Sing, unburied, sing, Diane, Angela and Esil discuss.

[Diane S ☔]

Really looking forward to this one.

[Angela M]

Me too !

[Esil]

Me three! Planning to start on Tuesday.

[Diane S ☔]

Looks like there are fifteen chapters, so how about checking in with our thoughts after every five?

[Angela M]

That sounds like a good place to comment. Starting on Tuesday also .

[Esil]

Perfect! I'm semi on vacation this coming week and then fully on vacation for three weeks after that. I hope this will leave me with a lot of reading time!

[Diane S ☔]

Lucky you, Esil.

Do either of you have one of both of these? The Last Ballad and The Revolution of Marina M..

[Angela M]

I'm waiting for approval for The Last Ballad . Fingers crossed . I love Wiley Cash! Not good chances for the other . Little Brown doesn't usually approve me . Not sure if I even requested.

[Esil]

I have the same issue as Angela with Little, Brown. I'll put in a request for The Last Ballad.

[Angela M]

I requested The Last Ballad quite a while ago on Edelweiss and I get quite a few approvals from HarperCollins and William Morrow but it's been a while with no response. Maybe I'll request it again.

[Angela M]

I looked and I did request The Revolution of Marina M and was declined:(

[Diane S ☔]

Finished the first five chapters. Very gritty as I expected. Didn't much enjoy the goat part nor the young man being whipped at Parchment, but again not unexpected from this author. JoJo and Kayla though have worked their way into my heart especially since their mother seems so inept. Like their grandpa too and really wish Leonie would have left the kids at home with him.

[Angela M]

I feel the same as you , Diane . I read Salvage the Bones so I'm not surprised at the grittiness either. Well, I wanted to throw up like JoJo did with the goat killing . I love Pop and Mam and how they take care of JoJo and Kayla when their mother clearly doesn't . Seems there have been a few recent books with inept parents . I'm so touched by the bond that JoJo has with Pop and how he loves the stories that Pop tells him and equally touched by the bond that JoJo has with Kayla.

[Angela M]

I read Ch 6-8 last night and I woke up thinking about JoJo and Kayla, then read 9 and 10 this am. I know a book is getting to me when I wake up thinking about it . I'll come back with thoughts after a Esil comments on 1-5.

[Esil]

I'm just half way through chapter 4, so I'm lagging behind and won't have much more reading time until this evening. Don't wait for me to post your comments. This seems like a fast, intense, all consuming read, so I understand your impulse to keep reading, Angela. If I could, I think I would just keep reading it right through for the day.

There's a pervasive sadness and sense of dread, especially as Jojo sits in the back seat of Leonie's car and goes into that horrible meth house. But Ward's writing is so good. I love how she gets into her characters' intense feelings. I too love Pop and Jojo--and Mam to the extent we get to know her.

By coincidence, I'm listening to the audio of another non fiction book about Louisiana -- Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right -- really interesting to read both in parallel.

Again, don't worry about posting your comments. I'm not one to get fussed about spoilers.

[Angela M]

6-10
Intense is the perfect word , Esil and the intensity continues. I found these chapters especially tough to read , with Kayla sick and the stop by the police . As I said, I thought about JoJo and Kayla when I woke up. That doesn't happen too often. I couldn't wait until they got home to Pop. The appearance of another ghost , Richie - so heartbreaking as we only know the part of his story that Pop has told JoJo.
I also am so impressed with how intimately we come to know these characters. I will finish this today , I'm sure . Wow is all I can say .

[Diane S ☔]

Finished Chapter 10. Very intense but it has also made me angry. Those two children deserve better than those two drug addicted parents. Michaels father is a jerk and felt so bad that the kids had to hear what he said. The appearance of Richie was a surprise and also that JoJo and Kayla can see him. Heartbreaking.

Will finish tomorrow, think I need a time out.

[Angela M]

I will finish this tonight. I'm up to Ch 12. I agree , Diane - so hard to read because of what these children are subjected to by the incompetent parents. But in spite of the ugliness, the way that the grandparents care about these children is so moving . I'm not sure I can give this less than 5 stars even though I'm not yet finished.

[Diane S ☔]

I can't get over how sick that little girl was and except for JoJo, those druggies were not much concerned. Kids are hungry, tough, do more drugs.Despicable. But, show how well this author writes, how she can pull a reader into a story?

[Angela M]

That's the part that I found so hard to get through with Kayla so sick . Such blatant neglect- abuse really. She is such a talented writer I think but it's sure a gritty one .

[Esil]

Just finished chapter 10. I agree with everything you've both said. I'm also amazed at how the story takes place over such a short period of time, but Ward is nevertheless able to pack so much meaning into the interactions between all the characters.

