Don't Make Me Pull Over!

 Book 48 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Don't Make Me Pull Over!: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip

by Richard Ratay

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2018

In the days before cheap air travel, families didn't so much take vacations as survive them. Between home and destination lay thousands of miles and dozens of annoyances, and with his family Richard Ratay experienced all of them - from being crowded in the backseat with loogie-happy older brothers, to picking out a souvenir only to find that a better one might have been had at the next stop, to dealing with a dad who didn't believe in bathroom breaks. Now, decades later, Ratay offers a paean to what was lost, showing how family togetherness was eventually sacrificed to electronic distractions and the urge to "get there now." He reminds us of what once made the Great American Family Road Trip so great.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

I picked up this book from Wall Drug while on vacation with my family.  The cover was engaging with the paneled station wagon driving down the road and it looks like a fun, nostalgic read.

My Opinion

3 stars

The title evokes a feeling right from the start.  Everyone in a certain age bracket knows the exact tone that phrase is delivered in!  I'm not from the seventies (born in 1979) but I still understood the references and feelings.

This was a good combination of personal narrative and historical information.  Fun fact: the person who invented cruise control was blind; as a passenger he would get queasy from the starts and stops of his driver so he found a way to keep things steady.  And as I mentioned, I bought this book on vacation at Wall Drug so it was fun to read Wall Drug's shoutout as a tourist stop.

My dad was definitely a "leave early to make good time and don't stop to pee" kind of guy.  Even as adults, my brother and I would fight with each other to decide who would be the one to ask Dad to stop (we took a few road trips together as adults for family events).  I usually had to suck it up and ask, both as the oldest and as the one who could pull the "I've had 4 kids and my bladder isn't what it used to be" card.  On our family road trips my husband doesn't fare as well...our kids make requests for multiple stops so we're always adding time to the GPS.  He still talks about the time we hadn't even made it 20 miles away from our house before we had to stop, haha!

Quote from the Book

"When you're just six years old, a twenty-hour road trip represents a significant portion of your lifetime...And as any parent knows, if time begins to feel long to a young kid, that kid will make time feel longer for everyone around them."

The Betrayal

Book 47 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

The Betrayal by R.L. Stine

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 1993

Why do so many horrifying things happen on Fear Street? Nora knows.

She knows how the terror began. She knows about the young girl who burned at the stake - and the blood feud between two families that caused the unspeakable horror that has lasted 300 years!

She knows, and she wants to tell.

Are you sure you want to hear it?

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

I spent many hours reading these paperback teen thrillers (R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, etc.) when I was younger.  I've been in a reading slump lately so I decided to pull some off of my bookshelves and revisit them.  This book has double duty; it's the first book of the "Fear Street Saga" so it's a good place to start and it also has a title starting with 'B' which is one I still need for my extra challenge (read titles this year starting with each letter of the alphabet).

As for this paperback itself, even just holding it brings back memories.  I'm not sure if this was one of mine or if I picked it up at a used book sale but either way, it's well-worn and lightweight.  The cover art is bright and the oversized face on the cover makes the eyes stand out even more, like one of those paintings that follow you around the room.

My Opinion

4 stars

It's been a long time since I've stayed up for "just one more page...just one more page" before finishing the book in one sitting so that added to the nostalgic feeling reading this little paperback.

It definitely held up as a 'younger' thriller.  It's not too gory and there's suspense and action on every page to maintain interest.

I guess it's a trilogy and it went right into the next book by ending with a "to be continued..."  I don't own the second or third books but I would've read them right away in a row if I did.

The Widow of the South

 Book 46 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

The Widow of the South

by Robert Hicks

Summary (via Goodreads)

published 2005

Tennessee, 1864. On a late autumn day, near a little town called Franklin, 10,000 men will soon lie dead or dying in a battle that will change many lives for ever. None will be more changed than Carrie McGavock, who finds her home taken over by the Confederate army and turned into a field hospital. Taking charge, she finds the courage to face up to the horrors around her and, in doing so, finds a cause.
Out on the battlefield, a tired young Southern soldier drops his guns and charges forward into Yankee territory, holding only the flag of his company's colours. He survives and is brought to the hospital. Carrie recognizes something in him - a willingness to die - and decides on that day, in her house, she will not let him.
In the pain-filled days and weeks that follow, both find a form of mutual healing that neither thinks possible.
In this extraordinary debut novel based on a true story, Robert Hicks has written an epic novel of love and heroism set against the madness of the American Civil War. 

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

I bought this book at a consignment shop.  Historical fiction is my favorite genre and the Civil War time period, like WWII, is one with many different stories and viewpoints to pull from.

The cover art is deliberately worn along the edges which adds to the "old" feel of the book, especially since I bought it as a used paperback.  Although the woman herself takes up the majority of the cover, her face is cut off at the top so we only see her from the nose down.

