Review: THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

Title: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Book Beginning quote:

Joyce.

Well, Let's start with Elizabeth, shall we? And see where that gets us?

Friday56 quote:

After a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy. No one tells you off, except for your doctors and your children.

Summary:

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Review: I am fairly sure I was the last person on earth who had not read The Thursday Murder Club prior to this past week. My husband and I listened to it on a recent car trip and enjoyed it very much. Don was pretty critical of it at first, in terms of the mystery and the details that would lead us to figure who the killer, before I helped him realize the book was really about the members of the Thursday Murder Club. And since it is the first book in the series, we had a lot of characters to meet and get to know. As the story progressed the reading experience increased for him and for me, since I got to enjoy the book without having to stop the audiobook to explain stuff to him that he missed. Ha!

Now we are both ready to move on to the second book in the series. Can't wait.

At the end of the audiobook, an author interviewed Richard Osman. I may have enjoyed that just as much as I enjoyed the book. It was fun to take a peek into the life of this famous comedian from UK. I was familiar with him from his role on the game shows: Pointless and Taskmaster. He was very funny in both of those roles and as I listened to the book I kept imagining Richard Osman during his writing sessions. I could just picture him thinking up the witty statements and quirky characters. In the interview he said he didn't set out to write a funny or humorous novel, but a murder mystery which just happens to have a few funny things happen in it.

If you are one of the last people who hasn't read this book, too, let me recommend it to you.

Sign up for The Friday56 on the Inlinkz below. 

As many of you know Freda over at Freda's Voice hosted #Friday56 for many years. On September 7, 2023 she told us she was going through some personal stuff and could no longer host. I've attempted to reach her but have had no reply. So I will host The Friday56 until she comes back. Help me communicate with past participants so they can figure out where and how to find me, please post this post's URL on your blog. Don't forget to drop a comment on my post also! Thanks.

Also visit Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader and First Line Friday hosted by Reading is My Super Power to share the beginning quote from your book.

RULES:

*Grab a book, any book

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader

(If you want to improvise, go ahead!)

*Find a snippet, but no spoilers!

*Post it to your blog and add your url to the Linky below. If you do not add the specific url for your post, we may miss it!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

-Anne

Review: SIPSWORTH

Title: Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

Book Beginning quote: 

Helen Cartwright was old with her life broken in ways she could not have foreseen.

Friday56 quote: 

The last stop before checkout is the dried good section, from which Helen draws one sleeve of digestive biscuits. Impulsively, she parks her trolley and returns to where there are small packets of unsalted party nuts on hooks at the end of the aisle. She has her tart and her biscuits -- why shouldn't the mouse get something, too?

Summary:

Over the course of a single week, a woman who is ready to die discovers an unexpected reason to live.

Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship.

Sipsworth is a reminder that there can be second chances. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes the world has plans of its own. (Publisher)

Review: Sipsworth is a sweet, short story about the importance of connections in our lives. It might be a pet, as the small mouse named Sipsworth, that provides the comfort and urge to go on or it may be one's willingness to be open to the care from other people. Sipsworth is a short novella, 240 pages in length with short chapters and lots of white space on the pages. It can easily be consumed in one sitting. 

Now that I am done with the book I hope to buy a copy for my mother, age 95, who tries awfully hard to retain friendships and human connections but often has to lean in to her friendship with her dear cat, Juniper. I know she will appreciate it, too.

2024 Twenty Books of Summer Challenge

6 / 20 books. 30% done!

Review: GO AS A RIVER

Title: Go As a River by Shelley Read

Book Beginnings quote: 

I imagine what lingers on the black bottom of a lake.

Friday56 quote:

I startled when she reached out, two snow-white palms with splayed twisted fingers thrusting toward me as if to push me to the ground. I recoiled and sped away as best I could. As I did, I noticed her ramshackle black bicycle flung among the dead daisies in the roadside ditch.

Summary:

On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family's farm set amid the wild beauty of Colorado. As she heads into her village, a disheveled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both their young lives.

So begins the mesmerizing story of split-second choices and courageous acts that propel Victoria away from the only home she has ever known and towards a reckoning with loss, hope and her own untapped strength.

