The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley

 

I love going to author events and meeting the people behind the stories.

A few weeks ago, I met Colleen Oakley at my local bookstore.  She was in conversation with my fav local author, Kimmery Martin, whom I now call friend.  Lucky me!!  Colleen practically met us at the door and I felt like I'd bumped into a friend.  She had her mom and her sister with her, and told us how the Louise of this novel was inspired by her own grandmother.

And there, the sweetness ends.

What a ride!  This was just a delightful read, with twists and turns and assumptions and banter - and another story of a found family.  I love that kind of story!!  Tanner is an angry and uncertain and unlucky 21 year old college dropout (not her fault, she had straight A's and a scholarship!!) who is forced to move home and get a job.  Louise is a highly independent octogenarian who slips on a rug - once - and her daughter insists she find a "nanny."

So Tanner goes to live with Louise.  While their relationship is quite frosty at first, something happens that forces them to trust and depend on each other as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Oakley's descriptions of the anger and confusion of a young adult are spot on, as well as that youngster's own realization that she is angry for no reason and cannot help it. Great insight.  But even better was the mother daughter scene at the end - totally slayed me!!!! I loved the chapter titles, very helpful and quirky, when she used them.

This story did not go in the direction I thought it would.  But it does ask a very pointed question about women's lives these days.  Some great quotes throughout this novel, and winks to women.  This is super fun reading, with depth and some great commentary on the Lives of Women, Then and Now, and how maybe they aren't so different after all.  I loved how it ended (again, not what I thought) and now I want to go back and read more Colleen Oakley (The Invisible Husband of Frick Island was another good one of hers that I have read).  This is a great book for summer vacation reading, or when you need a fast paced semi-light read.  Plus, what a fun cover!!!

Still Life by Sarah Winman

 

I am WAY behind on my book reviews, and it is stressing me out a tiny bit.

However, I had to jump ahead of the queue straight to this book.  My mom and I are planning a trip to Italy later this year and our "homework" was to read a book set in Tuscany/Florence.  This one was my pick!  First of all, what a gorgeous cover, right?  Makes me want to buy lots of Italian ceramics (on my list).  Set in the years after The War, this tells the story of one man's life (Ulysses), adventures, friends, and loves.  And also, in a smaller way, the way his life intersects with that of a remarkable woman named Evelyn.  And it is not what you think.

If you prefer books that are heavy in the plot department, this book might not be for you.  I found this to be very much just a recounting of daily life, in all its simple extraordinariness.  There are lots of characters to keep up with that all have connections and all love each other like family even though they are not related.  And boy are they ever quirky!  Peggy and Massimo and the Kid and Cressy - ah, Cressy!  These characters will stay with me a long time.  As will the location.  The descriptions of life in Florence and in London as well will make you want to jump on a plane.  There is a nostalgic feeling to the time in which this story is set which is wonderful.  And the reason Ulysses returns to Florence, how he gets there, and with whom (that Cressy is a piece of work, haha!  I love his tree!) makes for as magical a story of the life he builds once he gets there.

Another quirk I should mention in this novel is that it does not use quotation marks for dialogue.  This usually drives me crazy, I don't like it.  But you do get used to it and it makes for a sort of "quiet" read, if that makes sense.  I really loved the pacing here, like someone is telling me this story.  The author also has a knack for turning expression of need and love into feelings of fulfillment and purpose.  Another reason this story might be set in Florence and have Florence as a sort of character on her own, but this story is really about family.  Not relatives, but a story about the people who love you and make your life whole.  All forms of love are covered - there is a lot about Mothering, about platonic love and romantic love and also about unconditional love.  And poetry and art and parrots.  ;-)

And this quote:

"Even those whose usual avocations are of the most prosaic nature unconsciously become admirers of poetry and art in Italy."

Amen.

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

 

I am way behind, so just a short and sweet one this week - for those who enjoyed Circe by Madeleine Miller, for those who love mythology and gods, for Marvel fans who love Loki, for those who enjoy a very strong, capable and determined woman, this book is for you.

I would go so far as to say this one is better than Circe.  I liked Circe, but found the language kinda short and choppy.  This one, you can fall in to.  So very well written, the author weaves Norse mythology into a love story, a family story, a story of abandonment and magic and burning and seeing and of three very unusual children.  It is the story of a woman who is used, turned away, isolated, loved, who becomes a fiercely protective mother, wife, friend, and lover, and who fights for her family.

Quite relatable, really.

But, this is fantasy at its best, so if mythology and fantasy are not your thing, this will not be for you.  It is the story of Angrboda, a witch and seer who is punished by Odin, stripped of her powers for not helping him, and who flees to a remote forest to live alone and lonely.  Until she is discovered by Loki, and they fall in love.  Trouble ensues.  

I found the world building to be very believable and my daughter assured me that the mythology was on point (yes, Loki did actually give birth himself, just not in human form.  Say what?).  A definite break from the NYTimes best sellers and thrillers and mysteries I have been reading lately, this was a good read.  Sad in places for sure, full of the power of Woman, but such a different story, and a full circle ending, I would encourage Readers to give it a whirl!  I totally bought it for the cover, too.  ;-)

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

 

This will probably not be a very popular opinion, but it is mine, so...

This book was just kinda Meh for me.  Predictable ending even though the subject matter (a priceless Stradivarius violin goes missing under questionable ownership) was original.  The insight into the life of a professional violinist was definitely different, but overall the story and the ending just was a little boring.  It is set in the city where I live, so that part was fun.  And the author plays the violin, so he knows of what he writes.

Ray, an African American musician, owns the beat up old violin his grandmother gave him.  He gets it refurbished, and discovers he actually owns a Stradivarius.  He plays all over the world - he is GOOD and the violin makes him GREAT in his mind - and then he enters the world's top competition of violin players right before the violin is stolen from him in his hotel room.  The white family who originally owned the violin have stated that their ancestor would have never just given this violin to his favorite slave, Ray's great-grandfather, who played it for his master.  And so a fight for ownership rights is launched. And not only between the black and white families, but within Ray's own family too.  They want him to sell it and split the money with the extended family.  They don't care what Ray wants, or how that violin connects him to his beloved grandmother; they just want the money.

There is a lot here about the life of a musician (similar to the singular focus of the single sport athlete in last week's review!) and all the practice, practice, practice and pressure, pressure, pressure, especially for a black musician.  He experiences devastating racism after being hired to play at a wedding but turned away at the door because they only see a black man who is not welcomed.  Ray does have a manager that really understands and helps him, and a devoted girlfriend, but his family is less that supportive unless he is sending them money or will ever sell that silly violin that is worth MILLIONS.    I just found his family to be flat out awful.  Poor Ray.

Maybe it was just too much for me.  The story was depressing, nothing went right for Ray, he was bullied and looked down upon by white people and his own family too.  

This author has a second book that has just been released which is about a composer/music historian, and I do plan to read his second book.  I hear it is better than the first one, and I know lots of people who really liked The Violin Conspiracy just fine, it just was not really for me.  Meh.

BONUS:

So remember back in January when I said I had already read my Favorite Book of the Year, and it was only January but I knew it would be my favorite anyway?

That book, Demon Copperhead, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this week.

Barbara Kingsolver was nominated once before in 1998 for The Poisonwood Bible, but did not win.  This year she and her book Demon Copperhead share the honor with another book (Trust by Hernan Diaz).  You can find my review here:  Rawles' Reads : Search results for demon (rawlesreads.blogspot.com)

Now, go read the book.

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Whatdyaknow?  It is Tuesday and I am sending you a review! Miracles never cease.

