Book Tour Review: Comfort of Fences

Hello fellow readers! Welcome to my stop on the tour for Comfort of Fences by Stacy Overman Morrison.

Title: Comfort of Fences

Author: Stacy Overman Morrison

Publisher: Telemachus Press

Published: October 17, 2013

Pages: 244

Format:  E-book

Source: Received from author in exchange

for an honest review

My Rating: 3 Stars

Synopsis:

Ruth is dying and her 52 year old daughter Denise has never paid a bill, lived on her own, or had a romantic relationship. Ruth knows she has been overprotective, but hoped that she would outlive her special-needs daughter. Metastasized cancer crushes that hope and forces Ruth to find a way to provide for Denise once she is dead. First Ruth turns to Social Security for Disability benefits. After tests, pokes and prods, doctors, nosy psychologists, and ill-furnished waiting rooms, the government declares Denise not eligible for benefits. Mad at the world and daring the government to arrest her so they will have to take care of her since they wouldn't her daughter, Ruth takes up smoking pot in the backyard. A few joints in, Ruth begins to realize her anger is self-directed. She doubts every decision she has ever made in raising her daughter that doctors, in the 1950s, labeled "retarded." Partially to coax her mother from the backyard and partially because Ruth will not speak of the past, Denise asks her mother to write down their history of which Denise has no memory. Trying to atone and explain how she could be so obtuse, Ruth agrees. Telling her story becomes an obsession for Ruth who sees the history as her only chance to leave a place for herself in the world since cancer is steadily eating away her physicality. While Ruth writes, Denise begins to pursue her own independence, despite the minor setbacks of a chopped off fingertip and chemo poisoning. She begins to make choices for herself and finally tells her mother pieces of her own truth: Denise stayed with her mother because she chose to, because she loved her mother more than any life she could make for herself. In claiming her own truth, Denise also chooses silence about the biggest secrets of all. Comfort of Fences explores the messy business of mothering. It is a story about the love between a devoted mother and her special daughter that exposes the irony that the people we love the most can also be the ones we underestimate the greatest.

Melissa's Musings:

Comfort of Fences is slow to start, but once it's up and running, you become involved and interested in the lives of the characters. 

Ruth is the glue of the story and her evolution throughout the book is the most interesting. I felt for her at first, because she seemed so stifled by her upbringing, and at the same time so naive. My opinion of her changed throughout the story as I personally don't agree with some of her choices, especially those involving Denise. 

This book is all about choices. It begins with Ruth's choice to pursue a romantic relationship with a man who turns out to have his own demons, that are ultimately too much for him. It follows Ruth through her life as she chooses to keep and raise a baby eventually on her own, after her parents try to interfere in a way that she doesn't like. 

The book deals with subjects that may be sensitive for some readers. It deals with alcoholism, mental disability, and cancer, to name a few. It is also what I would call heavy with religious elements. If any of those themes make you uncomfortable, I wouldn't recommend this book.

The format of the book is one that worked well for the story. When Ruth learns that she is dying of cancer, she decides to write down her story for her daughter, rather than try to explain it all to her. I think this was a nice touch, as it gives Denise a physical keepsake of her and her mother's lives together. Plus it ties the story together well.

As Ruth writes out the story, it the novel weaves in and out of the past and the present. As Ruth's battle with cancer becomes more serious, you get the sense of urgency in the telling of the story for Denise.

Of all the character's Georgia is my favorite. She's full of spontaneity and energy. But she also has a sadness to her that is so human. As happy and independent and carefree as she seems, she's just as weighed down by life as anyone else.

I felt that Denise's character was the most flat. She felt stifled, suffocated even. Both literally and figuratively. And maybe that was the point, as part of Ruth's evolution at the end of the novel is that she only hopes that Denise can see why she made the choices she made, and why she felt she had to stifle Denise. It was to protect her from all of the negativity in the world. I do understand where the development came from in terms of the story itself, but in terms of reality or real world application, I felt that the expectations for Denise were stereotypical, and that felt slightly demeaning in a way.

