Month: October 2021

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi (YA / speculative fiction)

Writing: 4.5/5 Plot: 3.5/5 Characters: 5/5

Bitter is a quiet, wary, girl who has found a haven in Eucalyptus — a school for artists that is safe from the violence that pervades the town of Lucille. After a harrowing childhood spent in horrific foster homes, Bitter needs this feeling of safety to be able to function. Many of her friends are part of Assata, a group that is willing to use violent means to finally bring justice to Lucille. She is afraid to join, but also feels guilty that she cannot. After one of her close friends is intentionally maimed during a protest, her anger rises and she intentionally uses her blood to call forth a creature she has painted with the intent of Vengeance.

This is a prequel to her last book, Pet, telling the story of Bitter’s first discovery that she can call forth “Angels” from her paintings to help combat the “Monsters” that live in the town of Lucille. In the last book, it is Bitter’s daughter, Jam, who bring the picture to life. You can see my review of that book here: https://bibliobloggityboo.com/2019/08/19/pet-by-akwaeke-emezi-ya/.

Emezi’s writing is always hypnotic — her characters, surroundings, and passion are completely gripping. This book is more political than her last book, and I have a small problem with some of it. She includes the requisite LGBQT characters and does a good job of blending everyone together into a “no big deal” community; she also has a character in a wheelchair who turns down an offer of healing because he already knows he is “whole.” However, I’m not thrilled at her overly simplistic portrayal of all “rich” people being the “monsters,” and Assata feels like a thinly disguised Antifa to me (I am not a fan). Given that the book is geared towards young people who don’t yet have a lot of experience in the world, I would prefer a more balanced depiction of the world with a set of more specific injustices against which they are fighting.

Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 15th, 2022.

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery)

In this third episode of ex-detective Hawthorne and his amanuensis (non other than the author himself), the two have been invited to a (quite small) literary festival in Alderney, one of the Channel islands. There is a murder — Charles le Mesurier — a thoroughly unpleasant, wealthy man who made his fortune in online gambling sites. In an Agatha Christie style locked-room murder, the festival guests — a bestselling children’s author, a blind psychic, a French poet, and a TV chef — are prime suspects.

Unfortunately this was just so-so. Decently entertaining — Horowitz always writes well — but the gimmick of writing himself into the book as a sort of sniveling, bumbling, Watson to Hawthorne’s Holmes has gotten old and somewhat annoying. I’m a big fan of Horowitz’ work, and I believe I would enjoy meeting him in real life but not if he were the person depicted in these pages! Additionally, this is one of those books where the detective just “figures it out” at the end and we only sort of had the clues that might have helped. All in all, I read it quickly. It would make a good beach / plane read, but I’m not sure I’ll bother with the next one.

Her Honor by LaDoris Hazzard Cordell (audio book)

Fantastic book and great on audio (read by author)!

Cordell was the first female African American judge in Northern California, but frankly, that has nothing to do with why this was a good book. Cordell takes us through her time on the bench — each chapter covering a segment of her career, including in-depth case analysis with relevant case law and background, as well as insight into how she made her decisions. She often illustrated the difference in law and policies across states which I found both fascinating and surprising. The book covers her time in criminal, marriage and family, and juvenile courts as well as her experiences with plea bargaining, hot button issues such as DUIs, the three strikes law, judicial misconduct, and the whole process of appointing or electing judges (beyond fascinating and completely new information to me).

The concluding chapter lists a set of ten “broken” aspects of our judicial system and her recommendations for fixes. By then we are familiar with those opinions as they had come up in situ during the varied experiences, so it was easy to follow. I can’t stress enough how clearly she described the mandatory vs discretionary parts of a judge’s position. One very interesting (to me) story was about the recall of Judge Persky, who had given a too-short sentence (as perceived by the public) to the Stanford swimmer convicted of sexual assault on an unconscious girl. Despite the fact that the judge had only followed the sentencing guidelines and had done absolutely nothing wrong (no accusation of malfeasance), he was booted off the bench in an effort led by two Stanford law professors (who really should have known better). CA changed the law that allowed judge recall to require some kind of malfeasance as a result of that case. Personally, my opinion of Stanford law professors took a nosedive. I hate anything that puts politics and / or popular sentiment above the law.

This book was about what Judge Cordell thought and did and had little or no discussion of how being black impacted her career; however, she was very explicit about the races of people involved in certain cases (if relevant) and provided a lot of information about race and bias in the courtroom, including studies and statistics of the variability of convictions, sentencing, and plea bargains based on race. She did a superb job of describing principles, problems, solutions, and what stands in the way without resorting to inane, politically correct memes with nothing of substance behind them.

I loved it.

Thank you to Macmillan audio and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on October 26th, 2021 — Today!

