Books for Christmas!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I've been on a bit of a break while juggling all the Christmas preparations and festivities, but I wanted to share with you the books that we gave and received this Christmas. We are a reading family! I have photos and a short video below.   

Here are the books (and one DVD set for camping) I gave to my husband:

 

And the hefty books we gave to our fantasy-loving oldest son (youngest son doesn't enjoy reading; I'd question his genetics, but he looks just like me!):

 

And I also picked out books for my mother, based on my own favorite books and authors:

• Kindred by Octavia Butler (my review at the link)
  
• The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (I haven't read this one yet, but I wasn't sure if my mom had already read This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace - she hadn't, so those could be future gifts! This one takes place in the 1950's, so she was excited about that.)

 My mother's husband's birthday is on Christmas Day (his sister's, too!), so for him, I picked out:

• River of the Gods by Candice Millard (I gave him River of Doubt by Millard years ago, and he enjoyed that very much.)

And, finally, my own stack from my family! This year, rather than list specific books (they like a list from me since they don't always know what I've already read), I gave them a list of authors I have never tried before and said "anything from any of these authors." Look at all the great books I received from my family:

 

I can't wait to dive into all of these! Here is a short video, where I briefly talk about each of the books I received:

 

So, that's us!

Did YOU get any books as gifts this holiday season?

What are you looking forward to reading? 

Fiction Review: How High We Go in the Dark

I've been hearing great things about How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu ever since its release in January 2022 and saw it recommended by lots of top magazines and other review outlets. I listened to it on audio this month, and even with all that advance hype, this very unique novel told in widely varying stories over generations surprised me with its warmth, humor, and creativity. 

In the first of these linked stories, in 2030, Dr. Cliff Miyashiro has come to a remote site in Siberia where his daughter recently died so that he can finish her important work. Global warming has created a huge rift in the ice that grows larger every day, uncovering woolly rhinos and other extinct animals. His daughter, Clara, a scientist like himself, was working when she felt into the giant crevasse and discovered the perfectly preserved body of a young prehistoric girl before she died. Unfortunately, her colleagues also discovered the girl had died of an ancient virus that has now been unleashed. The next story, City of Laughter, takes place a few years later in California. A young man and struggling comic takes a job in a euthanasia park for the "arctic plague's" youngest victims. Since there are not yet any cures, and the end stages of the disease are painful and horrific, parents and their dying children can stay in the park, so their kids can have one last day filled with laughter and fun before their hearts are stopped painlessly during one last exciting rollercoaster ride. While working there, he has an affair with one young mother and becomes very attached to her dying little boy. 

The stories mostly move forward in time, taking place mainly in California and Japan, each one focused on a different character, though you can often see connections to previous stories (for instance, there is a later story about Cliff's wife and their granddaughter, Clara's daughter). The stories paint a picture of the apocalyptic world, as the virus ravages populations and people come up with creative ways to deal with the virus, the dying, and the dead. Topics range from "elegy hotels," where bereaved families can spend a few more days with their disinfected, preserved loved one to a talking pig named Snortious P.I.G. who was created after splicing human DNA into pig DNA to grow and harvest more organs for transplant to changing Japanese customs after cemeteries become full. There is even a story set 100 years in the future, on a spaceship, where the crew has just woken up from stasis, as hundreds more people sleep on, to search for a habitable planet.

I hope you're still reading and didn't turn away at that second paragraph thinking, "Nope, too depressing for me!" Because that's the stunning thing about this book. In spite of its dark subject matter, this is a novel about the resilience of humanity, about the creativity and adaptability of our race. It is ultimately uplifting and even funny at times (I loved Snortious P.I.G.) ... and they do eventually discover a vaccine and cure for the virus. The stories range from amusing to poignant to surprising, but they are always deeply moving, delving into the essence of what makes us human. It is science fiction wrapped in a very character-driven, thought-provoking, philosophical approach. The writing is beautiful, and each individual story is completely immersive, especially in the excellent audio book with 15 different narrators. Characters of Asian descent are featured in every story, creating another connecting thread. You come to care for each character, so when you see him or her mentioned in a later story (that perhaps references that person tangentially or features a family member or friend), you smile at the connection because connections are a big part of this novel as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this original, compassionate novel about the essence of humanity that filled me with wonder and hope. Just writing about it here makes me want to start back at the beginning and listen to it again.

