Roomates Wanted by Lisa Jewell

Lately I have been reading serious and somewhat heavy books.  I needed a breather.  I picked this one up at the library the other day.   This one hit the spot.  It is a story about a sort of loser guy named Toby whose father gives him a large if somewhat delapitated old Victorian home in North London. After his wife leaves him, Toby decides to advertise for roommates and picks people who need some help (struggling artist, homeless teen, etc.).  Anyway fifteen years pass, and suddenly, after the death of his sitting tenant (In Britain you can't kick out a resident that occupied a place before you bought it) and meeting his cute and spunky across the way neighbor Toby basically decides to get a life.  He fixes up the house, tries to fix his tenants and help them move on with their lives.  In the process he falls in love and finally moves on with his life.  It was a great light read.  Not too fluffy, but just fluffy enough.  In many ways this book seemed like a gentler, kinder version of Nick Hornby (one of my favs).  Quirky characters, London, and a fun twisty plot.

Some language and adult scenes/themes.

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Valancy lives a drab life with her overbearing mother and prying aunt. Then a shocking diagnosis from Dr.Trent prompts her to make a fresh start. For the first time, she does and says exactly what she feels. As she expands her limited horizons, Valancy undergoes a transformation, discovering a new world of love and happiness. One of Lucy Maud Montgomery's only novels intended for an adult audience, The Blue Castle is filled with humour and romance. (From http://books.google.com/books?id=yGoxgtO0HNoC ) I love this book. It is typical overly romanticised Lucy Maud Montgomery , but, I love that!

The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein

One of the most interesting parts of this book is the author wrote it when he was in his nineties.  It is the story of his childhood.  He grew up Jewish in a Northern England manufacturing town.  On one half of his street lived the Christians, and on the other half lived the Jews.  Harry was the son of an abusive alcoholic and a devoted mother who struggled to make ends meet and to provide for her children.  The invisible wall that divided his street came down when death came to the street in the form of World War One.  The book was slightly reminiscent of Angela's Ashes.  The main story of the book is his sister's love for the Christian neighbor boy across the street.  It was enjoyable and although not the finest literature I've read, a quick interesting book. (The sequel is sitting on my nightstand, The Dream, about his families struggles as immigrants in the USA).

The Shack

Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

This is a short quick read that flows like a story but will leave you searching your heart and mind as you mentally face all of your own life experiences and challenges

* warning* It does have a bit of a Nicholas Sparks feel, but I really enjoyed it for what it is. 

Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring by Henry J. Eyring

Twice in the final years of his life, Elder Neal A. Maxwell told a grandson of Henry Eyring's, 'You need to write your grandfather's story.' This is that story of Henry Eyring, perhaps the Church's most acclaimed scientist. It is a book about science and Mormonism, written to be easily understood by newcomers to both subjects. It demonstrates why one of the Church's highest-profile intellectuals was also one of its humblest believers. In fact, this story of Henry Eyring shows how intellect and belief go hand-in-hand and how simple, faithful people can change the world. (www.deseretbook.com)

I loved this book! I was truly enlightened reading about Eyring's reconciliation of science and religion -evolution specifically. It really aligned with my views so that is probably why I enjoyed it so much. There are a couple of chapters that were pretty technical - dealing with chemistry and physics - but if you can dig through those, the rest of the book is very interesting.

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Brisinger is the most recent instalment in the Inheritance Cycle. The first two books are Eragon and Eldest. The books tell a familiar story about a peasant boy, Eragon, who discovers there is more to him than meets the eye. He finds a dragon egg, it hatches, and he becomes a Dragon Rider. Thus starts an adventure of self discovery where Eragon and Saphira (his dragon) must battle fantastic creatures, befriend Elves, Dwarves and Men, and find a way to destroy the evil King Galbatorix.
I enjoyed the first 2 books and was excited to read the third. I liked it, but was a little disappointed in the movement of the plot, I felt it was slow. I was also bummed because I was about 3/4 of the way through the book when I realized that it is not the last book. The author originally planned for 3 books, but when writing Brisinger he realized that the story was too long for one book and made the series into a cycle! I'm bummed because I didn't get a conclusion as I was hoping, and I have to wait for the next one to come out.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Not to be confused with the John Jakes Civil War novel of the same name, this novel is set in Victorian England at the height of the Industrial Revolution. It is a gentle love story between two people from vastly different backgrounds; it reminded me of Pride and Prejudice. If you have a chance to see the BBC adaptation for TV, be sure to check it out.

