Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
In a contest full of gritty, emotionally-charged books, Growth by Karen DeBonis stands out as one of the grittiest and most emotionally-charged of them all. Growth is a captivating memoir that follows Karen DeBonis on a 20+ year journey as she takes up the arduous and beautiful task of raising a son with a disability. Matthew DeBonis was born unique and different. At first he was colicky (infants who cry and/or are “fussy” perpetually), something that seemed temporary. However, over time, Matthew began showing signs that something might truly be wrong—perhaps even life-threatening. Karen and her husband, Mike, watched with grave concern as Matthew's grades steeply declined along with his cognition, memory, and even his ability to move normally or at the same speed. Compounding problems, Mike was diagnosed with diabetes, something which came to demand his attention at the worst possible time. Seeing Matthew's decline, Karen and Mike went to their doctor who gave them an unsatisfying, unthorough, and ultimately inaccurate diagnosis that the family believed and lived with for years. Herein lies one of the book's key points: always seek a second or even a third opinion. Never leave your health in the hands of one other person who may fallible or outright wrong. If Karen and Mike had just went with this first diagnosis, Matthew would likely have passed. The mystery surrounding Matthew's illness/condition is also one of the biggest motivations to keep reading. We, along with the parents, are constantly on edge about what is going on with this incredible boy. Does he suffer from some kind of autism? Does he have cancer? ADD? ADHD? This mysterious, fatal disease called leukodystrophy? Does he have muscular dystrophy? Or is it something else... something that hasn't been diagnosed or considered? We don't want to spoil it for the reader because this is a huge motivation to keep reading. However, the real driving force behind this book—the heart of this book—is a mother's love for her child. Karen loves Matthew even when it's hardest and seemingly impossible to. It's both inspiring and frightening, such as when Karen expresses her extremely negative or even violent thoughts. Despite Matthew's medical issues being at the center of this book, Karen's issues are arguably just as pronounced. Karen seems to suffer from a number of ailments including postpartum depression (which sounds a bit more like postpartum psychosis when she starts having thoughts of violence) and overeating disorder. The overeating disorder comes about so subtly that it's easy to forget that it's there, but a keen eye can recognize the signs. At times when Karen is the most stressed or anxious, she is quick to bury herself in Little Debbie wrappers. While this might seem humorous to those who haven't suffered from an eating disorder, it can be sad or perhaps even a bit triggering to those who have. It definitely pulls at your heartstrings. A lot of this book does. Matthew stands out as an incredibly inspirational and compelling figure. While it's tragic and sad to see his sports and academic skills diminish, it's also inspiring to think that this boy still made it through school (against all odds), still played ball, still performed in magic shows, worked jobs, got his own home, and even won a Louis Armstrong Jazz Award! The story of Matthew, while also a cautionary tale about pursuing an accurate medical diagnosis, is also an inspirational one that even those who are disabled can grow and thrive in life. This is what Matthew and Karen to call “post-traumatic growth”--helping to give the book its title. Check it out on Amazon!
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Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)
Eleonora and Joseph is a remarkably well-researched and ambitious historical novel by Julieta Rodrigues. Rodrigues is a true maestra—a queen of historical fiction—and this novel is a great example of that. This novel follows three central characters between the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s: Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel, Joseph Correia de Serra, and Thomas Jefferson. Eleonora is in the more dire and suspenseful situation of the three, making her the most active of the protagonists. When we meet her, she is on trial for a capital offense punishable by death: treason via subversion, a “crime of opinion” against the crown. Eleonora is an aristocrat (a marquise), which makes her supposed crime an even more fascinating and complicated issue. She is a Jacobin, someone who subscribes to the ideals of French Revolutionary thinking. When her letters containing these ideas are found, she is charged as a Jacobin conspirator with the potential of being publicly hanged. Complicating things even more, she is a former friend and close servant of the queen of Naples and Sicily, Carolina, who has the misfortune of uncovering one of her deepest secrets: a potential Lesbian affair with a woman named Emma. So, there's a lot more to this than just legal trouble. It's personal. Eleonora's life and inevitable death form the tragic crux of this novel—its heart and center. The reader is posed with the question: are some things like life, liberty, truth, and right worth dying for? Or should we simply accept the status quo and do as we're told. As a high-born poet in the middle of the Enlightenment, Eleonora is able to communicate a lot