Searching
my huge backlog for a Big Book audio last month, I was looking for something
lighter and fast-paced, so I chose All of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor, a YA suspense novel. It
was a great choice! I really enjoyed this unique and compelling novel.
A
group of teens at a private school on Long Island are obsessed with the author
Fatima Ro and her first book, Undertow.
They go totally fan-girl (and -boy) when they get to meet the author (who is in
her early 20's) at a local book signing. She asks them to a coffee shop
afterward, and they soon find themselves actually becoming friends with the
author—a dream come true! Miri is the group leader and definitely the head of
this fan club. In fact, she starts a clandestine club at school to bring more kids
into the fold of living by Fatima’s “share your precious truths” credo. Soleil
wants to be a writer, so she is especially enamored of Fatima and her “adult”
lifestyle as a successful writer. Penny is seen as the party girl airhead by
her classmates, but she feels like Fatima sees the real her. And Jonah is a new
transfer student who loves Undertow
as much as the girls do but is hiding a dark secret. The group is living their
dream, until … Fatima publishes a new novel, which is clearly based on the
lives (barely concealed) of her new "friends." Their names are barely
changed, details of their private lives and conversations are spilled, and
Jonah’s secret is made public. The media is saying she used these teens, but
some of them still believe she is really their friend and had their best
interests at heart. This whole story is told after the fact--after the novel is
published and some sort of event lands Jonah in the hospital--through
interviews, journal entries, e-mails and texts, and even excerpts from the fictional
novel itself.
All
of This Is True
features a unique and compelling plot that feels like it could really happen in
our current world of celebrity authors and teen fandom. But the way the story
is told is what really makes this novel special. I loved the approach of
looking back on what happened through different sources and slowly piecing the
story together. The audio is also outstanding, recorded with a full cast of 15
narrators (listen to a sample below to see what I mean). The combination of “primary sources” and the real-sounding audio
made the listening experience completely immersive. I actually figured out the
book’s big twist very early on, but that didn’t matter because the story was
just so well told. I was engrossed in the story from beginning to end.
432
pages, Harper Teen
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.
Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, featuring a full-cast audio production, and/or download it from Audible. The sample is from the beginning of the book, as Miri describes to an interviewer why Undertow is such a special book. Listen, and you'll be hooked!
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!
Summer used to be a dead time for TV, with nothing on but reruns while we waited for the new fall TV season. Things have changed, though, and with all the competing streaming services, cable channels, and even the stodgy old networks bringing out new seasons and new shows at all times of the year, there is plenty to watch in the dog days of summer. My husband and I are enjoying a bunch of new seasons from some old favorite TV series, some new-to-us shows, and are looking forward to trying some new shows later this summer, too. (Links below go to my reviews--including trailers--where available.)
Returning Favorites
The good news? Our all-time favorite show is back for some extra end-of-season episodes. The bad news? These will be the last episodes ever. Good Girls, a hilarious, moving, thrilling series on NBC about three moms who get pulled into a life of crime, is back for an extra four episodes, but the powers that be have decided that this fourth season will be its last. This show is so well-done, starring Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman as the title moms and Manny Montana as the hot but dangerous crime boss. We just watched the second-to-last episode last night and can't even begin to imagine how they'll wrap it up when the last episode airs on July 8.
Another favorite of ours is back for its third season. In the Dark on CW (earlier seasons on Netflix) is another story of regular people getting pulled into hard crime, but in this case, it's a blind woman named Murphy, her best friend, Jess, who's a veterinarian, and their co-worker, Felix. In the first episode, Murphy "witnesses" the murder of a good friend, a teen boy killed by drug dealers. Even though Murphy is blind, she knows enough to help the police and is determined to help bring her friend's killers to justice. But, this is a twisty tale, and between criminals, good cops, crooked cops, and deals gone wrong, the three young people, who all work at Murphy's parents' guide dog charity, soon find themselves into the criminal world way too deep. It's an excellent show, a dark thriller but with a great sense of humor, and we are excited to hear it will be back for a fourth season in 2022.
