March Preview

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Susan

Greetings, we are headed into March, which I hope should improve the weather here. It was a very cold February — below 0 degrees Fahrenheit on many days, so I am happy to leave February in the rearview. With a bit more light and warmth, March should bring a hint of spring, or at least that’s my hope. Still February saw my second 5 star book of the year (rounded up from 4.5), which was Edward Carey’s novel “Little,” so it wasn’t all bad — (James Baldwin’s “If Beale Street Could Talk” being my first in January). And this week we are headed to NYC so we are quite excited. I haven’t been to the Big Apple since the 1990s so there’s much to see and do. If you don’t hear from me for a while, it’s just because I am away for several glorious days. 

For those who watched the Oscars, I hope you had a fun evening. I liked the surprises, especially actress Olivia Coleman’s win in “The Favourite” as well as Rami Malek for Best Actor in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (no offense to either Glenn Close or Christian Bale who missed getting Oscars but are always quite excellent.) The supporting role wins were great too with Regina King winning for “If Beale Street Could Talk” and Mahershala Ali for “Green Book.” Ali is terrific and I’m digging him in the HBO TV series “True Detective” these days. 

I wouldn’t have minded if Spike Lee had won Best Director for “BlackKklansman” instead of Alfonso Cuaron for “Roma,” or if “RBG” had won Best Documentary instead of “Free Solo,” but I guess you can’t win them all. Of the movies featured, I was glad “Green Book” won for Best Picture and thought some of the criticism surrounding the film for being a feel-good story about race relations has been a bit harsh. I heard some relatives of the real Dr. Don Shirley played by Mahershala Ali in “Green Book” are not pleased with the film saying it distorts history and focused on the white guy. I don’t fault or dispute them, but still think the “Green Book” story of the real life friendship between the pianist and his driver against the backdrop of the Jim Crow laws was effective and revealing from what I saw in the film. What did you think?

As for what’s coming out in March, there’s a plethora of new novels due out, including ones from such well-known authors as: Lisa See, Dave Eggers, and even a posthumous story from Sylvia Plath, written when she was a student at Smith College in 1952. Not sure Plath would like them digging out her old stuff but you know how these things go. Meanwhile I will choose Lisa See’s new one about an ancient guild of women divers on an island off the South Korean coast, who risk their lives harvesting oysters, sea slugs, and octopi from the sea and see their way of life change over the decades. The story involves a female friendship, family secrets and a betrayal, while depicting challenges faced by Koreans over the course of the 20th century. Who better than author Lisa See to depict their way of life?  Her impeccable research and stories of friendship always seem to leave a mark on you. 

Next up I’ll go with the consensus and pick Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel “Daisy Jones and the Six” about an iconic 1970s (fictional) rock group that topped the charts and sold out stadiums … only to break up suddenly. What was behind their rise and fall? Oh yes, I’ll need to find out. Are you kiddin’ …. a story about sex, drugs, rock and roll set in clubs along the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles with a storyteller like this … I’m not going to miss it.  But I have heard a few bloggers say the structure of the novel, which is told solely through transcribed interviews, takes some time getting used to. Kirkus Reviews says the way it’s told distracts from the storytelling and often feels gimmicky. Darn. Still for those nostalgic for the 1970s music scene, it’s said to be quite appealing and is already a popular read. 

I’m also curious about Candice Carty-Williams’s novel “Queenie” since it sounds like a bit of fun while being timely too — about a modern black woman searching for meaning in today’s world. The story follows Queenie Jenkins, a Jamaican-British woman, who after a messy breakup with her long-time white boyfriend, goes into a tailspin of making one bad decision after another. She eventually confronts her crisis with psychotherapy. Apparently the novel is said to have a boldness and honesty about it and doesn’t shy away from the messiness of sexual relationships and racial justice issues, so says Publishers Weekly. Kirkus Reviews calls it a black Bridget Jones. Well, is it or not? I will definitely have to find out. 

Next I’ll choose Peter Heller’s fourth novel “The River,” about two college friends whose friendship is tested when their late summer canoe trip in northern Canada turns perilous by an advancing wildfire, white water, and violence. Ahh this could be just the outdoors story I need midwinter … with a bit of action thrown in. I have read Peter Heller’s 2012 novel “The Dog Stars” as well as his 2014 novel “The Painter,” which were both decent. He likes to write western, male outdoorsy, wilderness kind of tales, and usually he can deliver the goods. This one reminds me only slightly of two river stories made into films: “The River Wild” with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon and “Deliverance” with Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty, which still gives me the chills. 

Lastly in books for March is a tie between Siri Hustvedt’s new novel “Memories of the Future,” which seems semi-autobiographical, and a debut novel by Andrea Rothman called “The DNA of You and Me” about a “bittersweet love story set within the cut-throat world of academic research,” so says Publishers Weekly. I’m a bit torn as I have read Siri Hustvedt before and her novels are always quite thought-provoking, often about memory — this one being about a midwestern girl’s first year in New York in 1978 as she tries to write a novel … and then forty years later as a veteran author finding her notebook from then and trying to connect with her prior self. Hmm. Or Rothman’s book about a driven female scientist who is forced to take a hard look at her future after a relationship with her lab partner. Both novels are garnering praise on Goodreads, so take your pick. 

As for movies in March there looks to be a fun one called “Gloria Bell” starring Julianne Moore playing a free-spirited divorcee who, after her daytime office job, likes to let loose at dance clubs around L.A … until she stumbles into a romance with Arnold played by John Turturro that complicates matters.

Oh hooray, what we could use about now is something light and fun — and perhaps this is it. Turturro is often endearing in his roles, such as Jesus Quintana in “The Big Lebowski” and Julianne Moore looks to be having a ball in this role, so what’s not to like? 

There’s also another sailboat movie, and my spouse, being a sailing enthusiast, often makes us see all these. This new one is called “Styx” about an ER doctor who embarks on a one-woman solo sailing trip — oh why do they do this to me — to an island in the Atlantic who must make a momentous decision when she comes across a sinking ship of refugees on the high seas. Uh-oh. One reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes likened it to Robert Redford’s survival /sailing film “All Is Lost” with a spinning moral compass. I don’t know the actress Susanne Wolff, who plays the sailor in “Styx,” but she’s German and seems fit for the role. We will see how she fares solo in the vast Atlantic. 

Meanwhile I might not be able to pass up Matthias Schoenaerts in “The Mustang” — a film produced by Robert Redford — about a violent convict who is given the chance to participate in a rehabilitation program involving the training of wild mustangs. The trailer for it looks pretty powerful and the hunky actor has been quite enticing ever since his role in the movie “Rust and Bone” in 2012.

In “The Mustang,” both character and horse seem to become tamed by each other through much hard work … and the cinematography looks to be quite stunning. So what more do you want? Just beware: it’s a bit of a tough prison drama.

Lastly in albums for March, I have my eye on new ones by American singer-songwriters Jenny Lewis and Patty Griffin as well as British musician David Gray. Wow it looks to be a great month for tunes. I’ll pick Lewis’s fourth solo album “On the Line” as my choice this month. She’s a bit of a bold girl with her album covers, wouldn’t you say? 

That’s all for now. What about you — which releases are you most looking forward to this month? 

Posted in Top Picks | 25 Comments

A Wintry Mix

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Susan

Greetings. I did not mean to take so much time between posts, but I guess recently I’ve liked including multiple reviews in one essay, because I think if a person isn’t interested in one book reviewed perhaps they can find another in the post that they might want to talk about more.  At least that’s my hope.  

Of course, this coming weekend: is the Academy Awards and I’ve seen quite a few of the nominated films, not all but many. We finally saw “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Green Book,” both of which we enjoyed. I’ve also seen the nominees: “Roma,” “Vice,” “A Star Is Born,” “First Reformed,” “First Man,” “Mary Poppins Returns,” “RBG,” “The Wife,” “BlackKkKlansman,” “A Quiet Place” … still we are missing a few of the others.  With all the sound offerings, it seems it’s been a strong year in movies. Don’t you think?

