FICTION p.4

584. THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT by Carley Fortune (10/01/24) Fiction

582. I CHEERFULLY REFUSE by Leif Enger Fiction (9/25/25)

Rainy, a bassist, and his wife Lark, a bookseller, are living in a dystopian future on Lake Superior, where due to environmental degradation long-dead corpses float to the shores. This problem was caused by people willfully deciding to commit suicide with using a drug named Willow which has become increasingly popular for going “in search of the better”.

Rainy and Lark are trying to live a semi-normal life but decide to take in a lodger to help pay the rent. They knew that Kellan had skipped out on a labor contract, but they liked him and he owned a rare book which Lark had long coveted called “I Cheerfully Refuse” by Molly Thorn.

in the second half of the book Kellan brings trouble to their lives which turns into a horrible dystopian story in which environmental neglect have horrifying consequences. Many people are proud of their ignorance as is the President who proudly maintains insensitive denial to the problem which is exacerbating the environmental situation. As life becomes more hopeless, suicide becomes a pandemic.

This book is hard to read in that the parallels of what is happening today could be our reality in the future. The characters of Rainy and Lark try in a difficult time to make the best of a horrible situation with compassion and bravery. It is a well-written book, but not for the faint of heart.

4 Stars

583. THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED by Rebecca Yarro (9/30/24) Fiction

After Georgia Stanton divorced her cheating husband, she left New York with little and moved to Colorado where she had inherited her great-grandmother’s estate. Her Gran, a successful, world-known romance author had left one manuscript unfinished, which became a bone of contention when Georgia learned Gran’s publisher wanted to hire another author to finish the story. It seems Georgia was aware of her Gran’s negative opinion of this author, Noah Harrison, and Georgia did not believe Gran would approve of this plan.

While visiting a bookstore Georgia meets a man and in their conversation about books she was open about her criticism about Noah Harrison, which rubbed the man the wrong way because he was Noah, the author. Noah decides to charm the woman since she holds the keys to a big boost in his career if he is allowed to finish Gran’s book. There is a hot attraction between the two and sparks fly.

Meanwhile, we go back in time to the manuscript, in the early 40’s during World War II, to the romance of Scarlett (Gran) and war pilot Jameson Stanton where their beautiful romance blooms into marriage amid the terrors of war.

This double romance book is romantic, and has all the elements of danger, distrust, and honor and true romance followers will find it fulfilling.

4 Stars

543. THE PARADISE PROBLEM BY CHRISTINA LAUREN (7/11/24) FICTION

In order to get subsidized family housing at UCLA Anna Green and Liam Weston agreed to get married with no “benefits”. After graduation they would get a divorce and go their separate ways. Three years later Anna is a starving artist and Liam is a Stanford professor, and became the heir to a 100 million dollar inheritance with a clause. In order to get the money Liam has to have been married for five years. As he looks for his divorce papers he realizes that Anna has never signed the divorce papers so he must go looking for her.

This Rom-Com is an unrealistic delight. The author is so good at these that you will say “who cares”, read it and get a few giggles from this “just for fun” book.

3 Stars

542. DEMON COPPERFIELD by Barbara Kingsolver (7/10/24) Fiction

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Women’s Prize for fiction, I was anxious to read Demon Copperhead. I realize the author mirrored the Charles Dickens’ classic, “David Copperfield”, about a boy born into institutional poverty and the damage it caused for children of that era. This is also a story about poverty but now it is in southern Appalachia. A boy is born to a single teenage mother in a trailer. As this boy grows up his only assets are his father’s good looks, his wit, and his talent for survival. Through Demon’s voice we experience the many perils of life in foster care and the inadequate schools, child labor, and societal invisibility as the needs of the rural people are neglected.

This heartbreaking story of the struggles of a boy nobody wants, will touch your heart. Magnificent writing.

5 Stars

541. BEAR by Julia Phillips (7/2/24) Fiction

This is a book about sisters Sam and Elena, struggling with their mother to survive on an island off the coast of Washington. Though barely making ends meet, they take jobs catering to the whims of the wealthy mainlanders traveling to their island vacation homes. Sam, who works on a ferry, spots a bear swimming in the water in the channel which later turns up at their home. Sam is terrified but Elena thinks it is a sign to stay put on the island.

With a shocking twist at the end of the book, there are many thrilling and terrifyiing moments.

4 Stars

539. BEYOND THAT, THE SEA by Laura Spence-Ash (6/29/24) Fiction

As the blitzkrieg envelopes London in 1940, the parents of eleven-year-old Beatrix sent her off with another family to America where she will find safety until the end of the war. Bea settles into a family in Boston and flourishes in their affluent lifestyle. Bea grows close to the two sons in these formative, carefree years, and begins to like America better than England. As she is called back to London after the war, her memories of life in America never leave her as she tries to acclimate to a place destroyed by war, hardships, and heartaches.

This story of a child trying to adjust to the reality of a war she hadn’t experienced, and the adjustment she must make to her life were heartfelt and challenging. I enjoyed this story and felt it covered a different direction to the trauma of reuniting following World War II.

4 Stars

532. A LADDER TO THE SKY by John Boyne (6/11/24) Fiction

This book is about writers, their obsession for greatness, their hunger for fame, and their frustrations when their talent does not live up to their expectations, and most of all, what some will do to achieve their goal.

Maurice, an aspiring young writer meets Erich Ackermann, 65, a celebrated German novelist who is hiding his Nazi past, his homosexuality, and is desperately lonely. Told almost totally in narrative by Maurice, we see him manipulate with flattery and finesse to abuse Erich’s vulnerabilities against him, while Erich falls for the young man. Erich soon opens up about his secret past, crimes, and long held war secrets, and his homosexuality, while Maurice shamelessly steals Erich’s stories as his own which launches his own writing career while ending Erich’s.

Maurice’s success takes him on an international journey where he attaches himself to Gore Vidal, marries a novelist and continues to manipulate others in a terrifying and unsettling way.

Boyne is becoming a master at using a creeping sense of menace to further the intensity of his stories. It is a great second book after his acclaimed “The Heart’s Invisible Furies’ (Fiction p.3 #348).

5 Stars

528. AGE OF VICE by Deepti Kapoor (6/5/24) Fiction

How about, to be a little different, a modern-day crime story in India? This is about a crime family, both loved and loathed, drunk with their power and wealth and how they exploit it. They control everything and reward loyalty by seducing them with their wealth while terrorizing resistors with corruption and violence.

Amidst their lavish lifestyle is a young boy, born into poverty who is being groomed to loyalty as he rises through the family’s ranks as a watchful, naive servent in awe of his good luck. Over time no task is too horrible as he protects the playboy heir to the family.

The plot sweeps us into the lavish lifestyle of the family and their pleasure and greed. We also see the violence and revenge ravished on the disloyal, which is inescapable and intolerable.

This story could be set anywhere as money fuels crime, violence, and corruption all over the world. What sets it somewhat apart is the young boy and how his values change and are corrupted over time. But it is really just another crime/mafia-type story.

3 Stars

516. MEET ME AT THE LAKE BY Carley Fortune (4/28/24) Fiction

Fern and Will, total strangers, randomly meet, stay together on a day long adventure, and find they have great chemistry. They part but but make a pact to meet in twelve months. But Will didn’t show up.

Ten years later Fern was still thinking about Will and their day together. At 30 she left the city to return to her mother’s lakeside resort. Finding the place in bad repair she decided to give the place a makeover and try a new lifestyle. Out of the blue, in walks Will in a business suit, willing to help her out.

Sometimes authors overdue coinsidences to further the plot and reunite the protagonists, and this is a perfect example of a totally implausable situation. Yes, there was a reason he didn’t show up after their twelve month pledge, but for Will to show up at Fern’s mom’s resort at the same time as Fern’s return was just too much for me. Romantics might just swoon over this love story, but cynical me?-not so much!

2 Stars

415. QUEEN OF THIEVES by Beezy Marsh (7/11/23) Fiction

In London, 1946, as the city struggles to rebuild, good jobs are scarce, food is rationed and it is tough to survive for many. Alice Diamond, queen of thieves, has created an all female gang she has taught to shoplift upscale stores. She knows the violence and risks involved, so she packs a razor and uses her diamond ring as brass knuckles if needed. She decides to take in a 17-year-old pregnant castaway under her wing, and before long the innocent Nell becomes adept at the trade. May Nell someday become queen of thieves?