I finally finished reading the last book in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy by Stephen King (including Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch), so now we can finish watching seasons two and three of the Mr. Mercedes TV show on Peacock. Luckily, someone warned me that the TV show swaps things around, with season two covering book three and season three tackling book two, so I knew to finish the whole trilogy before going past season one. I have made the mistake of starting season two of the show immediately after finishing End of Watch, so I am a little annoyed by all the changes they made: killing off beloved characters, adding entirely new characters, shifting the plot, and even changing the seasonal setting. But, all that said, it is still an excellent TV series and very well-done, a detective/thriller show with some paranormal elements. If Stephen King can accept all these changes to his books, I guess I can, too.
Another show we enjoy based on a book series is Bosch on Amazon Prime, adapted from the huge series of books by Michael Connelly about Detective Harry Bosch. We both love Connelly's novels and the Bosch character, and the TV series is an outstanding adaptation. Each season is generally adapted from a single novel, and the cast is excellent, headed up by Tutus Welliver as Bosch and Jamie Hector as his partner, Jerry Edgar. Lance Reddick co-stars as the Chief of Police. This is a classic police procedural, set in L.A., but of the highest quality. We were very sorry to hear this seventh season is its last, but word is that a spin-off is coming ... hopefully based on Connelly's newest character, Detective Rene Ballard.
For All Mankind is an entirely different kind of show on Apple TV. No crime or thrillers here. It is an alternate history of the U.S. space program, in a world where the Soviets first beat us to the moon in 1969 and then quickly sent the first woman to the moon, completely changing the U.S.'s own progression in the space race. In this world, which includes some real-life members of NASA and historical news excerpts, as well as some fictional characters, the race to the moon is accelerated by the Soviet's accomplishments, women become an integral part of the space program early on, and a base is established on the moon to keep the Soviets (who have their own base) from taking over. We are now watching season two, which takes place in the 80's, after the U.S. moon base has grown tremendously and lithium has been discovered on the moon. Can you imagine the implications? The show is outstanding, suspenseful and thoughtful, with excellent cast and writing. It's a fascinating look at an alternate history and science progression but also a drama about the lives of the astronauts, their families, and the other employees of NASA. Highly recommended.
Also on Apple TV, another favorite of ours has also returned for a second season: Home Before Dark(not to be confused with In the Dark, above). This is a typical mystery/crime show ... except that the detective is a nine-year-old girl! Hilde's family recently moved from Brooklyn to a tiny Northwest coastal town where her dad grew up. Hilde wants to be a journalist, just like her father, and already writes and publishes her own local paper. In season one, she somehow managed to solve a decades-old cold case involving a missing child who was one of her dad's best friends. In season two, she is investigating an environmental mystery. This is one of our favorite shows--it is smart and funny and totally engrossing, and we can't wait for each new episode to be released on Fridays.
To lighten things up from all these mysteries and thrillers, we are enjoying the newly released season five of The Good Fight, a spin-off of The Good Wife. Starring Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald, the show features a Chicago law firm that can't decide if it wants to be an all-Black firm or an all-woman firm (that's a big source of tension in this latest season). It is ripped-from-the-headlines , with this season set right now, past the worst of the pandemic and in the current political climate. There are legal cases in every episode and political references, but also a great sense of humor. Like I said, it;s a fun counter to some of the darker thrillers we watch.
New Shows We Might Try
There are several new shows slotted to start in August that we plan to try.
A reboot of Fantasy Island is set to premier on Fox on August 10. I heard about this show because I listen to a podcast, Happier in Hollywood, hosted by the two TV writers and show runners involved in the project, Liz Craft and Sarah Fain. After listening to how much fun they had filming the show in Puerto Rico this spring, I decided to give it a try. The trailer looks enticing:
And there's a new Sandra Oh TV series, The Chair, coming to Netflix on August 20! We loved her in Grey's Anatomy and on Killing Eve. Here, she stars as the Chair of a university English department. The trailer doesn't tell you much, though it hints at a good sense of humor ... and it's Sandra Oh! Definitely worth trying:
Coming to Hulu on August 31 is a new series, Only Murders in the Building, about three neighbors who investigate a murder in their apartment building. Get this: the three lead actors are Steve Martin (who created the show), Selena Gomez, and Martin Short! And I caught a glimpse of Nathan Lane in the trailer, too. Talk about comedy royalty! I can't wait to try this one:
How about you? What are you watching this summer? Any new shows coming that you want to see? We're always open to new suggestions!
Whew, busy weekend with family and an exhausting Monday, so I'm late in posting today.
