Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani

I ended up having to power through the second half of this in time for my book club meeting. I'd like to have that time back please. It just wasn't worth it. While there were parts of this book that were interesting, it really is a romance novel. 

The book takes place in India where American Jaya travels to recover from multiple miscarriages and to find out about her family. She learns about her grandmother who was a write, and an independent woman in a very restricted situation. The book covers every topic you can imagine: grief, marital infidelity, racial prejudice, poverty, oh my...... on and on. 

More than anything, this book needs a good editor. It gets wonderful reviews but just not from me. Or from anyone in my book club. - June

Anxious People by Fredrick Backman

From the very first page.....

This book is dedicated to the voices in my head, the most remarkable of my friends. And to my wife, who lives with us.

Anxious People is funny, quirky, heartwarming, and totally wacko. This is the fourth book by Backman I've read, and it isn't his best. But even at that, it still is definitely worth reading. His writing is so witty and clever that sometimes it almost gets in the way of the story. I was so enthralled with the way he wrote a paragraph that I would forget what the book was about and just focus on that one piece. You'll want to read it with a highlighter so you can go back and read those gems. It's hard to explain. And some of the dialogue is over-the-top crazy.

I will warn you that the first half is hard to push through because you are confused as to where it's all going. But it's worth it in the second half. The characters really come to life then, and that is where Backman is at his best.

I won't even try to tell you what the book is about but here's a partial list..... Parents and children, suicide, love, marriage..... oh yes, and a bank robber. Just read it and report back. - June

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

This from BT........

Just finished an extraordinary book: Malcolm Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers, an intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion though history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. In it he revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal and the death of Sandra Bland--throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt."

Highly recommend!

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montemore

I can't remember the last book I read that was written in chronological order. It seems all modern authors use the same technique of jumping around in time and place, sometimes with the same characters and sometimes with other connections as we move through time. In this novel, the main character, Oona, actually lives her life out of order.

Every New Years Eve at midnight, Oona leaps to a different time in her life (remember Quantum Leap? Loved that show). There are some people in Oona's life who stay constant throughout these leaps, but most have no idea. It can be confusing but it is also kind of fun, and it's a quirky kind of read. I love creative ideas like this one, and I do recommend it.

My only complaint is that when Oona leaps into her 50's, much is written about how old she looks and the drawbacks of aging. I'm sure it would be a shock to be 19 one minute and 53 the next, but Oona constantly wanted to leap back to being young again. As an old geezer, this was a little offensive, but I do understand it too.

Give this one a try after you've read something heavy and deep. It will be a refreshing change. - June

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

 A well-written, creative novel about a woman who is trying to track the migration of the Artic Tern, a small bird that travels all the way from the top of the world to the bottom. She talks her way onto a fishing boat along with a group of misfits and tough characters who make it all interesting. There are lots of flashbacks to her youth and her search for her mother.... along with other mysteries that are slowly revealed throughout the book.

My only complaint is that I felt at times that I was being manipulated by the author, that she was telling me one thing when I'd find out later it wasn't true. But otherwise this one certainly held my interest and I'd recommend it. I won't give anything else away..... - June

The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith

When it came time to select books for our book club to read this year, I proposed this one after hearing great things about it. And I really thought that the three members in the group who are art history lovers and docents at the Milwaukee Art Museum would really get into this. Everyone loved the idea of this book, and somehow I was assigned to be the discussant for the group meeting. I'm definitely in over my head on the subject of art history, but I will say that it was one of the most enjoyable books that I've read in a long time! So I'm excited to talk with the experts about it.

The novel moves to different places and different times. It starts in Manhattan in the 1950's, then Amsterdam in the 1600's, and then to Sydney in 2000. We learn about a painting by Sara de Vos in the 1600's that ends up in the home of a wealthy man named Marty who lives in Manhattan. And then we follow that painting and the people who come in contact with it up until 2000. The book is very well written and has some of those "saveable quotes" that we love so much, BT. 

I think this book especially appealed to me now because it's a long way from chick lit - it's a really good novel - but it also doesn't get into some of the heavy topics of previous books I've read for my club. And so it was a nice break. Highly recommend this one. - June

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

 Looking for something fun and uplifting during this difficult time? Then look elsewhere. While this is a beautifully written novel, it is sometimes hard to read for the portrayal of race and poverty and addiction in a family in rural Mississippi. Jojo is a young boy who narrates most of the chapters, but his mother who is an addict and qualifies as the worst mother ever writes some of the others. Jojo, his mother, and his baby sister all pile into a car (along with his mother's white girlfriend) and head to Parchman Prison to pick up Michael, Jojo's father. It seems almost half of this book takes place inside of this car. I won't go into the details, but the author puts the reader on this ride and you truly feel you are with them. It's incredibly written. 

My only complaint is that there are several ghosts in the book. I can believe in spirits, but these ghosts kind of get in the way of the rest of the book. I found myself anxious for them to move on.

