The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant
320 pages
 
What’s it about?
The novel begins with a question from a granddaughter to her grandmother;  “How did you get to be the woman you are today?”  Addie Baum is “The Boston Girl” and at 85 years of age she looks back on her life and tells her granddaughter just how she became the woman she knows.  The story begins in 1915 when Addie was fifteen and continues on through her life.  Set in Boston this tale takes you through time, with Addie’s unique perspective on history.
 
What did I think?
This book was kind of like having a big old chocolate milkshake.  It just went down easy!  The story was fast, the characters charming, and the book was done before I knew it.   The author could have delved a little deeper with her characters, as they seemed very simple.  I guess then it would not have been such a quick read though…
 
Should you read it?
This is a great book for a time when you want something quick and easy.  It takes very little concentration and it keeps you engaged.  It is the perfect book when looking for a light read.
 
Quote-
“Sometimes friends grow apart.  You tell each other everything and you’re sure this is a person you’ll know the rest of your life but then she stops writing or calling, or you realize she’s really not so nice, or she turns into a right winger.  Remember your friend Susie?
                  But sometimes, it doesn’t matter how far apart you live or how little you talk- it’s still there.”
 
If you like this try-
 The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Bittersweet by Beverly-Wittemoore Miranda
The Paris Architect by Charles Balfour

​6 stars

Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund
539 pages
 
What’s it about?
This work of historical fiction follows Marie Antionette from her arrival in France in 1770 to her death in 1793. 
 
What did I think?
Overall I enjoyed this book.   Marie Antoinette was an interesting character, in an interesting time.  I must admit that I did find the book to be tedious at times, especially in the middle of the novel.  The language is so superfluous that I got tired, and I often just wanted the author to say a simple sentence.  I think the idea was to give us a taste of how a noble person would have spoken or written in the 1700’s, but it added to the tedium at times.  An example, “Not I, not I, not I.  I am so content, my being dissolves into a boundarylessness.  I am nothing and everything, I am every place and no place.  What other word than bliss can describe the conjunction of like minds?”    So she has met someone and she is happy….  While the language gives us a sense of her world, it is also tiresome at times.  
 
Should you read it?
I would recommend this book if you have an interest in history and a good attention span.   It does not ever give you a clear answer to who Marie Antoinette really was.  Was she a spoiled narcissist, or a truly loving, generous woman?  Was she unfaithful to the king or a devoted wife?  Some things we will never know.   If nothing else, Marie Antoinette was a woman of her time.   This book certainly gives you a picture of what a woman of that time and station was trained to become.  Some would say style over substance...  In retrospect I did enjoy this one. 
 
Quote-
“Part of the chatter comes from my own lips, for Louis Auguste says scarcely a word, and I must make up for his silence and bubble with delight.  I play the role so well that I believe it myself.
                  There will be no mistakes, or hesitations, no blots on  the dinner, just laughter and smiling lips and fond eyes: grace for everyone.”
 
Question-
Did you believe this version of Marie Antionette?
 
If you like this try-
 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantle
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

 7 stars

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
436 pages
 
What’s it about?
This book takes place in Detroit.  It mixes the police hunt for a serial killer with the emerging Detroit art scene, high school life, and video journalism.
 
What did I think?
I LOVED Lauren Beukes last book, “The Shining Girls” and was really looking forward to reading her latest story.  I was disappointed!  This book had a large cast of characters with many different plot lines.   The plot lines all merge together in the second half of the book.  I did not find the first half of the book  that engaging.  Getting small snippets of different characters' stories for the first 200 pages left me bored.   By the second half I was more interested because I was finally keeping the characters straight.  I felt like Beukes strongest points were  on the role of social media in journalism, and in our lives as a whole. 
 
Should you read it?
If you are looking for a suspense thriller then you will enjoy this book.  It is certainly not the best I have read- but it picks up steam in the second half.  In my opinion it had too many plots and sometimes the high school girls language was just too clever to seem realistic.  I have listened to teenagers- they are not that clever…at least not 24 hours a day.
 
Quote-
“Shakespeare would have it wrong these days.  It’s not the world that’s the stage- it’s social media, where you’re trying to put on a show.  The rest of your life is rehearsals, prepping in the wings to be fabulous online.”
 
Question-
Did Beukes portayal of teenage life get it right?
 
If you like this try-
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
The Alienest by Caleb Carr
 Night Film by Marisha Pessl


6 stars

The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard
252 pages
​ 
What’s it about?
 This book follows a young Jewish boy, Aron, in Poland during World War II.  Aron and his family are relocated into the Warsaw ghetto and we see what they must do to survive.   Aron's life intersects with the life of Janusz Korczak (an actual historical figure in Poland).   Janusz Korczak (Henryk Goldsmith) was a well known Polish pediatrician, educator, children's author, and radio personality before the war.   He runs a children's orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto and refuses his freedom in order to stay with the children.  In  Korczak we see the best of us.
 
What did I think?
 This fictional account of what happened in 1942 is heartbreaking and affirming at the same time.   It is truly the story of how ordinary people acted in extraordinary ways- good and bad.  I knew nothing of Janusz Korczak, and was so glad to have learned something about him.

Should you read it?
 Their are many good books that feature the Holocaust out there.  I would recommend adding this one to the list of required reading.  Sometimes I feel like I can not read another account of what happened- it is too difficult.  Then I think,  if people could live through it I can learn about it and remember it.   I do wonder if the written work can ever do justice to the horror of what happened during this time?  

Quote-
 "My father called it the most miserable report he'd ever seen, and invited us to figure out how I had pulled it off.  My mother said that I might've been getting  better in some areas and he told her that if God gave me a second or a third life I'd still understand nothing.  He said a person with strong character could correct his path and start again but a coward or weakling could not.  I always wondered if others had such difficulty in learning.  I always worried what would become of me if I couldn't do any thing at all.  It was terrible  to have to be the person I was."

Question- 
​What books would you recommend from this time period?
 
If you like this try-
 Night by Elie Weisel
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

​8 stars