Book Review - French Braid; Anne Tyler

 

French Braid; Anne Tyler

Knopf 3/22/2022 and Random House Audio

(9+ hours - narrated by Kimberly Farr (very good)

"Nobody outside a marriage has any real notion of what goes on inside."

It's 1959 and time to meet the all American family - The Garretts  - Mercy and Robin (mother and father) and their (3) children: Alice and Lily are teens and David is the youngest child.   Father, Robin is running the family hardware store in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Robin is sort of removed from the daily life of his children.  The mother, Mercy, tends to the needs of her children but, she is far from a warm and comforting sort of mother. She is unfulfilled with her life, her marriage and, her real passion seems to be her art.  The children: Alice is responsible and the one who likes to follow the rules, Lily is perhaps too boy crazy for her own good and young David seems confused; he longs to be grown up yet still very much a child who needs reassurance. 

As the story begins in 1959, Robin decides that the family should take a vacation. It will be their first and last vacation as a family. We follow the Garrett family from 1959 through the present day.  This is an expansive yet quiet, poignant, reflective kind of story about family.  There are special moments to be shared but, also there is that secret desire to break free from the family. 

I thought the Garrett family felt cold, there was not a lot of emotion but, in reality that is just how some families are.  There was one particular scene on a train involving the grandmother and her granddaughter which will forever be etched in my mind when I think about this book.  In some ways the mother, Mercy reminded me of Delia in Ladder of the Years, a book I finally read a few months ago and loved - she too was an unfulfilled mother needing something more than what her marriage and children provided.

If you are wondering about the significance of the title French Braid it is this - when a hair braid is undone crimps and crinkles remain -- "that's how families work too. You think you're free of them but, you're never really free! The ripples are crimped forever."  Not my favorite Anne Tyler novel but, I'm certainly happy I experienced it. No one writes about family like Anne Tyler, an author who is not afraid to show us human frailties in her flawed characters.

Thanks go to Knopf Publishing and Random House Audio for allowing me access to the eGalley as well as the audio download in exchange for my unbiased review.

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

Book Review - The Ugly Cry: A Memoir; Danielle Henderson

 

The Ugly Cry: A Memoir; Danielle Henderson

Penguin Audio - 2021

I was first attracted to this book by the catchy title and the cute little girl on the cover.   I felt an immediate urge to know more about Danielle's story.  So happy I read this memoir and, now my brief review.

Danielle Henderson's childhood was anything but normal. In the mid 80's at the age of 10 Danielle and her 11 year old brother Cory were dropped off at her grandparents house in upstate New York.  Her mother had no real plans to return for the children, choosing a life of drugs and multiple boyfriends over mothering.

The grandmother a hardworking, chain smoking, foul-mouthed woman with a penchant for horror movies thought that her child-rearing days were over yet, she did what she could in the only way she knew how and raised a second family.  

It is Danielle who narrates this audiobook and she does a wonderful job telling her story.  Yes, she was a deeply wounded girl who was abandoned by her mother and, yes, she suffered abuse in many forms early in life, yet she tells her story in a way that even has a way of lightening the painful moments of her life. There is also much humor infused in this story. I enjoyed all of the pop culture references from the 70s-90s, the time period that I raised my own two children.  I loved Danielle and enjoyed the way she described her challenges growing up  as a black girl in a white neighborhood.  I liked the ways she chose to stand out from the crowd in high school.  I wished the book gave even more information about the woman she became but I was, of course, able to Google it.  I also loved her spicy, foul-mouthed grandmother, the woman who stepped up to the plate, the woman who was not a role model for child rearing by any means but, she was a woman who raised Danielle with a sense of toughness and toward a greater sense of self-worth.

Readers who enjoy stories about dysfunctional childhood should add this to their reading/listening lists.  

Thanks go to Penguin Random House audio for allowing me access to the (7 hr. 33 min) audio download in exchange for my unbiased review.

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

(About the Author)

Danielle Henderson is a TV writer (Maniac, Dare Me, Harper House), retired freelance writer, and a former editor for Rookie. She cohosts the film podcast I Saw What You Did, and a book based on her popular website, Feminist Ryan Gosling, was released by Running Press in August 2012. She has been published by The New York Times, The Guardian, AFAR magazine, BuzzFeed, and The Cut, among others. She likes to watch old episodes of Doctor Who when she is on deadline, one of her tattoos is based on the movie Rocky, and she will never stop using the Oxford comma. Danielle reluctantly lives in Los Angeles.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Stationery Shop. Marjan Kamali

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read soon. 

