The Story of Beautiful Girl

by Rachel Simon
4 Stars
Historical Fiction
Setting: USA
346 pages
Published 2011

Ellie's Review
While reading this novel, I was fascinated by the treatment of handicap and even deaf people back in the 1960’s in the US.  That wasn’t too long ago, yet thankfully our country has changed so much in our views and treatment!  This story about a mentally handicapped girl (maybe autistic?) and a deaf black man is incredible.  Author Rachel Simon has a sister who has an “intellectual disability” and greatly researched the treatment and “schools” for similar people – I loved learning that the book was greatly founded on truth, yet it also sickened me.  This look at people who were often overlooked is amazing, and I really loved and grew attached to the characters in the novel.  I’m excited to discuss this at book club as I feel like the book has many themes and lessons to discuss in addition to the historical aspect.

Book Summary
From the author of the memoir Riding the Bus with My Sister, a moving, uplifting novel about a woman who can't speak, a man who is deaf, and a widow who finds herself suddenly caring for a newborn baby.

The Story of Beautiful Girl gets right under the skin and into the heart with the story of Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability that hinders her ability to speak, and Homan, an African American deaf man with only his home sign language to guide him.  Both were institutionalized in the mid-twentieth century, when people with disabilities were routinely shut off from society and left to languish without attention, forgotten.

One night, Lynnie and her sweetheart, Homan, escape.  They find refuge in the farmhouse of the widow Martha, a retired schoolteacher.  But the couple is not alone; Lynnie has just borne a child.  The authorities catch up to them; Homan escapes into the darkness and Lynnie is caught.  But just before she is gruffly taken back to The School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, she utters two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the tale of three lives desperate to connect, yet kept apart by seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

The Language of Flowers

by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
4 Stars
Setting: USA
336 pages
Published 2011


Ellie's Review
While so much attention has been given recently to international adoptions, foster care here int he USA is ignored.  Vanessa Diffenbaugh is a real foster mom and wrote this novel about a girl in foster care, Victoria, who turns 18 and is on her own.  Yes, that's what happens in real life.  While Victoria figures out how to live on her own, she flashes back to her experiences growing up and you learn about her life.  Victoria learns to express herself through flowers, which was fascinating to me (what did your wedding bouquet represent?).  This book looks at several types of mother-daughter relationships and makes the reader think about what families are.  This was a great book club discussion!

Book Summary

A mesmerizing, moving and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past. 

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love.  But for Victoria Jones, it's been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude.  After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.  

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own.  Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them.  But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what's been missing in her life, and when she's forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it's worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

by Michael Pollan
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Other
205 pages
Published 2007

Ellie's Review
I recently realized that as the main grocery shopper and cook for my family, I determine most of what my children and husband (in addition, obviously, to what I eat). With that pressure, I decided to read this book to learn about eating healthy.  I feel bombarded with new information that I've just recently heard about including antioxidants, gluton, partially hydrogenated oils, triglycerides, etc.  After reading this book, I am not so overwhelmed and know some great ways to provide a healthier diet for my family.

Pollan's first main point is to "eat food".  Go away from processed foods and stick to whole foods.  Pretend like you're grocery shopping with your grandmother or great-great-grandmother and only buy things at the grocery store she would recognize.  The movement of Nutritionism that focuses on individual nutrients is in favor of adding vitamins, etc. into foods such as cereal rather than eating a whole food that is healthy.  That does not yield the same benefits.  Food science is always changing what is good or bad for you.  Just eat whole foods.  His second point is the eat "not too much" food.  His third point is to eat "mostly plants".  I learned about various studies of diets around the world compared to the Western Diet and how the differences might be responsible for drastically different cancer and other disease rates among the populations.

This book taught me some basic ways to buy healthier food for my house.  For the first time, I now have a desire to plant a garden and grow some organic, fresh foods for our consumption.

Book Summary
Michael Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time.  Pollan proposes a new answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: Eat Food.  Not too much.  Mostly Plants.  Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution

by Michelle Moran
5 Stars
Historical Fiction
Setting: France
446 pages
Published 2011

Ellie's Review

Although I've never toured a Madame Tussauds wax museum, I've walked past the NY location numerous times not knowing how this tourist attraction claimed its name.  Who is/was Madame Tussaud? 

