Why not write quick book reviews?

Posted on May 17, 2013 by admin

Brief book reviews have merit

Do you post book reviews online at Amazon, Goodreads and other such sites? I do so only sporadically. I’d like to get in the habit of writing quick reviews after finishing books I’ve enjoyed. (I shy away from doing negative reviews, and if you’d like to comment about that, it could lead to a spirited discussion.)

To make this task more doable, I’ve begun making my reviews short. Very short. I’m not a professional reviewer. I just want to contribute a little something to the discussions about books I like. I figure this means I don’t have to follow any particular format or satisfy any preconceived notions of what a book review should be.

In case you’ve been holding off on penning reviews, I’m going to paste in a couple I’ve done lately to demonstrate how brief they can be.

Slip by Tanya Savko

I highly recommend this novel because I learned so much about autism from reading it. The book provides an eye-opening view of what it’s like to parent an autistic child while also coping with all the other things a parent might have to deal with—an unraveling marriage, divorce, betrayal, issues with extended family, a low paying job that’s not anywhere close to your dream job, financial woes. Tanya Savko has created believable characters who learn from their struggles, and she manages to impart wisdom while also shaping an engaging narrative that comes to a satisfying close.

Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

If I could give this book more than five stars, I would. It is beautifully satisfying on many levels. The writing is lyrical, the plot is original and absorbing, the characters are captivating and believable, the book illuminates social issues without doing anything close to preaching, and combined, these elements form a magical work that surpassed my expectations, which were high because I’ve read other books by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and enjoyed them. The young heroine Korobi embarks on a journey that transforms her, as well as those she loves in deep and moving ways.

So, why not write some quick reviews of your own? And if you choose to review my books, well, I would be most grateful.

Next week, I’ll post another Belinda Blue Brown episode.

A memorable character beautifully rendered

Posted on December 9, 2012 by admin

Huachuca Woman is thoroughly researched and beautifully written, with some scenes breathtaking in their elegant use of language and their strong emotional impact. The main chacter, Jo, recounts her life’s adventures to two of her grandchildren who have come to visit the ranch on which Jo has spent most of her life. The story moves back and forth from 1952, when Jo is an old woman, to various episodes from her sometimes heartbreaking and often exciting life lived in the shadow of the Huachua Mountains of the American Southwest. Jo is compelling. The historical detail is rich, and for the most part, woven in seamlessly. And the author has succeeded in making a slice of American history come vibrantly to life through Jo’s eyes.

As I read, however, I felt the story dragged at times, as parts of some scenes seemed to be written to impart historical details that served to provide informmation, but kept the story from moving forward. I also noticed an anachronism or two, for example, a young adult in 1952 said “way cool.” It was common for people to say “cool” in the 1950s, but “way cool” really didn’t come into use until much later in the 20th century. I think this terrific book could have used just one more edit to tighten up a few scenes and details.

This is a book written with great care and skill, though, so I wouldn’t want my quibbles to stop anyone from picking it up and giving it a read. It’s well worth the time.

If you’ve read this book, I’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments. If you have thoughts on this review, I’d love for you to share those, too.

A glowing review

Posted on July 2, 2012 by admin

I wrote a review yesterday of Rasana Atreya’s novel, and now here’s a review I just received from Michelle and Denise, who run the Families of the Mentally Ill blog. They posted it on their website (http://familiesofthementallyill.com/2012/07/03/book-review-reversible-skirt/), on Amazon and on Smashwords:

Reversible Skirt, by Laura McHale Holland, is a heart-breaking memoir about one young mother’s suicide as seen through the eyes of her youngest child, Laura. A toddler at the time of the tragedy, Laura is initially bewildered by the changes swirling around her family, including the appearance of a new stepmother, who is simply passed off as the same person to the children.

The author has done a masterful job of capturing the thought process of a young child as she struggles to make sense of the changes in her world. The tragic events of the girls’ lives aren’t over, unfortunately. The abuse they experience as they grow and confront of the truth of their mother’s death and their father’s choices can be painful to read. Yet it’s worth persevering, because the book ends with Laura and her sisters finding strength and peace in adulthood.