This week, just in time for warmer weather and thoughts of summer sports and that OTHER crowning event, Wimbledon, I give you Carrie Soto.

This was another audiobook for me.  Voiced by 12 different performers (including Patrick McEnroe, Mary Carillo, and a few brief appearances by Julia Whelan who is usually the narrator for this author), this is a comeback story about a professional tennis player for whom tennis is LIFE. 

Anne Bogel of the blog Modern Mrs Darcy said this is a book about female ambition. 

 Other readers have just said Carrie is a bitch. 

She is ruthless and determined and focused and talented.  She wins and wins and wins and sets records, and then she retires.  Until someone wins and wins and wins as much as Carrie did, and her winning record is threatened.  So, she decides to come out of retirement to defend her record.  With or without her dad as her coach.

There is a lot here about the father daughter relationship.  There is a lot here about fierce unapologetic women, especially in sports.  There is a LOT here about tennis - match after match and practice after practice.  I played a little tennis growing up, and my mom and my brother were both local tournament players, and I have been to the US Open (SO FUN).  But I am not an athlete.  I can definitely understand the dedication, but I didn't really need SO much tennis in this book.  It became a bit repetitive, but that is the life of a single sport athlete, isn't it?

What I did like was that we weren't really supposed to like Carrie.  She is ruthless and rude.  She is the best of the best and she does not have time for shenanigans.  Or losers.  Or friends. She is older and things have changed when she returns to the tour, and the media tear her apart.  She doesn't really care.  Not really. Maybe just a tiny bit. But not really.  Her love life is all over the place (note the connection to Malibu Rising!) when she can even be bothered.  She is seen to read one book - Daisy Jones and The Six.  HA!  I love that TJR has connecting threads throughout her novels!!  I love that in the audiobook, we hear from real commentators as characters.  And Mary Carillo's character gives a great defense of Carrie's attitude at one point that I really appreciated.  We do get a love story woven in, but are not sure if Carrie will see what is in front of her.  I was very satisfied with the ending - nicely done.  

I think you can still enjoy this story even if you are not a tennis fan, but will admit this is not my favorite of Reid's work.  Nice full circle when you finally get the title, too.  ;-)

Let me know in the comments how you felt about Carrie, if you listened or read, and what your favorite Taylor Jenkins Read read is!!

Next week I will be celebrating a huge family event, so I definitely will not be sending out a review.  Maybe I will double up for y'all in two weeks!  Stay tuned.....

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angleine Boulley

 

Frist of all, I knew promising a weekly review would be risky.

I just didn't think I'd fail in the third week.  Sigh.  So, I am going back to promising random reviews, especially in light of some super fun and super time consuming family projects going on at the moment which will unfortunately negatively impact my reading and writing time.  Please bear with me!!

On to the Book of the Week!

Remember way back when when I was so anti Audiobooks?

Welcome to the first time I have thought, man, I should be listening to this one instead of reading the book.

Wow.

I will come back to that in a minute.  First of all I want to say that I am firmly in the camp that this is NOT a YA book.  I cannot believe it was categorized that way.  There are some really hard themes here, lots of loss of family and support and stability, and drug abuse and reservation politics and a violent sexual assault on a young woman that was almost skimmed over it was written so fast, but still was very disturbing to me.  Did it have impact on the story?  Well, yes, but still, that doesn't mean I had to like it.  I have two teenage/young adult daughters so that sort of thing is a trigger for me personally. 

Ok, moving on.  I wish I had listened to this one because of all the beautiful names and hard pronunciation problems I had with reading it.  My book club will review this book soon so maybe I will take that opportunity to listen to a book I have already read! I took a lot of notes on this book, trying to keep the family and the scandal Daunis was born into straight.  There are a lot of characters in this book!   Her two grandmothers - one white, one Native American Anishinaabe - push and pull her between two worlds and we see that relationship and identity strain from the very start of the novel.  We learn about the difference between a descendant and an enrolled member of their community, about how dreams are so important, about sacrifice and secrets and doing the right thing.  There is a murder, a witness, and some undercover cops, and Daunis is asked to go undercover too, to help them break up a meth ring, which could end up backfiring on her already fractured family.  There are overbearing parents and there is racism and prejudice against a biracial girl who has trouble finding her place.  We do get a nice full circle ending, but this is a hard read.  Fascinating in its description of life on an Ojibwe reservation, the injustice of tribal laws and/or the US Federal law's inability to prosecute crimes on reservation land, too.  There is just so much going on.

Welcome to Life.  

I gave this one five stars on Goodreads, so I don't mean for this expanded review to sound negative.  I would direct you to other reviews on Goodreads by Brandann Hill-Mann, luce and Jessica Woodbury and don't miss the comments under those reviews; there is a lot of good information and explanation from Hill-Mann, whose hometown is Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, where the book is set. 

UPDATE:

My book club met last night.  We all LOVED this book and two members said it was now one of their all time favorites.  We all heartily agreed that this was not really a Young Adult book, and had a great discussion about what a YA book really is. For us, it is not solely defined by having a teenage protagonist (see: Demon Copperhead.  I would not give that book to a 12 year old.  An 18 year old?  Maybe.  But I know 50 year old women who had a hard time with that brilliant, wonderful, heartbreaking book - and still my favorite of the year).  One definition I found for YA was: a book for ages 12-18.  Say, What???  In what (modern) world is a 13 year old considered an adult?? Just call it what it is - teen fiction - and keep the adult themes for adults at least 21.  I mean, yes, I understand that every kid has a different maturity level and that we should never ban books and parents should encourage all kinds of reading.  But can we at least keep them age appropriate?  Do we want 12 year old girls, or boys, reading about violent or even non violent rape, for a perpetrator who legally got away with it, and having them think that is ok?  Impressionable minds and all that.  Just my humble opinion.  What is yours??

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

 

Happy Wednesday!

Last week I promised myself I was finally going to get more organized and scheduled with my reviews and blogposts.  I was going to publish them once a week on Tuesdays!!

Yeah, well, again, happy Wednesday.  Sigh.

I will try to keep publishing on a more regular basis.  If you are receiving this review via email, thank you for subscribing, and please do visit my site to see other reviews from years past!  Click the Read More link at the bottom of the email to see all my reviews!

Now, on to this week's review:

I plucked this book out of the Goodwill pile my daughter made when she went off to college.  She graduates next month.  So yeah, it has been on my TBR for a few years now! 

The great/unique thing about this book is that the author is himself a character in the book.  He mentions real things that are happening or will happen in his actual life. This makes it a little bit difficult to figure out what is real and what is actual fiction; I may or may not have been googling his tv show work as I read!  

Otherwise, what we have here is a pretty traditional whodunnit. A woman with a famous actor for a son plans her own funeral on the same day she is murdered.  Coincidence?  They think not. Horowitz follows ex-Investigator Hawthorne around as the brilliant detective chases the clues in his nontraditional way and writes down everything Hawthorne does so that "they" can write a novel about the case.  Horowitz asks a few questions of his own, which earns him frowning disapproval from the crotchety Hawthorne.  Same result when Horowitz tries to learn a little bit about Hawthorne the man, who thinks that since that information is completely irrelevant to the murder, it is irrelevant to the book.  So we continue to plod along and follow Hawthorne, until Horowitz decides to branch out on his own with his own idea of whodunnit. 

Disaster.

