Winter Reading Continues - Mini re-caps

The snow story is getting very boring. The weather forecasters don't even bother to spend much time on it other than to say "well another 3-6" by tomorrow--nothing to get excited about!" That just gives me more incentive to snuggle down and read. I've been doing a lot of reading, and have settled into a re-read of one of my favorite series - more on that later. I'll give you one big hint, it's not Louise Penny, or Deborah Crombie.

Anyway, I've finally finished all 25 of the Maine Reader's Choice long list, and I'm now re-reading a couple of them so I can decide how I'm going to vote. There were so many good ones this year that it's a really hard choice. I've been having such a good time reading and sorting through all the books in piles and stacked up on my Nook and Kindle, that I never got my weekly post done last weekend. Here's a mini re-cap of some more goodies to tempt you.


Everything I Never Told You 
by Celeste NG

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  Character studies are one of my favorite fiction genres and this one gives us well drawn characters struggling with the racial and socio-economic issues so prevalent today.   It's a true page-turner.  Here's how the publisher describes it:

"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet. So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue-in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James's case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. ....  A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another"-- 

* * * *  

The Daughters of Mars

by Thomas Keneally

I got a review copy of this last year, and never had a chance to read it.  Like several others I've read recently, this one is large in size and scope.  In the past two years, I've done quite a bit of reading set in the World War I timeframe, but never had one set in the Dardanelles, nor did any of them feature Australian nurses. This one has been rightly described as epic.

"From the acclaimed author of Schindlers List comes the epic, unforgettable story of two sisters whose lives are transformed by the cataclysm of the First World War. In 1915, Naomi and Sally Durance, two spirited Australian sisters, join the war effort as nurses, escaping the confines of their fathers farm and carrying a guilty secret with them. Though they are used to tending the sick, nothing could have prepared them for what they confront, first on a hospital ship near Gallipoli, then on the Western Front. Yet amid the carnage, the sisters become the friends they never were at home and find themselves courageous in the face of extreme danger and also the hostility from some on their own side. There is great bravery, humor, and compassion, too, and the inspiring example of the remarkable women they serve alongside. In France, where Naomi nurses in a hospital set up by the eccentric Lady Tarlton while Sally works in a casualty clearing station, each meets an exceptional man: the kind of men for whom they might give up some of their newfound independence if only they all survive. At once vast in scope and extraordinarily intimate, The Daughters of Mars brings World War I vividly to life from an uncommon perspective. Thomas Keneally has written a remarkable novel about suffering and transcendence, despair and triumph, and the simple acts of decency that make us human even in a world gone mad"--

 About half-way through my read I was able to borrow a copy of the audio format and it was absolutely splendid.  The print book has an excellent map inside the cover which made the reading even more enjoyable.  Definitely a keeper and one to re-read and loan to friends.