Book Review: Take This Man

Author: Brando Skyhorse
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 5/5
Verdict: An unforgettable, poignant memoir. Full five stars from me! Read it right away.

Note: I received an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) of this book from Simon and Schuster through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I stumbled upon this book in one of the book blogs listed as one of the most anticipated reads of 2014 and I had marked it on my to-read list a while back. I usually read the synopsis before starting on any book, but for this one, I didn't and I am glad I didn't. After finishing the book, I went back and read the blurb. I don't think it would have made an impact on me as much because this book is so much more than what is contained in those few words that attempt to describe it.

"Dysfunctional" childhood doesn't even begin to explain what it means to be abandoned by your own father at a tender age of three and growing up with a tough grandmother, a delusional mother, and five stepfathers. That is just too bizarre to even comprehend it, but Brando Skyhorse has actually lived this life for real. A Mexican-American by birth, his mother Maria decides to reinvent herself and Brando as a Native American and renames herself as Running Deer Skyhorse. She lies to young Brando about his father's identity and heritage (he was told his father was an incarcerated Native activist named Paul Skyhorse). This marks the beginning of the pattern of Maria trying to find a suitable father figure and brings home one man after another who all just come and go at their own will. A man is brought home without room for any questions, Brando is made to accept him as a father and begins to get attached to him only to find the man leave without a trace. Each so-called-father's abandonment fills Brando's life with a void bigger than life that becomes irreplaceable and Brando is left questioning his own ability to be a father himself.

Maria is drowned is her own world of delusion and is emotionally abusive. She is a mess and takes it out all on Brando in ways cruel than you can even imagine. She runs her own phone-sex business and keeps moving from one man to another without batting an eye. Her justification for her actions - "At least it never gets boring" pretty much sums up her life. Her attitude towards Brando and his Vietnamese girlfriend was brutal and the mother in me wanted to choke her for all the cruelty. There just cannot be any justification to her actions, she was just a really sad person inside. It was distressing at times to read all about the suffering of Brando in the hands of his mother, yet he couldn't leave her because she was all he had. It was really heart wrenching and brought tears.

Maria's mother, June was a tough yet soft woman who took care of Brando through his early years when Maria was busy searching for a suitable surrogate father. When it came to Maria, I felt that she had a soft corner for her daughter, even after witnessing all the pain inflicted by Maria and when each man came by, they both got together to make sure he cannot find his ways around them and he plays by their rules in the house. Brando finally accepts himself as a Mexican and after both Maria and June eventually die, he goes in search of his biological father and begins to make peace with one of his stepfathers and the birth father.

With such a mother and stepfathers, it is amazing to think about how Brando Skyhorse survived and I was even more impressed when I found out he is a brilliant Stanford graduate. That is a true testament to how resilient he is and that was one thing I was most looking forward to reading towards the end of this book. During the closing chapters, Brando writes about how he tries to find closure, but all those childhood incidents and upbringing has left a lasting effect on his relationships. I doubt if he will find complete closure ever. The final few chapters were the strongest in my opinion and has impacted me very much.  Being a mother myself, I know the importance of a family and more importantly a functional one. I cannot imagine how one can stay sane and alive being raised in a totally dysfunctional family. Reading about it made me so grateful for my family and ideal childhood, and equally sad at someone not even knowing what a loving family is.  Brando has given us honest peek into the darkest secrets of his life and the harrowing experiences and trauma he has endured all through his life. I sincerely wish he finds peace with his inner-self and begins to live a normal life.

This is a fabulous book and held me captive right from page 1. I finished it in 5 hours straight and would recommend it to anyone without a second thought. You cannot miss this!

Book Review: Cutting teeth

Author: Julia Fierro
Genre: Family, fiction, Chick-lit
Rating: 4/5
Verdict: A perfect portrayal of the complexities, dilemmas and vulnerabilities of early mid-life and the challenges of modern-day parenting. Highly recommended albeit the slightly over-dramatized characters.