There are definitely a lot of twists and turns and misdirections in the story.  It gets a bit convoluted but keeps you guessing, if you care.  I found that I didn't really care.  There was no energy to the story, no real connection to the victim(s), and it read a bit dry honestly.  I did like the originality of the author being part of the story; it was like a shock to the system to be reading along in first person and then BAM he mentions something out of real life.  So that was fun.  There are three more books in this series.  And maybe it isn't fair that I read this so close to another murder mystery series with original characters that I REALLY liked.  But for my reading life, I think I will stick with Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club series.  They are a lot more fun!!!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

 

About this book, author Kevin Wilson said, "A beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing."

Shelby Van Pelt said, "This is a story about getting unstuck."

I had heard that the audio version of this book was amazing, mainly because one of the main characters has a British accent.

I was in.  (Have you met my husband???  ;-))

Performed by Marin Ireland and Michael Urie, this story is about an octopus living in (and out of) a tank at an aquarium, a lady who works at the aquarium, and how they form a friendship of sorts that ends up with each of them helping the other out with their loneliness.  Set in Washington State, we learn about Tova's life and heartbreaks and her friend group, the Knit Wits (haha! They are actually based on a group of friends the author's grandmother had!  I loved that!).  We also learn that Marcellus, the octopus, is VERY observant about the humans who observe him through the glass.  So, pay attention.

I don't really want to say much more about what happens here.  What I really want you to know is that this is an AMAZING debut novel.  Yep, this is Van Pelt's first novel!  Do WHAT?  I was amazed.  This is such good writing, and weaving of a story, and she keeps the direction she is going tightly bound.  She writes about living with grief and about life as an older person and what it is like to have your life go in a direction you were not planning on.  I can hardly wait to discuss this with my book club.  There is a LOT to talk about here with the structure and the storyline and just the fact that we get inside the head of a giant Pacific octopus.  And yes, I did google the videos of how octopuses can squeeze themselves through the smallest of spaces. Then I went to an author event with Shelby Van Pelt and learned even MORE about octopuses!  She is a very bright creature too, so bubbly and excited about her first novel, and very cagey about what she might write next. Marcellus started as a character for a creative writing class she took ten years ago.  I asked her if there would be another animal featured in her next book, and while she didn't think she would write a sequel to RBC, she did not deny the possibility of having another non-human character featured in the future.

Remarkably Bright Creatures with its fantabulous cover is ultimately a book that will leave you smiling and wishing you could read it again for the first time - and wanting to go to the aquarium.  

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

 

I am not a fan of horror.  How do I know? I read Pet Sematary back in high school and I am still scarred. (Shiver)

I am, however, a big fan of fantasy.  And great dogs. :-)

Stephen King is inarguably one of America's best and greatest writers.  I was so excited that he wrote a non-horror story during the pandemic.  Santa brought me this tome (598 pages) for Christmas and I saved it for my Spring Break Vacation.  I love having a special book for a special occasion!

This was a good read.  It was not a GREAT read, so I was a tiny bit disappointed.  Maybe my hopes and expectations were too high because of the author.  I absolutely loved his novel 11 22 63 (again, not horror, more time travel and butterfly effect, but with those details and word choices and sentences that are pure King).  So I just knew I would totally love this one too.  I felt like the premise for Fairy Tale was not really very original, even if the characters, their backstory and current predicaments definitely were.  Charlie is a teenager who lost his mom which drove his dad to drink, and yet Charlie plays the hero for his dad's health as well as that of the scary and mysterious neighbor Bowditch, whose own health crisis, alerted to Charlie by his trusty dog, Radar, is the catalyst for an adventure down a rabbit hole to another world.  A world in trouble and just waiting for a Savior.  The characters he meets and befriends (and...loves??) in this other world are quirky and tragic and hilarious and weird.  I expect that from King.  Gross Giants and rude leprechauns and an evil force and a sad princess?  Oh yeah, baby, now we are talking.  It felt a little like an expanded YA fantasy novel, which I don't mind, but have read before.  

Here's what I liked:  I liked Bowditch.  What a great name for the crazy man who lives in the creepy house with his Cujo dog (yes, King references Cujo.  HAHAHAHA!)   I bow to King for this; he can write and flesh out a character with words like no other.  Bowditch might have been my favorite character.  Such a curmudgeon, I could just SEE his facial expressions!

I liked all the literary references.  I won't list them here (ok, just one - LOVECRAFT.  #iykyk), they are fun to discover as you read.  But King definitely has a sense of humor, warped though it may be, and I loved it.

I loved that in this fantasy story of other worlds and impossible tortures, King also weaves in the devastation of loss, of alcoholism, and the difficulties during and support necessary for coming out of addiction.  I loved that the relationship between man and dog was so vital to this story.  It made these characters real.  Even if they are moving in and out of a magical land.

I loved that even at almost 600 pages, this story never felt too long.  I was invested.  It kept me interested even though you know it will have some sort of happy ending for our hero.  The ending was good and necessary, but wasn't necessarily done with a big red bow, if you know what I mean.  Satisfying.  Charlie is believable, he has faults, but such a big heart.  King asked himself "what could I write that would make me happy?"  And his answer was a devastated Kingdom with smashed statues and a palace with tall glass towers....and so it began. 

Please, Mr. King, please do give us another non-horror based book, if not next, then soon!

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

 

What a fun read.  Which is exactly what I said about the first book in this series if I am not mistaken!

I bought The Thursday Murder Club in New York City at The Mysterious Bookshop.  I bought this second in the series at Beacon Hill Books in Boston.  I am really feeling the pressure of my own mystery now:  where will I buy book three???  (Suggestions, anyone??)

We learn a lot more about Elizabeth in this installment of our favorite septuagenarian solvers of murders.  Someone from her past shows up and creates havoc and a trail of clues to follow, which are even more twisty-turny than in the first story!  Again, the banter here is stellar.  I laughed out loud at some comments and phrases and attitudes (that sweet little Joyce is hilarious, but watch out for her!).

I loved Ibrahim's outlook on life, or the missing out of same.  I loved trying to figure out which character is the funniest.  (It is a tie.)  Or the Smartest. (Ditto)  Or my favorite.  (Well, Joyce, I think actually.)  I died laughing over a whole scene about emojis and spent half the novel trying to figure out who the murderer(s?) is and half the novel trying to figure out which English actors should play each of the characters in a movie version.  (I want to play Joyce!  Or, maybe Sally Field except she isn't English and I am still mad that an Englishwoman played Scarlett O'Hara so I will also need to insist that the Thursday Murder Club be portrayed by English actors.  I am nothing if not consistent)

Do you even want a synopsis?  I don't think you need one, but here goes:  Stolen diamonds, the Mob, an ex, a tattoo or two, a dog named Alan, a trip to Antwerp, friendship bracelets, one smart kid, several dead bodies, a randy drug dealer who has the hots for Bogdan (wait, maybe he is my favorite), Chris and Donna and the woman who connects them, hair plugs.... and like I said, a whole lot of fun.  I read the whole thing in a day on a long plane ride, perfect for travel or the beach or when you need a lighter but very engaging read.

Never by Ken Follett

 

What if?

What if one country's leader goes on the offense, and his or her enemy retaliates?  And he retaliates back?  At what point is escalation made into WAR?  At what point can no amount of negotiation prevent annihilation??

No one argues that Ken Follett is a treasure of an author.  His book The Pillars of the Earth is one of my all-time FAVORITE stories.  This one is not historical fiction (yet) but more futuristic ponderings.  The politics of spying, of manipulation, of guessing how far a person in control of nuclear and biological weapons will really go to hold on to or create power.

