Month: July 2024

Stars Over Sunset Blvd by Susan Meissner (Historical Fiction)

This is the story of the long friendship between two very different women. Alabama born and bred Violet Mayfield, has fled from the home she loved when her dream of being a wife and mother is dashed. Audrey Duvall is desperate to restart a career that was dashed by the introduction of the talkies. They meet as secretaries on the set of Gone With the Wind in Los Angeles, 1938. The book follows the two of them to the ends of their lives, embedding the complexities of real relationships and the many emotional and moral issues that populate any thinking person’s life: honesty and fear, suspicions and jealousies, loyalty and deep connection. The audiobook reader was fine — a little too slo for my taste.

Susan Meissner is one of my favorite writers. She writes the kind of historical fiction that I love — plumped full of historical detail that awakens fascination — in this case, the movie set of Gone With the Wind. Full of every kind of detail — the technical work, the movie stars, the voice coaching (to make the British actors sound Southern), the filming of epic scenes such as the fall of Atlanta. If you’ve ever seen the movie (and if you haven’t, my goodness!) you’ll be spellbound by all that went into it. At the same time, Meissner writes the kind of human-centered novels that I like — full of thoughtful characters whose interior lives we access as they make their way through a life full of desires, setbacks, regrets, opportunities, and insights. And these are “regular” lives — no giant melodramatic events, but plenty of relatable experiences and thoughts. Her settings often include the kinds of ethical dilemmas we all face, along with the individual choices and the (often predictable and yet somehow surprising) fallout. Because that’s the thing about ethical dilemmas — there are no obviously right answers so some negative fallout is guaranteed.

On a deeper level, I initially felt a lot of judgement about one of the characters — I did not like her. Meissner managed to turn her behavior into something that could be understood (if not applauded), forgiven, and relationship deepening. It’s so easy to immediately judge and so difficult to try to understand. It was inspiring to watch the two continuing their friendship even when one or the other was feeling angry, resentful, or jealous. I was also impressed by some deeply felt and well articulated views on love and why people don’t need reasons to love someone and about recognizing the “brokenness” or maybe “incompleteness” of being young and how you choose to stay close to someone despite irritations, betrayals, and misunderstandings. That understanding, remorse, and a willingness for honesty can mend and make stronger any relationship. Surprisingly insightful.

Looking forward to Meissner’s next book (which I think is due out next March!)

Fog City by Claire M Johnson (Historical Mystery)

I loved this first episode of a new crime noir series starring a hard boiled detective’s equally hard boiled secretary who takes over for her boss when he goes on an extended bender. 1930s San Francisco where a wealthy elite doesn’t even give a nod to Prohibition, and absolutely everyone seems to be running their own con. A banker’s (second) wife comes to the agency to ask for help in locating her errant stepson. In no time we’re whirling about in opium dens, speakeasies, fancy restaurants, and police cells trying to get to the bottom of a widely expanding set of dead bodies. I loved the supporting cast (many of whom I look forward to meeting again in future books) — all fully fleshed out, non dull, people with distinct and intriguing personalities, and I loved that there were plenty of opportunities for philosophical discussions on evil vs “regular” sin and morality in general. The style (and environs) reminded me of Dashiell Hammett at his best — with the clever substitution of the substituting secretary. Plenty of great male characters, by the way, and full acceptance of what women were able (allowed) to do at the time. I always like stories where some group has difficulty getting things done because of social conventions but they get on and do it anyway without bothering to whine about it 🙂
A great surprise read for me!

Thank you to Level Best Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on July 30th, 2024

The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune (Sci Fi)

Aliens (non traditional, portrayed with depth), conspiracy theories, cults, and secret government facilities populate this action packed speculative fiction story with a lovely (and at times quite steamy) gay romance slowly percolating through. Beautifully woven themes of loneliness, love, grief and recovery suffuse the narrative. This is my third Klune book — each was completely different from the others, and all were creative in the way I found old style sci-fi to be, yet firmly rooted in the character development and personal experience that draws me to fiction. He has a very natural writing style — I get hooked at the very beginning and completely forget that I’m reading a book. More like I’m sitting in a comfy room listening to a storyteller bind me with sparkly spells.

