Another delightful Japanese novel. In this, we meet four cats and learn about their relationships with their humans. While the humans have real and prAnother delightful Japanese novel. In this, we meet four cats and learn about their relationships with their humans. While the humans have real and pressing issues of their own, the cats do as well � and the cats understand the concerns of the humans, though they can’t really do much about it, other than be there for their humans.
I wish I had read this in one sitting, but alas, life intervened. The translation is wonderful, lyrical and smooth....more
I picked this up on one of my many trips to the library, as it seemed intriguing. One of the blurbs on the back was written by Jonas Jonasson, who wroI picked this up on one of my many trips to the library, as it seemed intriguing. One of the blurbs on the back was written by Jonas Jonasson, who wrote The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, which I quite enjoyed, and he said that this book was “At once tender and hilarious…� My dude, did we even read the same book? Yes, it was tender, but I must have missed the hilarity.
Magda Eklund, a 70-year-old therapist in practice with two of her med school buddies, embarks on a road trip after losing her dearest friend Sara, a person she has loved in silence for most of their lives. Of course, she learns a lot about herself and about her relationship with Sara during this road trip, but there is so much navel gazing that I was hard-pressed at times to keep my eyes open. And there was so much shifting in the time line that I was never very certain whether Sara was still alive or whether she had passed on.
I appreciated that we have a book about a gay 70-year-old woman, but it was just too slow and introspective for me....more
I can’t remember now how I stumbled across the first book, A Skeleton in the Family, but it was delightful enough that I really wanted to continue reaI can’t remember now how I stumbled across the first book, A Skeleton in the Family, but it was delightful enough that I really wanted to continue reading the series. Alas, my state library system seems to have misplaced the physical copy of this book, and it wasn’t available on Libby until very recently. But now it is, and I’m so excited!
I gave the first book a very generous 4 stars, and this book is even better. Of course, you have to suspend your disbelief, as Sid is a walking, talking, and coherent skeleton, but Perry writes him so well that he’s strangely believable. And the care that he has for both Georgia and Madison is so endearing. He makes us all wish we had a skeleton bestie.
I wish I could have read this faster, but this was my bedtime book, and I kept falling asleep while reading. I look forward to reading more from this series!...more
When I start a series, I always wonder if/when it’s going to start to fade a bit. I was all about the Outlander series for the first five books or so,When I start a series, I always wonder if/when it’s going to start to fade a bit. I was all about the Outlander series for the first five books or so, and then I just seemed to lose interest. I can’t even get into the show anymore, though I liked the first season or two. By contrast, I quite enjoy the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley, and was so thrilled to hear he’s restarted the series.
I realize it’s only the second book in this series, but if Taylor keeps writing like this, I will definitely keep reading these books. My only quibble with Taylor’s writing is I don’t love how she’ll have Max explain off-camera what’s going to happen, what her plan is. I find that distracting; I’d rather Taylor change scenes entirely and then explain what’s going to happen. When Taylor has Max refer obliquely to the plan, so as not to spoil things until she’s ready to have Max explain, it feels jarring and tends to take me out of the novel.
My favorite part of this book was the team-building exercise in which Max had her people round up some dodos. The whole scene had me quietly laughing to myself and wishing I had been a part of it.
Another reviewer mentioned that they preferred this book over the first one, as Taylor stuck to actual history in terms of Mary, Queen of Scots, versus going back to the Cretaceous and checking out the dinosaurs. I do agree; my imagination doesn’t quite extend that far.
I look forward to the next book in this series!...more
This is a book I wish I could discuss with someone else. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone else who reads Japanese fiction. But I feel like there is This is a book I wish I could discuss with someone else. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone else who reads Japanese fiction. But I feel like there is a lot to unpack in this short novel.
Partway through the book, I had to look up the author to see what gender they were. As uncomfortable as some of these stories were, they would have been downright cringy had a man written them. I appreciated too that Kawakami centers women in these stories, even though the book is supposedly about Yurihiko Nishino.
Nishino himself is not a very likable person. He continues to engage in sexual activity with a woman, even when she says no. He admits he was in love with his sister. He seems incapable of monogamy and pits his various love interests against each other. We learn all of this from these ten women who tell us of their relationship with Nishino and how it played out. I would really have preferred each story to focus on how much better off each woman became when they realized Nishino was no good.
