Taking A Hiatus

Hello everyone,

I've been writing this blog for the last 12.5 years. With Trey's help, we've reviewed 231 books. I've had two babies, moved twice, and brought numerous new cats into my home to love. I've found book clubs and other passionate readers who like to spend their free time really talking about books. I've discovered new authors and gotten lost among so many pages.

Reading is the most amazing thing I'm able to do each day, and I love books. I love that it's a little more than halfway through the year, and I've finished 21 titles, but life is busy. Work is busy. Kids are busy. I'd rather take the free time I have now to read more instead of writing up book reviews.

I started this blog to continue practicing my craft as a writer, and I'm thankful that that has now become my job. I write every day, I read every day. Life is good, so I'm going to take a little break from my blog. I may come back, I may not, but I'll always be there for a book suggestion should you need one.

Like my new favorite shirt says, Fight Evil, Read Books. Keep it up friends.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

 

Second book club book #16

This book is hard to sum up. It's good. It paints a wonderful picture of a slice of life in 1930's NYC, but the snippet is complex. It's hard to tell who the book is really about, and it definitely has multiple messages, which complicates things.

If compelled to give an opinion, which these blogs are ultimately all about, I'd say I liked this one specifically because of the characters. The year in the life this book covers gives each character a complete arc. Nobody ends near where they start, and accomplishing that for this cast is an admirable feat.

It's quite a fun group in Rules of Civility though:

• Katey is the "career" girl, whose innovation, talent, and smarts carry her.
• Evelyn is the opportunist who struggles to find that perfect escape from the life she has to work to lead.
• Tinker (what a great name) is the charmer with the hard lessons on the horizon.
• Hank is probably the most intelligent guy in the crowd, but he's battling between self-expression, addiction, and duty.
• Anne is the high society dame who's hard to resist.

This list only hits the characters that reoccur the most, but there are plenty more. Many of which complete smaller arcs of their own, moving on to a new place from where they begin within the course of the story. It's so well done.

The only complaint with this book is that, for me, it was hard to feel like anything was really happening because of the tone. Everything is delivered at a more even clip, no matter how huge it all really is in the lives of these characters. Sometimes, I found myself flipping back a page or two to soak it all in.

However, overall, this is a very well-done novel, and an enjoyable read. Nicely done and recommended for anyone in need of a period piece that's outside of the Regency era in Britian.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

 

How to Stop Time is a love story that’s riddled with way too much internal monologuing. Tom Hazard, the main character, thinks in such long-winded thoughts that I found myself rolling my eyes as I read. He also over thinks everything which is most likely a side effect of the fact that he’s over 400 years old.

Due to a rare disorder, Tom ages much more slowly than the average person and has lived many lifetimes when we meet him in the present day. Of course these lifetimes are corrupted by the sadness and pain from having fallen in love when he was just a young man, in a time where suspicions often lead to death. He's had to run and hide, leaving behind his love and losing her and his daughter to time.

Today, Tom’s a mess, pinning for a daughter that may or may not be alive while enduring the same ageless gift that has him existing within constant fear. As a member of the Albatross Society, Tom lives his life in eight year increments, moving on to a new place and inhabiting a new identity when each period is up. All this comes with a price, and between each transition he must complete a task for the Society, who’s trying to recruit all the others like Tom. Those refusing to join, don’t always come to a natural end.

Right now, Tom is a history teacher in London, fighting off headaches and detailed reveries into his past where stories shift from sadness and pain to meeting people like Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald. He catalogues his great love and truly whines quite a bit. It all climaxes with an epiphany, a discovery, and a lot of philosophizing. There's also kind of a happy ending, but it’s not exciting. Tom may end the book hopeful, but he can’t shake his essence as a big 'ole downer.

I picked up this book because of The Midnight Library. I liked it and enjoyed Haig’s writing style, which is similar here, but it just doesn’t work for me. I never got into the characters and couldn’t tell what kind of book I was reading, so mixed were the signals. I’d recommend skipping this one, but trying Haig out by grabbing a copy of another one of his books.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

 

I loved this book. It's so perfectly written. New bits of information are rolled out at the perfect time. Although everything takes place within a few hours, nothing ever feels rushed.

Everyone in this book is anxious. It's an appropriate title, but the pressures everyone is under are totally different. First, there's the bank robber who's anxious because their botched robbery has led to a hostage situation. Each of the hostages are anxious because of what's happening in their lives, not because of the fact that they're all stuck in an apartment for sale, right before New Year's Eve. Rounding out the gang are two cops whose interpersonal baggage and desire to save the day make them anxious as well.

