August 30, 1975: the day fifteen-year-old Nola Kellergan is glimpsed fleeing through the woods, never to be heard from again; the day Somerset, New Hampshire, lost its innocence.

Thirty-three years later, Marcus Goldman, a successful young novelist, visits Somerset to see his mentor, Harry Quebert, one of the country’s most respected writers, and to find a cure for his writer’s block as his publisher’s deadline looms. But Marcus’s plans are violently upended when Harry is suddenly and sensationally implicated in the cold-case murder of Nola Kellergan—whom, he admits, he had an affair with. As the national media convicts Harry, Marcus launches his own investigation, following a trail of clues through his mentor’s books, the backwoods and isolated beaches of New Hampshire, and the hidden history of Somerset’s citizens and the man they hold most dear. To save Harry, his own writing career, and eventually even himself, Marcus must answer three questions, all of which are mysteriously connected: Who killed Nola Kellergan? What happened one misty morning in Somerset in the summer of 1975? And how do you write a book to save someone’s life?

Pages: 643 (Paperback) 

Publisher: Published May 27th 2014 by Penguin Books (first published September 19th 2012)

Rating: 6 out of 10

Source: Checked out from the library

Date Completed: December 19, 2014

I was not at the Professors and Partners book club meeting where The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker was selected. I still do not know how or why the book was chosen. When I started reading, I was intrigued and the premise was interesting. As the book progressed, I wanted to know what happened, but was bored.  The plot twists kept coming and being resolved, but not in ways that were both realistic and satisfying. 

I am counting this book for the following challenge: 

2014 Chunkster Reading Challenge: At 643 pages, this is certainly a chunkster

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful— irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Pages: 378 (Paperback) 

Publisher: Published August 28th 2012 by Ecco (first published September 1st 2011)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Source: Checked out from the library

Date Completed: October 16, 2014

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller started off as a very interesting retelling of Greek history. I was especially excited to read the book as the author was going to be at the Boston book club meeting.  I started the book when my son was less than a week old. I did not have the ideal reading situation as I picked up the book when I was struggling to stay awake or waiting for him to fall asleep after nursing. The beginning of the book peaked my interest as I was drawn into the story of the budding romance. The middle started to drag; I had a hard time keeping track of all of the characters (like high school!) and the war parts seemed never ending. 

However....

the last part of the book was incredible. I found myself STAYING UP to read a few more pages. I was deeply concerned and invested into the characters. The long war and the feuds were humanized.  As strange as this sounds, I wish that the last part of the book was longer because I felt sad when the story came to an end.  

At the book club meeting, I enjoyed talking with the author. After hearing about her experince researching and writing the book, I appreciated the story more. 

I am counting this for the What's in a Name 2014 Challenge for the category of forename. 

Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. Just months from "aging out" of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse.

Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

The closer Molly grows to Vivian, the more she discovers parallels to her own life. A Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. As her emotional barriers begin to crumble, Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life - answers that will ultimately free them both.

Pages: 278 (Paperback) 

Publisher: Published April 2nd 2013 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published 2013)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Source: Checked out from the library

Date Completed: September 16, 2014

I did not know what to expect of the Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline when it was selected for the Professors and Partners book club. I was drawn to the story immediately and liked the switch off in narrator between Molly and Vivian.  The story was a good way to learn some history; I had no idea that these trains existed. My hope was to finish the book before my son arrived, but that did not happen. Instead, I was reading the book in my hospital bed in those blurry days after he was born. 

I loved the intergenerational friendship between Molly and Vivian. As Vivian's story unfolds, I was reminded of how some things are timeless: wanting to be part of a family, finding love, losing love, creating community, and the gift of being able to share your story with those for whom it will be a treasure.  Some aspects of the character's back story was not explored enough for my taste like Molly's Indian heritage. The other thing I did not lke very much was the ending; I felt like it wrapped up both too neatly and very abruptly. 

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

Pages: 771 (Hardcover) 

Publisher: Published October 22nd 2013 by Little, Brown and Company (first published 2013)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Source: Checked out from the library

Date Completed: September 2, 2014

I had heard so many things about The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and was glad to find out what the fuss was about when the book was selected as the April read for the Partners and Professors book club.  I started the book about a month before the meeting and the first section was easy to read and process. I found Theo relatable and was rooting for him. As the book progressed, I had a harder time getting through and find annoyed with Theo.  Each section seemed to contain a sprinkle of hope, a bad decision, and drugs. I was glad to have built in breaks from the book, thanks to library wait lists. 

My favorite character was Hobie, who in fact redeemed the book for me.  The last section drew me in and made me feel a bit better about humanity and the state of the world.  There were many powerful and poignont moments. Finishing the book felt like a big accomplishment.  This was the last book I read before my son was born and I remember when I finished thinking, "Okay, the baby can come now because I just completed a massive project." While I did not adore the book as much as many others, I am glad to have read it. 