320 pages, William Morrow Paperbacks

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Diversity Reading Challenge

Travel the World in Books - Japan

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

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

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

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!

  
  

Fiction Review: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

I absolutely loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, when I first read it back in 2015 and again in 2019 (my review at the link). So, when I heard about Zevin's latest novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, I immediately knew I had to read it and wasn't surprised by all the rave reviews that followed. I enjoyed every minute of this unique novel. This moving story of a special friendship spanning thirty years is beautifully written and immersive.

When Sam was twelve years old, he was in a horrible car accident. His mother died, and he was left with a mangled foot that would require on-going surgeries and give him constant pain throughout his life. Six weeks after the accident, his grandparents and doctors were worried because he hadn't spoken a word. One day, Sadie walked into the game room on the pediatric ward of the hospital. She was visiting her sister, who was being treated for cancer. Sadie sat down next to Sam, watched him play his game, and started talking to him about it. Sam talked back, and a friendship was born. They both loved video games and spent more than 600 hours together playing games while Sam was in the hospital. Then, they had a falling out. Years later, while attending Harvard, Sam spotted Sadie on a subway platform in Boston. He'd heard she was going to MIT. They resumed their friendship and took their love of gaming to the next level, designing a unique video game together. Sam's roommate, Marx, becomes the game's producer, and before they'd even graduated from college, they were a huge success. Their game was a hit, and they were launched into a world of wealth and fandom. Sadie and Sam kept collaborating on designing games, with Marx by their side, but all sorts of challenges arose over the years, from failed games to personal tragedies to ambition, love, and jealousy. Can Sam and Sadie withstand all of this and remain friends?

This is an epic story of friendship, following Sam and Sadie across decades of their lives, from California to Boston and beyond. As in A.J. Fikry, Zevin creates such full characters that you feel completely absorbed into their story. She's an excellent writer, with a talent for finding just the right words for each sentence, realistic dialogue, and descriptions that make you feel like you're there. You don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this book; the last video games I played were Space Invaders and Pac Man as a teen, but I still found their game designs and world-building fascinating. Besides friendship, Zevin also tackles love, living with a disability, loss, and the ups and downs that define every life. I marked many thought-provoking passages that I could relate to. But at its core, this warm, emotionally complex novel is mostly a great story, peopled by in-depth, likable but flawed characters and beautifully written. It's an engrossing story to get lost in. I'm going to miss Sam and Sadie.

397 pages, Alfred A. Knopf

Random House Audio

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.

 

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Monthly Motif - White-out (white cover or wintry theme) - winter was a prominent feature during their years in Cambridge!

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Massachusetts

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

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

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

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!

    
  

It's Monday 12/18! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

It was another week mostly spent lying on the couch for me (or outside in my lounge chair when the weather cooperated), but I am feeling some hope. My son and I went to see our functional medicine specialist last week, and with her help, I think I have figured out what is causing this awful relapse and how to improve things (mostly my very restricted diet has gotten even more so). With those changes, I managed dinner at a friends' house Friday night and a campfire and takeout with other friends Saturday, when it was almost 60 degrees out. We have such amazing friends, who are so patient, kind, and compassionate toward me and my limitations. So, yeah, two evenings in a row out until 8:30 pm--living the wild life!

I also managed to enjoy some holiday traditions with our family last week. We went with our younger son to cut down a tree on Monday. I couldn't walk far, but it was nice to be out! 

 

And while our older son was home for his medical appointment, we decorated the tree, all four of us together. It had been a few years since we managed that, and it's one of our favorite parts of the season. Our ornaments are all memories--of family, friends, childhood, and our travels--so we enjoy pulling them all out and reminiscing. Afterward, we watched our all-time favorite holiday special, Muppet Family Christmas; it's an obscure one from 1987, and our VHS tape won't play anymore, but we managed to find it on YouTube. We can pretty much recite it by now, but it still makes us laugh and ushers in the holiday season for us!

