It's fitting that the year's last book should also be one of the best. Fatima Farheen Mirza's A Place for Us is a provocative, heartrending read that opens with a family wedding: eldest daughter Hadia is getting married - a love match, not arranged - and has invited her estranged younger brother to be present for her big day.
From that opening, Mirza's story spins backward in time, to Hadia's parents own wedding - arranged - and the lives they forged in California, far from their beginnings half-a-world away. The family's story, the births of Hadia, younger daughter Huda, and son Amar, unfold gradually, in snapshots recalled from the perspective of different family members. A Place for Us is the story of family life, notably, of the thousand little hurts that accumulate, the sibling rivalries, offhand comments, sideways glances whose damage is greater than a single, great betrayal.
This particular iteration of a story as old as time explores the immigrant experience and the experience of being Muslim in America in the years after September 11, but the framework is the shared experience of belonging to a family in which the members do not always understand one another, and the cumulative damage such misunderstandings can wreak over time. What makes Mirza's work so impressively powerful is that for much of the book, nothing really happens. This isn't a book about which one can easily write a complete synopsis; relatively early I even debated putting it down, so unassuming and ordinary was the plot. It's only as the book reaches its conclusion that it all becomes clear, and my admiration for what Mirza accomplished here, complete.
Five stars.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
I loved this book. After plenty of mediocre reads and then the heaviness of Gone to Soldiers, Eleanor Oliphant was a welcome change.
Written with a unique voice that reminded me of Ove (or more recently, Britt-Marie) in all the best ways, and with plenty of hilarity, this has been one of my favorite books all year.
Eleanor Oliphant is...different. She struggles in social settings (such as the office, or making a purchase in a shop) and has her life plotted out precisely, from her Wednesday evening chats with her (institutionalized) Mummy to knowing exactly how much vodka to sip through the weekend so that she is never completely drunk nor completely sober. Of course, the reader learns rather early that Eleanor's life has considered of hardships and harder knocks, doled out at regular intervals, so such oddities help her cope.
Two events turn her life upside down, though. First, she has met the love of her life, a musician she saw at a gig, and whose name she learned on the internet, whom she must woo and marry. She also meets Raymond, the new IT guy in whose presence she is when Sammy, an elderly man falls on his way home and she and Raymond rescue. In rescuing and then befriending Sammy, Eleanor begins to see beyond her narrow routines and current life experience into what life is like for others...and could be for her.
Five stars.
Written with a unique voice that reminded me of Ove (or more recently, Britt-Marie) in all the best ways, and with plenty of hilarity, this has been one of my favorite books all year.
Eleanor Oliphant is...different. She struggles in social settings (such as the office, or making a purchase in a shop) and has her life plotted out precisely, from her Wednesday evening chats with her (institutionalized) Mummy to knowing exactly how much vodka to sip through the weekend so that she is never completely drunk nor completely sober. Of course, the reader learns rather early that Eleanor's life has considered of hardships and harder knocks, doled out at regular intervals, so such oddities help her cope.
Two events turn her life upside down, though. First, she has met the love of her life, a musician she saw at a gig, and whose name she learned on the internet, whom she must woo and marry. She also meets Raymond, the new IT guy in whose presence she is when Sammy, an elderly man falls on his way home and she and Raymond rescue. In rescuing and then befriending Sammy, Eleanor begins to see beyond her narrow routines and current life experience into what life is like for others...and could be for her.
Five stars.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
A Death of No Importance
It's 1910 and Jane Prescott is an accomplished lady's maid whose service to one of New York's most influential matrons positions her for service to the new-money Benchley family upon the stately Mrs. Armslow's death. Compared to Mrs. Armslow - related by birth or marriage to the finest families of the city - the Benchley's are quite the comedown.
They value Jane for her understanding of high society, an understanding they do not yet possess and which becomes all the more necessary (and apparent) when the youngest Benchley daughter, Charlotte, causes outrage and scandal by becoming engaged to Norrie Newsome, scion of the mining family. The Newsomes, while one of the "finest families" are also beset by their own scandals, from the mining disaster that killed so many children in Pennsylvania to Mr. Newsome's remarriage to his daughter's schoolmate. All of which is to say: there's plenty to unravel when Norrie is viciously murdered at his family's Christmas party, just as his engagement to Charlotte Benchley was to become official.
As Jane learns more of the murder, she discovers that she alone may be able to solve it.
