Another reading selection thanks to the 2024 Santa Fe Literary Festival, where Julia (btw, pronounced "Hool-ya" not a hard-"J" - I shouldn't have been Another reading selection thanks to the 2024 Santa Fe Literary Festival, where Julia (btw, pronounced "Hool-ya" not a hard-"J" - I shouldn't have been surprised but I was!) Alvarez filled the 'legend' spot on this year's line-up (following the likes of Margaret Atwood and John Irving in the festival's first two years). This is my 3rd Alvarez read ... "Yo!" from my pre-Goodreads days... so before 2007 (!!)... thus I am surprised I even remembered reading that boo, and then I read Alvarez's contemporary classic "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" ahead of seeing her at the festival. At age 74, Alvarez was still so wise and interesting as she talked about being a "writer of age" wondering how many books she has left in her (the answer is at least one more, as she is working on a new one) and her place in Latinx literary history and passing the torch to a new generation including Manual Munoz, who she was on stage and in discussion with.
As is often the case post-festival, I figured this book would get a goodwill bump of sorts thanks to falling for Alvarez and her wisdom and humor. But I'm guessing I would have really liked this one regardless of seeing her in-person or not. It's quite an engaging story with the lead protagonist Alma and creator of the titular Cemetery of Untold Stories being a thinly veiled version of Alavarez herself, an author retiring to her home country of the Dominican Republic and feeling a need to physically bury her unfinished manuscripts to give those characters a proper resting place. It's a love letter to storytelling and books. But in a twist of magical realism, the stories and people don't die, but live to tell their stories to the caretaker that Alma hires on to visit and take care of their "graves." So a lot rides on your tolerance of magical realism here. I have issues with it from time to time, but it all worked for me here (for the most part).
That said, there is still some stuff that I am guessing I did not totally "get" or detours Alvarez takes that detracted things a bit for me, but overall in my small sample size of three -- this was certainly my favorite from Alvarez so far.
This is my 6th Percival Everett book and since that very first one ("So Much Blue") he has become one of my favorite authors and an automatic pre-orde This is my 6th Percival Everett book and since that very first one ("So Much Blue") he has become one of my favorite authors and an automatic pre-order which his past three books. I am in total awe of what he does and so needless to say I had high expectations going in on this one in addition to what seems to be the best reviews of his career. I even read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in preparation for this re-imagination of that novel and I am very glad I did, as while I struggled with the Mark Twain classic, it just made me even more in awe (I know I've already said that once, and not promising to not do it again) of what Everett accomplishes here.
This book is just something else. Everett honors the original tale, but skewers it as well and definitely flips and throws in surprising twists, particularly a very good one late in the novel. It's familiar and brilliantly original. It's funny and tragic and heartbreaking and hopeful. Just as Twain made Huckleberry Finn a legendary character of American fiction, Everett does so here with Jim.
While Everett's novels are always very good and interesting (and never the same novel twice), I honestly didn't know how he would top 'The Trees' ... his irreverent follow-up 'Dr. No' wasn't quite it (but still a solid 4 stars for me and highly entertaining)... but this just might be his masterpiece. Again it just seems so tricky and problematic to mess with an American classic such as 'Huck,' but I think Everett's again manages to still honor it, if not even elevate in my opinion. What Twain could not possibly know or do as a white author in relating Jim's story, Everett does here -- it's almost as if Everett is finishing Twain's job... and one that perhaps needed all those 140 years between the publication of these two books. I'll say it again... I'm in awe of Percival Everett and in awe of 'James.'
And on a side note, if you are a regular reader of my reviews you know I attend the Santa Fe Literary Festival each May. For the first time this year, they did a ticket pre-sale for next year along with an announcement of some of the authors they had already signed on. In a room that I am sure contained hundreds of people at the time, I am certain my gasp could be heard throughout the city of Santa Fe when they announced that Percival Everett would be at the festival in 2025. Woohoo! ...more
I had the good fortune of seeing Tommy Orange at the 2024 Santa Fe Literary Festival (get ready for this opening line a lot more in upcoming reviews), I had the good fortune of seeing Tommy Orange at the 2024 Santa Fe Literary Festival (get ready for this opening line a lot more in upcoming reviews), so in preparation for that I re-read Orange's debut "There, There" -- a book I admired and liked, but did not love -- but one that did improve on a second reading, tho granted still with some of my same nit-picks. But whenever I see an author in-person, they tend to get a goodwill bump when I do read them again -- but alas, I still had some trepidation going into this one as it being a prequel and sequel to "There, There."