Our younger son and his girlfriend headed to the beach this weekend, so we missed them (but enjoyed some evenings with them last week). Our older son and his girlfriend came home from NY for the weekend, so we enjoyed their company. We celebrate 4th of July with a picnic-style lunch with my father-in-law (he is usually in better shape at noon than at dinnertime). We had his favorites--burgers, corn on the cob, and watermelon--and then took it easy the rest of the day. My husband and I watched The Big Lebowski last night (for the first time!), finally experiencing this cult classic that our kids saw before we did (we were busy with babies in the 90's).
Enjoying our 4th of July lunch
Today, I drove my son out into Amish farm country for his usual medical appointments, about 45 minutes away. As always, I enjoyed the lovely drive past all the farms and stopped at a fabulous little farm market for fresh tomatoes and green beans (and how did those little home-baked pies get into my bag?). But, it makes for a long and tiring day for me. My son and his girlfriend have headed back to NY now.
As usual, I posted a #FridayReads video on my YouTube channel, where I briefly discuss my current reads:
And we are all enjoying Big Book Summer here! Here's what we've been reading this past week:
I finished reading my 3rd #BigBookSummer book, The Lost Time Accidents by John Wray. I heard about this through a
podcast called The Readers (I don't think it's still on), which
was hosted by Simon and Gavin way back when. Gavin loved time
travel novels (just like me) and recommended this as one of his all-time
favorite
books. So, I kept it on my TBR list all these years, and my husband gave it to me
for Christmas. It's an odd book, not what I expected, but I enjoyed it. A young man named Waldemar
Tolliver is "stuck outside of time"
at the start of the book. As he narrates his present predicament, he
goes back to tell his unusual family history, beginning with a strange
discovery about time that his great-grandfather made in 1903, and
how his namesake, his great-uncle, further investigated it. It can get
kind of dark (his great-uncle became a high-ranking Nazi), but it's also
very funny. It's not quite traditional time travel, but it is very much
about the nature of time, with a dose of physics throughout (many of
the early Tollivers were physicists), and I like the way it weaves real
history into the family narrative. You can read my full review at the link above.
As much as I enjoyed that one, after such a complex and thoughtful novel, I was craving a straightforward A to B story, so I opted for historical fiction for my next Big Book. I am reading The Air You Breathe by Frances de Ponte Peebles. The story begins in 1930's Brazil, where two nine-year-old girls from very different backgrounds meet and become friends. Gracas is the "Little Miss" of the sugar plantation her family owns, and Dores is a kitchen servant, considered the lowest of the servants for her age and her status as an orphan. Spoiled Gracas insists on Dores becoming her playmate, and her mother acquiesces. The two become inseparable, and after Gracas' mother takes them to a concert and purchases a phonograph player, they both become obsessed with music and make a pretty good singing duo. As teens, they run away to Rio together and struggle to find a way to break into show business. That's about where I am now, with each of the girls encountering some challenges as they mature and grow. The role of music in their story is fascinating, and I love the unusual setting. It's excellent so far and engrossing ... and yes, a nice, straightforward historical story!
On audio, I finished my 4th Big Book, All of This Is True by Lygia Day Penaflor, a YA (mild) thriller. I really enjoyed this
unique and compelling novel. It's about a group of teens who are
obsessed with a YA novel and go totally fan-girl (and -boy) when they
get to meet the author (who is in her early 20's) at a book signing.
They soon find themselves actually becoming friends with the author.
Then she publishes a new novel, which is clearly based on the lives
(barely concealed) of her new "friends." The media is saying she used
these teens, but some of them still believe she is really their friend. Best of all,
this story is told through primary sources after the fact--after the novel is published and some
sort of event lands one of the teens in the hospital--through
interviews, journal entries, texts and e-mails, and even excerpts from the novel itself.
And the audio is outstanding, recorded with a full cast of 15 narrators,
making the listening experience immersive. Even though I figured out the twist early on, I still thoroughly enjoyed listening to the story.
Now, I have started Big Book #5 on audio, Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton. It is a slightly confusing, complex narrative at first, but I am starting to get into it now. It's narrated by twelve-year-old Eli Bell, who lives in Australia. His mother and step-father are heroin dealers, his older brother is mute, and his best friend is an elderly, notorious felon named Slim who is know for his multiple prison escapes. So, yeah, it's a little weird (what is it with me and weird books this summer?), but it's interesting and engaging so far. I had a little trouble at first with the audio because the narrator has a thick Australian accent (as is appropriate), but I'm into the rhythm of it now and finally figured out that those two mystery words were the name of a rugby team! I'm interested to see where the story goes next.
