Book Recommendations

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! 2020 

I haven't posted anything in over six months because I've been really busy with school, work, placements, family stuff, and still trying to find time to write (ha!). It's been crazy. However, that being said, 2020 is going to be a great year - I have one semester left of university and just found out before Christmas that I got a job at my local school board as a supply teacher, so I'm really excited to finish school now!

Even with all of this busy stuff happening, I still have lots of books I've been reading (and loving!).

Here's what I've been reading:


Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman


"No one's ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine."

 

 

This is the first book from Reese's Book Club that I read (now I've read two) and it's really great. In fact, Reese loved it so much she's producing the movie! It's hard to believe that this is author Gail Honeyman's debut book. Honeyman managed to create something that is funny, dark, heart-breaking, and amusing, while introducing a story that is captivating and alluring. The title of the book, as you may have guessed, is sarcastic because Eleanor Oliphant is a woman living with many problems but tries to convince herself that she's perfectly happy with her life as it is. 

Eleanor is a loner, awkward, and socially-inept. She doesn't know what to say (or what NOT to say) and is therefore a turn-off for most people. Until, that is, she meets Raymond - someone who not only accepts Eleanor for who she is, but also helps her to bloom into the person she needs to be in order to find happiness. Eleanor's past is filled with dark secrets, some that help to explain why she is the way she is, and her character's progression through the book helps her to deal with the past once and for all. 

This novel is excellent. I devoured it and then promptly gave it to my mother to read. She thought it was depressing at first, but I assured her it got better. When she finished it, she reported that she loved it. I can't wait to read more by this author.

Goodreads: 4.3/5

Amazon: 4.6/5

Into the Word Pool: 4.7/5 

Available on Amazon for $19.75 here

 

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

"How long can you protect your heart?"

 

This is the second book I've read of Reese's Book Club and have been pleasantly surprised with how much I loved it. Where the Crawdads Sing is, amazingly, also Delia Owens first novel, like the previous book. Owens has a background in zoology and ecology, which really shows as she poignantly describes the scenic views of the marsh in North Carolina where egrets, gulls, deer, and hawks are frequent visitors. 

The story is about a young girl named Kya who lives alone in the marsh, and is thus dubbed the elusive "Marsh Girl", and finds connections to the wildlife of the marsh rather than to other people. People always leave Kya, so people can't be relied on. The book follows Kya through her journey of becoming a woman, of finding her passion for identifying plants and animals, collecting tokens from the marsh, and learning about the land through observation. She is a smart girl, despite never having gone to school.

But one day, the small town nearby is left confounded when one of their own is found dead in the marsh and everyone points the finger at the Marsh Girl. As it turns out, Kya knows the dead man ... in a very personal way. She's got the motive, she's got the knowledge, and her alibi doesn't quite check out. And, let's face it, she's odd. But could Kya really murder a man?

This book was an excellent read, and was somewhat different from what I usually go for. I do enjoy mystery and historical fiction, which this book has, but I don't usually read books that are in this type of setting. It's the south, it's the 1950's, and it's a small town that's literally divided between the whites and the coloured folk. Even so, it was captivating with its descriptiveness, and I fell for the two main characters immediately. The ending was unexpected (and I'm not entirely sure I agree with it) but it all flowed together beautifully. 

Delia Owens is another up and coming author to look out for.

And guess what? This book will ALSO be made into a feature film, produced by Reese Witherspoon. There isn't a whole lot of information as to when it will be released, by Owens was quoted as saying in Sept 2019 that the first draft of the movie script was nearly done. Exciting! 

Goodreads: 4.5/5

Amazon: 4.7/5

Into the Word Pool: 4.5/5

Available on Amazon for $21.19 (hard-cover) here

  

Below Stairs by Margaret Powell 

"The classic kitchen maid's memoir that inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey"

This non-fiction book was a fascinating glimpse into the past. Before I delve into the premise of the book or my thoughts about it, I think it's important to know a little about the author. Here's what the back cover says:

"Margaret Powell was born in 1907 in Hove, England, and left school at the age of thirteen to start working. At fourteen, she got a job in a hotel laundry room, and a year later went into service as a kitchen maid, eventually progressing to the position of cook, before marrying a milkman named Albert. In 1968, the first volume of her memoirs, Below Stairs, was published to instant success and turned her into a celebrity. She died in 1984."

