Date: January 20, 2012
Summary: Historical fiction set in 1791 Virgina. Story of orphaned 7-year-old white girl who comes from Ireland as an indentured servant. She comes to work in the “kitchen house” with the black slaves. When she grows up, she becomes the Mistress by marrying the Masters son and everything changes.
Rachel’s rating: Three (3) out of four stars
Date: March 16, 2012
Summary: True story of Louis Zamperini, a lieutenant from California who was shot down in 1943 in the Pacific Ocean in WWII. He has an amazing story. He was a promising Olympian, he lives through weeks of being stranded on a raft in the Atlantic Ocean, then years in a POW camp in Japan. Well-written. Very inspiring. Hero among us, still alive and in his early 90s.
Rachel’s rating: Four (4) out of four stars
Date: April 27, 2012
Summary: Historical fiction, set in 1929 Japan. Story of Sayuri, who when her mother dies, is sold by her father to a Geisha House. She resists this life until she realizes that its her best chance. Riveting. Loved it.
Rachel’s rating: Four (4) out of four stars
Date: June 22, 2012
Summary: Fictional story of baseball great, Joe Castle, who was beaned during a game in 1973 at the start of his promising career. The story is told by Paul Tracey, grown son of the man who hit Joe in the head.
Notes: A lot of baseball. Showed the trying relationship between father and son and the life of a major leaguer. Not Grisham’s best.
Rachel’s rating: Two (2) out of four stars
Date: August 16, 2012
Summary: Epic story of two brothers – identical twins – born in Ethiopia to a nun for a mother and a brash surgeon, both of whom leave them orphans. The mother dies in childbirth and the father flees. The story follows Marion and Shiva across about four decades and follows the civil unrest in that region of the world.
Notes: Read like a soap opera. Loved it. Also learned a lot about that culture.
Rachel’s rating: Four (4) out of four stars
Date: October 12, 2012
Summary:
Rating: 3.5 out of four stars
Date: November 16, 2012
Summary: Takes place on a reservation in North Dakota in 1988. After a woman is attacked, her son and her husband (who is a tribal judge) try to discover who committed the crime.
Notes: Didn’t finish it. Slow and overall disappointing.
Rachel’s rating: One (1) out of four stars