Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

"I'm just thinking of what I know about Will Traynor, what I know about men like him. And I'll say one thing to you. I'm not sure anyone in the world was ever going to persuade that man once he'd set his mind to something. He's who he is. You can't make people change who they are."
      -Bernard Clark's fatherly advice to Louisa near the end of the novel

This book was selected for our Page Turners group by being strongly suggested by a couple of members. Since a film version has been out for a while, I knew a little of what to expect. I expected a tear-jerker. My readers will know I try hard not to include spoilers in my posts. It seems this novel has spoilers everywhere! I even saw a description as an answer on "Jeopardy" recently, under the heading Recent Novels, with the question being this book title; it pretty much gave away the plot.

The story centers around Louisa Clark, a young woman with a pretty unexciting, unfulfilled life, who takes a job helping quadriplegic Will Traynor. Will had been a mover and shaker before a tragic accident left him paralyzed. He has lost all zest for life and become bitter and self-pitying. Louisa is hired by his mother to hopefully cheer him up, perhaps even give him a reason for living. Although the relationship starts out rocky making Louisa want to quit, she hangs in there and the two come to care about each other. In addition, I will only say that Louisa gains as much from the connection as he does.

Moyes's writing style is easy and enjoyable. I liked the book but thought it was predictably sad so I am giving it a 4. Litlovers.com calls it a romance novel; my husband would call it chick lit. But I do think it will give us plenty to talk about when we meet this week. More then....

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The Page Turners met on our regular day and apparently we liked the novel---the average rating was 4.4---no votes under 4. Our discussion followed the publisher's questions. Much talk was generated by Will's outlook on life and whether we understood his feelings. There was some difference of opinion and a few people cited real-life examples of folks who have overcome serious injury to live fulfilling, even inspiring lives. I speculated that the prospect of living as a quadriplegic might be more difficult for a man to accept than a woman. As one might expect, most discussion was about the meaning of life, the right to die, assisted suicide and related topics.

There were several interpretations of the Me and You in the title. One of the best, we agreed, would have referred to both Will and Lou BEFORE they met the other. In other words each one could have said, "This story is about Me before You." Some of our members have read the sequel, After You, and have liked it as well. Others have seen the film version.

A good selection for a book club---plenty to talk about related to Me Before You!

Three Biographies of Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston, Harlem Renaissance Writer by Katie Marsico
Zora Neale Hurston "I Have Been in Sorrow's Kitchen" by Laura Baskes Litwin
Zora Neale Hurston, Author by Paul Witcover

"What waits for me in the future? I do not know. I cannot even imagine, and I am glad for that. But already, I have touched the four corners of the horizon, for from hard searching it seems to me that tears and laughter, love and hate, make up the sum of life."
                  -Zora Neale Hurston

All of these books are categorized as juvenile biography even though I located them in the adult biography section of the library. I knew they would be quick and easy reads to help me prepare for a lecture I will be doing this summer. I often choose "kiddy lit" when I want some boiled-down nonfiction to give me background for a class or trip. These did not disappoint: all less than 115 pages with photos, timelines and helpful indices.

In the Florida Authors class I am teaching, I will have students read Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora which is an autobiography. I had been told some time ago that it is not necessarily true to life and is suspected to have been somewhat embellished by the author. I thought by reading a few biographies before Dust Tracks... I would have facts to compare to Zora's account.

I found all the biographies very interesting---the woman had an amazingly full life, though not an easy one. She seems to have been very brilliant, creative and strong-willed with a good sense of humor. Our book club read Their Eyes Were Watching God, considered her master work, a few years ago. I enjoyed it but not everyone in the group did.

So now I am ready and looking forward to Dust Tracks on a Road.

Hawaii by James Michener

"They came to the island to do good, and they did right well."
"No wonder the islands were lighter when they left; they stole everything in sight."
"They taught the natives to wear dresses and sign leases."
"Before the missionaries came to Hawaii, there were four hundred thousand happy, naked natives in the mountains killing each other, practicing incest, and eating well. After the missionaries had been there awhile, there were thirty thousand fully clothed, miserable natives huddled along the shore, paying lip service to Christianity and owning nothing."
                  -gibes heard against the missionaries of Hawaii @1915

Whew! This novel was a tome...thought I would never finish! At 937 pages, it is a good thing I purchased it for my Kindle. I ended it up carrying it on two cruises over about 6 weeks time, the second one in the Hawaiian Islands which was the primary reason for reading it. It was a busy time with travel and celebrations so my reading time was limited. Otherwise I might have managed to get through it more quickly. It added quite a lot to my enjoyment of the trip as it provided me a good bit of background on the history, mythology and culture of Hawaii. So I am very glad I read it! My rating: 4.

