A Month in Summary - April 2024

Highway 101

South of Port Orford, Oregon

April 2024

We spent three weeks traveling in April, so there's not much to share (other than photos); no visitors, no new puzzles, no new cars... But my reading was really good, if not excellent. The King book was a disappointment, but I LOVED Still Life and Demon Copperhead! All three books were well over 400 pages, which seems to be my thing this year.

Books Read (click on the title for my review):

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (5/5)

Fairy Tale by Stephen King (2.5/5)

Still Life by Sarah Winman (4.5/5)

Movies & TV Series:

Vera (Season 11) - Another entertaining season. 

Travels:

As I mentioned above, we were on the road for three weeks, traveling down Highway 101 to Santa Rosa, then over to the Sacramento area, then north to Dunsmuir, and back up into Oregon. It was a great trip, and as always, we took our time, staying at ten different campgrounds and homes. We got to camp with some friends from our neighborhood, visit one of my aunts, and catch up with some good friends (one of whom I've known since elementary school!). The weather was wonderful, with the exception of some rainy days in Oregon. Typical!

Spotted this HUGE trillium on a hike in Oregon!

William Tugman State Park

Lakeside, Oregon

Peaceful spot to read my book.

Alfred Loeb State Park

Brookings, Oregon

Always a treat to see these guys when we're in their 'hood.

Elk Country RV Resort

Trinidad, California

I never get tired of this scene.

Elk Country RV Resort

Trinidad, California

Another peaceful view.

Auntie Sue's 

Santa Rosa, California

The view from our campsite!

Railroad RV Park

Dunsmuir, California

This creek lulled us to sleep for three nights.

Railroad RV Park

Dunsmuir, California

Walked 5+ miles (roundtrip) to reach this spot from our campsite.

Valley of the Rogue State Park

Gold Hill, Oregon

Camping Buddies - Molly & Dave

William Tugman State Park, Oregon

Auntie Sue

Handline Restaurant

Sebastopol, California

Brunch with Sarah and Bert

Fox and Goose Public House

Sacramento, California

Best buddies - Bert & Rod

Carmichael, California

Best buddies for 56 years (!!) - Pam & Les

Red Bluff, California

Still Life

 

Still Life by Sarah Winman

Fiction - Historical

2021

Finished on April 29, 2024

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man.

Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs sink villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian intent on salvaging paintings from the ruins. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and paint a course of events that will shape Ulysses’s life for the next four decades.

Returning home to London, Ulysses reimmerses himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parot—a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics—all the while carrying with him his Italian evocations. So, when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt he must return to the Tuscan hills.

With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a deeply drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

Marvelous! I'm so glad I didn't give up on this outstanding novel. The first fifty pages didn't grab me, but after that, I was hooked. The touching relationships between a small group of friends prove that family is more than that in which we are born. I loved each and every one, including Claude, the parrot!

It took me a little over two weeks to read, but if we weren't traveling, I could have read it in a few short days, it was that engrossing. And yet, I found myself putting it down every dozen or so pages, willing myself to make it last. 456 pages and I wanted more!

On Art:

We like beauty, don't we? Something good on the eye cheers us. Does something to us on a cellular level, makes us feel alive and enriched. Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Ulysses. It repositions our sight and judgment. Captures forever that which is fleeting. A meager stain in the corridors of history, that’s all we are. A little mark of scuff. One hundred and fifty years ago Napoleon breathed the same air as we do now. The battalion of time marches on. Art versus humanity is not the question, Ulysses. One doesn’t exist without the other. Art is the antidote. Is that enough to make it important? Well, yes, I think it is.

On Love:

What are we without love? 

Waiting, said Evelyn.

Humor:

Do I look as tipsy as I feel?

No point asking me, dear, said Dotty, I’ve been talking to two of you for the last hour.

I was captivated by Sarah Winman's beautiful prose, details of Italy (specifically Florence), and snappy dialogue, greedily adding her earlier works to my list of future purchases. I remember hearing good things about Tin Man, but never got around to buying it. If it's half as good as Still Life, I know I'll love it! This is one I hugged to my chest as I finished the final page, and I'll happily read a second time. Sure to appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction, Renaissance art, Italy, and love...

