Writers and Lovers by Lily King

Amy  

fiction

Casey is a 31-year old woman and this is the story of her past and present. She’s an aspiring novelist and has been working on her novel for 6 years.  She’s a waitress, lives in a potting shed behind her landlord’s house, and owns a bike for transportation.  She has traveled a lot, is in serious debt thanks to student loans, and her mother recently died unexpectedly.

Writers and Lovers by Lily King does not grab you.  Casey isn’t particularly noteworthy.  The above paragraph describes basically all we know of her before the book shifts predominantly into her love life.  She has had a variety of lovers. That is all well and good. But halfway through the novel, I was still trying to figure out the point of this novel. It was often disjointed. When would something happen to make me care?  I think I might’ve dropped it if I’d had another audiobook on hand. However, it did benefit from an amazing narrator and also from lots of surprising humor! This novel caused me to laugh out loud probably more than any other novel I’ve read in recent memory! Halfway through, it finally became cohesive and more engaging.

I am pretty sure that people who love literary fiction and analyzing novel structures and literary devices would enjoy this novel more than I did.  I saw glimmers of foreshadowing and allegories without trying very hard. I get the feeling there is a lot more of that if I really wanted to find it. I picked up some references (both direct and indirect) to other authors and their work, perhaps as an homage.  But, that is not how I enjoy reading. I just prefer a good story and characters about whom I care.

The narrator was Stacey Glemboski and she was fabulous.  She gave Casey a much more tolerable personality than I might have given her myself and this definitely helped me enjoy the novel more.  She displayed great voice acting and different character voices. I give her an A+.

 

 

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

Lynnie

fantasy

Chosen Ones is marketed as Veronica Roth's (author of the Divergent series) adult debut but it reads like a YA novel through and through. The characters are supposed to be in their 20s or 30s but, because of events that happened in their teen years, they are all sort of stunted emotionally; I often had to remind myself that they were not 19 years old. There isn't graphic sex or violence worse than what you read in Divergent or Hunger Games... truly, if your YA reads this book they won't be shocked, mortified, or otherwise disturbed.

This book took me a longer than normal time to read because I often found it slow-going and occasionally boring; there was nothing pulling me back to the pages. Our main character, Sloane, is purposefully not very likable and therefore it becomes difficult to care about a story that ultimately revolves around her.

That said, the book starts out with an interesting premise- a dark entity (the Dark One) comes to Earth and a group of teens are chosen to defeat him. This book however, starts after the defeat- what happens to these teen heroes when there's no more hero work to be done? That was an interesting idea & I really wish it had been explored a bit further.

But of course, we have to dive back into the drama as the jacket summary explains, "the Dark One's reign never really ended." Sigh. One of the original Chosen dies, though remains a character- sort of as a conscience- and another we might as well never have met at all. Once the second section of the book picked up I kept waiting for some reason for this character to exist, but it never came.

The third section of the book is the most interesting & not surprisingly where all the threads begin to tie together. Sadly, my two favorite characters came from this back half of the book and I wish I'd been able to learn more about both of them. The third section is full of action and information and really helped push me to finish the book.

So, while it starts slowly, the book closes well. In fact, the ending is the reason it gets 3 stars instead of 2

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

Amy  

historical fiction

The Stationery Shop told of the lives of Roya and Bahman. They met in Tehran, Iran in 1953 at a local stationery shop, fell quickly in love, and prepared to marry.  But in the midst of political upheaval, the two were torn apart to lead different lives due to tragic interference.  Sixty years later, they meet again and learn of each others’ pasts.

This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story by Marjan Kamali full of vivid characters and well-drawn historical settings in Iran and the United States.  The book brought out so many emotions while I read it.  Joy, confusion, heartache (and I shed plenty of tears!), grief, and hope. I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It gave me a bit of education about Iran’s recent history which I also really appreciated.  The story jumped around across the timeline a bit but I thought it was perfectly crafted.  The pacing was just right. 

The audiobook narrator, Mozhan Marno, was terrific.  She was definitely the right narrator for this novel. I give her an A+! She had a repertoire of voices and her acting was superb. 