And while I think that goodwill is part of what was going on while reading "Wandering Stars," I still think I would have liked this one more overall regardless as this work somehow manages to be a smaller novel, focusing on a subset of "There, There" characters -- but still a grand/expansive story of not only this particular family, but hundreds of years of Native experience and trauma.
I still don't feel like me and Orange are a perfect reader-author match, as I still felt I lost my way in the middle of it (tho nowhere near the extent of the overwhelming and, at times frenetic, cast of characters in "There, There") -- but again, there is so much good stuff here story and history-wise that kept me much more engaged and impressed with Orange. I was also reading Hampton Sides' "Blood and Thunder" (another Santa Fe Lit Festival book/author) a history of "the conquest of the American West" simultaneously -- and while I initially questioned my subconscious decision of picking up both of these books, the synergy of reading a non-fiction and fictional account of Native history was really quite amazing. I am continually amazed at how much "we" don't know about the history of this country and again contemplating when exactly America was "great" (and what part of history some folks want to return to to make it great again).
On a quick side-note, Orange was very shy/introverted on stage, seemingly wanting to disappear under a wide baseball cap, but still very dryly funny and engaging.
While "There,There" on a second reading was still a 3.5 stars round-up to 4 stars read, "Wandering Stars" was definitely a solid 4-stars and, if Goodreads allowed it, even a smidgen beyond that -- again, the middle got a bit muddy for me here, but the beginning and end were gangbusters. ...more
A totally spontaneous read as I just stumbled upon Justinian Huang and his debut novel "The Emperor and the Endless Palace" ... and probably not for t A totally spontaneous read as I just stumbled upon Justinian Huang and his debut novel "The Emperor and the Endless Palace" ... and probably not for the totally right reasons as Huang is pretty sexy and pretty gay and is not shy about posting a thirst trap or two on Instagram... but hey, he sold a book to me! :-)
This one was definitely a bit outside my reading box -- think Huang describes it as a romantasy thriller as there are those three genres in the novel (tho thriller definitely pulls up the last descriptor slot by far)... and told via three storylines taking place in China in 4 BC, the titular emperor and endless palace storyline... 18th Century China of an innkeeper and a mysterious visitor (the most fantasy storyline)... and present day USA and Asia (heavy on gay-sian circuit party life). As the opening quote of the novel suggests, there is a reincarnation and eternal love/lust threat that runs through the alternating plot lines.
It was fun to read an all-Asian book, and particularly an all-gay-Asian novel, which I am pretty sure is a first for me. Huang often signs his book with the friendly warning "Gird your loins!" and calls the novel spicy -- and that is certainly the case. Huang comes out of the gate with man-on-man action in each of three opening chapters/timelines, the 4 BC storyline apparently based on a real-life romance between a Chinese emperor and a "courtier." And it gets pretty explicit, even if I happily snickered at some of euphemisms --take for instance this opening salvo "I flipped him face-first onto the mat in my chambers and pounded his pink plum until it was quivering around my happily depleted influence." So that gives you a taste, so to speak, of what you are in for here.
Landing on 4 stars here as while things got pretty darn cheesy at times (a quality that I think is part of the romance genre), this was still a heck of lot of fun and entertaining -- and again, I really enjoyed Huang's bravado and spirit.
Picked this one up in anticipation of Percival Everett's latest novel "James" which is a re-telling (or re-imagination) of Mark Twain's "Adventures ofPicked this one up in anticipation of Percival Everett's latest novel "James" which is a re-telling (or re-imagination) of Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from the perspective of Jim, a runaway slave. Also, figured it's considered an American classic and one I don't believe I had read for school, tho I honestly can't imagine how this was *ever* taught in school (but more on that later).
Despite this novel's fame/acclaim and iconic characters, I had really no idea what to expect out of this novel plot-wise other than a young man floating down the Mississippi River. Expecting a fun and rollicking adventures, I was surprised how dark the novel was with Huckleberry coming from a very troubled family and the titular adventures involve a lot of charlatans and other bad folk doing pretty despicable things with Huckleberry, Jim, and Tom Sawyer (recurring at the beginning and end of this novel) providing a bit of the moral center.
And then there's Jim. Knowing that Percival Everett was taking on (and I assume taking down) this novel as well as knowing the novel is among the most banned 'classics' around, I knew large swaths of this were going to problematic -- and I was right. While I am guessing having Jim as one of the main characters of this novel and Huck trying to keep him free was progressive at the time this book was written/published, through today's lens it was often cringe-inducing. Jim is a very sympathetic and again morally good person (again, one of the rare instances in the book) but he is presented as very naive/childlike, certainly reinforced with Twain's use of dialect. And (in)famously, there are over 200 instances of the "n-word" in the 325 pages of my copy of the book, tho it felt like a whole lot more. Again, a lot of this presentation of Jim and the language was likely okay at the time (and again, perhaps even groundbreaking) -- but this aspect of processing and reconciling 'Huck Finn' as a historical work was umm... interesting.
