The Madonnas of Leningrad

Bibliography
Dean, Debra. The Madonnas of Leningrad. New York: Harper, 2006.

Plot Summary
This is a poignant story about a woman who suffers from Alzheimer's. She doesn't remember why she's at a wedding, but she remembers in great detail surviving the German occupation of her beloved hometown. Marina was a docent at the Hermitage Museum. Before the Germans moved into Russia, Marina and her co-workers carefully stored away priceless art for safe-keeping. The memories of the art is what helps Marina survive--not only through the war but also in the present day.


My Thoughts
This was a great narrative and wonderful love story. I liked how Dean switched the time; it was not confusing to keep up with what was happening and it gave me a sense of what living with Alzheimer's must be like. The love is not only apparent between the characters, but it is apparent between Marina and the art.

Marina creates a "memory palace" of the art in the museum (Dean 68). Keeping the tour running in her head created a survival technique that allowed Marina to endure the many heartbreaking situations of the war. I liked hearing the concept of the memory palace. Sometimes I consciously take "pictures" with my mind to capture moments. Where are they stored in my brain? How do I recall these "pictures"?

Marina met Dmitri and promises herself to him. Later, by chance, they reunite and immigrate to America. When they start a family, they don't share their war experiences. Their children have no true idea of what their parents endured during the war.

Marina and Dmitri's daughter Helen doesn't realize that her love of art really comes from her mother. It made me think of how generations don't always share with the next their own "memory palaces." It made me want to hear stories from my grandparents. It made me want to listen better to the stories my parents are willing to share. It made me want to ask more questions. Would I get accurate answers or filtered responses? Will I share with my daughter the truth or a version of the truth?

I also enjoyed all of the art references in the book. I did take some time to look up the pieces of art to see if I recognized any of them. The way Dean describes them, though, creates a vivid picture in my head, especially at the end of the book when Marina is giving a private tour of the museum to a group of cadets. I felt like I was seeing the art with them.

I'm glad I read this book! One of my favorite lines from it is, "it is a terrible thing to have loved ones...make(s) their pain yours" (Dean 148). I felt pain reading this book, but it was not painful to read.

Breaking Dawn

Bibliography
Meyer, Stephenie. Breaking Dawn. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 2008.

Plot Summary
This book is the fourth of the Twilight series. We follow Bella, Edward and Jacob through another phase of their lives. In this book, though, a new character emerges who puts quite a spin on each of their lives.

My Thoughts
Even though the suspense and action and love story are here, this is probably my least favorite of the series. I didn't find myself reading this one as fast as the other books. Perhaps it is because I knew it was the last book, and I didn't want the story to end.

There are several twists in the story that are logical, but I found myself questioning the believability. Could this really be the course of events if these items were possible? How did Meyer create the idea? Why didn't I realize that Jacob was really only a shape shifter (probably because I don't read too much about the supernatural)?

I think I've been clear that I really like Jacob, so when he says, "this was the problem with hanging out with vampires--you got used to them. They started messing up the way you saw the world" (Meyer 284), I found myself feeling messed with by the story like Jacob felt with the vampires. I can see these characters. I can feel what they feel. I think Meyer does a fantastic job creating a saga. I feel like I understand vampires more and even question my personal beliefs about the possibility of them existing. Maybe...

I'm sad that the series is done, and I will read Meyer's other book The Host which I understand is NOT the story of Bella, Edward and Jacob.

Thanks Ms. Meyer for four wonderful reads!

Eclipse

Bibliography
Meyer, Stephenie. Eclipse. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2007.

Plot Summary

The saga continues with Bella, Edward and Jacob. This time, though, forces join together to fight a common enemy...someone from Bella's past that just won't let the past go.(I'm not writing too much about the plot because I don't want to spoil what happens).

My Thoughts

Again, Meyer weaves a wonderful story of these characters I've grown to know. I'm never certain what Bella will choose to do and how she will really live as a vampire. The suspense and tension of this triangle is believable, and we see just how much Jacob and Edward love Bella in their own way. I can't wait to read the fourth book!

The Palace of Illusions

Bibliography
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. The Palace of Illusions. Anchor Books, New York: 2008.

Plot Summary
This is a story of an Indian woman named Panchaali. She desires to be envied by all, but she doesn't realize what her wish will actually bring to her life. In her quest to be admired and loved, she marries five brothers (at one time, alternating years of actually being with each of them), lives in a beautiful palace, loses everything, is forced to live in the forest for many years, and finally realizes what she most desires, she already has.

My Thoughts
This story gave me quite an insight into Indian culture. It was hard for me to keep up with some of the characters, as the names were similar (and hard for me to pronounce). I took all summer to read this book (in spurts), so I probably would have been better off to read it in fewer sittings. There was intrigue and mystery. I felt that Divakaruni did a good job explaining the significance certain aspects of the culture that I would not otherwise understand. Divakaruni also did a good job weaving the supernatural elements with the story. I believed what Panchallai said happened did happen exactly the way she explained.

