The Cue Card

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer … as much as one can during these strange Covid times. Perhaps while sheltering in place you are reading more? Or is it less? I seem steady but not overly quick these days. And the past couple of weeks I’ve kept busy with nonfiction books, which is a bit unusual since I usually prefer fiction. Go figure. Of nonfiction, I mostly like the genres of: memoirs/biographies, histories, and natural histories … which by chance are the three I picked up recently. Which nonfiction do you prefer? I know there are a lot of cooking gurus out there, but unfortunately I am not one of them. I enjoy gardening and sports though seldom read books about them … unless they’re in a good novel, right?

Meanwhile last week was my book assistant’s birthday; Stella turned 8 on July 3, which in dog years is getting up there (like me). She’s been having a good summer with twice daily walks and swims in the river on warm days. In general she’s a spoiled girl with food and attention. She overlooks what I read but is usually put to sleep by most books I pick up. I try not to take it too personally. Meanwhile I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday last week. Did you see fireworks or have a barbecue? It seemed pretty subdued here though tennis games and bike riding were in full swing. And now I’ll leave you with a few reviews of books I finished lately. 

A Bookshop in Berlin: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman’s Harrowing Escape From the Nazis by Francoise Frenkel / Simon & Schuster/ 287 pages 

I listened to this woman’s short memoir as an audiobook twice and thought her story was amazing. I love that her book was rediscovered in 2010 apparently at a charity sale … after it had been forgotten about since its original publication in 1945 under the title “No Place to Lay One’s Head.” It was just published in English last year. 

Born in Poland, Jewish, and educated in Paris, Francoise Frenkel’s true desire was to become a bookseller and own a bookshop, which she did when she opened a French bookstore in Berlin in 1921. As a lover of French literature, she managed her bookshop with all her gusto and joy, making it soon a beacon to various poets, writers, scholars and ambassadors of the day. But with the decade’s passing, life for Jews and international immigrants grew dim in the mid-1930s with the rise of the Nazis … and in 1939 after the brutalness of Kristallnacht, she finally abandoned her Berlin bookshop and fled to Paris and later to the south of France, first to Avignon and then to Nice. 

Told in first person narration, the memoir is a compelling eyewitness account of her life in Berlin during those years and later in Occupied France, where at first she finds things endurable but later after the 1942 census and the roundups started, things turned to hell. She recounts the arrests she witnessed, the deportations to concentration camps, the suicides … and her own efforts to survive, slipping from safe house to safe house, hiding out and trying to get viable documents to first stay in France as a Polish refugee … then to try to flee on a visa to neutral Switzerland.

The French police and militia, like the Nazis, in her account are barbarous and brutal, though she also spotlights the courage and kindness of the French people who helped hide her along the way. How she evades being caught and deported to the camps is at times miraculous and a white-knuckle experience. Eventually all the hardships she endures (all the while worrying about her family in Poland) and her ingenuity pay off as she’s able to make a few attempts to get away, which is such a relief by the time it finally comes that it sort of made me feel like balling. 

I found her memoir to be an important historical document and account of what happened from 1939 to 1943 (first in Berlin then in southern France) and it increased my understanding of those brutal days during WWII. I know there are many worthy Holocaust and Occupied France memoirs out there, but I was glad a blog pointed me to this one as not to miss … it’s by a bookseller no less with a particular vantage point — as a Polish refugee, a one-time Berlin bookstore owner, and a patriot of France. 

PS. It’s interesting to note: that nowhere in this memoir does she mention her husband who apparently started the bookstore with her in Berlin but then fled to France in 1933 (years before her) and eventually perished at Auschwitz in 1942. Hmm, perhaps it was due to a falling out or because of some other mystery. 

She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar / 37 Ink (part of Atria Books) / 176 pages / 2019

Next I listened twice to this lively biography of another amazing woman as an audiobook narrated by actress Robin Miles and wow I learned so much. From school history I knew Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland and then returned to lead other enslaved members of her family and friends to freedom along the secret Underground Railroad (of abolitionist shelters) to the North … but other particular details of her life and accomplishments were a bit hazy to me. 

That’s where this book and author (a history professor at Rutgers) really brought Tubman (born Araminta “Minty” Ross around 1822) to life in an accessible and three-dimensional way. Afterwards I rented the 2019 film version “Harriet” but didn’t like it nearly much as this book, which gave a more accurate and fuller historical picture of Tubman’s life story, which involved her doing much more than I ever remembered. 

Tubman’s daring trials are all played out here — her brutal life in slavery, her dramatic 1849 escape and journey of 90+ miles to reach freedom, and her many return trips in the 1850s to lead and help approximately 70 family members and friends escape to the North. I didn’t realize she was a petite 5-foot-tall woman who possessed a lot of strength … but also endured a serious head injury (a fractured skull) early in her life from a heavy object that was thrown and hit her that put her into a sleep at times. She believed these episodes gave her visions that she interpreted as revelations from God.

