Book Review: "Don't Cry for Me" by Daniel Black

Don't Cry for Me is a beautifully written, poignant book, full of regret.

“No one should diminish themselves to prove their love.”

This one hurt my heart. I got it as a Book of the Month add-on in March because I had FOMO after not ordering it in February. But I don’t necessarily agree with BOTM’s classification of it as historical fiction, because while it does recount some older events, the book is set in (relatively) present day.

Jacob is dying, and he’s mostly alone. He decides to write to his estranged son, Isaac, to ask for forgiveness for how he treated him through the years. And as he tries to explain why he is the way he is, he goes back to his childhood, where he was raised by his grandparents in rural Arkansas and never got more than an 8th-grade education.

Jacob writes about the way boys and men were expected to act, particularly Black men, during that time, and details a number of incidents through his life in which he acted less than honorably, toward fellow classmates, impaired people from his town, and his ex-wife, Isaac’s mother. And while he now realizes that the things he did were wrong and he regrets them, he feels his actions were more a product of his time and his upbringing.

But Jacob’s biggest regrets are for the way he treated his son, whom both he and his wife could sense was different even early on. Isaac’s biggest sin was not being a “real man,” not being masculine, not liking sports, and ultimately, his sexuality. Jacob’s detailing of his cruelty toward his son certainly hit close to home, and the deterioration of their relationship will feel familiar to those who found themselves treated similarly.

This is certainly a powerful book. It made me sad and angry, sometimes simultaneously, and at times I wished the book was more of a give-and-take between the characters rather than Jacob’s letters. But perhaps Don't Cry for Me can provide comfort or explanation as well as an example of sheer poetry in storytelling.

Book Review: "The Unsinkable Greta James" by Jennifer E. Smith

(I can't tell you how many times I thought of this as The Unsinkable Molly Brown, but I'm an old musical theater fan, so get off my lawn.)

In Jennifer E. Smith's first adult contemporary novel (she's a prolific YA writer), grief and resentment can make you feel far away from a person, even when you’re with them.

Greta James is a talented singer/songwriter on the verge of releasing her second album. She’s had some notoriety and a few hits. But when she completely falls apart during a performance shortly after her mother's death, and the video of it goes viral, she needs a little bit of a break to figure things out.

Since she has some free time, her brother suggests she accompany her father on the Alaskan cruise he and their mother were supposed to go on to mark their 40th anniversary. Even though her parents were supposed to travel with two other couples, Greta joining her father would help him feel less like a third wheel.

The thing is, Greta and her father don’t get along, and her mother often played peacemaker between them. Her father hasn’t ever been particularly supportive of her music career or most of her life choices, thinking she should have a backup plan and settle down to have a family like her brother. And Greta hasn’t always remained silent about his criticism—her first hit was a song about his disapproval.

But healing and reaching understanding isn’t going to be easy, even when they’re on a ship together. Greta must figure out how to meet her father halfway, and at the same time, she needs to figure out how to find the courage to get back up on stage again, as her record label is expecting her to. And when she meets Ben, an author and college professor dealing with his own uncertainties, will their connection prove distracting or help her along her journey?

The Unsinkable Greta James was a powerful exploration of how grief and regret and hurt can affect you in ways you’ve not realized, as well as how we hurt others. At times, Greta's father really is hurtful, but you know it comes from a place of love and sadness. I’m definitely a fan of Smith’s storytelling, and I cared about these characters and what would happen to them.

Book Review: "The Night Shift" by Alex Finlay

I haven’t raced through a thriller this quickly in years, so thanks to Alex Finlay for The Night Shift!

Yes, this one has been everywhere on Bookstagram since it was officially released last week, and I’ve been dying to read it, so I jumped on it shortly after I bought it. And while it’s not really a book that evoked the spirit of 1999 like I expected, I thought it was great (despite guessing the killer very early in the book).

New Year’s Eve before 1999 turns to 2000. No one knows what to expect from Y2K, but the staff at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey just wants to get home before midnight. Yet tragedy strikes: four employees are murdered, while one young woman miraculously survived. Although a suspect is quickly identified, he disappears shortly afterward he is released from prison.

Fifteen years later, several employees of an ice cream shop in the same New Jersey town are murdered, with only one bystander surviving. Is this a copycat crime, or could the killer have returned after all these years? The investigation will bring together a lot of people, including the sole survivor of the Blockbuster murders, the brother of the accused killer, who has believed in his brother’s innocence all these years, and a very pregnant FBI agent trying to figure out whether the two tragedies were connected.

The Night Shift had lots of great twists and turns, and there were so many places I didn’t know whom to trust or what might happen. While I was sad about one thing that happened in the book and had a few unanswered questions, I thought this was great. I'll definitely be picking up Finlay's previous book, Every Last Fear!

Book Review: "Vanish Me" by Lee Matthew Goldberg

In Vanish Me, a teenage girl’s search for her missing mother, a former musician, helps her find herself, too.

One great reading discovery I made last year was the Runaway Train trilogy by Lee Matthew Goldberg. I read the first two books, Runaway Train and Grenade Bouquets, last year, and this was the last book in the series.

The first two books took place in the mid-1990s and followed Nico, a rebellious teenager who leaves home following her older sister’s death and, after some fits and starts, becomes a musician. She falls prey to the pitfalls of fame and drug and alcohol addiction, but she becomes a real star as well. The books really captured the music and feel of the 1990s.

Vanish Me takes place in 2014. Nico has gone missing and her estranged teenage daughter, Love, decides to try and find her mother after finding her old diary. She and her two best friends set off for Los Angeles in an attempt to track down anyone who might know where Nico could have gone.

