Reviews

Despite the heavy, challenging issues of racism, classism, immigration, poverty on several different fronts in 1930’s Pennsylvania, the book has an almost folktale flavor in the telling. Almost as if you were sitting around a table listening to the stories, told with wit, warmth and clarity. In this manner, author James McBride makes the characters stand out, rich and complicated, highlighting their stand on morals, some never wavering and some easily overlooked. Step into the lives of Moshe and his wife Chona, Nate and Addie and their nephew, Dodo, and many more who live on Chicken Hill in Pennsylvania. Stay with the story as it coalesces into its final conclusion.

Incorporated into the story is the real institution of Pennhurst State School and Hospital that finally closed in 1987 after decades of controversary about its questionable care.

This Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is for fans of James McBride, for those who would like to read about a group of people living on the outskirts who make a community to support each other. Its qualities remind me of The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. This is the type of story that will keep me thinking about it for a long time.

Ride along with author Will Grant as he traverses the country from St. Louis, Missouri to Sacramento, California - from the comfort of home. Grant takes almost five months to make his way across the country whereas it typically took the original relay of riders ten days.

The historic Pony Express mail delivery service only operated for 18 months from April 1860 to October 1861 ending with the opening of the transcontinental telegraph. Yet its legacy lives on, its lore captivating the author into recreating the journey. The original riders rode through a wide range of terrain and weather, stopping at stations along the route that needed to constantly be stocked with fresh horses and provisions. Modern day obstacles provided challenges in a different way than what the Pony Express riders experienced. Grant needed to trailer his horses from his home in New Mexico to St. Louis then home once again. He had to have a support network in case of emergency, needed to pack his own shelter and provisions, needed to contend with highways and had to get permission to camp on private land. 

In his narrative, Grant does an excellent job of melding past and present. His unique first-hand perspective provides additional detail as not much logistical documentation has survived the test of time. If you are a "wannabe" cowboy or enjoy reading about history and adventure in the great outdoors of the American West, pick up a copy of this book.

The Dog of the North is a gentle, quirky story about families, how much we can handle, what we're willing to do for them and because of them, broken relationships and newly found ones.

Penny quits her job to move to Santa Barbara to help her irascible, unconventional grandmother. Her grandmother's accountant, Burt, has acted as a stand-in friend and confidante but now needs reinforcements. Once Penny arrives, chaotic, calamitous events happen in quick succession. Some are comedic, mad-cap and some have much more gravity. All are treated with tenderness. As we get to know Penny,  Burt, his brother Dale, Penny's sister, her father, her grandmother, her grandfather and why Penny needs to go to Australia . . . it becomes an adventure of the heart. 

This book is for fans of author Elizabeth McKenzie and her other novel The Portable Veblen. This title is also available as an eAudiobook on cloudLibrary.

Ramsey Lewis truly was a gentleman of jazz. A native Chicagoan, he made the decision to remain in Chicago instead of moving on to New York or the West Coast. The breadth of the book covers so much ground - how Lewis grew up, his musical influences, his parents who provided a strong foundation for him, his relationships with musicians, his family and children. His philanthropic side shines through as being a driving force for the creation of the Ravinia Jazz Mentor Program in partnership with Chicago Public High Schools. An interesting aspect of the book is that he includes commentary by others who may have had differing viewpoints on the same subject. 

At the 2023 AHML Lit Stroll, co-author Aaron Cohen eloquently spoke about his books including Gentleman of Jazz and his friendship with Lewis. Cohen made certain that he honored this great musical talent. His meticulous research references show that he cared about showcasing Lewis' vast body of work.

Gentleman of Jazz is for fans of music and for those who would like to learn more about a Chicago legend.

The Seed Keeper follows Rosalie, a Dakhota woman, as she discovers and recovers her ancestry. Sent into foster care at the age of twelve, she is separated from her family and culture. She marries a white man when she is young, both become a life raft for each other as they build a life on his family's farm. When Rosalie finds plant seeds that her husband's mother preserved and kept, she gradually learns how to grow her own garden. Living on a farm isn't easy and hardships come at them in many ways including paying the bills, environmental pollution and the pressures of newer corporate ways of farming.  

Seed keeping is a thread throughout the book that reintroduces Rosalie to tradition and eventually to family. Diane Wilson, the author, has Native American descent and provides a more authentic voice to the story, of history in Minnesota and what came after the painful, troubling Dakhota War of 1862 with its long lasting repercussions. This novel blends modern day and historical storytelling with compelling scenarios, a connection of the past to our present.

If you enjoyed reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, you may enjoy reading a fiction story that shows how important learning about history and nature is for all of us.

