Big Library Read - A Very Typical Family

 

Before I tell you anything about the book, let me just say that I love the idea of the Big Library Read. Libraries all over the country, all over the world, make the same book available to any library card holders (although from the website, it looks like you might not even need a library card to borrow). There are no waitlists. There are all sorts of discussions online. There are resources for in-person book club discussions. I love anything that makes books accessible to more people. This summer's Big Library Read was A Very Typical Family by Sierra Godfrey.

This is a story about second chances within your family. Fifteen years earlier, Natalie called the police after her sister knocked her head while falling down the stairs. Natalie had arrived home to her sister, brother, and their friend stoned out of their minds. Natalie got into an argument with her sister that lead to the fall. (The comment I'd like to insert here would be a spoiler so I'll keep it to myself.) The brother and sister end up in prison and Natalie leaves home and never looks back. She has no contact with her sister or brother and minimal contact with her mother. Even that contact dries up after awhile. 

Natalie, in a job she doesn't really like, with a boyfriend she doesn't really love, gets a letter from a lawyer in California that her mother has died. Her mother owned a large Victorian house that she's leaving to her three kids but the only way they can inherit the house is if they are all at the house together. Considering the fact that they don't speak, at all, that might be difficult.

Natalie drives across the country from Boston to Santa Cruz, California with her cat and some insect or other creature that she keeps in a jar and feeds crickets. Shortly after she arrives, her sister, Lynn, and Lynn's son, Kit, arrive at the house. Somehow they manage to stay there together. Natalie then starts the search for their brother, Jake. He's some respected orthinotologist at some big institute in Santa Cruz. Only he's been missing for weeks and no one knows where he is. Will they be able to find Jake so they can inherit the house?

The book was pleasant enough to read. Something nagged at me the entire time (same spoiler I referred to earlier) but otherwise, I looked forward to seeing how the author would resolve things.

I loved the relationship that Natalie develops with her newly discovered nephew, Kit. I loved how Natalie realized the importance of her female friendships. And I loved the sense of place that Sierra Godfrey creates. (Santa Cruz is her hometown and you can tell.) Now I'd love to visit Santa Cruz! But yes, there was that one little issue that bugged me. And from some of the online discussions that I read, it bothered other readers as well.

Childhood's End

Let me say it again. Science fiction is really not my genre. At all! When Books & Beer was deciding what book to read for our science fiction month, I had nothing to contribute and said I'd just go with whatever the majority wanted. At the meeting, only the person who suggested this title liked the book. At all. (One other member, who missed the meeting, said she liked it, too.)

I guess Arthur C. Clarke is a big name in science fiction. He wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey which I never read, but I did see the movie. And probably didn't enjoy. Childhood's End was a novel he wrote in the 1950s so I suppose this might also be considered a classic?

Alien invaders bring peace to the Earth. Not everyone is happy with that. But even bigger remains the question of what is the agenda of these aliens. 

By the time of our book club meeting, I still had another 34 pages left to read in the book. I still hadn't gotten up to the point of the novel where the title makes sense. Because I had to purchase the novel, it wasn't available at my libraries, I came home from the meeting and finished the book. Still didn't like it.

My guess is if you're a science fiction fan is that you've already read this. And if you're not a science fiction fan, just skip it.

Happy Place

Emily Henry's latest, Happy Place, is another book that could be considered a beach read. (The meat of the novel doesn't crop up until nearly the end of the novel.) As such, I started to listen to this one at the beach. It was a great novel to listen to as I was at my happy place.

Harriet's story is told from "real life" and her "happy place," with her happy place being mostly an over-the-top beach "cabin" on the coast in Maine where Harriet and her two college roommates have spent a week every summer. for over 10 years  Over the years, romantic partners are included. The "cabin" is owned by Sabrina's father. His wife #3 (or was it wife #4) thinks it's time that he sells the "cabin" so this is the last summer trip the college roommates will be able to enjoy.

Harriet's happy place becomes a bit less happy (understatement) when she spots her former fiancé, Wyn, at the cabin. What is he doing there? Harriet hasn't told anyone that she and Wyn have broken up. Because this will be the final week at the cabin, the couple decides to pretend that they are still together, as to not ruin the weekend.

