The Notebook and 84 Charing Cross Road

 I finished and read The Notebook and 84 Charing Cross Road in the last three days. I was actually just using up my reading time until a new book arrives today.

So, let's discuss The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.  I had watched the movie several years ago and loved it, including sobbing at the end. It's a really good, well-done movie.  So I thought I should read the book and I was terribly disappointed in the book.  I don't know how it ever got the acclaim that it did.  I thought it was poorly written, and had a less than stellar ending. At least it was a quick read.

I read 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff yesterday.  It's a very small, charming little book of letters between the author and what I pictured as a quaint little used book store in London.  Helene lived in New York City and came across an ad for the store. She began a correspondence ordering books from the store in 1949, primarily dealing with Frank, but also over the years various other employees, and with Fred's wife.  The letters (at least in the book) ended in 1969, a few months following the unexpected death of Frank. In their letters, they shared their love of books and really had a twenty-year friendship develop.  I noticed that the book was dedicated to Frank, which was sweet.

2 more books: The Shadows We Hide and The Book of Angels

 In 2014, I read The Life We Bury by Allen Eskins.  I blogged about it on the 19th of November 2014. I didn't realize that the author had written a second book in 2018 with the same main character.  I was excited to earn this and to go get the book and read it! The second book is The Shadows We Hide.  Both books are mysteries with the main character being Joe Talbert.

In The Shadows We Hide, Joe Talbert gets a lead on his father, who had left his mother before Joe was born and never returned to meet his child.  However, the lead was an obituary for the man. Because the deceased man's name was also Joe Talbert, it appeared that this was his father.  Joe headed to the town where the man had lived, and there he found all kinds of mysteries going on! First, was this his father? Who killed him and why? Does he really have a half-sister? And these are just a few of the things that Joe was trying to learn.

I love the author's writing.  His writing is very easy to read, the characters are well-developed, and the stories are worth reading!

The other book that I just finished is The Book of Angels by Sophy Burnham. It was an interesting read, although I ended up skimming some of it. I did enjoy the stories that people shared about their experiences with angels!

2 books-Commonwealth & A Sorrow Shared

 I had Commonwealth by Ann Patchett sitting on my TBR pile for a long time. I finally picked it up to read and really liked it!

Commonwealth spans fifty years.  It's about two families that have their lives turned upside down when the mother of one family left and married the father of the second family.  So then there were four parents and six children trying to work out how their lives together would work.  Fast forward about twenty years and one of the children became involved with a well-known author. After she told him stories about her family, he wrote a book using their stories.  The book became a bestseller and the children (all adults by then), along with the parents had to face just what their lives were and the things that they had done.

It was a very interesting book.  It stayed with me. 

A Sorrow Shared by Henri J.M. Nouwen is actually a combined edition of two short pieces that Fr. Nouwen wrote after the death of his mother. In Memoriam was written shortly after his mother had died in 1978 describes his feelings about being with his father and his siblings as they sat and waited for their mother's death. 

I would guess that most people my age have gone through the journey of their mother's deaths. I did find this book comforting.

"Yet by letting her go, I did not lose her. Rather, I found that she is closer to me than ever."

A Letter of Consolation is a bit longer than Memoriam.  Fr. Nouwen wrote it to his father about six months after the death of Fr. Nouwen's mother.   I would sum it up with:

"Love is stronger than death."

The Four Winds

 The Four Winds is by author Kristin Hannah. I have read many, if not all, of her books, with The Nightingale being, by far, my favorite. 

The Four Winds begins in 1921 in Texas with the main character, Elsa. Elsa had been ill when she was young, and so her parents never allowed her to do much of anything, including going to school after she turned fourteen. She was told that she was not pretty like her sister and by 1921, she was considered a spinster.  However, one night she began considering her life and what she wanted  She realized that if she didn't do something, she would live and die in her parent's home never knowing what it was like to have her own family.  And she was ready to change all that.

Elsa cut her hair and secretly made a new dress for herself, then one night announced to her parents that she was going to the speakeasy that night.  Her parents forbade it, but she ran off and went.  And there she met a younger man than herself, a good-looking Italian man named Rafe.

By 1934, Elsa had been living with Rafe's parents ever since her and Rafe's quick marriage. The drought had settled over the area and Elsa had to make a decision for her and her children. Elsa decided to leave Texas with her children for California as a part of the Dust Bowl migration, with the promises of jobs and a good life. 

Things aren't always as promised and rough times were ahead for the family.  

The novel is about Elsa's strength and love for family that she never knew she had. It's a rather heartbreaking story, but also one of hope.  It has stayed with me ever since I finished the book.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

 Let me just start off by saying I loved this book! The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab is a lovely read that takes the reader through three hundred years! The author has reported that this book took her ten years to write and after reading it is obvious why.  The novel spans over three hundred years.  It goes back and forth in time, from whatever time Addie was living in, to her time in New York in 2014. The chapters are well-titled so that the reader always knows what year it is. It appears to be thoroughly researched as it goes through the different time periods.  And by the end, it breaks your heart.

Addie was living in a small village in France in 1714 when she is expected to marry a man she does not love. At the last minute, before the wedding begins, Addie ran away, deep into the forest, where she mistakenly called upon the "old gods" to help her.  And there appeared a man that she had always sketched on paper for herself, but had never seen before...the man she believed was meant for her. This "man" made a deal with her. She could live forever, but never be remembered by anyone, nor could she speak her name.  And so began the next three hundred years of Addie's life.

Throughout the three hundred years, Addie would be visited by "Luc" (as she had named the old god) wanting her to surrender to him.  Addie would never agree. 

In 2014, Addie was living in New York City, where she wandered into a bookstore one day and there she met Henry, who remembered her. And eventually, she has to face the decision of her life.

"I remember you."

Beautiful book. 

The Midnight Library

 The Midnight Library by Mark Haig has gotten a lot of reviews and the reviews seem to be from either people who loved the book or readers that thought it was just a nice read.  I fall into the latter. It was an okay read.

It is a story of a woman, Nora Seed, who was not content nor happy with the life she was living. When she found herself in the Midnight Library with the older woman who had been the librarian when Nora was young, she learned that there were many books about the numerous lives she could choose for herself.

So the story goes through Nora picking and living various lives, trying to find the perfect life for her. It was interesting but didn't really move me. 

The Guest List

My reading has been quite sporadic this month.  I had a knee replacement in the middle of this month and thought that I would then have plenty of time for reading. Sadly, that didn't happen. I found it hard to focus on a book. I tried to read two books and gave up on them, but that took away five nights of reading that felt wasted!

You have probably come across references to The Guest List by Lucy Foley. I waited two months to get it from the library! I had/have mixed reactions to the book.  First of all, I thought that it was about discovering who had murdered who. So that threw me off the book for a bit, but I stuck with it.

The story is about a wedding that is happening on an island off of Ireland.  It is a several day event.  The main male characters were schoolmates of the groom.  The female characters were a more diverse group: the bride's sister, the wife of one of the bride's old friends, and the wedding planner who also owned (with her husband) the venue spot and did the catering.

As you can probably imagine, with a group like that, much was happening.  Lots of old secrets revealed, along with some unspoken regrets and grievances.

The author did a wonderful job with character development.  It was easy for the reader to know each character in depth. I really appreciated that each chapter that was narrated by one of the characters had not only the person's name as the title, but also told who the character was in the story. And she did a nice job wrapping the story up at the end.

I have been thinking about the book since I finished it a few days ago.  It's a good read!