Book Review: The Printed Letter Bookshop

Katherine Reay's books all have a love of literature present, whether she is writing a new take on a classic or whether, as in The Printed Letter Bookshop, a bookstore is front and center and quotations are offered or titles are mentioned or alluded to.

The narrative fluctuates among three women who are lost and overwhelmed in the world, whether they realize it or not -- there's Madeleine, the high achieving young woman striving to become the next partner in her law firm; Janet, the divorced mom whose grown son sided with the father and keeps his distance from her; and Claire, the mom whose husband is often out of state for work and who is disconnected from her children, who opt for friends' homes over their distant mother.

The Printed Letter Bookshop is what brings these women together; it is a beloved location, but when Maddie, the newly deceased owner, fought sickness, the bookstore struggled, to the point where its continued presence in the community is in doubt.

At the center, our three protagonists have been given a book list from Maddie, each a curated list of titles that, when read, have a common theme demonstrating a way each woman can enhance and improve her life; "Maddie's books provided a trail, like breadcrumbs, leading me to who I want to be or maybe back to who I once set out to be..." Slowly, each character takes steps to change their lives for the better.

I have found Reay's work to be uneven - for example, I adored Dear Mr Knightley but found A Portrait of Emily Price lackluster. However, I was pleased with this title; it was a read that was a pleasant, light-hearted accompaniment for the close of this school year.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I've used Amazon Affiliate links here; should you purchase through these links, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.)

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.

Book Log: May 2017

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 second year doing this; here is a page containing the 2016 posts (or here is a list of all 2016 books, without the commentary on each one).

The included Amazon links are affiliate links; many of these titles I check out from the library or already own, but 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.

20) 5/7: R My Name Is Rachel by Patricia Reilly Giff

I was introduced to this author when I read Pictures of Hollis Woods about ten years ago, when I was still teaching (hmm, that makes it more like 12 years ago). It was a captivating book.

This falls into the classification of Young Adult fiction. It's set during the Depression, so I could see it fitting in during such a unit in school. It wasn't as gripping as Pictures of Hollis Woods, but students especially could connect with the characters and it would make that time period more alive to them.




21) 5/9: Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

It's perhaps a bit of a stretch, but I couldn't help but be reminded of The Breakfast Club while reading this Young Adult book. Three misfits find themselves crossing paths at baton twirling lessons, coming with plans to win a talent contest to further their various agendas. One girl has a father who has just left her mother to run off with another woman, another is being raised by her grandmother after her parents' deaths, and the third hides under her tough exterior.

Over the course of the book (when no real baton lessons take place), these very different girls get to know each through shared adventures.



22) 5/12: Bossypants by Tina Fey

Another light read (or, rather, listen, as I accessed the audiobook read by Tina Fey). Clearly I find myself in need of a break from heavier texts (I'm still chugging through some good ones, but they're slow going).

Tina Fey is self-deprecating, which can be part of the draw. This was okay for me, but not typically something that had me rolling around in fits of laughter. And if you're sensitive to language, you probably want to skip it.




23) 5/12: The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

I was added to an online book group that specializes in quality literature (while I don't homeschool, it seems many in the group do, and there's a focus on reading aloud to children, etc.). I was added by a friend because their namesake is taken from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book I had raved about and recommended to friends when it went on sale.

The Awakening of Miss Prim has been mentioned repeatedly as another group favorite, so I decided to check it out.

Miss Prim enters a village, being hired as the librarian of a private estate to put the books in order. She's unaware that she's entered into an enclave, a refuge from the busyness and chaotic nature of life. She's intrigued by the village, and through her relationships with individuals there, she learns more about what brought this village around a common aim of being self-sustaining and slowing down.

I was intrigued by aspects of it, but it feels light on details. Miss Prim's boss is never named beyond the Man in the Wing Chair. The villagers, while named, all gel together in a way (although I saw one person defend this as intentional, a way to make the village be the character in the story). I couldn't help but wonder about the underbelly of the town - is there poverty? How are elderly cared for? Are those who can't fit in or contribute sent away? But I recognize answering those questions were likely not the aim of the author, and I'm getting away from her intent.

Miss Prim is forced to decide whether to embrace the ideals of the village or leave it behind (this struggle of self and meaning made me wonder if the "Awakening" in the title was an homage to Chopin's book, even as they're coming from very different belief systems). Prudencia Prim's name, as well as some of the conversations had in the book, make me think of this as an allegory, in the vein of Pilgrim's Progress (I suspect this was intentional). It was an intriguing read, even if not destined to be a favorite for me.

