Book Title: The Blood of Flowers
Author: Anita Amirrezvani
Summary: The story is set in 17th century Iran. A 14 year old girl (who is nameless throughout the book) is forced to leave her community with her mother after her father's death. Her uncle and his wife allow the girl and her mom to stay with them, but as servants. They are the lowest of the low in the mind of her aunt and treated as such. Her uncle is a master carpet weaver, something the girl is interested in learning about. Though woman aren't allowed to learn the trade, he teaches her at home, after realizing her aptitude.
The girl is head strong and often times is on the receiving end of her aunt's wrath. When the girl damages an expensive carpet, the aunt takes advantage of the uncle's fury... forcing the girl into a sigheh (a three month "marriage contract," renewable only if the man is pleased). As imagined, this type of contract is considered dishonorable, because it's not a long term marriage and the girl signing such a contract is paid money by the man. (Versus in a long term marriage, the woman's family comes up with money to give to the man's family).
At each turn, it seems the girl makes wrong decisions. I don't want to state too much more or I'll give away the details.
Thoughts: The author created a colorful, detailed life of country versus city living, of strong patriarchal society culture.. yet was equally gentle in the character development, enough to leave it up to the reader to determine the good and bad. And there were both in each character. I wanted to shake the girl for some of her decisions or for the lack of understanding in her relatives, including her own mother. But this is life, wrong decisions and having the courage to see through them and beyond.
I'd recommend this book.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
In the Time of the Butterflies Review
Book Title: In the Time of the Butterflies
Author: Julia Alvarez
Summary: The story takes place in the Dominican Republic during the time that Rafael Trujillo ruled the island nation. His was a dictatorship, leaving a legacy of greed and horrible brutality in order to maintain control over the people. This story focuses on "Las Mariposas" (The Butterflies). It was a code name for three sisters, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Patria. They were part of a brave resistance to Trujillo's rule.
The author takes us on the journey of the three butterflies and the fourth sister. Each chapter gives a sister her "voice" from childhood to death.
Note: This is based on real events. On 11/25/60, Trujillo's men beat the three sisters to death because of their involvement with the resistance.
Thoughts: I have to say I originally didn't have high hopes for the story. It turned out to be a page turner. Yes, I knew the ending, from the beginning, the voice of the fourth sister talks about the "here and now" after the death of her sisters and living with the guilt of being alive. But the stories, the details, the emotions, their stories wrapped around me like a warm blanket in the cold winter. It was beautiful, poignantly.
Then I read the "note from the author" after the story. Julia Alvarez has a deep connection as she was born in the Dominican Republic. Her father was a part of the resistance, but he managed to flee to America before the dictator took action against them.
I absolutely recommend this book.
Author: Julia Alvarez
Summary: The story takes place in the Dominican Republic during the time that Rafael Trujillo ruled the island nation. His was a dictatorship, leaving a legacy of greed and horrible brutality in order to maintain control over the people. This story focuses on "Las Mariposas" (The Butterflies). It was a code name for three sisters, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Patria. They were part of a brave resistance to Trujillo's rule.
The author takes us on the journey of the three butterflies and the fourth sister. Each chapter gives a sister her "voice" from childhood to death.
Note: This is based on real events. On 11/25/60, Trujillo's men beat the three sisters to death because of their involvement with the resistance.
Thoughts: I have to say I originally didn't have high hopes for the story. It turned out to be a page turner. Yes, I knew the ending, from the beginning, the voice of the fourth sister talks about the "here and now" after the death of her sisters and living with the guilt of being alive. But the stories, the details, the emotions, their stories wrapped around me like a warm blanket in the cold winter. It was beautiful, poignantly.
Then I read the "note from the author" after the story. Julia Alvarez has a deep connection as she was born in the Dominican Republic. Her father was a part of the resistance, but he managed to flee to America before the dictator took action against them.
I absolutely recommend this book.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
You Have No Idea
Book Title: You
Have No Idea
Author: Vanessa
Williams
Summary:
Vanessa Williams does a tell-all about her life. She writes about her experience
or lack there of with the beauty pageant.
Vanessa wasn’t a career beauty queen and didn’t honestly believe she
would win. She made history as the
first black Miss America, but close to the end of her reign, she was stripped
of her crown because of unauthorized publication of nude photos. Something she did years prior to
entering the pageant.
The book weaves back and forth between Vanessa’s voice and
her mother’s voice (Helen).
