Book Review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Many of my generation grew up with Fred Rogers' gentle presence on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and I was delighted to learn of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood premiering when my oldest was a toddler. When I learned of a book about to be published that contained 75 songs, I was delighted.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a welcoming picture book with both new and familiar songs. Some might present better if you know the tune, but the messages conveyed are valuable.

Charming illustrations sprinkle the pages, and the simple words are affirming and encouraging. Are the poems masterpieces? Maybe not, but they possess truths we need to hear in simple words anyone can grasp.

Repeatedly though these pages, Fred Rogers reminds us that we are enough, just as we are. That we are creative and bright. That we are amazing and can do and be our best. That we can and do have big feelings, but those strong emotions are worth naming and processing.

I found myself slowing down as I read, breathing deeply and becoming calm and peaceful while reading. This book is a gift to treasure, much as Fred Rogers' legacy is.

(I received a digital ARC from Quirk Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: I Owe You One

Something comes over me when fall starts to transition to winter and there's that noticeable anticipation of Christmas. For the rest of the year, I tend to be pretty snooty when it comes to movies. I love a captivating story with strong character development, more often a drama than a comedy. However, there is something about the genre of holiday movies that has me throwing all discernment to the wind. They are formulaic as all get out, I mock them mercilessly, and yet I keep coming back for more.

I found myself reflecting on this tendency I have to recognize how these stories are far from great and are the opposite of surprising, and yet for a couple weeks every year, I seek them out. There's a comfort in knowing all will end up well and nothing truly horrible will happen; any losses or shortcomings will be redeemed by the end.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella has some of those similarities for me. Fixie is our protagonist. She's clever at solving problems and has a close relationship with her widowed mother as they run the family store. However, when her mom goes abroad and entrusts the store to Fixie and her siblings, tension arises. There's the brother with aspirations of greatness, who wants to take the comfortable store and the ordinary customers they have and transform them into something flashy, in hopes of catering to a new crowd, expenses and relationships be damned. There's the glamorous sister who is self-absorbed and all about projecting the right image. And then there's Fixie, whose weakness is her inability to stand up for herself since she feels inferior to her siblings. She lets an infatuation from her childhood steer her off course. Then there's a chance coffee-shop meeting, where Fixie, doing what she does best, earns an IOU from a stranger.

I couldn't help but get annoyed by specific plot points and anxious about business decisions. I Owe You One is predictable, it's not great literature, and the characters could accurately be called caricatures. Readers will easily spot the relationships that are strong and for the mismatched ones, readers will be quick to know the right pairings (and don't get me started on how frustrated I get when there's this clear longing and yet they stay with the miserable partner until circumstances change and there's no grieving the loss as they jump, without pause, into a new relationship). I have to suspend disbelief that some of the characters make the marked changes that they do. However, there was something delightful about turning off my brain and just going along for the ride as Fixie wrestles with what it means to put "Family First," both in who falls into the family classification, as well as what it truly means to sacrifice for them. I'd give this read 3.5 stars; pick this up if you want the equivalent of a story that won't stretch you but will resolve well in the end. Given the right mood, I can see myself seeking out another Kinsella title when I need a comfortable read.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: The Red Address Book

In The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg, Doris is an elderly woman who acknowledges her death is imminent. She has one great niece who is dear to her; as they live in different countries, their connections are limited to Skype sessions. While Doris values those encounters, she doesn't want Jenny to be unaware of the life Doris lived as a young woman, a life that spans countries, beginning with the circumstances that cause Doris to be sent away from home at a young age to work as a servant, only to be welcomed into the live mannequin world, filled with glamour and drudgery. Love, loss, and heartache follow.

Doris takes to typing up her life story, both in hopes Jenny will be able to come into possession of the stories and to fill her empty days. The story is framed by the entries in her red address book, nearly all of whom are deceased. Some individuals only warrant one chapter, others we return to repeatedly.

Both the flashbacks and the present-day sections are engaging and their juxtapositions give us pause as we try to make the transition, much as Doris experiences when she's deep in a captivating flashback, only to be returned to the present day with an impatient caregiver and the reality of her failing body.

The Red Address Book is a solid story. It may not linger with me after having completed it, but the experience was pleasant.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: The Rock That is Higher

In The Rock That is Higher: Story as Truth, readers are offered a collection of essays as Madeleine L'Engle describes a pivotal time in her later life. Madeleine L'Engle, at 72, was in a serious car accident that led to a long rehabilitation. As she recounts her experience and speculates on why her life was spared instead of being allowed to die, she reveals her frank reflections at that vulnerable time.

Sarah Bessey wrote the foreword; Bessey recently had a car accident that left her with a long recovery and persistent health issues/pain; during that time, she encountered this book and it had special significance for her.

