“Cal had his quick talking and humor and sudden shift between warmth and harshness, and the flash of a sharp twisted smile. He called me beautiful an “Cal had his quick talking and humor and sudden shift between warmth and harshness, and the flash of a sharp twisted smile. He called me beautiful and his skin tasted of the hot salt of a sweat. I was caught, I was caught in all of it and floating in happy looseness, and for the first time in my life I didn’t feel like I was suffocating”.
Anne Marie moved in with Cal at age 19, after only knowing him for three weeks. Cal left Anne Marie a year after they were married, a year to the day. Two years later, the absentee materialized in front of Anne-Marie’s apartment. Cal needed money ( of course).... Anne-Marie didn’t have money and says she wouldn’t have given him any, if she did, (I wasn’t so sure) —
As even the blurb tells us.... “a gun goes off in a violent accident, hurling the two of them on the road in escape”.
This is a short 192 page debut. The characters are streetwise, and I enjoyed the comfortable informal writing style.
“Highway Blue” is thoughtfully crafted....depictions good... and Ailsa McFarlane did a great job. Not a Pulitzer Prize contender, but ... it was an engaging story.
I think most readers would like it. Quick read, mystery-suspense - a tone of sadness... mixed with sparkly heartfelt finesse.
I love Japanese literature. When it’s good...my mind and emotions are equally invested. Both my mind and emotions were invested in “Heaven”.
Mieko KawaI love Japanese literature. When it’s good...my mind and emotions are equally invested. Both my mind and emotions were invested in “Heaven”.
Mieko Kawakami is new to me, but I just purchased “Breasts and Eggs”....and will look forward to reading it too.
There are stressful and devastating circumstances in ‘Heaven’. A young boy is bullied at school. He was kicked, punched, forced to swallow pond water, toilet water, a goldfish, scraps of vegetables from a rabbit cage, and eat chalk. Pretty awful horrific abuse.
One day... this young boy (our narrator) receives a note from a girl named Kojima. Girls call her “Hazmat”. “She was short, with kind of dark skin. She never talked at school. Her skirt was always wrinkled, and her uniform looked old. The girls in the class picked on her for being poor and dirty”. Kojima wanted this boy ( called “Eyes” by his classmate bullies)...to meet him after school. She left the location in her note. We never learn ‘Eyes’ proper name...but we do learn the names of a couple other class bullies. Ninomija was the bully ringleader. Every since elementary school he was the best athlete, had all A’s in school, and had that special- type of aura that his friends followed.
When Eyes receives his first few notes from Kojima....he worried it might be a prank - one of Ninomija’s. “I never lost sight of the possibility that this might be a trap, but something in those notes made me feel safe, however briefly, even with all my distress”.
So they meet.
Kojima and Eyes continue leaving each other notes. It was their only source of pleasure. When school let out they made plans to see each other over the summer. Kojima wanted to show him ‘Heaven’....(a painting in a museum) “ A painting of two lovers eating cake in a room with a red carpet and a table.” Kojima tells Eyes that something was really, really sad. But they make it through. That’s why they could live in perfect harmony. “After everything, after all the pain, they made it here. It looks like a normal room, but it’s really Heaven”.
There is so much brilliance in this novel. Not only do the pages fly but these unique characters make this a compelling novel. Meiko chooses her words with careful love and arranges them to exquisite effect..... “I don’t really know how to say it, but it’s like something’s wrong, all the time, and I can’t do anything to stop it. It’s always there. When I’m at home, when I’m at school. But, sometimes, things can be good. Even too good. Like when I’m talking to you or writing notes. Those things are really good for me. I start feeling like everything‘s okay. And that makes me happy. But, know what? That feeling like everything‘s wrong and this feeling like everything‘s okay, I guess a part of me wants to believe that neither one of them is, like, natural . . . I guess I want to feel like they’re both exceptions to the rule”.
This is an utterly absorbing - thought provoking - novel.
Thank you Netgalley, Europa Editions, and Meiko Kawakami ( I’m a new fan)...more
The blurb itself is a perfect representation of “Bride of The Sea”. It was all I needed when I first learned of this boNO SPOILERS... safe to read...
The blurb itself is a perfect representation of “Bride of The Sea”. It was all I needed when I first learned of this book -published by Tin House this past January. The book cover is sure eye catching lovely too. But... what the blurb can’t possibly do is transfer the feelings, the richness, the experience... That can only be done by the reader... AND... for me, it was a wonderful engaging thought provoking read.
Having seen the movie “Not Without My Daughter”, I had a hunch this book would be similar. There ‘are’ similarities- but it’s not the same story.
Emma Quotah begins this tale in America. Cleveland Ohio was a perfect American setting. Later... California is too... But it’s the ‘breath-and-scope’....between American cultures and in Jidda, (a sea port on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia), these two cultures which make this novel deliciously alluring ( literally, too... as there is some yummy food descriptions).
The storytelling - and most -its characters, gives this novel its bright-sensitive-family-saga-beating heartbeat.
A ‘few’ times I thought of the words-of-wisdom from Ram Dass: ... the great Buddhist and his words of wisdom. Funny how books do that to us... remind us of other books and movies..
I spent about an hour sitting reading Ram Dass quotes... I’m either going nuts in my older age (very possible), or this book simply created a moment of needed meditative type contemplation for me.
“It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed”. —Ram Dass
“You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success— none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here”. —Ram Dass
Sooo.... after my walk along the path of thinking of the late Ram Dass...
I sat and thought about the characters & situations for each of our main characters in “Bride of the Sea”
My first thoughts were: THIS WOULD MAKE A WONDERFUL BOOK CLUB PICK...[many discussions to draw on]...
We meet the incongruous Saudi couple, Muneer and Saeedah...and their daughter Hanadi. And unfortunately.... it’s the child who suffers the most when caught in the middle of parents riff-raff.
However... Through the years, Hannah teaches us the value of acceptance, strength resilience, and forgiveness. Can you imagine being told your father is dead when he wasn’t?
Hanadi looks back.... She was no wimp about winters. She grew up with the northern Ohio lake effect, frozen eyelashes, snow boots, snow pants, and snow mittens clipped to her down coat. The time she spent in temperate and tropical places strength and her fundamental resilience. But... fall depresses her. It conjures up death. She had once been an art student - then ditched it for pre-law. The last time Hanadi drew in her sketch book was when she took it with her on her first trip to Jidda.... as a young girl. At age forty-eight....her dreams have recently been more vivid.... dreams of her childhood. “For several weeks before the news of her grandfather’s illness arrives, she dreams of emaciated animals— dogs, cats, goats, chickens, a lion, a hyena, a zebra. She dreams of wilting fruit trees and straw brown-lawns. At first, she attributes these visions of near-death to the onset of her eleventh New England autumn, the primary intensity at the trees bursting against the deep blue sky, the last gasp before winter”.
Hannah will take her old stretch book with her again when she flies to Jidda- to see her grandfather Fareed in the hospital... as they had grown close since her reunion with her family. A dozen times Fareed visited Hannah in the States when he was younger and able to travel. He’d bring her clothes, jewelry from aunts and uncles— sweaters, rhinestoned things, soft gold earrings, pretty embroidered abayah and tarhad in fashionable colors...,( no longer all black anymore).....and over the years he emailed her articles she wanted to see. Hannah kept her close relationship with her grandfather quiet. She wanted to avoid friction, or judgement, or perhaps pure jealousy... Hannah avoided telling her father or mother about her closeness with her grandfather Fareed. I could totally relate and understand the intuitiveness. If Hannah had between fully honest -upfront with her divided family members, she might have caused more pain. I felt sad for her - ( wasn’t it her pain that needed priority?).... yet I admired Hannah’s understanding and resilience. She was a beautiful woman who could have remained bitter her entire life — but that’s just not who she was. Hanadi/ Hannah was dealt a less-than-ideal cards....but she made the most of it.
Hannah never asked her grandfather if her mother spoke to him when they were hiding. She didn’t want to blame him for anything. Hannah wasn’t a woman that held on to blame.
She ‘does’ tells her mother not to come with her to Jidda. Hannah was worried for her mother’s safety. It was possible that her brothers in Jidda wouldn’t let her leave Saudi Arabia - never let her return to America. And God forbid they see the catholic cross- that Saeedah wore.
Beautifully written... Brrrrr... I was chilly in those Ohio winters .... and I loved cultural descriptions in Saudi Arabia... the heritage... the festival highlights -crafts, poetry, religion, music, art, traditional dress and jewelry, the activities and family gatherings.
Different cultures, values, and beliefs...coming-of-age .... “Bride of the Sea” is effervescent mixture of richness, love, loss, and healing.
The beginning: .....slow as could be!!!! Long drawn out bickering — between two sisters ( Laura and Bea) and Laura’s uncertainty to marry her boyfrienThe beginning: .....slow as could be!!!! Long drawn out bickering — between two sisters ( Laura and Bea) and Laura’s uncertainty to marry her boyfriend, of six years, or not. ( cheesy proposal) - but that was the ‘least’ of concerns in this novel. The bickering dialogue about a surprise email which Laura receives from a long lost brother of forty years....goes on too long.
Just when I was about ready to toss in the towel from the mystery-tangling-teasing storytelling.... Thinking: “‘What Could Be Saved’ could not get to the point”... .....the dialogue felt like nails on a chalkboard — annoying... it took an unexpected turn — This novel suddenly got more interesting. Yet... I also immediately knew where the story was going.
An American family goes to Bangkok, Thailand - expats - a supposedly adventurous year abroad opportunity for the entire Preston family. Robert had a job offer in Thailand..... one that came with wealthy perks in a county that’s everything but.