Throughout most of Vanessa’s life, she had to struggle to get out from
under the shadow of the nude photos and lost crown. She did eventually and finally achieved many of her dreams.
Thoughts: It’s
a book about strength of character, about mother-daughter relationships and
about second chances. Some parts
were redundant when Vanessa would speak and the mother would repeat, but the
repetition wasn’t as often as I feared it would be.
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Fifty Shades of Grey
Book Title:
Fifty Shades of Grey
Author: E.L.
James
Summary by Aleta:
The main female character is Anastasia. Her friend, a reporter for a university’s newspaper, asked
Anastasia to conduct an interview.
Anastasia, with no type of interview knowledge, but armed with a list of
questions to ask, interviewed Christian.
He is a handsome, wealthy business tycoon. As you might expect a relationship between Anastasia and
Christian forms, only it has some strange twists and turns.
Thoughts: One
of the reasons I picked up the book is because on the Ellen Show, Ellen
mentioned the book and it’s popularity.
She called it “Mommy Porn” and followed it up with “What’s wrong with
you straight people?”
Don’t buy the book unless you can watch HBO’s weird sex
shows and not get offended.
Anastasia seems to have a “good angel” on one shoulder and a “bad angel”
(aka her inner goddess) on another.
Christian introduces the innocent Anastasia into the roles of being a
subordinate to a dominatrix, including contracts, safe words and sex toys.
In the beginning I thought Anastasia’s character was too
much of a wimp, which of course is the reason mercurial Christian thought he
could turn her into one of his “subs.”
However, Anastasia does develop into a stronger character.
It’s definitely not mainstream romance. I can’t say I can recommend the
book. I can picture some of my
friends thinking “Eww” but continuing to read it and others not getting past the
first couple of pages.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The Secret Life of Bees Book Review
Book Title: The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Summary by Aleta: The story is set in 1964, South Carolina, the year of the Civil Rights Act in a small town resisting the movement. Lily Owens, a fourteen-year-old white girl, is the main character. She lives on a peach farm with her father and black nanny, Rosaleen.
When Rosaleen is arrested and beaten badly because she wanted to register to vote, Lily rescues her from the hospital (and jail, as well as possible death threats) and they run away. Lily is also escaping from her father who is mean-spirited and belittles her joy of reading and desire to write. Her father makes disparaging remarks about Lily’s deceased mother and that’s the last straw that makes her want to leave.
Thus beginning the adventure of Lily and Rosaleen.
Thoughts: It’s a coming of age story. It’s a story of racial discrimination. It’s a story about faith and being strong enough to learn the truth. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I do highly recommend the book.
One of my favorite parts is when Lily has trapped a couple of bees in a jar. After a while, she decides to let the bees go. She opens the lid. But the bees don’t immediately fly away. They walk around, almost as though they have forgotten how to fly. By the end of the day, Lily looks at the jar and finds that the bees have finally made it out. Lily hears a voice in her head, saying, “Lily Melissa Owens, you’re jar is open.”
Life is like that… it isn’t always what we plan, expect, want it to be. But if we keep looking, we can realize the jar is open and there’s something out there to achieve.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Christmas Wedding Book Review
Book Title: Christmas Wedding
By: James Patterson
Summary by Aleta: This story starts when Gaby sends a video to her four children, Claire, Liz, Emily and Seth, announcing that she is going to be married on Christmas day, but will not tell her children who she is marrying.
The family hasn’t gathered together for Christmas for many years, since the death of Gaby’s first husband. The first half of the book dedicates sections to each of Gaby’s children, giving a snapshot of their current lives, a lawyer who doesn’t get promoted as a partner and has to deal with sexual harassment, a wife who is married to an abusive alcoholic, a wife whose husband is suffering from brain cancer and a man who has a live-in girlfriend….
The second half of the book introduces the three men that have proposed to Gaby. She shares tidbits about each man via the videos that she sends to her children. All three men have agreed to wait until the actual wedding day to find out which of them will be Gaby’s choice.
Thoughts: I enjoyed the stories about Gaby’s children. They were real and gave just enough information to endear each one to the reader. Gaby’s story seems like a fun one at first, a mystery and a means to get the family back together. But her videos drag on about each of the guys. I’m sure the author did this to add endearment or interest towards the guys and keep it a mystery, but it went on too long. It’s a little far fetched to think a secret like this would remain or that the men would be willing to go along with this mystery until the actual wedding day. All in all, a cute story, nice for the Christmas season and a light read in general.
