The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

For book club, I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. I did not love it. 

Addie LaRue is a young woman in a time that is unkind to young women. She has always loved the local unmarried woman and aspires to be her. However, her father arranges a marriage for her. In a last-ditch effort to avoid the wedding, Addie enters into an agreement with a higher power, agreeing to live a life where once she has gone out of sight of someone, she will go out of mind, too. She can move through life forever: immortality! But no one will remember her, even from one interaction to the next. 

The writing was good. The story really pulled me along! I enjoy high-concept books and movies, and this one did a particularly good job exploring at least one branch of "Hmm, what would that actually be like?" I just didn't like Addie. I found it pretty hard to relate to her in most cases. I vacillated between not really liking Addie and really not liking Addie. 

Clare and I tried on some clothes recently.
Addie LaRue steals all her clothes because ...she can? ...she has to? 

The book made for an interesting discussion, especially because Tara helped us along. She hadn't read the book but wanted to hear about it and form conclusions about it, so she asked lots of thoughtful questions. We discussed morality and relationships and mental health and more. 

So, I find myself ambivalent about the book. I was complaining about it to my husband Jacob about three quarters of the way through -- how the characters were all ridiculous and made the worst possible choices all the time. He reminded me that I didn't have to finish, to which I responded, "Yeah...but I think I want to." I knew that finishing the story via an online summary wouldn't answer my deepest questions about it, and that not finishing wouldn't either. I disliked pretty much all the characters and disliked the way the author seemed to buy in to what I consider Hollywood tropes: sex, drugs . . . rock and roll? But the author did raise interesting questions about time, morality, relationships, what people want out of life, etc. So, though I don't hesitate to put a book down when I hate it, this one walked right along that line, pretty much start to finish. Ha!

Have you read it? I'd love to know what you think. I'm writing this a few months after reading the book, so if it's been a while for you, too, tell me what stuck with you.

Fall (in-love) Reading

This fall I read two books about falling in love. Both had some good meat on the bones of the romance, which made them enjoyable not only as romances but as stories of their time. 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 

Our protagonist Don is a Australian genetics professor with a side project: find his ideal wife. He crafts an elaborate survey to help him, and the results are comical. He also volunteers to help Rosie with her own project: uncovering the identity of her biological father. Two projects soon become one and the same. I enjoyed reading this book, which was very popular a few years back. I had tried to read it at the height of its popularity, but put it down due to language and sexual themes. I picked it back up again and enjoyed the story. It is a well paced book with laugh-out-loud moments and quiet memorable moments, too. The characters grow in some inspiring ways, and I won't soon forget our main cast. I'm interested to watch the movie, which hasn't been made yet, but is in talks. 

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes 

I read this book about a horseback library program in Depression-era Kentucky for book club. Our main character, Alice, has married for love AND money, only to find that neither one is worth having to put up with her insufferable father-in-law. She escapes by volunteering to take books to country folk over the hills, and makes friends and finds true love along the way. This book was expertly plotted. I particularly liked how the prologue set the readers expectation for the book. In the flow of the larger narrative, coming back to the prologue rather than having that chapter set in the middle of the book is ingenious. The characters are memorable, well developed, and varied. The book wraps up in a satisfactory way, but one or two questions that the author leaves for readers to answer made for a lively book club discussion.

Just for fun, here's a photo of me and my true love. 

 

Four Book Club Books I Enjoyed Recently

The book group I'm in didn't meet from March - August 2020, but we did start meeting again in the fall. For September and October we met outdoors, but for November and January we met online only. Here's what we've been reading.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

I really liked this book. It started off as a family history reminiscence, but wound its way around into being a present day drama, connected of course to the family history. I liked that it was short and succinct. I liked that little tidbits were revealed. I loved little lines like "[Television] seems so two-dimensional after radio." And I loved the parallelisms for instance, the young Jack Boughton being mistaken for a preacher. The time that Lila comforted John Ames "you'll be just fine" and the time she comforted Jack "People can change." I liked how the book shifted from quoting the Old Testament to quoting more of the New Testament, reflecting changes in the spiritual life of the family. 

