We Used to Live Here

 We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer (2024), 312 pages

I blindly went into this book thinking it was a typical mystery. I am not sure how it even got onto my "to-read" list, but imagine my surprise when things started getting creepier and creepier. Unsettling even - especially when walking my dogs alone at night. I don't typically read horror, but it snuck in and, honestly, I found it pretty entertaining. 

The story follows Eve and Charlie as they renovate a newly purchased dilapidated house. The home comes with a lot of eerie baggage that culminates in visitors that (as the title states) used to live there. It is twisty plot that does rely on psychological tropes, but, who cares, as it fun to be scared a bit. 

I do want to give a shout out to the audiobook narrator Jeremy Carlisle Parker - she was fantastic and I highly recommend listening to it. 

Wylding Hall

 Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand, 176 pages.

Windhollow Faire is sent to the country by their manager to try and record a new album in the wake of a personal tragedy in London. The acid-folk band is initially delighted by Wylding Hall, the extremely old manor they have rented, and by the isolation that allows them to totally focus on their music. But the strange and unexplainable occurrences keep piling up, until they culminate in the disappearance of Julian Blake, the band's heart and lead singer. Now, decades later, a documentary filmmaker is trying to recreate what happened that summer, and everyone has their own stories.

I listened to this book, and I think the full-cast audiobook did a great job making this feel like a real retrospective. The strange incidents sometimes felt a little too episodic, as most of the characters never talk to each other about anything strange that happens, but they still come together to form an ever-heavier sense of unease. This felt quite a bit like Daisy Jones and the Six, except in this case the bad thing that everyone is talking around feels like it is terrible enough to justify the tension. I would definitely recommend this for fans of that book that want something a little darker, or for people interested in something a little bit gothic and modern-ish. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

The Sisters

The Sisters 

The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, 656 pages.

As intimated by the title, The Sisters is about sisters and (surprise!) a guy. The novel spans thirty years of their intertwined lives as Swedish-Tunisians mostly living in Sweden with short forays to Tunisia and New York. There are several throughlines, such as a curse, difficult family dynamics, and life between two cultures, but the book is really about maturing and finding your place in the world. The book is structured in a fascinating way. It is divided up into six parts with each part covering a shorter time span. The first part is a year which compresses to a single minute by the final, sixth section.

I love books with complicated family dynamics. Khemiri really shines when writing about the sisters and the relationship they have with each other and extended family. While Jonas' (the guy) voice is used as an outside perspective to the sister's lives, I am not sure his character brought a lot to the story and I questioned why he was there at all. The book is a solid 656 pages, but I was invested enough to want more. 

How to Be Perfect

 How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur, 304 pages.

This hugely approachable introduction to moral philosophy is by Michael Schur, who also created both The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, shows I have not seen. As this was pitched to me as sort of an "extended reading" for the The Good Place, being an extension of the philosophy research Schur did for that show, I was a little worried about that, but I ended up being very glad I picked it up! Schur mostly digs into three major philosophies (Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism, and Deontology) with smaller detours into several other secular moral frameworks. 

Schur does a really great job not only contextualizing information about these frameworks, but also showing how they can applied, as well as all of their respective weak points. It is also extremely funny. I listened to the audiobook, which is read by the author with cameos from a handful of his actor friends, and I really can't recommend it highly enough. Schur's delivery regularly had me cracking up a little, which isn't necessarily the most common reaction to ethical quandaries. I feel that I should also clarify how completely approachable this book is. It starts with addressing the ethical question "Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?" and builds only gradually to the stickier questions. Schur always prioritizing presenting the philosophies in an easy to understand way, so that the audience's thinking power can be devoted to evaluating them rather than struggling to understand the concepts themselves. Overall, an easy to digest piece of nonfiction that still feels very enriching, I highly recommend it. 

Working on a Song

 Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell, 259 pages.

Hadestown is a musical that's lived half a dozen lives, and in each of them the show changes. More than any other show I can think of, it's hard to identify a canonical version of Hadestown, as the tracklist changes often and the lyrics constantly. Mitchell traces the show's whole journey from conception, to concept album, to travelling concert; Off-Broadway, to Broadway, to London, with detailed annotations on every song and the journeys they went on from iteration to iteration. 

