very enjoyable

The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: mystery

Review: This book is just plain enjoyable.  Fans of British royalty will enjoy it.  Fans of mysteries will enjoy it.  I certainly enjoyed it.  Bennett's take on the royal voice is spot-on (at least if The Crown is a reliable source) and one never tires of feeling like one is inside the Queen's head as she ponders the mystery of who killed a young Russian pianist right in Windsor Castle.

Of course Her Majesty can't track down leads on her own, so she relies on Rosie Oshodi, her Assistant Private Secretary, to do the leg-work.  Rosie is as discreet and sdubtle as the Queen could wish while she makes inquiries on Her Majesty's behalf, but Rosie doesn't quite have the intuitiveness, or the long view of history, that allows the Queen to make connections and follow threads to the real killer.

Bennett's writing is very smooth.  The narrative gets a little slowed down in places as the mystery takes a back seat to the majestic trappings, but one can hardly complain about a fictional, but very authentic-feeling, glimpse into the royal lives.  Bennett also switches perspectives from one paragraph to the next as elegantly as any author I've ever read.  There's a little more bite than traditional "cozy" mysteries, but more than enough for mystery-lovers of all stripes.  As the first in a planned series, I'll definitely be trying to get my hands on the next installment.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

slender and tenuous

The Lost Apothecary by Sara Penner

Genre: fiction/historical fiction

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Review: In 1791, Nella is a London apothecary who has made it her mission to help women get revenge on the men who hurt them.  She dispenses poisons and teaches women how to use them to kill the men who have shunned them, raped them, cheated on them, or otherwise done them harm.  Caroline is a present-day woman who has come to London for what was supposed to be a 10th anniversary trip with her husband.  Unfortunately, she's just found out that he's been cheating on her, so she's on her own, asking big questions about the path of her life.  Perhaps, if she'd lived in the 18th century, she would have been one of Nella's clients.  Instead, she finds one of Nella's vials while mudlarking by the Thames, and is determined to find out the story behind it.

What follows is a dual tale, tracing Nella's possible downfall as one of her poisons is possibly taken by the wrong person, and Caroline's quest to figure out the mystery of the vial and to make the hard decisions about the rest of her life.  Both Nella and Caroline are well-written characters, but their lives, both interior and exterior, weren't sketched out quite fully enough for me to understand some of their motivations.  Similarly, some of the evidence that Caroline uncovers about Nella felt much too slender to base some of her conclusions on, and the connection between one conclusion and another often felt tenuous.

Still, both Nella's and Caroline's stories are compelling, and together they create a momentum that propels the book forward quite nicely.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

real or imagined?

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: For most of the "real" story of Agatha Christie's disappearance, or at least as much as is publically known, check out this article in the NYTimes Magazine from June 2019, which includes many clips from contemporaneous news articles.  For a fictionalized, but very believable, novel based on the same thing, check out Marie Benedict's latest offering.  Since Mrs. Christie refused to ever speak about what actually happenend, this may be as close as we get to the "truth".

Agatha and her husband take turns telling the story.  Agatha's chapters go back to the past, starting when she met her future husband and going up to the day she disappears.  His start with learning of her disappearance, and they alternate until she is "found" at a Yorkshire spa.  Her chapters are filled with a growing knowledge that the man she married is not the loving husband she thought he was and that perhaps her mother's advice to make him the absolute focus of her life to the exclusion of all else, even their daughter, is not all it's cracked up to be.  His chapters are threaded through with an overlying but vague threat that she made in a letter she left for him before she disappeared that require him to play his part in solving the "mystery".

Benedict tells this story capably, staying very close to the known facts.  So close that one wonders what the reader learns that the newspapers haven't already reported.  Of course, a novel takes us into the characters' heads in a way that journalism can't, but Benedict seems to have left her imagination by the wayside in inhabiting her characters.  Agatha matures throughout the book as she realizes that her marriage is not all that she hoped it would be, and becomes more resolute in her determination to shape her own destiny, but Mr. Christie is very one-dimensional throughout his chapters.  I suppose some characters are easier to write than others, but I hope that for Ms. Benedict's next book, she chooses a subject that alows her more free rein with her generous writing talents.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

delicious but not sweet

Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction/historical fiction

Review: Alice and her husband Nate have just left NYC for life in the suburbs.  Alice is very unsure about leaving the big city, but they think they're ready to start a family, and she's just left her high-powered PR job, and really she can't think of a reason to say no.  So off they go, moving in to Nellie's house.  Of course, Alice and Nellie will never meet, since Nellie's been dead for a year, but Alice will come to feel like she knows Nellie, after discovering a cache of letters and old magazines that Nellie left behind.

What follows is a not-unpredictable, but still satisfying, alternating of chapters.  Nellie and Alice are both keeping secrets from their husbands, but what are they and whose secrets will be found out and whose secrets may prove deadly?  The tension ramps up deliciously through the middle of the book, although Brown is a little heavy-handed with some of the clues.  Put together, the stories form two different, yet not altogether dissimilar looks at the inside of marriage, that though they may be 50+ years apart, may send that message that plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

cardboard cutouts

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: Yes, you can travel through time at that café, but there are rules.  Very specific rules, the reasons for which aren't readily apparent, except as plot devices.  But an author is allowed to create his own rules, and as plot devices they work well to deliver tension to the narrative, which works well, as this book isn't about the rules as much as it is about the characters.  Each character has their own reason for wanting to travel in time, and, although one of the rules is that you won't change the present, each person comes back changed in themselves in some way.