So summing it all up - addiction, abuse, death, ghosts, more death, racial tension. Yes. But still a great book. - June

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

Ugh. Sometimes I wish friends would not give me books. This one was passed to me from a person who I normally trust with the comment that it gets rave reviews online. And it does! Over a 4* review from Goodreads which generally means it's worth reading. And yes... it starts out with promise.

The novel starts in Japan after the war when a young girl is dropped off at her grandmother's house and left there by her mother. From there, the author must have had a list of every possible horrific thing that could happen to this girl, and she methodically checked them off. Locked in an attack, abused, tortured, raped, disowned, car accident, attempted suicide..... and the list goes on. My major complain is the overly melodramatic way the book is written. I could open to almost any page, but here is one passage towards the end. At this point, she has passed out (maybe gone to heaven) and sees the love of her life, her brother. Akira. Yes, her brother.

His eyes are brimming with warmth, and he leans forward to plant a kiss in the center of my forehead. "Oh Nori. You're stronger than you know. You don't need me anymore." 

"Don't leave me," I whisper, leaning forward so that our foreheads are touching. 

Already I know that he is right when he says I cannot stay here.  I can almost hear the sand slipping through the hourglass. We don't have much more time. If there is forever for the two of us, it does not start now. 

Akira wraps his arms around me and tightens his grip, holding me close with all his strength. 

"Never," he says simply. "I will never leave you."

We don't say anything else. We don't need to. I won't waste whatever time I have left with him on words. There is nothing I can say to Akira that he does not already know, and there is nothing I can do to stop the sand from slipping away.  All I can do is hold him, right here, right now."

And it goes on and on from there. Did I mention this is her dead brother? And what's with the sand slipping away? Gag me.

I'll return the book to me friend and tell her I finished it (skimming like wildfire through the last half). And be very cautious of future recommendations. - June

The Mysteries of Linwood Hart by Richard Russo

Sometimes book titles just pop-up on my Kindle, and generally I just ignore them. But when I saw Richard Russo's name, I paid attention. At first I thought he had a new novel out, and when I saw the price was $.99 I thought it was too good to be true! And I was right. It's just a short story, and one that is a part of his book called The Whore's Child. I rarely read books of short stories so I hadn't read this one, but I was in the mood for something quick and easy to read. AND something well written, which I knew would be the case with Russo.

Lin is a young boy who is struggling with his parent's marriage troubles, his baseball skills, and growing up. Parts of the story are sweet and others tug at your heart. But it's definitely worth a read. Anything by Richard Russo is worthwhile in my opinion. - June

Virgil Wander by Leif Enger

This was a recommendation from my niece who generally has great books to share, and this one was perfect for me! After several books in the "not so great" category, it was very nice to find one I loved.

I must say this isn't a book for everyone. To my friends who love an exciting mystery or lots of plot twists, I would recommend passing on this one. But if you crave fabulous writing where the author can use words to describe characters and settings perfectly, then this might be for you. The writing kind of reminds me of Richard Russo, a fav of mine. Leif Enger wrote Peace Like a River years ago, and I loved it. But he hasn't written much else recently. Very happy to find this one.

Virgil Wander is a man living in northern Minnesota in a small town by Lake Michigan. He works for the city but also runs the local movie theater. The locals in this town are quirky and interesting, and their lives are all intertwined. There's not a lot of action, but it still is just a darn good book. Highly recommend. -June

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

If you knew when you were going to die, would you change how you live your life? Four siblings visit a fortune teller when they are young and they all learn how much longer they will live. This beginning hooked me.

At this point, the book is divided into four sections, basically one for each sibling. The first section is about Simon who is the youngest of the four. He's gay and runs away to San Francisco in the early 80's just in time to be a part of the scene there and the advent of the AIDS epidemic. His story is, of course, tragic, but also the most interesting of the four. Things go downhill after that and each section of the book became less and less interesting to me. I admit by the time I got to the last sibling and her story, I skimmed over the details and just tried to figure out how all of this changed her life.

For a book that had a lot of promise to start, I was disappointed in how it progressed. - June

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson

Ever since I heard about this book at a holiday book talk, I've been anxious to read it. The author has obviously done extensive research on the subjects in the book. It takes place in the 1930's in rural Kentucky, and Cussy (the main character) is part of the Pack Horse women who deliver books and reading material to people who do not have access to libraries. I don't know that I've ever heard about this project, and I found this part of the book to be fascinating. 

Cussy is also a blue-skinned woman. Her color is due to a genetic blood issue that is described in the book. While I've heard of this, I didn't know much about it, and I also never realized that they suffered the same discrimination as blacks in the area.

Much of the book held my interest. Unfortunately, the author decided to add a lot of unnecessary romance and melodrama, especially at the end. I think I would have preferred a much different and less predictable ending for the book. Kind of recommend - but not wholeheartedly. - June