Tilt A Novel by Emma Pattee

Book Excerpt:

"Set over one day, a heart-racing debut about a woman facing the unimaginable, determined to find safety.

Last night, you and I were safe. Last night, your father and I stood fighting in the kitchen in another universe.

Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. There's nothing to do but walk with no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a chaotic city.

Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she's determined to change her life.

A propulsive debut, Tilt is a primal scream of a novel about the disappointments and desires we all carry and what we will do for the people we love."

Title:  Tilt

Author:  Emma Pattee

Publisher:  Simon Element | S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books

Reviewed By:  Arlena Dean

Rating:  Four

Review:

'Tilt' by Emma Pattee

My Insight:  

'Tilt' was quite a suspenseful read,  as was what happened to Annie during an earthquake in Portland, Oregon. While at the store, an earthquake occurred while Annie went shopping for a crib.   Being pregnant in her 37th week, her first baby, while looking for her husband, what will happen after this disaster? Annie will have many flashbacks as we are given a story of what happened before the earthquake. Be ready for wanting more of this story after reading about what happens when a natural disaster happens, how it will be taken in with how people react, and especially what happens while one is pregnant. This was a good read, but an epilogue would have been nice at the close of this story.  

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

The African Piper of Harlem by Zeena Nackerdien

Profile:

"A Tale of Bullies and Deception

Neither fish nor fowl, every immigrant threads the needle between being one of "us" versus one of "them." The plot is both a fantasy and an exercise in exploring ways in which recent African immigrants and African-Americans recognize and embrace each other's cultural differences.

In Harlem, the mecca of black America, immigrants of every complexion live side by side with the descendants of slaves. The story begins with a description of how bullies belittle the twins, Bilal and Nawaal, who are of Nigerian descent. Grandpa Abram and their mother, Ola, do not know how to help the children.

Out of nowhere, a mysterious figure, Abekepi appears, and this fantastic piper offers to rid the neighborhood of bullies for a crazy reward. What follows is an intriguing, and sometimes unsettling, weaving of social themes, in which a supernatural being intervenes to turn the struggles of a single mother and her twins into triumph."

Title:  The African Piper of Harlem

Author:  Zeena Nackerdien

Publisher:  CreateSpace               

Reviewed By:  Arlena Dean

Rating:  Four

Review:

"The African Piper of Harlem" by Zeena Nackerdien

My Thoughts.....

"This book steps through the looking glass to a fictional Harlem neighborhood and follows the lives of a Nigerian family."

What a great tale with a interesting ending as it was for Ola and her two children Bilal and Nawaal who were  twins who lived in Harlem, NY.  We find Ola was from Nigeria and who had recently lost her mother.  Now Ola had only her father Abram who was their to help her with her children because their father wasn't around due to the fact her was in jail. As the children grew older Ola found that they had received quite a bit of bulling from their classmates and being at her wits end, she turns to her father and they pray for help and it came.  

From "out of nowhere, a mysterious figure appears by the name of Abekepi as this fantastic piper offers to rid the neighborhood of bullies for a crazy reward...For one million dollars or a hundred placentas!"  Now, this story will be a very interesting tale that will keep you turning the pages to see what will comes next for Ola, her children, her father and by the end the reader will get 'a bit of magical realism that will come from seeing everything set right.'  In the end the reader will see how "an intriguing, and sometimes unsettling, weaving of social themes, in which a supernatural being intervenes to turn the struggles of a single mother and her twins into triumph."  The story's ending was indeed beautiful in that the twins got to meet a special person who had not been in their lifes.  

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced e copy.

How to Love a Jamaican Stories by Alexia Arthurs

Book Description...

"“In these kaleidoscopic stories of Jamaica and its diaspora we hear many voices at once: some cultivated, some simple, some wickedly funny, some deeply melancholic. All of them shine.”—Zadie Smith

Tenderness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and regret—Alexia Arthurs navigates these tensions to extraordinary effect in her debut collection about Jamaican immigrants and their families back home. Sweeping from close-knit island communities to the streets of New York City and midwestern university towns, these eleven stories form a portrait of a nation, a people, and a way of life.

In “Light-Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands,” an NYU student befriends a fellow Jamaican whose privileged West Coast upbringing has blinded her to the hard realities of race. In “Mash Up Love,” a twin’s chance sighting of his estranged brother—the prodigal son of the family—stirs up unresolved feelings of resentment. In “Bad Behavior,” a couple leave their wild teenage daughter with her grandmother in Jamaica, hoping the old ways will straighten her out. In “Mermaid River,” a Jamaican teenage boy is reunited with his mother in New York after eight years apart. In “The Ghost of Jia Yi,” a recently murdered student haunts a despairing Jamaican athlete recruited to an Iowa college. And in “Shirley from a Small Place,” a world-famous pop star retreats to her mother’s big new house in Jamaica, which still holds the power to restore something vital."