This is a really interesting look into the song-writing process, but also a look at show development and creative collaboration in a decade-long project. I listened to the audiobook, which I think really heightened the experience, as it is read by Anaïs Mitchell herself. She sings many verses, and overall it feels very personal and enriching. I'm not sure there's much here for anyone who's not a fan of the show, but it is a must-listen for fans. 

The Murderbot Diaries #6-7

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (2021) 168 pages 

System Collapse by Martha Wells (2023) 245 pages

 
As of now, this is the conclusion of the series. I continued with the same GraphicAudio editions with a full cast. I really enjoyed book 6. It is the most straightforward murder mystery of the series. The Sec Unit uses his skills to be a detective on Preservation Station with help from many returning characters. The security staff on the station does not often have to solve murders, so his surveillance and analysis skills are very helpful. Book 7 has the return of the AI ship system ART, who I suddenly realized was missing from the murder mystery adventure previously. This is the first time we really get to see what the Preservation crew does as they go on a planet survey mission. There are colonists, who have faced a dangerous alien contamination incident. Then they learn of a separate colony that the first colony has lost contact with. A small Preservation party travels across the planet to investigate. It becomes a competition to convince the people there that Preservation's humanitarian goals in connection with a University are better for them than the corporation Barish-Estranza's aim to enslave them. The corporation does not present their deal in those terms. Preservation's crew puts together a documentary. It has the excitement of "let's put on a show," but, of course, is more how do we present the most compelling facts to unselfishly help these isolated survivors. A good message to close this series, but I could see this series continuing.

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent

 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea, 400 pages

This book started as a series of interviews between theater director Brendan O'Hea and actress Judi Dench, originally intended for a theater company's archives. O'Hea soon realized this work was something a whole lot of people would want to read, and decided to turn it into a book instead. However, especially in audiobook form, this book retains the feel of an intimate conversation between old friends. Although Dench read only small portions of the audiobook, the actress they got to read her part sounded so similar I couldn't always tell when they switched.

The book covers the dozens of Shakespeare roles Judi Dench has played in her decades-spanning career, as well as collecting a whole lot of general thoughts about performing Shakespeare and working in theater. I was very impressed how the book managed to twist together biography, funny anecdotes, and very solid Shakespeare analysis into something that felt so cohesive. Judi Dench is riotously funny, and it was a pleasure to feel as if you were in her living room listening to her chat with an old friend. I would strongly recommend this to anyone with an interest in Shakespeare, performing live theater, or Judi Dench. 

The Third Gilmore Girl

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop, 244 pages

In her new memoir, veteran actor Kelly Bishop recounts her life in show business, from her early days as a ballet dancer and chorus member in stage musicals to her more recent roles as formidable matriarchs in movies and TV shows. Along the way, she won a Tony for her role in A Chorus Line (a role that she also inspired the creation of) and became known in households across the country as the exacting Emily Gilmore in the WB show Gilmore Girls. This book covers all of that, as well as her personal life behind the scenes, including her marriages, her longtime love of animals, and her dedication to feminist causes. It's a lovely book, and the audiobook (read by the author) made me feel like Bishop was sitting beside me, just chatting about her life. It's nothing groundbreaking, but as a longtime Gilmore Girls fan, I loved it.

Magic Has No Borders

Magic Has No Borders by Samira Ahmed, Sona Charaipotra, Saba Tahir, Sayantani DasGupta, and eleven more authors  348 pp.

This collection of short stories takes stories of ancient Southern Asian gods, goddesses, and spirits and reimagines them for a modern audience. The stories are rich in detail and characterization. They include many of the lesser deities of the Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and other diaspora of the region. Each tale is of empowerment over some evil, though not all are tales with happy endings. The settings and situations are captivating, giving incite into some of the spiritual beliefs of the area. I am not a fan of short stories but this one is so richly done it was irresistible. I listened to the audiobook which was performed by several narrators. Most were excellent with a couple of them less so.  

