Review: No Land to Light On (by Yara Zgheib)

 

My Rating: 3 stars

I'm a little torn on this one.  The story, which revolved around a Syrian couple caught up in the travel ban against Muslim countries back in 2017, definitely had a lot of potential.  In fact, the story actually started off strong -- I was immediately sympathetic to Sama and Hadi's situation and was absorbed in how things would play out for them.  However, a few chapters in, the story seemed to unravel a bit in terms of plot and some things started to not make much sense.  Even so, I continued to stick with it, as I felt the characters were well-drawn and their story was an important one to tell.  Indeed, what happened to both of the characters was heartbreaking and in detailing their plight, especially the various injustices that they had to endure, I felt that the author, Yara Zgheib, did a good job making the story emotionally resonant, to the point that I couldn't help but root for the characters, even if there were times when I didn't agree with their actions.

With all that said though, I did have some issues with this one that made the reading experience a little bit of a struggle for me.  The issues were mostly with the structure and the writing, which made parts of the story confusing and hard to follow.  Structure-wise, the story was mostly told through Sama's and Hadi's alternating perspectives, which wasn't unusual, but the mode kept switching too, between first person, second person, and third person points-of-view, sometimes all in the same chapter, which to me, was a bit too much.  In terms of the dialogue, that too was done in a way that was different -- some of the dialogue was in quotes while some of it wasn't and it seemed to be randomly done throughout the story (at least I wasn't able to figure out any particular rhyme or reason to it).  I had actually read Zgheib's debut novel The Girls at 17 Swann Street back in 2019 and while I liked that book quite a bit, I remember mentioning in my review at the time that the structure was odd because some scenes were written in ways that were intertwined to the point that it was hard to tell where one moment ended and the next one began.  Interestingly enough, I saw nearly the exact same structure issue with this book as well, which leads me to think that perhaps this is just the way this author writes? 

As if that weren't enough though, the prose throughout the story was what I would describe as overly "flowery" and metaphorical -- normally I wouldn't have a problem with this, but in this case, it was way overdone and had the effect of making the story too abstract -- to the point that, with some sections, I would finish reading several pages and have no idea what just happened.  I have nothing against flowery language and actually feel that it works well in certain situations, but it can't be at the expense of the story and the plot, which was what happened here, as I felt like I kept having to unravel the metaphorical language and interpret what the author was trying to say -- this distracted from the story and also made the overall reading experience too exhausting for me.

One more thing about the structure that confused me was how there were excerpts from what looked to be a paper about bird migratory patterns (which I'm going to assume was Sama's dissertation, since the backstory scenes indicated that she studied anthropology and wrote a paper on birds) scattered throughout the story.  While I get that the author likely included those snippets as an analogy for the immigrant experience (since the entire premise of the story was about the immigration system in the U.S. after all), I honestly didn't see the relevance from the technical details provided in those sections.  After a few times, I ended up skipping those sections and not even reading them, since they were unnecessary to the understanding of the rest of the story.

Overall, I think this one had the potential to be a powerful story, but the not-so-good execution (with its odd structure and overuse of metaphorical language) made the narrative come across as too fragmented and disjointed.   As I mentioned earlier, there were some parts of the story that I felt were done well and this was definitely a story worth telling in my opinion (which is why I didn't rate this one lower than I probably would have in other circumstances).  I feel like this was one of those instances where an inexperienced author tried to do way too much -- i.e. play with structure and language, employ as many literary devices as possible, etc., while trying to write about a heavy, controversial topic that naturally required incorporating social and political commentary as well.  Instead of having the intended effect, it ended up feeling like the story was all over the place. 

It looks like this one has been a mixed bag so far in terms of reviews, so I would suggest checking out some of the other reviews to get a better feel for whether this is one you would want to pick up, since some of the things that bothered me about the structure might not be an issue for others.

Received ARC from Atria Books via Edelweiss.

