A Year of Reading

A Year of Reading

2017 is over and this year I read 114 books. Of course, there were others, not listed here, that I read parts of but didn't finish. There were many books that I rated 4/5, and certainly quite a few that rated 1/5 and even a few zeros!

Following is a list of the books that rated 4/5 or 5/5.

The Woefield Poultry Collective
by Susan Juby

Hidden Figures
By Margot Lee Shetterly

Lucky Boy
By Shanthi Sekeran 

In the Shadow of Alabama
By Judy Reene Singer

When Breath Becomes Air
By Paul Kalanithi

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
By Vicki Myron

Small Great Things
By Jodi Picoult

#114 The Almost Sisters

The Almost Sisters
By Joshilyn Jackson

Chic lit once again. Two step-sisters, rivals in childhood and life. Leia's grandmother gets sick, and she goes south to help her. Turns out, there are literally skeletons in the closet, or in this case, a skeleton in a trunk. Grandmother has a degenerative disease and is lucid only some of the time. Her lifelong friend is her caretaker.

Turns out, gramma, Birchie, killed her own father many years ago, and she put his body in a trunk where it has been for 70 years. Hettie, it turns out, is actually Birchie's half sister as Birchie's father had a long-standing sexual liaison with Hettie's mother, at that time, she was the family's black servant.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: A decent read. A few surprises along the way.

#113 Their Finest

Their Finest
By Lissa Evans

Well, I read this book in dribs and drabs, but still, there was a lot of discontinuity written into the book as well. The novel is set in WWII London and revolves around three characters. Catrin is a writer and is conscripted to write movie scripts and women's dialogue for war propaganda films. Edith is a dress maker who works at Madame Tussaud's but she ends up working in the costume department for the movie. Allistair is an actor in the sunset of his career. The movie they make brings them together.

Made into a movie.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: An OK read. Disjointed. Maybe the movie is better.

#112 Two Old Fools Ole

#112 Two Old Fools Ole

The second in the two old fools series. Another easy read about a British couple living in Spain in their retirement years. More stories about chickens, cats, neighbours, and all the stuff that goes on in a small Spanish village.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An easy read. Large print.

#111

I forget the name of this book as I took it back to the library before writing about it.

#110 Chickens, Mules, and Two Old Fools

Chickens, Mules, and Two Old Fools
By Victoria Twead

Memoir. This was a funny and entertaining book. A British couple retires to a small village in Spain.
They have various adventures, with chickens, mules, villagers, a sexy local doctor, other British expats, and other crazy characters.

A good book to read as I decompress from yet another awful day at work.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes!

#109 Flesh and Bone and Water

Flesh and Bone and Water

By Luiza Sauma

This novel takes place in Brazil and London. Andre is a young boy who grows up in a privileged family in Brazil, with a doctor father and a brother. His mother died when he was nine years old. They always have servants, and one of the servants is a beautiful young woman who Andre falls in love with, and they have a secret affair, as white people often do with their coloured servants. Of course Luana gets pregnant, and dad helps "get rid of" the baby, or at least that's what Andre thinks happened.

Thirty years later, Andre is a doctor in London, newly separate from his wife, when letters start arriving from Luana. Finally, Andre returns to Brazil to see Luana and the whole truth comes out. Luana is actually his half sister, as his father had an affair with her mother. Their baby was never aborted, and Luana raised him until his death at twenty-six by drowning.

In some ways a predictable story, but in other ways, there were surprises.

It was interesting to read about life in Brazil, how the rich lived, descriptions of Ipanema, Copacabana, and the crumbling colonial ways of life. An easy read.

Rating: 4/5

Recommendation: Yes.

#109 Solitude

Solitude
By Robert Kull

A memoir. Bob goes to a remote island in the Patagonia wilderness of South America. He lives there for a year, chronicling his experience. The book is written as journal entries, with interlude chapters delving more academically into various topics which he explores in his journalling. Is he looking for enlightenment? Sounds like it. Does he abuse his cat? Yes, which at times is disturbing. Poor cat.

I skimmed through a lot of this book as I wasn't really into the philosophy or the discussions about Buddhist practice and teachings.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: If you're into the subject matter. Wouldn't recommend it to many.

#108 The Good Mother

The Good Mother
By Sinead Moriarty

More chic lit. Twelve year old Jess lives with her mom and two brothers. Dad has left, and now has a baby with a younger woman. Various family stuff happens, but Jess ends up getting an aggressive from of AML. The family is further traumatized by her death. Luke, the eldest brother gets his girlfriend pregnant at 18. Should they keep the baby? They eventually decide to, and two months after Jess dies, the baby girl is born.

Easy reading. Despite the death of 12 year old Jess to cancer, the crying and tears goes on and on and on and on........OK, we know it's sad, but at the end it was just filler.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: If you like chic lit.

#107 Good As Gold

Good As Gold
By Louise Patten

Historical fiction based in part on the sinking of the Titanic.

A banking family, with one family member having survived the sinking of the Titanic. Edie, the great granddaughter is doing her PhD dissertation on the Titanic and looking for a new angle on the sinking. In the meantime, various family members in the bank are laundering money and smuggling gold aboard sailboats. Edie discovers how dirty the family banking has been, and one uncle gets killed by Russian thugs due to using their gold as collateral for a Ponzi investment scheme.

Some true (apparently) details about why the Titanic sank, apparently a long kept family secret. The helmsman turned the helm the wrong way, inadvertently steering the ship into the iceberg instead of away because the command was given at a time when wheel commands were replacing helm commands, which were opposite.

Chic lit. Good for passing time. Is the new evidence actually true? It sounds plausible.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Sure, if you like chic lit.

#106 Midnight Blue

Midnight Blue
By

Bad writing. Silly book. Don't read. Just passing time. I kept expecting it to get better, but it never did.

Rating: 1/5
Recommendation: No.

#105 The Gustav Sonata

The Gustav Sonata
By

I finished this book, but barely. Twenty pages from the end I was ready to ditch it. I just couldn't see any point to it. Even though I finished it, I still couldn't see the point of the novel.

Rating: 1/5
Recommendation: Don't bother.

#104 That's My Baby

That's My Baby
 By Francies Itani

An OK novel. Hanora is adopted, and as an elderly woman, she seeks to find out the truth about her birth. The novel travels back and forth between WWI and WWII and the present. Nothing great, not very memorable (I've forgotten already and I just finished it).

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#103 The Nest

The Nest
By Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

A well written family saga, based around a group of four siblings inheriting a sizeable trust when the youngest turned 40. Alas, the eldest, Leo, is a wastrel and has an accident with a young waitress in his car and she ends up with her foot amputated. The mother uses "the nest" to pay off the girl who lost her foot.

The novel is told in alternating voices, and explores the lives of the siblings, the young amputee, and a few other minor characters. All the siblings have money problems, and they are all counting on money from "the nest" to solve their problems.

Eventually, they all realize that "the nest" is gone and Leo has disappeared. He has a secret stash of money in an offshore bank account and could easily afford to pay back his siblings, but he chooses instead to disappear. An unsavoury fellow, for sure.

The novel seems like a good warning about expecting an inheritance: have no expectations until the $$ is in your pocket because anything could happen before that.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Strong writing, good pacing, good forward motion. Keeps you reading.

#102 Sourdough

Sourdough
By Robin Sloan

This was a strange novel, but how could I resist and novel about sourdough? The author obviously doesn't know much about the reality of making sourdough, as the main character was almost instantly turning out multiple loves of perfect bread in very short periods of time, which is not the reality how sourdough works.

Anyway, the book got weirder and weirder as it went along. Kind of turned into a futuristic story of what food might look like in the future.

Rating: 2/5
Recommendation: Don't bother.

#101 Crimes of the Father

Crimes of the Father
By Thomas Keneally

By the same author as "Schindler's List", Thomas Keneally is a widely published Australian author, having published numerous books.

The novel follows various priests from a diocese in Australia, and one priest who ends up in Waterloo, Ontario (!) because of his political views in the 1970s and he was forced to leave Australia.

Frank, the radical priest, returns to Australia to visit his elderly mother and hopes to be able to return in good graces and be her caregiver.

Inadvertently, he becomes involved in the case of a well known priest being accused of sexual misconduct by three former children, one of who has just committed suicide. The accused, of course, denies allegations, but in the end, justice wins and he will lose everything. Justice is done.

The world of the Catholic Church and the priesthood is a strange world, and seemed no less so after reading this novel, though I'm sure the representation of both were very well done.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: a good solid read if the subject matter interests you.

#100 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
By Gail Honeyman

Book #100, a momentous occasion, but alas, not a momentous book. A quirky book, but somehow, the character didn't jive with who she was supposed to be.