Isabelle is the daughter of Claire and Ward. Her father is a successful, famous author who Isabelle admires and tries to follow in his footsteps, but his selfish personality casts a shadow on her. The story progresses with a timeline that goes back and forth to key points, including how Claire and Ward met. As Isabelle struggles to write her first book, the unexpected death of her mother throws her into a tailspin. When she finds out what her mother left for her, Isabelle is faced with a life-changing decision. One constant for Isabelle is her steadfast friend, Brian, despite her worst behavior that takes him and their friendship for granted. 

A Likely Story is author Leigh McMullan Abramson's debut novel. This book will appeal to those who enjoy reading about family secrets, learning to take responsibility for your life, trying to erase past mistakes and don't mind an unlikeable character or two. 
 

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb is suspenseful, unique and lured me into a world of classical music when a priceless violin is stolen from the main character, Ray. The story has many layers including the struggle to succeed despite his money-hungry family, other forces at work against him, his ancestors' painful history, the racism Ray still encounters and his drive to recover the violin his beloved Grandmother gave him. The same violin that belonged to Ray's great-great-grandfather.

All of Ray's hard work in practicing, learning and helping support his family is pointing him in the direction of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition held every four years. When his violin is stolen we learn about its history, what it means to Ray and can he earn a chance to perform at the competition with a different violin?

Slocumb made this story very readable and approachable. The author is, himself, a talented musician and a music educator. Certain situations in the novel are autobiographical, strengthening the narrative. As I read I listened to YouTube performances of classical pieces described in the book, enhancing the story even more for me.

Pick up a copy of this book if you like a mystery that has family drama, classical music and the intrigue of art theft.

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn is a family saga; a novel in 5 Acts and an Encore spanning the years of 1919 - 1945. Three children, Cristabel, Flossie, and Digby grow up in an English manor house with little supervision. The adults are rather dysfunctional and turn the home into a sort of artist colony. Taras, an artist and a bit of a grifter, ends up in residence at Chilcombe manor with his entourage of family and a couple of free-spirited admirers. As the children grow up, they are the ones who have a sense of decency, maturity, and a devotion to each other. Taras helps set up the Whalebone Theatre styled from the ribs of a beached whale and is the one who encourages the children's creativity.

When WWII befalls England and the world, everyone must do their part. Cristabel and Digby are driven to do more dangerous work. Flossie remains at home but participates in the Women's Land Army. German soldiers are taken prisoner and are sent to work at the house tending the grounds, garden and stable. English soldiers are billeted inside. Every aspect of their lives are upturned; there is sacrifice and deprivation. It is a frightening time and showed a point of view I hadn't read before.

The story moves at a langurous pace through its 553 pages but I found the storyline engrossing. This is for readers who enjoy a long story, and are in it for the long haul; and who enjoy reading a historical fiction debut novel. 

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World is a fictional story wrapped around a real place in Japan. There, on a private residence, in a garden, one can find a telephone booth with a disconnected phone "that carries voices into the wind". It was installed there to help those grieving, to provide an outlet for the living, to perhaps say what you always meant to say to someone who you now mourn.

Yui is a young woman bereft from the tragic loss of both her mother and her daughter. She travels to this wind phone, far from her home, to find out for herself if it can help her find some solace. There, she meets another traveler, Takeshi. Together, they will find themselves visiting the phone booth many times over the course of years, meeting others who use the phone, and finding compassion with the family who tends it. 

Author Laura Imai Messina has written a beautiful, engaging, character-driven story. It is slow-moving, similar to the path of healing from loss. I was so moved and intrigued by this unique tribute, I found out several replicas of the wind phone have been built around the world.
 

In A Map for the Missing, debut author Belinda Huijuan Tang has created a story that provided me with some insight into aspects of Chinese culture. The story begins in 1993 with Tang Yitian, a young math professor working in America who receives a phone call from his mother informing him that his father is missing. His parents still live in the small rural village in Anhui Province in China where Yitian grew up, a place where he hasn’t been in 15 years. 

Once he returns home, he feels out of place. Memories of his youth come roaring back including the estrangement with his father, the man he now is trying to find. He turns to a friend, Hanwen, he once knew during the days of the Cultural Revolution and who is now married to a mid-level bureaucrat for assistance. The story continues with different timelines of his younger days as well as Hanwen’s and how they helped each other once the government reinstated the gaokao in 1977; a national, grueling, university level exam, one that hadn’t been allowed to take place in a decade. Hanwen has her own story of how she was “sent-down” from her life in Shanghai to the rural province where she met Yitian. 

The plot moves slowly, allowing us to see the characters develop, to see the stoicism that gives them a fortitude to go on to create meaningful lives despite hardships they endured. 

Themes of family, forgiveness, loss, adaptation, internal strength, identity, belonging, regret, and hopefulness. How maturity is something that can only be learned through time and experience. Readers who enjoy a different cultural point of view and a story that slowly unfurls might like to pick up A Map for the Missing. I found it beautiful and moving.