Fiction Review: Mr. Mercedes

After reading Stephen King's The Outsider last fall (and loving it), I realized that one of my favorite characters, the quirky, awkward Holly Gibney, was also featured in his Bill Hodges trilogy, so I took advantage of my Big Book Summer Challenge (Stephen King books are almost always Big Books!) to read the first book in the trilogy, Mr. Mercedes, which won an Edgar Award for Best Novel. I can always count on King's novels for a fast-paced, suspenseful ride, and this one delivered.

As the novel opens, retired detective Bill Hodges is rotting away in his recliner in an Ohio city. Retirement doesn't suit Hodges, who is divorced and rarely sees his adult daughter. He's bored, feeling like he's outlived his useful life, and even taking his father's gun out of its drawer and staring at it, thinking of the possibilities. Then, he receives an unusual letter in the mail, signed The Mercedes Killer. This refers back to a case left unsolved, one that has bothered Hodges for years: a huge 12-cylinder Mercedes was driven into a tight crowd waiting for a job fair, killing eight and leaving more wounded. The killer got away, though aspects of this unsolvable crime have nagged at Hodges ever since. Now, he's received a long, taunting letter from someone claiming to be the perp (though the letter-writer miswrites it as perk) that Hodges just can't ignore. Retired cops are not supposed to go off solving crimes on their own, but suddenly, Hodges feels alive again. He'll just investigate a few loose ends and clues unwittingly left in the letter and then turn it over to his old partner. But--you guessed it--the deeper he gets into the case, the harder it is to let go. Hodges engages the help of the very smart, computer-savvy teen boy, Jerome, who helps with his yardwork, and eventually, Holly appears on the scene as a highly unlikely third partner. As they close in on the identity of the Mercedes killer, the danger grows, both for them personally and for the city. Will he strike again, with something even deadlier?

As is typical for King's novels, the tension here is off the charts, right from the start. It sounds cliche, but King really does make me stay up way past my bedtime, flipping pages, thinking "just one more chapter." Hodges is a curmudgeonly but likable guy, Jerome is clever and entertaining, and Holly is just as quirky and fun as she was in The Outsider (more so here, as you can see her break out of her shell and come to life in the presence of Bill). Both she and Bill are given a new sense of purpose in their lives in tracking down the killer (Holly has a personal reason for wanting to find him). King's dialogue and details add realism and interest, as always. This is not a horror or supernatural story, as many of his are, but a straight-up mystery/crime thriller with super-fast pacing and almost unbearable suspense. I loved every page, and now I can't wait to read the next book of Bill and Holly's adventures, Finders Keepers.

436 pages, Gallery 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.

You can purchase Mr. Mercedes from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop.

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

TV Tuesday: Atypical

As I mentioned this week in my Weekly Inspiration post (Lift Up Your Spirits), my idea of comfort TV is shows about teens and young people. I don't know why, but I love watching a show set in high school or college (or shortly after), especially in stressful times. Maybe it's because their problems are so very different from my own, and I already successfully survived that stage of my life. In any case, I have a new favorite show in this genre that also touches on the world of chronic conditions/disabilities: Atypical. I am completely obsessed with this show about an 18-year old boy with autism and his family.

Sam Gardner, played wonderfully by Keir Gilchrist, is an 18-year old with autism who is in his senior year of high school. His mother, Elsa, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, has built her whole life around helping Sam overcome challenges, fighting battles to get him the rights and accommodations he needs, and making sure that Sam and his teen sister, Casey (played by Brigette Lundy-Paine), have perfect childhoods. She has a color-coded calendar on the wall, stacks of Post-Its at the ready, and she is generally super-mom in every respect. Her husband, Doug, played by Michael Rapaport, works as an EMT and loves both of his kids, though he's been far less involved in Sam's life than Elsa has. Sam's therapist, Julia (played by Amy Okuda), encourages him to take steps toward independence, and when Sam says he wants a girlfriend, Julia is supportive. Sam's newfound independence, though, completely disrupts Elsa's life, leaving her to wonder what her role is now. Sam gets questionable (hilarious) dating advice from his best--and only--friend, Zahid (played by Nik Dodani), who works with him at the local electronics store. Meanwhile, Casey struggles with the decision of whether to leave her public high school when she is recruited by a fancy private school for their track team. Through the three seasons (so far), Sam takes increasing steps away from dependency into his adult life, while the rest of the family tries to adjust and deals with their own issues.

