Hotel Silence

Title:  Hotel Silence

Author:  Audur Ava Olafsdottir (author). Brian FitzGibbon (translator).

Publication Information:  Grove Press, Black Cat. 2018. 288 pages.

ISBN:  0802127509 / 978-0802127501

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "I know how ludicrous I look naked, nevertheless I start to undress, first my trousers and socks, then I unbutton my shirt, revealing the glistening white water lily on my pink flesh, half a knife's length away from the muscular organ that pumps eight thousand litres of blood a day, finally I take off my underpants - all in that order."

Favorite Quote:  "There are so many voices in the world and none of them is without meaning."

Jónas Ebeneser is all alone. He had a wife who has left him. He has a daughter is not his own. He has no work, but he has a toolbox. He has a neighbor who may or may not be a friend. All alone, Jónas contemplates suicide. He contemplates different ways of suicide, but discards each for what he leaves behind. Primarily, he does not want his daughter to be the one who finds him dead.

So, he decides to leave his home in Iceland. He will say that he is going on a trip and then simply disappear. He will venture to some far off place where he knows no one and kill himself. No one there will care because they won't know him. His daughter will reconcile to his disappearance.

He picks a location - a country torn apart by war trying to recover and salvage what remains. The location goes unnamed in the book. He picks a random hotel. He travels with a change of clothes for he doesn't need much if he will kill himself once there. He travels with the diaries of his youth for contemplating suicide is surely a time for reflection. He brings his toolbox for he will use the rope and tools to hang himself perhaps within a day or two of arrival.

So begins this story of redemption and rediscovery of life. What Jónas discovers in this remote hotel in this unnamed city is a community struggling to survive and recover from unimaginable heartache and destruction. He also discovers a purpose for things need fixing. Every day, he is asked to fix something else. Every day, he finds a reason to not kill himself.

Needless to say, this is a sad and heavy book. It has been termed endearing, witty, and lighthearted. I find it to be none of those. Sad, yes. Touching at times, yes. Lighthearted, most definitely not.

The book narrates the story of new relationships and discoveries for Jónas. It also offers glimpses into the past through the snippets he reads from his diaries. Despite all that, I never quite get a complete picture of who Jónas is and what drives him to the point of suicide. Divorce, disillusionment, and loneliness exist but is that enough to considering ending life? Through the book also is found his love for his daughter, but is that love not enough for life?

I find myself responding more to the other characters in the book - the survivors of war. The book in its own way offers commentary:

• "We need to calculate the damage caused by the people who profit from war and make them pay for it ... That way they would understand that war is much more expensive than peace. In any case, the only language they understand is money."
• "I can't read books anymore ... When I was a boy, I read a lot, but then I stopped with the war ... It takes only one sentence to blow up a village. Two sentences to destroy the world."

The original Icelandic title of this book translates to the word "scars." I suppose that is heart of the book including the very surprising ending. Each person bears the scars of his life. The scars of physical wounds are visible, but the scars of emotional wounds manifest themselves in different ways. Jonas thinks his path takes him to ending his life. Those he meets in this war torn city seek to heal by rebuilding and by still finding beauty and joy around them. He finds redemption in trying to help in their healing. In helping others, he finds himself. Therein, I suppose, lies the lesson of the book.

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

The One

Title:  The One

Author:  John Marrs

Publication Information:  Haonver Square. 2018. 368 pages.

ISBN:  1335005102 / 978-1335005106

Book Source:   I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Mandy stared at the photograph on her computer screen and held her breath."

Favorite Quote:  "Sometimes, the grass is not greener on the other side, and we should stay in the field where we belong. And sometimes we just need to take a gamble and hope for the best."

What if you could tell without the shadow of a doubt the person you are meant to spend your life with? Would you want to know? Would you act upon it? What if that knowledge meant that you are not meant to be with the person you are with now? What if a perfect union were possible? What if that perfect union turns out not to be perfect?

