Here We Go Again

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by Alison Cochrun
First sentence: “As she stands in the middle of an Applebee’s being dumped by a woman she didn’t realize she was dating, Logan Maletis has a realization: this is all Death’s fault.”
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Content: There is talk of sex, as well as a couple of on-screen sex scenes. There is also swearing, including multiple uses of the f-bomb. There is also active talk of dying. It’s in the romance section of the bookstore.

Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale are former best friends who had a falling out when they were 14. They’ve been coworkers in the English department of their small-town Oregon high school for the last eight, but they’ve not gotten along. Rosemary can’t stand Logan’s inability to take anything seriously, and Logan can’t stand Rosemary’s tendency to need to be in absolute control of everything. The only thing they have in common anymore is their love for their former English teacher, Joe. So when Joe, who is dying of cancer, wants to go on one last road trip so he can die in his family cabin in Maine, he taps Rosemary and Logan to go with him.

There is only one way for Logan’s and Rosemary’s relationship to turn out – it is a romance book after all – but the journey there is absolutely worth the time. It’s often funny, it’s got a lot of heart and soul, it’s got tender moments and explosive fights (in southern barbecue places!). It’s about making every day count and holding friends and found family close. And, yes, it’s about death. But it’s such a wonderful life-affirming story as well. It just made me happy, even while I was ugly crying at the end.

Highly recommended.

Audiobook: Murder Your Employer

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by Rupert Holmes
Read by Neil Patrick Harris & Simon Vance
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is talk of murder, of course, plus descriptions of sexual harassment and assault. There are also mentions of suicide. It’s in the Mystery section of the bookstore.

In this fictitious how-to guide, we follow three students of McMasters Academy – a school that is hidden and dedicated to teaching people the art of “deletion”, or rather, ending the life of a specific target for a very particular reason. It’s not just murder though, there are Ethics. At any rate, we follow Cliff Iverson, whose boss is a horrible human being and is responsible for the suicides of at least two people; Gemma Lindley, a nurse who helped her gravely ill father die faster and is being blackmailed for it; and Dulcie Mown, aka film star Doria May, who has been relegated to the back lot by the despicable film studio head, who is angry with Doria because she wouldn’t sleep with him. All three are at McMasters to learn how to off these horrible people, and we follow them through their education and theses – or their final deletions.

On the one hand, Harris and Vance were excellent narrators. They are, for the most part why I kept listening. The plot of the book, however, was not that engaging. My biggest question was: why did we have to follow three people? Why did there need to be three plots? We mostly followed Cliff, so why didn’t we just stick with him? What was the point of including Doria and Gemma? It frustrated me. Also: this one was billed as funny, but I only got a few chuckles out of it. It was almost like Holmes was trying too hard. And I don’t know why this one is being billed as a mystery – there’s nothing to solve, there’s no intensity – Holmes lays everything out for us, and leaves nothing for the reader to try and solve.

I kept thinking that I’d forgive all my complaints if the ending was good, but it wasn’t. It just kind of petered out, lamely limping toward the conclusion. Not my cup of tea at all.

There Was Nothing You Could Do

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Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U. S. A.” and the End of the Heartland
by Steven Hyden
First sentence: “My story opens like a Bruce Springsteen song – with a car, my father, a life-changing moment, and an indeterminate mix of autobiography and myth.”
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Content: There is some swearing, including a few well-placed f-bombs. It’s in the Music section of the bookstore.

Some context: I was 12 when Born in the U.S.A. came out, and not quite 13 when it hit big. I remember the album, I have a vivid memory about the first time I saw the Dancing in the Dark video, and I’ve listened to it on and off over the years. (My favorite song is the very pedantic Glory Days.) While I’ve listened to Springsteen’s music, I would, in no way call myself a fan. However, my daughter, A, has recently discovered The Boss and has become a massive fan of his music. And when I saw this one come in at the store, I immediately thought of her. But I decided to read it before sending it along.

In it, Hyden takes an interesting journey with the album, detailing the role it played (and has continued to play) in both pop culture and Springsteen’s life and music. It’s an interesting look at the album – Hyden gets into the weeds a bit with the music and the making of the album, but not so much that I couldn’t follow along. He details how Springsteen reacted to his fame following the record, as well as the influences it has had on the bands of the era as well as ones that have followed.