                                                       The Stationery Shop, Marjan Kamali

                                                          Simon and Schuster Audio - 2019

Chapter One

2013

The Center

"I made an appointment to see him."

She said it as if she were seeing the dentist or a therapist or the pushy refrigerator salesman who had promised her and Walter a lifetime guarantee of cold milk and crisp vegetables and unspoiled cheese if only they would buy this brand-new model.

Walter dried the dishes, his gaze on the kitchen towel and its print of a yellow chick holding an umbrella. . He didn't argue. Walter Archer's penchant for logic, his ability to let reason trump all, was a testament to Roya's own good judgment. For hadn't she married a man who was reasonable and, my goodness, unbelievably understanding?  Hadn't she, in the end not married that boy, the one she had met so many decades ago in a small stationery shop in Tehran, but lassoed her life instead to this Massachusetts-born pillar of stability? This Walter. Who ate a hard-boiled egg for breakfast almost every single day, who said as he dried the dishes, "If you want to see him, the you should. You've been a bit of a wreck, I'm afraid."

What do you think, read more or pass?  I came across this one while searching library audio downloads.  So far so good and a nice narration as well.

Book Review - Good Morning Zoom; Lindsay Rechler (Ill. June Park)

A pandemic parody on the children's book,  Goodnight Moon, Good Morning Zoom was a story about the day in the life of what happens in many homes during the pandemic: Zoom classrooms, iPads, pillow forts and talking with grandparents while social distancing. Although a cute pandemic keepsake, I think I was expecting a bit more. I did like that it gave a bit of hope our life after quarantine.

I checked out this book in both print and on audio (the audio was 5 minutes long and narrated by Donna Lynne Champlin).  The audio was sent to me via the publisher (Listening Library) in exchange for my unbiased review.

RATING - 3/5 stars

Book Review - The Push; Ashley Audrain

 

TITLE/AUTHOR: The Push;  Ashley Audrain

PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio 

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2020

GENRE: Fiction / Domestic / Psych thriller

FORMAT:  audiobook/LENGTH: 8 hrs. 38 min.

SOURCE: Penguin Audio download

SETTING(s): unsure (author is Canadian)

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A chilling story about the sometimes darker side of motherhood.

BRIEF REVIEW:  The birth of first baby Violet should have been the happiest of times for Blythe Connor, an aspiring writer and her husband Fox. Yet from the very beginning something feels off for Blythe as she feels unable to bond with her difficult baby.  As Violet grows things fail to improve.  Husband, Fox does not see any of the issues that concern his wife and, he has had no problem bonding with his daughter. Despite this Blythe does not feel it is all her fault, especially as she seems to have no difficulty bonding when the second child is born.  Spending the majority of time with Violet she sees first hand that Violet is not like other children her age and seems to have a mean streak. When things reach a crisis situation and the unimaginable occurs, the reader is made to wonder whether the child or an unstable mother is to blame? 

Told from the POV of Blythe and  is a story that grips you early on.  My feelings about Blythe changed as we learn about her sad childhood at the hands of her own troubled mother, Cecilia and her grandmother Etta.  The writing is very good and some the vivid details still linger with me. As a debut novel, this one is exceptional so I'm pretty sure this talented author has a promising future in store for her.  Although the ending was a "wow" moment, it's also one that I felt was open to interpretation. This book gives the reader plenty to discuss especially if you had the right group of readers however, I can understand why this one might not appeal to everyone - the subject matter is tough.  The audio book version read by Marin Ireland who did an excellent job.

RATING: 4.5/5

MEMORABLE QUOTES: " Marriages can float apart. Sometimes we don't notice how far we've gone until all of a sudden, the water meets the horizon and it feels like we'll never make it back."

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - My Grandmother's Braid; Alina Bronsky and The Push; Ashley Audrain

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read soon. 

                                                   My Grandmother's Braid; Alina Bronsky

                                                                       Europa - 2021

SUNSHINE INN

'I can remember the exact moment Grandfather fell in love.  In my eyes, he was ancient--already over fifty--and his new, delicate secret hit me with a wave of admiration tempered by schadenfreude. Up to then I'd always thought that I was my grandparents' only problem.

