The Case of the Left-Handed Lady (by Nancy Springer)

This is kind of scary for a supposedly "middle grade" book! But checking off the "middle grade mystery" category anyway in the Read Harder Challenge. This is the second book in the Enola Holmes series, aka Sherlock Holmes fanfiction in which both he and Mycroft are wildly out of character, but whatever, it's just an excuse to write about the clever and independent Enola. I enjoyed it.

As I update my list I see I didn't finish a lot of books this month. I read parts of several Tournament books, including Deacon King Kong and Shuggy Bain, without finishing them. I made it through about three quarters of We Ride on Sticks before I got so irritated I gave up. (I wanted to like it as I love first person plural narration and my own beloved Gen X; it's just a bit too long and a bit too cutesy for me.) 

I did end up finishing all four of the Tournament of Books semifinalists, although I go back and forth on my favorite. (The Vanishing Half was my fourth-ranked, though I still enjoyed it; the others are simply more inventive.) My brain says Interior Chinatown and my heart says Piranesi.  But Breasts and Eggs is also my favorite! Augh! Anyway, great tournament, with some outstanding judgments, particularly this one.

Piranesi (by Susanna Clarke)

I read Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell years ago, and of course can't find any review I wrote of it, but I know I didn't like it much because there was some internal inconsistency in the magical system. That sounds very on brand for me.

I loved Piranesi, on the other hand. The magic is never explained, which is fine by me, and this is a far cry from the 1500 page behemoth of Jonathan Strange.  Instead this is almost a novella, about a person named Piranesi who lives in a mysterious labyrinth with one other person, named The Other.  Piranesi is (be still my heart) an unreliable narrator, and the true nature of the world unfolds slowly through his journal entries. 

It took a bit for me to get into this narrative (Piranesi likes to Capitalize many of his Words and it Illuminates his Character but Takes some getting Used To) but it soon casts a spell on the reader.  I feel like this is one of those novels that's Not for Everyone, but it definitely was For Me.

Memorial (by Bryan Washington)

The Tournament of Books has begun! This year, I finished six books (Memorial, The Vanishing Half, Transcendent Kingdom, Breasts and Eggs, Luster, Interior Chinatown) and read parts of two others before abandoning them (Deacon King Kong, Shuggie Bain) and read enough about Tender Is the Flesh to know I never want to read it. 

Memorial is a book told in alternating perspectives by two halves of a couple, Benson and Mike. Mike's estranged father is dying, and he flies to Japan to be with him; at the same time, Mike's mother stays with Ben in Houston.

I thought this would add up to more than it did. Ben and Mike seem to dislike each other; the author and even the other characters want you to root for these two crazy kids to make it, but why? The narrators aren't very distinct except Mike says "fuck" a lot and Ben doesn't. I enjoyed the two characters and their stories individually, but I expected more to happen between Ben and Mike's mom, or Ben and Mike, or overall for it to add up to something more than a big shrug at the end.

Breasts and Eggs is still my favorite of the ToB books; this was my least favorite. Hopefully in the next week I can finish Piranesi, which just came off library hold for me...

Interior Chinatown (by Charles Yu)

This is an innovative and metatextual novel in which our protagonist, Willis Wu, lives in Chinatown, where a cop show named Black and White (starring two detectives, one Black and one white) is continually running. Wu plays roles ranging from GENERIC ASIAN MAN to DEAD ASIAN MAN to (the pinnacle of his aspiration) KUNG FU GUY.  This conceit allows the author to examine the ways in which Americans of Asian descent have been pigeonholed in America, and other complexities of navigating the culture as a Chinese-American.

I loved this. It's a disarmingly fast read (much of it in script format) but has a lot of depth and wit to it. As you may guess, it's also wildly original.  I heard about it via the Tournament of Books, but it also won the 2020 National Book Award.

Breasts and Eggs (Mieko Kawakami)

This is "a non-European novel in translation" for the Read Harder Challenge and also a selection from this year's Tournament of Books. On top of all that, I loved it! It's like the litfic trifecta.

This book is described as a "psychological novel" concerned with the bodies of women. It focuses on everything from breast augmentation to fertility, from asexuality to the creative process. I loved the style, the characters, and the Tokyo setting, which reminded me of what it felt like to visit there. 

I really like the description of "psychological novel" and I think that's a style I really enjoy. There's something reminiscent of The Wings of the Dove or My Year of Rest and Relaxation or The Remains of the Day. This very interior, meditative approach that is still so compelling. Luster was like that too, except less successful overall. But the interiority is something I enjoyed there too.

This is one of those finds that would have passed me by without the Tournament of Books, and one reason I love participating every year.  Not perfect, but my favorite read of the year so far!

Transcendent Kingdom (by Yaa Gyasi)

Gyasi's follow-up to the incredible Homegoing, and equally beautifully written.  Our main character, Gifty, is a Ghanian-American (like Gyasi herself) and a neuroscientist who is studying patterns of addiction in mice after her family has been impacted by addiction.  There is also a focus on the complex relationship between Gifty and her mother, who has depression, as well as an exploration of the tension between her childhood evangelical faith and her scientific principles.

