January 3.0

Normal People by Sally Rooney
Admittedly, I did not pick this one up sooner because...A) I heard too much about it B) people seemed to love it or hate it and C) I'm an idiot. Because this little book was a five star read for me, hands down. Sally Rooney is a master of richly developing her characters through precise dialogue and small details. Marianne and Connell are the axis on which the story turns and I could not get enough of their lives, their choices (stupid and smart), their families, their past, and their fumbling-past-each-other relationship. At so many turns, I saw myself in my youth...the struggles to know how to fit in socially, the dependence on an unhealthy relationship to find value, the family dysfunction that warps us. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
Have you read An American Marriage? Or how about Silver Sparrow? If not, I highly recommend Tayari Jones. She is one of my favorite voices in today's publishing world. Jones always forces me to put on a different pair of spectacles and look at life in America with new eyes. Leaving Atlanta is her first book - I do love to see how a favorite author first began and she does not disappoint. Told through the eyes of three children, we see Atlanta during the nightmare when black children were being murdered in the early 1980's. This book definitely kept my attention until the final page.

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

An oral history of 9/11, narrated by 45 different people, this book is impossible to put down or stop listening to, as it is chilling, tragic, fascinating, and inspiring. For those of us who lived it, it will put you right back to that day but it will give you details you never knew. For those of you who were not born yet or were too young to remember it, this book will give you an incredible sense of what happened. The more and more I look back at history, read books on social justice and the movement to the right and populism across the world, the more I believe that 9/11 shaped the world in very profound ways. This is arguably the best audio book I have experienced.

The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall
While this is not my normal topic I would be pulled to, this book was on so many "Best of" lists for 2019 so I figured it was worth the look. The story follows two couples whose husbands both become ministers, and their lives from the 1960's onward as these two men share a church in New York City. I am still torn. On one hand, the writing is exceptional; Wall constructs these characters with great thought, empathy, and insight. I was compelled to continue reading, which is always a plus. However, the topic was just not my gig as it centers around people struggling with their faith, church life, their beliefs in a hand that directs our lives. These themes and topics are all beautifully and compassionately explored, but not the book for me. For those of you involved in a faith life or are searching, this could be the book for you.

The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenbert
The title had me at "murder" and "Appalachia;" unfortunately, it was a big letdown. Ostensibly, It is the story of three young women who hitchhiked cross country to attend the Rainbow festival in West Virginia. Two girls arrive and are murdered, while one girl bags out and heads home to Vermont. I am never really sure why the book is called the 'third rainbow girl' as she's hardly discussed. The murder investigations and trials are intriguing, but get stuck in the middle of the author's details of her messy life. This book felt like it couldn't make up its mind between true-life crime and memoir; it was a big miss for me.

January 2.0

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
This is the 'buzziest' book of 2020 and rightfully so. It tells the story of Lydia, a middle class woman living in Acapulco with her eight year old son and journalist husband. When the violence of the drug cartels destroys her life, Lydia must make the impossible choice: stay and be killed, or save her son and escape to the north. This black and white choice is blunt against the brutality of the migrant trail as author Cummins painstakingly lays out all the heartrending choices Lydia must make for survival. Wrapped in beautiful prose, we see the the cast of characters that these two meet on their epic journey: the asthmatic boy running for his future, the two sisters trapped in violent Guadalajara, the priest who must weigh his own safety against those in need, the coyote who feels compelled to help but also to profit, her friend who loves book but brings death, and those left behind. The mantras of "build the wall," "do it legally," "send them back," "kids in cages," all of these are held up in start contrast to the reality of a mother's love and what one would do for their child. It is that simple. Do. Not. Miss. This. Book.

A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of Faith by Timothy Egan

"We do not have all the answers. We are in a spiritual journey." These are the words at one of the first churches Egan comes to on his pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome, known as the Via Francigena as Egan traveled by foot, car, train for over a thousand miles, searching for some spiritual answers. As a solid agnostic myself, I was curious about this book; Egan, a Northwest resident and writer, is one of my favorite authors but a book on Christianity? A religion that many friends adhere to but which has pushed me away for over a decade due to what I perceive to be hypocrisy and hyper-judgmentalism? Hmmm...this was definitely a journey for me, and one that was ultimately well worth it. Egan weaves together the story of this path with thousands of years of history of the Catholic church and Christianity, and it is a bloody, violent, chaotic history, one that is hard to endorse. Yet Egan also forces his readers to do what he does - stop, contemplate, question, wonder. Ultimately, he doesn't force any faith on his readers, but does force us to be a pilgrim as we search, or are content to embrace what I call 'the great unknown.' I am glad I read this book.

