Terrace Story

Title:  Terrace Story

Author:  Hilary Leichter

Publication Information:  Ecco. 2023. 208 pages.

ISBN:  0063265818 / 978-0063265813

Rating:   ★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The old window gave a grant view of Yellow Tree, trunk to branch.

Favorite Quote:  "Grief is not the door that tucks you in; it's the door that shuts you out."

The book description reads as follows. "Based on the National Magazine Award–winning story, Hilary Leichter’s profound second novel asks how we nurture love when death looms over every moment. From one of our most innovative and daring writers, Terrace Story is an astounding meditation on loss, a reverie about extinction, and a map for where to go next."

As a reader, I am not sure I understand what this book is about or how to capture the promise of this description.

The premise is as follows. An individual somehow has the ability to expand the physical space they are in. How or why? Controlled or uncontrolled? Privilege or curse? This is either never truly explained, or again, I just don't understand.

The book reads like interlinked short stories or novellas. If you keep the names straight, you see the characters connect from one to the other. Maybe.

The book description poses questions. "How far can the mind travel when it’s looking for something that is gone? Where do we put our loneliness, longing, and desire? What do we do with the emotions that seem to stretch beyond the body, beyond the boundaries of life and death?" Having read it, I am not sure the book provided the answer, or again, perhaps I just don't understand.

Based on the idea of being able to expand time and space, the book could be a science fiction story. However, it is not. The premise is never really explained, or maybe I just don't understand. Regardless, the exploration of the science is clearly not the focal point. I somewhat wish that it was for that thread might have tied the whole book together.

Based on the same idea, the book could be a fantasy for the worlds that life in that expansion. However, this book does not go in that direction either. The expanded space is just that - a terrace beyond an apartment, a ceiling that seems higher, etc. No fanciful worlds or adventures exist beyond. Perhaps, this thread may have tied the book together for me, but that was not the point.

I do persevere to the end of the book, hoping the ending will bring all the different threads together. Sadly, for me, it does not. At the end, I walk away frustrated and completely not understanding. It seems a book that tries too hard to make a philosophical point that unfortunately is lost on this reader.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Lessons

Title:  Lessons

Author:  Ian McEwan

Publication Information:  Knopf. 2022. 448 pages.

ISBN:  0593535200 / 978-0593535202

Rating:   ★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "This was insomniac memory, not a dream."

Favorite Quote:  "A shame to ruin a good tale by turning it into a lesson. That could be for later."

Ian McEwan is an author who has long been on my to read list. The rave reviews his books receive. The awards he has received. His involvement in issues on a world stage. Recommendations from friends. Lessons is the first of his books I am reading.

Unfortunately, I struggle with the book from its very beginning. The book begins with a boy at boarding school. A teacher, an individual in a position of authority, propositions him. The book then jumps to the boy as an adult, and his wife has abandoned him and their young child.

These two events at the very beginning of the book are shocking, not because such things don't happen. They do. However, they are shocking because there should be an intensity of emotion that accompanies the occurrence of these events, the telling of this story, and, for me, the reading of this story. Yet, for me, there is not. In fact, my reaction is to want to look away. I put down the book and don't pick it up for days. I pick it up and then put it down again. It is a challenge for me to get through.

The book description states, "Epic, mesmerizing, and deeply humane, Lessons is a chronicle for our times—a powerful meditation on history and humanity through the prism of one man's lifetime." The book does indeed cover a lot of history - time and place from the end of World War II to present day. Unfortunately, the main character - the lens through which the history is narrated is not one I find I can relate to. His life and hence the book seems to meander through this history, sometimes with no purpose and no sense of direction. As it meander, many characters - too many - float in and out of the story, making it even more of  a challenge to follow. I do not find myself engaged in the main character's story to want to see how it turns out for I am unsure it even does "turn out" into a cohesive, satisfying conclusion.

Certain books leave a feeling that perhaps the reader is not "clever" enough to follow or understand the depths the author is trying to reach. To me, that is not a fault of the book but an indication that I am not the reader for the book. Perhaps, I will try a different book by the author. Perhaps not. This one was not for me.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Bookworm

Title:  Bookworm

Author:  Robin Yeatman

Publication Information:  Harper Perennial. 2023. 288 pages.

ISBN:  0063273004 / 978-0063273009

Rating:  ★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Friday was Victoria's day off."

Favorite Quote:  "I just hate it when a character learns nothing through an entire book. Like, nothing... I'm not the reader here, but the character can't always learn the lesson. Otherwise all books would end up happily ever after, right?"

The title is Bookworm. There is a book on the cover. There is a reader on the cover. The caption reads, "Sometimes the best stories are the ones in your head." Agreed because, as readers, we bring all that we are to each book and create a vision from author's words that is uniquely our own. The descriptions states that the main character "finds solace ... in her beloved books" and "thinks back to all the stories she’s ever read in hopes of finding a solution." That resonates for solace and solutions in books are thoughts for all readers.

Based on all of this lead, I expect to be the reader for this book. In fact, in some way, I expect the book to reflect my story and the story of many readers. I expect to see myself.

However, sadly, I do not. In fact, I find myself completely not the right reader for this book. The descriptions terms this "a wickedly funny debut novel—a black comedy with a generous heart that explores the power of imagination and reading—about a woman who tries to use fiction to find her way to happiness." Unfortunately, I do not find it funny or generous, and I do not find the main character at all relatable or likable for many reasons.