My husband, Ken, got a nice stack of books for Father's Day (holidays at our house always include
stacks of books), so he's been working his way through that pile. He just finished Dead of Winter by
Stephen Mack Jones. This is an author I met at Booktopia, an annual
event in Vermont I've been missing the past two years (pics at that link include Stephen). My husband and I
both love his series of thrillers set in Detroit about a half-Mexican,
half-Black ex-cop. We both enjoyed the first book, August Snow, and liked the second one, Lives Laid Away,
even more, so we've been looking forward to this third installment.
Jones writes fast-paced, action-packed, twisty thrillers, but he also
has a great sense of humor. Ken said this third book was great, so it's been moved to my side of the TBR bookcase!
Now, Ken is tackling another Father's Day gift, his second Big Book of the summer, Project Hail Mary by Any Weir. Weir was the author of the best-selling novel, The Martian, (made into an excellent movie starring Matt Damon) and Artemis, which took place on the moon. This latest novel from Weir is being hailed as just as amazing as The Martian. Ryland Grace wakes up from a very long sleep to find himself on a ship, hurtling through space, with two dead crewmates, and no memory at all. As his memory slowly returns, he realizes that he is the sole survivor of a critical mission whose purpose is nothing less than saving mankind and the earth. The clock is ticking, and Ryland is all alone. It sounds like a great premise and reviews have been outstanding. Ken's enjoying it so far.
Our 26-year-old son finished reading Shadow and Bone
by Leigh Bardugo, which is book one of a trilogy, this weekend. He and his girlfriend
want to watch the new Netflix adaptation of the series, and, like any
avid reader, he wants to read the book first! He said it's not a series
he probably would normally have chosen on his own (he prefers fantasy worlds without
guns), but all the hype and rave reviews surrounding the trilogy (and
now the TV series) convinced him to give it a try. While it wasn't one of his favorites, he enjoyed it. I'm not sure if he will read book 2 now or start to watch the TV series.
For now, he has returned to a favorite series, The Summoner trilogy by Taran Matharu, starting by re-reading book 1, The Novice, so that he can move onto book 2. According to the blurb, "Fletcher is working as a blacksmith’s apprentice when he discovers he
has the rare ability to summon demons from another world. Chased from
his village for a crime he did not commit, Fletcher must travel with his
demon, Ignatius, to an academy for adepts, where the gifted are taught
the art of summoning." He's enjoying it so far--he always enjoys diving back into a favorite series and re-reading novels he enjoyed.
Blog posts from last week:
Movie Monday: Leave No Trace - a quiet, powerful movie about the love between a father and daughter, based on a real-life story and set in a gorgeous outdoor setting.
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.
I finished my 3rd Big Book of the summer, The Lost Time Accidents by John Wray. I
heard about this book years ago on a podcast called The Readers, back when it was hosted by Simon and Gavin. Like me,
Gavin said he loves time travel novels or any stories that play with time, and
he said this book was one of his
all-time favorites. It’s been on my TBR list ever since, and my husband gave it
to me for Christmas last year. Describing the plot of this intricate, unusual,
funny novel will be a challenge, but I’ll give it my best shot.
It’s a multi-generational family story that integrates
science and history, beginning in the early 1900’s and going through the
present, where the narrator, a young man named Waldemar "Waldy" Tolliver, is “stuck
outside of time.” His great-grandfather, grandfather, and great-uncle were all
physicists in the early years of the century who believed in alternate theories
of time and considered Einstein an enemy (they refer to him simply as “the
patent clerk”). Waldy’s great-grandfather, Ottokar, was killed moments after making a
stunning discovery about the nature of time. His notes were lost, so trying to
put the puzzle pieces back together becomes a family obsession that spans the
generations. Waldy’s very eccentric hoarder aunts, whose apartment he is stuck in,
followed in the family footsteps, but his own father, an author of smutty
sci-fi, adamantly distanced himself from the rest of the family and believed in
science and realism. Waldemar doesn’t know what to believe, and worse, as an
older teen, he discovers he was named after his great-uncle, perhaps the
most-time-obsessed one of all, who’d been one of the most notorious Nazis to
experiment on humans (time experiments, of course). The framework for the book is young Waldy writing his family history while he is stuck outside of time in his aunts' crazy apartment.
