Book Log: January 2018

My youngest sister has been doing an annual post of books completed, and I always enjoy looking through it. I do keep a log of my finished books, so I thought cataloging my completed books at the close of every month would be a good way to dust off this blog and encourage me to jot down a few lines -- or a few paragraphs -- with my impressions (a compiled list will appear at the close of the year). I don't like spoilers, so while I put some initial thoughts after each title, when possible I'm purposely vague regarding plot specifics so as not to dissuade any of you from reading them. This is my third year doing this (here is a list of my 2017 books, and here is the list of my 2016 books; these pages don't have commentary, but if there's a title that interests you, click on the appropriate month to learn more).

The included Amazon links are affiliate links; should you be inclined to purchase one, these links only mean Amazon will give me a small percentage of the cost, at no additional expense to you.

1) 1/1: Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini

This was our December book club selection, but as we couldn't find a time that worked for everyone to meet until the new year, I took my time reading it so the details would be fresh.

This book has an interesting structure. The chapters alternate points-of-view, with half of them being in the past, focused on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the other half set in present-day Cambridge with various individuals whose lives and stories intersect. The centerpiece is Longfellow's poem "Christmas Bells," which many of us know because it became the song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."

In the Longfellow chapters, we learn about his life before, during, and after the Civil War; in the present-day sections, a church choir is the focus, with us getting to learn more about the director, the accompanist, the priest, members of the choir, patrons of the church, and so on. Most of the present-day is focused on a single day, although each character does end up revealing experiences from their past.

The author did her research on Longfellow and I found I knew little of his life before picking up this book. It was an easy, sweet read if you're looking for something light.

2) 1/1: Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

This was a light YA read. Take a girl who is still processing her mother's death and her loving father who remarries and moves her away from everything familiar. Have her start at a new (private, fancy) high school.

Jessie receives an email from a fellow student wanting to answer any questions and help her adjust, but preferring to stay anonymous in the process. We fluctuate between seeing their online conversations and her daily life. It's a pleasant, easy read with some predictable outcomes -- I think anyone could guess from the early pages who her correspondent is, but much like movies like You've Got Mail or books like Dear Mr Knightley, some of the fun is knowing something that the protagonist doesn't.

There's a sense of real, believable grief in some of the exchanges, so I wasn't at all surprised to learn the author also lost her mother as a child and used some of that experience to shape Jessie's processing of the grief. It's not a heavy, deep read, though, and there's a frankness with drugs, drinking, even sex that could turn off those that don't want that in a book or want to be aware so they can delay offering this to a younger teen.

3) 1/6: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

As you may remember, I encountered Sherman Alexie at UntitledTown last year, and after hearing him speak, I first read his memoir You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (it was one of my favorite reads last year).

Then I picked up this book and was struck at how much true-to-life it seemed, given what I knew of Alexie's experiences growing up. I was not at all surprised to learn in the afterword that he was going to include this in a memoir but it didn't seem to fit. When he was approached to write a Young Adult book, he (slightly) adapted this. One addition was working with a graphic artist to create little doodles, drawings, and comics throughout, which fit well.

Sherman Alexie has earned a special place with me -- I connected with his memoir and I find myself wanting to work through his titles (I have one or two of his poetry books I've acquired at thrift stores, so we'll see when those rise to the top of the reading pile).

4) 1/6: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

I do love a good mystery - they're nostalgic for me, harkening back to the many Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie titles I devoured growing up, as well as the car trips when Grandpa Claire would play audiobooks of their mysteries and I would be riveted. I appreciate Louise Penny's books, giving me new material to work through.

This is the second in the Inspector Gamache series. In it, we revisit Three Pines, the idyllic village, when during an annual curling match an unlovable woman is killed.

I can see myself revisiting this series again, after working my way through (there are thirteen published so far). Penny does a believable job in casting suspicion on any number of people that you don't know until the big reveal who is the guilty one. It would be fun to pay more attention to the plot once you know who the perpetrator is and see better what bread crumbs we received.

5) 1/14: The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay

A couple years ago I'd read and enjoyed Dear Mr Knightley by Katherine Reay, and as people enjoy her books, I pick them up now and again. I didn't really appreciate A Portrait of Emily Price from last year, but this was a new release I spotted at the library and spontaneously checked out.

Take two friends from childhood who have grown a little distant but decide to take a retreat to an Austen experience. The protagonist ends up living through her own Austen novel (love triangle, misunderstandings), even if she doesn't realize it.



6) 1/15: Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

My boss in Indiana recommended The Glass Castle to me about a decade ago; it's a riveting book that sometimes hit too close to home (although Walls' family was far more dysfunctional than mine ever was or will be). The Glass Castle is the story of the author's childhood with a father who was always dreaming up the next get-rich-quick scheme (then having to run out of town when they backfired) and a dreamy, artistic mother who wasn't prepared to handle the responsibility of parenthood. I found myself gasping at some of her experiences (the moving-truck scene was heart-palpitating, for starters).

Anyway, that story was memorable enough and Half-Broke Horses was released later as the story of the author's maternal grandmother. By the end, you can see how certain personality traits of Walls' mother were already firmly entrenched in childhood. And there is no doubt that Walls' grandmother had grit.

7) 1/20: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

This was the third book in the Inspector Gamache series, and my first audiobook listen in the series (a new favorite way to encounter them). In this series, a death happens during a seance.

Another dynamic of this book is that Inspector Gamache's a past case of Gamache's is coming back to light -- we hear more specifics of the Arnot case (previously mentioned in brief, vague snippets) and how Gamache's just actions didn't sit well with everyone involved. So in addition to investigating the Three Pines murder, Gamache also must navigate leading his team when he understands not all are loyal to him.



8) 1/27: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Here was the January book club selection (look at us, meeting twice in one month!). As we were going to have short turnaround from our last meeting, we picked this book from our list given how quick it can be to read.

Harold Fry is retired, driving his wife a little batty with his constant, uninspired presence. There's a distance between them; although we get snippets that reveal they used to be very close and loving, we recognize something more than time has come between them.

Harold learns a former co-worker of his is in hospice and writes a letter. When he goes to post it, though, he just keeps walking. Although he lives in the south of England and she is in the north, he decides he's going to hand-deliver it to her. He is ill-prepared in shoes, clothing, and provisions, but he feels he can't stop. He crosses paths with varied personalities and learns he should stop making assumptions about others based on their age, how they dress, and so on. Some of my favorite passages were him reflecting on the universal experiences we all face, how we all have stories to share and burdens to carry.

Harold spends a lot of the time walking thinking back over his life, reflecting on moments he hasn't thought about in decades. I think all of us can recall times we had similar experiences - time alone outside, perhaps, with no distractions, allowing your mind to wander and pull up old memories and experiences.

His wife, while confused and resentful, fearing she has lost her husband to this ill woman, goes through her own transformation.

I couldn't help but remember the title Absent in the Spring (written by Agatha Christie under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott). In that book, we also have a protagonist with unexpected time on her hands, and with her forced isolation, she ends up spending a lot of time thinking about her past and gaining new insight about herself and those around her and is faced with a choice to make when she returns home.

9) 1/30: The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

This was a short-story collection, with each chapter focusing on the Vietnamese refugee experience. I first learned of this author after his book The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2016. While I haven't yet read it, when this came across my radar I grabbed it.

It was okay. I generally am drawn to both books of short stories and stories of the immigrant/refugee experience, but this fell a little flat. I'm not sure if it's because I encountered it as an audiobook (those tend to have to work harder to earn my love), but I wasn't invested enough in the characters. I still plan on picking up The Sympathizer sometime, though.