The Candy House

 The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

What an unusual and interesting novel. 

It's told in interconnecting stories narrated by different characters in different times. I got a bit lost trying to figure out who was talking and how they were connected to the person in the previous chapter, so I made a sort of character map to help keep them all straight. It wasn't pretty with criss-crossing lines and arrows showing who each one was to the other, but it helped me see the overall picture so I could concentrate on the story. 

The setting is the near future, when a new development in software enables people to upload their consciousness to an online server, then download it onto a piece of personal hardware called a cube. You could use it to regain lost memories, to re-live your best - or worst - days. Everything you've ever done, said, or thought, the good and the bad, all readily available.

With further development came the opportunity to upload the contents of your cube to a collective consciousness that everyone would have access to. As ominous as that sounds there were some benefits in areas like law enforcement and medicine. No one was required to join the collective, but if you didn't you wouldn't have access to those of others. People in favour of this data sharing were called counters, those opposed, eluders. 

The stories, some narrated in the first person, some in the third person, one in the second person "you", and one that's simply a list of text messages, examine how the technology affected different people at different times. It looks at connection and what we give up when we trade privacy for information. 

The software program - called Own Your Own Conscious - provides the basis for the story, but the book is much more about the people who designed and used it than it is about the tech itself, and that's what makes this such a compelling story. These characters came to life in a way that made me forget they're words on a page and that none of this really happened.  

Once I figured out who was who and where it was going, I loved it. 

News From Thrush Green/The Silmarillion

 News From Thrush Green by Miss Read

This third book in the lovely Thrush Green series takes us into the schoolroom of the infinitely patient Miss Watson and Miss Fogarty; the welcoming kitchen of kind Winnie Bailey, retired Dr. Bailey's wife; the parsonage of vicar Charles Henstock and his wife, Dimity; and Tulliver's, a house that long sat empty, now being being enlivened again by Phil (Phyllida), a writer of stories, and her young son. 

The arrival of an attractive young woman in the village is a topic for much speculation, more so as Phil's husband does not arrive with her. Is she married? Where is this husband she speaks of? Separated? Divorced?  Her neighbour, Harold, who becomes her good friend, is particularly interested to know.

The daily doings of gentle people in a small Cotswold village make up the story and create a world that is always comfortable to fall back into. They are a gift I give myself when I grow weary of the world we're living in today. 

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

With over 200 named characters and a timespan covering what must be thousands of years, this is a book that requires some commitment. But I love Tolkien's writing and I wanted to learn the histories referred to in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, so I dove in, just hoping to get through it eventually. 

I finished it a few days ago and have to say I loved it. I'd get bogged down in all the names, places, and battles occasionally, then take a break and come back to it later, but I didn't at any point feel like giving up. It's beautiful. 

And talk about world building! With wonderfully lyrical language Tolkien builds a world that once entered, I never want to leave. Learning about the origins of that world gives The Lord of the Rings story and characters more depth and has even made watching the movies better.

My favourite part of The Silmarillion is the creation story at the beginning - absolutely stunning and worth reading again and again. Loved it!

The Wedding People

 The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Pheobe, a young woman whose husband left her for her now ex-best friend - arrives at a resort hotel planning to have one last good meal then end her life quietly in beautiful surroundings. Through a booking error she finds herself the only guest not part of the large wedding party commandeering the rest of the hotel. 

Lila, the bride-to-be, has the week meticulously planned. After a brief encounter with Pheobe, in which Pheobe has been remarkably open about why she's there, Lila makes it clear she does not want her wedding week ruined by a suicide. And it won't be, simply because Phoebe's cat's painkillers, which she hopes will do the job, are not as powerful as she thought they'd be.   

Over the next week she gets to know the various wedding people, is able to be of help with a number of their problems, and in many ways becomes exactly what they - and she - needed.

The first few chapters seemed a little unrealistic to me. I couldn't quite believe a bride could be that high maintenance, but I've been assured since that they can indeed, and apparently it's my good fortune that I've never known one. Anyway...she and the other characters gained depth as the story progressed, becoming more credible and the story more interesting.

It might have been a better story if the cringy and unnecessary "sexting" messages had been left out. They seem to have served only for shock value or maybe they make the book more marketable, who knows. And there was an inexplicable scene about a man having sex with a car, the details of which I'll spare you.

