Recent Reads

You Before Me by JoJo Moyes
Call No.: FICTION MOYES
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I initially checked out this book just to see if I was right about the ending (I was), but it proved to be a really great read.  It's about a working class English girl Louisa (Lou) Clark who lives a relatively sheltered life and works at a small local cafe.  However, when the cafe closes shop, Lou is forced to take a job care-taking for a wealthy cantankerous quadriplegic, Will Traynor.  Will used to be an adventurer and shrewd businessman before being badly injured in a motorcycle accident.  Despite their differences and Will's perpetual bad mood, the two soon become friends.  However, Louisa discovers that Will has a shocking deadline.  This book is a real tearjerker, but there is humor throughout the book.  I really enjoyed Louisa's somewhat contemptuous relationship with her single mother sister, Katrina- the "smart one" of the family. 

The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill
Call No.: FICTION BRILL
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Set in the mid 1800s in a Quaker community in Nantucket, this novel follows 24 year-old Hannah Price who dreams of one day discovering a comet.  She works as a librarian and spends the evening observing the stars. Overall, Hannah is pretty happy with her existence until her father announces that he is moving to Philadelphia to remarry.  As an unmarried woman, Hannah is forced to either leave her observatory and the island she's lived all her life, or marry a man she doesn't love for stability.  Things are further complicated when Hannah takes on a student Isaac Martin, an ambitious sailor from Azores.  Martin is not white, and his relationship with Hannah causes problems for them both even in the relatively liberal Quaker community.  This book is slower paced, but moody and romantic.  Hannah is sometimes a bit too stubborn, but it was hard to not be sympathetic to her plight and inspired by her accomplishments.  I definitely rooted for Hannah and Isaac's relationship.  Hannah is very loosely based on a real life "lady astronomer" Maria Mitchell.

The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh
Call No.: FICTION MCVEIGH
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The premise of this book sort of reminded me loosely of W. Somerset Maugham's Painted Veil.  In spite of her father's Irish working class roots, Frances Irvine has led a life of privilege in London until her father dies suddenly.  Before his death, her father had made some poor investment choices and Frances is left with nothing.  Frances must choose between either working as caretaker for her aunt or marrying a distant cousin Edwin, a doctor in South Africa.  Frances doesn't really like Edwin all that much, she finds him rather serious and boring.  However, after initially rejecting his proposal, she changes her mind and agrees to the arrangement.  Edwin pays for her to travel to South Africa by ship.  While en route, Frances meets the charming and handsome diamond miner William Westbrook.  Frances falls hard for William, but finds out he's engaged to wealthy woman in Kimberley.  Once Frances arrives in South Africa, she finds life with Edwin even worse than she expected.  He lives in relative poverty, and insists of investigating a potential smallpox outbreak in Kimberley despite the express displeasure of the powerful mining boss.  Will Frances leave Edwin for the more dashing William? 

Frances can be a difficult character to sympathize with, mainly because she makes some really poor decisions.  One of the guys is so clearly great and on the right side of history and the other guy is an obvious jerk and up to no good.  However, the setting of the book is really interesting and I found the plot quite compelling.

The Book(s) I Read

I've been on string of good books.  Below of my favorite reads of late: 

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown (2011)
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This is a cute book about three semi-dysfunctional sisters who return home to a small Ohio college town care for their mother who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Their father was a Shakespearean scholar, so each of the girls have a Bard-inspired name.  They are all also running from something.  The eldest Rose (Rosalind) is happily engaged, but is concerned as her fiance isn't as tied to staying in Ohio as she is and he seems to have his heart set on working for Oxford University.  She has long been the family caretaker and is worried the rest of them will be unable to survive on their own.  Bean (Bianca) is the middle child who leaves New York City in debt, after being fired for skimming off the payroll at her law firm.  The youngest, Cordy (Cordelia) is the overgrown baby of the family who had been living a hippy nomadic existence (partly funded by her parents) until she discovered she is pregnant.  The Weird Sisters is definitely a light, fun read with a fair amount of literary allusions, so it's a guilt-free pleasure! 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012)
 Find it in the catalog!
This book is about two teenagers with cancer who fall in love.  Hazel Lancaster is a 16-year-old girl who has been diagnosed with terminal thyroid cancer, but her life has been lengthened indefinitely by a "miracle drug" that she started taking when she was 13.  At a cancer support group meeting she runs in the gorgeous Augustus Waters, a 17-year-old boy whose in remission but lost his leg to cancer.  The two quickly hit it off and bond over a book called "An Imperial Affliction" by a reclusive author named Peter Van Houten.