Gathering all the pieces of her small and extraordinary existence, spinning through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, she will arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life forever. (Publisher)

Review: Go As a River by Shelley Read is a selection for an upcoming book club meeting. When the members were choosing books for future meetings Go As a River came up several times as an option and got rave comments by many. I mistakenly thought these members had read the book based on their comments so I ran out and read the book even before it was an official choice. As I read it I kept wondering what I was missing that the others found so compelling. Not until the next meeting did I learn that none of the book club members had read the book yet, they were basing their remarks on what they had read about the book. Oh, so maybe I won't be the only one to think the book is fine, just fine, but not extraordinary? We'll see. Then, before I had a chance to write my review, I went on a two week trip to Europe with my sisters. After my return I sat down to write this review and I realized another problem with the book -- I could barely remember it. You know all those important things that make up a good story -- plot, characters, setting -- were poof, gone! I had to review the book in order to write a review! Ha! Now I understand that probably any book would have come in at a lower volume in the wake of the wonderful trip I had, but gone? (Ha-ha. I just noticed the quote on the book cover, "Completely unforgettable." I guess I beg to differ.)

So let me just say this -- Go As a River is a fine story. It is set in Colorado. It involves family drama, trials, loneliness and racism, yes, racism. It is a sad story, but also a redeeming one. My advise, if you read it, don't leave the review to simmer for long, especially with a wonderful trip in between. And if you do select it, will you circle back and let me know what you think of it? I am terribly curious.

-Anne

Review: KILLER ANGELS

Title: Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Book Beginning quote:

Friday56 quote:

Summary: The Battle for Gettysburg was the pivotal battle of the American Civil War. For four days in July 1863, the Union and Confederate troops fought over a hill overlooking the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Killer Angels is a novel of this famous battle, giving life to characters. Author Michael Shaara said his aim was to tell "what it was like to be there, what the weather was like, what men's faces looked like."

For this purpose he stayed within the historical record, but blended two fictional approaches: a careful expository description of strategy and tactics, aided by a series of eloquent maps, and a graphic evocation of the clashes themselves, wherein it is shown how the small happenings, the human elements and chance occurrences confound the plans of the greatest chiefs. The blurred, obscure, smoke‐covered meetings continually mock the higher strategies. (NYT Review of Books, May 10, 1975)

The result was a story which becomes real and human to its readers. In the course of the book readers primarily follow three men: Colonel Chamberlain, of the Union Army; General James (“Pete”) Longstreet, of the Confederate Army; and General Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate Army. They will also wander around with Union cavalry General John Buford, Confederate General George Pickett, and a few others. The battle is fought and won/lost but at great cost to all the individuals involved.

Review: During a recent road trip my husband and I listened to the audio version of Killer Angels, read by Stephen Hoye. I was interested in the book for two reasons. First, Killer Angels won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1975. Very slowly I am making my way through past winners. Secondly, years ago a teacher at the school where I was the librarian came to me and told me that Killer Angels was the most amazing book he'd ever read. I assured him I would read it some day, and now I have. I guessed my husband, who attended West Point after high school and spent 37 years in the military, would enjoy the book, too. Listening to the audiobook together was a good choice. Stephen Hoye did an exceptional job reading the story, building up the tension preceding the battles to a perfect pitch. His accents for the both the Southern Generals and for the Maine men were spot-on and led to an even more personalized experience with the text. Even though I knew who won the battle historically, every time we stopped listening, I wanted to get back to it as soon as possible to find out how things worked out. I'm fairly sure this audiobook will win my favorite audiobook of the year award.

The title, "Killer Angels", came from a speech made by Col. Joshua Chamberlain to his men prior to the battle. He took the quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet: “Well, boy, if he’s an angel, he’s sure a murderin’ angel”. This inspired Chamberlain oration topic: Man, the Killer Angel. 

The introduction to the audiobook was written and read by Jeff Shaara, Michael's son, on the 30th anniversary of the publication of the book. Jeff remembers going to Gettysburg as a child and walking the hallowed grounds with his father. That family trip led Michael to spend the next eight years writing his historical novel. It was rejected by many publishers but finally a small printing company, McKay, decided to publish the book in 1974. They didn't do much publicity and the book didn't sell well, probably related the state of unrest in the country related to the Vietnam War which was still going at the time. It surprised everyone when Killer Angels won the Pulitzer Prize in the 1975, but still sales were slow. However, the award brought the book to the attention of a Hollywood movie producer who expressed interest in making a movie from it. Shaara worked with this producer for years and was very excited about the project. Unfortunately he died from a heart attack before the movie went into production. When the movie came out in 1993 it was named "Gettysburg" and though it was very long, over 4 hours, it was well received. The result it had on the book was astonishing. Eighteen years after the book was published, Killer Angels made the New York Times Best Seller List. Jeff Shaara was sad that his father, who had worked so hard on the novel, never got to experience all of its success. Jeff went on to write a prequel and sequel to the book and several other historical novels about US wars.

