The Life Impossible

Finished October 31

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

This is a story of life, of loss, of connection. It is about appreciating the world, and how everyone has their own story. 

The story is structured around emails by a man to his former teacher, and her response. Her response is the major portion of the novel and tells of her life, particularly when she received an inheritance from a former fellow teacher of a house in Ibiza, Spain. 

The narrator, Grace Winters is a retired math teacher. She tells of the brief friendship she had with Christina, an art teacher, particularly one Christmas that they spent together. Christina left for Spain soon after, and Grace went on to marry, have a child, and experience loss. Mathematics is both a comfort and a coping mechanism. Whenever she feels overwhelmed, she does math in her head. 

When she decides to go to Spain to see this house, she doesn't know what to expect, but it certainly isn't this ugly little house in the middle of nowhere. She finds she has also been left a car, and a list of recommended things to do. There is also a plan that she isn't aware that involves one of Christina's friends. The experience she undergoes changes her life forever. It takes her grief and loss, and her depression and takes her out of them, to see the world around her, in all its beauty and pain. Grace finds that she has been given a task, but also an opportunity, and she must open herself up to this experience as she faces her past and her pain and recognizes that others have their own stories that also resonate with her.

There is an amorphous being that is part of this story, a life presence from another place, that has power that Grace learns to draw from. This is a tale that feels both fantastical and relatable. A very interesting book that is hard to define. 

Between a Book and a Hard Place

Finished January 5

Between a Book and a Hard Place by Denise Swanson

This is part of a series of books set in the small town of Shadow Bend, Missouri. The main character, Devereaux (Dev) Sinclair runs the local five-and-dime store, which also has a soda fountain. She moved back to town for family reasons leaving a career in the investment industry. When Dev was sixteen, her father Kern went to jail (for a crime he didn't commit) and her mother Yvette left town, dropping Dev at her paternal grandmother' Birdies house as she left. 

Now Dev's dad works at her store and both of them live with Birdie. Dev has a few close friends: Poppy who runs a local nightclub called Gossip Club, and who is estranged from her own father, the local police chief; Ronni, who owns the local bed and breakfast; and Boone, who is on the town council and hopes to find funding to reopen the local library.

Dev also has a couple of boyfriends, and is struggling to choose between them. One is Noah, a local doctor who was her high school boyfriend, but who dumped her when they both went off to college. The other is Jake, a former US-marshall, who now lives on a neighbouring farm, helping out his aging uncle. 

Now Yvette is back in town with her latest husband Jett, it looks like the local library will be getting funding, and a strange professor claims to see lights from UFOs in the local area. But when Jett turns up dead, Dev must not only protect her family by finding out who the killer was, but also take on other local issues. 

A light read with a lot of side plots that will likely lead to more possibilities for future books in the series. 

Journey to the Hopewell Star

Finished December 4

Journey to the Hopewell Star by Hannah D. State

This middle grade science fiction / fantasy novel got me hooked early. Samantha (Sam) Sanderson is just about to turn twelve as the story begins. She's been homeschooled, mostly by her grandfather, as her parents are physicists that work for the government. 

The time that Samantha lives in is our own, but more advanced in terms of technology and space travel. Her grandfather makes dinner using some type of technological device, but in more than just this opening scene situation, technology seems to not work as it should. 

Sam lives on a farm in Nova Scotia, but will be soon moving to town to start school as she's come to an age where she needs more in terms of education than her father can offer. When she goes out to the barn at the beginning of the book, she finds more that she expected, and begins a journey that takes her to other planets, our moon, and even into other people's experiences. This first visit takes her to the planet Kryg under false pretences, but she makes a friend and learns more about both that planet and her own, including the precariousness of both the planets' futures. 

In town, Sam quickly makes friends with another girl and the group of friends that include her. Her friend Kato has a twin brother Kobe who seems to be on the autism spectrum. He doesn't talk a lot, but he seems to be noticing Sam. It makes her feel uncomfortable, but also curious. 

When Sam discovers a new skill, the first person that she shares it with is Kobe. And he connects with her in a big way. Their other friend Simon is a techie and provides insight into the technological side of any situation.

All of the kids are aware of the environmental threats that have been growing on earth, through their own experiences. As they begin to connect these threats to a local corporation and its owner, things may be coming to a crisis in other ways as well. 