First is the story line itself. It is the story of an unhappy marriage and an unresolved, uncomfortable relationship with parents. Fiction and reading has a definitely place as providing an "escape." Yet, for me, it cannot be an alternate reality to an extent that the actual reality is not faced or dealt with as an adult.

Second is the picture this book draws of a reader - especially a female reader. "Yes, you've got so much in your mind. From all the reading you do. You're a thinker. And you've got better things to think of than you hair or nails, or hatching plans to get a man to do something you want... It's so nice to be around a smart woman. Someone who thinks on a .... higher level, I guess." Really? It is one or the other? A woman can't be a thinker but also enjoy "hair and nails." Umm... ewww.  No. Just no.

Third is the negative commentary in this book about other books. I cannot get past that. I have never written a book. I have written many, many reviews of books. Always, my thought is that I am simply not the right reader for a book. I never presume to undermine the work of an author or that a book may resonate with a different reader or perhaps even me at a different point in my life. For me, it is not the book; it is whether or the not the reader is a good fit for the book. I find it surprising to find an author speaking negatively about another author's work in their own work.

Fourth is the introduction of magical realism into this story. The ability to float above life and live an alternate reality seems to be part of the escapism of being a reader. However, again, it is unclear where the boundary between this fictional life and the reality of this character lies. As a reader, I find it challenging to remain engaged as I am uncertain what is "real" vs. not in the storyline of the book.

For me, books are a way to travel the world, see alternate realities, and imagine other possibilities. Unfortunately, I was not the right reader to travel that road with this book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Family Plot

Title:  The Family Plot

Author:  Megan Collins

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2021. 320 pages.

ISBN:  1982163844 / 978-1982163846

Rating:  ★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "My parents named me Dahlia, after the Black Dahlia - that actress whose body was cleaved in half, left in grass as sharp as scalpels, a permanent smile sliced onto her face - and when I first learned her story at four years old, I assumed a knife would one day carve me up."

Favorite Quote:  "So I've had to let a lot of things go. It's hard to hold grudges against someone who can't remember what they did to earn them."

The setting of this book is an atmospheric island and a decrepit mansion. The construct of this book is a potentially engaging one - a dysfunctional family gathering for a funeral. Old secrets are bound to come out, and relationships are bound to be tested.The premise of this book is a fascinating one - a family obsessed with true crime. 

The book itself, however, goes in a direction I do not expect for several reasons.

The mystery of the book unfortunately, for me, is not a mystery for long. I guess a major part of the conclusion pretty early on. To me, the clue dropped is a huge one and hard to miss. 

The family's obsession with true crime is to an extreme as to be far-fetched, unbelievable, and somewhat comical. The siblings are all named for victims of murder. The siblings were all home schooled, with murder being used as the theme for lessons. The mother re-enacts in painful detail crime scenes as school lessons. Essay prompts involved offer their solutions to an unsolved crime. The family lives on an island famous for its serial killer. The children are not allowed any outside friends.

The pacing of the book is uneven. The details of the mystery and the setup of the family are explained in the first chapter or two. Then, it is repeated in various forms over and over again through the first two-thirds of the book. Nothing much happens, making it challenging to stay engaged.

Because the story is one of adults coming back to their childhood, much of the story is "told" as opposed to the story unfolding. Perhaps, a dual timeline with the childhood leading up to Andy's disappearance and the present day mystery of Andy's disappearance may have provided a more intriguing approach. The premise of the book is based entirely on the childhood of these siblings. Yet, the story shows that childhood only through the eyes of the adults reflecting back. As a reader, I want to see the child.

The book essentially deals with an abusive childhood and the far reaching impact of that abuse on the adults these children become. Yet, that topic is not directly addressed in the book. The why of it is not addressed. The question of what other adults may have seen, heard, and possibly done to protect these children. I understand that this is written more as a mystery/thriller, but addressing that topic could have potentially added to the book and left a lasting impression.

Sadly, despite the intriguing premise, this was not the book for me.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Summer Place

Title:  The Summer Place

Author:  Jennifer Weiner

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2022. 432 pages.

ISBN:  1501133578 / 978-1501133572

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "For forty years, the house had stood, silvery cedar and gleaming glass, on the edge of the dune, overlooking the waters of Cape Cod Bay."

Favorite Quote:  "A person's happiness is his own business. Or hers."

Sarah Danhauser is one woman. Around her are...

• Ruby, her stepdaughter who wants to pull a wedding together in 3 months. Whether or not she wants to be married is a different question.
• Ruby's birth mother, who walked out on her but is now back for the wedding.
• Sarah's mother Veronica.
• Sarah's twin brother Sam who is dealing with issues of his own.
• Sarah's husband Eli who has seems estranged since the beginning of the wedding.
• Sarah's son Connor.

Surrounding Sarah is also the life of New York brownstones and Cape Cod beach houses.

Where this book is going... "Staying married ... was a choice." And "A Little selfishness could be healthy. It could even be what saved your life. That, she thought, was a message more girls and women could stand to hear, a thing that few were every taught." A valuable message, but unfortunately lost in the context of this story.

This summer beach read is about family secrets and a wedding weekend to bring them all out. It is about reminiscing about and testing the paths not taken. It is about communication or lack thereof. It is about family and love.