Author Mariah Fredericks mystery is well-written and captivating. From the inclusion of anarchists to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, she's included significant historical events that make this more than a simple, puff piece, and increased my interest. I also appreciated the twists; just when I thought I knew what would happen (and I'm not speaking only of the murder mystery here), she added plot twists to keep the reader on her toes and decrease the predictability and formulaic turns that such mysteries can often take.
Four stars.
They value Jane for her understanding of high society, an understanding they do not yet possess and which becomes all the more necessary (and apparent) when the youngest Benchley daughter, Charlotte, causes outrage and scandal by becoming engaged to Norrie Newsome, scion of the mining family. The Newsomes, while one of the "finest families" are also beset by their own scandals, from the mining disaster that killed so many children in Pennsylvania to Mr. Newsome's remarriage to his daughter's schoolmate. All of which is to say: there's plenty to unravel when Norrie is viciously murdered at his family's Christmas party, just as his engagement to Charlotte Benchley was to become official.
As Jane learns more of the murder, she discovers that she alone may be able to solve it.
Author Mariah Fredericks mystery is well-written and captivating. From the inclusion of anarchists to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, she's included significant historical events that make this more than a simple, puff piece, and increased my interest. I also appreciated the twists; just when I thought I knew what would happen (and I'm not speaking only of the murder mystery here), she added plot twists to keep the reader on her toes and decrease the predictability and formulaic turns that such mysteries can often take.
Four stars.
Friday, December 20, 2019
Gone to Soldiers
I won't go as far as the LA Times, which declared Marge Piercy's Gone to Soldiers "the most thorough and most captivating, most engrossing novel ever written about World War II," but certainly this epic novel is heroic in scope and well worth the time it takes to read the 750+ pages.
Piercy has created an entire cast of characters - ten separate narrators - and has given each of them a unique voice, compelling story, and impressive cast of supporting characters, in additional to intricately and believably linking together many of their stories, often in ways such that the characters themselves may not even realize they are linked to one another. In other words, like life.
Most, but not all, of the narrators are Jewish, some living comfortably in the U.S. while struggling to come to terms with what is happening to their relatives in Europe, others struggling daily under the heal of the Gestapo, watching in horror as friends, neighbors, family disappear, wondering when they themselves will be rounded up and departed.
From the jungle-covered islands of the Pacific, to the horrors of Auschwitz, to the factories filled with women churning out planes and tanks, and the halls of bureaucracy and secrecy in London and DC, Piercy explores the war from all angles. The final product is a carefully-crafted, thought-provoking work, admirable for what the author has done, as well as what she has written.
Five stars.
Piercy has created an entire cast of characters - ten separate narrators - and has given each of them a unique voice, compelling story, and impressive cast of supporting characters, in additional to intricately and believably linking together many of their stories, often in ways such that the characters themselves may not even realize they are linked to one another. In other words, like life.
Most, but not all, of the narrators are Jewish, some living comfortably in the U.S. while struggling to come to terms with what is happening to their relatives in Europe, others struggling daily under the heal of the Gestapo, watching in horror as friends, neighbors, family disappear, wondering when they themselves will be rounded up and departed.
From the jungle-covered islands of the Pacific, to the horrors of Auschwitz, to the factories filled with women churning out planes and tanks, and the halls of bureaucracy and secrecy in London and DC, Piercy explores the war from all angles. The final product is a carefully-crafted, thought-provoking work, admirable for what the author has done, as well as what she has written.
Five stars.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Wind, Sand, and Stars
Every good French major knows the story of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, vanished war hero, pilot, and author of Le Petit Prince. I was excited, then, when I read a piece about a lesser known work of his, Wind, Sand and Stars, winner of the National Book Award, no less.
Unfortunately, although the writing itself flowed beautifully, but the stories were dull and after weeks of slogging through a handful of pages at a time, I gave up the ghost.
One star.
Unfortunately, although the writing itself flowed beautifully, but the stories were dull and after weeks of slogging through a handful of pages at a time, I gave up the ghost.
One star.
Friday, November 29, 2019
The American Heiress (Take Two)
The opening pages of The American Heiress struck a familiar cord, and the nagging feeling that I'd read this all before increased until I could help but search this blog and discovered that, in fact, I had read this book two-and-a-half years ago. My verdict at the time? "Utterly forgettable, but also completely harmless." I was clearly on the money, for neither my own words, nor the many online reviews jogged my memory sufficiently for me to recall any of the details. I suppose I could have continued reading and been enlightened anew, but why spend my time reading for a second time a book I've already declared forgettable?
