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 Willow is a destitute child in Southern China, reduced to begging and stealing for food, until she becomes friends with the local missionary’s daughter, Pearl Sydenstricker. From that moment on, their lives intertwine, as Pearl goes on to become a famous writer after her share of struggles and Willow experiences the worst of the new Communist regime under Chairman Mao. Throughout they remain friends and in contact wherever possible, sharing pain, sorrow, and joy.
This is such a touching book. The friendship between Pearl and Willow feels right and true, from its development to its end. It’s not a perfect friendship, as of course there are roadblocks as there might be between any two women. Towards the end, with the effect of the Cultural Revolution, no letters are allowed at all, and Willow finds herself endlessly wondering what is happening to her friend even as she endures persecution for refusing to denounce Pearl. This is certainly the darkest and slowest part of the book, but these things genuinely happened to people, and they deserved their place here.
I found it so interesting that Pearl is genuinely regarded as a Chinese writer. She spent the large majority of the first forty years of her life in China, spoke Chinese fluently, and had a great understanding of Chinese people. The author writes in her prologue that when she read The Good Earth, it was so accurate and so moving a picture of Chinese peasants that it made her cry and inspired her to write this book. The parts reflecting Pearl’s life are drawn from history (I’m not sure if Willow was a real person or not) and I’ve been totally inspired to learn more about her life. She seems like such a fascinating and driven woman, confronted with obstacles but determined to surmount them in the end.
Pearl of China is a great book for those of us who are interested in China. The more I read, the more I want to read, and this was a fantastic choice for fiction. I’m looking forward to reading more by Anchee Min.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the Amazon Vine program.
 Hector is a young psychiatrist, and a very good one. He often knows how to help his patients, but he struggles with those who don’t really have an identifiable illness; they’re just unhappy. Even when they are rich, in successful marriages, with smart children, these people aren’t happy. And sometimes Hector finds that he is also unhappy, which he doesn’t understand. So he sets off on a worldwide tour in an effort to find the secret of happiness, if there even is one.
This was a cute “modern fable”, as it’s titled on the back. The writing style is very simple, almost juvenile in tone, but it suits the book somehow as Hector goes around writing down his list of what happiness is. And the list was relevant, as he pointed out many things I agree with, some of which were obvious and some not as much. Hector finds what makes him happy in the end, with a few missteps along the way.
I think it was the missteps which were really the only thing I didn’t like about the book. Hector cheats on his girlfriend twice over the course of the book, and while both incidents make him learn something about himself, it did turn me off him somewhat. He didn’t even seem particularly guilty about his indiscretions, so it made me unsure if he really deserved his happy ending.
I did like how the countries weren’t really named, even though we could figure out which ones they were; it leant a timelessness to the book it wouldn’t have gained otherwise. It was interesting how violence was portrayed in this simple tone as well. At times I knew Hector was in danger but it was never too scary and to be honest I never really worried that much about him. I haven’t decided if this was a good or a bad thing, but it made his discoveries about happiness a little more relevant to the harsher places in the world.
Overall, I did enjoy my time with Hector & the Search for Happiness. It was very sweet and I think it had a number of good lessons in it, as a fable should, but I never felt talked down to despite the simple narration. I would recommend it.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for review from the publisher.
 Lucy Valentine’s family have been matchmakers for as long as anyone can remember. Each member of the family sees a colored aura around people, enabling them to match the perfect couples. Due to a strange accident in Lucy’s youth, she can no longer see these auras, but she can find people’s lost belongings. That’s no use in the family business, however, and so Lucy is at loose ends when her father leaves her in charge. She doesn’t stay that way for long with sexy private investigator Sean Donahue upstairs and a murder mystery to solve. Perhaps Lucy’s talent for finding lost things will come in handy after all.
This was a really cute, light read. Lucy is a charming character and I definitely wanted success for her. I could understand how terrified she was to match couples when she didn’t actually have the ability to tell if the romances were going to work, and I thought her efforts to get people to give one another a try were really sweet. Her own beginning romance was cute, too, but doesn’t wrap up as neatly as most novels would have done. I suspect it will continue to grow in later books of this series.
