Sunny Rolls the Dice

 Sunny Rolls the Dice By Jennifer and Matthew Holm. 224 pgs. © 2019

Third book in the Sunny series and the main character seems in a better place. This time Sunny's older brother has joined the Navy and is straightening his life out. She's in 7th grade with a new best friend when the two girls start hanging out with a group of boys who are into playing Dungeons and Dragons. Sunny really starts to enjoy the game but her friend is more interested in dating and dances and tries to low-key shame her out of kid things. Eventually, she learns to accept herself, even if that means losing her friend.  These are fast enjoyable reads. Plus they're upping my page count for the month :) 

The Odyssey

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (2018), 582 pgs. 

Odysseus has caught the attention of the gods--for better or for worse. Zeus rages against Odysseus's mission to get back to Ithaca after the Trojan War, crushing his ship and stranding him for years on Calypso's island. Athena takes note of his intelligence, and convinces Zeus to let him free. Poseidon wrecks his ship again, the sun god kills his men, and Hermes delivers the souls of his enemies to Hades. As Odysseus makes his way back to his family, he faces many trials. At home, his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus--now an adult after so long apart--face their own battle against a group of raucous and increasingly belligerent men who have taken over the family's estate with the demand that Penelope marry one of them. This epic journey can end no other way but in violence. 

I am so grateful to have been able to read this translation of The Odyssey by Emily Wilson--the first translation published by a woman! Dr. Wilson starts with a comprehensive introduction to this massive work, including explanatory information about what is to come and background as to why she made certain translatory decisions. This section is chock-full of details and can take a while to get through, but it is well worth it, and once you begin reading, the actual Odyssey is a breeze. Dr. Wilson has translated the ancient text into a relatively easily accessible work for anyone with an interest in Greek mythology to dive right into. If you have not read The Odyssey yet--or even if you have--Dr. Wilson's version is a great way to get into it. 

Swing it, Sunny

Swing It, Sunny by Jennifer and Matthew Holm. 224 pgs © 2017

The second from this series. Sunny spends her days helping around the house, getting frustrated at school and hanging out with her best friend, watching General Hospital. Her troublesome brother has been sent to a military academy and is angry at the world. Sunny is excited to see him when he comes from Thanksgiving dinner but he takes out some of his anger on her, hurting her feelings. A new friend has moved in next door who is on the twirling squad at school. She shows Sunny how to twirl and is an encouraging influence. While she frets over losing the connection to her older brother, her Grandpa reminds her that sometimes you can't fix people, you just have to hope for the best. Eventually, her brother seems to come back to his senses. 

Sunny Side Up

 Sunny Side Up by Jennifer and Matthew Holm. 244 pgs, © 2015

Another read from my daughter who is really into this graphic novel series. Sunny is a good natured, plucky 10 year old girl growing up in the mid to late 70s. She's sent to stay with her grandfather in his retirement community in Florida for the summer. As the story moves forward, you realize she was sent away so that her parents could deal with her older, difficult teenage brother, who is getting into drugs and trouble. Sunny misses home and is also worried about her brother. She's bored at the retirement community most days, but makes a friend who introduces her to comic books and they make extra change scooping up golf balls from the pond when the alligators aren't nearby. Captures the frustration and tiny joys of being this age fairly well. 

Tracks by Robin Davidson

 

Tracks by Robin Davidson, 288 pages

Tracks is a pretty standard travel book originally published in 1995. The author, an Australian woman, moves to Alice Springs and learns to handle camels. She then walks across the Western Australian wilderness with four camels and a dog.  I found the book to be pretty good, but I like a story about a solo trip even if it's a little predictable. Of course the people that solo trekkers meet along the way are some of the most interesting parts of the story.  Some aspects of animal husbandry seem harsh to those of us who are not farmers. So reader discretion is advised on that topic.