Reversible Skirt describes a time in our not-too-distant past where mental illness and suicide were swept under the rug. While we have made some gains as a society, the situation will feel familiar to those of us who have lived through mental illness in our own families. What was most intriguing about the book was how the author and her sisters forgave their abusive stepmother after everything she did to them as children. Their ability to survive and recover from their challenging childhoods is uplifting. The capacity they show for forgiveness is truly inspiration.

An absorbing tale

Posted on July 1, 2012 by admin

This is a review of Tell A Thousand Lies, a novel by Rasana Atreya

Tell A Thousand Lies is an ambitious, imaginative, engaging, unpredictable work. Author, Rasana Atreya roots the story in the specifics of rural India and, in particular, the trials and triumphs of protagonist Pullamma, who, along with two sisters, was raised in poverty by her grandmother. The sisters dreamed of a different life than their circumstances dictated, and the action one of them took to achieve that end set powerful forces in motion that ripped Pullamma’s life apart. The setting was itself a revelation for me, and I expect for others who have no direct experience of the culture, but the author also transcends time and place to plumb universal themes: betrayal, jealousy, greed, power, love, hate, forgiveness. Atreya conveyed the main characters clearly, with just enough quirks and flaws, so they jumped to life, engaged me emotionally, swept me into the saga, and left a lasting, positive impression.

A stunning review of Reversible Skirt

Posted on May 30, 2012 by admin

I stumbled upon this review of my memoir, Reversible Skirt, on Goodreads. It’s by a member named Ana:

“Reversible Skirt is probably the most honest and gripping memoir I’ve read. McHale Holland is on my top 10 of writers writing today. She’s managed to tell a tragic story fraught with emotion without the poor poor pitiful me some writers might have fallen prey to.”

Bliss.

I’m on a blog tour

Posted on December 7, 2011 by admin

I’m not ready to post this week’s story yet, but in the meantime, I thought I’d post the links to the blog tour I’m doing right now. It began Mon., Dec. 5 and will end Fri. Dec. 16.

Here’s where I’ve been so far:

As The Pages Turn: http://asthepagesturn.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/spotlight-on-reversible-skirt-by-laura-mchale-holland/

Divine Caroline: http://www.divinecaroline.com/49804/120622-interview-author-laura-mchale-holland

Inky Blots: http://www.inkyblots.com/pick-up-your-pen-by-guest-author-laura-mchale-holland/

Live to Read: http://livetoread-krystal.blogspot.com/

Here’s where I expect to be the rest of this week and next week:

Thursday, December 8th
Guest Post at Book Spark: http://www.book-spark.blogspot.com/

Friday, December 9th
Book Trailer at If Books Could Talk: http://bookvideos.wordpress.com/

Monday, December 12th
Interview at The Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/publishing-in-virginia-beach/interview-with-laura-mchale-holland-author-of-reversible-skirt

Tuesday, December 13th
Interview at Literarily Speaking http://literarilyspeaking.net/

Wednesday, December 14th
Radio Interview at Pump Up Your Book http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/

Thursday, December 15th
Review and Giveaway at Radiant Light http://www.frommipov.blogspot.com/

Friday, December 16th
Interview at Paperback Writer http://rebecca2007.wordpress.com/

There’s going to be some kind of interaction at the Pump Up Your Book Facebook page for all the authors who decided to do this holiday season tour special on the 16th. I’ll provide more details on that next week.

Review of Eva Kende’s ‘Snapshots’

Posted on September 5, 2011 by admin

I connected with Eva Kende, author of “Snapshots…Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain,” on Facebook and was intrigued enough by what she had to say about her life and work to buy her ebook. I was a bit apprehensive because I’ve bought books by a few other authors I’ve met online and have been disappointed to the point where I couldn’t even finish the books, let alone review them. Luckily, this is not the case with Eva’s eye-opener of a book.

The author’s conversational style, eye for detail and ability to capture the unique quirks, good and bad, of the folks who mattered most to her during her tumultuous childhood drew me right into her story. She was born in Budapest, Hungary, in the midst of World War II and lived there until the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, at which time she and her mother escaped and ultimately settled in Canada.

