Books, February, 2016 – July, 2016

The Lion in the Lei Shop, by Kaye Starbird.  This novel is one of Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust favorites, and it features an introduction by Nancy Pearl.  I had heard of it from one of her NPR radio broadcasts but put it off until the price came down.  The book tells about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor from the perspective of the Army wives and children living in Hawaii at the time.  It particularly focuses on a mother and her five-year-old daughter and their memories of that time, but written years later looking back at how it all seemed to them as the events unfolded.  This is a really good book with rich insights from both the mother and the daughter.  Highly recommended.   

Life and Other Near-Death Experiences, by Camille Pagan.   A young woman is given a Cancer diagnosis on the same day her husband gives her the news he is gay.  So, of course, she freaks out, quits her job, and escapes to a Caribbean island where she meets a handsome pilot.  I thought it was going to be a book about self-examination in the face of life-changing events.  It sort of is, but it is also a romance novel.  Okay, but not as good as it could have been. 

The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.  This is a novel about the experiences of two French sisters during the WWII German occupation of France and how they each coped with their anger and the violence and deprivation of that period.  It is an excellent book; highly recommended. 

The Distant Land of my Father:  A Novel of Shanghai, by Bo Caldwell.  The story begins when the main character, Anna, is five years old and living in Shanghai with her parents.  When the Japanese attacked Shanghai in the 1930s, she and her mother return to Los Angeles to escape the Japanese occupation, but her father remains in Shanghai, despite the danger.  The book follows her and her father’s lives as they struggle through the intervening years of mostly separation until the 1960s.  Very interesting; I enjoyed it.  

Agnes Gray, by Anne Bronte.  A poor young woman becomes a governess to help her struggling family and discovers that rich people are oblivious to the feelings of their servants.  How many versions of this same story were written back in the 19^th century?  Oh, well, it was free. 

Deep Summer:  Book One of Plantation Trilogy, by Gwen Bristow.  This first book of the Plantation Trilogy tells of the beginning of a family dynasty with the building of a Louisiana plantation between the late 1700s (before the American Revolution) and 1810.  It is interesting to note the changing view of the slaveholders from one generation to the next.  It is not a deep classic but is an enjoyable story.  I look forward to reading the second book. 

1930:  Book Three (1929 Series), by M. L. Gardner.  So much drama, so little substance.  This is the third book in the 1929 series.  I skipped the second book and went on to this one.  I won’t be reading any more of them.  The characters are likeable, but the story goes from one unlikely crisis to the next.  Enough said. 

American Dreams (The Crown Family Saga Book 2), by John Jakes.  I liked this book better than the first one, which was too much about war.  This second in the series is about the younger generation as they make their way into their various careers in the early 1900s.  Great characters, and lots of insight into auto racing, flying, and movie making in that era.  Recommend.     

The American Falls, by Michael Zagst.  I vaguely knew of Michael Zagst long ago but had never read any of his books.  So when I saw this one being touted, I thought I’d try it.  Sorry, to say I consider it very mediocre.  Enough said.

The Young Lions (Open Road), by Irwin Shaw.   What a long book!  And upsetting!  I love long books, but this one is also so upsetting that it was difficult for me to digest.  It is about the experiences of three men in World War II, two Americans and one German.  It also brought in two American women but did not follow through with them, which was disappointing.  There are terrible scenes of war and inhumanity.  I do not recommend this book, even though it won some important prizes when it was written in the late 1940s.  Yet, it does seem to be an important book from that time.  I’m afraid I just didn’t have the stomach for it.  I have read quite a few books from WWII, but this one went too far for my delicate sensibilities. 

The Keepers of the House, by Shirley Ann Grau.  In this novel, the woman who has inherited her old southern plantation house from her grandfather.  The first part of the book tells some of the history of the home and about her grandfather’s life.  The rest of the book tells her story and the repercussions of her grandfather’s second family with a black woman.  Interesting tale about the South of the 1050s. 

The Four Streets (The Four Streets Trilogy), by Nadiene Dorries.   This is the first book in a trilogy about people from Ireland living in Liverpool in the 1950s.  They are all poor and live in an all Irish-Catholic neighborhood, where the Parish Priest is all powerful.  It contains a bit of woo-woo but is okay.  I won’t be reading any of the other books in the trilogy.

The Eagle Tree, by Ned Hayes.  I enjoyed a lot of this little novel because it is set in Olympia, WA, and refers to places and events that are real.  It is about an autistic boy who is obsessed with trees, particularly an old growth tree dubbed “The Eagle Tree” which is threatened by new development of a housing project.  There is a bit too much detail about trees and about climate change, and I skipped over those parts.  The most interesting aspect of the book is the insight it gives into the thought patterns and problems of the autistic boy.  Recommend to those interested in Olympia and in autism. 

The Handsome Road (Plantation Trilogy, Book Two), By Gwen Bristow.  This is the second book about people on a plantation in Louisiana.  It takes place in the time leading up to the Civil War through the aftermath and Reconstruction, and follows both rich and poor of the generation following the characters of the first book.  I like these two books, one more to go in the trilogy.

The Eternal Wonder:  A Novel, by Pearl S. Buck.  I have always enjoyed books by Pearl Buck, and this one lives up to her reputation.  It was her last book and disappeared for about 30 years after her death.  When it turned up a few years ago, her son edited it while keeping her style and story intact.  This one is about a young man who remembers everything that has ever happened in his life, and he makes good use of this gift.  He is a likeable character and the story is charming.  I recommend this one for fans of Pearl Buck. 

Pillar of the Sky, by Cecelia Holland.  This is a very long historical novel exploring a possible scenario for the creation of Stonehenge.  Tedious at times, and did I say very long?  I stayed with it but not all at the same time.  I left it a couple of times to read something else for a break.  I’d say this book is interesting about the possible lives and living conditions of prehistoric people and their expansion of knowledge as they travel into new territories with new people.  Not sure I’m ready to tackle another one by this author for a while.