I am counting it for the 2014 Chunkster Reading Challenge: At 771 pages, this is certainly a chunkster.

Billie Breslin has traveled far from her California home to take a job at Delicious, the most iconic food magazine in New York and, thus, the world. When the publication is summarily shut down, the colorful staff, who have become an extended family for Billie, must pick up their lives and move on. Not Billie, though. She is offered a new job: staying behind in the magazine's deserted downtown mansion offices to uphold the "Delicious Guarantee"-a public relations hotline for complaints and recipe inquiries-until further notice. What she doesn't know is that this boring, lonely job will be the portal to a life-changing discovery.

Pages: 400 (Hardcover) 

Publisher: Published May 6th 2014 by Random House (first published January 1st 2014)

Rating: 9 out of 10

Source: Checked out from the library

Date Completed: August 13, 2014

I really enjoyed Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. I thought that she was funny and informative, plus I always felt hungry when I listened to a passage. While at the library, I saw that she had a novel coming out, Delicious! which sounded inspiring and fun. I recommended it to the Professors and Partners book club and was excited that it was chosen for the August selection. 

I found Billie inspiring and sweet; I loved that she was using her happy memories of home cooking as inspiration for her career path. I also liked getting to know one of the other main characters, Lulu,  through letters and liked seeing the creativity and quirks of the staff at the food magazine.  Granted my perspective was influenced by own transitions and hope that something wonderful is waiting if I follow my passions. 

During the book club discussion, one of the members made the ginger cake that is described in the book. The recipe is provided at the end and it was so yummy! I wish that I could eat something from many of the books I read that have yummy descriptions. 

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Pages: 394 (Hardcover) 

Publisher: Published July 30th 2013 by Putnam Adult (first published April 26th 2013)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Source: Checked out from the library

Date Completed: August 2, 2014

I did not know much about The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty when it was selected as the October read for the Boston book club. Since we pick our books three at a time, I was glad for the extra time to wait for it to come from the library.  The book started off really slowly for me and I was concerned that it was going to drag. During most of the time I was reading the book, I was also preparing for the bar exam.  I would read for a few minutes almost every night as a treat.  As I got deeper into the book, I began to look forward to those few minutes more and more.  

I was impressed with how the author weaved together the lives of three women who seem to be living very separate lives.  There was a lot of potential for clichés and there are a few, but overall I was surprised with the plot twists and character realizations.  I think I will always associate this book with rewards. When I finished taking the bar exam, instead of getting drunk at the bar, I found a quiet corner and read for almost an hour while I waited for Partner to pick me up. It felt divine! 

Neil Kapoor, 23, is desperate to create a life beyond the shadow of his mother’s schizophrenia. Years of successive relapses and rehabilitations have forced his father into the role of caretaker and Neil into that of silent witness. But there is no light within this joyless ritual, and any hope for the future rests on finding an exit. 

Amidst her latest breakdown, Neil attends drama school in pursuit of a role that might better express the truth of who he is. What started as a desperate gambit becomes the fragile threads of a new life. A relationship blooms with Emily, and each finds strength – and demons - in the other. New friendships with Quincy and Tim grow close and complex. But the emotional remove needed to keep these two lives separate destabilizes the family. Neil’s father, the one constant in the chaos, buckles under the pressure. Enlisting the aid of an Aunt with means and questionable motives, Neil plies ever-greater deceptions to keep the darkness at bay. But this time there will be no going back. As his mother falls to terrifying depths a decision must be made: family or freedom?

Pages: 276 (paperback) 

Publisher: Published February 4th 2014 by Ravana Press (first published January 25th 2014)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Source: Won from TLC book club of the month contest

Date Completed: June 4, 2014

Each month, I get an email about the TLC book club of the month contest and see the selections. I enter for any books that look interesting. I was really excited to win The Isolation Door: A Novel by Anish Majumdar.  I was intrigued by the plot and glad that our book club picked for the June selection.  The story was easy to get into, but parts felt a little bit disjointed.  The issue of stigma with mental illness was addressed well as was the competing desires to start a new life while fulfilling family obligations. 

I had a hard time with Neil's relationship with Emily and his pursuit of drama. The friendships he formed in school seemed random and I had a hard time believing the genuineness of the depth of the connection. Unfortunately, I was not able to make the book club meeting. I heard from other members that they could either not get through the book or that they did not like it because it was really dark. I did not mind the darkness, but I think that parts of the plot could have been developed more. 

I am counting this book for the following challenge: 

 The Perpetual South Asian Challenge as the author and the subjects of the novel are both South Asian. 

Born above his grandfather's modest restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan first experienced life through intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry, trips to the local markets, and gourmet outings with his mother. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India, they console themselves by eating their way around the world, eventually settling in Lumière, a small village in the French Alps.