This is not a literary memoir or a traditional autobiography. It is a series of recollections honestly recounted. The book begins with Eva’s memories of her grandmother, an eccentric and highly successful necktie-maker and shopkeeper, and continues through the many adjustments required of Eva and her extended family as they lived amid the city’s ruins and survived the upheavals brought by foreign occupation and communist rule, including losing their livelihoods, their homes and many people they loved.

When I’ve thought of what life must have been like for people behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, I’ve tended to picture bleak scenes in black and white, glum people suffering in the cold, hungry people in bread lines. This book brings home how incomplete that picture is. Eva’s narrative shows how ordinary people adapted with ingenuity and pluck, and lived with dignity and hope. Dealing with so much loss, people still loved, laughed, worked, played—and there was much for a spirited child like Eva to learn among friends of all ages she made during her adventures in and around Budapest.

There was great hardship, certainly, but the human spirit soars in Eva’s book. I think it’s worth every penny of the pittance it costs to download. I imagine people who read this book will not only gain a new perspective on life in Eastern Europe after World War II, but they will also feel a good deal of admiration for the author when they turn the last page.

Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’

Posted on May 30, 2011 by admin

I’d heard this is an excellent book, and I finally got around to reading it. I agree; it is superb. Two-parts short autobiography with a third segment containing succinct writing advice (inserted between the other two parts), the book is intimate, engaging, inviting, humble and encouraging. I read it within a couple of days and probably would have slurped it all up in one sitting if I’d had the time.

King takes readers in, as though conversing with a group of friends, shares what shaped him as a writer, much of his writing practice, and thoughts on what makes for good writing and how to do it. A couple of ideas that stuck with me are that the material chooses you, not the other way around, and it’s a good idea to begin a story by putting some characters in a situation and seeing what happens rather than plotting the story out beforehand. If you read this book, I believe you’ll emerge as a Stephen King fan, even if you don’t have a penchant for his genre.

As I closed the book, I had the feeling that he fully deserves the smashing success he’s had in his career.

The Raising by Laura Kasischke

Posted on May 1, 2011 by admin

The Raising is the first Laura Kasischke book I’ve read, and I’m giving it four stars because, while I was disappointed with the way the plot resolved (or rather didn’t resolve), I think she is a writer of great talent. She can expertly set a scene, grab a reader’s attention, evoke strong emotions, in essence, use language in a compellingly beautiful way to build a story.

I usually have no taste for books that alternate two or more characters’ points of view, chapter by chapter. This book does that. And I think it speaks to Kasischke’s skill that her use of this technique didn’t annoy me. The novel also moves back and forth in time, and that worked fine for me, too.

I love the Midwestern college campus world Kasischke created in this book. I was completely drawn into it and wanted to find out what really happened to Nicole, a freshman who may or may not have been pure and virginal and who may or may not have died in an auto accident. I love that the main characters were a mix of generations, some students, some professors. I liked getting a look into all of their lives and motivations and was horrified at what happened to most of them.

In the end, though, perhaps because I came to care so much for the main characters—Craig, Nicole’s boyfriend; Perry, her childhood friend who was also Craig’s roommate; Mira, a professor who studied diverse cultures’ beliefs and rituals involving death; and Shelly, and academic who had enjoyed a career running the chamber music society on campus—I was very disappointed with the way all of the various elements resolved.

I think Kasischke is a writer to watch. I haven’t read her first novel, In a Perfect World, but I intend to, along with anything else she’s written and will write. I think there is greatness in her.

An excellent review

Posted on April 11, 2011 by admin

Here’s what Karynda Lewis of Apex Reviews just wrote about Reversible Skirt:

Official Apex Reviews Rating: Five Stars

When her mother commits suicide, little Laura’s father remarries – rather hastily – and promptly informs his three daughters that his new wife is their mother. As the young girls struggle to adjust to their new family life, their father’s untimely death soon thrusts their collective world into even greater chaos – culminating in their stepmother’s brutal, escalating abuse. With no one but each other left in the world, it remains to be seen if the sisters’ tortured bond can endure through the worst of adversity…

Reversible Skirt is a thoroughly heartrending read. In her moving new memoir, author Laura McHale Holland takes the reader through the deepest recesses of grief, sorrow, and abuse – all from the fragile perspective of an innocent, unsuspecting child. What ultimately proves most impressive about Holland’s spiritual sojourn is that – despite the unchecked chaos of her upbringing – she perseveres through it all with an unbreakable, sweet spirit. Such unflappable strength is highly commendable – not to mention rare – and your appreciation of Holland’s genuine loving warmth is sure to grow by leaps and bounds with the turning of each fresh page. A highly recommended tale of learning to overcome the worst that life has to offer.

