A December to Remember

Finished December 29

A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss

Augustus Balthazar North, owner of North's Novelties and Curios in the village of Rowan Thorp has set off on his last adventure, dying in his van on an European mountain. He never really settled down, although he had charm enough to attract ladies and he never pretended to be anything he wasn't. Through his many liaisons he had three daughters, and they all spent a month every summer with him together.  

Maggie, the oldest lived in Rowan Thorp, her mother moving there to see if there was any long term relationship possible, and she ran a greengrocer that Maggie has now taken over. Simone's mother is very business-oriented and Simone is now a physiotherapist married to a therapist and the two are going through a rough patch after having several unsuccessful IVF tries. Star is a free spirit, similar to her mother, never settling down, growing up in a series of communes and in other group settings. She's just been evicted due to the actions of an ex-boyfriend. 

Augustus has set some strange conditions in his will, asking that his daughters work together to bring back the Winter Festival that the town used to have on the solstice. The other is that they find the 32 altered monopoly houses that Augustus has hidden in the shop. The shop has been around since the 1740s, with North's passing it down to the next generation, collecting interesting objects from all over.

The women hire Sotheby's to catalogue the items in the shop and possibly sell some of them at auction, and Sotheby's has sent a lovely young man who is very interested in Augustus' reputation as a collector, eager to see what treasures the shop holds. 

As the women look for the houses, research the festival which was held until several decades earlier, and get to know each other again, they also find community in Rowan Thorp, and find other reasons that the town is the place they want to call home. 

I really enjoyed all three sisters, who all have interesting lives that differ widely from each other, but are also good women. Each finds skills that contribute to their situation and that affect their personal lives in other long-term ways. There is humour, good will, and lots of good food as well.

A seasonal read that brings the feeling of joy and friendship out in a big way.

A delightful novel. 

The Memory Library

Finished November 30

The Memory Library by Kate Story

Year before this story started Ella had a falling out with her mother, of which we gradually learn the details as the story unfolds. She went to college and then emigrated to Australia, and as the book opens, she learns that her mother has suffered a fall, and there has been a bathroom flood at her mother's home. Reluctantly she returns to London, intending to stay for the duration of her mother's convalescence, but she finds the situation somewhat different than she expected. Her mother seems frailer and less independent than she thought. 

She also finds the room that has borne the brunt of the damage is one that her mother had curated carefully for years. As Ella renews old friendships and digs into the past, she finds that her younger self had been quick to pass judgement. She also finds herself looking at the city with fresh eyes.

This is a story of books, books carefully chosen, for specific insights into life. It is books that offer a path forward to a possible reconciliation and to a better understanding of her own situation as well. This is also a book about community and the lives we touch as we live our own life. 

I enjoyed this book, for the growth that we see Ella take, for the books that are important to her, and to the community that she becomes a part of. 

Life: A Love Story

Finished November 6

Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg

I love Elizabeth Berg, so when I was given the opportunity to read her upcoming book a little early, I was very excited. It did not disappoint. This story is narrated by Florence 'Flo' Greene, a ninety-two-year-old widow who is nearing the end of her life. She and her late husband didn't have children of their own, but they were very close to a child who lived next door, Ruthie, and Ruthie spent a lot of time at their house growing up. Flo plans to leave the house and its contents to Ruthie and decides to write her a letter explaining some of the contents of the house that are special to her and why. She also worries that Ruthie, who she senses has been going through a difficult time in her marriage, might give up too easily, and so she shares some of the marital issues that she's dealt with and how working through them was part of the normal work involved in a marriage, and would bring the two partners closer. 

The story is told partly through the long letter that Flo writes, over the course of weeks, and partly through Flo's life now as it is happening. 

Flo enjoys visits from her neighbour's aging dog, having loved him since he was a puppy. She sees the people on her street going off to school and work, and greets them from her front porch and on her walks. She notices a woman across the street and begins an ongoing conversation with her that leads to friendship, reminding us again that we can be friends with people of all ages. She goes to the library, and she becomes closer to a woman of her own generation that she always admired.

Flo has loved her home, her garden, her neighbourhood, and believes in kindness and community. She has a secret or two of her own that she feels moved to share with the right person or people when it seems like the right time. 

