The Nix

 

The Nix by Nathan Hill

Fiction

2016

Narrated by Ari Fliakos

Finished on December 2, 2025

Rating: 2/5 (Meh)

Publisher's Blurb:

It’s 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasn’t seen his mother, Faye, in decades—not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she’s reappeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news and inflames a politically divided country. The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart. Which version of his mother is true? Two facts are certain: she’s facing some serious charges, and she needs Samuel’s help.

To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway, home of the mysterious Nix. As he does so, Samuel will confront not only Faye’s losses but also his own lost love, and will relearn everything he thought he knew about his mother, and himself.

One Goodreads' reviewer said she read The Nix in one sitting. 732 pages! 

The audiobook is 21 hours and 42 minutes.

It took me 9 weeks to finish!

I let days go by without listening.

8 of my friends gave it either 4 or 5 stars.

The World of Warcraft-like gaming chapters drove me crazy.

One sentence (in a gaming chapter) was 14 pages in length. Listening to it made me want to scream, "Take a breath!"

Why didn't I quit?

Well, audiobooks have a way of taking hold of me unless the reader is just awful, and Ari Fliakos is not awful. As a matter of fact, his narration is probably the only reason why I continued listening.

And, there was one funny (albeit sad) line, so I was hoping for more like this:

Samuel thought how his father married to his mother was like a spoon married to a garbage disposal.

I listened to Wellness (aso read by Ari Fliakos) this past May. The book was ok, but I didn't really care for it. Since I had a copy of The Nix on my shelf, I decided to try a read/listen approach.

Suffice it to say, I don't plan to read anything else by Nathan Hill.

As a good friend recently wrote, "not every book is for every person."

Orbital

 

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Fiction

2023

Finished on October 12, 2025

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

A slender novel of epic power and the winner of the Booker Prize 2024, Orbital deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men traveling through space. Selected for one of the last space station missions of its kind before the program is dismantled, these astronauts and cosmonauts—from America, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Japan—have left their lives behind to travel at a speed of over seventeen thousand miles an hour as the earth reels below. We glimpse moments of their earthly lives through brief communications with family, their photos and talismans; we watch them whip up dehydrated meals, float in gravity-free sleep, and exercise in regimented routines to prevent atrophying muscles; we witness them form bonds that will stand between them and utter solitude. Most of all, we are with them as they behold and record their silent blue planet. Their experiences of sixteen sunrises and sunsets and the bright, blinking constellations of the galaxy are at once breathtakingly awesome and surprisingly intimate.

Profound and contemplative, Orbital is a moving elegy to our environment and planet.

Truthfully, I didn't care for Orbital. Since it was a book group selection, I felt obligated to finish the book (which isn't very long--slightly over 200 pages), but it took me a longer than it should have, and it felt a bit like a chore. There are a few lists (things the astronauts wished for, things that surprise them, things they anticipate) that I liked to read, but the long one that begins on page 172 reminded me of Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire" and seemed contrived. I recently read Project Hail Mary, which I think is much more entertaining. Orbital isn't much on plot and not a true character study, either. I'm in the minority, at least with my book group, most of whom loved the book and Harvey's lyrical writing. 

Life in Orbit:

Sometimes they wish for a cold stiff wind, blustery rain, autumn leaves, reddened fingers, muddy legs, a curious dog, a startled rabbit, a leaping sudden deer, a puddle in a pothole, soaked feet, a slight hill, a fellow runner, a shaft of sun. Sometimes they just succumb to the uneventful windless humming of their sealed spacecraft. While they run, while they cycle, while they push and press, the continents and oceans fall away beneath--the lavender Arctic, the eastern tip of Russia vanishing behind, storms strengthening over the Pacific, the desert- and mountain-creased morning deserts of Chad, southern Russia and Mongolia and the Pacific once more.