The translation by Allison Markin Powell is quite good. Most other novels I’ve read translated from the Japanese have a certain choppiness about them, but Powell’s translation is much more smooth....more
I love the Flavia de Luce books. I know that some folks might be over Flavia’s antics, or feel that the series has run its course. I do remember devouI love the Flavia de Luce books. I know that some folks might be over Flavia’s antics, or feel that the series has run its course. I do remember devouring the first five books within a short time, as that’s all that had been published till that point, but when the next was published I had issues recalling what had happened in the previous books. Strangely enough, I didn’t have that experience with this novel. Everything came rushing back to me as I turned to the first page.
While there are some things in this book that are far-fetched, it’s good to be back with Flavia once more. Besides, the entire premise of the novels are not exactly reality-based. How many 11-year-olds have a better grasp of chemistry and experimentation that’s most college students?
At any rate, in this novel, Flavia has lost her dad and inherited Buckshaw, her ancestral home. Taking care of her is Mrs Mullet, the housekeeper, and Dogger, the groundskeeper. To augment her income at Buckshaw, Mrs Mullet has agreed to care for Mr Greyleigh, a man who had worked as a hangman. One morning Greyleigh ends up dead, and it’s clear that he’s been poisoned. Was it Mrs Mullet’s mushrooms that poisoned him, or something else? And who wants him dead?
I’m infinitely glad to have had one more trip back to Buckshaw, with Flavia joyfully riding Gladys down the country lanes, and having deep conversations with Dogger. Thank you, Mr Bradley....more
This is the final selection of this season’s Jukebox of Genre book club featuring fairies, and I must say, it really delivered. This is a beautifully This is the final selection of this season’s Jukebox of Genre book club featuring fairies, and I must say, it really delivered. This is a beautifully lyrical fairy tale that feels almost as it the author shares it with you in a medieval tavern with a roaring fire and a goblet of mead to sip from.
Esther and Ysabel are sisters who live in Thistleford, and they sing every day to thank the willows for providing them with their magic (what El-Mohtar calls grammar). When Esther falls afoul of a man with evil designs, though Esther herself loves another, it is the bond between the sisters that gives life to Esther once more.
I noticed two tiny references to previous authors in this charming story. The first is when Pollard says to Esther “how ardently I admire you and your family� (p. 37), which harkens back to Jane Austern’s Mr Darcy. Later, on page 80, El-Mohtar writes that “skin to skin is holy drummer’s kiss,� referencing Romeo & Juliet, when Juliet says that “palm to palm is holy palmer's kiss.� I’m sure there are more, but those are just the two I picked up on.
I’m so glad I read this. It’s so beautifully written; even as I read the words on the page, I could hear the lyricism in my head. I can only imagine how much better this would be on audio.
I will admit that even though I read Romeo & Juliet twice in school (I took freshman English as a night class in 7th grade), I don’t remember a lot ofI will admit that even though I read Romeo & Juliet twice in school (I took freshman English as a night class in 7th grade), I don’t remember a lot of the particulars. So I can’t speak to how faithful Roehrig is to Shakespeare’s original, though we all know how R&J ends. But this book was just so, so good. I would highly suggest this version to anyone who would prefer to read a book instead of reading Shakespeare, which is always better when performed.
The writing is just so beautiful and descriptive. This is one of those novels where I really did forget I as reading words on a page; instead, I felt as though I was in the story. I appreciated greatly how Roehrig had Juliet so very aware of how narrow her life was, and how few choices she had. One must wonder how many women throughout the ages were as aware, and how enraged they must have been throughout their lives so be so very constrained. Jane Austen points it out in Pride & Prejudice as well, when Elinor Dashwood tells Edward Ferrars he’s lucky to be a man, as she’s not even allowed to make her fortune or her own way in the world.
I also appreciated the representation of asexual folks, both Juliet and Friar Laurence. One thing I love about queer authors is that they are so very inclusive.
I’m also super happy about the ending. Roehrig’s use of the original yet twisting it just so in order to create a happily ever after is masterful, and one I am so grateful for. We have enough stories in which gay people never get their HEA; it’s important to read books where a well-lived life with your beloved is the perfect HEA.
