A Kim's HAPPINESS FALLS-Mystery, Family Drama and Psychological Karma

Angie Kim's multilayered, complex novel is a fascinating, how to put down read. Kim's literary writing is innovative and captivating.  She captures the emotional roller coaster ride of Mia, a precocious, polymath  college student.  Mia is raised by bi-racial parents with her twin brother, John, and 14 year old brother, Eugene. Eugene was born with severe disabilities; diagnosed with autism and Angelman syndrome; a severe development disorder. He's unable to verbalize and lacks muscular control.  Mia and John are home from college during Covid when Eugene returns alone from an outing with their dad, extremely agitated and caked in blood.  It's shocking that Eugene returned by himself. Their father was Eugene's F/T caregiver and would never allow him to venture alone. Thus begins the turbulent mystery into the dad's  disappearance. We traverse through a duplicitous police investigation through Mia's whip-smart mind  Mia is bent on protecting her brother and family.  Mia's endless questioning and explanations are a jolting, mind altering undertaking. The pandemic plays a major part in this disjointed time when everyone was quarantined and isolated.  Mia's family becomes a fortress unto itself.  Eugene becomes a prime suspect in his dad's disappearance. The attorney representing Eugene is devoted to defending children with special needs,  Mistrust and miscommunication are the underlying thrust of this entrancing novel.  It's disheartening to realize how difficult it is to truly understand another person and yet, how essential it is to make an effort to broker understanding.  Mia's relentless quest to unravel her father's disappearance breaks into his cell phone. "I was so eager to unlock Dad's phone?...Because, at the end of the day, I believed him mostly, but not fully. And, I didn't fully trust Mom and John, either.  And wasn't that-almost-but-not-quite-certain level of faith and trust, the need for eternal verification and objective proof..."  Mia's cynicism wasn't without satirical humor. "I thought how sad it must be to be a lawyer, to see everything as potentially incriminating." As Mia and her family examine what may have taken place, they uncover an entryway into Eugene's consciousness. This was a seismic shift into his world and his family's. Shannon, Eugene's attorney tells the court, "Eugene Parkson is like any other person who needs an extra step to help their thoughts be understood by others." The novel also provides advice and metrics for establishing happiness by starting with a reasonably low bar. "We need to learn how to want what we have NOT to  have what we want in order to get steady and stable Happiness." HAPPINESS FALLS is a dazzling delve into a dizzying array of convictions ranging from absolute to skeptical.  There's little doubt as to the multitude of gifts befallen Kim's page turning novel. Kim instructs us, "Our brains are hardwired to want resolution." Although, she also advises "Don't overthink it."     

BEING HENRY-The Fonz a.k.a. Henry Winkler Looks Back with Fondness and Gratitude

There are plenty of happy days in the life of 79 years young, Henry Winkler who first garnered fame as the Fonz on the ABC hit sitcom HAPPY DAYS.  Winkler's bio is an enjoyable, fast read. At the end he writes, "I have gratitude for everything. I love being on the earth. I love everything."  Despite sounding saccharine, Winkler's memoir is a candid and joyous journey filled with happiness, set-backs and an irrepressible spirit that feels genuine. There's much Winkler has to be thankful for, especially his wife of more than 40 years, three children, five grandchildren and a bevy of beloved dogs. Childhood growing up as the only son of German born immigrants wasn't pleasurable due to cold, dismissive parents and dyslexia making academics arduous.  Despite his dyslexia, Winkler finished college and Yale's Drama School. In addition to his long career in front of the camera, he's directed, produced and written a score of children's books about a child dealing with dyslexia. Winkler is up front about the ongoing difficulties dyslexia imposes in his career from script readings to learning lines. This isn't amounting to a hard knock life, but it was excruciating for him after being typecast making getting cast difficult.  "I was saddened that the world could only see me as the Fonz. But, I never lost sight of what the character gave me, a roof over my head, food on the table, my children's education."  He nabbed the role as Fonzie, his first gig soon after  he arrived in LA (while coachsurfing) and pinching pennies.  Winkler touts relying on one's intuition. "Trust your tummy, not your head.  Your head only knows some things; your tummy knows everything, if you just listen."  More importantly, he emphasized giving respect to the cast, crew and everyone without sounding holier-than-thou. Winkler came across not only exemplary, but as someone you'd be fortunate to know.  An aspect Winkler weighs in on too heavily is psychotherapy.  He proselytized this as a panacea for getting in touch with one's emotions.  "I slowly realized there was still a lot of little boy in me, desperately trying to make everyone in the world love me, because my parents didn't seem to. The little boy who knew less than everyone else."  Winkler was aware he wasn't emotionally there for his wife as needed. He credits therapy for enlightening him.  "After almost forty years together, something in me still couldn't let her in, and this was causing intense pain to both of us."  He felt he wasn't advocating for his views at work. "I was unable, again physically unable to hold up my side of any argument; I would just cave, then keep quiet and build a thunderhead of resentment."  The long career Winkler has maintained in the entertainment industry is testament to his tenacity.  "This Emmy {for BARRY} was a validation, not only of the kind of work I could do, but of the kind of work I could do at 70. Reading about Winkler's life was engrossing and a master class in acting.  I took away winning attitudes from Winkler.  Still, it's his decency in a business known more for its sleaziness that resonated. "The cornerstone of my existence: never finish a negative sentence...Release the negative thought before you put a period on the end of it...get it out of your brain by replacing it with a positive.  What kind of positive? What I always say in my talks is that it is a moist chocolate Bundt cake with soft chocolate chips. No frosting."  And as Fonzie, "AAAYYY! I don't wanna see where I've been. I wanna see how cool I look getting there!"

Deesha Philyaw's The SECRET LIVES of CHURCH WOMEN is a Finalist for Nat'l Book Award/Fiction 2020

Deesha Philyaw is an American author and journalist.  Her collection of short stories The SECRET LIVES of CHURCH WOMEN was a finalist for the 2020 Nat'l Book Award and winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award 2021.  The collection spans four generations in the lives of seven women and their daughters who are connected through a literal sisterhood having being fathered by the same baby daddy though raised by their respective mothers.  Their lives intertwine and parallel in their mother/daughter attachments and affiliations with church and its doctrines.  There's a kinship amongst the women despite their conflicts, combustible sexual relationships with partners, major disappointments and varying devotion or resignation within the church.  As unique and disparate individuals, their passions all burn incandescently.  Thanks to Philyaw's lucid writing we're bestowed a vivd picture of their inner turmoils and strengths.  The church acts as a central axis as their lives revolve around its influence.  For some, the church is omnipotent.  Some adhere fervently to its indoctrinations while others reject what they find as hypocritical or toxic causing fractures or irreparable disconnections.  Regardless, these are all formidable women worthy of compassion.  Our perceptions of their choices and behaviors are indelible given a clear understanding of who these women are and what they mean to one another.  Men circumvent the periphery.  Lasting commitments are forged amongst women or for some, a devotion to God. A profound story of two women referred to simply as "Mother" and "Daughter" retains a palpable sadness for an unrequited love between Daughter and Mother and Mother's unfulfilled life having been devoted to Christ.  "Mothers raise their daughters and love their sons.  But who ever loved Mama, besides her children?  Despite her devotion to the church and chaste living.  Mama had never had that peace that passes all understanding that was supposed to be yours when you invited Jesus into your heart.  Nor did she have that joy, unspeakable joy, promised in the Scriptures.  What Mama had was the love of Jesus-whose touch, Daughter imagined, was too ephemeral to quench anything."  In another story a mother's love was overbearing.  "But like a beautiful quilt in summertime, my mother's love was the suffocating kind, the kind you chafe against and don't miss until the seasons change and it's gone."  Truths vigorously heralded in laments are unraveled with a gentle touch that makes this collection worth cherishing.  "Sometimes wheels are set in motion long before the spark is manifest.  Is that the same things as fate?  I don't know, but I do now that rare, brilliant events take time".  Make the time to revel in The SECRET LIVES of CHURCH WOMEN. 

JOHN STAMOS IF YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD ME Memoir

John Stamos is a household name thanks to a four decades in the TV, movie and music business.  This is thanks in part to an iconic TV sitcom called FULL HOUSE.  Stamos, now 60, and yes, more handsome than ever, shares his life story, bears his soul and we are richer for having read it.  Why now?  Fair question that John addresses in a very candid, touching and poignant response.  Happily married to his wife Caitlin with whom he shares the joys parenting their five year old son, Billy, there are troubling and depressing periods due to loss of loved ones, disappointments in relationships and career.  It's striking  John's assessment of his blessings and regrets (he's had a few). Firstly, he comes from a very loving family.  (We should all be so fortunate to have parents and siblings like John's). And if that's not enough, the real life family born from Full House which is still solid.  For those fortunate to know John personally (including yours truly) you know he's a considerate, sincere and warm human being.  John tributes his career but more importantly, his values to how he was raised.  A memoir without family dysfunction is refreshingly positive.  This doesn't mean the novel is purely sanguine.  John's life has its heartbreaks.  He reveals regrets, culpability and remorse at the breakup of his marriage to actress Rebecca Romijn. A major take-away from his memoir is to own one's mistakes and not repeat them.  There's an epiphany that with great love there comes great sorrow with its passing.  John mourns the irreparable loss of his parents and his very close friends; his beloved co-star Bob Saget and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys.  It's interesting to note how the deep connection with Bob developed over time, struggles, shared good-times and rough-times.  The essence of John's writing is a tribute to the preeminence of family, friends and celebrating life.  Of course, Stamos' career in entertainment is extremely fascinating.  His regaling of his numerous Broadway roles in musicals was eye-opening.  Unfortunately, the pressures inherent to performing live theater played a major role in a toxic, dependence on alcohol.  John's candor about drinking, driving and his DUI are...sobering.  John cannot be accused of trashing people but he is guilty of name dropping multitudes of famous celebrities and artists as friends.  The overall tone of this memoir is cheery, grateful and relatable. John doesn't cotton to false modesty; the man knows he's good looking,  But, he's much more than just a pretty face.  He's a talented dramatic and comedic actor, skilled musician on the drums, a wonderful friend and devoted husband and doting dad.  Enjoy your beautiful family, friends and life, John.  Order the cake.  Skip the calamari.  Thanks for sharing.

