City of Flickering Light

 

 

 

City of Flickering Light by Juliette Fay    336 pages

 

Absolutely. Loved. This. Book!

 

I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for novels about Old Hollywood. Just love ‘em. And Juliette Fay’s new historical gem, “City of Flickering Light” is no exception. I don’t believe it’s too early to prognosticate that this will be the beach read of the 2019 season.

 

Irene, Millie and Henry all work for the same burlesque troupe.  They are not-quite-friends but more than acquaintances. Irene is the seasoned veteran, having once been part of a sister-act with her twin, Ivy. Millie is the innocent ingénue, someone who needs looking after, and Irene takes on that burden. Henry is the new guy, the bad comedian all burlesque troupes seem to have.

 

One day in July 1921, Irene decides that she had had enough. She’s quitting the business and heading for Hollywood. Flickers, or silent movies, are the rage. She hatches a plan where she and Millie jump off a moving train, just like theater-goers saw in those early films. She didn’t count on Henry following them, and she didn’t count on the boss sending his muscle to find them.

 

After a harrowing escape, the trio makes their way to the land of eternal sunshine and set about becoming a star. It’s not as easy as it looks. Author Fay takes readers on a journey of bad, but cheap, boarding houses; lining up outside the studio, hoping and praying, they’ll catch the eye of an assistant director; traipsing around after dark, trying to make that all important connection in whatever speakeasy they can find. Their adventures kept me up way past my bedtime for three nights.

 

One of the things that I really like about the novel was that Fay didn’t shy away from the sordid side of the casting couch and other indelicate secrets that only appeared when one looked beneath the surface of the glamour and fame….if you made it.

 

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the ending. It just kinda stopped. I had really gotten to know these characters, had developed a bond with them and wanted to know how it all turns out.  Fingers crossed that there will be a sequel. If not, I’ll pretend I’m a movie star and make my own happy ending.

 

“City of Flickering Light” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Barrowfields

  

The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis 368 pages

I was attracted to Lewis’ debut novel for two reasons. First, I read that someone thought this is the kind of novel “you’d get if you crossed Shirley Jackson and Pat Conroy; a southern Gothic haunted house tale with a coming of age story.” Jackson, Conroy, Southern, Gothic, haunted house. I admit it, there wasn’t much that could stop me from reading this one.

I had, wrongly, assumed, that Barrowfields was either a) the family name, b) the name of the house, or c) the name of a town. Actually, Barrowfields is a barren wasteland in North Carolina. I “think” it’s near the coast, but I can’t remember right now.

The story centers around the Aster family. They are typical Appalachian folk: poor, hard-working, honest. Helton and Madeline do their best. Their “children were well cared for even if food and clothes were hard to come by.”

The couple has one son, Henry. He is different than other kids; he loves to read (another reason I was drawn to this story). He leaves the mountains, desperate to make it as writer, but gets a law degree, for college, but ultimately returns with a pregnant wife in tow. They settle down to make a life, purchasing a gothic house high on the hill.  

They have a son, Henry, Jr., who narrates the novel. They settle into life. And that’s the problem with this novel. While the writing is beautiful, the plot just moseys along, It’s like reading about a bunch of people sitting around thinking. I think it’s the long sentences and the slow pace that made this such a chore. I wasn’t pulled into the story; I couldn’t find an arc that really enticed me to read. 

Little to no plot in a beautifully written novel are the reasons that  The Barrowfields receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

ghosts of el grullo

ghosts of el grullo by Patricia Santana   296 pages

ghosts of el grullo  is the follow-up to Patricia Santana’s debut novel, motorcycle ride on the sea of tranquility, which was selected as one of the best fiction books for young adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

The time is now 1973. Many things have changed for the Sahagun family. Carolina has married her boyfriend Tom, Ana Maria is still secretly dating Tony, Antonio is married, and Octavio has chosen bachelorhood and lives in a trailer park a few doors down from Chuy. Chuy remains haunted by his tout in Vietnam back in 1969. The narrator, Yolanda (or Yoli for short) is still best friends with Lydia. But now Yoli has been accepted at the University of California---San Diego and is preparing to go live in a dorm.