Flo is a voice that reminds us that we are not alone in this world, that love comes in many forms, and that noticing the people around us and what they would appreciate is one of the most important and kind things that we can do.

Highly recommended.

Moon of the Crusted Snow

Finished October 22

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

This is the first book in The Whitesky Saga, a post-apocalyptic series and is set in a small Anishinaabe community in Canada's north. It is approaching winter and the small community first experiences the loss of their internet service and then the loss of communications with the outside world. They don't know what is going on, what caused these outages, or how widespread the situation is. They learn a bit more when two members of the community who have been away at college manage to return, and by then, the leaders of the community have already begun plans to conserve what they have and to ensure everyone in the community is taken care of.

When new visitors arrive, the community has to decide how much to trust them, and how to include them in their plan. This novel takes place over that winter, and we see the situation as it affects children, elders, and those who didn't learn the skills of survival from the elders. We also see couples come together and couples come apart under the stress. Families take on new roles, and people spend their time in different ways, some adjusting better than others. 

This is an interesting tale, of a group of people that already have a strong sense of community, one that most communities today no longer have. It makes one start wondering how the rest of the world is dealing with similar issues and how one would respond in these circumstances.

The author is Anishinaabe himself and that brings authenticity to the book that affects how I read it. Scary, sad, and yet somehow hopeful. 

Sex, Lies and Sensibility

Finished July 17

Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne

I ordered this book because I loved her earlier book Pride and Protest so much. This one didn't flow as well as that did and there were some minor editing issues. Payne is a good writer, and I will definitely read more from her. 

Nora was an excellent track and field athlete, competing and winning at the college level, until she did a very stupid thing and allowed her boyfriend to make a sex tape of them. Her father was angry at her after that, and she'd got a job to support herself. She'd lost her track scholarship, and didn't finish college. She also took refuge in watching HGTV endlessly to avoid fixing her own life. 

Now her father has died and she has arrived at his funeral. As she is ushered to a private room, she discovers that her mother was her father's mistress, and that he had a wife and stepdaughter. She, Shenora, and her sister Mary-Anne (Yanne) and their mother Diane don't have ownership to their home or any of her father's other assets. What they have been left in the will is a unmaintained house and property in Maine called Barton Cove. The property is in foreclosure and the full outstanding loan is required to be repaid by Labor Day of the next year. If they can pay off the amount due in time, they get access to an Estate Improvement fund in the seven figure range. 

Yanne and Nora decide to take on the estate and find unexpected partners in a native run tour group who is headed up by Ennis Freeman (Bear). As Nora puts her HGTV learned skills to work with the help of Bear's local contacts and Yanne expands her baking repertoire, the two find themselves becoming part of the community, and learning about local environmental issues and other politics. 

I liked the bringing together of two racial groups here, the black women and the indigenous community. I also enjoyed that Bear knows of Nora for her athletic prowess, not the embarrassing video and values her in ways she hadn't expected. 

This is a loose retelling of Sense and Sensibility, but brings in modern day issues and realistic plotlines. A fun read. 

The Twilight Garden

Finished December 30

The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams

This novel is about community, human connection, and the healing properties of nature. Winston lives with his partner Lewis in a house in London that shares a garden with its neighbour. For a long time the neighbouring house was empty, but a woman, Bernice and her young son Sebastian have bought the house, renovated it, and moved in. The shared garden is neglected, and Winston has primarily used it to sit outside in an old wooden chair, smoke and think. Bernice thinks his chair is in a dangerous state of disrepair, disapproves of his smoking and seems to look down upon him. He has dubbed her the Queen of Sheba. 

The Winston starts to get enveloped through his mailbox, addressed to the young man at Number 79, and they contain old pictures and clippings of the garden and the two women who made it a community haven, Maya and Alma. Winston has fond memories of his mother and her garden, and begins to get inspired to bring the neglected space back to life. As he does so, he connects with young Sebastian and eventually with Bernice as well. 

Winston quit his job in a bank that he didn't enjoy and as a stop-gap began working in the local corner shop, that Sal and Angela own. He has become part of their family and spends time with them. Lewis and he met while he was working in the bank and Lewis has gone up through the ranks. Lately, he has worked late, including weekends, and Winston feels more alone. He is also missing other relationships, and has been pulling himself away from other people, so the gardening provides not only solace, but also a different means of connecting with him. 

Bernice is divorced from a very controlling man, and she has also retreated into herself, with the exception of her son. She has always dreamed of having a home with a garden and feels possessive of the space, and also protective of Sebastian. The forced sharing of the space is something she fights against initially, and we see her gradually open herself to new relationships and experiences. 

As we learn the story of the garden and the people that created it, we also see the current community and how Lewis and Bernice open themselves up again to happiness. A very enjoyable read. 

Kiss Me at Christmas

Finished November 16

Kiss Me at Christmas by Jenny Bayliss

This delightful novel has romance, character growth, and lots of Christmas spirit. The main character is Harriet, an English teacher turned pastoral care worker at a private school, Foss Independent. She is a strong advocate for her students, particularly the small cohort of local students admitted as part of a 'leveling-up' scheme. These students struggle because the rest of their peers come from wealthy backgrounds and privilege, and they come from broken homes and poverty. 

The book opens in mid-November, when Harriet is at a local pub, comforting herself with mulled wine after hearing that her daughter Maisy, who is on a student exchange to the United States, has been invited to stay through Christmas, where she will be going with her host family to a mountain cabin for the holidays. Harriet has encouraged her, but will miss her dreadfully. This is the longest they've ever been apart, and Harriet is a big celebrator of Christmas, putting a lot of effort into decorating and other seasonal endeavours. 

When she locks eyes with a handsome man across the pub, she decides to act on her attraction and invites him to join her. She ends the evening at his upscale apartment with a very satisfying encounter. When she wakens in the morning to find him in the shower, she panics at her actions, extremely out of character for her, and leaves before he returns. 

At school, when several of her local students are absent, she decides to track them down to get them back to school before the head of her department notices. She finds them in a old, unused theatre, and soon after the police find them all. To protect her students, Harriet takes the fall for their trespass on the property, and later that morning finds herself face to face with the owner's lawyer, James Knight,who turns out to be her partner from the previous evening. 

The owner, Evaline Winter, is an older woman who shut the theatre decades earlier when she inherited the property from her father. She owns several businesses and is very wealthy, but for personal reasons that we discover, has let the theatre fall into disrepair. To avoid facing charges, Harriet finds agreeing to arrange for a single night show at the theatre, involving the students that she was with there. As she finds herself gaining new skills as she tackles this challenge, she also finds herself making community connections, new friends, and facing her fears. 

I really enjoyed the numerous characters, seeing the students skills get recognized and utilized and watching them become more confident, seeing the community coming together through this opportunity, and seeing Harriet and James take risks and voice their insecurities. 

Unholy Dying

Finished October 6

Unholy Dying by Robert Barnard

This is the seventh novel in a series featuring an English police officer, Charlie Peace, but the first that I've read. There are several characters whose viewpoint we can see things from. One is a journalist, Cosmo Horrocks. Horrocks is a journalist with an eye out for a story wherever he goes, who uses any situation for gain, and has no respect for anyone else. It is the last characteristic that has been limiting in his career, and we can see that no one around him likes him, not his coworkers or his family. He is married, with two daughters. On a train he overhears a conversation between two men, Con and Derek, that piques his interest, about an investigation into the actions of a priest regarding one of his parishioners, a young single mother. 

Another is Julie Norris, the mother in question. She was pregnant at sixteen, kicked out of the house by her parents, and soon after living in a small home on a council estate in Shipley. She aims to be a good mother to both her toddler and the second child she is expecting. She found the priest, Father Pardoe, a good listener and a good adviser. He had been able to help her get some basic items for her home, such as used furniture and appliances. 

We also see Father Pardoe. He has been sent away, boarding with a middle-aged woman in a nearby town, awaiting the investigation, but is growing impatient as the bishop hasn't answered any of his inquiries about the status. 

We also see Mrs. Knowsley, the woman Pardoe is boarding with, and she provides an ear for him, and a source of unexpected comfort. 

Another set of voices are several female parishioners of Father Pardoe, including Miss Preece-Dembleby; Mary, the wife of Con; and Janette, the wife of Derek. These women are also wondering about the inquiry, and want to provide support for the priest, who they believe is innocent of the things he has been accused of. 

I really enjoyed how the story unfolded, moving through different characters multiple times, so that I could see the nuances of the situation and the lives affected. 