Eleanor is a socially awkward young woman who works in the accounts payable department of a local P.R. firm in Edinburgh (a rarity to find a book which takes place in Scotland!). She spends all her time outside of work alone, and has become an alcoholic, with Vodka her tipple of choice. Gradually, Eleanor starts to "come out" of her isolated life, with the help of her I.T. friend Raymond. Eleanor starts enjoying one of the first friendships of her life, and they start having lunch and going to concerts.

However, all is not right with Eleanor. She comes across as mildly autistic, but there is the disturbing character of her abusive mother and the scars on her face. Gradually the story comes out, after she tries to comment suicide and Raymond finds her, that Eleanor is a seriously damaged being. Her mother was abusive to Eleanor and her sister, and in a horrifying act of cruelty, sets their house on fire with the two children inside. Gradually, working with a counsellor, Eleanor is able to remember the cruelty of this act, and the death of her little sister in the fire.

The writing was good, the pacing was good, the characters well portrayed. What didn't work for me was, the character of Eleanor comes off very well as a mildly autistic person (which doesn't seem to be part of the plot) BUT in my mind, she does not come off as a person who has suffered severe emotional and physical abuse. I think that would have been a different character.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: An interesting read. The novel is portrayed as "quirky" but I think it is actually quite horrifying.

#99 One Brother Shy

One Brother Shy
By Terry Fallis

Alex is a shy man in his 20s, a computer programmer in a face recognition software company in Ottawa. After his mother dies (Yet another book featuring a dying mother who dies!), he discovers that he has a twin brother! He uses the face software to find his brother, who is an entrepreneur living in London.

Alex goes to London and reunites with his brother, Matt. The two men then realize they have to find their father, who neither of them knew. Their search takes them to Moscow, the realm of Russian hockey and the KGB. Through careful sleuthing and lucky sources, they eventually find their father. The story of their separation at birth and why they never knew who their real father was is finally revealed.

A light and entertaining read. Canadian author.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#98 The Paris Key

The Paris Key
By Juliet Blackwell

Another novel featuring Paris, this one is a mystery as well. Genevieve flees the U.S. to go to Paris, after her marriage dissolves. She has inherited a locksmith shop from her uncle Dave, an American who married a Parisian after WWII. Through a series of chance meetings, Genevieve uncovers secrets about her mother, and who her real father is. Along the way, she ends up figuring out how to take over and run the locksmith shop, despite the many hurdles of the French burocracy. Of course, there is romance, after all, it's in Paris.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Chic lit, but well written, with some interesting facts from WWII and the Algerian War.

#97 Call the Nurse

Call the Nurse: True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle
By Mary J. MacLeod

This is a memoir, written by a former nurse, now in her 80s!

It might seem like I've read a lot of books in a very short time, and it's true. I've been sick, and the only thing to do is read, read, read. Fortunately I had a good supply of readable books, and only one dud that I probably won't keep reading.

These stories were charming little anecdotes about the adventures of the nurse and her family on an island in the Hebrides. The stories are from the 70s when her idealist family left London to live a simpler life on these remote islands. Light, entertaining, and easy to read.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#96 The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris
By Jenny Golgan

OK, chic lit. Does the title tell you that? Yes, but who can resist the two words "Paris" and "chocolate".

Clumsy Anna, works in a chocolate factory in London and fancies herself a chocolate expert. She has an accident at the factory, and ends up losing two of her toes and loses her job as well. Through a set of coincidences, she ends up with a job at a real chocolate shop in Paris. She packs up, moves there, and begins a strange apprenticeship of sorts with a renowned chocolatier. Anna is forced to learn the high art of making real chocolate, and yes, there is a romance involved. Hey, it's Paris after all.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Cute, light, includes recipes. If you like this kind of novel, sure.

#95 Underground Fugue

Underground Fugue
By Margot Singer

Yet another book about dealing with a dying mother! Gee, how am I managing to find these books?

Amanda returns to London from New York after her marriage breaks up, three years after the death of her only child. She deals with her dying mother and ultimate death. She meets an Iranian man who lives next door, divorced, with a troubled son.

The novel is told in the voices of the various characters, including the mother who travels back in her memory to her time growing up in easter Europe before WWII and how she, a Jew, escapes to England.

Javad, the Iranian doctor, also travels back in time to memories of his life growing up in Iran and his escape to England.

Ties in themes of racism in London, and includes the bombing of the London Underground as part of the plot.

Beautiful writing, though a rather unsatisfying ending.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#94 Eat, Sleep, Cycle

Eat, Sleep, Cycle
By Anna Hughes

I always like reading travel books, and this one is about a bicycle trip around Great Britain. Not stellar writing, and not particularly interesting. Mostly about how hard the cycling was, the hills, and then onto the next town.

I would have preferred more about the places, the food, the people, rather than on and on about the cycling, though of course when you're on a long cycling trip, it really is all about the cycling and just getting to the next town.

Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: If you're into cycling, sure.

#93 The Outrun

The Outrun
By Amy Liptrot

A memoir. I don't usually read memoirs, and in fact, when I started reading this book I didn't realize that it was a memoir. I kept reading and couldn't quite figure out why nothing really happened and why it didn't feel like a novel. Then I realized, oh, it's was a memoir.

So I read most of it, but at the end it was getting kind of boring so I skimmed to the end.

The memoir is about a late 20s woman trying to get over 10 years of alcoholism. She was born on Orkney Island, a small island off the northern tip of Scotland. She lived there until her late teens, when she moved to London and quickly became an alcoholic.

She finally admits she has a problem and goes back to Orkney to get away from the booze and the scene of her downfall in London. She becomes enamoured of the natural beauty of Orkney, the birds, the ocean, the stars, as well as the local people. She lives for a winter on Papay, a smaller yet island off of Orkney.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Interesting if you're into the life of a recovering alcoholic, if you now it's a memoir and like reading memoirs, and if you're interested in the natural world on a remote island north of Scotland.

#92 Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
By Vicki Myron

I read this book years ago and loved it then. The good thing about getting old is you forget the books you've read and can read them again with equal interest.

Dewey is a gem. Of course, you have to like cats and stories about cats to appreciate this book. The story is so touching, from his miraculous rescue from an icy cold book box, to the many lives he touched during the years he lived at the Spencer Library.

Thank you Dewey.

Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: If you like cats, you'll love this book. Of course, I love cats AND I love libraries, so this is a double hitter for me.

#91 Hope Has Two Daughters

Hope Has Two Daughters
By Monia Mazigh

A novel about Tunisia. Where is Tunisia anyway? In Northern Africa, close to Morocco.

A young woman grows up in Tunis, during the time of the bread riots of 1984. She longs for escape and freedom from the repression of the political regime. Chance leads her to the American library at the embassy, and she starts reading English novels. She meets a young Canadian computer technician, and they fall in love. The couple marries, but Nadia is disowned by her parents. She moves to Canada and the couple starts their life.

The novel is told in alternating times and voices. Nadia's voice tells her story in 1984, and her daughter Lila's voice tells her story in 2011.

In 2011, Nadia sends her daughter Lila to Tunisia to improve her Arabic. She stays with old friends of her mother. Lila becomes involved with another political movement which leads to an uprising and a revolt against the current leader, who is finally deposed by the will of the people.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Written by a Tunisian Canadian. An interesting read, though the writing is somewhat simple. It could almost be a teen novel.

#90 Inheritance From Mother

Inheritance From Mother
By Minae Mizumura

An interesting book in the first half, and then about halfway through, it totally changed. Strange.

The first half is about two Japanese sisters as they wait for their elderly mother to die. The relive their  lives, and how their mother treated them so differently, and reflect on their current lives, as they go through the stages of disease, treatment, old age homes and hospitals with their mother.

Once their mother dies, the novel changes. Mitsuki, the younger daughter, goes off to a hotel at a scenic lake resort in Japan to recover from the stress of the death. There, she meets a cast of characters, and somehow there is a rumour that someone is going to commit suicide. Weird, to say the least, however, Mitsuki is able to think and make some big changes in her life, helped by the inheritance from her mother.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: An interesting look about the death process in Japan, and the role of women in modern Japanese society.

#89 The Sunshine Sisters

The Sunshine Sisters
By Jane Green

Yes, chic lit again. How can this be? However, though this is chic lit, the topic is serious. Three sisters, with a narcissistic actress mother, grow up unsupported and unhappy, traumatized by their mother's lack of care and her divorce from their father.

As adults, they have made choices to survive and heal the wounds from their upbringing.

A phone call from their mother, demanding that they all return home, changes all their lives. Their mother is dying of ALS, but she wants to end her life on her own terms. Before her death, she makes amends with all of her daughters, and the daughters are able to reunite as a family, stronger and wiser.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes, a nice easy read and interesting.