The Lost Van Gogh

The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer  339 pp.

This novel starts out great but then slips in to a story of too much with too many characters. A young-ish couple, one a painter, the other an art historian find a nondescript painting in an antique shop. With closer examination they discover that under the painting of a woman, a Van Gogh self portrait is hidden. As they try to prove it is real, it is stolen from them. This leads the couple on an international search with private investigators, art galleries, INTERPOL, and Nazi looted art specialists. The introduction of more and more characters - good guys, bad guys, and ones who switch allegiances - make the story much more complicated and tedious. You really need a scorecard to keep track of who is on which side and who can be trusted. It's a nice premise but overblown. No fault to the audiobook narrator, Edoardo Ballerini who does an excellent job, as usual.

A Fine and Private Place

 

A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle 317 pp.

I first read this book sometime in the 1970s and for some reason it stuck with me so I decided to revisit it. It's the tale of a man, Jonathan Rebeck, a former pharmacist who has hidden himself from society by living in an old mausoleum in a Bronx cemetery. Rebeck doesn't leave, believing he cannot pass through the gates into the outside world. A crabby raven brings him food stolen from local venders. In his nineteen years there Rebeck has met ghosts of people interred in the cemetery. When the ghosts first arrive they are very "alive" but as time passes and they gradually forget their former lives, they fade away. The latest cemetery residents are a middle-aged man who was poisoned and a young woman. Improbably, the ghosts fall in love with each other. Rebeck, too, finds himself with a lady friend who visits the mausoleum of her late husband. When Mrs. Clapper learns that Rebeck lives in the cemetery she tries to convince him it's time for him to return to the "real world." This book was originally published in 1960 and has recently been reissued. I listened to the audiobook which has an introduction by Neil Gaiman.

The Prison Healer

 

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni  416 pp.

Kiva Meridan is the healer at the notorious Zalindov Prison. She inherited the position from her father who died during an epidemic when she was just a child. The prison is a gory place and Kiva does what she can for the injured and sick. When the Rebel Queen is captured and brought to the prison, Kiva is charged with keeping the seriously ill woman alive but only until she dies during the Trial by Ordeal, a four part challenge involving the elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth to which only the most dangerous criminals are sentenced. She receives a message from her family which reads "Don't let her die. We are coming." Kiva volunteers to take on the trials in the Rebel Queen's place (shades of Hunger Games). But she also has a fatal epidemic among the prison community to contend with along with the Rebel prisoners who are against her. This isn't a bad story but it drags on too long. There are two more books in the series and I have no desire to continue this story. I listened to the audiobook which probably is the only reason I finished it.

Dancing on the Edge

Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling through Hollywood by Russ Tamblyn  354 pp.

Beginning with his appearance in the 1948 film "The Boy with Green Hair," Russ Tamblyn has been part of Hollywood well into his 80s. He grew up in the studio system with other young actors like Elizabeth Taylor and Dean Stockwell, who would become his close friend. Tamblyn is most remembered for his acrobatic dancing roles as Gideon in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and Riff the leader of the Jets in "West Side Story" (1961). He also featured in many westerns and other movies with an Oscar nomination for his role in "Peyton Place." In the 1960s, Tamblyn moved away from acting to try his hand at art which include collage, experimental short films, and other endeavors while living in an artsy stretch of Topanga canyon. When the money would run short, Tamblyn would get a role in another movie. He has an eclectic group of friends including poets, Avant Garde artists, actors, and musicians like Neil Young. Tamblyn also had a successful run as the Dr. Jacoby on "Twin Peaks" which he greatly enjoyed. His long life included three marriages and two daughters, one of whom is actor/director/producer Amber Tamblyn. This is a no nonsense memoir with all the difficulties, bumps, and bruises along with the successes. The audiobook is read by Tamblyn which is a bit of a mixed blessing as he has a slight lisp/speech impediment. 

The Best Minds

The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen  562 pp.

