A little later than normal, thanks in part to Ida. When the internet went out, I couldn't get online. After that I took my time getting back to my reviews. It was a decent reading month in August though. It was mostly 4 ⭐books. As usual I read a wide range of genres. The only book that I really struggled with was the non-fiction one, "The Vinyl Frontier". It was a little technical in parts and as can be in a non-fiction book dry. But I still found it interesting enough to finish.
I hope you all had a good reading month. As always, I welcome any recommendations to add to my bulging shelves. Here's my thoughts for the month -
The Vinyl Frontier: The Story of the Voyager Golden Record by Jonathan Scott
In 1977, a team from different walks of life, led by Carl Sagan developed a 90 minute golden record to go to outer space on NASA's Voyager probe. This is the story about the team and how they found and decided on the music, pictures, and languages that would be included. The team was focused on how to best communicate what life on earth is like, how we function, communicate and live, as well as our physical attributes, covering humans and animals.
At times this book was very dry to me. It got into the details of the actual physical record - how they came up with a solution of making it work. When they start talking about grooves, and pictures in them to be read by radio waves, etc. I just don't comprehend it all. The search for the items to go on the record and the little push pull about it was interesting. The glimpse into the life of some of the people who were involved was probably the best written part. Of course that is easier to write about and make interesting than "they wanted Chuck Berry and the other group wanted the Beatles" type dialogue.
I did not realize what all was on the record. I assumed, incorrectly, that it was all music. I don't think that would have made a difference as far as my enjoyment, but it might have. This was an average read to me. It's a special talent that can take historical non-fiction and make every aspect interesting to me. I like a story format, and that's not always possible. So overall it was pretty much what I expected.
The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
A novel about Lucy's relationship with her mother-in-law, Diana. Lucy had lost her mother at a young age and was longing for a mother/daughter relationship, but that is not how theirs had developed. IT was a strained relationship most of the time. When Diana is murdered, the question becomes who wanted her to die? Could it have been Lucy? The story is more than the who done it plot, delving deeper into the relationship and how each viewed their role in it.
This is a well written book. I found myself just reading the story and taking it in not worried about trying to solve the murder. That's unusual for me as I almost always am looking for tells and wanting to make sure that the reveal makes sense. I liked how through the story we saw how both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law viewed the relationship and how they should treat each other. There's a lesson there about trying to find that balance of gently finding out what is expected instead of assuming we know.
The story also shows how our kids - and how we - are influenced by adult relationships. A look into what is expected by us and from us in those relationships too. It's interesting how even as we age, we often find ourselves reverting back to our younger self around certain people and let them influence us. All in all a good one.
The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz
Jane Hawk is a FBI agent whose husband commits suicide. Before he did, he left a note - "I very much need to be dead." This from a man who had everything to live for and exhibiting no signs of depression or other troubles that would indicate what was going to happen. His death leads Jane on a journey of trying to find why the suicide rate is rising - and doing so among those who are like her husband. This exploration leads to Jane Hawk becoming one of the most wanted people in America. Her enemies are powerful and vicious and are after her with no holds barred. Jane is the woman for the job though as she is driven by a righteous rage founded in love.
My dad liked Dean Koontz books. I, on the other hand, have always shied away from them. I did read a few books of his that he wrote under a pseudonym many years ago. I enjoyed those books but they were not science fiction or far out plots. I had picked up one of his books after that and just could not go along with the fantasy. In 2015 I read Odd Thomas based on my dad's recommendation and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I thought I'd pick up the second book in the series, but just never had. I don't know what drew me to this book, but in reading the synopsis I decided to give it a try. I am glad I did.
The Silent Corner, while being science fiction, is believable science fiction. What I mean by that is while the methods used may not be that believable, the outcome is. I could believe there could be people in the world smart enough to accomplish what the evil doers in this story accomplished. A little more unbelievable is Jane Hawk, the heroine of the story. She is one "bad" woman and all I can say is that if the premise of this story ever comes to pass, I only hope that Jane Hawk is around to save us all!
This is the first in a series, which I knew going in. What I didn't know was that this book would end in such a way that things are not completely resolved. I've got the next book on my shelf now and will continue on my journey with Jane.
