Mini-Reviews: Reading, Between Shades of Gray and Thunderstruck

How Reading Changed My Life
by Anna Quindlen
★★★★★

Those of us who have read since childhood understand that there are certain books that will always hold a nostalgic appeal for you. Those novels that you read over and over again before you worried about critics’ reviews, literary merit, etc. For me it was Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, Howliday Inn, The Mystery of the Cupboard, The Westing Game and Matilda, along with a few others. My grade school days were filled with those pages and I never tired of reading them. Later I went on to explore classics, mysteries, nonfiction, fantasy and so much more. Each new genre opened a world to me as I discovered the places it could take me.

Quindlen’s book is an ode to the joy of reading. She talks about reading as an escape or just for the pleasure of it. I never tire of hearing why others love reading as much as I do. It makes me feel connected to them in a powerful way.

BOTTOM LINE: The slim volume is a joy to read and the end is filled with lists of books to read, which is always a treat!

Between Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys
★★★★

When it comes to World War II books, both fiction and nonfiction, Hitler and Western Europe tend to get the majority of the attention. In recent years my knowledge has been widened to the WWII happenings in the Pacific and Russia through books like Unbroken and City of Thieves. This book delves into Lithuania’s role in the war, which is new ground for me.

Lina is a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl living a peaceful life in 1941 until the day she and the rest of her family are taken away by Soviet officers to a remote work camp in Siberia. Separated from her father, Lina tries to survive with her mother and younger brother despite their awful circumstances. Between a horrific ride in a cramped train car and the subzero environment of the camps, the three are hanging on by a thread.

Lina is an incredible heroine, both strong and vulnerable. Her relationship with one fellow Latvian prisoner was realistic in so many ways. This is not a cheerful book, but it’s an important look into the terror that Stalin reign inflicted upon the world.

Like all war stories, the most incredible aspects of the plot are those based on fact. Sepetys decided to write the book after traveling to Lithuania to meet her ancestors and hearing about the oppressive Soviet rule that held the entire country captive for decades. She knew nothing about it before her trip and she couldn’t believe that the country was still trying to hush it up.
 
“The eternal grayness in camp became a shade darker.”

BOTTOM LINE: A powerful story of WWII. The descriptions of war life are a bit graphic at times and it’s an intense read, but one that’s worth picking up.

Thunderstruck
by Erik Larson
★★★★

Just as he did in The Devil in the White City, Larson blends the nonfiction story of a murder with the relevant scientific or cultural events happening at the time. When Belle Elmore mysteriously moves to America and then passes away, her friends and family members are more than suspicious. Her husband, Hawley Herbert Crippen, becomes the focus of the inquisition, but just as soon as the police focus their attention on him he disappears. Guglielmo Marconi’s timely invention of the wireless telegraph comes into play when the captain of the SS Montrose recognizes the fugitive aboard his ship.

I’m always intrigued by Larson’s books. He finds murders and happenings that might not be well-known but that are thrilling. I would say that this one is much slower than Devil, but it’s still interesting. A murder mystery and the political world of invention are intertwined in an amazing way. I often forget that advances in technology can affect our lives in unexpected ways.
 
BOTTOM LINE: If you loved Devil in the White City then don’t miss this one. In my opinion it’s not quite as enthralling, but I still love the mix of education and murder mystery.

Mini Reviews: Pairing Books with Movies 2

The God of Small Things 

by Arundhati Roy

★★☆



I really wanted to like this one. In fact, when I started the book and it was incredibly slow going, I decided that no matter what, I was sticking with it to the end. At times it felt like I was trying to run on a beach, the faster I tried to read the more exhausting it was. The book is set in India and tells the story of a set of twins, one male, one female and their complicated family.



My problem with the book lies mainly with the structure. It jumps back and forth in the timeline with no real warning. First we learn about the twins as adults, then as kids, then about their mother’s life as a young woman, then about her relative’s childhood, etc. It’s hard to follow where you’re at in the tale and whose story is being told if you have to pick it up and put it down a lot. 


The names made it more difficult as well, though that’s not the author’s fault. I wasn’t sure whether some of the names, like Aleyooty Ammachi, Velutha and Estha, were masculine or feminine at first. I figured it out quickly, but it was one more element to juggle. 


The novel feels incredibly ambitious. It deals with India’s political climate, the caste system, cultural and ethical taboos, molestation, religion, family dynamics, incest, guilt. I feel like it might have been more powerful if the story was a bit more focused on a smaller number of issues. 



I will say that my favorite part of the book was the descriptive passages. The author has a beautiful way of phrasing things….



“Margaret Kochmma’s tiny ordered life relinquished itself to this truly baroque bedlam with the quiet gap of warm body entering a chilly sea.”



…but that beauty wasn’t enough to make it work for me. I’d love to hear someone’s opinion on this one that’s familiar with Indian culture. I wonder if some aspects would have worked better for me if I knew the culture better.

Pair with a viewing of Monsoon Wedding


Black and Blue 

by Anna Quindlen

★★★☆



Fran has been the victim of domestic abuse for years. She’s built a life around the lies she tells her family and friends when a new bruise appears. Her husband, a New York cop, intimidates and threatens her into feeling helpless. 



Finally, she’s had enough and decides to take her young son and leave. With a new identity and very little else, she starts a new life in Florida. But even a new home and friends doesn’t help her shake the constant feeling of fear she’s grown to live with. Every new stranger talking to her son is suspicious and each wrong number leaves her shaking. 



I don’t know why, but I always seem to lump this author into the same group as Jodi Picoult, Anne Tyler and Anita Shreve. I don’t read much from any of those authors, so I tend to confuse them. I think I enjoy Quindlen more than the rest, but I’ve only read a few things by her. 



This book made me feel so grateful for the men in my life. My husband, father, brother, etc. are all wonderful men and I have never ever had to live with the fear of being hit. I think it’s easy for people who have never been abused, like me, to wonder why the women stay or go back to the men. This book helped give me a better understanding of their point-of-view and how hopeless those situations can feel. Quindlen did a great job portraying this without painting Fran as only a victim. 



I won’t give anything away about the ending, except to say it really surprised me. I was expecting something much more predictable and instead I think it was much more realistic.

Pair with a viewing of Enough and Sleeping with the Enemy