One plus one = heartwarming +feel-good. {One Plus One by Jojo Moyes}

One plus one = heartwarming +feel-good. 

About One Plus One by Jojo Moyes: Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages... maybe ever.

My two cents

What a pleasant surprise. Was I expecting fluffy .. maybe. Was I expecting cheesy ... I think so. Was I expecting lots of tugging on the heart strings ... absolutely. This defies the genre of chick lit or women't lit. (What's in a genre anyway? Plus I was fresh off reading this, which I frankly wanted to throw out the window.)

Told from multiple perspectives, the story is about the life of a struggling single mom -- with a misunderstood teenage stepson and a math savant of a daughter -- just trying to grab opportunities and make things happen for her kids. But the challenges along the way are many and conspire against her.  Money is always tight and there is never enough despite working multiple jobs. The ex-hubby is equally elusive ... and useless on all fronts. Until her path crosses with a well-to-do techie slash not much of a businessman who she happens to clean house for. Unwittingly, both save each other from mundaneness and find some semblance of happiness.

Slyly reminiscent of Little Miss Sunshine's roadtrip, and alternately hilarious and poignant, I loved all the characters, felt deeply involved in their personal struggles, and read often with bated breath. I loved the feeling of falling in love with this book, and with Jojo Moyes's voice.

Verdict: Ahh ... I want to read it again to the power of ten.

P.S. Sometimes reviews don't need to be long to say "I loved it."

Book Depository

Baker's Blues by Judith Ryan Hendricks + #Giveaway!

Food is the salve for all hurts

About Baker's Blues by Judith Ryan Hendricks (Bread Alone Series, Book 3): In Wyn Morrison’s world a 5 AM phone call usually means problems at her bakery—equipment trouble or a first shift employee calling in sick—annoying but mundane, fixable. But the news she receives on a warm July morning is anything but mundane. Or fixable.

Mac, her ex-husband, is dead.

Ineligible for widowhood, Wyn is nonetheless shaken to her core as she discovers that the fact of divorce offers no immunity from grief. Friends and family are bewildered by her spiral into sadness, Mac’s daughter Skye blames her for his death.

For the last several years Wyn has been more businesswoman than baker, leaving the actual bread making to others. Now, as she takes up her place in the bread rotation once more, she will sift through her memories, coming to terms with Mac and his demons, with Skye’s anger, and with Alex, who was once more than a friend. Soon she will re-learn the lessons of bread that she first discovered at the Queen Street Bakery in Seattle…bread rises, pain fades, the heart heals, and the future waits.

My two cents

Food permeates our lives. This book is a a testament to the healing power of food -- creating it, eating it, sharing in it. In the third book of the series Bread Alone), readers are drawn into the baking world of Wyn and her little circle, as her husband Mac battles depression.

I liked ...

The fact this is a foodie read. I love to eat. It's the cure-all for everything, in my opinion. I'd choose a good meal over a new dress. Or a chocolate bar over a pill. So I naturally have a penchant for foodie reads though I admit that I don't seem to get enough of them in my reading fare lately.

The baking details and the cooking descriptions throughout this book are quite engrossing. I could almost imagine the smell of freshly baked bread! There is one bread baking scene in the earlier part of the book that I found informative and extremely inspiring: from waking up early, to the technicalities of the starter, the consistency and feel of bread, and lastly the sheer passion required for making delicious bread. I already have a profound appreciation for artisanal bread -- making bread is truly an art and a science.

The healing power of food is also an interesting angle explored throughout the novel. Wyn turns to food many times -- whether burying herself in her baking bread at her bakery, or indulging in a delicious meal -- as she goes through the challenging time of Mac's depression. These scenes are interwoven seamlessly into the narrative in a logical fashion so they become integral to the storyline.

Empathetic, balanced portrayal of characters in real-life issues. I was expecting this to be a fluffy foodie read but instead I got a rather in-depth peek into a husband and wife who are both impacted by depression, as well as their circle of family, friends, and colleagues. This was a surprise (initially unwelcome) until I realized that there was depth to it.

With more recent interest in raising awareness about mental health challenges, I thought Hendricks was able to present a balanced picture of depression from the viewpoints of the depressed persons as well as those close to the depressed.

A large part of the book deals with Wyn's viewpoint as the spouse; I understood her confusion and her frustration since she struggled to understand Mac but never really could. Being a fixer-upper type of person, the frustration level was even greater.

Meanwhile, indicated by font changes in the narrative, Mac's own recounting of his struggles were also illuminated. I rather disliked Mac at the onset of the novel but as a rounder fuller picture of the beginnings of his depression and the different stress points were presented, I agreed with (yet struggled with) Wyn's same conclusion that depression is no one's fault.

Other characters are also drawn into the dangerous pull of depression, which shows how complex and difficult depression is to deal with. A disintegrating marriage, tenuous relationships, a death, are probably the last things anyone wants to read about but these are unfortunate yet natural outcomes of depression.

Uh-ohs

I decided I wanted in on this book tour based on the cover. And therein lies its strength and its weakness: Is it a foodie memoir? a cookbook? foodie fiction? a cozy? I must remember to read blurbs carefully.

This is the third book in a series. If you've read the first two books and loved them, I know you'll want to pick this up. For someone like me who has come in from the cold, the first part of this book was disorienting with a bevy of characters making their appearance. It took me a good 1/3rd of the book to make sense of it all (Wyn - female, right? Skye - male or female? CM - who is this person?) This can be a standalone read but Mac starts out as dead which is rather unnerving because everything told in his voice is all in retrospect! I can't expect anything else -nor should I-- from his character if there is a future book!

One thing that didn't sit quite right with me is that I lost steam close to the end of book. This is alternately a draining-uplifting read but I felt it was overly drawn out and it left me exhausted (or was this just catharsis for me? I've been down but never really depressed). I really didn't want to finish the last few chapters since what happened in them were already implied. Overkill in my opinion.

