Double Negative

Finished July 17

Double Negative by Susan Marshall

This teen novel has a lot going on, with some romance and betrayal, friendship issues, school extracurricular activities, and athletic commitments. 

The main character, Reece, has an injury that pauses her competitive swimming activity. She's been swimming at this level for years, and has hopes of a swimming scholarship to help with her university goals. She, along with other swim team members, and high level athletes, go to a school that prioritizes these activities and structures academics around training and competition commitments. Because she's injured, she gets moved to the public high school, where her older brother Jaime also attends. 

Jaime is working on his extracurriculars in hopes of getting a university scholarship as well, and is running for president of the student council. When his vice-presidential running partner is disqualified, he convinces Reece to take their spot. 

Reece is slowly adjusting to life at the high school, which involves more activities that she is used to, and begins to find she enjoys some of them, while still missing her previous environment. But her former friends seem to have quickly moved on without her, and although she does the physiotherapy and other work to bring her body back to prime condition, she feels set apart from them. 

As Reece faces new challenges, from mentoring a younger swimmer, to writing a constitution for the student council, she also finds herself attracted to Zain, one of her brother's strongest critics, and an athlete himself. 

Zain has had his own setbacks, and has some baggage from that that causes complications in how they relate to each other.

This book really immerses you in Reece's situation, so you can feel her frustrations (with her brother, her body, her father, Zain, and others) as well as her determination (to get well, to create a good constitution, to get justice for those she feels deserve it). Good characterization and real teenage decisions bring this book to life. 

It Started with a Dog

Finished July 14

It Started with a Dog by Julia London

This is another Austin, Texas set romance with a meet-cute that is chaotic and brief. Harper Thompson is rushing to catch the Megabus to Dallas, the last one that will get her there for Christmas. The Lyft driver is friendly and chatty, but the weather and traffic are both awful, and everyone is relieved when he agrees to turn off the radio. The SUV is full with someone in front and Harper squeezed beside two others in the middle, and all the luggage in the back. 

When the vehicle stops suddenly due to traffic everyone loses their grip on their phones and then wildly searches the floor. Harper doesn't notice that the phone she picks up, although the right colour isn't hers. She is the first to exit and runs for the bus, collapsing into the last seat available. Harper is taking a break from her job with a wacky boss who talks in riddles and yet somehow has created a thriving food truck and coffeehouse business. In the new year, Harper will be opening their newest location, and hopefully setting herself up for a promotion.

Jonah is headed to the airport, to Chicago to help a cousin move and get away from the family business which he has been trying to resurrect. The coffee shop was started by his grandparents, and now run by his parents and aunt and uncle, but when his father became ill, he took leave from his aerospace engineering job to run the business side. But the restaurant hasn't been updated in years, and is losing money. He's tried a few things, but nothing has worked yet. 

Jonah discovers the phone mix-up when he's at the airport, and with the slightly unbelievable fact that neither of the them locks their phone, is able to contact Harper. 

As they text back and forth, and surreptitiously check out each other's photo collections, they find a lot in common in terms of interests and how they like to communicate. But it is Jonah's picture of his dog Truck that really intrigues Harper. She would love a dog of her own, but feels she's too busy and instead does volunteer dog-walking at the ACC (Austin Canine Coalition).

Once the holidays are over and both Jonah and Harper are back in town and meet up to exchange phones, they discover a mutual attraction. But can it overcome the business rivalry that they find themselves in. Or would teaming up there as well actually work?

A fun story, with lots of interesting characters, including a few dogs, and an intriguing plot. I read it in one day. 

This is actually the second book in an Austin series, and some characters from the previous book You Lucky Dog appear here as well. 

Three O'Clock in the Morning

Finished July 11

Three O'Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Carofiglio, translated by Howard Curtis

This delightful novel was a quick read for me. The narrator, Antonio, talks about his life looking back on it later. As a child, his parents divorced and hi lived with his mother. His father was a mathematician and professor. When Antonio has a seizure and is diagnosed with epilepsy, both his parents take a strong interest in the situation, and unsatisfied with the initial treatment, they take him from Italy to Marseilles to a specialist. 

Following treatment, the are scheduled to return to Marseilles years later for a follow-up and, due to his mother's commitments, it is just Antonio and his father that go. When they find that they must stay for two extra days and Antonio must stay awake during these days, the two walk the streets of the city, visit restaurants and nightclubs, and go sightseeing and on boat trips. 