The book is a letter, or book of remembrance, that John Ames writes for his young son. John is in his seventies, and tells of his life growing up and marrying his childhood sweetheart, only to lose his wife and baby at the baby's birth. In a roundabout way he imparts the lessons of his widower life and the love story that surprised him late in life. Throughout the book John switches from remembering the past -- sometimes remembering stories of times before he was even born -- into the present moment. This switching and the little sections the book is written in work very well to convince the reader that the book was written over the course of a few months, here and there.

Touching moments and astute reflections abound in the book. Our book group discussed many of these! I was surprised by how many people had come with passages marked that they loved and wanted to talk about. 

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

This one is a murder mystery (chosen for the month of October). I listened to it on audio, and the swearing bothered me a bit. There was plenty of sex, drugs and violence, too! The suspense was very well done though, and the plot was twisty and had lots of red herrings. It was a nail biter, right up until the big reveal.

The Silent Patient is narrated by a psychologist whose patient never speaks. She is a famous artist, institutionalized after being convicted of the murder of her husband. Did she really murder him? If so, why? If not, who did? 

The interplay between Greek and Christian names and symbols in this book was one of my favorite parts of it. 

We had a great time discussing all of our hairbrained theories about who had done the murder. I found it interesting that the two group members who read the book quickly both suspected the same person, while those of us who read the book over a longer time had various other theories. 

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

I had heard of this book, but it wasn't until it was selected for book club that I realized its settings were closely tied to the settings of my own life. Paul Kalanithi, who wrote this memoir as a young doctor dying of cancer, moved to Kingman, Arizona when he was ten years old. About ten years later, I moved to Kingman, Arizona when I was nine years old. Eventually Paul moves to Connecticut to study at Yale. I currently live in Connecticut, about an hour from Yale. I really enjoyed connecting with the settings of Paul's life so strongly. 

I expected this book to be more about dying than it was. I expected it to be like The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, which I had read previously and enjoyed. When Breath Becomes Air is much more a descriptive memoir and less a prescriptive, well, lecture than The Last Lecture. I felt like I got to know Paul a little bit, and that was meaningful to me, knowing that we have some mutual friends. 

This was another book the people marked passages from and shared insights about. Discussing hypothetical situations about death, current medical situations and problems, and tender family moments was the meat of our book club conversation.   

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

I listened to this one on audio, and the narration was excellent. I had never heard of The Good Earth before it was picked for book club, but Jacob had. 

The Good Earth reminded me of The Fiddler on the Roof -- it's a life story. The Good Earth follows Wang Lung from the  morning of his wedding day until his death. There's a lot that happens in between! I feel that I learned about Chinese culture in the late 19th and early 20th century, along with learning about these particular characters. 

I was reminded of Boxers & Saints, a pair of graphic novels that I love, since the books are set in the same time period. 

Our book group talked about Chinese culture, what we loved and hated about Wang Lung's choices, the strength of O-lan, the way nature grounds us, and more. 

For next month's book group I get to pick the book. I've chosen All Thirteen. It's really SO good. It's winning all the awards right now. My review here. 

End-of-school Reading: 8 Books that Started My Summer

Hello!

Yesterday was the first day of summer for my kiddos. Man, Connecticut goes well into June before summer break starts and that is so strange to me! I grew up in Arizona where school is in session from early August and ends in May. And of course we were in Georgia previously -- Atlanta keeps a schedule similar to AZ. So to start school in September and go all the way in to June was weird for me. However it seems to match the weather well. We went to the beach today and it was a cool, breezy day. Barely summer.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you what I've been reading lately, as my kids wrapped up school.

For book club:

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen -- I didn't get very far into this one, maybe a little more than 50 pages. There was just too much nudity and swearing for me, and I wasn't in the mood for it. I took it with me to the doctors office though and the receptionist was like "ooh, good book!" and many of the book club members seemed to enjoy it. It is a light romance about a woman reconnecting with her sister and falling in love with a neighbor with the help of her magical heirloom garden.

The Lost Art of Dress by Linda Przybyszewski -- Also didn't finish this one, but it was more interesting to me. It details the rise and fall of "the dress doctors," who helped women in the U.S. dress well, learn to sew etc. It's a thick book, and sometimes I feel like it's a dry lecture (but maybe that's because I read that the author is a professor?). However I did read several anecdotes I really enjoyed before passing it on to a group member who needed it. I wish it was a little more prescriptive, I have to say. I just want someone to dress me, honestly.  