This could have been a touching and tender story.  Unfortunately, and I don't know whether to attribute this to the writing or the translation, the language was very stilted.  The characters were sympathetic enough, but the wooden dialogue and strained narrative put a barrier between me and them, even between me and the story itself.  Some of this might be due to the fact that Kawaguchi is a playwright before he's an author, but making the transition to writing a novel requires more than just changing stage directions to sentences.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

the ghost of a town

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction (with a pinch of historical fiction)

Review: If you're like me, you've been waiting a long time to find out what happened to your favorite characters from Whistle Stop, Alabama, not to mention Evelyn Couch.  Where did they go?  Did they all lose touch?  I can tell you without spoiling anything that the answer to the latter is no, they didn't.  Dot Weems first sends Christmas cards and then discovers email to keep everyone in the loop.  But what about the town itself?

Well, it's probably better not to ask what Whistle Stop looks like these days.  But when Bud Threadgoode's granddaughter Ruthie meets up with Evelyn Couch they are unfazed by what 50+ years of neglect can do to a town.

It may have taken a while, but Fannie Flagg does not disappoint with this sequel.  In her typical chatty style, we learn about what happened to the town and its inhabitants when the trains started just passing through without stopping.  And then we zoom into the future to see how Whistle Stop lives on in spirit, and maybe even in reality.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

get out of your own head

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction (creepy)

Review: On the second night of their vacation in the Hamptons, Amanda and Clay answer the door of their Airbnb rental to a couple claiming to be the owners of the house.  Apparently, there's been a major blackout in New York City and they didn't know where else to go.  The mystery, the creep factor, has little to do with the question of whether these people are who they say are.  It becomes clear fairly quickly that they are telling the truth and that there has been a major event of some kind, but with cell phones, landlines, internet, and television all out, no-one knows any details.  Cue the dramatic music.

This book was very suspenseful, due to two things: First, the characters' lack of knowledge.  The reader, through the omniscient narrator, knows quite a bit more than the character do about what's going on.  Not that it helps.  Second, this book is deeply introspective.  Alam slides seamlessly from the perspective of one character another, and we are privy to each one's sense of insecurity that they aren't responding "well" to the crisis.  And it turns out that the inside of peoples' heads during a mysterious calamity is a deeply creepy place.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

the devil is in the details

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction/historical fiction

Review: Addie LaRue is completely unable to make a mark on this world.  She is forgotten the moment she is out of sight, her writing erases itself, and she can't even manage to hold on to any material possessions, except a wooden ring that is the symbol of her deal with the devil.  Addie asked for freedom, to not be tied down to convention, but we all know that you have to be careful what you wish for.  Addie has all the freedom she could want, and then some, and her bargain is good until she tires of being unendingly forgotten, at which point the devil will claim her soul.

The devil thinks he's gotten a good deal, making a bargain with a rash young girl, but he didn't count on Addie.  Realizing that "ideas are wilder than memories" and can't be so easily controlled, she makes the terms of the bargain work for her.  Perhaps she is an artist's muse for a while, or she plants a musical riff that grows into a hit song, or finds some other way to live on (anonymously) through art.  On top of that, she really does have freedom to experience all the world has to offer, and she's been experiencing it for 300 years.

And then, someone remembers her.  After so much time, can Addie even have a relationship with someone who actually remembers her from one day to the next?  What will she learn about her relationship to the world?  And will it make her rethink the bargain she made so long ago?

Addie is a wonderfully strong, brave character, who will stick with you (haunt you?) long after you finish this book.  The book is a trifle too long, but the payoff at the end is worth it.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

this is what a feminist looks like

Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: Katy Gordon doesn't think of herself as a feminist.  She doesn't think of herself as a fighter in the struggle for equal rights.  She know it's not fair that she was denied the place that she earned on her local Little League team just because she's a girl.  So she starts by writing a letter to Little League headquarters in Williamsport, PA.  When they respond by telling her that baseball is, and always has been, a sport for boys and men, she sets out to prove them wrong.  Her journey opens up a world of women in baseball that Katy (like probably most readers of this book) had no idea existed.

And what a world it is!  Of course, Katy learns about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which by 1957 has already faded away, but she also learns about women who made it to the minor leagues, only to have their contracts cancelled because of their gender.  She learns about women who played in the Negro Leagues, and women who formed barnstorming teams.  She meets some of these women and interviews them for a school project.  Through Katy, we learn so much about this history, and Katy's sheer excitement at finding so many other women who share her passion is infectious.

When I was a girl and played Little League, it didn't occur to me even to think about the girls and women who had come before me, let alone thank them, but after reading this book, I will never forget them.  That's due in equal measure to the wonderful writing as to the short bios of some of these players that Klages includes at the end of the books, ending with Maria Pepe, who in 1974, with the support of NOW, finally made Little League change their rules.  So, as someone who walked on the path they paved, I now know enough to thank them, and to also thank Ellen Klages for doing a masterful job at bringing their stories to a new generation.

two roads diverged at an airport

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: Sometimes, when I'm reading a book, I start writing the reivew before I finish reading.  I only had a few sentences put down for this book by the time I got close to the end, which is good, because I had to scrap them.  In other words, this book is not what it seems.  It's even better.

