The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

The Violets of March
by Sarah Jio
Plume, 2011
304 pages
source: purchased e-book

Summary: (from goodreads)
A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

A mesmerizing debut with an idyllic setting and intriguing dual story line, The Violets of March announces Sarah Jio as a writer to watch.

My thoughts:
One of the best things about my kindle is the Daily Deal email from amazon which offers four books specially priced (usually $1.99 or $2.99) for one day only.  It encourages impulse purchases of books I've been meaning to read or authors I want to try. And at that price, I allow myself to ignore my "only buy books I will start today" rule. Violets of March was a recent Daily Deal and Sarah Jio is an author I've been meaning to read, so I couldn't resist.

Traveling home from NYC last month, I was craving something a little lighter and remembered Violets of March on my kindle. For the next five hours, I was transported to the idyllic setting of Bainbridge Island, Washington and became lost in the novel's dual story lines. A present-day tale of love and mystery blended seamlessly with one from the past, told through the pages of a recently-discovered old diary.

Violets of March was the perfect diversion. I didn't mind that we were delayed, or that the guy behind me talked constantly (and loudly) on his cell phone, or even the close quarters of a very full train. Although I didn't quite finish by the time we pulled into the station, I managed to carve out just enough time the next day to reach the satisfying conclusion.

On a side note, I love when other books are mentioned in my reading. Here, Year of Grace  by Margaret Ayer Barnes, a 1931 Pulitzer Prize winner, played a role in both stories. It seems to be out of print now, but I'm keeping an eye out for a used copy.

My experience with Violets of March  was definitely a case of the right book at the right time. Thank you, Staci for recommending this author to me. I plan to read more by Sarah Jio.

My rating:

Bottom line:
A little more romance than my usual fare, but a delightful change of pace.

Literary Giveaway Blog Hop: The Winner is...

.... Laurie C. at Bay State Reader's Advisory.

Congratulations, Laurie! 

Please send me your address via email and I will mail the package right away.

Author Birthday: Pearl S. Buck

photo credit

From The Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of novelist Pearl S. Buck (books by this author), born in Hillsboro, West Virginia (1892). Her parents were Presbyterian missionaries in China, and Buck was born while they were on vacation in the United States. When she was three months old, they took her back to China. She learned to speak Chinese before she learned to speak English. She and her brother explored the streets and markets of Zhenjiang, watching puppet shows and sampling food. She was embarrassed by her blue eyes and blond hair, but she didn't let it hold her back. She enthusiastically joined in local celebrations, big funerals, and parties. She said, "I almost ceased to think of myself as different, if indeed I ever thought so, from the Chinese." 

She fled China after civil war erupted and began writing a novel on the ship to America called East Wind, West Wind (1930). The following year, she published The Good Earth, about a Chinese peasant who becomes a wealthy landowner. At the time, Westerners saw China as one of the most exotic places on earth. Pearl Buck was the first writer to portray the ordinary lives of Chinese people for a Western audience. The novel won a Pulitzer Prize and became an international best-seller. 

Buck turned out more than 85 novels and collections of short stories and adopted nine children. In 1938, she won the Nobel Prize in literature. Later, she became active in the civil rights and women's movements, and she founded the first international, interracial adoption agency in the United States.

I have enjoyed several of Buck's novels over the years and consider The Good Earth is a personal favorite. Most recently, I have listened to Pavilion of Women and Peony: A Novel of China. Imperial Women is on my Classics Club list and I plan to read it within the next year. Have you read Pearl S. Buck?

Tuesday Intro: The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

How angry am I?  You don't want to know. Nobody wants to know about that. 

I'm a good girl, I'm a nice girl, I'm a straight-A, strait-laced, good daughter, good career girl, and I never stole anybody's boyfriend and I never ran out on a girlfriend, and I put up with my parent's shit and my brother's shit, and I'm not a girl anyhow, I'm over forty fu**ing years old, and I'm good at my job and I'm great with kids and I held my mother's hand when she died, after four years of holding her hand while she was dying, and I speak to my father every day on the telephone - every day mind you, and what kind of weather do you have on your side of the river, because here it's pretty gray and a bit muggy too? It was supposed to say "Great Artist" on my tombstone, but if I died right now it would say "such a good teacher/daughter/friend" instead; and what I really want to shout, and want in big letters on that grave, too, is FU@K YOU ALL.

The Woman Upstairs
by Claire Messud

I'll bet that opening got your attention! In addition to receiving high praise from trusted bloggers, this book had spawned heated discussion on the subject of likable characters. After a long wait, I finally reached the top of the library hold list and started reading yesterday. After fifty pages, I am enthralled.

What do you think of the opening? Do you want to read more?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Literary Giveaway Blog Hop: Celebrating Audiobooks

Welcome to the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop hosted by Judith at Leeswammes' Blog. Between now and Wednesday June 26, you can hop to over 40 different book blogs, all offering one or more giveaways of books or bookish items. All books will be literary fiction, nonfiction, or close to it. Follow the links at the bottom of this post to find the other participating blogs.




