The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar

This is another one I got to read as a sneak preview and I'm so glad I did!

This is the story of Audrey Coltrane a young Texan woman who loves to fly and dreams of one day owning her own airfield. WWII is happening overseas, but the people of Texas are largely unaffected. Audrey gets an opportunity to go to Hawaii as a flight instructor and she jumps at the chance. Life in Hawaii is good, she's a highly respected flight instructor, she has wonderful friends and there's handsome Lieutenant Hart who has caught her eye. Everything seems perfect until Pearl Harbour is attacked and America joins the war.

Audrey returns to Texas until she receives an invitation to join WASP, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots. Female pilots from all across America are invited to receive military training which will allow them to do jobs left vacant by men who have now gone to war. Men like Lieutenant Hart.

WASP was a real program, although the characters in this book are fictitious. These women all trained in Sweetwater, Texas, without being given full military status. After their graduation from the program they were given jobs like ferrying planes across the country where they often faced the sexist attitudes of the men working at the airfields where the women were landing planes.

Noelle Salazar created a great cast of characters, strong women blazing the trail for all of us who came after them. These women were breaking down barriers long before most of Western society knew they could be broken. There was a bit too much talk about make-up and lipstick for my liking. I would have liked to see women who weren't worried about those sorts of things, but I'm not sure what women in that time period would have thought about that. Maybe they did still want their lipstick to be perfect before they took off in their planes.

Part historical fiction and part romance, I thought the two blended together well. I was spellbound while reading of the attack on Pearl Harbour and the aftermath. I was brought to tears on a couple of occasions as scenes of war played out and lives were lost.

All in all, I found this to be a very entertaining and informative read. I didn't know about the WASP program before and now I'd love to learn more. This one will be available in early August and I highly recommend it.

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

This one is exciting for me. This is the first (of many, I hope) opportunity I have had to receive an advance copy of a book for review before its publication date. So cool!

Ask Again, Yes is the story of two families who live next door to each other just outside of New York City. Both husbands are police officers in New York City and were even partners as rookies. They are looking for a safe place to raise their families and Francis Gleeson discovers the town of Gillam and lets Brian Stanhope know when the house next door to him is up for sale. Brian and his wife, Anne, buy the home next to Francis and his wife Lena. Francis and Lena already have two daughters, Natalie and Sara and are expecting a third baby. Brian and Anne have dealt with a pregnancy loss but soon discover they are expecting again.

The two babies (Peter and Kate) are born 6 months apart and as children become best friends. However, issues develop between the two families, mainly revolving around the mental health of Anne. As Peter and Kate prepare for high school and their blossoming romance a horrible incident involving both families causes the Stanhopes to move away and the Gleesons to deal with the repercussions.

Peter and Kate always wonder what happened to the other and find each other again as adults. But with all that happened between the two families, can they (and should they) be together?

The story takes place over several decades and is told from different character's perspectives throughout the book. I really liked that. Years would go by from the perspective of one character and you are temporarily left to wonder what is happening to the others at the same, with small clues sometimes appearing.

I also felt the characters were really well developed and strong.

All in all, it was a good, quick read and was very compelling. It really helped get me through my sick day yesterday! I highly recommend you check this one out when it is in stores at the end of this month.

The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

Not surprisingly, I follow a lot of book sites on my different social media platforms. About a year ago this book was being hyped as a new book to watch so it caught my eye. Then someone in my book club chose it as our selection for April so I finally had a chance to read it.

This is the story of Miranda, a young woman who receives a mysterious package from an uncle she hasn't seen in 16 years. When she was little, Uncle Billy used to create special scavenger hunts for her, so when receives this package she knows a new hunt is about to begin. But immediately following the arrival of the package comes the news that Uncle Billy has passed away. She leaves her home in Philadelphia to attend his funeral in Los Angeles and hopes to discover where this new scavenger hunt will take her.

Uncle Billy was the owner of Prospero Books, a charming bookstore where she loved to spend time as a child, and he has left the store to her. The store is struggling financially and may have to close. Miranda is a history teacher in Philadelphia, so what can she do with a struggling book store in Los Angeles?