After surviving a plane crash, the airline offers to fly Dawn wherever she wants to go.  Does she choose to return to her daughter and husband of fifteen years, or does she choose to find her lost love, the man she thought of as the plane was going down?

Thus we are introduced to the theory of parallel universes, and so, the chapters alternate, beginning with Dawn choosing to return to Egypt to explore the what-if she left behind.  In the other chapters, Dawn returns to her home in Boston, and the familiar struggles of marriage and motherhood.  Or is that what's going on?  There's a twist (don't expect me to give it away!) and in typical Picoult fashion, there are no clear right answers.

Picoult is not coy about what she's setting up.  Dawn's husband is a physicist who explores just that topic.  As a graduate student in Egyptology, Dawn's thesis was on The Book of Two Ways, an ancient Egyptian text that essentially posited that, after death, one's soul can take one of two routes, but will end up in the same place, feasting with Osiris.  But sometimes, Picoult gets a little heavy-handed, such as having one of Dawn's clients face a very similar dilemma, and having Dawn learn a lot about her own life as she works things through with her client.

In Picoult's hands, even this last doesn't seem like much of a flaw, and if it is one, it's easily forgiven for the pleasure of the rest of the book.  This is the kind of book that you want to read again as soon as you've finished it, that will make you want to go out and learn all about hieroglyphics, and that you'll recommend to everyone you know.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

not those hostages

Anxious People by Frederik Backman

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: One day someone decides to rob a bank.  The bank in question, however, is a cashless bank, which makes robbing it kind of pointless.  Flustered, the bank robber runs across the street and into an apartment building.  The first open door is an apartment where there's an open house, so the bank robber accidentally takes everyone there hostage.  The hostage situation is resolved with no loss of life, but the bank robber is nowhere to be found.  What happened to the bank robber?

First, this is not a riddle.  It's the plot of Frederik Backman's new book, and his hands, this story is funny, touching, sad, and generally un-put-downable.  

Second, lest you be like me, hear "hostage situation" and think Bel Canto, be warned: this book is not like Bel Canto.  It's just as good (Backman and Patchett are two of my absolute favorite authors), but the tone is very different, as is the story itself.

Told in shifting perspectives of the bank robber, various hostages, and two police officers, we get the unfolding story of the investigation in the bank robber's whereabouts, the story of the incident itself, and the backstory of some of the hostages.  Put together, it forms a beautiful tapestry of love, loneliness, and hope.

FTC Disclaimer: I recieved this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

an exegisis on the treatment of women in 19th-century Australia

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: Women do not have an easy life in Kline's new novel.  Unless they're rich.  But this novel has very little sympathy for the rich.  Instead, the focus is on the marginalized.  Evangeline is a naïve governess, who finds herself pregnant and accused of stealing a ring (she didn't).  After a stint in Newgate, Evangeline is sentenced to 14 years labor in Australia.  On the months-long voyage, she meets Hazel, a fellow prisoner, and the two become unlikely allies.  Kline does not soften her descriptions of the conditions they faced.  One can almost smell it.

Methinna, an Aboriginal girl who is adopted by the governor's wife to be essentially a talking pet, rounds out our group.  At 11, she's old enough to be somewhat independent, which is good, since no-one exactly takes care of her.  But she learns French and learns how to dance, and is generally considered a marvel of civilization, until, suddenly she isn't.  Unfortunately, she learns the hard way that you can't go home again, although in her case, it's as much to do with the depredations of the British on the Aboriginal way of life than with anything she does.

Evangeline and Hazel are well-realized characters, although in some ways they are mere stand-ins for the idea that women had no power in that era.  But they fill that role more than adequately, not being shy with their desire to be treated with common decency.  Methinna's inclusion in the novel is more curious, as her story barely intersects the other, and her impact on their lives isn't as dramatic as it could be, or vice versa.  It almost seems as though Kline felt she couldn't write a story taking place in Australia at the time without including an Aboriginal voice, a sentiment which I applaud, but I don't think she does that voice much justice here.  For the a fully-told plight of women prisoners sent to the colony, I recommend this book.  For the same of the Aboriginals, one might want to look elsewhere.

A note on the audio: Narrator Christine Lee does a competent job with her narration, with one major flaw.  Two of the characters are described as being quite young, and their youth is such a character trait that it is mentioned repeatedly throughout the narrative.  Unfortunately, Lee's doesn't modulate her voice to reflect that youth, and I constantly had to remind myself that they were both young girls.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book in print, electronic, and audio format from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: graphic non-fiction

Read 20 in 2020 category: graphic non-fiction

Review: This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of spaceflight.  Those who are already well-read may not learn much that's new, but even if you already know it all, you'll be drawn in by the visuals.  Fetter-Vorn's illustrations are first-rate, clearly showing the expressions on the faces of his characters.  The best is their wonder at the stars and the universe, whether studying it through a telescope, or through the window of a spacecraft.  If you're looking for an introduction or an overview, you can't ask for much more than this.

Yes, Fetter-Vorn tells the familiar story of Apollo 11, but interspersed with the chapters that walk us through the moon landing step by step are chapters that relate the history of astronomy from the early myths of different cultures to Kepler and Galileo, the development of rockets, the space race, and much more.  The reader gets not just what feels like an insider's view of the Apollo 11 mission, but a good education that goes down smoothly along the way.

secrets of the NYPL

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: Did you know that the lions in front of the New York Public Library weren't always named Patience and Fortitude?  Neither did I.  (For the curious, their names were originally Leo Astor and Leo Lenox, after Jacob Astor and John Lenox, two of the library's founders.  They were renamed in the 1930s by Mayor LaGuardia.)  This was just one of the many things I learned about the New York Public Library, its history, and its beautiful house on Fifth Avenue.

