Big headache, short post...

I have a huge headache today, so this will be a very short, very uninspired post.

Last week, in between the many Silver Birch books I’ve been reading, I managed to squeeze in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, a book I put on hold in March and only just got last week.  Here is what Indigo had to say about it:

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-seven-husbands-of-evelyn/9781501161933-item.html

I will just say very quickly that I didn’t enjoy this book, and it’s probably because I’m absolutely not interested in the lives of Hollywood actors and movie stars.  But it was definitely written to be adapted for television, which is exactly what’s happening right now:  it’s being made into a Netflix series.  If you are a tabloid reader, or even a reader of memoirs, then you would probably enjoy this book. I don't enjoy either; still, I guess there must have been enough that was intriguing about this story for me to actually finish it.  Anyway, don’t listen to me on this book, but if you are interested in it, you should get your name on your library holds list now if you want to read it before the series comes out!

Bye for now… Julie

Quick post on a perfect summer morning…

I know it’s still a few days before the summer solstice (that sounds so much more poetic than calling it the first day of summer!), but it’s very summer-like this morning, with a gentle breeze rustling the leaves on the trees, the sun shining bright and strong, the sky a perfect blue with just a hint of clouds, and the temperature at a perfectly comfortable level for just about any outdoor activity.  Oh, and it’s a perfect day to celebrate Father’s Day!

This is a quick post to tell you why there will be no “real” post until next week.  I’ve been reading a pile of Silver Birch contenders, and you know I can’t talk about those, so the only things I can write about are the audiobooks I’ve been listening to, and they haven’t been that outstanding, so really, it’s not worth spending time writing about them.  I’ve been listening to a couple of Sally Hepworth books - remember, she’s the Australian author I “discovered” a few months ago whose book, The Mother-in-Law, reminded me of Liane Moriarty, only lighter?  Well, I listened to The Mother’s Promise and did not enjoy it at all, but I’m nearly finished The Family Next Door and it’s fabulous!!  I’m not sure how much of this has to do with the story and how much is due to the narration:  amazing Australian Barrie Kreinik for The Family Next Door vs not-so-amazing… wow, it’s the same narrator for both (she didn’t sound Australian for The Mother’s Promise)!  So it must be the story that didn’t grab me.  But I’ve put her most recent books, The Good Sister and The Younger Wife, on hold as audiobooks, and look forward to listening to them over the summer - hopefully they become available soon.  Here is a description of The Family Next Door from the publisher’s site:

Small, perfect towns often hold the deepest secrets.

From the outside, Essie’s life looks idyllic: a loving husband, a beautiful house in a good neighborhood, and a nearby mother who dotes on her grandchildren. But few of Essie’s friends know her secret shame: that in a moment of maternal despair, she once walked away from her newborn, asleep in her carriage in a park. Disaster was avoided and Essie got better, but she still fears what lurks inside her, even as her daughter gets older and she has a second baby.

When a new woman named Isabelle moves in next door to Essie, she is an immediate object of curiosity in the neighborhood. Why single, when everyone else is married with children? Why renting, when everyone else owns? What mysterious job does she have? And why is she so fascinated with Essie? As the two women grow closer and Essie’s friends voice their disapproval, it starts to become clear that Isabelle’s choice of neighborhood was no accident. And that her presence threatens to bring shocking secrets to light.

The Family Next Door is Sally Hepworth at her very best: at once a deeply moving portrait of family drama and a compelling suburban mystery that will keep you hooked until the very last page.

So if you enjoy domestic thrillers about uncovering family secrets, you’ll probably love this one!

That’s all I’ve got for you today.  Enjoy the gorgeous weather and have a wonderful day!

Bye for now…
Julie

Book club highlights on the first weekend of June...

It’s a bit cool and cloudy this afternoon as I settle down to write this post.  I’ve had a super-busy weekend and a busy day so far, and I’ve got two books to tell you about, so I’ll probably keep both book sections fairly short.

My Volunteer Book Club met yesterday to discuss Canadian author Kim Echlin’s novel, Speak, Silence.  This novel follows journalist Gota as she prepares to write about the trial in the Hague during the Bosnia War in the late 1990s, where a man who raped, imprisoned and tortured dozens of women faces the charge of not just the crimes against these individuals but crimes against humanity.  Gota also hopes to reconnect with Kosmos, her former lover and the father of her daughter, but instead befriends one of the victims who is now a prosecutor in this trial.  This short novel managed to pack in plenty of details about the trial proceedings, the relationships between characters, and the experiences of the women who have come forward to bear witness to these crimes.  It was a difficult read for sure, and especially with the war in the Ukraine happening right now, making the novel seem even more important and significant.  Echlin’s use of poetic language to describe the horrific, the mundane and even the humorous made this book and the subject matter more palatable for even the most sensitive reader, although I had one member say that she had to skip some parts because they were just too much.  We discussed the bravery of the witnesses, many who had repressed these experiences and even hidden them from their husbands and families.  We discussed our own privilege in never having had to face such threats or cruelty.  We wondered how people can go on after such experiences, and how this would change their lives forever.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, so the variety of topics discussed and the extent that each reader engaged with the text was a great surprise.  It turned out to be a good choice, but I think I should plan to choose a few uplifting books for next year’s list!

After finishing this short novel, I thought I wanted to read something lighter, but I started a mystery that didn’t grab me so I picked up another short novel that I had from the library, Ali Smith’s Companion Piece, which was incredible!  Sandy (AKA Sand, Shifting Sand) is a painter who had led a solitary life until her father’s recent illness, which has landed him in the hospital and has made it necessary for her to care for his dog.  This is fine, until she receives a call from Martina, a former classmate from university who Sand hasn’t heard from in decades.  Martina has been experiencing some strange “auditory hallucinations” in which “curlew” and “curfew” are repeated and then she is instructed to choose.  She contacts Sand because she remembers that she had a reputation for being a whiz with words and understanding poetry, and she asks for her advice on what this could mean.  All Sand wants to do is to be left alone to work and visit her father, and to stay far, far away from anyone else, as this book is set in the present day during covid.  But Martina’s adult children begin infiltrating her life, calling and showing up at her door wanting to know why she’s trying to take their mother away by manipulating her into being different than she always has been.  Sand is also a storyteller, and one of her stories, about a girl and her bird, takes on a life of its own in the latter half of the book.  This farcical, satirical, hilarious, dystopian-ish, thought-provoking novel about isolation, companions, companionship and the duplicity of language was absolutely unputdownable, a literary masterpiece that makes me want to run out and purchase the other books in the “Seasons” quartet (I’ve read and enjoyed Autumn, which I already have).  I guess this is the fifth part in this seasonal quartet (according to at least one review), but it can definitely be read and appreciated on its own.  You have to enjoy language, puns, and wordplay and be willing to read carefully and slowly so you don’t miss everything to enjoy this book.  I certainly plan to read it again someday and maybe take my time with it a bit more to uncover even more layers of meaning.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys current literary works that can be read as deeply or as superficially as you want, depending on your mood.  I know I’m not doing this book justice, that my praise is rather vague, but I can’t really describe the book’s brilliance or Smith’s genius… they just are.

That’s all for today.  Have a wonderful Sunday! Bye for now... Julie