Fiction Review: The Dreamers

I really enjoyed The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, so I was excited to read her next novel, The Dreamers. It features the same chilling, engrossing blend of watching an unprecedented event unfold and seeing the way that different people respond to it.

In a remote mountain town in California, students are enjoying their freshman year at the local college. A quiet, timid girl named Mei feels left out of a lot of the female bonding and social activity. Then, one day, Mei's roommate, Kara, doesn't wake up. At first Mei assumes she was just out drinking the night before and is sleeping in, but soon the whole dorm floor is alarmed when Kara continues to sleep, into the next day. Someone calls 911, and Kara is taken to the hospital. Soon, another student on their floor succumbs to this "sleeping sickness," and then another and another. Mei's entire floor is quarantined, and she and the other students watch from the windows as life goes on without them outside. Soon, though, the sickness (if that's what it is?) has spread to other students and other dorms and to professors and others who live in the town. Nathaniel is an older professor whose partner is in a nursing home in town with dementia. Annie and Ben are a young couple who have just moved to town for professor jobs at the school. Their infant daughter, Grace, is only a few weeks old, and they are dealing with the typical sleep-deprived challenges of new parenthood. Catherine is a psychologist who has come in from another town to help during the emergency, leaving her own daughter at home with her grandmother. Libby and Sara are two little girls who live with their father, who's a survivalist with a basement equipped for an apocalypse ... which might actually be happening now. A few people die, but most just keep on sleeping, and doctors can tell that they're dreaming, too. Who will succumb? Who will wake up? The town is fully quarantined, as people wonder and doctors try to figure out what this new illness is.

This book was published in 2019, before our own pandemic, so some scenes and reactions are particularly unsettling, but Walker has come up with a wholly unique, fictional epidemic with some intriguing questions associated with it. All people sleep and dream, but what if a whole town was stuck in that state? What if people had vivid, life-like dreams that lasted for months? Like in The Age of Miracles, Walker presents these kinds of thought-provoking scenarios. But her talent really lies in digging into how humanity responds to these puzzling phenomena. As the narrative moves from one character to another, we see a full range of reactions and emotions. The story is also suspenseful, as the reader wonders who will be hit next and who will wake up and when. It's a quiet story with a deep and provocative center. I was immersed in this world and gripped by this fascinating novel, so much so that I also read every word of the author interview at the back. I can't wait to see what Walker comes up with next!

299 pages, Random House

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. It sounds great!

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    

  

 

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

 

Fiction Review: Daisy Jones and the Six

Given all the hype over the past few years, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I just read my first-ever Taylor Jenkins Reid book! Daisy Jones and the Six was one of those novels that didn't sound all that interesting to me, but I figured I should see what all the fuss was about. Much to my surprise, I found it incredibly propulsive and stayed up much too late each night reading it!

This novel is written as if it were an oral history of a famous rock band from the 1970's, with excerpts from interviews with the band members and others near them telling the story of their rise and abrupt ending. It starts with a teen girl named Daisy Jones in 1965 who seems to be on her way to becoming a professional groupie, hanging out with various musicians and immersing herself in the L.A. music (and drug) scene. Daisy has dreams of becoming a singer and songwriter, though she has no formal musical education. Meanwhile, across the U.S. in Pittsburgh, two brothers, Billy and Graham, start a rock band called the Dunne Brothers. Over the next six years, their band grows and some members change until eventually, there are six in the group, and they begin calling themselves The Six. They gradually grow and expand their reach, until they move to L.A. in 1973. They release a successful album, though their first tour ends with a catastrophe for Billy. Eventually, Daisy is paired with the Six for a song by their shared production company ... and then, a whole album. Daisy and Billy have an electric chemistry together, which comes across in their songwriting and duets, though Billy is committed to his wife and children. Daisy's drinking and drug use grow more and more out of control, as the group of seven goes out on tour. Abruptly, on July 12, 1979, Daisy Jones and the Six break up in the middle of a tour. This oral history, put together decades later, is meant to answer the questions of how the band rose to fame and why they eventually crashed.