Lest you think that this is a boring treatise on the NYPL, it most assuredly is not.  This is a story of feminism, and not being afraid to fall in love again, and books, and book thefts.  Told in two different time periods, we start with Laura Lyons, whose husband is the first superintendent of the NYPL.  They live with their two children in an apartment in the library itself (and yes, that apartment actually exists, but the Lyons bear no resemblance to the actual family of the first superintendent beyond borrowing their living quarters).  Laura loves her family, but is dissatisfied with her role in life and chafes under the gender norms of the early 20th century.

Jump 80 years into the future, and Laura's granddaughter Sadie is the curator of a special collection at the NYPL (she got the job entirely on her own merits, by the way, as no-one there even knows about the family connection).  When first editions and valuable papers start disappearing from her collection, though, she must look back to her grandmother's time, when something similar happened.  Could the past and future be connected?  Why?  How?

As Sadie works to solve the mystery of the book thefts, she must also try to answer questions about her family and their life in the library.  Sadie is a character to be reckoned with, and her wit and determination shine off the page.  Laura, too, is a character not soon to be forgotten, as she tries to solve the mystery of who she is and how she wants to leave her mark on the world.  Their stories come together in a heart-pounding mix of whodunit and family saga that will leave readers both satisfied and wishing for a sequel.

For fans of Marie Benedict and Beatriz Williams.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

a genius writer writes about genius music

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction

Read 20 in 2020 category: history
Review:  Booklist got it right: "Mitchell's readers can be excused if they greet a new novel by this unalloyed genius with both goose-pimply anticipation and tredpidation over meeting the challenge."  That was exactly my feeling when I saw that he had a new book, and that I would get to read an ARC.  While reading, the trepidation over whether I would measure up to the book lasted to the very last page, but was joined by engagement, pure pleasure, and that broken-hearted feeling that only the very best writers can give you.

Meet Utopia Avenue, the band that mixes psychedelic with folk with much more and amazing results: Dean Moss on bass, trying to make his Gravesend roots proud; Elf Holloway on piano, who hates questions about being a woman in a band with three guys; Jasper de Zoet (yes, the same de Zoet family), guitar virtuoso with inner demons; and Peter Griffin on drums, who's happy with his role sitting at the back of the band.  With Dean, Elf, and Jasper each writing songs and doing vocals, the band's albums have an eclecticism that propels the group up the charts and into company that includes the biggest names of the era.

For me, not knowing much about the music scene beyond being able to recognize the names in question, this book was much more about the people in the band than the band as a whole.  Chapters tell the story from the perspective of each band member, plus their manager, Levon, and each character comes vividly to life, bringing with them the music industry, London's SoHo, their families, and their own dreams and doubts.

Mitchell's fans will understand the slightly mystical references, and while other readers might be put off by a certain chapter where horology takes the stage, I encourage them to push through it.  The pay-off is well worth it.

For fan's of Mitchell's previous books, or anyone who likes a good rock 'n' roll story.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

black and white

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: There's a small town in Louisiana, settled by blacks, whose descendents have carried on the tradition of essentially trying to breed themselves into light skin.  Some hundred years after the founding of the town, twin girls are born, who are inspeparable at birth, but after running away to find a better life, they realize that they are not so inspeparable as everyone thought.  In fact, they can separate so far from each other that one can choose to live as a white woman, while the other returns home.

The question of whether the sisters reunite, and whether Stella, who passes, ever reveals the truth about her background to her husband and daughter pulls the reader through the novel.  Stella and Desirée, her twin, and their daughters, one raised in the Jim Crow south, and the other in a life of privilege in Los Angeles, are characters that will not soon be forgotton.  Not everyone will love this book (although there's a lot to love), but everyone will come away from it asking questions about race and identity and how the two intersect.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Truth? Hard to say.

The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story by Darin Strauss
Rating: 3 stars
Genre: historical fiction
Review:This book is being marketed as a romance, a love story.  I say, really?  There are elements of that in it, to be sure, but in some ways this book is quite the opposite.  The story is two-fold.  One part is a part-fictional, small-part memoir of the author's grandfather, who may or may not have had an affair with Lucille Ball.  They met at a party in New York, before she was nearly as famous as she would later become.  He was established in his real estate career, married, with children.  She too was already married, and focused on making herself (and Desi) a rising star in the acting world.  But they caught each other's attention and a slight obsession followed.  The book jumps through the years, following both, and interspersed with the author's own story of talking to his dying grandfather (the one who, as a younger man, is a character in the larger story - don't worry, it's not as confusing as it sounds).

Do Lucille and the author's grandfather ever get together?  Well, such is the stuff that stories are made of.  Did any of this really happen?  That's a more complicated question.  What is the responsibility of the author of historical fiction to historical fact?  Strauss is completely clear that he doesn't know the truth of the matter, but he also acknowledges fudging such fundamental facts as the day of the week on which I Love Lucy aired.  And why?  That particular detail is absolutely not relevant to the plot, so why bother to change a fact of history.  To me, that calls the entire enterprise of this book into doubt.  Maybe he did that on purpose, since he himself doesn't know the truth of the possible relationship between his grandfather and Lucille Ball.