This story brought back Cold War vibes while also weaving in current political climate issues in China, North and South Korea, and other nations.  Focusing on four main characters, we watch each side try to keep the peace, or at least hold back full-scale war.  A female US President, a Chinese spymaster, a CIA agent, and an undercover agent living with jihadists all do their part for peace.  Will it work?  Or do all these small actions set up an avalanche that will destroy the world as we know it?  The novel is divided into five parts, starting with DEFCON 5, which covers about half of the novel.  Each successive part gets progressively shorter.  Just like an escalation.  Hmmmm.

Action packed and with simplistic prose, this is an easy if disturbing read.  A few love stories are thrown in, but honestly the trouble with the President's marriage seemed superfluous. Not Follett's best work, but then maybe the subject matter just bothered me, because he made it seem so....possible.  Scary.

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono

 

One

I Still Haven't Found What I am Looking For

Sunday Bloody Sunday

One Tree Hill

Bullet the Blue Sky

Mysterious Ways

With or Without You

Where the Streets Have No Name

Stuck in A Moment

Pride

New Year's Day

Sweetest Thing

Desire

A baker's dozen of the songs from the U2 Catalog, a total of 40 of which become chapter titles in this stunning memoir, this book that is more than memoir or biography or treatise, but something straight from the heart and soul of an amazingly extraordinary ordinary man.

And with sentences like that one peppered right the way through!

I listened to Bono read this book to me, and it was like having a conversation.  He was just chatting and telling me about his childhood, his fears, his faith, his work and his famous friends.  He is a baritone who thinks he is a tenor.  He told me all about his fierce and true love for his wife, his partner in life, his muse.  He talked about how many of his famous band's songs came to be, and what they meant to him and his bandmates.  He discusses nicknames and their origins.  He talks about his mother, Iris. His emotions come out strong, and he does excellent celebrity impressions. Paul Hewson is an Artist with a capital A.

There is also a lot here about his charity work in this world of ours, and how he came to believe that he might just be able to change a few things around here. Several well-known names are dropped, and conversations and experiences shared (right along with those impressions!) and they are impressive.  I loved the story of his impromptu gift to Pope John Paul II.  His childhood, convictions, family, and the music - of course the music - are all open to discussion and revelation.  At 20 hours of listening time (ie, 576 pages), this is a commitment, and it does get long in the tooth especially at the end when he is waxing philosophical a bit about his societal compassions and works.  But, so worth it for the stories and the humor and the insight into quite an amazing life.  So far.

I did pick up the hard back at my local bookstore just to look at it, and saw that Bono included some of his own drawings in the physical book.  So, my friends, do not be surprised to also find this book on my shelf.  It is one I can see myself picking up and just opening to a page and reading, with Bono's voice as my companion (which I think was half the reason I enjoyed this so much).  I am not a re-reader, so that is quite a statement. And I don't own any of the physical versions of other audiobooks I have listened to. I also rarely read autobiographies, but my newfound respect for audiobooks as performance art, especially those read by the author, could seriously impact my Reading Life.  Bono's inflections, chuckles, cadence, and what seems to be unusual candor really make for fascinating and intimate listening.  He is deep.  And a poet.  And has faults and uncertainties and makes mistakes. 

He is human.

Love is bigger than anything in its way, indeed.

Below is a clip of an animated video of one part of the audiobook.  You'll get a feel for what I am talking about with his cadence and what he shares.  This book just made me happy!

Bono's 'Surrender' Memoir Will Highlight 40 U2 Songs (ultimateclassicrock.com)

Blog update and questions

 Hello Friends,

Recently I learned that Google, who owns Blogspot, removed the widget from our platform that allows followers of said blog to receive an email each time I publish a post.  So, all the people who originally signed up to receive notifications via email think I am ghosting them or that I quit writing, as if (sorry, Mom's book club!).  I am currently posting all these reviews and no one knows about it unless I also post a link on social media.

Except for my eight favorite people - my Followers.

Now, I am no computer expert, just ask my poor kids.  So I have no idea what it means that I have 8 Followers except that I told 6 of those people how to press F for Follow.  I assumed that would mean they'd get notified to their gmail account (because it only allowed people with a Google account to actually follow the blog) when I posted a new review.

Not so much.

So today I finally figured out a way to re-instate a new email subscription widget, by borrowing the idea from a friend's blog and following some pretty basic steps (click here, now click here!).  Voila!  You can now, once again, sign up for email subscriptions with Rawles' Reads.

Of course, if you are reading this, you probably already did that.  If not, please spare me a moment and enter your email (any platform, not just Google!) in the neat little box at the top of the page. 

I am eternally grateful.  

Happy Reading,

Rawles

Waypoints: My Scottish Journey by Sam Heughan

 

Even as a HUGE Outlander fan (books first, tv second), I was not sure about Sam's book.  I don't do much nonfiction or biography.  He is too young for a memoir, I thought.  And he is famously silent about his personal life (good for him!).  So, why is he writing a book?

I listened to this one - Sam reads it himself, and he is HILARIOUS, y'all!  All his acting chops were showcased here as he quoted people in different accents, chuckled at his own immaturities and insecurities, revealed much about his childhood and family, and, mostly, took us with him on his five day hike on the Scottish West Highland Way, a 96 mile walk.

Say what??

The structure of this book was actually well done.  My only complaint is that on the audio version there was not enough pause between the sections of his walking journey and the flashbacks he gives us of growing up and deciding to become an actor.  But otherwise, I loved how the title really has deep meaning once you understand how the word Waypoints is used, and it made sense that he would pair this walk with his life journey - so far.

I have heard that there are photos in the book, but in the audio version we are treated to a few recordings of Sam at the end of each day of the actual walk.  You can hear the rain in the background!!  An interesting and introspective accounting of how he got to where he is now - his struggles and friendships and jobs (he's a great bartender apparently!) and work.  I would highly recommend the audiobook, it is a great performance, but may also have to sneak a look at the book next time I'm at the store in hopes of viewing baby Sam photos!!!  

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

 

This book gave me serious anxiety.  Especially in the first half - if I wasn't a reader who rarely pulls a DNF (did not finish), I might have put this one down.  A teenage girl and her boyfriend go missing one night, leaving their baby and the girl's mother behind.  No one seems very worried and the friends they were with seem a bit tight lipped about that night.  Even the boy's mother thinks they just ran away.  Kim, the girl's mother, tries everything to keep the investigation going, but one year later, still nothing.

Meanwhile, a young writer moves to town with her partner to start a new job.  She is intrigued by the mystery of the younsters' disappearances, especially when she finds a piece of evidence relating to their disappearance on her property.  The book goes back in time to the months prior to the disappearance to give the reader some insight into what really happened, and the back and forth was a bit confusing here.  The second half of the book picks up somewhat as events are revealed, but overall, this one was not my favorite.  As the mother of teenage girls, I found this frankly terrifying to think about how much kids keep from their parents, and how much parents really could help those kids if they could just open up.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

Oh what FUN!!

Last year my sister in law, Dottie, and I did a Book Store Tour of New York City.  We visited five local stores in one day, and the final store on our list was The Mysterious Bookshop, which supposedly carried only mysteries.

It was our favorite store.

As ya do, I asked the Bookseller which of the books was the best seller, or what would he recommend?  He hesitated, saying it really depended on what I was looking for, but then gave me a few titles.  This was one of them, and I am so glad I picked it up! With all the Agatha Christie vibes, I will continue with this series for sure!!

In this first installment, we are introduced to four residents of a retirement village in England who enjoy discussing unsolved crimes.  When a murder happens in their own backyard, they get to work. Each of the four are quite the characters:  Elizabeth with her secret past and no nonsense planning skills; Joyce with her nursing background and penchant for baking for the widowed men; Ron with his love of the spotlight; and Ibrahim with his detailed and mathematical mind.  Add in a greedy developer, two police detectives who keep getting called in by the club members, a mysteriously sad vicar and several other characters who will keep the plot moving, so to speak.

