Review Date: 1/6/2016

Part history and part memoir, 100 Million Years of Food: What Our Ancestors Ate and Why It Matters Today by Stephen Le presents an anthropological survey of foods from our ancestor's diets to our modern diets. I learned much from the science presented in the book, really enjoyed Stephen Le's personal stories, and agreed with its ultimate message that fad diets don't work.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/01/100-million-years-of-food-what-our.html

Reviewed based on a publisher's galley received through NetGalley

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Review Date: 3/24/2011

Helpful Score: 2

The basis of this book is an actual box of letters and mementos that the author has. Through each of these items, the author concocts an imagined life for the woman to whom box belonged. The book includes color illustrations of the items and smart-phone codes to links to more information about each item.

Unfortunately, I got lost in the writing style and the story - and not in a good way. I found it difficult to keep the characters and the time period straight. The stories from the past and the present intermingled. The imagined history of this woman includes a love that her father did not approve of, a love lost in the war, a practical marriage, and an affair that results from the unhappiness of that marriage. The same items could have resulted in a very different story. I simply did not enjoy the one the author had to tell.

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Review Date: 2/4/2016

The issue of being comfortable in your skin and of body image versus body reality is at the heart of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad. Even though the book describes a journey of weight loss, weight gain, and a changing physical body, Elizabeth's image of herself as the "fat girl" never changes. A sad fiction that points at certain sad but very real, very true facets of our society.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/02/13-ways-of-looking-at-fat-girl.html

Reviewed based on a publisher's galley received through NetGalley

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Review Date: 12/20/2014

The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle by Joanne Huist Smith is about loss, grief, friendship, compassion, and most of all, hope - ideas that are universal no matter what your beliefs. This book is a beautiful story of the difference a "true friend" can make and a gentle reminder to be a "true friend" to someone every day.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/12/the-13th-gift-true-story-of-christmas.html

Reviewed based on a publishers galley received through Edelweiss

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Review Date: 4/26/2012

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/200-knitting-tips-techniques-trade.html

200 Knitting Tips, Techniques & Trade Secrets is, as the title suggests, a book about knitting. The book is organized into sections dealing with different aspects of knitting - equipment, patterns, garment design, basic techniques, advanced techniques, knitting in the round, creative techniques, and assembly. Each section is further divided into short sections dealing with specific topics. Topics range from reading a pattern to choosing a garment shape for your body shape, from stitch patterns to hand dyeing yarn. Each topic includes descriptions, color illustrations, ideas to try, and tips to avoid or fix common mistakes. Please note that while the book does have some stitch patterns, it is not a pattern book.

The book has many positive aspects:

overview of a wide variety of knitting topics
topics addressing not just how to knit but why and what to knit for different needs
short independent sections addressing discrete topics that allow the book to be used as a reference
detailed table of contents and index
glossary and abbreviation list

The book targets both novice and experienced knitters. I am not sure where I would put myself in that range - not a novice but not experienced either. I found the descriptions of each section contained enough detail for me to incorporate the technique into my knitting. Other knitters may have a different reaction. Overall, an okay knitting reference book.

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Review Date: 1/2/2011

Helpful Score: 3

I just reread this book for the second time. This book falls under the category of self help books. The 29 gifts is a challenge to give 29 gifts in 29 consecutive days - very purposefully. It's origins in Cami Walker's story are in African traditions.

Most of us in our lives give to ourselves and to others on a continual basis. This book focuses on doing so mindfully with the attitude of giving rather than of obligation. I also like the fact that the book talks about balance - not giving so much that you yourself are depleted. This shift in attitude is where the "self improvement" comes in.

This same message can be heard through numerous other traditions, faiths, and teaching. This was an enjoyable way of being reminded.

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Review Date: 5/26/2011

A typical Danielle Steel book about a strong character in trying circumstances succeeding and finding happiness. Some interesting side stories for the other characters - one dealing with the loss of a spouse, one in an abusive relationship, and one dealing with child custody issues.

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Review Date: 5/11/2011

This book is less about the art of bread making and more a book about an obsessions. The bread making is the context for the author's journey of self discovery. I was more interested in the bread than his self-actualization. So, I was disappointed in this book because it not what I was expecting.

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Review Date: 1/2/2016

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey represents an ideal, but it is an ideal that makes sense. Do I find myself able to implement to to its fullest? No, but the principles provide a way to center my thoughts and ground myself in my personal and professional life. That is why this book finds a permanent home on my bookshelf and why I still find myself recommending this book to others.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/01/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people.html

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Review Date: 7/16/2016

Absalom's Daughters by Suzanne Feldman is a story of race and poverty in the South in the 1950s. It is a story of a journey of two sisters. It is the story of two young women coming of age. Overall, the premise is promising, but the promise is not completely fulfilled. The book is entertaining but lacks the "wow" factor to make it a compelling and memorable one.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/07/absaloms-daughters.html.

