A serious 5 star, but not an easy read. Lessons, by Ian McEwan

 

Ian McEwan is, without argument, one of the best novelists or our time. Lessons might be a blueprint of life, or just a chapter in the unwritten novel of the twenty first century, which Roland Baines, the protagonist, longs to read.

The novel covers Roland’s life, from first memories until old age. McEwan skillfully intertwines the history of the last century into his character’s lives, and those of us lucky enough to have lived through the same events relish the authenticity, factual as well as emotional. Sometimes, it was happening to us. Sometimes we were just distant observers. Along with a fair rendering of time, we are gifted with beautiful prose and fascinating characters. We have the pleasure of growing up and growing old with many of them. I highlighted pages of lines I loved, but as a woman of the age, this was one of my favorites. Describing his widowed mother, Roland says “... she had aged and shrunk, she couldn’t sleep, the skin under her eyes showed deep wrinkles like a walnut.”

This is a book to savor. It isn’t a quick and easy read and will need your attention and time. There are Lessons to learn if we are open to them.

How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies. 4*

Clever idea, and I can’t wait to try the recipes. I’ve read many writing craft books, and many cookbooks. This is a new approach, though if I apply the pie baking to my work every time I get stuck writing… well, it’s not the time of year to count calories.

 I did wonder how the author expected writers to analogize things like leaf lard” to what felt like standard writing advice. She has a friendly, open voice that will appeal to seasoned writers as well as newcomers. Easy to read, and inspiring, with wonderful illustrations.

 

I read an advanced reader copy provided by the publisher, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley.

One Last Gift by Emily Stone. Great Christmas season read!

 

There are always so many books that come out for the holiday season that it’s hard to choose which ones to read. Do you go with a romance with cookies and sleigh bells? Ski adventures or tropical holidays? Or the Hallmark miracles and hot chocolate variety? 

One last gift is a bit of all of them, and if you want something to just sink into this year, I recommend it. Emily Stone has given her complex characters lovely, quirky personalities and while there is definitely romance, it isn’t the kind of direct, formulaic trail we usually follow. For one thing, there’s a lot of loved one who die. Cassie, our heroine, is a brilliant event planner stuck in a dead-end job with an ogre of a boss. Yet the banter and love she and Tom, her brother, as well as their best friends Hazel and Sam, share, makes you wish you had people like them in your life.

But tragedy strikes and turns this dynamic on is head. While Cassie tries to solve the treasure hunt her brother gives her every year, she finds more than the promised gift at the end. I won’t put spoilers in here, but I will remember these characters and the lessons they learned. Like don’t wait to tell people you love that you do.

Published by Random House/Ballantine on October 11, 2022. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn. 4*

 

This is the story of the breeding program of the Aryan Race, and what happened to the participants.

I found it difficult to read this book, not because it was not well written--it was! But because it gave names and faces through its characters to atrocities that I knew about, but not in such a personal way.  That human beings could treat others in the way the Third Reich treated not only their enemies, but their own women devastated me.  The description of the horror of Kristallnacht, which always sickened me, was almost of a celebration... a party! and I'm sure those who participated felt that they were doing the right thing.
It is too reminiscent of current events, and I found myself having to take breaks. Fiction helps us understand reality, and this one broke my heart.
Four stars only because there are so many WW2 books.  I kept thinking...those poor girls. Those poor babies, Poor humanity. If you want yet another perspective of that awful time, read this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. Publication October 11, 2022, by Sourcebooks Landmark.

 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow By Gabrielle Zevin --Five plus stars!

 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

By Gabrielle Zevin

Gabrielle Zevin has written, again, (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is another favorite of mine) the kind of book I hated to finish and can’t wait to talk with someone about. Wonderful, complicated characters that I loved dearly, and a smart, contemporary world that understands the influences of technology on not only the people who play video games as youth, but on anyone who ever tried to control a character with a joystick. Sam, Sadie, and Marx are all college kids when they decide to create their first video game. Sam is a poor, orphaned and disabled, multicultural character, Sadie, a wealthy Jewish girl who is one of the few who not only understands programming, but it’s possibilities, and Marx is Sam’s also multicultural, well off, kind roommate. The three of them are perfect counterparts, playing off each other’s strengths and weaknesses and creating something magnificent. Tragedy, romance, and real life are their motivations, and they use each to find their own way to adulthood.

