Small Town, Big Magic

Title:  Small Town, Big Magic

Author:  Hazel Beck

Publication Information:  Graydon House. 2022. 416 pages.

ISBN:  1525804715 / 978-1525804717

Rating:  ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "If you google my name - something I only do every other Tuesday because ego surfing is an indulgence and I keep my indulgences on a strict schedule - the first twenty hits are about the hanging of Sarah Emerson Wilde in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts."

Favorite Quote:  "But I have always believed that a woman's best and biggest champion should be herself. The world sure isn't going to step up and cheer on its own."

This is book one of two of the Witchlore series. The book is captioned "a witchy rom-com." which tells you a lot about a book. Let's take that apart. The book is definitely witchy, with an entire town centered around witchy. In fact, the book is more about witches, their covens, the rituals, and their enemies than it is a rom-com.

The book has elements of a rom-com. The small town of St. Cyprian, Missouri is one where everyone knows everyone's business except for our heroine Emerson Wilde. At the start of the book, she is completely clueless about how unique St. Cyprian is and how unique she is. A charming, sometimes clueless witch as heroine is another box checked. The fact that she is a bookstore owner is an added bonus. A childhood friend who can be by turns a friend and annoying and may be more than a friend brings in a little bit of romance. A cast of varied small town characters who surround Emerson almost complete the picture.

For good measure, all that is now being threatened by an enemy. That keeps the focus of the book on the magical realism and the coven of witches rather than the tangential romance - more witchy than rom-com. For me, that focus makes it a more entertaining read.

So, the plot goes that Emerson runs a bookstore in St. Cyprian, is the President of the Chamber of Commerce, and is happy in her life surrounded by friends and family. However, things are not as they seem and not as Emerson knows them to be. Strange things begin to happen, and stranger yet are the things that Emerson is able to do. It turns out there is lot of Emerson does not know, but she needs to come up to speed in a hurry because danger lurks and is imminent.

So goes the adventure of conflicting covens embedded in a charming small town. The ending does leave openings, and clearly there is a book two. Am I charmed enough to read book two? Possibly, but this book is not memorable enough for me to retain the details. So, by the time I get around to book two, will I be charmed enough to reread book one to remember the details? Possibly not. Nevertheless, a fun - if forgettable - read that could have stopped at witchy with no need of the romance for entertainment.

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Any Other Family

Title:  Any Other Family

Author:  Eleanor Brown

Publication Information:  G. P. Putnam's Sons. 2022. 368 pages.

ISBN:  059332854X / 978-0593328545

Rating:  ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "They look like any other family."

Favorite Quote:  "Whether it was fate that made them family or the dumb luck of the universe, they are here now, and they are going to go forward together."

To understand this book, perhaps start with the author's note. The author is an adoptive parent and has learned about the world of adoption through their personal journey.. "There are a thousand topics related to adoption I could not even begin to fit into this novel. Most notable is the absence of the biological family's and children's sides of the story, but I also had to sidestep central issues of race and class, foster care, mental health, international relations, access to reproductive healthcare and information ... I could go on for pages... My greatest hope with this book is not that I have written a complete exploration of adoption - that would be impossible - but that I have helped open space for us to think about the way we create families, the trust we put in each other, the experience of parenting, and what adoption means and can look like, even as all that continues to develop and change."

This story is of a family - "a family formed by three sets of parents who adopted from the same group of biological siblings." Brianna and Justin have an on again off again relationship, more off than on. However, each "on" segment seems to result in a pregnancy. At the start of the book, there are four children:

• Phoebe has been adopted by single mother Ginger.
• Twins Tate and Taylor has been adopted by Tabitha and Perry.
• Baby Violet is adopted by Elizabeth and John.

Brianna, the birth mother, is part of their lives. The three families have tried as best as possible to create a single, larger family such that the siblings can be part of each other lives. This includes dinners togethers, family holidays, and family vacations. The children appear relatively well adjusted. Per the author's note, the children's experience is clearly not the focus of the book.

