Dinner With Edward by Isabel Vincent

 

When Isabel Vincent moved to Roosevelt Island in New York City, she did so for her marriage.  A friend asked her to check in once in a while on her elderly father, Edward who also lived there.  Isobel was willing to help out a friend but she never expected that she would also find a friend for herself, one that understood her and helped her with her life.

Edward was grieving the death of his wife and not sure if he wanted to go on.  They had delighted in each other and in entertaining.  When Isabel went to see him, the first thing she noticed was the aromatic smells coming from his kitchen.  He served her a fabulous meal and the two ended up talking and getting acquainted, pleased to find that they enjoyed each other's company.  Soon they met every week for dinner at Edward's apartment. 

This is the story of that friendship.  Each chapter opens with the menu for the dinner and each sounds mouthwatering.  The reader learns cooking tips and about the history of New York.  Edward's long love affair with his wife is explored along with the breakdown of Isabel's marriage.  Inevitably, things change as Edward gets even older but the friendship endures. 

Isabel Vincent is an investigative journalist.  Her work has focused on sex trafficking of women, Hitler and his closest allies secret bank accounts and other work that exposes criminals and helps others, especially other women.  In this book, the reader realizes that friendship is golden wherever it can be found and that it can stretch across decades of age when one finds a kindred soul.  This book is recommended for memoir readers.  

The Women by Kristin Hannah

 

After Frances's (Frankie) brother is killed in Vietnam, she is determined to go there and finish what he started.  Her family was full of military men and she decided that if all that was left was a woman, a woman would go.  Frankie became a nurse and was in Vietnam in surgical theatres at age twenty-one.  She was shocked at the wounds and the constant death, the napalm burns and the amputations.  By the time she came home two years later, her memory was full of scenes she couldn't forget.

One of the worst was the paper that her fiance's father gave her when she went to visit him after her return.  Rye was supposed to be coming home twenty-three days after her but instead his father handed her the telegram that announced his death in a helicopter that was shot down.  Along with the nightmares and memories, this was too much for Frankie and she entered a spin that lasted for years.  By the time she found help, she was addicted to both pills and alcohol.

As she recovered from addiction, she was told she had to find a new passion.  She found it in helping other women who had been to Vietnam.  Many people believed no women had been there but there were nurses, Red Cross volunteers, administrative staff and in all, over ten thousand women are estimated to have been in Vietnam during the war.  

This was my first Kristin Hannah book.  I can tell that much research went into this and I also didn't realize how many women served in Vietnam.  I was in high school during the war and remember the march on Washington.  My first year in college I remember the night of the draft lottery where numbers were drawn and young men discovered if they would be drafted or not.  I remember how poorly our soldiers were treated upon their return and how controversial the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. was.  Along with the war, Hannah also explores the romantic lives of Frankie and her best friends, both of whom returned before she did.  This book is recommended for readers of historical and women's fiction.  

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

The Stack family lives in Dublin, Ireland.  Eilish, the mother, sees over four children, her husband, and her father who lives a few miles away.  She has a teenage son, a teenage daughter, a preteen son and a baby.  Her father is flirting with Alzheimer's disease and needs more and more help.  Her husband is the union representative for the teachers union.   Eilish barely has time to think about politics but things are happening.  A right wing group, almost fascist in purpose, has won at the polls and they are tightening things down.  One night Eilish goes to the door and two men are there from the government to talk with her husband.  He refuses to back down and when he goes to a large protest, he is arrested and imprisoned.

A rebellion forms to fight the government and its repression.  Soon Eilish loses her oldest son who leaves to fight with the rebellion.  Her sister who immigrated to Canada years ago wants Eilish to come with her children and father but Eilish can't imagine leaving everything they have built and not being there when her husband and her son return.  So she stays with her children as food gets short and electricity and water become infrequent.  Her sister sent money so Eilish can buy food when there is stock in the stores.  Soon her second son talks about joining the rebellion and Eilish is losing control of him.  When the fighting comes to Dublin itself and neighborhoods become battlefields, Eilish must decide how to save the children and herself.

I barely know how to write about this book.  It is stunning and prophetic and difficult to read.  Many will relate it to the political discord in the United States but the author in an interview says 'the end of the world is always happening somewhere' and further states that every country he goes to believes that he has told their story.  It is the story about what happens when those in power want more but more importantly, it is the story of human hope and how it can bloom in the worst situations.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers but it is not an easy read.  

Booksie's Shelves, July 27, 2024

 

Artwork by RF Skia & Culpeo S. Fox

Although it's only been twenty-two days since the last Booksie's Shelves, two events have necessitated an update.  One was discovering Blackwell's bookstore in England which ships to the United States without huge fees.  The other was a chance discovery of ten years of The Guardian's choices of the best debut authors in England.  I've always felt like I was missing some of the best writing in England as only best sellers make it here or make enough of a publicity splash that I'm aware of them.  So I've rushed out and bought a ton of books by English authors in addition to the normal bookbuying I do most days.  Here's what's come through the door:

1. Ruth & Pen, Emilie Pine, literary fiction, purchased
2. The Leviathan, Rosie Adams, literary fiction, purchased
3. The Keeper, Jessica Moor, mystery, purchased
4. The Flatshare, Beth O'Leary, women's fiction, purchased
5. This Lovely City, Louise Hare, literary fiction, purchased
6. What's Left Of Me Is Yours, Stephanie Scott, literary fiction, purchased
7. Saving Missy, Beth Morrey, women's fiction, purchased
8. The Glutton, A.K. Blakemore, literary fiction, purchased
9. Unsettled Ground, Claire Fuller, literary fiction, purchased
10. As You Were, Elaine Feeney, women's fiction, purchased
11. The Paper Lantern, Will Burns, literary fiction, purchased
12. Those Opulent Days, Jacquie Pham, mystery, purchased
13. White Cat, Black Dog, Kelly Link, anthology, purchased
14. Your Guide To Not Getting Murdered In A Quaint English Village, Johnson & Cooper, purchased
15. Villager, Tom Cox, literary fiction, purchased
16. My Name Is Red, Orhan Pamuk, literary fiction, purchased
17. East, West, Salman Rushdie, anthology, purchased
18. The Things That We Lost, Jyoti Patel, literary fiction, purchased
19. Fire Rush, Jacqueline Crooks, literary fiction, purchased
20. One Small Voice, Santanu Bhattacharya, literary fiction, purchased
21. Learwife, JR Thorp, literary fiction, purchased
22. Moth, Melody Razak, literary fiction, purchased
23. The Five Sorrowful Mysteries Of Andy Africa, Stephen Buoro, literary fiction, purchased
24. What Red Was, Rosie Price, literary fiction, purchased
25. Rainbow Milk, Paul Mendez, literary fiction, purchased
26. The Parisian, Isabella Hammad, literary fiction, purchased
27. Last Ones Left Alive, Sarah Davis-Goff, science fiction, purchased
28. Bad Man, Dathan Auerbach, horror, purchased
29. Dead Souls, Sam Riviere, literary fiction, purchased
30. Divine Might, Natalie Haynes, mythology, purchased
31. At Certain Points We Touch, Lauren John Joseph, literary fiction, purchased