There are a couple of themes present as well. One is the role of the Catholic Church both in the lives of these people, and in its secrets. Another is the role of women, in society and in domestic life. Some women have breakthroughs in their lives, while others continue in their expected roles. 

A very interesting read that has me interested in others in the series. 

The Transatlantic Book Club

Finished September 19

The Transatlantic Book Club by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

This novel is part of a series set in a small Irish town, but the only one in the series that I've read. The central characters here are Cassie Fitzgerald, a Toronto-born young woman who makes a living as a hairdresser, and has worked mostly on cruise ships so far in her career; and her Irish grandmother Pat Fitz. Before the book begins, Pat has lost her husband Ger to cancer. Cassie is on hand because she had accompanied her grandparents back to Ireland after they'd come to Canada to visit their two sons who had emigrated there. Also, before this book happens, Cassie and Pat had gone to Resolve, a town in the United States, where many people from their area of Ireland had emigrated, and where Pat had spent a summer years before, just before she got married.

Cassie is young and impulsive, but also kind and full of energy. She has arranged a part-time job as a hairstylist at a local spa/hotel, as well as one driving the library bus two days a week to villages in the area. This way, she explores the area a bit and gets to know some of the local people and begins friendships. She worries about her grandmother and how she will be on her own. 

Pat still lives above the butcher shop that her husband ran, although his holdings include the farm where they raised the meat, and other properties. She is also still close to her childhood friend Mary, whose husband Tom died a few years before. Only one of Pat's sons still lives in Ireland, Frankie, and she isn't close to him, and that relationship is explored some here. 

Mary's daughter Hanna runs the local library in Lissbeg, and it is through working at the library that Cassie gets the idea to set up a book club between Lissbeg and Resolve, connecting the people in the communities in new ways. She also has an interest in a young man in Resolve that she met while visiting with Pat, and is curious as to whether this is worth exploring. 

This book is slow-moving, and the various plots developed through the slow realization of the main characters around feelings and realizations. 

The Party

Finished June 19

The Party by Lisa Hall

This dark mystery begins on New Year's Day as Rachel wakes up. She is in a strange bed and some of her clothes are missing. Her body has bruises and she suspects that she's had sex. She is in the spare room at a neighbour's house and remembers arriving at the party with her husband Gareth, but can't remember anything after that. She doesn't know if she's had an argument with her husband (they'd been having some issues, but had been working on improving their relationship). She doesn't know who else was at the party. 

Her husband had been distant recently, pushing her away and deflecting her questions. There have been some unsettling encounters with a man who worked with her husband, as well. As Rachel first returns home, then is convinced to go to the police, she talks to her friends and neighbours, gradually piecing together what happened that night. Many people have secrets of their own that makes them less than forthcoming about what happened and what they saw. 

The novel jumps back to earlier in the year at times, and this gives more insight into Rachel's relationships and the possibilities of the night in question. 

This is a fast-moving novel, with a narrator that has a lot going on in her life, and is now fuelled by anger. An unexpected and clever ending that will leave you with many questions. 

Belonging

Finished June 10

Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship by Adrienne Clarkson

This set of essays / lectures was the CBC Massey Lecture series of 2014. The first essay talks about the circle we live in, with us at the center, widening to our immediate family, our community, and continuing. There was a line here that I found really spoke to me:

If we concern ourselves with the idea that we exist because others exist, that we are in a web of human relationships, then we understand our individualism in a different way from that of the solipsist. Individuals are no independent of each other. We have individual rights, but we also have duties to others

She goes on to look at this idea of circles in different cultures, from the North American indigenous cultures to the evolution of Eygalieres, a village in southern France, She refers to a 13th century experiment by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who wanted to see what humans natural language was, without outside influence, but instead discovered that humans need the interplay of human contact to survive. She also talked about how we create identity, using the story of Martin Guerre as an example of recreating oneself.

