Off the Air by Christina Estes

 

Off the Air by Christina Estes

Award winning journalist Christina Estes gives a detailed and frank view inside news organizations, both local and network. She knows her subject matter and shares the good, and the ugly, of this profession. Her protagonist, Jolene Garcia, is hot on a story concerning the death of a right-wing, radical, radio personality. The competition is palpable, and none of the characters are particularly likable. Estes paints a cutthroat business in a polarized world.

Yet the book has bright spots-- I was particularly amused by the protagonists relationship with her goldfish, Oscar.--and the mystery is complicated. There are plenty of misleading clues to keep the reader from figuring it out too soon. If who-dunnits are your jam, you’ll like this one. Estes is a skilled writer. Her style is journalistic, meaning you won’t get much depth with the characters and though the landscape is rich, the setting is minimal.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the review copy. The book was published on March 26, 2024.

 

Dominoes by Phoebe McIntosh

Layla is a light skinned Londoner whose mother is Jamaican and whose father is black. Her best friend and grandfather are also black, but Layla’s boyfriends have almost exclusively been white. When she gets serious about Andy McKinnon, her best friend’s tolerance of the situation, especially in the year of the George Floyd’s death, disappears. Since Andy and Layla have the same last name, and since Andy’s ancestors are proud Scots, Sera, the best friend, posits that Andy’s ancestors actually owned Layla’s. That is enough for Sera to render Andy and Layla forbidden to marry. But Andy and Layla love each other.

 

Layla is not immune to the Sera’s concern. The book lets the reader follow both the research and logic that these characters must go through to determine what is right. Sera is consumed by anger, fueled by continued persecution and discrimination still prevalent against black people. Layla has the guilt of one who “passes” and yet, she doesn’t want to be angry. “’

“Action is more important than anger,” Layla discovers, but what action is right for her?

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this thought provoking and interesting read. Dominoes was released on March 12, 2024.

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan 5*

 

 

I admit that I have read so many books set in World War II that I am a skeptic whenever a new one comes out. That said, I loved this book. The characters are well drawn and having finished the book, I find myself wishing I were still reading it, because I miss them.

The story gives color to the facts of war. Women join the workforce because the men are off fighting. Romances are condensed, rushed, and focused. The main character, Juliet, is an ambitious young woman from a well-off family who only wish for her to marry well, Juliet loves books though, and is thrilled to find a position at the Bethnal Green Library in London, at the beginning of the Blitz. She is full of ideas, which are not received well by the men in charge. Operating with some subterfuge, Juliet enlists the assistance of woman in the community…all wonderful characters themselves, to implement her ideas.

Then the library is bombed, and thus begins the underground library.

This is a wonderful story for anyone who loves books, libraries, and women with their own mind. While it is reminiscent of The Paris Library, by Janet Charles, (another good book!) this book is different in spirit and the setting of London is unique and endearing. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for the review copy. This book releases March 12, 2024.

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle: 4 stars

 

 Daphne is a thirty-three-year-old Hollywood professional who has secrets. The one that frames this delightful novel is the one about the papers she receives periodically, containing only a name and a period of time. These are the relationships she experiences, with men she has recently met. The source of the papers is not revealed, and there are enough of them to convince Daphne that they are factual. Whether they are because that is fate, or because she goes into them focused on the expiration date, is for the reader to decide.

The other secret gives gravitas to why Daphne lives this way, and as a reader, I wish we’d been told about it earlier in the book…sorry, no spoilers here. Frankly, I was tired of reading about her romantic exploits by the time we find out why, despite Serle’s lovely writing.

It is well written and an easy read, with a premise I’ve not read before. A nice book that is more than fluff, but not so much more that it exhausts me, as some books have this year! Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the review copy!

Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningha

 

Great Expectations is the story of the author’s recruitment to the first Obama campaign, detailing the issues he faced as a fundraiser. It’s an authentic and readable work, and the author’s voice speaks with first-hand authority. He is young when the story begins, his early twenties. He tends to fill the gaps of what must have been a challenging time with diversions—religion, basketball, friends, and lovers. The story shines by giving us an inside look at what really goes on in a campaign, even one fueled by what was supposed to be a grass roots movement. It also shines as the authors considers his own place in the world. He stands for not only the young people who were such a force in the Obama campaign, but also for his black friends, neighbors, and family. There are some wonderful segments discussing historical issues, as well as this remarkable time in the USA. Cunningham is an excellent writer, and I look forward to reading more of his work. Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth, and imprint of Random House, for the review copy. The book was released on March 12, 2024.

