My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella

Just like the alphabet, bitch, I come before U. 

Yep, Demeter Farlowe(the goddess of the harvest, but also Mrs. Wilton in her other life), a proper Godzilla II, heads a team of pretty, but nasty nails on parade in the advertising world; a goopy pudding of gals, fluffed up by high heels, the secret Wednesday Bacchus devotion, and Ya Ya-sisterhood to die for. 

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game, can be regarded as the general mantra for the miniskirt brigade coming with the high-prized hype and pretentiousness. Welcome to Cooper Clemmow branding company. 

When something goes wrong in your life, just yell 'plot twist' and move on. Katie Brenner, a wanne-be Londoner is forced back to the farm, out in the British sticks, when her low-paid, struggling, position as a research associate in the prestigious advertising company becomes redundant. What feels like the end of her London-ness(which gives her a spring in her step, it's so intangible, so buzzy), is actually the beginning of a new challenge, when she helps her father and stepmother to put glamorous into glamping on their farm, with proper wi-fi, 400-count must-haves on the yurt beds, and a new yoga discovery, called Vedari, for the upper- and middleclasses who's stomach sensitivity grows with their income. 

Out with the serum in the curls, the unfamiliar straight, tortured hair, the most important steps at a front door, away from the biscuit people, the naked-man coat stand, the amazing giant plastic flowers, and in with a little bit of amorous huffing and puffing in the cow dung on her way to find a considerate man, number one, but, number two and three, a man of quality who values her. Fun becomes such a last-year's kind of vintage rhetoric in the end, oh so like Alex Astalis, for instance. But wait, that's only in the hunt for the perfect partner. On the farm fun is the buzz word for chia seed, organic ginger, and special seaweed-groupies with a Gwyneth Paltrow-lifestyle craze. 

It's the brochure for Ansters Farm that got the moss on the rolling stones to scatter in totally new directions for the Somerset girl.

This is a satire in the rom com literary genre with a touch of Hollywood fluff in the ending. However, it comes with a little more substance, meat to the bones, and I loved that. I'm somewhat subjective and biased too in my rating. My daughter took a sabbatical from her 18-hour days in the advertising world to tour the world. She is the Katie Brenner in our own story. 

Cozy and quaint. A cutesy kind of fun read. Really enjoyable and good. A few good laughs came with the experience. Yes, and you will find me in Katie's helicopter dad, but without his crazy schemes. :-)) 

                                                                                   

Freeman by Leonard Pitts Jr.

It is the end of the American civil war and slavery had just been abolished. People were jubilantly dancing in the streets of America. An era came to an end. 

Although it was one of the purposes of the war to establish freedom for everyone, nobody really seemed to grasp the real meaning of the concept. Those who finally gained their freedom were the least prepared for it. For most of them slavery was bad, but peace brought much worse consequences than ever envisioned. You could say the battle was won but the war was not over and some of the more optimistic celebrators did not know what was waiting on the other side. For those who never knew freedom, who were born in slavery, the thought of freedom was a highly unsettling and frightening idea. After all, people were still white, and other black. And the whites still regarded the black people as something similar to dogs or horses. Not human. No, not human at all.

"In physical deportment, intellectual capacity, and moral integrity, white men were set apart from all the other races of the world. That includes your red man, your yellow man, and most certainly, your black man.”

Bostonian Prudence Cafferty Kent's father warned her. “When this war is finished, when the Union is restored, this government will do nothing for the colored man. It will free him and then it will leave him to fend for himself in a hostile and resentful land. It will require people like us, people of means, to fill in the gaps.” 

In memory of her late father, she decided to move down south and establish a school for the newly freed slave children in a building belonging to her father. She wanted to make a difference. She felt it was her calling. Her husband gave his life to make a difference as well. She had to carry on their visions and wishes. But Prudence was an inexperienced, and a simply stubborn, mulish, headstrong person who envisioned herself as the savior of many. A person who thought that her wishes would become everyone else's commands. What she found in the little town Buford, Mississippi, would not only drastically clear up her misconceptions about life, and destroy innocent people's lives, but will also make her realize how damaging her actions were for the inhabitants of Buford she tried to help.

We have lost our homes and other property. We have lost our dignity and pride. We have lost our way of life and we have lost our country. By the holy God, how much more can you Northern people expect us to lose? Would you have us surrender our sacred place in the very order of creation? We will not meekly accept that. We cannot, if we wish to still consider ourselves white men. You will not prop the Negro up as our social or political equal. We will resist that with every means at our disposal, Mrs. Kent. We will resist for a hundred years, and more.”

The intolerance, resentment, bitterness and rebellion in the different groups are pushed to the limits with her arrival and the choices she made. 

