TV Tuesday: Coming Up in Summer 2017

(NOTE: you can link to my past reviews of all of these shows at the links provided below).

It's that time of year again - that between-seasons time on TV. Most of our favorite spring shows have wrapped up for the season (or will soon): The Americans, Blindspot, The Catch, Quantico, and Colony. I have also recently finished up several of the shows I watch on my own during lunchtime: American Crime, No Tomorrow, and Chewing Gum.

My husband and I are filling our evenings catching up on our favorite streaming shows: Bosch, Catastrophe, and Lilyhammer. And I suspect we will be watching a lot of movies through the rest of May!

But what's up next?

Here's a sneak peek at some of our summertime favorites, with the dates they come back, plus some new shows we want to check out...and a couple of sad cancellations!

We might as well get the bad news out of the way: 

NBC has cancelled Aquarius, the crime show about Charles Manson in 1969, starring David Duchovny as an LA detective. It won't be returning for season 3. If you missed this show, you can watch season 1 for free on Netflix or catch both seasons on Amazon Prime for $1.99 an episode or $21.99 a season. It was excellent. You can see my review here.

It looks like BrainDead won't be coming back, either, but it's one season last summer was original and hilarious and very much worth checking out. It's free on Amazon Prime (at the link), and you can read my review here.

I enjoyed Feed the Beast last summer, but AMC cancelled this drama starring David Schwimmer after just one season.

And Fox seems to be still on the fence about Wayward Pines, a show that my husband, son, and I all enjoy. No word yet on whether there will be a season 3.


Here's what we are looking forward to and when the new seasons premier:

June - The Last Ship, season 4 - I couldn't find a specific date, but this excellent post-apocalyptic action drama is supposed to return in June.

June 4 - The Next Food Network Star - my guilty pleasure when I get an hour to myself at lunchtime!

June 4 - Fear the Walking Dead - I'm not so much into zombies, but my husband & son will be tuning in again.

June 5 - Stitchers, season 3 - my husband and I enjoy this unique blend of crime show and sci fi

June 9 - Dark Matter, season 3 - another sci fi show we enjoy

June 9 - Orange is the New Black, season 5 - We can't wait!! My husband and I LOVE this amazing prison drama that is one of the highest-quality TV shows ever. Season 4 ended with a giant cliff-hanger, so we are on pins and needles waiting to see what happens next. The best news? Netflix has renewed the show for a total of 7 seasons!

June 10 - Orphan Black, season 5 - BEST. SHOW. EVER. Seriously, this show is amazing in every way - my husband, son, and I love it. If you haven't seen it yet, you are missing out! Check out my review at the link and catch up (details at the end of my review on where to find it). This will be the final season.

June 28 - Younger, season 3 - one of those shows I like to watch by myself (in my male-centric home!) when I get some time alone. It just gets better & better.

A couple of notes:

Two past summer shows have moved to fall 2017 premier dates for their new seasons: Mr. Robot (10/1/17) and Stranger Things (10/31/17 - perfect) - can't wait!

New shows we want to check out in summer 2017:

 The Mist is based on a Stephen King short story and will air on Spike starting June 26. The trailer (below) looks like it might be a bit violent for me, but I am willing to give it a try. It reminds me a bit of Under the Dome, another TV show based on a Stephen King novel, and it looks like something my husband will definitely like.



Gypsy is starting on June 30 on Netflix. It's a thriller series about a psychologist who gets too close to her patients - looks and sounds very creepy!



Salvation begins on CBS on July 10. It's a sci fi thriller about an asteroid on a collision course with Earth in six months. Looks like a good one!



The Sinner will premier on USA Network on August 2. It's based on a best-selling thriller novel about a young mother who commits horrific acts of violence and has no idea why, starring Jessica Biel. Another one that looks violent but also compelling.



Whew, that's quite a line-up for summer!

What new or returning shows are you looking forward to this summer?

And please let me know if you have any recommendations for shows we can stream (on either Netflix or Amazon Prime) during May, while we wait for all these great shows to start!

Movie Monday: Arrival

Every once in a while, a book or movie just so blows me away that I am tempted to write a one-sentence review: "You must read this book/see this movie!" That's the case with Arrival, a movie my husband and I watched Saturday night and that I have wanted to see ever since its release to theaters last November. It more than lived up to my high expectations.

