Thursday, April 24, 2014

Patty Pick for 4/24/14 is "Heft" by Liz Moore


Liz Moore has written a very thought-provoking book. It touches 
on a few social issues that are prevalent on our society. You have 
to love these characters even with their faults. Don't we all have  some?

Kel Keller is an 18-year-old on the brink of baseball stardom. 
His father left the family when he was small but his mother 
has gotten him into the best high school in the area and he 
is an athletic superstar. Kel's mother, Charlene, is an alcoholic who 
is trying to make the best life for her son. She is struggling to say the least. 

Arthur Opp is a wealthy former professor who taught Charlene 
in a class years earlier, had a friendship with Charlene and has 
maintained an on-again, off-again writing relationship with her since. 
Arthur weighs 550 pounds and has not left his home in years. He looks forward to any contact with Charlene. 

How these people intersect and touch each others lives will keep 
you reading until the last page. The story is well written, you 
can envision this people. You must read this to find out how their 
lives intersect!


























Thursday, April 17, 2014

Patty Pick for 4/17/14 is "What Alice Forgot" by Liane Moriarty




I really enjoyed "The Husband's Secret" by Liane Moriarty and have been looking forward to reading more of her books. She develops some very interesting story lines. "What Alice Forgot" delivers another. This book starts 
with another discovery as Alice falls off her spin bike at the gym and hits her head. It is soon discovered that she has lost the memory of her last 10 years of life. She goes on to discover that maybe she has changed more than she realizes in just 10 years. 
Alice wakes up and remembers being pregnant with her first child with the love of her life, her husband Nick. She and her husband are working on their first home, doing major renovations as they can afford them. What she finds out is quite the different story. Alice and Nick are getting a divorce and she has three lovely and intense children. 
This is a story about a woman that might not want to remember the last decade of her life. Will she ever get her memory back? As all the normal and exciting family interactions happen around her, she has to decide. What would you choose? Read this book to find out what Alice chooses!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Patty Pick for 4/10 is "The Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline


Orphan TrainThis is a story about a part of our national history that I was unaware of. We shipped orphans out west in the late 1800's to find new homes and it seems we did not do too good a job at monitoring  them or picking new homes for them.


Vivian confronts all life can throw at a person and comes thru to find friendship and family in the end. She begins our tale with a typical Irish family passage to New York from Ireland to find a better life. She is told her family perishes in a fire except for her mother who has been sent to an insane asylum. Vivian is sent to an orphanage that ships her out west to be adopted in exchange for working for the family who will feed and care for her. She meets a fellow orphan named Dutchy who helps her during the trip. 

Her name is changed several times along the way and she meets with misfortune. When the Great Depression hits, her life is turned inside out and she is sent to an even more dreadful situation.  Eventually she reaches a good and caring family and she blossoms. 

We are slowly told this story via Vivian's retelling of it when she is 90 years old to a teenager, Molly, who is doing community service at her house. Vivian unfurls her story in bits and starts. Their connection and what happens to them both next will engage you and keep you reading to find out more.  

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Patty Pick for 4/3/14 is "Calling me Home± for Julie Kibler



Julie Kibler's "Calling me Home" is a thoughtful and engrossing novel about 
a wonderful friendship between two very different women. Each woman was effected and shaped by their time in history. The two woman meet and grow into good friends even though one is a older white woman and the other is a younger black woman. 
Miss Isabelle is a 90-year-old white woman who chooses Dorrie to be her hair stylist by chance one day and they develop a special friendship. Dorrie is a 30-something black hair stylist struggling to support her family and deal with her life. As we meet Miss Isabelle and Dorrie it is present day and they have what appears on the surface as a strange friendship. 
One day Miss Isabelle asks Dorrie for a favor. She wants Dorrie to drive her to a special event in another state. Dorrie, kind heart that she is, agrees. As we ride along with them on their trip, Miss Isabelle relates her life story to Dorrie and the true reason for the trip is revealed. Even though Dorrie has her own struggles with her son and new boyfriend, she finishes the trip for her friend and they grow closer as they travel to Ohio. Miss Isabelle proves herself a good sounding board.
This is more than a friendship story. It is also a love story but reads like a thriller part of the time. I don't want to give away the secrets but you need to read this for yourself. Can't wait to read other novels by Julie Kibler.