August: What I Read & Back To School Treats

Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves Summer Encore & A book without quotation marks. Well now. What an interesting book. I have read many books where Death is the narrator but none quite like this. Death a.k.a. Travis lives in an apartment building with regular folks occupying the apartments nearby. Across the hall from Travis, lives a single Mom, Dalia, who is a midwife, with her kids Neda and Layla. Travis sees the world in such a unique way that allows the reader to see it that way, and think about life from a different perspective. Over his time living in the flat, he meets many people with different stories. Travis gets close to many of the people that he will inevitably accompany to the other side. Travis tells the reader what made each person who they are from the beginning and who they are the end. The short vignettes of each person are heartbreaking and sad, but they were also inspiring and hopeful. I shed many tears reading this book. I also found it very interesting to read about different types of people in their last moments. Good people and bad people. Over time Layla befriends Travis, and he develops a relationship of sorts with Dalia and her children. And there is the dilemma, how can you love someone, no, someone’s when you know every detail about them, including when you will lose them? The thing I like about this author‘s writing is how he flips seamlessly between thoughtful and poignant moments, heart wrenching sad moments and then funny every day relatable moments. An example is Lucy‘s mother‘s funeral lol I needed that chuckle and it oddly reminded me of when my mom died lol. This book was not action packed and not what I expected but I will think on it and the message that I got from it, for a very long time. What an outstanding debut novel from Ben Reeves.

We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark Alliterative Title & Eldest Daughter – A book where the FMC makes sacrifices for her friends or family. The dedication in this book is actually to eldest daughters so it’s fitting. This is a brand new world filled with vampires, sigilmarked gold/silver/or bronze and mundanes those without sigils or fangs. 6 years prior to when the story begins, Arvelle won The Sands, a deadly mandated competition but lost her best friend and the love of her life. 6 years later she is financially broke, her body is broken and she has younger twin brothers, one with a fatal lung condition, that she needs to care for. She is working as a bodyguard when she gets blackmailed into taking on a new competition, The Tria Proeliis, and becoming an assassin. There are a lot of characters in this book, most with unfamiliar names which makes following a little difficult at first. This book is a fantasy with vampires, magic and wyverns but also takes elements from Rome, the Colosseum, gladiators, and even an emperor who makes thumb down motions. In fact, while this book is a clear fantasy, it has so many issues that we deal with all the time like poverty, guilt, and addiction. Arvelle is not an easy character to get to know or like actually, but she has so many possible love interests and they’re all fascinating. I loved Carrick, Rorrik and Tiernon (giving total Stefan and Damien Salvatore vibes). I was surprised when the Tria Proeliis ended so quickly but then the next phase starts, which moves the story along quickly. The next stage is training as a novice. I really enjoyed the mindpath ability between Arvelle and Rorrik and the chariot races, I could see this book as a movie. I loved the tension Arvelle has with, well everyone lol but especially The Emperor and his sons. Rorrik might be my favourite morally gray character in a while. This was my favourite fantasy novel of the year so far.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Fact or Fiction & The Fate of Ophelia – A Shakespeare retelling or historical fiction. I haven’t seen this movie but a dozen pages in and I can tell why this book was made into a movie. It is written like a scene. It is so descriptive and it puts you in the moment. That feeling continues throughout the book, which feels like a screenplay. After the first scene/chapter the reader is taken back 15 years to when, a young Latin tutor meets and falls in love with Agnes an eccentric eldest daughter of a nearby farmer. The chapters flip seamlessly from now to then and back telling two stories of one person’s life, the Latin tutor’s wife, Agnes. Her life as a wife, a mother and as an healing woman who is living in the late 1500s. This is a really good historical fiction novel told from an outside perspective so you can see the story that the author is writing. It’s like looking at all the events that lead to what happens to a family, viewed from the outside. I love how this book describes a chain of actions and reaction. I loved how her husband’s name isn’t mentioned because the story isn’t about him. Her husband isn’t a bad man. He’s just a weak man and like Agnes says, he wasn’t there. Death is always heartbreaking but the death of a child even more so and this book perfectly describes death and the grief that follows. In part two we see the devastating aftermath of the family’s loss. I didn’t think that I could become attached to the characters because of the different narration style, but I was wrong this book made me cry hard. I could really relate to the grief Agnes felt. I too once had conviction/confidence about who I was until my mother died. The grief rocked my entire world and nothing has been the same since. Agnes falls into a deep depression after death visits her home and is written so well, that you can really see her descent. I really liked the ending and felt like this was a complete story.