But my 3 star rating (which is slightly generous) was more for my general lack of enjoyment of reading it, which I find to be the case with a lot of old/classic novels -- it's just a different way of talking and writing that feels more formal and stilted, as it feels like you are almost reading a different language (or say an American going to say Ireland and having difficulty understanding their "English"). And besides Jim, Twain uses a lot of other dialects that again made the physical act of reading this pretty difficult for me at times. On top of that, it just seemed like a lot of Huck's adventures were repetitive.
So again, the whole "analysis" of Jim and wondering what Twain's motives and intentions were and reading this book as a moment from the past and not trying to force today's lens over it was the most valuable part of reading this -- and one that I am really looking forward to seeing what Percival Everett does with it....more
I've been a pretty big fan of James McBride's recent novels (The Good Lord Bird, Deacon King Kong) and when his latest was burning up the 2023 "best o I've been a pretty big fan of James McBride's recent novels (The Good Lord Bird, Deacon King Kong) and when his latest was burning up the 2023 "best of" year-end lists as well as winning a bunch of accolades, it was a no brainer for me to pick this one up ... and even in hardcover! But yet again, that curse of high expectations hit hard on this one and I'm kind of scratching my head how this book could have possibly have an average Goodreads rating of 4.13 average on 96k+ ratings? What did I miss? Or what did a whole slew of other folks "get"? I often have this sneakin' suspicion if folks don't "get" a novel, the assumption is that's it's their own shortcomings versus the well-respected author's well-reviewed/rated novel.
That said, the "bones" of this novel are good. This is an interesting bit of historical fiction of the town of Pottstown, PA and its heavily Jewish and African American population -- even though I knew some of this, I was really surprised how much this started out as more of Jewish-centric novel vs. African American, particularly given McBride's past works. Also, there is nothing wrong with McBride's prose -- it's stellar as always, and what saved "stars" here in my rating was that there is some really wonderful vignettes here, a richly rounded cast of characters, and some plot lines that I did care about.
But there were sooooo many characters (many/most with McBride's quirky names/nicknames) and soooo many detours, that ultimately the I couldn't quite keep track of who was who (and how they related/were connected with each other) and even lost the arc of the overall story. McBride has, at least for me, walked this tightrope successfully before, but I just could not maintain my balance or concentration with this one. In fact, I had even forgot about a mystery that McBride set-up at start until it was brought up again in the closing pages.
Ultimately, more than a bit of disappointment and befuddlement here -- but don't necessarily trust me over the hundreds (or thousands!) of raves on this one -- tho funny enough, dissenting reviews on highly-rated novels often end up being some of my most popular and "liked" reviews. This one hangs onto 3 stars thanks to goodwill towards McBride and some great and wonderful "parts" ... but again, probably woulda shoulda coulda dipped below even that based on the "whole." ...more
Book 2 in Colson Whitehead's Harlem/Ray Carney trilogy. Once again, this is a vibrant portrait of NYC and Harlem with a colorful cast of characters -- Book 2 in Colson Whitehead's Harlem/Ray Carney trilogy. Once again, this is a vibrant portrait of NYC and Harlem with a colorful cast of characters -- this volume moving in to the early and mid-1970s. Similar to the first volume (Harlem Shuffle) I had some issues keeping track of who's and what's and why's of the plot, but when it's backed by Whitehead's skill of spinning a story and prose like this...
Pepper lived in a two-room apartment above the Martinez Funeral Home, corner of 143rd and Convent. The sound of the organ swam between the floorboards like a ghost. "The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended," "All People That on Earth Do Dwell," etc. It wasn't too bad, living over the dead. It was like living on top of the subway, which he had also done for a time: Commuter or corpse, those below were just people in transit, en route to where they had to be.
... it's really had to quibble much of anything. A couple of noteworthy things about this is that it really felt like 3 connected novellas vs. a traditional novel. This has been dubbed the "Ray Carney" series, but I was kind of surprised when Ray disappeared (not literally!) for much of the middle part of the book -- with his partner in the crime (literally and figuratively!) Pepper taking center stage. And each section has a fun hook in the midst of the hijinks: Ray trying to secure Jackson 5 tickets for his kids, Pepper working security on a Blaxploitation film, and Ray avenging an arson that injured one of his tenant's children.
