Author: bibliobloggityboo

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons (Historical Fiction)

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5 Characters: 4/5

A retelling of Romeo and Juliet that cleverly keeps every element of the plot of Shakespeare’s opus while completely shifting the meaning of each scene. This is achieved by making one, rather gigantic change — Romeo is a bad guy. A really bad guy.

The story is told from the perspective of Rosaline — the character with whom Romeo is besotted at the start of the play. In the play neither the audience nor Romeo ever gets to meet her, but she serves as a reference point for Romeo’s unrequited affections and is the reason he shows up at the party where he first sees Juliet. In Solomons’ book, that is all changed because as I said — Romeo is a really bad guy.

The book is very well written. The characters are well drawn, the setting is evoked vibrantly, the plot is gripping, and we get exposed to the hard truths of being a woman in the time period — exposed to all the usual plagues and pestilence while simultaneously having literally no say in any aspect of her life (lots of discussion about nunneries with some interesting surprises). However, I really can’t forgive Solomons for making Romeo into the character she does, and her claims (in the appendix) that her Romeo is more realistic than Shakespeare’s are frankly bizarre. By attributing rapacious intent and a complete disinterest in resulting traumas and hurt to a character who was written to be noble, honorable, idealistic, and passionate — it feels like libel. I don’t honestly understand why she felt the need to do this. The story would have been much more enjoyable (to me) if it weren’t obsessed with rewriting a classic into something that wanted to point the finger to the inherent evil of men. Not to mention the fact that I still had to read through all the tragic events that I knew were coming! So overall, a well-written book, but one that left me unhappy, rather than cheered by the clever way Rosaline “makes everything OK.” Really struggling to not provide spoilers here!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 12th, 2023.

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier (Historical Fiction — Audio Book)

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

This is historical fiction at its best. Not a recounting of precipitous events, but the every day details and inner drives of a family — in this case a family trying to eke a living from an orchard / farm in the Black Swamp of Ohio. The narrative spans the late 1830s to 1856 bouncing around between times and four perspectives: James — with a love of apples and his orchard that borders on obsession; his wife Sadie — overwhelmed by the swamp, stubborn as a mule, and a mean drunk; their youngest son (of 10 children) Robert who is somewhat different from the rest; and their daughter Martha, timid, obedient, and fragile.

I listened to this as an audio book and the four voices were astonishingly good. I took a look at a physical book and think I would have loved reading the book just as much, but the audio definitely added a lot to the experience.

I loved the depictions of real people and events. There is just enough description of apple growing (told from James’ perspective) to be engrossing, but never tedious. Real historical characters pop up with intriguing detail: John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) visits the farm regularly to supply apple seedlings and God Talk; William Lobb (a collector for Veitch Nurseries of Exeter who was rapidly importing all of the “new” plant life found in North America) introduces Robert to the art of plant collecting. Settings from Sacramento gold mining to Ohio camp meetings to new tourist attractions in the newly discovered Sequoia grove populate the story. I was most impressed by the array of survival tactics needed in this hugely different world. No modern sensibilities poked their noses into the narrative, and it occurred to me multiple times how hard a real hard life for some people was. It was survival in a time with little stability and absolutely no backup. Instead there was just mud, swamp fever, real hunger, and ever present danger. Not sure how many of us today would make it past our 20s.

I loved the interior worlds of the four “voices.” They made sense, even when they did things that I thought were wrong, or stupid. Their worldview was coherent and their actions made absolute sense within those worldviews. This is an extremely hard trick to pull off. Stellar writing all around — just the right amount of description — distilling thoughts / actions / scenery into their essence without a lot of extraneous verbiage — great dialog, and fully cohesive characters that are a product of the place and time.
One of my top reads of the year.

Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel (Romantic Comedy)

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 4/5
I liked this fun and uplifting story about two of the members of a piano trio continually struggling to find a third to keep the gigs coming. The larger story brings in all the extended family (and almost family) with their issues, desires, and intricacies of life. Bridget, the cello player and daughter of the wealthy Edward Stratton — the pushing 90, well-known conductor; her best friend Will, piano player and arranger; her daughter Isabelle, who just quit her 80-hour/week job in Hong Kong; and her son Oscar, who arrives home having left his husband over a suspected infidelity. Plenty of other quirky characters and situations appear in this romantic comedy taking place in Bridget’s Connecticut country home making the whole thing a fun, upbeat read.

