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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

    October 9, 2024
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    I am normally a BIG fan of Leif Enger and have read several of his books. But this one….I struggled with it despite wanting to love it. Here is my book review I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger.

    What is Happening?

    I have read and loved many dystopian novels over the past few years, some of my favorites being Station Eleven, To Paradise and Cloud Cuckoo Land. Going into I Cheerfully Refuse I didn’t realize it was set in the not too distant future. It takes a long time in the story to really grasp it, at least it did for me. Hints are dropped here and there and eventually the understanding comes….

    Dark Times

    Enger introduces us to Lark and Rainy, a couple living in the not too distant, but much changed future. When Lark is murdered, Rainy finds himself on the run in a sailboat. As the reader is pulled into Enger’s beautiful story telling, we realize how crazy the world is, run by billionaires and astronauts, with massive and dangerous climate changes creating havoc. Food shortages are part of life, books are illegal and a rash of suicides occur regularly because no one wants to continue to suffer.

    It’s not a happy book- a dystopian novel of despair and destruction mixed with love and longing. And so different than anything I have read by Enger. Maybe I just wasn’t up to it – feeling the gloom in our planet currently. You’ll need to decide for yourself. I give I Cheerfully Refuse four stars ****. Let me know what you think?

    Thank you for reading my Book Review I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger. See last week’s Book Review The Unmaking of June Farrow. We love it when you comment, pin and share our book reviews. Thank you.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

    October 2, 2024
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    I really didn’t know anything about this book when I chose it for an audible book in my car. But it was a lovely well-written and well- read story of family and living a complicated life. Here is my book review The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young.

    Magic or Madness

    Adrienne Young creates a mysterious plot a bit reminiscent of The Time Travelers Wife, or The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. June Farrow believes she is going mad when she begins to see things that no one else can see. Is she crazy, like all the towns people believe is true of all the women in her family?

    The Farrow Women

    Secrets held close in the family about the unusual women in the Farrow family, spill out after June’s grandmother passes away. June is given a locket and a photograph that only create more confusion. When she confesses to her family member Birdie that she has been seeing “things” including a red door, Birdie tells her when she sees the door again, she must go through it.

    1951

    When June builds up the courage and passes through the red door, she is no longer in 2023. Instead she finds herself in a very mixed up world of 1951. Everyone knows who she is…how do they know her, and what sinister thing has happened that creates so much fear and angst among the people she meets on the other side of the door?

    Book Review The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

    Young’s storyline is complicated and reminds me a bit of Alice Hoffman’s writing – one of my favorite authors. The reader will need to concentrate to keep track of the plot as it jumps forward and backward, but a few fun plot twists are waiting. I really enjoyed this surprising book and will definitely look to read more of Adrienne Young’s books in the near future.

    Thanks for reading my book review The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young. See last week’s book review Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.

    September 25, 2024
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    Like last week’s book review The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson, this week’s book review Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange explores the Native American experience. In particular, the horrific period in our history of the Indian Reform Schools. Here is my book review Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.

    There There

    Wandering Stars reintroduces us to the characters of Orange’s bestselling novel There There which was a Pulitzer Finalist. In Wandering Stars we meet the ancestors of the characters of There There. The ancestors and survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre.

    Using the Sand Creek Massacre as a turning point, Orange creates characters both past and present in turn to develop the story. The novel traces legacies of the 1864 massacre, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and the abuse of generations of Native Americans.

    Wandering Stars

    Star is a survivor of the massacre, and a prisoner at Fort Marion Prison. A generation later Charles Star, is sent to the Carlisle Industrial School, under the tutelage of the same man who imprisoned his father. Through the brutal experience Charles meets Opal.

    The story of the ancestors and prodigy of Charles and Opal is how Orange explores difficult topics of addiction, abuse, abandonment and generational trauma of the Native American experience.

    *****Five stars for Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.

    Read last week’s book also about Native Americans The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson.