The writing is beautiful, and though it’s been years since I played a video game, this book reminds me of the way alternative, virtual worlds, can open possibilities to everyone. I love this book and this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the review copy. The book published on July 5, 2022.

Off the Yoga Mat by Cheryl J. Fish. 4.5*

 

Nora, Nate, and Lulu are at the magical age of forty, and suddenly questioning their life choices. Nora and Nate have been living together, but Nora wants to take the next step and start a family. Nate can think of nothing but his ABD (all but dissertation) status, and Lulu, a successful yoga studio operator, is haunted by characters from her childhood. All three have trouble connecting with others in ways that are meaningful. Off the Yoga Mat follows these three as they try on lives and decide what really matters to each of them.

The novel is well written from the point of view of the three main characters and covers vast swaths of both emotional ground and geography, from New Orleans to Helsinki, with stops in New York City. The characters are fresh, and–mostly--likeable, but not perfect. You will find yourself screaming at them sometimes, but you will always care. Since each of the narratives are wholly drawn, braided together along the way, there are complete casts of characters for each narrative and the number of characters gets cumbersome in the first half of the book. By the last half, the reader will have straightened it out, and will enjoy the ride toward the conclusion. Ms. Fish has written a coming-of-age novel for the forty-year-olds, which will seem ambitious to those younger, and all too familiar to older readers.This is a debut novel, and I look forward to reading more.

Thanks to Livingston Press and NetGalley for this review copy. The Novel will be released on October 10, 2022.

Mercury Pictures Presents, Anthony Marra. Brilliant.

 

We may think we’ve read all there is to read about World War II, but Anthony Marry has discovered and brought to life a segment that this reader has not seen before… what happened in Hollywood. While it is a war story, it’s more an immigrant’s tale, following well drawn, fascinating characters as they traverse from Nazi controlled Italy to the bright lights.

Marra braids the stories of Mercury Pictures a B grade movie house and the feuding twin brothers who run Mercury with stories from Hollywood personalities, overbearing politicians and displaced immigrants trapped in wartime quarantine. His characters include a photographer, an architect specializing in miniatures, a clever guilt-ridden daughter of the best lawyer in San Lorenzo, and a supporting cast of aunts, politicians, and ladder climbers to create an extensive though brilliant cast of characters. Throughout the story, Marra’s fresh language, sharp wit, and humor from a time where we’ve been conditioned to find none, carries a story threatens to break the reader. As it is, the humanity holds both the novel and the reader together. It’s simply brilliant.

Mercury Pictures Presents was released on August 2, 2022.  Thanks to the publisher, Random House Hogarth for this advanced readers copy.

With Love From Wish & Co. by Minnie Darke 5*

Marnie Fairchild, from the rogue side of the Fairchild family, and thus not part of its fortune, is a businesswoman. She’s gone from a food truck to a high-end gift service. Her business includes everything from selling specialty gift wrap to personal gift shopping for her clients. She’s ready to move up in her retail location and has her heart set on a posh address where her grandfather worked as a cobbler. Marnie works hard, but she has goals. She wants that space.

Complications come when gifts are misdelivered. One to the wife, one to the mistress.

Her characters are charming, but not perfect, her plot has surprises and a fresh approach to the “woman starting a small business” trope, and she did a great job of struggling with the issue of personal responsibility, in this case, by enabling cheating husbands, but also the emotions when the recipients of the gifts realize that they weren’t chosen by a loved one, but a pro.

I love the interwoven lesson of women being responsible for their own happiness and hope to read more from this author.

I received this book from NetGalley and Dell, the publisher. It goes on sale August 17, 2022.

Lucy by the Sea, Elizabeth Strout 5 stars!

 

 

Reading this novel was like visiting old friends from a social distance. We got to know Lucy and William both in prior novels (My Name is Lucy Barton, Oh William!, Anything is Possible) and revisit characters introduced in Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again, and even The Burgess Boys. And that is lovely, as we have come to know that Elizabeth Strout’s voice is true and authentic, we can trust these characters just as we trust our own friends. Strout let’s our friends Lucy and William experience the pandemic on the coast of Maine, as physically isolated from Lucy’s beloved New York as they can be. This book isn’t for anyone still experiencing pandemic PTSD, because in her honesty, Strout brings us right back to the uncertainty of 2020 and the horror of separation from those we love most.

