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: "Fence: Rivals" (Volume 4) by C.S. Pacat, Johanna the Mad, and Joana LaFuente

We return to Kings Row Boys School for more adventures with the fencing team, in the fourth volume of the Fence graphic novel series.

When Volume 3 ended, the members of the fencing team were chosen. To no one's surprise, prodigy Seiji Katayama was selected, but much to his own shock, Nicholas was selected as one of two reserve team members. But when an old rival of Seiji's comes to visit and tries to encourage him to return to his old school, it makes him more determined than ever to stay at Kings Row...but he still thinks he's better than everyone else.

But just as the team starts getting into a groove, the coach throws them for a loop: they're going to have an exhibition match with Methodist Lads College (MLC), the school that knocked them out of the state championships last year. While Seiji is prepared to lead his team to victory, what neither he nor Nicholas understand are the strategies involved with a team fencing event. Since fencing is usually an individual sport, a team event is entirely different, and it's going to take more than talent to win.

Will Kings Row be able to pull out a victory, or will they fall prey to their rival once again? Will one team member be responsible for the win, or will they finally start working together? Will Aiden show up for the match?

In Fence: Rivals, the relationships between the teammates start to develop into more than simple competition with one another. Friendships start to build, and who knows what could happen next?

I enjoy these graphic novels because the characters are so diverse without any discussion (Aiden goes from guy to guy, but there's never any conversation about his sexuality, just that he's a bit of a slut) and they teach me a lot about fencing, which I knew nothing about!

The downside is they're super, super slow-burn, so I hope the next volume advances the plot a little quicker. There are so many threads I'd love to see develop and I hate having to wait, lol! But I'm super excited because a full-length novel called Fence: Striking Distance, based on this series, will be published at the end of September.

See my review of Volume 1 here, and see my review of Volumes 2 and 3 here.

Book Review: "Blacktop Wasteland" by S.A. Cosby

Now HERE’S an excellent crime novel/thriller for you: S.A. Cosby's new book, Blacktop Wasteland!!

“You were never out of the Life completely. You were always looking over your shoulder. You always kept a gun within reach, not buried under cement in your basement. Having a gun nearby was the only way you could pretend to relax.”

Once the best getaway driver on the East Coast, Beauregard “Bug” Montage has put that life behind him. He’s a husband, a father, an excellent mechanic. But lately the pressure has been mounting—the kids need glasses, braces, everything, and business has slowed down—and he doesn’t know how to get his head above water.

So when a guy with whom he’s worked before shows up, recently out of prison and talking about a can’t-miss scheme involving a jewelry store and a tremendous payoff, Bug can’t resist the temptation to get back behind the wheel again, despite everyone’s warnings to the contrary.

What Bug doesn’t really count on, however, is just how messy a web he’s about to step in. At the same time he’s trying to figure out what kind of life he really wants to lead, he’s haunted by memories of his father, who also was a renowned wheelman, and who disappeared when Bug was younger. His father left him a classic car, and he can't help but conjure up memories of him each time he gets behind the wheel.

In addition to some pulse-pounding chases and action scenes, this book explores the idea of whether a life of crime is somehow hard-wired in our genes, or if it’s just a life some are backed into. S.A. Cosby is such a fantastic writer because he makes you root for Bug and his family despite the choices he made. I've never read any of Cosby's earlier books but I'm definitely going to check them out now!

Such a fantastic book, both fast-paced and cerebral.

Book Review: "Sex and Vanity" by Kevin Kwan

Sex and Vanity is another zany tale of wealth, love, and excess from Kevin Kwan, the author of Crazy Rich Asians and its sequels.

⁣ ⁣ "When we align with the truth of who we are, all things are possible."

Lucie Churchill arrives on the gorgeous island of Capri for the wedding of her old babysitter. She can’t believe she’s been invited to what will inarguably be the wedding of the year, especially in such a beautiful location. She also can’t believe she’s being chaperoned by her older cousin Charlotte, who always reminds the half-Chinese, half-American to “think of her [white] family’s name” when doing things.⁣

⁣ When Lucie meets the handsome, intelligent George Zao, something about him makes her bristle. He seems to always be where she is, he always seems to know everything, and he’s too confident. But when an incident brings them together she suddenly can’t get him out of her mind no matter how much she tries. And when they are caught in a delicate position, she is forced to leave Capri and forget him for good.⁣

⁣ A few years later, now engaged to society’s most in-demand bachelor, Lucie runs into George again. The more that she learns about him, the more she becomes conflicted about how she feels. In the end she does everything she can to push him away, to once again sublimate the Chinese side of her heritage.

⁣ ⁣ What will win out, heart or heritage? Love or social appropriateness? Once again, Kwan brings his trademark sly humor along with his immense descriptive talent. This is a book that should be seen, felt, and tasted, because everything sounds so breathtaking. (Plus most of the food sounds utterly outrageous.)