We in American love stories of people who face some sort of adversity and then rise about it to achieve great things. It doesn’t even have to be that We in American love stories of people who face some sort of adversity and then rise about it to achieve great things. It doesn’t even have to be that huge of a “great thing�; just pulling oneself out of crushing poverty and living the American dream is usually enough. With that in mind, I was looking forward to reading this memoir. Alas, the last few chapters did not sit well with me.
Rob Henderson was put into foster car when it was determined his mother, a drug addict, couldn’t take care of him. She was then deported back to South Korea, leaving him in the system. It wasn’t until he was eight or nine years old that he was adopted by the Hendersons, a couple with a 5-year-old daughter. For a few years, everything seemed to work well, but then the Hendersons divorced, and the father never really wanted anything to do with Rob as a means of hurting his ex-wife, who had entered in to a relationship with a woman named Shelly. Things really fell apart after Shelly was shot in an accident at a shooting range. Throughout his teen years, Henderson engaged in a lot of risky behavior, from alcohol to drugs to thrill seeking, in order to numb the pain of never feeling wanted or fitting in through his entire life.
After high school, he joins the Air Force, which gives him much needed structure, and it is that which leads him to apply to and be accepted to Yale. It’s at Yale that Henderson develops his theory of “luxury beliefs,� which seems to be a code word for “woke politics.� What’s harming America, Henderson opines, is how the wealthy are obsessed with status instead of something meaningful, and how they show that status is their “luxury beliefs,� which the poor have no time for and couldn’t care less about because they have much bigger fish to fry. My first inkling of how problematic his theory would become was when Henderson defined cisgender as the fact that he “presents� his gender as he was “assigned� at birth, complete with quotation marks. He also equates polyamory with sexual promiscuity, instead of another way to form relationships. His idea that the liberal elites want to simply abolish the police also doesn’t account for the history of policing in America, how racist it tends to be, and the fact that our police force grew out of slave catching in the 1800s. My sense after finishing the last few chapters is that Henderson himself is just as naive as the liberal elites he’s trying to skewer, as he seems to see things in shades of black and white.
My heart goes out to that little boy who was abandoned again and again by people who were supposed to care about him, and a system that was supposed to help him. My heart aches for the teen who acted out again and again just try to feel something. My hope is that Henderson continue on with his therapy and that he is successful in breaking the cycle if he chooses to marry and have children. ...more
This popped up in my social media feed, and I’m always a sucker for a good graphic memoir. But this one is a lot deeper than I was expecting. I think This popped up in my social media feed, and I’m always a sucker for a good graphic memoir. But this one is a lot deeper than I was expecting. I think instead of YA, I would categorize this under “New Adult,� a genre one of my local bookstores has that deals with the issues of folks who are legally an adult but still finding their place in the world.
While I am not a biracial person, I can identify a little bit with how Mari never felt that she fit in anywhere. My father’s family is Jewish, but we weren’t raised in the religion or the culture. However, I was bullied quite a bit for being Jewish, and I never really fit in anywhere as a kid or a teenager. It wasn’t until I became quite a bit older that I realized that it really doesn’t matter whether I fit in, and that it was fine just making friends who appreciate me for who I am.
My heart went out to Mari when she went through a heavy depressive episode. It’s common for young people to feel all the weight of the world, but it hit Mari especially hard. This part of the memoir may be difficult for people who have themselves struggled with depression and self-harm. I am so very glad that Mari had her grandparents nearby in Japan so that she had a loving home to retreat to.
Even in the darkest hours, dawn comes again. And even after the darkest of winters, spring always arrives and the cherry trees bloom once more....more
Ths is quite a beautiful book on turning one’s back on the expectations of society and doing your own thing. I quite admire Ken Smith for doing just tThs is quite a beautiful book on turning one’s back on the expectations of society and doing your own thing. I quite admire Ken Smith for doing just that, and for being so successful at it. However, he at times gets a little preachy. In one breath, he says he would presume to expect someone to choose the very difficult life he has, but then in the next breath he looks down upon those of us who do have conventional jobs and pay bills. At one point, he denigrates those who order items and groceries online for delivery, eschewing the company of others while getting supplies, and not seeing the hypocrisy of a man who lives alone in the woods for weeks at a time, only coming into town for supplies and a pint, saying such a thing.