The premise is a common one and a relatable one, except for that kind of wealth. The multigenerational approach indicates the presence of multiple perspectives with different life experiences. The location indicates an immersion in a beautiful place. 

Unfortunately, the book goes from those beginnings to focus on different things. The family secrets and relationships do come out but in a way as to be far-fetched. The "secrets" also attempt to bring in so many different elements that each individual one gets lost. In addition, several characters end up a representative of an element being highlighted rather than a fully rounded individual. It's is more a checklist of relationship combinations. The multigenerational approach gets subsumed by descriptions of relationships that may or may not be across generational lines. The location ends up playing no real part of the story; the beauty of the place does not truly feature in the book.

On top of that, this book has scenes that are graphic. There is no real warning, and that is not my thing. Romance, yes, perhaps. Graphic sexual descriptions, no thank you. The fact that these encounters introduce the possibility of incest raises the question. Why? Just why?

Too much, too scattered, and ultimately, not for me.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

the_atmospherians

Title:  the_atmospherians

Author:  Alex McElroy

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2021. 304 pages.

ISBN:  1982158301 / 978-1982158309

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The men were outside my building."

Favorite Quote:  "Just because you're not sick ... doesn't mean you couldn't be healthier."

Two childhood friends - Sasha and Dyson - open a camp. Read into that - form a cult. The name is The Atmosphere. The members are men. The purpose is to rid the men of their toxic masculinity - define that how you will! "We'll call it The Atmosphere ... The men will be Atmospherics. It's a film term. Another word for extras:  people who provide the atmosphere and stand in the background. What better aspiration for men? To cede power, the spotlight, to let others speak, let the action continue without them."

The book gets more specific. This is about not all men but rather about white men in particular. "Over the past year, more and more me - always white men - had been hording together unprompted to perform mundane social activities. There was no way of telling how a man horde would act once it formed." I find that specificity not needed and shifts the focus to a racial issue rather than the patriarchy that many may understand.

Why? The purpose is entirely self-serving. Dyson is a failed actor. Sasha achieved success as an internet personality specializing in wellness for women. Unfortunately, responsibility for the tragic outcome of an online interaction is laid at Sasha's door. She stands to lose everything. This venture becomes an escape and a way to perhaps salvage her reputation. So, the clearly self-focused goal belies the altruistic purpose of reforming men and society. It make the whole idea harder to buy into.

The ideas of internet influencers, troll, masculine toxicity, and retreats to relearn are clearly picked from today's headlines. There are some truths to be found in this premise. I wanted to like this book for those truths, particularly the influence of social media on so many.

Based on the description, it is intended as satire. For me, the key to satire is the ability to interject enough reality so as to be recognizable and perhaps even relatable. Unfortunately, for me, the book chooses to highlight items in a direction that I find not helpful. Focusing on a gender and a race highlights divides and promotes the extensions of damaging stereotype. In the current divisive and divided atmosphere of our nation, it is, for me, not funny. Clearly, my sense of humor and that of this book lie in two different directions.

Unfortunately, I find neither the characters nor the story engaging.  Likable characters are not a necessity to a great read. However, engaging characters and/or an engaging plot are. Unfortunately, for me, this book holds neither. Having read the entire book, I do not feel like I understand Dyson or Sasha or really care about their outcome. As far as the plot, the book focuses more on the characters and on building the world of the The Atmosphere. It is challenging to follow what happens or why even up until the very end.

Sadly, I find myself walking away from the book, clearly not the reader for it.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Colorful

Title:  Colorful

Author:  Eto Mori

Publication Information:  Counterpoint. 2021. 224 pages.

ISBN:  1640094423 / 978-1640094420

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "As my dead soul leisurely drifted off to some dark place, this angers I'd never seen before suddenly appeared right in my way."

Favorite Quote:  "Extraordinary joy and sadness can come out of the ordinary every day."

A nameless young individual dies. His soul drifts towards the afterlife and the cycle of rebirth. An angel named Prapura notifies him that he has won the lottery. Because of his actions during his life, this individual is about to be kicked out of the cycle of rebirth. The soul is to be no more. However, due to the decision of the "boss," he is being given a second chance. He is to be given a "homestay" in another body. There he stays until he can determine what grave error he made in his own life.

The host body is fourteen-year-old Makoto Kobayashi. He has just killed himself, but due to the chance given to this nameless soul, is brought back to life. Now, this soul has to live as Makoto while determining what went wrong in his own life. Surrounding Makato are his parents, his older brother, and his school mates.

So begins this journey of self- discovery. Although marketed as literature and fiction, this book has very much of a young adult feel. The conclusion of the book is just what I expect it to be. The lesson is just what I expect it to be. "It wasn't some simple change, like things that I thought were black were actually white. It was more like when I looked closely, things I thought were a single, uniform color were really made up of a bunch of different colors. That's maybe the best way to describe it."

The journey of self-discovery also becomes a journey of learning about those who surround us. So often in our lives, we take for granted those closest to us and see what we choose to see. The soul in Makato's body learns this lesson about his family and his school mates.

The young-adult feel of the book comes from how simplified issues such as suicide, mental health, ethics, and infidelity seem to be. The resolutions to these issues seems equally simplified. In many ways, this is a self-help book with a lesson that appears easy to state but is so challenging to implement. "Remember how it felt to move freely without trapping yourself in your own expectations." The books appears to gloss over the challenges.

