The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

by Katarina Bivald 

 

Synopsis:

Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy's funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist—even if they don't understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that's almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend's memory.

All she wants is to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel and to convince them that reading is one of the great joys of life. But she makes some unconventional choices that could force a lot of secrets into the open and change things for everyone in town. Reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, this is a warm, witty book about friendship, stories, and love.

My Review:

Fantastic, feel-good read for this year so far. I so enjoyed being part of the Broken Wheel community of Iowa. Who knew that in a little, forgotten town in the middle of nowhere is a group of such fabulously rich in depth characters. It goes to show that no matter how small the town, it is not in the numbers but in the community you build around the people in the town. 

Sarah comes from a completely different life in Sweden to this tiny town in Iowa simply to find that the people around you and the love you find with the people around you is what makes for a happy life and a life where you feel you belong. Ultimately, isn't that what we all search for - love and belonging. I read another book earlier this year about small town life in rural Montana and found it so droll and stereotypical to the tacky, "country bumpkin" life of the "Honey Boo Boo" and "Duck Dynasty" variety that I was a bit hesitant to read this one. I am so glad I did because this was a truly heart-warming and intelligent look at life in rural America. Also, the story is based on the love of books two women (Amy in Iowa and Sarah in Sweden) share and how that love of books bridges the similarities people who are otherwise culturally different. I love that about books. And, this book definitely does that. Also, there are so many insights within the book about other authors.

I had a running list of books I now want to read because of the recommendations and commentary about them within this book. When you are a book lover as I am, a book about the love and appreciation of books is like hitting the jackpot.

Just on a side note, another book for book lovers that capitalizes on that very love is The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. That is another book I can't rave enough about.

My Lady Jane 

by  

Cynthia Hand

Brodi Ashton

Jodi Meadows

Synopsis:

The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.  
At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.

My Review:

This book was such a breath of fresh air. What a way to take the tragic fate Jane Grey and turn it into such a wonderfully fantastic and not corny funny yet hilarious tale. 

I have to admit that I wasn't very knowledgeable about the story of Jane Grey. She becomes queen unexpectedly after a plot to dethrone King Edward. Her reign is short as after 7 or so days on the throne she is beheaded. However, this is not exactly what happens in My Lady Jane. In this version of the tale, there is an element of magic, shape-shifting and comic relief that alters the ending in a way that will make every reader so happy.  Great story-telling. Fantastic dialog and of course characters that just leap off the page right into your imagination. I happened to listen to this book on audio and I found myself walking around doing my day-to-day activities while unwilling to put down my headset. If you get a chance listen to the audio book as the narration is the best I have ever heard. 

The Madwoman Upstairs 

by Catherine Lowell

Synopsis:

Samantha Whipple is used to stirring up speculation wherever she goes. As the last remaining descendant of the Brontë family, she's rumored to have inherited a vital, mysterious portion of the Brontë's literary estate; diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts; a hidden fortune that's never been shown outside of the family.

But Samantha has never seen this rumored estate, and as far as she knows, it doesn't exist. She has no interest in acknowledging what the rest of the world has come to find so irresistible; namely, the sudden and untimely death of her eccentric father, or the cryptic estate he has bequeathed to her.

But everything changes when Samantha enrolls at Oxford University and bits and pieces of her past start mysteriously arriving at her doorstep, beginning with an old novel annotated in her father's handwriting. As more and more bizarre clues arrive, Samantha soon realizes that her father has left her an elaborate scavenger hunt using the world's greatest literature. With the aid of a handsome and elusive Oxford professor, Samantha must plunge into a vast literary mystery and an untold family legacy, one that can only be solved by decoding the clues hidden within the Brontë's own writing.

A fast-paced adventure from start to finish, this vibrant and original novel is a moving exploration of what it means when the greatest truth is, in fact, fiction.