Time:

They feel space trying to rid them of the notion of days. It says: what's a day? They insist it's twenty-four hours and ground crews keep telling them so, but it takes their twenty-four hours and throws sixteen days and nights at them in return. They cling to their twenty-four-hour clock because it's all the feeble little time-bound body knows -- sleep and bowels and all that is leashed to it. But the mind goes free within the first week. The mind is in a dayless freak zone, surfing earth's hurtling horizon. Day is here, and then they see night come upon them like a shadow of a cloud racing over a wheat field. Forty-five minutes later here comes day again, stamping across the Pacific. Nothing is what they thought it was.

I might have enjoyed this novel had I read it before Project Hail Mary. I'm curious to hear what others think.

This Must Be the Place

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell

Fiction

2016

Finished on October 1, 2025

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

Daniel Sullivan leads a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn, and his wife, Claudette, is a reclusive ex-film star given to pulling a gun on anyone who ventures up their driveway. Together, they have made an idyllic life in the country, but a secret from Daniel's past threatens to destroy their meticulously constructed and fiercely protected home. Shot through with humor and wisdom, This Must Be the Place is an irresistible love story that crisscrosses continents and time zones as it captures an extraordinary marriage, and an unforgettable family, with wit and deep affection.

In a crazy effort to read all of Maggie O'Farrell's books, I stuck with this one in spite of my irritation with the structure of the novel. Anyone who has read O'Farrell's works is familiar with both her nonlinear timelines and multiple points of view. I have enjoyed a few of her books with these formats, but This Must Be the Place pushed me to my limit. Allow me to share the following line-up for each chapter:

Daniel 2010

Claudette 1989

Niall 1999

Phoebe 2010

Auction Catalog 2005

Donegal 2010

Claudette 1993

Daniel 2010

Lenny 1994

Donegal 2010

Todd 1986    

Lucas 1995

Daniel 2010

Claudette 1996

Teresa 1944

Daniel 2010

Maeve 2003

Ari 2010

Daniel 1986

Daniel 2010

Nicola & Daniel 1986

Niall 2013

Claudette & Daniel 2013

Interview with Timou 2014

Lucas 2014

Rosalind 2015

Ari, Calvin & Marithe 2016

Daniel 2016

There you have it. If my calculations are correct there are 16 points of view. As it's Daniel's story, he is the primary narrator, but the complex puzzle of a story made my head hurt. (I didn't even try to keep track of the locations!)

This is not the sort of book you can set down for more than a day without losing your place in the narrative. The prose is lovely, and the conclusion was satisfying, but this is not a book that I can recommend. I can't imagine what it would be like to listen to the audiobook. The novel really needs more than two readers (and the male's delivery is bland and annoying), and the constant shift between characters, time, and place would be agonizing. Thankfully, I had the print edition, which I promptly threw across the room once I finished. Bah!

The Poppy Fields

 

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick

Fiction

Narrated by Marin Ireland and several others

2025

Finished on July 16, 2025

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit The Measure comes a stunning speculative story of healing, self-discovery, forgiveness, and found friendship.

Welcome to the Poppy Fields, where there’s hope for even the most battered hearts to heal.

Here, in a remote stretch of the California desert, lies an experimental and controversial treatment center that allows those suffering from the heartache of loss to sleep through their pain...and keep on sleeping. After patients awaken from this prolonged state of slumber, they will finally be healed. But only if they’re willing to accept the potential shadowy side effects.

On a journey to this mystical destination are four very different strangers and one little dog: Ava, a book illustrator; Ray, a fireman; Sasha, an occupational therapist; Sky, a free spirit; and a friendly pup named PJ. As they attempt to make their way from the Midwest all the way west to the Poppy Fields—where they hope to find Ellis, its brilliant, enigmatic founder—each of their past secrets and mysterious motivations threaten to derail their voyage.

A high-concept speculative novel about heartache, hope, and human resilience, The Poppy Fields explores the path of grief and healing, a journey at once profoundly universal and unique to every person, posing the questions: How do we heal in the wake of great loss? And how far are we willing to go in order to be healed?

