The Time Traveler's Wife

Title: The Time Traveler's Wife

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

Pages: 16 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: The book is about Clare and Henry. Henry first met Clare when he was 36 and Clare was 6. They got married when Henry was 31 and Clare was 23. Henry spontaneously time-travels to other points in his life, his wife's life, his mother and father's lives or elsewhere. He can't control when or where he goes, but will always arrive at his new destination (and back home) naked and often hungry.

My Review: The premise behind this book is very interesting and intriguing. I can't put my finger on it, but I always felt that Niffenegger could have done a little bit more with the story. Nonetheless, I quite enjoyed the book, but did not enjoy the sex and language that was also quite prevalent.

Title: Angela's Ashes

Author: Frank McCourt

Pages: 15 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Frank McCourt grew up in absolute poverty with his family both in Brooklyn and Ireland. Having many siblings die at a young age from sickness and an alcoholic father that couldn't hold down a job for more than a couple of weeks forced his mother, him and his brother to scrounge and beg for food wherever they could.

My Review: The book was extremely sad as Frank described the hardships, difficulties and prejudices that he and his family had to endure. It was an eye-opening expose on the way that alcohol controlled the life of Frankie's father and many of the other men in Limerick. At one point, Frankie's father left to England to work in a factory during the war (WWII), of course he promised to send money back home to the family, but week after week the family wouldn't see a shilling. Every pound the father earned was spent in the pubs. I especially loved listening to the author narrate the audio version of this book in his Limerick (Irish) accent.

Disclaimer: There is a bit of language, most of which is the taking of God's name in vain.