I don't often read books about battles in wars, but I do enjoy reading good historical fiction. Killer Angels may very well be the best of the bunch. And my husband, what did he think of the book? He enjoyed it, too. He has been to Gettysburg three times, once with me and our daughters in tow, and he found that experience to be very moving every visit. Several times while we were listening he would stop the narration to explain some aspect of the battle to me, or describe the geography and the location of the armies. He sends along his recommendation, too.

-Anne

Review: THE FRAUD

Title: The Fraud by Zadie Smith

Book Beginning quote: 

A filthy boy stood on the doorway. He might be scrubbed of all that dirt, eventually -- but not of so many orange freckles. No more than fourteen, with skinny, unstable legs like a marionette, he kept pitching forward, shifting soot into the hall. Still, the woman who'd opened the door -- easily amused, susceptible to beauty -- found she couldn't despise him.

Friday56 quote: 

"If poor Lady Tichborne said this man is her son, who are we to disagree?"

Summary: Based on real-life events and people, The Fraud is Zadie Smith's first historical novel.

"The Tichborne Trial" had all of Britain enthralled in 1873-4. The trial took 188 court days and established that Thomas Castro aka Arthur Orton (the claimant) was not the heir to the Tichborne baronetcy. He was indeed a fraud. But his trial brought out Orton fans, mostly among lower class, who were willing to set aside facts to remain devoted to his cause. The strongest testimony for Arthur Orton's case is a freed slave, Andrew Bogle, who gives a compelling and dignified account. One witness to the court proceedings is Eliza Touchet, a cousin of a third-rate author, William Ainsworth. Through her association with her cousin, Mrs. Touchet meets many other authors, including Charles Dickens. She think he is a bully and a moralist. She is also involved in organizations for abolition and wonders at the horrors associated with colonializations. 

Review: If the summary makes the book sound complicated, you are correct. Author Zadie Smith tries to cram a lot into her historical novel. Not only is the Tickborne Trial details complicated enough but we learn the backstory of William Ainsworth and his cousin-in-law, Eliza Touchet, in sketches that reach back in time. It is both confusing and too much -- too many characters, too many details, too many times that the story looks back. My husband and I did realize that Smith was making some political parallels to today with Trump fans dismissing all of his crimes and foibles and loving him even when all the factual evidence points against him. 

To add to the confusion, Zadie Smith narrated her own audiobook, and though she did well with the Scottish accent, it was not perfect for us Yanks to listen to especially with car noise in the background (we were listening on a road trip.) At some point both my husband and I gave up trying to keep all the details straight and just listened to get the gist of the story. Not an ideal way to consume a book. Andrea Long Chu, writing a review for Vulture, said that Zadie Smith has "lost her teeth," playing around with the title of Smith's first (and best?) book, titled White Teeth. This is my first Zadie Smith novel. I haven't given up on her but think I should reach back and try one of her earlier novels.

After finishing up The Fraud my husband and I started playing another audiobook. It was a long road trip, after all. And guess what? We couldn't stand it. After less than an hour of listening we stopped the new book realizing that the writing wasn't anywhere near the quality of Smith's book. Ha! So I concluded that The Fraud was not my favorite novel but Zadie Smith sure can write!

-Anne

Review: THE EGG AND I

Title: The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald

Beginning quote: 

Along with teaching us that lamb be cooked with garlic and that a lady never scratches her head or spits, my mother taught my sisters and me that it is a wife's bounden duty to see that her husband is happy in his work.

Friday56 quote: 

When the garden were finished and the orchard had been cleared and plowed, we started on the big chicken house.

