Maps, Mysteries, and Mallorca

 

  I have several geography nerds in my family. One is my husband. I thought of him frequently as I read Peng Shepherd's book The Cartographers. Using fiction, it wrestles with the question: what is the purpose of a map? (I asked the internet that question, and one of the things that popped up was this gem of a website: https://www.mapshop.com/10-reasons-why-maps-are-important/) The story is a bit campy with several barely credible coincidences, but I enjoyed it and was a willing participant in setting aside reality. The premise is Nell Young, a rising star in the cartographer world and the daughter of prominent cartographer Daniel Young, has a public argument with her famous father over an ordinary gas station map. He is her boss, and she is an intern. He not only fires her, but also destroys her reputation. They don't speak for seven years. Then he dies under suspicious circumstances. She finds the disputed map hidden in his office. What makes this worthless map so valuable? 

    This book is fun to read because it contains the New York Public Library, a mysterious society, a curve-ball laden plot, and quirky characters. I'm looking forward to reading other works by Peng Sheperd. It is a mature version of Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

    Greenglass House is the first in a YA series. Milo is looking forward to Christmas break at his family's usually deserted hotel; however, several peculiar guests arrive. They seek answers about the smuggler the hotel belonged to before his death. Where is his treasure? What would they do to get it? Milo finds untapped courage as he and Meddy, the cook's granddaughter, try to solve the puzzle and redeem their ruined holiday before anyone get's hurt. Milford had several plot twists that surprised me.

  When I worked at a bookstore, we joked that beach reads usually incorporated turquoise in their covers. The Vacationers by Emma Straub indeed advertises itself well. It is a quintessential beach read: a good one. A Manhattan couple, Jim and Franny, with their two children--Sylvia, who recently graduated high school, and Bobbie, who is five years out of college--go on vacation to Mallorca, Spain. Franny's best friend, Charles, and his husband, Lawrence, and their son's long-term girlfriend are with them in a beautiful house. Seven people are vacationing under one roof with secrets and unspoken hopes, but not for long. Straub skillfully takes the familiar ingredients of a beach read: betrayal, unrequited love, expectations, and sunshine and creates a diverting, satisfying story. ⛱ 

In Which I Time Travel

 

    I have been on vacation on the west coast for the past ten days. The first seven days were with two of my adorable grandchildren (3 years and 8 months) in San Diego. Then Dear Husband and I returned to the Grand Canyon for a second time. The first time I went, I became sick and only saw the Grand Canyon clinic. This time was much better. 

    Between the three-hour time change--7 PM is now 10PM and 5 AM is now 8 AM--and playing with some cuties, I didn't read a single novel until the plane ride back. It was a glorious novel by Emma Straub entitled This Time Tomorrow. It's about one of my favorite sci-fi subjects, time travel. Alice turns a discontent forty, but wakes up the next day to find she's sixteen again. What's going to happen? Straub cleverly has Alice's father be a novelist who writes about time travel. The book, besides telling an enthralling story with great characters, also discusses time travel tropes (looper-time-travel-tropes) and referencing several movies, books, and shows that contain time travel plots. It explores the question: if you could do it again, what would you change in a fresh engaging way. The story is complex and heartwarming. This is the first Emma Straub book I've read, and I will be reading others.

    I was lamenting to Dear Husband that I hadn't read much this week, and he reminded me of this book that I read at least five times a day to my granddaughter: The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson with illustrations by Axel Sheffler. This wasn't a hardship because the text and the pictures are delightful. I enjoy a kid's book that has little surprises in the illustrations. It helps keep everyone interested. The story is in rhyme, but it's not annoying because it is well-done and adds to the enjoyment of the book. It is about a bright mouse in perilous situations at the bottom of the food chain so he makes up a tale of aterrible creature who wants to eat his preditors. If you have a little person in your life, I recommend highly this book. Donaldson's other book Room On A Broom is terrific as well. 

    Some of my sweetest memories of being a mom of young children is reading to them. Getting to read to my grandchildren is like traveling back in time. (See what I did there?) This Usborne book, Who's Making That Mess illustrated by Stephen Cartwright is one that I've owned for over 25 years. I brought it with me to San Diego and it was a hit. From the appealing animals, hidden ducks, and silly premise it is an excellent reread with new things discovered each time. Plus it has flaps!

The Multiverse and Theology

 

    Space Between the Worlds by Micaiah Johnson does sci-fi well. It embodies several elements of well-crafted sci-fi: speculation--what if we could move between multiverses; social commentary--the divide between the haves and the have-nots, what keeps tyrants in power, nature versus nurture; and psychology--what is our responsibility towards others, are we the same person in every world, and why not? However, the story isn't bogged down by these considerations because it's fast-paced and keeps you guessing. Good stuff. 