This book isn't without its flaws, but the overall story of friendship, and the demonstration that all the choices we make have an impact on the outcome of our lives are poignant themes that will stick with you after you finish this book.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Publisher: Dutton Books

Published: January 10, 2012

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 318

Source: Library

Read: November 20, 2012

In A Few Words : Powerful

My Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads: Add This To Your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Melissa's Musings:

This is my first John Green book. I checked out An Abundance of Katherines once, but it got lost in the stack of library books and had to be returned before I could read it. Now that I've read The Fault in Our Stars, I want to gobble up the rest of Green's books as fast as I can if they're all as powerful as this one.

I've been seeing reviews of this book around the blogosphere for months now. Nearly all of the reviews have raved about it, so I was the tiniest bit skeptical that it would live up to all the hype, but it definitely did.

The Author's Note for this book is one of the more interesting ones I've seen.

"This is not so much an author's note as an author's reminder of what was printed in small type a few pages ago: This book is a work of fiction. I made it up.

                Neither novels or their readers benefit from attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea that made-up stories can matter, which is sort of the foundational assumption of our species.
                  I appreciate your cooperation in this matter."

When I first read this I thought it was strange that he would point this out. But, as the story goes on, I see why he did. I'm not sure that I fully agree with this point, though. Simply because I'm always wondering what an author's motivation is for writing a story they way they do and whether there are any hidden facts inside stories. As the saying goes, "Write what you know" so in many cases some of these stories must contain hidden facts. I don't, however, think that these efforts, should any reader choose to pursue them, attack the idea that made up stories can matter. If I did, I doubt I would have been nearly as attached an emotionally invested in this book as I was.

This book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, so be prepared. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you may even laugh while crying, like I did. This book packs a serious punch.

Hazel is such a great character. She's sharp, witty, philosophical, and yet still teenagery at times, as her mother puts it. Hazel might seem bitter or cynical about her diagnosis to some, but I took it more as realistic than anything. Her voice in the story is real. It's natural and the dialogue, especially her internal monologues, flow so smoothly.

Some of Hazel's quotes are deep. I know this one has probably been quoted a million times, but it really speaks volumes about the story and about how Hazel feels.

"I'm like. Like. I'm like a grenade, Mom. I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay?"... "I'm a grenade" I said again. "I just want to stay away from people and read books and think and be with you guys because there's nothing I can do about hurting you; you're too invested, so just please let me do that, okay? I'm not depressed. I don't need to get out more. And I can't be a regular teenager, because I'm a grenade." (Green, 99)

This quote speaks volumes about how it must feel to live with cancer. I couldn't imagine it. And when I read this, I felt like I'd been punched. Hazel is realistic about her diagnosis. She doesn't like it of course, but she seems to have reached a place of acceptance.

And then there's Augustus. The oh so cute boy who happens to walk into the support group that Hazel and Issac attend. And he's interested in her.

I loved Augustus' character. He was the perfect mix of sweetheart and bad boy. I also love the touch of him having an unlit cigarette in his mouth all the time, and the reason for not lighting it. You'll have to read it to see what I mean. Augustus always knows just what to say. And I love how he calls Hazel "Hazel Grace" I don't know exactly why I love this so much, but I do. Their romance is solid, steady, and real. 

A quote of his that I really loved:

"I'm in love with you," he said quietly.

"Augustus," I said.

"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you. 

 (Green, 153)

Isn't that just perfect?

I also love that Hazel and Augustus bond over books. Hazels' love of a book called An Imperial Affliction. Though they do bond over the book (and much more) it's their experiences surrounding it that have taught me never to put authors I love on quite as high a pedestal because you never know what may happen to change that rose colored view of them.

There's so much more that I could say about this book. But it really is one of those books that you just have to experience for yourself. It's an amazing story that deals with so many important ideas and themes, that are not only important to teens but to adults as well.

This has definitely become my new favorite book of 2012 and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a powerful, moving story.

Review: Life Got in the Way

Title:  Life Got in the Way

Author: Deborah J. Davis

Publisher: Self Published

Published: June 11, 2012

Format: Paperback

Genre: Women's Fiction

Pages: 336

Source: Received from the author

in exchange for an honest review

Read: December 29-30 2012

In A Few Words: Nice story, but hard to connect to characters

My Rating: 2 stars

Goodreads: Add to your to-read shelf

Synopsis From the Back Cover:

Life Got in the Way  is the story of two women, Jackie Colson and Dana Talbert, who meet during their freshman year at Wilberforce University and become lifelong friends. Both are bright optimistic students with high expectations of future success. They naively think that the road will be relatively simple and neither is prepared for what life brings them. Little do they know that so many things will be out of their control.