Note: I received an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

From Goodreads:
One of the most anticipated debut novels of 2014, Cutting Teeth takes place one late-summer weekend as a group of thirty-something couples gather at a shabby beach house on Long Island, their young children in tow. They include Nicole, the neurotic hostess terrified by internet rumors that something big and bad is going to happen in New York City that week; stay-at-home dad Rip, grappling with the reality that his careerist wife will likely deny him a second child, forcing him to disrupt the life he loves; Allie, one half of a two-mom family, and an ambitious artist, facing her ambivalence toward family life; Tiffany, comfortable with her amazing body but not so comfortable in the upper-middle class world the other characters were born into; and Leigh, a blue blood secretly facing financial ruin and dependent on Tenzin, the magical Tibetan nanny everyone else covets. These tensions build, burn, and collide over the course of the weekend, culminating in a scene in which the ultimate rule of the group is broken. 

I was looking to alternate my travel reads with something light and easy to read, since the travel-writing books tend to get a bit boring at times and I am glad I received this book at the right time. 
First off, I'd like to mention that, if you are a parent there is more chance you can totally relate to many of the characters/parents and incidents in the story. Julia does a great job of focusing on almost all of the pitfalls of modern-day parenting and the conversations that happen inevitably when parents meet, ranging from nannies, to the best private schools to organic-vs-non-organic food debates. At the outset, it might seem like you are introduced to a lot of characters and makes you think its going to be hard to keep track of what everyone is up to, but Julia makes it a point to juggle their stories around perfectly and the transition between each chapter is seamless.

Cutting teeth is about a group of upper-middle class Brooklyn parents who are joined together as part of their children's playgroup.  Each character is portrayed as a high-drama and a super complex one with each having a unique issue of their own, the children included. Nicole - the super obsessive and paranoia mom who turns to her secret stash of marijuana to prevent her from going insane. Leigh - the former debutante who has a high needs child, Chase and often seeks the help of her Tibetian nanny, Tenzin, who is referred to as the "Tibetian Mary Poppins" to calm Chase down. Rip - The stay-at-home daddy, the only man in the playgroup, often calls himself "mommy" who is desperate to have another child to feel necessary and wanted. Tiffany - the know-it-all mommy who has a 4 year old diva, and is desperate to prove she is not white-trash. The pregnant lesbian mom - Susanna with her twin boys and her partner, Allie.

For the most part, the novel seems to chronicle the frustrations of the parents that have them trapped in a terrible emotional quagmire. The story gives us an honest peek into the lives of these complicated characters and their interactions. As a reader, we get to witness the secrets, the troubles and the desperation that pushes people to act a certain way which we normally don't get to witness in day-to-day life as an outsider. Despite all this, they are still loving parents who want nothing but the best for their kids. Although I could not relate to their lifestyle and the problems these parents face, I could empathize with most of them and often found myself vigorously nodding my head along while reading their conversations. 

Cutting teeth is an absolute no-nonsense book about a bunch of parents who could very well be the parents and people we meet in our day-to-day lives minus the pleasantries and the superficial smiles that entails our discussions. It is brutally honest, it is straight and portrays the ultimate harsh truths about parenting and the challenges associated with it. Julia is a terrific writer and has shaped each character's personality well that it remains their "tagline" or something that comes to your mind first when you think of them after finishing the book. I can't pick any one character as my favorite since you are bound to dislike all of them at various points in time throughout the story.  My only gripe being the fact that almost all the characters were over-dramatized and the ending was rather abrupt and rushed.

Cutting teeth is a perfect juicy beach read, you will find yourself rapidly turning pages anxious to find out where the story leads you. I can absolutely see it becoming the hit of the summer. 

Book Review: Little Beach Street Bakery

Author: Jenny Colgan
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 4/5
Verdict: A warm and enjoyable read which will make you want to live by the sea and eat lots of bread.

