“When you lose someone, they take a bigger place in your heart, not a smaller one. Every day it grows, because you don't stop loving them. You wish you could talk to them. You need their advice. But life doesn't always give us what we need, and it's difficult.”
The Shoemaker’s Wife is a stunning story, written with such beauty, grace, and love, that it takes your breath away. The author weaves a rich tapestry about the strength of family, work ethic, friendship, and love. Ciro and Ezra grew up in villages just a few miles from each other and yet never met. Ciro and his brother are raised by nuns after their father dies in a mine accident in America and their mother is unable to care for them. Ezra grows up on the mountainside, taking on more responsibility than she is asked, growing up faster than the rest of her siblings. They met only once during a tragic time in Enza’s life. It was a lasting impression on both, however, both were forced by circumstances to leave for America. Neither expected to see each other again.
I was swept up in this book from the very first sentence to the last word! What a strong, focused, loving, and loyal collection of characters. The characters weren’t just surface the author went deep into their souls. I have felt joy, incredible sorrow, disappointment, and many more feelings right along with them. The author’s style of writing is full of beautiful descriptive scenes. I was transported from Italian Alps to early Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, to the New York Opera scene, and finally to the mines of Minnesota. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a good romance, an excellent adventure, a great read about loving families. The Shoemaker’s Wife has it all.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 7:08 AM
A riveting tale of class, illusions of society, and ultimately true love: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 9:10 AM
“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”
No matter how many times I read this, I fall in love with it. For all of Jane Austen's reputation as a romantic writer, what I took away from Pride and Prejudice was clever wit, social observations, and a sense of fun and enjoyment that so many books don't have. It's a novel where almost all of the stakes are of early judgment and social regulation, it's a romance, yes, but not your typical love story. No, Pride and Prejudice is the story of an intelligent girl who doesn't quite fit into her society and an arrogant man who doesn't like most of the people around him.
The characters were varied, well developed, and revealing of many ideas and personalities with which one, during the reading, might find occasion to perceive or examine one's character, motivations, and conceptions. For all the ills that were produced by misconception, misunderstanding, and lack of insight, the end brings the satisfaction of resolution.
The dialogue is where this novel shines, which is good since the novel is mostly dialogue. Austen can convey the personality of a character simply through the way the character speaks so that even though there are not a lot of descriptions of the characters, you have a clear idea of who each character is almost as soon as they open their mouth.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 9:43 AM
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 8:39 AM
“Books could be an incredible adventure. I stayed under my blanket and barely moved, and no one would have guessed how my mind raced and my heart soared with stories.”
Hadley Richardson Hemingway is perhaps best recognized as the first of Ernest Hemingway’s four wives. The Paris Wife is the story of how they met, married, and lived in Paris as Hemingway’s writing career was beginning. During this time, Hemingway writes In Our Time, The Sun Also Rises, and The Torrents of Spring. They meet and befriend such Lost Generation writers as Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford, John Dos Passos, and other key figures in the 1920s. The novel relates the infamous trip to Pamplona that influenced The Sun Also Rises and the couple’s trips to Austria and the dissolution of their marriage when Pauline Pfeiffer, who would become Hemingway’s second wife, enters the picture.
I fell in love with The Paris Wife right from the start. There was something so authentic about Hadley’s voice, the way she described the circumstances of meeting Ernest Hemingway, of being drawn to him, never realizing how their lives would intertwine and separate again.
It portrays Hadley as a woman who never sought the spotlight, but who knew talent and worth when she saw it. As Hadley and Ernest travel to Europe, yearning to find contemporaries who were turning the world of art and literature on its head, then to Canada for an unfulfilling desk position that threatened to crush Ernest’s soul, Hadley never thought of herself as an individual, only as one half of the whole they had become.
Paula McLain has done an excellent work of honoring historically accurate source elements, letters, and words the characters have written themselves about their experiences, so while the tale of Hemingway, told from the viewpoint of his first wife Hadley, is fictionalized, I felt it sounded true to the original views of these literary giants and those who played supporting characters in their lives.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 9:08 AM
May Book Wrap Up
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 10:15 AM
Cold Heart by Sean-Paul Thomas (✬✬✬✬✬)
The book “Cold Heart” by Sean-Paul Thomas is an excellent action thriller with a lot of brutal action. If you love a great thriller and action-packed thrillers with strong female characters, this is the book for you. It is written in a third character’s point of view, the story flips between Estelle’s past and the present as she navigates through the mystery of her sister’s death. It offers several twists along the way and is absolutely exciting and never boring until the end of this dramatic and gripping well-written and the crafted book will make it impossible for you to put it down.