24) 5/18: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

I initially read this book a couple years ago, but it came up again since it was this month's book club selection.

I confess that upon first read, although it is a series, I was happy to leave it at this one. The protagonist is a precocious eleven-year-old girl who is brilliant with chemistry, poisons, observations, and solves the mystery before the police, like every good detective story.

The book is quite well written and researched, but I got hung up on that point. Going into it for a second read remembering her youth (and now with a six-year-old that can school me in all things space related), I was more willing to consider that in 1950, such a girl as Flavia de Luce could exist (and perhaps, with the same level of independence and resources, such brilliant 11-year-old girls also exist even today).

Flavia isn't without faults, as the strained, often antagonistic interactions with her sisters attest, and that helps humanize her. I haven't committed to pursuing more of the series, but I understand why they're popular with the details and character development. And I appreciate how each book title is poetic in its own way (seriously, each one is memorable - consider A Red Herring Without Mustard or I Am Half-Sick of Shadows or The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches or .... You get the picture).

25) 5/19: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

This book takes place towards the end of WWII and is written in alternating viewpoints from four different individuals in East Prussia. It is classified as Young Adult fiction, but I think adults would enjoy it just as much. It culminates in the true historical account of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, the infrequently discussed and yet worst maritime disaster in history.

Each chapter tends to be very short, which made it easy to feel like I could read some and end at a convenient break even if I only had a couple minutes, but I admit it took a few chapters to get a good feel for each of the characters. Once I had them down, it was a solid read.

I could see this naturally becoming a part of a classroom curriculum and is bound to appeal to a wide range of students.

This reflection sounds dry even to me, but I really did enjoy this book and the four perspectives are different enough in personality and motivation (and nationality) to make this an excellent read.

26) 5/24: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming

I am quite familiar with the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie, but I've never read the book. My older daughter enjoys drawing while listening to audiobooks, and since she's exhausted nearly every book in the Boxcar Children series that our library has, I'm looking to other options. Then I learned this version was read by David Tennant (my favorite Doctor), so it became my go-to listening choice while cleaning.

If I once knew this book was also written by the creator of James Bond, I had forgotten. The book, like the movie, is a fun adventure story with a magical car. There is a series of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang books, but as I haven't read them, I don't know if some of the movie plotlines are borrowed from later books. All in all, a pleasant read, and it may make its way into my daughter's hands soon.

27) 5/26: A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay

A couple years ago I discovered this author with her debut novel Dear Mr Knightley, an updated adaptation of Daddy Long-legs (which I read afterwards, having not been aware of it before). I truly enjoyed Dear Mr Knightley, and I have picked up her other novels when they've been discounted on Kindle. This was the second book of hers I read, but I admit it fell flat for me.

Take Emily, an accomplished, typically overly responsible girl, who acts rashly, if not necessarily wrongly. When that action leads to major changes in her life, it forces her to change and reflect, and she can come off as whiny. I wanted to mutter, "Well, what did you expect? Get over yourself!" The relationship she finds herself in (a central part of the book) doesn't seem convincing to me, either. Other characters are better developed.

Clearly I'm in the minority with my "just okay" opinion, if Amazon reviews are a dependable guide (when I'm writing this, it's at a staggering 4.4 out of 5 stars). But I wanted more, after my first positive impression of her. If you want to get lost in Italy and descriptions of food and art restoration, though, you could do worse.

28) 5/30: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

I heard enough recommendations for this book that I finally requested it through my library. It's set during WWII, told from the perspectives of three women: in the United States we have the once-famous stage performer now turning her attentions to donating time and money to providing for French orphans impacted by the war; in Poland, we meet Kasia, a teenager trying to adjust to German occupation and finding ways to work underground; finally, there's Herta, a female doctor in Germany wanting to be recognized for her skill, even if it means compromising her morals.

Their sympathies and loyalties vary, but together they make a well-done story and their paths cross. Given the setting of WWII, it should be understood that there will be some gritty descriptions and events.

I learned at the close of this book that the American character - Caroline Ferriday - was an actual person and the author's visit to her home led to the research that became this book. The other two characters were inspired by actual women, but changed enough that the names were fictionalized.