Paul Simon : The Life by Robert Hilburn
This is a biography of Paul Simon written with his full cooperation, minus editorial control. It gives glimpses into his childhood, his friendship with Art Garfunkel, how they became a duo, their break-up, what has influenced him, his songs, etc. with a little of his personal life too.
I am not a huge Paul Simon fan. I have liked several of his songs, but I don't know all of his catalogue and I didn't know that much about him. This book covers a lot of the professional side of his life - what inspires him, his writing process and such. It touches on the private side - more so about growing up and his professional friends, with a small dash of the other relationships. An interesting book and written in a way that read easy.
The Likeness by Tana French
To enjoy this book, you have to first start with full acceptance of the main plot line which is that a girl who had taken on the identity that was the same name as a previous undercover officer had used in the past was murdered at a specific geographical location under the jurisdiction of the same police force. The lead murder detective was the boyfriend to said previous undercover officer and when he discovered the body he at first thought it was his girlfriend because they were identical in looks. Add in a over zealous detective who decides the best way to find the killer is for the undercover officer to go back into the undercover world and become the dead woman, convincing the dead girls friends that she was still alive.
The story develops along this plot line, which I though was an interesting one. I found it interesting how Cassie, the undercover police, was slowly transforming into actually being Alexandra in some ways. I wasn't on the edge of my seat and was not surprised in the end. There are a lot of ways the story could have gone. I was satisfied with the direction it took and I was entertained all the way through.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Vignes twins are identical in looks but not in the direction their lives took. They grew up together in a small, black community in Louisiana. This community honors light skin and ostracizes those who are dark. The twins are in the honored group, but the town is still suffocating and they run away together at age 16. There their paths split. Stella finds herself mistaken for white and decides to go that route. She runs away from Desiree and marries a white man who does not know that she is black. Desiree ends up married to an extremely dark man. Her husband is abusive so she returns home with her daughter, not knowing where Stella is or anything about her life. Through a series of "fateful" events, the daughters of the twins find each other. Each family member finds themselves having to deal with the choices and influences of the past and it's effect on the present. The story stretches between California and Louisiana and from the 1950's to the 1990's.
This is one of those books that I expected to rate high, so I was disappointed. It is an interesting topic, but I finished the book feeling shortchanged. I wanted more than I got but at the same time got more than I wanted. The author seemed at times to be throwing in all of today's issues in addition to the main topic of colorism - racism, identity crisis, domestic abuse, classism, LGBTQ. It didn't cover the main topic enough for me to really grasp the pain that the twins felt by the separation. There were also too many coincidences. I'm ok with that to a certain extent and in some stories I can accept it more readily than others. However, when the author is explaining how something, while unbelievable, should be believed because there is a small statistical possibility, you lose me. In a city the size of LA, it's just almost beyond that small possibility for it to happen so many times.
I had a little problem with the ending. Not with the resolution per se, but the abruptness. It was one of those endings that felt like the author had fulfilled her page count and was just ready to wrap it up. This story deserved more than that. In fact it deserved a lot more overall. It could have been a really interesting plot if Ms Bennett had stuck to the main theme. By throwing so much against the wall, she lost me.
This was our Book Club selection for the month of August. It was one that I had my eye on for a while so I was excited with this choice. I'm glad I finally read the book and while I'm critical in my review, it really isn't a horrible book. A lot of people rate it higher, but to me it was average. Which as I've said before I'm ok with. An average book is just that to me - not anything spectacular, but also not bad.
The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White
Recently divorce Marilee Dunlap, with her 2 children, moves to Sweet Apple, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. Her new beginning is hard enough, but then she finds herself included in a local blog written by an anonymous writer. Things are made a little easier by her relationship that develops with her landlady, Sugar Prescott. While Sugar is known as a stubborn woman who speaks her mind, she helps Merilee and her kids adapt. In addition, Merilee becomes friends with one of the most influential mothers from her kids school, Heather. Heather seems to have the perfect life. A respectable husband, wealth, home behind the gates, vacation homes, etc. But as we all know, what we see and what reality is does not always match up.