Jackie Colson,  orphaned at birth and raised by her grandmother, is determined to become a partner in a law firm before she's forty. Dana Talbert had a perfect life plan until an unexpected and determined boyfriend got in the way. We journey with them as they face major life issues; marriage, divorce, infidelity, illness and aging. Throughout all their challenges the one thing that remains constant is their bond of friendship. In Life Got in the Way Deborah Davis explores the changing roles of women as they move from the seventies to the present facing changing goals, aspirations, and expectations and the realization that they can do it all, but at what cost.

Melissa's Musings:

 The first few chapters are of the present day, of situations going on that set the pace for the rest of the story, so you can see where it is these women ended up, but the real story starts with Jackie and Diana's graduations. They are just about to graduate from high school and go off to bigger and better things. The friendship between Dana and Jackie is constant throughout the book. It's very simple, and sweet, and mirrors how friendships are so close when you're young and change (not necessarily in a bad way) as you get older and life gets in the way. These two women go through a lot together, which is true of any long lasting friendship. 

The book starts in the present, then jumps backwards to the past and then progresses toward the present again. This is a nice way to tell a story, and connects the characters well. I really appreciate that the author stuck to the first few chapters being in the present day and then going into the past and continuing chronologically rather than jumping back and forth between past and present because that can sometimes be confusing

As pleasant as the friendship is between Diana and Jackie, we never really get to see the two women interact fully and completely. This might sound like an odd statement, but I do have a reason for saying it. The reason we don't get to see them interact completely is because rather than the book being told from one of their perspectives, or even both, the entire book is narrated. Not by another character, but it's just written in a full  narrative style. The style lead to me feeling that the whole book was a "tell".

In writing you're often told that it's better to "show not tell." Showing allows you to fully develop characters, setting, plot etc. In this books' case, the telling style was nice at first, but I was really hoping that as the book went on, there would be more interaction between the characters, and that one or both of their perspectives would take over the style. The style of writing left the characters feeling flat, and under developed. It also made them very difficult to connect with or feel for. 

In all honestly, I started to feel bored with their situations. Some of the events, while they would have been shocking if told from the characters point of view, such as Jackie's discovering her husbands' infidelity, just felt blah. It was like, "Okay...and?" I didn't really have much of a reaction. These situations also resolved themselves very easily without much conflict.

One good thing about the narrative style is that it does make for an easy read. 

I did appreciate the cover and it's connection to the book. One of the characters in the book, Gran, makes a comment about friends coming and going, and how some stay in your circle for a long time, and others are only in your life for a short time. The cover feels like it represents these circles of friendship. It also could be a symbol of the way that life can sometimes be confusing, and how people can sometimes get diverted from their dreams, or feel like they're just going through a maze and will never find their way out, but how different life choices can eventually lead to what you're looking for.

In order to enjoy this book I'd say that you really have to enjoy narratives rather than character driven books.

Have any of you read this? If so what did you think? How long has your longest friendship lasted?

Twelve Months by Steven Manchester

Title: Twelve Months

Author:  Steven Manchester

Publisher: The Story Plant

Published: August 14, 2012

Format: Paperback

Pages: 324 Pages

Source: Received from the author

in exchange for an honest review

Read: October 30-31 

In A Few Words:  Poignant, powerful, emotional

My Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads: Add this to your TBR shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Don DiMarco has a very good life – a family he loves, a comfortable lifestyle, passions and interests that keep him amused. He also thought he had time, but that turned out not to be the case. Faced with news that might have immediately felled most, Don now wonders if he has time enough. Time enough to show his wife the romance he didn’t always lavish on her. Time enough to live out his most ambitious fantasies. Time enough to close the circle on some of his most aching unresolved relationships. Summoning an inner strength he barely realized he possessed, Don sets off to prove that twelve months is time enough to live a life in full.