In his own words, Klune is “gay as balls” and this is clearly reflected in the books he writes. I’ve never been drawn to specifically LGBQ+ fiction as it isn’t something I’m drawn to, but I like his matter-of-fact fiction where characters are individuals that continue personal development throughout the story, and increase my exposure to human experience significantly. Some of the (quite detailed) sex scenes took me a bit by surprise but I definitely learned a lot! As a complete aside, I did enjoy the little digs at veganism. I often feel surrounded by vegans, and it’s refreshing to hear someone unashamedly express a love for bacon and the superiority of meat over a lentil stew. 🙂

My only complaint is about the pace — I found the beginning a little too slow. It felt like the characters were repeating, rather than developing. Once I hit the 35% mark, the pace stepped up to something that worked a lot better for me. In other words, skim if you have to to get to where things start really moving.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 4th, 2025

The Judgement of Yoyo Gold by Isaac Blum (YA)

A surprisingly engaging coming-of-age story about Yoyo Gold — a young Orthodox Jewish girl who has always been a model for the community. She kind of has to be as she is the daughter of the rabbi and held to higher standards than most. As she explores and experiments with her place in the world — the one she has been raised to inhabit and other enticing options — she gets closer to understanding what is actually important to her.

I’ve always respected the questioning aspect of the Jewish religion, but I’ve never cared for the more conservative sects of any religion. Those are the groups where so much of daily life is proscribed that it feels too controlling — at least to me as a complete outsider. However, in this book I was able to see both sides of the religion — the questioning and the proscription — through the eyes of someone growing up in that culture. I was better able to see how the required conformity gave rise to a true sense of a close knit community that can be a strong attractor to a person contemplating the life they want to live. People seemed to have purpose and be apparently more free to experience the joys of life without the anxieties and neuroses that seem to plague so many people today.

I learned a lot about the orthodox culture — much of which was new to me, even though I’ve read about that world in the past. The characters were vibrant and had more depth of thought, responsibility, and inquisitiveness than most coming-of-age books I’ve read. I enjoyed seeing the interfaces between her community and people outside — reform Jews and non-Jews alike — through her eyes. Her thoughts, feelings, and experiences were quite real and her reactions easy to understand and to identify with. I also learned quite a bit about the practices of Orthodox Jews which were new and interesting to me — much more depth than the typical story covers.

Thank you to Philomel Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on October 15th, 2024.

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Literary Fiction)

This is (yet another) beautiful and deeply thoughtful book by Elizabeth Strout, featuring two of our favorite characters from Crosby, Maine: Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge (who until this book have not actually met). With plenty of small town plot, including an actual dead body mystery and a “different” sort of affair, this takes us through samplings of post-Covid Crosby life in lively detail.

In truth it is all about connection, knowing yourself and others, and the joy of being allowed to be genuine. (As an aside, I feel like it is harder and harder to meet people who immediately feel genuine — possibly because our culture requires people to curate their presentation so very carefully). It’s about loneliness and the comfort we receive from even the tiniest “real” connections. It’s about the nature of a real friend who makes you feel not alone, regardless of how often you see them, talk to them, or what they do for you. While some of the story takes place in the present, there are many interludes in the form of Lucy’s “stories of unrecorded lives” which she and Olive exchange. Lucy (and Elizabeth Strout) is a writer and these stories are therefore no longer unrecorded. Also a great new phrase for me: “Sin eater.” Some people eat the sins of others… It’s an interesting concept and you can learn more by reading the book. A bit of a slow start but that’s more about the mood you’re in when you sit down to read. Come to it in a meditative and curious state.

Some quotes (plus the last line — as always — is great but I can’t include it here):

“Didn’t anyone ever have anything interesting to say? They talked of movies they were all watching, of series on Netflix, they spoke about their children, but always carefully and in terms meant to hide their private disappointments, and they talked about one another. Of course.”

“I mean, we don’t ever really know another person. And so we make them up according to when they came into our lives, and if you’re young, as many people are when they marry, you have no idea who that person really is. And so you live with them for years, you have a house together, kids together. But even if you marry someone later in life. no one knows who another person is. And that is terrifying.”

