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jenbsbooks's Reviews (2.41k)
Rating memoirs are hard ... it can't really reflect the "story" when it's a real life, so it's more the writing and presentation. As will all memoirs, I have to take them with a grain of salt. It's the author's perception and memory, but unlike researched and documented non-fiction, I don't know how much of it is truth. All the dialog? The memory from when she was three years old? And even with all the detail there was with that, does she ever mention pain? Burns are SO painful, even just a small one that doesn't require any treatment. She never even mentions pain.
As with most memoirs, this was 1st person/past tense. It was set up chronologically ... although it did start with the "present" moment then went back to tell the story. I personally don't care for this technique. Here (and in other books/tvs/movies) it's a spoiler really. We know that our MC makes it out, we know that the parents never step up. I think I'd prefer to just start the story without this first section. There is The Desert (27 chapters), Welch (27 chapters), New York City (13 chapters) ... these are all continual in count, which I think is easier to keep straight than starting over with Ch1 in each section. Then there's a final part/chapter (Thanksgiving) which pops forward in time and wraps things up.
So much of the author's life she is hiding her past and her parents, until she wrote this book. Unlike some other books (Educated, Into Thin Air, etc) which have had some clapback on the "memories" presented, I haven't heard of that with this. I do wonder what the siblings have to say ... is this all "correct and true?" I'd really like an author's note with some explanations. Does she have this picture perfect memory, or were some of these stories of her childhood told to her and she made them her own? The dialog ... why were some things actually written as quotes, and others as her recollection of what people said (in other non-fiction, the author will often differentiate presentation, saying that anything in quotes has documentation, was transcribed, etc).
This did create feelings of hatred in me for the parents ... it's hard to comprehend how they could live like this, and it is amazing that the kids (well, three of the four) managed to make it out okay.
The mom's property ... worth maybe a million dollars? Wouldn't they have had to pay property taxes on it every year? They certainly didn't, so it was hard to believe that they didn't lose the property at some point. Maureen was sent to an upstate hospital for a year ... is that like prison, who paid for that?
The writing was good, it kept me interested, pulled on my emotions ... but always in the back of my mind was just "this can't be TRUE exactly as presented, with dialog and perfect recall of all these events". Did she keep a journal? I know she was a writer/journalist, but how early did she start recording her own story? I just wanted more background information.
Even with my rating ... my feelings toward this aren't that positive.
As with most memoirs, this was 1st person/past tense. It was set up chronologically ... although it did start with the "present" moment then went back to tell the story. I personally don't care for this technique. Here (and in other books/tvs/movies) it's a spoiler really. We know that our MC makes it out, we know that the parents never step up. I think I'd prefer to just start the story without this first section. There is The Desert (27 chapters), Welch (27 chapters), New York City (13 chapters) ... these are all continual in count, which I think is easier to keep straight than starting over with Ch1 in each section. Then there's a final part/chapter (Thanksgiving) which pops forward in time and wraps things up.
So much of the author's life she is hiding her past and her parents, until she wrote this book. Unlike some other books (Educated, Into Thin Air, etc) which have had some clapback on the "memories" presented, I haven't heard of that with this. I do wonder what the siblings have to say ... is this all "correct and true?" I'd really like an author's note with some explanations. Does she have this picture perfect memory, or were some of these stories of her childhood told to her and she made them her own? The dialog ... why were some things actually written as quotes, and others as her recollection of what people said (in other non-fiction, the author will often differentiate presentation, saying that anything in quotes has documentation, was transcribed, etc).
This did create feelings of hatred in me for the parents ... it's hard to comprehend how they could live like this, and it is amazing that the kids (well, three of the four) managed to make it out okay.
The mom's property ... worth maybe a million dollars? Wouldn't they have had to pay property taxes on it every year? They certainly didn't, so it was hard to believe that they didn't lose the property at some point. Maureen was sent to an upstate hospital for a year ... is that like prison, who paid for that?
The writing was good, it kept me interested, pulled on my emotions ... but always in the back of my mind was just "this can't be TRUE exactly as presented, with dialog and perfect recall of all these events". Did she keep a journal? I know she was a writer/journalist, but how early did she start recording her own story? I just wanted more background information.
Even with my rating ... my feelings toward this aren't that positive.
I'd had this on my TBR for SO long ... just hadn't gotten around to it. I found a physical copy (can't recall if it was from a LFL or thrift store), but since I added my own Little Free Library, having a physical copy on hand, pushes a book up my list, as after I'm done I can add it to my LFL. That is, unless I decide I want to keep the copy for myself ... hmmmm, might be an issue here.
Per usual, I also went with the Kindle copy (borrowed from the library) and audio (grabbed on a sale from Chirp a while back, audio isn't at any of my libraries). I went with the audio (single narrator/shifting POVs/ all 3rd person/past tense; Claire, Sydney, Evanelle, Bay, Emma), but did pull up the Kindle copy to make some notes/highlights.
I'd just recently read The Village Healer's Book of Cures, which was only similar in the "witches" using herbs/recipes. This was pretty light (there is DV, but no "she's a witch" moments), with the house seeming to have some magical properties (although not to Encanto's Casa level, nor "Keeper of Enchanted Rooms" level). Loved the apple tree throwing apples at people! No discussion questions included in the book, but I found some online, and one was "would you eat an apple from the Waverly tree?"
This also reminded me a little of Savvy by Ingrid Law. There too, there is a "magical" family, where each one has a gift. In Savvy, they are a little (okay, a LOT) bigger, but just the "your gift" thing, and the Southern setting/speech (even more distinct in Savvy). Evanelle's gift to "give people what they would need" was entertaining, as was she.
Even with the darker storyline (Sydney had left, and returns to escape from a violent husband), and some of the other things (Fred's sadness, Emma's issues), this was an enjoyable read that I wanted to return to when I had to put it down.
