Starting this again for 2024! Books 1-3

Let’s see if I can stick with it now! Kids are both grown and out of the house, but I have a full time library career plus a music career. Anyway, looking back at my posts from previous years is fun, so we’ll see if I can keep it up.

I’ve read three books so far in 2024, following the Goodreads reads 52 Books prompt challenge. Here is what I have so far, with a few thoughts on each.

Book 1: Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, prompt 10, told in non-chronological order

I really enjoyed this one! Oona’s birthday falls on New Year’s Day, and on midnight of January 1, 1983, as she is turning 19, Oona faints and wakes up in a 51-year-old body. Every year, this happens, but with Oona never knowing what year/age she is going to wake up in. She is living her life out of order. Because of her “leaps” happening on New Year’s as well as the fact that I have a birthday right before New Year’s, it was such a great way to start the year.

I love books that are funny and poignant all at once, that make me feel every emotion, and this book delivered. It was also a very different spin on the much-used concept of jumping into another time in one’s life, which I really enjoyed.

I wish the author would have explored why this was happening to Oona. I didn’t need a definitive answer, but it seemed rather unrealistic that the character wouldn’t make some attempt at figuring that out or solving it.

Also, Oona’s first two leaps or so were very well-done, but after that they started to feel rushed. I understand why – the author wasn’t going for an epic, thousand-page novel. But it was a little problematic for me.

Because of the nature of the book, I am left with a lot of questions unanswered about what will happen to Oona. But I guess life is like for all of us, and the author still manages to wrap things up in a very satisfying way.

All in all, a great start to 2024. It left me very contemplative about my own life (in conjunction with beginning a new calendar year and age year myself), so very timely. 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads (I’ve found I’ve been getting a little stingier with my stars – 3 1/2 means it’s a solid, enjoyable read).

Book 2: The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins, prompt 30, picked without reading the blurb

I had originally chosen this for the locked-room mystery prompt because it was on the Goodreads list under that prompt, but as I read I realized it didn’t really fit that, so I changed prompts. This was a modern-day retelling of one of my favorite books, Jane Eyre, but without the hopefulness, wisdom, and decency of the source material. This was pretty typical of the popular mystery genre. Not a terrible book, but Jane Eyre is hard to live up to. 2.75 stars, rounded up to 3 on Goodreads.

Book 3: The Dry by Jane Harper, prompt 3, more than 40 chapters

I was going to read this for the Australian author prompt last year but never got around to it (I read 52 books last year, but some didn’t fit prompts or fit prompts that had already been filled, so I didn’t finish the prompt challenge).

During the worst drought in history, three family members are brutally murdered, leaving only an infant alive. Aaron Faulk, who had been a close childhood friend of the murdered father, returns to town for the funeral and is met with suspicion, threats, and accusations resulting from the mysterious death of a third friend in his teens. Faulk ends up investigating both of the murders while he is there and uncovers many town secrets.

I like Jane Harper’s writing style, but the story itself seemed a little disjointed to me in connecting the past and present. I don’t want to give too much away, so I won’t say more than that. It was compelling, though, and I couldn’t put it down. A solid 3 stars for me.

Currently reading 11-22-63 by Stephen King (it’s a long one, so I am both reading and listening and plan to do this over a couple of weeks), The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods, The Complete Works of O. Henry, vol. 1, and The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb as a Goodreads buddy read.

Week 1, book 1: House Rules by Jody Piccoult

So what I love about Jodi Piccoult is that she grapples with extremely difficult issues and does a pretty decent job with looking at them from various points of view. What I hated about the last couple of books I read was that they were so very similar in plot but even more that she threw in this last gut-punch for no discernible reason. The story was resolved. I don’t mind sad or even tragic stories. But don’t throw in something horrifying at the end just because.

Thankfully, while this book followed certain Piccoult formulas, it didn’t take that route at the end. It did have two siblings, same gender, one with special needs, and other one who is completely thrown aside by the mother who is completely focused on the special needs and acts out as a scream for attention. Now, I imagine it happens that way in some families. But I have known many families with special needs children who also manage to meet the emotional needs of their other children. I grow weary of all of Piccoult’s families looking the same.

She kept describing Jacob as having “high-functioning” Asperger’s. When an 18-year-old man is throwing full-blown tantrums because of the shirt he needs to wear or because his Friday meal isn’t all blue, that is not high-functioning. Maybe a high-functioning 10-year-old would be believable. But what she describes if full blown autism. Jacob may be smart and communicative, but he will never live alone, and every single person I have known with high-functioning Asperger’s is able to figure out how to live life. They are seen as quirky and may have some trouble with relationships. But they aren’t going to have a meltdown in a court room.

