The Birth House

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Finished May 3rd, 2008

Rating: 9/10

2008 To Be Read (TBR) Challenge #1

Barnes & Noble Synopsis
The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of Rares. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing. Dora becomes Miss B.’s apprentice, and together they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labours, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives. Filled with details as compelling as they are surprising, The Birth House is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to have control of their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.


I was drawn to this book after I had my baby, as I was interested in reading more about midwifery. I thought the book was excellent. I really enjoyed the plot and writing style of the author, I especially liked how the author used different means to tell the story such as newspaper articles and ads, etc.

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants

Finished February 26th, 2008

Rating: 7/10

Book Awards Reading Challenge Book #5


Synopsis

As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.


An entertaining book however I was not blown away by it. I did find it difficult at times to read about some of the animal cruelty that takes place in the book. It was a good solid book but not a page turner for me.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Finished January 21st, 2007

Rating: 6/10

Unread Authors Challenge Book #2




Synopsis from Barnes and Noble
On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's Syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret.

But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this beautifully told story that unfolds over a quarter of a century in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night.


This book was an okay read for me however I don't think I would recommend it to others. I struggled a little bit throughout the book as I found that the book didn't hold my attention for very long. The plot had a lot of potential but unfortunately the characters didn't touch me and I found the story ended up being weak.

Black and Blue

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen

Finished January 7th, 2008

Rating: 9/10

Unread Authors Challenge Book #1


From the Publisher
With daring and compassion, Anna Quindlen weaves a forceful, harrowing portrait of a woman and a marriage, capturing the profound intricacies of love and rage, passion and violence. At once heartbreaking and utterly riveting, BLACK AND BLUE is an extraordinary work of fiction and a brilliant achievement.

For eighteen years, Fran Benedetto kept her secret, hid her bruises, and stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father and because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten-year-old son's face, Fran finally made a choice--and ran for both their lives.


What a great read for my 2nd read of 2008. The plot wasn't over the top as Quindlen takes such a complex topic and manages to write a simple and realistic story about domestic violence. This was the first time I have read a book by Quindlen and I look forward to reading some more by her.

Brick Lane

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Finished December 25th, 2007

Rating: 2/10

Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge Book #6



From the Publisher

Monica Ali's gorgeous first novel is the deeply moving story of one woman, Nazneen, born in a Bangladeshi village and transported to London at age eighteen to enter into an arranged marriage.

Nazneen's inauspicious entry into the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu, a man old enough to be her father. Nazneen moves to London and, for years, keeps house, cares for her husband, and bears children, just as a girl from the village is supposed to do. But gradually she is transformed by her experience, and begins to question whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny.

Motherhood is a catalyst -- Nazneen's daughters chafe against their father's traditions and pride -- and to her own amazement, Nazneen falls in love with a young man in the community. She discovers both the complexity that comes with free choice and the depth of her attachment to her husband, her daughters, and her new world.
While Nazneen journeys along her path of self-realization, her sister, Hasina, rushes headlong at her life, first making a "love marriage," then fleeing her violent husband. Woven through the novel, Hasina's letters from Dhaka recount a world of overwhelming adversity. Shaped, yet not bound, by their landscapes and memories, both sisters struggle to dream -- and live -- beyond the rules prescribed for them.


I really disliked this book. I didn't enjoy any of it but couldn't bring myself not to finish it once I started it. I didn't connect with the characters and didn't enjoy the writing. It was a painfully slow read. I would recommend skipping this book.

The Full Cupboard of Life

The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

Finished December 7th, 2007

Rating: 4/10

Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge Book #5






From the Publisher
In the fifth book in the prodigiously successful series, traditionally built, eminently sensible Mma Precious Ramotswe continues her enterprise at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana, a country that is indeed fortunate.

Still engaged to the estimable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe understands that she should not put too much pressure on him, as he has other concerns, especially a hair-raising request from the ever persuasive Mma Potokwane, matron of the orphan farm. Besides Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady to check up on several suitors. Are these men interested in the lady or just her money? This may be a difficult case, but it's just the kind of problem Mma Ramotswe likes and she is, as we know, a very intuitive lady.


This book was a big disappointment as the storyline was very weak in this one. I enjoy the different cases that Mma Ramotswe works on and having her solve them. However in this installment she only had one case and very little time was spent on it. I'm hoping the next book in the series is better.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Finished November 13th, 2007

Rating: 9/10

Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge Book #4


From the Publisher

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.


So let me start off by saying that this was one of the best books I have read yet this year. Although it is an excellent book, it didn't quite touch me the same way The Kite Runner did. The writing is amazing, there was never a moment when I was bored or found my interest waning. I highly recommend this book to others.

Sam's Letters to Jennifer

Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson

Finished October 3rd, 2007

Rating: 6/10

Reading the Author Challenge Book #1




From the Publisher
Jennifer returns to the resort village where she grew up to help a beloved relative-and ends up experiencing not one but two of the most amazing love stories she''s ever known. The first is completely unexpected. In a series of letters that Jennifer finds, her relative reveals that she has concealed a huge secret for decades: Her great love is not the man she was married to for all those years. As Jennifer reads about this passionate partnership, she learns more about love's imperatives and secrets than she ever dreamed possible. And then comes the biggest surprise of all. At a time when she thought she could never love again, Jennifer lets her guard down for a moment-and is suddenly caught up in the greatest flight of exhilaration she's ever known. But, just as suddenly, she learns that this new love comes with an unbearable cost.Jennifer doesn't think she can survive the pain-but the letters she's been reading make her think that love may help her find a way.