#88 The Other Einstein

The Other Einstein
By Marie Benedict

An easy read about an interesting subject. Mileva Maric was Albert Einstein's first wife. In this novel, we learn about her brilliance as a mathematician and physicist in the early 20th century. At that time, there were many obstacles for women to overcome if they wanted a life of more than marriage. Mileva is able to study at university, where she meets Albert and they fall in love. As happens to so many women, she gets pregnant, and Albert is slow to take on his marital obligations when he finds out. Mileva finds herself a wife and mother, and thus her career is over. However, the novel explores her role in the discovery of "Einstein's" theory of relativity. Was it, in fact, Mileva's discovery?

Albert publishes his most famous paper without putting Mileva's name on as co-author, making many excuses for the omission. Though they collaborate on many other publications, Mileva's name is always omitted, thus her brilliance and contributions are negated.

Albert was also a philanderer. They eventually divorce.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An easy read and an interesting subject. The novel shows that Albert Einstein was a cheater and philanderer. Does he really deserve the accolades of his fame?

#87 Small Great Things

Small Great Things
By Jodi Picoult

A really interesting and well written novel by a master storyteller.

Exploring the themes of racism against people of colour and white supremacy, this novel tells the story of Ruth, a black labour and delivery nurse who is falsely accused of killing a newborn baby by his white supremacist parents. Ruth is defended by Kennedy, her white lawyer, in a court case that raises the causes of black against white.

A well written, provocative, easy to read novel.

Rating: 4.5/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#86 Come Away With Me

Come Away With Me
By Karma Brown

An easy read. Tegan has everything and is about to have a baby. Her husband is driving on an icy night as they are on their way to a party. Black ice makes the car spin out of control and there is a horrific accident. Tegan wakes up in the hospital. Her baby has died and her uterus removed so she can no longer have children.

In the early days of their marriage, Tegan and Gabe created a "life experiences" wish list. After the accident, they agree to take three destinations from the list and travel there, in order to heal from the horrible trauma of the accident.

Once their trip is over, there is a surprising revelation: Gabe too died in the accident and all the conversations Tegan has with Gabe during the trip are only in her mind.

She finally meets someone in Hawaii, the last part of the trip, and she moves there to be with him.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Chic lit with a heavy topic. OK reading.

#85 North of Normal

North of Normal
By Cea Sunrise Person

A memoir. Cea grows up in the 70s in an extended hippy family. Her mother got pregnant at 16, but after five months of marriage the dad leaves. Her grandparents are the most stable ones in the family. Her mother ends up having numerous lovers, so Cea has no real father figure other than her grandfather. They end up living off the land in rural B.C. The family hunts, fishes, lives in tipis, is mostly in poverty, smokes lots of dope, and believes in free sex, plus often wearing no clothes.

Cea survives her chaotic upbringing, and finally escapes when she becomes a model at the age of 15. She moves to New York by herself to build her career. She goes through three marriages before finally sorting out the trauma she suffered during her early years of chaos.

I didn't actually read the whole book, maybe about half. It got to be too much. I just wanted to see how her modelling career went and how she finally got herself sorted out.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Sure.

#84 Harmony

Harmony
By Carolyn Parkhurst

The story of a family with an autistic child. They try everything, but their lives remain chaotic. The parents move the family to "Camp Harmony," a residential camp for families with children with special needs. The camp director is a charismatic fellow, who turns about to be someone other than the person he represents himself as. The Hammond family is one of the core group who lives and works at the camp, while other families come and go, staying for a week to experience the "back to the land" lifestyle, which hopefully benefits their special needs children.

The ending is shocking, but not surprising, as slowly it becomes apparent that their leader is not who they think.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation. Not really.

#83 Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
By Ballin Kaur Jaswal

A quirky, if unbelievable story centred around the Punjabi community in London. Nikki, a young, modern British Punjabi Sikh, quits law school and is at loose ends, while working in a pub to make ends meet. She visits the local gurudwara to post a matrimonial ad for her sister, and comes across an ad for a writing teacher for women.

She thinks the job is about helping women write stories, but something quite different unfolds. The women, mostly widows, end up writing stories about their sexual longing an desires, and the stories quickly gain circulation within the Punjabi community (This was the unbelievable part, like, really?)

Nikki also helps solve a murder case.

Some interesting bits about the racism faced my the Sikhs in London, about how gangs of male thugs control the women in the community, how murders of innocent women are generally labelled "accidental deaths" and are never solved.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Another book about things with an Indian theme. Cutesy.

#82 Year of No Sugar

Year of No Sugar
By Eve. O. Schaub

A memoir about a family that decides to eat no sugar for a year. This family were sugar lovers, and after mom sees a video and reads a book about the evils of sugar and how it pervades the processed food which most Americans eat, she decides to do the "year without sugar". Originally a blog, it was turned into this book.

It's the world of hidden sugar that she uncovers in the book, as well as the cravings and emotional attachment to various sugary desserts. They discover that to eat without sugar, you basically have to eat at home and cook your own food, so that you know what's in what you're eating.

Talks about the different kids of sugar and sweeteners, as well as the unnecessary sweeteners in many common "foods" such as ketchup, peanut butter, bacon, salad dressing and crackers.

An interesting read, though I skipped through some of it.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: If you're into food issues and healthy eating, sure.

#81 The Last Days of Cafe Leila

The Last Days of Cafe Leila
By Donia Bijan

An easy read, written by an Iranian American. The novel takes place in both the U.S. and in Tehran. Leila grew up in Iran, and her family had owned Cafe Leila for two generations. Before the Islamic dictatorship, the Cafe was a famous gathering place for intellectuals and artists. With the rise of the Islamic regime, things changed, though Cafe Leila endured. Leila and her brother are sent to America, to get away from the oppression in Iran, and they marry and have children. Leila leaves her husband after he has an affair, and she and her daughter Lily, go back to Iran to spend time with Zod, who is dying of cancer. Leila and Lilly face hardships in Tehran, but they stay until Zod's death, and the demise of Cafe Leila.

Interesting descriptions of Persian food. Some difficult scenes when talking about the oppression and brutality of the Islamic regime that are difficult to read.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Sure. An easy read, though some difficult sections due to subject matter.

#80 City of Friends

City of Friends
By Joanna Trollope

Chic lit at it's best! British author, so all those cute English words and expressions. An easy romp through the trials and tribulations of four women, all best friends, all successful career women. Their lives are interwoven, there's intrigue, gossip, relationships break up, hurts are healed, and ultimately there is change.

An easy read. Effortless. Good pacing.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Only if you like chic lit and need something quick and easy.

#79 A Piece of the World

A Piece of the World
By Christian Baker Kline

Historical fiction, told in the voice of Christina Olson, the muse to famed American artist Andrew Wyeth. The novel is focused around the visual narrative told in Wyeth's iconic painting entitled, "Christina's World".

The writing in this novel is wonderful, and Christina's world is beautifully constructed. However, this is not a happy read. Christina has a rare degenerative disease which makes her limbs grow less and less functional, and eventually she is unable to walk. She finds her first love, who "promises" to marry her, but he eventually faces the pressure from his family and marries someone more suitable. Her father won't allow her to finish school and become a teacher. She spends her life living on the family farm, looking after her parents until their deaths.

Christina gradually becomes housebound, cared for my her brother, who remains a bachelor to look after her. When she is 46, she meets Wyeth, who spends the summers painting at the Olson house. Landscapes, portraits, pictures of ordinary things, culminating in "Christina's World".

The book is kind of depressing, and the back and forth in time gets kind of confusing.

By the author of "Orphan Train".

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#78 Pachinko

Pachinko
By Min Jin Lee

A long novel, at 485 pages, but an easy read. The novel traces three generations in the lives of a Korean family living in Japan before, during, and after WWII. Korea was colonized by the Japanese, and many Koreans came to Japan for better options. There, however, they were discriminated against, often forced to work at the lowest jobs, or running gambling parlours. The gambling was a game called "pachinko", kind of like pin-ball machines.

The novel looks at what it takes to be an immigrant, at identity, the roles of women, and survival.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes, a good solid read.

#77 Drift Child

Drift Child
By Rosella Leslie

This novel was written by a BC author and is set on Vancouver Island and the area of islands and mainland off the northeast coast.

Emma finds herself on a sinking boat during a storm. The captain dies, but not before they come across and zodiac with a dad and three kids, also struggling in the storm, and she watches the dad disappear under the waves. Emma ends up rescuing the three children, and they make it to safety. She knows the coast, having worked on a fish boat for several seasons, so she is able to get the four of them safely home.

Once home, the story focuses on Emma looking after the three children, and eventually deciding to become their permanent caregiver.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: An interesting, if somewhat unbelievable (especially the ship sinking and rescue) story. Good for locals to read.

#76 Hum If You Don't Know the Words

Hum If You Don't Know the Words
By Bianca Marais

This novel started off great! I thought it was going to be my first 5/5 of five rating.

