Call The Midwife: Farewell to the East End

Author: Jennifer Worth
Pages: 314
Rating: PG-13 (a few of the stories are rather mature in nature)

Summary:
Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End is the last book in Worth's memoir trilogy, which the Times Literary Supplement described as "powerful stories with sweet charm and controlled outrage" in the face of dire circumstances.
Here, at last, is the full story of Chummy's delightful courtship and wedding. We also meet Megan'mave, identical twins who share a browbeaten husband, and return to Sister Monica Joan, who is in top eccentric form. As in Worth's first two books, Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times and Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse, the vividly portrayed denizens of a postwar East End contend with the trials of extreme poverty—unsanitary conditions, hunger, and disease—and find surprising ways to thrive in their tightly knit community.

My Thoughts:  This was probably my least favorite of the three books, although I still found it very interesting. It was neat to hear what happened to each of the people the author worked with (Trixie, Chummy, Cynthia, and the nuns) and in case you care, almost none of them do what the show says they do, but we expect television to take some liberties with the storyline. This book was my least favorite because it seemed to be just made up of stories that didn't fit into the first two books, so it's kind of sporadic. But still interesting. This book includes the stories of Meg and Mave, twins who are married to the same man and who insist on following extremely old books about pregnancy and birth; the story of the woman who after finding out she is pregnant yet again with a child they can't afford gets a backstreet abortion and almost dies, the woman who naturally births triplets, The Master's Arms (old guy who is sick and has lost his entire family except one daughter, who comes to nurse him), and the story of the ship's woman who ends up pregnant (this one and the abortion story are particularly disturbing).

I have to say though, that in the end I highly recommend all three of these books. I wish there were more!

Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse

Author: Jennifer Worth
Pages: 293
Rating: PG
Summary:

The sequel to Jennifer Worth's New York Times bestselling memoir and the basis for the PBS series Call the Midwife
When twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the direst section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhood's most vivid chronicler. Woven into the ongoing tales of her life in the East End are the true stories of the people Worth met who grew up in the dreaded workhouse, a Dickensian institution that limped on into the middle of the twentieth century.
Orphaned brother and sister Peggy and Frank lived in the workhouse until Frank got free and returned to rescue his sister. Bubbly Jane's spirit was broken by the cruelty of the workhouse master until she found kindness and romance years later at Nonnatus House. Mr. Collett, a Boer War veteran, lost his family in the two world wars and died in the workhouse.
Though these are stories of unimaginable hardship, what shines through each is the resilience of the human spirit and the strength, courage, and humor of people determined to build a future for themselves against the odds. This is an enduring work of literary nonfiction, at once a warmhearted coming-of-age story and a startling look at people's lives in the poorest section of postwar London.

My Thoughts: This book was considerably more depressing than the first one, and much less about midwifery. In fact, I don't think there was much mention of birth at all in this book. It was much more concerned with the history of the poor in London, which was horrible by the way! Workhouses were the governments form of "caring" for the destitue, but in reality it was worse than death for many. Some people actually committed suicide to avoid the workhouse. Widows who had no other choice but to enter the workhouse with their entire family were immediately separated from their children, and they often never saw them again. The discipline was harsh and unmerciful...young children were severely beaten for the smallest infractions. I couldn't believe such a thing even existed!

The book is split into three main topics - the workhouse, the scandal of one of the nuns being put on trial for shoplifting, and then the story of an old man named Mr. Collett, who served in the army, barely survived, and then lost his entire family in World War II. I thought each of the stories was just fascinating, and I particularly was impressed with Mr. Collett, who is unfailingly grateful for what he has. He lives in deep poverty, but talks about how it is such a luxury that he has a roof over his head, a bed to sleep in and food to eat. He has hope that he will see his wife and children again soon He's truly an inspiring man and his story is touching.

Worth makes the point in this book that we rarely ever hear the stories of the desperately poor from this time period,  and they are so humbling. I am overwhelmingly grateful that such issues are no longer a part of our daily lives. I sped through this book in just a few days, I found it so fascinating and it just opened my eyes to how much people have suffered throughout history, even in times of peace.