Arrival focuses on a linguist named Louise Banks, played wonderfully by Amy Adams, who lives by herself and teaches at a university. As the movie opens, we see her at home and at school, with a voice-over addressed to her daughter about beginnings and endings while we see images of her with her daughter, from her birth to her premature death from an incurable disease as a young woman. On this day, though, Louise doesn't even get to begin her class on languages because a worldwide crisis has occurred that has the attention not only of her students but of everyone else on the globe. Twelve identical-looking alien ships have arrived on Earth in various, wide-ranging locations. They are just hanging there, in mid-air just above the Earth's surface, with the whole world wondering what they want and why they are here.

Colonel Weber, played by Forest Whitaker, comes to Louise's office. He's familiar with her talents in linguistics because she previously worked on a military project with him, helping to translate in a difficult situation. He's come to her now because the U.S. military is looking for a linguistics expert to try to communicate with the aliens and find out what they want from humans. She quickly packs a bag and is raced to the site of the alien ship, in Montana. There, she is joined by Ian Donnelly, played by Jeremy Renner, a theoretical physicist. Each of them is given a team of specialists to guide, and the pair are quickly taken to the alien ship to "meet" their visitors up close.

I won't give away any more because this movie is filled with fascinating, breath-taking twists and turns. Suffice it to say that, as you might expect, the aliens have an entirely different way of communicating than humans do, and learning to converse with them is a serious challenge. Adams, Renner, and Whitaker are all excellent in this film, and it is filled with suspense, as the scientists race against time.

As a science fiction movie, Arrival is wonderful, with truly creative and unique aliens and alien technology and language. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. This is mainly a movie about humans and about communication. As Louise and Ian struggle to communicate with the aliens, all kinds of miscommunications occur between the humans located around the globe, all working on the same project. In addition, Arrival delves deep into issues of memory, time, and what it means to be human. Toward the end, you encounter some truly mind-bending surprises that are wonderfully thought-provoking - something I always enjoy in a movie.

I absolutely loved this unique and thoughtful movie that is also suspenseful, and my husband did, too. I was disappointed that our DVD didn't contain any extras because I wasn't ready to leave this world, but I later read that you should patiently wait after the end of the movie because there is a "making of" documentary that rolls after the credits. I wish I'd known that before! I could watch the whole movie over again today.

You must see this movie!

Arrival is now out on DVD (we rented from Redbox) and is available from Amazon to rent for just $3.99 (or you can purchase the DVD).



    

It's Monday 5/15! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday! Ahhh...the house is silent. I love the start of a new week.

Hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day! I spent the day on boring, must-do tasks - refilling medications for the week, paying medical bills, etc. - but then enjoyed a lovely evening with my two sons and my husband. We had a delicious dinner out, came back to the house for ice cream, and I opened a pile of thoughtful gifts. My sons hung around for a while, and we watched some favorite, funny TV shows together. Best of all? Both of our college-aged sons agreed that the more they see of other people's families and parents, the more they appreciate ours. Isn't that sweet? Made my day!

It was a busy week, but of course, we made sure we had plenty of time for books! Here's what we are reading:

• I finished my next review book for Shelf Awareness, Everybody's Son by Thrity Umrigar, due out June 6. I requested this one special because I loved the author's earlier book, The Space Between Us, and her latest novel lived up to my high expectations. It's about a young black boy from the projects who is fostered and then adopted by a wealthy white family in the suburbs...but there is a whole lot more to it than that. It was compelling and thoughtful - I loved it. I'll post my SA review when it is published.
• Next, I turned to a book group pick for this week: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I bought this book at least 5 years ago and have been meaning to read it ever since. I'm glad my book group finally gave me the push to move it up the list! It is just as amazing and powerful as I've heard, and I am totally engrossed. Now, I really want to see the new TV show on Hulu, but we don't subscribe to it!
• I am still listening to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas on audio. It's a YA novel about a black teen girl whose friend dies in front of her after being shot by a white police officer. It is just as powerful and amazing as everyone has been saying. Listening to it on audio is particularly moving - Starr and her family feel like real people.
• My husband. Ken, is reading a novel I put in his Easter basket: The Bone Orchard by Paul Doiron. When I heard this mystery series is about an ex-game warden in Maine, I knew he'd like it (we both love the outdoors and Maine!). He's says it's very good so far. 
• Jamie, 22, says he is on a science fiction kick. He is now tackling Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard, a chunkster at over 1000 pages! He was surprised when we told him Hubbard founded Scientology, but he is enjoying this sci fi classic.
• Craig, 19, never reads, but it was a momentous occasion this weekend when he had to drive to Atlantic City and asked me where our old audiobooks were kept! He wanted to listen to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but alas, it is on cassette tapes, which he can't play in his car. He settled on The Lightning Thief, another old favorite, but then forgot to bring it. Last week, he re-listened (for about the 20th time) to our old family favorite, Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Pinkwater. If you have kids and have never listened to this audiobook, you must bring it along on your next road trip - it is hilarious and wonderful! 