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering

 

Billie and Cassie have been best friends since childhood. They share a hometown, and the kind of trauma that either binds friends together or tears them apart. They are adults now and have grown in different directions. Still when crisis occurs, they are the first in each other’s mind, and that feeling expands to obsession. Will the mystery be solved?

This tightly written novel is told from each woman’s viewpoint and sheds light on the lives of the rich, the influencers, and the people that get left behind. A page turning read, even though some of the characters seem to be stereotypical.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read Bye, Baby. It was just the break I needed. Publication date is March 5, 2024.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

 

There There, Orange’s 2018 debut novel, set a pretty high bar. We were introduced to unforgettable characters, unforgettable circumstances and brought face to face with the plight of the Native American tribes as removal and assimilation were forced upon them by the non-native powers. Wandering Stars gives us more context, by reminding, or teaching, us about the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado. We jump decades, and perspective characters, to revisit the heirs of the survivors, and the continuing issues that Indigenous people continue to struggle with, including the isolating compartmentalization non-indigenous people seem most comfortable with. They are complex issues, complex people, served well by this complex novel. It is not an “easy read,” but meets the challenge of  There There. The book releases on February 27, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for a chance to read and review.

The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

 

The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

This is a tale of the deep south, in times of slavery, in the years prior to and during the Civil War of the United States. It is the story of Ady, a young black girl born to slavery. her mother, Sanite, both with spirit and a dream of freedom. In many ways, it retells the story of exploitation and abuse of the era and geography, the facts of which are well known. But this version is told by a young girl who has courage, and comrades among the black women, both free and enslaved. The journey she takes is riveting and I found myself cheering each of the brave and feisty women she encounters.

What is unique about this book is the framing of the text, and occasional inserts, that cause the reader to look back from a focal point in the distant future, when books are no longer made of paper and ink, and historical artifacts are authenticated through scientific methods not easily understood. In that, it becomes not only an accounting of the past, but also a bit of science fiction. (Though fiction is something those future scientists have no time for.). It’s a splendid book, recalling the foundations of where the United States is today, and offering hope for continual progress where race and gender discrimination are concerned. Thanks to NetGalley and Random house for the advanced readers copy. The book was released today, February 27, 2024.

 

 

The first thing we are told is that thirty seven year old Annie has died, in a tragic and unexpected manner.  The novel then brings her to life through her relationships with her husband, children, and friends.  The grief process each goes through feels unique and heartbreaking, but hopeful just the same.

The characters are wonderfully fleshed out, and authentic.  The prose is beautiful and even though we know the “main” character has died, the book is un-put-downable.

Recommend to everyone, because eventually, we all experience grief.  Thanks to NetGalley and

 Random House for putting this on my radar. The novel releases today, February 27, 2024.

How to Win Friend and Influence Fungi by Dr. Christopher Balakrishnan and Matt Wasowski

 

This was a diversion from my usual novel reading, and I admit it to be a good one. If you've ever enjoyed the miraculous and strange in the physical or natural world, this book will amaze you in the same way as sideshows and circuses and Ripley's Believe it or not. 

 Taken from episodes in over 21 years of "Nerd Nite" across the country, the essays in this book cover oddities in science, history, math, the arts, pop culture, and just about any rabbit hole you can go down on the internet or otherwise, the book gives new perspective on what is "nerdy" or "weird." Concluding with conversations on careers most of us wouldn't have had with our guidance counselors.

 As such, it makes a great gift book, both to the scientists and others who are interested in just about everything, and to that high school grad who doesn't quite seem to fit in. Full of fascinating facts and puns, it is easy "hard" reading (and I don't pretend to understand it all.)  

How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi (thing "fun guy") will be released on February 20, 2024. Thanks To St. Martin's and NetGalley for expanding horizons!