In The Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man

 In The Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man: A Memoir by Tom Junod, 416 pgs. © 2026

Tom Junod is a fantastic writer from the golden age of magazines. His 1998 article about Mister Rodgers was adapted into a movie with Tom Hanks. In this book, which really reads like 3 different books, Junod dissects his tumultuous relationship with his father Lou--a successful handbag salesman in the 1960s who also led something of a double-life as a rat-pack inspired philanderer. He croons Sinatra, hosts cocktail parties, goes on long trips, etc. As different as the author feels from his father, he can't escape his larger than life shadow. Eventually, Lou dies and the story moves from memory lane into something else--Junod playing detective for the next decade, uncovering his father's clandestine affairs and family secrets. All this leads Junod to discovering in his early 60's that he has a sister he never knew about. The book then pivots again into him developing that relationship. I was apprehensive reading a memoir about someone I didn't really know that much about, but the writing here is top notch. I'm flummoxed at the use of the title, which is a lyric from a Led Zeppelin song, but the band and lyric make no appearance whatsoever. Lou Junod was a Sinatra fanatic, wouldn't a better title have been Strangers in the Night? My Way?  Still, the book is a bit overdeveloped and would've benefited from better editing. But a good read if you're into father/son relationships and digging into the past. 

Interior Chinatown

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (2020), 270 pgs. 

Pan out on Chinatown. See the streets bustling with activity, with people performing the roles of their daily life. Zoom in. Close-up on Willis Wu in the background, today playing Generic Asian Man. Willis has always been an extra, an unnamed Asian character on the call sheet, but he longs to become the mystical Kung Fu Guy, the pinnacle of roles here in Chinatown. Casting for Kung Fu Guy is competitive--it is the role Willis sees all his peers aspiring toward--but Willis knows his time is coming soon. As he performs his role in Black and White, the long-running cop show offering bit parts, he meets someone who changes his career trajectory--and his life. Perhaps Willis does not have to play these roles forever. 

This book is masterfully written. The lines between performance and reality are blurred from the start, and the confusion that readers feel in discerning between the two mirrors that of the characters. Charles Yu weaves history and stereotypes and intersectionality all into a narrative somehow through metaphor and plain direct language. Readers cannot ignore the message of the harm in believing in and contributing to the propagation of these "roles" that Asian American people feel they must play in order to make it. Highly, highly recommend

It's Not Her

It's Not Her by Mary Kubica, 352 pages

Courtney thought the family trip to the lake was going just fine until she woke to find her brother and sister-in-law murdered in their cabin. To make things worse, her teenage niece is missing, and her nephew managed to sleep through the whole thing. As Courtney works with local authorities to search for her niece and figure out who killed her relatives, she discovers that things weren't quite as rosy as they seemed, and the list of suspects could include just about everyone.

Interspersed with flashback chapters from the missing niece's point of view, this thriller certainly keeps the reader guessing and the plot zooming along. The problem comes when all the cards are finally on the table and we learn exactly what happened, as the culprits feel a bit random (did the author throw names in a hat and pick someone out? It's possible!). I read this a few weeks ago, and I honestly couldn't remember the particulars until I looked it up. So maybe pass on this one. (Unless you really want to read every book about a missing teenage girl, then sure, add this to your TBR for completion's sake.)

The Storm

The Storm by Rachel Hawkins (2026), 277 pages 

As the title suggests, a storm, plays a prominent role in this ok thriller. Set in St. Medard's Bay, Alabama, it follows the lives of three generations of townspeople who have survived (or not) the frequent hurricanes that hit the area. One in particular saw the death of a well-known politician's son and now a journalist has shown up to investigate what might have actually happened. This is one of those books that feels like it was really written to be a Netflix limited series. The visuals sound amazing, but the actual story is a bit contrived and not super engaging. It was a fine, quick read, but it lacked any real depth.

Mississippi Solo

 

Mississippi Solo: A River Quest by Eddy Harris, 256 pages.

This memoir, published in 1988, follows Harris' solo journey down the Mississippi River in a canoe. Along the way Harris connected not only with the river itself, but with the incredible variety of people who make their home on it. Harris has a real talent for connecting with strangers, and these thoughtful, meaningful connections provide just as much substance to the book as the misadventures of a novice canoeist who had no idea what he was getting himself into. I read this book too slow to attend the book discussion, which is a shame, but I am still so glad I decided to finish it anyways. This is exactly the kind of thing I want in a memoir, and I fully expect to read it again. I'm excited to see how this book converses with Life on the Mississippi, which I am embarrassed to admit I am also behind on.