The biggest issue I have with the book does not even center on the main character, but rather on a girl who he cares about. The book, in a matter of fact way, presents an eight-grader prostituting herself so that she can buy things! "Pretty clothes, bags, rings, all those nice things I want are super expensive. Even if I tried to save  up my allowance, okay. even if I saved up for a whole year, I could never buy any of them ... But if I do it with him three or four times, boom, I can buy whatever I want." This is something I just cannot see past. The fact that the girl has an allowance indicates an economic level and a home life. But prostitution! The fact that I feel this book has a young adult audience makes this statement worse. The fact that is presented matter of factly and then not addressed again makes it worse and beyond my understanding. The fact that this being the reason for rejection of Makato is somewhat tangential to Makato's story makes it worse. Teenage angst over an unrequited love alone is enough. Why add this twist to the mix?

The original Japanese book won the Sankei Children's Book Award when originally published in the 1990s; it has been made into multiple movies. The fact that it won a Children's book award makes the subject matter even less palatable. Let's just say I do not understand.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Betrayals

Title:  The Betrayals

Author:  Bridget Collins

Publication Information:  William Morrow. 2021. 416 pages.

ISBN:  0062838121 / 978-0062838124

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Tonight the moonlight makes the floor of the Great Hall into a game board."

Favorite Quote:  "We search for the divine everywhere, she could say, and we may find it in the grand jeu or in the liturgy or both. There were grands jeux played in the Hagia Sophia and in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and at the Western Wall. It is modern arrogance to imagine that the divinity we hope to touch through the grand jeu is better than, or even different to, the deities of other religions. A young way to worship is not necessarily a better way, not is it the only way..."

Montverre

This book appears set in a controlled, dystopian society where disagreeing with the powers that be will get you banished or worse. There is the Party and the Old Man. Christians are also labeled, forced to identify themselves, and persecuted. In a different context and with a different faith, sound familiar? Unfortunately, the book takes this in such a different direction that it loses a historical correlation for me. I don't want to follow along to see the parallels the book may draw to the history.

There is a school that teaches student the "grand jeu" - the big game. However, the book never explains what that actually is. It is a mix of music, math, magic, and other things. I don't get it, for a book that is based on that, that is too large a challenge to overcome. The book attempts to make a philosophical point:

• "The grand jeu is not a game. It is the opposite of a game It is our way of paying attention to something outside ourselves. And what is outside ourselves - whatever truly exists - is the divine. We remake the world so that we can submit to it, and what we encounter, in the act of playing the grand jeu, is the truth."
• "The grand jeu is worship, isn't it? One way for humans to approach the divine. Trying to embody the truth and beauty. A testament to the grace of God in the minds of men."

Unfortunately, I don't see the correlation because I still don't understand what the game is and what it metaphorically relates to. So, I cannot go along for the spiritual journey.

For me, it becomes even more challenging that the experts of this truth seeking are two characters whose very life and pursuit of the truth are based in lies. Again, I don't get it. It unfortunately makes the characters unlikable and unsympathetic. So, I don't wish to go along for their journey.

There is another character named simply the Rat. The backstory and the unfortunate naming as a creature not a character never quite makes her real. Her correlation to the main story also never quite comes together for me. She may have had the most compelling story of all, but the book does not go in that direction.

Characters aside, at over 400 pages, the pace of the book is very very slow. The winding back and forth through two timelines also does not work in this scenario because the "present" is about discovering the lies of the "past" and having that understanding lead to the past making sense for these characters. The confusion of the grand jeu ideas, the unlikability of the characters and the irony of a story about truth being held together with lies extends to both timelines and makes it truly challenging to invest in the story.

To some extent, for me, the book makes an attempt at an intellectual point. Either it does so unsuccessfully, or my intellect does not reach the understanding. At the end of the book, I am left wondering. What did I just read? And why? I walk away, knowing that I was clearly not the right reader for this book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes

Title:  The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes

Author:  Mia Kankimäki (Author), Douglas Robinson (Translator)

Publication Information:  Simon & Schuster. 2020. 416 pages.

ISBN:  1982129190 / 978-1982129194

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "I'm M."

Favorite Quote:  "It seems likely that even today women's attitudes have not been entirely freed from this messy skein of duty and guilt. I haven't raised any children or been responsible for my parents' care (yet), but it seems to me that I have nevertheless spent my entire life to date living according to unspoken expectations - under the sway of conditioned obedience and conscientiousness.  I took the expected university degree, entered the profession for which I was qualified, strove ambitiously to advance in that profession for nearly a decade and a half ... all quite willingly, even enthusiastically. But then, somehow, it began to pall on me. Was this all there was to life? Did life have nothing new to offer me? (Probably it was at this juncture the many of my friends started families.) I began to feel that I'd had enough of doing the things I was supposed to do. I'd been conscientious, decent, obedient, and sensible long enough. I didn't want to be sensible any longer!" 

Based on the title and the description, I immediately want to read this book. Mia Kankimake, in her own words, is a "fortyish woman [who] seeks meaning of life." She manages to arrange her life to travel and seek inspiration in the paths of women - ten pioneers - she finds inspiring. She reads their works, contemplates their lives, and travels to their destinations from Africa to Japan to Italy. The book is described as blending "travelogue, memoir, and biography as she recounts her enchanting travels."