The first 90% of the novel is pure fluff, some of it a bit repetitive. And you start to wonder how someone who was able to make it through medical school (Harriet is in a residency in her quest to become a brain surgeon) is so flighty and wishy-washy. For me, the end of the novel, when we really figure out what's going on with Harriet and Wyn, that's where there's some real substance with an important message. A message that gave me satisfaction to hear.

If you like Emily Henry, you should enjoy her latest.

 

The Italian Ballerina

I'm still trying to read all the books I can that are set in places in Italy that I might be visiting. A good part of The Italian Ballerina by Kristy Cambron is set in Rome. What was especially nice is that some of the history that was covered in this novel was something I'd first learned about in Eternal by Lisa Scottoline.

Before I tell you a little bit about the story, I must say what I didn't like about this novel. It's told from the point-of-view of several of the characters. The timelines jump around, even within chapters! Once I figured out that this time jumping was similar from chapter to chapter, it became a lot confusing. But I'm really not sure why they author decided to write the book this exact way.

Shortly after the death of Dr. Court Coleman, as his family is trying to pick up the pieces, the family is contacted by an Italian woman who claims to have a precious heirloom of Dr. Coleman. His family knew that he had been in Italy during WWII, but what was his connection to this mysterious woman.

Eventually, granddaughter, Del, decides to travel to Italy to unravel this mystery. She (and the reader) learn about what her grandfather experienced during WWII during the time when Jews were being most persecuted in Italy. Court is part of a scheme set in motion by a doctor and a prima ballerina from London to do what they can to protect as many Jews as they can. (The connection to Eternal: Syndrome K, a made up highly contagious disease that a doctor in a Roman hospital creates in order to keep the Nazis out of his hospital wards, the wards where he attempts to protect the Jews.)

In Italy, Del stays with the mystery woman, Italian ballerina, Calla, and her grandson, Matt. Slowly, Del learns Calla's story and how her grandfather's story intersected with hers.

I believe the only factual information in this novel was about Syndrome K. But the story does prove that even during a horrific time in history, there were good people going above and beyond to do good deeds.

In fact, the real life doctor, Dr. Borromeo was recognized posthumously by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations, an honor used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. In addition, the hospital, the Fatebenefratelli Hospital, received an honor in 2016 from the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, an American organization dedicated to remembering and honoring acts of heroism during the Holocaust. 

Off to google if the hospital is something I might want to see while in Rome. (It's not too far from where we are staying. Perhaps it will be somehow included in our walking tour of the Jewish ghetto.)

Love in the Library

 

Until I went to grab a copy of the cover of the book online, I'd forgotten why I'd requested Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall from the library. Love in the Library is based on the true story of the author's grandparents meeting and falling in love while in a Japanese internment camp where her grandmother was the librarian. This is a very short picture book and there's not much meat to it. I will always view picture books within the context of a fifth grade classroom. I taught about Japanese internment when I taught fifth grade and this is not a book that I would have shared with my class. There was nothing to it. The only substance was in the author's note at the end. I also wondered why the illustrations didn't have the characters, Tama and George, looking Japanese. (And hey, would I even be allowed to teach about Japanese internment these days? And how disturbing is that!)

Here's the author's blog that will fill you in on the situation much better than I can. But in a nutshell, Tokuda-Hall wrote the author's note that I read in my library copy. Remember, thta's the only bit of the book that I felt had any substance. Scholastic had offered to license her book. BUT... they wanted the author's note edited - to remove all the substanitative writing from it - to ... to what? Make it less offensive? Offensive to whom? Make it less likely to be banned? Are publishers thinking that way? This is why I read this simple picture book and why I think you should, too.

Why shouldn't young children learn about Japanese internment camps? Why shouldn't young children learn about the crisis at our southern border? We're not talking kindergartners here. We're talking about older elementary school children who have a right to learn the true history of our country. A good teacher knows how to frame such a book. A racist parent does not. Which is why the racist parent takes offense. 

