Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

 
   
Have you read this book? I finished reading Unbroken:  A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption last night. This is such a good book and think anyone would enjoy it. Maybe enjoy isn't the right word because most of the book is pretty hard to read.  

Unbroken is the story of Louis Zampernini, a U.S. Army Air Forces officer, who is shot down over the Pacific. The story of his days in a life raft floating for weeks then taken prisoner of war is so unbelievable that it has to be true. You can't make this stuff up. 

Book Read: Unbroken

Author: Laura Hillenbrand

ISBN: 978-1-4000-6416-8

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

I stayed up late last night to finish reading Secrets of Eden. This novel centered around the deaths of a rural Vermont couple, Alice and George Hayward. It was pretty clear that George had killed his wife Alice, but did George kill himself? And if not, who killed George? Turns out, no, the autopsy showed that George didn't kill himself.

I knew how the story was going to end from a few innocent lines in the book that just had to be a clue to the big mystery unfolding--otherwise they didn't fit. And yep, even though I didn't have the details worked out in my head, I had picked up on the right person who killed George.

This book is certainly worth reading. And from Chris Bohjalian's Facebook page:

Mark your calendars or set your Tivo: "Secrets of Eden," the movie, premiers on Lifetime on November 21 starring John Stamos and Lili Taylor. Director is Tawnia McKiernan. Producer is Craig Anderson.

Nice! Can't wait to watch this one. Have you read Secrets of Eden? How about these other New England authors?

Book Read: Secrets of Eden

Author: Chris Bohjalian

ISBN: 978-0-307-39497-2

Perfect Reader by Maggie Pouncey

I finished reading Perfect Reader last night late and was glad to be done with it. This was an interesting book, but the main character, Flora Dempsey, was one of the most self-indulged, boring people to be conjured on paper. To me she appeared to be lazy, selfish, and plain old mean in places. Maybe it was my frame of mind, but I didn't "like" this book even though it was well written and interesting in places.

Flora is raised in a small college town where her father is college president. Her parents divorce, her best friend is hurt in an accident, blah blah blah. The one redeeming quality of this book was the layout where Pouncey wrote present day first then the second half of the chapter was written when Flora was a child, so the story unfolds in an interesting way. That I liked.

Have you read Perfect Reader? What did you think?

Book Read: Perfect Reader
Author: Maggie Pouncey
ISBN: 978-0-307-37874-3

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

I finished reading Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler last night and have to tell you, I don't get the name. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I'll admit, but there was a minor (to me) reference to Noah's ark and that's about it. Maybe I was tired and just didn't catch it. Okay, I'm really curious what subtle clues I missed... off to Google it.

I'm back.

Okay, on Amazon, here is part of what Mary Lins had to say in her review:

Noah didn't need a compass, a rudder or a sextant because he wasn't going anywhere; he just bobbed along trying to stay afloat. Liam Pennywell, the 60 year old narrator of Anne Tyler's latest novel, "Noah's Compass", has been getting by without a compass for years.

I guess that's sort of what Noah did in the ark. Huh? Oh well. I liked the book. I always like Anne Tyler's books because they are about real people (well, they aren't real people but they could be) and their lives are "normal," nothing flashy, which I also like. I mean, sometimes I want to read something that is bigger than life, but I prefer novels like Tyler's that are comforting in the details and storytelling.

Highly recommended and if you have your own opinion about the title, please clue me in.
Book Read: Noah's Compass
Author: Anne Tyler
ISBN: 978-0-307-27240-9