In the end I did get quite involved in the story and found some of the characters  relatable. I liked it, but didn't love it as some in my book club did.

The Paris Express

 The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue

A slow burn of a story that starts with people boarding an express train to Paris on Oct 22,1895, and building in intensity until it arrives at its destination with a spectacular crash into the Montparnasse staion. That's not a spoiler as this is based on a true story with the ending a matter of public record. At the close of the novel the author elaborates on the news story, explaining the changes and additions she made in her novel.

There are quite a number of characters, divided among the three third-class, two second class, and two first class carriages. In addition there is the engine, the post and two baggage carriages, and half-way along the route a private carriage is added. Toward the end I was lost as to who was in what car - and it made a difference - so I tried to make a diagram. But then I got so involved in the story I just had to keep reading to see how it would end for each of these people I'd come to know. I went back to the diagram later but found I'd have to re-read almost the whole thing to get it right. This is a book that really needs to include a map of the train, or at least a list of characters and where they were. It would be much easier to follow. 

The characters include:

 Mado, a 20 yr old anarchist/feminist carrying a homemade bomb

Henry, an African American painter, fleeing racism in America.

Cecile, a pregnant woman who goes into labor on the train.

Blonska, a Russian immigrant who becomes aware of what Mado is hiding.

Hakim, who goes from car to car selling coffee from a large tank strapped to his back 

Maurice, a 7 yr old boy travelling for the first time by himself.

Alice, a secretary traveling with her boss.

The Christophle family, traveling in the private car.   

Guillaume, who's driving the train

Victor, the stoker

Leon - senior train guard

Jean - Junior train guard

Point of view changes from person to person, letting us get to know each one and what they are about, bringing depth to the story and slowly increasing the tension as the train gets nearer the end of its run. Knowing for certain there will be a devastating crash at the end adds to the effect. By then you care about these people and are afraid for them. 

Having finished it I don't really need to sort out the cars and passengers anymore but I think I will anyway. I'll probably re-read most of it in the process, except for one rather lurid scene between two men in a washroom. I can't see how that contributed to the story at all, but it surely does seem as if every comtemporary novel now must have a steamy scene or two. As a society it strikes me as odd that we all have doors on our bedrooms for privacy - it seems we don't want others watching our private moments - yet we want to watch/read about the private moments of others. We've become a society of voyeurs, not an encouraging thought, but I digress....

I liked this one for it's character development, dialogue, differing viewpoints and the interesting world it created inside this train. I wished I could follow some of these characters after the accident to see how it affected them and how they would then live out their lives. 

Not wanting the story to end is, I think, a pretty good recommendation for any book.

New York 2140

 New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson

Another climate change tome from Kim Stanley Robinson. It's hefty, but really fun to read. 

The lower part of New York City in 2140 has been flooded by rising sea levels, as have most of the other coastal cities in the world. The streets are canals now and people still living in those areas get around in boats instead of cars. Buildings partly underwater are eroding unless they were built on bedrock; those ones are still standing solid and filled with residents. Even underwater there are people living and businesses operating, down where it's easier to hide - yourself or any questionable activities you may be involved in.  

This novel focuses on one particular building, the Met Life Tower, and its residents: Vlade, the building superintendent; Amelia, an influencer who live-streams from her blimp as she moves endangered animals to safer environments; Franklin, a financier; Charlotte, a housing advocate and chairperson of the Tower tenants assoc.; NYPD Inspector Gen (Gen is her name, not her title); Stephan and Roberto, two young boys who hunt for underwater treasure and occasionally need rescuing; and Mutt and Jeff, hackers living in the "hotello" at the top of the Met Tower.

The story begins with Mutt and Jeff being kidnapped, Inspector Gen investigating. The kidnapping is connected to finance, Franklin's area of expertise, and eventually all the characters will play a part in the hunt for the missing men, becoming a family of sorts along the way. 

The story is at times absolutely riveting, but a few sections - like detailed explanations of financial matters - I found tedious, but then I'm not a financier. I liked the story, the climate science, and the way the characters and their relationships were developed - especially Vlade, he's a wonderful character. 

