Standing Still August 25, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fiction, Kelly Simmons, Panic Disorder, Standing Still
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I read Standing Still by Kelly Simmons in one sitting, while riding on the train to downtown Chicago. It is not a big book, it is not a particularly profound book, but it was an enjoyable read and it passed the time well. We chose this novel for our June book club selection. We all had similar perspectives about the book. None of us were blown away, but we all enjoyed the story for what it was.
A former journalist, with a hidden past continuously alluded to, Claire is now the mom that does it all, all the while suffering from panic disorder. A kidnapper breaks into Claire’s home, and she begs him to take her instead of her daughter. So begins the seven days Claire is held captive. Claire undertakes a journey while in one hotel room, and light is shed on who she has become, the life she now leads, the man who is her husband, and the bond developing with her mysterious abductor.
This is not a novel of action and plot, as is implied through the title. It is instead a window into a character and a life, and a peak at how the decisions we make and relationships we have lead us down very unexpected paths. Claire comes out the other side a new women with a new perspective, but I was left with more questions and a sense of incompleteness. But that may have been intentional; Claire’s new life was just beginning I suppose.
3/5
People of the Book May 25, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Best Sellers, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Best Sellers, Fiction, Geraldine Brooks, March, The Year of Wonders
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Well, I think I have now read enough of Geraldine Brook’s work to say that I am truly a fan of her writing. It is always thoughtful and consistent, and often mesmerizing and beautiful. Her novel People of the Book is woven together so wonderfully, combining strong stories from different times, places, and characters.
Hannah Heath’s expertise is in rare and old books, a passion her mother, a renowned neurosurgeon, just can’t comprehend. She is sent to Sarajevo to study the famous Sarajevo Haggadah, a Jewish book filled with detailed illustrations and a war-torn past. The rest of this story follows the history of this book, as it was created and hidden and saved and sought-after for 500 years. While we follow the book’s life, we transverse the history of this part of the world, which has been in turmoil for as long as the book has existed.
People of the Book is expansive in its scope and rich in its details. There are many characters and time periods that interweave, which occasionally proves difficult to follow. We read this one as a book club choice, unfortunately I couldn’t make it that day, but I hear it was well received by the entire group. Fans of Geraldine Brooks will certainly enjoy this novel, but newcomers to her work will also find it to be a solid, exciting, and well-researched novel.
4/5
Try People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks if you enjoyed her other novels March and The Year of Wonders.
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County March 11, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Acromegaly, Fiction, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, Tiffany Baker
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—4.5—
For anyone looking for cute, quaint story that feels like a fairy tale and will make you smile time and time again, I wholeheartedly recommend Tiffany Baker’s The Little Giant of Aberdeen County. Truly is born the biggest baby Aberdeen has ever seen, and as she ushers in her own mother’s death, Truly will begin on a path that will change Aberdeen once and for all. Truly has acromegaly; she was born with a pituitary tumor that results in excess Growth Hormone — and grow is what Truly does. Taller and fatter than anyone in her community has seen, she is immediately pegged as different and an outsider. Her older sister Serena-Jane is her complete opposite: petite and beautiful, it appears Serena-Jane can acquire anything she wants, and she is embarrassed by her Hulk of a baby sister. Growing up in Aberdeen proves difficult for Truly, but she finds people who will love her despite her size, and others who are outsiders in their own way as well.
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County has, as the title implies, a “giant”, but also a witch, and a little person, potions and poisons, life and death and everything in between. It always feels true even though it could be a fairy tale, and its charm will enchant you from start to finish.
4.5/5
The Shipping News January 29, 2009
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
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—3—
I was originally a bit disappointed by Annie Proulx The Shipping News, and while I have not been converted into a fan, I do have a greater appreciation of the story after discussing its nuances with my family’s book club. Quoyle has thought of himself as a failure all his life. When his selfish, unfaithful wife Petal dies, Quoyle is left with two daughters who have been neglected by their mother and don’t understand death. Quoyle’s aunt takes the task of keeping Quoyle’s little family from going under. They return to the home of their ancestors, Newfoundland, where Quolye gets a job at the local paper writing the shipping news, basically keeping track of the boats that come and go.
The people here are odd, to say the least. But they are living their lives the best they can. The weather is unpredictable, and often deadly, jobs are scarce, money is tight. You have to rely on neighbors to get you through. This novel isn’t fast paced, I was often frustrated with the lack of plot movement. But I suppose this is book of characters more than plot. You see Quoyle’s transformation, and they way he truly loves his daughters. It’s the moments when he is surrounded by his family and evolving into a stronger man that this book shines. It wasn’t my type of novel, but I can respect it for the depth of its characters and the power of its setting.
3/5
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir August 25, 2008
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Book Reviews, Nonfiction.Tags: Bill Bryson, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, is an excellent book for any person who experienced the 1950’s firsthand, or, anyone (like me) who is a fan of this amazingly witty and funny author. Bryson takes us back to a simpler time, growing up in 1950’s Iowa and enjoying all that life has to offer. My favorite recollections were when the family doctor told Bryson’s parents to just give him some aspirin for a gushing head wound, because he could not be torn from watching a golf tournament; and when we hear all about the atomic-toilets (you read right) at the Bryson Family’s favorite restaurant. Bryson ’s use of hyperbole hilariously conveys the sheer ridiculousness of the time, while still instilling in the reader a desire to go back to a time where there were no chain stores, when people didn’t worry about their kids playing alone until dark, and when a toilet seat could be cleaned by radiation when you flushed it.