I sensed that Grandmother wasn't supposed to know about it. She's already threatened to kill him for far less offenses, like when he crumbled bread during dinner."

The intro made me smile.  I already love the narrator from the brief paragraph above and, I can't wait to read more.   What do you think?  I hope to start this one today.

BTW - I had to look up:  Definition of schadenfreude : enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others.

                          This week I'm featuring a second new book that has me somewhat curious:

                                                               The Push; Ashley Audrain

                                               Pamela Dorman Books and Penguin Audio - 2021

"It is often said that the first sound we hear in the womb is our mother's heartbeat.  Actually, the first sound to vibrate our newly developed hearing apparatus is the pulse of our mother's blood through her veins and arteries.  We vibrate to that primordial rhythm even before we have ears to hear.  Before we were conceived, we existed in part as an egg in our mother's ovary. All the eggs a woman will ever carry form in her ovaries while she is a four-month-old fetus in the womb of her mother.  This means our cellular life as an egg begins in the womb of our grandmother. Each of us spent five months in our grandmother's womb and she in turn formed within the womb of her grandmother.  We vibrate to the rhythms of our mother's blood before she herself is born." 

(Layne Redmond, When the Drummers Were Women)

(I just started the audio version, read by Marin Ireland, and am enjoying it thus far.)

Book Review - The Christmas Table; Donna VanLiere

 

The Christmas Table; Donna VanLiere

St. Martin's Press - 2020 - Macmillan Audio

Even though I don't consider myself a religious person, every year I am drawn to Donna VanLiere's Christmas offering. Her "Hope series" offers hopeful stories about faith and believing in miracles; a few of her books have been made into Hallmark movies as well.  Each of the books can be read as a stand alone but, this years story does have a few characters from an earlier story. This year's story is told in (2) timelines (1972) and (2012).

In this story (1972) John Creighton is determined to build a holiday table for his wife Joan. The only problem is that he has only done small woodworking problems in the past. The family has (2) young children and Joan has been busy learning to cook, using recipes passed down from her own mother.  Joan has also found out she has breast cancer which has spread and she is undergoing treatments.

(2012) Lauren and Travis Mabrey are a young couple who are expecting their first child. Lauren grew up in foster homes and longs for a real home and family.  Lauren buys a used table and in the drawer of the table she finds recipes, each has a special message written on them.  Lauren is certain the person who originally owned the table did not intend to part with these recipes. She is determined to find the family and return the recipes.

The story alternates between these stories and made for a mostly uplifting read. I loved seeing how Lauren was able to form a beautiful family and home. She had a community of people willing to make sure that happen for her. At the end of the book and peppered throughout are the recipes, many of which seem worth trying.  I thought this was a nice holiday story for believers and non-believers alike.

I started this one on audio (very good) but, I also supplemented it with the eBook to see the recipes in print.

Rating - 4/5 stars

Book Review - The Daughters of Erietown; Connie Schultz

 

Daughters of Erietown; Connie Schultz 

Random House Audio - 2020 (read by Cassandra Campbell)

Beginning in 1957 in a small town in Ohio and continuing for the better part of the century (1950s - 1990s), The Daughters of Erietown is a multi-generational story about women and their families.  Most of the residents are ordinary everyday people. The women are stay at home mothers and the men hold blue collar jobs to support their families.  There's a neighborhood bar and some friendly neighbors.

Brick McGinty and Ellie and young and in love. Brick grew up with an abusive father but, he is a basketball star and looking forward to promising future with a full scholarship to college. Ellie, raise by her grandparents, thinks about becoming a nurse but, it's an unplanned pregnancy that chases this young couple's dreams away.

This debut novel quickly drew me in to the lives of these of these characters. The writing was quite good with strong female characters and dialogue that felt genuine. I liked the way the author depicted small-town life. Seeing how the lives of the women had changed over the years was a highlight of this novel.  I did think this book was unnecessarily long (almost 500 pages in print and over 14 hours on audio); IMO it could have benefitted by some additional editing.  Overall, I was happy that I read/listened to this one. Cassandra Campbell narrated the audio which was very well done.

