The Lion Women of Tehran

Yeah, I finally read The Lion Women of Tehran, written by Marjan Kamali.

I have missed two in person opportunities to meet Marjan and listen to her speak about her book.  That is disappointing. But I did finally sit down and read the book and I am so glad I did.  This is a powerful, fast moving, intimate look at the life of women living in Tehran during the 1950s through the 70s.  You will not put the book down once you start reading.  You will not be able to wait to make sure the characters you become close to are safe.  

Kamali makes the characters so human and likable you will be invested in their successes and failures.  You will be concerned when they suffer and cheer when they are succeed.

Ellie at the age of seven and her mother are forced to move from the wealthy neighborhood of Terhan to a small home in a poor neighborhood when her father dies unexpectedly.  Her mother always concerned with her standing in society tries to keep Ellie from making friends with Homa, a girl from the neighborhood.  Ellie does not understand her mother's opinions and rebels.  Homa and Ellie will be live long friends. 

When her mother remarries her Uncle he brings them back to the wealthy society that her mother feels comfortable in.  The girls are separated and Ellie is now a popular student in a fancy school.  Homa works hard to pull herself up and attend the same high school and reappears in Ellie's life. Homa is a strong person with a great self image.  She is herself wherever she is.  Ellie is the weaker person, not secure in herself, needing to fit in and follow the crowd.

Though the girls have different dreams in life, they connect and separate many times because their friendship really runs deep.  Life experiences bring them together and tear them apart over and over again.

Against the backdrop of Iran's history we follow Homa and Ellie through college and marriages,,, through the country struggling with political turmoil toward democracy.

This book will bring back all the news stories of the 1970s and 80s, The Iran Hostage Crisis, the Shah leaving Iran in disgrace and the Iran Revolution and the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini.  

Ellie now married moves to New York in the 1980s.  She is following the news about Iran from there.  Homa is a part of the women's resistance movement in Iran trying to get women's rights. 

With many twists and unexpected turns this is a fabulous story about the power of friendship, and the tenacity of "Lion Women"fierce, courageous, and brave women.

The Phoenix Pencil Company

 The Phoenix Pencil Company written by Allison King.  I picked this book off the self because it must have something to do with pencils. I enjoy writing and my father and sister use pencils for their artwork. So the book might be interesting, and maybe I could recommend it to one of them.

Ok, so the book is about pencils and a company that makes the pencils. But that is where any connection to real life use of pencils pretty much ends.  So if you suspend your attachment to reality and go along with the premise of the novel this is a romantic story of cousins and their jealousy and connection.  A story of true love and heartbreak.  

Narrated by Monica Tsai , a young woman living in Boston with her grandparents.  She is in college and working with her professor coding a new program that connects strangers online.   Her grandmother, Yun, whose memory is beginning to fade, has lived through two wars in China and spent her youth working with her mother, aunt and cousin, Meng, in a Pencil Factory in China.  But this was not just a pencil factory and the owners had a secret.   They had a special gift that allowed them to see what had been written with the pencil, which was called Reforging..

The pencils were hollow. Whatever was written with the pencil would be saved and if it was brought back to Yun and her family, they could reforge it and know everything that has been written with the pencil.  When the government finds out about this power they are forced into a life of espionage, revealing people's stories to survive.

Monica meets a woman through her new program who brings Yun a pencil to reforge after so many years.  Through this relationship and the memories of Yun we learn the history of and story of Yun and Meng and how they lost touch.

Monica learns about the family secret and reveals a secret of her own. She learns about trust, love and memory.  The book also quietly compares how the reforging of pencils and the technology of the computer to save memories and personal information are similar.  

Too Old For This

 Too Old For This is anther in my pile of mystery novels about elderly women. Again the author, Samatha Downing may just be a little too young to understand that 75 years old is not considered so old these days.

As I get closer to the that age it dos not seem so much like the old ladies I remember as a young person.  We are mostly not the old lady stereotype that wears a housecoat all day and walks bent over with a walker.

Lottie Jones is living the quiet life she thought she wanted, bingo at church with friends, her son is getting married for the second time and she has two teenage grand children from her son's first marriage. The past is behind her until one day a young persistent woman rings her doorbell.

Plum Dixon comes calling with a file from Lottie's past, when she was Lorena Mae Lansdale.  Plum wants to make a documentary about Lottie and she says help clear her name from the three murders she was accused of killing forty years ago.

When Plum doesn't take a simple no as the answer, Lottie has to take action even though she really does not want ruin her idyllic lifestyle. 

This starts Lottie off on a killing spree to cover her tracks. As the list of missing persons grows, Lottie has to be careful not to make a mistake that will lead back to her. This is both a very entertaining look at an elderly woman trying to keep her secret safe and a disturbing story about a woman who kills first and asks questions later.