I love everything about this show! Though I was unfamiliar with any of the actors other than Jennifer Jason Leigh, the entire cast is outstanding, and I like all of the characters. Gilchrist is particularly convincing in his portrayal of a young man with autism (I was actually surprised to find on his IMDB page that he's not autistic himself). The relationships between the characters and especially the family members are warm and lovingly portrayed, including the inherent paradox for Sam and Casey of her sometimes have to take care of her older brother. The show is by turns moving, thoughtful, and funny. From my role as the parent of (at one point) two kids with chronic illnesses, who required accommodations at school, much of the show--and especially Elsa's role--are very true-to-life and an accurate representation of how one person's condition can affect the whole family (don't worry--I understand that autism is not an illness, but many of the challenges in life are similar; there is a lot here I could relate to). On the other hand, I am also learning a lot about autism specifically, which has been very enlightening. It is dealt with honestly, openly, and, from what I understand from others, accurately. I love this family, and I love this show! I am now into season three and dreading when I finish it (though I see that a fourth season is planned).

Atypical is a Netflix original, so it is available on Netflix.

Check out the trailer to see a glimpse of the family dynamics and the fabulous humor in this show:

It's Monday 7/20! What Are You Reading?

Whew, another rough week here, though there were some high points, too. We are still working to get help for my father-in-law. It looks like he will have to go into Assisted Living, even though we were dead set against it because they are all still on lockdown. His new in-home care started today, for 3 hours, 5 days a week, but that's just temporary. It's too expensive (on top of his high rent for Independent Living) for him to afford for very long, and the VA assistance didn't pan out (you have to be on a VA pension to qualify). So, the in-home care will take some pressure off for now, but we need to take a closer look at the Assisted Living options nearby and compare prices and visitor policies. Unfortunately, the one closest to us (and brand-new) is both the most expensive and the most locked-down.

On the good news front, our youngest son started his full-time job last week! We celebrated with a crab feast (love those Maryland blue crabs), and he's enjoying his job so far, though the realities of adult life are setting in (he has to get up at 5:30 am every day!). We are very happy for him and excited that he is embarking on this new stage in life.

Crabs to celebrate - yum!

In the midst of a super-busy week, I was also signed up for an online course on Amazon ads (for my book), which turned out to be incredibly frustrating! I struggled to find time for the coursework and was a few days behind but managed to get 12 ads up (like everything at Amazon, it's incredibly complicated and illogical), and ... all 12 were rejected by Amazon's automatic censors. The problem? Apparently, I can not use the words "chronic illness" nor target readers with chronic illness in trying to sell my book about living with chronic illness. Crazy, right? Even the course leaders thought it was ludicrous; apparently Amazon just recently cracked down on these rules. Anyway, as of this morning, I finally got 2 ads accepted (5th time's a charm!)--I'm not thrilled with ad copy that finally worked, but it's a start.

So, a long, frustrating, exhausting week for me (with a bad relapse day in the middle). Books, as always, provide a welcome respite and comfort in stressful times. We are all still enjoying Big Book Summer (you can join the fun, too--details at the link). Here's what we've been reading this past week:

I took a break from Big Book Summer to read a very short novel, Convenient Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori. This is a readalong for July for the Book Cougars podcast, one of my favorite book podcasts, hosted by two Booktopia friends. I enjoyed this brief, unusual novel about a woman named Keiko who struggled to fit in with the world until she took a job in a convenience store. The strict rules and routines of the store are perfect for her, and she becomes the best convenience store worker she can be and stays there for 18 years. Though the rest of the world and even her friends and family are often confusing to her, she feels at home in the world of the store. However, increasing pressure to comply with social standards and get married or have a "worthy" career causes problems in her quiet, peaceful life. My interpretation was that Keiko was probably autistic. She's a wonderful character--quirky and likable, despite her lack of understanding of the world around her. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to discussing it online and listening to the Book Cougars' episode about it in early August.