 

Redwood Court By DeLana R. A. Dameron

 

This story orbits around a black family in the second half of the twentieth century. Their home is in suburban Columbia, South Carolina in a black neighborhood called Redwood Court. 

Dameron populates this novel with wonderful, complex characters who make up this proud, hardworking, and caring family. Together we travel through the postwar American dream, the turbulent sixties, the horrors of war for both the men who fight and their families at home. The families of Redwood Court are social, churchgoing people, and the don't seem to care about privacy. Weesie, the matriarch, can most often be found on the phone, checking in with her neighbors. Her spirit of community is what carries this novel, usually told through the eyes of Mika, her granddaughter.

There are many characters in this book--so many that it begins with not only a family tree, but placement and descriptions of all the neighbors, as each person plays a role in rounding out Redwood Court. Through most of the book, we get insight into this close-knit family, and what it is like to live in such a neighborhood.

The book is well written with smooth, albeit dense prose. Dialect slows the flow of the story into a melodious pace, not unlike the warm syrup of Southern summers.  There are joyful parts, and painful parts, and an unforgettable sense of time and character. 

This is a book told exclusively from the black point of view. The independent memories of this author sometimes clouded the rendition as told by Mika. We remember slavery, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, segregation, integration, and remember that the world painted did not exist in a vacuum. I applaud Dameron’s work at presenting a time in the history of the USA that should be called out, but I wonder if the calling would be more authentic if all non-Black references didn't feel stereotypical.

The book will release on February 6, 2024. Thanks to the Dial Press, Random House, and NetGalley for this advanced reader’s copy.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, Unapologetic literary fiction!

 

 

The fact that this book is written by a man born in Iran, the title had me worried, especially with that exclamation point. To say it pushed me off kilter wouldn’t be an understatement. It covers so much: art, perspective, stories and poems, religion, philosophy, politics and yes, even sexuality. I predict it will be the topic of many conversations which would otherwise avoid subjects of substance.

Cyrus Shams, a young man whose mother is on that fated passenger airliner shot down by the US Navy in 1988. His father, a laborer, moves them to the US and they end up in Indiana, where Cyrus attends a small liberal arts college. Cyrus might be brilliant, but lives in an ennui that keeps him from caring about performance, often doing only enough to keep from failing. He seems always to be in an altered state, from alcohol, any kind of drug and does not sleep. And he is considered pre-suicidal and obsessed with all martyrdom-- not just religious or patriotic, but “Earth Martyrs”, and he wants his death to mean something.  Beyond all that, the book is full of biting satire and delightful humor.

The book is Cyrus’s search for that meaning. One of the things I love about the book is the occasional shift in viewpoint character, whether it is his mother, father, best friend, or other characters. It gives the reader perspective beyond Cyrus, whose narration is less than reliable. Akbar weaves mythology, classic poetry, music, and art into a collage that leads Cyrus to question and find answers to the big questions: what is love, death, reality. So much is told in dreams, whether natural or drug induced, that by the time I got to the end, I, too, questioned Cyrus’s reality.

The language of the novel thrives with Akbar’s poetic voice. The book is not unlike a full-length poem, though, like the best poetry, it is accessible to any reader. We like Cyrus, even when we know he is on a path of self-destruction. We want him to succeed, but we want him to live.

This is an author to watch—he is a citizen of the universe, and he’s not afraid to show the rest of us. Martyr! will be released on January 23, 2024 by Knopf. Thanks To Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel.

 

 

 

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

 

 I was invited to read this book because I had enjoyed another book of what we are calling Magical Suspense (Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.)  I had, frankly, forgotten about it until I reviewed my “to be read” list and realized I had missed it.

The parts of me that are haunted by nightmares and a vivid imagination may wish I had left it on the shelf, but the part of me that loves good storytelling, historical fiction, strong women characters, and creativity appreciates that I did not.

The story is set in the early 1900s American west. Adelaide, the protagonist is a thirty-year-old black woman who’s been raised on a fertile plum farm in an all black agricultural community in California. Adelaide must leave California alone and based on an article she’s read about homestead land in Montana, which is open both to “lone women” and black people, she sets Montana as her new destination.