My Review:

This could be quite simply one of the most engrossing books I've read this entire year. Needless to say - I LOVED IT!!! Once again, in my attempt to immerse myself in everything Bronte, this book did not disappoint. Actually, I learned so much about the Bronte sisters and I feel like I've understood Jane Eyre quite differently than intended. Who knew that the maid held such an important role in the story of Jane Eyre while yet having such a small role. Also, Orville and Sam's discussion on the meaning of "mad" (as in the Madwoman) was truly enlightening and will have interpret Jane Eyre quite differently. This story was funny but complex. 

Sam is the living heir of the Bronte family. Her father, Tristan, died some 7 years prior and left Sam with an emptiness she longs to fill by immersing herself in the world of literature. She ends up at Oxford (like her dad some 30 years prior) and with the clues her dad was so famous for giving her leads her on a search for something so elusive. Instead, Sam comes to understand herself, her father and their complicated but very loving relationships as an adult rather than the young girl who lost the love of her life - her father. 

The character of Samantha Whipple is so snarky and somewhat outwardly unemotional that I looked forward to her quips and her obviously witty and honest remarks. I can't help but think that Ms. Lowell wrote a little of all of the Bronte male characters into the male characters of this book - all quite flawed but very proud and somewhat arrogant but dashing and attractive all the same. 

If you are a Bronte fan or would like to learn more about the famous works by the Brontes, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. 

Absolutely FANTASTIC.  

Rare Objects

by Kathleen Tessaro  

Synopsis:

Maeve Fanning is a first generation Irish immigrant, born and raised among the poor, industrious Italian families of Boston’s North End by her widowed mother. Clever, capable, and as headstrong as her red hair suggests, she’s determined to better herself despite the overwhelming hardships of the Great Depression.

However, Maeve also has a dangerous fondness for strange men and bootleg gin—a rebellious appetite that soon finds her spiraling downward, leading a double life. When the strain proves too much, Maeve becomes an unwilling patient in a psychiatric hospital, where she strikes up a friendship with an enigmatic young woman, who, like Maeve, is unable or unwilling to control her un-lady-like desire for freedom.

Once out, Maeve faces starting over again. Armed with a bottle of bleach and a few white lies, she lands a job at an eccentric antiques shop catering to Boston’s wealthiest and most peculiar collectors. Run by an elusive English archeologist, the shop is a haven of the obscure and incredible, providing rare artifacts as well as unique access to the world of America’s social elite. While delivering a purchase to the wealthy Van der Laar family, Maeve is introduced to beautiful socialite Diana Van der Laar—only to discover she’s the young woman from the hospital.

Reunited with the charming but increasingly unstable Diana and pursued by her attractive brother James, Mae becomes more and more entwined with the Van der Laar family—a connection that pulls her into a world of moral ambiguity and deceit, and ultimately betrayal. Bewitched by their wealth and desperate to leave her past behind, Maeve is forced to unearth her true values and discover how far she’ll to go to reinvent herself.

My Review:

Kathleen Tessaro can tell a story like no one else. She not only tells you the story but you come to know the characters so personally. This story takes place in Boston during a time when your heritage (Irish, Jewish, Italian, etc.) was considered a detriment to those who ruled society - in the case of this book it is the Van Der Laars and their South African family with questionably corrupt dealings in the diamond industry of South Africa.

Maeve is a young Irish American girl who grows up with her mother in a mainly Italian neighborhood of Boston. After her return from a time in New York, Mae comes back to Boston wanting to put behind all of the things that shamed her from her time in NY. She dyes her hair blonde to ensure her Irish-American heritage does not ruin her chance for employment in a very tough job market. She lands a job in an antiques shop run by two unique antiquarians who take her under their wing to help her realize that she is more than her restrictive heritage and teach her to be proud of who she is and the value of being a "rare object" among so many valuable fakes. She befriends the Van Der Laars and is drawn into their very exclusive circle of society people and parties. However, although she lies about her own background, she finds that even in her simple ways, she just can't compete or catch up to the high-speed lives of the elite.

This book deals with deception, excess, greed and ultimately how the arrogance of someone who has it all leads to their own demise. Great book. Although it was a little slow in the middle, once you reach the end it is so worth it that I couldn't rate it any less than a 5.