Here are the ebooks I've bought lately:

1. Stone Cold Heart, Caz Frear, mystery
2. One Night Gone, Tara Laskowski, mystery
3. The Delivery Man, Joe McGinness, mystery
4. Summer Of Night, Dan Simmons, horror
5. The Paris Division, ChrisPavone, literary fiction
6. The Obsession, Jesse Sutanto, mystery
7. Wandering Souls, Celeste Pin, literary fiction
8. The Spy's Wife, Reginald Hill, mystery
9. Upland Outlaws, Dave Duncan, fantasy
10. The Cutting Edge, Dave Duncan, fantasy
11. The Living God, Dave Duncan, fantasy
12. Fishing The Sloe-Black River, Colum McCann, anthology
13. No Such Creature, Giles Blunt, horror
14. The Last Bloodcarver, Vanessa Le, fantasy
15. Sweet Little Lies, Caz Frear, mystery
16. Mutiny, John Boyle, literary fiction
17. Five Cold Bodies, KJ Kalis, mystery
18. Crackpot, John Waters, memoir
19. Speak To The Devil, Dave Duncan, fantasy
20. Tell Me A Secret, Samantha Hayes, mystery
21. Gone Forever, Diane Fanning, true crime
22. The Living Sea Of Waking Dreams, Richard Flanagan, literary fiction
23. Another World, Pat Barker, literary fiction
24. What Remains Of Her, Eric Rickstad, mystery
25. Julip, Jim Harrison, literary fiction
26. Quiet Dell, Jayne Ann Phillips, literary fiction
27. Widdershins, Charles de Lint, horror
28. The Playground, Jane Shemilt, mystery
29. Endymion, Dan Simmons, fantasy
30. Rise Of Endymion, Dan Simmons, fantasy
31. Mr. In-Between, Neil Cross, mystery
32. Eva Sleeps, Francesa Melandri, literary fiction
33. Lost Nation, Jeffery Lent, literary fiction
34. The Other Passenger, Louise Candlish, mystery
35. Take Your Breath Away, Linwood Barclay, mystery
36. Perfect Sins, Jo Bannister, mystery
37. Hard Fall, CJ Lyons, mystery
38. The Jewels Of Paradise, Donna Leon, mystery
39. Quietly In Their Sleep, Donna Leon, mystery
40. Electric Idol, Katee Robert, fantasy
41. Wicked Beauty, Katee Robert, fantasy
42. Cruel Seduction, Katee Robert, fantasy
43. Midnight Ruin, Katee Robert, fantasy
44. This Savage Song, V.E. Schwab, fantasy
45. The Past, Tessa Hadley, literary fiction
46. Death's Jest-Book, Reginald Hill, mystery
47. Good Morning, Midnight, Reginald Hill, mystery
48. The City When It Rains, Thomas H. Cook, mystery
49. Antelope Woman, Louise Erdrich, literary fiction
50. Deeper Than The Dead, Debra Webb, mystery
51. You Shouldn't Be Here, Lauran Thoman, mystery
52. Agnes Mallory, Andrew Klaven, mystery
53. U.S.A. John Dos Passos, literary fiction
54. Only The Innocent, Rachel Abbott, mystery
55. Beware The Woman, Megan Abbott, mystery
56. The Big Green Tent, Ludmila Ulitskaya, literary fiction
57. Close To The Bone, Stuart MacBride, mystery
58. Pastoralia, George Saunders, anthology
59. The Club Dumas, Arturo Perez-Reverte, fantasy
60. The Call Of Argon, Dean F. Wilson, fantasy
61. Finders Keepers, Stephen King, mystery
62. The Shepherd's Hut, Tim Winton, literary fiction
63. Hexed, Keven Hearne, fantasy
64. The New Map, Daniel Yergin, nonfiction
65. Chickenhawk, Robert Mason, mystery
66. The Creak On The Stairs, Eva, Bjorg Aegisdottir, mystery
67. The Raven's Mark, Christie Newport, mystery
68. The Devil's Highway, Luis Alberto Urrea, literary fiction
69. Tall Tales And Wee Stories, Billy Connolly, memoir
70. Poor Things, Alasdair Gray, literary fiction
71. The Destroyers, Christopher Bollen, mystery
72. The Narrow Road To The Deep North, Richard Flanagan, literary fiction
73. Secrets Of The Sea, Nicolas Shakespeare, literary fiction
74. I'll Be Your Blue Sky, Marisa de los Santos, literary fiction
75. Earth Jumped Back, Philip Reari, fantasy
76. The Last Cabin, John Deal, mystery
77. Two Can Keep A Secret, Karen McManus, mystery
78. The Sisters Brothers, Patrick DeWitt, literary fiction
79. Those Beyond The Wall, Micaiah Johnson, science fiction
80. A Council Of Dolls, Mona Susan Power, literary fiction
81. The Photo, A J McDine, mystery
82. The House At Sea's End, Elly Griffiths, mystery
83. An Unkindness Of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon, science fiction
84. Children Of The Night, Dan Simmons, horror
85. The Fear, Natasha Preston, mystery
86. The Trespasser, Tana French, mystery
87. The End Of The Earth, Jonathan Franzen, anthology
88. And After The Fire, Lauren Belfer, literary fiction
89. Hell Is Empty, Craig Johnson, mystery
90. Home Is Where The Bodies Are, Jeneva Rose, mystery
91. The Hog Murders, William DeAndrea, mystery
92. The Accidental Tourist, Ann Tyler, literary fiction
93. You're Going To Die Alone, Devrie Brynn Donalson, humor
94. Help The Poor Struggler, Martha Grimes, mystery

Here's what I'm reading:

1. When The Music Dies, Peter Robinson, mystery, paperback
2. The Women, Kristin Hannah, woman's fiction, kindle
3. The Covenant Of Water, Abraham Verghese, literary fiction, kindle
4. Prophet Song, Paul Lynch, literary fiction, kindle
5. Don't Believe It, Charlie Donlea, mystery, kindle
6. The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo, fantasy, hardback
7. Mecca, Susan Straight, literary fiction, audio
8. Dinner With Edward, Isabel Vincent, memoir, hardback 
9. Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman, anthology, paperback
10. In A Place Of Darkness, Stuart MacBride, mystery, hardback

Happy Reading!

The New Neighbor by Carter Wilson

 Aiden Marlowe is grieving his wife Holly who collapsed and died immediately when an unsuspected aneurysm burst, leaving him to raise their seven year old twins.  As he is going to the funeral, his phone beeps with a notification and when he looks he realizes that he has won the lottery, thirty million dollars.

Feeling that his family needs to start over, Aiden moves them from Baltimore to a small coastal town an hour or so outside of Boston.  The house is a mansion but as soon as he walks into it with his children, they all feel the same thing; the house has a haunted feel.  Aiden discovers that the last owner disappeared from the house along with his two daughters and his grandson, never to be heard from again.  Knowing he will need help with the children and hoping for something better, he arranges for his father to come over from Ireland to help with the kids and live with them.  