It is the first time that Antonio, now eighteen, sees his father as a person, and he discovers things about him that he never knew. 

This has a coming of age feel to it, and the open conversations between the two about their lives, interests, passions, and even love lives, is eye-opening. 

I liked how Antonio described his time with his father, his realization that his dad had experiences that he could relate to and learn from, and that he liked his father. A gem of a book.

Shout out to the Thornhill Village branch librarian for recommending it to me. 

The Summer Before the War

Finished July 10

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

This historical novel takes place mostly in the summer  of 1914 in the small coastal town of Rye in East Sussex. Agatha Kent is one of the women who makes things happen in the town. She is progressive to a degree and protective of her own. Often, her nephews, Hugh Grange and Daniel Bookham, spent their summers there. Agatha's husband John works in the government and gets down from London when he can. Hugh is studying to be a surgeon and Daniel is a poet, who aspires to larger literary pursuits with his friend Craigmore North.

Beatrice Nash has been living with her father's family since his death, but can't go on doing so. She was close to her father who was a writer, and she acted as his secretary and assistant for as long as she can remember, travelling widely with him. Agatha has arranged for her to take over as Latin teacher at their local school, and Beatrice is both thankful for the opportunity to make her own way, and a bit nervous at the prospect of teaching. 

Hugh has been tutoring three of the boys from the school in Latin, but is happy to hand them over to Beatrice for the summer. The boys: Jack, Richard (Snout), and Arty are to be tutored by Beatrice during that time. 

As Beatrice navigates the politics of the small town, and the responsibilities of her position, she also makes friends and tries for some small changes.

Another female in town who has pushed for Beatrice to be taken on as Latin teacher is Lady Emily Wheaton, who has two grown children, with her daughter married to a German duke. 

As the war begins, the men in town are drawn away to military pursuits and the women find themselves called in different directions. 

There are some scenes at the front with Hugh visiting Daniel and his unit there. 

This is a book that shows the ways of society before the this world-changing war, and gives a hint of the aims and dreams of the young generation that will end up giving the most in this war. We see the traditions of this rural community in the celebration of the hop harvest and the military parade of the local soldiers. 

The way the community welcomed some Belgian refugees was also interesting in many ways, and displayed prejudices and social commentary. 

This is a book that truly makes you care about several of the characters and brings them to life with their own personalities. From Snout to Agatha, and Beatrice to Hugh, we get a glimpse into their lives which will be changed forever. 

This Spells Love

Finished July 10

This Spells Love by Kate Robb

This romance starts off with Gemma Wilde having a night of solace after the breakup of a years-long relationship with Stuart. Gemma has a lovely condo overlooking the lake, a great job as beauty-products buyer for a popular chain store, and the people she is spending the evening with, her intriguing aunt Lily, her older sister Kiersten, and her best friend Dax. Her aunt suggests using a love cleanse spell in a book she's just acquired, and Gemma is definitely onboard. But the spells requires a kiss, and so Dax gives her a chaste kiss at the end of the evening before tucking Gemma into her bed in her margarita haze. 

When Gemma awakes the next morning, she is surprised to find that the spell may have worked, and she never went out with Stuart, but she finds herself in a dismal basement apartment with different possessions. When she goes out in search of answers, there is no one at her aunt's shop, and she finds herself at Dax's sneaker store, sneaking in the unlocked backdoor to look for reassurance. Dax is there, but he has no idea who she is and Gemma is aghast to find that her ex-boyfriend may not be the only thing thar she no longer has. As she discovers the alternate version of her life that she finds herself in, she discovers both good and bad things are true.

It seems that this Gemma made one of her long-time secret dreams come true, but that things didn't go as well for others. As she remakes old friendships and discovers new ones, she also must decide whether to stay in this reality, or attempt to undo the spell and return to her previous reality, if she can. 

Set in Hamilton, Ontario, this novel gives the feel for an authentic place, and some Canadian quirks. It also a lot of imagination in the details of Gemma's predicament.

Her friendship with Dax is a strong one, and I can see how losing that would be hard. He's also a hot guy and maybe there are feeling between them beyond friendship. As their relationship develops in one world, it's possible that it might be a stronger one in the other world as well.  