of the thoughts and ideas of those who are silenced or who go unheard, such as peasants and common people. She is able to communicate these things beautifully, boldly, and powerfully. The deuteragonist of this novel is Joseph Correia de Serra, a Portuguese abbot and naturalist who happened to have been one of Eleonora's most passionate lovers (in this telling of their story). In truth, we don't quite know if Joseph and Eleonora were ever friends or partners, though it is possible. We have to admit that Joseph was one of our least favorite characters alongside Queen Carolina. Joseph's primary motivation is self-preservation followed by upward mobility, which he believes will help him to preserve himself. Keep in mind that not only is Robespierre chopping off heads by the thousands in France, but the Spanish inquisition has happened, and it just so happens that Joseph was persecuted by the inquisition. Joseph lives in fear and paranoia of being persecuted again. In one of the more upsetting scenes in the book, Joseph discovers a frantic letter from the now-deceased Eleonora pleading with him to advocate for her and save her from being executed. Frustratingly, Joseph burns the letter out of fear that it will be traced to him and he will be implicated in subversion. What's extra frustrating about this is that, instead of feeling bad for or sad about Eleonora, Joseph instead fears for himself. He later calls this “heartless. Maybe even cruel.” It is! It doesn't ingratiate us to him at all, and it doesn't sell their relationship too well (to the reader). It's almost like a footnote in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't help that Joseph comes across as rather selfish, pursuing power and higher status, using the church as a catapult to become a diplomat. And guess who he becomes a diplomat to? The Americans. Specifically, he is sent to meet with former US president Thomas Jefferson, the tritagonist of the novel. Jefferson is presented almost like a character in a time-travel novel, similar to the portrayal of the founding fathers in the Season of the Swords series by Domenic Melillo. Jefferson almost becomes like a character intended to make commentary and provide exposition for both the Joseph and the audience. There are a few interesting things to note about Thomas Jefferson in the novel. Perhaps most interesting is the fact that Jefferson is accurately portrayed as a slave owner, albeit a soft and apologetic one. This is ironic because, as the author of the Declaration of Independence, he clearly stated that “all men are created equal.” He even admits that he has flogged escape slaves before, although the weight of this is constantly dampened with excuses like that it was only done under extreme circumstances or when they had repeatedly attempted an escape. We are also constantly reminded how nice, friendly, and generous he is to his slaves. He even, supposedly, refuses to sell slaves who don't want to leave him or his estate. He says that his slaves were inherited. He also seems to have a lot of regrets about slavery existing at all. One of the notable things about Thomas Jefferson in this book is that his relationship with a Black slave mistress is discussed, as well as the children he fathered with her. Jefferson also talks about current events (at the time) like the Louisiana Purchase and Jose Artigas's piracy. Eleonora, Joseph, and Jefferson were members of the “Republic of Letters” who were advocating for progressive ideas at the time. If there's anything that holds it back, it's that the presentation of events sometimes seems forced, wooden, and/or stilted. There just doesn't seem to be an emotional bite or impact like we'd expect from a book about two separated lovers, one of whom is tragically and needlessly executed. However, Joseph as a character really robs the reader of that emotional punch. The relationship between Joseph and Eleonora, which should be the heart and soul of the book, does kinda fall flat. It almost seems like this narrative lacks emotional depth. Things are presented in a very matter-of-fact way. We also have every historical event and social issue imaginable (for the time period) just thrown at us, making things feel a bit random, disjointed, and unfocused. Still, the amount of research that this author must've undertaken to put this together is beyond commendable. Apparently, she has a PhD from Columbia University and has taught these topics at some of the nation's top schools like Georgetown. She also visited the library of the American Philosophical Society and used its archives to research for this book. She has also interviewed numerous experts on the 18th century including professors on the topic. She even visited Thomas Jefferson's actual Monticello Estate! This is definitely a candidate for “Best Research.” Check it out on Amazon! Score: 88 out of 100 (8.8 out of 10)