Now, I have dived into another Big Book, one I've been wanting to read for a while: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I love time travel plots, and this book is part of her Oxford Time Travel series, which also includes To Say Nothing of the Dog, which I enjoyed very much. This time, in the near future, a young female student, Kivrin, has traveled back in time all the way to 1320, in England's Middle Ages. It's the first time they've sent anyone back that far, and there are all sorts of concerns since so little was recorded about that era. Hours after Kivrin leaves, though, a contemporary emergency occurs when one of the techs working on the project comes down with a devastating virus. This shouldn't happen, given the high-tech medical precautions used in this future (no one even gets colds), so there is a scramble to figure out what the virus is and where it came from. Meanwhile, the team at Oxford doesn't realize it, but the reader knows that Kivrin arrived in the Middle Ages with the same debilitating symptoms. I'm only about 100 pages in, but I am already loving this book! What a premise--a woman horribly sick with a 21st century virus in the Middle Ages and all alone. The action goes back and forth between the present-day and the past, and the suspense is already compelling.

I finally finished my first Big Book on audio (no listening time with a full house here!), The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. You've probably heard about this one, since it is getting a LOT of attention right now. It's the prequel to The Hunger Games, and it begins at the start of the 10th annual Hunger Games, while the war is still a recent memory. The story focuses on Coriolanus Snow, a teen-aged boy, who readers of the series know will eventually become President of Panem. Here, though, he is a self-conscious boy from a great family that has fallen on very hard times. He's trying to hide the fact that the remaining members of his family--him, his cousin, Tigris, and their grandmother--are barely surviving, eating cabbage and lima beans and unable to keep their family home if the rumored property tax is truly put into place. He feels like he has one chance to prove himself: as a mentor to one of the contestants from the districts. He is assigned to mentor a girl from District 12 named Lucy Gray, a girl who creates quite a stir on Reaping Day with her colorful outfit and beautiful song. As Coriolanus gets to know her better, his role in her life becomes more and more complicated, causing him to question the Hunger Games and the Capitol's role in it. I really enjoyed this book (you can read my review at the link), and as always, Collins has provided such thought-provoking, morally complex subject matter.

My husband, Ken, finished reading a book I put in his Easter basket, The A List by J.A. Jance. It's a thriller about a woman named Ali Reynolds who used to be a broadcast journalist. The last story she did before her career ended was about a man who needed a kidney, which spiraled into a massive medical scandal. The doctor at the center of it went to prison for murder. He is now bent on revenge, even from prison, and Ali is on the list of those he blames for his demise. Ali and her cybersecurity team must race against time to stop the doctor's continuing murder spree before Ali is next. My husband said that the first half was a bit slow, but the action really picked up in the second half, and he enjoyed it. Not bad for a drugstore choice while everything else was closed this spring!

Ken is now reading one of his new Father's Day gifts from me, The Dry by Jane Harper. I've been meaning to get him started on this super-popular new thriller author for a while now. This was her debut novel. As with all of Harper's books, it is set in Australia. A Federal Agent named Aaron visits his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his childhood best friend, Luke. Years ago, Aaron was accused of murder, and Luke provided his alibi. Now, there are questions about Luke's death, so Aaron teams up with local law enforcement to investigate. The more they find out, the more small town secrets they dig up. So many of my friends have loved this novel! I hope Ken will, too.

Our son, 25, returned to an old favorite series and read Legend, book 8 in the The Sanctuary Series by Robert J. Crane. We gave him book 1, Defender, for Christmas 2018, and he loved the series so much that he quickly read books 2, 3, and 4, also. So, this past Christmas, we gave him book 5, which he read this spring, moving quickly onto book 6 and then book 7 two weeks ago. The series is epic fantasy about a world called Arkaria and features dragons, titans, goblins, and more. He loves the series, and he flew through this latest book on his Kindle.

Now, our son is trying out a new-to-him fantasy series, The Mageborn, starting with book 1, The Blacksmith's Son. Here's the description from Amazon: "Mordecai’s simple life as the son of a blacksmith is transformed by the discovery of his magical birthright. As he journeys to understand the power within him he is drawn into a dangerous plot to destroy the Duke of Lancaster and undermine the Kingdom of Lothion. Love and treachery combine to embroil him in events he was never prepared to face. What he uncovers will change his understanding of the past, and alter the future of those around him." Sounds like another good one! He's enjoying it so far.





Not much time for blogs last week (sorry I am behind on visits, too!). Just one new post:

Teen/YA Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - I enjoyed the prequel to The Hunger Games

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? 