RATING - 4/5 stars

Book Review - The Lying Life of Adults; Elena Ferrante

 

The Lying Life of Adults; Elena Ferrante

Random House Audio - Europa - 2020

It's the 1990s when 12 year old  Giovanna, an only child,  overhears her father tell her mother, that she is getting the ugly face of his sister Vittoria. The comment shocks her and is more than she can bear,  Who is this Aunt Vittoria and why have they never even met? Why doesn't her father speak to his own sister?  Giovanna becomes obsessed with finding out more about her ugly aunt. When her parents see that she has found the aunt's number in an old address book, they encourage her to look her up.

Giovanna and her well-educated professor parents live in a more affluent area of Naples. Vittoria lives in a lower class, industrial area. Her apartment is filthy, she's rough around the edges yet she is very welcoming and even insists on squeezing fresh oranges for juice for her niece.  Over a period of time Giovanna learns much about her aunt, even about her dead former lover, Enzo. She even gets to know Enzo's adult children in the process. Vittoria pulls no punches, not only does she teach Giovanna about the importance of loving her body and the powers it possesses, she also tells her a few things about her father and instructs her to watch, rather spy on, her own parents as well.  She learns a few disturbing things in the process including the fact that their marriage is on shaky grounds.

With familiar themes, as in earlier Ferrante novels like, social class, relationships, self-doubt, womanhood and sexual awakening, I was disappointed that this story lacked a real plot line.  I also did not care for how abusive some of the male characters had been crafted. There were some blunt sex scenes inserted as well which seemed unnecessary.   I do expected that Giovanna will reappear in another novel in the future.

The audio book was read by Marisa Tomei and even though she did a terrific job, overall, I didn't really care for this one. 

Rating 3/5 stars

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Lying Life of Adults; Elena Ferrante

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. . Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read soon.

The Lying Life of Adults; Elena Ferrante

Random House Audio - 2020

1

"Two years before leaving home my father said to my mother that I was very ugly.  The sentence was uttered under his breath, in the apartment that my parents, newly married, had bought at the top of Via San Giacomo dei Capri, in Rione Alto.  Everything--the spaces in Naples, the blue light of a frigid February, those words--remained fixed.  But I slipped away, and am still slipping away, within these lines that are intended to give me a story, while in fact I am nothing, nothing of my own, nothing that has really begun or really been brought to completion: only a tangled knot, and nobody, not even the one who at this moment is writing, knows if it contains the right thread for a story or is merely a snarled confusion of suffering, without redemption."

I'm listening to the audio version right now, narrated by Marissa Tomei (she's fabulous) but, so far I'm on the fence about what I think of this one.  It's translated from the Italian by Ann Goldberg who did a nice job.

Long Bright River, Liz Moore

TITLE: Long Bright River

AUTHOR:  Liz Moore

PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio
PUB. YEAR: 2020
SETTING: Philadelphia, PA
FORMAT: audio
RATING: - 4/5

The city of Philadelphia (Kensington) comes alive in this story of two sisters. Mickey is a 30-something police officer and single mother to a 4 year old boy. Kacey is her younger sister.  Mickey has always been protective of her younger sister, often taking on a parental role. When Kacey loses her battle with addiction, all Mickey can do is watch from the sidelines. She tries to keep tabs on her sister while on duty, watching her sister prostitute herself to pay for her next fix.

Soon it appears a possible serial killer has been targeting homeless, addicted women in the area and Kacey hasn't been seen in while, Mickey is desperate to try and find out whether Kacey is alive or a new victim.

This book is rather long and at times slow moving. There are lots of unnecessary details about the streets and neighborhood places of Philadelphia. Despite that, I loved the way the story moved back and forth in time which created an important look at the strong bond between these sisters and the earliest role that their parents had played.  I'm guessing many readers might go into this book thinking its a thriller/mystery, but, it's really more like a police procedural and family saga IMO.  Although there is not a lot of action in this novel and the subject matter is tough at times,  it's a timely story about the Opioid crisis and its effects on the victim and their family.  The audio was well done.