Falling Stars by Julie Rogers is an extremely ambitious novel that blends several different genres: vampire literature, historical fiction, and even medical fiction. The novel surrounds a nine-year-old vampire boy named Tommy who is sick and possibly terminally ill, inflicted with a form of childhood cancer. He is taken in by a compassionate and highly conscientious hospice nurse named June who quickly realizes that Tommy is an unusual and very special boy. June and her family swiftly form a loving bond with Tommy, taking him along on their family outings. They even commission a special coffin for him complete with its own life support and entertainment system, including replicating a race car or amusement park ride. Yes, really! Tommy becomes enamored with a magazine titled Philly's Argosy which includes a rather striking story about another child—a Welsh aristocrat named Fallon— who suffered from the same form of cancer and sought a cure in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Fallon's sister, Viscountess Agnetha, died of leukemia on the same quest for a cure, making Fallon more determined to find it. The waters of Eureka Springs were believed by Native Americans to possess curative properties. An unscrupulous quack named Norma Baker built a “Cure for Cancer” hospital there, hoping to take advantage of this mythic publicity and the desperation of cancer sufferers and their families. This book takes you from 1939 in the early days of WWII to 2023 with race riots and COVID running wild. It takes you from Cardiff to Arkansas. It challenges the reader with ethical issues such as: what does it mean to really live? Is it worth living if living means suffering? Should we prioritize someone's quality of life or their quantity of life? This book is far from an easy read. We read this book multiple times just to piece everything together. We still probably missed things. Therein probably lies the books weakness: it is very complicated and convoluted, overly so. There was no really good reason to make Tommy a vampire other than for marketing purposes (as vampire literature sells). However, this isn't the kind of vampire novel that would likely appeal to a vampire lit connoisseur. First of all, this isn't really a romance. This is more like a found-monster story similar to something like E.T. There really is too much going on. There are characters like Chelsea who get introduced and given a significant amount of page/screen-time for really no discernible reason. We hate to admit this, but Tommy himself really seemed like a flat character to us. He's like Kurasama in School Rumble or Akira in Akira--he comes across as this blank-slate, enigmatic character who is at the center of everything and yet in the background of everything. In a sense, he's a passive protagonist, which is frustrating when he is technically the main character. It almost always seems like all of the characters are doing everything for him—trying to care for him, trying to improve the situation, trying to advance the plot. It doesn't seem like Tommy talks much, or that he can talk much. Maybe his cancer has affected his cognitive abilities or enlarged his lymph nodes so he can't talk, we're not sure. But he just doesn't pack the punch that we think the author was going for. Case in point is June, who is the real main protagonist (in our opinion). June is the most real-seeming character, and she is likely based on the author's own experience as a nurse dealing with very sick patients. June is always doing her best for Tommy. She's always trying to fight the good fight and to do the right thing. June, in a lot of ways, is the literary foil to Baker. She represents those involved in the medical field/healthcare who actually love and care about their patients. These are people who actually want their patients to be both health and happy. They're not in it just for the money, they're in it because it gives them an opportunity to help the most people possible. We can definitely understand where June is coming from. So, we think we might know why this book comes across as more disjointed and jumbled than some of the the author's other works. It's because the author is a lifelong pantser—someone who is used to writing on the fly rather than following a strict outline. Well, guess what? They decided to run an experiment with this novel and outline/plot everything. This is probably why the book reads in a more choppy, broken, and disjointed way than we're used to. The author was attempting to do something far outside their comfort zone—something very different to what got them to the dance. It show, for better or for worse. You get the sense that parts of this book were written in the early 2000s and other parts were written last week. You get the sense that something just seems... off. However, we do commend the author for trying something new and different, something that challenged them. We also commend the amount of research that the author went through to construct this book that crosses multiple periods of time and across seas/continents. Check this out on Amazon! Score: 88/100 (8.8 out of 10)
On his 18th birthday, Jonah Tarver finds himself at a crime scene with his hands bloodied. Already having suffered several devastating losses in his life, he confronts one of the greatest losses of his life. Lost, confused, and alone, Jonah must overcome suicidal ideation and the many negative influences of his San Francisco community in order to find his way to the light. At its core, Broken Pencils is a book with a lot of heart and soul. At times, it really packs an emotional punch. At other times, it's a bit of a disjointed mess, flying from one thing to the next. However, we appreciated it for what it is. There are literal moments of gold in this book, particularly with quotes like: “...true death arrives when the last person to remember you dies” “I had become someone new, the man who cared less” “We're all just broken pencils” “His brown skin was lighter than mine, unblemished by regret” There are even incredibly