Goodnight Beautiful

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After moving from New York City to the suburbs, newlyweds Sam and Annie are forced to adjust to their new surroundings.  Sam, a psychiatrist, thinks the stars have aligned in his favor when an opportunity to rent his dream office space quite literally falls into his lap.  The landlord refuses to accept rent payments; instead, Sam pays his rent fees by serving as a handyman completing various home improvement jobs around the old building.  His patients see him regularly and discuss their various life issues.  Unbeknownst to them, someone besides Sam is listening to every word that they say.  Suddenly, Sam disappears without a trace.  Annie, a college professor, insists something horrible has happened.  She believes that Sam has either been injured in a horrible accident…or worse.  Unfortunately, finding others who share her beliefs that Sam is a victim is proving to be quite difficult.  It’s a race against time to find Sam and, just when you think you have it figured out, think again.

  • Why I read it: Recommendation in a Facebook book group
  • Trigger Warnings: violence, infidelity, mental health

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)

Here’s the story: Surviving Marcia and Brady and finding my true voice

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Marcia!  Marcia!  Marcia!  This iconic phrase is forever etched in our minds as well as in television history.  “The Brady Bunch” ran its course decades before my time, but I was fortunate enough to see every episode via Nick at Night reruns.  Like the rest of America, except 30 years later, I was drawn into the fun show about a blended family who solved all of life’s problems in half an hour with a quirky housekeeper who delivered hilarious one liners on cue.  However, as is the case in Hollywood, the drama on screen was no match to the drama unfolding behind the scenes.

Maureen McCormick’s memoir starts with a detailed description of her upbringing as well as her introduction into the ruthless world of acting.  She then describes what led to her fortune as she lands the role of Marcia Brady.  Her life would never be the same.  As she gives her perspective of what the show was about, what was really going on between the characters off screen, and her struggles with adapting to life and growing up as one of the most recognizable faces in America, she describes a downward mental, emotional, and physical spiral that is all too common among child actors.  She is transparent, open, and honest about her struggles with excessive drug use, serious depression, personal family turmoil, and dangerous eating disorders throughout her teenage and young adult years.  The story of the Brady’s ended just as her story was beginning.  She took a lot of different paths, and she made countless wrong turns, but she finally found her happily ever after with her husband and daughter.  By opening herself up to her readers, she makes herself incredibly vulnerable to and authentic with her audience.

  • Why I read it: Pure curiosity (it was on the feature shelf on the library, and I love a good memoir!)
  • Trigger Warnings: Drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, abuse, eating disorders, depression

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)

A Thousand Splendid Suns

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How can such a tragic story be so beautiful?  There were parts of this book that made me sick to my stomach to read.  There were also such beautiful parts of this book that hit me straight in the heart and made me weep.  Unfortunately, a general summary will not do this book justice, but hopefully it will inspire others to read it and engage in discussion.  There are plenty of discussion points throughout the book.

Set between the years 1960-2000, Mariam and Laila are two women living across the street from each other (and then later within the same house) in Afghanistan.  Mariam’s upbringing is heartbreaking, at best.  Her mother is not mentally well and, as she is the product of an illegitimate relationship, Mariam’s father is absent and unavailable.  In an arranged marriage with a man many years her senior (Rasheed), she moves into a house near Kabul and enters a life of one -sided devotion, fear, deprivation, and disappointment.  Her house is down the street from a young girl, Laila, whose childhood best friend is a young boy (Tariq).  As they grow, their relationship grows into a star crossed, teenage love tragedy when disaster strikes the city of Kabul and leaves their homes and street in literal ruins.  With nowhere to turn, Laila is taken as a second wife of Rasheed in hopes of producing a child which is something that Mariam has been unable to provide.  What begins as a relationship filled with jealousy and animosity turns into a deeply devoted friendship and sisterhood between the two women trapped in a destructive marriage with an abusive spouse that is not only legal but ignored by the Afghani government. As the stories of these women unfold, the reader is taken on an emotional roller coaster that keeps them on the edge of their seats anticipating the next twist or turn.  Just when the reader thinks all hope is lost, a glimmer of light in the darkness signals hope and promises of a better future.

  • Why I read it: Recommendation from a Facebook group
  • Trigger warnings: Violence, domestic abuse, infidelity, infertility

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)

These is my words: The diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881-1901

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This is an amazing “based on true events” narrative that had me thinking of my childhood playing “Oregon Trail” and/or reading “The Little House on the Prairie.”  If you’re like me and adored the “Dear America” series, this book is for you.  However, before gifting it to a young girl without reading first, please be advised that it includes some events that, while unfortunately realistic and appropriate to the book’s time period, might be confusing/upsetting to a young reader (or older reader, for that matter).

Sarah Prine, the narrator, embodies everything that it took to survive a harsh journey across America’s frontier in hopes of settling in a forever home in the vastly unclaimed western land.  She quickly discovers that her family’s journey is going to be very, very hard.  Even though the land is unclaimed and not recognized by the American government, it is largely inhabited by Native Americans who present a constant threat to all of the characters throughout the book.  Sarah tells her harrowing story of traveling, settling, falling in love, falling out of love, gains, losses, and the importance of keeping a fighter’s spirit through life’s best (and worst) of times during this unique point in America’s history.

  • Trigger warnings- violence, unexpected death, alluding to rape
  • Why I read it- recommendation from a friend

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)