This book, like the author's The Ministry For the Future, is full of details from his seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of climate change, and here, building construction and finance as well. It's an education if you can stick with it through all the particulars and technicalities. When I finish one of his novels I feel like I've really accomplished something, and that's not a caution but a recommendation. 

A challenge, and well worth it!

The Glass Chateau

 The Glass Chateau by Stephen Kiernan

France, 1945. Much of the country lies in ruins, as does the home of Asher, a man tormented by the memory of his wife and two year old daughter being shot by a German soldier. His furious need for revenge led him to join the Resistance where he did things of which he'd never in his life thought himself capable. Now he carries the weight of those actions in addition to his grief and unmitigated rage. Without purpose he wanders, like many others, from place to place, seeking only a bit of food and to survive another day. 

When he hears of a place, a sanctuary, where it is said men have gone and found some kind of peace, he sets out to find it, in time coming to the door of Le Chateau Guerin. Hoping only for a meal, he is surprised to be welcomed, and given a room to sleep in and work to do. His job will be to feed the furnaces burning day and night as glass is made to replace the blown out windows of France's cathedrals. In time he'll move on to learning the delicate skills needed for making stained glass and will come to find he has a talent for it.

He is only one of several broken souls being cared for at the Chateau, each carrying their own scars and secrets. As Asher settles in he fears what will happen if they should find out not only what he's done, but who he is.

A moving story with writing that seemed to droop a bit toward the end but still offered a satisfying conclusion. It was the glass-making aspect that first drew me to the book, but it also helped me see the aftermath of war from a different perspective. I'd never thought about damage done to the many beautiful cathedrals of Europe or what it would take to repair them and was interested to learn about that. Those things and the convincing characters made this a very enjoyable read. 

James

 James by Percival Everett

A companion book - or perhaps the author's setting straight of  - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It begins by following Huck's story as told from the viewpoint of the slave, Jim, then veers off into something very different. 

I didn't enjoy the Huck book or this one either. For one thing, Jim in the first book is a sage - wise, with a rich thought life and unending patience. In this one Jim becomes a cold-blooded murderer, an angry man whose anger, yes, is justified, but not very relatable to who he was in Huck. We are all certainly capable of all kinds of evil we think we aren't, but for me the change here was just too drastic.

I was looking forward to reading about Jim, the only character I liked in the Huck book, but I didn't recognize him in this story.

The Women in Black / This Calling Master

 The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John

A charming story about ladies working at a dress shop in the late 1950s. I was doing a poor job of putting down my thoughts about this book so I'm going to direct you to a better review here. It says everything I wanted to say in a far more articulate manner than I could have. 

I listened to the audio from Chirp Books and loved the narrator, but still think I might have liked the book better if I'd read a hard copy. Audio books aren't conducive to much thinking about what you're reading and I do think this one deserved a bit more than I could give it.   

This Calling Master by Steven Evans

I don't know what made me think I'd want to read this, but there it was on my Kobo so something about it must have appealed to me at one time. Half way through it didn't seem to be going anywhere, but I finished it anyway and now cannot for the life of me think why. 

It's about Michael who lives alone, has a girlfriend he hasn't seen for at least a couple of years, and holds down a mundane job with an insurance company. He doesn't have any real friends but doesn't mind as he's not sociable anyway. 

He does have one interesting hobby. Calling himself an urban archeologist, he breaks into abandoned buildings at night to look around. He wanders through the rooms checking out old furniture and other belongings left behind, taking home anything he thinks could be useful someday. 

One night he's in an old boarded up mansion when the door opens and three men come in carrying another who's been shot. Michael hides in a pantry and listens to them argue about the crime they'd just committed and whether or not to get help for the guy bleeding out on the table. 

From there it gets ridiculous. Michael does all kinds of terribly risky things but for some reason he never gets caught or hurt. It's like he's two people - the guy vegetating at home in his messy apartment doing nothing but whining about  the girlfriend who doesn't answer his calls or letters, and the guy skulking around at night who seems to have skills not learned at the office, getting involved in situations illegal and even deadly.  And he gets away every time. He commits a pretty bloody revenge murder and still, no consequences.    

In the end he gets a new job and moves away. Everything is fine. What?!

So, is the point of the story that murder is ok when a good guy takes out a bad guy who killed a different good guy? If this was a paperback I'd throw it somewhere but I don't want to break my Kobo so I'll just emphatically hit "Remove from My Books" a few times. 