That said, I do love to read about people who choose such a lifestyle, and we can all learn so much from a person like Smith. He’s intimately acquainted with the natural world, and as such he sees the chaos that is being wreaked thanks to climate change. He also makes good points about helping to care for others and to share whaat we have, instead of lining the pockets of billionaires.
While this book is full of the many adventures (and some misadventures) of Smith’s life, I would have liked a little more depth. What does his family think of his life? Does he miss his siblings and his nieces and nephews? Does he host some of his family members to impart the wisdom he’s gleaned, or does he only interact with people when he goes to town? The reader does get the sense, especially from the author’s note, about what a kind and generous person Smith is, but he keeps his cards very close to his chest. Perhaps these questions are answered in the documentary about him, but this book left me wanting just a little bit more....more
My very first book by this author was Once Upon a Wardrobe, and I absolutely adored it. Based on that, I next read Becoming Mrs. Lewis, which I liked,My very first book by this author was Once Upon a Wardrobe, and I absolutely adored it. Based on that, I next read Becoming Mrs. Lewis, which I liked, but it didn’t have the magic that Once Upon a Wardrobe did. With this recent released, I figured I’d give this author another shot.
It’s 1940, and Hazel and her sister Flora, the younger by 9 years, are sent from London to the English countryside to save them from the bombs following on the British capital. They are chosen by Bridie and her son Harry to live with them, safe from air raids and explosions. But of course the girls miss their home and their mother, so to help distract and soothe Flora, Hazel begins to tell Flora of a magical land called Whisperwood. When Flora goes missing after a year, Hazel, her mother, and the Aberdeens are devastated. The police insist Flora drowned in the river, but Hazel isn’t convinced. Twenty years later, she comes across a book of stories that had recently been published, a book of Whisperwood, and Hazel’s questions come flooding back.
This is a fairly light novel, though it deals with some heavier themes. I can’t imagine sending my children off to live with strangers, but considering how badly London was being bombed at the time, I can see how it would be the best option for many people. The problem is this book read more like a Hallmark movie. It was fairly repetitive, and Henry often chose to tell us things instead of showing us. Also the way in which conflict arose really felt manufactured; Hazel’s boyfriend becomes angry when she wants to stay behind to meet the American author, and the things he says sounds more like a script from a bad TV movie than something a person who had spent years caring for and loving Hazel.
I will say that it is a somewhat quick read, although it definitely could have been shorter. I also didn’t care for the dual timelines; it distracted more than it helped. One fact that frustrated me was when Bridie was bringing the girls home in her car, and it’s mentioned that she was singing along to the radio as she drove. My father had a 1931 Chevrolet when I was a kid (actually, he had two over the years), and neither had a radio. The likelihood of Bridie having a new car in 1939 with most of the globe in a recession and the country at war is low, and only the highest-end British cars had a radio fitted in 1939. It’s such a small thing, I know, but I’m surprised no one picked up on it.
I know Henry just came out with another new book, but I’m not sure I will pick it up. The covers are beautiful, though....more
Dr Madeleine Maxwell has never really fit int anywhere. One day her former teacher suggests that she apply at St Mary’s,Oh, man, this was delightful.
Dr Madeleine Maxwell has never really fit int anywhere. One day her former teacher suggests that she apply at St Mary’s, and knowing very little about it, she’s hired on. Once she’s had her interview, she learned that St Mary’s is a group dedicated to doing historical research � except they actually go back in time to do the research on site. Max’s cohorts are a ragtag group of fellow historians that are just as British and quirky as she, though there is quite a lot of conflict that results in death for quite a few of them. But the book is fun and rollicking, and I enjoyed it.
This is not great literature, and as long as you don’t expect too much of it, you too will most likely enjoy it. It was just what I needed right now. I will say that I didn’t love the love interest aspect; I never really did feel any real chemistry between Max and Farrell, and the way he unleashed on her (view spoiler)[when he found out about her miscarriage (hide spoiler)] verges on emotional abuse. Not cool. Also the author is rather vague right when I need her to be more specific, which I found frustrating.