Blog posts from last week:

TV Tuesday: No Tomorrow - a fun romcom with a unique premise


Fiction Review: Celine by Peter Heller - a mystery with plenty of depth & character development

My Summary of Books Read in April - just 4 books but all great!

Saturday Snapshot: Delaware Beach and Vermont - pics from my latest trips

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.

What are you and your family reading this week?  

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

My family & I out to dinner for Mother's Day

 

Saturday Snapshot 5/13: Delaware Beach & Vermont

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads.

I have missed a couple of Saturday Snapshots because I was traveling the past two weekends (that's a lot for me!), so I thought I'd share a few photos from those trips before I get back to finishing my National Park photo series.

Two weekends ago, I traveled just a couple of hours away, to the Delaware beaches with my two closest friends, where we enjoyed a girls' weekend - we visited Cape Henlopen State Park at the beach, toured Fort Miles in the park (they had a special open house that weekend), ate crabs, kayaked on a creek that feeds into the bay...and talked a LOT!

Last weekend, I went to Booktopia for the second time, an annual event held at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT. No nature photos from that weekend, but a couple of pics to show you what a wonderful little town Manchester is. My full Booktopia summary is coming up later this week.

Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, DE

Eating fresh Maryland crabs with my friends

Kayaking on Herring Creek (which feeds into Rehoboth Bay)

A Great Blue Heron

An osprey on its nest...and there was a little fuzzy baby inside!!

One of many Forster Terns we saw

Manchester, VT - Up for Breakfast - most amazing breakfasts anywhere!

Homemade corned beef hash w/eggs and stone-ground mustard hollaindaise

Northshire Bookstore - an incredible bookstore & well worth the trip!

My mom and I inside Northshire Bookstore

 Hope you are enjoyed a lovely weekend!

Books Read in April

April was a sort of transitory reading month for me. I only finished four books, but I had a few others started but set aside (I don't normally do that). I spent most of the month reading in preparation for Booktopia 2017, which I just attended this past weekend (recap to come!). Here are the books I finished in April:

• Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (MN, CA, GA, MD. HI), memoir
• Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato (NJ), adult novel
• Celine by Peter Heller (NY, WY), adult novel on audio

• The Leavers by Lisa Ko (China, NY), adult novel

The first book was read for my neighborhood book group, and the next three were all read for Booktopia. Because of my Booktopia focus, they were all adult fiction, plus the memoir at the start of the month, so no YA or middle-grade last month for me. And I only finished one audio last month because my husband and I started one on our trip but didn't finish it. All four of these books were outstanding, and I would highly recommend them all to just about anyone (check out my reviews at the links). If you were to force me to choose a favorite, it would probably be Edgar and Lucy, though it's a very close contest. I also thoroughly enjoyed meeting the authors of the last three at Booktopia. Victor Lodato has a background in theater, and hearing him read from Edgar and Lucy was absolutely amazing - we could have listened to him read to us all day!

Progress on 2017 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! I did not read a single book from my own shelves for the second month in a row for my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge! I plan to rectify that now that Booktopia is over. For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, April was Award Winner month and The Leavers by Lisa Ko won the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver (no wonder I loved it so much!).  Another month without a single classic for the 2017 Back to the Classics Challenge - I have to do better on that one! I slotted all 4 books into categories for my Well-Rounded Challenge, but that is getting tougher as the categories fill up. For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, I added China. For my 2017 Literary Escapes Challenge, I added Hawaii and Wyoming.

Finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Here is my Bingo card for April, with 15 squares filled in, which is pretty good for only four books!

