After Annie by Anna Quindlan

First... lots of A names - Annie, her best friend AnneMarie, and her daughter Ali. All written by Anna. Sometimes a little confusing.

In the first few pages of this novel, Annie falls to the kitchen floor and is dead. She's under 40 and has 4 children and a loving husband. The rest of the novel deals with the fallout from her death. It's sad but handled quite well and probably realistic in the way the father, daughter, best friend, and son all go through stages of grief. So I liked the book... basically. 

However, there were a couple of subplots that I felt were unnecessary and not developed well. One of these is the story of Jenny, Ali's best friend. She clearly has secrets and when the truth does come out, I didn't feel satisfied with the resolution.

But I've enjoyed Anna Quindlan's books in the past and this was a good read. - June

Sissy by Jacob Tobia

Months ago, I suggested to my book club that we just read banned books this year. This idea was rejected but one of the women in my group wanted to read a book about gender identify. She went to our local library and asked the librarian for suggestions, and this is the book she recommended.

Jacob Tobia is a gender non-conforming person. He has never felt comfortable with the maleness of his body and prefers to dress in feminine attire. He's been an activist in LGBTQ organizations and has made a name for himself nationally with his writings and his leadership. This is his memoir.

My book club meets tonight so as usual, I just finished the book today. It should be an interesting discussion.... while all of us consider ourselves to be openminded, educated women, there may be some who struggled with various sections of this book. I'll report back afterwards.....

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

I'm sure this is a great book. I've heard the author is excellent. But like many other people I've heard from online, I just could not get into it. I'm sure some of it is that I've picked it up in fits and bits, and I haven't devoted the time to it that it deserves. But I'm only 20% into it, and I just don't feel like continuing.

Live's too short. I'll start something else, and tell myself that maybe someday I'll come back to it. Or not. - June 

The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson

I listened to the audio version of this book, and it held my interest - but I have mixed emotions about it. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the print version as much because the narrator did such a wonderful job. 

The novel is about an 80-something British woman named Mabel whose husband has just died. Instead of being lonely, she befriends a group of diverse women who seem to gather around her. Mabel becomes a bit of a busybody and tries to "help" these women by interfering in their lives. Sometimes this works but other times not so much. But the primary goal Mabel has is to find an old friend of hers named Dot which requires lots of research and the use of multiple flashbacks.

It's a nice cozy story until the end when there are a few surprises. And if you want to take a shot of tequila every time someone in the book makes tea or says they will "put the kettle on", you'll be drunk in minutes. But it's a good book to listen to in the car on the way to Macomb. - June

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Whew! I have finally finished this long (but excellent) novel!! I don't know why it took me so long to get through it. Maybe because it is a million pages long and the percentage read number on my Kindle rarely moved. Or maybe it's because there were several times during the saga I felt things were wrapping up and over.... only to see that I wasn't close to being done. 

Since this is a novel spread over several generations, people are born, people die, there are secrets.... lots of secrets. And there are wonderful characters that you will love. 

It takes place in India starting in 1900 and ends in the late 70s. The story follows one family; however, there are extended family members and spouses and friends that come in and out and then come back into the story line. I can't possible summarize this one but I'll just say it was worth the read. Now I need to find something a little lighter and shorter. Definitely recommend. - June

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo by Marianne Cronin

This book was what I needed after reading Rabbit Hutch and Trust. It's a lovely book about friendship in the most unlikely of places... a hospital. Seventeen-year-old Lenni befriends 83-year-old Margo, and they realize that together they have lived 100 years! As their friendship develops, they open up their lives to one another. I found it to be enchanting and well written. 

It may not win the awards the others mentioned above have received, but it was a nice change of pace and I highly recommend it. - June

P.S. A movie version is coming!

Trust by Hernan Diaz

BT, I know you said you gave up on this one, and boy oh boy, I was tempted. But there was a part of me that just thought that it must get better if it won a Pulitzer. So I slogged and skipped my way through it, and here's what I think..... The author or the editor could have cut out about half of the text and it would have been much better. All of the financial details were way beyond me and also unnecessary for the plot.

The novel is divided into four parts... a short novel, an autobiography in progress, a memoir, and a diary. There are many conflicting parts to the basic story, and the final section does pull most of it together and reveals a big surprise, but there are still many unanswered questions. 

