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Published on Leave a comment on I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness Book Cover I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
Austin Channing Brown
Convergent
May 15, 2018
Audiobook
192
Library loan

Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with a racialized America came at age 7, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, "I had to learn what it means to love blackness," a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America's racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion.

In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value "diversity" in their mission statements, I'm Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric--from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations.

For readers who have engaged with America's legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I'm Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God's ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness--if we let it--can save us all.

My review:

In light of what has been happening in our country over the past few weeks, I was looking for a book to broaden my knowledge, while showing  support for the Black Lives Matter community, especially its authors. For me reading is one of the ways in which I can learn, and reviewing is a way to pass on books I feel should be read by those who follow my blog. While I do feel that I read a fair number of fiction books by POC authors, I'm not as good when it comes to non-fiction. One of the best ways for me to straddle the fiction/non-fiction ratio is by reading memoirs. This book falls into that category. It offers a window into the author's life, while also offering us great suggestions of how to get involved in change. From the reason her parents named her as they did, all the way up to her hope for her own son, this follows her journey as a black woman in a mostly white world. Very well written, and definitely thought provoking (I loved the part about why just reading books by blacks doesn't give you a pass......gulp.....and check!). Also a very interesting perspective on reconciliation in predominantly white churches, another check I could see happening around me.

There are SO many books out there being highlighted right now on the race issue, I encourage you to pick up this one (picked for Reese's July book club) or any of the others. So much for us to learn and do, hopefully this is just the beginning.

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Published on 2 Comments on The Vanishing Half
The Vanishing Half Book Cover The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
Fiction
Riverhead Books
June 2, 2020
Hardcover
352
Purchased

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?

Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

My review:

Another highly anticipated release, I loved Bennett's debut novel The Mothers (link to my review). The author has not lost her storytelling or writing ability with this sophomore novel! I loved the characters, who were all really well fleshed out, the small town setting ("isn't even listed on the map"), and the emphasis on race relations in the 60's, all the way up through the 80's. There is a bit of a back and forth between time frames, but only so that we can follow each of the sisters', and their daughters' lives. I loved that the ending, while bringing closure, did not do so in a way that was not in keeping with character, or too tidy as to not be believable. Really the only thing stopping me from a five star rating was that I was much more interested in the stories of Desiree and Stella, than their daughters. When you read it you will know that the daughters are critical to the plot of the book, and I did recognize this, but that was just my opinion while reading.

Another winner from Brit Bennett, you will devour this book! Not only is this an important book right now, but it will definitely stand the test of time. I am anxiously awaiting the next offering from this author. Don't miss this one (or The Mothers).

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Published on 1 Comment on Rodham






Rodham Book Cover




Rodham





Curtis Sittenfeld




Fiction




Random House




May 19, 2020




Hardcover




432




Purchased



In 1971, Hillary Rodham is a young woman full of promise: Life magazine has covered her Wellesley commencement speech, she’s attending Yale Law School, and she’s on the forefront of student activism and the women’s rights movement. And then she meets Bill Clinton. A handsome, charismatic southerner and fellow law student, Bill is already planning his political career. In each other, the two find a profound intellectual, emotional, and physical connection that neither has previously experienced.

In the real world, Hillary followed Bill back to Arkansas, and he proposed several times; although she said no more than once, as we all know, she eventually accepted and became Hillary Clinton.

But in Curtis Sittenfeld’s powerfully imagined tour-de-force of fiction, Hillary takes a different road. Feeling doubt about the prospective marriage, she endures their devastating breakup and leaves Arkansas. Over the next four decades, she blazes her own trail—one that unfolds in public as well as in private, that involves crossing paths again (and again) with Bill Clinton, that raises questions about the tradeoffs all of us must make in building a life.