Books fit in the following squares:

Lab Girl - Made you laugh, Introvert
Edgar & Lucy - Stormy weather, library book, dreams
Celine - One word title, phone/phone call, orphan, audio book, conspiracy, mystery
The Leavers - Free book, embarrassment, new release (2017)

Free space

What was your favorite book read in April?  

Fiction Review: Celine

Peter Heller is the best-selling author of The Dog Stars and The Painters, both of which are at the top of my want-to-read list because I have heard such rave reviews. He is also the author of a new novel, Celine, which is a bit of a departure from his usual literary fiction. Celine is a mystery novel with an unusual heroine, a stunning setting, and plenty of character development. And I learned this weekend when I heard Peter Heller speak at Booktopia that Celine is based on the life of his own mother.

Celine is a 69-year old woman who lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Pete. She is a woman of many talents and eccentricities: she makes unusual, dark art that often includes taxidermy; she speaks flawless French and is an excellent shot; and she has her PI license and solves mysteries. Most of the cases that Celine takes on involve reuniting families, and sometimes she doesn’t even charge her clients. Her reasons for that particular specialty are based deep in her history and are slowly revealed through the novel.

One day, a woman named Gabriela calls her. Her father, who was a world-renowned nature photographer who worked for National Geographic, was supposedly killed by a grizzly bear near Yellowstone when Gabriela was in college. His body was never found, though, and Gabriela has always wondered what really happened to him. Since she lost her mother at the age of eight, the loss of her father was especially devastating.

Celine agrees to take her case, and she and Pete set off for Yellowstone National Park, stopping in Colorado to borrow a pick-up truck camper (and some guns) from Celine’s son, Hank. This is the very definition of a cold case, since he disappeared decades ago, but Celine begins to dig into the old case, recognizing almost immediately that someone is following them, which only spurs her on. Interspersed with sections on the current investigation are flashbacks as Celine remembers her own childhood, her relationship with her father, and a secret she has kept for 50 years. As the case progresses – like any mystery novel would – we also learn more about Celine, bit by bit.

Interestingly, I have read some reviews – including one by a professional reviewer at NPR – that said it’s a good story, and Heller is a good writer…but the character of Celine is not believable. Well, guess what? At Booktopia, Peter Heller explained to us that the character of Celine is based very closely on his own mother! Yes, she really was a crack shot, had worked for the FBI, made art using taxidermy, and had her PI license. He even said this novel was based on a real case that she solved. In fact, he told some stories about his mother during the talk, and I thought they sounded very familiar…and realized they were almost word for word from the book! So, it’s pretty funny that readers are complaining that it’s too outrageous to be believable. Apparently, it’s not.

I listened to this novel on audio and enjoyed it. It is a compelling mystery, with plenty of suspense, and I enjoyed the unusual depth for a mystery novel and getting to know Celine. The narrator did a good job and made me feel like I was on the case with Celine and Pete. I also very much enjoyed the setting in and around Yellowstone National Park, as an avid outdoorsperson and a frequent traveler to National Parks myself. All in all, it was a fun journey through a mystery with more depth (and humor) than most.

332 pages, Alfred A. Knopf

And if you ever have a chance to hear Peter Heller speak, take it - he is an entertaining speaker with a wonderfully infectious laugh:

Peter Heller speaking at Booktopia at Northshire Books

 

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.

 

Link to Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT (best bookstore ever!):

Celine

    

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!

 

TV Tuesday: No Tomorrow

I was recently searching Netflix for something new to watch by myself at lunchtime. My time alone is very limited, and I enjoy watching some lighter, fun, girly shows while I eat lunch that the males in my household would never watch! I had finished Good Girls Revolt, This Is Us (sob), and The Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce and was looking for something new along those lines. I came across No Tomorrow, a fun romcom from CW with some surprising moments of depth and warmth.

The premise of No Tomorrow is a little silly, but it grows on you. Evie, played by Tori Anderson, is an adorable and earnest young woman who works in quality control for an Amazon-like online marketplace. Evie has recently broken up with her boyfriend, Timothy, played by Jesse Rath, and is starting to realize that she plays it safe too much and lives a fairly sedate and restricted life. Cue Xavier, played by Joshua Sasse, a bearded, beanie-ed guy who lives for the moment. Evie is immediately attracted to Xavier's exciting, fun-filled approach to life, but there's a downside. Xavier lives like that because he is a scientist who truly believes that the earth will be destroyed in 8 months by an asteroid. So, yeah, just a little quirky.