The Preston couple Robert, and Genevieve, packed their bags and three young children: Bea, Philip, and Laura. They left their Washington D.C. home, and flew to a county of unknowns.
The storytelling was definitely best when the Preston family was in Thailand, during the 1970’s.....a time when the country had a reputation for being a hotspot for child prostitution.
Yet....this novel teetered between being unevenly paced with its duel timelines - or predictable. I saw exploits of children coming down the pipes a mile away.... and in particular... the devastation of what Philip experienced... and the grief that his entire family endured for another forty years.
I appreciate how the author exposed the sinister side of Bangkok— hopefully a side that travelers won’t ever see... but.... perhaps it’s been the impeachment trial competing for my attention... but when I finished the last two chapters... I was glad to be done.
4 worthy stars.... Yet....personally....I was a little detached with my own emotional investment. It’s a powerful story... with vivid images of Thailand .... giving us a great historical mystery thriller perspective.... at the same time... I’m happy to set the book down and move on....more
I had an experience of Zorrie—her strength and resilience even before I even read this book...( thank you Cheri and Angela)..Oh the perils of life....
I had an experience of Zorrie—her strength and resilience even before I even read this book...( thank you Cheri and Angela).... but glad I took my turn.
I loved Zorrie... ....her hopes, dreams, work ethics, sadness, loneliness, grief,.... her strength, and truth.
Laird Hunt exposes the realism about struggling families, love, survival, and above all - the strength of our hearts: which cannot be broken.
Update.... changing my rating to three stars. I’ve been thinking about this book still --a lot! There are still some things that bothered me — my own liUpdate.... changing my rating to three stars. I’ve been thinking about this book still --a lot! There are still some things that bothered me — my own little pet peeves—- But if I’m still thinking about it 'this' much - [which I am]—-there’s more positives than I credited.
3 stars for this update >> who knows maybe next week will go up to 4 stars --lol (ok, lets not get 'too' carried away) >..yet!
RETURNING TO REVIEW: The first part was yesterday... Second part follows...
Audiobook... read by a cast of 5 different voices (The best part of this novel for me was the talented Audiobook voices, themselves).... As for the ‘entire’ story.... there were problems- pet peeves that I didn’t enjoy or appreciate.
I’ll review a more comprehensive and explainable reason for my low review in a day or two.
I’m out on the trail hiking and want to move on — listen to another audiobook. Plus... I want to enjoy my weekend and don’t feel like writing... lol Forgive me!
There were positives & negatives in this novel —-NOTE... I DO THINK MANY PEOPLE WILL LOVE IT.... But if you look even a smidge below the surface....it’s filled with disjointed storytelling.... also lacking a clear purpose.
In the end the negatives overshadowed the positives: Dramatized Manipulation!
The last two chapters were not only predictable but downright boring.
MY REVIEW: (the second part)
Thought I’d complete sharing about why I gave this book 2 stars.
I value indigenous fiction. “Song of Batoche”, by Canadian author Maia Caron, being one of my favorites.
But the author was telling too many stories, in “The Removed”. ....an injustice murder > Ray-Ray was killed by the police, who shot the wrong man. ....Every year the Echota Native American Family gathers for a bonfire to celebrate Ray-Ray’s life....a tribute to happy memories.
Not only was the murder ( about racism), not develop into any thoughtful examination—a contemporary family saga jumps fifteen years later. The family members were:
......Mother, *Maria*. ( grieving mother for all her children).... I definitely felt sorry for this woman.
......Younger son, *Edgar* -ran away from his Oklahoma family -to Mexico - in a mysterious town.....”The Darkening Land”....(a place where Cherokee spirits went to rest after they died). Edgar met a girlfriend named Desirae...whom he called Ray, (after his brothers name). Ray left Edgar. She had had it with his meth drug use. Couldn’t blame the girl. Nice to see ‘one’ character in this book who wasn’t into living a self destructive life. Edgar felt guilty for whom he had become, ( but did nothing about his guilt), He was a drug addict who refused to call home (too self indulgent with his own problems to give a rats ass that his mother was worried sick - depressed daily not knowing where her son was)... Edgar never really did ‘atone’ — his redemption story was silly. The Lavender Quartz token - lacked his own substantial penance. It was another overly dramatized half-baked story.
.....Daughter, *Sonia* - she was love-detached - sex attached!
......Husband, *Ernest* — The ups and downs of Alzheimer’s disease.
..... and New member of the family: Foster child, *Wyatt*. (in 9th grade).... He was a bright well behaved kid - likable - he told stories about an underworld called The Darkening Land. ( good...but we kept getting story on top of story).. Wyatt’s father was in jail. His mother was in the wind. Wyatt’s presence in the family was a memory ( ghostlike, spirit god), a perpetual reminder of Ray-Ray. The similarities between the two boys were specially mystifying to Maria.
There were many embryonic stories ....not just too many themes - actually too many stories....that were moderately developed.
“Removed” trivialized serious issues: Sonia for example - who expressed having anxiety, (goes looking for Xanax in her mother’s medicine cabinet), has no interest in love, but a lot of interest in sex..... .....She was extremely forward in trying to a get man, a single father to his little boy, to have public sex with her. He refused. Later .... much later in the book - Sonia is physically abused by this man. The story went nowhere. Sonia didn’t want to report him to the police because the little boy wouldn’t have had no father: ( sure, let’s let another unjust go unpunished)....
Another undercooked (toss-in-another) tale was of little neighborhood girl, whose dog went missing. As if we didn’t have enough stories competing for our attention. The story went nowhere; upsetting ... but....well, just another missing loved one.
The constant underplaying of tragic grievances became a hornets’ nest: situations that required resolutions - often never happened — I found it very irritating! Instead ....it was always just one more story after another > I disrespected this disjointed type of choppy writing.....
The tenuousness of these independent interfacing stories: past and present - contemporary — were so impermanent—it weaken the book’s objective.....
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the storytelling (at least most reverent to Native Americans)... was the mythological sentiment perspectives from Cherokee ancestor - ( oral history interwoven into the novel). *Tsala* - a prophet - [speaker of the dead]. Tsala envisioned the Indian Removal Act...The Cherokee removal...”The Trail of Tears”....the forced relocations of approximately 100,000 Native Americans between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government.
But.....even though this novel pulls on readers heartstrings....there was too much genuine meaning lacking a great purpose.
Removed was just a little too removed from itself. It gourmandized itself whole....chewed, swallowed, and chomped itself down....more
There are eleven essays ( memoir essays) in the collection of “Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing”...... I was soooo incredibly engrossed immediately —- thThere are eleven essays ( memoir essays) in the collection of “Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing”...... I was soooo incredibly engrossed immediately —- that after reading the first two stories: ‘Solitaire’ and ‘The Slide’.... I went to Twitter and typed Lauren Hough’s name.... wondering.... “Who the hell is this woman?”.... .....SHE SHOULD BE ON TV...SHE HAS A PERSONALITY FOR IT......FOR HER OWN SHOW.... Lauren Hough is INTERESTING AS ALL GET UP!!! Ha...it was no accident that I notice Rachel Maddow was a big fan and following her too.
Lauren has had life experiences that are shocking, hilarious, incandescent, heartbreaking, brutal, disturbing, cringing, laughable, sultry, and just plain fascinating. ..... Her stories are deeply personal ...edgy... unapologetic....
The language and subject matter is raw, thought-provoking- sometimes excruciating harrowing, rigorous, piercing, extremely gut-wrenching, humorous, down right fascinating..... .......and sizzling exquisite!
There is a fair amount of profanity and explicit sex — so I wouldn’t suggest reading this to your children.... But for MOST ADULTS....who can tolerate a little walk on the dark side in your in reading diet.... even if not in your own life....readers could easily be blown away by this book.....by Lauren’s life! She sure knows how to tell a story and hold our interest.
We learn a lot about Lauren through her memoir essays....and if you’re like me....you’re left being a huge fan. I’m now a regular follower of Lauren on Twitter. She’s so real - she makes me laugh...and cringe at the same time!
When I look at Lauren’s physical size ( wouldn’t want to piss her off).....lol.... next to my size....I wondered if she might consider being friends with pint size straight married old fart — such as me?
I’ll admit it....sometimes I simply fall in love with authors whose books affect ( not necessarily known as the greatest authors in the world but something about ‘them’ or their work moves me profoundly, > whose exuberance disposition excite me...... thinking: Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida, Claire Fuller, Isabel Allende, Robin Black, David Vann, Stephen King, Mary Roach, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Isabel Wilkerson, Anna Quinlan, Liz Moore, Dani Shapiro, Augusten Burroughs, ....etc...etc...that I simply want to have them over for dinner...hang out with them!!! Lauren Hough just joined my fantasy dinner list!
Laughing here ....wondering??? What authors are fantasy dinner guests for you? (my reading friends?)....
All I really want to say is....I am so darn glad I didn’t miss reading Lauren Hough’s first book of essays. I will be following her on Twitter. And if Lauren gets her own TV show, I’m going to try to figure out how to be a guest on.
Extraordinary essays from a kick ass woman who has been a cable gal technician, an airman in the U.S. Air Force, a bartender, a barista, delivery driver, dabbled in drugs, sex with men & women, grew up in a God cult, ....was born in Germany...raised in seven countries and West Texas. She lives in Austin today.