Highly recommend!

Note: I rarely write my own synopsis of the books I review, instead relying on the publisher's blurb for those who wish to learn more about the plot and characters. The one above is spoiler-free, so I encourage you to give it a read. 

A parade of small stories, intimate connections and complex characters... Sentence after sentence, character by character, Still Life becomes poetry. ~ The New York Times Book Review

Fairy Tale

 

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Fiction

2022 Simon & Schuster Audio

Narrated by Seth Numrich

Finished on April 27, 2024

Rating: 2.5/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes deep into the well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for their world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.

Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.” And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.

A story as old as myth, and as startling and iconic as the rest of King’s work, Fairy Tale is about an ordinary guy forced into the hero’s role by circumstance, and it is both spectacularly suspenseful and satisfying.

Meh. I have usually enjoyed, if not loved most of the books I've read by Stephen King. Unfortunately, Fairy Tale was a disappointment. It had promise, and I loved the first part, which focuses on Charlie's introduction to Mr. Bowditch and Radar (Bowditch's dog). This section (roughly the first third of the book) felt like a classic King novel (young boy, old man, and a dog), and the audio production pulled me in from the opening lines. However, once Charlie entered the "other" world, I lost interest, and it took me almost two months to finish the book. I don't know if I would've maintained my enthusiasm had I listened at longer stretches, but March was super rainy, so my daily walks were pretty much nonexistent. We were also traveling for a big portion of April, so again, not much listening time. Honestly, it didn't call out to me, and I really didn't care how it was going to end. With that said, I did push through and eventually finished, but it's not a book that I can recommend... unless you love fantasy. I can see how this story would appeal to those who like that genre, but I prefer King's supernatural tales. 

First Quarter Favorites of 2024

 

Edit: Oops. I accidentally included Demon Copperhead in this post when it should actually go on next quarter's list.

Welcome to a new feature on my blog. I noticed a few people sharing their quarterly favorites (on Instagram) and decided to do the same. It might be helpful at the end of the year when it's time for me to compile my "Best of 2024" list.

Demon Copperhead 5/5

The Plot 4.5/5

Since We Fell 5/5

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow 4.5/5

Small Mercies 4.5/5

The Comforts of Home 4.5/5

The Weight of Silence 4.5/5

The Soul of Discretion 4.5/5

Demon Copperhead

 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Fiction

2022

Finished on April 12, 2024

Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding!)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the 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. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he 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. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. 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.

I received an ARC of Demon Copperhead in 2022. The size of Barbara Kingsolver's latest novel, as well as the subject matter, made me hesitant to pick it up. I loaned the book to my mom, who told me she hated it. I loaned it to my husband, who gave up after reading a dozen or so chapters. So, it continued to languish on my nightstand, in spite of my affection for Kingsolver's books. I have read all of her novels (with the exception of The Lacuna), and many are on my list for re-reading (Flight Behavior, The Poisonwood Bible, Pigs in Heaven), so why was I so reticent to start this particular book? I'm sure I would have eventually picked it up, but when my book club selected it for our June discussion, that was nudge I needed. Realizing that it would take me a couple of weeks to read, I decided to start before our RV trip to California, knowing I would have several days of uninterrupted reading once we were on the road. Little did I know that this book would consume my waking thoughts and dreams for the next two weeks. 

I love that Kingsolver tells this tale exclusively from Demon's point of view. I quickly came to care about this resilient young boy, heartbroken over the terrible cards that were dealt to him, his mother, and many of the folks in his life. The situations that claim Demon's innocence, as well as the fragmented sentences which make up the early dialogue in the novel, held me in thrall. With each new turn of events, I couldn't help but wonder if life would ever improve for Demon. Even when it looked like he had finally found a good family situation, I worried about the other shoe falling, forcing him back out on his own, struggling to survive the cruelties of society.

