RawlesRoams

 Travel Notes 

by RawlesRoams

I went on a month-long vacation this summer to visit family and some spectacular new locations.  Knowing I was going to be away so long, I knew I'd need several books and since we were packing only carry-ons, I knew I would not be able to take paper books.  Yikes.  So, I decided to finally break out my trusty Kindle again!  Lo and behold, there were 60+ books collecting virtual dust in there, just waiting for me to read!  This is all because of Amazon First Reads (one free book a month for members) and my now defunct relationship with BookBub (an email every day saying WOW, you can get this book for $.99!!  And boy did I ever....).

I had no idea what was still on my Kindle, and actually had some surprisingly good reads.  I learned that I can categorize books on my Kindle into To Be Read, for instance, so I picked about 15 books, added those titles to my new category for ease of searching, and starting with the one at the top.  Following are quick reviews of each book, and the revelation of my Favorite!

The Answer is No, by Frederik Backman

I love Backman, but I did not care for Beartown.  What I like about him is his humor and how he picks fun at humanity without being mean about it.  Very wink wink.  He is also a scream to watch being interviewed - he is so shy and introverted yet very quick and funny.  This is actually a short story about a man who craves his solitude to the extreme.  When he is bamboozled by the neighbors into joining and then leading the HOA, havoc (and maybe some really weird friendships) ensue.  Fast pace, good fun.

The Quitters Club, by Jessica Strawser

This was a recent (maybe even June?)  Amazon First Read choice.  I am not familiar with this author, but the premise of four college friends gathering for a weekend to celebrate turning 40 and discussing their lives, loves, and disappointments really hit home.  They make a pact to QUIT what is  not working for them and to support each other in the endeavor.  And I am not talking about quitting french fries here - they mean jobs, marriages, grief, and their assumed futures.  Some deep issues are tackled, solved, left alone, and lived.  

Season of Storms, by Susannah Kearsley

Kearsley is another author I really like - think time travel, ghosts on the Scottish Moors, abandoned castles.  I would venture that this book is not her best, and to be fair it is an earlier work, but she does supply a twist at the end that I did not see coming.  Set in Italy, a villa on Lake Garda, this story is of a young actress asked to come perform in a once in a lifetime event, but there are conditions.  References to Shakespeare, theatre life, and of course family drama make this an easy read.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 2, by Beth Browser

Audiobook lovers, this one is for you!  Obviously start with Vol. 1, which is about 3 hours long.  Emma is an orphan who just moved back to her family home in London to claim her inheritance, but her wicked (and delightfully performed) cousin by marriage Archibald makes her life a misery.  Add a handsome man who rents part of the house, a clueless but big hearted Scottish maid, a Duke, a Vicar, the Importance of Jane Eyre, a cousin who needs her help during the "Season" to secure the richest husband, and an Aunt who wants Emma to be her daughter's dowdy wingwoman, and then set it in a village of London where things go missing (but show up at the local tea shop) and Tradition abounds, and this is a VERY fun peek into 1883 London life.  Emma is smart, unfiltered, amusing, frustrated, and she loves books.  Therefore, I love her.  I am currently on Vol. 4.

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper, by J.L. Bryan

This must have been a BookBub Buy.  No clue how I have it, but I must have liked the look of it at some point, right?  And Bazinga!  How much FUN!!  This is the start of a series, and I read three of them before I knew it.  (It came in a Bundle on Amazon so I bought the next two.  So much for not buying books on vaca, hahaha!)  These are quick reads but engaging.  We have a very serious heroine with pain in her past and a ghost in her nightmares.  She and her partner remove ghosts from clients' properties in Savannah, Georgia, which probably follows only N'Orleans as the most haunted city in America.  With a new super cheerful employee on board and some scary happenings, and usually a non-believer somewhere in the stories, Ellie meets these entities where they live - at night, sometimes in a basement, lots of times incurring injury, but always getting her man.  (see book 3)  Very chaste and not really horror, but some violence and some great banter.

A Day Like This, by Kelley McNeil

What a terrible title for this book!  More like, the Double Life of Annie Beyers, or Annie Beyers' Chosen Life.  But I digress, do not judge a book by its cover/title and all that.  

Annie has it all - loving husband, beautiful daughter, house in the country.  She gave up a bourgeoning art career for her family, and doesn't regret it. Right?  One day she wakes up from a car accident and everything has changed.  And her daughter does not exist.  And she isn't married anymore and she is famous.  WHAT???  How the author reconciles this duplicity is fascinating and actually fulfilling.  I just think they should have picked a different title, maybe I would have read it sooner!!!

