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.
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