It was also interesting to know about her meeting with abolitionist John Brown and that she helped him recruit supporters for his 1859 anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, as well as her role in the Civil War as a nurse and scout for the Union Army, who in 1863 guided an armed mission on a raid along the Combahee River in South Carolina, which liberated more than 700 slaves. Tubman also knew the great orator Frederick Douglass and other notables of the day and  gave lectures to abolitionist audiences and later supported the suffragette movement. In 1859 she bought property in Auburn, New York, from U.S. Sen. William Seward, and went on to earn wages and a military pension that were — with a lot of effort — finally awarded to her late in her life for her efforts in the War. She married twice (being 22 years older than husband #2), and had many relatives, but only one adopted daughter. 

Though much has been written about this iconic figure before, I thought this short but enticing book gives many fascinating details in a fresh way that kept me captivated throughout her life. Perhaps I hadn’t realized that: (a) so much was truly known about her, and (b) Tubman was involved with many things beyond the Underground Railroad. 

She had come out of a world of slavery and the oral tradition and some particulars of her life and the routes she took and people along the Railroad were kept secret or are unknown. Still she became widely known and respected during her lifetime, fighting for notable causes and assisting others for most of her 91 years until her passing in 1913. She wasn’t one to give up or back down, and despite all the slaveholders trying to catch her during her years guiding slaves to escape on the Underground Railroad, she says:  “I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”

The Hidden Life of Owls: The Science and Spirit of Nature’s Most Elusive Birds by Leigh Calvez / Sasquatch Books / 224 pages / 2016 

Finally, I’ve gotten into owls lately. They’re just the coolest birds that can, among other things, turn their heads 270 degrees and they have a knack for nearly silent flight. I came across this book that turned out to be a good intro into learning about them through 11 different owl species the author goes out to watch and learn about mostly in the Pacific Northwest but also in Montana and Alaska. Some of what is described and discussed is: where owls live and nest, where they migrate to, what they eat, how they raise their young, how males and female duties differ, what terrain they like, when they’re active (mostly at night) and what survival challenges they face. 

As an owl novice I didn’t know, for instance, that owls eat their prey head first (many times whole), and the indigestible parts of their prey become pellets that are regurgitated about 6 to 8 hours later. Most female owls are bigger than males, and they don’t build their own nests but use other birds’ nests or cavities they find. The females alone sit on the eggs in the nest for many weeks at a time, while the male brings her food. And most owls hatch their eggs asynchronously, making the chicks different ages within the nest. I was amazed too how far ranging owls migrate during different seasons from various places including: Russia, Mexico, the American West, and Canada. At times they can arrive in places never expected … like when Snowy Owls were seen in the parking garage at Dulles Airport … perhaps just taking a rest break before heading on their way.  

I have a new appreciation for owls after reading this and hope to go on some hikes to see some around here. So far since they are quite elusive, I’ve only seen the Great Horned Owl but there are many other kinds around the area to look for. The book also introduces various owl experts and conservationists in the field who are working to band the birds to research them to see where they go and measure and weigh them in an effort to study and try to help them. 

It was interesting to see the techniques used for trapping the birds to put a band on their leg, which included: nets and playing recorded owl calls; and trapping others in their burrows with recorded calls; or feeding them mice. The scientists seem to know quite a bit about their behavior by spending years tracking data about them. All in all the book was a helpful primer for me, though it doesn’t include photos of the various species just an illustration at the beginning of each chapter. It’s also not too strong on narrative other than the author’s quest to learn about various owls, though the book is filled with a good sense of wonder and appreciation for these magnetic birds.

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read books on any of these subjects? Stay well.

I hope everyone is enjoying these pretty summer days and the flowers in bloom despite our trying Covid times. Hard to believe: we just passed the summer solstice and the longest day of 2020. How are your reading goals looking at the midway point of the year? So far I’m on track to reach mine but still remain a bit distracted by virus spikes, crazy political news, and wondering if the economy will come back. The U.S./Canadian border remains closed for another month, flights out of here are pretty minimal, and plans to see my folks in California are on hold till I figure out a safe way. I will continue to assess the situation for August and stay put in the interim.   

Meanwhile in book news I was really sorry to see that famous Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafron, age 55, passed away last week from cancer. What a terrible loss as his four-part series “The Cemetery of Forgotten Books,” which started with his 2001 novel “The Shadow of the Wind” was much beloved globally.

My husband enjoyed it and I still have it on my TBR backlist. This should be the year for it. Judy over at the blog Keep the Wisdom just finished all four in the series, which ended with Zafron’s 2016 novel “The Labyrinth of Spirits,” and had great things to say about it. Thankfully his books live on in the wake of his sad passing. Have you read his 2001 bestseller? And now I’ll leave you with a couple of reviews of what I finished lately.

Prairie Fever by Michael Parker / Algonquin Books / 336 pages / 2019

Synopsis: This novel, which came out last year and is just out now in paperback, is about two dissimilar sisters, ages 15 and 17, who are closely bound to each other by their isolation growing up and going to school by horseback on the desolate prairie in Oklahoma in the early 1900s. They have a strong reliance on one another … until a cataclysmic blizzard has tragic consequences, and their interest in the same man comes between them. Uh-oh. 

