“The House on Mango Street”

 

My granddaughter is reading this book as part of her seventh grade curriculum. I had purchased the book for my classroom, but had never read it…until now.

The voice is that of Esperanza. The storyline is shown as glimpses into life on Mango Street - vignettes. Short chapters (which my granddaughter likes) are rich with detail. Family. A lot of COUSINS, sooo manny cousins. Friends. School. Boys. Life. Messy. As I read, I continually wondered how my granddaughter would react to some of the uglier sides of life on Mango Street. 

Taken as a whole you get a sense of the complexities of the neighborhood, of growing up, and of eventually coming home. My favorite vignette is that of the stolen car, and the cousins waving goodbye to the thief as he is being taken away by the police.

“The Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Messy Days of Christmas”

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree…”

What if…no, no one in their right mind would do that, but…what if?

A family in mourning. A broken collection of people in survival mode. A dating app. Gifts from a stranger. Noise. Chaos. New responsibilities. A new focus. A new path to healing. Love.

Topsy-Turvy is a fitting description to what befalls this family of three. Ms. Truelove is magical.

“The Murder Before Christmas”

“…that’s what life’s like. It’s messy. It’s hard. It’s uncomfortable. You’re going to make mistakes. People around you are going to make mistakes. You’re human. And if you don’t learn to forgive, you’re going to make life that much more difficult for yourself.” (182)

How is it that a book finds you? The message jumps out and stabs you in the heart? (It was a murder mystery after all) You get to the end, sigh, and feel spent. Your emotions and thoughts are running in 50 different directions. Life is messy. Family is messy. We all make mistakes. Forgiveness. Always, forgive…

“Big Shot”

Ellison. Anarchy. Eight couples (too many names to keep straight). Not one, but TWO murders. Snakes. Sweltering heat. A noisy air conditioning unit. The Fin and Feather. Skeet shooting. Fishing. AND MOTHER!

Episode 15 did NOT disappoint!! What more can I say?

“Karolina and the Torn Curtain”

 

“And further proof…of the importance of education for girls in our modern world.” (86)

The dawn of the 20th century was a time of change, especially for women. Industrialization. Education. Suffrage. Why has there always been a lack of sisterhood among women? Why do we stand in judgment of other women? Why do we claim to know what their life choices should be, without even a shred of empathy? What if those choices are not their own?

When men see women as sexual objects to be exploited, how will we fight to save our sisters? How will we find a common thread to bind us together? 

Marriage. Prostitution. Human trafficking. Corruption. Lies. Deceit. Murder. Justice.

What is a woman’s “place?” How did this crossroads in thinking affect how women see themselves in the modern world? Can one play both sides…doting wife, educated woman, career woman, mother? I suppose this has always been part of the internal struggle for women. Which role should define who we are? Or do we need to be defined?

How do we strengthen sisterhood today?

“Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing”

“She knew it would keep earning interest for quite some time, in terms of cordiality from those who saw her as someone who mattered, and envy from those who couldn’t forgive her social advance. She was sure she’d be able to put both of these responses to advantage for her own aims when the need arose.” (345)

1893. Poland. I can’t imagine working so hard to attain a prominent social standing. I can’t imagine working so diligently to advance my husband’s career. I can imagine being so bored that I might insert myself into a mysterious death investigation…well, maybe, but not today. 

How does one go from fundraising for the common good, to advancing one's own place in a caste society? How do the nuns help this cause? The housekeeper? The duchess? How does the resolution of the crimes show that she really does matter? That she has worth beyond being a professor’s wife? How will the community view her detective skills? Who gets left in her wake? Will the status she achieves be enough?

Quid pro quo. 

“Confidence John”

 

Brief remarks for a short novel…

“We are not what has happened to us. Instead, I think we are what we do about what has happened to us.” (108)

Family. Revenge. Treasure. Disappointment. Blame. Lies. Secrets. Starting over. Betrayal. Hope. Legacy.

Family is what we make it. Blood or not, it is the people we love and with whom we surround ourselves. Who we learn to trust. Who accepts us for who we are. Who comes to see the good in us, despite our past sins. Who stands by us. Who gives us hope for the future.

“A Bullet for Cinderella”

 

“Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.”

-Captain Jack Sparrow

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” -but what if those lemons come from a dark time, a POW camp? How does your conscience reconcile your profit from the death of another?

Greed. Insanity. Heartbreak. Treasure. Lies. Secrets. Betrayal. Death. Treasure. Trust. Forgiveness. Love.

