Three incredibly short reviews

 The last three books that I have read weren't up to my level of expectations for my reading, thus the short reviews.  I need to head to the library for something good to read!

1) If You Tell by Gregg Olsen: the very disturbing true story of a really deranged, mentally ill mother and the amazing resilience of her three daughters.  I know mental illness, but this woman took it to a whole other level in terms of her cruelty to others.  Pretty hard to read.

2) Dear Life by Alice Munro.  This was a book club read and is a book of short stories.  I don't like short stories so it was tough for me to get through.  However, Ms. Munro's writing is brilliant.  So if you like short stories, I would recommend it to you!

3) Old Lovegood Girls by Gail Goodwin. I hadn't read any of Goodwin's books for years but had liked them so I checked this out from the library. It was a good story about 2 college roommates (for only one semester) who would touch base every few years with each other.  However, the writing seemed chopped up to me and just didn't flow well. It was disappointing.

Jack

 For those of you who have never read Gilead or Home by Marilyn Robinson, I strongly urge you to read them (in that order).  They are beautiful books of family,  love, and acceptance.  Her new book, Jack, tells the back-story of John Ames Boughton, the son of a beloved preacher, who was always a bit of a black sheep in the family, although his father always understood, forgave and loved Jack.

I found Jack to be rather slow and hard to get into at first and if I hadn't read the two above named books, I'm not sure I would have stayed with it.  I'm very glad that I did stay with it.  In the end, there was grace.

The story is about Jack and Miss Della Miles in the 1940's in St. Louis. Jack was living pretty much the life of a bum-sleeping in a flophouse, unemployed and often drunk.  Miss Della Miles was a black schoolteacher living in St. Louis.  One day Jack came across Della walking in the rain and he offered his umbrella and walked her home. And when they got to her home she invited him in for some tea.  And Jack fell in love.  One night they went to dinner together and Jack abruptly left the diner, leaving Della alone.  She was quite upset and when he came around later that evening, they bickered and laughed and talked.  And Jack agreed to leave her alone.  However, a year later they ran into each other in a locked-for-the-night cemetery and the relationship began anew despite all of the problems they knew they would encounter being a racially mixed couple in St. Louis.

Looking back, this is really a beautifully written book.  I already look forward to visiting it again sometime!

A Little Life

 I kept seeing posts about A Little Life and finally decided to read it.  Thank goodness I did!  This is one of the best books I have ever read!  

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is 814 pages.  Definitely not a short nor quick read.  But it seemed that every page was worthwhile. 

A Little Life is about four young men who meet and become best friends while attending college.  The first half of the book (roughly) told about both the backstory and the present story of three of the friends.  Their lives centered around the fourth classmate, Jude, a brilliant man, who reported that he had no family, yet was deeply scarred by his childhood.  Following college, all four of the men moved to New York. Over the decades their friendships continue with each other as they navigate addictions, successes, failures, marriages, affairs, etc.

The second half of the book begins to go deeper into Jude's life.

Suffice to say, this book is absolutely devastating.  It is also fascinating, a wonderful tribute to love and loyalty.  This book may stay with me all my life.  I know that I will re-read it at some point.