My review:

This was one of my most anticipated books of the spring, and I had a feeling it could be very polarizing even if you were a Hillary fan (which I am). Much as with another polarizing book published this year (I'm looking at you American Dirt), I feel you must keep in mind that this is fiction based on historical facts. The first part of the book focuses on Hillary's early days from her Wesleyan speech to her courtship with Bill. It then takes a turn to her life without him, and what her life and political career (and to a lesser extent his) would have looked like. It's at this point that you just have to go with the flow that the author created, either you find it intriguing as I did, or you label it fan fiction (as I've seen lots of reviewers do). For the most part I read it as a fictional story, although I do think that Sittenfeld did a great job with the voices of all the major players, I could hear them speaking the dialog! Her characterization of Trump at the end was pure gold! One of my favorite scenes was during a tv interview with Bill, and Hillary was sitting at home arm chair coaching what should have been said. I could just hear her voice! The only minor faults I have were that it dragged a bit in the middle, and there was a bit too much sex for my taste. Fiction or not, these are real people, and I could definitely see why those labeling it as fan fiction went there. I'm going to give those things a pass because overall I really did enjoy this one.

Probably take a pass on this one if you aren't a Hillary fan, I can't say you'll like the way it ends, or even how it gets there. However if you are a tiny bit interested in a would have/ could have story, this one is worth it.

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Published on 1 Comment on The Guest List






The Guest List Book Cover




The Guest List





Lucy Foley




Fiction




William Morrow




June 2, 2020




Hardcover/Audio ALC




320




Purchased/LibroFM



A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party. The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It's a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride's oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn't wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

My review:

After reading The Hunting Party last year, I knew that I was ready to delve into another thriller from this author. This was definitely a page turner with a lot of room for speculation along the way. Once again the setting is in an out of the way place, complete with little cell service and not an easy way to escape, which of course sets itself up for a creepy thriller. I loved the back stories that we were given for the characters. We slowly learn why each of them could be motivated to hurt one of the guests (which guest and who dunnit is not revealed until the end of the book). The ending was where my problem lay. I can't reveal too much without spoilers, so let's just say I found it to be way too much of a coincidence how all of the players were related to each other (not in a biological way, but by circumstance). It was an otherwise fine book, but it lost some of its luster in the closing minutes.

A fast page turner, with lots of moving parts and a sinister landscape, this one had a lot going for it. I wasn't a fan of the too contrived ending, and think The Hunting Party was a better read.

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Published on 2 Comments on Redhead by the Side of the Road






Redhead by the Side of the Road Book Cover




Redhead by the Side of the Road





Anne Tyler




Fiction




Knopf Publishing Group




April 7, 2020




Hardcover




192




Purchased



From the beloved and best-selling Anne Tyler, a sparkling new novel about misperception, second chances, and the sometimes elusive power of human connection.

Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit. A self-employed tech expert, superintendent of his Baltimore apartment building, cautious to a fault behind the steering wheel, he seems content leading a steady, circumscribed life. But one day his routines are blown apart when his woman friend (he refuses to call anyone in her late thirties a "girlfriend") tells him she's facing eviction, and a teenager shows up at Micah's door claiming to be his son. These surprises, and the ways they throw Micah's meticulously organized life off-kilter, risk changing him forever. An intimate look into the heart and mind of a man who finds those around him just out of reach, and a funny, joyful, deeply compassionate story about seeing the world through new eyes, Redhead by the Side of the Road is a triumph, filled with Anne Tyler's signature wit and gimlet-eyed observation.

My review:

First off, fair warning.....this book is 192 pages. Seems like most of the negative reviews have been from people annoyed that they paid for a book, and got what they described as a novella. As for me, I loved the writing so much that it could have been any length and I would have wanted a copy for my shelves! Secondly, this book is a perfect example of a great read that doesn't have to be a thriller (hear that publishers??). This is what I would best describe as a quiet book. What I mean by that is that not a whole lot happens, but you are taken into the lives of these characters and feel as though you are living their story. There are beautiful quotes that you just stumble upon and have to pause a moment to savor.

Sometimes when he was dealing with people, he felt like he was operating one of those claw machines on a boardwalk, those shovel things where you tried to scoop up a prize but the controls were too unwieldy and you worked at too great a remove.

The only place I went wrong, he writes, was expecting things to be perfect.

This is a book where the mundane becomes fascinating!  This book shines a light on those slightly quirky people who exist everywhere, and we may even see parts of ourselves in Micah.

Read this one for the wonderful writing, the understanding of someone set in their ways, and what happens when life throws them a curveball. I loved it!

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Published on 2 Comments on A Mother’s Lie






A Mother's Lie Book Cover




A Mother's Lie





Sarah Zettel




Fiction




Grand Central Publishing




April 7, 2020




Paperback




400




Free from Publisher



Beth Fraser finally has her life together. She's built a successful career in the tech sector, has a bright fifteen-year-old daughter, and she's completely erased all evidence of her troubled past. At least that's what she thought.