Evie gets involved with Xavier in spite of his doomsday countdown and agrees to join him in making an ApocaList, a bucket list of all the things they each want to do before they die (which Xavier firmly believes will be in 8 months). As those two begin working down their lists and doing all kinds of fun and crazy stuff, we are also introduced to Evie's quirky co-workers and best friends. Hank, played by Jonathan Langdon, who believes in his own version of doomsday but plans to survive in a bunker, and Kareema, played by Sarayu Blue, a sarcastic, wild woman who sits next to Evie at work. Rounding out the cast is their boss, Deirdre, played by Amy Pietz, an unemotional hard-ass whom Hank is secretly in love with.

It all sounds very silly, and sometimes it is, but the show has an undercurrent of warmth and sincerity. As Evie and Xavier navigate the challenges in their relationship (and the other characters in their own relationships), there are plenty of serious and touching moments, too. It's basically like a typical romcom movie only in a TV show. I am almost through the first season (13 episodes in all) and enjoying it very much. It's just what I was looking for - a fun show with moments of depth that my action-focused husband and sons would not be interested in! I hope it comes back for a second season.

No Tomorrow was originally on CW (the last 5 episodes are available on the CW website) and is available on Netflix or you can watch it on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $14.99 a season.

What fun, girly shows do you enjoy?

It's Monday 5/8! What Are You Reading?

Wow, what a week I had! It was basically book nirvana - a reader's paradise! I left on Thursday to attend Booktopia in Vermont, hosted by the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester. My mother and I attended Booktopia in 2015, and she came with me again this time. I will post a summary of the weekend and the amazing authors once I catch up at home, but in the meantime, you can check out my post from two years ago. Because of my chronic illness, I am physically exhausted today - totally wiped out from the weekend - but still on an emotional and intellectual high from spending the weekend with so many wonderful and interesting people who love books as much as I do, not to mention getting to know some incredibly talented (and fun!) authors. It was an incredible experience (again).

So, it was an extremely busy week for me, but as always, I made time for reading - first finishing up my Booktopia reading and then moving onto other great books. Here's what my family read last week:

• I finished Books for Living by Will Schwalbe, the best-selling author of The End of Your Life Book Club (which I still need to read!). This second book about books is a series of essays about books and life - each chapter focuses on one book and one thing he learned from it. The books run the gamut from classics to children's books to old nonfiction to modern novels and more. I dog-eared dozens of pages for quotes, names of books I want to read, and more and thoroughly enjoyed every chapter. I got to meet him this weekend, and we bonded over remembering loved ones who've died through the books they loved. He was just as good a speaker as he is a writer, and I was thrilled to meet him and hear him talk about his book.
• I started another Booktopia book, The World To Come by Jim Shepherd, a book of short stories. I only had time to read a few of the stories before I had to set it aside, but I enjoyed those, and I do plan to finish the book. Many of the stories are based on real-life historical disasters but focused on the details of fictional people involved and their thoughts and feelings. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the stories.
• This weekend, I had to FINALLY set aside my Booktopia reading to get started on my next review book for Shelf Awareness, Everybody's Son by Thrity Umrigar, due out May 6. I requested this one special because I loved the author's earlier book, The Space Between Us, and this latest novel is living up to my high expectations. It's about a young black boy from the projects who is fostered and then adopted by a wealthy white family in the suburbs...but there is a whole lot more to it than that. I am completely engrossed so far.
• On audio, I finished another Booktopia book, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney, a novel about an elderly woman taking a very long walk around Manhattan on New Year's Eve 1984 and recalling her long and interesting life, from the 1920's to the present day. It is based on the real-life story of advertising icon Margaret Fishback. I started reading the book and finished it on audio, and by the end, Lillian felt like an old friend, and I could hear her voice in my head for days! The author, Kathleen Rooney, was delightful and her story of writing the novel was fascinating.
• On my way home yesterday, even though I was completely exhausted, I was looking forward to listening to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas on audio in my car. It's a YA novel about a black teen girl whose friend dies in front of her after being shot by police. It is just as powerful and amazing as everyone has been saying (I was crying as I drove!), and it really did make the long miles fly by for me last night. I can't wait to hear what happens next.
• My husband, Ken, is reading one of my review books that was released last week: Crime Song by David Swinson, a sequel to The Second Girl. Both feature PI Frank Marr, a retired cop who was forced to leave early due to his addictions.
• Jamie, 22, says he is on a science fiction kick! He is/was reading Columbus Day, book 1 in the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson, a series about an outer space war where the Earth is unsure of who are enemies and who are allies. I wonder if our recent viewing of the TV show Colony is influencing his reading choices! I'm not sure if he's finished it yet.