I want my 8 hours back. 

The Best Part of Us

 The Best Part of Us by Sally Cole-Misch

Eleven year old Beth loves spending summers on her grandparents island near the Canadian border. As a young married couple they bought the island, built a cabin and cleared walking paths though the forests and along the cliffs. Beth's father spent his childhood summers there and loves it as Beth does, but her mother spends those few weeks every year anxious for the safety of her family. The river, the cliffs, the rocky trails - all threats to the ones she loves. 

When Beth find indiginous artifacts near the fort she built with neighbour, Ben, she wants to show them to him but her family says no. Her grandfather knows of another family who were forced to cede five acres of their property to the Ojibwe people when artifacts were discovered on their land. He is adamant that he will not give up an inch of the land he paid for and worked hard to maintain most of his life. 

Then a storm blows in, Beth's sister gets hurt and her brother goes missing. In the midst of their grief and fear they receive yet another devestating blow when they are ordered off the island, given 24 hours to pack up and leave the place that means so much to them.

Skip 14 years into the future and we find Beth married with a son and working in the city. Her grandfather, realizing he doesn't have much time left, writes two wills and leaves it to Beth to decide which one he should sign. One will gives the island to the Ojibwe people, the other leaves it to Beth. 

If she goes back to the place that took her brother from them, her mother may never forgive her, further fracturing a family already distant and angry. But she sees no way to make a decision without returning to the scene of both her happiest memories and the trauma that has haunted her family every since. She has to see for herself if anyone is living there now, if the cabin still stands, if the Ojibwe have taken it over, or if it's been abandoned altogether. 

Descriptions of the island are rich and memorable. I wanted - still want - to be there. Weeks after finishing the books I miss the smell of the pines and sea air. It was just that real.  

The characters are well-rounded and believable, each one necessary to the story. I can't think of any I didn't like, and though I may not have liked everything they did, the author made them real and relatable so their motivations could be understood.

The plot was a little slow starting - appropriate really to the setting - but later it had me reading too late, needing to see what would happen. The storm scene is particularly intense. 

I was left with a few unanswered questions - the plot set up a showdown between Beth and her mother that then never took place, and things seemed to work out maybe a little too easily in the end. Still it was a wonderful story. I love an island story and from this one, about finding our place in family and in the natural world, it's the island I will carry with me.

Cider With Rosie / The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly

 Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee

This is a memoir of author Laurie Lee's childhood in the Cotswalds. His lyrical descriptions of the places where he grew up are so rich and vivid you can almost feel the hot sunshine on your face and breathe in the sweet country air. 

I was unfamiliar with the author but have since read some of his poems, which I liked very much, and found a list of his other books. It seems he's best known for this one and three successive memoirs As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, A Moment of War, and A Rose for Winter. There's one called Village Christmas, and Other Notes on the English Year that I'd like to read. Our public library unfortunately doesn't have it so I'll hunt for a used copy online.

If I was to use one word to describe Cider With Rosie, I think it must be "charming". I enjoyed viewing the world through his three year old eyes (at the beginning of the story) and visiting for awhile in a time and place so very different from what they are now. It isn't just a pretty story - life was hard at times and he's honest about that. But what I'll remember about this book more than the story is the poetic language in which it was told. It was simply a lovely thing to read. 

The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly by Margareta Magnusson

Oh dear, this is one of those books we're supposed to like and I didn't. The author is a Swedish lady in her 80's who shares some of the things she's learned about aging and offers advice on how to do it well. 

The title rather overstates things. There isn't anything particularly Swedish about what she writes, or anything very exuberant about the way she lives. I did find it pleasant - if rambling - reading with a few funny stories, but it didn't speak to me the way it has to many others. Probably my loss, but such is the reading life. Moving on. 

The Woman Who Died A Lot and The Puzzler

 The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde

This is #7 in the Thursday next series, books I've found utterly ridiculous and wonderfully entertaining. 

This one sees Thursday appointed to the position of head librarian a few days before her hometown is scheduled for a "smiting" that will take out a large part of the town. Her old nemisis "Aornis Hades" is still messing with Thursday's memories and now her husband's, while their brilliant daughter is building a weapon they hope will fend off the "smiting". With the number of preposterous things simultaneously going on in these books it's hard to give a sensible sounding description. 

