The Election and The Girl You Left Behind

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Susan

Oh it was a horrible week. Let’s not sugarcoat this (why should we?). The U.S. election result was a terrible shock and blow. I’m still so ticked off and disillusioned I can’t believe it. What a disaster and heartbreak. The U.S. had a great opportunity in front of it but totally blew it. Completely blew it. As the author George R.R. Martin wrote: “America has spoken. I really thought we were better than this. Guess not.” So glad I’m no longer working in D.C., where I was for 15 years. I even worked on the Hill for awhile. Gawd what clowns this new administration will bring.

Needless to say, the election took the wind out of my sails and I wasn’t able to get much done this week. Of course, my most potent antidotes in times like these are my dog Stella and falling into a good book. So I’m midway into Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography “Born to Run,” which I’m loving. It also helped that my husband, Stella, and I went to a cabin near the mountains last weekend and did some hiking. (See the attached photos.) So far we’ve had a warm November and it’s been nice to have a little Indian summer to our parts. The area of Waterton Lakes National Park is beautiful and we saw a few moose and Rocky Mountain sheep while there, which was really cool.

Meanwhile I did finish the audiobook of Jojo Moyes’s 2012 novel “The Girl You Left Behind.” This is my second novel of Moyes’s — the first being “Me Before You” — and it was light and a story that swept me along, which is what I needed this week. I guess what I enjoy most about Moyes’s works is that she is an excellent storyteller. Even if a few parts of her novels can seem contrived or unlikely, she can spin a good tale.

“The Girl You Left Behind” is no exception. I got sucked into the first part of the story that takes places in 1916 during WWI in a small French town that has fallen to the Germans. Sophie and her sister are caretakers of their family’s hotel, where the German officers are coming for meals. Both sisters’ husbands are gone, fighting at the front, and life is precarious in the town. Especially once the German Kommandant there becomes interested in a portrait of Sophie’s that her artist husband had painted that hangs in the hotel. A gripping scene follows where Sophie’s fate seems to hang in the balance.

But then the story abruptly changes to 2006, and a 32-year-old woman in London named Liv owns Sophie’s portrait. It was a wedding gift from her husband before his sudden death. But when Liv’s new boyfriend, who deals in returning stolen art, sees the painting, troubles begin. He says Liv must turn over the portrait to Sophie’s descendants who’ve been searching for it, but Liv’s determined to keep it. A court case ensues and the reckoning of what happened to Sophie and her painting is unveiled in twisty ways.

I was jarred at first by the change in the novel’s second half but then got into it as well, as the new cast of characters came to life. Though the second half seemed a bit more flawed to me. I wasn’t sure exactly why Liv wanted to hang on to the painting so much in the face of financial ruin and doing what seemed right to those who were looted from during the war. But still I was compelled to find out more in the court case. The ending though seemed a bit too nicely tied up. Ultimately while parts of the novel might have stretched my believability, I still enjoyed being swept away for awhile with these characters and finding out what had happened to the painting and Sophie during the dark days of WWI. It’s quite a tale.

What about you — have you read this book, and if so, what did you think? Or what are your thoughts on the election? This Rocky Mountain sheep might know better than I do where we go from here.

Posted in Books | 16 Comments

November Preview

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Susan

We are off to a cabin this weekend near Waterton Lakes National Park so I will dash off a quick post now about new releases coming out this month. I usually do these preview posts as a way to help myself put new things on my radar; it helps me organize too about what’s coming out. I hope you might find them useful. November is a time when the volume of literary fiction starts dropping off a bit while the release of notable movies starts ramping up. Still there are a couple veteran authors with books out this month along with a few others, which I likely can’t pass up.

First off, British author Zadie Smith’s new novel “Swing Time” is about two young girls of mixed race who grow up in the same low-income project in North London and become friends, sharing an interest in dance. One is good at it and the other is not. The novel is about their friendship as they grow up and their lives diverge. Having read one of Smith’s books — “White Teeth” — previously from 2000, that’s all I need to know to be excited to read her again. “White Teeth” blew me away with Smith’s talent, and even if “Swing Time” is a fraction of that, it will be quite all right.

I’m also curious about Michael Chabon’s upcoming novel “Moonglow,” which is based on a trip the author took to visit his terminally ill grandfather, a WWII veteran, whose deathbed reminisces serve as the novel’s main narrative. According to Library Journal, “The story builds to core revelations of wartime horror and postwar heartbreak as powerful as they come.” I’ve read two of Chabon’s novels in the past — “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” and “Wonder Boys” — and have liked his personal-based stories. This one, according to the publisher, is an autobiography wrapped in a novel disguised as a memoir. With the prose of Chabon, it’s a book likely not to miss.

I’m also looking at Kelly Luce’s debut novel “Pull Me Under.” It’s about a Japanese-born mother who leaves her family in Colorado and travels back to Japan for the funeral of her estranged father. While there she is forced to confront a violent crime from her childhood and everything that led up to it. “Pull Me Under” has received some high praise and sounds like a psychological novel that explores themes of home and identity amid illuminating descriptions of Japan and Japanese culture. It looks to be a bit of a page-turner and one that I might like.

Finally I wouldn’t mind checking out Nicola Yoon’s young-adult novel “The Sun Is Also a Star” and Ted Russ’s debut war novel “Spirit Mission.” Granted, I don’t read a lot of YA novels, but I did read Yoon’s first novel “Everything, Everything” and thought the author showed quite a bit of promise. Her new one is about two teenagers with nothing in common who fall in love over the course of a day in NYC. Hmm it’s usually not my thing, but Yoon’s novel has been picked as a National Book Award finalist so I plan to read a copy of it that I picked up at BookExpo earlier this year.

As for “Spirit Mission,” it looks to be a fast-moving thriller about a Chinook helicopter team that goes on an illegal run deep into ISIS territory to save an American aid worker. This one has flashbacks to the days at West Point when the Lieutenant Colonel of the mission knew the man being held by ISIS. Judging by the scoop on the novel, it appears to be both a psychological study of military school and a compelling action story. Quite a few are hailing the book on Goodreads so I’m interested to check it out.