But the new house isn't the panacea Aidan had hoped for.  He starts to receive notes, anonymous ones saying they were watching him.  Each note gets more threatening and soon there are demands for money.  Aiden goes to the police but there is little they can do.  He hires security but it doesn't seem to ever catch those involved.  After his daughter is trapped in the basement during a party Aiden throws, he knows he must do something.  Can he discover who is targeting his family?

Carter Wilson is known for writing in the thriller genre.  Some of his works have been optioned for tv and movies and he has won numerous awards.  In this novel, he lays bare the fears each of us have, that someone could target those we love and we will be helpless to stop them.  I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job portraying Aiden's grief, fear and resolution to find those threatening his family.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.   

Middletide by Sarah Crouch

 

Elijah Leith couldn't wait to get out of his small town.  He wants to be an author and going off to college is his first step.  He's leaving behind his father and his high school girlfriend, Nikita.  After his first novel, Middletide, is a failure in the market, he returns home.  His father is dead having drunk himself into oblivion.  Nikita married another Native American and although she is now a widow, she isn't interested in rekindling things with Elijah.

At loose ends, Elijah has a short relationship with the town doctor, Erin Landrey, but his heart belongs to Nikita and he soon breaks things off with Erin.  Months later, Erin is found murdered on Elijah's land, using the exact method he used in his novel.  Elijah's blood is found under her fingernails and on her clothes.  Despite his protests that he hadn't seen her in months, he is soon arrested and charged with murder.  Who could have hated him enough to set him up?

This is a debut novel for Sarah Crouch.  She is known as a professional marathoner but should have a career writing if she desires one.  There are plenty of twists and turns and events that will surprise the reader.  If there is a weakness, it is the legal aspects as Elijah is represented by Nikita's father who studied law but never practiced it and some of the trial aspects don't ring true.  But the relationships are done to perfection and the ending is a surprise.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Godkiller by Hannah Kraner

 

Four individuals reluctantly travel together to the ruined city of Blenraden.  Each has their own reason for going.  Some are allies, some newly met.  Blenraden was the scene of the killing and defeat of the gods, wild gods, household gods, all those who tried to defeat the men who made them.  In this world, gods are created and maintained by humans; their desires and requests and offerings.  

Krissen is a godkiller.  She travels the land, taking assignments to kill gods that have become troublesome.  She has her own reasons for killing gods.  It was a god that allowed the sacrifice of her own family, burning them all alive.  Krissen escaped at the cost of her right leg.

Elogast was the former commander of knights at Blenraden.  He grew up with the king who later demanded the end of all gods.  They were both unwanted as children as the king was the youngest child and no one expected him to ever be king.  At Blenraden, the king stepped between Elogast and certain death so when he asks Elogast to return there and make a request of a surviving god to save his life, Elogast feels he must take up his sword after years of being a baker and return.

Inara is a young girl, daughter of the local royalty.  Her mother has kept her hidden to protect her and few even know of her existence.  Inara is somehow bound to Skedi, a small god who is the god of white lies.  She woke up one morning and he was there attached to her.  After several years of attachment, they both want to break the bond and go to ask Kissen to help them.  When they return to Inara's manor, it has been burned in their absence along with everyone Inara knows and loves.  

These four travel together on their separate missions which eventually become one mission.  Along the way, they learn to put aside their mistrust and dislike for one another and become a loyal foursome.  Whether that will give them success is another story.

This is a debut novel for Hannah Kraner although not the first she submitted for publication.  It is an original take on the quest meme and has been a major success in the fantasy world.  The characters are well drawn and their loyalty to each other, although hard won, is interesting.  The idea of gods being created by men's desires twists the usual ideas of the genre.  Kraner lives in Scotland and says she wrote this book out of anger at how women are portrayed in most writing.  This book is highly recommended for fantasy readers.  

Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann

 

"The world spins.  We stumble on.  It is enough."  In this novel set in 1970's New York City, the characters do what they can to make their way through life.  There is Corrigan, an Irish priest who has come to America and taken as his mission the prostitutes of Brooklyn.  His brother Ciaran comes to talk Corrigan into coming home but is unsuccessful.  Corrigan has fallen in love with a South American refugee he met at the senior home he volunteers with.  

There are the prostitutes that Corrigan tries to help, in particular and mother-daughter pair, Tillie and Jazzlyn.  Jazzlyn has two small daughters and when the two are arrested, Tillie will take the blame so that the girls have a mother.  The judge in the case has lost his son in Vietnam.  His wife Claire meets with a group of women, all of them with lost sons from the war and becomes best friends with Gloria, an African American woman who lost three children to the war.  But Gloria will have another chance at motherhood and love.  

All of these characters have some connection to a man who walks a tightrope between the Two Towers one morning.  He just doesn't walk, he runs, he hops, he lays down and stands back up.  His walk entrances and gives hope to all who see it.  

Colum McCann is an Irish writer now living and working in New York.  This nove won the National Book Award and his work has won many other awards.  The people in this book seem to have little to make a life from and have been beaten down by events.  Yet there is always a small spring of hope and that small hope allows them to move on in life and take joy where it is found.  It is an inspiring work that leaves the reader more content with their life and ready to take on what is coming.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff

 

Laura Schroff was a busy Manhattan executive.  One day as she was rushing to her next appointment, she was stopped by a young boy on the street who asked for money and said he was hungry.  She walked on but then turned around and took him to MacDonalds where he did indeed eat as if he were starving.  The boy said he was Maurice.  They agreed to meet in the same place the next Monday and Maurice was indeed there.  Soon the meetings became a weekly standard and Laura learned that Maurice's lived with his mother and siblings.  She didn't know that eleven people lived in a one room apartment in substandard housing or that Maurice's entire family were drug addicts and dealers.

The meetings continued and soon Laura became Maurice's touchpoint to a different life.  They baked cookies and had holidays such as Christmas where Maurice got his first present in his life.  They visited Laura's family and Maurice was amazed at houses with lawns and big tables where families sat and talked after a meal.  Basically, Laura was turning Maurice's life around.  When he got older, the two were separated when Laura got married to a man who did not approve of the relationship and Maurice got off the rails for a while.  But he managed to get by and as adults, the two have continued to be in each other's lives.  

This is an optimistic story of a woman who took the time to make a change in someone else's life.  It is less clear if this would be the result of every story where someone tried to make a difference.  Many in the field believe that only this kind of intensive one on one mentoring has a chance of changing someone's life and Maurice found that in Laura.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.  

Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser

 

This book written from the viewpoint of Asian immigrants explores the difficulties they experience in their new lives.  The book is split into two parts and either part can read first.  In the sequential first part, Lili has moved yet again after her family's move to Australia and is teaching in Paris.  She makes friends but realizes the difference that her darker skin makes in the marketplace, with landlords and with the men she desires.  Her best friend suddenly disappears at the end of one summer, not bothering to contact Lili before she goes and Lili wonders if they were really ever friends at all.

