Things I Wish I Told My Mother by Susan Patterson and Susan DiLallo

Amy  

women's fiction

Laurie’s mother, the invincible OB/GYN to the stars, ends up in the hospital with heart trouble. As a bribe to get her mother to be a good patient, Laurie promises to take a trip with her after her recovery. The novel describes their journey through Paris and Norway while they sightsee, shop, eat, meet up with friends and family, and each enjoy a little romance. They also grow closer through their shared journey.

So much about Laurie’s overbearing mother rang true to me. And, like Laurie, I grew to know that much of her unsolicited advice came from a place of love and concern.

A personal joy, since I’ve been learning French for a year, was being able to understand most of the French words in the novel! I was also pleased that the authors (Susan Patterson and Susan DiLallo) gave us the translations for words in other languages, which sometimes does not happen in novels.

I realize that there isn't much meat to this review. I suppose there wasn't much meat to the story. But I stayed interested, had fun traveling with the characters, and enjoyed the ride well enough. Because of the title, Things I Wish I Told My Mother, I kept waiting for Laurie's mother to die. So I was surprised to read an entire novel where Laurie had been, very much, telling things to her mother. All gets explained in the end. 

The audiobook narrator, Ellen Archer, did a great job with voice acting as well as displaying several different accents and voices. She even sang! A+

The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers

 

Lynnie

romance, contemporary fiction

I was expecting The Book Swap to be a traditional, light-hearted rom-com. Instead Tessa Bickers has crafted a story about romance, yes, but also about grief, family, forgiveness, mental health challenges and coming to terms with your past. 

Erin is trying to find her path forward after tragedy. James is trying to navigate a job he doesn't love, a family in turmoil, and his own losses. Coming together through their community library by sharing messages in the margins of books gives each of them the space to share themselves and tell each other truths that neither of them have shared with someone before. It does help to have read the books that the characters swap but I don't think you miss anything if you haven't. There were a couple I either haven't read or read them so long ago I don't remember much about the books and I still enjoyed the marginalia. (Also, that is two book reviews in a month where I got to use the word marginalia!)

Yes, of course, rom-com shenanigans and miscommunications ensue. Aside from the two enjoyable main characters, the secondary characters in this book were wonderful. I loved the family dynamics and interactions, even when they were painful or awkward and I genuinely cared about the outcomes. 

The Book Swap is a quick, charming book  and my only complaint is the lack of an epilogue. I would have enjoyed a peek into a happily ever after.

This book will be published on September 3, 2024. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Amy  

historical fiction

The Heart’s Invisible Furies is the life story of Cyril Avery told from his point of view. The novel begins with his young birth mother’s story when she was unwed and pregnant with Cyril in small-town Ireland in the 1940s. It then continues through his challenging, loveless childhood with two adoptive parents who never let him forget he was not their natural child, his dissatisfied young adulthood when he was continually frustrated being gay in his Catholic-run country, his adult life outside of Ireland, and through the remainder of his life surrounded by family.

The characters within Cyril’s story felt so real. The situations were relatable. I laughed out loud a few times! I really enjoyed the coincidences with certain people being in Cyril’s life at the right time and how they were interconnected, and kept reappearing, without his awareness. It was also fun reliving some of the memorable world moments from my own life experience through Cyril’s Irish eyes. It’s a story about learning to live within the confines of your life and overcoming struggles. Cyril did not always make the best decisions (in fact, he committed one unforgivably selfish wrong against another person) but he managed to carve out a life in which he could exist. 

A great aspect of this novel is that John Boyne gave us wonderful closure.  All the characters, concerns, and storylines received full and complete closure before the end. I loved it!  Also, I just realized that Boyne wrote my favorite novel of 2019, A Ladder to the Sky!  I had completely forgotten his name, I’m ashamed to say! And, I see a trend that this is now two books which include novel-writers as characters. Of course, I’ll make a point to read more of his novels since I’ve enjoyed two of his so much!

The audiobook narrator, Stephen Hogan, did a great job with a variety of accents and voices. He was a fabulous voice actor! My only complaint was that he did not pause between chapters. He’d finish the last sentence of one chapter and then immediately read the title of the next chapter without pausing. THEN he’d pause giving me a second to catch up and change my frame of mind for a new chapter.  I’d have preferred a few seconds of pause before the new chapter title. I’ll give him an A-.

   

No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister

Lynnie

contemporary fiction, short stories

 

No Two Persons has been on my reading list for a while, and because the audiobook won several awards, I decided to wait until I could get that version from the library. I loved the book and the stories, but admittedly I did not love the narrators. But let's review the book first.

No Two Persons is a series of stories, all based around a fictional book (Theo) and it's effect on those who interact with it from the writer, to the assistant who helps get it published, to a series of readers and ultimately the publisher. While we learn pieces about the fictional novel's plot throughout, the focus is more on how people react to and interact with the book and its main character, Theo. As Erica Bauermeister writes, "no two persons read the same book." Books are filtered through each readers' own experiences and the collections of stories in No Two Persons shows how that's true. It was moving to see how the book found the readers during important moments in their lives. Like any collection of interconnected short stories, I connect with some more than others, and that was exacerbated by the narrators.

In the audiobook, each story has a different narrator. Beginning with Rachel Jacobs as the writer, I admit I didn't like her style. She spoke so... slow...ly... that I ended up speeding up the narration- which helped quite a bit. After the first chapter, the narration improved, in my opinion. Standouts included Braden Wright as the actor, Max Meyers as the Diver, Gabra Zackman as the teenager, Stephen Graybill as the bookseller, George Newbern as the caretaker (my personal favorite, his chapter felt like someone was talking to me, where the others sounded like they were reading to me), and Carol Jacobanis as the agent. The other narrators, Barrie Kreinik, Jesse Vilinsky, and Cassandra Campbell didn't capture my imagination quite so clearly. Overall, I give the ensemble a B, but George Newbern and Gabra Zackman get solid As.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

Amy  

fiction, magical realism

On a full airplane, a woman walked down the aisle pointing at every passenger as she told her captive audience when and how they would each die. How would you live your life if you were told you only had a short time remaining? Here One Moment followed the lives of several of the passengers and the woman herself—their situations before getting on the plane as well as the way they handled the news about their impending deaths.

The concept immediately pulled me into the story. However, about a fifth of the way through the novel, I found myself wanting more than just random passenger stories. The novel felt aimless without a central story arc. It wasn’t until about halfway through the book, once some deaths started happening as predicted, that it became more compelling. However, reading about the passengers’ reactions to their predicaments was depressing.

I’ve loved many of Liane Moriarty’s other novels and even met her at a book signing. This one felt very different from her others. It was largely missing her sense of humor and was very introspective. Often, it was mundane. But mostly I didn’t really see the point of the story. I wonder if Moriarty herself has been dealing with grief and this was some sort of cathartic exercise for her to write about characters thinking about death. The characters themselves all felt real and their actions felt genuine. It was just anticlimactic and ho-hum despite the interesting concept.

Thank you to NetGalley, Liane Moriarty, and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read an early galley in exchange for my review.  Here One Moment will be available on September 10, 2024.  

The Girl in Question (The Girls I've Been #2) by Tess Sharpe

Lynnie

young adult, action

I loved Tess Sharpe's The Girls I've Been when I read it, so I was very happy to be able to spend some more time with Nora, Iris, Wes and Lee. Through all their trauma, they have found family and forged trust with one another - they are characters that I thought about long after I finished the first book.

This sequel, The Girl in Question shows Nora, Iris and Wes about to graduate high school, facing change and challenges ahead. Nothing could be quite that simple though, could it? Not when Nora is involved, because once again her past has come back with a vengeance and it will change the course of these friends' futures.