It's a humorous setup, with a bank robber who can't do anything right, but this isn't a funny story. Many of the characters start the book sad and a little lost. The storytelling feels a little comical, and we're definitely in the realm of the absurd, but everything becomes so emotional, and then becomes emotionally fulfilling. I may have almost cried at the end, almost.

Throughout their time as hostages, every character changes their view of their lives. They all start with something hidden. It's all exposed. They're all changed. You get an ending that puts each into a new arc that's both pleasing to you and happier for them. The story also comes full circle in a perfect way, one that has nothing to do with the botched robbery.

This is a great book. It's so different from what I've read lately and was not what I expected it to be at all. It's an intelligent, and unique, look at everyday people, put into an unlikely situation. Instead of being scared, they face it head-on, all of them, and come out better than they went in. It's a great read for anyone.

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

 

I liked the first half of this book better than the second. The story was stronger, for me, at the start and too drawn out by the end. Even though things reach a satisfying conclusion, there's maybe 50 pages too much that get you there.

All that being said, Lore is a unique, well-thought-out story that inserts a "what if" scenario into our modern-day world that's both fascinating and exciting. I was quickly hooked.

What if a set of Greek gods and goddesses become mortal every seven years?

What if, when they're in this state, the human who kills them absorbs their power and becomes the new version of that immortal?

You're curious, right?

This is the reality Melora (aka Lore) gets born into as a descendant of Perseus. Her bloodline is one of the heroic few selected to punish the banished gods and goddesses, and so they continuously train, preparing to do battle every seven years in the week-long Agon. Deities like Apollo, Athena, Hermes, and Ares are forced, during this time frame, to become mortal (with superhuman powers) and get hunted.

It's a bloody, strategic, and cunning week of treachery and violence that the bloodlines basically live for. Each one wants a god of their own to kill and claim. Lore is the last of her bloodline. She feels the pull to fight, but also wants out of the whole cycle. She's lost everything, including her parents and sisters, and spent the years between the pervious Agon and the one about to start hiding. Then, one day, at just the right moment, a wounded Athena shows up on her doorstep and Lore finds herself fully sucked back in.

The rude awakening throughout her interaction with Athena is that nothing is as it seems. Lore dives back into the carnage hoping to put an end to the whole thing, but it's complicated and full of near-death experiences. There's also no shortage of pain, both physical and emotional, deceit, and fear as Lore and a few trusted friends try to figure out what's really happening and how to save their beloved city of New York from the power lust of the gods.

It's all very exciting until the aftermath of one particularly intense battle, and a few big reveals. This is where the real climax of the book takes place, but the story keeps going, and more keeps happening. It all makes sense and is significant to the plot, but the 'wow' factor has already worn off, and you're not even close to the end. This is why I feel that the second half isn't as good as the first. Things could have transpired much more rapidly, still getting you to the end of Lore's story, but without so much drag.

I did really like this book, and I loved Lore as a character. I do want to send out a fair warning though about the speed bump you may or may not feel toward the end. Overall, however, this is a great story that mixes myth with a relatable reality, and I very much enjoyed reading it. 

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

 

The best part of this collection of stories, and novella, is that they all start in the middle. You're thrust into what often become unusual life situations, frequently at an uncomfortable point, watching uncomfortable things happen. It's fantastic.

You also don't really get any endings. Maybe a partial conclusion, but nothing that leaves you feeling complete. I love that too, because really, when is a person's story ever actually over? Even after many are gone, stories continue to evolve and change. It's real.

Nothing was cliched or forced either, leaving you with a catalog of character who were pleasantly complex if not a little strange. I appreciate, very much, the care that went into each story. You can feel it at every angle from the character development to the setting choices to how each scenario is shaped. It's true storytelling even without an obvious formula.

Bonus points also go out for the skill in where the backstory gets placed. Its unconventional use influences the present perfectly, especially in the novella.

Everything about how these stories were crafted felt right. You were supposed to go into them a little 'off,' whether the story discussed an issue related to race or explored the repercussions of personal choices. After finishing each story, I found myself wanting to spend time speculating on where they went afterward rather than diving into the next one immediately.

To rate my favorites, while suggesting you read the whole book in order, I loved:

• Anything Could Disappear
• Alcatraz
• The Office of Historical Corrections (the novella)

Enjoy this one!

The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley

 

This is a solid story that felt very much like a puzzle slowly coming together. I loved the interconnectivity of the characters and the way one small gesture brought them all together.

Julian used to live a life of excess and eccentricity. As an artist, he had a life in the spotlight, but now, in his 80's, he's lonely and forgotten. To break back into the world, he creates The Authenticity Project. He writes his truth in a notebook and leaves it behind in his neighborhood coffee shop, encouraging the next person who finds the notebook to add their own story and pass it on.

