Treat Yo Shelf To The Queen

“The Reigning Queen of Historical Fiction”—Fiona Davis on Kate Quinn

It’s no secret I’m a historical fiction junkie. What you might not know is New York Times bestselling author, Kate Quinn, is fast becoming one of my favorite historical fiction writers. If you haven’t tapped into her network of books, you really should. She builds stories around powerful, self-assured women that draw you in and make you want to be a better person. When I saw she had a new release, July fireworks lit up and activated this old lady’s brain. I’d discovered my next best read—The Briar Club.

Set in the McCarthy era of the 1950s, The Briar Club is a story about a mismatched group of women at a drab boardinghouse in our nation’s capital. Most of the boarders tend to keep a low profile. Women who are pros at burying secrets down deep. When the beautiful and mysterious Grace March moves into the attic, everything begins to change. Grace (aptly named) has a way of drawing people into her warm circle of friendship. She understands the art of making people feel loved. Her weekly attic dinners and window-brewed sun tea become a place of healing and refuge for everyone at Briarwood House. As Grace’s neighbors share their struggles and reveal their secrets to her, they realize they know very little about who Grace really is. They have no clue about the secrets she keeps that ultimately lead to murder at the boardinghouse. If only Briarwood’s drab walls could speak.

You’ll have to join the club to pull back the curtain on a killa. My bet is you’ll be glad you did. In this bibliomane’s opinion, The Rose Code is still Quinn’s best historical fiction to date. Fiona Davis called it “A knockout of a story.” It was just too good and the inspiration behind my visit to Bletchley Park. That being said, The Briar Club is in my top three Kate Quinn offerings and definitely earns 4 plus stars.

Posted by Sharee

Book Nirvana

“And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3)

My love of books began at a young age. Books have a way of making you experience the world in a fresh new light. Of course, the best of them make you feel a palpable mix of emotions. And then there are those rare, exceptional books that you can’t stop thinking about, long after you’ve read the last page. Mark Sullivan’s latest historical fiction, All the Glimmering Stars, is nothing short of book nirvana. He takes readers on a journey full of human suffering but inextricably woven with a firm hope and belief in the overall goodness and power that comes from being a “good human.”

Anthony Opoka and Florence Okori are optimistic, young teens trying to navigate life in Uganda during the turbulent ‘90s. Both are taken and forced into combat by members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by the maniacal African warlord, Joseph Kony.

Anthony escapes multiple near-death experiences (even a trip to the morgue) to become the radio operator for some of the senior members of the LRA and eventually Kony himself. His hope for survival rests on his ability to communicate on behalf of corrupt leaders and his gift to navigate via the stars.

Florence was one of the brightest students in her school. She had big dreams of becoming a nurse. In the LRA, she assists the medical team and perpetually hopes she can one day return to her former life. Both Florence and Anthony desperately hold on to the lessons they learned from their parents about being a good human.

At the lowest point of these young protagonists’ lives, a chance meeting pulls them into the same proximity. The true story of their lives is miraculous. It will stun you—and leave you believing in the power of being a “good human.” A glimmering five star read from this book-loving soul.

Posted by Sharee

Vacation's All I Ever Wanted

“I just want to lie on the beach and eat hot dogs. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” Kevin Malone

I’ve never considered Kevin Malone my spirit animal, but I see eye-to-eye with the Scranton branch numbers guy. I just want to lie on the beach. (If J-Dawgs happened to have a cart offshore, I’d eat a frank for sure.) Today marks the first day of summer. Hopefully, you’ve got some plans that involve dog days in the sun, the most relaxing waves ever, and time on your side. If you’re anything like me, deciding which books to tow along matters more than SPF. Good books make an escape even breezier. So, here are a few winners worthy of your beach bag.

If you prefer a light, carefree read on your summer vacay, you’ll want to check out Emily Henry’s latest: Funny Story. When Daphne experiences heartbreak after rooting herself to a Wisconsin native with girlfriend confusion, she’s forced to pivot. Her dream job as a children’s librarian fills her soul far more than her wallet. So she’s forced to consider a roommate. Choosing a quirky, scruffy guy named Miles who used to date her former fiancé’s soulmate seems like an odd choice. But funny stories rarely fall in step with the norm. Sharee said Henry’s latest is both sincere and heartfelt. It will warm you like the morning sun. (The fact that Julia Whelan narrates this charmer will make you love it all the more.)

