jenbsbooks's Reviews (2.41k)

I liked this, 3.5 stars ... sequel to One Crazy Summer (the blurb says this can be a stand-alone ... but not really in my opinion. You need to get to know the girls and their family situation in book 1). Very grateful that they were able to keep the same narrator for the audiobook, she's essential! 

What I really missed here was having the text available ... while I go with audio 95% of the time, I always get the Kindle copy too, and often have the physical book on hand as well. Being able to listen, and then look over the Table of Contents (there weren't numerical chapters, but chapter headings), peek at the pages and review the text. The library had the audiobook, but not the ebook. I didn't feel like paying $9 for a Kindle copy. 

I glanced through the QUOTES section here, and it was fun to relive some moments from the book. I think if I'd had the text, reviewed it, maybe had some discussion questions/bookclub, it would have upped my appreciation for it.

The title tie-in was good, and the meaning of the mother ... not to grow up too fast, was heart warming. It hits on the historical moments of the time (the Vietnam war, elections ... I need my text to flip through and remember what else there was). The Jackson 5 ...  and could a woman run for office? 

I have the physical book for Gone Crazy in Alabama, and the library has both the Kindle and audiobook, so I plan on finishing the series. 

As I was attempting the GoodReads Seasonal Challenge (May/June 2025/Heritage Reads) this book caught my eye. I like kitties, have two of them. All the books that interested me seemed to have holds, so I put a few on hold in hopes that I'd get one for the challenge before it ended.  A different book came in and I completed the challenge, then this hold came in, so I figured I'd still give it a go.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood? It's translated ... and between that and the different Japanese culture, I just wasn't connecting to the story. I glanced at the reviews and the majority seemed "eh" and indicated this was more a set of interconnected short stories rather than a full novel. 

If I hadn't already completed the challenge, I likely would have continued/finished ... but as I had no "need" and had several other holds come in that I was more excited about, this will go on my DNF shelf. 

No proFanity. 3rd person/Past tense. 

This Tender Land was my first by this author, and I really liked it. This one ... as I waited a couple days to write my review, I struggled to remember what it had even been about. Perhaps not helped by my reading Dandelion Wine (different, but also a coming of age for a boy and his younger brother in a small town in years  past) recently. 

1st person/Past tense - all from the POV of young Frank, a 13-year old kid in 1961. Several deaths throughout the summer, starting with a young boy on the train tracks. Then a dead man out by the tracks (a little The Body vibes). The other deaths would be spoilers to discuss, although they are alluded to early one (the #, not who it would be) SPOILER

sad when it was Ariel, and then Karl ... was there another? 

  I felt like it turned into more of a murder mystery than I was expecting from the blurb. I wasn't super surprised at the reveal ...

Basic chapters (no headers), 39 of them, plus a prologue and epilogue. I didn't feel the need to stop and make notes (I had this in all three formats, went primarily with the audio). One instance of proFanity. It felt a little heavy on the religion (the father is a minister, there's some scripture quoting, the mother has some issues with religion too, the "ordinary grace" title tie-in). Other words I note: sneaked, preternatural, seldom, carom (that was a Wordle word not long ago). 

I appreciated the discussion questions and the author interview (in audio) but it wasn't enough to bump this one up for me.

When I do was doing my MiddleGradeMay challenge, I looked up some MG non-fiction (as I still want my Storygraph Pie chart to have some variety) and found this book recommended. I vaguely remember hearing about the situation in real time, and thought the Amazon movie "All Thirteen" was very well done. Funny, how with that movie, and this book, even knowing that all thirteen (12 boys and their coach) make it out alive, how stressful both presentations are!

This IS written for younger kids, which might be a turn off for some adults. It's not only the language and tone, but there are actually parts where the young reader is addressed (ie "The first time you entered your school building and had to find your classroom, you probably felt a little overwhelmed.") BUT ... this old lady ended up getting sucked in regardless.  The movie showcased both the work on the outside (trying to divert what rainwater they could) and the rescue teams (focusing mostly on the experts that had flown in from various places). Here, we got that, and more of the story of the boys themselves, and some additional background. 

Third person - Present tense. The present tense was an interesting choice (I personally really don't care for present tense, especially 3rd person). I must admit here, it did give the "story" a sense of immediate action. Effective. 