The Urban Dictionary defines "the one" as "absolutely, positively the only person on earth you are meant to be with, your soul mate, your best friend." In the not so futuristic world of this book, a test has been designed that matches DNA. If you choose to register with the website and submit your DNA, it is tested. The company then searches its database to see if your perfect match is already listed. If a match is found, both parties are notified that a match is found. They can choose or not choose to act upon it. If a match is not found, then your data is kept on file to be run against all new inquiries. Theoretically, if everyone is listed, then everyone's match is listed as well.

The matching takes into account only DNA. It does not consider race, religion, gender, nationality, appearance, geographic location, or the millions of other things that a person may consciously or unconsciously consider in a relationship decision.

The company and its founder are equally loved and hated depending on the changes this test has brought about in someone's life. It has been responsible for as many marriages as divorces. The certainty of knowing one's match leads to all kinds of other uncertainties about life.

The story follows different individuals along the various paths this decision can take. Existing relationships. New relationships. Dreamt of relationships. Shattered dreams. Ellie is the developer of this test and a customer. Mandy is matched, but her match has died. Jade leaves family and home for her match across the world. Nick is in a committed relationship, but his match is completely unexpected. Amy is a police officer, but her match is none other than a hunted serial killer!

Two things make this such a fun book to read. The first is that there are surprises. Some of the plot twists I can see coming, but some catch me off guard. In short chapters, the book quickly rotates through the characters. At first, it takes a bit to figure out the names and connections, but then the story takes over. The rapid changes in this book work, creating a pace that keeps me turning the pages. The pace matches the sense of wanting to know what happens.

The second is that the book does not answer the question. It takes the reader along for the ride. What would you do in any of these situations? Would you even want to know? Although the premise and some of the twists and turns push the boundaries of believability, each of the individual characters faces relationship issues that are very real and can be imagined in a reader's life. Each of the characters do make choices based on this test. I may agree or disagree, but mostly, I am left contemplating what would I do? Would you take the test?

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

Mrs.

Title:  Mrs.

Author:  Caitlyn Macy

Publication Information:  Lee Bourdeaux Books. 2018. 352 pages.

ISBN:  0316434159 / 978-0316434157

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Look at you in your fur! You were so smart to wear it!"

Favorite Quote:  "When you were having what would become your happiest memories in the future, you didn't know you were having them."

Phillippa Lye is the talked about "mrs" on New York's Upper East Side in the 2009 world of hedge funds and big financial deals. She steps into this small, insular world through her marriage to into one of the elite investment banking families. She does not fit the mold of the society. Her marriage and accompanying wealth give her a position, but does she belong? Does she fit in? Does she want to?

Many other women comprise this small society. Two in particular enter Phillipa's life through a shared pre-school for their young children. Gwen Hogan discovers a connection from the the past. She is presented as the "regular" person amongst these elite; she is the wife of an attorney who chooses to be a stay at home parent and - gasp - cooks her own meals. Yes, that fact is part of her introduction. Minni Curtis wants connections for her future. She is presented as the social climber. Of course, the husbands are involved as are the gossips of the town. The connections between these three families are the secret of this book.

Secrets from Phillipa's past impact the future for all three women in different ways. The secrets center on the question of what would you do to survive? What decisions of youth would haunt your present if they were to be revealed? It doesn't take much to discover what that decision may be for a young woman. How it connects to the rest of the characters takes a bit longer, but there is really not much of a mystery to the secret itself.

I really want to like this book. However, content wise, the unpleasantness and the meanness of the women in this book make it a challenge. This book paints a grim picture of this New York society with no real likable characters. However, unfortunately, the characters don't develop enough to be truly unlikable either. They just simmer along eliciting very little reaction other than fitting a simplistic stereotype.

Further, the structure of the book with way too many characters, shifting viewpoints, and a very slow pace make it a challenge. If I read the first few chapters and the last few chapters, I would get the entire story. The rest is simply a circuitous route to connect the dots from beginning to end.