Alexia Arthurs emerges in this vibrant, lyrical, intimate collection as one of fiction’s most dynamic and essential young authors.

Title:  How to Love a Jamaican

Author:  Alexia Arthurs

Publisher: Ballantine   

Reviewed By:  Arlena Dean

Rating:  Four

Review:

"How to Love a Jamaican" by Alexia Arthurs

My Thoughts...

What a interesting bunch of interesting entertaining collection of stories that will keep you turning the pages to see what was happening not only in Jamaica but also America.  This Jamaica culture was really one intriguing read. I enjoyed reading how each story had a 'person of Jamaican descent with most of the story being of self discover, remembrance and moments of transcendence.'  I loved how the read made the reader be caught up in the 'everyday voices that dealt with just everyday life.  The reader will get a little bit of it all from such as ...'Who are these brothers and sisters, mothers, old loves and absent fathers?.'  Be ready for a read full of  not only 'tender but some heartbreaking stories' that will definitely leave you only wanting more of these collection of stories.  

Three Shoeboxes by Steven Manchester

Book Description...

"The latest emotional rollercoaster of a novel from a master of tearjerkers and family fiction.

Mac Anderson holds life in the palm of his hand. He has a beautiful wife, three loving children, a comfortable home, and a successful career. Everything is perfect—or so it seems. Tragically, Mac is destined to learn that any sense of security can quickly prove false. Because an invisible enemy called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has invaded Mac’s fragile mind and it is about to drop him to his knees. He does all he can to conceal his inner chaos, but to no avail. Left to contend with ignorance, an insensitive justice system, and the struggles of an invisible disease, he loses everything—most importantly his family.

One shoebox might store an old pair of sneakers. Two shoeboxes might contain a lifetime of photographs. But in Three Shoeboxes, a father’s undying love may be just enough to make things right again."

Title:  Three Shoeboxes

Author:  Steven Manchester

Publisher:  The Story Plant

Reviewed By:  Arlena Dean

Rating: Five

Review:

"Three Shoeboxes" by Steven Manchester

My Thoughts...

This was quite a story about someone experiencing PTSD.  It was quite a emotional read of how this author takes the reader through this experience of what  this family endured through these panic attacks.

For it had not always been like this...Mac had a sweet wife Jen celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary... with three wonderful children...a perfect world until things quickly change and all hell breaks it all down...life changes so deeply for this family 'as a misunderstanding  of something Mac finds at home on the counter and he [Mac] losses it and is charged with domestic assault.'  Wow, what had happen to this 'ideal happy life they had once had?  What will happen when Mac loses his parental rights?  Will he be able to reunite his family?  This is definitely one of those reads that you will see from this story one of 'love, sadness, determination, will, anger, hope, love and faith.'  Now how will this all come out for Mac?  To find out the answers to all of these questions and so much more you will have to pick up "Three Shoeboxes" to find out.  Oh, I really liked how the reader is able to understand the title 'Three Shoeboxes' in the way it was so well presented by the end of this extraordinary story.  After the read a reader will truly have a lot to ponder over long after the read.

How Hard Can It Be? A Novel by Allison Pearson

Book Description...

"Allison Pearson's brilliant debut novel, I Don't Know How She Does It, was a New York Times bestseller with four million copies sold around the world. Called "the definitive social comedy of working motherhood" (The Washington Post) and "a hysterical look—in both the laughing and crying senses of the world—at the life of Supermom" (The New York Times), I Don't Know How She Does It introduced Kate Reddy, a woman as sharp as she was funny. As Oprah Winfrey put it, Kate's story became "the national anthem for working mothers."

Seven years later, Kate Reddy is facing her 50th birthday. Her children have turned into impossible teenagers; her mother and in-laws are in precarious health; and her husband is having a midlife crisis that leaves her desperate to restart her career after years away from the workplace. Once again, Kate is scrambling to keep all the balls in the air in a juggling act that an early review from the U.K. Express hailed as "sparkling, funny, and poignant...a triumphant return for Pearson."

Will Kate reclaim her rightful place at the very hedge fund she founded, or will she strangle in her new “shaping” underwear? Will she rekindle an old flame, or will her house burn to the ground when a rowdy mob shows up for her daughter’s surprise (to her parents) Christmas party? Surely it will all work out in the end. After all, how hard can it be?"

Title:  How Hard Can It Be?

Author:  Allison Pearson

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Series:  Kate Reddy, #2

Reviewed By:  Arlena Dean

Rating:  Five

Review:

"How Hard Can It Be?"  by Allison Pearson

My Thoughts....

