It’s been a rough slog towards the end of this month, made more wearying by the cold that I caught and still fighting off(don’t worry, folks-it’s a standard cold at best).
Nevertheless, I masked up and took a trip to my local library to stock up on some new to me books . The first one that I went for was Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adei-Brenyah, set in a not too distant future where prisoners of the state are used to entertain the masses via death matches broadcast far and wide.
Two of the top contenders, Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Saxxx” Stacker , have a romantic relationship that doesn’t interfere with their public rivalry and yet, Loretta’s chances of getting her freedom soon does hover above them both.
However, Loretta is sick of playing the corporation ‘s game and wants better not only for herself but the other inmates constantly being shredded by the system. I’ve heard great things about this novel very eager to be challenged by this brilliant battlefield of a book:
Next up is Stephen King’s Holly, which takes this offbeat detective on the search for a missing woman that leads her to a deadly duo of killers.
As it turns out, Holly may have another person to save from this most unlikely looking couple as she gets closer to the truth. Yet, can she stop herself from being caught by this sinister suburban trap in time?
I have always been a Holly Gibney fan ever since King introduced her in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and it’s been wonderful to see this unusually observant woman thrive on her own terms in such fierce fictional waters there. I so hope we get even more of this amazing character as time goes by:
And for something completely different, I rounded this library trio out with Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.
You’re following the adventures of our leading man as he and Princess Donut(a cat once owned by his former girlfriend) as they make their way through a bizarre game show like reality created by outer space aliens.
This is the first in a series that was independently published and is now making its way to traditional book world and frankly, it sounds like fun, which we could all really use right now:
I’m sure that I don’t have to explain the amount of anxiety that has increased of late due to a certain political event about to happen and that my tension and concern over the outcome is shared by many of you out there.
However, I will say that it helps to take a break from this stuff and reset your emotional batteries, especially if you have a good book at hand. Also, if you want or are able to vote early, please do.
Nothing wrong with waiting until Election Day but my family and I voted early this past weekend and it’s such a relief to have already done my part in making sure our democracy keeps on going. Freedom of thought is important and something that we shouldn’t take for granted.
I just wish we could concentrate on more positive aspects of our society instead of dwelling on the negative but if things go the way I hope for, by this time next year, we can be in a better head space and share in the joys of library love(among other good notions) together:
As we’ve been getting closer and closer to actual autumn weather (would really love to break out my seasonal wardrobe already!), making plans to embrace those chilly days and nights for me naturally involves books.
For one, I am going to have a reread of Gregory Maquire’s modern day classic Wicked, that spin on the Wicked Witch of the West that inspired an award winning Broadway musical and soon to be in a theater near you film.
Granted, the book and the musical have rather different takes on the Wizard of Oz legend but the spirit of the story, where Elphaba as the ultimate outsider is not giving into the part that others wish her to play in this power game, seems to be intact.
My thanks to Harper Collins for sending me a movie tie-in edition of the book(and no, they didn’t ask me to do this) and no matter when I get to see the movie, my mind will be delightfully refreshed indeed:
I intend to follow that up with a first time read of Son of a Witch, a direct sequel to Wicked where the enchanted offspring of the former magical menace , Liir, is making his own way in the corrupt chaos that Oz becomes mired in .
Maquire wrote four books in this series known as The Wicked Years while I don’t know if I will get to them all, clearly these themes of power being manipulated for dubious ends are timeless. Not to mention sorting who you truly are versus what society expects you to be based on your bloodline:
To round out this trio of fantasy themed stories, I really want to read Meg Shaffer’s The Lost Story as I was totally enchanted by her earlier book, The Wishing Game.
This tale of two former best friends reuniting in order to find the sister of a woman who wants sincerely to reclaim some sort of family has quite the twist; the sister in question is now the queen of a magical land where the guys had found themselves in long ago.
This book takes it’s inspiration from the renowned Narnia Chronicles by C.S, Lewis,as much as The Wishing Game took their cues from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , and I do enjoy honoring such time tested material with a nice blend of fresh imagination there:
With all of tension swirling around these days, it’s good to have a nice escape from all of that stress, especially when it involves stories about other worlds that can have troubles just as tricky as your own. Yet, by seeing how those characters get through their trials and tribulations, you can perhaps be encouraged to face the ones ahead of you with a bit more confidence and heart.
One thing I would like to be able to get into that fall state of mind fully to enjoy such things as falling leaves, cozy sweaters and antique shopping(or more like watching other people do that!) without looking out for stress spots in the news or elsewhere.
Then again, if things work out for the better, maybe we’ll be able to share in those delights of the season with more appreciation for them, thanks in part to a great book or two:
My Trilogy Time reading challenge has been interesting yet is coming to an end for now. The reason for that is more due to me than the books but let’s begin by going over the trio of novels that I chose to reread, which turned out well.
Adriana Trigiani is perhaps best known for her Big Stone Gap series but I got to know her many of the stand alone books she’s put out over the years like Lucia, Lucia and The Shoemaker’s Wife. Her trilogy of stories about Valentine Roncalli and the shoemaker legacy of her family began in 2009 with Very Valentine.
When we first met our leading lady, she’s attending a family wedding and fending off inquiries about her single status, preferring to focus more on the Angelini Shoe Company that her grandfather started and which her beloved grandmother still runs.