Olive, Again; Elizabeth Strout

TITLE: Olive, Again

AUTHOR:  Elizabeth Strout

PUBLISHER: 
PUB. YEAR: 2020
SETTING: Maine
FORMAT: library/audio
RATING: - 5/5

The sequel to Olive Kitteridge (2008), the prickly Olive is back in her charming town of Crosby, Maine.  A retired math teacher, now in her lates seventies to early eighties (she ages a decade in this offering), her husband Henry has passed away and, despite her tough exterior, she's lonely and misses having that human connection.  

Like the original book, Olive's story is told through a series of (13) somewhat connected stories involving some of the same characters and some new ones as well. We learn more about her strained relationship with her son and his new family, as well as details about Jack Kennison, a Harvard Alum and new husband to Olive. 

I loved traveling along side with Olive through her senior years as she reflects on her life. It's easy to see that beyond Olive's matter-of-fact, blunt style, she a woman with a big heart who faces  the same vulnerabilities as other seniors as she ages.  She's softened a bit and perhaps a little more tolerant as well, but, by the end, it's pretty clear that Olive is just a woman who is just looking for peace and contentment in the time she has left on earth.

Beautifully written, I found Olive, Again, to be an emotionally moving read. The author does an amazing job forcing the reader to think about the emptiness factor seniors can experience as one ages and the importance of that human connection. The audio was expertly done.

A Nearly Normal Family; M.T. Edvardsson

TITLE: A Nearly Normal Family

AUTHOR:  M.T. Edvardsson

PUBLISHER: Macmillan Audio

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING: Sweden
FORMAT: audio

RATING - 3.5/5

A Nearly Normal Family is a complex family drama and legal thriller that explores how far parents will go to protect their child.  The Sandells have an 18 year old daughter named Stella who has been accused of the brutal murder a wealthy and unscrupulous businessman, Chris Olson, who in his early 30s. How could this be, what is the connection?

This multi-layered story drew me right in as I watched this dysfunctional family begin to unravel bit by bit. The story is told from the POVs of Adam, the husband and father, who is also a pastor. We also get to hear from Ulrika, the wife and mother who is also a criminal defense attorney, as well as the POV of the accused, daughter Stella.

The story was clever and detailed but, slow moving as well.  Stella was a rebellious teen who got away with a lot; her parents desperate to protect their daughter but not the best parents. The trial was enlightening and lead to some unexpected surprises.  I did like that it's a story that gives you plenty to think about, especially since the epilogue answered the questions I wondered about.

Readers who enjoy legal thrillers might want to try this one.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous; Ocean Vuong

TITLE: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

AUTHOR:  Ocean Vuong

PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING: Connecticut
FORMAT:  audio (7+ hours)

RATING - 4.5/5

Did you ever read a book that was beautifully written but an emotionally draining experience?  This was the case with this book.  The author was previously known for his award poetry (awarded the Elliot prize). This is his debut novel and it is partly autobiographical.

The narrator, nicknamed "Little-Dog" was born in Saigon to a Vietnamese mother; his father was an American. His single mother brought him to the US (Hartford, CT) as a toddler; she was abusive, volatile and possibly schizophrenic. 

The story is written like a letter by the 20-something narrator to his mother who cannot read. It helps the reader to understand Little Dog's past as well as what his mother has endured. We learn of his life as a bullied child, mostly based on racism. He even tells about his early homosexual experiences when he falls for Trevor, the son on a tobacco farm owner, that he met while working on the farm as a teen.

As beautiful as is the writing, it's a very painful, heart-tugging story as well. This book is not for everyone especially because of the physical abuse as well as explicit sexual material. Some of the images of his painful childhood and search for love and acceptance will not be easily forgotten.

The audio is read by the author. I thought he did a great job but, his voice very depressing to match the tone of the novel. It took me a long time (2+ weeks) to finish this one; it was almost like a bad accident where you just couldn't walk away. READER BEWARE: Possible trigger warnings

Sunset Beach; Mary Kay Andrews

TITLE: Sunset Beach

AUTHOR:  Mary Kay Andrews

PUBLISHER:  Macmillan Audio

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING: NC
FORMAT:  - audio/library

RATING - 4/5

I love having at least a few good beach reads every summer and this one fits the bill.

Drue Campbell is a young woman trying to find her place in the world.  Her parents were divorced when she was young and she hadn't seen her father, Brice, a personal injury attorney, in about 20 years. Now her mother has just died and it's at the funeral where father and daughter reconnect. It's awkward to say the least. To make matters worst, her father has remarried and his new wife, Wendy is someone Drue went to school with - the two never liked one another.