A solid 4 stars, again with knocking off a star for not fully digesting the intricacies of the plot but fully enjoying and loving the world and character Whitehead has created in this series. ...more
I had the good fortune of seeing Luis Alberto Urrea and receive an autographed copy of this book (a week before its official release!) at the 2023 San I had the good fortune of seeing Luis Alberto Urrea and receive an autographed copy of this book (a week before its official release!) at the 2023 Santa Fe International Literary Festival. Funny enough, I did not attend his session for 'Good Night, Irene' as it was a 'Sophie's Choice' between competing author events and knew could see him on a panel honoring New Mexican legend, Rudolfo Anaya. But he was a great guy and impressively "read" passages from his books from memory and in quite dramatic fashion too. Like most authors I saw at the festival, I was eager to read one of their books.
However, this one ended up being a very mixed bag. It was certainly a unique and untold (rarely told?) story of WWII (if you can believe there's any material left!) of female Red Cross Volunteers who would drive a Clubmobile and serve coffee and donuts to the troops on European war fronts. Making it even more special, the story and characters are pulled from real life and Urrea's own mother and her fellow Red Cross colleagues.
While an interesting tale, the novel fell into a very predictable pattern of snoozy-ish storytelling about the women followed by BOMBS! DESTRUCTION! DEATH! HORROR!... back to some plot and then more BOMBS! DESTRUCTION! ... well, you get it. And while I know that's what war is all about, it just felt like a slog at times along with some hokey-ness and over-sentimentality. But ultimately, the novel wore me down a bit ... as the war comes to the close, Urrea writes some scenes that are incredibly heart-tugging and emotional that were hard for this (often?) cynical reader couldn't resist -- and the last section taking place well after the close to war was my favorite par. Ironically enough, it could still be described as hokey and over-sentimental and quite emotionally manipulative on Urrea's part -- but it really worked for me and turned what was a 3 star read for most of the novel into an unofficial 3.5 stars ... and then ultimately a Goodreads round-up to 4 stars.
The ratings upgrade was also heavily impacted by Urrea's afterward where he talks more about his mother and her fellow war veterans. For most of the novel, I had questioned why Urrea just didn't write a non-fiction book, so it was interesting when he notes that it was his original intention but just didn't work out. So while I had a lot of technical issues with the novel particularly with its pacing and repetitive nature and length (400 pages), Urrea ultimately won me over ... tho still brushing up to "too little, too late" territory. ...more
Like a lot of books, 'Babel' was on and off my TBR list -- only getting read thanks to being a part of Tournament of Books (where it was resurrected aLike a lot of books, 'Babel' was on and off my TBR list -- only getting read thanks to being a part of Tournament of Books (where it was resurrected as a Zombie and fell in the final this morning). That said, I had trepidation going into this one as it was definitely outside my comfort zone as I am not a fantasy reader or enjoy-er. I don't know what it is, but I just don't have the imagination to grasp the worlds these authors create (as another example, I read the first Harry Potter novel twice -- and never got to or had a desire to get to the others... in retrospect, maybe not a bad thing given what we know about that author now). So yeah, this book had a mental roadblock for me right from the get-go -- and while I feel like I gave it a chance (heck, I did read all 540+ pages!) it just never gelled for me.
I guess the litmus test here is if you can imagine a silver bar engraved with a translation the same word in two different languages providing the technology/ability to power vehicles, hold up bridges/buildings, be a weapon of war, kill someone, etc. -- basically powering the industrial revolution in mid-1800s England. Or I think that was it is. It's also the story about academia (the titular tower where this magic happens is on Oxford University) and Kuang is doing a lot of stuff here about race, gender, colonialism, linguistics, etc. -- there was a lot of things thematically that I felt like I could get on board here, but it just was a bit of a slog.
This is certainly a book that I can see a lot of folks enjoying and I have no doubt about the Kuang's talent (knowing nothing about her, I was shocked to see the author photo and how young she is... or at least appears). In fact, I am interested in Kuang's next novel ("Yellowface") scheduled to be published in May. But for this one, I am going with an unofficial 3.5 stars for ambition, worldbuilding, and at the bones of a good/interesting, but a Goodreads round-down to a firmly just liking it. ...more
My 6th read for the 2023 Tournament of Books (ToB) and definitely one that was not on my radar. Overall, a pleasant but disturbing portrait a co-depen My 6th read for the 2023 Tournament of Books (ToB) and definitely one that was not on my radar. Overall, a pleasant but disturbing portrait a co-dependent, and at times, toxic friendship between two French girls, Agnes and Fabienne. A story of deception and betrayal told in flashback and quite the character study, it held my interest and fascination even if it didn't give me the a-ha! moment I was expecting in the end - tho there was kinda sorta subtle one which is in character of this novel that stays on simmer throughout. Wonderful prose (and great cover), but ultimately an unofficial 3.5 stars and a Goodreads round-down to 3 stars for having liked it more than loved it. ...more
While reading 'Mercury Pictures Presents,' I got this analogy in my head that this novel was a like a thick vanilla milkshake -- delicious, satisfying While reading 'Mercury Pictures Presents,' I got this analogy in my head that this novel was a like a thick vanilla milkshake -- delicious, satisfying, and very filling but I really wish I had a spoon because it was so difficult at times to drink it with a straw. The bones of this novel and the writing of this novel are great -- a tale of European emigres working at a Hollywood studio (spoiler alert: Mercury Pictures) during WWII and ultimately helping the U.S. government create propaganda to "sell" participation in and enthusiasm for World War II to the American audience.