In 1973 the Rosen family moved into a house in New Rochelle, NY, across the street from the Laudor family. Young Jonathan Rosen and Michael Laudor soon were best friends and inseparable through high school and into college. Both young men were highly intelligent and ambitious. Michael completed college in three years as Summa Cum Laude. He soon went to work for a high power consulting firm. Before long Michael is hospitalized after a psychotic break and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Johnathan does his best to be supportive while living in California earning Masters and Doctorate degrees. Michael spends time in a halfway house before using his deferred acceptance to Yale Law School. The administration and faculty are very supportive and accommodate Michael's difficulties which includes daily hallucinations of his room engulfed in flames and his parents being Nazi imposters. In spite of that he received his law degree. Soon he was in talks with Ron Howard's production company about making a film of Laudor's life. However, mental illness is unpredictable and things soon went sideways. Michael and his fiancée, Caroline Costello, shared an apartment until the day in 1998 when he brutally stabs her to death. He was captured that night after assaulting police officers It took six weeks before he realized she was dead after not understanding why she hadn't come to see him. Because of the vagaries of the legal system in such cases it took awhile before Michael was incarcerated in an institution in New York. He remains there and his illness is reevaluated for the possibility of release every two years . Much of this book is an examination of the treatment of the mentally ill by both the medical and professions. Because mental illness is so unpredictable it is impossible to find a black & white solution. In spite of his closeness to Laudor and his family, Rosen presents a balanced, informative, and compassionate story of a tragic situation.

Ron Howard never produced a film about Michael Laudor but made "A Beautiful Mind" about schizophrenic mathematician, John Nash a few years after the murder of Costello.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

 

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson 544 pp.

Bill Bryson takes on the history of our world from before the beginning. The focus begins with the creation of the universe and the various theories leading to and about the Big Bang. The story then moves on to the solar system, the Earth's changing geology, plate tectonics, volcanos, etc.. Finally Bryson moves on to the evolution of the first creatures and eventually Homo sapiens. Interspersed in these scientific theories are the stories of the scientists who spent hundreds of years trying to explain it all and the conflicts and arguments over who was correct. I found the science in this book fascinating because of the bits I didn't know and anecdotes about the personalities of those who did the research. But I admit that, had I not listened to the unabridged audiobook version, I probably never would have finished it.  

An Unfinished Love Story

 

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin 480 pp.

This book was fascinating to me since, while I remembered the major events of the 1960s, I was a child during that time (the assassination of JFK happened when I was in kindergarten). I have read other books by Doris Kearns Goodwin but was not familiar with her husband, Richard Goodwin, a man who was so instrumental in the world of Democratic politics in the 1960s. When her husband reached his 80s the two of them began go through his stored files of his work and memorabilia of his days in Washington as a  clerk for Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. Then as counsel for the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce where he investigated the television quiz show scandals of the 1950s. (Goodwin was portrayed by actor Rob Morrow in the 1994 film "Quiz Show.") After that he became one of the speechwriters and advisors for Senator John Kennedy during his campaign for the Presidency. Kennedy appointed him Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs where he tried to discourage Kennedy from ordering the Bay of Pigs operation. Goodwin aided the First Lady in many tasks most notably in the relocating of Egyptian temples that would have been flooded by the Aswan Dam project. He was also instrumental in the planning of the dinner for Nobel Prize winners (Dinner in Camelot) and finally arranging for the eternal flame Jackie Kennedy requested for her husband's grave. Following Kennedy's death Goodwin became Secretary General of the Peace Corp until he accepted a job with President Lyndon Johnson where he was credited with writing some of LBJ's most important and effective speeches before resigning because of differences over the Vietnam War. After some work in academia, Goodwin, ever against the war in Vietnam, joined Eugene McCarthy's campaign for President leaving when his friend Bobby Kennedy decided to run after LBJ announced he would not seek re-election. Upon Kennedy's assassination in Los Angeles, Goodwin went back to the McCarthy campaign. Following those years he taught and wrote, producing articles, books, and a play. He married Doris Kearns, who had worked with LBJ on his memoir, in 1975 and they were married until his death in 2018. I learned so much from this book. I never knew that LBJ pushed the Fair Housing Bill through Congress on the heels of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination or how much friction existed between LBJ and Bobby Kennedy. And I didn't know anything about the man, Richard (Dick) Goodwin. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author.