On my own:

Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown -- This one is a graphic novel I had heard a lot of good buzz for. And, being a huge fan of The Princess Bride, I was interested to learn more about Andre and his wrestling career. Ultimately, I was saddened by this book, though. The storytelling is great, the art is good, I just felt sorry for Andre. I feel like some of my sadness about his life came from his condition, acromegaly, some from the way people treated him, and some from the choices he made. It was a good book, but it was kind of a downer. I much preferred learning about Andre in As You Wish.

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids by Laura Markham -- I found this one because my friend Rachel, whom I consider to be a wonderful mother, shared this on Facebook:

"People say there's no manual for parenting, but I argue this is it! I feel so empowered as a mom having read this and the guidance throughout rings truer to me than any other parenting book I've read. If I were to sum up the message of this book in one word it would be: empathy. But, there's so much more. I would even go so far as to say that I look forward now to tantrums and challenges my kids present because it gives me an opportunity to show unconditional love and model how to handle distressing situations healthily. That sounds crazy, but it's true!" 

I was like "Whoa, I've gotta read this book!" So I put the audio on hold at my library and it came in pretty quickly. I really enjoyed listening to it in the car, and the funny thing is that most of the time my kids were riding and listening along with me. It brought up a LOT of great conversations. I definitely feel like a better parent for having read this book. It did bother me a little bit to do it on audio because I couldn't flip back and read something again easily, os skim over parts that didn't apply at the moment. So, I finished the audio and put the paperback on hold. :) I've also got my hands on a copy of a book that is recommended in Peaceful Parent Happy Kids, that's called Playful Parenting, and I'm really enjoying that. I read a story from it at dinner tonight, in fact, and we ended up playing all evening.


I'm glad I found both of these books because I've been worrying about summer with the kiddos. I love my kids, but last summer, when we moved, was totally crazy and also the longest summer ever (because there was no school from May to September, see above). Add to that the fact we didn't know many people or many places and it was kinda rough. I feel like we're definitely getting settled here (in fact today marks one year that we've lived in CT!) and I'm glad I've been reading these books because they've been helping me make good plans for how to deal with summer.

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson -- I know this came out a while ago, but Jacob and I finally got us a copy. So much fun to read. I loved it. I won't say too much about it, since it's the end of a trilogy, but I'll point you to my review of Steelheart, which is book one, and I'll tell you that Jacob and I both like the series. Dystopian YA, lots of special ops missions and a little bit of romance. No swearing, no sex. An engrossing read with, of course, a huge twist at the end.

With the kids:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin -- I've been reading this one aloud to the kids. So great for read alouds because it's interesting and fun and the chapters are short and the illustrations are occasional and lovely. It is the story of Minli, who goes on a quest to change her family's fortune and meet The Old Man of the Moon. It won a Newbery Honor. After about two pages Benjamin was hooked. He read ahead and finished the book. Levi has read ahead some, but the book is pretty far above his reading level, so he's enjoying hearing me read it, too. Jubilee listens in as well. And it's been a few years since I read it myself, so I'm thoroughly enjoying the refresher.

Yo Gabba Gabba board comics -- Just had to mention these because Jubilee made me read Gabba Ball to her at least ten times on Monday. Jacob saved me, eventually, and read it to her a few more times. I reviewed these years ago.

Anyway, that's it for now! It is much harder to find time to blog now that Jubilee isn't napping. What have you been reading? And I love to read your comments and thoughts, whatever they are.

Chick-flickiness

Post by Ashley

      

I've taken "a light summer read" to new levels this past month. About a year ago, I stumbled across this series of books grouped under the category of "A Proper Romance," meaning, the book is a romance, but it's full of proper, chaste, upright behavior. And I have to say, I've loved them. Some are forgettable, some are memorable, all of them are page-turning "I cannot make dinner because I have to finish reading this story!" kinds of books.