There is a helpful family tree chart and list of major characters in the story that I referred to when I'd forget characters. Two things I marked in the book that I thought were important were: when the sage warns Panchaali "only a fool meddles in the great design" (Divakaruni 40) and almost at the end of the book when Panchaali states, "when I'd had the chance to appreciate them, I'd spent it venting my dissatisfaction" (Divakaruni 349). I think as humans, we often don't appreciate what or who we have until it/they are gone.

Another nugget of wisdom from this book is "a problem becomes a problem only if you believe it to be so" (Divakaruni 9). I think this is a mantra for the power of positive thinking.

Uglies

Bibliography
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005.
Plot Summary In this futuristic novel, everyone is ugly until they turn 16 and then they undergo an operation to make them pretty. Tally Youngblood, the main character of this book, looks forward to the day when she will be pretty. That it until Shay comes into her life and changes her perspective, with a little help from Dr. Cable, a Special Circumstances doctor who forces Tally to betray her friend, her beliefs and her way of life.

My Thoughts
It took me several pages to get into this book, but then I couldn't put it down. This is the first book of a trilogy, and I can't wait to check out the next installment. The first book ended with quite a twist.
I think Westerfeld makes interesting commentary about how we see ourselves and the past. Is being pretty the best we can aspire to be? Does this operation really make a person symmetrical, thereby perfect? Are the Rusties really so dense that their civilization collapsed because of their physical features? Westerfeld does not answer these questions, nor does he pose them directly, but I found myself thinking.
At first, the technology references bothered me, but as the characters developed, I understood the setup and the importance of explaining the technology. I wondered about how far Westerfeld's fiction would become reality. I also kept thinking about Lois Lowry's book The Giver as I read. The idea of the perfect world is appealing, but at what cost?
Again, I can't wait to read the next installment of New Pretty Town and see what happens to Tally, Shay, David, Maddy and I think Croy will be a bigger part of the story. We'll see.

Water for Elephants

Bibliography

Gruen, Sara. Water for Elephants. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2006.

Plot SummaryThis novel is written as a biography of one Jacob Jankowski, a veterinarian student that finds himself working for the circus. The novel spans seventy years and uses flashbacks to transport the reader from the past to the present and back to the past.

My thoughts
This was a great summer read! During lunchtime, I would sit outside and let myself "go" to the circus. I enjoyed the characters and the plot development. I learned about the other side of circus life---the life that "rubes" don't know about--the life that could mean life or death by the flick of a wrist. I became attached to the humans and the animals. I felt compassion for all.

Included are pictures (most from Ringling Brothers' archive) depicting different scenes of the circus life.

This is a love story, a mystery novel, and a testament to friendships that are made in life. I despised Uncle Al and August. I feel for Camel and Walter and wonder how many others live without families--even when they have one.

I enjoyed how Gruen intertwined the narrative. The prologue is actually part of Chapter 22. The use of flashbacks is not confusing but quite pertinent to the story. They occur when thoughts are interrupted.
VERY GOOD SUMMER READ!

In the Beauty of the Lilies

Bibliography
Updike, John. In the Beauty of the Lilies. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

Plot Summary
This novel is actually four novels in one book. The novel follows four generations of a family, starting with Clarence Wilmot, a Presbyterian clergyman who loses his faith and ending with Clarence's great-grandson Clark's story that mimics the Branch Davidians in Waco.

Critical Analysis
It was hard for me to pick up this book and read. It just seemed to drag on and on and I would find myself counting the pages until the next section. My book club actually met 3 1/2 weeks ago to discuss it, and I just finished it today. Since I'd already invested so much time reading 3 of the 4 generations, I had to keep going, but it was not an easy read.

The characters are believable. Family connections are made and lost. People follow their own dreams. I never thought Updike included unreal characters. The Wilmot's family lines spread across the world and that is plausible. I liked how each book within the book followed a new generation and ties were shown to previous generations. I thought of my own family and how with each passing generation, the less we know about each other. I'm not sure if that's Updike's message to us or not.

Since I was beating the clock, so to speak, on getting this read by a deadline (even though I didn't finish the book by the deadline), I didn't mark as much in the book as I might had I enjoyed reading. I was just trying to get through it. I enjoyed reading Clarence's story (the first part of the novel). I marked several things in his story that spoke to me about my own church:
"Young members are the lifeblood of any church if it is to serve the needs of coming generations" (36) and "a church is a community whose strength lies in purity and zeal, not in its buildings" (37). I enjoyed the religious history that Clarence's story provides. There is even an allusion to Jonathan Edwards' sermon of how God holds us over the flames of hell like a spider (Updike 18).

The second story is Teddy's. This character seems too afraid to try that he just allows life to happen to him, and he is perfectly content with that. Teddy is not ambitious, but his daughter (the third book) is decidedly so. She makes things happen, moral or not.

One thing that I did mark was the title reference. Hannah, one character in the fourth section of the novel, comments, "We try to live as the lilies" (Updike 385).

This is a book that I probably will sell back to the bookstore.