Still Life by Sarah Winman

I rarely give up on a book, but my Kindle is packed with books I want to read, and this one is pissing me off. It received wonderful reviews, and the plot sounded great, but I can't read it. Who writes a novel full of dialogue with no quotation marks? It was an effort to read page after page not knowing if something was said out loud or thought by a character, and who was even in the scene? And then there were paragraphs like this one:

In the snug, a couple of coppers were lording it, keeping the language clean. Col was on the long pull, generous measures to encourage a lock-in, a ploy to shift the stack of liver sausage sandwiches stinking up the counter.

Huh?

Here's the basics. This is about a guy who comes home to London from WW2 and he inherits a house in Italy from a guy he met while there serving his country. He goes to Florence with some of his friends and lives happily ever after. At least that's what I think it's about. I only skimmed the last 3/4 of the book. - June

Demon Copperhead & Pineapple Street

And now about word from BT........

Speaking of books: Pineapple Street is one of those "guilty pleasures" that you're glad you read but hesitate to tell others because it seems like well-written fluff.  This is what Amazon says to sell the book and I agree...especially good for me with my less-than-healthy relationship with money and the monied classes. Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.

I was captured by Demon Copperhead and found myself describing it as "darkly intense" or "intensely dark."  Amazon says:   The mountains of southern Appalachia are the setting for this story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.

-BT 

All This Could be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

I wanted to like this book. It's about a queer, young, Indian woman who moves to Milwaukee. It gets great reviews, so I was start listening to it. I feel like I'm pretty open minded for a geezer, but after listening to the language, racist comments and body shaming, I was out. I didn't get past the first hour or so. - June

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

This beautifully written novel is about so much more than just a horse. It's a wonderful book that follows several plot lines that are all magically connected. The main story takes place just prior to the Civil War in Kentucky where a Jarrett, an enslaved groomer, trains a thoroughbred named Darley (later became Lexington). Over Lexington's life, a painter named Thomas Scott creates several portraits of the horse, and these works of art move throughout the novel into different hands. 

There's also a more current storyline about Theo, a young Black PhD candidate at Georgetown who happens to pull an old painting out of a pile of trash. It just happens to be a portrait of a horse.

And there's an art dealer in the 50's who's cleaning woman brings her a painting of a horse. 

But the novel is also about race - how slaves were bought and sold, just like horses. And how today we still are plagued with racial issues and the mistreatment of minorities. This is a must read book. - June

Finding Freedom by Erin French

Have you heard of Erin French and the Lost Kitchen? In a tiny town called Freedom, Maine, is a restaurant so wildly popular that people come from all over the country to eat there. They no longer take phone reservations; you have to mail in a postcard and they draw them like a lottery. The cost is around $200 per person (not including wine) that people gladly pay to have Erin French and her team serve them a multi-course meal. Erin has written cookbooks and there even is a tv show that describes the planning she does each week to find the freshest local ingredients.

We've been to Maine many times, but I've never had the chance to eat at the Lost Kitchen. I have watched all of the episodes of the show, and I found it was very calming (but not boring) - often I'd watch right before going to sleep. I'd heard that Erin's life had been difficult prior to opening the restaurant, so I wanted to read her autobiography, Finding Freedom. I listened to her read it in an audiobook, and while there were a few times it was slow, it was also a beautiful story of resilience. Erin has always had a passion for food, and she has been incredibly successful. I really enjoyed listening to her story. - June

We are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

The Brennans are an Irish Catholic family living in upper New York who own a pub in their small town. And they are pretty darn dysfunctional. Each family member has their set of flaws and secrets, and they make a lot of bad decisions. However, I found it to be a pretty compelling read. The author focuses on a different character in each chapter which gives lots of various viewpoints. 

At the start of the novel, Sunday Brennan returns home after living in LA for four years. The reason for her departure is a mystery and her arrival back home stirs up lots of drama. Sunday has three brothers and a father still living at home, and they all seem to rely on her for everything from help at the pub to caring for their cognitively impaired brother. 

This is the kind of book that makes you realize your own family isn't as crazy as you thought! I liked it! - June

The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

I'm in a rut with historical fiction, I guess. But the subject of this one intrigued me. It takes place in Philadelphia in 1918, the year of the Spanish Flu epidemic. Thousands of people died a gruesome death, and many parents lost children, and many children became orphans. The main character, Pia, a thirteen year old whose family is from Germany, loses her mother and is then responsible for her baby twin brothers. (Her father is fighting in the war.) Summarizing the plot would give it away so I'll just say it has a lot of twists and turns, many of them completely preposterous. 