This was one of those books that was somewhat interesting, character-wise, but had little moral value to help empathize with the protagonist.

3 Stars

416. MS. DEMEANOR by Elinor Lipman (7/12/23) Fiction

I was in the mood for a Rom-Com or something to put me in a light and breezy mood and I found this book hit the spot!

Jane, a lawyer, got into trouble when she had consensual al fresco sex on the rooftop of her apartment building, when reported by a nosey neighbor. This minor incident turns into the suspension of her legal license and a house arrest. Staying home threw her into action in cooking, romance with a new neighbor, and finding the mysterious nosey neighbor accuser, with the help of her family and friends.

This is Lipman as her lighthearted best. Fast, funny and romantic!

4 Stars

418. Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley (7/17/23)

Perestroika is a spirited racehorse at a racetrack near Paris, when one afternoon she finds her stall open. She wants to explore the great unknown and wanders into Paris where she is dazzled by the lights, sounds, and smells about her. She isn’t afraid. Soon she is joined by an elegant dog, a German shorthair pointer named Frieda, who know how to get by without attracting attention. Paras and Frieda become a duo with Frieda making many trips to the vegetable market. They also keep company with two ducks, and an opinionated raven. When Paras meets a human boy, Etienne, she is led to an ivy-walled house where the boy and his 100-year-old grandmother live in seclusion.

Does this sound like a children’s fairy tale? It could be, but this Pulitzer Prize winning author brings this story of friendship, companionship, and and the freedom to explore come alive for all ages. I loved this little story and was totally charmed.

4 Stars

419. GETTING TO HAPPY by Terry Mc Millan (7/20/23) Fiction

Mc Millan’s “Waiting to Exhale” was a watershed moment in African-American literary history with her bold and vibrant women struggling to find love. Now in this sequel she revisits Gloria, Savannah, Bernadine and Robin fifteen years later, each at their own midlife crossroads. With many changes in the interim, they must all learn to heal and reclaim their joy and faith in each other. They have exhaled and are learning to breathe.

I enjoyed getting back to the girls. Their mistakes felt real and their friendships are what makes life tolerable.

4 Stars

421. The Paris Connection by Lorraine Brown (7/23/23) Fiction

In the mood for a love story? Lorraine Brown’s debut novel just hit the spot for a summertime beach read. Hannah and her boyfriend Simon are on a train to Amsterdam to attend her sister’s wedding. But, (and I can relate to this confusing train situation), unbeknownst to them the train was scheduled to divide in the middle of the night with one half continuing to Amsterdam and the other half to Paris, the one Hannah was on. Don’t ask why they weren’t together. Simon, with her belongings, is on his way to Amsterdam. Hannah must go to Paris for a day’s delay until she can continue on to Amsterdam. Hannah meets a Frenchman who is also delayed and he offers to show her the sights from his viewpoint. Hannah becomes inthralled with Paris and Leo.

Yes, this is predictable, light, and romantic, but somehow the characters are believable and enjoyable and the tour of Paris made me want to see many of these places.

4 Stars

422. A SECRET KEPT by Tatiana De Rosnay (7/25/23) Fiction

By the author of the New York Times bestselling novel, “Sarah’s Key”, De Rosnay brings this story of a brother and sister with complex family relationships and a secret that comes out unexpectedly after thirty years.

My thoughts are that if you are going to write a book about a secret it better be a really stunning secret. Somehow, although this French author gives a wonderful picture of a vacation the the French countryside, and the characters are complex-although I was frustrated with their lack of communication skills-the story just didn’t “grab” me and the “secret” not so terribly overwhelming. If you were a fan of “Sarah’s Key”, you may find more to like in this book than I did.

3 Stars

423. THE ARC by Tory Henwood Hoen (7/28/23) Fiction

This Rom-Com is a debut novel by Hoen about a secret new concept for matchmaking which uses a complex series of emotional, psychological, and physiological assessments which guarantees finding one ideal mate for life-long compatibility. This price tag for this match is as extremely expensive as their guarantees are promised. When Raphael and Ursala meet they believe in the process…….at first.

We know relationships are difficult to find and as people get to know the “real” person over time, it gets complicated. Will this leap of faith and money really produce the result they were looking for in this complex world?

This is another fun, romantic beach read, but I think better than most.

4 Stars

424. ON LOCATION by Sarah Echaverra Smith (7/28/23) Fiction

Sarah finally gets her big break to produce a TV series about Utah’s National Parks, her idea and pet project for a long time. When she hears that the host of the show will be Drew Irons, who she had an amazing first date with three weeks ago and then was ghosted, her enthusiasm dropped like lead. The tension between them could cause her project to fail.

I guess while I was on vacation I got into these light Rom-Com beach reads with their great locations and sexual tensions and this was no exception. These are best when you don’t want to think hard or carry too much emotional weight around with you. But usually they are enjoyable, as this one was.

3 Stars

426. The Setup by Lizzy Dent

Mara Williams is very into horoscopes and readings. When a fortune teller reveals that her true love is coming soon, a gorgeous stranger comes into her life. She is determined to make this prediction come true with a little help.

This Rom-Com is hilarious, sexy, and so much fun for a beach or vege-out read!

3 Stars

427. MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout (8/5/23) Fiction

This is Elizabeth Strout’s first book about Lucy Barton from Amgash, Illinois. Lucy had what should have been a simple operation, but while recovering slowly, her estranged mother came to see her. Her mother’s appearance forces Lucy to confront the many aspects of her childhood, including her impoverished longings, her escape to New York to become a writer, her failed marriage, and her relationships with her two daughters.

Strout loves to let her protagonists speak power narratives to tell her story, as she did with her “Olive Kitterage” books. It is through their thoughts and voices that we get to intimately know these characters and their hearts. I love her books.

4 Stars

430. THE LOST FLOWERS OF ALICE HART by Holly Ringland (8/15/23) Fiction

Nine year old Alice Hart is forced to leave her seaside home and is taken in by her grandmother, June, who is a flower farmer in Australia. She teaches Alice the language of the native flowers, which is her way to say the unspeakable. As Alice grows up she becomes aware of how little she knows of her family history. Now in her 20’s, Alice suffers a betrayal and loss that causes her to flee to the Central Australian desert. Then a dangerous, charismatic man changes her world again.

This is about the stories we tell ourselves when trying to survive traumatic events. Now streaming as a seven-part TV series on Amazon Prime, and starring Sigourney Weaver, this is an excellent read and may be well-worth reading, listening and watching.

4 Stars

432. MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult (8/22/23) Fiction

 When Olivia McAfee’s brilliant cardiac-thorascic surgeon reveals a dark side she takes her son Asher back to her New Hampshire hometown to take over her father’s beekeeping business. Lily and her mom are trying to make a fresh start in the same town. Lily and Asher become friends at their high school, but when Lily is found dead Asher is questioned by the police. Olivia strongly defends her son’s innocence even though at times he displays his father’s bad temper.

Jodi Picoult is a good story-teller, is amazingly prolific in her writing, but I didn’t find this book as compelling as usual. For Picoult fans, she most likely will not fail you this time.

3 Stars

433. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (8/22/23) Fiction

From the author of ” The Dutch House”, a book I loved, of “Bel Canto” a book about terrorists and prisoners, these first two books couldn’t be more different, yet I gave them both 5 Stars. This book,T”Tom Lake” is also is totally different in theme and characters.

“Tom Lake” starts in the spring of 2020 when Lara’s three daughters come back to the family cherry orchards in Northern Michigan. The daughters want to know about their mother’s relationship with Peter Duke, a now famous actor, who their mother had a romance with years ago while working at a theatre company called “Tom Lake”. Lara had downplayed this youthful time when she dabbled in the theatre, but with prodding she opened up to the life she lead, opening the girl’s eyes to a mother they had never known existed.

I love Ann’s writing, with each story unique to itself, yet examines relationships and family dynamics. I have to explain that even though I felt this book is in many ways as good as her others, I have noticed that I now tend to give fewer 5 Star ratings than in the past. I am not saying that today I wouldn’t have rated the others as highly, I would have to reread them to make that judgment. But today a book has to almost knock my socks off to get a 5. And based on that I must give it a 4. But I did love it!

