Books for Adults – Page 12

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

Tom Sherbourne has survived the horrors of World War I and trains to become a lighthouse keeper on a tiny island off the desolate coast of Western Australia. When a chance meeting with a young woman leads to enduring love, the couple settle on the island, and their marriage flourishes despite the harsh land and the isolation of their lives. The one problem they cannot solve is Isabel’s inability to have a child. So, when a small boat carrying a dead man and a newborn infant washes onto their shore, it seems like the answer to their prayers. Their love for the child knows no bounds, so the decision to keep her simply evolves, and it is easy for Isabel to put thoughts of the child’s identity aside. But Tom struggles with the morality of the decision, setting the couple on the road to despair.

The moral dilemma that the story presents is heartbreaking. The reader can clearly feel the desperation and loss that result from the couple’s tragic secret. This is a book that compels attention, making it hard to put down. This is a riveting debut from Ms. Stedman that leaves the reader wanting more.

In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin

In post-World War II Manhattan, veteran Harry Copeland has returned to the city he loves to begin his life after serving as an elite paratrooper behind enemy lines in Europe. The family business, manufacturing fine leather goods, awaits his return. But on a late spring morning on the Staten Island ferry, Harry’s life is upended when he sees a young woman across the deck. When they meet, the magic is instant, but the beautiful heiress is already engaged to be married.

Their romance develops despite the rigid social traditions of the time, but their choices threaten not only Harry’s livelihood but their very lives. Only Harry’s wartime experiences give him the means to protect Catherine and their future.

While this is a mesmerizing love story, the language is the most compelling part of the work. Mr. Helprin’s descriptions of New York and its residents are breathtakingly beautiful with evocative prose that allows the reader to experience the sounds and images of 1940s Manhattan and the battlefields of Germany.

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Set in 1906 in the Adirondack Mountains, and based on the actual murder of a woman named Grace Brown, this book will appeal to fans of both historical fiction and murder mysteries. Chapters alternate between the past and the present, as narrated by sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey. In the chapters about the past, we learn about Mattie’s life on her family’s farm and her hope to attend Barnard College in New York City to become a writer. In the chapters about her present, we learn about Mattie’s work at The Glenmore Hotel on Big Moose Lake and how it brought her into contact with Grace Brown shortly before she was murdered.

I think what I liked best about this story is that it was about so much more than Grace Brown’s murder. It was also a coming-of-age story about a young woman (Mattie) who was determined to blaze her own path and to fight for her dreams despite the wishes of her father and the lack of women’s rights at the time. With how seamlessly Jennifer Donnelly wove together the true story of Grace Brown and the fictional story of Mattie Gokey, it’s no wonder this book won the 2003 Carnegie Medal in Literature [under the UK title A Gathering Light].

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

As the book opens, Harold Fry, a retired man in a cold, strained marriage with Maureen, receives a letter from Queenie Hennessy, a former work colleague. She is writing to say goodbye — she is in hospice and dying of cancer. Harold writes a simple note in reply and sets off by foot to post it. However, the first postal box doesn’t seem right, nor the second, . . . and Harold finds himself walking six hundred miles from the south of England to Queenie in the north, convinced that somehow his walking will keep her alive. Harold is completely unprepared for the walk, but he feels that it is something he must do, and so he keeps on. Along the way he meets a wildly diverse assortment of individuals, and he ponders his life, remembering the good times of so long ago, as well as the tragedies that followed. Maureen, left at home, also has time to do a lot of thinking. This is ultimately a very hopeful book with a message that it is never too late to seek healing for life’s hurts or to make ammends. Recommended.

Plastic-Free by Beth Terry

It was a photograph that started author Beth Terry on her journey towards living a plastic-free life. The sight of an albatross who had mistakenly eaten pieces of plastic – bottle caps, small toys, even a piece of a toothbrush – made her confront the reality that the consumer habits of humans have gotten out of control, and that this albatross was only one of the many creatures on land and sea who suffer from our habit of using and throwing out more plastic every year. Terry started to notice how much plastic she was using, from shampoo bottles to candy wrappers, and decided to dramatically change her plastic consumption by seeking non-plastic alternatives and kept track of her progress in a blog.

Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Habit and You Can Too is the result of that blog and Terry’s experiences reducing plastic use. She acknowledges that it is virtually impossible to be completely plastic-free; there is plastic in our carpets, our electronics, and our cars that we cannot escape. However, there are other areas of our lives in which we can strive to skip unnecessary plastic waste to decrease the amount of plastic that gets thrown away each year and will never decompose. This book does not seek to make anyone feel guilty about their consumer habits, but rather provides endless suggestions for ways to lessen plastic consumption and includes resources for non-plastic toys, dishware, to-go containers, vegetable bags, cleaning products, and more. Plastic-Free is positive and encouraging, and will certainly inspire anyone to try to live life a bit more plastic-free.

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake: a novel by Jenny Wingfield

Each year, on the first Sunday in June, the Moses family gathers for a reunion on their farm in Arkansas. For daughter Willadee, with her preacher husband Samuel Lake and their three children, the chance to be with her parents is precious. This year, however, the entire family must cope with the loss of their father and the Lake family faces additional stress when they learn that Samuel will not have a church to pastor in the coming months. As the summer unfolds, the children thrive on the farm and become friends with the son of a brutally cruel father on an adjacent farm. By summer’s end, Samuel and his family will find their faith and family tested as tragedy strikes.

This beautifully told story demonstrates the power of family, faith, and a belief in the possibility of miracles. Its spirited young heroine, Swan Lake, is a child who captures the reader’s imagination, alternately making you want to laugh, then cry with her audacity. A powerful read!

Sacre Bleu: A Comedy D’Art by Christopher Moore

What did a stooped old man (with a tendency towards exhibitionism), a beautiful and mysterious woman, and a highly desired ultramarine paint known as “sacred blue” have to do with Vincent Van Gogh’s death? Christopher Moore, the king of irreverent hilarity, will lead you to the answer in this playful and often bawdy romp through nineteenth century France. Join Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and fictitious artist Lucien Lessard as they investigate their friend Van Gogh’s death, and along the way discover an ancient cave painting, a trove of priceless art treasures, and the truth behind Lessard’s father’s death years earlier. Moore’s book is a pleasure to read, not only for its bursts of humor and wonderful caricatures of the French Impressionists, but also for the author’s skilled writing. A perfect summer read.

Making Rounds with Oscar : the Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat by David Dosa

Dosa, a geriatrician working at a nursing home, at first scoffs upon hearing that Oscar, the resident cat, knows when a patient at the nursing home is going to die. Then he starts observing that the cat unerringly heads to the room of a dying patient and stays there, providing company and comfort to both patient and family members. However long the passing takes, Oscar stays. Dr. Dosa begins to gather information from families of patients who have died at the nursing home, and eventually he becomes a true believer. It is clear that Oscar somehow knows when death is near, and he won’t let anyone in his nursing home die alone. A touching, true story about an amazing cat.

Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way by Mayim Bialik, PhD

I have been hearing much more about Attachment Parenting [AP] in recent months, so I decided to check out a book that several people told me about. Many people will recognize Mayim Bialik as the actress who played “Blossom” [on Blossom] as an adolescent and who now plays “Amy Farrah Fowler” [on Big Bang Theory]. What a lot of people may not know, though, is that Bialik also has a PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA. Based on her background in neuroscience, she and her husband decided that the AP style of parenting was the best possible way to raise their children — and, now, Bialik has become a spokeswoman of sorts for AP.

