Family Style

Thien Pham's debut graphic novel is a moving young adult memoir about his search for belonging in America. Thien left his native Vietnam at age five and together with his family emigrated to the U. S. His family spent several years in a refugee camp in Thailand before getting permission to travel to America. The family struggled both in the camp and in California where they began their new lives. 

Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. Through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity. Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search - for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream. The story ends on a happy note with a fortysomething Thien becoming a U. S. citizen and registering to vote. 

The author originally published this memoir serially to Instagram. His artwork is done in traditional six-panel comic strip panels and he used Procreate to do the drawings on an iPad. The drawings are colored with a muted brown palette. If you loved Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese and Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do you will want to read Family Style.

5 out of 5 stars.

Frontera

This stunning account of a fictional teenager crossing the Sonoran Desert for Arizona was written for young adults aged 13 through 17. Mateo makes the dangerous journey back home to the United States through the Sonoran Desert with the help of a new friend, a ghost named Guillermo in a supernatural borderland odyssey. Mateo grew up in Phoenix but his family was deported back to Mexico in the summer before his senior year of high school. All he wants in life is to be able to take his SAT test and finish high school. It is the debut graphic novel of Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo.

As long as he remembers to stay smart and keep his eyes open, Mateo knows that he can survive the trek across the Sonoran Desert. That is, unless he’s caught by U. S. Border Patrol. Just a few moments after Mateo sneaks across the border fence he is caught. However, he is able to escape but at a huge cost. He loses his backpack and gets lost in the desert. Mateo also is ill-prepared for the unforgiving heat. Enter the ghost, Guillermo, who leads him through the desert.

While a border crossing story is usually an ugly one, the magical realism brought by the ghost gives the novel a light feel. The colorful artwork contributes to this. It has been rendered in a four panel comic strip style a d colored with bright colors.

Frontera is a must read! 5 out of 5 stars.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women

The latest historical novel from Lisa See is inspired by the true story of a woman physician from 15th-century China. The subject of See’s novel is Tan Yunxian, a real-life woman who lived in China during the Ming dynasty. She went on to become a “ming yi” — famous doctor — and published a compendium of 31 cases in the work “Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor.”  The story begins in the year 1469 when Tan Yunxian is 8 years old.

 The publisher's summary:  

According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? 

 

The characters are what make this novel such a great story.  I loved reading about the ups and downs of Yunxian and Meiling's friendship. They were on different life paths due to their socioeconomic levels but managed to maintain a lifelong affection. There were plenty of misunderstandings between them but most were due to the interference from Yunxian's mother in law and they always made up quickly. As all young adults have done throughout history, both girls fell into the social constructs of their time. Yunxian did not believe that she was superior to Meiling but acted as though she was. Yunxian was quite selfish because she always had whatever she wanted. She never asked Meiling how she was doing or how her family was handling their problems. Yunxian thought her life was more important. Meiling, on the other hand, had to worry about surviving and helping her ostracized mother. Meiling felt that she could not complain to Yunxian about how she treated her because Yunxian was from a higher class.  It sounds funny today but in 1400s China, making a social mistake can get you killed.

Their mothers and grandmothers were also great characters. Yunxian's mother dies when she is 8 and she is sent to live with her grandparents. This is where she meets Meiling and Meiling's mother, a midwife.  Yunxian's grandmother is a woman's doctor who begins to train her to follow in her footsteps. Meiling is also being trained to become a midwife like her mother.  It was natural for this foursome to be closely tied.

The men were not very interesting but this is a women's story. It's not just about female relationships but female medicine too. I can honestly say I felt each and every pain of the women in labor that Meiling treated. In those days a woman crouched down near the floor and pulled on a rope hanging from above to birth the babies. Ouch! 

Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a lovely book.  I highly recommend it.  5 out of 5 stars.

The Collector

The 23rd Gabriel Allon spy novel is finally here! I wasn't sure if this book would be able to maintain my interest given that last year the main character retired from his spy job for the State of Israel. Last year's entry for the series, Portrait of an Unknown Woman, was fantastic but our spy hero retired. How could the series survive? After reading The Collector I have a bad feeling about this.

The publisher's summary:

Legendary art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon joins forces with a brilliant and beautiful master-thief to track down the world’s most valuable missing painting but soon finds himself in a desperate race to prevent an unthinkable conflict between Russia and the West. 

 

As you can tell from the above, the publisher didn't have much to say about the book. Silva's publisher summaries have always been 5+ paragraphs long. This should have been my first clue that the story was somewhat lacking. However, I missed the clue. I would have read the book anyway because I have enjoyed every book in the series. 