It's no surprise that as we grow older, we begin to lose our loved ones. In the past two decades I've had to say goodbye to my dad, stepdad, an uncle and an aunt, in addition to three cousins. Former neighbors have passed away, as well as a spouse or two of friends and coworkers. I am fortunate that none of my close friends, or siblings, have passed away, and my 92-year-old mother is still going strong! For the most part, these deaths weren't unexpected, although I'd be the first to say I'd love another decade with each and every one. However, the loss of my 24-year-old stepdaughter was the most shocking and heartbreaking death I have ever experienced. That grief was all-consuming, and not just for several weeks or months, but well over a year. (Truthfully, some say the second year is the worst year and "they" would be correct.) The sorrow my husband and I (and our younger daughter) experienced in those first few years is unimaginable. And it's not something one gets over, but rather learns to live with. 

As I listened to The Poppy Fields, I couldn't help but feel annoyed with the premise of the story. The author centers her narrative around the idea that an experimental method has been created in which a person who is grieving the loss of a loved one is able to visit the Poppy Fields in order to sleep (via a medically induced coma of sorts) through their grief. Some people stay for a month, others for up to eight weeks. The belief is that these individuals can return to their lives having moved on from their loss. Bah! This would be no different than drinking yourself into a blackout every day to numb the pain. Or curling up in a ball, sleeping all hours of the day, avoiding well-meaning friends and family. As much as we'd like a quick fix, the only way through a loss is to lean in and accept the hard truth. To do the difficult work. To embrace the sadness and loneliness. It's hard. Very hard. But it's the only way to heal, and learn to live a happy and productive life. 

I read Nikki Erlick's debut novel, The Measure, a couple of years ago and thought it was fine, but having read this recent release, I've come to the conclusion that her books are not for me. Her characters are flat, and the plots are predictable and lacking tension. Had I read the print edition rather than listening to the audio, this may have been a DNF for me.

I received a complimentary copy from Libro.fm. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Night We Lost Him

 

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

Mystery

Narrated by Julia Whelan

2024

Finished on June 24, 2025

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

Nora Noone’s father, Liam, was many things to many people. To the public he was a self-made hotel magnate, whose luxury boutique hotels were among the most coveted destinations in the world. To his three ex-wives, he was a loving yet distant family man who managed to keep his finances—and his families—separate. But to Nora, her father was always a mystery—especially after his suspicious death at his cliffside home.

Though the authorities rule Liam's death accidental, Nora and her estranged brother, Sam, believe otherwise. As they form an uneasy alliance to unpack the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father’s past and uncover a family secret that changes everything.

With Laura Dave’s “signature blend of pulse-pounding suspense” (PEOPLE) and “trademark emotional heft” (The New York Post), The Night We Lost Him is a “propulsive” (Oprah Daily) must-read, with a heartbreaking final twist you’ll never see coming.

Meh. I haven't read anything by Laura Dave, but decided to give her new book a try when offered an early release copy by Libro.fm. The mystery wasn't exactly compelling or propulsive, but Julia Whelan's narration kept me entertained. As others have said, the plot is flat with boring characters. I have a print edition of The Last Thing He Told Me, but I'm not inspired to give it a read anytime soon.

I received a complimentary copy from Libro.fm. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Looking Back - Mrs. Dalloway

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Fiction

1925

Finished on April 1, 2002

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Heralded as Virginia Woolf's greatest novel, this is a vivid portrait of a single day in a woman's life. When we meet her, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of party preparation while in her mind she is something much more than a perfect society hostess. As she readies her house, she is flooded with remembrances of faraway times. And, met with the realities of the present, Clarissa reexamines the choices that brought her there, hesitantly looking ahead to the unfamiliar work of growing old.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

My first time reading something by Virginia Woolf. It took me some time to get used to her style (stream of consciousness), but once I did, I got caught up in the narrative (surprisingly!). There were several slow spots, but overall it wasn't terrible. I'd like to see a film version of the story, and am even a little bit interested in reading something else by Woolf. OK, but don't recommend.