The story of a young white South African girl, Robin, and her black Xhosa care giver, Beauty. The two characters both suffer immense loss and grief, but they bring love and joy to one another. It starts off as such a great story. But.......

Unbelievably, at p. 291 the novel totally changes. All of a sudden, Robin, the 10-year old white girl becomes a detective and starts doing all these really silly and totally unbelievable things to try and help. The rest of the book becomes sort of like a detective novel, but it just doesn't work with the rest of the book and for me it was totally ruined.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: The first part is a lovely read......and the end is, well, stupid.

#75 When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air
By Paul Kalanithi

A memoir by a renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, who dies of lung cancer in his early 40s.

Beautifully written, a brave exploration of facing his inevitable death from lung cancer, at a young age. His wife finishes the book after his death.

Moving. Courageous.

Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: Yes, but only if the subject matters is of interest. Not a general read. Short.

#74 The Women in the Castle

The Women in the Castle
By Jessica Shattuck

Another WWII novel. This novel follows the lives of the wives and children of German Nazi resisters. Their husbands were all killed because they were involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler, which failed, and they were hung.

Marianne, one of the wives, pledged to her husband to take care of the widows and children of the men. She finds two of these women, and during the rest of the war, they live in an old family castle, surviving the best they can.

Once the war is over, the women move on, for various reasons, remarrying, dying, leaving Germany. At the end, the two remaining women reunite at the castle, which has been restored and is now an academic meeting place for scholars from around the world.

Children and grandchildren are discussed, and all these years later, secrets are revealed.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes. An interesting read about WWII, about the German side of the story and those who did not believe in Hitler or the Nazis.

#73 Before We Sleep

Before We Sleep
By Jeffrey Lent

Beautiful writing in this novel, and an interesting story. The story is mainly about Katey, and her discovery that her "father" is not her biological father. She goes on a journey to find her biological father, and encounters interesting characters along the way.

The novel is also the story of her mother and father, her family, and their experiences, particularly her father's experiences during WWII which leave him wounded and changed forever. The decisions they make end up affecting Katey, who has to leave them and journey on her own to find her own truths.

Set between WWII and the 70s.

My only complaint about this novel was that there was too much description, and some of the paragraphs were more than a page long! Though often beautiful, I just skimmed these long paragraphs, as I can't stand long paragraphs! Blah blah blah.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: If you love beautiful descriptive writing, this novel is for you.

#72 Ginny Moon

Ginny Moon
By Benjamin Ludwig

This novel is told in Ginny's voice. Ginny is a 14-year old teenager with autism. She is a foster care child who was adopted and is living with her "forever" family. Ginny is quirky and strange, due to her autism. For some reason, Ginny wants to be reunited with her birth mother, who was abusive plus addicted to drugs, and she wants to reunite with her "baby doll", which turns out to be a baby sister who was never officially "born", and who her mother keeps a secret.

A strange novel with a somewhat unlikely plot.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: The voice of the autistic main character is interesting and provides an insight into the autistic mind. The plot is unlikely and silly.

#71 The Colour of Our Sky

The Colour of Our Sky
By Amita Trasi

Two young girls from India meet in Bombay. One, Tara, living a middle class life with her parents, the other, Mukta, born a temple prostitute from a small village. They briefly share a life in Bombay, when Tara's father rescues Mukta from the fate she was born to, and she lives with the family as a servant. Mukta is kidnapped by a prostitution ring, and Tara thinks it's her fault.

After a street bombing kills Tara's mother, she and her father move to America. However, her father harbours terrible guilt and commits suicide.

Tara returns to India, determined to find Mukta. She eventually finds and rescues Mukta, who now has a small daughter of her own, from prostitution. Tara also finds out that her father is Mukta's father, thus they are half-sisters.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: An interesting story. Writing a bit awkward, but good pace and a surface look at the horror of prostitution rings in India.

#70 The Alice Network

The Alice Network
By Kate Quinn

Set during WWI and WWII, the novel is about women spies during WWI. Eve was a spy for the British during WWI and she suffered bodily harm after one of her sources learned she was a spy. After WWII American Charlie is pregnant and come to Europe to find her lost cousin Rose. The connection between Even and Charlie is the main plot of the novel and leads to a shocking ending.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Chic lit light, but interesting subject matter, based on a the lives of the women who acted as spies during WWI and WWII.

#68 and #69

Well, I read two books when I was on the road and don't remember the names. Don't even remember what they were about and it was only two weeks ago!

#67 Rich People Problems

Rich People Problems
By Kevin Kwan

The third and final novel in the "rich Asians" series by Kevin Kwan. This book can actually be read without reading the other two books first. This final novel in the trilogy wasn't published for a couple of years after the second novel, so I had forgotten what happened in the first two novels, so reading it as a stand-along worked. However, if you could read them in a sequence, then that would work best.

This novel once again follows the life of the ultra-rich in Asia, people from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia. The family in the story has many branches, with members from all these different cultures. Their lives are ridiculous, and this novel actually includes having plastic surgery on a fish (which you can apparently actually do). The cars, the houses, the life styles, the fashion, she shoes, the designers, the chefs, the planes, all seemingly unbelievable to the average person.

A movie is being made of the first novel.

Chic lit at it's best. Surreal, but all based on truth.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#66 The Windfall

The Windfall
By Diksha Bass

A cute story, and an easy read. Set in New Delhi, it's the story of the Jha family, a middle class family who live in East Delhi. Mr. Jha sells his web company for $20 million U.S. dollars and suddenly the Jhas have moved up radically in life. Their son is doing his MBA in Ithaca, and the Jhas decide to move to Gurgaon, an elite enclave in the richest part of Delhi.

They madly try to establish a new identity, and keep up with the neighbours, they take a trip to New York and shop at Tiffany's, only to discover that their new identity doesn't fit who they really are.

Fun.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#65 In the Shadow of Alabama

In the Shadow of Alabama
By Judy Reene Singer

I loved this book. Based on the story of the author's life, it tells of Rachel, a daughter trying to understand her father's life. He was an angry man for as long as she knew him, and her mother spent all her energy keeping him calm, to the detriment of her two daughters.

At her father's funeral, and Jewish funeral, a black woman appears and gives a record of Duke Ellington's "A" Train to Rachel. This strange act prompts her to find out who the woman was, and to meet her father, Willie, a black man who had served in her father's regiment during WWII.

A story of sisters, a broken family, racism and violence, of blacks and Jews in Alabama, of planes that crashed and problems that were solved. A very interesting and well written novel about a rare piece of history.

Rating: 4.5/5
Recommendation: YES!

#64 The Pattern Artist

The Pattern Artist
By Nancy Moser

OK, I was desperate for a book and this was what I had so I had to read it. It looked interesting: the story of a young immigrant woman in New York who finds her talent as a pattern/fashion designer. Through a series of opening doors, she finds work at Macy's, and then Butterick patterns, and she also finds a man.

The story of the Butterick Pattern Company is true, and quite interesting.

In summary, it's romance novel with Christian undertones (I skipped those parts). Readable.

Rating: 1/5
Recommendation: Only if you're absolutely desperate!

#63 The Mother's Promise

The Mother's Promise
By Sally Hepworth

Chic lit at it's best. A mother and daughter duo live an insular life. There is no dad in the picture, and no immediate family except for an alcoholic brother. Zoe, the daughter, has social anxiety disorder. Mom, Alice is diagnosed with cancer. Somehow, these two souls, so alone in life, find a network of caring people to help them as they struggle on with their lives. Those people too have their own struggles, but in the end, they all find a way to move on.

Short chapters, easy to read, good pacing.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: If you like chic lit, sure.

#62 The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
By Lisa See

An interesting novel, featuring the Akha hill tribe people of China and the culture of tea.
Lin-yan is an. Akha woman, and we meet her and the culture before the modern world invades her world. Interesting details about their beliefs and traditions. She meets a young man, and as is the tradition, they have "the intercourse" before marriage, as the custom is to sample various options before marriage. Lin-yan gets pregnant, however, her lover has gone to Thailand for work, and thus she gives birth without being married, as her lover doesn't know she is pregnant. As she has no way to bring up a child as a single parent, and no one knows where her lover is, she gives the child up for adoption, but she. never forgets about her baby. Her baby is adopted by an American couple, and faces many issues, growing up in a white family as their only child in America.

Throughout the novel is the story of tea, and it's rise to prominence as not only a revered drink in China, but as a commodity, making and losing fortunes and prices rise and fall.

In the end, mother and daughter are reunited at the family's secret tea grove, high in the hills of the famous tea district of Nannuo. A satisfying ending.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An interesting read, though perhaps just a bit contrived.

