The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart came to me from Doubleday as an advance reader copy. The initial description caught my attention, but the book was more charming and entertaining than I could have expected. It is the story of Balthazar Jones and his wife, Hebe, who live in the Tower of London. He is a Beefeater that is given the unexpected responsibility of caring for a new royal menagerie, animals moved from the London Zoo to the Tower to improve tourism. The story is full of colorful characters and the most hilarious situations. I loved reading about Hebe's job at the lost and found. Although some of the life struggles that the characters face are sad, they show that life does go on.
The storyline itself was truly entertaining, but what I loved most about the book were the wonderful characters and their realtionships. It is also full of history about the Tower of London, but this is blended into the story beautifully. I would describe this book as a comfort read that is both funny and touching. 5/5
This is a story about Maya Lange, a woman with a tragic past who opens The Red Thread adoption agency. The agency places unwanted baby girls from China with American families. The novel focuses on the families seeking adoptions, but it also includes brief stories of the birth mothers and how they came to abandon their babies. I thought this was a very interesting concept for a book. My favorite parts were those about the birth mothers in China. I wish that those sections had been a larger part of the overall novel.
I was bothered by several things while reading this story. The couples going through the adoption process were all so dysfunctional. One woman was even ashamed of her disabled daughter and wanting to adopt so that she could have a normal child. Maya seemed to feel that having a baby would somehow fix these people, and she at times pushed reluctant people with the idea that they would come around. I didn't want to see any of these people get a baby, and I was disappointed in Maya for moving forward with the couples.
I think this could have been a very good book if a few of the couples had been likable. The stories set in China were very good, but too few and far between. The character of Susannah, the mother of the disabled child, probably ruined my enjoyment of the book the most. I'd rate this one a 2.5/5.
The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha is a story about Irene and Nate Stanley, who move with their children, Bliss and Shep, from their small Illinois town for a job in Oregon. The choice has disastrous consequences when Shep is killed during an apparent home robbery. The story then follows the family as they deal with the loss in the years directly following the crime. It also transitions back and forth to the story of Shep's killer during his final days on death row. Irene begins communicating with her son's killer, and secrets about what really happened begin to come out.
This is definitely a page-turner, and the transitions between characters and time are smooth and easy to follow. The author's political views are quite obvious, and there are some pretty strong stereotypes. Ummm...people from small towns as conservative rednecks lacks creativity. I also expected the twist very early on, although it was still interesting to watch it all unfold. Without giving spoilers I will say that I think the storyline for Bliss got off track, and that knocked my overall rating of the book down a bit. I'd give it a 3.5/5.
The House on Fortune Street is a story told by four characters, Sean, Cameron, Dara, and Abigail. One common tragic event is the focus of each section, although their individual pasts leading up to this point are all revealed. Dara and Abigail are an unlikely pair of friends, Cameron is Dara's troubled father, and Sean is Abigail's boyfriend who is struggling with guilt and jealousy.
This was one of those books that I couldn't stop reading, although I had difficulty feeling for some of the characters, particularly Cameron. I was frustrated for Dara. I wish that her section would have been a little bit longer and that she would have found more answers. I felt oddly sympathetic to Sean, the first character to share his story, and his struggles really drew me into the book. Their stories came together well and showed how one person's choices really change another person's life. Overall I really liked this book, but not quite enough to give it a 5...how about a hearty 4 out of 5?
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng is set in 1939 on the Malayan island of Penang. Philip Hutton is the teen son of one of Penang's top trading families. He is half-Chinese and half-English, and therefore feels like an outcast in both his family and community. Philip meets Endo, a Japanese diplomat, and finds a friend and teacher in the art of aikido. When Philip later discovers that Endo is a Japanese spy, he also realizes that he has helped the Japanese in their invasion of Malaya and has unknowingly become a traitor.
There are so many things that I loved about this book. Philip reveals his history to Michiko, a woman who loved Endo before he went to Penang. Michiko gave a glimpse of another side of Endo. Michiko's character added a lot to the emotion of the story although she played a small part in the plot. This book was also a great lesson in history, which I love.
I never really grew to like Endo or understand why Philip was so devoted to him. I didn't feel for Endo, and I know that I was supposed to. So much of what Philip did seemed meaningless because of Endo. For this reason I would rate this book a 4/5 instead of a solid 5.
The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall is a charming and entertaining mystery full of a variety of distinctive characters. He shows the class differences in contemporary India, the confusing legal system, and the erratic transportation and communication systems of Delhi in the most humorous situations. Vish Puri is the private investigator attempting to solve the case of a missing maidservant who is believed to be a victim of murder. He and his team of undercover operatives find themselves trying to find the missing girl with no information to go on but rumors and gossip. This book was simply a lot of fun to read. I look forward to reading his next mystery, The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing.
