Fiction Review: The Late Show

Last month, as distracted as everyone else right now, I indulged in a fast-paced thriller by a favorite author to hold my attention: The Late Show by Michael Connelly. I have read many books in Connelly's Harry Bosch series (and we love the TV adaptation, Bosch), and I'd been wanting to read this first book in a new series since I gave it to my husband for Christmas in 2017! I enjoyed getting to know Connelly's new female detective, and this twisty mystery kept me guessing.

Renee Ballard is a detective in LAPD's Hollywood division, working what is not so affectionately known as "the late show," the midnight to morning shift. As you might have guessed, this is not a coveted position, though how Renee ended up there is not immediately clear. She and her partner, Jenkins, respond to calls for detectives throughout the night, writing up reports and turning the cases over to their daytime colleagues for follow-up each morning. It's a frustrating job since they never get to see a case through to its resolution. Tonight, though, they pick up two cases that both pique Renee's curiosity, after a slow start to the night. They begin with an elderly woman whose credit cards have been stolen; these kinds of crimes are hard to solve, but they assure the woman the LAPD will try. Next, they are called to a brutal assault. A transgender woman has been savagely beaten, dumped in an empty parking lot, and left for dead. This case really bothers Rene since the beating was particularly horrible and senseless. Finally, an unidentified person shoots five people in a night club, and Renee is still at the hospital when the fifth victim, a cocktail waitress, is brought in. She was still alive at the club but has died en route. Renee heads to the crime scene of the shooting, where she notices some things that don't make sense to her. She asks to follow-up on the transgender beating, an unusual request to stick with a case for the late show, but it is granted. She is also intrigued (obsessed?) with certain aspects of the shooting, but she's been specifically told to stay away from that case, from the head detective who has a vendetta against her. With the victims in mind, though, and her clever mind working overtime, Renee secretly follows up on clues that only she has.

This novel has everything you want from a mystery/thriller: interesting and unusual cases, lots of unexpected twists and turns, and a detective you want to root for, in spite of her flaws (much like Bosch). It's clear right from the start that Renee has a history and some issues (and you learn more as the story continues), but you can also tell that she's a good person and a good cop who cares about the truth and the victims she is helping. I love the way that a good mystery drops breadcrumbs throughout the novel that all eventually come together, and Connelly is a master at that. I really enjoyed immersing myself in the gritty nighttime world of the LAPD again, and now I am extra-eager to read the next book in this series, Dark Sacred Night (which I also gave to my husband as a gift!), in which Ballard and Bosch team up. Can't wait!

405 pages, Little, Brown and Company

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here from the start of the book, read by Katherine Moennig, and/or download it from Audible.

You can purchase The Late Show from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop.

Or you can order The Late Show from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

TV Tuesday: Better Call Saul

As many of our favorite network shows are wrapping up for the season (some earlier than planned because they ran out of new episodes), we have turned to streaming services for some old favorites, like Bosch (on Amazon), and are trying some new shows. One that we liked immediately is Better Call Saul, a funny, suspenseful Breaking Bad prequel spin-off that stands on its own.

Jimmy McGill, played by Bob Odenkirk, is a two-bit lawyer, struggling to make an honest living. His office is in the backroom behind a nail salon, he drives an old car that is literally falling apart, and he works hard as a public defender to earn a measly $700 per defense. Jimmy puts on a good show in front of others, but it's clear he is a decent guy who cares about his clients and wants to succeed. He also cares deeply for his brother, Chuck, played by Michael McKean. Chuck is a partner in a high-powered, slick downtown law firm, but he's currently trapped in his own home, helpless, as the victim of his own mental illness. After a lifetime of big brother Chuck bailing out (sometimes literally) screw-up baby brother Jimmy, their roles are now reversed. As Jimmy scrambles to make a living, sleeping on the pull-out couch in his tiny office, he also takes good care of Chuck, bringing him newspapers and groceries and following his rules to keep all electromagnetic radiation away from him. But life is never easy for Jimmy: even as he leaves the courthouse where he toils so hard for so little, he always gets stopped by the parking attendant, Mike (played by Jonathan Banks and delightfully familiar to Breaking Bad fans), for not having his card properly validated. Through a complex scheme-gone-wrong to earn a few extra bucks, Jimmy ends up tangled up with criminal Nacho Varga, played by Michael Mando. Somehow, eventually, Jimmy will end up transformed into slick lawyer Saul Goodman, who plays a role in Walter White's drug business in Breaking Bad.

First, you do not need to have seen or know anything at all about Breaking Bad to enjoy Better Call Saul. The show completely stands on its own, as the prequel story of one side character from Breaking Bad, but fans of that huge hit will delight as familiar characters (like Mike) show up here and will wonder how Jimmy eventually becomes Saul. We were reluctant to watch this spin-off for a while, in part because we didn't really like the Saul character all that much, but Jimmy in this earlier incarnation is great fun to root for and a much more complex character. He's smart and hard-working and caring but clearly the underdog. It's a fast-paced show with plenty of intrigue and suspense through the cases that Jimmy gets involved with, and it's got a great sense of humor that keeps things light. So far, we haven't seen any of the darkness that so permeated later seasons of Breaking Bad (which was still funny). We're loving this show so far and are looking forward to seeing where Jimmy's career takes him and how he will eventually make the transformation to Saul Goodman.