Summary: Betty MacDonald's first memoir about her life as a farmer's wife and his most important helper (she wrote several other memoirs.) After marrying, Betty and her new husband bought a run-down farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The goal was to have an operational chicken farm, mainly for eggs. But life on a rural farm with no running water or electricity, a rundown house, barns full of animals, and orchards and beds of vegetables, meant there was never a moment to spare in the author's life. Published in 1945, The Egg and I was about life in the early 1930s. It was an instant hit and a movie was made of it in 1947 starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.

Review: I selected The Egg and I from among the library kit offerings at our public library because it is set in Washington State where we live. Many of the older women in the club exclaimed that they had read the book, seen the movie, or were aware of the book or author because their parents read it. I thought I'd made a good choice. Then I read the book and I was mortified by the blatant racism in the book toward Native Americans. I realize that people had different sensibilities in the 1940s and so probably no one at the time thought anything of the denigration of Indigenous people, but this is 2024. I was shocked and sickened by it.

I attended book club last night ready to do battle, if necessary. But before I left for the meeting I found this article about the author and discovered a few pieces of information that made me soften my stance a tiny bit. (Seattle Times, Sept. 4, 2016) Of interest to me was learning Betty MacDonald's husband was an abusive alcoholic. She left him and they divorced in 1937 in the height of the Depression. Never in the book did she bad mouth her husband or mention his drinking but knowing this may explain her antipathy toward the "drunk Indians" not so much because of their race, but more because these were men who drank with her husband. I'm guessing about this. I don't know this for sure. It wasn't until she was married to another man that Betty started writing so this memoir is a look back on her life. She was one of the most popular humorists of the time and she had a way of looking at the reality of her life from an absurd, funny angle. Her life was super hard, it was the Depression after all, but she didn't write about the horrors of it in a way that made reader feel sorry for her. "Part of MacDonald’s tough humor derived from her credence in her family’s much-repeated motto, 'Don’t be a saddo.”"

I left book club with a greater appreciation of the book, though I will never tell anyone to read it, I was glad that our book club discussion went well while we all chewed on the topic of whether a book should be laid to rest as societies move forward toward a more equal view of everyone.

-Anne

Review: LADY TAN'S CIRCLE OF WOMEN

Title: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

Book Beginning quote:

Friday56 quote:

“I wish I were a giant gingko tree hundreds of years old, with the deep roots it takes to stand strong against mighty winds. Instead, I feel like a sapling in a typhoon, desperately trying to hang on.”

Summary: This historical novel is inspired by the true story of a female physician living during the 15th century in China, Lady Tan Yunxian. She was born into an elite family, was trained to be a female doctor by her grandmother who was also a doctor for women, was married into another elite family at age 15 where her mother-in-law didn't want her to practice her craft. Her first days in her new home, as a young bride, Yunxian was tremendously lonely and bored. She wanted to work, yet she was expected to embroider foot slippers for bound feet, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay within the confines of the family compound, The Garden of Fragrant Delights. Eventually she is allowed to practice medicine, but only for women. In breaking with tradition, she goes on to treat women and girls from all walks of society, writes a book, and develops treatments which are still used today. "Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today" (Publisher).

Review: Lady Tan's Circle of Women is tremendously interesting and scrupulously researched. This is the third book I've read by Lisa See and I felt the same way about the other two books. I learned so much and had my eyes opened about aspects of history I knew nothing about.  The existence of women in the 15th century in China (and all around the world) was so bleak. They had few rights and were never thought of as equals with men. Yet, here is Lady Tan, an amazing woman and physician that defies all expectations and lives an important life, one that matters even today.

I can't even begin to tell you everything about this book, nor would I want to since I hope you will read it for yourself. But I want you to know about this incredible resource Lisa See has put together about the book Lady Tan's Circle of Women, Chinese medicine, foot-binding, and so much more. I think I could spend several days exploring all the resources she has put together for her readers. STEP INSIDE: THE WORLD OF LADY TAN . It is the best book resource I have ever encountered. Read the book. Visit the website. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. My one bummer, I will have to miss the book club where this book will be discussed.

-Anne

Review: THE BRIDE TEST

Title: The Bride Test by Helen Huong

Book Beginning quote:

Prologue. Ten years ago. San Jose, California. Khai was supposed to be crying. He knew he was supposed to be crying. Everyone else was. But his eyes were dry.

