Book Review

Jenn Reads: Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe

/ Jenn / Leave a comment

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Wow! This is an oldie!” And yes, I suppose

Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

at this point, Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg could be considered a modern classic. This was a July pick for the girlfriend’s book club I run outside of the library.

Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe tells the joint stories of Mrs. Threadgood and Evelyn in the 1980’s and Idgie and her friend Ruth starting in the 1920’s. There is a good deal of time jumping in this book, so pay close attention to who is telling what, when.

Evelyn is a middle-aged housewife who raised two grown children and waits on her working husband hand and foot. Every Sunday they take a visit to the nursing home to visit her husband’s mother. One Sunday she is sitting eating a candy bar (a common occurrence in this book) and an elderly lady sits down and starts talking to her. Mrs. Threadgood, a former resident of Whistle Stop, Alabama, tells Evelyn the story of her family and friends.

Idgie and Ruth open a diner called Fried Green Tomatoes, the only restaurant in the entire train town (population is less than 250) and are the care-takers of the homeless, the refugees, the workers, the despondent, and the African-American population. The “n” word does appear a lot in this book, just as a warning, but it is important to remember the time and place this storyline is set in. Ruth and Idgie are women ahead of their time, colorblind, independent, and accepting.

There are too many stories for me to list here, but you can expect murders, spousal abuse, racial issues, sexuality issues, the KKK, and much more. There were a couple of things that stood out to me however. First, it is never too late to change your life. Evelyn is deeply unhappy with her current state- she is unfulfilled in every aspect of her life. Through Mrs. Threadgood’s stories, companionship, and friendship, Evelyn learns she is not just a housewife, she’s a woman.

Second, the power of friendship. If you want to believe that Ruth and Idgie are just good friends (which they are not), you can see how important it is to have someone to have your back, stand up for you, support you, and be there when the going gets rough. Oftentimes family disappoints and abandons you, and friends become family.

If you read my posts, you know I listen to many books on audio. This book I actually read! I enjoyed it and thought it was an appropriate book not only for the time of year, but for our book club as well. Books that celebrate friendship and women are perfect picks for book clubs made up of girlfriends! I recommend reading this book and then watching the movie, which is pretty close to the book.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

See you in the stacks,

Jenn 🙂

Sharon Reads: Weather Witch by Shannon Delany

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

[Cover]

Weather Witch

Weather Witch by Shannon Delany is a young to new adult novel with a bit of a steam punk feel. In the New World rank is everything, and being deemed to carry some sort of magic is the worst curse of all. Jordan is from one of the highest ranked families in society, and she is celebrating her seventeenth birthday, a moment when she should have been clear of any suspicion of magic and ready to start planning marriage and her future. However, a back alley dealing leads to Jordan testing positive as a witch. She, and her family, lose rank and all respect in the society as Jordan is whisked away to be tested further and ‘made’ into a usable source of power. But the Maker is having trouble doing changing Jordan. Meanwhile, Jordan’s friend and romantic interest Rowen seems to be the only one of rank that has not given up on her and does everything he can to save her, while an escaped witch works to bring down the man and culture that made him an outcast.

Weather Witch is a more complicated story than I expected when I picked up the book, in a good way. I expected the standard fare of young adult finds out they are ‘special’ and both good and bad happen because of it. While there is a certain aspect of this here – Jordan is considered special –  there is also deep world building and several related story lines running through the book as well. We get to see into the heart and personal life of the Maker, who without that insight would have simply been the bad guy. We get to see into the psyche of a good number of side characters as well. At times it felt like it would soon become overwhelming, for me it never crossed that line, rather it made me curious to see how everything would come together. I was not disappointed, well maybe in a couple twists but only because I liked the characters that I knew would no longer appear after certain moments. I could understand others getting confused by the voice changes and the incremental world building, but it really worked for me. I really enjoyed getting inside the head of Rowen, Jordan, the Maker, and even some servants to see the whole picture, rather than the limited perspective a single character might offer. I do not want to talk about the plot more, or give away any good stuff, because I found the book to be a surprising journey and would hate to ruin that for anyone.

I would recommend Weather Witch to readers that enjoy steam punk, coming of age tales, historical fiction, science fiction or fantasy, and simply reading something that feels fresh and new.l I think that young adults and adults would both enjoy the book, while the majority of main characters are of the teen set, the setting and political factions will keep everyone interested and turning the pages. Frankly, the only thing that really bothered me about the book was an ending that was obviously a set up for a sequel, and the knowledge that Stormbringer will not be released until January of 2014. I would give Weather Witch 4 stars.

This review was originally published on Sharon the Librarian.

Linda Reads: You’re The One By Robin Kaye

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This is book two in Robin Kaye’s Bad Boys of Red Hook series.  They do not have to be read in order.  Book one is Back To You and is available at the Cheshire Library.  The series concentrates on three men who bounced around the foster care system until a New York cop took them under his wing.

You’re The One centers around Logan Blaise, the manager of a successful Napa Valley winery.  He’s engaged to the winery’s owner’s daughter and living the high life.  When his foster father becomes ill, Logan heads back to New York to temporarily oversee his father’s restaurant, the Crow’s Nest.  No sooner does he arrive, the chef has a family emergency and has to quit.