Dana Fraser always wondered why she's the only kid with two backup phones, emergency drills, and a non-negotiable check-in time every single day. When a stranger approaches her on the street claiming to be her grandmother, Dana starts to question what else her mother has been hiding.

Soon Beth's worst nightmare is coming true: Dana is in grave danger, and unless Beth is willing to pull one last con job for her parents, she may never see her daughter again.

My review:

This one was a wild ride, that's for sure! I changed my mind so many times about who was the con and who wasn't, that my head was spinning! Told in alternating chapters by divorced mom Beth and her fifteen year old daughter Dana, we get the present day story as we also delve into Beth's past life with her con artist parents. I don't want to give away spoilers except to say that they've come back into their lives, but to what purpose? Do they really just want to get to know their granddaughter? Have they given up their previous lifestyle? Are they telling the truth or is it all a cover? What is going on with Beth's ex/Dana's father, and does he have anything to do with their reappearance? And what part does Beth have to play in all of this? These are the questions swirling throughout the reading of this book (I told you your head would be spinning). Despite the ending being a little far fetched for my liking, I flew through this story trying to figure out who were the good guys, and who the heck was telling the truth!

Another fast paced thriller with a con man theme I haven't really ever seen explored much in books I've read. Well worth a read.

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Published on 2 Comments on All Adults Here






All Adults Here Book Cover




All Adults Here





Emma Straub




Fiction




Riverhead Books




May 4, 2020




E-book




368




Publisher via Edelweiss



When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days decades earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she’d been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence?

Astrid’s youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is intentionally pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? Who decides which apologies really count? It might be that only Astrid’s thirteen-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most.

In All Adults Here, Emma Straub’s unique alchemy of wisdom, humor, and insight come together in a deeply satisfying story about adult siblings, aging parents, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls, the lifelong effects of birth order, and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not.

My review:

My past experience with this author has been mixed. I liked Vacationland and found Modern Lovers to be meh. So I was excited to jump into this one and see which way this story took me. I really liked this one, in fact it may be my favorite of Straub's books that I've read! This had the two things going for it that I adore in a story, dysfunctional family and a character driven plot. In fact if you are someone who enjoys a book with a lot of action and plot, look away 🙂 Things do happen in this book, but they are more of the more mundane daily existence kind. There were side stories going on with all the characters and I really enjoyed all of them. Each was unique in its own way. While I can't say that all the characters were endearing, they each had their own good traits as well as fallacies. My favorite was August, who I think expressed the main theme of the book which was to always tell the truth to those you love. Some of the characters took the long way around this in their lives, but ultimately learned that to tell your truth is to be free from your psychological burdens.

A great character driven novel about family, with an emphasis on parenting, birth order expectations, telling your truth and being happy in your own skin. If you love a good family story, this one fits the bill nicely.

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Published on 2 Comments on The Silence






The Silence Book Cover




The Silence





Susan Allott




Fiction




William Morrow




May 19, 2020




Hardcover




304




Free from publisher



It is 1997, and in a basement flat in Hackney, Isla Green is awakened by a call in the middle of the night: her father phoning from Sydney. Thirty years ago, in the suffocating heat of summer 1967, the Green's next-door neighbor Mandy disappeared. At the time, it was thought she fled a broken marriage and gone to start a new life; but now Mandy's family is trying to reconnect, and there is no trace of her. Isla's father Joe was allegedly the last person to see her alive, and now he's under suspicion of murder.

Isla unwillingly plans to go back to Australia for the first time in a decade to support her father. The return to Sydney will plunge Isla deep into the past, to a quiet street by the sea where two couples live side by side. Isla's parents, Louisa and Joe, have recently emigrated from England - a move that has left Louisa miserably homesick while Joe embraces his new life. Next door, Steve and Mandy are equally troubled. Mandy doesn't want a baby, even though Steve - a cop trying to hold it together under the pressures of the job - is desperate to become a father.

The more Isla asks about the past, the more she learns: about both young couples and the secrets each marriage bore. Could her father be capable of doing something terrible? How much does her mother know? What will happen to their family if Isla's worst fears are realized? And is there another secret in this community, one which goes deeper into Australia's colonial past, which has held them in a conspiracy of silence?

