Book Review: "Dodge City" by Patrick deWitt

It’s 1967 and the U.S. is in the thick of the Vietnam War. Lee was a college student at UCLA until he was expelled for getting into a fistfight with another student. Unfortunately, being kicked out of school means he’s no longer on the draft deferment list, so while he plans to enroll in community college, he gets his draft notice before he can do that.

Lee isn’t a conscientious objector or anything, but he doesn’t believe the U.S. should be fighting in Vietnam. And he certainly doesn’t want to go to war. But he can’t imagine convincing the draft board that he’s crazy or gay or otherwise unsuitable to serve. So he decides he’s going to flee to Canada.

Leaving Los Angeles means leaving his girlfriend Cal behind. Their relationship is an odd one, and Lee has always been reluctant to let Cal know the full extent of his feelings for her. But he decides to leave anyway, and lands a gig delivering a fancy new Jaguar across the country. He’s ultimately supposed to wind up in New Jersey with the car, even though that’s not what he intends to do.

Before he heads to Canada, Lee decides to stop in four places to see the members of his family. He returns to his hometown in Washington to see his father, who is rapidly heading down the road to self-destruction. Then he heads to Billings, Montana, where his mother moved when she divorced his father. She currently lives with her brother in their childhood home, and isn’t shy about sharing her opinions or her versions of memories.

He reluctantly stops in Duluth to see his older brother Harry, whom he hasn’t spoken with in several years. But Harry, too, is in a bad way—dealing with a broken engagement that is his fault and serious financial problems. Lee’s final stop is in NYC, where his twin sister is a nurse-in-training at a psychiatric hospital, and she’s sabotaging her career with her misguided romantic pursuits.

Patrick deWitt is a writer who skillfully blends introspection with humor. This is a thought-provoking story. I expected this would be a little more plot-driven, but I found myself caring what happened to Lee.

Book Review: "ER: The Oral History" by Lynette Rice

I definitely don’t watch television as much as I used to. But back in the day, there were so many programs I watched religiously, on many nights of the week. I even had two VCRs for a while so I could record multiple programs.

One program I watched from the very start was ER. Even though I really can’t stand the sight of blood (real or fake) and I’m definitely a bit of a hypochondriac, I was hooked on this show. It’s crazy to think what a huge phenomenon it became, and that before the show, George Clooney was just a particularly handsome actor who showed up briefly on a bunch of other television shows.

Lynette Rice has written a comprehensive oral history of the show. She interviewed more than 60 people, including the showrunner, John Wells, many of the producers and directors, and the actors who played both major and recurring characters through the show’s 15-year run.

This book was a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at all aspects of the show. There were so many interesting facts I learned and reading this gave me a deeper appreciation of the passion that drove this show to success. It would, in its heyday, average 35 million viewers per season (in an era before streaming and DVRs), and was either the number one or number two most watched show on television for six years.

I think this would be a good read for both casual and serious fans of the show. As Rice says in the book, as popular as Grey’s Anatomy is now, there would be no Grey Sloan Memorial without County General.

Book Review: "Receipts from the Bookshop: A Bookseller’s Year in an English Seaside Town" by Katie Clapham

This book was an absolute delight. As someone who managed a bookstore in college and then worked at a Barnes & Noble for a short while, I have lots of anecdotes about customers, book shipments, and everything in between. But Katie Clapham has me beat hands down!

“A bookshop is a mausoleum to a product that refuses to die. Media consumption has evolved beyond recognition in such a short time, but physical books persist against the odds and so the bookshop comes to represent so much more than just another retail unit on the high street. Every day is another triumph against the vision of the town without us; a gap in the shelf of our high street. After all, a town without a bookshop is a tragedy.”

Katie and her mother have been running Storytellers, Inc., an independent bookshop in Lytham St. Annes, an English seaside town, for more than 14 years. The business requires a lot of attention and it’s not always profitable, but there’s a magic in owning a bookshop, particularly when you love to read.

“…if you stumble in on a Friday, you might find me behind the till, drinking a never-ending cup of coffee, ordering books that are mostly for myself and writing down the goings-on that make up the book you’re about to read.”

The book is comprised of Katie’s reflections on a year of bookselling. She touches on her amazingly loyal customers, who often help keep the shop afloat during tough times, as well as those who stumble into the shop and are compelled to make a purchase. She also shares comments from the many who pass by the bookshop on the way to something else. And she relays the enthusiasm of young children (and dogs) who come into the shop.

Katie’s voice is so humorous and warm. I almost felt as if she was sitting near me sharing her anecdotes. If you’ve worked in a bookstore for any appreciable amount of time, you’ll recognize some of her stories. This was really a wonderful read!

Book Review: "Thank You for Remembering" by Emily Harding

“Destiny is real—we just build it ourselves. And in that way, my grandmother was right after all. The magic isn’t what happens to us. It’s that we keep going anyway.”

When Marnie wakes up in the hospital, she has no idea why she’s there. But even worse, she quickly discovers that she has no memories of the last year of her life. She vaguely remembers moving to Boston with her boyfriend Matt, but that’s it.