My Current Thoughts:

My rating and my journal notes don't seem to mesh. Today, I'd probably give the book 3/5 stars. I remember, though, how frustrating it was to read this novel. I might have enjoyed it more had I read it after reading Michael Cunningham's book, The Hours.

Boundary Waters

 

Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger

Cork O'Connor #2

Mystery

2010

Narrated by David Chandler

Finished on March 6, 2025

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

The Quetico-Superior Wilderness: more than two million acres of forest, white-water rapids, and uncharted islands on the Canadian-American border. Somewhere in the heart of this unforgiving territory, a young woman named Shiloh -- a country-western singer at the height of her fame -- has disappeared.

Her father arrives in Aurora, Minnesota, to hire former sheriff Cork O'Connor to find his daughter, and Cork joins a search party that includes an ex-con, two FBI agents, and a ten-year-old boy. Others are on her trail as well -- men hired not just to find her, but to kill her. 

As the expedition ventures deeper into the wilderness, strangers descend on Aurora, threatening to spill blood on the town's snowy streets. Meanwhile, out on the Boundary Waters, winter falls hard. Cork's team of searchers loses contact with civilization, and like the brutal winds of a Minnesota blizzard, death -- violent and sudden -- stalks them.

Meh. 

I enjoy having a series to read over the course of a year or two, and once I got caught up on Susan Hill and Deborah Crombie's mysteries, I thought it would be nice to give William Kent Krueger's books a try. I re-read Iron Lake to refresh my memory of the cast of characters, as well as Cork's backstory, and enjoyed it quite well. I began reading Boundary Waters, but struggled to stay engaged, so I switched to the audiobook. Unfortunately, I didn't care for the reader, and my interest continued to wane, but I stuck with it to the end. I'm not sure what it was about this particular mystery that failed to entertain me, but I'm not compelled to move on to #3 (Purgatory Ridge). I have two more recent releases in the series on my shelf, and since I've learned over the years that the later installments in a mystery series tend to be better, I may give them a try. We'll see.

Bittersweet

 

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain

Nonfiction

2022

Finished on November 3, 2024

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

In her new masterpiece, the author of the bestselling phenomenon Quiet reveals the power of a bittersweet outlook on life, and why we’ve been so blind to its value.

With Quiet, Susan Cain urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, thereby revealing an untapped power hidden in plain sight. Now she employs the same mix of research, storytelling, and memoir to explore why we experience sorrow and longing, and the surprising lessons these states of mind teach us about creativity, compassion, leadership, spirituality, mortality, and love.

Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy when beholding beauty. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired. A song in a minor key, an elegiac poem, or even a touching television commercial all can bring us to this sublime, even holy, state of mind—and, ultimately, to greater kinship with our fellow humans.

But bittersweetness is not, as we tend to think, just a momentary feeling or event. It’s also a way of being, a storied heritage. Our artistic and spiritual traditions—amplified by recent scientific and management research—teach us its power.

Cain shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain. If we don’t acknowledge our own sorrows and longings, she says, we can end up inflicting them on others via abuse, domination, or neglect. But if we realize that all humans know—or will know—loss and suffering, we can turn toward each other. And we can learn to transform our own pain into creativity, transcendence, and connection.

At a time of profound discord and personal anxiety, Bittersweet brings us together in deep and unexpected ways.

I listened to the audio version of Susan Cain's popular book, Quiet, last November. I had purchased a copy of Bittersweet while on vacation that year, but held off reading it until I had read Quiet. My book group chose to read and discuss Bittersweet this month, so I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts about this nonfiction work. 

