Book Review

Review: Written on My Heart by Morgan Callan Rogers

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I loved this book about young newlyweds struggling to prioritize their marriage, children, employment, roots, and friendships. Dottie and Florine have a close, sisterly relationship based on honesty and support. Bud and Glen base theirs more on beer than honesty, and Morgan Callan Rogers outstandingly illustrates their desire to balance machismo and independence with responsibility and growth. I enjoyed seeing the men develop and regress, and then finally take the steps forward to become better men. 

The women change, too.  Through the grace and lovingkindness of her mother in law, Florine discovers the best way to demonstrate love to Bud… without compromising her values. Dottie grows in confidence and is able to be her authentic self — and a happier person. 

I adored this study on the ebb and flow of relationships, set in “local” down Maine. I liked the intertwined mystery, the ever-presence of Florine’s late mother, and the constance of children’s joy and a mother’s wisdom. 

-calliope

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Review: Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin

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8574333This is totally my type of read. I love the style. I loved the voice of the characters. I loved the story. Best of all I love all the implications.

This is a story about a woman, a wife and a mother, that disappears. As the family searches for her we start to see that there is much more than to this lady. Is anyone just a wife or a mother? How does one separate this two different identities? Confused? Okay, take your life. Stop and look at yourself. Say you are a college student. Are you also an employee? A daughter? A girlfriend? Maybe even a wife? Or even a mother? A sister? A friend?

This book shows us something that we all know, but no one really stops and thinks about…There are many facets to each of us. Yes, those parts help define us. However, how one person sees us does not fit in with how someone else views us…

As we hear from the children, and the husband, we see that they have very different views of who this woman is. Later, as we hear from the woman, we see that none of these views really “mesh” with who she is.

This novel is going to reside in me for a long time. Yes, I believe we do set out different vibes to different people…we want people to view us in a certain way. However, this novel makes it clear to me that we only see what we want to see in those around us….yes, a mother might act a certain way with her children…different than she might act with her husband….but this points out that children and husbands are often only interested in seeing that wife and mother as THEY want to see her…not as she truly is…

So, now, the question begs to be asked….

Does one even really *need* disappear to be hidden to those closest in our lives?

Just go and ponder on that one for a bit, why don’tcha….

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin

Review: The Friends We Keep by Susan Mallery

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Life sure surprises us. Maybe we get comfortable for a while, but sooner or later the road we’re on takes a sharp turn. How we handle the turn makes all the difference. 

So it is with friends Gabby, Hayley, and Nicole. Whether it’s upheaval in marriage, with children, or at work, the ladies lean on each other for support and laughs. 

The ladies really worked on being good people to themselves and each other. It was nice to read good conversation that reflected positively on women and their families. 

The beginning seemed very planned, bordering on contrived. I felt like I could practically see the framework of the plot — and it should be invisible to the reader!  However, as the characters grew into themselves, the story flowed better and seemed more natural.  The development of secondary characters helped, too. 

By the end, Mallery had me crying. I appreciated each character, flaws and all, and I saw exactly why these friends were keepers. 

-calliope

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The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee by Talya Tate Boerner

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Gracie Lee rocks! She has a mean, alcoholic father, a timid mother, and a copycat sister. They’re in Arkansas in the 70s, where the success of the cotton crop determines life or death, and the path to heaven is via the local Baptist church. 

Gracie Lee cuts through as much baloney as she can. She plays with her Barbie and dumps beer down the drain when her daddy isn’t looking. She confides in the church pastor when she really needs an adult who will listen and guide. Best of all, Gracie Lee invents her own little mystery that allows her to feel like she’s needed and valued. 

Gracie’s story is charming and poignant and smart. I laughed and cried.  I also got pretty mad – which goes to show how invested I was. Why anger? Well…

Gracie Lee’s dad really ticked me off, especially when he asked her for a favor at the end of the book. Ugh, like she owed him ANYTHING, especially something that she would burden her. Selfish selfish man. 

This book was a little slow, but really a wonderful story that I’m grateful to have experienced. In the end, I think Gracie Lee saved HERSELF with her cleverness and courage. And personally I believe she had some backup from the man upstairs. 