As with most of Michener's books this one starts off slowly with the geological formation of the islands and then the arrival of plant life in chapter one. In chapter 2 one reads about the fugitives from Bora Bora who become the first people of Hawaii, and it gets much more interesting. When the Calvinist missionaries from New England arrive in the 1800's and begin interacting with the natives in chapter 3, the plot is definitely enhanced. By the time Chinese workers are imported for working the sugar cane fields (chapter 4) and then the Japanese (chapter 5), the story is more and more compelling. The Chinese are represented by the Kee family; the Japanese, by the Sakagawas. Their stories, side-by-side with that of the Hales, Whipples and other founding missionary families add the personal touches to keep one reading. Then the reader finally reaches chapter 6 where the changes in culture and economics caused by the conflict and mingling of these different groups reach their climax.

I thought I had read Hawaii years ago but I now think I only saw the movie. I learned that the movie covered only the coming of the missionaries and that is all I remembered. I also discovered that Michener's book was published in 1959, the year Hawaii became the 50th state. Pretty cool.

I am sure this novel must have required years of research. Much of what we learned from our tour guides in Hawaii related well to the book. Michener's main characters are fictionalized but the story involves some historical characters as well such as Father Damien, who ministered to the lepers quarantined in Moloka'i in the late 1800's. In our tour of Pearl Harbor we learned of the heroism of Japanese soldiers sent to Europe during WWII and the book made that fascinating by involving the Sakagawa brothers.

We also heard a lot about the mythology of the Hawaiian natives, especially stories of Pele, the fire goddess. I would recommend this book for anyone going to Hawaii for the first time. Just give yourself plenty of time to finish!

Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen

"One of the wondrous things about Florida, Rudy Graveline thought as he chewed on a jumbo shrimp, was the climate of unabashed corruption: There was absolutely no trouble from which money could not extricate you."                           -from the novel

I have only read a few books by this author and a couple were young adult fiction. My husband and I listened to his Basket Case in the car on a trip a while back and really got a kick out of it. Now I am preparing to teach a class featuring 4 Florida authors including Hiaasen so I need to familiarize myself with his work. Skin Tight was entertaining, to say the least.

Protagonist Mick Stranahan, a former state investigator, is apparently on someone's hit list. A case comes to light that involves the disappearance of a young woman just after her appointment with a cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Rudy Graveline. I surely don't want to spoil this action-packed plot for you but even if I didn't mind, I am not sure I would be able to explain it all. Suffice it to say, it involves a hit man with a grotesque skin condition, a totally incompetent plastic surgeon, two journalists---one who looks for a good story more for his own glory than informing the public and the other who provides the love interest. Oh, and I forgot to mention the "pet" barracuda!

I can tell you this: if you've ever thought of having plastic surgery you will likely change your mind after reading this book! In particular the description of a liposuction was pretty disgusting.

I don't think anyone could consider Skin Tight great literature but it surely was fun! If you like a good detective story with a bit of humor thrown in, you just might enjoy it. I will rate it a 4+.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

"And time is a curious thing. Most of us only live for the time that lies right ahead of us. A few days, weeks, years. One of the most painful moments in a person's life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead. And when time no longer lies ahead of one, other things have to be lived for. Memories, perhaps. Afternoons in the sun with someone's hand clutched in one's own. The fragrance of flowerbeds in fresh bloom. Sundays in a café. Grandchildren, perhaps. One finds a way of living for the sake of someone else's future. And it wasn't as if Ove died when Sonja left him. He just stopped living."
              -Ove's musings from the novel

A couple of friends suggested this book for a Page Turners selection. I am SO glad! What a unique and delightful read it was! Swedish author Backman's style is very simplistic with use of many sentence fragments, as illustrated by my beginning quote. At times it is rather poetic and profound, also reflected in the quote. I actually had to choose between many quotable passages. Short chapters and frequent foreshadowing make the novel a real page-turner. The author's dry wit had me often smiling and even giggling. I will rate it a 5 since I enjoyed it very much. A Man Called Ove reminded me of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the reason will be obvious) and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (not so obvious unless you have read both books).

