Book Review: The Husbands

The Husbands, by Chandler Baker

Nora is a wife, a mother and an attorney.  All at the same time.  Her husband Hayden tries to be helpful, but Nora us finding herself collapsing under the weight of trying to do it all, while coming up for a partnership review this year in her law firm.  Not to mention, she has another baby on the way.

Their home is too cramped, so they are trying to find a new one before baby #2 arrives.  This leads Nora and Hayden to the perfect neighborhood.  The homes are spacious and stunning and even better, the neighbors are amazing.  All the women are professionals, and their husbands all help so much with household life!  Nora is reluctant to admit she’s jealous.  She loves Hayden, and he does try to be a good husband and father, but these other men put him to shame.  Nora covets the idea that her disorganized life could be easier, better, if only Hayden did his share.  She’s carrying around quite a lot of mom guilt for her parenting skills, not to mention the pressure at work.  

Friendships quickly grow, and Nora gains a client when she agrees to look into a wrongful death lawsuit after one of her new friend’s husband dies in a house fire.  Nora soon finds out that things aren’t as they seem.  Maybe the perfect neighborhood is a little too perfect? 

This murder mystery is a new take on the Stepford Wives.  Only this time it is the husbands who are being manipulated into cheerful, compliant automatons who fulfill the wives’ every need.  Nora has to decide whether she wants to buy into this new neighborhood, or if she wants her imperfect husband just the way he is.

The Husbands is very formulaic, and I figured out the premise very early on in the book.  Nora, despite being an attorney, is apparently not the sharpest tool in the shed, because it took her much longer to piece it together.  That said, it was interesting, with several twists and turns that kept me mostly engaged.  There were some surprises at the end, but I found them unbelievable.  So all in all, not great, not terrible. 

2.5 stars.

Book Review: Mudbound

Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

This older novel (published in 2008) was chosen for my library book club for May.  And what a novel it is.

Taking place mostly in the period directly following World War II, Laura McAllan is a woman in her thirties married to Henry, with two children.  They met and married in Memphis, Tennessee, and she was just fine living there.  She liked her city life.  But when Henry’s brother in law dies unexpectedly, he decides to move the family to his homeland in the Mississippi Delta, to be closer to his sister.  He buys a rundown farm that has been worked by sharecroppers, ready to make a living from the land.  Laura tries hard to hide her anger and disappointment at this turn of events, and at the fact that her sullen, crude, ungrateful father-in-law is moving in.  In frustration, she names the farm ‘Mudbound,’ and it sticks. 

 

Soon, two men return to the farm from the war; one white and one black.  Henry’s younger brother Jamie was a pilot, and carries the emotional battle scars.  He tries to drown his nightmares in a bottle.  Ronsel Jackson, son of one of the sharecropping families, was a Sergeant in a tank battalion.  For the first time in Europe, Ronsel experienced what it was like to not walk in a world of racism.  Now that he’s back in the Jim Crow south, it is difficult to go back to the prejudice.  The quiet story of family soon takes a dramatic and tragic turn as a result of the friendship of these two men. 

Jordan writes from the perspective of each of the characters in the novel.  A story of family bonds, and the lengths we will go to protect those we love.  A story of prejudice and racism in the deep south, and the way it can rip a family apart.  She builds each character with their strengths and their flaws, forcing the reader to choose sides.  Each character unweaves a small part of the story, revealing more and more until the tragic end.

It is a debut novel that you won’t soon forget.

5 stars.

Book Review: The Snow Child

The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey

I had gotten good feedback on this novel from social media, so I decided to check it out!

Jack and Mabel are a couple nearing their fifties when they decide to leave their home in the Eastern U.S. and take a homestead in wilderness Alaska in 1920.  They were never able to have children, and they believe this might be the fresh start that they need.  But the work is brutal, and life there is isolating, and their marriage is crumbling under the strain. 

When the first snow arrives, they decide to take a few minutes for fun, and they build a snowman.  Jack carves a beautiful child’s face in the snow, and Mabel dresses the snow child with a red scarf and gloves for a child they never had.  In the morning, the snow child is gone, and so are the scarf and gloves.  But soon, they see fleeting glimpses of a real child, a toehead blonde running through the forest with her red fox friend.  And she is wearing a red scarf and gloves.  Is this their snowman come to life?

Over time, they gain her trust, and come to see Faina as their daughter, however eccentric she is.  She refuses to settle down and live with them, instead preferring to continuing living in the woods, trapping and gathering berries.  But she visits often, accepts their kindness, and returns love to them when they need it the most.  Her existence is an enigma, as it seems impossible that this young girl could survive the harsh wilderness of Alaska.  That is, if she really is a girl.