All she brings with her are a travel bag, and a huge, heavy, locked trunk. The perils she encounters trying to move the trunk from the train station to the ship to the wagon that will take her to Montana make the reader frustrated. What is in that trunk?

And then we find out. The contents will hover over the reader and Adelaide as she finds her new home, settles in, and even makes friends. But some secrets just won’t stay locked away.

TW: there is a significant amount of blood in this book, so if that makes you queasy, you might skip this one. It is “magical suspense” but could easily be classified as horror as well. That said, it is a quick read, and had much to say about the hardiness of frontier women.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this review copy. The book was published March 28, 2023.

 

The Women by Kristin Hannah

 

Frankie McGrath is a pampered daughter of Coronado Island, California, socialites. She lives in a walled and gated estate on the Pacific, and expectations of her in 1966 are traditional. She should marry a nice boy from her family’s circle and live a nice life.

But her beloved brother, Finley, has to live up to the family’s “hero’s wall” where each generation went to war and brought honor to the McGrath's. Finley will go to Vietnam.

As the story unfolds, Frankie chooses for herself. She goes to nursing school and before she’s ever had real hospital experience, she enlists to be with her brother.

This book shows people who didn’t live through the time just how different Vietnam was for the United States. With the war unwinnable, and turmoil at home, innocent Frankie is swept into a nightmare. But she’s strong, and the other men and women she works alongside make the time there not only bearable but give her the confidence she will need after her term is up. When her “welcome home” was not what anyone would expect, and as someone who lived through the time, I can only say, sadly, it is an accurate depiction.

We’ve had great books written about this war, but I’ve not read one that focused on the plight of the brave women who served and were instrumental in bringing some of our soldiers home, but also comfort for those who didn’t. Kristin Hannah writes with clarity, compassion and honesty, and The Women is a book long overdue. Brava to Kristin for tackling this challenge and doing it justice.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this advanced review copy. I can’t recommend it enough, especially to anyone who wants to understand how we got to where we are today.

Husbands and Lovers by Beatriz Williams

 

This well writte story has two narrative arcs. 1951, Egypt amid the turmoil of the Egyptian independence, specifically British occupation and the ownership of the Suez Canal is the setting for the first arc. Hannah Ainsworth, there with her much older British diplomat husband, is expected to live the calm and pampered life of a diplomat’s wife. Hannah’s character finds that difficult for her, and her troubles begin when she is bitten by a cobra.

Poisoning is also a critical element second arc, when single mother Mallory Dunne gets a call from the summer camp, where her beloved only child Sam has eaten a poisonous mushroom. He lives, but his kidneys do not.

The story unfolds when Hannah’s sister, who has a house on the Cape, invites her to visit with Sam for the summer. Hannah has history there, and secrets, but she also has wonderful memories and wants Sam to experience it.

Both arcs are love stories, with complications peculiar to the time and place in the world. Williams is a splendid writer, and she puts her characters through plenty of strife to keep the book interesting and easy to read. The sprinkling of historical facts in both eras elevate this novel and make it a fascinating read.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri

 

I had not read anything by Christy Lefteri before The Book of Fire, though The Beekeeper of Aleppo has been on my TBR list for a while. Now that I’ve finished The Book of Fire, I can see myself becoming a completist. This story has so many levels. First, the universal tragedy unfolding due to climate change, drought, and ensuing wildfires. Second, tragic history of people displaced from their homes because of governmental decisions, in this case Turks and Greeks sent to trade places with each other geographically. Finally, it is an intimate personal story of families in a small mountain village next to the sea and what they endure when their homes become popular escapes for city people who want to develop the land. Irini, the protagonist, her husband Tasso and their daughter Chara, all gentle, artistic souls, bear the consequences of carelessness of one such developer, an unforgiving forest fire. Not only the consequences of their physical lives, but their deep moral commitments also must be faced. It is a compelling read I found impossible to put down.

Lefteri’s prose is lyrical, and heartbreaking and her characters are unforgettable. This is not an easy happily ever after book, but literature that will serve as a caution, if not a record, of the hardest decisions of our time.