 I’m not exactly sure what will get Best Picture, but I could see them pulling a “Roma” on us, or “The Favourite” but what about “Green Book,” which might be my pick? And perhaps it’s Spike Lee’s year to win Best Director. The Best Acting categories are also quite interesting. I like Glenn Close’s chances for “The Wife,” but I’m torn a bit between Christian Bale and Rami Malek for Best Actor, though the veteran Bale for “Vice” will be tough to beat. The Supporting Acting categories look strong too.

Do you plan to watch and what are you picks? As an added bonus, the remaining members of the band Queen are scheduled to perform, as well as Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga will sing their song “Shallow,” which should be worth seeing. So we will compare notes about it afterwards. Meanwhile I will leave you with a few reviews of what I finished lately.  

Little by Edward Carey, 448 pages, Riverhead Books, 2018

Edited Synopsis via the Publisher:  This historical novel conjures the life and adventures of an orphan girl in Revolutionary Paris, befriended by royalty and radicals, who would become the legendary wax sculptor Madame Tussaud, known for the wax museum she founded in London in 1835. 

My Thoughts:  Wow I must admit I did not know anything about Madame Tussaud going into this novel or the chain of wax museums today that bear her name, but I picked up the story for its Revolutionary France setting, and boy I was not disappointed. I listened to it as an audiobook and while it was long, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all of its 14 hours over a couple weeks time. It reminded me of a Charles Dickens tale — perhaps a bit of “Oliver Twist” mixed with “A Tale of Two Cities.” 

The author breathes life into the adventures of the girl — Marie Grosholtz called “Little” — orphaned at age 7, who comes to live with Doctor Curtius who teaches her about casting wax heads. Fleeing creditors, they leave Switzerland and move to Paris, taking up residence in a big dilapidated house shared by a domineering widow and her pale son Edmund. There, Marie becomes a servant banished to the kitchen by the hateful widow, while Dr. Curtius continues to create his wax heads of famous thinkers and people of the day. 

The best part though is when — after a surprise royal visit — Marie manages to get herself invited to Versailles to tutor King Louis XVI’s sister Elizabeth. It’s her time at the palace where things get juicy. Marie rises in her ranks, becoming friends with Elizabeth amid the grandeur, which is amazing for a while but unluckily doesn’t last. In due time the monarchy is overcome by the Revolution and Marie gets imprisoned with little chance of survival. Yikes. She finds herself wasting away locked up, certain for the guillotine. 

Oh you have to read on to see what happens. Marie reminded me of an Oliver Twist-like orphan who you root for and who slowly makes her way in the world … going on to live quite a remarkable life, meeting Napoleon Bonaparte and various others of import along the way.

The audio is read by Jayne Entwistle who does an excellent job as Marie. My only lament is that I missed the author Edward Carey’s illustrations in the hardback edition, which I heard are excellent. Still it’s a great tale that comes to life and spans decades. Apparently it took the author 15 years to write and he got the idea from once working at Madame Tussauds wax museum in London. Here’s an interesting article he wrote about Tussaud in The Guardian newspaper. 

We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin,  336 pages, One World, 2019

I liked the semi-satirical construct of this debut novel … set in a near-future Southern city where racial divisions are worse than they are today with fenced-in ghettos and violent police patrols running the streets. A black father, who’s working to get ahead at a prominent law firm, is trying to do right by his biracial son who has dark birthmarks on his face and body. He hopes that if he can get a promotion he can afford to pay for a newly popular medical operation to remove his son’s blackness, giving him he thinks a better life. Meanwhile the father keeps it a secret from his wife who he knows won’t approve. 

The story is wryly told and the infighting at the law firm and power plays made it feel a bit like a sardonic version of John Grisham’s “The Firm” mixed with the racial issues of Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.” The city’s atmosphere, too, feels quite disturbing and unsettling. Yet the father’s preoccupation with changing his son’s face and skin gets rather bleak and exasperating — he seems to go to any length to make it possible — though it’s due to his love for his son to make his life better. Still it’s driving a wedge into his family (and perhaps the reader too). You’ll want to read on to see whether the father will succeed at his law firm, and what will become of his son’s operation and the family. 

 Admittedly when I read Ellison’s “Invisible Man” in the early 1990s I was blown away by it and was very tied to the character’s plight. This novel is obviously influenced by that classic but you feel nowhere near the level of involvement with the characters or the plot. There are episodes within the story that are well done — a costume party at the firm and an event at a plantation that go awry — yet other chapters seem like fillers. It felt a bit uneven in that way. Also I wanted to shake some sense into the father. Still the novel raises some notable questions … about racism in the future, how it shapes us, and how far one is willing to go to protect those they love. I’m glad I read it — particularly because it’s from a new voice and author who seems to have quite a bit to say in a satirical/dystopian kind of way.  

Beautiful Boy:  A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff, 326 pages, Houghton Mifflin, 2008

I think almost everyone has known someone who’s been affected by addiction … and so this hair-raising journey is familiar to so many. I picked it up because I was interested to finish the book before seeing the movie of it, which came out last fall, and because a couple of close friends of mine lost their lives to addiction, so I wanted to see if the father had the same experience trying to help, or if there was something new to learn. 

All in all, I found the father’s memoir to be a helpful, harrowing exploration of what happened to his son and how it affected him and their whole family. The father seems to tell it in a very open and honest way, chronologically as it happens, grasping at straws at what to do and also doing a ton of research to understand his son’s addiction, which ultimately is a story of: drug relapse and recovery, drug relapse and recovery, drug relapse and recovery, and on, and on, and on for 10 years. 

The amount of time, energy, money, resources, and mental capacity one can go through — as you see in this book — trying to help a loved one overcome addiction is astounding. It is exhausting, heart-wrenching and downright scary. The father notes some pitfalls along the way and what things one should consider and how not to lose sight of the rest of one’s family in the process. He also delves into the particulars of crystal meth addiction and how it’s a particularly horrifying drug that can screw with one’s personality and brain.  

I came away thinking that the father was very doting, caring and attentive to his son throughout his youth, surfing with him endlessly and devoting time with him. The son obviously was very loved and bright but his parents divorced early on and he seems to have become prone to depression. And with addiction there’s no rhyme or reason: it cuts across all families: ones that are loving and close, ones that are not, ones that are privileged, ones that are poor, ones from all walks and races of life. Still this family had the resources to get him into some top recovery centers, though it took a while to get him there. The scariest parts of the book are when the strung-out son’s gone missing for days at a time. Ohh it’s every parent’s worst nightmare. 

I found it to be a pretty effective book — the father isn’t perfect and seems to take responsibility for things he should have done differently; he second-guesses himself about the best approaches and what to do, exploring many facets of addiction in a helpful way. So I guess I was a bit surprised by some of the miffed responses about the book on Goodreads because of the family’s privileged background. It seems some wanted the author to acknowledge that more in the memoir — that his kid was lucky to get help from such recovery centers when those from poorer backgrounds would have been stuck in jail or worse. The socio-economic side of things aren’t overly addressed, so perhaps that’s a valid criticism, though I’ve heard that the son and dad address some of these issues in subsequent books. Hmm. 

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read any of these books, and if so, what did you think? 

Posted in Books, Movies | 18 Comments

February Reviews

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Susan

Greetings from the cold frontier. It appears February does not really want to cooperate with being friendly. Has your polar vortex disappeared yet?  Ours is still ongoing and we look to have our second weekend coming up with well below 0F temps. I’ve been donning my winter space suit to walk the dog, which appears to be working until I have to use my hands and take off my big mitts for brief moments. That can be ouch-worthy. Best bet is to have the husband do the dog-walking on the weekends. As for our yellow Labrador Stella — aka the book assistant — she never fully admits it’s cold outside and duly wants her walks as previously scheduled. She must have some insulation about her. After all, Labs like her are built to retrieve in cold water.

