The Buddha in the Attic

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Otsuka has a unique sound here, using plural voice to represent Japanese women. These women were brought to America in the 1920’s as mail order brides.

This book has beautiful prose, and while it takes awhile to get used to the plural voice, in the end it is effectively moving.

Savage Inequalities

Savage Inequalities: Children in American Schools by Jonathan Kozol

Amazon Description:

“For two years, beginning in 1988, Jonathan Kozol visited schools in neighborhoods across the country, from Illinois to Washington D.C., and from New York to San Antonio. He spoke with teachers, principals, superintendents, and, most important, children. What he found was devastating. Not only were schools for rich and poor blatantly unequal, the gulf between the two extremes was widening—and it has widened since.  The urban schools he visited were overcrowded and understaffed, and lacked the basic elements of learning—including books and, all too often, classrooms for the students. In Savage Inequalities, Kozol delivers a searing examination of the extremes of wealth and poverty and calls into question the reality of equal opportunity in our nation’s schools.”

My Thoughts:

Another meaningful book by Kozol. I love how this author brings reality to the masses. It is impossible to deny the fact that children living in poverty are not given access to the same education as other children. Those who choose to ignore this fact should read this book! All children, absolutely, do not have an equal opportunity to education.

This book had me in tears…thinking of what these children experience every day. How does one overcome going to a school where no one cares? Where you don’t even have access to books? Where sewers are leaking into the bathroom? Where the best anyone thinks you can do is potentially graduate high school? Incredibly, incredibly sad.

Where Men Win Glory

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

Pat Tillman walked away from a lucrative NFL career to enlist in the US Army after 9/11. Two years later he was killed, allegedly by friendly fire.

Kraukauer uses Tillman’s own words from journals and letters, as well as interviews with his family and friends, to show the kind of man he was. He also explores the controversy surrounding his shooting.

I enjoyed reading about Tillman's love for his country and the upstanding man that he was. He got so much more attention because of his NFL career. However, there are so many men and women serving in the military that have these same morals and make sacrifices to serve. If only they could get as much recognition.

Traveling Light

Traveling Light by Katrina Kittle

Amazon Description:

“’Travel light and you can sing in the robber's face’ was the best advice Summer Zwolenick ever received from her father, though she didn't recognize it at the time. Three years after the accident that ended her career as a ballerina, she is back in the familiar suburbs of Dayton, Ohio, teaching at a local high school. But it wasn't nostalgia that called Summer home. It was her need to spend quality time with her brother, Todd, and his devoted partner, Jacob. Todd, the golden athlete whose strength and spirit encouraged Summer to nurture her own unique talents and follow her dream, is in the final stages of a terminal illness. In a few short months, he will be dead—leaving Summer only a handful of precious days to learn all the lessons her brother still has to teach her . . . from how to love and how to live to how to let go.”

My Thoughts:

Katrina Kittle is a master of building strong emotional connections. This book is amazing. She writes with such deep, genuine emotion…I loved it!

Emily and Einstein

Emily and Einstein: A Novel of Second Chances by Linda Francis Lee

Amazon Description:

“Emily and her husband Sandy Portman seemed to live a gracious if busy life in an old-world, Upper West Side apartment in the famous Dakota building.  But one night on the way to meet Emily, Sandy dies in a tragic accident.  The funeral isn't even over before Emily learns she is on the verge of being evicted from their apartment.  But worse than the possibility of losing her home, Emily is stunned when she discovers that her marriage was made up of lies.  Suddenly Emily is forced on a journey to find out who her husband really was . . . all the while feeling that somehow he isn't really gone.  Angry, hurt, and sometimes betrayed by loving memories of the man she lost, Emily finds comfort in a scruffy dog named Einstein.  But is Einstein's seemingly odd determination that she save herself enough to make Emily confront her own past?  Can he help her find a future—even after she meets a new man?”

My Thoughts:
While this isn’t the worst book I’ve read…it was pretty bad. The characters were dry...and the plot was absurd. I won’t spoil it by telling you what the plot is, in case you want to read it, (even though I would suggest you don’t).

Final Target

Final Target by Iris Johansen

I simply love Iris Johansen’s mystery/thriller books. This book introduces new characters, but still has a familiar face from the Eve Duncan series. Galen is one of my favorites and I enjoyed him even more in this book.

Can’t wait to get to the next! Johansen has an amazing talent for pulling the reader in to the suspense and drawing such complex characters.