To be honest, I struggled with the book. It felt dense and dry, and I wound up assigning myself a daily page count in order to finish in time for my book group meeting. Looking back at my review of Quiet, I am reminded that I liked it, but it wasn't one that I thought was outstanding, or even very good. Had I not recommended this new book to my book group, I know it would have been a DNF.

Flipping through the pages, looking for passages that did resonate, I came across this one:

One of the cornerstones of Keltner's research, which he summarized in his book Born to Be Good, is what he calls "the compassionate instinct"--the idea that we humans are wired to respond to each other's troubles with care. Our nervous systems make little distinction between our own pain and the pain of others, it turns out; they react similarly to both. This instinct is as much a part of us as the desire to eat and breath.

The compassionate instinct is also a fundamental aspect of the human success story--and one of the great powers of bittersweetness. The word compassion literally means "to suffer together," and Keltner sees it as one of our best and most redemptive qualities. The sadness from which compassion springs is a pro-social emotion, an agent of connection and love; it's what the musician Nick Cave calls "the universal unifying force." Sorrow and tears are one of the strongest bonding mechanisms we have.

While researching Cain and her book, I came across a few items that I want to share. Click on the links to watch.

The Hidden Power of Sad Songs and Rainy Days (TED talk)

But those dreams of peace he had had, you know, we're all still waiting for those, right? Which is the way it often goes, the beautiful world just out of reach. But while we're waiting, our broken hearts can also help connect us.

Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care (Cleveland Clinic) 

Excellent video about empathy.

It will be interesting to see if anyone in my book group enjoyed this book. Sadly, it's not one that I can recommend.

Say Nothing

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

Nonfiction

Narrated by Matthew Blaney

2019

Finished on October 28, 2024

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.

Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders.

Patrick Radden Keefe writes an intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.

I've been meaning to read Say Nothing since I first heard about it after its publication in 2018. Two friends recommended the book, but it wasn't until I learned that Hulu had adapted Keefe's book that I decided to try it on audio. Matthew Blaney's exceptional narration (and lovely Irish accent) should have held my attention, but this is a book that needs to be read in print, perhaps with a yellow highlighter in hand. I wound up listening at 1.50 speed (my usual is 1.0, but that was far too slow for this book), but it still felt excessively long. I lost track of several of the people mentioned, and the chronology was difficult to keep track of as I listened. I was expecting a more detailed story about Jean McConville's abduction (and ultimate execution) rather than an excruciatingly detailed account of the Troubles and the Price sisters' hunger strikes. I went into the book with very little knowledge of the Troubles, although I have vague memories of news reports of various bombings in Ireland. I was surprised to see (while looking up a list of "notable" bombings on Wikipedia) that there were at least 10,000 bomb attacks from 1968 to 1988, and there were additional attacks up until 2001.

Despite my lackluster response to the book, I still intend to watch the TV series. 

The House in the Pines

 

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

Fiction - Psychological Thriller

2023

Narrated by Marisol Ramirez

Finished on July 17, 2024

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend's sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed....

Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they'd been spending time with all summer.

Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can't account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer--the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.

At her mother's house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father's book that didn't stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank's cabin....

Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home.

Here we go again. Maya is an unreliable narrator (ala Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, etc.) who is withdrawing from Klonopin, suffers from insomnia, and drinks far too much. She is certain that her best friend was murdered when they were seniors in high school, and that the man Maya believes is responsible for Aubrey's death has now killed another woman. But there is no evidence that Frank is guilty, and both events are treated as unexplained deaths. Sounds like the perfect set-up for a mystery/thriller, right? It started off with a strong opening, but fizzled about halfway to the end. I understood what was going on well before the main character did, and the ending was a disappointment. 

I listened to the audiobook and the reader's halting narration during the dialogue portions of the audiobook was noticeable and quickly became a distraction. She also failed to distinguish her voice between characters, male or female, so there were times when I wasn't sure who was speaking. Additionally, the transitions between chapters were confusing in this dual timeline narrative, making it difficult to know when a flashback was introduced.