In book news this week, it appears that author A.J. Finn — aka Dan Mallory — sure took a beating after a New Yorker article revealed that the author of the bestselling thriller “The Woman in the Window” has lied about a whole lot of things in his own life …. including that he had cancer, that his mother had died of cancer, and that his brother had taken his own life. All of which are apparently untrue. Yikes. Why does one try to elicit sympathy in such a way? It seems a bit ill. I guess Mallory has admitted his lies and apologized now, but the uproar sure has lit up social media and the like. I wonder if it will put a damper on the movie adaptation of his book due out in October 2019, starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman. Egads you can’t be too happy if you’re putting up the money for the film. And now I’ll leave you with a few reviews of what I finished lately.   

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday (2018) 271 pages, paperback, from the library

Synopsis:  The novel has three separate parts to it: The first is about a young American editor (Alice) who’s an inspiring novelist — and her relationship with a famous, much older writer named Ezra Blazer (based loosely on Philip Roth who the author once had a relationship with). The very different second part is narrated by Amar, an Iraqi-American post-doc who, on his way to visit his brother in Kurdistan in 2008, is detained by immigration officers and spends the weekend in a holding room in Heathrow having flashbacks of his family’s past. And the last part is an interview of the same Ezra Blazer that along the way indirectly confirms how the parts of the story correlate.

My Thoughts:  This novel — hailed as one of the 10 Best Books of 2018 by the New York Times and various other publications — is quite a puzzle about how the three parts link together. I guess I didn’t really know that going in, so I wasn’t really on the lookout, hunting for subtle clues like I should have been in high school English class. So alas I blew it a bit … that indeed it’s a bit of an exercise or look at the creative process. 

Instead I was pulled in by the first section, about this young mid-20s girl — Alice (as in Wonderland) — who’s working in publishing and seeing this famous older author (Ezra) who must be like late 60s or 70. Gosh all I could think about was the author’s one-time relationship with Philip Roth and whether this all was true. Though apparently the author has cautioned against reading this section as total autobiography … so much was invented she says … but still (!) It’s a bit endearing and funny their banter — these two writers of mixed ages who seem to fit well with their preoccupation with fiction, old tunes, baseball watching, and sex. A bit icky or weird though too with their ages and his health issues, and he being a mentor.

The second part of the novel is totally different about this Iraqi-American post-doc (Amar) stuck at Heathrow Airport having flash backs to days with his family in Iraq and the war — I didn’t really see how this fit, but I really felt for him. And the third part about an interview with the author Ezra was interesting too but once again I was a bit clueless to its link… though there are clues, some of which I questioned along the way. 

Still it wasn’t till after reading about the novel that its main mystery was revealed to me and what the novel was seeking to do. In retrospect, in understanding it more, I liked it better and thought it was quite clever … about writing and how it can transport one across boundaries. That’s all I will say, if you like literary puzzles then go for it. As one reviewer  at the New York Times said: “Asymmetry is not complicated, but it cannot be read complacently. Like it or not, it will make you a better reader, a more active noticer. It hones your senses.” It’s enough to make me want to watch for her next book.

Descent by Tim Johnston (2015) 384 pages, hardback, from the library

Synopsis:  The story follows the fracturing of a family following the disappearance of the 18-year-old daughter during a Colorado vacation. Caitlin is about to enter college on a track scholarship when she fails to come back from an early morning run with her brother who is found injured. Over the course of the next two years, the parents and the brother each go through their own troubles as no sign of Caitlin is found. 

My Thoughts:  This is another missing person/abduction kind of story, whose genre I’m sort of tiring of. I think I picked this one up because of the hype and because the author has a new novel out called “The Current” to compare it with. I was also interested in its Rocky Mountain setting, where I once lived. I read the novel pretty quickly though it does jump around a bit among the characters and the italic parts (some of which it has throughout) are always a bit of a chore on the eyes. 

I thought it was a decent thriller though a couple things bugged me along the way: for one, the brother and father stay in Colorado to apparently keep searching for their sister/daughter yet they never seem to do any searching or none is described. I understand the story comes after the initial months of searching, still I was freaked about keeping up the search. I would’ve torn that mountain apart, from top to bottom. Meanwhile the characters sort of whine, meander, get in trouble, and fall apart. 

Another thing, there’s so much smoking in the book; everyone is smoking though the missing girl apparently was a great runner and was granted a college scholarship for track, yet all of her relatives are big smokers. Really? I guess it’s to show stress. But blah, one more mention of lighting a cigarette by so-so in the book and I would’ve tossed it across the room into the fire. There’s your cigarette.

Though I guess I liked the part about the town bully guy, Billy, doing some good toward the end of the story, which felt a bit redeeming. The novel has some things going for it that I liked — a suspense that builds around some definable family characters, but I also felt it had some things that hindered it. So for me it was half and half.  

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018), 240 pages, audiobook

 Synopsis:  You guessed it, the novel is about two sisters in Nigeria — the pretty, younger sister Ayoola is the one who has a habit of killing her boyfriends (the last three) and the older sister Korede (a nurse at the hospital) is the one who cleans up the mess and keeps it under wraps. But when a doctor, Korede is in love with, falls for her sister, she must reckon with what her sister has become and how far she’s willing to go to protect her.  Uh-oh.

My Thoughts:  Yes this novel has made the round on blogs already and I’m on the bandwagon about it being favorable as well.  I thought it was clever and I liked its ending. The older sister narrator, Korede, has a sardonic world-weary voice that makes the telling of this “black widow” tale appealing. It’s hard to even explain — how something so awful and serious of a novel about a sister’s killings — can be construed as light and refreshing as well. Say what??? There’s various degrees and emotions in this story, from: deadpan humor to guilt and heartfelt truth-seeking and love. Korede is trying to save the day and come up with answers. She sure can clean a car transporting a body better than those guys did in “Pulp Fiction.” I know I’ll never look at bleach the same way again. 

All the while the novel is told in short snappy chapters that keep things moving. By the end, you find out why these sisters are so bound together …. from their childhood. They really have each other’s backs. I was impressed by the sibling aspect of this novel, as well as the story’s wit and its turns, and its Nigerian setting. 

What about you — have you read any of these novels — and if so, what did you think? 

Posted in Books | 24 Comments

February Preview

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Susan

Ohh February.  It’s usually the coldest month of the year here — and sure enough, our surprisingly mild winter that we’ve been enjoying is about to change over the weekend to minus Fahrenheit temps. Yikes. I’m sure those in the Midwest can relate with their “polar vortex” going on there. What’s coming here is said to be a “deep freeze” with brutal wind chill. Regardless, stay safe everyone — and indoors when you can.

Meanwhile the Super Bowl, Grammys, and the Academy Awards are all happening this month — plus the holiday over Washington’s Birthday on Feb. 18 — so it’s a short, but busy month. Luckily we are not traveling anywhere till the very end of February when we go on a brief trip to NYC, woohoo: bumpkins head to the big city. Until then I will try to keep apace  with my reading. Here’s what’s up in new releases:

There’s a plethora of fiction coming out this month — new ones by such well-known authors as Marlon James, Kate Quinn, and Jane Harper among others. The Marlon James novel “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” has already been hailed and given 5 stars by Ron Charles of The Washington Post, but I’m not exactly a big fantasy reader so I will likely pass it by on the first go-around. As for the new Kate Quinn WWII novel “The Huntress” — it looks good but since I recently finished her bestselling novel “The Alice Network,” I think I will wait for a while as the new one looks to have some similar components to it. In regards to Aussie author Jane Harper’s new mystery “The Lost Man,” I’m a bit torn. I’ve read her two prior books “The Dry” and “The Force of Nature” featuring sexy single federal agent Aaron Falk and I liked them both though I didn’t love, love them. Yet her new one is said to be her “best yet” so I’m curious about that, although it’s a stand-alone book without Aaron Falk. Darn how can I meander into the Australian Outback without Aaron; I’ll likely have to wrap my head around that before I can move on to her new book.