Lorena is the older one who’s practical and pretty and dreams of attending college, while the younger Elise likes to recite newspaper articles by rote and is driven by flights of fancy and jesting with her sister. She’s fond of the family horse and has an ear for piano playing. Neither at first thinks much of the young inexperienced teacher Gus McQueen who arrives from out of town to work at their school … but later when the blizzard hits … their lives become entangled and changed forever.  

My Thoughts: The story, which spans from 1917 to 1940, drew me in little by little to the hardships of their lives on the prairie — with their preoccupied parents who lost sons to illness — and the strength of their bonds … as the chapters alternate among the three main characters: Elise, Lorena, and Gus. Their lives are drawn together … and then later due to events are abruptly altered irrevocably and diverge. You wonder as the years pass what will become of them … as they marry and move away and whether there will be a reconciliation of sorts or if their paths will cross again. 

It’s a story that reminded me a bit of a Willa Cather kind of rural tale of two sisters whose lives and hearts are tested. I could relate to Lorena more … as at times Elise’s flighty actions lead to trouble. The language and the landscape transported me to their days on the prairie and delivered a kind of reckoning at the end in which it seemed the passage of time had helped. I liked how the author captured the time and place of this bittersweet sisterly tale and will watch for whatever he writes next. 

In disclosure: I received an e-galley of this novel from the publisher Algonquin Books to read and review.  Thanks for making it possible. 

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins / Flatiron Books / 2020  / 16 hours, 43 minutes on audio read by Yareli Arizmendi

Synopsis:  When a drug cartel operating around Acapulco massacres members of a family, a woman (Lydia) and her 8-year-old son (Luca) flee and make a plan to try to escape to safety over the southern border of the United States. 

My Thoughts: It seems most know if they intend to read this novel, which received so much press, by now. It won’t be for everyone. But I was curious by the uproar over it and a friend said she couldn’t put it down. So I took the plunge. My initial reaction after finishing the lengthy audiobook of it was: Whoa it’s a long hellish journey that Lydia and her son Luca endure along with others, particularly two sisters Soledad and Rebeca, fleeing circumstances in Honduras, whom they meet and befriend on the run. All will face endless hair-raising hurdles that’ll set you on edge and grind your teeth. It’s exhaustive and harrowing in places and you’ll need a good breather after. 

In many ways it’s typical thriller fare … and does not exactly rise much above that. So it’s not too surprising to hear the criticism that it exploits migrants and perpetuates stereotypes. Thrillers on the whole are pretty manipulative and are meant to turn pages. To its credit I will say its story made me think of migrants’ plights in a visceral way and unmoored me. Oprah didn’t make it her book club choice for nothing. It’s a strong cup of coffee that bears witness to a lot of suffering and desperate people fleeing violence.

From the story, you’ll get a sense of why caravans of people travel thousands of miles to arrive at the U.S. border with the hope of escaping something horrible in their homeland: whether it be from gangs, murder, drug cartels, relentless oppression and violence. You’ll also get a sense of the many dangers they face along the way to get there: whether jumping on top of trains, fleeing authorities, getting robbed and raped, existing without shelter or food or water in punishing conditions. It’ll drain your blood being in Lydia’s and the others’ shoes. Is it really any wonder you’ll feel or show them some compassion (which seems the purpose of the book). Some of the people along their route do and help them … while others prey on them. You’ll be wary to figure out whom to trust. 

Some parts of the story might not seem totally believable … like how the protagonist Lydia — might know and be friends with the head cartel guy in Acapulco and not know this about him … or not have her family go into hiding after her journalist husband writes an expose of his crimes. But other parts of the dangerous journey will seem perhaps all too believable and real in one’s head.

I’m sure there are various migrant or Latino authors who have written about such treks and issues in more substantial or nuanced ways. And I will look to read their works and in general to read more from authors of diversity and from different countries. Diversity and other nationalities are where we can learn so much about other lives and viewpoints. In ways this thriller — and the furor it’s caused in the publishing and reading world — points readers to other books and authors to pick up and explore. Therefore I’m not all against Jeanine Cummins or what she’s written and obviously researched. She raises hair-raising events about issues you’ll think about long after. Read or don’t read it at your own whim. The audiobook is read convincingly by Mexican actress and director Yareli Arizmendi, who felt realistically like the character of Lydia.  

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

Hi. I hope everyone is staying well. It appears re-openings and activities are picking up and summer could be busy after all. We’ve had some nice days but also quite a bit of rain, which has made the foliage here go crazy. The lilac bushes are in full bloom and the smell is lovely, even Stella, at left, thinks so.

It’s high pollen time, so if I come down with headaches and sniffles I’ll try not to immediately think of Covid-19. I’m still social distancing … though I’ve been hitting some tennis with friends, which I’m finding is a sport that’s relatively safe, if you only touch the ball with your racket and use the hand sanitizer before and after you play. The virus cases here have dropped off significantly.