Drue has just learned that she has inherited her grandmother's run-down beach cottage on Sunset Beach (prime location), she's back in the area where her father and his new wife live and work.  When her father offers her a job at the law firm, she's hesitant, but needs the money.  It isn't easy having to report to Wendy but she tries to make the best of it it. 

 It's here on the job that Drue learns about an old buried case. An older black woman's daughter was murdered while working at a beach front hotel.  Now the woman is responsible for raising her granddaughter.  She has been screwed with the settlement and her father's firm had the case. Drue is determined to find out how this happened and, she hopes to make things right for this woman and her young granddaughter, even if it means exposing the ugly truth

This was such a pleasant surprise; the audio was very good as well; it's read by Kathleen McInerney.  It's got the beach setting, a good mystery, sympathetic characters, some humor and more.  There were also a few good sub plots built into the story as well. Try it if you are looking for a nice summer read.

Evvie Drake Starts Over - Linda Holmes

TITLE: Evvie Drake Starts Over
AUTHOR:  Linda Holmes

PUBLISHER:  Ballantine

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING: Maine
FORMAT:  - ARC/Audio (Combo)

RATING - 4/5

Evvie Drake is a 30-something widow who lives in a small town in Maine. Everyone who knows her feels bad that her husband has died in an automobile accident. What they don't realize is that instead of sadness she's feeling guilt. Her husband died on the very day that she had packed her bags and planned to leave him for good. No one, including her late husband, knew of her plan.

Now she's stuck and rarely leaves her house. Evvie hadn't even told her good friend Andy what she had been planning.  Now Andy has two good friends in need of help, Evvie and also Dean, a former has-been major league baseball star that lives n New York and is looking for a new start. Andy suggests that Evvie rent out a small apartment that is part of her house for the extra income.  She is apprehensive to say the least, realizing that she is a hot mess but, the extra money would help so she decides to go along with the idea.

Predictably, as the two get to know one another they help each other to heal from old wounds and disappointments.

Romantic comedies are not generally my thing but, I was looking for something light and fun and this one definitely fit the bill.  It's pretty evident early on how this one will turn out but, the characters were fun, made me laugh at times and they became ones I grew to care about as well.   This was a combo print and audio read for me: Julia Whalen was the audio book narrator, she did a terrific job.  A nice light choice for summer reading.

The Mother-in-Law; Sally Hepworth

TITLE: The Mother-in-Law
AUTHOR:  Sally Hepworth

PUBLISHER:  St. Martin's Press - Macmillan Audio

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING: Australia
FORMAT:  - audio (9+ hours)

RATING - 4/5

Diana Goodwin is the "mother-in-law" in this domestic thriller. She's rich, strong, confident, cold-hearted and aloof.  When she dies shortly after her husband, suicide is initially suspected but, the coroner's report indicates that foul play might have been involved.  Did Diana take her own life or was someone else involved?

Lucy had always longed for a special relationship with her mother-in-law. Her own mother died when she was very young.  Unfortunately, her 10 year relationship with Diana has been a struggle to say the least ever since she married Diana's son, Ollie.

Ollie loves his wife and his mother and realizes his mother can be difficult. Even his sister, Nettie and her husband Patrick have had their share of run-ins with Diana.

True, Diana just wasn't a warm and fuzzy individual and, yes, there were plenty of instances where one might want revenge, but, there is more to Diana than meets the eye. The story began with the police at Ollie and Lucy's door telling them Diana has died and that they think it might have been a suicide. She did have cancer but they were not expecting her to pass so quickly. I thought the story moved along at a nice pace and it wasn't at all predictable.  I like complex family dramas and this one made me wonder who really may have wanted Diana out the picture the most.  A well-crafted characters and story. I was happy I tried this one and will try other books by this author in the future. The audio was very good as well.

Daisy Jones and the Six; Taylor Jenkins Reid

TITLE: Daisy Jones and the Six

AUTHOR:  Taylor Jenkins Reid

PUBLISHER:  Random House Audio

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING:  mostly CA
FORMAT:  - audio (9 hrs)

RATING - 4/5

I'm pleased that I decided on the audio version of this book with its (4) different narrators, which made for some very distinct and enjoyable story telling. This is an interview style driven story and although at times the voices sounded depressed or drugged, it worked well considering the book was about sex, drugs and rock n roll.