I like Poeppel’s writing a lot and I was very happy with this quick read where an upbeat ending was ensured by the implied “romantic comedy” contract. In truth I liked her later novel — The Sweet Spot — a little better as I felt like it offered some serious lessons in addition to the comedy that I didn’t really find in Musical Chairs. An added thought — I did enjoy the musical references and the details about their musical lives — I would have been happier with more depth along those lines as that is an area of interest for me, but the book probably included just enough for a seeker of comedy rather than a serious musically oriented reader like myself.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (Literary Fiction)

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

This is a portrait of a dynamically happy, multigenerational family with some serious dysfunctional fractures. As the four incredibly close Padavano sisters grow from childhood to late middle age, we are privy to the interactions, traumas, and healing experienced by everyone in the extended family. Napolitano allows her characters to learn and take risks in relationships and not be stuck doing the wrong thing out of fear or miscommunication. Themes of mental health as well as finding and being true to one’s self permeate the story which explores the impact of death, divorce, and disappointment along with success, love, and belonging on family structures and health. There is a fair amount of drama — it wouldn’t be an Oprah book selection without that — but I was happy to find this was a book about people with problems who actively try to address their own responsibilities in terms of their problems; they are not life long victims or people who continually keep making the same mistakes.

The writing is rich and full of reflection, interaction, and experience. It contains a well structured narrative arc that allows readers to enjoy their intimate time with the family while progressing steadily towards a denouement that works perfectly (although it was both upsetting and surprising to me). I loved the fact that the men in the story had such close friendships and such concern for kindness — nice to see that in male as well as female characters. I really enjoyed the small point made by one character who forgave someone immediately for doing something that was somewhat cruel because she wanted to be able to love that person and couldn’t do so if she felt angry and vindictive. The story includes a nice positive view of therapy and mental health and some great articulation of each individual’s personal discoveries and progress. I found myself thinking that some “solutions” were overly simplistic, but then I really couldn’t defend my own premise. Perhaps they really were core truths rather than sound bites. It was a good feeling.

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (Mystery)

This is the third installment of Cleeves’ (relatively) new DI Matthew Venn series — the first two of which have been dramatized in the miniseries called The Long Call. This story takes place in Greystone — a sea town and home to the Brethren — the religious community where Mathew Venn was raised and then parted from. A famous sailor and adventurer comes to town but disappears after a few weeks with his body turning up shortly afterwards. In typical Cleeves style, nothing is what it seems, and it is difficult to unravel the motivations and connections between people in the small community. Moral priorities figure into the narrative which always interests me.

The other two Cleeves series which have made their way to television are the popular Vera and Shetland. As is the case with the Venn series, her stories make excellent underpinnings for the television shows. In truth, I do prefer to watch them on the screen because a lot of time in the books is spent on descriptions of physical surroundings which are less interesting to me than plot, characterization, and dialog — while watching them I can take in the surroundings with one glance and not waste time trying to visualize the (arresting) landscape from words.

Easy to read. Full of atmosphere, personality, and dramatic scenery.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 5th, 2023.

The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel (Literary Fiction)

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

I enjoyed every minute reading this book. It’s one of those books that you’d turn to rather than most other activities on offer. On the surface (ie the cover) it just looks like a light hearted romantic comedy — which it sort of is — but largely due to the stellar writing it is also a set of lovable and realistic characters, great dialog, and a variety of relationship styles that bear further study.

The stated plot focuses on a baby who lands in the laps of three women — Lauren, a ceramic artist who just got her big break; Melinda, recently dumped after 30 years of marriage and raging for revenge — unfortunately applying said revenge in all the wrong places; and Olivia, the daughter of the bar owner who rents the basement of Lauren’s Greenwich Village brownstone for a song. It’s funny, full of characters who are deeply interesting rather than quirky on the surface, and steeped in New York city culture and habitats. Lots of fun — I can’t remember where I heard about it, but I’ll certainly go back and read some of her other books.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo (Fiction)

I read / listened to this book simultaneously, going back and forth between the two editions. The audio book really gives you the lilting flavor of the poetic prose, and much of it is read by the author. On the other hand, for some reason, the audio book does NOT read aloud the chapter headings that tell you which family member is narrating. This can be very confusing as it often takes some time before it becomes obvious whose story is being taken up.

