Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

"Your words are kindling, twigs covered in wax, soaked in lamp oil, sticky with tar. Your breath is a match, scratching along sandpaper... Whisper break the silence, one word, then two...with every word spoken a loud victory. The words burst into flames, the silence, broken."

This imagery from the novel's foreward was so powerful and poetic, and the story hadn't even started yet! But what a great story it is, and beautifully told - even though one doesn't think of freshman year of high school as an ideal setting. And for Melinda Sordino, it certainly isn't. The summer before high school, Melinda's life changed when she was raped at a party. She called the police for help, but couldn't find the words to describe what happened. Her silence did nothing to dispel rumors that she ratted on the party. Melinda grew deeper into depression and isolation as the year progressed, barely able to speak more than the minimum to interact with others. 

Melinda's world around her slowly falls apart, a symptom of the inner turmoil she faces. Her friends, new and old, abandon her. Her relationship with her parents is strained. And her grades suffer, except in art class, where she is tasked with a project based on a randomly chosen object, a tree.

Besides all of this, Melinda still experiences the usual high school dramas: finding a place to belong, making friends, keeping friends, and what activities to participate in. And the story is told from Melinda's perspective in short, aptly-titled segments that focus on different aspects of her life and the life many of us have faced in those formative years. 

Besides being an accessible, easy to read story, there were also a lot of symbolic nuggets that were fun to discover, including an ironic high school classroom discussion about symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. One student defiantly declared that authors don't use symbolism, at least in the way the high school teacher believed (I remember having a similar conversation about The Great Gatsby!), and the class was quickly assigned an essay on the use of Hawthorne's symbolism. "That's what you get for speaking up" laments Melinda, a further reinforcement of the benefits of silence. 

Although afraid to speak and interact with others, Melinda still has a clear voice in the novel. She's a great narrator and you'll root for her the entire way, while maybe realizing she is someone you know - an acquaintance, a friend, or even yourself. Her story is the story of so many people that must be told, and in the end, Melinda finds a way to tell it.

Sundial by Catriona Ward

We all have roots - and good, bad, or something in the middle, there's always something to learn from them. Whether it's understanding why you are the way you are, or recognizing that history is repeating itself and trying to stop that, or even trying to glean new information that might help you moving forward, it all comes back to where you began. And for Rob, that's Sundial.

Rob grew up with her sister on Sundial, a ranch where their father and his wife hosted college students that ran experiments designed to influence dogs' behavior via an implanted chip in their brains. There's really no good way to transition from that last sentence, so I'll just say that living isolated on the ranch, home-schooled, and only peripherally interacting with the students, Rob's experiences inform her views as an adult. And when she starts noticing disturbing behavior from her daughter, Callie, Rob feels it's necessary to take Callie to Sundial, to teach her about Rob's upbringing. Oh, and to dig up (literally and figuratively) family secrets that she thought she had left behind.

The cover shown here says Stephen King found the book terrifying. It's not quite as literally terrifying as it is figuratively. Let's just say I'm not sure I would reach for this book first, if terror is what I'm looking for. It's more mystery, some thriller, and a little bizarre. But honestly, I feel like there are other mysteries that are more mysterious, other thrillers more thrilling, and other premises more deliciously bizarre than what is offered here. 

This was a slow-burn for me. It took me awhile to get into, and I have to admit, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed Ward's other book, The Last House on Needless Street. I didn't feel as invested in the characters in this one. Maybe Ward was too successful in making them unlikeable, so I didn't care as much about them, which, unfortunately, affected how I felt about the book as well.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

This period thriller is from 1898 and is about a governess who is hired by a man to care for his niece and nephew. The governess begins the job with excitement, but soon experiences disturbing events and believes ghosts of deceased employees are coming for the kids. 

This novella was adapted from serial installments in the magazine Collier's Weekly. It was interesting to read a ghost story from over 100 years ago and see how similar it is to modern-day ghost stories, but in a Victorian setting. Having said that, it took quite a bit of concentration for me to stay focused on the plot. As can be expected, the language was antiquated and at times difficult to follow, especially during the more narrative parts, as opposed to parts with dialogue.

There is enough ambiguity to the story to guide the reader to multiple conclusions. Ultimately, we read about a bad situation made worse, but what makes it worse can be argued. Is it ghosts? A trick of the mind? Abnormal biology? Whatever it is, events unfold much as they would when something, already over-tightened, experiences one more turn of the screw. 

At the end of the day, there are plenty of ghost and horror stories out there that will leave you a lot more scared and interested than this one. But if you have a thing for Victorian culture and old-fashioned writing, maybe pick this one up.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

If you knew the day you would die, how would that change the way you live? Chloe Benjamin explores this idea in her second novel about four siblings who, in New York in 1969, learn just that. Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya sneak off to see a fortune teller whose gift is knowing your death date. After they each learn how long they'll live, we hear about their separate stories.

