Reviews by Elizabeth: (Seymour) Muehl Public Library
Journeying with a historical figure
I loved this book because I think it is a great idea to learn more about your role models most especially when you are at loose ends yourself. I am a big Eleanor Roosevelt fan so that was just a bonus! What I liked, too, was that the author discovered some not so great things about Eleanor. I think that is so refreshing--we need to admit that everyone is human and has human failings and that we can still learn from our role models even when they fall short in our eyes. I thought of so many of my female friends when I read this and I was anxious to recommend this book to all of them! The age of the author and her journey of seeking reminded me a lot of "Julie and Julia". However, this book was SO much better! Noelle is introspective and brave and a fantastic writer.
Speaking through flowers
This was the tenderest book I have read it in a long time and it is multi-layered which kept me intrigued. The protagonist, Victoria, is as unpredictable as a person who has been shoved from foster home to foster home would be. Hanging in there as she makes unwise choices will make your stomach ache but also will make you keep reading in your eagerness for resolution! Hang in there, you will be satisfied! Strong on characters,this was a great book.
The book begins with Victoria's "emancipation". I was not familiar with this term but it is also layered with meaning. At the age of 18 individuals are "emancipated" from the foster care system. But are they equipped? Are they ready? Who will be their support network? Do they have the tools to ask for help? You will be pondering these questions and more after you have completed this book.
I loved this book just as much as I adored "Like Water for Chocolate". The symbolism of flowers and how the thoughtful choice of what is given to whom, for what reason, is attractive to me. You can name it superstition but it is still a very cool concept! (The companion dictionary in the book is a must keep!)
A great book after the turn of the New Year
This book examines the concept of time from many different angles. It is very intriguing. The idea that measuring time was both an advancement and an obstacle to human evolution really hurt my brain! During the work week, I am personally fixated on time and time management and I have an eagerness to take off my watch on the weekend and be free of appointments and obligations by time. After reading this book, this now seems like a healthy and positive response!
In this novel, there are two stories running in current time. One of them is about a teenager named Sara and the other is about an elderly gentlemen named Victor. Both of them, in their own ways, would like to control time. Their motivations are different but the fact remains that they want to manipulate time in drastic (even violent) ways. Father Time steps in to "stop time" so that Sara and Victor have an opportunity to rethink their positions.
A moving story that proves we are who we have been
This historical novel was EXCELLENT. Anna and her daughter Trudy are from Weimar, Germany and now living in Minnesota. Trudy is a history professor who becomes involved in an interviewing project called "The German Project". She is interviewing Germans who were in Germany during World War II. These Germans were ordinary citizens and not necessarily Nazis. They were not Jewish, however. This is Trudy's point, to get this other perspective. Trudy's passion for this subject and a burning "need to know" are because of Anna's silence since they have moved to the U.S. Anna married one of the American soldiers who assisted in opening up the nearby concentration camp @ Buchenwald.
Read more»How far have women come?
This book did make me "mad" just as the episodes of "Mad Men" have made me! The way adults operated in this time and place is very disheartening. However, Jane had an incredible career and she offers great insights into what was happening to her and around her. The most interesting part was actually learning about her tenure under Leona Helmsley. I liked the writing style because it was conversational. It was as if the author was looking back at her life in a surprised and candid way. She doesn't make excuses for behavior. However, she clearly elucidates how people are products of their times. Interesting!
A wholly different perspective
This memoir reminded me a lot of "Glass Castle" in that you can't believe the immaturity, selfishness, and eccentricity of the father. Also, the girls in both books adore their fathers (despite everything) and just wish for some attention/affirmation in return. This book was particularly different because the author's father, although a white man, more than anything else in the world would like to be black. Mishna spends much of her childhood and adolescence trying to please her father by being "down" and being as black as possible. Mishna has a wicked sense of humor and there are laugh out loud parts. Ultimately, this very weird upbringing has contributed to the cool and versatile person that she is today! But you couldn't help but feel sad for her and the ending was a little disjointed. Maybe there is another memoir in the works? I would love to learn about Mishna from where this book left off.
Valentine Maturing
This book takes up where 'Very Valentine' left off. (Read 'Very Valentine' first). The book begins with Valentine's grandmother getting married in Italy. When Valentine returns to New York she is making new plans for her custom shoe business with the help of her friends, Gabriel and Bret, her brother Alfred, and her grandmother's colleague, June. June takes on a larger role in this book. We love her spunk and wisdom and her ability to be accepting. Valentine is grappling with her feelings about her short lived romance in Italy with Gianluca. And she unearths a family secret that takes her to Buenos Aires to meet a long lost cousin,Roberta, who is also in the shoe making business! The role of family is still integral in this book. Valentine witnesses several different marriages in her life and is deciphering what she would like for her own future. This soap opera was fun to listen to and I can't wait for the third in the series to tie it all up! (Ciao, Valentine)
A book about the challenges of being thirty something
I just love this author. She writes to Nancy Pearl's pillars of a great book: great writing, well-written characters, great settings, and a good story/plot. Valentine is a modern young woman in her early thirties and she is discovering what she believes about love and family and her career as a shoe designer. The story is set in both New York and Italy which are both well-described. Valentine is working in the family business with her grandmother as her mentor and friend. The business is experiencing some fiscal troubles since they hand craft the shoes for a niche market--weddings. As Valentine learns to diversify she also learns to be proud of tradition and embrace her heritage. Her Italian family is rich in fun and lovable people and it is great to see them through her eyes. A very fun read that has elements of truth and respect in it. I liked the injection of a reference to "The Elves and the Shoemaker" which is one of my all time favorite folk tales.
What if you became friends with a spiritual leader?
This is a deceptively simple novel about a man named Otto who is in his mid-life. He is satisfied with the status quo. Then an opportunity occurs, (because his sister is friends with a man named Volya, a Skovorodinian monk who is considered enlightened and a promising spiritual writer) for Otto to go on a road trip for a couple of weeks with a man who is completely different than himself (Volya). First Otto resists everything about Volya. Over time he realizes that he can learn from Volya. The lessons are small or are they? Actually, the lessons are life changing. As Otto learns to respect Volya he also sees life around him with new lenses. He examines his own childhood and family. He examines his married life with children. At the end of the book he is set on a new path for the next part of his life. Although purely fiction, the author has studied many religious and spiritual traditions and weaves the best of them into this book.
A great modern celebration of Shakespeare
I loved the household that these three sisters grew up in where their parents were madly in love; where there dad was a Shakespeare professor so it was all Shakespeare all the time; where reading was a passion of all the household members. All three sisters return to their childhood home as they are grappling with each of their own adult issues and they rally around their mother who has cancer. Coming home is a growth time for them. The book is amazing in that it is written in the "voice" of all three of the women. This took a while to get used to--maybe because I just kept asking myself, "who is narrating?" but it was an unusual and fantastic way of relaying the story. A great read!
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