I stumbled upon this novel and soon became engrossed in the French Revolution, which is a war I previously did not understand nor not have an interest in.  This historical fiction tale tells of the French Revolution from a girl who makes wax sculptures of famous people in her uncle's salon - this tourist stop started long before I had realized.  She mingled with both sides of the war and was brought into the midst of it.  I learned so much about this turbulent time for France, and I loved being engrossed in this wonderful woman's life.

If you enjoy historical fiction, this is an amazing read!  I'm excited to read other historical fiction novels by Michelle Moran.

Book Summary
Spanning five years, from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom.


Smart and ambitious, Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire.  From her popular model of the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie's museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, and even politics.  Her customers hail form every walk of life, yet her greatest dreams is to attract the attention of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; their stamp of approval on her work could catapult her and her museum to the fame and riches she desires.

Ellie's Review of Michelle Moran's novel Nefertiti

A Christmas Memory

by Truman Capote
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Memoir
Setting: USA
48 pages
Published 1956


Ellie's Review
For a great story to get you in the Christmas spirit, check out Truman Capote's memory of a Christmas when he was a child.  This story is one you can read quickly to boost your Christmas energy to decorate the house or lick envelopes.  It's a nice little story that reminds you that Christmas is about more than Black Friday.


Book Summary
First published in 1956, this much sought-after autobiographical recollection of Truman Capote's rural Alabama boyhood has become a modern-day classic.  Seven-year-old Buddy inaugurates the Christmas season by crying out to his cousin, Miss Sook Falk: "It's fruitcake weather!" Thus begins an unforgettable portrait of an odd but enduring friendship between two innocent souls - one young and one old - and the memories they share of beloved holiday rituals.

The Art of Loving Life

by Sandra Thebaud
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Self Help
78 pages
Published 2011

Ellie's Review
I am someone who is constantly stressed out.  Though I purposefully keep a very busy life, I hate the anguish and sore shoulders caused by stress.  I have read another stress management book that was good to learn about techniques such as deep breathing and visualization.  I felt better while I read it but was soon caught up in my life, forgetting about using my diaphragm to inhale.  The Art of Loving Life crossed my path, and I decided to give stress management a try again to see how it could improve my sore muscles and help me enjoy life a bit more.

While this book did discuss several stress management techniques, it started out by teaching us that to better manage the stress in our lives, we first have to understand what stress is, what causes our personal stress, and how we react to stress.  I had a notepad I used to write down my own definitions of ideas and different types stress in my personal life, as I was instructed.  Then Thebaud helped me understand things differently than before.  

One example is while I focus on the major stressors in my life, my energy is used up in small stressors that I ignore and fail to manage/decrease.  She told of being frustrated at all the laundry she did every day when potty training her son; it was a small thing, but when she purchased more pairs of pants and underwear, her stress level greatly decreased.  I had similar little things in my life I was ignoring even though they caused me anguish.    

Thebaud realizes that most of us do not have extra hours we can daily dedicate to meditation, etc.  She has reasonable suggestions such as practicing deep breathing every time we are stopped at a red light - I can do that!  

I was not a fan of the writing style, but I have noticed a big difference in how relaxed I am and how much I'm enjoying my daily life.  The message is realistic enough for me that I'll keep this book on hand as a reference.  

Book Summary

Life can be difficult and unpredictable.  Sometimes you feel like no one understands what you're going through.  You want a life that you love, but stress can make that seem impossible.

Unlike other stress management books that talk about techniques out of the context of real life, this book approaches life from an emotional standpoint and uses proven techniques to show you how to improve your life, not just deal with stress.  Tried and true techniques have been tweaked to make them easy to practice and more effective.

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum #1)

by Janet Evanovich
3 Stars
Setting: Trenton, New Jersey
320 pages
Published 1994

Ellie's Review
One for the Money tells the tale of an average girl, Stephanie Plum, who turns into a bounty hunter since she's desperate for cash after being laid off.  I could relate to Stephanie's character as she jumps into this new lifestyle (I have no experience with killers, surveillance, or thugs).  This crime mystery was fluffy, sometimes humorous, and definitely geared towards a female audience.  The next time I'm looking for an entertaining and light read, I'll pick the next in the Stephanie Plum series - these are perfect for a flight, beach, or lazy day.

Book Summary
Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store).  Stephanie needs cash--fast--but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family.

Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company.  She's got no experience.  But that doesn't matter.  Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli.  From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e.  And now the guy is in hot water--wanted for murder.

Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn't.  Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she'll make a cool ten grand.  All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight--and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man.