Everything I Read in October, 2024

October: 

108. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy - I had not planned to read this memoir because the title put me off, but it was my book group's October selection. I wasn't able to attend the discussion, although a couple of us just answered the questions by WhatsApp so at least we got to chat about it a bit. Jennette McCurdy started acting at 6 and she was one of those children whose mother wanted to act but never was able to, so she pushed two of her children into acting to fulfill her own ambition. McCurdy was successful but never really happy as an actor, although it's worth reading to find out why and how being forced into acting amounted to abuse. What a surprising read. I don't want to spoil anything but I will say that the author had some major challenges to deal with, especially after the death of her abusive mother. I admire her for her dedication to getting her life under control and finding a new path. It was eye-opening to see how trauma and abuse linger long after the abused person is safe. A well-written, honest, and courageous memoir, highly recommended. 

109. Cat + Gamer, Volume 2 by Wataru Nadatani - (ebook/Hoopla) The second in the Cat + Gamer series has kitty Musubi growing and becoming an inveterate climber. Unsure of what to do about her climbing cat, Riko goes to ask the local shopkeeper for help and ends up buying a very elaborate cat tree. Then, she goes to the shopkeeper's house (who humorously keeps saying, "Please don't call me 'shopkeeper'") where Riko meets her new friend's 3 cats and 1 dog, sees that even her huge cat tree can look small by comparison to a dedicated cat lover's setup, and gets further ideas. Meanwhile, she's still gaming and Musubi is still getting in the way, but every time it seems she's about to get upset, Musubi does something so cute that Riko has no choice but to pull out the camera. Adorable. I love this series. 

110. The Elson Reader, Book Two by William Harris Elson and Lura Runkel - Published in 1920, this little reader is packed with stories, fables, poetry, and even contains a couple short plays. My friend and next-door neighbor (who got me into volunteering with the Friends of the Library) found it while we were working the library sale and asked if she should throw it out because it was so "old and dirty" (add physical shiver for effect). I flipped through it and said I'd take it off her hands. I figured even if the pages were falling out, it would be useful for collaging but I didn't look too hard. The pages were, in fact, intact, although badly stained so I started reading it and this reader is seriously like a time capsule. There's a wake-up story in which animals tell Baby Ray to wake up but he keeps sleeping while Mama goes to pump water for his bath and find wood to warm the water, milks the cow for milk to go with Baby Ray's breakfast, etc. Then, there's a story about two children after the Great War. Their town in France is rubble, Joan is living in a cellar but has a nice new coat and hat and is being well fed. Pierre is cold and hungry. Joan shows him where to get food and clothing, in one of the few buildings standing, where the American Junior Red Cross has sent supplies to help out. Wonderful little book. I'd love to find more like it. 

111. The Mountain of Adventure (Adventure #5) by Enid Blyton - In this 5th book in the Adventure series, the children (Philip, Jack, Dinah, and Lucy-Ann) go to Wales with Mrs. Mannering and their good friend Bill. Once they arrive, they get to know their hosts on the farm at which they're staying, the Evanses, and then they make plans to ride donkeys for a camping trip up into the mountains to see the Valley of Butterflies. But, when Mrs. Mannering is injured and Bill stays behind to help, the children are left with a Welsh guide to take them and it turns out he's not so reliable. Plus, he can't read maps well. When the guide is frightened and he runs off with the mules, the children are left to fend for themselves. They end up exploring a nearby mountain, where they get tangled up in yet another adventure in which there are bad guys and a mad King of the Mountain who is making people test one of his inventions. Incredible plotting, as always. But, The Mountain of Adventure was my least favorite of the series, so far, I think because I don't like the idea of being trapped in a dark mountain with twisty passages. I'm still impressed. 

112. Afterland: Poems by Mai Der Vang - There's no way to sugarcoat Afterland. It's rough. Mai Der Vang is the child of Hmong immigrants who fled to America during the Vietnam War. I got the sense that she was working through the horrors her parents witnessed through her poetry. Some of the bloody violent images are very, very difficult to read. But, it's not all war and people getting blown up. There are a few other poems lacking the violence but which tackled other subject matter that's difficult. One was a poem about living in a noisy, trashy area with no view and the final line is, "My parents fled for this." My absolute favorite line is from, "This heft upon your leaving":

"Now what century
fell down at your door? 

What cold bowl of oats
did you repurpose into blessings?"

113. Antarctica by Claire Keegan - I've read 5 books by Claire Keegan, now. Small Things Like These and Foster were my favorites. The two that were my favorites just blew me away. The others . . . not so much. Her writing never varies from being spectacular. She has a fine skill for creating 3-dimensional characters and settings. But, her stories are often bleak or harrowing. The first story in Antarctica (the title story) was so upsetting that I didn't sleep the night I read it. 3 of the stories in the collection were surprisingly set in the American Deep South. Since I live in the Deep South, you can imagine that I read them with a critical eye. All I can say is, "Write what you know." I often feel a little discombobulated by her Irish settings because there are no dates, but they certainly feel authentic, regardless. 

114. Go, Sled! Go! by James Yang - If you've been hanging out at my blog on occasion, you probably know that I attended high school journalism with author and artist James Yang. Every now and then, I buy one of his children's books for fun. Go, Sled! Go! is my latest purchase by James and it is a delight. The story is about an unnamed little boy who is going down a mountain on a sled but creatures keep getting in his way and then ending up on the sled with him (or in the case of a waddle of penguins, getting toppled). They eventually sail over a village and then tip off a cliff and end up head-down in the snow, where they emerge to spot a sign pointing out that there's cocoa nearby. While they're drinking cocoa, the boy asks if anyone wants to go for a second ride and everyone declines but he goes on alone. I particularly loved the part where a single snowflake tips the sled over the cliff and they go on a wild ride, complete with lengthy scream. James has a great sense of humor and kept me laughing in high school. He's still making me laugh. Go, James! Go!

115. Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie - I heard this middle grade book was nice and scary, a couple years ago, and onto my wish list it went. Claire wants to be a scientist and thinks like one. So, she's really not impressed with her father's published book about ghosts and she has no interest in his ghost tours around Chicago. Then, one night he needs her to take the place of a regular employee and a ghost follows her home, the ghost of a little boy wearing a white knickerbocker suit who then proceeds to cause chaos in her home and school. Claire quickly tires of sleeping in the closet to stay away from the ghost and isn't willing to tell her parents about the ghost boy for fear her father will simply turn it into fodder for his next book. But, she needs to find out what the ghost wants so he can rest in peace and eventually she gets some much-needed help. There are a few scenes I would avoid reading right before you turn out the light because they're genuinely unnerving but otherwise I found that Scritch Scratch was about perfect for a girl who is prone to nightmares. I may hang onto this one for a future fall reread and will be looking to see if my library has more books by Lindsay Currie. 

116. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - When Tina of Book Chatter decided to have a read-along of this classic, I jumped in because I remembered enjoying it, many years ago. My copy is an abridged version printed in 1965 with a nice note from the author about why his original book was not so sacred (nor is any other, in his opinion) that it shouldn't be abridged. Philip's story begins with a dying mother. He's taken in by his aunt and uncle, who have no children, and eventually sent away to school, where he excels until he grows weary of school and decides not to finish or go on to Oxford. Instead, he tries one profession and then another. He gets tangled up with a manipulative woman who keeps coming back into his life and runs him out of money. Will he ever break free of Mildred and settle on a profession? Will Philip ever be satisfied with his life? Well, I don't want to ruin it but I felt like Of Human Bondage ended on a perfect, uplifting note. No wonder I loved it the first time. 

117. Whale Day: Poems by Billy Collins - I've been a Billy Collins fan for some time so I tossed a couple of his books into the cart when I was in a low mood and soothed it with a Book Outlet purchase. Whale Day is much the same as the rest of his poetry but this particular collection was published in 2020 and I have to wonder if that explains the sheer quantity of poems in which he talks about friends who have died and muses about his own mortality. As always, I enjoyed the collection, but I confess that nothing really jumped out at me. I had no particular favorites that I was eager to mark. I did learn a few things. I'd never heard of a frigidarium, for example, a pool with cool water pumped in from outside using aqueducts, which Romans bathed in before moving to the heated pool (or vice versa). And, I looked up a couple of artists who were unknown to me. At any rate, while not my favorite, I enjoyed the book and I particularly liked the way Collins talked about his wife and cat. There's clearly a gentle love going in the Collins household. 

