Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay

I expected (and wanted to) love this book. It has all the right elements: Russia, mystery, romance, political intrigue, Stalinist USSR background, ballet. I thought I would LOVE it. But somehow, I just didn't care much for the characters. The only one I really liked much was Grigory. And I wanted to really care what happened in the end; how were Nina and Grigory connected? But I just didn't get absorbed in the story.
Nina, the main character, in her old age, seems bitter, angry and withdrawn. I suppose that because of what she endured in Soviet Russia under Stalin, she deserves to be that way. Plus, the added burden she must endure having been a prima ballerina most of her life has made her body ache and throb, and she is confined to a wheelchair most of the time. But I just wanted to like her more and I just couldn't. Even as a young woman, I didn't find her character particularly sympathetic.
Her friend Vera, was the more sympathetic character for me. Her parents "disappeared" suddenly one day and she was pretty much an orphan for her whole life. Nina's mother takes a special interest in her, understandably, but Nina's jealousy of that situation didn't seem right to me, somehow.
Anyway, Grigory, the university professor, was the most real and sympathetic character, at least for me.
The ending? I was not even that interested to find out how these characters were connected.
PostScript: Just found this blog post and it's making me rethink my review.... or making me want to pick up the book again and try all over.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I can't say that I wasn't engrossed in this book. It's a fast read and I read it in a couple days. I did enjoy it, even though it was a bit cliche in parts.

The novel is told from the point of view of Enzo, a dog, who is loyal, smart and very insightful. Even though I have never had a dog, I could relate to my friends who do and who cherish their dogs and think of them as human. There was so much to love about Enzo in this story.
His owner, Denny, encounters all kinds of bad luck that seems to keep piling up. But as a race car driver, he always keeps his eyes ahead and on the road. The book is a bit preachy in that regard but the message is good. I can see this being a really good book for high schoolers. It's a fast read, holds your attention, and has a message. The art of racing in the rain is a metaphor on how to lead your life, staying in focus.
So, I will recommend it - not as a great work of literature, but for providing an interesting twist to a story of a family struggling through hard times - and surviving!

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

I had my stab at Murakami a few years ago when I read (did I finish?) "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." I was reading it voraciously on the plane to Paris when one of the flight attendants interrupted me to ask "Did I love it?" I answered in the affirmative, but if he had asked me a few hundred pages further into the book, would I have answered the same? I am not sure.
It seems like Murakami has a following, a cult, like Harry Potter or Stephen King fans, albeit of very different genre! Look at the popularity of his new novel right now. It's a staggering 900+ pages. That is an immediate turn off for me, but people are gobbling it up.
So, when the movie version of "Norwegian Wood" came out and I ran into this short paperback in Barnes and Noble, I picked it up. And I finished it. And I enjoyed reading it, even if it was rather depressing. But at the heart, there was the hint that the main character, Watanabe, might find happiness with Midori.
The female characters in Murakami's books are disturbing. They prey on and tortue the male protagonist in a very subtle way; you never know if they are victims or predators.
Needless to say, Murakami is an interesting writer: thoughtful, mysterious and spiritual. But I am not sure when I will try another one of his books. Probably not while I am still working. Need more reading time to delve into his newest, "1Q84."

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Eugenides wrote one of my VERY FAVORITE contemporary novels, "Middlesex." It did win the Pulitzer Prize. And I DID love the book. And not for its topic: hermaphroditism. But for the story, the saga of a family coming to America and all of the rich and captivating stories that follow.
So, I was so excited when  Eugenides' new novel was released. And I did enjoy this book. Not as much as "Middlesex," but I did like it. The book's title comes from the fact that the main character, Madeleine Hanna, is writing her senior thesis about Jane Austen, George Elliot and other classic authors who write about courtship and marriage and "happily ever after." But "the marriage plot" no longer exists in contemporary life and literature; it's the age of prenuptuals, divorce, living together, gay marriage and more. The courtships written about in those novels of yesterday are no longer relevant, except to Madeleine.
So the story unfolds in similar fashion to these classic novels, with Madeleine being courted by two men vying for her love and attention. But these men are so different from the ones we read about in Austen and the like. One of them, Leonard, battles mental illness, while the other, Mitchell, grapples with finding himself.
Who will Madeleine end up with? Which one will she marry? I won't tell, but will invite you to read it and enjoy the contemporary twist to the classic romance novels of the nineteenth century.

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

This is quite an epic novel: about 600 pages and spanning nearly a decade. It is a "holocaust novel," but a different one, at least for me. The story opens in the late 30's in Hungary. Young Andras, a Jewish student in Budapest, has the opportunity to travel and study in Paris. He is to be an architect. His brother, Tibor, is studying medicine, and his younger brother, Matyas, is still in school, but not much of a student.
The beginning of the book, dealing with Andras' life in Paris is satisfying for him.  We get glimpses into the terror that is starting to overcome Europe, but for the most part, Andras has a full and successful life as a student in Paris.
As time passes, things become more and more difficult for Andras; his scholarship is revoked because he is Jewish; he eventually has to return to Budapest to renew his visa, but he is never to return to Paris.
In Paris, Andras meets Klara through a chance encounter before he left for Paris. Although she is older and has a teenage daughter, they manage to forge a strong relationship and end up married with two children.
I really appreciated the way the author told this story; the backdrop of politics tempering every aspect. Even though we all know the story of the Holocaust, every individual story is unique and captivating.

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I did enjoy reading this book but I don't think it was a great piece of literature. I don't want to be snobby about it, but it did seem a bit cliche and predictable. And the characters thinly drawn...at least some of them. But I enjoyed reading it, so I feel bad be critical. After all, shouldn't reading be pleasurable?
But really....did all of the white women have to be so evil? Except for Skeeter, of course, the author of the book that is being written within this book. The Help tells the story of black women working for white women in Jackson, Mississippi. They are surrogate mothers to the white women's children, cooks, cleaners, servers, and more. But they can't use the family bathroom, have their children share schools, or the lunch counter with anyone who is white. One of the white women, Skeeter, an aspiring writer, decides to be brave and tell the story, anonymously, of the women who have been so crucial in the upbringings of all of these white women, but who live a very separate and not equal life. Apparently, Kathryn Stockett, the author, felt compelled to tell this story after moving to New York and feeling conflicted about her prior life in the south. So, the book seems semi-autobiographical.
Now, on to the problem I had......
I am sure that there were (are) plenty of women like Miss Hilly, one of the worst white offenders in the book, but she was painted in such a negative way; you wanted her to get lynched. And really, is the point of the book to want bad things inflicted on anyone in the human race?
I don't know.....maybe I am missing something here. Please. Weigh in.

Bent Road by Lori Roy

Good read but it took me a while....
The Scotts are a family of five who move from Detroit, Michigan to get away from race riots and phone calls from black boys to their eldest daughter. Arthur, the father, is from a farm in the Midwest and decides to take the family there to live. Not easy for his wife, Celia, who has a good and happy life. And there's more. Eve, Arthur's youngest sister, died under mysterious circumstances twenty years earlier.
The kids, young Evie, Daniel, the middle child and the oldest daughter, Elaine, each face their own challenges in Kansas differently and adjust differently.
These challenges are set against the serious threat of violence and murder. The reader knows that there is more than meets the eye.
Arthur's quest to protect his family from racial strife instead brings them closer to danger, family intrigue and violence far scarier than anything they witnessed in Detroit.
It's a good read and quite well written.