A funny, macabre novel with a great twist at the end.  You are enthralled with Lottie and her friends as they cook together and play bingo .  Then you are nervous anxious every time Lottie someone knocks on her front door.

A Study in Secrets

 A Study in Secrets, Last Chance Academy #1is written by Debbi Michiko Florence.

This book is a fun middle grade novel showing how friendship can be really strong or sometimes can go sideways.

Learning to trust friends is difficult and learning to be a trustworthy friend is hard.  

Meg is sent to a boarding school after her mother dies and because she thinks her father is too busy too live with her.  Her best friend from childhood has turned her back and Meg thinks she needs to only take of herself.  As her new roommate starts to get Meg to let down her guard a secret contest begins at the Last Chance Academy.  Along with two other classmates they start solving the puzzles that will lead to the prize, a vacation trip. Meg really wants to win, but is it all costs?  A lesson in working together , realizing that sometimes trusting your friends leads to a better outcome than working alone.

It looks like author, Debbi Michiko Florence has more plans for Meg and her friends at the Last Chance Academy.  

The Teacher of Nomad Land

 Another great middle school novel, The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri teaches us all a great lesson.

This novel is a World War II story set in Iran. For me this was a new perspective of the war.  A country that I had not thought about being involved in the war. Iran was a neutral country but it was occupied by both British and Soviet forces.

We meet a two young children, a brother and sister, who have just lost both their parents.  Orphaned and afraid of being separated they set out to meet up with a nomad troop as they travel from their winter home to the their summer land.

Babak needs to prove himself useful to the leader of the tribe to be able to continue along with the nomads.  He carries the heavy blackboard his farther used as a teacher and offers to teach the nomad children as they travel.  His little sister, Sana, proves to be even more compassionate and understanding of the human condition than 12 year Babak.  Together they work against the odds to survive in a barren war torn country.

Along the way they meet a young Jewish boy trying to stay one step ahead of a Nazi hunter.  At first because of the language difference and his appearance they do not trust him. Then as Babak tries to communicate and the children all understand the situation they become allies. 

This is a story of survival, bridging cultural divides and the power of education and empathy.

Goldenseal

 Goldenseal is the newest novel written by author, Maria Hummel.  This is a short, simple story with a large, intense plot and message.

When two women have a very close long friendship that we learn about as it revealed from the present looking backwards.  The novel starts with the two women coming back together after years apart after a betrayal tears them apart.

Lacey grew up with her loving parents in a luxury hotel her father owned and managed. Her father, Papi, came to the United States from Germany before WWII.

Her mother, Mutti, is from a Jewish family who all lost their lives in the Holocaust. This affects her mother for the rest of her life.  Lacey is sent to summer camp for one summer which changes the direction of her life. She meets Edith at camp and they become fast friends.  Edith comes from a poor, uneducated family.  

Lacey and Edith prick their fingers, mixing their blood, the way young girls did in the 60's,  making them sisters. Their lives intersect and intertwine through their 30s.  Then a tragic event breaks them apart.  

Lacey retreats to the hotel and becomes a hermit until the fateful day that Edith comes to visit many years later as an elderly woman.  Over a carefully  planned dinner, each woman tells her interpretation of what happened revealing their hidden secrets. Each woman is searching for some remnants of their lost love or the ties that bound them.

Remembering how close my early friendships felt made this story come alive for me. Now at a older age, I can think back to where those friendships diverted and how we each changed over the years. This short novel packed a large punch.

The May House

 Jillian Cantor has written a new novel titled, The May House.  This is a very captivating novel about the lives of three sisters.  The plot follows them from childhood to becoming adults and how their lives develop and their reationships change.

We meet the May sisters as they visit their grandmother at her beach house on Coronado Island in California for a week in May. This becomes a family ritual, to visit the house the same week every May as the girls are growing up and they look forward to wonderful visit with their grandmother.

When they are in the twenties, away at school and starting their first jobs, visiting at the same time gets more complicated.  When their grandmother dies, she leaves them the house with the stipulation that they need to continue their visits.

Julie, Emily and Nora are not close as adults, thy different interests, they are busy in their own lives, they keep secrets from each other. The week every May at the beach house is the only connection between them. 

 The year Julie down't show up at the house changes everything.  Nora and Emily are worried and as they start to search for Julie they start to uncover the secrets that have been pulling them apart. 

The book is told in alternating voices of each of the sisters. Learning how family secrets, experiences and memories have shaped each of their personalities and their lives helps bring them closer.  It is a story of family ups and downs and learning how important sisters are.