Lyle and his family had come to Australia and then moved from Sydney to Melbourne when Sydney became virus ridden.  This is an Australia in the future where being a Muslim is outlawed.  Lyle and his wife are both mid-managers in businesses and both spend their professional lives undercutting their peers in hopes of advancement.  The couple has two children, both grown and living elsewhere and Lyle's mother, Ivy, lives with them also.  When they decide they need to downsize, they pressure Ivy into a decision she would not have made otherwise.  

Michelle de Kretser was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to Australia in her teens.  Her novels have won various literary awards and been short or longlisted for others.  This work highlights racism and also ageism.  Lili's portion is written in the present while Lyle's is in an unhappy future.  I listened to this novel and there was both a female narrator for Lili's part and a male for Lyle's.  Each did a great job, especially the male narrator whose voice highlighted the sly mechanisms of Lyle's constant maneuverings for advancement and status.  This book is recommended for other culture and literary fiction readers.  

The Limits by Nell Fruedenberger

 

What happens to teenagers when their highly successful professional parents divorce?  Pia is fifteen.  Her mother is a marine biologist and lives in Tahiti studying coral and the effects of climate change on it.  Her father is a professor in New York.  After they divorced, she has lived with both of them at times as well as a year in Paris with her mother's sister.  Now with Covid and lockdown, she needs to make a decision for the coming school year.

Pia decides to return to New York and live with her father.  But she doesn't know that her new stepmother, Kate, is now pregnant.  Her mother had encouraged Pia to go to New York because she is uneasy about Pia's friendship, perhaps crush, on a Tahitian diver who works at the institute.  Now Pia will be spending most of her time with a woman she doesn't know, whose existence and pregnancy brings home daily the fact that Pia's family has irrevocably split.  

Kate, in addition to being pregnant, is teaching online.  Pia meets one of Kate's students and forms a friendship with her.  The girls start meeting and roaming the city.  They go to the island where Pia's father shares a cottage with his brothers.  Pia meets a boy who she thinks she might sleep with.  She also continues her relationship by phone with Tio, the diver on Tahiti her mother hoped to separate her from.  Eventually, everything comes to a head and Pia needs rescuing from her situation. 

Nell Fruedenberger has written several other novels which have been published to acclaim.  She tends to specialize in family relationships and especially the perils of teen relationships.  Pia is loved by both of her parents but their separation leaves her feeling that she is on her own and that is a fairly common feeling among teens of divorce.  While highly successful adults tend to their pressing careers and job responsibilities, children can be left alone to try to make their own decisions without the adult skills to do so.  Blended families now make up forty percent of existing families and sometimes the children fall through the cracks.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Will End In Fire by Nicole Bokat

 

It starts with a disaster.  Ellie Stone leaves her brother Josh alone in their parents house and starts the drive back to New York City.  When she realizes she has left something she needs, she turns the car around and drives back.  When she arrives, the house is aflame and Josh is seriously burned. Josh was always the golden boy of their family, a natural athlete around whom their parents' attention was devoted.  But Josh had issues as he got older and became addicted to drugs.  He had been through rehab and was clean at the moment but their parents had asked Ellie to come home that weekend as they were out of town and they didn't know what would happen if Josh were left alone.

Now Ellie's world spins out of control.  She is wracked with guilt for leaving and then when the police investigate the fire, afraid that she would be blamed for starting it.  It could have been started by a cigarette and while Ellie remembers putting her last one out, she doesn't really trust her memory.  Josh had been fighting with his girlfriend, Audrey, on the phone that night.  Had she come over?  Had Josh started the fire to kill himself?

Her parents are crushed and depressed.  Ellie can't concentrate and loses her job as an investigative reporter  Without a job, she worries about making rent.  The only person who seems to care about how Ellie is handling things is Drew, Josh's childhood best friend.  Eventually, Ellie and Drew start a relationship and she moves in with him.  Can Ellie turn her life back around?  Will the mystery of what happened that night be solved?

Although some might consider this a mystery, I thought it was an exquisite rendering of young people at this time.  I have family members in that age group so I'm familiar with the mind set and the author has captured it perfectly.  The angst of graduating into a tight job market and working low end entry jobs while struggling with overwhelming student debts, the reluctance to form lasting attachments and the resulting often meaningless affairs, the sense that there is nothing but a disastrous world hurtling towards its end, all of these are here.  The book is also set in the time of the covid shutdown with all the fear and uncertainty that the isolation created, especially in young people who often lost their jobs or struggled to finish their education online.  The mystery of the night of the fire is slowly revealed and there are several twists and turns that surprise the reader  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.   

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

 

This historical fiction novel tells the story of a family during the ending days of World War II but I wouldn't consider it a war novel.  It tells the story of the Kerrigan family.  Eddie Kerrigan is the father and he makes his living first as a bag man for the Mafia then as an assistant to Dexter Styles, a rich man who owns nightclubs and other businesses and is also connected to the Mob.  His wife Agnes was a dancer until their daughters came along.  Anna is a bright girl who is her father's favorite.  Lydia was born with a neuromuscular disease and doesn't talk, walk as she is stuck at a baby's development stage.  

One day Eddie goes out and doesn't return.  Did he desert the family?  We discover later that he was the target of an attempted assassination and after escaping signed up as a merchant marine shipman.  The family is left to make their way as they can.  When Anna grows up, she goes to work at the naval shipyards, in full production as the war continues.  She has a dream to become a diver and eventually manages to do so.  She meets Dexter Styles in what turns out to be a meaningful encounter for both of them.  

Jennifer Egan has led an adventurous life which shows up in the lives of her characters.  She has written several bestselling books and this one was a New York Times Notable Book. Anna is an interesting character who as a girl and a woman refuses to accept society's notion of what a woman should be and who goes after her dreams with her entire being.  Readers will be interested to read about the contributions women made to the war effort and the insight into the lives of the wealthy and the mob connected at that time.  This book is recommended to historical and literary fiction readers.  

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

 
Celestial and Roy have been a little over a year when it happens.  They leave Atlanta and drive to rural Louisiana to visit Roy's parents.  That night at the motel, Roy helps a woman in another room get ice and walks her safely to her room.  The couple go to sleep only to be awakened by the door crashing in and police pulling them from bed.  The woman who Roy helped has accused him of raping her.  Despite Roy's protests and Celestial's protestation that he had been in their room, Roy is arrested, quickly tried and sent to prison for twelve years. 

At first Celestial goes to visit him but she stops after a year or two.  She is running her own business where she makes dolls to order, and her friendship with Andre next door has deepened into a romantic relationship.  She and Andre had been friends since they were small children and Andre introduced Roy to her.  By the time Roy's appeal is granted, he has served five years and Andre and Celestial are engaged.

What is a marriage?  Roy believes that since Celestial has not yet filed divorce papers, that they are still married and will be.  He goes home to his father who tells him that it he wants his wife, he needs to go get her.  Roy takes off for Atlanta and there he pleads his case to Celestial.  Who will she pick going forward?

