The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Fun fantasy read! I finally read this in prep for the TV series after my cousin Pam recommended it years ago. I enjoyed it, I watched the show pretty much at the same time (while yelling, "that's NOT in the book" galore! haha), and thought they were both pretty good. I do like a good fantasy novel, and yes this one takes a lot of plotpoints from The Lord of the Rings, so astute readers/fans will see right through that. 

But the addition of a female magi makes it worth it. Women definitely have The Power here, which is a different take in fantasy a la Terry Goodkind's Wizards First Rule if I remember correctly. But luckily for me this book was not nearly as violent or graphic as Goodkind's.  There is definitely some violence and killing as per the times, but I did not find it graphic.  And the whole spin on women yielding power, both at the high level and in the villages with the Wisdom always at odds with the Village Council is a great refreshing take.  

Our hero is still the unsuspecting farm boy, but his two friends have their own journeys to go on and provide some interesting side stories that I am sure will come to full fruition later down the line, so they are not gratuitous characters.   I also look forward to finding out just how much his friend (??) Egwene and the Wisdom Nynaeve and of course our fearless leader Moiriane (she of the Power) and her Warder/protector, Lan, really do come into the whole prophecy and future of this world.  I loved the TV show's rendition of Loial, his slow and purposeful speech and history and of course, song.  One of the best phrases our hero Rand hears from a seer (another woman!) is regarding his relationship with his friendgirl Egwene:  “She’s not for you, nor you for her; at least, not in the way you both want.”  The Lore is strong, indeed!

I will eventually pick up the next book I think, but this one at 800 pages was such an investment I think I need a break. It was a bit long with all the travelling and innkeeper meeting and monster avoidance. Which means I probably won't remember all the characters' names and all the events, etc, but that is ok. There is always the TV show! Not to mention the very helpful glossary at the end of the book! Probably really three and a half stars, but I am a sucker for a huge fantasy world build (with MAPS!!)

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

 

Once in a while, fair readers, there comes a book you think cannot fail.  It is, after all, a book about READING!!  Whoo Hoo!

Alas, this is not that book.

I was so hopeful for this one - it had great potential in its description.  A story about how a mysterious list of books to read and a library would bring people together just at the moment when those people needed that connection the most.  Sounds great, right?

Told from different perspectives (and narrated for me, I listened to this one), we meet a widowed man named Mukesh whose late wife loved to read; Aleisha, a teenager who reluctantly works in the library and hides her family shame; and a couple of other people who throw in their two cents' worth randomly throughout.

So here was my problem.  First of all this book was WAY too long.  Editors, you failed.  There was way too much build up, too much time with Mukesh and his daughters (although, the renditions of their phone calls to him were pretty funny on audio), not enough time with the woman from a few years ago whose time was so short I don't even remember her name, too much wallowing in Aleisha's sad restricted life, etc etc etc, and not enough time on the Grand Finale where everyone discovers (or not) where the list actually came from, who wrote it, who read it, etc etc etc.

I think the budding friendship between Mukesh and Aleisha is the best part of this novel, and we didn't really get much time with that.  The list of books was interesting.  One of them I had never heard of (wanna guess which??? comment below!) but the rest I was like, YES, pretty good list!  And as other reviewers have pointed out, there are SPOILERS galore for the books on the list, so if you haven't read any of them, beware (I am looking at you, Richard Parker!).  There were some good moments of reflection where the books being read really did speak to the reader at that moment of their life, so there's that.

I just feel that this book missed its mark.  I had to check it out of the library twice and force myself to get through it.  Never a good thing for a reader.  I kept thinking this is going to all come together so gorgeously, I just know it!  The end was awful and then nice and then it was over.  Ugh.  Disappointed.

Lockdown Update - Two Years Later

 This morning, our power went out.  

Now, I know there are more important things going on in the world right now.  Stay with me.

So, when I realized I would not get my coffee fix this morning, I packed up my laptop and my notebook (paper girl 4-EVAH) and went down to my local bakery/coffeehouse.  I was going to update the four book reviews I told myself I need to write before I start my next book.  It is weird for me to be in a space where I am not actually reading, but hey, blogs matter!!