Well how 'How Hard Can It Be" for Kate Reddy who is close to her 50th birthday?  Let's see just what all she has before her:  having to lie about her age as she is returning to the workforce due to the fact that her husband [Richard] is out there where he has distant [self-centered], into self help books and bike riding [midlife crisis].  Along with this Kate's daughter has gone on internet and posted a 'inappropriate photos' of herself, then we go on to aging parents [his parents and her mom] and lastly having to deal with menopause.  So, just from all of this the reader can see that a lots has been thrown on Kate.  Oh, I don't want to forget to add more to Kate's woes, a person [Jack Abelhammer] from her past has come into the scene so what will that bring to this story?  So, will this story be a 'recipe for disaster, laughs and some heartwarming moment?

"How Hard Can It Be?" was quite a engaging, poignant read where a lots of what Kate Reddy had to go through was very relatable for many who have tackled many of these issues. I thought this novel was a good read that was not only well written, , clever and yes very real' that I would recommend as a good read.

Pieces of Happiness by Anne Ostby

Book Description....

"A novel of five lifelong friends who, in their sixties, decide to live together on a cocoa farm in Fiji, where they not only start a chocolate business but strengthen their friendships and rediscover themselves. 

"I've planted my feet on Fijian earth and I intend to stay here until the last sunset. Why don't you join me? Leave behind everything that didn't work out!"

When Sina, Maya, Ingrid, and Lisbeth each receive a letter in the mail posing the same question, the answer is obvious. Their old high school friend Kat—Kat the adventurer, Kat who spread her wings and took off as soon as they graduated—has extended the invitation of a lifetime: Come live with me on my cocoa farm in Fiji. Come spend the days eating chocolate and gabbing like teenagers once again, free from men, worries, and cold. Come grow old in paradise, together, as sisters. Who could say no?
     Now in their sixties, the friends have all but resigned themselves to the cards they've been dealt. There's Sina, a single mom with financial woes; gentle Maya who feels the world slipping away from her; Ingrid, the perennial loner; Lisbeth, a woman with a seemingly picture-perfect life; and then Kat, who is recently widowed. As they adjust to their new lives together, the friends are watched over by Ateca, Kat's longtime housekeeper, who oftentimes knows the women better than they know themselves and recognizes them for what they are: like "a necklace made of shells: from the same beach but all of them different." Surrounded by an azure-blue ocean, cocoa trees, and a local culture that is fascinatingly, joyfully alien, the friends find a new purpose in starting a business making chocolate: bittersweet, succulent pieces of happiness.
     A story of love, hope, and chocolate, PIECES OF HAPPINESS will reaffirm your faith in friendship, second chances, and the importance of indulging one's sweet tooth."

Title:  Pieces of Happiness

Author:  Anne Ostby

Publisher:  Doubleday 

Reviewed By:  Arlena Dean

Rating: Five

Review:

"Pieces of Happiness" by Anne Ostby

My Thoughts ...

This author really give the readers quite one interesting read..."Piece of Happiness."  I thought is was really one good read having these six people, five that had been friends since high school in Norway come visit and then live together [after the death of her Niklas, her  husband] on a cocoa plantation in Fiji in the South Pacific with each one having there own story that was really intriguing to say the least. Oh, the sixth woman was Kat's housekeeper...Ateca who was so very understanding of each of these ladies. I loved her prayers for God to watch over everyone as the prayers seemed to 'mark the change in the chapters and even the narration from each of the women.' 

I loved the invitation that was sent to each one of these ladies who were know in their sixties....

“I’ve planted my feet on Fijian earth and I intend to stay here until the last sunset. Why don’t you join me? Leave behind everything that didn’t work out!” 

Will they be able to 'leave their worries, mistakes and problems back in Norway?' No, they hadn't stayed in touch but know would they be willing to start all over and 'come up with plans of a new future in this beautiful cocoa plantation?'  How different this would be for these ladies who had difficulties of their own to come to this beautiful place that had much to offer with many highs and well as lows but in the end the readers will give one good story that will give one reason to ponder long after the read.  I loved the characters...Kat, Ingrid, Maya, Sina and Lysbeth who all had 'secrets and hopes that had been keep hidden' so will they be able to stop and redefine just what they wanted in their life now?  Will they be willing to rediscover their past friendships and even themselves?

All while I was reading this novel I keep thinking what would it be like to have friends like these!

This was definitely a wonderful and enjoyable read about a enduring 'friendship and second chances just to be happy'  that I would definitely recommend.   In the end all that is left to say is that hopefully we can all have this in our lives. This story was very well done by this author.     

Thanks to NetGalley for a pre-publication copy to review.