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Reading Wednesday

    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Dream State by Eric Puchner

    December 31, 2025
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    Spanning fifty years, Dream State is a lovely but sometimes sad look at life of looking back at choices and decisions made. Here is my book review Dream State by Eric Puchner.

    College

    Charlie and Garrett are best friends in college, despite their differences. Little do they know that their random meeting their freshman year will shape the rest of their lives.

    Choices

    Charlie is in love with Cece and they are getting married. Charlie has asked Garrett to officiate the wedding. Cece has reservations about this, given Garrett has had some mental health issues following the tragic death of a friend. Garrett feels responsible for this tragedy and has struggled. But when Cece meets Garrett and spends some time with him, she begins to have feeling for him. Garrett also is falling in love with Cece.

    Montana

    Like the Montana setting of this story, the choices and aftermath are monumental and breathtaking. This epic novel will follow these characters for fifty years. The decisions they each made will affect generations to come. As families, friendships and even Montana itself experience irreparable change, Puchner leads us through this novel with beautiful prose, well developed characters and humor too.

    Book Review Dream State by Eric Puchner

    Touching on important topics of the day including climate change, drug addiction, alcohol, divorce, infidelity, and most of all friendship. Puchner’s novel is engaging and beautifully written with breathtaking passages of beauty and touching moments of humor.

    *****Five stars for Dream State by Eric Puchner

    Thank you for reading my book review Dream State by Eric Puchner. See last week’s book review Flesh by David Szalay.

    Pleases note there will be no book review next two weeks as I travel in Cuba. I’ll be back with more book reviews mid-January.

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Flesh by David Szalay

    December 24, 2025
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    Szalay is a new to me author. He recently won the coveted Booker Award for 2025, otherwise I probably would never have read his work. But since my husband and I follow the Booker Prize closely, we immediately got a hold of Flesh. Here is my book review Flesh by David Szalay.

    Sex

    I’ll be right up front about this. There is A LOT of explicit sex in this book. If that bothers you, this book is not for you.

    Sparse

    Sparse is the word I have chosen to describe this novel. The dialogue is sparse, and the story itself is pretty bare bones. I found the narrative style a bit difficult, dialogue of one and two word sentences for much of the book. Szalay is known for this kind of writing, but it’s not my favorite.

    Story

    The story follows Hungarian born Istevan through out his life, starting when he is 15 years old. Istevan encounters multiple circumstances through out his life that will take him from rags to riches. He does not always make the best choices, although he is not an unlikable character. He is however an unfortunate character, whose own actions thrust him from problem to problem throughout his life.

    It’s a fairly short, and unhappy book of one man’s life. From humble beginnings to incredible wealth and back to simple life.

    Book Review Flesh by David Szalay

    I did not love this book. But you might. It’s an interesting choice for such an important award. I have read a lot of Booker Prize winning books, but recently I have not been a fan of the choices. That said, Szalay is definitely talented, and this book certainly has people talking.

    **Two stars for Flesh by David Szalay.

    Thank you for reading my book review Flesh by David Szalay.

    See last week’s book review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. We love it when you pin, share and comment on our book reviews. Thank you.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

    December 17, 2025
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    Looking for a feel good memoir that will make you hungry and make you cry at the same time? This fabulous book is for you. Here is my book review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.

    Family, Food and Finding Peace

    I have wanted to read this book for months and I am so glad I finally got it on the top of my list. It’s a fabulous memoir of a mother daughter relationship. It’s also a love story, an education about Korean culture, and a mouthwatering look at Korean cuisine.

    Korea

    I’m lucky to have spent several weeks in Korea a decade ago. I find the country and the food fascinating. But I really don’t know many people who have traveled to Korea. You should. And maybe by reading this book you will understand the culture a bit more.

    Michelle Zauner was born to a Korean mother and American father in 1989. She was raised in Eugene Oregon, where she had few Asian Americans in her school. Her mother, very strict with high expectations was Michelle’s closest companion, since they lived many miles out of town. In her teens, Michelle rebelled against her mother and the strict Korean rules in the house, even while loving her mother and loving the annual trips to Korea to visit her grandmother. She was conflicted about her Korean heritage and identity.