I like the unflappable quality of Lily, and the strong relationship between her and Kiersten, who always makes time for her despite being married with three kids. And I liked Dax, who has dreams of his own, and who has been an amazing friend to Gemma. 

A great read. 

Signup for 17th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge and 16th Annual Wrap-Up.

It was pretty much a given that I was doing this challenge, since I am the host, but here's the official commitment

If you want to signup, here's the signup page.

For the 16th Annual Challenge, I read 37 books

1. Where Have You Been Bobby Marr by Morris Dalla Costa. Finished July 15

2. Windy Days by Deborah Kerbel and Miki Sato. Finished September 5

3. This is the Boat that Ben Built by Jen Lynn Bailey and Maggie Zeng. Finished September 25

4. Animals Move by Jane Whittingham. Finished October 1

5. Birds on Wishbone Street by Suzanne Del Rizzo. Finished October 6

6. Act of God by Jill Ciment. Finished October 15

7. A Sky-Blue Bench by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Peggy Collins. Finished November 15

8. Dinos Driving by Lynn Leitch and Scot Ritchie. Finished November 20

9. Bear Has a Belly by Jane Whittingham. Finished November 23

10. The Witch of Babylon by D.J. McIntosh. Finished November 26

11. Let's Add Up! by Victoria Allenby, illustrated by Maggie Zeng. Finished November 27

12. If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It by Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac, illustrated by Scot Ritchie. Finished December 11

13. Serena Singh Flips the Script by Sonya Lalli. Finished December 16

14. Dusk in the Frog Pond and other stories by Rummana Chowdhury. Finished December 20

15. Zolitude by Paige Cooper. Finished January 7

16. Snitch by Allison van Diepen. Finished January 8

17. A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong. Finished January 8

18. Sari Not Sari by Sonya Singh. Finished January 12

19. The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr. Finished January 31

20. The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny. Finished February 11

21. A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny. Finished February 14

22. Ties that Tether by Jane Igharo. Finished February 25

23. Six Weeks with You by Janet Koops. Finished March 11

24. Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli and Tara Anderson. Finished March 25

25. While You Sleep by Jennifer Maruno and Miki Sato. Finished March 25

26. Nurse! a memoir by Francene Cosman. Finished March 27

27. Haven by Emma Donoghue. Finished April 18

28. Ragged Lake by Ron Corbett. Finished April 30

29. Cocoa Magic by Sandra Bradley and Gabrielle Grimard. Finished April 30

30. Percy's Perfect Friend by Lana Button, illustrated by Peggy Collins. Finished May 12

31. Harmless by James Grainger. Finished May 14

32. Next Time There's a Pandemic by Vivek Shraya. Finished May 18

33. The Whole Night Through by Christiane Frenette. Finished May 25

34. Standing in the Shadows by Peter Robinson. Finished May 31

35. Belonging by Adrienne Clarkson. Finished June 10

36. White Slaves by Nicholas Kinsey. Finished June 15

37. People Change by Vivek Shraya. Finished June 21

Girl, Forgotten

Finished July 5

Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter

The beginning of this book has a day from the early 1980s, where a young woman, Emily Vaughn, is planning to go to her high school prom. She hasn't been to high school in months, and no one wants her there. The reason for that is her pregnancy. Here we see Emily encounter several young men, classmates as well as a teacher, and defy her parents' wishes to head to the school. She gets there, but never gets back home. 

This novel follows U.S. Marshall Andrea Oliver from her graduation day as a marshall through her first assignment. Andrea grew up in the witness protection program, although she wasn't aware of that until recently. Her biological father is a man who is in jail partly due to her mother's testimony. He was also one of the men suspected in Emily Vaughn death. 

When, on her graduation day, Andrea is offered the job of protecting a judge in Delaware who has been receiving death threats, she finds that the judge Esther Vaughn is Emily's mother, and there is a hidden agenda to her posting. Someone wants her to find Emily's killer, and they think it is Andrea's father. 

As Andrea gets her bearings in the small town, getting to know her partner, an experienced marshall with a quirky sense of humour names, Leonard (Catfish) Bible, as well as the locals, she finds there is more going on than she expected. 

As she learns how Bible thinks, she also learns that many people from Emily's life have secrets, and most of them are still in town. 

This is a book that has a lot going on, and some of the plotlines are eye-opening. Andrea has training, but she is learning her job as she goes, and sometimes, she makes a mistake. A book that will keep you guessing until the end.