Thursday, November 28, 2019
The Polar Bear Expedition: The Heroes of America's Forgotten Invasion of Russia, 1918-1919
I looked forward to The Polar Bear Expedition for the better part of the year, hoping that it would be similar to The Winter Fortress, another tale of wartime exploits in the polar north. Unfortunately, after two attempts at this one, I think I'm calling it quits.
James Carl Nelson catalogued the 1919 expedition that saw 5,000 American soldiers - including the Michigan-based 339th - battling the newly-formed Soviet Red Army. Also, the Spanish flu. These men expected to be headed to the Western Front when they enlisted (or were drafted) late in World War I, only to be shipped north of the Arctic Circle and into the throes of the Russian civil war and General Winter, that frozen season that did in Napoleon and would later do in the Wehrmacht.
While this under-known episode of World War I(ish) history is interesting in its own right, I got bogged down in the writing and found the book difficult to read for more than 20 minutes at a time. This is a case of an author having conducted a tremendous amount of research, but needing to edit it down to a more manageable and cohesive whole.
For those who are interested in every.last.aspect. of World War I, this might be a worthwhile and fulfilling read. For those who prefer their history to have more of a narrative feel, The Polar Bear Expedition is harder to recommend.
James Carl Nelson catalogued the 1919 expedition that saw 5,000 American soldiers - including the Michigan-based 339th - battling the newly-formed Soviet Red Army. Also, the Spanish flu. These men expected to be headed to the Western Front when they enlisted (or were drafted) late in World War I, only to be shipped north of the Arctic Circle and into the throes of the Russian civil war and General Winter, that frozen season that did in Napoleon and would later do in the Wehrmacht.
While this under-known episode of World War I(ish) history is interesting in its own right, I got bogged down in the writing and found the book difficult to read for more than 20 minutes at a time. This is a case of an author having conducted a tremendous amount of research, but needing to edit it down to a more manageable and cohesive whole.
For those who are interested in every.last.aspect. of World War I, this might be a worthwhile and fulfilling read. For those who prefer their history to have more of a narrative feel, The Polar Bear Expedition is harder to recommend.
Friday, November 22, 2019
Last Christmas in Paris
Last Christmas in Paris is a Hazel Gaynor-Heather Webb historical novel written in the form of a collection of letters. In the few pages of narrative that open the book, one learns that Thomas Harding is an old man, and a dying one, but one determined to spend his last Christmas in Paris. It is 1969. Thomas takes with him a stack of letters from the first world war, which he intends to read in their entirety in Paris.
The correspondence consists largely, though not exclusively, between him and his best friend's sister, Evie Elliott. With the exception of a handful of narrative pages between each year (1914, 1915, and so on), the entire book takes the form of these letters, with the sporadic narrative filling in the gaps and allowing the reader to guess what secrets might be revealed in the course of the correspondence.
It's hard to know why this book struck me as so mediocre. Partly, the style (letter after letter after letter) wore on me. At times the writing was repetitive. What got to me most was how formulaic it felt. This is a narrative that's been mined time and again (especially in the craze for all things British Great War spawned by Downton Abbey), such that even the "twists" felt predictable. In other words:
Meh.
Meh plot, meh characters, meh writing. Or, as I evidently summed up a previous Hazel Gaynor read: this isn't a bad book. It's just not a great one, and there are too many of those for me to recommend this one wholeheartedly.
This was the second Gaynor and Webb book I've read recently (and the fourth Gaynor book I've read in the past several years). Interestingly, although the author names were familiar, I didn't initially realize that, as the two are so different. Although not perfect, I preferred Meet Me in Monaco, but can see that that period and location could easily influence a reader's preference for one over the other.
Three stars.
The correspondence consists largely, though not exclusively, between him and his best friend's sister, Evie Elliott. With the exception of a handful of narrative pages between each year (1914, 1915, and so on), the entire book takes the form of these letters, with the sporadic narrative filling in the gaps and allowing the reader to guess what secrets might be revealed in the course of the correspondence.
It's hard to know why this book struck me as so mediocre. Partly, the style (letter after letter after letter) wore on me. At times the writing was repetitive. What got to me most was how formulaic it felt. This is a narrative that's been mined time and again (especially in the craze for all things British Great War spawned by Downton Abbey), such that even the "twists" felt predictable. In other words:
Meh.
Meh plot, meh characters, meh writing. Or, as I evidently summed up a previous Hazel Gaynor read: this isn't a bad book. It's just not a great one, and there are too many of those for me to recommend this one wholeheartedly.