4 Stars

435. GO AS A RIVER by Shelly Read (8/24/23) Fiction

Young Victoria, 13, becomes the family homemaker when her mother passes away leaving her without guidance and love. On a trip to town to sell their peaches she meets drifter, Wilson Moon, an American Indian, who was taken away from his parents and doesn’t know his tribe. He and Victoria are immediately attracted to each other, but Will disappears when he is driven out of town. Victoria can no longer go back to her old life and takes off, to ‘go as a river’, as she finds the perseverance and inner strength to make a better way for herself.

Like real life, her characters are flawed, but I found myself rooting for them. It was inspiring and heart-wrenching. A beautiful debut novel.

4 Stars

437. A FROZEN WOMAN by Annie Ernaux (8/29/23) Fiction

Ernaux, a French author has won the Nobel Prize for Literature for “Shame” in 2022. I decided to delve into her other books to see what makes her so special. This book is a sequel to “A Man’s Place”, and a prequel to “Simple Passion”. Frozen describes a transition from girlhood to womanhood, with her yearning to be desirable and her ambition to fulfill herself in her chosen profession, bringing unavoidable conflict when at thirty, a mother of two infant sons, she loses herself to domesticity which is killing her. 

Ernaux has caught the plight of women today as they reach for careers and family and see how husband’s work ends at the end of the day, while the woman continues her responsibilities.

This theme has become her trademark.

4 Stars

439. SHAME by Annie Ernaux (9/15/23) Fiction

“My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June in the early afternoon” is written by a twelve year-old girl who will become the author, even though this is listed as a book of fiction. This traumatic memory plagues her for the rest of her life. Her ability to delve into her soul has brought the author the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature for “..the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the root, estrangements, and collective restraints of personal memory.” Why would one traumatic experience of brief duration in her otherwise normal life make such a powerful impression that she should become the wounded child of shame and which continues years afterward? She says shame became part of her body.

The author’s powerful reflection is a tutorial on the power of a violent memory. Although Ernaux’s books are listed as fiction, most, I believe much come from her own life experiences. She is a great writer but I didn’t relate to this story.

4 Stars

440. TOO MUCH HAPPINESS by Alice Munro (9/8/23) Fiction

“Too Much Happiness” is a collection of ten stories by the Canadian author who only writes short stories. Her stories show a whole life compressed into this short form. She can distinguish her characters in a few short sentences, who are mostly women. Rather than write stories that are a glimpse in time, these are whole stories in short form. They do not follow similar themes nor connect in any way. They stand alone. I found a few to be worth reading, not all.

3 Stars

442. THE BURIED GIANT by Kazuo Ishiguro (9/12/23) Fiction

Reading this book is part of my quest to read prize winning author’s works. Kazuo Ishiguro, a British Nobel Prize winning author, wrote this fantasy novel which is unlike anything he has previously done. Set in post King Arthur days when the Saxons and Britons are still hostile, an elderly couple, Axe and Beatrice, live at a time when no one is able to retain long-term memories. They somehow come to terms that their long-lost son is waiting for them at the last stages of their lives, to welcome and care for them. This book follows a journey totally unfit for the two minimally functioning elderly couple. We witness their long journey as they struggle on, avoiding battles and hardships guided by unreliable folklore and myths. The charm of the story is the love between the two as if they were young lovers. Now and then they experience trickles of moments of clarity and remembrances, some about betrayal. 

I loved the beautiful and endearing words of love from Axe to Beatrice, but their journey was long, hard and nonsensical, and I was hoping it would end soon. I am not too enchanted with fantasy. The writing was beautiful and descriptive. The story, so-so.

4 Stars

444. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguro (9/16/23) Fiction

Kazuo Ishiguro, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature with this book, sets this novel in pre and post World War II England where Stevens is the head butler of a great estate, Darlington Hall. With great pride Stevens goes into minute detail on what it takes to be a great butler. He has spent his life perfecting his skills in his dedication to giving Lord Darlington, a ranking aristocrat, the most excellent service of any and all. His obsession to detail, respect, and proclivity is what makes him a master of his class. He adheres to the strict guidelines of defined hierarchy for his staff and prides himself is his ship-shape running of the estate. This is his life’s mission.

When he is encouraged to take a vacation for a few weeks he is dumbfounded on what to do with himself since he has never incorporated a personal life for himself. With the use of the Lord’s car and suggestions from others, he decides to visit Miss Kenton, a former housekeeper at Darlington Hall, who left to marry before the war. Now single she remembers with nostalgia working at the estate with Stevens. Stevens is forced to see what an independent life could have been for him and ponders some regrets.

The book also delves into Lord Darlington’s pro-Nazi dealings with his reputation eventually being destroyed by those sympathies. After his death the estate is sold to an American statesman with a more “common” demeanor, who treats Stevens more as an equal, and enjoys the “bantering” he likes to exchange with Stevens, who is uncomfortable in this new role. Stevens examines his loyalties to the past and questions the changing of society and the times with some regret. I think he no longer feels the “value” he had over the estate as “worthy” without the aristocracy.

This was made into a gorgeous film starring Anthony Hopkins as Stevens-so perfect in this role.

This beautifully written book has many elements exposing the human condition-loyalty, honor, tradition, class structure, loneliness, pride, to name a few, but when work is done, the best part is “the remains of the day”.

5 Star

445. THE UNCONSOLED by Kazuo Ishiguro (9/19/23) Fiction

Thought by many literary groups as the most difficult of Ishiguro’s books to understand, “The Unconsoled” is both interesting and nerve wracking to read. I will try to decipher elements of this story as well as I can. Ryder is a famous concert pianist who agrees to help a middle Eastern European city with a concert to establish some hard-fought cultural recognition they need. When he arrives at his hotel there is a great deal of excitement about him and his concert and he is hammered with personal requests to meet dignitaries and give interviews. His ego keeps him from being realistic about the number of commitments to accept and he says “yes” to all ignoring how overly “stretched” he will become. He ends up late, tired, and forgetful, therefore, disappointing people. As we get to know Ryder we realize some of his thoughts are dream sequences of his past and possibly the future. Much of it becomes his psychological shortcomings or confusion which led me to wonder if dementia was present. For instance, in the beginning on his arrival to town he doesn’t recognize anyone in this city including his estranged wife or lover, his wife’s father who is the manager of the hotel, his son, or his former residence. But later he seems to recognize many of these people and things.

The general conclusion in the literary community is that these are manifestations of the neglect he has given to important people and places in his past life that he has ignored or separated from in favor of traveling and playing world-wide for fame and glory. The author never explaines why he has lost remembrances but suddenly has it restored. This could be part of the dream sequences which travels through time.

Ishiguro is an incredible storyteller and even though much is left to our imagination in this book, he is able to get inside the psyche of his characters making their narratives plausible and interesting. I rate 4 stars rather than 5 only because I found understanding this book so difficult. My Bad!

4 Stars

453. THREE WISHES by Liane Moriarty (10/9/23) Fiction

Thirty-three year old triplet sisters still are attracting attention in Sydney, Australia. Lyn, Cat, and Gemma Kettle have fun and are funny, but all deal with serious issues like adultery, divorce, abuse, romantic partners, and complications of pregnancy, and the inability to conceive to term. The triplets don’t always get along, but their love and loyalty to each other sometimes falters but always wins out.

This was Moriarty’s debut novel in 2003 and became an instant bestseller and her fame has steadily continued to grow. Now twenty years later, although this is a good relationship/family dynamic book it has aged a little in its contemporary feel. But if you are a fan of hers and have not read the first novel, you might want to.

3 Stars

455. WHAT ALICE FORGOT by Liane Moriarty (10/23/23) Fiction

This 2009 book is Moriarty’s third novel. This one deals with psychological issues of Alice who at 39 “wakes up” to find herself ten years older, with three children, and soon to be divorced. She can only remember being a happy, pregnant newlywed. The cause of this memory loss was a bump on the head. Shocked at her present life, she is determined to find out what happened to cause problems with her husband Nick, her three children, and with her sister. As she struggles to remember we get to see and compare the Alice of the past and the present and see the experience of a person who can’t believe what she has become and sees how things got so bad.

This book can make us think about ourselves and how our hopes and dreams, once exciting and vibrant, can become jaded and unrecognizable. We also can see how second chances can shape our ability to change without dwelling on past mistakes and who is “right”. Some good lessons here.

4 Stars

456. RUNAWAY by Alice Munro (10/24/23) Fiction

“Runaway” was published in 2004 and won two prizes. There are several short stories that examine the lives of Canadian women throughout the last century and the challenges they have with their gender roles. One story is about a woman in a difficult marriage who cannot leave him even when an opportunity arises. The next three stories are about Juliet in three stages of her life. Although none of the other stories seem to have a relationship to the other, they all contain experiences where women’s marriages and their domesticity role does not live up to their expectations. Some feel captive or trapped, others are unhappy but are unwilling to change and therefore are accepting of their circumstances.