I try to take a step back and read this book more as a social commentary on the elitist, ultra-wealthy. Other books such as Three Martini Lunch and The Swans of Fifth Avenue successfully capture the story and a picture of the time in New York. This book takes a very narrow, focused approach to this group of people. It does not really leave me with a good sense of time and place or entice me to do further research on the history. The feeling I am left with is of a bunch of mean-spirited people hurting others in the quest to get ahead.

The final few chapters of the book are by far the most interesting and display the most emotion. Interestingly, the emotion comes more from the men in the book than the women. Unfortunately, by this point, I really don't care.

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

Surprise Me

Title:  Surprise Me

Author:  Sophie Kinsella

Publication Information:  The Dial Press. 2018. 432 pages.

ISBN:  0399592881 / 978-0399592881

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

Opening Sentence:  "I have this secret little vocabulary for my husband."

Favorite Quote:  "I think a relationship is like two stories ... Like ... two open books, pressing together, and all the words mingle into one big, epic story. But if they stop mingling ... Then they turn into two stories again. And that's when it's over ... The books shut. The End."

Sylvie and Dan have been married for ten years. Life and marriage has settled into a routine. They are happy together ... for the most part. They know each other so well ... for the most part. They have a life together that works ... for the most part. "How many divorces are caused by the word nothing? I think this would be a very interesting statistic." Nothing is wrong, but is that good enough?

Sylvie and Dan don't pose this question much until an off the cuff remark by a doctor about life spans. It sets them wondering about the same old thing over and over again for how long? So, they set out to reignite the spark and to find a way to break the routine and to, as the title suggests, surprise each other.

So begins this book with a fun premise about a question many have been fortunate enough to consider. I say "fortunate" because the question presupposes a healthy, stable relationship in which life brings ups and downs but in no which no catastrophes (a death, an illness, a family crisis) emerge to make the daily routine something to covet. Sometimes, the reminders to be grateful are gentle ones, and sometimes, the routine is jarred and shaken to its core. This book has a bit of both.


Sylvie and Dan's first attempts at surprises are funny. Let's just say not all surprises turn out to be quite what the person intend. Also amusing are Sylvie's descriptions of her work with a nonprofit; I do wish that aspect of the story was more developed. As it is, it seems more there to fill space, interesting but tangential to the main story.

However, then the book takes a serious turn. Surprises turn into secrets, unpleasant secrets. The humor in the situation is lost in the serious concerns. The secrets come from a place of love but raise questions about the trust and the equality in a relationship between two adults. What secrets do you keep to protect the one you love? What trust do you place in your loved one and their ability to handle a secret? At what point does protecting someone go too far and become a commentary on their ability to handle the truth?  The book depicts Sylvie's perspective; I am left wondering what Dan thinks about this whole escapade. His perspective would add an interesting element particularly to the  more serious side of the book.

To some extent, this book is like two different stories - the first an amusing lighthearted one and the other tackling the more serious questions of parents, children, spouses, relationships, and even mental  health. The two didn't quite flow together for me. I am a little disappointed because I wanted the lighter, amusing story about two people rediscovering what brings them together in the first place.  The caring is there through the end of the book, but the humor and "feel good" portion of the story is lost along the way.

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

Freshwater

Title:  Freshwater

Author:  Akwaeke Emezi

Publication Information:  Grove Press. 2017. 240 pages.

ISBN:  0802127355 / 978-0802127358

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "I have lived many lives inside this body."

Favorite Quote:  "Understand this if you understand nothing:  it is a powerful thing to be seen"

Freshwater is "dedicated to those of us with one foot on the other side." Is that you? Is that me? Is that all of us? Is that any of us at all? What also is the other side? The other side of what? This book poses questions before it even begins.

The question simply grow in this surreal debut novel. This story is of one women but three characters. Ada is the young woman of Nigerian heritage. Asụghara and Saint Vincent are two distinct, unique selves that also occupy Ada's body. Each one of the three characters within this one young woman by turn narrate this story of being born, growing up, of growing into yourself, and of mental health. Within this personal story also weaves a cultural one with Ada's birth and childhood in Nigeria to her education and further life in the United States.