A glorious celebration of each and every moment that we’re given here on Earth, as well as the eternal bonds that we all share, TWELVE MONTHS is a stirring testament to the power of the human spirit

Melissa's Musings:

I don't quite know where to start with this book. I have so many thoughts and feelings surrounding this book that it's hard to quite articulate the complexity of them all. I really wish I had read this sooner instead of having it sit on my shelves for so long. Some of you might remember that Steven Manchester stopped by to do an interview a few months ago. You can check out that interview HERE

The book starts off with a very easy, familiar type of flow. The easygoing style makes it  simple to connect with the main character, Don Dimarco. He has an easygoing, kind personality that makes it easy to like him. When he gets the news that he has terminal cancer, he is shocked, yes, but after the initial shock he takes it in stride and really starts to live, and embrace life.

A lot of times it takes events like the news of cancer to shake someone out of their stupor and really start to live. The same is true here, and Don goes on many adventures, and manages to fulfill many lifelong dreams along the way. These  include  herding cattle, racing, and going on a second honeymoon with his wife Bella.

Many of the scenes between Don and his wife Bella are  my favorite. They are tender, gentle, and true. You can tell from the way they interact, and from Don's internal monologues just how much they love each other and how much they are willing to do to show each other.

Don realizes that his time to lavish his wife with romance, and most importantly, to make happy memories, is limited, so he tries to include her in many of these adventures that he wants to accomplish. He also focuses on her specifically, and tries to cook her a thoughtful dinner. While the cooking itself doesn't go well, the thought behind it is lovely, and Bella appreciates the effort more than the meal itself. 

Don also comes up with an elaborate plan to propose to Bella again. This dinner goes off without a hitch and they do end up having a nice ceremony. I wish that there had been more description of the second wedding, since it was such a nice gesture, but they kept it pretty simple.

Bella is very calm throughout the whole process. We don't see a great deal of the story from her perspective, but from what we do see, it's apparent that she loves Don very much and would do anything for him. While she does take time to grieve with him, she's also one of his biggest cheerleaders, fully supporting and encouraging him to get his list of goals completed.

Despite the cancer, and the effects it has on him, Don manages to make peace with many things in his life. He  makes peace with the memories of the time he spent in Vietnam, with an old friend with whom he had a falling out,  and with the fact that he won't be around for as long as he would like. He also does a lot of good with the time he has left. Even when he is not feeling so well himself, he volunteers his time to other cancer patients, children, to share with them, to let them know they are not alone. There is one particular patient, Sophia, who he bonds with quickly. Although the scenes between them are brief, they are powerful. Sophia is wise beyond her years, and is a force of goodness for Don just as much as he is one for her.

Books like this one could be told from a negative, or downtrodden perspective, but this book remains positive, and enlightened throughout. Don could have dwelt in sorrow,and pain, but he chose not to. I have to say that is one thing I found surprising is that the anger stage of his grieving process didn't appear to be all that strong. He mentioned that he went into a funk and he needed space, but didn't really express much anger at his situation.

One of my other favorites about this book is the small details that are included. There's a spot on page 41 where Don starts talking about puzzles and how much he enjoys them. The puzzles play a significant role throughout. Don works on them with his grandkids while he imparts stories and life lessons as they put it together. I won't say how, but the puzzle plays a significant role at the end of the book.

One thing that I want to mention just as something I noticed, is that there is a spiritual element to this book as Don does pray at times, and they do go to church. Some books can be overly "preachy" and be too involved in the religious/spiritual aspect, but I'm happy to say that is not the case here. The spirituality is just an added detail that comes up naturally and balances out the story nicely.

I have to warn anyone who is easily prone to crying at books that tug at your heartstrings, be sure to have a box of tissues handy for this one. I cried my way through I would say,  at least the last 50 pages or so of the novel. Although you are prepared for it, the emotional events of this book are so strong that it's impossible (or it was for me anyway) not to cry. And the wonderful thing is, although I was crying, there were still moments where I was laughing as I cried.

To me, that is a sign of excellent writing. If you can cry your eyes out because you feel so attached to the character, and yet still be able to laugh, the author definitely knows what they're doing. This book is about not taking life for granted, because you never know when you may run out of time. It teaches you to enjoy each moment, to make peace with old demons, to not be afraid to conquer your fears, no matter what your age. The small details, the intimacy between the characters, the weaving of the past with the present, the life lessons are all wonderful parts in their own right, and they combine to form a beautiful, heartwarming, novel.

I am so glad to have read this. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a heartfelt story.