We've watched just the first six episodes of season one so far, but there are five seasons out, with more planned, so this is a great one for binging! Season five just finished airing on AMC, so it is available On Demand through your cable provider or you can see some episodes for free at the AMC website. The first four seasons are available on Netflix, so season five will probably end up there, too, in due time.

It's Monday 4/27! What Are You Reading?

May begins this week (!), though it often still feels like March here weather-wise, and it's something like Day 43 or so of living in the After. Life sometimes feels like a post-apocalyptic book these days, doesn't it? Though luckily, so far anyway, everyone seems to be much nicer and kinder than in most post-apocalyptic stories! At least I haven't seen anyone in our neighborhood carrying weapons or forming roving bands.

Is anyone else having a hard time focusing and getting any work done right now? It's weird because things aren't all that different for me from my normal life. I often spend a lot of time at home due to my chronic illnesses. It's actually kind of a relief to me to see every single item in April crossed off on my calendar - no medical appointments for me, my son, or my elderly father-in-law. Of course, I miss my book groups and other time with my friends, but even fun outings always carry some stress for me, resting ahead of time and worrying about whether I can manage it or not.

Wait, I was talking about not being able to focus and ended up babbling about my empty calendar--see what I mean? My husband is home with me 24/7, so that's very different (and certainly distracting), and the news is still somewhat distracting, though less so than a month ago. I'm just having trouble concentrating and am spending way too much time on social media (probably missing social interactions more than I realize!). I make a list each week of things I must do ... and then end up transferring most of them to next week's list at the end of the week!

On the plus side, I enjoyed another socially-distant hike with my two best friends last week at our local nature center - a bit cold out, but it was wonderful to see all the spring green and enjoy their company. We talked a LOT (which is challenging with three people each six feet away).

We also had a nice weekend --did some yard work, enjoyed a gorgeous day on Saturday, and had a Zoom dinner with our closest friends. It was so good to see their smiling faces!

Saturday was also Dewey's 24-hour Readathon! I had fun participating in that. Obviously, it was a busy day, but I spent a lot of time weeding and cooking while listening to my audiobook. And I did take some extra time to just lie on the couch and read, which is a rarity for me (to read when it's not bedtime).

Oh, and I recorded a Mini Bookcase Tour #3 last week! These are just short video clips with me showing you one of the many bookcases in our house and describing what we keep there. I'm having fun with these, and I hope you are, too! I can't get the videos to post properly to the blog, but you can see them all on my Facebook page.

Here's what we've all been reading this past week:

Last week, I turned back to Booktopia 2020 reading - the in-person annual event (supposed to start on Friday!) was of course cancelled, but Northshire Bookstore has a bunch of free virtual author events planned in its place (click on Events at the link to join the fun!), including several Booktopia authors coming up in May. So, this week, I finished reading Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris. It's a memoir about Greece by a writer from The New Yorker. It's about her lifelong fascination with all things Greek: language, culture, mythology, and Greece itself. I had mixed feelings about this book: sometimes I found it interesting and engaging and other times, I was a bit bored with it. Surprisingly, the beginning parts, about the Greek and English alphabets, were fascinating to me, and I enjoyed reading about her travels around Greece when she got into some detail. I'm not at all into mythology, though I know many people are, and all of the New Yorker name dropping and many literary references were lost on me. Some of that is also probably timing--I continue to crave escapist fiction during these strange times.

I also finished another graphic novel, squeezing it in between other reading: The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown. I really enjoyed this unique YA graphic novel that tells the story of a pair of conjoined twins in a freak show in a turn-of-the-century circus. Jane and Isabel spent their entire lives sharing an arm and a leg and joined at the torso, until a surgeon in one town convinced them to have a separation surgery. He assured them it would be successful ... but, of course, it was not. Jane died (though her ghost hangs around), and the rest of the novel is about Isabel's challenges in adjusting to life by herself, after a lifetime of being part of a pair. She no longer fits into the freak show, though with her prosthetics, they come up with a new act as a "living doll." Most of the story is about Isabel's struggles with her own identity, with or without the circus. It's warm, moving, and thoughtful.

After I finished my nonfiction reading during the Saturday readathon, I delightedly selected a book from my overstuffed TBR bookcase (I'm enjoying that aspect of quarantine life). I chose Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett, a Christmas gift from my husband. This novel was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critic's Circle Award! It's a drama about a family of five that struggles with mental health issues, including severe depression. John, the husband, was hospitalized for depression while he and Margaret were still dating, and despite the lack of information at the time, Margaret loved him and decided to stay with him. They marry and have three children: Michael, Celia, and Alec. Michael also struggles with some of the same issues as his dad, which affects everyone in the family. Each family member gets their own voice, as chapters alternate between them. I've only just started the novel but am already fully immersed in its world and its characters.