The VIOLIN CONSPIRACY by Brendan Slocumb-Who Stole the Stradivarius?

Brendan Slocumb's musical mystery thriller The VIOLIN CONSPIRACY has a lot more in store than merely solving the case of the missing, multi-million dollar Stradivarius violin.  This easy read glides through classical music, and life as a professional performer.  The plot also entails heavy lines of racism and slavery.  There are trials and tribulations of a single black mom raising her son amid financial constraints and views her son as income.  There's a scherzo love story written with abandon.  A major movement comes from a mentor whose guidance is invaluable.  Added to the composition are imposing lawsuits and legal maneuverings Ray must wrangle with.  All these notes comprise a layered, full-fledged novel.  The storytelling is riveting and filled with embellishments and surprises.   Rayquin "Ray" MacMillan is a young, black youth learning and loving to play classical music on a school loaned instrument.   Ray's classmates all have their own instruments and private lessons. Ray is left to fend with his second-hand, school loaned instrument.  But, Ray has something others have not.  He's got talent, artistry and passion for his craft in which to make something special of his life and love for music.  Still, Ray has an arduous path ahead to overcome his limited training, racial hatred, and demanding family members.  On the other hand, he also has a loving grandmother who loves him and bequeaths her grandfather's old fiddle for him to keep and an established music professor who supports his studies and career.  Lo and behold, the fiddle turns out to be a verified Stradivarius which leads to family and foe filing lawsuits to get their money grubbing hands on it. But, before they can score a court victory the violin gets stolen from his hotel suite and held for ransom. The only ones in the room with him were a chambermaid and his girlfriend, also a classical musician.  There isn't a false note in this tale of hard work and dedication plagued with greed and injustice. The social commentary rings true and the vibrato of striving for one's dream resonates fully. The suspense filled hunt for the prized, missing instrument combined with the tension of competing in the most prestigious musical competition in the world built to its crescendo.  THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY is an engaging read in many different measures.  While an inspiring novel its gravitas comes from the narrow mindedness with which Ray is viewed.  "That's all they saw and that's all he was to them."  More often though, it soars on the triumphant joys inherent from music and dedication.  

WE SHOULD not be FRIENDS Will Schwalbe Shares His 40+ Year Friendship of Opposites

Will Shwalbe's memoir of a rocky but durable friendship with the muscular, popular jock he met at Yale when they were both tapped to join one of the college's secret societies makes a captivating read of relationships that are quixotic, symbiotic and often problematic.  Shwalbe is an author, editor and publisher who was a scrawny junior at Yale when he and first gets to know Chris Maxey who will go on to become a Navy Seal and founder of an independent, ecological school in the Bahamas.  With self-deprecating candor and warmth, Schwalbe makes a great case for why the two are an odd couple of oil and water that somehow blends into a rewarding, ongoing friendship that survives the test of time without rhyme but for some reason.   Shwalbe, is gay, non-athletic and awkward.  Maxey is a heterosexual hunk with swagger to spare.  Together, they make an outwardly disparate pair. "Friendships like ours proceed largely unchronicled," notes Shwalbe.  Their life paths crossed when tapped into a secret societiesy at Yale.  They became intertwined for reasons that may not be apparent at a glance.  There's plenty to be gleaned from their friendship, one being to give others a chance to get to know you and you them.  Shwalbe admits to being skeptical about Maxey wanting to befriend him and was fearful of his thinking he might be coming onto him.  Maxey concedes to using homophobic slurs and stereotyping gays. "As we shared stories with each other. we were starting to find that our lives had more in common than we could have imagined."  "Shwalbe has a deft writer's gift for charm.   He regales us in fits and starts and despite periods apart, they remained deeply rooted.  It's hard to determine the moment a heart becomes overrun with affection and morphs into love.  I was deeply invested in their individual journeys; Maxey's as a Navy Seal, family man with travails and the founder of a school, and Schwalbe's literary career, travels and finding his longtime partner.  But, what made this read worth celebrating is the simple, yet elegant gospel, how fortunate it is to have formed an unshakeable friendship in life.  "We enjoy one another's company.  We like the people our friends are, and the person we are when we're around them."  

Alice Munroe's Short Story Collection THE MOONS OF JUPITER is Extraordinary

Alice Munro, now age 92, is one of the world's premier short story writers and she shows no signs of slowing down.  In fact, her writing continues to dazzle while still creating innovative curves to the short story structure.  Born in Canada in 1931, Munro sets many of her story in her native country and often weaves her own life into her fiction.  The many prestigious literary awards and honors including the Nobel Prize in Literature (2013), Man Booker Int'l Prize (2009), Nat'l Book Critics Circle Award and the Medal of Honor for Literature.  THE MOONS of JUPITER published in 1982 is a collection of short stories that share themes of regret, disillusionment and forbearance over time.  What unites the stories is their uncanny power of observation on daily life, its inflections and innate emotional responses.   Munro masters a deceivingly simple story with the depth of familiarity she draws for the characters; what they are truly feeling despite what they may or may not be expressing.  Munro gives an elegant clarity to her characters that enables the reader to identify individual personalities and traits.  In the title story, family members assemble around the patriarch as his health is flailing.  There's the gravitational familial ties that circumvent the parent.  The father's doting daughter, Janet, is also coping with the dissension of her daughter which bears the most potency to cause her pain and regret.  Meanwhile, Janet's father awaits an amputation required to save his life despite the inherent risks of surgery.  A constant flux of power dynamics are at play while considering the risks of change and annexation.  Another story focuses on two octogenarians who knew each other as young girls and now find themselves in the same senior center.  Their trajectories took them in different directions once married and with children but they've found themselves situated together as elderly, wheelchair dependent widows.  Imagining these two would become reunited as friends at this stage is premature for their keen disparate personalities which prove self-serving.  We grasp how and why they try to dominate the other and how the two women seek out what they need from other residents.   Another prevalent motif in the collection is the quest for love and its travails.  Munro poses an astute view that traverses the varying stories.  "Love is not kind or honest and does not contribute to happiness in any reliable way."  In the short story, "Labor Day Dinner" there's a vying for one man's affections despite one's noting its futility once possessed. "Setting things up to find failure inhume, railing at him, then getting cold feet and making up.  Gradually the need to get rid of him would build again, but I was always sure it was his fault-if he'd just do this or that I could love him."  THE MOONS of JUPITER is one of Munro's many compelling short story collections to treasure.  

The novel FLIGHTS by Nobel Prize winning author Olga Tokarczuk

Olga Tokarczuk (b. Poland1973) is a Man Booker and Nobel Prize winning author.  FLIGHTS is a fragmentary novel that transcends time, space and oftentimes logic for a complicated, chaotic and unsettling read.  The stories unfolds with a mysterious disappearance of a mother and child. The father is waiting in the car for them to return from what was to be a quick rest stop.  The family was vacationing on a small foreign island.  The father becomes dependent on his landlord for his assistance and translation.  When it becomes more apparent that it would be impossible to have left the island without notice the father becomes a suspect and how things will be resolved remain an unsettling enigma.  The beguiling chapters are all vastly different in subject, time and style.  For many readers the discordance will feel distracting and perhaps troubling in their intent.  For others, searching for a connective tissue present a challenging objective.  Unifying themes of travel, discovery and desire for groundbreaking exploration are tantamount.  This can be found in studies of the human form and its preservations.  "Transforming the human essence into a body and before our eyes undressing it of mystery."  The quest deemed paramount is  the essential need for a continual foray into the unknown, the unexamined by fierecly knocking down barriers.  Ironically, having unearthed the hidden, Tokarczuk condemns its clarifications.  "Description is akin to overuse-it destroys; the colors wear off, the corners lose their definition, and in the end what's been described begins to fade, to disappear."  The author also speaks to being drawn to that which is aberrant.  She's attracted to that which is flawed and defected, mistakes in the making.  "I believe unswervingly, agonizingly, that it is in freaks that Being breaks through to the surface and reveals its true nature."   Interspersed among the book are shorter stories or anecdotes which are noteworthy and yet baffling.  I'm at a loss for deciphering Tokarczuk's theological introspections.  Nevertheless, I found them arresting in their ambiguity.  FLIGHTS is not an easily accessible read.  While never tedious, it's oftentimes trying.   I was captivated most by several of the in depth stories as in the missing wife, and the scientist who visits a preservationist widow hoping to glean secret formulas taken to the grave.  FLIGHTS will elevate some readers onto an uncommon strata while pushing off others.  "What makes us most human is the possession of a unique and irreproducible story, that we take place over time and leave behind traces." 

Oprah and Arthur C Brooks' BOOK How to Attain Happiness

If you're not a self-help genre book seeker, join the club with me.  However, it was hard not to get swept up in the infectious joy emanating from Oprah and Arthur C Brooks when discussing their joint book project entitled BUILD the LIFE YOU WANT: the Art and Science of Getting Happier when appearing on CBS Sunday Morning in September.  Oprah is one of the world's most recognizable and revered people whose parlayed her celebrity and likability into a well-being guru.  Brooks, a prof. at Harvard holds packed classes lecturing on attaining happiness.  Brooks' popular column in the Atlantic on building one's happiness drew Oprah as a fan.  Oprah reached out and suggested they collaborate on a book together which they were pleased to be promoting.  As Oprah says, "Life is better when you share it."  As many people know, if Oprah puts her name or stamp of approval on something it's like winning the lottery.  Although, according to Brooks, neither money, good lucks, fame or power are elements that assure happiness.  My cynicism and curiosity are what drew me to purchasing and reading the book.  This non-repentant cynic found it a somewhat enjoyable, enlightening and empowering read.   I say this honestly but begrudgingly for I had a captious contention for belittling what was sure to be cliched advice.  However, I fond sensible suggestions when dealing with problematic issues within my family.   Many of the topics were not up my ally and then I would find a snippet that felt directed right towards me.  "Go through the day focusing on things outside yourself, resisting judgement, and avoiding anything self-referential." I incorporated purely observational thoughts rather than opinionated and value-based.  This was a gem as a practical suggestion I put into action with positive results.  And, this tidbit also fit for me, "When someone says, 'You are wrong,' respond with "Tell me more."  And, for me, the most constructive framing for my mind-set was redirecting my focus outward and more time spent marveling at the world around me.  Experiencing awe mitigates a self-centered, perspective freeing a person to appreciate and enjoy what life is offering.   Arthur Brooks should be happy that I am endorsing BUILD the LIFE YOU WANT.  While I'm not Oprah, coming from me, that's not too shabby.  And, as you can see, attaining happiness is an on-going, lifetime enterprise.  Although, I don't surmise I'll be deferring to another self-improvement book in the near future.    

James McBride's The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store-Regardless of Race Religion a Humane Connection

James McBride's is a Renaissance man.  His novel, The GOOD LORD BIRD won the 2013 National Book Award for fiction.  His best selling memoir The COLOR of WATER describing his upbringing as a son of an African American and white Jewish mother received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award as did his novel, Deacon King Kong.  He's a talented saxophonist and composer.  In 2016, Pres. Obama awarded McBride the National Humanities Medal.  McBride's creative talents and spellbinding story telling are superlative. His flair for interweaving comical and colorful characters within convoluted plots is frankly, beyond compare.  Keeping the storylines for the many, multifaceted characters who appear within ("Heaven and Earth") pose a challenging venture.  The diligent reader is rewarded along a twisting journey of the melting pot brewing ini America while the winds of WWII are stirring.  Moshe is a Jew who fled Europe for America as a teen with his cousin Issac for its promises of freedom and opportunities.  He settles in a small town outside Pittsburg, home to impoverished Jewish immigrants alongside a poverty stricken community of blacks residents who've recently migrated from the deep south.  Parallels are cleverly drawn of shared dreams, struggles, assimilation and contentions of racism and anti-semitism wrought from the more settled, affluent white society.  There's mistrust and ill-will between the different races and religions.  Within these tribal groups there are construct hierarchies.  And within all societal groups, there are individuals both good and evil.  It's hard pressed to find such a spellbinding cornucopia of individuals all scraping to survive while relishing what they have.  At the center of this chaotic world McBride so cunningly crafts is a love story between benevolent Moshe and his kindhearted wife Chona.  Chona refuses to sell their floundering grocery store or move as most of the Jews already have to a more upscale location.  The neighborhood has evolved into a predominantly black community.  Moshe's reliable right hand man is Nate and Nate's wife Addie, works for Chona in their store.  A bond of respect and trust is forged between the couples.  Moshe and Addie agree to shelter Nate and Addies' deaf nephew to save him from being taken away and institutionalized.  A terrifying ordeal involving Dodo's capture spins into a heartbreaking sage and harrowing rescue tale.  The parade of unconventional individuals makes this novel unique and unforgettable.  At its core, McBride finds inspiration in acceptance.  Yet, there remains a cynical but understandable syntax.  As McBride states towards the end "in all that American mythology of hope, freedom, equality, and justice.  The problem was always, and would always be, the niggers and the poor-and the foolish white people who felt sorry for them."  

John Green's N/F The Anthropocene-Profound Pondering Worth Perusing

Known for his literary, young adult novels The FAULT in our STARS and LOOKING for Alaska, John Green took a darker turn in TURTLES ALL the WAY DOWN, where the young protagonist struggled with compulsive disorder and anxiety.  Green admitted to sharing these issues in his life at the time of the book's release.  In his recent non-fiction collection of essays, The ANTHROPOCENE, Green shares his dark days of depression and his reflections during the oppressive epoch of our recent pandemic.  Unable to construct his thoughts into a cohesive novel, Green allowed his thoughts to ebb and flow, and followed them where they would go.  With his churning mind, candor and eloquence, Green gathered his thoughts into a compelling read with profound observations that inspires readers to reconsider our circumstances and the ripples we leave inn our wake.  "What you're looking at matters, but not as much as how you're looking or who you're looking with."  Green often refers to author's and philosopher's quotes and then expounds upon them.  After quoting Alec Soth who said, "To me, the most beautiful things is vulnerability."  Green added, "I would go a step further and argue that you cannot see the beauty which is enough unless you make yourself vulnerable to it."  I was dazzled most by the pleasure and awe that registered for Green whether eating a hot dog with the works,  watching leaves rain down from a ginkgo tree, admiring the first artwork comprised in space, or listening to whispered confidences from his daughter.  "What really thrills the human soul is to be in the presence of astonishment, I am thrilled by everything that makes me feel alive within myself.  Alive in my smallness, and alive in my fragility and alive in my wondrousness."  Green also took issue with humanity's noxious naivety and ego.  He contends, "in the age of the Anthropocene, humans tend to believe, despite all available evidence, that the world is here for our benefit."  Nonetheless, the overriding reminder throughout is we live in hope that life will get better, life will continue and love will continue to survive.  Moreover, I'm left convinced of the consequence to pay attention, to wonder, "and to know and to not know."  

Richard Osman's The THURSDAY MURDER CLUB-Octogenarian Sleuths

The THURSDAY MURDER CLUB is one in a series of mysteries by British writer, comedian and TV producer, Richard Osman.  Four octogenarians residing in a somnolent retirement home in the British countryside occupy their time by reviewing unsolved mysteries weekly in the jigsaw puzzle room. Incredibly, they prove adept at gaining inside information.  Their conniving, unofficial leader Elizabeth, garners the reluctant cooperation from local, police officials.  The other three self-appointed sleuths consist of new resident Joyce, and dapper gents Ron and Ibrahim.  Joyce fills the vacancy left by Elizabeth's close friend Penny since being in a coma has put a pall on her participation.  Joyce is happy to fill the void in the group and the void left by the passing of her beloved husband.  Joyce keeps a diary that serves to keep the reader apprised on the foursome's escapades in her jaunty style.  The mystery oozes coziness over macabre murders.  What fortuitous luck though, a timely murder falls in their lap.  Recently there's been a tumult over plans to build a development on the open terrain surrounding the peaceful retirement villa which includes an old cemetery.  This first dead body (there are more to follow) was Tony, the nefarious handyman found bludgeoned,  Tony did odd jobs around the villa and worked for the duplicitous,  developer, Ian.  Ian had just fired Tony to shave expenses and the two were spotted by arguing earlier the day he was killed by Ron and his son, Jason.  Ian is the likely suspect until he becomes the second stiff murdered.  A major clue found next to Tony's remains was of an old photo of Tony with a young Jason and a third, mystery man called Bobby.  The crime solving becomes convoluted but secondary to the resourcefulness of the omnipotent Elizabeth whose able to pull several aces from her sleeve.  It's delightful seeing seniors learning to adapt to new technologies  The hesitant but symbiotic relationship Elizabeth developed is with female officer Donna and her chief, Chris.  Chris is the stodgy but endearing veteran and Donna a young, savvy officer.  One red herring is whether Chris and Donna will move pass their  professional working relationship.  A trajectory that should've stay buried is Father Matthew who has his own reasons for objecting to exhuming the cemetery coffins.  Seniors finding fulfilment actings as sleuths over tea (or sherry) fireside is pleasantly amusing albeit, plot confusing.  Ron and Ibrahim serve as ornamentation or to serve the two ladies.  Loose ends are tied up near the end past the point where The Who Done becomes besides the point. The THURSDAY MURDER CLUB would entice me as a viewer on the BBC mystery channel given a captivating cast.  As a mystery novel I fail to become indoctrinated. Although, it's nice to know there's plenty of life kicking for those close to kicking up their heels.   

STING RAY AFTERNOONS-Steve Rushin's Memoir of 70s Childhood in MN

Steve Rushin is journalist, novelist and sportswriter.  His articles have been finalists for the Nat'l Magazine Award.  His sports writing earned him recognition as Nat'l Sportswriter of the Year (2005.)  In his 2017 memoir, STING RAY AFTERNOONS, Rushin recalls his boyhood days growing up in the midwest in a typical, middle-class family of five kids, two parents, in a predominately white community that could pass for the "Happy Days"sitcom of the 70s.  Rushin's childhood could be described as carefree, mainstream and without trauma.  Except for the brotherly torments, covetous pleas for status welding consumer items and typical, hazardous pursuits.  Steve's upbringing is complacently mundane endowed with a winsome nostalgia for more innocent times.  This charming time capsule of Rushin's childhood serves as a zeitgeist which will appeal to a narrow niche; those sharing a similar upbringing and members of his familial clan.  Taken in fragments, Rushin's recollections are appealing and informative; perhaps more than necessary regarding background history on various products, popular cultural and events indigenous to Minneapolis and Steve's personal life.  Too much intimate information gets shared as when Steve describes having shat himself playing ice hockey or the perpetual urine flow contests and endless prank phone calls (now obsolete stunts.)  This memoir should extort chuckles from Steve's childhood friends and his own children, but fares poorly to otherwise pique curiosity.  However, Rushin is a skillful writer with incredible recall for details and pleasing paraphrasing to hold the reader ensconced at a remote distance.  "Childhood disappears down a storm drain.  It flows, then trickles, then vanishes, leaving some olfactory memory-of new tennis balls, Sunday-morning bacon, a chemical cloud of Glade-to prove it ever existed."  The book is a softball memoir that feels lightweight when seen through percipient eyes that witness brutal killings as the murder of George Floyd that occurred in Rushin's hometown.  Perhaps, in speaking of gentler times Rushin captures something deemed refreshing and for cherishing as an anecdote to our present  apocalyptical times.  There is a resonating, universal theme about the ever changing family that can never be the same as when we grew up under the same roof.  The forlorn observation of his family's irrevocable evolutions expresses a longing for days past.  "Our family of seven, our aluminum sided house {bursting at the seams}: (in Mom's words), will never again be as loud, the kids' bathroom will never again be as crowded. diners will never be so chaotic." "They {parents}want to preserve this time in a locket, freeze us as we are now and will never be again".  