Conform by Ariel Sullivan A book whose title doesn’t contain the letter “E”. This is a dystopian novel that takes eugenics to a whole new level. Hundreds of years in the future, after humanity has done its worst to itself, a new society of Elites has formed and below them Major and Minor Defects. Minor Defects are approved based on genetics to procreate with an Elite mate or in Emeline’s case, a member of the Ilium. I found this book very disjointed. Emeline seems like a docile and willing Minor Defect but when she shows an independent streak, or when she swears it seems completely out of place. Also, she seems entirely all too familiar with Hal after one brief meeting and argues with her powerful mate like they have known each other for years. I love the description of the world in the clouds though. In some ways it reminded me of watching Andor and all the political intrigue of Coruscant. I liked Gregory and Nora but the other characters were harder for me to understand their intentions as they didn’t seem well thought out. Emeline is wishy-washy, Collin is one dimensional and Hal is immature. However, at the end of this book, I’m intrigued for the second one. Now that the courting time is almost over, it’s baby making time. I hope the next book is more flushed out because I see the potential in the storyline.

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel 🇨🇦 Hopeful science fiction. As I began reading this, I had to remember that it was written in 2014, before Covid-19 but instantly it takes me right back to that time. The story begins in the theatre, Act 4 of King Lear, when a famous Hollywood actor stumbles and falls, clutching his chest. A paramedic in training rushes to the stage to try to save him. Hours after the death of the acting legend Arthur, the man who rushed to the stage, Jeevan hears from his best friend at Toronto General Hospital, a new flu, the Georgia flu has just had its first patient and within 24 hours the patient and everyone who they have come in contact with, is dead. Part two begins 20 years after that fateful night. After the world has been ravaged by the pandemic and the fallout from that, people are living in groups in empty fast food restaurants, abandoned stores and in deserted businesses. It is fascinating to me to see how the author pictures a dystopian future. A travelling caravan of actors and musicians named the Travelling Symphony entertains survivors on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan because “survival is insufficient”. Within the group is Kirsten, an actor who was a child performer in the same production of King Lear that Arthur died in. Throughout the book there are flashbacks of Arthur’s life from his childhood on Delano Island through his university life at UofT to his acting career and his many marriages. Miranda was his first wife and the author and illustrator of a graphic novel Station Eleven. Each of the main players of this book have met throughout their lives, their fates have been intertwined with each other, even if they don’t know it, they all have one thing in common, Arthur, which makes for an interesting mystery while you read. Through interviews, memories, and stories of the past, the reader finds out what happened in those early days of the pandemic, the fallout after the electricity went down, and the hardships of staying alive. I felt like not all the loose ends were tied up as well as they could have been and I wasn’t fully satisfied with the ending, but I really enjoyed this book and had trouble putting it down.

Summer of Love by Kerri Maher Literally Summer. I read a book that I very much enjoyed by Maher last year and as soon as I started this book, I remembered that I really like her style of writing. The book slips from telling Dawn’s story in the summer of 2015 to her aunt, Winnie’s story in June 1967 and her Mom, Miranda’s, also in the summer of 1967. Dawn is 6 months sober and right away I am intrigued by Dawn and her addiction as she questions what life as the heir to a Napa wine dynasty would look like. She is a set designer reading a suspiciously familiar book series for her next job, who has recently met someone and she is struggling. Winnie and Miranda are in their early 20’s and leading 2 completely different lives but it’s the summer of love and they are drawn to the music. Winnie is living in San Francisco after graduation from UCBerkley, an artist/writer with a love for life, her ex, and drugs. Miranda is the responsible sister who stayed in Napa working at her family vineyard still trying to find her passion. The book progresses throughout the years ultimately to 2024. This book discusses a lot of pop culture things I enjoy like, music, wine, tarot cards, Sarah McLachlan, Days of Our Lives and old movies. Hearing about AA meetings, reading how Dawn struggles with staying in the moment and holding space for herself was eye-opening and thoughtful. Also, as someone that lives in Okanagan Valley, which is the “Napa of the North“ I was happy to read about the history of the land, the workers, and the grapes. This book is interesting on many levels, not just the story telling aspect of it. There are so many great quotes in this book and so many thoughtful questions that I will be thinking about for a long time. I specifically loved the idea of when things are falling apart in your life that you get to put them back together anyway you want and that is or can be, exciting. I really liked this book and the ending was very satisfying.