Thanks to Kindle search, I'm reminded there was some proFanity (x4, all David, the Ex) and some sex (nothing described explicitly). Commode ... haven't heard that word anywhere else in a while! Snuck used instead of sneaked (I'm a "snuck" gal myself).
A line about Fred hit me ... "Once someone told him something critical, he would hold on to it for a long time, change everything he did just so he wouldn’t face the same criticism again." I've got a list of "don't ever do _____ again" things" :( I'm not always successful.
I see there is a sequel, I don't think it was intended to have one, so I think I consider it a stand-alone in my head. As much as I liked this, or maybe that's why, I'm not sure I'll read the sequel. Sometimes I just want to live with how the book ended as is ...
Per usual, I also went with the Kindle copy (borrowed from the library) and audio (grabbed on a sale from Chirp a while back, audio isn't at any of my libraries). I went with the audio (single narrator/shifting POVs/ all 3rd person/past tense; Claire, Sydney, Evanelle, Bay, Emma), but did pull up the Kindle copy to make some notes/highlights.
I'd just recently read The Village Healer's Book of Cures, which was only similar in the "witches" using herbs/recipes. This was pretty light (there is DV, but no "she's a witch" moments), with the house seeming to have some magical properties (although not to Encanto's Casa level, nor "Keeper of Enchanted Rooms" level). Loved the apple tree throwing apples at people! No discussion questions included in the book, but I found some online, and one was "would you eat an apple from the Waverly tree?"
This also reminded me a little of Savvy by Ingrid Law. There too, there is a "magical" family, where each one has a gift. In Savvy, they are a little (okay, a LOT) bigger, but just the "your gift" thing, and the Southern setting/speech (even more distinct in Savvy). Evanelle's gift to "give people what they would need" was entertaining, as was she.
Even with the darker storyline (Sydney had left, and returns to escape from a violent husband), and some of the other things (Fred's sadness, Emma's issues), this was an enjoyable read that I wanted to return to when I had to put it down.
Thanks to Kindle search, I'm reminded there was some proFanity (x4, all David, the Ex) and some sex (nothing described explicitly). Commode ... haven't heard that word anywhere else in a while! Snuck used instead of sneaked (I'm a "snuck" gal myself).
A line about Fred hit me ... "Once someone told him something critical, he would hold on to it for a long time, change everything he did just so he wouldn’t face the same criticism again." I've got a list of "don't ever do _____ again" things" :( I'm not always successful.
I see there is a sequel, I don't think it was intended to have one, so I think I consider it a stand-alone in my head. As much as I liked this, or maybe that's why, I'm not sure I'll read the sequel. Sometimes I just want to live with how the book ended as is ...
For my first go-round, I went with the audio version, which was good. Then I went through the text version, which was really good. The audio didn't always come across as "poetry" and seeing the text might be surprising, seeing the spacing and type, the set up as "poems" broken into lines, so much white space on the page.
The graphic novel takes it a step further, keeping some of the spacing/text/fonts, adding simple images, staying with a basic black/white/gray and orange pallet.
For me, even though I'd already listened and read the story ... reading the graphic novel just made much of it even more real for me. Some things, I don't know if I totally caught (or understood) in the original, now made more clear because of the illustrations. I checked, and this graphic novel seems to be word for word, nothing adapted or left out. Most of the spacing ... a single page in the book, generally is a single page in the graphic novel.
I did notice one spelling error (let's ... should have been lets/which it is in the original).
I really wonder how I would have felt if the graphic novel was my first (only) experience with the story. I liked my experience (audio, text, graphic novel ... same order as with Jason Reynolds Long Way Down).
Thumbs up ... I think I'll have to buy a copy for my home library, and maybe one for my Little Free Library, to share the experience.
The graphic novel takes it a step further, keeping some of the spacing/text/fonts, adding simple images, staying with a basic black/white/gray and orange pallet.
For me, even though I'd already listened and read the story ... reading the graphic novel just made much of it even more real for me. Some things, I don't know if I totally caught (or understood) in the original, now made more clear because of the illustrations. I checked, and this graphic novel seems to be word for word, nothing adapted or left out. Most of the spacing ... a single page in the book, generally is a single page in the graphic novel.
I did notice one spelling error (let's ... should have been lets/which it is in the original).
I really wonder how I would have felt if the graphic novel was my first (only) experience with the story. I liked my experience (audio, text, graphic novel ... same order as with Jason Reynolds Long Way Down).
Thumbs up ... I think I'll have to buy a copy for my home library, and maybe one for my Little Free Library, to share the experience.
I'd read The Kite Runner last month. I saw there was a graphic novel, and I've been trying some out, surprisingly impressed for the most part. Generally I try to get the physical book, as it's difficult to read digitally. The library only had this in digital format, and size-wise, I could really only read it on my computer. It just wasn't the best set-up ... and as I was reading, I realized I didn't really WANT to relive this sad story. And it just felt a little odd to see a male-male rape and the other horrors animated like this (although I absolutely enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird and Long Way Down and others).
The art was good - it gets a little busy trying to fit the whole story in.
... I would read a little and then stop as it was just too hard to try and read on the computer, and then I would have to force myself to return to it, and then not last very long reading. I think it would have been better with a physical book, but I really wasn't compelled to continue. I do wonder if one would get the whole story if they hadn't read the original.
... going to be okay with this as a DNF for me.
The art was good - it gets a little busy trying to fit the whole story in.
... I would read a little and then stop as it was just too hard to try and read on the computer, and then I would have to force myself to return to it, and then not last very long reading. I think it would have been better with a physical book, but I really wasn't compelled to continue. I do wonder if one would get the whole story if they hadn't read the original.
... going to be okay with this as a DNF for me.