Will it surprise that I don’t require a light read for the beach? I’m in a committed relationship with my TBR tower. I just finished David Balducci’s A Calamity of Souls. I’m new to Balducci, but I’ve been trying out authors lately in the same way I’m exploring alternate sources of protein. (Barebell is my latest favorite. Try ‘em, you’ll like ‘em!) The novel revolves around a murder case. The year is 1968. A prominent white couple is murdered, and their black employee is accused. Oh, how I love a mystery. This book is so much bigger than mere suspense. In fact, S.A. Crosby said A Calamity of Souls is “an immovable object of history slamming into the irresistible force of truth.” We all know To Kill A Mockingbird is in a league all of its own—Calamity made me nostalgic for Lee’s masterpiece. Now that’s sayin’ something. Throw in some sun and some sand and you’ve got an instant vacation.

Posted by Tracy

Another Wrinkle in Time

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.” —Barbara Tuchman

I love to speculate. Of course, simple truths are better than grand speculations, but that doesn’t stop me from theorizing thinly and otherwise. Wanna hear my latest supposition? Madeleine L’Engle and Rachel Khong are total soul sisters, separated by a silent generation, baby boomers, and latchkey kids. Someone summon the Newberry winner to pay an ethereal visit to the Real Americans’ author. The prize-winning writers would have a lot to talk about. Surely, L’Engle would have questions about the time-arresting powers of an immigrant family, 3 generations deep. Yes, that says time-arresting. The power to “keep time still” constitutes a wrinkle.

Real Americans chronicles the lives of three family members: Mei, the Chinese-born ambitious geneticist; Lily, her American-born daughter who struggles to find her identity; and Nick, Lily’s biracial boy who’s kept in the dark for years. Ultimately, their family’s saga underscores just how difficult it is to create a culture of belonging. For some, the meaning of home is fuzzy and obscured. It seems Khong and I would agree that choices, more often than not, trump fate. This novel offers a unique view. We “see people blown slightly sideways through life, through unexpected passages that they often choose very quickly.”

Several reviewers have compared Real Americans to Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I feel like Khong’s story was more ambitious—it took on an awful lot. After all, “The book poses a dizzying array of questions: What does it mean to be American, and who gets to say who is one? How much can we blame our parents for who and what we become? Am I, maybe, racist? When scientists and techies say they can make a better human, should we run the other way?” Oh, and is our luck in life ever really under our control? What is the true meaning of good fortune? These are weighty questions. One thing’s for sure: Real Americans will make you think. Maybe even speculate deeply.  

P.S. For the sensitive reader, there are F-bombs on pages and a trace of steamy.

One last thought: This made me want to read Khong’s first novel, Goodbye Vitamin.

Posted by Tracy

A Magnificent Score

“One thing I like about historical fiction is that I’m not constantly focusing on me, or people like me; you’re obliged to concentrate on lives that are completely other than your own.” —Emma Donoghue

Give it up for Room’s brainchild, will you? Emma’s apparently like me—a fan of a novel masquerading as real events. Historical fiction has always been my favorite genre. I’m happy to report that Gian Sardar’s recent release When the World Goes Quiet is a real fiction winner.

Sardar’s story is set in 1918 German-occupied Bruges, Belgium (a captivating city everyone loves). The narrative centers around a young married artist named Evelien whose husband, Emiel, is off fighting the war while she remains behind in Bruges with his parents. She has been given the task of caring for her wealthy friend and employer’s home. He owns beautiful works of art that have been hidden from the Germans. If Evelien safeguards the art successfully, one of the treasured paintings will be hers. A magnificent score. As the war marches slowly to a close, Evelien knows she must bide her time and stay out of trouble for just a little bit longer. If only it could be that easy.

This review resonated with me: “Masterfully crafted, When the World Goes Quiet draws you in from the first page and doesn’t let go. ‘In war, actions do not define the man…or the woman.’ This story pits passion against devotion and loyalty against duty and does a brilliant job weaving a heartrending web between them. It is storytelling at its best―part history lesson, part survival story, part love story. Stunning.” I’ll add an amen. And assign shiny stars—espionage, love, betrayal, and a lovely twist make this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars for this historical fiction lover.

Posted by Sharee

A Love Letter to the Written Word

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." —The one and only Winnie the Pooh

Rae and I were in the same zip code this month. I love it when that happens! And let me tell you, it doesn’t happen nearly enough. It goes without saying goodbye is always hard, but I don’t need a reminder to know how lucky I am to have a once-in-a-lifetime friend. We needed more time. In the briefest conversation, we chatted about Jim. I guess I should more accurately say James. As in Percival Everett’s James. Man, I feel lucky to have gotten to know him.

