Book Review: "The Swimmers" by Julie Otsuka

Julie Otsuka's first novel since 2012, The Swimmers is a uniquely told book about our obsessions, but it’s also a poignant story about aging, memory, and loss.

I’ve been wanting to read this for a while but wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s so beautifully written, although the way it’s structured, it feels like two separate stories with one narrative link.

In the first part of the book we hear from a collective group of people who swim at a community pool. Some have been swimming for years, some are newer, but all share an obsession with their lives at the pool, preferring to be there than anywhere else. The chapter is told in a collective “we” voice, almost a Greek chorus, reciting the litany of rules and routines, providing vignette-like descriptions of the swimmers.

When a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, the swimmers are dismayed. Some see it as a sign that they should find another pool or stop swimming altogether. And when the pool closes, they are sent back into their “real lives,” their pleasures and routines ended.

One such swimmer is Alice, a woman in the early days of dementia. Swimming gave her comfort, a circle of friends, a structured routine when everything else in her life is starting to fade away. The remainder of the book follows her as the dementia worsens, as she remembers some things and not others, and tells of her relationships with her husband and daughter, and their feelings of loss.

There is an enormous amount of emotion in this book, so if you’ve had a loved one encounter dementia, this may be triggering. It definitely feels a bit semi-autobiographical, as the daughter is a writer trying to better connect with her mother as she slips away. Just an intriguing and beautiful read.

Book Review: "Short Stuff" edited by Alysia Constantine

Boy, I’ve been loving the books I’ve read so far for Pride Reads!!

“Maybe that’s why the meet-cute is so right for stories of LGBTQ folks. We usually find ourselves in tough beginnings. Then circumstances conspire to make things really hard on us. Falling in love happens against all odds. But darn it if we don’t deserve our happy endings too.”

So says Alysia Constantine in her introduction to Short Stuff, a collection of four YA LGBTQ short stories with a romantic bent. Each are written by authors I wasn’t familiar with, which makes me happy, as I can now find even more books by authors whose work I enjoy!

In “I Ate the Whole World to Find You” by Tom Wilinsky and Jen Sternick, an unlikely pairing is forged between a teenage swimmer with Olympic aspirations and the cook at the swim club where he trains. “The August Sands” by Jude Sierra chronicles a familiar trope—the summer romance. But there's more than just that.

“Love in the Time of Coffee” by Kate Fierro tells of a long-time friendship that starts when two girls are young, and often revolves around coffee. And in “Guilded Scales” by Julia Ember, the one fantasy story in the collection, a courageous young woman wants to be taken seriously as a warrior but finds far more than she bargained for in a search for a dragon.

These stories were so enjoyable, they made me smile—even the fantasy one. Each story had interesting twists on the familiar genre and each was really well-written. I also liked that the stories were all fairly long so I didn’t feel cheated out of an ending. My favroite was probably "I Ate the Whole World to Find You," but it was close.

Pick this one up, y’all, for some sweet stories.

Book Review: "Breath Like Water" by Anna Jarzab

How hard will you push to achieve your dreams, and what will you sacrifice to achieve them? These questions are at the core of Anna Jarzab's Breath Like Water.

All Susannah has known for as long as she can remember is swimming. She dreams of going to the Olympics, a dream she felt even closer to when she won a world championship at age 14. But when her body starts to slow down and change as she gets older, she wonders if her chance is over or whether she should listen to her overbearing coach and push harder.

When a new coach comes to the swimming club, Susannah wants nothing to do with her, until she realizes that her unique training techniques may take her where she needs to go. It’s a delicate balance between self-belief and recognizing the limits of her body.

"I feel like I'm one person in the water, and another on dry land. Me on land is still hesitant and uncertain; having faith is hard for her, and so is letting go. But me in the water, the girl Beth found beneath the rubble? She's elegant and powerful and fast."

Meanwhile, when she meets Harry, another talented swimmer, she wonders whether continuing to push herself for a dream she might never achieve is worth not taking a chance to follow her heart. But Harry has secrets of his own which also threaten to weigh Susannah down. She doesn’t understand why she can’t have it all, but if she has to choose, what’s the right choice, not just for her, but for those she cares about?

This really was a thought-provoking story, and Anna Jarzab does a great job in making you feel the tension of Susannah’s choices. But at its core, Breath Like Water is powerfully emotional, as you ride both the highs and the lows that these characters experience.

I’m honored to have been part of the blog tour for this book. NetGalley, Inkyard Press, and Harlequin Teen provided me with an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!