As for movies in November, there’s a lot of notable ones coming out. It’s sort of hard to pick which one I’m most interested to see. Amy Adams is in a new one called “Arrival” that seems bit reminiscent to me in subject matter to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” or perhaps “Contact.” If you liked those, you probably will like this one as well as it’s getting a lot of advance praise. Usually I like Amy Adams, though some of these ET kinds of movies can get pretty predictable, eh?

There’s also three war films coming out including: “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” “Allied” with Brad Pitt, and “Hacksaw Ridge” directed by Mel Gibson, which has been advertised to death. I wanted to see “Billy Lynn” since I read and liked the book and since it’s directed by the wonderful Ang Lee, but it’s received some low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. So I’m not sure about that. “Allied” should be worth seeing with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. The preview for the movie makes it appear that the character Cotillard plays is suspected of being a German spy during WWII, which her Allied husband, played by Pitt, is later informed about. Uh-oh, sounds like a heap of trouble.

Lastly in November movies, I want to see both “Loving,” based on the true story of the interracial couple that were sentenced to prison in Virginia in 1958 for getting married; and “Manchester by the Sea” about a Boston janitor who is forced to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy’s father dies. Both movies have received a lot of favorable press and the trailers look good. I often like these smaller indie films best, so I will choose these as my picks this month.

As for albums in November, there’s new ones by such popular artists as Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Bruno Mars, Sting, and Miranda Lambert among others. Sticking with my indie preferences, I’ll pick a combination of Martha Wainwright’s latest album “Goodnight City” along with the new one from Alicia Keys’ called “Here.” Should be a good mix.

What about you — which books, movies, or albums are you looking forward to this month?

Posted in Top Picks | 26 Comments

Late Fall Mini-Reviews

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Susan

Happy Halloween to all. It seems a lot has happened lately. First off, congrats to Paul Beatty for becoming the first American to win the 2016 Man Booker Prize for his novel “The Sellout.” The publisher calls the book a “biting satire about a young man’s isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court.” I’ve seen reviewers refer to it as “scathing,” “caustic,” and a “bruising” novel about American race relations, but it’s also said to be “funny and daring.” I think I’m curious to check it out though I’m glad to be forewarned about it too. Judy over at Keep the Wisdom thought it was the real deal when she reviewed it back in April, so I’ll put my name in for it at the library, though now it could be quite a wait.

Also last week there was the ghastly season opener for the TV show “The Walking Dead.” Good grief, the new villain Negan killed off two characters of the show with his barbed-wired bat, one of whom had been an original cast member. Oh I was not happy but mainly because it was so gruesome and sadistic. It almost seemed similar to the beheadings by ISIS and who wants to watch that. It was graphic and intense.

My husband regularly asks me why we watch the show, now in its seventh season, and even I don’t know why. Because it’s there? I haven’t read the comic strip that the show is loosely based on so I don’t know what comes next, but I still hope the group will be saved and be able to live a peaceful existence on some farm or whatnot — at least give me a break — but the show seems constantly into misery. Forget the zombies, it’s the other human beings they come across that are always the worst. They are never to be trusted. Remember the cannibals? Ugh. Do you watch the show, and if so, what did you think of the opener?

Meanwhile last week I finished three books, which is a bit crazy for me, but I started them awhile ago. First off, I read “The Perfect Girl” by Gilly Macmillan for my book club. It’s another psychological thriller-type novel — a very quick, light read that I think members of my book club were looking for after I picked the dense novel “The Sympathizer” last time. “The Perfect Girl” was a palate cleanser for sure. I liked that it was quick but otherwise I didn’t care for it that much. Apparently the book was originally titled “Butterfly in the Dark” but then retitled “The Perfect Girl.” I can only imagine that might have been because of “Gone Girl” and “The Girl on the Train.” They were likely trying to market another “Girl” blockbuster to the mix.

This one is about a 17-year-old musical prodigy (Zoe) who’s life was shattered three years ago after she was involved in a tragic accident that left three of her classmates dead. After some jail time, Zoe is given a second chance to start anew when her mom moves them away and remarries a well-off man with a musically gifted son. But she never tells them of Zoe’s past. Then on the night of Zoe’s first big recital back, her mom mysteriously winds up dead. The book alternates narrators piecing together what happened and concludes with a final twist.

It’s a novel that includes quite a few characters with a lot of problems: from drunk driving, to bullying, alcoholism, abandonment, abuse, MS, infidelity, and murder. I found it pretty simplistic and manipulative for suspense. With a storyline that happens over a 24-hour period there isn’t a lot of development, just actions and reactions. I kept wondering too why Zoe’s past solicitor narrates various chapters though he’s not involved in the present case. I also found it implausible that Zoe is described as having an IQ that’s higher than Einstein’s. Really? Come on, I didn’t think she really acted like it. Despite all that, it’s a decent, fast thriller if you’re stuck on an airplane or need a palate cleanser. It keeps the pages turning rapidly.

I also finished geobiologist Hope Jahren’s memoir “Lab Girl,” which has been quite a popular hit this year. It took me awhile to read it though. The author alternates chapters about the science of plants and trees with chapters about her personal life, career, and experiments in the field with her lab partner Bill. I especially liked these parts best, as she and Bill are quite quirky and funny. Who knew? The book includes many amusing anecdotes and stories of Hope and Bill’s adventures together and their rising careers as research scientists. How they squeaked by in the early years — he living in his van, and she working all nighters at the lab; how they got degrees at Berkeley, and built labs in Atlanta, Baltimore, and Hawaii. I sort of thought they would wind up together married, but around age 32 she meets her husband to be, who seems an understanding man for how much Bill is apart of her life.

I also liked how her passion for researching plants comes through, and how candidly she talks about her life in science and the difficulties she faced as a woman in the field, as well as with her pregnancy and bipolar disorder. I think she gives a unique window into the world of being a female research scientist and I was fascinated to hear about it, even though I muddled through some of the science / plant parts of the book. Some of the book felt a bit uneven to me — I liked some parts of it better than others — but all in all I did find “Lab Girl” to be quite interesting, and her words are making me look at trees a bit differently this fall. Who knew they had such lives.

