Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone

 

Yep, I read one book in February.  It was a very long book, okay? And I was very busy! I loved the book!  It is the most recent book of the Outlander series. 

The story takes place as the Revolutionary War crept closer to Fraser Ridge in North Carolina, where Jamie and Claire Fraser had begun a colony.  The Fraser's daughter Brianna and her family have also made it there traveling from the 20th century. Tensions were high as loyalties were divided. 

Meanwhile, Jamie's son William was struggling with his newfound identity.  I had thought that this was going to be the last book in the series, but it ended with a cliff-hanger and I think that there must be another book in the making. 

I wish that the Outlander books were published as 2 or 3 books.  They are so long and heavy (if you are reading a hardcover as I was). I usually read half of one of the Outlander books, then read another book or two, then return to it.  This one was so good that I just couldn't put it down!

I have already finished two books this month, so I will definitely have more to review for March!

January Reads

Well, I got six books read in January.  Three of them are 5/5.  And the other three are 4/5.  Not too bad!

1) The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles: This was a Christmas gift and I started it Christmas night! I could hardly wait to begin reading it.  It was worth my wait. The story takes place over ten days, involving four young men who end up traveling the Lincoln Highway. 

The story is narrated by various characters in the story, primarily by Emmett.  Emmett Watson was an eighteen-year-old boy who had just been released from work home for juveniles after serving fifteen months for a charge of involuntary manslaughter. The warden of the home drove Emmett back to his home.  The only family he had left was his younger brother, Billy.  Emmett's father had died while Emmett was away and his mother had left the family years before, so neighbors took care of Billy until Emmett was back home.

Due to the nature of the charges, Emmett wanted to leave his hometown with Billy and start their lives somewhere new.  Billy wanted them to move to California because he thought his mother was probably there.

However, all plans changed when Emmett discovered that two of his friends from the work farm had hidden in the warden's truck.  The friends had other plans for the four of them and they all ended up in New York City. Thus began their ten-day journey navigating around the city and meeting other people who were also struggling. 

As with the author's last book (A Gentleman in Moscow), the author does a spectacular job with character development and plot lines.  His writing is amazing and the story will stick with me for a long time! 5/5.

2) When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash: I enjoy Mr. Cash's books immensely and this one was right up there with the others.

Sheriff Winston Barnes was up for re-election and was facing an opponent who would use any dirty trick possible to beat him. One night Winston woke to the noise of a very low-flying plane and he realized that something may be wrong, so he went to the local airfield and found the empty plane, along with the dead body of a local man lying on the runway. As he began the investigation, some of the people in the small southern town began to stir up accusations and racial tensions began growing.

This is a really good mystery and the ending is rather stunning! 5/5

3) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I had this book on my radar for a long time and finally read it.  It's a good story with an unexpected ending.

Evelyn Hugo was an aging former movie star who surprisingly chose young Monique Grant to write her memoir. Evelyn wanted someone who could tell the truth about her life, the good and the bad. Monique was surprised at Evelyn's honesty as Evelyn told her story each morning.  She had, of course, seven husbands, but there was much more to her life than that.  There was also the unexpected great love of Evelyn's life.  And Evelyn's story somehow involved Monique.

Another unexpected ending.  Well done! 4/5

4) Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger: another of the Cork O'Connor series.  I especially enjoyed this one.  I wonder if each book gets better? 4/5

5) If I Forget You by Thomas Christopher Greene: I was looking a book by this author that had been recommended to me when I was at the used bookstore.  They didn't have that particular book, but they did have this one, so I thought I would try it.

This story is about two people who had many years ago been lovers and paths crossed one day. Actually, the back story was quite engaging...the two met in college, he from a very poor family and she from an upper-class family. They had been torn apart by her father.  Years later when they accidentally saw each other, they came together and age-old secrets were discovered. The book actually had a rather different ending than expected. It was a good read. 4/5.

6) Northernmost by Peter Geye: I came across this book at the local bookshop (The Novel Neighbor) while visiting in Webster Groves, Missouri, and was rather stunned!  It was the third book of a trilogy, and I had not realized it was a trilogy.  I had read the first book some years ago and decided to read this third one (out of order, I know). 

So Northernmost ends the series but would be very readable without even reading the first two of the series.  This story takes place in two different times: 1897and 2017. 

In 1897, Odd Einar Eide returned to his home in Hammerfest, Norway after having been thought to have died by a bear attack. The day he returned, he found that his wife was attending his funeral. When it was learned that he had returned, he was sought out by a journalist who wanted to print the story of his time in the Arctic.