And this is the problem I always have with Piccoult. She goes to extremes to make a point. And that’s fine, but if you’re going to go to extremes, make him the extreme. Don’t say he’s high-functioning Asperger’s, because this is not what that looks like. I realize it is a spectrum. But Jacob is at a very extreme end of the spectrum.

All in all, I liked it better than the last two I read, but not as much as some of the books I read before (not necessarily in chronological order), which didn’t follow this formula. I hope she’ll break free of it.

52 Books in 52 Weeks 2020

Let’s see if I can do any better this year than I have the past few years. I will also simultaneously do the Around the Year in 52 Books Goodreads challenge. My first book of the year is House Rules by Jodi Piccoult to satisfy the book with no A, T, or Y in the title for week one of the Around the Year in 52 Books challenge. I’m slightly behind but almost finished with it. I will then start either Refugee by Gratz or The Institute by Stephen King to satisfy the author who’s last name is one syllable challenge for week 2.  I am also listening to The Mysterious Affair at Styles for the Agatha Christie Challenge at 52 Books in 52 Weeks, but I don’t do well listening and have to keep backing up or even starting all over.

Week 4, book 4 The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give  by Angie Thomas is book 4 this year. This is a YA book that will soon be a movie. I am hoping it will also win the Newbery Award. This is an important and timely book about an African American teenage girl who grows up in a poor and violent neighborhood but attends a rich, private, predominately white school. She is the sole witness to the shooting of one of her best friends by a cop. The book follows her struggles facing the fear of testifying and telling her white friends and boyfriend about what she went through, how they will see her differently, and even how she feels like she is betraying her friend by dating a white boy.

There are so many wonderful things about this book. The black family is close, strong, educated, and successful. The parents are understanding but firm. The parents are married, and the father is an ex-con who has turned his life around and has a loving relationship with all of his children. The mother accepts into the family her husband’s son, who was born out of an adulterous affair. She loves him as her own and is a better mother to him than his own mother. The parents struggle with wanting to protect their children by moving to a safer neighborhood but not wanting to abandon their home and friends. The book explores honestly, but without ever condoning it, the reasons that people turn to a life of drugs and gangs and why they turn to rioting when their community is hit with police brutality. In the end, the protagonist discovers that her best weapon is her voice. I also love that the white boyfriend didn’t turn out to be a disappointment. I kept waiting for it, but it never happened. He had a few foibles, he struggled to understand, but he listened and learned and was present. A good example for us all.

I must admit, there were times when I wanted to protest. “But the cop had no way of knowing that he wasn’t reaching for a gun.” “He was told not to move, and he moved.” “All he had to do was follow direction.” Then I realized that this was a time to listen. The author didn’t need my agreement or my approval — she needed my to listen. There is far too little of that going on today.

Everyone should read this book. Parents should discuss it with their children. There is so much here to talk about, and it’s a vital conversation to have.

Week 3, book 3: The Turn of the Screw

The classic ghost story, The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James sounded very interesting to me, so I decided to give it a go.  When I read A Pale View of Hills, I saw it compared to The Turn of the Screw because of the unreliable narrator and the need for very close reading.  I love ghost stories, and I love stories that hint at a variety of possible conclusions.  It is much creepier to me when possibilities are just hinted at.  It’s unsettling to be left wondering, and unsettling is what a great ghost story should be.  In this case, the reader can’t tell throughout the story whether there are really ghosts or if the narrator, a governess hired to look after the niece and nephew of her employer and told to never, ever bother him, is insane or going insane.  At the end of the story, the reader is still unsure, and there are many possible interpretations.  James never tells us what happened but leaves it up to the reader.  In addition to the innuendo of madness, there is also plenty of sexual innuendo that is brilliantly done.  Again, the reader is left wondering what really happened.  It is an unsolved mystery.

If I had any problem with this book, it would be James’ writing style, which is rather convoluted (one reviewer called it “labyrinthine,” which is spot on).  He uses ALL THE PUNCTUATION!!!  One reviewer on Goodreads said, “WORDS WORDS WORDS IS THE HOUSE HAUNTED WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS IS SHE CRAZY WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS ARE THEY ALL CRAZY WORDS WORDS WORDS NO IT MUST BE HAUNTED WORDS WORDS WORDS NO SHE MUST BE CRAZY WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS CRAZY WORDS SICKNESS WORDS WORDS WORDS DEATH THE END.”  I got a laugh out of that and can see where this would not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially most modern-day readers, and it does take some work to read it.  However, this labyrinthine style of writing contributes to the mystery and outright confusion that the reader is supposed to feel, and thus is completely appropriate.