The mystery was fairly predictable, but I didn’t expect anything else to be honest! The groundwork for the solution is well-laid and for once I actually picked up on it, and as a result I was groaning when Lucy willingly threw herself into danger without putting the pieces together. While this would ordinarily have irritated me, for some reason it didn’t here as I knew the plot had to wrap up and this was the only way it could happen. Lucy’s talent was intriguing and I was glad she put it to good use.
Truly, Madly certainly isn’t going to make my favorites of the year, but it is definitely a perfect choice for anyone who wants a fun, romantic read.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
 When the economic downturn hit in 2008, Suzan Colon prepared for disaster – and rightly so. Writers are among the least essential employees, and she was shortly laid off from her lucrative job at a popular magazine. While her husband managed to keep his job, Suzan decided to start saving money by cooking more food from scratch. So she got her grandmother Matilda’s recipe book from her mother, and with it started to unearth a store of memories. Among Matilda’s recipes are Suzan’s recollections on her own hard times and many recounted stories from her family’s history from the late nineteenth century to the present.
I had a big problem with about a third of this book. Namely, I couldn’t relate to the author. I might be a bit harsh, but I’m not sure someone who had a six-figure job, continues to do freelance work, and has a year’s worth of savings is really the person to listen to about hard times. Sure, she can no longer justify $40 on having her eyebrows tweezed and can’t shop at the high-end organic grocery store in the center of Manhattan, but then I was thinking, who can justify these things? And could I deal with her unhappiness that she had to switch to a cheaper face moisturiser when I can’t justify buying any? Cut backs are necessary for her, but she’s not missing out on anything essential, and it’s clear her husband thinks her reaction is a little over-the-top. I shared his feelings, especially when he spends $70 on groceries for one home-cooked dinner and she worries when he doesn’t eat half a banana. I know what it’s like to worry about money, but half a banana? Suffice it to say, if you actually are poor, this is probably not a book for you. I was left wondering if she had to fill in the pieces to justify writing a book. After all, she needed the extra income.
It might work better for someone in Suzan’s income bracket. I’m probably being unfair, in that she never really complains. She is a fairly even narrator and she maintains a lot of joy in her life. I just think it all rubbed me the wrong way, because there are plenty of people in the US (and far more over the world) who are actually starving, who have no health insurance, no home, and can’t figure out where the money for the bills is going to come from. At least she donates to charity.
On the other hand, however, I really liked her family’s stories, and I did find them inspirational. For example, her great-grandmother once came home with a collection of vases, a little splurge to make her feel better in a hard time when her family mostly ate applesauce and bread, and those vases are still around. (Seriously, how can you compare the author’s attempts at cooking meaty meals from scratch with applesauce and bread for a week? See my point?) I loved her grandmother’s story, too; she was a typist who rose through the ranks and became a talented writer, if she never published, after nearly starving as a girl when she was forced to work to feed her entire family. And the way her grandparents moved to Florida on $100 and made it work was great. I liked the message, which was to sometimes justify little unnecessary expenses to help get you through the hard times, although again, this is just not possible for some people. This is a book for the upper middle class, no question.
Is it worth reading for that? Probably not. There are plenty of memoirs dealing with hard times and I don’t know that this one really did much for me. The recipes weren’t really anything to write home about, and to be honest, I’m not sure they would save that much money if you’re already cooking from scratch. I mean, one of them is for spaghetti with a jar of pasta sauce. I save money by making my *own* pasta sauce, which is healthier, cheaper, and tastes better than a store-bought jar. I’m sure that one was more for effect, but I just didn’t really need to read about rich people who are less rich now and whose cut back circumstances are more luxurious than my life on a good day.