My Opinion

3 stars

I don't have sympathy for the cause but reading individual stories of Confederate soldiers, especially those who don't feel strongly about fighting, makes me think.  When the book was using first-person to show their thoughts, the Confederate and Union soldiers sounded the same in their priorities of getting through to get back home safely.

Something about the rhythm of the writing makes it seem older than it is.  There isn't a lot of "old-timey" or outdated vernacular so I can't really put my finger on why.  That probably shows the amount of research the author did because there were lots of little details and nothing felt out of place for the setting.

I read this really slowly because I'm in a bit of a reading slump and never had any trouble picking back up where I left off, even if it had been a few days since I read it.

The author's note at the end that included photos of the real McGavocks was a nice touch.

Quote From the Book

"I don't really know how long I was asleep. Days, a year maybe. Hard to tell. Made me wonder whether putting names to time made much of a difference anyway. What did it measure? Not how much life passes. Hello no. Your whole life can pas and be changed in a second or in a century. Don't matter."

Run, Brother, Run

 Book 45 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Run, Brother, Run: A Memoir of a Murder in My Family

by David Berg

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2013

As William Faulkner said, "The past is not dead, it's not even past." This observation seems especially true in matters of family, when the fury between generations is often never resolved and instead secretly carried, a wound that cannot heal. For David Berg, this is truer than for most, and once you read the story of his family, you will understand why he held it privately for son long and why the betrayals between parent and child can be the most wrenching of all.

In 1968 David Berg's brother, Alan, was murdered by Charles Harrelson, a notorious hit man and father of actor Woody Harrelson. Alan was only thirty-one when he disappeared; six months later his remains were found in a ditch in Texas.

Run, Brother, Run is Berg's story of the murder. But is is also the account of the psychic destruction of the Berg family by the author's father, who allowed a grievous blunder at the age of twenty-three to define his life. The event changed the fate of a clan and fell most heavily on Alan, the firstborn son, who tried to both redeem and escape his father yet could not.

This achingly painful family history is also a portrait of an iconic American place, playing out in the shady bars of Houston, in small-town law offices and courtrooms, and in remote ranch lands where bad things happen - a true-crime murder drama, all perfectly calibrated. Writing with cold-eyed grief and a wild, lacerating humor, Berg tells us first about the striving Jewish family that created Alan Berg and set him on a course for self-destruction and then about the gross miscarriage of justice that followed.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

This book has been on my Goodreads 'to-read' list since 2013 and I'm reading it now because it came up through random selection and my library had a copy.  Based on the description, I can see why I was interested back then and it is still something I would've picked up today while browsing.

I don't knock the book for this but I do note when reading memoirs/biographies that there are no pictures included (other than the cover photo which I assume is of the author and his brother).

My Opinion

3 stars

I'm sure part of why I feel so blah after finishing it is because it's hard to read about all the unfairness in the courts, especially in the "good ole boy" times (I have to hope it's better now with the technology and not solely relying on circumstantial evidence).  I do think it's interesting that he's profited from it (admittedly getting clients off which is his job) yet judged this defense attorney so heavily...I'm not defending the defense attorney by any means but it is something I noted.  It was also interesting to read how he would've tried the case.

The author has a natural storytelling and rhythm.  He gives details but doesn't over-explain and  trusts the reader to understand the times and doesn't make excuses or pass judgement.  What's funny is that after reading the acknowledgments, maybe I should give more credit to the editors than the author about that; he said his first draft was over 100 pages longer than the final product! 

Quote from the Book

"Alan's suffering was done, but not that of those who loved him: we were collateral damage."

September 11, 2001

 Book 44 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

September 11, 2001: The Day the World Changed Forever

by Baptiste Bouthier

Summary (via Goodreads)

published 2021

What do younger generations know about the terrible tragedy that shook America and the world on September 11, 2001? In this gripping documentary work by journalist Baptiste Bouthier and illustrator Heloïse Chochois, we first learn about the historic day from several inside perspectives. In the second half, the authors take stock of 9/11 in the days, weeks, and years that followed, from traumatized America to George W. Bush's crusade against the "axis of evil."

A not-be-missed piece of graphic non-fiction, published 20 years after the events in question.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

I chose this book while browsing on NetGalley (full disclaimer below).  Using a graphic novel format to share nonfiction stories is something relatively new to me so it catches my eye every time I see it.  When combined with the subject of 9/11 and the inclusion of not just the day's events but also the aftermath/reflection, I didn't have any hesitation downloading it.

Illustrations on an e-reader can be dicey sometimes so I hope everything comes through clearly.

My Opinion

3 stars

**I received an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**

My first note is that my concerns prior to reading about illustrations on an e-reader did not apply. I feel I got the full experience of the book even though it was an electronic version on my computer.

Beginning with the viewpoint of a student in France and how 9/11 and the aftermath of the wars and the Patriot Act were viewed internationally was an unique perspective (it included how the student learned about it in real time and then what they felt years later traveling to New York for themselves).