Meanwhile I was considering whether to put out a summer reading list this year for myself, but I sort of like to pick up whatever is on my mind at the time. I’m an avid mood reader and tend to keep my reads under wraps till I post about them … as if it’s a big surprise, ha. Will you be making a summer reading list this year?

Meanwhile, it’s almost prime back-deck reading season here and I’ll likely be mixing in faster plot-based reads with slower literary fiction. It’s a kind of mix that usually works at this time of year. Though have you ever noticed that e-readers aren’t the best for reading in the sunlight? I can’t see a thing on the screen. So it’s back to print books for the deck. And now I’ll leave you with reviews of a few books that I finished lately.

The Falling Woman by Richard Farrell /Algonquin Books /out June 23, 2020

Synopsis: This debut novel tells the story of a middle-age woman — Erin Geraghty — who plans to attend a retreat for cancer patients in California but the plane crashes en route and the NTSB investigator, Charlie Radford, is tasked in the aftermath with identifying the 123 bodies and figuring out if a lone survivor at the hospital is indeed for real. But before he can interview the woman, she checks out and no one knows where she’s gone. 

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this quick read, which I’d describe as thoughtful suspense lit. It’s told in alternating chapters from the two main protagonists’ viewpoints, describing in interesting detail their backstories. Erin is the woman scheduled to take the flight who’s been through many rounds of chemo for the past year for pancreatic cancer. She’s a lawyer in the DC area with a husband and two grown kids. But under her ordeal with cancer, she’s become tired of her marriage and recalls an affair she had years ago. Charlie, meanwhile, is a former pilot who loves flying but no longer can due to a heart ailment. His wife wants him to commit to having kids and buying a house, but he’s been resisting, and when the crash happens, he becomes consumed with his job of investigating his first big crash site.

These two characters held my interest, especially Charlie who seems so earnest and wants to do right by those who lost their lives, but then is hampered by rumors of a lone survivor. Eventually Charlie and Erin’s stories intersect and the suspense builds well … as to whether Erin was on the flight and survived and whether Charlie will get to the truth of what happened and announce it at the crash hearing. The ending is a doozy that will have you turning the pages quickly to get to. 

I liked the novel’s themes of fate, randomness, privacy … and the miracle of life, which it offers up with an enticing sensibility. You might not like or agree with everything these characters do … but I found it was their decision to make. My only minor critique is there’s a bit of repetition of Charlie’s work manta to follow the evidence and be objective. But I was okay with the premise — not fretting too much over whether the crash situation seems implausible … you’ll likely need to suspend some disbelief … to see other points it’s making. Such a miraculous kind of premise reminded me a bit of Stephen Kiernan’s novel “The Curiosity” about an ancient man trapped in ice who comes to life … you just go with the possibility of it and see where its wonder will take you.

In disclosure: I received an e-galley of this novel from the publisher Algonquin Books to review. Thanks for making it possible.

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld / Random House / 432 pages / May 2020

Synopsis:  This is an alternative history kind of novel in which the life and political career of Hillary Rodham Clinton is re-imagined as if she and Bill had gone their separate ways instead of marrying.

My Thoughts: I’m probably in the minority about this novel, which I listened to as an audiobook, as I was expecting to like it much more since I usually really like Curtis Sittenfeld’s novels as she is a great storyteller. But I guess I’m in the camp who liked the first part of the novel with the young grad school age Hillary and Bill together at Yale and then in Arkansas … but when they split and the alternate history of their lives in the story starts … I thought as it went on …. it went sort of off the rails. Some of the plot turns become a bit ludicrous … how she knocks off Carol Moseley Braun’s run for the Senate … and then near the end does a stump speech with Trump at one point …  and how she asks to sleep with a scoundrel-version of Bill decades later when he asks her to a private dinner … then gets angry when he doesn’t. 

Some parts seemed believable as Hillary and other parts not so much. Surely the ending is good and Hillary’s strong independence, her smarts and her stance on issues … but having her let Trump give an endorsement speech in her run for the presidency threw me into the DTs. I was a bit surprised too how it differed from real life political events and sequences and didn’t care too much for all the personal stuff … but I did like how the story highlights the double standards female political candidates endure in the U.S. compared to their male counterparts. It’s just crazy the sexism in politics and in running for U.S. office and the presidency. Hillary faced it all when she ran in 2016 … awful stuff, which the novel really re-affirms. You realize once again the almost impossible threshold for a woman to become president, due to underlying sexist notions, that the country is still awaiting its first … here embarrassingly in the twenty-first century.

All in all, it’s a semi-sympathetic portrayal of Hillary … not fully, there are mistakes. But the portrayal of Bill Clinton is pretty damning, as a narcissistic  predator. He comes off seemingly worse than even Trump. It’s a bit awkward … such a biographical fictional sketch of Hillary who’s still an active public figure these days. Some parts in the novel I liked about Hillary’s thoughts and how she affects people’s lives around the country (there’s a woman she befriends who’s going through cancer treatments) and yet other parts I didn’t like as much … and thought better of Hillary in reality. So you decide if this one is for you. 