Friday56 quote: 

Like always, he padded into his living room and took his spot at the proper machine. As he did overhead presses at 125 pounds, he was aware of Esme walking into the kitchen, helping herself to the fruit smorgasbord his mom had provided, and getting herself a glass of water, which she forgot on the counter, but he stayed focused and efficiently worked through five sets of five repetitions.

Summary: 

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. (Publisher)

 

Review: The Bride Test is the first book club selection for 2024 for the SOTH Ladies, a church book club. We are all women, mostly older, with an average age over 70. I am the the club organizer and every month I select a kit from the public library which is made up of a set of 15 books and a discussion guide. The books are free to us, since I have a library card, and usually we find plenty to discuss. This time our discussion will be very different because this book is clearly outside our wheelhouse, not our normal reading choice. Let me be clear: the book contains many, many scenes with sex. Lots of sex. 

One lady, who will be coming to the club for the first time, said she wasn't sure she got the right book since this one was clearly pornographic. I'm not sure I'd go that far in my description of it, but it certainly has much more sex than any other book we've ever read as a club before. Ha! My husband listened to a portion of it with me and he said the library should label their book kits with notices. Kits like this with "For younger audiences" and the ones we usually get "For old, church lady audiences." You get my point.

We had to postpone our meeting by a week due to bad weather. We meet this coming Tuesday. Can't wait to see how this discussion turns out. 

********************************************************

-Anne

Review: THE TWENTY-ONE

Title: The Twenty-One: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S.Government Over Climate Change by Elizabeth Rusch

Opening quote: 

PROLOGUE. August 2016. 

     At 5:00 a.m. on August 13, 2016, 13-year-old Jayden Foytlin of Rayne, Louisiana, bolted upright in her bed.

      Bam. Bam. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

The Friday56 quote:

     The government lawyer seemed pleased and then outlined another reason that the kids had no right to be in court. They had no constitutional claim. "There is simply no constitutional right to a pollution-free environment," he said.

     Sahara gave Avery's hand a tight squeeze. This is so dumb, Sahara thought. Obviously, we have a right to a healthy and stable atmosphere and future.

Summary:

Compelling and timely, The Twenty-One tells the gripping inside story of the ongoing landmark federal climate change lawsuit, Juliana vs. The United States of America. The Twenty-One is for readers anyone interested in the environment and climate change, as well as youth activism, politics and government, and the law. Features extensive backmatter. In the ongoing landmark case Juliana vs. The United States, twenty-one young plaintiffs claim that the government’s support of the fossil-fuel industry is actively contributing to climate change, and that all citizens have a constitutional right to a stable climate—especially children and young adults because they cannot vote and will inherit the problems.

 (Publisher)

Review: I started this book back in December hoping to get a jump on reading what I thought would be a Cybils High School Nonfiction finalist. It wasn't selected as one of the finalists but I continued reading it because it is such a compelling book about such an important topic -- climate change and our rights as citizens to live in a country which protects us from harm rather than contributing to the problem.

We are have to face the facts. Mother Earth is our only home. If she fails, we all die. The 21 youth who bravely sued the Federal Government say it is young people who will unequally pay the price if our government doesn't do everything in its power to combat climate change and stand up to the fossil fuel companies who still place profit over lives.

In the opening quote, Jayden Foytlin wakes up to a house full of water from a flood. She was already one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and here is more evidence that our climate is out of whack. Her home is far from the Gulf Coast so her family did not need flood insurance, yet here they are in a house full of water. Sahara and Avery are two more plaintiffs in the Juliana vs. United States lawsuit. They are listening to a governmental lawyer tell the judge that they, the twenty-one plaintiffs don't have the constitutional right to bring this lawsuit. Don't ALL people have the right to a healthy and stable atmosphere and future?

Seven (or is it eight) years after the 21 kids sued the government, Juliana vs. The United States has still not gone to trial. The government, aided by lawyers from the fossil fuel industry, have sought every kind of legal delay possible. Finally at the end of 2023, a judge in Eugene, Oregon has finally cleared the way for a trial to be held but it hasn't happened yet. This book is all about the many, many court appearances that have taken place and about the 21 brave souls who have stuck with their lawyer, hoping for all our sakes that they will finally have their day in court so we can finally have a record of just how catastrophic climate change is for all lives on earth. "If the government would stop licensing, permitting, and subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, the whole landscape would change," Julie (the 21's lawyer) has said time and again...The Juliana case does the homework to show this jaw-dropping transgression of duty on the part of federal officials" (301).