My Giveaway

Since June is Audiobook Month, my giveaway is an audiobook package consisting of two recently released literary fiction titles:

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Narrated by Khaled Hosseini, Navid Negahban, Shohreh Aghdashloo
(my review)

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell
Narrated by Gretchen Mol
(review coming soon)

Both are review copies sent to me by Penguin Audio which I have listened to once.

If you are interested in entering my giveaway (US only), please let me know in a comment by 6PM EDT Wednesday, June 26.  Be sure to include your email address.

For more giveaways check out these blogs... let the blog hopping begin!

Linky List:

Leeswammes Ciska's Book Chest The Book Garden Sam Still Reading Ephemeral Digest Curiosity Killed the Bookworm Rikki's Teleidoscope The Things You Can Read (US) Seaside Book Nook The Relentless Reader (US) Under a Gray Sky Blog Exurbanis Candle Beam Book Blog Booklover Book Reviews Books in the Burbs (US) Babyboomerwrites River City Reading (US) Lakeside Musing (US) Read Lately (US) The Book Diva's Reads A Place That Does Not Exist Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book (US) A corner of the library Roof Beam Reader The Misfortune of Knowing Girl Vs Bookshelf

heavenali Love at First Book The Little Reader Library The Siren's Tale Musings and Ramblings The Readers Realm (US) Lost Generation Reader Readerbuzz Literary Meanderings Book Clutter Bay State Reader's Advisory Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity Nose in a book Audios & More Laurie Here Mythical Books Books in the City

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead, 2013
416 pages
source: purchased

Audiobook
Narrated by Khaled Hosseini, Navid Negahban, Shohreh Aghdashloo
14 hours and 1 minutes
Penguin Audio, 2013
source: review copy from publisher

Publisher's summary:
Khaled Hosseini, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Kite Runner  and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each passing minute.

My reading experience:
Khaled Hosseini has done it again! His previous novels, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, are among my favorites, and I have been eagerly awaiting this latest release since hearing him speak at the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series a few years ago.

I was thrilled when a review copy from Penguin Audio appeared in my mailbox. The first chapter (narrated by the author) reads like a fable and, in hindsight, can be viewed as the novel's plot in miniature. It literally gave me goosebumps... something that has never happened while listening to an audiobook.

By the second chapter I was totally hooked, and then faced a dilemma as I reached chapter four. The week ahead would allow for minimal driving/listening time, yet I needed to keep reading. So, it was off to the bookstore for a print copy... and 48 hours later, I was done.

My choice to remain vague about the plot is deliberate... you're better off just experiencing this book for yourself. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

A note on the audio production:
The opening chapter/fable read by Hosseini is simply wonderful. He has a lovely voice and a sexy accent. Then Navid Negahban and Shohreh Aghdashloo, team up to read chapters which alternate between male and female voices. Their heavy accents lend an air of authenticity, but require significantly more effort on the part of the listener. There were times when I simply did not understand what they were saying... yet I was so involved in the story, it didn't seem to matter. Again, I only listened to four chapters before switching to print.

Favorite Quotes:

"But there was no forgetting. Pari hovered, unbidden, at the edge of Abdullah's vision everywhere he went. She was like the dust that clung to his shirt. She was in the silences that had become so frequent at the house, silences that welled up between their words, sometimes cold and hollow, sometimes pregnant with things that went unsaid, like a cloud filled with rain that never fell."  p.48-49 

"Parwana kept marching toward her new life. She keeps walking, the darkness around her like a mother's womb, and when it lifts, when she looks up in the dawn haze and catches a band of pale light from the east striking the side if a boulder, it feels like being born." p.72 

"They say, Find a purpose in your life and live it. But, sometimes, it is only after you have lived that you recognize your life had a purpose, and likely one you never had in mind."  p.127

My rating:

Bottom line:
For fans of Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed  was definitely worth the wait!

Audiobook Week: Mid-Week Meme

It's Audiobook Week 2013 - a special week devoted to sharing our love of audiobooks. It's hosted, once again, by Jen at Devourer of Books. Today we have a quick meme to share.

Current/Most Recent Audiobook:

On my phone:
Tess of the D'Urbervilles 
by Thomas Hardy
Narrated by Simon Vance

On CD in the car:
The Last Runaway
by Tracy Chevalier
Narrated by Kate Reading









Impressions:
The last time I started reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles, I quit at page 175. With Simon Vance's help, I've past the halfway mark and am enjoying it very much.

I started The Last Runaway  yesterday and am still on the first CD. Initially I thought it was very simplistic and was unsure about the reader, but settled in quickly and look forward to returning to the story today.

Current/Most Recent Favorite Audiobook:

Calling Me Home: A Novel
by Julie Kibler
Narrated by Bahni Turpin, Lorna Raver










Favorite narrator you’ve discovered recently:
Lorna Raver: She has nearly 90 credits listed on audible, but Calling Me Home  was the first time I've listened to her. It certainly won't be the last.

One title from your audio wishlist:
There are 177 books on my wish list at Audible, so I'll give you the title most recently added.

 The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story
by Lily Koppel
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy








Which audiobooks have you enjoyed recently?
Visit Devourer of Books to see who else has posted a meme today.