The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (audio)

★★★ 1/2

"Women are weak, but mother's are strong."

This was the first audio book that I have listened to since I stopped having to drive an hour to work and back everyday to Whitewater.  Since I'm going to start doing a lot more driving soon on a daily basis, I figured I might as well get some more books read.

This book was descent.  The author uses different themes to describe a group of mail-order Japanese bride's experiences as they travel from Japan and live their new lives in the United States.   The story was told by strings bits and pieces of each women's live together as they adapted to new challenges in a world completely different in the one that they had grown up in.  It talked about everything from the voyage to America to wife and motherhood to the war.

I'm glad I listened to it as an audiobook - the author had a unique way to blending each women's lives together that was brought out by the narrator.  I really enjoyed this technique for the first couple of chapters, but it started to seem a bit like an essay after awhile - one of the main reasons why I did not give it more stars.  Plus, I found myself way to invested in each of the characters.  After finishing the book, I really wanting to what happened to each of the women because I couldn't at all tell who was who.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

★★★★★

"Ben wished the world was organized by the Dewey decimal system.  That way you'd be able to find whatever you were looking for."

I picked this one up after I read Hugo for the second time.  I read it to Isabelle when she was about six-months old - back when she wasn't crawling yet and could sit still for me to read her pages at a time.  We have since moved on to primarily board books and short pictures books except on the rare occasion that she wants to cuddle in the morning!

First of all, I just need to point out that Brian Selznick is an amazing storyteller and illustrator.  His books are pure genious.  I think I've said this before, but I've read a lot of books (both children and adult) and it's a rare treat when I find an author that is able to do something completely new and different that I haven't seen before.  And to top it off, Selznick manages to do it extremely well while still creating an captivating story.

The book is similar to Hugo where the story it told through both pictures and words except that Wonderstruck tells two different (but connected) stories - one through only words and the other through only pictures.  

Here is a brief description: Ben and Rose secretly wish for better lives. Ben longs for his unknown father. Rose scrapbooks a famous silent actress. When Ben finds clues and Rose reads enticing news, the children independently run to New York for what they are missing. Ben's story in words, Rose's in pictures, come together in deafness.

Amazing. Moving. Wonderful. Pure genius.  I perfect mix of history, self-discovery, and mystery told through words and pictures.  I CANNOT wait until The Marvels comes out in less than a week!!

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

★★★

"You can forget who you are if you're alone too much."

I recently finished Margaret Atwood's 'Oryx and Crake' and loved it so I was really excited to read this one as well.  I finally finished all of my required reading for my two library school classes and finally and able to read books that I don't have to read or finish within a week - a much appreciated change!

This second book in the trilogy is a parallel story to the first one.  The chapters go back and forth between two women who have survived the 'Waterless Flood' - both of whom were briefly mentioned in 'Oryx and Crake.' Ren has been locked in a high-end sex club where she worked as a dancer and Toby survived in a spa where she was able to live on many of the edible treatments.

I didn't end up liking this one as much as the first.  I enjoyed reading more about the world - which Atwood does an excellent job of building - but, overall I felt that the novel was a bit slow and uneventful.  The book went into a lot of unnecessary detail and there were way too many coincidences with the characters knowing each other.  I know they were all part of the same organization, but it seems like nearly everyone else on the planet is dead so how did all of these people with connections survive?  I felt like I might have been better off just reading the first book and calling it quits.  There was also a lot of unanswered questions, which I hope are resolved in the third book!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

★★★★★

"If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from when you go to sleep at night, just look around.  This is where they are made."

2.10.2015 - When Hugo Cabret’s father is killed in a tragic accident in the early 1930s, Hugo is sent to live with his uncle who works in a Paris train station.  His uncle teaches him to monitor the clocks in the station, but Hugo is left to take care of himself after his uncle disappears.  With his uncle gone, Hugo focuses on fixing automation machine that was left by his father and steals from the train toy shop to complete the work.  Hugo is caught by the shop’s own named Georges and becomes friends with his goddaughter, Isabelle.  The two work together to fix the machine that Hugo believes will give him a message that will save his life.  Along the way, Hugo and Isabelle learn that her godfather is really Georges Melies, a pioneer filmmaker, a discovery that leads to secrets of the past that they hope will unlock a key to the future.

