Tag: General Fiction Page 14 of 42

Fridays with the Foundling
Allrighty, folks…buckle in. We’ve got to get through 30 pages here to get back on schedule.

We start with Mrs. Fitzpatrick telling Sophia what has her on the road, essentially recapping her entire life from the time she married Mr. Fitzpatrick. It takes three long (by Fielding’s standards) to get through. In short, she was taken in by his (fleeting) charms—a personality that disappeared soon after their wedding, and looks that went the way of all things. He, on the other hand, seemed primarily interested in her “Ready Money” (in the words of one of his impatient creditors). Even as she becomes aware of the latter, he’s able to talk her into returning to Ireland with him and to take up residence in an increasingly gloomy house. From this point, we get a tale of repeated arguments, infidelity (on his part), imprisonment in her quarters, and attempts to force her to sell part of her landholdings.

What a great guy, eh?

They’re interrupted briefly by the landlady with news that the French have arrived to throw in with the rebellion against the Queen. It’s distressing news to Sophia, but she’s so worried about her father’s arrival and what Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s been telling her that her reaction isn’t quite right.

Then Sophia tells her tale—Fielding tells us that he won’t recap what she says, because we’ve already read it. But, there’s a catch:

she made no more mention of Jones, from the Beginning to the End, than if there had been no such Person alive. This I will neither endeavour to account for nor to excuse. Indeed, if this may be called a Kind of Dishonesty, it seems the more inexcusable, from the apparent Openness and explicit Sincerity of the other Lady.—But so it was.

A Gentleman arrives at the Inn and, after a lot of fuss and bother, is revealed to be the gentleman and neighbor of Mrs. Fitzpatrick who helped her escape from her home and get to England. He agrees to help the ladies get to London safely.

I’ve got to say, this was hard to get through. It was exactly the kind of info dump that most authors try to avoid today, and just wasn’t that interesting. I hope, hope, that learning all this pays off eventually and is something more than just Mrs. Fitzpaterick’s backstory just to be told it.

Still, that little nugget about Sophia leaving Tom out of the tale of her last few months is interesting…

The Friday 56 for 8/14/20

By HCNewton

On August 14, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
The Rome of Fall

The Rome of Fall by Chad Alan Gibbs

“Wait that kid is in my class,” I said, after the quarterback took off his helmet and jogged to the sideline. “Rome is starting a freshman quarterback?“

Deacon chuckled. “Who, Kyler? Naw, his parents held him back a year for sports, then he failed kindergarten. He should be a junior.”

“Wait, he failed—good lord,” I said then flinched as the sky filled with celebratory fireworks after the extra point split the uprights. “When did Rome get pyrotechnics?” I asked.

“Those were the brainchild of the great Jackson Crowder,” Deacon said. “He thought it was safer than fans shooting their own Roman candles.”

Of course it was safer, but I held my tongue.

Coffee and Condolences by Wesley Parker: Two People with an Incredible Amount of Baggage Trying to Fit It All in the Same Overhead Compartment

By HCNewton

On August 13, 2020

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Coffee and Condolences

by Wesley Parker

eARC, 268 pg.
2020

Read: July 21, 2020

There’s a bit from the movie Grosse Pointe Blank that has inexplicably gotten stuck in my brain, to rear its head from time to time.

Debi: You know what you need?
Marty: What?
Debi: Shakabuku.
Marty: You wanna tell me what that means?
Debi: It’s a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.
Marty: Oh, that’d be good. I think.

This snippet of conversation came to mind a few times while reading this book, because if there’s anyone who needs Shakabuku, it’s Miles Alexander. The only question is: where will this kick be coming from?

What’s Coffee and Condolences About?

Miles Alexander is a man on a mission. Following the death of his wife and children and a suicide attempt worthy of Lane Meyer*, his therapist points out that there are two women alive that he needs to repair his relationship with—his mother and sister. For pretty understandable reasons, Miles is willing to work on only one of those—so he flies to New York to track down his sister at NYU, where she’s working on her Master’s.

* Yeah, I did just make a second John Cusak reference, not sure where that came from.

The damage he did to their relationship was pretty bad, and Lily’s not over it. But, she loves her brother and is willing to forgive. They spend some time connecting, but they largely ignore the problem. I enjoyed and appreciated watching the two of them spar and support each other.

While waiting for Lilly, Miles stops off at a coffee shop near campus and falls in deep smit at first sight with a barista, Melody. She seems to be interested in him, too (giving him her phone number unsolicited was the first clue). She knows that Miles is working through some stuff, and gives him space to do so and tell her about it in his own time—she’s got her own particular kind of baggage, too. She’ll share that when she’s ready.

