Review: Still Life with Bread Crumbs

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this book. It's lovely. It wouldn't have been a book I could appreciate ten years ago, but I appreciated everything about it now that I'm older. So glad I read it. This book won't be for everyone, and that's ok. 4 stars.



View all my reviews

The Storyteller

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm a little bit wrecked right now. Excuse me while I gather my emotions to write this review...

Ahem. Yes, this book is wonderful. You bounce between the past and the present. We get to see the awful events of the Holocaust through two different sides, and we learn about them both with Sage as she struggles with acceptance and forgiveness. Forgiveness for herself, and for the past of others. And along the way is a beautiful fairy tale, an allegory of love and guilt, that ties the entire book up with a bow.

This book was great. I'm a big Jodi Picoult fan, and this one did not disappoint. At all.



View all my reviews

Moloka'i

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a lovely book. It's sad and happy all mixed together. It's richly drawn with historical details and the characters come to life. Like I said, lovely.

Rachel lives in Hawaii, and is diagnosed with leprosy at age seven. Seven, my friends. Tragic, simply tragic. As was done in the late 1800s / early 1900s, she was shipped to Moloka'i to live at the Leper's Colony. And if that isn't sad enough, she is completely cut off from her family. We follow Rachel through her life and her illness. I know what you are thinking: this sounds depressing! Not so. It does have parts that will make you sad, parts that will make you mad, and parts that will make you smile. It's a lot like life. And it's well written. Fans of historical fiction should check it out.



View all my reviews

The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Reading my way through the classics and thought I would dive into my first Hemingway. I can't say I was disappointed.

We journey to Cuba to fish with Santiago, the old man of said title, and go with him out to the sea. Santiago has had a bit of a dry spell, not catching anything for 84 days. 84 days! What is this poor old man living on? Well, nothing but the kindness of Manolin, his sometimes apprentice. Determined to turn his luck, Santiago heads far out to search for a big catch.

Part man vs.nature, part reflections from an old man on a long life, this final book by Hemingway has many layers. I liked it. 3 stars.



View all my reviews