Lastly I finished the audiobook of Stacey D’Erasmo’s 2014 novel “Wonderland.” It’s about a former indie rock star (Anna Brundage), who at age 44 after a seven year absence puts out an album and sets out on a European comeback tour with a new band and manager. Anna narrates the story, which alternates chapters between her stops along the tour and those of her past with her artist father, her tours from her heydays, and her affair with Simon, a father of two.

It’s a different kind of novel; there doesn’t seem to be a big story arc, but it’s more like a travel journal of Anna’s life. The chronology in the story jumps around a bit, which confused me a few of times, but I was still able to piece it together. While the novel feels a bit disjointed, I found the writing and passages to be quite poetic at times and likely the best feature of the book. After awhile I came to enjoy the narration of Anna, her inner life, and what happens to her on the tour. Her tone is quite measured and low-key, she’s definitely not a diva but is someone struggling to come to grips with the choices she’s made and is exploring the possibility of second chances. I’m interested in rock artists’ lives so this novel was in the ballpark for me. Kudos to Xe Sands who read it for the audio; she is always one of the best.

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

Posted in Books, TV | 20 Comments

Siracusa and The Girl on the Train

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Susan

Well it’s been a fairly calm week. I am behind on carving pumpkins and getting the candy stocked for Halloween, but wait, there’s still time! The snow is gone here but most of the leaves are down. I raked them into bags for a couple hours this week and was able to finish the audiobook of Delia Ephron’s 2016 novel “Siracusa,” which is a doozy of a story about two married couples that vacation together in Italy along with the enigmatic 10-year-old daughter of one of the couples. They go to Rome first and then on to the city of Siracusa on the coast of Sicily, where things quickly unravel and something happens that changes their lives forever.

Narrated from the two wives’ and two husbands’ perspectives, this story is pretty hard to put down. There’s Lizzie and Michael who are writers from New York, and Taylor and Finn, who own a restaurant in Portland, Maine and have a daughter named Snow. Lizzie and Finn had once dated back in their 20s, but now that’s over and this is the second vacation in later life they’ve taken together with their spouses. I’m not sure that this would necessarily happen in my household but … I was willing to go with it.

I think I heard about the novel “Siracusa” from Catherine over at The Gilmore Guide to Books, who liked it quite a bit, and I found it didn’t disappoint. I particularly recommend the audio because the four parts are read by four different actors who do a heck of a job with these different characters. You’ll find them an interesting mix with each their own secrets. Taylor, for one, is a helicopter mom from hell who cares only for her shy, beautiful daughter, Snow. And Finn still holds a flame for Lizzie, while Michael’s affections have turned cold towards her. Lizzie though is looking to win Michael back in Italy and jump-start her career as a journalist. But then in Siracusa all goes to hell in a handbasket.

The descriptions in the book and the characters make it an enticing read, but the story is pretty dark and cynical. It reminded me slightly of Herman Koch’s eerie novel “The Dinner,” which is also about two couples in Europe whose families go through something disturbing. But the stories also differ a bit. “Siracusa” is not totally without flaws, you likely will be able to forecast what will happen long before it does, though I still liked hearing how the characters played out their parts, and the ideas they came away with.

I had not read much from Delia Ephron before, though I knew of her from from her 1998 movie “You’ve Got Mail” and of course her famous sister Nora Ephron whose books often made me laugh. I had read parts of Delia’s nonfiction book “Sister, Mother, Husband, Dog: Etc.,” which for some reason I had put down, but nothing like “Siracusa.” It is much darker than I would’ve guessed of her fiction. It’s not exactly fit for an early Meg Ryan type of role: such as “You’ve Got Mail” and “Sleepless in Seattle.”

Speaking of which, I dragged my husband to the movie “The Girl on the Train” this week. (He said when we were leaving the theater he was the only guy in there. Ha ha ha, gotcha.) But “The Girl” was good, if you like this kind of movie. It followed Paula Hawkins’s blockbuster-selling novel closely.

Luckily Emily Blunt starred in it, which made all the difference. She made one hell of a messed-up Rachel Watson, hooray. Just like Rachel is in the book. I’m not sure the movie was all that suspenseful since I already knew what was going to happen — even my husband figured it out pretty early on without having read the book — but still I’m glad I went. Come on, I wasn’t going to miss it.

And the fact that they change the novel’s setting from London to New York for the movie didn’t seem to make much difference. Blunt pares down her English accent quite a bit, and there’s a couple of beautiful shots of the train along the Hudson River, which seemed good to me. While “The Girl on the Train” might not be as good as “Gone Girl,” it still was entertaining in a wacky thriller kind of way.

What about you, have you read “Siracusa,” or seen the movie “The Girl on the Train,” and if so, what did you think?

Posted in Books, Movies | 25 Comments

Book Festival Days and 3 Mini-Reviews

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Susan

This past week I’ve been busy attending Wordfest, the annual weeklong book festival here. I went to eight events and heard more than 20 writers give readings and interviews.

See authors: Peter Behrens, C.C. Humphreys, Steven Price, and Peter Robinson at left. It’s been great, listening to a wide variety of authors, from such well-known fiction writers as: Emma Donoghue, Yann Martel, Affinity Konar, Lisa Moore, and Madelein Thein, who’s novel is on the short list for this year’s Man Booker Prize, to many lesser-known authors as well. The talks have been interesting, and one thing’s for certain: I need to read more “CanLit” among other things.

Before moving to Canada full-time over six years ago, I didn’t really know much about CanLit other than reading Margaret Atwood and Carol Shields. But since then I’ve read a sprinkling of novels that fit the mold from across this vast country (including a few from the great Alice Munro), but I need to get to a lot more.

I picked up some Canadian books from the festival and had signed: Lynn Coady’s fiction “Hellgoing” and “The Antagonist,” Lisa Moore’s novel “Caught,” Julie Salverson’s book “Lines of Flight: An Atomic Memoir,” and Jowita Bydlowska’s memoir: “Drunk Mom,” which looks pretty harrowing. (Unfortunately Jowita was sick and did not speak at the event or sign books.) I also heard from and picked up copies of Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s debut novel “Harmless Like You” (she’s from England) and U.S. authors: Jim Lynch’s novel “Before the Wind” and Alexander Maksik’s “Shelter in Place.” So I have a new pile of books, which I’m sure wasn’t totally necessary on top of my other piles, but it’s good nonetheless so I can read some new voices. Have you read or heard of any of these?

