Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 5*
Arthur Golden perfectly captures the voice of his narrator, an especially famous Geisha from the first half of the 20th century. This is a life story and a love story that left me breathless.
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr 3.5*
A girl growing up in East Texas during the mid 20th century comes to an understanding about her mother’s mental illness in this well written, beautifully detailed book. Unfortunately, one horrifically detailed scene of a child rape ruined what could have been a very good book for me.
The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim 4.5* A history of science and some math, beginning with the earliest cultures through the Dark Ages with a heavy emphasis on the Greeks. I picked this one out because I loved Bill Bryson’s “Short History of Nearly Everything” and I thought this would be a similar thing for kids. It is written like a textbook for middle-schoolers. My quick preview told me that Andrew is almost ready for it, but in a couple years it will be even better for him. Much of the science will make more sense once you’ve had some basic geometry. My interest, however was piqued, so I read it for myself. She gives a good narrative of how we got from one point to another in scientific knowledge. This is book one of three.
In the Shadow of the Ark by Ann Proovost 4.5*
Re Jana is a dark skinned young woman from the marsh settlements who comes to the desert to escape the rising water with her father and paralyzed mother. Here they find the Rrattika, the nomadic tribe of Noah. He is an old man with three sons who oversees the construction of the biblical ark. At first the reason for its building is a mystery. Re Jana’s father is an expert boat builder, so the family finds a place in the community. Re Jana falls in love with Noah’s Ham, and while he loves her, he marries another woman. Re Jana and her family try to find a way to save themselves.
The style of the writing feels like the way Moses would have written if he had almost 400 pages for one story. Emotional descriptions and moralizing aren’t necessarily done in a modern style, but events are told in a plain, practical way that led me to experience all the sensations without being told how to do it.
Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon 3.5*
I’ve fallen in love with the characters and the story in the Outlander series, which is why I read this book. I wish I loved it wholeheartedly. I wanted to so badly. There were too many story lines for one book, and not one of them came to any sort of conclusion. Apparently there is going to be another book in the series. I still like it enough to want to read the next book. I just sincerely hope it’s the last one.
Half Assed by Jeanette Fulda 4*
Jennette’s story of what life was like for her losing weight. She doesn’t talk about the specifics of how she lost weight, but about what changes she went through. I loved her honesty in admitting thoughts she had that most of us would prefer to pretend we’re too mature for like how she would check out other women and compare herself to their levels of fatness. The book reads like a conversation with a close friend.
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson 4*
This book is presented as a story of Ruby Lennox’s in the first person, but each chapter is followed by a footnote chapter that explains the parts of Ruby’s past that she cannot know herself. It’s hard little hard to follow all the names and back stories, but I’m glad I persevered because the ending is satisfying.
Four generations of women whose decisions and attitudes have more of an impact than anyone would ever realize their own and each other’s lives. This story is tragic with all the secrecy, death and abandonment. Eventually everyone is connected together by symbolic objects like the rabbit’s foot, the photographs, and the silver locket.