Reviews to come on ALL of these wonderful books! Here's what I posted on the blog last week - just two posts, but I am surprised I even managed that before I left:

TV Tuesday: Chewing Gum - a quirky, fun, irreverent British comedy

Fiction Review: The Leavers by Lisa Ko - a boy caught between two cultures & families

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.

What are you and your family reading this week?  

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

My mom and I at Booktopia in Northshire Bookstore

 

Fiction Review: The Leavers

As most of my regular readers know, I have been frantically reading books in preparation for Booktopia this weekend, an event held annually at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT. It’s a weekend totally focused on books where authors and readers hang out together and talk books for two days – I can’t wait! All of the books I’ve read for Booktopia have been great, but The Leavers by Lisa Ko really grabbed me. It’s an engrossing and powerful story of a boy torn between two families and two cultures.

As the novel opens, eleven-year old Deming is living in New York City with his mother, Polly (Peilan in her native China). Deming spent his first year in Manhattan with his mom but then lived in China with his grandfather until age five, while his mother tried to find a better job and get into a better situation for her son. They now live with her boyfriend, Leon, and his sister, Vivian, and her son, Michael, who is Deming’s age. The two boys call themselves cousins but are more like brothers, and the accidental family is happy together in their small apartment, while Polly works at a nail salon.

Then one day, Polly just disappears without a trace. She goes off to work in the morning as usual and never comes back. She had been talking about maybe moving to Florida for a better job, so Deming worries that she decided to go without him. But he know his mother loves him and would never leave him intentionally…doesn’t he? After she has been gone for six months, Leon returns to China and Vivian turns Deming over to the foster care system. A couple from upstate New York who both work as college professors soon adopt Deming.

Peter and Kay are very kind to Deming, whom they rename Daniel, but Deming is still confused and hurt by the events of the past year. What happened to his mother? Why did Vivian give him away? When will he be reunited with his real family? In Deming/Daniel’s new school, he is the only Asian kid, and people keep misunderstanding his background, even when he tells them repeatedly that he is from New York, not China. Daniel does make a friend in his new town, though – a boy named Roland who is also something of an outcast, as he is half-Mexican.

The novel moves back and forth in time, from Deming’s early life with his mother and his transition to living with Peter and Kay to the present day as Daniel, when he is in his twenties and living in New York, playing in a band with Roland. Daniel is constantly rocked by uncertainties, worrying that he is a disappointment to his adoptive parents, while still wondering what happened to his mother. Some chapters are from Deming’s perspective and some are from Polly’s perspective, filling in details about her own childhood in China, how she came to New York, and eventually, what happened to her.

This is a moving, powerful story of immigrants and of the unbreakable bond between a mother and son. It is, in turns, shocking, sad, and joyful. I was completely captivated by this original story of being torn between cultures – as both Deming and Polly are – and figuring out who you are. The Leavers won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver (one of myall-time favorite authors) for a novel that addresses issues of social justice, and that award was well-deserved. The novel is superbly written, as well as compelling. I think this is Lisa Ko’s first novel, though her short stories have appeared – and been lauded – in many publications. I can’t wait to meet her this weekend and see what she comes up with next!

352 pages, Algonquin Books

The Leavers
by Lisa KoHardcover

The Leavers

   

TV Tuesday: Chewing Gum

I first heard of the Netflix show Chewing Gum (originally a British channel 4 show) on one of my favorite podcasts, Pop Culture Happy Hour. The hosts there (who I often agree with) all seemed to like the show, so I decided to give it a try. At first, I thought it was pretty weird, but it has definitely grown on me, and I am hooked now. I sat down at lunchtime today to watch one episode and ended up watching three of them!