Readers will know her secret almost immediately, but that’s okay, the focus isn’t supposed to be on the mystery—it’s about Miles working through things and when he learns it, that’s the important part. As nice as the romance is, as fun (and important) as the brother/sister bond is, the book’s focus is Miles and his continuing grieving and healing. In a move reminiscent of Nick Hornby’s Rob coming clean to the reader about the horrible thing he did to his girlfriend*, Miles eventually tells his reader about the horrible thing he did shortly before his wife’s death. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but you can’t help but feel for the guy—he and his wife would’ve worked through it (you sense) had they been given the opportunity. Instead, it’s something that Miles has to work through on his own, so he can move forward with his life. With Melody’s secret and the revelation Miles gives us, the important part isn’t the content—it’s how Parker delivers the revelation. And he does it exactly right.

* Not a Cusak reference, I meant the book. But it’s close.

Lilly gives the support and encouragement, Melody gives Miles the security to process what he needs to—and Dr. Felt helped equip him to do these things. Somewhere in there, Shakabuku.

Yes, eventually, their mother appears and Miles has to deal with her. Up until the end, the whole thing between his mother and Miles didn’t click with me—it’s probably a problem with me and my attention span, not with Parker’s writing. But anything that took focus away from Lilly or Melody wasn’t really that interesting to me. But once Miles got serious about mending fences and making amends with her, I finally bought into the relationship and thought Parker did a good job with the resolution there.

Now, sure, you might be thinking that a therapist by the name of Dr. Felt has all the subtlety of a brick flying through the air. And you’d be right. But, you know what? The name Felt actually works for her. She’s a cool character, and a nice tribute to the mental health professions on Parker’s part. The Miles/Dr. Felt relationship/interplay is one of my favorite parts of the book.

What can I say about the ending without any spoilers? It’s sweet and gratifying. Just what the doctor ordered.

So what did I think about Coffee and Condolences ?

It occurs to me as I write this that I’ve enjoyed a lot more of “Lad Lit” in the last year or so—mostly self/independently published. I dabbled in some of it years ago, and largely was annoyed and turned off by what I read. But since I read Matthew Hanover’s Not Famous, I’ve been exposed to some really good—and really entertaining—works in this subgenre. I need to get better at talking about them, because I feel myself floundering here—and I feel bad about that. Parker deserves a little better than what I’ve come up with.

The plot was decent, I liked the characters (not necessarily everything they did, but them) and was engaged with most of them right away, I was invested in the outcome of most of the plotlines, I thought it was a great idea to tie in the therapy Miles received to what was going on, and I enjoyed Parker’s voice and most of his choices.

Coffee and Condolences was like a medium-dark chocolate mocha. Just a hint of a bite, but a sweet treat (and I specified medium, because I wanted a little more), a very pleasant experience. I recommend it, I will be in line with cash ready for the next book Parker releases.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion—I appreciate that, and apologize that it’s taken me so long to get this posted, but it had no impact on what I said or how I rated the book.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK X., vi-BOOK XI., ii.

By HCNewton

On August 7, 2020

In Fiction, Fridays with The Foundling, General Fiction/Literature

Fridays with the Foundling
Partridge tries to talk Tom in to returning home, rather than getting further inolved with the military. That doesn’t go well at all, and the two start to bicker, when Tom finds the Muff, recognizes it and suddenly can only care aonly about it. He tries to set out to track Sophia down.

And, yeah, Mrs. Fitzpatrick was, after all, probably at the Inn—just not the woman that Tom was found with, and is already on the road. The coach that had likely brought Mrs. Fitzpatrick to the end is described:

The Coach which had brought the young Lady and her Maid, and which, perhaps, the Reader may have hitherto concluded was her own, was, indeed, a returned Coach belonging to Mr King, of Bath, one of the worthiest and honestest Men that ever dealt in Horse-flesh, and whose Coaches we heartily recommend to all our Readers who travel that Road. By which Means they may, perhaps, have the Pleasure of riding in the very Coach, and being driven by the very Coachman, that is recorded in this History.

According the footnotes in my edition, this was an actual business, making this appear to be one of the earliest examples of product placement?

Chapter vi ends with:

Here, Reader, it may be necessary to acquaint thee with some Matters, which, if thou dost know already, thou art wiser than I take thee to be. And this Information thou shalt receive in the next Chapter.

This is one of my all-time favorite chapter endings. I love it when Fielding narrates his narration like this. It’s the simple things in life, right?