Through these stories uncover many complex and broken situations which at times are hard to follow as they make twists and turns, it is a kind of interesting “downer”, examining a relevant phenomenon for many women.

3 Stars

457. A THOUSAND ACRES by Jane Smiley (10/25/23) Fiction

In my quest to find and read prize-winning books and authors, I read “A Thousand Acres”, which won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. It is set on a 1000 acre farm in Iowa where Larry Cook, the owner is a widower, who decides to deed his farm to his daughters. Two of his daughters and their husbands live and work on the farm. The third daughter is a lawyer and lives in a city. Here begins a complicated family saga filled with alll kinds of problems from disagreements, health problems, the father’s worsening situation and depression as he gives up his control by displaying anger, drinking, and erratic behavior.

The anger and fighting seems to go on and on in the book and I found the dynamics exhausting to witness. And the fight over the property was a situation that was not really resolved, it made me question why I had put myself through all this. I have read many prize winning books and I see that the prize winners usually have a great deal of tragedy which they may or may not overcome. All prize winners write well but I find sadness and misery to be unfulfilling when some form of moral truth fails to bring forth at least an enlightenment to the protagonist.

3 Stars

461. ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes (11/21/23)

462. AFTER YOU by Jojo Moyes (11/23/23) Fiction

463. STILL ME by Jojo Moyes (11/25/23) Fiction

This trilogy started with “Me Before You” (#1), “After You” (#2), and “Still Me” (#3). I am combining all three in this brief review. The three books follow Louisa Clark, a young British woman just finding her way in life and love. We follow her life through the three books in three distinct stages of her life and loves in which there is searching, struggles, tragedy, new beginnings and great opportunities. How she deals with all these ups and downs is interesting enough to enjoy for light reading, the characters are pretty believable, but nothing is earth shaking. Take these to the beach.

3 Stars

465. BEACH MUSIC by Pat Conroy (12/7/23) Fiction

Pat Conroy was one of my favorite authors. He died at age 70 in 2016 while trying to write the movie script of “Beach Music” when pancreatic cancer took his life. His writing style is filled with descriptive, lyrical prose and his luscious sentences will be missed. Author of “The Great Santini”, “The Prince of Tides”, “The Lords of Discipline”, “The Water is Wide” and more, he placed his novels mostly in the South where Conroy was born (Atlanta) and lived most of his life. Much of his novels came from his own experience, such as, contentious issues with his father, family mental illness , and military life were common themes in his books.

In “Beach Music” his protagonist, Jack McCall , flees the South after the suicide of his wife and his in-laws try to take custody of his daughter Leah. In Rome he seeks to find answers to heal his broken heart but he still longs to go home to his family and friends.

When his mother becomes ill he goes back but has to confront many emotional issues that are uncovered before there can be forgiveness. Conroy was good at exposing people at their best and worst and keeps his readers rooting for them to find truth and healing. If you haven’t read him before, I highly recommend his books.

5 Stars

469. HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry (12/20/23) Fiction

This is a cute, funny, Rom-Com that is another winner (People We Meet on Vacation, Funny Story) for Henry who has a light and airy gift to make her characters likable, witty, and relatable. Harriet and Wyn met in college, were a perfect couple for years, and for some reason broke up five months ago but have been unable to tell their friends about the breakup. When they are expected at an annual getaway with these friends they still can’t tell the truth and decide to go on the trip and keep their secret since the cottage is up for sale and it will not be available to the group again.

The author gives her characters real problems and obstacles to overcome and how they must work through them in order to come to terms with these situations. With the help of humorous dialogue, flashy but true friend relationships, and witty and funny situations, this author makes me think: I wish I could be there; or, I wish I had said that. Her books are an anecdote to an all too heavy world.

4 Stars

478. IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover (1/11/24) Fiction

Just so you don’t do what I did, and probably millions of others, which is I read this book second but found out it was the first book and the sequel is “It Starts With Us”, which I will review next. Confusing? Yes.

4 Stars

478 IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover Fiction

Lily moves to Boston and meets Ryle, a surgeon, who is not interested in a romance as Lily is. They get together when Lily has an injury and Ryle is not ready to connect. But when Ryle burns his hand, and Lily finds it funny, his is so protective of his hands that he gets physical which brought up bad memories from Lily’s past. They break up.

Lily calls Atlas, an old love, when she finds out she is pregnant by Ryle, and Atlas helps her through her dilemma and to do the right thing.

The writing is great but I think this is not over…

4 Stars

532. A LADDER TO THE SKY by John Boyne (6/11/24) Fiction

This book is about writers, their obsession for greatness, their hunger for fame, and their frustrations when their talent does not live up to their expectations, and most of all, what some will do to achieve their goal.

Maurice, an aspiring young writer meets Erich Ackermann, 65, a celebrated German novelist who is hiding his Nazi past, his homosexuality, and is desperately lonely. Told almost totally in narrative by Maurice, we see him manipulate with flattery and finesse to abuse Erich’s vulnerabilities against him, while Erich falls for the young man. Erich soon opens up about his secret past, crimes, and long held war secrets, and his homosexuality, while Maurice shamelessly steals Erich’s stories as his own which launches his own writing career while ending Erich’s.

Maurice’s success takes him on an international journey where he attaches himself to Gore Vidal, marries a novelist and continues to manipulate others in a terrifying and unsettling way.

Boyne is becoming a master at using a creeping sense of menace to further the intensity of his stories. It is a great second book after his acclaimed “The Heart’s Invisible Furies’ (Fiction p.3 #348).

5 Stars

516. MEET ME AT THE LAKE BY Carley Fortune (4/28/24) Fiction

Fern and Will, total strangers, randomly meet, stay together on a day long adventure, and find they have great chemistry. They part but but make a pact to meet in twelve months. But Will didn’t show up.

Ten years later Fern was still thinking about Will and their day together. At 30 she left the city to return to her mother’s lakeside resort. Finding the place in bad repair she decided to give the place a makeover and try a new lifestyle. Out of the blue, in walks Will in a business suit, willing to help her out.

Sometimes authors overdue coinsidences to further the plot and reunite the protagonists, and this is a perfect example of a totally implausable situation. Yes, there was a reason he didn’t show up after their twelve month pledge, but for Will to show up at Fern’s mom’s resort at the same time as Fern’s return was just too much for me. Romantics might just swoon over this love story, but cynical me?-not so much!

2 Stars

415. QUEEN OF THIEVES by Beezy Marsh (7/11/23) Fiction

In London, 1946, as the city struggles to rebuild, good jobs are scarce, food is rationed and it is tough to survive for many. Alice Diamond, queen of thieves, has created an all female gang she has taught to shoplift upscale stores. She knows the violence and risks involved, so she packs a razor and uses her diamond ring as brass knuckles if needed. She decides to take in a 17-year-old pregnant castaway under her wing, and before long the innocent Nell becomes adept at the trade. May Nell someday become queen of thieves?

This was one of those books that was somewhat interesting, character-wise, but had little moral value to help empathize with the protagonist.

3 Stars

416. MS. DEMEANOR by Elinor Lipman (7/12/23) Fiction

I was in the mood for a Rom-Com or something to put me in a light and breezy mood and I found this book hit the spot!

Jane, a lawyer, got into trouble when she had consensual al fresco sex on the rooftop of her apartment building, when reported by a nosey neighbor. This minor incident turns into the suspension of her legal license and a house arrest. Staying home threw her into action in cooking, romance with a new neighbor, and finding the mysterious nosey neighbor accuser, with the help of her family and friends.

This is Lipman as her lighthearted best. Fast, funny and romantic!

4 Stars

418. Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley (7/17/23)

Perestroika is a spirited racehorse at a racetrack near Paris, when one afternoon she finds her stall open. She wants to explore the great unknown and wanders into Paris where she is dazzled by the lights, sounds, and smells about her. She isn’t afraid. Soon she is joined by an elegant dog, a German shorthair pointer named Frieda, who know how to get by without attracting attention. Paras and Frieda become a duo with Frieda making many trips to the vegetable market. They also keep company with two ducks, and an opinionated raven. When Paras meets a human boy, Etienne, she is led to an ivy-walled house where the boy and his 100-year-old grandmother live in seclusion.

