Anxious People

I could not have selected a better book to finish up my 2020 reading with than Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. This quirky, humorous novel about a sensitive, important subject really helps to zoom in on what is most important in life. Our connection to other people.

2020 has been a total dumpster fire of a year. Plans needed to be shelved. I learned that people whom I considered friends had very different values than I have, making me wonder if we can still be friends. (In some cases yes, in other cases no.) Virtual contact with others became a lifeline to the outside world. And reading helped me get through the year.

Again I say, this book was the perfect book to finish on the final day of this terrible year.

Backman, author of A Man Called Ove, which I loved, and My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry, which I liked (a little too much fantasy-type writing in this one), really hit it out of the park with Anxious People.

It's the story of a bank robbery gone wrong. Maybe. It's about a hostage situation. Maybe. It's a story about idiots. It's about truth.

It's about marriage, compassion, family relationships, finding meaning in life. All told through the story of a seemingly random group of people thrown together at an open house for an apartment in a small town. There's the wealthy banker, the long-time older married couple who can't stop  bickering. There's the newly married couple expecting their first child. There's the elderly woman, the real estate agent, the rabbit. 

We meet Nadia, therapist to the wealthy banker. Jim and Jack, the cops called to bring the hostage situation to a safe conclusion, are important characters in the story, too. Every single character in the tale, except for perhaps the hostage negotiator, has a story of his or her own. Each has longings, each has a desire, whether acknowledged or not, to be connected to others. I'd be hard pressed to give a better explanation than this without giving away much of the novel.

As in Backman's other novels that I've read, the characters are quirky. As you might know by now, I love quirky characters. He doesn't come right out and tell the story. He lets the story evolve. It's full of surprises and the reader wondering, "Hey, why didn't I realize that before?" It's important to read Backman novels carefully to be able to put all the pieces together.

I don't know that I'd say that Anxious People was the best book that I read in this terrible year. But it was in the top ten and it was the best book to finish the year with.

Happy New Year!
Happy reading!

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

 

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. Or at least she says she is. And she's sort of convinced herself that she really is fine. And that's the way Eleanor's story in Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman begins.

(Kind of like my mom in the last years of her life. She was always "Fine," whenever you asked how she was. In fact, everyone was fine and everything was fine. Was she trying to convince herself or just convince me?)

Eleanor is a 30-something living a solitary life in Scotland, working as an accounts clerk at a graphic design firm. She goes to work, where she spends much of each day judging her co-workers. She spends her lunch hour at the same spot eating the same thing every day, while doing the crossword puzzle. And then she goes home, alone, to eat (pesto during the week, pizza on Fridays), drink vodka, read, and sleep. A really sad existence. No friends. Unless she goes to her corner convenience store over the weekend, she can go from leaving work on Friday to returning to work on Monday without speaking to another soul.

At 30, Eleanor has zero social skills, an outdated way of speaking, and an odd sense of dress that she thinks should make her invisible, but rather makes her stand out as an oddball instead. She spots a musician with whom she "falls in love" and dreams of a normal future on the arms of this rock star.

In the process of trying to recreate herself to be the perfect mate to the musician, Eleanor is removed from her routines. While out of routine, she and a co-worker witness a man collapsing on the street and get him to the hospital. She is drawn into the lives of these two men and this is what really starts Eleanor's whole world changing.

I found parts of the novel extremely predictable, but Honeyman's descriptive language and development of the characters were a joy. Even when Eleanor rediscovers some not so joyful parts of her past, we are rooting for her. I'm sure I'm not alone in being able to connect with Eleanor on some levels. I don't want to say that this is a feel good read, because it truly isn't. But I did really enjoy reading it.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

How coincidental that two novels were published about the Pack Horse Library project within a few months of each other! Kim Michele Richardson's The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was published in May of 2019 and The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes just a few months later, in October. I read The Giver of Stars earlier this year.

Shall I start with the comparison of the two historical fiction novels? Hard not to compare them since they are pretty similar. They both use the backdrop of the Pack Horse Library in which to set their stories.

I think I'll start with the biggest differences first. To me, The Giver of Stars is primarily a story about friendship and about overcoming odds. The romance got a bit schmaltzy at times, but I enjoy Moyes straightforward writing style. And since it was the first of the two that I read, I got to learn about the (mostly) women who drove all over Appalachia delivering books to communities that wouldn't have had access any other way. So that's The Giver of Stars. The main storyline of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was about skin color. Notice how I didn't say "race"? The main character in Book Woman is Cussy Mary, also called "Bluet," one of the blue-skinned people from Kentucky. People afflicted with an enzyme deficiency can have blue  skin. In the 1930s in Kentucky (and I'd imagine a while afterwards), those with blue skin were lumped with "the coloreds." This is a big part of the story. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is almost a coming-of-age story about what it was like for Cussy Mark to reach adulthood as someone with blue skin.

