I've been on a major reading kick lately. Most likely because I've been sick and haven't felt like doing much else.
After reading Hemingway's Girl which you HAVE to read I knew I had to read this book as well. Plus Erika Robuck's new book Call Me Zelda won't be out until May 7th.
The Paris Wife goes a bit further back in time than Hemingway's Girl and focuses on Hemingway's first wife, Hadley. The relationship between Hadley and Ernest is well documented. Hemingway's final book is about their marriage and love.
What I loved about this book is really seeing the characters come to life. McLain's dialouge is natural and easy.
The book is also full of other famous people such as Gertrude Stein, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound.
I love reading about the 20's and especially 20's Paris. However, this was quite the different viewpoint because we get to see the world, and the artists in that world, through Hadley's eyes. We get to travel with her as she falls in love with Ernest and helps him to grow into the Hemingway whose writing we love. We watch as she remains traditional and struggles with her role as a wife and woman. We watch as Pauline enters the picture, and if you are a Hemingway fan, you know who Pauline is.
We feel Hadley's pain and loss.
This is a book you truly don't want to miss.
This is a cancer book.
And not just any cancer book, a book about cancer and teenagers and love.
A book about the unfairness that exists in life.
And the beauty.
Hazel is the main character of this story and if you read other reviews, yes, she is overly wise for being only 16 years old. A lot of the reviews I read took issue with that. But this book never promises to be a complete depiction of reality. If oyu can suspend your disbelief that a 16 year old girl can understand the world beyond her years, even cancer ridden make you wiser years, then you will really enjoy this book.
I scarfed in down in two days and I have no time to read!
If you let yourself be swept away you will swoon over one legged Agustus and revile the author they so adore who refuses to be any kind of nice.
You will cry.
You will probably get mad.
You will cry some more.
You will want to fall in love. Or stay in love.
Beyond a beautiful love story unencumbered by reality, John Greene says some great things about literature in general. Namely about what happens to the characters in a novel once the novel has ended.
I highly recommend this story, but only if you need a good cry.
I almost didn't want to read this book, but it sat on my bookshelf staring me in the face, daring me to take a chance. I'm sure many people felt that way after loving Harry Potter so much. Writers just don't make the switch from youth to adult fiction very well.
The Casual Vacancy takes place in a small town in England called Pagford. And most of the novel revolves around how they are going to fill the empty seat on the Parish Council left when Barry Fairbrother dies at the outset of the story.
It took me a while to warm up to the novel. In fact, it caught me off guard. I can't exactly tell you when or why, but I started to care.
What J.K. Rowling does, and does better than most, is develop characters. They aren't just characters after a while. They become real. You love them. You hate them. But they are multidimensional. Her dialogue is effortless.
I was surprised to find many of the same themes from Harry Potter right in the center of 100% muggle Pagford. Pagford is responsible for an area called The Fields. The Fields is where all of the poor people live. Pagford wants to get rid of it's responsibility for The Fields and the addiction clinic that helps many of the residents. It's the full blood versus half-blood argument. We sure they are here, but they aren't really like us so they don't really belong here.
Characters in the novel struggle with guilt and secrets and desires. They are trying to find their voice in a place that seems to be run by just a few. Some are trying to upend the establishment while others are fighting to keep it the way it is. Basically, take away the magic and replace it with politics and real life.
When you have characters like Krystal Wheedon, Fats, and Andrew to love, to care for, to sympathize with, it is easy to get caught up in the story.
Don't get scared away by the politics though. Politics is a character in itself in this story. It is one element and not the main character either.
If you give this novel a chance, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
The Affair by Colette Freedman is a story in three parts. After 18 years of marriage, Kathy suspects her husband is having an affair.
She is right.
Part 1 of the book tells Kathy's story. I think all women who have ever been in a long term relationship can relate to Kathy. She asks tough questions that we never want to face like what will she do? Will she stay or will she go? She really takes a hard look at her marriage and her life. By the end of this section, your heart is broken for Kathy.
Part 2 of the book tells the husband's side of the story. Robert is easy to dislike. He is a vain workaholic who cheats on his wife. But there is a lot of humanity there too. He isn't just a one dimensional bad guy. He has depth and seeing the story from both sides is fascinating and draws you in even further.
Part 3 is the same story, but from the mistress' perspective. As much as I tried, I just couldn't hate Stephanie. I really wanted to, but her strength and her desire to be loved made her too easy to identify with.
This is a great story and each section adds so many new layers to what happens.
My only real complaint about the book is that the dialogue in each version is identical. I would expect that three different people would hear the dialogue differently.
Colette Freedman has said that a follow up is coming soon and begins just minutes after this book ends. I will be reading that one!
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Wife 22 is an almost too honest story of a woman who, in the middle of her life, realizes she has lost track of herself and her dreams. Her tale of raising children, hitting her 20 year wedding anniversary, and trying to refind her passion for life is wrapped up in a thoroughly modern world.
