The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros

Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street is a short novel that follows the beautiful and complex life of a girl named Esperanza Cordera. The novel covers one year of the twelve year olds life, where she is fully submerged in the lives of everyone else around her. All authentic and extremely impactful, moulding her into the person she will later become, teaching her life lessons that stay with Esperanza through her coming-of-age journey, right to the end.

What a stunning and well articulated story. I’ve read a lot of books in the eighteen years that I’ve been on this planet, but nothing quite like this. I wanted to broaden my chosen reading genres and took a look at this puzzle I received for Christmas. Over 70 world renowned novels are on this puzzle, all worthy of five stars depending on your taste and this one - The House on Mango Street - caught my eye. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, I don’t and never will do that, but what I did do was judge it by its title! Which is just as risky, I know, but luckily my eyes were right and my gut was accurate. Not only did the title bring me this ray of bright, welcoming, light, reminding me of happy summer days, but the words written within the cover of this book threw me this way and that giving me even more reason to fall in love with it. The story is just as warm and radiant as its title, arousing curiosity and surprising me with what Cisneros’ story is truly about.

  It’s heartbreaking at times but draws on all the joy our world brings to us as well. Cisneros sheds light on the harsh realities of life as well as the small delights that find us along the way. From domineering males to innocent young children trying to find themselves in a world that seems so well developed and matured in comparison. It’s relatable, the kind of read that everyone should pick up and learn from. Because there’s things in life that make us feel alone at times, and Esperanza cures that isolation with a little validation. And sometimes that’s all we need.

Cisneros tells all the things mentioned above in a beautifully poetic way that flows from one short, descriptive passage that captures a moment in time to the next, keeping the reader guessing as each passage unravels. It’s a five star novel that can be read in a day, and can be read again and again and again until the story no longer needs to be told because the individual reading it finally understands the importance of time, patience, and acceptance. It could truly never become a bore.

Buy your copy of this book using the link below:

UK: https://amzn.eu/d/iDFlbDn

From the Oxford Dictionary: bildungsromans is a novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education

Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu Rising is a historically set family saga that follows the lives of the Riva family. The book spans across one day and focuses on the children of Mick and June Riva, though it flashes back to their own personal lives - where the two meet and fall in love, expressing their hopes and dreams for the future - throughout the story, weaving the aftermath of their reckless choices and purposeful neglect into the outcomes of Nina’s, Jay’s, Hud’s, and Kit’s lives during August 1983. And when secrets start to come out, people finally start showing up, and ineffective apologies get told, the Riva family are left fighting one big disaster that could make or break each and every one of them. Can Mick Riva, the all famous star of the family make amends for what he’s done in the past? Or will his children who live in the shadows of his limelight and the remains of their mother’s harmful mistakes fail to forgive?

I mean…wow. This is my favourite book of the year, or I should probably say so far…there’s plenty to come but this book glued the pages that make up Taylor Jenkins Reid’s story to the palms of my hands so that I couldn’t put it down. Each time I did, I picked it up again not even five minutes later. From beginning to end this family kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what kind of secrets may or may not crop up throughout the story putting a pause on their lives, just to break their bond that little bit more. And as much as I wanted the Riva’s to live the perfect carefree life, it wouldn’t have been a story if they all had a flawless existence, living happily ever after. It needed every bit of heartbreak, anger, grief, and loneliness to push the plot along; with speckles of love, devotion and affection, to ease the tough moments they had to endure.

         It was shocking and unfeigned at times, and irresistible and warm during others. And for me, a good book makes me feel warm inside yet churns my emotions and tugs them in every direction. Whether I’m full of resentment for what Jenkins-Reid made me read through, or whether I was silently cheering and hoping for Hud and Ashley to stay together because they were just the cutest couple ever, despite the setbacks they knew they’d have to face; I felt it all and experienced every bit of vehemence that the Riva kids felt. I had a lot of love for each character, but they also had flaws that every other person in the world has and that bugged me. But it’s only natural and it’s that which decided how each person was going to live their life, and how damaging those choices were going to be.