When Mama dies from cancer and Papa decides to sell the house, Yoli struggles between wanting to keep the family together (she, Ana Maria, Monica and Luz are still living in the family home) and wanting to cut all the ties and live life on her terms. In an effort to understand her mother now that she is gone, Yoli goes to visit her aunts, her mother’s sisters, in El Grullo, Mexico. There she encounters the ghosts of past and present. She learns what her parents were like before they married: Mama an upper-class senorita who fell for her poor Papa.

I struggled to find Yoli’s voice in this second novel. There were times when I could hear the voice and that kept me reading. I had trouble trying to care about what happened in El Grullo; I was much more interested in what was happening in the San Diego suburb of Palm City where the Sahagun home was located.

I Googled Patricia Santana to learn if she had written any more follow-ups or other stand-along novels. I was disappointed to find her website only this book and  motorcycle ride on the sea of tranquility. I think she is a wonderful writer.

As much as wanted to love ghosts of el grullo as much as I loved motorcycle ride on the sea of tranquility the first time I read it, I found myself just not caring about Yoli’s search for her past, present, or future.  That’s why ghosts of el grullo, receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

I Capture the Castle

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith   343 pages

This book is Cassandra's journal but it doesn't read like a journal. Her family is from the upper class but they are poor and live in a rundown castle. They are an eccentric lot. Her dad is a writer who wrote one successful book but hasn't written anything since.

The status quo changes when their landlord passes away. The Cottons inherit Scoatney Hall and show up one day. Cassandra and her sister Rose are intrigued by the Cotton brothers. Rose becomes engaged to the older brother Simon. The Cottons seem to have inspired her dad to start writing again but the family is not sure. Things are not so simple though. Does Rose love Simon? Has her dad just gone mad? Along the way, Cassandra matures and hijinks ensue with an ambiguous ending that might upset some readers.

I certainly enjoyed this book. There are memorable characters and a good plot. There are some humorous parts in this book that may have you laughing. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes coming of age stories or period dramas.

   

The Rib and Thigh Bones of Desire

 

 The Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire by Sandra Hutchison   405 pages

I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to the title of this book when I entered the Shelf Awareness newsletter contest; I was more captivated with the story and the cover. I kinda cringed when it arrived in the mail; seemed a little too much erotica for me. But, luckily, the story lived up to, and exceeded, my expectations.

The story opens with David Asken and his family returning from their family vacation at Walt Disney World. David hates to fly, that's obvious with the first sentence: “What was the point of being married, David wondered, if he couldn’t at least have a little company while he was pretending not to be terrified?” They are flying through a thunderstorm. Suddenly the “engines roared and the plane lifted steeply up again…the plane suddenly lurched left.” I was hooked and settled into my chair for a wonderful read.

Chapter Two starts with David’s family’s---wife, Elaine, and daughter, Emily---memorial service. How he escaped, he has no idea. All he knows is that he will never be the same, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

David has been relying on his sister while he was in the hospital. Now that he’s out, he depends a lot on Emily’s babysitter, sixteen-year-old Molly. She has become, basically, his housekeeper.

Molly has her own horrors to survive. Her mother, a celebrated artist, created a work to memorialize Molly’s puberty. It’s a statue made of tampons, logically called Tampon Girl. The mocking is so bad, she’s forced to change schools. Plus her mother is known to have a different man at the house every weekend when Molly goes to her father’s. As the two try to cope with what life has thrown at them, it’s not easy for either. 

The Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire is an honest look at grief and coming to grips with their new normal. At first Molly is David’s caretaker and lifeline. But as the story progresses, David becomes Molly’s caretaker and lifeline. In the coming-of-age novel, both protagonists must learn life’s lessons the hard way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, Hutchison’s second novel. While the premise of the novel does become sexual, it’s not gratuitous. The plot never disappointed. I give The Rib and Thigh Bones of Desire five out of five stars…Hutchison is my new favorite author.  

