book review: uglies

I didn’t love this book, and I likely won’t finish the series. It felt really weak and expected, considering the attention it’s gotten. People are comparing it to Hunger Games, so I’m just curious what they saw here that I didn’t. I laughed some reading it, but mostly I eye-rolled. And trust me, I am HERE for YA tropes and I am in for the overly obvious love triangle that these books require. But this didn’t do it. And I don’t believe that you can make a BFF you’re willing to die for in like 8 days when that person is cagey and deliberately standoffish.

The good takeaway was the hoverboard riding, and even after reading the whole book, I couldn’t really tell you how high the thing could go or what it looked like or any rules for operating. There was just a lot of journeying (why?) and endless angsty dialogue (bleh) and decisions made WAY WAY too fast with unclear motivation. Oh, and then desperate love after no conversation or connection whatsoever. Just like “then there was a boy and I am deeply in love with him and willing to sacrifice anything.” Is that what men think about teenage girls? Ew.

I’m being mean. Sorry. I just don’t understand book popularity. This concept is creative and has SO much cool potential, and yet this book was just not my jam.

book review: american dirt

American Dirt came highly recommended by friends, and I read it over two days. The action was intense, and the book was emotionally painful to read. There was a lot of violence and particularly sexual violence. I don’t want to shy away from the reality of the world, but the book definitely didn’t let me relax and enjoy the story. I felt constantly on guard, but I believe that was a good partner to the story itself. The protag is just trying to escape the death she’s facing in Mexico (drug cartels) with her son.

On that note, the book has received a lot of criticism for its negative portrayal of Mexico and the Mexican people. I have been to Mexico twice, but only for a week each, so I can’t really speak to its authenticity. As a work of fiction, it was compelling; that’s all I can say.

Lydia was not a wonder-woman style heroine. In fact, she’s downright annoying at times because some of the mess is her own doing. But you really feel for her survival instincts as a mom when it all hits the fan. American Dirt is a creative play on words with the fact that they are just trying to cross the border and get to “american dirt” as well as the author slinging mud at her view of America’s immigration policies as crappy. I see it as a reference to the real needs of some people (like Lydia and her son) being the “dirt” we like to hide and not talk about in the larger immigration story. It’s easier and less threatening, perhaps, to view “illegals” as a group versus individual humans with lives and stories and young sons.

book review: anxious people

I don’t hide that Backman is one of my favorite authors. I would generally say that Beartown and My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry are among my favorite books. This one was good, too, but did not quite live up to those two.

The story was an unexpected mystery—lots of little confusing elements you’re trying to unwrap as you go. A character is referred to as a “parent” and pronouns are skillfully avoided so you can’t tell when other people mention the mom or the dad if you know anything about them yet.

There’s a few mini reveals, like the way the police officers on the scene are father and son. There’s also an interesting character that bookends the first and last scenes which makes it feel almost like the credits are rolling. It’s a good, concrete closure.

Backman has a gift for immediate character development. In so few words, he can give you a picture of someone’s depth. It’s like a 3D snapshot in a few sentences.

He is also the master of epic sentences (even though he’s not writing in English) such as:

During some weeks in winter in the central part of Scandinavia the sky doesn’t seem to bother even attempting to impress us, it greets us with the color of newspaper in a puddle, and dawn leaves behind it a fog as if someone has been setting fire to ghosts.

I mean, that is GLORIOUS.

Overall, definitely worth the read, and the book deals with some serious issues. As always, Backman makes you cry and laugh on the same page. The people have so much reality behind them.

The mystery was a little simple if you’re used to reading real mysteries, but that wasn’t his point. So that’s very forgivable. Little bit (possibly) of moral questionability to the final decision at the end, but it was sweet.

book review: when the english fall

I was at my public library, and they had a big display of “librarian recommendations.” I actually picked this book up because I assumed it was some kind of alternative history. AND IT WAS NOT. GUYS, it was post-apocalyptic Amish fiction. WHAT? That is a thing, and I didn’t know I was looking for it!

First of all, so many things in this book are from my hometown — Turkey Hill, Oregon Pike, Lititz, Central Market — all mentioned by name. These little nuances filled me with joy.