The next chapter is such the comedy of errors, mistaken identities, mistaken motives, wild accusations, and general running about that I can’t summarize it well—I’d really have to just reprint the whole chapter. Suffice it to say that Squire Western is a couple of hours behind Sophia, and is still no friend of Tom’s. Oh, and Mrs. Fitzpatrick is the cousin of Sophia.

We then get flashback chapters, detailing how Sophia ran away from her home, and how her father reacted (hint: poorly) upon discovering it—oddly, her aunt defended her actions. Naturally, Fielding uses the chance to indulge his weakness for the young lady,

It is now Time to look after Sophia; whom the Reader, if he lovers half as well as I do, will rejoice to find escaped from the Clutches of her passionate Father, and from those of her dispassionate Lover.

We get a beginning of a Book digression—this one into a harangue against literary critics, who are nothing more than slanderers, attacking an author when they attack a book—

for, as no one can call another Bastard, without calling the Mother a Whore, so neither can any one give the Names of sad Stuff, horrid Nonsense, &c., to a Book, without calling the Author a Blockhead; which, though in a moral Sense it is a preferable Appellation to that of Villain, is perhaps rather more injurious to his worldly Interest.

(as much as I quibble with his argument, I enjoyed it)

Then we resume with Sophia’s journey after her close miss with Tom, she, her maid, and their guide rush toward London, and soon discover they’re being followed (unintentionally). It turns out that they’re being followed by none other than Sophia’s cousin, Mrs. Fitzpatrick. They had been very close not that long ago and decide to travel together. But are both so tired after their last couple of days that they don’t talk much, and resolve to keep their stories until they’ve had a chance to sleep. They get to an inn, and collapse almost immediately, so we’ll get to see them catch up with each other next week.

Some of this was just a bit too busy for my taste. I prefer Fielding a bit more streamlined, but overall, this was eventful, fun and should prove to make life interesting in the chapters to come.

Betty by Tiffany McDaniel: A Beautiful Novel about a Tragic Childhood

By HCNewton

On August 7, 2020

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Betty

by Tiffany McDaniel

eARC, 480 pg.
Knopf, 2020

Read: July 25-28, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

I’ve struggled with this one for days now and was tempted to say something like, “It’s a Tiffany McDaniel book. This means the writing is gorgeous, the subject will provoke you, you will be moved. And did I mention it’s wonderfully written?” But I knew I couldn’t post that…it doesn’t actually tell you anything about this book (“Tiffany McDaniel” and “gorgeous writing” is essentially a tautology) and since when do I express myself in twenty-seven words?

Who’s Betty About?

Yeah, I normally ask what a book is about, but the what is so unimportant in this book a reader could be excused for not remembering. You won’t forget the who anytime soon. The who is what matters.

It’s about a young, poor family’s struggles between 1939 and 1973—with a focus on 1961-73 (when Betty was 7-19) when the family settles in Appalachian Ohio (and largely stays there). The father is of Cherokee descent (Tsa-la-gi. A-vn-da-di-s-di), the mother is white—and you can imagine how easy life was for them and their children in that time (harder for Betty who takes more after her Cherokee lineage, while her siblings favor their mother). While none of the children has an easy life, there’s a greater degree of difficulty of Betty.

I could spend a good deal of time talking about various family members, but I’m going to focus on two of them.

Landon Carpenter (a.k.a. “Dad”)

When Landon Carpenter met Alka Lark, he was working as a gravedigger, he later worked at a clothespin factory—and then several other jobs, including a stint in a coal mine (which left him with a permanent limp due to a beating given by racists), while the family moved from state to state. When they settled in Breathed, Ohio*, he became known for selling moonshine, herbal remedies (based on “Cherokee wisdom” that was essentially what he happened to make up on the spot), and hand-crafting furniture.

* A fictional city that also served as the setting for The Summer that Melted Everything—one of several nods to that work included here.

But really, what he does with his time is father his children and try to take care of his wife. They don’t all appreciate it, or understand what he’s doing, but they’re (largely) devoted anyway. He will be frequently found passing on a bit of received knowledge through myths or parable form. He wasn’t ready to be a father when he became one and two decades later, he still wasn’t entirely ready when Betty arrived (or her younger siblings, either), but he rises to the occasion as best as he can. I don’t get the picture that he’s the easiest guy to get to know or get along with for prolonged periods. But for those who do get to know him, he’s clearly a loyal and supportive friend.