Verdict: This is an insightful novel about relationships impacted by depression. Alternately depressing and inspiring, and interspersed with plenty descriptions of the power of food to heal, I'd recommend this novel to foodie fiction lovers, women's fiction readers, and those who want a better understanding of the dynamics of depression.

Giveaway!

You can win a copy! (US/Can)

Please enter using Promosimple.

About Judith Ryan Hendricks

Judith Ryan Hendricks was born in San Jose, California, when Silicon Valley was the Santa Clara Valley, better known for orchards than for computer chips.

Armed with a degree in journalism, she worked as a journalist, copywriter, computer instructor, travel agent, waitress and baker before turning to fiction writing. Her experiences at the McGraw Street Bakery in Seattle led to her first novel, Bread Alone and the sequel, The Baker’s Apprentice.

A life-long infatuation with the Southwest provided inspiration for Isabel’s Daughter and her fourth book, The Laws of Harmony. Hendricks’ fiction has been translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 16 countries worldwide.

Her nonfiction has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle and Tiny Lights, A Journal of Personal Essay, Grand Gourmet in Italy and The London Sunday Express. Her short fiction has appeared in Woman’s Weekly in Britain and AMERICAN GIRLS ON THE TOWN, an anthology, in the U.S. and U.K.

She lives in New Mexico with husband Geoff and dog Blue.

Connect with Judi at her website, judihendricks.com.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in order to participate in this tour with an honest review. Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour here. 

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

Accidental addict. Non-accidental recovering addict.

Synopsis of All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner: Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, an adorable little girl, a job she loves, and a big house in the suburbs. But when she’s in the pediatrician’s office with her daughter and a magazine flips open to a quiz about addiction, she starts to wonder whether her use of prescription pills is becoming a problem. On the one hand, it’s just prescription medication, the stuff her doctors give her. Is a Percocet at the end of a hard day really different than a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or after your husband ignores you?

Back in the car, with her daughter safely buckled behind her, Allison opens the Altoid tin in her purse and slips a chalky white oval underneath her tongue. The pill unties her knotted muscles, erases the grime and ugliness of the city, soothes her as she frets about the truth of her looking-good life: that her husband’s becoming distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s early Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother’s barely managing to cope. She tells herself that the pills let her make it through her days…but what if her ever-increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?

All Fall Down is the story of a woman’s slide into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again. With a sparkling comedic touch and tender, true-to-life characterizations, this tale of empowerment and redemption is Jennifer Weiner’s most poignant, timely, and triumphant story yet.

My two cents

Allison Weiss seems to have it all. But having it all is stressful. So what's the matter with taking a prescription pill to take the edge off? Nothing, right? In this fast-paced and highly empathetic portrayal of an everywoman accidentally turning addict, we're brought into a highly realistic and even scary possibility that anyone can spiral out of control.

***

I'm not quite sure why Jennifer Weiner's books have been forgettable for me. I poked into the recesses of my Goodreads archives and the ratings of Good in Bed and Goodnight Nobody were lackluster and I have little commentary. Maybe when I read them years ago, it just wasn't time, I couldn't relate. But with her new book, an unexpected win on Goodreads First Reads, my opinion changed. I picked All Fall Down this last weekend and just couldn't put it down!

This novel shines a light on prescription drug abuse, an issue making the papers for years now because of its growing prevalence and the insidious way people get hooked.I have a feeling that this novel will hit close to home for a lot of readers because Allison's life seems so typical and is oh-so- relatable life with her precocious child and a loving husband, the demands of a home-based business, and a desire to be better off financially. Who doesn't get stressed? Who doesn't feel they deserve some relief?

Allison's justifying, denial, eventually coming-to-terms with her problem, and the struggle to normalcy provides readers with a realistic picture of prescription drug abuse. It made me hyper-aware that this could happen to anyone and how this hidden problem can slowly creep unawares into anyone's life. And it doesn't have to be you -- it could be anyone in the family or even a friend.

While becoming an addict is accidental, what isn't accidental is detection and recovery. Part of the curbing the issue is self-awareness, of other people noticing changes.

Reading this make me want to revisit Weiner's other books.

Verdict: A highly relatable personal account of how prescription drug use can become an addiction. Read. Relate. Be aware.

I received an ARC of this through Goodreads First Reads.

Book Depository

Silk Armor by Claire Sydenham

Veiled, unveiled, I am woman.

About Silk Armor by Claire Sydenham: Her name is Didem, a young Turkish university student. Though she has left her veil behind in the provincial village she grew up in, she is still watched over closely by her father and certain friends. But when she meets Victor, an American instructor at the university, and they fall in love, Didem is propelled into an entirely new and dangerous future. The obstacles and threats they face lead Didem and Victor into plans of escape, an escape Didem must keep secret.

Silk Armor follows her adventure through her battles with her community, her culture, her traditions and conscience, leading to her realization that though these battles may be lost her war can still be won.

My two cents

Claire Sydenham (and the author of this book), is a university teacher in Turkey. One of her students, Didem, is drawn to Claire's fellow teacher, Victor. Claire unwittingly finds herself as a convenient cover for Didem's disapproving father. As Didem and Victor carefully lay out their plans to start a life together in America, we become privy to the internal struggles of a young woman seeking her voice and her place in a world, a struggle borne in a lifetime and expectations of an evolving Muslim faith in Turkey.

***

This one blindsided me. Based on the synopsis, I thought I was in for a cross-cultural romance. But this is so much better ... a book with depth, with sensitive and non-judgmental characterizations, and an insightful look into women's self-identity behind (or without) the veil.