Setting the absolute truth aside, this is a very readable story.  It follows Lucille Ball through her early struggles with Desi and her career, into her stardom, and through the collapse of her marriage, even as she continues to grow more powerful in Hollywood.  It follows Isidore Strauss, mostly through a family lens, as his children grow and his wife becomes an alcoholic.  Either of these stories separately might have made good reading.  Tying them together is something of a conceit on the author's part, and it doesn't quite work.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

fun but ridiculous

Siri, Who Am I? by Sam Tschida
Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: Mia wakes up in the hospital with a head wound, amnesia, and no ID of any kind.  She only learns her name because Siri tells her.  But, having woken up, and there being nothing "medically wrong" with her, her doctors discharge her.  She figure out where she lives by "triangulating" from the backgrounds of her Instagram posts, and fortunately the key in her clutch fits in the lock of the place she winds up, which turns out to be her boyfriend's place, which is being house-sat by a very cute neuroscientist.  Ready for a deep breath, yet?  What follows is a somewhat madcap adventure, suitable for the Pink Panther, except that Inspector Clouseau (as portrayed by either Petter Sellers or Steve Martin) is both smarter and more endearing) than Mia.

Watching Mia try to figure out her life, and who caused her head injury is quite a page-turner.  Mia's voice is very real, as the author has abandoned many writing conventions for a very colloquial tone.  It works, though.  Mia's discomfort as glimpses of who she was before amnesia also feel very authentic.

What doesn't work is the actual plot.  In the interests of not giving away any spoilers, I can't reveal most of the actual problems, although they definitely start with Mia being released from the hospital before she even knows her own last name, but suffice it to say that a lot of Mia's conclusions are leaps, and a lot of things don't hang together even after she figures everything out.  If you can move beyond those issues, this is a fun read, and presents some thoughtful questions about how much of identity is immutable.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

something's very strange here

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: Ines Murillo is a first-year at Catherine House, a prestigious but unusual college tucked deep in the woods of Pennsylvania.  The admissions process is extremely selective, and both rigorous and demanding.  It's entirely unclear what they're looking for, beyond intelligence, but fortunately for Ines, she has whatever it is, since the world outside suddenly seems like something from which she has to escape.  Once she gets there, though, she seems intent on continuing with the debauchery that got her into trouble in the first place.  She sleeps around, drinks too much (to be fair, wine seems to flow freely at all times), and skips class.  Can anything convince her to turn things around?  And what's really going on at Catherine anyway?

Reading the blurb for this book, which describes a secretive school that graduates powerful people, immediately made me think of that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the fraternity whose members got their power from a demon in their basement to whom they had to offer human sacrifices.  So, here's a spoiler: there's no demon in the basement of Catherine House.  What there is, isn't quite clear.  It has something to do with a "new material" called "plasm" which, if I understood correctly somehow allows all things to be connected.  The science behind it wasn't all that important to me.

Rather than the specifics of what's going on in the lab, this book is anchored by the atmosphere of the school.  Full of lush descriptions of damp rooms with peeling wallpaper and mismatched furniture and meals made of strange combinations of food, the sense of something a step beyond shabby gentility emerges.  Add to that some students who are, shall we say, very focused on plasm, and one gets a decidedly gothic feel.

For readers who enjoy a sense of nervous dread about what happens on the next page, this book will pull you to the end, while you nervously look over your shoulder.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

what lies beneath

Alice's Tulips by Sandra Dallas
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Read 20 in 2020 category: published in 2000 (or history)
Review: Midway through the Civil War, Alice has been living for a year with her new husband and his mother on their small farm in Iowa, when her husband hears the call of patriotism and joins the Union Army.  Alice left the more genteel circumstances she grew up in to marry Charlie, and it does appear to be true love, as they're quite happy together.  He leaves Alice with his mother, a woman of very strong opinions, and the hired man to do the heavy lifting on the farm.  This seems somewhat problematic at first, as Alice's only apparent talents are quilting and flirting (which puts her one up on Scarlett O'Hara).

As the circumstances get tougher, Alice soon finds that she has more skills than she thought she did, including loyalty and the ability to work hard.  In this book, Sandra Dallas has mastered the art of showing the reader how a character develops, rather than simply saying so.  Told in the form of letters Alice writes to her sister, the reader can almost feel Alice developing both muscles and a backbone as she faces both day-to-day and rather more extraordinary challenges.

not all adults here

All Adults Here by Emma Straub
Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: Some books are enjoyed because of plot, some because of characters, others because of the tone or style of the language.  One might recommend this book for the plot, which moves along, or possibly even the style, which is engaging, but probably not for the characters, most of whom seem more to become fully colored in, more than they grow throughout the book.

But there are plot points aplenty.  The book nominally centers around the matriarch of the family, who has a stunning revelation to share with her three grown children.  Her middle child, and only daughter, has a very different revelation of her own, and her eldest son is struggling with a weighty decision.  Her granddaughter is struggling with a new school, and the reason she left her old school.  There's more than enough here to keep us turning the pages.

My biggest issue with this book is the fact that they are not, in fact, all adults.  The most compelling parts of this book come from children.  Eighth graders, to be specific, as they navigate the difference between secrecy and loyalty, and what it means to really be someone's friend.  It is these parts of the book that had the most meat to them.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

not another one!