Betty (a.k.a. “Little Indian”)

Either as a quirk of personality or because she’s physically closer to her Cherokee heritage (likely a combination), Betty embraces the cultural lessons her father passes down more readily than her siblings do—and always wants more. She’s naive, inquisitive, and somehow despite everything she witnesses innocent and optimistic (not precisely, but that’s the best word I can come up with). Life hands her horrible experience after horrible experience, and while momentarily cowed, she comes back, wiser, but still innocent. Toward the end of the book, she has a couple of experiences (one thing she’s told about, one thing she witnesses) that drive her to the breaking point—but even then she holds on for a little longer.

She’s our Point of View character and doesn’t understand everything that’s going on around her for most of the book—things really kick off when she’s seven, after all. So we see a lot of the book through unreliable eyes, but very reliable emotions and reactions. From the latter, we can get a good understanding of what’s going on, better than she can.

The Magic (for lack of a better word)

In McDaniel’s The Summer that Melted Everything, many things happen that may be supernatural or magical in origin, there’s a semi-magical realism feel to it. That’s not the case here. Nor is the source of the “magic” in this novel one mysterious stranger.

The power that keeps Dad and Betty—and the rest of the family—going comes from story. Dad’s constantly telling stories to his children, Betty in particular—and, we learn, he even tells stories to his friends (I don’t think Landon’s wife has much patience for many such stories, as much as she needs them). Betty typically doesn’t tell her stories to anyone, but she writes them down, filling notebooks with them. Some she keeps, some she buries (to preserve or to hid), some she gives away. By their use of story—sometimes use of words—Dad and betty keep themselves, and those around them, going. They inspire, encourage, and teach with them.

A story that Betty’s mother tells her is arguably the most powerful story in the novel—and it explains more of the novel than anything else. Her story, is wholly true, and wholly heartbreaking, but even that comes down to the power of storytelling.

Drawbacks to the book

I don’t really want to label these as problems with the book, but there are a few things that keep me from being as enthusiastic about Betty as I was for The Summer that Melted Everything (which I am enthusiastic about to this day). I basically proselytized readers over that book, I won’t go that overboard for this.

The first is that it took me far longer than it should have to get what McDaniel was trying to accomplish, I kept waiting for a plot to emerge, and there’s never much of one by design. Instead, as I indicated above, this is about the characters. Growing, developing, faltering, stumbling, and retreating. It’s about how they react to the events (or non-events) in their lives that matters, now the events themselves. It’s entirely possible that this is all me and not the text. But I don’t think that’s the case (or I wouldn’t have gone on about it).

Secondly, the non-Carpenter characters. With two notable exceptions (the town Doctor who comes running when they call; and a friend of Landon’s who rents them the house they settle in. But the rest of the people (almost without exception), are simply horrible. Some of the Carpenters are okay, and most of them demonstrate growth (at least). But everyone else is horrible, blatantly so…so many people in authority of varying degrees are just horrible, spiteful, evil people. And it’s just hard to read that. I firmly believe in man’s inhumanity to man, but it’s usually tempered, at least on the surface/occasionally, with something positive. We aren’t given anything to look to and say, “Hey, there’s someone decent”, or “There’s someone doing something decent. Spiteful, racist, ignorant, misogynous, capricious, and evil. Those are the words that come to mind as I think about the non-Carpenter characters, and it’s just hard to read them.

So, what did I think about Betty?

I started off liking it, and that feeling slowly grew. There weren’t many moments that wow’ed me, but there were a handful that broke my heart. I sincerely want another 50 pages of the Dad’s odd little myths (some of which, I’m pretty sure contradict themselves, which Betty sees and rolls with). I wanted to help Betty through her challenges, to at least shoulder some of her burden with her.

And did I mention the prose is fantastic?

That said, I don’t think I connected with the characters (particularly those who aren’t Dad or Betty) the way McDaniel wanted me to. I don’t think there’s enough going on to urge people to read this, but I will recommend it strongly. That said, I think I will be in the minority with this book and most readers won’t understand my hesitation to rave over this. I do recommend this book, I do plan on re-reading it in a year or two, and I will be first in line for McDaniel’s next book.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this. I also want to thank McDaniel for approaching me to let me know it was available for request. None of the above kept me from giving my honest opinion.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Catch-Up Quick Takes Timeless; Point Blank; Smarter Faster Better; Heartburn; In Plain Sight; Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed; The Bitterroots

By HCNewton

On August 4, 2020

In Audiobook, C. J. Box, Comics, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Joe Pickett, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Steampunk, YA/MG/Children's Books

The point of these quick takes post to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness. Half of this particular group bothers me to include here, but I’m afraid I’m about to lose track of them. The other half? Well, I might have trouble coming up with enough to talk about even in this format.