“…because nobody can go into the crevices of another’s mind, even the person can’t go into the crevices of their own mind, and we live — all of us — as though we can.”

“And yet, as is often the case, those of us who need love so badly at a particular moment can be off-putting to those who want to love us, and to those who do love us. Bob, as he looked at her — she seemed like a beached sea animal to him with her eyes that had almost disappeared — he did love her, he did.”

“Solzhenitsyn said the point of life is the maturity of the soul.”

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 10th, 2024.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (Mystery)

A “humorous” thriller, if there is such a thing. Full of grand scale money laundering, kick-ass private security, and jetting about from Santa Lucia to Dubai to any other place sporting dead bodies somehow linked together. Clearly designed to launch another series, I didn’t fall in love with it the way I immediately did “The Thursday Murder Club.” Mostly because I didn’t fall in love with the characters — yet. The three primary characters are Amy Wheeler — the aforementioned kick-ass private security person, Rosie D’Antonio — the over-the-top flamboyant and very wealthy best selling author, and Amy’s father-in-law Steve — widowed ex-cop who was by far my favorite character (the other two seeming oddly personality-less). The bad guys are cartoonish but kind of funny, and there is a humorous depiction of a nefarious usage of ChatGPT as well as a subtly searing portrayal of the new breed of influencers (who provide some of dead bodies mentioned above). The plot relied on more stupidity than I enjoy, but by the last quarter of the book I was hooked and found the ending pretty satisfying. I’m a big Osman fan, so I’m hoping book two fleshes of the personalities a little more and gets off to a slightly more engaging start.

Thank you to Pamela Dorman Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on Sept. 17th, 2024.

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (Historical Mystery)

I feel a melancholy knowing that this is the last of the Maisie Dobbs series. I’ve enjoyed the series tremendously — Winspear is one of my favorite historical mystery authors. The series follows Maisie Dobbs from 1910, when she was a 13-year old housemaid in the Compton manor house — through her experiences as nurse, psychologist, and investigator spanning two world wars and their aftermaths. Most involve mysteries, equal amounts mysteries of the spirit as well as of the body(ies). This is the 18th (and final) episode.

The book opens in October, 1945 with an unknown man in a demob suit looking at his reflection in a shop window and thinking to himself: “He couldn’t face home. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. Couldn’t face the wanting in the eyes of others, the wanting for him to be himself again, the man they had known so long ago. But that old self had perished, and now he was looking at the reflection of a wraith that turned out to be him. Alive. Against all odds.” I was hooked (and moved) instantly. This story is focused on recovery — the war is over and people are trying to rebuild lives and there are equal amounts of guilt, relief, worry, and grief. As the last book, we find closure for most of our favorite characters along with some new additions, all going through what it takes to heal from the overwhelming residue of the war. Because after all of the celebrations, England is still struggling with rampant homelessness (think the Blitz), food shortages, missed loved ones, broken bodies and minds, and near financial ruin at the national level. Winspear covers this without melodrama in a way that I rarely see captured in fiction. Full of the reality of individual lives that refuse to be overwhelmed by ubiquitous calamity, yet obviously experience great tears to the soul from the devastation of their homes and families.

I’m going to miss this series. I’ve grown to love the characters, the friendships, and the deep portrayals of individuals coping when faced with the barely surviving wreckage of their civilization. Winspear differs from other historical fiction authors not in her research of the past (which is excellent and thorough) but in her ability to find the depth and impact in “ordinary” lives during extraordinary times. She is a keen observer, diving into personalities and professions ranging from housewife to civic leaders to the aristocracy to Scotland Yard personnel to the many intricate layers of the British Secret Service. I keep reading WWII books, particularly regarding the British home front because I so respect the British spirit that got them through the destruction of two world wars with the attitude of “getting on with it” and “making do” and the strength that comes from real ties of community.

Just a couple of quotes — I love her writing:

“He often wondered why his calculating mind would spin in expanding and contracting circles until he came to the point where a new truth was revealed.“

“She had met a woman, once, who told her she could see the prayers from distressed souls littering the ceiling of every church she had ever entered, as if those heartfelt messages had been inscribed on fine tissue paper and cast up so God could reach down to collect each one.”