Call The Midwife

Author: Jennifer Worth
Pages: 319
Rating: PG-13 (There are a few chapters about a prostitute who ended up pregnant, and some of the descriptions of the prostitute life are quite graphic.)

Summary: In the 1950s, twenty-two-year-old Jenny Lee leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in London's East End slums. While delivering babies all over the city, Jenny encounters a colorful cast of women—from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives, to the woman with twenty-four children who can't speak English, to the prostitutes of the city's seedier side.

My Thoughts: I've been totally addicted to the TV show on Netflix, and knowing it's based on a memoir, I decided to check it out. Guess what? This is just the first of THREE books! Which is awesome because when I finished it I was disappointed that it ended so soon! I found this book to be completely fascinating, especially because these midwives were pioneers in the work of taking care of pregnant women. It's amazing what they were able to do.

Not all the stories are about babies and pregnant women and it's really interesting to read about some of the history of the area. I was particularly struck by the descriptions of the workhouses, which is where the desperately poor used to turn when they had no other choice. The workhouses were honestly not much better than Hitler's concentration camps. Families were separated and children usually died. Seriously so depressing.

If you've been watching the show, you'll recognize the majority of the stories, although some of them don't end quite as happily, which is a bummer. Reading it makes one grateful for all the advances in medicine and laws that we have today that make things even better for mothers.

Highly recommend this one, especially if you're already watching the show!

My Name Used to Be Muhammad: The True Story of a Muslim Who Became a Christian

Author: Tito Momen with Jeff Benedict
Pages: 278
Rating: PG (Tito is beaten several times, and there are some references to sexual activity...this book is high school level and up)

Summary:Tito Momen was raised Muhammad Momen. He was born in Nigeria and taught to observe the strict teachings of Islam. Beginning at age five he woke at 4:45 every morning to attend the mosque and perform dawn prayer with the other men in his village. He began training to memorize the Qur'an at age six by copying the entire Qur'an word for word. He was being raised to become a leader among clerics, capable of leading a jihad, or holy struggle, to convert nonbelievers to Islam. But Tito's path took an unexpected turn when he was introduced to Christianity. His decision to believe in Jesus Christ cost him his family and his freedom. Tito thought he would spend his remaining days enduring a life sentence in an uncivilized Egyptian prison. For fifteen years he suffered and waited and prayed. Tito says, "I never gave up hope. I never stopped believing." Although he was falsely imprisoned, beaten, and ridiculed, Tito's remarkable true story is one of faith, forgiveness, and testimony that God does hear and answer prayers.

My Thoughts: I thought this book was extremely interesting. I read the entire thing in just a few days. It's a quick read, and moves along really well. I like that in the beginning, he adds a disclaimer saying that his experiences with Islam are on the extreme side, and that he knows there are MANY peaceful, loving, and tolerant Muslims in the world. I felt like that was so important in a world that general lumps all worshipers of Islam into one, terroristic group.

This book was really inspiring to me because Tito's story is an example of the fact that the Lord is truly in control of our lives, even when it seems that nothing is going right. Tito's life is a testimony to the fact that all our trials will be for our good. It seemed like nothing good was coming of Tito's decision to convert to Christianity, but in the end, he looks back and shows the reader how all of his hardships had been a blessing in disguise. For instance, while in prison he developed some serious health issues. While these issues were quite the trial, they are also the reason he was ultimately released from prison. I thought it was a great book, and super interesting, particularly since Muslims are basically forbidden to convert to Christianity. Tito was risking his life when he chose to convert. Most of us don't have to deal with that. And it begs the question....how strong is my faith? Would I be willing to give up everything in order to keep it?

The Storied Life of A.J Fikry

Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Pages: 258
Rating: PG-13 (several instances of the f-word, references to sex, although no graphic descriptions)

Summary:
A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears at the bookstore, its unexpected arrival gives Fikry the chance to make his life over--and see everything anew.