Making Money

 

Making Money by Terry Pratchett 394 pp.

Moist Lipwig, Ankh-Morpork's favorite conman turned Postmaster General is awarded a new position in the city's mint by the despotic Lord Vetinari. Moist must then deal with the elderly Royal Bank chairman who keeps two loaded crossbows on her desk and the Mint manager who is a small dog. There's also the chief clerk who is possibly a vampire and tries to block all of Moist's plans. Upon the death of the chairman, the dog is made the one in charge with Moist running things for him. While he tries to implement a paper money system, he must also figure out where the gold has disappeared to, creating many enemies that want to see Moist gone. Throw in a bunch of Golems, one who is transgender, if that is possible in a sexless clay being and a very inflexible accountant who was born a clown and it becomes Pratchett at his Pratchettiest.  In spite of, or maybe because of, the silliness there is a fairly solid plot in this book although it isn't quite as good as its predecessor, Going Postal.  

Hotel Angeline

Hotel Angeline by Kathleen Alcalá, Matthew Amster-Burton, Kit Bakke, Erica Bauermeister, Sean Beaudoin, Dave Boling, Deb Caletti, Carol Cassella, William Dietrich, Robert Dugoni, Kevin Emerson, Karen Finneyfrock, Clyde Ford, Jamie Ford, Elizabeth George, Mary Guterson, Maria Dahvana Headley, Teri Hein, Stephanie Kallos, Erik Larson, David Lasky, Stacey Levine, Frances McCue, Jarret Middleton, Peter Mountford, Kevin O'Brien, Julia Quinn, Nancy Rawles, Suzanne Selfors, Jennie Shortridge, Ed Skoog, Garth Stein, Greg Stump, Indu Sundaresan, Craig Welch and Susan Wiggs. Foreword by Nancy Pearl. Introduction by Garth Stein 258 pp.

In 2011 the Seattle7Writers Project for Literacy concocted a scheme where 36 authors in the Pacific Northwest came together to write a novel on stage in one week. The result could have been a total mishmash, unreadable, and incomprehensible. Instead they created an intriguing story of a 14 year old girl who takes on adult responsibilities to keep the eclectic "family" of artists, anarchists, and eccentrics living in the run down Hotel Angeline safe and keep the hotel from being sold after her mother is no longer able to run it.  Every author added a new twist to the story while keeping it flowing, enjoyable, and interesting. I was totally absorbed by the story and would have listened to the whole audiobook at one sitting if I could.

What You are Looking for is in the Library

 

What You are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama  300 pp.

I came close to giving up on this book after the first chapter because I didn't find it interesting. When I started the second chapter I decided to continue and I am glad I did. The story begins with a woman whose lucrative career is derailed by the birth of her baby. A visit to the library in the local community center leads to a meeting with the reference librarian, who is an unusual woman with a hobby of making small felted items. The librarian gives the woman a list of the books she requested but includes an entirely different book which turns out to be just what the woman needs. The same pattern occurs in subsequent chapters with different characters who visit the library. In addition to the library visits, there are other random connections between each character. It's a slow starter but worth continuing to the end.   

Around the World in 80 Books

 

Around the World in 80 Books by David Damrosch 412 pp.

Created as a kind of antidote to the Covid lockdown, the chair of Harvard's Comparative Literature Department evokes the travels of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg by selecting 80 books by a wide variety of authors. The books have settings that roughly follow Fogg's itinerary. Damrosch also pairs books with similar themes, settings, or authors. I read 13 of the 80, some for pleasure, others as school assignments. A couple have been summer Big Book Challenge titles including last summer's Tale of Genji and this summer's Things Fall Apart. While most of the titles can be classified as "great literature", I was excited to find a Donna Leon title from one of my favorite series in the list. While I don't expect to read the entire list, there are a number that are already in my TBR books and I will be adding a few of Damrosch's suggested titles. If you can get past the often dry, professorial tone to the book, it's an interesting read. The audiobook was read by the author.