funny yet not PC or NSFW quotes like: “Spanish pussy is like two-hundred percent more fertile than other pussy.” It's usually Jonah who is troubled when his drug-dealing, law-breaking peers do and say things that seem immoral or unethical to him. For example, many of them use very strong, racially-insensitive language which he objects to out of principle. He's also respectful and trustful (perhaps overly trustful) of women. He's usually the victim as opposed to the “bad guy” in every situation. This does kinda make him seem like a passive protagonist who allows things to happen to him and just tries to take it in stride like a living, walking punching bag. It's hard not to feel for Jonah, who is a good kid in some very difficult, tragic, and traumatic circumstances. You can't help the cards you're born with in life, and Jonah was dealt a rough hand. Still, it's admirable to see how he seems to have a strong moral compass and a desire to do right by his father, Keon, and others who'd gone before their time. This book is full of great quotes and moments, as we've listed. However, they're speckled in between some weaker, less interesting, and more drawn out moments. Strangely, this book is less than 200 pages long and double-spaced, yet it feels quite a bit longer because of how slowly the first-half of this book develops. For a while, we weren't sure what the point of Jonah's arc (or the story as a whole) was, mostly because of how much is jumped from one situation to the next. Jonah seemed to be thrown into one situation after the next—with Taniesha, with the pole dancer/stripper (Siren), with the random homeless guy (Pater), with the leader gangster/drug-dealer (Wice), etc., etc. Yes, we eventually go that these are some examples of the “broken pencils” in Jonah's life and community. They serve as examples of who he could be (as cautionary tales) and what kind of person he wants to be. However, if you don't catch onto that until three-fourths through the book, you're going to be viewing this book more like a series of loosely-related short-stories or vignettes. This is a solid coming of age story with some great quotes. Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10)
Finally! Finally someone wrote a solid novel that celebrates the brave, courageous, hard-working men and women who risk their lives fighting fires around the world. Firefighters (yes, even volunteer ones) don't get enough credit or attention. There are countless books about police officers and soldiers, but what about firefighters? Prometheus' Gift is a mystery thriller that surrounds a suspicious fire (the “Simpson Fire”) that is determined to have taken the life of at least one person. The book follows Bill, a lead firefighter caught in the middle the drama that results from the grizzly discovery. His senior is Frank, whose wife, Dora, is the beloved waitress at the local restaurant, but is terminally ill with cancer. It also follows Walt, the chief of police and highly experienced investigator who is able to determine the suspicious cause of the fire, which appears to be arson. Later parts of the book focus on Mac, a young FBI agent who is recruited as a mole to report on the ongoing investigation to unscrupulous entities working for the mob in the agency. The most prominent of these unscrupulous entities in the FBI is Ricardo, a character who will definitely get under the readers' skins with how abrasive and corrupt he is. Speaking of the mob (“the Family”), they're major players in the events transpiring in this book. In fact, the granddaughter of the mob boss, Diana, becomes a central character in her own right, the target for assassination in the middle of an apparent power struggle within the organization. One of the most terrifying members working for the Family is Elmo, an enforcer who is infamous for his ruthless, kill-crazy nature. Whenever the Family wants someone to disappear, Elmo is the first person they call. There's also Anita, a blonde-haired, green-eyed bombshell married to Bill, who cheers him on during this arduous predicament. In an interesting twist, this book also prominently features the arsonist himself—often just called “the Burner”—who we progressively learn is a pyromaniac with a very troubled and oddly sympathetic past. The Burner is arguably the most interesting character in the entire book. It was interesting to learn more about this person who is complicit in conspiracy to commit murder. We learn about his upbringing, his schooling, his fascination with starting fires and in figuring out technology (like drones), seeing it as one of his few outlets for self-expression and impacting the world. We also learn that he acquired a Catholic faith from being in boarding school (or possibly from his abusive religious father), and that the murders that he's involved with weigh on his conscience. He even goes to Catholic confessional to express his guilt. This is a really interesting book with a lot of fascinating perspectives. Now, we were slightly disappointed that the attention strayed away from the firefighters and became more like a typical gangster/detective mystery story. This book that seemed very grounded eventually started to feature things like shootouts and bazookas, something out of an action movie or a comic book. In any case, this is a really good and solid book that's worthy of your consideration. Check it out on Amazon! Score: 89+/100 (8.9+ out of 10)
