2015 Year in Review

Another year of books over!  Considering how busy my life became in August through early November, when my father went into the hospital and subsequently needed to go to inpatient rehab to regain his strength and ability to live independently, I am surprised at the number of books that I read.  39!  I made a concerted effort in the last 4 weeks of the year to try to get that number up to 40 but I just couldn't squeak out that last book in time.

It was a good year in books. I read quite a few from favorite authors, revisiting several older ones to get in the right frame of mind for the next in a favorite series. I cleared quite a few off of my nook bookshelves and my living room shelves as well. My book club made it back to our recent average of four books per year, too (I hope that this year we are able to make more time for each other and our favorite pastime together). I also discovered that I really enjoy reading memoirs. Guess you are never too old to add to your reading genre repertoire. Standouts this year include An Echo in the Bone, Defending Jacob (one of my favorites), The Rockin' Chair, Thirteen Reasons Why, Tricky Twenty Two, and The Girl on the Train.

Here's the breakdown of my reading list in 2015:

1. An Echo in the Bone
2. The Practice Proposal
3. Chasing Darkness
4. The Giver
5. A Discovery of Witches (book club)
6. The Mermaid Chair
7. Resisting the Bad Boy
8. Defending Jacob
9. It Ain't All About the Cookin'
10. Up from the Grave
11. Bound by Flames
12. The Job
13. Monarch Beach
14. Crossfire #1
15. Crossfire #2
16. Trial by Fire
17. The Mysterious Death of Miss Jane Austen (book club)
18. Chasing Fire
19. Wicked Appetite
20. Wicked Business
21. Wicked Charms
22. The Rockin' Chair
23. Thirteen Reasons Why (book club)
24. 77 Shadow Street
25. With or Without You
26. Summers at Blue Lake
27. 13 Little Blue Envelopes
28. The Racketeer
29. First Frost (book club)
30. Islanders box set #1
31. Islanders box set #2
32. Islanders box set #3
33. Islanders box set #4
34. Unbearable Lightness
35. The Scam
36. My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me
37. Top Secret Twenty One
38. Tricky Twenty Two
39. The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was one of the most talked about books of 2015. In my opinion, the novel lived up to the hype. Fast paced, intriguing and sometimes cringe worthy, this book kept my rapt attention long past my bedtime. The book was such a page turner that I finished just two days after I started it.

The book centers around Rachel, who rides the commuter train into London every day.  As she rides, she pays attention to the houses that the train passes, particularly a certain row of homes. Over time, she has made up stories for the people she sees in one of the houses. As the story unfolds, the reader learns more about Rachel's circumstances and then the story is interwoven between her point of view and the point of view of other characters.

I found (and in discussions with others who have read the book, I am not alone) that none of the characters was likable. The decisions Rachel makes made me cringe and shake my head.  But even though I didn't like her or the other characters her life is composed of, the book was fascinating and kept me turning the pages as fast as I could.  I believe that is a testament to the author's ability to weave an intricate plot, when you don't like the characters but still need to keep turning the pages.

This novel has been compared to Gone Girl, and while there are similarities in the genre (psychological thriller), the unlikable characters and the twists and turns, I found that the characters in this novel was not quite as shocking in their depravity and dysfunction as Gone Girl. That doesn't mean this one wasn't good.  Oh, it absolutely was, but it was a little more predictable than Gone Girl. If you have this one on your shelf, make sure you have the time to devote to reading it, because you won't want to put it down.

Happy Reading!

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past

I have always been interested in the Holocaust and the surrounding history. I have read several novels centered around this dark part of the world's history, but never a non-fiction piece.  My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair was a very interesting read.  It is a memoir written by Jennifer Teege with historical information and personal interviews, written by Nikola Sellmair. Typically we hear about or read about the side of the victims of the Holocaust.  This focused on the consequences on future generations of the perpetrators.

Jennifer Teege accidentally discovers a book, written by her biological mother, that reveals a shocking family history.  Her maternal grandfather was Amon Goeth, one of the Nazi movement's main perpetrators and part of the focus of the movie Schindler's List.  Jennifer is shocked and disturbed by her discovery and it sets her on a path to personal enlightenment.  Jennifer is mixed race, the product of a relationship between her German mother and her Nigerian father.  She never knew her father and was placed in a home for children and later for adoption because her mother simply could not care for her.  But she has some fond memories of her maternal grandmother. This is what Jennifer mostly has to come to terms with: the grandmother she adored, and who always doted on her, was in love with the monster that was Amon Goeth.

Mixed with Jennifer's first person account of her journey through this discovery, is Nikola Sellmair's history lesson.  This makes the book a little choppy, but each of Nikola's short pieces is directly related to the section written by Jennifer directly before it.  Included are personal interviews with some of Jennifer's friends and family, and interesting information on the sociology of adopted children, and the descendants of members of the Nazi movement. It is a necessary piece of the puzzle that helps the reader understand not only the history of the time, but also the ramifications for future generations.

Overall this was a very interesting book of how a woman comes to grips with a past she didn't realize existed within her family, but also how she finally comes to understand why she was put up for adoption and that the family she never felt fit, was truly her family all along.  But it is also a look at how this history has been handled within the European community. The theme of how the later generations dealt with their disturbing family history was something I had never really considered.  Jennifer Teege is my own age.  There is a whole generation of people my own age whose grandparents took part in one of the darkest parts of our history.  While I understood that my own parents were babies when this all took place, and that is part of the reason this time period has always fascinated me, I never took it one more generation forward or backward and certainly not from the Nazi sympathizer side of the story. This memoir was informative and eye opening, and I am glad that Jennifer Teege shared her story.