Skye Maxwell comes from a famous restaurant family in San Francisco.  She has four brothers who were gifted with their own restaurants on their 30th birthday.  Being an exceptional chef, all Skye has ever wanted was a kitchen/restaurant of her own and she expects to receive her own restaurant on her 30th birthday.   Instead, she is promoted to Business Manager of all the family restaurants.   Devastated,  she very quietly and secretly disappears.  She heads to New York City, hoping  to find a job as a chef on her own merits, not on her family’s reputation.   She ends up in Brooklyn and stumbles upon the chef wanted sign in the Crow’s Nest’s window.

Right away there is an attraction between Logan and Skye – a love/hate attraction.  Both characters have to overcome formidable obstacles in their pursuit of love, happiness, independence, and acceptance.  Both have families interfering with their journey, both have self-doubts to overcome, but neither one can deny the incredible chemistry that exists between them.

Ms. Kaye writes a heartwarming, believable story set in the wonderful backdrop of Brooklyn and San Francisco.  It is warm, funny and very entertaining.  Secondary characters add another interesting layer to a very well-written story.

Jenn Reads: One Mississippi by Mark Childress

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One Mississippi was a book club pick for the book club I run with girlfriends outside of the library.

One mississippi, two mississippi…

Imagine: It’s 1973. Your favorite television program is The Sonny and Cher

One Mississippi by Mark Childress

Show. Desegregation has just happened in your school. You’re moving to a new home, in a new state, for the upteenth time. And you’re a junior in high school. Could it get any worse?

It does.

Written by the author of Crazy in Alabama, One Mississippi is the story of Daniel Musgrove, a junior in high school in Minor, Mississippi. He’s moving with his family from Indiana (Yankee country, he believes) to Mississippi. The schools have just been integrated (seems a bit late to me) and they’re having their first interracial prom. Finding himself an outsider, Daniel gets a new best friend in Tim Cousins.

Things spiral quick out of control after the prom, when Arnita Beechman, is named prom queen, the first black prom queen in the school’s history, and she is involved in an accident. A small lie becomes a big lie and lives are forever changed.

While there were many moments of seriousness, there were moments of humor, wit, and “oh geez”. Childers wants us as readers, to remember what it was like to be in high school. We all had moments we’d like to forget, but we all also have moments we’d love to relive. A few of my favorites included Daniel and Tim meeting Sonny and Cher at a concert and Daniel’s house blowing up (you’ve got to read it!).

Unfortunately, Childers tries to stuff too many issues into 400 pages. There’s racism, teen sex, gay issues, bullying, Vietnam, etc, etc. As a group we felt if he had focused on just one issue, the book may have been more cohesive. Personally, I felt the storyline with Daniel’s brother Buddy, who goes off the Vietnam, was hugely ignored.

This is in no way a “teen” book, although it could be read by teenagers. And neither is it a book for those who lived in the 1970’s. My girlfriends and I, all in our mid-20’s enjoyed this book for a glimpse into life during that time period. While our own high school experiences were not as problematic as Daniel’s, we related and sympathized.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Jenn Reads: The Boy In the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberol and Agnette Friis

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The Boy In the Suitcase  by Lene Kaaberol and Agnette Friis was a mystery book club pick by one of our members.

The book starts off fast-paced and with a great premise: Nina Borg gets a

The Boy In the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberol and Agnette Friis

phone call from her friend Karin, who says that she needs to go immediately to a Copenhagen train station and open a public locker. She’s told she will find a suitcase in the locker, but to not open it while in the train station.

She finds a three year old boy, drugged but still alive, in the suitcase.

Surprise! Given the title, there’s no surprise in that bit of knowledge.

Many comments on Goodreads indicated how frustrated people were with the first 60 or so pages of the books, as the authors introduce characters who seemingly have nothing to do with each other. Hang in there! They do!

The action takes place over the span of two days and in several different countries, Denmark and Lithuania. After Nina finds the boy in the suitcase, the logical thing for her to do would have been to bring him to the police. But does she do that? No… she drags him around with her, leaving him in a hot car for a period of time, neglecting to feed him, and letting him see a dead woman.

Nina is supposedly a “do-gooder” but I find fault with that. She’s a terrible mother, wife, and caretaker of this small boy. Nina ignores her family for two whole days while she “takes care” of this boy. At one point, the police go to her house and talk with her husband, who believes her injured or in serious trouble. As indicated in the previous paragraph, she doesn’t take very good care of the little boy, providing him with the minimum of food, sleep, protection, and comfort. And she’s irresponsible! By the end of the book, I’d about had it with Nina Borg.

What I did enjoy in this book were the social issues the authors touched upon. Prostitution, sex slavery, child kidnapping, child trafficking, and the underbelly of Europe were exposed. And let me tell you- it ain’t pretty. Denmark in the past is said to have one of the highest standards of living and some of the happiest and fulfilled people in the world. A socialist nation, they get free healthcare, free college education, long maternity/paternity leave, child care, etc, etc- all of which sound pretty good to me. But, like in any culture, there are also the unsavory aspects of a nation.

A quick, easy, fast-paced read, I thought The Boy In the Suitcase was an excellent pick for this time of year. I listened to it on audio and thought the narrator was excellent. It was very helpful listening to it because I likely would have struggled with the pronunciations of the names, places, etc. The Boy In the Suitcase  is the first book in a series featuring Nina Borg, and while I liked this book, I won’t be continuing the series. Nina just drives me nuts.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.