The plot of this book is set on a family vacations and the fact that baby number 5 is coming. Again, as the author's note indicates, this book is not about how or why baby number 5 is coming. This book is also not really plot driven.

It is more about the characters. The men are present in the story, but this is really the story of the women. As with any other family (see what I did there), this one has its strengths and its cracks. Ginger loves Phoebe. She appreciates the extended family for the most part but misses her solitude and independence. Tabitha wishes for and works to make everything perfect even though that is an impossible standard; she tries to be the glue that holds the family together. With a new baby in the house, Elizabeth is exhausted and overwhelmed and unsure that she even wants to be a mother. Postpartum depression, perhaps, as an adoptive mother?

Going back and forth between the perspective of these women, the book tells the story of family and the love and hard work that holds a family - any family - together. Interspersed with the family's story are brief write-ups from what appear to be applications from prospective parents. Each includes some background and why they wish to adopt. The longing in each one of these tugs at the heartstrings. As a parent myself, I relate to both the love and the work, and I appreciate the my improved understanding of the open adoption process.

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The Family Plot

Title:  The Family Plot

Author:  Megan Collins

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2021. 320 pages.

ISBN:  1982163844 / 978-1982163846

Rating:  ★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "My parents named me Dahlia, after the Black Dahlia - that actress whose body was cleaved in half, left in grass as sharp as scalpels, a permanent smile sliced onto her face - and when I first learned her story at four years old, I assumed a knife would one day carve me up."

Favorite Quote:  "So I've had to let a lot of things go. It's hard to hold grudges against someone who can't remember what they did to earn them."

The setting of this book is an atmospheric island and a decrepit mansion. The construct of this book is a potentially engaging one - a dysfunctional family gathering for a funeral. Old secrets are bound to come out, and relationships are bound to be tested.The premise of this book is a fascinating one - a family obsessed with true crime. 

The book itself, however, goes in a direction I do not expect for several reasons.

The mystery of the book unfortunately, for me, is not a mystery for long. I guess a major part of the conclusion pretty early on. To me, the clue dropped is a huge one and hard to miss. 

The family's obsession with true crime is to an extreme as to be far-fetched, unbelievable, and somewhat comical. The siblings are all named for victims of murder. The siblings were all home schooled, with murder being used as the theme for lessons. The mother re-enacts in painful detail crime scenes as school lessons. Essay prompts involved offer their solutions to an unsolved crime. The family lives on an island famous for its serial killer. The children are not allowed any outside friends.

The pacing of the book is uneven. The details of the mystery and the setup of the family are explained in the first chapter or two. Then, it is repeated in various forms over and over again through the first two-thirds of the book. Nothing much happens, making it challenging to stay engaged.

Because the story is one of adults coming back to their childhood, much of the story is "told" as opposed to the story unfolding. Perhaps, a dual timeline with the childhood leading up to Andy's disappearance and the present day mystery of Andy's disappearance may have provided a more intriguing approach. The premise of the book is based entirely on the childhood of these siblings. Yet, the story shows that childhood only through the eyes of the adults reflecting back. As a reader, I want to see the child.

The book essentially deals with an abusive childhood and the far reaching impact of that abuse on the adults these children become. Yet, that topic is not directly addressed in the book. The why of it is not addressed. The question of what other adults may have seen, heard, and possibly done to protect these children. I understand that this is written more as a mystery/thriller, but addressing that topic could have potentially added to the book and left a lasting impression.

Sadly, despite the intriguing premise, this was not the book for me.

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Title:  Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Author:  Gabrielle Zevin

Publication Information:  Knopf. 2022. 416 pages.

ISBN:  0593321200 / 978-0593321201

Rating:  ★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Before Mazer invented himself as Mazer, he was Samson Mazer, and before he was Samson Mazer, he was Samson Masur - a change of two letters that transformed him from a nice, ostensibly Jewish boy to a Professional Builder of Worlds - and for most of his youth, he was Sam, S.A.M. on the hall of fame of his grandfather's Donkey Kong machine, but mainly Sam."