Sometimes the treasure that we seek, is not the treasure that we find. Sometimes it’s the relationships that are truly worth their weight in gold.

“How Lulu Lost Her Mind”

 

“I need a shotgun, a carton of smokes, and some fucking jerky.” (237)

Relationships are hard. Patience is a virtue. Alzheimer’s sucks.

Mother. Daughter. Caretaker. Memories. Building a future. Fighting the past. Racing to find the “sweet spot.” Family heritage. Old. New. Breath. Relax. Laughter. Smiles. Anger. Tantrums. Passionate nature. Responsibilities. Respect. Coming to terms with inevitable loss. Love. Survival.

I loved the characters. I laughed, even though I knew what was coming. My heart aches for anyone facing the challenges of a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. 

Relationships can be hard. Patience is a virtue that requires 24/7 commitment. Alzheimer’s still sucks.

“Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost”

Thorn Bluffs estate. California’s central coast. Fog. Rip tides. Secrets. Venture capitalist. Governess. Chef. Brother. Daughter. Caretakers. Characters living in fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of their benefactor. Fear of the monster.

Schizophrenia.

Schrödinger’s cat…until you “open the box” Beatrice McAdams is both dead and alive. Is she a ghost? An apparition, haunting the estate? Or did she survive the dangerous surf? Whose story should you believe? Where is the evidence for either scenario? 

Greed. Belonging. Protection. Love.

“The Nakano Thirftshop”

 

“These are not antiques. They’re second-hand goods.” (5)

Quirky. “You know what I mean?” These are the people you work with day in and day out. The people you share a meal with. Share your thoughts. And yet, how well do you really know them? Those are the relationships we sometimes take for granted. Those are the relationships that are sometimes lost…

Rectangular #2. Paperweight. Bus. Letter opener. Big dog. Celluloid. Sewing machine. Dress. Bowl. Apples. Gin. Punch ball.

Lives collected like objects in a thrift store. Not antiques. Simply second-hand goods. Waiting to be loved. To be valued.

“The Language of Hoofbeats”

I want to say that this novel is about filters. I want to say that it reminded me of my Grandmother, as she got older, and rarely filtered her thoughts before they became words. I also want to say that that same Grandmother was also bitter at times. Angry. Hurt. Judgmental. Loving.

I want to say that we are all trying to find where we fit. Seeking out what is familiar to us. Resistant to change. Making order out of chaos. I want to say that this novel filled me with hope. 

So, I guess, in my own way, I did say all of that. Oh, and the horse was cool too!

“The Guncle”

 

Twelve Guncle Rules (more or less). GUP. Self-absorbed actor. Niblings. Loss. Grief. Love. Healing. And, a lot of sarcasm.

The pink Christmas tree. Marlene. JED. Rosa. Pool floats. Stars (the kind in the sky). An earthquake. Death. Rehab.

This novel had a perspective that was new to me. Not the “retired” actor part. Not the part about the uncle entertaining his niece and nephew. But, the part where GUP deals with his losses and that of his niblings. How do the three of them help to heal each other? How much time can one spend in a swimming pool in Palm Springs? Heartfelt. I was hoping for the happily-ever-after ending…let’s just say, Rowley left the novel on the upswing. Loved every moment of the adventure. 

“Mrs. March”

 

What the hell is wrong with her?

Mrs. March. No first name. She is entitled. She is a narcissist. She is arrogant. She is insecure. She is paranoid. She is cold. She is rigid. She is calculating. She is petty. She is driven. She is unmoored. She is a wack-job.

This novel left me scratching my head. I could not put it down, and I questioned my own sanity for continuing. So, I will ask again…what the hell is wrong with her?

“The Fortune Cookie Writer”

 

“Assumptions make one as blind as the mole-shrew.”

This novel did NOT go where I thought it would. I was thinking: family friendly romance. I didn’t expect Rose to endear herself to me. I didn’t expect that I’d want to take Marissa by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. I didn’t expect Owen to remind me of a student I had, who had Asperger’s Syndrome.

The novel got me thinking about how busy we get with our own lives. How at times we close our eyes to what is right in front of us. That sometimes we simply need to look around, with an open heart. Reach out. Take a chance. Let go. Listen. Share. Love.

“Sweet Girl”

 

“Hilarious, heartbreaking, and true.” -NPR

Where to start with this one… 

A 16 year old high school drop-out. A drug addicted mother. A low life meth cooker/dealer. An alcoholic one time father figure. A baby. A sister thousands of miles away. Michigan. Snow. Lots and lots of snow.