I had this in both audio (AudibleExclusive, picked up during a sale) and Kindle (library borrow). I think the physical book would be nice too, as there are quite a few color pictures and charts. I went primarily with the audio, but looked through the Kindle on my computer. 

Taking place in Thailand - a lot of the names can be a challenge for English speakers. This was especially notable in the audio. The narrator tended to try for pronunciation/accent on the names, which made them almost impossible for me to remember, even catch in audio ... whereas I could read/remember them more easily in print (the boys ... Coach Ek, Note, Night, Thi, Tern, Nic, Mix, Adul, Titan, Mark, Pong, Dom, Bew. Quite a few other names mentioned too, and I have to admit, I won't remember any of them, but looking some up in Kindle ... Governor Narongsak, Paochinda, Thanet Natisri, Woranan "Tik"  Ratrawiphakkun, Colonel Singhanat, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Admiral apakorn Yuukongkaaew, Nopparat  Kanthawong, Nikornchai Phopluechai ... I mean, I have to give kudos to the narrator because name pronunciation would be quite the challenge!    It was easier to remember the more "English" sounding names (Rick Stanton, John Volanthen, Richard Harris, Chris Jewell, Mason Mallinson ...) although please don't give me a test on the material ;)  

In audio, I REALLY wish the author would step up and read the Author's Notes herself. I realize it's easier to just have the narrator do it, but it's so much more personal when I hear notes from the author, in their voice. Especially when I hear a man's voice saying "As a mother ..." my brain just rebels ...

I appreciate a nice Table of Contents ...
1. A Typical Saturday The Boys of the Wild Boars 
This Is Mae Sai 
2. A Sky Full of Water 
3. The Cave of the Sleeping Lady Tham Luang Cave System with Cross Sections 
4. First on the Scene 
5. Trapped A Cave Is Born A Karst Cave System 
6. The Cave Man 
7. The Dangers of Cave Diving Rules to Dive By 
8. Empty Bellies, Clear Minds Meditation 
9. At War with the Water 
10. The Problem Solvers The Spirits Around Us 
11. The Sump Divers 
12. Coach Ek 
Thailand’s Stateless People 
Buddhism in Thailand 
13. The Water Expert 
14. The Rescue Stalls 
Stay Cool 
15. The Beautiful Game 
Stages of Hypothermia 
16. Going Back In 
17. Creating a Diversion 
18. One Last Try 
Rebreathe, Reuse, Recycle 
19. “Brilliant” 
20. Now What? 
21. The Get-It-Done Crew 
22. Panic 
23. A Tragic Loss 
24. Risking It All 
25. A Very Important Meeting 
Tham Luang Dive-Rescue Plan 
26. Stage One: Rehearsals 
Practice Makes Perfect
27. Stage Two: “Today Is D-Day” 
Fall Asleep, Wake Up in Bed 
28. Alone in the Dark 
29. Mission Possible How the Rescuers Got the Boys Out 
30. The Sleeping Lady Has the Final Say 
31. It Should Not Have Worked 

The little "extra" chapters/headers were associated sections giving more detail on specific things ...

The audio was good, and I have more "ear" time than eye time - but one definitely needs to check out the print book (Kindle - in color, or physical book) for the photographs and to see the names in print. 

Author’s Note, Acknowledgments, Source Notes, Bibliography,  Image Credits

I liked this, quite a bit ... but other than that, it just doesn't check off any boxes that push a rating up (will I remember it, would I recommend it, did I make notes/highlights, any urge to discuss/bookclub, would I want to keep a copy) ... but it kept my interest and was enjoyable. 

I borrowed both the audio and the Kindle copy from the library. I preferred the Table of Contents on the audio, as it listed the different POVs, changing with each chapter. There was Genevieve, Victoria, Misha, Freya and Callum. Four different narrators (not sure which two women had the same narrator, probably Genevieve for one, as she didn't have as many chapters). I wonder what this would have been like as more of a "full cast" ... with each voice consistent (instead of each of the four narrators handling their own chapter, AND all the other voices).   I'd recently watched the ParamountPlus series Mobland ... Callum sounded like he was right out of that show! Super strong accent, Brit/Irish.