Along the way, there are some dense and detailed detours with character origin stories in Italy and other peripheral characters working at Mercury Pictures. While I really relished the main story line featuring Maria (an Italian emigre who rises in the ranks at the studio), Eddie (Maria's Chinese-American boyfriend and token Asian actor), and Art (head of the studio) -- it was other story lines, while ultimately realizing/acknowledging their value, which I sometimes found to be confusing and that, getting back to my intro analogy, a straw-stucking slog. But there's still some wonderful stuff here about xenophobia/racism, sexism and unfortunately, given where we find ourselves today, any discussions of propaganda tends to hit lot closer to home than it ever has before (at least in my lifetime).
Ultimately, this was a novel that I respected more than I liked or loved it. Unofficial 3.5 stars, but a Goodreads round-up to 4 stars for its high quality and probably "operator error" of Marra writing a novel beyond my (our?) diminishing attention span. ...more
This one had been on my radar since its publication in January 2022 and I even snagged it on a killer Kindle sale a bit ago, but it took its inclusion This one had been on my radar since its publication in January 2022 and I even snagged it on a killer Kindle sale a bit ago, but it took its inclusion in the 2023 Tournament of Books (ToB) for me to finally get around to this one. Even after all that time, I knew very little about what it was about and was a bit surprised how "light" it felt. It has/had a "My Big Fat Puerto Rican Wedding" vibe --a big, messy, ethnic family romantic comedy(-ish) not really about a wedding, tho there is one, just not Olga's and she is a wedding planner (tho not for that wedding... it's not as confusing as I am making it sound, ha)!
Anyhow... it ends up being a bit of a "kitchen sink" book - dysfunctional family, Puerto Rican history, sexism, racism, some umm.... "interesting" gay sub-plots (not "bad".. but just wee bit questionable for this middle-aged white gay man) , and some serious subject matter twists and turns... and the Russian mafia... and 2017's Hurricane Maria, so some unnamed references and takedowns of everyone's favorite ex-President (coming to the slow realization that this man is going to have a place in literary fiction for a loooooong time).
Ultimately, it was all a bit too messy/much for my tastes and one of those paradoxical reads where I felt like it was a quick and easy read but that it took me a long time to finish. I'll go with an unofficial mixed bag 3.5 stars with a Goodreads round-down to 3 "liked it" stars. ...more
"Hamnet" was my top read of 2020, so it's difficult to say I didn't come into Maggie O'Farrell's follow-up without some high expectations - so much so "Hamnet" was my top read of 2020, so it's difficult to say I didn't come into Maggie O'Farrell's follow-up without some high expectations - so much so, I ordered it in hardcover. That said, I felt like I had tempered my expectations that this wouldn't be "Hamnet" -- but still I ended up being a bit disappointed. This is still some stellar historical fiction, but I just felt like something was missing in here -- a connection to the characters or that spellbound feeling I felt with "Hamnet." This is definitely a slow-burn of a book that seemed to shift into a higher gear, where readers know the ending on Page 1 -- 15-year-old Lucrezia Medici dead after one year of marriage to the Duke of Ferrara. The literary trick of revealing the ending at the beginning is the ability to build tension and momentum to get to that inevitability and that just was not my experience. I see other readers/reviewers disagree with that assessment, tho it's more easily confirmed by the current 4.20 average after 20k+ ratings, so don't necessarily make any rash decisions based on this review!
I have to admit I was additionally slightly bothered by O'Farrell's afterward/author's note. I know it's ridiculous to think we can know all that much of the truth/events of things that happened in Italy in the 1550s/1560s, but why not just write the fictional novel you wanted to write vs. forcing a story with so many creative alterations onto real-life individuals. I realize my hypocrisy as O'Farrell pretty much did the same thing with Shakespeare and his family in "Hamnet" and I did not have a problem with hit then, but maybe because I was so enthralled with a story of a pandemic and loss in the midst of our contemporary one.