Meanwhile I finished Andria Williams’s debut novel “The Longest Night,” which came out earlier this year. Any military brats out there? This one is set in Idaho Falls, which was a remote military town in the late 1950s when the book begins. It’s based on the true story of the only fatal nuclear reactor accident to occur in the U.S.

It’s about a married couple that moves to the town with their two young kids. The husband Paul is there to help oversee one of the country’s first nuclear reactors, but soon finds out that the reactor is compromised and the higher-ups would rather delay fixing it. Meanwhile his wife Nat is struggling to adjust to their new life, which is stifling amid the societal mores of the times. As troubles mount with the reactor, so too do cracks surface in their marriage.

I completely fell into this novel and could feel the Army base lives of these characters and the remoteness of where they were and the staid times in which they were living. The mores and gender roles of the late 1950s and early ‘60s are pervasive in the story and feel suffocating. I felt particularly thankful not to be a woman living there at the time, and sympathized with the wife, Nat, for having trouble fitting in. I liked how the book alternated chapters between the husband Paul, Nat, and Jeannie, the wife of Paul’s boss. You get a wide range of perspective and feeling for their lives and situation.

“The Longest Night” is quite a believable story and one that I did not want to put down despite it being a slow-burn of a read. The story and characters develop and develop until finally at the book’s end things boil over (quite literally with the accident and aftermath). I hadn’t heard of this historical event — the 1961 nuclear reactor accident near Idaho Falls — so I was very interested to read the novel and look up the accident online. Among other things in the story, it’ll make you think twice about nuclear energy.

I also finished the audiobook of Suzanne Rindell’s 2013 novel “The Other Typist,” which is set at the height of Prohibition in New York City. It’s about a police department stenographer (Rose) who becomes obsessed with a newly hired glamorous typist named Odalie. They become friends and soon Odalie lures Rose into the underground world of speakeasies and jazz, which ultimately has dire consequences.

Oh where to begin with this one?! I was engaged in the story, but it also wore me out quite a bit. I tired of the narrator Rose, who describes herself as a pretty insular woman who grew up an orphan and was lucky to get a job with the police, typing crime reports and confessions. She waxes on about Odalie, the stylish well-off woman whom she has met from the typing pool.

You wonder what’s going to happen to these two — and if their lives at the police department will catch up with their underworld parties. The story has some vibrant touches, but I also thought it rambled extraneously at times, was repetitious, and piles on a heavy dose of foreshadowing. I thought the Big Reveal in the book was quite drawn out and when it finally came at the end it was confusing. Perhaps a couple realities could be possible of what happens at the end, but I know what I think happens. It’s one of those switcheroozy types of novels, which you can’t say much about without giving stuff away. In this respect it reminded me a bit of Dennis Lehane’s novel “Shutter Island,” but that story had more action and suspense. There’s still plenty for me to think about with “The Other Typist,” but I guess I’m not a huge fan of this type of book twist. Maybe it depends on the novel. What about you? If you like such twists, you might like this one.

Finally last week, my husband and I saw and both liked the movie “Deepwater Horizon.” Wow I almost had to be picked up off the floor afterwards. This one is much better than I had expected going in. My husband wanted to see it as he’s an engineer and I was glad I tagged along. The movie is not your typical fluff Hollywood reenactment but rather takes a gripping look into the 2010 disaster of the offshore drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the deaths of 11 people. It’s a hair-raising movie. I couldn’t believe most of the 126 workers on the rig made it off alive. Kudos to those who made the movie — amid all the legal maneuvering that had to be done just to bring it to the Big Screen. It may not honor every single detail accurately but shows that when human beings with various incentives interact with complex systems, sometimes bad things happen. It’s also a moving tribute to those who died on the rig and is well worth seeing.

What about you, have you read either of these books or seen the movie “Deepwater Horizon,” and if so — what did you think?

Posted in Books, Movies | 22 Comments

Snowflakes and Shrill

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Susan

We had our first snow day on Friday, which is always a bit of a shock to a Californian living in Canada. On Thursday I had been out raking leaves for hours, which aren’t all down yet. Then Friday it dumped a couple inches. The snow should melt away this week, but we could be in store for a long winter. Gripes, I guess it’s best to stay in and curl up with a book near the fireplace. While I do, my thoughts go out to all the people in the path of Hurricane Matthew. What a monster storm. It’s going to take quite awhile to recover. I remember Hurricane Isabel from 2003, which I experienced while living in Virginia, and I think it took about a week to get my power back on. So stay safe and hang in there.

This week I finished the audiobook of Lindy West’s 2016 nonfiction book “Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman.” Admittedly I didn’t know much about the book or the author before starting it, other than reading that it included feminist essays, and Shannon over at River City Reading had praised it back in May. What I did know was “Shrill” had come up on my queue at the library and I was game to check it out.

And oh my, the author Lindy West, 34, is quite a force. I had no idea, and hadn’t thought about some of these issues like she has. It’s perfect that she reads her book — a collection of personal essays about her life and what she believes — for the audio as she enlivens it and adds perspective. In “Shrill,” Lindy details the derision she grew up with as a “fat person” and her move to become an advocate for fat acceptance and other issues. She talks about her family, self-esteem, boyfriends, stints in stand-up comedy, and jobs in journalism, and how she came to speak out about: fat shaming, anti-abortion views, internet harassment, misogyny, and rape jokes. It’s all told in a way that seems incredibly open, honest, and quite funny as well. I couldn’t help but laugh in places.

I don’t think you have to agree with every opinion or thing Lindy West does in “Shrill” to be open or agreeable to the book. At first, I wasn’t sure it was the type of book for me, and I almost set it aside, but I’m glad I stuck with it. All in all, I commend Lindy for her courage and fight, and found her book to be thought-provoking and different than what I typically read. While some bits of “Shrill” might take one out of his or her comfort zone, other parts shine on its humanity.