118. Cat + Gamer, Volume 3 by Wataru Nadatani - (ebook/Hoopla) In this third entry in the manga series, Riko is excited to get a new game and decides to live on less sleep to give herself more time to work on completing the game. But, kitten Musubi gets the zoomies during her short sleep time, making it even shorter. And, when Riko gets online to play a multi-player game, Musubi keeps getting in the way and messing things up. Really, not all that much happens in Cat + Gamer but it's always about both Riko slowly learning how to be a cat owner and the sweetness of how much she adores her kitty and is willing to overlook all kinds of chaos because he's so cute. My favorite thing, as always, was the cat art. It's so utterly spot-on that I often find myself stopping to admire the perfection of how the artist portrays cat expressions and movement. 

119. Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett - (ebook/Hoopla) Published in 1953, Little Witch is the tale of Minikin Snickasnee (aka Minx), a 9-year-old girl whose mother is a witch. Minx doesn't want to be a witch. Her mother is cruel; the 7 children she turned into potted plants are proof enough. Minx has been doing experiments when her mother is out on her broom at night, trying to conjure up a fairy. One day, she decides she's tired of being alone and she's going to go to school like a regular child. There, she immediately makes a friend who invites her home to meet the great-grandmother who cares for her large family. The children agree to visit Minx in her home, even though they know it's dangerous. They, too, would like to try to conjure a fairy. What will come of the brews Minx and her friends cook up? Will Minx's mother turn them into potted plants if she comes home early? I read this book on the patio on Halloween. It was raining heavily and our doorbell only rang twice during a lull in the rain before we gave up on expecting any more little wet children and retreated to the patio. Reading a witchy children's book on Halloween with rain pouring down and a nice cup of coffee was pretty much perfect. 

©2024 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos. 

Everything I Read in September, 2024

September: 

98. The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood - Delphie is hiding from the world. She's a talented artist but collects art supplies and doesn't use them because of a bullying incident, years ago. She has a downstairs neighbor she considers her enemy and an elderly man across the hall whom she watches out for, fixes breakfast, and checks in on regularly. When she dies and ends up in a very strange afterlife, she meets her soulmate, Jonah, and worries that elderly Mr. Yoon won't be able to live without her. Then, it turns out that Jonah's not really dead so he's sent back. Delphie begs to return to her body, as well, and is given 10 days to get Jonah to kiss her. If he does, she will be allowed to stay alive. But, Delphie doesn't know Jonah's last name or where in London he lives. With the help of her annoying neighbor, Delphie goes on a quest that will take her through a host of romantic tropes and into a large circle of friends and an unexpected fling. But, will she find Jonah and get a kiss in time to continue living or end up dying all over again? What a sweet, funny, inventive story! My friend and former blogger, Brittanie, read this book, loved it, and gave me her copy when we met for lunch. I'm so glad she did because it was just the kind of light-hearted read I needed. 

99. Wool (Silo #1)by Hugh Howey - I've had Wool on my shelf for a dozen years and was friends with Hugh Howey at NaNoWriMo in the early years. Since my eldest son has recently reminded me that the Silo series has become a TV program on Apple+ and I happened to find my copy of Wool in the Library Annex (aka, the "closet"), it seemed like the perfect time to read it. And, let me tell you . . . anytime is the perfect time. Juliette is a mechanic in the Down Deep of the silo in which she lives. After the previous sheriff is sent out for "cleaning", a form of the death penalty, the mayor and deputy come all the way down to Mechanical (by stairs—about 160 floors) from Up Top to ask her to take over the job as sheriff because she was helpful in a recent murder investigation and the deputy thinks she's smarter than most. Juliette is curious what happened to Sheriff Holston and his wife. Why did they both go to cleaning willingly? Were they crazy? Is it really toxic outside or is someone hiding the fact that the outdoors is safe? What will happen when Juliette begins to find answers . . . answers that are forbidden knowledge? Wow. Just, wow. What a fascinating, thought-provoking dystopian story. I have the next two books in ebook form and I'm going to try to stretch out the reading like I did with Wool because I enjoyed it so much. Highly recommended. 

100. Before We Say Goodbye (Tales from the Cafe #4) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - The fourth book in this lovely time travel series is more of the same. A man wants to say something important to his wife before she falls into a coma. A woman who is distraught that she was unable to stay awake for her beloved dog's last breath thinks about returning to see the dog one last time. A young lady who turned down a proposal and regrets it decides to go back to the day of the proposal, even though her boyfriend later left her for someone else. A daughter who was extremely rude to her father and then never saw him again wants a second chance. As I said elsewhere, the stories are always a bit on the saccharine side but it's a good kind of sweet. Everyone goes into time travel knowing they can't change the present. And, yet they go anyway, often with the hope of saying something kinder and turning a bad moment happy. I love this series and will continue reading them as long as more are released. I read Before We Say Goodbye on ebook via Hoopla.

101. Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards - A book about the Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood, I think in 1889. I've had this book on my shelf since a friend recommended it and I got a copy from Ye Olde Paperback Swappe (before it was ruined by additional fees and I left). Celestia is wealthy but she has fallen for Peter, a young man who is common. She spends the summer in the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club with her family and he lives in Johnstown, where his father works in the mines. Maura has four small children and another on the way but she's happy living with her small brood while her husband works as a train engineer. There's also another woman whose beloved boyfriend drowned and who is training to be a nurse. When it rains heavily and the dam fails, sweeping away most of two towns, their stories will collide. Written in verse, Three Rivers Rising is a super fast read but I guess I'm just made to drag things out because it could be read in a couple hours and instead I spread it out over several days. The story is fictionalized but, like The Watch That Ends the Night (a book about the Titanic, which I read earlier this year), you get to know the characters long before disaster strikes so it's all the more real when the flood happens. I got a little teary toward the end. 

102. Cat + Gamer, Volume 1 by Wataru Nadatani - An ebook I found while perusing Hoopla, the first in the Cat + Gamer series is about a young woman who is considered anti-social because she rushes straight home after work and always turns down invitations to go for a drink or to a party with her work associates. Riko's a gamer and spends every spare minute playing video games. But, when a kitten is found in the parking lot outside her workplace and she agrees to take it, everything changes. Suddenly, she's got to figure out how to care for a small creature and the kitten takes time away from her gaming. But, she's completely besotted with her new friend. I particularly liked this book for the cat art. The artist is extremely good at capturing the expressions and movement of a cat. But, it's also a sweet story. 

103. The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James - A nice, creepy ghost story set in the 1920s with a side of romance, The Haunting of Maddy Clare is about a woman who works temporary jobs and has no living family. When Sarah Piper gets a request to go for a job interview, she's not expecting a ghost hunter to be her future employer. Alistair Gellis is a handsome, upbeat man who travels around, trying to prove or disprove the presence of ghostly spirits and then writing books about them. He has a regular assistant, Matthew, but he needs a woman because the ghost in question hates men. In life, Maddy Clare was found muddied and traumatized. Taken in by the elderly Clares and their housekeeper, Maddy stuck close to their home till she took her own life. Now, she haunts the Clare barn and Mrs. Clare says she's become intolerable. The reason for Maddy's trauma is eventually revealed (and fairly predictable) but I thought the author did an excellent job of slowly peeling the onion, so to speak, and writing some genuinely frightening scenes. The ending was also extremely satisfying. A perfect fall read. 

104. Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg - A children's picture book, Just a Dream tells the story of Walter. A litterbug who doesn't bother sorting trash from recycling, Walter likes to daydream of a utopian future world in which people own robots. He's perplexed when his neighbor is excited about getting a tree for her birthday. He wishes to see the future but when Walter falls asleep and his dream comes true, what he sees is a ravaged world that changes his opinion of how he should live. I'm surprised I've never read this book since it was published in 1990 but it certainly shows how little progress we've made at stopping such things as clear-cutting of old grown forests. I like the fact that Walter learns his lesson and is excited about planting a tree, in the end. 