Lorrie Moore's "If This Is Not My Home Then I'm Homeless" Grieving is Hopefulness

I maintain that every war novel or film is an anti-war protest.  I also attest all stories about death and grieving to be life affirming.  Lorrie Moore is a distinguished writer of literary novels and short stories. With her newest novel, "If This Is Not My Home Then I'm Homeless" she takes on a journey with the protagonist and his estranged lover.  During their mystical, twilight road trip, the couple rehash what they mean to each other and how they've let the other down. The main character, Finn is a flailing h.s. history-teacher recently suspended for questionable, ethical behavior.  Finn heads to the bedside of his beloved, older brother Max whose in hospice care.  Finn feels remorse for not having been closer with his brother.  He fleetingly tries to bridge a bond that while never broken, was never as Finn would have hoped.  Max has led a more settled life with his wife and career.  Max encourages Finn to reconsider his relationship with his estranged girlfriend Lily.  Beautiful, vivacious Lily has been battling clinical depression.  She was hospitalized several times after attempting to end her life.  Finn is a bombastic intellectual who lives to be argumentative and without ever having committed fully to anything or anyone.  While Finn and Max are watching a World Series game, Finn receives a call regarding Lily and told it's imperative he come for her immediately.  Finn leaves his brother's bedside and takes off despite the fact he and Lily had separated and recently she became involved with another man.  When Finn arrives, he's stunned to learn Lily had killed herself and the burial had already taken place.  Finn rushes to the cemetery and seems nonplussed upon finding Lily waiting for him alongside her graveside.  Finn and the incandescent Lily convene while on a meandering car ride with no clear destination.  Finn implores Lily, "I've changed my mind.  It's not too late for you to change yours.  I know you can do it."  With Moore's deft writing she's able to convince readers Finn and Lily are in their own  purgatory from which they could both emerge nascent and fully cognizant of what they desire in life.  "Perhaps he and Lily had moved out of controlled hallucination into random reality shards."  Finn's narrative is interwoven with an epistolatory, chronicle of a 19th C boarding house matron who relieves her daily trials and tribulations in correspondences to her cherished sister.  The enigma of how these two unrelated stories will merge is another tribute to Moore's gift for engaging readers and expanding their realms of imagination.  Her writing dissects multitiered layers of regret.  "When people died it was the vanishing that was so hard."  And, we're reminded, "Memory. Passage.  Nothing in the world was ever truly over."  I strongly recommend this haunting and indelible novel. 

NF QUIETLY HOSTILE-NF Stands for Not Funny in this Sophomoric Essay/Commentary

I now have reason to be leery of future recommendations from NPR's FRESH AIR.  I intend to be more vigilant when Terry Gross, the consummate host, isn't there.  Samantha Irby spoke with NPR's Tonya Mosley about her new book of essays, "Quietly Hostile" this past May.  Mosley mostly fawned over Irby who was disarming and clever.  Never again, however, will I be susceptible to buying into a plug surreptitiously under the guise of an interview.  At best, it's an opportunity for the listener to ascertain their interest in whether to buy whatever the guest is selling.  And lest we forget, the station must acquiesce to their guests so as to maintain a constant flux of celebrities.  Irby's comic writing career has mostly been with TV's "Sex and the City" which she referenced often on NPR and in her book.  Irby has published several comedic observational essay collections.  Her 2013 memoir "Meaty" is being adapted into a series on FX.  Irby's self-deprecating banter and sardonic wit pitted against Mosley was chuckle worthy and a glimmer of levity felt imminent in her latest book, "Quietly Hostile."  I'm overtly irritated I gravitated to buying this inane collection which was saturated with potty humor and intention of normalizing of bodily functions on TV.  "Pooping in other people's bathroom presents such a conundrum.  Especially when you have to come out and talk to them as the stench of your waste permeates the air.  I don't want to make brunch plans when you just listened to me evacuating my bowels."  Irby offered somewhat helpful advice for minor first world problems.  For example, "Let's say there are three stalls in the restroom and the third one is occupied.  Which should you choose?  This is not a real question, unless you are a monster.  Come on man, do your number two in number one."  The inside scoop writing for "Sex in the City" was literally shitty.  As Irby informs us, "My singular agenda, and yes, I absolutely will! Not! Rest! Until we normalize beautiful people shitting on TV, so of course I would go back and put poop in this {Sex and the City} show."  Perhaps Mosley wisely kept the lid down on toilet topics.  If this last anecdote I'm going to share from "Quietly Hostile" doesn't deter you from reading this putrid piece of writing, then dive right in as you've been forewarned.  "Have you ever had to reach into the toilet to break up a turd?  It's a horrifying feeling.  What about fishing around in murky piss-water to loosen a wad of toilet paper you mistakenly thought would swoosh right through to wherever poop goes?"  It seems Tonya took a gross one for the home-team and left Terry to interview more elevated guests. 

Pamela Mayer's N/F LIESPOTTING-Obvious Tips You've Already Gotten

"If you ask a question and someone repeats it back to you, she may be stalling to buy time to think about how she wants to reply."  This is just one of many tidbits that any idiot would've concluded before being deluded into buying Mayer's unenlightening.   Dare I say it, insipid and anything but revelatory book that supposedly shook the business world with a seismic tool to size up potential employees.  Now, for the mere price of $15 on kindle, which is only overly priced by $15, it will alert you via garrulous means of what you already discerned by living with your nose outside a book.  Mayer's techniques which took the world by storm (according to her) was a tsunami of incidental examples of "possible" deceitful tells that well frankly, is of value for those who have a social cues disorder.  Sadly, many who "suffer" from social communication disorders also have difficulty processing language as well as comprehending social cues.  For the vast majority of people who already do what Mayer needlessly encourages, "trust your intuition."  It's worth noting Mayer's motivation to better access when a person is being deceitful stem from her personal hiring fiasco of an assistant she thought was a wunderkind until she discovered she swindled by.  I too feel swindled as I spent money having kindled LIESPOTTING.  Mayer advised ad nauseam, "Trust yourself?  Lie detection and intuition have a reciprocal relationship."  Or as the well-known platitude toes - if it's too good to be true, it probably is.  There's nothing worthing noting in LIESPOTTING.  Much information is parried pertaining to why it's worthwhile to discern when you're being lied to as if you already weren't aware.  For example, "Detecting deception is a crucial skill that offers countless financial psychological, and even emotional benefits."   There's nothing worth noting in LIESPOTTING because you already know it. Trust me -  don't blow your dough on it. 

Steven Rowley's novel LILY and the Octopus-Man's Deep Love for His Dog

I feel a little bait switch on the mood this book seemed to offer.  I anticipated a joyful, light read led by the unwavering love between a man and his dog.  In many ways, the book delivers on the immeasurable and unconditional devotion that forms between people and "people's best friends;" dogs.  But in this hard to put down story, Ted, a single, gay writer's love for his dog Lily does not extend inward.  Ted's affection and care for Lily, a 12 year old dachshund is endearing but Ted's emotional well being is unstable and his touch on reality are way out of sync.  Yet, there is much comic relief and heart proffered from Ted's sessions with his therapist and his weekly social activities revolve around his evenings spent solely with Lily.  These scheduled events include ordering pizza, playing monopoly and movie night.  The ongoing banter between Ted and Lily feels all too real and lively stemming from both.  Credit Rowley's crafty writing for being so convincing as to concede Ted and Lily have truly mastered telepathic communication and for considering the "octopus" on Lily's head possesses animate traits with a malicious vendetta against Lily.  We hold equal admiration for Ted's doting concern along with growing alarm at his encroaching dottiness.   Ted considers, "I too am suffering from the presence of the octopus, seizures in reason.  My thoughts of late have resembled those of a small child more than the thinking of a grown man."  One of the most beguiling and surreal sequences in the book takes place aboard a sea vessel Ted rented with the intent to confront and annihilate the octopus whose been sucking the life out of Lily.  Comparisons to the tear jerker, "Racing in the Rain" with an all-knowing and beloved family dog with dog's sevenfold shortened life expectancy.  Rowley pulls our heartstrings with grief shrouding the story and then digs deeper by underlying a decision many dog owners eventually face.  The bare bones uncovered from what transpires with living and loving one's dog are priceless gems.  Ted said, "I am thankful for Lily, who, since she entered my life, has taught me everything I know about patience and kindness and meeting adversity with quiet dignity and grace."  LILY and the OCTOPUS is a book of magical thinking plus a profound reflection on grief and lessons gleaned from dogs. "People describe grief in different ways.  I'd say it's a temporary derangement."  "Grief is a pathological condition.  It's just that so many of us go through it in life that we never think to treat it as such."  Ted is cognizant of dogs' boundless capacity for living and loving.  "Dogs live in the present.  Because dogs don't hold grudges.  Because dogs let go of all their anger daily, hourly, and never let it fester.  They absolve and forgive with each passing minute."  LILY and the OCTOPUS is highly recommended reading knowing you'll uncover much wisdom and in much wisdom comes much sorrow.  

THE CHILEAN POET-Perceptive Take on Poets' Personas by A. Zambra

Poems, short stories and novels are very different literary genres.  Reading poetry or reading fiction is approached and appreciated in different manners.  Alejandro Zambra (b. Chilie 1975) was selected as one of the best "Bogota39" (the best Latin American writers under 39) '2010.  Zambra is highly regarded as a poet, short story writer and novelist.  With keen insight and clever writing, Zambra turns poetry into a central character in "The Chilean Poet."  He wittingly adopts metafiction; the writing about writing in his novels.   Zambra instills an observational narrator who reports on events from the perspectives of several main characters in addition to Gonzalo, an inspiring poet, Carla his young lover whom he reconnects with as an adult, Carla's son Vicente and Prudence 'Pru', an American journalist traveling through Chile interviewing various poets for an American publication.  It can be said (and it was several times in the novel), poetry is Chile's national sport.  Numerous poets were name dropped with no recognition on my part and perhaps for most readers outside S. America, if not Chile.  Gonzalo and Vicente, whom Gonzalo regards more as a son than stepson, both write and read poetry.  There are numerous poems interspersed throughout written by both.  And, they critique other's poetry.  Much of the poetry included is feeble.  Perhaps, intentionally to let other poems resonate more fully with pathos and beauty.  Interestingly,  poetry's value is bantered and challenged.  One of the poets Pru interviewed commented, "Poetry is subversive because it exposes you, tears you apart.  You dare to distrust yourself.  You dare to disobey."  This poet also explained why his poetry is worth publishing.  "I don't know if they're good, but they deserve to live. A lot of people say that poetry is useless. They're afraid of useless things. Everything has to have a purpose.  They hate pure creation, they're in love with corporations. They're afraid of solitude.  They don't know how to be alone."  Diligence is required of the reader to digest the auto-fictional trajectories and the ubiquitous poets, journalists and poetry. However, there are unexpected and refreshing  the pursuit of surgery for Vicente's beloved cat Midnight.  The political background in Chile under communism when Gonzalo was growing up are background fodder laying a foundation for the resurgence of flourishing artistic voices.  I found Zambra's strident voice possessed a pacifying aesthetic and a unique cadence.  Despite being perplexed at times while reading THE CHILEAN POET, I feel rewarded having persisted.  Zambra proffers his simple but cogent thoughts on what happiness is with which I agree. "...happiness is-when you don't feel like you should be somewhere else, or be someone else."  This novel is unlike anything else I've read.  I recommend it highly. 