The Twenty-One is clearly not a cheery book, but it is a very important one. I challenge you to read it, for your life's sake. 

********************************************************

-Anne

Review: BABEL

Title: Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang

Opening quote: 

By the time Professor Lovell found his way through Canton's narrow alleys to the faded address in his diary, the boy was the only one alive in the house.

Friday56 quote:

This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it.

Summary: Babel is an historical fantasy that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as a dominating tool of the British Empire. The story starts in Canton, China when a young boy is whisked away from his home and his dead mother in the care of a professor who will train him up to become an Oxford translator, working to secure more treasures for the empire by going against his own country of birth.

Review: Babel is brilliant. Babel is complicated. Babel is like no other book I've ever read before.

My husband and I listened to the audiobook over a month-long period of time, often not listening at all for a week or two in between listening sessions. This is NOT a good way to digest this story because it is a complicated plot and has a lot of moving pieces to keep track of and it has a very long, drawn-out climax. Even though we consumed the book this way, we both still really appreciated it tremendously. And we had a lot to talk about and digest when we finally finished it.

The Plot: The British Empire has conquered the world because they have mastered the art of translation combined with silver, which allowed magical spells to be released. Everything in the empire runs on silver, and the silver has to be kept in top form by the Babel translators, the translation center of the empire on the Oxford University campus. Robin and his cohort group of four were are all brought into Babel from their homes around the world because of their language skills. Robin is fluent in Mandarin and understands the nuances of the language. This makes him especially valuable since Britain wants the China's silver. The Empire is even willing to start a war to get it. When Robin learns about this plot, he decides he must do something, and that something leads to a student revolution.

Themes: There are many themes. One theme I found fascinating related to all the Biblical allusions. Babel, the building where all the translators work and the silver is imbued with magic, is also the name of a  tower in the Bible. In Genesis 11:1-9 the fable of the Tower of Babel is explained. Once mankind all spoke one language and God saw this as a problem so he confused the languages so all people could not understand each other. Therefore mankind could not be ruled by one person or group. This idea of having one language was what the empire was attempting to do through the translators of Babel -- create a super language and suddenly the whole world is yours.

Another theme relates to the hubris of colonialism. The British Empire in this book wanted more silver, to get it they were willing to addict a whole nation on opium and start a war on false pretenses. We know that actual events from history were very similar, though the details were different. See information about The Opium Wars (1839-42, 1856-60) if you are interested.

Friendship and loyalty were also prominent themes in the book making the reader really care about the characters and the outcomes of their lives and the effects their choices had on others.

The story was absolutely unique and riveting but the best part of the writing had to do with language. Author R, F. Kuang must be a genius for the way she used the word origins of several languages to create the magic. We both found this word play fascinating and impressive.

At 544 pages, this book is definitely not for the person hoping for a weekend read, but it certainly worthy of your attention.

-Anne

Review: THE LAND OF LOST THINGS

Title: The Land of Lost Things by John Connolly

Opening quote: 

Twice upon a time - for that is how some stories continue - there was a mother whose daughter was stolen from her.

Friday56 quote:

You can destroy a book. You can burn it, you can tear it to pieces and scatter them to the four winds, you can soak it until it reverts to pulp or the ink turns the water black, but you can’t destroy the contents of the book, or the idea of the book, not as long as there are those who care, who remember… Who read. Neither can you destroy stories, not unless you destroy people—and some have tried.

Summary:

Phoebe, an eight-year-old girl, lies comatose following a car accident. She is a body without a spirit, a stolen child. Ceres, her mother, can only sit by her bedside and read aloud to Phoebe the fairy stories she loves in the hope they might summon her back to this world.

Now an old house on the hospital grounds, a property connected to a book written by a vanished author, is calling to Ceres. Something wants her to enter, and to journey - to a land coloured by the memories of Ceres's childhood, and the folklore beloved of her father, to a land of witches and dryads, giants and mandrakes; to a land where old enemies are watching, and waiting. (Publisher)

Review: This book is the sequel to one of my most favorite books of a decade ago, The Book of Lost Things. I was so, so wrapped up in that story, clearly living inside the world where everything was different and warped.