    Identity

    Michelle flees to the East Coast for college, where her fledgling band has a few gigs, she works in a restaurant and meets Peter her future husband. Far from her mother Michelle is able to put her “Koreanness” at arms length, even though she craves the foods of her childhood.

    It’s not until her mother’s cancer diagnosis that Michelle reckons with her heritage and all she has learned from her mother.

    You’re Gonna Cry

    This reckoning and mother daughter relationship as Michelle’s mother is dying is a real tear jerker. Beautifully written throughout but particularly honest during this process, Zauner is a exceptional storyteller. Combining so many elements and anecdotes from her childhood, Crying in H Mart will make you go call your Mom, and crave some noodles.

    Book Review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

    *****Five stars for Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. You definitely should read this one. Thank you for reading my book review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. See last week’s book review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong here.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

    December 10, 2025
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    A sad but sometimes funny story of people trying to survive on the margins of life, in a broken down post industrial town in Connecticut. Here is my book review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong.

    The Emperor of Gladness

    The title made me think this book was about a person…I imagined someone with a positive attitude living a positive life. Well, that is not what this book is. Very much the opposite. The Emperor of Gladness is not a person but more of a state of mind. Throughout the novel we follow a cast of characters who become the most unlikely friends. Each one dealing in their own way with the suffering of the world.

    Hai

    When we meet Hai, he is standing on a bridge in the dark about to end his life. Addiction has plagued him and he has lied so egregiously to his mother to make her happy he sees no way to come clean. But then he hears someone calling to him and he meets an old woman living in a dilapidated house on the edge of the bridge. Hai and Grazina, who suffers from dementia, will form an improbably bond as he becomes her caretaker.

    The HomeMarket

    Hai goes to the local HomeMarket, a kind of slow food grocery, to find his cousin Sony and try to get a job. Sony introduces Hai to BJ the manager and she hires him. Over the next month Hai will befriend the quirky collection of addicts, veterans, dreamers and a civil war history enthusiast to form a sort of family, as he continues to care for Grazina and lie to his mother.

    Suffering

    As Grazina’s dementia spirals, her son realizes Hai is not a trained nurse and calls the cops. At the same time BJ is forced by the corporate office to let Sony go and in his despair he runs away. Hai wants so much to save them both, save everyone, and elemenate all their suffering. The ragtag group of friends with Grazina in tow go on one last adventure, in an effort to help Sony.

    Witty and Moving

    This is not a happy story, but you feel such empathy for these odd characters. This book is a moving look at those in our midst living on the edge of sanity, those in our society on the margins who have so little and only want to be loved. The ending is ambiguous, apparently by design. What will happen to Hai? Can he find peace in this harsh world of suffering?

    Thank you for reading my book review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong.

    ****Four stars for The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong. See last week’s book review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

    December 3, 2025
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    In a small Ohio town over five decades, Ryan creates a unique and engaging cast of characters in Buckeye. I listened to this on on Audible on our long road trip in October. Here is my book review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan.

    Small Town Life

    A small farming community in Ohio is the setting for Buckeye, a story that spans two world wars and a depression. This tight knit community is home to Cal, whose one leg too short keeps him from enlisting in the war. His beautiful wife Betsy has a gift. She can communicate with people who have passed on. Cal doesn’t believe this gift is true, and as Betsy pursues helping people in the community to communicate with the dead, their relationship becomes strained.

    Margaret has a past secret. She is not the woman she claims to be, hiding her abandonment and the fact she grew up in an orphanage. She marries Felix, who also carries his own secret. Felix knows he is gay, and has had a couple of sexual encounters in his youth. But it’s not until he is drafted in WWII that he meets the love of his life.

    While Felix is away, and Betsy is busy with her clients, Cal and Margaret will find each other.