Favorite Quote:  "To allow yourself to play with another is no small risk. It means allowing yourself to be open, to be exposed, to be hurt. It is the human equivalent of the dog rolling on its back - I know you won't hurt me, even though you can. It is the dog putting its mouth around your hand and never biting dow. To play requires trust and love."

I discovered Gabrielle Zevin with A Storied Life of AJ Firky, which was a love letter to books and book lovers. Young Jane Young went to the world of women in politics and the gender divide. This book goes to the world of gaming and developers.

Sadie and Sam meet as children in a hospital. Both see friendship in the other and bond over games. A truth, a misunderstanding, and a lack of communication breaks the friends apart. Years later, the rediscover each other. Their shared interest and skills leads them to 

I love the world this book creates - the start of gaming, the development and evolution of games, and the community that developed around it. Video games today involve complex stories, digital art, and symphonic scores. It is fascinating to catch a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes of the creation.

I love the start of the book. It is sweet and heart wrenching. Two children are struggling with the challenges of their lives. They are thrown together by chance. They find the support they have needed in each other. At that point, the lack of communication between the two is understandable. They are children. One does not know. The other is afraid. The longer the lie of omission goes, the greater the fear. That is understandable in children, particularly those facing so many other challenges.

That being said, Sadie and Sam's characters - particularly Sadie's - never seem to progress beyond that point. Their cycle of friendship, a lack of communication or a miscommunication leading to a break in friending repeats in the book. Perhaps, that is the tomorrow of the title, and there are many tomorrows. In young adults and grown adults, that lack of communication is less understandable and frustrating. This book covers a lot of time but it is character and not plot driven. For that to work, the characters must evolve. Sadie and Sam - but especially Sadie - do not.

That being said, this book also includes a relationship between a married individual in a position of authority with a younger, impressionable individual in their authority. Not only does this relationship begin, but it lasts over a long period of time. It is presented as acceptable. Others see and do not comment or intervene even when the individual involved is someone they care about. Do such relationships exist? Yes, of course, they do. Should they be normalized as they seem to be in this story? To each their own, but in my opinion, no. That aspect of the book definitely interferes with my appreciation of it.

Sadly, while I enjoy the look at the world of gaming, this story was not for me.

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The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

Title:  The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

Author:  Jamie Ford

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2022. 384 pages.

ISBN:  1982158212 / 978-1982158217

Rating:  ★★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Faye May signed a contract stating that she would never marry."

Favorite Quote:  "If you plant an acorn ... it may grow to become an oak tree. Yet there is no acorn within that wooden body. Has the acorn been reborn as a tree? Or does the acorn grow up to be something else entirely? It's my belief that the acorn and the tree are an idea, spread out over an abstraction of time. And if that new tree, when fully grown, drops one acorn or a thousand, that idea keeps progressing as this thing we call life."

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a story of war and the destruction war brings even far away from the battlefield. Songs of Willow Frost builds upon the history of the early days of the film industry and events like the massacre at Seattle Wah Mee Club. Love and Other Consolation Prizes also pays homage to the author's ancestry and the Asian American experience. It also builds upon a little known yet horrifying historical incident. All three books begin in Seattle which is where Jamie Ford grew up.

In that way, this book is no different. Its basis is in history of the Asian American immigrant experience. There was an actual Afong Moy. She is said to be the first known female immigrant brought to the United States from China. Entrepreneurs Nathaniel and Frederick Carne brought her to New York City, advertising her as an exotic display - her bound feet, her looks, and her overall appearance. The "exhibit" or "show" toured the country. Sadly, as the show and its popularity disappeared, so did all traces of Afong Moy. It is not known what happened to her.