I was drawn to the story, hoping that Mulhauser would find a happily-ever-after ending. I was appalled at all the drug use. I was rooting for the protagonist. And I worried about the baby throughout the whole novel.

Intense, heartbreaking, and suspenseful. NOT in any way, shape, or form - hilarious.

“The House on the Lagoon”

 

“Can history be so dangerous as to be revolutionary?” (91)

When does writing a family history become toxic? How can one expose familial lies and secrets without hurting those still living? What if the history isn’t yours? What if your husband objects to your “historical fiction?” Why write it at all?

Puerto Rico. 1955. Part oral history, part historical fiction. So many characters…need a chart (family tree) to keep them all straight. Freedom. Generationally strong women. Independence. Secrets. Society climbers. Descrimination. Revolution. Prejudice. Love.

How do we tell the stories we are given without seeing them through our own lens? Political lens. Emotional lens. Do we need to stay true to the story, or true to the point we are trying to make? Does the story need to end “happily-ever-after?”

“Atomic Love”

 

“…he sees a world rebuilding itself higher and mightier every day - to prove what?…Every skyscraper a desire to forget and look to the future. All built on scars.” (224)

No, no, no, no, nooooo. As I charged through this novel, at one point I stopped. What if the ending is not what I want it to be? What if Jennie Fields adds throws in the twist that is picking at my brain? NOOOO!

The Manhattan Project. FBI. Spies. Communists. Russians. Secrets. Romance. Sex. Happily-Ever-After? Can this end well for all the characters? How do they reconcile their past and make the future meaningful and joyous?

The historical threads are there. Our paranoia as a nation. Our worst fears realized. We can overcome anything. Make a brighter future. Find lasting love.

“Next Year in Havana”

A cautionary tale…

“Batista…protected women from discrimination based on their gender and gave them the right to demand equal pay…he became a dictator, populist government eschewed for corruption, a hero transformed to a villian.” (104)

“There is no home for us in a world where we can’t speak our minds for fear of being thrown in prison, where daring to dream is a criminal act, where you aren’t limited by your own ability and ambition, but instead by the whims of those who keep a tight rein on power.” (351)

Two voices. Two different decades. Same ache. Same hope. Same passion. Home.

Drawn into the drama…the story. Concerned about the political climate; what lessons are to be learned from Cuba? Is the United States headed in this direction? The magician shows one hand, while misdirecting our vision with the other. Revolution. Promise. Corruption. Money. 

A cautionary tale indeed. 

“She Rides Shotgun”

 

I have to admit, my “rule following brain” had a hard time with this novel. BUT, after I finished and thought about it; the rule breaking still bothered me, however, I found a stronger current running through the story.

What would you do for your child? I mean, how far would you go to protect them? What if your child’s life was in danger because of how you chose to live your life? What if you were the only one who could save them? What exactly would you do? Steal? Lie? Murder?

I tried to reason out a million different ways this storyline could have gone. My brain and heart wanted the dad to find a different path. I wanted the child to be sheltered from his life choices; sheltered from what he felt he must do.

What choices would I have made in his situation?

“There’s a (slight) chance i might be going to hell”

Making friends isn’t always easy. Finding yourself in a new environment without the connections you had previously…well that sounds like my life. Retired, moved, ready to start a new chapter, and BANG. Covid hits. Stuck at home. New adventures put on hold.

Witty humor. Sewer Pipe Queen(s). Jealousy. Betrayal. An unhealthy desire to find friends. A Goth Lit Bookclub. Geriatric neighbors. Face eating raccoons. Small town politics. Vegetarians. The mail carrier. Obedience training. Arson. Ruby Spicer.

We find friends when we least expect to…perhaps while investigating an arson, or tracking down an old Sewer Pipe Queen. I’ll keep looking, as well.

“The Other Man”

What? They both had someone on the side? NOoooo. Ok. Breathe. 

Parental expectations. One’s own happiness. Where is the balance? How do parents know when they have gone too far? Stepped over the line? And when is it ok to forge your own path in life? Whose advice do you take? Will fate intervene? How do you stand on your own two feet? How do parents love their children enough to let them walk away? It’s hard being on the sidelines. It’s hard not to be involved in every decision. But it’s better to see our children happy. To see them grow and mature. To relish the adults we knew they could grow into. Happy.

