Tag Archives: Oprah/Lifetime

The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain

Posted on by
Reply

Synopsis:
After the suicide of their friend, an underground home birth midwife, best friends Tara and Emerson discover a mare’s nest of secrets that threaten the happiness they’ve worked so hard to create.

Review:
I found no surprises in The Midwife’s Confession, which is a decent but not great read. I found the whole thing a little frustrating, waiting for the characters to catch up with me. But it was nice to see home birth portrayed as a safe and reasonable option, rather than an excuse for drama.

I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

Posted on by
4

Synopsis:
A working mother of two finds her life teetering out of balance as she struggles to succeed in finance without feeling guilty that the nanny is raising her kids.

Review:
I sometimes have anxiety dreams where I’m working. I’m either behind the counter at the video store I clerked at in grad school, or posting things in Moveable Type for my work blog, or reenacting a specific job (like an event I’ve planned) in what feels like real time. While the dream is going on, I’m overwhelmed by the tedium of the individual tasks I’m doing. Putting boxes on the shelves. Copying and pasting links. Giving people a seat assignment. Reading I Don’t Know How She Does It was a lot like one of those dreams. After a certain point, I just got tired of living through the tedium of Kate’s day, because the emotional underpinnings were just not there. I felt this book would have been better titled I Don’t Know WHY She Does It. Because I just didn’t get why anyone would live in such a state of self-inflicted misery unless they are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. When Kate isn’t letting herself be bullied by her bosses, she’s bullying herself into creating some kind of life from a magazine, one that has nothing to do with actually Living Life. Smelling those roses and everything. Continue reading →

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Posted on by
2

Synopsis:
When a dead baby is discovered in an Amish barn, a Plain girl finds herself on trial for murder. She says she can’t remember… then all she wants to do is confess. But is she actually guilty–and of what?

Review:
This is the book I was referring to yesterday when I said I was reading a salty book with no umami. The main reason I don’t like courtroom books is that they’re so formulaic. No matter how intriguing the setup or tantalizing the scenario, Act 3 is always going to play out in just the same way, with surprise revelations, dramatics on the witness stand, and the attorney at the center forever changed for the better. And, of course, the truth will out in the end, if only in private. This book was no exception. I read My Sister’s Keeper by Picoult and really enjoyed it, and I’ve got another of hers in my stack, which I will read, but if it’s more Plain Truth than Sister’s Keeper, that’ll be it for me ‘n’ Jodi. Continue reading →

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen

Posted on by
1

Synopsis:
A woman flees from her abusive husband, building a new life while constantly looking over her shoulder. Gee, I wonder what’s going to happen?

Review:
This book was an Oprah book AND the movie (with Mary Stuart Masterson) was just on Lifetime the other night. I read this while on jury duty this morning. It passed the time. Stephen King’s Rose Madder was better. Continue reading →

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Posted on by
1

Synopsis:
Bored with her marriage to a dull country doctor, Emma Bovary spins fantasy into adultery and rampant overspending.

Review:

Ooh-la-la! What a great read! I must say I was surprised at how contemporary this novel felt. Written in 1857, Madame Bovary is a psychological tour-de-force. Emma’s story is about much more than adultery, and it’s far more than just a cautionary tale. When Flaubert said, “Who is Emma Bovary? I am Emma Bovary,” he was speaking for all of us. The book shows how simple it is to compromise yourself–whatever your particular vice happens to be–and justify and excuse and eventually spiral out of control. It’s almost like a crime novel, the way Flaubert details Emma’s transgressions and trickery, or like the first half of an episode of “Intervention,” only no one really loves Emma. I found myself feeling sorry for her, and relating to her, and wishing for her to find a way out. This is definitely a new favorite.

Madame Bovary (Bantam Classics)

Carsickness

Posted on by
Reply

I finished a book on the subway this morning for my reading job. The only place in the world I can’t read is in the car. Train–fine. Subway–fine. Plane, bus, boat–no problem. But if I’m in the car and I spend more than 10 minutes looking at any kind of words, even on a map, I’m down for the count. When I was a kid, I figured out that I wouldn’t get sick as long as I couldn’t see out the window, so I would lay on my back in the backseat or on the floor of the car and hold the book above me. I think that might be a felony offense these days. Continue reading →

How to Skim–and Why

Posted on by
5

I have a fun little job where I get to read books before they are published. I won’t be blogging about them for various ethical reasons, but since I want to post every time I read a book, I think I’ll take the opportunity to write about reading. In these posts, I’ll also be listing the books on my bookshelf one at a time in the order they appear.

I get asked a lot about my speed-reading. The most frequest question is, “Do you really read everything?” There are two ways to answer that question. Continue reading →