    I have read other books by N. T. Wright and find him consistently annoying. I get a subtext in his writing that no one but Wright correctly interprets scripture. He alone can see things clearly. However, he is a brilliant man and thoughtful theologian. How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels by N. T. Wright is thought-provoking in a good way. He challenges western Christianity in several ways. First, recognize there is a unity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Second, as Christians, we serve a Suffering Savior and are called to suffer as we build God's kingdom on earth. Third, as Christians, our purpose is to live and serve God as a church, not merely waiting to be called to heaven. Finally, and, I'm not sure I fully agree with or understand this, Jesus became king surplanting Caesar.

In writing this review, I drew on these resources:

nt-wrights-how-god-became-king

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDWcvGOBOhU

    Reading theology is an excellent challenge to my critical thinking and spiritual development, but it ain't easy!

Mystery, Firefighters, and Time-travel

    The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley is an absorbing, suspenseful mystery. Its storyline felt familiar, and it is, but turned on its head. Instead of a girl missing under a suspicious circumstance that needs to be rescued or avenged: eight-great-books-about-women-who-disappear, it is a missing, older half-brother. Foley writes a scrappy, down-on-her-luck half-sister as the dogged pursuer of truth. The book features a luxury apartment with dubious tenants with dark, twisting backstories. So good!

 

    I was looking for something bright and breezy, and Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center delivered. Cassie Hanwell is an Austin firefighter who has to relocate to an all-male firehouse in the suburbs of Boston. She reluctantly lives with her estranged mother, who left her dad and Cassie on Cassie's sixteenth birthday. Romance is at the center of this book, but it also vibrates around forgiveness and the life of firefighters. It's caused me to spend time thinking about forgiveness: how and why we do it. I love surprises like this: romance novels that have more to them than girl meets boy.

    A couple of weeks ago, I read The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel and didn't like it. At All. A former bookstore colleague recommended I read Sea of Tranquility by the same author. With great reluctance, I did. It was mind-bending in the best way. Characters from the TGH appeared in SOT in meaningful, intriguing ways. The two books together tell a strange, time-traveling, alternate universe story. Each book stands separately, but together they resonate beautifully. I find Mandel's characters emotionally distant from the reader even when they are the main character, which is a weakness. Still, the themes she wrestles with are masterfully handled. 

Turtles, Samarais, and Nuns

 

      Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott is a book of essays that are vulnerable, funny, and timely. Philpott explores life's difficulties--middle of the night 911 calls, Covid--but instead of sinking under the weight of capricious disasters, I came away feeling hopeful. 

  The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama is the historical fiction pick for my book club. It tells the story of a Chinese young man, Stephen, who contracts tuberculosis and is sent by his family to their summer home on the beach in Japan. It is 1938, and Japan has invaded China. Stephen spends a year with the aloof master gardener and caretaker, Matsu, who has always intimidated him. The plot has many unexpected turns making it a quick read. It describes a time in history I don't know much about. I think because Europe and World War II overshadow what happened in China prewar. Stephen grows in many ways as he faces living in his enemy's country and his friendship with Matsu. I liked the exotic, non-western feel of the book. 

  I did not like Matrix by Lauren Groff. The title refers to the Latin form of the word mother. It is a clever title because the main character, Marie's, is a reluctant abbess over an English nunnery, but also alludes to the power of mother figures. My dislike of the book is rooted in its morally superior tone and the avant-garde writing style. It didn't work for me.

the life of man [and woman] [is], solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short--Thomas Hobbs

  Emily St. John Mandel is the author of one of my favorite books Station Eleven, so I'm trying to read her backlist. The Glass Hotel is a bleak story of two step-siblings and the far-reaching consequences of poor choices. One review said the book was about how we search for meaning in our lives, but I didn't see it that way. It was more how we try to escape from responsibility for our actions. Mandel is a gifted writer and tells the story on a non-linear fashion shifting in time and perspective and employing magical realism. 

  I found the book difficult to get into because I didn't connect with the main characters (they were unlikable--greedy, and selfish) but was drawn into the well-told story.