As I was getting ready to catch up on reviews, I was (procrastinating by) scrolling back in the blog and found the trio of posts I wrote during the beginning of the pandemic.  What a fascinating record of feelings and situations and hopes and anxieties!  Reflecting on these posts from two years ago made me think it might be time for an update, for future reference again.

Wait, hold on.  TWO YEARS.  Really?  It seems like forever and yesterday.  My husband predicted this time frame back in March 2020, that it would take two years to get through it.  (I hate it when he is right!)  While I know we aren't really finished with this pandemic with all the variants and people still getting sick and the effects of Long Covid hovering over people I know, we recently had the mask mandate lifted in the state where I live and that feels like such a huge goal/change.  It was actually strange walking into the grocery store without a mask on.  

But gone is the feeling that I was dirty/germy when I walked out of the grocery store, like I felt two years ago.  I am pleased to report that at least in my case, my fears that friends and other people would act suspicious towards me and each other after Covid have not materialized.  I have resumed hugging people!  I started out holding my breath as I hugged so as not to breathe on people, but I don't even do that anymore.  Restaurants and shops are fully reopened, and while many businesses became casualties of Covid, I am pleased to say our little business is now booming and we are actually expanding to another location this summer.  We made it through!! 

Travel has been the biggest piece missing from our lives in my family. We are a mixed nationality family and my in-laws live overseas.  We travel A LOT.  We haven't seen The Cousins in over three years.  But this week, we booked a FLIGHT.  So super excited to see everyone again this summer!  My daughter is studying overseas this semester as planned and has travelled her little tuchus off.  I am so excited to go somewhere and take pictures (that isn't college where I am leaving my baby, that is, said the empty nester!!!)

And, in lots of ways, the New Normal I was so afraid of has actually happened, and it is not terrible.  We have become so used to Covid that I think we shrug it off now as a general population.  Obviously, those who have lost loved ones or seen the devastation of this illness are not shrugging, but as a whole there are fewer news reports, no more charts and flattening the curve-speak and doom and gloom (well, except for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but that is a whole other topic/world issue!!).  I guess what I am saying is our attention has been turned away from Covid and on to other things.  We have adapted.  We aren't ignoring Covid, but we have learned to live with it.  I for one don't feel that people are ashamed at this point to admit they have Covid. That was a terrible side effect, that people felt guilty for getting sick!!  "Pretty much we are all going to get it, let's just do the best we can" became the mantra.

It was so helpful to me that I made a list of the things I DID do during lockdown in those posts from two years ago.  I was reflecting last week that I did not earn a degree, learn a language, practice my calligraphy or read all the books.  But I did get a new job, I moved out of my house where we had lived for 18 years and all the purging and packing that entailed, I became an empty nester, my husband and I have had lots of date nights and a couple of trips to the beach - just the two of us!!!  (Definitely got some reading done at the beach, and puzzles, and walks.....)  Maybe these things would have happened anyway, so maybe there is not something that I accomplished as a direct result of Covid.  But ya know what?  Life went on.  I had accomplishments, disappointments, sadness, joy, new friends, new neighbors, and navigation of a new grocery store (seriously, that is my major stress?).  Life!

We have definitely all changed.  I believe we have become a closer world.  We were all in this together (even when we didn't agree on the how).  We are all starting to come out of our shells and stretch in the sunshine.  Will my introverted side miss those days of being forced to stay home with my nuclear family for that extra "found time?"  Yes!!!  Will the extroverted side of me ever re-learn how to properly get dressed?  

Not looking good, haha.  

 

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

 

A five star read for me, which I did not expect.

A friend encouraged me several times to read this (hey, Lauri!!).  I resisted.  I did not want to read a sad story about a Mexican woman, Lydia, running for her life from Mexico to the US illegally and under the radar at the drop of a hat (or gun as the case may be).  I just didn't.  I don't usually read "sad books."

But now, I am glad I did, not so much because of the subject matter itself, which was of course heartbreaking, but because this book is just plain old GOOD.  It moves fast, it has sympathetic characters, it has a villain with a heart and a villain without one.  It has liars and good people and terror and loss and desperation and risk.  It is about a mother who will do anything for her son.  It is about grief and survival.  The emotions are all there without being patronizing or really even political.  I could feel the heat of the desert and hear the clacking of the trains. This book just flat out tells a story, fact after fact (well, it is fiction but was apparently thoroughly researched, so all that happens could have actually happened).