John Grogan’s The Longest Trip Home

Posted on April 2, 2011 by admin

This is a review of John Grogan memoir, The Longest Trip Home, that I just posted on goodreads.com:

I listened to an audio version of the book read by the author, which is a very different experience than reading, of course. So I have no idea whether I’d be gripped by the prose on the pages of this book. But, as a listener, I was pulled in entirely. I felt almost like I became part of the Grogan clan as John shared episode after episode of his life growing up in a Catholic family so devout, their family vacations consisted primarily of driving to religious shrines!

So his relationship to the Catholic church: going to Catholic school, being an alter boy (who, with his friends, sneaks swigs of the wine, and once, while carrying a candle down the aisle, trips and burns himself while eyeing a girl he has a crush on), trying to live up to his parents’ expectations, but being a mischievous, curious, normal boy, finding it impossible—this background is important to the book, as he grows up, goes to college, begins his journalism career, falls in love and follow his own beliefs, which differ from his parents. Amazingly, once on his own, he keeps the fact that he is no longer a practicing Catholic secret from his parents until he’s in his 30s. (I mean, seriously? What kind of wimp does that?) And the book shows how his relationship with his parents continues to evolve as he becomes a husband and father, and as his parents go through the inevitable aging process.

But it’s not really what happens that matters in this book, although many of the events are highly entertaining. It’s John Grogan’s depiction of all the people who have touched his life, from his family and his boyhood friends, to his first love and to his wife. All of them are drawn with an affection so well-balanced that it’s spellbinding. I sort of fell in love with John Grogan as I listened along. He showed his flaws; he didn’t try to make himself seem better than he is. He could have been the boy next door you never noticed but turned out to be the one who noticed everything that really mattered.

The God Patent by Ransom Stephens

Posted on October 3, 2010 by admin

The God Patent by Ransom Stephens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From time to time, I’ll review books in this blog. Here’s the first:

The God Patent by Ransom Stephens is a fine book. I cared about the characters, especially the protagonist, Ryan McNear, and his unlikely cohort, 14-year-old Katarina. Most of the supporting characters were intriguing, too. And the little parts I didn’t quite believe didn’t much matter. It’s a satisfying story, well told, and that alone would make the book worth reading. But it’s more than that. It’s a multilayered work, drawing on Stephens’ scientific background, which rather than being intimidating, adds depth. The book delves into big issues of our day (religion versus science, for one) in a compassionate way. And I came away with a new perspective to contemplate on the workings of the soul. This is something I didn’t expect, which is pleasing to say the least. (That most of the book’s action takes place in Petaluma is a treat for those of us living in the North Bay. I was in downtown Petaluma yesterday and imagined Stephens bringing the characters to life, perhaps as he browsed at Copperfield’s on Kentucky Street, stopped for noodles at Cafe Zazzle or skipped stones along the river. )

View all my reviews

Gripped by Touch of Magenta

Posted on March 7, 2010 by admin2

Linda Loveland Reid’s first novel, Touch of Magenta, is an ambitious work that tells two interweaving stories. Pegeen’s, which is set in motion in 1895 by a forbidden inter-racial love, and Corri’s, whose mother’s death in 1971 tilts the course of an unsettled life.

I found Pegeen’s journey spellbinding and well rendered, while Corri’s machinations annoyed me. And at 38, Corri seemed more like the baby boomers, who were just coming of age in that era, than peers in her own generation. But Pegeen’s fortitude in the face of multiple losses, and the way Reid was able to deftly set the stage in Gold Rush-era California and other locales, more than compensated for what I perceive to be incongruities in Corri’s character. Plus, where would we be if all fictional characters were sympathetic—can you imagine a good-natured Scarlet O’Hara?