The clues of the scavenger hunt take her through different books that Uncle Billy loved and lead her to people who were important in his life. What will she discover about why he disappeared from her life all those years ago? What made him stay away?

Anyone who loves books and books stores will enjoy this story. Everyone in our book club agreed that the mystery was fairly easy to guess, but it was still fun getting there. There are some interesting characters to meet along the way, although I was frustrated with Miranda's treatment of some of them, especially her boyfriend back in Philadelphia. She wasn't always a very thoughtful person.

Other than that it was an enjoyable read, and a great homage to independent book stores.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

This book was recommended to me a few years ago but I never got around to reading it. It is in constant use in the library as a novel study so it can be hard to get your hands on it. Then it was chosen as a book club selection and returned to the library at the same time so I took it as my lunch break reading.

I don't always love utopian/dystopian books but something about this one grabbed me right from the start. I loved it and have Darcy reading it now.

This is the story of Jonas a young man about to become "a twelve". You quickly learn that in his society, uniqueness is not valued. You don't get to choose your spouse, when you will have children or even how many children you will have. Once your spouse is chosen for you and you spend a few years together then you will have the opportunity to apply for a child. You will eventually apply for two children, one male, one female. These children are born to assigned birth mothers, so very few women have to undergo pregnancy. No one has their own birthday, all children born in a year advance ages at the same time. In fact, there is a ceremony each year where the milestone is marked and some new privilege is granted (such as a coat with pockets, a haircut that allows you to remove your hair ribbons or a bicycle). However, when you turn 12 your life's work is assigned to you. You will have had the opportunity to volunteer in different areas of the community so you will know where your aptitudes lie. Jonas, however, has enjoyed many different types of work so he has no idea what his assignment will be and he is very nervous about the different possibilities. But when he does finally receive his assignment, it is completely different from what he expected and it begins to change him in ways he didn't think possible. He learns that their perfect society may not be so perfect after all. What will that mean for him?

This is a short book, really aimed at younger readers so it is a quick read. I loved the characters, I loved the questions it raised. Yes, having these life decisions made for you can save a lot of pain and sadness in life, but it also removes a lot of joy. How do you balance that? What is more important?

There are more books in the series but not with the same characters. I am hoping to read those too but our library doesn't have them. I'm definitely interested to read more about this society.

All in all, this was a big hit for me. A great read!

Perfect by Rachel Joyce

Someone returned this to the library at the high school a couple of weeks ago and I decided to take a look at it on my lunch break instead of putting it right back on the shelf. I absolutely loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey so I was curious to read more by the same author.

The book has two parallel stories being told, one starting in the summer of 1972 and the other in the present day. In 1972 a young boy named Byron finds out that two seconds are being added to the world's clocks, a prospect that terrifies him. He's afraid of the repercussions of interfering with time in that way. What kind of ripple effects will that cause? He becomes consumed with these two seconds and how that will affect the world. One morning while driving to school his mom takes a different route through a poor neighbourhood and while Byron is convinced he sees his watch go backward for two seconds his mom gets distracted and unknowingly hits a young girl riding her bicycle. This sets off a chain reaction of events in their family that cannot be undone.

Alternating chapters tell the story of a man named Jim, living in the same town in the present day. Jim has no family and struggles with some serious mental health issues. He has been in and out of the local mental health facility but that has now closed so he lives alone in a broken down van. He works in a cafe located inside a store and hides his OCD rituals from the few people in his life. Through his job he meets an exciting woman named Eileen and tries to get to know her better.

Little by little you see how these two stories could be intertwined. Byron's mother also struggles with mental health issues, and it is heartbreaking to see her health deteriorate as their story progresses, while Jim begins making progress. The mental health stories were written with great respect and understanding. I think books like this can go a long way towards continuing to break down mental health stigmas and bringing greater understanding to these issues and to the people who live with these struggles and illnesses each day.