This was the second Gaynor and Webb book I've read recently (and the fourth Gaynor book I've read in the past several years). Interestingly, although the author names were familiar, I didn't initially realize that, as the two are so different. Although not perfect, I preferred Meet Me in Monaco, but can see that that period and location could easily influence a reader's preference for one over the other.
Three stars.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
The Quintland Sisters
The world simply couldn't get enough of the Dionne quintuplets, who were born in rural Ontario on May 28, 1934. Early visitors included the likes of Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, and Amelia Earhart. In fact, three million visitors paid Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie a visit in the first decade of their life: the Dionne quintuplets and their province-built nursery, along with the good doctor, Dr. Dafoe, who was essentially raising them in this fish bowl, brought more than $50 million in tourist dollars into Ontario's coffers. "Quintland" and all things quintuplet became known, surpassed even Niagara Falls as a tourist attraction.
It is this aura of sensationalism that Shelley Wood seeks to capture in The Quintland Sisters. For this fictional account of the quints earliest years, based wholly but not exclusively in fact, Wood creates a nurse's assistant, if you will, in 17-year-old Emma Trimpany, who was present for the birth by way of assisting the midwife and then, as other caregivers come and go, remains at her station for the next five years.
The account of Quintland, the tug-of-war between the Dionnes and Dr. Dafoe, and that intervention by the state is fascinating. Wood's notes at the end describe her research, and it shows. This was a quick read, and an enjoyable one, right up to the end (on both counts). Unfortunately, the absolute end felt to me that it belonged in another book altogether. Without giving away the ending, I can say absolutely that I never I expected it, that I didn't understand it, and that the last 20 or 30 pages seemed entirely extraneous and their inclusion utterly perplexing.
Most of the book would be 4 stars, but when I factor in the ending, I land somewhere between 2 and 3. I enjoyed reading about the Dionnes (I was inspired to do a bit or research of my own after finishing this book), but as a reader, I just can't get behind The Quintland Sisters in its entirety...
It is this aura of sensationalism that Shelley Wood seeks to capture in The Quintland Sisters. For this fictional account of the quints earliest years, based wholly but not exclusively in fact, Wood creates a nurse's assistant, if you will, in 17-year-old Emma Trimpany, who was present for the birth by way of assisting the midwife and then, as other caregivers come and go, remains at her station for the next five years.
The account of Quintland, the tug-of-war between the Dionnes and Dr. Dafoe, and that intervention by the state is fascinating. Wood's notes at the end describe her research, and it shows. This was a quick read, and an enjoyable one, right up to the end (on both counts). Unfortunately, the absolute end felt to me that it belonged in another book altogether. Without giving away the ending, I can say absolutely that I never I expected it, that I didn't understand it, and that the last 20 or 30 pages seemed entirely extraneous and their inclusion utterly perplexing.
Most of the book would be 4 stars, but when I factor in the ending, I land somewhere between 2 and 3. I enjoyed reading about the Dionnes (I was inspired to do a bit or research of my own after finishing this book), but as a reader, I just can't get behind The Quintland Sisters in its entirety...
Monday, November 18, 2019
A Caribbean Mystery
A Caribbean Mystery is quite possibly the first Agatha Christie book I've ever read where I guessed who dunnit correctly, and well before the final denouement. I can't say whether that's a positive or a negative; either way, this is classic Christie and delivers a page-turning delight.
Miss Marple has traveled to the Caribbean for some much needed R&R when what should occur at the resort, but a murder. Shocking, I know. In any event, Miss Marple can't help be feel that Major Palgrave's sudden death is connected to the stories he has been telling - loudly; repeatedly - about various murderers he's met in his life. In true Christie fashion, she begins investigating, seeking to stop the murderer before he - or she - strikes again.
I love Agatha Christie books. They remain my go to for quick, fun, relaxing reads, and while I long ago read my way through every Hercule Poirot book Dame Christie wrote, I somehow missed Miss Marple during my previous Christie binges.
Five stars.
Miss Marple has traveled to the Caribbean for some much needed R&R when what should occur at the resort, but a murder. Shocking, I know. In any event, Miss Marple can't help be feel that Major Palgrave's sudden death is connected to the stories he has been telling - loudly; repeatedly - about various murderers he's met in his life. In true Christie fashion, she begins investigating, seeking to stop the murderer before he - or she - strikes again.
I love Agatha Christie books. They remain my go to for quick, fun, relaxing reads, and while I long ago read my way through every Hercule Poirot book Dame Christie wrote, I somehow missed Miss Marple during my previous Christie binges.