The boisterous Haji family takes Lumière by storm. They open an inexpensive Indian restaurant opposite an esteemed French relais (that of the famous chef Madame Mallory) and infuse the sleepy town with the spices of India, transforming the lives of its eccentric villagers and infuriating their celebrated neighbor. Only after Madame Mallory wages culinary war with the immigrant family, does she finally agree to mentor young Hassan, leading him to Paris, the launch of his own restaurant, and a slew of new adventures.

Pages: 256 (hardcover) 

Publisher: Published July 6th 2010 by Scribner (first published 2008)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Source: Checked out of library

Date Completed: April 15, 2014

I first heard of The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais when I read a list of books to read before the movies come out.  The premise intrigued me and it had a combination of two of my favorite things--family and food. The actual story also incorporates religious tension, cultural assimilation, and immigration. It was a combination of heavy and lighter themes. Each time I read a passage, I felt hungry. 

As hard as it was to read both as a parent and a child, I loved reading about Hassan's journey of taking the steps both literal and figurative to go across the street to start his next adventure. While I am not a particularly good cook, I could relate to the desire to cultivate and chase passion.  The book was picked for the Boston book club and I was sad to find out that most of the members did not like the book; they found that it dragged. Many of them thought the movie was quite good.  Since I really enjoyed the book, I am looking forward to the movie. 

I am counting this book for the following challenges: 

• What's in a Name 2014 for the category of number written in letters. 
• The Perpetual South Asian Challenge as the book is about South Asians. 

Violet is one of the most celebrated courtesans in Shanghai, a beautiful and intelligent woman who has honed her ability to become any man's fantasy since her start as a "Virgin Courtesan" at the age of twelve. Half-Chinese and half-American, she moves effortlessly between the East and the West. But her talents belie her private struggle to understand who she really is and her search for a home in the world. Abandoned by her mother, Lucia, and uncertain of her father's identity, Violet's quest to truly love and be loved will set her on a path fraught with danger and complexity-and the loss of her own daughter.

Lucia, a willful and wild American woman who was once herself the proprietress of Shanghai's most exclusive courtesan house, nurses her own secret wounds, which she first sustained when, as a teenager, she fell in love with a Chinese painter and followed him from San Francisco to Shanghai. Her search for penance and redemption will bring her to a startling reunion with Flora, Violet's daughter, and will shatter all that Violet believed she knew about her mother.

Pages: 589 (hardcover) 

Publisher: Published November 5th 2013 by Ecco (first published October 24th 2013)

Rating: 9 out of 10

Source: Checked out of library

Date Completed: April 2, 2014

I have loved Amy Tan ever since I first read Joy Luck Club in college.  A few years ago, I enjoyed reading her memoir The Opposite of Fate on a trip to India. I was really excited to learn that she had a new book coming out, The Valley of Amazement.  My excitement and anticipation only increased when I read the story of her search for a new editor who ended up working with her on this book.  Since the book was in high demand and I am still on on a book buying budget, I had a lot of breaks in my reading as the book had to be returned and I needed to wait my turn.  

In spite of stopping and starting multiple times, I found myself engrossed in the story. In particular, I liked getting to know Violet and seeing her grow.  Parts of the book were slow, but I felt like there were lots of saucy parts which made for some juicy reading.  As with all of her novels, I appreciated the exploration of mother daughter relationships in a way that honors complexity and conflict.   The lessons on how to be a courtesan were fascinating and the ways in which she fell in love made me feel both hopeful and sad. 

I am counting this book for the following challenge: 2014 Chunkster Reading Challenge: At 589 pages, this is certainly a chunkster.  

Hetty "Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty-five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.

 
As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Pages: 373 (hardcover) 

Publisher: Published January 7th 2014 by Viking Adult

Rating: 10 out of 10

Source: Checked out of library

Date Completed: March 17, 2014

The first book I read by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, gave me lot to think about while still sweeping me up in a compelling story.  I was excited when the Partners and Professors book club selected the Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd for our February meeting.  As I started reading, I was again swept up in the story and a bit guarded because I feel like lately I have read several books with similar themes.  

In the months between finishing the book and writing the review, the thing which I keep thinking about is the importance of not only believing in yourself, but in having men (aka those with power and investment in the current structure) also believe in you.  There is a powerful scene where Sarah makes a declaration that she wants to become a lawyer and her father public mocks her and basically shuts her down.  After reading and reflecting on that passage and the rest of the book, I felt profoundly lucky that my own father always encouraged and believed in my ability to do great things.  Even now, I have the chance to take the bar exam because he and my mom believe in me enough to provide resources to make it possible for me to try again. 

I also love the intersection between race and gender. As Sarah and her sister Angelina begin working in the abolition movement, they start to give voice and power to the need for women's empowerment.  The conflict this causes and their response to it is one of my favorite parts.  As Handful begins to find ways to connect to the world outside the Grimke farm and figure out how to make her own path, I love the way her power and resources are cultivated to bring her freedom while honoring her past.  The novel is certainly about women finding and asserting their powerful.  It is also about friendship, reaching across race and class lines, but in a way that feels real and complicated.