In which I summarize and review all of the books I read in August, 2018.
Welcome to another wrap-up! In August I soaked up the last of summer and started the school year - a month of variety! I'm excited to share my thoughts on my equally varied reading progress this month, so let's dive into the books!
Top-Rated Book of the Month: Refugee by Alan Gratz (5 stars)
"It was better to be visible. To stand up. To stand out."
This novel tracks the progress of three teen refugees: Josef fleeing from Germany in 1938, Isabel escaping Cuba in 1994, and Mahmoud leaving Syria in 2015. As their stories unfold, similarities and connections emerge to communicate the eternal saga of refugees searching for a new home and how it affects each of us.
I desperately want other people to read this book, but I'm honestly having trouble putting my feelings into words. Towards the beginning, as Gratz gives the reader background on Nazi Germany and Cuba under Castro, I'll admit that I was worried that the novel would be the tiniest bit...superficial. Then I remembered the book's intended audience: pre-teens. I grew up surrounded by people of my grandparents' generation who lived through World War II. I spent my childhood with the shadow of Cuban refugees crossing the Gulf on my periphery of my conscience. For the younger generation, these events seem as distant as the past century - partly because they are in the past century! For that reason alone, it is so important for young people to read this book and gain a knowledge these important moments in world history. As the plot develops, it becomes clearer that it is important for everyone to read this book purely to develop empathy for others. Each of the individual plots is connected, and as those connections are revealed, it encourages the reader to think about how their lives and actions might influence the lives of a refugee, for better or for worse. I didn't think it was possible for this book to end on a hopeful note, but it does, which makes it that much more fulfilling to read. In summary, read this book.
Phew! Now into the rest of the books I read this month:
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (4 stars)
Summary: In the land of Orïsha, magic has been banned. Any maji, who possessed magical abilities, have been stripped of their powers. That is, magic has disappeared until Zélie runs into a runaway princess with an important scroll. After that, Zélie, along with her brother and the princess, embarks on a race across Orïsha to bring magic back to the land. But more than one complication arrives with the captain of the guard - all of whose dangers must be faced before the uprising can have any hope of succeeding.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book when I first started it. I knew that it had gotten rave reviews from everyone who had read it, but I couldn't have told you a thing about the plot without consulting the summary. Once I started reading, however, I flew through this young-adult epic. The character studies were fascinating, the fast pace kept me hooked, and the overarching allegory makes the story even more powerful. The only complaint I might make would be that there was too much pace too quickly. I would have liked to have spent more down time with the characters to get to know them even better. Since this book is set to be adapted into a film, though, the pacing will make a perfect fantasy film script. I can't wait to see how my mental version of Orïsha compares to the filmmaker's vision!
The Diviners by Libba Bray (4 stars)
"Quotation here."
Summary: Evie is a typical teenager in the 1920s: she Charlestons the night away at parties, knows all the latest slang, has bobbed her hair...and can see a person's past by holding an object that belonged to them. Alright, maybe she's not very typical. When Evie travels to New York City to live with her Uncle Will, little does she know that an innocent party has set supernatural events into motion that put the city, and perhaps the world, in great danger. Can Evie use her gifts to help save the world?
I loved reading this book. It was completely gripping, utterly creepy (I learned on Day 1 not to read it alone at night), and wonderfully fun. The characters are beautifully rounded and utterly real - all apart from Jericho, that is. I can't say exactly why without spoiling the ending, but his secret stretched belief for me. I also loved the scope of the novel. New York City is a small area of land, but it's packed full of different worlds and it always has been. Bray does a great job of leading the reader through a labyrinth of Midtown parties, restaurants in Chinatown, seedy museums on the outskirts of the fashionable side of town, picture houses and Harlem jazz clubs. This wild and wonderful adventure has a dark threat slithering under and around it, though, and the veracity of the setting and characters makes the plot even more unsettling. I'm so glad there are more books in the series. I'm excited to see what Evie and her friends get up to next!
Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne (2 stars)
Summary: It's your typical fantasy novel: a band of intrepid friends set out on a quest to save the kingdom. Except, the band consists of a rather fuzzy bard who isn't very good at barding, a Dark Lord without a majestic beard and with a fondness for cheese, a ferocious female warrior in an impractical metal bikini, and a goat. Oh yeah, and the Chosen One is temporarily out of order. It's a twisted fantasy novel about a very atypical quest.