Meanwhile, I’m midway through reading Andria Williams’s 2016 debut novel “The Longest Night,” which is based on a true story in 1961 of the only fatal nuclear reactor accident that took place in the U.S. It’s about a young couple who move to a remote army base, whose marriage is tested, and a cover-up that ensues at the base. I’m loving the story so far and plan to review it next week. I’m also midway through reading Hope Jahren’s 2016 nonfiction memoir “Lab Girl” about her life as a scientist studying trees and plant life in her laboratories. It’s interesting and enjoyable in a unique way. I’m liking her quirky sensibility so far. Lastly, I’m listening to the audiobook of Suzanne Rindell’s 2013 debut novel “The Other Typist,” which is set in 1920s New York. Keira Knightley is reportedly set to produce and star in the movie adaption of it, but apparently it’s still in the development stages.

Also last week, my hub and I saw and liked the movie “Sully.” You might have already seen it about the pilot who landed the damaged plane on the Hudson River in 2009 to save the passengers and crew. I found the structure of the movie — how it goes back and forth in time from the investigation to the flight to be quite interesting. You find out details you might not have already known about the crash and the pilots. And despite already knowing what happens from history, the movie is still quite a heart-pumping — and thankfully pleasing — watch.

What about you have you read any of these books, or seen “Sully,” and if so, what did you think?

Posted in Books, Movies | 26 Comments

I Let You Go and October Preview

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Susan

Happy October. Hard to believe — there’s only three months left of the year. It’s time to make haste with one’s reading goals. I’ve been enjoying the fall colors and got out last week for a bike ride, see photo at left. Oh it was nice and I hope to get a few more rides in before the snow flies. This month looks to be a busy one with our city’s annual book festival taking place the week of the 10th. It highlights mainly Canadian authors and has them here for readings, interviews, and book signings. I plan to see quite a few of the author events including those with: Emma Donoghue, Andre Alexis, Madeleine Thien, and Affinity Konar among many others. I will let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile last week I finished the audiobook of Clare Mackintosh’s 2015 debut thriller “I Let You Go,” which held me from start to finish so I give it high marks for that. It reminded me a bit of Paula Hawkins blockbuster “The Girl on the Train,” or at least it’s in the same vein as that. Though this one is about a hit-and-run car case that leaves a 5-year-old boy dead and sends the book’s protagonist (Jenna) fleeing the memory of the accident by moving to a small cottage on the remote Welsh coast. What’s her story? You only find out little by little, but midway through the book there’s a big twist that spins the story on its head. Wow I walked into it like falling through a trap door.

The chapters alternate between the detectives pursuit of the case to Jenna’s life — past and present — both of which I found enticing. Just a forewarning: the villain in the novel is truly disturbing, and the plot gets a bit crazy (or unbelievable?) near the end, but I had to see it through. I was impressed by “I Let You Go” as a thriller, which made for a captivating audio and is quite visual, particularly of the Welsh coast. I can see a movie being made of it. Have you read it?

Meanwhile there’s a lot of good fiction coming out in October. At least eight novels are on my radar, all of them by women this month, though I need to narrow down my picks. The first one I’m considering is a post-Civil War western called “News of the World” whose plot reminds me slightly of “True Grit’s.” It’s about two mismatched individuals who come together to make a long, arduous journey through Texas in the 1870s. This kind of story might not always appeal to me, but apparently “News of the World” is told with such heart that it’s gained a lot of high marks and popularity on Goodreads. So I will check it out. I could use a good western at this point.

Next up is Brit Bennett’s highly anticipated debut novel “The Mothers.” Set within a black community in Southern California, it’s about a teen romance — and the subsequent cover-up that results from it — that makes an impact that goes far beyond the protagonists’ youths. The novel has been called one of the most exciting debuts of the fall by various publications, and according to Amazon is a “powerful novel about motherhood, female friendship and finding love with a broken heart.” From all the hype I’ve read about the novel, count me in for it.

I’m also curious about Margaret Atwood’s forthcoming book “Hag-Seed” which is another in the Hogarth Shakespeare series that pairs eight of today’s authors with the retelling of Shakespeare works. While Anne Tyler’s recent book “Vinegar Girl” took on Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” Atwood’s latest is a remix of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” And from what I can tell, the plot of “Hag-Seed” appears to involve a clever play within a play of the story. The Hogarth series seems fun, and in the capable hands of Atwood, it’s likely her take on “The Tempest” is a real winner. So I need to check it out.

I will also likely pick up a copy of Madeleine Thien’s latest novel “Do Not Say We Have Nothing,” which has been shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize and the Giller Prize, and is an author I will hear at our city’s upcoming book festival. Her novel has been hailed as an “extraordinary” epic of recent Chinese history, which involves two generations of a Chinese family — those who lived through Mao’s Cultural Revolution and their children, who became the students protesting in Tiananmen Square. I’m keen about finding out more about this novel and trying out Thien’s writing. Apparently Thien is the daughter of Malaysian-Chinese immigrants who was born in Vancouver and now lives in Montreal.

Other novels out this month that might be of interest are: Maria Semple’s “Today Will Be Different,” Caroline Leavitt’s “Cruel Beautiful World,” Tana French’s “The Trespasser,” and Marcy Dermansky’s “The Red Car.” My, the month is jam-packed full of enticing new books.

As for October movies, I will definitely see “The Girl on the Train,” which I read in all its inebriated glory last year. The Paula Hawkins thriller surely took in a chunk of change since it was published in early 2015. I want to see how Emily Blunt handles Rachel Watson; she’s definitely not heavy, but she appears to accurately conjure the messed up Rachel. The trailer looks sufficiently crazy, so I’m sure it follows the book well. It seems to ask the pertinent question: what happened that night in the tunnel?! I don’t think it’ll match the movie of “Gone Girl,” but I am looking forward to it nonetheless. One needs a wacky thriller every once in awhile.

There’s also another “Jack Reacher” movie coming out as well as another Robert Langdon / Da Vinci Code follow up — “Inferno,” but I will likely wait to see those when they come on pay-per-view.