A little sample writing from Lauren Hough: “There are levels of privilege. Now that I’ve jumped a level, from blue-collar asshole, possibly crazy veteran with a criminal record, to writer who no one would suspect has a criminal record, or if they do suspect, they don’t care, I do have to talk about it. For nothing will change. Because people still believe, despite all the evidence, that cops don’t lie, that the system is just, that people in jail deserve jail, and, mostly, that it won’t happened to them. I can tell you solitary confinement is torture. I can quote the stats on who’s in jail, how many are serving serious time who haven’t been convicted of anything at all. But unless you understand it can happen to you, to someone who looks like you, that you can end up in solitary, guilty or not, and lose your goddamn mind, unless I can make you feel it, you won’t fucking care”
“Why do we live so painfully in our fictions? Why do we suffer so, from the things we ourselves have invented? Do you understand it, Jeffers? I have w“Why do we live so painfully in our fictions? Why do we suffer so, from the things we ourselves have invented? Do you understand it, Jeffers? I have wanted to be free my whole life and I haven’t managed to liberate my smallest toe”.
M, middle aged, is married to second husband, Tony. She is writing her friend, Jeffers......telling him about a letter she wrote to another ( artist) friend named L.
M tells Jeffers that the cottage she and Tony owned was once “sordid and quite sad”. “We quickly realized it would have to be done over to rid it of that awful human type of sadness”. They took the entire cottage down and rebuilt back up again, with Tony giving directions”.
M invited L to come stay in ‘Second Place’. The reader will untangle M’s purposes, and L’’s purposes ...for this visit. Including, L brings along a young British woman named Brett. Add to this visit M’s daughter and daughter’s boyfriend.
‘Second Place’... is both literally and figuratively experienced. The guest house itself, is the second place on the property. ‘Second’, also, symbolically relates to M’s life.
M tells Jeffers he has never met Tony, but believes they would get along. The first thing that M tells Jeffers about her husband is that he is practical, as Jeffers himself is. The next thing M says about Tony, is that he is not bourgeois..... “not at all neglectful in the house that the very souls of the most bourgeois men are neglectful. He doesn’t show the weakness of neglect, and nor does he need to neglect something in order to have power over it. He does have a number of Certainties, though, which come from his particular knowledge and position and which can be very useful and reassuring until you find yourself a posing one of them! I have never met another human being who is so little burdened by shame as Tony and so little inclined to make others feel ashamed of themselves. He doesn’t comment and he doesn’t criticize and this puts him in an ocean of silence compared to most people”.
It doesn’t take long to know ... that L is very different type of man than her husband, Tony. M is struggling between reality and fantasy.
“Second Place” is a short novel.... but one that caused me to pause often ... pay close attention to all that wasn’t being said as much as what was. M feels somewhere invisible and feels as though she’s been criticized her entire life. She picked a husband that gave her a sense of security— yet was screaming inside for freedom and more creative expression.
It felt as though M was almost justifying her marriage, her second marriage in her letter to Jeffers. “Our relationship had plenty of openness, but it posed certain difficulties too, natural challenges that had to be surmounted: bridges had to be built and tunnels board, to get across to one another out of what was pre-formed. The second place was one such bridge, and Tony’s silence ran undisputed beneath it like a river”.
“One night, when Tony and I were going to bed, I flew at him in a rage and said all kinds of terrible things, about how lonely and washed up I felt, about how he never gave me any real attention of the kind that makes a woman feel like a woman and just expected me to sort I’ve gave birth to myself all the time, like Venus out of a seashell. As if I knew anything about what makes a woman feel like a woman!”
Soon after, M’s outburst to Tony she feels guilty. She feels rotten for saying those terrible things and knows he has never done anything to hurt her. M knows that she married a stable man— she also knows the there are differences between the artist L was and her more ordinary kind husband. M valued the security from Tony...but craved freedom and artistic fantastical electricity.
We meet M’s daughter, Justine and her boyfriend, Kurt. They come for a visit and move into the main house. At the same time, M’s artistic/ painter friend, L, the painter she met years ago while in Paris during her first marriage, comes to stay in the guest house. M had a long interest in L— call it an obsession or artistic infatuation. She had a particular rapport with his work: his paintings of darkness with a tad of color. .. as she did ‘him’.
M was still writing Jeffers.... “One at the difficulties, Jeffers, in telling what happened is that the telling comes after the fact. This might sound so obvious as to be imbecilic, but I often think there’s just as much to be said about what you ‘thought’ would happen as about what actually did”.
Things didn’t go as planned .... It’s an interesting ‘group’ visit.... with M’s inner voice examining herself, her marriage, motherhood, compromises, and disappointments.... but....nonetheless...M has a type of transformational shift. She came to see through the illusion of personal feelings. “I hope I have become, or am becoming, a clear channel”.
“The truth lies not in any claim to reality, but in the place where what is real moves beyond our interpretation of it. True art means seeking to capture the unreal. Do you think so, Jeffers?”
Jeffers, by the way was a poet — and a friend of D.H. Lawrence. “Second Place” was inspired by real set of circumstances.
Rachel’s writing is speculative...pensive... melancholic...unsettling.... sinister... always ‘thought provoking’....leaving me with many of my own thoughts to ponder. I love Rachel Cusk’s work.
“The most important thing to know about your parents, is that they love you”
Helen Fisher sprinkles sweetness of loAudiobook...read by Sophia Roberts
“The most important thing to know about your parents, is that they love you”
Helen Fisher sprinkles sweetness of love on top of every theme she explores....(identity, womanhood, daughterhood, marriage, parenting, faith, truth, lies, secrets, love, loss, grief, the present, past, and future)....
It’s really ‘sweet’....tender....enjoyable....quick reading or quick listening....with charming characters.
Little thoughts about parents: .....You cannot easily know your parents. It’s usually a waste of energy trying to know who they were before they were your parent. If you are a child who didn’t feel love by them— you can definitely forget trying to know them well. The greatest gift a parent can give their child - is the feeling that they felt loved. Parents should tell their kids often - over and over how much they love them.
.....Love and time are vital .... spending lots of quantity time with children are important. Love is most important....but actually spending lots of time is necessary to create the experience of love.
.....It’s not easy to get to know your parents as people. It’s possible ....but not easy. We mostly only know our parents as parents.
Go in blind....enjoy the whimsical treats and surprises.
This is a time travel odyssey delightful....with serious sweetness!...more
‘Milk Fed’ won’t be a book for everyone... but I absolutely adored it. I read it in one sitting - not stopping to pee or make tea.
The dialogue was fr‘Milk Fed’ won’t be a book for everyone... but I absolutely adored it. I read it in one sitting - not stopping to pee or make tea.
The dialogue was fresh, in your face bold, smart & savvy. Given that Rachel, our protagonist had an eating disorder, I shouldn’t have liked this book at all.... (our daughter was hospitalized five times battling anorexic) .... so I tend to stay away from the topic today. ( our daughter has been recovered for many years)....
But I loved ‘Milk Fed’.... I laughed ... enjoyed the very crisp writing ... and well just about everything about it.
I’m sure readers will find fault - roll their eyes- say ‘ooo’ to themselves in parts ... but not me. Well...it’s raining here today in California-so I may skip my morning walk to sit on our spinnaker stationary bike... and I ‘might’ say ‘ooo’ when I sit on the bike today ... given a ‘bike’ description in Melissa Broder’s book.... or... I’ll probably just giggle to myself.
Rachel had just been chosen by a low-trafficked entertainment blog as one of 25 young female comics to watch. When she texted her mother, she wrote, “how did they find you?”
Rachel wasn’t expecting fanfare from her mother, but she thought she would at least be a little bit proud. Rachel‘s therapist said she should expect nothing. “It was a phrase you’d associate with a person who didn’t need anything from anyone; a closed system, an automaton. Rachel wanted to be that person. So, Rachel sent her mother a text saying.... “Hi. I will not be reachable for the next 90 days. Thank you”. I wondered to myself how big that was going to go over. Rachel’s mother wrote back immediately: “What are you talking about?” “Sorry, I replied. Unavailable”. Then she called. “I’m detoxing, I said”. “What do you mean, detoxing?” “From our relationship, I said it’s emotionally unsafe”. “What do you mean, emotionally unsafe?”
“This is the thing about boundaries: they made sense in therapy, but when you tried to implement them in the real world, people had no idea what you were talking about”.
From beginning her college career as a theater major at the University of Wisconsin, Rachel, ( not liking theater people), she began her open mic stand up comedy. After school she moved to Los Angeles where her first job was waitressing at a vegan diner. She learned that she was a terrible waitress and she didn’t have the energy to stand on your feet all day.
Rachel had food rituals to keep herself skinny. She was also on day 3 of ‘mom-detoxification’.... feeling rather proud of herself..... ha, texting her mom in her head…hearing her mothers invisible text words back.
A favorite line: “I wondered whether there was a deadline for when a person had to finally stop blaming her mother for her own thoughts”.
My goodness- there were so many little things I loved about this book .. Here’s a rundown of the puzzle pieces ....( you’ll have to put the puzzle pieces together yourself if you read the book);
...Yo!Good frozen yogurt.... ...Orthodox boy.... ...Zaftig girl... ...Looking both Jewish and not Jewish at the same time.... ...Dr. Mahjoub ...Sugar-free, fat free... ...Hunger deprived.... ...sprinkles... ...Permission to eat everything in a day...(24 hours of limitless consumption)... ...Savory to break up the other the sweets... ...Mom... ...Dad... ...Jewish voodoo doll/monster: a golem... ...bisexual, lesbian... preferred masturbation to having sex with men... ...”This Show Sucks”... Ofer... Ana... ...Miriam Schwebel... ...Jace ( Jason Blagojevich) ... sexual fantasies... ...hand holding... ...sex... ... chain chewing nicotine gum... ...a party with drunk Chassidic men... ...food... lots of variety of food... ...Twizzlers are kosher... ...Shabbos dinner... ... girlfriends... ... squirrels and chipmunks... ...gym workouts... ...movies... ...weight gain... ...kissing... ...therapy... ...Rachel... ...love
“Rachel‘s mother ate shrimp, ignored Shabbat and hadn’t been in a synagogue since Rachele‘s bat mitzvah. She referred to Orthodox Jews as: “Oy, those people” ....