My Thoughts: I felt like this book was just ok. While it was a nice quick read and entertaining enough to keep me reading it, I didn't fall in love with it completely.It also had a few too many swear words in it for my taste.  AJ is quite depressed at the beginning of the story. His wife has died in a car accident and he is quite alone. The "mysterious package" is an abandoned 2-year old girl, who AJ ends up adopting, and she helps him really turn his life around. I just felt like this story has been told before, in a million different ways. But I did like the underlying theme about how books and stories can bring people together, solidify relationships, and change the way we think about things. 

Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen

Author: Tamora Pierce
Pages: Book 1: (I lost the paper where I wrote this down but both books are between 300-400 pages)
Book 2:

Rating: PG (in book two there is a vague reference to sex and of course, there is fighting and killing, but nothing super gory or descriptive)

Summary:Trickster's Choice:
Alianne is the teenage daughter of the famed Alanna, the first lady knight in Tortall. Young Aly follows in the quieter footsteps of her father, however, delighting in the art of spying. When she is captured and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family in the faraway Copper Islands, it is this skill that makes a difference in a world filled with political intrigue, murderous conspiracy, and warring gods.
Trickster's Queen: Aly’s adventure continues. . . . No longer a slave, Alanna’s daughter is now spying as part of an underground rebellion against the colonial rulers of the Copper Isles. The people in the rebellion believe that a prophecy in which a new queen will rise up to take the throne is about to be realized. Aly is busy keeping the potential teenage queen and her younger siblings safe, while also keeping her in the dark about her future. But Aly, who is usually adept at anticipating danger and changes, is in for a few nasty surprises.

My Thoughts: I enjoy these two books, even though they aren't my favorite of the Tortall novels. Aly is a spunky, independent, smart character and I love her quick thinking and sly mind. She's very good at what she does. The trickster god Kyprioth decides to use Aly to help him gain back his lands from the people who took them hundreds of years ago. There is a prophesy stating that this will happen but he needs help. Aly is that help. There are definitely some fun twists and turns, including crows who can become human, magic used unwisely, and lots of spying and intrigue. Again, not my favorite of the Tamora Pierce books, but still good for a read.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Author: Garth Stein
Pages:  321
Rating: PG-13 (there is a little too much swearing for my taste, including probably about 10-12 instances of the F-bomb. Also, the dog does describe his master having sex with his wife twice, but it is not very graphic. This is more of an adult novel for sure.)

Summary: Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television and listening carefully to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. Now in his twilight years, Enzo finds himself thinking back on his life with the Swift family, reflecting on all he has learned about the human condition and how life, like racing, is about so much more than simply going fast.

My Thoughts: I read this book in about 2 days. It was a really quick read, and you just don't want to put it down. I love that the whole thing is told from the dog's perspective. If you like dogs, you'll probably like this book. However, even though there is a lot about racing and different race car drivers, which is something I'm not remotely interested in, I never got bored with it. It was never so much that I felt like it took anything away from the story. In fact, it helped me love Enzo even more. By the end, I wanted him to be MY dog, and I'm not really a dog person!

A little more about the storyline - Denny is constantly torn between opportunities to further his racing career and being there with his family. A race car driver often has to be away from his family for months at a time. After his wife's death, Denny is sued by his in-laws for custody of his daughter, Zoe. All of this is told through the eyes of the ever loyal, totally understanding and helpful dog, Enzo. Enzo has complete and total faith in his master to be able to get through these difficult challenges and move on, just like he does during races when something unexpected happens.

I really enjoyed this sweet story. I could have done with fewer swear words, but overall it was a quick read with a feel-good ending One of my favorite quotes from Enzo is towards the end, when he knows he is on his deathbed. "Have I made a mistake by anticipating my future and shunning my present?" Such a good question for us each to ponder every single day.

The Nightingale

Author: Kristin Hannah
Pages: 438
Rating: PG-13 (It's war, it's intense, there are 2 F-bombs, and a few other scattered bad words, but not many, most of the swearing is done in French, so unless you know French swear words, it's not a big deal. A woman is raped, there is some torture and of course, people are killed.)