The more I think about this, the angrier I become. I guess I'm glad that I read this book, if only to be more familiar with the conflict with Scholastic. Book banning terrifies me. It should bother you, too.

The Book That Matters Most

I really expected to love Ann Hood's The Book That Matters Most. I simply liked it. It's the story of Ava. Her husband has left her, her kids have flown the coop, so she joins her best friend librarian at the library book club. Ava used to love to read and she needs the companionship so figures a book club will be perfect for her. I love reading. I love the companionship of a book club. That wasn't enough.

The book club picks a theme for each year. The year that Ava joins, the theme is "the book that matters most." Each member picks a book that matters most to them. Ava picks an obscure book, one from her childhood. One she considered her salvation after the death of her sister.

This novel was too neat and tidy for me. Too many connections that didn't really make sense. I also felt the character development was weaker than it should have been for a storyline such as this. Yes, we did see Ava grow a little bit, but I wanted more to the story of why she changed. I also had a difficult time with the story of Ava's daughter, Maggie. Her storyline was also wrapped up too neat and tidy.

The Book That Matters Most was a pleasant enough read, but not one that I'd  recommend.

 

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

 I'm getting the hang of alternating reading and listening to a book which was perfect for Alka Joshi's The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. I loved listening to her earlier novel, The Henna Artist, so wanted that pleasure. But knew I didn't have the time to finish listening to this one within the library loan time. It's an old enough book that I was able to get both the e-book and the audiobook out of the library at the same time. I'm glad I did it this way, too. The Henna Artist was one of the best audiobooks I listened to and I would have been disappointed if I couldn't listen to The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. I didn't love the readers of this second in the series so was happy to be have heard enough to know I was okay with "just" reading the e-book.

Both those books are part of a trilogy. The third book is The Perfumist of Paris which has been added to be "to be read" list. I'll probably try to listen to that one, too. We are introduced to all the characters in The Henna Artist. Lakshmi and Malik from the first novel are the main characters of this second installment. It's 12 years later. Lakshmi is more established in Shimla, married to Dr. Jay. At 20-years old, Malik has finished private school and is ready to find his place in the world. He's started a relationship with a young widow, a tribal woman from the Himalayan mountains, and her 2 very young children, but Lakshmi, his guardian, thinks it's time for him to return to Jaipur and to learn the construction business. Off he goes. We learn about the multiple secrets that are being closely guarded.

The project that Malik works on, a big huge fancy movie theater, suffers a partial collapse on opening day. What could have caused this? And how is the tragedy related to what is going on back in Shimla? What's the connection?

Joshi does an excellent job of reminding you of the relationships between the characters in The Henna Artist in a way that's weaved into the storytelling. The only characters you need to have a better sense of - which would have come from reading the first book - were the maharanis. Knowing those characters from before made their actions in this novel make perfect sense.

I've heard The Perfumist of Paris, which tells the story of Radha, Lakshmi's younger sister, is the perfect wrap up to the series and I look forward to reading that one.

Golden Hills

Golden Hills by Jennifer Weiner is a short story that I picked up through Amazon's Prime First Reads program a month or two ago. I'm not a big fan of short stories as they always make me wanting more. Golden Hills was handy to have around the other night when I'd finished one book and messed up my next library loan.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this short story, but it didn't deliver. Ida Berkowitz is running for Senate in New York. In October, she gets a heads up that a nemesis, Marissa,  from her youth is participating in a press conference related to Ida's past. Could this be trouble? What's up with this October surprise? Marissa is married to a wealthy conservative donor and is being hosted by a conservative commentator. 

Ida and Marissa met at "fat camp" when they were 16-years old. Ida was the daughter of a hardworking single mom who didn't have much to spare and Marissa was the girl who had everything. Yet somehow the two become friends. Weiner makes you wonder what could have possible happened to tear them apart. What's the scandal?

There was too much thrown into this short little story. Politics was unnecessary. Why were the girls at "fat camp"? And why was Ida gay? This was a short story about friendship, worry, and forgiveness. It was pleasant enough to read and it fit the purpose I needed it for.