January 2.0

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
A life lived right in my own back yard, a single mother tries to provide for her young daughter in Skagit County of Washington State. Stephanie has a high school diploma and some college community credits from Running Start, yet is stuck in a cycle of low-paying jobs. Once her daughter comes along and an abusive relationship spirals out of control, Stephanie must rely on the only safety net she has: herself and the government. Unable to get help from generations of poverty in her own family, she takes the one job she can - cleaning homes. We see the private lives of many of Stephanie's clients, the results of a low-paying job with no benefits, no sick pay, no vacation, and what life is like living on the edge, one mistake or life accident away from disaster. Often, I found myself being judgmental and then stopping myself, acknowledging my own privilege, and learning from Stephanie's heartfelt story of her life. This book will provide a ton of conversation at your next book club, trust me.

Southern Discomfort: A Memoir by Tena Clar
Hands down, this is one of my favorite listens in the last year. Tena Clark, successful songwriter and music producer, grew up in Mississippi the youngest of four girls, raised by a black maid, a racist father, and an alcoholic mother, and just to throw in another complication, she is gay. Her memoir shows us the many facets of her childhood and young adult life: pulled back and forth between two parents following divorce, dad's multiple relationships, mom's addiction issues, the racism in her small town, wild teenage years, parenthood, sorrow. The author pulls no punches and shows her parents, and her community, in all its glory and in all its messes. The author narrates the book in a thick southern accent, drawing one deeply into the heavy heat of a Mississippi summer day. Tena Clark shows the complexities of loving one's parents while also being terribly hurt by their actions - ditto for Mississippi, which draws her back constantly and hurts her heart as well. This is just a fabulous memoir.

The Gilded Wolves by Roshana Chokshi
I was rather torn by this new YA fantasy series; I loved the set of friends who direct and inhabit the story, but found the plot itself a bit confusing. Set in 19th century Paris, this Paris shows the clash between the established families that have all the money, power, and magic, and the ones that don't. The leader of the gang, Severin, runs a beautiful old hotel but is haunted by the disinheritance of years ago, relegating him to a back seat in the power circle. His gang of thieves who help him recover 'artifacts,' are a creative group: the mathematical genius with social issues; the gentle soul who knows everything there is about plants and keeps a pet tarantula; the once-dead Indian femme fatale; the history buff and gifted symbologist who helps get them all out of tight jams; and the arrogant but needy heir from the power brokers. Incredible character development, but put into a plot line that has to do with stealing stolen objects, unrequited love, mysterious bad guys, that ultimately left me a bit unclear as to what was really going on. Perhaps I read too late at night, or perhaps my brain was more muddled than it should be but I needed a bit more clarity on this one. I'm hoping book two will clear some things up for me.

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Critically acclaimed, on everyone's "Best" lists of 2018, and beautifully written...yet it was a very 'meh' book for me. The story begins with a young slave boy on Barbados called George Washington Black. No parenting, no schooling, and surrounded by violence and the degradation of violence, somehow this young man is chosen to become a house slave. Wash then goes on to help in the scientific experimentations of the son of the plantation, and thus his adventurous life begins. A life that takes him into the air, up to Boston, on to the Arctic and to England and even to Morocco, all the while narrating his story to us in an erudite, educated manner that seems completely out of sync to me with his beginnings. I just felt like the story was implausible and it dragged on and on and on in a rather dull fashion. Perhaps I missed the boat on this one, but it just did not grab me.

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks
This is a page-turner of a second novel (The Wife Between Us) by a dynamic and talented writing duo. The premise: young struggling make-up artist steals a client's appointment to become part of a college psychological study due to the high pay. We can all see where this is going, right? Well not exactly. The questions that Jessica first answers seem innocuous, yet they then become more nuanced, more complex, and once Jessica is then asked to actually meet with the female psychiatrist, the world becomes very weird. Told from two perspectives, Jessica's and the doctor's, I thought I knew where the story was going but the turns down the rabbit hole were surprising and shocking. This one will keep you reading late through the night.


The Shadows We Hide / The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens
Allen Eskens has become one of my favorite fiction writers to listen to, telling solid police procedural stories that have very human elements and relatable characters. Shadows actually involves the characters from a previous much-liked read, The Life We Bury, as the young man who is now guardian of his autistic brother and has a girlfriend studying for the bar exam gets pulled into the murder of his father, the father he has never met. The second one is a series Eskens has written about Detective Max Rubert, a curmudgeonly man still haunted by his wife's tragic hit-and-run death. In this book, Max is pulled into the underworld of Russian sex trafficking that leads him to shocking revelations of his past. Eskens is a compelling writer; if you like mysteries with humanity, he's your guy.

That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron
I always find the Victorian era intriguing, especially when combined with the mother of a towering historical figure such as Winston Churchill. Alas, this book was rather disappointing. Following the life of Jennie Churchill, we hear about her childhood sporadically sprinkled throughout the novel, as well as her marriage to politician and younger son of a duke, Randall Churchill. The focus is mainly on her affair with an Austrian aristocrat and supposedly, her 'independence.' I was underwhelmed by her so-called flouting of society however, as she seemed to bend every frivolous and shallow Victorian rule but nothing all that substantial. Ultimately, the only interesting thing I found out about Jennie Churchill was that she gave birth to Winston. Well-researched and written, but rather dull.