    Thank you for reading my book review Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. We love it when you pin, share and comment on our book reviews. Thank you.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

    September 18, 2024
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    Navigating the legacies of their Dakota ancestors, Rosalie Iron Wing grows up with her father in a cabin in the wood. His untimely death will change her destiny. Here is my book review The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson.

    Indian Schools

    From 1880 until 1940 the United States government forced Native American children to live, work and study at Indian Schools. Taken from their families, these children suffered unimaginable verbal and physical abuse for years in these schools.

    Rosalie Iron Wing never knew her mother, or her mother’s family. Nor does she know much about the era of Indian Schools. But her life and legacy have been hugely impacted by the atrocities that afflicted her family and ancestors.

    Growing Up

    After her father’s death Rosalie will be sent to a foster home. No one in the state knows she has family in a nearby town. Eventually she will meet a white farmer named John. He will suggest an arrangement to help her have a home and him to save his farm. They marry and have a child. But a white man married to a Native American women is difficult in the small town with a long memory. Eventually Rosalie begins to realize that giant farms and the fertilizers used are killing the earth…the very earth she was raised to always protect and cherish.

    The Seed Keeper

    After her husband dies Rosalie leaves the farm and returns to the cabin of her youth. She is sure why she needs to be there until she finds the seeds of her great grandmother. Rosalie will to return to the old way of life, plant the native seeds and protect the earth.

    Voices of the Past

    Wilson’s novel is told in the voices of four women, present day and past. These indelible women are remembering who they are, where they came from and why we can not forget what happened to the Native American.

    ****Four stars for The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

    Thank you for reading my book review The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson. We appreciate it when you pin, share and comment on our posts.

    More great novels about the Native American experience; The Berry Pickers, The River We Remember, The Council of Dolls, Lightening Strikes.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

    September 11, 2024
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    Sipsworth is a lovely, but also heartbreaking tale about an aging widow and end of life issues. Short and sweet, here is my book review Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy.

    Loneliness

    Helen Cartwright has spent thirty years living in Australia. But after the death of her husband and son, she returns to her childhood village in England to live out her days. Helen doesn’t know anyone in the village any longer, and spends her days alone contemplating when the end will happen. That is until the strangest friend becomes her companion.

    Sipsworth

    Through a series of small events, Helen befriends a mouse she calls Sipsworth. As she cares for the mouse daily, her needs for supplies and advice on mouse health, creates an opportunity for her to interact with people in her community. Helen has avoided getting to know or reaching out to anyone, but now Sipsworth brings her in contact with a shopkeeper, a cardiac doctor, a veterinarian, a librarian and a small boy, and her neighbors.

    Community

    Through this new community Helen finds a family and a reason to live, all because of a chance encounter with a tiny mouse.

    Book Review Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

    This lovely story explores the topics of aging, loneliness and grief, while also touching on the goodwill compassion and kindness of strangers. A world where many people live out their days alone and in solitude, Sipsworth creates a story of finding a way to move forward and live fully when all seemed to be lost.

    I enjoyed the book very much. ****Four stars for Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy. See last week’s book review Martyr by Kaveh Akbar.

    We love it when you pin and share our book reviews. Thank you.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Martyr by Kaveh Akbar

    September 4, 2024
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    Breathtaking and poetic writing captured me from page one in Kaveh Akbar’s novel Martyr. My dream is to write like this…in sentences that pull the reader in, take your breath away, make your heart flutter. Here is my book review Martyr by Kaveh Akbar.

    The Art of Language

    There are thousands of really good writers. And then there are the masters. Akbar’s first novel, Martyr is a mastering of the art of language. Akbar has previously been an award winning poet, and that comes through in his masterful novel Martyr. I listened to this book on Audible and was mesmerized. It’s not a happy story. But it is beautiful. I have no doubt it would be just as beautiful for a reader as it was for a listener.

    Welcome to America

    Cyrus Shams, an Iranian young man, moved to America as a child with his father. He has struggled through his life with the tragic knowledge that his mother died on commercial plane, shot down by Americans over the Persian Gulf. Cyrus’ father struggles to provide as a single father, but gets Cyrus into college before his life ends too.