I didn't even know that I needed a sequel. The Land of Lost Things is a darker version of the first story where some pretty horrifying things happen and yet, the same kernel is there...the importance of our STORY. The opening quote sets the stage nicely for a sequel, don't you think? And the Friday56 quote, which isn't actually from page 56, sets the stage for the importance of books and owning our own story. 

It is a clever but dark book, published over fifteen years after the first book in the series. I enjoyed it a lot but wished I had reviewed the original. Too much time had elapsed and I forgot many of the details. Here is my short review of The Book of Lost Things.

-Anne

Review and quotes: NEWS OF THE WORLD

Title: News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Opening page quote: 

Wichita Falls, Texas, Winter 1870

Captain Kidd laid out the Boston Morning Journal on the lectern and began to read from the article on the Fifteenth Amendment.

Friday56 quote:

He said, Miss Dillon, you know this how?

     An Gorta Mor [The Irish Famine of 1845-49], she said. In the famine children saw their parents die and then went to live with the people on the other side. In their minds they went. When they came back they were unfinished. They were forever falling. She shook out her wet, pinned up skirt and watched as Johanna carefully ate pieces of bacon with her hands.

Summary: Captain Jefferson Kidd, an elderly widower who participated and fought in three wars, is now an itinerant who makes a living by traveling around Northern Texas, reading the news to people hungry for a connection to the rest of the world. Captain Kidd is asked to deliver Johanna, a ten-year-old girl captured and raised by Kiowa Indians, to her only living relatives 400 miles over rough and dangerous terrain, one filled with natural barriers (rivers, deserts) and man-made obstacles (political, cultural, and financial.) Johanna, who completely embraced the Kiowa culture, does not want to go. She wants to return to "her people", her Indian father and mother. She is wild by many standards: eating with her hands, throwing away her shoes, preferring the floor to a bed. But she is smart about nature, knows how to handle a revolver, and is a good problem solver. Nevertheless, as the miles pass, Capt. Kidd and Johanna form a bond of friendship and comradery. 

Review: News of the World was a National Book Award finalist in 2016. I read and reviewed it in 2017 and I loved it. When it was chosen as a recent book club selection, I decided to reread it and, boy, am I glad I did! It seemed more relevant to me today than I remember it being in 2017. On further reflection the word "classic" kept coming to my mind. In 1980 Italo Calvino described "a classic as a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." This seemed a very apt statement related to this book. It had something completely different to say to me in 2023 than 2017.

In 2017 I focused on the drama related to Johanna and Captain Kidd. I learned about the history of Texas during reconstruction years. I delighted in the descriptions of the geography, the towns, and the people they encountered along the way. In 2023 what I found myself focusing on was the politics and the lawlessness. In post Civil War days in Texas civility had broken down. Many people were angered by the acts made by Gov. Davis. They were angry about the success of the Union in the war and that federal soldiers were sent to keep the laws. They had to abolish slavery and pledge their loyalty to the union to be reinstated in the United States. Newspapers often printed biased and made-up, fact-free stories intended to incite anger and dissatisfaction. I couldn't help comparing what was happening today to what happened in the 1870s in Texas -- newspapers [news sources] that didn't bother with facts; people taking sides and fighting with their neighbors about their beliefs. I am not sure if it is a comfort, but it is interesting to learn that what we are experiencing in the US today isn't new to this century.

Now I'm off to see if I can find the movie of News of the World starring Tom Hanks.

I highly recommend the book.

Here is a link to the review I published in 2017.

-Anne

Review : THE ORPHAN MASTER'S SON

Title: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Opening page quote:

“Citizens, gather ‘round your loudspeakers, for we bring important updates! In your kitchens, in your offices, on your factory floors — wherever your loudspeaker is located, turn up the volume!”

Another quote (no guarantees it is from page 56):

"Where we are from... [s]tories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro. And secretly, he'd be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change."

Review and quotes: YELLOWFACE

Title: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Beginning quote: 

The night I watch Athena Liu die, we are celebrating her TV deal with Netflix.

Friday56 quote:

Writing is the closest thing we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, is opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you power to shape your own world when the real one hurts too much.