Does this sound like a children’s fairy tale? It could be, but this Pulitzer Prize winning author brings this story of friendship, companionship, and and the freedom to explore come alive for all ages. I loved this little story and was totally charmed.

4 Stars

419. GETTING TO HAPPY by Terry Mc Millan (7/20/23) Fiction

Mc Millan’s “Waiting to Exhale” was a watershed moment in African-American literary history with her bold and vibrant women struggling to find love. Now in this sequel she revisits Gloria, Savannah, Bernadine and Robin fifteen years later, each at their own midlife crossroads. With many changes in the interim, they must all learn to heal and reclaim their joy and faith in each other. They have exhaled and are learning to breathe.

I enjoyed getting back to the girls. Their mistakes felt real and their friendships are what makes life tolerable.

4 Stars

421. The Paris Connection by Lorraine Brown (7/23/23) Fiction

In the mood for a love story? Lorraine Brown’s debut novel just hit the spot for a summertime beach read. Hannah and her boyfriend Simon are on a train to Amsterdam to attend her sister’s wedding. But, (and I can relate to this confusing train situation), unbeknownst to them the train was scheduled to divide in the middle of the night with one half continuing to Amsterdam and the other half to Paris, the one Hannah was on. Don’t ask why they weren’t together. Simon, with her belongings, is on his way to Amsterdam. Hannah must go to Paris for a day’s delay until she can continue on to Amsterdam. Hannah meets a Frenchman who is also delayed and he offers to show her the sights from his viewpoint. Hannah becomes inthralled with Paris and Leo.

Yes, this is predictable, light, and romantic, but somehow the characters are believable and enjoyable and the tour of Paris made me want to see many of these places.

4 Stars

422. A SECRET KEPT by Tatiana De Rosnay (7/25/23) Fiction

By the author of the New York Times bestselling novel, “Sarah’s Key”, De Rosnay brings this story of a brother and sister with complex family relationships and a secret that comes out unexpectedly after thirty years.

My thoughts are that if you are going to write a book about a secret it better be a really stunning secret. Somehow, although this French author gives a wonderful picture of a vacation the the French countryside, and the characters are complex-although I was frustrated with their lack of communication skills-the story just didn’t “grab” me and the “secret” not so terribly overwhelming. If you were a fan of “Sarah’s Key”, you may find more to like in this book than I did.

3 Stars

423. THE ARC by Tory Henwood Hoen (7/28/23) Fiction

This Rom-Com is a debut novel by Hoen about a secret new concept for matchmaking which uses a complex series of emotional, psychological, and physiological assessments which guarantees finding one ideal mate for life-long compatibility. This price tag for this match is as extremely expensive as their guarantees are promised. When Raphael and Ursala meet they believe in the process…….at first.

We know relationships are difficult to find and as people get to know the “real” person over time, it gets complicated. Will this leap of faith and money really produce the result they were looking for in this complex world?

This is another fun, romantic beach read, but I think better than most.

4 Stars

424. ON LOCATION by Sarah Echaverra Smith (7/28/23) Fiction

Sarah finally gets her big break to produce a TV series about Utah’s National Parks, her idea and pet project for a long time. When she hears that the host of the show will be Drew Irons, who she had an amazing first date with three weeks ago and then was ghosted, her enthusiasm dropped like lead. The tension between them could cause her project to fail.

I guess while I was on vacation I got into these light Rom-Com beach reads with their great locations and sexual tensions and this was no exception. These are best when you don’t want to think hard or carry too much emotional weight around with you. But usually they are enjoyable, as this one was.

3 Stars

426. The Setup by Lizzy Dent

Mara Williams is very into horoscopes and readings. When a fortune teller reveals that her true love is coming soon, a gorgeous stranger comes into her life. She is determined to make this prediction come true with a little help.

This Rom-Com is hilarious, sexy, and so much fun for a beach or vege-out read!

3 Stars

427. MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout (8/5/23) Fiction

This is Elizabeth Strout’s first book about Lucy Barton from Amgash, Illinois. Lucy had what should have been a simple operation, but while recovering slowly, her estranged mother came to see her. Her mother’s appearance forces Lucy to confront the many aspects of her childhood, including her impoverished longings, her escape to New York to become a writer, her failed marriage, and her relationships with her two daughters.

Strout loves to let her protagonists speak power narratives to tell her story, as she did with her “Olive Kitterage” books. It is through their thoughts and voices that we get to intimately know these characters and their hearts. I love her books.

4 Stars

430. THE LOST FLOWERS OF ALICE HART by Holly Ringland (8/15/23) Fiction

Nine year old Alice Hart is forced to leave her seaside home and is taken in by her grandmother, June, who is a flower farmer in Australia. She teaches Alice the language of the native flowers, which is her way to say the unspeakable. As Alice grows up she becomes aware of how little she knows of her family history. Now in her 20’s, Alice suffers a betrayal and loss that causes her to flee to the Central Australian desert. Then a dangerous, charismatic man changes her world again.

This is about the stories we tell ourselves when trying to survive traumatic events. Now streaming as a seven-part TV series on Amazon Prime, and starring Sigourney Weaver, this is an excellent read and may be well-worth reading, listening and watching.

4 Stars

432. MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult (8/22/23) Fiction

 When Olivia McAfee’s brilliant cardiac-thorascic surgeon reveals a dark side she takes her son Asher back to her New Hampshire hometown to take over her father’s beekeeping business. Lily and her mom are trying to make a fresh start in the same town. Lily and Asher become friends at their high school, but when Lily is found dead Asher is questioned by the police. Olivia strongly defends her son’s innocence even though at times he displays his father’s bad temper.

Jodi Picoult is a good story-teller, is amazingly prolific in her writing, but I didn’t find this book as compelling as usual. For Picoult fans, she most likely will not fail you this time.

3 Stars

433. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (8/22/23) Fiction

From the author of ” The Dutch House”, a book I loved, of “Bel Canto” a book about terrorists and prisoners, these first two books couldn’t be more different, yet I gave them both 5 Stars. This book,T”Tom Lake” is also is totally different in theme and characters.

“Tom Lake” starts in the spring of 2020 when Lara’s three daughters come back to the family cherry orchards in Northern Michigan. The daughters want to know about their mother’s relationship with Peter Duke, a now famous actor, who their mother had a romance with years ago while working at a theatre company called “Tom Lake”. Lara had downplayed this youthful time when she dabbled in the theatre, but with prodding she opened up to the life she lead, opening the girl’s eyes to a mother they had never known existed.

I love Ann’s writing, with each story unique to itself, yet examines relationships and family dynamics. I have to explain that even though I felt this book is in many ways as good as her others, I have noticed that I now tend to give fewer 5 Star ratings than in the past. I am not saying that today I wouldn’t have rated the others as highly, I would have to reread them to make that judgment. But today a book has to almost knock my socks off to get a 5. And based on that I must give it a 4. But I did love it!

4 Stars

434. MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather (8/24/23) Fiction

Published in 1918, this beautifully written classic is set in Black Hawk, Nebraska, where Jim Burton, an orphaned boy from Virginia, lives with his grandparents. Jim meets the new neighbors, the Shimerda’s, who bought a homestead without a house, just a cave in the earth. Jim becomes friends with their daughter, Antonia (An-tone-e-ah), the eldest daughter, a few years older than Jim. They ask Jim to teach their daughters to read English. The first year is the hardest for the Shimerdas without a warm house or provisions for the winter. The Burtons cannot ignore their needs and try to help the family. Mrs. Burton recommends Antonia to Mrs. Harding to become a housekeeper for good wages.

The story follows Jim as he excels in school, goes to college, and becomes a lawyer. Antonia marries and has many children, and Jim on a journey home seeks to find what became of Antonia.

This book chronicles the life and times of the early settlers of rural America and their struggles to survive and exist. This is historically genuine and an enduring and poignant read.

4 Stars

435. GO AS A RIVER by Shelly Read (8/24/23) Fiction

Young Victoria, 13, becomes the family homemaker when her mother passes away leaving her without guidance and love. On a trip to town to sell their peaches she meets drifter, Wilson Moon, an American Indian, who was taken away from his parents and doesn’t know his tribe. He and Victoria are immediately attracted to each other, but Will disappears when he is driven out of town. Victoria can no longer go back to her old life and takes off, to ‘go as a river’, as she finds the perseverance and inner strength to make a better way for herself.