3.5 stars but a Goodreads round-down to a "liked it" 3 stars. ...more
Well, this was a case where social media made me do it. Obviously, it's hard not to be familiar with the legend that 'Lonesome Dove' has become -- perWell, this was a case where social media made me do it. Obviously, it's hard not to be familiar with the legend that 'Lonesome Dove' has become -- perhaps the epitome of what one immediately thinks of when asked to name a literary western -- but just never got around to it. I have to admit being born and raised on East Coast (NJ), the western genre never super appealed to me/drew me in, but now living in the Southwest (AZ & NM) for most of the latter part of my life it does hold some allure. So when "Bookstagram" (aka. book nerd Instagram) did a group read of this awhile back and I saw so many readers similar to myself (i.e. readers of primarily "literary fiction") read and rave about it, it got me interested. Likewise, I really loved and was super drawn into the 'Yellowstone' prequel/origin story Paramount+ mini-series '1883' -- so it seemed like the stars proverbial aligned to have me tackle this modern classic -- and as you can tell by my rating, I'm certainly glad I did as Larry McMurtry pretty created a masterpiece here and certainly vaulted onto my list of all-time great books.
There is just so much here: memorable well-drawn characters, action, suspense, loyalty, betrayal, love and hate, and on and on... and most surprisingly humor and quite a bit of it, even in some of the most dark and emotional moments of the book, McMurtry continually comes up with something funny. And twists and turns that you would think after a few hundred pages I should have seen coming, but still find myself surprised and even at times kind of devastated when they do happen. It says something when you start approaching the end of an 858-page book and about 6 weeks into it and start seriously slowing down because you don't want it to end. It's one of those books where its sprawl is one if its strengths. Even today I was thinking ... I can't believe I'm done with 'Lonesome Dove!' I read some other books in tandem and the unavoidable comparisons, emotions, and engagement of the 'Lonesome Dove' reading experience was much to their detriment (perhaps apologies are in order for Andrew Sean Greer's 'Less is Lost!).
And kudos to this 2010 Simon & Schuster physical edition of this book. Just loved the gorgeous cover and the size/dimensions and heft of it also added to a great experience. The back cover blurb from USA Today proclaims "If you read only one western novel in your life, read Lonesome Dove.' I couldn't agree more - and talk about a book hangover! ...more
I think the magic spell that Taylor Jenkins Reid has (had?) over me is starting to wear off, feels like I have had diminishing returns reading throughI think the magic spell that Taylor Jenkins Reid has (had?) over me is starting to wear off, feels like I have had diminishing returns reading through Daisy Jones, Malibu Rising, Evelyn Hugo, (in that order) and a big drop-off here with Carrie Soto. There's no denying that this book was still insanely readable and entertaining (tho just enough for me this time around) and given the current overall 4.42 rating and 24k+ ratings (!!!) nothing I say will matter even 1/10 of one iota. TJR is a literary unstoppable locomotive.
The tricky part here is that a big part of this is a sports book with Carrie Soto being a 37-year old professional tennis player returning to the tour to re-claim her Grand Slam record. I just can't imagine folks liking this book without some cursory knowledge and interest in pro tennis (tho again, I'm likely wrong given that average rating and number of reviews). The problem for me is that I know TOO much about tennis as I have been an avid (tho more waning these days) fan of both tours since the Evert / Navratilova / McEnroe / Connors days and a lot of this didn't ring true or accurate for me. I followed the tennis personalities and top players enough that I can't imagine them talking or acting that way (even the bratty ones) and likewise I was nagged by a lot of minutia (i.e., how a match is announced "Game is Soto's".. what??!). I know TJR was not writing this for highly knowledgeable tennis fans and I believe she has confessed to not being one herself (and it kinda shows).
A wider issue I had here and one that I see is gaining traction is TJR's quite clunky handling of non-white, non-heterosexual characters. Now I don't want to be this hyper politically correct "only Hispanic authors can write Hispanic characters" person, but I've read plenty of book where this doesn't even cross my mind (i.e., the other book I was reading at the time from a white female author with two prominent mixed-race Asian male characters) but not quite here. This book has a lot of untranslated Spanish conversation between Carrie and her father-coach that I'm guessing wouldn't fly with a lesser-known author, particularly a non-white one. Carrie's ethnicity really does not seem to have a purpose other than to contrast with her blond/blue-eyed and often beautiful opponents with Carrie described as short(er), more muscular/stocky (to show off my current tennis fandom, I pictured Carrie's physical appearance to be similar to Ons Jabeur -- who granted is Tunisian, but if you know, I think you'd agree!). I truly believe TJR is well-intended, but it is increasingly (awkward) feeling like to me that she works her way through a mental diversity check list (also see: Carrie's African American agent, Carrie's lesbian opponent).
