The best Books I have read this year…so far

The Septembers of Shiraz: A Novel (P.S.)

Trisha’s Opinion: I have a soft spot for books that come out of the conflict of the middle east and this book didn’t disappoint me. The basic premise is a father that is taken into prison and accused of a crime he didn’t commit. You watch as he is punished, fears for his life and watches others executed around him, all while his family struggles to survive or even know if he is even alive. This book is completely 5 stars from beginning to end, but you must have a strong heart.

From Publishers Weekly
Sofer’s family escaped from Iran in 1982 when she was 10, an experience that may explain the intense detail of this unnerving debut. On a September day in 1981, gem trader Isaac Amin is accosted by Revolutionary Guards at his Tehran office and imprisoned for no other crime than being Jewish in a country where Muslim fanaticism is growing daily. Being rich and having had slender ties to the Shah’s regime magnify his peril. In anguish over what might be happening to his family, Isaac watches the brutal mutilation and executions of prisoners around him. His wife, Farnaz, struggles to keep from slipping into despair, while his young daughter, Shirin, steals files from the home of a playmate whose father is in charge of the prison that holds her father. Far away in Brooklyn, Isaac’s nonreligious son, Parviz, struggles without his family’s money and falls for the pious daughter of his Hasidic landlord. Nicely layered, the story shimmers with past secrets and hidden motivations. The dialogue, while stiff, allows the various characters to come through. Sofer’s dramatization of just-post-revolutionary Iran captures its small tensions and larger brutalities, which play vividly upon a family that cannot, even if it wishes to, conform. (Aug.)

The Lost Recipe for Happiness

Trisha’s Opinion: This is a sweet book with a simple story line and an easy to read format. I had no problems following the character or the way of the book and it was a quick, slightly romantic read, fresh off the series patterns of my other books. While I wont say that it was a “couldn’t put down” book, the characters still live in my memory enough to recommend it.

From Publishers Weekly
Twenty years ago, Elena Alvarez, the chef heroine of O’Neal’s bland kitchen romance, was the sole survivor of a car accident that left her badly scarred and haunted by the sister and boyfriend she lost in the crash. Attempting to escape the specter of the accident and buoyed by her love of cooking, Elena drifted to culinary school in Europe and eventually ends up at an upscale Vancouver restaurant, where her passion and skills capture the attention of celebrity restaurateur Julian Liswood, who hires her as the executive chef of a new restaurant he is opening in Aspen, Colo. Elena relishes the opportunity, even as she recognizes the potential disasters, both romantic and job-related, inherent in the feelings she has for her boss. As the new endeavor finds its footing in Aspen’s restaurant scene, she, too, begins to find a home. Unfortunately, O’Neal doesn’t bring anything new to an already busy subgenre: the plot is formulaic, the prose is tepid and her main character is too narrowly drawn to have much appeal.

Sarah’s Key

Trisha’s Opinion: When you pick up the book you already know from the subject matter, that its going to be tragic. As someone that has walked the beaches of Normandy and through the gas chambers of Dachau, the book will touch your heart while simultaneously make you cringe in horror. IT never fails to amaze me how human beings can create such tragedy, but at the same time, others who deal with it, can overcome it and become a shining example. The story is one I have never heard, regarding the French involvement in the Nazi invasion, but follows a story that sometimes makes you feel as if its a biography. Read this book and then pass it on. Some things we should never forget.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. De Rosnay’s U.S. debut fictionalizes the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations, in which thousands of Jewish families were arrested, held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver outside the city, then transported to Auschwitz. Forty-five-year-old Julia Jarmond, American by birth, moved to Paris when she was 20 and is married to the arrogant, unfaithful Bertrand Tézac, with whom she has an 11-year-old daughter. Julia writes for an American magazine and her editor assigns her to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vél’ d’Hiv’ roundups. Julia soon learns that the apartment she and Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand’s family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michel. The more Julia discovers—especially about Sarah, the only member of the Starzynski family to survive—the more she uncovers about Bertrand’s family, about France and, finally, herself. Already translated into 15 languages, the novel is De Rosnay’s 10th (but her first written in English, her first language). It beautifully conveys Julia’s conflicting loyalties, and makes Sarah’s trials so riveting, her innocence so absorbing, that the book is hard to put down. (July)

The Host: A Novel

Trisha’s Opinion: I went into this author knowing what a success the Twilight books were and wondering how closely she would follow the style. While an individual book will never house the same appeal as a series, in some ways i found this book much better then her previous authorings. Its vivid, has an excellent plot, and was a literal “cant put me down” page turner. My only complaint is that I could only get it in hard back and when I am reading a book like this, I would rather curl up in a ball.