Meanwhile I’m looking to get my hands on Lauren Wilkinson’s debut novel “American Spy,” which is about a black woman tapped by the CIA for a mission in 1987 to undermine the revolutionary leader of Burkino Faso and sway the government to U.S. interests. Along the way, I gather there are many complications and she begins to question her loyalties. It’s a novel that said to be inspired by true events of a real-life coup d’état in Burkina Faso and includes a protagonist who, according to author Lydia Kiesling, “thrillingly forges her own way through the tangles of patriotism, service, love, and loyalty.” Apparently it combines the espionage novels of John le Carré — so writes Publishers Weekly — with the racial complexity of Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.” And the narrator sounds quite appealing in this, so I’m eager to check it out.  

Next up, I wonder about Angie Thomas’s new young adult novel “On the Come Up” about a 16-year-girl who wants to become a rap star despite all the obstacles in her daily life.  Hmm it sounds a bit like a black female “8 Mile” kind of story. Granted I’m not a big reader of YA novels (especially lengthy ones) or a follower in general of rap and hip-hop music. Still this author wrote the bestselling “The Hate U Give” novel that was so touted but I missed (so far). And I think I could respect the girl’s passion for music and for following her dreams when the odds are stacked against her. The novel also apparently delves into teen frustrations and freedom of speech issues, so it could be just as topical as “The Hate U Give.” What do you say?

Also I like the looks of Whitney Scharer’s debut novel “The Age of Light” about the real life of Lee Miller, the Vogue model-turned photographer who had a tumultuous relationship with photographer Man Ray in Paris in the 1930s. I admit I know nothing about Lee Miller but apparently she went from muse to accomplished World War II photographer and was one of the first female war correspondents. And according to author Madeline Miller:  “Whitney Scharer’s storytelling is utterly immersive … transporting you into Lee Miller’s life, and her struggles to be taken seriously in a man’s world. This is a powerful, sensual and gripping portrait of the forging of an artist’s soul.” It’s a story that reminds me a little of Paula McLain’s novel “Love and Ruin” about Martha Gellhorn and her relationship with Ernest Hemingway, which I read last year, but perhaps this one will be a bit different too. Is Scharer’s storytelling that good?  I’ll need to read it to find out. 

Lastly, for fans of Jen Beagin’s popular 2015 novel “Pretend I’m Dead,” she has a sequel coming out called “Vacuum in the Dark.”  Admittedly, I missed her first novel so I don’t know if her edgy, quirky protagonist’s rough humor will be my cup of tea but now I’m a bit curious to check out both. This one picks up Mona’s story when she’s 26 working as a cleaning lady and living in Taos, New Mexico, where the efforts to restart her life haven’t exactly gone as planned. She has another bad boyfriend (since the first novel) and complicated clients that remind her of her troubled past. So like in the first book I gather, this one sees Mona on a journey of self-discovery in which she must come to terms with her difficult past and where she can go from here. I think this one will either be a hit or a miss depending on one’s sensibilities. So we’ll see.

Meanwhile in movie releases this month there’s not a whole lot out there since it’s Oscar month and those films are still being shown around. But they seem to be advertising the heck out of the comedy “What Men Want” starring Taraji P. Henson as a woman who develops the ability to hear men’s thoughts, uh-oh. The trailer of that movie is everywhere. Granted some of it looks quite funny (for a rental) but I’m not sure it’s theater-worthy material, right? Instead, in honor of the polar vortex going on I’ll select the movie “Arctic” for my pick this month — about a man stranded in the Arctic after an airplane crash who “must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown in hopes of making it out alive” — so writes Bleecker Street films. Uh-oh, it sounds like a doozy of a survival tale and do I ever miss those? No. I’ve seen most of them, including “Adrift” “Cast Away” “127 Hours” — you name it, I’ve endured it.

Lastly in albums for February, there’s not much out this month. Music releases seem to be waiting for the thaw of March and spring to come first. But of those I might like, I noticed that Ryan Bingham, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and the Lemonheads have new albums coming out this month. Apparently it will be the first album for the Lemonheads in 10 years and it’s an album of cover songs called “Varshons 2.” I don’t know much about it so far but I’ve always liked lead singer Evan Dando’s voice, so I’ll go with the Lemonheads’ new one for my February pick.

That’s all for now.  What about you — what new releases are you most looking forward to this month … and do you plan to watch the Game on Sunday?

Posted in Top Picks | 16 Comments

January Reviews

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Susan

Greetings. I hope you are enjoying your January. My book assistant at left is staying nice and warm; she particularly likes lying on the couch next to the portable heater, often stealing my seat to get closest to it. Meanwhile I was sad to hear that prize-winning poet Mary Oliver passed away last week. Her poems often featured nature and animals and I recall reading her 2013 collection called “Dog Songs” just last year, which made me happy she seemed a kindred dog person. I haven’t read many of Mary Oliver’s collections, but the couple I have read are quite beautiful. I’m sure she will be missed by many.

Also in the news was the Oscar nominations in which the Netflix movie “Roma” and the period-drama “The Favourite” led the pack with 10 award nominations each. I have not seen either so I need to remedy that — as well as see the movie “Green Book” and a few others before the Oscar broadcast on Feb. 24. Do you have a favorite nominee? I’m still thinking it through. For now I’ll leave you with reviews of a few books that I finished back in December. Yes, I’m playing catch-up….  

Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks (2018) 320 pages

Short Synopsis:  The lives of two unlikely characters cross paths as they come to share a lodging in Paris. The chapters alternate in first person narration between: Hannah who is a 30-something American historian researching women’s lives under the Nazi Occupation in Paris (1940-44); and Tariq, a 19-year-old Moroccan boy, who comes to the city to find out where his deceased mother once lived. Both undergo self-discoveries as they navigate the streets of Paris and their lives there, searching for clues in the foreign City of Lights.

My Thoughts: I liked the premise of this novel, which I read in print as well as listened to as an audiobook, and how it meanders the streets of Paris and its history. As Hannah is delving into women’s histories from WWII, Tariq learns a bit working at a fast-food joint with fellow Muslims about France’s colonial war with Algeria. Both are undergoing personal changes too, Tariq is coming of age and fantasizing about a girl back home, while Hannah is visiting with a former professor, and still overcoming a past relationship that she had while she was in Paris a decade earlier as a student. Though dissimilar they become friends and Tariq helps Hannah with some translations of French recordings of women who experienced WWII.   

The novel reads a bit like a love letter to Paris and that appealed to me— as well as its glimpse into the Occupation — since my husband and I visited the city last June touring World War II sights. (We ate lunch at the hotel that was the German headquarters in Paris and saw the bullet holes at the front entrance put there when the Free France forces stormed it in 1944.) Hannah’s research unearths recordings of a few different women’s voices who were informers, Resistance members, and those who were retaliated against after the war for their ties to German troops. 

These parts to me were the most interesting in the novel. Other parts with Tariq and his adventures around the city didn’t work as well or were not as compelling to me. I pressed myself a bit to see the two characters’ self-discoveries to the end as the story sort of meanders and ebbs and flows. Still the setting and exploration of Paris seemed well worth the read. (This was my third Sebastian Faulks’ novel over the years after reading “Birdsong” from 1993 and “Charlotte Gray” from 1998, which are WWI and WWII tales respectively.)

Disclaimer: Thanks to Henry Holt Books for sending me a copy of this novel to review.  

The White Darkness by David Grann (2018) 160 pages

Short Synopsis:  This nonfiction story — first published in the New Yorker in Feb. 2018 then made into a book — captures the life of Henry Worsley who was a British special forces officer that so idolized 19th-century polar explorer Ernest Shackleton that he set off in 2008 to trek with two others the route across Antarctica that Shackleton failed to finish. Worsley succeeded that arduous journey, only to be drawn back in 2015, at age 55, to try a dangerous trek across Antarctica alone.  