105. Pretty Little London by Sara Santini and Andrea Di Filippo - Italians living in London, the authors of this book have a very popular Instagram account in which they show little tucked-away places that are must-see London spots. At least, in their opinion. A beautiful book that I bought mostly for the photos and nostalgia (it's been about 7 years since we visited London, maybe longer), it's designed primarily for visitors who want to find places to take Instagrammable photos and divided by the seasons. There were a few things I disliked about this book: 1. There's no index, although there is a map at the beginning of each section. 2. Sometimes the photos are captioned and sometimes not — and I prefer to know exactly what I'm looking at. 3. There's a lot of focus on places to buy drinks, stay in hotels, and eat. Our London visits have primarily involved a borrowed flat, frozen food from Marks & Spencer, and cheap sandwiches from news agents and drugstores. I haven't checked hotel prices but those shown all look very expensive. I especially enjoyed photos and descriptions of places we've enjoyed on past London visits, some of which brought back some wonderful memories. There's no copyright date that I can see in the book but I did notice Pollock's Toy Museum is one suggested place to visit and it's sadly been closed for a couple years. I only know this because I was thinking about it recently and looked it up. 

106. Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson - This is the second collection of short stories I've read by Jackson, not including a book that had a hodgepodge of stories and essays. The other was The Lottery. It seemed to focus more on social issues while the Dark Tales stories are very subtly horrifying stories in which Jackson beautifully sets the scene and then ramps up tension. My particular favorite was a story about a girl who is probably what you could call strongly psychic. She knew her parents were going to die in a car accident months before the neighbor came to deliver the bad news and has already finished mourning. Her neighbor just doesn't understand. However, she knows her obligation and takes her in. But, the girl keeps making predictions, they keep coming true, and the neighbor still can't be bothered to pay attention to what's happening all around her. Masterfully written and a book I'll definitely return to. 

107. Dial A for Aunties - Meddelin (Meddy) Chan fell in love in college but never could convince herself it was safe to introduce Nathan to her mother and meddling aunts. And, then there's the family curse — all the men leave. Is it even worth it to try to keep him in her life? Now, she's a photographer in her family's wedding business. There's a big wedding coming up but when Meddy's mother sets her up with a hotel manager and things go wrong, she has a body to deal with. Enter her 3 aunties and mother, who will do everything within their power to help a family member in need. A bit on the slapstick side and it took time for Meddy to grow on me because she started out slightly bristly but the further I got into Dial A for Aunties, the more I enjoyed the story. I love Jesse Q. Sutanto's sense of humor and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. 

I consider this a pretty good month. I didn't read any more than I read last month, but I no longer felt like I was in the midst of a slump and I liked or loved everything I read. I'm particularly enjoying supplementing my home library with ebooks from Hoopla when I need a lighter read. Having run out of new mangas in my house, it's exciting to find something I like through the library. Images of the two ebooks are below the flatlay image. If I had to pick one favorite, it would be almost impossible but . . . I'm going to say Wool because it was the most immersive. Other favorites were The Haunting of Maddie Clare, Dark Tales, The Love of My Afterlife, and Dial A for Aunties, with honorable mention to the Cat + Gamer, which has terrific cat art and made me smile. I'm also still enjoying the Tales from the Cafe series and looking forward to the next release, which friends tell me is coming soon. On to October!

©2024 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos. 

Everything I Read in August, 2024

August:

88. The Sea of Adventure by Enid Blyton (Adventure #4) - In this 4th entry of the Adventure series by Blyton, the children are recovering from a lengthy bout of the measles. Still a bit wobbly and pale, their doctor forbids them from returning to boarding school, instead prescribing a holiday to regain their strength. When their old friend Bill returns and says he must go into hiding from the bad guys who are pursuing him, he agrees to take the children up north to camp within a series of islands known for their bird population — a great place for the boys to view and photograph birds. But, when Bill is kidnapped and the children are left on their own on a remote island with no way to communicate with the outside world, what will they do? Have another adventure, of course! Enid Blyton was a plotting genius. It's amazing to me how each book varies from the rest and yet they're all equally exciting. Also, the young characters are intelligent and resourceful, so it's always fun to see what clever ideas they'll come up with to deal with danger. 

89. A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen - It took me an entire week to read this book because I'm in the midst of a summer slump, as I type (just after finishing) but it wasn't the book's fault! A Quantum Love Story tells the tale of Carter Cho and Mariana Pineda. Carter is a technician at a large science facility and Mariana is a neuroscientist who arrives at that facility on a tour. Her job involves studying memory. Carter is stuck in a time loop and he does something to get Mariana stuck with him, so that he won't be alone. They both wake up on Monday morning and then the loop resets when the Hawke facility blows up. They can't take anything with them from loop to loop beyond what they can remember. So, they set to work trying to figure out what caused the explosion and how they can escape the time loop by preventing it from ever happening in the first place. And, as the title indicates, they slowly fall in love. But, when Carter's memory starts getting wonky and anomalies from the past begin to show up, what does it mean? Will Mariana be left on her own in the time loop, stuck forever? A sweet sci-fi but a bit hard to read, at times. I didn't always understand the science. 

90. Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken (The Wolves Chronicles #2) - Published in 1965, this second book in a series is essentially a stand-alone as the only connection I noticed (admittedly having forgotten nearly everything about the first book, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase <-- link to post with one-paragraph review) was the wolves. Simon was found wandering in the woods in Yorkshire when he was small, spent time in a poor house, and then lived on his own in the woods. Now, he's been invited to London by a friend, Dr. Fields, and he plans to study art. When he arrives, though, Dr. Fields is nowhere to be found and the landlords he was renting from are extremely shifty. Simon rents from them anyway, quickly finds a job and makes friends, and gets to know Dido Twite, the daughter of his landlords. But, things become hazardous when he stumbles upon a plot to replace the king. What an amazing book! There's a kidnapping, a shipwreck, a ride in a hot air balloon and much more but what really makes this book is Simon, his friend Sophie, and young Dido. You can't help but root for them. 

91. Wallace the Brave by Will Henry - I've never heard of this comic strip (and, in fact, don't ever see comics since we no longer receive a paper newspaper) but I happened across the ebook on Hoopla when I was looking for something else and I enjoyed it immensely. If you're looking for something short that will make you laugh, I recommend this book. I noticed Hoopla has more books of this comic strip, so I may eventually read on. 

92. The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava - Ember has been taking accounting courses at a community college and working a dead-end job but she can't afford to continue her classwork. So, she lies her way into a good job and falls for the hunky IT guy. But, when the lies begin piling up and he sees through them, what will happen? The lying is so unnerving in this story that you can see the black moment coming from a mile away and you know it's going to be awful. But, at the same time, the book makes you think about how difficult it is to break out of a poverty cycle and how racism impacts the ability of some to become gainfully employed. I love what happened after the black moment; it's very satisfying and I'm glad I briefly broke my book-buying ban to get a copy of this book. I particularly enjoyed the fact that it's set in Oklahoma. 

93. Nightbirds on Nantucket (The Wolves Chronicles #3) by Joan Aiken - Hoopla fortunately has this series, so I was able to continue on and find out what happened to Dido, who went missing in Black Hearts in Battersea. In Nightbirds on Nantucket, Dido awakens on a ship where she's been sleeping for 10 months. There's a nasty first mate but everyone else is pretty nice and the captain sets Dido to the task of luring his daughter, Dutiful Penitence (Pen), out of the store closet in which she's been hiding since her mother's death. When they land on Nantucket, the captain goes off in search of a pink whale while Dido and Pen are minded by Pen's Aunt Tribulation, whom readers will recognize as an imposter from the first book in the series. When they come across another plot to kill the King of England, what can they do? This series is amazing. So much excitement and Dido Twite is a character you can't help but love. 

94. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 10 by Kousuke Oono - Sadly, this is the last manga that I own so I'm going to have to check the library for future manga reads. In Volume 10 of The Way of the Househusband, Tatsu goes out to eat with some housewives and is horrified by the dried lips that keep splitting on one of the women as she speaks. Tatsu tells her about his homemade lip balm and suggests that selling homemade balm might be a decent business. The humor is in watching all the lips split. It must have been really dry out when this one was written. There's also a missing cat story that's pretty funny and then a second story that goes back in time to when the cat got lost, showing how another cat tried to help. I don't think any of the stories in this volume made me actually laugh out loud but I was smiling. Such a great series. 

95. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg - A children's picture book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick opens with the story of a fictional character leaving a series of illustrations with an editor. Each is accompanied by only a few words. The editor, impressed but never able to contact the artist, says the illustrations and their words have spawned numerous stories attempting to describe exactly what the artist was trying to say. So . . . did I tell you I fell off the book-buying ban wagon? Well, I don't know how Chris Van Allsburg ended up in my cart but I'm glad he did. As in the fictional tale, I think the illustrations and accompanying few words would be excellent to use as jumping-off points for storytelling. I'm always looking for story-start ideas. I didn't know who Van Allsburg was when I bought this book (and one other by him) but then I looked him up. Oh. He's the Jumanji author. We had a copy of that book when my kids were little. It freaked us all out. Harris Burdick is fortunately not a freak-out kind of book. 

96. Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson - Again with the broken book-buying ban, I purchased 5 of the 8 books in the Moomin series and would have loved to find them all but not all of them were available. Comet in Moominland is the first in the series (although there's another that's considered a prequel because the author fine-tuned her characters after the original book's publication). Moomintroll and his friend Sniff explore a path, find a cave, dive for pearls, and then realize something is wrong in the sky. Moominmamma says it's fine if they want to go to the observatory to find out exactly what's happening and packs them up, sending them down the river on a raft. They experience many challenges and when they're told the comet is going to hit the Earth in about 5 days, they rush home, picking up new friends along the way. I found myself smiling a lot while reading this book. Great characters, some grumbly and difficult, but there's a sense that anyone can be part of the Moomin family because of its generosity of spirit, even if they happen to be a bit curmudgeonly. It's also a rollicking fine adventure and obviously was written during a time when children were allowed to roam free with little concern. 

97. Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh - Not your typical book about climate change and our part in saving the planet, in Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the individual and collective, how we need to take care of ourselves and be a part of a community in order to spread the concept of "inter-being"— that is, the understanding that humans and Earth are interconnected and that harm to one is harm to the other. Much of what Thich Nhat Hanh says about connection to Earth is the basis of my own beliefs. In Christianity, the Bible says that we're the "stewards" of the Earth. You see much of the same in Native American writings. This concept of responsibility for keeping our planet livable has always resonated with me, even when I was quite young, and I enjoyed reading another take on how to save the planet. There's some crossover with Christianity; Thich Nhat Hanh never disparages other beliefs and often incorporates them into his writing. I've oversimplified because there are a lot of concepts covered beyond what I mentioned but bottom line: good book, lots to think about, talk about, and put into action. My thanks to friend Buddy and his Contemplative Reading Project for the nudge to finally finish this book. 

So . . . August was a very slumpy month, which led me to making a Book Outlet purchase and reading children's books, a manga, and comic strips to try to break the spell, all of which helped. As usual, I liked or loved everything since I'm quick to abandon books that aren't grabbing me. It strikes me that series books (children's and manga, anyway) seemed to work well for me during an ADD reading month. I'm not normally a series reader but all of these series are excellent and I'm looking forward to reading on. Well, except for the manga, since it's my last. Sigh. I may have to start rereading my manga collection if I can't find any at my library. 

©2024 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos. 

Everything I Read in July, 2024

July:

78. Brat: An 80s Story by Andrew McCarthy - I talked my husband into buying me a copy of this when it went on sale and then when I began reading realized . . . oops, it's Walking with Sam that I don't have. I've read Brat, before. Oh, well. I was enjoying it so I went ahead and finished. Brat tells Andrew McCarthy's story about how he was directionless until he missed his bus home, wandered into a rehearsal by his school's drama club, and ended up with a role. After realizing he wanted to become an actor, he got to work on his goal and quickly landed a role in a movie with one of the hottest actresses of the time, Jacqueline Bisset, Class.  When I closed the book I watched Class and thought about what McCarthy had said about how it was meant to partly emulate The Graduate (mixed with something else that I can't recall). Honestly, I was quite impressed; he carried the movie. This book is not about the Brat Pack, although he does go into how upsetting it was to be labeled a "brat", why it happened, and how it caused many of the actors so labeled to avoid each other. I'm pretty sure his new documentary about the Brat Pack is the reason I convinced myself I hadn't read the book. Anyway, I did enjoy it a second time and noticed some new details so I have no regrets. I also enjoyed the documentary, which I watched after I finished the book. 

79. Where the Sky Lives by Margaret Dilloway - Author Margaret Dilloway was an Artist in Residence at Zion National Park and Where the Sky Lives is the middle grade book that resulted from that month-long stay in the park. 12-year-old Tuesday is an amateur astronomer who learned from her Uncle Ezra. But, Ezra has recently died, leaving a poem that Tuesday thinks is a riddle. Meanwhile, a privately-owned area that borders the park has been sold to developers whose plans will cause light pollution and ruin pristine land. Tuesday's archeologist mother is grieving and unwilling to even think about the poem's meaning. So, with the help of her friend Carter and an old-fashioned camera that the current Artist in Residence has thrown away, Tuesday begins seeking clues to the meaning of her uncle's poem while looking for ways to save the bordering land from development. A good story but I often found it a bit confusing where Tuesday and Carter were located and sometimes Tuesday would climb a mesa or go hiking only to reveal that she'd been carrying that bulky camera all along. A map would have been helpful but I also thought there were a lot of passages that needed some clarification so I gave this title an average rating. 

80. The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe - A translation from Japanese, The Woman in the Dunes is about a man who collects insects as a hobby and disappears while on an insect-hunting trip. He is particularly interested in finding new insects that live in the sand. After he makes it out of the city, he passes through a village in which the houses are surrounded by sand. It's getting late and some of the villagers suggest that he should spend the night in one of their homes. That home is down in a pit surrounded by sand walls. He climbs down a rope ladder and slowly realizes that he has become trapped with the woman, who spends all night digging and sending up buckets of sand then sleeping during the daylight in a crumbling house. Like a cross between Kafka and Sisyphus, the book is basically a claustrophobic nightmare. I found myself trying to think of ways the man could escape and wondering if he would manage to figure out a solution. I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's definitely thought-provoking but maybe a little too intense and heavy on symbolism (which I confess to not understanding) for me. I don't, however, regret reading it. 

81. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - Long ago, a man jumped off a bridge and his death caused reverberations throughout a small town. Now, a bank robber has made a big mistake. After failing to get a loan to cover the rent, the robber has gone with a (possible toy) gun to a cashless bank. The robber is terrified that the police are coming and runs across the road, where an apartment opening is being held on the day before New Year's. So, a failed robbery has become a hostage situation of sorts, although the robber's heart isn't in it. While the robber tries to figure out how to get out of this mess, the reader gets to know the people in the apartment: an old woman, a young couple that's expecting and who spend a lot of time arguing, an older couple who renovate apartments, and a rabbit. Through after-the-incident interviews, we also learn about the police officers, a father and son, and how they are trying to unravel what's become of the missing bank robber, who disappears when the hostages come out of the building. A cheerful, almost slapstick story "about idiots" but really a story of how we handle catastrophe and how we can help each other. Loved it but I thought it was a little bit too long. I still gave this book 5 stars. 

82. McSweeney's Anthology of Contemporary Literature (74th Edition) Edited by Claire Boyle - Definitely my favorite McSweeney's issue for the way it was packaged (in a lunchbox with pencils and author cards) —except maybe for the horror issue because opening it made me laugh — this issue of McSweeney's is a good one. The first four stories really sucked me in, although the one I recall best is the first, a story about a place where girls are stripped of clothing (their "father cloth") once they reach a certain age and forced to walk around entirely naked until they marry and are clothed by their husbands. Those who never marry are stuck walking around totally bare because clothing yourself without being married is illegal. But, what will happen if one wealthy woman decides to break the law and help others break it, as well? Wow, what a great story about misogyny, undeserved shame, going against the flow, and the power of wealth. There are many other stories I loved, including the tale of a man who makes a big mistake by not following the strict instructions on a love potion, and only a couple stories I disliked. Overall, a really good issue. 

83. The Measure by Nikki Erlick - Everything changes on the night that the boxes appear. Around the world, everyone aged 22 and over receives a box and inside that box is a string. Each string tells its recipient how long they will live, although it takes some time and study for an accurate understanding of how the measurement of strings works. Ben, Maura, Javier, and Hank are "short stringers". But, does having a shorter life span mean a person's life is of lesser value? When short stringers begin to face discrimination and a politician stokes fear that short stringers will resort to violence, it's time for a reckoning. Whew! So much to talk about! I read The Measure for group discussion but the discussion won't be held till mid-August. Still, I can predict that it's going to be a pretty good one because The Measure is definitely a thought-provoking story. Keep tissues handy. 