While I didn't love it as much as I loved Harold Fry I still enjoyed it quite a bit and read through it quite quickly. There was a good twist at the end as the two stories came together. All in all, I felt it was an enjoyable read. I'll read more from Rachel Joyce for sure.

The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong

I think it is safe to say I am in a reading slump. It is March 14th and this is only the second book I have managed to finish this year. Both books have been complete misses for me, so it has been hard to get motivated to pick them up.

This one was my book club choice for February. I was fortunate that the meeting got canceled and rescheduled for next week because I just couldn't get into it at all.

A blend of fiction and history, this book tells to story of Charlotte Taylor, the actual great-great-grandmother of the author. Charlotte was one of the first women to settle on the east coast of Canada (in what eventually became New Brunswick) and was a tough cookie. She fled a fairly affluent life in England to be with the man she loved, her family's black butler. They dreamed of a new life together in the West Indies, but that wasn't meant to be.  She ended up in what was then known as Nova Scotia, a woman alone.

That was not an easy time or place to be a woman, especially a woman without the protection of a husband or father. But Charlotte wasn't going to let that stand in her way. She is bold, unconventional and fierce. She befriends the settles and the People (how our First Nations were known at that time) which makes it hard for her to be accepted by either group properly.

Yet Charlotte manages to build a life for herself, overcoming many huge obstacles.

As I write this, it sounds super interesting to me. The summary seems good. However, for me, the book itself was just a complete dud. I found the writing style to be very boring (I wonder if it was self-published because I found a couple of spelling and grammatical errors). This is a very timely book, bringing greater understanding to the difficulties faced by our First Nations in the early days of Canada's history, with an incredibly strong female lead character. I just wish I was enjoyed it more.

Maybe it's just my slump talking. I'm taking a break from book club reading to read a book I picked up on my lunch break at work last week. It's by an author I've loved in the past so I'm hoping that will get me excited about reading again.

Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

I should have known better than to read this book. I know myself well enough to know that I don't like other authors taking on my favourite characters and I should have left this one alone. But I had read some good reviews and curiosity got the best of me so I read it. It took me a month to get through and I just didn't enjoy it.

Sarah McCoy was intrigued by a paragraph towards the end of Anne of Green Gables where Marilla reveals to Anne that Gilbert's father, John Blythe, had once been her good friend, even her beau. Sarah wondered what had happened and wrote this book to answer that question. She begins the story when Marilla Cuthbert is 13 years old living in a newly built house (the Gables) with her parents and brother Matthew. Their mother is expecting a new baby and her twin sister comes from Ontario to visit in preparation for the new arrival.

The story goes on to tell what Marilla's life might have been like in Avonlea in the mid-1800's. She develops a friendship with Rachel White (Lynde) and John Blythe. She becomes involved with the political uprisings in Canada before Confederation and also in the Underground Railroad. There are deaths in the family and she learns how to deal with those and carry on.

Sarah McCoy isn't Lucy Maud Montgomery and doesn't claim to be. Sometimes I felt her take on Marilla was right on the money but most of the time I just wasn't feeling it. Aside from that, I just found the story to be incredibly boring. It didn't draw me in at all, which is mostly why it took me so long to read it.

I felt the characters to be fairly true to the originals with some small things that didn't sit right with me. I didn't feel like she got Rachel Lynde's character right at all, and there were a few things about Matthew that I didn't agree with either (in Anne he says he had never done any courting, so why is he courting in this book???) . In the original books we can see that Marilla has some political leanings so I feel like her exploring these areas was pretty realistic for her. I liked how the author wove some of the old Avonlea families into this story, it was good to see some familiar names.

If it wasn't for the Green Gables connection I wouldn't have read this book. That was barely enough to keep me going to the end. Maybe if you haven't read Anne of Green Gables 7,000 times you might like this more than I did. I think my expectations were just too high.

Educated by Tara Westover

I have had this book recommended to me by several different people but never got around to reading it. Then it was chosen as our January book for book club so I was excited to get reading.

I'm not always a lover of non-fiction but there have been some recent exceptions to that (Unbroken, The Glass Castle and Thunderdog immediately come to mind). If you liked any of those books, you will probably enjoy this one as well.