The concept works, drawing in a cast of characters who somehow become engaged in each others' lives. There's Monica, the uptight cafe owner. Hazard, the adict. Riley, the traveler. Alice, the frazzled new mom. Lizzie, the nosy, but caring nanny. And, finally, the notebook comes to Mary, who surprises everyone and brings the story full circle. There's no rationale, really, for why a group of strangers suddenly want to be there for each other after reading a few pages in a notebook, but they do, and it works. 

By the end of the book, almost everyone has found their potential, what was honestly missing for them when they initially discovered the notebook. It's not necessarily closure on what was pressing on them, but a sense of hope that wasn't there before.

It's hard to say which character is at the heart of the story, and I was surprised at how Pooley was able to take such a large cast and not make anyone feel more important than another. They all seem to have equal impact on the movement of the narrative, and I found that different and very well done. This is a nicely packaged story that moves quickly, and proves to be a satisfying read. Although some of the 'surprises' are a little predictable, I didn't finish things up feeling like I was reading a cliche. 

A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik

 

I needed a dose of science fiction/fantasy, so happily picked up another book by Naomi Novik. Although a bit verbose, she's an excellent storyteller and creator of worlds. I might not always like how she wraps things up, but I appreciate the work that goes into her narratives.

In A Deadly Education, we're put into a high school situation on the fringes of the void. All the students have magic, and if they can survive through graduation, they can go out into the world and use it. The problem is the whole pantheon of Mals who want to eat them. We're talking serious monsters of every shape and size. There are pinchers, tentacles, webs, and blobby goo. Breaking into what should be a protected space, the Mals are doing their best to create a student feast. Students expect something bad at every turn, never go anywhere alone, and use enchantments and shields just to get from their dorm room to the cafeteria.

There's also the graduation hall. It's full of hungry creatures just waiting for the end of the year.

The school has no teachers, just a self-motivated, magically-guided curriculum, where books find you. They appear on the library shelves when they want to, or come flying out of the void if you ask right. Students focus on a specialty, spending time in language classes to learn spells and the workshop to construct magical objects.

It's the junior class that stands out the most in this book, thanks to two specific students. Orion is a real hero. He can't help but attack, and successfully bring down, any Mal who threatens a student. What's more, the monsters seem to avoid him. El, short for Galadriel, is an outcast harboring a prophecy and a strong magical ability. She's never had friends, has a bad attitude, and is someone people usually avoid. Orion has the opposite problem. He can never get a moment alone, away from adoring fans.

Suddenly, these two are seen together. In fact, Orion begins picking El over his established group of friends. El isn't thrilled by this change, but it forces her into the realization that she needs friends. She'll need them to survive the school and graduation itself. Then something unexpected happens, and she must learn to trust others more than she ever thought.

This book is full of magic and the threat of death, but it's more complex than that. You're stuck in the middle of fragile teenage relationships while exploring human nature and the tendency we have to judge books by their cover (ha, ha). The book also explores intelligence -- academic vs ability vs natural intuition. 

The best parts of the book flow through the action, which increases in intensity as you read on. It's a fun and exciting read and an interesting new world to explore. Just prepare yourself to hit small roadblocks of over explanation -- it's the author's style.

Other reviewed books by Naomi Novik

• Spinning Silver

Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland by Dave Barry

 

Second Book Club Book #15

The title of this book is perfectly accurate. Barry spends the entire time defending his homeland of Florida. His methods are a little unconventional though. Rather than convince the reader that Florida is not, in fact, as unusual as it's portrayed, he embraces the strangeness. Weird things happen in Florida. They're often the norm rather than the exception. That's cool for Barry, who uses this book as an opportunity to highlight a few of the more permanent facets of strange you'll only find in Florida.

From a natural spring where "mermaids" perform all the way to an entire city made up of line-dancing retirees, Florida has plenty going on that makes it stand out. Barry gets in deep, experiencing each location he writes about in person, giving us an observational, historical, and sometimes political perspective on where he's at. It's a great combination and an engaging way to learn.

Barry is also funny. His humor, mostly presented like he's side-whispering to us so the rest of the crowd won't hear, fits the mood of the absurd locations in Florida he's hanging out in. I laughed out loud more than once.

This short book isn't going to change your mind if you've already developed a serious opinion about Florida. It's going to reaffirm that there's some strange stuff going on down there, but at the same time it opens up the state. There's nothing warm and fuzzy, but there's a piqued curiosity, a desire to maybe look a little closer at some of those roadside attractions and well-known pit stops. 

This one is a lot of fun to read.

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

 

I have to start off by saying that this was an amazing book. Every character was perfectly written. The flow of the story was ideal. I loved that there's a 'villian,' (no spoilers, I promise.) I loved the connectivity of all the characters throughout the book and on into the epilogue-style ending. I just can't say enough.