    Post War

    Margaret has been told Felix is missing in action, and she is ashamed that she is somewhat relieved. Margaret does not want children, and she has fallen in love with Cal. But an unexpected twist will change everything, causing Margaret to abandon her entire life, while Cal and Betsy try to pick up the pieces of their marriage.

    Empathy

    I had a lot of empathy for these characters in this book, particularly for Felix and his struggle with being a homosexual during this era. The book explores several important topics including abandonment, infidelity, grief and regret. Mostly regret.

    Book Review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

    ****Four stars for Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. Thank you for reading my book review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. See last week’s Book Review The Elements by John Boyne.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Elements by John Boyne

    November 26, 2025
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    John Boyne is the author of 2 dozen books. I have read two; The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas and All the Broken Places. Boyne has had his share of controversy as well (read about it here), but I thought his latest novel, though disturbing, an amazing book. Here is my book review The Elements by John Boyne.

    Four Connecting Stories

    Unlike many novels that run parallel stories to further the plot, Boyne creates four seemingly separate stories in The Elements. But as the book builds so does the connections between the protagonists in the four stories. Through each story runs a theme…not a pleasant one. Often disturbing the book will look at abuse in ways I have never seen in a novel before.

    The Abuser and The Abused

    Boyne explores pedophilia and those who look the other way. He tackles incest and suicide. We will see a brilliant athlete, violently abused as a child, get involved in a rape and cover up. And a twist on abuse will be a female abuser of young boys, who uses her own horrific childhood tragedy to justify her actions. These stories are presented separately, but a thread of abuse and characters will connect the stories. Finally we will meet a single father raising a son, protecting him fiercely all while keeping his own secrets of his youth.

    Happy Ending?

    I wouldn’t call this a happy ending, so much as a bit of redemption for all the lives affected over generations of abuse. There is some happy moments in the end, but only when communication is opened up and truths are revealed.

    Though difficult and disturbing these are topics often swept under the rug, a practice that only creates more sorrow for victims. I thought the book was really well done, interesting and engaging, even with the sexual abuse story line. Thank you for reading my book review The Elements by John Boyne.

    *****Five stars for The Elements by John Boyne

    See last week’s book review Babel by R.F. Kuang

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Babel by R.F. Kuang

    November 19, 2025
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    R.F. Kuang was only 19 years old when she published her first novel The Poppy Wars. I discovered her only recently. She has had several books since her debut. I have read two. Yellowface, which I listened to on Audible and found it to be annoying, and Babel which I am reviewing today and enjoyed a lot. Here is my Book Review Babel by R.F. Kuang.

    Speculative History

    I enjoy the genre of Speculative History, the re-imaging of historical events with a “what if” twist. Often these novels have a magical theme or fantasy theme. Kuang has written several novels that fall into the fantasy theme, including Babel.

    I will admit the first quarter or so of this book I couldn’t really grasp what was going on…but once I realized this wasn’t historical fiction, rather re-imagined, it began to make sense.

    Oxford 1830

    A young Chinese boy is taken to England from Canton to be raised and educated by a wealthy man. The boy takes the English name of Robin Swift. He lives a strange life of intense study often being paraded by his benefactor as Chinese student lucky to be in England. When Robin comes of age, and without any warning, he is enrolled into the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford.

    Silver

    Robin’s only friends at the Institute are three other’s who don’t fall into the white male category; a boy from India and two women. Their differences bind them together. But they begin to learn how silver has manipulated everything in British society and created vast wealth, power and colonialism. Through the secretive and magical power of silver, the students become tangled in a dangerous effort to usurp the hierarchy and take control.

    Book Review Babel by R.F. Kuang

    Some of this book I found fascinating and engaging, particularly as I began to unravel some of the hidden secrets in the story. The amount of research that must have been done to write such an epic novel is incredible. But there were parts I also found fault in, a lot of violence and coincidence. I wasn’t particularly fond in most of the characters.

    But if you like history, and fantasy, and a grand saga you might like Babel. Thank you for reading my book review Babel by R.F. Kuang.

    ****Four stars for Babel by R.F. Kuang.

    See last week’s book review The Circle of Days by Ken Follett.

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