“Oy, this book”..... Outlandishly-enjoyable!!!
Thank you Netgalley, Scriber, and Melissa Broder ( you rock and I’ll read your other books I missed)...more
In ‘The Thirty Names of Night’, a closeted Syrian American trans boy sheds his birth name and searches for a new one five years after the death of hisIn ‘The Thirty Names of Night’, a closeted Syrian American trans boy sheds his birth name and searches for a new one five years after the death of his ornithologist mother. Nadir had been unable to paint since his mother’s ghost began to visit him each evening. As his grandmother’s sole caretaker, he spends his days cooped up in their apartment, avoiding his neighborhood masjid, his estranged sister, and even his best friend. The only time he feels truly free is when he slips out at night to paint murals on buildings in the once-thriving Manhattan neighborhood known as Little Syria.
We meet Laila Z, a talented artist, Syrian American, who dedicated her career to painting birds in North America. She famously and mysteriously disappeared more than 60 years before, but her journal contains proof that both his mother and Laila Z encountered the same we are bird before their deaths. Laila Z’s story reveals the history of queer and transgender people within Nadir’s community that he never knew. Nadir struggles with his identity—yet he resists being reduced to just a ‘body’. Rather he stands-tall for what’s important: humanity—justice, love, community, gender equality, Arab immigrants, all migrants, and basic kindness to one another.
Nadir... “Even I believed, by the end, that what you imagined was really possible—that this abandoned tenement, the older of the two left on the block and the place where Laila Z and hundreds of her Syrian immigrants had once lived, could really become a place of prayer, a place of history, with a protected home for the birds who miraculously built a nest on the roof. But futures so beautiful are rare for people like us. You lost your battle and, in the process, I lost you to someone else’s anger. There was a confidence in everything you did that I never learned to emulate, a belief in everything you loved, as though victory was secured, as though it wasn’t a fool’s errand to believe in justice. You weren’t afraid when the death threats came, and you don’t look afraid now. For a ghost, you are strong-shouldered, the glow of middle-age still gleaming on your brown hands. With no one else in this closet but us, I could be the one who died in the fire, not you. I am left with these paper-wrapped frames and the reminder you always gave me with a raised eyebrow: ‘Don’t believe them when they tell you who is dead and who was living”.
“I am struck by the feeling that I know none of my neighbors. Folks come and go so often now it seems pointless to get to know them. When Teta was in the boldness of middle-age, everyone on the block knew each other and asked after each other‘s children. In Yorkville, before it all burned around us, before I moved in with Teta, you used to stop into the Yemeni bakery around the corner for fresh bread and ask how the owner’s son was doing. You used to wave hello to the sisters down the hall, Russian immigrants in their nineties whose husbands had long since passed away, who would invite us in for tea and round sugar-dusted cookies. The woman who owned the laundromat down the block, whom you’d known for twenty years, kept my baby pictures in her wallet”.
Author Zeyn Joukhadar, of ‘The Map of Salt and Stars’, wrote the most beautiful book.... Themes explore loss, love, art, queer, and trans communities——brilliantly.... the prose is gorgeous... soooooo stunning!
Duchess Day Radley, “self-described outlaw”, is thirteen years old.... ( going on thirty)... Resilient, fierce, anAudiobook... read by George Newburn
Duchess Day Radley, “self-described outlaw”, is thirteen years old.... ( going on thirty)... Resilient, fierce, and ‘strong-like-bull’....she becomes ‘acting-mom’ to her six year old brother, Robin and caretaker to her often drunk mother, Star. The kids father was out of the picture.
Thirty years ago, in the small fictional coastal town of Cape Heaven, Ca., Police Chief, Walk, put his childhood best friend, Vincent King, behind bars...( due to a car incident that killed Star’s sister, Sissy). Vincent has just been released from prison. Walk, (with years of guilt, secrets, health issues, and struggles of his own), has not only tried to look after Duchess, Robin, and Star ( childhood friend with both Walk and Vincent), for many years when Vincent was in prison — but now tries to help Vincent re-enter and re-adjust to life on the outside. Nothing is an easy as one hopes — for anyone in “We Began At The End”.... Relationships run deep -are complicated-and entangled.
Vincent gets mixed up with a dubious guy named Dickie Darke. Star is murdered.... ....an investigation follows.... ...prompting Duchess and Robin to move to another small town, Copper Fall, MT., to stay with their grandfather, Hal...(they had never met). Hal was Sissy’s youngest daughter.
This is a heartbreaking- heart beauty-terrific novel. The character driven memorable-characters-feel like real people we come to love and emphasize with.
The mystery crime - whodunnit- is only part of what makes this a gripping read. It has a heartbeat so loud and pure— filled with tension, tears, tragedy, humor, unexpected turns, joy, people we come to love, with so much humanity.... one would have to be in a coma not to feel emotionally spent by the end.
****Heart-tugging**** powerful and highly imaginable. It would make a great movie.
Thank you, MacMillan - audio- publishing Netgalley, and Chris Whitaker ( beautiful written)...more
With over 23,000 reviews on Amazon, I’m late to this Irish wedding party ...
My original review (4 star rating), died. It either went to heaven or hellWith over 23,000 reviews on Amazon, I’m late to this Irish wedding party ...
My original review (4 star rating), died. It either went to heaven or hell —I have no idea.
After spending well over an hour of my time— closer to 2 hours - writing a comprehensive review about the characters- their personalities- their secrets - lies - jealousies - betrayals - etc. — the scenery and atmosphere— ....the dark clouds - blustering winds - cliffs - shuttering chills .... .... the wedding planner- the ushers... .... the short chapters with .... the alternating cast narration... ....the high profile guests and other attendees... .... the surprise ( whodunnit)....ending ... etc.... .....bottom line... the review is lost. DEAD ON ARRIVAL! ( and no, I can’t retrieve it.., I tried everything including a phone call with a computer savvy friend).
....l especially got a kick out of the British blokes.... their complicated questionable Mate-Friendships.
....The Holy moly surge ending totally took me for a loop.
WOW!!!!!! Review soon! It’s only January.... but so far... it’s the most affecting book I’ve read in 2012
I’m Back:
Soon after I finished reading this boWOW!!!!!! Review soon! It’s only January.... but so far... it’s the most affecting book I’ve read in 2012
I’m Back:
Soon after I finished reading this book — which left me with more emotions and thoughts about parenting-mothers, daughters, siblings, grandparents, self, and even careers.... in a gut-wrenching - soul stirring way.... I had a little accident. It was 4:30 am, in the dark. I fell over a small wooden table Paul had accidentally left out in front of our bed. My leg/ tibia, is banged up - ugly bruised and cut--but not broken. I’m back under my covers trying to stop shivering- from the needed ice treatment.
There is a lot I’d like to say about this book — highly recommend it....HIGHLY!!! ....but the table-tripping has left my head pounding... So....speeding up things... I rather just get right to the point. “Strike Your Heart”, by Amelie Nothomb.... would make a terrific buddy-read with a friend. Two women/ two mothers.... Two men...man and a women... Or.... a full-out book group discussion. It’s not a long book - so there is little investment—but... it will definitely be a poignant book discussion.
Leaving some sample tidbits & excerpts... out of context to the totality of the entire book — and not wanting to post the ‘same’ excerpts that my friend Lainey included... (read her review- it’s great).. Here goes:
A third child was born, Celia. Diane, oldest child, noticed that her Maman was not only rosy with happiness, she was ecstatic. “Diane could see there was something wrong. When Nicholas was born, Maman was happy and loved her baby; this time, Maman was delirious with joy, overflowing with love for Celia. She kissed her as if she were going to eat her. Over and over, possessed, she said things like ‘how I love you, my sweet baby’”. “It was obscene”. No one noticed that Diane was left out. Diane, who had been such a sweet good girl, intelligent, and well behaved had accepted everything about her goddess mother. “I’ve accepted everything, I’ve always been on your side, I’ve gone along with you even when you were blatantly unfair, I put up with your jealousy because I understood that you had expected more from life, I endured it in silence when you begrudged me other peoples complements and made me pay for them, I tolerated the fact that you lavished tenderness on my brother and never gave me so much as a crumb, but now, what you are doing here before me is evil. Just once, you did show me your love, and I knew there was nothing better on earth. I thought that you couldn’t demonstrate your love because I was a girl. But now, there before my eyes, this creature on whom you are showering the deepest love you have ever known—this creature is a girl. The explanation I have given for the workings of the universe is crumbling. And I understand that, quite simply, you hardly love me at all, you love me so little that it doesn’t even occur to you to hide your mad passion for this baby in anyway. The truth is, Maman, that if there is one virtue you are lacking, it is tact”. “In that moment Diane stopped being a child. She did not become an adolescent or an adult: she was five years old. She was transformed into a disenchanted creature who was obsessed with not foundering in the abyss that this situation had created inside her”.
By the time Diane was in high school she didn’t even try to please her mother anymore.
Years went by, and Diane was in her seventh year of medical school about to become an intern and decided to specialize in cardiology.
Diane became close to her assistant professor in cardiology— Olivia Aubusson: a start of a whole-new-can-of worms!!!! Wow!