Of course, it isn’t just a story of a strange child wandering the woods, but instead it is a story of grief, and healing from loss, of hope, of tenacity, of friendship, and of what is important in life.  Life is hard, and there are no guarantees, and we must make of it what we will, just as Jack and Mabel are trying to do. 

Eowyn Ivey’s novel draws upon a Russian folktale, and it blurs the lines of realism.  The reader is left to their own devices to figure out what is real, what is fantasy, and what may be the madness caused by cabin fever.  At times beautiful and joyful, at times heartbreaking and raw, she draws the reader expertly into the story, and leaves you curious until the very end.

5 stars.   

Book Review: The Ghost of Us

The Ghost of Us, by James L. Sutter

Cara hates living in Stossel, a small town outside of Seattle where everyone has known each other since kindergarten, and no one’s mistakes ever get forgotten.  She has just a couple of months left of high school, and then she can escape this miserable place.  The only problem is that she did not get accepted into the college she applied to, so she will have to go to community college.  Her only hope is to make it big as a YouTube paranormal researcher and ghost hunter. 

One night Cara decides to venture alone to the old plant, an abandoned building where Aiden, a senior at her high school, died from a fall the year before.  Things change for her that night, when she discovers that Aiden can speak to her – and only her!  It is finally her chance to prove that ghosts exist, if only he will cooperate with her experiments.  However, Aiden’s ghost has a mind of his own, and he has his own agenda.  He wants to make sure his sister Meredith is happy, and it’s up to Cara to make that happen.  Tit for tat; if Cara does what he wants, then he will help her prove that ghosts exist.

This is a young adult novel, which is outside my usual genre.  That said, it was enjoyable and interesting.  Sutter hits on several themes within the book; teens coming of age and trying to find their place in the world, grief and loss, the dangers of social media, and homophobia.  The pitfall to this approach was that he couldn’t dive too deeply into any one theme, but that also kept the story line relatively upbeat despite the weightiness of the subject matter. 

I was engaged with the story, wanting to see Cara succeed.  I was frustrated when she made mistake after mistake, bumbling her way through life and her attempts to get what she wants and deliver on her promise to Aiden.  I also appreciated that Cara’s best friend was a Christian who showed her love, kindness and support.  So often these days Christianity is portrayed in a negative light, so that was a positive. 

The cons: I thought the sex was a bit overdone, and not really necessary for the plot of the book.  Most of the intimacy in the books I read is more implied than overt, and I thought that would have supported the notion of romance more.  There was also a lot of today’s teenage jargon, which didn’t bother me, but also won’t age well as slang changes quickly.   

Overall, it was well done, and it would interest teens and young adults, especially those who have an interest in the paranormal.

3 stars.

Note: I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.  This is my honest review.

Book Review: The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream

The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer, by Dean Jobb

Everybody has heard of Jack the Ripper.  But who has heard of Dr. Thomas Neill Cream?  I hadn’t!

Dr. Cream was a Scottish-Canadian serial killer, born in 1850 and executed for his crimes in 1892.  He was a weird dude, smart enough to commit his murders without being suspected, but either too narcissistic or stupid to keep from calling attention to himself after the fact.

Ultimately Dr. Cream murdered 10 people with strychnine in the United States and England, and is strongly suspected of murdering other women, including his wife in Canada.  He mainly targeted prostitutes, and often after they needed his assistance in obtaining an illegal abortion.  Beyond that, his motives are largely unknown, although money seems to have played a role in a some of them.  Bizarrely, he sent letters after his murders attempting to blackmail prominent men, which ironically led police back to Dr. Cream even in cases where murder was not suspected.  He was digging his own grave.

The case is fascinating.  Unfortunately, the writing was not.  I appreciate Dean Jobb’s attempts to tell the story, but there is obviously only so much that can be gleaned from historical records and media accounts.  I felt like his writing style was repetitive, and the book could have been about half the length that it was.  It was also a little confusing to follow all of Dr. Cream’s moves around three different countries.  I listened to the audiobook so the confusion might have been alleviated somewhat by visual cues and chapter organization, but it was a detraction for me.

Overall, I was still glad I read it, as it introduced me to an interesting and disturbing serial killer I hadn’t heard of, but this book could definitely be improved.

2 stars.

Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

After hearing a lot of positive feedback from multiple people, one of my book clubs was discussing upcoming reads and this one came up.  It was chosen as our February read, so I reserved it from the library and it came in pretty quickly.  The read was on!

Evelyn Hugo is a glamorous movie star who got her start in 1950s Hollywood.  She came from abject poverty to create a name for herself, swearing that she would become so successful she would never have to worry about being poor and powerless again.  And that’s how it started.