Timeless

by Gail Carriger, Emily Gray (Narrator)
Series: The Parasol Protectorate, #5
Unabridged Audiobook, 11 hrs., 25 mins.
Hachette Audio, 2012
Read: May 13-18, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
I won’t deny that there were a couple of moments that had me on the edge of my seat, but overall this concluding novel felt like a letdown. There was just a lot of treading water going on, the plot just wouldn’t move for ages, it seemed.

An audiobook narrated by Emily Gray Unabridged Audiobooks a multitude of shortcomings, however. She’s just so much fun to listen to.

I’m glad I listened to this series, but I’m also glad that I’m done. It started strong, but over the course of the series, it kept getting weaker and weaker. A fun mash-up of Urban Fantasy and Victorian Steampunk, but ultimately unsatisfying.

Point Blank

by Anthony Horowitz, Simon Prebble (Narrator)
Series: Alex Rider, #2
Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 42 min.
Recorded Books, 2013
Read: May 29, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Alex Rider is back with another dose of escapist spy fiction for the MG set. It’s fun, but disposable. It’s the audiobook equivalent of NCIS, an entertaining way to spend some time, but that’s about it. I liked what Horowitz did with his character and I appreciated the growth in Alex.

This time, Alex is sent to an exclusive private school in the guise of a child of a rich and powerful man. Two similar fathers, from different parts of the world, with sons at this school, had recently been assassinated and M16 wants to get to the bottom of it.

Prebble did a fine job with the narration, I hope he continues.

This was clever and pretty exciting, I hope the series continues in this vein—I can absolutely see why my son tore through them (and re-read them, probably the only things he re-read). I’ll be back for more (just wish I’d made myself do this back when he was reading them).

Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

by Charles Duhigg, Mike Chamberlain (Narrator)
Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs., 23 min.
Random House Audio, 2016
Read: July 2-6, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
My chief complaint about Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit, was that I expected something the reader could use for themselves. This isn’t as easy to apply as you might want, but it’s clearly written with an eye for the reader not just to understand the principles of efficiency and productivity, but to show some ways to bring the lessons home.

That said, it’s not a how-to book, it’s not self-improvement, it’s largely about the science/study/understanding of productivity. I found it just as fascinating as the last book, and can see where it’d be a useful guidebook for people in some sort of position of authority in an organization.

Duhigg also shows us his process while illustrating his own application of the book’s lessons—which I really enjoyed.

I’m absolutely on board for whatever book Duhigg puts out next, Chamberlain is a great narrator for his material, too.

Heartburn

by Nora Ephron, Meryl Streep (Narrator)
Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 30 min.
Random House Audio, 2013
Read: July 7, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
A very pregnant cookbook writer/TV host/new mom’s marriage crumbles around her, as she attempts to salvage it, protect her children, and make a way for herself in the world. Really, she’s trying to do it all, and do it well. (that’s a lousy summary, just click the link above, will ya?)

The narrator? This Meryl Streep person? I tell you what, I think she’s going places—there’s something special about her performance. Seriously, she did a great job, no surprise there.

Nor is it a surprise that Ephron can write a clever little book. I’m a long-time fan, I knew I should’ve picked this up when it was released. I don’t know that it’s necessarily deep, or that you walk away with new insight into the human condition, marriage, or love. But it was funny, it felt honest and real, and you get caught up in the life of Rachel Samstat right away. Solidly entertaining.

In Plain Sight

by C. J. Box, David Chandler (Narrator)
Series: Joe Pickett, #6
Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 23 min.
Recorded Books, 2008
Read: July 22-24, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
So this is all about chickens coming home to roost—almost everything that happened in this novel ties into one or more of the previous novels. And never the fun stuff from those novels. There’s the marital issues we got a glimpse at since Day 1 (and getting worse all the time—especially in the last book), the dead former Sheriff, the new Sheriff and his issues with Joe, Joe’s new boss—and more that I will just gloss over and let you read.

There’s a truly disturbing secret unearthed that really sheds light on so much of what happened in the book, most authors would’ve spent a lot more time on it than Box did here, he just let it be something that happened on the way to the major showdown. I like that he did it, but also kind of wish he’d given us a little more about it.

I did like the new governor and hope we get to see him again. (I especially like the fact that he’s a fictional politician and governs a neighboring state, not my own, I don’t even think I could enjoy him as a fictional Idaho governor).