#61 Everything Was Good-Bye

Everything Was Good-Bye
By Gurjinder Basran

This novel takes place in the lower mainland, including Surrey, Delta, and Vancouver, so a familiar setting. It's the story of a young Punjabi woman and how she negotiates her identity, living between tradition and western culture. She falls in love with a white man, but she ends up following tradition and accepting an arranged marriage. Her marriage is loveless, her husband selfish and abusive, and he is infertile so the couple cannot have children.

Meena ends up having an affair with her former white lover and she gets pregnant. She finally leaves her husband, has the baby, and eventually reunites with her lover. In an unfortunate twist of fate, her ex and her lover meet at a wedding, and her lover falls to his death after being pushed over a balcony by her ex.

Well written, but tragic.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An interesting look at negotiating Punjabi culture in contemporary Vancouver, and how tradition still dictates the lives of women, often to their detriment.

#60

I Forget the Name Already!


Haha. I took this one back to the library, figuring for sure I'd remember the name, but I already forgot!

The story of a young man and a young woman in modern day India. Both of them try to break free from the dictates of their culture. He falls in love iwht a Muslim, but cannot marry her. She goes to London and falls in love with an Irish man, gets pregnant, and has an abortion. Society finds them a good match for marriage and once married they attempt to survive. He by having sex with prostitutes, she by going on business trips to London.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: An interesting look at the world of marriage in India.

#59 Salt Houses

Salt Houses
By Hala Alyan

A book about Palestine, those who had to leave, and where successive generations ended up and lived. About trying to go back to Palestine, when Palestine is only a story told by the grandparents who had to leave. The story of immigrants, of finding new homes, of never quite belonging anywhere, always identified by an accent, by skin colour.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: A bit slow at times, but a good read.

#58 The Whole Town's Talking

The Whole Town's Talking
By Fannie Flagg

I chose this book because it's written by the same author as "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe" which I seem to remember reading a very long time ago and enjoying.

This is chic lit, about a small town in the U.S. originally settled by Swedish immigrant farmers. The novel follows the progress of the town through it's founding members and their offspring, through the days of farms and farmers up to current times and beyond.

One quirky feature is that those who die and are buried in the local cemetery talk and comment on the lives of those still living from wherever they are after they die.

Cute, easy read.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Easy reading.

#57 Miss Burma

Miss Burma
By Charmaine Craig.

Don't bother reading this one! OMG. It had such a good premise: Burma in 1939, and a young Jewish man marries a young Karen women in Rangoon.They have children and live through the days of Burma becoming a nation and the majority Burmese systematically wiping out various ethnic minorities, including the Karen people. Their daughter becomes Miss Burma, and then goes on to become a movie star. She marries one of the leaders of the Karen revolution, and when he is killed, she takes on his leadership role to try and free her people.

OMG, so BORING! On and on about the politics. I skimmed through most of the last part of the novel, just to see if anything happened. But the novel could have been half the length and left out all the political stuff and had more of the human drama aspect.

Rating: 1/5
Recommendation: NO!!

#56 Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone

Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone
By Phaedra Patrick

This was a cute and entertaining read.

Benedict Stone is a middle aged man whose wife is taking a break from their marriage. He is obsessed with having a child, and after ten years of marriage, the couple remains childless, with no identified cause.

His teenaged niece arrives on his doorstep in the middle of the night, and her presence proceeds to create changes in Benedict's life.

Benedict is a jeweller, and his niece is interested in gemstones and their meaning. The duo start creating jewelry with gems with properties needed by the recipients, and gradually Benedict's life becomes more creative and fulfilling.

Eventually, his wife recognizes that her husband has put a lot of effort into wooing her back and recognizing that having a child is not the most important part of their relationship.

Rating: 3.4/5
Recommendation: Sure. Cutesy.

#55 After the Fire

After the Fire
By Lauren Belfer

This was an interesting book, combining the world of music manuscripts with an historical backtracking into how a fictitious Bach cantata manuscript came to be in a drawer in a modern day home.

A compelling read, however, a shocking rape at the beginning of the book is kind of a turnoff and seemed unnecessarily violent in relation to the plot of the story.

The novel also delves into some WWII history, when the Americans are liberating parts of Europe and an accidental murder, which is how the manuscript finally makes its way to the bureau drawer.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: A good solid read.

#54 The Scribe of Sienna

The Scribe of Sienna
By Melodie Winawer

A "time travel" novel, which is not really my thing PLUS a romance. Oh well, it was readable and kept me going. Also a bit of a mystery, again not my normal type of read.

Moving between current day New York city and 14th century Sienna, Italy, the novel tells of Beatrice, of Italian descent. Her brother is a medieval scholar doing research into Sienna during the plague. After his sudden death, Beatrice goes to Sienna to finish up his affairs, but ends up continuing his research.

She then time travels back to 14th century Sienna, where she "lives" the actual history her brother had been researching, and solves the mystery of why Sienna suffered so badly during the plague, much worse than other Tuscan cities.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: If you like this kind of novel, it's an easy read.

#53 The Performance

The Performance
By Ann Eriksson

This book tells the story of Hana, a concert pianist, and how her career unfolds. She moves to New York from Vancouver and finds a rich patron. She gets caught up with a homeless woman who seems to be following her and attending her concerts.

Hana's father was an investment advisor and swindled hundreds of people, ending up in prison. The homeless woman's husband was one of the people to be swindled and eventually, Hana figures out the connection.

Hana gets rid of her patron, starts to find her own way as a concert pianist, and takes up the cause of homeless people in New York.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: An easy read.

#52 Saints for All Occasions

Saints for All Occasions
By Courtenay Sullivan

An great read EXCEPT for the ending! I wanted this book to keep going and for the ending to continue with how good the rest of the book was, so when I read the ending, then turned the page expecting more, I was very disappointed.

The story of two sisters, Nora and Theresa, who move to the U.S. in the 1960s. Nora, the older sister, is responsible and mature and looks after the younger Theresa. However, the Theresa gets pregnant by a man she doesn't know is already married. She gives up the baby, Patrick, and Nora raises the boy as her own, without telling her own children. Theresa becomes a cloistered nun, though she always keeps track of what her beloved son's life. When Patrick is killed in a drunk driving accident, the family comes together for the funeral, and Theresa comes to them from the silence of the monastery.

Secrets are revealed.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#51 Not on the Label

Not On the Label
By Felicity Lawrwence

A look at the food supply chain and food production in the U.K. The usual horror stories about adulterated food, excessive sugar in prepared food, where food comes from, the monopolies of mammoth companies and their power to control people's lives, how farmer's lives have changed with the way supermarkets order food, and on and on.

If you want to eat will, grow your own, buy local, and cook your own food! Then you know what's in it and where it came from, and that it's REAL FOOD!!

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: A sobering read on the reality of food in the 21st century.

#50 The German Girl

The German Girl
By Armando Lucas Correa

An interesting novel based on the true story of the St. Louis, a ship that took almost 900 German Jews from Germany to Cuba just before WWII, where they hoped to find refuge before going on to permanent residence in the U.S. After only a few days in the port, the ship was not allowed to dock and sets sail to try and find refuge for the Jews in other countries. They are turned away by the U.S. and by Canada. Eventually, they sail back to Europe, where some find refuge in England, Holland, France and Denmark. Many of the Jews end up being killed by the Nazis as WWII spreads.

The language in the novel at first seems very stilted and awkward, but then I realized that it's a translation, though not a very good one, from Spanish.

The novel begins in Germany and is told through the eyes of a young Jewish girl in 1939 alternating with a young American girl in 2007. Eventually, the two stories come together in Cuba, and the story of the St. Louis and the fate of the Jews is revealed.

An interesting read, once you get over the awkward writing.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#49 The Orphan's Tale

The Orphan's Tale
By Pam Jenoff

This book sounded like a good read, but in reality it was chic lit written at about a grade 8 reading level, almost like a young adult novel. Though the novel was based in part on the true story of a German circus during WWII that helped save Jews, this was only a small part of the novel. The main part was an unlikely tale of two young women who meet in the circus. One of the young women has rescued a Jewish baby from a rail car full of babies, awaiting their death at a concentration camp. She ends up saved by the circus and becomes a trapeze artist. Highly unlikely.

The book had promise, but did not fulfill.

Rating: 2/5
Recommendation: No.

#48 Hard Laughter

Hard Laughter
By Anne Lamott

The story of three adult siblings who deal with their father going through the diagnosis and treatment for an operable brain tumour. Don't bother to read this one. I skimmed through a lot of it cause there seemed like no point. Blah blah blah. Just get on with it.

Rating: 0/5
Recommendation: NO!

#47 The Orphan Sky

The Orphan Sky
By Ella Leya

This story takes place in Azerbaijan during the years of Russian occupation. Leila is a talented pianist, on her way to a career as a concert pianist. Leila lives a life of ease with her family, her father a communist party supporter who takes bribes to support their life style. Leila meets a young bohemian artist who introduces her to life beyond the rhetoric of communism. Leila takes chances and makes mistakes in her pursuit of personal and artistic freedom. In the end, she defects to the US to escape her KGB husband and the constrictions of her communist country.

