Books Set in the United States: North Carolina

The Perfect Son, by Barbara Claypole White (2015)

This is a novel about a young teen-aged boy with Tourette's Syndrome.  He is the only child of Felix and Ella Fitxwilliam.  Felix is the child of a brutal father who terrorized him as a child.  He vows to be different from his father, but has a perfectionist personality disorder.  He has left childrearing to his wife.

When Ella suffers a heart attack at age 47, the same age that her mother was when she died of a heart attack, Felix's life, as well as that of his son, Harry, is turned upside down.  Suddenly, Felix must cope with dealing with his son.  Harry is a straight-A student and Felix wants him to attend Harvard.  Harry has other ideas, however, but has difficulty communicating with his distant father.

This book was well written until the ending, when it seemed to fall apart.

4 Stars

Read:  November 29, 2015

Books Set in Asia: Syria

The Sandcastle Girls, by Chris Bohjalian (2012)

This novel tells of the Armenian genocide during World War I as told through the eyes of a young American woman, Elizabeth, who went to Syria in 1915 intent on assisting in the hospitals.  There she meets a young widow, Arman, who is Armenian engineer.  He lost his wife and baby daughter in the slaughter.  Elizabeth writes of conditions in Aleppo where many of the Armenian refugees pass through.  Arman joins the British Army and experiences the horrors of the war in Gallipoli.

Interspersed throughout the novel is the adult granddaughter of Elizabeth and Arman who becomes interested in her family history and tracks down her grandmother's writings.

Read: November 26, 2015

5 Stars

Books Set in the United States: Tennessee

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, by Denise Kiernan (2013)

Read: November 14, 2015

4 Stars

Books Set in the United States: Alabama

Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee (2015)


Read: November 7, 2015

2 Stars

Books Set in Europe: England

The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (2015)

This is a fascinating murder mystery / suspense novel, told in three voices.  First, there is Rachel, the alcoholic who rides the train into London each day.  She creates lives for a young couple she sees along the route.  Only later, she meets the couple and learns their lives are not as romantic as she imagined.

Then there is Anna, the new wife of Rachel's former husband.  Anna fears the drunken Rachel and believes that Rachel is constantly coming around to harass Anna and her family.

Finally, there is Megan, the young wife who has gone missing.  She is the young woman that Rachel observed on her train ride each day.

Read: October 11, 2015

5 Stars.

Books Set in the United States: New Jersey

In the Unlikely Event, by Judy Blume (2015)

This is a novel about the events that occurred in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the 1950s when there were three plane crashes in the space of three months, beginning in December 1951 and the final crash in  February 1952.  The novel follows a young 15-year old girl and how the accidents impacted her life.  I enjoyed this book, but it fell apart near the end.

Read: September 29, 2015

4 Stars

Books Set in the Middle East: Israel

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan (2006)

This book purports to be the unlikely friendship between an Arab man, Bashir, and a Jewish woman, Dalia, and a house in Israel that had belonged Bashir's family before the creation of the State of Israel.  After the creation of the State of Israel, Dalia's family lived in the house.  As young adults, the two meet, when Bashir went to visit his family home.

The book made me very angry because it presented a one-sided view of the history of the State of Israel.  Even the words chosen, such as calling Israeli's "settlers" shows bias.  Nearly all Israelis depicted in the book, with the exception of Dalia and her husband, come off as being bad and uncompassionate

Read:  September 26, 2015

2 Stars