The romance is merely a springboard from which the author juxtaposed two young women—an unveiled Didem and the veiled Sevgi—who both have their self-identity so inextricably defined, shaped, even decided upon by this "silk armor," the veil. The veil has been the subject of much discussion  and controversy across the world; a heavily laden subject, with political and cultural undertones.

There are a few striking images of the veil that have stayed with me. One is of Didem's disgust when encountering heavily black veiled women she describes as "cockroaches" because she thinks the veils only serve to highlight what a woman's role is: to procreate. Another is of Claire's disappointment at Sevgi's lukewarm reaction to her gift of a beautiful forest green silk veil picked to match the colour of Sevgi's coat, and the ensuing internal dialogue of "it's not fashion, Claire."

How does this innocuous looking piece of cloth generate such deep-seated emotions and become such a hot button for heated arguments?

**

Let's flip to the other side of the romance, the other side of the tale as told by an alien Victor. As someone looking from the outside in, someone devoid of the context of culture and religion, Victor is naturally befuddled by Didem's actions, her motivations, her decisions.

Just like Victor, we revisit the childhoods of Didem and Sevgi and gain a better understanding of the familial expectations and obligations they face. We see how much more complicated it is to find love and self within, and moreso, outside of a traditional and familiar culture.

This is a complex and layered story. As we zigzag and meander dizzyingly into the past, the present, and back, we are pulled into a tale that is sad, tragic yet strangely illuminating.

***

Uh-oh: This is beautifully written and begs for a better cover... how I wished that the cover captured more the essence of the struggle, the tragedy, and the cultural richness of the tale.

Verdict: This is a tragedy and an illumination of self-identity tied in to the symbol of the veil. I highly recommend this for those who enjoy multicultural stories and those who are looking for a better understanding of the pressures modern women face within traditional cultures. This is such a satisfying read and makes my favourites for the year.

Interesting quote:

Victor was a foreigner offering her a wide and fascinating world of adventures; Mustafa was offering housework.

And yet I understood, and that's why she continued speaking with him throughout the winter. Even as she protested his plan I think she felt the rudimentary wisdom of it, the simple appeal of spending your life with someone you grew up with, who formed , as you formed, in the shape you formed [..] The needs of the heart are met in simple ways or not at all. - p. 227

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Paul!

Interesting links:

• Globe and Mail's "Behind the Veil"
• Headscarf Controversy in Turkey
• Why Americans should embrace the Veil by Clair Sydenham

 

Morning Light by Holland Kane

Not light reading. Not at all. 

About Morning Light by Holland Kane: Emily, a twenty-four-year-old dancer and choreographer, confronts her husband's fixation with right-wing Catholic dogma that condemns her use of birth control. His faith is so powerful that he refuses to have sex with her, even though he desperately wants to. As awful as this broken faith feels, she is troubled more by her best friend's losing fight with cancer, and seeks to help her friend's grief-stricken, precocious, son--the seventeen-year-old David. But the boy's willful ways turn the tables on her. Denied intimacy by her husband, the boy's passion asserts itself, and everyone's life is explosively altered. 

Twenty years later, the successful David, a theater director, gets his hands on Emily's secret journals and uncovers her covert emotional life, revealing family secrets unknown to him, and discovering prickly truths about himself. Part literary memoir, part poignant psychological drama, this haunting love story explores the secrets of attraction and the mysteries of obsession--a boy's coming-of-age, and one woman's search for love and success in a year of intense achievement and painful loss.

My two cents

Emily is young and beautiful; she is a choreographer and dancer. Her husband Rick loves her ... but is going through a dilemma-of-sorts, his extreme Roman Catholic faith (or is it blind belief in a priest he idolizes?) gets him on an abstinence kick, much to Emily's dismay.

Not that Emily has a lot her on plate already: her dear friend and mentor Sara is battling cancer and she is choreographing her next major piece for her big debut. David, Sara's teenage son, becomes Emily's distraction and she succumbs, making him her lover. What does this action hold for Emily and Rick's marriage? How will besotted David get over Emily? What does the future hold?

***

This is beautiful storytelling! I found especially intriguing (and well-done) how this was told in retrospect -- the successful theatre director David is telling his love story and musing upon Emily's actions and feelings, including his insights into some of Emily's diary entries.

One highlight is that I found the descriptions of creating art and dance very engrossing. Dancers and art lovers will surely enjoy Kane's appreciation of the rapture (and disappointment) of creating anything of beauty.

The subject matter is heavily laden with hot buttons: religion, sex with a minor, pornography, adultery. This is heavy stuff. There are some sections which turned into some rather dense rambling and if you're not in the mood for that, this may grate on your nerves. Otherwise I think the book does a wonderful job of showcasing various religious, ethical and moral dilemma, and how it can potentially impact people's lives over the long haul. Hold any judgement and I think you'll be fine.

***

Verdict: Unfolding as a retrospective, this book will prod, poke and challenge you. I'd recommend this to people who like Jodie Picoult's ethically challenging tales, and those who have a soft spot for dance and art.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

 

One Big Beautiful Thing by Marie Flanigan

A subtle feminist novel. 

Synopsis of One Big Beautiful Thing by Marie Flanigan: Artist Kate Abernethy is trying to put her life back together after the death of her boyfriend. At first, moving back in with her mother seems like a good way to sort out her finances and re-evaluate her life—instead it proves to be a minefield of doubt and recrimination. Floundering, she pushes herself to take new opportunities so she can rebuild her life and have a second chance at happiness.

My two cents: 

Kate Abernathy is an artist but she's always been unsure of herself as an artist. She felt that she had found herself when she was part of a pair, with her beloved Robert. But his tragic death leaves Kate reeling, grieving, unmoored. 

She moves back to her hometown and out of convenience, she fills in for her mom - who has decided to take a leave of absence - as an art teacher in the local school run by nuns. Kate starts to get her bearings and things pick up in her new life. 