So, let me just say upfront that this is a very weird book
(in case you couldn’t tell from the description), with a lot of moving parts …
but I enjoyed it! It’s an odd story, but it’s also complex, engaging,
and filled with clever humor that often had me laughing out loud (the titles of
Waldy’s dad’s sci-fi stories and novels are especially amusing). The author really dives deep into historical context and setting, following the family from Central Europe to America from the turn of the century into modern times, through many major world events. I was easily
able to lose myself in the story, though I sometimes had to look back a chapter
or two to make sure I understood it and hadn’t missed anything, since (no surprise) it jumps around in time a bit, from past to present and back again. This unique
novel blends science, history, and family drama into a time-twisting plot, and
it was a lot of fun!
491 pages, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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.
I normally recommend purchasing books from Bookshop.org,
where your purchase supports the indie bookstore of your choice (or all
indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local! However, this particular book is only available on their site as an audio CD.
So, here is a link to the book on Amazon (as an older title, the hardcover is less expensive that the paperback).
I was searching for a movie to watch this weekend, comparing the listings on Amazon Prime to the critic and viewer scores on Rotten Tomatoes to find a winner ... and I did! We ended up watching Leave No Trace (critics 100%, audience 80% on Rotten Tomatoes), a quiet but powerful movie about a father-daughter relationship, based on a real-life story and set in a gorgeous outdoor setting.
Will, played by Ben Foster, and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Tom (played by Thomasin McKenzie), live in the forest near Portland, OR, in a huge public nature preserve. While outsiders might view the pair as homeless, Will and Tom have created a happy and peaceful life for themselves, off the grid. Will teaches Tom all kinds of survival skills, and they live in a self-made campsite with a tent, sleeping bags, camp stove, and other supplies necessary for both subsistence and comfort. Will homeschools Tom, who is bright, inquisitive, and happy. Occasionally, they walk together into the city, where Will picks up his check from the VA and the two buy supplies, before heading back to their wilderness home. Unfortunately for the pair, it is illegal to live in a public park, and they are eventually spotted and brought in by the authorities. That begins an odyssey of changes for the father and daughter, and the destruction of their unique way of life. They are separated for the first time in Tom's memory, where she is tested academically, interviewed, and given new clothes. Meanwhile, her father receives some preliminary psychiatric care; it is clear he is ex-military and suffers from PTSD. Eventually, the authorities find the pair a new home, though adjustment is difficult for Will, while Tom discovers a whole world and community she was unaware of. The close pair go through several iterations of change, until a crisis finally brings them to a place of closure, though not necessarily the perfect ending one might hope for.
This is a moving, engrossing story that we both enjoyed. The father-daughter relationship portrayed here (based on a real-life father and daughter in the same situation) is warm and loving, and the closeness of the pair is poignant. Movie footage features a gorgeous setting in the forests and surrounding areas of Oregon and Washington, amid towering trees and beautiful streams. The acting, from both Foster and McKenzie, is outstanding; they both fully embody their characters and show the quiet but fierce emotions they experience. There is not a lot of action here, though there are some moments of suspense and tension. It is a quiet but incredibly moving story of the power of nature to heal and the strength of love between a father and daughter ... and the limits of that love, too. We thoroughly enjoyed losing ourselves in this compelling film based on a fascinating true story.
Leave No Trace was released in 2018 and is currently available on Amazon Prime, Starz, Hulu Premium and other streaming platforms.
We had a busy week here! The good news is that I finally came out of my post-vaccine reaction (mine was a bit extended, for a full week, because of my immune disorder). By Thursday, I was feeling better and able to manage the grocery store and some weeding in the garden on Friday. I'm very relieved to be back to my normal baseline.
Otherwise, we were busy with family--our son running in and out (he's living with us temporarily) and taking care of my father-in-law.
And we enjoyed a HUGE treat last night: dinner with old friends ... in their house! We even hugged! We joked it was the first time we'd gotten together with friends indoors and without ordering takeout since last March. It was wonderful to enjoy that return to normalcy and to catch up with old, dear friends.