The novel tells the stories of the women of a multigenerational Dominican-American family — each with a gift that is not wholly of this world. It begins with one of the sisters — Flor — demanding a wake for herself in three days. Since her gift is predicting the day of someone’s death, her family naturally expects the worst, though Flor won’t answer any questions. The prose is lyrical, moving between present and past and among the three sisters and the two cousins of the next generation.

The story is slow paced and completely sensual — it is a story of sensory experiences and personal feelings, not a story of plot or thought. That was interesting to me because I realized that I personally prefer more thought and a little less feeling and experience, but I can appreciate the flow. The stories center on women — all the men are described from the women’s perspective which is another interesting way of telling of a story.

I enjoyed the story but you do have to be in a patient mood, as the story unfolds slowly with a different sense of time than I’m used to. Read after the caffeine in your system is spent, else you will not be able to settle in to the language the way you should.

Thank you to Ecco and HarperAudio and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 1st, 2023

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty (Sci Fi)

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

Loved this action filled science fiction story whose premise is the exploration of the ethical dilemmas present in a world that has the tech (and the desire) to clone people for (greatly) extended life. The book opens with a description of the International Law Regarding the Codicils to Govern the Existence of Clones which include a whole array of rules that don’t seem to make anybody particularly happy.

A crew of six has embarked on a journey to a new planet that will take hundreds of years. They carry with them thousands of cryogenically frozen humans and clones who will be wakened once they arrive. However, something must have gone drastically wrong because the opening scene sees all six awakening suddenly in gooey clone vats with no memory of the last 25 years and no understanding of why they are all dead. They are all “criminals” who have been promised full pardons and an erasure of all sins for completing the mission, but none of them have shared with each other what those sins were. Thus ensues a completely engrossing space opera of sorts as they work to try to figure out which of them attacked (and brutally killed) the others, who to trust, and exactly why they had been brought together in this way.

Includes some pretty rich cogitation on clones and AIs and how relationships, vengeance, jealousy, and general morality is impacted at both the individual and societal level. Clean writing and good characters (except for the super rich, super powerful, egoist who is the “bad guy” — those types never seem to have depth in fiction — probably because no author actually knows anybody like that to study, or because we don’t want our bad guys to have depth!)

Really enjoyed this. Now if I can only get the publisher to give me early access to her upcoming book, I will be one happy puppy!

Sex Ed by Kristen Bailey (Rom-com)

Mia and Ed — best friends since they began teaching at the same school. Complete opposites — Ed is the buttoned up, uber nerdy, straight laced guy in contrast to Mia’s utterly unbuttoned up (literally — she spends a lot of time on Tinder), party girl who nevertheless has a wonderful way with her students. When Mia finds out that Ed is still a virgin at 28, she takes it upon herself to give him a good (and very thorough) sex education.

It’s pretty obvious that they will eventually get together but it’s done with a lot of humor, some very explicit (and well thought out) sexual instruction, and a warm, tear inducing finish. It’s a Rom-com with plenty of detailed rom and a Rosie Project feel. A little too much of the plot depends on miscommunication which is not my favorite technique, but the book is generally upbeat and fun.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on July 4th, 2023

Upgrade by Blake Crouch (Science Fiction)

Fascinating premise — that a human species-wide Upgrade through gene editing might be the only hope we have to prevent our extinction. Logan Ramsay — an agent for the Gene Protection Agency whose purpose is to stop all gene modification work after a disastrous effort led to the Great Starvation — finds himself slowly changing with vast improvements to his memory, physical strength and stamina, and compute power. His genome has been hacked and this may be a part of a bigger plan to be applied to all of humanity. But is this a good thing or a bad? And if bad, how can he stop it?

Very easy to read with the kind of clean prose that propels you forward with little awareness of actually reading the words. Plenty of action, but never (OK, not too much) of the endless fight scenes that bore me. A very good exploration of the philosophical questions about what is important for humanity, what cost would be worth it, and what kind of improvements really would “upgrade” the species for the better. I loved the experience of getting to inhabit (through the character) a brain that is so fast, so able to multitask, and has such perfect recall. It is a testament to the writer that I was not alway convinced that our protagonist had it right — I was drawn to the dark side! And the ending — which I obviously won’t give away — made me think. I’m not absolutely convinced by the conclusion but I’m still mulling it over.

I like this kind of science fiction which reminds me of the oldies — exploring where technology can take us, not irreparable doom and gloom, thinking the big thoughts. I’m embarrassed that I haven’t read any other Crouch novels and grateful to the friend who loaned it to me (where it sat in my TBR pile for six months before I gave it a shot).