The Last Anniversary and Three Wishes

The Last Anniversary 
by Liane Moriarty 
★★★★

Moriatry crafts novels that suck you in immediately. The timeline and family tree in this one are a little trickier to follow than her others, but I read it in one weekend and that helped me keep everything straight. 

The Gordon family has lived on a small island in Australia for years. A mystery involving a vanished family and abandoned baby has haunted the shores for decades. When Connie, one of the eldest members of the family passes away, she unexpectedly leaves her home to her grandson’s ex-girlfriend Sophie. The odd choice baffles the family, but soon Sophie steps into her ready-made life on the island. She meets Connie’s whimsical sister Rose, Enigma, the mystery baby and her adult daughters: Margie and Laura. The grandkids, Grace, Thomas, and Veronica are all adults as well. Each one adds a unique twist to the story. 

Grace’s story was powerful because it gave such an intimate look at post-partum depression, something so few people understand. I also loved seeing Margie’s transformation. Standing up for yourself after years of being put down is incredibly difficult. The big twist/reveals weren’t as shocking as some of her other novels, like Big Little Lies (link), but that didn’t matter. I just enjoy the worlds she creates too much to care. 

BOTTOM LINE: The magic of the island is infectious. You want to visit it and be swept away by the mystery of it all. It’s not my favorite Moriarty novel. It definitely feels like an earlier work, but that just means she’s getting better with each book and I have even more great novels to look forward to.

Three Wishes

by Liane Moriarty 

★★★☆ 

Gemma, Cat, and Lyn are triplets. In the opening pages they are celebrating their birthdays at a posh Sydney restaurant and we see the meal unfold through the eyes of other patrons. Gemma is a wild spirit, the dreamy, untethered sister. Cat is the strong, brash one. Lyn is the organized, uptight one. The three are so close, yet so wildly different. The trio makes up a pretty exclusive club, yet they don’t tell each other some of the biggest secrets in their lives.

Starting with the opening scene, there are short chapters sprinkled in from the random points of view of people whose paths crossed with the girls in some fleeting way. It was an interesting chance to see them from the point of view of an outsider. The style reminded me a bit of the way Moriarty used the police interviews to break up the story in Big Little Lies (though I think the technique worked better in that novel).

  

One of the things I love about Moriarty's books is the way she portrays women. They are complicated. They can be jealous, selfless, kind, furious, and more without being labels a "good" or "bad" character. In other words, they are like real women. Her men tend to be a little more one-dimensional, either they are bad guys or they are long-suffering supportive husbands. That's not always true, but it seems like more often than not they fall into one group or the other. The women though don't have nearly the same defined motivations and I love that. Each of the sisters comes across as flawed and vulnerable in different ways.

BOTTOM LINE: I love Moriarty's books. This is my least favorite so far though and I would recommend picking it up after you've already read The Husband's Secret and Big Little Lies.

2014 End of the Year Book Survey

I can't believe it's almost 2015! Of course that means it's the perfect time to take a bookish survey. I love these because they make me think about all the books I've read over the past 12 months. It makes me really consider which ones I loved and why. I love remembering favorites from the beginning of the year that I may have forgotten. Any books I re-read this year are not eligible for this list. I also don’t limit myself to one book per answer if there’s two or three that really fit perfectly.   

Number of books read in 2014: 151 

1. Best Book You Read In 2014? (by genre)  
Classics — The Painted Veil, An American Tragedy, and Doctor Thorne 
Historical Fiction — Doc 
Mystery — Big Little Lies, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Strong Poison 
Literary Fiction — The Lotus Eaters, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, The Dinner, and The Interestings 
Nonfiction — At Home, By the Book, and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage 
Fantasy — Tooth and Claw 
Science Fiction — William Shakespeare's Star Wars 
YA — Emily of New Moon and The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Graphic Novel — Blankets and Wonderstruck 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?  
Life After  Life by Kate Atkinson, I loved her novel Case Histories and there was a lot of hype around this one, but it just didn’t work for me. 

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2014? 
The Husband's Secret, I thought it was going to be chick lit fluff but it was fantastic!  

4. Book you read in 2014 that you recommended to people most in 2014? 
Big Little Lies and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage 

5. Best series you discovered in 2014? 
Fables by Bill Willingham, a brilliant graphic novel series! 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?  
Liane Moriarty 

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you? 
Lean In, it falls in the self-help category in my mind, which is a genre I don’t read, but I got a lot out of it.  

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2014? 
The Husband’s Secret 

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read? 
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, as soon as I finished my library copy I knew it was one I would need to own. There were so many essays I know I’ll reference in the future. 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014? (Left)

11. Most memorable character in 2014? 
Don Quixote 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014? 
Doc and The Lotus Eaters were both gorgeous! 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2014? 
American Tragedy, such a haunting story about the double-edged sword of the American Dream. 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? It, King's epic coming-of-age story is just as scary as everyone told me it would be.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014? 