At 17, Simon leaves New York for San Francisco with his sister Klara, who is 19. Klara has dreams of becoming a magician, following in the footsteps of her grandmother. Simon doesn't realize his dreams until he moves to San Francisco, where he can live more openly as a gay man. He begins dancing at a club, and then takes ballet in order to improve his dancing. There he meets Robert, and they live as a couple in the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's.

Klara, also in San Francisco, pursues her dream of performing magic shows. She starts from the ground up, with simple card tricks and illusions and works her way up to performing at the Mirage in Las Vegas. 

Daniel becomes a doctor, and meets an FBI agent who is asking questions about the woman Daniel and his siblings met so many years ago. 

Varya works in research, trying to find out the key to a long life. But her research is interrupted when she meets someone asking questions about her past. 

Although their lives diverge and seem to separate pretty quickly after their childhood, they still deal with the same issues - like their mother - Who will stay home to care for her? Who deserves her love the most? Will they break free of the superstitions and rituals they see her carry out? They also each have a dream that is sidelined in some way - whether it's mental illness, disease, revenge, or their own self. And together they deal with the knowledge of their fate and the question of whether knowing this directed their life choices, or if their life choices brought them closer to their fate. 

I listened to the audio book, so I'm not sure I can separate how much was the writing versus the narrator, but this book had a lyrical quality to it that was transcendent. I loved reading about each sibling and was disappointed when one person's section ended, but then found myself equally enraptured with the next. Each person's story was interesting in and of itself, but the bigger questions raised about things like fate and legacy took it to another level. 

Or Else by Joe Hart

I've read a few of Hart's books and enjoyed them enough to see what else was at my library. Or Else came up, so I gave it a go. 

This mystery/thriller is about Andy, who is having an affair with his neighbor and childhood friend, Rachel. But then Andy receives a threatening note to stop the affair...Or Else. See how that works?

Then Rachel's husband is murdered and she and her kids disappear. Because there wouldn't be much of a book otherwise, Andy decides he is the best person to solve these mysteries and doesn't cooperate with the police. 

What I liked most about Hart's other books is what I felt was lacking in this one. In And the Sea Called Her Name and The Exorcism of Sara May, Hart creates sinister moods that pervade throughout the story. And there was a supernatural element to each that give the story just a little nudge into the fantastical and unique.

Or Else is much more grounded and realistic and probably my least favorite of the three. But it's fine if you like mysteries or thrillers. There wasn't anything that overtly turned me off to the book, so I'll probably check out Hart's other reads - but it didn't have the dark undercurrent in his other books that left me delightfully unsettled. 

Word by Word by Kory Stamper

 

Who would have thought a book about someone who edits dictionaries would be so delightfully engaging? Even better? I listened to the audio book, narrated by Stamper, and her personality and wit shone through the airwaves. Despite her self-deprecating descriptions of lexicographers as solitary, introverted shut-ins who would rather sit in a dark room alone than talk to another human, being in the room with her for this book was a great reading experience. 

Stamper regaled me with her stories of how she tackled the word, "took." In what might otherwise be painstaking detail, I was in non-ironic awe of Stamper's description of the system of index cards and makeshift piles she created in her cubicle in order to properly sort and define the many meanings and uses of the word - one of the many troublesome short and ubiquitous words in our language.

I reveled in how naive I was about the dictionary, always seeing it as an authority on what was or was not a word and what its *actual* meaning was. But Stamper taught me that words are in circulation, first verbally, then informally in writings like letters and notes, and finally more formally in publication. By the time a word is entered in a dictionary, it has been circulating for some time. And the definition is written by lexicographers who catalog a word's various uses and then try their best to parse out the sometimes myriad ways it is used. If anything, dictionaries are an authority on the common uses of words, recording English's evolution through time. 

I listened with rapt attention as Stamper explained how dictionaries are formatted and should be used. She also talks about the social and political backlash that occurs based on things like changing a definition (like marriage) or not changing a definition (like nude).

And throughout each lesson, she gives tidbits of the etymology of various words that are damn near as interesting as her discussion on the use of swear words in dictionaries. 

Stamper's book will make you think differently about words, and maybe the English language in general. If anyone is an "expert" in the English language, it is all of us, and lexicographers only reflect how words are used by its speakers. This book gives you a lot more confidence to shout out non-words like "irregardless" with wanton disregard for the so-called rules,. You'll feel free of the restraints of the English language and shout to the hills, "damned be the legalists!" You might even be tempted to pick up a dictionary for some light reading.

Whatever thoughts or actions this book inspire in you, you'll be better for it.  