The second essay begins with the idea of Greek democracy. Clarkson talks about the difference between acting as a private individual and acting in or for the state. The price of belonging to a state meant that a citizen's rights were subject to being taken away if the community felt its values or status were threatened. She notes that the Athenian rights were a privilege granted by their fellow citizens as a community. This leads to the freedom to speak, whether in the Athenian forum, in our own Parliament, or in other public venues. "At best, citizens belong to each other because they trust each other, and that trust is the key to all political functioning and fundamental to our modern notions of what a society can be." She emphasizes that Athenian democracy was not a utopia. Slavery was a reality, and women and men not born in Athens could not be citizens. One idea that I found important here was: 

To be able to belong and yet able to criticize -- to  disagree, to withdraw consent -- is quintessential to belonging, and it is a fundamental notion that has been carried down to modern times. But it must always be remembered that to subjugate all your selfhood, ideas, inclinations, and emotions in order to be part of a collective is not belonging. This kind of sacrifice to others in the group is conformity and, carried to an extreme, bondage. Belonging, in its truest sense, means understanding the nature of the connections between one another -- the very nature of interconnectedness. It can never mean dominance or submission.

She continues to the modern ideal of France with its "liberty, equality, and fraternity" and how the French Revolution influenced that. Quoting Edmund Burke who critiqued some of the worst aspects of that Revolution "liberty is secured by equality of restraint . . . another name for justice. Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither is . . . safe." Burke believed that when building a new society shouldn't start from nothing, but should take the best of the past as a foundation for the future. The good that came out of the revolution was the idea of personal responsibility. Clarkson talks about the differences between the ideas of citizenship in Athenian democracy and now in present day Canada. She ends with a quote from Margaret Laurence who urged us "to feel, in your heart's core, the reality of others." I really like that as a basis for living a good life, that we work for the benefit of and with the coordination with others. 

The third essay deals with the cosmopolitan ethic of belonging in Canada. From her own personal connection to the Chinese head tax, and about how it didn't fit with her experience. As she says, it isn't the laws that make you feel you belong, but the people. Whether they are people in your school, your work, the organizations you belong to, your neighbourhood, or even people you encounter more casually in the course of your day, it is these other people that make one feel a part of a larger group. She includes a 1913 photograph that states the duties of a citizen, one of which is to work for others and refers to the Icelandic Althing, where annually the citizens met to affirm the rights of all. Clarkson discusses the importance of public discourse, of listening to the ideas of other people, of engaging in conversations. In our private lives, we tend to seek out people like ourselves, who believe in similar things, and have the same experiences. Conversations that deal with larger societal issues can be difficult because they can touch emotions, make us feel threatened, or touch on deeply held beliefs. We must be able to have these conversations through seeking mutual understanding and hearing out the other person. This is something that is less common in our world. We don't do enough real listening and critical thinking about what we hear and read, about what our leaders say, and this idea leads to the importance of civic participation. She says "without every citizen's active participation in maintaining the public good, society cannot be expected to sustain the same benefits and freedoms." Democracy requires our ability to accept and include the Other. Democracy deals with obligations as well as rights. It requires us to be civil and treat each other with respect. Again, it comes down to the people. She also talks about volunteerism, and the large amount of this that we do in Canada. "We don't understand that as a society, we in Canada were always a poor country and that, to a large extent, that poverty created our national character." She compares us to our southern neighbour in terms of immigrants, beginning with terminology. Here we have the term "permanent residents" for those foreigners to come to live here after they've been here a certain amount of time, compared to the U.S. "resident aliens", and that in Canada 84% of immigrants become citizens, compared to 40% in the U.S. The period of engagement as future Canadian citizens work towards that goal is a key step in belonging. She talks about how we haven't until recently talked about much of our history that involved people who weren't white, but how important it is that we do. Clarkson came to Canada as a refugee, and she sees her determination to make this country home in the eyes and actions of later refugees from Roma to Somali people. 

The fourth essay is about ubuntu, a South African philosophy based on the concept that all humanity is connected, that the relationship between an individual and their community is interdependent and mutually beneficial. Clarkson begins with Canada's stance on South Africa's request to rejoin the Commonwealth in 1961, and the declaration that was made a requirement for membership. The South Africa of that time was one that had wandered away from the idea of ubuntu, an ancient value of African tribes. "Ubuntu implies seeing another human being as yourself and treating them as you would treat yourself, with love and respect." It is a way of making a deeper connection with those around us. Ubuntu isn't tied to religion or politics. Some religions have aspects that are similar, such as the Christian "love one another as we are loved by God," but the idea of ubuntu is often disparaged as simplistic and discarded in favour of economic philosophies and the emphasis on individual wants. She gives a lot of statistics on what Canadians believe about who can be a good citizen of our country, which is enlightening in its statements if not its practices. She talks about the failures of Canadians in terms of ubuntu, particularly when it comes to our indigenous peoples, but she also gives examples of where we have lived up to this idea.