My Thoughts:  Oh how I love reading about the polar explorers and their journeys. And for fans of such gigantic excursions, this slim but moving book is not to be missed. This story takes you through what Henry Worsley faced on his Antartica treks and what happened on both. I could imagine it — under Grann’s skillful words — the cold and the pull of the heavy sled behind him for hours and days on end, as well as being in the tent on the frozen landscape at night. The book includes many awesome photographs that draws you in further — to a place that is on average the coldest, driest, windiest continent on Earth — as well as the highest. It isn’t any wonder it’s nearly impossible to walk across. 

I came away being so impressed by what a person and explorer Worsley was. He seemed to emulate the very leadership and qualities of Shackleton that he so admired. A devoted family man and officer — Worsley was regarded so highly by all who knew him. If you don’t know from news reports about his life, I won’t tell you what happened. But it’s worth reading about his journeys in this small gem of a book. I won’t soon forget Henry Worsley and what he accomplished.  

The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar (2014)  317 pages

Short Synopsis:  Set in an unnamed U.S. northeastern university city, the story follows the friendship between two dissimilar women who meet when one of them as a psychologist takes on the case of the other who has tried to commit suicide. Maggie is the black psychologist married to an Indian man who takes on Lakshmi’s case. Lakshmi’s a young immigrant from India who’s in an arranged marriage to a man who doesn’t love her.  Maggie and Lakshmi meet as doctor and patient but later become friends outside the office.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed the author’s 2017 novel “Everybody’s Son” so I thought I would try this 2014 novel of hers and it did not disappoint. Like that novel, this one explores themes of race, class, identity and isolation in an engaging domestic drama that in due time is hard to put down. 

Sure both women have faults and secrets — Maggie is having an affair, which she can’t seem to break off, and Lakshmi is weak and lonely and won’t stand up to her abusive husband who was supposed to marry her sister — that might fray your nerves but you get too involved in their connected story to slowdown where this is going. 

It’s no wonder Maggie and Lakshmi’s lives end up colliding in an explosive occurrence that unravels their friendship and has consequences that changes their lives in detrimental ways. Only years later something happens that leaves open the possibility of redemption and forgiveness. 

Hmm, if you like domestic dramas, this one will take you for a ride. It’s sort of like the kind of novel that Celeste Ng writes if you like those. This is only my second Thrity Umrigar novel (she’s pretty prolific), but I plan to continue to read her in the future. She’s usually an engaging storyteller who often writes about the lives of women from India.  

That’s all for now.  What about you — have you read any of these novels and if so, what did you think? 

Posted in Books | 18 Comments

The First Three Books of 2019 and Vice

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Susan

Happy sunrise everyone. I captured this shot while walking my dog early one morning down near the tracks. It makes me think that we will see spring hopefully in a few months time. Already the days are staying lighter longer. Below are reviews of my first three books of 2019, yea!  I’m on a good, even pace right now, though I still need to post reviews of my last three books of 2018 that I finished in December, uh-oh. I was going to include them in this post, but I think I will wait. It’s too much to cram in six book reviews, no matter how succinct. Meanwhile I hope everyone is enjoying the start of their new year and liking their first reads of 2019.

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (2019) 320 pages

Short Synopsis: (edited from Publishers Weekly’s blurb) Set in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, the story follows a handful of characters who become quarantined in the town after a mysterious illness causes its victims to fall into a deep, dream-laden sleep from which they cannot be woken and which sometimes leads to death.

My Thoughts: Uh-oh this malady starts at a college and spreads to the surrounding town. I fell into the story from the get-go and liked its small cast of regulars, especially the college freshman Mei who teams with her eccentric classmate Matthew to help others during the chaotic days of the illness; and a young couple who try to protect their newborn baby from it; as well as two adolescent sisters left on their own after their survivalist father succumbs and is taken away. 

It’s a daunting premise and I didn’t really know what was going to happen. The ending might have been slightly a letdown for me as it didn’t really answer all my questions about the mystery or go out with a big finale, but instead it seemed to raise other questions about consciousness and time and whether the victims were dreaming about the past or the future — as well as it highlighted what binds individuals together under such dire circumstances. All in all, I found it kept my interest and its apocalyptic vision and feelings of alienation felt pretty real. I thought the author infused it with some insightful and inspired writing and passages.

So I was a bit surprised to see Dwight Garner rip it apart in his review of the novel in the NY Times. He called the author “a limited and sentimental novelist” and critiqued the characters for being nearly all “exceedingly nice”; he wrote: “None of these characters says or does an interesting thing. Anarchic instincts and impure thoughts are kept to the barest minimum. … Reading this book’s bland dialogue is like watching players on center court use dead tennis balls.”  Yikes, a tennis analogy too — that’s my game. I guess call me limited and sentimental then as I thought it was worthwhile and at times astute. I decided to include Dwight Garner’s thoughts here just to see what others might think.

Disclaimer: Thanks to the publisher Random House for the free e-galley of this book that I received to review via Netgalley.

Those Who Knew by Idra Novey (2018) 248 pages

Short Synopsis:  (edited from publisher’s version) It features a small circle of characters on an unnamed island country 10 years after the collapse of a U.S.-supported regime. Lena, once a student activist during those days, is now a teacher who comes to suspect that a female aide to a powerful progressive senator named Victor is being taking advantage of by him. When the aide winds up dead, Lena, who once was involved with Victor, suspects he’s had a hand in it.

My Thoughts: I listened to this as an audiobook and was easily hooked from the start. Along with Lena, there’s also her best friend Olga, a bookstore owner, and Freddie the senator’s gay brother who suspects him too. I liked the story’s themes: about Lena’s guilt and complicity over her silence about what happened to her decades earlier; her helplessness about the current situation; and its focus on power. 

It’s a timely story considering these #MeToo days, though I believe the author started her novel years earlier. Surely, Victor is a misogynistic, violent guy whose recent marriage to Christina is only for political convenience — wow he’s dreadful throughout this. The story has three parts to it and I guess I just wish it hadn’t jumped so much in time between Part 1 and 2. The writing is well done though a bit scattered in time and among the characters. While it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I liked its self-discoveries and final reckoning.

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin (1974) 197 pages

Short Synopsis: (edited from publisher’s version) Set in Harlem, N.Y., it’s about a wrongly imprisoned African American, 22-year-old Fonny, and his pregnant fiance, Tish, who tells the story.  Their families fight to clear his name and spring him from prison while the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions. 

My Thoughts: Oh thank goodness for James Baldwin. I read this before seeing the movie, which I hope to see soon. I love Baldwin’s outrage of America’s wrongs in this, his truths, and how he lays it on the line. He tells it like it is and his thoughts about racism in America are keen. This is a potent story and the writing propels one along through the streets of New York in the early 1970s. Tish’s family tries their damndest to raise money for lawyer expenses and they make sacrifices to try to free Fonny but every step of the way seems thwarted and it ends with tragic consequences.

The novel’s story reminded me a bit of Tayari Jones’s “An American Marriage,” which I read last year, and I wondered if she took the idea — of lovers kept from one another by a false imprisonment — from Baldwin’s book or not. Hers is a bit different — perhaps with a more modern-day spin on it. Still as good as Tayari’s story was, I felt Baldwin’s “Beale Street” was a bit more potent and hopeless.

Lastly, we saw the movie “Vice” last night, which is a pretty dark satire about the story of Dick Cheney’s early life and rise leading to his incredible power within the George Bush administration and his unique role in the war with Iraq. I usually like Washington political kinds of movies but this one is so infuriating and overbearing — and even though I suspect the assertions in it are mostly true — it’s just yuck. It’s not a thing you really want to see or re-live about your country.

Yet the performances in it are all quite incredible — Christian Bale as Cheney; Amy Adams as his wife, Lynne; Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush; and Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld. Indeed Bale should get an Oscar for nailing Cheney’s annoying mannerisms. The movie makes it seem like it was all about power and perhaps it oversimplifies things and is quite scathing in its delivery, yet it seems brave to have been made too. Surely the movie is about 15 to 20 minutes too long and I’m not sure it will entice the average viewer outside of political junkies. I guess it’s not a movie that endeared me or I totally liked, but I’m glad I saw it.