I expect to travel to far off destinations. I expected to learn about these women. More importantly, I expect to learn about the author's vision of these pioneers. Most of all I expect to be inspired. Unfortunately, for me, I find myself still seeking and determine that I am not the reader for find these goals in this book.

Travel:  I love travel and the idea of learning and immersing myself in the places and cultures I find myself in.  Unfortunately, on her first trip, the author has this to say. "When you travel, everything is always strange and scary at first - the food, the huts, the people, the animals, the smells, the sounds. But then at some point you begin to adjust, your organism says Okay, fine, your eyes open, and you begin to see past the strangeness. That's why I want to stay on this trip for a long time. I want to wait till I start seeing. That usually happens around the tenth day. We're not there yet." That outlook seems to last the entire book. The commentary is that of a judgmental tourist.

The Women: Interestingly, this book details the reasons the author "rejects" a woman from her list. Some are because of profession or destination which is understandable. Some rejections - "filthy-rich aristocratic heiresses ... whine-fests ... endearingly nerdy aunties" - again bring in a negative judgement which is off-putting. For the women chosen, a lot of this book is excerpts from writings by or about the women the author chooses to study. The excerpts are interspersed with the author's own musings. As such for me, they lose continuity and do not paint a picture of the woman in question. It leaves me wondering if rather than reading these snippets, I should just read the original writings to get a more cohesive vision.

Inspiration:  I am not familiar with some of the women the author chooses as her heroes. However, the term heroes implies a respect. It implies lessons to be learned. It implies approaches to be emulated. It implies choice. Unfortunately, in the process close to the beginning of the book, she asks the question if one of these women in an "unbalanced b**tch". Although she determines that this conclusion may be a result of an author's presentation, the book continues with this tone of annoyance and judgement.

This book has been translated into English. In that, I wonder if something (or everything!) is lost in the translation. Unfortunately, I found this book titled to be about heroes to be anything but inspirational.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Miss Benson's Beetle

Title:  Miss Benson's Beetle

Author:  Rachel Joyce

Publication Information:  The Dial Press. 2020. 352 pages.

ISBN:  0593230957 / 978-0593230954

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "When Margery was ten, she fell in love with a beetle."

Favorite Quote:  "It was so easy to find yourself doing the things in life you weren't passionate about, to stick with them even when you didn't want them and they hurt. But now the time for dreaming and wishing was over, and she was going."

The description of this book sounds like one of many that have been written about a character of a certain age who makes a decision to dramatically change his or her life. The change is either forced upon them, or at least triggered by something. The quirky and more often than not likable characters live their own almost "coming of age" story, finding new meaning and a new path.

The opening chapter provides the Margery Benson's history. One day, when Margery is ten, her world is altered forever. The book begins with four deaths and a suicide as seen through the eyes of a ten year old who does not quite process what has just happened.

Fast forward to the present. An incident at the school where Margery teaches causes her to seek out her childhood dream - to catch and identify the golden beetle of New Caledonia. That beetle holds the promise of her childhood and the memory of her father. She decides to travel there on her quest. She advertises for an assistant. The assistant she ends up with, Enid Pretty, has a story and a quest all her own.

The journey begins.

Despite the dark beginning, the story still has the possibility of being a journey of friendship and self-discovery for both these women. "You might travel to the other side of the world, but in the end it made no difference:  whatever devastating unhappiness was inside you would come too." Both of their back stories are slowly revealed, and both are tragic. Yet, somehow, the characters never quite become real. They seem more caricatures. The story of the journey also does not ring true. The entire things seems unbelievable. Yes, it's fiction. However, to invest in a story, it takes the possibility of something about it ringing true and resonating. Unfortunately, for me, I cannot find that in this story.

In addition, this book differs immensely from other in this genre in that it introduces villains, including a stalker willing to follow his prey across the globe. Unfortunately, the book does not crossover and become a thriller either. I am not sure why this story line is included at all. It does not seem to add anything to the overarching theme of the book. It may have made sense if this character ended up on his own journey of self-discovery and somehow the lives and journeys of these three individuals intersect.

They do intersect, but not at all like I imagine for a book such as this one. To say that the climax is shocking and unexpected is an understatement. Why? Just why? This character is depicted as a soldier, a former prisoner of war, and someone who suffers from what appears to be mental health challenges. The depiction and the role this character plays in this book is a disservice to the members of our armed forces for whom this suffering is their reality. Again, I ask. Why?

Unfortunately, I cannot find my way to the point or message of this story. I am clearly not the right reader for this book even though I have enjoyed other books by Rachel Joyce.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Story of Doctor Dolittle

Title:  The Story of Doctor Dolittle, Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts

Author:  Hugh Lofting

Publication Information:  Frederick A Stokes Company. 1920. 180 pages.

ISBN:  1983600865 / 978-1983600869 (for the paperback 2018 edition from CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform)

Book Source:  I read this book because I am familiar with the general story and the many screen adaptation but had never before read the book.

Opening Sentence:  "Once upon a time, many years ago - when our grandfathers were little children - there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle - John Dolittle, MD."

Favorite Quote:  "Money ... is a terrible nuisance. But it's nice not to have to worry."