-calliope

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Review: The Traitor in the Tunnel (The Agency #3) by YS Lee

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12143472Yea..Yea…Yea….I know I don’t often give 5 stars to a book…and certainly not one so light and fluffy such as this….but damnit to hell….I so enjoyed this one! I’ve fallen completely in love with Mary and James. In this installment of the series we find Mary working at the Royal Palace as a maid. She is attempting to uncover the mystery of some stolen items. However, nothing is ever so simple with Mary. She soon finds herself involved in murder…and that’s the simplest problem she is trying to work through….

Yes, James is, of course, present in this story, however, during much of this telling, we find Mary alone. She is showing some clearer picture of the strong independent woman she will become. She is even, for some unexpected reason, cut off from her beloved Agency. We eventually find out why….and that sets up the final book beautifully…as well as the final meeting with James at the end of this novel…

I am diving right into the fourth and final book…I can ever remember one time where I read a series back to back like this…and that was Potter…no this isn’t Harry Potter…however, it’s just what my book soul needs…I can’t express just how much I’m enjoying this series. The mystery parts are not the best….they are perhaps even a bit silly…but I don’t care I love them….and I love the time period. My mind is racing to find out more about London during this time period. To find a really fantastic historical read to satisfy my cravings….and I do, so truly adore the banter between Mary and James…

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now The Traitor in the Tunnel by YS Lee

Review: Good at Games by Jill Mansell

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I’m always up for a few hundred pages of fun when they’re written by Jill Mansell. If you’ve never read her British chick lit, pick up Millie’s Fling or Staying at Daisy’s – my two Mansell faves. And if you’re already a fan, try Good at Games. It’s not Mansell’s best, but it IS unique and enjoyable. 

Main character Suzy finds herself engaged to a man she doesn’t love – or even really like anymore. Meanwhile, Suzy has chemistry with his brother, she lives next door to her ex-husband, and takes in her long-lost half sister. Between the the love triangle, misunderstandings, and sneaking around, Good at Games is a comedy of errors that had my head spinning! 

Though a little convoluted for my “fluff” tastes, this book gets thumbs up for fresh, fun characters and a happily ever after. 

-calliope

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Review: What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross

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25111142This is a book that is hard to review, because it simply isn’t black and white. This novel is about a lady who finds a baby left unattended in an IKEA store and walks away with her. Twenty one years later she is caught. This book attempts to tell her story and show us the aftermath.

I’m so conflicted. Yes, what she did was 100% wrong. She never claims it wasn’t. However, the fact of the matter is, it was a “one-off” that would have never happened if the birth mother hadn’t answered a phone call, walked off, and left her baby unattended for several (never really told how long, but I am guessing it was well over 10 minutes, possibly more than 20) minutes.

Facts are, no one is perfect. Especially parents. Even though Lucy (the lady who abducted the child) seemed to want to be a parent above all else, it’s pretty evident to me that she wasn’t the best mother. Yes, she needed to support herself and her *daughter*, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that she was a very career oriented person. Much of the raising was left to the nanny. Having said that, she provided a good life and did, in fact, love the child. I do believe she didn’t attend to take the child and as the minutes ticked by one by one, she found herself unable (and unwilling) to correct the situation…

I would also like to point out that the birth mother….well, there’s no two ways about it. I didn’t like her character. As hard as I tried, I just couldn’t find her believable. She was just too over the top and wholesome for me to deal with. Going on and on about placing soothing drops on pillows to help her reunited daughter sleep easier through the night, sessions of throwing rocks and yelling into the wind to cleanse out bad feelings, taking her (now adult) daughter to sessions to have her charted and palms read. Yes, I’m sure these people exist in life…but if I was that daughter, I would have been very weirded out by her.

Finally, why the book was full of so much grey matter for me was the daughter. She made the book worth reading. Once she started reflecting on her life and the guilt she felt for loving a woman who provided so much for her….when she started wondering how different her life would have been….well, you can imagine…having to feel guilty about loving someone…well it must be a terrible feeling to have. Then trying to come to terms with that love, with the guilt, and being glad she had the life she had and not the one she was taken from….well, again, her story and her hurt is what made the entire book a worthwhile read for me….

