Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Lincoln in the Bardo is a story that you chew on. You can't just sip it and multitask and hope to passively absorb it. You have to pay attention and actively read (or listen, in my case). But it's so rewarding when you finish it, and worth the extra mental effort.

If you're like me and thinking a Bardo is something like a bar, you are completely wrong my friend. In buddhism, a bardo is a liminal space between death and rebirth. So we are visiting this space along with Willie Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son, who died at age 11 from illness. Saunders uses both fact and fiction to weave a story of Willie's visit to the local cemetery after his death.

Willie meets a host of ghosts who have somehow avoided the judgement that sends them to their eternal fate, whether it's heaven, hell, or something in between. Saunders introduces various ghosts, each with their own backstory and...peculiarities...that have manifested in death.

Like Roger Bevins, who grows extra eyes, hands, and noses, among other things, when he can’t quiet his mind, which is pretty much all the time.

And there's the Reverend Everly Thomas, who has "eyebrows arched high...hair sticking straight up...mouth in a perfect O of terror." But despite his surprising appearance, he speaks with "the utmost calmness and good sense." If you're wondering why the Reverend hasn't managed to move on, his story delves into the judgement phase of death that we don't see with the others (and which was executed unnervingly in the audiobook).

Or Jane Ellis, who is surrounded by 3 gelatinous orbs - each representing one of her 3 daughters. Whether or not the orbs bear down on her, depart, or become life-sized manifestations of her daughters expressing a difficult situation, they cause Ellis severe distress. Also, sometimes Ellis saw everyone as a giant mustache with legs (which she despised of her husband).

And there's Mrs. Blass, once wealthy, but in death smaller than a baby, who gnaws at rocks and twigs, gathering and zealously defending them, counting and recounting her possessions, always short a few things.

And Trevor Williams - a hunter who has to briefly hold each animal that he killed, with loving attention while the animal is in the state of fear when it passed. And until that fear passes, he can't let go.

What the book reveals, that I won't, is each of their backstories - how they died and why they are stuck in the cemetery. Saunders makes each ghost unique and strange with paralleles between their lives and afterlives that are both compelling and at times, unclear.

What is clear, however, is that everyone is "stuck" in a way in the cemetery. Bound to the bardo. But there are ways to leave. In fact, a lot of the newly dead briefly come to the cemetery but quickly move on. But for those who don't, occasionally they are visited by sinister creatures, who come in a form most tempting to each individual and compel as many as they can to leave. Those who do, disappear with a lightning crack.

Another thing that is revealed is that the bardo is not a space for children. So when Willie shows up, the others become concerned after he lingers longer than he should. They don't want him to end up like Elise, the 14 year-old girl who ended up staying...

But there is something about Willie's father, who visits, and mourns, and holds Willie in death. Everyone sees something about him that makes them believe they can use him to help Willie leave.

There is so much to unpack in this book, which is strange, funny, and haunting all at once. You'll think about your life and death and everything in between. I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil some of the other themes that are explored in this book, mainly those having to do with why the ghosts won't leave the Bardo and the toll that staying takes on them.

A note about the format of this book: I listened to the audiobook and found myself scratching my head. There are so many characters who just...speak. Meaning, one person talks, then another, and there isn't any narration or even mention of "this person said..." or "replied this other person..." And there were a lot of characters, so I kept getting lost in terms of who was who.

So I was really curious about what the hardcopy text actually looked like. And when I saw the formatting, it all came together. Here's an example:

Efficacious

roger bevins iii

Yes, efficacious, thank you friend

hans vollman

So each character speaks and you know who it is by seeing their name below what is spoken. But that is lost in the audiobook. Although, the audiobook was great in that each character was a separate voice actor. So hearing Nick Offerman (as Hans Vollman) talk about pooping in his sickbox in the first chapter was a very rewarding experience, but also very confusing, because I had no idea what he was talking about.

The book is also written in alternating chapters. One is in the cemetery with the ghosts. The next is a series of citations, some real, some not, that gives context to the events leading to Willie's death. The citation chapters are also strange to hear via audiobook and might be a reason to pick up the actual book instead.

In the end, I listened to the last part of the book using both the audio and hard copy versions and felt like I got more out of it that way. I even went back and reread certain parts, which made more sense after I realized what was going on.

But whatever your medium, give it a try. This is a book unlike any other you've read. And it's worth the effort.