PAGEBOY-Elliot Page's Autobiography that's a Page Turner and A Turn Off

Elliot Page tells us early on in his candid and forthright prose, "{I am} a trans person and a public one, the sensation is that I'm always pleading for people to believe me, which I imagine most trans people relate to."  In reading Page's book, I wanted a first hand examination of being trans.  Mainly, I hoped to empathize with the mindset and emotional toll intrinsic to identifying with being trans.  Furthermore, I  wanted to learn from Elliot how this impacted his psyche, his various relationships as well as his professional career.  As a celebrity and accomplished TV/movie actor, I was curious about his personal history; childhood, adolescent years and celebrity connections.  But more importantly, what he experienced by coming out as gay, then as trans.   How he feels now, post surgery and living life as Elliot Page.  Furthermore, I want to know how Elliot perceives how gays and trans people are regarded by most people.  Elliot's parents divorced when he was six and growing up in rural Canada.  Ellen (as he was identified then) was shuttled between his mom's home as an only child, to his dad's home.  At his dad's home he idolized an older stepbrother and stepsister but was treated cruelly by his stepmom and made to feel unwanted.  Elliots dad, whom he adored, made him feel loved except when other family members were present.  Then Elliot was relegated second class and unworthy of protection.  Elliot looks back on his younger self and attributes being brought up at his dad's for having "..paved the way for my future relationship dynamics. I would throw the feelings aside, worried I'd get in trouble for having them, remaining in situations a lot longer than I should have."  This sentiment is echoed throughout with deep regrets for not haven spoken out, coming out earlier or confronting what was always incessant much early with the understanding of being male despite being born with female anatomy.  I responded to PAGEBOY on a very personal front.  I was awash with sympathy and sorrow for the miasma of self-doubt, suffering and depression that was oppressive in his life.  A prevailing ache for Elliot in his 20s was, "'Why do I feel this way?' I'd plead. 'What is this feeling that never goes away?  How can I be desperately uncomfortable all the time?  How can I have this life and be in such pain'"  Elliot writes in a non-sequential time order with flashbacks to present times.  Regardless, the writing is powerful and lucid.  But, I personally question the lascivious details of sexual liaisons and assaults revealed which are titillating and the star name dropping.  Yet, I found this to be often very off-putting.  PAGEBOY serves as a sound reasoning board and outcry for acceptance in today's society that tends to condemn rather than accept; to shun rather than take in.  Despite what may seem my prudish objections, I strongly recommend PAGEBOY for everybody; particularly those struggling with their own gender dysphoria and those intending to support and understand those pursuing their true identities.  

LOST CHILDREN ARCHIVE by V. Luiselli-A Must Read Novel for Our Time

Valeria Luiselli (b. 1983 Mexico) is a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction earning critical acclaim and literary awards in both fields.  "The Story of My Teeth" (2013) was a finalist for the Nat'l Book Award and "Tell Me How it Ends"  An Essay in 40 Questions was a finalist for the Nat'l Book Critic Award (2013).  "Lost Children Archive" (2020) has earned the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.  I have the utmost esteem for her body of work and for her most recent novel.  I bestow consummate praise by suggesting you not finish reading my review but go instead to read this profound novel which addresses human issues intrinsic to illegal immigration, the treatment of Native American Indians; the Navajo Indian Tribe in particular, and the collateral fallout to children and their families stemming from our immigration crisis.  Social commentary about immigration and Native American history is entombed in the novel as it's being driven by a married couple and their two young children during the course of a cross country road trip from NY to AZ.   The couple, a journalists and sound archivist are in a marriage that is unraveling as the journey sputters forward.  The sister and brother are step-siblings.  This fact is immaterial to them as they view each other with love, commitment and sibling annoyance.  The "boy" as he's referred is ten; twice as old and worldly wise as his younger sis.  The "girl," as she's called, is utterly trusting of her big brother.  Their familial bond follows a dangerous course as the boy maps out a clandestine journey to aid the lost children and maintain the family unit in tact.  The political messaging does not condemn treatment of illegal immigrants or Native Americans, nor proffer solutions.  It serves to magnify the human toll exacted at or our southern border, our past genocide on American soil and beyond.  Luiselli's intelligent writing and artful prose brandish a novel that I consider a literary masterpiece.  Angst inherent in loving relationships and the gut wrenching pain of families torn apart is viscerally felt.  Not yet 40, Luiselli's writes with an assured mastery of adult relationships while maintaining the innocence, joy and seriousness of youth.  Furthermore, Luiselli explores the perfidy of recording, documenting and excluding history and its omnipotent impact.  In addition to presenting prescient social awareness, the art of great storytelling in "Lost Children Archive" is not lost in the least.  

SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER A Memoir Ashley C. Ford

Ashley Ford entices the reader into memoir SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER with a powerful introduction into her life as young woman.  Having just moved in for the first time with her partner, Kelly, Ashley receives a call from her mother.  She can tell by her mother's voice, something serious is awry.  Cutting to the chase, her mother informs her the father who has been absent her entire life is about to be released from prison.  Not knowing how to process this information, Ashley turns to Kelly to access her feelings.  Ford skillfully guides us back to her early, happy childhood with a single parent and beloved younger brother and colorful maternal grandmother.  Being raised in financial constraints with one parent may not  be foreign to many, but understanding the impact growing up with a father incarcerated throughout childhood into adulthood, poses additional obstacles unbeknown to many which seem overwhelming.  Furthermore, Ashley's mother had a short fuse and the two sustain a combative life-long relationship.  Their frustrating and difficult relationship also had its share of humor and tenderness.  The enigma of why her father is incarcerated is kept secret until it is surprisingly and inadvertently revealed by her grandmother.  Ashley has been keeping her own secret.  She was raped by her ex-boyfriend after trying to terminate their relationship.  Ashley struggle to process her own trauma along with needing to forgive her father convicted of raping two women.  Ashley's memoir is bookended by the announcement of her father's impending release and their anxious bus joyous reunion.  However, this still leaves a quandary not satisfactorily addressed.  How did receiving the news and the reality of having her father in her life for the first time imprint upon her life?  Ashley Ford is a talented writer but her accessible bio fails to stir an emotional response able to galvanize a compelling read.  Still, her memoir offers an alliance for readers who share the heinous experience of rape or the angst longing for a parent serving long prison sentences.  Ashley's resilience and her unflappability prevail over these traumatic trials in a manner that doesn't trivialize their impacts but appear to significantly mitigate them.  

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY-Chemistry Class Should Be Such a Gas

The surprisingly delightful and deceptively insightful novel, LESSONS in CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus, was a fun read from beginning end.  Gramus has created a heroine, Elizabeth Zott, is not to be underestimated.  She is unflappable, adaptable and remarkable in every which way.   Being a woman chemist in the chauvinistic world of the1960s, Elizabeth Zott does not cow-tow to surmised norms that impose restrictions.   Zott got plenty of moxie, poise and a penchant for pursuing scientific research in the field of chemistry.   Zott is fortunate to cross wires with renown chemist Calvin Evans and after two auspicious interactions, a full on attraction and mutual love bond unite the two in happily unwedded bliss that tragically goes amiss.  Fortunately, Gramus debut novel's turbulent plot imbues Zott with characters that demonstrate the similarly dynamic and electrifying qualities she contains.  Calvin and Elizabeth's positive interactions are based on mutual love and respect which elicits problematic negativity from envious people around their periphery.   Their co-habitation outside marriage is disdained which doesn't cause an iota of chagrin for Elizabeth.  Elizabeth is a vibrant and original character we're magnetically drawn to.  So too, for her remarkable daughter, Mad, a precocious and beguiling child, their dog six-thirty with an extensible vocabulary taught by Elizabeth and their neighbor Harriet who comes to help care for both Mad and Elizabeth.  The unstable working environment becomes volatile.  After being fired from her post in the labs, Elizabeth nabs a job as a TV chef personality that surprisingly becomes a quantifiable success due in part to the osmosis of chemical properties intrinsic in cooking and the ideas of enhancing  women's self-expectations.  As Elizabeth knowingly confers, "Chemistry is change and change is the core of your belief system.  Which is good because that's what we need more of-people who refuse to accept the status quo, who aren't afraid to take on the unacceptable."  Mixed into this delectable soufflé of comedy and theology is the hypocrisy of religious configurations which are questioned with a delicate touch.  Mad, at age five, is portrayed as worldly wise informs the elder priest she befriends, who tells her religion is based on faith.  "'But you realize,' she said carefully, as if not to embarrass him further, 'that faith isn't based on religion. Right?'"  Both six-thirty and Harriett add their insights in hilariously off-handed manners which adds supporting elements to a notable mixture with positive results.  My hypothesis based on sound observations having devoured CHEMISTRY LESSONS with relish, reading it will elicit discernible increase in serotonin levels.  I need not embellish.  