  I listened to the Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. It is considered historical, literary fiction. It has a contemporary message or sensibility regarding LGBTQ and reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reed. The primary character is Marian Graves, and the main story thread is her life from conception to death to beyond death. Hadley Baxter is an actress who portrays Graves in a movie. Her story weaves in and out of the Grave's narrative--a contemporary contrast of lost parents, neglectful upbringing, and a desire for connection. Shipstead creates a life so genuine that I was surprised to find Marian Graves wasn't an actual person. Great Circle is vibrant with realism and is deeply researched. The writing make me feel I'm experiencing Marian and Hadley's lives as they do. 

I enjoyed the book--it is impressive in its scope and power, but at its core, I found nihilism--the rejection of all moral and religious principles, in the belief that life is meaningless. Marian's struggle to fly and to find freedom felt pointless to me because her solitary life brought nothing to her or others. The star of the book is the writing and not the story.

  Both of the books I read this week are a product of our time in that their main characters are rootless drifters who are incapable of finding or giving hope. They have surrounded me in a miasma of depression. I need a spritely rom-com to clear the air.

There Will Be Gushing

    I think Maggie Shipstead is a sharp writer. She incisively describes characters that pierced me as a reader--not with sadness, but with observations that caused me to examine my own self-centered brokenness. Ouch. You Have a Friend in 10A is the book that follows her best-selling book, Great Circle. I'm on the waitlist for it and am slightly afraid to read it. Will it wreck me?  Shipstead is masterful in her short stories. Of the eight in the book, "The Great Central Pacific Guano Company" and "You Have A Friend In 10A" will roll around my head for a while, not only because of the terrible situations her characters find themselves in, but also because of their responses. It slays the dream that my best self shows up when life is tough.  

    I'll Have What She's Having: How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy by Erin Carlson was a delightful book. I admire Nora Ephron's achievements as a writer and director and her larger-than-life persona. The three romcoms--When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seatle--are some of my favorite movies. Carlson's book shows how the sausage was made. I thought it would be about Nora Ephron, and it was, but it was also about the production and the actors. I try to be a person who isn't caught up in celebrity culture, but this was a delicious book about movies and actors influential in my life. The hopefulness I possess about love and romance has roots in these movies.  Carlson portrayed the events and people authentically. I enjoyed it a lot.

    The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall concludes the five-book series. I love this series so much. It makes me wish my daughters were younger or my granddaughters older so I could enjoy it with them. Each book centers on a different sister going from oldest to youngest. It describes them at eleven or twelve at a momentous--to them--time in their lives. As the final book of the series, it is responsible for giving me, the reader, a window into how their lives develop when the series ends. This is not an easy task, but Birdsall does a masterful job. I had feelings of satisfaction and sadness at the end. I will miss the sisters, but I know they are living fulfilling and vibrant lives in the land of fiction. 

    I'm hoping a streaming service will make it into a series!

Lots of Ladies

 

    My historical fiction book club is reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It is a fictionalized account of the life of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and sister to the brothers that became the twelve tribes of Israel. Her story is recounted in the Bible in Genesis 34. Diamant's version is captivating as it tells the story of the Dinah's life as she lives in Canaan and Egypt and the clash of cultures and religion. Diament celebrates women, especially in their hidden lives--hidden in history and in the red tent, a women only refuge used during their period. The Red Tent is at odds with the Biblical narrative and is antagonistic to men: the good men were one-dimensional, the evil men were vile, and few men felt accurately or kindly portrayed, but it is a book centered on telling the story of women. I found it a skillfully told story with Dinah as a worthy, dynamic central character, but a book I didn't enjoy. 

    This week I spent many solo hours, 20+, driving to visit family and as I sped along I listened to The Red Tent and books three and four in the Penderwick series by Jeanne Birdsall: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette and The Penderwicks in Spring. The adventures of the Penderwick sisters made the miles fly by.  Birdsall creates characters that I rooted for as they encountered first love and new responsibility. There is a fifth book in the series that I'm on hold for and I'm so excited to read it. 

    Sometimes you need a book about children's adventures that don't involve things going horrendously wrong like the world ending, sexual exploitation, or children being murdered. The words I would use to describe these books are hopeful and kind.

Reading about the Atom Bomb, Cello Music, and Motherless Daughters: Mostly Young Adult Fiction

 

   Bomb by Steve Sheinkin was a fascinating book about making the atomic bomb. Because it tells the stories of key players, it reads like a spy novel. The events occurred mainly during World War II, but they feel pertinent to today's news. Sheinkin ends the book with this statement:

 “In the end, this is a difficult story to sum up. The making of the atomic bomb is one of history's most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it's also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It's a story with no end in sight.

And, like it or not, you're in it.”

    With Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the threat of nuclear war, it felt timely.

    Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel is a lighthearted book about two mid-life musicians at a crossroads. It has a lot to recommend: zany antics, unknown paternity of twins, country houses, Manhattan, eccentric relatives, break-ups, and get-togethers. It is a lively read that was not formulaic. Instead, it felt fresh and fun. Great for summer reading on vacation or just reading.

    I have many children in my life, and I want to be a book guru to them all. I also want to give great books for birthdays and Christmas (Are you surprised?🤓). So I'm justifying reading the Young Adult The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall. It is about a family: a father and four daughters whose mother died several years earlier of cancer. The four sisters are distinctly different, but have a cohesive, caring bond. As I was reading it, I thought it was written in the 1980s and was surprised to learn it was published in 2005. It is a quiet story of family drama--family drama to a 12, 10, 9, and 4-year-old. It reminds me of a modern-day Little Women. They are charming books, and I enjoyed reading them. I will work my way through the entire series ( I think there are five). Thank you, Libby. I understand from my good friend the internet that a movie of the series may be coming sometime in the 2020s. It is well-written and captivating, but my criticism is that it is too happy-slappy and isn't diverse. On the other hand, I think it accurately captures family life from a child's point of view.

 “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children isn't a good children's story in the slightest.” C. S. Lewis

Trapped in History Feeling my Feelings

 

    Brené Brown is a national treasure. I find it difficult to start her books because I know I will be taking a deep look into my dark soul, but when I finish, I consistently find I've learned how to navigate me and my life a little better. 

    I listened to the audiobook read by Brené Brown and now we are close, personal friends. She has an engaging, warm way of speaking. While reading, she would stop and say let me repeat that vital idea or quote just for you, listener. I may end up buying this book. I try to be selective on books I allow into my house because when they unbury me from the book avalanche that will probably end my life, I want them to be impressed with my book choices! 🤓 What moves me to purchase Atlas of the Heart is she refers to many charts and illustrations that I can't access because I borrowed, not purchased the audiobook. Bummer. The information on emotions is worth a second or third read. Brown also has a series called Atlas of the Heart on HBOmax.  

   Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi is the May book choice for my historical fiction book club. I read it many years ago and like it, but I didn't enjoy re-reading it. It is a heavily plot-driven book with many surprising twists, but if you already know the twists, it becomes a slow-moving descriptive book about 14th-century Britain being icky and oppressive. I would recommend it for middle school grades. 

    Some books aimed at younger readers are excellent at any age, for example, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I love that book.

 

    Master and God by Lindsey Davis is also historical fiction. I have read and recommended Lindsey Davis's historical mystery series set in Ancient Rome (Marcus Didius Falco and Flavia Albia). Even though this isn't a mystery, it is a suspenseful novel revolving around first century Emporer Domitian. Davis creates the flavor and setting of Rome. The two main characters are a Praetorian guard and an imperial hairdresser who are navigating dangerous times under a tyrant. I was sad when it was over.

Hot Summers and Baptism

 

I have read several books by Rebecca Serle. One Italian Summer, like  In Five Years and The Dinner List involves time and magical realism. Her plots are exciting, and she usually has a moral to what she writes: appreciate what you have, live your life for yourself, and people are complex, so don't judge others. It feels there isn't room for another point of view besides hers, but she does write transfixing, steamy stories. I don't regret reading them, but I also don't seek them out unless someone recommends them. One Italian summer made me want to go to Positano, Italy, because of Serle's lush descriptions of the sun, beaches, and food. Yes, please!

I love Maggie O'Farrell's books, and I've read many of them: Hamnet; I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death, This Must Be the Place, The Hand That First Held Mine. This week I read Instructions for a Heatwave. I hesitate when I start a Maggie O'Farrell book because her writing is piercing in its understanding of humans. Instructions for a Heatwave is historical fiction about an Irish family living in London during a famous heatwave. 

1976_British_Isles_heat_wave 

It is so hot it makes people do crazy things. The story moves between family members who are quirky, hot, and trying to figure out what to do when their husband/father disappears. It pulls the mother, the two oldest siblings, and the self-exiled baby of the family together to solve the mystery of their missing father's past. Secrets boil out, old wounds are enflamed, and tempers flare. It's a terrific read.

   I'm in a theological book club, and this was the book for April. The most valuable part of reading this book was discussing it with my Dear Husband. I didn't change my position (I'm Presbyterian in my beliefs, and we practice infant baptism). Still, it did sharpen my understanding of why I hold to it and what other denominations believe. I didn't feel that the book was coherent or easily readable. Perhaps it was intended for academics, but I think it would have done better to aim at interested lay readers. I don't recommend it.