Personally, I love these characters and Strout’s writing style, which is probably apparent from my familiarity with her books and recommend Lucy by the Sea to anyone else who fell in love with the characters in other books. But the book also stands alone for anyone who has not read the others, as these characters don’t depend on their past iterations to come to life. As yet another pandemic book, this one stands out as a chronical of what was, and how emotional humans, especially older ones, can thrive, and survive

 An Arc of Lucy by the Sea was provided to me by the publisher, Random House, and will be released September 20, 2022.

Mad Honey: A heartbreaker by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, 5 stars,

 

 

 

To say Jodi Picoult books pull their themes from the headlines or that they break your heart would be an understatement. In Mad Honey, her talent for creating characters that I love and want to prevail is added to the depth that collaborating with Jennifer Finney Boylan to put the issue of not just the legal rights, but the right to live of transgender people in the U.S. today in sharp focus. It’s one thing to argue bathroom bills and choice for adults, but Mad Honey expands the discussion in ways that only good story telling can do.

As with most Jodi Picoult books, the research of the other theme in this book is tremendous. The bees! I thought I knew some things about bees, but I barely scratched the surface. Fascinating both factually and for the metaphor of the lives of these ancient creatures as applied to this family.

Mad Honey also touches on the issues of domestic assault, divorce and how the ones we love most are often the most cruel. I could not stop reading this book, and yes, it will break your heart. 

I try to read everything Jodi Picoult publishes, because she takes such a balanced approach to issues.  I am looking forward to reading more of  Jennifer Finney Boylan's books, and hope these two collaborate again.

I received this advance reader's copy from the publisher from the publisher, Random House-Ballantine. Mad Honey will be released on October 4, 2022.

 

The Best is Yet to Come by Debbie Macomber. 4*

 

Macomber is a master at the small-town romance, and The Best is Yet to Come doesn’t disappoint. Her characters, both Hope, a young teacher whose twin brother has been killed in Afghanistan, and Cade, a former soldier struggling with mental and physical injuries, are complex and relatable. Adding in Shadow, a neglected and abused dog who is destined for euthanasia, and you have the formula for a romance built on recovery. That the high school where Hope teaches worships football and its heroes, and the problems that go along with blind worship, and you could be in any small town in America. Oceanside though, is a special place, and it is a great town to visit this summer!

The Best is Yet to Come will be released July 12, 2022. Thanks to the Random House Ballantine for the advanced reader copy!

The Catch by Alison Fairbrother 5*

 

This was a book that surprised me. I expected it to be about how the father, who’d had four kids with three different wives, a minor poet at that, was “the catch.”  But Catch has so many meanings, and they are all in play in this fun novel where the main character Ellie, tries to understand why her now deceased father left his most prized possession, not to her, his favorite, but to a stranger. The unfolding of this mystery is full of emotion, good humor, and excellent characters. I’d call it a great summer read, but if isn’t a typically shallow, feel-good book. The writing is gorgeous and the story complex enough, with much emotional growth, that is deserves any season. I’ll look forward to Fairbrother’s next one!

 

Thanks to Random House for the advance copy of this book, which published on June 22, 2022.

Neruda On the Park, by Cleyvis Natera. Beautiful debut, 5*

 

The Gurrero family is like many immigrant families in the United States. Leaving behind hunger and poverty in their beloved home in the Dominican Republic, they settle in New York City’s Nothar park. Father Vladimir becomes a policeman, while Eusebia, his wife, becomes not only her neighborhoods force to be reckoned with, but also her daughter, Luz’s biggest champion and driving force. Each success Lux achieves is not hers alone, but also Eusebia’s, each lapse in what Eusebia sees on Luz’s course to the top, her own.

When Luz loses her high paying job as a corporate attorney, and Eusebia takes a fall that alters her personality, they join in the fight of gentrification of their neighborhood. Natera creates a colorful, emotionally deep set of characters to populate the neighborhood, and it is in the interactions between the main characters and these secondary ones that the novel shines. Gorgeous writing, and characters you will not want to let go fill this beautiful book, filled with the beauty and sorrow of not only Neruda, but people who’ve left their homeland everywhere. This is a writer I will watch.

The publisher gave me an advanced reader copy of Neruda on the Park. It was published May 25, 2022.

You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Awaeke Emezi. 2 *

 

You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Awaeke Emezi

This is the story of Feyi, who, married in her twenties, loses the love of her life to an accident. Five years later, she’s ready for a physical relationship again, and we are in for a wild ride.