Reviewed based on a publisher's galley received through NetGalley.

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Review Date: 11/20/2021

The Accidental Book Club by Jennifer Scott was a monthly read for our book club. Books with "book" or anything "book like" in the title always draw me in. I might have picked it up even if it were not the choice of my book club. It was a quick and easy read and "okay." Knowing what meaning being in a book club has for me, I expected and hoped for more.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/11/the-accidental-book-club.html

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Review Date: 8/31/2014

Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers is about the destructive impact of one person's anger on his entire family day by day by day and how it alters their life completely in one explosive moment. Unfortunately, with one main character who is not likable and one who is hard to connect to, I enjoyed the story but did not fall in love with it.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/08/accidents-of-marriage.html

Reviewed based on a publishers galley received through NetGalley

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Review Date: 9/9/2017

Two women. Two time period. One city. One beautiful old building. A host of intrigue and secrets that connects all of it. The Address by Fiona Davis tells both stories in alternating sections, winding them closer and closer together until by the end, connections are revealed, and the story of the past ends, and the story of the present finds a path forward. The book is an entertaining story and an intriguing look inside a landmark building.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/09/the-address.html

Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.

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Review Date: 5/18/2017

After the Bloom is a story structured in a commonly used framework - two time periods, two women, a daughter trying to untangle the puzzle of her mother. The broader context is the internment of the Japanese in the United States during World War. The personal story is of a young woman with troubling relationships - her father, her daughter's father, and others she meets at the camp. In this book, the fiction and the history take two different points of focus, making it challenging to engage with.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/05/after-bloom.html

Reviewed for NetGalley

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Review Date: 1/2/2018

After the Fire is Henning Mankell's last published work. It is also a follow-on to an earlier book. This book is really a sum of its parts â the main character, the plot, and the setting stand almost separately in my mind. For me, the picture the author manages to draw of the setting is the most memorable part of the book. The introspective main character does not grab me as much as I thought he would.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/01/after-fire.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

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Review Date: 10/23/2015

Helpful Score: 1

After You by Jojo Moyes is the sequel to Me Before You. Definitely read them in order. In this book, the author manages to tell the story of grief with sensitivity and with humor - a reminder that even in despair, life and new beginnings flourish. It makes me care enough about the characters that I read the entire book in one sitting. Now I wonder, will there be a third installment?

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/10/after-you.html

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Review Date: 6/25/2012

Helpful Score: 1

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/06/afterwards.html

The story of Afterwards is narrated by a woman in a coma. Yes, a woman on the brink of death, in a coma. It is not flashbacks. It is narrated in present time by her soul or essence or being or whatever you want to call it as it floats outside her body. Sounds a little bizarre, right? Except that it turns out to be a pretty good story.

Grace has run into a burning building to save her daughter Jenny. Now, they both are in the hospital fighting for their lives. And their souls or essence or being or whatever you want to call it are together outside of their bodies. They both watch the story unfold - the reactions of those around them and the story of how that fire actually happened. They follow people, listen in on conversations, and learn things about themselves and others. Yet, they can't influence any of it. They cannot pass of the information they learn.

The story of the fire and the book comes to a somewhat predictable close but with interesting twists and turns and interesting character studies along the way. Periodically while reading this book, I stopped to think that it was odd listening to the narration from a person outside of herself. However, mostly, Grace and Jenny each became two distinct characters - their bodies that lay in a coma and the reality of who they were as they floated through this story.

The story became one of parenting and love - what would you do to protect those you love? How far would you go? What risks would you take? What choices would you make? What priorities would you set? So, a somewhat different narration but a really good story.

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Review Date: 2/11/2019

Aside from Dores and Garca, the third main "character" of The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles is the music itself. Music determines almost the entire trajectory of their lives. At some point, their differing contributions to music also divide them. Through it all, the book is an homage to the samba music tradition that is so integral to Brazilian culture. A new knowledge of this music is what I take from this book more so than the human characters or the story.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/02/the-air-you-breathe.html

Reviewed for Penguin First to Read program.

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Review Date: 3/26/2020

The entire premise of Akin by Emma Donoghue seems unlikely. Putting that aside, it seems as though the book is following two stories that never really come together in a cohesive whole. I find myself skimming through to see if the characters or the story evolves throughout the book. Sadly, I find that it does not. I keep reading for the story to ring true, and it does not. I am disappointed.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/03/akin.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

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Review Date: 6/26/2014

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a fable a story of the young shepherd Santiago who learns the valuable lesson of pursuing one's dream in the face of obstacles; and the even more valuable lesson of being present in every moment of the process it takes to get there. It is a simply told story with a lot of absorb. It spoke to my heart. Worth reading and re-reading.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/06/the-alchemist-25th-anniversary-edition.html

*** Reviewed based on a copy received through a publishers giveaway ***

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