         This was truly the perfect novel, probably better for a long summer break rather than a drowsy few days in January, but because it was such a beautifully written story with description (with the opening sentence: “Consciousness seeped into her slowly, as if breaking the morning to her gently”) better than anything I’ve ever seen or come up with myself - much like her novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - it was enthralling, so much so I wish they were all real, living in the world we all live in. Just so I could hear the talent behind Mick Riva’s most dear passion, so that I could support Nina in her struggle to take care of her siblings. Because we all go through it, and to have to witness everything, helpless but knowing that they were clearly a strong group of people, was both gruelling and exciting.

         To know the family is to know the gossip, and we all love a bit of that from time to time. If their story was in the papers, I’d be all over it, but I think Jenkins-Reid did me one better. I got to live through it by reading the delicate chapters of her five star novel. It’s one of her best books yet, and she’s linked almost all of her other novels into it some way or another. And that itself paints this extravagant picture of a world that does exist in reality, it shows us what living with fame and all its beauty and even ugliness is like, yet her version of it is so amazingly imagined and portrayed it doesn’t feel real at all.

         So, if you’ve read her other novels, or enjoy a long story that delves into the complex structure of a family, or simply adore reading about fabled celebrities who struggle to cope with the side effects of being world renowned, then Malibu Rising is the book you’re looking for. It’s fun, a blast, even, and I guarantee you a good time -whoever decides to try it out. It’s totally worth it. Trust me.

Buy your own copy using the link below:

UK: https://amzn.eu/d/e1H4Fxr

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies - Deesha Philyaw

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a short story composed of 9 chapters that share the raw, real to life, lives of black women who come from highly religious families. From ladies listening to their hearts, exploring queer love and desire, to celibate women in their forties, to young school aged girls exploring what a relationship is, and how it can affect others around them. It doesn’t matter what the story, they all have one thing linking them together: faith. Something they might feel restricted by, yet they explore the boundaries that come with it and defy them in noteworthy and inspirational ways.

         This novel empowers Philyaw’s readers with its unique ideas and perspectives. With the very first chapter to the very last chapter of this book being told from the first person, which provides an honest and wholehearted representation of each issue being raised.

         Eula is about a woman named Eula. She’s in denial, under pressure, and frankly quite fearful. She’s exploring her sexual identity in an extremely guarded way. While, Daughter - in the last chapter: When Eddie Levert Comes - experiences the heartache and constant and strenuous responsibility of looking after her mother, who sadly suffers from vascular dementia.

         So when I talk about issues being raised in the way they should be raised, I know that I can declare this to be a five-star story that needs be to read. Its feminism runs strong throughout, putting the needs and desires of women at the forefront of Philyaw’s writing, while intertwining smaller topics such as queerness and ethnicity into the bigger picture as she goes along.

         Philyaw’s scenes are not only incredibly relatable and soul-stirring, they’re written in such a way that feels raw and extremely realistic to the human mind and body. As well as what we as people, no matter our religious backgrounds, or ethnicity, or gender, or sexual orientation, go through on a daily basis; from arbitrary thoughts to both senseless and meaningful actions.  

         It covers a wide range of topics, none to be ignored, but there’s something in each of them that the individual reading it can learn from. And I think that’s a really powerful thing to be able to do with the use of words and phrases. Each character has been made wonderfully believable, with their own faults and personal beauty marks that can be found in everyone around you (if you look hard enough). It highlights the nature of human beings, expressing the fact that people need people - whoever that may be, young or old, boy or girl, lover or friend. Everybody needs somebody, and I love how Philyaw has made me as an individual see this.

         And because of Philyaw’s unparalleled work of art, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a book I would read repeatedly throughout my life just for its sole purpose – which I see to be: to show and understand the dark secrets we all have, but to shed light on all the brightness those dark secrets will never be able to dim.

         I loved this book and I think a lot of people need this book. It came from a deeply personal place in Deesha Philyaw’s heart and soul, and I highly respect that. She used short yet complicated and easy to follow stories that got straight to the point and never bored me once.

         With that said, if you like a story where there’s a variety of different lives being expressed, connected by a singular concept (similar to Charly Cox’s novel she must be mad - which I have burning desire to read) then The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw is a perfect match. It’s adventurous, stimulating, thought provoking, and just plain beautiful.

Buy your copy of the book from the link below:

UK: https://amzn.eu/d/iOXLkqv