“The Operator”

 

“When it came right down to it…she [didn’t think she] could manage solely on her salary…it wasn’t enough for a person to live on. [She thought] how unfair it was, how women ended up trapped in their marriages with mouths to feed…or wearing a pair of trousers.” (259)

“Aren’t you gonna put on some makeup?” asked my grandmother.

- I wasn’t wearing lipstick

What is it about the 50s? Social norms. Secrets. Maintaining the status quo. Respectability. Status.

This novel had me thinking of my grandmother. She wanted social status, and knew that all she had to do was to follow “the rules.” Her “guidebook to life” - if you will. Telling her story on her terms, even if that meant bending the truth, because her version was socially acceptable. Being judgemental; yet scorning the judgement of others. I saw her in Vivian’s character, and perhaps, my mother as Charlotte; trying to put all the pieces together in a world that wasn’t her mother’s. Taking the guidebook, editing it, to fit a different life.

What I found the most disturbing, given our current political climate, was that this is where we may be headed. Segregated. Spiteful. Judgemental. Disrespected. Trapped. 

“The Grapes of Wrath”

“There ain’t room enough for you an’ me, fear your kind an’ my kind, for rich and poor together all in one country, for thieves.” (Loc 3217)

“Sure, they talk the same language, but they ain’t the same. Look how they live. Think any of us folks’d live like that? Hell, no!” (Loc 5594)

“And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact; when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history; repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.” (Loc 5633)

I don’t even know where to start. Steinbeck created a roller coaster of emotions. I wanted to bond with the Joan’s. I wanted to sympathize with their plight. Then I got angry. Angry at the Great Depression. Angry at the way the banks pushed farmers off their land. Angry that “Okies” were thought of less than. Angry that people starved due to the greed of a few. Angry that profits outweighed everything. Angry.

So much today feels the same. Corporate greed. Political greed. Injustice. Keeping people at a disadvantage to keep the “upper hand.” Power mongering. Trying to breathe. Trying to convince myself that we are not repeating history. Trying to find a sliver of hope.

Hopeful in the tenacity of the human spirit. Hopeful that honest, open people will prevail. Hopeful. 

“Passage West”

“He would be forever suspended between two lands, never whole.” (344)

Growing up in the Napa Valley, I don’t know that I ever gave much thought about the lives of those who worked in the vineyards. I went to school with their children; I thought I understood some of their history. But there is so much more that I didn’t see or understand. 

This novel made me think of Jimmy Vallenueva, a sixth grade classmate, whose parents worked at one of the wineries. Jimmy had a crush on me. I wasn’t interested in him (I was only 11) but I wasn’t cruel to him either. I don’t know that I ever thought about his economic situation, or whether his parents were migrant workers. I didn’t question his citizenship status. He was a classmate, learning right alongside the rest of us. I suppose I was naive - perhaps I still am. 

Imperial Valley, California. Not grapes - cantaloupe, cotton, and lettuce. The American Dream. Hope. Fear. Racism. Laws. Dignity. Whiskey…a lot of whiskey.

I’ve never understood why one group of people feel the need to push down another in order to elevate themselves. How some can look at human beings as something less. What are they afraid of? Are they afraid that with hard work and determination, those they see as “less than” may achieve the American Dream? Where does that thinking come from?

I feel like we all came from immigrant stock. Leaving one world behind to embrace the unknown in a new place. To put down roots. To hang on to one culture, while trying to blend into a different one. It saddens me to see so much hate today, as in the novel. Aren’t our differences what make this nation great? Perhaps my naïveté is showing…again.

“Your Perfect Year”

 

Originally written in German, I was a bit skeptical (track record with novels written in world languages: not great). However, I fell in love with this novel immediately. The storyline played out like a language arts story mountain - beginning, build up, problem, resolution, and ending. Love. Loss. Trust. Fate. A psychic. Mistakes. Chances. Change. Friendship. Anger. Acceptance. Self-awareness. Mindfulness. Balance.  As the two storylines started to meld together, I hoped that Lucas would give me the ending I wanted. How would her characters start over; start fresh, while still holding onto the past…would there be a happily-ever-after? Let’s just say, I was not disappointed.

“Troubling Love”

 

Ugh! Strike two for foreign novels (originally written in Italian). Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s the storyline that confused me. I’m sure that the blurb about the book must have enticed me, or else I wouldn’t have purchased it. Maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough. Ummmm…I’m so confused. Shadows of the past. Reliving childhood memories associated with her mother. Searching pieces of her mother’s life to find the truth in her death. Trying to sort out what actually happened and what she created in her imagination. Ending where it all began…the beach. 