To break down the plot, Emira is a mid-twenties babysitter who's about to age out of her parents' health insurance. She loves little Briar, who she cares for, but realizes that this isn't a sustainable career.

While in flux about her future, she begins to form this odd relationship with her boss, Alix Chamberlain, mostly because Alix is extremely interested in getting to know Emira. It's an almost cringe-worthy situation of the older mom trying to connect with a younger person, and having no idea how to really do it.

Emira also, during this time, meets Kelley. He's a little older than she is too, but he likes her, treats her well, and they start dating. Emira also has a strong core group of girlfriends supporting her, who are there for her along the way.

It's all pretty standard, until it isn't. Emira is black, and one night, when she's at the grocery store with (white) Briar, around the corner from her boss' house in a predominantly white neighborhood, her professionalism gets called into question. A white security guard stops Emira and Briar, questions the legitimacy of Emira having Briar in her custody, and refuses to let them leave the store. It's all settled when Briar's dad comes to the store, but holy shit, it's sad the world is like this.

A video of the whole incident is captured, but safely hidden in Emira's email. She wants to forget the whole thing and just move forward. This, however, is just one example of the perspective your race gives you over another that's found throughout the book. Misconceptions about who she is and a need to "help" Emira because she's not white are effectively strewn throughout the book. All of this is often done before anyone takes a moment to get to know Emira, or ask her what she wants. It's such a deep topic inlaid in such a relatable story. Perfection.

While race is a central theme of the book, it's also a story about personal struggles. Each character is dealing with imperfections in their own personality, struggling and sometimes overcoming, their own shortcomings. These themes add a universal quality to the story that makes it something more than a fictionalized breakdown of white privilege and the oblivious nature we sometimes possess when talking to others in different phases of their lives.

And then, you get to the end --- Whoa! It's so amazing. That's all I'll say about that.

This book did an excellent job of hitting on so many current and ongoing themes any individual could face. It was truly a joy to read. I learned some things, felt a lot, and appreciated the opportunity to reflect on my own behaviors when in situations similar to these. Sometimes, I saw myself as the older white lady, but sometimes I was the 20-year-old still trying to find myself. Nice work! Go read this!

Outlawed by Anna North

 

Book club book #14

Well, let me begin by saying that this book had potential. Multiple plot points paved the way for some interesting and thought-provoking stuff. However, with an underdeveloped and choppy plot, two-dimensional characters, and way too much left unexplained, the book falls SHORT.

It's even hard to really say what Outlawed is about at its core. The book takes place in an alternate reality in the 1890's. A massive Flu took out a huge percentage of the population and transformed the US into a series of small, independent towns (I think.) Many of these towns have developed on top of the bodies of those who perished from illness, leaving a superstitious population still willing to accuse women of witchcraft.

This is especially true for women who can't have children. Since they don't understand the science behind barren women, once they marry them off at a young age, if they don't have a baby within about a year, they're kicked out of their husband's home. Some survive, some flee, others are hanged as witches. 

Ada, the main character, is one such woman. After failing to bear a child within the first year of her marriage, she's sent back home to her mother and whispers of her witchcraft begin to rumble through town. To escape, her mother sends her away to a convent. There's a price on her head and a sheriff out looking for her, so hiding out at the convent would be wise, but it's not for her. Off Ada goes to try and join up with the Hole in the Wall gang, led by the infamous Kid.

While in the company of the Hole in Wall gang, Ada discovers her true calling, her true talent. She also learns how to ride a horse, defend herself, shoot a gun, and disguise herself as a man. Like I said, there's a lot going on here. In the end, Ada decides to fight for her true path, giving us a hopeful and inspiring ending minus all the information you were hoping to get about the future of the characters you've been following all along.

This book could have been an ode to feminism in the wake of uneducated, brutal men. But, they give the strongest female a serious weakness. It could have been a book about those on the fringes of a society coming together to find peace, but the gang doesn't really let anyone else in who might have benefited from their protection. We could have just ended up with a good 'ole, female-led Western, but it fails to get there as well.

Something about this story just didn't deliver, and I'm not sure I liked what was there enough to care about what was missing. I wish the author had focused more on a single tangent though, so there was less to follow, and less to wonder about once we reached the end. It also would have helped flush out her characters, in my opinion. A lot of things in here felt a little flat, or too quickly resolved with a single flashback.

You might want to skip this one, or at least go into reading it like you'd watch a single episode of a TV show -- you know most things won't get resolved by the end.

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

 

Oh my goodness. This book went so far off the deep end that not even infinite space can save it. 