I won this book at BookCon this year and went on a bit of a roller coaster with it. At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it at all, based on the title. I adore The Princess Bride, and the title intimated that Westley should die! Heresy! Then I read the first five chapters, and I was in love. The quirky characters and very sarcastic narration reminded me of Good Omens or Monty Python. I was laughing out loud reading those opening chapters (in my car, in the parking lot of the yoga studio...don't ask)! After the first 100 pages, however, the book began to drag. Even though skewering fantasy tropes and injecting the plot with a bit of practicality and feminism is a great concept, stretching that satire into 350 pages makes it wear thin. Delilah Dawson, Kevin Hearne, keep up the great work, but maybe keep them as short stories, instead.
Indecent by Paula Vogel (4 stars)
Summary: This Tony-winning play tells the story of the remarkable Yiddish play God of Vengeance. Written by Sholem Asch in 1907, it was rejected by his hometown troupe for its portrayal of corrupt Jews and a female/female love story. In Berlin, however, a troupe picks up Asch's play, and it enjoys great success throughout Europe. Next stop: America! In New York, however, the play is closed after one night on Broadway by the vice squad. The play then follows the trial and the fallout and what the play's closure means for each of the players as 1938 looms on the horizon.
I first became aware of this play while watching the 2017 Tonys, and felt robbed! How could I not have known about such a complex, interesting play until after it had closed? Luckily, Indecent was filmed for PBS's Great Performances and I managed to record it. Reading the play was a wonderful, moving experience, but there was an element missing. I couldn't hear the songs or picture the dances included throughout, and occasionally there would be an untranslated sentence in the script. The importance of art and good translation moved me deeply, but I wasn't sure if I had gotten a full idea of the play. Seeing the play was just as moving, if not more so. Seeing the rain scene, which was said to be as beautiful as the Balcony Scene, hearing the melodies of the songs and dances, watching some of the characters age...it really did help the script come to life. I'm still mad that I missed seeing it in person, but it is well worth a read and a viewing, if you're able.
Bookish Boyfriends: A Date with Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt (1 star)
Summary: Merrilee Campbell is a very bookish teenager. In fact, she can't imagine dating any boy she knows, because they just can't compare to the heroes of the books she reads. That is, until she and her best friend transfer to Reginald R. Hero High and discover that fictional heroes may exist after all...
I cannot say how much I disliked this book again. Below is the review that I put on Goodreads minutes after I admitted defeat:
"I'll be honest: I only made it to page 80. I was really looking forward to a Young Adult book about bookish teens and Jane Austen, considering I was a bookish teen obsessed with Jane Austen. But honestly, the writing is cringeworthy. By page 80 we have had exactly two moments reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, and I'm not even sure if we know the Darcy character's name. The heroine is obsessed with how everyone else is smarter, more poised, or better at some skill than her, which is very off-putting. She is painfully socially awkward, too, even in terms of her internal monologue. Her first kiss, which is supposed to be an incredible moment with a swoon-worthy guy, is described like this: 'As he increased the pressure, our mouths began to figure out their own choreography, starting with the Hokey Pokey and progressing toward a waltz.' I know Merrilee is supposed to be quirky, but that's just a turn-off. The editor should have done a much better job, too. Merrilee is told not to wear anything that shows off seaworthy troops (naval v. navel), and the word 'Myheadswiveledtowardthevoice' exists. Ultimately, I had high expectations, but none of them were met."
Needless to say, I will not be reading the rest of the series.
The Victorian and the Romantic: A Memoir, a Love Story, and a Friendship Across Time by Nell Stevens (4 stars)
Summary: Nell tells the story of her writing and romance as she pursued a PhD and how her experiences mirror or contrast those of Elizabeth Gaskell, the author who is the focus of her thesis. Naturally, since she is filtering her experiences through her memory, an element of fiction weaves its way into the story, but overall it is a memoir with a hint of a biography.