Her path eventually crosses with Aiden, the manager of the nearby bishop's residence, and she finds herself strangely attracted. In a moment of weakness, they both give in to their urges. Their romance becomes a curious push-and-pull -- both are attracted to each other yet both do not want to commit to anything more. Kate feels like she is cheating on her dead boyfriend; Aiden apparently has some deep secret that stops him in his tracks. 

In a confluence of art, romance, and self-discovery, Kate starts on her road to healing. 

***

I have to admit that I was a little worried when I accepted this book for review. For one, I'm not big on reading religious fiction and the cover has a crucifix right smack dab in the centre. Secondly, when I did start reading it, I wasn't quite liking the beginning which was quite the contrast to the religious reference on the cover: what is it with mentioning Starbucks, donuts and so much swearing (count how many "f*cks" there are in this book)? 

This book sort of blindsided me. I think I was expecting it to be fluffier, funner, less involved. But this is definitely a cut above chick lit. It is an interesting exploration of various themes, but it's all very subtle, and cloaked in chick lit-ish romance and in popular language:

• Art, its creation and its depiction of life, is a running theme. Kate's realizations about herself are reflected in and are reflections of her art. I think this was really well done that I wonder if the author is an artist herself, or she has someone close to her who is an artist?
• This has feminist undertones in its exploration of the powerplay within relationships, of perceptions about race, and in sex. When it got to the point when Kate starts revealing the character of her dead boyfriend and how they related with each other, it clicked for me!
• There was also a religious layer to the story. Having grown up Catholic, I could relate to how religion is so drummed into someone that guilt rears its ugly head with anything that is non-conservative, from the simple act of dressing up to how one conducts their relationships. Kate's tattoos, her pink hair, her relationship with Robert, are all just physical manifestations of her trying to find her own voice.     
• And lastly, I found quite intriguing the rift in Kate's relationship with her mother. I enjoyed how the author slowly revealed the circumstances behind the rift and how they came to better understand each other as people rather than as mother and daughter.  

While are characters are accessible, relatable and largely believable, a huge strength of this book is Kate as the main character. I especially enjoyed the realism of the exchanges between her, her longtime friend Bunny, and with her mother. 

There are also a few sexual encounters described in the book. I felt they were strangely sweet and awkward and didn't detract from the main storyline. 

Uh-oh: There are few minor copyediting flubs that I came across (e.g., "site" for "sight").   

Verdict: This turned out to be surprisingly good! A character driven novel with a romance that is a cut above fluffy chick lit with its feminist undertones, and its subtle exploration of the themes of art and religion. I'd love to read more of this author's work! Recommended!

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Read more:

• Marie Flanigan's website
• Marie Flanigan's guest post "Why Self Publishing Works for Me"
• My Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post for some quotes

Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay

Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay

Amazon.com: Hardcover | Paperback
Book Depository: Hardback | Paperback

Life lived spontaneously, like music played from sight reading. 

Synopsis from Amazon.com: On a warm spring day in Boston, Hazel spots Remy for the first time in years. Though their meeting might seem insignificant, Remy, a gifted violinist, is married to Scottish conductor-composer Nicholas Elko--once the love of Hazel's life, now struggling with a masterwork he cannot fully realize. In the twenty years since their collective world was tipped on its axis, these three artists have faced unexpected joys, mysterious afflictions, and other puzzles of life, their fates irrevocably interlaced.

Unfolding across two decades, from Europe to America, from conservatory life to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sight Reading explores how the quest to create something real and true--be it a work of art or one's own life--can lead to deeper personal revelations, including the secrets we keep, event from ourselves.

My two cents

Disclosure straight off: I like classical music and have a few musicians in the family, including a violinist so this one definitely piqued my interest!

Sight reading is a skill musicians must possess -- it's playing straight from the sheet music and is quite nerve wracking (or so I've heard). I've listened to many many hours of practice sessions, recitals and musical competitions; I've always viewed being a musician as a vocation, without a passion for it, a musician becomes a mere technician.

This novel draws us into how life can be complicated, made moreso within the subculture of music. Musicians, composers, music academics -- their lives are steeped in the banalities like all of us -- but they have their music which they are bound to in a special, even spiritual way.

The book opens rather innocuously on a gorgeous spring day with Hazel treating herself to a pedicure -- she is happy yet something triggers her memory and we slip back into the past. We are then brought into the past 20 years of triumph and anguish of their musical careers, family lives and friendships.

Music as a metaphor for life. This book lovingly weaves musical themes into some rather profound insights about life. I never felt these little musically-laden insights were forced and flowed as the story worked itself out.

"It's about the passage of time, really. In our lives -- not just the page. You know how sometimes everything seems to keep rushing forward, but then at other times things are peaceful and still? How sometimes we feel stuck in time, or just plodding along day by day--and then suddenly it's as if time's passed us by, or we're being hurried along too quickly. That's what tempo is about. That's what we're expressing. Not just how fast or how slowly the music moves. It's about how fast and slow life moves."

***

The characters are real people -- extremely flawed, emotional.

Remy, a gifted violinist, is unsure of herself even in the beginnings of her career but after playing in second violin for years and never making her way up in the orchestra, she holds on to her dream of doing so much more.

Nicholas is a brilliant conductor (and Hazel's husband) is among those (rather annoying) gifted people to whom success comes easily; but he is emotionally detached, romantically clueless, and rater immature.

Then there is Hazel, the only non-musician in this cast of three, who is by association drawn into the music world; a beautiful woman in her own right and a loving and supportive wife and mother.

I can't not mention the character I loved the most: Yoni, Nicholas's colleague and friend and someone who witnesses Remy and Hazel in their relationships with Nicholas.