Ever since I was a child, I have heard the stories of Dr. Dolittle. I have seen the movie adaptations. In fact, a new one (which I have not seen) is out now. I have read the children's picture books, but this is my first encounter with the original. I decided to research the original and discover both the original story and its history. I am shocked.

Let's get what we know out of the way. Dr. Dolittle is the story of a doctor who can talk to animals. The various iterations of the story are about his different adventures with his talking animal friends. The new versions are cute and colorful and clearly designed to entertain and charm.

Now for the history. Hugh Lofting wrote 15 books around the character of Dr. Dolittle, published between 1920 and 1952. Some of the publications came after the discovery of previously unpublished stories after his death. The second in the series, The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle, won the Newberry Award. Hugh Lofting was an engineer by profession. He also served in the British Army. The history goes that the origin of Dr. Dolittle is in his illustrated letters from the trenches of World War I to his children at home. Rather than share the horrors of war, he told his children stories.

Now for the original story itself. Dr. Dolittle is a physician of human beings. However, his love of animals and his inability to say no drives human patients away and renders him nearly destitute. It is then that he discovers that animals talk and that he can talk to them. The animals convince him to apply his knowledge as a veterinarian. A call for help sets them on a voyage to Africa. "There is a terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. They are all catching it - and they are dying in hundreds. They have heard of you, and beg you to come to Africa to stop the sickness." Adventures and misadventures abound with the story ending in his return to his home in the village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in the West Country of England with treasures enough to sustain him financially.

Now for the details of those adventures and misadventures.  The most shocking aspect of the story is the extreme and blatant racism. This original includes an entire side story about an African prince who will do anything for the doctor if the doctor can only make him white. Why? He wishes to be white so that the princess will not wake and run screaming at the sight of him. Dr. Dolittle goes on to provide him with a "cure" to secure his own safe passage!

My understanding is that later editions (I am not sure how much later) have completely written out that subplot. Apparently, other portions of the text and the illustrations have also be altered to remove the racial elements of this story. It is these changes that render this story into its current view as an innocent children's story of adventure and caring for fellow creatures. For me, I don't think I can unsee the image of Prince Bumpo, his quest to the be acceptable to his Sleeping Beauty princess, and of Dr. Dolittle's cruel use of of Prince Bumpo.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Ash Family

Title:  The Ash Family

Author:  Molly Dektar

Publication Information:  Simon & Schuster. 2019. 352 pages.

ISBN:  1501144863 / 978-1501144868

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Bay and I approached the farm at dawn."

Favorite Quote:  "... time is not a daisy chain but a big stack, each moment stacking on top of the next. You're always watched over by your future self. So your departed ... are always with you, and a moment of love is as good as a lifetime of love."

Berie is nineteen and on her way to college. Her mother has worked hard all her life to get Berie to this point and continues to make sacrifices to make college possible. Berie meets a random stranger at the bus stop and decides to take off with him in search of a different life. This brings her to a commune and the makeshift Ash "family."

So begins the story of this self-entitled teenager who goes in search of herself. Some of her internal dialogues express her level of maturity or lack thereof:

• "But it was easier to love the Ash Family as an act of defiance, an act of scorn against all who had hurt me - rather than to love the Ash Family as a last resort."
• "Oh, why couldn't I just be content with what I had? I was always looking for more. Maybe I would never be satisfied. The fake world was not enough, and neither was the real world, and I didn't know what to do; I hated myself."
• "I reminded myself, 'Get relativity." Who was I to know whether something was good or bad? By what standards did we judge? The saddest moment might be the happiest moment. The thing and its opposite are kissing cousins. When you're sure that you're right, you're most wrong."

Not unexpectedly, she discovers that things with the Ash "family" are not quite as they seems and that this supposed, off the grid utopia may be hiding secrets more sinister than she imagines. The question is what choice will she make? Will she stay? Will she try and get out? Will she succeed?

Unfortunately, I find that I am not the reader for this book for many reasons. I find none of the characters likable. The main character is loved in her life; as such, I find her choices self-indulgent. The Ash "family" is a cult, and what they stand for unfortunately does not end up being a philosophical or ethical ground.

Perhaps, the biggest issue I have is the book's continuous reference to the "false" or "fake" world and the "real" world. The real news these days is a quagmire of claims of fake news and other such things. To me, it is a dangerous thing to see it mirrored in fiction, particularly in one that has a young adult as the main character and young adults as the potential audience.

The book may have been saved for me had there been a reckoning or a epiphany at the end. Unfortunately, that does not happen either. Rather, it seems to end just as randomly as it begins, with no apparent lesson learned. Sadly, I am really not the reader for this book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Boomer1

Title:  Boomer1

Author:  Daniel Torday

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2018. 352 pages.

ISBN:  1250191793 / 978-1250191793

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Claire Stankowitcz changed her name to Cassie Black at the beginning of her first year of college."

Favorite Quote:  "You know, lately you really have been doing a lot of what someone who didn't know you as well as I know you, as your mother, might call ranting."

I am not the reader for books in which individuals insert curse words into every conversation. I am not the reader for books that begin with sexual encounters for a character. I am not the reader for books in which that beginning character is not even the primary, central character of the book. I am not the reader for books that seems to capture the worst stereotypes of two entire generations. I am not the reader for books in which I cannot quite figure out the point. Sadly, for all these reasons, I am not the reader for this book at all.