Chewing Gum is a quirky British comedy about a young woman who is naive but who craves some sexual experience. Tracey, played by Michaela Coel, has grown up in a small apartment in London in what I gather is the British equivalent of housing projects here in the US. Tracey is in her mid-20's but still lives at home with her mother, Joy (played by Shola Adewusi), and her sister, Cynthia (played by Susan Wokoma), who are both extremely religious. As a result, she has been seriously sheltered and has little life experience. Tracey's best friend, Candice, played by Danielle Walters, is far more worldly, with a serious (and hunky) boyfriend, though she still lives with her Nan in the projects, too.

At the start of season one, Tracey is determined to finally have sex and lose her virginity - she is more than a little obsessed with this mission! Her straight-laced boyfriend, Ronald, though, is just as religious as Tracey's family and seems immune to Tracey's increasingly aggressive advances. You can tell right away that this relationship isn't going to last long, and sure enough, Tracey is soon dating a white boy from the projects named Connor (though she doesn't dare tell her mother that).

This show is loud, colorful, and outrageous...and a whole lot of fun. Did I mention that it's quirky? Michaela Coel is wonderfully exuberant as Tracey (she also writes the show and created it and says it is semi-autobiographical). Tracey is very childlike, dressing in bright primary colors and wearing her hair in two long braids, and innocent, though she desperately wants to be a sophisticated, worldly woman. She is also incredibly endearing and lovable, and I was rooting for her right from the start.

This show is definitely not for everyone. It is quite crude and very open about sex, though Tracey's attempts to have sex are often more silly than sexy. The show is filmed in a unique way, with Tracey often speaking directly to the audience. It's very, very funny, but it also gives an inside view of what it is like to live in a housing project and tackles topics related to race and religion very frankly. Like I said, I am totally hooked now, in season 2, and can't wait to see what happens next.

Chewing Gum was originally broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and is available now on Netflix.

It's Monday 5/1! What Are You Reading?

Wow, May 1 already?? What happened to April? The year is flying by, as it so often does lately. I had a pretty good week - mostly recuperating and catching up after not feeling well. I still had a few bad days last week but seem to be past that now. And I had a wonderful weekend escape, a trip to the beach with my two closest friends. We went to a state park, got fresh crabs for dinner, went kayaking, and talked nonstop all weekend! Lots of fun - there's nothing like good friends.

Now, I have just a few days to recover and rest up for another trip - to the much-anticipated Boooktopia 2017 with my mom. The problem is that the next three days are packed full, so I won't have the rest time I really need. So, I am a little worried about this next trip...but also very excited to meet these wonderful authors and get together with other book-lovers, including my mom and some friends I met at Booktopia two years ago. Should be fun!

Here's what we've been reading the past week - all Booktopia reading for me!

• I finished The Leavers by Lisa Ko, on my Kindle. This is the story of a boy who's torn between two families and two cultures. After spending his first 5 years in China with his grandfather, Deming rejoins his mother in NYC, where they live together happily with her boyfriend, his sister and her son. When Deming is 11 years old, his mother disappears, and he is adopted by a white family in upstate NY and renamed Daniel. The narrative goes back and forth between Deming/Daniel's childhood and his present life, at 21, and between his and his mother's perspectives. It was completely engrossing - I can't wait to meet the author this week!
• Now, I am back to another Booktopia book that I started last month and then set aside (to read the library books before they had to go back) - Books for Living by Will Schwalbe, the best-selling author of The End of Your Life Book Club (which I still need to read!). This second book about books is a series of essays about books and life - each chapter focuses on one book and one thing he learned from it. The books run the gamut from classics to children's books to old nonfiction to modern novels and more. I'm enjoying it very much and can't wait to meet the author. I am signed up for one of his sessions, which is like a book group discussion. I have dozens of pages dog-eared for quotes, names of books I want to read, and more.
• On audio, I finished listening to another Boooktopia book, Celine by Peter Heller, a mystery about an older woman named Celine who is a PI specializing in reuniting families. She is hired by a woman whose father was thought to have been killed by a grizzly bear many years ago, though his body was never found. I enjoyed it - a mystery, yes, but also a character study of Celine herself and her life, while she investigates this case. Plus, I loved the setting in Yellowstone National Park.
• Now I am listening to another Booktopia novel, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney, a story about an elderly woman walking around Manhattan on New Year's Eve 1984, thinking back over her life and her career as one of the first women advertising executives.  I started reading this one in print and have now switched to the audio (I'm trying to juggle my Booktopia books to fit them all in!). I'm enjoying it so far.
• My husband, Ken, finished The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, a popular YA post-apocalyptic novel that was made into a movie last year. We've had this book in our house for years, but none of us had read it until two weeks ago. Our son read it, then he passed it onto his Dad. Ken enjoyed it, and they are both looking forward to the sequel. My turn next!
• Now, Ken is reading one of my review books, due out tomorrow: Crime Song by David Swinson, a sequel to The Second Girl. Both feature PI Frank Marr, a retired cop who was forced to leave early due to his addictions.
• Jamie, 22, says he is on a science fiction kick! This is a switch from his usual fantasy obsession. After finishing The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, he also finished reading The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin, book 2 in the Dreamblood series, which he loves. 
• Now Jamie is reading Columbus Day, book 1 in the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson, a series about an outer space war where the Earth is unsure of who are enemies and who are allies. I wonder if our recent viewing of the TV show Colony is influencing his reading choices!