Maud’s line by Margaret Verble (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 4.5/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 5/5

This is a beautifully written, character-driven story of Maud, a young woman coming of age in Eastern Oklahoma in 1926 on an allotment parceled out to the Cherokee when their land was confiscated for Oklahoma statehood. It is a hard life, filled with violence, dirt, and hardship but also with family and love. When she meets a white peddler whose cart is full of (among other things) books, she sees a chance to escape her lot.

I love the characters in this book — Maud, her sensitive brother Lovely, and her bundles of relatives — all working to survive in this hardscrabble land. Maud’s voice is clear, compelling, and foreign. This chronicle of life is eye-opening and feels utterly real. There are no ridiculous plot devices and no political agenda — just a richly depicted existence with all the nooks and crannies of both an internal life lived among external circumstances.

This was a finalist for the Pulitzer in 2016 (The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen won). While I have not read the winner, I would have been very happy to see Maud’s Line win.

Some quotes:

Quotes:
“She liked books, learning, and clean things. She liked folks being nice to one another. But most of all, she wanted to live in a place where people died of natural causes when they were old and were dressed up in suits and laud down in wooden boxes.”

“Maud began to feel a growing hatred for who she was and where she lived. She was sick to death of dirt, sick of dead bodies gnawed by animals. Her only chance for escape had been that bright blue canvas rocking hr way. She cursed Booker out loud. “

“She felt comfortable with her body taking its pleasure and giving it back. And she discovered right there next to the porch that her pleasure was in her own control and not entirely linked to a man who had up and left her with no warning.”

“Yes, Cherokee women have high standards. We only marry into whites to keep y’all from killing us off.”

“Maud thought those kinds of questions were worth asking, but she never came to the same conclusions her friends did. She thought God, if there was one, didn’t give a shiny penny for what they were doing or what happened to them. And he seemed particularly unpartial toward Indians.”

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler (Fictionalized History)

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 4.5/5 Plot: 4/5

What an unusual book. It is a fictionalized history of the Booth family from 1822 to 1865 when its most infamous member — John Wilkes — shot Abraham Lincoln. John Wilkes is kept as an important but minor character throughout until his action at the end tears everything apart. The story is told from the perspective of three of his siblings: “poor” Rosalie, the eldest daughter who remains a spinster family caretaker for life; Edwin, who becomes the leading tragedian of the 19th century; and Asia, the youngest daughter and eventual poet and writer.

Fowler is a fantastic writer — every book she writes is completely different and spans topics and genres easily. In this — her first fictionalized history — she brings the place and time to life in incredible physical, political, and every day life detail. Following their lives in rural Maryland, Baltimore, and later Philadelphia, New York, and then California (including a harrowing description of the trip across the 40-mile Panamanian isthmus, pre-canal) we are immersed in the attitudes and experiences of a very different time.

Fowler doesn’t modernize sentiments — we are treated to multiple attitudes towards women, immigrants, and slavery. Having read a lot about the time period, I found them to be accurate and comprehensive. As examples, the family’s patriarch — Junius Brutus Booth (a famous Shakespearean actor of the time) — didn’t like slavery but had two slaves; John Wilkes declaimed frequently on the value of slavery and the tyranny of the North; and various speeches (including Lincoln’s, Douglas’ and others) offer additional viewpoints.

I had to keep remembering I was reading a book which while novel-like had to adhere to actual history so while some details seemed extraneous to the plot, they were not extraneous to the lives of those living through them. For me it was a bit of a slow start — I let myself be unhappy that I was having to read a book about someone I did not want to know more about and of course, knowing what happens at the end, I had a kind of dread creeping up on me. However, if you can avoid the kinds of destructive thoughts I was having, it really is gripping reading, and the assassination and aftermath actually takes up a very small part of the end of the book.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on March 8th, 2022.

Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman (Fiction)

Writing: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5

A light and fun novel that allows us to inhabit a happy, kooky world full of lovable characters with more intellectual curiosity than I typically expect in this genre.

Laura Costello has abruptly moved cross-country to study physical therapy much to the dismay of her academically-oriented family and charming but domineering ex-fiancee. Within days of her arrival, her apartment house has burned down along with all of her belongings. Luckily for her, as an uncharacteristic downpour converts her to utter bedraggledom, she wanders into Nina Hill’s bookstore (the star of the utterly delightful The Bookish Life of Nina Hill) and things take a sudden turn into the neighborhood of charm, quirk, and delight.

I love Waxman’s writing — it’s simultaneously funny and thoughtful. While none of the story is particularly realistic, it also isn’t stupid — it creates a world I’d like to inhabit even if I don’t ever expect to do so. In addition to the plot (which is engaging), there are lots of interesting descriptions of various fields of study from the perspective of someone who really knows and cares about it. For example, I loved the descriptions of the human body and what it does mechanically during every day activities.