Five stars.
Saturday, November 16, 2019
The Secrets We Kept
Lara Prescott's The Secrets We Kept is the parallel narrative of Boris Pasternak's toil to finish - and publish - Dr. Zhivago and the CIA's mission to ensure that the latter occurs. To that end, the CIA employs two secretaries, one a seasoned spy last seen blowing bridges in the European theater, circa 1945, and the other, Irina, a total novice and daughter of Russian immigrants. As for Pasternak's life in Soviet Russia, it is as bleak as can be expected, with plenty of appearances by the secret police, stints in the gulag, and a general air of menace.
Each of the stories is interesting enough, though neither of them captured my attention in a way that made me feel I simply *had* to keep reading. Much of this I attribute to the characters, who generally struck me in much the same way as Sophie Duval in Meet Me in Monaco: none were ever more than mere characters to me, and I wasn't invested in what became of them in any capacity. The spy shenanigans were fun, and the period detail - early days of the CIA, Washington in the 1950s, that kind of thing - had much to recommend them.
More intriguing is that The Secrets We Kept was inspired by true events: yes, once upon a time, the CIA agitated to publish a book in an effort to change hearts and mind. On the one hand, it's amazing to consider such pre-internet tactics; on the other hand, there's more than a hint of the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same when scanning headlines about Russian bots and social media. Hearts and minds have always been the key, it seems.
Three stars.
Each of the stories is interesting enough, though neither of them captured my attention in a way that made me feel I simply *had* to keep reading. Much of this I attribute to the characters, who generally struck me in much the same way as Sophie Duval in Meet Me in Monaco: none were ever more than mere characters to me, and I wasn't invested in what became of them in any capacity. The spy shenanigans were fun, and the period detail - early days of the CIA, Washington in the 1950s, that kind of thing - had much to recommend them.
More intriguing is that The Secrets We Kept was inspired by true events: yes, once upon a time, the CIA agitated to publish a book in an effort to change hearts and mind. On the one hand, it's amazing to consider such pre-internet tactics; on the other hand, there's more than a hint of the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same when scanning headlines about Russian bots and social media. Hearts and minds have always been the key, it seems.
Three stars.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Salt: A World History
Salt: A World History is just that - a meandering tome exploring the history of the world as it has been impacted by salt. Who would write such a book? (Mark Kurlansky - who's also written on such comestibles as cod and milk, as well as Paper - Salt > Paper, for what it's worth.) Who would reach such a book? (Me. Also, at least 751 people who bothered to rate it on Amazon.) And yet, these are fair questions, after all how one could read or write 500 pages on such a basic substance?
The answer is lies in Kurlansky's approach. Displaying the same snappy style and inquisitive nature that he used in Food of a Younger Land, Kurlansky explores trade, war, engineering, voyages of discovery, cuisine, and the evolution of mankind through the lens of our biological need for salt. (As a commodity, it was once so valuable that people were paid in salt - the origin of the word salary. Who knew?)
It's the rare book that can cohesively stitch together the preparation of mummies in ancient Egypt and the creation of Tabasco sauce, but that is what Kurlansky has done in Salt. The entire book is peppered with obscure facts, zingy wit, and first rate writing. Although long, Kurlansky doesn't make the mistake of getting too deep in the weeds, and the entire book is accessible even to those with no prior knowledge of Salt, all of which is to say that this book is far better than its title might imply. Clearly, I need to add Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World to my reading list.
Five stars.
The answer is lies in Kurlansky's approach. Displaying the same snappy style and inquisitive nature that he used in Food of a Younger Land, Kurlansky explores trade, war, engineering, voyages of discovery, cuisine, and the evolution of mankind through the lens of our biological need for salt. (As a commodity, it was once so valuable that people were paid in salt - the origin of the word salary. Who knew?)
It's the rare book that can cohesively stitch together the preparation of mummies in ancient Egypt and the creation of Tabasco sauce, but that is what Kurlansky has done in Salt. The entire book is peppered with obscure facts, zingy wit, and first rate writing. Although long, Kurlansky doesn't make the mistake of getting too deep in the weeds, and the entire book is accessible even to those with no prior knowledge of Salt, all of which is to say that this book is far better than its title might imply. Clearly, I need to add Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World to my reading list.
Five stars.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Meet Me in Monaco: A Novel of Grace Kelly's Royal Wedding
Meet Me in Monaco is a fluffy read, good for airplanes and beaches and those last few minutes before bed. Co-authors Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb have created their story by imagining the life and times of the (fictional) struggling perfumer whose family workshop was saved when Grace Kelly commissioned her to create a singular scent for her wedding to Prince Rainier.