The Darcy Connection by Elizabeth Aston

I preferred this story to Mr Darcy's Daughters. It is about Mr and Mrs Collins Daughters and their first London season.
These books all seem to follow the same formula, but, I find them to be fun quick reads.

Mr Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston

This book follows Elizabeth and Mr Darcy's daughters through their first London season. Lizzy and Mr Darcy are abroad and their daughters are staying in London with Mr. Fitzwilliam and his wife.
This is a fun easy read. If you are a fan of Pride and Prejudice you will probably like it. It is not the best writing, but, a fun story.

Label

I have gone through and added my name on my posts in the labels so you can look the book up who recommended it. If others would do it too, that would be great!

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals

Warriors Don't Cry is the story of the "Little Rock Nine" told by Melba. They were the nine students who volunteered to integrate Little Rock High School in the late 1950's. They are amazing and suffered extreme persecution and ugly racial hatred. It was a war zone and the students really did risk their lives and I'd even say sanity by attempting to defy the segregationists. But what they did was valuable and their sacrifice did eventually bring about positive change for a racist country. I read the abridged version, which wasn't great by literary standards (I read it for book club and my library only carried the abridged version). The courage and sense of purpose these teenagers had was overwhelming. It is a very powerful story.

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

Meet Denver, a man raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s; a man who escaped, hopping a train to wander, homeless, for eighteen years on the streets of Dallas, Texas. No longer a slave, Denver's life was still hopeless-until God moved. First came a godly woman who prayed, listened, and obeyed. And then came her husband, Ron, an international arts dealer at home in a world of Armani-suited millionaires. And then they all came together.
But slavery takes many forms. Deborah discovers that she has cancer. In the face of possible death, she charges her husband to rescue Denver. Who will be saved, and who will be lost? What is the future for these unlikely three? What is God doing?
Same Kind of Different As Me is the emotional tale of their story: a telling of pain and laughter, doubt and tears, dug out between the bondages of this earth and the free possibility of heaven. No reader or listener will ever forget it. (Barnes and Noble.com)

This is an amazing story! I was continually impressed at how just one person can make a difference in the lives of so many. It was inspiring and moving.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall begins from and eventually returns to the point of view of gentle Gilbert Markham as he endures what he thinks is an unrequited love of the mysterious and independent Helen Graham. But as the story progresses, a far more interesting tale emerges from the pages of Helen's own journal. In this novel within a novel, we learn of Helen's painful past as the devoted, devout, and often tortured wife of the handsome, alcoholic scoundrel she unwisely chose to marry. ( from http://muruch.blogspot.com/2008/10/anne-bronte-tenant-of-wildfell-hall.html )

It has been a long time since I read this, but, I was thinking about it again and thought it needed a post. I love this book. I thought it was an interesting and well told story! I also love the movie if you get a chance to see it, do!

The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly

This novel takes place entirely within the confines of a Burmese Prison.  The main character, Teza, is a political prisoner.  He has been sentenced to 20 years of solitary confinement, but finds ways to free his mind and spirit through small and powerful means.  The writing is very well done and one gets such a good sense of the political situation in Burma.  The author does a wonderful job of pointing out beauty in what would seem to be a beauty-free environment.  It is a tribute to the human soul and all that is good about people.  The back cover says, "The Lizard Cage is an urgent, necessary addition to the canon of fiction about political oppression . . . the novel tells the story of the friendship between a Burmese political prisoner and a young orphan boy.  Set entirely in a prison called the Lizard Cage, it is a gripping exploration of how human connection can liberate one's spirit despite unimaginably, cruel circumstances, as seen through the eyes of an idealistic revolutionary who inspires in a child the bravery to escape a life of confinement."  It is a powerful story, and a book I think everyone should read.

(For those that may care, the prisoners speak like prisoners and behave like prisoners, so don't expect it to be a Pollyannaesque story). 

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Ok, so Oprah just named this her newest book club book, so now I'm feeling all Jonny-come-lately, and I did start this post before her announcement, I just never got around to finishing it.....but whatever. Ok, actually, it deserves the publicity.

It's been a long time since I read a book that caused me to totally neglect my kids and everything else that I was supposed to do around the house in order to read just a few more chapters. So I loved it for that.