The Angel Theory is an ambitious and wide-reaching novel by John Morelli that combines elements of legal drama, sci-fi, and time-travel genres. The book's most fascinating aspect isn't the wonky, timey-wimey science-fiction stuff, it's actually the character of Bill Arena and his captivating career as a lawyer. We were all on board for that! Unfortunately, Bill Arena himself wasn't. After a long-winded yet interesting diatribe about his career in law, Bill expresses the desire to branch out and try new things. One of those things is to finally start his own Facebook page, which reconnects him with some of the brilliant (and not-so-brilliant) people he encountered in his life. Among the most interesting and intellectually brilliant of those people is Peter Swanteck, now a professor. Peter was ostracized in college because of his staunch, relentless, and crazy-seeming advocacy for the creation of a time machine using Einstein's theory of relativity. He actually published a paper on it that caused an outcry for him to be booted as an embarrassment to the school and the department. Well, surprise, surprise, Peter Swanteck is back in Bill's life ten years later and has apparently finished his time machine. Peter also has a legal matter on his hand as he and his family are supposed to be receiving large portions of an estate mentioned in a will. This book proceeds to explore many of the ethical issues of using a time machine (such as going back to kill Hitler, stop the Holocaust, or help Lincoln to win the Civil War sooner) and things like the butterfly effect. It's actually quite par for the course in terms of time travel novels go. What's more interesting is what's going on behind the scenes while Bill is stepping away from the courtroom. It seems like an unscrupulous, corrupt businessman named Michael Campbell is out to ruin things for our protagonists. Campbell is said to have stolen a computing innovation from his colleagues and made himself a fortune with it. What would a man this corrupt do with a time machine? Can Bill and company stop him? Now, this book has one key flaw: it's all over the place. Sometimes the narrative is talking about some guy's tennis career/hobby. Sometimes the narrative is talking about time travel. Sometimes the narrative is talking about someone's last will and testament. Sometimes the narrative is talking about misadventures with strippers in a bar. Sometimes the narrative becomes action-oriented and starts featuring action-hero-like shootouts complete with s 6'5 sniper, private military company, and special forces. It's almost as if this book has schizophrenia at times since it can't decide what it's trying to be. Instead, it tries to be everything all at once. It's like they say: when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. Now, that's not necessarily true since this book is exciting and enjoyable at times. Who hasn't thought about what they'd do with time travel? Who doesn't like sniper battles? However, the book just seems to lack focus. This book would have been so much more interesting if it set aside all the Doctor Who/Back to the Future homages and just focused on being an excellent legal drama. It really could've been. At times, it was. The times when Bill Arena was talking about all the things he's been through to win cases in the courtroom were some of the best parts of the book. However, those things take a back seat to the action-adventure element of the book. Another thing is that the title and cover art are a bit misleading. This has very little to do with angels, angelology, supernatural, or spiritual topics. So, if you're getting this book to satisfy your Supernatural fix, then this isn't for you. With all that said, this is a solid and enjoyable novel that allows the protagonist (and the author) to spread their wings and explore. Check it out on Amazon! Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)
My Place Among Them is a culturally and historically significant book by J. Stanion. It chronicles the experiences of Native Americans who were displaced from their lands and forcefully assimilated during the 19th century. These sad events, similar to the slavery of Blacks or the internment of Japanese-Americans, still haunt us and linger like a stain on our conscience and our history as a nation. The most important thing that we took away from this book is that these events, these histories, these cultures, and these languages are not to be erased or forgotten. They are to preserved and remembered for future generations so that they will know what came before them. This book specifically follows the events of the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890 at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. Following decades of tension between the Americans expanding westward and the Lakota (and other) Indians, the US 7th Cavalry took the accidental discharge of a weapon as an attack and proceeded to attack the Lakota camp at Wounded Knee Creek, a battle that turned into a massacre as the American soldiers began killing indiscriminately after the battle had turned. As many as 300 Lakota men, women, and children were killed as a result. This book covers the aftermath of this tragic and horrific event as the American soldiers come across a strong, tall Indian boy named “John Iron Horse.” John is, effectively, the central character of this narrative as we see him grow from a fish out of water in a Native American assimilation school to becoming a citizen respected