“To impose its reign, jealousy needs no motive. That had been true for her mother’s and now it was true for Olivia. So, you could be a university professor, not to mention a charming, accomplished and beautiful woman, and still be jealous of the attention a former admirer paid to your sickly, traumatized daughter”.
Thank you Lainey!!! I had owned this book awhile - kindle download- but it was your review that had me reach for it immediately. Huge thanks!!
...A book I’ll remember... ...An author I want more of... ...Disturbing, sad, complex coming-of-age, gripping as hell, fairy-tale storytelling feelings at times, ..... and completely brilliant!!!
The reader will continue thinking about this novel long after finishing it!!
READ IT!!!!!
One tiny criticism— the author ( absolutely fantastic where it matters) overused the word ‘abyss’. Dozens of times was too much. ...more
I’m having a really relaxing day with my husband so I don’t think anyone here really wants to hear my nasty ongoing thoughts about this book.
I read iI’m having a really relaxing day with my husband so I don’t think anyone here really wants to hear my nasty ongoing thoughts about this book.
I read it! ( almost enough said )
It was barely readable — but I read it to the end — jumped through hoops to ride out the explosive burst towards the end....
I’m the mood ( searching?/!) for a gripping intelligent page turning engrossing psychological thriller… But I am unwilling to go through 10 books to find. ‘one’ I like.
If anyone has a suggestion for me… I am open. A few that I enjoyed were: Jar of Hearts Verity My Lovely Wife ( maybe my favorite)
If somebody has another idea of a psychological thriller to recommend that is somewhat similar to any of the three books I mentioned, I would love to know what they are.
This book plays to readers stupidity, IMO.
The plot was so silly - nothing enlightening, exciting, or wildly engaging in any shape or form ( other than it was readable)..... but so is reading the ingredients on a box of crackers..... so that none of the characters particularly moved me - scared me - shocked me - or excited me.
This book ( with too many descriptions of hair color, body size, and eye colors), was like shot of Novacaine.. it numbed me —I felt nothing.
“The music flows out of the windows one wavering note at a time, achingly sweet, a pear drop caught in her throat”.
Claire Fuller....magnum opus .....“The music flows out of the windows one wavering note at a time, achingly sweet, a pear drop caught in her throat”.
Claire Fuller....magnum opus ......from the UK....just can’t write a bad book. I loved her past three books: “Our Endless Days” “Swimming Lessons” “Bitter Orange”.... AND now..... “Unsettled Ground”
In “Unsettled Ground”, .....with a landscape that speaks to readers .... Claire Fuller unearths the soil on which an old cottage barely stands. We feel - visualize- smell - every ounce of nature’s beauty.... which transcends time and geographic location.
Effortlessly Claire strings us along with her gorgeous prose, describing vital details while infusing emotion into her words.
A terrific novel with two memorable characters: Twins - 51 year olds - Jeanie and Julius...who lived with their mother, Dot, until she dies early in this story. Along with the supporting characters - some good - some bad - add much depth— Claire has a great understanding of all her characters—- and through them, one of the great treasures is the wisdom we experience through them — throughout this novel.
It’s way too tempting to share the plot...but I went in completely blind...and cherished every word...every thought...every emotion.... So.... I’m holding back saying too much.... but.... I highly recommend this book to all readers who appreciate primordial power and simplicity....and engrossing literary storytelling.
This is what you need to know.... It’s filled with fine writing...[in the rural isolation in the English countryside... It has flair, style, beauty, poverty, drama-to-small mystery, secrets, sibling closeness and strife, neighbors, friends, questionable friends, struggles, heartbreak, success..... Unknown motives, deceit, loyalty, desires, exploitation, guilt, morals, ....and a little craziness.
WONDERFUL..... contemporary-fresh-engaging interlocking stories!!! Yet each one ‘could’ stand on its own. These are stories that make you *feel* and *thWONDERFUL..... contemporary-fresh-engaging interlocking stories!!! Yet each one ‘could’ stand on its own. These are stories that make you *feel* and *think*!!!! Sooooo enjoyable!!!!!
The first story is called; *Dinner Conversations* The year is 1998, in a New York City restaurant—a new popular spot for young cool types—the type of place that makes people feel sexy and dignified.
Dylan and Callie [the narrator] have been friends with Dana and Peter — and Marisa and Eric - close to fifteen years. They met at a parenting class before the birth of their first child. “We’ve all been friends ever since. We know this is unusual. About ten years ago, five years into the friendship, five years worth of dinners and vacations and cocktail parties, we named ourselves: we are ‘The Sixers’”.
When Callie first met Dylan: “Dylan fed me a line. You’re quite special, he said. Sexy too”. “And from that point I focused on what I believed he’d want to hear. In doing that, I ignored or simply covered up parts of myself. And like water under oil, what was on the bottom had no chance to surface”. FABULOUS—short story— a dinner conversation— ha— to cringe—( no spoilers)—and HAVE a CONVERSATION ABOUT IT!!!
Next was... *Sunny Side Up* Callie’s mother, Sharon, is the narrator. Callie was six years old. Her parents were moving from New York to New Orleans—new job for her father, Steven. Her mother was eight months pregnant. It was so hot—“you could fry an egg on the sidewalk”. Her mother hated New Orleans and wanted desperately to move back to New York. Callie may have been young and small, but she she had vivid memories of how she felt—and how her parents felt. Callie remembers watching her father leave for work— wishing she could leave with him. She asked her mother, “what’s wrong?” “What could be wrong? Daddy went to work, and we get to move into our beautiful new house. Busying herself immediately, she packed away her feelings along with her belongings”. Between her mother’s loneliness ( sometimes swept up by her husbands charms- she was seventeen when they married).... and her father’s upsets and sometimes distant sadness... Callie - just a child took it upon herself to make her parents happy— especially by trying to please her father.
*The Joker* Willow, was the narrator - daddy was playing a silly (?) games with the kids. This was the shortest story of the bunch. Left me puzzled. And... who was Willow, I wondered.
*Blind Man’s Bluff* Ha... Willow was Callie’s best friend. Their backyards connect. Willow had an older sister who was a cheerleader... who gave Callie beauty tips. “A girl should always look her best”. Layers of black Maybelline mascara, fingernail polish touches, and lip glass was of great importance. Two other friends of Willow and Callie came over. The four of them decide to play blind man’s Bluff. The story didn’t move in any direction that I would’ve thought or wanted... a reminder of how impressionable children are. A very sad -no good -very bad -very sad day/story!
“All You Touch” Willow and Callie were fifteen years old. Willow was taking Callie to meet some boys she met at a bar. Callie drove them—-( at fifteen?/!).... Lip gloss applied. Pink Floyd music was playing in the background of dilapidated structure behind a gas station. They meet Wayne & John. The four of them hop into Callie’s car and headed for the lake. I’ll say no more.
“Happily Ever After” “Once upon a time, there was a girl who was in chanted by a boy who drove a Porsche”. It was an eerie dark ‘once-upon-a-time’ story... Moral of the story? Perhaps it’s best to use one’s voice to express one’s feelings, rather than a hedge hammer.
“Shadows and Partially Lit Faces” Dylan Douglas believed in living amongst the pretty people, and so he did. He and Callie had been married for twelve years. He worked in a jewelry store and knew how important it was to charm his customers— by telling some of the men: “Bringing home something special for his wife is the right thing to do, and that he was sure she deserved the best. It would be inappropriate to go home with something small, or even, god for bed nothing at all”. Of course, Dylan would sell the customer a necklace for a good price. In the meantime, Dylan knew he was supposed to call home— but he and Callie had a fight that morning and he didn’t want to. Dylan thought about the conversation he just had when he phoned Callie—wasn’t coming right home after work. We thought about it too.
The other stories in the collection are: “Lucky” “The Devil Makes Three” “That’s How It Was with Howie” “Tick Tock” and.... “Drowning Girl”
They are all sooooo GOOD!! compelling tales about women - all ages, stages, and circumstances—some are ‘cautionary tales’—a few explore Jewish traditions — Some are both. (Jewish and cautionary).
From New York, to New Orleans, to Madrid. It takes place from 1970 to our current days.
Readers just CANNOT go wrong in choosing this book —( yeah- even those of you who think you just don’t ‘do’ short stories)... These stories are terrific!!! Even the acknowledgments warmed my heart.
NO QUESTION.... *Corie Adjmi* is my FAVORITE new discovery/author in 2020 I usually have at least one new ‘exciting’ author discovery a year ... and boy oh boy— Corie Adjmi is ‘it’ for me!
Audiobook.... The one star is only for the quality of the audiobook!!!!
I’m walking on a trail right now and I’ve listen to about five chapters of thisAudiobook.... The one star is only for the quality of the audiobook!!!!
I’m walking on a trail right now and I’ve listen to about five chapters of this book in audiobook format which I purchase this morning because of Susan‘s wonderful wonderful review
I can’t understand the narrator — she’s mumbling - worse than any narrator I’ve ever listen to.
I saw that netgalley had it available to read so I put in a request. If they grant me a copy I will definitely read it. If not I’ll purchase it later, if the library doesn’t carry it.
So far I can’t find the book from any of the library‘s I connect with. I believe it’s a book worth reading — READING being BY FAR A BETTER CHOICE....more
“The War I Finally Won”, was equally as wonderful “The War that Saved My Life”. This 2nd book takes off wherAudiobook.... narrated by Jayne Enteistle
“The War I Finally Won”, was equally as wonderful “The War that Saved My Life”. This 2nd book takes off where the first book ended.
The characters are SOOOO endearing—we just want to spend time with them. There are new challenges that will keep readers addictively involved.