There’s a lot left hanging at the close of this novel, I know the series continues (for many, many books to come), but I really have no idea what it’ll look like when I come back for Free Fire. Joe will be different, too, no matter what the circumstances around him are like. I assume Box is going to address it and I’m very curious about it.

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed

by Laurie Halse Anderson, Leila del Duca (Art)
Paperback, 208 pg.
DC Comics, 2020
Read: July 25, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
I really didn’t need this book, Leigh Bardugo’s YA retelling of Wonder Woman’s origin was good enough, and superior to this one. But I’d read some largely positive reviews and decided to give it a shot.

It felt less like a Wonder Woman story, and more like Anderson wanted to find a way to talk about certain issues and shoved Diana into the necessary circumstances and then shaped the character around that, rather than making it feel organic and earned. Also, there was too much left unexplained. There was so much I didn’t understand about what was going on with Diana on the Themyscira and physically that it felt more like Anderson dropped the ball and less like she was being understated.

It wasn’t bad, but it sure wasn’t good.

The Bitterroots

by C. J. Box, Christina Delaine (Narrator)
Series: The Highway Quartet, #5
Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 49 min.
Macmillan Audio, 2019
Read: July 30-31, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Cassie’s done with law enforcement (but like Harry Bosch, will always think like a cop), and is making a living as a PI. A blast from the past calls in a favor owed and hires her to do some work as an investigator for the defense in a criminal proceeding. Cassie hates the idea in general, and loathes it in particular—the client is clearly guilty. Clearly guilty of raping his teenage niece, no less. He’s also a highly unpleasant person—she wouldn’t want to work for him even before the rape charge. But a debt’s a debt, and she figures she’ll find enough evidence to get him to switch his plea to guilty and work out a deal.

Readers/Listeners know all too well that the clearly guilty part guarantees that Cassie will eat some crow on this point, but that’s for later.

So Cassie travels to the very small town in northern Montana where the crime took place and the client’s estranged family runs everything from their ranch to the school board and all things in between—including the Sheriff’s Office and Courts. Things do not go well for her and her investigation—which just makes her think there’s something for her to find to help the client after all.

I definitely listened to this too soon after In Plain Sight, one of the themes of it is repeated here—not something I’d have noticed (at least not as much) if a few more weeks had passed.

Box ultimately won me over, but I came close to DNFing this a time or two, and I really didn’t enjoy most of the book. It was just a little heavy-handed, and the tie-in to a prior nemesis really didn’t work for me at all (and I’m not sure the introduction of the tie-in works now that I’ve seen where Box was taking it—it’s too complicated to explain, especially for this post, let’s just say I didn’t like it). But by the end, I liked what Cassie got up to and how she handled herself—and I like the way that Box dealt with the climax and denouement—both were really strong (and semi-unexpected).

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from any of them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Friday 56 for 7/31/20

By HCNewton

On July 31, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Coffee and Condolences

by Wesley Parker

“Think fast,” a voice calls from behind me and, before I can fully turn my head, a red, rubber ball bounces off my head and sends me sprawling into a rack of shirts. In an attempt to break my fall, I grab for a shelf only to find out it’s not fastened into the wall tight enough, and I bring down the entire supply of skinny jeans on top of me. I can hear the gasps and footsteps of people coming to dig me out of the pile of hipster rubble. As I get to my feet, I hear Lily scolding a worker for not securing the shelves to the wall—as if they were the catalyst for what just happened.

“Lily, what the fuck?”

“My bad! I thought having kids gave you better instincts.”

“Yeah, for falls and spills. It didn’t give me spider sense.”

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK X., ii.-v.

By HCNewton

On July 24, 2020

In Fiction, Fridays with The Foundling, General Fiction/Literature

Fridays with the Foundling
We start off with the 18th case of mistaken identity and 47th fistfight of the book.

Some Irishman has come to the Inn late at night, looking for his wife. The maid assumes that he’s talking about Mrs. Waters, leads him to her room. He bursts in, sees clothing from two people scattered all over, a female in the bed and Tom jumping out of it to see who burst in. The stranger starts attacking Tom. Another Irishman is staying in the next room (I’m not going to bother trying to introduce them), a friend, and he comes charging in—only to help him realize that Mrs. Waters isn’t his wife. The two leave and Tom goes back to bed.

The maid and landlady discuss the events of the evening, only to be interrupted by a lady’s maid and her lady coming to take a room. After getting them settled, the maid comes down, looking for food and gets to talking things over with the inn’s made and Partridge. One thing leads to another and Patridge reveals to Mrs. Honour (naturally, that’s who the lady’s maid is) that Tom’s here with Mrs. Waters.