“Don’t you think this is why education in the arts is so powerful? Rhythm and harmony find their way to the inner part of the soul and establish themselves there, bringing grace to the well-educated.” - Plato’s Republic 

“These people who can see right through you never quite do you justice, because they never give you credit for the effort you're making to be better than you actually are, which is difficult and well meant and deserving of some little notice.” – Gilead 

“Home," he said softly. "If there is a more beautiful word in any language, I do not know it.” – Doc 

“Sometimes love does not have the most honorable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It’s everything in between we live for." – This is the Story of a Happy Marriage 

“The possibility of time going on, her memories growing dim, the photographs of the battles turning from life into history, terrified her.” – The Lotus Eaters 

“America has been erased like a blackboard, only to be rebuilt and then erased again." – Shoeless Joe 

16.Shortest and Longest Book You Read In 2014? 
The Last Chronicle of Barset: 1,003 pages (or really the whole Chronicles of Barsetshire: 3,875 pages!)
Six Characters in Search of an Author (a play): 64 pages 

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It?   
Big Little Lies, that ending!!! 

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2014 (be it romantic, friendship, etc). 
Frank and Mary’s romance from Doctor Thorne in the romance category and Edgar and his dog Almondine had one of the sweetest friendships I’ve ever read in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously?
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley, the sixth book in the Flavia de Luce series. 

20. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY on a Recommendation From Somebody Else: 
Dune, my Dad has been recommending it for years and I finally read it. It wasn't my favorite new book, but I felt like I got to know his interests better through reading it.

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2014? 
Classics and Literary Fiction 

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014? 
It was a re-read but Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey 

23. Best debut book you read? 
The Invisible Bridge, the author had published short story collections but this was her first novel. 

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2014? 
Tooth and Claw, Victorian era dragons, I loved it! 

25. Book That Was the Most Fun To Read in 2014? 
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars and The Empire Striketh Back 

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, geez that one had me reeling. Also the final scene in 11/22/63 had me a bit teared up.

27. Book You Read in 2014 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out? 
A Week in Winter, it’s nothing earth shattering, but it was the very last book published by Maeve Binchy (posthumously) and it was lovely. 

28. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? 
I finished the TBR Pile Challenge, the Back to the Classics Challenge also put a big dent in my Classics Club list! 

29. Bookish Events on your blog in 2014? 
I co-hosted a massive readalong of all six books in the Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope. I started the Shakespeare Project where I keep track of the Shakespeare books I read, plays I see, and movies I watch. I updated all of my Reading the States posts with new books. I also continue to be one of the moderators of the Classics Club blog and update their site weekly. 

30. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2014?
Germinal by Zola (*hangs head in shame*) 

31. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2014 (non-debut)?  
I can’t wait to read Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper and The Spindle and Erik Larson’s new one, Dead Wake. 

32. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2014? 
This year I FINALLY created an alphabetized review index, perhaps the most monstrous undertaking thus far for this blog. I really want to finish adding in all of those book reviews and I have a couple years worth to go still. 

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IX

Each fall Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings hosts the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge (R.I.P.) I always save up fun mysteries, detective stories or thrillers for September and October to participate. This year I completed the Peril the First challenge, four books. Here's my reviews... 

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty 

BrokenHarbor by Tana French

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Previous R.I.P. Challenges:
R.I.P. Challenge VIII
R.I.P. Challenge VII
R.I.P. Challenge VI
 

Big Little Lies

 

Big Little Lies

by Liane Moriarty

★★★★★

 

I’m officially a huge fan of Moriarty. She has an incredible skill for introducing friendly, women who seem like people you know, building up their lives and then taking a sharp turn into the unexpected. Despite the sweet friendships that sit at the core of the story, the book deals with some very serious and real problems, yet it reads like a mystery you can’t put down.

 

From the first pages we know that the police are trying to solve a murder case. Then we skip back in time to months before the fateful night of the crime. Sprinkled throughout are interviews with witnesses and suspects, adding layers of depth to the plot. We touch on topics as diverse as bullying, financial status, blended families, domestic violence, and more. The book explores the social dynamics and pitfalls of elementary schools’ hierarchy and the personal lives of some of the mothers of students.

 

Madeline, Celeste, and Jane are all mothers of children in the same kindergarten class. Jane is new to town, a quiet single mother who is overwhelmed by it all. Madeline is the brash center-of-attention who, though well-meaning, tends to stir up trouble wherever she goes. Celeste is the gorgeous wife of a wealthy financier. Each woman has a much more complicated life than what first appears to be happening on the surface.

 

BOTTOM LINE: A big book, but a fast engaging read. The author makes the characters come alive. She can deal with dark subject matter without making the whole book feel dark. She manages to hit a delicate balance between gravity and readability. I couldn’t put it down and I will be reading whatever she writes next.

 

 

*Read as part of the R.I.P. Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.