Way overdue book reviews

I am way overdue on book reviews. I am way overdue on writing, on posting, on this blog in general. It’s not that I haven’t had the time to write, but motivation has been difficult to find. I’m hoping to find that motivation in 2021!

I’ve been reading even more fiendishly than in a non-pandemic year, though, and since my last book post in mid-July, I have read twenty books and listened to twelve. Here are book reviews of my favorites.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

In 1714 France, Addie desperately bargains to escape an arranged marriage. The cost: She will be immortal but she will never be remembered by anyone she meets. Addie travels through the centuries, a whisper in a symphony of humanity, until she returns to a bookstore for a second time and the young man working there remembers her.

I adored this novel and its exploration of the meaning of existence. Are we simply a function of our impact on others? Who are we if we leave no footprint on others’ lives? I was sad to reach the last page and say goodbye to these characters. That doesn’t happen often for me, and it’s the sign of a wonderful read.

The Persimmon Tree by Bryce Courtenay (audio)

This sweeping saga of a love-struck couple in the war-torn South Pacific of 1942 has been on my to-read list for years. When I needed a new audiobook, I picked this piece of historical fiction, and I’m so glad I chose this format.

Nick and Anna meet in Indonesia, right before the Japanese invade the islands. Nick sails back home to Australia to serve his country, and Anna must remain in Java to survive the Japanese occupation.

The narrator of the audiobook is excellent; I highly recommend listening to this novel.  If you do, note that there is a sequel, but the general consensus was one of disappointment. Based on those reviews, I’m choosing to let Nick and Anna live in my mind as they were at the end of The Persimmon Tree.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audio)

Nora has given up on life, and finds herself in the midnight library…that magical place between life and death where the shelves are full of books holding the lives she did not live. Every choice she made led her down a path, but here in the midnight library she can go down the paths not taken, in order to choose a different version of her life.

What a journey it is to follow Nora through the library! She tries out different lives, discovering misplaced regrets, untapped potential, and what-could-have-beens that aren’t as fantastic as she imagined. I found this novel both heartbreaking and heartwarming, at times funny, and ultimately hopeful. I listened to it, but I’ve read many of Haig’s novels, and I’m sure it’s equally good in written format.

Evvie Drakes Starts Over by Linda Holmes (audio)

Evvie is a widow who was leaving her husband the day he died. Dean is a Major League baseball pitcher who can inexplicably no longer pitch. Evvie rents a room in her big empty home to Dean…I wonder where that will lead? 

Some books are predictable, but in a good way. This was that book – it was a lovely listen (and would be a lovely read), and the perfect antidote to the crazy this world is hurling at us everyday. Don’t expect brilliance, just enjoy the escape.

Malorie by Josh Malerman (Bird Box #2)

If you liked Bird Box (the book or the movie with Sandra Bullock), this was a well-written and satisfying sequel to the journey Malorie and her children take in a dystopian world where laying one’s eyes on mysterious creatures causes insanity and death. It’s succinct, fast-paced, and exciting; I may have even enjoyed it more than the first novel.

Here are a few more worth mentioning:

Contemporary fiction just begging for discussion:

Speak No Evil: A Novel by Uzodinma Iweala (audio)

Raw and unexpected, this short book (215 pages) about a teen coming out to his conservative Nigerian parents would be a fantastic book club pick.

A few decent thrillers:

The Last Flight by Julie Clark

Two strangers, both women trying to disappear into new lives, switch flights at the airport. One plane goes down, with no survivors. Engrossing, quick read.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (audio)

Police enter a home to find three dead bodies and a healthy baby girl. Twenty-five years later that baby inherits the house, but what happened to the other four children who lived there? This one kept me guessing.

Worthy reads by tried and true authors:

The Exiles: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline

In the early nineteenth century, two female English convicts are transported to Australia to serve their sentence, and one orphaned Aboriginal girl is adopted by the new English governor of Tasmania. Solid writing on par with Kline’s previous novels like Orphan Train.

The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah

Set in 1930s Texas and California, a woman fights to keep her family alive during the Depression and the Dust Bowl. Not my favorite of Hannah’s (that would be The Nightingale), but definitely worth a read. Publication date February 9, 2021; thank you Net Galley for the advanced reader copy.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

While it wasn’t my favorite of his books, Backman’s newest novel still delivers. It has his typical quirky style, with a full cast of interesting characters and an underlying message that humanity is good, and life is worth the effort. We all need that message as we wrap up 2020, don’t we?

*****

I’ll be back in less than two weeks with my annual Best Books post. Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy holiday season!