On audio, I finally finished Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, a newly released novel. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1982, a young woman named Oona who is celebrating her nineteenth birthday is suddenly transported 32 years into the future, where she is a 51-year-old woman, living in a gorgeous house and greeted warmly by a man she's never seen before. From then on, each year at the same time, Oona jumps to another age and time in her life. This plot is right up my alley! As I've mentioned, I love time travel and alternate timeline plots in novels, so this was a perfect escape for me right now. It's pretty mind-bending as Oona jumps from one age/time into another, but that's exactly what I love about these kinds of plots. She approaches each year very differently and it takes her a while to get the hang of this bizarre life she's leading. I really enjoyed this novel, with all its unexpected twists and turns.

Now, I am listening to a teen/YA novel, Bent Heavens by Daniel Krauss, the author of Rotters, which I also enjoyed on audio. This sci fi thriller is about a teen girl named Liv who's infamous at school because her dad, who was the high school English teacher, claimed to have been abducted by aliens, had a serious breakdown while directing the school play, and then disappeared. That was two years ago, and Liv just wants to get through her senior year and get on with her life. Her childhood friend, Doug, believed all the crazy stuff her dad told them, and the two teens helped her dad set traps all over their yard before he disappeared. Liz just went along for her dad's sake, but the two of them have continued to check and maintain the traps these past two years. Now, though, Liz goes out back one day and finds an inhuman creature in one of the traps. Was her dad telling the truth? Could he possibly still be alive somewhere? This novel is great so far, fast-paced and original, though it's giving me some seriously weird dreams!

My husband, Ken, made a big switch after a bunch of fast-paced thrillers to The Pioneers by David McCoullough, a nonfiction history book. I received this one as an Advanced Reader Copy last year, and though I didn't review it, we hung onto it. It's about the part of American history that includes the settling of the Northwest Territory (i.e. Ohio), beginning in 1788, as a group of pioneers set out after the Revolutionary War seeking the freedom of religion, free education, and prohibition of slavery that existed further west from the original 13 colonies. McCoullough is an outstanding and award-winning writer, so I'm sure this is an amazing book, though I think I would have trouble reading about pioneers and westward expansion after reading An Indigenous People's History of the United States earlier this year! I may never be able to read American history in the same way again. My husband enjoyed it, though.

Now, Ken is back to the mystery/thriller genre he loves, and is reading one of the oldest books on our TBR shelves! He just started 13 Steps Down by Ruth Rendell, which we bought at a used bookstore about 15 years ago and neither of us has read yet. Yeah, we have a problem, I know. Rendell is the author of over 80 books, including many mysteries written as both Ruth Rendell and as her pseudonym, Barbara Vine. This one sounds like a classic British mystery, featuring an obsessed and strange lodger and his equally strange elderly landlady. We've heard great things about Rendell for many years; I'm glad he's finally tackling this one!

Our son, 25, is still reading The Sixth Strand by Melissa McPhail, book 5 in her A Pattern of Shadow and Light series. He loves this series and even gave his dad book 1 for Christmas last year, so he could share it with him. This is another giant book (900 pages) for him, so it's taking him a while to read it, but he is thoroughly enjoying it. He read 100 pages in the first day and is loving being immersed back in this complex fantasy world. There's nothing like diving back into a favorite fictional world.



Last week's blog posts:

Fiction Review: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - a darkly comic modern classic featuring WWII, time travel, and an alien zoo

Middle-Grade Review: Snapdragon by Kat Leyh - graphic novel about friendship, family, healing, and acceptance

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.   

What are you and your family reading this week?

Middle-Grade Review: Snapdragon

I recently read a middle-grade graphic novel, Snapdragon by Kat Leyh, who co-wrote and drew the Lumberjanes series (I still need to read those!). This one is an original story about a likable girl whose family doesn't have much. She befriends a boy who wants to be a girl and the town's supposed witch and learns more about herself and her family along the way.

All the women in Snapdragon's family are named after flowers. Snap has heard that the ramshackle house in the woods is the home of an evil witch who lost her eye to the devil, eats roadkill, and casts spells with the bones. They also say she eats pets, so when Snap's beloved dog, Good Boy, goes missing, she braves the scary place. Snap finds Good Boy, and she also finds Jacks, who's not a witch at all, but an old woman who wears Crocs and is good with animals. Since she helped patch up Good Boy after he got injured, Snap goes back the next day, thinking maybe she could help with a bunch of baby possums whose mother is dead. Jacks and Snap become constant companions, taking care of the possums, while Jacks also shows Snap how to clean and recreate animal skeletons, a painstaking but satisfying process. In between, Snap hangs out with her next-door neighbor Louis, who Snap encourages to be him/herself and begins to go by Lulu. The two like to watch scary movies together, and Snap is especially glad of the company when her mom is working late. Eventually, while working with Jacks, Snap begins to realize the old woman might actually have a bit of real magic and a connection to Snap's own family.