Partridge does a little more damage that I really don’t care enough to recap. Mrs. Honour tells Sophia about it, she’s highly offended (not realizing it was Partridge telling tales out of school, not Tom) and arranges to leave the fabled muff (which, of course, she has on her) and a note in Tom’s room.

There are a couple of stylistic moments that seem different from the rest of the book—as I’m currently at page 546, that’s no mean feat. They were nice touches, but I’m glad they’re just touches. Even without that, Fielding’s voice was as strong as ever, and I chuckled as much as I rolled my eyes at these silly circumstances.

Looking forward to seeing Tom dig himself out of this hole.

I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman: The Cat’s in the Cradle and all that…

By HCNewton

On July 23, 2020

In Abbi Waxman, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I Was Told It Would Get Easier

by Abbi Waxman

Paperback, 328 pg.
Berkley, 2020

Read: July 14, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

I sighed. “And I’m leaving day after tomorrow for the college tour.”

She laughed. “There you go, that’ll be a total freaking disaster and therefore for a great distraction from the impending end of your career.”

“Wow, that’s super supportive.”

“I scare because I care.”

“Thanks.”

“In other news this, this morning Sasha told me I make her want jump off a cliff.”

“What prompted that?”

“I said her uniform skirt was too short.”

“And that gave rise to suicidal ideation?”

“Teenagers are all about balance and reason.”

The Mother

The essence of this book is right there—Jessica (a lawyer in a pretty big law firm in L.A.) is taking her daughter, Emily, on a college tour days after leveling an ultimatum at her boss–make some serious changes to the way the firm treats female lawyers, and do it soon, or she walks.* Being jobless might not be the best way to prepare for her daughter’s college years, but you do what you have to. It should be stressed, that there’s no way that Jessica is going to mention this to Emily.

* Jessica’s efforts to change her firm from within, and the two associates she champions, would make a decent novel. I don’t know that it’s a very Waxman-esque novel, but she gives us enough of a flavor of the story that the reader can write that in their mind

The trip isn’t just about colleges—it’s about Jessica and Emily having a chance to reconnect. To bond a little before Emily moves to the next stage of her life. Jessica fears that she wasn’t around enough during Emily’s childhood, and now that she’s on the verge of leaving, the gulf between the two is too large, and she’s regretting many choices she made while Emily was growing up. That’s not precisely true, she’d make just about all of them again, she regrets the unintended consequences of those choices.

The Daughter

Everyone tells you middle school is fun, and then you get there and it sucks. Then high school is going to be fun, but you get there and it both sucks and is really hard. Now, apparently, college is going to be fun, but it really seems like one more hurdle standing between me and actual happiness. Whatever that is.

Emily, on the other hand, is not looking forward to this trip. She’s not sure she wants to go to college (but she knows that’s the expected next step and is planning on taking it), she isn’t looking forward to that much time with her mother—especially in Jessica’s “plan for the future” mode—and there’s something pretty big that happened at school recently. Emily isn’t going to be telling her mother about it, either, but she knows that at any moment, someone from the school will be calling to talk to her mother. What good is planning for college when you’re not even sure you’re going to survive high school? Still, anything’s better than being at school for the next few days, so the trip won’t be a total loss.

The Trip

This is a group tour—put together by some college prep group—ten students and their parents are flying from L.A. to Washington D. C. to begin a whirlwind tour of some of the bigger-named colleges on the East Coast (including one “Ivy”). The kids are all from top-tier private schools, and (most of) the parents have a decent amount of money. Waxman is able to take this situation and make it seem not all that different from a family stuffing themselves into a car to go check out a state college or two. Turns out that caring parents want the best for their kids and want a decent relationship with them, no matter the family’s social stratus. Who knew, right?

In addition to the schools they’re breezing through, there are a few excursions to take in some local culture and even have some free time. Emily’s prompted Jessica to reach out to some of her old college friends while they’re out there, so their free time features such diversions as: an old boyfriend (who is not subtle not even a little bit about wanting to rekindle that old flame—at least temporarily); an old friend who is now a professor of philosophy, and pushes both mother and daughter to look at things in a new light; Jessica’s father who drove her to be the best (read: most successful) she could be, and doesn’t quite get Emily’s way of thinking.

Then there are the people on the tour—the reader doesn’t really get to know all the students/parents, but we focus on a few—there’s the geology/math geek (and his equally geeky mother), the cute and thoughtful boy (and his cute and thoughtful single father), and then there’s Alice and Dani.