I laughed and chuckled and loved the English vibe.  I immediately noticed the use of two different fonts in the print book I was reading - a third person chapter is written in regular font, but some chapters were a smaller, bolder font.  These chapters are from the diary of one of the residents, which provides very interesting introspection into this character and her opinions of her fellow club members (they are NOT friends, haha).

This book kept me guessing right up until the very end.  Brilliantly done, I was jerked from one conclusion to the next, sometimes on the same page!  It was delightful reading. There was a lot going on, with a recent murder dredging up several older crimes.  Or maybe it was the other way around??  Poignant in places as we get to know residents that face dementia, distant families, lost spouses, but also new friends, mysteries to solve, events to investigate, and police to, um, "help."  The side plots are just as good as the main murder!  An absolutely delightful read that I can't wait to discuss with my book club later this year.  I may even pull out the audio version as a refresher closer to our meeting! This will be a fun series to collect I think!  (I just heard my bookshelves groan.  ;-))

March by Geraldine Brooks

 

I adore Geraldine Brooks' work.  With this volume, I have read all of her fictional writings, but she has just as many nonfiction publications as well!!  Each of her novels focus on different aspects of history, and no two are alike!

As I have mentioned before, I am not usually enamored of Pulitzer Prize winners, and honestly I am not really sure why this one won (or which works it was up against either, so I cannot even complain!).  Brooks imagines what life was like for one Mr. March, who, during the Civil War, leaves his beloved wife and four daughters behind to serve as a Union chaplain in a war he has very mixed emotions about.  His experiences and encounters with people from his past give us a glimpse into his flaws, which came a bit unwelcome to me.  

But we also get a deeper view into his youth, his marriage, and the growth of his family.  I loved how he fell for his wife, who is an impassioned abolitionist.  I loved how he described with joy and amazement the imminent arrivals of each of his children.  I loved that he is a vegetarian!!  I am not sure I have read a book with a main character who is a vegetarian (my daughter is a vegetarian - it can present a problem sometimes!)!  We learn that his family is in dire financial straits - and that it is because of decisions and investments he has made.  We get some insight into how his Aunt turns her nose up at his situation and insults the family by offering to "adopt" one of his daughters, Meg.  Not Jo, the oldest, but Meg, the pretty one.

And oh, yeah, did I mention that his four daughters are Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy??  Yep, THAT March family!!!  

Brooks tells us in her afterword that she based Mr. March in large part on the father of Little Women author Louisa May Alcott, Bronson Alcott.  Fitting, as the March family was also originally based on LMA's own family.  Even the language and speech Brooks uses in March are very closely tied to the rhythms of Little Women.  An interesting idea, and interesting work.  Is it necessary to Little Women as a sequel or in understanding?  I don't think so.  He is so absent from that work as to be dreamlike, and for some little girls it is better to have that dreamlike adoration of their fathers rather than knowing all of his flaws and mistakes and faults.

The Island House by Posie Graeme-Evans

 

Posie Graeme-Evans is a favorite author of mine.  She wrote a trilogy about a girl named Anne who has an affair with King Edward the IV in fifteenth century England, and it is amazing. (The Innocent, The Exiled, and The Uncrowned Queen)  The Island House is one of her four stand alone books, a dual timeline story set on an old Scottish island which has more history than the beach has sand.  And Posie tells us a tiny bit about that history, taking us all the way back to AD 800, a time of Viking raids and superstition and warring religions where a young girl must try to survive any way she can, even if her Pictish views don't meet with the young Viking warrior she falls for. In current times, a woman studying archaeology is poised to also dig into her father's similar work in a place she has never visited and finds foreign.  What she uncovers (ahem) will help us to link the present to the past, revealing some secrets while leaving others forever obscured. 

If you like historical fiction a la Susanna Kearsley and Phillipa Gregory, this book is right up your alley.  It took a while for me to see a connection beyond location, but the stories of these two women separated by centuries are more than enough to stand on their own.  Be prepared for some violent behavior (hello, Vikings!) and Scottish weather and boats and handsome hunks too.  Also, for some excellent and beautifully descriptive writing!  I have one more book to read and I will be a PGE completist!  

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

 

Yesterday, Friday, I went all day without reading a book.  Apologies to my Facebook friends because I went a little post crazy yesterday - I had to read something!

It just was not going to be a book.  Why, you ask?

Book Hangover.

Ever had that happen?  It does happen for me, but rarely anymore.  I just did not want this book to end, I teared up when I finished not because of anything particular that happened at the end but because of everything that happened during the whole story.  I was so sorry to be finished.  I immediately called it my favorite book of the year, even though it is currently only January. 

So, I needed a little time, a break, to let it stay with me and still be My Most Recent Book.  It will be hard to choose my next read, but that is another story.  (Pun intended.)

Demon Copperhead.  Let's get the obvious out of the way - yes, Kingsolver retells David Copperfield here, modernizes the setting to 1980's Appalachia, and gives everyone a name that can be traced back to Dickens.  And those names!  Everyone has a nickname here, and they are perfection.  I am still trying to figure out Swap-Out. Hopefully Kingsolver's prologue letter is included in all editions (mine is a Barnes and Nobel "exclusive edition"), because the story of how she came to the idea of even writing this novel is fascinating.

The other obvious thing is that yes, this could be viewed as a depressing story.  Hello, Dickens.  Demon is a white trailer trash son of a teenage addict with mysterious paternal roots.  The only jobs to be had in his town are in the mine.  There is no getting up the ladder if you can even get up outta bed.  Drugs are rampant and play a huge part of life in these times and in this place, which has been supported by locals, Kingsolver included, who say her portrayal of life in the backwoods really does look like Demon's life.  Truth becomes fiction in the worst way.

However, for me, this book was not nearly as depressing as The Four Winds or The Last Ballad (need a tear-jerker?  There ya go.).  Demon himself has such a dry outlook and hilarious turns of phrase that I laughed out loud a few times to the point where my husband even looked at me like I was crazy.  The things that happened to Demon seemed like they really could happen to a guy, even if it had a Murphy's Law feel to the whole thing.  It still rang true.  And Persistent?  Persistent should be Demon's middle name.  He bounces from situation to situation, from sadness to depression, from feeling unwanted to feeling invisible and can't decide which is worse. ("Was this me now, for life?  Taking up space where people wished I wasn't?"  Crack went my heart.)  But, he keeps on.  He grabs hope where he can find it, and continues to open his heart.  He does get angry at Life, but it is a slow burn for him, which the author says is intentional - she knows the reader needs to connect with and love Demon before they can "earn," in Kingsolver's word, that anger with him.

The drug epidemic in the United States, and particularly in this part of Virginia/West Virginia/Tennessee is probably the saddest part of this story.  And, unfortunately, the most real.  Kingsolver does not shy away from the devastation of an entire generation (or two) that has been and still continues to be brought on by oxy, heroin, fentanyl.  All kinds of drugs are mentioned and I even learned a few phrases along the way that I hope NEVER to hear about in my own life.  But this lifestyle was normalized so much for these characters that to fight it seemed impossible.  Depressing?  Yes.  But real.

One thing to notice here besides Kingsolver's deep research and knowledge of these and other themes she weaves into her story:  the presence of strong women.  Demon struggles to find a male role model, but several women are the ones to go to bat for him, fight for him, and try to give him direction.  Sometimes he pays attention, sometimes he flips them off.  Deep down they know Demon is worth saving; it is just a matter of convincing him of the same.

