Wednesday, January 25, 2017

The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall- Book Review

If you want to read The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall before September, it would be best to order it from Amazon Canada. The link for the book heads to that site rather than the American site. While you won't get it in 2-3 days, it is worth the week or so that it will take.

The book opens with Sadie's father, George getting arrested for sexual assault against 3 of his students with another charge of sexual harassment against a 4th student. George is a beloved teacher, who once saved his school against a shooter by tackling the shooter. He is now under arrest and Sadie and her mother Joan are left behind. George's bank accounts have been frozen as there have also been charges that he paid off people to keep silent.

The entire book focuses on Joan and Sadie's lives following the arrest. The town becomes divided with some supporting George because of what he has done and some of the town despising Joan and Sadie for what George did.

Sadie must also return to school where her best friend is the sister of one of the girls that is accusing George for assault. Sadie starts finding herself disconnecting from life and her boyfriend. She finds herself moving toward an older man, who happens to be writing a book about the incident (Sadie does not know this).

Joan on the other hand finds herself acting out as she must now change her life to support her husband, who she finds herself not believing anymore. She finds support in a group for women who have gone through this. Joan must reclaim her life as she faces a new reality where people egg her house and call her with death threats.

This book is an incredible look at rape culture by barely mentioning the word rape. George is not the center of the book at all, but rather it looks at how people judge, accuse, and deny the victims and the family left behind. It takes a look at how there is a huge wake left behind from one man's infidelities. The girls George assaulted are talked about, called liars, and are doubted even though they are all under age and their stories connect. Even though George is not in the book, George is present through everything.

I will say at just shy of 400 pages, there were a few slower parts of the book that might have been trimmed out to keep the book moving. With that stated, it was still an incredible book that was well worth the read. The book does not go into details as to what George did, so the reader is left guessing and is left deciding whether or not to believe him throughout the book (there is a resolution at the end).

I think it is worth the import for the time being. The book as considered one of the best Canadian books of 2016 and I would agree. I gave this one 4 stars. The US version comes out in September.

Monday, January 23, 2017

March Books 1,2,3 by John Lewis- Book Review

I had been debating whether or not to purchase March by John Lewis and then the whole Twitter war with the President started and I decided to pull the trigger. I felt this weekend, while women were marching all over the world, it was also a great time to read the series.

March is a look at the Civil Rights movement from the very beginning until the march in Selma. The story is told through a graphic novel with each volume focusing on a particular aspect of the movement. Each has a modern day occurrence happening to bring back the flashback.

March Volume 1 focuses mostly on John Lewis' life from his early years as a chicken farmer to his start in Civil Rights. It ends with with the lunch counter protests. The whole story is told as two children visit Lewis' office.

March Volume 2 ramps up the violence a bit as well as the use of the N word. The Freedom Riders take center stage in this one and the I Have a Dream speech by King. The whole story is told around President Obama's inauguration.

March Volume 3 again ramps up the violence as more resistance grows. This focuses a lot on getting to Selma and the march. Death becomes normal in this volume, sadly. It is told while President Obama and Lewis converse with one another.

The artwork in all three volumes are just incredible. As the story continues there tended to be more solid black pages with white writing. The use of black and white rather than color helped bring the story to life.

This is not only the story of Civil Rights, but very much Lewis' story as well. It isn't always pretty and he even chooses to discuss where people disagreed within the movement and what direction it should go. He talks about moments when even he started to question the idea of non-violence as the appropriate action. It is a real story and it isn't made prettier than it was.

I found it especially disheartening that some of the language and reasons as to why black individuals shouldn't be able to vote are coming back into our current political climate. One forgets this was only 50 years ago, so we have a lot of places to grow still. This is definitely worth the read for all.

I gave this one 5 stars.

Here is your Amazon link- March Books 1, 2,+3

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Tell the Truth Shame the Devil by Melina Marchetta- Book Review

I have been sitting here thinking about how I describe the book Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil and the first word that came to mind was- Wow! This had to be one of wildest mystery rides I have been on since starting to read mysteries a few years ago.