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On the Blog

Movie Monday: Leave the World Behind - this tense apocalyptic thriller adapted from a novel kept us riveted!

Memoir Review: How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew - the actress tells about her mother and father's deaths from dementia and cancer, respectively, and about their lives in this moving memoir.

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On Video

Friday Reads 12-15-23 - my brief weekly update of what I am reading and listening to - two outstanding novels!

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 What We're Reading

As is my tradition in December, I am reading some of my most highly anticipated books, trying to catch up on my previous book gifts before I get more for Christmas! First up is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which my husband gave me for my birthday. I absolutely loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Zevin (read it twice, laughed, and cried), and I've heard all the rave reviews of this one. It's immersive and engrossing from the first pages, and I fell in love with Sam and Sadie immediately. They are childhood friends who end up designing video games together, but the writing and the characters are what make this novel special. It follows them well into their adult lives, with all of their sorrows and joys.

 

I similarly chose an audio book I've been meaning to get to all year: How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, which was on lots of Best Of lists and an award finalist. I'm not sure how to describe this very unique book. It starts with an apocalyptic plague, unleashed by melting permafrost in the Arctic in 2030. Like Cloud Atlas, which I loved, this is a novel told in different stories, each featuring different (though sometimes intricately linked) characters, spanning generations. But this one also has a science fiction focus, as this ancient virus changes life on Earth. That might sound depressing, but the focus is more on the resilience and creativity of humanity, rather than on its demise, in the face of a devastating crisis. It's excellent so far and very original.

 

My husband, Ken, finished Holly by Stephen King, a new novel featuring the character Holly Gibney. She's working for the Finders Keepers detective agency that she and Bill Hodges started and working on a strange case of multiple disappearances in a small midwestern town. I love what King said about Holly, that she was supposed to be a minor walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes, but he couldn't get her out of his mind. She also appeared in Finders Keepers and End of Watch (the Bill Hodges trilogy), plus The Outsider, and now she has her own book. My husband said this one has nothing supernatural in it; it's a straight-up crime novel, though pretty gruesome. I can't wait to read it myself! 

 

Now, Ken has started reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, a book I read for the Big Book Summer Challenge this year that will definitely be on my Top 10 list this year!

Our son, 29, has been on a Brandon Sanderson kick, after I signed him up for the big "secret project" kickstarter for his birthday last year. He's been receiving packages of Sanderson books and swag each month, and after enjoying two of those new books, he turned his attention to one of Sanderson's older standalone novels, Warbreaker.

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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? 

 

Memoir Review: How to Forget

Renowned actress Kate Mulgrew, best known for her roles at Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager and Red in Orange Is the New Black, has written a deeply moving memoir, How to Forget, about her parents and their deaths from cancer and Alzheimer's disease. It was excellent on audio.

The first half of the book focuses on her father. Kate was starring in a play, touring in Florida, when her older brother called to ask her to come home to Iowa. He said their father had a doctor's appointment coming up, and it was serious. Kate dropped everything, leaving the play to her understudy, and hurried home to Iowa. It was, indeed, serious. The doctor said their father, a lifelong smoker, had late-stage lung cancer and probably only had a few weeks to live (this was the first time he'd agreed to finally see a doctor). Kate stayed home, they called the rest of their siblings, and Kate set about trying to make the best of her father's last weeks, enjoying his company, bringing him comfort, and finally being at his side for his last days. In flashbacks, it's clear that her father wasn't perfect, and their relationship had its bumps, but in those final weeks, Kate was completely devoted to him and to making his end-of-life as comfortable and easy as possible. Then, Kate turns to her mother's story, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease fairly early and was already deep into its clutches by the time of her husband's death. She tells of her mother's childhood and life as a young woman, her hopes and dreams, her artwork, and her relationship with Kate. Kate relates her mother's early symptoms, diagnosis, gradual decline until she no longer knew her daughter or other family members, and her eventual death. Again, Kate did everything she could to seek out the best medical care and to make her mother as happy as possible in those later days.