In The Collector, Vermeer's painting "The Concert," painted in 1664, was cut from its frame in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 and stolen along with 12 other works. It could be the most valuable stolen object. There have been boasts about the whereabouts of the painting and leads over the years, and they've led nowhere. When a South African shipping tycoon murdered in Amalfi turns out to have a secret vault holding an empty frame that matches the dimensions of the purloined masterpiece, the Italian art police call Gabriel Allon for assistance. 

The first half of the novel was a gripping art heist story. I thought it was a good place for the series to continue. Our protagonist, Gabriel Allon, was the consummate spy. He had a side interest in art and painting that he was tremendously talented in pursuing. He was able to create fakes of famous paintings from almost any artist.

The art heist story introduced a new series character. Ingrid Johansen is a brilliant computer hacker. She is an extraordinarily talented thief. She accepted a $10 million payment to steal the Vermeer from a palazzo in Amalfi, not realizing that there's a much broader conspiracy. Ingrid ends up working with Gabriel to find the painting that she stole.

This fantastic art heist story abruptly ends halfway into the novel. The international spy trade picks up the remainder of the story with no apparent connection to the first half with the exception that one of the bad actors in the heist is connected to the Russian government. I did not care for this part of the book. While the last two chapters try to connect the two, it didn't work for me. Silva has also incorporated the Ukraine-Russia War into the story along with a threat of nuclear war. It was not plausible given that half of this 400+ page book was solely an art theft story.

I am disappointed with The Collector. I am rating it 2 out of 5 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #25

There are a few books that will be published next month that I absolutely must read.  Honey Drop Dead by Laura Childs is one of them. The book will be out on August 8, 2023. I have a copy reserved at my local library but have to wait 6 weeks to get it because alot of folks have already reserved it. 

In this 26th installment of the series, amateur sleuth and Indigo Teashop owner Theodosia Browning is hosting a Honey Bee Tea in Charleston’s Petigru Park where there is a beekeeping project. Unfortunately, a phony beekeeper shows up and sprays toxic smoke at the guests. Then a gunshot is heard and a candidate for the state legislature falls to the ground dead.

I may not be able to wait six weeks to get my hands on the novel and could end up buying a copy for the Kindle. While there is a need to reduce spending, my willpower is weak. 

Book of the Month: July

I had a hard time selecting the book of the month for July. There were three contenders:  Alex Lake's Final Call, Heather Atkinson's Evil at Alardyce House and J. M. Cannon's Blood Oranges. I am going to have to go with Final Call though. This pulsating mystery takes place on an airplane and the mystery had to be solved before the plane ran out of gas and crashed. It was an intense read. 

When the plane, carrying corporate executives, begins heading in the wrong direction, the pilot informs the passengers that one of them must confess to murder or the aircraft will crash into the ocean. There is a dual narrative that jumps back to 2018 as the reader learns the reason why someone would hold a grudge after tragic circumstances.

As I said above, this was an intense read and I loved it.

Book Cover of the Month: July

Laura Klynstra designed the book cover for The Tiffany Girls. She is a freelance graphic designer who focuses her work on book covers and illustrated book interiors. In her previous job she worked as the art director at Hyperion Books and at HarperCollins Publishers in New York City. In her free time Laura loves to cook and creates new dishes with her best friend, Mumtaz Mustafa, for their Instagram blog: @spiceandsugartable. Her first baking cookbook, Christmas Baking, was released November, 2020. This creative lady lives in Lansing, Michigan.

The Joy of Quitting

Keiler Roberts graphic autobiography about being married with a toddler and MS is full of humor and is a fun read. Her story is told in black and white comic strips drawn in a childlike style. It is a collection of a decade of her work that was previously published in five separate titles. The titles are Powdered Milk (2012), Miseryland (2015), Sunburning (2017), Chlorine Gardens (2018) and Rat Time (2019). 8 years of Roberts' life is covered in this book.

The author uses dry humor to tell her story. It was enjoyable but I had to take it in small doses. I put the book down quite a few times before finishing its 264 pages this week. Daughter Xia provides alot of the comedy as does her husband, and parents. Xia is the real comedian though. The reader gets to listen in on Roberts' random thoughts and mostly they are silly. Some are so mundane that they're boring, giving the reader a less than experience.

3 out of 5 stars.

WWW Wednesday

The Taking On a World of Words blog is hosting this weekly meme. This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

1.  What are you currently reading?

I am halfway through a graphic autobiography titled The Joy of Quitting. Keiler Roberts story about being married with a toddler and MS is full of humor and is a fun read. Her story is told in black and white comic strips drawn in a naive style.

This book collects from a decade of the author's work from five previous titles. The titles are Powdered Milk (2012), Miseryland (2015), Sunburning (2017), Chlorine Gardens (2018) and Rat Time (2019).  