POMPEI-Historic Novel by Harris - Good Reading if Going There

Before the devastating eruption of 79 AD, the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum were unaware they were living next to an explosive and deadly volcano.   In fact, there wasn't a name for volcanoes until after the fateful eruption of Mount Vesuvius that razed the city of Pompeii, its inhabitants and neighboring Herculaneum.  Following the massive destruction, the word volcano came into being, named for Vulcan, the Roman God of the Flame and Metal Forgery.  In POMPEII, Harris attempts recapture what life was like for the people of this era.  The novel does an interesting job of depicting the wealthy aristocracy at the time as well as slaves whose grueling, subhuman treatments came at the whims of their owners.  Women at all social strata were completely subjugated to men.  It's remarkable to consider how advanced the citizens of Pompeii were over 2,000 years ago having designed and built their aqueduct system as well as the advanced architectural constructions that have remained in existence.  However, it's startling there was no foreknowledge of the massive havoc that was about to be unleashed by Mount Vesuvius.  The were no records of the major destructive force they were about to experience.  Earthquakes were known to occur and a large portion of the population left Pompeii 17 years prior after a major earthquake leveled much of the city.   The novel is most intriguing for having us appreciate what it was like to be a first hand witness to this cataclysmic event that had never before occurred.  It's worthwhile to appreciate how history is recorded.  Pliny the Younger, the author, lawyer and historian, lived 18 miles away in the bay of Naples when Mount Vesuvius exploded.  Pliny is a minor character in the novel.  His quest for knowledge have left us the first detailed descriptions of what he observed.  "It's general appearance can best be expressed as being like an umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a soft trunk and then split off into branches."  Plinian is the term volcanologist now used when referring to eruptions with a high plume that expands over a massive area spewing ash.  While this is all significant and serves to pique an interest into life during this epoch, the narrative is drivel in its storytellling.   The young aqueduct captain, Atilius, whose heroic efforts to repair the aqueducts are thwarted by a villainous, wealthy magistrate intent on destroying him.  Alas, Atilius will prevail and he and his nemesis' daughter, may have been the only possible survivors.   If you're planning a trip to Napoli, this lightweight history that may suffice. 

HELLO BEAUTIFUL-Oprah's Pick Sisters Love Each Other and Same Man

Ann Napitaliano's best selling novel, HELLO BEAUTIFUL is an Oprah Bookclub Pick.  I didn't care for this story filled with foolishness.  The poppycock plot centers around a family of four Padavano sisters.   The two eldest, Julia and Sylvie who share an extremely tight bond until it unravels when Julie's husband and father of their infant daughter, William, decides he no longer wants to be married or a parent.  Set in Chicago, William and Julie met as students at Northwestern in the 1980s.  William is on the school's varstiy basketball team.  William was raised by parents who never recovered from the death of their daughter which coincided with the time of William's birth.  William's parent had no love to offer their son and were only too glad to dissociate with him when he left for college.  The sisters were raised in an extremely close and loving household.   When William's hoop dreams are shattered by an injury, he loses his drive and walks away from his wife and baby girl and into Lake MI intending to drown himself.  Julia intends to have nothing more to do with him but younger sister Sylvie feels concern and a connection with him.  Sylvie stays by William's side throughout his recovery in a mental hospital and professes her love for him after his release.  This breaks every sister code in the book.  Their mother is appalled  by Sylvie and William's relationship.  She tells her daughter, "It's unhealthy...It's like you're getting in bed with her marriage."  Even Sylvie wondered, "If William was disappointed that her breasts were smaller than Julia's, her hips less curvaceous.  Had Julia been a better lover?"  Sister Emeline who is gay feels sympathetic for Sylvie, as she struggled with her choice of who to love.  "I didn't want to love Josie.  It was hard for me to accept the fact that we don't choose who we love."  This insipid story is awash in soapy melodrama. Separated for two decades, Sylvie and Julie are only reunited when learning of Sylvie's terminal brain tumor diagnosis.  Julia had maintained the fabrication to her daughter, Alice, her father was dead and was kept apart from her aunts and first  cousin in Chicago.  Alice first learns of her father being alive in her 20s.  Furious with her mother for keeping this from her and wanting to meet her dad, she flies to Chicago to  meet him on the day her Aunt Sylvie dies.  Nonetheless, the funeral bridges the decades and the divides within the family caused by two sisters having married the same man and reconciliations and harmony ensues.  Any literary comparison the author tires to make to "Little Women" is ludicrous.  The writing is weary and shamelessly pitiful.  I don't know why anyone would say hello to this nonsense, I say goodbye.  

Romantic Comedy-Can a Female Comedy Writer Find Love with a Rock Star-Ho Hum

Curtis Sittenfeld's "novel Romantic Comedy" poses the question, can an average looking 30 something woman be loved for herself by a handsome rock star?  The answer is - why is this a question that matters?  Set in NYC just prior to the pandemic.  Sally is an ordinary looking plain, Jane with a sharp, comic brain. She's is a writer for a SNL show and meets Noah, the rock star, when he's guest hosting.  A friendly working rapport is struck when Sally helps Noah with the skits she's written that he'll be starring in for the show.  Sally loves the zany, high pressure demands of the show.  She's friends with the writers and female stars of the show.  Her life seems ideal although there's not a special someone in life.  Who could find the time with her schedule?  Can it be possible the super hot recording artist, Noah, will show her he's interested in her?  Could it possibly be real that Noah would feel attracted to an average looking woman when he's known for dating super models and A list stars?  Reese picked this lame novel for her bookclub which is in keeping with her other slim pickings.  The best part of the novel is the epistolary section where Noah and Sally communicate via emails during the Covid Pandemic.  The old fashioned written communication allows us to know them individually and how they get to know one another.  There are only likable characters and friendly banter throughout.  However, unless you think people grovel to beautiful looking people, this isn't the novel for you.  

FOSTER by Claire Keegan-Forming a Family from Strangers

Claire Keegan affecting novella, FOSTER, builds assured feelings of affection between a young girl and her aunt and and uncle at a leisurely pace that overflow in an emotional climatic ending.  An unnamed young girl is being driven to a relatives home to be left for the summer amount with little warmth by her distracted father.  The girl captures our hears from the beginning by her stoic disposition and keen observations.  "Why did he leave without so much as a good-bye, without ever mentioning that he would come back for me?" she asks herself.  The guardians, the Kinsellas, are reserved but concerned for the girl left in their care whom we learn are her aunt and uncle.  Written in an austere style that suits the quietness of the novella, the bonds of trust emerge.  Her aunt's steady tutelage of household chores and the uncle's gentle attentions fill the hallows of the girl's longing for affection she wasn't aware existed. "I try to remember another time when I felt like this and am sad because I can't remember a time, and happy, too, because I cannot."  The girl learn's of the loss of the only child her aunt and uncle had from a busybody neighbor bent on gaining illicit information from the girl about the couple.  This comic interlude cuts sharply against the kindness and respect she's come to know under her aunt and uncle's care for her and for each another.  The lyrical prose reflect the girl's dawning of the changes she's finding in herself.  She hesitates before glancing at own her reflection in the water.  "For a moment, I am afraid,  I wait until I see myself not as I was when I arrived, looking like a gypsy child, but as I am now, clean, in different cloths, with the woman behind me."  Simple acts of endearment first strike the girl as painful. She considers as her uncle takes her hand, "I realize my father has never once held my hand, and some part of me wants Kinsella to let me go so I won't have to feel this.  It's a hard feeling but as we walk along I begin to settle and the let the difference between my life at home and the one I have here be."  This novella is to be treasured for the beauty of its writing that washes over from mundane activities to an outpouring torrent of love.  "I hold on as though I'll drown if I let go, and listen to the woman who seems in her throat, to be taking it in turns, sobbing and crying, as though she is crying not for one, but for two."  

How Not to Kill Yourself by Clancy Martin

Clancy Martin has survived nearly a dozen suicide attempts, concerned scores more, dealt with addiction, serious depression and shares all in a no holds barred confession on his life.  Martin shines an interesting perspective on the predilection to off one's self.  This penchant should hopefully be mystifying to most although many will have their own lives impacted by the suicide of a family member or friend.  Can this book be helpful?  In many ways, yes.  Nonetheless, for many, myself included, with a desire  curiosity or desire to gain some empathy and understanding for those who lose sight of life, there's an overpowering emotional toll exacted in learning of  Martin's personal history.  I understand Martin's need to shed any barriers pertaining to his biography but this was more than I could bear.  Reader, beware.  Martin is to be commended but "How Not to Kill Yourself" is not recommended reading, for most.  

THIS CLOSE to HAPPINESS a Reckoning with DEPRESSION-Daphne Merkin

Daphne Merkin is a contributing writer for "The New York Times Magazine," an American literary critic and writer of novels and non-fiction.  "This Close to Happiness" is Merkin's autobiography focusing on her lifelong battle with depression for which she was first hospitalized at age eight and again after the birth of her daughter.  Merkin's deft writing lays abundant causes for experiencing depression in a household where parental love was rare and primary care she and her siblings received was from a nanny who did not spare the rod.  Merkin does ponder why, she, and not any of her other siblings shared her penchant for hysteria..  Having been born into wealth and privilege, Merkin concedes she would appears too self-indulgent to be worthy of sympathy or even credibility.  But, the strength of her concise descriptions without apology, lend an authority to her writing that is very convincing.  Other celebrities and famous writers have bared their souls sharing their battles with feelings of overwhelming desolation, making them appear more relatable or noble for sharing.  Merkin's life is undeniably fascinating but unenviable.  The mystery as to why some and not others suffer the pain of debilitating melancholia remain an enigma.  What is made palpable are the unrelenting pangs of suffering. "{"Depression} insinuates itself everywhere in your life, casting a pall not only over the present but the past and the future as well, suggesting nothing but its own inevitability. For the fact is that the quiet terror of sever depression never entirely passes once you've experienced it.  It hovers behind the scenes, placated temporarily by medication and a willed effort at functioning, waiting to slither back in.  It tugs at your awareness keeping you from ever being fully at ease in the present."  