I heard mention of this book when I was watching a documentary about servants and why they no longer exist in wealthy England when they were once so prominent. It was actually quite fascinating, if you're interested in that kind of thing. The documentary is called "Servants: The True Story of Below Stairs" and the whole thing is available of YouTube. You can watch part one here.

Most of us simply can't imagine the kind of hardship these families knew. Having to leave school to work at age 13? Most of us can't fathom what that truly means. In fact, many of us (myself included) don't know what real "work" would be like - these types of 13-year-olds weren't leaving school to get a job as a cashier at a grocery store or to make people their coffee at ungodly hours in the morning. These were the types of jobs we had as teenagers, the jobs that we professed were "terrible" and we hated them. But in truth, these were easy jobs. We had freedom, we went home to our houses after each shift, we watched TV, we hung out with our friends and families, and these jobs were probably not a necessity. But people like Margaret were different.

Margaret's family was dirt poor. When she and her siblings were hungry, they sometimes went out to collect horse dung from the streets to sell as manure for threepence per barrow. There were 7 in the family altogether, and sometimes they had to rent one room for all of them, other times up to half a house, if their dad was working. Her father was an interior painter, so in winter there wasn't much demand for him. So when the children became old enough to get jobs, work took priority over education. And the jobs weren't easy.

If you've seen Downton Abbey, then you probably know that the role of kitchen maid (good old Daisy, if you remember her) is the lowest of the low. Margaret was given this position at 14, which meant scrubbing brass pots, washing the front steps, cleaning the stoves and ovens, and so much more. Here's what Margaret says of her first servant position:

Her duties were to "Rise at 5:30 (6 o'clock on Sundays), clean the flues, light the fires, blacklead the grate, clean the steel fender and the fire irons, clean the brass on the front door, scrub the steps, clean the boots and shoes, and lay the servants' breakfast. And all this had to be done before 8 o'clock." 

The Kitchen Maid was the one who served the other servants, if you need an idea of just how low a status they had. And as I'm sure you know, each job had to be done perfectly. If those boots didn't shine and the laces weren't spotless, start again! It was grueling work. And not one with many benefits. In fact, I'm not at all surprised the world of servitude vanished once people started realizing their rights. One had to go to church every Sunday, she was only given one evening off per week (from 4-10pm) and alternate Sunday evenings off (same hours). She was never allowed to be out past 10pm, under any circumstances. 

And she only made 24 pounds a year. Now, I calculated this: 

£24 is equal to $41.20 CAD, and with inflation that means that Margaret made $597.84 per year! Remember, she didn't have to pay for housing or food, but she was expected to buy her own uniforms and pay for the bus to get around. All that work, for really not much in return. But when you're poor, you don't have much of a choice. I'm sure just having three meals a day and a warm bed was a blessing to many servants who had lived hard lives prior to service. 

This book was so fascinating, I may read it again in a few months. I was simply amazed at how strong people were and seeing how much the world has changed since then. I highly, highly recommend this book! It's very well-written and just such a great historical memoir to have in your collection.

Goodreads: 3.6/5(what?!)

Amazon: 3.9/5(what is happening?!)

Into the Word Pool: 4.8/5

Available on Amazon for $19.95 here

Here are a few more books I've read recently, but I'm not going to review:

Haunted Canada: The First Terrifying Collection by Pat Hancock 

This is another (supposedly) non-fiction book that I read recently and enjoyed so much!

Goodreads: 3.9/5

Amazon:  5/5 (only out of three ratings)

Into the Word Pool: 4.1/5

Available on Amazon for $12.99 here

 

Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman

 

Goodreads: 3.7/5

Amazon:  4.1/5

Into the Word Pool: 3.8/5

Available on Amazon for $18.81 here

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

 

A simply brilliant novel based on the true story of Ludwig (Lale) and his wife while in Auschwitz. I love a good war story and this is a memorable one for sure. An instant favorite. Absolutely recommend. 

Goodreads: 4.3/5

Amazon:  4.6/5

Into the Word Pool: 5/5

Available on Amazon for $19.80 here