For those of you who haven’t heard about Percival Everett’s latest, I’ll borrow from Garrett Biggs’ review, “James is many things: a relentless code-switching satire, a meditation on the constructedness of racial identity, a love letter to the written word, and yes, I suppose, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Enslaved Jim takes center stage. He’s remarkably intelligent. And literate. His compassion is as tall as his task to remain free. I love his dream dialogue with Locke and Voltaire. Jim makes me think. And rethink. As I listened to Everett’s last line, I felt sad to say goodbye to “one of the noblest characters in American literature [who finally] gets a novel worthy of him.”

P.S. I’m ashamed to admit that Percival Everett hasn’t been on my radar. I wish I would have read this piece before seeing American Fiction. Even then, I didn’t put two and two together when I downloaded James. I didn’t realize Everett authored the Oscar winner. Admittedly, this is my first introduction to the award-winning author and Pulitzer Prize finalist. It most certainly won’t be my last.

Posted by Tracy

Honest-To-Goodness Magic

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” —W.B. Yeats

It’s no secret that we play favorites around here. We aren’t trying to hide the fact that we feel a blazing love for certain authors. Leif Enger is one of them. (Rachel’s right: he deserves an ode.) The man, I’m convinced, couldn’t write a mediocre book if he tried. Remember Peace Like a River? Enger’s debut novel that received critical acclaim back in 2001. Ah, those glimmering pages comprising “a perennial, bestselling American classic that is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, and a love story, in which ‘there is magic.’” Irresistible magic.

Leif Enger is proof that any idea can turn to dust or magic, depending upon the talent that rubs against it. His idea in I Cheerfully Refuse eddies around a grief-stricken husband named Rainy who can’t find his bearings without his wife, Lark. Like her name suggests, Lark is a source of adventure. And a song of light.  Rainy’s world goes dim without her, not to mention he’s on the run. He tries to find refuge on Lake Superior—in her mists, storms, fogs, and wind—with the hope of finding the love of his life therein. Lark would be so proud of his adventures.

While I Cheerfully Refuse qualifies as a dystopian novel, it didn’t take me to dark places. On the contrary. I felt a welcomed optimism in Enger’s pages. Hope sailed through his latest masterpiece. Props to the reviewer who explained, “Like Mark Twain, Enger gives us a full accounting of the human soul, scene by scene, wave by wave.” This man’s prose is a song of light, and his talent is a source of honest-to-goodness magic.

Posted by Tracy 

Throwback Thursday Resurrected

“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”  —Andy (from The Office)

Remember when we used to throw it back on a rare, we’re-so-put-together Thursday? Those were the good old days, weren’t they? Clearly, I’ve actually left them. But hey, it’s Thursday and I’m throwing it back because, in the words of Rachel, our resident 2@27 darling, “it’s one of our favorite features.”

Despite being south of put together, I’d like to think we’ve stepped it up one small notch on reviewing new releases with greater haste. It’s fun to keep pace with avid, in-the-know readers. Sometimes it’s twice as nice to pick up a book you’ve been meaning to read. The ones with the familiar covers that adorn shelves and cry out for a few choice hours of your complete attention. I swear, I’ve heard Evelyn call me by name. Evelyn Hardcastle and Evelyn Hugo both. I responded to Hardcastle for this throwback sesh. And I’m so glad I did.

I loved Stuart Turton’s intricately crafted debut novel, The7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. It’s full of intrigue and perplexing questions that kept my mind on the hunt for answers. I mean really, whose interest wouldn’t become instantly piqued by a narrator who “wakes up in a dripping forest, wearing someone else’s dinner jacket, and, he soon realizes, somebody else’s body.” To complicate matters, the narrator has no memory. Add to the reality this fact: He can’t leave the estate he’s trapped in (aptly named Blackheath) unless he reveals the name Evelyn Hardcastle’s impending murderer. Plus, he’s on the clock. He has 8 days and 8 bodies or “hosts” to inhabit, or he can never leave the foreboding heath where secrets go to die. If you’re like Sharee and you’re ready for a  “suspense bender” right about now, why not begin with a visit to the dark, disorienting world of Turton’s isolated English manor? You won’t figure this mesmerizer out until the very end. In the immortal words of Charles Barkley, “I guarantee it!”

Posted by Tracy