Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan

Lynnie

non-fiction, memoir 

I generally don't read a lot of non-fiction, or books that could potentially be shelved in the self-help section. I'm not against it, they just aren't the kind of books that usually draw me in.

In Tell Me More however, Kelly Corrigan presents information that anyone can use and incorporate into their lives, without you even realizing that you're learning something. Her stories are completely relatable and I often found myself laughing out loud, nodding along in agreement, and, yes, crying.

Mostly, Tell Me More just left me feeling good and considering ways to be more present for those around me.  It's like sitting down and having a much-needed, good chat with a friend. 

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Amy      
Lynnie   


women's fiction

After a new neighborhood resident threatens the life that Amy has built, she decides to fight for what she’s got.

Our ratings show a rare large discrepancy of opinions!

Amy's Review

I enjoyed the characters right off the bat and the story pulled me in relatively quickly and kept me interested throughout. There is a lot of drama. However, an overly coincidental plot point cheapened it.  Also, Amy's knack for playing the game was unlikely and it got to the point that, every time she did something unlikely, I was pulled out of the story. Therefore, while I liked the ride, the story structure itself was too noticeable and contrived.  The ending revealed the sinking feeling I'd had a couple times but had steered myself away from considering seriously. So, while not unexpected, it was still surprising. A few pathways for potential story exploration became dead end "spurs" while one that I expected to dead end did not end without resolution. So, I will say that the story kept my attention even though I never bought into it wholeheartedly. 

Lynnie's Review

I got about 25% into this book and I'm punching out.

I've been a big fan of Joshilyn Jackson's for years and the reason that I love her books so much is that she writes characters that you want to know more about; characters who are interesting, likable, and who draw you into their stories.

In Never Have I Ever, however, I don't like a single character- they are all sketchy, have ulterior motives, and are, frankly, ridiculous. I laughed during the first chapter (not sure I was supposed to) when the residents of a neighborhood include the incredibly named Tate, Panda, Sheridan, Liddy, Sleigh, and Roux. I actually did not know that my eyes could roll that far back into my head. One or two unique names would not have thrown me off, but this was ridiculous. Things continued from there.

I guess this is supposed to be a darker, more mysterious book than Jackson usually writes, but it did not catch my attention. I read a few reviews that say it really picks up in the back half, but I don't care enough to get there.

The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan

Amy    

historical fiction

In WWII England, Mrs. Braithwaite leaves her small village in order to reach out to her daughter, Betty, in London.  However, when she arrives in London, her daughter is missing.  She then embarks on a quest to find Betty with the help of her daughter’s landlord.

What a delightful story!  Jennifer Ryan does it again with an upbeat story  in The Spies of Shilling Lane even though it is set within grim WWII Europe.  Mrs. Braithwaite and Mr. Norris make an engaging pair in their fumbling, yet surprisingly adroit, search for Betty.  Told via third person from a variety of viewpoints, the characters are lovable albeit somewhat charicature-ish.  The writing made me feel like I knew them well and I couldn’t help but cheer on their efforts. There were also heartwarming moments and, certainly, personal growth for the two central characters.  It’s a story of determination, the importance of love, and strength.

I enjoyed the audiobook narration by Jayne Entwistle.  She did not have enough different voices to carry out some of the dialogues successfully, but she was a wonderful voice actor.  I’ll give her an A-.

The Forward Collection by Veronica Roth, Blake Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, & Andy Weir

Lynnie

Amy     

short story collection, science fiction

Amazon's Forward Collection, all based on the theme of where our discoveries could take us into the future, can be read in any order.  Here are our reviews of each with the heart rating for each individual story below. Our ratings of the collection as a whole are above.

Ark- Veronica Roth: 

3/5 hearts - Lynnie
Two weeks before an asteroid destroys the Earth, most humans have been evacuated, but Samantha has stayed behind with a small crew to continue to catalog plants.  While there are plans for her to evacuate at the last minute, along with those who remain with her, Samantha plans to stay behind as a witness to the end. While this was my least favorite of the collection, I still enjoyed the idea behind it and the story it told.  It was a somber story with a slow pace, but I found myself enchanted by the descriptions of the plants and curious about the future for Samantha and for those who had fled the Earth.   3/5 hearts - Amy I gladly skimmed over all the flower/plant detail about which I did not care. The story was based on an interesting idea of how things are handled when the Earth is nearing its demise and I liked getting to know these characters in the brief time available.

  

Summer Frost- Blake Crouch:

5/5 hearts - Lynnie

A fan of Crouch’s Dark Matter, I was not surprised by how much I enjoyed his contribution to this collection.  Riley is a video game creator and Max is a non-playable character in one of her games. When Max begins to veer from the script of the video game however, Riley is intrigued and works to bring Max out of the game and into the world, helping Max to grow and learn as an independent AI.  Even though I could predict the outcome (because it’s everything we all fear about AI) it was still amazing to watch how it would unfold. I loved every second of it! 
3/5 hearts - Amy
I might have given this a higher rating except it feels like I've read or seen or heard a close version(s) of this story before where Artificial Intelligence gets too smart. I did enjoy the way Crouch set the scene and kept it moving and got inside the main character.

Emergency Skin- N.K. Jemisin: 

4/5 hearts - Lynnie

Having not enjoyed Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, I was surprised how much I liked this short story.  The Earth has been destroyed by climate change and a descendant of those who fled the chaos has returned to get information about what (and who) has been left behind and to get samples to take back to his new home.  He’s equipped with an AI implant in his mind (which narrates and talks to him constantly) and the promise of a “skin” when he successfully returns back to his homeworld. And yet, in this short novella we learn about hope, human nature, prejudice, assumption, and the ability to overcome those things that hold us back from being our best selves.  
4/5 hearts - Amy
This was the best of the collection. It was the most creative and had the most interesting character. I was pleasantly surprised by this since I had not liked the only novel I've read of Jemisin's. Again, she wrote in the second person. This had bothered me in the novel but it was perfect for this story about a being returning to its planet of origin in order to get life-saving materials. I also enjoyed some of the political commentary in her story.