This is the story of Tara Westover who grew up in rural Idaho. Her father, a devout Mormon, doesn't believe in government, medicine, or education. As a girl, Tara is being raised to be a wife and mother. Her father owns a junkyard and often puts all his children to work there, frequently in unsafe conditions. Tara is the youngest of seven children and by the time she comes along, homeschooling has been mostly forgotten and she is put to work in the junkyard, or occasionally helping her mother as the local midwife.

Eventually, at the urging of one of her brothers, Tara takes the ACT and earns a scholarship to university. Once there she realizes how unprepared she is for life in the real world and how little knowledge she has of anything that wasn't on the ACT. She learns how to learn and becomes a dedicated student.

At the same time her family is in turmoil, their unsafe working/living conditions cause several family members to be injured in accidents. The family doesn't believe in modern medicine (Tara never even took Tylenol until she was at a friend's house as a teenager) so many of them don't receive the proper care for their injuries. She suffers horrible abuse at the hands of one of her brothers and her parents turn a blind eye to it.

In spite of all this, Tara rises above her circumstances to move on to a life outside of Idaho. Her strength and resilience are inspiring.

Some members of her family are speaking out against the book so it can be hard to know where the truth lies. However I still found this to be a compelling read (I read most of it on a 2-hour flight yesterday). I highly recommend it and would love to talk it over with anyone who has read it.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I heard about this book several years ago and picked it up a good while back but for some reason I just never got around to reading it. So when I needed to pick a book for my book club for this year I decided to choose this one so I would finally get it read. I'm so glad I did.

A.J. Fikry lives on Alice Island, on the Northeast Coast of the United States, not far from Providence, Rhode Island. Although still a young man, he has been recently widowed after his wife dies in a car accident. A.J. is still running their independent book store but his heart is no longer in it. He's drinking heavily, not taking care of himself and hating his life. The one item of value he had in his life was a rare copy of Tamerlane by Edgar Allan Poe and it gets stolen from his house one night after he has had too much to drink. This book was his retirement savings plan and now his financial future is uncertain because the book store isn't making a lot of money.

Then one day there is an unexpected delivery at the store and A.J.'s life changes in an instant.

This is a delightful read, filled with talk about other books. Because A.J. runs a book store he is always talking about books with other characters. Book lovers will love that aspect of the story. I love A.J.'s opinionated ways and his strong feelings about literature (many of which I share). The book is filled with fun characters and an engaging story. Maybe it all comes together a little too easily, but it is still a sweet little book. It won't take you long to read it, but almost everyone in our book club enjoyed it. One member said she wasn't really getting into it, but everyone else really enjoyed it.

I really don't think you can go wrong with this one, especially if you are the type of person who could spend hours browsing in an independent or used book store. This one was a big hit for me.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Only four people were able to attend our book club meeting last weekend and none of us had finished the book. It was expensive with long waits at the library so some of us had a hard time getting our hands on a copy. I actually bought a digital copy (which I really don't like doing, I love turning actual pages) so I could read it. I'm so glad I did. This one was a big win for me.

This is the story of Count Alexander Rostov who, in 1922, was tried and convicted of being an "unrepentant aristocrat" and sentenced to life under house arrest in the Hotel Metropol in Moscow. He is given a tiny room in the attics of the hotel and eventually given a job as the head waiter in their high end restaurant. The Count is forced to watch as the Russia he loves crumbles and is replaced by new leaders and new ideology. From his place within the hotel he watches the  country change over the course of several decades. He creates a family made up of the employees of the hotel, along with some other notable guests. As he ages he is given the responsibility of raising his friend's daughter, Sophia. Not knowing anything about children he is a bit overwhelmed at first but can't imagine how big a role Sophia would go on to play in his life.

Admittedly, I don't know a lot about Russia's history but I found this to be a fascinating read as you see how the ideologies shifted and how that affected the people. I was intrigued by stories of propaganda (rural peasants not being allowed in the cities, city residents not being allowed in the country, train windows being blacked out) so no one could truly see how others were being affected by all the changes.