2.  What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished another graphic autobiography called Ephemera. It's a sad story about one woman's experience dealing with her mentally ill mother. The book made me sad enough to be sorry that I read it.

3.  What do you think you’ll read next?

I am still deciding between Behind the Seams by Elizabeth Spann Craig and Methods of Malice by Ellery Adams. The Craig book is a part of her southern quilting series. Methods of Malice is the 7th book in the author's Hope Street Church series. I have read about 3 pages in both books to see which one excites me the most. Behind the Seams has a better beginning so it might be my next book.

Can't Wait Wednesday #24

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This week I would like to highlight a book that I have been anxiously awaiting to be published. The Deserter's Tale is the newest installment of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's geneological mystery series. It will be published on September 15th. The series features Morton Farrier as the sleuth. 

When forensic genealogist Morton Farrier accepted an invitation to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, to speak at the RootsTech genealogy conference, he had been unaware that one of his co-panelists was to be none other than his former girlfriend, Madison Scott-Barnhart. While he prepares anxiously to meet her for what will be the first time in twenty-six years, and hopefully to discover the unresolved truth behind her abrupt ending of their relationship, he takes on the case of researching his wife’s mysterious great-grandfather: a man who deserted his Sussex family shortly after the First World War. In the course of his investigations and time in the States, Morton uncovers some shocking truths, some of which are uncomfortably close to home.

I have read about half of the books in the series. This series is my favorite among geneological stories. Check it out.

Ephemera

Ephemera is a melancholy graphic biography that portrays the author's struggle to handle her mother's mental illness. It poignantly blends memoir, magic realism, and graphic medicine with ethereal artwork. From the early days of her childhood, Brianna had to get used to her mother being physically absent from her life to being psychologically absent. Her mother never got well and Brianna accepted as much of her mother’s behavior as she could. I thought it odd that none of the characters had names. However there was only author Brianna, her mother and her father. There wasn't much dialogue either. The story took place in a garden, a forest, and a greenhouse. The story drifts among a grown woman, her early memories as a child, and the gossamer existence of her mother. 

I was sad after reading this book. It was highly recommended by reviewers so I obtained a copy of it. I wish I hadn't, though, because it is a story with no happiness whatsoever.

3 out of 5 stars.

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr  explores the fine line between living and dying in Mumbai through the lens of magical realism. Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality. As a result, the avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as twenty-something Laila Starr. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born. Will Laila take her chance to stop mankind from permanently altering the cycle of life, or will death really become a thing of the past? This 2021 5-part series was written by Ram V and Filipe Andrade. 

Our Laila has died several times during her time on earth as a mortal. Each time she has had contact with Darius, a child who was expected to bring immortality to all upon his birth. In the beginning, Laila wants to kill Darius when he is born so that death can continue. However, something keeps her from killing him, a humanity that she did not know she possessed. The reader watches Laila as she grapples with the emotions of mortals. 

During the series we see Hindu mythology as a theme. There are characters such as the funeral bird, a talking cigarette and a Chinese temple. These characters are fun and give the series a light feel. The artwork is colored with bright hues that also contribute to the hilarity of the story. With each issue of the comic the reader gets a full story but they all fit within the plot of a larger story.

Highly recommended. 5 out of 5 stars.

Arca

In this dystopian comic thriller, planet earth is burning up but the rich and powerful have a plan to save humankind. When society fell apart, a select group of billionaires had an escape hatch: a rocket aimed at the nearest habitable planet, a ship equipped with many of the luxuries of life on Earth—why survive if you can’t survive in style? Their every need is tended to by teenagers who are willing to act as slaves in return for the promise of a new life. This is a good story. But, like so many stories, it is not true. Inside a great, sealed survival chamber, one slave, a teenage girl named Persephone, discovers that the promised future of comfort is a myth. And with that knowledge, she must fight for her survival against the billionaires, who would gladly kill her to protect the hidden truth.

Arca is an entertaining story with a fast pace and plenty of twists. Our heroine Effie, nickname of Persephone, has three months left serving the rich inhabitants of Arca before graduating to a Citizen when she turns 18.  As a Citizen, she will be served instead of serving. She begins training her replacement but begins to wonder why she has never seen on the ship any Settlers who have graduated. Effie knows she can't ask too many questions to her superiors but discusses the issue with her Settler friends. They have been told that the spaceship is heading for Eden and that it has been flying in space for several decades.  Effie finds proof that the spaceship has been traveling for 157 years and secretly starts looking for where these graduated Settlers are living on the ship. She is constantly being monitored and this makes her quest dangerous. Effie would be severely punished, maybe killed, for her efforts to find the answers to her questions. 

Arca is a page turner and even though it is a graphic novel, I recommend it for all readers.  It has an extensive plot that many will enjoy. 5 out of 5 stars.