4/5
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven July 12, 2008
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Best Sellers, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Fannie Flagg, Can't Wait to Get to Heaven
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The most recent edition of the Anderson’s Book Club had us reading Fannie Flagg’s Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven. Unfortunately, with the ridiculousness of PA school, I didn’t finish it in time (and you may have noticed the lack of reviews lately). But although delayed, I did however finish it! Overall, I thought it was a nice story, simple, cute, and often funny. It is basically a “fluff” novel, nothing earth-shattering, just a relaxing summer read that would make just about anyone smile. And while those are not the type of books I usually pick out, it was nice having a simple story while I was dealing with biochem and anatomy lectures.
The story begins with our main character, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle, at over 80 years old, climbing a ladder to pick figs from her fig tree, which she has been strictly instructed not to do by her overbearing, anxiety-ridden niece Norma. Besides figs, Elner finds a wasp nest, and she is stung multiple times and falls off the ladder. And so she begins quite a big journey, meeting some new people, learning some new things, and getting the answer to some of life’s mysteries, such as “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”. Norma is forced to begin to see her world differently, if she is to deal with all her old aunt is throwing her way, and the entire town begins to realize what a large role Elner plays in their lives.
3/5
The Children’s Blizzard May 8, 2008
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Book Reviews, Nonfiction.Tags: David Laskin, The Children's Blizzard
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On January 12, 1888 an unexpected blizzard came down up the Dakota-Nebraskan plains, killing hundreds of settlers, many of them children trying to make their way home from school. In David Laskin’s book, The Children’s Blizzard he explores the causes of this disaster – meteorological and human – the devastation it brought, and the blizzard’s lasting effects – among settlers, national weather forecasting, and the plains today. He also focuses on several families in particular, and told the stories of how the members fared that day, what dreams had brought each them out into this unsettled land, and how many of those dreams were shattered in a matter of hours.
This book was SAD. Obviously, it is not light material. As I began the book I kept thinking how the characters Laskin introduced were likely to die in the upcoming chapters. The history is fascinating aw well, as you think of how all these seemingly unrelated events become so important when a natural disaster catches everyone by surprise. Anyone interested in US history, especially westward expansion, should not miss this book. It’s heartbreaking and terrifying.
4/5
The Thirteenth Tale March 9, 2008
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Best Sellers, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Dianne Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale
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—5—
Well how about a ghost story? The Thirteenth Tale is Diane Setterfield’s gothic novel about two women connected by both books and loss. Book lover and biographer Margaret has been summoned by the elusive and mysterious author Vida Winter to finally write the true biography of this famous woman’s life. Vida’s life is ending, and after years of trying to repress her story she must now confess the truth and her true name, or die with her secrets haunting her. Margaret’s own past haunts her, making her the ideal person to interview the dying author. The story she hears is of Angelfield, a crazed and chaotic estate, and the family that occupied it, especially the twins Emmiline and Adeline, whose entire lives were each other.
The Thirteenth Tale has madness and ghosts, twists and surprises, deaths, loss, love, and regret. This story is remarkably written, and the characters are beautifully drawn and full. This is the perfect book for book lovers, with its illusions to Jane Eyre, Margaret’s home in a book store, and the importance of libraries. Those familiar with Jane Eyre may be able to make more connections than I, but I felt this novel was similar in tone to Du Maurier’s haunting Rebecca. And while I felt something was just not adding up, the twist at the end was truly unexpected! Setterfield does an impressive job of tying up all loose ends, and making even the little things come together flawlessly. The Thirteenth Tale is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
5/5
Want to read the next installment of for the Anderson Book Club? We are reading The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin.
Garden Spells January 27, 2008
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Best Sellers, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen
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The latest installment of the Anderson Book Club is Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. It is the story of two sisters who have long been separated by life and personality. Claire Waverley uses her gift of cooking with edible flowers to affect the moods and feelings of their consumer. She has remained in her home town, embracing her gift while avoiding life. Her sister Sydney, however, ran from her home much like their mother did years earlier. Only in returning home does she begin to discover her own Waverley magic. Together, the two sisters begin to realize how alike they are.
This was a happy, magical-feeling book. Simple and sunny. An Aunt of Claire’s and Sydney’s, Evanelle, is one of my favorite characters in a novel in a long time. Evanelle’s Waverley gift is that she needs to give people certain objects that they will need in their future, although she does not know why they will need it or when. It was a lot of fun to see what objects she would bestow next, and what unusual use they will come to. Overall, this book was a nice, joyful read.
4/5
Want to read along with the Anderson Book Club? The next book is The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
Loving Frank November 18, 2007
Posted by sadiejean in Anderson Book Club, Best Sellers, Book Reviews, General Fiction.Tags: Frank Lloyd Wright, Loving Frank, Nancy Horan
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The latest “Anything but the Book” Club, better known as the Anderson Family Book Club, selection was Nancy Horan’s Loving Frank. This piece of fiction follows the affair of Frank Lloyd Wright with one of his clients, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Told from Mamah’s perspective, it recounts the love and frustration of this couple in the early 1900’s. They first hide their relationship from their families, but eventually run off together, leaving behind their spouses and children.
The book’s focus is how Mamah is an independent woman at a time when there were few, and Frank is the genius architect with his own hidden demons. However, instead of appearing as revolutionaries, they merely appear selfish. Mamah leaves her children to be raised by her sister, and still acts like she’s been wronged when criticism befalls her. Frank cannot control his spending and finances, but argues that his workers should just be happy they get to learn from him. Together they make about the least sympathetic couple ever.
But the book is fairly interesting. At first I didn’t know how they would turn this story into a whole novel. And it did drag on, especially the first half. The final portion finally picked up, and the ending was a whirlwind that was unexpected. While the conclusion is true, it almost made me laugh after the plodding nature of the rest of the book. I think I liked Loving Frank, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a new book to read.
3/5
Want to read along with the Anderson Book Club? The next installment is Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen.