In addition to being a great story it was also beautifully written. Some parts were quite funny, some heartbreaking, but it was all beautifully done. This guy definitely has a way with words.

If you are looking for a book with a lot of action, this isn't the book for you. It's certainly not a page-turner in the traditional sense. Because it is all set in the hotel, there's not a lot happening. But the wonderful writing, fascinating history and interesting characters combine to make a fantastic, quiet read.

The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year Old Man by Jonas Jonasson

Several years ago, I, like many others, found myself completely enamoured with Allan Karlsson, The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Then Disappeared. I found the book to be incredibly unique and laugh-out-loud funny. I bought it as a gift for several people and recommended it highly.

I hesitatingly watched the movie when it was on Netflix and really enjoyed that as well.

I started another book by the same author the next year (The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden) but just couldn't get into it. It is one of three books I have abandoned in my reading career (accompanied by Catch-22 and Captain Corelli's Mandolin). It just wasn't for me. Last year Rob read and thoroughly enjoyed Jonasson's Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All  but after my experience with  The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden I didn't read it myself.

For this reason I found myself a bit torn when I saw this book in Costco this summer. I just wasn't sure what I would think of it. Would it recapture the magic of the first book or would it mirror his later writing that I didn't enjoy? The first book is one of Rob's all-time favourite books so he bought it right away. He has been too busy with work to read so he gave it to me to read first under strict instructions not to reveal anything about the book to him.

Soooo, it's good he's probably not reading this.

It was a huge disappointment. There were a few funny sentences here and there, but overall it just wasn't interesting. It was very political which just isn't my thing. There are no flashbacks to Allan's past in this book (I guess the whole 100 years had been covered in the first book) so it was all set in the current day. Donald Trump, Kim Jong-Un and Angela Merkel are all characters. This is more of an ensemble story so Allan is almost like a supporting character (and kind of an annoying one at that). We all know Donald Trump is unstable and boorish. I hear about it on the news all the time. I read to get away from that sort of thing.

I did read to the end, but it wasn't worth it. If you loved the first one, like I did, then leave it at that. Don't spoil your image of that book by reading this one.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I first heard about this book back when it was released and I saw an interview with the author on television. It seemed like a fun read, but I never got around to it. A couple of weeks ago I was in a book store with a gift card and it was on display again, preparing for the upcoming release of the movie. While in the store both a staff member and other customers saw me looking at it and recommended it highly. So I picked it up.

I'd call this one a fun summer read. Definitely not my favourite book of all time, but still fun.

This is the story of Rachel Chu, a Economics Professor in New York City. Her boyfriend, Nick Young, invites her to travel to Singapore with him for his best friend's wedding. What he doesn't tell her is that his family is one of the wealthiest families in Singapore and that this wedding is on par with a royal wedding. Rachel is completely unprepared for the lavish, extravagant lifestyle Nick's family leads and it leads to all sorts of problems.

Nick's mother doesn't know he is dating Rachel and isn't happy that Rachel doesn't come from a recognizable family tree. She wants Nick to marry someone rich, who can add to the family fortune. Nick's wife must be someone from the "right kind" of family and Rachel doesn't fit that bill.

I feel like some of these scenes were written with a possible movie in mind. The beautiful settings, incredibly scenery and over-the-top luxury will look incredible on the big screen.

The book is supposed to satirize the lifestyle these people lead, but at times I just found their disregard for how much things cost disturbing. The amount of money wasted was troubling at times.

One criticism I have is that when words need to be translated, this was done in a footnote at the bottom of the page. If I read that word again and couldn't remember where it was first mentioned, it was hard to find the right footnote. I would have preferred a glossary of Chinese terms at the end of the book as an easier reference.

For the most part, a fun read. I'll probably read the other two books in the series just to see where the story goes.

Pride and Prejudice Manga Edition by Jane Austen and Stacy King

I have written often about two things: the fact that I don't like adaptations of my favourite books and the fact that I love classic novels being adapted into graphic novels. So, now those two things have combined and I was hesitant to see how I would feel about it.