Compelling dialogue about God, faith, options of what to believe, was insightful- wise-and thought-provoking between the adults: Susan, (a Christian), and Ruth, (a Jew), with Ada. (trying to understand the difference and options about choice-of-faith-beliefs)
Ada: “If I believed in one God, and Ruth believed in another God, then which one is the wrong God, Ada asked”. Religion was complicated to Ada ( as can be to many of us).
Throughout the storytelling between several issues and events to examine and resolve - we observe Ada’s growth and greater understanding of how the world works through the power of learning new words; the power of language. Examples: ....’Prudent’: acting with or showing care and thought for the future. ....’Fallacy’: a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument. ....’Mercy’: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. ....’To Have Mercy’: to treat with kindness and forgiveness.
Words have power. Their meaning crystallizes perceptions that shape our beliefs, drive out behaviors, and ultimately, create our world. Their power arises from emotional responses when we read, speak, or hear them. While reading this book what stood out for me was not just that Ada was learning new words… But the powerful parenting inspiration by Miss Smith - (Susan) - The legal guardian of Ada and Jamie. The powerful-functional-wise parenting was very moving.
Parents of young children could benefit from listening or reading this book.
Parents who are essentially done with day-to-day parental responsibilities, might digest the wisdom that they didn’t fully understood when they were a young new parent.
Do you like liver? Ada didn’t. She thought it tasted muddy. Ha, right on the mark, Ada! ...more
Audiobook... ...narrated by Jayne Enteistle ( fantastic narrator)
A WONDERFUL HISTORICAL FICTION for young readers. It’s the start of WWII. ( 1935)
IfAudiobook... ...narrated by Jayne Enteistle ( fantastic narrator)
A WONDERFUL HISTORICAL FICTION for young readers. It’s the start of WWII. ( 1935)
If there’s ever been a buzz book that deserved every award it had received… This is it!!! I can’t imagine anyone not being swept away by the characters, story, challenges, and love!!!
....2,135 five star reviews on Amazon!!! ....A Newbery Honor Book ....Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award ( Middle School) ....Winner of the Josette Frank Award ....Winner of the Sunshine State Young Readers Award ....Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Books of 2015 .... New York public library‘s 100 books for reading and sharing .... Chicago Public library‘s best of the best books 2015 ....Publishers Weekly best books of 2015 ....Kirkus Best Books of 2015 ....Horn Book Fanfare Book 2015
A little something to think about: “Do you know the difference between telling lies, and being a liar?, Miss Smith asked Ada?” “If you have to tell lies in order to keep yourself safe, I don’t think that calls you a liar” “Liars tell lies when they need to make themselves look important or special”.
Ada, Jaime, and Miss Smith... needed each other...more than they realized.
Ada’s voice is priceless. She is about 10 years old, with a cleft foot. She was severely abused both physically, emotionally, and verbally, by her mother. Jamie, Ada’s younger brother was also abused -but to a lesser degree. Miss Smith -was grieving from the loss of her best friend when she first meets Ada and Jamie.
I devoured this exceptionally written wonderful story!
I recommend it to readers of all ages!
Thank you Lisa, for first introducing this book to me. Many great reviews...., LisaVegan, JanB, and many many more
Library Overdrive Audiobook....read by Morgan C. Jones ( who was terrific)
We meet two guys in a Dublin pub. Joe and Davy had been great friends years Library Overdrive Audiobook....read by Morgan C. Jones ( who was terrific)
We meet two guys in a Dublin pub. Joe and Davy had been great friends years ago. It’s been awhile since these two 50ish geezers have spent time .... kibitzing together about.....old times, a woman they both once loved, their present lives, secrets, sorrows, eating and drinking. This book grew and grew on me. Joe and Davy grew on me. I cared about them.
I have a special soft spot in my heart for ‘male bonding’. Women friendships ....( sincere, honest, heartfelt, intimate), are a dime a dozen.... But men.....it ‘seems’ to me... that often their friendships are less intimate ....( business, sports, raunchy sex chat, yes), but gut sharing truth....not always so much. This book filled my heart with warmth....slowly.... The funny parts are funny! The sad parts ‘are’ sad.
Joey and Davy struggle ....(so it seems)....between small talk and serious talk....between awkwardness and truthfulness. .... But they get there ....and the title of this book, “Love”, is perfect.
Great dialogue, (conversational writing), ....witty.....with some moments of deep reflection. I look forward to another book by Roddy Doyle.
I was drawn to this trilogy from the moment I first read about them - before the books were translated in English and available to read in the states.I was drawn to this trilogy from the moment I first read about them - before the books were translated in English and available to read in the states. “Childhood ( written in 1967), “Youth”, (written in 1967), and Dependency ( written in 1971). I thought I was going to need to purchase each book separately... But to my surprise - with thanks - Farrar, Sraus and Giroux publishing has made these books available as a complete -one book volume.
Even today, Tove Ditlevsen is considered an important voice in Denmark. She was a groundbreaker- for women writers. She was a ‘full-exposure’ type author. She wrote about things ( exposing herself intimately) in ways women were not writing about: airing dirty laundry within her family, sharing truthful feelings about men, sex, marriage, children, drug addiction, and abortion.
Tove Ditlevsen was an interesting woman. She wrote 29 books, including short stories, novels, poetry, and memoirs. She began writing poetry as a young child, and by her early twenties, she was a published author. Born in Copenhagen, in 1917... she died in 1978 by suicide..
“The Copenhagen trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency” ( memoirs), is divided ( as expected) — between each of these books....giving us an experience of her life - as a child, teen, and adult. In all three books - even as a child - we feel Tove’s tension between every and all relationships and her devotion to her craft. She was serious about being a published author as young as ten years old. This book has been appraised as her masterpiece.
“Childhood”: These were not lovey-dovey cozy years in Tove’s young life. She wrote: “Childhood is long and narrow like a coffin, and you can’t get out of it on your own”. Her mother was often angry.... Beautiful, lonely, untouchable...filled with secrets that Tove would never learn. Her father was serious, melancholy, loved to read. “He was unusually moralistic while her mother, at least as the young woman, was lively and silly, irresponsible and vain”
Tove wrote: “My mother hit me often and hard, but as a rule it was arbitrary and unjust, and during the punishment I felt something like a secret shame or a heavy sorrow tears to my eyes and increased the painful distance between us”. “My father never hit me. On the contrary— he was good to me”.
In “Childhood”, we also meet Tove’s older brother, and her aunt and uncle. We learn about a dark time when Tove and the entire family had diphtheria. An interesting tidbit: if somebody lost their job, and went on welfare, they lost their right to vote.
“Childhood” was maybe the most personal - in ‘feeling’ than the next two memoirs.
In “Youth”...we enter the teen years. Hitler had come into power in Germany. Having left school prematurely, Tove takes on menial jobs: dishwashing, cleaning, and other domestic work. These are typical years of boys, kissing, billiards, movies, dancing, (the carioca: Brazilian dance resembling the samba), drinking, and breaking away from the family more. But her mother still manages to be critical. Her mother says to Tove: ”You should take more trouble with your appearance. You should buy a spring suit instead of that bicycle. When you’re not naturally pretty, she says, ‘you have to help things out a bit’. My mother doesn’t say such things to hurt me; she’s just completely ignorant of what goes on inside other people”.
We meet a few of the boys that Tove hangs out with. Erling was interested in politics. He wanted to change social democracy. Tove had little interest in politics- but Erling made Tove feel less lonely. Tove was writing more and more: I liked this poem that Tove wrote as a teenager: “There burns a candle in the night, it burns for me alone, and if I blow at it, it flames up, and flames for me alone. But if you breathe softly and if you breathe quietly, the candle is certainly more than bright and burns deep in my own breast, for you alone”.
In “Dependency”.... things turned much more dark.....sad.....harrowing. She was already successful in her twenties.... but she also struggled with the horrors of addiction...dependent on opioid demerol and methadone. Besides her alcohol and drug addictions, Tove had four marriages, ( almost all sporadic and addicted to damaged men), three children, wanted and unwanted children, two abortions, and a few love affairs. She was still writing... always forming sentences in her head.... which made her distant and distracted when anyone ( including her husbands), started talking with her.
“In the dark, tarnished corridors of my mind there is a faint impression, like a child’s footprints in damp sand”.
Searingly truthful, (but no sneering blame of anyone),, sarcastic and piercingly raw, ...this trilogy was eloquently written.
For those readers ( like me) who enjoyed Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, and books by Jean Rhys.... then this is a book for you. Introspective....character driven....books by fearless women with one heck of a powerful voice.
Zikora, originally from Nigeria, was practicing law in DC. Her high-powered professional, scumbag, boyfr“Zikora” is a short story... .....at 35 pages.
Zikora, originally from Nigeria, was practicing law in DC. Her high-powered professional, scumbag, boyfriend, Kwame, bolts when he learns Zikora is pregnant. Poor guy can’t face his responsibility and doesn’t. Zikora has no choice to face her pregnancy- and does. Lots of self reflection about her own mother —
Mother/daughter themes have been in my space often this year. I did some reflecting, too.
At only 35 pages - it wouldn’t be fair to say much more — other than what’s not to love about Chimamanada? She writes from truth, and heart.
The language is poetic... The story taunting. A Kindle unlimited/ read/ or audible format. I enjoyed both.
Be it gay, straight, single, married, transgender, vegan, feminist, young, old, eating, smoking, sleeping, sexing, drug using, radically living, liberBe it gay, straight, single, married, transgender, vegan, feminist, young, old, eating, smoking, sleeping, sexing, drug using, radically living, liberal or conservative thinking, housecleaning, chef, voodoo queen, minorities, divine beings, social issues, gender and race issues, mother, daughter, goddess, dirt poor or not, friendships, lovers, thespian, educated or not, etc. etc... these Black British women from different backgrounds had stories to tell. A stream of consciousness feeling.... These interesting women, emphasize diversity, culture, and connectedness. Great humanitarian and womanhood stories.