Yes, these are very difficult topics, especially if you've had similar experiences, as my family and I have. But Kate brings a much-needed sense of humor and deep compassion to these dark stories. The book is not only about her parents' deaths; it is about their lives. She brings them each to life on the page, highlights what made them unique and special, and describes honestly  her complicated relationship with each of them. Kate also perfectly describes the experiences of seeing family members die of cancer and dim from dementia, which is especially moving if you have experienced it yourself. It turns out that Kate is as good a writer as she is an actor, and this memoir is beautifully written, with a flare for the dramatic at times (to be expected). The audio was immersive, read by her in that distinctive voice, feeling as if she is your good friend, sharing her stories with you in an intimate setting. While difficult at times due to my own personal experiences, I could very much relate to Kate's stories and enjoyed listening to her beautiful tributes to her parents and her honest account of the end of their lives.

352 pages, William Morrow

HarperAudio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. 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.

 

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader's Challenge - Relationships

Literary Escapes Challenge - Iowa

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/ordownload it from Audible. The sample showcases the honesty and emotional complexity of the narrative and its beautiful writing.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

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!

     
  

Movie Monday: Leave the World Behind

Saturday night, my husband and I watched the new Netflix movie Leave the World Behind, an adaptation of the novel by the same name, which was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award (my review of the book--no spoilers--here). Like the book, this 2 1/2-hour thriller was full of tension, though the movie built on the foundation provided by the novel.

Amanda Sanford, played by Julia Roberts, surprises her husband Clay, played by Ethan Hawke, with a weekend getaway when she rents a luxurious house on Long Island for them and their two teen kids. As they leave the city behind, each family member is engrossed in their own digital world in the car. They arrive to find the house is even more beautiful than it appeared in the listing, complete with a pool and enormous TV. It's relaxing at first, as the kids play in the pool, and Amanda and Clay begin to unwind, but strange, frightening things begin to happen when the family goes to the local beach the next day. Back at the house, they find the WiFi, cell service, and TV are all out. After the kids go to bed, Amanda and Clay are relaxing with a game and copious amounts of wine when the doorbell rings late at night, startling them. It's a a Black man, who introduces himself as G.H. Scott (played by Mahershala Ali), and his daughter, Ruth (played by Myha'la). Amanda is clearly suspicious that this expensive home is owned by a Black family and shook up to have them show up at the door unannounced. They explain that the power is out across the city, so they returned to their home on Long Island, where it would be safer. Since they did rent the house to the Sanfords, G.H. offers to stay in the basement apartment and refund some of their money, and the Amanda reluctantly agrees. The next day, more strange things happen, and the group of six realize that something very frightening is happening in the larger world, though they don't know exactly what. Forced together by circumstances, they begin to get to know each other and work together to protect their families from this unknown danger.

All of this adds up to a lot of suspense and edgy tension that keeps ratcheting up, as stranger things begin to happen, and it's clear this is not just a simple power outage. In fact, I had very bizarre dreams that night after watching it! It's a long movie, and the underlying feeling of dread just keeps building. It's not just a suspense movie, though. It's also a character study, of what happens when people are randomly stuck together during a crisis, delving into latent racism, class issues, compassion versus self-protection, and more. The novel was very vague about what was causing the problems, and there wasn't a whole lot of action; it was mostly about the characters and the ambiguous tension. Here, we get a lot more action, and while the disaster is never completely defined, there are a lot more hints and information provided as to what is or might be happening in the wider world. In fact, the novel just sort of ended, with no answers, so the movie is a bit more satisfying in providing some hints of what is happening and how things might go in the near future. I enjoyed the novel (on audio) and my husband hadn't read it, and we were riveted by this gripping movie with its all-star cast that is both suspenseful and thought-provoking.

Leave the World Behind was released in limited theaters and is now showing on Netflix.

It's Monday 12/11! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Last week was Christmas crunch week, as I scrambled to finish ordering gifts and creating photo gifts online, to give everything plenty of time to arrive before the holiday. Just a few more last-minute gift cards to order online, and I am finished! I even started writing our cards yesterday (probably the earliest I ever started). My husband and I finally took down the Thanksgiving decorations and got out and put up some of our Christmas decorations. We're going to get a tree later today. So, it's looking more festive around here!