I uploaded two new book videos to Youtube recently:
Meanwhile, Big Book Summer is hot, hot, hot! (And so is the weather.) We're enjoying our Big Books. Here's what we've all been reading this week:
I am still reading one of my #BigBookSummer books, The Lost Time Accidents by John Wray. I heard about this through a
podcast called The Readers (I don't think it's still on), which
was hosted by Simon and Gavin way back when. Gavin loved time
travel novels (just like me) and recommended this as one of his all-time
favorite
books. So, I kept it on my TBR list all these years, and my husband gave it to me
for Christmas. It's an odd book, not what I expected, but I am enjoying it. A man named Waldemar
Tolliver is "stuck outside of time"
at the start of the book. As he narrates his present predicament, he
goes back to tell his unusual family history, beginning with a strange
discovery about time that his great-grandfather made in 1903, and
how his namesake, his great-uncle, further investigated it. It can get
kind of dark (his great-uncle became a high-ranking Nazi), but it's also
very funny. It's not quite traditional time travel, but it is very much
about the nature of time, with a dose of physics throughout (many of
the early Tollivers were physicists), and I like the way it weaves real
history into the family narrative. To hear me talk about the weirdness and fun of this novel, watch my #FridayReads 6-25-21 video!
On audio, I finished another Big Book, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
by Juliet Grames, a novel published in 2019. It's the story
of a woman named Stella, who encounters many life-threatening incidents
during her childhood in rural Italy and youth and adult life in the
United States. She
protects her younger sister,
Tina, but life changes dramatically when the family immigrates to
America just before WWII. The story is told from the
perspective of a family member in Connecticut in the present day, to
explain why the two now-elderly sisters don't get along. It's a
well-written novel and engrossing, with a vivid sense of time and place
in its different settings. However, it is also very dark. You
might think I should have expected that from the title, but some aspects
of this story are really disturbing (like scenes of abuse). So, while
I was engaged in the story, it was long book, and the darkness was a bit too much for me. You can read my full review at the link.
After all that, I was looking for something lighter and fast-paced, so I chose All of This Is True by Lygia Day Penaflor, a YA thriller. Yes, I know thrillers are often dark! So far, though, I am really enjoying this unique and compelling novel. It's about a group of teens who are obsessed with a YA novel and go totally fan-girl (and -boy) when they get to meet the author (who is in her early 20's) at a book signing. They soon find themselves actually becoming friends with the author. Then she publishes a new novel, which is clearly based on the lives (barely concealed) of her new "friends." The media is saying she used these teens, but they believe she is really their friend. Best of all, this story is told after the fact--after the novel is published and some sort of event lands one of the teens in the hospital--through interviews, journal entries, and even excerpts from the novel itself. And the audio is outstanding, recorded with a full cast of 15 narrators, making the listening experience immersive. I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far and can't wait to see what happens next!
My husband, Ken, got a nice stack of books for Father's Day (holidays at our house always include
stacks of books), so he picked one of those to read next. He
did get a couple more Big Books, but after a heavy Hemingway Big Book, he wanted
something fast and shorter, so he's reading Dead of Winter by
Stephen Mack Jones. This is an author I met at Booktopia, an annual
event in Vermont I've been missing the past two years (pics at that link include Stephen). My husband and I
both love his series of thrillers set in Detroit about a half-Mexican,
half-Black ex-cop. We both enjoyed the first book, August Snow, and liked the second one, Lives Laid Away,
even more, so we've been looking forward to this third installment.
Jones writes fast-paced, action-packed, twisty thrillers, but he also
has a great sense of humor. This one will definitely go on my own TBR
shelves when Ken's finished!
Our 26-year-old son is now reading Shadow and Bone
by Leigh Bardugo, which is book one of a trilogy. He and his girlfriend
want to watch the new Netflix adaptation of the series, and, like any
avid reader, he wants to read the book first! He said it's not a series
he probably would normally have chosen on his own (he prefers fantasy worlds without
guns), but all the hype and rave reviews surrounding the trilogy (and
now the TV series) convinced him to give it a try. He's enjoying it so
far.
Request for Those Receiving This Through E-Mail - still trying to solve my e-mail issues, so if you are usually on the list but are not receiving new e-mails from follow.it, then please e-mail me or leave a comment on this post to let me know.