Teen/YA Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

With so little time to myself these days for audiobooks, it took me more than a month to finally finish listening to my latest (and a Big Book), The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. It is a prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy, which takes place decades before that famous story. As with all of Collins' novels, it was suspenseful, surprising, and thoughtful.

As readers of the trilogy know, Coriolanus Snow ends up being President of Panem ... and he is pretty evil by then, fully committed to the barbaric Hunger Games and to keeping the Districts under the control of the Capital. But here in this novel, only ten years after the war, Coriolanus is just a teen-aged boy whose once-important family has fallen on hard times. There are only three of them left: Coriolanus, his teen cousin, Tigris, and their Grandmam. Everyone else was killed during the war (and his mother was killed in childbirth). They survived the war period on a diet of lima beans and cabbage, while Corilanus' father was a hero, off fighting the Districts, and they could very possibly lose their beloved family home, if the rumors about imposing a property tax in the Capital are true. Thanks to his family connections, Coriolanus attends the prestigious Academy, but he will have to win awards and scholarships in order to continue onto college. He works very hard to keep up appearances at school, and Tigris, who is a gifted seamstress and close friend to her cousin, helps him to look his best, to keep their poverty a secret.

Into this quiet, routine life of behind-the-scenes struggle comes the 10th Annual Hunger Games. For the first time ever, the Capital is assigning Academy students to mentor the tributes from the Districts. On Reaping Day, one tribute stands out: Lucy Gray from District 12. While initially disappointed he wasn't assigned a big, strong boy, Coriolanus quickly sees the positive aspects of his own tribute, in her outrageously cheery and colorful dress, with her beautiful singing voice and haunting song. At first, Coriolanus helps Lucy Gray in his own self-interest, so that he can get a scholarship for his role in helping her win the Games. Soon, though, he gets to know her as a real person, and the two become friends ... and maybe more. Coriolanus becomes confused and pulled in different directions: he's supposed to be a proud member of the Capital, but how can this be right, forcing sweet kids like Lucy Gray to fight to the death? The evil Game Master, his classmates, and his headmaster all play roles as Coriolanus fights internally to decide what to do and how far he will go to protect Lucy Gray.

As always, Collins has provided thought-provoking, morally-complex subject matter that is set in a wholly different world but somehow also reflects our own issues. I love this about her writing (we were huge fans of her Gregor the Overlander series long before The Hunger Games), and I thoroughly enjoyed this new novel, as well ... until the end. I struggled with the ending. I was thinking (as all readers will) throughout the book, "What will happen to Snow to make him turn him from this tormented teen into the evil President of Panem someday?" But when that moment came, it didn't feel quite believable to me. I had one of those moments where I thought I missed something on the audio and rewound a bit to listen again, but I hadn't missed anything. All that said, that sharp turn in Coriolanus' life comes in the very last chapters of this long book, and I very much enjoyed all the rest of it. Lucy Gray is a wonderful character, the other characters and setting are richly developed, and I enjoyed learning Snow's backstory.

528 pages, Scholastic Press

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, as Coriolanus talks to a friend and worries about the proposed tax, and/or download it from Audible.

You can purchase The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop.

Or you can order The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 7/13! What Are You Reading?

We are still mostly in crisis here, but managing and getting through it day by day. Our week was again focused on my father-in-law (who's 95 and recently had a sharp decline cognitively) and trying to line up the help he needs. We've made some progress on a few fronts, but we are still in the midst of some serious stress. We found out this weekend that he does have a mild UTI, so that's good news. After just 24 hours on antibiotics, he was vastly--shockingly--improved at lunchtime Sunday. After weeks of barely being able to get him out of bed and ready for meals, he was sitting up in his chair when my husband arrived, already dressed, ready for lunch, and even had a list of things he needs from the store! Unfortunately, by dinnertime, he was out of it again, and he called about 10 times in the middle of the might (he has his days and nights mixed up and time has lost all meaning lately), but we did see that glimmer of hope, and we are hoping he will at least come back to his baseline of about a month ago.

Meanwhile, while my husband has been running back and forth, I've been on the phone. We decided against assisted living for now because we wouldn't be able to see him at all--they are all still on total lockdown in our state. Losing contact with us would just push him over the edge. We're arranging for 3-4 hours of in-home care each day, which should help a lot, but we were worried about the cost. Then, we found out there is a VA program to provide assistance for in-home care or assisted living, and he's a vet! So, we need to apply for that program for him: more phone calls and forms to fill out!