⁣ ⁣ This book didn’t really wow me, though, as much as the Crazy Rich Asians series did. I think there was more fun in those books and the romances were more exciting. Even the constant bragging got old after awhile. But despite its shortcomings, I still enjoyed the book and I will read everything Kwan writes. I just wanted to love this one more.⁣

Book Review: "Hieroglyphics" by Jill McCorkle

This was a thought-provoking meditation on the fickleness and the resonance of memory.⁣

⁣ I’ve often remarked at how easily I can remember song lyrics from the 1980s, specific instances or people from my childhood, even what theaters I saw movies at (and with whom) years before, but I can’t remember why I walked into the kitchen or where I put my keys. Those same things would certainly be familiar to the characters of Jill McCorkle’s newest book, Hieroglyphics!

⁣ ⁣ Frank and Lil have moved from Boston to North Carolina, ostensibly to be closer to their daughter. But both also suffer from health problems and are starting to have issues with memory.⁣

⁣ Both Frank and Lil lost a parent tragically when they were young. It’s one of the things that connected them early on. And now the memories of their parents and the emotions around their loss seem fresher than what is currently happening around them. ⁣

⁣ As Lil sorts through papers and other mementos and junk she brought in the move in order to assemble some sort of record for their children of their lives and the decisions they made, Frank becomes more obsessed with visiting his childhood home, determined to find if he left something there years ago, and causing upheaval for Shelley, the woman who lives there, and her young son.⁣ Shelley has her share of issues with memories as well.

⁣ This was a poignant and well-written story, told by multiple narrators. It meandered a bit too much for me at times, but definitely resonated in many ways. I’ve always been a fan of McCorkle’s storytelling ability and her use of language, since her very first books.⁣

⁣ I’m grateful to have been a part of the blog tour for this book. Algonquin Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!⁣

Book Review: "Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Yeah, I’m about 15 years late to the party on this one!

I don’t know why I never read these books before. I was a huge fan of Harry Potter and other books like it, and I really liked the mystery series Rick Riordan wrote before he reinvented himself, but for some reason these never made it on to my radar. So when a friend suggested a buddy read of the series, I jumped at the chance.

I’m not going to do my usual plot summary because I’d imagine most of you know what these books are about, either because you’ve read these books or your children have. But suffice it to say that Percy Jackson is a kid who can never seem to stay out of trouble, because it always seems to find him. When he gets kicked out of yet another boarding school, his mother takes him to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods. The next thing he knows, he's on a quest to the underworld to try and get back Zeus' master lightning bolt, which has been stolen.

I thought this was a fun way to bring mythology to life (seeing as it has always intimidated me). I really enjoyed the characters, particularly Percy and Grover. While I felt the book took a long time to get to the real exciting stuff, I liked the journey that Percy and his friends had to take.

Since this was the first book in the series, there was a lot of explanation about things, a lot more telling rather than showing, but I’d imagine that will change as the series progresses.

Does this feel a little like a Harry Potter imitation? Maybe, but it's not too distracting.

I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series next month!

Book Review: "Today Tonight Tomorrow" by Rachel Lynn Solomon

So much to love about Rachel Lynn Solomon's new book, Today Tonight Tomorrow.

Neil and Rowan have been bitter rivals all four years of high school. From an essay contest freshman year, they’ve battled over everything—grades, SAT scores, pull-ups in gym class, college acceptances—they even had to be student council co-presidents. They constantly taunt and torture one another, and Rowan is hoping that today, the last day of high school, she’ll be named valedictorian over him.

When that doesn’t happen, she has one more chance to beat her rival, playing Howl, a senior-class game that is part scavenger hunt, part “assassin.” But when Rowan overhears a group of classmates talking about beating her and Neil together, she decides to pair up with him for one opportunity for them to finish one-two.

As they race all over Seattle for the game and take care of some other obligations along the way, they start to let their guard down with the other for the first time, and discover there’s more to like about their rivals than they ever knew. Both have been hiding secrets which few other people know, but for some reason they feel comfortable sharing them with each other. But what does that mean ultimately?

So rom-com fans know where this book is headed, but it has such charm and heart, it doesn’t matter that the plot is predictable. There were lots of things Solomon threw in the book to give the characters more depth and I loved them—some things aren’t typically discussed in YA rom-coms.

"But I do want something big and wild, something that fills my heart completely. I want a fraction of what Emma and Charlie or Lindley and Josef or Trisha and Rose have, even though they're fictional. I'm convinced that when you're with the right person, every date, every day feels that way."

This could be such a fun movie, with gorgeous Seattle as a backdrop and great music as a soundtrack. Hope someone is paying attention to that idea!!