    Cyrus finds himself depressed, addicted and drifting, searching for something he doesn’t understand. With a handful of friends Cyrus get’s sober, but can’t stop thinking about suicide and what it means to be a Martyr. Though his story is full of troubles and trials, Akbar in turn writes with humor and hope, passion and reflection.

    A Writer Himself

    Our protagonist Cyrus is a poet himself, much like the author. His obsession to write a book about martyrdom leads him to the Brooklyn Museum to meet a terminally ill artist who is spending her final days holding audience with museum guests. This encounter for Cyrus affirms in him many ideas about things he has been conflicted with all his life; war, poetry, addiction, love, gender, family and martyrdom. The four short days Cyrus has with the artist will change his life and create affirmation for him like nothing else before.

    Stunning

    I found this book stunning. I want to read it again, and that never happens. Destined to be highly awarded novel of 2024, I can’t wait to see how many awards this masterpiece takes.

    My favorite book so far this year. ***** Five stars and more. Thank you for reading my book review Martyr by Kaveh Akbar.

    Be sure and see our favorite books of the past year with our Seventh Annual Reading Round Up 2024.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

    July 24, 2024
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    I have read four Kate Quinn novels and loved them all (The Rose Code, The Huntress, The Diamond Eye, The Alice Network) but I had never read anything by Janie Chang. I listened to The Phoenix Crown on Audible and enjoyed it, but it didn’t live up to the four books listed above. Here is my book review The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang.

    San Fransisco 1906

    There are four strong women in this story, all very unique. Three of them are fictional but modeled after real women of the era. The fourth is a historic figure named Alice Eastwood, an important botanist at the California Academy of Sciences. A women who led the way for other women scientists during an era where women were not successful or even allowed in scientific fields.

    The other three women are an aspiring opera singer, an American born Chinese women and an artist who has disappeared. These three unlikely friends are pursuing passions, dreams, and destinies in the days leading up to the big San Francisco earthquake and subsequent devastating fire.

    Gemma, who leaves New York under questionable circumstances, arrives in San Francisco hoping to find work in the chorus at the opera house. She quickly meets Henry Thornton, one of San Fransisco many millionaires and he becomes both her patron opening doors at the opera and her lover. But Gemma is flummoxed that her friend Nellie is not in San Fransisco to greet her as they had previously arranged.

    Suling, works in her uncles laundry and helps her aunt in her brothel following the tragic death of her parents. Suling is engaged to wed a man she does not love, and is scheming to find her missing true love Reggie who has disappeared without a trace.

    Not What it Seems

    Soon Gemma and Suling will begin to suspect Henry Thornton is behind many nefarious antics. When the women realize that Nellie (Gemma’s best friend) and Reggie (Suling’s lover) are the same person, they band together to find her.

    Thornton is the suspect in the disappearance of Nellie/Reggie, but just as the women, with the help of their friend Alice Eastwood are getting close to solving the mystery, the great San Francisco earthquake rocks everything and everyone. Suling risks her life to save Nellie/Reggie while Gemma and Alice are risking life and limb to save Alice’s life long work at the California Institute of Science. Fire is raging towards all of them, and in the rubble and smoke of the aftermath the women clearly see Henry Thornton for what he is – a liar and a murderer.

    Book Review The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

    How will this wild adventure end? Who will survive to love again? Though not as well written or intriguing as most of Quinn’s work, the story kept me interested although the character development was a bit flat. I still enjoyed this book on audible and think most people would love it. I learned a lot about this era of San Francisco.

    ****Four stars for the Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

    Thanks for reading my book review The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang. See last week’s book review 12 Trips in 12 Months by Jen Ruiz.

    DON’T MISS NEXT WEEK – It’s our annual Reading Round Up…the best books of the year. Top twenty of the 77 books I read from July 23-July 24.

    We love it when you pin, share and comment on our book reviews. Thank you.

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