Though I likely plan to see “The Birth of a Nation” at a theater. It’s based on the true story of Nat Turner, a slave who led a rebellion in Virginia in 1831. It looks to be a powerful movie judging from the trailer, though it’s been mired in controversy lately due to the resurfaced 1999 rape charges against the filmmakers while at college, notably the director and lead actor Nate Parker.

The film apparently interjects a brutal fictional rape scene into it, for which it alludes is one of Nat Turner’s reasons for the rebellion. This has caused the victim’s sister from 1999 to respond in a recent column by writing: “Given what happened to my sister, and how no one was held accountable for it, I find this invention self-serving and sinister, and I take it as a cruel insult to my sister’s memory.” Yikes. It’s not exactly an issue I can forget now that I know about it.

Lastly for this month, there’s a lot of albums by popular artists coming out, such as Green Day, Kings of Leon, Bon Jovi, The Pretenders, Michael Buble, and Lady Gaga among others. That’s Gaga, people, you heard it right. I have no idea what her new album “Joanne” will sound like. It comes out Oct. 21. But I heard that Lady Gaga will be headlining next year’s Super Bowl. So there is a Gaga resurgence. Meanwhile I will pick Norah Jones’s latest album “Day Breaks” as my pick this month. I like her music. Enjoy.

What about you — which books, movies, or albums are you looking forward to this month?

Posted in Top Picks | 27 Comments

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven and Underground Airlines

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Susan

Hi, I’m back now after a lovely trip to the Basque Country of northern Spain and southwestern France. Wow, what a great region. I will leave you with some photos of our visit, in which we met up with relatives and bicycled in the Rioja region and some of the western Pyrenees. Some of it was dry and windy wine country (hooray) and other parts were green and lush sheep-herding country (awesome).

Despite all we saw, I feel it was just the tip of the iceberg and there’s much more to explore for another time. Still I’m glad with what we managed to fit in on this excursion, which turned out great as well for catching up with siblings and in-laws. The weather was good at the start but then rained the last five days or so. It was a bit cooler and wetter than we expected but still warm enough to bicycle comfortably. Next time I plan to bring a better raincoat! That is key.

The last few days we were along the coast, looking upon the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The city of Biarritz where we stayed for a night is known for it’s surfing. Unfortunately a storm greeted us there and we did not get much beach time. As George Costanza once said: “the sea was angry that day my friends.” But instead my hub and I took some nice walks under an umbrella, one of which was a few days later along the Camino del Norte pilgrimage trail in Spain, which in its entirety goes from San Sebastian to Santiago (about 825 km or 513 miles).

We hiked the trail for just a few hours from one beach town over a mountain to another. It was scenic and lovely, and has us considering whether we want to return sometime to hike more of it. I think so. But for now, we are back home, trying to adjust to jet lag and a time zone change of eight hours — as well as the imminent Canadian winter. I’m so confused. 🙂

While on the trip, I finished Chris Cleave’s WWII novel “Everyone Brave Is Forgiven” and the audiobook of Ben Winters’ novel “Underground Airlines.” Both of which came out this year and are pretty good. Here are my takes on each:

The main character of Cleave’s latest novel is a young socialite (Mary) who takes up teaching a small group of children in London who have been left behind from the evacuated school kids taken to the countryside at the onset of WWII. A few are mentally disabled and one is a black boy whose father performs in the racially typecast minstrel shows of the times. Socially, Mary begins a relationship with Tom, the education administrator who got her the job, but when she meets his roommate Alistair, home briefly from the war, something between them seems to develop. But then Alistair is sent back to serve on the island of Malta under siege from the Axis Powers, while Mary takes up driving ambulances (along with her friend Hilda) during the heavy bombing of the Blitz. All suffer greatly due to the war, and it’s not until the book’s end do you discover if Alistair and Mary, who’ve corresponded through letters all the while, get together, or if their lives are too shattered and changed at war’s end.

Oh it’s the usual suffering in a Chris Cleave book. If you’ve read his other novels “Incendiary” and “Little Bee,” you know his characters often endure terrible grief and human suffering. Though I liked those books, I wonder if I’m tiring of all the tragedy inflicted on his characters a bit. What is enticing is that the novel was inspired by the real letters the author’s grandparents wrote to one another during the war — apparently they had become engaged in 1941 and then didn’t see each other for three years until the end of the war. His grandmother had lived through the Blitz in London and his grandfather was stationed on Malta during the siege, both of which come to life and are quite vivid in the book. I had not read much about Malta in WWII before and it made me curious to look it up online to learn more, which I did.

I also found interesting that the novel brings up the minstrel shows, apparently of the times, which were a form of entertainment — basically skits that peddled in racial stereotypes. I had not thought too much about these before, or the unfortunate children who were left behind in London and not evacuated to the countryside. The themes, too, of forgiveness, fighting inequality, and conjuring what changes the war would bring were well done. On the whole, while I liked the novel, I didn’t overly love it. The story held my interest but the unevenness of the telling perhaps didn’t engross me in it as much as I had hoped. Some parts I found could’ve been sped up, other parts more developed. Still “Everyone Brave Is Forgiven” rang true for me with some poignant lines about living through such life-altering times.

A novel that gripped me more was Ben Winter’s latest thriller “Underground Airlines,” which likely is one of my favorite books of the year so far. I listened to it as an audiobook and was held by it every step of the way. Something about its narration and creativity reminded me a bit of the novel “Station Eleven,” which I had liked a lot last year. Though this book’s subject matter is quite different. It’s an alternative history story about a black man called Victor who’s a bounty hunter in a modern America that includes slave states as well as free states. (It’s a book that imagines the Civil War never happened, and what the U.S. would be like if it hadn’t.) Victor was once a slave but the government gave him the option of freedom by coercing him into finding runaway slaves and having them returned. But during one such case Victor finds himself in crisis over what he’s doing, and soon all hell breaks loose.