Sam Freeman fled the south and landed up in Phillidelphia working as an assistant in a library when the good news arrived about the end of the war. He wanted to return to Buford to search for his wife Tilda, whom he left behind fifteen years earlier. It was a dangerous decision to make. He made an oath when he fled the bondage of Mrs. Louisa Prentiss down south, that he will return for his wife when he managed to establish a new life up north. He knew the time had come for him to go back to his roots in Mississippi. He walked a thousand miles and more, to honor the promise he made to himself. 

Tilda had her own story to tell. It was a life of hardship and hell that did not end with the signing of the peace treaty, since her 'owner' refused to give up his 'property'. She had no desire or aspirations to leave her master. The unknown and the uncertainty of a free life convinced her to stay, be loyal and endure. The known was intolerable, but still better than the unknown. 

Comments: Fastidious. Intense. Convincing. Excellent. What a stroke of luck it was to choose this book as my first read for 2014! I often read Leonard J. Pitt Jr's syndicated columns and had this book now for a few months stacked to be read. I love his writing style, so it was with excitement and joy that I opened this book last night and got going.

All I want to say is that it was an emotionally-charged, suspenseful read. The plot, the rawness of the events, the scenery and historical details in the book kept me reading from beginning to end without taking a break. I am not sure how well this book is received in the American psyche, but I do wish more people from all over the world can read it for the powerful message it contains about human dignity and respect and what people do to each other when one group, so often violently, is denying it to another.

There is such a wealth of pathos, character, and deeply moving moments in the book. There is the good the bad and the ugly. But mostly, there is an honesty of thought and intent rolled out in the rainbow of eloquent prose. 

I recommend this book to EVERYONE!

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AMAZON BLURB

Freeman, the new novel by Leonard Pitts, Jr., takes place in the first few months following the Confederate surrender and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Upon learning of Lee's surrender, Sam--a runaway slave who once worked for the Union Army--decides to leave his safe haven in Philadelphia and set out on foot to return to the war-torn South. What compels him on this almost-suicidal course is the desire to find his wife, the mother of his only child, whom he and their son left behind 15 years earlier on the Mississippi farm to which they all "belonged."

At the same time, Sam's wife, Tilda, is being forced to walk at gunpoint with her owner and two of his other slaves from the charred remains of his Mississippi farm into Arkansas, in search of an undefined place that would still respect his entitlements as slaveowner and Confederate officer. 

The book's third main character, Prudence, is a fearless, headstrong white woman of means who leaves her Boston home for Buford, Mississippi, to start a school for the former bondsmen, and thus honor her father’s dying wish.

At bottom, Freeman is a love story--sweeping, generous, brutal, compassionate, patient--about the feelings people were determined to honor, despite the enormous constraints of the times. It is this aspect of the book that should ensure it a strong, vocal, core audience of African-American women, who will help propel its likely critical acclaim to a wider audience. At the same time, this book addresses several themes that are still hotly debated today, some 145 years after the official end of the Civil War. Like Cold Mountain, Freeman illuminates the times and places it describes from a fresh perspective, with stunning results. It has the potential to become a classic addition to the literature dealing with this period. Few other novels so powerfully capture the pathos and possibility of the era particularly as it reflects the ordeal of the black slaves grappling with the promise--and the terror--of their new status as free men and women.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leonard Pitts, Jr. was born and raised in Southern California and now lives in suburban Washington, DC, with his wife and children. He is a columnist for the Miami Herald and won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, in addition to many other awards. He is also the author of the novel Freeman (Agate Bolden, 2012), Before I Forget (Agate Bolden, 2009); the collection Forward From this Moment: Selected Columns, 1994-2009, Daily Triumphs, Tragedies, and Curiosities (Agate Bolden, 2009); and Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood (Agate Bolden, 2006).

In a career spanning 35 years, Leonard Pitts, Jr. has been a columnist, a college professor, a radio producer and a lecturer. But if you ask him to define himself, he will invariably choose one word. WRITER.

He is a writer, period.

In 2004, Pitts was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He was also a finalist for the Pulitzer in 1992. In 1997, Pitts took first place for commentary in division four (newspapers with a circulation of over 300,000) in the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors' Ninth Annual Writing Awards competition. His recent columns on the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman have garnered much attention from his peers and readers alike. Click here to read the archive of columns by Leonard Pitts Jr. (source: Goodreads)

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BOOK INFORMATION
Genres: african-american, american-history, historical-fiction, reviewed, romance
Formats:  Kindle Edition | Nook, | Paperback | Audio, CD | Audiobook | MP3 Audio
Page Numbers: 415 pages
Publisher: Agate Bolden | Amazon Digital Services, Inc
Publishing date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 1932841644
ASIN: B008164K6A
Edition language: English
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

REVIEW
The more I read about the Second World War, the more I am so thankful that it was over and can only hope and pray it will never be repeated anywhere ever again on that scale! I never liked watching war movies, neither reading the graphic detail, still don't, since the cruelty, suffering, hardships and horror are way too much to handle for me personally. So many millions of books were written about it that the actual message gets lost in the apathy resulting from too much information over a too long period of time. But then I come across a an epistolary novel such as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and I am once again mesmerized by the immensity of the human spirit, the need to survive, and the determination to succeed under appalling circumstances after the devastating war.