In the beginning, title character Ove is a curmudgeon, to be sure. He argues, complains, criticizes and generally doesn't find much in the world to like. He has a tendency not to even name people except by describing them, for example the Lanky One, Pregnant One, the Blond Weed and so on. Through flashbacks the reader soon learns more about Ove's past---traumas and tragedies that have made him angry, cynical, intolerant and sad. Before too long you will find yourself feeling sympathetic. The secondary characters, new neighbors and a cat in particular, are charming, tolerant, patient and forgiving to a fault!

The adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" surely comes to mind.  I would say unconditional love would be one theme of this novel and it makes for a poignant, sweet story.

More after our meeting...
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Most of our Page Turners loved A Man Called Ove---ten 5's out of 16 ratings! Only one person disliked the book but she REALLY disliked it, giving it a 2. It probably made for an even better discussion, however. The group average was 4.5.

One member shared the correct pronunciation of the protagonist's name---oo vay and also brought pictures of Saab automobiles, very prominent in the story. A retired social worker in our group took exception to the very negative portrayal of the social worker in the novel. When discussing Parveneh's personality, we agreed that she was just the right neighbor to bring the lost color back to Ove's life. When someone said he thought his life was ovah (over), we cracked up! You probably won't  get the humor without reading the book.

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

"Soul. The word rebounded to me, and I wondered, as I often had, what it was exactly. People talked about it all the time, but did anybody actually know? Sometimes I pictured it like a pilot light burning inside a person---a drop of fire from the invisible inferno people called God. Or a squashy substance, like a piece of clay or dental mold, which collected the sum of a person's experiences---a million indentations of happiness, desperation, fear, all the small piercings of beauty we've ever known."
          -Jessie's thoughts from the novel

This is the third book I have read by this author and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the others---The Invention of Wings and The Secret Life of Bees. I will rate it a 3.5. The writing style is the usual high quality but the plot didn't really draw me in. The mixture of Catholic ritual and mythical elements were a bit confusing to this protestant; "The Mermaid's Tale" a little far-fetched. It reminded me of an older novel, The Thorn Birds, also the love story of a conflicted priest.

Each of the Kidd's novels I have read were set in South Carolina, this one no exception. Artist Jessie Sullivan must make a trip to her childhood home on Egret Island, SC, when her mother mysteriously mutilates herself. While dealing with her mother's mental and physical issues she meets Brother Thomas of the nearby monastery of St. Senara. Though married, she finds herself strongly attracted to him and the feeling is mutual. He has his own emotional baggage, along with often living up to his namesake "doubting Thomas." His story is told in 3rd person while Jessie narrates her own.

As if the problems above don't offer enough conflict, Jessie is also dealing with the guilt of believing she may have been responsible for her beloved father's death when she was very young. She makes some surprising finds that add suspicion to the circumstances of his demise. Through all the turmoil she makes important discoveries about herself.

The Whistler by John Grisham

"A whistleblower is a person, usually an employee in a government agency or private enterprise, who discloses to the public or to those in authority, the mismanagement, corruption or illegality or some other wrongdoing of coworkers or superiors."
      -paraphrased from The Free Dictionary by Farlex, legal dictionary section

Since The Whistler has been near the top of the Bestseller list for a number of weeks, I had to wait quite a while for my library copy. When I finally received it, I finished it in a few days---definitely a page-turner. I have been a long-time fan of Grisham and have read maybe half of his many novels. I didn't think this one was the same caliber as A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client, his earlier works, but it was a satisfying read anyway. I will rate it 4+.

Lacy Stoltz works for a government agency I had never heard of, the Board of Judicial Conduct, somewhat like the Internal Affairs Bureau for judges. Lacy and partner Hugo Hatch are informed by a guy named Myers of a corrupt judge who is tied to the fictionalized Tappacola Indians' casino and the "Coast Mafia" led by a conscienceless mobster named Vonn Dubose. Lacy's job is usually cut and dried and has never been dangerous until now when she and Hugo take on something of a criminal investigator's role and become targets of the mob. When the FBI gets involved, you might predict there will be a romantic interest for Lacy. There are so many characters to keep up with, I actually kept whose-who notes for a while.

The setting is Florida which surprised me a little. It seems to me Grisham's favorite setting is Mississippi but he has ventured to other parts of the south. This is the first in Florida as far as I can recall. Some of the places involved---St. Augustine and Tallahassee in particular were familiar to me.

Many of Grisham's books have become movies. I'm pretty sure this one will be added to the list and I will want to see it!