The fifth essay touches on happiness, about how we treat people affects outcomes. Examples such as treating newcomers to Canada as if they will stay and become citizens leads to that happening most of the time, and the idea of acting "as if" is an important one in terms of creating happiness. She discusses Bhutan and its Gross National Happiness which is based on the Buddhist concept of interdependence. They believe that an ethical and moral life would bring genuine happiness, a happiness that is based on living well and acting well. There is also the idea of honour, and its ties to responsibility and a discussion of ethics: "to act ethically is to act outside of any expectation of reciprocity." Another part of gross national happiness is tolerance, which is something that has been a deep-rooted practice here at the human level, despite some of the official decrees. The fourth part is perseverance, which encourages us to think long-term. Some examples of this are the Manitoba Access Program and changes regarding our natural environment. When we harvest, we need to think about sustainability Clarkson says that Canada is a nation of immigrants, with a history that includes a collection of diverse traumas. Wherever we have come from, there were events that led us to this country, so the past matters, but it should not define our future. "A life defined by loss is not worth living." This discussion takes us back to the circle through the words of John Kelly who says the circle grows as "Canadians of all colours and religions are entering that circle" Clarkson ends with the idea of the paradox from the series title, that "we are most fully human, most truly ourselves, most authentically individual, when we commit to the community."

This is a book that I read slowly, stopping to think about the ideas raised and how they reflected in my own experiences. Definitely worth reading. 

The Suite Spot

Finished January 14

The Suite Spot by Trish Doller

I enjoyed her novel Float Plan, so when I saw there was a companion novel featuring the sister of the main character from Float Plan, I knew I wanted to read it. Rachel is very different from her sister Anna. She is kind of in a rut. She has a young child, and while she isn't exactly in a relationship with the father of her daughter Maisie anymore, she also feels like she won't ever find someone that she really cares about. She has a degree in hospitality and works as a night reception manager at a luxury Miami Beach hotel, hoping to move to a day job when her daughter starts school. But when a guest becomes aggressive and Rachel doesn't succumb, she finds herself looking for a new position. 

Getting a lead on a position at a new hotel in Ohio is a lucky break, and she finds its location surprisingly attractive. The hotel isn't open yet though, although the brewery is starting to create beers. Rachel finds the owner, Mason, nice but sometimes distracted, and when she learns of his loss, she feels for him. 

As Rachel begins to find her feet in her new role, and learn about her new community, she also has issues arising from back in Florida. 

There is lots to like here, from body positive messages, to book clubs, to the fun of hotel design, I liked not only the two main characters, but many of the secondary characters as well. Definitely another good read from this author. 

Act of God

Finished October 15

Act of God by Jill Ciment

I always enjoy Jill Ciment books. This one is a little quirky. Two sisters, Edith and Kat live in a rent-controlled apartment in New York City. Edith is a recently retired legal librarian. Kate, her identical twin is more eccentric and romantic. The year is 2015, and it is a sweltering summer in the city. They've recently had a new landlady, Vera Cebu, a Shakespearian actress who has lately become more famous for her TV commercials than her stage roles. 

Edith has been complaining about a musty smell to Vera for some time, but not getting a response. So when Kat discovers a phosphorescent mushroom sprouting from the wall in their hall closet, she gets angry.

Meanwhile Vera finds a Russian girl, who has run away from an au pair position, secretly living in her guest room, and calls the police to remove the intruder. In the course of the arrest, the police find a second mushroom in the guest room closet and they involve the authorities. 

All four women are forced by the authorities to evacuate their contaminated building with only the clothes they are wearing. The infestation spreads along the street and others get evacuated as well. From the building caretaker to the older couple with their much-loved cats, the people affected significantly by the outbreak come to life and find themselves making changes to their lives beyond what they'd ever imagined. 

An engrossing tale of opportunity, resilience, and community. I loved it. 