not only by his own people (as a champion and advocate) but by the White Men. We also see John grow as a human being, learning multiple languages, competing in sports, getting an education, getting employment, and meeting his eventual wife, Stella. The relationship between John and Stella is one of the most beautiful and heartwarming love stories—real or fiction—that we've ever read! It goes to show that you never know where life will take you, and what joys may await you even after tragedy and misfortune. Stella is presented as such a cute, beautiful, loving, and supportive person—exactly the type of partner that John needs to carry him out of the darkness of the loss of his tribe, his father, and his mentor. The book also follows Carter Heath, a white American teacher, from whose journals we get a lot of the background information. Carter, similar to Nick in Great Gatsby, provides a lot of context and observations. Carter is an example that there is goodness, grace, and mercy, even among oppressors, adversaries, and enemies. Carter is, technically, a member of the nationality that has inflicted the Lakota and the other Indians, yet he doesn't see the Lakota as the enemy, nor does he approve of everything that's being done to them. Carter is troubled that many of the Native American schools that the Indians are forced into operate more like labor camps or schools in which the English language and Catholicism are forced onto the Natives to replace their languages and religions. This book is rich with narrative and information. It is a little slow-going in the beginning, and it almost seems like the main story (involving John) doesn't quite start until midway through. There's a lot of setup. So, you need to be kinda patient until Carter or the author can get to the point. We did appreciate how detailed and eye-opening this book was. This could easily be prescribed as required reading for a Native American college or high school course. We also loved the photos, many of which you wouldn't believe were taken over a 100 years ago! Check this out on Amazon! Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)
Culver City by Brant Vickers explores a fantasy scenario that many of us have dreamed of—being able to meet, talk to, interact, and even hang out with famous actors and actresses from our favorite movies! But remember... some things are better than they seem, and good things often come with a price... The year is 1969. Kyle and Cassady, two teenagers, sneak into the MGM Backlots in Culver City. This is the site where some of MGM's all-time classics like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz were filmed. Kyle and Cassady come upon a magical realm in the MGM Backlots that allows them to meet and engage with some of the legendary actors and actresses from MGM's golden era including Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O'hara, often just called “Scarlett”), Leslie Howard (“Ashley”), Frank Morgan, Judy Garland, and even Lawrence Olivier. These encounters form the highlights of the book as each of these figures reveals a lot of the fascinating history and trivia regarding their acting experiences and MGM. All of this is paramount to the history of film and cinema as a whole. This can especially be interesting to fans of these films, particularly Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. These figures come across like ghosts from a bygone yet fascinating age. However, these “ghosts” of the past may have ominous origins and malevolent ulterior motives as the characters and the reader learn more about the evil spirits or demons in this “Sift” (realm), creatures that seem to feed on the dreams and aspirations of the impressionable. We were very impressed with and entertained by this book. The premise is absolutely fascinating. As fans of the classics and of these legendary actors, we loved it! The author may believe that this book is some kind of horror or paranormal mystery book, but that's not what came across to us. Yes, it's a mystery with some paranormal elements including spirits/demons, but it's rather lighthearted and fun. In fact, it's actually quite humorous and funny. One funny moment that stood out to us was when the boys' mom decided that aerosols are bad for the atmosphere due to climate warming scares, so she throws away all of their deodorant. It is hilarious when the characters roll their eyes and just decide to roll with it, knowing that they're going to smelling like BO all day thanks to their mother's newfound hippy obsession. Another funny thing that we're not sure is supposed to be funny is the Brie Ann character, the niece of Eleanor (another character). Brie Ann is obsessed with social justice issues, particularly slavery. She can't have a normal conversation without talking about slavery. She can't even talk about disapproving of the Vietnam War without bringing up slavery. However, she did bring up some things about To Kill a Mockingbird and Harper Lee that we found interesting. One thing we didn't like about this particular book is that, despite it being nearly perfect for teenagers, the author decided to include foul language. We're not prudish at all, but this does make this book less appropriate and accessible for young people who might otherwise enjoy this. All in all, this is a very entertaining read with some really interesting trivia about MGM films and their legendary actors. Check it out on Amazon! Score: 86/100 (8.6 out of 10)
