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Category: Literary

Review: Dancing on Broken Glass by Ka Hancock

[ 4 ] May 8, 2012

Reviewed by Amanda Schafer

When Lucy and Mickey met, he was in the hospital during one of his episodes and she was there visiting her sister. They knew their relationship would always be difficult because he had bipolar disorder, but Lucy was determined not to walk away from Mickey. She knew instantly that she was meant for him.

Mickey’s doctor told Lucy once that her marriage to Mickey would be like dancing on broken glass…there would be pain, but she would either flee that pain or hold tighter to him until the next smooth place. The women in Lucy’s family have been plagued with cancer, so when Lucy has her own bout with cancer a few years into their marriage, she and Mickey decide they will not have children and take the necessary medical steps to ensure that fact.

During their marriage, Mickey has to stay in the mental hospital during several of his bipolar cycles. It’s during one of these times that Lucy finds out that against all odds, she and Mickey will indeed have a baby. While this thought is exciting for both of them, it’s also very terrifying for Mickey because he doesn’t want his child to grow up in the sort of home he did.

One day during a routine baby checkup, Lucy’s doctor finds an abnormality in her breast tissue. She runs some tests and then sends Lucy to a specialist. After a short time, it is discovered that Lucy’s cancer has spread and is very advanced. Only chemo and radiation will give her some sort of hope. Lucy refuses any treatment until after the baby is born, but it’s clear to all that she won’t make it that long. When Mickey realizes that he will be solely responsible for the baby when Lucy dies, he panics and tells Lucy he won’t be able to do it. Despite the fact that Lucy believes in Mickey, she devises a plan to make sure the baby is taken care of by all of her family.

Ka Hancock provides us an enlightening and very real look at what life is like for someone living with not one debilitating illness, but two. She does such a great job describing the way Mickey’s disorder cycles and how it affects those around him. As we read about Lucy’s undying belief in Mickey and her willingness to sacrifice everything for her baby, we see what truly selfless love really is.

I found Hancock’s writing style to be smooth and easy to follow, yet full and rich and deeply emotional. There were so many characters to develop in this novel and Hancock did a fine job with all of them. Dancing on Broken Glass is the kind of book that will cause you to take a closer look at yourself and think about how you would act under these circumstances.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Amanda lives in Missouri with her engineering husband, two sons, and one daughter. In between homeschooling and keeping up with church activities she loves to read Christian Fiction, Women’s Fiction, and any Chick-Lit. She never goes anywhere without a book to read!

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Gallery Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge

[ 2 ] May 5, 2012

Reviewed by Melanie Kline

On the last day of the millennium, Faith Bass Darling wakes up with a plan to have a garage sale. Five generations of heirlooms, all the memories she has accumulated throughout her life, every last piece of furniture, dishes, pictures, priceless Tiffany lamps, everything must go. Why? God told her to.

Strange as this may sound, it is even odder to the people who arrive at the garage sale and begin snatching things up as fast as they can and as much as they can carry. Faith has been a recluse for many years, after the bank that she owned foreclosed on her own home and she was forced to sell the bank in order to keep her home. Faith has known much hardship in her life despite being rich and lost her own faith in the world. One day she went into her house and never came out.

Faith’s estranged daughter just happens to choose this day to arrive at her mother’s home and is beyond shocked to find everything on the front lawn. All the precious objects she was never allowed to touch as a child are selling for “whatever you can afford.”

No one truly believes Faith when she tells them that this is her last day on earth and that God has spoken to her because she zones in and out of awareness with the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale alternates between hysterically funny and extremely boring. She experiences flashes from the past which aid you in understanding not only the story, but also the worth of the possessions on the lawn. Unfortunately, the book also drags on and on with sale after sale and flashback after flashback until you begin to wonder if it will ever end. This was a great concept for a novel, but I feel that it needed much more work before going to print.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Train of Small Mercies by David Rowell

[ 4 ] April 30, 2012

Reviewed by Colleen Turner

The Train of Small Mercies by David Rowell tells the story of what happened on June 8th, 1968 as Senator Robert Kennedy’s funeral train made its procession from New York to Washington, D.C., not from the perspective of the Kennedy family but from that of six ordinary people along the train’s route. Each person, while in no way connected, has a shared purpose of not only moving the train along its path but of highlighting the good and bad of America at this volatile time.