Sample pages from Snapdragon by Kat Leyh (First Second)

I really enjoyed this unique novel about friendship, family, healing, and acceptance. It's lots of fun, filled with colorful, realistic, and action-packed drawings, but it also covers plenty of ground with serious issues, like gender fluidity, being gay, bullying, and not making assumptions about people. It was more real-life based than I expected for the first half of the story, though it takes some unexpected twists in the second half. Snap is a wonderful heroine, filled with courage and boldness and willing to stand up for her friends. And I loved the happy ending.

224 pages, First Second

You can purchase Snapdragon from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buythrough indie bookstores using Bookshop.

 

Or you can order Snapdragon from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Fiction Review: Slaughterhouse Five

I've been taking advantage of the stay-at-home orders, closed libraries, and canceled book groups to read from the deep recesses of my To-Be-Read bookcase. One author I have been meaning to read for decades is Kurt Vonnegut. He was a favorite of my father, and I fondly remember him enjoying Vonnegut's novels, one after the other, when I was a kid in the 70's. So, I finally pulled our old paperback copy (one my husband bought for 50 cents at a used bookstore in his hometown as a teen) of Slaughterhouse Five off the shelves. I admit I had been putting off reading it because of the title--what a silly thing to do! It turns out that this modern classic is not about slaughtering animals but about an ordinary life, time travel, aliens who keep humans in a zoo, and World War II. It's a rather unique story that is hard to describe.

The entire book is framed as a novel written by a man (the author?) who has been trying to write a nonfiction history book about the horrific bombing of Dresden at the end of WWII, which killed about 25,000 people (mostly civilians). Instead, he gives up and decides to write a fanciful novel, and the rest of this book is that novel. So, chapter 2 starts with the famous line: "Listen: Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time." Throughout the novel, Billy is a very young chaplain's assistant in WWII (himself a POW in Dresden, held in the basement of a building formerly known as Slaughterhouse Five, at the time of the bombing), an optometrist in upstate New York, a husband, and a father. Oh, and he was abducted by aliens and taken to the planet Tralfamadore, where he was held naked in a zoo with a Hollywood starlet so the aliens could see humans making love. So, there's that. The novel itself is told out of order, beginning when Billy is an older man, a widower, who finally comes clean and goes on the radio and writes to the newspaper about his adventures as an alien captive and time traveler. His grown daughter is, understandably, concerned about his mental state. From there, Billy tells the story of his life, with flashbacks to those surreal days in Dresden, his marriage, his career, and, of course, his experiences on Tralfamadore. Interspersed are the times when Billy suddenly time traveled to a different period of his own life, which makes the slightly mixed-up structure of the novel mirror Billy's life.

This novel is so much more than a plot description. It's very unique tone is difficult to explain. In trying to tell a friend about it, she said it sounded dark and disturbing. And, yes, the WWII scenes are dark--one of Vonnegut's premises is that that early experience affects everything in the rest of Billy's decades of life--but this is a comic novel, filled with absurdities, silliness, and laugh-out-loud moments. Sure, Vonnegut is trying to make some serious points here about the nature of war and its effects on the young people who fight it, but he accomplishes that through farce and dark humor. It's actually a very fun book to read, and a fast-paced, quick read, too, that fit in just right with my current state of mind (which mostly wants to read lighter books right now!). I can see now why Vonnegut appealed so much to my dad, who had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh, and I wish so much that I could sit down to tell him I finally read Vonnegut and talk to him about this unique, wild ride of a novel. I will definitely be reading more of this much-acclaimed author.

215 pages, Dell

Listen to a sample of the audiobook from an early part of the book that describes Billy's life, read by James Franco, and/or download it from Audible.

You can purchase Slaughterhouse Five from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop:

Or you can order Slaughterhouse Five from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 4/20! What Are You Reading?

Another week has passed in this crazy, mixed-up world. That means lots of cooking and walks around our neighborhood, and a nerve-wracking trip to the grocery store, where some people weren't wearing masks and seemed totally ignorant of social distancing needs - eek! We did enjoy some highlights last week, though, including a walk with my friends!! It was such a thrill to see my two closest friends again, for our socially-distant walk at a local nature center. My husband and I returned to the nature center on Sunday and had a similar walk with our son and his girlfriend (who've been living away from us) - such a pleasure to spend time with loved ones, even from six feet apart.

A socially-distancing hike with our son and his girlfriend

Oh, and I did another Bookcase Tour Video last week - I can't get them to post properly on my blog, but you can see them on my Facebook page.

Another highlight of the week, as always, was our books. Here's what we've all been reading this past week:

I finished reading a book from deep in my TBR bookcase (one advantage of the libraries being closed), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. This is the first Foer novel I have read, though I saw the movie adaptation (starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock) of this one years ago. I remembered the general premise and that I loved the story (it's a great movie), but I didn't remember all the details. It's about an extremely smart and precocious (possibly autistic) nine-year-old boy named Oskar who lost his dad in 9/11. It's been over a year, but he hasn't fully processed the trauma and grief yet. Oskar finds a key that belonged to his father, and he goes on a mission (much like the secret missions his dad used to send him on) to find the lock that fits the key. He's got all of New York City to search, so this is a big mission, but it's just what Oskar needs to help him move forward. Although that perhaps sounds a bit dark, it is ultimately about love and healing and has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Oskar is a delight, as is his grandma. It's also a very quirky novel with some unusual ways of telling the story. I enjoyed it, and now I want to watch the movie again.

