Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

 My Rating: 2.5

Graham divorced his first wife to marry his girlfriend Audra. Life with Audra can also be exhausting, constantly interrupted by chatty phone calls, picky-eater houseguests, and invitations to weddings of people he’s never met. Audra firmly believes that through the sheer force of her personality she can overcome the most socially challenging interactions, shepherding her son through awkward playdates and origami club, and even deciding to establish a friendship with Graham’s first wife, Elspeth. 

This was a difficult book for me. On one hand, I think the author is extremely talented. There were several points in the book where I was laughing out loud but, after a while, the characters grated on my nerves. The wife Audra was particularly annoying with her over exhuberance and making friends with absolutely everyone and even inviting them to live in their home. I ended up skimming the last portion of the book. Based off of this book, I don't think I would read more by this author.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

My Rating: 4.9

In 1976 California, Dana is suddenly dizzy and then is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slaveowner’s plantation. When her returns to her apartment and her husband, she has only been gone minutes vs the hours she was back in time. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect Rufus to ensure his assault of her Black ancestor so that she may one day be born. As she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, Dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present. Dana not only experiences the cruelties of slavery on her skin but also grimly learns to accept it as a condition of her own existence in the present.

I don't know how I seem to be the last person to read this book but I absolutely LOVED it! I am glad I never heard about it with all the hype so I didn't go in to it with any expectations and just went with the storyline - which was enthralling. 

Weyward by Emilia Hart

My Rating: 4.7

Three generations of women all tied together over witch hunts. In current day, Kate is trying to understand her great-aunt's secret. In the 1940's Violet knows her long dead mother was rumored to have gone mad and Violet's father treats her as if she is the same as her mother. In the 1600's Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was trampled to death by his cows as the townsfolk assume Altha, taught magic by her mother, caused this. 

I enjoyed this book and the connection between the three women/timelines. A good mix of historical fiction and fantasy. I enjoyed the writing and found it hard to believe when I discovered this was her debut novel. I would definitely read more by this author.

Long Island by Colm Toibin

My Rating: 4.2

This is a continuation of his first book Brooklyn. It starts 20 years later with Eilis answering the door of her home in Long Island. I don't like to write spoilers so can't share more details (and don't read other reviews as they all have spoilers!). 

This book continues with all of the characters from the first book. I have moved all over the world and, after the first couple of years in a place, I have made many wonderful friends and it has managed to feel like home so I found it frustrating that after 20 years, Eilis had no friends and put down no roots. The characters are written where you feel like you know them and yet you don't know them....you are even left with a desire to know them more. I think it is a testament to Toibin's amazing writing talents that I really enjoyed this book despite every character in it being dispicable. Not one of them makes good choices and I was so frustrated with all of them and their dysfunctional ways. That being said, I will absolutely read the next book that he will no doubt be writing baesd on how this one ended.

The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey

My Rating: 4.4

Lizzy is being raised by her Grandparents on their farm in Belhaven. As a small child, she sees 'pictures' and quickly realizes that they are glimpses of the future but, she can't change it. Lizzy falls in love with a man named Louis and follows him to Glasgow only to realize she can't change his heart. 

Lizzy makes several bad decisions which caused me to not feel as fondly for her as I did in the beginning of the book. Some of the pacing felt off - at times it felt very slow and at the end it was rushed. It also felt like the focus shifted from the first part of the book being about her sight and the second half of the book being about her trying to scrape the remnants of her poor decisions into a respectable life. It had some feeling of a YA novel but was enough to hold my attention. I did enjoy the writing and would read more by this author.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women

My Rating: 4.9

15th century China and Tan Yunxian is being raised by her grandparents. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. 

When Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

This book spans many decades and See's research shows in capturing the Chinese culture, foot binding and so many expectations of women. This is a beautiful quiet book with many complex characters. Don't rush the reading but savor and enjoy. Beautiful.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

My Rating: 4.8

In post WWII Ireland, and despite being skilled at bookkeeping, Eilis can't find a job. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America--to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood "just like Ireland"--she decides she must go. Leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind, Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, This details Eilis having incredibly homesickness, getting to know her boarding house mates,  and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, a blond Italian from a big family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. 

I normally like a plot driven book but, thanks to Toibin's gorgeous writing, this character driven book drew me in. Most of this takes place inside Eilis' mind so it is strange to realize that Toibin holds his characters at arms-length and, despite feeling so close to them, you realize you don't really know them at all. This novel is much deeper than it appears and will stay with me. I can't wait to read Long Island.