My son and daughter are 7 years old and 2.5 years old, respectively, so I knew a lot of the book — the information about birth, the postpartum period, and staying sane through infancy, for example — would not necessarily help me anymore. Still, I knew the basic premise of AP would work as a guide for parenting children of any age. Some of the topics I most enjoyed reading about — probably because they were most applicable to me now — were how to let kids be kids, how to use “gentle discipline,” and how parents can balance taking care of their children with being attentive to their own needs. The best part of this book? The fact that Bialik avoids being preachy and acknowledges that different methods work for different families. How refreshing to read a parenting book that didn’t make me feel like a bad mom!

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich

The first in a new series by Janet Evanovich, Wicked Appetite is a fun, easy read. Main character Elizabeth Tucker or Lizzy is a strong interesting character whom readers will enjoy getting to know.

Lizzy, a pastry chef by trade, finds out she has an unmentionable ability to identify enchanted objects. The objects she is supposed to identify are the seven stones of power, each said to represent one of the seven deadly sins. She is joined by Diesel, another unmentionable there to protect her, Gerwulf Grimoire, there to use her ability to enhance his power, a one eyed ninja cat, a monkey and others who help her to locate the first of the stones — the gluttony stone. Recommended.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

The story begins in 1937 in Shanghai, China, where two young adult women who live with their parents make money by modeling for calendars and other products. Their world comes to a crashing halt when they learn that their father gambled away all the family’s money and assets. Then the country is invaded by Japan. May and Pearl travel to the United States to be with husbands selected for them by their father. The characters are interesting. History jumps off the page while you are immersed in this tale.

The Innocent by Taylor Stevens

Five years ago, eight-year-old Hannah was kidnapped and hidden in a cult called The Chosen, from which her mother had recently fled. Her father and other former members of the cult have finally located Hannah in Argentina. Can they retrieve her before the Prophet moves her again, as has happened over and over? They enlist the help of Vanessa Michael Munroe, a woman with demons of her own in her past. She is very expensive, very deadly, and very good at solving complicated problems. This fascinating thriller will have you reading late into the night. The author, Taylor Stevens, was raised in a cult, so every detail rings true. Highly recommended.

Pure by Julianna Baggott

Pressia Belze is one of the masses who were exposed to the blast of the apocalyptic Detonations. Partridge Willux is a Pure — one of the fortunates who escaped into a massive, protective dome. Years after the Detonations, Pures remain sequestered and safe in the Dome while those outside struggle to survive amidst the rubble and unrest. Each group has become almost mythological to the other — no Pures leave the Dome, no outsiders enter. But when Pressia turns sixteen and flees to avoid mandatory enlistment by the brutal ruling militia, and Partridge escapes through the Dome’s filtration system in search of his lost mother, the two meet. Seeking safety and news of Partridge’s mother, they take to an underground network where danger lurks at every turn. In their flight, they uncover secrets about their pasts and their families, as well as a conspiracy that contradicts everything they thought they knew about the Dome and the Detonations. This story, the first in a planned trilogy, kept me awake and reading long past bedtime. Highly recommended for those who enjoyed Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games.

Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland

Set in bohemian New York City, this book shows what it was like to be a woman and an artist at the turn of the twentieth century. Louis Comfort Tiffany was one of the first to recognize women’s artistic abilities and have women working in his studio. Clara Driscoll is head of his women’s division and at times his muse. A colorful cast of characters share Clara’s triumphs and challenges. Based on truth, this is a moving glimpse into an important time in our history. Recommended.

The Strain: Book One of the Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

A Boeing 777 jet arrives at JFK, stops dead and sits on the tarmac in darkness and silence. Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, head of a CDC rapid-response team, boards to investigate. The mysterious being that seemingly killed every passenger aboard is the subject of this chilling trilogy about a virus which brings the dead back as vampires. In a pawn shop in Harlem, holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian has met this evil and may have the knowledge to destroy it. After a riveting start, the story degenerates into killing after killing, as Eph’s son, ex-wife, and friends are soon in danger. This one is still a must for all horror fans and will soon be a major motion picture.