That summary sounds pretty dull, even to me, but this book is full of life. I wasn't sure I'd like the interview style, but it makes the story feel real and dynamic, like you're there with the band and with Daisy when all of this happened. The lyrics to the songs on their hit album are even included at the end, and I turned to them again and again. It's a unique and very effective way to tell this story. The band themselves feel real, and the author says she took inspiration from Fleetwood Mac, which led me down an internet rabbit hole about them (one of my favorite bands). Reid does a great job of painting a picture of the era, especially the L.A. music scene. As I explained, I went into this book with low expectations, but the story and characters almost immediately grabbed me. It's told in such a compelling way that I had a hard time setting it down, telling myself, "just one more chapter ..." over and over. It feels authentic and immediate, filled with real emotions. I'm convinced; now I want to read more novels by Reid!

351 pages, Ballantine Books

Random House Audio (I read this in print, but the audio sounds amazing! Sample below)

A TV adaptation is coming to Amazon Prime on March 3, and I can't wait to see it!  Here's the very short trailer that was released so far, and a quick look from the Today Show that shows a bit more.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, with an all-star cast of big name actors, and/or download it from Audible. This sounds great on audio! This sample gives you an idea of the oral history style.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    

  

 

Or you can order Daisy Jones and the Six from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Fiction Review: Horse

I have a weird relationship with novelist Geraldine Brooks. Whenever I hear about one of her novels, I always think, "I'm not interested in that." Then, I read it (often for book group) and absolutely love it! So, when I heard about her latest novel, Horse, I again thought I wasn't interested in reading a novel about a racehorse (even though I just read and loved Seabiscuit for Nonfiction November). But, my neighborhood book group chose it for December, so I listened to it on audio, and ... you guessed it! I thoroughly enjoyed this engrossing story spanning more than 150 years.

In 2019, a young man named Theo, a Nigerian-American art history graduate student attending Georgetown University, is searching for a subject for his thesis. One day, he sees that his neighbor across the street has set out a bunch of old furniture and other household items on the sidewalk with a sign saying "Free." As he's walking by, Theo spots a painting. He pulls it out and sees it's a small painting of a horse, with a Black boy standing next to it. Intrigued, he pulls it from the giveaway pile and begins looking into it. Meanwhile, Jess, a young Australian woman who works at the Smithsonian putting together animal skeletons, hears about a missing horse skeleton from a colleague in the UK who suspects it may be stored at the Smithsonian. Jess finds the skeleton in storage and begins to work on it. Back in 1850, a Black boy named Jarret lives on a Kentucky horse farm. His adopted father, Harry, is a free man, thanks to his skill at training horses that allowed him to earn money and buy his freedom. When a new foal is born on the farm, Harry and the farm's owner give it to Jarret to train himself. As the horse grows, a traveling painter named Thomas Scott comes to the farm and is hired to paint the horses. Unfortunately, Jarret's life with his beloved horse does not unfold as he expected, and the two of them end up in Louisiana, where they again encounter Scott. Meanwhile, in the present day, Theo and Jess meet and work together to investigate the mystery of the horse from its skeleton and its painting.

Brooks is talented at weaving together an intricate story of different people in different time periods whose lives intertwine (much as she did in People of the Book). Her characters are three dimensional and interesting, and I came to care about them. As always in her historical fiction, she's taken a fascinating real-life but little-known piece of history and built a fully fleshed-out story around it. You can read the true story of the discovery of this horse, his trainer, and the painter in this article from Smithsonian magazine. The audio production was excellent, with multiple narrators reading the chapters from different characters' perspectives, which helped to bring them all to life. The narrative skillfully moves from past to present and back again, creating a sense of suspense in this already compelling story that is not only about horses and racing but also about art, history, racism, and love. Once again, I enjoyed every moment of this captivating novel by Geraldine Brooks. Next time, I won't waffle about whether to read one of her novels!

416 pages, Viking

Penguin Audio

Two other Geraldine Brooks novels I enjoyed (besides People of the Book) were Year of Wonders and Caleb's Crossing (my reviews at the links).

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes - Louisiana

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, one of Theo's sections from the beginning of the novel, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

   

 

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

 

It's Monday 12/26! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Merry Christmas to all who celebrated it yesterday!

We had a hectic few days, getting everything done and prepped and then hosting Christmas Day. It was a quiet morning, with just my husband, our younger son, and I having our traditional breakfast and opening presents. Our older son and his girlfriend arrived in the afternoon, my mom and her husband got here a couple of hours later, and our younger son's girlfriend joined us for a bit. Then, we had a flurry of activity with more presents, Christmas dinner, and then birthday presents and cake (plus pies!) for my mom's husband's birthday. It was exhausting but good to have everyone together. 