You Have Arrived At Your Destination- Amor Towles

3/5 hearts - Lynnie

Sam and his wife are trying to have children in a future where fertility clinics can do much more than mate sperm and egg.  Towles asks the question, what would you do if you could provide your child with the best chance possible for a successful future- however you see that future unfolding?  Does nurture even matter or is everything predetermined by the genetic materials that make up a person? I was fascinated by so much of this story and found myself thinking about the implications of the idea long after I finished reading.  That said however, I found the ending a bit unsatisfying.  
3/5 hearts - Amy
A future where technology has made scary things possible and a psychological profile of Americans that is less than flattering makes this an uncomfortable read. The descriptions of the settings were great and the picture of the future was believable.

The Last Conversation- Paul Tremblay

4/5 hearts - Lynnie

Tremblay is the only author in this collection whose work I haven’t read before so I had no idea what to expect, and I have to say that I LOVED it. It was just creepy enough, but not so creepy that I didn’t want to continue.  Instead, I was fascinated by the small clues that dropped throughout the story as it unfolds in front of your eyes. This is a story about identity- what if you woke up with no idea where or who you are? There is a doctor who will help you remember your life, regain your mobility, and answer your questions… except that she doesn’t.  How long are you willing to wait and what will you do to learn the truth? The story can get a bit tedious at times, but it was worth it to discover the truth.  
3-1/2 / 5 hearts - Amy
This story about someone emerging from unconsciousness and slowly remembering the past had great forward movement and kept me interested throughout. I was intrigued by the mystery of it, wanting to find out what had happened in this person's pat and why Anne was treating him in such a strange manner. I had never heard of this author but I enjoyed his story crafting.

Randomize- Andy Weir

3/5 hearts - Lynnie

I’m not surprised that Weir wrote a story about quantum physics and high stakes Vegas thievery.  I have no doubt that the science was accurate (like other Weir books, I couldn’t check his homework if I wanted to), but more importantly I enjoyed the interplay between the people in the story.  Which is more powerful when it comes to playing the odds- the computer or the human brain? In this story, you have to wait until the end to truly find out. Like The Last Conversation, there were times that the story was tedious, but the payoff was worth it in the end. 
2-1/2 / 5 hearts - Amy
As with The Martian, Weir tends to provide way too much mathematical detail and I skimmed over it. I did not need all that detail to get the gist of the thoughts/intentions behind the characters' schemes. The topic of gambling always turns me off and I did not care for the characters. Glad it was short.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Amy  

science fiction

In State of Wonder, Marina’s coworker at a pharmaceutical company dies during a work-related trip to the Amazon.  She is sent there in order to learn the details of his death so that his widow can have a measure of peace.

This is a tough one to critique.  It took me almost 2 months to read a mere 353 pages.  Considering I typically read longer books in about a week or two, that was an extremely slow pace.  I can attribute the slow pace to several things:   

• I started reading this novel a week before we moved into our new house so I was in the midst of packing, moving, unpacking, and settling (and also moving my son and my daughter into their new abodes).
• I was reading the hardcopy so I was unable to read in bed at night since the light keeps my husband awake. (I normally read books on my Paperwhite Kindle which has backlighting for bedtime reading.)  That limited the times which were available for me to read.
• My semester at school began which always takes some of my time.

However, the truth is that this book kept putting me to sleep.  I’d read 5-10 pages and my eyes would be dropping.  I’m sure some of my fatigue was due to the stress and exhaustion of moving but I was simply never drawn into the story.  I did not particularly care about the characters, the pace was slow, and the story was bizarre and unbelievable at times.  I never truly desired to read more. I just plodded through it because I’ve enjoyed two of Ann Patchett’s other novels and friends have told me they enjoyed this novel.  Alas, this one left me disappointed.  I will say that the ending was more interesting than the bulk of the novel so, at least, it ended on a good note.  For that reason, and because my mindset was admittedly preoccupied with other things, I’ll give this novel 3 stars even though I’m tempted to give it 2-1/2.

Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson

Lynnie

contemporary fiction

Be Frank With Me is the story of a reclusive writer, Mimi, her eccentric 9-year old son Frank, and Mimi's publisher's assistant, Alice, who goes to California to ensure that Mimi's newest novel can be completed without interruption. 

The first word that comes to mind when I think of this story and Julia Claiborne Johnson's characters is "charming."  I was smitten with 9-year old Frank from the very beginning- he's quirky, he's unusually bright, and he does not miss a thing. Frank is a renaissance boy, 9 going on 45,  and with a sense of style based on old black and white movies it's understandable why he has trouble fitting in with his peers.  While it's not openly discussed, the story flirts around the possibility of Frank being autistic and I like that most of the other characters simply accepted him at face value.

As much as I adored Frank, I rarely connected with the other characters in the story. Alice, who has flown to California to supervise Frank's mother, Mimi, as she writes her newest novel, has a sweet relationship with Frank throughout the novel and I applauded her ability to accept things as they were without trying to change Frank or Mimi too much. Mimi frustrated me with her aloofness, but at the same time her love for Frank was undeniable and I often wished we would learn more about her.

The other characters are all just window dressing though- Frank is the star of this story, as he should be- and it was lovely to spend some time getting to know him.