The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical mystery
Read 20 in 2020 category: mystery (or history!)
Review: In this 9th installment of the Maggie Hope series, MacNeal's heroine is really struggling.  Poor Maggie has been through the wringer is the first 8 books, and has taken up living on the edge as a way to deal.  She's zipping through town on her motorbike, smoking, trying to get her new boyfriend into bed with her, and defusing bombs left over from the Blitz.  She's convinced herself that this is perfectly acceptable, until another serial killer hits the streets of London.  Despite her best efforts, she can't help but get involved, especially when she figures out that her new comrades in bomb defusing, many of whom are conscientious objectors, may be the killer's targets.

This serial killer seems to have a connection to the killer she thwarted in The Queen's Accomplice (book #6), even as that murderer is counting down the days to his execution.  Much as Maggie might like to be able to put those memories firmly behind her, she must confront him in order to try to apprehend the new murderer, and deal with her conflicting feelings about the death penalty as well.

Like Maggie's other adventures, there are more than a few red herrings thrown across our path, and quite a bit of pedantic dialogue, but overall MacNeal keeps this mystery rolling along nicely.  Maggie might be a little out of control, but readers will empathize with her, and of course root for her to solve the mystery, protect her friends, and even find a little bit of emotional peace.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

doesn't deliver

The Fortress by S.A. Jones
Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
Genre: speculative fiction
Review: Jonathon is deeply in love with his wife.  Truly, he thinks she's amazing and the best thing that ever happened to him.  But that doesn't stop him from participating in what amounts to a rape culture in his high-powered corporate world.  Did he himself ever actually rape one of the "poodles" (as female junior analysts are called) in his office?  It doesn't seem so, but he certainly engaged in activity where "consent" was not exactly voluntarily given.  And, as is pointed out to him, he doesn't do anything to stop other women from being raped either, even though he's fully aware of what's going on around him.  When his wife finds out, she kicks him out and agrees to take him back only if he does a year as a supplicant at The Fortress, a nation-state ruled by the all-female Vaik.

The Vaik play by their own rules, the most important of which seems to be that the men who live with them can never say no, to any of them, about anything.  Shockingly, Jonathon doesn't find it hard to "submit" to their will when they slip out of their diaphanous gowns, although he does struggle with the rule against asking any questions.  Somehow, the rules, and the hard physical labor are supposed to reform him into being the kind of man who doesn't objectify every woman he sees.  How that's supposed to happen when women are propositioning him regularly is unclear, but the system does make him submissive, even to the point of doing things that violate his own moral code, which may not be exactly what his wife had in mind.

Where this book really fails, though, is in helping the reader understand how these changes happen, or even how they're supposed to happen.  Jonathon moves rocks to learn to control his emotions, yes, and is able to move rocks in his mind to simulate the control even when there are no actual rocks to hand, and he wears a technically advanced piece of clothing that fits him like a glove and, we are told repeatedly, leaves very little to the imagination.  But the remainder of the Vaik's program is left to the reader's imagination.  We are told that it works, not shown how it works, which makes the results not entirely believable.

I wish I could recommend this book.  The premise is really interesting, which is why I read it in the first place.  Unfortunately, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in advance of it's US release in exchange for this review.

she's up to something

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: psychological suspense
Read 20 in 2020 Challenge Category: book with a color in the title
Review: Patty Watts is being released from jail, having served 5 years for aggravated child abuse.  Based primarily on her daughter's testimony, she was convicted of having poisoned her daughter with Ipecac syrup, causing her to vomit repeatedly.  The resulting malnutrition caused her to exhibit a host of other symptoms, which required lots of attention from the medical community, and lots of support from their neighbors.  And who is there to pick Patty up as she takes her first steps back into freedom?  None other than her daughter, darling Rose Gold (and Rose Gold's 2 month old son).  Why on earth, you ask yourself, would Rose Gold be willing to allow her mother back into her life?

Told in alternating chapters, starting with Patty's release, going back to get Rose Gold's story of her life after her mother's imprisonment, and coming together as we near the dramatic conclusion, this book is in no way straightforward.  It becomes increasingly clear that Rose Gold is playing a deep-fake game with her mother, but it's not until the end, that we find out exactly how deep her game goes.

This book is indeed thrilling, and suspenseful, but I couldn't help but wonder how a girl like Rose Gold, who has been sick and beyond sheltered her entire life, would have the physical strength (she's described as being very small and thin) and mental fortitude to pull off her scheme.  But it's that very question that will keep you reading all the way through!

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

you are there

What You Have Heard is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn Forché
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: memoir
Read 20 in 2020 category: memoir/biography
Review: What would you do if a man appeared on your doorstep one day and announced that he was Leonel, the mysterious cousin of a friend of yours who you'd heard so much speculation about?  What if he told you a tale of conquerors and corruption, of resistance and danger?  If you're Carolyn Forché, apparently you agree to join him in El Salvador for a month so that you can educate yourself about the actual situation there, rather than only seeing it only the was the US government wants you to.  And then, many years later, you would write a beautiful book about what you saw.  Forché is a poet, and it shows in every scene.  Even when describing the sight of people using a fetid ditch for a latrine, or the brutal mistreatment of prisoners, her images are exquisite.

