Gulliver's Wife

Gulliver's Wife by Lauren Chater
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am rather disappointed with this book.
I could not find a STORY in it.
L. Gulliver returns home after his visit to LilliputLand and does not connect with his family - end of story.
Actually I looked to the source - Gulliver Travels by J Swift...
"During my short stay in England, I gained much by showing my cattle to various distinguished people and commoners. Before I undertook my second trip, I sold them for six hundred pounds. I stayed only two months with my wife and children.... I left my wife 1,500 pounds and settled her in a comfortable home in Redriff. My son, John, attended elementary school, and my daughter, Elizabeth (who is now married and has children), learned sewing."

I highly appreciate author's skill and effort in presenting conditions in which London midwifes in XVIII century lived and operated.
I appreciate author's skill in presenting environment in which London midwifes in XVIII century lived and operated but in first place I got a feeling that she connected her story to a very popular book just to gain readership and haven't tried to pass to the reader the atmosphere of the original.

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The Great Man

The Great Man by Al Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read a Polish translation of the book, while reading I got memories from many years ago when I heard it as a radio play.
My memories were good and resulted in a positive rating - based on cold reasoning my rating would be lower..
The story - a very popular radio presenter dies, radio bosses are planning to deliver a new one. The book shows how cold and ruthless process it is.
Story is told from the position of a candidate to replace the star who died.
He investigates the career of his predecessor and learns many bad things about him and it looks that if he follows this career path, he will be the same.
On one hand I was bored a bit with the details of dependencies in radio business, on the other hand I liked author's writing style.

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Best Wishes

Best Wishes by Richard Glover
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Definitely not my type of a book, I read it only because it was to be discussed in my book club.
Why not my type of a book?
Because in a book I am looking for a STORY, sometimes I try to connect to the story.
Best Wishes is something opposite - list of things author dislikes, 365 of them.
Generally I found this approach annoying, the only positive was a good sense of humour of the author.

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The Goddess of Warsaw

The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This book upset me very much.
I appreciate author's skill and effort to write a breathtaking story of passion, sex, betrayal and murder but I cannot accept mixing this shit with the history of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

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Shmutz

Shmutz by Felicia Berliner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hasidic family in New York - absolutely unknown territory for me.
Young girl addicted to pornography - even more alien environment.
Still I read the book with interest mainly because I really liked the main character - Raizl.
Hard working girl preparing for a prearranged marriage.
Why she accepts so easily this very strict traditions?
My answer is - she feels love in her family, at least in its female part and she does not want to break this thread.

Why she accepts so easily a very strict traditions?

No answer.

What is the role of addiction to pornography in her life, in the story?

No answer.

My general understanding is - she feels love in her family, at least in its female part and she does not want to break this thread.

Other side of the story - men.

There are very few in this book and they are from different world.

Tati - the father - definitely a nasty character.

Younger brother - quite nice, older brother - almost like Tati. 

What is her vision/hope for her marriage?

The chosen one - at least he clearly states - no computer in our home.

What struck me quite strongly was information that pious man starts the day with thanks to
the G-d: Blessed are you, Hashem (Lord, our God), ruler of the universe who has not created me a woman.
A woman starts a day with thanks to G-d, that he created her according to His will.
I would like to read a similar story written from a position a Hasidic man.

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Where the Birds Call Her Name

Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire van Ryn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I liked some aspects of the book - layout, illustrations, visible effort of the author to deliver a comprehensive story. As a result I felt motivated to continue reading.
Visible effort - generally you recognise a master when she/he delivers a piece of art effortlessly, here I found an opposite - visible effort which somehow melted my heart,
Tangible result?
Not so good, I found the story artificially complicated, characters not real.
I welcomed the end with a relief.

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The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After reading few pages of this book I got lost.
Every few lines a new character introduced with not much connection to the main plot of the story.
Main plot? The story?
I could not find any of these.
Still I continued reading although without much heart. I read slowly, just few pages at a time and after some time I got into the climate of the book - I still could not figure out who cheated whom and why but I started enjoying the mess around me.
Another positive point was a check of authors biography - James McBride - his father was an Afro-American pastor, his mother - a Jewish immigrant from Poland. Her maiden name - Zylska - raises some sentiment - from my early years I remember a popular Polish singer - Natasha Zylska :)
Anyway - at around 2/3 of the book I started enjoying it, unfortunately last few chapters broke the spell.

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