The novel looks at the lives of some of the great Russian composers, dancers and musicians, many of whom defected to the freedom of western countries.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: An interesting look at life under communism in the 1970s.

#46 Every Wild Heart

Every Wild Heart
By Meg Donahue

Another chic lit novel, an easy and entertaining read.

Gail Gideon is a popular radio talk show host. She is divorced and has a teenage daughter, Nicola, who loves riding horses. Nicola has a riding accident and emerges from her coma with subtle changes in her personality. A string of events leads her and her mother to a new life.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Readable, though nothing earth shattering.

#45 A Harvest of Thorns

A Harvest of Thorns
By Corban Addison

This novel exposes some of the issues central to the manufacturing of clothing in third world countries. Based on a true story, the novel follows three workers in the clothing industry in Jordan, Bangladesh and Malaysia. It also follows various characters in a fictitious American clothing company and how they deal with the fall-out from a terrible clothing factory in Bangladesh. An illuminating look at the lives of the invisible people who sew the clothes we wear and the lengths companies will go to to save a few dollars and increase profit.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An interesting read with a plot that keeps you reading.

#44 We Are All Made of Glue

We Are All Made of Glue
By Marina Lewycka

Another novel by the Polish/British author. This one, unlike the first two, doesn't deal with immigrant labour in Britain.

This book tells the story of an elderly Jewish lady who escaped the Nazi death camps during WWII, though this doesn't come out until the very end. The story is told as a kind of mystery story, and the story slowly unravels as a neighbour helps the old lady when she falls and ends up in the hospital and unscrupulous social workers and Realestate agents try and scoop her very valuable house while she is at her weakest. However, they don't realize how strong this eccentric old lady is, and the neighbour helps her to survive and prosper.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: An OK read. Entertaining, incorporating the story of Jews who escaped Nazi Germany via Denmark.

#43 Sully

Sully
By Chesley "Sully" Sullengerger

Didn't read all of this book, just the second half, cause I really wasn't that interested in Sully's childhood and flight training, just the actual incident.

This book is about the flight that landed in the Hudson River minutes after take-off from an airport in New York. The plane hit a flock of birds and lost both engines. In three minutes, the pilots had to come up with a plan or face a catastrophe if the plane crashed over the city. They decided to land in the Hudson River and were successful. All the passengers and crew got out alive.

The movie features Tom Hanks as Sully, and for that reason, I will never watch that movie. Kind of turns me off for some reason, that they chose such a famous actor to play a here.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#42 Strawberry Fields

Strawberry Fields
By Marina Lewycka

Another book by the same author as the previous book.

This book follows the adventures and misadventures of a group of immigrant labourers, originally hired to pick strawberries in the U.K.

Written as a comic adventure, the humour is dark, as the novel is about legal and mostly illegal immigrant labourers who risk everything to come to work in the U.K. Everything from farm labour to working on chicken factory farms, to restaurant workers and women who end up in the sex trade. Unscrupulous agents find desperate people at ferries and train stations, or they have made arrangements with innocent people leaving their home countries, and they profit from treating people as virtual slaves, paying them virtually nothing.

Many people come from Eastern European countries, and once again this novel features many Ukrainians, though many others from other Eastern European countries, as well as Africa and China.

A funny and tragic adventure, through various jobs, the labour underworld, and along the way the two main characters face death, and eventually find love.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An interesting read, on many levels.

#41 A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian
By Marina Lewycka

A widowed Ukranina man, a long-time resident of the U.K. finds a new wife, 50 years his junior. His two daughters are appalled, first because of the age of the new wife, and secondly because of course she has motives for the marriage other than love.

A series of adventures, misadventures, and timely interventions free the widow from the unscrupulous gold-digger (though there really is no gold, other than the widower's pension and a bit of savings), led by the two quarrelling daughters.

The story is also about the many Eastern European migrants living in the U.K., and their nostalgia for their various home countries. Who knew there were so many immigrants in the U.K.? Who has ever heard of the various countries, or their history?

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: A cute story, kind of a tragic-comedy.

#40 Eligible

Eligible
By Curtis Sittenfeld

This novel is chic lit, and a light frothy read that is easy if you can stand this kind of book.
I like the fact that it had short sections and good pacing that made me want to just keep reading. Kind of like eating a bag of chips: you never want to stop.

The novel is a modern day rewrite of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". It features reality T.V. stars, an inter-racial romance, and a transgender marriage. There are high society folk who have fallen on hard times, and rich folks who are still rich; surgeons and magazine reporters, yoga instructors and fitness club owners. Truly a modern day tale of intrigue and romance.

Of course, if you've read Pride and Prejudice, you know it all works out in the end and everyone is happily married (or not), and all problems are resolved and solved.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: If you like chic lit, you'll like this one.

#39 The Blue Between Sky and Water

The Blue Between Sky and Water
 By Susan Abulhawa

This novel is the story of Nur, an American Palestinian woman who finds her way back to Gaza as an adult.

The book starts in the past, in the Palestinian village of her ancestors before the state of Israel was created after WWII. The story tells of the destruction of their village and way of life and their subsequent life in the refugee camps in Gaza. Nur's parents end up leaving Gaza, eventually ending up in the U.S. Nur's childhood is strongly influenced by her Palestinian grandfather, but after he dies she ends up for a while with her uncaring mother, and then in several foster homes. Finally, she goes back to Palestine as a psychologist, to help trauma victims.

By fate, she ends up reunited with her real family and she starts to heal her own trauma from her childhood loss and abuse.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: A good introduction to the horrors of life as a Palestinian in the reign of Israel.

#38 The Far Side of the Sun

The Far Side of the Sun
By Kate Furnival

This book ended up being both a mystery and a romance, not the kind of thing I usually read. But desperation will keep me reading, and this was the best I could come up with in the moment.

The novel is a fictionalized account of the famous murder case of Sir Harry Oakes, resident of the Bahamas, who was murdered in 1945.

The author creates two characters who investigate the murder, along with several real characters.

Not a great read, but an interesting look at colonial life in the Bahamas during WWII.

Rating: 2/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#37 The Horse Whisperer

The Horse Whisperer
By Nicholas Evans

I'm sure I saw this movie back in the 90s, though I watched the previews and couldn't really remember.

This was a very readable novel. Solid writing, good pacing, good story.

The novel tells of a young girl who has a terrible accident while out riding her horse with a friend. Her horse is seriously injured and the girl loses part of her leg.

In an effort to heal her daughter and the horse, her mother takes them to a horse whisperer. He works with the horse and heals it, and he also falls in love with the mother and she with him.

A shocking ending.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#36 The Mothers

The Mothers
By Brit Bennet

An OK read. About a young black woman and the hardships she faces growing up in L.A.
She falls for a boy and she gets pregnant. She decides to have an abortion, and then she leaves to go to college. Her best friend ends up marrying the boy. Years later, she comes back home, having finished university, gone to graduate school, and traveled the world. Her father is sick and she comes to help him as her mother had died many years ago. She realizes she still has feelings for the boy and they have a short affair.

Interesting writing and an interesting look at the lives of young black people in the U.S., and of course the lives and decisions of various "mothers".

Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: Not really.

#35 The LIttle Paris Bookshop

The Little Paris Bookshop
By Nina George

A nice little book by a European author.

A fiftyish man's life revolves around his barge bookshop, moored on the banks of the Seine in Paris, and the lover he lost 20 years before. Since then, he has been an emotional hermit, afraid to love anyone else, and afraid to move on with his life.

A series of events leads him to unmoor his book barge to motor along the waterways of France. Along the way, he picks up some passengers, each searching for love and inspiration. He ends up in the town where his former lover, who died long ago, used to live. He connects with her family and finally finds release from the past they shared. He finds love again and a new life.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: A cute and easy read. A bit fluffy but not too much.

#34 Irena's Children

Irena's Children
By Tilar J. Mazzeo

Non-fiction. Another book about the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.

This book is about a Polish woman, Irena Sendler, who helped to save almost 2,500 Jewish children from death by the Nazis. Though I skipped over a lot of the details, the book is a graphic description of the horrors of the Nazi persecution and murder of the Jews in Warsaw, the horrible conditions in the ghetto, and the Polish resistance fighters who set up underground networks of safe houses to save Jewish children.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: If the subject interests you.

#33 Mercury

Mercury
By Margot Livesay

I'm not generally into crime novels or thrillers, and it wasn't obvious that this was in that genre. It certainly didn't start off that way, but slowly, hints are dropped, and slowly I was hooked into finding out what happens.

A couple, married for 10 years with two kids, find themselves increasingly living separate lives. Viv becomes obsessed with a horse, Mercury and her lost dreams of winning equestrian competitions on a great horse. Her obsession leads to an act of violence, thinking she is protecting the horse from danger.

The book is about relationships, and how little things can lead to much bigger problems, in hindsight.

An interesting read, good writing, well written. The plot was so so.

Rating: 3.4/5
Recommendation: OK.

#32 The Train to Warsaw

The Train to Warsaw
By Gwen Edelman

Still on the Warsaw ghetto theme, this delicate novel traces the journey of a Jewish Polish couple who survive the Warsaw ghetto and subsequently live for many years, post-WWII, in London.

The novel is short, and is written in short paragraphs, rather than chapters. The narrative alternates between the two voices of the couple, Jascha and Lilka, describing their train trip to visit Warsaw 40 years after the war, and flashbacks to their memories of living in the ghetto, losing their families, and their escape.

During the few days they spend in current-day Warsaw, deep memories and fears start to surface once again, and they relive the good and the bad of their lives before leaving. They reveal some untold stories to each other, which make them each question their relationship.

Jascha is now a famous novelist, and he wrote a novel about the ghetto. In present day Warsaw he is invited to speak about his writing, as a returning Polish author. Little does the audience know that he will read from his novel about the horrors that the Jews faced behind the wall, while the Poles live a relatively normal life before the city was destroyed by the Germans. At the end of his lecture, only 4 people remain in the audience. The rest have left in shock and disgust.

It is a portrait of a once beautiful city, of people displaced from their homeland by atrocious acts of war, and of an attempt to return to a place that no longer exists.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: If you're into reading about the Warsaw ghetto.

#31 The Pianist

The Pianist
By Wladyslaw Szpilman

How did I come to find this book? Well, an old friend married a Polish woman and last summer they went to Poland to visit her family. They went to Warsaw, and the first thought that came to my mind was the Warsaw ghetto and the Jews who were forced to live there during WWII. Of course that got me looking up Warsaw, and I found out that the Germans had totally destroyed the city before they left, as a last act of vengeance, just before surrendering the war. Then I found out that the Poles reconstructed the city from the rubble to look exactly like it had looked before it was destroyed, as a symbol of their history and culture. Then I started looking up books about Warsaw, and I came across, "The Pianist".

A horrifying memoir of a young concert pianist, living in Warsaw, and how he survived the ghetto and the final destruction of the city for six years of German occupation. Near the end, he was caught living in the attic of a burned out building by a German officer. The officer spared the young man's life, and brought him food and a blanket, which enabled him to survive. It turns out that the German had helped several Jews and Poles survive through his acts of "kindness".

Another book about the atrocities suffered by the Polish Jews under German rule. Almost all the Jews of Poland were murdered, including the pianist's immediate family. Sent to the gas ovens, shot at random, sent to labour camps. Unthinkable crimes against an innocent people.

The book was made into a movie, directed by Roman Polanski. The movie is available on iTunes, so I'll watch it.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Only if you're into reading about this subject matter.

#30 The Other Story

The Other Story
By Tatiana De Rosnay

This novel is by the author of "Sarah's Key", which was a great book. This book, however, does not come close to being great.

The story of an a man who becomes a famous author very young. He goes to an exclusive Italian resort for the weekend, trying to kickstart his second novel. Over the course of three days there, he relives many things from his life that haunt him in different ways.

The book was full of useless detail, long paragraphs (which I generally skip over), some as long as two pages. The plot was slow, and not much really happens. The main character is a victim of his own success, and because he is young he doesn't have the maturity to manage it better.

For any author, the second novel after a first successful novel must  be very difficult to write.

Rating: 1/2
Recommendation: No.

#29 The Real Liddy James

The Real Liddy James
By Anne-Marie Casey

A cute novel, chick lit for sure, about a woman who thinks she can do it all. Successful divorce lawyer, mother to two children, divorced, but still having a relationship with her ex and his new partner. But then one day, she crashes, and survives the crash to start a new life.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Cute, easy read.

#28 More Sunshine Sketches

More Sunshine Sketches: 
A New Collection of Drawings and Stories About B.C.'s Beautiful Sunshine Coast
By Terry Barker

A short book of collected newspaper articles published in the Coast Reporter between 2001 - 2002.
Short little stories, an easy read, but of local interest only.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: If you live on the Sunshine Coast.

#27 Perfume River

Perfume River
By Robert Olen Butler

A contemplative novel, which explores the effects of war on the lives of three generations of men who go to different wars and serve in different capacities and for very different reasons: WWII, the Vietnam War, and finally, the Iraq war.

Well written, the novel mainly focuses on the middle generation, Robert and how he deals with the fall-out from his father's experience fighting in WWII, who supports him to enlist to fight in Vietnam, and how he subsequently suffers from the memories of a Vietnamese woman he fell in love with and lost, and the memories of his seeming cowardice as a non-combat U.S. serviceman.

Intersecting this story is the story of another man who's father fought in the Vietnam war, and how he suffers the sins of his father.

The ending is shocking.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: An OK read.

#26 Lucky Boy

Lucky Boy
By Shanthi Sekaran

This book was beautifully written, well paced, but challenging subject matter. This was a book that was hard to put down.

The story tells of Soli, an illegal Mexican migrant who arrives in California only to discover she's pregnant. Her life intersects with an American couple who are unable to have children. Soli ends up in jail, her son sent to child services. The American couple end up fostering her son and hope to adopt him. Soli has no way to defend herself in the penal system, and endures horrific conditions until she manages to escape. Finally, she "kidnaps" her son and takes him back to Mexico.

The question is: who deserves this boy? The birth mother or the rich American couple? A story with a challenging moral question, but in the end, the question is answered, and I think correctly.

This is a story of love for a child. Both women were his mother, but only one was his birth mother.

Rating: 4.5/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#25 Never Mind the Bullocks

Never Mind the Bullocks
By Vanessa Able

A travel book about a British woman who drives 10,000 km around India in a Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car.

The book focuses mainly on the driving and not so much about what she sees and who she meets in the non-driving parts of the book. Of course, I had to read this book, which I found in the stacks at the Sechelt library! Must have been a donation, as it probably wouldn't have rated high on a purchase list.

Entertaining, and an interesting look at the Nano, which has since proved to be a failure in India's auto market.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: If you're interested in all things India, sure, read this book. Probably not so interesting for a general audience.

#24 The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
By Jennifer Ryan

A charming novel, about the lives of the women left behind in a small English village during WWII, once all the men had gone off to fight. The narrative is told through the diary entries and letters of the various main characters in the story. From a dishonest midwife to a local nurse, from a 13-year old girl with a lovely singing voice to her older sister in love with the wrong man, their voices carry the story along. There's a bit of intrigue, a mystery, a baby swap, some gypsies, black market dealings, and a couple of love stories.

I guess you'd call it chick lit with a serious setting.

Apparently, women were encouraged to write journals during this time, in order to record the hardships and their experiences of war at home, and of course, letters were the main way of communication by the general public.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#23 The Year We Seized the Day

The Year We Seized the Day
 By Elizabeth Best and Colin Bowles

This book is about two authors who randomly decide to walk the El Camino together. I've read quite a few Camino books already. This one was firmly rooted in the reality of the walk, though most of them are: the blisters, the physical challenges, the alberges, other pilgrims, the food, the wine, and the walking, everything that makes the pilgrimage a trial and ultimately, and on arrival at the cathedral, a triumph.

These two take the pilgrimage to another level, both overcoming extreme physical and emotional burdens that ultimately lead them to the cathedral at Santiago. The book is written in short sections, as they alternate their description of their personal journey, and their journey together.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#22 Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures
By Margot Lee Shetterly

This is the book that led to the movie of the same name. First I saw the movie, which I would highly recommend. That led to requesting the book at the library to find out more. Of course, the book is much more detailed than the movie.

The movie focused on three women, and primarily on Katherine Johnson, highlighting her amazing intelligence, the racism she faced working at NASA, and her key role in the first manned flight into space.

The book takes a much more detailed look at the role of black women in the aerospace industry, particularly highly educated women who all started at NASA as "computers", performing all the mathematical computations required by the engineers. The time frame starts just after WWII, when planes were undergoing rapid development and change, and goes up to the first manned flight to the moon in 1969.

The book also examines the parallel education system of black people in America, the lives and aspirations of extremely well educated black people, though focusing on women, racism and the fight for equal access and equal pay at NASA, plus the general struggle for black equality in America during the same time period.

It focuses on several outstanding black women who worked for NASA, their contribution to the aerospace industry and their enduring legacy.

Though I skimmed some of this book (not really into the technical details of math or the space industry), it is a book well worth reading just because it's celebrates the incredible intelligence of these amazing black women who worked as "computers" before the computer took over their jobs In an era when women in general had to fight to be recognized, these black women attained incredible achievements.

Rating: 4.5/5
Recommendation: Yes!

#21 The Singles Game

The Singles Game
By Lauren Weisberger

More chick lit, but, the title might lead you to think this book is about singles looking for love, however, it's actually about a professional tennis player on the professional singles tennis circuit.

Another easy read (is all chick lit easy to read?), but actually an interesting look into the world of professional tennis players. I had no idea what they go through, where they play, how they train, the different kinds of courts they play on, and the stressful lives they lead. Granted, if they play at a very high level, they are wealthy not only because of the prize money, but also because of the endorsements, worth millions. But they sacrifice a lot to get to that place, plus their careers end young.

This novel follows Charlie through a year of her pro tennis career. Starting off with a debilitating injury,which sees her in rehab for 6 months, she goes on to be ranked second in the world. Along the way are a couple of entertaining romances, a wardrobe and image makeover, a three day trip on a massive yacht, an abusive coach, etc. etc.

An interesting story, with an inconclusive ending which keeps you guessing, but works well.

By the same author as "The Devil Wears Prada".

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#20 Family Pictures

Family Pictures
By Jane Green

A very readable and enjoyable novel. Warning: this is chick lit! But hey, everyone needs a good, easy, interesting piece of chick lit everyone once in a while. Just the kind of book you need for a grey and rainy day.

This novel is about two families living on opposite coasts of the U.S., and in a rather horrifying way, they find out they are connected. The two families survive the situation to become strong friends, with new, more positive connections. Note: no crime or murder involved. The horrifying connection is just rare and rather strange.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes, a nicely paced easy read.

#19 Kiss the Joy As It Flies

Kiss the Joy as It Flies
By Sheree Fitch

Canadian author. A cutesy story about a woman waiting exploratory surgery for an abdominal mass. During the weeks that she has to wait to find out if she has cancer or not, she decides to tidy up her life, emotionally and physically.

Rating: 2/5
Recommendation: Kind of cute. Wouldn't highly recommend it. Readable. The end was lame.

#18 The Girl Who Came Home

The Girl Who Came Home
By Hazel Gaynor

This novel tells the story of a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. The story goes back and forth between the 80s and 1912 and the sinking of the Titanic, between Ireland, the Titanic, and Illinois. Maggie survived the sinking, though she has never been able to talk about here horrible experience with her family. Her great-granddaughter discovers that Maggie had survived the sinking, and finally Maggie is ready to tell her story.

Based on the true story of fourteen people from one village in Ireland, of whom only two survived.

The writing is more like a young adult novel, but the story is tragic and fascinating at the same time.

A few twists and turns keep the novel moving forward. An easy read.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Sure.

#17 All the Good Pilgrims

All the Good Pilgrims
By Robert Ward

Not fiction this time, but a travel book about walking the El Camino, the path to Santiago de Compostela. This book is mostly about the people this Canadian pilgrim meets along the way. No complaining too much about aching body parts, just character sketches about the people he meets along the way. A bit of mild philosophizing, nothing too remarkable.

I have read a number of other books about walking El Camino. One of my remaining travel goals.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: If you're interested in El Camino, certainly, read it.

#16 Mount

Mount
By Jilly Cooper

This was a long book, at 592 pages. Not a difficult read, however.

By a British author, the book chronicles the life of a horse racing/breeding man, his family, his "yard", all the employees who care for and maintain his horses, plus his competitors. Horses are bred, races are won, plus there is a bit of intrigue, as mysterious things happen to various horses and jockeys.

A glamorous world of rich people playing at horse racing to make lots of money winning horse races. The Saudis are into horse racing, and the Chinese are just starting to get into it.

Look up British horse racing on YouTube and you'll see what these races are like: run on grass rather than dirt, like in North America, and very very fast horses with colourful jockeys on board.

A long-winded "romp" with a fair amount of sex, partner switching, foul language and philandering, rivalry, and of course gambling on horses winning races.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Entertaining, but a long read.

#15 Shelter

Shelter
By Frances Greenslade

Very lovely writing in this book, though the story is sad. The novel is set in various places, including Williams Lake, the Chilcotin, and Bella Coola! How could I not read this book?

Two young girls grow up living back to the land on the Chilcotin. Dad dies in a logging accident, and mom struggles, then disappears, leaving her two daughters with family friends. After three years, if becomes obvious that she is never coming back. Finally, one of the daughters goes looking for her mother. In Bella Coola, she finds out what happened to their mother.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#14 The Glass Kitchen

The Glass Kitchen
By Linda Francis Lee

Sometimes you need to read a trashy novel, and this was one of those. Trashy chick lit par excellence.
Light and an easy read if you can stomach the sex scenes. Tacky. I skipped those parts.

I've read other books that featured food and recipes, as does this one, and enjoyed them. This one, however, despite the food and recipes, featured a predictable plot: recently divorced Texan girl meets craggy and brusque recently widowed New York neighbour. You can fill in the rest yourself.

Rating: 1/5
Recommendation: Only if you're desperate.

#13 Behold the Dreamers

Behold the Dreamers
By Imbolo Mbue

A very readable book that looks at the lives of a Cameroonian immigrant family struggling to survive in New York and get documentation so they can stay in the country.

The American dream is what motivates the family to come to the U.S. and to New York, but as they find out, sadly, the American dream is really that, just a dream, and far from reality.

Finally, after enduring hardship, the reality of their situation becomes obvious, and they return "home".

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes.

#12 Remembrance

Remembrance
By Alistair MacLeod

A single short story, bound as a very small book. The story tells of three generations of men on the day of remembrance. The grandfather remembers when he fought in WWII, and how it changed him and his family, and succeeding generations.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: A quick read. Lest we forget.

#11 The Good Sister

The Good Sister
By Chelsea Bolan

An interesting novel about a Mexican family who run a bar/restaurant on the Baja for foreign tourists. The family comes from Mexico City to the Baja to get away from the city, and become successful. However, success soon unravels as the father alienates four out of his five children, as well as his wife due to serial affairs during their marriage. The youngest daughter is banned from the family home after she is raped by her brother-in-law, and the older sister defies her father to look for her.

Interesting, as it looks at life in a resort town through the eyes of the local people, the hardships of life in Mexico City, prostitution, and what Mexicans will do to get into the U.S.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27169764-the-good-sister

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: A decent read. A positive ending, about forgiveness.

#10 Republic of Dirt

#9 The Wangs vs. the World

The Wangs vs. the World
By Jade Chang

This was a fun read. Very intelligent writing, looking at the lives of a Chinese immigrant family in the U.S. It talks about identity, how identities change with the first generation, and the downfall of the patriarch of the family who loses the millions he made in his cosmetics company through bad business decisions and the crash of 2008.

Very readable, though nothing particularly special.

Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: Sure, why not.

In a somewhat similar genre are the books, "Crazy Rich Asians" and "China Rich Girlfriend". These two novels are about the lives of nouveau ultra-rich Asian families from China, Singapore and Malaysia. A third book in the series has just been published, "Rich People Problems". These books read like fantasy fiction, but I'm sure there is a lot of reality in the way these ultra-rich people live, and that what was interesting for me: how they think about money and spend it: the shopping, the houses, the cars, the decor, the handbags, the jewelry, the family ties, old and new money, etc. Fantastical, yet undoubtedly many shades of reality.

Recommended:
Crazy Rich Asians
China Rich Girlfriend

Some Non-Fiction

100 Million Years of Food
By Stephen Le

An interesting concept, but I just skimmed through the main ideas of this one, and read the final chapter.

Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast
By Ken Forkish

A nice look at the basics of bread making, including yeast and sourdough cultured methods.

#8 The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy
by Rachel Joyce

Very readable and well written, interesting contrasting sections, between the present and past, finally bringing the book to a startling ending on the very last page! The sections are short, keep you reading and the plot moving forward. I think the portrayal Queenie's last days, as she is dying of cancer in a hospice are particularly well done.

However, I think the book should be renamed, "The Final Confession of Miss Queenie Hennessy." The story looks back to the time twenty years earlier, when Queenie was in love with a married man for the four years that they worked together. Forbidden love, that's the only love in the story, and she never got over it. Her memories of those years lead up to her final confession, in the last days of her life, when she finally admits to herself how much she hurt the man she "loved" from afar and his family. Her lies and deceit, not just to do with her love of this man, are the burden she bears for the rest of her life. The end of the book, in my mind, is the final retribution for a woman who's actions were so destructive. Though the book is very well written, I didn't like the main character at all, or the "love" story.

The book is a parallel narrative to the author's first book, "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry", and the action takes place when Harold Fry is walking from south England to the north to see Queenie. He asks her to wait until he gets there, and this becomes a theme in the hospice.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Most reviews of the book are positive. Well written. Sure, read it, but read "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" first, or read both at the same time…….