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige / Knopf / 270 pages / 2020 / April 2020

Whoa this is a marriage-on-the rocks kind of story between a husband — Michael — who suggests that his family of 4 (with kids ages 7 and 3) take a year away from their home in Connecticut to sail around the Caribbean near Panama. His wife — Juliet — has had problems with depression (stemming from issues in her childhood) and feels rotten for not completing her PhD dissertation on the poetry of Anne Sexton. While the husband Michael, who’s a sailing enthusiast from childhood, is eager to have the family go, and seems like a libertarian in his political views and a Trump supporter … which is one of things that causes he and his wife to argue. Still they seem to love each other from their college days (as well as their cute kids) … just not at the same time.

As the family begins their sailing trip, it becomes interesting with them voyaging among islands and encountering various people and nature along the way. They also experience their fair share of troubles: with weather and the boat. It’s a story told in alternating paragraphs between Juliet (while on the boat and also at times looking back later on what happened) as well as Michael’s views from his sailing logbook entries. So from fairly early on you know something wrong has happened on the trip … but you don’t know exactly what till near the end. 

You get Juliet’s and Michael’s backstories too and it shines a light on all the nooks and crannies of their marriage and the nuances as it sort of combusts. The young creative daughter Sybil also plays a pretty playful role in the story (not to mention the baby Georgie) and their sailing adventure, whose outcome affects everyone on the boat. Needless to say, the family doesn’t end up making the trip to the one year mark. Kudos to the author — who cleverly intertwined the dialogue of the husband and wife and made it into an engaging story. After giving this 4.5 stars on Goodreads, I will have to go back and read the author’s 2013 novel “Schroder” sometime in the future. 

Ps. I read both the print copy of Sea Wife and listened to the audiobook of it, which is superbly done by Cassandra Campbell (as Juliet), Will Damron (as Michael), and Emily Eiden (as Sybil). I especially recommend the audio version as the back and forth segments from the characters are excellent; they really play off one another’s conversations in interesting ways.

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

I hope everyone is having a great weekend … and not getting too close at the beach or the barbeques :-). We had a very rainy past week here so we could use some fresh air and Vitamin D from the sun … though at least the leaves on the trees are out, see Stella modeling at left. And it should be sunnier tomorrow for a bike ride outing and next week too.

Meanwhile have you been contemplating Biden’s shortlist picks for VP? (I’m watching too much news, right?) Here are the possible candidates: Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Sen.Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Rep. Val Demings (Florida), Stacey Abrams (Georgia), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.). Do you have a favorite of these, or who are you picking as the VP choice?  It’s all under wraps for the moment, but vetting is being done night and day as we speak. 

As for this week I think I’ll check out some of the BookExpo Online event happening May 26-29. Perhaps they’ll have some good virtual chats. And I hope they’ll be recorded because who knows if I can make it at the times they have listed. And it just so happens that it’s almost June — can you believe it — and that means that Summer Reading is on the way and Summer Reading lists too, so perhaps start jotting down titles you’d like to get to while enjoying your summer months. It’s such a great time of year … we need to stay positive amid these trying times, right? And for now, I’ll leave you with a few reviews of what I finished lately. 

The End of October by Lawrence Wright / Knopf / 400 pages / 2020

Why I Picked It Up: Whoa who reads a pandemic novel during a pandemic? I guess I was curious to pick it up to find out how similar it is to what’s currently going on now … and for sure some things in it are eerily on target about the disease, the contagion, and the political response. Apparently author Lawrence Wright began writing the novel in 2017 and finished it before our current situation got underway. Though it’s crazy timing, right?

Synopsis: It’s about a hemorrhagic fever outbreak at a camp in Indonesia, where epidemiologist Dr. Henry Parsons travels to investigate a group who’ve died. Soon he learns that an infected man is headed to Mecca to join millions at the annual Hajj. From there, despite a massive quarantine lockdown, the disease spreads becoming a global pandemic that unleashes havoc on the world, which Dr. Parsons and others try to race to slow and stop … while his family in Atlanta awaits his return. 

My Thoughts:  If you’re looking for a fast page-turner, this one doesn’t seem to get really going quickly until after 200 or 250 pages. The first part is filled with background info about diseases, terrorist plots, characters, and this and that. If you’re not into learning a bit, or wading into the mire of pandemics, it might lose your interest a bit … but I held on and found it interesting info to what we’re undergoing now. 

Though at first it seems Dr. Henry Parsons, the main protagonist, working on behalf of the World Health Organization, makes a couple of dubious moves that might be a bit hard to fathom: such as letting his driver into the infected Indonesian site … and getting trapped, working for months on the opposite side of the world away from his wife Jill and their two kids, whose lives in Atlanta play out as they await his return, trying to cope as things begin to deteriorate.

Ohh shouldn’t Dr. Parsons have found a military flight back? Good grief, there’s some real terror to the story as the virus spreads around the globe and deaths begin to mount. Whoa this is a tale that becomes much darker than what we are experiencing now. It’s rough and turns bleak. Hopefully our world won’t become like this … even if the next wave of the virus heads in our direction. It’s all the more reason to remain vigilant to staying safe and following the rules … despite what some might tell you. 