The Girl in Question is 400 pages of nonstop action as the characters fight for each other and their survival. While the kids' trauma isn't as front and center as it was in the first book, it is an undercurrent to every choice they make in this story. These characters have accepted each other and their past actions and have made plans for whatever the future may hold.

As they work together to save Wes' girlfriend Amanda, and to deal with Raymond before Raymond deals with them, I found myself unable and unwilling to put this book down as I urgently needed to know what would happen next and whether or not they would survive this latest challenge. As I said in my review of the The Girls I've Been, it's "a story about love, friendship, family by birth, family by choice, trauma, tenacity, resilience, and the lengths we'll go to for love and survival."

I don't think another book is needed in this series but, rest assured, if Tess Sharpe writes one, I will read it!

Homeland (The Dark Elf Trilogy #1) by R.A. Salvatore

Amy  

fantasy

Homeland is the origin story of Drizzt Do’Urden. In the cutthroat underground world of the dark elves, the story focused on how Drizzt’s family indoctrinated him into the oppressive and deadly religion by which their society lived. Yet Drizzt was destined for more.

This novel opened up with a dump of information about dark elf society. It was an emotionless introduction to Drizzt’s world and I would have quit reading before the third chapter if my son (who suggested I read this novel) hadn’t specifically told me that it would soon become about the characters. Thankfully, it did become more engaging after the first two chapters.

In their female-centric society, the women held the power but they had to brainwash their citizens in order to have that powerful hold over them. Magic was critical to power. The elves worshipped the Spider Queen who rewarded diabolical, backstabbing behavior. Yet Drizzt managed to develop a moral code separate from nearly everyone in the community. He grew to be an impressive warrior under private tutelage by his unrecognized father. And by the time he completed the warrior academy, Drizzt had matured into someone with different ideals than everyone around him. 

I liked some aspects of this good vs. evil fantasy story but the best part, by far, is Drizzt himself. Who doesn’t love a hero with a strong sense of right and wrong? I might read the next one in the very long series by R.A. Salvatore if I need another audiobook at some point but I won’t rush out to read it. Mostly, I enjoyed reading something my son likes so I can talk with him about it.

The audiobook was narrated by Victor Bevine. I understand he narrates the entire series. My son thinks he’s awesome. I think he’s a competent narrator but he doesn’t have a huge variety of voices and his smooth vocal quality didn’t quite fit the rugged, brutal story, IMO. I’ll give him a B+.

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by M.J. Wassmer

 

Lynnie

fiction

 

In MJ Wassmer's debut novel, Zero Stars Do Not Recommend, slacker Dan Foster and his girlfriend Mara are on vacation at an isolated island resort. When the sun explodes, the guests panic (obviously) and shenanigans ensue. Trapped on the island for at least two weeks until the planes return to fetch them (will the planes even be able to fly without the sun?), the guests devolve into a grown-up version of Lord of the Flies as they fight for control and resources. Who better to grab the reins of control than the leader of a huge multi-level marketing company. I mean, of COURSE she's a villain! The other guests have to decide if they will fall in line or risk their health and safety to rebel against the resort elite.

This was an interesting idea and I really enjoyed the set up and the ending. It's in the middle of the story where things got a little slow, however. There were times I was simply bored by machinations of the resort guests. It was weird to think that the end of the world might be that predictable. I was rarely surprised by the action of the resort guests, whether they were at their worst or their best; people are people and stressful situations bring out the extremes in their morals, values and behaviors.

I liked all the characters, even the villains, and felt that Wassmer understood who he was writing about. There are clues about the ending along the way for readers who look for them, but I think you can also read this book and be completely surprised where the story takes you. Fortunately, this book is not worth zero stars; I'll give it three stars with the warning that if you read this while on vacation, stay alert!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, Net Galley, and M.J. Wassmer for the early release. This book will be released to the public on August 6, 2024.