The book begins with a rather self-centered young woman. Claire Stankowitcz has reinvented herself as Cassie Black. She is a struggling musician. She is also unsure of her own sexual identity. Random circumstance introduces her to Mark. Mark is a bluegrass musician, former journalist, and a candidate for a PhD in English. Cassie and Mark get involved. Unfortunately, her vision of the relationship ends up being vastly different from his. She leaves him.

With all this focus on Cassie at the beginning, it is interesting to learn that this book is more Mark's story and that it seems to begin when Cassie rejects him. Why then the story of Cassie? I don't know. Anyways, Mark takes his "broken" heart home to his parent's basement in Baltimore. Enter Julia, Mark's mother who is a child of the sixties and has a story of her own to tell. Why is her story in this book? I don't really know.

Mark is unhappy, broke, and living in his parent's basement. He determines that the baby boomer generation is responsible for all that ails his life. "It was the baby boomers who had what he wanted, who in their geologic later years had petrified until they were protecting all the natural resources, who had what his friends and his colleagues and his fellow alumni and all those twenty-year-olds and thirty-year-olds and even some forty-year-olds in all the bars in Fort Green and Bushwik and Williamsburgh, in Oakland and Berkeley and Petaluma, in crown heights and Prospect Heights and Pacific Heights and Ditmas Park, wanted."

It is unclear quite how that leap happens, but it does. So begins his verbal war on an entire generation. So begin the "boomer missives." The book continues through these three different perspectives. The idea is essentially to present these different approaches to life and three different perspectives on the state of the world as the boomer missives begin in 2010. The plot is essentially that what starts as a verbal diatribe gets out of hand. In this day and age of things going viral, that seems an almost forgone conclusion. Of course, it gets out of hand. The question for me is do I really care?

The issue for me lies in a statement that Mark makes towards the beginning of this venture. "I want to tell you a story, and I want you to think about just where you fit in that story yourself." The issue for me is that I don't find myself fitting into this story at all.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Mary B

Title:  Mary B:  An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice

Author:  Katherine J. Chen

Publication Information:  Random House. 2018. 336 pages.

ISBN:  0399592210 / 978-0399592218

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "A child does not grow up with the knowledge that she is plain or dull or a complete simpleton until the accident of some event should reveal these unfortunate truths."

Favorite Quote:  "There are many things in life that only seem impossible, and it is part of the challenge to decide when we should take action and when we should hold back. If you aim for the best, you might achieve second best, but if you aim for what society thinks you deserve, you'll be a pauper for life."

Pride and Prejudice is perhaps one of my all time favorite books. I have read it multiple times, and find myself enjoying it each and every time. When a retelling or spin-off comes around, I am enticed into reading it. At the same time, I am hesitant to read it because can a retelling ever really measure up to the original?

A few years ago, I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and enjoyed it because it was so true to the original characters and chronology and yet so far out there with zombie mayhem. The storyline comparisons hold in that book, and the introduction of zombies is just funny. Longbourn by Jo Baker tells the story of the "downstairs" in the Bennett household; this story presents an alternate view that may be true to the times but was not the view for me. Death Comes to Pemberly by PD James is a murder mystery set in the "happily ever after" of the Pemberleys, and I suppose I prefer the "happily ever after" to stay untarnished. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld a modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and unfortunately, for me, the premise of the urgency to get daughters wed does not translate to the more modern setting.

This book is a different take on the Pride and Prejudice story. As the title suggests, it is Mary's story. Mary is the middle sister, the "plain" one interested in her books and her music. This book is a first person narration that Mary may not be quite what she seems. It begins with the coming of Mr. Collins, an event directly from the original book. It continues to beyond the end of Pride and Prejudice, as Mary resides at Pemberly for a long visit.

This book ends up not being the book for me for two primary reasons. First is Mary herself. She is not a likable character. The beginning sets her up as a sympathetic child, who is repeatedly told she does not measure up. However, as the story progresses, she comes across as a self-centered, self-conceited woman who thinks herself better/smarter/etc. than those around her. "How well you put it, Miss Bennett, when you say you have tortured yourself these last few days. You seem very talented at that - holding on to things, taking them to heart, feeling offended. What good does any of that do, I ask you." She suffers some heartbreak, but the refrain of people not appreciating her loses its impact when it continues to come from her perspectives. Along the way, she also makes some pretty unforgivable decisions, further leaving nothing to sympathize with.

The other reason that this book presents a challenge to me is the fact the other characterizations in the book bear no resemblance to the characters from the original, except the names. This is particularly true of the Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. I understand that the implication is that people change. However, these two are nothing like the individuals in the original. Their actions and words make no sense in light of the original. For example, Elizabeth is quoted as saying, "All I wanted was a comfortable life ... When I married Darcy, I was so happy. It was the attainment of an impossible dream. I felt ... I felt I'd done something unprecedented. Me, mistress of this place - could you imagine it? But I didn't realize that it came with a price, and that price would be my life." The implication is that she married for the money, which is a complete opposite from the original. So, the book loses me.

Unfortunately, I am not the reader this take on the Pride and Prejudice. Perhaps, after now having read several and disliked them for different reasons, I think I might say that I am not the reader for most retellings.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Baby Teeth

Title:  Baby Teeth

Author:  Zoje Stage

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2018. 320 pages.

