Book of the Month: September

Banyan Moon is my favorite read for this month. It is a 3 generation family saga about 3 Vietnamese women. It spans several decades from 1960s Vietnam to the present day in Florida and Michigan. The story alternates between grandmother Minh in Vietnam, her daughter Huong in Florida and granddaughter Ann in Michigan. I am always a sucker for family sagas and this one captured my heart. It always amazes me how people assimilate into new cultures. For every one of these sagas that I have read the second and third generation always makes the same decisions. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to feel that you are an American. Check the book out. It is fantastic.

Stacking the Shelves #28

The Printer's Row Lit Fest was held last weekend in Chicago. It has been an annual festival for over 50 years and is held in the Printer's Row neighborhood of the south Loop. Three of the books I purchased are being featured below. I spoke with all of the authors. Each of them told me not only what their books were about but also why they were interested in the subject matter that they wrote about. The Fest also hosts events with authors but I did not attend any this year.

Unbound Feet by Kim Orendor is an account of the author's years living in China. Kim describes herself as being a wallflower when she was a child. As an adult she taught at an international university in Henan Province. Here, Kim took time to re-examine all aspects of her life: relationships, faith, and expectations. This journey wasn't always smooth and sometimes she felt as if she was moving backward. Kim was astonished when she found herself dancing in the halftime show of the Chinese University Basketball Association championship. The game was broadcast live to millions of people and her shy self  began to blossom. Kim returned to the U. S. in 2011. She hasn't danced much since returning stateside but every now and then this former wallflower busts a move.

Mailboat: The End of the Pier by Danielle Hannah is the first book in a suspense series. There are 5 books in the series to date. The setting is Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, a day trip away from Chicago. This first book opens with the finding of a dead man tied to the pilings on the pier. He had been missing for 17 years.  The main character is Bailey. She delivers letters by boat in the resort town. Bailey has learned over the years that an occasional splash into the lake as she jumps onto the pier is just part of her job. However, discovering a dead body is far from her routine. Bailey becomes fearful when the police investigation spills over into her abusive foster home, threatening to take her away from Lake Geneva entirely. 

Mother Daughter Murder Night was written by Nina Simon. The main character is Lana Rubicon, a high powered real estate professional in Los Angeles. While recovering from surgery Lana visits her daughter Beth and her grand-daughter Jack, who live 300 miles north. When Jack finds a dead body while kayaking, she quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation. Lana decides to find the true murderer so she can protect her family and prove she still has power. With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. These three women, though, must learn how to depend upon each other to find the killer.

What books have you added to your own bookshelf this week?

The Orchid Hour

I love Nancy Bilyeau's books. Her Genevieve Planche trilogy and Joanna Stafford trilogy were both fantastic so I had high expectations for The Orchid Hour. It is a charming portrait of the Little Italy neighborhood in New York City in the 1920s.

The publisher's summary:  

New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered. Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her son and in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library. But when a quiet poetry lover is murdered outside the library, the police investigation focuses on Zia. After a second tragedy strikes even closer to home, Zia learns that both crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The Orchid Hour. 

When the police investigation stalls, Zia decides to find her own answers. A cousin with whom she has a special bond serves as a guide to the shadow realm of the Orchid Hour, a world filled with enticements Zia has shunned up to now. She must contend with a group of players determined to find wealth and power in New York on their own terms. In this heady atmosphere, Zia begins to wonder if she too could rewrite her life’s rules. As she’s pulled in deeper and deeper, will Zia be able to bring the killers to justice before they learn her secret?

While I enjoyed the story, it was not as engaging as Bilyeau's earlier books. Normally I would devour her books in one sitting. The Orchid Hour took me several days. However, it is still a solid story. The book is different because it is a murder mystery that takes place in the 1920s. Bilyeau's earlier books were more in the historical fiction genre. 

I did not connect with Zia as I have with other characters the author has created. She is not the typical amateur sleuth because she does not leave her job or home to determine the identity of the killer. Zia stays inside her home, which is one story on top of the cheese shop her in-laws own. She does not challenge social norms and lets the men in her family make all her major life decisions. How can this type of woman be a sleuth?

The setting is really the story here. It is definitely strong enough to carry the novel but I was disappointed that the novel was not written in the genre Bilyeau is known for. Perhaps if I had advance knowledge concerning the genre I would have read the book with different eyes.