The audiobook held my interest, but the story would make a better TV series than a book, especially if David Tennant (who was super creepy in Jessica Jones) were to play Frank. 

Can't recommend.

I received a complimentary copy from Libro.fm. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Drowning

 

Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T.J. Newman

Fiction

2021

Narrated by Steven Weber and Laura Benanti

Finished on June 5, 2024

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author T. J. Newman—whose first book Falling was an instant #1 national bestseller and the biggest thriller debut of 2021—returns for her second book, an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean, and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside, and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them.

Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.

More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.

Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.

There’s not much time.

There’s even less air.

With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family’s desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them—against impossible odds.

Ugh. Once again, had I been reading the print edition of Drowning, I probably would have quit after a few pages, but since I was listening to the audio, I stuck it out and finished the book. On the other hand, maybe if I had been reading the print copy, the story wouldn't have felt so melodramatic and soap opera-ish. It didn't help that the second reader (Laura Benanti) was too emotive and that her voice grated on my nerves. (I also have a hard time believing an eleven-year-old with a peanut allergy would mistake a cracker with peanut butter for one with cheese...) 

I listened to Falling (T.J. Newman's debut) in 2021, and thought it was very good, but her latest suspense novel was a big disappointment. I don't plan to read her upcoming release, Worst Case Scenario, which comes out in August. I've had my fill of plane crash stories for a while.

I received a complimentary copy from Libro.fm. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Women

 

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Fiction

Narrated by Julia Whelan

2024

Finished on May 26, 2024

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

In recent years, I have read and enjoyed The Nightingale and The Four Winds, two of Kristin Hannah's exceptional historical novels. Unfortunately, her recent book, The Women, fell short of my expectations. I was able to stay engaged with the audio production mainly due to Julia Whelan's superb narration, but had I read the print edition, I would have quit long before the halfway mark. My biggest complaint is that the novel invests too much time on the challenges of Frankie's romantic life rather than on the war. Hannah does not shy away from the conditions of warfare, or that of the aftereffects of PTSD, but not only did significant romantic events play too large of a role in the narrative, they were easily predictable and cliched, eliciting numerous eye rolls from this reader. Repetitious situations and dialogue added to my frustration, but I willed myself to continue listening. I will say that Hannah did her research, and I had no trouble envisioning locations and landmarks in and around Coronado Island and San Diego county, areas with which I'm well acquainted. I also enjoyed the musical references of the era. But overall, despite the glowing reviews, I was not impressed. I should note that many readers with whom I share similar reading tastes thought this book was outstanding. It is readable, but it's not one that I can recommend. Maybe in the hands of Barabara Kingsolver or Mary Doria Russell this could have been a 5-star read. I do want to get a copy of Karl Marlantes' novel, Matterhorn, which I understand to be an accurate account of the Vietnam War.

Looking Back - Snow Island

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Snow Island by Katherine Towler

Fiction

2002

Finished on February 18, 2002

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

What is life like for a girl coming of age in the shadow of World War II, a girl who lives on a small, isolated island populated by quahoggers and eccentrics?

This tender first novel follows the fate of sixteen-year-old Alice Daggett, who still feels the presence of her father who died six years earlier, and of George Tibbit, a reclusive loner who returns to the island each year in an excessive act of homage to the two women who raised him there.

Snow Island tells of their isolated lives and the impact that WWII has on all of their worlds. Both Alice and George find their lives linked, and changed, forever by the events that happen far from the small New England community that defines them.

Original Review (2002):

Disappointing. One-dimensional characters. Simplistic plot. Predictable. Reads like a YA romance novel. Probably won't read more by this author.

Current Thoughts:

I don't remember reading this book. Even the cover art is unfamiliar to me. I wonder what prompted me to read it. Was it an ARC? Recommended by a friend? Who knows!