The story alternates between Nico’s journal entries before and after Love was born, and Love’s attempts to find her mother. In trying to understand the challenges Nico faced and the pain she inflicted on others along the way, Love also begins to understand herself a little better, and tries to figure out what she might want from her own life as well as her mother, if they find her.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I really enjoyed Love’s character and how her journey tied up a lot of loose ends from the previous book. Nico’s journal entries definitely gave more insight into why she was the way she was, but still underscored her selfishness. This was a well-told, poignant, fun journey, with lots of good music references thrown in.

Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours, Wise Wolf Books, and Lee Matthew Goldberg for inviting me on the tour for this book and providing a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Book Review: "In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain" by Tom Vitale

This memoir is a funny, sometimes emotional look at what it was like to work with Anthony Bourdain by someone who knew him well.

“Is there such a thing as vacation-of-a-lifetime PTSD where your main tormentor is also your hero, mentor, and boss? After having had these intense experiences of being in the trenches together with Tony and with the crew, sharing these adrenaline-inducing, life-altering experiences, going back to my regular life felt like the real trauma.”

When famed chef, author, and television personality Anthony Bourdain committed suicide in June 2018, it shocked the world. This man, a kind of culinary badass, always seemed to be tearing into travel and food experiences around the world with such gusto and bravado.

But as much as his death shook the world, it affected his colleagues tremendously. Tom Vitale started working with Bourdain in 2002, and worked with him almost nonstop for 16 years, traveling the world with him, directing and producing nearly 100 episodes of three Bourdain programs—No Reservations, The Layover, and Parts Unknown.

In this tremendously affecting book, Vitale details what it was like to go along for the ride of his life with Bourdain. He recounts shooting in some of the most exotic—and some of the most dangerous—places, where they were threatened with violence, war, corruption, poor sanitary conditions, and sometimes, horrible food. (Being a picky eater, the latter was often a problem for Vitale.) It’s amazing just how much detail, stress, and often, strife, went into every show.

But where In the Weeds truly shined was where Vitale tried to make sense of his relationship with Bourdain, the finality of his loss, and what to do next with his own life. He shed light on the good and bad aspects of Bourdain’s personality, and what he learned about himself from doing the show and working with Tony. He also tried to figure out, as many others did, what signs they might have missed.

I thought this was excellent. It gets a little graphic sometimes in its descriptions of preparing animals for cooking, but that’s easily skimmed over. So glad I read this and that Vitale was willing to share his memories of Bourdain with us.

Book Review: "Icebreaker" by A.L. Graziadei

They’re fighting to be the best on the ice—but what happens when rivalry melts into romance? This is the question at the core of A.L. Graziadei's Icebreaker.

Mickey James III was born to be a hockey star. Literally. His father and grandfather (Mickey James and Mickey James Jr.) were legendary players, and it’s been said that he has five sisters because his parents were desperate for a boy to carry on the familial legacy. His future is planned—he’ll play hockey in college for one year, then get drafted by the NHL as the #1 pick and head wherever his team is.

It’s as simple as that. The only thing he doesn’t count on is that his main rival for the top draft spot, Jaysen Caulfield, is attending the same college. He’s got a real chip on his shoulder about all the attention Mickey gets, and the foregone conclusion he’ll be #1. Jaysen is determined to make Mickey beat him or he'll prove he's better.

The last thing either is counting on is their rivalry turning into something else, something far more serious and with longer-term potential. But can they be together if both want to be #1? And is that dream what both want?

Icebreaker was a fantastic book. In addition to the hockey talk and the rivalry and the romance, a lot of attention is paid to mental health issues, as well as the way female athletes' accomplishments get short shrift when compared with their male counterparts. It’s also a powerful look at dreams vs. legacy, what you want vs. what you’re trained or raised to want.

I loved the open way different sexual orientations were treated in the book, even among college athletes. Even in a world where openly gay athletes are still a relative rarity, this wasn't presented as a real issue in the book, and it was great to be free of that drama. I loved Mickey and Jaysen and their relationship, and while the discussion of mental health was tough for me coming at a time when mine is in shreds, it brought so much more depth and emotion to this book.

I loved everything about Icebreaker.

Book Review: "Dead Wind" by Tessa Wegert

Tessa Wegert's upcoming book, Dead Wind, is a multi-layered thriller, full of suspense and emotion. It's just so good!!

In the third book in her series featuring Senior Investigator Shana Merchant, Wegert hits a home run with this story of vulnerability and familial legacy. This series truly gets better and better and I enjoyed my return to upstate New York’s Thousand Islands.

When a body is discovered propped up against a wind turbine on Wolfe Island, the identification of the victim throws the local community into turmoil. Shana and her partner Tim need to figure out who was responsible for the murder, which is no easy feat given that the case involves local politics, environmental issues, and secrets lost through the years.

But as they try to catch this killer, both Shana and Tim need to figure out if it’s someone local or if it’s another strike by serial killer Blake Bram, who has been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Shana for a while now. And when her aunt hires a private investigator to find what happened to her long-lost cousin, Shana wonders whether the house of cards of secrets she’s been building around her is going to fall down, endangering those she cares about.

This series is really fantastic. Wegert is a terrific writer, imbuing her thrillers with real emotional complexity as well as such evocative imagery that you can feel the fog and the chill around you. These books are a little slow-burn at the start but that helps to build atmosphere and mood.

Even if you’re not into mystery/thriller series, I’d encourage you to pick these books up, and start with Death in the Family, the first book. Hopefully you’ll become a fan, too!

Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours, Tessa Wegert, and Severn House for inviting me on the tour and providing a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Dead Wind publishes 4/5/22.