Summary: Athena Liu and June Hayward are both writers. They've known each other since college. They still get together occasionally, mostly to celebrate Athena's accomplishments since she is a successful author and June is not. On the night when Athena dies they are celebrating yet another accomplishment. Not only is Netflix knocking but Athena has just finished the first draft of another novel which June finds herself rewriting and publishing after her friends death. And then finds herself running from Athena's ghost because she thinks she deserves the fame she has received. "Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media."

Review: As I looked over the reviews on Goodreads-- which is funny since that is what June Hayward does too, to her detriment -- I think I may have goofed up reading Yellowface before R.F.Kuang's novel Babel, which I am reading right now. They both deal, to some degree with cultural appropriation, though Yellowface is a modern story with a much more light-handed touch, so it is hard to go back to much harder, serious story.

I ultimately gave Yellowface a rating of 4 stars. At first I wanted to give the book the heave-ho because it felt like I'd just read this story, minus the cultural appropriation and racist angles, with The Plot by Jean Haniff Korelitz two years ago. I also decidedly didn't like June Hayward, or any of the other characters for that matter, and I always have trouble wanting to continue reading books when I don't like the characters. But I persisted and decided that the book was pretty entertaining. Its truth about social media and the publishing industry made it feel like it was worth my time. Who knows we may even select it for book club, giving me one more chance to put my thoughts together on this book.

Have you read Yellowface? What did you think of it?

-Anne

Review and quotes: HELLO BEAUTIFUL

Title: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Book Beginnings quote:

For the first six days of William Waters's life, he was not an only child. He had a three-year-old sister, a redhead named Caroline after John F. Kennedy's daughter.

Friday56 quote:

Sylvie had read somewhere that the more times a story was told, the less accurate it became. Humans were prone to exaggeration; they leaned away from the parts of the narrative they found boring and leaned into the exciting spots. Details and timelines changed over years of repetition. The story became more myth and less true. Sylvie thought about how she and William rarely told their story and felt pleased; by not being shared, their love story remained intact.

Summary: 

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable loyalty to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most? (Publisher)

Review: I finished this book in September in time for book club where we were to discuss it and then I had to miss the meeting. Darn. I would have loved to be there for that one. Here is what I said on my Goodreads review right after I finished it. I think you'll get the point that it was a very impactful book...

Okay. First piece of advice: Listen to the audiobook with the speed bumped up. I listened at 1.3 speed and that was almost too slow.

Second piece of advice: Drink plenty of Gatorade before or during the last twenty percent of the book. I didn't and I feel lightheaded and dehydrated from my tears. At one point I had to stop listening just so I could get control of my sobbing. SOBBING.

Thirdly, don't build up too much expectation about Little Women and the similarities. It is there, but just a tiny bit and if you wait around for it you'll be disappointed.

Fourthly, if you have any siblings, call or text them and tell them you love them before it is too late and you don't get any more chances. Wouldn't that be the worst thing? Not to fix what is broken while you still have a chance? 

Here come the tears again...

-Anne

Review and quotes: A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

A graphic memoir.

Title: A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Opening quote:

"I grew up in a small town just outside of Los Angeles." pg. 1

Friday56 (pag 56) quote:

Charles De Gaulle Airport: "Okay, everyone grab your bags! After you do that we'll all end up at the south end of the baggage claim!" Okay, let's go get our stuff." Come on, Dan."

Summary: After being bullied all the way through middle school Dan has low expectations about everything, including the three-week trip to Europe with other students his age. "But during his travels, a series of first begin to change him -- first Fanta, first fondue, and maybe even...first girlfriend?" The book is heartfelt and heartwarming. It also felt so true. Do you remember those torturous middle school years? How did we survive?

Review: On November 15, 2023, just a few days ago, the National Book Award for Young People's literature went to this book A First Time for Everything. Since I always try to read at least two of the National Book Award winners or finalists, it was a no-brainer that I would select this book. I enjoy graphic memoirs if they are done well -- and this one is. It felt so true -- the awkwardness, the uncertainty, the mixed-up emotions, the abrupt shifts in moods. Dan Santat nailed them all. I loved the message about how travel can really help us get a new perspective on ourselves, too.

The book is labeled at a memoir for middle grade readers but I think it fits more in the YA milieu. As an adult, I loved it and didn't feel like I was reading a book for little kids either. I'd age range it 12 years to adults. If your library doesn't have a copy, be sure to request that they buy one.

-Anne