***

Thank goodness this novel has its saving grace in its theme, its complex characters, and the lyrical writing ...  because the plot could have easily become simplistic and predictable. In a nutshell: Nicholas has an affair with Remy and leaves Hazel and their daughter Jessica. Remy marries Nicolas but their relationship becomes rocky and both turn to other people and things for relief. Jessica grows up happily in both her parents' households. Hazel remakes her own life and remarries. The ending: you'll need to find out!

Verdict: An unusual treatment of how flawed lives lived out against the backdrop of a musical subculture. 

Read this if:

• you're a classical music lover, a musician or a music professional. You may appreciate the musical nods more (or less? depending on its accuracy). 
• you're simply someone who'd likes a peek into the music sub-culture, this book will at the least pique your interest. 
• you'd like a different take on a classic love triangle

About Daphne Kalotay 

Daphne Kalotay is the author of the novel Russian Winter, which won the Writers’ League of Texas Fiction Award and has been published in twenty languages, and the fiction collection Calamity and Other Stories, which was short-listed for the Story Prize. A MacDowell fellow, Daphne holds a PhD in modern and contemporary literature and an MA in creative writing, both from Boston University, and has received fellowships from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, Yaddo, and the Bogliasco Foundation. She has taught literature and creative writing at Boston University, Skidmore College, Middlebury College, and Grub Street. Co-president of the Boston chapter of the Women’s National Book Association, she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Find out more about Daphne at her website, and be sure to like her on Facebook!

Check out the entire tour here.
I received an Advance Reader Copy through TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. 

Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay

Amazon.com: Hardcover | Paperback
Book Depository: Hardcover | Paperback

Hardcover: 352 pages 

Publisher: Harper (May 21, 2013)

Eight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto

Life lived. And reimagined through a woman's camera lens.

Synopsis of Eight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto: A deeply affecting meditation on the lives of women artists, Whitney Otto's vivid novel explores the ambitions, passions, conflicts and desires of eight female photographers throughout the twentieth century. This spectacular cast of spirited, larger-than-life women offers wide-ranging insight about the times in which they lived. From San Francisco to New York, London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Rome, Otto spins a magical, romantic tale that creates a compelling portrait of the history of feminism and of photography.

While their circumstances may differ, the tensions these women experience—from wanting a private life or a public life; passion or security; art or domesticity; children or creative freedom—are universal. Otto seamlessly weaves together eight breathtaking vignettes to form a moving and emotionally satisfying novel.

My two cents 

The book in one sentence: Live life large whether in front or behind the lens.

Amazing! This makes it as another of my favourite reads for the year. With the same appeal as Otto's How to Make an American Quilt, this is altogether bold, romantic, tender and outspoken. I loved everything about it and I could relate on so many levels, as a woman, and as someone who has always been fascinated with photography and art in general.

The novel is broken up into eight sections, each featuring a famous female photographer and her story. The obvious common thread -- photography -- is just one among the many threads that hold the individual stories together. Spanning decades (early 1990s to the present), across several continents, during various historical moments -- these themes are the stuff of our lives. I just breathed it all in! I am betting that women readers will be able to relate to one (or more) of the eight characters in some way.

Women photographers are simply ordinary women who face the issues all women do: the men (or women) who we love, fulfilling the roles expected of women (or breaking out of them), feeling comfortable in one's sexuality, children (or none at all), of wanting to carve out one's one path personally and career-wise. What makes a woman happy? What makes you happy?

What sets these eight women apart is their vision (and tempestuousness) to continue with their craft -- and do so with great courage and passion -- despite (or inspite) of the many hurdles. They all managed to make their mark in photography in rather profound ways.

Opening photo for first photographer,
Cymbeline Kelly (US)

Each vignette opens with a photograph which figures in the story somehow (and which I tended to flip back and forth to try and see the image through that particular photographer's eyes).


The first photographer's story opens with the photo of an unmade bed with some hairpins. Note that all these photos are apparently taken by real women photographers, and then the characters' lives are reimagined by the author based on that photo. How creative and what a wonderful way to draw readers in! Of course I want to find out who Cymbeline is, who this "woman in love" is! Of course I want to know the story behind that unmade bed. Like we always say, a picture is worth a thousand words ... in this case, the words follow.

Each has made their own distinctive mark in the world of photography -- with some extremely fascinating points woven into the narratives. There are references to photography styles and influences, lenses and cameras and details that will satisfy the photography buff. And since this draws from the lives of women photographers, there is a list at the end of the book you can check out.

The stories are interspersed and coming from a small art niche, the paths of some of these women either cross physically or professionally. This makes for the reappearance or reference to the eight main characters throughout the book (and the first time it happened, I was a little surprised!)

***

Photo for photographer Amadora Allesbury (UK)

What I liked: 

• The combination of story and photography history lesson. 
• The photos at the beginning of each section.
• The realistic depiction that women are complicated creatures. Add that to a hard-headed artist wanting to make their mark in the artwork, and you've in for fireworks. 

What I didn't like:

• The characters seem to be made from the same stuff - they're all very outspoken, very comfortable in their sexuality, and yet ... their relationships are such messes! I attribute that to the fact that they are women artists. And that photography was a male-dominated industry. Or is this just a stereotype? I'm a little on the fence about this because I loved this book!

***

Verdict: A beautifully written set of vignettes about the complexity of women and their photography. Highly recommended for Otto fans and photography buffs.