Summary:
In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.
FRANCE, 1939
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France … but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.
Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can … completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. World War II is my favorite period of history to read about because I am just constantly amazed at the bravery and toughness that carried these people through such a difficult time. I loved this book because it was all about the "women's war." Towards the end of the book there is a quote that I thought was so awesome. "Men tell stories. Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us when it was over, no medals or mentions in history books. We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over." I just loved that. Men went out and fought the war, but women fought in their own way. The war was terrible for everyone, not just those who had to fight or who got sent to camps.

I love the realistic-ness of the characters. I felt that they were real people with real stories. Vianne's story is so heart wrenching because she is forced time and again to make the choice over whether to protect her family or try to save her friends and others. She does her best, and sometimes her choices are difficult and cause her a lot of guilt.  Nazi-occupied countries were not fun places to live. The Germans took all the food and resources for themselves and left the people of the countries they occupied to starve and freeze. It was no picnic.

Then there's Vianne's little sister Isabelle, who is determined to do ANYTHING to resist the Nazi's and help free France. She sometimes makes rash decisions, but she is so incredibly brave. She ends up helping to create an escape route for downed Allied airmen that allows them to get safely into Spain and from there, back to England or another Allied country. The one thing I missed in this book was an afterword explaining which parts of the story were true, so I looked it up. It seems as if Isabelle's story was loosely based on a woman named Dedee de Jongh, who really did help hundreds of airmen escape from France. You can read about it here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501218.html

This book is also about love, and about families. Vianne, Isabelle, and their father have never had great relationships with each other. But the war teaches them what is really important and that they truly do love each other and want to help and protect each other.

I highly recommend this book. It's so good you won't hardly be able to put it down, and when you finally do, you'll have a new appreciation for how good your life really is. You'll wonder if you could have been so brave, if you could have endured the kinds of things Vianne and Isabelle had to endure in this book. Even though they are fictional characters, the events that transpired are real, the things they endured really happened. We can't ever afford to forget that.

Wonderstruck

Author: Brian Selznick
Pages:  629 (but 2/3 of the pages are full page pictures)
Rating: G
Summary:
Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.

Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories--Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures--weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder. Rich, complex, affecting, and beautiful--with over 460 pages of original artwork--Wonderstruck is a stunning achievement from a uniquely gifted artist and visionary.

My Thoughts:
 Brian Selznick is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I just absolutely love how his books are so different from anything you've read before. The book looks enormous but it's really more of a short story because so much of it is told only through pictures, which I think is great for kids and is a fun and relaxing way to read a book.

Ben is a young boy who has recently lost his mother and doesn't know who his father is (that's the only reason I would probably be wary of this book for really young children - later Ben finds out who his father was, his parents were never married). He knows that he is very interested in museums and everything to do with museums. When Ben goes through yet another traumatic event he decides to set off to find his father, going by a few small clues his mother had left behind. On his journey he meets a new friend who understands him in a way no one else ever has, and he even reconnects with a long lost relative. It's not a complicated or particularly deep story, but I just love the pictures and the way everything is woven together.

Fairest

Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 222
Rating: PG-13 (Levana is not a nice person and some of the stuff she does is rather awful)

Summary:
Pure evil has a name, hides behind a mask of deceit, and uses her "glamour" to gain power. But who is Queen Levana? Long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress in The Lunar Chronicles, Levana lived a very different story--a story that has never been told . . . until now.

My Thoughts: This book is a prequel to the Lunar Chronicles books, which I have also reviewed on here. It was a quick read, and definitely interesting. I thought it was nice to get some back story on Levana. Some people think this book is trying to garner sympathy for her, which I think it does to an extent, but still, by the end, she has done so many bad things, justifying them away as being "necessary" that you don't really feel that bad for her. She's the definition of a crazy person because every awful thing she does she feels as if she has a perfectly good reason for it and it needed to be done, even if it causes her pain and sorrow as well. I feel a little bit sorry for her, but it's also pretty clear that there's nothing that can be done to change the person that she is at this point. She's come too far. 

As far as order goes, if you haven't read any of the Lunar Chronicles books, I suppose you could start here, but I feel it kind of fits in anywhere. Having read the other books, there were things I already understood about Levana, but if you haven't read them it doesn't really matter. By the end of the book you're basically at the point where Cinder begins, so it starts of the series nicely.