The novel is a combination of text and images that creates a truly unique and magical story.  The intriguing plot draws readings in from the very first page and the author reveals small details to allow for thrilling journey through Hugo’s adventures and the history of film.  Each element of the story seems careful planted to allow for a beautifully written narrative. 

In an interview with amazon, Brian Selznick states that he enjoyed books where the “very act of turning the pages play a pivotal role in telling the story” and tried to produce this in the book.  This was exemplified stunningly through the almost the over 250 black and white illustrations.  The pictures were extremely detailed and focused on details of the story.  They not only complimented the text, but were used to tell aspects of the plot as well. 

I absolutely loved this book and it is now one of my favorite children’s and young adult books that I have read.  I brought it while my husband and I were staying in the hospital after our daughter was born and read it in one sitting.  I was fascinated by the exceptional storytelling and the unique format that included elements of a novel, picture book, and graphic novel.  I thought all of the illustrations were extremely well done and did a wonderful job of complementing the text.  I would recommend this book to everyone I know who is looking for a truly unique reading experience.

 7.30.2015 - Reread this to Isabelle when she was about 6 months old and loved it the second time around as well.  Amazing combination of works and pictures to tell a fascinating story!

This book was #10 on my top ten list of 2015.

The Museum of Extra Ordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

★★★

"The truth frightens people because it isn't stable.  It shifts every day."

I read the Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman and love it - but this one wasn't one of my favorites.  Maybe I was expecting too much?  Either way, I found it more creepy than anything and it took me longer than usual to get through (even with a six month old at home!)

I was really excited to read this.  Not only because of the author, but because of the history of Coney Island.  The premise reminded me a bit of The Night Circus: girl grows up surrounded by circus atmosphere, falls in love with the wrong boy, and spend they spend the rest of the book trying to figure out how to be together "against all odds."  I loved the historical references of the time period and the general mood of the novel, but I felt there could have been more setting and character development and less focus on certain secondary characters.  And I'm still not sure how I felt about the ending...

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

★★★★★

"She thought to herself, 'This is now.'  She was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now.  They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now.  It can never be a long time ago."

These were one of favorite series of books that I loved when I was younger - I think I read them in fourth grade, maybe?  Isabelle and I read it together when she was about four months old.  Of course, it was a little wordy for an infant, but I am planning on reading her the rest of the series when she gets older.

Goodnight June by Sarah Jio

★★★ 1/2

"We didn't have much, but we always had books, thanks to Aunt Ruby, who brought over boxes of them.  and because of her, we learned of entire worlds that existed beyond the walls of our drab apartment.  We followed Madeline through the streets of Paris and made pumpkin pie with Laura and Ma in Little House in the Big Woods.  And every night, I read Amy her favorite book, Goodnight Moon."

This heartfelt take on the history behind the writing of the famous children's book, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, collides with the contemporary tale of June Andersen - a successful, but mostly unhappy young women who finds unexpected adventures when she aims to sell a bookstore after her aunt passes away.

The author had a perfect story set up, but for some reason I left like there was something missing.  This book had the potential to be amazing - but instead it was just ok.  Maybe it was too much like a Hallmark movie (just add in a Christmas tree and some snow and you're pretty much there) or it could have been the twists that kept being thrown in there towards the end like one bad acting classes where you're suppose to act out ridiculous plot lines that don't have anything to do with one another.   I felt like the author was just pulling for things out of thin air.  But, I think that big problem I had with the book was the lack of feeling I had for the characters.  For whatever reason, I didn't find myself as interested in them as I should have and that left the book feeling a little meaningless for me.

I did, however, like reading the book - I just couldn't give it a very high rating due to it's flaws.  It was fun read (despite the tragedy near the end) and I like how the author used letters to give the readers a glimpse into the past.  Plus I have a huge thing for Goodnight Moon and it was the first book that I read to my daughter when she was born: