Wednesday, January 3, 2018

January

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Four young siblings learn of a special 'seer' in their neighborhood, an old woman who can tell them their future, specifically to impart to them the day they will die. Each child hears this date alone, and must live with the consequences of knowing their future and thus the story begins. As the tale unfolds, we follow each of the four children in singularity: Simon, a young gay man, as he heads to San Francisco in the early 1980's; Klara, a free spirit who dreams of becoming a magician; Daniel, the oldest boy in their Jewish family, working towards 'normalcy;' and Varya, the eldest child, career biologist, with deeper secrets than anyone ever knew. This is a strange yet extraordinarily compelling book. Often, I did not care for the characters - their habits, their life choices, their relationships. Yet I could not put this book down. It brings up provocative themes and ideas: how would one live their life if their day of death was foretold? Do we owe it to ourselves to fulfill our life's dream? Or do we owe loyalty to our families? Is being selfish wrong or is it fulfilling our passion? The Immortalists would be an incredibly provocative choice for a book club, eliciting some fascinating and powerful conversation.

Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman
YA fantasy is my go-to escapist trick; if written well, it takes me far far away, usually has some serious evil doers that get vanquished, some heroic young people, and stays away from the sexist stereotypes much better than many adult novels, and really, the only difference being 'YA,' is that the main characters are usually upper teens. With that said, if you missed Shusterman's first novel in this series, Scythe, go back and read it. And in the day or two that takes you because it is SO good, come back and read this one. Here's the basic premise: the Cloud has morphed into the Thunderhead (a benevolent Big Brother type of character who has done away with death, disease, pain, hunger, all the bad stuff in life), but to deal with over-population, the 'scythedom' is created, with scythes especially trained in the art of death, given the power to 'glean' humanity. In the first book, we meet the two main characters, Rowan and Citra who are training to become scythes (note to self: lots and lots and lots of death in the first book, although if one hasn't been officially 'gleaned,' the revival center just brings people back to life). In the second book, Rowan is a rogue scythe while Citra works within the system, both trying to rid their organization of bad seeds. The Thunderhead becomes more of a developed character, as he talks with humanity and we see his thinking as we watch his world end up on shaky ground. I could not put this book down; Shusterman has an amazing talent to draw us into his stories and his characters, not letting go until the very last page. Highly recommend!

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
The 2017 Newberry Award winner, this book is magical for any age, especially for those of us looking for an escape into another world. In this fairytale world, a witch comes every year to a town veiled in sadness where she picks up a baby left for her at the edge of the wood. The town believes it to a sacrifice to an evil crone; the witch believes the town does not want the children, and takes them across the wood to be loved by another family. However, the latest babe the witch picks up is hungry on the journey across the wood, and instead of starlight (normal food for the babies), Luna is fed with moonlight, giving her some serious magical skills. The story encompasses the years of Luna and her adopted witch-mother, and the magic that will ensnare so many characters. This is a lyrical book, written with so much beauty I wanted to devour each sentence slowly and savor every word. What a gift to the world!

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
This isa solid new mystery that is getting some very well-deserved praise. Set in the forests of Oregon, we are introduced to an intriguing new detective (this looks like it is going to be a series). Naomi is the 'child finder,' an instinctive, clever, smart, and rather tortured young woman with a mysterious past that pushes her to save other children. A young couple come to Naomi and ask her to look for their daughter who went missing in the snowy woods during a tree-cutting expedition three Decembers ago. Convinced Madison is still alive, the parents beg Naomi to find any clues. The story is told through two narrators, Naomi and the 'snow girl' who is trapped by a mysterious man in the woods. Author Denfeld peoples the book with some quirky, intriguing characters: the taciturn forest ranger, the creepy yet friendly store own who buys pelts; and Naomi's foster mom and brother who save her from tragedy. So many pieces are tied together in the end, yet some are still mysteries that totally make sense to remain hidden. I have high hopes for a sequel to this engrossing new series.

The House of Silk (Sherlock Holmes #1) by Anthony Horowitz
The author of the Alex Rider series and The Magpie Murders, and picked by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle as the only person EVER allowed to write another Sherlock Holmes book, one cannot go wrong picking up this book. Horowitz lives up to and beyond the challenge with this clever, smart, twisty-turning mystery book. Dr. Watson as narrator and handy sidekick of Holmes, the mystery begins straight away with a Mr. Carstairs seeking help from these two beloved literary icons. The story moves from gangsters in Boston, to opium dens in London, and even a dreary prison where Holmes is up to his neck in trouble. The master of the 'red herring,' Horowitz and Holmes does not let us know. At times I wondered where this story was taking us and how many side alleys were necessary but in the end I was wholly satisfied and impressed with the skills of not only our two detectives, but the author himself. If you like the quintessential British mystery, this book is definitely for you.

Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
How many of us wish we had written down all the outrageous, hilarious, inappropriate things a loved one has said? Both my husband and I still tell uproarious stories about our own parents, but I know I have missed so much that should be famous in family lore. Justin Halpern, however, is just much smarter than the rest of us; he actually wrote his father's sh*t down! And trust me, it is well worth the read. I laughed out loud throughout this lovely little book and saw my own self, my own parents, and most anyone's life in many of the stories. However, this book is so much more than just 'funny' for the sake of humor. It also tells a story of a father and son; all the expectations on both sides, the misunderstandings, the generational divide, and ultimately the deep and abiding love, no matter what. This is a fabulous book to gift to another person, or also just to gift to yourself; you won't be disappointed.

Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates
A bit reminiscent of A Secret History yet not as well written as a Donna Tartt book, this one involves a trio of 'friends,' a word one could use quite lightly in this story. Three young teens are drawn together in a small upstate New York town: Patrick (ie. Patch), good boy in town with aspiring political father, husband and failed financier and current obsessive chef, witness, participant, and savior to a horrible crime; Matthew, new boy to town, messed up family life, perpetrator of horrible crime; and Hannah, wife to Patrick, crime reporter, and victim of horrible crime. As the strings of this story slowly come together, one can see how the past has impacted the character's today with each one struggling to find who they are. My problem with this book is that the two males were both unlikable, and thinly developed; I don't mind crappy humans, but give them a bit more depth. I just didn't care about Matthew's past issues, or Patrick's cooking blog. Now Hannah, on the other hand, was a compelling character as she searches for answers to her past with her NYC police officer friend as well as her job that drags her into the dark corners of city crime. The ending was anti-climatic for me, having gotten to a point of apathy for Patch. At times a page turner, and at times just 'meh' for me.


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