Lionel Chase begins his first day as a train porter in New York aboard the funeral train for Robert Kennedy, trying desperately to get through this day as his own problems coalesce with those of the nation. Jamie West, having recently returned home to Maryland from Vietnam after losing a leg, is struggling, along with his family, to adjust to the changes his experiences and injury brings. Edwin Rupp wants nothing more than to celebrate his new pool, what he hopes will bring a return to his more carefree days with his wife, but feels the senator’s train will cast a shadow as it moves through Delaware. Young Michael Colvert in New Jersey is trying to get back to normal and watch the train go by with his friends as he, and his mother, try to recover from the trauma of Michael’s dad kidnapping him after their divorce. In Pennsylvania Deloris King, feeling continually more dissatisfied with her life, decides to go against her husband’s wishes and take her young daughter to see the train go by, not knowing that her web of lies will have devastating consequences to her daughter. And Maeve McDerdon, in Washington, D.C. to interview for a nanny position for Robert Kennedy’s soon to be born child, finds this new prospect dashed and begins wondering if she should begin to explore her love of storytelling that she had long suppressed after her beloved father’s death.

What I liked most about The Train of Small Mercies was the way the author used these seemingly ordinary people to show not only how devastated the nation was about Senator Kennedy’s death but how turbulent the country was at that time. It deals with the aftermath and protests against the Vietnam War, issues with freedom and equality for all people, regardless of race, gender or class and the continued rollercoaster of trying to find solid ground in an ever changing environment. Some people seemed to long for the simpler times while others had a renewed sense that maybe it was possible to start over and make a better life for themselves. The funeral train seemed to bring all walks of life together in one collective day of mourning, even if for only a short time.

Barely touching the surface of these characters’ lives, I wish the author had written more about each character and given a more finished aspect to each storyline. Some of the stories felt barely explored and none ended with any sense of closure. This could be the author’s purpose, giving a quick glimpse into the American life and then letting the people move on unobserved, but I would have enjoyed finding out where these characters went when the train rolled past.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Colleen lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband, son, their dog Oliver and their fish Finn. When not working or taking care of her family she has her nose stuck in a book (and, let’s face it, often when she is working or taking care of her family as well). Nothing excites her more than discovering a new author to obsess over or a hidden jewel of a book to worship.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Putnam Adult. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli

[ 3 ] April 24, 2012

Reviewed by Alysia George

Characters from several generations combine their voices and stories to form the epic novel Glow, by Jessica Maria Tuccelli. Their personal histories run amidst the days of slavery, the Civil War, the turn of the 20th century, and all the way up to the time just before World War II. Turn by turn, they tell of love, heartache, family, social injustice, and supernatural gifts.

In 1941, a young girl named Ella is sent on a train to Georgia but never reaches her destination. She is attacked and left on the side of the road, where two old women find her and take her home. When Ella’s mother, back in Washington D.C., realizes something is amiss, she heads back to her hometown in Georgia to find her daughter and get to the bottom of the situation. As she travels south she is immersed in memories of her childhood. Here the book starts shifting, chapter by chapter, between Ella’s point of view and her mother Amelia’s.

Pretty soon Willie Mae Cotton, one of the women who rescues Ella, begins a narrative of her own. A few other characters have the chance to tell their stories as well. This could get confusing quickly, especially because the chapters dip and maneuver throughout 100 years of history, but the beginning of each chapter is labeled with the name of the character who is currently in the narrator seat. Also there is a very helpful family tree at the beginning of the book, which I referred to frequently as I read.