Another protagonist in the book Tildy, a director at Homeland Security, isn’t as fleshed out as the main story, yet her side plot is equally as scary in its imminent threat of an all out war with Russia and how it plays out. Good grief, western democracies begin to collapse and the alternative is: chaos and the worst side of human nature … it’s not exactly a pretty picture.

Apparently director Ridley Scott had suggested the book idea to author Lawrence Wright after reading Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel “The Road,” from which he wondered how its unrevealed apocalypse came about … giving Wright the impetus to research and write this scenario. It seemed to me Wright’s research for the book was pretty extensive and his plot prescient, I just wish some of his storytelling and character fulfillment could’ve been a bit better. A few of them felt hung out to dry. Still I’m glad I read it, but it likely won’t be for everyone. 

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa / Pantheon / English translation 2019

Synopsis: It’s about an unnamed female novelist who lives on an island (perhaps off of Japan) where an authoritarian government makes everyday objects (such as bells, ribbons, perfumes, harmonicas) one-by-one disappear, not only physically but also in the minds and memories of the islanders. The government has its Memory Police enforce these object disappearings and arrest the few islanders who are able to retain these items and not forget them. The Memory Police patrols the town, taking away suspects and trying to find potential safe houses.  

The narrative alternates between the female novelist’s life — her friendship with an Old Man living on a boat and how she comes to hide her male editor called R (who has memory recall) in her house — as well as the novel she’s writing that tells the story of a typist who becomes imprisoned by her teacher. 

My Thoughts: I listened to this novel as an audiobook … and though it’s simply told, there’s a lot about it which makes it meditative and unsettling. It’s a bit of an unusual dystopian story that comes off being fairly credible … at least to a certain degree… you come to believe it is happening to these people on the island, which makes it all the more alarming. 

Apparently the book was originally published in Japan in 1994 but just came out in English in 2019, since it was deemed relatable to authoritarian times. I liked how the book’s theme played with memory and the novelist’s creative process … and how I came to care about the safety of the woman, the Old Man, and the editor R, who lives and hides in a cell underneath her floorboards. 

Apparently one of the author’s favorite books is “The Diary of Anne Frank” and you can tell with R’s small hiding place and the interaction with the two hiding him. It’s also telling how as such daily things are taken away, the characters begin to dissipate physically and mentally over time. Hmm there’s much food for thought in this unique Japanese novel.

Heft by Liz Moore / 354 pages / W.W. Norton / 2012

Synopsis: This 2012 novel has dual narratives that eventually connect: between a retired 550-pound professor living in a Brooklyn brownstone named Arthur Opp … and a 17-year-old high school boy named Kel Keller in Yonkers who has hopes of becoming a pro baseball player and cares for his mother Charlene Turner who has lupus.

Charlene was once a college student of Arthur Opp’s and they were friends and pen pals for years after but then lost touch …. until a call many years later by Charlene to Arthur to tutor her son sets things in motion. To prepare for this, Arthur hires a cleaning lady named Yolanda … who opens up his closed world ever so slightly. 

My Thoughts: Oh this is a story about three lonely, pained people. My goodness “the despair of loneliness” is a main theme of the story. I was really drawn into the audiobook … especially by Arthur’s voice at the beginning and how his life unfolded … to such a point that he hasn’t left his home to go outside in 10 years. His heft and loneliness have folded in on themselves, making Arthur basically a recluse to the world. And Kel’s upbringing has been sad as well. He’s not sure of his father and his mother is sick and he’s on his own a lot. Baseball has been his one hope … and perhaps connecting with Arthur since he once knew his mother. 

I liked Arthur’s narrated chapters a bit more than the boy Kel’s but the backstories of both characters pulled me in — as well as how the narratives came together. The author is an excellent storyteller … and propels you along despite it being quite a drawn out character kind of (saddish) story. I won’t forget the inimitable Arthur Opp anytime soon.

This is my third novel by Liz Moore and my favorite of hers is still “Long Bright River” … but this one did not disappoint. Although the author makes the novel end a bit abruptly before you’re ready for the story about Arthur and Kel to conclude. The future outcome is left a bit to one’s own imagination, which will either make you dreamy, or upset it was left like that. By then, I wanted to know more! 

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

I hope everybody is hanging in there. The number of daily virus cases here has dropped quite a bit, which it seems is due to the two months of lockdown and distancing and hand-washing procedures. But now things are about to open up gradually in stages, so we will see if we can keep the cases from spiking too much.

Tennis friends are asking to hit again as the City has given the green light to outdoor singles play albeit with new guidelines. So I will try tennis today, which will feel strange after life in lockdown. Meanwhile at left is a sign I saw while on my morning dog walk recently. I agree with the sentiments: Thanks to our frontline workers of nurses, doctors and staff, who have saved lives fighting this terrible disease … many of whom have lost their own lives in the process. So tragic. Our hearts go out to them.

