A Cowboy to Remember

A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon, 357 pages

Celebrity chef Evie Buchanan seems to have it made, with a reality show competition win under her belt and a highly rated morning TV show on the air. But when she takes a tumble down the stairs at an industry event, Evie ends up in the hospital with her memory completely missing. Though her friends and agent are supportive, they can't take on her care full time, which is how Evie ends up convalescing at a luxury dude ranch in California--the same dude ranch where she grew up and has some close family friends, though she still can't remember them. Hunky cowboy Zach is one of those she can't remember, though that may be for the best, as she and Zach apparently had a decade-long grudge that has been wiped out with Evie's memory.

I can't say I'm a big fan of amnesia stories, but I do enjoy seeing diversity in mainstream romance, and this book definitely hits that mark perfectly. Yes, these are wealthy people in wealthy circumstances, but the realities of Black life are still in this otherwise-unbelievable story. (And it's still a steamy, emotional romance to boot!)

In the Hand of the Goddess

In the Hand of the Goddess, Tamora Pierce, 232 p.

Alanna of Trebond continues her education as a knight, hiding her identity as a young woman from others along the way. By the end of the novel, she has obtained her shield as a knight and gets ready to travel the world and have adventures. The second novel includes some light elements of romance, knightly heroics in a border dispute between two nations, and a daring duel against a villian. Overall, it's a fun YA fantasy read.

The captain and the glory

The captain and the glory / Dave Eggers, read by John Hodgman, 114 pg.

A political satire that is timely.  I wish I could have found more humor in this.

Trust exercise, by Susan Choi

Susan Choi’s National Book Award winning novel (2019) illustrates what the phrase “unreliable narrator” might have been coined for. In fact, most novels are “trust exercises” in that we do tend to trust what the author reveals to us. There are three parts to the book. In the first, main characters Sarah and David are sophomores at a prestigious high school for the arts in an unnamed southern city. They fall in love, both with each other and, to some extent, with their charismatic theater (theatre!) teacher, Mr. Kingsley. But things fall apart, particularly after the arrival of a group of English theater students and their two adult teachers, Martin and Liam, who arrive to put on what turns out to be a shocking adaptation of Candide. In the second section, set 14 years later, Sarah’s former “best friend,” Karen, is attending an author event where Sarah, no longer in theater but a successful author, will be reading from her novel which is based on their years at the high school. However, Karen’s story of the events that took place there differs significantly from Sarah’s retelling, and in major ways. David also resurfaces, as a director known for putting on uncomfortable plays in uncomfortable venues, as does Martin, the older of the two Englishmen who is now in disgrace for reputedly preying on his students. But who preyed upon whom and what really happened? The end of Karen’s section is shocking, but no more so that the third short section, set a quarter of a century later from the main events, which will introduce an entirely different narrative and narrator. Frankly, I’m still puzzling out the “truth” of the novel. Choi has a great gift for evoking the fraught lives of artsy high school students striving to star in their own lives. Recommended. 257 pp.

Heroes

Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology #2) by Stephen Fry  415 pp.

This is the book that follows Mythos. While the previous book covered the Greek Gods of Olympus, this volume is about the heroes of Greek Mythology who may or may not be descended from the Olympians. The tales include Jason and the Argonauts searching for the golden fleece, Atalanta, raised by bears only to be defeated by golden apples, Heracles and his twelve labors, Bellerophon capturing Pegasus and together defeating the Chimera, and Oedipus solving the riddle of the Sphinx. The audiobook is read by the author. While still an excellent retelling I think the first book in the series was better. Fry makes commentary relating aspects of the stories to the present day, it seemed that these were more intrusive than in the first book. However, the tales themselves are worth the listen.

The Sun Down Motel

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, 327 pages

In 1982, Viv Delaney went missing after a few months working the night shift at a seedy motel in Fell, New York. Thirty-five years later, her niece Carly drops out of college and travels to Fell to see if she can figure out what became of the aunt she never met. Soon, Carly is living in Viv's old apartment, working the same shift at the same seedy hotel, and scouring the newspaper archives at the Fell library, hoping that something will reveal itself to her that investigators never uncovered. But as empty as the motel is, its ghostly residents may be the key to Viv's disappearance.

I'll admit that as I read this book I kept waiting for it to go either full Shining or full Scooby Doo. Thankfully, it did neither. It was a creepy, ghost-tinged thriller with an unexpected ending.

The Color of Air

The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama, 320 pages

In 1935, after 10 years in Chicago starting his medical career, Daniel Abe is returning home to Hilo Town, on Hawaii's big island. The town is largely made up of Japanese immigrants who were conned into working on a sugar plantation and their descendants. Daniel is the one kid who left...and then came back. However, just as he arrives, Mauna Loa begins erupting, and the close-knit community must decide whether to stay or go, while Daniel and his close family friend Koji sort through their respective pasts.

As a historical fiction, this book definitely succeeds in taking the reader back in time and to a specific place--I could almost taste the mangoes as I read this book. And it's an intriguing story that needs to be told. That said, so many characters are created in this book that some of their stories are condensed much more than they should've been (I'd argue that two characters in particular deserve their own novels) and it can sometimes be difficult to tell what's going on when. But if you want to take a quick, authentic mental trip to Hawaii's past, this is the book for you.

*This book will be published on July 7, 2020.

Alanna: The First Adventure

Alanna: The First Adventure, Tamora Pierce, 249 p.

Alanna: The First Adventure is the first installment in Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series, a young adult series that focuses upon the coming of age of Alanna of Trebond as she becomes a knight in the realm of Tortall. To do this, she has to pose as a boy to start her training as a knight, while her twin brother who is interested in learning magic takes her place in the convents that teach it. I read this series when I was in grade school, and find that it is still wonderfully engaging today. The story is well paced, and the characters provide a vibrant insight into the world.

Death in Mud Lick

Death in Mud Lick: a coal country fight against the drug companies that delivered the opioid epidemic / Eric Eyre, read by Michael David Axtell, 303 pgs.

Not the first book I've read on the opioid epidemic but I like the focus here on the pharmaceutical industry.  Reporter Eyre won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the system that allowed thousands of pills per total population in small town pharmacies in West Virginia.  It is a long tale that makes if obvious there was criminal neglect.  There seems to be continuing neglect even though some holes have been plugged.  Tracing the number of people, elected officials, agencies, etc. who had a hand in this epidemic does make you wonder how in the world everyone was able to turn a blind eye.  For some, it was for money, for others, the lack of it. The narration is very well done by Axtell.

Big Lies in a Small Town

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain, 391 pages

Art student Morgan landed herself in prison for a drunk driving accident that paralyzed a girl. She's pretty sure her artistic career is over, but then the daughter of Morgan's favorite painter shows up for a visit, bringing with her a lawyer and an offer to get Morgan out on parole. Why? The painter, Jesse Williams, stipulated in his will that Morgan, and only Morgan, be hired to restore a mural painted in 1940 by the mysterious artist Anna Dale. And it must be done in two short months.

Bouncing back and forth between Anna's story in 1940 and Morgan's story in 2018, this novel unravels a decades-old mystery, full of misdeeds and prejudice, and shows a young woman how to move forward with her life after prison. It's a quick and engrossing read.