I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS for YOU-Questions Memories Prejudice Privilege and Who Killed Thalia

Rebecca Makkah's mulit-layered mystery I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS for YOU ropes together an inventive and ingenious plot of more than just who done it. But, the soul searching of who really killed the beautiful coed is the unrelenting quest that makes this crafty crime novel hard to put down.  Granby is the posh, boarding school at the crux of the tale narrated by Bodie Kane.  Bodie is taken under the wings of a benefactor family who pay her tuition at the exclusive high school. We feel for Bodie as she recalls the shame she felt by putdowns she received from classmates for the clothes she thought were flattering hand-me-downs. Wanting and not wanting to fit in make this a relatable coming of age story.  Bodie finds her stride and her voice through her impressionable years at Granby.  Spring of her senior year, Bodie's roommate, Thalia Keith is found murdered on campus.  Decades later, Bodie as a successful podcaster and producer returns to teach a seminar.  Two students choose to do a podcast investigating the notorious murder of Thalia on their campus knowing Bodie could provide relevant first hand recollections.  However, how do memories hold up more than 20 years later?  How do individual memories differ looking back on this tragedy?  How do we judge our reasoning in retrospect to our younger selves?  The investigative work by the students and Bodie lead us down diverging and similar suspicions.  Through an ongoing, running dialogue Bodie maintains with her former beloved, teacher, Denny Bloch, we develop a keen connection with her as an adult and for her years as a student.  It seems obvious Bloch was a lech and a probable murderer. What of Thalia's handsome boyfriend at the time?  Did Bodie or others hold onto information that would've been relevant at the time?  The only black teacher at the time, Omar, was accused and found guilty for the murder.  Was he railroaded and imprisoned falsely and imprisoned all these years?  Even Thalia's sister comes to belief in Omar's innocence and wants to find justice.  The perils of social media and its power to blame and punish run rampant in Bodies' personal life and her profession are spotlighted.  There is much to ponder and relish in this provocative novel as we continually question how to discern fact from fiction.  Fact, there's no questioning the power of Makkah's mesmerizing storytelling which grips the reader on this disturbing but fascinating maze of intrigue.   

E Austin's EVERYONE in this ROOM WILL be DEAD-Craziness that Makes Sense

"Common sense is not so common." (Voltaire). Emily Austin's first novel takes us inside the restless and depressing mind of Gilda, a young woman, for a miraculously funny journey.  Gilda's a regular at the local emergency room where she knows something's not right with her and she's open to any suggestions they may have. The most helpful advice received comes from a friendly custodian who suggests she concentrates on making people in her life happy.  This wacky, frustrating and utterly addicting novel is like a box of candy, you don't know what you're going to get next but it's guaranteed to be nutty and deliciously awry.  We know Gilda is a gay atheist.  She struggles with depression, yet somehow manages to slip into a job as as a secretary for an elderly, Catholic Priest.  Gilda dreads the thought of anyone being sad, drawing attention to herself and consumed with notions of death.  The zany incongruence of sombre topics such as suicide and depression in a novel that is nevertheless clever and humorous is thanks to the ingenious characters and insights Austin provides.  Gilda is a Candide or Forest Gump character who floats with the flow thru life not wanting to ruffle feathers.  She differs from these fictional characters by the insight we perceive to her mind.  Her actions or comments appear disturbing to others around her but we understand she's responding out of a profound care for others.  Her irrational actions stem from rational reasoning.  While working at the Church she becomes obsessed with trying to solve for the possible murder of Grace, the elderly woman whom she replaced.  After being brought to the precinct for questioning as a suspect in Grace's death, she calls the people in her life and she offers apologies and hopes.  For Eleanore, Gilda's girlfriend she says,  "I just have to tell you how badly I feel about upsetting you.  I really feel terrible. I must be self-centered or something.  This might sound weird, but I can't face that I disappointed someone who brought me Thin Mints.  I know that sounds stupid.  Something is wrong with me.  I feel like I am a robot or something.  Does that make sense?  I can't concentrate.  I can't say this properly.  SometimesI feel like the only escape I have is becoming completely apathetic to everything or dying.  I just don't want to upset people.  I realize that's ironic because I upset you."  Gilda's message to her younger brother, "We are all just floating in space, okay?  Think about it, we're just ghosts inside skeletons, inside skin bags floating on a rock in space.  If there is anything that would make you feel happy to do, please do it."  The wisdom Gilda gleans for herself is the most valuable, "I have chosen happiness.  Out of all the emotions set out on the table, I have selected it.  It is by far the superior option.  It's insane to think I would have ever picked one of those shittier emotions before-when all the while, I could have chosen shiny, shimmering, iridescent happiness."  Everyone who chooses EVERYONE in this ROOM WILL be DEAD will come out ahead and glad they did.   

HYSTERICAL: A Memoir by Elissa Bassist-Not Funny, She Needs Psychiatric Help

Elissa Bassist believes herself outspoken and strong.  Bassist is dead wrong.  She's delusional in thinking every little malady is sure to cause a fatality.  The guise of a jocular tone falls flat.  It's not funny reading her chronic complaints, sane she ain't.  Elissa is in need of therapy and I she get's it.  If you buy her memoir, she'll be laughing all the way to the bank. 

A Emery's YOU MADE a FOOL of DEATH with YOUR BEAUTY-Phooey!

Akwaeke Emezi has received recognition for her previous fiction, Y/A and non-fiction as a NYT best-selling author and National Book Award finalist.  YOU MADE a FOOL of DEATH is a romance novel that fails to ignite sparks of passion as its soaked in sappy, insipid sentiment and silly salaciousness.  Feyi is the incredibly beautiful young widow who has put her emotions in the subzero fridge for five years after the tragic accident in which she and her beloved lock eyes just before the collision which kills her husband and leaves her egregiously scared emotionally and physically scarred, minimally.  The five years weren't completely celibate as we learn from best buddy banter with her lesbian roommate, Joy.  Oh boy, ready for more?  Their two year "romantic" fling was just a thing and they've settled into a full on, full disclosure of their sexual liaisons.  Actually, their friendship was the best thing going in this novel which is a will she or won't she sleep with the dad of the lad who brought her to the picturesque island. Feyi is ready to celebrate the end of her celibacy from men and celebrates on the bathroom sink with the delicious hunk she just met.  No strings attached Feyi makes a play for Nasir, a friend of her recent friend with benefits conquest.  Feyi's is a scoundrel and a tease.  Her justifications for finding herself back in the saddle just don't ride.   As an aspiring mixed media artist, Feyi dabblies in the macabre using blood soaked materials to drive home a point that continually kicks a dead horse without remorse.  There are added courses of sensual food and mother nature's bounty to wet one's appetite.   Amil, Nasir's dad, is a celebrity, Michelin chef who beckons Feyi to lick a frothy sauce from his fingertips.  Presto, he splays all the cutlery onto the floor and puts Feyi on top of the counter to ravish instead.  What's a grieving girl and widowed father of two to do?  Something stinks in paradise.   What dear old dad and Feyi are heedless about to do becomes muddled in anguished debate of what this will mean for Amil and his family.  Despite the tropical setting, artistic references, foodie feeding frenzy, you will not be fooled.  There are too many rank ingredients to obscure the wretched stench of a poorly cooked plot.  

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver-Orphaned Sage Amongst Serpents

Barbara Kingsolver is an America novelist, essayist, poet and non-fiction writer.  She's received nominations for a Pulitzer and PEN/Faulkner Prize for fiction.  Her most recent novel, DEMON COPPERFIELD was written mirroring Dickens' novel DAVID COPPERFIELD.  Furthermore, I drew parallels with Twain's character Huck Finn.  All three heroes, Demon, David Copperfield and Huckleberry Finn are orphaned young and left to fend for themselves amongst. They're free thinkers, able to maintain an irrepressible decency despite the omnipresence of vile and self-destructive people.  Demon perseveres through a saga of tribulations and grief, gratefully mitigated by the kindness and support received amidst constant turmoil.  This novel is set in modern times in the TN mountains and details the hellish fallout caused by pharmaceutical companies pushing opioids leaving a generation addicted to drugs.   Demon loses his mother and girlfriend to addiction and he too becomes addicted after being prescribed opioids after shattering his knees from football.  It's painful to follow Demon as he's shuffled from foster home to foster where he's starved and coerced to work ungodly jobs.  Demon is mostly starved for compassion.  His resilience and resourcefulness take him on a perilous journey where he manages to locate his grandmother he never met.  His grandmother unwittingly takes him in and he connects with his invalid, great uncle.  Not wanting a male relative, his grandmother places him in a foster home of the local high school's football coach who has a daughter, Angus, whom he befriends.  Living with Angus and coach finds temporary haven and with the attention of an art teacher who mentors Demon's drawing skills. He finds happiness under the nurturing he receives but Demon has learnt to expect the shoe to drop at any moment.  Despite the obstacles stacked against Demon, he's a survivor whose loyalty and earnestness make him deserving of a fortuitous life.  Demon acknowledges and appreciates the goodness he perceives in others like Tommy who shared the same horrific foster home, June, the adoptive parent of Emmy who was his first crush.  Emmy tells Demon he has the same tenacious goodness as kindhearted Hammer, "same kind of good like you are. Like there's some metal or something in you that won't melt down, no matter what."  Demon reasons, "Live long enough, and all things you ever loved can turn around to scorch you blind,  The wonder is that you could start life with nothing end with nothing, and lose so much in between,"  DEMON COPPERHEAD is a powerful coming of age story, that unfurls resplendently in its telling that's sure to become an instant classic.

Michael K Williams' SCENES from MY LIFE:A MEMOIR Left Me Wanting More

Michael K. Williams was best known for his five time Emmy nominated role on "The Wire" and for his role on "Boardwalk Empire."  I was not familiar with Williams or his work until I heard his interview with Terry Gross on NPR's "Fresh Air in Memory" (March 2023).  Williams shared his life and his struggles with drug addiction starting as a teen in Brooklyn and his fortuitous breaks into professional acting and getting his life back on track.  Williams writes with a clear and deft hand.  We learn about his early childhood centered on the outdoor public space in the apartment complex.  Everyone knew everyone and his mother kept a constant eye on him at all times.  Despite the overprotective eyes of a loving and highly respected mother in the community,  Williams succumbed to illegal drugs.  His battle with drug addiction ended in an overdose in Sept. '21.  Despite his struggles, he was committed to providing opportunities for breaking the cycles of poverty and destruction.   Williams found support and a way out of a downward spiral of self-destruction into a successful acting career.  He acknowledged that difference one caring person provides. He was fortunate in befriending Dana, a.k.a. Queen Latifah.  Williams is determined to become a guiding hand for his nephew sentenced to prison as a teen, and to young people providing safe and empowering options to avoid the prevailing pratfalls of poor and underserved communities.  Williams tells us "At the core of my work is service.  Getting a second chance at life is about service.  Wanting to use my time and platform to give back keeps me sane, keeps me balanced".  He tells us the solution is simple, "This is not rocket science.  We know what these kids need.  Just to be seen.  And loved.  And told they matter.  For some kids it takes just one adult to care about them, take an interest in them."  Williams is candid about the work he needed to do for himself.  "The work requires you to look in the mirror, and you can't do that until you put the drugs down...I got into therapy and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, reconnected with my sponsor, and addressed my trauma head-on.  I've accepted that I cannot let up. "  In Williams articulate NPR interview with Terry Gross, I was taken by his honesty, pride and enthusiasm for life and enthusiasm for being a beacon for others. I was saddened by his death from an overdose. He died  before completing his memoir.  I had hope to understand what transpired causing his life to implode.  Don't read this engaging, self-reflection hoping to obtain this answer, you'll be disappointed.  Rather, read this with an open mind and heart.  "The permission to love yourself is so important.  You don't have to get scarred up in your face and go through endless rehabs and almost die and overdose to finally understand that you're worth something."   