***

Random quotes:

Among the things she said: "Women seem to possess all the natural gifts essential to a good portraitist ... such as personality, patience and intuition. The sitter ought to be the predominating factor in a  successful portrait. Men portraitist are apt to forget this; they are inclined to lose the sitter in a maze of technique luxuriating in the cleverness and beauty of their own medium." - p. 66 (ARC, page may change)

It was hard not to feel resentment that men weren't forced into these choices. Some days she felt that she would spend all her time trying to forget her life before children because she loved them too much to be reminded of the heat of Rome in the summer and a beautiful girl who turned heads as she walked down an Italian strada. - p 253 (ARC, page may change)

Later, Jenny would say she seldom knew what she would take a picture of when she picked up a camera, that she only knew once she peered through the viewfinder, as if the photograph had finally found her. - p. 309 (ARC, page may change)

Read more at Whitney Otto's Official Website.

I received an ARC on Goodreads First Reads.

Book Depository

Gold by Chris Cleave

Ahh friendship, what a strange thing.

The book in one sentence: Two friends battle it out ... on their bicycles, for the same man, and for the same child.

Serious synopsis (from back cover): In Gold, Chris Cleave gives us an elegantly constructed, passionate story about friendship, marriage, parenthood, tragedy and redemption. The story belongs to two women, Kate and Zoe, world-class cyclists who have been close friends and even closer rivals since their first day of elite training years ago. They have love, fought, betrayed, forgiven, lost consoled, and grown up together. Now on the eve of their final Olympics each woman is tested to her physical, mental and emotional limit. Each will confront the other, face their own mortality, and be asked to decide: What exactly will you sacrifice for the people you love?

My thoughts: Oh that cover - so interesting (I have a thing for typographic art) and the premise of the story moreso what with the Olympics upcoming. Yup, sign me up for the GoodReads giveaway ... and ta-dah, it's in the mail. I sit down to after work, and before I know it, I'm a chapter in. I practically read this overnight. Overall I enjoyed this quick and engrossing read but I have mixed feelings about this one though. Why?

Gold by Chris Cleave

I really liked: The melding of the sport in the story -- I totally fell for Chris Cleave's descriptions of what professional cyclists feel, physically and emotionally, when competing. This is what really drew me into the book, kept me on the edge of anticipation, and I became a cyclist vicariously in this passage:

Ten seconds to go. Zoe stared at the black line on the track ahead of her front wheel. The thin black strip that brought you back to yourself. She breathed hard, getting the oxygen into her blood. Focusing. She looked along the curved line that bent gravity around the locus of her fury and called in all her demons and bound them all together in the center of her. She shook with the force of it. She held it on the very edge of control as the countdown reached the end. The absolute anger of her energy would kill her if she had to hold it for more than a few more seconds. She fought to keep it contained. The speed struggled hysterically to be born. For the three last impossible seconds she restrained it, focused between the race and the real world, under starter's orders. Her lips moved, she was praying for the whistle to go. - p. 107, Gold by Chris Cleave [ARC, paging may change]

Generally, the story moves along quickly with just enough suspense and some unpredictability which kept me moving along. I actually couldn't help myself going ooooohhhh, dang when I found out the truth about Sophie!

But ... (I will keep this spoiler free)

... Somehow I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being taken for a ride. It was like a telenovela to the hilt - too much melodrama, and not just a coincidences that felt somewhat contrived for me. 

... Unbelievable characters? Longsuffering Kate vs. ruthless Zoe. And Jake, the man caught in between (I never did like him, except when he is around Sophie). 

My internal dialogue:

To Kate: why do you choose to be friends with such a despicable person as Zoe? Why, why, why? Wake up and smell the coffee, woman! Zoe is out to get you. 

To Zoe: what the hell are you thinking? Do you not have a conscience? Will you stop blaming your being such a total *sshole on the death of your brother? 

And when it got to the so-called "redemption" part: Heck, what hat did you pull that out of? (No, I did not buy it, not after having read what a sad, sad woman she is.)

Sophie is another character I initially liked - an adorable girl suffering leukemia who didn't want to "trouble" her parents. But I soon tired of her longsuffering attitude, just like Kate's character. 

... Lastly, this is supposed to be about friendship and rivalry. The rivalry aspect was played up wonderfully, but the friendship side I think it's a farce of a friendship, one borne simply out of convenience. (And why would I want to celebrate something like that?)

Verdict:

An adrenaline-laden athletic melodrama that will keep you reading just as fast as the characters are cycling. Worth a read but more fluffy than I expected. 

One great thing is that I discovered this author and I think I will try out his other novels Little Bee and Incendiary. Check out Chris Cleaves' website for more about his work.

First line: Just on the other side of an unpainted metal door, five thousand men, women, and children were chanting her name. 

Last line: Far above them all, and falling through the skylights high in the vaulted roof of the velodrome the brave April light was golden.

I received this book on GoodReads First Reads.
This book goes on sale June 5, 2012.

In Leah's Wake by Terri Guiliano Long

People will never fail to not live up to your expectations. Because they are only human. 

The book in one sentence: The story of an unravelling of a family.  

Serious synopsis: 
The Tylers have a perfect life—beautiful home, established careers, two sweet and talented daughters. Their eldest daughter, Leah, an exceptional soccer player, is on track for a prestigious scholarship. Their youngest, Justine, more responsible than seems possible for her 12 years, just wants her sister’s approval. With Leah nearing the end of high school and Justine a seemingly together kid, the parents are set to enjoy a peaceful life…until everything goes wrong.

As Leah’s parents fight to save their daughter from a world of drugs, sex, and wild parties, their divided approach drives their daughter out of their home and a wedge into their marriage. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Justine observes her sister’s rebellion from the shadows of their fragmented family—leaving her to question whether anyone loves her and if God even knows she exists.

Can this family survive in Leah’s wake? What happens when love just isn’t enough?

My thoughts

The title ... I immediately thought it would be about death. And that cover - despite the greenery and the freshness - it just made me feel really sad. It is about death, in a sense, a death of the baby you once knew and her rebirth into the person she wants to be. Was I ready for another sad read?

Apparently I was. I got this in the mail after work, and I flipped through the first few pages then found myself  speeding through it in the next two nights. I couldn't bear to put it down.

