Tag Archives: books

Book Review: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

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This novel tells the epic and heart-breaking story of one young boy growing up in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

Damon is ten when his drug addicted mother dies from an overdose. His father was killed in an accident before his birth and he is left homeless and without anyone to care for him other than the kindly, yet elderly next door neighbours. He ends up in the foster care system, which in America is a devastating system which Kingsolver explores in depth.

The story told from Damon or Demon’s point of view is blunt as it is brutally honest making the reader sympathise, worry and cheer for this boy. It is not without hope when Damon having had enough of adults who care only about his money earning potential, takes matters into his own hands to search for a long-lost grandmother.

It is a journey of poor choices and loss for Damon who despite finding his grandmother fails to find the thing he want most and that is to belong and be loved. And even when he does find it he fails to recognize it.

Kingsolver also explores the growth and abuse of prescription drugs as well as the community in which Damon lives. A coal mining area, investment is targeted in providing labour for the industry not for educating people to better themselves. A vicious cycle is perpetuated and when coal mining is no longer lucrative the community is left without anything. Kingsolver exploration of this cycle is sobering showing some of the disastrous and  sad consequences.

I really enjoyed this book with all it had to say about the foster and education systems as well as the social impacts at ground level not just for Damon but for everyone he comes into contact.

The only thing that I couldn’t quite buy was the behaviour of his grandmother. What she did made no sense to me particularly given that she had come looking for Damon when he was born. To say anymore would be to spoil the plot.

Nevertheless, it’s a powerful book, the voice so authentic sounding and the writing as always, superb. This is one to put on your list.

Book Review: Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante

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I hate to say it but this is my first Elena Ferrante novel. Troubling Love was published in 2006 well before her acclaimed novel, My Brilliant Friend.

Troubling Love is a short novel about the relationship between mother and daughter. When her mother dies in mysterious circumstances, Delia searches for answers and uncovers a lot more about her mother’s life than she bargained for.

We don’t always take the time to truly know our parents and only reflect when they are gone. In Delia’s case, she tries to piece together her mother’s life as well as her relationships, present and past. Along the way she uncovers the ugly truth behind her parents’ divorce.

Set in the streets of Naples, the reader takes the journey through the grimy streets with Delia as she uncovers her mother’s impoverished lifestyle. Delia is herself not quite right battling her own demons as the memories of her childhood emerge. Can a five-year-old be responsible for the breakdown of their parents’ relationship?  

This is a sobering read, cleverly done covering themes of mental health and domestic violence. It meanders a bit despite the beautiful writing so you need to stick with it. But it is short and worth the time.

Book Review: Green Dot by Madeleine Gray

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I’d heard a lot about this one, saw it in a book store and grabbed it. Had I read the blurb on the back I might not have read it but I gave it a go.

The first page captured my interest when Hera reveals that in her twenties, she fell in love with a married man who wouldn’t leave his wife. The first fifty or so pages is a diatribe of her background story, her degrees, her schooling, her friends and the fact that at twenty four, she had no career aspirations. Living with her father, she feels compelled to find a job, landing one as a comment moderator at a major news outlet where she meets ‘the much older married man.’

To be honest that first part of the book was a little boring and I’d have liked a more condensed backstory. I know it was establishing her character but we see it anyway. I became more invested in this story at the point when she gets her first job which I think might have been a better starting point.

Hera’s observation of office politics and people dynamics was amusing as it was cutting and most people who have ever worked in an office whether it be the eighties or now will identify with the mind-numbing feeling of a dead-end job. The Green Dot is contemporary and immerses us into the everyday world of social media and internal messaging interspersed with the news of the day.

Under the bravado of Hera’s character lays a very insecure and vulnerable person who is not without self-awareness despite her often bizarre behaviour. There is mention of her mother and their estrangement but we never truly know what happened with the relationship although there is just enough information for the reader to make their own conclusions.

The Green Dot is quite well-written although some of the analogies were a little cringeworthy and might have been better left out. Talking about office workers she says, “They are just gurning to get inside and go sit at a computer. When you get an abortion you can then leave the building, and you might be really devastated or you might feel really free – either way it’s a decision you’ve made about your body and your life and you’ve had that choice.”

Nevertheless, I did enjoy this book hoping for Hera to find happiness and for her to make better choices. Does she? You’ll have to check it out for yourself.

Book Review: Summer’s Child by Diane Chamberlain

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This is a fairly light and easy read, perfect for a beach holiday since it is set at the beachside.

Eleven-year-old Daria finds a newborn baby on the beach near her house one morning. After the authorities fail to find the mother, Daria’s mother adopts the child whom they name, Shelly and she grows up with Daria and her sister Chloe. Twenty years later, handsome TV star Rory who hosts True Life Stories is contacted by Shelly who is anxious to find her birth mother. Coincidentally, Rory was a teenager himself living in the same street at the time.