The letters between Juliet Ashton and the members of the society got me hooked to the book since the first "Dear Sidney" flowed from the pages. First off, it was like being invited into someone's personal space, mind, life, by being able to read their personal letters.

Secondly, the story is based on old fashioned paper letters which do not hail the same excitement or even are in fashion anymore in our modern world and the reader is immediately drawn into the nostalgia of a romantic art that disappeared almost completely.

The charm, as well as magic of the book being written in a constant flow of letters keeps the reader mesmerized. The characters introduce themselves through their own thoughts they shared with the writer in their letters to her. Juliet needed a fresh idea for her new book and accidentally receives a letter from the Guernsey island from a man who can hardly express himself verbally(she would later find out), yet writes detailed letters.

The Literary Society on the Guernsey island saved people's sanity in many ways during the German occupation when Elizabeth, the island's own earth angel(in modern terms she would be described as a people's pleaser) lied the society into existence. The society, which was afterwards forced to become functional, was like a key opening up the people's slumbering personalities when unlikely people were forced to read books, never realizing what an effect it would have on each person's life.

Another thought which struck me while reading how the islanders were forced by hunger and dire circumstances to burn their own wooden furniture, beloved books, even the banisters in their homes to survive the Occupation, was how the effect on the world is slowly repeating itself with the deforestation of the planet and what an effect it will ultimately have on people's lives. If there is one message I would like to take from the book it will be to plant more trees. I have not planted enough! It will also be in honor of those people who suffered severely in the wars of the world. Where there is war, nature is paying a dire price. Where there is peace the trees start growing again and the flowers come back. Earth heals itself like the human spirit gets healed by time.

The wit in the book is refreshing, the drama exhilarating and the narrative finishes off every issue. Compared to other war novels, it is a kind of 'light' read, but not too cheesy to be just another romantic novel for the light-brained. It has some meat to the story.

The fictional characters are ordinary human beings, even the male hero is an ordinary quiet man. It's based on real-life characters in real-life circumstances - people we all recognize as our families, friends and neighbors - no frills no fuzz, no fantasy or unrealistic heroes.

The book includes love, romance and everything needed to keep female readers(especially) interested, but surprisingly does not need to fall into the sex trap to make it acceptable to prospective buyers. The story itself is strong enough to guarantee the best seller status and deserves it. I give it four stars for excellent research, the delightful wit, as well as the dignity and respect it shows towards the more intelligent readers. If it was only a romantic novel, I would have dropped it after page three, but I finished it and loved every moment. It was worth it.

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AMAZON BOOK BLURB
It's 1946 and Juliet Ashton can't think what to write next. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey - by chance, he's acquired a book that once belonged to her - and, spurred on by their mutual love of reading, they begin a correspondence. When Dawsey reveals that he is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, her curiosity is piqued and it's not long before she begins to hear from other members. As letters fly back and forth with stories of life in Guernsey under German Occupation, Juliet soon realizes that the society is every bit as extraordinary as its name.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Anne Shaffer
Mary Ann Shaffer worked as an editor, a librarian, and in bookshops. Her life-long dream was to someday write her own book and publish it. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was her first novel. Unfortunately, she became very ill with cancer and so she asked her niece, Annie Barrows, the author of the children’s series Ivy and Bean, as well as The Magic Half, to help her finish the book. Mary Ann Shaffer died in February 2008, a few months before her first novel was published.

Annie Barrows is the enormously talented author of many acclaimed books including he Ivy + Bean series, The Magic Half, and the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. She has also written non-fiction books under the pen name Ann Fiery. Annie’s latest book in the Ivy + Bean series is No News Is Good News. She worked for years as an editor until she decided to write children’s books like the ones she loved growing up. Her dedicated fans are eternally grateful she decided to pursue her dream. (Information source)

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Genres: Historical fiction, Second World World, Island Guernsey, Drama, Community, Romance, Suspense
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, Kindle, Nook, Audio, CD, Audiobook,
Number of Pages: 257
Publishing date: May 10, 2009
Edition Language: English
ISBN: 0747596689
ASIN: B002R88G4U
Purchase links:  Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes& Noble

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