Bone Gap
By: Laura Ruby

Published: 2015

# of pages: 373

Challenge: Full House, Ultimate Reading Challenge

Quote: "She said, 'Do you love me yet?'
He recoiled from her, from the look of her.  'You don't love me because you can't see me,' she said.  'Look!  Look!  I am beautiful now.  I am beautiful.'"

Official description:  Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?
Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.
As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.

My opinion:  I usually don't enjoy books in the magical realism genre so much, but I loved Bone Gap. It was a well written, original story with a beautiful message.

Why I gave this book 5/5 stars:  Well written, beautiful message, identifiable characters

Other reviews:
things mean a lot

Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.

The Snow Child


By: Eowyn Ivey

Challenge: Once Upon a Time

Published:  2012

# of pages:  386

Quote:  "Cradling a swaddled infant in their arms, mothers would distractedly touch their lips to their babies' foreheads.  Passing their toddlers in a hall, mothers would tousle their hair or even sweep them up in their arms and kiss them hard along their chins and necks until the children squealed with glee.  Where else in life, Mabel wondered, could a woman love so openly and with such abandon?"  -pg. 328

Official description: Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

My opinion:  I loved this book!  I can't explain all the reasons why without spoilers, but I can say that the writing is beautiful.  The characters are well developed and relatable.  I loved the transitions in the book...how we are right there with Jack and Mabel as their lives change.  I also felt like the novel was full of mystery.  I kept imagining what would happen next and coming up with theories, but was always surprised.

I think this book encompasses several genres.  It's a retelling of a fairy tale, but also magical realism and historical fiction.

I'd love to see this book made into a movie someday.  I wanted to be there.  The descriptions drew me in, they are just beautiful.

It was hard to read at times.  The subject of infertility and stillbirth is hard for any mother to read about, I'm sure.  I know it will be even harder for those who have been through those situations.  But it's such a beautiful love story at the same time.


Why I gave this book 5/5 stars: Well written, unique story, beautiful descriptions.

Other reviews:
Book Nut
Literary Musings

Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.

Practical Magic
by: Alice Hoffman

Published: 2003

# of pages: 304


Whew! It's been forever since I've posted! I haven't read a whole lot of interesting books since February, but now I'm starting to pick up the pace again so I'm back to blogging. I read this one a long time ago, but I'm going to go ahead and do a short review.

I honestly didn't care for this book. I like the whole magical realism genre, I think it's very interesting. However, I thought that Practical Magic had too much unnecessary crudeness and language in it. The overall story is fun though. I remember enjoying the movie, I think that if you are interested in this book you might as well just watch the movie. It's different, but I think it's different in a good way.

That being said, the story is very girl power. It's about two sisters who grew up with their two aunts, who are known to be witches. The two sisters go their separate ways as they grow up and one has two daughters. When the daughters are teenagers an event happens that brings the other sister into town. The 4 women become close as they live together over a summer. The daughters start becoming women, all of them start to find their place in the world as they confront their pasts, and they all start falling in love with four different men. Of course, the two old aunts have to come and be a part of all of this bonding so they come along at the end of the summer and everyone is happy.

Chocolat
by: Joanne Harris

Published: 1999

# of pages: 306

Quote: "'It sounds stupid, but I used to think that there must have been a mistake somewhere, that one day someone was going to come and tell me that it wasn't happening, that this was all some other woman's dream and that none of it could ever have happened to me --'" -Josephine pp. 175-176


What an enjoyable book! It was short but had a lot of depth. I love reading books that really make you think every once in awhile. This book may be considered by some to be "anti-Christian," but I think that if anything it would be anti-Catholic. Even so, I don't think it has to be about religion versus paganism. My mom read this before I did and said she felt it was more pleasure versus legalism and I agree. The Catholic church and paganism (magic) are used as examples, but the underlying battle is between legalism and pleasure. Also, it is a typical battle of good versus evil.

The story is told by Vianne Rocher, a wandering single mother who decides to open a chocolate shop in a small French town. She works hard to open the shop and make new friends. She quickly has an impact on the town, especially the "outcasts" such as an old witch, gypsies, an abused woman, and a man whose best friend is his dog. She helps all of these people and accepts them as they are. The other parts of the book are told by Reynauld, the curate of the village church. He immediately hates Vianna and her daughter and does everything he can to keep people from visiting her shop. He preaches against indulging in chocolates during Lent, and creates friction and sees every move she makes as a battle he has to retaliate against.

These two characters are completely opposites, one is good, loving, and accepting while the other is evil, filled with hate, and manipulative. However, it was interesting to see what the two have in common as well. Both have strong pasts that they continue to remember as the story progresses. They both had parental figures that influenced the people they turned out to be. They are both passionate and have strong desires.

Overall this was a very well written as well as fascinating book. The descriptions were intricate and delicious (they really are!). You should definitely keep some chocolate nearby while you read! I also enjoyed the fact that Harris bases parts of the book after her own life and family members. The book does have some bad language, but I definitely recommend it to adults who are looking for a good read or who enjoy the magic realism genre.