I'd heard some good things about this title, the author's name rang a bell (although I couldn't remember what other books to credit to her). I started this, and was enjoying it, but just felt it was a little too like Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting. I loved that one, so maybe I was feeling a little protective. Then low and behold, Iona's names comes up in this book ... (just a little Easter egg), it's by the same author. Ahhhh! I think I then relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the book.
The Prologue is one of those "moments" from later in the book, that we get a glimpse of at the start. Now normally I really dislike this little technique, often I feel like it's a spoiler, as I know what's going to happen. Here though, introducing us during absolute mayhem, well, it was pretty funny. Everyone on the bus "confessing" to the police, everyone having something in their past ... and then the story starts (three months earlier) and we get to know all the individuals and what their secrets are.
There were quite a few characters, it was a bit of a challenge learning/remembering who everyone was. It was all 3rd person/past tense, shifting POVs between four of the main ones ... Daphne (a 70 year old, the MC really), Art (75 year old, out of work actor, kleptomaniac), Lydia (early 50s, running the senior center, troubled marriage) and Ziggy (a high-school age single-father).
I didn't have a physical copy (this is quite new) but had been able to borrow the audio and Kindle copy from the library. It was hard to shift between formats though, as there were no chronological chapters, I might know I was in a "Daphne" chapter ... but which one? Numbered chapters along with the POV would have been helpful.
Word Notes: ProFanity (x12) and some mentions of sex, nothing explicit. I'm fairly certain that "rifling" in the text was pronounced "riffling" (just something I note, the two very similar, but different words). Macramé - a British pronunciation? Ma-COME-ray. Cerulean.
There was a jewelry heist mentioned in the story - apparently it was a real thing, in 2015 and there was a movie made about it (King of Thieves) ... but it doesn't have great reviews on IMDB, otherwise I think it's a subject I'd be interested in seeing.
I was glad the author's note was included in the audio (it isn't always) but it was interesting to get some of the author's thoughts (she's 54, and I'll turn 54 this year too). She says "There's nothing more boring than a character without flaws" ... her characters are NOT boring! No discussion questions included, but I found some online https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/729893/how-to-age-disgracefully-by-clare-pooley/9780593831496/readers-guide/
https://libromaniacs.com/how-to-age-disgracefully-book-club-questions/
If I'm not reading a book for book club, where there will be a discussion - I really like to at least peek at some questions (love the recent trend of them being included in the book itself). Just thinking about things I might not have on my own.
The Prologue is one of those "moments" from later in the book, that we get a glimpse of at the start. Now normally I really dislike this little technique, often I feel like it's a spoiler, as I know what's going to happen. Here though, introducing us during absolute mayhem, well, it was pretty funny. Everyone on the bus "confessing" to the police, everyone having something in their past ... and then the story starts (three months earlier) and we get to know all the individuals and what their secrets are.
There were quite a few characters, it was a bit of a challenge learning/remembering who everyone was. It was all 3rd person/past tense, shifting POVs between four of the main ones ... Daphne (a 70 year old, the MC really), Art (75 year old, out of work actor, kleptomaniac), Lydia (early 50s, running the senior center, troubled marriage) and Ziggy (a high-school age single-father).
I didn't have a physical copy (this is quite new) but had been able to borrow the audio and Kindle copy from the library. It was hard to shift between formats though, as there were no chronological chapters, I might know I was in a "Daphne" chapter ... but which one? Numbered chapters along with the POV would have been helpful.
Word Notes: ProFanity (x12) and some mentions of sex, nothing explicit. I'm fairly certain that "rifling" in the text was pronounced "riffling" (just something I note, the two very similar, but different words). Macramé - a British pronunciation? Ma-COME-ray. Cerulean.
There was a jewelry heist mentioned in the story - apparently it was a real thing, in 2015 and there was a movie made about it (King of Thieves) ... but it doesn't have great reviews on IMDB, otherwise I think it's a subject I'd be interested in seeing.
I was glad the author's note was included in the audio (it isn't always) but it was interesting to get some of the author's thoughts (she's 54, and I'll turn 54 this year too). She says "There's nothing more boring than a character without flaws" ... her characters are NOT boring! No discussion questions included, but I found some online https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/729893/how-to-age-disgracefully-by-clare-pooley/9780593831496/readers-guide/
https://libromaniacs.com/how-to-age-disgracefully-book-club-questions/
If I'm not reading a book for book club, where there will be a discussion - I really like to at least peek at some questions (love the recent trend of them being included in the book itself). Just thinking about things I might not have on my own.
Back in 2019 I bought a used copy of this book, wondering if one of the boys (into basketball) might read it for school. I'd noted the high ratings, I had NOT noticed it was in "verse". Neither the boys, not I got around to reading it, it just stayed on the shelf. Fast forward to 2014 and my nephew needs to read it for school and knowing I have a good library, my SIL asked if we had a copy (as the library was backed up). I figured I'd give it a quick read (because while it is 200+ pages, there's tons of white space). I was able to snag the audio, just two hours.
I first experienced "verse" last year with Jason Reynold's "Long Way Down" (and have tried out a few more since then.) The book had been highly recommended, but when I realized it was poetry I thought "well that's not for me"... but when I noted it was available, and only a couple hours, I gave it a try. And wow, it really impacted me. I ended up buying a physical copy, checking out the graphic novel.
Same with this story ... I started with the audio. It doesn't feel like "poetry" when it's spoken, although this did have quite a few sections with rhyme. I liked the listen ... then the look, and seeing the spacing and reviewing the story with my eyes.