I loved the vernacular.  I loved how art and small town southern football and tobacco cutting and the wide definition of family are a part of the story.  I questioned if the foster care system and DSS could really be that bad, and if literally everyone in town could be an addict of one thing or another (apparently, the answer is yes).  My heart broke at how many bad things happened to Demon (let me tell you right now that sexual abuse of children does NOT happen here, so do not be afraid of that, and I am sorry if you think that is a spoiler, I consider it more of a green light - plenty of other bad things happen to Demon but not that!), and how many people he watched disappear out of his life for one reason or another.  I shook my head at how many times he was taken advantage of, and I cheered when he made a good decision. I loved the story about the Christmas "tree of utter ridiculousness" and how that gives him a taste of normalcy.  I loved Angus.  I loved how many chapters ended with a BAM, literally at the last word of a sentence.  I loved the foreshadowing and the unexpected return of characters and how the sense of place and home fit into everything.  I loved the tone, the insight, how she parallels her story to David Copperfield but how the story stands on its own.  This is not plagiarism; this is brilliance.  I can't wait to see if I really do find another Favorite Book of the Year; I took seven pages of notes on this one so my book club better watch out.  We will be going through all seven pages of quotes, thoughts, ha-ha's, and sad faces.

THIS is a great read.

EDITED TO ADD:   It is now Sunday of that same weekend and I have picked out but not yet picked up my next read.  Still noodling on DC.  

I want to recommend, for those who have read the book, a podcast I just listened to today.  It is called The Book Case, and is hosted by Charles Gibson and his daughter Kate Gibson.  (AKA Charlie Gibson from Good Morning America!)  They interview Barbara Kingsolver in their December 8, 2022 episode and it was wonderful listening to the author herself talk about the genesis, process, and subject matter of Demon Copperhead. 

Two of her comments stand out in relation to the issue of drug use in Appalachia (I am paraphrasing here):

Drugs are the solution to all the other problems they face.  Drugs are the escape they seek.

And:

For the kids and young adults, survival (of the drug epidemic, the lack of educational resources, the lack of opportunity, etc) IS resistance.  Wow.

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

 

Ever since, and probably before, I found Outlander, I have been a sucker for a time travel story.  For a while there, it seemed everyone and their uncle were writing dual timeline stories, and I loved it.  Sort of like the best of both worlds for lovers of historical and literary fiction - there it was all in one book!

And, one of my all-time favorite books is Rebecca.  "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...."

So yes, reading fans, this book was meant to be for me. 

I found it last year, on Independent Bookstore Day, on my tour of the map my local gave me that morning, showing several independent bookstores to visit that day.  It was sitting on a shelf in the smallest used bookstore/gift shop I had ever been in.  I had never heard of this book, but obviously knew the author.  I read My Cousin Rachel a few years ago and was shocked at the time to learn how many books du Maurier had actually written.  (Sorry, TBR!!!) So, for the hefty price of one dollar, I grabbed it.

What a brilliant story!  Weird, oh yes indeedy.  But totally brill. (As they say in England.)  I really want to tell you NOT to read the flap, as when I did I was kinda like, ugh, this is not really up my alley.  So, just dive in.  Briefly, you have an English Chap with an American wife (interesting choice) who goes to Cornwall for vacation and agrees to help his old college friend and professor with an experiment of sorts.  The house where he is staying, waiting for his wife and two stepsons to arrive in a few days, is based on the house du Maurier actually lived in at the end of her life.  (She was also inspired by a house to write Rebecca.)  Cornwall and the house both become characters in their own right this story, as the history associated with the area comes into play - remember I mentioned time travel?  Yeah, it is not what you think. 

The plot twists were not the only surprises here - let me tell you, our esteemed author has some snark in her!  The main character gives several asides that made me laugh, even though the situation was serious.  Gothic, yes, but not super dark, more mysterious in atmosphere.  Readers will begin to piece the puzzle pieces together, but one must pay attention!  A mystery from the past becomes more than an obsession, and Richard has a hard time letting it go.  I had so many questions during my read, which I obviously cannot share, and I think I will be hardpressed to convince my book club to read this, so if you have read it I need a debrief session quam primum!  

An action packed mystery with the biggest bang up ending I have read in a long time.  I mean, I literally wrote in my notes, "What an ending!"  Read it to find out why!!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

 

I do enjoy a book that references other books.  And is set in the Book World (editing and agent-ing).  And I sometimes am known to employ, I mean, enjoy, snark.

BOOM!

This book hits all those and more.  I am not usually drawn to Rom-Com type books, but hey, I was at the beach where last time I read Beach Read (and plus my neighbor lent me this book and I needed to get it finished and back to her).

A fun, fast pace, also set in NYC (three in a row for me, what is happening??), and the Banter here is awesome.  Two sisters with divergent life paths decide to go on a month long vacation to North Carolina to visit the tiny town where one of their favorite books is set.  Cue Hallmark movie meet cute.

Not.

I like the way Henry turned the old trope on its head here.  She hits some pretty serious issues here - the sisters lost their mom and Nora still feels responsible for her baby sister Libby, even though said baby sister is now grown, married and has two and a half children (she's preggers).  Nora has her own relationship issues and is a very successful and feared literary agent trying to get her client's next book sold to a moody and rude editor who is decidedly NOT HOT.

Until, maybe, he is, a little.  (OK, a lot - this probably qualifies as an open door book.)

Yeah, predictable, but still a good story with some good family drama thrown in, a few off track directions, and an ending that was surprising in one way and not in another.  I actually wrote down a lot of quotes here that are seriously introspective into different character's lives that I think could lead to some good discussion.  But, definitely a light read, and if that is what you are looking for, this is more than Harlequin but less than Moriarty.  I liked this one better than Beach Read, I think it had more substance and plot. 

So who are the book lovers of the title?  Read the book to find out!

Best quote:

Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day?  I mean, aside from a hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

 

I did not like Olive Kitteridge.  I was not a fan of The Burgess Boys (reviewed on Goodreads - that was prior to this blog!).  Usually by that point I would have given up on an author.  But boy am I glad I persevered here!

I have not read the other two previous Lucy books (see above), and unless y'all tell me it is an absolute must I am ok not to go back to them.  But Lucy by the Sea was brilliant, in such a different way than I expected.  Very stream of consciousness, very self-centered on Lucy herself, but that is the point.  She is telling us what happened to her and all she was thinking about when her ex-husband convinces her to leave NYC in March of 2020 because everyone is getting sick and he is trying to save her life.  So, they move temporarily to a friend's house in Maine.  City mice in the country equals hilarious adventures, right?  Well, they are on lockdown.

Did I mention they are divorced?

Kimberly Farr narrated the version I listened to and I loved her voice.  I think this is a situation where the audio enhanced the experience.  I really felt like I was just listening to Lucy over a cuppa.  And I liked Lucy!  Nice wink to our pal Olive in a few places too, that was fun.  

Lucy is grieving a loss here, worrying about her two grown daughters and their marriages, wondering why it is so easy to live with her ex husband, and making new friends.  She seems to take everything in stride, but has her breakdown moments - don't we all.  There are a lot of references to cheating spouses in this story.  Everybody had or was cheating, which I found a bit bothersome.  But what I found mostly was that this this book was cathartic.  She talks about the pandemic openly, but her life goes on.  Again, I find myself having read two pandemic novels back to back this month (Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult, reviewed here: https://rawlesreads.blogspot.com/search?q=wish+you+were+here), and this one is another totally different view.  We have a female narrator that is removed, physically, from the trauma and terror of living in New York City at the height of the contagion.  She pivots, and begins to enjoy long walks in the woods.  She learns why it is important to say hello to her elderly neighbor who is out on his porch every day to see her.  She makes a friend in the man who lent them the house.  She watches her ex-husband comfort one of their daughters when she gets bad news.  She is separated from those daughters, and then finally, FINALLY, she is allowed to see them, but not hug them.  What JOY!!!  Oh, the focus on the little things!