The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison

Reasons why this book grated on me (mild spoilers but I don't care, you shouldn't read it anyway):

Copious boob descriptions. Behold:

• The twin peaks that strain against the middle buttons of her blouse
• Her soaked T-shirt leaving her as good as naked from the waist up.  But even though her breasts were resplendent - small but perfect, with nipples standing up like finials in the pelting rain...
• The nipples inert in the heat of the day
• The way she let it all hang out - breasts rising from their moorings
• Breasts bobbing
• And her breasts - nipples foremost - assert themselves against the soft weave. This is while she's wearing a sweater!
• Pretty pair of molehills

Misogynistic behaviors and expectations:

• Jodi lays out pajamas for her husband. I don't even do this for my 8 year old.
• In the first day we know him, Todd wakes up, is pampered by his wife, ogles his secretary, lights a joint, harasses his mistress, finds it hard to not order a beer at lunch, takes a nap at work, then goes to the gym after work.
• Todd and his best friend lose their virginity together while on a double date in an RV. It's meaningful to them that they shared this "seminal" experience, that one overhead the other's vocal passage into manhood. GAWD!
• How hearing someone's voice wakes up Todd's gonads
• How Todd and Jodi meet after having a car accident. He is a total dick to her and yells at her. Her response is to have dinner with him.
• When Todd is talking to Jodi about his affair and impending fatherhood with his mistress, he says "don't make it hard for me. It's not like I planned this. It's just the roll of the dice. We don't decide everything that happens to us. You know that."
• Mention of Todd's friends being "forced" to take refuge in the adults-only section of the classifieds as a way of not cheating on their wives because, marriage, amirite?

Other reasons this book seemed off:

• Strange and out of date terminology like calling someone a blockhead, reading the classifieds, and talking about Todd's gonads
• Strange responses, like when Dean finds out Todd is sleeping with Dean's daughter, Dean says "I'll rip your head off, you stinking turd." Is he 12?
• Also, a friend responding "oh dear" when Jodi says her boyfriend of 21 years has gotten someone else pregnant. Spoiler alert, they're not 80 year old women.
• The fact that not one, but two women in the book, wear pantyhose (this book was written in 2013). In fact, Jodi loves them SO much, she even wears them under her jeans. I'm sorry, what?
• When Todd basically accuses Jodi of having an affair with the 15 year old in their building. The point of his jealousy would have been made using literally any other person, but Harrison thinks we need to talk about Jodi having an affair with a 15 year old.
• Also, whenever there are descriptions of the food Jodi makes, it just doesn't sound appetizing. She goes to so much trouble to make hors d'oeuvres and meals that just sound...beige.
• The baby names that are thrown out are just blah.
• This description of a woman that Todd is attracted to: "gaunt with lank hair and hollow cheeks - makes him think of an undernourished child. She has a long torso with a flat chest, jutting hip bones, and a concave belly. Feet like planks but narrow. Eyebrows unplucked." There's also a bit about how Jodi goes limp when they're having sex and it arouses Todd. 
• A conversation Todd has with a waitress he's trying to impress where he just starts talking about how his father breaks his mother's arm. This is supposed to show that Todd is sensitive and vulnerable. As expected, the waitress just walks away and then Todd goes into this really cringey shtick: "I'm sure you hear sob stories all day long, and you deserve so much better - a man who can forget about himself and focus on you. Pamper you. Bring you flowers and gifts. Massage your feet when you get off work. Min froken, you iss all day oon da foots and now iss rilly sore." And THIS WORKS!! Just ew.
• Jodi wears a halter dress and sandals to a professional conference.
• The lawyer. Who talks. Like. This. URGH!!!!

I was shocked. SHOCKED, when I realized this book was written by a woman. I was also shocked to learn this book was not written in the 80's. I was additionally shocked to learn that this book had a good reception. 

And if you've read it, I get it. We aren't supposed to like Todd. Fine. In that way this book succeeded. Harrison managed to write a disgusting human. But if it was truly just about making Todd look bad, why does she then have the waitress, for example, show interest in his perplexing effort? It takes me out of the story, because I think, no normal woman would respond to that. 

The fact that Jodi tries to win Todd back is infuriating as well. Like, why? Not only has he cheated on her, he's going to be a father with his mistress - who's 21 years his junior, and his best friend's daughter. And he's a total dick on a good day. I thought it was a joke or ploy. But no, she wants him back because she is also a terrible human being.

Then there's the whole side story about Jodi going to therapy which surfaces an important childhood memory. How this has any bearing on the story at hand, I don't know or care.

I felt that the writing of the book was a distraction from the story. It was grating and out of touch and made me want to gouge out my eyes with spoons.

I just can't. Please don't read this book.