The book begins with an explosion of a school bus with HS students between England and France. A suspended cop Bish, rushes to the scene because his daughter was on the bus when it happened. Also on the bus was a 17 year old Arabic girl, who also happens to be the daughter of one of the most notorious bombers in history. After being locked in a cupboard, the 17 year old girl has run from the scene and has become the number one suspect in the bombing.

It is up to Bish to figure out what is happening and to figure out why this bus, what is the role of the 17 year old girl, and navigate both race issues and country issues. The other fun aspect to the story is Bish is also the man that helped arrest the girl's mother.

In order to solve everything, he must go back to the girl's mother and the rest of the family. He may find out things about his own daughter in the process.

This is a big book. Not long necessarily, but filled to the brim with issues to tackle wrapped up in this bombing mystery. The great thing is the mystery navigates all of these things well and sticks to a reality based story. There were no turns that seemed unreal and all felt natural.

I loved the way the book addressed race too. Bish must gain the trust of people who don't trust him, don't necessarily tell him the truth, nor do ever turn toward helping him. Bish is almost always the enemy and the outsider simply because of the fact he is a police officer, even though he is connected to them in other ways. The family he needs to rely on will lie right to his face simply due to trust. Navigating who is telling the truth and who wasn't was part of the fun. No one was a caricature.

I really enjoyed this one, but note it is one that cannot be read quickly or is a semi pay attention mode. You have to follow this story as much as you can and get to know each character. It was lots of fun.

I gave this one 4 stars.

I want to thank NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the advanced copy. I received it in exchange for an honest review. I also had the final copy which I purchased myself and jumped between the two.

Monday, January 16, 2017

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker- Book Review

I read about this book on Litsy. One of the people I follow started raving about how great this book was. Then another person started stating this is one to look out for in January. Then another and then another. So, will I join up in the rave reviews?

This is the story about two college friends- Sharon and Mel- who bond over weird animation and older (to them) cartoons from MTV. They set out and make an animated film based on Adelle's life which gains a bit of fame in the indy scene.

Mel starts to spiral and act out, while Sharon starts to get enticed by another studio. Then something happens so out of left field that even if you began to think you know what it is, it more than likely isn't it.

This book is so well written and it draws the reader in. The story of the two women is so intriguing and the characters are so well developed. It is hard to critique those aspects of this book.

Where it was difficult is this book takes so many sharp left turns that I kind of wondered what exactly I just read. The turns were not weird, but reality based; that is not the critique. What happens and the topics that are covered are all over the place. It became a bit distracting and I enjoyed the book!

I gave this one 3.5 stars. It is good, but too many turns. I would be interested in hearing why others loved it and how they moved around the strange turns.

Here is your Amazon link- The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this book. I received it for free in exchange for an honest review.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders- Book Review

If there had to be one book in 2017 that I was most excited about so far, it had to be Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to read this one ahead of publishing date (Feb 14) and bring this review to you.

I was introduced to Saunders earlier this year and I have been tearing through his collections of short stories since. He has just enough weird to be weird, but such incredible writing skills that his books are hard to put down. Lincoln in the Bardo is his first full novel, but I even hesitate to call it a novel.

In short, it is about one single scene- President Lincoln's son has died and is now in the cemetery. Lincoln visits his deceased son and holds his son's body while weeping. There is a bit more, but I want to hold it there.

The reason why I hesitated calling this a novel is it is almost a novel deconstructed. It has short quick sentences, there isn't filler, there isn't much else except dialog (of sorts) and brief explanations of where we are.

Ghosts will talk to one another, history books will paint a scene, and the reader will have to figure out what is happening by putting it all together. The same scene, for example, will be narrated from 5 different history books each with its own take. One might read- It was a beautiful day, one might read- A cool breeze shifted the trees as sunset, a final might read- The rain clouds parted, so sunshine could pour into the cemetery and that's the chapter! I am not doing it justice, but I am hoping it gives an idea what this book is like. I started it, had to figure out what was happening, and started it again because I wasn't prepared the first time for what I was reading.

This book is brilliant and needs to be read, but I think some will absolutely hate it and that is ok.
I gave this one 5 stars!