Two small complaints: (1) the daughter having some kind of future-telling “touch” was unnecessary, and to me, a total distraction and (2) the ending needed to have more conclusion because of the prologue. Without the prologue, the ending wouldn’t have felt weak.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was paced very slowed since it was a diary - lots of feelings and lots of repetition. But due to its short length, those were not a problem. Bonus, the man’s faith was preserved and represented well, rather than making it a subtle ironic failure.

Overall, worth the read for sure!

book review: the four winds

Kristin Hannah is rapidly rising on my list of favorite authors. The Four Winds was another masterpiece, just like The Great Alone. (Although I still liked The Great Alone more and even though she wrote The Nightingale that I didn’t like.)

My sister-in-law (who is my primary book dealer) dropped it off without a dust jacket so I literally had NO idea what I was reading. I opened the book at 9:11 and thought, “Let’s see what this is about,” and the next time I looked up it was 12:04 am.

If you want more proof that her writing is compelling, the story itself is actually sad — even slow-moving at the beginning — but that’s not what you’re here for. It isn’t about action and a sweeping fast pace… it’s getting to know these characters. And there is MUCH character to be known.

Unmarriagely six-foot-tall Elsa gets pregnant and disowned by her family. The barely 18-yo (who marries her at 25 to “do the right thing”) means well, but it is his parents, particularly his mother, who are instrumental in shaping Elsa’s life. The book’s quick prologue comes back in a surprising way as a speech later in the book, a very lyrical glimpse into the life of women at a transformational point of history. The family farm is dead, the animals are literally dying, the topsoil is disappearing in horrifically electrical windstorms, no one can breathe, everyone is foreclosing, and there’s no way out. You can’t walk in the desert and you can’t get gas to drive without money, and you can’t get money without crops, water, food…

I learned that I knew very little of the Dust Bowl, with most of my reading of the 20s/30s centered on cities with mention of suffering farmers in the Midwest. Wow. I obviously need to read The Grapes of Wrath. The storms, the government’s lack of response, the shocking classism/regionalism/refugee-ism (you can’t say racism in this context so blend those pieces together and you’ll get my concept)… the pieces all work together to really make you feel for the family. I appreciated that, while the son is a plot device to make the reader sense death is always moments away, mother-daughter conflict is a central focus.

Learning to accept yourself instead of basing your self-image on other people’s opinions is strongly emphasized as well. There’s a great deal of self-discovery plus blossoming inner strength. The story is compelling and believable.

A few warnings: part of the protag’s self-image centers on her parents always telling her she’s weak and unattractive, so her relationships with men are focused on at certain points. There are (very mild) descriptions of a few sexual encounters.

book review: the extraordinary life of sam hell

Sam Hill was born with bright red eyes (ocular albinism) and got his name when Mr. Hill walked into the hospital room and yelled, “What the sam hell is wrong with his eyes?”

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni follows Sam from birth through years of school bullying until he reaches a stage of somewhat normalcy thanks to two special friends who also stand out (one for being the only black kid in a Catholic school and one for being a troublemaker with a good heart). He becomes an eye doctor on the mission field, worldwide, helping children with special vision needs. Ultimately, when he returns home, he is able to undo some damage from the past and bring some healing to places it was needed.

This story surprised me in so many ways. First, a very thoughtful approach to faith since a huge portion of the story revolves around his mother’s steadfast Catholic religion and the religious schools he attends. So refreshing to read a story where people are people — three dimensional with good qualities and mistakes and irritating habits and redeeming moments. The story’s heavy faith component is important because Sam is able to see only with maturity that his mother’s trite sayings are deeply meaningful to her, and even get a sense for himself that his faith is still relevant to his everyday life. There’s a great revelation that faith is more than attending church or going to confession or doing a rosary, and that his mother’s desire to do those things isn’t really what embodies her faith. It might be all he can see, but he learns that she is greatly empowered by her beliefs.

I related strongly to Sam’s mom’s desire to protect her son from bullying but also to his father’s desire for his son to live a normal life. The friends he makes are believable even if the bully is not. (The bully is just a bully, because his father before him was a bully, and that’s really all you get.) I didn’t even start shipping him with the romance interest until partway into the book which I think is somewhat remarkable. You find yourself learning along with Sam how people relate to him authentically or inauthentically based on his ‘condition’ as his mother calls it.

Disclaimer: This book contains two sexual scenes. They aren’t long, but I always want to warn you when I’m reviewing books.