This was a very quick read and was pretty enjoyable but I found the ending rushed. I thought I liked it more than a 6/10 however after finishing and thinking about the plot and storyline it wasn't really that good but only about average. I didn't enjoy it as much as a similar book by Patterson called Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas.

Oryx and Crake

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Finished September 17th, 2007

Rating: 8/10

Dystopian Challenge Book #5


I am ashamed to say I have never read any books by Margaret Atwood before and I am a Canadian. I have to say I really enjoyed her writing style and will definately be reading more from her.

It was difficult to summarize the book but I will try to touch on the main points.

The book is told by Jimmy (aka Snowman) as he unravels the story of how and why the world is as it is as he shifts between flashbacks from the past and the present. He describes his relationships with his two close friends Oryx and Crake. It isn't until the end of the book that the reader finds out what has happened to these two friends of Snowman as it is evident they are not around in the present time.

The only interaction Snowman has in the new world is with the Crakers, a genetically engineered species created by his friend Crake. The Crakers are very different from Snowman as they are programmed to: not be jealous, not have territorial tendencies which would lead to war, die at 30 years old, etc.

Atwood's description of the future is thought provoking and she manages to paint a realistic future in some aspects.

My only disappointment was the abrupt ending as the reader is left to envision the future for Snowman and the Crakers.

The Terminal Man

The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton

Finished July 14th, 2007

Rating: 4/10

Decades Challenge Book #6 (1970s)



I haven't had much luck with the last couple of Crichton books that I have read. I thought that maybe because this book was from his earlier works that I might enjoy it more however that was not the case. The book was written in the early seventies and that is when it takes place. It is about a man who has seizures which causes him to be violent. A team of medical professionals operate on the man to try to control the seizures but are unsuccessful. There really was no climax in this book and then it just ended abruptly. I do not recommend this book, I was very disappointed.

The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Finished July 4th, 2007

Rating: 9/10

Dystopian Challenge Book #3

Book Awards Reading Challenge Book #1



I wasn't sure what to expect from this book as I have heard you either love it or hate it. It was hard for me to get into this book at the beginning however after about 75 pages into the book it was hard for me to put it down.

The book describes the journey of a Father and Son through postapocalyptic America and is bleak and haunting.

I was very curious about what happened to make America this way and whether it was restricted to the US or whether it happened to the whole world? You never do find out what happened and perhaps that is the point. I also found it interesting that the characters were not given names.

After finishing the book I was a little disappointed about certain aspects about the book such as the ending and no real plot however I now realize that these are the things that made the book. It was more about the journey rather than the destination and not about finding out how certain things came to be but about how the Father and Son dealt with them.

It is a book that lingers with you after you have finished reading it.

The Pact

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Finished June 6th, 2007

Rating: 8/10







From the Publisher
Until the phone calls came at three o''clock on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily is dead—shot with a gun her beloved and devoted Chris pilfered from his father''s cabinet as part of an apparent suicide pact—leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.

Like all Jodi Picoult reads this one too sucked me in and was hard to put down. The effect of suicide on the parents of Emily and Chris was the central theme in the book as each parent handled and reacted to the devastation differently.

Picoult had me guessing until the end as to how Emily died as I was unable to predict the ending. Even though I typically prefer to have some closure at the end of the books and most of my questions answered after finishing a book I ended up with a lot of questions at the end of The Pact and that was okay with me. I still wonder why Emily had this need to commit suicide as it was touched upon but never spelled out for the reader. I wonder why Emily put Chris in such a difficult position if she loved him so much.


SPOILER ALERT
I found myself very angry at Emily for putting Chris in an awful position of asking for help with her suicide and am also frustrated at Chris for not telling anyone about Emily's preoccupation with suicide to try to get her some professional help.

Nineteen Minutes

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Finished April 21st, 2007

Rating: 8/10

I have read several books by Jodi Picoult and have always enjoyed them and this book was no exception.

Simply put by the editors at Barnes & Noble "Nineteen Minutes recounts a deadly high school shooting rampage, its causes, and its aftermath."

There is one point in the book that is especially poignant for me as the story flashes back to a day when a young boy aged 5 gets up at 4:30am and wakes his parents up because he is so excited about his first day of kindergarten only to have his excitement dashed by bullies. Twelve years later this is the same boy that goes on a shooting spree at his high school. The book flips between past and present which allows the reader to experience the different sides of this story.

The reader is aware throughout the book that there is going to be a twist at the end however I believe the twist was unrealistic and unnecessary and made what could have been an excellent book into just a very good book.

I believe this book will stay with me for a very long time.

The Loop

The Loop by Nicholas Evans
Finished March 27th, 2007
Rating: 5/10
Decades Challenge Book #2 (1990s)





I am not really sure what to say about this book as it didn't invoke a feeling of like or dislike in me, it was completely average.

The book takes place in Montana where a pack of wolves have been attacking the cattle of the ranchers in the area and it pits the ranchers against a biologist who has come to save them. The book started off pretty slow for me and didn't pick up until about the last 100 pages. There are some touching moments in the book for those animal lovers out there as the story is sometimes told from the perspective of the wolves.

I read the Horse Whisperer about 10 years ago and really liked that book but this book just wasn't up to the same standards as the Horse Whisperer.

Next by Michael Crichton

Next by Michael Crichton

Finished Feb. 24th, 2007

General Fiction

Rating: 5/10

Last night I finished reading "Next" by Michael Crichton. I found that there were too many story lines going on within the book and although they all dealt with genetics, for me the stories didn't really come together as much as I would have liked at the end of the book.

I learned some interesting things about genetics and the book raised some thought-provoking ethical issues about genetics however the fiction part of the book was lacking as it seemed that the author just wanted to write a story about genetics and threw the fiction part in as an afterthought.

It was an average book and definitely not as good as some of his past works.