I know this must be a difficult (if not impossible) read for anyone touched by the opioid crisis, and I have to admit that there were times when I didn't think I could continue reading. But Kingsolver's prose, while at times perhaps heavy-handed, never felt didactic or gratuitous. She has written an engrossing and important story, which is not merely entertainment, but rather sheds light on a serious societal problem. For this reason, the Pulitzer Prize is well-deserved. I'm eager to hear how others in my book club felt about the book and anticipate a thought-provoking discussion.

I hadn't considered reading David Copperfield before picking up Demon Copperhead, but now I'm curious to give the former a read in order to find the connections between the two stories. I'm also interested in watching Dopesick, which I understand to be an excellent series.

Passages of note:

I made my peace with the place, but never went a day without feeling around for things that weren't there, the way your tongue pushes into the holes where you've lost teeth. I don't just mean cows, or trees, it runs deeper. Weather, for instance. Air, the way it smells from having living things breathing into it, grass and trees and I don't know what, creatures of the soil. Sounds I missed most of all. There was noise, but nothing behind it. I couldn't get used to the blankness where there should have been bird gossip morning and evening, crickets at night, the buzz saw of cicadas in August. A rooster always sounding off somewhere, even dead in the middle of Jonesville. It's like the movie background music. Notice it or don't but if the volume goes out, the movie has no heart. I'd oftentimes have to stop and ask myself what season it was. I never realized what was holding me to my place on the planet of earth: that soundtrack. That, and leaf colors and what's blooming in the roadside ditches this week, wild sweet peas or purple ironweed or goldenrod. And stars. A sky as dark as sleep, not this hazy pinkish business, I'm saying blind man's black. For a lot of us, that's medicine. Required for the daily reboot. (Demon's thoughts on living in a city.)

and

"Certain pitiful souls around here see whiteness as their last asset that hasn’t been totaled or repossessed."

and

“It’s not something to fix,” he said. “It means strong. Outside of all expectation.” I looked at him. He looked at me. His hands were on his desk with the fingers touching, a tiny cage with air inside. Black hands. The knuckles almost blue-black. Silver wedding ring. He said, “You know, sometimes you hear about these miracles, where a car gets completely mangled in a wreck. But then the driver walks out of it alive? I’m saying you are that driver.”

An affecting and memorable coming-of-age tale which I doubt will ever leave me. Highly recommend!

Novelists like Kingsolver have a particular knack for making us empathize with lives that may bear little resemblance to our own. ~ Salon

Spoiler Alert: 

I was pleased with the hopeful ending...

A Month in Summary - March 2024

Little Whale Cove

Depoe Bay, Oregon

March 2024

I don't know about all of you, but I am so happy it's finally spring! I love the longer days and while we'll still see some rain for the next few months, it won't be as often as during the winter. I hope! 

It was a busy month, but I managed to get back into a good routine of going to yoga three times a week, as well as playing pickleball at least once a week. Now that the weather has improved, I hope to return to my daily walks.

My reading has been going very well. I reread two novels, continued with a favorite mystery series, started a new series, read a memoir that's been lurking on a shelf for a couple of decades (!!), read a recent release, and was spellbound by a great suspense novel. No complaints about any of these!

Books Read (click on the title for my review):

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (4/5) - reread

The Benefit of Hindsight by Susan Hill (4/5)

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama (4/5) - reread

Day by Michael Cunningham (3/5)

The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg (4/5)

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (4/5)

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (4.5/5)

Movies & TV Series:

Leave the World Behind - I read this book (on audio) in 2022 and enjoyed it, but I'd forgotten some of the details until I started watching the movie on Netflix. I really like it! Ethan Hawke was great, as were the rest of the cast. The ending was just as ambiguous as the the one in the novel, but a small departure from the book. 

You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment - I enjoyed this documentary series, but came away from it the same as I did after watching What the Health. Basically, cherry-picked stats to support a pro-vegan lifestyle, which should be taken with a grain of salt.

We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song - An enjoyable documentary featuring some of the great voices from the 80s. 

American Symphony - I went into this knowing nothing about either Jon Batiste or his wife, Suleika Jaouad. Apparently, I've been living under a rock. Worthwhile documentary about the creative genius of Batiste and his wife's battle with cancer.