Birds on Wishbone Street

Finished October 6

Birds on Wishbone Street by Suzanne Del Rizzo

This picture book is another lovely creation of Suzanne Del Rizzo. Her books are illustrated with her mixed media creations including a lot of polymer clay elements. This 3D effect really makes the pictures special and lively.

Here we have Moe (Maureen) who father immigrated to North America from Ireland. She is friends with many of the more recent immigrants on her street, who have come from a variety of places around the world. The most recent addition is Sami and his family who have come from Syria. Meo delivers a gift to Sami with winter mitts, hot cocoa and a feather. This is especially apt as Sami is a bird lover. He has a treasured pair of binoculars to watch to the birds and his box of treasures contains other bird-related items. When a female cardinal is found downed after a snowstorm, the children work with a local vet to ensure that she doesn't have injuries they can't see, and Moe learns that Sami had pigeons back home and can look after the cardinal until she is well enough to go back to her mate. 

This is a story of friendship, caring, and community told through one experience. A lovely story that will find a treasured place in many homes. 

The Lonely Fajita

Finished April 10

The Lonely Fajita by Abigail Mann

This novel came to my attention through one of my students, who included it in a booklist assignment. The plot sounded interesting, and I definitely enjoyed it. 

The main character is Elissa, a woman in her twenties who has an internship at a online dating company that only pays her expenses. She lives with her boyfriend Tom in an apartment shared with two other tenants, one of whom is relatively new and the landlord's daughter, Shamaya. 

Elissa and Tom's relationship has cooled lately and Shamaya is saying the occupancy doesn't allow couples.

When Elissa sees and advertisement for ElderCare Companionship, a program where a young person gets a room in the home of a senior in return for support and companionship, in a bid to cut down on isolation. Elissa applies on a whim, although she is hoping for Tom to move to a new apartment with her. 

When Elissa gets matched with an eighty-three year-old widow named Annie, she has second thoughts, but without many options, she agrees to a meeting to confirm.

And so Elissa moves in with Annie, and things get very interesting. 

Elissa is an interesting character, with less confidence than she should have, and some good friends who want her to reach her potential, Maggie and Suki. I enjoyed seeing her grow during the course of the novel. Maggie is a primary teacher, married with no children. Suki works in the same cooperative technology building as Elissa, and is a big support for work issues, and has an active lesbian love life. 

Annie is a woman who has her own regrets and secrets, and who both learns from Elissa and teaches her things. 

I love these character-driven books with friend relationships between women of different generations and this one was no exception. A great read, with some surprises along the way. 

The Poetry of Strangers

Finished July 23

The Poetry of Strangers: What I Learned Traveling America with a Typewriter by Brian Sonia-Wallace

This memoir is composed of several essays on different experiences the author had while interacting with the public in different environments as a public poet. He started his journey in this line in 2012 shortly after returning home to California after studying abroad. He had a borrowed typewriter that wasn't in the greatest shape and he sat outside an event and offered poetry to those waiting in line. He asked them to pay what they thought the poem was worth, and he found many of the people did indeed think that it was worth something. Following that he decided to see if he could make a living doing this work, and he did. He found himself not only doing public sidewalk poetry, but also corporate events, weddings, entertainment venues, and "in residence" appearances. He helped one aspiring immigrant to get his poems published. He interacted with people running for office, recovering from devastating fires, living lives outside the norm as itinerant buskers, craftsmen, seers, and poets. 

He worked writing poetry on Amtrak trains, at the Mall of America, and at the Electric Forest music festival. He taught others, both adults and children. He made friends and made connections, some of them very deep. He looked into himself and found skills he didn't realize that he had.

Through many of his situations, he includes examples of poems that he wrote at those events. For his experience with the immigrant, Jeremias Leonel Estrada, he includes some of Estrada's poems as well. All of these I enjoyed. 

His experiences took him all over the country, and opened his eyes to experiences he might never have come into contact with otherwise. This is a fascinating account of his experiences that enlightens the reader and gives hope. 

Victory Colony, 1950

Finished January 3

Victory Colony, 1950 by Bhaswati Ghosh

This historical novel is set in Calcutta, India shortly after Partition. It follows two young people whose lives interact. One of them is Amala, who arrived in the city with her younger brother Kartik as a refugee from East Bengal. They have few possessions and no money, and when Amala looks for food on their arrival, Kartik goes missing. Faced with the threat of police, Amala agrees to join a group of refugees being taken to the Gariahata Refugee Relief Centre. The group of young men that volunteers at the Centre and helps organize the supplies needed includes the second main character, Manas Dutta. Manas is from a good family and near the end of his studies. His father raised him to be considerate of others and encouraged his participation in the larger world. Although his father has passed away, his influence is still strongly felt by Manas. 