The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman

Amy    

historical fiction, fantasy

The World That We Knew follows several young people in France in the early 1940s as they navigate WWII.  As a WWII novel, it’s typical in that it is depressing, shocking, and heartwarming. As an Alice Hoffman novel, it’s typical in that it includes a few elements of fantasy. The main magical element is the existence of a golem, a mystical Jewish creature, which is created at the behest of a woman who desires protection for her Jewish daughter as she flees from the dangers at home.

I’ve read many WWII novels and, as is the case here, I usually only do this for book club.  Honestly, there isn’t much more I care to learn about the war and there are only a few WWII novels that have stood out as spectacular to me.  This is not one of them. It has its merits but it did not cover anything I haven’t read before in other novels. In fact, I’ve even read about golems before. Granted, I haven’t read about a golem in WWII before, but this novel would have been more enjoyable if I didn’t have many other better WWII and golem novels for comparison. 

I was pleased that this novel did not move into a textbook mode at any point which is a common pitfall of Hoffman’s novels.  This one did hold my interest the entire time.  I enjoyed the characters and their stories very much.

The audiobook was narrated by Judith Light.  For most of the novel she did a great job with a nice repertoire of voices and good acting. But, for about 1/3 of the novel she spoke in an even rhythm while voicing the narrator.  She spaced the syl-la-bles e-ven-ly in-stead of speak-ing in a nor-mal rhy-thm.  It was quite annoying.  Therefore, I give her a B for this novel.

   

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Amy  

fiction

Lydia, the family’s middle child, has died at the age of 16.  The novel unravels the story of her life, and her family members’ lives, leading up to and shortly after her death.  It’s not drastic poor parenting like The Glass Castle or Educated but it’s a portrait of a dysfunctional family.

Everything I Never Told You is a mid-20^th century family drama about a time when people never talked about what was bothering them.   Halfway through, I figured this was just another one of those novels that have lessons to share and they illustrate the times in which they are set, but I usually don’t get anything out of them except depression. Nobody wins. Or, at least, they’re all worse off because of their family life.  But, I began feeling differently during the second half of this novel. It made me evaluate my own parenting style and I’m hopeful that I didn’t negatively impact my children’s lives like these parents unwittingly did. I certainly am guilty of wanting different things for my children than I experienced in my own childhood. But, I’d like to think I didn’t go so overboard and that I was more measured and realistic than Lydia’s parents. Thankfully, my mother was a communicator, and I’d like to think that my children understood my intentions while growing up. Still, I’m sure this novel will haunt me. The biggest moral of the story (besides family communication) is that parents should never re-live their childhood or attempt to fix their own childhood issues through their children. It’s a recipe for disaster. Another sad aspect of the story is that racism still exists against Chinese Americans. Some things don’t seem to improve despite the fact that we think we are progressing as a nation.

This was the second novel I’ve read by Celeste Ng but I did not enjoy this one as much as Little Fires Everywhere which was a much richer novel. Still, it holds its own and I am impressed with Ng’s thoughtful insight and the way she wrote to deliver her messages.

The narrator, Cassandra Campbell, did a fine job. She had a good-sized repertoire of voices and characters.  Her narrator voice could have been more animated but the material in these depressing novels tends to make the narrators perform in depressing monotone. She wasn’t as bad as others I’ve heard and was a good voice actor otherwise.  I’ll give her an A- for this performance.

Infinity + One by Amy Harmon

Amy    

romance

In Infinity + One, Bonnie is an unhappy, famous pop/country superstar and has decided to end her life after the last show of her tour.  As she’s about to jump off a bridge, Clyde is driving by and stops her from jumping. She then convinces him to take her west with him.  Throughout their endearing adventures, the novel shares facts about the infamous Bonnie and Clyde.

The four Amy Harmon novels I’ve read are all so different. I would call this one a character-based romance.  It’s fun and the characters are lovable. You know how it’ll end but the ride is very enjoyable.  It’s full of coincidences and fate. It centers around gaining control of your own life, helping those who need help, and letting go of the past. I can’t think of much else to say about it other than it was light-hearted and a sweet summer read.