There was almost something good here, some real questions to think about. It could have gone in the direction of, How technology interferes with relationships  or How humanity's dependence on technology can get us into trouble. The book could have delved into humanity's psychological need for escapism. There were any number of interesting and intelligent routes the author could have taken, but instead, we ended up on The Afterworld -- a virtual planet dedicated to Prince -- for an insanely long time, all while people's lives hung in the balance.

Ready Player Two picks up -- after a lot of exposition -- a few years after the first book ends. The "five" heroes of Ready Player One have settled into their positions as owners of GSS with Og advising, and the business growing. Wade (Parzival) is lonely and more dependent on the Oasis than ever, with nothing to really do. 

With all the access he's gained as Halliday's heir, Wade discovers an unreleased piece of tech known as an ONI headset. They're different than the suits worn in the first book because the ONI actually detaches your consciousness from your body, and puts it into your Oasis avatar. This allows you to feel virtual experiences like you're really living them. The only catch is your mind separates from your body in order for this to happen.

Everyone but Samantha (Art3mis) agrees to release the ONI into the world, so out it goes and everyone is hooked. At the same that this happens, a new quest appears in the Oasis that only the heir can complete. The 7 Shards of the Siren's Soul. Wade teams up with his crew, and with a little outside help, it begins.

Then, like last time, there's some serious trouble and a powerful enemy (not the Sixers this time) and Wade is forced to think fast, while puzzling out the quest, to save the day.

What is nice is that it takes the collective knowledge of all the players to get the job done. Wade doesn't have all the insider knowledge himself. In fact, he would've failed the quest if he'd worked alone.

The crazy starts after once we move on from the quest. Without revealing the specifics, the book ends up in this 2001: A Space Odyssey place, with copies of people's consciousness awakening in a virtual reality on a trip through space. The book gets into it more eloquently, and I promise I didn't really ruin anything for you. But, you need to know the ending is just weird and almost uncomfortably sorted out -- like the end of a Spielberg movie.

Parts of Ready Player Two met my expectations after liking book one, but most did not. It's a sequel you can avoid -- I promise.

Also by Ernest Cline:

• Ready Player One
• Armada

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

 

There are a lot of nuggets of wisdom in this book. A lot of insights into areas of life I should think about more. By sharing her own experiences and life lessons, Doyle prompts the reader to look inward. I liked that.

What was a little challenging for me was her tendency to speak in absolutes. Her words weren't should or could, or this worked for me, but rather a lot of musts made it into the story. I get that the book is a reflection of her passion, but there's no one-size-fits-all approach to life. And, I tend to prefer suggestions over mandates.

That said, it's impressive to read the sagacity one can arrive at upon true reflection. Doyle takes us into every corner of her life (and we go in deep) to understand how the willingness to face it all head on, and let it change us, saves us.

From finding her best life to fighting addiction to quelling the fears all parents have, Doyle does everything with power.

Part memoir, part motivational storytelling, the combination of content is emotional, thought-provoking and penetrating. There's no question Doyle sees both into herself and into her world. I appreciated her perspectives so much and got a lot out of this book. You might too.

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

 

I loved this book. It was one of the most dynamic and well-written stories I've read in a long time. I love how Choo trickles out her details and connects her characters.

This is a book that's both a coming-of-age story, and one about the importance of truth. While there are multiple characters who are vital to the narrative, this is really only about two of them.

Taking place in 1930's Malaysia, Ji Lin is dealing with the restrictive society of the day. Her stepfather halted her education, even though she's quite smart, so she can't fulfill her professional dreams of being a nurse. Her mom has a secret mahjong debt, and Ji Lin feels a responsibility to help pay it off.  This means working two jobs, as both a dressmaker's apprentice and a dance hall girl.

Ren is only 11, but has lived quite a life. He's just lost his master, a doctor, to illness. A loyal houseboy, Ren promises the dying man he'll undertake a crazy mission of finding the doctor's lost finger and returning it to the grave. Without this missing piece, the doctor fears his soul won't move on. Ren ventures out to track down the finger, offering his services up to the surgeon who removed the finger in the first place (for medical reasons.)

You'd now think this is a story about a finger. Ren hunts for it. Ji Lin ends up in possession of it (that's not a spoiler.) However, the story is something so different.

For Ji Lin, the finger puts her on the right path, but her story is about finding her voice and her independence. She must realize it's okay to take control of one's life and share her thoughts out loud.

For Ren, the finger is what propels him forward to opportunity, but his journey is all about becoming more than a child. He's establishing his character through kindnesses and his decisions. If this book had a hero, Ren would be it for me.