This book has gotten many awards.  It was a National Book Award longlist selection and both a New York Times and Washington Post notable book.  It was also an Oprah's Book Club selection.  It questions what love and marriage are and what we owe those we fall in love with in our youth.  It poses a dilemma that most can relate to and will question what they would do in the same situation.  This book is recommended for readers of literary and women's fiction. 

Fellside by M R Carey

 

Jess Moulson is reviled.  While in a heroin haze, she set her apartment alight and burned the entire apartment building down.  One little boy, Alex, didn't make it out and was killed.  Jess  lost one side of her face and even after surgeries is disfigured, fair payment for her crime, most feel.  She has a quick trial and is sentenced to go to Fellside, a prison for women.

Jess is not only hated by others.  She hates herself for what she did and begins a hunger strike when she gets to Fellside.  On death's door, she changes her mind and after recovery is put into the general population.  There she is beaten up a few times then things settle down.  Except for one thing; Alex begins to appear to her and asks her to investigate his death.  

Jess's lawyer isn't sure the truth came out at her trial and convinces her to appeal.  That puts Jess directly in the sights of Grace who runs the drug business at the prison and is the most feared woman there.  She wants Jess to bring back drugs that will be hidden in the court inmate bathroom.  Jess knows if she does this her appeal won't mean anything as she could be convicted for drug offenses.  But if she doesn't, Grace could have her killed.  What will she do?

M. R. Carey has been an author for many years.  He has television and movie credits and has science fiction series written under the name Mike Carey.  In this book, he constantly gears up the tension with various pitfalls and dangers Jess faces.  He also springs several big surprises that catch the reader unawares.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.  

The Echo Man by Sam Holland

 

Jessica Ambrose wakes to a house in flames.  She manages to get her daughter and herself out, but her husband is killed.  In the hospital, she finds that the police are planning to charge her with the murder and arson as she and Patrick had been fighting that night and that her daughter will be taken away from her.  Jessica runs from the hospital and ends up at the house of Nate Griffin.  Nate is a suspended police detective.  He has also had tragedy as he and his wife awoke one night to a man with a gun.  Nate was beaten unconscious and his wife killed.  Both wounded, they try to find solace with each other.

Nate's sister, Cara, is the head of the police squad looking into the murders.  But when Griffin realizes that his and Jess's cases are part of a series mimicking famous serial killers, Cara and her team start to find more cases that fit the pattern.  Killers such as Jeffery Dahmer, Charles Manson and the Golden State Killer are providing the blueprint for a horrific series of murderers.  Can the man behind the killings be found?

This is a debut novel for the author writing as Sam Holland.  It is the first book in the Major Crimes series.  She also has a series under the name Louisa Scarr.  The crimes are very violent and gory and some readers may be put off by this, although others will take it as the major crime investigators are exposed to.  There are many twists and turns as Cata and her team race to find the killer before he strikes again, while Jessica and Griffin come together due to their shared trauma inflicted by the killer.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

In The Dark Places by Peter Robinson

 

In this novel, DCI Alan Banks comes back from an Italian vacation to find crime in the rural areas of his district.  A dogwalker had discovered a huge pool of blood in an abandoned aircraft hanger, so much that someone must have died.  As the team investigates, it starts to uncover a rural crime ring that specializes in stealing large, expensive farm equipment like tractors and spreaders and shipping them overseas for resale.  

A woman reports her husband missing.  Mark grew up next door to the latest farm victim, a man whose tractor was stolen while he and his wife were away.  Is Mark the body they are looking for?  He had left after receiving a phone call from a friend who he helped with occasional work like sheep shearing and roof repair.  Was the body his friend?

This book is the twenty-second in the DCI Alan Banks series.  DI Annie Cabbot finds that she sympathizes with the missing man's wife and perhaps this is the case that will finally get her over the reserve left from her own shooting a year ago.  Winsome meets a man that she could possibly be interested in but that's so rare that she doesn't trust her attraction.  The crime is convoluted with lots of twists and turns but all works out in the end.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Shadows Reel by C.J. Box

 

It's the day before Thanksgiving and game warden Joe Pickett and his librarian wife Marybeth are thankful.  All three of their girls will be home for the holiday and that hasn't happened in a while.  But the day turns bad.  Marybeth is left a package at the library door and she seems an older man scurrying off into the darkness.  Joe finds a body; a fishing guide he knew slightly.  The man had been tortured and burnt.  Joe calls the new sheriff although he doubts his efficiency.  The sheriff arrives and tosses Joe out of his crime scene.

Meanwhile, their friend Nate has taken off on a mission.  A man broke into his house, terrorized Nate's wife and small daughter and stole his entire stock of falcons, essentially putting Nate out of business.  Nate uses the raptors to rid customers of problem birds and has built a good business.  The man who stole them is ex-military like Nate and Nate is determined to track him down.

Marybeth discovers that the package she received was a photo album.  It appears to have belonged to one of Hitler's strongest supporters.  How did such an item show up in Wyoming?  She decides to take it home and stops to drop off a bag of romance novels with an elderly neighbor.  When that neighbor is also killed, she and Joe realize that someone is following Marybeth and thought they were breaking into the Pickett house, looking for the album.  

Nate finds an ally on the road and the two men track Alex, the thief.  Alex hates the government and his mission is to set the police and protestors such as Antifa and BLM against each other, inciting violence between the two groups.  Can Nate and his ally find Alex before he accomplishes his goal? 

This is the twenty-second book in this series.  Joe and Marybeth seem to be drawn into anything dangerous that occurs in the area and the police are wary of Joe's help.  Both Joe and Nate may make the reader uneasy as their willingness to work outside the law is unnerving, especially Nate.  Longtime readers of the series will have watched the couple's daughters grow up but I read this as a standalone and it works well that way as well.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

After That Night by Karin Slaughter

 

Fifteen years ago, Sarah Linton's life changed forever.  She was a resident at Atlanta's premier hospital and had just found out that she would be receiving a prestigious fellowship for pediatric cardiology surgery.  Then it happened.  She went into the bathroom and was surprised by a hospital janitor.  He tied her up, raped her and stabbed her.  Afterwards she went home, giving up the fellowship and becoming a pediatrician.  It took a long while to heal physically and her injuries meant that she could never have children.  It took much longer to heal mentally and emotionally.

Now, Sarah is back in Atlanta and in a relationship with Will Trent, Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective.  She is the medical examiner for GBI.  She is currently testifying in a civil trial against the son of the man who got the fellowship she had been slated for.  A young girl came into the ER one night while Sara was there.  She had been raped and cut and then wrecked her car driving to the ER.  Sara could not save her but she can testify against the young man the girl identified as her attacker.  In the bathroom, she runs into the man's mother.  She knew both parents and never cared for them.  The woman attacks Sara verbally and then hints that the two rapes, this girl's and Sara's, are related.

This sends Sara into a tailspin.  She knows if there are two victims fifteen years apart, there are more victims who haven't been identified.  She tells Will and with the help of Will's partner, Faith, the three set out to find out what happened and if there is a rapist who has been victimizing women for years.  