Christmas morning - "before"

Christmas morning. "after"!

 

 

All around the table for Christmas dinner!

And, most importantly, here are the books we each got for Christmas!

Our son's new books

My new books - it'll be an Anne Tyler year!

My husband's new books

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On the Blog

In spite of the hectic week, I was determined to do a little review catch-up. I'm so behind!

TV Tuesday: Kindred - this new TV adaptation of one of my favorite books of the year is outstanding so far! 

2 Nonfiction Mini Reviews: Pinball and The Reading Life - quick reviews of a vibrant graphic nonfiction history of pinball and a selection of quotes from C.S. Lewis about books and reading.

Fiction Review: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - This unique, twisty, captivating story spanning 300 years was even better than my very high expectations!

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On Video

Two short, fun book/reading videos last week:

Friday Reads 12-23-22  - quick overview of what I was reading

 Naughty or Nice Booktube Tag - a fun holiday-inspired set of book questions!

 

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What We're Reading

 

I finished reading The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. I loved her first novel, The Age of Miracles. In this one, a mysterious illness hits a remote college in the California mountains. One student at a time falls asleep and doesn't wake up. It starts on one dorm floor, spreads to the town, and doctors can tell the sleeping students are dreaming, but they've never before seen anything like this. It was excellent--intriguing and engrossing.

 

 

Now, I am reading The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer. This is unusual for me, as I rarely read romance novels or holiday-themed books, but this one is special. Both the author and her main character have the same immune disorder that I have, ME/CFS. It's incredible (and rare) to read about a fictional character dealing with the same issues as me. But fear not! This is not depressing but a classic rom-com, with plenty of warmth and humor. I'm enjoying it so far.

 

 

 

On audio, I finished listening to Hidden Picture by Jason Rekulak. He was a Booktopia author in 2017, and my husband and I both enjoyed his first novel, The Impossible Fortress. Here, a young woman who is in recovery from prescription drug addiction gets a job as a nanny. She lives in their guest cottage and cares for their sweet five-year-old son, Teddy. It seems ideal at first, until some odd things start to happen: strange noises at night, Teddy's somewhat menacing imaginary friend, and his increasingly gruesome crayon drawings. This was a twisty, suspenseful novel!

 

 

 

My husband, Ken, is still reading Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger, book two in his Cork O'Connor mystery series, about a former sheriff in Minnesota. We both like this author, and he enjoyed the first book in this series.

 

 

Our son, 28, said he just last night finished reading High Mage, book 5 in the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour. He's not sure what he's going to start next, but as you can see above, he has lots of great choices (plus a bunch of Amazon gift cards). It was nice to get this update over breakfast this morning instead of by text!

 

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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?

Fiction Review: Sea of Tranquility

I have become a big fan of author Emily St. John Mandel in recent years. Like many other people, I really enjoyed her novel Station Eleven. Then, this summer I read The Glass Hotel and enjoyed that novel, too. When I heard that her latest release, Sea of Tranquility, included some of the characters and settings from The Glass Hotel and that it was a time travel story, I knew I had to read it! As expected, I absolutely loved this captivating novel. My only complaint? I wish it was longer!

The novel begins with discrete sections, looking in on different characters in different time periods. In 1912, eighteen-year-old Edwin St. Andrew is exiled from his wealthy life in England to the rough wilderness of Canada, where he wanders aimlessly from the East coast to the West coast. In 2020, Mirella (a character from The Glass Hotel) attends a concert/show by the brother of her late friend, Vincent. Two hundred years later, in 2204, a novelist named Olive Llewllyn, who lives in one of the moon colonies, is traveling around Earth for a book tour. What all of these people have in common is that they all experience or witness the same strange phenomenon. Also, in each of these very different settings and time periods spanning three hundred years, they each meet a man named Gaspery Roberts.

That bare outline is all I'm going to tell you because one of the many delights of this novel is in the discovery of its secrets. Each of these stories and characters is compelling in its own way, but the way they connect is intriguing, making for a gripping narrative. I figured out the main twist pretty early on (probably because I read a lot of time travel novels), but there were still plenty of surprises in store for me toward the end of the book. It's like an intricate puzzle, where you only see the full picture at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this unique novel and never wanted it to end. I can't wait to see what Mandel comes up with next!