3 out of 5 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #27

I just got a copy of Jon Meacham's latest book And There Was Light. The book is about our 16th president Abraham Lincoln, a man who governed America during a period of polarization and political upheaval similar to today's environment. He was both hated and hailed just as the last 4 U.S. presidents have been. The book sounds like it will be instructive on how to handle the struggles we are currently experiencing.

And There Was Light has won several awards. It is the winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, longlisted for the Biographers International Plutarch Award and One of the Best Books of the Year from The Christian Science Monitor and Kirkus Reviews. Lincoln is idolized in the book but it is advertised as giving a human portrait of an imperfect man. His moral antislavery commitment, essential to the story of justice in America, began as he grew up in an antislavery Baptist community. This biography covers Lincoln’s entire life, from birth to death.

I love chunky books and this is certainly one of them. The publisher says it's 720 pages while my ebook version is 1260 pages. I am sure it will be a lovely read.

DNA Never Lies

DNA Never Lies is the first book in a new series featuring Karen Copperfield as a genetic genealogist. Karen helps people make sense of the dark family secrets that are revealed by DNA tests as they ask: ‘what happens when nothing you believed is true?’ It was published in 2022.

The publisher's summary:  

As an ambitious young woman in the years following the Second World War, Barbara made some hard choices, decisions changing everything that came after. She had to fight for what she wanted; then the stakes got so much higher.

A continent away, and decades later, Barbara’s daughter hires genealogist Karen Copperfield to make sense of the family’s DNA tests. Nothing about the results ties in with what Barbara’s children believed, and the shock is tearing the family apart. Barbara seems to prefer death to revealing the truth, and Karen soon discovers there is more than one secret she intends to take to her grave.

But when threats start to come from both sides of the Atlantic, it soon becomes clear that Barbara is not the only person who wants the past to stay that way.

I was hooked on this story from the first page. It is told in an alternating format from California in the 1950s and England in 2018. The story begins with ninety-year-old Barbara Pendleton and her three adult children receiving DNA testing kits for Christmas. It was meant to be fun and if the family learned something new about their national origin it would be worth it. No one was expecting any controversial information to be revealed except for Barbara. Consequently, she threw her test kit in the garbage.

As the story continues we read about Barbara’s past as well as a girl named Jean Woods, an artist wannabe. Jean grew up in Lake View, California in a traditional post-war nuclear family. Church attendance was a must and alcohol forbidden. After high school graduation, Jean enrolls in a local college for art classes. She still lives at home, though, and continues to be sheltered by her parents. The lives of these two ladies are told as well as that of Barbara’s daughter Lynne.

I have read several geneology mystery series in the past but they are about historical research genealogists. This series delves into genetic geneology. I don't know how this type of geneology is done but am intrigued. Can I presume it's similar to murder mysteries where genetic information is used to solve crimes? Maybe. Nevertheless I am excited to learn more about it through this series.

DNA Never Lies is a page turner. I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Shallows

The Shallows is a gripping novel about two women who are neighbors in one of Sydney’s most exclusive suburbs. Emma and Ariella appear to have it all. They have expensive five story homes, wealthy husbands, and seemingly perfect lives. Both of them have dark secrets about their marriages that lurk beneath the surface. Ariella's secrets aren't too heavily buried. Her husband has a minder with her 24/7 and other neighbors have noticed. Mateo owns several strip clubs while Emma's husband Charles works for a security company. The two ladies slip notes to each other and share secrets when the minder isn't looking. Ariella's last message says she has a secret to share with Emma. However, Ariella was found murdered the next day after Emma’s daughter Kiki unknowingly filmed the killing while she made a You Tube video that she posted immediately. When Emma’s husband Charles forces the family to leave their perfect life and escape on their yacht, Emma feels trapped and tries to get answers from him. What or who are they hiding from? What did Ariella have to tell her? Does anyone else knows Emma’s own secret?

This story is a page turner. It is told from two perspectives. One is told three months in the past and the other is told in the current date. As the novel progresses three months become two, then one and then weeks. The suspense is ratcheted up from this literary device. Halfway through the book the story is only told in the present day. 

I loved the characters. Both Emma and Ariella were sympathetic ladies. Both of the husbands were villains but Mateo is the ultimate villain. He runs a string of strip clubs where teenagers work and people regularly disappear. He cannot even trust his own wife although he probably had no idea she wanted to leave him. They married when she was just 18 and had no idea what life had in store for her. Ariella did not know much about Mateo's business but she knew enough to fear him. Emma’s two kids, Kiki and Cooper, are a big part of the plot too. 

The Shallows is the debut novel of Holly Craig. It's amazing to me that her first book is this good. 5 out of 5 stars.