Here is your Amazon link- Lincoln in the Bardo

* I wish to thank Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. I received it for free in exchange for an honest review.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Girls in the Moon by Janet McNally- Book Review

Girls on the Moon by Janet McNally was a Book of the Month Club selection for January. This book wasn't on my radar and I had not heard about it at all until it showed up there, but I was glad it did show up as it was a wonderfully told story about relationships.

Phoebe Ferris and her sister Luna are the children of Meg and Kieran Ferris, who were the lead singers/songwriters of a 90s band that made it big. It was big until Luna was born and Meg wanted out of the band. This also led to Meg and Kieran's divorce shortly after the band broke up.

Luna has come home to let her mother know she was dropping out of college to go on tour with her band in which she was living with the lead guitarist of the band. She moves from Buffalo to NYC, just a few train rides away from her now estranged father, to begin her new life.

Phoebe is left behind and sets out to visit with Luna. We will follow Phoebe around as she experiences her sister, reunites with her father, and learns the truth about who her parents were and how everyone broke apart.

We will also follow Meg as she meets Kieran, forms the band, starts to get famous, and finds out she is pregnant.

I have to write that I really enjoyed the back and forth narratives in the present with Phoebe and in the past with Meg. You get to see bits of Meg in the girls, even though Meg is left at home in Buffalo in Phoebe's story. You get to see how the sins of the past become manifest in the present with how Phoebe and Luna interact with one another, their parents, and their significant others. This is a book about relationships that even though they are far apart are connected deeply still.

The writing was fairly well done. There were a few sentences that were meant to be poetic, but came off a bit loopy, at least to me, but I enjoyed McNally's voice quite a lot. It is difficult to pull off a dual narrative, especially for a first novel. I am excited to see what she will bring to the writing world.

The book is marketed as a YA novel, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and I think most adults will get a lot out of it.

I gave this one 4 stars.

Here is a link to Book of the Month. You can try it for just $5 this month! Girls on the Moon by Janet McNally

Monday, January 2, 2017

Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce- Book Review

Happy New Year everybody! I hope you had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa celebration too. I had an wonderful Christmas where I was presented with piles of books from my wife, from a secret Santa on Litsy, and from a bi-annual trip to The Strand Bookstore in NYC. While on vacation, I did a lot of reading as I finished off the year with a personal record of reading 252 books for the year! My previous record was 160, so this was a big year.

One of the reasons for the big year was because I started a Book of the Month Club Subscription. If you would like to join, simply click the link and you get a free tote and 3 $9.99 months to Book of the Month, enjoy!

Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce was one of my final Book of the Month selections for the year and I have been waiting for this book for almost half a year since first hearing about it. I could not get an ARC, but when I saw I could get it early from BoTM, I jumped at the chance. I am so glad I did too.

The book begins with a child murdering another child. Chizuru Akitani is the daughter of a famous musician and is half Japanese and half American. Living in Japan, Chizuru grabs a letter opener and stabs another child in the neck, ultimately killing him. This simply did not happen in Japan. She is forced to live in a government home where her father never visits her until she is allowed to leave the country. She moves to the US to start a new life as Rio.

Rio, has a family, a comfortable life, but is closed off about her past to her husband. She has told him stories, but never the truth about who she was. When a package arrives for Rio stating her father has died, she goes to Japan to attend the funeral. There she runs into her childhood teacher and begins a pilgrimage of self discovery.

This is just the first quarter of the book, mind you.

The book begins with a strong open that just sucks you in. During the pilgrimage, it drags a bit, but there is a purpose to that. The ending closes quite well with lots of ambiguity much as a peek into a life will do.

There is great use of what is real vs what is fake. From Rio's life that she created to who she really is to commentary about Japanese culture and what lies behind the customs there. The cover art does a great job of portraying what this book really is about. The book has lots of layers about what truth is. Is truth what you create it to be or is there a real truth out there? What happens when one searches and there really isn't an answer either.

I simply loved this book and it is one that I know I will re-read. Luce does such a great job that I wanted to go back into her past catalog and see what else she has written. Turns out this is her first full novel (she has a book of short stories), but boy does it hit well. I am eager to see what comes next. She has talent and it shows.

I really recommend this one, don't let the grayish cover dissuade you. I gave this one 4 stars bordering on 4.5 stars.

Here is your Book of the Month link-
Pull Me Under By Kelly Luce