After falling in love with the Sense and Sensibility Manga edition a few weeks ago, Darcy and I got in line for the Manga edition of Pride and Prejudice. P & P is #2 on my all-time favourite books list and the source of Darcy's name. Once we picked it up from the library, she pounced on it and finished it 3 times in a day and a half. Darcy absolutely loved it and now can't wait to watch the BBC miniseries (be still my heart). Then it was my turn to read it.

I thought it was great! It was a very true adaptation of the original story, once again featuring incredible art. They inserted little character introductions throughout the story, which I thought was a fun touch and would help someone new to P & P understand the characters a little better. I don't think the characters were as well developed here as they are in the full version of the book so those backgrounds helped.

It's not the original, but it's a great, fun, modern interpretation. It made Darcy pick up the original, but she still found the language a bit daunting.

All in all, this is a fun way to spend an afternoon. It could help introduce a new generation of readers to this classic story. Take a look for it at your local library and let me know what you think.

Shooter by Caroline Pignat

Caroline Pignat is one of Darcy's favourite authors (she actually got to attend a writing workshop with Caroline earlier this year) who is actually based in Ottawa and is a high school teacher here. She writes books aimed at teens and teens love them. This one was released while I was doing my placement in a high school library and it was in high demand. Darcy read it then, but later bought the book at a meet and greet with the author at a local Chapters store. She's been on my case to read it ever since so I took the opportunity during my summer vacation to give it a read.

Anyone in my age group knows and loves the movie The Breakfast Club. We loved watching those five students trapped together in Saturday detention, starting the day as strangers and ending the day as friends. The situations they faced forced them to see beyond high school labels to the real people inside.

Shooter operates in much the same way. 5 students are trapped in the boys' bathroom during a school lockdown. Each student speaks in their own unique voice (poetry, prose, text messages, writing journals) and they combine to tell the story of what happens that day in their school. There's Alice, a lonely writer who is a caregiver to her older brother, Noah, who has autism. Hogan is a former football player who is always in trouble after the death of his older brother. Isabelle is the student council president and always feels pressured to present a perfect image to the other students and her parents. The final student is Xander, a social misfit who sees the world better through the lens of his camera and needs to do "social autopsies" on conversations after they happen so he can understand what transpired.

At the beginning they assume the lockdown is a drill, or simply related to a series of pranks that have been happening at the school in recent weeks. Things change when Isabelle receives a text from her friend locked down in the office that this isn't a drill or a prank, there is a shooter in the school.

These five students need to understand each other (and more about themselves) in order to get through. Maybe there is more to perfect Isabelle than she lets on. Hogan's painful past has damaged him in ways he can't get past. Alice feels a huge responsibility for Noah and may have to put her own dreams aside to help care for him. Xander is trying to fit in in a world he doesn't understand and the one friend he thought he had leads him on a dangerous path. These students look to each other and into themselves to learn how to work together to survive.

I loved reading this book and I highly recommend it for anyone, but especially any teens you may have in your life. My library doesn't currently own a copy of this book, but I'll be getting one during this school year. Please look into Caroline's work and support this fantastic local author! Here is a link to a review I did of Egghead a few years ago.

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

This is me getting the jump on my fall book club meeting by reading the book during the summer! I'm a book club superstar! I also happen to be temporarily unemployed...

I hadn't heard anything about this book when it was selected for our club and I don't remember when I bought it. It has been on my shelf for a few months and I finally picked it up last week.

This is the story of Lucien Bouchard who, as you can probably guess from the title, is an architect based in Paris. The year is 1942, so Paris is under German occupation during WWII. The occupation is definitely hindering Lucien's ambitions of becoming a famous architect. There is little to no work to be found. Lucien is approached by a very wealthy man with a challenging proposition. Can Lucien create a space where Jewish people can safely hide during Gestapo raids? It has be better than a false wall in the back of the closet. If he is successful he will be given commissions to design factories for the Germans which means he'll finally be able to prove to the world that is a talented architect.