That's pretty much our life right now. And, of course, we are all still enjoying our books and Big Book Summer here--reading is a wonderful escape! There's still plenty of time to join the fun: you only need to read one book of 400 or more pages by September (and, of course, you can read more if you want).

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

I finished my next Big Book, one we inherited from my dad, Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. I've wanted to read this trilogy ever since I read The Outsider last fall because I loved the character of Holly Gibney. In this novel, retired Detective Bill Hodges gets an anonymous letter from one of "the ones who got away," a man dubbed the Mercedes Killer who killed eight people when he drove into a crowd a few years ago. It's one of the cases that has always bothered Bill and has never been solved. Now, the killer himself has written a Bill a letter, filled with tantalizing details, taunting his inability to catch him. Bored by retirement, Bill suddenly feels like his life has purpose again and begins to re-investigate the case, using some of the clues from the letter and digging into details that bothered him at the time. Eventually, as I anticipated, weird, neurotic, lovable Holly joins him, along with the super-smart teenager who takes care of his yard, Jerome. I loved it just as much as I expected to; as always, King's suspense is almost unbearable ... and delicious. I am tempted to jump right into the next book, Finders Keepers, but I need to tackle some other books first. I'll be starting something new later today.

I was hoping to report that I had also finished my audiobook (it's taking me forever to listen to a Big Book on audio, with a full house here!), but I am still listening to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. You've probably heard about this one, since it is getting a LOT of attention right now. It's the prequel to The Hunger Games, and it begins at the start of the 10th annual Hunger Games, while the war is still a recent memory. The story focuses on Coriolanus Snow, a teen-aged boy, who readers of the series know will eventually become President of Panem. Here, though, he is a self-conscious boy from a great family that has fallen on very hard times. He's trying to hide the fact that the remaining members of his family--him, his cousin, Tigris, and their grandmother--are barely surviving, eating cabbage and lima beans and unable to keep their family home if the rumored property tax is truly put into place. He feels like he has one chance to prove himself: as a mentor to one of the contestants from the districts. He is  assigned to mentor a girl from District 12 named Lucy Gray, a girl who creates quite a stir on Reaping Day with her colorful outfit and beautiful song. As Coriolanus gets to know her better, his role in her life becomes more and more complicated, causing him to question the Hunger Games and the Capitol's role in it. I am loving this book, and as always, Collins has provided such thought-provoking, morally complex subject matter.

My husband, Ken, is still reading a book I put in his Easter basket, The A List by J.A. Jance. It's a thriller about a woman named Ali Reynolds who used to be a broadcast journalist. The last story she did before her career ended was about a man who needed a kidney, which spiraled into a massive medical scandal. The doctor at the center of it went to prison for murder. He is now bent on revenge, even from prison, and Ali is on the list of those he blames for his demise. Ali and her cybersecurity team must race against time to stop the doctor's continuing murder spree before Ali is next. My husband says that so far it's not quite as fast-paced as he had hoped, but it's got an interesting and unique plot that he's enjoying. Not bad for a drugstore choice while everything else was closed this spring!

Our son, 25, returned to an old favorite series and read Heretic, book 7 in the The Sanctuary Series by Robert J. Crane, which he is loving. We gave him book 1, Defender, for Christmas 2018, and he loved the series so much that he quickly read books 2, 3, and 4, also. So, this past Christmas, we gave him book 5, which he read this spring, moving quickly onto book 6. The series is epic fantasy about a world called Arkaria and features dragons, titans, goblins, and more. He loves the series, and he flew through this latest book on his Kindle and immediately moved onto book 8, Legend.



Blog posts from last week:

Movie Monday: I See You - super twisty thriller filled with surprises that we loved!

Fiction Review: Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht - 2nd in a great series about a girl spy/detective in the 1960's

Fiction Review: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - WWII classic that highlights the humor, absurdities, and horror of war

My Summary of Books Read in June - a Big Book Summer month!

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

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

What are you and your family reading this week? 