255 pages, Alfred A. Knopf

Random House Audio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Travel the World in Books - Canada (and the moon!)

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from Edwin's story at the start of the book, and/or download it from Audible. The audio with multiple narrators sounds great!\ 

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

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      data-type="book"
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Or you can order Sea of Tranquility from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

 

2 Nonfiction Mini-Reviews: Pinball and The Reading Life

Since I am still writing November reviews at the end of December, I decided to combine some into mini reviews in a single post. Here are short reviews of my last two books read/listened to for Nonfiction November. I enjoyed both of them.

I read a graphic nonfiction book, Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball by Jon Chad. Believe it or not, pinball's history begins in the 17th century, in the court of King Louis XIV! There, a game called bagatelle was played by the wealthy French and later carried to the New World. Pinball was hugely popular in the early 20th century, among immigrants and as a distraction during the Depression. Most surprising of all to me was that pinball was illegal in both NYC and LA from the 1940's through to the early 1970's! The history here was fascinating, but this book also details how pinball works, technological advancements over the years, different components of a pinball game, and pinball designers. All of it is illustrated in vibrant colors and dynamic pictures that capture the movement and excitement of a pinball game. I learned a lot and was entertained by this unique, lively book.

208 pages, First Second

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge

Nonfiction Reader Challenge 

Fall Into Reading Challenge - orange on cover 

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local:

Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball

 

 

With just a few days left in November, I squeezed in one last nonfiction audio book, The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others Eyes by C.S. Lewis. This short book is a collection of excerpts from Lewis' essays, articles, and even personal letters, all about books and reading. It includes his thoughts on science fiction and fairy tales, the value of continuing to read older books as well as new, his reviews of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, Huck Finn, and Jane Austen, and a wide variety of interesting musings about books and reading. My favorite parts were his writings about why children's books are not just for children, and in particular, his commentary on The Wind in the Willows, an old favorite of mine, too. The audio book was only two hours long and provided a thoughtful and entertaining discussion on my favorite topic.

192 pages, HarperOne

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader Challenge

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local:

 

 The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others Eyes

 

Disclosure: I received these books from the publishers in return for honest reviews. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

TV Tuesday: Kindred

One of my favorite books read this year was Kindred by Octavia Butler (my review at the link), which I read for a book group hosted by my local independent bookstore in February. This historical fiction time travel story blew me away, so when I heard that a TV adaptation was coming, I was thrilled! My husband and I started watching it on its release date last week. We are three episodes in so far and are both loving it.

Dana, played by Mallori Johnson, is a young writer who has just moved cross-country from New York to California. She sold her grandmother's house in Brooklyn and purchased a house on a peaceful tree-lined street in L.A. She meets Kevin, played by Micah Stock, a waiter in the restaurant where she's just gotten into an argument with her aunt and uncle, her only family in town, who don't seem pleased about her recent move. Dana and Kevin get to know each other over the next two days, as he helps Dana buy some essentials for her empty house. He spends the night but wakes to Dana screaming on the floor. She's just been transported to a Maryland plantation in 1815, where she saw a white boy named Rufus drowning in the river and saved him. While she was leaning over the boy, after reviving him with CPR, his mother arrives and begins beating her, and his father points a gun at her. Then, Dana is back in her home, with Kevin asking what happened. This continues, as she and Kevin try to figure out what is happening and why she keeps getting pulled back. Meanwhile, in the present day, Dana has some new nosy neighbors who keep coming to the house to investigate the screams and clearly suspect Kevin is abusive to Dana. Then things really get interesting.