As with most books that introduce me to a new history or a new culture, I research this to see if it is based in Nigerian mythology. I research mythology for the ideas in the book of multiple selves and of spirits competing to control a physical body are mythological in presentation.

The first piece of information I encounter in my research is on the author's website. This book is Akwaeke Emezi's debut novel and considered autobiographical. Autobiographical. That puts this entire reading experience into a new light. This surreal story is someone's reality captured in fiction. This calls for further research.

Ms. Emezi identifies as black, gender non-binary, and Nigerian. In another article, Ms. Emezi describes the surgeries she has had to align her physical body with her non-gender specific identification. Throughout, she identifies the idea of being a ogbanje. In Igbo tradition, ogbanje is a spirit born into a child with the objective of bringing grief to the family. The child dies; the ogbanje returns as another child. And again and again, the spirit comes and goes. Families attempt to stop this cycle in varying ways ranging from preventing pregnancy to mutilating a child's corpse prior to burial. So, this autobiographical fiction story has its roots in life and in belief.

This unusual reality brings me to the book itself as a reading experience. This story is challenging to follow because it is nonlinear. The "characters" all embody what happens to one individual. So, the plot such as it is centers on one person, but the story comes from three very different emotional and mental perspectives. It makes it difficult to follow the chronology of Ada's life.

To make the challenge greater, the plot follows a rather graphic story line. Self mutilation, rape, and sexual encounters are a big part of this story. At times, the book seems rather focused on sexual exploration. That focus takes over and makes the book a difficult one for me for get through.

In between, though, the book offers glimpses of the person beneath all these layers. "... I inhabit a space between depression and happiness, a sweet spot, a brilliant spot. I .... wondered if it was true. If it was, could that spot be more real than either end of that spectrum? It would be a point of perfect balance, I thought." I wish her that balance.

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

Two Girls Down

Title:  Two Girls Down

Author:  Louisa Luna

Publication Information:  Doubleday. 2018. 320 pages.

ISBN:  0385542496 / 978-0385542494

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

Opening Sentence:  "Jamie Brandt was not a bad mother."

Favorite Quote:  "You said every day we make a million little choices, and we should try to make the right ones as much as we can. And you said rarely in life do the big choices present themselves, so when they do, we have to take advantage of the opportunity. We have to do the right thing."

This mystery uses a formula that works in many books. Max Caplan is a down and out, divorced ex-cop. He is also honest and a great father to his intelligent teenage daughter. Alice Vega is an independent enigmatic private investigator with a behind the scenes IT expert who seems able to locate any and all information.

Their paths cross in a small Pennsylvania town. Two young girls disappear from a car in a parking lot while the mother runs quickly into the store. That image conjures up a parent's nightmare. The family calls in Alice Vega from California. Research leads Vega to Max. The police want neither of them involved, but a reluctant partnership forms nevertheless between Vega and Max. The clock ticks in rapidly in the race to find the missing girls before it's too late.

For what should be an action packed book, the story seems to move rather slowly. Much of the book reads like a police procedural. A lead is identified. It is followed. Interviews are done. A new lead is identified. And so on in a methodical, meticulous approach which works to solve a mystery but needs something more to fully engage. As is common with mysteries, the book has a lot of characters. In a small town, the stories of some overlap, and some just pick up and drop off. At times, it is difficult to follow who is being talked about as conversation shift throughout the book.

The main characters are a bit more developed. Throughout, the book drop hints and clues about the back stories for Max and Vega. However, the stories are never completely developed; they leave me wishing more details were given. It would perhaps make the characters more real and more memorable. A romance between the two is also hinted at, which I don't need to see in this book. Sometimes, it should be possible for two professionals to work together and create a successful duo without venturing into romance. It is not necessary. The fact of the undeveloped back stories, the hint of a romance, and the fact that the ending statement is a promise to return leaves me thinking that a series may be planned featuring the two characters.