Happy Reading!

First Frost

Sarah Addison Allen puts something a little mystical in her novels, and First Frost is no exception.  In this sweet book, we meet the gifted and talented Waverly sisters once again (previously featured in Garden Spells).  This edition can stand on its own and is no less magical.

Claire's catering business has taken a turn in another direction and has taken off.  But she realizes making candy isn't her passion, no matter the public's passion for her candy.  Sydney is trying to expand her family and raise her teenage daughter who seems to be rebelling against what Sydney wants for her. Bay (Sydney's daughter) knows just where she belongs. In fact, she knows where everything belongs, but she has to convince an unwilling boy first, otherwise she might not find her true happiness. First frost is always a time of upheaval for the Waverly family and things are just off balance.  A mysterious stranger comes to town with nefarious plans, things aren't going as planned for any of the Waverly women, the men in the family remain as steadfast as ever, and as the mystery of their family's past and this stranger begin to unravel, they must lean on each other to get through this year's first frost.

If you like Sarah Addison Allen, this one is one to add to your 'to be read' list. If you are new to her writing, I would suggest either Garden Spells or The Sugar Queen be your first.  While First Frost is delectable and I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the other two more.

Happy Reading!

(As an aside, my book club and I won copies of this novel from the publisher for entering a book club contest. How cool is that?)

Summers at Blue Lake

Jill Althouse-Wood's Summers at Blue Lake was a good story.  Unexpected little twists and a surprise that leaves the reader wondering if they would do the same thing.

The story focuses on a woman going through a divorce.  She and her son head to the house on Blue Lake where she spent summers as a child. The house belonged to her grandparents, who have both since died.  She spends her time clearing things out and in the process reflecting on them, her past and her future.  She rekindles an old relationship and an old romance.

Along the way, a secret is revealed; a big secret that her grandparents kept. She has to figure out what she will do with the information.  That is the question that the reader is left wondering about.  Would you do the same thing?  I am not sure that I would have.

This was a very interesting book with characters you can care about and a plot unlike any other I have ever read.  I would recommend it.

Happy Reading!

The Rockin' Chair

The Rockin' Chair, by Steven Manchester, is an emotional novel about family history and repairing the hurts the world can impose and those that we cause each other.  John McCarthy, the patriarch of the McCarthy family, is at the center of this beautiful story. With his wife, Alice, he created a wonderful life and attempted to raise his son to the best of his ability.  But people see history differently, and his son doesn't feel his father's love.  That history is passed down to a third generation, and Grandpa John's grand kids have a world of hurt that is all their own.  When his beloved Alice dies after a heartbreaking fight with dementia, Grandpa John realizes that he has work to do to repair his family before he can join his beautiful wife.

This story was incredibly touching and beautifully written.  With the back drop of a picturesque Montana farm, Steven Manchester artfully weaves this family's tale told through both present time and each person's memories.  As I read this book, and fell in love with this family, I found it amazing that two people who share the same experience can see it so differently.  One believes he has done the best to show his son his love without making him soft, the other feels that nothing he can do is ever good enough and that he is a constant disappointment.  A father who works so hard because everything he has will be his son's, and a son who doesn't feel his father's love. John McCarthy realizes the mistakes he made before it is too late though, and does everything he can to right the past.

The book is filled with an old man's wisdom, gained from a life time of experiences.  It is wisdom that I think each of us can use to better our own lives.  As I finished the last page, the words within had me thinking of my own experiences and my sometimes difficult relationship with my mother who had her own demons. It's too late for me to fix things with my mother, she died three years ago.  It's too late for me to offer any kind of forgiveness to her, although I tried to show it in the last few weeks of her life as I cared for her.  This book imparts the wisdom that showing it isn't the same thing as saying it, because many times our actions are not seen for what we mean them to be, unless we voice our thoughts along with them.

What I also realized is that I need to make sure my kids know every day that their parents are proud of them, and love them unconditionally. Otherwise they will receive the same legacy of always seeking approval and never feeling that they measure up.

This book is an example of why we should never stop reading.  Reading is enjoyment but more than that, to read is to learn, even through the experiences of fictional characters.

Happy Reading!

Trial by Fire

Trial by Fire by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg is a legal thriller.  Ms. Rosenberg keeps you turning the pages with action, suspense and mystery.  The final who done it reveal isn't until the last pages, making this a very fast read.  Published 19 years ago, this novel is still a page turner today.

Stella Cataloni is a D.A that is rising to the top.  She hasn't lost a case, and isn't about to start now especially since she is the one who has been accused.  Being blamed for the fire that killed her parents when she was a teenager and for murdering the only other eye witness that fateful night, it is a race to find out who the real murderer is.  But can Stella find out before her own life is taken?  Ugly family secrets and a past that won't rest, combined with an blood thirsty adversary in the prosecuting D.A., this will be Stella's most difficult case to crack and its her own freedom that hangs in the balance.

This was a fast paced, quick read.  Even though technology and forensic science have come a long way since the publish date, the novel's age did not detract from the story.  If anything, knowing that there were not technology advances available to the investigation that would be available today, added to the suspense.  This is definitely an enjoyable mystery, with plenty of action, violence, lust and suspense.

Happy Reading!