As the novel approached its ending (my Kindle was like "92% complete!") it felt like none of the plot strands would be resolved and I was getting nervous about Gyasi sticking the landing. It ends on this lovely moment of ambiguity (maybe too much ambiguity) but then suddenly there's a jump ahead in time and an epilogue that feels out-of-place as well as too neat. So I have to say the ending subtracted a star from me, as it didn't find the perfect middle ground between too resolved and not resolved at all. But I love Gyasi's writing and am excited to read whatever she publishes next.

Luster (by Raven Leilani)

There is a lot to love about this novel. I can't think of another novel with a Black protagonist that I have read that is so interior (somewhat reminiscent of My Year of Rest and Relaxation). At the same time, Edie's race and gender are ever-present and addressed in subtle ways that feel completely authentic. The writing is luscious and poetic.

At the same time, it sags somewhat in the middle. Nothing actually happens for a long time, and the characters behave like characters in a novel, not like real people. Towards the end I was thinking it didn't add up to much, but the ending chapter is extremely strong, and this saved it somewhat for me. Looking forward to the discussion about this in the Tournament of Books, where it's going up against another book I'm interested in, Interior Chinatown.

The Vanishing Half (by Brit Bennett)

This book is highly acclaimed (including by Barack Obama) and my friends at work also raved about how great it was. Also, it's on the Tournament of Books list so I was hoping I would finally finish one ToB book this year.

It was a bit slow going for me in the beginning, which made me nervous, but it picked up the pace when we jumped into the next generation and I ended up loving it. There are a number of Chekhov's guns that never actually get fired, which I found refreshing in a weird way. It felt more naturalistic, even if I had some questions and curiosities at the end that were never answered.

Some of the Goodreads crew didn't find the characters fully realized, but this was not an issue for me; I thought the characters were amazingly drawn. Excellent novel and I hope it goes far in the ToB!

My Dark Vanessa (by Kate Elizabeth Russell)

 A book full of Nabokov references (its title comes from Pale Fire and it is full of references to Lolita) and a dark but compelling plot about a woman in 2017 looking back at her "affair" with a schoolteacher, when she was 15 and he was 43.

There is some controversy about this book due to the similarity with a memoir by a Latinx author, although I don't think that this story is that unique, sadly enough. In fact, my high school geometry teacher was well known for "dating" students right after they graduated and turned 18, and even married a former student. Our friend group was friendly with him and with his wife back in the day, but in hindsight he was a super creep!

This book is potentially triggering if you had an older adult predatory male in your life when you were a teenager and, let's be honest, which of us women didn't? To a greater or lesser extent, this story is familiar, and unflinching, and raw. A compelling read.

Thanksgiving Reads

I read a bunch of books on our Thanksgiving staycation, and here now are those books.

By the Book (by Amanda Sellet)

A YA romance about a bookish narrator named Mary, who is delightfully awkward and literary.  Very light, but enjoyable. As you know I’ve read a lot of YA recently and it definitely stuck out that the characters here were for the most part very white. These days, most YA novels have a more diverse cast of characters.  Just an observation.

Rogue Patrol (by Martha Wells)

The next book in the Murderbot series and another enjoyable installment. I must confess I don’t quite understand the big picture conspiracy (probably because it takes a while for me to read each book in the series since the library hold list is long) but I loved the story here, especially the arc of Miki, another bot who Murderbot semi-befriends. How do you not love Miki?

Long Bright River (by Liz Moore)

The 2021 Tournament of Books longlist is out, so let the reading begin! This is an atmospheric, litficcy thriller about a police officer named Mickey who is trying to find her sister, an addict who has disappeared. There are twists and turns, and a compelling plot. A page-turner.

Full Disclosure (by Camryn Garrett)

Love the premise: a girl who is HIV-positive navigating first-time romance and figuring out how to disclose to her friends and new love interest that she is positive. There was something off about this though; many weird moments that didn’t feel quite real (starting with the opening scene, Simone being all sex-positive and asking questions of her gynecologist while one of her dads is in the room being controlling, except he’s a doctor and of all people should know better).  There are numerous jarring moments like this, or where what people say or do doesn’t quite work with what has been established about them previously.  A bit rough.

Her Royal Highness (by Rachel Hawkins)

Very witty writing and a fun plotline (Millie goes off to school in Scotland and falls in love with her roommate, a princess) but torpedoed by godawful pacing. There are three long chapters before she even goes to Scotland (like, come on, we know she ends up there, we don’t need a full journey) but then the climax and denouement happen so fast it seems like the author was on some kind of deadline at the end.  And it doesn’t even quite make sense how it unfolds. Not in a rush to read the other books in this series.

I Wish You All the Best (by Mason Deaver)

Another strikeout in the world of YA. (I keep checking them out thinking something is going to live up to the amazing YA I’ve read this year, like More Happy Than Not or Stay Gold or Amelia Westlake Was Never Here). This is about a nonbinary character named Ben, great! But they are so angsty and unlikeable from beginning to end that it makes the romance part not work. (What does Nathan see in Ben? Why are they even friends?) Ben is described towards the end as “kind” and I honestly can’t recall a single instance in this book of where they were kind to someone else or even had a particularly kind thought. I also can’t help but compare it to Stay Gold, where I emerged with a visceral understanding of the main character as trans, but here I didn’t learn much about what it means for Ben to be nonbinary, and I really wanted to! Disappointing.