November Reading

 The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

“For only when you have seen that you are truly forsaken will you embrace the fact that what happens next rests in your hands, and your hands alone.” This book is a piece of writing to savor. An odyssey - a story of two brothers who dream of a new life, of a professor who writes of heroes yet never has an adventure, of a boy who can’t fit in anywhere, of a girl whose life is determined by her father and wants something more, of a Black man who goes to war and loses his wife and child, of a boy unloved and unwanted. It tells the tale of how our interactions with others matter, that when our lives collide sometimes explosions occur and sometimes miracles happen. If felt like a throwback tale to me, of nostalgia - of heroes and villains, of adventures and travails, of hopes and dreams and failures. Oh, I adored this odyssey. PS Sally saves this book from being too male-centric. I mean, this quote… “The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are big. The Mississippi River and the Grand Canyon are big. The skies over the prairie are big. But there’s nothing bigger than a man’s opinion of himself.”

He Started It by Samantha Downing

This book had all the ingredients to be a potato chip book extraordinaire: Grown up siblings recreating their childhood road trip with Grandpa, in order to earn their inheritance / Snarky mean hilarious  narrator/Seriously dysfunctional family/Lies upon lies upon lies. I turned pages deliciously fast, enjoying every word/line/chip until…I reached the bottom of the bag/end of the book. Then I wanted to SCREAM. Come on - give me some crumbs please. Yep. Total buzzkill yet entertained me for a day!

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Anyone else remember this short-story-turned-into-book-and-movie from decades ago? I remembered It breaking my heart, but not all the topical nuances for today's world. Since Richard Powers used it as a motif threaded through his latest Booker-nominated novel Bewilderment, I knew I was in for a re-read. The premise, if you remember, is that a mentally handicapped young man named Charley agrees to a brain experiment where a surgery will slowly make him brilliant, as in smarter than most normal people. We see the progression of Charley through his journals, where his spelling and grammar are phonetic and his thinking is child-like. As Charley's brain cells increase, so do his negative interactions with society and other humans. It is a tale of disappointment, tragedy, sorrow, and ultimate failure as Charley, and his mouse friend Algernon, slowly devolve back to their original abilities. Profound in its observations of humanity, it is a fantastic companion read with Bewilderment and proves that literature can stand the test of time.

As Good as Dead (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #3) by Holly Jackson

Did you love the first in this series, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder? I sure did. And the second book, Good Girl Bad Blood, was equally as good. Therefore, starting into book three held so many wonderful possibilities. Cue the big saw labeled BUZZKILL. Don't get me wrong - the first half of the book was quite good, tho it did require googling the summary of the last two books as it had been awhile. But solid mystery, looking at how was currently stalking Pip and how can they free an innocent young man imprisoned for being the DT Killer? But that second half??? Where the author takes a smart, tenacious, awesome lead character and turns her into someone I seriously cannot get behind, someone who breaks laws, covers up, frames others, and is all about viglante justice?? Nope. Just nope. I understand Pip had serious PTSD from previous incidences, but to totally flip not only Pip but sidekick Ravi into fundamentally different human beings? I wanted to throw this book across the room after I turned the last page. 

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova

This is just a cool, weird, crazy book. If you like magical realism, this is your jam; if not, I would avoid it. I mean, Grandma Orquidea is a tree as she's dying (she coughs up mud!), and all the grandkids have roses, thorns, etc. growing out of them. Yeah...weird but cool. It tells of a young Orquidea growing up in Equador and her life adventures that brings her to America. For me, it was entertaining and a wonderfully narrated audio, but a bit too much death in odd places and a bit too out there. 

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Romance...not my normal go-to, but this one was different. Instead of the "weak, stupid woman falling for big strong male" trope that seems to be rather typical in this genre, this book uses two very imperfect leads to make a case for love. Eva and Shane spent a week together in June fifteen years ago; they were drunk, stoned, messed up kids running from the realities of their lives. Yet the memories lingered. Fast forward and they are both successful novelists, yet both deal with so much more than their past. Shane is a recovering addict and Eva has debilitating migraines and an only child to raise. I loved the messiness of their love story, the topical themes this book addressed, and the perfect amount of steam for me. Need a break from sad, cerebral reads - this one will do it:) Extra bonus: it in written by a woman of color and has a diverse cast of characters.