CA Poet Laureate Dana Gioia Shares His Poems at Reading in Healdsburg

Last night, longtime Santa Rosa resident Dana Gioia, shared poems from his latest collection "Meet Me at the Lighthouse."  The event was free and open to the public and held at the Healdsburg Community Center.  The torrential rains had stopped which encouraged an enthused, well attended audience.  Mr. Gioia's has the distinction of CA's Poet Laureate 2015-19.  He's the recipient of the Presidential Citizen's Medal and Walt Whitman Champion of Literary. Award   I was pleased by the tribute his poems directed to our state and specifically to my former home, Los Angeles.  Gioia himself born and raised in LA prefaced his first  poem saying, "It might not be favored by those here."  Hmmm....It did brace me to take umbrage but my rancor was assuaged by the melodic reading which had a jazzy flair and by Gioia's overall dynamic recitations.  Gioia shared his love for jazz and having attending clubs in the LA area while a studying at USC.  The Lighthouse refers to his favorite nightclub he often attended thanks to not being carded.  The poem exudes a youthful energy with a melancholy sheen for his glory days.  All the readings were done by rote.  He stumbled over his second reading and referred back to his book.  Gioia discussed the value for memorizing poetry and reciting aloud.  He said he "tries working in the air, not just on the page."  The second of the 10 and 1/8th poem he recited was entitled "Pity the Beautiful," an homage to LA.  A huge fan of Yeats, Gioia compared the fleetingness of beauty, "...bloated, not noticed gods anymore."  Gioia was no less flattering upon self-reflection as in "Moth" questioning the "ludicrous imposter in the mirror."   In all the poems shared an irrepressible spirit prevailed "...fragrant with memories."  Gioia shared the background and reading of "Tinsel, Frankincense and Fir" about his mother's affection for the dime store ornaments she cherished.  "Nothing too little to be loved.  Death brings gifts we can't reciprocate."  My favorite poem of the night, "Praise of LA" was prefaced by Gioia painting a picture of viewing the city from a bird's eye view of the Hollywood Hills.  "Pulsing anger of traffic in a city of Angels, silent, shimmering in the trajectories' ecstasy cohabitating with despair.  We're all immortal shinning with lies tonight.  Where else can you become a star?"   I was most touched by Gioia explaining the private, fragile language shared with his wife.  He said "a marriage of many years happens beyond words - an intimate language which will disappear with us; a tribe of two in a sovereign secrecy."    Gioia  stressed poems are meant to invite the reader in.  I was entranced throughout the evening.  The 1/8th poem:  "Here lies Dana Gioia, A poet who can say.  He didn't even have an MFA. "

Leila Mottley's NIGHTCRAWLING-Surving in Oakland, Barely Booker Prize Nominee 2023

Leila Mottley's first novel set in present day Oakland, received a Booker Prize nomination for 2023.  Mottley, Just in her early 20s, writes about 17 year old Kiara (Kia) who is struggling to pay the rent and keep groceries in the apartment she shares with her older brother Marcus and nine year old Trevor.  Trevor's mother rents in the same run down apartment complex but is more often missing as she looks to score her next hit.  There's a noxious, uncared for pool in the center of the building that draws a strong, gravitational pull that keeps Kia swimming against in trying to stay afloat.  Her father was more of a stranger having spent most of Kia's life imprisoned.  He was murdered shortly after being released.  Their mom is sentenced to rehab after their baby sister drowned while she was in a drugged stupor.  This leaves a grieving Kia and her adored brother Marcus alone and with no means to care for one another.  Marcus' plan is to make it as rap singer.  This hoop dream means the responsibilities fall on Kiara shoulders to keep them from living on the streets.  Finding no job open to her, Kia succumbs to working the mean streets at night, crawling into cars and alleys with strangers.  Stranger danger is a warning Kia is forced to ignore lest they starve.  She is swept up in a scandal that endangers her safety and threatens to bring down several officers who engaged in sexual misconduct with prostitutes and underage women.  Mottley is a skillful writer who captures the grit of a decaying community and still maintain a greater hold on loving unconditionally.  Kia's unwavering care for Trevor and her connection with her lifelong friend Ale' keep the pain sustainable and poignant.  Kia is both vulnerable and irrepressible.  She's able to read a room knowing when to safely push back and when to become invisible.  Mottley's storytelling is reminiscent of the radiance found in Jesmyn Ward's "Salvage the Bones" and Barbara Kingsolver's "Demon."  All main characters remain savvy knowing the other shoe is sure to drop but still cognizant of life being worth living for having someone you care for.   Mottley's plot is based on an Oakland newstory implicating the police officers in illicit misconduct in which the grand jury failed to indict law enforcement personnel.  NIGHTCRAWLING ripples with the good, the bad the ugly.  It fathoms the reverberations of actions taken and not taken.  The novel is a stark depiction of what it portends to be destitute and the grandeur captured of extending a lifeline.  

Non-F A HEART that WORKS by Ron Delaney-Comedian's Irreparable Loss of His Son

I need to remind myself why I chose to read Rob Delaney's book memorializing his son's two and a half years of life, the inconsolable pain and torment watching his son suffer and die.  Rob Delaney made it clear why he chose to write about the worst thing imaginable for any parent to experience.  I'm a fan of Rob Delaney's standup and of his popular show CATASTROPHE which he stars and co-writes.  The comical and oftentimes jarringly serious and sobering series airs on Apple TV.  The series overlapped with the year and half their youngest son was treated for a fatal brain tumor.   Delaney wrote "Our baby boy got sick.  We went to a lot of doctors, trying to find out what was wrong with him.  We found out what it was. It was very, very bad.  It got worse.  And then he died.  And now he's dead.  I still have to remind myself."  Delaney is clear as to his reasoning for writing about this. "Why do I feel compelled to talk about it, to write about it, to disseminate information designed to make people feel something like what I feel?  What my wife feels?  What my other sons feel?  Done properly, it will hurt them.  Why do I want to hurt people?"  Delaney goes on to say, "I genuinely believe, whether it's true or not, that if people felt a fraction of what my family felt and still feels, they would know what this life and this world are really about."  I have to admit that my motive for reading was anything but altruistic.  I wanted to put my problems in a perspective that would make me feel humble and grateful.  Delaney's unfiltered depictions are so heart wrenching that I feel the hurt.  I also felt shamed.  Ashamed for expecting someone else's pain to suffice for agony I've been spared.  For this I feel horrible.  I feel fortunate for not having suffered this inconsolable grief loss but I do share the deep sorrow others carry.  I realize life is to be savored and the joys of having loved ones and the miraculous gift for loving is to be cherished.   I did gain a wisdom from having read Delaney's  piercing account in "A Heart that Works".  From this wisdom came sorrow. "Name an emotion:  I can still feel it, and often do.  Leah and our boys and I laugh everyday.  But now there's a band of black in my rainbow, too, that wasn't there before.  Or if it was there, I couldn't see it before Henry died.  It's a part of me now.  And it should be.  Grief colors the happy moments now."  (Rob Delaney). "A Heart that WORKS" should be read.  It will imprint its grip upon your heart.  

Sci-Fi LIGHT from UNCOMMON STARS-Hugo Winner by R. Aoki Uncommonly Spectacular

The author for the sci-fi fantasy novel "Light from Uncommon Stars" by Ryka Aoki, shares several things in common with her protagonist, Katrina.  Both are of Japanese heritage and transgender women.  In this surprisingly tender and other worldly novel, Aoki has combined several far-flung genres and styles that expand the conceptions of what constitutes some preconceived ideas of elements of science fiction.  Aoki is an award winning poet.  This is apparent in her elegiac descriptions and confluence of the arts and theology.   The plot circumnavigates the intergalactic space travel of a family fleeing the demise of their planet.  The crew is captained by Lan.  Lan shepherds them safely across the galaxy to inhabit Earth in California's San Gabriel Valley.  Lan's natural plum colored skin and double-elbowed joints are camouflaged to blend in with Earth's species.  Specifically, the Asian communication in CA in which Lan and her clan set up shop in a donut cafe where they create crawlers, muffins, and baked goods in order to have enough dough to pay their bills.  Lan escaped with her three children, eldest Sylvia, her devoted and brilliant daughter, Marcus, an assimilated, disgruntled teen, and twins, Eddie and Wendy.  Also in the mix is the doting aunt learning to bake delectable, edible sweets.  The story delightfully describes mouth watering meals and provides a sounding board for musical riffs, compositions and joys inherent with the gifts music sustains.  The plot and its many twists flow from Katrina.  Katrina is brutalized and scorned by her parents, tormented, sexually abused and struggling to survive.  Despite these dehumanizing conditions, Katrina maintains a perseverance, grace and manifests a preternatural talent for playing the violin.  This is where the demon comes in, in the form of Satomi, a.k.a. Hell Queen, a pseudonym earned for the six aspiring violinists she consigned to sell their souls for the taste of fame and fortune.  Satomi needs to obtain one more willing to sell their soul within the year to fulfill her pact with the devil. The devil will retract his claim on her soul and bestow Satomi back her prodigious musical talents.  There's several love stories sifted into this caldron; Lan and Satomi have a fiery attraction, Katrina and Sylvia a strong sisterly connection and there's familial love that arises within households.  This  charming, clever and oftentimes humorous novel, "Light" is stuffed with delights.  It's a tale as old as time about mortality, vanity and a clarion wake up call to smell the coffee.  For sci-fi lovers this is a sure fire winner.  For those who claim not to care for the science fiction genre, all I can say is, you don't know what you're missing till you try it.  "Light from Uncommon Stars" is an uncommonly spectacular read that is sure to lead to future series.