MI-5 (Season Six) - Love this series! It gets a little convoluted with each new episode, but I enjoyed it and am eager to watch the next season.

Deadwind (Season One) - Entertaining police drama set in Finland. There are twelve episodes in the first season, so we'll take a break between seasons and get back to the show later this summer. 

Puzzlemania: 

Travel:

We are getting ready to head out in the RV for a trip down the coast to the Bay Area. I'm hopeful that we'll leave the rainy weather behind us in Oregon. I'm ready to break out my shorts and flip flops!

Other News:

We bought a new car! Rod has always wanted to own another sports car (we've owned a Karmann Ghia, Porsche 356C, MG Midget, MGA, Miata, and a Mini Cooper) so we decided to get a 2023 Mazda Miata (which is now called an MX-5). It is SO much fun! My brother was in town for the weekend and the weather couldn't have been nicer. Mark and Rod had a good time cruising around with the top down. Two cool dudes!

The Plot

 

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Mystery/Thriller

2021

Finished on March 30, 2024

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?

I missed all the fuss over The Plot when it first hit the shelves in 2021, so I didn't know anything about it when I found it on the shelf at our neighborhood library. What caught my attention was this tiny blurb on the cover: "Insanely readable." - Stephen King. I have read and loved many books with King's endorsement, so I took the book home and added it to my stacks. A day later, I saw a few Instagram posts about a new book by Korelitz called The Sequel. Everyone seemed very excited about this follow-up, so as soon as I finished The Stonecutter, I immediately picked up The Plot.

Wow! I could not put the book down! This is the quintessential page-turner, but I forced myself to slow down and enjoy the read rather than rushing ahead to see how it would end. And what an ending! Of course, now I can't wait to read The Sequel, which is due out on October 1st. I went into The Plot without any knowledge of, well, the plot, and I intend to stay away from any blurbs about The Sequel. I love to be utterly surprised by a book, particularly a mystery/thriller.

In addition to the suspenseful aspect of this novel, I enjoyed the details about writing, publishing, and marketing a book. As you know, my husband is a writer (you can learn more about his books on his website), and I have spent many years working in bookstores, so it was fun to read more about the process from an author's point of view.

Meanwhile, I happen to have another book by Korelitz in my stacks. Who knew! I read so many rave reviews about various novels and eventually buy those books to add to my TBR piles. The Latecomer is one that I bought with some Christmas money, so now I'm very eager to give it a read. In addition to The Latecomer, Korelitz has six others to sample. I love discovering a new-to-me author who has a decent backlist. Whoohoo!

Have you read The Plot? I can't wait for my husband and mom to read it so I have someone with whom to discuss the big denouement. Maybe I'll recommend it to my book group for next year's reading list. 

Oh! And have you watched the HBO series, The Undoing (starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant)? It's based on Korelitz's novel You Should Have Known. Great show!

More from Stephen King:

The Plot is one of the best novels I've ever read about writers and writing. It's so insanely readable and the suspense quotient is through the roof. It's remarkable. 

I agree!

Under the Tuscan Sun

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Nonfiction - Memoir

1996

Finished on March 28, 2024

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Frances Mayes—widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer—opens the door to a wondrous new world when she buys and restores an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. In sensuous and evocative language, she brings the reader along as she discovers the beauty and simplicity of life in Italy. An accomplished cook and food writer, Mayes also creates dozens of delicious seasonal recipes from her traditional kitchen and simple garden, all of which she includes in the book. Doing for Tuscany what M.F.K. Fisher and Peter Mayle did for Provence, Mayes writes about the tastes and pleasures of a foreign country with gusto and passion. A celebration of the extraordinary quality of life in Tuscany, Under the Tuscan Sun is a feast for all the senses. 