You really have to read closely and drink it in and see all the layers to appreciate the creepiness and terror of this book, but it is well worth the effort.

Week One, books 1 & 2: Never Let Me Go and Turtles All the Way Down

I was sick most of last week, so I decided to get a jump start on my reading. My first book was by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2017, Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go. It is very difficult to give a review or synopsis of this book, because the reader really needs to go into it clueless. Ishiguro is a master at creating seemingly idyllic worlds and then dropping subtle clues that slowly reveal things are not what they seem. It seems rather disjointed at times, because the narrator will connect stories from her past so that it seems like she’s talking as they occur to her. Some people find this difficult to follow, but it seems very conversational to me, like you’re telling someone about your day yesterday, and you start by telling about something that happened at work, and then you say, “And this lady came in — she’s John’s wife.  Do you remember John? He’s that guy who pushed me out of the snow bank last year.  Didn’t I tell you about that?” And then you kind of segue into another story. Goodreads had very mixed reviews. People seem to either love or hate this style. I really enjoyed it.

My second book was Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green. As a new youth services librarian, YA lit will be a big part of my reading this year. I enjoy John Green’s writing, but it often seems that the story is secondary to his philosophical musings.  I don’t particularly have a problem with that, as I enjoy philosophical musings. And his books are certainly hits with the YA crowd, so it works for him. I found the secondary plot, about two friends’ quest to find a missing billionaire and receive the reward, rather implausible. However, the main story is really about two friends who are there for each other and keep on being there for each other even though they both can be “difficult.” Daisy is brash and pushy. Aza has severe OCD and anxiety. They fight. They are brutally honest with each other. And yet their friendship prevails.

In many ways, I related to Aza. I don’t have OCD, but her thoughts were not exactly unfamiliar to me. It opens with Aza thinking way too much about the digestive process, thoughts I have had myself, the awareness of chewing, swallowing, digesting. It just doesn’t cause me the same level of anxiety, but it is good to know I’m not the only one whose mind works like that, because it’s something I’ve never given voice to as it seems to weird. Like Aza, I get very wrapped up in my own mind, I spiral into depression when I can’t get out of my head. It was good for me to see that Aza, even though her condition is far more severe than mine, still has people who love her and who want her in their lives, because sometimes I feel like I can be too much for people. I think it’s important for teens to see that you can fight with people you love and be okay. It’s something I never learned very well; thus I avoid conflict with people I really care about, when sometimes conflict is necessary for a strong relationship, and when there is a conflict I think the relationship is over and tend to go into hiding. If I, as a middle-aged adult, need to hear this, how much more do teenagers need to know that they are lovable and worthy of friendship even when they are messy?

It was a good start to my reading year. This week’s reads are The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.  Hamilton will probably take a couple of weeks, at least, as it is pretty hefty.

2018 52 Books In 52 Weeks Challenge

I am restarting this blog to join the challenge again this year. I have not been reading the way I used to. Now that I am back in library work, I need to read widely and often!  Looking forward to the year of reading!

Book 7: Velocity

Dean Koontz is about the only horror author that I read. Although his books are utterly terrifying, they are not cynical or devoid of human goodness and beauty. In Velocity, Koontz’s protagonist is put in the harrowing position of having to make choices about who lives and who dies. Throughout this trial, he is simultaneously caring for and trying to protect his financee, who has been in a coma for several years.

The last line is a perfect example of Koontz’s ultimate idealism and hope: “What will happen will happen. There is time for miracles until there is no more time, but time has no end.”

Book 6: One for the Money

I read One for the Money because I know a lot of people really love Janet Evanovich, and I’m so far behind in my reading goal that I needed some quick reads. To be honest, I wasn’t that enthralled. I found the main character annoying, a lot of really icky characters and situations, and the whole scenario (ex-lingerie-shop-girl turns tough-as-nails bounty hunter) completely implausible. It’s not that reading Dickens and Austen has turned me into a complete book snob — I do love some twaddle. I just greatly prefer my nice coffeehouse mysteries.

Book 5: The Invisible Man

I read The Invisible Man aloud to my 14-year-old, and we both loved it. The story is chilling, especially as we experience the rages of the invisible man — things flying through the air, grass parting as he chases down his quarry. What causes these rages? The invisibility that he thinks will give him such an advantage proves to be impossible to handle, and this drives him mad. But it seems he may have been close to madness before. He was an albino man, and may have already been somewhat cut off from society. Perhaps his appearance is what made him seek out invisibility in the first place.

This was a thrilling book that also offered lots to talk about with my teenager about invisibility in our society, and what drives people to commit the acts they do.