Amidst all this, there's a lot of other stuff going on that adds up to an action-packed book. Most of the activity centers around a local hospital full of European doctors and local support staff. It's here where we find the night tiger prowling around. It's also here where accidents keep happening, random deaths occur, past transgressions are seriously felt, and love is discovered. This is where people are sneaking around, committing crimes, manipulating, and harming each other. This is the underbelly of the story.

The cast of characters partaking in all this action come together to create such a rich story. There's even a little magic tossed in, but its portrayal makes so much sense that it doesn't detract from the realism felt in every corner of this book.

With some great surprises and a lot of powerful emotions, Choo creates a story with depth that imparts a culture and an era in a tangible way. She explores emotion and devotion as ties that bind in both life and death. You finish the book content, and curious for what's next. Even though this is a story, I found myself wondering about the fate of the characters as I finished the last page. What went on to happen?

Go read this if you're looking for something different, and wonderful. It's worth it.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

Even though this book had a pretty predictable ending, it didn't disappoint. Focused on self-worth and how to eliminate the values people put on you, this was a great story of how overcoming the weight of others is entirely possible if you're willing to look around.

Nora Seed has kinda died. As long as the clock in a very strange library stays at midnight though, there's still hope. With books only about herself, Nora has the special opportunity to experience her other lives, maybe even find a better one. Each book contains the path she'd have taken if she'd made one choice differently. Some lead to good things, some to crazy adventures, and others to more unhappiness than she had in her real life (and that was a lot.)

As she travels, regrets begin to disappear. She realizes that some choices, while still painful, were better than the alternative. All the while, she hovers between life and death in her special midnight library.

Eventually she'll have to decide where she wants to plant her feet. Will she pick a new life, go back to the old one, or die. It's actually a very tough decision to for Nora to make, which speaks to the complexities of regret.

I liked Nora even with all her "issues," even though she gives up at times. She's open to learning about herself, to taking a crazy journey, to really seeing her world. Haig tells a very specific story that has universal appeal with an interesting, nuanced set of characters. We meet the kind old lady/librarian, a demanding father, a troubled sibling, the "bad" boyfriend, and more. They all come into play in Nora's lives and add so much depth.

It's apparent to the reader, even as Nora struggles to learn, where this whole path will lead. I enjoyed that the writing style allowed us to be a few steps ahead of Nora throughout. I'd get excited every time she made a breakthrough, or had an important experience. I wasn't on the journey with her, but was definitely sitting in her cheering section.

A super-fast read -- because it's good and straightforward -- this book immediately engages you on an emotional level. I can see why it's topping all the book lists right now, and I highly recommend it.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

 

Everything about this book hinges on the end. If it's done right, the story will be an intense, emotional read. If done wrong, it will feel overly-contrived and cliche.

At the end, I cried.

Putting a unique spin on fate, In Five Years starts with Dannie. She's a corporate lawyer who's young and hungry. She flourishes in knowing the details, in always having a plan. She knows things, like where to live in NYC, what firm she should work for, when exactly her boyfriend will propose. It's all figured out, until one night she falls asleep for an hour and lives a life five years in the future.

In this premonition nothing is as it should be, and Dannie wakes up in fear of what five years from now will do to her master plan. She can't tell anyone close to her about this vision, not her boyfriend or her absolute best friend, Bella. It's her secret, one she wants to try and prevent so her perfect life can unfold.

Flash forward to almost five years into the future, and Dannie feels like she's dodged the bullet. She's got the job, the fiance, the apartment, but then it all changes. And then it changes again. Each hiccup in her master plan brings her closer to that night she saw in her sleep, but not in the way she expected. At the end of the book, the night plays out exactly as it does in her dream (this isn't a spoiler) with incredibly different circumstances surrounding it. What she dreaded happening for five years might possibly be the night she'd been waiting for.

This is a story about great love and extreme grief. It's about letting yourself to feel big emotions whether or not they allow you to maintain control. Dannie is given a gift to see a moment of her future, and even though she misinterprets it, having the knowledge gives her solace when she needs it most.

This book surprised me in all the best ways. It is beautiful and sad, but powerful. The devotion of the characters was something special to read. You might need a tissue, but this is a good one.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

The thing I don't like about the romance genre is how absurd the stories get. The way characters connect, how everything fits so perfectly into place; it starts feeling icky. I realize the genre is meant for readers to escape reality, but all it ends up doing for me is jumpstart a lot of eye rolling.

Not the case with Beach Read. The coincidences are still there in the narrative, but with enough rough edges, enough baggage that's not interconnected, that it's okay. 

Our hero and heroine are trapped, deep in life's quicksand, in real and heartbreaking ways. That's a good thing. What's even better, they don't rescue each other from it. They buoy each other up because they fight for the right to do it.

This book is romance with glitches, pain, miscommunication, and so many tears. I didn't roll my eyes once. Also, both main characters are writers -- I really liked that.