Until next time…

Urania xx

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Buy it now What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross

Review: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

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Sara flies from her home in Sweden to nowhereville, Iowa to visit a pen pal and fellow book lover, but when she arrives, nothing is as she expected. The people surprise her, the town isn’t much of a town at all, and her old standby — books — are hard to come by. So she makes a plan and makes some friends and puts the pieces of her life back together. 

In the course of telling the story, Bivald writes in some contrivances that just made certain aspects of the plot too obviously fake to me. I also noticed that as I read I kept asking myself, “is that supposed to mean something?” Maybe Bivald wanted to integrate symbolism in places? But those were just two bumps in the road. 

Most of the book went along quite smoothly, introducing the reader to some stereotypically exaggerated characters (the old maid, the gay guy, the town drunk) which, to me, made Sara seem all the more plain and subdued. But she surprises people and makes waves in her own way. 🙂 

I really loved that Sara shared her love for reading in the best, most apt way possible. She shared herself through those books, and I could feel the other characters’ gratefulness. 

The best part of the book was the happily ever after because it gave me that “sigh, everything is as it should be now” feeling. Settled. Which is something Sara only felt at the very end as well. 

-calliope

But THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND

Review: The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

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25513627My very first Chris Bohjalian novel….I’ve been told time and time again in the past that I should be reading this author….but like so many, I just have an abundance of really good books on my TBR list and not nearly enough time….In this case, a review copy dropped into my lap at just the right time and I dove right in. I am so glad I did! I can’t wait to read my by Mr Bohjalian!

There are lots of characters I feel that a reader can sympathize with….and because of that, I think this would be a really great book club read…and that is something I NEVER say! I don’t really do book club reads…hahahaha…but regardless of that, I still think this will be a brilliant book club read! It would be interesting to see whom people aligned their loyalties to…the husband, the wife, the young *strippers*, the daughter? All of them? None?

I for one love realist endings over HEA endings….so I wasn’t that bothered by this ending…but it will be interesting to see what others think….

This book makes it clear that life can change in an instant…..we all know it…..but we often forget it….we like to think that nothing like this could happen to us….we like to call this “escapism”….we tell ourselves that it makes for an interesting read and a distraction from real life….that we would never find ourselves in this type of situation….Bohjalian really makes me question that….this book starts out with just a few simple choices….not even choices…it’s more like being in the wrong place at the wrong time….when it comes down to it, the fact is, not many people who find themselves in a bad situation have actually meant to be in that position….yes, there are some things that you would change with hindsight…but that’s the pesky thing…hindsight only comes about AFTER the fact…..

There are lots of things and moral situations to ponder in this story….you’re sure to find yourself trying to put yourself into other’s shoes here and wonder what you might have done differently….

Highly recommend this one….no matter if you’re a long time fan of Chris Bohjalian or a new fan like myself…

Until next time…

Urania xx

ARC provided by Edelweiss for an honest review

Buy it now The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

Review: Anything For You by Kristan Higgins

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I love Kristan Higgins’ books – always have. She writes hilarious one-liners that provide comic relief when things get heavy. Higgins writes authentic, deep characters… people I feel like I know, even though they’re fictional. 

Higgins’ Blue Heron series adds beautiful scenery and a vineyard backdrop to the mix. I almost feel like this series is a saga – generations of families, light politics, and family owned businesses play a big role. 

Anything For You is number five in the series. Connor has been in love with Jessica forever, but even after a decade she holds him at arm’s length. Oh the angst, my friends. I mean, you know (hope) there will be a happily ever after, but for so long things are looking grim! I was tense in the shoulders waiting for the other shoe to drop. And drop it did, though not in the way Connor or Jessica or I imagined. 

The love story rocked (in all its angst), the subplot of new employees at O’Rourke’s and the vineyard — totally hilarious, and the recurrence of past characters in cameos was precise, deliberate, and perfectly placed. 

I’m just going to keep on loving these Blue Heron folks. Thanks, KH! 

-calliope

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