The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury, by Marc Levy

I wonder sometimes if a book's magic is lost in translation. This translation was very flat for me.  The story had a good premise, but I found the prose very simplistic and the characters totally unbelievable, especially Mr. Daldry.  I am all about books where you trace your history, or find out your heritage has more to it than you were told.  There was one lovely surprise here, but then that ENDING.  No, just no.  So there, I have given you a massive hint about which book was my favorite.  Not this one.

What the Dead Know, by Lisa Lippman

Ok back to a trusted author and genre.  Lippman, or as I call them all, The Lisas (Lippman, Scottoline, Jewel, Wingate, Genova - wait, not Lisa Genova, she is on a different planet!!! Again, digression), always provide a good read.  This one is compelling - 30 years after two sisters went missing, a woman shows up in a car wreck claiming to be the youngest sister.  A Baltimore cop calls foul, but this woman knows too much.  Where has she been?  What happened, and is she really the lost girl??  Great mystery!!

  

Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America's National Parks, by Emily Pennington

Not this one either.  Meh.  What a whiner.  This memoir tells about a rough patch in this woman's life, she breaks up with her boyfriend, she hikes a few parks, she complains the WHOLE way.  Skip it.  I thought I would do a good thing during America's 250th birthday year and read about our wonderful National Parks.  Nope,  back to fiction.

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler, by Kelly Harms

Whew, ok, this was more like it!!!  In turns sad, fist pumping good for you, and family drama, Amy's story is of reinvention and breaking out of the confines of being "just a mom."  Read this if you need some serious girl power inspiration, and don't think Amy doesn't second guess herself too.  Can she stand up to the man who walked out on her and their children three years ago?  Will her inner self be able to live once again?  For every woman who devotes herself and buries herself into her family, break free baby!  Yes, you can have it all.  Reminded me that in order to feed others, one must first make sure your own soul isn't starving.

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster, by Scott Wilbanks

By the time I read this book, my vaca novels were starting to meld into one another.  In this story, we have another young woman alone in the world except for her best he-doesn't-know-it-but-we-do gay friend. She wakes to find a new house behind her own, and discovers it is actually part of a magical portal door to the past.  How that past is connected to her long lost family, her friends, and her own past and how that all melds into the present....well, say no more.  I agree with a lot of reviewers that there was just too much going on here and it was hard to keep up.  I love a good time travel story, and I can totally deal with the supernatural and some magic.  I did like how different characters revealed themselves in the different time periods, but  - yeah.  But.  It was ok.

So, have you guessed which was my favorite?  Look for the asterisk in the list below.  One asterick is my fav, two astericks was my second fav.  

RIGHT!  That is it for this first edition of Rawles Roams.  ;-)

Next time, I will talk more about Travel Reading, meaning reading a book about a specific place before visiting said place.  Last year I went to Hawaii and read Moloka'i.  A few years ago my mom and I (and Kay!)  went to Italy and I read The Agony and the Ecstasy about Michaelangelo.  I read Boudicca's Daughter over Christmas then saw their statue in London!!  So, I have 2 books cued up for my fall trip...stay tuned!!!

Here is the above list in one go:

The Answer is No, by Frederik Backman

The Quitters Club, by Jessica Strawser*

Season of Storms, by Susannah Kearsley

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 2, by Beth Browser

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper, by J.L. Bryan

A Day Like This, by Kelley McNeil**

The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury, by Marc Levy

What the Dead Know, by Lisa Lippman

Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America's National Parks, by Emily Pennington

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler, by Kelly Harms

Cold Shadows (Ellie Jordan, #2), by J.L. Bryan

The Crawling Darkness (Ellie Jordan, #3), by J.L. Bryan

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster, by Scott Wilbanks

Song of the Hell Witch by Taylor Hartley

 

My local wine bar has a book club.

Yep.  Perfection.

This month, the book is by a local author who teaches English at the High School down the street. This is a debut novel.

I couldn't put it down.  Call it romantasy or fantasy or witchy or seriously GIRL POWER-Y, I don't care, it was fantastic.  Like, this might go on my Brandson Sanderson and VE Schwaab shelf.  Yes, that good.

An unasked for power, a society that doesn't understand, the firm oppression of female strengths and fear of the unknown.  Prudence is our heroine, who would be viewed as a monster if everyone in high society knew what she really was and how she got to where she is now - Duchess of Talonsbury.  Her husband knows what she really is, and her brother in law wants her dead.  When disaster strikes, she can only flee to the one person who always accepted her as she was - and hope he will forgive her past actions and once again save her life.  But he has another family now - who will he choose?? You'll meet many interesting characters in Leora - this is an inclusive cast where everyone has a past, fights for their present, and fears for their futures.  Kinda like real life, right?