Books Read in June

Tall trees & summer greenery

So, now it's July, which means the year is half-over. Wait...what??? That seems crazy, especially this year when time has lost all meaning! But, it's true, which means it's time for my June reading summary. Here's what I finished reading last month:

• Faithful Place by Tana French (Ireland) - adult fiction
• A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen (CA) - adult fiction on audio
• Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty (Australia) - adult fiction

 

• Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht (NY, Dominican Republic) - adult fiction
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (Italy) - classic adult fiction

So, I finished just five books in June, but four of them were Big Books (more than 400 pages), so that's pretty typical for my summer reading. It was an all-fiction and all-adult month--no middle-grade or YA books at all. I listened to one on audio (my listening time has really been greatly reduced with everyone home) and read the others in print. Several of these were marked in my reading journal as "Loved it!" but I would say that Faithful Place was my favorite of the month; I was completely immersed in the story.

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

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 - I read 3 books from my own shelves last month. The pandemic has been great for reducing my TBR shelves!  

2020 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - June was Name or Number (in the title), and I read one of each: Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht AND Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Back to the Classics 2020 - I read another classic, bringing my grand total for 2020 to ... three! I read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which fit perfectly into the category "Abandoned Classic," since I started it last summer.

PopSugar Reading Challenge - this is a unique one! I couldn;t fit any of my five books into my remaining categories--it's getting more challenging with fewer categories left but still a lot of fun.

2020 Nonfiction Reader's Challenge - No nonfiction in June.

2020 Diversity Reading Challenge - Only one of my five was a diverse read--Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht--but it fit perfectly into the month's category of LGBT+.

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I read in four more countries last month: Ireland, Australia, Dominican Republic, and Italy.

2020 Literary Escapes Challenge - I added no new states last month.

2020 Big Book Summer Challenge - I kicked off my own annual challenge in style, with 4 Big Books last month!

And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month's Bingo card and play along. In June, I filled 19 spaces on my bingo card, which is great for only five books:

Spaces Filled:

Faithful Place - memory, father, coming of age
A Beginning at the End - free book, audio book, highly anticipated read, landscape on cover
Truly Madly Guilty - shelf love, not in a series
Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery - read an e-book, travel, book club book, detective, in a series, missing person
Catch-22 - anti-hero, read a physical book, outdoor activity
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in June?

Fiction Review: Catch-22

I have wanted to read the WWII classic Catch-22 by Joseph Heller for years, but the story of how I actually read it stretches across two summers! I began it last year for my annual Big Book Summer Challenge and struggled with it. I set it down after a couple of weeks, thinking I would pick it up again, and ... it sat on my bookcase for another year. This summer, I picked it up again for Big Book Summer and was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it very much and finished it easily. Here's the scoop on what's it about, what I struggled with, and what I ended up liking.

Set on the island of Pianosa in the Mediterranean Sea during WWII, Catch-22 is focused on a U.S. Army Air Squadron. John Yossarian is at the center of the novel, though most of the rest of the squadron have a voice and a story to tell as well. The central conflict in the novel is that one crazy colonel keeps raising the required number of missions for the men. Every time one of them gets close to meeting the requirements and going home, the colonel raises the number of required missions again. Yossarian tries to get sent home on the basis of being crazy, but Catch-22 states that any man who says he is crazy and doesn't want to fly any more missions is proving that he's sane because no sane man would want to fly more dangerous missions. (This novel invented the now well-known term catch-22.) Scenes move from the camp, with tents and officer's club (picture M*A*S*H), to being on leave in Rome to the hospital, where Yossarian spends quite a bit of time trying to get sent home, to some very tense and sobering bombing flights. Through it all, Yossarian is trying to get sent home (by the end of the novel, the required flights has gradually been raised from 40 to 80) and is overwhelmed by the absurdities and madness that surround him.

This is a comic-tragic novel that mixes humor with the horrors of war, sometimes on the same page. When I started reading the book last summer, that uneven tone threw me. I had heard it was funny--and it is--but was put off by the juxtaposition of horrifying war scenes and people dying with humor. When I picked it back up this summer, I was more prepared and had come to recognize that that is the novel's intention: to highlight the absurdities of war by combining the two very different tones: again, think M*A*S*H, which accomplished that same purpose very well. While reading the second half of the novel (with a list of characters by my side to help keep them straight) this summer, I was able to better appreciate how it met this goal. I could be laughing out loud at some farcical scene on one page and sobered by the death of a dozen men on the next. So, I get it now, and I could recognize the genius in that approach, which was revolutionary when the novel was first released in 1955. One other negative, though, remained; the novel is quite misogynistic. The only female characters are whores and nurses (who are sexualized). This is, perhaps, understandable for a WWII novel set during battletimes, perhaps a product of its time as well, and I suspect it was part of its unorthodox approach to try to shock readers, but it was still disturbing to me at times. Other than that, I ended up enjoying the novel, appreciating its groundbreaking approach, and am glad that I finally finished it. I also enjoyed reading some of the end matter, including letters and essays from Heller himself, which provided more insights into the novel's intent and how it came to be.

