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Reviews by Chris H. (Wauwatosa, WI)

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Still Life Las Vegas
Still Life Las Vegas
by James Sie
Still Life Las Vegas (6/19/2015)
Very interesting characters who play off each other well. That is my main reason for liking the book.
He Wanted the Moon
He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him
by Mimi Baird with Eve Claxton
He Wanted the Moon (3/11/2015)
I thank the author of this book for sharing her story. It is told in a wonderfully honest, true, and brave way. I would recommend it to anyone who is touched by any mental disease and especially bipolar disorder. The first part of the book which tells her father's story is remarkable. That her father left such a detailed record of his work and illness is amazing! It gave his daughter a light into her own life.
The Book of Strange New Things
The Book of Strange New Things: A Novel
by Michel Faber
Strange New Things (9/1/2014)
I don't know how to begin to review this book except to say it's thrilling, frightening, and compelling. I would recommend it as a "must read" on anyone's book list.
Brutal Youth
Brutal Youth
by Anthony Breznican
Brutal Youth (6/29/2014)
This book was certainly a page turner, but nothing more. I could not connect with the characters, the storyline was all over the place and the story in itself overdone.
How to Be a Good Wife
How to Be a Good Wife
by Emma Chapman
How To Be a Good Wife (9/12/2013)
I found this book a bit confusing right from the title. There was not even one character I felt especially interested in. It wasn't a bad book, but just a book. Not memorable for me.
Rage Against the Dying
Rage Against the Dying
by Becky Masterman
Rage Against the Dying (1/28/2013)
I was looking forward to reading this book as it is not typically the type of book I read a lot. However, I do love a good thriller/murder mystery! Rage Against the Dying fell far below what I hoped for. I found it to be unmemorable. The characters were not ones that seemed to mesh with each other and that is part of what makes this genre exciting. I wanted a "can't put down" book and this fell short.
Sharp
Sharp: A Memoir
by David Fitzpatrick
Sharp (8/4/2012)
I found this book to be a compelling and insightful look into the life of someone who self-mutilates by cutting. As this is not a topic that is not talked or written about as much as other addictions, I thank and applaud the author for the courageous telling of his personal story.
The Voluntourist
The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem
by Ken Budd
Full Circle (5/25/2012)
The life of Ken Budd as a "Voluntourist" is compelling and and while being his own personal journey I found it really resonated with me. He came to a time in his life when he felt a need for something more. This need led him around the world where he was filling needs of others. The whole coming full circle is wonderful to read. Thanks, Ken Budd, for sharing this part of your life!
The Starboard Sea
The Starboard Sea: A Novel
by Amber Dermont
Starboard Sea (2/21/2012)
I found this novel to be a cookie cutter story of prep school boys from rich families gone bad. The story revolves around an individual who was kicked out of the "good" prep school and now attends the prep school for "bad" and troubled kids. Decisions are made, some are mistakes, kids learn, sometimes with life changing results. I'm afraid the best thing I can say is that the book kept me interested long enough to finish.
The Night Circus
The Night Circus: A Novel
by Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus (8/20/2011)
This was a book I could not put down! The characters are fascinating and so memorable. The settings, interactions, and conversations are fantastically described. I could see it all and imagine being there.

The overall setting of a circus is irresistible and a circus that's only open at night....who would want to resist?
Radio Shangri-La
Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth
by Lisa Napoli
Radio Shangri-La (4/10/2011)
When I had the chance to get this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy, I couldn't wait for it to come. As the author described of herself, I have been feeling much the same "itch" to go somewhere very different and have my eyes opened to what life could really be. This book was to describe her experience and this was the book for me! I found that her writing style was flat. It didn't describe Bhutan with the excitement that made me able to picture it and want to go there. I found the same in the way she wrote about her relationships with people, both those she became close to and those she met casually. It could be I was wanting too much, but I would not recommend this book and have read several other books of this kind that I keep forefront and dying to visit those places.
City of Tranquil Light
City of Tranquil Light: A Novel
by Bo Caldwell
City of Tranquil Light (9/13/2010)
This is a beautifully written book and one that I found captivating. I was captivated by the love of the missionary couple for each other, by their unrelenting belief and faith in what they were doing, and by their interest and selfless compassion for the people they came to know and love in China - a country they quickly took on as their own.
Daughters of the Witching Hill
Daughters of the Witching Hill: A Novel
by Mary Sharratt
Daughters of the Witching Hill (4/2/2010)
I found this to be a very captivating book of historical fiction. It was difficult to put down right from the beginning as the author drew me into the life of Bess Southerns and her family. It's fascinating to think of the times of the witch trials and read an account, even a fictional one, of how a community can get caught up in blame and persecution of an individual and then a family when something is wrong or unexplained. Certainly not a novel concept throughout history. I recommend this book without hesitation!
Making Toast
Making Toast: A Family Story
by Roger Rosenblatt
Making Toast (12/17/2009)
A wonderfully written account of how one family handles a very painful event. This is a memoir of parents whose daughter dies leaving behind a husband and three young children. The author and his wife leave behind the life they have to join the lives of their grandchildren taking up all the things that their mother had done from carpooling to playdates to bedtimes rituals. I can think of no more heartwarming relationship than a grandparent and grandchild. Although this relationship is forged through painful conditions, the story is told in such a honest and factual, but warm and loving way that this is a read that you will learn from and remember.
The Possibility of Everything
The Possibility of Everything
by Hope Edelman
More like a travelogue (8/15/2009)
I enjoy Hope Edelman's writing style and based on the title and book description was looking forward to her views on the "leap of faith" that transformed her life. For me, that is where the book was lacking. What I wanted and what kept me reading was for her to tell more about her experience in the Belize jungle with her daughter and the healers that changed life for them. I wanted to be in her head with her thoughts and emotions, but that is where I felt the book fell flat and became more of a description of their travels and less of their experiences.
The Earth Hums in B Flat
The Earth Hums in B Flat
by Mari Strachan
The Earth Hums in B Flat (5/16/2009)
This is a book written with a lot of freshness. Definitely not the same old, same old. It is written from the perspective of 12-year-old Gwenni. She hears about things in her small village in Wales she wants to understand and no matter how many times she is told to mind her own business or who tells her, she has a irrepressible spirit that doesn't give up. There is a disappearance of a man in the village which is a mystery she is determined to get to the bottom of. I was enchanted by Gwenni and the stories of her small village and the people who live there.
Murderers in Mausoleums
Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing
by Jeffrey Tayler
Murderers In Mausoleums (10/4/2008)
Get out your Atlas as you follow Jeffrey Tayler's travels in Murderers In Mausoleums. The author takes you on a sometimes too detailed trip describing history at great length and spending too much time talking about the landscape as he traveled. While I found that interesting, I would have preferred more about the people he met and the discussions they had about "why democracy isn't thriving" as we Westerners think it should be. Overall, not what I expected from the book jacket description, but interesting nonetheless.
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