I was worried that I wouldn't really enjoy this book.  The premise sounds like it could easily be maudlin and Nicholas Sparks-y.  Thankfully, John Green managed to strike the right balance.  This book is definitely my favorite thing he's ever written.  It's funny, romantic and just a little bit heartbreaking. Highly recommend!

Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner (2011)
Find it in the catalog!
This is a story of two childhood friends, Vaclav and Lena (collectively Vaclena).  Both are Russian immigrants who live in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.  Vaclav is an only child who lives with his loving parents and dreams of being the next Harry Houdini.  His lovely assistant Lena isn't so lucky.  She's an orphan who lives with her aunt and is largely neglected.  Vaclav's mom, Rasia, takes Lena under her wings, but she can't save her from her home life.  Eventually Rasia witnesses something horrifying and Lena is taken away.  Later on, Vaclav and Lena meet up again as teenagers. 

Though the subject matter is often dark, this is a delightful book.  I really like the character of Rasia and her point-of-view.  She is a tough, hardworking mother but she is also so loving and tolerant.  I listened to audiobook, which is wonderfully acted. It's hard to imagine reading this in print as the thick Russian accents were half of the fun!

Recommended read: A Vintage Affair

A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff
NEW FICTION WOLFF
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Phoebe Swift opens her own vintage clothing shop, Village Vintage, in London after years working at Sotheby's auction house. She loves vintage clothes not only because of their unique designs but because of the stories she imagines behind each piece. Throughout the book we learn the stories of the people buying the clothes at Village Vintage in addition to the people selling items to Phoebe that she will sell at the shop. One person who contacts Phoebe about selling her wardrobe, Mrs. Bell, is an elderly woman. Phoebe develops a friendship with Mrs. Bell and learns the heart-breaking history behind a blue woolen child's coat that Mrs. Bell refuses to part with. The story goes back to Mrs. Bell's childhood in Avignon, France, during World War II, when she made a mistake that affected her best friend, Monique, for which she will never forgive herself.

The characters in this book are realistic and memorable. From the beginning, you root for Phoebe to do well with her shop. A Vintage Affair deals not only with her day-to-day dealings at the shop but also how her grief over the recent death of her best friend Emma affects Phoebe's life and her relationships. Phoebe moves on from her ex-fiance Guy and begins to date Miles, who is widowed with a spoiled teenage daughter. She becomes friends with another man, Dan, who writes a piece about the opening of the shop and helps bring in business. Plus, Phoebe's mother is having problems getting over her husband's affair with a younger woman which subsequently resulted in marriage and a new baby. As a consequence of being left for a younger woman, Phoebe's mother is obsessed with researching procedures and treatments she may use to appear younger.

I picked up this book because I was intrigued by the plot of a woman owning her own vintage fashion shop. I was quite transfixed by Wolff's descriptions of the dresses and other items for sale in Phoebe's shop, even though I do not know a great deal about fashion and designers. I found it interesting to learn about vintage clothes. But as I read I found the story to be so much more. Phoebe's relationship with Mrs. Bell is a wonderful part of the story, and I found myself caring as much about Mrs. Bell's past as I did about Phoebe's business and her life. By the end of the book, you'll be crying as Phoebe works towards finding what happened to Monique.