Fantastic writing here.  I have always said dialogue must be the hardest thing to write, but here conversations, both aloud and understood with a wink or a glance, just flow.  A little bit Wicked, a little bit Wonder Woman.  I can't wait until December, when the sequel comes out!  Hey Taylor, if you need a Beta Reader, give me a holler.  Cuz I don't WANT to wait until December!!!  

The Everlasting by Alix Harrow

 

Fantasy lovers, this one has it all.  Time Travel, a brave Knight, a nerdy academic, a villain, political and court intrigue, and an ornery horse. Owen is a teacher who for some reason is focused on a female knight who sacrificed herself for her queen and realm, becoming a legend in her own right.  But why does Owen know so much about her and why is he such a good shot when he is sent off to war?  He begins to figure out the unbelievable answers when he is thrust back in time to make sure History goes off as it should.

But, should it?

Of course, Owen falls in love and begins to try to change things.  But the butterfly effect is real here - how can he and should he go to save his love from her fate?  Was it really her fate to begin with?  A few holes in the plot here but after all, it is fantasy.  An easy read that won't hurt your brain too much in the time travel loop thing.  I have enjoyed all the Alix Harrow books I have read.  This one was a quick, fun read.

Playground by Richard Powers

 

This book definitely needs a book club.  And maybe a shot of tequila.

Wow.  I listened to this one, and any time Eduardo Ballerini is involved in the performance, I am in.  His role is of Todd Kent, telling his life story including his best friend Raffi, two boys from two different worlds, but who meet in academia, who both love a challenge - and gaming.  Todd becomes an uber rich coder; Raffi turns to literature.  What happens between the two of them and their friendship might seem inevitable, except...

Add Evelyn.  We hear about her life story too.  A woman in a man's field of deep sea diving and research, Evie is brilliant and curious and forthright and amazing.  

And, add Ina, a girl from a small Polynesian island that during the story becomes World Center for a corporation with a plan to enhance and better colonize this paradise.  But do the islanders want that? What will their island become?  What will become of the sea life if people begin to live in the ocean?

And what does ANY of that have to do with Todd and Raffi??

Yeah, Wow.

I spent a lot of this novel confused but riveted.  Where was all this going?  Whose story did I like best? How in the world would Powers bring it all together?  Well, he does in a spectacular ending that leads me back to my first sentence of this review.

VERY discussable!!!!!!

Whoever recommended this book to me, call me immediately!!!

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King

 

I spent the first half of this book not sure if I liked it.  It seemed a bit whiny.  But it turned out to be absolutely brilliant.  Modern day Monica, who was raised by her Chinese grandparents in Boston, drops out of her college coding course to come back and care for them when her grandmother, Yun, begins to lose her memory. Monica is determined to help her find her long lost cousin, presumably still in China, and with whom she worked at the family pencil company back in Shanghai in 1937.  Their pencils, turns out, were very special, as were the girls' ability to detect the words the pencils had written.

In a long letter to her cousin, Yun describes their history, their parting, and the intervening years.  Monica makes a connection with another young woman who has actually met her grandmother's cousin in Shanghai through a computer program Monica has written, and blossoming feelings get in the way (or do they bring them together?).  At once historical fiction, fictional memoir, queer romance (very chaste, don't worry) and magical realism, don't miss this engrossing story of four women who feel love very strongly, but feel the healing of forgiveness even more.

The Secret Book Society by Madeleine Martin

 

This one is a pretty quick read about a singular woman who sets out to help her peers in Victorian London.  There is really nothing new here - women were owned by their husbands, not allowed to have an opinion, and constantly threatened with the asylum.  Martin dedicates alternating chapters to each of these women to tell the story of their own secrets, of how they came together in their book club, how they learned from and helped each other, and how they ended up exactly where they needed to be.  A nice uplifting read of subversive girl power!

Boudicca's Daughter by Elodie Harper

 

My husband picked this book out for me for Christmas.  He has NEVER picked out a book for me, and he picked a GREAT one!  Points!!!

Perfect historical fiction during the Roman invasion of Britain.   We are talking Iceni tribes and warriors and emperors and battles.  The year is 60 CE, and the King of the Brits, who claimed loyalty to Rome to hold peace in his land, has died.  His wife, daughter of the Chief of the Iceni warriors, goes on a campaign to free her people from Rome and loses, but earns respect along the way.  This book is the story of her daughter Solina.  Part Druid, part warrior, Solina takes a risky path to survival. Harper brings humanity to a very rough time, especially for women, who are mostly considered toys when not overlooked.  Solina is different, speaks her mind, and must learn how to hide her true self from all but her most sworn enemy.  For the fans of Circe, The Lost Queen, or anything about Merlin and King Arthur!  I didn't want it to end.