Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro

If you hate those books where the author bounces around in time and from one character to another, then this book is not for you. While it was a little disorienting sometime, I didn't mind the shifting times. This is a well-written novel about two families who live across the street from one another. Their lives are intertwined over the years. And it's also about how one incident can change the course of the lives of family members forever.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the character development. The kind, gentle doctor. The quirky brilliant little boy. The angry father who loves his son but is so full of rage he can't control himself. The aging woman who has dementia. Again, beautifully written.

Recommend this one too. - June

Go As A River by Shelley Read

What a lovely novel! This is one that popped up in one of my FaceBook groups and while it's relatively unknown, those who had read it, loved it. My library didn't even own the digital version, so I had to request they purchase it - and then let me check it out.

The story starts in 1949 a remote part of Colorado. There's a girl who meets a boy..... And I can't really tell you much more without giving it all away. It's beautifully written, and descriptions of the land, the birds, the trees - all so descriptive and perfect.

And it has a good ending. Strongly recommend. - June

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

I know I'm repeating myself when I say this, but I love it when an author comes up with a fresh idea for a novel and manages to pull it off! 

Imagine if you are presented with the opportunity to know exactly how long your life would be. Would you want to know? This is the main premise of The Measure. And, as a society, if we started discovering who would live a short life and who would achieve old age, would we treat each other differently? Would you marry someone who only had a few years to live? Would you hire them? Would you vote for them?

This book is well written but a little predictable. Yet I sttill do recommend it. - June

The Guncle by Stephen Rowley

I loved reading this book! I was ready for a feel-good book (watching too much news!) and this one was perfect! The ideal summer read.

Patrick is a gay man living in Palm Springs. He used to be on a famous sitcom, but now enjoys his seclusion away from LA. After a series of unfortunate events, he is asked to keep his young niece and nephew for the summer. Patrick manages to not only provide a home for them, but also help them through with their grief. And he does so much of it with humor and playfulness.

OK, get this book. Hurry up. - June

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

I'm used to novels that jump around in time and move from one character to another. But this one can be very confusing as it goes from one place and time to another. However, it's totally worth it. I highly recommend that you read this book in a relatively short period of time so that you can better keep track of all the different storylines.

The book starts with a character in 1912. Then jumps to a character who was a minor character in The Glass Hotel. And then it moves into the future. Yes, much of the book takes place in 2203 and 2401. I was fascinated to read about how colonies are set up on the moon and the pros and dangers of time travel. (FYI - I hate sci-fi) There's even a pandemic in one of the future centuries. All of the various storylines do come together eventually, but I almost feel I need to reread the book just to pick up on all the things I missed. 

This novel is extremely well written, and the author is quickly becoming a favorite. I highly recommend it. - June

The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris

Sometimes it seems to take me forever to finish a book! It's not that I didn't like this one. It's just that I kept starting and stopping and losing interest - especially in the middle. The book like the main character, Shan, keeps starting over with a new location and different secondary characters, so it's like three books in one!

Shan travels from Dublin to NYC when he is just 12 years old. It's the 20's, and New York is full of immigrant families in different sections of the city. Shan becomes a part of an Italian family and is raised as one of their own. For various reasons, he leaves New York and travels around the country as part of a vaudeville troupe. Trouble seems to always find him. 

At very beginning of the novel, there's a chapter about a little girl who has gone missing on Alcatraz island. We assume the book will circle around to her later at some point, and it does. 

I did enjoy this book, but I probably would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it more quickly and if the pace were a bit faster. - June

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