I’m Too Young to Be Seventy and Other Delusions (The Decades of a Woman’s Life) by Judith Viorst, Laura Gibson (Illustrator) A book from your least favourite genre & A book of poetry. I had to read a book of poetry for my summer reading challenge at my public library. Poetry is my least favourite genre. Syd had a poetry section in school this year and has been angrily yelling about haikus ever since lol. Thankfully, my AP English teacher hated poetry as well, and we only had one major unit on it, William Blake, songs of innocence and experience Lol although I have to say once, I was explained the ideas behind William Blake’s poetry, I really enjoyed it. Also, my favourite album from Taylor Swift is the Tortured Poets Department so I feel like I should be able to read poetry, but I just don’t like it. When I saw this book on the shelf, I knew right away. It was the poetry book for me. I am 47 but most days because of my multiple sclerosis I feel 74 lol so although this poet has a book about turning 30, 40, 50, and 60, I specifically chose a poetry book about turning, 70. This is a collection of poems that are light, but hold so much meaning about getting older. Many of the poems made me chuckle and some made me close the book to spend some time thinking about what I just read. My favourite poems from the collection were As Time Goes By, Not Merely his Life Companion (I sent a screenshot of this one to my hubby LOL), If We Stopped Trying and Too Young To Be Seventy really hit home. I still don’t like poetry, but this was short, sweet, funny, thoughtful, and I will probably read her other poetry books on the other decades of her life.

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich Community picks and A book by an author who is over 50 years old. This book was published in 1994 and I wanted to see how it held up 32 years later. Right away, we meet the FMC, Stephanie Plum, when she is six years old she meets Joseph Morelli An older boy who introduces her to “romance“ by looking up her dress. So I’m going to say, no lol this book is not going to hold up to what we deem appropriate and frankly legal nowadays. Every single person in this book is a red flag and there is a disturbing amount of SA. So I had to read it with eyes from the 1990s but it was hard, kind of like watching a TV show now and seeing someone smoking, it used to be so normal but now it’s so jarring. This book is very descriptive. It really sets the scene. I can picture the neighbourhood, I can feel the weather that she describes and the time period is marked with specific items and pop culture references from the 90s. The story is about Stephanie Plum a 30 year-old divorcee from Trenton, New Jersey. Stephanie has been laid off from her job so she unwillingly takes a job as a bond bounty hunter for her cousin Vinny‘s bail bond business and her first job is Joseph Morelli. So getting past the their history, Stephanie has always had a crush on Joseph (I guarantee years later Stephanie Plum, is in therapy lol) but besides that problem, she has to track down Joseph and she hasn’t seen in 10 years since he seduced her as a teenage girl. There are really rough characters that she has to meet in order to make that happen. Along the way Joseph who is a former cop charged with murder, is trying to clear his name. He remembers Stephanie from their childhood neighbourhood and ends up having to save her. Stephanie is not a good bounty hunter, lol and the cast of characters in her life, are pretty shady, I don’t know a place like Stark Street, so its residents gave me chills. Despite the fact that Joe isn’t a good guy, he grows on you. I also liked Lula and Ranger and foresee them having a bigger role further in the series. This first book in the Stefanie Plum series is like an episode of Castle or one of those cop shows. Easy, entertaining and everything came together in the end although pretty predictably. I think I would have been into this series back in the day and frankly I’m surprised I didn’t read it when it first came out.

Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick Fiction Written by a Celebrity. I was a romance junkie as a teenager too, but my addiction was historical romance, and my mom took me to the library every week to exchange them and to the book thrift store regularly to replenish my bookshelf. This book is funny and says such honest things. I mean, does anybody shave above their knees? Lol and it just gets more and more relatable. Phoebe is a single, pre-k teacher that is turning 30 in one month. She has a great life, a great roommate, a great job, great friends, and great coloured coded lists. Phoebe has another thing, her virginity and she wants to lose it by the time she turns 30. The whole premise is funny, but it also hits on so many relatable experiences when it comes to anxiety and control. Yes this is a cute read, but it’s a heck of a lot more serious than the subject would lead you to believe. Phoebe makes a list to help her lose her virginity and narrows her sights on 1 guy who is safely across the country, until she meets the new guy at work and then she sets her eyes on 2 guys but what if the guy she is most herself around is already right in front of her? Soon she is juggling feelings for 3 guys as she works on her anxiety, mental health and her nonexistent sex life. I really liked Phoebe‘s councillor (she reminded me of my own therapist lol), her friends, her sister, and her mom. This is a great coming of age story for this group of 30 year olds.