I enjoyed reading it, though I’m not sure it’s meant for those who aren’t Springsteen Fans. I don’t know the albums he talks about or the songs he details, but I still found the book interesting. Hyden’s a good writer, and he made a good case for the influence Springsteen had in the mid-80s, his reaction to it, and how he fits in the fragmented culture we have today.

Summer Fridays

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by Suzanne Rindell
First sentence: “When her eyes catch on the little clock on the far wall beyond her desk, she realizes it’s past noon.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some swearing, including a couple of instances of the f-bomb, as well as some off-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Sawyer is a publishing assistant in New York, engaged to Charles who is an associate at a high-powered law firm, and she is pretty sure her life is set. Then, during the summer of 1999, Charles is gone a lot due to a case and gets closer to his co-worker, Kendra, and Sawyer is left alone to fend for herself on the long, boring summer Fridays. She decides on a whim to play tourist in this city she now calls home, and joining her is Kendra’s boyfriend, Nick. Soon a friendship blossoms between the two of them… and maybe something more.

First my quibble: the marketing says its “You’ve Got Mail for a new generation”, and I’m sorry, but that shows a lack of knowledge of what You’ve Got Mail is. This is not that. It is sweet and charming, and not really a romance in the traditional romance sense. It is a love story, and a good one at that, and it’s a good story about second chances and finding someone who fits the life you want instead of you fitting into the life that others think should have. I loved the interactions between Nick and Sawyer (though I wasn’t really sold that he was in love with her when he said he was, but that’s probably just me) and I loved their summer Friday activities. You can tell that Rindell loves the city and wants to share that love.

it’s a good book, overall, even if it’s not really what I expected going into it. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Monthly Round-Up: May 2024

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May was a weird month; there were two whole weeks in the middle that I didn’t read a single book, which is really unusual for me. I did have a favorite:

The Mystery of Locked Rooms

It’s everything a Middle Grade book should be. And, with that, here’s the books I DID read this month:

Adult Fiction:

Happy Medium (audiobook)
Sunbringer
Lies & Weddings (audiobook)

Graphic Novels

Plain Jane and the Mermaid
Amulet: Waverider

Middle Grade

Across So Many Seas
Bridge to Bat City

The Mystery of Locked Rooms

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by Lindsay Currie
First sentence: “‘Angle it the other way!’ West screeches, holding his mirror up in the air.”
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Content: There are some mildly intense moments. It’s in the Middle Grade (graes 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Sarah and her two best friends West and Hannah love doing escape rooms, and they’re good at them. So, when Sarah’s house gets foreclosed and she learns about the Triplet Treasure in an abandoned funhouse outside of town, Sarah decides – and of course, West and Hannah come along – that she’s going to break into the funhouse and find the treasure.

This book is fantastic! It’s tight – it takes place mostly over one day, as we follow the kids through the funhouse as they solve the riddles and face their fears to get to the end. It’s everything I like about a middle grade books – no romance, not super high stakes, and a tight story that pulls the reader through the book. I liked that the parents were good; the house was being foreclosed because Sarah’s dad has been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and couldn’t work anymore, and her mother couldn’t quite make enough money to make the mortgage payments. It’s smart, it’s fun, and I think there’s a lot of kids out there who will enjoy it. Give it to those who liked Mr. Lemoncello’s Libraray, and they’ll enjoy figuring out these as well.

Audiobook: Lies & Weddings

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by Kevin Kwan
Read by Jing Lusi
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are the uber-rich doing the uber-rich things, including just being despicable to other people. There is talk of sex, drugs, and getting high, and there is swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

 Dr. Eden Tong has grown up in the cabin next to Greshamsbury manor, where her father – while a noted oncologist – is the personal doctor to the Earl and Countess Gresham. While she is good friends with the Greshams – especially Rufus, her best friend – she doesn’t want to get involved in all their old money exploits – flying everywhere on a whim, wearing designer clothes – and she doesn’t have any intention of marrying Rufus (no matter what his Chinese mother thinks). Yet, as the oldest, Augie gets married on the Big Island of Hawaii, Eden finds herself pulled into the Gresham drama. 