“Washington Black”

“I understood there were many ways of being in the world, that to privilege one rigid set of beliefs over another was to lose something.” (209)

People have a way of turning a blind eye on history if they feel it will leave a stain on the present. But unless we open our eyes to all the pieces of our history, how will we be able to move forward unimpeded? This book felt like a lesson in Critical Race Theory. Examining the intersections of race, society, and law. Characters struggling with their race. Characters tied to their place in society. Characters bound by the law. Characters shattering the intersection…blindly moving forward.

Barbados. Sugar cane plantation. Slavery. Friendship. Knowledge. Betrayal. Abolitionists. Science. Nova Scotia. England. Netherlands. Africa. Art. Chemistry. Opportunities. Experimentation. Loyalty. Respect. Love. Misery. Loss.

“Noir”

Not a huge sci-fi/fantasy reader…so, in all truthfulness, I read this book to fill a spot in my Kindle reading challenge. That said, I was mildly surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. I’m sure that a lot of that had to do with the fact that the story was set in 1947 San Francisco. Moore even mentions my hometown, Napa. I could easily put myself into the setting; enjoying all the historical references.

Ok. Two-Toes. Eddie Moo Shoes. The Cheese. Lone. Milo. THE SNAKE. The policeman. The General. The Bohemian Club. The kidnapping. The opium den.  The Moonman. The ‘ray-gun.” The secret agents. And of course…razzamatazz.

I scratched my head a few times while reading - where is this going? Where is the sci-fi part? But, in the end I was still scratching my head, but smiling all the while.

“Evil Woman”

 

Two things jumped out at me as I read Mulhern’s latest Country Club Murder:

“Mothers saw their daughters as reflections of themselves. Daughters looked for criticism in compliments.” (21)

So, if you stand up to a strong, perhaps overbearing mother, does that mean you are a strong woman? A reflection of her? How do you balance being a dutiful daughter and the independent woman you are? How do you take the criticism in stride? How does this “reflection” affect your relationship with your siblings? How do you keep from screaming?

“Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. But studying history doesn’t work…the same mistakes are made. Over and over and over again. (139)

Families are strange this way. History tells us our origin story. Where we came from, where we’ve been. But history doesn’t tell us where we will land. History can only educate if we are open to learning its lessons. Oftentimes, we throw our past out, hoping to reshape our future. But, is our past linked to our DNA? Doomed to create the same mistakes as our ancestors? How can we change our path? What do we need to learn from history to make an impact on the future?

Ellison. Anarchy. Grace. Aggie. Francis. Mr. Coffee. Murder. Twists. Resolution…

“Stiff - The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers”

 

Ok, I’ll admit it - I only picked up this book to fulfill the non-fiction slot in my Kindle reading challenge. I never gave much thought to cadavers, much less their lives, as it were. Roach approaches the subject with an insatiable curiosity, a ton of science, and a bit of humor…

Anatomists. Grave Robbers. Anatomy Labs. Practice. Impartial. Respectful. Crash test dummies. Mortuary. Decay. Bits and pieces. Airplane crashes. Bullet wounds. Plastic surgeons. Crucifiction. Brain dead. Decapitation. Mummies. Fertilizer, compost. Freeze dried bodies. Plasticized bodies. Learning tool. Historically searching for medical answers. Forward thinking experimentation. How do we deal with all the dead bodies? 

My conundrum: burial, cremation, donate, compost? In the end will it be me who ultimately makes the decision, or someone else? How do I see my body moving through space and time without my life force, my spirit, my soul? And since I am an organ donor, without my innards intact? Not sure, but this book has given me a lot to think about - and more than my husband wanted to hear about cadavers, for sure.

The Dying Day”

 

The DaVinci Code, meets Indian Jones, meets India’s first female detective. 1950 Bombay. A missing manuscript. A missing scholar. RIDDLES. A dead prostitute. A CIPHER. A place where everyone SWEATS and everyone SMELLS.( When was air conditioning invented?) An old love interest. NAZI soldiers. Inspector Wadia as a role model for other women. 

There is so much going on in this novel, it’s hard to believe that much of the Khan’s storyline was drawn from history. I never thought about how the world readjusted to a new reality after WWII ended. Where did all those escaped Nazis go? How did their lives continue to affect the lives of others following the end of the war? Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” is a fitting text…how do we answer for our sins? What is the ultimate punishment?

“…the Nazis…they were thugs. Schoolyard bullies whose only answer to every problem was to exterminate it. Tell me, what kind of world is it where men can think like that?” (263)