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Do you like a good ghost story? As in one that you really shouldn't read at night because it will give you chills up the back of your neck? Simone St. James is a master of the spectral story, seriously. The Sun Down Motel is a creepy lil old motel in a creepy lil town where decades ago Carly's Aunt Viv disappeared. The story is told from a dual perspective, Viv and her time working at the motel and Carly as she investigates her aunt's life as a way of putting her own life into perspective. All kinds of creepy characters emerge as both Viv and Carly's stories are told. I turned pages voraciously and found the ending to satisfy every want, need, desire. It is not easy to follow up a bit hit like The Broken Girls, but St. James continues to be creative and thoughtful as she creeps us out with each successive book.

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag
This book called my name as soon as I heard "dystopia, mother, journey" - I mean really, who can't get on board with an epic journey?! Thanks to climate change, the world pretty much flooded, and I don't mean a little bit, I mean the Andes Mountains are even under water. Borders and governments are a thing of the past; it is every human for themselves and whatever boat they can find. In this case, Myra and her seven-year-old daughter Pearl set off to find her oldest daughter Rowena, long ago kidnapped by Myra's husband as the Floods began. As the journey progresses, Myra must decide who to trust as the cast of characters unfold. This story is a terrifying look at a possible future, an odyssey where one must change and adapt in order to complete their quest, and a hard look at what makes a family and who do we love. It is a beautifully written, creative story - hard to believe it is Montag's debut novel.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Trust me, the title is dripping with irony. One's twenties are supposed to be awesome, right?! But what if you've graduated from college, aren't that motivated for a career and money and prestige, and just want to be happy? Is that valued? Is that okay? And what if you're a black woman engulfed in a white woman's world? A world that doesn't quite fit? That is Emira's life as she babysits three-year-old Brier. The entire story begins with an incident in an upscale grocery store when a security guard and another customer accuses Emira of kidnapping little Brier because...she's a black woman with a white child, late at night. The man who records the entire incident becomes integral to the story, as does Alix, the mother and 'influencer,' as well as Alix's snarky group of privileged New York friends. The audio of this one is truly priceless, as Emira is smart, sassy, and takes no crap; she loves Brier with a loyalty that is admirable, but also wants to own who they both are in their unique personalities. This book will frustrate you, entertain you, and make you think about life in some very different ways. Think about the book like the novel The Help, but updated to 2015 with a subtle yet pointed look at race and money and class. Loved this one:)

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
A favorite mystery writer (The Kind Worth Killing - soooo good), this new one fell a bit short for me. The premise: a bookstore owner, Mal, who years ago wrote a blog post that highlighted the eight perfect literary murders according to him, gets interviewed by an FBI agent about some similar murders that have popped up in Boston. Mal is an unreliable narrator of the story, never knowing quite what to believe from him. He's a quirky loner, book lover so I kinda liked him at first. However, as the book devolved into predictability as well as some implausibility, Mal became less likable and just rather pathetic. On the plus side, I did keep turning pages. On the minus side, the ending was unsatisfying to me.

The Flood (Fredrike Bergman & Alex Recht, #6) by Kristina Ohlsson
Are you missing the dark Scandinavian mystery series like Girl with a Dragon Tattoo? Go check out Ohlsson's series that involves both police investigators, national security experts, and psychologists all on one investigatory team. It is one of my favorite series; each mystery is a page turner, the characters are complex and fascinating, women are used as strong leads not as weak and naive tropes, and the endings always satisfy. You don't have to read all the books, or in order, to enjoy each one separately either, which is a plus. This one involves a home murder, a kidnapping, and a funeral director that are somehow all tied together. Great beach read if you like a good mystery:)