So, in short, Cherries in Winter was not the book for me. But plenty of people seem to like it, so it might be the book for you.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
 When Charlotte Wallace lost her parents, she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle, where her only joy in life became riding horses in secret – and being taught by the stable boy, Robert Devington. Now older and completely in love, Robert and Charlotte wish more than anything to marry, but Charlotte’s uncle won’t hear of it, no matter how many ways Robert proves himself. An unexpected betrayal and a lie forces them apart, and only horse racing can bring them back together again.
I questioned my judgment a little before I read this book, not sure what I was thinking when I requested it. Horse racing? Really? I loved horse books when I was a kid, but it was something I grew out of. Emery Lee’s book says maybe I “grew out” of it too soon, because I enjoyed this book to a surprising degree.
While Robert and Charlotte are the focus of this book’s plot, this is definitely not a romance. They already fell in love and the book is concerned with getting them married, which is all they both want. They both love horses, though, and the racing is a constant plot point. The horses themselves are almost characters, given little quirks of personality, and it’s clear through their love for animals that Robert, Charlotte, and even Philip Drake are good people thrown in bad circumstances. I really liked many of the characters. A few of them were caricatures, like Charlotte’s uncle, who is the epitome of a fortune seeker and doesn’t care for anyone else as long as he makes money and rises in prestige, but rather than annoying me I thought these people were an interesting backdrop for the characters who are worth reading about.
Plus, the book is exciting. The horse races in particular are surprisingly riveting. I didn’t know who was going to win all the time, and I was genuinely curious. Even though a fair amount of the plot is revealed on the back of the book, I couldn’t really predict where the book was going to go and just how or even if Robert and Charlotte were going to get back together in the end. I also liked that some of the book took place in the Colonies; it gave a different perspective on the new sport and provided another angle. It went very quickly for a 500-page book.
The Highest Stakes is a very enjoyable work of historical fiction, providing a compelling story against the backdrop of thoroughbred horse racing. Definitely recommended. And a totally shallow note, I love the cover of this book. I think it’s gorgeous!
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
 Young lute player Blondel recognizes his luck when he is conscripted to play for the princess Berengaria, even when he longs to get away. Soon, however, he falls in love with Berengaria, and his disabled rescuer Anna, duchess of Apieta, falls in love with him. But Berengaria loves Richard of England, and has longed for his hand in marriage ever since she saw him play in a tournament. She’s determined to marry him, and all the players in this novel must bow to her whims, and eventually to the whims of Richard the Lionhearted as he attempts to fulfill his life goal of crusading.
This book definitely fell victim to my recent avoidance of historical fiction. I still love medieval history, but it’s gotten to the point where I’ve read so much that I’ve really heard it all before, particularly with regard to the most popular periods in history. As I was reading this book, for example, I could hear my undergraduate professor telling me all about the crusades, about Saladin and Richard, and about Berengaria and how Eleanor of Aquitaine brought her across various countries just to get Richard to marry her. When I’m seeking something fresh and new, I don’t particularly want to read something where I know what’s going to happen. Of course I didn’t know all the details, but I’m just trying to express my own frustration so it doesn’t put others off reading these books.
And as medieval historical fiction goes, this isn’t a bad choice at all. Told through alternating viewpoints, the reader gets a full picture of a twelfth century crusade, as well as life in Spain and eventually England. The history is a little dated since the book came out in the 50’s, but I don’t think anyone else would really notice since most of the ideas are still the same, and her account of the crusade is surprisingly accurate. I was pretty sure that Richard had an illegitimate son, and Wikipedia agreed with me (with reliable sources), so perhaps no one had investigated that yet. The writing, however, doesn’t feel at all dated, and I could easily imagine this book coming out today as new. As ever, the crusade is the most interesting part of the book for its sheer oddity.
I found some of the characters defied belief somewhat; it’s impossible to imagine Berengaria actually attempting some of the things she does for a man she hadn’t ever spoken to, who was barely aware of her existence, for example. My favorite was Anna Apieta, typically the most fictional of them all, but she was a fascinating character. She is crippled from birth, but she’s been given advantages because she’s the illegitimate daughter of a king, and so she’s much more aware of the plight of the poorest people than any of the others, and she has a great deal of sympathy. I could never blame her for her bitterness and frustration towards Berengaria, because who wouldn’t struggle to be constantly in the presence of a beautiful half-sister? Her ability to stay with that half-sister through many trials is admirable and makes her by far the strongest character in the book.
