SARAH'S KEY- by tatiana de rosnay

I was craving a good read and a friend suggested this one. When I stopped at Borders after jury duty to pick it up, the cashier said "this is supposed to be fantastic!". Though she hadn't read it, I was encouraged by her strong response, and started it on the T ride home.
The story switches between the perspectives of Sarah, a ten year old Jewish girl living in Paris in 1942 and Julia, a 45 year old American journalist living in Paris in 2002 with her French husband of 15 years and their eleven year old daughter, Zoe. Sarah and her family are rounded up in the Vel' d'Hiv- the Nazi driven effort carried out by French police that sent thousands of Jewish families living in France to extermination camps. We follow her story from the initial arrest to transport between holding locations, separation from family, and arrival at a camp in Beaune-la-Rolande.
As the sixtieth anniversary approaches, Julia is given the assignment of writing an commemorative article about the Vel' d'Hiv. She realizes how little people know about the roundup, and how little French citizens are willing to discuss what they do know. As she digs into the past, she learns things that change her current relationships and outlook on what is important in life.
I loved this book. I found myself reading late into the night without falling asleep (something that's almost unheard of for me), and itching to read anytime I could. The emotional connection I felt to the characters and outcome was stronger than I usually find. The author's progression between characters and periods was smooth and well thought out, and the ending tied up appropriately without being too idealistic.
Netflix rating? 5/5 stars.

SOMETHING BORROWED- by emily giffin

After a two year hiatus during which I began and finished grad school, I have again found time to read for my own enjoyment! I borrowed this book from a friend after finishing another one earlier than expected. Though it wouldn't typically be at the top of my list, I was primed for an easy read- something entertaining, but not too thought provoking. The fact that this book has been made into a movie featuring Kate Hudson, John Krasinski, and Ginnifer Goodwin (to be released in 2011) made it slightly more appealing.
The story follows Rachel and Darcy, best friends since childhood now in their late 20's living in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the "good girl"- smart, hard working, loyal- while Darcy is the beautiful, popular, and lucky one. The story starts out in a Manhattan bar for Rachel's 30th birthday. Darcy has planned the party, and though all are having a good time, the attention is as usual, focused on Darcy. After dancing on the bar and realizing she's had too much to drink, Darcy is dropped home by her fiance, Dex, who returns to the bar to help celebrate. At the end of the night, Dex takes a drunk Rachel home and they end up in bed together. The next morning, a horrified Rachel decides to put the one night stand behind her, wanting to preserve her lifelong friendship with Darcy and feeling that Dex would never chose plain Rachel over gorgeous Darcy. However, Rachel realizes that things are not always so straightforward, and struggles to do what she knows is right.
This book was a fairly predictable and mindless read, but I found it entertaining regardless. Definitely worth a read if you're in the mood for some chick lit.
Netflix rating? 3/5 stars.

The Lonely Polygamist

The absolute worst job I ever had was the summer after my sophomore year of college, the summer I turned 21.  I lived with my family in suburban Seattle, and made minimum wage working in the school age "classroom" of a daycare.  There were more than 20 kids who ranged in age from 7-12 and the other provider who worked with me had just as much experience working with kids as I did, which is to say, none.  Not only did we have no curriculum, but these were the worst behaved kids I had ever interacted with.  Their moods ranged from ennui to rage and of course the best ones never got our attention.  It takes a lot for me to lose my temper with kids, but they tried me and more than once I had to leave the room and cry in the kitchen.  And for two days that summer I lost my voice completely, although I had no other physical signs that would lead to that; I simply could not talk, scream, reason, beg anymore.

Russell was one of the worst kids.  Although it amazes me that by age 8 a kid can be branded as "bad", Russell was just that.  He would yell, destroy the classroom and fight with other kids.  Only once did my heart warm to him; he was looking for a lunch box he'd brought and was frantic.  I asked him what was in it that was so important and he looked at me with tearful eyes and replied, "treats!"  It reminded me that he was just a kid and really did have simple desires.
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall is the story of Golden, his four wives and two dozen children and the landscape of Nevada.  Rusty is one of the children, a 12 year old who is branded a terror by his own family.  Of course he terrorizes his brothers and sisters for attention and wishes for nothing more than a hug from his mom-- his own version of a lunchbox filled with treats.  He meets and befriends June, a loner who makes firecrackers and is building a bomb shelter.  June recognizes Rusty as a younger version of himself and as such, realizes there's really no place for him in this offshoot of the Mormon church.  The reader recognizes that those who do fit in are those fled from previous lives with even fewer options.
Mr. Udall crafts this story (and reading it, you realize he is a master storyteller) through the eyes of Golden, who is pulled in so many directions he just cannot make any decisions, Rusty, who is doomed from conception and Trish, the 4th wife whose grief over a stillborn baby never lets her integrate with the other wives.  I was amazed I could empathize with a man with 4 wives and dozens of children, or a plural wife or a 12 year old boy.  But they were all just looking for connections, which ironically couldn't be found.  I hadn't thought about Russell in years, but realize that he must be around 18 now.  I wonder if he turned out okay.  I kind of doubt it.
I have to look through what I've read this year, but I think this the best book of the year.  5/5 netflix stars.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