Seven "PARTS" with a Prologue/Epilogue: Shock, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Testing, Acceptance, Transition, The After. 75 chronological chapters running throughout. 

I came into this blind, hadn't really read any reviews, not looking for any twists (although, always looking a little ...)  I really appreciated the Discussion Questions included in the Kindle copy at the end. They were good ones, made me think on things more deeply. Up the rating from 3 to 3.5. 

Quite a bit of proFanity (x280)
The title isn't anything special/memorable ... there are too many chairs on the cover image ;) 

This is a book that will haunt me. I don't know that it's one I'd recommend ... very different in its presentation, very dark/disturbing, maybe too realistic/possible, a mother's worst fear. 

I always notice POV and tense in books ... this was a mix of 1st person, 2nd person (the "you" being the husband, this is "her side of the story TO him") and 3rd person. Mostly past tense, but there are a few present tense portions. The beginning (1st/2nd/present tense) isn't even labeled ... it's not a prologue, but it's before chapter 1 ... it ends with "I pick up the thick stack of paper beside me on the passenger seat and feel the weight of my words. I’ve come here to give this to you. This is my side of the story" and then Chapter 1 starts, and we/the reader assume we are now reading that manuscript (the MC WAS a writer in the story, she writes well). 1st/2nd person/past tense. Interspersed among the 85 chapters are some additional, unnumbered, chapters, dated/from the past, featuring the history of the MC's mother/grandmother. 3rd person/past tense. I'm not sure if these were included in the "manuscript" for the husband, or were only for our/the reader's eyes. 

Honestly - I'd started reading this book some years ago. It didn't take. I didn't give it much of a chance. I think the "you" - the speaking to someone (I don't know if I fully realized it was to the husband in the story) just threw me. I've heard a lot of buzz about it though, and picked up a physical copy (for the LFL). I was able to borrow the audio and Kindle copy from the library, and I went primarily with audio. 

Triggers - child death/endangerment. 
ProFanity x24

I'm a Backman fan ... and I absolutely enjoyed this. I went with the audiobook, which was great, but I kept thinking "oh, I need to highlight that statement" either because it was a profound statement, something "discussable" in a book club type setting, something that made me laugh, or was just so well written I want to remember it. I had the Kindle copy as well (had to juggle some library holds to get them both at the same time, this is new/popular and in-demand, rightly so) so I was able to jump over to that for several, but I know I missed out on a lot. I see there are a lot of QUOTES already here on the Goodreads book page. 

Per usual, this is written in 3rd person/present tense ... this combo bugs me whenever almost any other author attempts it, but Backman?  It's his signature style, and when it's this well written ... it works. There are some portions in past-tense ... both Louisa's past, and the older storyline. There are two timelines, the present, and the time when the author and his friends were teens. Both slowly unfolding. Often I get annoyed with alternating timelines, getting so involved in one, then having to switch, but everything here moved so smoothly. Sometimes the poetry of the writing is just magical, and it's crazy to consider that it wasn't even originally written in English. Kudos to the translator as well.   

No discussion questions in the next, but I found a few from a simple Google search.  

Lots of humor to balance out the more serious stuff. I loved the different epigraphs discussed ... enter from the other side, Here lies a man who ate all his vegetables and died anyway, Does this coffin make me look fat? 

Profanity x 66.  
Snuck. Kind Eyes. Song spoken. 

I don't feel 3* is a bad rating ... I liked this. It just isn't one that really stands out. I think what will be most memorable for me was the 3rd person/present tense. It just felt awkward, I was always aware of it. I felt so disconnected from the story, like looking at it, but removed from it.  

The storyline was interesting ... historical setting, before the civil war, a fictional look into the lives of some of the slaves. A bit of the mystical, as we have the ghost of the sister. Some revelations along the way. 

I appreciated the Author'sNotes at the end of the novel. I would have liked some discussion questions, I found some online (https://www.readinggroupguides.com/printpdf/reviews/junie) but they didn't really make me delve much deeper. I liked the love of books, the ability to read for Junie. One question that I think I'd bring up in a book club setting would be the different difficulty, losing someone to death, or to being sold away (you know they are still alive out there). Which is harder for slave families in history? 