I also finished a teen/YA graphic novel (those are quickies!), Go with the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann. This recent release is a unique story of friendship, activism, and ... periods! It's about four teen girls in high school. Three of them, Brit, Abby, and Christine, have been friends for a long time. They meet the new girl, Sasha, when she suddenly gets her period for the first time during the second week of school, in front of everyone and while wearing white pants. Oh, yeah, every girl's worst nightmare! The three friends quickly cut off the mean kids making fun of Sasha and help her to the restroom, and a new friendship is born. Abby is appalled to find that the machine in the girls' room is empty, and after they help Sasha, she goes to talk to the principal about it. He cites budget cuts and makes other excuses, and Abby gets more and more upset. She starts thinking, what about girls that can't even afford sanitary products, even if they were available in school? With her friends by her side, Abby sets off to not only make necessary products available for girls but also to remove the taboo that surrounds any talk of menstruation. It's a fun story of friendship that touches on some serious issues and empowers girls to make a difference.

Now, I have turned back to Booktopia 2020 reading - the in-person annual event (supposed to be next week!) was of course cancelled, but Northshire Bookstore has a bunch of free virtual author events planned in its place (click on Events at the link to join the fun!), including several Booktopia authors coming up in May. So, I just started reading Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris. It's a memoir about Greece by a writer from The New Yorker. The first chapter explains her lifelong interest in the Greek language and culture. I'm not too much further than that yet, but her explanations of the origins of both the Greek and English alphabets are fascinating. I have always wanted to visit Greece, so I am looking forward to hearing about her extensive travels there

On audio, I am still listening (I have no time alone for audiobooks right now!) to Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, a newly released novel. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1982, a young woman named Oona who is celebrating her nineteenth birthday is suddenly transported 32 years into the future, where she is a 51-year-old woman, living in a gorgeous house and greeted warmly by a man she's never seen before. From then on, each year at the same time, Oona jumps to another age and time in her life. This plot is right up my alley! As I've mentioned, I love time travel and alternate timeline plots in novels, so this is a perfect escape for me right now. I am loving it so far. It's pretty mind-bending as Oona jumps from one age/time into another, but that's exactly what I love about these kinds of plots. She approaches each year very differently and it takes her a while to get the hang of this bizarre life she's leading. I'm loving it so far, and there are some interesting twists in the story.

My husband, Ken, has made a big switch after a bunch of fast-paced thrillers to The Pioneers by David McCoullough, a nonfiction history book. I received this one as an Advanced Reader Copy last year, and though I didn't review it, we hung onto it. It's about the part of American history that includes the settling of the Northwest Territory (i.e. Ohio), beginning in 1788, as a group of pioneers set out after the Revolutionary War seeking the freedom of religion, free education, and prohibition of slavery that existed further west from the original 13 colonies. McCoullough is an outstanding and award-winning writer, so I'm sure this is an amazing book, though I think I would have trouble reading about pioneers and westward expansion after reading An Indigenous People's History of the United States earlier this year! I may never be able to read American history in the same way again.

Our son, 25, is still reading The Sixth Strand by Melissa McPhail, book 5 in her A Pattern of Shadow and Light series. He loves this series and even gave his dad book 1 for Christmas last year, so he could share it with him. This is another giant book (900 pages) for him, so it looks like he's reading a big encyclopedia when he carries it around the house! (Am I dating myself with that reference?) He read 100 pages in the first day, and is loving being immersed back in this complex fantasy world. There's nothing like diving back into a favorite fictional world.




Last week's blog posts:

TV Tuesday: Miracle Workers: Dark Ages - need some laughs? This is the place! Available free on multiple platforms (including the network's website - no subscription required)

Fiction Review: The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata - unique novel about how one missing book brings two immigrant families together

My Summary of Books Read in March - a crazy month in the outside world, but good reading!

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.   

What are you and your family reading this week?

Books Read in March

Forsythia and daffodils in bloom!

Life was strange and nerve-wracking in March, but at least the reading was good! Here are the books I finished last month:

• The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard (TN) - adult fiction on audio
• Who Is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht (Argentina) - adult fiction
• Black Is the Body: Stories from my Grandmother's Time, my Mother's Time, and Mine by Emily Bernard (VT) - adult nonfiction/memoir

• OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu (MA) - teen/YA fiction
• The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata (LA) - adult fiction on audio
• Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age by Mary Pipher (KS) - adult nonfiction/memoir

• For Once in My Life by Colleen Coleman (UK) - adult fiction

I finished seven books in all in March, which is a good month for me. I read a nice mix of fiction and nonfiction, including one YA novel (though no middle-grade books), and two of my books were on audio. It's unusual for me to read two nonfiction books in one month when it's not Nonfiction November! It was an excellent reading month, and I enjoyed all of these and the variety. I think OCD Love Story was my favorite--the book that most grabbed me.