My chronic illness is still flared up, so I am mostly living life horizontal, from the couch. Thank goodness for online shopping! I did get out once last week, for a quick trip to our local indie bookstore, to order all my book gifts and chat with the bookseller--an essential part of the holiday season. And I had a phone appointment with my NY specialist last week and am trying a treatment that has helped in the past when a relapse goes on like this one, so fingers crossed!

I continued to enjoy our deck, on any day when the temperatures hit 45 or higher! I just bundle up. When I'm mostly stuck in the house like this, lying out there looking at the sky and listening to the birds is so peaceful and mentally rejuvenating. The weather kept me inside a few times, though. We actually got a bit of snow last week, which is very early for Delaware, and we got 24 hours of rain yesterday. 

 

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On the Blog

With all the holiday stuff to do, my reviews are suffering, but I did write one last week:

Nonfiction Review: The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman - stunning true story of Warsaw's husband and wife zookeepers and how they saved hundreds of Jews during WWII. Outstanding book!

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On Video

November Reading Wrap-Up - my overview of the books I read last month - mostly nonfiction but a wide variety and all excellent!

Friday Reads 12-8-23 - my quick weekly update, as I was cramming for book group

 

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 What We're Reading

 

I read Homecoming by Kate Morton, 540 pages, in record time! I doubled up and got both the print book and the audio from the library to help me read faster for book group. I hadn't read a Morton novel since The Forgotten Garden in 2011, and this novel has a similar structure, alternating between different characters and timelines to weave together a full story. Here, on Christmas Eve 1959 in Australia, a mother and her four children are found dead at a riverside picnic, and in 2018, a woman in London rushes home to Australia when her beloved grandmother is hospitalized. Family secrets and mysteries are slowly revealed. I was a bit confused at the beginning, but I loved the way all the pieces came together in the end, with plenty of surprising twists (more about the book in my Friday Reads video). I wasn't able to go to book group, but it got an average rating of 7.2 (out of 10), and I gave it an 8.

 

And now, as is my tradition in December, I am turning my attention to some of my most highly anticipated books, trying to catch up on my previous book gifts before I get more for Christmas! First up is my #1 book I've been wanting to read, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which my husband gave me for my birthday. I absolutely loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Zevin (read it twice, laughed, and cried), and I've heard all the rave reviews of this one. I'm not very far into it, but it was immersive and engrossing from the first pages, and I fell in love with Sam and Sadie immediately. They are childhood friends who end up designing video games together, but the writing and the characters are what make this novel special so far.

 

I similarly chose an audio book I've been meaning to get to all year: How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, which was on lots of Best Of lists and an award finalist. I'm not sure how to describe this very unique book. It starts with an apocalyptic plague, unleashed by melting permafrost in the Arctic in 2030. Like Cloud Atlas, which I loved, this is a novel told in different stories, each featuring different (though sometimes intricately linked) characters, spanning generations. But this one also has a science fiction focus, as this ancient virus changes life on Earth. That might sound depressing, but the focus seems to be on the resilience and creativity of humanity, rather than on its demise. It's excellent so far.

 

My husband, Ken, is still reading Holly by Stephen King, a new novel featuring the character Holly Gibney. She's working for the Finders Keepers detective agency that she and Bill Hodges started and working on a strange case of multiple disappearances in a small midwestern town. I love what King said about Holly, that she was supposed to be a minor walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes, but he couldn't get her out of his mind. She also appeared in Finders Keepers and End of Watch (the Bill Hodges trilogy), plus The Outsider, and now she has her own book. I can't wait to read it myself!

 

Our son, 29, finished The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson, which was the second of the "secret project" Kickstarter books that he wrote during the pandemic. I signed my son up for the project for his birthday last year, so he's been receiving packages of Sanderson books and swag each month. I think those new books reminded him of Sanderson's talent because now he's reading one of his older standalone novels, Warbreaker.

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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?