This is the eleventh novel in the Will Trent series.  Will and Sara are about to get married and if Sara can finally lay the ghosts of her rape to rest, it will make the rest of her life that much better.  The book is Sara's story but Will's aunt, who allowed him to enter the system when his mother was murdered knowing the abuse he would probably endure is also featured.  The book fills in more of the backstories of the two main characters while exposing a series of horrific crimes.  This book is recommended for mystery readers. 

AI Needs You by Verity Harding

 

AI is the newest technology to hit the industry.  It is what is fueling the meteoric rise of Nvadia stock and it also is the buzzword that fuels speculation about what life will be once it is more fully established.  Will it replace all jobs?  How will it affect education?  How will it affect the arts?  Will it take the place of artists and authors and other creative individuals?

In this book, Verity Harding explores the necessity for having governments come together and before AI explodes wildly, setting guidelines and rules for its development.  To do this, she uses the example of three previous life changing technologies.

The first is the space race.  President Kennedy set the expectation that space would not be a militarized space but rather one for scientific exploration.  The second is that of IVF, starting with the birth of baby Louisa Brown in England.  In that case, a huge group of organizations came together to set the rules.  It included politicians, scientists, average people and others who had expressed concern about what such a technology would mean.  Those heading up the group realized that the scientists could not have sole control as there were societal concerns as well.  That group ended up agreeing to embryo experimentation up to fourteen days and outlawing paid surrogates.  The last example was the rise of the Internet and the ongoing need for global agreement on who will set the rules for the technology and control the underlying structure.  

Verity Harding has spent her career at the intersection of technology and ethical concerns.  She spent a decade at Google where she spearheaded the department that considered the ethical concerns arising from new technologies.  She currently serves as the head of the AI And Geopolitical Project at the Bennett Institute For Public Policy which is located at Cambridge University.  In this book, she champions the need for thoughtful exploration and rule setting for this new technology.  Often scientists insist that only they can understand what they are doing and need no outside oversight but there are effects of research that impact society as a whole and those must be brought into new technologies.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers interested in this new technology.

Booksie's Shelves, July 5, 2024

 

Art by RF Skia & Culpeo S. Fox

Twenty twenty-four is already half over and we're in the throes of my least favorite season, summer.  Days can go by without me leaving the house to face an angry sun and the stifling humidity of the South.  But that's just more time for reading.  I'm at 146 books for the year so in striking distance of my goal of three hundred.  I just found a wonderful list of the last ten year's debut novelists that were the best in Britain according to the Guardian and it's my new obsession.  I spent yesterday making lists and ordering from Blackwell's which ships to the United States.  I went there initially because the New Stuart MacBride mystery is out and then fell into British literature which is now winging it's way to my house.  Here's what's come through the door:

1. Snowflake, Louise Nealon, literary fiction, purchased
2. Put On By Cunning, Ruth Rendell, mystery, purchased
3. Will End In Fire, Nicole Bokat, mystery, sent by publisher
4. The Forest City Killer, Vanessa Brown, true crime, purchased
5. Here We Are, Graham Swift, literary fiction, purchased
6. Dodging And Burning, John Copenhaver, mystery, purchased
7. The Savage Kind, John Copenhaver, mystery purchased
8. Celestial Bodies, Jokha Alharthi, literary fiction, purchased
9. Mal Goes To War, Edward Ashton, science fiction, sent by publisher
10. Bad Monkeys, Matt Ruff, mystery, purchased
11. When The Music's Over, Peter Robinson, mystery, purchased
12. The Crucifix Killer, Chris Carter, mystery, purchased
13. The Smallest Man, Frances Quinn, literary fiction, purchased
14. Shake Hands Forever, Ruth Rendell, mystery, purchased
15. Vagabonds!, Eloghosa Osunde, literary fiction, purchased
16. Alexandria, Paul Kingsnorth, literary fiction, purchased
17. The Atlas Six, Olivie Blake, fantasy, purchased
18. The Pink Hotel, Anna Stothard, literary fiction, purchased
19. The Time Of Our Singing, Richard Powers, literary fiction, purchased
20. Beast, Paul Kingsnorth, literary fiction, purchased
21. The Pure Gold Baby, Margaret Drabble, literary fiction, purchased
22. Oligarchy, Scarlett Thomas, literary fiction, purchased
23. The Fortune Men, Nadifa Mohamed, literary fiction, purchased

Here are the ebooks I've bought since the last Booksie's Shelves:

1. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Andrew White, horror
2. The Square Of Sevens, Laura Shephard-Robinson, literary fiction
3. Sourcery, Terry Prachett, fantasy
4. The Stars Are Legion, Kameron Hurley, science fiction
5. Anathem, Neal Stephenson, science fiction
6. Blood Runs Cold, Neil Lancaster, mystery
7. The Devil You Know, Neil Lancaster, mystery
8. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, literary fiction
9. Lost Souls, Lisa Jackson, mystery
10. Motherthing, Ainslie Hogarth, literary fiction
11. The Night I Died, Anne Frasier, mystery
12. The Boy In The Field, Margot Livesey, literary fiction
13. The Company, K.J. Parker, fantasy
14. Fireborn, David Dagleish, fantasy
15. Shadowborn, David Dagleish, fantasy
16. To Make Them Pay, M A Comley, mystery
17. The Fallen, T. Jefferson, Parker, mystery
18. AI Made Simple, Rajeev Kapur, nonfiction
19. Reaper Man, Terry Prachett, fantasy
20. Secondhand Souls, Christopher Moore, fantasy
21. Black Bear Alibi, J.C. Fuller, mystery
22. An Honorable Profession, John L'Heureux, literary fiction
23. A Stranger In The Family, Jane Casey, mystery
24. The Bone Bed, Patricia Cornwall, mystery
25. Hand Of Evil, J. A. Jance, mystery
26. Summer Brother, Jaap Robben, literary fiction
27. The Dangers Of Smoking In Bed, Mariana Enriquez, anthology
28. A Game Of Fear, Charles Todd, mystery
29. Where All Light Tends To Go, David Joy, literary fiction
30. Lancelot, Percy Walker, literary fiction
31. Bombshell, Catherine Coulter, mystery
32. Dancing Girls, Margaret Atwood, literary fiction
33. The Darkest Secret, Alex Marwood, mystery
34. Cold As Hell, Lilja Sigurdardottir, mystery
35. The Interrogation, Thomas H. Cook, mystery
36. Coming Back Marcia Mueller, mystery
37. The Ever-Running Man, Marcia Mueller, mystery
38. Unnatural Causes, Janet Bettle, legal thriller
39. One Step Too Far, Tina Seskis, literary fiction
40. Dandy Gilver And A Bothersome Number Of Corpses, Catriona McPherson, mystery
41. Snow, Ronald Malfi, horror
42. Divine Might, Natalie Haynes, literary fiction
43. The Abominable, Dan Simmons, horror
44. The Best American Crime Reporting 2008, various, anthology
45. A Song For The Dead, D.K. Hood, mystery
46. Breakheart Hill, Thomas H. Cook, mystery
47. American Blood, Ben Sanders, mystery
48. Marshall's Law, Ben Sanders, mystery
49. Island 731, Jeremy Robinson, thriller
50. Heart Of The Hunter, Deon Meyer, thriller
51. Low Life, Lucy Sante, nonfiction
52. My Abandonment, Peter Rock, literary fiction
53. Luthien's Gamble, R. A. Salvatore, fantasy
54. The Girl In The Water, J. A. Baker, mystery
55. Sawkill Girls, Claire Legrande, horror
56. On Beulah Heights, Reginald Hill, mystery
57. The Dirty Duck, Martha Grimes, mystery
58. Moving Target, J. A. Jance, mystery
59. Man Overboard, J. A. Jance, mystery
60. Awakening, Sharon Bolton, mystery
61. California Girl, T. Jefferson Parker, mystery
62. Behind Closed Doors, Elizabeth Haynes, mystery
63. Gothikana, RuNyx, horror
64. Private Citizens, Tony Tulathimutte, literary fiction
65. A Prayer For The Dying, Stewart O'Nan, mystery
66. Apeirogon, Colum McCann, literary fiction
67. The Moose Paradox, Antti Tuomainen, mystery
68. Children Of Virtue And Vengeance, Tomi Adeyemi, fantasy
69. Three Farmers On Their Way To A Dance, Richard Powers, literary fiction
70. A Murder In Mayfield, Robert Barnard, mystery
71. Dead Man Dancing, John Galligan, mystery
72. We Run The Tides, Vendela Vida, literary fiction
73. Broken Bayou, Jennifer Moorhead, mystery
74. Every Move You Make, C.L. Taylor, mystery
75. The Fields, Erin Young, mystery
76. The Smoke In Our Eyes, James Grady, mystery
77. The Cipher Garden, Martin Edwards, mystery
78. Slipping Into Darkness, Peter Blauner, mystery
79. A Killing In The Hills, Julia Keller, mystery
80. Bitter, Francesca Jacobi, literary fiction
81. These Violent Delights, Micah Nemerever, literary fiction
82. The Woodcock, Richard Smyth, literary fiction
83. Nightmare City, Nick Oldham, mystery
84. One Dead Witness, Nick Oldham, mystery
85. The Last Big Job, Nick Oldham, mystery
86. A Time For Justice, Nick Oldham, mystery
87. The Trapped Wife, Samantha Hayes, mystery
88. Wicked Dreams, Lisa Jackson, mystery
89. Horseman, Christina Henry, horror
90. Fire, Anais Nin, literary fiction
91. The Dark Flood Rises, Margaret Drabble, literary fiction
92. Killer Delivery, Claire Feeney, mystery
93. The Mezzanine, Nicholson Baker, literary fiction
94. Dykette, Jenny Fran Davis, literary fiction
95. Body By The Docks, Diane Dickson, mystery
96. The Silver Forest, J.D. Rasch, fantasy
97. Fox Creek, William Kent Kruger, mystery
98. Why Mermaids Sing, C. S. Harris, mystery
99. Where Monsters Dwell, Jorgen Brekke, mystery
100. Dark Pines, Will Dean, mystery
101. Episode Thirteen, Craig DiLouie, horror
102. Hotel Paradise, Martha Grimes, mystery
103. A Ladder To The Sky, John Boyne, literary fiction
104. The Dudgeon House, Martin Edwards, mystery
105. The Housekeeper, Natalie Berelli, mystery
106. Better, Atul Gawande, nonfiction
107. Then She Was Gone, Lisa Jewell, mystery
108. The Shooting Party, Isabel Colegate, literary fiction
109. The Burning Wire, Jeffrey Deaver, mystery
110. The Broken Window, Jeffrey Deaver, mystery
111. Red As Blood, Lilja Sigurdardottir, mystery
112. An Unkindness Of Ravens, Ruth Rendell, mystery
113. The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein, nonfiction
114. G-Man, Beverly Gage, nonfiction
115. Broken, Karin Slaughter, mystery
116. Cold Days, Jim Butcher, fantasy
117. A Brief History Of Seven Killings, Marlon James, literary fiction
118. Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald, literary fiction
119. Portrait Of An Eye, Kathy Acker, literary fiction
120. Gilded Needles, Michael McDowell, historical fiction
121. Saint Jack, Paul Theroux, literary fiction
122. The Dinner Guest, B. P. Walter, mystery
123. Hold Your Breath, B.P. Walter, mystery
124. The Thief Of Time, John Boyne, literary fiction
125. Dirty Weekend, Helen Zahavi, mystery
126. The Year Of Jubilo, Howard Bahr, historical fiction
127. All This Could Be Different, Sarah Mathews, literary fiction
128. Captives, Travis Tougaw, mystery
129. The Scarlet Gospels, Clive Barker, horror
130. The Apprentice, Tess Gerritsen, mystery
131. Signs For Lost Children, Sarah Moss, literary fiction
132. Old Evils, Alex Walters, mystery
133. Blowback, Peter May, mystery
134. The Pattern In The Carpet, Margaret Drabble, nonfiction
135. The Bricklayer, Noah Boyd, mystery
136. Downtown Owl, Chuck Klosterman, literary fiction
137. The Distance Between Us, Maggie O'Farrell, literary fiction
138. Hell's Angels, Hunter S. Thompson, nonfiction
139. Miami, Joan Didion, nonfiction
140. Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil, Melina Marchetta, mystery
141. Torn, Rowena Miller, fantasy
142. Everything And Nothing, Araminta Hall, mystery
143. Mercury, Amy Jo Burns, literary fiction
144. Songdogs, Colum McCann, literary fiction
145. The Last Precinct, Patricia Cornwell, mystery
146. The Curious Affair Of The Somnambulist & The Psychic Thief, Lisa Tuttle, mystery
147. The Fortunes, Peter Ho Davies, literary fiction
148. Lake Life, David James Poissant, literary fiction
149. The Family Cabin, James Caine, mystery
150. Breath, Tim Winton, literary fiction
151. Silent Scream, Angela Marsons, mystery
152. Tepper Isn't Going Out, Calvin Trillin, literary fiction
153. The Stranger Behind You, Carol Goodman, mystery
154. The Dark Corners Of The Night, Meg Gardiner, mystery
155. Prince Of The Blood, Raymond Feist, fantasy
156. A River Of Crows, Shanessa Gluhm, mystery
157. Virtual Light, William Gibson, science fiction
158. Ozark Dogs, Eli Cranor, mystery
159. Crush, Alan Jacobson, mystery
160. I Am Death, Chris Carter, mystery
161. How To Kidnap The Rich, Rahul Raina, literary fiction
162. Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth, fantasy
163. Beyond The Sea, Paul Lynch, literary fiction
164. Sacrifice, Sharon Bolton, mystery
165. Always Carry Your Scythe, Pip Paisley, horror
166. The Girls In The Snow, Stacy Green, mystery
167. In The Absence Of Miracles, Michael Malone, literary fiction
168. On The Trails, Robert Moor, nonfiction
169. In Dust And Ashes, Anne Holt, mystery
170. You Will Never Be Found, Tove Alsterdal, mystery
171. The Devil's Playground, Craig Russell, horror
172. Below Ground, Michael Wood, mystery
173. Vengeance Is Mine, Michael Wood, mystery
174. The Body In The Marsh, Nick Louth, mystery
175. We Are Only Ghosts, Jeffrey Richards, literary fiction
176. The Mermaid Of Black Conch, Monique Rafferty, literary fiction
177. Someone Savage, Mike McCrary, mystery
178. Perris, California, Rachel Stark, literary fiction
179. The Unseen World, Liz Moore, literary fiction
180. The Tricking Of Freya, Christina Sunley, literary fiction
181. Border Crossing Pat Baker, literary fiction
182. A Manuscript Of Ashes, Antonio Munoz Molina, literary fiction