Progress in 2020 Reading Challenges:
You can see all of the reading challenges I am participating in and full lists of the books read for each at the challenges link. I have some fun ones going this year! Here's how March stacked up:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 - I only read 2 books from my own shelves last month, but with the libraries all shut down and no book groups or events, my TBR reading should ramp WAY up!

2020 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - March was Sub-Genre Sound-Off, so I chose The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard, which is WWII historical fiction.

Back to the Classics 2020 - no classics yet this year, but I did kick off April with one!

PopSugar Reading Challenge - this is a unique one! I fit six of my seven books into categories in March, filling in 17 categories so far this year:

1. A book that won an award in 2019: Black Is the Body: Stories from my Grandmother's Time, my Mother's Time, and Mine by Emily Bernard
2. A book on a subject you know nothing about: The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard
3. A book that has a book on the cover: The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata
4. A book with a three-word title: Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher
5. A book with a pink cover: OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu
6. A book by or about a journalist: For Once in My Life by Colleen Coleman

2020 Nonfiction Reader's Challenge - I read two nonfiction books in March, fitting into the categories for Social Science (Black Is the Body: Stories from my Grandmother's Time, my Mother's Time, and Mine by Emily Bernard) and Feminism (Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age by Mary Pipher), for a total of four nonfiction books so far this year.

2020 Diversity Reading Challenge - Six of my seven books were diverse last month and Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age by Mary Pipher fit into the monthly theme of gender/woman author.

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I added just one new country in March, Argentina.

2020 Literary Escapes Challenge - I read books set in four new states: Kansas, Tennessee, Vermont, and Louisiana.

And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month's Bingo card and play along. In March, I filled 18 spaces on my bingo card:

Spaces Filled in:

The Atomic City Girls - secrets, enemies/frenemies, audiobook
Who Is Vera Kelly? - suspense/thriller, library book, military, in a series, set in a city
Black Is the Body - dark past/history
OCD Love Story - free book, children's book, shelf love
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau - diverse characters, luck
Women Rowing North - not in a series
For Once in My Life - read a physical book, blue on the cover
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in March?

Fiction Review: The Lost Book of Adana Moreau

One of the selections for Booktopia 2020 this year was The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata. This unique novel has a fairy-tale like feel as it chronicles the lives of generations of two immigrant families and how one book brought them together.

The novel begins in the early decades of the 20th century, when a pirate moves to New Orleans and marries a woman who is an orphan from the Dominican Republic. The two of them love each other very much and have a son named Maxwell. Maxwell grows up in New Orleans in his early years, walking the streets of the city. His mother loves to read science fiction and writes her own sci fi novel called Lost City that deals with multiple universes and alternative timelines. She publishes the book and writes a sequel, A Model Earth, but on her deathbed, she and Maxwell burn the only copy of the second book. Shortly afterward, Maxwell's father, the pirate, leaves, and Maxwell, left on his own, eventually sets off in search of him.

Then, the action shifts to 2005. Saul, a Jewish immigrant, is cleaning out his beloved grandfather's apartment in Chicago after his death. An envelope is delivered to the apartment that has been returned in the mail, addressed to Maxwell Moreau, that his grandfather had tried to send. Inside is the manuscript for A Model Earth, which had supposedly been destroyed (though Saul knows nothing of that). With a bit of research, he realizes that Maxwell's mother wrote the book, and his grandfather had been trying to return it to him. Saul takes on his grandfather's mission of trying to find Maxwell and sets off with a childhood friend who is a journalist. Their search takes them to post-Katrina New Orleans.

This is a fascinating and convoluted story of multiple generations of two families who are interrelated. With a lyrical writing style, it has dream-like feel to it. For instance, in those early chapters, Maxwell's parents are referred to as the pirate and the Dominicana, sounding a bit like a fairy tale. The novel is also packed full of historical, literary, and scientific references, including dinosaurs, the Holocaust, astronomy, Greek mythology, and more. Plus, Adana's novels are described in the midst of this novel, with a book-within-a-book set-up that connects in some ways to the real-life stories surrounding them. I always enjoy novels with two intertwined stories, and this one takes a long time to finally show how Maxwell and Saul's grandfather were connected, along the way delving into each of their family's histories, which both center around immigrants. The author weaves a complicated but intriguing story that is compelling and engrossing, filled with interesting facts and thoughtful concepts that will keep you thinking long after you finish the book.

272 pages, Hanover Square Press

Listen to a sampleof the audiobook here, where you can hear the dreamlike quality of the narration of Coral Peña, and/or download it from Audible.

You can purchase The Lost Book of Adana Moreau from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buythrough indie bookstores using Bookshop.

Or you can order The Lost Book of Adana Moreau from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

TV Tuesday: Miracle Workers: Dark Ages

In need of some good belly laughs and all-around silliness? Who isn't right now! We are finding that Miracle Workers: Dark Ages is the perfect answer when we need a lift, with an all-star cast and a sense of humor that reminds us of Monty Python or Norsemen. First, a quick explanation (it's a bit confusing and I had to look this part up!). The first season of Miracle Workers was an entirely different premise; the one we are watching, Dark Ages, is season 2. Apparently, the overall show is based on the writings of humorist Simon Rich. Season 1, just titled Miracle Workers, was based on his novel, What in God's Name, and is about two low-level angels that must save Earth by helping two humans fall in love. Season 2, Dark Ages, is an entirely different story, with the same cast playing different roles, based on Rich's short story, Revolution, and set in Medieval times.