I am interested to see where this series goes, so I will definitely check out the next book soonest....more
When I was a kid in the 1980s, the Holocaust felt like it wasn’t that long ago. And it really wasn’t. People my age had grandparents that survived theWhen I was a kid in the 1980s, the Holocaust felt like it wasn’t that long ago. And it really wasn’t. People my age had grandparents that survived the worst of Nazi brutality. It didn’t feel that far behind us in the rear view mirror.
But it is now 2025, and so many Holocaust survivors have passed on. Now, more than ever, it is important to remember what havoc Hitler and his henchmen wreaked all over Europe, targeting mostly Jewish people, but also political dissidents, the Roma, and gay people. Six million Jews were lost to Hitler’s brutal regime. He painted them as inhumane, allowing the Nazis to unleash the very worst of human cruelty on people who simply worshiped in their own way.
Rosie Greenstein lived a quiet life in a small town in Eastern Europe, a town that changed hands from Hungary to Romania a few times. She assisted her sister Leah, who was a talented seamstress, and helped care for her younger brother. It was a close knit family, with extended members living close by.
And then the war came to Crasna, and Rosie, her sister, mother, and brother were deported to Auschwitz. Upon arrival, her mother and brother were sent to the left and the gas chambers, while she and Leah were sent to the right. Both girls endured unspeakable horrors, witnessing brutal beatings and killings, eating rotten food, sleeping in unhygienic conditions, and enduring senseless roll calls that lasted hours and hours in frigid temperatures. Throughout it all, Rosie insisted she would one day go home. Both she and her sister Leah survived, thanks mostly to Rosie’s strength. In this book, Rosie’s granddaughter Nechama Birnbaum recounts Rosie’s story so that we know forever what the Nazis did to the Jews in the camps.
“Evil does not only happen when a person is abnormally bad. Evil happens when good people do not see the good in other people. Evil happens when we judge each other. Evil happens when we put ourselves higher than others. Evil happens when we stand by someone else’s evil and do not speak up.�
When I was growing up in Virginia in the 1980s and 1990s, the third Monday in January was still known as Lee-Jackson-King Day. Yes, the civil rights hWhen I was growing up in Virginia in the 1980s and 1990s, the third Monday in January was still known as Lee-Jackson-King Day. Yes, the civil rights hero had to share a holiday with two Confederate generals, men who fought to keep King’s ancestors enslaved. In 2000, the holiday was split in two, with King getting the third Monday of the month to himself, but Lee and Jackson still shared the Friday before. It wasn’t until 2020, just five years ago, that Lee-Jackson Day was finally eliminated.
I believe my first knowledge of Emmett Till came from the Virginia band emmet swimming that was popular in northern Virginia during my high school years. I always wondered where their name came from, and according to Wikipedia, the name came from the thought that a 14-year-old kid should be swimming in the river, not dying in it. Once I learned about the lynching of Emmett Till, the name of the band made me uncomfortable.
Wright Thompson has written an excellent book covering not just the terrible events of 28 August 1955, but has interwoven the history of the Mississippi Delta with the flight of Black people to more northern lands, the collapse of the cotton economy that was a global issue, desegregation and the fears of white people that Black men and boys would prey on white women and girls the way white men have always preyed on Black women, and the ways in which white people would demonize their Black neighbors, though they would more than likely related, thanks to many white planters having both a white family and a Black family (case in point: the McCains. John McCain’s ancestor had a white family and a Black family, but it’s rarely noted). There is so much history here, but if you give this book a chance, you can see that racism in the Deep South is a deep-seeded and complex issue. And yes, white people do need to acknowledge the horrors they perpetrated on Black people, simply because they could. Because racist white men could kidnap, torture, and murder in cold blood a young Black boy who had just turned 14, knowing they would never face justice for it. The cruelty was the point.
This book is even more important now, as the US’s current administration seeks to erase everything in our history that doesn’t glorify white men. The Lost Cause has been simmering just below the surface, even now (take a gander at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond), but it will not surprise me if it rears its ugly head once more thanks to this administration. When a highly-qualified four-star general loses his job simply because of the color of his skin, you realize that we are just as racist a nation as we were the day Emmett Till was brutally murdered, calling for his momma. ...more
I needed a sweet and charming book to read, and this novel delivered.
