First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Mad Honey; Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon.

Mad Honey; Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Ballantine Books - 2022

Olivia 

1

December 7, 2018 ...the day of

From the moment I know I was having a baby, I wanted it to be a girl. I wandered the aisles of department stores, touching doll sized dresses and sequined shoes.  I pictured us with matching nail polish--me, who'd never had a manicure in my life. I imagined the day her fairy hair was long enough to capture in pigtails her nose pressed to the glass of a school bus window: I saw her first crush, prom dress, heartbreak. Each vision was a bead on a rosary of future memories. I prayed daily.

As it turned out, I was not a zealot...only a martyr.

What do you think...read more or pass?

(3) Brief Reviews - The Only Woman in the Room; Marie Benedict - The Measure; Nikki Erlick and Summer Love; Nancy Thayer

The Only Woman in the Room; Marie Benedict

(book group read - purchase)

SourceBooks - 2019

The Only Woman in the Room is fictionalized account of Austrian born icon Hedy (Kiesler) Lamarr a woman with both brain and beauty.   Born in 1914 to jewish parents, at 19 years of age she marries Fritz Mandl, a munitions mogul who was both controlling and violent.  In 1937 she finally is successful in escaping for London where she is discovered by Louis Mayer (MGM Studios) and gets her ticket to Hollywood.  Despite Hedy's brilliant scientific mind and her work on a torpedo guidance system, she never really got the recognition she deserved because she was female.

My book group met in July to discuss this book. Most everyone thought it was a light, easy read with it's short chapters and quick moving storyline but, we also all agreed that historical fiction, loosely based on true events should not be written in the first person.  I especially enjoyed the first half of the book about her marriage to Fritz Mandl and her relationship with her parents.  I thought the second half , about her years in Hollywood and her scientific work felt rushed and, I never got a sense of how her scientific brilliance came about.  

Some of the historical details here were inaccurate which was troublesome. In this book she adopted a son but, in real life she actually had four of her own children.  The ending was also disappointing - I wanted more. as did most everyone in our group.

RATING - 3.5/5 stars

The Measure; Nikki Erlick

(Harper Audio - library loan)

(Julia Whalen narrator) - very good

The Measure was an audiobook I requested by chance from the library as it sounded different from what I would normally select.  It ended up being pretty good.

In this story (8) ordinary people all from different demographics find a mysterious box on the doorstop. The box contains a string -- some long strings and some short ones.  The length of the individual's string is to determine whether they can expect to live a long life or one that is cut short.  Soon more people, everyone adult over the age of 22 will receive the same box/string.  What does it all mean? 

This is one of those stories that makes the reader wonder about what they would do in the same situation.  I thought it was interesting to see how different the individuals were and what they did with the information about a short versus long life.  The story was told through multiple POVs, each individual is struggling with life issues while trying to decide how to live out their lives.  A unique debut novel that seemed to have at least a bit of a political agenda but, it wasn't heavy or off-putting for me.. Overall, this was mostly a story about life, love and how we choose to spend our time here on earth.  Readers looking for something different might want to try this one. The audio, read by Julia Whalen was well done.

RATING - 4/5 stars

Summer Love; Nancy Thayer

Ballantine Books - 2022

(eGalley) - (20 Books of Summer list)

I always look forward to a Nancy Thayer summer release that returns readers to Nantucket Island.  Unfortunately, this book was lackluster and really disappointed me.

Ariel, Sheila, Nick and Wyatt spent a summer after college working on the island and became fast friends. At the time they crashed in the basement of a hotel that was being renovated.  Fast forward (26) years and Nick now owns the Lighthouse hotel on the island and invites the group to return over the summer. This time it's not just the friends but their children who are now in the 20s, the kids are the same ages the parents were when they first spent that summer there.  What has happened to this group over the last 20-something years?  How different will this summer be for them and their adult children or, will Nantucket work its magic?

The best thing about this book was the setting and all the little details that make this island setting work over and over again no matter who the author is.  The book itself seemed so rushed and unrealistic, I almost stopped reading midway.  The issues I had with the book were - the characters lacked substance and everyone seemed to fall in love instantly.  The word choices the author used were not the way young people speak today and much of what took place just felt cliche.  This is not what I've come to expect from Nancy Thayer - disappointing.

RATING - 2/5 stars (eGalley provided by publisher in exchange for my unbiased review.)