In 2017, Greta Nansen is struggling with her decision to end her marriage.  [Greta was the great-great-granddaughter of Thea. Thea had been born in Hammerfest many years ago and was the only child of Odd Einar Eide.  He had sent her to America when she was a young girl, hoping for a better life for her.] When Greta's husband went to Norway on a business trip, Greta decided to fly over to Norway to tell him she wanted a divorce.  But when she arrived at the airport, she decided to visit Hammerfest first to learn more about her ancestors.

This is just a stunningly beautiful book.  I loved the story! And, yes, I have already ordered the second book of the trilogy! 5/5.

Review of My Reading in 2021

 Well, I am a little late for the review...blame it on the holidays, traveling, workers in the condo, getting home in January.  You can pick what excuse you like for me!  But I am back home and feeling settled and, better late than never, here's my review of my 2021 reading!

I read 72 books last year. (I am challenging myself to 80 for 2022). I have 17 books from my reading in 2021 that I rated from very good to excellent:

Magic Lessons-Alice Hoffman

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue-VE Schwab

Wintering-Kathleen May

Outliers-Malcolm Gladwell

We Begin at the End-Chris Whitaker

Hidden Valley Road-Robert Kolker

The Dry-Jane Harper

Killers of the Moon Flower-David Grann

Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters-Jennifer Chiaverini

Beneath a Scarlett Sky-Mark Sullivan

The Heart’s Invisible Furies-John Boyne

The Lost Book of Names-Kristin Harmel

The TieThat Binds-Kent Haruf

The Exiles-Christina Baker Kline

Oh William-Elizabeth Strout

All the Children Are Home

The Book of Magic-Ann Hoffman

It's very surprising to me that 5 of the 17 were non-fiction! You may notice that 2 of the books are by the same author (one was read in January, and one was read in December).

Now to whittle down the list. This is fairly easy this year as some books really stood out to me. Here's my top 6:

Magic Lessons-Alice Hoffman

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue-VE Schwab

The Heart’s Invisible Furies-John Boyne

The Exiles-Christina Baker Kline

Oh William-Elizabeth Strout

The Book of Magic-Ann Hoffman

I really loved these 6 books. But as soon as I read one of them, I was quite certain that it would be my 2021 favorite, and I was right:

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne gets my vote for the number one favorite book read in 2021. If you haven't read it, I highly encourage you to read it. It's a beautiful story with wonderful writing.

December Reads

 

I actually read six books last month, but forgot to put one of them in the photo collage and am too lazy to re-do it right now! I read two very good books in December and the other four were just ok.

1) The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman: another winning book from a favorite author! This is the last book in the Magic series and it did not disappoint!

"Some stories begin at the beginning and others begin at the end, but all the best stories begin in a library."

And those words are exactly how this story began. Elderly Jet Owens still worked at the library and that is where she first heard the death beetle, signifying that she had seven days to live.  She left the library with her niece Sally and went home to let her sister Franny know that she (Jet) had seven days to live.

There were three generations of Owens women alive and they were all under the curse of their ancestor Maria Owens...it appeared that anyone the Owens family loved was destined to die early.

When the youngest of the women, Kylie Owens, learned that her fiance had been struck by a car and had severe head injuries, she realized that it was the curse striking yet again in the family.

This time the family decided they could break the curse by going to England where the curse began. As family members began searching for answers, the answers came. And in the end, as they say, all that matters is love.

2) The Push by Ashley Audrain: I immensely enjoyed this book! This story is wrought with many issues.  It is a story about marriage, children, generations of abuse, and mental illness.

In the very simplest terms, the story comes down to this: is the mother crazy or is the daughter evil?

I'm not even going to go into the details of this book, because I don't want to spoil anything for a reader. But I do encourage the book to be read!  Good story!

3, 4 & 5) Life is Messy by Matthew Kelly, The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom, and Hallelujah Anyway by Anne Lamott. None of these books really delivered for me.  And I do like the authors, but the books kind of struck me as books put out because it was time to put out a new book (if that makes sense).

6) I Found You by Lisa Jewell: This story struck me as three stories in one, all involving a man found on the beach one day who did not remember who he was or where he was from.  Meanwhile, a woman living elsewhere learned that her husband who is missing never existed. And elsewhere, a man remembers some man who had been quite disturbing and he never learned where the man had gone to. 

This was a pretty good, easy-reading mystery that I picked up while waiting for my hoped-for-book for Christmas! Which I did receive!!!

November has come and gone!

Why is time going so fast?  Maybe because I did my October Reviews in the middle of November and now it's time for November reviews! It was a good month of reading for me, though I didn't read as much as I had hoped! So here goes:

1) All the Children Are Home by Patry Francis: This book was a surprise to me.  I bought it at a small bookstore in Webster Groves, MO (The Novel Neighbor-great store) without having ever heard of it.  It turned out that I really liked it!