Set in the 1970's, a booming time for the music industry, Daisy Jones is just a pretty young teen of 14 who happens to have a voice like Janis Joplin.  Her parents are hippies and not into parenting, as a result, she stays out all night and hooks up with LA's Sunset Strip jet set.  Her dream is to write songs but, with her dynamic voice it isn't long before she is a natural for to Billy and Graham Dunne's band, The Six.  The group is an overnight sensation.  Billy and Daisy marry and have a love/hate relationship fueled by drugs and alcohol.  Their story, much like a train wreck, is hard to turn away from.

Initially, I was playing on passing on this book, but when I read the analogy to: Fleetwood Mac, a group I just loved, I had to try it for myself.  I loved hearing the stories of various group members, so passionate about their music and very much into living for the moment.  The story was a very fun trip to an earlier time when music was everything it seemed.  The music scene is beautifully captured by this author and while some of the characters seemed to recall important events a bit differently, the overall story worked well.  The band split for good in 1979. 

A Stone for Danny Fisher; Harold Robbins

TITLE: A Stone for Danny Fisher

AUTHOR:  Harold Robbins

PUBLISHER:  Blackstone Audio 

PUB. YEAR: (1952 - original pub) (2007-audio)

SETTING:  NY
FORMAT:  - Audible - almost 16 hours

RATING - 5/5

Set around the Depression era, we meet the central character, Danny Fisher, as a young Jewish boy growing up in Brooklyn.  His father, a pharmacist, has just purchased their first home, which he tells Danny is for him even though Danny has a sister. Danny loves his new house, but he quickly learns that he must learn to be tough. 

Because it's the depression, his family falls on hard times and are forced to leave Danny's beloved home and move to the lower east side to become renters once again.  Danny hates seeing what is happening to his family and must also contend with bullies, racists and violence on the streets of NY.  He learns to box so that he can be tough and, he finds that he is quite good at it as well.  All the while as Danny is trying to find his place in the world, his actions cause problems between him and his family, when in reality he is only trying to make things easier for his mother and father. 

Beautifully written, detailed, and emotional at times, A Stone for Danny Fisher, is a wonderful story about a lost childhood and the consequences of poor life choices. Harold Robbins knew how to write with a eye for detail. The intricate details are never boring, instead they drew me into the story even deeper, making me feel what Danny was feeling at times.  

There are some heavy subjects detailed here: anti semitism, bullies, prostitution, sex, violence and corruption. Not since Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, have I been so moved by a story.  Charles Leggett who narrated this audio book was absolutely outstanding. This is one of the best audio book stories I've ever listen more to and, although the audio is almost 15 hours, we couldn't wait to get back to this story every chance we got. Try it sometime, I'm betting you will enjoy it as well.

Miracle Creek; Angie Kim

TITLE: Miracle Creek

AUTHOR:  Angie Kim

PUBLISHER:  Macmillan AUdio

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING:  Virginia
FORMAT:  - audio - library download ( 14 hours)

RATING - 4.5/5 

In this debut novel, Korean immigrants Young and Pak Yoo and daughter Mary run an experimental medical treatment device known as, Miracle Submarine. It's a therapeutic, hyperbaric, pressurized oxygen chamber where people with issues like autism and infertility go to seek a miracle cure.

A little lie, a big explosion and two people are dead as a result.  How did it happen? Who is to blame? It seems more than a few may have had some motive. A courtroom drama and ensuing trial unfolds over the course of four days.

Told from the third person POVs of some seven different characters, Miracle Creek is an incredibly gripping courtroom drama and somewhat complicated mystery. It seems everyone who takes the stand at the trial has a secret or is covering up a lie.  If you need likable characters, you won't find them here but, regardless, there is so much to like about book. The writing is so detailed and each character so well explored. Even the dead have a vivid story to be told here.  Definitely one of my better reads of 2019 making this author one for me to follow.

The audio book is read by Jennifer Lim who did a very good job.  I was concerned that the audio might be difficult to follow with so many characters but, each had such a unique story that it was pretty easy to keep them straight. I also wanted to mention how fascinating the author interview was at the end of this debut book.