Reviews by Book Review Club Members:
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Settterfield
This is an extraordinary book. I would recommend it to any reader. The book is shrouded in mysteries of mental illness, relationship between siblings especially twins, love story and murder. All entangled in magnificent atmosphere of remote places, old houses and family secrets. The book is written in remarkably skillful way. It starts in an old bookshop, where the main character Margeret spends most of her time reading books. Occasionally she writes essays or biographies. She is chosen by an ailing, well known writer to record her biography. When the writer, Vida Winter starts to unfold her astonishing life story, both of them realize that their lives have strange parallels even though the two women never met before. Extremely interesting story in which everyone will find something for themselves to enjoy!
Book review by Grace Kucmierz
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
There are very few books that deeply touch people’s hearts. Mitch Albom pierced Tuesdays with Morrie into mine. These philosophical pages are for every young mind out there who wants to understand the meaning of life through the point of view of an educated individual who is lying on the bed of death. Inspiring pages of optimism are bound together to give shape to America’s best seller and create one of the best novels I’ve ever read.
Book review by Roha Siddiqui
For One More Day, Mitch Albom
No law in this world can deny a mother’s love for her children. This theme is excellently depicted in Mitch Albom’s For One More Day which revolves around a heartbroken guy, Charlie “Chick” Benetto, who gets his inspiration to live on by spending one more day with his mother who died eight years earlier. His midnight ride to his hometown covers the “relationship of lifetime and beyond” and in the end gives a new spirit to Chick to face the challenges of the life and live on.
One Thousand White Women, Jim Fergus (Historical Fiction)
The historical setting for this novel is an event which occurred in 1854 at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. A prominent Northern Cheyenne chief requested the US Army authorities to make a gift of 1000 white women to the Cheyenne nation. The chief believed that marriage between the two cultures would be the best way for the Cheyenne people to assimilate into the white man’s culture. The request was denied.
The story is told through diaries written by a fictional character named May Dodd. May was committed to an insane asylum by her family for loving a man below her social status. When the government asks for women to volunteer for this project, May volunteers because she believes that any life would be better than the one she now has. The fictional diaries tell of her life inside the Cheyenne nation.
The author’s research and interpretation provide a small view into the world of the Cheyenne people and present the question, “Which one of us is the savage?”
Book review by Phyllis Osberg
Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
This is a book I would strongly recommend to all readers. Not only it is irresistible and well plotted but also brings great insights into the world of the circus during the Great Depression. The colorful characters and unfolding life story of the main character makes it hard to put the book down. Every reader would find something for themselves: the power of love, mystery, murder and the ever exquisite story about the elephant named Rosie. Enjoy!
Book review by Grace Kucmierz
Our Lady of the Lost and Found, by Diane Schoemperlen
This book is a thought-provoking, historical book about the Virgin Mary. The author has obviously gone to great lengths with her research into Mary. This book may cause readers to reflect upon their life, and relationships. It would be particularly interesting to Christian readers. The historical commentary provides a lot if information but I did not find that it is well blended into the narrative, modern-day portion of the book, making it more difficult to engage fully with the characters.
Book review by Jan Jorgensen
The Monsters: Mary Shelley & the Curse of Frankenstein, by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
This story is fascinating. Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler present the life and times of the characters through private diaries, personal letters and contemporary accounts. The story illustrates the parallels between Mary Shelley and the monster Frankenstein created. Like Mary, Frankenstein’s creation longs to be loved and accepted. On the flip side, Polidori’s Vampyre parallels the poet Lord Byron – handsome and charismatic but with a mean and spiteful nature.
Book review by Phyllis Osberg
Recommended follow-up reading:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Vampyre by John William Polidori
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, by Vincent Lam
This debut novel for Vincent Lam won Canada’s 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize. It is a series of 12 interwoven stories that follow four main characters in medical school. Being an emergency room physician himself, Lam draws on his experience to shape his characters and gives legitimate detail into the world of medicine. Though each story has a medical theme, the novel is more of a character study where we look into the psyche of each character and follow each one’s struggle through, not just medical school, but life. Overall, the book is a quick and easy read, but it would not make my top 50 list of must-read books. I did not find it particularly profound or insightful. I would have preferred the book to focus on and follow one story, rather than get 12 different stories which, for me, didn’t come full circle or connect fully by the end.
Book review by Mrs. Mosen
Club Members Recommend:
NOTE: Unless indicated otherwise, reviews/synopses come from Books in Print
Mrs. Mosen
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
The Red Tent is an attempt to breathe life into the story of Jacob's daughter, Dinah, who is known in an episode in the book of Genesis as a woman dishonored by Shalem and the cause of a bloody massacre. Dinah herself narrates this novel, giving a new perspective on herself, Jacob's wives, and her famous half-brother, Joseph. This is a celebration of women and their work: of life, birth, cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, and even dying.
Kite Runner, Khaled Hoseini (PB HOS)
Growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir feels unloved by his widowed father, who seems to care more for Hassan, the son of their Hazara servant, Ali. Amir and Hassan are close but not quite friends. On what should have been the best day of his young life, when he wins a kite-flying contest and finally some respect from his father, Amir betrays Hassan and becomes haunted by guilt. Amir comes to California when the Soviets invade his country but returns years later to rescue Hassan's orphaned son from the Taliban and redeem himself.
Mrs. Kucmierz
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco (PB ECO)
The Name of the Rose is an experimental medieval whodunit set in a monastic library. In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate heresy among the monks in an Italian abbey; a series of bizarre murders overshadows the mission. Within the mystery is a tale of books, librarians, patrons, censorship, and the search for truth in a period of tension between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.
House of Spirits, Isabel Allende (PB ALL)
A compelling family chronicle set in an unnamed Latin American country victimized and brutalized by its past. (Booklist Mr 1 85)
Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel (PB ESQ)
A poignant love story told from a woman's point of view, takes place on the De la Garza ranch in turn-of-the-century Mexico. Cooking and eating play a central role in the tale. The heroine, Tita, a master chef, was literally born in the kitchen. Following tradition, her tyrannical mother decrees that Tita as the youngest must not marry but must instead care for her mother in old age. Unable to communicate freely, Tita concocts recipes so magically potent as to convey her emotions to all who eat her creations- even the chickens-with often hilarious results.
Mrs. Jorgensen