Unfortunately, she herself doesn't come across nearly so well.  Not entirely ignorant when she arrives in El Salvador, thanks to Leonel's lessons, she knows she's not there for a vacation, but she's hardly knowledgeable enough or savvy enough to make her own way.  So she sticks pretty close to Leonel, who shows her around the country and introduces her to other members of the movement.  But sometimes Leonel has go do something vague, and he leaves her with someone else, sometimes in a nice house in San Salvador, and sometimes in a hut in the jungle.

It's the vagueness that became a real problem for me.  It's one of my pet peeves when reading if people aren't being straight with a character and that character doesn't demand straight answers and explanations.  And here we have Forché accepting lots of vague answers and allowing herself to be brought into a lot of potentially dangerous situations with little or no information, including meeting with high level Salvadoran government officials who were known to rule through extreme violence.  And this is real life!  I felt that it was very irresponsible of her to not demand more answers and explanations when walking into situations where her life was literally in danger.

For those who are not bothered by such things, this is absolutely one of the best books to read to get a sense of El Salvador in the late 1970s and the US government's role in it.  Forché learns a lot as she spends more time there, and her readers learn along with her.  The effect is that the reader becomes the witness of the book's subtitle, just as Forché and Leonel hoped.

hold on to the land

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: Louise Erdrich wrote this book to honor the work of her grandfather, the titular night watchman of a jewel bearing plant, was also a Chippewa tribal chairman who took the fight against the Indian Termination Policy all the way to Washington DC in 1954.  Thomas, his fictionalized counterpart has a great story to tell.  I only wish Erdrich has let more of his voice through, and not muddied the water with so many ancillary characters.

To be fair, the other characters give a fuller picture of life on the reservation.  Perhaps if this book had been presented as a series of interlinked short stories, with Thomas's story to anchor it at the end, it would have worked better.  Instead, we jump from one person to another, or see the characters interact in stilted, forced tones and situations.  The pieces all add up to a picture of the fragility of life on the reservation, and the danger posed by the Indian Termination Act, but it's a choppy picture, and one that doesn't make for a very satisfying story.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

go with the flow

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: Fans of Mandel's Station Eleven are right to be excited about her latest book, but should be warned that this book is very, very different.  The book opens with a drowning, told in almost movie-like flashes of Vincent's physical and mental experiences as she drowns.  I found myself returning to these first few pages repeatedly throughout the book as more and more of Vincent's life leading up to her drowning is revealed.  So, nominally, this book is an answer to the question of why Vincent was drowning.  Was she pushed (murdered), and if so by whom?  Or did she fall?  And what was she doing there in the first place?

Really, though, this book is about far more than that.  Reading Vincent's story takes us to a remote corner of Canada (home of the eponymous glass hotel), the inside of a Ponzi scheme, and, as a direct consequence, jail.  Each setting, each character is rendered almost like a fine painting, with depths and shadows you don't notice at first glance.

The narrative jumps around a bit, from character to character and back and forth in time, and it's not always clear where or when you are, but it works, if you go with the flow.  Mandel is a powerful and flexible writer, has more than enough ability to pull off a very different kind of book than Station Eleven (although I wouldn't say no to a sequel!).  Station Eleven may have put her firmly on the literary map, but The Glass Hotel makes clear that she is not going to bound by any one genre.  I wonder which one she'll choose next.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

a challenging discussion

Americanah by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie
Rated: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Read 20 in 2020 Challenge Category: book by an author from Africa, Asia, and Oceania
Review: I read this book for the library-sponsored book discussion group that I lead, and as I was reading, I was thinking to myself "however am I going to lead a discussion about this book with a group of middle- and upper-middle class white women without all of us choking on our own hypocrisy?"  And I realized that the only possible way was to get that issue out of the way right up front.  So we started out our discussion by owning our own perspectives and acknowledging that each of us came to this book with our own set of assumptions.

I'm pleased to report that my tactic of putting it out there allowed us to have a frank and honest conversation about this book, perhaps one of the best book discussions we've had (YMMV).  And there's a lot to discuss in this book!  Adichie does not pull her punches in describing the thoughts of Ifemelu, her main character, on racism and classism and immigrants and love and going home again.  Ifemelu has a blog on which she explores many of these issues, and her blog posts punctuate the narrative, creating a different way of sharing her insights than the typical internal monologue.  Ifemelu's reflections may provoke you to examine your own beliefs on these topics.  I think she would hope so.

second war, same as before

American War by Omar El Akkad
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: science fiction
Read 20 in 2020 Challenge Category: sci fi
Review: By the 2050s, climate change has caused ocean levels to rise to such a degree that Florida is underwater, as is most of the eastern seaboard.  The Mississippi River has become an inland sea, wiping out New Orleans, and continues to grow.  The Inland Migration has taken over the midwest, and the US capitol has been moved to Columbus, from which the use of fossil fuels is banned.  Southerners are so outraged by this that Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia secede in 2074, kicking off the 2nd American Civil War.  Somehow, the southwest becomes a Mexican Protectorate, but that's incidental to the story and the details are unclear.

Beyond the changed geography, climate change doesn't get much discussion.  The focus is on Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana by the shores of the Mississippi Sea.  Her father is killed in a homicide bombing when she is six, and she and her mother, brother, and twin sister are forced to move to Camp Patience near the border of the Free Southern State in Mississippi.  It is there that she learns what it means to be a "Southerner" and her insurrectionist tendencies are honed.

