A Wild Rose

Book 33 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read on March 31

A Wild Rose

by Fiona Davis

My Opinion

4 stars

This short story is part of the A Point in Time collection available through Prime Reading.  Because of the odd way Adrienne appeared and the fact that she mentioned Marlon Brando living upstairs, I automatically assumed it was going to be a ghost story or hallucination.  I then figured out it was set in the past and was able to reorient myself.  It kept my interest and I also learned something new about Carnegie Hall.

We Are Bone and Earth

Book 32 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read on March 31

We Are Bone and Earth

by Esi Edugyan

My Opinion

2 stars

This short story is part of the A Point in Time collection available through Prime Reading.  I would've liked the material more in a longer novel because just as I was getting settled in, it was over.  Since there was so much backstory to explain how she was in the position she was in, I didn't get enough time in the present. 

Landing

 Book 31 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read on March 20

Landing

by Olivia Hawker

My Opinion

4 stars

This short story is part of the A Point in Time collection available through Prime Reading.  It really hit home for me because I'm married to an engineer I've nicknamed "Robot" because feelings don't always compute with him.  Having the story from Alan's point of view resonated because I felt his helplessness of not knowing what to do.  Having it against the backdrop of the moon landing helped because it made Alan more sympathetic; of course he was obsessed with his work, that was a huge deal with no room for error.

The Book of the Dead

Book 30 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from March 9 - 19

The Book of the Dead: Lives of the Justly Famous and the Undeservedly Obscure

by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

Summary (via Goodreads)

Following their Herculean-or is it Sisyphean?-efforts to save the living from ignorance, the two wittiest Johns in the English language turn their attention to the dead.
As the authors themselves say, “The first thing that strikes you about the Dead is just how many of them there are.” Helpfully, Lloyd and Mitchinson have employed a simple-but ruthless-criterion for inclusion: the dead person has to be interesting.
Here, then, is a dictionary of the dead, an encyclopedia of the embalmed. Ludicrous in scope, whimsical in its arrangement, this wildly entertaining tome presents pithy and provocative biographies of the no-longer-living from the famous to the undeservedly and-until now-permanently obscure. Spades in hand, Lloyd and Mitchinson have dug up everything embarrassing, fascinating, and downright weird about their subjects’ lives and added their own uniquely irreverent observations.
Organized by capricious categories-such as dead people who died virgins, who kept pet monkeys, who lost limbs, whose corpses refused to stay put-the dearly departed, from the inventor of the stove to a cross-dressing, bear-baiting female gangster finally receive the epitaphs they truly deserve. 

My Opinion

2 stars

It was interesting to note the random details that stick out and remain as one's legacy as time passes.  There were also lots of virgins - could be coincidental, could be that it stuck out as a characteristic each time since it's not usually mentioned, or it could be there were more people that die virgins than I realized in the past (or even currently).

Although there were pockets of interesting people and/or categories, the book was overall more of a miss than a hit for me.  It felt dense and there were so many people mentioned I don't walk away feeling like I've learned much about anything.  This could be a good research tool though - I would recommend taking on shorter sections and/or pausing between people to reorient yourself (there aren't really built-in pauses so make your own).

Ash Wednesday

Book 29 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read on March 19

Ash Wednesday

by Paula McLain

My Opinion

2 stars

This short story is part of the A Point in Time collection available through Prime Reading.  Although the plot was interesting (and apparently based on a true tragedy), I didn't like the way the story was shaped.  With a short story you only have a few pages to convey a full arc and in this story it seemed like side details were honed in on at the expense of more important ones.  I read multiple times about his mother smelling like apple peels but three of his children dying was mentioned in one sentence.

I was okay until the inquest and then everything wrapped up so quickly it threw me off.  So this wasn't the story for me.

The Vanishing Half

Book 28 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from March 12 - 18

The Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett

Summary (via Goodreads)

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?

My Opinion

5 stars

At first I was nervous reading this book because the plot is one that could become too much very quickly in the wrong hands.  But this author handled everything beautifully.  The story was full enough to feel invested but fast enough to avoid being weighed down with unnecessary complications or side plots.  Things progressed at a realistic pace and while I would've loved more story or reunions, it made sense that things ended when they did.

I will definitely read this author again.

Naomi's Gift

 Book 27 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read on March 12

Naomi's Gift

by Martha Hall Kelly

My Opinion

4 stars

This short story is part of the A Point in Time collection available through Prime Reading.  I held my breath as I was reading because I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst.  It left questions unanswered but at the same time, making it longer or wrapping everything up would've made it less enjoyable so it worked.

19 Love Songs

Book 26 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from March 4 - 11

19 Love Songs

by David Levithan

Summary (via the book jacket)

This playlist is all about love.

No love song is exactly the same as the one before it.