My review:

The kind of mystery I'm drawn to, where there is a slow burn until you reach the ultimate answer, did Isla's father kill his next door neighbor thirty years ago? I liked the way this one was set up, with chapters alternating between the present story (with Isla trying to piece together what happened when she was just a small girl), and thirty years prior where we learn just what was going on in these neighbors' lives. The super short chapters kept me flying through them to figure out what could have happened. All of these characters certainly had flaws, which just added to the suspense of how it would all play out. There were some interesting facts thrown in about the displacement of Aboriginal children from their homes, and we had plenty of other people behaving badly to boot. While I did have a suspect in mind, it took until the very end of the book to find out if I was even remotely close, and I did waver several times on whether to change my mind.

A fast read, this is a really entertaining who-dunnit taking place in Australia, with some not so likable characters and a daughter just after the truth.

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Published on 2 Comments on Big Summer






Big Summer Book Cover




Big Summer





Jennifer Weiner




Fiction




Atria Books




May 5, 2020




E-book




368




Publisher via NetGalley



Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless.

Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song.

A sparkling novel about the complexities of female friendship, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most.

My review:

3.5 stars

Reviewing this book is going to be almost like talking about two separate stories. I adored the first part (49% since I read an e-book version)! It was quintessential Weiner at her finest, with a story about a plus size social media influencer who is just starting to accept herself and her life for who she is. We start to get a glimpse of how hard this has been when a blast from her school age past enters the picture. This brings back all sorts of memories of insecurities and wanting to belong no matter the cost to ones' self esteem. It was fabulous! I loved the character of Daphne, the description of her job, her parents, her roommate, and her newfound confidence. Then we move on to the second half of the book which ends up being a murder mystery. HUH?? The story was okay I guess, there wasn't a dropoff in the writing quality, but I just found myself saying "why did we have to go there?" I'm getting tired of writers feeling like they have to include some sort of mystery with a big twist in order to sell books. Have we really resorted to readers only having attention spans so short that we have to have something exciting happen to like a book? Anyway, you get the idea here, I'll get off my soapbox now 🙂

I recommend you read this one with the following in mind. If you love the first half, just know that you may feel a bit letdown by the direction it takes. If you are not a fan of the first half, skip over to part two and you'll hopefully find more of what you are looking for.

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Published on 1 Comment on My Kind of People






My Kind of People Book Cover




My Kind of People





Lisa Duffy




Fiction




Atria Books




May 12, 2020




Advanced reader copy




352




Free from publisher



On Ichabod Island, a jagged strip of land thirteen miles off the coast of Massachusetts, ten-year-old Sky becomes an orphan for the second time after a tragic accident claims the lives of her adoptive parents.

Grieving the death of his best friends, Leo’s life is turned upside down when he finds himself the guardian of young Sky. Back on the island and struggling to balance his new responsibilities and his marriage to his husband, Leo is supported by a powerful community of neighbors, many of them harboring secrets of their own.

Maggie, who helps with Sky’s childcare, has hit a breaking point with her police chief husband, who becomes embroiled in a local scandal. Her best friend Agnes, the island busybody, invites Sky’s estranged grandmother to stay for the summer, straining already precarious relationships. Their neighbor Joe struggles with whether to tell all was not well in Sky’s house in the months leading up to the accident. And among them all is a mysterious woman, drawn to Ichabod to fulfill a dying wish.

My review:

I've read this author's two previous novels, and this one, just as with her other books, shows her strength is in her characters. She does a fabulous job of taking you into their lives and giving you all the feels, as if you are a part of their day to day journeys. Of course these journeys include lots of secrets and angst, and she portrays their thoughts and feelings to capture your emotional connection to them. I really. enjoyed looking into the daily lives of this small town island community. There are several subplots going on that deal with friendships, infidelity, marital strife, loss, and the ultimate plot of what makes a family? A few interesting twists thrown in, one that was easy to predict, the others not as obvious. My only negative was that I felt the ending was just a bit too pollyannish, If things all end up too perfect, it's not as believable to me as when there are a few disappointments along the way.

Definitely a worthy read for the strong characters, the interesting storylines, and the unorthodox look into the modern makeup of families.