June was a busy month. It started off with celebrating my birthday. That was followed by a good friend visiting for a few days and then a few days away from home for baseball and exploring. That resulted in fewer books being read this month - a total of 8.
I spanned some different genres this month - suspense, psychological thriller, historical fiction, fantasy and a romcom of sorts.
My favorite was "Hour of the Witch" by Chris Bohjalian. (You can tell he's one of my favorite authors in that I now know how to spell his last name. 😀) A close second was my Book Club book - "The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah. She has such a great way of making you exist in whatever story you are reading. My disappointment was "Tamarack County" by William Kent Krueger. It was a good book, just didn't live up to what I'm use to with a Cork story.
Here's my short impressions -
Someone We Know by Shari Lapena
A suspense story that takes place in an Upstate New York neighborhood. In this neighborhood all of the families know each other and socialize on one level or another - except for the newer, younger, childless couple who have not lived there for long. One of the teenage boys in the neighborhood has started breaking into houses - he says not to steal anything but just to break into their computers. During this time, the young woman is found murdered. Who did it and why? Is it related to the house break-ins? What secrets do the neighbors have?
This is a well written suspense. There are a lot of secrets in each family and slowly they are revealed. Ms Lapena took each of those secrets and developed them and showed unintended consequences.
The main family belongs to the young man who breaks into the house, Raleigh. I would love to know his mom, Olivia. She is such a sweet person always wanting to do what is right and honest. They are like a hub of the story with the other people like spokes. All are related in some way.
There are many suspects in this story - and I changed my mind several times during it. I got close to solving the murder, but didn't hit it. There is a little surprise at the end but it held to my rule that a surprised twist is allowed as long as it is believable and fits the story overall.
My first book by Shari Lapena, but I plan on reading more.
Echoes by Maeve Binchy
Set in a seaside town in Ireland, David Power and Clare O'Brien grow up together, but on different sides of the social scale. David's father is the town doctor, Clare's family owns the store by the beach. Not only do they own the store, they live there. Clare has aspirations beyond her life in Castlebay and works hard to be able to go to college in Dublin. David is at University there too, studying to become a doctor like his dad. They find each other there and as the summary states they find freedom in each other, until......life back in Castlebay.
This is very much a character driven book. That type of style results in what I call a "quiet read". One that while there is a plot and action, it is just slow developing. Being character driven, I got caught up in each person in the story. Even the people I did not like at all. I could understand why choices were made, even those I knew were wrong. I disliked some of the choices so much that it kept me from enjoying the book as much as I wanted. (I just wanted to sit down with some of the people and tell them how stupid they are.) The story touches on class distinction and how "station in life" is not the definition of a person.
Overall a good story of perseverance, determination, rising above, love and choices in life. It's not necessarily what most people think of as a summer read. But if you are in the mood for a solid story that you can take your time with, check this one out.
Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger
Cork O'Connor is once again dragged into solving a murder. This time it starts with the murder of a prominent judge's wife. Her car is found abandoned just days before Christmas. Other dark events occur - a dog killed and beheaded and then Cork's son, Stephen, is brutally attacked coming close to death. The common thread to all of these is a 20 year old murder. One for which Cork thinks an innocent man may have been convicted. As Cork works through this, there's romance and family drama as side stories.
As I said, I was disappointed in this book. I expect every book in this series to be a 5 star read, and to me this one just wasn't. This is book number 13 in the series and it was a little too predictable and on the edge of stale. I don't know if it's because of the mood I was in, because I've grown to know the O'Connor family so well, or why. I still love William Kent Krueger's storytelling and will continue to read this series. I may skip the month of July though - give the O'Connors and me both a break.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
A historical novel set in the 1930's dust bowl area of east Texas and then to the promising land of California. Elsa has found a family that truly loves her in the Martinelli's and does not want to leave them, but for the health of her children, Loredo and Ant, she decides she must. It is a hard decision,but after years of living through the dust storms, she has to choose what is best.
Kristin Hannah is such a wonderful author. She places you in the middle of a story where you almost physically feel what is happening. Her characters are written with depth and with each turn of life you experience emotion. This is a part of history that I knew happened, but I never really knew the depths of despair that was felt. I knew there were dust storms, but then again, I didn't know the severity of them. I knew about the influx to California, but not the effect of that, both for the natives and those who arrived from other states, Ms Hannah exposes me to all of this.
This is an important story, but it is a depressing story. It was my Book Club read for June - one I've wanted to read, but hadn't yet. I love discussing books like this with other readers. The emotions and thoughts that it brought out in others was interesting. One of our members said she kept thinking that they had to get the crops growing because we were going to need to food during the war. I hadn't thought of it that way, but thought of how I knew it broke because not everyone starved. All of this is a view into why I love books. It takes our minds on different paths - sometimes fun and sometimes serious. They help us understand other people, and also give insight into ourselves.
If you haven't read this book - do yourself a favor and pick it up. Not a light, beach read but a great one!
Have You Seen Me? by Kate White
Ally Linden is an investment journalist. She left her job at Greenbacks five years earlier. So why did she end up there rain soaked one morning ready to go back to work? As she starts coming back slowly into reality she realizes her last memory was in her apartment having an argument with her husband, Hugh. She can't remember much, but their arguments are always over the same thing - he wants kids, she doesn't. She finds she has been gone for 2 days and has been diagnosed as being in a dissociative state. She starts setting about to answer her questions - Why? Where was she? As she digs in she knows there is someone out there who doesn't want her to know the truth.
I liked this story. Ms White did a great job of piecing information together. As a reader, you got the hints and foreshadowing when Ally did. There were a lot of possible answers to the questions and some other threads that helped to start to get a picture of Ally and Hugh's lives. This one kept me guessing until the end. There were unbelievable parts but the rest of the story was so good that I was able to accept that. A good book to follow a story like "The Four Winds".
Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian
Historical fiction set in the late 1600's in Boston. Mary Deerfield is married to Thomas Deerfield. She is his second wife and is about half his age. Thomas is a prominent man in the community and Mary comes from a prominent family - her dad being an importer. Thomas is a cruel man - especially when he is drink-drunk but he is also a shrewd man knowing to never abuse his wife in front of others. His reasoning for the abuse is to help save her soul. Mary is unhappy in her situation and realizes she must save herself. That is not an easy thing for a woman in the 1600's to do. Divorce is definitely not common and the woman is not easily believed, especially in a "he said, she said" situation. Add on top of this signs of witchcraft swirling around Mary plus the fact that Mary is headstrong and while trying to please God, also wants the life she deserves - as does everyone, free of abuse and being loved,
Chris Bohjalian does it again! This one he hits out of the park. He knows how to paint a word picture better than almost any author I've read. He is able to do it writing about all kinds of subjects. I've read most of his books and they span from historical fiction to suspense and everything in between. I'm always amazed at how he can write about a woman the way he does. He has a great perspective - not dumbing them down, making them strong characters and at the same time making them very human. Can you tell I love his books?!
Now specifically about Hour of the Witch - this is a great story. It is written is such a way that it felt as if it was written in the 1600's. I felt the emotions of Mary and her despair. She was a smart woman but she was also at the mercy of men, The quotes from legal records at the start of each chapter set the tone for what was coming. I actually googled to see if Mary Deerfield was a real person. That is historical fiction at it's best! I also liked that this story does not condemn those who were religious people and clergy - but presented them as flawed humans who for the most part wanted to do what was right. They at times were just misguided. I don't want to give anything away so you will have to read it to find out if Mary got away from the abuse or not.
Such a good book. The plot moves along and the entire story I was drawn in. This is one of those books that I talked to Jack about as I was reading - it felt so real and I needed to express my thoughts. I knew I'd like it, but not how much. May be my #1 read of this year.
How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
Andrew works for the local agency that is in charge of searching for the next of kin of those who pass with no apparent survivors or family. His life is a life of solitude and is a thankless job. His fellow workers think he goes home to a loving family - a wife, a daughter and a son. The truth is due to a stumble of sorts during his interview, that is a lie. There is no family but Andrew doesn't know how he can save face and tell the truth after so much time. All seems as if it's harmless until Peggy comes aboard as a co-worker. Peggy brings something to his life that he doesn't know he was missing. Suddenly Andrew realizes that he could be that dead person for whom someone else is searching to find family. How does he change things?
Based on the summary I read, I went into this book expecting a little more of a Eleanor Oliphant character. (Loved that book - my review of it is in this post.) I never saw Andrew in that same vein. He is a little quirky, but to me it was a different kind of quirk. There are some funny lines and parts of the book that I enjoyed. Mr. Roper did a decent job of slowly building Andrew line by line where by the end of the book I felt I knew him. I did have a few issues with this book. Not to put any spoilers out there but Peggy is married to an alcoholic, For that to be the case I found it interesting how her first day at work she turned to getting a drink to settle her nerves. For someone so upset about her husbands abuse of alcohol, that seemed a little out of character. Also, I know I'm old fashion, but any one who goes out one on one for dinner - co-worker or not - it's a date. Married, even if unhappy, still married - not separated or divorced - I don't like that. To be honest I don't know the purpose of Peggy's home life being what it was. There's other ways to tell the same type story, but I know not everyone feels like I do about this. Because of those things, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. Not a horrible read though. And it is an easy to read book.
When I got the link for the book, it came up that it is now published under a different title. If you are interested in this book, you may need to find it as "Something to Live For" Guess they decided going for the more positive title would be a good move.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Nora Seed has had a life full of regret and misery. It seems to her that every choice she has made has been the wrong one. After being let go of her job at String Theory, she decides the best choice is one of death. The only problem is that she wakes up - not in her room but in the Midnight Library. The library seems to be a never ending one of shelf after shelf of green books with no titles. It is manned by Mrs. Elm, her old school librarian. The Midnight Library contains Nora's book of regrets but more importantly it has her books of choices. She can choose one of those books and then live the life she would have had if that had been her original choice in her root life. Mrs. Elm explains that the library is located in a place between life and death. As long as the clock stays on midnight, Nora can keep choosing, As long as she wants to live, she will return to the library until she finds that perfect life. If and when she gives up on life, time will move, the library will disappear and so will she.
This is an enchanting story. It is an easy read and honestly was the story I expected. As you would think, it is heavy on the "what looks like a better choice has consequences that we can't foresee." It also helps you get a perspective on the fact that life is too short to spend it lingering on regrets. It is good to acknowledge them and learn from them, but we shouldn't let them ruin our life. There is also a reminder that what we assume the reason for certain relationships being certain ways are not always correct. We don't know what other people are going through, living with or thinking, It is an easy read that went quickly.
I had wanted to read this book for a while and thanks to a good friend's birthday gift, I used a gift card to get it. I think I made a wise choice. 😉
If you're still hanging in there until the end, there's one more thing I'd like to say. I read 2 historical fiction books this month. In both of them there was discrimination and bad treatment of people. While that isn't pleasant to read or think about - especially some of it being so unforgivingly callous - I still think it is a good thing to read. We need to learn from history. Just like present life, it isn't always pretty but please don't censure history. Accept it and hopefully become a better person.
I'll get off my soapbox now. I hope you all had as great of a June as I did. As usual - I'd love to hear what you read this month! Until next time - happy reading!
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