I'm a Table of Contents snob ... I liked how the TOC was set up in the ebook (the library didn't have the Kindle copy available, so I had to read the epub, ugggg ... I'm also a Kindle snob!) That there were six sections: Warm Up, First Quarter, Second Quarter, Third Quarter, Fourth Quarter and Overtime. The "chapters" or separate poems within each section. I know the parts are fairly obvious ... but in audio, I didn't quite catch the format, didn't distinguish that the "Fourth Quarter" was a section heading, not just a title. I think in the print copy (because, per usual unfortunately, there is no TOC in the hardcopy) again, it would be easy just to turn that page that has the header on, without taking into account how it plays out. Unless you SEE it on the TOC, sometimes that set-up might be missed (at least by me!) It's part of what makes this book what it is. I also like the TOC to look over the "titles" of the poems ... just that word or sentence, reading them down the list, can bring back that portion of the story, and give me a location to go to if I wanted to re-read a certain portion.
My boys play basketball, so I liked all the basketball talk. This is one of those books where the characters are black, but I didn't feel like race really came into play? The story wasn't about being black, it was about a family, and playing ball.
Another aspect I really enjoyed was the focus on certain words ... Crossover (which of course is the title, and had multiple meanings throughout ... oomph!), calamity, pulchritudinous, hypertension, ironic, churlish, profusely ... there is a vocabulary lesson in addition to the story (found this in the zombie apocalypse The City series [book:Mordacious|30367410]).
I peeked at some online school assignments, discussion questions ... for me, reading strictly for enjoyment can be less likely to get a 5* rating. Sometimes I need that extra nudge, to think about things I might not have on my own, to delve a little deeper, which more often than not, increases my appreciation for a written work.
There's a graphic novel, and I've already checked it out and started reading it - looks like a great adaptation. I see it's been made into a mini-series on Disney, but that doesn't have great ratings, so I probably won't spend the time looking at that.
Glad for the little push to read this (as I'm loaning it out, there's always the chance I won't get it back, so I wanted to read it myself while I had the hardcopy on hand/even though I went with audio for the most part. ) I really would like my boys to read it (even though it's YA, the MC is in middle school) and see what they think. Audio was available on Hoopla and Libby.
I first experienced "verse" last year with Jason Reynold's "Long Way Down" (and have tried out a few more since then.) The book had been highly recommended, but when I realized it was poetry I thought "well that's not for me"... but when I noted it was available, and only a couple hours, I gave it a try. And wow, it really impacted me. I ended up buying a physical copy, checking out the graphic novel.
Same with this story ... I started with the audio. It doesn't feel like "poetry" when it's spoken, although this did have quite a few sections with rhyme. I liked the listen ... then the look, and seeing the spacing and reviewing the story with my eyes.
I'm a Table of Contents snob ... I liked how the TOC was set up in the ebook (the library didn't have the Kindle copy available, so I had to read the epub, ugggg ... I'm also a Kindle snob!) That there were six sections: Warm Up, First Quarter, Second Quarter, Third Quarter, Fourth Quarter and Overtime. The "chapters" or separate poems within each section. I know the parts are fairly obvious ... but in audio, I didn't quite catch the format, didn't distinguish that the "Fourth Quarter" was a section heading, not just a title. I think in the print copy (because, per usual unfortunately, there is no TOC in the hardcopy) again, it would be easy just to turn that page that has the header on, without taking into account how it plays out. Unless you SEE it on the TOC, sometimes that set-up might be missed (at least by me!) It's part of what makes this book what it is. I also like the TOC to look over the "titles" of the poems ... just that word or sentence, reading them down the list, can bring back that portion of the story, and give me a location to go to if I wanted to re-read a certain portion.
My boys play basketball, so I liked all the basketball talk. This is one of those books where the characters are black, but I didn't feel like race really came into play? The story wasn't about being black, it was about a family, and playing ball.
Another aspect I really enjoyed was the focus on certain words ... Crossover (which of course is the title, and had multiple meanings throughout ... oomph!), calamity, pulchritudinous, hypertension, ironic, churlish, profusely ... there is a vocabulary lesson in addition to the story (found this in the zombie apocalypse The City series [book:Mordacious|30367410]).
I peeked at some online school assignments, discussion questions ... for me, reading strictly for enjoyment can be less likely to get a 5* rating. Sometimes I need that extra nudge, to think about things I might not have on my own, to delve a little deeper, which more often than not, increases my appreciation for a written work.
There's a graphic novel, and I've already checked it out and started reading it - looks like a great adaptation. I see it's been made into a mini-series on Disney, but that doesn't have great ratings, so I probably won't spend the time looking at that.
Glad for the little push to read this (as I'm loaning it out, there's always the chance I won't get it back, so I wanted to read it myself while I had the hardcopy on hand/even though I went with audio for the most part. ) I really would like my boys to read it (even though it's YA, the MC is in middle school) and see what they think. Audio was available on Hoopla and Libby.
I liked this a lot. My original thought would have been 4* ... but as I came to write up my review, and looked over the book, thought back on it, did some additional reading (author's notes, discussion questions, which are included in the text copies ... I had this in all three formats, physical, kindle and audio) ...discussion questions really CAN make me delve deeper and increase my appreciation.
At first, I was a little put off by the similarities to Huck Finn. Until I accepted that this was basically a re-telling (the author acknowledges the inspiration). I recently read [book:James|173754979], which stays in the same time period, but shows the story from Jim's POV (and a few other changes). I've read a ton of Pride&Prejudice reimagining. As long as that was acknowledged, then it is an interesting alternate/update. With the young boy, traveling on the river with his companion(s), racial issues, encountering all the characters along the way, meeting a girl (Mary Jane in Huck Finn, MayBeth here).