The setting of Larchmont Village (a real LA neighborhood that sounds like a place I’d like to visit) along with a lovely boarding house run by an even lovelier landlady reminds me a bit of Maupin’s Tales of the City books, albeit with a little less focus on sexual experimentation and discovery.

Some fun quotes:
“What had been tobacco and paper was now dog vomit, and Herbert was sitting under the kitchen table regretting his life choices.”

“Anything’s interesting when it’s explained by someone who cares about it.”

“I’ve learned recently that my mind isn’t the safest neighborhood to go into alone.”

“Laura looked at the cat. The cat looked at her. Neither of them said anything, Laura because she didn’t speak cat and the cat because she was mentally composing a letter to her senator.”

“Ferdinand was no longer pregnant, but she was still built along capacious lines.” (bookstore cat)

“Anxiety lives in the unknown future, depression lives in the unforgettable past, and peace lives in the acceptance of the present moment.”

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on May 17th, 2022.

The Verifiers by Jane Pek (Fiction / Mystery)

Writing: 3.5/5 Characters: 3.5/5 Plot: 3/5

Claudia Lin is the tiny, stereotype-busting, Asian, lesbian, bicyclist hero of this tongue-in-cheek, semi-snarky, story of an amateur detective gone wild. Having landed a job at a dating detective agency, she ignores protocol and starts investigating the mysterious disappearance of an unusual client. And so it goes…

The mystery lives within an interesting premise — online matchmaking systems using AI based bots which move from verifying dating profile claims to nudging clients to becoming one with their claims. Claudia (and obviously the author) is an inveterate reader, and I enjoyed her literary asides and the source of Claudia’s detective know-how — the (fictional) mystery series starring the philosophical Inspector Yuan. Some interesting, novel likes explorations of the life and background of Claudia and her family that dips freely into a somewhat standard immigrant parent backstory. It’s a bit of a genre mishmash that started as a lot of fun with well-drawn characters but ultimately took too long to get to an abrupt and unsatisfying end.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 22nd, 2022.

Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close (Fiction)


Writing: 4/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 4/5

Cousins Teddy, Gretchen, and Jane alternate perspectives on their not-quite-mid life crises in Chicago as Trump wins the election and the Cubs finally win the World Series just weeks after their biggest fan — famed restaurateur Bud Sullivan — passes away. His eponymous restaurant is the center of most of the action as Teddy struggles with an affair with his recently-ex, not engaged boyfriend, Gretchen is forced to leave her band, pondering her “failed experiment with adulthood,” and Jane uses a cheating husband to examine what she wants in life (hint: it turns out not to be him).

It’s a fun story with a decent amount of insight as characters figure out how to keep going in a world that seems to be falling apart. Great family dynamics and social commentary.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday and Custom House and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 26th, 2021.

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen (Literary fiction / audio book)

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5

Russ Hildebrandt is the (unhappy, and frankly to me fairly unlikeable) associate pastor at a suburban Chicago church. Set in the early 70s, the story follows a year or two in the lives of Russ, his wife, and his three oldest children through their multiple perspectives — each in searing, fully introspective, sometimes cringeworthy but always honest detail. Each seeks to balance desires, morality, and a need to belong in the world into which they are born. Russ finds his marriage joyless and finds passion in thoughts of a young, divorced parishioner, his wife Marion has a terrible and secret history which fills her with shame, Clem struggles with the moral luxury of his Vietnam deferment, Becky finds God in the counter culture, and young Perry — an insufferable genius — tries to find ways to calm his brain.

It is a masterful undertaking with broad strokes painted through millions of tiny perceptions, struggles, self-doubts, and experiences. The culture of the time comes to life in this way as well — the interactions and expectations between men and women and the birth of Women’s Lib, the awakening of the counter culture which itself had many guises, Vietnam, and the approach to helping the “poor.” Very strong themes on faith, religion, and relationships with God, though I wouldn’t call this an overly religious book.

The writing was amazing. As I listened to this on audio, I was not able to capture any of the outstanding lines which frustrated me as there were many. On the other hand, listening to the book forced me to “read” it slowly so that I was able to savor the language in a way my normal reading speed does not allow. On the first hand, some of the sections inspired recoil. Sometimes it feels like its best to not know what really goes on inside a person’s head — especially a person prone to self-analysis and neuroses as these people all are. If I had been reading, rather than listening to, this book, I might have skimmed a little of this, though in truth I would have missed the experience of truly inhabiting a mind completely unlike my own — I’m sure that is good for me!

Apparently, this is the first of a multi-generational trilogy, which I did not know until after I finished it. This book provides closure on the story — no cliffhangers.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book was published on October 5th, 2021.