Like real life, her characters are flawed, but I found myself rooting for them. It was inspiring and heart-wrenching. A beautiful debut novel.

4 Stars

437. A FROZEN WOMAN by Annie Ernaux (8/29/23) Fiction

Ernaux, a French author has won the Nobel Prize for Literature for “Shame” in 2022. I decided to delve into her other books to see what makes her so special. This book is a sequel to “A Man’s Place”, and a prequel to “Simple Passion”. Frozen describes a transition from girlhood to womanhood, with her yearning to be desirable and her ambition to fulfill herself in her chosen profession, bringing unavoidable conflict when at thirty, a mother of two infant sons, she loses herself to domesticity which is killing her. 

Ernaux has caught the plight of women today as they reach for careers and family and see how husband’s work ends at the end of the day, while the woman continues her responsibilities.

This theme has become her trademark.

4 Stars

439. SHAME by Annie Ernaux (9/15/23) Fiction

“My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June in the early afternoon” is written by a twelve year-old girl who will become the author, even though this is listed as a book of fiction. This traumatic memory plagues her for the rest of her life. Her ability to delve into her soul has brought the author the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature for “..the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the root, estrangements, and collective restraints of personal memory.” Why would one traumatic experience of brief duration in her otherwise normal life make such a powerful impression that she should become the wounded child of shame and which continues years afterward? She says shame became part of her body.

The author’s powerful reflection is a tutorial on the power of a violent memory. Although Ernaux’s books are listed as fiction, most, I believe much come from her own life experiences. She is a great writer but I didn’t relate to this story.

4 Stars

440. TOO MUCH HAPPINESS by Alice Munro (9/8/23) Fiction

“Too Much Happiness” is a collection of ten stories by the Canadian author who only writes short stories. Her stories show a whole life compressed into this short form. She can distinguish her characters in a few short sentences, who are mostly women. Rather than write stories that are a glimpse in time, these are whole stories in short form. They do not follow similar themes nor connect in any way. They stand alone. I found a few to be worth reading, not all.

3 Stars

442. THE BURIED GIANT by Kazuo Ishiguro (9/12/23) Fiction

Reading this book is part of my quest to read prize winning author’s works. Kazuo Ishiguro, a British Nobel Prize winning author, wrote this fantasy novel which is unlike anything he has previously done. Set in post King Arthur days when the Saxons and Britons are still hostile, an elderly couple, Axe and Beatrice, live at a time when no one is able to retain long-term memories. They somehow come to terms that their long-lost son is waiting for them at the last stages of their lives, to welcome and care for them. This book follows a journey totally unfit for the two minimally functioning elderly couple. We witness their long journey as they struggle on, avoiding battles and hardships guided by unreliable folklore and myths. The charm of the story is the love between the two as if they were young lovers. Now and then they experience trickles of moments of clarity and remembrances, some about betrayal. 

I loved the beautiful and endearing words of love from Axe to Beatrice, but their journey was long, hard and nonsensical, and I was hoping it would end soon. I am not too enchanted with fantasy. The writing was beautiful and descriptive. The story, so-so.

4 Stars

444. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguro (9/16/23) Fiction

Kazuo Ishiguro, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature with this book, sets this novel in pre and post World War II England where Stevens is the head butler of a great estate, Darlington Hall. With great pride Stevens goes into minute detail on what it takes to be a great butler. He has spent his life perfecting his skills in his dedication to giving Lord Darlington, a ranking aristocrat, the most excellent service of any and all. His obsession to detail, respect, and proclivity is what makes him a master of his class. He adheres to the strict guidelines of defined hierarchy for his staff and prides himself is his ship-shape running of the estate. This is his life’s mission.

When he is encouraged to take a vacation for a few weeks he is dumbfounded on what to do with himself since he has never incorporated a personal life for himself. With the use of the Lord’s car and suggestions from others, he decides to visit Miss Kenton, a former housekeeper at Darlington Hall, who left to marry before the war. Now single she remembers with nostalgia working at the estate with Stevens. Stevens is forced to see what an independent life could have been for him and ponders some regrets.

The book also delves into Lord Darlington’s pro-Nazi dealings with his reputation eventually being destroyed by those sympathies. After his death the estate is sold to an American statesman with a more “common” demeanor, who treats Stevens more as an equal, and enjoys the “bantering” he likes to exchange with Stevens, who is uncomfortable in this new role. Stevens examines his loyalties to the past and questions the changing of society and the times with some regret. I think he no longer feels the “value” he had over the estate as “worthy” without the aristocracy.

This was made into a gorgeous film starring Anthony Hopkins as Stevens-so perfect in this role.

This beautifully written book has many elements exposing the human condition-loyalty, honor, tradition, class structure, loneliness, pride, to name a few, but when work is done, the best part is “the remains of the day”.

5 Star

445. THE UNCONSOLED by Kazuo Ishiguro (9/19/23) Fiction

Thought by many literary groups as the most difficult of Ishiguro’s books to understand, “The Unconsoled” is both interesting and nerve wracking to read. I will try to decipher elements of this story as well as I can. Ryder is a famous concert pianist who agrees to help a middle Eastern European city with a concert to establish some hard-fought cultural recognition they need. When he arrives at his hotel there is a great deal of excitement about him and his concert and he is hammered with personal requests to meet dignitaries and give interviews. His ego keeps him from being realistic about the number of commitments to accept and he says “yes” to all ignoring how overly “stretched” he will become. He ends up late, tired, and forgetful, therefore, disappointing people. As we get to know Ryder we realize some of his thoughts are dream sequences of his past and possibly the future. Much of it becomes his psychological shortcomings or confusion which led me to wonder if dementia was present. For instance, in the beginning on his arrival to town he doesn’t recognize anyone in this city including his estranged wife or lover, his wife’s father who is the manager of the hotel, his son, or his former residence. But later he seems to recognize many of these people and things.

The general conclusion in the literary community is that these are manifestations of the neglect he has given to important people and places in his past life that he has ignored or separated from in favor of traveling and playing world-wide for fame and glory. The author never explaines why he has lost remembrances but suddenly has it restored. This could be part of the dream sequences which travels through time.

Ishiguro is an incredible storyteller and even though much is left to our imagination in this book, he is able to get inside the psyche of his characters making their narratives plausible and interesting. I rate 4 stars rather than 5 only because I found understanding this book so difficult. My Bad!

4 Stars

453. THREE WISHES by Liane Moriarty (10/9/23) Fiction

Thirty-three year old triplet sisters still are attracting attention in Sydney, Australia. Lyn, Cat, and Gemma Kettle have fun and are funny, but all deal with serious issues like adultery, divorce, abuse, romantic partners, and complications of pregnancy, and the inability to conceive to term. The triplets don’t always get along, but their love and loyalty to each other sometimes falters but always wins out.

This was Moriarty’s debut novel in 2003 and became an instant bestseller and her fame has steadily continued to grow. Now twenty years later, although this is a good relationship/family dynamic book it has aged a little in its contemporary feel. But if you are a fan of hers and have not read the first novel, you might want to.

3 Stars

455. WHAT ALICE FORGOT by Liane Moriarty (10/23/23) Fiction

This 2009 book is Moriarty’s third novel. This one deals with psychological issues of Alice who at 39 “wakes up” to find herself ten years older, with three children, and soon to be divorced. She can only remember being a happy, pregnant newlywed. The cause of this memory loss was a bump on the head. Shocked at her present life, she is determined to find out what happened to cause problems with her husband Nick, her three children, and with her sister. As she struggles to remember we get to see and compare the Alice of the past and the present and see the experience of a person who can’t believe what she has become and sees how things got so bad.

This book can make us think about ourselves and how our hopes and dreams, once exciting and vibrant, can become jaded and unrecognizable. We also can see how second chances can shape our ability to change without dwelling on past mistakes and who is “right”. Some good lessons here.

4 Stars

457. A THOUSAND ACRES by Jane Smiley (10/25/23) Fiction

In my quest to find and read prize-winning books and authors, I read “A Thousand Acres”, which won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. It is set on a 1000 acre farm in Iowa where Larry Cook, the owner is a widower, who decides to deed his farm to his daughters. Two of his daughters and their husbands live and work on the farm. The third daughter is a lawyer and lives in a city. Here begins a complicated family saga filled with alll kinds of problems from disagreements, health problems, the father’s worsening situation and depression as he gives up his control by displaying anger, drinking, and erratic behavior.