Ocean State

 

Ocean State by Stewart O'Nan

Fiction

2022 Atlantic Monthly Press

Finished on August 28, 2023

Rating: 2/5 (Fair) - reduced on 9/1 from 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set in a working-class town on the Rhode Island coast, O'Nan's latest is a crushing, beautifully written, and profoundly compelling novel about sisters, mothers, and daughters, and the terrible things love makes us do.

In the first line of Ocean State, we learn that a high school student was murdered, and we find out who did it. The story that unfolds from there with incredible momentum is thus one of the build-up to and fall-out from the murder, told through the alternating perspectives of the four women at its heart. Angel, the murderer, Carol, her mother, and Birdy, the victim, all come alive on the page as they converge in a climax both tragic and inevitable. Watching over it all is the retrospective testimony of Angel's younger sister Marie, who reflects on that doomed autumn of 2009 with all the wisdom of hindsight. Angel and Birdy love the same teenage boy, frantically and single mindedly, and are compelled by the intensity of their feelings to extremes neither could have anticipated. O'Nan's expert hand paints a fully realized portrait of these women, but also weaves a compelling and heartbreaking story of working-class life in Ashaway, Rhode Island. Propulsive, moving, and deeply rendered, Ocean State is a masterful novel by one of our greatest storytellers.

Meh. I was tempted to give Ocean State a 2/5 rating, but rounded up since it kept me reading late in the night, eager to learn the outcome of the murder. [Dropped it down to a 2/5 after giving it more thought.] I didn't care for any of the characters, and thought both girls were naive and foolish, trapped in a love triangle gone wrong. I also found it somewhat difficult to keep track of the two main characters until I was several chapters into the book. I have read other novels by O'Nan, which were much more relatable. Emily, Alone and Henry, Himself are two of my favorite books by this author. 

If you don't mind a lot of teenage angst, and enjoy Stewart O'Nan's writing, borrow this one from the library. 

My reviews for the books I've read of O'Nan's:

Emily, Alone (4.75/5)

Henry, Himself (5/5)

Wish You Were Here (3/5)

Last Night at the Lobster (2/5)

Looking Back - A False Sense of Well Being

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

A False Sense of Well Being by Jeanne Braselton

Fiction

2001 Ballantine Books

Finished on January 19, 2002

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

“I was married eleven years before I started imagining how different life could be if my husband were dead. . . .”

At thirty-eight, Jessie Maddox subscribes to House Beautiful, Southern Living, even Psychology Today. She has a comfortable life in Glenville, Georgia, with Turner, the most reliable, responsible husband in the world. But after the storybook romance, “happily ever after” never came. Now the housewife who once wanted to be Martha Stewart before there was a Martha Stewart is left to wonder: Where did the marriage go wrong? Why can’t she stop picturing herself as the perfect grieving widow?

As Jessie dives headlong into her midlife crisis, she is aided and abetted by a colorful cast of characters in the true Southern her best friend and next door neighbor Donna, who is having a wild adulterous affair with a younger man; Wanda McNab, the sweater-knitting, cookie-baking grandmother who is charged with killing her abusive husband. Then there’s Jessie’s eccentric family. Her younger sister Ellen, born to be a guest on Jerry Springer, has taken her seven-year-old son and squawking pet birds and left her husband “for good this time” . . . while their mother crosses the dirty words out of library books and alerts everyone to the wonderful bargains at Winn-Dixie, often at the same time. And then there’s the stuffed green headless duck . . .

When a trip home to the small town of her childhood raises more questions than it answers, Jessie is forced to face the startling truth head-on–and confront the tragedy that has shadowed her heart and shaken her faith in love . . . and the future.

From a brilliant new voice in fiction, here is a darkly comic novel full of revelation and insight. The danger of secrets and the power of confession . . . The pull of family, no matter how crazy. . . The fate of wedlock when one can’t find the key . . . Jeanne Braselton weaves these potent themes into a funny, poignant, utterly engaging story of a woman at the crossroads–and the unforgettable journey she must take to get back home.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

Starts off weakly. I think the author is trying to be funny, but I don't see it that way. I'll keep plugging away.