I read it so fast that I did not stop to take notes (my new MO for reading and reviewing this year, oh well).  I could not put it down.  I don't think the cover does the book justice, it seems unrelated.  Cummins took a LOT of flack for this book as a "privileged white woman" who could have no idea what the immigrant plight is really like.  Well, I don't know but seems to me that all kinds of authors write all kinds of books and if she did her research and brought this topic to the national table then it really shouldn't matter what color she is, either.  She addresses this a bit in the author's notes at the end.  Anyway, no matter what your affiliation or policy, this is a great story, tense and realistic and richly described, from Lydia's emotions to her surroundings to her panic and ability to create family from tragedy.  Highly recommend.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

I love Towles' writing.  Rules of Civility blew me away and A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my all time favorites. They are both very different and set over different time periods (Civility was about 24 hours and Gentleman was over a year I think). So I was really anticipating this new one (set over 10 days)!

Before I read it, I saw an interview with Towles online.  What an interesting guy! He talks about his approach to new stories and the connections between his books - did you catch the Easter Eggs?  I would not have without that interview!  View it for yourself here: Amor Towles | Friends & Fiction #109 - YouTube

Ok, let's get going!  Which is what poor Emmett must be thinking throughout this whole story.  Four boys, a road trip, family drama and dysfunction, juvenile detention, unfinished business (which was the original title here), a man named Ulysses, a compendium and a professor, and a girl who just wants to get the hell out of dodge, right after she dons her apron and makes more strawberry preserves.  THAT is The Lincoln Highway.

Towles is a genius of character.  His voice for Duchess and Emmett especially is so clear, you really feel like you know them.  And Billy!  He might be my favorite.  He brings road trip planning and counting to ten to a whole 'nother level.  I was so excited that Billy got to meet his hero - probably my favorite scene.  Towles switches perspectives among characters and even revisits scenes that already happened in the book from another character's point of view to give you, as Paul Harvey would say, The Rest of the Story.  While it took some time to get used to there being no quote marks over conversation (which Towles explains in his profuse reader notes on his website), I really enjoy how he writes.

And there are SO MANY interesting characters here!!! I think Towles probably had the most fun with Duchess, or maybe Sally.  The two brothers, Emmett and Billy, decide after their father's death to go find their absent mother in California via The Lincoln Highway, and young precocious Billy has it all mapped out.  Of course, unexpected passengers and delays and side trips - going the exact opposite way- happen and so we have adventures, some finished business, some debts paid, and the two other teenage boys who have such wild stories I cannot even go there without spoilers.  Duchess and Woolly bring so much to this story that it becomes as much about them as about the brothers.  Their pasts, their families, their direction and motives.  Duchess is a great character with a theater background that serves him and his audience/friends well - he does everything with a flourish!  Even beating someone up!  I am still not sure if I liked Duchess in the end or not. I really wanted to. Such a cute con.  And sweet Woolly - sigh.  His sister is so good to him!!

So that is a lot of comment that you won't understand until you read this one, and I definitely encourage you to do so.  My Beloved Book Club had a GREAT discussion about this one, so much to talk about. Father figures, how the way you are raised truly shapes you, and how or whether you can escape that past. One book club member listened to this one instead of reading the actual book and she really enjoyed the audiobook.  If your book club likes themes, there is a recipe here that you can make and postcards along the Lincoln Highway you can print, get a BIG APPLE and make cookies with strawberry jam.

Quotes:

87    If we've got unfinished business, let's finish it. (Emmett)

You could wait your whole life to say a sentence like that and not have the presence of mind to say it when the time comes. (Duchess)

409    There are few things more beautiful to an author's eye, he confessed to Billy, than a well-read copy of one of his books.

435    We were off to Arthur Avenue, driving at a speed of three hundred questions an hour.

467    Who WAS that (first) person who had the audacity to eat an artichoke?

549    He kicked me in the shin.  Isn't that priceless?

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.

And by that I mean, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS BOOK!!!!