Rintaro is a hikikomori, a young man who has just lost his grandfather and has dI needed a sweet and charming book to read, and this novel delivered.
Rintaro is a hikikomori, a young man who has just lost his grandfather and has decided to withdraw from society. His class rep Sayo comes to give him his homework and to encourage him to return to school, but he just can’t manage it. Instead he continues to care for his grandfather’s used bookstore. That is, until Tiger the Tabby shows up, a talking cat that tells him he’s been chosen to help save books. They go on three missions, plus a bonus one, to save books from being destroyed and forgotten.
Because this book was originally written in Japanese, the prose can at times be a little clunky, and the motivations of the characters are a bit different than they would be if this book were written in English. But for me, that’s part of the charm of this novel. As Rintaro points out, reading increases our empathy. In my own experience, the folks that I know who make the time to read tend to be among the more empathic and compassionate of my friends.
I quite enjoyed this book, and I’d recommend it for anyone who needs a calming and charming read....more
I just read through a bunch of reviews on this book, and I am totally in the minority. I don’t mind a slow burn, but I feel like a lot of the interactI just read through a bunch of reviews on this book, and I am totally in the minority. I don’t mind a slow burn, but I feel like a lot of the interactions between Vanessa and Aiden were toxic as hell. She’s upset at him for promising to go with her to El Paso, but he flakes on her at the last minute. She’s already upset when she arrives home because the visit went poorly, and all she wants to do at that point is go up to her room and decompress a bit. But he demands to have it out right then, not giving her the space she asks for time and again to get her head on straight. That really bothered me. Plus Aiden would get very possessive of Vanessa to an unhealthy degree. Demanding to know whether she had had a relationship with his friend Cain literally years ago? Not healthy.
Vanessa wasn’t much better. We only see things from her perspective, and she’s fallen in love with Aiden yet continually tries to convince herself that it could never be reciprocated. What happened to being an adult and discussing it? I get that Zapata wanted to write a slow burn, which I do prefer over instalove, but hearing Vanessa say over and over and over again how she doesn’t deserve to fall in love with Aiden got really old. Hearing Vanessa talk about how huge Aiden is all the time also got quite old, quite quickly. It sounds like from context that Aiden is about the same size as my husband, who, while large, isn’t a massive giant. And yes, my husband has thighs like tree trunks but I don’t mention that every other moment.
Another character that annoyed me to no end was Zac. I find it difficult to believe that a man who had the discipline to get to the professional level of football would throw his career away. Plus what did Vanessa do except the bare minimum of being a friend, yet she’s the best friend Zac’s ever had?
Don’t even get me started on Vanessa getting Aiden a puppy for Christmas without discussing it with him as to preferred breed or whether they even are ready for a dog, and to add insult to injury she leaves the poor baby in its crate for at least 12 hours unattended so she can present him to Aiden on Christmas morning!!! Ugh.
I don’t think I will be reading any more by this autho...more
On December 6, 1917, the Mont-Blanc collided with the Imo in the Halifax harbor, setting off the most destructive blast the world had ever seen until On December 6, 1917, the Mont-Blanc collided with the Imo in the Halifax harbor, setting off the most destructive blast the world had ever seen until the atomic bombs dropped on Japan 30 years later. The blast leveled much of Halifax, killed 2,000 people instantaneously, injured another 9,000, and left 25,000 homeless. The calm and quiet of an early winter morning was shattered with the worst disaster that had ever occurred and left survivors with horrific injuries, both physical and emotional.
I had known a bit about this terrible event, but this was the first book I’ve read on the subject. I quite liked how Bacon started by telling us about some of the people he’d profile throughout the book, from Barbara Orr to Noble Driscoll to Joseph Ernest Barss. It really brought these people to life and made the reader more emotionally invested in the disaster.
Bacon also discussed the history of the relationship between Canada and the US. Since the founding of both colonies, the relationship had been contentious, with the US continually seeking to annex Canada, which wanted to remain its own entity. Yet as soon as the call went out to help Halifax, Massachusetts in general and Boston in particular answered that call and sent goods, money, and personnel, leading to a much closer friendship between the two nations. Unfortunately that close friendship we have enjoy for the last century looks to be in peril, thanks to the American President. I admit it’s been difficult to read this book with the current events happening now. ...more
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