84. The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain - Antoine Laurain has charmed me again with this story about a hat that may have magical powers. Daniel is treating himself to a fancy restaurant meal while his family is away when French President François Mitterrand and two well-known companions are seated in Daniel's booth. When the president leaves his hat behind, Daniel pilfers it and finds that after wearing it his life changes. But, then he loses the hat and it keeps going from person to person, each time causing a big change in the wearer's life. Meanwhile, Daniel is determined to track down the hat. Who will end up keeping the precious hat with Mitterrand's initials embossed in gold? This book oddly reminded me of Sarah Addison Allen because of its magical touch. Each person who comes across the hat has something holding them back — fear, hope, depression. When they wear the hat, they suddenly find the confidence that was lacking. Loved it. I don't think Antoine Laurain can write a bad book. 

85. The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf - When I got my copy of The Watch That Ends the Night, my friend Tammy told me it was her favorite Titanic book. Tammy had what I consider an encyclopedic knowledge of the Titanic but it took me at least 8 years to get around to reading the book. The Watch That Ends the Night is told entirely in verse and from many viewpoints. You get to know immigrants, posh people in 1st class, officers (including the Captain), a baker, a stoker, a gambler, postal workers, and the men who worked in the telegraph room. Even a rat and the iceberg tell their stories. Almost every page switches from one point of view to another, so I really appreciated the fact that the author continued to label each person with their title or a short description throughout. When I started reading, I was a little skeptical that it would turn out to be one of the best books I've ever read about the Titanic but I should have known Tammy was right. By the time the ship hits the iceberg, you've gotten to know the characters so well that their experiences as the ship founders are visceral. During the last 100 pages, at least, my heart was racing. Really, an amazing Young Adult book and definitely one of the best I've read on the Titanic if not the best as it gives you a full picture of the variety of human lives lost in this tragic shipwreck and also the horror those who retrieved their bodies experienced. 

86. Earthlings by Richard Kalvar - Earthlings is a photography collection, coffee table sized. There's only a little bit of text in this book of photography (the introduction) and it's every bit as strange as the photos themselves. But, what I gathered is that the point of this collection is to catch people at their oddest or even in their most embarrassing/uncomfortable moments. For example, there's a photo of the back of a man in a trench coat behind a park bench. It looks as if he has dropped something and is on the ground searching for it. But, there are no descriptions, only an index of photos that tells the date and location taken in the back of the book. The twins wearing flower headdresses on the cover is a perfect example of the oddity of the photos. They aren't always in focus so you can't necessarily zone in on details as they aren't crisp and clear enough. I think the idea is to make you question what's happening and come up with a theory of your own. At any rate, I enjoyed Earthlings for how offbeat the photos are. 

87. Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami (ebook, not pictured)- A cute children's book about a young girl in India who is trying to read a book a day with the help of a man who has a personal lending library. Every day Yasmin rushes to Book Uncle's library and he chooses a book for her. She doesn't always understand why he's chosen a particular book, at first. But, she always looks forward to reading her next book. Then, one day Book Uncle packs up his books. He has been told he must get a permit or leave. At the same time, a mayoral election is happening. Yasmin and her best friend Reeni encourage people to write to the candidates about the injustice of Book Uncle having to get a permit he can't afford when he is lending books, not selling them. Why should he need a commercial permit? Will the new mayor allow Book Uncle to return to lending books? Loved it; a good one for book lovers. Recommended to me by my friend Brittanie and read via Hoopla.

©2024 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos. 

Everything I Read in June, 2024

June:

65. 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith - Finn calculates time's passage in miles. Every second, the Earth travels 20 miles in space. When a dead horse was thrown off a bridge and fell 100 sideways miles, landing on top of Finn and his mother, everything about his life changed. Now, Finn's a baseball player in high school with a best friend named Cade and his name in a book his father wrote. Finn has a lot of questions. How can he ever escape from the pages of his father's book, where he feels trapped? Who is this gorgeous creature named Julia who has shown up in his California neighborhood and what compelled her to escape her home? Is Finn really seeing ghosts? What will happen when Julia inevitably has to return to her home in Chicago? Andrew Smith writes for a teenage male audience brilliantly. If you don't like a lot of talk about sex and some teenage stupidity (heavy drinking, going places one shouldn't, etc.), his books might not be for you but I find them surprising and meaningful. I love Finn and the way he thinks.

66. Upgrade by Blake Crouch - Logan Ramsay's mother was a genius, but she made a big mistake that caused a famine worldwide and billions of people died. Years later, Logan works for a government agency that is tasked with stopping people from manipulating DNA, as his mother did. But, when he goes on a raid and things go wrong, he's infected with something that's causing changes to his own DNA. To prevent a second worldwide catastrophe, Logan will have to escape from his own agency and track down the one person who must be stopped to prevent further disaster. OK, hmm. I would say this was my least favorite Blake Crouch book but even so, I rated it 4 stars out of 5 and the reason I didn't love it as much as all the others (he's been a pretty consistent 5-star author for me) is that I found the science less interesting. DNA manipulation is just blah, in my humble opinion. Otherwise, it was fast-paced (for the most part) and I liked it. The ending was a bit sappy but I think it had a full circle feel so I didn't mind that it was a bit saccharine. 

67. Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo - The memoir of a Native American poet, Crazy Brave tells about author Joy Harjo's early years, from childhood to young woman. Beautifully written and harrowing, she tells about her father's abandonment of the family, how her mother struggled to keep her four children fed, and then the excitement when the entire family fell for her stepfather, who turned out to be not just abusive but so dangerous that when he threatened to kill them all if her mother attempted to leave, they believed him and instead tried their best to never get on his bad side. She also tells about her years in an Indian art school during the 60s and her eventual marriage. Because Harjo grew up in Oklahoma and considered attending Chilocco Indian School (which was right outside my hometown and now is in ruins), there were a lot of familiar locations described and I enjoyed the armchair travel back home, even though most of her early life was shockingly brutal. I also found that I loved her talk about "the knowing", which is her name for her 6th sense. My premonitions are very similar in character to hers so I really enjoyed reading about her internal warning system, how it sometimes worked and sometimes failed as mine has. I feel like I read with focus on the specifics of place, time, and premonitions and I'll probably return to this book with a pencil and flags because there's more to it than I absorbed.

68. Color of the Sea by John Hamamura - The story of a Japanese-American from 1930 to 1947. Isamu, also known as "Sam" Hamada, is 9 years old when his father comes to Japan to bring him back to Hawaii, leaving his mother, brother, and sister behind in their small Japanese village. In Hawaii, he becomes the student of an old Japanese man. The first third or so of the book is about his training and schooling, plus the work he does to send money home to Japan. Around 1/3 of the way in, Sam falls in love and the character of the story changes a bit. I wasn't sure I was going to like the book, at that point. But, then a lot of things happen that make the whole romance aspect much more complex. Eventually, Sam moves to California. There, he teaches and tries to get into Berkeley. You know, by this point, that war is coming and most everyone he knows will end up in a camp, eventually go to war, and possibly die. Much of the tale of the war years rang so accurate that I looked up the author's bio and discovered that Color of the Sea is apparently a fictionalized telling of his father's story and for the last 1/4 of the book I had tears streaming down my face. They just wouldn't stop. So much courage and death. A five-star read. I'm going to loan this one to my eldest but will probably then hang onto it for a reread. It's that good. 

69. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto - Vera owns a tea shop that has seen better days. Now, she has a single customer who can only stay for 15 minutes to drink his tea, each day. Her son Tilly resists her advice for how to live his best life and find a future bride and her husband has passed away. So, when a dead body turns up in Vera's tea shop, you could be forgiven for thinking she's a little excited to have a new challenge to fill her days. The police are convinced that there was no murder. But, Vera knows better. Vera knows best about everything. She begins by finding suspects, the people who return to the scene of the crime. That's easy enough, since nobody ever comes to her tea shop, anymore. What Vera isn't expecting is to find a new family in the process. As much a story of found family and a character study as a cozy mystery, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is an absolute delight. You can't help but love Vera, who is both intrusive and wise. This book makes me want to break my book-buying and library ban to read everything the author has written. Alas, I'm now also on a challenge not to buy anything at all but necessities and I have enough books to open a shop, so . . . not happening. Highly recommended. I'm glad I bought this one before my buying ban started.

70. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 9 by Kousuke Oono - As usual, there are lots of chuckles in this 9th volume of one of my favorite manga series'. In one story, Tatsu is hanging out with a little girl who refuses to eat vegetables and she is a pro. She can even spot finely chopped veggies mixed into things. Can Tatsu convince her that smaller is better? In another story, two children are arguing about which kind of beetle would win in a match, then Tatsu and his friend decide to take up the challenge but the beetles have another idea. There's another story with an insect (the kind that survives nuclear bombs). I have nightmares about those monsters, so I knocked a point off for too much insect content but I laughed so much reading this book that it can't go below a 4/5. I think one of my favorite stories was the one in which Tatsu shows a local Yakuza gang who refuse to take off their suits how to keep cool during a heat wave. Hilarious. What a fun series. 

71. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green - Aza has serious anxiety issues. She has a callous on one finger that she's constantly breaking open and bandaging back up and a fear of C. Diff infections. Her best friend and her mother are perplexed by her anxieties and do the best they can but even Aza knows she's a wreck. When the wealthy father of Davis, a friend she met at "sad camp" (for children who've lost a parent) goes missing and there's a large reward, Aza and best friend Daisy decide to try to find him for the reward money. Meanwhile, Aza is reaquainted with Davis, who is filthy rich but now parentless and dealing with a little brother who can't cope with his father's abandonment. When friendship turns to sort-of dating, Aza's obsession with her microbiome leads to some very awkward situations and she begins to spiral out of control. I love John Green's writing and enjoyed this book but I admit that I had trouble wrapping my mind around the level of anxiety Aza experiences. Having said that, I recall reading that this is Green's most personal book and that he's experienced crippling anxiety so I was thinking about that as I read the book and I think that made it slightly more real to me, just knowing that what his character experiences is a fictionalized version of his own reality. 

72. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson - Sophia, her father, and her grandmother are spending the summer at their island home. Grandmother is 85 years old. She's tired and stiff, a little crotchety, and likes to take naps and read but also has occasional wild bursts of artistic creativity, like the time she and Sophia recreate Venice using rocks, pieces of marble, driftwood, and watercolors. Sophia is 6 years old. She's a bit precocious but also temperamental. She and her grandmother spend most of their time together and they sometimes get along, sometimes argue. They worry together when Sophia's father goes to town on the boat and the weather turns bad. Each of the interconnected stories tells about a small part of their summer. What a fascinating book. It's about nothing and everything, the beauty of the island and the way Finnish islanders live, age and youth, creative ways to spend time. It's very everyday and yet it makes your mouth drop a little if you've written. Why didn't I think to write like this of my childhood home? Ugh. I loved this book, for the most part, but there is a bit of unsettling cruelty to cats. 

73. Apartment 713 by Kevin Sylvester - No dates or ages are given in this time travel book (although there are plenty of hints that the past in this book is the 1920s, post-"Great War" and prior to the stock market crash). I have no idea how old the hero and heroine, Jake and Beth, are. I presumed the book was middle grade. Jake and his mother have fallen on hard times. His mother has lost her job and split with her partner so they've had to leave their nice house, sell most of their possessions, and move into a crumbling apartment building called the Regency. Jake is frustrated and bored till he meets Danny, the superintendent. Danny introduces Jake to some of the building's secrets and gives him odd jobs. Gradually, Jake is beginning to befriend the building's occupants and finds out the building is in danger, but then one day he steps into Apartment 713 and falls back in time. There, he meets Beth. While their friendship develops, they seek out clues in the hope of finding a way to prevent the building from being torn down in Jake's (present) time. I loved everything about this book: the relationships, the imaginative design of the Regency, the unfolding of clues, even the way Jake met famous people from Beth's time. I usually kind of dislike scenes in which people meet the famous from another time in time travel because it's so unrealistic but this time it felt like there was a higher purpose. It's only 231 pages but I honestly didn't want this book to end. 

74. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - This is a hard book to summarize but the main character is Toru. Toru is a bit of a loner, a lover of music and books. From his high school days with two friends who happen to be dating each other, through his college years, Norwegian Wood describes a young man who is trying to figure out who he is while navigating school, work, and life with the people in his small circle. While I'm not massively in love with the story, the craftsmanship of Norwegian Wood is stunning. I had to keep stopping to read particularly beautiful sentences several times before I could move on. I think this is just the second full novel I've read by Murakami and so far I still prefer his short stories and nonfiction to his longer works but I'm so impressed with his writing that I'll keep challenging myself to read his longer fiction. 

75. Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (reread) - I suggested Moon of the Crusted Snow for our June read in my online book group because it was the book I most wanted to read (and I needed an excuse to buy it). Then, I read it to make sure it was discussion-worthy. Yep, it's a good one. I've already written about it but I have some further thoughts from the reread. It's always fascinating what you forget or notice on a second reading. In this case, there was a part I had totally forgotten -- something the main character, Evan, does in case things get worse in his little village. As a reminder, Moon of the Crusted Snow is post-apocalyptic and set in an indigenous community in Northern Ontario. I think the indigenous spin, with bits of native language and tradition makes this a particularly interesting read but I also think it's just a good post-apocalyptic story with a nice, creepy undertone and I'm hoping I'll manage to read the second book, eventually. 

76. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida - Clarissa's father Richard has died, her mother ran off years ago, and now she's discovered that Richard was not her biological father . . . and her fiancé knew. Upset by the news, she hastily decides to uncover her father's identity. She travels to Lapland, where her mother's first husband lives. But there are buried secrets that will change the course of her life. This was my latest stationary bike read. It worked well in small chunks but the main character is unlikable so I finally decided I wanted to finish up the book. The story is a good one, well-written and with a map and descriptions that will make you want to hop a plane. Also, the setting is certainly one I've never experienced. So, I enjoyed the novel in spite of its salty heroine. And, I really would like a vacation in Lapland. 

77. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward Fitzgerald - I was flipping through postcards with book covers on them, looking for one to send to a friend, when I came across a cover of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. I've had a copy of that book since the 1990s, probably purchased in Publisher's Outlet, where I used to work. So, I figured it's about time to read it, thanks to the nudge from that postcard. How entertaining! Some of the poems meant little to me but what I got out of it was that Omar really liked wine, didn't believe in Heaven or Hell, and had a bit of an eye for beauty and a touch of wit. I particularly like the fact that most of the poetry in my copy is repeated in a second section (with a few more added) so that you get a second shot at understanding something you already read. Also, the Quality Paperback Club edition that I bought has some beautiful color plates. A book I will likely return to many times. 

©2024 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos. 

Everything I Read in May, 2024

May:

51. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann - If you read last month's post, you know I avoided this book for ages because the murders happened a bit too close to my hometown in Oklahoma. But, my local book group (which I no longer attend, although I'm still keeping in touch) was planning to discuss Flower Moon this month and friend Linda encouraged me to read and share my thoughts by email. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. It's still a miserable thing to read about, just knowing the horror the Osage Indians went through and the trauma they still live with, today. But, I thought the book was thorough, well-written, and it held my attention. I also appreciated all of the photographs. The "Birth of the FBI" side of the story was much more fascinating than I expected. I particularly admired the FBI agent in charge of the investigation into the murders. True crime is not generally my thing because I find it so upsetting, and often nightmare-inducing, but I would definitely recommend Killers of the Flower Moon. 

52. The Hopkins Manuscript by R. C. Sherriff - A new favorite Persephone title. Edgar Hopkins is an amateur astronomer and a country gentleman, retired school master, and avid chicken breeder in the 1940s. When his astronomy club announces that the moon is going to crash into the Earth, his story begins. Long after everyone in England has died of starvation, his manuscript is found in a Thermos flask, telling the story of how he found out about the coming cataclysm, the early years with those who survived, and then the reason everything went downhill. The story is both gripping in the lead-up to the cataclysm and has a lovely "found family" aspect. Just a rocking fine bit of storytelling. I didn't want to put it down. 

53. Otis and the Kittens by Loren Long - This children's picture book is one from a big box of Dolly's Imagination Library books that was donated to our local library sale. I grabbed just the one (we have a lot of children come to the library sales so I felt like they needed to be saved for the littles) because kittens . . . a favorite children's book subject, of course! Unfortunately, the story was really about Otis; it was not a kitten story at all. It told about Otis the Tractor, how he loved to play tug-of-war with his animal friends, and then his heroic trips into a barn that caught fire to save a litter of kittens, the last trip ending in the disaster of Otis falling through the floor. I found the story a little too frightening and not the message I would ever want to send to a small child about how to react to fire. From reading reviews, it appears Otis has an entire series. I'm not surprised. The illustrations are marvelous and a friendly tractor on a farm is always a fun subject but this particular book is not one I'd give to a child in my family. 

54. Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book by Diane Muldrow - I got this book from the library sale, as well, a cutesy book in which there's a single sentence on each page and sometimes just a word. "Frolic!" with an illustration of Tootle, for example (Tootle the Train frolicking amongst the buttercups). It's silly and I expected that. I was really in it to enjoy the illustrations from various Little Golden Books and the words were almost superfluous. I enjoyed looking at the illustrations because they bring back memories. But, honestly, I'd rather just sit on the floor with a pile of the old Golden books. The only one I know we still own is actually Tootle, though, so that's not happening. If you're a person who loves old illustrations, this book is fun to flip through. Otherwise, it really has no purpose; it's just a novelty book. 

55. Glitch by Laura Martin - A super fun middle grade time travel. Elliott and Regan are Glitchers, people who have the genetic ability to travel through time. On a secretive island, there's an academy to train them in traveling to the past without doing damage while capturing the bad guys, known as "Butterflies" who seek to change history. Unfortunately, Regan and Elliott can't stand each other. But, when they're put together to train as a team and then things go horribly wrong, will they be willing to break the law together to save everyone they know? I enjoyed this book, although I thought the animosity between the two kids went on for an annoyingly long time and then the segue to getting along was a bit abrupt. But, it's adventurous, thrilling, and even a bit educational as the main characters travel to the past and historical events are described, so it gets a big thumbs up. 

56. French Windows by Antoine Laurain - The latest from one of my most recent additions to my favorite authors is about a psychiatrist, a patient of his who will only speak through typewritten stories, and a dark secret. Nathalia is a photographer but she's been unable to do her job since she witnessed a murder. Dr. Faber can get no more out of her but she mentions that she writes, so he suggest that she write stories and then analyzes the stories for clues to what's going on. Each story is about someone living in Nathalia's apartment complex, in the building visible from her windows. From them, he draws clues. But, what is Nathalia trying to say? I've been working on slowly trying to read everything Antoine Laurain has written so it's especially exciting when an unexpected Antoine Laurain book shows up in the mail. His stories have two elements I love: an especially surprising ability to make the reader think, "Where is this headed?" and then pull all of the various strands together beautifully and with wit; and, a unique charm, often due to a romantic element. The charm is lacking in this story, but the pulling together of elements in a clever way is there, so I still enjoyed it. I received an ARC of French Windows from Meryl Zagarek Public Relations. Its release date is sometime in June. Thank you so much, Meryl! Here's a link to another of Antoine Laurain's books that I enjoyed: Red is My Heart

57. Clarice the Brave by Lisa McMann - Clarice and her brother Charles Sebastian were born on a ship at sea. There, they were taught to be cautious by their mother before her tragic demise. There are many dangers on the ship, including cats, the boots of humans, and some very mean chickens. When a band of mutineers take over the ship and toss the captain and his loyalists into a launch boat, Clarice ends up on the launch with one of the ship's cats, Special Lady, and Charles Sebastian must fend for himself on the ship. Before the launch pulls away, Clarice shouts to Charles Sebastian that she believes in him. He's been coddled all of his life and she worries about his ability to make it on his own. Determined to find each other, they must first find a way to survive. Clarice wisely finds a way to keep Special Lady (who ate her sister) from turning her into lunch while Charles Sebastian befriends a girl who has been thrown into a cage and chained for the error of overhearing the mutineers' plans. While each of the mice is forging special relationships, they must also survive their own harrowing adventures. Will they ever find each other? There were times I thought Clarice the Brave might be a little too frightening for middle graders and one time the events were so upsetting I refused to believe a particular death had occurred but I closed the book feeling immensely satisfied. What an adventure!

58. Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy - Yippee! A new book by Simon! Helen Cartwright has lost everyone she loved and returned to her hometown in England after 60 years in Australia. She spends her days simply, eating very little and drinking lots of tea, taking warm baths to soothe her aching body, watching TV and listening to the radio. She is waiting to die. When a neighbor puts an aquarium full of toys and garbage outside, Helen is drawn to an object that stirs a distant memory. But, bringing it home leads to a mouse entering her life and the mouse will change everything. Helen doesn't want a mouse in her house. The mouse, though, ends up bringing new friends into her life. Found family! My favorite trope. Sipsworth begins slowly as you get to know Helen and her routine while experiencing her pain and loneliness, but then the pace picks up as Helen reaches out for help. Another lovely, heartwarming story from Simon Van Booy, highly recommended. 

59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest - In my quest to read and part with older books I've been hanging onto for eons, I found this 1970s gem that was made into a movie and it became my latest stationary bike read. Cal and Beth, Buck and Conrad were a happy, active family until tragedy struck. Now, Buck is dead and Conrad has attempted to take his own life. Cal is the sensitive parent, the one who tries to understand what happened and guide Conrad back to normality. Beth seems distant, eager to escape from home and keep herself busy with tennis and golf. While Conrad drifts from his friends and goes through therapy, tension builds between Cal and Beth. Then, a second tragedy rocks Conrad but simultaneously helps him understand his own emotions. And, new love will help him regain his hope. The book is much like it sounds, a story of ordinary people dealing with loss in their own ways but ending with a ray of hope. I liked it, although it was an emotional rollercoaster. Now, I want to rewatch the movie. 

60. Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring - I found a copy of this play (which you may know from the movie starring Cary Grant) at a recent library sale and decided to read it when I was looking for something quick to read while we were going through a very busy week with a guest in the house. As it turned out, it's a fun, easy, slapstick read and I could practically see Cary Grant while I was reading, but it took me days because having a houseguest is not a typical thing for us and I was flattened by the end of each day. At any rate, I'd normally read it in an afternoon and it was an absolute delight in spite of being spread out over several days. Now, I need to re-watch the movie. 

61. Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith - A heavily-researched (the bibliography is huge) book about women who lived on the American Frontier, including non-whites, single women, women left on their own to cope when the men were away, and widows. A nice, all-encompassing look at what life was like for women and how many of the early female settlers of the West went on to be leaders in business, law, medicine, social structure (including the building of churches and libraries as well as organizations for women's suffrage, temperance, etc.). I think the most eye-opening thing about this book is the fact that it appears that life was somewhat more progressive amongst the Western settlers than American life is today, although there were certain religions that were adamant about a woman's place being in the home. The second and third generation women of the West pretty much ignored them, though. Lots of photos in this book and enough information to make me want to read more. 

62. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - A reread for group discussion but the leader of this discussion never did set a discussion date, so . . . can't say what others think. I liked this book just as much the second time around with one exception: I got tired of the Navy SEAL jargon. Otherwise, the concepts still resonate with me. I'm all in favor of the idea that one should own his or her actions. My husband has participated in the Echelon Front leadership training and believes it's made a difference to his team at work. But, I have no use for business advice so I looked at the various concepts from more of a viewpoint of interacting with others. At any rate, it's a good book and I still highly recommend it after a second reading. 

63. Vertical Run by Joseph R. Garber - Another reread, a 90s thriller that I first read not long after publication. David Elliott served in the Special Forces in Vietnam. 25 years later, he's a successful businessman. So, why does everyone suddenly want to kill him? While a large number of people who clearly have the same training as Dave are hunting him down in the NY skyscraper in which he works, Dave uses the same skills to set traps and elude them while trying to unravel the mystery of why he's being pursued. The story is a bit dated and becomes more implausible the farther you get into it. Even the main character is baffled as to why they didn't just tell him the truth, when he finds out. No biggie. It's taut and exciting with an intelligent hero, if a bit high in body count. I enjoyed it every bit as much the second time around.

64. No Better Medicine by Kelly Meister-Yetter - What a lovely memoir. Kelly Meister-Yetter tells about her love of animals and how they and a new man in her life helped her heal from childhood abuse. Told as a series of vignettes, the author describes how she, known locally as "the Critter Lady", helped care for discarded pet ducks and her own little menagerie of cats while also visiting a local barn full of rescued animals, where she learned how to ride horses and eventually leased a horse who needed help dealing with his own fears. You can't help but admire Kelly's fierce love of animals and the time and dedication she has given to caring for them. I confess to tearing up a little, at times. I may not be acquainted with any ducks or horses but I can relate to the deep affection she has for animals and how they help one deal with chaotic emotion.  

