Category: Fiction

Book Review:

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County: A Novel

By Tiffany Baker

Born in a small town, Truly was the polar opposite of her sister Serena Jane. While Serena Jane was blond, petite, porcelain-skinned, and wore cute little dresses, Truly was a brunette so large that she wore men’s clothing and handmade sack-like dresses. And she kept growing bigger.

Truly had a hard life. Her mom died in childbirth. After her father passed away, she went to live with a poor family on the outskirts of town while her sister lived with a middle-class family where she was pampered. Life went on, with Serena Jane marrying the man who became the town doctor, Dr. Robert Morgan. However, Serena Jane had an unhappy marriage and ran away. Her husband, in turn, blackmailed Truly into living with him to keep house and raise his son. (Can you tell that the 10-15 years was hard to condense?)

In this midst of this new life, Truly was forced to deal with issues about her body, health, and self-esteem. In the midst of this, she inadvertently discovered the Morgan family legend: the book of herbs and remedies written by the family witch many years ago. The book was not actually a book but a quilt that has been in the family for generations.

Review: This was a particularly difficult book to review, and because of that, I’m not going to assign a letter grade for the book at the end of the post.

My hardcover edition was only 340 pages, and I’d say that I didn’t become really interested into the story until more than a quarter of the way through it, around page 80-100. I usually give up on books before that point if I’m not interested, but this time, I kept reading. I’m not quite sure why the story didn’t grab me – it could have been the writing; it could have been the characters, not exactly people I’d relate to; it could have been the mood, which wasn’t exactly uplifting. I spent a good chunk of the book feeling sorry for Truly and annoyed at her for not leaving Morgan for treating her badly.

Even once I got past the first 100 pages, I wouldn’t say that this was a book that I was truly engaged in. I could have put it down and been just fine. Ultimately, I don’t think this book was worth the effort.

Recommendation: The book wasn’t bad, and I don’t want it to come off as such. I just think that something about it… it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It was a lot of work to get into, so I’d probably advise that you skip this one.

Book Review:

The Night Circus

By Erin Morgenstern

In the late 1800s, unbeknownst to each other, Celia and Marcus are bound together by powerful magic. For several years, the two are mentored by magicians of different philosophies. They are taught to finesse their trade and understand their strengths in order to prepare for an undefined challenge that only one can win.

The venue for the challenge is Le Cirque des Rêves, a circus that comes and goes without warning. The circus is unusual. Only open at night, the circus is a stunning vision in black and white. It’s a magical place filled with the smell of warm caramel apples and tents full of bottled memories, mazes, ice sculptures, and more. It is at the circus that Celia and Marcus use their imaginations and willpower in exhibitions, in order to win the challenge.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Night Circus”

Book Review:

The Lover’s Dictionary

David Levithan

The Lover’s Dictionary is a short chronicle of a couple’s relationship. The book is written in the form of a dictionary, with each dictionary word representing a memory, an event, or a challenge in the couple’s relationship.

Recommendation: Reading the book jacket, I wasn’t immediately drawn to The Lover’s Dictionary. I ended up reading it based on recommendations and reviews,* and ultimately, I enjoyed it. The book is very short and a pretty quick read (I read it over a busy weekend), but it does invoke a bit of thought. I loved the unique format of the book. Even though the entries are not very long – anywhere from a few sentences to a couple of pages – the entries succeed in telling the story about the two nameless, genderless characters (referred to as I, me, and you). You would think that with the short chapters and the lack of even a gender for the main characters, that it would be difficult to get to know the characters, but that isn’t the case. Levithan succeeds in portraying the character’s personalities and the dynamics of their relationship. As a reader, I felt the awkwardness of drunken nights, the excitement in their adventures, the pain in their struggles.

The Lover’s Dictionary is not in chronological order so there were a couple pieces that kind of fell away until a number of pages later when it was brought up or alluded to again. But in the end, you still see the whole picture of their relationship.