By: James Patterson
Summary by Aleta: This story starts when Gaby sends a video to her four children, Claire, Liz, Emily and Seth, announcing that she is going to be married on Christmas day, but will not tell her children who she is marrying.
The family hasn’t gathered together for Christmas for many years, since the death of Gaby’s first husband. The first half of the book dedicates sections to each of Gaby’s children, giving a snapshot of their current lives, a lawyer who doesn’t get promoted as a partner and has to deal with sexual harassment, a wife who is married to an abusive alcoholic, a wife whose husband is suffering from brain cancer and a man who has a live-in girlfriend….
The second half of the book introduces the three men that have proposed to Gaby. She shares tidbits about each man via the videos that she sends to her children. All three men have agreed to wait until the actual wedding day to find out which of them will be Gaby’s choice.
Thoughts: I enjoyed the stories about Gaby’s children. They were real and gave just enough information to endear each one to the reader. Gaby’s story seems like a fun one at first, a mystery and a means to get the family back together. But her videos drag on about each of the guys. I’m sure the author did this to add endearment or interest towards the guys and keep it a mystery, but it went on too long. It’s a little far fetched to think a secret like this would remain or that the men would be willing to go along with this mystery until the actual wedding day. All in all, a cute story, nice for the Christmas season and a light read in general.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Other Boleyn Girl Book Review
Book Title: The Other Boleyn Girl
By: Philippa Gregory
Summary by Aleta: This book is set during the Tudor court time, when Henry is king. It’s focused around the Boleyn family, specifically around the two daughters: Anne and Mary.
Mary is the one who catches the king’s eye first and she becomes his mistress. Mary’s family is thrilled with this idea, even though Mary was just newly married to William. In fact, William is told by the Boleyn family, that he has to “step out of the picture” and let this happen between Henry and Mary. And.. what makes matters worse is that William is a friend to the king.
The story bounces back and for the between the sisters being either rivals or co-conspirators. Mary’s affair lasts for a long time, but does eventually end as the king has a roaming eye.
The focus on the story is the history of court life and how people will do anything they can to climb to the top, no matter who they step on or shove off the ladder, even if it’s kin.
Thoughts: I have to admit to being biased, because I just recently watched the “Tudors”, all four seasons and absolutely loved it. The Tudors series did not go into a lot of detail about Mary. Of course it focused on Queen Anne and her relationship with Henry and the reformation and the fall of Queen Katherine.
But it only gave a slight glimpse into the life of Mary… so I thought the title to this book was appropriate. This book flushed out the life of Mary and also gave a slightly different glimpse than what the Tudor series showed, regarding Queen Anne.
I love the history and the depth of detail regarding court life, but was also disgusted by it is as well (those same feelings came about when I watched the Tudor series – interest and disgust). From beginning to end, I enjoyed this book, unlike Philippa’s other book, “The Lady of the Rivers” which I reviewed earlier this month.
By: Philippa Gregory
Summary by Aleta: This book is set during the Tudor court time, when Henry is king. It’s focused around the Boleyn family, specifically around the two daughters: Anne and Mary.
Mary is the one who catches the king’s eye first and she becomes his mistress. Mary’s family is thrilled with this idea, even though Mary was just newly married to William. In fact, William is told by the Boleyn family, that he has to “step out of the picture” and let this happen between Henry and Mary. And.. what makes matters worse is that William is a friend to the king.
The story bounces back and for the between the sisters being either rivals or co-conspirators. Mary’s affair lasts for a long time, but does eventually end as the king has a roaming eye.
The focus on the story is the history of court life and how people will do anything they can to climb to the top, no matter who they step on or shove off the ladder, even if it’s kin.
Thoughts: I have to admit to being biased, because I just recently watched the “Tudors”, all four seasons and absolutely loved it. The Tudors series did not go into a lot of detail about Mary. Of course it focused on Queen Anne and her relationship with Henry and the reformation and the fall of Queen Katherine.
But it only gave a slight glimpse into the life of Mary… so I thought the title to this book was appropriate. This book flushed out the life of Mary and also gave a slightly different glimpse than what the Tudor series showed, regarding Queen Anne.
I love the history and the depth of detail regarding court life, but was also disgusted by it is as well (those same feelings came about when I watched the Tudor series – interest and disgust). From beginning to end, I enjoyed this book, unlike Philippa’s other book, “The Lady of the Rivers” which I reviewed earlier this month.
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