The custom made wedding shoe business is not what it used to be yet Valentine is determined to do more with it. Due to an unexpected opportunity to be part of a last minute repair for a film shooting nearby(it happens to be an adaptation of Lucia, Lucia!), she gets an invitation to join in a special competition for a window display at Macy’s, a real stepping stone for her and the future of the company:
She also gets a few steps forward in romance as two new men enter her life; Roman, an up and coming chef with his own restaurant and Gianluca, a cobbler in Italy who Valentine mets on a buying trip with her grandmother , who happens to have some romance of her own with Gianluca’s father!
Lots of engaging characters and situations to deal with here but at the heart of it is Valentine, trying to blend her love of family tradition with an independent modern spirit. Walking back into this story has been a welcome relief for me as the daily headlines keep getting worse on so many fronts. Fortunately, seeing how Valentine deals with life and love has boosted my spirits indeed:
The story continues with Brava, Valentine in 2010. With her grandmother planning to marry the love of her life and moving to Italy, Valentine has to run the show company on her own or so she thinks at first.
Instead, her grandmother divides the business between Valentine and her brother Alfred, a Wall Street banker who has fallen on hard times. She and Alfred have never gotten along, plus he’s full of doubts about keeping the shoe business going.
Nevertheless, she persists in expanding the business and while searching for a factory to produce a line of every day wear, Valentine finds some long lost relatives and a family secret begins to unravel.
Toss that in some ups and down regarding her love life and Valentine is in for quite the emotional ride here! I have to admit that one of my favorite scenes in this book is a very turbulent Thanksgiving dinner, where feelings flow free and the in-laws of the Roncalli family have their say for once:
This all wraps up in 2013’s The Supreme Macaroni Company, a surprising title to be sure.
That name refers to a former business in the Midwest where Valentine ultimately opens her shoe factory and so many other developments occur, including a wedding, a birth and a funeral.
It won’t say more than that about the plot but what I will say is that what keeps you turning the pages is the mix of heartwarming characters who feel very real and the various emotions that our main character has to navigate through out the course of the story. It’s a rough ride at times yet well worth the taking.
Plus, the whole overwhelming dynamics of a large and loud yet loving family do have a universal appeal, much in the style of Moonstruck or My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Trigiani does a more streamlined version of that with a deep flair for strong women being the center of these occasionally chaotic worlds:
Originally, I was planning to finish this challenge by finishing up a trilogy that I didn’t complete the first time around (Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart books).
However, with it being this late in the year and all of the chaos going on the news as we speak, I just don’t have the spoons for taking that on.
So, my choice is to read down some of my ever growing TBR, calling it “Down the Reader’s Road”(yes, Agatha All Along is my new favorite show and influence these days!). The books that I am using for this are my Book of the Month Club editions and starting off , of course, The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani.
This novel starts in modern day Italy as Matelda finds that it’s best to tell her granddaughter Amina a long held secret regarding her own mother and a wartime love story that changed many lives in more ways than one.
I have high hopes for this challenge to get me through the rest of this year and into the next with some comforting certainty about the nature of storytelling and humanity. That’s my hope, anyway! No doubt, with plenty of wonderful writers like Trigiani around, we’ll all be in a better place even if it’s just between the pages of a good book:
As I’m planning on a No Buy November when it comes to books, making the most out of my October selections from Book of the Month Club seemed to be an important consideration.
While there was a lot of seasonal reads available for this year’s Halloween vibes, I went for a couple of subtle suggestions in that direction. However, one of my add-ons was an out and out supernatural story, The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche.
This debut novel is set in Italy during the fourteenth century and our title heroine, Ginerva, has been summoned back to the city from which she was banished due to her healing talents that require precious stones.
Plague has beset Florence and Ginerva has been tasked to help retrieve a set of relics that could reverse the deadly spread of the disease. While she is allowed to use her powers, her trust in those who welcomed her back is limited at best. Can Ginerva truly be of service to those in need without falling into an even more perilous trap than before?
This does sound intriguing and I like this genre blend called historical fantasy there. Plus, the plot points me in mind of the potential backstory of one of the characters in Agatha All Along(my favorite series right now!):
For my main selection, however, I chose what they call a “members favorite” and that was the literary hit of the summer, Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods.
The story takes place at a sleepaway camp in the summer of 1975, where Barbara, the teen daughter of the camp’s owners goes missing one morning.
Suspicions abound as to what may have happened, including the possibility of being added to the death tally of a local serial killer. When junior investigator Judy Luptack takes up the case, she’s hit on all sides from her male colleagues who openly doubt her skills to her distrusting father and the family themselves, more eager to hide their personal secrets than recover their child.
Is the truth really that hard to find or will it be even worth it for all involved?
I have to admit that I am curious to see for myself whether or not this book is all that it’s been said to be. Not to mention that suspense is just as scary as horror is, when done well:
To round this trio out, my last pick was the latest from Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment.
When a group of airplane passengers have a woman suddenly get out of her seat and begins to tell each of them what their exact time of death is, they naturally conclude that she’s just another oddball in their midst.
However, when one of them does die at the time predicted, many of those onboard that fateful day start to wonder if that was just a coincidence or a dire warning about their individual fate. Some take action while others seek reflection and perhaps more.
I’ve read Moriarty before and know full well that she’s not a horror and/or supernatural suspense writer. Yet, she has quite the knack for setting up strange plot pins for her characters to knock down and this certainly sounds like one hell of a storytelling game to play(not to mention a fun take on those Final Destination movies):
So, this should offer plenty of spooky entertainment for me, even after Halloween has come and gone. As much as I enjoy a good horror romp around this time of year, it’s fun to try out some more subtle flavors of frights that can be just as chilling to the bone as any serving of slasher fare(and perhaps even more so memorable to your terrified taste buds):