In season 2, Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) hilariously plays Prince Chauncley, the very clueless son of a cruel king in a small town in the Middle Ages. Karan Soni plays Lord Vexler, the king's top advisor. Out in the village, the focus is on the Shitshoveler family (you see, people are named after their occupation). Steve Buscemi plays Edward, the head of the Shitshoveler family, and the town's ...you guessed it ... shit shoveler. His younger son, Mikey, is played by Jon Bass, and his daughter, Alexandra, is played by Geraldine Viswanathan. The first episode opens on graduation day, when Al and her friends are talking about what they will do next. Al is super smart and one of the few townspeople who knows how to read, but she must follow in her father's footsteps and learn the shit shoveler trade. Her best friend, Maggie (played by Lolly Adefope), joins the local convent, but the two young women remain close and often end their days up on a roof overlooking the town and drinking mead. Prince Chauncley is pretty much a screw-up because he's never had to do anything for himself, but he has eyes for Al and wants to be a better person to impress her. That's the basic set-up, but of course, each episode presents a new problem and digs deeper into the characters.

It's impossible to describe the humor of this show--you just have to watch the first episode to see for yourself! If you are a fan of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you'll love this show. The approach of the show is also very similar to Norsemen, a Viking comedy. Both shows are set long ago but include hilarious references to modern times planted here and there, ready to surprise a laugh out of you (to see what I mean, check out the trailer below; the last scene in it features Chauncley setting out on a road trip). Each episode is just 30 minutes long, so it is perfect when you need a short escape from the sobering news ... or for binging, if you prefer! The cast is amazing; all of them are perfect in their roles, acting straight while making you laugh. The show also has plenty of heart. Radcliffe as Chauncley has this adorably vacant stare, as he fumbles through his life, trying to attract Al's attention. Viswanathan is smart and clever, and Buscemi as her father plays the straight man hilariously. Are you getting the idea? This show will make you laugh!

Miracle Workers: Dark Ages just wrapped up season 2 on TBS, so all of the episodes are available On Demand or at TBS's website (as are season 1 episodes). We are up to episode 6 of 10 in season 2 (and still need to watch season 1). I believe it is also available on Hulu.

It's Monday 4/13! What Are You Reading?

What day is it? What month is it? ha ha Just kidding, though the days are starting to run together a bit. We enjoyed a very nice Easter. We video chatted with the whole family (who would normally be together for Easter) then had our traditional Ukrainian feast here with just us. My son and his girlfriend joined us for a socially distant dinner - we set up a card table for them away from the dining room table! It was a lot of work for me, but we all had a great day and enjoyed being together (and eating all that yummy food!). Hoping the pierogies didn't have too bad an effect on my gluten-intolerant son, who splurged on them - they're his favorite! I hope all of you also managed to have a nice holiday and/or weekend in these odd times we're living in.

A social distancing Easter dinner

I continued to struggle with my health last week. My chronic illness has been flared up for the past two weeks or so, causing super-low stamina and occasional severely bad days (I had another of those last week). But this weekend was very busy and far too exerting for me, with lots of time standing in the kitchen yesterday and a walk, and so far, I am feeling OK this morning! Fingers crossed that I might be getting back to my usual normal baseline, though I am being cautious today (sometimes there is a delayed reaction to exertion). I hope to get back to more typical functioning for me this week and also try some more book videos - I have a lot more bookcases here to share with you! To check out the mini tour of our To-Be-Read Bookcase, visit my Facebook page at the link - like the page to see other posts and get updates.

Wow, we are all really loving our books right now! The three of us are enjoying the extra reading time and indulging in some good fiction, for the most part. Here's what we've been reading this past week:

This weekend, I finished reading The Late Show by Michael Connelly because I felt in the mood for fast-paced escapism (as I think many people are right now). I haven't read a Connelly novel in ages, but my husband and I both love his Harry Bosch series (and the TV show adapted from it). I gave this one to my husband for Christmas a few years ago. It's the first book in a new Connelly series, featuring female LAPD detective Renee Ballard. She works the midnight shift ("the late show") in Hollywood, which means she and her partner respond to calls all night, collecting evidence and writing reports, but then turn their cases over to the day shift. This novel begins with a long night of new cases, including one that Ballard really wants to be able to investigate herself instead of turning it over, plus a multiple shooting in a club that her old partner is helping to investigate. It was great, as all his novels are, and I really enjoyed the immersive suspense.