Ever since I read Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe, I've become a huge fan of Jenny Colgan's writing, so needless to say, I had been waiting to read this book. A huge thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for sending me an advanced review copy of this book.

Blurb:
Polly Waterford is recovering from a toxic relationship. Unable to afford their flat, she has to move miles away from everyone, to a sleepy little seaside resort in Cornwall, where she lives alone above an abandoned shop.  
And so Polly takes out her frustrations on her favourite hobby: making bread. But what was previously a weekend diversion suddenly becomes far more important as she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better. With nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, with local honey (courtesy of local bee keeper, Huckle), and with reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes and bakes . . .
And people start to hear about it. 
Sometimes, bread really is life . . . And Polly is about to reclaim hers.

First things first - The cover of the book is adorable, much like all of Jenny's other books. It matches the storyline perfectly and there is something really warm about the cover that it puts you in such a good mood the moment you look at it. The story begins with Polly Waterford and her boyfriend's business failing and declaring bankruptcy, their flat is for sale and their relationship is at its end. Polly struggles to find a place to live and moves to the small sea-side town of Mt. Polbearne. She is forced to live in a place above an old abandoned shop because that is the only one she can afford in her current state. She gradually begins to warm-up to the new place - living close to the sea, the fishermen around town and the local beekeeper. She finds solace in baking bread and spreading the joy and comfort of her baking among all the people and it helps her make friends. The rest of the story is about how Polly uses her skills at baking in starting a new life for herself in Mt. Polbearne, with some super-sweet romance along the way.

I must admit that I was not held captive after reading the first two chapters unlike what I had expected. May be because, the lowest times of the story were all contained in the first two chapters and the story opens up with a failing business and relationship. I put the book away and got back to it after a few days. Once I got to the part where the story moves to Mt.Polbearne, I really started enjoying the book. One of my dreams is to live by the beach/sea-side and this was a perfect story in that sense, it made me long for the day when I can just open my windows and there is nothing to look at but the waves splashing against the shore. I could totally picture the cozy and beautiful town of Mt. Polbearne from Jenny's descriptive writing. Her description of the different breads sounds sinfully delicious and totally leaves you mouth-watering much like in all of her other books. Only she could have made me want to get some flour and start kneading the dough.

I admired Polly's character all through out - the no-nonsense woman, cool as a cucumber during life's toughest times and always looking forward to moving on to something better in life rather than sitting around and sulking. Her stubbornness when Huckle asks her to move in with him in Savannah and her determination and courage with which she tackles the landlord lady totally made me cheer for her at every step along the way. Though at first, I couldn't feel any chemistry between her and Huckle, as I turned the pages, I was looking forward to their romance and the spark between them.

The other characters that stand out are Huckle, Mrs. Manse, Tarnie and Reuben. I was disturbed for quite sometime learning about Mrs. Manse's past, and the image of her standing on the edge of the sea at nights waiting for her loved ones still haunts me. I really liked both Tarnie and Huckle's characters, Jenny's description of both the men is lovely so much so that you almost drool over them ;) The conversations between Reuben and Polly's best friend Kerensa are really hilarious and had me in splits.

Oh! how can I forget the cutest character of all - Neil the puffin - An adorable sea bird and Polly's best friend when she was all alone during her initial days at Mt. Polbearne. He sure is everyone's sweetheart! The puffin and the Polly-Huckle romance are two of my most favorite picks from the story.

One thing that I loved in both Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe and this novel is about how an important event happens that makes everyone comes together and support each other during tough times! It always brightens up my day knowing and thinking of all the people who are out there looking out for me. It leaves me with a warm and fuzzy feeling to be blessed and associated with so many good people.

I loved this book and I am sure any Jenny Colgan fan will not be disappointed with this book. This is a perfect spring read with a very simple and sweet story line. It will leave you feeling extremely comforted and satisfied when you finish the book. I highly recommend it.