If you've read my reviews before, you know I hate spoilers, so that is just the barest outline of the first episode or two, as much as is shown in the trailer. SO much happens in this story. I read the book and loved it, and my husband has not read the book, but we are both enjoying the TV show, so I recommend it whether you know and love this story or are unfamiliar with it. There are a few changes and additions to the TV show, but so far, they all add to the story rather than detract.  The main actors, playing Dana and Kevin, as well as the people back in the 1800's, are all excellent in their roles. Dana's fear and Kevin's confusion are palpable, as this unbelievable thing continues to happen. It's all the more interesting because Kevin and Dana barely know each other but are suddenly flung into life-or-death situations (this is one of the changes; in the book, they are married). The settings, both modern and historic, are rendered in great detail, making both times feel real. The suspense and tension are keeping us riveted to the screen.The premise is so compelling, with so many layers to it, that it's hard not to just binge the whole thing all at once, but I want to make the 8 episodes last. Seeing a modern Black woman suddenly stuck on a plantation during slavery times is disturbing but also powerful and gripping. This is one of the best shows on TV right now! I can't wait to see the rest of the season.

Kindred is streaming exclusively on Hulu.

It's Monday 12/19! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

  Still immersed in holiday preparations here, of course! We're making progress. I ordered the last gifts yesterday. My health was up and down last week, but I had a good day Tuesday and managed my local errands/gift buying. And we finally decorated our Christmas tree this weekend! Our ornaments are all memories: from when the kids were little, of family and friends, and lots of ornaments from our travels across the U.S. So, we always enjoy looking through them, reminiscing, and laughing as we decorate the tree. It's one of our favorite parts of the holiday season. We missed having our older son here to help!

We still have to decorate the rest of the house, buy food, write and send cards (haven't started that yet!), and wrap lots of gifts! But I'm feeling less frantic and starting to look forward to next weekend.

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it!

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On the Blog

I'm far behind on reviews, but I did manage a little catch-up last week:

Movie Monday: Licorice Pizza - this funny, nostalgic movie set in '70's L.A. is vibrant and a whole lot of fun!

Nonfiction Review: The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton - this stunning story of an innocent man spending 30 years on death row is eye-opening and inspiring.

Nonfiction Review: Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand - despite having no interest in horses or racing, I was engrossed in this fascinating story of a horse who made history and his rider. 

__________

On Video

Just one book-related video last week on my YouTube channel:

 Friday Reads 12-16-22 - what I just finished and what I'm reading

__________

What We're Reading

Focused this month on reading from my shelves and finishing past book gifts before I get more for Christmas!

 

 

 

I finished reading Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I think I got it for my birthday ... last year! Also, it's my first Reid novel, after listening to everyone I know rave about her books for years now. I didn't think I'd be very interested in a book about a band in the 70's, and a young woman, Daisy, who joins the band, but it pulled me in immediately! It's written interview style, which I also wasn't sure I'd like, but it was completely compelling. I stayed up way too late every night last week reading it!

Now, I've moved onto a gift my husband gave me last Christmas, The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. I loved her first novel, The Age of Miracles. In this one, a mysterious illness hits a remote college in the California mountains. One student at a time falls asleep and doesn't wake up. It starts on one dorm floor, and doctors can tell the sleeping students are dreaming, but they've never before seen anything like this. It's great so far--intriguing and engrossing.

 

On audio, I finished listening to Horse by Geraldine Brooks, one of my favorite authors. Ironically, having just finished Seabiscuit, Horse is also about a famous racehorse, though like Brooks' other books, it's historical fiction. It involves a painting of a horse and a horse museum skeleton, both recovered in 2019 by two different young people, and an enslaved Black boy in 1850 training a racehorse in Kentucky. Most of the history of the horse and his owners is based on historical fact. As always with Brooks, this story that didn't sound interesting to me is told in a fascinating, gripping way. 

 

Now, I am listening to Hidden Picture by Jason Rekulak. He was a Booktopia author in 2017, and my husband and I both enjoyed his first novel, The Impossible Fortress. I'm still figuring out exactly what this one is about, but so far a young woman who is in recovery from prescription drug addiction gets a job as a nanny. She lives in their guest cottage and cares for their sweet five-year-old son, Teddy. It seems ideal at first, until some odd things start to happen: strange noises at night, Teddy's somewhat menacing imaginary friend, and his increasingly gruesome crayon drawings. It's good so far!

 

My husband, Ken, just started reading Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger, book two in his Cork O'Connor mystery series, about a former sheriff in Minnesota. We both like this author, and he enjoyed the first book in this series.

 

I checked with our son, 28, and he finished reading Warmage, book two in the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour. He also finished book 3, Magelord, book 4, Knights Magi, and is now reading book 5, High Mage. I guess he likes this series! I can't wait to see him next weekend and give him some new books!

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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?