This book build on this history and the research on generational trauma. The study of this trauma and epigenetic transmission is a relatively young field, with much still to be learned. In that way, this book is very different from Jamie Ford's other books. It travels to the past and the future - what was, the history and the trauma, and what may yet be. Embedded in this story is also a love that transcends time and place. The women of the book are:

• Dorothy Moy, a poet and a mother to a five year old girl, trying to break the pattern.
• Faye Moy, a nurse in China serving with the Flying Tigers;
• Zoe Moy, a student in England;
• Lai King Moy, a girl in San Francisco during an epidemic;
• Greta Moy, a tech executive;
• Afong Moy.

It takes a while to settle into the book and the different timelines. It takes a longer while to settle into the fact that this book is more the presentation of an idea than a plot line beginning to end. It is about trauma compounded through generations. It is about efforts to counter that trauma. It is about hope for the future in science. In the future, it has elements of post-apocalyptic science fiction. 

I lack knowledge of the scientific ideas of the book. It leaves me thinking, and I will remember it. It also sends me in the direction to perhaps read some more about the scientific topic itself

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Messy Lives of Book People

Title:  The Messy Lives of Book People

Author:  Phaedra Patrick

Publication Information:  Park Row. 2022. 336 pages.

ISBN:  0778333175 / 978-0778333173

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Liv Green wore her polishing cloth draped over her arm in the same proud way a maitre d' might wear a napkin."

Favorite Quote:  "If stories didn't exist the way you wanted them, you had to create your own."

A bookcase on the cover. A book about life. A book about book people. I was sold based on the cover and title alone. A Cinderella heroine. A reclusive author. A disappearance. An opportunity to step into someone else's life and live a dream. A book about writing a book. The description pulls me in further.

Olivia "Liv" Green is a forty-something year old mother of two. She and her husband Jack work hard to make a good life for their two children. The "messy lives" in this book are literal and figurative. Liv spends much of her life caring for and picking up after her family; much of her effort appears to go unnoticed and unappreciated. Liv's job is as a cleaner of homes and office spaces. She literally spends her life cleaning up other people's messes.

Her life sometimes feels a mess because Liv had (has?) dreams of things beyond. She gives those dreams some outlet as she cleans for renowned, reclusive author Essie Starling. Liv is a fan. Essie's books and her main character - Georgia Rory - have provide a respite and an escape in Liv's life. The books have brought comfort and adventure.

Then, Essie dies! Liv is asked to step into Essie's shoes and finish her last book! Why? Who was Essie? Who is Liv? Can she do this? Should she? Can she honor what Georgia Rory has meant to her? How is the secret to be kept?

All these questions take the book in the direction you would expect. The story is sweet and leaves me smiling. The story of a middle aged woman whose husband and kids take her for granted all of a sudden has a secret life that allows her to step away from all of that has been done before but nevertheless proves entertaining. I can relate to the absolute and complete love for family and yet the need for something more.

The book proves to be a middle age version for coming of age story - a journey of self discovery that allows family paradigms to be reinvented and reminds us that dreams are always possible. Other truisms the book finds are about seeing our lives through new eyes - sometimes it is our perspective that needs to shift to create change in our lives. Sometimes, someone else's belief in us can teach us to believe in ourselves.

While somewhat far-fetched and neatly packaged at the end, the book is a lighthearted, easy read.

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The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

Title:  The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

Author:  Jennifer Ryan

Publication Information:  Ballantine Books. 2022. 432 pages.

ISBN:  0593158830 / 978-0593158838

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "'I found it!' the Reverend Ben Carlisle's voice called from the attic."

Favorite Quote:  "We are part of a circle of women, sharing the same dreams, holding hands through the centuries. They are all there, if you look hard enough, if you untangle the threadworm, peeling away the layers of stitching to find the fragments of lives, of hopes, and of love woven throughout."

Jennifer Ryan writes stories of war, but, in the midst of death and destruction, she finds moments in history that exemplify wartime spirit and communities that stood together to do what they had to do to survive and find joy in some of the darkest moments of world history. The Kitchen Front based a story on the history of a BBC show that inspired creativity with war rations. The Chilbury Ladies' Choir was a story of a small town and the impact of the war. Both stories focused on the women of the community, had poignant moments of the horror of war, and yet found uplifting stories in that history.