Review: Joy at Work (by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I received this book as a Christmas gift from one of my friends who is a huge Marie Kondo fan. While I did enjoy this one quite a bit, some parts I felt were repetitive and mostly stuff I had heard before — this was mostly chapters 4 and on, where Kondo's co-writer Scott Sonenshein writes about tidying as it pertains to digital work, time management, decisions, and networks. To be honest, when I read the "note to reader" at the beginning of the book and discovered that, out of 11 chapters, Kondo only "primarily wrote" 4 of the chapters, I did feel a bit disappointed — I mean, I knew going in that this would be a collaborative effort between Kondo and Sonenshein, but I guess I was expecting the writing to be either more evenly distributed between the two or Kondo being the primary author, since she does have more of the name recognition after all (case in point — I know my friend, for one, bought this book purely because of Marie Kondo's name of the cover…she has absolutely no clue who Scott Sonenshein is). The other thing too is that, as I was reading, I noticed distinct differences between Kondo's writing style and Sonenshein's, so when both were mashed together for this book, I felt that the flow was kind of odd and, for me at least, it did affect the reading experience more than I was expecting it to.

Having said all that, content-wise, I felt like this was one of the better "how to organize your work life" books that I've read (and I've read plenty of similar books over the course of my 20+ years working in corporate America). What made this one different in my opinion was the tone and the approach. Business self-help books (at least the ones I've read) tend to be "overly preachy" to the point that they can turn a reader like me off fairly quickly — not just because the content can sometimes be unrealistic and/or irrelevant to my job situation (i.e. turn off your email for a few hours or shut your office door to visitors for the day!), but also because the tone is often heavy-handed, with a "one method fits all" approach where oftentimes, you are made to feel like something is wrong with you if you don't follow the writer's advice. With this book, I didn't get that vibe at all — in fact, I got the opposite vibe in that the emphasis was on how everyone's situation is different and to do what works best for you (or not). As I've said before, I can't stand "overly preachy" books, especially ones with what I perceive as a pretentious tone that essentially try to guilt-trip the reader towards a particular direction, so it was refreshing to see that this one didn't take that route.

Overall, I did like this book, but as I mentioned above, I definitely would've liked it better if Kondo had been the sole author. Though I'm not a Marie Kondo fanatic like my friend, I do have a lot of admiration and respect for her work and appreciate what she has been able to achieve over the last decade. And while the effectiveness of her methods is subjective in that it might or might not be a right fit for certain people, I think what she has going for her (and why her methods are easier to accept) is her positive attitude (with a focus on joyfulness) as well as her non-aggressive approach that is very different from what we may be used to here in the United States. If Kondo does write another book at some point, I look forward to reading it. Meanwhile though, I should probably go check out her show on Netflix (I'm not a huge TV watcher anymore nowadays, as I don't have the time that I used to, but I'm willing to make an exception in this case).

Review: Joan is Okay (by Weike Wang)


My Rating: 5 stars

We're often told that it's hard to write about a book you love and for me, this was absolutely true with this particular book, as there was so much I loved about this one that I'm actually at a loss as to where I should start in my praise of it.   To me, this was one of those rare books where every single aspect of it came together so perfectly – from the thought-provoking story to the wonderfully rendered characters to the sparse yet beautiful writing, to the carefully chosen prose that flowed so smoothly from page to page – to the point that I wanted this book to go on forever.  When I was only a few pages into the story, I already knew that the main protagonist Joan (whose last name is never revealed to us) would be one of those characters who'll make an indelible mark on my heart – and by the end of the story, she did exactly that and then some!   For me, Joan was more than just a favorite character; she was a kindred spirit whose smart, observant, witty voice expressed thoughts and feelings that I resonated deeply with.  Though certain aspects of Joan's background were similar to mine (Chinese daughter of immigrant parents who came to the U.S. in pursuit of the American dream; has a disillusioned older brother whose values are opposite of her own; grew up in a household where she had to straddle two completely different and opposing cultures, etc.), where we actually had the most in common was in our reclusive personalities, which is significant to me because my personality plays a huge role in my life experiences.  This is partly why I related so well to Joan as a character, since so many of her experiences and struggles are ones I'm familiar with myself.  When Joan talks about immersing herself as deeply into the studious part of her schooling (she "went from library to classroom and only returned to the dorm to sleep") as she could to avoid having to socialize or interact with others, or when her boss praises her work ethic, she cringes and tries to change the subject because she hates drawing attention to herself and is uncomfortable receiving praise, or when she has problems communicating with others, whether friends or family, and therefore gets herself into awkward situations – all of these are deja vu experiences that I've struggled with my entire life.  Most of all, Joan's "relationship" with her work hit the hardest for me, as I struggle with the exact same experience of being defined primarily by my work, often to the detriment of other "relationships" as well as to my own well-being (I both laughed and cried at Joan's "reaction" to being forced to take time off from work – I laughed because it was truly hilarious how that situation unfolded, but then thinking about the implications in my own situation was a bit upsetting).   Reading this book was actually a roller coaster ride for me emotionally – at some parts, I would laugh so hard that I nearly fell out of my chair, but then on the next page, something would happen that would be a gut punch to me and I'd feel like crying.

