The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Wow!!

 

Hattie had eleven children.  Among them, Franklin, Ella, Bell and Cassie, to name a few.   I said “had” for a reason.  This story is about twelve of her family members, the twelfth being her grandchild. 

Each of her children have their own story and life to tell about.  One was stricken with tuberculosis, one had a bout with rage when his mother was spoken ill of and one had a homosexual encounter.

Hattie was passionate - when she made love to her husband August, when she showed no emotion to any of her children, and when she showed hatred towards her husband during their arguments.  She provided what she could of the basic necessities and that was that. 

I found this story to be so lifelike in all its dramatizations.  Each character was written with fierce emotion, nothing was held back.  There was death, infidelity and such emotional loss within each character. 

40 Love by Madeleine Wickham

This book was a lighter read than the authors other books.  Everything worked out at the end of the story for all the characters – somewhat.

Caroline and Patrick Chase invite three other couples over for a weekend tennis tournament.  All of the couples have secrets and they seem to climax during this particular weekend.

One couple is about to discover they owe an “unlimited” amount of debt.  Another couple is about to fall prey to a bad business deal and another couple has to deal with infidelity.  That one happened during the weekend stay! 

This was a very quick read, still enjoyable!

Tell No One by Harlan Coben

Elizabeth and Dr. David Becker have been married for seven months and then things go wrong when Elizabeth is killed.  They have known each other since they were 7 years old and knew they were right for each other.

Eight years later, David gets an email that contains information that only Elizabeth would know.  Is she alive??  So the drama begins and he is told to tell no one.

Who is hiding what information?  Could it be Elizabeth’s family or some person of notoriety who does not want some information divulged.  Her father was the one who ID’d the body at the morgue – not her husband David. He also let it be known that he felt David had something to do with his daughter’s death.

I enjoyed reading this mystery.  As always, the author uses twists and turns and most characters are connected to another in some fashion.

child of dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji

This is the story of Sabine, a young girl of fifteen who is torn between a country that does not want her and an attempt to keep her family together safely.  These are things that a fifteen year old should not have to be concerned about.  Sabine was born in Uganda and so was her father, but a mandate passed by President Amin tells them they have to leave in 90 days.  Anyone of Indian descent must go.  Her mother is Indian and the whole family has to leave or be removed to a concentration camp. 

Sabine and her friend Zenabu (Zena) are very close, but will they stay close during this situation within their country?  When Zena tells her the land must be cleaned and Sabine and her family must leave - thus begins the rift.

During this 90 day period, Sabine witnesses neighbor after neighbor leaving/disappearing or being harassed by other neighbors and/or by soldiers.  When her Uncle goes missing, she goes on a personal crusade to locate him even to the extent of paying “detectives”.  

On Day 85 Sabine decides enough is enough.  She will apply for refugee status for her family and leave Uganda and begin life anew.

There is no excuse for racism, and even more so when it happens within your own ethnic background – that’s disturbing!

A co-worker gave me this book and after reading the highlights from the back cover, I had to read it. 

The actual book is listed and up for grabs (for free) at www.paperbackswap.com . 

If, however, you don’t want to register with them – email me and I will mail it to you directly – pe0809@yahoo.com

Happy Reading!

Miracle Cure by Harlan Coben

Dr. Harvey Riker has developed a cure for AIDS.  He doesn’t want to share the news just yet because someone does not want this information to come forward.  Could it be a minister from the Church or a senator or another doctor?  His patients are being cured and at the same time, someone is murdering them.

Sara Lowell is a TV journalist married to a professional basketball player who may be the next target. 

This is a page-turner that will have you asking who did it from the beginning!

Running With Scissors/Dry/A Wolf At The Table by Augusten Burroughs

WOW!!!!  Imagine being given away by your mother to her shrink?  Well that’s exactly what this memoir is about. Augusten was 11 years old and his mother just gave him away.   Imagine being told how to get out of going to school?  And by an adult!  After being given away by his mother – his father doesn’t accept his calls and the only person who shows him attention is another man that was also under the care of the same psychiatrist.

I like the authors humor (his novels are great – Sellevision was hysterical). These three, “Running With Scissors”, “Dry” and “A Wolf at the Table” are about his life.* 

After reading “Sellevision”,  I wanted to see what else the author wrote and continued on to read these tales of his life as an adult.

“Dry” tells the story of his adult years as an alcoholic. His job is on the line and it’s required that he go to rehab.  It helps him for about 3 months and then when a personal crisis ensues, he’s back to the bottle.  At the end of the book he does get the help he needs.  The author digs deep within himself and sometimes that’s what you have to do to get over things. I’m sure it’s the hardest thing for a person to do.

Again, I like his writing style.  He talks about how many beers it would take for him to “hook up” with someone.  He even makes a comment about a Baldwin brother being doable.  I thought that was a good crack considering a Baldwin portrayed his father in the movie Running With Scissors.

“A Wolf at the Table” is the story of his father.  This story is what happened prior to the writing of  “Running With Scissors.”   This is his memory of his father’s personality and character from his perspective.  His father was harsh.  He let Augusten’s guinea pig Ernie die and he let Grover the dog die.  Grover had a growth on his tongue that continued to get worse and Augusten’s father just kept shrugging off his requests to take him to the vet. Grover died.  The guinea pig was a different horror story. His dad knew that he killed the pig by not feeding him and left him in the aquarium for Augusten to discover when he came home from a trip.  The first thing his father said was, “did you say hello to Ernie”?  How cruel!!  This is a memoir of a little boy who deeply wanted his father’s attention.  After the Ernie incident he hated his father, but deep down inside, he still longed for his acceptance.   Even on his father’s deathbed, his dad turned his head away from Augusten.

Appreciate his candor, humor and humbleness at telling his story.

*I also watched the movie, Running With Scissors”.  It was good also.  He could not have cast a more perfect couple as his parents – Annette Bening and Alec Baldwin.