I've owned a copy of Under the Tuscan Sun for so long, the pages have turned yellow! I finally decided to give it a read and enjoyed it immensely. It's the perfect sort of memoir to pick up and read a few pages (or chapters) here and there. Mayes does a marvelous job depicting her new home and surroundings in Tuscany. While not as humorous as Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, I savored the prose and descriptions of meals much more so with this book. I saw the film (starring Diane Lane) twenty years or so ago, and as I remember, I enjoyed it, but it's very loosely based on Mayes' memoir. I'm glad I read the book many years later, so as not to compare the two since they're completely different stories.

Some of my favorite passages...

The forno in Cortona bakes a crusty bread in their wood oven, a perfect toast. Breakfast is one of my favorite times because the mornings are so fresh, with no hint of the heat to come. I get up early and take my toast and coffee out on the terrace for an hour with a book and the green-black rows of cypresses against the soft sky, the hills pleated with olive terraces that haven't changed since the seasons were depicted in medieval psalters. Sometimes the valley below is like a bowl filled up with fog. I can see hard green figs on two trees and pears on a tree just below me. A fine crop coming in. I forget my book. Pear cobbler, pear chutney, pear ice, green figs (would the wasps already be in green figs?) with pork, fig fritters, fig and nocciolo tart. May summer last a hundred years.

and

As I unload my cloth sacks, the kitchen fills with the scents of sunny fruits and vegetables warmed in the car. Everyone coming home from market must feel compelled to arrange the tomatoes, eggplants, (melanzane sounds like the real name and even aubergine is better than dreary-sounding eggplant), zucchini, and enormous peppers into a still life in the nearest basket. I resist arranging the fruit in a bowl, except for what we'll eat today, because it's ripe this minute and all we're not about to eat now must go in the fridge.

and

I have considered my table, its ideals as well as its dimensions. If I were a child, I would want to lift up the tablecloth and crawl under the unending table, into the flaxen light where I could crouch and listen to the loud laughs, clinks, and grown-up talk, hear over and over "Salute" and "Cin-cin" travelling around the chairs, stare at kneecaps and walking shoes and flowered skirts hiked up to catch a breeze, the table steady under its weight of food. Such a table should accommodate the wanderings of a large dog. At the end, you need room for an enormous vase of all the flowers in bloom at the moment. The width should allow platters to meander from hand to hand down the center, stopping where they will, and numerous water and wine bottles to accumulate over the hours. You need room for a bowl of cool water to dip the grapes and pears into, a little covered dish to keep the bugs off the Gorgonzola (dolce as opposed to the piccante type, which is for cooking) and caciotta, a local soft cheese. No one cares if olive pits are flung into the distance. The best wardrobe for such a table runs to pale linens, blue checks, pink and green plaid, not dead white, which takes in too much glare. If the table is long enough, everything can be brought out at once, and no one has to run back and forth to the kitchen. Then the table is set for primary pleasure: lingering meals, under the trees at noon. The open air confers an ease, a relaxation and freedom. You're your own guest, which is the way summer ought to be. 

and

I was drawn to the surface of Italy for its perched towns, the food, language, and art. I was pulled also to its sense of lived life, the coexistence of times that somehow gives an aura of timelessness--I toast the Etruscan wall above us with my coffee every morning--all the big abstracts that act out in everything from the aggression on the autostrada to the afternoon stroll through the piazza. I cast my lot here for a few short months a year because my curiosity for the layered culture of the country is enexhaustible. But the umbilical that is totally unexpected and elides logic reaches to me through the church. 

 Marvelous armchair travel. Highly recommend!

The Stonecutter

 

The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg

Patrick Hedstrom Series #3

Mystery

2012

Finished on March 25, 2024

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Scandi-crime thriller from international bestseller Camilla Läckberg, perfect for fans of Jo Nesbø, Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson.

The remote resort of Fjällbacka has seen its share of tragedy, though perhaps none worse than that of the little girl found in a fisherman's net. But this was no accidental drowning.Not only was there no seawater found in the girl's lungs--the autopsy yielded far more sinister findings. 

