Book 21 of my 2018 Reading Challenge
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
Summary (via the book jacket)
Twelve-year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is one of the mysteries that Ren has been trying to solve his entire life - as well as who his parents are and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony's Orphanage for boys. When a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren's long-lost brother, his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand persuades the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and gives Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? As Ren is introduced to a life of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves, he begins to suspect that Benjamin holds the key not only to his future but to his past as well.
My Opinion
I wavered between 3 and 4 stars for this book and rounded down because I questioned the audience this book is for. It read like a juvenile book so it's not fully satisfying to an adult reader but it was really really dark so I would be aware of what kind of reader the child is before recommending it.
Quote from the Book
"Ren kept as close to Benjamin as he could. He crouched down and grasped the edge of the wagon. He counted everything inside. There were three bodies, two thieves, one dead man, and him. The horse continued to pull them all, its hooves echoing against the stones in the street."
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
The Worst Day of My Life, So Far
Book 20 of my 2018 Reading Challenge
The Worst Day of My Life, So Far: My Mother, Alzheimer's, and Me
by M.A. Harper
Summary (via the book jacket)
In The Worst Day of My Life, So Far, acclaimed novelist M.A. Harper takes us into the complex mind of Jeanne Roth, a middle-aged woman confronting the challenges of taking care of her mother Velma, who suffers with Alzheimer's. Resting in the shadow of her mother's undeniable beauty and Southern charm - the woman she always considered her heroine who is now becoming helpless - Jeanne realizes that heroes aren't born, they are made.
Jeanne, always an expert at analyzing others while neglecting herself, suffers a series of traumas, including her failed marriage and almost getting raped, which force her to reflect on her motives and goals in life: learning to stop pointing the finger at others, to free herself from worry, and to give herself more credit. She is forced to turn to a new person for inspiration: herself.
Through Jeanne, Harper helps us come to terms with thoughts and worries we may have, but are too proud to admit. We're reminded that although we're conscious of our daily routine, we may be out of touch with reality, causing us to questions the truth, if there is one at all. Ultimately, this is a story of a woman's journey toward self-discovery and confidence. It is a timely novel, one that shows us, through the tragedy of Alzheimer's, that there are no dead ends in life, only long roads, often without an end in sight.
My Opinion
I would definitely read this author again. I like these kinds of books that I refer to as "Seinfeld books" because they're books about nothing but very entertaining. Nothing unusual or monumental happens but I was absorbed in the people-watching of these flawed, realistic, interesting characters.
A Few Quotes from the Book
"Every morning that I woke up in Auletta and realized that I had not yet poisoned her, nor put my head in the oven, I figured that I was doing okay."
"Never look at your high school yearbook when you're depressed, I learned. Unless you know for a fact that the Homecoming Queen now weighs three-eighty. Or is dead."
"She is unlearning things, in roughly the same order that she learned them as a toddler. Unlearning. Dolores Bordelon thinks that this is all about memory loss, and it's not. It's about personhood loss."
The Worst Day of My Life, So Far: My Mother, Alzheimer's, and Me
by M.A. Harper
Summary (via the book jacket)
In The Worst Day of My Life, So Far, acclaimed novelist M.A. Harper takes us into the complex mind of Jeanne Roth, a middle-aged woman confronting the challenges of taking care of her mother Velma, who suffers with Alzheimer's. Resting in the shadow of her mother's undeniable beauty and Southern charm - the woman she always considered her heroine who is now becoming helpless - Jeanne realizes that heroes aren't born, they are made.
Jeanne, always an expert at analyzing others while neglecting herself, suffers a series of traumas, including her failed marriage and almost getting raped, which force her to reflect on her motives and goals in life: learning to stop pointing the finger at others, to free herself from worry, and to give herself more credit. She is forced to turn to a new person for inspiration: herself.
Through Jeanne, Harper helps us come to terms with thoughts and worries we may have, but are too proud to admit. We're reminded that although we're conscious of our daily routine, we may be out of touch with reality, causing us to questions the truth, if there is one at all. Ultimately, this is a story of a woman's journey toward self-discovery and confidence. It is a timely novel, one that shows us, through the tragedy of Alzheimer's, that there are no dead ends in life, only long roads, often without an end in sight.
My Opinion
I would definitely read this author again. I like these kinds of books that I refer to as "Seinfeld books" because they're books about nothing but very entertaining. Nothing unusual or monumental happens but I was absorbed in the people-watching of these flawed, realistic, interesting characters.
A Few Quotes from the Book
"Every morning that I woke up in Auletta and realized that I had not yet poisoned her, nor put my head in the oven, I figured that I was doing okay."
"Never look at your high school yearbook when you're depressed, I learned. Unless you know for a fact that the Homecoming Queen now weighs three-eighty. Or is dead."
"She is unlearning things, in roughly the same order that she learned them as a toddler. Unlearning. Dolores Bordelon thinks that this is all about memory loss, and it's not. It's about personhood loss."
Thursday, November 1, 2018
New Boy
Book 19 of my 2018 Reading Challenge
**I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**
New Boy by Tracy Chevalier
Summary (via the book jacket)
Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat's son Osei Kokote knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day - so he's lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can't stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players - teachers and pupils alike - will never be the same again.
My Opinion
I'm not familiar enough with "Othello" as a story to rate this as a retelling so I'll only be talking about this book by itself.
It was really engaging. Normally I would be super anxious when reading about these kinds of events (It doesn't usually go well for the black male when people don't like his relationship with a white female) but since the characters are 6th graders it lowered the stakes a bit. The characters acted older than I expect 11-year-olds to which the author explained by saying this is the age "when you are trying out grown-up attitudes without really understanding them"; I agree with that.
There was an interesting and unfortunately true note from the author, that this story (black person entering a predominantly white environment and being treated with suspicion) was relevant 400 years ago when Shakespeare wrote it, it was relevant in this book's setting of the 1970's, and it's still relevant today.
Quote from the Book
"Today [O] was facing yet another playground full of white kids staring at him, another bunch of boys sizing him up, another bell ringing the same pitch heard all over the world, another teacher at the head of the line eyeing him uneasily. He had been through all of this before, and it was all familiar. Except for her."
**I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**
New Boy by Tracy Chevalier
Summary (via the book jacket)
Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat's son Osei Kokote knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day - so he's lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can't stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players - teachers and pupils alike - will never be the same again.
My Opinion
I'm not familiar enough with "Othello" as a story to rate this as a retelling so I'll only be talking about this book by itself.
It was really engaging. Normally I would be super anxious when reading about these kinds of events (It doesn't usually go well for the black male when people don't like his relationship with a white female) but since the characters are 6th graders it lowered the stakes a bit. The characters acted older than I expect 11-year-olds to which the author explained by saying this is the age "when you are trying out grown-up attitudes without really understanding them"; I agree with that.
There was an interesting and unfortunately true note from the author, that this story (black person entering a predominantly white environment and being treated with suspicion) was relevant 400 years ago when Shakespeare wrote it, it was relevant in this book's setting of the 1970's, and it's still relevant today.
Quote from the Book
"Today [O] was facing yet another playground full of white kids staring at him, another bunch of boys sizing him up, another bell ringing the same pitch heard all over the world, another teacher at the head of the line eyeing him uneasily. He had been through all of this before, and it was all familiar. Except for her."
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