As for book news, I see that the annual BookExpo, which was scheduled to be held at New York City’s Javits Center, will instead be made virtual this year and free to the public from May 26-29, so stay tuned to the Expo’s Facebook page for more upcoming information.

I have only gone to one BookExpo, which was in Chicago in 2016, but it was a lot of fun and quite informative. For those who don’t know: BookExpo is the publishing industry’s biggest trade event where those who are connected to the biz come together to find out about upcoming titles, authors, new technology, and trends. It’s one big book industry / marketing /sales and blogger fest. 

It reminds me there’s so many events going on virtually these days. You can find live concerts, lectures, classes, gym training, book talks and other online streaming things on top of all the podcasts you were already trying to hear each week. It’s a smorgasbord out there. Your favorite bookstore is likely streaming a live event even as we speak. I’ve checked out a few virtual book talks via D.C.’s Politics & Prose bookstore and Denver’s Tattered Cover bookstore. It’s neat when you can watch them streaming live, though you can also catch them after they’ve passed too. Have you checked out any? And now I’ll leave you with a couple of reviews of books that I finished lately. 

Writers & Lovers by Lily King / 320 pages / Grove Press / 2020

Why I Picked It Up: I liked the author’s last book in 2014 — “Euphoria” — which  was historical fiction and based on the life of anthropologist Margaret Mead. 

Synopsis:  The novel’s protagonist is named Casey, age 31, who waits tables at a restaurant in Harvard Square where she bikes to from across the river … and who works hard despite various stresses in her life to finish her debut novel, which has taken six years of her life. She struggles financially (under college and grad school debt) and is still grieving the loss unexpectedly of her mother. She also has health concerns, is writing daily early in the mornings, working double shifts late into the night, and needs to decide between two guys she’s seeing on the sly. 

My Thoughts: Ohh to be young … without much cash and on the go …. in the setting of Boston and the Charles River. I always seem to fall for coming-of-age tales and this one is endearing enough to root for Casey, who’s having a few crises all at once. Are these the best kinds of stories or what? It reminded me slightly of Laura Zigman’s new novel “Separation Anxiety” — since I read it recently — which is also about a writer on the brink of chaos and breakdown. I was glad for the ending of both novels … they aren’t all downward spiral … which I was so thankful for. I can’t be worrying about Casey forever, but I liked and was glad to spend time with her.

There’s quite a bit in the story about Casey waiting tables, which reminded me a bit of Stephanie Danler’s novel “Sweetbitter” since I finished that one recently. These are two restaurant, coming-of-age writer stories I read in the same month. I better bus my own tables after this. Also it was my second read by Lily King … whose novel “Euphoria” is quite different than this. “Writers & Lovers” is lighter and has some amusement to it. It isn’t as serious in tone as “Euphoria,” though it still has conflict and anxiety to wade through. 

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel / Unbridled Books / 256 pages / 2009

Why I picked it up:  Because it’s the debut novel of Emily St. John Mandel, the author extraordinaire of the 2014 novel “Station Eleven.” She’s also originally a Canadian and I need to read more from Canadian authors since I live here now. This novel reminded me slightly of author Heather O’Neill since her novels are often set in her hometown of Montreal.

Synopsis: The story centers around a child abduction case … Lilia, age 7, is taken by her father away from her mother and out of the country. She is raised as a fugitive on the go from town to town, trying to elude a private detective named Christopher that her mother has hired.

She has made a life for herself on the road with her father … and later even in her 20s, Lilia, who is talented at languages, is still traveling about, leaving relationships in her wake — her last being Eli in Brooklyn — a graduate student unable to finish his dissertation (about dead languages) and working at a boring security job at an art gallery. Eli’s bereft that Lilia has left and so when he’s contacted months later by the detective’s daughter Michaela informing him that Lilia’s in Montreal, Eli leaves to try and find her with the help of Michaela. Along the way, they piece together information concerning Lilia’s abduction. 

My Thoughts: This slim debut novel had some of the same trademarks as Mandel’s National Book Award finalist “Station Eleven” from flashbacks in time, to themes of art and languages, and traveling, circuses, and Shakespeare quotes. Mandel seems to like to make her novels like jigsaw puzzles that circle around and back in time and reveal mysteries about a tragic event … after various stops and starts. 

All of the characters in this are impacted by the unique fugitive Lilia … and Michaela’s life sort of parallels Lilia’s … with her detective father away on the road and her mother absent. So it held my interest on how it unfolds … with Eli chasing leads via Michaela around Montreal on Lilia’s whereabouts.

It’s not as compelling or creative as “Station Eleven” is …. but yet it’s a debut novel that shows some of the spark and talent about where such a novel came from. It’s a building block with similarities in which you get a feel for the characters, the abduction, and its aftermath. I’m still wondering about the ending, which surprised me a bit and left me on a ledge. 

That’s all for now.  What about you — have you read either of these and if so, what did you think?  And how is your area’s opening going? Stay well my friends.