Lucien is a selfish man. He has never done anything just out of kindness. Hiding Jewish people is a death sentence for anyone involved and their family. He doesn't love his wife, but he still doesn't want to put her life at risk by getting involved. Yet the money provided by these jobs will allow him to once again enjoy some of life's luxuries that he had been missing since the occupation began. So he takes the job, but only for the money. He wants no part of helping these people, but it's the only way to advance his career during war time.

As you can imagine this creates a series of problems for Lucien and his life takes turns he was not expecting. It's a wonderful story with fantastic characters. It's an interesting look at why we do the things we do and how taking a risk can lead to something amazing. I just read that the film rights have already been purchased and I think it will make a beautiful movie.

I don't remember which of my book club members chose this book, but whoever she is, I'm glad she did! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one and highly recommend it. And to any book club members reading this, my copy is available to borrow before the September meeting, first come, first served!

Sense and Sensibilty Manga Edition by Jane Austen and Stacy King

It's no secret that I've not always been a big fan of adaptations/sequels of my favourite books. I hate when the stories and characters are changed from their original forms.

However, I am becoming a big fan of classic stories being told in a new way. Graphic novels are a great way to introduce new readers to these amazing stories. Wesley has recently read graphic novel versions of Frankenstein and Dracula and loved them. Amelia has a graphic novel of Anne of Green Gables and then on a recent trip to the library I stumbled across this version of Sense and Sensibility. Darcy read it first and fell in love with it. After I told her about all the Harry Potter actors who were in the movie she needed to see that right away. We absolutely loved watching that together.

I have now read the book myself and only have great things to say about it. The adaptation is very true to the original story, using the original text in most cases. The art is beautiful and adds a wonderful dimension to the story.

In true manga form this book reads from right to left so that took a bit of getting used to, but I was fine after a page or two. They also include a manga reading lesson at the beginning of the book to help old timers like me.

If you are looking for a new twist on an old favourite, give it a try. We are now waiting in line for Pride and Prejudice in manga form. I hope I love it just as much as I loved this one.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This book has been on a lot of lists for YA reads over the past year. I added it to my school library and recently brought it home to read it.

This is the story of Starr, a 16-year old girl living in a predominantly black area of an unnamed US city. In her neighbourhood of Garden Heights gangs are everywhere, drugs are easily available and she watched one of her two best friends get killed in a drive-by shooting when they were ten years old. When she is 16, she leaves a party (because shooting has broken out) with her other best friend, Khalil.

Starr felt out of place at the party because she doesn't go to school in Garden Heights. Her parents send her to a private school in the city to give her and her brothers a shot at a better education. She feels she has to be one Starr in Garden Heights and a completely different Starr at school. At school she can't be too "black", or invite friends back to her home in the "ghetto".

On the way home from the party with Khalil, they are stopped by the police because Khalil has a taillight missing. As Khalil reaches into the car to see if Starr is OK, the officer begins shooting and Khalil is shot three times and he dies there, with Starr again watching one of her bests friends dying.

This is a powerful look at race relations in a country where things seem to be getting worse, not better. Although not based on an actual case, we've all followed similar stories in the news. I felt the book to be very well-written and I read it very quickly.

I can't imagine living in many of the situations faced in the book, they are things I've never had to face as a white, Canadian woman. It's definitely eye-opening and shocking. I recommend it.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I picked this one up at a used bookstore last summer and it has been on my shelf ever since. I've seen it around and know it has been a popular book, but thrillers aren't really my thing even though they're a huge trend in books right now. However, summer vacation has begun and so has my summer reading. I thought this would be a fun place to start.

I was right. It's far from being the most exciting book I've ever read but it was a good, suspenseful read. I was intrigued enough to want to keep reading and even stayed up late a couple of nights to keep reading. That's not a luxury I allow myself during the school year!

This is the story of Laura (Lo) Blacklock, a travel journalist who is just about to embark on a luxury cruise ship with only 10 cabins. She is trying to advance in her career and this could be the opportunity she has been looking for to help her make her mark. However, just days before her departure, her home is broken into leaving Lo feeling nervous and afraid. She has always had panic attacks which she was managing with medication but now they are resurfacing. She can't sleep and is constantly afraid. She hopes the trip will allow her some time to relax and get her fears under control.