There's the heartsick pop of a sarcastic boy with an unrequited crush.

There's the gentle lullaby of Valentine's Day, as seen through the eyes of someone who wakes up in a new body every day.

There's the tentative melody of two boys stranded on a snow day.

In 19 Love Songs, David Levithan makes a playlist of stories, verse and illustrations. Celebrating love in all its forms, there's something for every reader to cherish.

My Opinion

4 stars

Life got in the way or this easily could've been read in 1-2 sittings.  I rated this 4 stars because the ones I loved were so good and the ones I didn't were fine even if I didn't fully connect to them.

There were many ideas that resonated with me, especially concerning past and/or young loves.  The line that stuck with me was about not wanting to look someone who you've lost touch with up on social media: "I don't want to alter that imbalance. I want to remember him as he was, even if that memory's vague, and perhaps even wrong. Who he was to me matters so much more than who he actually was."  

 

I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness

Book 25 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from Feb. 18 - March 7

I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness

by Claire Vaye Watkins

Summary (via Goodreads)

Since my baby was born, I have been able to laugh and see the funny side of things. a) As much as I ever did. b) Not quite as much now. c) Not so much now. d) Not at all. Leaving behind her husband and their baby daughter, a writer gets on a flight for a speaking engagement in Reno, not carrying much besides a breast pump and a spiraling case of postpartum depression. Her temporary escape from domestic duties and an opportunity to reconnect with old friends mutates into an extended romp away from the confines of marriage and motherhood, and a seemingly bottomless descent into the past. Deep in the Mojave Desert where she grew up, she meets her ghosts at every turn: the first love whose self-destruction still haunts her; her father, a member of the most famous cult in American history; her mother, whose native spark gutters with every passing year. She can't go back in time to make any of it right, but what exactly is her way forward? Alone in the wilderness, at last she begins to make herself at home in the world.

My Opinion

2 stars

Great title.  When I saw a review of this in our local newspaper it was described as a "dark and frankly funny work of auto fiction".  I made a note of it because I had no idea what that meant; however, even after reading it I still have no idea.

I felt like the book was an inside joke I wasn't part of.  Not that the material itself was a joke but I had that feeling of "I have no idea what's going on but I feel like everyone else does."  It's a book of fiction (and I hope so because the main character was really reckless) yet it uses the author's name and the author's father appears to be very similar to the character's father.

Basically, I could talk in circles but I have nothing to say.  It's not a 1 star review because I was interested in reading it but I also personally can't give it more than 2 because I read the whole time with my eyebrows furrowed because I was lost.

Top of the Rock

 Book 24 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from Feb. 24 - March 7

Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV

by Warren Littlefield

Summary (via Goodreads)

Warren Littlefield was the NBC President of Entertainment who oversaw the Peacock Network’s rise from also-ran to a division that generated a billion dollars in profits.  In this fast-paced and exceptionally entertaining oral history, Littlefield and NBC luminaries including Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wylie, Debra Messing, Jack Welch, Jimmy Burrows, Helen Hunt, and Dick Wolf vividly recapture the incredible era of Must See TV. 

From 1993 through 1998, NBC exploded every conventional notion of what a broadcast network could accomplish with the greatest prime-time line-up in television history. On Thursday nights, a cavalcade of groundbreaking comedies and dramas streamed into homes, attracting a staggering 75 million viewers and generating more revenue than all other six nights of programming combined. The road to success, however, was a rocky one. How do you turn a show like Seinfeld, one of the lowest testing pilots of all time, into a hit when the network overlords are constantly warring, or worse, drowning in a bottle of vodka?   

Top of the Rock is an addictively readable account of the risky business decisions, creative passion, and leaps of faith that made Must See TV possible. Chock full of delicious behind-the-scenes anecdotes that run the gamut from hilarious casting and programming ploys to petty jealousies and drug interventions, you’re in for a juicy, unputdownable read.

My Opinion

4 stars

It's pretty clear what this book will be about so if you're interested in the material you won't be disappointed.  The fact that this book was written (or co-written) by Warren Littlefield, the NBC President of Entertainment at the time the book covers, gives the book credibility.  There were lots of details and inside information both by Littlefield and by the actors and executives interviewed.  It was also nice to have everyone listed in a guide at the beginning instead of under their quotes; I didn't have to refer to it often but it was easily accessible when I did.

I think it helped that I was mostly in my teen years during this time so I watched a lot of the shows and had a familiarity.

It was written in 2012 so it was quaint to read their opinions about Donald Trump's Apprentice ruining Must-See TV.  If they only knew what else the show would generate...

Quote from the Book

"Seinfeld had different rules. Apparently, you can masturbate at nine but not at eight." ~ David Crane [talking about the censor differences between Seinfeld and Friends]