This becomes an almost happy book about the pandemic.  I did not find it traumatic, but of course there are some references to bad things.  This might be a good segue into finding out if you are ready for a pandemic novel.  Or, just go into not labeling it as such, especially if you are a Lucy fan.  This thing happened to Lucy and she tells us about her experience.  

In Strout's hands, that is a good thing.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Holy SCHMOLY!  I took six pages of notes on this one!

This was, unintentionally, my third "pandemic novel" (not counting Emily St John Mandel, she is in a class by herself).  I just finished listening to Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (review to come) and I read Kimmery Martin's Doctors and Friends more than a year ago when it first came out in November 2021 (https://rawlesreads.blogspot.com/2021/11/doctors-and-friends-by-kimmery-martin.html). 

Now, guess when Picoult's book was published.  November 2021.  Yep, same time as Martin's!  And I had no idea it existed until recently.  I wonder if people were just not ready for pandemic novels when it was still so new and raw and so much was unknown.  The main difference between these two books is that Martin's book was written in 2019 - prior to Covid-19 - and is about three best friends who met in medial school and suddenly face a fictional virus called artiovirus, with similar but not identical symptoms to Covid-19.  That is right, book people, Martin, a former emergency room doctor who returned to the front lines during Covid (which is probably part of the reason her book took longer to publish), literally predicted the virus and wrote about what "could be."  (She promised later that her next book, predictive or not, would be about World Peace.  Haha!  She is funny.  But I digress.)

Picoult takes a bit of a different tact here.  Her novel was written AFTER Covid-19 struck, and is specifically ABOUT Covid-19 and how one woman experienced March 2020 and the months of lockdown.  What Picoult absolutely gets right is the feeling of isolation (Diana is stuck on a small island in the Galapagos during lockdown on what was only supposed to be a two week vacation), the frustration and total exhaustion of the medical community (Diana's boyfriend is a doctor back in NYC who can't go with her on vaca for obvious reasons), and a focus on some of the lesser known symptoms of Covid that were new to me, even three years into the pandemic.

This has GOT to be a Book Club Selection because there is so much to talk about here. In true Picoult fashion, we get some twists and surprises and bumps along the way. It has been a while since I read a Picoult book and I had forgotten how tight and beautiful and descriptive her writing is.  She says she is known as a fast writer, but that this book was definitely the fastest she has ever written - it took her two months start to finish.  Maybe it helped that she herself was in lockdown and did not leave her house for 15 months as a high risk person (she has asthma).  But her afterword was just as fascinating as the novel (don't read that first, though, or the discussion questions either, major spoilers abound!).

Wish You Were Here took me right back to those days of being in my own house with my high school and college-age kids, whiling the days away, piddling in my house, not doing much reading because I could not concentrate, and enjoying the silver lining of having this extra at home time with my kids while being terrified of the unseen threat outside my door.  Because of her time on a small island and her freedom within the boundaries of the island itself, Diana's lockdown looks a bit different, and she is removed from the devastation her boyfriend sees every day.  This really is the story of how people react, change and learn from experiences they can't control and while there is definitely a chance for a bit of PTSD here, it is not really the focus of the story, it is the catalyst.  Picoult gives a great nod to the types of experiences the medical community faced, but also the types of experiences other people faced too.  We were all affected by this virus in one way or another - we all lost something, as she points out.  What we gained, albeit in a very small way, was the release of novels like this that can help us deal with, explain, and share what happened.

Now, Jodi and Kimmery, could we PRETTY PLEASE have a meet-cute between Rodney and Jonah????  Seriously, if Lee Child ever does another edition of Match-Up (look it up), I would campaign hard for a story from the two of you!  Compton and Finn meet at a conference?  Athena takes a job in a certain OB/GYN practice? 

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

 

I was so excited about this book.  It had come highly recommended by my favorite podcaster, and it is linked to one of my favorites, Jane Eyre.  It was bound to make me feel smart!! It is a slim volume and in December I thought, hey, I'll add one more book to my 2022 reads with this one, it will be easy!

Think again.

This novel gives an imagined answer to the question of "Who IS the crazy lady in the attic of Mr. Rochester's house?"  (And, sorry, not sorry if you haven't read Jane Eyre yet because I can't really consider that a spoiler.)  Rhys provides a provocative background for the madwoman and explains how things came to be the way they are in Bronte's classic.  Very atmospheric, luscious in locale, and not very complimentary to Mr. R, this novel introduces us to Antoinette as a child and recounts her life on her family's plantation in Jamaica just after the Emancipation Act of 1833 freed all slaves.  Reactions are varied among both her already ostracized family and their former slaves, but the repercussions for Antionette are huge.

Fast forward to when a brooding Englishman with his own family troubles comes looking for salvation and societal status through a lucrative marriage, and this for me is where it all fell apart.  He is initially presented almost as a shadow character, but his appearance also causes the other fascinating characters in the book, particularly Christophine, to fade out.  I am sure that if I had an English Professor to lead me through all the symbolism, I would have appreciated it more.  But for me, the choppy sentences, the way the story jumps around leaving gaps in what is happening - it just confused me.  I did not like the idea that Mr. R was basically not a nice person even before he met his first wife, and I had no sympathy for him at all.  I had some for Antoinette, which is probably the whole point of this story - to skew the focus back to the most misunderstood character from Jane Eyre into one that you feel for.  She certainly has a hard life, a heavy legacy to bear, and when she is faced with a decision that could alter her life for the better, we wonder if she even has the ability to see the paths before her properly.  If she had made a different choice, then what??  But alas, England awaited, and her fate was sealed.

I do think the introduction by Edwidge Danticat (what a great name, sounds like a great investigator in a novel!) in my edition was very helpful.  She brings up good points about why Rhys wanted to write this novel and reveals that both Rhys and Danticat are island girls themselves, accounting for the colorful descriptions of the land and the deep understanding of the people of the time.  Most interestingly, Danticat says, Rhys asks this question:  What if Jane and Antoinette had become friends?  What would they have found mirrored in each other, if anything?  They are both supposed to be Rochester's salvation, but in different ways at the different stages of his life and experiences.  That question in itself was actually more interesting to me than Antoinette's past.

In retrospect, I was not so smart with this read. I have had several readerly friends say to me, "Oh!  Wasn't that a brilliant book?  I just loved it!"  And, I could not really agree, I could only say "meh".  It was wrong and unfair of me to pick this slim volume up with the idea that I would just blow through it like a beach read.  This is NOT a beach read, it is definitely a novel to sit with, to ponder over, to dissect even.  Kim Jackson, I am coming for your thesis!!!!  Maybe that will help me like (or at least understand) this one more, and then I should give it the benefit of a re-read when I will give it more time and analysis.  Live and learn!!!!!

Maybe I should title this as:

My Review, otherwise known as A Warning Against My Own Self-Importance in Reading A Book To Fill A Goal 

HA!

  

The Lost Queen, The Forgotten Kingdom by Signe Pike

I read this duology (soon to be trilogy!) over the summer of 2022 while on vacation.  It is right up my alley - medieval historical fiction, a queen in crisis, Scottish setting, and it has been mentioned as a good read for lovers of Outlander.  Plus, I found out the author lives in my home state of South Carolina!!!

