Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

Well, this was a good read, if the criteria is a book that I read for more than an hour a day.  It was fast, compelling and interesting. But, it was predictable, too. I knew too many times how things were going to turn out, from halfway through the book to the end.
But, the story was interesting and enlightening and told of events that have been buried for many, many years: the French collaborating with the Nazis during the Occupation. There was a round-up of Jews in July 1942; they were taken from their homes and taken to the Vel d'Hiv (an indoor stadium) or to camps. From there, most went to Auschwitz. Children were separated from their mothers, and this novel retells the story of one of those families. The daughter escapes and survives, but with a deep secret she hides for many many years.
This novel shifts back and forth from 1942 to 2002. There is a connection between Sarah, the young Jewish girl and Julia, the 45 year old American journalist living in Paris and assigned the story of the Vel d'Hiv.
The ending seemed trite, predictable and too "pat." It seems like the book was written with the Hollywood screenplay in mind.
I don't want to be too negative, because I do think that people should read the book. Just don't be expecting any big surprises!

A Fair Maiden by Joyce Carol Oates

One of my favorite authors, but not one of my favorite books by this author...

Joyce Carol Oates is such a prolific author that she can't possibly publish masterpieces all of the time. She writes and writes and writes, as an author should. Sometimes they are hits and sometimes misses.

This one is a miss, but it is a good read and a captivating story in spite of that fact. Sometimes we just need to read to be entertained, and I was. The book does lack the depth of her masterpieces, like, "We Were the Mulvaneys."

This short novel tells the story of a young girl, Katya, who is a nanny for a well to do couple on the Jersey shore during a summer. She meets up with an elderly gentleman who befriends her. The reader is not quite sure why, nor is Katya.

The story progresses through their friendship and offers glimpses into Katya's childhood and past which may help the reader to understand why she is attracted to, and repelled by Marcus Kidder.

The gripping ending is a page-turner, but ultimately, not really satisfying.

The Heights by Peter Hedges

Peter Hedges wrote both the book and the screenplay "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." which is one of my favorite movies of all time. And he was the writer/director of "Pieces of April" and "Dan in Real Life." So I knew he would offer a novel that was quirky, clever, funny and poignant. And I was not disappointed.
The novel is about marriage, family, temptation, infidelity, and trust.  The story shifts back and forth between Tim, the husband, and Kate, the wife, telling the story. It amazed me how well Mr. Hedges could "speak" as Kate so realistically....tell the story from the woman's point of view and sound just like a woman.
The life he describes, even though it takes place in Brooklyn Heights, is much like suburbia or a small town. Everyone knows everyone else's business. The women gossip and get together at the local Starbucks or other coffee shop. They are especially gossipy when the new rich family moves to "the Heights" and the wife is not only rich but beautiful.
Tim and Kate have the perfect ordinary marriage. The author puts them through a test that turns everything they have upside down. Do they survivie? You'll have to read the book to find out.
It's a quick and enjoyable read. Now I hear it's being made into a movie and the author is adapting the screenplay, producing and directing. I look forward to it. Now I am speculating.....who will play Kate? Tim and most important - Anna?

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

This is an interesting memoir/novel that tells the story of the author's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. She was born in 1901 in a one-room dugout in the western part of Texas. The beginning of the book describes her life their as a child and opens with her saving her siblings from one of the flash flood that come out of no where and can sweep people and animals away in an instant. She grabs her younger siblings and climbs up a tree with them where the stay overnight. She has to keep prodding them, and engaging them with singing and other activities because if they fell asleep, they'd lose their grip on the tree, fall and be drowned. You get a sense early on just what kind of strong, self-reliant woman this young girl will become.
The book takes place over many decades and follows Lily through her stints as a horse and cattle rancher, wife (twice - her first marriage is a disaster, but life-changing) a maid, a teacher, aviator, and eventually a mother to Rose Mary, a daughter who possesses many of the same characteristics as her mother, but not the common sense. The author, Jeannette is the daughter of Rose Mary and Rex. Lily was not in favor of Rose Mary's marriage to Rex. As Lily says to Rex, “My daughter needs an anchor,”  Rex retorts, “The problem with being attached to an anchor, is that it makes it 'hard to fly.' ”
Now that I have read this book, I need to read the author's other book, Glass Castles, which the young woman in the Library recommended when she checked me out with this book.