I was a little hesitant to read Yoon's latest since I enjoyed, but had some issues with, her first novel Everything Everything. Yet I heard so much good stuff and, well, THAT COVER convinced me to add it to my Book of the Month order. This boy meets girl narrative was rather timely, given that the girl is an immigrant from Jamaica and about to be deported. The boy is the son of first generation Korean immigrants and Daniel's viewpoint added the perfect compliment to Natasha's. Told in their alternating perspectives (along with a perfect sprinkling from supporting characters) they felt a little sappy and precocious, like a John Green novel, and similarly adorable. It's very much in the vein of Just One Day, but with a much heavier and thoughtful undercurrent. I also enjoyed the science geekery and identified with Natasha on many levels. I have to wonder if writing something a little less fantastical (only SLIGHTLY less than Everything Everything) and closer to her real life (as a Jamaican married to a Korean) made this novel a great success for Yoon. Kudos either way!
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

As thrillers go, this book hit all the right notes and I was sucked in, guessing the ending until the last pages. I'd also give Mejia pretty high marks for character development. I felt as if I had a good grasp on their inner lives and motivations. There were interesting themes to ponder on love and family. Still, straight up thrillers are just not my go-to. I'd give it a solid three stars, and would highly recommend if you are looking for a good whodunit.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

I found this book to be a refreshing surprise! There have been a spate of novels in recent years of introspective female protagonists, without much in the way of plot. Most of what I've read, I didn't care for because there was nothing to connect me emotionally to these characters. However, Attenberg brought to life a woman that was so very compelling and impossible not to root for, even if she was infuriating at times. Well, a lot of the time! But, Andrea just seems so real, like someone I know, used to know, or parts of someone I used to be. I felt like I was able to understand her modus operandi, which I think is lacking in many introspective narratives, and her emotions just leap off the page:

"The permanence of my impermanence. I stand in possession of it. I stand before him at the entrance to a subway station, in possession of nothing but myself. Myself is everything, I want to tell him. But to him it is nothing, because that's how he feels about himself right now. He is alone, and so he nothing. How do I explain to him that what applies to him does not apply to me? His context is not my context. How do you blow up the bus you've been forced to ride your entire life? It wasn't your fault there were not other means of transportation available"

Her family is also written with such authenticity, and I adored the interactions between her and her mother. Especially when she quips to Andrea:

"I'm just saying you've lived without me appearing regularly in your life before, you'll do it again."

I was also caught off guard by the way the book was structured. It read like a collection of short stories, or pages ripped from a diary and told out of order - but in juuuust the right way for the author to paint a full portrait of Andrea's life. This was jarring at first, feeling like I was on a fast moving train and looking out the window, only to go through a tunnel and end up in a different time and place. One minute I'd be laughing at her cheeky wit, and the next I'd be reeling from an emotional gut punch. It seemed symbolic of her life:

"Her life is architected, elegant and angular, a beauty to behold, and mine is a stew, a juicy, sloppy mess of ingredients and feelings and emotions, too much salt and spice, too much anxiety, always a little dribbling down the front of my shirt. But have you tasted it? Have you tasted it. It's delicious."

This 'stew' unfolded in an exceeding clever way, layering tension and suspense to a novel that is not plot driven, yet kept me turning the pages. I read it in two nights of "just one more chapter, just one more chapter..." It's barely over 200 pages, so even if it doesn't necessarily sound up your alley, I'd HIGHLY recommend giving it the short amount of time it takes to read. It is, indeed, delicious.

Many thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advance copy for my review.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

Awwww, this was just WONDERFUL. I can't believe I had never read this book about a girl who runs away from home to hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art with her little brother. Although, I am glad I read it as an adult, since the book is rife with so much humor that might have gone over my head in elementary school. It is truly hilarious. Claudia, our runaway, is the eldest and when she gets upset about being in charge of the youngest sibling:
"But her parents hadn't learned. She couldn't remember being anyone's charge when she was in the first grade. Her mother had simply met her at the bus stop every day."
And Konigsburg's shrewd observations of Claudia's motivations reflect much about human nature and wanting to feel important, to have an adventure, to feel happy.
"Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around."
I am also so glad the Kindle edition included the foreword written by the author for the 35th anniversary edition. It was inspirational and humorous, just like the book. I can't wait to read this one with my kiddos.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