    

Ok, so let's first be honest - I am one of those book snobs that thinks I have not actually READ a book if I have not actually READ a BOOK.  Meaning, to listen to a book is not to read a book.  Just my opinion and #wordnerd self arguing over semantics.

I am relatively new to audiobooks because of this opinion.  I didn't want to "bump" my READING numbers by listening.  But when my job became a 30-45 minute drive each day, and I was listening to so many book recommendation podcasts that my TBR made me anxious (thank you Anne Bogel), and some of those recommendations were audiobooks, I suddenly thought, Hey!  Why don't I spend this time chipping away at my TBR rather than adding to it??

Enter TJR.

That is Taylor Jenkins Reid.

You may already know that I LOVED The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.  And that I thoroughly enjoyed Malibu Rising.

What I am here to tell you is, it is February and Daisy Jones and The Six might be my Favorite Book of the Year.  And this is a year where an Outlander book was published.

(insert astonished face here)

Now, I cannot say whether the reading experience can match the listening one.  Daisy Jones and The Six is a story told in a format that was MADE for performance.  And what fabulous performances we get.  Done in an interview format, each member of the band and the peripheral VIPs is performed by a different actor.  I seriously felt like I was in an extended Broadway show.  It is a bonus that Jennifer Beals reads Daisy in the PERFECT soft, scratchy voice.  And that Benjamin Bratt is also prominently featured (he could read commercials and I'd be applauding.  Well, ok fine, swooning.)  Then you add in Pablo Schreiber as Billy Dunne who gives an amazing and emotional performance as a man plagued by demons and desperate to be a Good Man.  OMG the pauses, the sighs, the chuckles!  They all added SO much to this story!  And the ending.....OMG again, I was driving and crying.  It was a perfect ending.

The story is about why a 1970's band broke up, and how they got together, and what happened on their tour.  Told from the perspectives of the band members, manager, spouses, friends, etc, everyone has their own version of the truth.  Drugs and alcohol are everywhere; you really get a sense of the place and time that was music in the '60's and 70's.  The characters are very well fleshed out - again maybe because I heard their different voices and could keep them all straight as soon as they started talking.  I think that would be difficult in print and I am actually very curious to get my hands on a hard copy to see how it is presented.  You feel empathy for each of them as they become famous and have to deal with hard choices and family and fame - and each other.   There are a lot of references to lines in the songs the band members were writing which I wish I had written down.  Because I was walking or in the car or doing housework while listening I did not really take notes, except for this line:

"You have to have faith in people before they earn it.  Otherwise, it's not faith, is it?"

BOOM!!!

Please please please take a chance on an audiobook and listen to this story.  This totally solidifies TJR as one of my favorite authors.  And THIS is why I have been giving so many four star reviews lately of books I really liked. 

Because THIS book is a FIVE STAR READ.

Did I rave enough?  Why are you still reading?  Go to Libby right now and get on the waiting list!!!! 

The Girl From Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

 

Megan Miranda was one of the featured authors in our local library's big fundraiser in the fall of 2020, and this was her latest book.  She is a local author as well, and I had never read her books!  This read, a thriller with twists and turns, definitely tells me I will like her other books too.  

There are some holes in it, and some parts that seemed out of character for our protagonist especially nearer to the end.  The whole story was a bit disjointed, with the really weird mother/daughter relationship, Olivia's past, and the whole idea that you can't run away.  I was so intrigued by the premise of how her famous childhood impacted her adult life and her whole attitude, and thought this book had such big promise because of that.  Then, it went in a totally different direction and just got really, well, unlikely.  I did not like how she ended things, how she left someone to pay and just moved on.  But as far as a good read goes, I wanted to know what would happen next.  There is a twist or two at the end that you can kind of see building, and maybe that reveal is what was just a bit of a letdown for me only because while I can totally see that happening, I just didn't like it, haha!  

Overall, an ok read, I would read more from this author and am thinking maybe this one just won't be my favorite.  I have alluded before to Sally's advice (Sally is my local bookstore owner whom I WORSHIP) to give authors' other books a chance, just like you would give a chance to a sibling of someone you don't like.  Just because you don't like Mary Jane doesn't mean you won't fall in love with her younger brother Bobby!!!