January

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
This story is of Edward, the 12 year old survivor of a terrible plane crash where 191 passengers die, three of them his parents and brother. The fallout of this event is predictable, but the arc of the story is not, nor is the beautiful writing. As I read of Edwards difficulties adjusting to life, I wondered if I would be compelled to keep reading? Well-written, evocative, even lyrical, but where was it going? Needless to say, the final third of this book swept me into its arms and carried me into the world of forgiveness, of resolution, of acceptance, of the the harsh reality of life and death, of what is owed and not owed. In other words, it blew my mind. Perhaps it had to do with where my own personal life had been as I read it, at the bedside of a beloved son in law, hoping he would live. But isn't that what books do for us, hit us where our souls currently reside? This book reminded me, in the words of Edward's therapist..."What happened to you is baked into your bones, Edward. It lives under your skin. It's not going away. It's part of you and will be part of you every moment until you die. What you've been working on, since the time I met you, is learning to live with that."

Long Bright River by Liz Moore
A Philadelphia neighborhood full of homelessness, lacking hope, and rife for violence, a single mom who works as a cop and worries about her sister, addicted to opiates for years, and a serial killer on the loose. All these ingredients plus an incredibly talented writer makes for one humdinger of a book. The plot moves between Then and Now, as we see the dysfunctional childhood of Mickey and Kacey, raised by their grandmother after their mother's death and their father's abandonment; one sees the devastating impact, generationally, that the opiate epidemic has had on one community and one family. We also see the outcome of this childhood, as one sister breaks herself to raise her son, to put food on the table and a roof over his head, to keep her community safe, while the other sister is imprisoned by addiction, violence, and loss. This is an outstanding book - highly highly recommend:)

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
A 750 pages epic on how the world ends...perfect for a long vacation?! YES. This one kept me turning pages and every time I thought I had it figured out, I was led down another rabbit hole. It is a story about science and faith, of government and anarchy, of family and predators, or shepherds and wolves, of love, hope, and yes, the end of everything we know. So many themes in this book hit home in a very scary way: how words matter, that people who spew hate because they want ratings or attention or to win an election can actually get people killed. That a democracy is tenuous, that domestic militias are scary as hell, and that climate change will kill our planet. This book is worth every hour - it is an adventure and a journey and a mind-blowing experience.

Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict
Benedict is becoming the specialist of historical fiction that focuses on the female counterpart of a strong, successful, famous man. This time around it is Clementine Churchill, the wife of the famous Winston Churchill. Clemmie is a complex woman. On one hand, she is from an old, distinguished family, yet they are impoverished, with a mother who drinks, has many lovers, and neglects her children. Once Clementine marries into the Churchill family, she is thrust into the political world in which she ultimately thrives. Unbeknownst to many of us (me included), Clemmie was instrumental in Winston's rise in power and his comeback, editing his speeches and providing vital moral support as well as organizational skill during the Blitz. I was fascinated with the history, but not as much with Clemmie. She's still a bit of a cipher to me, unclear as to her motivations, her own wants and desires, her passions. I liked this book, but didn't love it as much as the previous one about Hedy Lamar. Thanks to Net Galley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
This book begins with a bang...older sister Alison disappears on a Caribbean island and turns up dead soon therafter. Is it foul play or an accident? The story then turns to Claire, the younger sister and the fallout of this event on both Claire and her parents. And that's where it slows down, waaaaaay down. For me, the plot was thin and drawn out. I could just never care a whole lot about this family - white, rich, privileged - which I get was the point that was made by the end of the book. But still. Hard to care a whole lot. Interesting ideas exist, down the roads of cultural challenges, impact of tourism, family secrets, and the last quarter was quite engaging, but it just took forever to get there for me.

The Night Country by Melissa Albert
"What are we now, but the lost children of a dead world?" Thanks to main characters Alice and Ellery in the first book of the series The Hazel Wood, the Hazel Wood is dead, so what comes next? According to this latest tale, it is a life of the 'stories' (ie. young people aka characters from Alice's grandmother's original storybook who escaped when Alice and Ellery destroyed the Wood) as they try and find their way through a dark, yet oh so real, New York City. Without a clear review of the first book, I did find this second one a bit confusing at first and had to do some major reconnaissance to gain some knowledge; yes, I should have reread The Hazel Wood but one doesn't always have time, right? The 'stories' are struggling with real life, and some of them are winding up dead - who's doing it? Could it be Alice with the ice cold blood, or someone else? Where is Ellery and how is he going to involve himself in this story? I enjoyed this latest dark fairy-tale-esque book, but less so than original.