Overall, if you do enjoy historical fiction set in the medieval period, I think you could hardly go wrong with The Lute Player.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
 After Emily Benedict’s mother dies, she goes to live in Mullaby, North Carolina, the hometown that Dulcie Benedict left behind and never discussed, with the grandfather she never knew she had. Emily wants to learn more about her mother’s past, but in the process she finds a house where the wallpaper changes, where lights dash through the forest behind her house, and where some people have a “sweet sense” and can see cakes being baked. Emily’s neighbor, Julia, a former outcast, does her part to help Emily adjust to the knowledge of her mother’s past, but she has to face some demons of her own.
While I found Allen’s last offering, The Sugar Queen, to be a little too sweet, I thought this book found the perfect balance. I loved all the characters, even if they’d made mistakes in their past. Julia’s story in particular I found to be heart-wrenching, but she had me cheering for her throughout the entire book. She has a more mature story, knowing all the town’s secrets, while Emily has a lot to learn. There are two separate love stories in the book, but neither is really given much preference and both are wonderful.
I also really enjoyed the doses of magic spread throughout. They never seem out of place, but fit beautifully within the story and add to it, not at all taking away from the feelings or personalities of the characters. The Girl Who Chased the Moon never feels unrealistic or absurd. It is fairly light fiction but I loved it and I’m very much looking forward to further books from Sarah Addison Allen.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the Amazon Vine program.
 In the spirit of Sherlock Holmes, David Grann attempts to solve 12 mysteries that have stymied the public and even the police force. He also looks at the nature of obsession, traveling with a scientist who is determined to catch a giant squid, investigating the strange death of a Sherlock Holmes addict, and talking with a family all employed in building New York City’s newest aqueduct. The stories are wide-ranging but are joined by common themes of death, obsession, and madness.
This collection really runs the gamut of interest. Some of the mysteries were absolutely fascinating and occasionally heartbreaking. For example, the Sherlock Holmes obsessive is the first case featured in the book, and not only is the guy’s life story interesting, but his death is genuinely a mystery. And I had no idea about any of New York City’s water problems, let alone the men who actually risk their lives down there to build a new gigantic pipeline (with protests from the very people that this pipe is going to help, no less!). But some of the stories aren’t really mysteries. I had no interest in the white supremacy group that killed people in the prisons, and it didn’t seem like all that much of a mystery to me. Nor did Haiti’s “devil” Toto Constant – and that wasn’t a particularly interesting story, either.
Throughout, the writing is smooth and very readable. Some of the mysteries had me turning the pages quite rapidly to find out the truth. It helps that Grann went to talk to many of the people featured, and it’s clear that he’s been working on the stories in this book for a long time. He definitely brought their situations to life.
For some people, these stories might all be interesting, but I think for most this is a book to pick and choose from. If The Devil and Sherlock Holmes sounds interesting to you now, I guarantee you’ll enjoy several of these well-written accounts.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the Amazon Vine program.
 On her search for a harpsichord, Madeline Goold comes across a square piano in an antique sale. While not playable, it’s in surprisingly good condition, and after taking note of its serial number, 10651, she sends it off for repair and decides to find out who owned it. Her search leads to a delightful and sometimes sad history of the Langshaw organists, father and son, as well as of Broadwood pianos in general and the effect the square piano had on music for the English public.
I didn’t expect much from this book, but it really was fascinating. Goold’s 1807 square piano leads her to a goldmine of information. I know very little about the history of the piano, and she comfortably filled in the blanks and provides a great bibliography for further information. I love it when historians use a small detail to examine the wider history, and that’s precisely what Goold does here. She links successfully the buyer of her square piano, Mr. John Langshaw, with the Broadwood family and their history of harpsichord and then piano making, and further expands to cover the transition from harpsichords to fortepianos and what it did to music. All of it was fascinating.
