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What Rose Forgot

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What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr
Format: Book
Who It’s For: Adults

 

Rose is a widow in her sixties who awakens in a nursing home, in the ward for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. She does not know how she got there or when. She does know she should not be in this unit and she does not have a memory problem or maybe she does but not Alzheimer’!  What has happened and where is her family? Why would they admit her here? After overhearing a nurse say she will not make it through the week, Rose decides she must escape. She only pretends to take the pills they bring her each day. She is finding that her head is less fuzzy and she is beginning to remember some things. Rose plans a daring escape.

Once outside of the facility, Rose makes her way to her Granddaughters old playhouse, the only place she thinks she will be safe and waits to get Melanie’s attention.

As soon as 13-year-old Mel finds her GG there, she gets her safely back to her own home.  Rose is laying low and only contacts her recluse computer savvy sister for help. Rose begins her investigation into the mystery of her incarceration at the nursing home. How does she convince anyone that she’s not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers are drawn up and the authorities are on the side of the nursing home.

Then a would-be killer shows up at Rose’s home in the middle of the night, Rose knows someone is out to kill her. With the help of her sister Marion, her granddaughter Mel and Mel’s friend Royal, a few harebrained stunts on Rose’s part and then the unlikely but blackmailed would-be killers help, Rose begins to unravel the chain of events.

This mystery is a serious, yet funny adventure of What Rose Forgot. A clever novel of action and suspense yet quite witty and entertaining. I laughed out loud while reading this novel.

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From Twinkle, With Love

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Recommended Book
From Twinkle, With Love by  Sandhya Menon
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Format: Book or ebook
Who it’s for: Teens

“In this delightful romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi, told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy-a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man N begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?” – Publisher’s blurb

This took a bit for me to get into. It was soooooooo High School. The crush, the BFF drama, the awkwardness, the ‘Woe is me’ angst, etc. So very HS, so stereotypical; it made me cringe, laugh, and smh. I would have stopped reading it by like chapter two, if not for Books for the Beast (a YA reader’s advisory conference in Maryland) and the fact her first book got so much praise. I powered through.

It was very amusing with a couple of lil life lessons to boot. If this was a Disney Channel movie, I could have made it through without cringing so much or smh at the mistakes they made. I still would have lol at the awkward moments. Despite all those things it was a great read.

The Indian culture that was in the book was completely natural and did not feel forced. It was just a part of Twinkle’s life, her story. The gay friends felt forced, like an afterthought. I liked the text messages and emails. They made it feel epistolary. The supposed diary entries where Twinkle is writing to directors never really felt like letters. They did not really feel like a diary entries, either. Only at the beginning of the diary entry and when she closed the “letter” did it ever feel like she was writing a letter to somebody.  It felt more like just a first POV novel.

I was considering reading her debut novel but when I was talking about From Twinkle, With Love with a coworker, she said this plot sounds almost identical to When Dimple Met Rishi. Now if they made movies from her novels on Disney Channel, I would watch them all and enjoy. If I was in middle/high school and liked romance novels, I would read all her novels as well. Def geared for upper middle school and High School girls.

Read a High School Rom-Com starring a cute Indian Girl!

 

The Dutch House

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The Dutch House
By: Ann Patchett
Who It’s For:  Adults

Narrated by Tom Hanks

The Dutch house is a lavish estate in the suburbs, just outside of Philadelphia.  Just after World War II, Cyril Conroy purchases the home for his wife and daughter.  Cyril has finally made it as a successful real estate investor and with the purchase of the home, Cyril pulls his family out of poverty into a lush new existence of opulence.

As told from the perspective of Danny, the youngest of Cyril’s two children, the purchase of the Dutch house begins the family’s undoing.  Danny’s mother, who lives her life helping the downtrodden, cannot rationalize this new existence.  She has a nervous breakdown, and leaves her husband, her children and the Dutch house behind.

Danny, his sister Maeve, and their father are left behind to pick up the pieces.  They live a peaceful life at the Dutch house, until Cyril remarries a woman with two young daughters.  In a domino effect, life as they knew it falls apart.

In the audio version of this book, Tom Hanks does a wonderful job of portraying Danny and the events that take place over the course of five decades.  Danny’s loss of his mother, his reaction to his stepmother, his relationship with his sister, and their extraordinary attraction to the Dutch house are all woven together into a powerfully emotional story.  For me the story was even more moving as I listened to it through the inflections, feelings and emotions of Tom Hank’s voice.  Find it on hoopla digital.

 

Your Happiest You: the care & keeping of your mind and spirit

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Your Happiest You: the care & keeping of your mind and spirit by Judy Woodburn
Format: book
Who it’s for: Kids & Teens

Being happy is something we want for our kids but how can we help them get there?  This book is full of great insight and practical ideas about achieving happiness and is written in an inviting style that makes it very accessible to elementary and middle school age kids.

We teach our kids to take care of their bodies by eating right, exercising, and brushing their teeth so it makes sense to help them learn to take care of their mind and spirit at the same time.  With this book, kids can try out simple exercises to find internal calm, have better relationships with friends and family, enjoy the world around them, and think about how their attitude affects their feelings.

This book is published by American Girl Publishing so it is more geared toward girls but the concepts and advice apply to boys just as well.  Another wonderful book in this Care & Keeping of You series is Liking Herself which talks about developing good self-esteem.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain

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The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Format: Book
Who It’s for: Adults and Young Adults

 

This story is about Denny Swift, a race-car driver and rep. for a BMW dealer in Seattle Washington and his dog Enzo. Told from Enzo’s perspective and his belief in the legend that a dog “who is prepared” will be reincarnated in his next life as a human. Enzo also loves watching T.V. documentaries and racing.
Denny adopts Enzo from a farm as a pup. Denny and Enzo begin their journey together where Enzo struggles to hone his humanness and Denny soon meets and marries Eve. Eventually they have a daughter named Zoe. Enzo is devoted to Denny, Eve and Zoe.
Life has many difficulties and sometimes the unthinkable happens. Enzo describes to the reader his life with Denny and his family, the bond he has with each of them and the great struggle they go through when Eve develops brain cancer. In addition, to a surprise and shocking custody struggle of Zoe with Eve’s parents and Denny.
Enzo gleans his knowledge through the television shows and documentaries that he watches. He has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, but cannot understand why a dog does not have thumbs. He does his best to communicate with his family even though he cannot talk.
Enzo sees that life, like racing, is not simply about going fast.

This book is one of the best I have ever read. The story told through Enzo’s point of view. It is happy, sad, traumatic and charmingly funny.
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Format: Book (also available in: Ebook, Audiobook, eAudiobook)
Who it’s for:  Teens, Adults

Eleanor is almost 30. She works in an office. Everything is completely fine.

Eleanor lives alone. She is considered to be strange. She has no family. She has no friends. She drinks two liters of vodka every weekend. OK, everything may not be completely fine.

How do you respond when asked: ‘How are you?’ Do you automatically say ‘Fine’? This story lets you give some thought to what might be going on behind the word ‘fine’ and explore social isolation.

Eleanor has a very quirky interpretation of the world around her and this first person narrative lets you see the world through her eyes.  Dry British humor and the other characters in the story make this a fun and interesting read.  Eleanor’s background is a bit murky and you get to discover her past along with her.

I read this for my book club and it led to a really great discussion.  There are plans to make it into a movie.

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