Thought this book was a waste of time. Pretty pointless and dull. Don't recommend and won't read more by this author. 

My Current Thoughts:

I don't know why this book appealed to me, but after a little digging, I discovered that Braselton was good friends with Kaye Gibbons, Anne Rivers Siddons, and Lee Smith. I read a lot of southern fiction in the early 2000s, and this book was probably mentioned in a magazine or somewhere online.

I came across the following (on Georgia Center for the Book), which is rather sad and depressing:

Jeanne Braselton was a Georgia native whose semi-autobiographical debut novel "A False Sense of Well Being" (2001) was widely acclaimed and won her the Georgia Writer of the Year Award in 2002. She committed suicide before her second book was completed by her friend and fellow writer Kaye Gibbons and published in 2006.

Jeanne Braselton was born in Fort Oglethorpe in 1962. She was the adopted daughter of a poet who was a chief of the Cherokee nation and who gave her a love of the written word. She received a B.S. in English from Berry College in Rome in 1983. She worked as a commercial bank marketing executive but spent most of her working life as a reporter and editor for the Rome News-Tribune newspaper, for which she received a number of Georgia Press Association awards. She was married to the poet Al Braselton, a close friend of the late poet James Dickey and the source for one of Dickey's characters in the novel "Deliverance." He died in 2002.

Jeanne Braselton enrolled in a creative writing class in Rome that led her to correspond with and become friends with a number of regional writers including Kaye Gibbons, Anne Rivers Siddons and Lee Smith. With their encouragement, she wrote her first novel. The book is about a woman who is devoted to her loving but boring husband, and who, after suffering a miscarriage, becomes fixated on ways to bring about his death. There are autobiographical elements in the novel; Braselton had several miscarriages during her marriage. The book sold well; one critic called it "regional fiction at its best," and there were predictions of a long literary career for her.

But less than a year after her husband's death in 2002, a despondent author took her own life at the couple's home in Rome. Her second book, "The Other Side of Air," was completed by Gibbons and released in 2006." She had written a lot that was unusable," Gibbons said of Braselton's novel. "I started over using an e-mail she sent me when she started it about what her plans were. She was thinking clearly then, and it was realistic, and I used that for a model."

Stoner

 

Stoner by John Williams

Fiction/Classic

2010 Blackstone Audio (first published in 1965)

Narrated by Robin Field

Finished on May 14, 2023

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.

John Williams’s luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.

It's been at least a decade since I first heard about Stoner, most likely by reading several reviews by fellow bloggers. I decided to give the audio production a try, and Robin Field does a decent job with the narration, but this may have been one to read in print; the melancholy tone is at times overwhelming, adding to the bleakness of the story. Stoner is a quiet novel, and while I came to care about the main character, the book failed to live up to my expectations. It brought to mind The Winter of Our Discontent (Steinbeck), and Stoner's neurotic wife, coincidentally, reminded me of Cathy, the despicable character in another Steinbeck novel, East of Eden. 

Looking Back - Skipping Christmas

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Fiction

2001 Doubleday

Finished in November 2001

Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded shops, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on the street without a rooftop Frosty the snowman; they won't be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences - and isn't half as easy as they'd imagined.

A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that has become part of our holiday tradition.

My Original Thoughts (2001):

Quick read, although at times tedious. Could have been condensed and still made its point. Another departure from Grisham's legal thrillers, yet not nearly as literary as A Painted House. Predictable, sentimental, and anti-climactic. Mediocre. I'm glad I didn't waste my money on this one.

My Current Thoughts:

Christmas can be very hectic and stressful, so I can see the appeal of skipping the holiday. We usually have a large gathering for Thanksgiving, but our Christmas celebration is low-key, which is kind of nice. As far as Grisham's book goes, if you're interested, borrow it from the library. It's not one I'll ever read again.