While L'Engle's accident and recovery are the framework, returned to time and again, this book centers around the power of stories, how they can transcend and connect us. Each chapter focuses on a separate component of stories: "Story as the Search for Truth," "Story as a Redemptive Act," and so on. Madeleine L'Engle also uses this book to reinforce how her faith impacts her views on stories.

I found this a thoughtful book with many insights I marked because of the way they would make me pause to take them in.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: Unmarriageable

Jane Austen's classic novels have undergone numerous retellings, and Pride and Prejudice may be foremost in such attentions. In Unmarriageable, Soniah Kamal frames the familiar story of Pride and Prejudice in a present-day setting of Pakistan. This works exceptionally well. Other modern locales may feel stilted when trying to explain a mother's fierce interest in marrying off her daughters and growing anxious as the older girls fail to find matches, but in a culture of arranged marriages, it fits perfectly.

There's an interesting juxtaposition of some characters being aware of Pride and Prejudice while they also unknowingly play it out; the book opens with the familiar first sentence, rewritten as part of a homework assignment: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl can go from pauper to princess or princess to pauper in the mere seconds it takes for her to accept a proposal."

Alysba Binat is an English teacher at the local British school; she is adept at connecting with her students, but her position came about when her family fell on financial difficulties after an uncle charged with managing their money transferred their fortune to his own coffers. Alys uses her authority in the classroom to challenge girls to push against the status quo instead of following the expected trajectory to marry early and give up on education and any career aspirations.

Those familiar with Austen's story will find the names will ring familiar: Jena is Alys' older sister, and her younger sisters are Mari, Lady, and Qitty.  Instead of dancing at balls like the Bennett sisters, the Binat sisters find themselves invited to attend the coveted NadirFiede wedding celebrations. Slightly altered plot points take place as Jena and Fahad Bingla connect and Alys and Valentine Darsee spar.

I have no doubt this story is fully accessible for readers who have never encountered Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but having that framework made it enjoyable, and I'm impressed with how well it translated to a Pakistani setting, where a scandal late in the book causes reflections of the sort that are timeless when viewed from cultures where image is more important than truth: "Shame on their society, where maintaining unsoiled reputations was considered more vital than exposing scoundrels, for such secrets only allowed the scoundrels to continue causing harm."

Such treatment shows how timeless the original work is, since writers continue to revisit it to put their own spin on a classic story. Kamal's Unmarriageable is one of the best modernizations I've encountered.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: Inkling

In Inkling, we meet Ethan, a middle-school boy who encounters a sentient blob of ink that has escaped from the dad's sketchbook. He learns the ink needs to devour words and images, much as humans also need nourishment, and as it feeds on books, it gains knowledge. Ethan learns the quality of the material he feeds Inkling impacts his personality; comic books lead to frenetic, wild Inkling, Anne of Green Gables and other classics lead to a more thoughtful, measured blob.

Ethan and his sister are being raised by a single dad, since the mother died from cancer; there's a growing understanding that Inkling came to be in order to heal the pain and distance that have resulted between Ethan and his dad, as well as to resolve the creative block that has stymied the dad's artwork.

Inkling can create, and this is where much of the tension resides. Ethan tries to find a balance on making a storyboard draft for his class project before letting Inkling transform it, but when his dad and others get access to Inkling, their motives are less pure and more exploitative.

I imagine this as a wonderful book to offer to children whose previous reading experiences were strictly comic book or graphic novel form. While I appreciate those genres, this could be a well-placed gateway book to interest them in the structure of more traditional chapter books given the periodic illustrations and the content focusing on comic books and storyboards.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: Everyday People

I've long appreciated short stories, but they took over my reading pile after I found myself with unpredictable bursts of reading time when I was in the throes of my newborn babies. When my hygiene might be suspect and there may or may not be a well-rounded meal on the table and I might not remember when the floor was tidy enough for me to vacuum thoroughly, I could find satisfaction in beginning and finishing a short story in one sitting. I am past that sleep-deprived state, but I will always have a fondness for short stories.

Everyday People: The Color of Life--A Short Story Anthology is a curated collection of short stories. Many had me highlighting a line or passage (certainly not a given for me), and I would sometimes have to pause mid-paragraph to digest.

In the introduction, we learn the stories have all been written by people of color. And regarding the title Everyday People, Jennifer Baker reveals, "The name of this anthology is not meant to solely focus on the racial composition of the writers or characters but to showcase the larger story and relationships depicted as well as the landscape--be it in New York City, Maine, Alabama, Great Britain, South Korea, Ghana, or Sri Lanka."

My heart would tug as I would become invested in these stories, wishing I could alter outcomes and guarantee happiness. The fact that I was so drawn in speaks to the caliber of the work. They are far reaching. Perhaps we're following a fantastical account of a mental connection that allows individuals to communicate without speaking. Then there's the story of the older woman who enters homes with newborn children to support the families, but only for a fixed amount of time before she takes her leave. And the account of how people get into prostitution. Or maybe we're reading of the grandmother and granddaughter who can catch ghosts in their hair.