The meet-cute happens because January has inherited a lake house, from her father, she never knew about. Her first night there, she encounters an annoying and rude neighbor who turns out to be Gus, her writing "rival" from college. He criticised her work when they were just students, and now she's a romance novelist and he's a Writer. They resume a frenemy-type relationship until they realize they can help each other with writer's block.

Pushing each other along to complete their books, things get real. Each character slowly unfolds to the other. Real stories are told. Real feelings shared. [slight spoiler coming up] They realize that it's not the happy ending that matters, but it's experiencing the happy moments as they are that counts.

This book is about love, but it doesn't limit itself to one kind. It's about romantic love, the love you have for your best friend, loving a parent, and finding the will to love after a betrayal. It's a sweet and light read that has purpose and heft. It's an appropriate choice so close to [eye roll] Valentine's Day. It lifts up the too steamy, mostly ridiculous genre of romance as well.

Recommended. 

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

 

Second Book Club Book #14
A Highway 59 Mystery - Book 2

To really enjoy this, you should read the first book in the series. The storyline is definitely a continuation, so grab Bluebird, Bluebird first.

The main character in this book is a new favorite of mine. He's a mess in a totally different way than what I'm used to, and I enjoy seeing into his life. It's complex for so many more reasons -- being an African American Texas Ranger, working in an area full of members of the Aryan Brotherhood -- but, it's also complex for so many common reasons -- shitty parents, unfulfilling love life, the nagging feeling that there's something better out there. He's a character I both understand and can learn a lot from. He's someone you should get to know.

In Heaven, My Home we're meeting back up with Darren after things have seemed to settle down from book one. He's working at a desk and his marriage seems to be back in order. The gun is still "missing" from the crime in the previous book, although that's both a relief and a major stressor for Darren (it would spoil things if I took that further.) 

Darren needs a distraction. Then, a young boy goes missing. His dad just happens to be in jail and is a big name in the Aryan Brotherhood. Maybe if Darren finds the kid, he can get the dad to help him out a little with this other, pressing thing, a murder.

What Darren finds when he goes to the small town where Levi King is missing is not what he expected. The heavily-felt, loudly-expressed racism, yes. But, then the plot thickens, people get shot, and shady business abounds. 

Days go by and everyone assumes Levi is dead. Only Darren decides to dig deeper in a case where everyone else seems to want to take the easy way out. 

The flow of the story expertly shows how quickly people are willing to pin everything on race when there's already a poignant vein of hate in the community. But, like with most things, conflict isn't always related to just one issue. I admire that Locke takes the time to express what is a serious issue in our country without pulling it from what's happening today. She lets it ride alongside other problems we see in this world, other flaws we find in people around us. It lets her story steep in reality.

I definitely liked this book better than the first, but I think that's only because we move deeper into the characters. We see how good deeds can go unrewarded, but also how wrongs are turned right when someone cares to put in the effort. It feels truthful to the many aspects of human character, and I appreciate the way she tells such a big story within this one person's life.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

 

There was a good idea hiding in this book, but it somehow missed the page. While I understand where the exciting points should be in this mysterious, slightly gothic novel, the anti-climactic way everything gets presented muted the entire story. I say all this upfront because I'm not sure you should even keep reading this review. This was not a book for me.

Catherine House is almost like an abstract painting. You can kind of feel what's going on, but nothing is drawn in a way that hits you over the head. I typically read mysterious stories to feel a 'wow' at some point. It's a, "wow, I didn't see that coming" or, "wow, I can't believe that actually happened." There were no 'wow's' here. Even the 'a-ha moments, as characters discover certain truths in the story, felt lackadaisical. 

It's even hard for me to summarize this story because so much about it bugs me, or falls short. Of course, I'll do it anyway, to a certain extent, this is a book review after all....

Catherine House is a college you go to for free if you get in. The only caveat is you can't make any contact with the outside world the entire time you're enrolled. You don't leave, there's no television, you're completely isolated. The admissions committee (if there is one) seems to target a certain type of student. They're all lost souls, I think, who aren't leaving behind anyone they have strong ties with, even if that includes their families. Why kids want to go here is never really made clear.

The school is also associated with a controversial area of science known as plasm. This isn't the study of a physical substance, like the name alludes to, but rather a force that somehow connects things and allows energy to be shared. In the past, the science was presented and shunned, so it's odd the school is still pursuing it without any type of review from the outside. Oh, and they're also experimenting on the students.

Then, there's The Tower, the location for near-torture punishment that nobody seems to have a problem with. Even when a student dies while there, we're all "cool" with it.