I'm a Table of Contents snob ... I liked that this was neatly separated into six different parts, with headers (1. God is a Tornado 2. One-Eyed Jack 3. High Heaven 4. The Odyssey 5. The Flats 6.Ithaca) with chronological chapters (64 of them) running through. Kindle wins for the most complete TOC (headers showing). The headers didn't show in the audio, and per usual, the physical copy doesn't even deign to have a TOC. So if you're at bookclub, and are trying to look something right as "Part 4" starts, you just have to flip through the book until you find it (rather than having a TOC tell you the page to turn to).
The sign language was memorable to me ... I took ASL through the interpreting level in college, although I never really mastered the language. My sister however, is an interpreter and fluent, using sign language daily. The discussion questions (#1) made me think on this even more.
I've read quite a few books set during the depression, Hoovervilles, etc. Always interesting to see and compare what comes up in the stories set in this time period.
Some of the words I notice ~ sneaked, jerry-rig, cacophony, brusquely. 0 smirks! 5 scowls. 1 f-bomb. If a character "sings" in the book ... what does the narrator do in audio, here, he "spoke" the song (down by the riverside). The characters (except Emmy!) used a few different names throughout, so Odie is also Buck, Albert is also Norman, Mose is Geronimo and Amdacha, Mrs Brickman was also the Black Witch, One-Eyed-Jack was also "the pig scarer" then just Jack ... I just had to remind myself who was who at times.
There were times in the story that I was caught completely off-guard, didn't know where it was heading. Was connected to the characters and cared what was happening to them.
Like a few other books of late, this starts with our MC/Narrator "telling a story" ... so we know that no matter what happens, they survive to old age. It was all 1st person, past tense.
There was an opening section, and Author's note ... and the AUTHOR voiced these sections. THANK YOU! It's SO much more personal!
At first, I was a little put off by the similarities to Huck Finn. Until I accepted that this was basically a re-telling (the author acknowledges the inspiration). I recently read [book:James|173754979], which stays in the same time period, but shows the story from Jim's POV (and a few other changes). I've read a ton of Pride&Prejudice reimagining. As long as that was acknowledged, then it is an interesting alternate/update. With the young boy, traveling on the river with his companion(s), racial issues, encountering all the characters along the way, meeting a girl (Mary Jane in Huck Finn, MayBeth here).
I'm a Table of Contents snob ... I liked that this was neatly separated into six different parts, with headers (1. God is a Tornado 2. One-Eyed Jack 3. High Heaven 4. The Odyssey 5. The Flats 6.Ithaca) with chronological chapters (64 of them) running through. Kindle wins for the most complete TOC (headers showing). The headers didn't show in the audio, and per usual, the physical copy doesn't even deign to have a TOC. So if you're at bookclub, and are trying to look something right as "Part 4" starts, you just have to flip through the book until you find it (rather than having a TOC tell you the page to turn to).
The sign language was memorable to me ... I took ASL through the interpreting level in college, although I never really mastered the language. My sister however, is an interpreter and fluent, using sign language daily. The discussion questions (#1) made me think on this even more.
I've read quite a few books set during the depression, Hoovervilles, etc. Always interesting to see and compare what comes up in the stories set in this time period.
Some of the words I notice ~ sneaked, jerry-rig, cacophony, brusquely. 0 smirks! 5 scowls. 1 f-bomb. If a character "sings" in the book ... what does the narrator do in audio, here, he "spoke" the song (down by the riverside). The characters (except Emmy!) used a few different names throughout, so Odie is also Buck, Albert is also Norman, Mose is Geronimo and Amdacha, Mrs Brickman was also the Black Witch, One-Eyed-Jack was also "the pig scarer" then just Jack ... I just had to remind myself who was who at times.
There were times in the story that I was caught completely off-guard, didn't know where it was heading. Was connected to the characters and cared what was happening to them.
Like a few other books of late, this starts with our MC/Narrator "telling a story" ... so we know that no matter what happens, they survive to old age. It was all 1st person, past tense.
There was an opening section, and Author's note ... and the AUTHOR voiced these sections. THANK YOU! It's SO much more personal!
I liked this, but had some struggles too (although not the "I didn't like the author's political stance in the last chapter" issue as many others have mentioned. It is a no-win situation).
This had two timelines, two storylines. In the cover flap of the physical copy it has a little blurb "Two kids. One devastating day." and then mentions Brandon/September 11, 2001 in New York City and Reshmina/September 11, 2019 in Afghanistan. In the Goodreads blurb, it mentions 2001 and "the present day" ... I guess you can say that the header "Right Here, Right Now" implies present day, and a few pages in Reshmina mentions in conversation "it's 2019" but I just felt like that shouldn't only be in the blurb, but included in the header, as it's such integral information.
The whole Table of Contents was lacking. Literally, in the physical book. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when publishers can't even give one page to give us the chapters and their page numbers. Instead, if attempting to look something up, having to leaf through the whole book. I had this book in all three formats, I was listening to the audio, and had the physical and kindle copy for reference. When I wanted to highlight something, make a note, there was no easy way to find my spot between formats. No chronological chapters, just a rotation between the two timelines. In the Kindle copy, we were given the POV & the header. In audio ... just the POV. So I unless I went back to the beginning of the chapter and listened to the header being spoken, or counted (it was the... 7th Reshmina chaper) it was pretty much impossible, and it shouldn't be! I guess this isn't a problem for a simple read through, but for any discussion, book club or movement between book/audio, it's absolutely an issue. Yes, I'm a TOC snob.
The switching between stories ... I didn't love it at the start. We'd be involved in one storyline, and then it would switch. We'd start getting into that storyline, and then it would switch again. Rather than just being a novelization of a survivor of the twin towers, it's more a comparative composition - showing some of the similarities of the the terrorist attack to war attacks. And there is another connection too (that little moment in the story when "ahhhhh" and yes, when the reveal came along later on).