I imagine this title being used as required reading in a college course, leading to rich conversations in class. Some of these stories will make you uncomfortable, but as we wrestle to articulate what wrung us out, there can be insight into ourselves.

For those wanting more, at the close of the book you can find numerous recommendations in "Reading List of Contemporary Works by Women, Nonbinary, and Transgender Writers of Color/Indigenous Writers."

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: Madeleine L'Engle Herself

Madeleine L'Engle has worldwide recognition as the author of A Wrinkle in Time. I've had some of her other fiction and non-fiction recommended to me, but I've been amiss in exploring more, even as some of those titles wait patiently on my bookshelves.

Madeleine L'Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life is filled with hundreds of L'Engle's quotations grouped into ten different categories; she delves into "Creating Characters," "Inspiration and the Creative Process," "Elements of a Writer's Life," "Writing from Truth," and "The Wisdom of Children," for starters.

I entered unsure if I'd like this format compared to her essays and longer works. However, I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I highlighted this book extensively; Carole Chase compiled the quotations, pulling from speeches and writing workshops, in addition to L'Engle's published works. She found all the pertinent bits and put them together into one volume I marked up time and again.

L'Engle writes in a way that seems effortless and so much of it resonated with me, even in brief snippets. There are some overlaps and themes that emerge, but not enough to be a detraction. It's a beautiful work, one whose insight and connections surprised me. And, if you're like me, with young people offering frequent interruptions or perhaps if you yourself also suffer from periodic bouts of insomnia, I can confirm that this is the perfect sort of title to pick up, make progress on, and then set aside until your next opportunity.

A welcome addition was the Reader's Guide. While you would expect to find the discussion questions, the aspect I appreciated most was the inclusion of the writing prompts. The intentionally structured prompts are geared towards composing fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to allow individuals to focus on their specialty or stretch themselves, as they see fit.

The best compliment I can pay is that while this text was an enjoyable read in and of itself, it's creating a deeper longing in me to engage with L'Engle's other titles. It would be a suitable gift for the writer in your life needing encouragement or inspiration, or anyone who admires L'Engle's work.

(I received a digital ARC from Convergent Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: Louisiana's Way Home

Louisiana's Way Home is a sequel to Kate DiCamillo's last book, Raymie Nightingale, the first time DiCamillo has returned to a previous novel. We begin with Louisiana Elefante's grandmother and guardian whisking her away in the middle of the night, leaving home and friends behind. Louisiana resents the separation from friends and pets, all because of a purported reckoning of the family curse.

Louisiana is a character that is spunky and still pulls at your heart strings. She has a vivid personality with big feelings and heartfelt observations: "In some ways, this is a story of woe and confusion, but it is also a story of joy and kindness and free peanuts."

We follow along as Louisiana and her grandmother drive away from Florida and how they adapt when adjustments must be made to their travel plans. When they have a forced stop for some rehabilitation, Louisiana connects to the locals, making friends and foes. Louisiana, already a child who has had to shoulder more than most, learns more details about her origins and wrestles with those revelations.

Kate DiCamillo is a wordsmith and captures reality so accurately. She creates worlds where there is hurt and pain, and in spite of it all, beauty emerges. I found myself blinking away tears at the close of the book. And being reminded that people like Grandfather Burke exist in the world is everything.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Candlewick Press in exchange for my honest review. 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 Review: Virgil Wander

Leif Enger garnered much praise for his lyrical novel Peace Like a River; I had the opportunity to teach it in my freshman English class. When So Brave, Young, and Handsome was published, it fell flat for me, but I was cautiously optimistic when I learned Enger was coming out with a new novel this fall.

Virgil Wander was a pleasure to read. Its title character has a near-death experience, one that changes the course of his life. His previously lonely but comfortable existence is altered on every level.

With Enger's characteristic finesse, Virgil Wander is a lovely, entertaining read. Enger has managed to create a town filled with personalities that come alive, a vivid place that I would love to explore. I'd start in the cafe, then spend a few hours flying spectacular kites with Rune, and conclude with a movie at the Empress Theater. The humor can be tongue-in-cheek, and I couldn't help but be amused as the run-down town finally settles on a theme for their annual celebration (no spoilers from me). Themes of friendship, family, and belonging are prevalent, and there are mysterious incidents and visions, and readers are left piecing together what is real and what is a side effect of Virgil's injuries.

Enger does not disappoint with this newest novel. It can't edge out Peace Like a River, one of my favorite books, but it is a beautifully written, engaging read that I genuinely loved and see myself returning to and enjoying again and again.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Grove Press in exchange for my honest review. I've used Amazon Affiliate links here; should you purchase through these links, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.)