I didn't enjoy this one was quite as much as some of the earlier ones in the series. My favourite was The Well of Lost Plots where it's all about Book World and every page is filled with literary references. Still, the world of these books is so ingenious and absurd I'll keep reading them as long as Fforde keeps writing them. Besides, they're expanding my vocabulary as I continue to seek new synonyms for "crazy".

The Puzzler by A.J. Jacobs

Jacobs looks at every kind of puzzle you can imagine: Rubik's cube types, jigsaws, crosswords, wooden puzzles, Japanese puzzle boxes, and more I can't remember right now. I loaned the book to another puzzle lover without first taking the notes I needed. Why I keep doing that is another puzzle.

He dives into the history of various puzzles and interviews the people who have mastered them. Parts of it are quite funny when he describes his experiences taking part - sometimes dragging family members with him - in contests and competitions around the world. 

Entertaining reading for anyone, more so for puzzler lovers.    

Our Homesick Songs

 Our Homesick Songs by Emma Hooper

Mrs. Callaghan? he asked. Would they sing the same songs we play?
Mostly, yes.
So we’re learning homesick songs?
All songs are homesick songs, Finn.
Even the happy ones?
Especially the happy ones.

These words set the tone for a quiet, atmospheric story of a Newfoundland family trying to hold on to their life in an abandoned outport town. 

Mother, Martha, and Father, Aiden, have been traveling on alternating months to jobs out west since overfishing decimated the cod fishery, returning home tired and frustrated at having no time to be together. 

Daughter, Cora, hopes her family will leave their all but deserted town and move to where there are more people and things to do. She spends her time in now empty neighbour's houses putting up posters and advertisements for different travel destinations.  

Her younger brother, Finn, is still hoping the fish will return, bringing the people back and returning things to the way they once were. He takes accordion lessons from a lady across the harbour, playing the folk songs and traditional music of Newfoundland, thinking to lure the fish back with homesick songs. 

The writing is spare and lyrical. It felt like a poem - a haunting ode to a dying way of life. Hooper writes about the rocky coast, the ocean, and the wind and weather in a way that takes me there. I want to read this book in one of those abandoned houses by the water, breathing in the sea air and listening to the waves crash on the rocks below. Settings like this are my happy place.

The setting, the writing, the characters, the story - I loved it all.  

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn/The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge

 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

I didn't like it when I first read it a few years ago, and upon reading it again I still don't. I tried to enjoy it as a boy's adventure story but whenever my mind goes to this book it's always in terms of Jim, not Huck. I do love Twain's writing and his sense of humour but I can't say I found much of this funny. I couldn't get past the way they treated Jim - the most decent character in the book - and I found Tom Sawyer so annoying and ridiculous I just wanted him to go away and stay there. Not my thing at all.  

The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge by Charlie Lovett

This was unexpected. I was familiar with the author from The Bookman's Tale, which was nothing at all like this, and was surprised by how much like Dickens it sounded. I listened to the audio version read by Tim Gerard Reynolds, who did a stellar job of creating a setting and characters authentic to the original story. 

Having seen the error of his stingy ways in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge now goes to the opposite extreme, giving away more money than he can afford and causing his banker no end of headaches. Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, and the three spirits all make an appearance and help bring Scrooge back to his senses.

Though I didn't find the plot all that interesting, the writing and narration were such a delight I didn't want to stop listening. I'll try it again next Christmas, maybe right after the first one so it will feel more like one integrated story.  

This is How You Lose the Time War

 This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 

A friend told me I would either love or hate this book, but that either way, I should absolutely read it. I borrowed her library copy and two days later I'm trying to put into words the effect it had on me. First I'll try to tell you what it's about.

In a future world, or maybe it's a world apart from time altogther, two soldiers on opposite sides of an ongoing war, battle each other in various times and places. Red fights for The Agency, which I think is a race (?) of advanced robot/AI...people (?). Blue fights for Garden, which is a sort of biological force/entity whose people (?) are all connected by the same root. Red and Blue travel up and down the time line - which in this imagined world is a braid of ropes... or strings...or something -  following orders to intervene in any situation their commanders believe will mess with the timeline or otherwise interfere with their side's plans. 