Manas lives with his mother and his grandfather in a large, stately home, with a small number of servants who come in for their daily work. But it is a far cry from the situation at the refugee centre, where the housing is temporary, food supplies are limited, as are other amenities. 

As we see Amala grow in confidence, moving through her grief to help others around her, organizing the women in ways to make themselves not only useful but to find ways to bring in some much-needed money, we see her inner strength and goodness. She is a smart woman, who learns quickly and wants to help those around her get ahead as well.

Manas too grows here from a schoolboy doing good deeds, to a man who becomes self-sufficient and starts his life independent of his elders. He is smart as well, and a good organizer and planner, who thinks of trying to make life better for everyone in his world.

I enjoyed see both of these characters grow, both in themselves and in their regard for each other and those that shared their world. I enjoyed Manas' grandfather as well as he came out of his shell of privilege and took the time to learn more about his grandson's friends.

I also learned a lot of Indian phrases and terminology that were conveyed seamlessly here, without the need for a glossary. The author reaches back into her own heritage to create a world I would be interested in following further. A very enjoyable read.

The Music Shop

Finished December 14
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

I've had this on my shelf for far too long, but it came up as my book club book this month, so it finally got read. The story is set in London, starting in 1988. Frank owns a small music shop selling only vinyl. CDs are starting to be very popular, but he's convinced that vinyl is best.
Frank had an odd upbringing, raised by a single parent who treated him less like a child than a roommate. His mother knew a lot about music though, and was passionate about it, and made him listen to music often, telling him about the musicians who created it, the style, the history and everything else she knew about it. He listens with a very focused and educated ear. Frank also has a very empathetic manner, able to choose the right piece of music for people at certain times in their lives. He has two listening booths he built in his shop and they are often the place that his clients first listen to the songs he picks for them.
Frank is also tied to the small community of shop-owners and residents on his cul-de-sac. There is a tattoo artist, a baker, a funeral parlor, and a pub, among others.
As the book begins, a developer is trying to convince the various property owners to sellup, but Frank is one of the ones that holds firm to his property.
Frank also employs a young man Kit as a general assistant. Kit is like an eager puppy, cheerful and exuberant, but also very clumsy. Into this environment one day comes a young German woman Ilse, and she finds her own place in the story, one that is pivotal, yet also not fully realized.
The passages about music in this book make me want to find the music mentioned and listen to it. Even those pieces that I was already familiar with became new to me as I learned more about them.
Highly recommended (and my book club liked it too)

A World of Kindness

Finished August 19
A World of Kindness from the Editors and Illustrators of Pajama Press

This book raises funds for Think Kindness and illustrates what kindness looks like. Nine illustrators works are included here, some from other books put out by Pajama Press, and some original to this work. The actions shown here include waiting one's turn, helping others, being gentle, being polite, apologizing, sharing, and comforting.
The pictures are well chosen to convey the actions, and show diversity. A great addition to any collection.

The Whole Town's Talking

Finished July 10
The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg

This novel takes place in Elwood Springs, Missouri as many of her novels do, but this one covers more time and takes a different view.
The book starts in 1889 with Lordor Nordstrom, the found of Elwood Springs as he settles in the United States, and starts a community that includes many other Swedes, but also those immigrants from other backgrounds. It tells of his search for a wife, one that has the support and assistance of the other men and women of the small community. As Lordor looks at the community, he picks a place on a hill in town with a pleasant view in all directions, and donates it for a cemetery, calling it Still Meadows. It introduces us to his friends and neighbours: Birdie and Lars Swenson, Henry and Nancy Knott, Old Man Henderson, and many others.
The story takes us through the years, with each new generation moving in, and learning about them, but until 1911 when the first town person was interred in the cemetery this is just background. Because something special happens to those buried here, and the reader will enjoy the premise of this story as it takes us up to 2021.
This is a story about community, about what life is really about, and about lasting love. I really enjoyed it, especially the little twist at the end.