The most interesting section for me was about the Langshaw family. The elder Mr. Langshaw was disabled and thus forced to choose a different career than his father. He chose music and became a moderately successful organist, at least successful enough to educate his children, particularly his oldest son John. John followed in his father’s footsteps to become an organist, but he also had links with London and may have met the Broadwoods, from whom he commissions pianos for clients in his area. She uses copious quotes from letters to establish his history, and as such it’s almost as though I got a peek into his mind. Their family story is not always cheerful, and the piano was probably not even for them, but Goold speculates to some extent in this direction. She acknowledges that we’ll never know the answer because the relevant records have been destroyed, but her ideas are nonetheless intriguing and plausible.
Goold also links the history with well-known composers and even uses comparisons with Jane Austen to demonstrate the importance of the piano. Cheaper pianos meant newly emerging middle class families could buy the basic models, and piano playing became an important skill for young women, even if they were never permitted to play for public audiences. I loved the way she used the piano to explore the entire culture.
I suppose the only thing that keeps this book from being perfect are the few sections in which Goold attempts to fictionalize various aspects of the Langshaws’ life. She’s not a fiction writer and these few sections, italicized to separate them from the main body of the text, make that very clear. I have to say I skipped over them after the first few, because her regular writing is much smoother and the facts were much more interesting for me than her attempts to picture the scenes.
Mr. Langshaw’s Square Piano is a very interesting little book and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of music or Jane Austen’s England. I had a great time reading it.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from a publicist for review.
 Cristiano’s life with his father may not be the best, but he’s not prepared to give it up. At thirteen, he knows he’s leaving school to work with his father, and all that’s important is keeping his social worker happy so that he doesn’t get taken away. Cristiano’s father, Rino, and his two friends Quattro Formaggi and Danilo Aprea are not as happy with their lives, especially when their manual labor jobs are given over to foreign workers. So Danilo decides to launch the perfect crime, and on one stormy night, the men attempt to put the plan into action. None of them foresee the consequences.
At first, I will admit that I wasn’t as drawn into this book as I was with I’m Not Scared. At one point Cristiano writes an essay about how Hitler was good and how foreigners are bad, and I wasn’t sure at all I was going to like this book. That, however, soon ended, and about halfway through the crime was attempted, and then I couldn’t put this book down. What happened after that was completely unpredictable and totally gripping, and I had to read on to see what happened.
Despite Cristiano’s and Rino’s attitudes, too, I could see the bitterness that drove them. They’re not educated enough to understand why certain things are wrong, so even though I didn’t always like them or agree with them at all, at least I knew where they were coming from and how they came to have the wrong ideas. I could blame the system, rather than the people, for their ignorant and terrifying attitudes. And the father-son relationship was incredibly heartwarming and realistic. They don’t always know what they’re doing or why they’re doing it, but they really love each other in the midst of all their hardships.
Really, this book is all about the failure of “the system”. Hardworking respectable men are unable to work because foreigners will work for less, and of course the companies don’t care if they have to lay off the men they’ve employed for 20 years. Mentally ill people get poor care and aren’t acknowledged at all, given no help despite the fact that they’ve become incapable of work. The social worker in the book doesn’t even look at Cristiano’s bedroom, and when he does, he’s beyond caring. I don’t think that he should have separated Cristiano from his father, although perhaps others would disagree, but the facade these two are capable of putting on for him, plus what he thinks makes a family, is almost laughable.
So, once again, Ammaniti has delivered a thriller that really causes his readers to think. His writing is crude at times – he spares no details in certain matters – and often violent, but he’s talented nonetheless. I do feel that I have to warn readers that a sexual crime is attempted in this book and it made me very uncomfortable, so it may do the same to you. Regardless, though, The Crossroads is a great read, and I can definitely recommend it as an addictive, thrilling book that will keep you up all night just to finish it.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
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