I was a college student and remember everyone gathered together to huddle around the tv.  This book made a good point about how the Internet and cell phones would shape the tragedy now...there would be more connection because it would become known more quickly but there would also be less connection because the act of gathering together in person to process things is no longer as common.

The following is not a critique even though it will read that way - let me explain!  

I may be overstepping in my interpretation but to me, the illustrations felt intentionally unpolished.  It added to the feeling of how it felt experiencing everything at the time.  There was no time to analyze or "pretty things up", things were just presented as they happened and we were all learning at the same time.

Again, I'm not knocking the illustrations at all.  They were really good!  Maybe "stark" is a better word?  I don't know...they accomplished what they were trying to convey but weren't overly produced or edited.  It felt like someone was standing on the scene with a sketchbook and these are the moments they captured.

I learned statistics I didn't know and the real photos at the end were a nice touch.

Fools in Love

 Book 43 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Fools in Love: Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales

Summary (via Goodreads)

Expected publication date: December 2021 (I read an ARC)

Join fifteen bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming authors as they reimagine some of the most popular tropes in the romance genre. 
Fake relationships. Enemies to lovers. Love triangles and best friends, mistaken identities and missed connections. This collection of genre-bending and original stories celebrates how love always finds a way, featuring powerful flora, a superhero and his nemesis, a fantastical sled race through snow-capped mountains, a golf tournament, the wrong ride-share, and even the end of the world. 

With stories written by Rebecca Barrow, Ashley Herring Blake, Gloria Chao, Mason Deaver, Sara Farizan, Claire Kann, Malinda Lo, Hannah Moskowitz, Natasha Ngan, Rebecca Podos, Lilliam Rivera, Laura Silverman, Amy Spalding, Rebecca Kim Wells, and Julian Winters this collection is sure to sweep you off your feet.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

I selected this book while browsing on NetGalley (full disclaimer below).  The cover, along with the tagline "Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales", attracted my attention and the description kept my interest after I clicked through.

I've been especially drawn lately to books of short stories, especially by multiple authors, because that's about what my attention span can handle at the moment.  There really isn't a downside - I hope to enjoy it but it's not a huge commitment if I don't (I'm one of those that HAS to finish a book I've started).

My Opinion

4 stars

**I received an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**

I read this book in August and it was a perfect light vacation read.  It embraces the tropes in a "wink-wink-nudge-nudge" way but also doesn't make fun of them; they became tropes or formulas for a reason and that's because there are readers that respond to them.  Each story also listed the trope they were leaning into and that was fun - there were some I hadn't thought of as tropes before.

I also think short stories worked well because part of the reason I get frustrated with certain tropes is because if people JUST TALKED there wouldn't be so much miscommunication and unnecessary drama but with the entire story only lasting a few pages, things are condensed and cleared up quickly.  After looking at my notes and seeing how many times I noted "good length", this format definitely worked for me.

As always with collections with multiple authors, I liked some stories more than others but looking at the book as a whole, I liked or loved all of them.  I took a few notes on each story individually so I might as well include them.

"Silver and Gold" by Natasha Ngan: 

I really liked this one.  It had an unique concept and went deep enough to care without being overly gushy.  

"Five Stars" by Amy Spalding: 

First crushes and butterflies is exactly what my jaded heart needed to read at this moment.  There was a meet-cute that was still semi-plausible.

"Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks" by Rebecca Kim Wells:  

I would read a longer version of this for the plot and the adventures, not even just the romance.  I also loved the line, "Davina kissed her and it was like the answer to a question she'd only recently realized she'd wanted to ask."

"Edges" by Ashley Herring Blake:

This was deeper than I expected for a short story.  The author packed a lot in but it felt natural.  It was cute.

"What Makes Us Heroes" by Julian Winters:

Light and fun.

"And" by Hannah Moskowitz:

Having a poly type relationship at a young age wasn't something I'd read before, especially to have it handled so maturely with clear and open communication.

"My Best Friend's Girl" by Sara Farizan:

Everyone is just chill.  It's nice to read a story with queer relationships where the act of coming out isn't the whole plotline.  

"(Fairy)Like Attracts Like" by Claire Kann:

I felt the characters' relief at being seen.

"These Strings" by Lilliam Rivera:

This is the kind of story that I liked for the reasons above...having it in a short story format kept the time before the confession of feelings manageable so I was still invested and not screaming at the book like a maniac.

"The Passover Date" by Laura Silverman:

The kind of ending that made me sigh.  New love.

"Bloom" by Rebecca Barrow:

This story was good but since most of the story had them apart from each other, there weren't as many 'romance' aspects as in other stories.

"Teed Up" by Gloria Chao:

Cute.  I know exactly what the author means when they describe someone as "tasting like sunshine" when they kiss.

"Boys Noise" by Mason Deaver:

Long but cute.

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Malinda Lo:

This one was fine.  Again, it's something that would have driven me crazy as a longer book but as a short story, it was a whirlwind and fun.

"Disaster" by Rebecca Podos:

Not plausible but what end-of-the-world scenarios are?  It was fine.