Shilpi Somaya Gowda's first book is excellent. I'm already looking forward to her second. Her writing is rich and descriptive and beautiful -- yet not overly flowery at all. Secret Daughter is a lovely story that takes place in two countries -- U.S. (San Francisco) and India -- and spans 25 years. Kavita and Jasu are living in a small Indian village. Girl babies are expensive since they have to be married off with a dowry, and they can't help with the farming, so they are highly undesirable. Kavita's first pregnancy is a girl, which her husband takes away to be disposed of. When she has her 2nd daughter, she is determined to save her by taking her to the orphanage. Somer and Krishna are both doctors -- he an emigrant from India ...
Category Archives: Jennifer
Books on Screen: Presumed Innocent
In the 1990's the legal thriller was king. There probably aren't many people who were reading in the 90's, whether confirmed bookworms or summer vacation readers, who haven't read a John Grisham book. But before any of John Grisham's bestsellers then movie blockbusters, there was a 1987 book and 1990 movie -- Presumed Innocent. I won't give the movie away, because I know that there are some of you reading this who were weren't old enough to watch a rated R movie in the early 90's, but I still remember the hype -- this suspenseful story of murder and betrayal with a surprise twist at the end. I recently watched the movie to prepare to read the brand new Scott Turow novel Innocent, which revisits the same character Rusty Sabich 22 years later. This movie keeps ...
Innocent
I honestly never thought about what happened to Rusty and Barbara after the conclusion of Presumed Innocent, but Innocent tells the story of a marriage strained by mental illness, the results on a young boy, now a young legal professional, the impact on a career. When Barbara is found dead, Rusty's actions after he finds her that morning in bed are suspect, and he's accused of murder -- again. Turow delivers another spell-binding legal suspense thriller. The truth unravels slowly and is fully explained by the end. I enjoyed seeing the growth in Nat (the son) and Rusty over the course of the novel. I think that the characters are a bit stronger and more developed than in many legal thrillers, and that made it even more enjoyable for me. I revisited the ...
BEA and BookBloggerCon: The Best and Worst
The very BEST thing about Book Expo America (BEA) and Book Blogger Con was absolutely the relationships. Meeting Carrie live and in person -- I've followed Reading to Know for years. I love Carrie's opinionated reviews and commentary on books. When I was putting together a team for 5 Minutes for Books, she was one of the first I thought to ask. Since we started 5 Minutes for Books, we've become friends, and it was a pure delight to meet her and share this experience together (her thoughts). Meeting up with some other publishing contacts and bloggers who I had a more casual relationship with (but a deep respect) at a delicious dinner on Thursday night at Tony's DiNapoli.
A Soft Place to Land
A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White is the story of Julia and Ruthie, half-sisters who are separated to live with different relatives after their parents' death when they are teenagers. We learn about their lives through letters that they write and mostly from the younger sister Ruthie's point of view. Their lives take very different paths, although one will never know if it was nurture or nature. I do not always look for perfect characters who always do the right thing, or who are just like me, but I do want to feel drawn to them. Something about these characters or the way their story was told was lacking, and yet the book was highly readable. I'm not exactly sure why this book lacks the "wow" factor that has to exist to move my opinion from ...
Books on Screen: Molly Ringwald movies
In Molly Ringwald's new book Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick, she looks back on her teen years that she spent on the big screen. Molly Ringwald is about my age, and so I grew up watching her, and the John Hughes movies that she starred in are so typically 80's, that I just had to revisit them. Read my interview with Molly Ringwald over at 5 Minutes for Mom, and enter to win a copy of her new book Getting the Pretty Back. The book is fun. It's not a beauty book, or a fashion book, or a self-help book. It has elements of all of this, but reading this book is just like having a good candid chat with a girlfriend. Ringwald dishes on personal style ...
Real World Parents
The full title of this book ups the understanding of its content and tone. In Real World Parents: Christian Parenting for Families Living in the Real World Mark Matlock, who has spent many years working with youth and their families, presents his ideas for raising Christian kids without going to two extremes: isolation from it or complete immersion in it. He continually encourages the reader to do "what feels right for your family." He doesn't advocate moral compromise, but for example, he says that for some families a structured "family devotion" time doesn't feel natural. He shares that they never had regular family devotions in his own home, and yet he and two of his brothers are in full-time ministry. His point is well-taken -- one can teach Christian values and raise Christian ...
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Jennifer Donovan
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