This is one of those books that I describe as easy to read and enjoyable. I liked my time spent with Merilee and Sugar watching their intergenerational relationship develop. It is a predictable book and some of it is a little over the top. I have a hard time accepting that some people are as evil as some of the characters I read in books. I can take it to a certain extent but sometimes it just goes over the top. I had to suspend my belief just a little for this one. That aside, this book is a nice look into small town community and people who really care for each other in the midst of their pain.
The Last Trial by Scott Turow
The well known criminal defense lawyer, Sandy Stern agrees to represent his friend, Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Kiril Pafko. Dr. Pafko is charged with insider trading, fraud and murder all related to a life saving medication he has developed. Sandy is 85 years old and agrees to take his friend on as his final client. As the trial precedes and Sandy digs deeper he begins to question where the truth lies. At the root of it all is Sandy's responsibility to defend his client and let justice take its course.
I had read several of Scott Turow books, but not many lately. I did read "Testimony" in March and did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was not a courtroom drama and it was just a little over my head as far as the events it covered. This book, however, reminded me of why I think he is one of the best courtroom drama authors around. The conflict both in the courtroom and out is interesting and relatable. Sandy felt loyalty to his friend, Kiril, but as he got farther into the case, he began to realize that maybe he didn't know his friend as well as he thought he did. The questions that this raised to him, plus some lapses in judgement resulted in his questioning himself and helping him decide that he had made the right decision to retire.
I enjoyed the balance between the times in the courtroom and out. The family drama in both Sandy and Kiril's family was another layer that was interesting and also a contrast. The contrast between the interactions and how they each handled conflicts was stark. Overall a book that is well written in a style that flows and that is very believable.
As a side note - this book was published in May 2020, so before Covid. It deals with a drug that is a life saving break through and is given a special tract through FDA approval. Reading the steps that had to be taken and comparing that to how the Covid vaccines were handled was interesting.
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
What if the life you have always known is taken from you in an instant? That is what happened to fifty-one year old twins, Jeanie and Julius when their mom, Dot dies. The twins have lived with their mom in rural isolation and poverty their entire life. The twins find themselves at risk of losing everything and having to fight to survive. Things they thought they knew and reality clashes and they have to deal with what life throws at them.
This is the second book I've read by Claire Fuller. I read "Swimming Lessons" twice - the second time for my book club. Both books are what I would call "quiet reads". By that I mean that they are pretty much just about life and when bad things happen how they are handled. Jeanie and Julius handle their mom's death - and even life when she was alive - in different ways. I feel as if I knew Jeanie better, but Julius was more relatable as far as his life and what he wanted. The way they lived, isolated in the country, had me picturing an earlier place in time instead of current day. It was always a little shock when they would be in town with modern life.
This is not a cheery, feel good story. It is a heavy character developing story. I like a book where I feel as if I really know the people. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't. Either way I want to understand them and feel something. This book accomplished that. I have a hard time saying I enjoyed a more somber book, but at the same time, I am glad I read this one.
Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger
November is a hard month for Cork O'Connor. In previous years, he has lost his wife, his father and best friend in that month. This year looks to be different in that his daughter Jenny is getting married in November. However, things are never that simple in Cork's life. He is hired to help a brother and sister find out what happened to their grandfather when he was out in the boundary waters wilderness area of Minnesota. Cork had already helped in the search for the missing man. A search that came up empty, Cork agrees to stay on the case and heads out in the boundary waters with the girl for a short trip. As Cork is gone longer than he had planned and with no communication, the family begins to get worried. There's an early winter storm coming, Cork is out in the wilderness with some bad people, and lives are in danger. It's a race against not only evil but time.
I liked being back with Cork. It was quite the adventure being on the lakes with him. As with a lot of Cork books, I am not very trusting of people, always trying to figure out who is good and who is bad. And like most of the Cork books, when I figure it out, I always question myself and my instincts. 😀
The story takes the reader on a good adventure. Mr. Krueger always keeps Cork true to who he is. It's been enjoyable getting to know his kids as they have grown and develop too. As I said, I like to feel as if I know the people in a book, and this is one series that has done that. All of the stories are different, but all have some of the same elements. Mr. Krueger's personal beliefs come through at times and honestly I don't always agree with them but his stories are not preachy. As I've often said, in my opinion he is one of the best storytellers around.
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