453 pages, Simon & Schuster

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the start of the novel in a funny scene where Yossarian is censoring letters home, and/or download it from Audible.

You can purchase Catch-22 from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop. 

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Fiction Review: Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery

In anticipation of Booktopia 2020 (cancelled, of course), I read Who Is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht back in February this year. Last month, I read the sequel, Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery, and loved it even more than the first book! This unique 60's girl-spy series is fun and suspenseful.

In the first book, we followed Vera's brief spy career as a CIA operative in Argentina in 1966. A knowledge of history (not a spoiler!) will tell you that that assignment ends with a violent coup. Now, Vera is out of the CIA and living back in New York with her girlfriend, and she's still only in her 20's. In an ironic twist, her girlfriend leaves her and she also gets fired from her job at the radio station ... because she is suspected of having a girlfriend (being a lesbian was not much tolerated back in the 60's). In her apartment alone and without a source of income, Vera sets up her own little private investigator business. At first, she is bored by the string of spouse-surveillance cases, but she needs the money. Finally, an interesting case comes to her office: Mr. and Mrs. Ibarra, a man and woman from the Dominican Republic, are looking for their great-nephew. His parents were sent to prison during the revolution there, and their son, Felix, was sent to the United States to keep him safe. He was being cared for by an older woman, but when she died suddenly, Felix disappeared. His great-uncle and -aunt are anxious to find him again. Vera begins investigating, leading her through the foster care system and eventually, to the Dominican Republic itself, where her counterintelligence training comes in handy.

Rosalie Knecht has created a wonderful character in Vera; she's a strong, independent, smart woman living in a time when those traits were not appreciated in females. Despite these being spy novels, they are also character studies. In the first novel, we learn all about Vera's childhood and how she ended up becoming a spy in her early 20's. Here, we get an inside look into Vera's private life, as one relationship falls apart and she wonders whether to pursue a new one. But it is also a detective novel, with a twisty mystery at its center, providing action-packed suspense with a sense of humor. Reading these books is pure pleasure, and I enjoyed the second Vera Kelly installment even more than the first. I can't wait to see what's in store for Vera next!

249 pages, Tin House Books
Audio, Blackstone Publishing

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 and/or download it from Audible.

You can purchase Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop.

Or you can order Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Movie Monday: I See You

My husband and I were scrolling through Amazon a few weeks ago on a Saturday, looking for a movie (specifically a thriller) to watch, and we found Lie to Me. It sounded interesting, and we like Helen Hunt, who stars in it, so we watched it. What a pleasant surprise! It turned out to be a very clever, twisty thriller with plenty of surprises in store.

Helen Hunt, most famous for her role in Mad About You in the 90's, plays Jackie Harper, who is married to Greg, played by Jon Tenney. They have a teen son named Connor, played by Judah Lewis. Greg is a police detective in their picturesque small town. It's clear from the beginning that Jackie recently cheated on Greg, and though the couple is trying to stay together, Connor has not forgiven his mom and is very angry with her. In this midst of this domestic trouble, a young boy has gone missing from their quiet town, last seen while riding his bike in the woods on his way home. Greg and the rest of the police force are looking for him, and members of the community join in with search parties through the woods. There is some reference to past incidents of boys going missing, though the details aren't clear at first. Meanwhile, Jackie starts to notice strange things going on in their home, as tension builds both within and outside their family.

This is the way I like my thrillers: smart and unpredictable. This seems to start out as a simple mystery--boy gone missing--with some family drama mixed in. Then, the weird things start happening around the house, and you begin to wonder if there could be something supernatural going on. Eventually, some of those questions are answered, but there are still plenty more surprises to come. The cast is excellent, the writing is great, but the star of this movie is that surprise-filled plot. We absolutely loved this super-twisty, tension-filled thriller that kept us guessing right up until the end (even my husband, who always guesses the ending of movies, was stumped). It just gets better and better.

I See You is currently available on Amazon Prime.