The first night on board she meets the small group of people she's travelling with, including her ex-boyfriend. There are other journalists, a few investors and a very helpful staff all travelling together. After a lovely dinner and a few too many drinks, Lo returns to her room to finally try to get some sleep. She is awakened by a scream and a splash and she's convinced she's just heard a body be thrown overboard from the cabin next door. There had been a woman in there earlier (Lo had borrowed some mascara from her) but that woman hadn't appeared at dinner. When Lo calls the ship's security to come investigate they don't seem to believe her and tell her that no one was registered to stay in that cabin and he shows her that the cabin is uninhabited. Everyone else on board is accounted for, and no one believes that she saw a woman in that cabin earlier. So what did Lo hear, who went overboard, and where did that woman go? Who was she?

One of my problems with thrillers is that they take too long to end. Even after you have figured out the mystery there are still a bunch of scary situations thrown in just to keep you on the edge of your seat a big longer. I really hate that. She could have cut about 20 pages out of the end of the book and still had a great story.

Again, it wasn't the greatest mystery I've ever read but it was fun and it was a page turner. If you are looking for a book to take on vacation, this would be a great one.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

I seem to have fallen behind in my blogging. The end of the school year was so busy, followed by a fun first week of summer vacation. I seem to have some time to myself today, so let's see how we do.

A Spool of Blue Thread was our book club selection for June. I wasn't quite finished in time for the meeting but finished a day or two later.

This is the story of Red and Abby Whitshank and their family, both the generation before them and then their own children and grandchildren. Red and Abby live in Baltimore in a house that had previously been built and loved by Red's father. The house is the centre of their universe and as much a member of the family as any of their children.

Red and Abby's son Denny has always demanded a lot of their attention and energy, leaving the other children struggling for their parents attention. Denny has never seemed like part of the family, despite his mother's constant attention, or maybe because of that. The others make their way through life, dependably reliable, but always hoping for a bit more attention from their parents, especially their mom.

I found this to be a beautifully written book, but there just isn't a lot of action. The story is full of interesting characters but leaves you with a very unsatisfying ending. We get to read the back story of how Red and Abby met and fell in love, and even how Red's parents met and began their relationship. There's a lot of background given, but not a lot of resolution. You finish the book with nearly as many questions as you have at the beginning.

If you like to finish a book with all your i's dotted and your t's crossed then this isn't the book for you. But if you enjoy a slow moving story with fun and interesting characters then you would probably enjoy this one. Our group was a bit mixed with it, a few didn't finish it and no one raved about it. It's not a page-turner but it is a well-written book.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am a big fan of Jane Austen. I've read all of her books, some of them several times. I've also read a lot of other peoples' takes on her work, especially "sequels" to Pride and Prejudice. Without fail, they annoyed me. Whenever an author takes on Jane's familiar characters I feel like that author doesn't understand them as well as I do. I had promised myself that I wouldn't read anything else adding to work. Then this book was chosen as our book club selection for May so I found myself reluctantly entering someone else's views on Jane Austen again.

This book pretends to be Jane's actual memoirs. The premise is that these journals were found in a house that once belonged to her brother. You read the book as if you were reading Jane's own diary. As you read, if you are familiar with her works you will recognize many of the characters and scenes as being from Jane's books, as if she had modelled the scenes after people she had met.

As far as someone else putting their own spin on Jane Austen, this is the best one I've read. That's not to say I liked it, but it was better than most of the others. It just didn't feel original to me, because I had already read most of these scenes before in Jane Austen's own books. It was funny to see how the author wove the different characters and scenes into her story, but it all just felt so familiar as I was reading.

On it's own it was a fun story with a nice romance thrown in. However you also might not enjoy it much if you don't know Jane Austen's works and don't understand the characters and scenes Syrie James is referencing. It was a pretty quick read and I didn't hate it, but I feel like Jane Austen's work can stand on its own and doesn't need anyone else's interpretation.