My only issue so far is with Richie. I think Given-not-Given is a brilliant touch, showing up every time Leonie gets high, but I'm having trouble getting into Richie the ghost being visible to Jojo and Kayla. Minor complaint. Generally I am incredibly impressed with Ward's talent.

Hope to finish tonight.

[Esil]

By the way, if Angela and I don't get the new Wiley Cash book, what do you think of reading The Stolen Marriage or In the Midst of Winter in September?

[Angela M]

I've finished it and it's going to be 5 stars for me . Will post a review today .
In the last group of chapters, I came to love Richie as we hear more about his heartbreaking story . With "seeing" and ghosts and magical realism in general, I sometimes have a hard time but for some reason , I just accepted it here ,
Heartbreaking but she is an amazing story teller .


Either of those books work for me . I'm dying yo read Cash's book but no response yet from Edelweiss and I haven't seen it on NetGalley.

[Esil]

I'm hit and miss with ghosts and magical realism. Now, I'm looking forward to seeing with Richie in the later chapters.

[Angela M]

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I really was taken with this as tough as it was to read .

Thanks , Book sisters !

[Diane S ☔]

Will read your review, Angela after I finish later today.

The midst of winter I did get from Netgalley, but only in PDF format and it won't download. Did you get download to kndle icons or tried to download the file?

[Angela M]

I got a PDF which I can read on iPad. The Chamberlain book is fine with me .

[Esil]

I got the Midst of Winter in pdf and can read it on my ipad, but I'm happy to read the Chamberlain book if that's more convenient. I don't love reading on my ipad. I find it much less convenient.

[Angela M]

I'm not crazy about reading on my iPad either , Esil . It's just too heavy and I have an IPad mini. I do read in it if that's the only format . Maybe it will be available for kindle eventually. I'll keep checking.

[Esil]

Just finished it. It's relentlessly sad but beautifully written. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ghosts, but that's some story about what Pop did for/to Richie.

[Diane S ☔]

I finished too. Will think about it overnight, but definitley grim. I do love pop though, some horrific things he had to deal wit. Will be back with final thoughts tomorrow.

[Esil]

I just posted my review. I struggled a bit with the ghosts and how they fit in with the story, but in the end I was really taken with the writing so I landed on 5 stars. Here is my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Angela M]

Esil , I get what you think about the ghosts . I agree but they fit in so beautifully with the story that Ward tells . Just read your review and
commented there . I really enjoy these reads too. I think we zipped through this one since it wasn't all that long and for me I had to keep reading.

[Angela M]

Looking forward to your review and rating, Diane .

[Angela M]

In the Midst of Winter is now available on NetGalley for kindle . Either of the suggestions work for me .

[Diane S ☔]

My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thought the ghost thing was just a little overdone so rated it 4.5.

Let's do the Allende. Think it might have more depth.

[Esil]

Angela M wrote: "In the Midst of Winter is now available on NetGalley for kindle . Either of the suggestions work for me ."

Great. Thanks for letting me know, Angela. I'm happy with either one too. Diane, do you want to break the tie? Or we could do one in September and the other in October -- unless we get the Wiley Cash book.

[Angela M]

Allende book is fine with me too .

The link to your review didn't work for me , Diane . I'll look at the book .

[Angela M]

I'll be so disappointed if I don't get The Last Ballad but I'll buy a copy if I don't get it .

[Diane S ☔]

Fixed it Angela. Think maybe we were all typing at the same time. Lol

[Angela M]

Beautiful review, Diane . I found this especially tough to read but yet loved it .

I'm glad that we all felt the same way as we often do . I also very much enjoy the bond we've created with our monthly reads !

Until September!

[Esil]

Looking forward to Allende in September too!

It was definitely great to read this one together, especially given how grim it was.

[Angela M]

I got the Wiley Cash book through Edelweiss. I actually sent a note to the publisher with links to my reviews of his first two books and a link to my Goodreads review. I told them how much I loved his books . Sent the note on Saturday. Cheri suggested it since she did the same thing and got it .
I sent the note to sharyn.rosenblum@harpercollins.com and got Edelweiss approval this am.

I hope you get it Esil, but I'm too anxious to read it so may be starting it this week!

[Esil]

I will give that a try. Thanks Angela.

[Angela M]

Fingers crossed !

[Esil]

I got it! Thanks for the tip, Angela! So we're on for September with the Wiley Cash book. Maybe we can read Allende in October if nothing else strikes our fancy.

[Angela M]

Yay ! So glad Esil . I don't get why they are so slow to respond for this on on Edelweiss but I'm glad that they are willing when we requested it directly! That works for me in September and Allende's for October if that's good with Diane .