Review: Saving Peace by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Saving Peace by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
ASIN: B006VIOZ1A










 Saving Peace follows a group of women thirty years from students at  women only Peace University to their middle age.  Siobahn, calculating, in everything she does snags the man and manages to become a local news anchor.  Her ambition wreaks havoc on all her relationships, since she only interacts with people if there is some benefit to her. Mary Ann, the charming southern girl, is the first to marry but sets aside her poetry and writing to be a stay at home mom to her infant, teenage, and adult sons. Putting her dreams aside to focus on her family and her absent husband causes severe depression. Kim overcomes cancer and bulimia to become president of Peace University. Her decision to admit male students to Peace University sparks much criticism and angst amongst students and alumna of the school.

 Saving Peace intertwines the stories of the three women across the years. Although outside of the first couple pages of the books, they didn't really seem like friends.  Over the years they mainly communicate by voice messages and chance meetings.  As the story progresses, I was left to wonder why they bothered. The benefits to continued friendship or even acquaintance seemed minimal.  Not to mention that they didn't seem to have any other friends.  They all are emotional train wrecks. There were also issues with time: the term Bridezilla was thrown around and Golden Girls didn't start until 1985 although the girls were supposed to be watching it together in 1977.  Also one of the character's son had a Game Boy in 1988 even though they weren't released anywhere until 1989.
 

Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar is a South Asian American who has lived in Qatar since 2005. Moving to
the Arabian Desert was fortuitous in many ways since this is where she met her husband, had a baby,
and made the transition from writing as a hobby to a full time passion. She has since published five e-
books including a mom-ior for first time mothers, Mommy But Still Me, a guide for aspiring writers, So
You Want to Sell a Million Copies, a short story collection, Coloured and Other Stories, and a novel
about women’s friendships, Saving Peace. Most recently, From Dunes to Dior, is a collection of essays
related to her experiences as a female South Asian American living in the Arabian Gulf. After she
joined the e-book revolution, she dreams in plotlines. Learn more about her work on her website at
www.mohanalakshmi.com or follow her latest on Twitter: @moha_doha.

Review: Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple
Publisher: Little, Brown, & Co.
Publication Date: August 14, 2012

Aloof and disinterested in socializing, Bernadette Fox is the object of morbid curiosity from her neighbors and the parents at her daughter's school.  Everything gives her a tizzy fit (cold Seattle people, weird design of intersections in Seattle, Idaho drivers, Canadians, etc.) causing trips outside her house to be major ordeal.  Trying to avoid human interactions and the ensuing anxiety leads Bernadette to basically hand over her life to her secret virtual assistant Manjula in India.

Bernadette's husband Elgin Branch works at Microsoft and is the lead on a major project. He is totally absorbed in the Microsoft culture to the detriment of his relationships with his wife and daughter. Her daughter Bee (short for Balakrishna) is 14 years old and small for her age.  They represent the bulk of her non-Manjula communications.  Despite her anxiety issues and irritability, she is a great mom to Bee.  When Bee requests a trip to Antarctica as a reward for excellent grades, Bernadette agrees to having a family vacation.

Everything starts to go to pot when a neighbor accuses Bernadette of running over her foot.  Removing her blackberry bushes at the same neighbors request just results in a fundraiser ruining mudslide.  Add in some alleged shadiness on the part of Manjula and Bernadette starts to slip even further.  Being recognized by a passerby is the icing on the cake.  Elgin, unaware of all the troubles Bernadette is dealing with, starts to fear for her metal health after several strange incidents.  When he holds an intervention, Bernadette bolts. 

Using the accumulated documents, Bee discovers Bernadette's whereabouts and we finally get to here from the lady herself. Bernadette Fox was a innovative designer; she was incorporating environmentally friendly building techniques before they were a thing.  She is a legend in architectural circles for building The Twenty Mile House plan free and entirely from materials sourced from both the sites and locally.  After the incident, Bernadette runs to Seattle and avoids any mention of the Twenty Mile House.  Elgin thinks once Bee is born that all is past but once he starts paying attention he sees her massive issues for the first time.  Despite Bernadette's issues, her help and support allowed him to be the Microsoft absorbed man he was.

Where'd You Go Bernadette is a great novel.  I totally like this book almost 100%.  The characters were well written and crafted with care- even some of the side plots that seemed superfluous were integrated with the rest of the plot. I was so engrossed: it was totally annoying to have to take breaks for work, dinner, socializing, etc. Maria Semple wrote for one of my favorite shows Arrested Development and now one of my favorite books this year. 


**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Review: The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel

The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: August 7, 2012

Hope McKenna-Smith has hard time the last few years.  She divorced her husband, lost her mother to cancer, is dealing with a moody 12 year old daughter, struggling to keep her bakery afloat, and is watching helplessly as her grandmother succumbs to Alzheimers.  When her grandmother presents her a list of people to locate in her native Paris and a check, she thinks it's just senile ramblings.  Giving in to her daughter's nagging, she agrees to attempt to find information about her grandmother's family.  Little does she know how delving into her grandmother's past will change and enrich her life.

Digging into her grandmother's past leads to a French organization which archives family histories and stories of Holocaust survivors and those who perished. Realizing she has Jewish heritage and seeing relics of the Holocaust gives Hope a renewed sorrow for those who suffered and shines some light on her grandmother's personality.  She also finds out about the alliance between Jews and Muslims which helped her grandmother to survive.  Hope cannot even fathom the choices her grandmother had to make and the consequences of those choices.  Each new piece of information Hope unravels gives her life own life greater meaning and appreciation for the events of her past..

The Sweetness of Forgetting is a great book about the way our choices can affect future generations.  Rose's decisions trickled down to her granddaughter Hope.  Hope's journey changes her and lets her know it's ok to travel the road less traveled. She is finally able to stand up to her exhusband and as she learns about the past she gains appreciation for her past and the rich history of her family. 

**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**