I can't remember where in the book (as mentioned, I couldn't find my spot from audio to text) but Reshmina seemed so wise beyond her 11 years, and in such a difficult position (to help, give refugee, even though it could cost her/her family/her village everything), her brother Pasoon ... were the boys so indoctrinated that they would betray/condemn their family, their whole village, to be part of the Taliban?
The Author's Notes were NOT included in the audio, but I think there was a lot of important information there (just some clarification on what was real, what was changed, what was complete fiction). The author mentions "For the sake of story, I have combined a few events from different years in the War in Afghanistan into a single day" and I felt that on a smaller scale, just everything Reshmina went through in her single day (did we really need to have a snow leopard sighting, the Kochi, the poppy farmer, in addition to finding the downed American and having the Taliban and US attack?) Everything Brandon went through felt a little more realistically possible even though I'm sure there a bunch of experiences were combined into his story (like they say an episode of ER has events that might happen over a couple months condensed to one night).
There was SO much onomatopoeia ... pop-pop, pakoom, THOOM, pak pak pak, Ka-tung, SHOOM, ding, CRASH! chung! THWACK. THUNK. Nnnnnnn. flump. Whack! Chank! Krissh. screeeeech. shhhhhhh. fwoomp! poom. I don't know if it was more obvious (human narrator saying the words) in audio? They were often in all caps or italics in print though, so still set apart. I realize this is a YA book ... this made it feel very young. Although the content was hard (can't really talk about 9/11 "easily") ...
All 3rd person/past tense, but still two narrators for the two storylines (I think that was needed). The male narrator sounded like a man, spoke so fast. The female narrator sounded very young and spoke quite slowly. I had the regular speed up a bit, but it was a little too fast during Brandon's portions, but I didn't want to keep switching the speed, so I put up with it. The female narrator mispronounced cache (ca-shay). One thing I note, is if a character sings a bit of a song ... does the narrator speak it, or sing it? The male narrator sang (This Land is My Land), the female narrator spoke it (a couple different little song times).
As this is YA, there was no profanity or sex. Still quite a bit of gruesome detail though.
This had two timelines, two storylines. In the cover flap of the physical copy it has a little blurb "Two kids. One devastating day." and then mentions Brandon/September 11, 2001 in New York City and Reshmina/September 11, 2019 in Afghanistan. In the Goodreads blurb, it mentions 2001 and "the present day" ... I guess you can say that the header "Right Here, Right Now" implies present day, and a few pages in Reshmina mentions in conversation "it's 2019" but I just felt like that shouldn't only be in the blurb, but included in the header, as it's such integral information.
The whole Table of Contents was lacking. Literally, in the physical book. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when publishers can't even give one page to give us the chapters and their page numbers. Instead, if attempting to look something up, having to leaf through the whole book. I had this book in all three formats, I was listening to the audio, and had the physical and kindle copy for reference. When I wanted to highlight something, make a note, there was no easy way to find my spot between formats. No chronological chapters, just a rotation between the two timelines. In the Kindle copy, we were given the POV & the header. In audio ... just the POV. So I unless I went back to the beginning of the chapter and listened to the header being spoken, or counted (it was the... 7th Reshmina chaper) it was pretty much impossible, and it shouldn't be! I guess this isn't a problem for a simple read through, but for any discussion, book club or movement between book/audio, it's absolutely an issue. Yes, I'm a TOC snob.
The switching between stories ... I didn't love it at the start. We'd be involved in one storyline, and then it would switch. We'd start getting into that storyline, and then it would switch again. Rather than just being a novelization of a survivor of the twin towers, it's more a comparative composition - showing some of the similarities of the the terrorist attack to war attacks. And there is another connection too (that little moment in the story when "ahhhhh" and yes, when the reveal came along later on).
I can't remember where in the book (as mentioned, I couldn't find my spot from audio to text) but Reshmina seemed so wise beyond her 11 years, and in such a difficult position (to help, give refugee, even though it could cost her/her family/her village everything), her brother Pasoon ... were the boys so indoctrinated that they would betray/condemn their family, their whole village, to be part of the Taliban?
The Author's Notes were NOT included in the audio, but I think there was a lot of important information there (just some clarification on what was real, what was changed, what was complete fiction). The author mentions "For the sake of story, I have combined a few events from different years in the War in Afghanistan into a single day" and I felt that on a smaller scale, just everything Reshmina went through in her single day (did we really need to have a snow leopard sighting, the Kochi, the poppy farmer, in addition to finding the downed American and having the Taliban and US attack?) Everything Brandon went through felt a little more realistically possible even though I'm sure there a bunch of experiences were combined into his story (like they say an episode of ER has events that might happen over a couple months condensed to one night).
There was SO much onomatopoeia ... pop-pop, pakoom, THOOM, pak pak pak, Ka-tung, SHOOM, ding, CRASH! chung! THWACK. THUNK. Nnnnnnn. flump. Whack! Chank! Krissh. screeeeech. shhhhhhh. fwoomp! poom. I don't know if it was more obvious (human narrator saying the words) in audio? They were often in all caps or italics in print though, so still set apart. I realize this is a YA book ... this made it feel very young. Although the content was hard (can't really talk about 9/11 "easily") ...
All 3rd person/past tense, but still two narrators for the two storylines (I think that was needed). The male narrator sounded like a man, spoke so fast. The female narrator sounded very young and spoke quite slowly. I had the regular speed up a bit, but it was a little too fast during Brandon's portions, but I didn't want to keep switching the speed, so I put up with it. The female narrator mispronounced cache (ca-shay). One thing I note, is if a character sings a bit of a song ... does the narrator speak it, or sing it? The male narrator sang (This Land is My Land), the female narrator spoke it (a couple different little song times).
As this is YA, there was no profanity or sex. Still quite a bit of gruesome detail though.