My nose came out of a book with a huge whew! This is quite the heart wrenching read; it exhausted me emotionally. It is a very honest book about family life - about expectations and unmet expectations and the very complicated reality of family relationships. I could relate to the different characters in different ways...

I became Leah as she went through the craziness of trying to assert herself as her own person. She was fighting the warring voices in her head, trying to decide which side of her would win out ... but she was adamant that she do what she thought was best for her (in hindsight, however naive or misinformed it be)

"Leah was tired. Tired of her life. Tired of living in this crappy house, in this crappy neighborhood, with crappy parents who didn't appreciate her."
- p. 115

and:

"Leah had never felt so lonely or displaced. She forced herself to picture the ride home from the police station the other night, the rage in her father's eyes, the disgust in her parents' faces when she climbed out of the car.

You're not their little girl anymore, she reminded herself. Life as she'd known it was over."
- p. 156

I became Zoe and Will, the protective parents, second-guessing myself on whether I knew my child, on whether I had raised her "properly." It's tortuous to think about decisions that affect our children.  It's nuggets of parental wisdom like this that really hit home:

"No wonder she's the way she is." A strong-willed child , like Leah, needed solid boundaries. By giving in to her demands, they'd taught their daughter, in effect, her will was stronger than theirs. Bu pushing, haunting, she'd eventually get her way.Children aren't equipped to take charge. Predictably, she'd lost control. "We should've stuck to our guns."
- p. 257

And I became Justine, the bewildered sister, still looking up to Leah, refusing to believe the worst yet loving her despite her sister's flaws.

"Did you get roofied?"

Roofied? Seriously, Justine wasn't that naive, was she? She was staring at Leah, her face hopeful, her earnest brown eyes open wide.

Leah considered fessing up. Justine had come home early because she was worried. She was sitting here now because she cared about Leah. Leah owed it to her to tell her the truth. Only who knew how Justine would react?
- p. 65

*

Liked: 

The characterizations are so on-point that I couldn't help but relate. That the book is told in first person makes it relatable from the characters' various views, so one can easily put themselves in the shoes of at least one of the characters.

I also think that books about families in crisis need to be written and read, simply to open channels for discussion. For the parent, it is always a challenge to remember going through adolescence and a better understanding of their children - by keeping communication channels open - can only help them. For the child, it is always a challenge to open up fully to one's parents for fear of judgement or recrimination (but really, they are on their child's side and only want the best.)

Didn't quite like: 

I overalled loved the story. So this is bit nitpicky but tiny things that bug me but bug me nonetheless: I hated the fonts used for the cover (so dated) and the little icons at the top of each page bugged me (overused).  It made the book so "homemade" which isn't a bad thing in itself - but putting it next to a Jodi Picoult designed novel, it lacks the same sophistication and does it a bit of a disservice - because this book definitely needs to be read!

Verdict: This book is bound to touch parents and children alike, the characters speaking volumes about family life and the inevitability of family bonds.

*

First line: Zoe and Will Tyler sat at their dining room table playing poker.

Last line: And rising to the balls of her feet she goes on.

Check out Terri Guiliano Long's website for more about the book, book discussions, and more.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

The life of a lone wolf

Jodi Picoult's powerful stories are not new to me. So when I saw that her latest novel Lone Wolf was up for grabs in Goodreads, I didn't think twice. And so I was among the lucky ones who got an Advanced Reader Copy!

My thoughts

The story revolves around a man who was in an accident, lying comatose in the hospital. That man is Luke Warren, a passionate zoologist, who had put his "human" life on hold and went to live among the wolves in the wild. He had returned to an alienated wife and two kids, Edward and Cara. Georgie divorced Luke and made a new life for herself, marrying a lawyer and starting a new family. Cara stayed on with her father. Edward fled the country, and his family.

Now faced with medical decisions needing to be made, Edward, the prodigal son, returns at the request of his mother. Seventeen-year-old Cara, figured in the same accident as her father, but escaped with only minor injuries.
The story revolves around the difficult decisions that family members must wrestle with, in their lives together, and their future together. The already strained dynamics of a family in crisis becomes a legal battle as each one believes they know what's best in the interest of Luke Warren. Moral and legal questions come to fore: Who should make critical medical decisions - someone who is legally of age, or who knows that person's wishes better? Who determines when to cut off life support? What if the patient wants to donate their organs?

The book's chapters shift with the characters, with first-person viewpoints, making for very interesting reading. You''ll hear it from Georgie, Cara, Edward, and from Luke himself. You'll notice this through the change in font type (which I must point out is quite annoying to read), the tone of voice, and simply the whole difference in perspectives.

The story comes to a dramatic and tragic close, with family members coming out better for the experience. 

***

Ok, so now for the wolf part. The title intrigued me. The cover looked rather literal, but I figured it would have a metaphorical treatment. I was pleasantly surprised that the use of wolves was both literal and metaphorical. And that is what I feel has made this book stand apart. Jodi Picoult based her story on a true story, that of renowned wolf researcher Shaun Ellis, also known as the Wolfman. His research has fed into Luke Warren's accounts of his life with wolves, from the science-y side as well as from the vulnerable human side.

I have been asked many times what made me choose this path in life. I think part of it was that animals have always been straight with me, but humans haven’t. But the other part is that I don’t take no for an answer very easily.
- p. 60 (page may change), ARC of Lone Wolf

Picoult has a tender way of drawing parallelisms between wolves and humans - insights about family, loyalty, and other distinctly traits we come to think as human - which made me wonder at how complicated we've made our lives. 