The anger and fighting seems to go on and on in the book and I found the dynamics exhausting to witness. And the fight over the property was a situation that was not really resolved, it made me question why I had put myself through all this. I have read many prize winning books and I see that the prize winners usually have a great deal of tragedy which they may or may not overcome. All prize winners write well but I find sadness and misery to be unfulfilling when some form of moral truth fails to bring forth at least an enlightenment to the protagonist.

3 Stars

461. ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes (11/21/23)

462. AFTER YOU by Jojo Moyes (11/23/23) Fiction

463. STILL ME by Jojo Moyes (11/25/23) Fiction

This trilogy started with “Me Before You” (#1), “After You” (#2), and “Still Me” (#3). I am combining all three in this brief review. The three books follow Louisa Clark, a young British woman just finding her way in life and love. We follow her life through the three books in three distinct stages of her life and loves in which there is searching, struggles, tragedy, new beginnings and great opportunities. How she deals with all these ups and downs is interesting enough to enjoy for light reading, the characters are pretty believable, but nothing is earth shaking. Take these to the beach.

3 Stars

465. BEACH MUSIC by Pat Conroy (12/7/23) Fiction

Pat Conroy was one of my favorite authors. He died at age 70 in 2016 while trying to write the movie script of “Beach Music” when pancreatic cancer took his life. His writing style is filled with descriptive, lyrical prose and his luscious sentences will be missed. Author of “The Great Santini”, “The Prince of Tides”, “The Lords of Discipline”, “The Water is Wide” and more, he placed his novels mostly in the South where Conroy was born (Atlanta) and lived most of his life. Much of his novels came from his own experience, such as, contentious issues with his father, family mental illness , and military life were common themes in his books.

In “Beach Music” his protagonist, Jack McCall , flees the South after the suicide of his wife and his in-laws try to take custody of his daughter Leah. In Rome he seeks to find answers to heal his broken heart but he still longs to go home to his family and friends.

When his mother becomes ill he goes back but has to confront many emotional issues that are uncovered before there can be forgiveness. Conroy was good at exposing people at their best and worst and keeps his readers rooting for them to find truth and healing. If you haven’t read him before, I highly recommend his books.

5 Stars

469. HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry (12/20/23) Fiction

This is a cute, funny, Rom-Com that is another winner (People We Meet on Vacation, Funny Story) for Henry who has a light and airy gift to make her characters likable, witty, and relatable. Harriet and Wyn met in college, were a perfect couple for years, and for some reason broke up five months ago but have been unable to tell their friends about the breakup. When they are expected at an annual getaway with these friends they still can’t tell the truth and decide to go on the trip and keep their secret since the cottage is up for sale and it will not be available to the group again.

The author gives her characters real problems and obstacles to overcome and how they must work through them in order to come to terms with these situations. With the help of humorous dialogue, flashy but true friend relationships, and witty and funny situations, this author makes me think: I wish I could be there; or, I wish I had said that. Her books are an anecdote to an all too heavy world.

4 Stars

478. IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover (1/11/24) Fiction

Just so you don’t do what I did, and probably millions of others, which is I read this book second but found out it was the first book and the sequel is”It Starts With Us, which I will review next. Confusing? Yes.

Lily moves to Boston and meets Ryle, a surgeon, who is not interested in a romance as Lily is. They get together when Lily has an injury and Ryle is not ready to connect. But when Ryle burns his hand, and Lily finds it funny, his is so protective of his hands that he gets physical which brought up bad memories from Lily’s past. They break up.

Lily calls Atlas, an old love, when she finds out she is pregnant by Ryle, and Atlas helps her through her dilemma and to do the right thing.

The writing is great but I think this is not over…

470. IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover (12/22/23) Fiction

Lily and her ex-husband Ryle are working on a co-parenting plan. Lily bumps into Atlas after a two year separation and accepts a date with him. Ryle is not happy that Atlas may be back into Lily’s and his daughter’s lives.

This book, both from Lily’s and Atlas’s perspectives, starts where the first book left off and reveals more of Atlas’s past The first book was from Lily’s perspective. There is good solid writing here but by reading them in the wrong order, a month apart, it didn’t do it justice.

4 Stars

471. THE MYSTERY GUEST by Nina Prose (12/24/23) Fiction

This book is the sequel to “The Maid” (#250), where beloved heroine Molly Gray, although still cleaning to perfection, has now been promoted to the esteemed position of “Head Maid” at the Five Star Regency Grand Hotel. If you haven’t read the first book do that now in order to get a real glimpse into Molly, her life, and personality.

J.D. Grumthorpe, a famous mystery author dies on the hotel’s tearoom floor and a mystery ensues. Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, suspects his death to be a murder. Many employees become suspects, including Molly. Molly has some knowledge of the victim, a person from her past, who her gran once worked alongside. She tries hard to remember her past for any clue which could be related to this case.

Molly again rocks her universe with her diligent nature, her steadfast intuition, and her thorough drive to do her best. She is again a lovable, quirky character, possibly on the spectrum, and fun to know and love.

4 Stars

472. THE RACHEL INCIDENT by Caroline O’Donoghue (12/26/23) Fiction

In Ireland, where Rachel, a student, is working in a bookstore, she meets James and falls instantly for him. James invites Rachel to become his roommate and they begin a great friendship, slightly bohemian, effervescent, full of youthful abandon. Rachel, unsure of James’s homosexuality, falls in love with her married English professor, they have an affair that goes nowhere.

O’Donoghue is excellent in portraying the wild abandon of the 1920’s, with it’s fun and frolic, but also addresses the challenges when too much abandonment and experimentation lead to serious consequences. This book covers it all.

4 Stars

479. THE HEAVEN AND EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride (1/15/24) Fiction

When a skeleton was found at the bottom of a well in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1972, the long held secrets kept by the residents, where immigrant Jews and African Americans shared their lives and sorrows, was exposed. The story then skips back to 1925 when Moshe and Chona are living above the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store which she owns. Moshe, a Jewish theatre manager added Black performers to his Jewish troop. They call the place Chicken Hill and it is filled with Bulgarian, Polish, and Lithuanian Jewish shoemakers, Italian Laborers, and Colored maids, housekeepers, saloon cleaners, and factory workers. This diverse crowd, although not inclusive and is split into ethnic clicks, come together when the state wants to institutionalize a 12-year-old Black boy named “Dodo”, who is deaf and dumb, to save him from that fate.

McBride uses his characters in conversations to show his social criticism. One example is when a fellow immigrant asks another if he wants to go back to the old country. The man replies: “I like it here. The politicians try to cut your throat with one hand while saluting the flag with the other. Then they tax you. Saves’em the trouble of calling you a dirty Jew.”

McBride has always through his writing career used humor and hope to tell the truths about race and prejudice. Without pontificating, we get the message.

5 Stars

482. THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters (1/21/24)

It was a tradition for the Indiginous Mi’Kmaq workers from Nova Scotia to travel to Maine to pick blueberries in the summer. Long ago a four-year-old Mi’Kmaq girl went missing, haunting the family for years to come. In Maine, a young girl from an affluent, overprotective family is troubled by recurring visions that feel like memories. As she gets older she tries for decades to uncover this mystery.

This debut novel by Amanda Peters is a solid story and is well-written. I hope to see more of her work.

4 Stars

486. MAYBE NOT by Colleen Hoover (1/31/24) Fiction

Author of “It Ends With Us” (#478-Fiction); “It Starts With Us” (#470-Fiction; and, “Maybe Someday”, (I haven’t read-#1-Maybe Series); and this, “Maybe Not” (#2); and, “Maybe Now”, (I haven’t read). Again, I am reading this series out of order because of availability. “Maybe”, highlights Warren, a funny, charismatic type who begins a roommate situation with cold and calculating Bridgette. Warren thinks that Bridgette is hiding a passion that he feels can turn into love. He wants to test his theory.

This small novella is light reading, fun, a good beach read.

3 Stars

487. GUEST by Mary Downing Hahn (2/2/24) Fiction

This fantasy tale, finds Mollie’s adorable newborn baby brother, Thomas, is replaced by a “changeling” called Guest. Guest is not beautiful like Thomas but her parents don’t seem to realize the change and accept Guest as their own. Mollie is determined to get Thomas back and goes to the “Kinde Folke” who took Thomas, where she encounters obstacles of both natural and magical nature that bring danger and twisted plots to her journey.