It was good..... really good.... Kept getting better from start to finish. ...more
“Life can get so interesting, that we forget to be afraid”
“Cyber attacks, digital intrusions,, biological aggressions, smallpox, terrorism, financial “Life can get so interesting, that we forget to be afraid”
“Cyber attacks, digital intrusions,, biological aggressions, smallpox, terrorism, financial collapse, dead, disabled, starvation, plague, and what else?”
Is the air getting warmer, hour by hour, minute by minute?
Isn’t it strange that some people seem to have accepted the burnout? Is this something that they’ve always longed for?
Nobody wants to call it World War III…but it’s what it is. “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones”.
“DeLillo looks for the future as it manifests in the present moment: he has done this for decades in which other writers have struggled with, for example, the invention of the mobile phone (won’t it ruin the plot?) At 83 he makes many contemporary writers read as though they are thinking not even in the 20th but in the 19th century, one in which, ‘the crowd’ did not exist, except, perhaps, as proles”. —Anne Enright from ‘The Guardian’
Spare but powerful, “The Silence”, set in 2020, in Manhattan, Super Bowl Sunday, the plague, has flattened —and air travel has resumed. At the beginning, Jim and Tessa are on the plane. It’s their first vacation post covid-19. They are on planning to visit their friends house to watch football on TV together. There’s a plane crash.
Back in Manhattan.... The game is between the Seahawks and Titans. We meet Max, Diane, and Martin — all watching the football game on TV....drinking beer, whiskey, munching, hanging out. We get background details about each of the characters.... but ... they are together - this Super Bowl Sunday ... social gathering - intellectual chatting - in the same way people have been doing for years. Suddenly, the TV screen goes dead; the phones aren’t working. None of the technology is working. Max stares at the TV screen completely blank and imagines the football game - still playing. Jim and Tessa - survive the plane crash and eventually show up at their friends house to watch the football game in Manhattan. I won’t share more about how it comes together other than to say.... It’s certainly surprising that this book was written before any knowledge of our current days of the pandemic we are living.
Apocalyptic living... Fires in California... Hurricanes a threat.. Covid-19... Protest, riots, violence... Unsettling divisions among Americans... Don DeLillo’s “Silence” is not only a cautionary tale... It’s a novel that ( invited me anyway).... to think about the power of silence ( the non-verbal language), as accepting what is ( now) ... Silence can soften harshness and communicate empathy.
Treasured gifts come in small packages... “Silence”, at only 117 pages, is that ( small-size-gem)....gift.
Much to contemplate. A book that will keep you thinking for hours after finishing.
“Love goes on after a bomb”.... And.... “All anyone really wanted was home and food”..... ....Sausage pasta, wine, ChAudiobook.... read by Marin Ireland
“Love goes on after a bomb”.... And.... “All anyone really wanted was home and food”..... ....Sausage pasta, wine, Chardonnay, whiskey, carrots and hummus, eggs, cereal, chips, cokes, desserts, cakes, ice cream, donuts, cookies, salty goldfish crackers, hamburgers, hotdogs, orange slices, cheese & crackers, strawberries, zucchini, blueberries, yogurt, bread,, tuna, beans, cans of soup, Sliced turkey, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, cakes, more vodka, more whiskey, more beer,more sweets.... Add cigarettes, board games, movies, electricity would be nice, cell phones with power connection, first aid, household & cleaning supplies... toilet paper, Advil, garbage bags, bleach, duct tape, laundry detergent.. etc.
I hope readers aren’t hungry when they read this HOT BUZZ thriller.... which borders on ‘horror’.... and completely ridiculous.
It’s definitely an addictive read.... even my husband joined in on the fun.... but he thought it was idiotic mind-f^~king wacky... yet he was interested enough to keep listening.
Paul and I both found many nonsensical sentences—and others that needed ‘fact-checking’ ... For example - NPR doesn’t air X-rated podcasts that a 13 girl needs to be protected from.... but this book doesn’t get its hype from logic.
The best way to enjoy this book is hop on the ‘belief-suspension’ train... and enjoy the ride. ( or avoid it altogether is another solution)... but once a reader begins, even if you’re rolling your eyes like crazy.... ( not only about the disasters themselves in the plot...but for lots of nonsensical writing). ... which maybe is supposed to be part of the fun, too?/!/?
However... ....this is one of those addicting thriller-types with great premise potential which tried to be too many things. Again, I’m not sure if it matters.... Readers are going to read this book whether they like it or don’t. Thriller readers will be too curious about this one. I was too. There’s definitely an audience for it and I’m not sorry I read it, but after the buzz dies down and I have a few conversations with my friends.... I’ll easily move on....
We come to know all six main characters - by name - quickly ( makes the readers feel smart and comforted)... We even know the contractor’s name down the street, (readers will feel even smarter), but we really never get to know any of the characters ‘well’. Does it matter? Maybe not. The world was ending so why not eat drink, dance, clean, and have sex... Everything else is Cowboys and Indians. It’s one GOOFY BOOK!!! Thousands of deer, flamingos, an unexplained sound.... four adults, two children, trust issues, survival issues, new friends ( ha), pink vomit, a nightmare vacation.... The author throws in a little of everything including the kitchen sink.... sex, semen on the sheets, cleaning, drinking, eating, smoking, mystery suspense, *gross* graphic descriptions of a sick kid, a missing kid, a contractor, racial issues, lots of inner chatter, and unexplainable disaster happenings.
It’s a NUTTY BOOK!!!
but.... I took something away which I’ll be thinking about longer.
When Paul and I thought about having children, we thought about whether or not we felt we were in a position to do so financially and if we were ready.... But we really didn’t think much about what the world was going to be like for our daughters once they were grown. I am now.... and it’s an unsettling thought....more
EAT ME!!!! THIS is a serious- CRAZY SATIRE novel --not for the squeamish! >> but actually has some profound thought provoking themes - (after getting EAT ME!!!! THIS is a serious- CRAZY SATIRE novel --not for the squeamish! >> but actually has some profound thought provoking themes - (after getting pass the outrageous storytelling-crafting)
..... The Seltzers are Cannibal-Americans. Their faith requires human eating of a family member after they die. It was a way of escaping anti-Semitism.
Nobody deserves a mother like Mud! Her dying wish was 'eat me' --(literally) -- Gotta give mama credit for her faith-commitment --lol She even ate a dozen or so hamburgers -double bacon with cheese -no lettuce, a DAY --for a year -- to fatten up before death. Juicy meat you see! ha!
Ha, It takes courage -to get through this book - its kinda GROSS!! (not kinda - *definitely* - GROSS .....STOMACH TURNING BOOK.... Sweeney Todd its NOT........... No human meat pies - one only needs to take one bite from 'mama's dead body.
This review is making no sense - I can do better -should be able to do better -- but my god -- I can't get the visuals out of my head yet. Its NOT boring..... Its VERY creative!!!
Mama has 12 sons -- There names are: First, Second, Third, Forth, Fifth, Sixth, (Six died), Seventh, Eighth, Nineth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth (called Zero --because she was the only girl)...... The boys all have a purpose -- they are a chain of people who keeps their family and culture connected. If they reject their people… They are nothing?/!/? .....
Second - converted to Judaism. He married a Jewish girl. He was circumcised as an adult. He said that he kept kosher and that he could not eat mama because she wasn't kosher. Doesn't this tell you all you want to know about this book? hahahahah
Seventh is kinda the ring leader --(4th the smartest) -- but 7th--is the one who MOST wants to follow mama's instructions (money is involved for the boys -- but.... He says its not about the money) -- 7th and 2nd -go at it -(argue) -- 7th said 2nd MUST eat mama -- he doesn't care if he converted to Judaism. He doesn't care if he was Abraham, or Moses, or Jesus fucking Christ, but 2nd is eating mama. NO MESSING AROUND with TRADITION!!! You hear me?/!!!! Seventh was trying very hard not to lose his temper when telling Second what to do. He told him to throw up afterwards, that nobody would know the difference. But either way he's eating MAMA!!!
Eating Mama is a little like grieving with a purpose.
Little Zero (girl after my own heart) --felt that if somebody read this story 100 years from now and believed a word of it they would be idiots just like all the siblings.
"Being a good son is not about being a coward, being a good son is about bravery"! okay??/ eat mama!!!
Jack Nicholson is mentioned many times in this novel -but -- I might need some friends to help me understand why -- Some jokes went over my head - and some jokes were just too far in left field - to find them funny --
At the same time -- I'll confess -- I could actually read this book again -- (yep) -- Now that I've gotten over the SHOCK of what it is -- my feeling is -- I'd see the deeper meaning --if I did read it again.
If...Shalom is saying -- LETS NOT FORGET WHAT'S IMPORTANT in life -- lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater -- well -- I get it! This book is also a little sad -- Its not easy keeping family members connected. There are upsets in families - righteousness - pride - anger - etc. -- but in "Mother For Dinner".... Mama means business -- DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN!!!!
so...if you are a chain breaker in YOUR family -- (hard knock truth) -- you just might be seen as a NOBODY!!! (and how sad to be separated -and outcast nobody from separating yourself) ...
Win win? Not sure Lose lose? Not sure
Good book ..........NO --I'm not recommending it -- BUT --I'm glad I read it!!!...more
Aimee Bender left quite an impression on me with her book “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake”. There are style-similarities with “The Butterfly LampsAimee Bender left quite an impression on me with her book “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake”. There are style-similarities with “The Butterfly Lampshade”.....in that both books conjure a lush and powerful story with a ‘touch’ of magical realism. Aimee’s wonderfully strange images seem plausible.