Red and Blue are sworn enemies, leaving each other taunting letters written in and on the weirdest, most brilliantly inventive places you could imagine, or not imagine. In these letters they come to know one another and begin to develop feelings they shouldn't have for an enemy soldier. The Agency and Garden follow their every move and even seem to know what they're thinking most of the time, so Red and Blue are risking their lives just communicating with one another, let alone being in a relationship.

That isn't a terribly clear picture but I'm still trying to figure out what it all means myself. It's strange and wonderful and way out there and one of the most moving stories I've read lately. 

The writing is lovely. There's a wistful - almost ethereal at times - tone to it even as Red and Blue carryout out their rather brutal assignments. One particular thought has stuck with me -  

 "Adventure works in any strand - 

  it calls to those who care more for living

than for their lives."

I don't think I'm in that brave group any longer but reading this book certainly was an adventure. The unique ways the author developed the relationship between Red and Blue and sent them travelling through the timeline made it quite exciting. I got completely invested in these two and their strange lives, without ever knowing for sure what they are. 

I've been thinking about the love/hate prediction. I absolutely didn't hate it but did I love it? It's not the sort of story I'm usually drawn to, but I was so moved by it I know it's one I'll never forget. 

So, yes, I think my friend was right. I loved it.   

The Joy of X

 The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math From One to Infinityby Steven Strogatz

This was a lot of fun. I got a bit lost at times but forged ahead and came out of each chapter knowing something I didn't before. 

There are 30 chapters, with titles that hint at the author's playful approach to math:

1. Fish to Infinity - an introduction to numbers 

3. The Enemy of My Enemy - the disturbing concept of subtraction

5. Division and Its Discontents

8. Finding Your Roots - complex numbers

10. Working Your Quads - the quadraic formula

11. Power Tools - the function of functions

16. Take It To The Limit - the power of the infinite (calculus)

20. Loves Me, Loves Me Not - differential equations

23. Chances Are - the improbable thrills of probablility theory

25. The Loneliest Numbers - prime numbers

27. Twist and Shout - playing with mobius strips and music boxes

Some of that sounded pretty intimidating to me, and it was, but even if I didn't grasp all the finer points, just getting the broader concepts into my head was invigorating. 

I don't know if I'll ever use what I learned, but it doesn't matter. I had fun trying to figure it out, it was entertaining reading, and it was good mental exercise. I'll keep it on my shelf and am sure I'll be referring to it again. 

The Sound of Fire

 The Sound of Fire by Renee Belliveau

In 1941, a fire broke out in the men's residence at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, Canada. That's about 45 mins from where I live - not sure of the distance in kms, we tend to measure distance in driving time up here - and though I'm familiar with the university and have known a number of people who received their education there, I had never heard this part of its history.

The author, Renee Belliveau, an archivist who discovered this story searching through University records, has written a heart-breaking novel based on a true and tragic story in which four students lost their lives when the raging fire burned the residence to the ground.  

Each chapter tells the story from a different viewpoint - students, a journalist, the University President, and the fire itself. As each one woke to someone pounding on their door, or the smell of smoke, or the alarm bell ringing, they fought their way through thickening smoke to whatever exit they could find. Some reached the fire escape, an iron ladder on the outside of the residence, and some were left with no choice but to jump from 3rd and 4th floor windows. Four students found no way of escape.

It was a little choppy in the beginning. In the middle of intense action it would stall to tell us about someone's background or family. Frustrating, but I forgot about it as I got lost in the gripping stories of what each one experienced in those terrifying moments. Their worry and fear were palpable, as were the grief and trauma later. The author did a good job of getting emotion across without resorting to sentimentality or melodrama.

I liked this one not only for its local history but for the story itself, a well-told one I think anyone could get into.

Still in Love / Olivetti

 Still in Love by Michael Downing

An audio book I enjoyed a great deal but suspect may not be for everyone. Several unsympathetic reviews dismiss it as being too narrow in its subject matter, but I like this particular subject matter and have to disagree. 

The title put me off at first - romances aren't my favourite genre - but it's more about the romance of writing than it is about a human relationship, although that is part of it, too.  