 

One of the things that this book did exceptionally well was breakdown the aspects of Chinese versus American culture in a way that was succinct and accurate (and funny without deliberately trying to be funny), yet still respectful to both cultures.  My favorite scenes were the ones where Joan would have conversations with her mother, whether by phone or face-to-face, and a few words in, the various clashes of culture (east versus west), generation (older vs younger), values (work vs family), etc. would come out in full force – clashes that I was more than familiar with having experienced most of them myself continuously my entire life.  Most of the conversations were short, but yet, there was so much context there, and covering so much ground.  Being an immigrant myself, I'm of course drawn to immigrant stories and having read my fair share of them, I have to say that this book, more than any of the others I've read, comes the closest to relaying what my personal journey as a Chinese woman growing up in an immigrant family in America truly feels like.

 

As I said from the beginning, there was so much I loved about this book that there's no way I would be able to do justice to it with a simple review. In addition to the "immigrant story" aspect (though those of us who read a lot of immigrant stories will quickly find out that this one is technically not the "typical" immigrant story that we are used to reading), this is also a timely story that, in its short 200+ pages, manages to also explore what it is like being a Chinese American female doctor working at a major hospital in New York at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (having followed the news and the course of events in society over the past 18 months, the significance of this portrayal is not lost on me).  This is a book that I highly, highly recommend and yes, I am definitely going to go back and read this author's debut novel, Chemistry.

 

As a concluding thought, I wanted to share an excerpt of one of my favorite passages from the book (this is one of many – looking back, I probably highlighted close to 80% of the book!).  The lead up to this is that Joan is reflecting on an incident earlier on when she let her neighbor Mark talk her into having a party at her New York apartment – a situation that actually she abhors, since she hates parties:

 

My epiphany. Mark was just like Reese [her colleague at the hospital] —well-meaning in some ways, clueless in others. Neither could imagine having wasted another person's time or consuming every square inch of air in a room. Because Room People were full of themselves. They believed their own perspectives reigned supreme. And whereas I was taught to not stick out or aggravate your surroundings, to not cause any trouble and to be a good guest, someone like Mark was brought up with different rules—yes, push back, provoke, assert yourself, some trouble is good, since the rest of us will always go easy on you and, if anything, reward you for just being you....I chose to not text him back or do what I wanted to do, which was call and lay into him until he could finally see where I was coming from.  Expending more energy on him wasn't the answer.  Why try to explain yourself to someone who had no capacity to listen?

 

This was one of many profound passages from the book that I loved because, through Joan's voice, Wang put into words my sentiments exactly when it comes to interacting with people around me.  It wasn't until I read this passage that I realized I've been surrounded by "Room People" most of my life and, like Joan, I've struggled through numerous "why did I let them talk me into this" situations – but it doesn't have to be this way.  Why continue to expend energy on people or situations that do nothing but bring awkwardness/misery/regret?  Instead, I now understand that others may have been brought up with different rules and I don't have to compromise mine in order to conform to theirs. 

 

Received ARC from Random House via NetGalley.

 

 

Review: The Last House on the Street (by Diane Chamberlain)

My Rating: 4 stars

Diane Chamberlain is quite a prolific writer, with over two dozen novels to her name, yet so far, I've only read three of her novels.  However, with that said — seeing that I've enjoyed all 3 of the novels that I've read, Chamberlain has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I'm hoping I'll be able to find the time to explore more of her backlist at some point!  