What about you — have you read these novels or seen this movie — and if so, what did you think?

Posted in Books | 26 Comments

January Preview

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Susan

How is your new year going? All is good here, albeit a little chilly in Canada. At left, is a shot taken at Christmas time of Catalina Island from afar with the sun setting behind it. Ahh the gems of California. Lovely. I opened my year by reading James Baldwin’s short classic “If Beale Street Could Talk,” which turned out to be a great way to start 2019. You could say he’s an author who doesn’t mince words … he’s a powerful writer who lays it on the line and writes it like it is.

I’ll be reviewing it later, but I wanted to read it to lead up to seeing the movie of it, which many critics liked. And I was glad to see Regina King win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for “If Beale Street Could Talk” as well as Glenn Close win the Best Actress award for her role in “The Wife.” Wow, two book adaptation wins.  By the way: Glenn Close gave a great speech at the Golden Globes. Wasn’t it about time for her to win a big award?  The movie “Green Book” seemed to be a big winner at the Globes as well as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which surprised most people by beating out “A Star Is Born” in a couple of categories. I want to see the Freddie Mercury /Queen film soon. I did see the Lady Gaga-Bradley Cooper movie and liked the singing performances in it more so than a bit of the story. But there’s more I’d like to see before the Oscars on Feb. 24.

Meanwhile I’ve been looking at what’s releasing this month and there looks to be some strong contemporary fiction. Currently I’m in the middle of Karen Thompson Walker’s sophomore novel “The Dreamers” and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. It’s about an isolated college town that is transformed after a mysterious illness triggers perpetual sleep in those afflicted. Uh-oh. Wow the author seems to have just the right touch in this modern “Midsummer Night’s Dream” kind of apocalyptic story. It makes me want to read her first novel “The Age of Miracles,” which I heard is also excellent. And it doesn’t hurt to have author Emily St. John Mandel of “Station Eleven” fame call “The Dreamers” “stunning” on the front cover of the book. That’s good enough for me. 

Next up, I’m keen to get my hands on Tim Johnston’s second thriller novel “The Current,” which Susie over at the blog Novel Visits says won’t disappoint fans of his breakout 2015 debut book “Descent.”

This one is about two women who are pulled out of a car plunged into an icy Minnesota river — one dead and one barely alive … who learns what happened to her might be connected to an unsolved similar criminal case 10 years prior. Seeking answers, the survivor starts her own investigation looking into truths that simmer beneath the surface of her cold northern hometown. Uh-oh. “The Current” sounds like just the right fast-paced thriller to jumpstart the year. So what are you waiting for?

Then there’s Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s satirical debut novel “We Cast a Shadow,” which is getting quite a bit of praise and has been likened to Paul Betty’s award-winning book “The Sellout” and the film “Get Out.” Set in a near-future Southern city, “We Cast a Shadow,” says author Roxane Gay, “tells the story of a man—one of the few black men at his law firm—desperate to pay for his biracial son to undergo demelanization, desperate to ‘fix’ what he sees as his son’s fatal flaw.” Uh-oh. But how far will he go to protect his son?  It’s said to be a keen satire of surviving racism in America and a profoundly moving family story — one which we “should all read and heed” writes Roxane Gay. Hmm. It seems thought-provoking and good so count me in. 

I’m also considering picking up Kristen Roupenian’s short story collection “You Know You Want This,” as well as Madhuri Vijay’s novel “The Far Field,” and Mesha Maren’s “Sugar Run.” All debuts, don’t you love it?  Finding new talented authors is like falling into a bowl of ice cream. You often come out with good surprises — you know what I mean. 

Roupenian’s book comes after her story “Cat Power” in the New Yorker went viral last year, so I’m curious about more of her writing. And Vijay’s novel “The Far Field” follows a complicated wandering woman “across the Indian subcontinent as she reckons with her past, her desires, and the tumultuous present.” It’s said to deal with Indian politics in Kashmir, class prejudice, and sexuality through the lens of an outsider. Hmm, could be just the ticket. Or else the novel “Sugar Run” about a woman who’s released from prison and tries to rebuild her life only to find her aim thrown off course time and again. Uh-oh. I’m game. This one sounds like gritty Southern noir that’s been hailed by the likes of Lauren Groff and Charles Frazier among others. What more do you want? 

As for movies releasing this month, I’m not sure I see many worth seeing at the theater per se, but that’s okay since there’s many that came out at the end of last year that I still need to see.  The two most commercial films this month are likely: “The Upside,” which is based on the 2011 French movie “The Intouchables” about a wealthy quadriplegic man (played by Bryan Cranston) and the unemployed guy (Kevin Hart) hired to help him, which looks charming and funny but maybe overdone? …. and then there’s the neo-noir thriller “Serenity” starring Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey in a hire-to-kill fishing boat kind of thriller, which could be either hokey or adequate for a suspense flick. So take your pick. I guess I’m a bit lukewarm on both, but they could make for decent TV rentals on a winter’s day. What do you say? Meanwhile there’s plenty of Oscar nominated movies to see over the next couple of months so get thee to the Big Screen for those.

Lastly for album releases this month, I’m curious to listen to German-Canadian singer-songwriter Alice Merton’s debut album “Mint” and American Maggie Roger’s new album “Heard It in a Past Life.” She hails from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, my my. Both women (the first just 25 the latter 24 years old) sound quite talented so I’m keen to start off the new year with these new listens. Let’s hear it for young singing talent.

What about you — which releases this month are you most interested in? 

Posted in Top Picks | 20 Comments

The Year in Review and 2018 Favorites

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Susan

Happy New Year & 2019!   We just got back on Monday from our Christmas in Southern California visiting with family, so please excuse me if I haven’t stopped by your blog lately.  I plan to do so soon. We had a great time there with my siblings and parents. And at left, is my sister’s dog Sadie; she’s the half-sister of my dog Stella, who couldn’t come this time around. While they look similar as yellow Labs, they have quite different personalities, ha! But they are both great dogs.

Now as I look back on my 2018 in reading, I see that I completed 6 books less than I did the year before. It wasn’t exactly a stellar year in terms of quantity, but I enjoyed some excellent books all the same and plan to set new reading and blogging goals and priorities for the year ahead that I think will boost my overall totals and enjoyment. Things got a bit away from me in mid-2018, but with renewed focus, I will get to more wonderful stories in 2019.

In looking back on my year, it seems I really got more into reading historical fiction this year, which I don’t think I had preferred much in the past. I find that surprising but also great — liking this new category. I’m into it. For now, I’ll leave you with some of my stats for 2018 as well as some favorites. The top fiction and nonfiction books left a strong impression on me! (I tried to place them in order of liking them.) Let me know if you had some similar favorites, or if you disagree.