Book Review - A Long Petal of the Sea; Isabel Allende

 

A Long Petal of the Sea; Isabel Allende

Ballantine Books - 2020

This title was our book group pick for June and, although initially, I didn't think I wanted to read about the Spanish Civil this summer, in the end I was mostly, but not entirely, happy that I did.  My book group definitely helps me to branch out and try books I might have passed on.

The story begins in 1938 and ends in 1994, taking readers from Spain to France, Chile and Venezuela and ending in Chile. From the Spanish Civil war and political upheaval which includes a 1973 coup in Chile where the democratic government elected to power is overthrown.  It's also a bit of a love story in the midst of war and political crises.

The writing is good but, the translation felt a bit off at times.  I thought the author took great pains in getting all the real life historical details just right, as this is in part based on a true story. However, I felt that the characters themselves lacked depth and emotion and more focus should have been given to the characters themselves.  The portrayal of refugee camps was hard to read about and, I thought the author did a good job demonstrating the impact of war on its people.

Our group had mixed reactions to this book, a few really liked it, a few disliked and others had similar issues to mine.  Have you read this one? What did you think?

Rating - 3.5/5 stars

Book Review - Project Hail Mary; Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary; Andy Weir

Ballantine Books and Brilliance Audio - 2021

(audio narrator - Ray Porter - fantastic)

I put this book on the back burner for a while even though I enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir. It's just that SF is generally not my thing.  After several rave reviews from fellow bloggers, I decide to try a combo (eBook/audio) and I was so glad I did.  

Ryland Grace is a junior high science teacher, concerned about the Earth's dropping temperatures possibly leading to another ice age.  One day he wakes up on a space ship light years away and naked as well except for some breathing apparatus and lots of connected tubes and cameras watching him.  He eventually finds out that he is the sole survivor of a suicide mission and how all that came to be.

There is a character, well okay an alien life form, named Rocky that add so much interest and made for some fun as well as touching moments between he and Ryland.  Learning what actually happened through flashbacks worked so well.  I loved the audio narration but, was glad I had the eBook as well so I could gloss over some of the scientific and math components which bored me a bit.  There was a good amount of funny dialogue which I especially enjoyed. If you'd like to try something different be sure to check this one out. I sure hope the movie is in the works as, I enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir which I read/reviewed in 2015  - the movie was great as well

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: The eBook download was sent to me by the publisher at no cost and the audio book was borrowed from my public library.

Book Review - Unlikely Animals; Annie Hartnett

Unlikely Animals; Annie Hartnett

Ballantine Books - April 2022

Set in the small fictional town of Everton, New Hampshire, Unlikely Animals was a unique, almost whimsical kind of story, where even the dearly departed buried at the Maple Street Cemetery get to have their say about the residents still living in their town. It is a story of a family in crisis and it is also a story about how the opioid crisis has impacted small town life.

Emma Starling was believed to be born with the gift of healing.  At 22 she drops out of medical school (at least that's her version of the story) to return home to help care for her dying father, Clive.  Clive was forced into retirement as a result of a rare brain disorder that resulted in hallucinations.  Clive sees animals that only he seems to see.  He has even made friends with the ghost of a NH naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, a man known for his love and compassion to the gentle creatures who called the woods surrounding his property home.  Clive is also all consumed with helping to find Emma's former best friend, Crystal Nash.

In this story the characters are flawed and animals play a significant part in this novel.  The story is a bit slow moving but, trust me, it is slow and deliberate in the best kind of way. Emma was a well-crafted character and my heart went out to her at times. Her life wasn't turning out anything like she had thought. She'd gone from medical school to a caregiver and long term substitute teacher for fifth graders in town. Clive was also a character I grew to care about even when I didn't expect to as I learned about his past. There were some touching moments in this story and I loved the ending and learning about the author's inspiration for this story as well.  Very enjoyable.  If you are in the mood for something totally different, this just may be the book for you.

RATING - 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: Thanks go to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me access to an eGalley download.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Unlikely Animals; Annie Hartnett

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon. 

Unlikely Animals; Annie Hartnett

Random House Audio and Ballantine Books - 2022

Maple Street Cemetery, Everton, NH 

Years later, when people in Everton would tell the story, they would say it was Clive Starling who called the reporter, the way that man loved attention.

But we remember it the way it happened:  it was the midwife who slid down the hall to the payphone to get The Upper Valley New Hampshire News on the horn.  It was a slow news day, so the reporter have zipped right over to the hospital, and let the midwife go on and on into the tape recorder about a condition called charismata iamaton, which translates, in Greek, to "gifts of healing."  She insisted that the hands of this newborn baby, tiny hands still coated in the awful gunk of birth, had cured her sciatica.  She said most people with natural healing talents are unaware of their gifts, but this baby had the strongest natural talent she's ever seen.