What I liked. It was super fun completely reading this during the 2022 US Open. Despite my very picky quibbles, TJR really does a good job writing tennis matches -- not going crazy with shot-by-shot descriptions and just getting to the gist of the match/result. And it was fun that TJR expanded her universe with nice 'Easter Egg' references or personal connections to her other novels (Daisy, Malibu, and Evelyn). And again, making it pretty darn page turning despite to me her least like-able protagonist and me not being her likely target audience (middle-aged white gay guy).
I'm certainly not ruling out another spin with TJR as her books still are a total guilty pleasure and a perfect summer read. 3.5 stars for the readability and total fun, but a Goodreads round-down to 3 due to those warning signals that are starting to arise. ...more
I was aware of the buzz around this book, saw that it was already well-rated (4.38 at this writing) and when it turned up on a Kindle sale (pretty rarI was aware of the buzz around this book, saw that it was already well-rated (4.38 at this writing) and when it turned up on a Kindle sale (pretty rare for a new and popular release) I decided to give it a shot -- and what a happy accident it turned into! What I hadn't realized when I impulse purchased it, was that I had read the author's previous book ("The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry") and gave it a fairly cranky, milquetoasty 3-star review. I was a bit concerned and then learned it was about video games... so it was another 'uh-oh" moment despite folks stating "I didn't think I'd like a book about video games but..." -- but alas whatever trepidation I had, I dove right in and as you can likely tell by my rating, I loved it.
While I typically "care"/am interested in the characters in books I read (or sure hope I do!), this is the first book in what feels like quite long time that I had feelings about the characters... like a physical reaction, the "Oh, no" sinking stomach feeling about a plot twist/character arc. In re-reading my review of 'Fikry' I noted a sappiness of it, and while this one is certainly sentimental at times ... and ok, likely quite emotionally manipulative... I felt author Gabrielle Zevin walked that tightrope just beautifully here following these characters over the course of 30-ish years.
And while this is indeed about video games and video game designers, it is really about art and creative process ... so yes, it was about video games but just as engaging as if it was about writers, painters, or actors. The characters felt like they were living and breathing, sure at times quirky, not always like-able but always relatable and human. And just so wonderfully tied together, a-ha moments, life's full circle moments, and "fate."
There are some minor easily overlook-able quibbles and perhaps a loss of momentum somewhere in the middle that prevents me from a slam-dunk 5-star rating, so it's an unofficial 4.5 stars but thanks to the satisfied sigh I let out as I finished it, an easy Goodreads round-up back up to 5. Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2022....more
I am starting to get a hunch that I am going to have an "it's complicated" relationship with Colson Whitehead. I've been wow'd by his Pulitzer Prize w I am starting to get a hunch that I am going to have an "it's complicated" relationship with Colson Whitehead. I've been wow'd by his Pulitzer Prize winners, 'Underground Railroad' and 'Nickel Boys,' and had a bit of trouble with his earlier work -- and 'Harlem Shuffle' is landing somewhere in between. If you are a regular to my "reviews," you know I had the great honor of seeing Whitehead at the 2022 Santa Fe Literary Festival where I got a signed copy of this book along with Whitehead doing a reading from his next nove, book two of the Ray Carney/Harlem trilogy. But again, left super impressed with Whitehead and feel this connection him and the other authors I saw at the festival despite only spending about 1.5 hours with them and a couple thousand other folks.
Ok, back to the book and an explanation of this complicated relationship and "Shuffle" landing somewhere in the middle of my Whitehead reading experiences. What I loved were the characters in this one -- Ray Carney is a wonderfully complicated, like-able, morally complex character -- loved his wife and family, his co-workers at his furniture store, and the gaggle of supporting characters. Whitehead also paints a vibrant picture of New York City, and obviously Harlem, in the late 50s to mid-60s, the reader can feel the energy and sights and smells of the city. and it's a great historical piece of fiction as well.
It's also intricately plotted, which is my code for very good and guessing my failings vs. the author - but just seeming to me to be unnecessarily complicated, too many moving parts, too many characters, not exactly grasping all the motivations and details of the crime capers. This seems to be an increasing issue for me of late, don't know if it's (my) aging or an accelerating lack of an attention span in this social media/dystopic world we're finding ourselves in -- but just seems like complicated = good/better these days (thankfully here the story is told in a linear fashion ... with some time jumps, as that seems like another increasingly common way to muck thins up). But again, I chose the word "intricately" on purpose as I do feel Whitehead knows what he's doing and not exercising some literary gymnastics. That said, it was honestly enough to knock off an unofficial 0.5 here....