This book continues on the same theme. Clothes rationing and the lack of availability for materials and notions severely limited people's wardrobes. At the same time, life went on - births, deaths, celebrations, and weddings. With the uncertainty of wartime, weddings were perhaps even more frequent and sometimes  hastily put together. Every woman had dreams of wedding gowns for their special day. Yet, the directions were as follows. "Brides are expected to wear their best dress or skirt suit for the wedding, unless they are in the military, in which case they are to wear their uniforms." What to do because no-one wants to wear that to their wedding?

In her research, Jennifer Ryan found "the story of a shared wedding dress ... in the memories of a young vicar's wife who would let any prospective bride wear her own wedding dress for their big day. The gown was passed from woman to woman... each time adjusted to fit." Further research led to many other stories of dresses and gathered and distributed as the need arose. The efforts expanded even to the United States with Eleanor Roosevelt getting involved to gather and send dresses to British brides during the war.

That is wonderful history of human spirit from which this book grows. A story of war is a memorable story of caring and ingenuity. As with Jennifer Ryan's other books, the war is present, and its devastation never far away. 

When a book about weddings and wedding dresses involves a London designer forced to flee to the country side, the dresses are going to be creative and beautiful. Of course, a book about weddings and wedding dresses cannot be without a bit romance. With the setting of an English village, small town life and its foibles enter the story. Overall, although a book about war, this is a feel good story that leaves me inspired and smiling.

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The Lioness

Title:  The Lioness

Author:  Chris Bohjalian

Publication Information:  Doubleday. 2022. 336 pages.

ISBN:  0385544820 / 978-0385544825

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Oh, I can't speak for the dead."

Favorite Quote:  "We all look forward - at least, I suppose, until you get to be my age - but how we see tomorrow is grounded so deeply in what lived through just yesterday."

The best thing about a Chris Bohjalian's book is that you never quite know what you will get. Each one is unique - setting, characters, era, plot. Each one is unpredictable. Hour of the Witch is the accusation of witchcraft in Puritan Boston. The Red Lotus takes us to a mystery in Vietnam. The Flight Attendant is about waking up in a hotel next to a dead body and having no idea how you got there. The Sleepwalker enters the world of parasomnia. The Guest Room takes on the issue of sex trafficking. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is a terrifying look at a school shooting. These are just some of the ones I have read. Some I have enjoyed more than others, but I look forward to each and every one. 

The Lioness takes us to Tanzania and an African safari. Unfortunately, the safari goes very wrong with a kidnapping and carnage on the savannah. The question is, in this group of the rich and famous, who is the target and why. The book begins somewhat at the end. Some survive. Who? That is unclear. The setting of the book in the 1960s brings in elements of the politics of the area at the time and the era of the Cold War.

The story then winds back and forth - to the end, to the safari and kidnapping, and back into individual lives to see what leads each person to be on that safari at that time. Relationships are revealed, and new ones are formed. At the heart of the story is star actress Katie Barslow. She is newly married to David Hill. This trip is actually their honeymoon. Interestingly, they have decided to share their honeymoon with a group of their Hollywood friends (entourage?).

The main cast of characters numbers 13 - nine safari guests and four team leaders. However, even as the story focuses on the events on safari, it reaches back into their individual lives and sees in the future to the survivors. Even as the safari and its events are only a few days, this reach covers so much more. 

With the back stories, the characters themselves come to life. Much of the book I spend wondering who the survivor who begins the book is and why. Why this safari? Why this group? Why the kidnapping? Who survives? How? Is there one within this group who betrays the others? More importantly, for a fictional group, I care about the answers and keep reading until the very end for to know. From African politics and history to Hollywood drama, from relationships to breakups to betrayals, this book weaves together a story in a way I have come to expect from Chris Bohjalian. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

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