Seven Days of Us - Francesca Hornak

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The Birch family is having to spend the Christmas holiday under quarantine at their country estate due to their oldest daughter’s medical career. For those seven days, they bump up each other and their various personalities and idiosyncrasies. Is a happy holiday had?
I am striking out on Christmas books this season. I found nothing to like about this book other than short chapters, that were easy to read.
I didn’t like or appreciate or care about any of the characters. Perhaps that was the point, and I missed it? They were just all so dysfunctional and self-absorbed. Every.Last.Character.
The “coincidences” where just a bit much. Seriously. Were the 6 main characters the only people on the planet to continue running into each other like that? The “surprises” weren’t surprising at all but could be spotted chapters in advance.
The plot and story telling were ponderous in the minutiae.
Summed up: I just really didn’t care.
That being said, other people in my book club (it was our December choice), enjoyed it. So perhaps it’s just me.
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The Space Between Us - Thrity Umrigar

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story focuses on two women and their relationships - with each other, their husbands, their children, and, more subtly, the modern India at large. Bhima has worked for Sera for decades, providing for her own family's sustenance. It's an intimate and thought provoking look at their lives.

This was the book choice for the club I am currently leading. And it definitely gave us a lot of discussion points. Reading it was really a cycle of hope and despair. The ways the lives intertwined was intriguing to me. I am looking forward to the second book coming out June 2018

Trigger warnings: abuse

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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was not at all what I expected. And I adored it. However, it's a 4 start instead of 5 as it took me until halfway through the book to begin adoring it.

Eleanor is different. She suffers through the workweek, more than competent at her job, only to drink her way through the weekend so she can get back to what she knows. She is unskilled and awkward in social settings and even in the office. But then Eleanor meets Raymond, the new guy working IT at the office. As a result, she begins to shift out of her isolation. It's a beautiful and messy transition.

First of all, I have to say this book is full of amazingly deep thoughts and quotes to pull out and ponder. About love. About loneliness. About what it takes to be accepted in today's society. About judgment and assumptions and opening oneself to others. Profound.

Gail Honeyman's insight into humanity is keen. She has created a character in Eleanor that I didn't particularly like for the first part of the book. She was judgmental and odd. But then a shift happened. The more I learned of her story, the more I understood her quirks. The more I understood, the more sympathetic I could be. I was rooting for her 100% by the end (the end which I loved, by the way). I think that alone speaks to the fact that we need to take to the time to connect and listen to each other's stories.

Raymond, with his own awkwardness, was probably my favorite character. He really saw people for who they were. That was powerful.

There is some language, drinking (the vodka every weekend for sure), and some racy discussion. None of it was out of character nor was it much.

I'm already stalking Gail Honeyman's internet presence to see when her next book will be released.

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