“Underground Airlines” is a thriller that’s provocative, riveting, and well done. It manages to speak to both America’s past (slavery) and present (racism) — and is a timely harsh critique of both. Yet it does it in such a way that is utterly fresh and compelling. I’ve never really been into novels that dwell on alternative history imaginings before, nor would I have thought a thriller would be among my best-of-year kind-of books, but this one proved its worth. My only slight criticism of it perhaps is that towards the end its story goes through quite a few twists — perhaps one too many for my liking. It doesn’t need that many — a reader can get a bit lost, but still on the whole I found the novel quite excellent. I haven’t read Ben Winters’s other novels, namely his “Last Policeman” trilogy, but since I liked this one quite a bit, I plan to read them in the future. I also want to check out Colson Whitehead’s highly praised recent novel “The Underground Railroad,” which is similar in its topic but with a different style.

Also last week my hub and I saw the movie “The Light Between the Oceans” and I thought it represented the book quite well. Usually I find movie adaptations don’t live up to the books they’re taken from but this one I thought was pretty close. The cinematography was wonderful and Michael Fassbender, as usual, was excellent. It’s a story that portrays such a tragic, difficult situation. You empathize with both sides, and the loss they go through feels brutal. I found watching it was squirm-worthy in parts.

What about you — have you read these books, or seen “The Light Between the Oceans” — and if so, what did you think?

Posted in Books | 18 Comments

The BFG and September Preview

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Susan

Ahhh September. My favorite month of the year despite having to say goodbye to summer. It’s true it’s my birthday month, but I just like it because it’s usually a beautiful time of year (see photo at left). On Friday, the hub and I are headed on an overseas trip, which actually has been in the works since spring. We are going to the Basque Country — in the western Pyrenees that borders France and Spain, where we will meet up with relatives for an organized bike excursion. It should be interesting no doubt. I have not been to the region before, so I’m sure to take in an eye full. I will let you know how it goes once I get back in a couple weeks. On the plane, I plan to take Chris Cleave’s WWII novel “Everyone Brave Is Forgiven,” which I’m currently reading, as well as the audiobook of Ben Winter’s recent novel “Underground Airlines,” which is a work of alternative history that is quite a humdinger so far. Have you read either?

Before these, I finished the audiobook of Roald Dahl’s 1982 children’s book “The BFG,” which was fun. I needed something a bit charming after the heavy books in my last post. And indeed it was. I had missed the story when I was younger but wanted to find out what all the fuss was about over The Big Friendly Giant. Though apparently the recent movie of “The BFG” has been called one of Steven Spielberg’s rare flops because it took in 160 million globally but cost 140 million to make. Hmm. Not sure what made it a “flop,” but the book — about an orphan named Sophie who becomes friends with a Giant skilled in catching dreams and blowing them into the heads of others — is pretty endearing. I particularly enjoyed their trip to Buckingham Palace to win the Queen over to their plans to put an end to the deeds of the nine evil giants. While it may not be my favorite Dahl book of all time — that still goes to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Danny, the Champion of the World” — I’m still glad to finally have met The BFG. It was long overdue.

Meanwhile a lot of appealing September releases are coming out to fawn over and discuss. There’s new novels by two of my favorites Ann Patchett and Ian McEwan, which I’m psyched to get to, as well as new novels by Emma Donoghue, Jonathan Safran Foer, Ron Rash, and Herman Koch among others. But wait, I must narrow down my picks. For this month, I’ll go with four — two memoirs and two novels. It’s unusual that I include nonfiction in my monthly previews, but heck when you have John le Carre and Bruce Springsteen with rare books coming out, you have no choice!

Le Carre’s book “The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life” is one that has me curious. He seems so enigmatic; the British spy master was in the British Secret Service once upon a time, which later fueled his illustrious literary career. It’s my husband, not me, who has read almost all of his books and championed the master of the espionage thriller. But alas, some of that has rubbed off on me, and now I’m interested to read and find out what this secretive man has chronicled in his life story.

I also need to check out Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming 528-page autobiography “Born to Run.” Are you kidding me?! I’ve been a long-time fan of the Boss and saw my first Bruce concert in 1981 at the L.A. forum (I began following him in 1975 with the release of his third album “Born to Run.”) That night he came out on stage by himself and started into “Thunder Road” and I was forever transfixed. And I have remained so, seeing him with the E Street Band many times over the years. As you may know, the excitement of a live Bruce show is like nothing else. And while there’s been various biographies of him in the past, which I’ve read, this is the first book by Bruce himself. So I will not miss it. No way, no how. It’s like with Bob Dylan’s book “Chronicles,” you must get your hands on a copy as if you were in need of it yesterday.

As for novels this month, I’ll pick Amor Towles novel “A Gentleman in Moscow” since it’s received a lot of high praise and because I snapped up a copy at BookExpo America, and met the author there, who pleasantly signed the book for me. I’m a newbie to Towles and still plan to read his popular 2011 debut novel “Rules of Civility,” which many loved. His new novel is about a Russian count who is sentenced in 1922 to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Apparently this count is a colorful character and the book includes quite a glittering cast. That’s about what I know of it so far, but Catherine over at The Gilmore Guide to Books has already devoured the novel and says it’s one of her favorites of the year. Hmm. So a Russian count it is!

Lastly in books, Affinity Konar’s novel “Mischling” is likely one I plan to check out soon. The author is coming to our city’s book festival in October and I want to read it in time for that. It’s a book that definitely involves a tough subject matter and one I’m admittedly in trepidation about. The story involves twin sisters struggling to survive in WWII and forced to take part in Nazi Josef Mengele’s horrific human experiments. Need I say more? It sounds truly nightmarish, though apparently it’s also a tale of great beauty and courage that has been highly praised by various authors including Anthony Doerr, Karen Russell, and David Wroblewski among others. I’m not sure if it’s my kind of story, but I will see what I think.

As for movies in September, I think there are two that I’m most interested to see. Of course, I can’t pass up Michael Fassbender in “The Light Between the Oceans.” Sure it’s a movie that’s likely a cry-fest — I read the book by M.L. Stedman, I remember it well — but with the lighthouse and landscape cinematography along with Fassbender, there’s no way I plan to miss it. This film includes an epic post-WWI tale of love, loss and sadness off the coast of Western Australia, so what are you waiting for?! Get thee to a theater and witness those dreamy eyes. (Not to disappoint anyone but Mr. Fassbender is off the table so to speak, as apparently he is in deep in real life with co-star Alicia Vikander. I guess it helps being a talented, not-shabby looking Swedish actress.)