There's an honesty to the wolf world that is liberating. There's no diplomacy, no decorum. You tell your enemy you hate him; you show your admiration by confessing the truth. That directness doesn't work with humans, who are masters of subterfuge. Does this dress make me look fat? Do you really love me? Do you miss me? When a person asks this, she really doesn't want to now the real answer. She wants you to lie to her. After two years of living with wolves. I had forgotten how many lies it takes to build a relationship.
- p. 342-343 (pages may change), ARC of Lone Wolf

I learned so much about humanity through wolves. Quite amazing to accomplish through a book!

Verdict: Amazing piece by Picoult. Beautiful, powerful storytelling about family life. Be prepared for the insights about wolf life; the whole wolf allegory is essential part of the whole reading experience. 

Check out my Friday 56 for Lone Wolf: A Novel.

The book comes out February 29, 2012.

Ruth by Marlene Lewis

 

We are the product of our times. 

The book in one sentence: Ruth faces trial and tribulation while discovering the truth about herself and her family in Papua New Guinea.

My thoughts

This is inspiring, is historical, and it hits home. Ruth by Marlene S. Lewis is a story about an Australian woman who grew up in Papua New Guinea in the 1950-60s. It is a life story - of hardship and struggle - steeped in an era of stormy civil rights clashes and colonialism.

Ruth is the only daughter of coffee plantation owners John and Alice Madison. Coming home to the Owen Stanley Ranges in Papua New Guinea after a term in boarding school, she puzzles over why everyone is acting so strange. Until she witnesses her mother thus:

"Looks like the rain's going to set in," Bert said, as they glanced out through the trellis to watch the heavy downpour bucketing over the outbuildings.

"Oh my goodness, who on earth is that?" Myrtle said as her hand swept to her mouth. "Oh heavens above, it's a white woman with no clo..."

Everyone stared in horror. There was Alice, sitting on an oil drum in the pouring rain.

And with that dramatic ending on page 32, Marlene Lewis had me up until 2:00 am!

The whole book is about Ruth from young woman to adulthood. We follow her from one calamity to another - innocent young girl, pregnant young woman forced to deal with hardships way beyond her years, settling down, and finally reinventing herself. I thought that the story would end there but no, there is more. Believe me, what this woman went through is nothing to scoff at.

Ruth is a tough woman, reminiscent of the pioneer women, and anything life throws at her, she deals with and moves on. But she doesn't escape unscathed, and she retains an emotional vulnerability that I am sure many people can relate to. In the midst of all these trials, Ruth relies heavily on her family and her friendships. Marlene Lewis does a wonderful job of keeping Ruth and her reletionships both believable and inspiring.

What I found most fascinating about this book: it is based on the history of Papua New Guinea, a country that has a colonial past - under the Dutch, the British, and the Australians (during which this story is set in, in the 1950s-60s). This makes for the rich, and rather explosive dynamics between the locals and the colonizers. There is the master-servant attitude with abuse commonplace, accepted, and even taken for the norm; an unspoken segregation and discrimination; a taboo of relationships between these two groups; and lastly the conflicting views of either resignedness to or challenging the status quo. {Sidenote: I grew up in the Philippines which also has a strong colonial past and the similarities resonate with me.}

Ruth's naive picture of her idyllic life in Papua New Guinea is painfully shattered. Without giving out too much information and spoiling things for you: the milieu plays such a critical role in these truths; it permeates these truths. She finds out why her mother was acting so strangely that day, the events that led to her father's suspicious death, the reasons for her brother's longstanding hostility, and the true identity of her beloved childhood sweetheart. I was in probably in shock mode for the most part, as I was learning history in a much more realistic way through these characters' lives.

***

First line: Friday 14th December 1956 had arrived at last.

Random quote: "You know, Ruthy, Christmas can be one of the saddest times as you get older. We lose people along the way of life, people who have been special to us; then Christmas comes and they aren't with us, and it's like losing them all over again." - p. 237

Verdict: This is an engrossing read which gives plenty of food for thought about womanhood, family relationships and friendships, and the cultures which shapes us into the people we become and the lives we live.

Book Depository

I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott

Perfect is as perfect does. 

I received this book through LibraryThings' Early Reviewers. That intriguing title is is drawn from a quote by Rumi: “Each has to enter the nest made by the other imperfect bird.”

The book in one sentence: Mother and teenage daughter in a tug-of-war on drug use.

My thoughts: Anne Lamott is an incredible writer, weaving realistic pictures of relationships - of the strained communication, the power play, and the intimate emotional details. If you're a parent, this book just may shock you out of complacency. It's a very honest look at a mother-daughter relationship, and the honesty with which both sides are told will break your heart. Elizabeth, a stay-at-home mom, has a very close relationship with her lovely daughter Rosie. Or so she thinks. Rosie is a typical 17-year-old - she has her own little secrets of BFFs, boyfriends, parties, booze and later, drugs. While it started innocently enough as experimentation, her secrets eventually spin out of control. Elizabeth, herself a recovering alcoholic, is in denial (which spans on a greater part of the book) and she can't accept that Rosie isn't the sweet and perfect daughter she paints herself to be. When the lies become too obvious to bear, Elizabeth buckles up - despite her own problems - and steps in lest Rosie make a complete and utter wreck of her life.

This is a story that makes you very uncomfortable. Meant to address the very real issue of teenage drug use today, I'd recommend this for every parent. I loved the book up until the last few chapters --- which sort of digressed into a brochure for a recommended way of treating teenage drug use.

While this book is a sequel to a previous one, the story can stand as is. This is my first time to sample Lamott's work, and I'm looking forward to reading more!

First line: There are so many evils that pull at our children.

Last line: The doors slammed one by one, and the engine started up, but Elizabeth and James did not see the lights of the van up here, only the dim reading lamp by the bedside and the thin quartered moon through the ox-eye window, and they listened to the van pull away in the night. 

Verdict: Though a drag in some parts, a must-read for every parent with teenage kids.