  • Books Completed: 55
  • Fiction: 45
  • Nonfiction: 10
  • Print: 26
  • Audiobooks 29
  • Female Authors: 40
  • Male Authors: 15
  • Non-white Authors: 12
  • American Authors: 37
  • British Authors: 13
  • Canadian Authors: 3
  • Australian Authors: 2

Favorite Fiction:

  • Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (2018)
  • Varina by Charles Frazier (2018)
  • The Power by Naomi Alderman (2017)
  • Elmet by Fiona Mozley (2017)
  • Tin Man by Sarah Winman (2018)
  • An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (2018)
  • The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer (2018)

Favorite Nonfiction:

  • A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols (2001)
  • The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese (1998)
  • The White Darkness by David Grann (2018)
  • I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (2018)
  • Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (1994)
  • From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (2018)
  • Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose by Joe Biden (2017)

Favorite Debut Novels:

  • Elmet by Fiona Mozley (2017)
  • Tangerine by Christine Mangan (2018)
  • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018)
  • Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017)
  • The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli (2010)
  • There There by Tommy Orange (2018)

Favorite Memoirs:

  • The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese (1998)
  • From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (2018)
  • Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (1994)
  • Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden (2017)
  • I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (2018)

Favorite Thrillers / Suspense Fiction

  • Sunburn by Laura Lippman (2018)
  • The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn (2018)
  • Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin
  • Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips (2017)
  • The Party by Robyn Harding (2017)
  • The Ex by Alafair Burke (2017)
  • Need to Know by Karen Cleveland (2018)

Classics:

  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
  • O Pioneers! by Willa Cather 

Favorite Historical Fiction:

  • Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (2018)
  • Varina by Charles Frazier (2018)
  • The Removes by Tatjana Soli (2018)
  • Love & Ruin by Paula McLain (2018)
  • The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli (2010)
  • The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (2017)
  • The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim (2018)
  • Vi by Kim Thuy (2016)

Favorite 2018 Movies (I’ve seen so far):

  • Widows 
  • RBG
  • Leave No Trace
  • Adrift
  • A Quiet Place
  • The Wife

Other 2018 movies I’ve seen : A Star Is Born, BlacKkKlansman, First Reformed, The Rider, Private Life, First Man, Crazy Rich Asians, Breath, The Mercy, Hunter Killer, Mary Poppins Returns 

2018 movies I still want to see: If Beale Street Could Talk; Can You Ever Forgive Me?; The Children Act; On Chesil Beach; Wildlife; Blindspotting, Vice

Favorite 2018 Albums:

  • Brandi Carlile “By the Way I Forgive You”
  • Leon Bridges “Good Thing”

That’s all for now.  What about you — how did your reading year go … and what were your favorites?

Posted in Top Picks | 22 Comments

December Reviews

Posted on December 15, 2018 by Susan

Happy holidays. How is your month going so far?  Getting hectic?  We are counting down the days now and have about one more week here before flying down south to join up with family in California. I usually do all my gift shopping once I get there since it’s usually easier and cheaper to do it that way. And if you leave it till Dec. 24 like me, then you really are living on the edge …. but don’t worry, it can (and will) be done.  Meanwhile, it’s been quite mild here this past month and there’s no snow in the forecast for the foreseeable future.  How unusual it’s been. Could it be a green Christmas this far north?!  We have a couple inches on the ground now but it’s melting away thanks to a bit of wind. Who knows what the second half of winter will bring. For now I’ll leave you with a few reviews of what I finished lately. 

There was quite a bit I liked about this novel of two sisters growing up on opposite sides of the world. One sister (Inja) grows up in war-torn Korea with her grandparents and Uncle/Aunt, while the other sister (Miran) grows up in the prosperous American suburbs with her parents. The parents left the child behind in 1948 thinking they would return soon for her but then the Korean War breaks out and they are unable to return for the child who ends up living with her extended family for more than a decade before she can be reunited. Yikes. It’s a story that highlights how difficult this decision is on all of them and also how hard returning one sister is as well — after she’s grown up in one country with family to be taken from them and placed in another country with her birth parents later in life. 

Apparently it’s based on the author’s own family story, which she talks about in a note at the end of the novel. One sister of hers was left behind in Korea then joined them later in life.  It’s an interesting premise —  family separated by war — and one that comes alive as the novel is told in alternating chapters by the two young sisters in different countries. I liked learning about the Korean side of things — the geography, history and the war and how it tore families apart. The cultural differences too are interesting. There is one main secret within the family — and perhaps a few other small ones — that come to light as the girls grow older.  

Why for instance was one sister left behind?  It is eventually revealed in the story but I’m not sure I could fully grasp it. The separation and reunification seem to cause so many hardships to the sisters and family that surely it seemed a grave mistake … but obviously the parents didn’t think war would break out when it did. Neither of the sisters has it easy:  the sister in America is sort of overlooked by her parents who are so worried about their daughter in war-torn Korea; and the daughter in Korea is being raised in rough conditions by those who are not her parents.  

Towards the end I thought maybe the novel made it out to be too much about “secrets” in the story when the hardest part to me seemed  to be one’s identity and being torn asunder from one’s family and culture. I also thought parts of the storytelling were a bit uneven:  some parts such as at the beginning when the Korean family is fleeing the invasion are active and dynamic, yet later parts in the story felt a bit soupy with emotion or less dynamic, when things are being told but not shown. It’s definitely a story with a lot of unhappiness and grief in it. The parents in the U.S. work very hard but can’t make right their previous decisions about coming to America like they did. Still I’m glad I read “The Kinship of Secrets.” It gave me some perspective on Korea and families caught in the mix of war and keeping together. 

Next up I loved the audiobook of Esi Edugyan’s award-winning novel “Washington Black,” which is performed so well by actor Dion Graham. It’s one of those novels you can easily fall into … the narration is linear and it’s told by one person throughout it as if a memoir.  The boy (nicknamed Wash) who’s born into slavery on a sugar plantation in Barbados in the 1830s luckily avoids life under his sadistic master’s hands when the master’s (nicer) Englishman brother (Titch) comes to visit and Wash becomes his assistant to his scientific experiments. Eventually Titch and Wash escape the plantation in a hot air balloon and later — with a bounty hunter on their tail — travel up the coast to Norfolk, eventually reaching the Arctic to find Titch’s father, then get separated and Wash goes on to England, Amsterdam, and Morocco in search of whether Titch is still alive. 

I loved the 19th-century science along the way that Wash gets involved with: the hot air balloon, the Arctic exploration, scuba diving, and the aquarium of the sea creatures. Wow it’s wonderful storytelling of Wash’s adventures and his coming to grips with his own identity (as a slight black man with a burned face) and what he is to the white man Titch who changed his life. Wash and Titch have an uneasy alliance with one another … that undergoes a reckoning throughout the book.

I thought “Washington Black” beautifully written and well-researched and likely my favorite novel of the year. I repeat:  it might be my Pick of the Year.  Just the mix of the great storytelling, the science and the reckoning of the boy’s life and what he’s able to do and become … was enough for me to say: Wow this is a great ride … that’s easily and perceptively told. Apparently the author based the story on a historical incident she read about but then it took off in another direction so it ended up being her made-up creation. Kudos to Esi and Dion Graham, too, who read it for the audio. It’s unlike various other slavery tales I’ve read before … so don’t let the number of stories in that genre stop you from this one. 

Lastly I just wanted to mention:  that I was able to see three good movies over the past week — wow just my luck. First off, “The Wife” starring Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce, which is based on the novel by Meg Wolitzer, is quite an intense little foray into the marriage of a couple who meet in the 1950s and whose life comes into question decades later on their travels to Stockholm, where the husband is scheduled to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Uh-oh, this movie simmers … until a secret is revealed about the couple’s lives …that explodes over the brim.  Some critics think Close will win her first Oscar for the role … she’s been nominated six times before … but will she?  Perhaps she very well could this time. It’s nearly impossible to forget how well she played the character in “Fatal Attraction” and what she did to that poor bunny…. 

Next up, we saw director Steve McQueen’s movie “Widows,” which is about three wives who decide to take matters into their own hands after their criminal husbands are killed trying to pull off a large heist in Chicago. Wow I didn’t know too much about this one going in, which is probably best not to. I had no idea it would be this intense and violent but with (“Gone Girl”) Gillian Flynn as the co-screenplay writer — adapted from the novel by Lynda La Plante — what did I expect? I should have known.

I liked the cast and thought Viola Davis and Elizabeth Debicki were especially strong. All said and done, it’s quite a powerful movie that makes you think about a number things along the way: such as how women under such tough circumstances are able to get by in their lives to earn a living. Kudos too to the little Westie dog in the movie named Olivia, who’s owned by Viola Davis’s character. She was the only nice cuddly soft thing about the story. Olivia must have been there as a juxtaposition or for comic relief. Either way, she stole quite a few scenes and was awesome. Now I’m thinking I might need an Olivia dog too, though my Lab Stella might object. 