Interestingly, while I enjoy reading about strong, female characters, Max is the one who engages me more in this book. Perhaps, his relationship with his daughter introduces a more emotional side which becomes more appealing than Vega's aloofness. The point of Vega's toughness seems pushed too hard in the book; it does not ring true. She is a little too perfectly imperfect. Max's daughter is perhaps my favorite character in the book. She is just a little too good and too perceptive to be true. However, she adds a bit of lightness to what is a dark and heavy story.

A formula for a book becomes that for the reason that it works for the most part. This structure leads to a quick, engaging read. However, it is the books that diverge from the formula that become memorable. This one really does not. It is momentarily engaging, but ultimately forgettable.

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

Next Year in Havana

Title:  Next Year in Havana

Author:  Chanel Cleeton

Publication Information:  Berkley. 2018. 400 pages.

ISBN:  0399586687 / 978-0399586682

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "'How long will we be gone?' my sister Maria asks."

Favorite Quote:  "... but the older you get, the more you learn to appreciate the moments life gives you. Getting them certainly isn't a given, and I feel blessed to have carved out a life  here where I could be happy even if it wasn't quite the happiness I envisioned, if the things I dreamed of never quite came to pass."

The title of this book is a literal wish. "As exiles, that hope is embedded in the very essence of our soul, taught from birth - 'Next year in Havana' - It's the toast we never stop saying, because the dream of it never comes true."

The tumultuous history of Cuba continues. Over the last couple of months, the world press has focused on the elections that took place in Cuba on March 11. The articles focus not on election issues but rather on the fact that for the first time in decades, the leadership of the Cuba is not in the hands of someone with the name Castro.

This book picks up on this current history and also takes it back to the beginning of the Castro regime. As often in historical fiction, this book follows the story of two individuals in two time periods. In 1959 Havana is nineteen year old Eliza Perez. Her family is Havana aristocracy, but the coming revolution puts their home and their very lives at risk. In 2017 Miami is Marisol Ferrera, the granddaughter of Eliza Perez. The only thing she knows of Cuba is through the stories of her family who left in 1959 and never went home again. Their stories are anchored in the past. "To be in exile is to have the things you love most in the world - the air you breath, the earth you walk upon - taken from you. They exist on the other side of a wall - there and not - unaltered by time and circumstance, preserved in a perfect memory in a land of dreams."

Her grandmother's dying wish brings Marisol to Havana. Her experiences there and her discovery of her grandmother's past cast all the family stories in a different light. The book traverses both time periods, looking at Cuba in both times in history and the challenges and choices that face the Cuban people.

As with books of this structure, the story one time period and one character has a stronger pull. In this case, it is definitely the story of the 1950s, not just Eliza but the entire Perez family. "We are silk and lace, and beneath them we are steel." Their relationships, their impossible choices, and the heartache of having to leave all they know makes for a compelling story.

Marisol's story draws me in less so for a few reasons. First, both time periods involve a love story. Eliza's is intense and integral to her story. Marisol's appears more a distraction and unnecessary. Statement like I "can get through a day with him as long as I focus on the sites before us and not his tanned forearms" and "the scent of his soap - clean and strong - fills my nostrils" seem out of place in what is otherwise a serious and sad tale.

Second, because Marisol is new to the reality of Cuba, those in Havana become her guides, often sounding like a history class. Luis, who becomes Marisol's partner in this journey, is in fact a history professor. The history is necessary, but at the same time, again listening to history is an entirely different experience than watching that history come to life. It reminds me of a basic school writing lesson of "show, don't tell."

Finally, that experience of living in this history is not Marisol's. The story of the past belongs to her grandmother, and the story of the present belongs to Luis and the people she meets in Havana. She sees and tells the story, but in so many ways, it is not her story. However, Eliza's story is very much hers, and it keeps me reading until the final page.

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