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

There is nothing in this book that I relate to. I am not a 16-year old, gay, black, male. And I definitely don't see ghosts or ghouls. But Jake is and does. And as extraordinary as he is, he still deals with all the other ordinary things a teenager deals with. So Jake's life is...complicated...to say the least.

Jake's ordinary life concerns living in the shadow of his big brother, growing apart from friends, and getting to know the cute new student at his school (now the second black student besides himself). But his daily life is interrupted when he sees ghosts stuck in loops - the last seconds before a person's demise that autoplay for only Jake to see. It's repeating scenes like these that cause Jake to make seemingly trivial decisions, as Jake explains, "I wanted classes only on the second floor to avoid proximity to roads. And the third floor is too high, because the ghosts up there jump out of windows." 

Jake has a theory about death loops, that "the people who end up trapped just didn't see it coming, so their minds got stuck in a glitch. As opposed to some people who did see it coming, because they brought it on themselves. Maybe ghosts who killed themselves get more autonomy when they cross over."

Jake's theory is tested when he becomes haunted by a ghost that can seemingly reach into the living world. As more students begin dying, Jake has to figure out how to stop this new ghost before Jake becomes his next victim.  

What follows is a story involving ecto-mist, astral projection, and possession, told from two points of view. There are a lot of triggers in this book, like suicide, school shootings, abuse, racism, and sex videos - a lot to unpack in a relatively short story. But while the subject matter is heavy, Douglass manages to tell it in Jake's easy-going voice. 

While I'm not the primary audience for this book and am ready to move on to another author, I appreciate the appeal it may have for those ready to unpack its many messages.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

"If there really were vampires, what would they do for a living?"  That is a question that this book became the unexpected answer to, according to the author on her blog.  As for me, although I've read that Harkness hasn't read the popular YA series, I'd dare say this book could be considered a Twilight for adults.  Compliment?  Or criticism?  You decide.  But at its simplest, there are vampires, witches, and daemons.  (If you're not sure what a daemon is...think borderline insane, ADHD, wildly creative person...beyond that, I haven't figured it out in terms of superpowers or anything).

Here's what I like about the book, and it mostly concerns the author.  Harkness is a historian.  She has several degrees and teaches at USC and has extensively studied the history of magic and science in Europe from 1500-1700.  If you, like me, have ever wondered why classes like this exist beyond giving history buffs something random to chew on, maybe this novel is one.  Harkness' love for these things is obvious from reading A Discovery of Witches, which is a historical work of fiction.  There are all kinds of allusions, most of which were lost on me, to scientists, authors, and novels.  The story spans a range of geography and time, and Harkness seems comfortable with it all.  At times, I feel our 1500 year-old, well-learned vampire Matthew can get a bit pretentious, but understanding Harkness' love for history forgives that for me.

The story begins with Diana, an alchemical history professor at Oxford university (if there is such a thing at Oxford, I wasn't able to figure it out from their website).  Diana is descended from a prominent line of witches, but has shunned her magical ability, at least to the degree it's possible (WHY!?!?!).  During her studies, she is able to recall an old, long-thought-lost volume of magic called Ashmole 782, and this draws the attention of not just her fellow witches, but other supernatural creatures as well.  While Diana doesn't realize the significance of her finding, it sets in motion a series of events that make magic an inevitable part of her life.  As she becomes entrenched in the mystery of Ashmole 782 (which you can read about on Harkness' blog), Diana meets Matthew, a geneticist (and also a vampire).  Why would a vampire be interested in an old book of magic?  Is there something extraordinary about Diana that Matthew sees?  How could Diana's find be the catalyst for a war between witches and vampires?

These are the questions A Discovery of Witches begins to answer, BUT...and here's where other reviewers and I agree, the pacing is slow.  In fact, it took me several months (if not a year) to get through this book as it was a between-book-read.  But I felt, by the end, Harkness had really laid out her premise and introduced her characters fully.  It also helped that the book picked up steam near the end and left off on a cliff-hanger that makes me really curious to see how she handles book two (yes, this is a trilogy...and yes, there is a movie in the making).

So, to be honest, this was a book I almost gave up on.  But in desperation for something to read, I finished it and now want to read the second book.  Probably not for everyone, but if I had you at "vampires" or "Twilight," then we already know you'll want to read it.