It turns out Marnie had a traumatic brain injury, which is causing the memory loss. She’s surprised to learn that not only did she and her boyfriend break up and she has her own apartment, but apparently before her injury she got a horrible haircut. And now she has bangs…

She has no idea where she works (or if she even has a job), she can’t unlock her phone or access her ATM card, and apparently, there’s a mouse in her apartment. Luckily, her very handsome neighbor, Ben, helps her get readjusted. He shows her how to get to various places, and tolerates the emotional rollercoaster she finds herself on.

Marnie has apparently kept receipts and movie tickets from her time in Boston, so she tries to figure out what these keepsakes mean. And while her best friend insists it will all lead her back to Matt, she starts to realize that he might not be her happy ending after all. (Any guesses on who might be? 😉)

This was a really sweet and emotional book, and Emily Harding really did her research on how people can be affected by a brain injury. While the dreaded miscommunication trope popped up a few times, I loved the banter between her and Ben. I also found her journey to find her way to be really meaningful and moving.

Book Review: "When They Find Me" by Carter Wilson

When more than one Bookstagram friend tells you that this book is “a banger,” you know I had to request an ARC! And they were not wrong—this was fantastic! Thanks so much to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the advance copy!

Expanse, Colorado is a tiny town of 313 people. It’s the perfect place for people who are hiding from someone or just want to live off the grid. This is where Annie and her daughter Coral have settled, and Annie has done everything she can to ensure that no one knows where they are.

A few years ago, Annie had to kill someone. She’s been looking over her shoulder ever since. She expects that someone will come looking for her one day and try to get revenge, so she’s determined to keep her and Coral safe.

One day, trouble comes calling in the form of an angry old man who calls himself Coyote, and his two adult children, Boone and Riven. They’ve come to Expanse to find the man Coyote insists destroyed his life and tried to break up his family. Riven is ready to kill this man and finally prove her worth to her father.

Annie isn’t expecting Coyote, Boone, and Riven to show up at her door, and she’s definitely not the person they’re expecting to find. But they get locked in a battle of wills, and both Annie and Coyote will do all they can to protect their children. When truths are uncovered, no one will be left the same.

Carter Wilson is an exceptionally talented thriller writer. This was definitely a book which kept me guessing. There was so much tension, so much simmering anger and violence just under the surface. I wanted to applaud when it was done.

The book will publish 11/10.

Book Review: "Paper Ghosts" by Sarah Addison Allen

“Once upon a time, there was a family of witches. But witches, it turns out, are sometimes only women who have been hurt, and are determined not to be again.”

More and more, I realize how much I love magical realism in my books. Sarah Addison Allen is definitely a standout in creating worlds with just a dash or two of magic, but real issues as well.

In the 1970s, Willamena Wester lives in the North Carolina town her family founded. She’s raised by her grandmother and she’s never wanted for anything—except the freedom to be a little rebellious. But her grandmother, rumored to be a witch, knows everything Wills is thinking. All she wants Wills to do is follow the path she’s set for her.

But when a handsome young musician comes to town, his presence shakes everyone up, especially Wills. She falls for him but plans to keep her promise to her grandmother, until one fateful night changes everything.

Years later, following a tragedy, Wills’ son returns home with his young daughter Bailey in tow. Wills is determined to act completely different toward Bailey than her own grandmother did, but at times it’s hard to outrun the pain and regret of your past. And as Bailey grows, she learns many of the same painful lessons, but she’s determined to end the cycle.

I find Allen’s books so captivating, and the Southern settings are always magical in and of themselves. This is a book about fierce love, sacrifice, sorrow, and the choices we make when our backs are against the wall. At the same time, there was a bit of sweetness here too, which I also loved.

Book Review: "The Tide Between Us" by Cem Say

It’s fun to read the books that get lots of hype and publicity, the ones you see everyone else talking about. At the same time, I love stumbling upon a book I’ve never heard of and being taken by complete surprise.

The Tide Between Us definitely falls in the latter category. I’m not even sure how I found it. But this portrait of love, longing, and being truly seen honestly took my breath away. There were so many sentences, paragraphs even, that I highlighted while reading.

“Because you don’t know what missing someone feels like. You’ve never once let yourself do it. Everyone you ever lost, you skipped the missing and went straight to the wall. You built a whole personality out of not needing anyone, and you did it so well you forgot that need is just, a thing people feel. Ordinary people. Every day.”

Emre left Istanbul for an unnamed coastal town. He vowed that he would no longer wait to be seen, to be loved, and he would stop living his life in the margins of others’. At a cafe, he meets Julian, a charismatic older man. There is an immediate attraction but neither knows what their first move should be—if there should be one at all.

Julian has the ability to make people feel like they are the most important to him. But he can only sustain that for so long before he hurts them. His seven-year marriage to Marco is filled with moments of joy and pain, yet neither wants to ask questions they don’t want answers to. As Julian and Emre turn toward each other, both know the gravity of their choices and the inevitability of the end. But how do you distinguish love from feeling seen?

This was an exceptionally beautiful debut novel. The feelings these characters lay bare, the waves of joy, jealousy, pain, and love they experience were so poignant and yet so real. I cannot wait for Cem Say’s next book. I’m so glad I found this.