BABY WITH MIRACLE HEALING POTENTIAL BORN, the next morning's headline read.  Town of Everton, N.H., REJOICES.

What do you think -- read more or pass?

I started this one last night and am am enjoying it so far.  

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, A Murder and an Unlikely Fight for Justice; Benjamin Gilmer

 

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon.

The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, A Murder and an Unlikely Fight for Justice; Benjamin Gilmer

Ballantine Books and Penguin Random House Audio - 2022

Good Hope Road

One June 28, 2004, in rural Appalachia, a man with my name and my profession strangled his father in the passenger seat of his Toyota Tacoma.

The other Dr. Gilmer was a family medicine physician in North Carolina, at a small clinic he'd founded with his wife near the tiny town of Fletcher.  He was recently divorced, living alone in a house on the hill above his office.  In the weeks and months before that night, he'd been drinking more than usual, going out to bars during the week. He'd also been making some impulsive decisions---like buying the brand new truck he was driving that night, even though he was massively in debt.

What do you think - read more or pass?  I just started this one and am finding it quite fascinating.

Book Review - The Maid; Nita Prose

 

The Maid; Nita Prose

Ballantine Books and Penguin Random House Audio - 2022

Narrator - Lauren Ambrose - very good

(eGalley and audio sent to me by publisher)

Molly Gray is a 25 year old "maid" at the Regency Grand Hotel. It is a job Molly loves and one she takes great pride in.  Raised by her grandmother after her mother had abandoned her, Gram was also a maid.  It is clear that Molly and Gram, who has recently passed away, had a special relationship. which helped Molly to thrive.  It is also clear listening to Molly narrate this story that she has difficulties understanding facial expressions and trouble with social skills and that she loves her life of routines.  

Charles Black is is businessman who, with his wife Giselle, stays at the Regency Grand almost weekly. Molly is always happy to service their suite and, grateful for their generous tips as well.  One day upon entering the suite Molly finds Charles, fully dressed, but dead in bed and, his younger wife Giselle is not around.  Following proper protocol Molly reports the incident but, she soon finds herself interrogated as murder is suspected in the death of Charles Black.

This was a delightful, light mystery. Molly is a terrific character, I loved how content she was with her simple life of routine and order. She made a wonderful narrator with her quirky, matter-of-fact style and honesty.  The Maid has a good cast of characters and turned out to be a real feel good mystery that will kept me guessing; the audio was very good.  This story has already been optioned for a movie.  Read it!

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

Book Review - WIsh You Were Here; Jodi Picoult

 

Wish You Were Here; Jodi Picoult

Ballantine Books and Penguin Random House Audio - 11/30/2021

Wish You Were Here is a story that begins just before COVID has shut down the world.  Diane and Finn are a young couple living in NYC. Diana hasn't had the best childhood but, her life feels near perfect now. At 29 she works for Sothebys and Finn is a surgical resident at a New York hospital.  The two have planned a romantic getaway to the Galapagos islands and, Diana is pretty sure the Finn is planning on asking her to marry him.  Right before the couple is planning to leave, Finn gets word that all hands on deck are needed at the hospital and no one can take time off.  He encourages Diana to take the trip alone since the trip is already paid for and non refundable.  She decides to go alone (Big Mistake) and it isn't long before things go from bag to worse.  I can't say too much more about this novel without spoiling it for perspective readers but, this just may be my favorite Picoult novel yet and, I've read all of her books except for her previous one. 

I went into this one without reading reviews -- do yourself a favor and just go into this one blind - you will be glad you did.  The story is told from Diana's POV with later input from Finn. The story is well-written, a perfect story set in COVID times that did not feel too depressing.  It's a story about relationships, reassessing priorities and figuring out what is really important in life. I loved this book.  The audio version was read by Marin Ireland who, as always, did a fabulous job.

Rating - 5/5 stars

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Wish You Were Here; Jodi Picoult

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon. 

 Wish You Were Here; Jodi Picoult

Ballantine Books - November/2021

One

March 13, 2020

When I was six years old, I painted a corner of the sky.  My father was working as a conservator, one of a handful restoring the zodiac ceiling on the main hall of Grand Central Terminal --an aqua sky strung with shimmering constellations.  It was late, way past my bedtime, but my father took me to work because my mother--as usual--was not home.

I started this one yesterday and I am finding it hard to put down.  Hope you enjoy the intro. The book releases in (2) weeks on November 30th.