A How Pretty Town is a peculiar yet fascinating pseudo-memoir by Bruce Evans. The book takes the perspective of a precocious wordsmith, writer, and sportsman, Wayne Adams, as he comes of age in a rapidly changing and developing Edmonds community in the great state of Washington. This book is written from the perspective of an older Wayne as he looks back at his life. Right off the bat, the first thing that will jump out to readers about the book is that the style of writing is extremely unique and different. It is simultaneously bizarre yet eloquent. It is both obnoxious yet beautiful. What do we mean by that? Well, the writer seemingly has an obsession with mashing up and listing words, especially adjectives, one after the other after the other. Cunningly. Cleverly. Coccooningly. A lot of this book somewhat reads like a series of lists, divided either by commas, periods, or em-dashes. We get it. It's the author's unique, experimental writing style that they're really super proud of. The author elaborates on that later in the book. The narrator tell us that they've “always been averse to the plain style” and is rather “attracted to distinctive styles.” They like to “[p]eel off the hair shirt of prosaic prose and slip into something lycral, lyrical, liberating...” You mean lycral like the stretchy lycra fabric? They make reference to loving “long looping They “love textual richness, density, variety...” and allude to this style of writing being rhythmic and musical like jazz. They then go on a tangent of choppy sentence fragments and run-on sentences describing how profound and special this writing style is. A lot of the times, it just came across as rambling, ridiculous, and unnecessary. Speaking of these word salad lists, here are some examples from the book: “Implications, qualifications—codicils” “...sporadically, usually, seemingly random or incongruous, often--from his buffering unconscious, his mind, itself a fiction, grasping as many of them as it could as they sought to wriggle free, then consciously buffering and buffing some, rebuffing others, rearranging, rewording, or discarding, he could become a fiction-maker, an orderer, an executor, a self. He waited, scribbled, waited some more, scribbled, revised the scribbles.” “…neologisms, oronyms, aptronyms, eggcorns, oxymorons, onomastics, anagrams, palindromes, puns, double entendres, word searches, cryptics.” “...the kind of crazy talk, jibber-jabber, jubjubbing, turgid, burbling, whiffling, bantering, inaccurate, imprecise, obfuscating, fulminating, bullshitting nonsense to be found everywhere--in boroughs and groves, in homes and rathskellers.” It's almost as if the author discovered a thesaurus and just went wild with it. That's not to say that there aren't times when the writing is impressive. The author clearly has a talent for using alliteration and emphasizing a feeling or a mood. The one moment that stands out to us is “cuddling, cocconing.” However, this wordy, loopy, convoluted, circular writing style did bother us as being over-the-top and unnecessary. This is especially an issue considering that this book can take over 12 hours to get through despite only being 280 pages long, due in large part to these word lists/word salads full of words that mostly mean the same thing or convey the same idea. Remember: you don't need to say the same thing more than once. You should write either “boom” or “bang,” not both. Being brief, concise, and efficient with language is more important than being wordy, complex, and trying to impress everyone with how many words you know. The truth is: most people don't care about that, they just want to read a good story told in a way that respects their time, patience, and intelligence. Keep in mind, we had similar issues with General Jack and the Battle of the Five Kingdoms earlier in the year, and that book still won us over with its great overall story and characters. Thankfully, A How Pretty Town also comes through as being a relatively interesting, coming-of-age, period piece. The majority of the book takes place during the middle of the 20th century, meaning that Wayne is alive during some of the the turbulent events of that period, and the world has changed substantially from the time Wayne was born to his golden/twilight years. The book also doubles as a sort of sports drama since Wayne was heavily involved in competitive sports when he was younger. We have a few more things to discuss... Now, the formatting is also rough. Why are there no indentations between paragraphs and lines of dialogue? Why are there brackets and parenthesis everywhere? This could definitely use an editor's or proofreader's touch. Another thing to note is that Wayne, while a very interesting character, is also a realistic and a pessimist. He reminded us a lot of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. He views even the splitting of the cell in reproduction as a kind of “violence.” He is an example of someone who might just be too smart for his own good, similar to Sheldon and the rest of the Big Bang cast. Being a genius doesn't mean you are immune to being dense and stupid in other ways, and Wayne often fits the bill. Wayne could probably figure out how time travel works before he could figure out relationships with other human beings. He seems to view everything from an unemotional, detached lens. Human beings are intelligent animals, yet still animals. The purpose of life is to live and die. To Wayne, there