Last up,  we rented the sailboat movie “The Mercy,” starring Colin Firth as Donald Crowhurst and Rachel Weisz as his wife.  We had been looking for this movie to come to the big screen all year long (since we had both read  books about Crowhurst), but all of a sudden it just appeared on rental and we grabbed it.  It’s based on a true story about the first solo, round the world sailboat race, which took place in 1968. Nine started the race but only one finished. This is the story of one of the racers and what tragically happened to him. 

For whatever the reason, it’s a bit of a slow start for this movie. Crowhurst — played by Firth — is quite out of his league for taking on this huge dangerous sail but gets hooked by the idea of the race and tries to get investors to help pay for the making of a boat to do it. But from the get-go all is not looking too good, the building of the boat goes over budget and over schedule … and the boat is delayed till late in the season, well after the other sailors have left. Still Crowhurst seems a wonderful father to his kids and husband to his wife … and theirs appears to be quite a love story. Despite second thoughts he eventually sets off on the epic voyage, which turns difficult from early on as the boat doesn’t seem well-equipped or made for such a momentous undertaking. (Unfortunately not many knew the risks of sailing through the dangerous Southern Ocean at the time — let alone doing it solo — and the area was avoided as the epic storms there could capsize or de-mast boats; the wood construction and early fiberglass technology of the day not being what it is today.) 

The movie, which picks up a bit as it goes, shows Crowhurst’s realities at sea trying to overcome the conditions and problems with the boat — as well as his family back home who tries to keep in touch with him by radio phone along with his whereabouts on maps. It’s a bit of a quiet movie that takes on a forbidding feel to it. I will refrain from saying too much more about what happens but it’s quite a wrenching story. The movie of it turns out to be okay … but it’s not as captivating as we had hoped it’d be — judging by various books about Crowhurst and the race. Still we are glad we saw it. Kudos to Firth and Weisz who took on the roles. 

What about you — have you read either of these books or seen any of these movies and if so, what did you think?

Posted in Books, Movies | 22 Comments

December Preview

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Susan

Well we’ve come about full circle now. It’s the last month of the year and one of the best — especially in the days following Christmas and Hanukkah — for reading and reflection. It’s not over just yet but the Year in Books is winding down and the busy holiday season is now upon us. How is your shopping going? I have yet to start singing the Whoville Christmas song from the Grinch soundtrack (what are those lyrics anyways?), but I’m getting pretty close. We don’t leave town for a couple of weeks and I’m just starting to get into the holiday spirit … thanks to the lights around the neighborhood.

For those who like to check out lists of the 10 Best Books of 2018: I’ve added several below for you to peruse:

The New York Times
The Washington Post
Amazon
Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews

I noticed that author Lisa Halliday’s novel “Asymmetry,” which came out last February, made quite a few of these lists so I will have to check it out. It’s a tale that’s told in three distinct sections and is said to draw on Halliday’s brief relationship in her 20s with author Philip Roth among other things. Hmm, have you read it yet?

I’m also thrilled to see Esi Edugyan’s novel “Washington Black” made quite a few of these lists. I’m almost finished with her book and have loved it for its adventure, humanity and storytelling, which is very engaging, as was some of the storytelling in Tommy Orange’s novel “There There,” which also made a few of these lists. I’ll be commenting more in later posts about Best of 2018 Book lists but for now I’ll let my mind meander over these a bit more.      

In other book news, the biggest announcement I heard lately was that author Margaret Atwood plans to put out a sequel to her 1985 novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” due out in September 2019.  (Check out this interview Atwood gave the L.A. Times about it). In fact she says she’s almost finished writing the novel, which will be called “The Testaments.” Wow, how big is that?! I just revisited “The Handmaid’s Tale” last year in light of the TV series and thought it seemed as prescient as ever. Which is I think why Atwood finally decided to write a sequel — the current political climate felt ripe for Offred’s story to return. The new novel will start 15 years after the ending of the last book, so the characters will be older and time will have passed — which leads one to wonder:  how things will be in Offred’s neck of the world — worse, better or unchanged?!  Ohh “The Handmaid’s” was such a dark tale about the State of the Union, but I’m glad Offred has returned. As one would say: the Resistance continues.  I for one, will snatch it up once the novel becomes available next fall. 

And now just a peek of what’s coming out in December.  Honestly there’s not much notable literary fiction that releases this holiday month, but I am keen to check out British author Diane Setterfield’s new novel “Once Upon a River,” which Judy at the blog Keep the Wisdom had mentioned was coming awhile back. I’m not sure there’s ever been a book club that hasn’t assigned Setterfield’s 2006 debut novel “The Thirteenth Tale” to discuss — my club being no exception. We read it too!  She seems to be an author with a vast imagination who can weave magic and the power of storytelling into her tales.  Her new novel is about a mysterious young child that is found along the River Thames and no one knows whose she is. Three families are keen to claim her — though each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known. Ahhh it’s that kind of story. Apparently it’s a “beguiling tale, full of twists and turns like the river at its heart,” so says author M.L. Stedman, so count me in as it’s getting much praise. 

Meanwhile I think I’ll pass for the moment on Anna Burns’s novel “Milkman,” which recently won the 2018 Man Booker Prize and has been called the last great novel of the year. Set amid the Troubles in Northern Ireland and narrated by a bookish, alienated 18-year-old girl, it sounds quite alluring and is said to be quite memorable, but apparently it’s also said to be one of the most challenging reads of the year because of how it’s written, so says Ron Charles of The Washington Post.

Dwight Garner, too, of the New York Times calls the novel “interminable,” and says he would not recommend it to anyone he liked. Yikes. I don’t think I can handle a slog right now, so I guess I will pass on it for the time being. Still if you read and like it, let me know. 

Meanwhile for movies it’s the month to be merry.  There’s an array of notable ones I hope to see heading to theaters including: “Mary Poppins Returns” starring Emily Blunt in the lead role and “Mary Queen of Scots” starring Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart and Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I. Wouldn’t you like to see those two duke it out? There’s even another pop music diva story “Vox Lux,” this time starring Natalie Portman as the pop star with problems. You recall the recent movies “A Star Is Born” then “Bohemian Rhapsody” and now “Vox Lux” so pop music is surely making its way into movie storylines lately. Even Disney is banking on the songs of Mary Poppins to lure you in. Though I’ve read that the songs won’t be the same as those in the 1964 original movie with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, though Dick Van Dyke apparently makes a cameo in this sequel, which is cool. I’m not exactly a big Mary Poppins aficionado though I do recall having to sing all the songs in my grade school chorus. So I’m quite familiar with: Chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-oo.

Perhaps I’m most curious about the movie “Vice” this holiday season, which is oddly enough about the story of Dick Cheney and his power as vice president under George W. Bush.  It hasn’t really been screened for critics yet so it’s hard to say how good it will be, but judging by the trailer it looks to be a funny satire and it’s uncanny how much the actors look and sound like the real politicians. Kudos to Christian Bale as Dick Cheney and Sam Rockwell as President Bush and even Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney. Wahoo, this spoof seems too good to be true. Gosh who can forget those consequential, dubious days when weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were said to be a “slam dunk.” I think they’re forever ingrained in our brains. 

Lastly in albums for December, I’m sure I’ll be surrounded by a lot of great Christmas music this month, but for my album pick: I’ll go with Springsteen’s double album being released Dec. 14 of his show on Broadway.  For those like me who didn’t get to New York to see Bruce in person this past year (ugh!), the new album “Springsteen on Broadway”  features Bruce’s complete live solo acoustic performance (music and stories) of the show and is the soundtrack to the Netflix film of the same name. The show itself is based on Bruce’s best-selling autobiography “Born to Run,” which I read in a heartbeat in 2016.  So thanks to Bruce for these much anticipated Christmas gifts this year.  

That’s all for now.  What about you — which releases or reads this month are you most looking forward to?  And if you saw the Boss on Broadway, please spill the beans. 

Also please note: I subbed out my previous post’s Library photo for one of my own that I took of the new facility. Please check it out when you have a spare moment.  Many thanks as always to my visitors.

Posted in Top Picks | 23 Comments