I loved this book. As an English major, I could relate to everything Stevens described about pursuing an English degree: the obsessive level of knowledge one gains about one's subject, the minutiae that your fellow students will choose to study, the fear that your topic will never be as sophisticated as theirs, and the point of frustration everyone hits 3/4 of the way through the paper. Most of all, I could relate to the way that your chosen author becomes a touchstone and a best friend. Adding a long distance relationship on top of that makes for all the drama that a good story needs. I also liked finding out more about Elizabeth Gaskell's life, since I love North and South and Cranford. If you're an Anglophile English major, read Nell Stevens' books.
Jane and Dorothy: A True Tale of Sense and Sensibility: The Lives of Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth by Marian Veevers (3 stars)
Summary: Jane and Dorothy is a dual-biography of, you guessed it, Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth. These were two independent women who entered the literary world from two very different angles. Austen entered it on her own, with help from her brothers when it came to publishing, and Dorothy through her brother William's writing. The book explores how they each grew up, approached love, Romanticism, and the writing process.
I am a huge Jane Austen fan, so how could I not pick this book up when I stumbled across it at the library? I then discovered that Marian Veevers also writes the Dido Kent mysteries under the pen name Anna Dean, which I have read! That being said, this biography was just average for me. It was full of interesting information, but it focused much more on Dorothy Wordsworth than it did Jane Austen. While Veevers does work for the Wordsworth Trust, this emphasis makes sense, but the title and summary advertise both women as though they will have equal billing. That extra emphasis on Wordsworth also made the reading experience difficult, since the more I learned about the Wordsworths, the more I was convinced that I did not like them. Dorothy was the definition of a Romantic, but was incredibly selfish and insensitive when it came to the feelings of others. William seemed to think that anything that he wasn't immediately good at wasn't worth doing and to avoid hard work through the excuse of ill health. While I am glad that I now know more about Romantic writers, I will not be adding this biography to my collection.
Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World by Nell Stevens (4 stars)
Summary: Nell Stevens' first memoir tells the story of the writing retreat she took at the end of her MFA in Writing. She journeys to Bleaker Island in the Falkland Islands for three months in the hopes of surviving the isolation caused by writing. If her experiment works, she hopes to emerge with a novel. Bleaker Island lives up to its name, however, and Nell goes through many more hardships than mere loneliness in search of herself and her book.
I think I liked this book even better than The Victorian and the Romantic. It was quirky and slightly disjointed, with short stories and bits of her novel draft scattered in between memoir entries. It could be off-putting for someone looking for a straightforward narrative, but I really enjoyed it. This structure allowed Stevens' voice to come through, and a writer's mind and days are that disjointed, anyway. Her observations about one's progress as a writer and her descriptions of days alone in a strange place are completely relatable, funny, and poignant. Plus, who can resist a book with a penguin on the cover?
A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell (3 stars)
Summary: Stephanie is a single mom and blogger from small-town New England. When she meets the glamorous Emily, she is enthralled by her glamorous lifestyle: the job in New York City fashion, the British husband who works on Wall Street, the great love life, the beautiful clothes...it all seems so perfect. One day, however, Emily disappears. As the day turns into days, then weeks, Stephanie gets drawn deeper into the mystery. Is it as simple as a disappearance or death, though? Stephanie begins to receive messages from Emily that begin to hint that there is something far darker going on.
This book was a spooky one to read, which is what one traditionally expects from a thriller. What made it spooky for me wasn't necessarily the plot twists, which I figured out fairly early on, but the setting. It's set in a rural town which is technically called a suburb on the New York/Connecticut border...that sounds like the town in which I teach! They even mention a hotel in Danbury. The hotel is fictional, but the town is practically in my backyard! Thus, all of the twisted psychological manipulation taking place in such a familiar-feeling setting gave me the frissons I was looking for. The characters fit into the plot well, but they weren't quite as well-rounded as I would have liked. They fit the plot twists well, but I would have liked a little more information about why they became so twisted. Overall, it was a roller coaster of a book: fun, unpredictable, but not something I want to do all the time. I am looking forward to seeing how the film measures up to the book, though. Are any of you planning on seeing it?
And that's all for August! What were your favorite reads of the month? Let me know in the comments below. I'll be back next month with another wrap-up, but until then, happy reading!