I think I liked this ... but I was actually more than ready to be done. It definitely had some points to ponder (book club discussion ideas, notes/highlights) and yet it was just TOO much. Too many characters, too many "bad" people/things in such a small town (we've got Nazis gathering, and complete Confederate pride, book banning/burning, LGBTQ characters (those with supportive families, those not), rape, a macho-movie star ... the characters were caricatures, and there were too many coincidences and easy outs.
Given the title - I think I was expecting something different. A steward of a Little Library that was proudly trying to provide access to books. Instead, Lula is the one behind the "bans" and with her little library she's graciously offering up what she thinks are appropriate reads. The library DOES end up being filled with banned books ... and everyone is oblivious.
In my own Little Library, only a small portion of the books have dust jackets. That every single book had a dust jacket here, well, I guess if that's what Lula bought. It was totally necessary for this storyline. And that someone could switch out, fitting new/controversial books that just happen to be the same size to fit said dust jackets... and that people taking the book and starting to read without realizing it's not the same book? To have one character (okay, given, she didn't graduate high school and this doesn't sound like the most progressive of towns) but that she's NEVER heard of Anne Frank? That she happens to pick that book (thinking it was Buffy Halliday Goes to Europe - not a real book, the books here are about half and half? Real and invented for this story) and "it wasn't quite what she'd been expecting. The book's narrator seemed a lot younger than the girl pictured on the cover ... Nobody in the book was named Buffy Halliday" It sure takes her a while to figure out it's a different book (I mean, usually the title IS right there at the front, often at the top of pages depending on the publication) and it's quite the coincidence that the person that just happened to pick up this book ... is married to a Nazi.
Not as much of a stretch that one of the Black townsfolk takes Our Confederate Heroes ... to take it out of circulation, not because he wants to read it. He does recognize the switch immediately, and appreciates the irony and support that represents. One of the older residents picks up a cookbook with an interesting idea for a cake, another woman hoping to keep her man, instead of "The Rules: Time-Tested Secredts for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right" finds herself reading "All Women Are Witches: Find Your Power and Put it to Use" ... I didn't really get the end of that chapter. Elijah, who happens to a brother who is gay, finds a story about two gay boys under the cover of Chicken Soup for the Soul. A little boy wondering about women issues/periods happens to pick up "Are You There God It's Me Margaret" ...
There were SO many different characters (all 3rd person/past tense) and then there were time shifts too, to Beverly and Lula's past when they were in high school. It was just a bit much to keep track of, to connect with enough to care about. I felt like the ending was over-the-top (although I loved how it showed how new-stories can be twisted and presented with a bias, even shocking those interviewed).
I feel like I'm on the liberal side ... I could see some with more "conservative values" perhaps being offended by the content itself (siding more with Lula). A bit of Trump bashing/Art of the Deal included "a lot to learn from the master" "make Troy great again" ... "The radical left ... they've got our kids baking dirty cakes and learning how to use butt plugs. Now they're out to destroy our statues ..."
The final Chapter is "Happy Ending" ... I appreciated the Table of Contents including the chapter headers (in both Kindle and Audio, I didn't have a physical copy of this book). On the one hand, I would have also liked to have the POV for the chapters listed, but just the headers (names of books) were enough to nudge my memory, so that I could revisit a specific chapter as needed. There was a note from the author - I always listen to author's notes, and more often than not, find them illuminating. I do wish that in audio, the author would present the author's notes themselves, it would make it so much more personal.
Quite a bit of proFanity (x73) and just presentations that I didn't care for - the first line "Ronnie Childers was tripping his balls off in Jackson Square when an angel of the Lord appeared before him." (It wasn't an angel, just a girl, and he was high ...) When Movie-Star Mitch appears on the scene "You ain't got nothing bigger? My granny wouldn't be caught dead in this pussy mobile." Much of the "Southern" presentation (drawls and such), the prissy women, as well as the macho-men, just seemed overdone. Someone said the book said it was satire? This really did hit a lot of important issues, but it was hard to get over the cartoonish characterizations.
No discussion questions included in the text - I wish there had been. That always makes me stop and think a little more. I even Googled but didn't find any/many set up (yet).
Given the title - I think I was expecting something different. A steward of a Little Library that was proudly trying to provide access to books. Instead, Lula is the one behind the "bans" and with her little library she's graciously offering up what she thinks are appropriate reads. The library DOES end up being filled with banned books ... and everyone is oblivious.
In my own Little Library, only a small portion of the books have dust jackets. That every single book had a dust jacket here, well, I guess if that's what Lula bought. It was totally necessary for this storyline. And that someone could switch out, fitting new/controversial books that just happen to be the same size to fit said dust jackets... and that people taking the book and starting to read without realizing it's not the same book? To have one character (okay, given, she didn't graduate high school and this doesn't sound like the most progressive of towns) but that she's NEVER heard of Anne Frank? That she happens to pick that book (thinking it was Buffy Halliday Goes to Europe - not a real book, the books here are about half and half? Real and invented for this story) and "it wasn't quite what she'd been expecting. The book's narrator seemed a lot younger than the girl pictured on the cover ... Nobody in the book was named Buffy Halliday" It sure takes her a while to figure out it's a different book (I mean, usually the title IS right there at the front, often at the top of pages depending on the publication) and it's quite the coincidence that the person that just happened to pick up this book ... is married to a Nazi.
Not as much of a stretch that one of the Black townsfolk takes Our Confederate Heroes ... to take it out of circulation, not because he wants to read it. He does recognize the switch immediately, and appreciates the irony and support that represents. One of the older residents picks up a cookbook with an interesting idea for a cake, another woman hoping to keep her man, instead of "The Rules: Time-Tested Secredts for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right" finds herself reading "All Women Are Witches: Find Your Power and Put it to Use" ... I didn't really get the end of that chapter. Elijah, who happens to a brother who is gay, finds a story about two gay boys under the cover of Chicken Soup for the Soul. A little boy wondering about women issues/periods happens to pick up "Are You There God It's Me Margaret" ...