Book Review - Songbirds; Christy Lefteri

TITLE/AUTHOR:  Songbirds; Christy Lefteri

PUBLISHER:  Ballantine Books

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021

GENRE: Fiction / Migrant workers / Mystery

FORMAT:  Hardcover

SOURCE:   (print - publisher)

SETTING(s):  Cyprus

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A young woman leaves her native country, Sri Lanka hoping to provide for a better future for the daughter she leaves behind.

BRIEF REVIEW:     Nisha works as a housekeeper and a nanny for a wealthy widow and her daughter in Cyprus.  She left her own two year old daughter, Kumari with her mother in Sri Lanka in hopes that someday she could return home and give her daughter a better life. By day Nisha works as a domestic worker for Petra and cares for Petra's nine year old daughter Aliki. Although Nisha chats with her daughter via an iPad in the evenings, she is, for the most part, treated like nothing more than a servant by Petra.

Yiannis is a poacher who makes a lot of money by trapping tiny songbirds and sells them on the black market where they are considered a delicacy.  He lives on Petra's property and is also Nisha's secret lover. He longs to marry her and give her a better life but, poaching is a tough job to get out of once you are part of the illegal operation. Nisha hates what he must do to the tiny birds.

When Nisha goes missing one evening, after preparing dinner, early in the story,  it's Petra who begins her own investigation with the help of Yiannis. She begins talking with other migrant workers as when a migrant, especially a woman, goes missing in Cyprus, the police are not helpful. 

I don't want to say too much more about the story except to say it is beautifully written, full of symbolism and imagery and just unforgettable, yet heartbreaking as well. The story in part was based on the true disappearances of other migrant women in Cyprus. There were some upsetting details involving how the poachers trap the tiny songbirds and what they do to them afterward.  Despite this, I'm so happy I had a chance to read this book. I now want to read the author's previous book: The Beekeeper of Aleppo which is supposed to be excellent as well.

Thanks go to Ballantine Books for sending me a finished copy of this thought-provoking book in exchange for my unbiased review.

RATING:  4.5/5

Memorable Quotes: 

“You see, when you clump people together and don’t understand their personal stories, you can make up any bullshit and convince yourself it’s the truth.”

“Now that I could hear this woman’s song—a melody that told a story I couldn’t understand—I hoped with all of my heart that it wasn’t too late.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brought up in London, Christy Lefteri is the child of Cypriot refugees. She holds a Ph.D. in creative writing from Brunel University, where she is now a lecturer. Her previous novel, the international bestseller The Beekeeper of Aleppo, won the Aspen Words Literary Prize and was the runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She is also the author of A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible, which was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Book Review - When the Stars Go Dark; Paula McLain

 

TITLE/AUTHOR:  When the Stars Go Dark; Paula McLain

PUBLISHER:  Penguin Random House Audio

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021

GENRE: Fiction / Crime

FORMAT:  audio download / LENGTH: 11 hours 29 min.

SOURCE:  Publisher download

SETTING(s):  CA

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A rather dark story that concludes with a little bit of hope.

BRIEF REVIEW:  The story begins in 1993 with Anna Hart, a missing persons detective in San Francisco who specializes in missing children. It's clear from the beginning that something tragic has happened in her life. She is leaving her home and husband and headed to Mendocino, where she had a few happier years as a child of the foster care system after her parents had abandoned her. Mendocino was her safe place. 

Holed up in cabin in the woods with just basic essentials Anna learns through Will, the local sheriff, about the case of a missing girl named Cameron whose mother was a film star. A second girl goes missing around the same time and it appears something more sinister is going on. The cases remind Anna of a real life murder case from when she was a teen in the area. (References to the 1993 Petaluma, CA, case involving Polly Klaas.)

Well I was right when I suspected that this might be a dark and heavy story. It was dark and gritty, not only the missing teens cases but the whole reveal about Anna's past as well.  Slower paced and character driven, there are quite a few characters in this story. Told in the first person POV of Anna, this seemed to make the story feel more intense and personal. I liked the police procedural components and feel the author did a good job maintaining suspense. I did think the ending, after a rather lengthy story, did feel a bit rushed after a much slower start.

The audio was read by Marin Ireland who did a great job.

RATING:  3.5/5

Thanks go to Penguin Random House Audio for allowing me access to this audiobook as well as eGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Malibu Rising; Taylor Jenkins Reid and Swimming Back to Trout River; Linda Rui-Feng

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. 

Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read.  This week I have (2) very different books in progress (from my Summer Reading List) and both are ones I'm enjoying very much. Let me know what you think of the intros.