The women are thrown together when Grace, still a film star, seeks refuge from a photographer in Sophie Duval's small Cannes shop during the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The photographer, James Henderson, stumbles in moments after Grace is safely hidden away. From these two, small encounters are born relationships that will ebb and flow through the decades, until Grace's untimely death in 1982.
While one images that Gaynor and Webb set out to create in Sophie a character who was sympathetic and likeable, I found James outshone her in that regard. In many ways, Sophie was actually one of the least enjoyable aspects of the book - James Henderson topped the list, but so did much of the narrative (Grace's journey to Monaco, the making of a scent, Cannes in winter).
Ultimately, Meet Me in Monaco is a three-and-a-half to four star read, easy and fun, no deep thinking required.
The women are thrown together when Grace, still a film star, seeks refuge from a photographer in Sophie Duval's small Cannes shop during the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The photographer, James Henderson, stumbles in moments after Grace is safely hidden away. From these two, small encounters are born relationships that will ebb and flow through the decades, until Grace's untimely death in 1982.
While one images that Gaynor and Webb set out to create in Sophie a character who was sympathetic and likeable, I found James outshone her in that regard. In many ways, Sophie was actually one of the least enjoyable aspects of the book - James Henderson topped the list, but so did much of the narrative (Grace's journey to Monaco, the making of a scent, Cannes in winter).
Ultimately, Meet Me in Monaco is a three-and-a-half to four star read, easy and fun, no deep thinking required.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Britt-Marie Was Here
I last encountered Fredrik Backman's work in A Man Called Ove, and with Britt-Marie Was Here, he clearly establishes it that the former was no one-off: the latter is equally as masterful and lovely.
At its most elemental, Britt-Marie Was Here is a book about the human condition. Birtt-Marie is quirky and fastidious and has led a quiet life as a homemaker; now at 60, she's made the first really big decision of her life in looking for a job. The book opens, in fact, with her at an employment agency, displaying her quirks in all their glory, equal parts irritating and endearing. (To the reader. To the employment agency staff, I think it's safe to say endearing is not the adjective of choice.)
Ultimately, Britt-Marie lands a job as caretaker of sorts at the recreation center in a largely neglected community where the soccer-mad children's most fervent wish is to reconstitute the local soccer team, which is easier said than done given that their field has been sold and their coach has recently died. Like Ove, the resulting stew is the best mixture of hilarity and poignancy, peppered sharply with wise observations on life's bittersweet choices.
So much of the book, in fact, is about choice, and what it means to make choices, and the events that seemingly innocuous choices set in motion, and the interconnectedness of it all. In a year of many great books, this might be the greatest I've read yet.
Five stars.
At its most elemental, Britt-Marie Was Here is a book about the human condition. Birtt-Marie is quirky and fastidious and has led a quiet life as a homemaker; now at 60, she's made the first really big decision of her life in looking for a job. The book opens, in fact, with her at an employment agency, displaying her quirks in all their glory, equal parts irritating and endearing. (To the reader. To the employment agency staff, I think it's safe to say endearing is not the adjective of choice.)
Ultimately, Britt-Marie lands a job as caretaker of sorts at the recreation center in a largely neglected community where the soccer-mad children's most fervent wish is to reconstitute the local soccer team, which is easier said than done given that their field has been sold and their coach has recently died. Like Ove, the resulting stew is the best mixture of hilarity and poignancy, peppered sharply with wise observations on life's bittersweet choices.
So much of the book, in fact, is about choice, and what it means to make choices, and the events that seemingly innocuous choices set in motion, and the interconnectedness of it all. In a year of many great books, this might be the greatest I've read yet.
Five stars.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Blood River: The Terrifying Journey through the World's Most Dangerous Country
Between Spillover, Dark Star Safari, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, and the Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, I felt I had a well-rounded sense of the dangers that might lurk around the corner of any number of African countries, from the hazards of travel to militants, terrorists, and thugs to your run-of-the-mill, mind-numbingly-terrifying, bleed-from-every-orifice-as-you-lay-dying disease. Not that I expected to encounter any of these scenarios on my own African foray, of course.