It's unusual for a book to get the same kind of pre-release press that a movie does.  Books don't have a limited theatre engagement and they rarely, if ever, spawn a merchendising frenzy (unless they are Twilight and/or books made into movies).  But every year there's a couple that stand out, usually because they are big name authors or because the author has taken so long to write something new. Because a book takes more time to read than it takes to watch a movie, I usually feel pretty smug after reading the current "it" book (like Netherland, or, A Gate At The Stairs). Since Freedom hadn't been released yet, I was stuck reading A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan.

Reading the reviews I knew that Egan had taken her time to deliver a near multi-media event-- layers of time, voices and even a penultimate chapter in PowerPoint (surprisingly effective).  Sure, the book was just challenging enough, but it also read really quickly, not unlike the power punk songs Benny and his friends played at the beginning of the book.  Egan took stock stereotypes (drug addled wannabe musicians and the groupies that follow them) and turned them inside out, revealing parents, children and even countries making them become real people.  If we can't identify with Sasha as a messed up runaway, maybe we empathize with her as a mother of two kids who lost her best friend in college and never got over it.

I hope A Visit from the Goon Squad is more than a flash in the pan--it, and Ms. Egan- -deserve to be read and respected. 5/5 netflix stars.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Think you have nothing in common with Mennonites? Think again.  Did you ever bring weird lunch to school? Did you ever wear ill fitting/out of style clothes? Were you ever forbidden (even if it was for the best) to participate in a school play? Has your mom ever tried to fix you up with your cousin? Despite all that, do you still love your parents? Rhoda Janzen's memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was like Eat, Pray, Love, but the food is borscht, the praying happens in her family's Mennonite community in California and the love...is her family.

After her heart is broken by her husband leaving her for a man he found on gay.com and her body crushed the same week in a car accident, Ms. Janzen returns home to recuperate and write.  She weaves hilarious and poignant stories from her childhood alongside stories of her more recent past (now over 15 year marriage) and her parents' past.  She reminisces with her sister and finds herself at odds with her brothers. But despite having broken with the traditional ways of the Mennonite, she holds no bitterness.  We're allowed to laugh not at her family, but with them, and that makes all the difference.

This memoir gets 5/5 netflix stars in part because I'm easy with the stars but mostly because it was a wonderful read and made me want to shove it in the hands of several friends right away.

The Shadow of the Wind

It's been rainy the past several days, even though we've had an overall sunny summer. When we were growing up, my sister and I would go to the neighborhood pool almost every afternoon. Unless it was raining and then we would go to the library and check out as many books as we could carry.  The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon reminded me of a book I would have checked out on one of those rainy days.  Our hero, Daniel, is taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books at a young age by his father, and encouraged to "save" a book.  He chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax and begins a lifelong love with the rare book, it's author and the women who also love the book and it's author.

This was a really pleasant book-- it read quickly, had memorable and well developed (male) characters, provoked nostalgia and was a good reminder of why we love to read novels.

4/5 netflix stars

Forever

A few weeks ago NPR ran a story from their Guilty Pleasures series.  The book is Forever... by Judy Blume.  J. Courtney Sullivan recalls reading "the dirty parts" of books with her girls' book club in elementary school, which in turn reminded me of my own furtive reading of romance novels (only the historical ones!) in middle school.  A few friends and I would exchange books, usually in brown paper bags, at the movies.  I would curl up under my covers and read the books and then hide them under my pillow afraid of my mom finding them (looking back, I'm sure the least of her worries was having an adolescent daughter reading romance novels on the sly).  So like Ms. Sullivan, I decided to give this banned book a go.  I checked it out from the library (thanks, Boston, for being generally progressive) and curled up under the covers to read it.  I loved it.  It's written simply but honestly, and Katherine and Michael talk through EVERYTHING. Katherine talks frankly with her mom, and her grandma, an attorney and Planned Parenthood advocate, acts as her confidante.   Who wouldn't want their daughter to read this book? In fact, it might be a good idea for couples of all ages to read this book.

netflix stars: 5/5