From Publishers Weekly
In this tantalizing SF thriller, planet-hopping parasites are inserting their silvery centipede selves into human brains, curing cancer, eliminating war and turning Earth into paradise. But some people want Earth back, warts and all, especially Melanie Stryder, who refuses to surrender, even after being captured in Chicago and becoming a host for a soul called Wanderer. Melanie uses her surviving brain cells to persuade Wanderer to help search for her loved ones in the Arizona desert. When the pair find Melanie’s brother and her boyfriend in a hidden rebel cell led by her uncle, Wanderer is at first hated. Once the rebels accept Wanderer, whom they dub Wanda, Wanda’s whole perspective on humanity changes. While the straightforward narrative is short on detail about the invasion and its stunning aftermath, it shines with romantic intrigue, especially when a love triangle (or quadrangle?!) develops for Wanda/Melanie. 10-city author tour. (May)

Wicked

Trisha’s Opinion: I read this book based on past hype. I cant say that this is the first book that comes to mind when I recommend a book, but its worth the read. The first few chapters take some time to get used to the style of the book. If you have ever read Pigtopia, you know what I mean. The way the characters are developed and the way the story unfolds reads like a history of slavery or reminder of the Nazi prison camps. It surely makes you start to doubt if Dorothy really was as innocent as the original tale goes. I have to say that I have read one of his other books ( Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: think Cinderella big spoiled brat and step sister the victims) and his theme tends to be that things are not always what we perceive them to be. I enjoyed “Confessions” better than Wicked. If you can latch onto the reading style, you should enjoy the outcome.

From Publishers Weekly
Born with green skin and huge teeth, like a dragon, the free-spirited Elphaba grows up to be an anti-totalitarian agitator, an animal-rights activist, a nun, then a nurse who tends the dying?and, ultimately, the headstrong Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. Maguire’s strange and imaginative postmodernist fable uses L. Frank Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a springboard to create a tense realm inhabited by humans, talking animals (a rhino librarian, a goat physician), Munchkinlanders, dwarves and various tribes. The Wizard of Oz, emperor of this dystopian dictatorship, promotes Industrial Modern architecture and restricts animals’ right to freedom of travel; his holy book is an ancient manuscript of magic that was clairvoyantly located by Madam Blavatsky 40 years earlier. Much of the narrative concerns Elphaba’s troubled youth (she is raised by a giddy alcoholic mother and a hermitlike minister father who transmits to her his habits of loathing and self-hatred) and with her student years. Dorothy appears only near novel’s end, as her house crash-lands on Elphaba’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, in an accident that sets Elphaba on the trail of the girl from Kansas?as well as the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and the Lion?and her fabulous new shoes. Maguire combines puckish humor and bracing pessimism in this fantastical meditation on good and evil, God and free will, which should, despite being far removed in spirit from the Baum books, captivate devotees of fantasy. 50,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; first serial to Word; author tour.

The Shack

Trisha’s Opinion: The story was amazing. This is a book written as factual but whether or not you believe its factual will be up to your own faith. Regardless of your religion, the book has an underlying feeling of hope, forgiveness, and made me really question some of the statements and my own beliefs. One thing that isn’t up for debate is the death of his daughter and the truly unbelievable way he finds the killer. While the book can be drawn out or dry in some areas, its not meant to be a fast paced thriller, but more a way for you to drown in your own thought process. If you don’t believe in God already, you will be left shaking your head on why you doubt miracles in life. Worth the read.

From AudioFile
Mac is a grief-stricken father in mid-life about to have an extraordinary experience with God. His great sadness began four years ago on a weekend camping trip, when his 6-year-old daughter, Missy, was murdered. What he couldn’t know then, but is about to learn, was God’s purpose for Missy’s death. Roger Mueller’s clear, gentle voice characterizes Mac’s family with high-spirited joy and laughter. His portrayal of Missy’s animated excitement makes her especially believable. His polished performance of grief-stricken Mac brings tears. With empathy and sensitivity, Mueller captures the mysterious voices of those who have invited him to the now abandoned, yet transformed, cabin in the wilderness. This compelling fantasy explores themes of love, loss, and blame. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Tell Me Where It Hurts:

A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope in My Life as an Animal Surgeon

Trisha’s Opinion:  This book took just days to read because I could not put it down.  I bought it originally for my sister in law who is on her way to vet school but she told me she didn’t mind if i read it first-and I am glad i did.