Chamberlain's latest novel, The Last House on the Street, follows a similar pattern as her previous novels in that it features a dual timeline narrative with two strong yet flawed female protagonists and its center.  The first timeline starts off in the year 2010, in the small town of Round Hill, North Carolina, where a young architect named Kayla Carter is trying to piece her life back together after her beloved husband Jackson dies in a freak accident while working on their dream house.   Kayla knows that she needs to stay strong for her 4-year-old daughter Rainie, and even though it pains her to move into the house that she feels took her husband from her, she also doesn't want to throw away all the hard work that her husband (who was also an architect) put into designing it.  As she is about to move in though, a red-haired woman repeatedly tries to dissuade Kayla from moving in, and soon, all sorts of strange things start to happen.  The story then jumps back in time to 1965, where 20-year old Ellie Hockley, a privileged white girl who lives on a street in Round Hill that is named after her family, decides to join SCOPE, an organization whose purpose is to persuade the black population to register to vote once the Voting Rights Act is signed into law.  Raised in the Deep South, in a little enclave that was essentially isolated from the rest of the world, Ellie is shocked to realize how much her family as well as the entire community as a whole opposes her participation in the civil rights movement, but she comes to realize that this is her passion.  

The story alternates between the perspectives of these two courageous women (Kayla and Ellie) who couldn't be more different in terms of personality, but share the common struggle of having to stand up for what they believe in, even with the odds stacked against them.  I couldn't help but be drawn to both women and found myself rooting for them throughout the story, even during those moments when they made decisions that frustrated me.  Chamberlain does a wonderful job telling both women's stories, but what I loved the most was the way the two timelines merged near the end, in a way that was both unique and satisfying.   With these types of dual timeline stories, I usually prefer one timeline over the other, but I actually liked both this time around — though character-wise, Ellie was definitely my favorite.  

Just as she does with her previous works, Chamberlain once again presents an emotionally resonant story that defies categorization into any particular genre.  While there were elements of suspense with the "mystery" that unfolded in Kayla's timeline, the historical elements were also strong, especially in Ellie's timeline with the civil rights movement and everything that went on during that time period. 

This was definitely a worthwhile read and while I don't want to say too much so as not to give away the story, I will say that if you liked Chamberlain's previous book Big Lies in a Small Town (which came out back in 2020), you will probably like this one as well, since both were written in a similar vein (though they cover different time periods). Also, this story is extremely timely given the social justice theme that it covers, though a word of warning that some parts will be difficult to read (especially in Ellie's timeline given the historical context with the civil rights movement and the injustices that occurred during that time).

I personally can't wait for Chamberlain's next book, though of course, there are plenty of backlist options for me to explore in the meantime.  

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Review: Joyful (by Ingrid Fetell Lee)

My Rating:  4 stars

Full disclosure:  self-help books aren't usually my cup of tea.  Not that there is anything wrong with self-help books, it's just that I usually don't get much out of these types of books, for one, and two, non-fiction books of any kind generally take me much longer to read, so I prefer not to spend precious reading time on them when I could use that time to instead choose something from my mile-high, teetering TBR stack. Given this context, I very likely would not have picked up Ingrid Fettell Lee's Joyful on my own if it hadn't been chosen as a monthly read for one of my book clubs. While the subject matter (the aesthetics of joy and how to find it in our surroundings) is one that I'm definitely interested in reading about (which usually also plays a huge role in whether I choose to read a non-fiction book or not), I worried about the timing and the impact to my already tightly-packed reading schedule.  

Now that I've finished, I'm actually glad I decided to pick this one up, as I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.  I think this was due to the fact that I didn't approach this book from a "self-help" perspective in terms of how I could apply the author's advice to bring more joy into my own life, but rather, I went into it from the perspective of a "fascinating learning experience" about the aesthetics of joy and examples of how each element manifests itself in the real world.  Prior to this, I had never read a book that broke down the elements of joy in such detail and I definitely learned a lot, even though some of the examples that the author provided didn't have much practical application for me personally.  My favorite chapter was the one about "play", probably because I could relate most to what was described in there, but I also liked the later chapters where the author brought all the concepts together and showed us how to recognize the different aesthetics in a single environment.

Another aspect I liked about this book was the writing, which flowed seamlessly and, perhaps most importantly, was accessible.  For me, the way a non-fiction book is written has a huge impact on whether that particular book will be a "hit" or a "miss" for me (even if he subject matter is one that I'm interested in). What I appreciated about Joyful is that it didn't feel overly scientific when I was reading it, even though some parts of it did cite statistics and results of scientific research.  While the book did take me longer to read than usual, tit wasn't because the concepts were hard to understand or anything — rather, I tend to take longer to read non-fiction books overall because of my own obsession with absorbing every single detail so as to make it worth my while, which of course requires additional focus and concentration on my part.

