pick for my book group and I was pleasantly surprised. A young college student loses everything and literally runs away and joins the circus. This is the era of prohibition and the traveling circus, where freak shows are the big money makers and elephants are rare and wondrous beasts. I was a bit put off by the main character for the first quarter of the book. Can you say "goody two shoes"? But by the time he finally admits his lust for the menagerie manager's wife (the wife of his boss I might add), I was hooked and my interest in him improved considerably. My book group hasn't met to discuss it yet, but I doubt the discussion will get very deep. I did enjoy reading this, and it was a glimpse into a fascinating world, but as for a literary discussion, I doubt there is much there.

Cammie McGovern, Eye Contact

With the scary increase in cases of autism, there has been an increase in books, both fiction and nonfiction, that deal with the subject. Eye Contact is fiction, but I feel it is one of the better portrayals of life with an autistic child--something I fortunately haven't experienced, however I do have a close friend who lives with it every day--as has the author. Statistics show that few marriages survive when a child is born autistic. The parenting toll is too great. There is little left for a spouse. And with no real answers as to why a child is autistic or how to best help, it is too easy to blame the other person. Unfortunately, when a marriage ends in an autistic family, the childcare burden usually falls entirely on the mother.

In Eye Contact, there never was a marriage, but this doesn't make the effort in raising her son any easier. Nine-year-old Adam is Cara's autistic son. He speaks very little and when he is possibly the only witness to a murder, he shuts down even further. Cara's efforts not only to help with the investigation but simply to bring her son back are gut wrenching. She knows he will never speak or interact as a typical child, yet she cannot bear to see the gains he's made in communication, after years of intense work, disappear. This is a mystery and terrific suspense, but more than that, it is a glimpse into a world of special needs parenting that every mother prays won't happen to her.

In a similar vein but from the viewpoint of an autistic boy himself, is the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. Also fiction and a mystery, this book does a good job of taking the reader inside the mind of autism, why autistics react in ways that seem completely illogical to the rest of us. Indeed, it explains that the autistic mind is so logical that the rest of us very often make no sense at all.

Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

Finally I am reviewing some good books again! The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is one of my book club's picks and an excellent one. Usually our rule is to stick to fiction but this is definitely one of those memoirs that reads like fiction and certainly generates enough discussion. What makes this "sad childhood" memoir a good discussion book is that the author is neglected, but the abuse is not in the way you expect in a book of this genre. And though there is clearly some mental illness involved on the part of her parents, particularly her alcoholic father, it is of the brilliant kind. Jeannette's parents truly love her and she them. It is interesting though at what point each of us in the book group decided we hated her father (even if she didn't). Also, a good discussion surrounding homelessness. These people, the author's parents, literally chose to be homeless and destitute. A New York Times bestseller and a great book club pick.

Introduction

Welcome to my book review site. I've always loved books and have worked with books my entire adult career. Frequently, I've been asked for my opinions on books so this site is my way of sharing those thoughts. I'll be writing commentary on books that I read. (And I really do read them. This is not some effort to push certain books or authors.) I primarily read fiction but my tastes are varied from books clearly defined as "classics" to the "classic beach read." I'm also a member of a book group so I'll be commenting on those titles as well.

This site was created several months ago, and just recently my web guru husband converted it over to this nice new site software.

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This is a book club pick, but it also turned out to be what I would call a smart summer read. It has all the required elements for an easy summer read. It is short, fast paced and compelling. It has bad marriages, close friendships and sex. But it also paints a vivid verbal picture of growing up in a neighborhood where no one exactly fits because no one is from there and no one (or very few) actually stay. The book carries you from a young girl’s playing with a new friend she chooses based on the opportunity to share a bicycle to an age where another she knows disappears into marriage. I believe this book is often on high school reading lists and I can understand why. It touches on subjects that every teenager faces, particularly finding a place in the world. And it makes the reader consider the choices a young person faces in every generation and in every level of income. There are some issues that cross economic lines. It generated a wonderful discussion in my book group and was one of the titles that everyone attending was able and eager to finish.

The Sea, by John Banville

The Sea, by John Banville

I loved this book. Of course, yet again, I am praising a book that has already been praised by those more worthy than I am. It won the Booker prize. I enjoyed this book from the first page. The story weaves backward from the narrator’s late middle age while at the same time forward from his adolescence. And yet this somehow works seamlessly. I found the adolescent story more compelling. A young boy is infatuated with an older woman and then discovers his true, and more appropriate, first love in her young daughter. At the same time we listen to him describe life after the death of his wife. In addition to the narrative, detailed characters, and gorgeous descriptions of place, this book had a fun surprise for me—vocabulary. Granted, the author is is from Ireland so some was regional but it was a fun challenge to encounter "flocculent" and have to check a dictionary just to be sure I really knew what it meant.

This is also a pick from my book club.

The Known World, by Edward P. Jones

The Known World, by Edward P. Jones

My book group recently read The Known World by Edward P. Jones. The first comment I was about to make was that it's a very worthwhile read-but then, it did win the Pulitzer so I think that opinion is pretty much already established. Anyway, despite the Pulitzer I likely wouldn't have read it without the incentive of my group. It's a saga about slavery but unlike anything else you (or I) have likely read, it deals with the very small minority of black slave owners. The stark look at the practice of men buying and selling other men, women and children is woven into a fascinating story of love, sacrifice and moral choice. As a freed black man, would you buy another person? What if that person is family? What if buying a slave of your own would enable you to improve the life of your family? Though this is a novel, it is stunning to read and realize that these were real questions a few people had to ask themselves not very long ago in America. I am very glad I had the opportunity to read this incredible novel.

I will warn the casual reader that the number of characters and their connections to each other become overwhelming very quickly. There is a dramatis personae in the back for reference, but I found that if I simply kept reading without trying to connect everyone, the characters just fell into place. And I was able to read and follow the various plotlines without floundering.

Other Book by Edward P. Jones: Lost In The City

Bad Twin by Gary Troup

And since I mentioned "classic beach reads". . .

Bad Twin, by Gary Troup

This mystery is supposedly written by an author who disappeared on the Lost television show's plane crash of Oceanic Flight 815 (Lost fans note the plane's number and the birthdate of one of the characters in the novel). I picked it up because I am a fan of the show, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it a fun, fast, mystery that was totally readable for anyone who simply likes crime novels - whether or not he's even heard of Lost. Sure, there are some connections that get you thinking - our detective hero accidentally pushes the wrong elevator button and ends up on the 42nd floor, where he finds himself in the lobby of the Hanso Foundation. But overall, it's a missing person mystery. A "good brother" hires a low-rent private eye to track down his missing twin brother, long the black sheep of the very wealthy Widmore family (another Lost connection). The chase takes detective Paul Artisan around the world and through some deep thinking about his own purpose in taking the case. There's some interesting discussion on purgatory and plenty of references to classic literature. And it all ends with a neatly satisfying ending.

Buy Bad Twin Buy Lost DVDs and Books


July 2, 2006 Update

Since I wrote my review of Bad Twin it's been revealed that Gary Troup is the pseudonym for thriller writer Laurence Shames. Now I haven't read any of Shames's other books, including Welcome to Paradise, Tropical Depression, Florida Straits, and Sunburn. But I thought the titles worth mentioning because if you liked Bad Twin's Key West setting and the overall thriller nature of the novel his other books are probably worth checking out.