Everything about this book feels odd and not fully flushed out. The end lacks a much-needed sense of immediacy and sense. Through it all, the school seems to come away unscathed, as much by the outside world as the students who are suffering within its walls. It just doesn't feel entirely plausible. Even the student with the greatest internal conflict can't break fully away. It should feel scary, but it didn't.

It's okay to skip this one in my opinion. It's missing something, or a lot of things, to establish that emotional connection you want to feel when reading a story. At the very least, you want to feel some way about the characters, or the plot. I didn't.

Just Like You by Nick Hornby

 

Book club book #13

Nick Hornby won my heart with High Fidelity. Yes, I watched the movie first, and my love for John Cusack is decades old, but the book held up. From there, I've read others, so was excited to see a new book publish.

It's also nice that Hornby keeps things current. This book begins only a few years behind where we are today. Ending just before the pandemic, it's still nice to read a story within the obvious context of now. His decision to weave in conversations on Brexit and talk about Trump make it apparent that what the characters are dealing with here are still happening today.

And, Joseph and Lucy, the two main characters, are dealing with a lot. Most of what's happening stems from their relationship. They're having trouble overcoming their own personal issues. From race to age, and all that falls in between, they've got a lot to process. But, they like each other, and their connection is genuine. It may work out.

Of course, that involves overcoming the fact that Lucy is a nearly-divorced, mom of two, in her forties. She's a teacher, and she's smart. Joseph is 22. He works a few jobs to keep the money coming in while he tries to build a career as a DJ. He still lives at home with his mom. Lucy and Joseph meet at the butcher shop where Joseph works and Lucy shops. They make a connection when Joseph starts babysitting for Lucy's boys.

On top of all this, Lucy is white. Joseph is black. And, they may be on different sides of the Brexit vote. There's so much to process between the two of them, but it's even harder when they realize friends are going to have interact with them as a couple. Will Joseph always be the token person of color, or the kid? Will Lucy stand out like a sore thumb at the clubs?

It's all so much, complicated by the sometimes muddled language that occurs when someone who speaks American English (me) reads someone writing in British English. The struggle to figuring out the intricacies of this complex relationship, though, felt very real. It moved slowly, which is what you'd expect. 

I didn't feel like the characters were given equal treatment, so expect to be in Joseph's head much more than Lucy's. Also, expect Joseph, maybe because of his age, to grow more as a person. 

Overall, I liked this book and feel like Hornby has stayed true to his style and directness of character. I love the flaws he gives his characters and the complications he creates from seemingly simple origins. This is a good one. Read on friends!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Whether you like this book or not, it's impossible to not call it fascinating. Tracing the life of celebrity actress, Evelyn Hugo, you're given a behind-the-veil look at Old Hollywood and the struggles of being a successful woman in an industry that loves control.

Coming up in the 50's and 60's, Evelyn has an innate sense of how to work the system. She's gorgeous, and immediately begins using that, and the expectation that she needs a husband, to her advantage. Throughout an illustrious career, this leads to seven husbands. 

Her relationships are shrouded in assumptions, with only the media's speculations to show any insight. The truth is much more interesting.

Now, nearing the end of her life, Evelyn handpicks an up-and-coming journalist to capture her story. Her lack of skills makes it a curious choice, but there's a twist.

Monique has hit with a few pieces during her limited career as a writer. It's enough to get her a good job, with potential for growth. Her personal life, on the other hand, is a bit of a mess. She's grappling with the separation from her husband, and his subsequent move across the country. It's not that she misses him, she doesn't know how she really feels. That uncertainty is unsettling. It lingers until the call comes in from Evelyn's people. Monique has been specifically requested to do a piece, but what the opportunity becomes is a chance to capture the complete story of Evelyn's life. The truths Evelyn shares turn into more of a confession, a reveal of the life she really lived, who she really loved. She admits to mistakes with no regrets. She knows where she is happened because of all the good and bad in her past.

As Monique and Evelyn unravel this single life, a deeper connection is made. Monique finds herself, her voice. She's inspired by a woman who manipulated more strings to propel her life forward than you'd think possible.

Then, an informational bomb drops. Monique is forced to see an integral moment in her own life differently. Now she must decide how complicated her hate, and her respect, is for the woman who just shared her full story.

This book is somewhere between a piece of fictional commentary and a beach read. It goes fast, feels a bit cliche at times, but then hits you with a surprise whammy that makes you think. I liked the strength portrayed here by the female characters alongside their fallibility. I liked that nobody belonged on a pedestal, and that human nature was carefully explored from every angle. I liked the light the book shed on the fear that came with living outside the mainstream when that term still held all the value. This is an interesting and entertaining book, with just the right mix of emotions. Recommended.

Also by Taylor Jenkins Reid:

• Daisy Jones and the Six (reviewed Jan. 2020)