This is one of Chamberlain’s earlier books which I stumbled upon and not her best. It is an engaging story as the characters are established and we get to know them. Daria is very possessive of Shelly who I think offered the most endearing charm as a character. I didn’t really care so much for any of the others and I found the story meandering and somewhat slow for my liking.

I did get to the end and despite a red herring along the way, I found it a little predictable. Nevertheless, if you’re after something untaxing, then this might be for you.

Book Review: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doer

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Wow, what an epic read this one was. It’s long, more than six hundred pages in paperback which is tough especially to hold such a tome in bed.

There are five major characters: Konstantine, a fourteen-year-old stuck in a locked room in a spaceship sometime well into the future. Then there’s two thirteen-year-olds: Anna an orphaned seamstress inside the walls of Constantinople and on the other side is a disfigured boy named Omeir who is caught up in the invasion of Constantinople in 1453.

Finally we are brought to 2020 where we meet eighty-six-year old, Zeno who is being held hostage in a library with five young children by Seymour, a slightly crazed eco-warrior.

The stories of each character is told in slow and moving detail and they are bound together by an ancient story in a manuscript originally found by Anna. The story is about Atheon who travels the world yearning for something more as he is turned magically into various animals.

The story has significance for each of the characters which are brilliantly drawn. It’s a challenging book as the narrative hops in and out of the characters and timeline, yet still manages to remain truly engaging.

Each character is on their own journey and we, the reader are swept along from the past and to the future, bleak as it is. The significance of family and our connection to the environment is explored but central is the relevance and importance of learning and books. Indeed, Doer dedicates the book “For the librarians then, now and in the years to come.”

This is such a multi-layered novel cleverly constructed with a very satisfying end. It’s quite descriptive and could be hard to follow for some so I’d suggest a few chapters to be read in one go. It’s not a chapter a night type of book but they are quite short.

It’s a not like anything I’ve ever read. It’s sheer brilliance.

Book Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

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This book is an epic family saga about the Padavano sisters spanning several decades. Much like their favourite book Little Women, the sisters are extraordinarily close. Julia the oldest is followed by Sylvie then twins Emeline and Cecilia.

Julia is the sensible and pragmatic sister leading the way. She meets a young man William who has been rejected by his parents and lives in the shadow of his dead sister. Julia decides he’s the man for her and goes about moulding him to become the ideal husband to fit the life plan she has made for them.

But when the sisters father dies, it creates a ripple effect fragmenting the family destroying the planned path set by Julia.

This is a complex novel about relationships and love with well-drawn characters primarily told through the eyes of Julia, William, and Sylvie. The family was clearly of Italian heritage but only because of their name. Nothing else gave a clue about it which I found unusual. The style of writing was bogged down quite a bit with showing us rather than telling and this became a little laboured for me. While I accepted everything which happened, I found myself wondering where the story was going.

There is scandal and sadness as well as darkness as William grapples with mental health issues which has profound effects on the entire family.  The bounds of love are stretched, snap and come back together, quite neatly. The book became somewhat repetitive in the last quarter leading to a predictable end and went on for a just a little too long.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel for the most part and it is very well written. If you like a family saga to get immersed in then this one shouldn’t disappoint.

Book Review: Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford

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This book was given to me as a birthday present. I thought it was a self help book which I’m not particularly keen on, but it was a revelation.

It’s described as “a manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health.”

It’s a long book and quite technical in parts some of which went right over my head. However, it sends a powerful message reminding the reader, me, that time is marching on and to look ahead and make some plans about what I want my health to look like as I age.

You know the drill. In your teens and twenties, you think of yourself as invincible. You eat, drink, and do what ever you please. Getting old is somewhere off in the distance. But Attia brutally points out that you’re probably already setting the stage for heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or cancer.  “Globally, heart disease and stroke (atherosclerotic disease) … represent the leading cause of death.”

He goes into detail about cholesterol and the ins and outs and in particular the fact that LDL the bad one, is the one to worry about. The culprit that is atherosclerosis ‘is a slow moving, sneaking disease…some scientists believe the underlying processes are set into motion in late adolescence. The risk builds throughout our lives.”

Sobering indeed and it’s enough to make you put down this book and search for a wine or a chip. He goes into comprehensive detail about diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Attia backs it all up with scientific studies and that’s where it can be difficult but he summarises what it all means in layman’s terms. It’s not pretty. Nor should it be as he takes a swipe at how modern medicine deals with these diseases too late.

He also points to the following strategic areas to focus on for longevity.

  1. Exercise: the most powerful longevity drug
  2. Nutrition
  3. Sleep
  4. Emotional health

And while some of what he says are things the medical fraternity has been saying for years, Attia brings it all together. He reflects on his own health and what he has done to build his longevity forcing us to relate.

It’s a comprehensive book filled with explanation and ideas to implement toward better health. And sometimes you just need all the headlines and articles you scan over the years to be something comprehensive like this with an argument about health which just can’t be ignored.

But right now I’m off to the gym and to organize a blood test.