Global: One Fragile World

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Young Readers

Publication Date:  April 11, 2023

Reading Age:  10 - 14

Pages:  144

ISBN:  1728262194

Global: One Fragile World is told from two alternating perspectives. One is a child living in the Arctic and one living in the Bay of Bengal. Both kids are dealing with the destruction of their homes and lifestyles from weather related events. Sami and his grandfather live in a village along the Indian Ocean. They earn their living by fishing. But the ocean is rising and each day they work harder but bring back fewer fish. Yuki lives in the Canadian North where warming temperatures are melting the ice. Polar bears have less food to hunt and are wandering into town looking for something to eat. Yuki is determined to do something to help the bears.

Both climate change subplots are suspenseful and are told with alot of emotion. The reader doesn't know how these two kids will survive. Sami and Yuki have terrifying experiences that they must endure but they are able to get through them with the aplomb only a child can exhibit. We also get a short account of Myanmar immigrants to the Bay of Bengal.

The reason I picked up this middle grade book was due to the richly saturated colors that illustrator Giovanni Rigano used. The drawings have been done in the traditional comic strip format and show detailed expressions on the characters faces. At the end of the story the author gives information about global warming. 

5 out of 5 stars.

Letters of Comfort

Doretta Schwartz used to be a happy person and passed her positive attitude along to her friends in several letters that she wrote each month. All that changed the day she learned of her fiance William’s death and a heavy weight of depression fell upon her. Feeling empty, she puts away her letter writing and won’t even respond to calls from friends. William’s twin brother, Warren, is also grieving his loss, while at the same time, trying to be supportive to his parents and Doretta. Doretta responds to Warren’s friendship, but the question is has he just becoming a replacement for the once-in-a-lifetime love she lost?

Letters of Comfort is the second book in the author's Friendship Letters duology. While we all know Amish fiction ends on a positive note, don't let that make you believe that the plot is simple. Brunstetter gives us several twists and turns in Doretta's recovery as well as showing how deep someone can fall into depression. In many ways it is a medical mystery novel albeit one that is light and in which you can predict a lovely ending. The Author's Note tells us that she intended to write a book with depression as a theme. 

I was surprised to learn that Doretta's boyfriend William was not as good a person that she originally thought he was. Was it necessary to show this in order to make his twin Warren look good? I kind of wish he remained the perfect person. Nevertheless, Letters of Comfort is a primer on what lies beneath a person's exterior.

5 out of 5 stars.

Dead Fall

Dead Fall is the 22nd Scot Harvath spy thriller by Brad Thor. I have read every book in this series and all of them were captivating. I also recently discovered the Libby app. Libby allows me to not only read from 4,000 different monthly magazines in digital format but also take ebooks out from my public library. Dead Fall was one of the ebooks that I was lucky to obtain an early copy of. If I had to wait for a physical copy it may have taken months to be able to withdraw it. 

The publisher's summary:  

In the war-ravaged borderlands of Ukraine, a Russian mercenary unit has gone rogue. Its members, conscripted from the worst prisons and mental asylums across Russia, are the most criminally violent, psychologically dangerous combatants to ever set foot upon the modern battlefield.

With all attention focused on the front lines, they have pushed deeper into the interior to wage a campaign of unspeakable barbarity. As they move from village to village, committing horrific war crimes, they meet little resistance because all able-bodied men are off fighting the war.

Simultaneously, a team of Russian soldiers has been dispatched by the Kremlin to loot truckloads of art and priceless cultural treasures hidden away in a host of churches, museums, and private homes.

When multiple American aid workers are killed, America’s top spy, Scot Harvath, is sent in to settle the score. But in a country so vast, will Harvath be able to find the men in question, and, more important, will he be able to stop them before they can kill again?

The story begins with a bang and the thrill continues until the final chapter. Although the plot premise was taken from recent news stories about the Ukraine War, don't assume that this is all you will get from reading the book. The Ukraine War is merely the framework for the story. The reader gets an original, spine tingling story with plenty of action from the author's imagination. 

The series main character is Scot Harvath. He has always been bold, brash and lethal. In Dead Fall Harvath is surprisingly underequipped with weapons and doesn't have his usual team of spies to help him. Dare I say that he seems somewhat humble from finding himself in this situation? I was not surprised, though, to see him finding the resources that he needs to get the job done. The reader sees more of Harvath's intelligence here as he figures out what each of his steps are going to be in order to finish the mission.