                                                             

I should have expected that this book would be a bit much for me with the sex and bad foul language from the first sentence. I kept hoping we would get into more substance than Feyi, the main character’s, seeming promiscuity. So much sex, so many partners, and while it was always “great,” I, as a reader, never found it special. By the time we get to the end, we doubt our protagonist’s ability to be sincere, authentic, or faithful.

 

Emezi’s writing is lovely, or I’d have probably quit on this book. I think if I were in my twenties, as most of the characters are, and been raised in this millennium, I might be able to relate more, but I’m a midwestern mom, and I kept thinking how dangerous Feyi’s actions were. I loved the storytelling and the descriptions, but I wouldn’t recommend the book to my book club. 

I received this book from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, the publisher. It goes on sale May 24, 2022.

 

The Summer Place, by Jennifer Weiner

 

 

The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner

I’m a longtime fan of Jennifer Weiner, and have watched as her writing has grown more complex and personal over the years. Anyone who follows her knows that 2021 was a very hard year for her. I’m delighted to see that she was able to marshall the emotions that surfaced through her personal trials to create a cast of characters who are vivid, complicated and oh so relatable.

The overriding story is a young couple who’ve decided, shortly after emerging from lockdown, that they want to get married. Technically, the story covers the short time from the announcement of the engagement until the actual date of the wedding. Adding in the backstory, this is a novel that covers generations, and the missteps and mistakes made at each level before the betrothed couple. At one point I had to stop and say, REALLY?? But it works and the way the story loops around to its beginning is nothing short of gymnastics!

I promise you will find at least one character to root for, and if not, you’ll fall for the house. This is a fascinating book of characters and their passions. Great new summer book for Jennifer Weiner fans!

The Nantucket Beachfront Inn, By Ainsley Keaton. 3.5*

 

The Nantucket Beachfront Inn, by Ainsley Keaton

This book follows three friends, their “second act” after leaving, for the right reasons, their first careers. Ava, a high paid and powered attorney, finally rebels from her tax haven seeking millionaire clients. As luck would have it, just when she has realized she has no way to support her lifestyle, and old client dies and leaves her his Nantucket beachfront home, all set up to be a B & B. Her best friends, Quinn and Hallie, decide to come along to the beach…at first as support, but ultimately to reestablish themselves as well.

Ava has problems with her children, one of which is not speaking to her at all. The usual beach shenanigans prevail, including a little bit of witchcraft and lots of fun in the sun. This is the first book in what will be a series, and stands out as a great beach read. Beyond that, there are just too many lucky coincidences, but it’s fun and that’s good, too.

Culture, Characters, Issues and Imagination. Black Cake has them all. 5*

 

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel has all the elements that make fiction so rewarding. Wonderful characters, skillfully drawn, settings that take the reader’s breath away, whether through their beauty or the things they lack.  Historical references that place the cultural issues in perspective and an imaginative story so creative, it must be real. 

Benny and Byron are long separated twins, rejoined when their mother dies and leaves them a strange legacy.  Not just the historic Black Cake, whose recipe has facilitated the survival of this Caribbean family, but a video recording, telling the story of where they all came from. 

While plenty of obstacles face the characters, there is always hope and that hope kept me reading to a satisfying conclusion.  This is a great “book club” book, because it addresses so many issues important today, and does so in an accessible and fresh manner. 

Damnation Spring, by Ash Davidson 3.5*

 

Damnation Spring is a book about the old growth redwood forests of the American PNW, with the switch that it is told from the perspective of the families who make their living cutting those magnificent trees down for lumber.

Following the Gunderson family, Colleen, a young mother, her husband, Rich, a lumberjack, we encounter the hazards, fears and tragedies faced due to poverty, environmental collapse, politics, and family relationships. The characters are well drawn, and the descriptions so spot on you will feel stuck in the mud along with the characters.

It took a while for me to adjust to the dialect and language of this book, but it was done with such authenticity and confidence that once I was a chapter or two in, I was thinking in those phrases and patterns of speech. I think this author deserves kudos for making this happen.

I'm all for treating our characters badly to develop the story, but these folks never seemed to get a break.  It was hard to keep reading, realizing that inevitably, something bad or worse was coming.  Perhaps that is the situation in this part of the world.  In the end, I felt terribly sad.