I'm definitely glad I read this one and would definitely recommend it, especially to those who like reading non-fiction.  While each person's reaction to the concepts that Ingrid Fettell Lee presents here will undoubtedly vary (especially depending on whether you've read other works on the same subject in the past or not), I liked this one more than some of the other "self-help" books I've read.  Also, given the year I've had, I feel it's quite appropriate that I got the chance to incorporate a book about joy into my reading journey, regardless of whether the concepts covered in the book "helped" me or not.  A worthwhile read overall! 

Review: Yours Cheerfully (by A.J. Pearce)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I definitely enjoyed this sequel much more than the first book, Dear Mrs. Bird, which I had read right before this one.  While the story continued more or less where the first one left off and the characters were all the same (with the exception of Mrs. Bird of course), I think I took to this book better perhaps because I kind of knew what to expect already — and perhaps that's also why I found the main character Emmy Lake a little less annoying this time around (though yes, she did still frustrate me at certain points).

With Mrs Bird's departure from Women's Friend magazine (not a spoiler, as it's in the book summary and she's already gone when the story opens), Mr. Collins has been promoted to Editor (no surprise there either, lol).  After what happened at the end of the first book, Emmy is back with the magazine again, but on a probationary basis.  While the magazine's advice column continues to be a focus, the crux of the story this time around is on the government's call to all of Britain's women's magazines to help recruit female workers for the war effort.  As Emmy immerses herself in this task, she meets a few of the women who work at the munitions factories and soon realizes that, while they are all happy to contribute to the effort, there are real-life challenges they face that makes the war work much more difficult for them.  When Emmy learns about their plight, she of course steps in and tries to help them any which way she can.

I think the direction that the author A.J. Pearce took with the story as well as with the characters this time around made so much more sense than the first book.  I'm not sure how best to put it, but I felt like most of Emmy's actions in the first book were too over the top, to the point that it felt unrealistic and contrived.  With this second go around though, her actions were more in line with her role in the sense that it made sense for her to constantly insert herself in situations, but in a more tempered way.  Just for the record…I don't have a problem with Emmy's personality — in fact, I like the way her character was headstrong, curious, assertive, and always willing to stand up for what she believed in as well as help others, which was especially significant given the time period — what I actually had a problem with was the "bull in a china shop" approach that she seemed to apply to every single situation, especially at work.  For example, in the first book, Emmy's job as a newbie at the magazine was to open letters and give them to her boss to review and type up a response, however because she doesn't like the restrictive (and rude) nature of her boss's responses, she decides to take matters into her own hands by deliberately defying her boss's instructions and writing letters to readers on her own (as well as sneaking some of her letters into the magazine itself).  While it's fine to disagree and question how her boss does things, it's not fine, especially in her position, to go in and start changing things on her own (obviously, there were more rational ways to approach the situation than the way she did).  In the second book, I assume because she has learned her lesson, Emmy's approach was a little more mature and above board (and as I mentioned earlier, definitely less grating on my nerves).  I point all this out because I appreciate seeing characters grow and evolve in stories and even though in this case, it took a sequel for it to happen, I'm still glad to see it.

For those who read and loved Dear Mrs. Bird, I definitely recommend picking this one up, as I believe you'll love it just as much as the first (maybe even more).  For those like me who may not have been a fan of the first book, I still recommend reading this one, as it did put the first book into better perspective for me (even though it didn't change my feelings overall toward the story and characters).

Received ARC from Scribner via NetGalley.

Review: Dear Mrs. Bird (by A.J. Pearce)

My Rating:  3 stars

I had actually heard about this book when it first came out several years ago, but never got the chance to read it.  A few months ago, I was approved for an ARC of the sequel -- since I'm the type who MUST read books in a series in order (even if the books can technically be read as stand-alones), I of course had to go back and read book one first before picking up the second one.  Overall, I found this one to be a quick read that was both delightful and fun but also serious when it needed to be (not an easy feat given the fact that the story is set against the backdrop of World War II) -- though having said that, I did have some issues with parts of it (which I will get into later). 

