Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: 3 Quick Book Reviews
Happy
eclipse day! I worked over the weekend so I could take this afternoon
off to view the event. According to my weather app, it's supposed be
partly cloudy all day with a 45% chance of rain at the peak of the
eclipse. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get to see at least
something.
Just a little public service announcement:
If you bought eclipse-viewing glasses, please, please do a little
research and make sure you have a pair that is truly protective. A
number of poorly made glasses were on the market, and you do not want to
risk your eyesight.
Besides work, I spent much of the
weekend in the kitchen. I made 2.5 pints of nectarine-peach chutney, a
large batch of granola, some peach-banana ice pops, and about a pint of
tomato jam. I love stocking my freezer with summer's bounty. I didn't
get much print reading in, but I sure had a ton of audiobook time!
Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown
(Spiegel & Grau, July 11): Billie, a much-loved wife and
mother, goes on a solo hiking trip and is never seen again. A year
later, while preparing for the court hearing that will issue the death
certificate, Jonathan finally begins to sort through his wife's
belongings. At the same time, Olive begins to have visions that her
mother is still alive. As the two dig deeper into Billie's private life,
they realize just how little they knew her. Besides the mystery of what
really happened to Billie, the novel explores the grief and uncertainty
of not being able to process the loss of a loved one when you have no
body, no witnesses, and very few clues. Although some of the secrets
were easy to figure out, the character development of Jonathan and Olive
was nicely done. The author threw in a couple of side themes that made
the book more current, but I'm not sure they advanced the plot. We also
meet a few characters who seem to be central to the story but who are
later dropped. The unabridged audiobook (Random House Audio; 13 hr, 15 min) was read by Tavia Gilbert and Kaleo Griffith.
Gilbert performed the bulk of the audiobook and did a fine job with all
my key points: pacing, characterization, and expression. Griffith read
the few sections that were meant to be excerpts from Jonathan's memoir
about his wife. He too did a good job. I'll delve more into the
performances for AudioFile magazine, but the bottom line is that
the book is worth your time, even if it won't be the best audiobook
you'll listen to this year.
The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker
(Harper, August 1): I have a thing for Vikings, and so couldn't resist
this historical novel of revenge and family. Our heroes are Ragnvald and
his sister, Svanhild, each of whom pick a different path to power in
their desire to live up to their grandfather's great reputation as a
feudal king of Norway and to regain the lands they lost after their
father's murder There are battles and blood, alliances and betrayals,
unexpected love and deep heartbreak. At the core of the saga is King
Harald, who is building an army and trying to fulfill his prophesied
destiny of uniting Norway under one ruler--him. Although a good land
warrior, the teenage king is still inexperienced at sea and still young
enough to be influenced by his uncle. The novel has all the things I
love, but for some reason I was not swept away to the 9th century. The
writing is good, and the historical details were believable, but the
story dragged a bit, despite the battles, duels, raids, and kidnappings.
I can't really pinpoint why this book wasn't a total winner for me. The
novel is the first in a trilogy. I plan to continue with the saga, but
I'm not counting the days until the next book is released. The unabridged audiobook (Harper Audio; 15 hr, 33 min) was read by Matthew Lloyd Davies,
who did a decent job. He has a nice sense of pacing and seemed to have
no trouble with the Norse words and names, but I wasn't lost in the
story. Davies has a clear voice, is easy to understand, and reads with a
nice level of expression. I would be happy to listen to any book he
read; I think my issue here was the novel not the narrator.
To the Back of Beyond by Peter Stamm
(Other Press, October 3): I picked up this novel at BEA after talking
with the nice people at the Other Press booth. I've read at least one of
Stamm's novels (Agnes) and some of his short stories and love
the way he creates a mood and delves into his characters' psyches. Here,
we meet Astrid and Thomas, a seemingly ordinary couple with school-age
children, sitting in their back garden on their first night back from
their summer holiday. When Astrid goes inside to check on their son,
Thomas gets up, opens the gate, and begins to walk. The short novel
alternates the stories of the couple. Unlike Watch Me Disappear,
this is not a mystery but an examination of how life can change,
sometimes for no real reason. How does Astrid make sense of what
happened, what does she tell the children, and when does she go to the
police? What is Thomas thinking? Does he intend to leave his family and
life with nothing more than what he's wearing and what's in his pockets?
If something happens to him while he's walking, who will know and how
will he be rescued? Does he even what to be saved? I know I'm reviewing
this book way too early (since it won't be available for another six
weeks or so), but I don't want you to miss it. Life is unpredictable,
and sometimes the choices we make hardly seem like choices at all.
Without truly noticing, we're on an entirely different path from before,
wondering how we got there.