Local detective Patrik Hedström has just become a father. It's his grim task to discover who could be behind the murder of a child both he and his partner Erica knew well. Little Sara Florin's family history could provide the key, but how do you probe into the past of a family who has just suffered the consummate tragedy? What Patrick does not know is how Sara's death will open up the dark heart of Fjallbacka, spanning generations, encompassing a mysterious fire, thwarted ambitions, and pitting neighbor against neighbor, threatening to rip aside Fjallbacka's idyllic facade, perhaps forever.

It's been several years since I read the first two books in Camilla Lackberg's Fjallbacka series. I loved The Ice Princess, which I read in 2016, but was disappointed in The Preacher (the second installment), which I read the following month. As noted in my review (for The Preacher), I think these books are best read in print rather than on audio. Hearing the names spoken caused me great confusion, as many sounded similar to one another. There are also numerous characters to keep track of, and while reading The Stonecutter, I made a cheat sheet in order to stay on top of each new character and how they were related to one another. This third installment turned out to be a good mystery in spite of being able to unravel one of the clues about halfway in. At close to 500 pages, I did feel it could have been shorter, and I grew impatient with Hedstrom and his coworkers, wishing they'd hurry up and solve the murder mystery. At times, the detectives seemed to be fairly inept at their jobs, but Lackberg kept me guessing and overall, I was very pleased with the story. I plan to continue with the next book in the series (The Stranger) later this summer.

Looking Back - Ender's Game

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Science Fiction

1985

Finished on March 13, 2002

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.

But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military's purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler. Valentine's abilities turn more toward the subtle control of the beliefs of commoner and elite alike, through powerfully convincing essays. Hiding their youth and identities behind the anonymity of the computer networks, these two begin working together to shape the destiny of Earth-an Earth that has no future at all if their brother Ender fails.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

2/3 of the way through - keep finding myself counting the remaining pages. It's a fun book, but drags a bit. All the training. I'm anxious for a little more action. Love all the futuristic details - laptops, instant messages, "nets," didn't exist or weren't well-known in the 80s. A few nice surprises that made me smile. Group read with Armchair Readers (online group).

My Current Thoughts:

I remember that I enjoyed this book, but not enough to go on and read more of the series. We watched the movie, starring Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, and Ben Kingsley, but I honestly couldn't tell you if I liked it.

Day

 

Day by Michael Cunningham

Fiction

2023

Finished on March 15, 2024

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

As the world changes around them, a family weathers the storms of growing up, growing older, falling in and out of love, losing the things that are most precious—and learning to go on—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours.

April 5, 2019 : In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, troubled husband and wife, are both a little bit in love with Isabel’s younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, has created a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house—and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. Meanwhile Nathan, age ten, is taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents.

April 5, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown, the brownstone is feeling more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open, obsessed with keeping her family safe, while Nathan attempts to skirt her rules. Isabel and Dan communicate mostly in veiled jabs and frustrated sighs. And beloved Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts—and his secret Instagram life—for company.

April 5, 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis, the family reckons with a new, very different reality—with what they’ve learned, what they’ve lost, and how they might go on. From the brilliant mind of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Day is a searing, exquisitely crafted meditation on love and loss and the struggles and limitations of family life—how to live together and apart.

It's been over twenty years since I read Michael Cunningham's award winning novel, The Hours, which I picked up shortly after reading Virginia Woolf's classic, Mrs. Dalloway. Told from multiple points of view, Cunningham's latest novel, Day, follows a Brooklyn family on the same date (April 5th) in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.

I don't remember much about the author's writing style for The Hours, but Day is most certainly an erudite literary work and not one to breeze through. The first section required close reading, and as I reread passages and sought the definition of several words, I grew impatient, eager for the hook to propel me into Cunningham's story. The deeper into the work I read, I realized that I didn't care about the characters (five-year-old Violet is far too precocious), and it wasn't until the final segment (set in 2021) that I was unable to put the book down. I feel I'm fairly well-read, but there are certain authors' works (Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison) with which I struggle, asking myself if I'm smart enough to "get" the underlying meaning of their prose. I wanted to love this novel, but it fell short of my expectations. However, I do plan to reread The Hours later this year. I may even add Mrs. Dalloway to my reread stack, as well.