The story revolves around a young woman named Emmeline (Emmy) Lake who, with all the men off fighting the war, wants to do her part to help the war effort.  She volunteers at the call center for the Fire Brigade, but what she really wants to do is become a journalist reporting on the war (or, as she puts it, a "Lady War Correspondent").  When she sees an advertisement in the newspaper for a part-time Junior at the publishing house for the newspaper The London Evening Chronicle, she jumps at the opportunity to interview, thinking this will be her big opportunity to finally get her foot in the door for her dream job.  But it turns out the job is actually for one of the magazines managed under the publishing house -- a small publication called Woman's Friend that is already on its last legs.  What's worse though is that the position is specifically to go through letters sent in to the magazine's problem page Henrietta Helps, run by the formidable Mrs. Henrietta Bird, who refuses to answer any letters that fit into the category of what she feels is "Unpleasantness" (there is actually a long list with very specific words and topics that are off-limits -- basically the only "safe" topics are things like asking for knitting instructions or beauty advice).  Emmy is disappointed and constantly chides herself for not listening during the interview, causing her to accept a job that's a far cry from what she expected -- but with her cheery and optimistic personality, she decides to make a go of it.  As she immerses herself in her job, she reads the letters of some of the readers (mostly women) and starts to feel genuinely sorry for them, seeing all they have to deal with during this trying time.  She wants to help them, but unfortunately, nearly every single letter falls into the Unpleasantness category (which means Mrs. Bird won't bother responding and the letters get thrown in the trash bin) -- so Emmy takes matters into her own hands and starts writing back to the readers herself (though still signing all the letters with Mrs. Bird's name).  She even manages to sneak a few of the "Unpleasant" letters and her responses to them into the magazine itself.  Will she be found out though and if so, what will happen to her?  This is a question that lingers over Emmy throughout the story (which of course, gets resolved in the end).

There was actually a lot to like about the story and I feel like the author A.J. Pearce did a good job with the writing, using the language of the particular time and place to make the story more immersive (I definitely felt transported to 1940s England).  Also, all the characters were likable, the overall mood of the story was heartwarming and hopeful, the historical elements were well-incorporated, and the letters were a fun read.  I also appreciated the way the story paid tribute to the women of that era and their efforts during the war.  With all that said though, my main complaint is that I felt the story was a bit too saccharine and overdone in some areas, to the point of being somewhat cringe-worthy (to me at least).  In terms of the characters, while I did like them for the most part, I didn't really feel any connection to them -- especially the main character Emmy, whom I found to be charming at first, but then when she kept endlessly inserting herself into everyone's business (in a way that I felt was a bit pretentious and self-righteous), I started becoming annoyed with her.  I mean, I get that she has good intentions and always wants to help people, but the way she goes about it is too over-the-top, for one, and two, it just didn't seem realistic (meaning how she is able to get away with it time and time again and it's all still "fine and dandy" with everyone).  I think Emmy herself put it best during one scene in the story when she mentions (in her mind, since the story is told from her first-person perspective) that she was trying "desperately to look like a sensible grownup rather than a petulant child" -- that's pretty much exactly how Emmy came across throughout the entire story:  like a naive, petulant child even though she was very much an adult.  Unfortunately, this is exactly the type of character (adults acting like children) that I often can't stand in books, so with the main character being that way throughout the entire story pretty much (plus the story being told from this character's first person perspective didn't help), it definitely detracted from the reading experience for me. 

Having said all that, I still want to read the sequel, since I did like the story overall as I mentioned earlier.  At least this time around, I know what to expect in terms of Emmy, so I can refocus my reading if needed (and hopefully become less annoyed).

Review: Wish You Were Here (by Jodi Picoult)

 

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Jodi Picoult is known for not being afraid to tackle difficult subject matter in her stories, which I definitely appreciate as a a reader who loves a good story that is well written and also teaches me something.  As one of the first novels to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic head on, Picoult did an awesome job conveying so much of what many of us have been experiencing over the past 18 months (and counting).  Of course, there’s no doubt that everyone’s reaction to this book will be different depending on each person’s comfort level and “readiness” to take on a story about a pandemic that we are all still living through.  As some one who was severely impacted by COVID in very personal ways — both as a survivor when my entire family unfortunately got COVID back in late 2020 (we have all since recovered, but some “scars” still remain) as well as having lost loved ones to the disease (relatives and the parents of close friends) — I honestly wasn’t sure at first whether I wanted to read it at this moment.  But I decided to give it a try and in the end, I’m glad I did, as it became a salve of sorts for me, especially knowing that I wasn’t alone in some of the things I experienced.  With that said, there were also moments where the situation unfolding was “too close to home” to the point of feeling surreal — while I expected this given the book’s subject matter, it still jarred me a bit.  That being said, the reading experience was still a good one.