Here's what I'm reading:

1. Shadows Reel, CJ Box, mystery, Kindle
2. Fellside, M.R. Carey, mystery, hardback
3. After That Night, Karin Slaughter, mystery, Kindle
4. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones, literary fiction, Kindle
5. In The Dark Places, Peter Robinson, mystery, paperback
6. Let The Great World Spin, Colum McCann, literary fiction, hardback
7. Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan, literary fiction, Kindle
8. The Echo Man, Sam Holland, mystery, audio
9. The Limits, Nell Freudenberger, literary fiction, hardback

Happy Reading!

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Wild And Wicked Things by Francesca May

 

Annie has come to Crow Island after the death of her father to settle his estate.  She rents a cottage until she can get her father's house cleared out.  It is on the water and next to a large estate where marvelous parties take place.  She goes to one and it is full of people in fantastic dresses and tuxedos with drink and music flowing.  She also sees her former best friend, Bea.  Bea left their home town a while back saying she needs to get out and see the world.  She is now married to a handsome, rich man but doesn't seem as excited to see Annie as Annie is to see her.

As Annie works on the house, she finds the secret room and things her father hid from others.  It contained a massive book of magic as both he and Annie had magic in them although they tried to hide it from others.  It turns out that Crow Island is known as a home for witches and the coven leader is the owner of the mansion next door to Annie where the parties are held.  Her name is Emily and she has several other witches who live with her, all of whom grew up together.  Annie is immediately attracted to Emily and soon realizes that her attraction to women was the reason she was never that excited about dating men.  But Emily is under a spell herself and is slowly dying.  Is there anything the coven and Annie can do to help?

Francesca May is an English writer who specializes in fantasy.  The writing in the book is lush and sensual as it describes the attraction between Emily and Annie.  There is suspense and magic, good and bad, deaths and new lives.  I listened to this one and there were both male and female narrators.  Both did a good job, racketing up the suspense to a dramatic conclusion.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

 

Hortensia and Marion live next door to each other in South Africa.  Hortensia is black, Marion white.  They live in a wealthy enclave as both were successful professional women.  Hortensia is a designer, Marion was an architect before her four children came along and she decided to stay home with them.  In fact, Marion designed the house Hortensia lives in and considers it her best work.

The two women dislike each other and make no bones about it.  They fight at community meetings.  Hortensia thinks Marion is a racist; Marion thinks Hortensia is the most unpleasant woman she's ever met.  But both are facing issues.  Hortensia's husband has recently died.  He has left his money to the daughter he had with a long time affair and his will insists the Hortensia contact her and tell her.  Marion's husband had business reverses before he died and Marion is now broke and may need to sell her house.  Both are involved in a government push to reimburse those native people who were cheated of their land; land on which the houses the women live in are located.

Then disaster strikes.  Hortensia decides to renovate her house but on the first day of construction, a crane goes out of control and plows into Marion's house causing extensive damage.  Hortensia is injured, her leg broken.  Now Hortensia needs nursing care and Marion needs somewhere to live.  Begrudgingly Hortensia offers Marion room in her house and Marion accepts and agrees to help Hortensia in her recuperation.  Will this bring the two women together?

Yewande Omotoso grew up in Nigeria but now lives in South Africa.  Her work has been nominated for various prizes such as the Dublin Literary Award and the Women's Prize in Fiction.  In this tale of battling widows, she delves into the basis of racism and how many are racist without realizing it, often congratulating themselves in their tolerance while continuing to consider others lesser.  Hortensia is not about to be condescended to by anyone and has no qualms about telling her opinions whenever and wherever.  As these two women find a way to live together, it gives hope that the world will do the same.  This book is recommended to multicultural literary fiction readers.   

The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida by Shehan

 Maali Almeida is dead.  At first he doesn't want to believe it but he has to face reality.  Maali is a photographer in Sri Lanka.  He doesn't take pretty pictures; instead he documents the civil war, the government forces and the rebels, the pain, the torture, the war crimes.  He is freelance and works with various overseas news organizations.  In his personal life, Maali is not anyone's poster boy for morality.  He is a gambler and a bad one at that.  He is gay and loves DD but cheats on him constantly.  

Maali learns that he has seven days to decide if he will go into the light or remain in the nebulous territory of his former life as a ghost.  He has one thing he wants to do before he decides.  He wants his hidden trove of negatives to be printed and displayed to bring down those involved in tearing the country apart.  He also wants to insure that DD and his cousin Jaki, the two people in the world he loves, are as safe as they can be in such a tumultuous environment.  Which way will Maali choose?

This novel won the Booker Prize in 2022.  I listened to this novel and the narrator's accent grounded me in this part of the world.  It is a searing indictment of war and those in power who use their power to grind down those around them, willing to do anything to anyone in order to remain on top.  Shehan Karunatilaka is a Sri Lakan author who is considered one of the top authors of his country.  In addition to the Booker, his work has also won the Commonwealth Prize.  He also writes children's stories and rock songs but this novel is his masterpiece, showing war for the evil it is.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Women And Children First by Alina Grabowski

 

You probably never heard of Nashquitten, Massachusetts.  It's a small coastal town and now that the fishing isn't there, getting smaller every year.  It's the kind of place most kids can't wait to get out of.  But Lucy Anderson won't get that chance.  Bright and talented at art, she went to a drinking party and died there.  There are rumors all over town about what happened but only a few know the truth.

We hear about Lucy's death and the rumors about that and the teenagers in general through the words of different girls and women.  There is Lucy's best friend, the high school guidance counselor, the woman who was having an affair with Lucy's father.  Her mother, the head of the PTA, the principal.  There is the girl who stayed and tried to help Lucy and the ones that ran away.  Each has another piece of the puzzle.

This is a debut novel although it's difficult to accept that such an accomplished work could be a debut.  I loved the structure and the way that each woman's or girl's story had a hook that led easily into the next person's story.  The death is the framework around which the story is built but there are lots of other stories as well.  It's a story of disappointed lives and alienation both from the teenagers and the women who are adults and whose lives didn't turn out as they wanted.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers,