Book Reviews: August/September

Man, school starting really got me into a reading rut.  I only read one book in August and one in September :(  I also took forever to write reviews so these are coming super late!

I had very mixed feelings about this book at first.  On one hand, I didn't relate much to two of the main characters because I never had the overwhelming desire to be a mother.  I can't relate to wanting a child so bad I'd be willing to spend thousands to make it happen. I've also never given a child up so I have no idea what that must feel like.  However, this book offered some insight into both of those circumstances, so it was interesting to read about.  What I found most interesting was Asha's story.  I think the author did a good job of pointing out the difficulties of international, interracial, and intercultural adoptions and how hard it can be on the child and the adoptive parents.  I also learned a bit about Indian culture - I didn't know about the widespread infanticide of baby girls in the 80's.  Although I did know about the class disparities in India, it was still sad and hard to read about.  So, although it was hard to relate to the parents in the novel, Asha's story made up for it.  I think the author did a great job of weaving together all the themes; motherhood, adoption, parenthood, marriage, family, and culture.
4/5

I'm sad to say that I was a bit disappointed by this book.  I loved the Butterfly Garden - I read it in one night, so I had high expectations.  This one was very slow and tedious, and I figured out "who-dun-it" as soon as the character was introduced.  I did enjoy the parts that Inara and Bliss were in, and the last 50 pages or so were good.  Overall, it was kind of meh.  I'll read the next one though because I've read that it's really good.
(3/5)

I honestly don't know what to say other than I really enjoyed learning more about Mr. Rogers.  He was definitely an interesting person.  It was interesting learning about what made Fred Rogers into the Mr. Rogers we all loved as kids.   The only thing I didn't like was that some information felt unnecessary.  I appreciate that the author was thorough but I didn't need the life story of everyone he ever interacted with.  It also got a bit repetitive at times.  I listened to this on audio and I think the narrator did a great job, though I did have to listen to it at a higher speed or I never would have finished.
4/5