It’s taken me a while, but I’m finally seeing the common factors in Harmon’s novels: 

• Looking beyond flaws in character, appearance, and/or ability
• Men with personal difficulties/struggles who are also sensitive and kind
• Women with family issues
• Two very different people coming together to improve both of their lives
• Absent parents
• Extended families
• Religion/faith/belief systems

I listened to the audiobook and, like the last Harmon novel to which I listened, it was narrated by Tavia Gilbert.  She, again, had to use a repertoire of accents and voices and rose to the occasion.  I thought she did an excellent job. I’ll give her an A+!

  

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0) by Suzanne Collins

Amy   

young adult, fantasy

The prequel to The Hunger Games series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes described the year that Coriolanus Snow was 18 years old.  It was intended to give the reader some insight into how he became the evil President of Panem.

As expected, it was not a pretty picture. However, it was depressing since he seemed like a fairly normal down-on-his-luck, albeit clever, teenager for most of the novel. Granted, he was quite narcissistic and concerned with self-preservation above all else but many teenagers are.  Then, things took a very wrong turn near the end of the novel. It was sudden and, frankly, out of character. But, he found himself making a few bad choices without regret and the story suddenly felt ingenuine to me.

The best part of the novel is learning more about the history of the Hunger Games rather than learning about Snow’s past.  But, compared to the trilogy novels, it’s not as exciting or fast-paced and I don’t feel that this novel advanced the overall story arc narrative. We all knew Snow was evil and this just shows us how he became evil which isn’t a particularly engaging storyline. 

Of course, the novel contains some signature brilliance by Suzanne Collins but, if you loved the trilogy, this is not a must read.

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

Amy    
Lynnie

contemporary fiction

Tiffy needs a place to live and Leon needs some extra income. After changing his schedule to so he can earn more money as a night nurse, he sublets his flat during the day and on weekends to Tiffy.  They never see one another, but they sleep in the same bed.  Hilarity ensues, of course.

Amy's Review

This was such a cute story with loveable characters.  Their communicative notes and leftover food eventually lead to a friendship that neither realized how much they needed. It was a perfect escape from real life and would make a great beach read.  I enjoyed the British-isms and the heartwarming gestures made by several characters.

There isn’t too much to say about this novel but I did really like it. If you’re looking for a light, uplifting novel, I highly recommend it.

Lynnie's Review

Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare is a completely delightful few hours of reading. It's kind of a ridiculous story, but I absolutely loved every single minute of it. The characters were charming and colorful, the side plots were mostly engaging (I hated the villain, as one is supposed to, but he was almost too much of a cartoon villain sometimes), and I found myself completely wrapped up in the drama of Tiffy and Leon.

When you need a book to put a smile on your face, this is the one to reach for. It's total chick-lit, but it is absolutely entertaining.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi

Amy       

young adult, fantasy

Children of Virtue and Vengeance picks up where the best-selling Children of Blood and Bone left off with Zelie and her diviners trying to overthrow the royals of Orisha in order the stop the persecution of the maji.

I had high hopes for this sequel but it just didn’t measure up to the original.  Most of this novel involves battles—preparing for them, staffing up for them, fighting them—and I never love reading about battles and related strategy/players.  So, that’s the first problem. But, usually, I’ll suffer the battle scenes if the rest of the novel is worth it.  This one really wasn’t.  Every time it started to get interesting (because it was focusing on characters and relationships), one of the characters made a stupid choice or some external factor canceled the momentum.  It was extremely frustrating.  Yes, these are teenagers and, often, teenagers do not make the wisest decisions. But when they bungle everything up this much it’s just not so fun to read.

Virtue and vengeance?  Vengeance, most definitely. Virtue, not so much.  And all vengeance all the time is not a pretty look, even on characters I otherwise like.  I think this novel should be titled Children of Damage and Deceit.  The characters have all been burned so badly by their terrible pasts and are too immature to see past their team loyalties to the bigger picture. Some are selfish and overly righteous; some are impatient.  All of them dismiss their inner conscience too quickly. The result is too much in-fighting and backstabbing.  It’s painful to read, honestly.  It’s one blunder after another.  And then, it ends and both sides end up pretty much where they were at the end of the first novel.  Without forward momentum, a second novel in a trilogy is just filler.

I always enjoy listening to Bahni Turpin narrate a book.  She’s terrific with many different voices and great accents along with impressive acting.  I give her an A for this one.