The Proper Romance books are Edenbrooke and Blackmoore, written by Julianne Donaldson (both stand-alone novels) as well as Longing for Home and its sequel Hope Springs by Sarah M. Eden. I have read all but Hope Springs, which I'm pretty eager to get my hands on. And the problem with reading a couple good books by an author is that you then feel compelled to read all the books that author's written. So add to that list Seeking Persephone, Courting Miss Lancaster, and The Kiss of a Stranger, also by Sarah M. Eden.

They have all been very fun books. Seriously fun. I highly recommend them all if you, like me, adore a good love story minus the steam and clothing removal. A love story like Jane Austen used to write. Not that the characters in these books really compare to the complexity of a good Jane Austen, but ya know. They're just good, addictive fun.

          

*Note from Alysa: The above images are affiliate links to Barnes and Noble. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a small commission. I've heard such good things about the Proper Romance books! I think I'd like to start with Edenbrooke -- I seem to remember it coming out first. Here is an affiliate link to Amazon, in case you prefer to shop there. ;)

Wives and Daughters

this is the cover my copy had

I just finished this book for our book club, and it was a a doozy! My copy was more than 600 pages. I don't have anything against long books in theory, but when it comes down to it I honestly do begrudge them their length. I used to pride myself on reading long books all the time (ahem, Wheel of Time series) but since then I've been shorter and shorter books (YA fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Graphic Novels). Now I respect a book that can tell a detailed story in few words. That's not this book -- but I liked it surprisingly well anyway.

I had been warned before I started Wives and Daughters that author Elizabeth Gaskell died before she finished it. It was published as a serial in a magazine, a few chapters at a time over the course of some years, and the last chapter was never written. So I was prepared to imagine my own ending, and really one knows where the story is going in large part. However it was still a bit of a blow to go from Mrs. Gaskell's detailed writing to my own weak imaginings. Yes, I had heard there was no ending (and to watch the movie version, which has one) but I still expected there to be more of an ending than there was.

Wives and Daughters is the story of Molly Gibson, daughter to the country doctor. Widowed Mr. Gibson remarries in Molly's teen years, mostly so that Molly will have a mother figure.  His new wife, a widow herself, has a daughter about Molly's age. The book is about all of their relationships.

Here's my breakdown of some of the main players:

• Molly - our protagonist. Deadly serious and highly moral.
• Mr. Gibson - Molly's father. Humorous and highly moral.
• Mrs. Gibson - Molly's new stepmother. Silly and idiotic, occasionally harmful.
• Cynthia - Molly's new stepsister. Beautiful and charismatic, beloved by everyone despite her flighty nature.
• Roger - our love interest. Not handsome, but very pleasant and intelligent and moral.
• Osborne - Roger's older brother. A poet with a weak constitution and penchant for keeping secrets.
• Lady Harriet - Daughter of local nobility and my personal favorite. Humorous, silly even, but always charitable.

From the movie, which I will be seeking out.
Image from  Enchanted Serenity Period Films

Mrs. Gaskell lived and wrote contemporary with the Bronte sisters, and this book, like Jane Austen's books is set in post-Napoleonic England. It has less of the dark mystery feel than Jane Eyre does, and rather more of the exposition and daily detail than Pride and Prejudice.

Strange as it may be, despite the fact that this book was hugely long and has no ending and takes a bit of getting into at the beginning, I really do recommend it. If you're at all interested in it, I would say read it! It always has a certain charm, and employs an enjoyable wit as well. This is a line from Lady Harriet in one of my favorite scenes: 

My solitude requires a listener, to whom I may say, "How sweet is solitude."

Incidentally, the book is past copyright and available for free online. I hope you enjoy as much as our book club did!

What do you think? Will you be seeking out some more historical drama now that Downton Abbey is over for the season?

_________________________
Previously from Elizabeth Gaskell: Ashley reviews North and South.

Midnight in Austenland

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Charlotte Kinder sends herself on a Jane Austen vacation, since her two children will be spending the next few weeks with their dad and his new wife. She knew she'd have to wear a corset and learn quadrilles; she didn't count on a murder mystery.

One need not have read Austenland to enjoy Midnight in Austenland. That said, I can't help comparing the two. Only supporting characters return for this book, set in the same resort  three years later. Austenland is a chick flick in print. Pure fluff! Midnight in Austenland is much more complex. It is heavier (both literally and figuratively) than Austenland was.*  A little darker. Well, it is Midnight. I'm sure that was intentional.