No proFanity. Some sex, but nothing detailed/explicit.  Some words I note: snuck, rifled, cerulean. Aphorisms. 

This wouldn't normally have been a book on my radar. I happened to grab it at a library sale (10 for $1, for my #LFL182597) and saw it had decent reviews, although none of my GR friends had read it, no questions/quotes saved. I went with the audiobook, a little surprised my library didn't have it. Found it on Hoopla with my second library. I went primarily with the audio ... when I did turn to the text it felt different, seeing all the direct quotes and numbers for reference. It felt more instructional when I looked at it in print, even though it was also written in a 1st person/conversational tone for much of it.

I'd recently watched the Paramount+ series Landman, which, while not fracking per se (more the traditional drilling) still made the things discussed here a little easier to visualize, some of the glow of a burn off, the talking to the land owners for mineral rights, some of the equipment and such.  I think the TV series hit harder on the "it's in everything, it's finite but we don't have a realistic alternative yet" ... here some of the other smaller issues seemed to be the focus: all of us not really reading things before we sign them (we all do it, when you have to check the terms before using an app, etc), all the warnings (this may cause cancer ... on everything, so you just start to dismiss all of it). The celebrities stepping in to bring awareness, but not really being IN the fight, not actually affected. 

Lots of words ... some that I just note in all my reads (seldom, anathema, swath, bucolic, preternatural, halcyon, nascent) and some I had to look up (anodyne ... although that had JUST been in the book before too!). Profanity x5 - pretty much all quotes from someone, not author inserted. 

It was interesting - the title referred to ownership of the land, it is just the land, what's in it, how far down, how far above? What is ownership (and how easily was it stripped from those on it originally?) and what are the private/public rights/responsibilities when what you do on your land affects those around you/your land (pollution/visuals/traffic).

It was worth it to have the text - notes and index of course not included in the audiobook. There were also several pictures/illustrations, and the Kindle copy even had some discussion questions, which I don't know that I would have expected, but were some good points to ponder.

It was all just a little dry - but still interesting enough. Some bias I'm sure.  

I liked this a lot. It had a similar premise to the middle grade series[book:Found|1675216], where people are taken from history, when they would have died anyway (so there shouldn't be a change in the timeline). The Netflix show Travelers was sort of similar (except those bodies were taken over by time travelers). Here, a few people are plucked from history and brought to the present, each has a "bridge" to help them. This book features Gore picked up from 1847 and his bridge .... I guess we never actually get her name? She's the MC, but being told in first person, it's all "I" and no one says her name throughout? It wasn't something I was even aware of until I came to write this review (that she was "unnamed" ... like in A Handmaid's Tale or The Book of the Unnamed Midwife). 

I went primarily with the audio, but had the Kindle copy too. There were a LOT of words I wanted to jot down, look up, just remember being said (anodyne, miscegenation, perspicacity, hectoring, excoriation, cerulean, quotidian, cacophony, plethora, anachronism, idiom, panoply) ... phrases: apropos of nothing, feeling poorly, jury rigged, god of bones and sinew. 

Looking at the Table of Contents in the Kindle copy ... it held more than the audio TOC. The audio would say ...
Part 1
Part 1 - Chapter 1
... and this went on for all 10 chapters. In Kindle
Chapter I
Chapter 1
Chapter II
Chapter 2
... one Roman numerals, one traditional ... which, the Roman numerals were from Gore in 1847. Nice touch! I likey!  The regular chapters, in the "present" were in past tense, whereas the past (Roman numerals) was in present tense. Both 1st person. In audio, two narrators, male for the 1847 storyline and female for the "present day" ...

Gore was a real person in history who had been on the fatal Franklin Expedition. I've actually read more about that and other arctic expeditions than one might think. Not sure why, but I have. I think that little connection made this more interesting to me.   I also enjoy time travel, and here, the thought of someone from the past being "awakened" in the future ... seeing what is now the norm, is just an interesting thing to ponder. 

There were lots of things to ponder ... lots of "book club discussion questions" and there WERE questions included at the back of the Kindle book, in addition to an author's note and a Q&A. I appreciate extras like this. 

There was proFanity (x33) and some sex ... I'm not remembering how explicit. Not "steamy" but not totally closed door either.