The second movie I’m curious to see is “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks and directed by Clint Eastwood. Most remember the true story about the pilot who landed the disabled commercial plane on the Hudson River in 2009, saving all 155 aboard. It was the “Miracle on the Hudson.” The feat is sure to be riveting on the screen. But what many might not remember is that the pilots were grilled by investigators for months afterwards. The following hearings apparently play out in the movie. I’m thinking “Sully,” with Tom Hanks in the lead role, will likely be a winner, but don’t ask me about seeing it before my flights this month. Good grief I don’t need any new airplane nightmares.

Lastly for September there’s a lot of great artists with albums coming out, including Kristin Chenoweth, Dwight Yoakam, Van Morrison, and Bob Weir among others. I also plan to check out new albums by The Head and the Heart, as well as Passenger. But I have to go with Springsteen’s upcoming album “Chapter and Verse” as my top pick this month. It’s said to be the companion piece to his autobiography. Most of the 18 songs have been previously released on other albums, which I have, but there’s five tracks that have not been released before. To get my full fix of Bruce, I need to experience the book and audio together, right? Right.

What about you — which books, movies, or albums are you looking forward to this month?

Posted in Top Picks | 23 Comments

The Sympathizer and When Breath Becomes Air

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Susan

On Saturday, somewhere across the middle of Canada at 38,000 feet up I victoriously finished Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Sympathizer.” I was on the plane returning from the Senior Tennis Nationals in Ottawa, which was competitive but good fun too. (See the clay courts at left.) I had spent a couple of weeks studying “The Sympathizer” and underlining its key passages. I’m sure one could write his or her dissertation on this novel about the Vietnam War and its aftermath. It’s that type of “important” book, one told from a Vietnamese perspective — on the other side of the war — that’s rarely ever heard.

Over the years I’ve read my share of Vietnam War and refugee stories and seen the American Vietnam War movies, but I haven’t experienced anything like this book, which holds all sides accountable. It’s unsparingly angry and satirical, especially towards the U.S. involvement in the war and American culture. In an interview at the back of the paperback, the author says he wanted “readers to be rattled by the book” and provoked to “rethink their assumptions about this history, and also about the literature they’ve encountered before.” Well no doubt he succeeded: I was rattled anew.

The novel is a bit unusual in that the entire story is told as a confession. The narrator is detailing what has transpired in his life and his thoughts to someone called the Commandant. You don’t really figure out everything about this and the Commandant until the book’s end. But needless to say, it’s a bit ominous. You wonder: what’s all this confession about?!

The Vietnamese narrator is a bit different too, he sees himself as a revolutionary who’s working at the end of the war for a South Vietnamese general, but he is secretly feeding information to the communists. He seems both humane and inhumane. On the one hand he’s utterly loyal and protective of the blood brothers he grew up with and fighting for the people, on the other, his actions to cover up his spying results in the deaths of innocent civilians.

The narrator’s story, you come to find out, is quite a journey. He barely escapes the fall of Saigon in 1975, only to join the General as a refugee in Los Angeles. There he continues to spy for the communists, passing along info on the General’s plan to mount a secret invasion via Thailand to get Vietnam back. Eventually this lands the narrator on a dangerous reconnaissance mission in Laos that results in scary repercussions.

Oh my! You won’t escape the war’s suffering in this book, or how it pulled people apart. It’s a story that lambastes U.S. imperialism, but it doesn’t absolve the communists or South Vietnamese either. There’s one section of the book that’s particularly satirical in which the narrator gets hired as a consultant on a Vietnam War movie called “The Hamlet” being filmed in the Philippines. On set, there’s an egomaniacal director and no speaking lines for the Vietnamese, represented in the film by Korean and Filipino actors. Need I say more? What follows is a dark spoof of what in reality is a takeoff of “Apocalypse Now.” Whoosh, it’s a must read.

In the end, I thought “The Sympathizer” was not exactly an easy book — it was dense in its delivery as one’s person confession without much in the way of dialogue or paragraph breaks. Its unbreaking text often stretched the length of a page. It was also confrontational (in a good way), upending assumptions about the war as it went along. But it was also a novel that had a lot of good lines in it and important things to say about ideology, identity, and the history of the war. By the end, my copy was completely marked up and underlined. I found “The Sympathizer” one of those rare, “big” books that comes out only once in every blue moon.

As an encore to that, I listened to the audiobook of Paul Kalanithi’s popular nonfiction book “When Breath Becomes Air,” which had finally come off hold at the library. Many know this is about a 36-year-old doctor’s battle with lung cancer, which he is diagnosed with during the last year of his residency to become a neurosurgeon.

Oh this is a sad book, but it’s told rather beautifully and matter-of-factly. From the story within, Paul seemed a very bright and outstanding person. After a decade worth of training, he was finally on the verge of becoming the doctor he had always wanted to be — only to receive such a horrendous diagnosis. How he finished his last year of residency while undergoing treatment — and managed to write this book too — is nothing short of miraculous. I found his battle with cancer and his efforts to help others very courageous.

Somehow I had mistakenly thought this book would be mostly about the choice he and his wife made to have a baby after he received his diagnosis. And though it touches on their decision and the baby, the book focuses mainly on Paul’s battle as well as his medical career. He details what made him want to become a doctor, his medical practice and his medical cases to quite an extent. (If you’re really squeamish about hospital stuff, just a slight warning.)

Although Paul didn’t get the chance to finish writing his book, his wife’s very well-done epilogue really brought his story together for me and also made me lose it. How very sad it is, but his story and battle are also strangely comforting and inspirational, too. I think others would benefit in reading or listening to Paul’s book. I’m sure I will think of him & his fight for a very long time.

Now I could use something happy and light next. What about you — have you read either of these books, and if so what did you think?

Posted in Books | 24 Comments