For me, this book’s biggest draw was the subject matter, as it’s not often that we I am able to read a book where the fictional story mimics a reality that I (alongside so many others) am experiencing currently.  Given how fresh and raw this subject is, I was curious how Picoult would tackle it — in the end, I definitely appreciated her approach. Having said that, this book actually isn’t just about COVID — at its core, it is also a story about a woman’s journey of self-reflection and an exploration of whether the life she has is what she truly wants.  The woman at the heart of the story is Diana O’Toole, who is an art appraiser at one of New York’s premiere auction houses while her boyfriend Finn is a doctor-to-be currently doing his residency at a major hospital.  Together, the couple have a dream trip planned to the Galápagos Islands, where Finn plans to propose to Diana and they can take the next step in the plan for their mutual future. The day before they are supposed to leave however, Finn is called back to the hospital where the situation is “all hands on deck” due to an influx of patients with COVID-19. Even though Finn now has to stay behind, he encourages Diana to still go on her own so as not to put their non-refundable trip to waste.  Diana reluctantly agrees and heads off to Galapagos, however right after she gets there, the island is locked down and she becomes stranded, with no word of when things will re-open.  On an island where WI-FI and a working internet connection are near nonexistent, Diana is completely isolated from the outside world — not only that, she also does not know the language and due to the required quarantine, there are very few people around for her to even ask for help. Diana ends up befriending a local family that takes her in and acquaints her with the beauty of the place they call home.  Spending time with the family leads Diana to re-examine her relationships with both Finn and her own mother (who lives in a care facility for dementia patients) as well as reflect upon the choices she’s made in her life his far.  I actually really liked all the characters in this story, whether major characters or minor ones.   All of them were so well-developed and truly came alive for me, but if I had to choose a favorite, that character would absolutely be Rodney -- not only did I love him as a character, I also really enjoyed his chemistry with Diana...definitely made me wish I had a best friend like him!).

This is a book that I believe will be easy to like, as all aspects of it were so well done.  Yes, there were some parts where the writing could've been a little tighter and I feel like there were some missed opportunities in some spots, but overall, I enjoyed this tremendously and wholeheartedly recommend it.  Oh and I do want to mention that the "twist" in this book definitely made my jaw drop, as I totally was not expecting it (and that's all I'm going to say about it...you will have to pick this one up and read it for yourself if you want to find out more). 

Picoult has said in interviews that this book was unplanned and she was inspired to write it about 8 months into the pandemic after reading an article about a man who got stuck in Machu Picchu because COVID had shut the entire place down (her editor didn't even know until she received the draft in her email).  For a book that basically came about accidentally, this one turned out really well.  Though this is definitely a worthwhile read, I do understand that not everyone may be ready for a book about the pandemic yet, so of course, do what works best for you. 

Received ARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley.

Review: Euphoria (by Lily King)

My Rating: 4 stars

This is my second Lily King novel (which I'm reading for book club) and while I definitely liked it, I didn't love it as much as  her newest novel Writers and Lovers, which I read earlier this year and loved.  Of course, this one was beautifully written, with breathtaking, evocative prose that flowed seamlessly, which is a writing style I've come to expect from Lily King.   With that said though, this was actually a bit of a tedious read for me, especially the first half of it, mostly because I found it difficult to engage with the subject matter (which I'll get into later).

The story revolves around three talented anthropologists — Nell Stone, Schuyler Fenwick (Fen), and Andrew Bankson — who spend much of their time living among the tribes of the South Pacific (along the Sepik River in New Guinea) in order to research them.  Nell has already established a name for herself in the field, having written a book that was well-received and made her famous.  Her husband Fen is intelligent but has an aggressive personality, which gets further aggravated as he feels more and more overshadowed by his wife's success and by her magnetic personality.  Bankson is a fellow anthropologist studying the Kiona tribe along the River, and after being rescued from the brink of suicide by the couple, he becomes drawn to them.  Over the course of the few months they spend together, their collective brilliance helps them produce their best work (which only becomes apparent later), but at the same time, they develop an intimate yet fiery relationship that ends up spiraling out of control and ultimately threatens to consume them.

