Book Review- Rebecca Dinerstein's The Sunlit Night

Confession, I can be swayed to read a book based on a good jacket quote from an author that I admire. I pick books by their covers. Rebecca Dinerstein's debut novel, The Sunlit Night scored an intriguing quote from Jonathan Safran Foer and it caught my attention. Thank you to Bloomsbury USA for an advanced copy of Dinerstein's novel in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Frances has just been dumped by her boyfriend and she learns that her parents are getting a divorce. In her early twenties, she has not yet begun to live life on her own and she finds herself rootless. She accepts an art internship on a small island in Norway, as a short term solution to her living situation. 

Yasha immigrated from Russia to America with his father as a small child. He has not heard from his mother in years, but she shows up in the weeks prior to his high school graduation. She wants a formal divorce from her husband and to reconnect with her son. Yasha's father plans a trip to Russia as a surprise for his son's graduation. On the trip, his father dies of a heart attack. Feeling alone, Yasha contacts his mother and they travel with the body to Norway, to where his father had wanted to be buried.

The art institute where Frances is working, handles the details of the burial. Yasha and Frances meet and realize that they are two kindred souls, two kids adrift and struggling to transition into adulthood.

LIKE- The Sunlit Night starts off very strong, with chapters alternatively showing Frances and Yasha's lives in New York City. Dinerstein has created compelling and well rounded characters, especially both sets of parents of the main characters. Both Frances and Yasha are loved by their parents, but their parents also hand them a heavy load of baggage with regard to their own dysfunction. Frances and Yasha carry their parent's dysfunction as they struggle to make their own way in the world and develop their own relationships. Dinerstein is a talented writer with a keen sensibility for understanding and writing family dynamics.

I like how the setting shifts from busy New York City to the quiet of an archipelago in the North Sea. If I had not read about the setting in the blurb, I would have never expected to encounter such disparate locals in the same story. I like how it took the characters out of their element and shook them up.

DISLIKE - The story crumbled for me in the last third. The pacing slowed and I'm not sure that I believed the chemistry between Frances and Yasha. I believed that they could connect with their situations and similarities, but I did not believe a romantic connection between them. I raced through the first two-thirds of the novel, reading it in less than a day, but the last third took me over a week to finish and it was a chore. 

RECOMMEND- Maybe. I'm curious to see what other readers think of the last part of the book. The first part was so strong, that I will seek out future stories by Dinerstein. She writes beautiful phrases and creates intriguing characters. I can see her becoming a favorite author of mine, despite my disappointment with the ending of The Sunlit Night. 

Book Review- Life is Short (No Pun Intended)

Although I've never seen an episode of TLC'S reality show, The Little Couple, I was intrigued to read married couple, Jennifer Arnold and Bill Klein's autobiography of living with dwarfism. Thank you to Howard Books for an advanced copy of Life is Short ( No Pun Intended) in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- In their autobiography, Life is Short (No Pun Intended), Jennifer Arnold M.D. and Bill Klein alternate chapters describing their life with skeletal dysplasia, also known as dwarfism. The book has a heavy emphasis on their childhood and college years, when both endured many important surgeries and even saw the same doctors, although they did not know each other. Arnold excelled academically and went on to become a pediatric doctor and educator. Klein found success in business. The two met when they were in their thirties via an internet dating site for Little People and they quickly fell in love. The last chapters of their book, involve the start of their reality show and the international adoptions of their two children, Will and Zoey.

LIKE- It's impossible to read Life is Short (No Pun Intended) and not be inspired. In addition to the daily difficulties of living in a world geared towards normal sized people, both Arnold and Klein have faced bullying and harassment. Quite honestly, I was shocked by death threats left on their car and not only the ignorance, but cruelty that they have faced. I was most amazing at the volume of surgeries that they had to endure in childhood.  Arnold had twenty-two surgeries and she often spent her summer breaks in hospitals and in casts. Yet, she still managed to graduate at the top of her class and become a doctor. They both have such an upbeat, positive, can-do attitude, that it really points to the great job that their parents did in raising them.

There is a big emphasis on living your life to the fullest and that just because you might be limited physically, it doesn't mean that your overall quality of life is diminished, it's just different. I think that anyone could be reminded of this perspective.

It was interesting to hear about their journey to adopt internationally. They have two children with a different form of dwarfism than they both have, a daughter from India and a son from Nepal. Although their children, especially their daughter, were in desperate situations, the adoption process was still very slow and frustrating.

DISLIKE- My dislikes are minor and they don't take away from my overall enjoyment. I felt like the writing lacked finesse, making me think that Arnold and Klein probably didn't use a ghost writer. This is okay and actually kind of refreshing as it felt authentic, but it also meant that occasionally the pacing was slow or clunky.

I wish they had given a little more behind the scenes of being part of a reality show and how they navigate day-to-day challenges due to their size. We get a taste of the challenges, with Klein having his vehicle fitted to drive by hand or how they fitted their new home with lower shelves and sinks, still though, I was hoping for more in this area. 

RECOMMEND- Yes! Arnold and Klein are incredibly positive people and they have a fascinating life to share. Having read Life is Short (No Pun Intended), I'm inclined to check out their show. 

Book Review- Cole Cohen's Head Case

A quirky memoir about a girl with a medical mystery? Count me in! Thank You to Henry Holt & Company for gifting me with an advanced copy of Cole Cohen's Head Case, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Cole Cohen was always a little different. It took her longer to learn to tie her shoes and as a teenager, it was impossible to teach her to drive. She struggled with directions, distance and being able to tell her lefts from her rights. She managed to graduate from high school and even go on to college, but she needed not only academic tutoring, but lots of assistance in basic living skills. She was in her mid-twenties when doctors discovered a lemon sized hole in her brain. An exact reason for how she got the hole, remains a mystery, but armed with a explanation for her struggles, Cohen must now forge ahead and build her life.

LIKE - Cohen's struggles are fascinating. It's amazing to me that the human brain can function at such a high level with a lemon sized piece missing. Although her struggles are real and in no way small, she is still able to excel in many areas, especially with language and writing. She goes on to graduate school and is a professor. She learns how to work with her skills and to work around her disability. It's inspiring. Cohen writes her memoirs with wit and very little self-pity, making me connect with her. This is not just a story about her diagnosis, it's also about an ordinary woman struggling with basic issues, like breaking away from her parents, discovering her passions and finding love. It's relatable. 

DISLIKE - I know this is a memoir and it's Cohen's life, good and bad, but I lost interest towards the end, when the story was heavy on her relationship with Charlie. He was cold, distant and a little off-beat. I couldn't see what she saw in him or how their relationship spanned several years. The longer that Charlie was in the picture, the more I drifted away from relating to Cohen. It was hard to bounce back from this feeling in the last chapters of the book.

RECOMMEND - Yes! If you're a fan of memoirs, Head Case is great pick. I think that Cohen's story would also resonate strongly among 20-30 year old women and anyone with a disability.