Read this book. It’s short – you’ll fly through it, but it’s well-written and completely worth your time.

Grade: B+

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Book Review:

My Sunshine

By Catherine Anderson

Isaiah Coulter is a single veterinarian, successful but a little absentminded. His mother is determined to set him up with someone who will take care of him.

Enter Laura Townsend. She’s a beautiful and PhD smart. But she was in an accident that left her with permanent brain damage, including difficulties speaking and staying focused. When Isaiah and Laura meet, Laura is lonely and working odd jobs, cleaning houses and walking dogs. Her love of animals (along with fearing his mother’s reprisal) convinces Isaiah to give Laura a shot working at the veterinary clinic.

Laura’s time at the clinic is a wonderful adventure. She loves working with the animals, and developing new friendships. However, it’s not without problems. Mistakes occur on Laura’s shift. Is Laura losing her focus or is someone plotting against her? Also, Laura falls hard for Isaiah. But how can it work out? He’s her employer, and besides, why would someone like him fall for someone like her, who has trouble speaking words longer than two syllables. But she’s wrong. Isaiah cares for Laura just as much as she cares for him….

Recommendation: Yes. My Sunshine was a light, sweet story. I liked the characters and felt the story was original. Although it is part of a series following the Coulter family, I read it as a standalone book and wouldn’t have known it was a series except for 1 sentence at the end of the book.

Grade: B+

You can find my review of The Bronze Horseman, book 1 in the series, here. The review for book 2, Tatiana and Alexander (aka The Bridge to Holy Cross), is here. This here is the last book – enjoy it!

Again, there are slight spoilers in this review, but I tried to keep them to a minimum.

Book Review:

The Summer Garden

The Tatiana and Alexander Series, Book 3

By Paullina Simons

The Summer Garden is the final book in the Tatiana and Alexander series, and chronicles Tatiana and Alexander Barrington’s life together as adults. The Barrington’s life is broken up into three different periods. Immediately after their return from Europe, they try to figure out life together – adjusting to peacetime and to being together. They struggle with trusting the government under which they now live, with fears of the Soviet Union, communism, and betrayal still so close to the surface.

As some of these fears and anxieties are dealt with, Tatiana and Alexander settle down to build a life together and for their family. Instead of worrying about being deported or thrown in prison, their emotions and anxieties are centered around what we worry about today – where to work and how to pay the bills, what our friends/coworkers are saying/thinking about us, jealousy and protectiveness over their spouse, how our children are raised and are developing…The couple are consumed by these worries, unhappy and fighting. It is probably the most difficult time in their relationship.

Tatiana and Alexander eventually moved past this period in their lives, in a series of tension-building scenes. The Barringtons reach an agreeable and comfortable point in their relationship. They are happy and blissful. They have the family and home they’ve always wanted. It’s not without problems and fears (nope, not going to tell you what they are), but Tatiana and Alexander have reached a more peaceful point in their lives.

Interspersed with the chronological journey through Tatiana and Alexander’s adulthood were interludes of Tatiana’s summers at her dacha* in Luga. These interludes provide additional insight into Tatiana’s personality and her relationships with twin brother Pasha and cousin Marina. In addition, they provide context for some of the references to these time periods throughout this final novel.

* Dacha is Russian for a family’s second house, where the family retreats to in the summer or for vacation. It was (and still is ) common for city-dwelling families to have dachas in the suburbs.

Recommendation: The Summer Garden was a wonderful way to finish this series. Most of the loose ends, holes, and questions were explained in this huge final book in the series. Like the previous books, you, the reader, could feel the characters’ every emotion throughout the book, to the point where some parts were hard for me to read. Everything I enjoyed about the previous books were present in the final book.

I was really interested to find out how the series ended… I’ve become so attached to Tatiana and Alexander but they endured so many struggles and so much heartache, that it wouldn’t have surprised me if the series ended with some sort of catastrophe. I don’t remember when I wanted a happy ending so badly, but I’m really glad Simons delivered on that!

Grade: A