Book Review: "In Tongues" by Thomas Grattan

I saw a friend post about this book on Bookstagram and the description intrigued me. After reading it, I was blown away by how it pulled me in. This is a character-driven, coming-of-age story that made me recall similar feelings (although in very different situations).

Early in 2001, following the end of his relationship with his boyfriend, Gordon decides to take a bus from his home in Minnesota to New York City, because it’s the only place he can think of. He knows no one and is lonely, hungry for companionship and for someone to give him direction.

He gets a job walking dogs for rich people in the city, and he builds a friendship with a bartender and her girlfriend. And then one day he meets two of his clients, Phillip and Nicola, a wealthy, gay couple who own a prestigious art gallery. Gordon isn’t sure how to act around them, but the men treat him well—and occasionally like a servant. It’s not long before Gordon becomes their personal assistant, part chauffeur, part errand boy, part object of admiration and flirtation.

At only 24, Gordon has no real ambition, except to feel like he belongs, like he is cared for, like he has purpose. But he remains unsure of what his role in the men’s lives really is, and what they expect of him. And when troubles arise in Phillip and Nicola’s relationship, Gordon becomes further enmeshed, especially in Phillip’s life.

With no real adult role models (his relationships with both of his parents are strained and odd), Gordon looks to Phillip for some direction. But Phillip is unsure of his own life and what he wants from Gordon and Nicola, so it’s not long before Gordon becomes collateral damage, and finds himself drifting from place to place, looking for love (or at least desire) and a path to follow.

In Tongues was so compelling and so beautifully written. There are dramatic moments but for the most part it’s a quiet book, but a powerful, emotional, and thought-provoking one.

Book Review: "When I Ran Away" by Ilona Bannister

For a powerfully emotional story about grief, love, motherhood, and guilt, look no further than When I Ran Away.

Gigi and Harry meet on the Staten Island Ferry not long after both have fled the chaos following the collapse of the first tower on 9/11. Harry used to visit Gigi's favorite coffee shop but they never met officially, and yet here both are, covered in ash and not truly comprehending the magnitude of what is happening on that day.

Harry, an Englishman living in NYC, has nowhere to go, so Gigi brings him to her dysfunctional family home in Staten Island. But when the family discovers her younger brother was somehow in the Twin Towers that day and won’t ever come home, Harry helps them through one of the most painful moments in their lives, and then leaves them with their friends to process their grief.

When Gigi and Harry meet by chance 10 years later, she’s a single mother raising a young boy. They fall deeply in love, and Harry ultimately asks Gigi to move to London with him. It’s a very different atmosphere than what she’s used to, but she’s determined to make their marriage work, and to raise her son and their new baby right.

But after a while, the pressure of balancing motherhood, marriage, career, and her own happiness, all in an unfamiliar place away from friends and family, becomes too much to bear. She is faced with a crucial moment where she doesn’t know how to handle any of it, not to mention her and her family’s unresolved grief over her brother’s death 15 years earlier.

When I Ran Away is a beautifully told story, searing and poignant, but with flashes of sly humor. I’ll admit I thought it would be sadder and I was glad it wasn’t, especially having spent the weekend in a funk mourning friends lost on 9/11. But I’d imagine that for many mothers out there this will be an even more emotional and relevant read, one which will make many feel seen.

I’m glad I finally read this after it sat on my TBR stack for a while. Definitely one worth discussing with others.

Book Review: "Good Talk" by Mira Jacob

Packing an emotional, powerful punch, Mira Jacob's Good Talk is a great read!!

The book is subtitled A Memoir in Conversations, and that’s exactly what it is. It recounts conversations that the author had at different points in her life with her husband, family, friends, her young son, people she dated, even strangers, about race, identity, prejudice, racism, and love.

Most of the conversations with her son occur in the lead-up to the 2016 election, as she tries to help an eight-year-old process the things Donald Trump said, the unease of many yet the embrace of many as well of his candidacy for president and the things he espoused, and what all of it would mean to a young Indian boy.

She also recounts snippets of post-9/11 life in New York City for a brown woman, what dating was like, the hope that came from President Obama’s election, and ultimately, the emotional realities of being in an interracial marriage, particularly in the Trump era.

This is gorgeously emotional and so thought-provoking. To read Jacob’s thoughts as a woman, an artist, a mother, a wife, and a woman of color in both good and tumultuous times was really eye-opening.

I didn’t know when I first started hearing about this book that it was a memoir of sorts told in a graphic novel-style, but in a tongue-in-cheek way. The pictures are hand-drawn or are actual photos and they’re superimposed on different backgrounds, so it almost looks like the start of a collage. I love it but don’t want people to be caught off-guard. I've seen some people comment on that, but it didn't bother me at all.

You’ve got to read this.

Book Review: "Hope and Other Punchlines" by Julie Buxbaum

"I know better than anyone that you can't always draw a straight line from the who you once were to the who you are now."

Abbi Hope Goldstein celebrated her first birthday on September 11, 2001. While that doesn't make her completely unique, one fact does: on that fateful day, a photographer captured her, wearing a birthday crown and holding a red balloon, while the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed behind her.

That photo, entitled "Baby Hope," became an iconic symbol of that day. It truly gave people hope, and as Abbi grew older, she continued to be the subject of intense media curiosity. Strangers would stop her on the street and hug her, crying, sharing their memories of 9/11. It's hard to be infamous for something you didn't have any control over, and living in the New Jersey town that experienced the greatest number of casualties outside of NYC that day, she can never seem to escape the legacy of "Baby Hope."

But this summer, just before she turns 17 and starts her senior year of high school, she's determined to do something for herself. She signs up to be a counselor at a day camp two towns away, where no one will know her as anyone but Abbi. It's the perfect plan before she has to confront some issues she's dreading.

It turns out that Noah Stern, who is one year behind her in school, has decided to be a counselor at the same camp. Not only does he know that she is Baby Hope, he believes it was his destiny to meet her. His life changed, too, on 9/11, and he convinces/blackmails Abbi into helping track down the other people who were in her iconic photo. But neither of them is being completely honest about the impact of that day on their lives.

As they work to carry out Noah's plan, their relationship begins to deepen, but the secrets that both are hiding could be a barrier too great to overcome. Hope and Other Punchlines is a powerful, poignant story about trying to move away from the shadow of your past, and finding the strength to make a fresh start. But at the same time, the book shows us that everything that occurs in our life makes us the person we are, even if we'd rather not acknowledge those things and their effect on us.

"Something happens when the story you tell yourself turns out not to be your story at all. You have to figure out what to replace it with. Something needs to grow in the space left behind."

I found this book absolutely beautiful—it's emotional but it's funny, too. Even when I thought there really wasn't another angle by which to approach 9/11, Julie Buxbaum found a gorgeous story which sprung from those left behind. The burden that these kids carried on their shoulders, for different reasons, really moved me, and I was completely invested in this story from start to finish. In fact, I read the entire book in just a few hours.

I had never read any of Buxbaum's books before although I've always meant to, since I'm such a YA fan. Now for sure I'll definitely be picking her earlier books up. But I can't recommend Hope and Other Punchlines enough. It's a story of family, friendship, love, loss, guilt, grief, and, of course, hope.