Set in the university classroom of a writing workshop, it strays only far enough from that to round out the story a little. The class is given various writing assignments, with the resulting stories discussed and evaluated by the group. Between classes and one-on-one meetings with students during office hours, the (asst.) professor is struggling to write a book of his own. His personal life comes into it, but never as much more than background to his teaching/writing life. 

If writing doesn't interest you I don't know that you'd find much to like in this. There is little action, but a lot of  thinking and discussing. I liked the characters and particularly enjoyed the professor analyzing the student's stories and offering suggestions for improvement. I hope to buy a hard copy to keep and read again.

 Olivetti by Allie Millington

I've come across a number of books lately where the narrator is an inanimate object rather than a human being. When I saw this story was told by a typewriter it was simply too bookish to pass up. 

The other narrator is a 12 year old boy, whose mother has been sick for some time and is now missing. The typewriter, Olivetti, remembers everything Beverly (the mother) ever typed on it and so may be able to provide clues as to where she has gone. The narrators alternate chapters.

The story - at times funny, at times sad - keeps you anticipating what comes next and is perfectly suited to the recommended reading age of 8 to 14 yrs. It touches on topics of cancer, difficult family situations, theft, anger, and being afraid, so may or may not be suitable for readers younger than that.

A uniquely interesting story. 

More or Less Maddy

 More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova

Another gripping story by an author who shows us what it's like to live with debilitating neurological disorders. This time it's Maddie, a young girl with bi-polar disease whose dream is to become a stand-up comedian. 

As Lisa Genova's stories always are, it was emminently readable, but I found this one a little harder to get through on an emotional level. Maddie's up times were truly frightening, with the increasing recklessness of her actions seeming to cross lines there could be no coming back from, and the lows were even worse. It was so convincingly written that her self-destructive actions start to make sense and seem reasonable in her circumstances. I wonder if that could make it risky reading for vulnerable people. 

It is a good story and important in shedding light on this awful illness, but I'd be hesitant to give it to anyone I knew to be in the throes of a serious depression. On the other hand, I might be way off and it could be the very thing someone needs to hear. It would take a wiser person than I to say.  

Genova's books have done much to show us the human side of these diseases and hopefully make us all more aware and more compassionate. And besides all that, they are darn good stories.

Careless People

 Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Sarah Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, working up to the position of Global Public Policy Director. This is her personal account of the work she did there and the people she worked with. It begins slowly but the latter half of the book gets more intense as she describes her disappointment and frustration with things she saw and heard. 

I went into this already doubting Facebook's - now Meta's - good intentions, and what I read did not encourage me to change my mind. Not that any of it was startling news, it simply confirms what we all suspect, that Facebook, like other large corporations, makes decisions based on profit rather than what's best for the people they claim to serve. No surprise there, still it may be a bit surprising to read about the careless way Meta is said to treat its employees. It's always interesting to get an inside perspective and see how powerful people conduct themselves and function in the world. 

Of course (and this is only from info I've found online) Meta has retaliated, calling the book "false and defamatory". They sued the author for violating a "non-disparagement clause in her severance agreement" and the last I read, she has been legally prohibited from promoting the book. 

It's a case of she says/they say, with lots of people on both sides claiming the other side is wrong. We can't know because we weren't there, but I don't believe she made all of it up. It's true that in the latter half of the book she seems a little less controlled and a lot more angry, but she still comes off sounding more credible than Meta does. 

This is a story about a company that seems dissatisfied with simply being profitable. It appears they want to be more, and more, profitable, and more powerful. It's the power they already have and the reported carelessness with people that gives one pause. But that's just my opinion. Read the book and come back and tell me yours. 

It's controversial, disheartening, and a little alarming, but it's a story that speaks to the times we're living in and so is worth reading.    

My Christmas Reading - Part 2

 

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

This was a re-read that I found rather dull this time around. I've read it three times now and had a different reaction each time: first time wasn't impressed, second time liked it quite well, and this time was bored. I think it's headed to my give-away shelf. 

But is that not a great cover?

A Magical New York Christmas by Anita Hughes

I've read this several times and still enjoy it. It's a romance and some of it is not quite believable, but it's not overly sweet and has an interesting story. Original review here.