This is the backstory, a backstory, of Merlin.  Yep, that Merlin.  He is not so named in this book, and it is quite vague until you get into the second book.  Languoreth is a "forgotten queen" of sixth-century Scotland, and she and her twin brother are raised in a time of druids, superstitions and the Old Ways.  Their lives, their struggle for power and to live their lives the way they WANT to live them and not the way their family expects them to live sets the stage.  There is a love triangle, a charismatic warrior, a Wisdom Keeper with special powers, and a future they all strive to lead.  

The second book focuses on their adult lives and the ramifications of decisions they made in book one.  I was so glad to be able to jump right into the second book, and now must wait until the fall to have book three in hand.  If this is your genre, these are must reads.  A little Mary Stewart, a little Ken Follett, and a lot of folklore.  Deeply researched by the author, you'll feel like you are standing on the moors in this engrossing epic saga!

My Favorite Reads of 2022, and looking toward 2023

 Hello Readers!

I am embarrassed how long it has been since I have written and published a review - I promise I am still reading; I just have so enjoyed my recent reads that I have sadly not taken time to write about them! 

Which is actually a warning, because now I am determined to get through several many reviews in a very short time - get ready!!!  I have 6 physical books stacked on my desk, one I lent out, and one on my giveaway stack that I can see, plus a few audiobooks that I cannot see, and wait, have I borrowed any ebooks from the library since November??  I really need to get myself together.

I am very glad that I have a book journal to help me, including Anne Bogel's My Reading Life.  I love its small size, many many lists of books, space for tracking and jotting and all kinds of ratings and bonus information.  I also use Goodreads (A LOT), I have a blank journal that I started recording my books in the year I got married (25 years ago!!) and last year I started a one-page hand drawn bookshelf sheet that I can color in as I read. It gives me an at a glance look at my reading life, which has been really helpful! 

For instance, in 2022, I listened to 8 audiobooks, borrowed 17 books from the library and 9 books from my college age daughters, 2 from my mom, and the rest I actually owned.  I read a whopping ONE book from the 100+ titles I own on my Kindle.  That virtual stack of books might need some attention in 2023.  But probably won't get it.  Because my physical stack of books is still too high.  Book Lovers' Problem #1 - so many books, so little time!

For interest, here were some of my favorite reads from My Reading Life of 2022 (not necessarily published in 22, that is just when I read them!):

The Unwilling by John Hart

*Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio version!)

*Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doer

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Searcher by Tana French

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner as read by Richard Armitage

*Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

*Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

*The Water Keeper by Charles Martin

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (Ok, I cheated, that is actually four books)

I knew I could not just pick 10, but I did star my top TOP favorites.  I would put most of my reads on this list actually, except Verity by Colleen Hoover, I hated that one.

I also prioritized some books that had been on my shelf for a long time, and that gave me good direction last year.  I have done that again, but added more, from 12 last year to 18 this year.  And I am intrigued by the idea someone put forth that if you buy a new book, you must be willing to read it within the next 30 days, else you should not buy it now.  Hmmm.  Considering I have so many physical books that are waiting for me on my shelf that I obviously did NOT read within 30 days of purchase, I really should just ban myself from buying any more books.

As. If.

Last year I also made a concerted effort to read a few classics.  I finally tackled Pride and Prejudice, re-read The Great Gatsby (and was not impressed), and read Fahrenheit 451 with my book club.  I read my daughter's favorite series (The Lunar Chronicles listed above), and purposefully listened to more audiobooks based on performance reviews and/or availability from Libby, which I have also turned to more often in hopes I will stop buying so many books.  I am running out of shelves (Book Lovers' Problem #2 - so many books, so little space).

I did not have many low ratings on my books, and I know I had a lot of five stars this year.  But I am ok with that.  I like to think I pick books I know I am going to like, hence all the high ratings.  I read mostly for entertainment, I don't read much nonfiction or educational/political/self-help books.  I like what I like and I like that I like it.  So I have tried to stop stressing about the whole, "YOU get a five, and YOU get a five!"  If I enjoyed the book, it is going to get a good rating!  I tend to rate not as a comparison to other books, only as a way to mark how much I enjoyed reading it. Or not.

So, looking forward to 2023:  I don't really have any goals that are new or different.  I like how last year panned out with the priority reads to help me decide what I should read next, with using/reading the books I already have in the house supplemented by the local library, with a few visits to Sally at my local bookstore peppered in just so she doesn't think I forgot her.  Again, as if!! I will again try to read at least two classics.  This year I am thinking maybe a re-read of Anne of Green Gables, or a first read of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Winne the Pooh (both of which are on my shelf!).  One thing I am going to try to do is put more of my reads onto Social Media, Instagram in particular.  My handle there is @rawlesreads so come follow me on my Reading journey, 2023!  And thanks for being here.  Please comment below what your reading goals are, what classic you think I should read, and what book you are most excited about for 2023!

 

Happy Reading!!!

Kindred by Octavia Butler

 

I was so intrigued by this book, its author, and its premise!!  This was one of the 12 "Priority Reads" I assigned myself in 2022, and I am very glad I finally got around to reading it.

I love a good time travel story (hello, Outlander Fan Extraordinaire here).  But I picked up this one as sort of a Should Read title.  I read somewhere that this was the first published science fiction novel by an African American woman (publication date is 1979).  Really??  Yes, really.  There were very few science fiction novels that had been published at that time, meaning too that there were few stories not aimed at young white males in any genre, much less science fiction.  So this is an important novel for more reasons that just the excellent story.  Butler herself was a fan of Ray Bradbury's work, and read and wrote science fiction stories from childhood on.  She once said it never really occurred to her to look for work by people who looked like her for inspiration, she just kept writing and the stories kept coming - she was a writer.  And now, she herself is an inspiration to us all.

This was not an easy read, but it was fascinating in its telling, in its structure, in its almost dry emotional state that comes through as you read about a modern black woman who is inexplicably and suddenly pulled back in time by a young boy who needs her help - a young white boy whose family owns slaves in the antebellum South.  

Yeah, yikes.

What she experiences and why lends to a very good story.  And a very good discussion of slavery, the realities as well as we can know them, and what she (Dana) sees verses the white man who also travels with her if she is touching him when she is called back.   And she is called back, several times.

I found the story very interesting in its presentation of different perspectives.  For instance, there is a comment that the definition of a fair man is dependent on the time in which he lives, and also on the time in which the definer lives. That is actually a pretty heavy statement. The reader, and Dana too, become embroiled in the lives of those in the past, and her presence and actions have serious repercussions for those around her.  Her last trip leaves her seriously injured (not a spoiler, it's in the first line of the book), and the reason WHY is a bit mysterious.  Connections to the past are explored if not fully explained, which is part of the mystery/sci-fi-ness of this novel.   

A bit factual in presentation, less emotional for what she is telling about (and some of what she tells you about is very difficult to read and imagine happening, but it did, all the time), but probably a pretty good portrayal of the white people who were clueless to their own cruelty to their slaves because they really did view black people as property, like an animal.  To the masters, the slaves were assets meant to bring profit and breed more workers.  Stark history, but history nonetheless.

A good, important read.  It is not all terror and beatings.  They do come into play, but the whole reason why Dana is even involved in this is interesting and it definitely makes for a good read!

Quotes that stayed with me:

They walked past "slave children who chased each other and shouted and didn't understand yet that they are slaves."

"She didn't kill, but she seemed to die a little."

"Slavery was a long process of dulling."