Breaking Patterns

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover explores the struggles and perspectives around abusive relationships.

The story begins following Lily’s father’s funeral. She isn’t very broken up considering his abusiveness toward her mother growing up. She meets Ryle in this moment. He is a handsome neurosurgeon who is only interested in one night stands.

Fast forward a year and Lily is opening her dream flower store. It turns out that her new hire is Ryle’s sister. It’s only a matter of time before they become involved.

Meanwhile, flashbacks are provided through Lily’s letters to Ellen Degeneres, her favorite tv personality as a teen. Through her letters we discover her first true love was a homeless young man that she developed a relationship with as he was staying in the abandoned home near her.

All seems great until Ryle shows his aggressive side on more than one occasion. Lily doesn’t want to repeat the abusive pattern that she witnessed growing up, but she acknowledges the complexity of the situation.

The book was predictable for me, but still kept my interest.

Kansas Killers

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a classic that I hadn’t read until now.

It is an account of the real-life murder of the Clutter family in 1959. The family of four was well-respected and liked in their small Kansas town. Their murders shocked the town and instigated a tireless search to apprehend the killers.

The book provides background on the two men responsible for their deaths. Events detail their eventual capture, trial and deaths.

It is a chilling story due to its reality. The murderers are two very different men who managed to connect during time in prison. They shared a desire for easy money and disregard for human lives.

The Body

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride flashes back to small town life in Pottstown, Pennsylvania after a body is discovered at the bottom of a well.

The neighborhood was a mixture of races with Chicken Hill being predominantly black and the town below white and European immigrants. There is also a Jewish community and much of the story revolves around the Jewish couple Moshe and Chona. Chona is a much-loved store owner in the Chicken Hill neighborhood, and her husband runs the music hall in town.

There are too many characters and subplots to summarize each. A pivotal event is when Chona offers to hide her friend Addie’s recently orphaned nephew Dodo, so that he won’t be put into a nearby asylum. This leads to an unfortunate encounter with the lecherous town doctor. Lives drastically change after this event.

The author connects everything to paint a clear picture of the town: discrimination, gossip, questionable backgrounds, friendship, and striving for a better life are some of the elements. By the end there was also a clear message of the impact of kindness and loyalty. And of course, the mystery of the body’s identity is revealed.

Artistic Legacy

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes combines historical fiction, art, romance, a touch of mystery and legal drama into its story.

It begins during WWI in France. Sophie and her sister are taking care of their family’s inn which becomes occupied by German soldiers. Sophie hopes to use her relationship with the German commandant as a way to locate her husband Edouard who was taken to an internment camp. Edouard is an artist. His painting of her becomes a critical piece of the story (both in her time and in the future).

Fast forward to 2006. Sophie’s painting now resides with widowed Liv. Acquiring the painting is one of the precious memories with her former husband. She becomes involved in a legal battle to keep the painting against a budding love interest.

Both women’s stories are developed with the commonality of finding true love and experiencing different levels of hardship and loss. Liv delves into Sophie’s life through her letters, various records and interviews. Eventually the true provenance of the painting is revealed.

I have to admit that at first I wasn’t going to finish this book, but I’m glad that I did. It ended up being a satisfying read.

Fateful Choices

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray is a slow, steady tragedy.

Each character is developed in his/her own chapters. Eventually their chapters intertwine. Spoilers ahead…

Imelda is a wife and mother. But before this she was the only daughter to a brute/criminal father. She eventually found love with local sport star Frank Barnes. When his life tragically ends, she ends up married to his brother, Dickie.

Dickie’s chapters were rough. Always in his brother’s shadow at home, he finally begins finding himself while away at college. This drastically changes after his brother’s death. Later in his marriage, he loses himself again. He begins doomsday preparations starting with the bunker on his own property with the town outcast.

Cass is their surly teenaged daughter. Her life revolves around maintaining friendship with beautiful Elaine.