The biggest similarity is that in both historical fiction novels the main characters are book women and have a love of books and words.

As soon as The Giver of Stars was released, there were accusations of plagiarism. That Jojo Moyes had copied many of the ideas from Kim Michele Richardson. I don't know if that's true, and I don't recall anything strikingly similar between the two plots. I would imagine that the similarities exist in description of the Pack Horse Librarians, but I can't be sure.

Richardson's language is a little richer and probably more fitting with the time during which the novel is set. Sometimes that language slowed me down a little, but not in any terrible way.

I gave both novels 4-stars on goodreads. That was a rounding up for The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, but a solid 4-stars for The Giver of Stars. Which is not to say that I liked the latter much more than the former. I just found Moyes a bit easier and quicker to read, and I love stories about women's friendships and second chances a bit more than coming of age stories at this point in my life.

You can't go wrong with either novel.

Florence Adler Swims Forever

As soon as I finished reading Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland, I gave it four stars on goodreads.com. It's been a few days  and now, as I'm deciding what to write about this debut novel, I'm wondering why I gave it 4 stars. It's a story about family secrets and I'm not sure I am crazy about the resolution of some of the conflicts. Then, after thinking a little bit more, I realized that I gave Florence Adler Swims Forever 4 stars because I really enjoyed reading it. It's not one of those novels where the characters or plot will stick with me forever. But I just plain took pleasure in the time I spent reading.

The book is set in Atlantic City in 1934. Life for the Jews in Europe is becoming more and more difficult. Atlantic City is an enclave for Jews who had immigrated in an earlier wave.

Florence Adler, the title character, actually has a fairly minor role in the book. She drowns in the ocean off the coast of Atlantic City while training to swim the English Channel in the first or second chapter. What happens after she dies is the basis of the novel.

Florence's sister, Fanny, is hospitalized, trying to save a pregnancy after losing a baby the summer before. Their mother, Esther, thinks it's important to keep the news of Florence's death from Fanny. Members of the family are harboring their own secrets as well. 

Beanland had an interesting way of storytelling. She wrote a chapter from each character's point of view in each section of the novel. That was a very effective way to fully develop the characters.

The author's notes and interview at the end of the book were very interesting as well. Beanland had a great-great-aunt, Florence, who drowned similar to her character Florence. She's taken a family story and adapted it. And it works!

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

When I was on Overdrive to request Barack Obama's newest memoir, I came across this picture book. There was a waitlist for it so I added my name to the list.

Of Thee I Sing is billed as a letter to Obama's daughters. It was written in 2010 when Obama's daughters were still very small, but I was still expecting a little more heft to this picture book. I had no idea who the target audience was. I guess in my "fifth grade teacher" mindset, I was anticipating a a middle grade picture book. It was exactly that.

This is a picture book that could be read to very small children as is to introduce them to some of the historical names of people who showed some sort of strength or drive in their lives. And even though it's short on details, it could be a great intro to a fourth or fifth grade class when starting a unit about Americans whose lives have had a big impact on society. It took me about 5 minutes to read Of Thee I Sing from cover to cover, but I could imagine the way I might have used it as a read aloud in my classroom.

Obama has a way with words and the illustrations by Loren Long were beautiful. 

In the right situation, this is a lovely picture book to share with some young people in your lives.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Lori Gottlieb's memoir, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed was highly recommended in Renee's Reading Club on Facebook. The idea of the group is to recommend titles so there is nearly no discussion about the books to avoid spoilers. (Details about the books are relegated to a different Facebook group.) I really had no idea what to expect, even after reading a blurb.

This memoir was definitely a heftier read than I expected it to me, but it was so worthwhile. I guess you have to believe that talk therapy is good for mental health in order to really get anything out of this book.

Lori Gottlieb takes an indirect career route to becoming a psychotherapist. She's been at it for a few years when she's blindsighted when "Boyfriend" dumps her. She's having trouble getting through the days and determines that it's time for the therapist to find a therapist.

By sharing anecdotes from Gottlieb's sessions with her patients (not her preferred term) and her sessions with her therapist, readers get a better understanding of what therapy can and can't do. Her narrative is completely relatable. I found myself nodding, laughing, being very moved as I read through the memoir.

I think this could be a great book to discuss with the proper book club. I know I'll recommend this book to others. Everyone should be able to get something very positive out of the experience of reading this book.