In any case, the title of Tim Butcher's travelogue says it all: a terrifying journey through [one of] the world's most dangerous countries. Is Somalia more dangerous than the DRC? Syria? Yemen? It hardly seems to matter. The man spent months traversing the bush, battling bad water, deadly mosquitoes, and the logistics of traveling through a country where nature has reclaimed all but the largest of roads. Everything - everything - is in short supply and everyone lives in near-constant fear of what or who is around the next bend - most of all the feared mai-mai fighters whose ability to vanish into the bush is as troubling as their violence and tactics.
So why, one might ask does Butcher undertake this adventure? Ostensibly, he seeks to retrace the steps of nineteenth century explorer/adventurer H.M. Stanley whose own voyage down the Congo River ultimately led to the country's nearly-century-long experience with the brutality of colonialism, first as King Leopold's personal possession and later as a Belgian colony. More tangibly, it seems that retracing Stanley's route may have been the germ of the idea, but that once seeded, Butcher could not let it go - as an international correspondent who'd covered his fair share of combat zones and front lines, this journey became one more way to test himself and his mettle, mental as well as physical. To which I say, bully for him. It's hard to imagine anyone else mad enough to entertain such a journey (I mean, even Paul Theroux stuck to the overcrowded and rattletrap "taxis" and "buses" in Dark Star Safari), but it makes for a fascinating backdrop for the history and politics that Butcher deftly incorporates.
Four stars.
In any case, the title of Tim Butcher's travelogue says it all: a terrifying journey through [one of] the world's most dangerous countries. Is Somalia more dangerous than the DRC? Syria? Yemen? It hardly seems to matter. The man spent months traversing the bush, battling bad water, deadly mosquitoes, and the logistics of traveling through a country where nature has reclaimed all but the largest of roads. Everything - everything - is in short supply and everyone lives in near-constant fear of what or who is around the next bend - most of all the feared mai-mai fighters whose ability to vanish into the bush is as troubling as their violence and tactics.
So why, one might ask does Butcher undertake this adventure? Ostensibly, he seeks to retrace the steps of nineteenth century explorer/adventurer H.M. Stanley whose own voyage down the Congo River ultimately led to the country's nearly-century-long experience with the brutality of colonialism, first as King Leopold's personal possession and later as a Belgian colony. More tangibly, it seems that retracing Stanley's route may have been the germ of the idea, but that once seeded, Butcher could not let it go - as an international correspondent who'd covered his fair share of combat zones and front lines, this journey became one more way to test himself and his mettle, mental as well as physical. To which I say, bully for him. It's hard to imagine anyone else mad enough to entertain such a journey (I mean, even Paul Theroux stuck to the overcrowded and rattletrap "taxis" and "buses" in Dark Star Safari), but it makes for a fascinating backdrop for the history and politics that Butcher deftly incorporates.
Four stars.
Monday, October 7, 2019
American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt
“I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.”
I was familiar with one of Teddy Roosevelt’s more memorable
lines, as well as his own back story (death of his wife and mother on the same day,
subsequent abandonment of his two-day-old baby, followed by remarriage to a
woman who wasn’t exactly crazy about her rambunctious step-daughter, and even
Alice’s Pacific tour), but American Princess provides a far more
in-depth look at Alice Roosevelt, from her days living in the White House to her
days visiting it during the Kennedy years.
This is historical fiction at its finest, with the
characters finely drawn from letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, interviews,
and other source materials that allowed Stephanie Marie Thornton to create a detailed portrait of
the life, loves, and legacy of Alice Roosevelt Longworth. (For what it’s worth,
I previously knew about the womanizing husband, but not Aurora Borah Alice.)
Thornton's work is fast-paced and lively, not unlike Roosevelt Longworth herself, it seems, and she manages to imbue all of the characters with a complexity that is undoubtedly true-to-life. (Case in point, I found Teddy himself much more sympathetic in this work than in any previous book I've read about him.) American Princess is beautifully written, and the scandals and hijinx are as readable as any tabloid, while being the heart and soul of a work with a true literary feel. This is historical fiction, but - and I mean this is all the best ways - it's sometimes difficult to discern where the truth stops and the fiction begins.
Five stars.
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Tune In Tokyo:The Gaijin Diaries
Tim Anderson is a gay southerner who finds himself drifting
after college and decides the cure for his ennui is a stint in Japan. A former
English major, Tune-In Tokyo is the resulting memoir documenting his
time teaching English in and around Tokyo.
This is not the finest book about Japan I’ve ever read, but
it provides a unique perspective on life there, and particularly on the business
of the ubiquitous English schools. (I know of ex-pats who’ve made a veritable
fortune teaching English, so the demand is certainly there!) Anderson has no
desire to go full-native, a la Jake Adelston and Tokyo Vice, but
anyone who is familiar with the in, outs, and many quirks of Tokyo will find
much to relate to in Anderson's work.