Now, I have moved onto another book from deep in my TBR bookcase (one advantage of the libraries being closed), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. This is the first Foer novel I have read, though I saw the movie adaptation (starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock) of this one years ago. I remember the general premise and that I loved the story (it's a great movie), but I don't remember all the details. It's about an extremely smart and precocious nine-year-old boy named Oskar who lost his dad in 9/11. It's only been a few months, and he hasn't fully processed the trauma and grief yet. Oskar finds a key that belonged to his father, and he goes on a mission (much like the secret missions his dad used to send him on) to find the lock that fits the key. He's got all of New York City to search, so this is a big mission, but it's just what Oskar needs to help him heal and move forward. Although that perhaps sounds a bit dark, I remember the movie being funny, uplifting, and full of joy. I just started the novel yesterday, but I am already enjoying it and laughing out loud.

I forgot to mention last week that I've also been squeezing some graphic novels between the cracks in my available time. I finished Snapdragon by Kat Leyh, a middle-grade graphic novel, and really enjoyed it. It's an original story about a girl named Snapdragon who feels like she doesn't fit in. She befriends Louis next door, who listens to his heart and soon begins to transform into Lulu, with Snap's encouragement. She also meets an old woman named Jacks, whom everyone thinks is a witch, in the woods. As Snap gets to know her better, the two of them spend more and more time together and begin to bond. Though Snap now knows that Jacks is just a lonely old woman, she soon learns some secrets that could indicate that Jacks actually does know some real magic, plus a possible connection with Snap's own family. It's a warm, smart, unique story about kindness, acceptance, friends, and family (and a touch of magic).

I also read an adult graphic memoir, Go To Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood by one of my favorite artist/authors, Lucy Knisely (who also wrote graphic memoirs like Relish: My Life in the Kitchen and Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride. If, like me, you have followed her life as depicted in these warm, fun, entertaining books, then this one about being a new parent fits perfectly into the timeline. And if you're new to Knisely, then this is a good introduction. The book is all about the joys and stresses of being a new parent, from sleep deprivation to worries to first smiles, all captured in Knisely's wonderful drawing style. Anyone who has been a parent can relate and feel her love for her baby come off the page and into your heart.

On audio, I am still listening to Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, a newly released novel. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1982, a young woman named Oona who is celebrating her nineteenth birthday is suddenly transported 32 years into the future, where she is a 51-year-old woman, living in a gorgeous house and greeted warmly by a man she's never seen before. From then on, each year at the same time, Oona jumps to another age and time in her life. This plot is right up my alley! As I've mentioned, I love time travel and alternate timeline plots in novels, so this is a perfect escape for me right now. I am loving it so far. It's pretty mind-bending as Oona jumps from one age/time into another, but that's exactly what I love about these kinds of plots. She approaches each year very differently and it takes her a while to get the hang of this bizarre life she's leading. I am just starting Part 4, as she makes her third jump, from age 27 to ... I need to go listen to more to find out!

My husband, Ken, just finished a novel I gave him as a gift, Live to Air by Jeffrey L. Diamond. This is a thriller about a television news producer named Ethan Benson. Although he hates crime stories, he gets pulled into a big one when his boss assigns him to cover a bloody murder in the meatpacking district that grabs headlines. As he investigates the story, which has ties to organized crime, he criss-crosses New York, from one borough to another, as things get more and more dangerous. His wife and son have to go into hiding, and his own life is in danger, as he follows the story to its end. This sounds like a suspenseful, tense thriller. Ken enjoyed its inside view of television journalism and said it kept him guessing right up till the end.

Now, Ken has made a big switch after a bunch of fast-paced thrillers to The Pioneers by David McCoullough, a nonfiction history book. I received this one as an Advanced Reader Copy last year, and though I didn't review it, we hung onto it. It's about the part of American history that includes the settling of the Northwest Territory, beginning in 1788, as a band of pioneers set out after ther Revolutionary War seeking the freedom of religion, free education, and prohibition of slavery that existed further west from the original 13 colonies. McCoullough is an outstanding and award-winning writer, so I'm sure this is an amazing book, though I wonder if I would have trouble reading about pioneers and westward expansion after reading An Indigenous People's History of the United States earlier this year!

Our son, 25, finished reading Master, book 5 in the Sanctuary series by Robert J. Crane. We gave him book 1, Defender, for Christmas 2018, and he loved the series so much that he quickly read books 2, 3, and 4, also. So, this past Christmas, we gave him book 5. The series is epic fantasy about a world called Arkaria and features dragons, titans, goblins, and more. He loves the series, and thoroughly enjoyed this next book. He said this series has lots of action and suspense. Staying homebound is giving him some much-needed downtime to take care of his health and finally get to some of these tomes he's been wanting to read!

Speaking of tomes, he has now turned his attention to The Sixth Strand by Melissa McPhail, book 5 in her A Pattern of Shadow and Light series. He loves this series and even gave his dad book 1 for Christmas last year, so he could share it with him. This is another giant book (900 pages), so it looks like he's reading a big encyclopedia when he carries it around the house! (Am I dating myself with that reference?) He read 100 pages in the first day, and is loving being immersed back in this complex fantasy world.





Just one additional blog post last week (I have some catching up to do):

Nonfiction Review: Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age by Mary Pipher - a warm and thoughtful look at the experiences of women aging

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.   

What are you and your family reading this week?