Am I glad I stuck with it? I guess so. The ending was creative. But it was just a long hard road getting there. - June

Small World by Laura Zigman

Two middle-aged sisters who have both recently divorced, move in together and try to work out issues from their past. The novel is interesting but not riveting and the characters are both irritating and predictable. But it was a good book to listen to as I walk around the neighborhood.

There were two small sub-plots that run through the book that I liked. The first is the reference to the main character's use of the neighborhood website where lost pets and personal grievances are aired. She converts these to poetry that she keeps in a notebook. She does this just because she likes the way some of them sound. Odd but fascinating.

The other one pertains to her job. Joyce works for a company that takes old family photos, scans them, digitizes them and cleans them up. Then a book or slide show gets created. As Joyce sees the old photos, she is shocked to see risky behavior, and when she sees it, she corrects it in the photo. For example, if a family is standing together by a cliff, she Photoshops a safety rope into the picture. Or she adds a gate to protect a child from wandering into a pool. Just a little creative side to Joyce - and the author.

Recommended if you're looking for a good audiobook to pass the time. -June

Friends, Lovers, and the Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

I always loved Chandler. My favorite friend character kept changing - sometimes Joey, sometimes Rachel, but always Chandler. His comedic timing was perfection. So after all of the publicity surrounding his addiction and then his tragic death, I thought I should read his autobiography. Well, I made it almost to the end of the audio book, but I couldn't listen to his voice anymore. It was really hard to hear him talk about his relapses and his near-death experiences when I know how this story ends. I'm guessing that the book ends with hope for a better future for him, and I couldn't force myself to hear about it. Maybe if I had read the book instead of listened?? Anyway, his backstory is interesting but his path into alcoholism and drug addiction is hard to hear. But it's well written and it was nice to know he could laugh at himself through it all. I do recommend it. - June 

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

My dear BT. PLEASE read this. I'm begging you. I want to talk about it and although I read it for a book club meeting, I'm afraid that this is a book that most of them will hate and probably not finish.

Is is without a doubt the strangest book I've ever read. And yet the writing..... that is what kept me going. The detailed descriptions, the character development, AND there's even a wonderful obituary.

The Rabbit Hutch is a low-income apartment in a small town in Indiana. The main characters in the novel live in this building plus a wild variety of characters, some of whom only appear for a chapter and yet are beautifully described (Father Tim!). 

Anyway, it's a wild ride and has way too much sex for most of my book club members but somehow I think you can handle it.

So yes, I do recommend this book. -June

The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page (not to be confused with The Story Keeper)

This is a nice little novel. It has some very fun characters and interesting plot lines. The book is all about Janice, a middle-aged woman living in Cambridge with a creepy husband named Mike. Janice is a cleaning woman, and she has a variety of clients who provide stories that Janice "keeps". She also rides the bus to work where she often listens to the stories of the other passengers. She has her own stories, of course, and these come out along the way. I'd recommend this book... while it's not the best book of 2023, it certainly held my interest and I wanted to know what happens to Janice and some of the other characters. Oh, and there's a cute terrier too! - June

The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason

This is a haunting book that takes place in World War I, something I am embarrassed to say I know so little about. The story starts in Vienna in 1914 when a young medical student enlists after the war breaks out. He is not fully trained as a doctor, but he is sent to a small hospital up in the mountains where he is expected to care for the wounded soldiers that continue to appear at his door. He is assisted by several orderlies and a nun who is a nurse. The first half of the book takes place in this hospital.

The second half has a different setting, mostly back in Vienna where the doctor now works in a hospital there. I don't want to give away any more.

The book contains a lot of medical terminology and doesn't hold back on describing the gruesomeness of war. It also is shocking the conditions that people endured during that time - lack of food, proper hygiene and medical supplies, lack of information regarding family members, etc. And get ready to pull up a map or two with all of the names of towns in Poland, Austria, Germany .... most of which I never even seen.

The writing is excellent! But if you aren't interested in reading a page describing the gaping wounds of a soldier or the way the ward smells after it's full of men who haven't bathed in weeks, then you can just skim those parts. But the story is worth it. - June