Someone Knows My Name

Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill

On the library stacks: Adult fiction
Awards: Myers Outstanding Book Award, Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book Overall, Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee, Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction, CBC Canada Reads

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The breadth of this novel is so huge, even sitting down to write a review is a daunting task. My book club read this in January and there was plenty to discuss.

Aminata Diallo is a young girl in Africa when she is stolen by the slave traders and forced into slavery. She is brought to South Carolina and eventually escapes in New York City. After serving the British during the American Revolution she is granted freedom in Nova Scotia. When living conditions there worsen, she travels back to Sierra Leone. She finishes her life in London where her life and testimony support the abolitionist movement.

I loved this book for opening my eyes to many more facets of slavery than I have really allowed myself to consider before. It's real and it's heartbreaking. But somehow Aminata is inspiring and I never really found the book particularly depressing, even though it could have been.

The book came short of 5 stars for me because the last 150 pages really glossed over the last part of her life. For giving us so much detail in the beginning, I felt a little short-changed. But I felt the author did a fantastic job writing the book from a female perspective and I appreciated his attention to historical details. If you do read this book, I suggest reading the author's note at the back first. I was glad I did.

Also reviewed by: My Book Retreat ~ Gerbera Daisy Diaries ~ Thoughts of Joy ~ Your link here?
Source: Library

The Sparrow

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

On the library stacks: Adult fiction
Awards: Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel, Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for Foreign Novel British Science Fiction Association Award for Novel, John W. Campbell Memorial Award Nominee for Best Science Fiction Novel, James Tiptree Jr. Award, Puddly Award for Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of 2

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 2008, I read Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell and loved it. I have been anxious to read this book, which is most acclaimed of all her work. However, I heard a few rumors about this book that put me off. It's not an easy book to read, but definitely worth it. I feel like my mind was stretched in all directions!

I am definitely impressed by the diversity and talent of this author. Dreamers of the Day is historical fiction and this book is science fiction. Set in the future, a team of scientists, funded by the Jesuits, take an asteroid to a distant planet light years away. They make amazing discoveries and endure unimaginable horrors.

I have heard that AMC has just optioned this book and its successor, Children of God, as a television series. I plan on reading the next book for sure. But for now I need to let this one rest in my mind. It's really a philosophical novel at its core, and one I won't soon forget.

Also reviewed by: Avid Reader's Musings ~ It's All About Books ~ My Friend Amy ~ Alison McCarty ~ 1morechapter ~ Your link here?
Source: Purchased

Cold Sassy Tree

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

On the library shelves: Adult fiction
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

14-year old Will Tweedy is the narrator of this Southern novel set in Georgia in the early 1900s. After the passing of Will's grandmother, his grandfather, Rucker Blakeslee, shocks their small town of Cold Sassy by running off and marrying the milliner in his store. Ms. Love Simpson (a Yankee!) is liked well enough, but she is young enough to be Mr. Blakeslee's daughter.

Added into that familial stress, Will is nearly run over by a train, is caught kissing a girl from the mill in the cemetery, and goes on a camping trip with the boys where he tells a few tall tales. And the whole town is abuzz when Will's father drives into town with a brand new automobile.

This is a lovely book and I enjoyed my time in Cold Sassy. It wasn't a quick read for me, but Will is a very likeable character and I was rooting for him the whole way. Even though there are some periods of silliness in this book, there are also some hard-hitting issues to think about including suicide, racism and religion. It's a well thought out novel that I found rewarding to read. Definitely recommended for fans of Southern literature.

Also reviewed by: Book Nut ~ Your link here?
Source: Purchased

2012 in Review

Total Books Read: 60 (That's 22 less than last year and 53 less than the year before. Wow.)

One thing I did this year was try to clear my TBR shelf of books that had been there since 2008. There were quite a few DNF, but I chose not to record those. I got through 24 of the 28 books. In 2013, my goal is to finish the final four from 2008 and read 18 books on my TBR from 2009.

