Books read in September and October

The following are the books that I read in September and October along with my thoughts on each one. Though October is not yet over, I will not finish the book that I am reading now in October- a nonfiction one called Scapegoated Capitalism by Ben Irvine.

Burning Ground-- DA Galloway. I heard about this book from Nextdoor. The author is a local one and he self published the book. As a self publisher, he was tasked with the promotion of it, ergo the author did a post on Nextdoor about it.   I decided to support the local author and downloaded the book onto my Kindle (though at .99 for the download, I am not sure how much support the download availed him). The book is about a young man coming of age in the 1970’s.  A series of tragedies befall him- namely all three of his siblings die. He befriends a native American who makes a prediction about his future. He then goes to Yellowstone National Park to work for the summer. The prediction comes true… but it involves time travel to the past. He travels back 100 preceding years to when Yellowstone National Park was not yet a national park but was being explored by a government sponsored expedition to the area. The protagonist falls in love with a native American woman who is helping with the expedition. I liked this book quite a bit- the story line was interesting and the writing was good. The description of the Yellowstone area was impressive. It was extraordinarily detailed. I believe that if this book had not been self published, an editor would have pared down the book a lot- namely the descriptive element of just about every feature of Yellowstone. I didn’t mind reading everything but I couldn’t help but think that much of what he wrote descriptively would not have made it into a book published by a book company.

The Dive from Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer- set initially In Madison, WI, the book starts out with a picture perfect all American young engaged couple who have been dating each other since they were teens. Then Mike, the man of the couple, is paralyzed in a diving accident. As if that weren’t tragic enough, his fiance had been having doubts about their relationship before the accident occurred.  Now what is she to do? Stay with him basically out of pity or leave? Spoiler alert (sort of), she sort of does both. The book is well written but some of the story lines and descriptions (with a new relationship she begins in NYC) had me like, gross. And the female character was completely unlikable even though she was, admittedly, placed in a bad position. The book did pose a lot of good questions- I will give it that. 

Good as Dead by Susan Walter- Set in Casablanca, California, we find out that a man is killed in a hit and run accident. His wife bore witness to the crime and has been paid off to stay silent about what she saw so that the person responsible doesn’t get in trouble. Well, trouble ensues, you can bet your kindle on that. This book was really engaging and well written. There is a sub plot of a writer trying to make it in Hollywood that seemed realistic even if the main plot wasn't super realistic. I will definitely read more from this author (I believe it’s her first novel).

Early Morning Riser by  Katherine Heiny- Set in a small town in Michigan, this book tells the story of a young teacher who falls in love, eventually- first come lust. The teacher’s boyfriend has basically “dated” (using the term loosely) every woman in the small town. His promiscuity is laughed off and joked about by the townspeople. Blech. Throughout the years, the couple befriend and help a man with severe intellectual limitations. I did not like this book. The characters were extraordinarily one dimensional. They each had their role and that was all they played. Some reviewers compared the "quirky" characters and the author’s style to Anne Tyler. I can understand the comparison but to me, Anne Tyler’s books are much, much better. I read the book because one of my favorite authors endorsed it. I was disappointed to dislike a book so much that an author who I like recommended. Live and learn!

Under a Painted Sky- Stacey Lee- A young Chinese immigrant loses her father in a fire and must flee Minnesota when she kills a man in an act of self defense. She flees, heading out west with a runaway slave girl. I guess I should mention this takes place in the 1800’s. The two young women disguise themselves as men to evade law enforcement/ bounty hunters who are after them and join a group of cowboys who are also heading west. Keeping up their facade and getting further and further away from Minnesota form a large part of the plot. I really liked this book- though seemingly exceedingly unrealistic and implausible (the same can be said about many books, though, in this book’s defense), I enjoyed this book a lot. 

Tender is the Night- F. Scott Fitzgerald- If you want to read a book masterfully written that will leave you feeling perfectly fine with being average looking, not fabulously wealthy or influential in any field, then this is the book for you. Kidding. It’s actually pretty sad because many believe that this book was semi- autobiographical of F. Scott Fitzgerald and it is simply not a happy tale or read. But it’s written with beautiful prose so there is that. In the book, a psychologist falls in love with and marries a beautiful and wealthy but mentally ill woman. His life basically unravels. We meet lots of characters who play significant roles in the life of the main character over the course of the years that the book spans. 

Mr. Dickens and his Carol by Samantha Silva- I was originally planning on reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (and still plan to...) when I came across this book about A Christmas Carol. Sort of. The book is based on some of the actual historical  events leading up to Dickens writing A Christmas Carol: to wit, Dickens became a popular author with his first two bestselling books. His third novel was not well received at all and Dickens was on the hook for the financial loss of the book. He needed to come up with a best seller and fast. Those are the  actual, historic facts that preceded Dickens writing the novella, A Christmas Carol. In this book, the author takes those historic facts and then wrote fictionalized events. I enjoyed reading this book a lot. The streets of London came alive and Dickens’ worries about needing to write a best selling book almost became my worries. So well written and engaging, if you like Dickens, you will like this book

The Road by Cormac McCarthy- Oh my! Set in a dystopian future where much of the earth and its inhabitants have been destroyed by fire, this book tells the story of a boy and his father walking to the East Coast for no particular reason except it isn’t where they currently are. Plagued by extreme cold and hunger and trying to avoid murderous gangs, the two miserably plod along. This book won a Pulitzer Prize and I expected it to be better. One of the themes was familial love and the bond between father and son. Love is very often a theme in books so I need more than that! A good plot and writing that pulls me in are two important components for me to enjoy a book. Neither the plot nor the writing were engaging to me. 

The Fallen Leaves by Wilkie Collins- I needed a good read after The Road and reading about Wilkie Collins in Mr. Dickens and his Carol (Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins were good friends in real life so Wilkie made an appearance in Dickens and his Carol) reminded me of how much I like Wilkie Collins. I have read four or five of his now and the Women in White is one of my all time favorite books. Wilkie’s book, The Moonstone, is considered to be the first detective novel. Wilkie was a prolific writer, publishing thirty novels. The Fallen Leaves is not among his most popular but I liked the book quite a bit. The plot is a bit odd- a young American is ousted from his commune in America and travels to Europe. The relationships (romantic and friendships) between Amelious, the main character, and the other characters we are privileged to meet are at the center of this book. Also there’s a mystery and Wilkie Collins’ well written prose so there is basically no reason to not read this book.

The Face on the Milk Carton and Whatever Happened to Janie by Caroline B. Cooney- these are YA books that are in a series. I liked both books but haven’t decided if I am going to read the subsequent books in the series- probably but I have not downloaded the next one yet so I am not 100% sure. I started reading The Face on the Milk Carton one day at the junior high when I was subbing. It was on the ELA teacher’s desk and I started reading it during my break. The first book is set in (probably) the early 1980’s (the book references cassette tapes on which to listen to music). A fifteen year old girl is astonished to recognize herself (she believes but does not know for sure)  as a missing child whose picture is on a milk carton. But she is the daughter of lovely, seemingly nonkidnappingesque parents. She can’t make it make sense so she does some investigating with the cutest boy in school who happens to be her next door neighbor who (of course!) happens to like her too. A possibility of romance and the question of are my parents my kidnappers provide plenty of drama in this book. I thought it was really good and I had to read the sequel- Whatever Happened  to Janie. So Janie was in fact kidnapped and in the sequel she has to go and live with her real family- except she views her real family as the family she grew up with not this actual real family. This book was good, too. I felt so bad for Janie! The ending was definitely set up for a sequel and I think I’ve convinced myself to read it…