I listened to the Audiobook- ( narrated by Julia Whelan), then re-read through favorite parts of the physical book. The book cover is gorgeous- with a smooth glossy finish.
The story begins with Francie - in her 20’s - who is determined to remember, and construe very specific distressing times in her childhood.
Having lived with a mother who was grappling with mental illness her entire life - by age eight- Francie’s mother, (Elaine), had a psychotic episode so severe, she needed to be hospitalized long term. Arrangements were being made for Francie to go stay with her Aunt Minn, Uncle Stan, and their newborn child, Vicky, ( later Vicky and Francie become very close), but first, Francie spent the night at her babysitter’s house for the weekend. A time to remember.....
There were three specific occurrences in young Francie’s life — that she ( now an adult), explores, examines obsessively, observes, and reflects earnestly. Disarming, emotionally —the grown up Francie, sits quietly in an actual ‘memory tent’....compelled to make sense of those events and how they impacted her life. She wrestles with old memories- their significance -and what they say about her place in the world.
This is a powerful novel dealing with mental illness. The scenes set in Francie’s past shine with intensity of childhood perception, the way physical objects can take on an otherworldly power.
Here’s a sample ‘part’ of a dialogue while driving in a car - (bittersweet; many priceless pages continue on and on)... —between the babysitter, Shrina, and 8 year old Francie: “Do you like the radio? It’s okay”. I know this must be so confusing, Francie. Is this your car? Yes. It’s green. It is. I like green. Do you always drive his car? I do. Do you like it? I do. I’m glad. That’s my lucky troll. We will have a couple of good days of just you and me before the train ride. It’s Friday! Weekend ahead. I know a great pancake place for tomorrow morning. Do you like pancakes? Yes. We’ll get in line early. They have the most amazing syrup. It’s a kind of special berry, you know those marionberries? Marionberry. They’re those really long blackberries, so long and skinny, like someone pulled a blackberry and stretched it.. Delicious. And we will talk to your aunt and uncle every day, okay? My mom? She can’t talk to you just yet. As soon as she is better and she can talk, you will definitely talk to her. That’s the glove compartment. Can I open it? It’s messy in there. You don’t usually sit in the front, do you? What’s this? Just Advil. Yeah, that should stay there. I probably should’ve put you in the back but it’s so messy, too. Would you rather sit in the back? No. Sorry, that’s just an old fork. I don’t know why it’s there. Shrina? Yes? When do I go? Sunday. Sunday morning. And we’ll I talk to my mom then? Not yet...... ..... ..... ...... .....” ...... ...... ...... Jumping ahead....( inside the house now) This is the living room, Francie. This is the kitchen. It’s really small. Up there is the loft. I sleep up there. Can you see the bed? Yes. Are you hungry? No. I might have some cookies. Do you like cookies? Is this your lamp? The butterfly lamp? Do you like it? Yes. ..... ..... ..... What do you do at home most days, when you come home from school? Play cards maybe. Cards. I don’t think I have cards. ..... ..... ..... I like the lamp. I’m so glad. My mother got it for me when I was a little girl. Here let me turn it on. The butterflies are so red. Aren’t they? And golden. Did she make the lamp? My mother? I believe she bought it in a department store. Did your uncle say he’ll stay at the hospital with the baby tonight? What is the name of the store? I don’t know, probably Robinson’s. She used to really like Robinson’s. Why? You want to see where my mother bought the lamp? Yes. Why, Frances? I like it. That’s so nice of you. I’ll tell my mother. She’ll be very pleased. What do you like about it? The butterflies on it. You want one of your own. Yes. This was years and years ago. I mean, I don’t know if they have them anymore. I don’t even think Robinson‘s exists anymore. Does it? But— you’ll be sleeping on the couch. You can sleep right next to it. Here? ..... ..... ..... Shrina, when I go, can I take the lamp? You’ll have a brand-new cousin! Wow. You will be such an amazing help to her. Can I take it with me? Sorry, take what with you? The lamp. Take the lamp? You mean with you on the train? I could put it in a box. Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry, Francie. It’s just— it’s a gift from my childhood. I feel like I should keep it. That’s okay. I’m sorry. I should probably just give it to you— Okay. But it’s like the only thing from a certain time, from when my parents divorced. Just it’s special to me. I’m so glad you like it. You can visit it anytime. .....there are a couple more pages of this dialogue.....
Shrina’s eyes tear up. As the reader... we soooo understand!
A butterfly matching the ones on the lampshade appears floating in Francie’s water glass. A beetle from a drawing on a school worksheet shows up in a backpack. And three roses matching the ones on a friends curtain appear on the floor. Francie takes them.
Aimee Bender tells this story going back and forth between adult Francie and childhood episodes that weighed heavily on her.
“We are all locked in rooms in different ways, and part of growing up is finding different kinds of keys, and meeting the people who will help free you”.
A little quirky....... with captivating imperfect characters who one moment made me laugh and in the next pierced my heart.
Audiobook... narrated by Ben Elliot, Amelia Cormack, Peter Forbes
I was in the mood for a psychological thriller... and picked this one based on the hiAudiobook... narrated by Ben Elliot, Amelia Cormack, Peter Forbes
I was in the mood for a psychological thriller... and picked this one based on the high ratings from the Goodreads community... pegged as “one of the good ones”.... It was good - but exceptional? I wouldn’t go that far.
Things are so strange these days in my community - the sky is sooooo ugly filthy and dark ( ashes from fires)...that it looks we are living on Mars... The apocalyptic life has arrived.... Soooo.... while listening to this book - during a depressing walk-later during a pool soak ( less depressing - but still creepy as can be outside)....about switched births- I found myself LAUGHING .... ... .....[tension release]... At scenes like this: Miles: “Did you read my email?” Pete: “Yes, well, the first few lines anyway. It was rather long actually”. Miles: Hangs up the phone angry after basically telling Pete to f#ck off.
I found the dialogue between the adults funny as can be throughout this book. But.... don’t mind me... my mind is warped.... victimized from the air quality here in San Jose.
So....All I could do was laugh....( not at the two - two year old toddlers)..but at their parents.
“Playing Nice”, was suspense interesting- not thriller scary- It was FUNNY....with characters that were whining weenies. Lucy was kinda sweet & charming.... But.... Pete, Miles, and Maddie could use a makeover.
As a comical psychopathic behavior-study ...”Playing Nice”..... was a successful play-date connection.
NO SPOILERS Audiobook....narrated by Marissa Tomei (Marissa was a ‘great’...reading this book). One audiobook reviewer said they thought Tomei ‘over-acNO SPOILERS Audiobook....narrated by Marissa Tomei (Marissa was a ‘great’...reading this book). One audiobook reviewer said they thought Tomei ‘over-acted’ her reading. For me she enhanced the storytelling.
Sooooooo.....??? ....A fan of the Neapolitan 4 book series? (Book 1, was my least favorite- by far— but the next 3 books were so darn juicy good- I wanted more). Overall, I loved the series.
....Enjoyed a few other stand alone Ferrante novels - but not all equally? That’s how it’s been for me.
....Curious about how this newly released novel measures up to past work by Elena Ferrante? I think it’s Elena’s best ‘stand-alone’ book to date. But....I'm left thinking about this book with a wide range of thoughts and feelings.
Since I’m sure there are many professional reviews and other reviews sharing the plot and main storyline: I’m going to focus on my feelings and thoughts.
First my feeling: .....HOLY SH*T! They are mixed. There was so much teenage angst — associated and entangled with her parents — then her aunt Vittoria— wanting and needing their approval desperately- becoming obsessed with her ‘Giovanna-ok-ness’ — ‘her beauty’ - ‘her worth’ - that it became a brain drain. Giovanna knew how to zap the energy out of me. I wanted to shake her and yell: “SHUT THE F#CK UP. FOCUS ON YOUR LIFE...MOVE ON....LEAVE THE ADULT PROBLEMS TO THEM. UNHOOK, ALREADY!”......ha...but then we might not have a story at all.
Other feelings: ...... a few scenes were so verbally & visually unsettling....smelling like a dirty toilet ....I was a little creeped out.
......I admit being hooked following most of the perverted dialogue,......(brutally disgusting at times but honest), but when it was repeated - over and over - I felt irritated. (enough already). I felt this book was a combination of ‘page-turning gripping’ & window-book-tossing at the same time. Is that even possible? I guess I’m saying it feels like this is a masterfully written ‘love/hate’ novel.
.....There wasn’t one cozy-warm-lovable character ....but I can’t deny this book drew me in.
..... I have more mixed feelings about the ending. Either a 2nd book is on its way....( Elena was much better in her 2nd book of the Neapolitan series so this could be the same - positive -pattern).... or.....we had a quick-stop unsatisfying abrupt ending. ( so deal with it).
Thoughts: .....When I shared this book - naughty parts and all with Paul, including other spoilers ( one I didn’t see coming at all - but made this book more interesting), then told him that this is going to be a Netflix Original Series..... He said: “enjoy yourself”....he’d pass. My thoughts were - and still are - kinda defensive FOR this book..... It’s compelling. It’s well written. It’s reactivating. It’s petty, indulgent, a coming of age original, ..... ......but Elena is so damn talented at having us look at dark emotions straight on .... then sinks them in the deep water .... until finally we come up for air questioning... what the heck just happened?
Exhausting... ( not negative...just fitting to the story itself), unsentimental...highly anticipated novel...it’s deep and multifaceted as love is....more
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