Last week's blog posts:

Movie Monday: Passengers - kind of like Castaway in space

Fiction Review: Edgar & Lucy by Victor Lodato - another Booktopia author I can't wait to meet - an excellent and original novel

Free Audiobooks - SYNC Season Starts - don't miss this great opportunity for free audiobooks from now through the summer!

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.

What are you and your family reading this week?  

Steamed Maryland Blue Crabs - first of the season!

 

Free Audiobooks - 2017 SYNC Season Starts!

Every summer, I look forward to downloading FREE audiobooks from SYNC, a program hosted by AudioFile magazine.

Each week, SYNC offers two free audiobooks that you can download onto any device. The two books usually include one contemporary YA title, paired with a classic or a nonfiction book with a similar theme or subject matter. Each pairing is available for download for one week, to be replaced by a new pairing the following week. Once you download the books, however, you can listen to them whenever you want.

SYNC's program for 2017 started yesterday, so head to the SYNC website right away to download the audiobooks for week 1! This first week is featuring:

• The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich, a modern YA psychological thriller, and
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, a classic novella

I am excited about these first two. I am trying to read more classics this year (and not doing very well so far) and have never read anything by Oscar Wilde. And the YA novel sounds spooky and intriguing.

I have listened to so many amazing audiobooks through SYNC in the past. I can't wait to see the rest of their line-up for 2017!

Fiction Review: Edgar & Lucy

While on vacation a few weeks ago, I read Edgar & Lucy by Victor Lodato, another book for the upcoming Booktopia event where I will get to talk to the author about his novel. Edgar & Lucy is a unique story about the relationship between a mother and her son, combining family drama with suspense.

Eight-year old Edgar is an unusual boy. Born albino, his stark-white skin and brilliant green eyes make him stand out physically, while his odd behaviors once led the family doctor to suggest autism. Edgar’s father died when he was just a baby, in some sort of accident that adults sometimes whisper about but no one talks about openly. His young mother, Lucy, was devastated by his father’s death, while his grandmother, Florence, responded to the tragic death of her only son by holding her grandson closer.

Florence and Edgar are very close and live in Florence’s house with Lucy, who feels left out by their insular relationship. They have their routines together and accept each other’s eccentricities, while Lucy often lives a separate life, working at a local salon and going out with a string of men. Edgar is curious about the secrets in his history and wants to know more, but neither Lucy nor Florence wants to talk about it. He feels oddly attracted to a mysterious man with his own dark past, and when bullies threaten Edgar, a crisis occurs.

I won’t say anything more about the plot of this novel, except that it takes some very unexpected, twisty paths with elements of suspense, mystery, and a touch of the supernatural. It’s one of those stories that is best discovered page by page by the reader, without spoilers. As the story twists and turns and the tension increases, Edgar and Lucy each yearn for the other while outside forces (and internal self-doubts) keep them apart.

This is an engrossing and fascinating novel, a completely original story that kept me reading compulsively. The characters are all deeply flawed, but their yearnings and insecurities make them both relatable and worthy of empathy. It’s one of those books where you find yourself silently begging the characters to open up and talk to each other, but they each keep their secrets for far too long. Despite its often dark subject matter, there are moments of wonder and wit as well, and the natural world plays a strong role in the novel. I was completely absorbed in this compelling story and its unbearable suspense until the very last pages. I can’t wait to meet the author next week!

544 pages, St. Martin’s Press

Macmillan 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.

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible, narrated beautifully by the author who is also a playwright.

 

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!