The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

Amy     


historical fiction

Coming out of the Great Depression, times are hard for almost everyone. In small-town Mississippi in 1933, Birdie, her mother, and her grandmother are struggling to make ends meet on their small farm. In desperation, Birdie travels to Oxford to ask her wealthy, married sister, Frances, for a loan. But Birdie finds that things aren’t exactly as rosy as she’d imagined they’d be at Frances’ mansion. Frances is a volunteer at the local orphanage and brings Birdie to help organize the orphanage’s books. She meets Meg, an 11-year-old orphan who’s been mostly confined to the dingy office where Birdie is working, and the two strike up a quick friendship.

This long novel sucked me right in because of the wonderful characters—I couldn’t help but care about them. Told from both Birdie’s and Meg’s viewpoints, both were underdogs in less-than-ideal situations but determined to do the best they could. When their stories started weaving together, I was riveted and made the time to read or listen to The Calamity Club every chance I got. I also loved how the people in this novel do both good and bad things. No one is all good and no one is all bad, as in reality. These people, particularly, were living at a difficult time and had to determine where they drew their lines.

I don’t believe I’ve read a novel set in the post-depression South and I really enjoyed learning about this part of our history. It’s been a long time since Kathryn Stockett’s other novel, The Help, was published seventeen years ago! It was one of the best novels I ever read. The Calamity Club was well worth the wait and has cemented my opinion that Stockett is an amazingly talented author. This was an entertaining, impactful, educational, heartbreaking, and heartwarming novel. Sure, there were some extraordinary coincidences and a few audacious gambles that seemed unlikely, but I still loved all the time I spent in Birdie’s and Meg’s world.

Fortunately, I was able to both read the Kindle version and listen to the audiobook, depending on what was best for me at any given time. In the audiobook, January Lavoy read Birdie’s viewpoint and Jenna Lamia read Meg’s viewpoint. I’ve enjoyed both of their narrations in the past and they showed off their large vocal repertoires and spot-on acting in this novel, as I expected they would. However, I had a problem with Lavoy’s Birdie. To me, she made Birdie sound too sophisticated most of the time. She was from small-town Alabama in the 1930s and her vocal tone sounded much too worldly in my opinion. Because of that, I’ll give Lavoy an A- and Lamia an A. I will also mention that the Kindle and audiobook versions were out of sync with their chapter numbers which was annoying and not something I’ve ever experienced before. One was numbered 3 chapters ahead of the other. I did not bother to figure out how that was possible or which one was incorrect. I wanted to spend all my time absorbing the wonderful story. And then I returned the audiobook to the library before I thought to figure out the discrepancy.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

Amy       

historical fiction

During WWII, Alina is a teenager on a Polish farm and her long-time love, Tomasz, is in Warsaw getting a medical degree when Hitler’s Army arrives and takes control of Poland.

In 2019, Alice is doing the best she can to be a good mother to both of her children, one of whom is a genius and the other is on the autism spectrum, despite a husband who isn’t very hands-on with the kids. When her grandmother has a stroke and insists that Alice go to Poland to find some part of her past, Alice experiences her first time being away from the kids while on her grandmother’s mysterious quest.

I always hesitate to read WWII-based novels. It’s just that they are so heart wrenching and infuriating and I’ve already read so many stories from that time period. It’s not like I’m uninformed. It’s the opposite. I feel very well-informed about the atrocities, despair, and hatred of the Nazis as well as the strength, love, and resilience of the survivors. I’ve read stories from soldiers’ points of view as well as secret operatives’ and civilians’. I just don’t enjoy the depression I feel when I’m forced to face the realities of the Holocaust. But this novel came highly recommended and, honestly, there wasn’t any other appealing audiobook available at the library. So, I decided to give The Things We Cannot Say a try.

I’m so glad I did! I was completely engrossed. Both storylines had great characters and situations that pulled me in. Alina’s and Alice’s situations were entirely different and they highlighted how the times have changed since WWII. Neither one could have imaged what the other had to deal with. I wanted to know how everything would turn out in both of their stories. Plus, I had to find out about Alice’s grandmother’s secrets. Kelly Rimmer’s writing was perfectly paced and her characters’ situations were never boring. The trials these characters faced felt very authentic. As predicted, it was both a heartbreaking and heartwarming story. As someone whose family is from Poland, the stories felt even more personal and interesting to me. And I thought the way the mysteries played out, while not surprising, were well done in terms of the story-crafting between the timeframes and stories.

The audiobook was narrated by Ann Marie Gideon and Nancy Peterson, each narrating one of the points of view. They were both terrific for their roles and had a nice repertoire of character voices and accents. I’ll give them As.

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

Amy    

family drama

The Cassidy-Shaw family causes a fatal accident while their minivan is on auto-drive being commanded by the van’s Artificial Intelligence system. The 17-year old behind the wheel and the father in the passenger seat share the blame for causing the accident. But, as the book continues, we learn there were also extenuating circumstances which weren’t their fault. The matter of Culpability for the accident takes center stage in the novel, but the story also includes a multitude of other AI systems being employed in the characters’ lives. When AI is involved, who is responsible for decision-making? The AI or the people who created the AI?

As our lives continue to be inundated with the increasing presence of AI systems, making life easier in many ways while also raising a number of serious concerns, I was spellbound by this book. I loved the way Bruce Holsinger included various AI technologies, affecting people in ways from small to immense, making the reader feel both positive and negative about AI. It is being used in this world for both good and evil. We see AI being used in everything from individual smart phone apps to global warfare. It made me think a lot and also educated me on some aspects I hadn’t considered regarding AI. With AI, programmers have to define risks for the AI to use in its moral calculations. But the AI does not have a conscience.

The mother in the family happens to be an expert in AI algorithms. Snippets from the book she is writing about the ethics of AI, called “The Culpability of Artificial Minds”, is peppered throughout the novel. These serve to educate the reader about AI outside of the central story, filling in the AI picture more completely. Overall, I didn’t learn as much about AI as I anticipated. However, the amount of detail felt perfect for this novel. It didn’t get bogged down in overly technical explanations. Rather it tried to balance AI facts with the way it was directly affecting this family.

Holsinger conveniently made the father a lawyer, presumably, in order to speed up the character’s understanding of legal issues the family faced. At first, that made me roll my eyes. It was a bit too convenient that the parents worked in AI and law. And, also, for a lawyer, the dad was a bit slow to catch on to unfamiliar legal issues. But I understand why the author made those choices and was actually grateful for his efficiency in the flow of the story. There was also a bit of family dysfunction, issues of the haves vs. the have-nots, blame, and intent. I found it all fascinating. This novel is going to make for a great book club discussion!

The audiobook narrators were really terrific. January LaVoy always has a stellar vocal repertoire with spot-on voice acting and this was no exception. And Stacy Carolan was new to me but did a terrific job bringing the story to life. He also had a very good vocal repertoire. I give them both As.