The bulk of the book is the story of what Sarat does, and what happens to her.  It's not a light read.  It is very creatively written, though, in that the tone echoes very closely books about the actual American Civil War.  Here, the South's desire for independence shows itself through their defiance of the ban on fossil fuels, but it feels just exactly like it might in a work of historical fiction.  Kudos to the author for being able to pull that off, even as he weaves in modern and advanced technology.

will they won't they

Meet Me in Monaco: A Novel of Grace Kelly's Royal Wedding by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: Grace Kelly is, at best, a secondary character in this book, so if you're looking for something about her and her romance with Prince Rainier, look elsewhere.  But if you're looking for a sweet story about two people brought together by Grace Kelly, this is the place to go.  Sophie Duval is a parfumer struggling to follow in her father's footsteps and keep the family parfumerie afloat.  Jim Hutchinson is member of the paparazzi, trying to get a picture of Grace Kelly at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.  Grace ducks into Sophie's shop to try to elude him, bringing the two together.

The rest of the book is a classic will-they-won't-they.  Will they be able to be together?  Will either of them be able to make professional progress?  It's a sweet book, with an unexpected, but satisfying ending.  But both characters perserverate a bit too much for my taste, making it a bit of a chore to read.  For fans of sweet romances, though, this atmospheric book, with a a taste of Provence and royal weddings will be just the thing.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

a Knight of Miamas

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Read 20 in 2020 Challenge category: book with an animal on the cover
Review: Elsa is a very (very!) precocious almost-eight-year-old, with a very (very) strong attachment to her Granny. Because Elsa doesn't fit in at school, she and Granny spend a lot of time together, often in the Land-of-Almost-Awake, a fairy-tale realm that Granny has created and that Elsa knows inside and out. In the Land-of-Almost-Awake, everyone is different, and no-one needs to think about being "normal". Elsa is a Knight in Miamas, one of the kingdoms in the Land-of-Almost-Awake, and Granny knows that Elsa will soon need to use all of the bravery that a Knight carries within.

For Granny has cancer, although Elsa never hears her use that word out loud, and when Granny dies, Elsa is left bereft, and more than a little bit angry as she realizes that Granny kept lots of secrets from her. Elsa's about to find out a lot more about who Granny was before she was "Granny" though, as she undertakes the quest Granny has set out for her. She is to deliver a series of letters to the other residents of their building, in which Granny asks forgiveness for her various failings. As Elsa completes her quest, she comes to see the connections among her neighbors and between each one and her grandmother, and begins to see the origins of Granny's tales of the Land-of-Almost-Awake.

Elsa's journey is both heartbreaking and heartwarming as she struggles toward a fuller picture of the world around her. Although nothing actually fantastical happens, this story has, in some ways, the dreamy quality of a fairy tale, although in others, it is bitingly real. I wanted to be Elsa's companion on her treasure hunt, to help her and protect her, and to experience the journey for myself! Fortunately, Elsa had protectors, and Backman's writing is so vivid that I did sometimes feel as though I were there.

Some reviewers have said, and I can't say I disagree altogether, that Elsa was somewhat too precocious. Perhaps, although it's also been pointed out that, because Elsa was shunned at school, all of her interactions were with adults, with does have a certain effect on a smart child. I would also agree with those who point out that this book requires some suspension of disbelief for more than one thing (that dog eats an awful lot of chocolate...), but that it's all more than worth it to be able to come along for Elsa's journey.

Read 20 in 2020!

I'm doing the Read 20 in 2020 Challenge!  Check back to this post to see what I read for each category.

1. Science fiction - American War by Omal El Akkad
2. Pulitzer Prize/National Book Award winner - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
3. History - Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
4. Biography/Memoir - What You Have Heard is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn Forché
5. Book by an author from Long Island - Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell
6. Graphic Novel/Non-Fiction - Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight by Jonathan Fetter Vorn
7. Mystery/True Crime - The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal
8. Young Adult - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snake by Suzanne Collins
9. Book with a color in the title - Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
10. Book about or taking place during a holiday - The Dinner Party by Brenda Janowitz
11. Learn something new - Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina
12. Audiobook - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
13. Book by an author from Asia, Africa, or Oceania - Supernova Era by Cixin Liu
14. Book with an animal on the cover - My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
15. Book that was published in 2000 - Alice's Tulips by Sandra Dallas
16. Your choice - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
17. Your choice - The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
18. Your choice - The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
19. Your choice - The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller
20. Your choice - City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Want to join?  Visit https://westhamptonlibrary.net/read20in2020/ to sign up and submit your books.  One local winner will get a $100 gift card to a local merchant of their choice, and a non-local winner will get a $50 Amazon gift card.
#read20in2020wfl

Miri

Supernova Era by Cixin Liu, translated by Joel Martinsen
Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
Genre: science fiction
Read 20 in 2020 Challenge category: book by an author from Africa, Asia, or Oceania
Review: The premise behind this book is really interesting.  Essentially, it posits that a supernova gives everyone over the age of 13 radiation poisoning, and they all die.  Only children 13 and under are left in the world.  It's like Miri, a Star Trek episode from 1966, except on a global scale, and with a full-length novel to flesh out the idea.  Unfortunately, the execution doesn't fulfill the promise of the idea.  We can argue whether a children's world would really turn into a "Candytown" free-for-all, or if children would really start massive war games over Antarctica, with actual casualties.  I didn't find either very likely, but I respect the imaginative process that went into creating those scenarios.  My problem was that the writing/translation is very clunky, making the children's world hard to read about, even if I could get behind the ideas.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.