How would I categorize this book? Midnight in Austenland flirts with being a murder mystery. The whodunnit is vital to the plot, but not the focus of the book. Romance? Anti-Romance is more prevalent: it is so excruciating to hear about Charlotte's divorce. Wholly committed to her marriage and family, she has been suffering something of an identity crisis since the dissolution. Hearing about her broken past made her a character I could relate to in her current situation. Bildungsroman? Perhaps! Except Charlotte is in her thirties, not teenage years. Still, this is something of a coming-of-age novel. Aren't we grown ups still growing up, all the time? I loved how Charlotte was able to both change for the better and stay true to her nature.  I adored her passion for motherhood.

I laughed (when Charlotte triumphs, and at Shannon's signature funny**), I teared up (I didn't actually cry okay!?), and I did swoon a little bit there (at the end).  The book ended up making me think about a Jane Austen quote I have heard before: "I wish as well as everybody else to be perfectly happy, but like everybody else, it must be in my own way."

Recommended to all the ladies (and any of the gentlemen out there who are interested).
_______________________________________
*by no means a difficult achievement.
**which seems to have expanded to include physical funny, as there was much more of that.

ETA: There is a contest running until Friday the 10th on "I Loved This Book" where you could win a signed copy!

ETA2: Thoughts from the next day: I really enjoyed this book. I loved it! Did that come across, above? I also respected this book. Loved and respected it.

Read it before you see the movie!

ETA: another link from Shannon Hale!

I am very excited about this!  Austenland is being made into a movie. Fer reals. You know, Austenland? By Shannon Hale? My favorite living author?

Shannon Hale's announcement, and some more details

Article at The Hollywood Reporter

Google Pics for your perusal:
Keri Russell
JJ Field
Bret McKenzie

My first review of Austenland

My re-read of Austenland

So I have to tell you: I went to this thing, in September 2009, where I had dinner with Shannon Hale and a bunch of my friends and some of her friends, too, and my mom, and she mentioned this. She and Jerusha Hess were working on the script together at the time. She said that if it happened, (and it was a big if at the time because you know how these movie things go, they have to be funded they have to be done right, everyone has to be doing things and things) she really wanted Jennifer Coolidge for Miss Charming.  I'm so excited that she got her wish! Hurrah! And I also remember Shannon saying that she was dying laughing about some of the new stuff that she and Jerusha had put in. So. You know. New stuff! Fun!

Also maybe you didn't notice that Stephenie Meyer is producing? Well that is no surprise to me (it's news, just not surprising) because she's producing on Breaking Dawn and because she blurbed Austenland. And I heard that she loves it. Reads it all the time. (Yep, that's Stephenie Meyer hearsay!)
Oh, here the Twilight Lexicon comments.

Also maybe you didn't know that Midnight in Austenland is coming out? Like a companion book? Not with the same characters, but also set in Austenland. Just look at this pretty cover. 

Anyway, I have a couple copies of Austenland. One that is currently at my house. So. If you need to borrow...

Four Thumbs Up for Mockingjay

Since the much-anticipated sequel has been out for weeks now, I feel an Everead review is perhaps overdue. And as usual, a post from me is very overdue, so here goes!

It was with much trepidation that I opened my pre-ordered Amazon.com package to reveal the frosty-blue hardback. So many series seem to end disappointingly, and quite frankly I was scared. Not for Katniss. Not for Peeta. For me. I was scared of a letdown.

As I turned the last few pages of the crisp, new-book-smelling novel, I berated myself for my lack of faith in Suzanne Collins. She'd already given me two subliminal reads, and it just seemed impossible for a third delivery, but she did it.

The page-turning action sequences were there. One thumb up. The no-loose-ends, nicely-packaged ending was there. Two thumbs up. The well-rounded, fault-filled, but lovable characters were there. Three thumbs up (yes, I do realize I don't have three thumbs, but work with me here). And to my delight, the satisfyingly surprising plot twists were there. That makes a grand total of four solid thumbs up.

That, my friends, is about all I can say without commenting on details, which would classify me as a spoiler. Wouldn't want to spoil your fun, so I'll just say: hats off to you Suzanne Collins!