Malibu Rising; Taylor Jenkins Reid 

Ballantine - 2021

Saturday, August 27, 1983

Part One 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

7:00 a.m.

Nina Riva woke up without even opening her eyes.

Consciousness seeped into her slowly, as if breaking the morning to her gently.  She lay in bed dreaming of her surfboard beneath her chest in the water, before she began remembering reality--that hundreds of people were going to descend on her house in just over twelve hours.  As she came to, it dawned on her once again that every single person who would show up tonight would know the indignity of what had happened to her.

What do you think - read more of pass?

Swimming Back to Trout River; Linda Rui-Feng

Simon and Schuster - 2021

Two Children of Trout River

THE TRAIN THAT WAS DELIVERING JUNIE TO TROUT RIVER WAS just pulling out of the station and gathering speed, and already the compartment was filling up with cigarette smoke and the gregarious sound of sunflower seeds being cracked open.  This was 1981, when trips traversing the length of China took days, and the passengers, having waited for that first lurch of the train, now sprang into action.  They poured each other hot water for tea from a communal thermos stabilized inside a metal ring beneath the window where Junie sat on the lap of her mother, Cassia.

What do you think - read more or pass?

Book Review - Before We Were Yours; Lisa Wingate

TITLE/AUTHOR:  Before We Were Yours; Lisa Wingate

PUBLISHER:  Ballantine 

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2017

GENRE: Fiction / Historical

FORMAT:  print / LENGTH: 378 pp

SOURCE:  Library

SETTING(s):  TN and SC

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A fictionalized account of the Tennessee Children's Home scandal where poor children were rounded up and sold to wealthy families.

BRIEF REVIEW:   In 1939 Rill Foss and her four younger siblings lived a poor but happy life aboard  a Mississippi River shanty boat.  When their pregnant mother went into labor, the parents had to leave unexpectedly,  putting twelve year old Rill in charge.  Everything changes in the lives of these children when the authorities get involved and the children are found and taken to the children's home.  The children are told they will be reunited with their parents but, of course this does not happen.

In the present day,  Avery Stafford is a prosecutor in South Carolina and the daughter of a Senator. Born into a wealthy, prominent SC family, her family is helping her plan her wedding.  When her father is diagnosed with cancer, Avery comes back to help her father with business and personal matters. It is a chance encounter with May, a woman in a nursing home, a picture that May has in her possession and a bracelet that has Avery wondering if somehow May and her grandmother may have a connection.

The dual story lines alternate with Rill's POV (past) and Avery's story (present) and the possible link to the past as Avery begins her personal investigative work.  Rill's story was quite compelling and sad at times. It is through this narrative that we learn the deep dark secrets of the children's home and what children had to endure.   Avery's story was quite good as well but, there was an unexpected romantic development added to the story which seemed unnecessary and basically served as a needless filler.   There is a lot of abuse and neglect suffered by the children in this story which is hard to read about at times.  There were a few parts that left me confused; some people are mentioned and then seen to just disappear without explanation, leaving the reader to speculate what might have happened.

This book was selected for our June Book Group discussion and it lead to a good discussion.  Most of us were glad we had a chance to read this one but, that we would not have minded if the cheesy romance sub-plot had been eliminated.

There are lots of articles online about Georgia Tann, the Director of the Tennessee Children's Home, who  was responsible for the rounding up of these children and some 5,000 others around that time. Many of these children were adopted out to wealthy families in Hollywood and throughout the US.

RATING:  4/5

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Before We Were Yours; Lisa Wingate

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. 

Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read. This week's pick is my book group's pick for June - we meet, in person, next week back at the library.

Before We Were Yours; Lisa Wingate

Ballantine Books - 2017

Prelude

Baltimore, Maryland

August 3, 1939

"My story begins on a sweltering August night, in a place I will never set eyes upon. The room takes life only in my imaginings.  It is large most days when I conjure it.  The walls are white and clean, the bed linens crisp as a fallen leaf. The private suite has the very finest of everything.  Outside, the breeze is weary, and the cicadas throb in the tall trees, their verdant hiding places just below the window frames. The screens sway inward as the attic fan rattles overhead, pulling at wet air that has no desire to be moved.

The scent of pine wafts in, and the woman's screams press out as the nurses hold her fast to the bed. Sweat pools on her skin and rushes down her face and arms and legs.  She's be horrified if she was aware of this."

What do you think, read more or pass? Have you read this one? I heard it was excellent so I'm looking forward to beginning it this week.