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.
I
just finished listening to a Big Book on audio (yes, audios count for the
Big Book Summer Challenge, too, based on the page count in the print book):
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames. This novel
was published in 2019, and I’d heard rave reviews of it and had been saving it for Big
Book Summer!
It's
the story of a woman named Stella, who encounters many life-threatening
incidents during her childhood in a rural mountain village in Italy and her
youth and adult life in the United States. Stella’s father returns from WWI
when Stella is very young, though he soon leaves the family again for America.
Stella, her mother, and the siblings his father leaves behind after each visit
are often left on their own, with no support (he rarely sends money home). It’s
a hard life, but they are mostly happy when her father is away, surrounded by
loving family, their modest home and garden, and the beautiful Italian
countryside. Stella is especially close to her sister, Tina, and protects her.
When her father insists the family emigrate and join him in America, it means
massive changes for them all. The story is told from the perspective of a
family member in Connecticut in the present day, telling the family history by
following her grandmother Stella’s life from childhood through adolescence, maturity, marriage,
and all the way to old age. Stella’s life is never easy, she accurately refers
to her father as a monster, and she seems to never experience a day of
happiness.
In case
you couldn’t tell from that description, this is a very dark novel. It's
well-written and engrossing, with a vivid sense of time and place in its
different settings and interesting characters. However, it is also very
dark and quite disturbing at times, dealing with some terrible instances of
abuse that I found hard to listen to. And I was greatly troubled that much of
it goes undiscussed in the family and unpunished (there is finally some odd
resolution but not until the damage has been done). It’s a long novel,
following multiple generations of the Fortuna family, and while I was
interested and engaged in the story, it was just too much darkness for me. I
can handle some difficult themes if there is also hope; there was none here, at
least not for Stella. All in all, it is an engaging, richly-described family
history, covering two countries, a hundred years of history, and multiple
generations, though with a tone of despair and some disturbing scenes.
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!
If you are on my new e-mail list (successfully transferred to the new provider), then you should receive this post in two separate e-mails, one from the old service (sender will be Book By Book) and one from Follow.it. If that's the case, then you don't need to do anything (and I will deactivate the old list again after I send this, so you shouldn't receive any more doubles).
If you only receive this post in your e-mail ONCE (sender Book By Book) and you are not receiving e-mails of my blog posts from Follow.it, that means you were deleted from the list with the new provider.
Please e-mail me at jacksonde@comcast.net to let me know if that's the case.
I apologize for yet another post about my e-mail list, but I am still
struggling to migrate my list to a new provider. This time, they have
deleted many of the e-mails from my list, saying they were spam, but I
am pretty sure they deleted some valid ones, too.
Thank you for your help in sorting this out. The old list provider goes away in July, so I am running out of time to fix this, and I appreciate your help and patience.
My
last book group pick before a summer hiatus was The Mighty Queens of
Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter, and the Town that Raised Them by Amy Dickinson, the famous advice columnist, Ask Amy. Everyone in my book group enjoyed this
honest, funny memoir.
Despite
her relative fame and public persona, Amy has written a very personal memoir.
It's about her family and her hometown, and her experiences going back there as
a single mother after a devastating divorce. As she explains in the beginning
of the memoir, hers is a family of mostly women (dubbed by her daughter as The
Mighty Queens of Freeville), and many of them are/were divorced single mothers.
She describes the divorce from her husband, which was a complete surprise to
her, her long road through grief, and her process (erratic though it was) of
figuring out what to do with her life. She brings us along as she heals,
surrounded by her family, takes those first independent steps in moving to
Washington, DC, and through her many experiences as a single mother. The memoir
takes us right up to the present, with her daughter off at college and she
herself cautiously dipping her toe back into a loving relationship.
It
was well-written (of course), moving, and immersive. She's very honest about
how damaged she felt after the unexpected divorce and her struggle to get back
on her feet and figure out what to do with her life. I also enjoyed that her
hometown is in Upstate NY, not too far from where I grew up (though I grew up in
a suburb of Rochester versus her rural town). Although I haven’t read her
column before (our newspaper doesn’t carry it), I enjoyed her honest and funny writing,
which was both heartwarming and hilarious. It was an enjoyable read, for me and
for the rest of my book group.
225 pages, Hyperion
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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.
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!