Spiced with interesting facts about being a veterinarian, its full of true stories that will make you respect the doctor that cares for your pets that much more. Its hard to imagine spending your whole life practicing medicine on something that cannot tell you what is wrong. Its more a medicine of experience and guessing and the vet that writes the stories will have you embracing his thought process from beginning to end. The stories consist of animal owners that are neurotic, scared, hyper, funny, and no matter what walks in (four legs or two!) he manages to take your heart right into the situation. I spent literally 20 minutes crying through the chapter on euthanasia.

From Publishers Weekly
This is the perfect gift for anyone considering becoming a veterinarian. Trout, a staff surgeon at Boston’s Angell Animal Medical Center, has exactly the traits that any pet owner would wish to find in a vet: he’s smart, sensitive, experienced, empathic and has an excellent sense of humor. He also happens to be an excellent writer, and his personality suffuses the many stories sifted from recollections of thousands of animal encounters during his 25 years of practice and compressed in this account into one day. Trout shows how the daily life of a veterinarian requires the ability to be a social worker, a psychologist, a grief counselor, mentor, carpenter, plumber, cosmetologist, athletic coach, magician, grim reaper, and occasionally, guardian angel. And in some of the more heart rending stories, such as that of an older widowed man dealing with the potential loss of his shepherd companion, Sage, Trout shows his sensitivity to the fact that in each case, The rewards and strength of the bonds with the animals in their lives proved irresistible, irrepressible, and more than worth the risk. (Mar. 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Firefly Lane

Trisha’s Opinion: I laughed..I cried. I cried. I cried. I wished I had a friend that I grew up with that loved me and took over my life, coveted my children and husband, and loved me again. No really.  I’m not going to sit here and spill it all..that’s how much I like it. This book is my #1 must read for the year. (so far!) 304 pages never went so fast.

From Publishers Weekly

Hannah (On Mystic Lake) goes a little too far into Lifetime movie territory in her latest, an epic exploration of the complicated terrain between best friends—one who chooses marriage and motherhood while the other opts for career and celebrity. The adventures of poor, ambitious Tully Hart and middle-class romantic Kate Mularkey begin in the 1970s, but don’t really get moving until about halfway into the book, when Tully, who claws her way to the heights of broadcast journalism, discovers it’s lonely at the top, and Katie, a stay-at-home Seattle housewife, forgets what it’s like to be a rebellious teen. What holds the overlong narrative together is the appealing nature of Tully and Katie’s devotion to one another even as they are repeatedly tested by jealousy and ambition. Katie’s husband, Johnny, is smitten with Tully, and Tully, who is abandoned by her own booze-and-drug-addled mother, relishes the adoration from Katie’s daughter, Marah. Hannah takes the easy way out with an over-the-top tear-jerker ending, though her upbeat message of the power of friendship and family will, for some readers, trump even the most contrived plot twists.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Still Alice

Trisha’s Opinion: Ill admit that Alzheimer’s disease is something that has *luckily* never touched my life up until this point and I wasn’t sure what to expect in this novel about a woman who has an early onset of it. The author carefully navigates you through this terrible disease while you slowly follow the character through the ending of her very prestige teaching career and her family’s struggles watching her slip away. You also follow her personal feelings as she slowly succumbs to the disease. The book, while short, left me with a lot to consider. The most being to experience life to its fullest as the future is unpredictable.

From Publishers Weekly
Neuroscientist and debut novelist Genova mines years of experience in her field to craft a realistic portrait of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Alice Howland has a career not unlike Genova’s—she’s an esteemed psychology professor at Harvard, living a comfortable life in Cambridge with her husband, John, arguing about the usual (making quality time together, their daughter’s move to L.A.) when the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s begin to emerge. First, Alice can’t find her Blackberry, then she becomes hopelessly disoriented in her own town. Alice is shocked to be diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s (she had suspected a brain tumor or menopause), after which her life begins steadily to unravel. She loses track of rooms in her home, resigns from Harvard and eventually cannot recognize her own children. The brutal facts of Alzheimer’s are heartbreaking, and it’s impossible not to feel for Alice and her loved ones, but Genova’s prose style is clumsy and her dialogue heavy-handed. This novel will appeal to those dealing with the disease and may prove helpful, but beyond the heartbreaking record of illness there’s little here to remember.

Surprising: Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

Rereading: His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)

Currently reading:  The 19th Wife: A Novel (EXCELLENT!)

Book I was most disappointed in this year: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62) Hype was too high, ending was crappy.

Next on my list:  Shanghai Girls: A Novel

Check out Other Bestsellers On Amazon

~Trisha