Glow is rich in southern history and character detail. Reading about topics such as slavery and Ku Klux Klan lynchings from several different view points provides a unique vantage point. Because there are several narrators, all from the same town and dealing with the same families throughout different points in history, the reader gains a better understanding of the bigger picture. This is a book that requires diligent attention, but it’s worth the effort.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Alysia lives in Metro Detroit with her husband and four children. She writes about family life, parenting issues, and other things of interest to her on her blog, Michigal.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Viking Adult. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Heft by Liz Moore

[ 2 ] April 23, 2012

Reviewed by Carrie Ardoin

Arthur Opp is 58 years old, well over 500 pounds, and has not left his home in Brooklyn in ten years. Kel Keller is an 18 year old high school senior who excels at baseball. What could these two men possibly have in common? Kel’s mother, Charlene, was once a student of Arthur’s and has been his pen pal for the last 20 years.

Kel goes to a school where he only fits in because he is great at sports. None of his rich friends know that at night he must come home and take care of his alcoholic mother, who doesn’t do much besides sit on the couch and drink all day. Arthur Opp is also stuck on the couch all day–his weight has made it difficult for him to do very much of anything. But in a moment of clarity, Charlene reaches out to Arthur…and this sets off a chain of events that changes both Kel’s and Arthur’s lives completely.

I liked Heft a lot. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I was really hooked from the first chapter and I ended up finishing it in just a couple of days. Liz Moore’s writing style flows easily and is real–there aren’t a lot of wasted words or superfluous adjectives.

I actually went through the range of emotions that both of the main characters did. When Arthur described his situation and reasons for his life as it is now, I felt such pity for him. In a way, I wanted to scream, “You could have changed this!” but I came to understand his fragile state of mind and the front he put on. His escaping from the weight of his life was not possible to do alone. Kel was also a great character. As an 18 year old kid, yes, he made a few stupid decisions, but with the way his life was going you can hardly fault him for it.

I think the main reason I liked Heft so much was that while I was reading it, I just kept thinking, “Yes, this is real life.” Moore has a gift for creating very real, raw characters and telling their life stories in a way that makes you feel for them. I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars only because by the end I was hoping for something, ANYTHING good to happen, and a bit more of closure and a happy ending. But, of course, that’s not always real life.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Carrie runs the blog Sweet Southern Home, and is a stay at home wife and mom to one little boy. When she’s not reading, she’s usually watching Netflix with her husband, playing outside with her son, or baking. Her family would describe her as sometimes annoyingly sarcastic, but mostly lovable. 

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by W. W. Norton & Company. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Butterfly’s Child by Angela Davis-Gardner

[ 52 ] April 17, 2012

Please join Angela Davis-Gardner, author of Butterfly’s Child, as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours! 

Don’t forget to enter to win a copy below.

Reviewed by Vera Pereskokova 

Three-year-old Benji is the product of a love affair between a geisha, Cio-Cio (Butterfly), and a U.S. Naval Officer, Frank Pinkerton. Benji has never met his father since Pinkerton left Japan before his birth and is not even aware of his existence.

When Pinkerton finally returns to Nagasaki after a three year absence, Benji is taken away from everything and everyone he has ever known, bound for the U.S. with Pinkerton and his young American wife, Kate. The couple lives on a farm in rural Illinois and to save themselves the embarrassment, they tell everyone that Benji is an orphan they found on their trip – albeit a blond one with a resemblance to Frank.

As he grows up, Benji struggles to adapt to his new surroundings and to find acceptance – not only with his peers but even within his own “adopted” family. When the secret behind his lineage is finally brought to light, it rocks the already dysfunctional family, but also affords Benji the trip he has dreamed of since he was brought to the U.S. – one that takes him back to Nagasaki and reveals the truth behind his mother’s tragic fate.

Just like Madame Butterfly before it, Butterfly’s Child is a tragic tale, but it’s one that will keep you turning pages in hopes of a better future for Benji. It’s a tale of love gone wrong, and of an innocent child caught up in the thoughtless actions of adults around him. Pinkerton was a young man on the prowl when he met Cio-Cio and was thrust into fatherhood when he least expected it. Kate is longing to have a child of her own and is forced to care for a young boy who only reminds her of her husband’s big love. And while most adults – Pinkerton, his mother, and Kate – are at times very unlikable, Davis-Gardner’s skillful writing also makes it easy to see things from their perspective.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Dial Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
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Review: Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

[ 6 ] April 5, 2012

Reviewed by Vera Pereskokova

Some called Luke Warren a genius, while others considered him insane. A renowned wolf researcher and conservationist, Luke ingratiated himself into wolf packs – living with them, feeding with them (often on raw meat) and playing a pivotal role in the pack dynamics. In some ways, Luke understood the animals better than he ever understood his own human family. Following his stunt/two-year departure to live in the Canadian forest with wild wolves, Luke’s wife, Georgie, walked away from their very one-sided marriage and his 18-year-old son, Edward, ran away from home and the father who never understood him. Luke’s only connection to his family was his daughter Cara, who chose to live with him instead of Georgie and her new family.

