I have been so bad about keeping up with my book reviews not just here, but also in my reading journal which I was SO EXCITED to get last Christmas! I need to catch up from the last... um... 6 months?! Eek! But let me start with the latest, yes? Here's what I've been reading since my last check in!
The Day The World Came To Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland - Jim DeFede: 5 StarsOwn
I wanted to read this close to 9/11, so I was putting this off a bit even though I was REALLY anxious to read it. I also wanted to read this even more because I learned that the play/movie "Come From Away" was based off of this book (yes, I'm a sucker for book to screen adaptations). I thought this would break my lil Grinchy heart, but I was so deeply touched by these people's generosity, and the some of the personal stories that DeFede was able to gather. In fact, it was quite uplifting to see how the entire province came together to support and care for these strangers. It really gave me hope that humanity still exists, even if only in some remote corners of the world! It didn't matter who they were- there was a CEO originally headed for Fashion Week who found himself loving the quiet and helping other passengers, right next to the couple who adopted a child who (seemingly) didn't take to her new mother, which caused her extra anxiety - but EVERY townsperson chipped in whatever they could, whether it was donating food or their cooking skills, to shower space and towels, and even opening their homes to these strangers, that really got to me. A must read!
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This was a perfect example of "if family members only talked to each other more!". I thought this would be about finding out how Lydia died, but it was more about the family and how they all got to where they were. Classic case of a parent pushing their unrealized dreams on their children. This was a heartbreaking story but one I will keep in my heart and mind, probably forever. Another MUST READ!
Own
"You have to know that no matter what they say about you, all that matters is what you know about yourself here."
This had a lot going on. And I'll admit that at times I thought it was too much. There are several trigger warnings, including rape, bullying, and a school shooting. I didn't know about the last one going into this book and as hard as that was to read, it didn't affect me as much as the first one. In fact, I didn't even realize how BADLY the first one affected me until I saw the movie (on Netflix, for anyone interested). I think Ani is the way she is based on her environment- where she came from, and where she wants to go. I don't think there is anything inherently "bad" about her, she just knows what she wants and goes for it and sometimes, other things got in the way. There are certain scenes that have stuck with me, and not just gruesome ones (rape, the gym shorts OMG EW) but some of the tender ones too (the seashell frame and what became of it). I can't say too much without giving everything away, but Ani is one strong female character. Spoiler (highlight to see): She demanded the truth from her abusers - and at least one of them admitting it. And she stood up for herself in the end, even knowing the risks. (Also, I think anyone who read this in 2015 and/or saw any comparison to "Gone Girl" should give it another shot because it was NOTHING like that book and at the time the market was overrun with the "unreliable narrator" genre. This needs to be given another chance- I think that was part of why I liked this so much more than some others- timing is everything sometimes.)
"I don’t know if I belong here. How can that be possible, to feel estranged from a place where everyone loves you? To owe your life to a place and still want to run?"
Oh Ms. McQuiston. You definitely pulled me again! This was nothing like the other novel I read by her (One Last Stop), but I really enjoyed how she took the town "It Girl" and made her a real person, with motives and desires completely different from her family's and her community's expectations.
Shara manages to get three other schoolmates with seemingly nothing in common - her rival for Valedictorian, the school "bad boy" (who also happens to live next door to her) and her quarterback boyfriend - to work together to figure out where she went, and why. I loved how they worked together, with the help of the clues she left behind, and how that brought them closer together. I didn't love how orchestrated it was. And what bothered me most was that this girl was about 16, disappeared DURING a school dance, and her parents don't ask or even seem to care where she went and why? That didn't make sense.
“Most of the things we’re feeling right now are things we’re feeling for the first time. We’re learning what it means to feel them. What we can mean to one another. Of course that matters. And this, here, right now—even if nothing changes, even if all we can do today is prove that we exist, and that we’re not alone—I think it matters a whole fucking lot.”
Library e-book
Trigger warnings: mental illness
"The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways and with unexpected consequences in acclaimed author Dan Chaon's gripping, brilliantly written new novel."
This was my local book club's pick. I've never heard of it and wouldn't found it otherwise and even though I didn't love it, I'm glad I did! I usually devour novels wither interconnecting storylines, but this was a bit far-fetched even for me. This was a bit of a slow burn book, even though it starts with a guy's severed hand being rushed to the hospital. Who is this guy? Who is his father who ALLOWED this to happen in front of him? And that's the whole plot - it's based on identity theft.
I heard during our book club that the author did write this is three stages, years apart. And that's exactly how it reads- like 3 separate novellas pieced together at the end (vaguely, and with many holes and too much room for interpretation, IMO).
Anyway, it led to a great discussion about mental illness.
The Last Anniversary - Liane Moriarty: 4 Stars
Own
‘Love is a decision.’
Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors, and I'm trying to work through her backlog. This is a far cry from some of her latest works such as Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall. Originally published in 2006, this is the story of a young woman who leaves her life on mainland Australia after a disastrous engagement where she leaves the groom at the alter, to a nearby island and a family full of secrets.
If you've read her more recent works, you can certainly tell this is an earlier work, but it wasn't bad. Her main characters were well developed, but overall there were too many characters and side stories (which I feel is true of all of her novels, TBH). I figured out the "mystery" early on, but I appreciate how Moriarty wraps up each storyline.
Own
Trigger warnings: body dysmorphia, eating disorders, homophobia
I'm actually surprised I'm even giving this book 2 stars, because I really, REALLY disliked it.
However the writing wasn't terrible, but the plot/storyline grossed me out, TBH. Maybe I'm a prude or too conservative, but the main theme in this book was seriously disturbing to me. Perhaps you will find it provocative and thought-provoking! I mean, there's a breast on the cover, so that's what I was thinking going in. The actual plot is about Rachel, a bisexual lapsed Jewish woman who is obsessed with calorie counting to stay "healthy" (instilled by her mother), who falls for Miriam, the server at her favorite froyo spot, a devout (straight) Jewish woman of about the same age.
None of that bothered me. It was all of the fantasies Rachel had, including ones involving the secretary at her job and Miriam, in which she fantasized either or both of them as "mothering" her... fantasies that started as sexual, and then imagining them coddling her in a motherly way (which was directly stated, not up to the reader's imagination), petting her head or soothing her, and then sucking or humping in a very aggressive, rough fashion... while STILL thinking of this other woman in a motherly way. I'm not disturbed by rough sex either, but it was the notion that she felt she was doing it with someone even she considered motherly. I don't know, I'm having a hard time describing how unsettling the fantasies, and even the actual sex was.
And then there was Miriam. She pissed me off because she basically led Rachel on, and then dumped her. Of course, Rachel said some inappropriate things at a family dinner at Miriam's house, but it was seemed to be dropped soon after. I don't know- the plot didn't make sense.
(If anyone else read this and wants to discuss further please let me know!)
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