The Best We Could Do

 The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (2017) 329 pages

The graphic memoir is bookended with Thi Bui's pregnancy and pondering the challenges of motherhood. Her family, Vietnamese Americans, oral history makes up the bulk of the book. Digging into her father's boyhood and her mother's girlhood is fascinating. They had very different upbringing. Chapter six through to the end, dealing with the Vietnam war and the author's family becoming refugees, is highly thrilling and heartfelt. Once they've been living in America, Thi's concept of inheriting a Refugee Reflex is vividly conveyed. The art of this memoir is impressively dramatic.

The Road to Tender Hearts

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett, 384 pages

PJ Halliday's life has been in a bit of a rut over the last decade. Sure, he won $1.5 million in scratch-off lottery tickets, but he also hasn't processed the grief of losing his eldest daughter 15 years ago or dealt with his wife leaving him for the birder next door, and he got enough DUIs to have his license revoked for 8 years. So when he learns that his high school crush is now a widow, he decides to take a cross-country road trip to try again to woo her. Complicating matters is the fact that he's suddenly become the guardian of his estranged brother's grandkids, but hey, why not take two newly orphaned fourth graders (both of whom are dealing with the shocking loss of their parents in wildly different ways) on a road trip to a the faraway Tender Hearts Retirement Community?

The description of this book sounds like a mess, and yeah, it kind of is, but in the best possible way. I love the way that Hartnett depicts grief at all ages and stages with kindness and occasional (but appropriate) humor, and I love the way this weird family grows both as a group and as individuals. And I think the fact the death-detecting cat doesn't top my list of why this book is fantastic is pretty telling, as in most books, that would be the best part. Highly recommended.

The View From Mount Joy

The View From Mount Joy by Lorna Landvik (2007) 349 pages

Joe is ready to start his senior year of high school when he and his mother move because they can't make it on her income in a small town after his father dies. They share a house with his mother's sister in Minneapolis. Joe gets a job at the local grocery store and gets to be great friends with the owner. Joe is considering a career as a journalist. He wishes that Kristi, the head cheerleader at school, would go out with him. Well, that is not exactly what happens. Meanwhile, his best friend is Darva, a young woman who is not afraid to follow her own dream, up to a point.

This novel follows these mostly realistic people into adulthood and shows how life doesn't always turn out the way we plan. Except that Kristi's path is rather strange, and reminds me somewhat of our own society almost 20 years later. Slice-of-life with some weirdness built in. Nice book.

Family Family

Family Family by Laurie Frankel, 386 pages

India Allwood has always wanted to be a professional actress, and at 32, she's achieved the dream, having starred on Broadway, on a hit TV show, and now, in a new film drama. But when she makes an offhand remark in an interview about how the film's focus on the trauma of adoption isn't good, she suddenly has everyone from studio execs to the social media masses calling for her to be canceled. What those people don't know, however, is that India not only adopted her two children, but she was also a teen mom who chose to place her baby with an adoptive family. As these facts start to become public, India's trying to save her career, protect her complicated family, and be true to her beliefs about the positivity of adoption.

It's so rare to find a book that focuses on the joyful elements of adoption and teen pregnancy, so this one is a breath of fresh air. Yes, there are times that stretch believability, but overall, this is a wonderful book about all the many ways that functional families can be formed. Usually, I'm a fan of dysfunctional family stories, but this one is fully a functional family book, and I'm all in. Highly recommended.

The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster

The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster by Shauna Robinson, 337 pages

Mae Townsend is just weeks away from her wedding, but looking at her side of the aisle, she's reminded forcefully of her estrangement from her dad's side of the family. See, the marriage between Mae's white mom and Black dad was controversial for both families, and Mae hasn't seen any of her aunts, uncles, or cousins since she was 6. So when she learns of her paternal grandmother's death three weeks before her wedding day, Mae spontaneously decides to attend the funeral and get to know them, whether they like it or not.

This is an interesting examination of deep-seated conflict and the way it can play out in mixed-race relationships over the generations. Did it feel particularly realistic? Not really, especially considering all the stuff Mae takes on while juggling wedding plans and work. Was it enjoyable to read? You betcha.

The Wishing Game

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (2023) 286 pages

Lucy Hart has fallen for Christopher, a little boy whose parents have died, but she doesn't have the financial resources to adopt him or to even foster him. She sells crafts she makes online, in addition to having a job as a kindergarten teaching assistant. She has been saving for 2 years, but still has only $2,000, not enough to move to a better apartment or to get a used car, both required by the foster agency.

One of the things that Lucy and Christopher do together is to read books by Jack Masterson, a famous author of a children's series, the Clock Island books. He hasn't published a new book for 6 years, but then he announces a contest for those who can solve a riddle. The only people who can solve this riddle are children who actually ran away from home and found Jack Masterson on Clock Island, off the coast of Maine. Lucy is one of the four former children who found Jack and his grumpy illustrator, Hugo Reese, this way.

The four adults qualify, and are invited to Clock Island to compete in a series of games and puzzles, often related to the stories from the author's previous books. The first one to get ten points earns a prize: the only copy of Jack's new book, which the winner can keep or sell to the highest bidder. If Lucy wins, then she can afford to adopt Christopher.

Once I got past Lucy's bleak past and iffy future, and the tragedy of Christopher, as well, the story grabbed me and I loved the way it played out.

The Holiday Trap

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish (2022) 432 pages

Take two miserable characters ‒ a gay woman (Greta) from Maine who is tired of having to appease her family, and a gay man (Truman) living in New Orleans who has just discovered his partner of 11 months has a husband and child ‒ and give them a somewhat pushy mutual friend (Ramona) who puts them in touch for a house swap for the holidays. What do you get? A changeup in each of their lives, bringing them each new ideas, joy, and romance. The over-arching theme is how much of yourself do you give up in order to make your family/partner happy? Is it okay to do what you want, even if it will make someone unhappy? The book is filled with sage advice which comes from many different colorful characters. Four hundred+ pages flew by fast.

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova, 324 pages

Orquidea Divina summons her sprawling family tree to her rural home for her funeral, telling them that they need to come and collect their inheritance. However, when the dozens of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren arrive they learn that there's a lot more to their inheritance — and Orquidea's funeral — than they expected. In parallel storylines of Orquidea's past and her grandchildren's present, this enchanting tale weaves together a story of generational trauma, fitting in, magical realism, and coming to terms with one's heritage. This was my second read of the book, and I think I may have enjoyed it even more this time around. An excellent book, and an excellent discussion with Orcs & Aliens!

Hidden Valley Road

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker, 377 pages

Between 1945 and 1965, Mimi Galvin gave birth to 12 children (10 boys, and then 2 girls) while her husband, Don, climbed his way up the military ladder, eventually scoring a prime position at the Air Force headquarters in Colorado. From the outside, their family was picture perfect, with sons who excelled in sports and music, while remaining devout Catholics. But as the children grew up, the Galvins began to experience problems that were unlike almost any other family in the world: six of the Galvin boys were diagnosed with schizophrenia, while the remaining six children and their parents tiptoed around the situation, attempting to maintain normalcy, whatever that meant.

By focusing on a family that provided medical researchers with a wealth of data on schizophrenia, this fascinating book gives insight into the changing world of mental health diagnosis and medical research, as well as the humanity of those who have schizophrenia and the impact of the disease on their relatives. Through it all, Kolker treats the Galvins and the medical researchers he profiles with respect and honesty.

(Trigger warning: this book discusses sexual abuse, suicide, and physical violence.)

My Latest Grievance

My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman (2006) 242 pages

Frederica Hatch is the only child of two university professors at a small women's college in Massachusetts. The family lives in one of the dormitories; Frederica's parents are houseparents, as well as active union leaders. Dorm life is the only life Frederica has known, other than the times she's at her friends' houses, or her grandmother's house during breaks when the dorms are closed. Frederica, from a young age, has been like a mini-adult; her parents have always been very open with her about life. 

Except for one thing: When she is almost 16, while staying at her grandmother's house, Frederica happens upon a photograph from her father's first wedding. No one had ever mentioned that her uncool father had been married to someone else before, especially not someone like Laura Lee French, who was glamorous and worldly, traits that are very different from her Frederica's mother.

When Laura Lee ends up arriving on campus to serve as a houseparent in another dorm, the small college is upended by her out-sized personality, manner of dressing, and unconventional behavior. Life will never be the same for Frederica, or her parents, for that matter!