I do love a good dual timeline narrative, and the subject matter of this book felt different from the usual in the genre. I wasn't sure if the Neanderthal's story, given she has a vocabulary of less than half a dozen words, would make for riveting material. However, the author assuaged all of my doubts with such a strong voice for Girl, who is clearly the protagonist of this novel.
Going into it, I thought I'd be more compelled by the modern day heroine, Dr. Gale. Yet, I found myself riveted by the everyday life of survival for Girl and her family, and wanting to hurry through the present day struggles of Dr. Gale. In any other novel, her story would be fraught with tension; but set against the backdrop of the literal life and death struggles of her Neanderthal counterpart, the money and job woes paled in comparison.
Dr. Gale seems to serve as model for what we have lost versus the things we have gained in modern society. Cameron also deftly addresses how women's roles have changed in modern times, and there is a lot to unpack on feminism, family and what makes us human.
Additionally, the story made me more curious about the things that I might have missed in science class and the more recent studies on the intelligence Neanderthals. All around fascinating stuff that I would otherwise not have sought to learn more about - a sign of a really good book, methinks. Many thanks to Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy for my review!
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

So my husband read this and thought it was entertaining - sort of like a gritty version of Harry Potter/Narnia and how things would be if magic schools/worlds really existed. I was sad to say that I didn't agree with him. Most people's negative reviews on this book have to do with the misanthropic main character being just so unlikable; I would agree with this, but I don't have a problem with unlikable characters in books (like Gone Girl), as long as there's a plot. It didn't seem like there was one here, at least not that I could find - it's just a long description of interesting events. There were some fun and creative bits, but on the whole, I wouldn't recommend.

Talk about a novel feeling like a memoir... Anyone related to a black victim of negligent police violence could probably change a few names in this novel and it would reflect his or her life. Angie Thomas has done the hard work of putting those who read The Hate U Give in that friend or relative's shoes. The bones of the story reminds me a great deal of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which was heavily based on his own experience of leaving the Indian reservation to attend a better (white) school. Thomas' novel feels a little less grounded in reality when it comes to the white suburban school she travels out of the 'hood to attend, in that I think she is giving white people too much credit. But each of her friends, and myriad family members, serves a purpose to get her message across (not at all in a didactic way) and it's an indelible one. This novel should definitely be required reading for... everyone.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

I was surprised at how much I loved this book! I have seen varying reviews and thought it might be too heavy, too political, too cerebral, or boring (since it's described as beautiful writing, and that can sometimes be a red flag of 'boring' for me). It took a few chapters to get my bearings, as I thought the initial character introduction meandered and the tone felt almost clinical. Then as I warmed to the style and had a feel for the world Hamid was building, I dove in and hardly looked up from the pages for the two days in which it took me to read. It IS beautiful, gorgeous even, but not boring at all. It manages to feel so very real, like a memoir, and yet so unreal and dreamlike. I had zero problems with the magical realism element, and I'd hate for it to turn anyone off from the book, since it is not at all heavy handed - just a means to an end for telling this story of immigrants. A heartbreaking story in ways that I did not expect. Again, an amazing juxtaposition of the very real way we relate to the world and each other, while being absolutely fantastical. I haven't highlighted this many passages since one of last year's favorites, The Mothers.

"..Nadia had taken one look aty Saeed's father and felt him like a father, for he was so gentle, and evoked in her a protective caring, as if for one's own child, or for a puppy, or for a beautiful memory one knows has already commenced to fade."

"..in contrast the city's dark swaths seemed darker, more significant, the way that blackness in the ocean suggests not less light from above, but a sudden drop-off in the depths below."

This is definitely going on the best of the 2017 list. (For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

Another Newberry award winner to check off my list! I read this the same month that I re-read Charlotte's Web with my son and, hoo boy, some tears have been shed. And since I was reading both, I invariably did some comparison's in my head and found Terabithia lacking that extra special something that makes you want to hug the book and keep it on your shelf forever. Perhaps it was because I didn't read it as a kid and it didn't give me overwhelming feelings of nostalgia. Either way, it is still a classic, gut wrenching, coming of age story that confronts death and how much of life is out of our control.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)

This story about an experiment to raise children communally was oddly captivating. There are 9 couples and one single mother in 'The Infinite Family' project, plus the ten children, so it was kind of hard to keep everyone straight and I pretty much gave up on trying. Though, that was fine because I found the main character, Izzy the single mother, so very unique and compelling. Following along as she navigated her relationships and this crazy situation made for a great journey. It would also make for a great book club read, with a LOT to unpack on family values.
(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)