It is about a couple who began fostering children and after eleven years, felt that their family was complete with the four children who lived with them. The mother had conditions for taking in children-no babies, delinquents, and especially no girls. But a six-year-old girl, who had been taken from her home for neglect and abuse, became available and the parents were asked to keep her just until another foster home was available.

Six-year-old Agnes won over the family and changed them over time in ways that were never expected. It is a very heartwarming story that won my heart! (By the way, has anyone else heard of the name Patry?)

2) Anxious People by Fredrik Bachman: This book has had a lot of critical acclaim and people loving it.  I just wasn't taken with it.

The story is about eight strangers who were looking at an apartment that was for sale and while there, a failed bank robber appeared at the apartment and then hold the people hostage.  There were some funny moments in the story, but I just never cared much about the characters.  It's odd because I really love a couple of his books.

3) Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger: The third book of the Cork O'Connor series. And another good mystery that takes place up around the Boundary Waters. As I wrote last month-I recommend reading these. They are well-written stories!

4) Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler: Ms. Tyler is a longtime favorite of mine, but I just didn't care much for this story. It was about a middle-aged man who had his life routines disrupted by his "woman friend" and a young boy who showed up at his house. I was very disappointed with the book.

5) The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristen Harmel: Thankfully, because I have read a couple of Ms. Harmel's books, I stuck with this one.  I kept thinking it was too preposterous to be true. 

The story began with a young baby being stolen from her home one evening.  The woman who took the baby girl raised her in the wilderness of the forests in Poland teaching her everything when would need to know about survival. As the girl got older, she learned that there were groups of Jews hiding in the forests. She knew nothing about the war that was occurring and learned that a group of people called Nazis wanted to hunt down these people and kill them. Eventually, she began teaching a group that she had come across in the woods about survival techniques, etc. to help them live. She began to learn how to interact and socialize with others and they all became her family.

I just kept on reading the book, not sure where it was going and not especially happy that I was reading it. Until the end. I loved the ending and then was able to read the author's notes after the ending and learned that, of course, the story was based on real events. It is a book that I will read again and look at it differently. I should have trusted the author!!!

October Books Read

 

I'm extra late posting for October, but I was gone for the last two weeks, so I am just catching up now! I read seven books in October and I guess traveling and sitting poolside in Mexico is conducive to reading!

1+2) I read the first two of William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor mystery series: Iron Lake and Boundary Waters. Cork O'Connor was a former sheriff in upper Minnesota, who was hired to solve crimes up in the area that he had previously worked. I found these first two mysteries to be quite compelling to read. This series began 20 years ago and the 18th book of the series is just out! I've decided to read one of the books each month, so I don't burn out on the series! His books Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land are among my favorite books. I love his writing and these books are as well written as his other books!

3) The Ambassador's Daughter by Pam Jenoff. This author's historical writing never fails to hit the mark. This book takes place in 1919.  Margot was the daughter of a German ambassador who accompanied her father to Paris and was quite happy there, despite having a fiance who had been badly wounded in the war, and was waiting at home for her. When a peace conference began outside of Paris, Margot had to go there with her father and found a job there to pass her time working for Georg. As Margot was there, she began to question her loyalties and had to work through what she thought was right and wrong.  It was a good story.

4) The Survivors by Jane Harper. As readers of the blog know, I recently became a big fan of Jane Harper's novels.  This newest one was as good as the others! In the novel, Kieran Elliot brought his wife and young baby back to his hometown for a visit.  They stayed with Keiran's parents and Keiran's brother's death was always present. When his brother died it had changed Keiran's life forever.  While Keiran was visiting, a young girl's body was found on the beach one morning and as the investigation went on, long ago secrets began to reveal themselves. It is a really well-written book.  I enjoyed it!

5) The Unwilling by John Hart. Yes, another mystery.  I don't know why. Jason French had just been released from prison after serving 27 months for violence and drugs.  He wanted to reconnect with his family, so he and his young brother Gibby spent a day together, and then, as the day was ending, a young woman in their car began taunting a busload of prisoners.  A few days later she was found dead and Jason was the prime suspect.  Gibby got involved trying to prove his brother's innocence and soon he was also a suspect after another girl was found dead. This is a complicated, compelling story! I highly recommend it!

6) Oh William by Elizabeth Strout. Oh Elizabeth, how much I loved this book! If you recall, Ms. Strout had written a book called My Name is Lucy Barton a few years ago.  In Oh William, Lucy is telling the story of her ex-husband William.  William discovered/unearthed some startling results when he began studying his genealogy. He asked Lucy to go with him on a trip to investigate what he had found.

This novel was an absolutely beautiful story and completely unexpected! I read it in a few hours. 

7) Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah. This was probably my least favorite of the books that I read, but it was still a decent story. Joanne Teale was doing some graduate research and was living in a cabin in southern Illinois for the summer. One day, a girl who called herself Ursa showed up at the cabin. She reported that she had come from the stars and needed to witness five miracles. Joanne could not get any information about who she was, nor where she was from. Joanne enlisted her neighbor Gabe to help her find out about the child.  As the summer went on, the three of them became close, but Ursa's past still remained unknown.  Why was no one looking for her or reporting her missing? It was kind of a feel-good type of book in the end.

Goodbye September!

 Where did September go?  My goodness, but time is going by fast! I had some good reads this month, two in particular:  The Exiles and The Tie That Binds -both by authors who I have enjoyed reading in the past.

1) All the Ugly and Wonderful by Bryn Greenwood: I found this book to be incredibly disturbing.  There was plenty of "ugly", but I really didn't find any "wonderful" in the story. 

A grown man falls in love with an eight-year-old girl and the relationship continues through adulthood. I finished the book because I kept waiting for "wonderful" to happen, but nothing wonderful happened as far as I was concerned. So that's my very brief review of that book!

2) Raven Black by Ann Cleeves was a delightful surprise to me.  I didn't have very high expectations for this mystery, but it turned out to be quite intriguing. 

A young girl was found murdered on the Shetland Islands and the crime appeared to be similar to an old unsolved murder in which an old, lonely man was always considered to be the prime person of interest. As he is with the recent murder. This is the first of a series and I will continue on with it! I never suspected who the murderer was

3) The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf was a delight.  He is one of my favorite authors and I couldn't believe that I hadn't read this one! It was written in 1984, the first of his novels, and like his later novels, takes place in Colorado.  His characters in all of his books are so well-developed that I always feel as if I may know them! 

This novel is about eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough.  It began with Edith in the hospital recovering with a police officer guarding her.  She had been charged with murder. This sweet old lady who never married and gave up her own chance of happiness to care for the family and their farm, living with her abusive father for years, whilst her brother took off one day, leaving her alone with their father. The brother didn't return for years.  This story of Edith is so beautifully told by her neighbor.  A lovely read.

4) When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal was quite a disappointment to me.  It began being quite interesting, but the end was really lacking for me.  

Two sisters, Kit and Josie, who grew up in California had spent most of their lives surfing when they could. When they became adults, Kit became an ER doctor, while Josie continued to search for the perfect wave.  Until one day, Kit learned that Josie had been killed in Europe by a terrorist attack. Fifteen years later, Kit sees Josie on television. She was leaving a club in New Zealand that had caught on fire. It was unmistakably Josie, so Kit went to New Zealand to find her. While searching for Josie, Kit recalls long-ago memories of secrets and traumas that the family had lived through.  It was a good read until near the end when everything went "chick read".

5) The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline was a great read! I am sorry that I let it sit for so long on my TBR pile.

This novel is about women in the1840s who were convicted of a crime (or crimes) in England and were sentenced to a penal colony in Australia. One of the main characters in the book was Evangaline the daughter of a minister, who was left penniless when he died so a position was found for her as a governess for a wealthy family.  She fell in love with the older son, who seduced her and gave her a family heirloom, a ruby ring.  The son left on a trip and the ring was discovered in Evangeline's room.  When the family learned that she was also pregnant, Evangeline was charged with theft and taken to prison.  A few months later she was sentenced to Australia. The women were put on an old slave ship and there Evangaline met others who she would be with for seven to fourteen years, depending on their sentence. The women helped each other, including when Evangeline gave birth to her daughter.

There were many notable characters in the book, including Hazel, a young girl who was also a midwife. Hazel had street smarts and helped Evangeline navigate Australia. And there was Mathinna, the daughter of a chief, who was taken by a wealthy English family to be raised as an example of what could be done with the heathens.

It's a long book, based on true events.  I learned a lot about the history of how women were treated (as slaves).  I enjoyed this book very much!

6) Another book by Kent Haruf that I had not read: Where You Once Belonged. It is interesting to me that I didn't like this book the way I have liked his others.  I wasn't satisfied with the ending, but I can't quite figure out why. I think I wanted more clarity, but I also think that is what the author intended!

The book began with a big red Cadillac coming into Holt, Colorado, and just parking in the spot where all the town could see. The driver never got out, just sat in the car.  Eventually, people in town learned that it was Jack Burnett.  Jack had left town eight years before, leaving his wife and children and many debts. No one had ever heard from him since that time.

This small novel described who Jack was growing up and all that he had going for him.  Until that one day when he left town. It is a good character study of a man who has it all and then his life goes bad.