There were SO many different characters (all 3rd person/past tense) and then there were time shifts too, to Beverly and Lula's past when they were in high school. It was just a bit much to keep track of, to connect with enough to care about. I felt like the ending was over-the-top (although I loved how it showed how new-stories can be twisted and presented with a bias, even shocking those interviewed).
I feel like I'm on the liberal side ... I could see some with more "conservative values" perhaps being offended by the content itself (siding more with Lula). A bit of Trump bashing/Art of the Deal included "a lot to learn from the master" "make Troy great again" ... "The radical left ... they've got our kids baking dirty cakes and learning how to use butt plugs. Now they're out to destroy our statues ..."
The final Chapter is "Happy Ending" ... I appreciated the Table of Contents including the chapter headers (in both Kindle and Audio, I didn't have a physical copy of this book). On the one hand, I would have also liked to have the POV for the chapters listed, but just the headers (names of books) were enough to nudge my memory, so that I could revisit a specific chapter as needed. There was a note from the author - I always listen to author's notes, and more often than not, find them illuminating. I do wish that in audio, the author would present the author's notes themselves, it would make it so much more personal.
Quite a bit of proFanity (x73) and just presentations that I didn't care for - the first line "Ronnie Childers was tripping his balls off in Jackson Square when an angel of the Lord appeared before him." (It wasn't an angel, just a girl, and he was high ...) When Movie-Star Mitch appears on the scene "You ain't got nothing bigger? My granny wouldn't be caught dead in this pussy mobile." Much of the "Southern" presentation (drawls and such), the prissy women, as well as the macho-men, just seemed overdone. Someone said the book said it was satire? This really did hit a lot of important issues, but it was hard to get over the cartoonish characterizations.
No discussion questions included in the text - I wish there had been. That always makes me stop and think a little more. I even Googled but didn't find any/many set up (yet).
I'd heard many rave reviews about this one. I was a little reluctant to pick it up ... I don't care for overly religious books, but while this has a biblical base, it's hardly what one would call "Christian" literature. This was just an okay book for me. I just think that long sagas aren't really at the top of my list. With historical fiction, I appreciate learning some facts (even if I have to look and verify what is truth) - I think much of my original biblical learnings have been overpowered by the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" *Ü* and this barely hit any of that well known tale and it's humorous approach. I'll admit, I wasn't really aware of Dinah or her story (even as sparse as it was in the bible). This was rich and flowing ... I'm not sure I was in the mood to appreciate it.
There was a prologue which introduces Dinah, or in which Dinah introduces herself. She talks to us/the reader, or women in the past? She mentions the role of women/daughters; in keeping the memories alive. She was told the stories, and she will now recount them, and her own, to us.
There were then three parts - and these were very distinct. Part One: My Mother's Stories (with three chapters) Part Two: My Story (eight chapters, which reset at 1-8 for the section) and Part Three: Egypt, with five chapters. As I often comment on the Table of Contents (or lack of) ... To me, a glance at the TOC, and seeing that there are three parts, what their headers are, is SO helpful. I'm lucky I had this in all three formats, because only the Kindle copy had a useful TOC. The audio showed the parts/chapters, but didn't include the part "titles" ... and I'll never understand physical books not having a table of contents page.
The audio narration was fine - I think I was expecting something with a bit of an accent to make it more exotic ... less "American"? The text copies had the original cover (which I don't love) but the audio had the updated (Lifetime movie) cover, and I'll admit, I was possibly expecting Rebecca Feguson's voice. I haven't seen the miniseries, and honestly, I don't know that I'm drawn to it (not streaming, but I could snag the DVD from the library).
Words I note: Lapis Lazuli, alchemy, ablutions, libation, roiled, obeisance.
There was a tiny "song" and it was sung.
Like a recent read [book:How to Read a Book|62365896] ... the very end, is narrated AFTER the MCs death. I thought it ironic that I read these two books with this same ending "I lived a good life, and then I died..." type of statement, so close together.
No proFanity, there was a bit of sexual stuff throughout, although nothing spicy or explicit.
There was a prologue which introduces Dinah, or in which Dinah introduces herself. She talks to us/the reader, or women in the past? She mentions the role of women/daughters; in keeping the memories alive. She was told the stories, and she will now recount them, and her own, to us.
There were then three parts - and these were very distinct. Part One: My Mother's Stories (with three chapters) Part Two: My Story (eight chapters, which reset at 1-8 for the section) and Part Three: Egypt, with five chapters. As I often comment on the Table of Contents (or lack of) ... To me, a glance at the TOC, and seeing that there are three parts, what their headers are, is SO helpful. I'm lucky I had this in all three formats, because only the Kindle copy had a useful TOC. The audio showed the parts/chapters, but didn't include the part "titles" ... and I'll never understand physical books not having a table of contents page.
The audio narration was fine - I think I was expecting something with a bit of an accent to make it more exotic ... less "American"? The text copies had the original cover (which I don't love) but the audio had the updated (Lifetime movie) cover, and I'll admit, I was possibly expecting Rebecca Feguson's voice. I haven't seen the miniseries, and honestly, I don't know that I'm drawn to it (not streaming, but I could snag the DVD from the library).
Words I note: Lapis Lazuli, alchemy, ablutions, libation, roiled, obeisance.
There was a tiny "song" and it was sung.
Like a recent read [book:How to Read a Book|62365896] ... the very end, is narrated AFTER the MCs death. I thought it ironic that I read these two books with this same ending "I lived a good life, and then I died..." type of statement, so close together.
No proFanity, there was a bit of sexual stuff throughout, although nothing spicy or explicit.