The MIDNIGHT LIBRARY-A Read for the Beach of Sliding Story Scenarios

The MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig is a novel with a reprised premise that tries to be deeply philosophical and falls short.  Still, MIDNIGHT is a light fare that can be enjoyed with its fantastical plot in which its main character shifts through various lots in life.  Nora Seed is the protagonist who felt her life was going nowhere, with no one to share.  Her beloved cat just died leaving her bereaved and believing she was without any incentive to live. Haig is a British journalist and author of fiction, non-fiction and Y/A novels. Some of his writings reflect his personal experience with severe depression as in the MIDNIGHT LIBRARY. Nora Seed attempts to end her life taking an overdose of barbiturates and finds herself in a mystical library. "Between life and death there is a library. And, within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived...had you done anything different." Haig uses gimmicks that are over-wrought.  Naming his protagonist Seed is an example where the metaphor to branch out or be reborn is redundant. While Nora is in her purgatory state she is assisted by a woman whom Nora calls Mrs. Elm (another name play on limbs). Mrs. Elma is a doppelgänger for a Mrs. Elm who was the kindly librarian from her childhood with whom she played chess. Chess is another overly used simile for making various moves which lead to differing outcomes. Still, Nora makes some exhilarating choices as to lives in which to slide into with varying outcomes. Some of the more surprising choices involved becoming a glaciologist landing in the Arctic, pursuing music and becoming a world renown rock star and going through with the marriage to the fiancee she ended the relationship with.  Even more intriguing is how Nora copes in these new life scenarios she's thrust without the knowledge or skill sets that would've been garnered for the people and abilities she needs and would've learned had she lived this life all along. This makes for extremely awkward circumstances as in not having any connection to the husband and child she finds herself in bed with or being thrust on a world stage about to perform. Her adapting to new circumstances is often amusing especially when considering what life Nora might choose to experience next or chose to remain in. Nora discovers in her journeys,  "Life is strange. How we live it all at once. In a straight line. But really that's not the whole picture. Because life isn't simply made of the things we do, but the things we don't do too. And every moment of our life is a kind of turning." Nora gained solace realizing, "We spend so much time wishing our lives were different, comparing ourselves to other people and to other versions of ourselves, when really most lives contain degrees of good and degrees of bad. Sadness is intrinsically part of the fabric of happiness." Haig includes numerous quotes from philosophers including Camus, Thoreau and David Hume although this doesn't elevate The MIDNIGHT LIBRARY to literary fiction. MIDNIGHT LIBRARY delivers an enjoyable fantasy having multiple sliding door plots but it's not quite as clever as it aspires. The take-away for me came from the faux Mrs. Elm who said, "Sometimes the only way to learn is to live."   

Louise Erdrich THE SENTENCE-Power of Words to Haunt/Harm/Heal

Louise Erdrich is a highly acclaimed novelist, poet and Y/A author and a major literary figure of the Native American Renaissance; focusing on Indigenous characters and political issues pertaining to Indigenous Americans. Her writings have earned her numerous prominent awards including the Nat'l Book Award (The ROUND HOUSE 2012), the Pulitzer Prize (The NIGHTWATCHMAN 2021) and the Pushcart Prize for Poetry 1983. Her writing in a broad spectrum of her writing styles is impressive for their scope, skill and social commentary. The brilliant novel THE SENTENCE combines multiple genres that include literary fiction, Native American Renaissance, social reform and philosophy. The story hovers around a ghost story which is haunting, harrowing, humorous and at times, somewhat cheeky. This being said, Erdrich is a master storyteller unraveling a myriad of captivating characters, serves as a zeitgeist for the pandemic and a clarion call for social reform. The issues amplified include racial injustice, climate change, mass incarceration and the erasure of Indigenous people.  "We've endured centuries of being erased and sentenced to live in replacement culture," bemoans Tookie. The epitome of police brutality and racial persecution was witnessed on live TV as George Floyd gasped for air calling for his mom. There's a panoply of paragraphs that are worth quoting. My favorite is "Books contain everything worth knowing except what ultimately matters." Erdrich is a true bibliophile and an owner of an independent bookstore in MN.  Her store's mission is to serve her community as well as advocate for Native American literature, artists and issues. We're introduced to the central heroine, Tookie  as she attempts a brazen body snatching for her lover who duped her into moving a corpse laden with dope in a stolen van. She's busted and given a lengthy sentence behind bars.  Books are Tookie's saviors while in prison. She tells us, "Native Americans are the most over-sentenced people currently imprisoned. The more I found out people's sentences, the more random I realized sentencing even is." Tookie, her family and the bookstore where she works are located near Floyd's murder and where mass protests began followed quickly by the immolation of local businesses. Tookie and her family watched the news via cell, TV and in person before getting tear gassed and forced to disperse. "There was a sentence people were chanting all over the world now. I can't breathe."  The bookstore Tookie worked at was miraculously shielded from destruction and flourished during the pandemic and protests. This absorbing novel is held together by gossamer threads of a ghost story that torments Tookie. She would've questioned her sanity except her co-workers corroborated sensing the same manifestations. Erdrich appropriate's Hitchcock's gimmick for including himself in his work even as she condemns the appropriation of Indigenous culture.  She ups the appropriation ante by placing a copy of THE SENTENCE on the pile of books by Tookie's bedside.  Erdrich's brilliant writing blazons with poignancy and poetry. Her novel valiantly argues words have infinitesimal potential. The book taken by Flora takes up residence posthumously to haunt Tookie who believes, "The book had its own volition and would force me to reckon with it, just like history." However,  we are reminded of words shortcomings. The omnipotence of written word fails at stopping a bullet, removing the knee strangling Mr. Floyd, or of making a fire. Nonetheless, word  possess the power to ignite one's heart and soul. I've yet to mention Tookie's arresting office, Pollux, the man whom Tookie marries after she serves her time. It's Pollux and Jarvis Pollux's grandson to whom Tookie surrenders her heart.  "I {Tookie} have a dinosaur heart, cold, massive, indestructible, a thick meaty red. And, I have a glass heart, tiny and pink, that can be shattered."  THE SENTENCE accomplishes so much and does so using only words.  

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.