Page Fifty-One

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich

The novel opens with a description of sixteenth-century Venice that sets the mood for the entire text: "At midnight, the dogs, cats, and rats rule Venice. The Ponte di Ghetto Nuovo, the bridge that leads to the ghetto, trembles under the weight of sacks of rotting vegetables, rancid fat, and vermin. [. . .] It was on such a night that the men came for Hannah." What these men come for is Hannah's help in delivering a baby for a wealthy Christian family. The problem is that Hannah is Jewish, and it is not only illegal for Jews to administer medical treatment to Christians, but Hannah's method she uses as a midwife may cause the Inquisition to deem her a witch. The text follows Hannah's encounter with the Conte and his wife, a sickly and frail woman who has had much difficulty producing an heir for her husband, and intersects her story with the story of her husband, Isaac, who has been captured as a slave on the island of Malta and is in need of ransom to buy his freedom and passage back to Venice.

Rich's storytelling is quite vivid in its description and suspenseful in the many hardships Hannah and Isaac face in their separate journeys to reconnect with one another. I would not say this book is amazing, but it was a satisfying read.

Page Fifty

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

I started this book last summer, thought it humdrum, and tossed it aside. Luckily, I picked it up again this summer and read it straight through. With lines like "I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life," how can you not enjoy this book and marvel at Fitzgerald's use of language. In fact, just as that quote reveals, the book - to me - is a commentary on the oppositions that Nick Carraway's 1920s self-absorbed American society reveals: within/without; enchanted/repelled; East/West. It is interesting to note how the characters illicit no pity for the reader, yet even with that detachment the book carries the reader into a society that is as shallow as its characters. A true testament to Fitzgerald's writing style as - had it not been for this - I would have reshelved the book a second time.

"He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced - or seemed to face - the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey."

Page Forty-Nine

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

It is 1950s Britain and 11-year old Flavia de Luce is an aspiring chemist who lives at decaying Buckshaw, an English mansion, with her father and two sisters whom she reviles. When she witnesses a dead jack snipe with its beak through a stamp on her doorstep and then a man in her cucumber patch who whispers "Vale" as he takes his dying breath, a precocious Flavia embarks on a mission with her trusted bicycle Gladys to uncover exactly what has happened and how her father may be involved.

Enjoyed this book primarily because of its quick-witted, intelligent protagonist.

Page Forty-Eight

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

This book can speak to most people today: the protagonist, Sarah Nickerson, has three children, a husband, a demanding 80-hour a week job, and tries to be everywhere and everyone all at once, 24-hours a day. Her intuition at the beginning of the book speaks to her through dream sequences and gives her many clues to make her realize she is burning the candle at both ends. Failing to heed the cautious voice in her head, Sarah - in another effort to multitask - ends up in a car accident while on her phone. She ends up with "Left Neglect" - a rare condition where she does not see or comprehend her left side, or anything that is left: the left side of a page, people standing to her left, the left side of a photo or picture, et cetera. Sarah is left to reevaluate her life and her role in it.

I had a feeling I wouldn't like this book when I realized the protagonist's three children were named after Peanuts characters. Right then and there (and this was only a chapter or so in) the book lost its lustre for me. I really, really wanted to like it after loving Still Alice, but this book failed to connect to me, which is odd as I have previously stated it would be easy for most readers to connect to. While I can appreciate Sarah's fast-paced life and the consequences it brings, I could not connect with or truly understand Left Neglect. It was too foreign for me to grasp. I also found this book didn't really go anywhere. While in Still Alice the disease got progressively worse, Sarah learns to better handle her Neglect, but it was an uninteresting and even slightly uninspiring journey for me.

Page Forty-Six and Forty-Seven

Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Finishing off The Hunger Games trilogy was an easy task, as the books are super fast reads and Collins does that masterful trick of giving the reader a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter, thus prompting one to keep reading. Catching Fire was not a favourite of mine - seemed to have too much of the same concept as the first, but without being as well executed. The first book was definately the favourite, but Mockingjay was engaging enough with some surprising twists and ended in a way that left me fairly satisfied. Overall, can definately see why young adults love these books. Very recommended for reluctant readers!

Page Forty-Five

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

It is 1984 in Dahanu, India and Kavita Merchant gives birth to a girl, Usha. Kavita will do anything to save her second daughter from a culture who favours sons, so she and her sister leave the child at Shanti Orphanage in Bombay. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Somer and her Indian-born husband Krishnan realize that Somer will never be able to bear a child of her own. Somer allows herself to be convinced to adopt a child in India, and eventually the two adopt Kavita's child, now almost one years old and mistakenly named Asha. The author takes the reader through the next 25 years, alternating between the voices of Somer, Krishnan, Asha, Kavita, and Jasu. The adoption affects each person differently and distinctly, and the author explores topics such as motherhood, marriage, family, and identity.

This was a good read, but for some reason I found the book dragged on at times.

Page Forty-Four

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Two children, one boy and one girl, between the ages of 12-18 must be selected from each District in this futuristic country of Panem, which used to be North America, to participate in the annual Hunger Games. There can only be one winner. The tributes must hunt and forage to stay alive, and try to survive the elements, illness, injury, and each other. The Games are televised to the entire country, and bets are placed as to who will win.

Katniss Everdeen has volunteered to take the place of the only person she loves: her 12-year old sister, Prim. Coming from District 12, an area that is poor and ill-equipped, there is not much hope for her success, but her early heroism in saving her sister, her stylist team that pegs her as someone to watch out for during the Games, and her fellow Tribute from the District, Peeta Mellark, who convinces the audience and the Gamemakers that they are in love, quickly increases her status and lines up a number of sponsers.

Once the Games begin, Katniss must rely on her knowledge of hunting and her instincts in order to survive the brutal conditions that surround her, as well as manage to evade those who want her dead. For much of the book she struggles as to whether or not she can trust Peeta, and ultimately learns much about love and sacrifice.

This young-adult book was a very quick read, compelling, though annoying in how ignorant Katniss is to Peeta's obvious love for her. It ended in a way that almost forces you to read the next book in the trilogy, and I'm sure the second book would do the same.