Book Review--The Silver Star

The Silver Star is the first novel by Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle. This is the first time I've read Walls and I am impressed!

The novel tells the story of two young-teenage sisters, Bean and Liz. Told from Bean's point of view, we learn about the girls' less than normal upbringing due the erratic nature of their mother. As their mother's mental condition deteriorates the two embark on a cross country trip to find their closest relatives. Once nestled safely in Virginia under the wing of their mother's brother Tinsley, the girls begin to acclimate. Bean discovers  her father's family and they welcome her with open arms. But it's not all rainbows and sunshine, especially once Liz endures a gut-wrenching ordeal which alienates the family from much of the town. The Silver Star shows us the amazing bond only sisters can have and how important it is to hold your family close.

I wasn't 20 pages into the book before I started feeling a connection with both girls. I found myself worrying for them and cheering for them. Plus, Walls does an excellent job of bringing her characters to life. It's a rare book that allows me to envision a character so clearly that I can see their face with no effort and by the novel's conclusion I could see eleven of those faces.

Walls is known for her memoirs but her fiction proves to be well worth the read.

Book Review--The Fatal Shore

I'm just going to come right out and say it: I'm a nerd and I'm a little bit weird. I am. I find one snippet of information interesting and then I have to find out everything I can about it. I've spent hours doing research on random pieces of information so that I can gain a good understanding when there's really no need except my own curiosity.

That being said, at one point I decided I needed to research the treatment of the Australian Aborigines during Australia's founding because of some sentence I came across while doing research for an American art history class.

I told you.

Anyway, while I was researching THAT I learned about this book "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes, which chronicles the colonization of Australia.

Wow! I can't imagine a deeper investigation and history of the beginnings of a country than this one. So many interesting and terrible things went on during this time period and I can only imagine that Hughes touched on them all. The book was incredibly thorough; detailing everything from poverty in England in the 18th century to the harsh conditions of the Australian outback.

Hughes offers a complete picture of the circumstances surrounding the establishment of Australia as a penal colony and its trek into freedom. I would recommend it to anyone who has a deep interest in history.

Book Review--Prague Winter

Photo retrieved from Goodreads

Impressive. Educational. Emotional. Well written. These are the kinds of things that come to mind when I think of Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright.

 Albright. Photo retrieved from Makers

The book details the history of World War II with a special emphasis on the experiences of Czechoslovakia and its citizens because, as it turns out, this is where the author's family is from. Albright's father was in that nations government in exile in London. He personally knew many key political figures of the time so that, through this memoir, the reader is able to grasp not only perhaps the reasoning behind some of the decisions that were made before, during, and after the war, but also the personalities of the men who made them.

Josef Korbel: Photo retrieved from DU Magazine

Jan Masaryk: Photo retrieved from Sunnyside Kitchen

Eduard Benes: Photo retrieved from Wikipedia

Several semesters ago I took a history class on WWII and I learned more in the first 100 pages of this book than I learned in that entire class. I was able to see and understand what the era was like on a personal level. Albright did her research and presents not only a history lessons but an entire world in which to become lost.

Prague: Photo retrieved from The Explorer

Book Review--Allegiant

I finished the final book in Veronica Roth's Divergent series last night and, honestly, I'm torn. I wanted so badly to be in love with this series but it just didn't happen. Divergent was great. It was suspenseful and had great character development and left me wanting more. But somehow the other two books in the series simply didn't have those things, or at least to the extent that I could lose myself in the story. This final installment held me in little to no suspense, even in the times when there should have been a lot of action. There were so many plot holes and it seemed like the author was just trying to find ways to keep the story going. And it's not that I think that what she came up with was bad; just that it needed more revision so that the story was tight knit and made sense when you looked at the whole picture. Because now, looking back on the series, so many things just seem forced. So for those who have read it, what did you think? Did Allegiant meet the expectations that you had for the series?

Book Review--Shopaholic Ties the Knot

I was feeling in the mood for something light and fun so I went to my bookshelves and found this third installation in Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series.

 I had to really think about whether I wanted to give this one a try. I read the first book in the series about six years ago and, more than anything, it stressed me out! But I decided to give this one a try and it actually wasn't nearly as stressful as its predecessor.

Becky Bloomwood has a big heart and bad decision making skills. Combine those with her weakness for anything grand and expensive and it's a recipe for trouble. In this book, Becky's live-in boyfriend Luke proposes. So begins her wedding planning journey.

The trouble comes when Becky's mother begins planning a wedding in her hometown in England, then Luke's mother swiftly begins planning a grand social event of a wedding at the Plaza in New York for the very same day. Determined to say no to her future mother-in-law, Becky can't help herself once she sees the venue and hears the beginning of the plans for what promises to be New York's most talked about wedding of the year.

But cancelling her British wedding means breaking her mother's heart. Soon Becky is embroiled in a dilemma so big it seems she'll never find a solution and the entire thing will end in disaster.

I think the reason I did like this book is because Becky is incredibly likable in it. She's much less selfish than I remember her being and the biggest reasons for her problem in the first place were that she was afraid of hurting anyone she loves.  I'm glad I gave this lovable Shopaholic another chance. I may even read another one some day :)