The Ravens are Thor's fictional version of the Wagner Group. While we all have read about Wagner's barbarity from the news, the information we get about the  Ravens is complete. The reader learns more about their movements and how they make decisions. Even the barbarity of their treatment of the Ukrainians has much more detail than what we read in the news concerning the Wagner Group.

Dead Fall is a gripping novel and I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Naked Tree

The Naked Tree is a graphic novel version of a 1970 novel by the same name written by Park Won-suh. It paints a portrait of a Korea torn apart by what westerners call the Korean War. Koreans call it the American War. Cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, author of the graphic novel Grass, brings this story to life with her bold, black and white drawings.

The story begins in 1951. Twenty-year-old wallflower Lee Kyeonga ekes out a living at the US military Post Exchange where goods and services of varying stripes are available for purchase. She peddles hand-painted portraits on silk handkerchiefs to soldiers passing through. When a handsome, young northern escapee and fine artist is hired despite waning demand, an unlikely friendship blossoms into Kyeonga's first romantic crush. However, her love is already married with children.

It was interesting to learn about how Koreans lived during the American War. While I read alot of history books I have never heard the perspective of the Koreans during this era. Their economy was in pieces as the war raged on and many families lost loved ones due to the American bombs dropping on them. This is Kyeonga's story though. It is told from her perspective and the reader gets a glimpse of her experiences working at the PX. She has an awful encounter with an American GI who tells her that he will liberate her in a hotel room, falls in love with that sensitive married artist, and tries to deal with the deaths of two brothers from American bombs. I feel badly for the Koreans who were living such a bleak existence and I must agree with Kyeonga's mother when she cries "how can the gods be so cruel?"  

The title of the book comes from a painting of a tree with no leaves. Kyeonga views it as a naked tree. Her telling of this story is magnificent. 5 out of 5 stars.

Russka: The Novel of Russia

Edward Rutherford published Russka in 1991. He is known for writing 1,000+ page historical fiction novels on major world cities and nations that cover 1,000 years of history. Russka is a mere 945 pages so this is a short book for him. I bought this book approximately one year ago but never got around to reading it before. Because my laptop is broken and I cannot access the Kindle app, I had to pick up a physical book. I have been reading the novel in 200 page increments. It is a captivating story and I loved it.

The publisher's summary:  

Here, Edward Rutherfurd turns his remarkable talents to a vast canvas: Russia. Spanning 1,800 years of its history, people, politics, and culture, Rutherford's grand saa is as multifaceted as Russia itself: harsh yet exotic, proud yet fearful of enemeies, steeped in ancient superstitions but always seeking to make its mark on the emerging world. In Russka, Rutherford transforms the epic of a great civilization into a human story of flesh and blood, boldness and action, chronicling the lives of four families who are divided by ethnicity but united in shapin the destiny of their land.

This novel only covers 1,000 years of history, not the advertised 1,800 years. The first chapter takes place on 180 CE. The story then quickly moves 800 years forward to the year 1066 CE and ends in 1992 CE. I loved reading about the characters who lived through these eras but would have liked to see more chapters and characters who lived between 180 and 1066 CE. I am not as knowledgeable about life in Russia during those years and yearn to know more.

It was interesting to learn that the Russian people have a Nordic origin while Kiev has a Slavic origin. With the Mongol invasion covering what is now Russia, the people intermarried and their skin color became darker. Even the Christian denominations they initially followed separated these people with Russia following Latin Christianity and Kiev following Byzantine Christianity. These countries may be geographically close but they have very different genetic and social origins and they have been fighting each other for 2,000 years. The story follows two families who lived during this time period.

The book may be over thirty years old but it is timely. Some of the cities where events take place include Moscow, Russka (there are 2), Novgorod, Kiev, Smolensk, Vilnius, Riga, Polotsk, Yaroslav, Suzdal, Odessa and Nizhni Novgorod. One of the settings is the city of Tver.  If you've seen recent news reports you know that Vladimir Putin's Wagner Company enemy Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash last week in Tver.  Kiev is another city that is included in many family stories in the book. It shows Russka invading Kiev and later being kicked out numerous times over and over and over throughout the millenium covered in the book. While Russka was published over 30 years ago, it has been a help to me as I read the news today.

I loved this novel but must admit if you are not a fan of history, you won't like Rutherford's tomes. I have read two others: China and London. Both were fantastic in my opinion.

I am rating Russka 5 out of 5 stars.