The central character is Edgar Sawtelle, a young teenager growing up in mid-century Wisconsin on the farm where his father and mother are raising a fictional breed of dogs, the Sawtelles. Edgar is also born mute and communicates with his parents and also with the dogs through sign. The story itself derives a lot of its elements and characters out of Hamlet, but Edgar himself would choose to identify more with the characters and elements of Kipling's The Jungle Book. Certainly one of the most interesting aspects of the story is the relationship that Edgar has with the dogs, and specifically one dog that he's been especially close to since birth. But this is way more than a boy-and-his-dog story (because I don't even like dogs).

The pace of the story telling is gentle and I felt that it was through this pace that the reader really comes to understand Edgar and his world of silence.

It was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying reads I'd had in a long time.

ps. Anna, it's nice and long (like 555 pages), so I know you'll like it.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

You've probably already heard about this book, even if you haven't read it. It's a kind of memoir/life-affirming lessons/inspirational talk by 47 yr old computer science professor, Randy Pausch, that grew out of the actual "Last Lecture" that he gave upon his retirement from Carnegie Mellon University after learning of his terminal cancer.

The "Last Lecture" is a series that CMU does with each retiring professor, but Randy Pausch turned it into a way to give his very young children a sense of who he was and how to live their lives after his death. The lecture itself became a YouTube phenomenon and because of that, he expanded the lecture into a book. I watched the lecture before I read the book and I really enjoyed it. I came to really like and appreciate him as a person (and feel inspired by him) from even this tiny glimpse into his life.

The book does follow the outline and spirit of the lecture, but it adds a lot of background info about his childhood upbringing with his parents, his relationship with his wife and their dealing with his cancer, and it expands upon many of his lecture's premises.

It was moving but not sentimental. And, frankly, I was relieved that it wasn't heavy-laden with how terminal cancer can bring a person down. Actually, it was just the opposite. Mostly, it was this really upbeat, successful, hard-working and funny guy telling about the things that he'd done in his own life, what he'd learned from doing them, and what he was grateful for that other people taught him along the way.

It's a great read.

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

I am a huge fan of Nick Hornby.  I loved High Fidelity, and About A Boy.  Hornby writes about below average humans and makes you like unlikeable people.  And sometimes he even gives his characters some redemption.  This book is no different.  It is told from the point of view of four different Londoners.  All  meet up on a rooftop, New Years Eve, where they were all planning to take their lives.  There is an older woman who has been taking care of her son who has been in a vegetative state for twenty odd years, a punk totally messed up teenage girl, a washed up tabloid-fodder talk show host, and a musician who has never been able to get his career going.  Anyway, they decide to help each other want to live instead of killing themselves.  Hornby doesn't go for feel good solutions and keeps things starkly realistic.  It is darkly humorous, and surprisingly touching, just as all his books are. (Hornby also uses the F-word a lot, so if that bugs, don't read this book or any of his others).  

A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich

This book was given to me by my dear friend years and years ago but I just barely got around to reading it. It was written in 1928 and is the classic story of Abbie and Will Deal - pioneers who left everything behind for a new life on American Frontier. This book reminded me a lot of These is My Words - but much shorter. It was a little cliche and somewhat over-sentimental and while I was reading it I wasn't sure I was going to post about it. However, after I finished the book I felt that I really did enjoy it and it was a touching story. There are not many books that evoke tears but I was definitely touched by the story of this woman. I appreciated her perpsective of having kids and watching them grow and become individuals and make their own choices. If you liked These is My Words - I think you will like this book. Good, good story.

Note: This image of the book cover is from an old edition. The newer edition has a more "romance novel" look to it and I didn't want to use it.

Question?

What were some of the books that sucked you in and you could not put down? I am not necessarily asking for the best written books ever just ones you get caught up in quickly?
Some of mine are: the Twilight series, Jane Eyre,
Memoirs of a Geisha, Harry Potter series, most Nicholas Sparks books, I am sure I have a lot more I just cant think of any right now.
I think I must be a shallow reader, but, I seem to have a hard time with some books. I may like them, but, I have a hard time if they don't grab me at the beginning!

North River by Pete Hamill

I really enjoyed this book.  My library has a "readers choice" section and that is where I picked it up.  This is the story of Dr. Delaney,  a WWI veteran who lives in the Village during the depression.  Then, it was an enclave of immigrants and mobsters.  He is a doctor, who has been abandoned by his wife and daughter.  In many ways he is damaged goods, until his daughter abandons her son on his front step bringing life, love, and happiness back into Dr. Delaney's life.  One of my favorite characters in this book is the depresion era New York City Pete Hamill brings to life.  It was a good story.

For those that might care there was some swearing and a few "adult" scenes.