My top 10 favorite were:

1. The Ditchdigger's Daughters
2. Divergent
3. The Scorpio Races
4. Pandemonium
5. Heaven is Here
6. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection
7. Daddy-Long-Legs
8. Mockingbird
9. Baking Cakes in Kigali
10. The Chosen

Ratings
5 star: 8
4 star: 33
3 star: 14
2 star: 4
Unrated: 1 (just couldn't rate Code Name Verity)

Of the books I read:
Books I purchased: 18
Free downloads: 3
Books from publishers/publicists: 0 (big change for me)
Books that were gifts: 3
Books from the library: 23 (big increase from last year)
Books from BookMooch: 10
Books I borrowed: 3

Books I read electronically: 8
Audiobooks: 4
Nonfiction: 10

Adult books: 37
YA books:19
Middle grade/Children's: 4

Here is a list of my 2012 reads:

• 60. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake
• 59. Ex Libris
• 58. The Honest Truth About Dishonesty
• 57. Baking Cakes in Kigali
• 56. On Strike for Christmas
• 55. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
• 54. The Reluctant Bachelorette
• 53. The Magician's Assistant
• 52. A Discovery of Witches
• 51. Crow Lake
• 50. The Camel Bookmobile
• 49. Code Name Verity
• 48. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• 47. Insurgent
• 46. Abundance
• 45. Hallowed
• 44. Daddy-Long-Legs *
• 43. Unearthly
• 42. A Crimson Warning
• 41. The Peach Keeper
• 40. The Summer I Turned Pretty
• 39. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
• 38. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
• 37. Savannah
• 36. Milkweed
• 35. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection *
• 34. A Lesson in Secrets
• 33. The Miracle of Forgiveness
• 32. Born to Run
• 31. The Fault in Our Stars
• 30. A Woman of Substance
• 29. Kissing the Bee
• 28. Seedfolks
• 27. Heaven is Here *
• 26. Lola and the Boy Next Door
• 25. Out of Sight, Out of Time
• 24. Pandemonium *
• 23. The Scorpio Races *
• 22. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
• 21. Out of My Mind
• 20. Sister of My Heart
• 19. Daughters in My Kingdom
• 18. The Twentieth Wife
• 17. The Beekeeper's Apprentice
• 16. Year of Wonders
• 15. The Chosen
• 14. I'll Be There
• 13. Paranormalcy
• 12. The New Testament **
• 11. Letters for Emily
• 10. Mockingbird
• 9. Tuesdays with Morrie
• 8. As You Wish
• 7. Midnight in Austenland
• 6. So Big
• 5. Bel Canto
• 4. The Winter Sea
• 3. Divergent *
• 2. The Ditchdigger's Daughters *
• 1. Across the Universe

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

On the library stacks: Adult fiction
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher's blurb:

Every first Sunday in June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year, Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved wife, Willadee Moses, and their three children back for the festivities. In the midst of it all, Samuel and Willadee’s outspoken eleven-year-old daughter, Swan, is a bright light. Her high spirits and fearlessness have alternately seduced and bedeviled three generations of the family. But just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes, jolting the family to their core and setting the stage for a summer of crisis and profound change.

I really enjoyed this beautiful novel. The characters are complex and full of contradiction. Sometimes character-driven novels languish a little for me, but this one has a nice plot that breezes right through a summer in the 1950s.

This book is a really emotional read. I was totally invested in this family, from spunky Swan Lake, her righteous father, her conflicted grandmother and the variety of aunts, uncles and cousins in between.  The one thing I had a hard time with was the bad guy. He is really, really BAD. You hate him like you are supposed to, but I started to dread when he would show up.

This would make a great choice for book clubs. You can read the first chapter here.

Also reviewed by: In the Pages... ~ Bloggin' 'bout Books ~ Reviews by Lola's Blog ~ Prairie Horizons ~ The Eclectic Reader ~ Gerbera Daisy Diaries ~ Your link here?
Source: Purchased

Ex Libris

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

On the library stacks: Adult Non-fiction
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This book is a collection of 18 essays written by Anne Fadiman for Civilization magazine. While she claims she is a "common reader," I definitely take issue with that assessment. I read more than the average bear, but Fadiman takes reading to a whole new level.

The book started out strong and I loved her essay on how she and her husband merged their libraries after years of marriage (ours still isn't--we each have our own shelves). The middle dragged a little but it finished strong. Standouts for me were the essays on plagiarism and proofreading.