Banyan Moon

Banyan Moon is a family saga about 3 generations of Vietnamese women. The story alternates between grandmother Minh in Vietnam, her daughter Huong in Florida and granddaughter Ann in Michigan. It begins with Ann Tran receiving a call from her mother informing her that her beloved grandmother, Minh, has passed away. In the years since she’s last seen Minh, Ann has built a seemingly perfect life in Michigan. She lives with her rich and white college professor boyfriend Noah Winthorpe in a lake house and is invited to many elegant parties due to her relationship with him. After she gets a positive result on a pregnancy test Ann feels her life coming apart. Her discomfort with her current life gives her a sense that it was not the life she would have chosen on her own. With both her relationship and carefully planned future now in question, Ann returns home to Florida to face her estranged mother Huơng.

Back in Florida Huơng is simultaneously mourning her mother and resenting her for having the relationship with Ann that she never had. When Minh's will is read Ann and Huơng learn that Minh has left them both the Banyan House, the crumbling old manor that was Ann’s childhood home, in all its strange, gothic glory. Under the same roof for the first time in years, mother and daughter address the simmering questions of their past and their uncertain futures, while trying to rebuild their relationship without the one person who’s always held them together. Running parallel to this is Minh’s story, as she goes from a lovestruck teenager living in the shadow of the "American War" to a determined young mother immigrating to America in search of a better life for her children. While Huong and Ann go through Minh's belongings in the Banyan House, Ann makes a shocking discovery that sheds light on Minh's long-buried secrets from her life in Vietnam. The secrets affected the upbringing of both Huong and Ann.

This beautiful story spans several decades, from 1960s Vietnam to the swamplands of Florida. It is tinged with sadness and this sadness felt overwhelming in the first couple of chapters. Around chapter three I understood how this story was being told and became fully engaged. While the story has some sadness it is also shows alot of love between these three women. All of them are single moms so there is a shared experience between them. Both Huong and Ann struggled with the family expectation to be something that they were not. This commonality ultimately brought them together.  The immigration process is also shown here. It's not just how Minh made it to the U. S. but how Huong handled being a first generation American and how her perceptions affected Ann's upbringing. 

Family sagas are one of my favorite type of books and this novel is a wonderful example of that. It is hard to believe that this well written story is a debut novel. Thao Thai gave us a poignant portrait of the Vietnamese experience both in Vietnam and in the U. S.  I am rating the book 5 out of 5 stars.

Tides of Fire

Tides of Fire is James Rollins' 17th  Sigma Force novel. It was published two weeks ago on August 15, 2023. I was lucky to get one of the first copies of the book from my library. Currently there are 43 people who are waiting to get a copy so this is a popular book.

The publisher's summary:

The Titan Project—an international research station off the coast of Australia—discovers a thriving zone of life in an otherwise dead sea. The area teems with a strange bioluminescent coral that defies science, yet holds great promise for the future. But the loss of a military submarine in the area triggers a brutal attack and sets in motion a geological disaster that destabilizes an entire region.

Massive quakes, volcanic eruptions, and deadly tsunamis herald a greater cataclysm to come—for something is stirring miles under the ocean, a threat hidden for millennia.

As seas turn toxic and coastlines burn, can Sigma Force stop what has been let loose—especially as an old adversary returns, hunting them and thwarting their every move? For any hope of success, Commander Gray Pierce must search for a key buried in the past, hidden deep in Aboriginal mythology. But what Sigma could uncover is even more frightening—something that will shake the very foundations of humanity.  

 

The book started out great with volcanoes erupting at a quickening pace in Indonesia, water turning into to fire and dead human bodies that have turned into stone. A similar event took place in the region in 1815 when earthquakes and an eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia and its dark summer killed an enormous amount of people around the world. I was riveted by the work that marine biologists Phoebe Reed and Jazleen Patel were doing in the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia. Reading about their study of coral was fascinating and kept me reading to the halfway point without taking a break. 

When the Sigma Force folks became involved in the story I began to get bored. I couldn't see any connection between their subplot with the scientist's subplot. As the summary above states, this is supposed to be a story about geology and the biodiversity in the oceans. I did enjoy, though, Commander Gray Pierce's historical research into the massive earthquakes in Indonesia. With this subplot the story became a treasure hunt for the records of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Raffles lived through the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in the early 1800s.  As for the rest of the Sigma Force crew, why were they in the book? The subplot with characters Seichan, Monk Kokalis, and Joe Kowalski gives the reader an update about their lives but none of them were central to the other subplots. It seemed to me that they were added into the story only because they were featured in prior books in the series.

3 out of 5 stars.