The Tenth Chamber by Glenn Cooper (✬✬)
The Tenth Chamber is a hard book to follow because it goes back and forth from the present to the past and back and is a slow storyline. I did not find it very engaging and thought about stopping reading it several times because it was boring.
Syrian Brides by Anna Halabi (✬✬✬✬✬)
An impressive collection of short stories. Funny and heartwarming whilst also making thoughtful comments and tackling the many issues that affect the lives of Syrian women; revolving around marriage, mainly from the women’s point of view. All of these stories are memorable, portraying unique situations and complications women confront in married life. The author has a talent for storytelling and her ability to seize the reader's attention quickly with no dramatics is amazing. I hope to read more from her. I highly recommend this book.
A Constant Heart by Siri Mitchell (✬✬)
This book was written strangely. One paragraph is the hero talking, next the heroine, etc. I found that interesting and was hoping to enjoy the book. I finished it, but there was no plot, no real climax, nothing to keep my interest. Very boring.
The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis (✬✬)
I desperately wanted to like this book. It had it all a time period and historical characters I enjoy, plus the twist of a mystery. In the end, I came away with a profound disappointment at the opportunity that was missed. It wasn’t a horrible book, but then neither was it great, and it could have been.
Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre by Tracy Chevalier (✬✬)
Most of the stories in this anthology have little or nothing to do with Charlotte Brontë’s original novel. While the writing is good, reminiscent of the styles of the various authors, I liked only two of the stories.
She's No Princess by Laura Lee Guhrke (✬✬✬)
This book was okay but not nearly as good as other Laura Lee Guhrke books I’ve read. I did not find the heroine’s character very likable, so I did not find it believable when the hero fell so completely in love with her he risked, and ultimately gave up everything for her.
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (✬✬✬)
I found the characters interesting, the story suspenseful and believable. It is not literature, but it is good solid writing.
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (✬✬✬✬)
This book is a historical fiction about two girls who came to the United States in the early 1930s. They were confined to Angel Island near San Francisco for a period of time and were finally released. They ended up in China Town Los Angeles. The book is very well written. It flows along beautifully and hard to break away from. I like that this book takes place in more ‘modern’ times and gives a look into what it was like for Chinese immigrants just a few decades ago.
The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler (✬✬✬)
This book was okay. It had its interesting parts and kept me somewhat entertained and engrossed as I was reading it, but I expected more out of it. I think the ending was predictable and tidy. There are some questions I think should have been answered that were not.
The Ladies' Room by Carolyn Brown (✬✬✬✬)
It was a good fun read. It was predictable, however, there were some twists to the story in the relation to how family members reacted and how the main character developed an attachment to the other main character over the course of the book. Romantic, light-hearted, an interesting and entertaining read.
Murder at Rudhall Manor by Anya Wylde (✬✬✬✬)
The characters in this book were interesting, all were unique and had certain qualities that made you confused. Lucy has had a rough life and is a brave soul. She knows that there is no way out, except to solve the murder. Lord Adair is a charming and frustrating hero, with flaws enough to match our heroine.
This book was fun and had me guessing to the end. A lovely light read that has an impressive deal of excitement packed within.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (✬✬✬✬)
I enjoyed this book. I liked the perspective on the world Bruno had and how he thought his sister was a hopeless case. And I like how he tried to respect people and be kind to everybody when his dad didn’t. The ending of the book was sad, but it is a must-read for people who enjoy reading about the holocaust.
Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde (✬✬✬✬)
This is the first book I’ve read by Catherine Ryan Hyde and loved it. It tells about a boy with an enormous heart and witty intelligence. He creates a project that will change the world, though he doesn’t know that the results will truly be worldwide. It makes you appreciate the simple creative minds of children. Aside from that, there is a romantic tie that flows with the story to give the book a combination plot.
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin (✬✬✬)
This book was fine, but it wasn't anything special. The characters and relationships all felt flat and undeveloped, and the plot was predictable.
The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim (✬✬✬)
