Thursday Book Reviews

 

Title: Another Piece of My Heart

Author: Jane Green

Genre: Fiction

 

I read and listen to so many tween and teen books that when a friend gave me this book I was excited at the possibility of reading a real adult fiction book. However, after reading the summary on the inside cover and the first few chapters, the book became predictable. I felt like I knew what was going to happen and IT DID! The other librarian and I discussed it later how we have high hopes for these well-known authors that are often not fulfilled. In this case, I had never read Jane Green but knew how popular her older books were. I was excited to give the author and book a chance but was immediately disappointed. There were some spelling errors as well, which have really been driving me nuts. Isn't that what editors are for?

The premise of the book starts with Andi who marries later in life to a man, Ethan, whom she thinks will fulfill her dreams for the future...a loving marriage and children. He already comes with two children, one who adores Andi, Sophia, and the other, Emily, who hates her. Andi welcomes his daughters into her life and tries to love them like her own children. A few years into the marriange Andi learns that she and Ethan will probably never have children of her own. Ethan encourages her to be grateful for the children that she does have, even if they are not her own. As the story progresses, Emily becomes an unbearable teen. She drinks and does drugs. She treats Andi with disrepect and constant arguring persists because Emily is jealous of Andi and her marriage to Ethan. Andi is ready to give up since Ethan never seems to step in to alleviate the situation but just when she is ready to step away from her marriage, life presents both Andi and Emily with an important choice. A choice that becomes a blessing for both women but not without some pain in the process.

The story is not terrible but I definitely did find it predictable. I did want to keep reading even though I had figured out what would happen early on. It is one of those easy reads that I crave during the summer. A beach read that could easily be read in a day. I think I'm very critical and that most readers would find this book engaging. There is definitely a fair share of drama. I would recommend this book to most of my friends. I sent it to my sister to read next. It would probably make a good book club choice because there are lots of points to discuss. It just wasn't for me but there are so many books that are that I don't mind one bit.    

 

    

Title: The Glass Castle

Author: Jeannette Walls

Genre: Memoir

 

The Glass Castle was our book club pick for April and I was excited to read it because I know how much it circulates at the Library.  From the minute I started listening to it, I was asking myself questions...how could anyone allow their children to live like this, why didn't anyone ever help these children, what were going through these parents minds?  On and on the questions came, which will make for good discussion at book club I expect.

 

The Glass Castle is Jeanette Walls memoir; she was an MSNBC contributor.  She is an excellent writer and does an amazing job of telling the story of her childhood.  The daughter of dreamer parents, an alcoholic father who would rather spend his paycheck on booze or gambling and a mother more intent on painting and art then taking care of her children, Jeanette is able to survive her childhood and become a self-sustaining adult at a very young age.

 

It was shocking to read about how they lived at times but how the children really never seemed too unhappy.  The story opens with Jeannette burning herself severely while she cooks hot dogs. She was three years old!  This is the first glimpse that we see of the child-rearing styles of both of her parents.  Throughout her childhood, we see some ultimate lows and highs of the Walls family and how the siblings perservere together and vow to always take care of each other.

 

This is on many teen reading lists and it made me extremely grateful for the childhood that I was blessed to have.  I never went hungry.  There weren't bugs crawling up my bedroom walls everynight.  I didn't wake up to rats in my bed.  What is sad though, is that Jeannette's parents has the means to not leave like this but for whatever reasons, they chose this lifestyle and made it work/not work.  Through it all, Jeanette and her siblings, were able to move on and make a life for themselves in New York City.

 

This is a great book!  I would definitely recommend it to my teens, other books clubs and my friends and family.  I can't wait to discuss it at book club in a few weeks.