Hi. How is everyone doing?  I think it’s been about a month now that lockdown life started. It was the week around St. Patrick’s Day that things really began shutting down quickly. My husband and I have adjusted fairly well — sheltering in place — and luckily he still has his job and is able to work from home. My part-time work officiating provincial and national tennis tournaments has been wiped out, but the organization is still meeting online once a week to see where we go from here. It’s hard to imagine how many nonprofits and small businesses are going to be able to survive the pandemic … and not without much financial help I think. I hear that some areas are thinking about “opening up” the economy and easing restrictions soon … but will it work … or is it too soon? What do you think for your area? 

At least the weather here looks to be improving. (The photo above was taken on Easter, April 12, so we have less snow now.) And our first spring temps should hit this coming week with a forecast reaching the lows 60s, which means we’ll see a lot of snowmelt ponds and muddy conditions outside. But I look forward to seeing my yard … and getting back out there, prepping the garden and cleaning it up from last fall. Can’t wait for spring here! Meanwhile I’ll leave you with a couple reviews of what I finished lately. 

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler / Knopf (first edition) / 368 pages / 2016 

Synopsis:  It’s a coming-of-age novel about 22-year-old Tess who’s newly arrived in New York City and lands a job as a server at an upscale Manhattan restaurant. There, she learns her way … thanks to the staff friends she meets, experiencing a lot about life in the City, punishing work, food and wine, friendships, love, and drugs.

My Thoughts: Oh yes, what’s it like to be a young adult — inquisitive, working hard to earn a living, wild, free, and self-destructive again. This was a backlist read for me as Danler’s next book — a memoir called “Stray” is due out May 19 and I wanted to read this one first. I’m not sure why I didn’t read the novel when it came out in 2016. Perhaps it was because I’m not really a foodie or a restaurant connoisseur … which this one has quite a bit of … and it didn’t call out to me at the time, but it should have. Whoa. The staff friends Tess meets at the restaurant: Ariel, Sasha, and Will, not to mention Scott, Nick, Simone and Jake teach her the ways of the world, about upscale food and wine, life in the City, and the after-partying of late night restaurant work. It gradually gets pretty dark, bone-tired, and wasted: so beware, but ohh the writing! 

I like coming-of-age tales and this one is a doozy … it’s a little like Jay McInerney’s “Bright Lights, Big City” mixed with Salinger’s sad Holden Caulfield and Donna Tartt’s hazy drug days in “The Goldfinch” … tossed into a salad bowl. That’s almost all you need to know … but okay, it’s also got a love triangle too that Tess gets herself involved in and keeps you guessing a bit till the end. Tess falls hard for the bartender Jake! And has trouble reigning herself in … when trouble is on the wall … but that makes it all the more hard to put down. 

So yeah it’s a novel more than just about restaurant life and food — but from that setting you get a lot of atmosphere, various staff personalities, and the allure of great tastes. Tess’s restaurant mentor Simone — wise and world-traveled — is quite a beguiling character who plays a major role in testing and teaching Tess throughout. She’s hard to miss or forget in this … and Jake is well Jake — he’s alluring, a bit mysterious … and a bad boy too. 

I noticed that a few criticisms of “Sweetbitter” on Goodreads said that it felt whiny and pretentious in places, but I didn’t notice that too much. It seemed pretty real to me from the author’s restaurant days in NYC, which she’s obviously based the story on. As I read on, I gradually fell into young Tess’s rabbit hole little by little and kept on trying hard to pull her out. 

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid / Putnam / 307 pages / Dec. 31, 2019

Synopsis:  This debut novel, which I listened to as an audiobook, revolves around a 25-year-old black babysitter (Emira), her white privileged employer (Alix), and Kelley, a tall white man who videos an incident that Emira has at a grocery store while babysitting Alix’s daughter Briar late one night, near the novel’s beginning.

My Thoughts: There are various positive things about this novel — don’t get me wrong. The writing is active and moves the story along nicely … delving into a plot surrounding race, privilege and privacy that are worthy, interesting explorations. You also come to know the three main characters fairly well: there’s Alix Chamberlain known for her PR letter writing workshops; her black babysitter Emira, a Temple University grad who has some doubts about still babysitting after college; and Kelley, a capable techie who ends up having links to the two. 

There were other things that I didn’t like as much … such as the plot relies on a couple of coincidences that are perhaps a bit hard to believe such as their ties to Kelley and how things spin out of control. Also I wanted a bit more of Emira taking care and playing with Alix’s child Briar, showing Emira’s good, endearing sides … and showing why both busy, rich Alix and Kelley are so drawn and consumed with Emira. I wasn’t as drawn to her personality as they were and wanted her to step up more and say things directly, though I felt she probably did care and like taking care of the kids.

To me all three, weren’t really that likable … though Alix does indeed come out the worst. Though I liked how the author tried making them nuanced characters (both flawed and capable) at least at first … who revolve around a situation and life that explores subtle (and not so subtle) acts of racism. It’s a theme that reminds me slightly of some of Thrity Umrigar’s novels if you’ve read them.

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these novels — and if so what did you think?  And more importantly, how are you doing?