As I read, I kept switching from "Jeez, this is interesting" to "Are you kidding me???" But it was definitely a book that had to be finished to find out how it all ended for Pia and others. 

The writing is ok but definitely needed more editing. Pia does something she regrets, and in almost every chapter she had to wallow a little more in that regret....over and over. Enough! We got it the first time! I became quite good at skimming these parts. 

It gets great reviews and I do recommend it if the subject is of interest. - June

The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore

One of the recurring questions we ask in my book club is this: Can you love a book but dislike the main character? I've always maintained that you can, but several members feel it is impossible. For this reason, I'm not sure I'll be recommending this book for my club. Throughout this novel, Mirielle is often a snobby, self-centered little bitch.

The book begins in the 1920's when Mirielle, the wife of a silent movie film star, is diagnosed with Hansen's Disease, AKA Leprosy. She is sent to Carville, a colony in Louisiana, where she is quarantined with other patients. Mirielle is convinced she was misdiagnosed or that she will be released quickly, and she also believes she is just better than every other patient there. Once she settles in, it seems that Mirielle will soften a bit and you might sense a change in her. But then her old snobby self comes roaring back. She spends a lot of time apologizing for her bad behavior.

However, I have to say I enjoyed the book immensely. I can remember as a child hearing about leper colonies, and I always imagined them to be somewhere far away and on some deserted island. I had no idea there were facilities in the states. The author has obviously done her research, and even invites readers to visit Carville which closed in the 50's but is still open for visitors. What I thought was most interesting about the book was reading about the lives of those living in Carville.... how they spent their time and what they did to build a community for themselves. While Mirielle might not be my favorite character, certainly several others in the book were very interesting and likeable. - June

Girl, Forgotten by Karen Slaughter

When I walk and listen to audiobooks, mysteries keep me going. This one was ok for that purpose, but I know that if I had read the book, I would have skipped to the end to find out what happened once I reached the halfway mark. It's about a high school senior in the 80's who gets pregnant and then is murdered. She had attended a party, taken drugs, couldn't remember anything that happened there, and was obviously raped. That is one storyline. 

There's also a current storyline where Andrea, a US Marshall, is trying to solve this 40-year-old murder. There's more to the story, of course, but the mystery is who raped the young girl and who killed her.

Evidently, there is a series of books about Andrea. Not sure I'll rush to read the next one. This one moved way too slow for me. - June

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay

I admit that I make snap decisions as to whether or not to read a book based on the title or the cover.  I shouldn't do this, but if the cover is very feminine and "girly", I assume it's chick lit and I probably am not interested. When I heard the title of this one, it sounded like a romance novel. I pictured the cover with a shirtless hunky man cooking, maybe with nothing on but an apron. Hmmm. Interesting idea, huh?

Anyway, this is not a romance novel. It's a very short but sweet novel written entirely in letters by two women who both share a love of food, adventures, and life. It's the perfect book to read after you've read something heavy and depressing. One of the women lives in the Seattle area and the other in LA, and it takes place in the 60's. There are lots of references to events during that time, so us geezers can relate to them. It's a story of friendship - and did I mention food? You'll be hungry as you read it.

Recommend it. - June

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

This is a novel that will stay with me for a long time. I loved it. It's the story of an Indian-American Muslim family living in California. The mother and father were born in India and moved to the US after they married, and their two daughters and one son were born here. I learned a lot about Muslim traditions and beliefs just by reading this although I confess that some of the rituals were hard to understand. But the core of the book is all about the relationships and conflicts between the members of the family and how their faith and community affect their lives. 

It's hard to believe this is a debut novel. The descriptive writing is beautiful, and the characters are so well developed. Layla, the mother, is a fascinating character as we learn about her marriage after only seeing her future husband twice but never speaking with him until after the ceremony. Hadia, the oldest daughter, wants a different life for herself where she follows her faith but is not as restricted by her culture as her parents. And then Amar, the son, who struggles with his faith and the strict rules imposed by his father..... and how he ultimately must make difficult decisions as to how to live his life.

Definitely recommend this one. -June

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

This is a novel about twin sisters, Rose and Fern. The author switches from a diary written by Rose to a narrative focused on Fern. We quickly realize that Fern is on the spectrum, and she sees Rose as "her person", the one individual who knows her best and she can trust. We also know that when they were young a boy drowned after Fern held him underwater. We slowly learn more about the details of this day as the story progresses.

The novel is described as a psychological thriller, although I don't know if there was much suspense in it. However, it's a good story with solid character development, and I enjoyed it. I won't give any more of the story away. -June