Finally, my favorite character, is twelve- year-old brother PJ. He is bright and a bit eccentric. He struggles with friends and is mostly overlooked in his family.

The bunker in the woods becomes a pivotal setting in the story. Events lead to a fateful evening here when all their paths will cross.

It is a well-written story touching on ideas of fate, love/loss and human frailty.

The Wrong Move

One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon’s blurb begins by comparing the story to “Get Out” meets “The Stepford Wives.” This grabbed my attention and reading it did not disappoint.

Jasmyn, her husband King and their young son are moving into a new home in affluent Liberty. This is a strictly Black community (Black-only businesses, schools, etc).

Jasmyn looks forward to raising her family away from constant discrimination and fear of police brutality. But, she begins to wonder why nobody else in town seems as eager to join the cause when she attempts to begin a Black Lives Matter chapter.

Maybe Liberty isn’t the safe haven she hoped it to be. Warning signs keep growing. Her husband (and others) begin spending inordinate amounts of time at the Wellness Center. Jasmyn notices people changing, but it may be too late for her to leave as an almost full-term expectant mother.

This book kept my interest from start to end!

Keep Playing

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was a slow moving but solid read for me.

Before getting into the summary/review, it’s been a while since I’ve finished a book. I started a couple that didn’t keep my attention.

Sam meets Sadie as a kid in the hospital while he is convalescing from foot surgery. Sadie’s sister is receiving cancer treatment. The story develops their on and off again friendship through the years. Their shared love of gaming and creating games bonds them.

They reconnect as adults while away in college and make a very successful video game together. They experience success and criticism. From this point on their relationship evolves through career and boyfriend jealousies and violence.

A lot of time passes throughout the story. Somehow they always find a way back into each other’s lives.

Overall a solid story on a subject I’ve never given much thought to (creating video games).

Girl Life

Pieces of a Girl by Stephanie Kuehnert is a memoir. In it Stephanie shares her growing up experiences through journal entries, sketches and photographs.

She recounts her awkwardness and being bullied as a young girl to bouts of depression and self harm through her teen and young adult years. She endured abusive relationships while working to find her voice and strength.

Her outlets were music and her writing. Eventually following and writing for zines provided her with a sense of girl power. Friends also supported her through life’s ups and downs. Stephanie was able to overcome her struggles to find her purpose.

Death Match

Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is one of the more unique books I’ve read in a while.

It’s about prisoners who can either stay in brutal conditions (physical or emotional torture), or potentially sign their lives away for a chance at freedom. The price for freedom is to take part in fight to the death matches that are televised. Each gang of prisoners travel together match to match, often losing a member along the way (sometimes in a fight or sometimes by their own gang members).

A few prisoners’ stories are highlighted. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara Stacker are the all-star duo (also a couple) with Loretta being only a couple combats away from Freed. There are also chapters from a couple that represent the audience, and from those protesting chain gang fighting (one of which is the daughter of a recently deceased inmate).

One of the unique elements of this book is the use of footnotes explaining the prison system.

The story kept my attention, although I found it difficult to keep track of the various characters’ nicknames. It is definitely a conversation starter in regard to the justice system and the possibilities of rehabilitation.

Family Drama

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is a solid family drama.

Told from shared perspectives of the main couple, Jules and Camden, as well as news clips and letters from Camden’s adoptive mother Ruby.

Ruby became famous after being abducted from her very wealthy parents s a small child. She was eventually found and returned home to much publicity. Her father left her most of the inheritance including their massive home, with the caveat that her sister and her family could live there too. Ruby’s letters to a mysterious recipient reveal shocking information about her life and her four marriages.

Years later, Ruby passes away and leaves everything to Camden, much to the disapproval of her sister and her two kids. Camden’s wife Jules talks him into returning home to settle their affairs, but she secretly hopes that they can take over the mansion.

By the end, it becomes clear that everyone has secrets and these secrets challenge all expectations.