... but ultimately, the scales tipped back more in favor of the things I liked/loved vs. any of the plot issues that didn't quite gel for me definitely helped by a reflective and masterful last chapter. ...more
Spontaneous-ish read from the 2022 Booker Prize longlist (and okay, at ~100 pages maybe a way to buffer my Goodreads book reading goal for the year) .Spontaneous-ish read from the 2022 Booker Prize longlist (and okay, at ~100 pages maybe a way to buffer my Goodreads book reading goal for the year) ... and a tough call. This is certainly a well-written and intriguing book about some dark subject matter, but the best words I can come up with is to call it are "quaint" and "pleasant." It dances around the mysterious topics of the protagonist's birth parent and scandalous behavior involving the church/organized religion but never quite goes there - but maybe that's the point? I was unaware of this real-life Irish scandal and maybe how Keegan is handling it here is an evocative approach to folks who are quite familiar with the facts, but alas I was not one of those people/readers. And while I do not always have issues with open-ended endings, it was a tad frustrating that this novella ends just when things would get *really* interesting.
Definitely worth the (short) read for the wonderful prose, its sense of place and time, and the educational aspects of it (further explained in an afterword), but don't feel like this would make the cut for the Booker shortlist but also wouldn't have any major quibbles if it does (though maybe not to win it all)....more
I was really looking forward to this one as I was a big fan of Diaz's debut "In The Distance." I read it back in 2018, so honestly don't remember muchI was really looking forward to this one as I was a big fan of Diaz's debut "In The Distance." I read it back in 2018, so honestly don't remember much about it -- even after re-reading my Goodreads review -- but anyhow, what I really trying to say here is that I came into this with a lot of goodwill or maybe I should say trust! But, as you can likely surmise from the star rating, it ended up being a bit of a disappointment. The best way I can describe it is that "intellectually" I appreciated and enjoyed it, but "emotionally" it just left me more than a bit cold. The novel is a Russian nesting doll set-up where the reader is presented with four varying versions/takes/angles of the life of a Wall Street tycoon in the early 20th century. It's a slow burn, or maybe better described as a slow reveal ... ultimately too slow for me and lacking the (big? bigger?) payoff I was hoping for slogging through good chunks of it.
It's all quite clever and it's not like I didn't get "it" and Diaz is certainly the terrific writer and storyteller (that much I do remember/recall from 'Distance'), but just one of those books that didn't quite get out of the low gear for me....more
I am waving the white flag of surrender. For the first time in over 600 books here on Goodreads, I am logging a book as DNF after flailing and struggl I am waving the white flag of surrender. For the first time in over 600 books here on Goodreads, I am logging a book as DNF after flailing and struggling through 59% of it.
So yes, the baffling part is that, as of this writing, this book has an overall rating of 4.15 stars and was nominated and shortlisted for the International Booker -- typically two slam dunks in my book. While I am sure there are folks who are sincerely "getting" this novel, I just have to think the 5 stars reviews are for the vast research and the years Tokarcuk spent writing this novel (her magnum opus, I hear!), also it has to be a big shout-out Jennifer Croft for translating this beast... and again, I have to think some (not all... so simmer down now) of the 5-stars reviews are simply self-congratulations for getting through this book. Again, it's a book to respect and be impressed with ... there is not a bone in my body that thinks it's one to be enjoyed or fully understood and comprehended in its "experimental" style and huge cast of characters.
While I was able to hold on to the thinnest thread of what was going on plot-wise, I pretty much found myself reading words on the page and trying to get through 1% to 2% of the book each day for about the past 6 weeks. Reading this just became a chore and, as I said above, while almost never abandon a book (particularly this far in) I just got thinking last night what was I hoping to accomplish in struggling thru the remaining 41% of it (and the 9 hours and 19 minutes of reading time!) when I couldn't imagine a reaction beyond a sigh of relief and a shoulder shrug.
As you see, I am giving this 2 stars. Again, it's massively impressive feat and the writing on sentence level is totally fine and Tokarczuk does vividly bring alive the world of 18th century Poland - but man, what a slog. Again, my kudos and utter respect to readers who were fully engaged with this one. I'd give Tokarczuk another chance ... one reason I decided to tackle this one was that I never got around to two other of her well-received (and much, much, much shorter) novels of "Flights" and "Drive the Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" ... so I probably should have started there, and while I am interested in trying those out, I am guessing this experience will leave me a bit gun-shy.
So my fellow Goodreaders, join me and stand up and proudly say "I tried, but umm... no!" :-) ...more
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