Friday Book Blogging
My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson ~ This book has several short stories and one novella. I listened to it via my Libby app, free from the library. I think I found it doing a search for books with Monticello, after my BFF Rosemary went there a couple of years ago, and found the tour depressing and disturbing. I can say, I LOVED this book. And I loved listening to it, because the first story is narrated by LeVar Burton. The first story, Control Negro, is about a professor who wants to study racism by clinically observing a young black man whom he knows to be decent and good, and how the world at large treats this young man. The novella, My Monticello, is about a group of neighbors in Charlottesville, fleeing a group of angry white militia in a near future where the country is unraveling from a combination of racial unrest and environmental disasters. They take refuge in Monticello, where the protagonist and her grandmother are direct descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. I liked all of the stories in the book, but these two were my favorite.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah ~ This is another story about French resistance during World War II. It reminded me of The Winemaker’s Wife and The Book of Names by the very similarly named author, Kristin Harmel, which I read a .few months ago. The Nightingale is the story of two French sisters, Vianne and Isabelle. Vianne is older and married, and lives in the countryside with her husband and their daughter. Her husband is called up to war, and then the area is occupied. She is forced to take on a Nazi soldier, who lives in her house and watches her comings and goings. Isabelle is younger, and lives in Paris with her distant, alcoholic father. When the Nazis occupy Paris, he sends her to live with Vianne in the countryside, but she doesn’t stay very long. She wants to do more, she wants her life to have meaning. Overall a good read, I enjoyed it, but it felt so similar to the other two books, it was sort of deja vu. Probably the authors did their research, and told stories based on actual events, and these sort of events were pretty similar.
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller ~ Elle is a 50 year old married mother of 3, who spends time every summer at her family cabin. At the beginning of the novel, she wakes up after having had sex with her best friend, Jonah. They crept outside during a dinner party the evening before, while their spouses were inside. From there, the novel goes back and forth, from her childhood, through her parents divorce, her teen years, step-parents and siblings, her losses and traumas. She dearly loves her husband, Peter, and the life they have together. She dearly loves Jonah, and he knows secrets that no one else knows. I was fully engrossed in this book. The end is quite controversial. Not my favorite ending.
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R. F. Kuang ~ Robin Swift is a young orphan from Canton, brought to Oxford, England by a strange professor, in the mid-1800s. This is a parallel universe, where language and magic combine to imbue silver with powers that enables British colonization and world domination. Robin finds fast friends in the language program there, and is as happy as can be until he discovers the dark underside of the program. This was an enjoyable read, a mix of historical fiction and fantasy novel. I liked it, but I didn’t love it.
Currently I’m listening to Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, and reading The Hours by Michael Cunningham. I’m loving them both. Neither are new.
14 Comments
Margaret
I absolutely loved Major Pettigrew; now I want to re-read it. My dad loved it as well. I am just not a Kristin Hannah fan. I don’t like the way she writes although I didn’t hate “The Nightingale.” Damned with faint praise, eh?
J
I agree, it was fine, but not something I would keep and re-read. Faint praise indeed.
Kyria @ Travel Spot
Your take on the Nightingale is interesting, as I read it (a) probably 8 years ago and (b) before I had read either of the other books you mentioned (or all of the other WWII books that have come since) and I loved it! I don’t know if it was because it was first in line so I then compared the others to it instead of the other way around, but I liked it more than The Winemakers Wife. The Book of Names was very good too though, but again, I probably read the two books 7 years apart, so maybe I was ready for more of the same by then!
Also, as a side and unrelated note, I was in your town the other day and I saw the pianos! I was so excited! However, did you ever figure out what they do with them when it rains?
J
Interesting on the WWII books, I think you’re right, the first one is probably the one that sticks with you the most.
Nice that you saw the pianos! They are charming, and I am always especially happy when someone is playing one. I have not figured out what they do about the rain. I did find out where they come from, though, a local piano store. Perhaps I will ask sometime.
Ally Bean
I’ve not read, or heard of even, any of these books. They each sound unique and worthy of a read. Thanks for the reviews and suggestions.
J
Thanks Ally! I have a book on hold that you recommended, House on Mango Street, though I think I will be waiting awhile.
Lisa of Lisa’s Yarns
I loved The Nightingale! I read it close to when it came out and hadn’t read any other books that were similar. I would have felt differently if I had read similar books close to when I read it, though. I have taken a break from WWII fiction after reading sooo many over the last several years!
I really enjoyed The Paper Palace. My favorite character was the MIL. I loved her relationship with her cheated upon son-in-law. I don’t remember much about the ending, though, but I want to say it was kind of unresolved/open to interpretation about what happens which I don’t love.
J
Lisa! I didn’t have to approve your comment! I think this is the first time this has happened. I really enjoyed The Paper Palace too, I was team husband, and while the end is up to interpretation, I think she ran off with her BFF. Bah.
Regarding the Nightingale, I think I would have liked it more if I hadn’t so recently read 2 similar books.
NGS
I really loved Babel. I just felt like it was so immersive and was such a powerful message about how important language and words and writing are. RF Kuang is a bit of a polarizing author, though, so I can see how maybe it was more meh for you!
J
NGS, I liked Babel, I just didn’t get pulled in as deeply as you did. I am trying to remember if I have read anything else by Kuang, I don’t think so.
Nicole MacPherson
I have read the first three, and of them, I only liked The Paper Palace. Well, actually I loved The Paper Palace! I just read a book called The Summer Place and it also takes place in Cape Cod. It takes shots at WASPy summer homes and it was very fun to read after The Paper Palace.
J
Oh, I read The Summer Place a few months ago, and I enjoyed it!
nance
Oh, gosh, The Hours! I saw the film first, and it affected me so intensely. I immediately found the book, and it was incredibly written. I loved it. So good! Even better than the film because it had so many literary elements in it that nuanced the story.
But that movie…wow.
J
Nance, I haven’t seen the film yet, I’m looking forward to it once I finish the book. Glad to hear you loved it!