is no god except his own fictional god who is “hella more rational, is relational, is beautiful, sexy, transformative...” and whom Stephen Hawking apparently called his “ontic clout.” This is just how Wayne thinks and how he is as a character. One last thing that is incredibly bizarre and strange about this book is that Wayne is constantly called the “Old Man” even when he is deep into reflecting on his youth. This might not seem like such a big deal, but it becomes a bit creepy and uncomfortable when he starts describing his sexual encounters (with then-young women) in great, erotic detail, all the while still referred to as “the Old Man.” Now, logically, you know that he isn't old at the time of these acts, but it's still weird. It's also funny when he's doing very athletic acts like throwing or kicking, but he is still referred to as “the Old Man.” Update: apparently, Wayne was an EXCELLENT and determined athlete even into his older years, even earning top honors in the Senior Games in Utah! Anyway, this book does need some work, but the author is clearly a talented wordsmith in his own right and has a good story to tell. Check it out on Amazon! Score: 88+/100 (8.8+ out of 10)
My Autobiographies by John Koenig is a true mind trip! My Autobiographies is a fascinating look at the concept of reincarnation and the existence of multiple lives over time, each one building on or influenced by the events and decisions in the others. John Koenig is a specialist in the concept of other lives, an actual hypnotist who works to help clients to become in tune with their previous selves. If that sounds a little wacky and wild, well, you're in the majority. This type of hypnosis is not the normal fair for most people. However, let's be fair and not discredit it just because it sounds so different and unfamiliar. The truth is, the concepts of reincarnation and multiple lives is actually a major aspect of some of the world's largest religions—Hinduism and Buddhism—with 1-2 billion followers, particularly in India and China. However, even westerners are familiar with some of these concepts. For example, Americans will often cite “karma” as being the reason that a bad person finally gets punished. Indeed, “karma” and “karma debt” is a concept that gets explored in this book. In this book, Koenig discusses many of his former selves that he discovered through his hypnotic practice. He admits that he isn't 100% sure if these were actual former lives he's lived or a figment of his imagination or his subconscious, but he reminds us that whether or not they're “real” isn't the point; the point is that you learn from and appreciate them. Some of Koenig's most fascinating former selves are Corporal Riley/Private Reilly (of the First Continental Dragoons during the time of the American colonies and revolution), the ancient Egyptian cattle rancher who was betrayed by the Pharaoh and placed into slavery to build his monuments, a royal household guard, and Robbie (a black slave who is sadly exploited by his masters and has only one happy moment getting the attention of a fellow slave girl). You may have noticed that many of these are victims in their circumstances, people who were taken advantage of by the powers that be. However, they were good people overall. However, not all of Koenig's former selves were good or admirable people. There's Ernst, the wannabe Nazi from Poland who worked in a concentration camp, helping to facilitate the Holocaust. There's the Sergeant, a white-supremacist British soldier actively working to take advantage of, exploit, and oppress Indians. There's a murderer sentenced to death by hanging who manages to get himself drunk beforehand due to a little gift from a friend. However, the person who troubled us the most was Zeke, the serial rapist and murderer. Zeke is objectively a terrible person who took advantage of and sexually assaulted women on a regular basis. During a struggle with one of them, his victim died. Zeke fled to the nearby county where he lived in fear of capture in the mountains, becoming a nigh-mythological figure as a mountain man. There are some strange statements in this section such as “inside many males beats the heart of a rapist” and that Zeke paid his debt for the rape and murder in that lifetime. Well, we don't particularly agree. What Zeke did to that girl not only ended her life, but it also affected her family—a mother and father without a daughter, and brothers without a sister. Also, Zeke ruined more lives than just the one of that girl. It is implied that he assaulted multiple girls and women. They lived their whole lives with that trauma. Anyway, this book is incredibly compelling and fascinating. The writing and formatting are a bit on the rough side. There are no indentations. Tense changes frequently from present to past tense as if the author is just describing what's on their mind in the spur of the moment. In fact, he prefaces the book by saying that much of the book might sound like stream of consciousness. It does. The poems are interesting, although somewhat simplistic. They generally state the gist of who the character/self is, what they think, and what they've done—almost like the song of a bard. There are also times like when Corporal Reilly is spelled/referred to as “Private Riley.” Perhaps this book could've used one more edit/rewrite. Still, it's incredibly interesting. Check it out on Amazon! |
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