I liked Sam's confidence in her abilities, and willingness to try new things, and her selflessness when it came to the larger community's needs. We see this in both small ways and large in her actions and thoughts. 

This book will give kids the confidence that their actions can make a difference in the world, and that kindness and connections are important. 

A really enjoyable read. 

Waking Gods

Finished August 13
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

This is the second book in the series that started with Sleeping Gods. The novel opens with the appearance of a second giant robot, this one appearing out of thin air in the middle of a park in London, England. There is debate about how to handle it while the powers that control the first robot, dubbed Themis, work to transport it to England.
The powers that want to approach the robot with a show of force win out, and things do not go well. The robot has powers to shield itself from harm and the resulting reciprocative attack by the robot is a deadly one. By the time Themis gets there, they know what they are up against, but aren't sure at first what to do. An idea by the pilots works, and things calm down.
Back at the base, when Themis suddenly disappears with Vincent inside, no one is sure what to think. When more robots begin to appear at cities around the world, things begin to look very dark for humankind, and a new weapon is brought to bear by one of the robots, resulting in more questions.
This book takes us further into the ideas debated in the first novel, with the mysterious consultant appearing to give encouragement to the Earth Defense Corps leaders.
But the ending, now that will have you on the edge of your chair, and eager for the next book.

Sleeping Giants

Finished April 30
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

This debut novel is a winner. This is wonderful science fiction, with a very human touch. When Rose Franklin turned eleven, she took her new bike out at dusk for a ride and made a discovery she didn't understand until years later. Following a strange light, she fell into a hole that hadn't been there before, knocking herself out and waking hours later while being rescued. Later one of the rescuers brings her a picture that shows her from above, in the palm of a giant metal hand.
Rose always loved science and went into physics as her career. Now, years later, she is being asked to head a research team involving that hand, and potentially other body parts.
The story is told in a series of interviews and journal entries, similar to that of World War Z, and for me it had a similar feel to it. The interviewer is an unnamed man, one with power and influence, who sees a bigger picture and plans far ahead. He chooses most of the people involved in the project as it develops and changes, but not all.
The other main characters here are two US military pilots, a woman, Kara Resnik, and a man, Ryan Mitchell, as well as a French Canadian linguist, Vincent Couture.
As they realize what they are dealing with they must reconcile their own feelings about it and the power it possesses. This discovery will change the world, but in which direction will it take us. Not all questions are answered here, and the ending provides an interesting twist. This is the first in a planned series, and I will be looking with interest for the sequels.
I found it interesting that the author has a similar background to one of the characters, and, of course, I always love to find out about a new Canadian author, so lots to love about this book.

Boom

Finished December 4
Boom by Mark Haddon

I've loved every book of his I've read and this one is no exception. But this is a book for kids. Jim and his older sister Becky have the usual brother sister teasing relationship, although she's grown a bit more antagonistic lately. So when she tells him she overhead teachers talking about shipping him off to a reform school, he's pretty sure she's teasing, but not absolutely sure. He talks to his best friend Charlie and the two decide to bug the teachers' staffroom to see if it's true. What they hear shocks them both. It would seem that two of the teachers have a secret language, but what is behind this. As the two boys investigate, things begin to get a bit scary for them, and when Charlie disappears Jim finds himself calling on Becky for assistance. Of course, as with all older sisters she comes through when it counts.
With a great story, and great characters, this book is a winner all the way. There's a nice side story of Jim's dad and his struggle for meaning in his life, too.

I am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Legacies

Finished June 20
I am Number Four: the Lost Files: the Legacies by Pittacus Lore

This book originally was only available as an ebook, but has now been put together in one volume. It includes the Lost Files, which consists of the back stories of Six and Nine; and it includes the Legacies, which is what happened to One, Two, and Three. Here, there is a bit of a twist, in which we see some of the story from a Mogadorian viewpoint. This provides an interesting vantage point, and I'm sure will figure in the developing story.
The book also includes the beginning chapters from each of the trilogy books: I am Number Four, the Power of Six, and The Rise of Nine.
This book fills in some of the holes, adds information about the fallen and about the surviving legacies.
It also gives the reader some insight into the other side, the Mogadorians, and what is happening with them. A good addition to the series.