Decades later, Evelyn is in her 80s, long ago retired from the silver screen, and she approaches journalist Monique Grant with a proposal.  Her biography.  Evelyn will tell her everything, and allow Monique to write the story in whatever way she wants, as long as she waits to publish it until after Evelyn’s death.  Monique is confused; she has no ties to Evelyn Hugo, and is baffled as to why she chose her to write the story.  Despite this, she agrees to the assignment, and sits down with Evelyn to get to work.

Evelyn has lived a life in the spotlight, full of ups and downs, fully covered by the media.  She has been married seven times, and had one daughter along the way.  But how much does the public really know about Evelyn?

The novel has a lot of twists and turns, joy and heartache, and a surprise ending that you won’t see coming.  Taylor Jenkins Reid made Evelyn a complex and unapologetic character, a woman who will do anything to secure her place in the world.  The author’s writing style sucked me in and made me not want to put this book down.  I loved Evelyn and hated her, and cried at the climax of the story.  It’s one I certainly won’t forget.

5 stars.

 

Book Review: The Overton Window

The Overton Window, by Glenn Beck

Have you ever heard of the Overton Window?  I have an MBA and I hadn’t…  I’ll explain.  The Overton Window is a way to describe the window in which the majority of the public will accept a policy decision.  It is used by politicians to determine what policies can be recommended without having that politician be considered too extreme (in either direction).  One of the goals of politicians is to shift the window, and gain acceptance for their policy changes over time.

But back to the book.  Noah Gardner is a low level researcher in his father’s public relations firm, working for very powerful businessmen and politicians to create an image, gain consumer buy-in on products, shift constituents’ thoughts on political policies, and inevitably, to sometimes do damage control when things go awry.

Noah’s work introduces him to the beautiful and feisty Molly, who works in the mail room, and spends her time on the side working for a group of patriots who are convinced that the government is working to take away citizens’ rights, and move the needle to a place where Americans no longer have the freedoms promised by the U.S. Constitution.  Molly convinces Noah to attend a rally, and he goes mainly because he wants a date, but once there things take a drastic turn.  Clearly someone is working to set up another terrorist attack on American soil.  But who is behind it?  Who can Noah trust, and how can he stop it if he doesn’t know what’s happening?

Beck isn’t the best writer, but he does pose an interesting premise.  Can the government take advantage of violence against the American people to create a shift in the Overton Window – one that makes us more willing to voluntarily give up the rights we normally enjoy?  Do you trust your politicians enough to think they are honest and ethical?  The idea is a compelling one, yet terrifying at the same time, and who is to say it isn’t already happening?

3 stars.

Book Review: Still Life

Still Life, by Sarah Winman

World War II – 1944.  Ulysses Temper is fighting for Great Britain in Italy when he meets Evelyn Skinner, a middle aged English woman working to protect and preserve the art in Italy.  Over the course of a few days, they forge an unlikely friendship that will remain for the rest of their lives.

The book jumps back and forth among the characters, and follows them for the next 50 odd years.  After the war, Ulysses returns home to a mediocre existence floating around The Stoat and Parrot, a neighborhood pub with an eclectic mix of characters.  Several years later Ulysses inherits some money and decides to return to Italy with a few friends and his ex-wife’s daughter.  There they set up a bed and breakfast and immerse themselves in post-war Italian life. 

I suppose I would describe this novel as a coming of age story, although most of the characters are already adults when it begins.  There isn’t much of a plot, but the story follows their lives, their loves, and their search for meaning. It seems that they are all resigned (content is too strong of a word) to going through the motions, not really setting goals, or working towards anything.  They maintain their friendships and make new ones, and immerse themselves in the community of Florence.

At times, I felt it got too bogged down in detail, and the story certainly did not move quickly.  Winman’s writing style is very poetic, which conflicted a bit with the rough nature of several of her characters.  Listening to the audiobook, I found my mind drifting and missing pieces of the narrative.  It was interesting, but I think it needed a bit more plot to keep me engaged.  It does have one of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen!

3 stars. 

2023 Reading Challenge Completed!

In 2023 I set out with a reading goal of 39 books.  If that seems like an odd number, I set my goal to be one book higher than what I read the previous year.  So in 2022, I read 38 books.  This year, I surpassed my goal, with 43 books!  Those 43 books had 16,155 pages.  Not bad!  I have a few other books that I started but haven’t finished, so maybe I’ll wrap those up in the new year! And yes, I read an eclectic mix of books, with literary fiction, thrillers, memoirs and non-fiction history all thrown into the pile.  Plus this year I read some poetry and a book of short stories too!  Do you track your reading?  How many books did you read this year?

1. Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate (342 pages)
2. Black Count, by Tom Reiss (414 pages)
3. Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas, by John Baxter (270 pages)
4. The Reading List, by Sara Nisha Adams (368 pages)
5. Love and Ruin, by Paula McClain (389 pages)
6. Housebreaking, by Colleen Hubbard (368 pages)
7. The “Unholy” Apostles, by James M. Keller (160 pages)
8. Middling Folk, by Linda H. Matthews (384 pages)
9. The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules, by Catherina Ingelman-Sundberg (393 pages)
10. Extreme Prey, by John Sandford (406 pages)
11. Undaunted Courage, by Stephen E. Ambrose (521 pages)
12. An Affectionate Farewell, by Trudy Krisher (32 pages)
13. Bodega, by Su Hwang (96 pages)
14. Long Bright River, by Liz Moore (482 pages)
15. Florence Adler Swims Forever, by Rachel Beanland (309 pages)
16. This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger (450 pages)
17. The Monuments Men, by Robert M. Edsel (473 pages)
18. Mistress of the Art of Death, by Ariana Franklin (400 pages)
19. Call Us What We Carry, by Amanda Gorman (228 pages)
20. Women Talking, by Miriam Toews (240 pages)
21. The Teahouse Fire, by Ellis Avery (960 pages)
22. Harlem Shuffle, by Colson Whitehead (342 pages)
23. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles (462 pages)
24. Two in the Far North, by Margaret Murie (376 pages)
25. A Death in Vienna, by Daniel Silva (424 pages)
26. Locked On, by Tom Clancy (592 pages)
27. The Colony, by Audrey Magee (384 pages)
28. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab (448 pages)
29. The Taken Ones, by Jess Lourey (332 pages)
30. What Strange Paradise, by Omar El Akkad (256 pages)
31. The Burning, by Tim Madigan (343 pages)
32. Never Play Dead, by Tomi Lahren (256 pages)
33. The Dressmakers of Auschwitz, by Lucy Adlington (400 pages)
34. Read This and Tell Me What it Says, by A. Manette Ansay (160 pages)
35. Band of Sisters, by Lauren Willig (544 pages)
36. Explorers of the Nile, by Tim Jeal (510 pages)
37. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michele Richardson (320 pages)
38. The Last Van Gogh, by Alyson Richman (320 pages)
39. Hester, by Laurie Lico Albanese (352 pages)
40. The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah (480 pages)
41. The Haunting of Alma Fielding, by Kate Summerscale (368 pages)
42. Still Life, by Sarah Winman (480 pages)
43. The Overton Window, by Glenn Beck (321 pages)

16,155 pages total.

Book Review: The Haunting of Alma Fielding

The Haunting of Alma Fielding, by Kate Summerscale

I was perusing the books on the Libby app when I saw this one and was intrigued.  The true story of a poltergeist haunting in England in the 1930s, that was researched at the time!  What better way to finally figure out whether ghosts are real?

I checked it out, and eventually learned that I was not going to come any closer to learning whether ghosts are real.  But it took this book a while to get there. 

As it turns out, Alma Fielding was a 34 year old English housewife who began experiencing poltergeist activity in 1938.  Knowing the police would not do anything about it, she decided to turn to the media, and invite other readers to share their stories of the supernatural.  This led Nandor Fodor to Alma; he was a psychical researcher as they were known at the time, and he forged a friendship with Alma for the purpose of studying her and the phenomenon.

Over the next several months, the activity increased to include glassware and other household objects, jewelry and other items, even small live animals, manifesting themselves, flying across the room and appearing in her clothing.  Jewelry disappeared from stores Alma visited, and appeared later in her purse or pockets.  But was it a ghost or was Alma just a talented showman?  Fodor came to believe that Alma’s past trauma, as well as her husband’s experience in World War I, were also having an effect on her and impacting the poltergeist activity.

Alma was a sport though, and agreed to appear at seances, subject herself to various experiments, and allow nude searches and specifically fitted garments to prevent any ability to fake the manifestation of objects.  However, the original investigation, and this book, never truly settled the question of whether the haunting was real or an elaborate hoax, and at the end I was no closer to learning the truth.  It seems I have to be satisfied with a maybe.

The book had a lot of interesting parts, and I was interested in the information on seances and the increasing in “hauntings” during the period after the wars.  But it often felt like simply a list of the objects that Alma manifested, and the experiments they subjected her to, rather than a more engaging story of her experience. 

Unfortunately, an audiobook narrator with a horribly monotonous tone made the audio version of the book somewhat painful to get through, but he was remarkably successful in lulling me to sleeping when I listened in bed at the end of the day.

I really wanted to like this book, but sadly, it ended up being a dud for me.

2 stars.