Blankets

Blankets by Craig Thompson, 582 pages

In this graphic novel Craig Thompson recreates the pain and confusion of the his rigidly Christian childhood. Growing up Craig is skinny and naive, and struggles to get along with his younger brother. Despite their differences though the two escape from their overly strict parents through flights of childhood fancy and their mutual love of drawing. Craig's love of drawing however is looked upon by his parents and religious community as a distraction and a dangerous temptation to sin. In high school, He meets Raina who is beautiful, open, and flexible about her beliefs. The two eventually fall in love, an experience which pushes Craig into adulthood and figuring out who he is. 
Thompson beautifully illustrates the social yearnings of young adults as well the complexities of young love in this semi-autobiographical work. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys graphic novels.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, 310 pages

Will Grayson and Will Grayson might have the same name, but their lives seem drastically different.  They'll find that they have more in common than they thought when their lives intersect one evening in Chicago.

I had some concerns going into reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson because I’m typically a fan of John Green’s writing, but I’m usually not a fan of David Levithan’s and I knew that they’d be alternating chapters. I’ve read a couple other YA novels where authors alternate chapters and I’ve found that sometimes the structure works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I was happily surprised to find that the alternating pattern worked so well in WG, WG. Both Wills had distinct and recognizable voices; I think that the voices were distinguishable enough that Levithan didn’t need to use the no-capitalization gimmick in his chapters. In some ways, the lack of capitalization worked with Levithan’s Grayson’s voice because so much of his story took place in chats and through texts (where non-standard grammar rules are the norm), but I felt that carrying it throughout the entire chapter wasn't necessary to distinguish the change in POV.

I started the book by identifying strongly with Green’s Grayson and his friends but found Levithan’s Grayson’s angst fairly off-putting and annoying. However, by the end of the book I ended up liking Green’s Grayson somewhat less, and Levithan’s Grayson a lot more than I had at the outset. I think that Levithan’s Grayson definitely displayed the most character growth throughout the course of the novel, his major turning point being the Grayson/Grayson intersection. Tiny Cooper was without a doubt my favorite character in the book. He fits pretty neatly into the “manic pixie dream girl” trope (except for turning the trope’s gender expectation on its head) which is generally a character type that I strongly dislike. I’m still trying to figure out why I liked Tiny so much when the character trope is one that I typically dislike; do I like him because of the genderbending nature of having a male character fill a typically female role? I’m not sure.

Dead Ends

Dead Ends by Erin Jade Lange, 328 pages

Dane always seems to be angry, and when he’s angry, he usually hits someone. Billy D., however, is an exception. Even though he is often angry at Billy, Dane never hits him. Billy has Down syndrome but he doesn’t let that stop him. In fact, he blackmails Dane into helping him find his father, even when Dane starts to suspect that something might not be right about the situation and even when helping Billy might get Dane expelled.

A Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, 694 pages

A Game of Thrones, the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, likely would have gone unnoticed by me if it wasn't for the HBO series with the same name. With the series receiving such high praise and my coworkers talking about it, I requested the first season through the library. Despite hour long episodes the first season flew by and I really enjoyed watching it. Since I knew it was based off a book I mentally added the book and the series to my reading list.

I planned to pick up and read Game of Thrones the next time I saw it on the shelves here at Central. As the months went by and it failed to make an appearance, at least when I looked, I finally decided to put it on request. I now regret waiting.

When I started reading it was like I had read it before. Not only does the HBO series follow it very closely, they even use some of the vary dialog from the book. In some ways this took away from the novel as the parts that were suppose to be suspenseful were not. I knew what was going to happen already, despite the chapter ending on a cliffhanger.

I still would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys science fiction and anyone who liked the TV show. But I would strongly advise reading the book before watching the show.

Fin & Lady

Fin & Lady by Catherine Schine, 288 pages

This novel is an engaging fictional account of a young, free spirit in 1960’s and and her orphan brother's coming-of-age as they become each other's family in a tumultuous time. Brief but beautifully described scenes shift from rural Connecticut to Greenwich Village and Capri. Mostly likeable characters deal with issues of romantic and family love and responsibility, quests for personal freedom, as well as the long-lasting effects on baby boomers and US society of the civil rights and political conflicts of the times.  Written in easy-to-read, short chapters and an endearing authorial voice.