I was moved by this book and cared about what was happening as the stories unfolded and converged. I’d classify Touch of Magenta as a satisfying read. If you decide to purchase the book, though, be sure to get the second edition, which improves upon the first.

Reid, who is also a theater director and figurative painter, is someone to watch. She’s not imitating anyone else; she trusts her instincts and experiments with language to paint scenes with words and create dialogue that is crisp and genuine. I look forward to reading her next book.

Note: I know Linda Loveland Reid slightly. We both belong to Redwood Writers, a branch of the California Writer’s Club. But the branch has about 140 members, and Linda and I have probably spoken all of three times, so I did not feel obligated to plug her book.

A week of rich reading

Posted on August 31, 2009 by admin2

To escape from my own writing, I’ve done an extraordinary amount of reading lately. And the last three books to keep me up when I should have been sleeping were “The Space Between Us” by Thrity Umrigar, “The Weight of Silence” by Heather Gudenkauf and “Girl in the Mirror” by Kate Farrell. They first two were “New York Times” best sellers put out by big publishing houses; the third was self-published by the author through Unlimited Publishing.

All three books address in different ways the plight of women in relationships with men who are physically abusive. I didn’t seek out this theme; it seems to have found me.

The first two books are novels that deftly pull you into their fictional worlds, illuminating the characters and the forces shaping their environments and decisions. Umrigar’s is especially well written with complex, conflicted characters realized so fully I found myself loving and hating them equally. Here’s a taste from the book’s first chapter. The setting is a hut in a Bombay slum (it’s back when the city was called Bombay), and Bhima is talking to her granddaughter, Maya:

“So what will you do all day today?”

Maya shrugs

The shrug infuriates Bhima. “Oh, that’s right, memsahib is no longer going to college, I forgot,” she says, addressing the walls. “No, now she will just sit around like a queen all day, feeding herself and her—her bastard baby, while her poor grandmother slaves in someone’s home. All so that she can feed the demon that’s growing in her granddaughter’s belly.”

If it’s blood she wanted, she has it. Maya moans as she pulls herself up from the floor and moves to the farthest corner of the small room She leans lightly on the tin wall, her hands around her belly, and sobs to herself.

Bhima wants to take the sobbing girl to her bosom, to hold and caress her the way she used to when Maya was a child, to forgive her and to ask for her forgiveness. But she can’t. If it were just anger that she was feeling, she could’ve scaled that wall and reached out to her grandchild. But the anger is only the beginning of it. Behind he anger is fear, fear as endless and vast and gray as the Arabian Sea, fear for this stupid, innocent, pregnant girl who stands sobbing before her, and for this unborn baby who will come into the world to a mother who is a child herself and to a grandmother who is old and tired to her very bones …

Umrigar’s is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time, one I might hesitate to loan for fear of not getting it back. Gudenkauf’s probably not so much, though I did enjoy reading it. It alternates point of view chapter to chapter, using at least six different points of view, which didn’t quite work for me. I found some voices to be more believable than others, and when I wasn’t believing the voice, I wasn’t absorbed in the world. It was a nail-biter of a story, though, dealing with sobering issues of addiction, violence, betrayal and forgiveness.

Farrell’s book is a different sort of work. It tells a modern story, shaped around “Psyche and Eros,” an ancient myth which some jungian analysts have said provides a pattern for feminine development. A novella written especially for teenage girls, the book was conceived as a teaching tool to help adolescent women apply wisdom from the myth to their own situations. The central character, Sylvie, is being stalked by her violent boyfriend, and she escapes to her godmother’s house in the country, where, among other kinds of support, her godmother tells her the story of Psyche.

A storyteller and librarian in addition to an author, Farrell has an ambitious mission: she wants to empower young women to love themselves and not tolerate anything approaching violence against them. She intends to use the book in workshops with adolescents and teach other workshop leaders to do the same. I could envision her also writing an accompanying workbook that would help her charges reflect upon the layers of meaning in both the myth and the modern story Farrell created to frame it.

It’s been quite a week of reading. Bravo to all three authors who, I believe, have succeeded, each on her own terms.