May was a pretty good month! There was only one book I didn't really like: Otis and the Kittens, although Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book was just a gimmick, much as I liked the illustrations. Fortunately, both of those took no time at all to read. I had a lot of favorites: Glitch, The Hopkins Manuscript, Sipsworth, and Vertical Run are among them. No Better Medicine, Arsenic and Old Lace, Clarice the Brave . . . oh, goodness, just about everything was fantastic. Ordinary  People eventually became tiresome but that's often true of stationary bike reads. I end up taking them off the bike rack to finish. 

I included the cat picture because I'm relieved that Isabel has more energy than she's had, recently. I can't recall if I've mentioned that she has a degenerative neurological condition. She was looking scruffy, not grooming herself as well and acting a bit sluggish for a couple weeks. But, her steroid shot seems to have finally helped her perk up, even though it took about a week to take effect. At any rate, she's looking better, for now, and I have my fingers crossed that she'll keep on ticking. 

©2024 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos. 

Everything I Read in April, 2024

April: 

42. Ruby Parker Hits the Small Time by Rowan Coleman - Ruby has always been dramatic, so her parents signed her up for drama lessons when she was very young. At her Saturday drama class, at the age of 6, she was discovered and since then she's been acting in a soap opera called Kensington Heights and attending an exclusive drama school. At the time she began acting in the series, her blonde ringlets and dimples made her appealing. Now 13, Ruby is going through an awkward stage. When she overhears talk about killing her character off and then her parents announce that they're separating and her father is moving out, effective immediately, Ruby's world is turned upside-down. Can Ruby convince her parents that they should stick together for her sake (if they really love her)? Will Ruby's character be killed off the show? How will she survive school if she loses her job? She's already a bit of an outcast. With the help of her friend Nydia (who makes hilariously bad suggestions), Ruby pursues her goals. Not the greatest middle grade book but I liked the fact that part of Ruby's dilemma was about already being successful at a young age, which kind of turned the "dreaming of being famous one day" trope on its head. 

43. I Will Not Die Alone by Dera White and Joe Bennett - A book of interconnected comics, I Will Not Die Alone starts out with some very silly images saying things like, "I will pursue my dreams, regardless" (not necessarily the exact wording) showing a mole with a telescope. Haha, good one. I wasn't sure of the point, at first, but then midway through the book, someone looks through the telescope and discovers that a comet is headed toward Earth. The pithy comments below each image continue as you view the animals realizing what's coming, grieving, and then just going on with life in spite of knowing it's going to end, soon. Honestly, I was totally lost until the comet. Then, I got it: whatever happens, you just have to get on with your life. I read some reviews and a lot of people were left flat but I found the storyline both poignant and hilarious. 

44. Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan - Published in 1990, Mean Spirit is a fictional account of the murders in Osage County in the 1920s that are better known through the book and movie Killers of the Flower Moon. I've avoided reading Flower Moon because my hometown was maybe 5 miles from Osage County, so I can't compare the two (I thought fiction would be easier to handle — yeah, no). Wow, what a difficult read. It's told from the viewpoint of the Native Americans and I appreciated that, although it was awful reading about the horror and fear as people were being murdered left and right. Mean Spirit also brought back some unsettling memories, for me. For ages, I have remembered going to a big white building, where my father had a friend working and we would play with that friend's children, for a year or two when I was very young. But, I didn't know what the building was until the teenagers in the book were sent off to Indian school and I thought, "Wait a minute. Indian school." I googled Indian school near [my hometown] and yep, that big white building was Chilocco Indian School. Knowing what we now know about Indian schools, I was teary off and on all evening when I figured that out. As of the book's publication, people who stole land in the 1920s were still receiving royalty checks from the oil found on that stolen land. That's insane and should be fixed, if it hasn't already (I doubt it has). A 5-star read, painful but important and beautifully rendered. 

45. The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis - Francie's friend is getting married in Roswell, New Mexico, and she's the maid of honor. Knowing friend Serena has a tendency to get engaged to very strange men, Francie thinks her job will likely be talking the bride out of marrying. But, when Serena sends Francie to her car to grab some sparkly lights, Francie is kidnapped by an alien. The alien wants her to drive somewhere but she isn't able to communicate with it. Along the way, more people are kidnapped until there is an RV with an ensemble of nutty people, all trying to figure out what the alien (whom they call "Indy") wants, his intended destination, and why he's in such a hurry. Like Project Hail Mary and the movie The Arrival, there's a linguistic aspect to this story as Francie attempts to figure out how to communicate with Indy, which is enjoyable. But, in general, the tone is funny, light, even goofy. A great book to read after you've read something heavy, when you need a mental break. 

46. Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice - Evan and his wife Nicole, and their two children are going about their lives in their small Anishinaabe community when they lose power and then phone service. At first, everyone is certain that the power will return and the food shipment will eventually arrive. But as time drags on, nothing happens and it becomes important for the community to band together to share resources, conserve energy, and help out the elderly as it's going to be a long, harsh winter. This story is very everyday but with a tense undercurrent. I liked it particularly for both the Indigenous influence (the descriptions of tradition and the use of native language) and the survival aspect. The pacing is slow but the pages flew and I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series. 

47. We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett - This month's Zoom book group selection is a fantasy based on the real-life WWII female pilots known as the Night Witches. Two women are being punished, one for using magic to save herself and someone else when her town was being bombed, the other for pretending to be a male and joining the army. Their punishment is to become part of a group of women who will use their special talents to fly the oldest, slowest planes available. The better planes are to be saved for the men. A good portion of the book is dedicated to the personalities of the pilots and how they learn to work together while also learning how to fly, navigate, and drop bombs. Then, they are sent to bomb the enemy. One problem: anyone who is shot down but survives and finds their way home is considered a spy. But, staying behind enemy lines means certain death. Who will live and who will die? I generally dislike fantasy but the basis in a piece of WWII history that I was familiar with kept the pages turning, early on, and then it eventually became very tense and exciting. 

48. Spy X Family, Vol. 11 by Tatsuya Endo - Quite possibly the best of the series, Volume 11 of Spy X Family focuses on a single story about the children from Anya's school. Out for a field trip in several buses, two of the buses are highjacked and the kidnappers threaten to kill the children if they don't get what they've asked for. Anya's ability to read minds is helpful as she's able to hear what the kidnappers are planning. Meanwhile, her fake father is off on a mission but her fake mother's brother is determined to become involved in the rescue. It was interesting seeing very little of the two main adult characters but what made this such a great entry in the series was that it was just a good story, all around, and Anya's mind reading made for some light moments. 

49. The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson - I loved Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (and at least one short story I've read by Wilson in McSweeney's) so I bought several of Wilson's books before my book-buying ban started. The Family Fang continues to display his quirky style, bouncing back and forth between examples of the "art" the family makes, creating chaos and filming it, and the current chaos that's caused the grown children, Annie and Buster, to return home. Annie is now an actress and Buster is a writer. When Annie becomes tabloid fodder and Buster is seriously injured by a potato gun, they go home to recover but are no longer interested in their parents' form of art. But, then their parents disappear. Convinced that they must be creating art, again, rather than truly kidnapped as the police say, Annie and Buster attempt to draw their parents out. Are they dead or alive? I liked this book but about halfway through it I became rather weary of the story, so I took about a week off and then returned to it. In the end, I found it satisfying but The Family Fang is not a book I'll keep for a reread. 

50. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald - In spite of my vow not to participate in any challenges, I have been quietly joining in on a Wichita library challenge for which friend Carrie sent a bookmark with blanks beside particular categories. Since I'm not buying books, I'm using only books already on my shelves for this challenge. In 1959, Florence Green, a middle-aged widow, has decided to open a bookshop in her small English village. A place called The Old House has been sitting empty for years, so she buys it and moves in. But, then she's invited to a party hosted by someone she doesn't really know, a posh woman who wants to turn The Old House into an arts center. Florence is already living in the house and setting up her store, so she ignores the rude implication that she should move out and lives, mostly comfortably, with a poltergeist occasionally creating a nuisance and help from a couple villagers. While The Bookshop is a novel, it's a short one at 124 pages so it has the feel of a snapshot in time like a short story. I quickly realized that I've read this book before but it was just as enjoyable the second time around. Lovely writing with some sly British humor. 

©2024 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.