Facebook, the economy, and Google are all characters in this story just as much as the people.
There is brilliant humor throughout the book as Alice, the main character, is sure her son is gay and her daughter has an eating disorder.
Alice's story, at least at this point in her life, begins with an invitation to take part in a study on marriage. She is assigned the alias Wife 22 and begins to answer tough questions about her life and marriage that start her questioning everything.
What ensues is an achievable romance. This isn't The Notebook where you think that will never happen to me. This is the kind of real romance that could really actually happen. In real life. Even with the Internet.
At points the story is almost uncomfortably honest as it makes you take a look at your own life and ask some of those same questions Alice is asking.
I guarantee that by the time you get done you will have laughed, cried, and have a renewed hope in your life.
Please join us for the Great Thoughts twitter book club to discuss Wife 22.
March 5, 2013
8-9 pm CST
On Twitter, hashtag #gr8books
Melanie Gideon will be joining us to discuss the book! Feel free to tweet with her @melaniegideon.
Hemingway's Girl is a historical fiction novel that is a must for anyone who love Hemingway or love stories.
The book is sent in Key West during the 1930s when Hemingway spends his time writing, drinking, and boxing. He meets Mariella, a young woman who is trying to support and hold her family together after her father's death.
What I love about Mariella is that she is strong. When love enters her life, she doesn't swoon and give her life over to a man. She embodies feminine strength. She is creative. She has dreams for herself other than just finding a good husband. She lives through tragedy and comes through, not unscathed, but with her strength and dignity intact. She never sacrifices who she is for what she wants, even when she has to choose between loving the married Hemingway and loving an honorable but damaged WWI vet.
This is one of those novels that will truly submerse you in the place and time of the story. This is a must read!
Great Thoughts Book Club
February 6, 2013
8-9 pm CST
On Twitter, hashtag #gr8books
Erika Robuck will be joining us to discuss Hemingway's Girl!
If you love anything about turn of the English aristocracy or rich Americans, you will adore this book.
Cora Cash is the wealthiest heiress in America, and as the book opens, she is thinking about marriage. There are several things I love about Cora. She isn't trying to be "better" than her friends. She isn't trying to rise above her money. She is simply a beautiful rich girl looking for love, pretty dresses, shimmering jewels, and a fancy party. And she isn't blond!
Cora and her family travel abroad to try to find Cora a titled husband and Cora literally falls into Ivo, the Duke of Wareham's backyard.
What follows is two love stories. One is the love story of Cora and Ivo, who really don't know anything about each other. The other is of Bertha and Jim, both servants in the house. Both love stories are unexpected and very real. There is a level of intimacy with the characters that makes you want to hold onto them long after the story is over.
I highly recommend this descriptive, engrossing novel! You get all the fun and lavishness of American "old money" with the stuffiness and manners of the English Aristocracy.
Willpower is something that we all wish we had more of.
In her new book The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., teaches us how to harness our willpower and use it for good, not evil.
This is not one of those ready, set, change everything books. We all know that approach doesn't work. Neither does just deciding to try harder. It leads only to failure. Need proof? It's 10 days into the new year. How are you doing on your resolutions?
Dr. McGonigal looks at the physiological function of the brain, explains it in terms we can all understand, and teaches us how to actually achieve goals that require the use of willpower. She uses lots of case studies to show you why her approach makes more sense than alternate approaches as well.
As you work through the ideas, which are really new to some of us (like it's ok to make mistakes), she suggests you pick one thing to work on. There are 10 chapters and so 10 weeks of working towards this one goal. Each week the steps are broken down, explained, and most importantly, achievable. By the end you might be surprised to find that you achieved your goal without the pain of trying to force yourself into it.
Join the Blog Her Book Club in discussing The Willpower Instinct and find support for reaching your goals! Click here.
What are your willpower challenges?
This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own
My goal this year was to read 30 books. I didn't quite make it, but I'm making the same goal again in 2013!
1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. MockingJay
4. The Last Nude – Read my review here.
5. simple secrets to a happy life – Review
6. Best Kept Secret
7. Deja Dead
8. The Soldier's Wife – Review
9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
10. Social Punk #1 – Review
11. The Girl who Played with Fire
12. Deadlocked
13. The Midwife's Confession
14. Death du Jour
15. Island of Lost Girls – Review
16. You Don't Want to Know – Review
17. Come Home – Review
18. The Night Circus – Review
19. Afraid to Die
20. Deadly Decisions
21. Fatal Voyage
22. Grave Secrets
23. Bare Bones
24. Monday Mourning
25. Cross Bones
26. Break No Bones
27. Soul Detox
28. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
I am so excited I can barely stand myself. The Great Books Book Club is back!
The next selection is Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck. You can enter to win a copy here from Great Thoughts.
February 6, 2013
8-9 pm CST
On Twitter, hashtag #gr8books
Erika Robuck will be joining us to discuss the book!
I hope to see you there!
Tagged as:
#gr8books,
Great Thoughts Book Club