There’s more to it, of course: Kevin Kwan’s books are a meandering mesh of drama and Rich People Doing Rich Things. There are a ton of characters (I really liked Freddy Farman-Farmehian (which probably isn’t spelled right) to keep track of, as well as jetting around to exotic locations to enjoy (not to mention all the clothes and food!). It’s a lush, wild, winding book, with an ending that I called but didn’t mind that I did. I loved Lusi’s narration; there were a lot of characters to handle, and she did it beautifully. 

In short, it was a delightful romp of a book and I’m glad I read it.

Amulet: Waverider

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by Kazu Kibuishi
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Stonekeeper, The Stonekeeper’s Curse, The Cloud Searchers, The Last Council, Prince of the Elves, Escape from Lucien, Firelight, Supernova
Content: There is some fighting and other intense moments. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore. 

This is the last installment in the Amulet series. The overarching conflict is resolved (mostly), and most of the loose threads are wrapped up. It’s the culmination of 16 years of story. 

I went back and reread the entire series — it’s been nearly 6 years since the last one came out — and I was struck by how much the series changed throughout the story. What starts as an adventure story ends up more introspective, exploring ideas of control, free will, and choice. I wonder how much the events of the world affected the story – if it had been written faster would it have been a different story?

The art is still remarkable, with pages that take your breath away. And I think it’s a good ending for this series. It’s such a monumental graphic novel series, that I’m a little sad that it’s over. I hope there are more stories to tell in this world. 

Plain Jane and the Mermaid

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by Vera Brosgol
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There are some mildly scary moments, and the plot does hinge upon people getting married. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Jane’s parents have died in a freak fish cart accident, and because they have no surviving male heir, the house and assets will go to Jane’s odious cousin. That is, unless she gets married. She wants to keep her house, so she proposes to the prettiest boy in town, Peter, who wants to get out of the fish business. Except he’s charmed by a mermaid and dragged to the depths of the sea to marry her instead. Jane – determined to keep the house – goes after him. Adventures ensue. 

Brosgol says in the afterward that she’s always wanted to write a folktale, and this certainly qualifies. It’s less about the plot and more about Jane’s growth, realizing that she is worth more than what she looks like and that she is capable of achieving what she desires. There’s a strong anti-beauty culture message throughout the whole book, which I think Brosgol manages without being didactic or heavy-handed. And the art, like all of Brosgol’s books, is just delightful. 

I hope there are kids who will find this and enjoy it, because I did!

Bridge to Bat City

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by Ernest Cline
First sentence: “Once upon a time down here in Texas, in part of the Lone Star State known as the Hill Country, hidden at the edge of a rolling green forest, there was this bold old beautiful cave.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: Some younger kids might be turned off by the references, though there are illustrations, and it’s not overly long (or dealing with crushes or puberty!). It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. 

To understand the tall tale part of this book, you kind of need to know the history (which Cline helpfully puts in the back of the book).  In 1982, the city of Austin re-did and expanded the Congress Ave bridge, so that it could expand and contract with the weather better. Soon after this, a bunch of Mexican free-tailed bats took up residence, and by 1984, the population had grown to over a million. 

This is Cline’s version of how the bats got there. It involves a girl named Opal Flats, from Lubbock, whose mother dies and whose uncle takes her in at the family farm in the Hill Country outside of Austin. The TV show Austin City Limits plays a role, as does ‘zines, former governor Ann Richards, and Willie Nelson. There’s also a pet armadillo, a flying saucer, and – oh, yeah – Opal can talk to the bats.  

The subtitle of this one is “A mostly true tall tale” and that fits perfectly. Although it’s set in the 1980s and a lot of kids won’t get the music references (who’s Buddy Holly?!), I think it would make a perfect read-aloud. Cline says in the afterward that it’s based on a tall tale he’d tell his kids when they were small, and I think that’s the best way to approach the book. It feels like someone’s telling you a story, and I think it’s meant to be read aloud. It started slow for me, but the more I read, the more I liked it. It’s kind of silly, and it’s definitely over the top (the part where the bats – who also love music – discover ZZ Top, Run DMC, Selena, and Willie Nelson is pretty hilarious). But it’s got a good heart, and in the end, is all about just accepting new things and having an open mind (oh, and corporations are bad). 

You kind of have to love a book like that. Which I did.