This is a great little book to read in snatches here and there. I did find Fadiman's tone a little pretentious at times, but her prose is fantastic and her knowledge is inspiring.

Also reviewed by: The Book Nest ~ It's All About Books
Source: Library

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone--Especially Ourselves by Dan Ariely

On the library shelves: Adult Non-fiction
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I became a fan of Dan Ariely when I read Predictably Irrational three years ago.  He is a behavioral economist, now at Duke, with a great business sense. In this book, he looks at dishonesty and how it affects ourselves, our communities and our workplaces.

Dan structures the book by discussing some experiments he has conducted and what they have demonstrated about how we make choices. Essentially, we don't choose to be dishonest based on a simple cost/benefit analysis. Instead, there are a number of factors that influence our decision to be honest including religious reminders, what others around us are choosing and how much we feel we can get away with that is "reasonable." After each discussion he gives an real-world example and then gives some ideas about how we can structure our lives to be more honest individuals.

My book club read this one in November. It is incredibly readable and makes for a great discussion. We loved discussing Ariely's various experiments and each of us had some interesting take-aways.

Source: Library

Baking Cakes in Kigali

Baking Cakes in Kigali: A Novel by Gaile Parkin

On the library stacks: Adult fiction
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Angel Tungaraza lives in the Rwandan city of Kigali with her husband and five grandchildren. Originally from Tanzania, the family lives in an apartment complex full of expats. Angel's husband works for the university, but others in the complex work for the UN, CIA, as volunteer aids, etc. Angel runs a business making cakes and becomes the focal point for the complex when people come to order cakes and end up sharing their joyful and heartbreaking stories.

The thing that I love about this book is that it takes some pretty hefty issues--AIDS, the Rwandan genocide, famine, suicide and prostitution--and combines them all into a story that is astonishingly upbeat and full of hope. There are some really funny parts and some really eye-opening and poignant parts to this novel. I liked how I was able to look at some issues in a new way.

Probably my only gripe about this book is that Angel is very reminiscent of Precious Ramotswe from "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency." Certainly if you like those books, you will like this one. But the similarities did bother me a little. Having said that, I really enjoyed this and would heartily recommend it.

Also reviewed by: The Book Nest ~ Your link here?
Source: Library Kindle Download

On Strike for Christmas

On Strike for Christmas by Sheila Roberts

On the library stacks: Adult fiction
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Joy and Laura are part of a neighborhood knitting club. After Thanksgiving they are totally fed up with how their husbands act during the holidays. Joy feels like her husband doesn't appreciate everything she does to make the holidays special and is a grinch when it comes to her family gatherings. Laura's husband loves to throw parties but never helps out with all the work it takes to prepare or clean up. Together they convince the women of their town to go on strike.

Joy's husband reacts by doing only the bare minimum to keep the holiday spirit alive. Laura's husband tries really hard to do everything, with pretty funny consequences. Balancing it all out are a few women in the knitting group who would give anything to have Joy's and Laura's problems--one recently widowed and the other with cancer. Sometimes it gets a little cheesy, but I don't really expect anything less from a feel-good Christmas book.

This was my book club's pick for December and it is the perfect holiday read. It helps keep the busy-ness of the season in perspective, but it is also light and humorous. It's a quick read that I'd recommend if you get a few hours on a snowy afternoon.

This book was made into a Lifetime movie and is currently playing.

Source: Library

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

On the library stacks: Children's fiction and YA Classics
AR Reading Level: 11.0

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My son and I read this out loud to each other during Halloween. I had never read it before and found it to be quite delightful. We bought a version with a lot of illustrations and my son really enjoyed it.

I knew this book involved Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, but what I didn't realize is that there is a love story of sorts involved. Ichabod, a school teacher in town, tries desperately to win the hand of a wealthy farmer's daughter, Katrina Van Tassel. Unfortunately for him, the match is not to be.

This book, first published in 1820, has very difficult vocabulary words for kids. I found I had to concentrate quite hard when my son was reading and every once in awhile we had to stop and summarize what was going on. Having a Kindle version we could use to quickly access the dictionary was very helpful. This is a great children's book for advanced readers.

Source: Kindle purchase