I think if either Jessica or Emily had known they were going to be along, they’d have rescheduled the trip. “Alice is [in Emily’s words] the kind of girl we’re all supposed to be, but I don’t want to want to be her, if you get me.” She’s super popular, super ambitious, “she arrived on the first day of ninth grade and assumed control ten days later.” The two were friends for a few weeks before Alice moved into a higher social group. Meanwhile, Jessica describes Alice’s mother, “Daniella—Call me Dani—is not the kind of mother I want to be, but I think she’s the kind of mother I’m supposed to want to be.” The wife of a studio exec, she spends her time mothering and volunteering. The presence of these two they know, but don’t want to; have to be nice to, but don’t want to; gives the pair a common cause (and shows the reader how similar they are, even if neither can see it).

I could probably say a lot about this part of the book, but all I’m going to say about the tour and the tour group is that I could’ve easily enjoyed another week of them hitting various educational institutions and discussing them internally. I enjoyed every second of the tour/tour group we got to see. Naturally, we got a little bit of the College Admissions Scandal of recent history mixed in—and I appreciated the way Waxman worked that in.

The Heart of the Matter

I swear…I’ll be graduating college and Mom will be on a call. I watched her nervously through the window at first, but it was clearly the office; she looked base-level stressed and didn’t throw any accusing glances my way. She’d missed pretty much everything I did in elementary school because of work, and though I totally support her, girl power and all that, it’s irritating. She complains about a work all the time, too, so I can’t help noticing I’m coming second to something she doesn’t even like.

(In her defense, Jessica notes (about having her phone on her and access to her email), “This is the problem with being able to work from anywhere… you end up working from everywhere.”)

The core of the book is the mother-daughter story. Imagine Gilmore Girls, if Lorelai and Rory didn’t know how to talk to each other without it quickly turning into an argument (yes, I know, they had their moments, but there was a friendship under-girding it). Their relationship was so frustrating, just a little bit of openness and/or bravery on the part of either one of them would enable them to talk—it made me sad. At the same time, I thoroughly enjoyed the book—and had a lot of fun with it.

I loved both characters—and was heavily invested in both of their stories and loved their voices. Seeing both events—and their fights—from both perspectives was a great way for Waxman to approach this. On those occasions when the two were on the same page? It was golden. Just a delight to read and spend time with them when they were that way.

So, What Did I Think About I Was Told It Would Get Easier?

Waxman’s writing is smart, funny, and full of heart. Her characters (even the less pleasant ones) leap off the page and you can hear them as clearly as I can hear my pug snoring at my feet. Between this book and The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, I think you can consider me a Waxman fan—and I’ll be getting to her backlist as soon as I can.

The word that comes closest to encapsulating my experience with this book is pleasant. I simply liked everything about reading the novel—it took me out of my circumstances and served as a pleasant oasis for a few hours. Sometimes—frequently—that’s the best gift an author can give, and Waxman delivered as surely as Old Saint Nick ever did.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase; from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK IX., v.- BOOK X., i.

By HCNewton

On July 17, 2020

In Fiction, Fridays with The Foundling, General Fiction/Literature

Fridays with the Foundling
We start with a meal between Mrs. Waters, our poor victim of assault from last week’s chapters. She does her best to seduce Tom—and it works pretty well.

While that’s going on the serjeant and Partridge are, well, gossiping about Tom and Mrs. Waters—who really isn’t a Mrs. She’s just someone who spends a lot of time with Waters (and the implication is that she spends a good deal of time with people who aren’t Waters—like say, Northerton. But that little relationship went off the rails, as we saw). Partridge gets into Tom’s relationship with Allworthy (and implies a bit more about Tom’s status than is really true).

We close this week with the beginning of the next book, a digression about the morality of characters—he’s clear that he wants to avoid wholly good or completely depraved characters, but instead:

In fact, if there be enough of goodness in a character to engage the admiration and affection of a well-disposed mind, though there should appear some of those little blemishes quas humana parum cavit natura, they will raise our compassion rather than our abhorrence. Indeed, nothing can be of more moral use than the imperfections which are seen in examples of this kind; since such form a kind of surprize, more apt to affect and dwell upon our minds than the faults of very vicious and wicked persons. The foibles and vices of men, in whom there is great mixture of good, become more glaring objects from the virtues which contrast them and shew their deformity; and when we find such vices attended with their evil consequence to our favourite characters, we are not only taught to shun them for our own sake, but to hate them for the mischiefs they have already brought on those we love.

This seems like a highly appropriate thing to think about at the moment.