As I mentioned earlier, it was hard for me to get into the story at first, mostly because I had no interest whatsoever in anthropology (or any of the sciences for that matter). With Lily King's writing here so incredibly atmospheric, plus the research was so well-done, there were many detailed descriptions that honestly ended up going a bit over my head.  To this point, I guess it also didn't really help that much of the story was the "slow burn" type where the focus was more on character than plot (though actually these are usually the types of stories I love).  So in a sense, I technically only truly engaged with the story a little after the halfway mark when things started actually happening.  Having said that, I couldn't put the book down after that and pretty much read through to the end in one sitting.

Lily King states in her Author's Note that this story was inspired by Margaret Mead and a moment described in a 1984 biography the famous anthropologist, but the story itself is a completely different one and does not in any way mirror Mead's real life experiences.  Even so, after I finished reading this book, I was fascinated enough with the story that I couldn't help doing further research of my own and looking up some information about Mead so I could better understand the inspiration behind the scenes. For me, this is the beauty of historical fiction, especially the well-written kind, where the story impacts me in such a way that I feel compelled to do follow up reading and/or research on my own.  

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this one, as I found the writing enthralling and though a word of warning that there are some graphic, explicit descriptions in here that might be a turn off for some.  For me personally, I love the way Lily King writes and so the overall experience was well worth the effort, despite a few uncomfortable scenes here and there.  King actually has a new short story collection out this month, which I can't wait to get my hands on (it's been pre-ordered and should arrive at the end of this month).  I also intend to continue exploring her backlist, which will take some time, but I know will be well worth the effort.

Review: How Much of These Hills is Gold (by C. Pam Zhang)

My Rating: 4 stars

I've actually been wanting to read this book since it came out last year, but hadn't gotten around to it until recently, when one of my book clubs chose it as a monthly read. Going into this one, I will admit that I was a bit wary, as I'm not a fan of westerns (which is what this was billed as), but I was attracted to the premise of a story about a Chinese immigrant family in the American West during the gold rush era, which, of course, is not often seen in mainstream fiction. Now after having finished this, I would say that it was definitely different from what I expected, both in its bold, lyrical writing as well as in the way the story technically defied categorization in terms of genre and theme — there were elements of a western, yes, but there were also historical elements as well as magical realism that drove aspects of the story.

Majority of the story is told from the perspective of Lucy, who is twelve when we first meet her. Her Pa has just passed away and with her Ma gone for 3 years already, she and her eleven year old sister Sam are now left to fend for themselves in the mountains of the West. As they set off to bury their Pa, Lucy and Sam encounter situations that test the strength of their bond as siblings, as well as their ability to overcome their family's past. The narrative later moves further back to the past and explains the backstory to this family, giving us insight into how a Chinese family such as theirs ended up in a community where few others looked like them. Initially lured to the "golden mountains" by the promise of gold and riches, the reality couldn't be more different — weighted down by a secret in their past as well as the instability of prospecting, they switch to a grueling living by coal mining, which unfortunately does little to improve the family's situation. A third narrative moves the story 5 years after Pa's death, with Lucy and Sam reuniting again after having gone their separate ways — both siblings have changed in some ways, but underneath, they are also still the same. They decide to set off again, together this time, in pursuit of a better life in a place they can truly call their own.

This was an emotional read and one that was so beautifully written — lyrical, poetic, and so full of imagery. With that said though, as much as I loved the style of writing, I felt like the beauty of it transcended the story a bit — I'm not sure how to explain it, but I felt like, at times, I got so caught up in the depiction of a scene that I actually forgot where I was in the story and had to go back and reread. There was also an abstract quality to the writing that sometimes overshadowed the plot itself. From a historical perspective, as a few other reviewers already pointed out, there were some inaccuracies that those familiar with the time period and the history of the Chinese workers in the U.S. during that time may not be able to overlook, though for me personally, it didn't bother me too much.

In terms of character development — Lucy and Sam were characters I couldn't help but love, regardless of whatever flaws they may have had. I connected deeply with both characters, to the point that I didn't want the journey with either one of them to end. Perhaps it is because of my affinity for both of them that I didn't take to the ending too well (and that's all I'm going to say about it so as not to give anything away).

Overall, this was a worthwhile read that I definitely recommend, one that I'm also glad I finally got around to reading, however belatedly. This was a strong debut from C. Pam Zhang and I definitely look forward to the next work from her.