One Magic Christmas by Martin Noble

This is one from years ago that I decided to re-read because I couldn't remember much of it. I liked it, but in this case have to say that I liked the movie better, though I haven't seen that for years either. The book is based on a screenplay by Thomas Meehan, so maybe it makes sense to prefer the movie...?

In the story a married couple and their two children are struggling financially as Christmas approaches. The mother is not feeling any Christmas spirit at all and so a guardian angel - Gideon - must help her see the value in what she already has. She will experience what life would be like if she were to lose her family, which brings her back in the end to a place of gratitude and joy.

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Another romance, but what interested me was the historical aspect. It takes place in the 1950's and is set in and around Buckingham Palace. A young female reporter is sent to write about palace preparations for Christmas, where she meets a chef who is just getting his start in the palace kitchens. I enjoyed the history, the setting, and the occasional appearances of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip as characters. We get a glimpse of them as people rather than monarchs and though I realize it's fiction, I've read enough about them that much of what is written here rings true. Not sure I'd read it again, but it was interesting. 

And that's it for another Christmas. Right now I'm reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for book club and I'm still working through The Silmarillion. For fun I'm reading The Joy of X by Steven Strogatz. The blurb on the back says "A delightful exploration of the beauty and fun of mathematics...The Joy of X will entertain you, amaze you, and make you smarter."  I don't know about the smarter part, but it surely is entertaining.

My Christmas Reading - Part 1

Happy New Year! We're a week in and already I'm behind. I read a number of books over the holidays that I haven't found time to write about so here's a quick summary.

A Halifax Christmas Carol by Steven Laffoley

I was excited to find a Christmas story set in Halifax, not your typical holiday fiction setting. Many take you to sparkling cities - New York, Paris - or idyllic winter spots - Vermont, Scandanavia - all great backdrops for a festive story/romance, but not terribly realistic for most of us. 

This one is set in 1918 Halifax, N.S., a city devestated by the great explosion of a year earlier. The author makes it very real, writing of soldiers - some without limbs, some broken mentally by the unthinkable horrors they've seen - coming home at long last only to find the homes and families they'd been longing for gone forever. And now the deadly influenza pandemic killing millions around the world is coming for them.

In the midst of all this sorrow, a couple of reporters - one fresh and optimistic, one seasoned and cynical - cover stories of returning soldiers, desperate families, and orphaned children. The cynic is convinced there is no reason to hope that life will ever be good again, until one day a young boy comes in off the street and leaves 25 cents on the front counter "for the kids" he's read about in the paper's tragic stories. What follows is a search to locate him and find out why he would give away what little he had, a search during which everyone involved will be changed, especially our Scrooge-like cynic.   

This was an uplifting story and a nice surprise. There is a romance - it seems a Christmas story must have one - but it's mostly about finding a reason for hope in the midst of despair. This is one I will probably read again next year.

The Birds of the Air by Alice Ellis Thomas

I didn't see much in the plot or the characters in this one. One particular scene was so unlikely and ridiculous that it reminded me a little of Cold Comfort Farm (which I, in fact, loved). It's about a family getting together for Christmas with none of them very happy about it except the mother who tries very hard to make it nice. There's not much joy to be had here with most of the characters surly, usually for good reason. Having said that, I do think it deserved more than the cursory reading I gave it, so I'll read it again and see if I can't find a little more in it.

Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes

A sweet...bordering on too sweet...story about a girl spending some time away over Christmas at a cozy Vermont inn. The trip is a gift from a friend with an ulterior motive - she knows an old boyfriend will be there at the same time and is hoping the two will make a connection. They do of course and it ends as you would expect. Some of it is a rather unrealistic but it's a light holiday read if that's what you're looking for.

The Christmas Tree by David Adams Richards

There are two short stories in this little book - The Carmichael's Dog and The Christmas Tree. In the first, two boys find a puppy and decide to keep it as a Christmas gift for their mother, but when a police car with the dog's owner shows up at their house, and their frantic attempts to hide it are unsuccessful, they face losing the dog and the good will of their neighbours. 

In the second story, The Christmas Tree, two boys go on a very long trek to find the perfect tree only to realize when they get there that they didn't think to bring an axe. On the way home the perfect tree appears out of nowhere. Nice stories, both.

Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Stories by Anthony Trollope

 

Five refreshingly different short stories in Trollope's wonderful writing. What more could you want? Original review here.