3.5 stars
Sunday, September 8, 2019
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
I picked up Kim Michele Richardson's The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek because I had heard of the blue people of Kentucky, whose skin was blue as the result of a rare genetic condition (methemoglobinemia, as I learned in this book). I was intrigued that Richardson's protagonist had this disorder, and was not disappointed.
So.
Cussy Mary Carter is the last of her (blue) people, widely feared and ostracized, though accepted for her role of carrying books to the isolated homesteads that dot the hills of Kentucky. She is a librarian with the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, one of FDR's New Deal programs. Through her route, she comes to know her patrons - fire watchers, coal miners, moonshiners, the teacher of a one-room school, a chicken thief, and a mysterious stranger recently returned from building the Hoover Dam. All share a similar hardscrabble existence, scratching out a living, some literally, from the deep coal pits, where bosses have less regard for men than for mules (there are definitely echoes of The Devil Is Here in These Hills).
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is incredibly well-researched, well-written, and beautifully constructed. Richardson captures the essence of Appalachia and the Great Depression; perhaps more impressively, in Cussy, she captures the loneliness and fear of being the last of her kind and creates a main character who the reader can't help but root for as she carries her books and hope into the hollows.
Five stars.
So.
Cussy Mary Carter is the last of her (blue) people, widely feared and ostracized, though accepted for her role of carrying books to the isolated homesteads that dot the hills of Kentucky. She is a librarian with the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, one of FDR's New Deal programs. Through her route, she comes to know her patrons - fire watchers, coal miners, moonshiners, the teacher of a one-room school, a chicken thief, and a mysterious stranger recently returned from building the Hoover Dam. All share a similar hardscrabble existence, scratching out a living, some literally, from the deep coal pits, where bosses have less regard for men than for mules (there are definitely echoes of The Devil Is Here in These Hills).
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is incredibly well-researched, well-written, and beautifully constructed. Richardson captures the essence of Appalachia and the Great Depression; perhaps more impressively, in Cussy, she captures the loneliness and fear of being the last of her kind and creates a main character who the reader can't help but root for as she carries her books and hope into the hollows.
Five stars.
Monday, September 2, 2019
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor was a 37-year-old brain scientist when she experienced a massive stroke to her left hemisphere in 1996. Remarkably, after years of intensive rehab, she fully recovered, and has written My Stroke of Insight to provide, well, insight, into the experience of both the stroke itself as well as the recovery.
The opening pages are slow going; even after a half-dozen neuroscience reads, I still find the detailing of neural activity centers dense and often dry. However, once Taylor transitions from the science to the memoir (i.e., what it felt like to have the stroke and how she recovered), my reading enjoyment rapidly increased. There was not much here that I found terribly new (a signal to me that perhaps I'm free to lay off the neuroscience, at least until the next big breakthrough in the understanding of the brain), but Taylor did reinforce that the traditionally-held limits on brain plasticity are only that - traditionally-held limits, and that her own brain plasticity far exceeded what she might have expected...and as a 37-year-old.
I also appreciated her articulation of the types of tasks that came more easily versus those that were a sapped her strength and energy. The closing chapters focused primarily on aspects of mindfulness, and I admit to skimming those in the same way that I skimmed the opening neuroscience. This is not a bad book by any means, but it is one that a personal interest in the subject matter is, IMHO, crucial to fully appreciating.
Three-and-a-half stars.
The opening pages are slow going; even after a half-dozen neuroscience reads, I still find the detailing of neural activity centers dense and often dry. However, once Taylor transitions from the science to the memoir (i.e., what it felt like to have the stroke and how she recovered), my reading enjoyment rapidly increased. There was not much here that I found terribly new (a signal to me that perhaps I'm free to lay off the neuroscience, at least until the next big breakthrough in the understanding of the brain), but Taylor did reinforce that the traditionally-held limits on brain plasticity are only that - traditionally-held limits, and that her own brain plasticity far exceeded what she might have expected...and as a 37-year-old.
I also appreciated her articulation of the types of tasks that came more easily versus those that were a sapped her strength and energy. The closing chapters focused primarily on aspects of mindfulness, and I admit to skimming those in the same way that I skimmed the opening neuroscience. This is not a bad book by any means, but it is one that a personal interest in the subject matter is, IMHO, crucial to fully appreciating.
Three-and-a-half stars.
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