ISBN:  1250170753 / 978-1250170750

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Maybe the machine could see the words she never spoke."

Favorite Quote:  "Please let reason be enough."

Alex, Suzette, and Hanna are a family. Alex and Suzette are married, and Hanna is their seven-year old daughter. Hanna is selectively mute. She cannot or will not speak; the answer depends on who you ask. Alex and Suzette have had her evaluated for physical ailments; Hanna is physically healthy. She does not speak and has other behavioral issues. At age seven, she has been kicked out of several schools. Suzette is her full-time caregiver while Alex is out of the house, working and financially supporting the family.

What makes Hanna unusual is the fact that she wants her mother dead. She wants her father all to herself. Yes, that's right. A seven year old character is depicted as purposefully altering her behavior to torment her mother and yet appear innocent and angelic to her father.

On the other side, Suzette is a overwrought mother. She is overwhelmed not just with motherhood and the sinister behavior of her child but also with physical ailments and unhealed wounds of her own past. She believes that Hanna is purposeful in attacking her, but Alex refuses to see.

This is an unhappy household!

This book is billed as horror and a suspense thriller. For me, the "horror" of the horror movies or books lies in their believability. What can be terrifying is the thought that the events depicted could happen. For me, this book never establishes that connection. The story is told in alternating chapters from Hanna's point of view and from Suzette's perspective. Hanna's chapters do not sound like that of a young child - a conniving villain, yes but not the child she is depicted to be. Suzette's chapters focus a lot on her past and on physical illness which is exacerbated by the stress of the situation. As an adult, I would think that other choices and other venues would be available to Suzette, but none emerge in this book.

After a while, the book becomes a repeating loop of Hanna trying to maneuver her mother out of the picture, and Suzette becoming more and more overwhelmed. Alex floats somewhere in the middle, pacifying both sides...

• Hanna:  I don't like Mommy. I want Mommy gone. I want Daddy all to my self.
• Suzette:  Hanna's causing problems and has problems. I have Crohn's Disease. I cannot cope. Alex won't listen.
• Alex:  Hanna's my "squirrelly" girl (I assume that's a term of endearment, but I don't know what that means). I am Swedish (it's said a lot, but I don't know what relevance it has).

The book never really evolves beyond this point.

What makes a suspense thriller work is a twist or an unexpected surprise. That too does not emerge in this book. The ending seems almost prosaic and anticlimactic.

The book has been compared to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. To me, the comparison does not hold true. This book lacks the intensity or the depth of characters that those books had. Those books left me with a lot to think about; this one just does not.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Impostor

Title:  The Impostor:  A True Story

Author:  Javier Cercas

Publication Information:  Knopf. 2018. 384 pages.

ISBN:  1524732818 / 978-1524732813

Book Source:  I received this book through the Penguin First to Read program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "I did not want to write this book."

Favorite Quote:  "Bermejo didn’t simply expose Marco’s deception, he also exposed — or so felt many who sought to turn him into the villain — the culpable credulity and the lack of intellectual rigour of those who fell for Marco’s deception."

I am not even sure where to begin with this. It is certainly not what I expected. Actually, I am not ever sure what it is. The title states that is a "true story".  The book description calls it "a hypnotic narrative that combines fiction and nonfiction, detective story and war story, biography and autobiography." Fiction and nonfiction - isn't that just fiction?

The book begins with the statement that the author did not want to write it. The entire first chapter is in fact about the author's struggle and decision to write the book. That beginning, especially to a theoretically nonfiction history, makes me wonder if I want to read it.

I decide to keep going for the same reason that I picked up the book in the first place. The history of Enric Marco is one I know nothing about, and it sounded so bizarre that I wanted to know more. I was not aware that Spanish people were among those sent to concentration camps during World War II.

Enric Marco was born in Spain in 1921. He claimed that he was a Holocaust survivor. He claimed to have been in the concentration camps Mauthausen and Flossenbürg. He wrote a book about his experiences. He spoke on behalf of survivors. He received a medal. He headed an association of survivors. Apparently, it was all a lie. A historian named Benito Bermejo exposed his fraud but not until decades later in 2005!

That is the story I hoped to read - the what, the how, and the why of Enric Marco's life. That is not unfortunately the story this book tells. This book is more a memoir of the author Javier Cercas himself. He is a writer and professor of Spanish literature.

In the context of Enric Marco, the author struggles with his own life and his own thoughts of being an impostor. In fact, in an NPR interview, he has said that we share a common  humanity with Enric Marco and that he is an exaggeration of what we are. He distills down Enric Marco's motive to the basic need we all have to be loved, but disparages the fact that Enric Marco did it without regard to the truth. What? I just don't buy it.

Aside from the content, the writing style of the book is very difficult to understand. An example ... "This was an implicit pact that forbade using the recent past as a weapon in a political debate; had that period been forgotten, such a pact would have been irrational:  it worked precisely because everyone remembered all to well. So, where is the truth in the half-truth that is the pact of forgetting?"  Perhaps, it is my lack of knowledge about the history. Perhaps, it is just the writing style. I found myself getting lost in the sentences and having to reread paragraph after paragraph slowly in an attempt to understand. That issue combined with the content made this not the book for me.

In a way, the book reminds me of The Man in the Monster. The telling of a history turns into an exploration of the author and the author's relationship with the subject. I am clearly not the reader for this type of book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.