The disjointed family is unwillingly brought together when Luke crashes his car while driving Cara back from a party. Cara is seriously injured but quickly recovers, while Luke suffers traumatic brain injuries and remains unconscious.

Georgie rushes to the hospital to be with her daughter and Edward flies home to a family he left six years earlier. He must face his mother whom he chose to protect from the truth by fleeing, and the sister who blames him for the breakup of their family. More importantly, as his father’s of-age next of kin, Edward must make difficult decisions about Luke’s life. Should he continue his father’s life support in spite of doctors’ opinions about the hopelessness of the situation, or let his father die?

I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult – as can be evidenced by my previous reviews of Sing You Home and House Rules – but Lone Wolf fell flat for me. To begin with, I had a difficult time believing the whole wolf man/Mogwli aspect of the book. However, Picoult thanked Shaun Ellis, author of The Man Who Lives with Wolves, in her acknowledgements, so I’ll acquiesce that the concept may be plausible.

The wolf man aspect aside, I could not connect with any of the characters. Luke’s chapters describing his experiences with the wolves were the most compelling, if somewhat unbelievable, but it’s sad to say that the most exciting character was the one in a coma…

Picoult’s books have always surprised me with twists that were thrown in in the end, just when I thought I had everything figured out. The “big” family secrets that were continuously hinted at throughout the book were not all that “big” when they panned out. And while some twists were still present in Lone Wolf, they were not particularly surprising, and neither was the ending itself.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Atria/Emily Bestler Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: The Iguana Tree by Michel Stone

[ 35 ] April 2, 2012

Please join Michel Stone, author of The Iguana Tree, as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours! 

Don’t forget to enter to win a copy below.

Reviewed by Vera Pereskokova 

Desperate for a better life for his family, Hector hires a coyote – a name for individuals who smuggle people across the border – to take him from his home in Puerto Isadore near Oaxaca, Mexico to the United States. He leaves behind his young wife, Lilia, and their infant daughter, Alejandra, promising to send for them once he settles in and earns enough money to pay for their crossing.

Hector’s journey to “El Norte” is harrowing. He is locked in a tiny dark compartment below a truck carrying toys to the U.S. with many others. They have no sense of the time of day, or the day of the week or the direction they’re going, but share one hope – to make it safely to the other side. Along the way, Hector befriends a fellow countryman, Miguel, and the two make their way to Edisto Island, South Carolina, where Miguel’s cousin takes them in and helps them secure jobs.

Back in Puerto Isadore, impatient Lilia ignores her husband’s pleas to wait for safe transport, and accepts an ex-suitor’s offer to pay for her crossing. The man’s uncle is a coyote that agrees to take Lilia and Alejandra across, with less than honorable intentions. Before swimming across the Rio Grande, Lilia hands off Alejandra to a woman-smuggler who specializes in getting infants into the U.S. It is a desperate act with disastrous consequences.

I’ve never read anything – fiction or otherwise – on the subject of illegal crossings from Mexico to the U.S., and Michel Stone’s take on the issue made me really think about the circumstances that would drive someone to undertake such a dangerous journey. The Iguana Tree is compellingly and beautifully written; I kept turning pages to find out what would happen to Hector and Lilia, terrified at their situation. I could not imagine handing off my child to a stranger, but also understood that Lilia felt that she did not have a choice.

The Iguana Tree is a fictional story of one family making difficult choices in pursuit of a life in the Land of Opportunity, but I am sure it will ring true for many real life families who have made similar decisions. It is an amazing, but profoundly sad tale of the lengths people go to for love, for family, and for a chance at a better future.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Hub City Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
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