This imaginary fairy tale plot may appeal more to the juvenile reader, and it is scary at times.

3 Stars

488. I WILL GREET THE SUN AGAIN by Khashayar J. Khabushani (2/3/24) Fiction

Khabushani, an Iranian American, deals with the topics of fitting-in and acceptance that all immigrants must deal with. Three brothers idolize their father (the best engineer in all of America), who refuses to work in America (he won’t work for someone else), gambles away his hard-working wife’s salary, loses their house, and slowly crushes their family while his sons continue to admire him. When the three boys are kidnapped to their homeland they struggle to make a life for themselves in this strange place. When they return to America their world is as foreign as the world they left behind. While trying to be the sons their father can be proud of they struggle with cultural issues, including the youngest son, the narrator of the book, realizing he is homosexual, while trying to be what he is not for the sake of the family.

Khabushani, in this his debut novel is compassionate, tender and honest and has already won several awards. This is a stirring book with a cultural awakening.

4 Stars

489. ROMANTIC COMEDY by Curtis Sittenfeld (2/4/24) Fiction

Sally Milz writes comedy sketches for a late-night comedy show. She is through with love for herself after a couple of heartbreaks and has abandoned the search for love.

When a fellow writer named Danny, average-looking but kind of dorky, began dating a glamorous actress who co-hosted an episode of the show, Sally wrote a sketch about her annoyance at how average-looking men can hook up with beautiful and accomplished women, and how unlikely for the reverse to happen. She called the sketch “The Danny Horst Rule”.

But when she hits it off with a pop music sensation while collaborating on his sketch for the show she questions if a guy like this could really go for someone like her.

Sittenfeld loves to take complex characters and bring them to life in scenarios of modern day dating rituals. I love her writing. (Yes, HER).

4 Stars

491. YOURS TRULY by Abby Jimenez (2/8/24) Fiction

Dr. Brianna Ortez’s life is problemic. Her divorce is almost final, her brother needs a kidney donor, and a promotion may go to a new guy rather than her. But this new guy turns out to be quite nice. They begin exchanging letters, having lunch dates, and more. When Dr. Jacob Maddox hears of her brother’s need for a kidney and wants to donate, she wonders how beholden she would be to him.

This is a cute, sexy love story–a fun read filled with humor and warmth.

3 Stars

494. PINEAPPLE STREET by Jenny Jackson (2/18/24) Fiction

Chosen as “best book of the year” by New York Times, Time Magazine and at least 10 others, from an unknown (to me) author, I had to try this one out.

This debut novel gives us a close-up view into the lives of the super-rich living in the tony neighborhood of brownstone townhouses in Brooklyn Heights, New York. This view into the “good-life” will make you love them or hate them or both. Mainly we get somewhat obsessed with the dilemmas of the obscenely wealthy and their value systems. Whether they are dealing with trust funds to tennis matches, to managing empires to prenuptial agreements, to Wasp work places, to projecting affluence, the author makes us interested enough to give the super-rich a chance. Cleverly packed with smart and sassy one-liners, Jackson presents great writing and good, fun reading.

4 Stars

497. WELLNESS by Nathan Hill (3/4/24) Fiction

This saga follows Jack and Elizabeth, college students in the 90’s, part of Chicago’s art scene, to the couple twenty years later now married and entrenched in suburbia life and kids, with all the challenges from parenting to home renovations. The realities of life and it’s struggles and their youthful dreams unfulfilled, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize themselves and each other.

Sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking, but always real, this feels like a truthful portrayal of “life”. This is well written and speaks the truth to many of us who may have seen our dreams slip through our fingers as time marches on.

4 Stars

501. STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett (3/18/24) Fiction

Ann Patchett never ceases to amaze me with each of her books having a totally unique storyline. From “The Dutch House” about rejected siblings, to “Bel Canto” about a South American government party being held at siege by terrorists, to this book about scientists in the Amazon jungle, all are so unlike each other it is hard to believe they are all written by Patchett. In these books we get to let our imaginations run wild as we experience all kinds of places and experience events that grab us. This book is fraught with danger, adventure, sacrifice and valuable lessons of morality. If you haven’t already, you might become a fan of the complex Ms. Patchett.

5 Stars

506. THE WOMAN by Kristin Hannah (4/4/24) Fiction

It is rare to read a story about the Vietnam War, no less having a woman as the protagonist and eventually the hero. Hannah likes to draw from untold and unsung sources and brought to us “Frankie” McGrath, a 20 year-old student nurse from a conservative family who decides, rather naively, to join the US Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam. Not only was she inexperienced as a nurse, upon arrival she is thrown into the chaos, totally unprepared and overwhelmed, for the mass destruction of young soldiers from the battlefield. Gathering up all her courage to prove herself worthy, she acclimates herself to conditions of the “make-do” hospital and the horrible injuries, the casualties of war victims.

Hannah gives a voice to the many woman who bravely served, the unsung heroes who were barely mentioned as war participants, even being denied entry to stateside veterans PTSD meetings, disbelieving that women had “served” in Vietnam. She also gave a realistic picture of the young draftees, forced to serve, willing but unprepared to fight for a cause they did not understand. All under the backdrop dividing America over a premise of what a Communist “domino-effect” would do to the U.S. and the world. This is a great book.

5 Stars

508. THE PATRON SAINT OF LIARS by Ann Patchett (4/9/24) Fiction

This is Ann Patchett’s debut novel which is set in Habit Kentucky at a home for unwed mothers, named St. Elizabeth’s. Rose, older than most, isn’t the typical teenager. She is pregnant but not unwed. She plans on giving up her child, thinking she is not suited for motherhood. But when she gives birth she decides to keep her daughter and cannot go home so they stay with the nuns at St. Elizabeth’s. Her life is filled with secrets and lies as she tries to leave her past behind.

Patchett is proving to me she was a great storyteller from the start. This book became a movie and she is a bestselling author with every new book she writes.

4 Stars

THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio (5/5/24) Fiction

This book may be a challenge to some in that you have to let your imagination be a little ‘free flowing’ to accept this unrealistic premise. The story begins when Lauren came home one night and there is a man named Michael who swears that he is her husband and tries to prove it by showing her photos on her phone and other evidence to prove who he is and that they have been together for years. Lauren has never seen this man before although she admits there are lots of decor changes she doesn’t remember and other things she does not understand. Michael goes into their attic to change a lightbulb and disappears. Down comes another man appearing as her husband. This happens several times and Lauren realizes it has something to do with changing the lightbulb in the attic. She starts to enjoy these changing men who come in and out of her life until she tires of of her varied relationships and never-ending options. Or will she always be looking for someone new?

This quirky book, as unrealistic as could be, but does give a small life-lesson about “the grass is always greener…” and when to stop trying to do better. It was quite a different book.

3 Stars

519. FUNNY STORY by Emily Henry (5/9/24) Fiction

Daphne and Peter, a happy couple, love to tell others how they met and fell in love and moved back to their lakeside home to start their life together. When Peter saw his childhood best friend, Petra, he flipped for her, blindsiding Daphne. With a dream job as a children’s librarian, Daphne decided to stay in this lovely town. But the job barely paid the rent, and she felt lonely, so she talked Petra’s ex, Miles to let her become his roommate. One night while drowning their sorrows together, they decide to post misleading photos of their summer adventures together as though the two of them were having all kinds of fun and frolic.

You can probably guess where all this is going, but Henry has a talent for writing scatterbrain Rom-Coms which make the characters fun and their antics funny. Not deep, just fun.

4 Stars

520. FOURTEEN DAYS by The Author’s Guild (5/14/24) Fiction

During Covid-19 The Author’s Guild proposed a joint project for 30 of their major literary voices, including Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, Tommy Orange, and Celeste Ng, to collaborate on a novel with each character in the book secretly written by each of the authors. The premise takes place in a Lower East End tenement in the early days of the Covid epidemic. One week into the lockdown the neighbors of this building started meeting each night on the rooftop to tell stories to each other. As word spread more and more tenants joined the group to break the boredom. They brought their chairs and cocktails, distanced themselves and one by one opened up about their lives. Previously, it was rare for any of them to interact with one another and most never even spoke to the each other. This evening ritual bonded them together, their lives became richer, and they became stronger together amidst the background of a pandemic that made loss and suffering become the norm.

What a fun, original project to think up and do during this isolating time. It was so interesting because each tenent had a totally different personality and story to tell because of all the varied participants. I really enjoyed the book.

4 Stars