Reviews

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. 

The Narrowboat Summer is a delightful surprise. Three women, at pivotal moments in their life, happen to meet by chance because of a barking dog. It is decided that two of them, Sally and Eve, will navigate Anastasia's narrowboat through England's canal system for repairs. A great deal of trust is placed upon each of them as they embark on this adventure through the lock and dam waterways including some long, dark tunnels. As they travel, they meet some eclectic people that recognize Anastasia's boat, and befriend a few of them, too. I was so intrigued by this aspect of the story that I discovered there really is an entire community of people who live this lifestyle, periodically moving their watercraft, exploring new locales. This is a gentle story of fresh beginnings, self-reflection, friendship, humor, kindness, pushing yourself to your limits and finding out what is important to you.

This book is for fans of author Anne Youngson's previous novel, Meet Me at the Museum, and will also appeal to readers who enjoy reading a story that proceeds at a more languid pace.

Something very unusual has happened. Overnight, all around the world every adult age 22 and older has received an identical box with a length of string inside. Inscribed on each box is the phrase: "The measure of your life lies within." No one knows what it means. Is it a test? What do the different length of the strings mean? Should people open their box or ignore it? Of course, human nature, being what it is, creates its own intended and unintended consequences including deceit, broken trust, dashed hopes, discrimination,political maneuvering as well as a resurgence in exploring what is really important. The story is told through the point of view of the main characters via their own chapters, piecing their stories together. Their relationships and connectedness are what really appealed to me. Each character's reactions and interactions advance the story. By chance, two of them begin corresponding with each other anonymously through hand-written notes left inside a classroom. My favorite phrase in the novel is on page 276. "We are all strung together." 

The Measure by debut author Nikki Erlick is a reaction to something unexplained, raising many questions with parallels to issues in the world today. I think this is a good title for book discussion groups and will spark thought-provoking conversation.

You don’t need to be a fan of swimming to enjoy reading about a community of swimmers sharing the use of their local subterranean public pool. Some swim to relax, some to escape, some because they are creatures of habit. We learn the names and peculiarities of the narrator’s cohorts without learning hers. She describes individuals and their idiosyncrasies. Before long a crack develops in the pool wall which causes great concern and angst among the swimmers.  

The last part of the book shifts its focus to one of the swimmers, Alice, who is slowly losing her memory. Beautifully written, tinged with emotion, bittersweetness and a dose of reality.  

At only 175 pages, author Julie Otsuka has written a story that resonates with me. Pick up a copy of The Swimmers if you are a fan of author Julie Otsuka or of a story well told. 

Amanda Lovelace writes succinctly, yet expresses emotion and hard-hitting ideas into her poems, which feels autobiographical and heartfelt. Her feminist viewpoint is self-affirming despite, or because of, diving into some darker territory about relationships, outdated ideals and how we can still fall into unhealthy traps. This is a slim book of poetry, accessible, not high-brow and can be quickly read. It also contains beautiful artwork that illustrates the contrast in the title of being both soft and fierce.

My favorite verse is on page 27: "i refuse to be ashamed of taking up my rightful space. i refuse to apologize for daring to have an opinion. - it's a pleasure to disappoint you."

Flower Crowns & Fearsome Things is for fans of Amanda Lovelace's other work and for those who would like to try reading contemporary poetry.

By the time Blue Lake is 15 years old, she and her mother Scarlet have moved multiple times, always on the run from a mysterious person that Scarlet only identifies as HIM. Blue slowly begins to doubt this person's existence and her mother's sanity as they settle into a small tourist town in Michigan. Isolated for so long while growing up, Blue learns how to have friends despite her outsider awkwardness. Further, she is drawn to the music shop in the neighborhood. The shop's owner recognizes her musical talent and becomes her mentor - once Blue convinces her mother to allow her to take piano lessons. Scarlet is an artist, a painter, who loses herself in her work but continues to isolate herself except for the therapy sessions she pursues with a psychoanalyst in town. And so the story goes on, each chapter revolving around three different points of view, revealing a little more, pulling the reader along and making us wonder what is the truth and how will this end? 

Scarlet in Blue is a mix of psychological fiction, coming-of-age, childhood trauma, control, mother-daughter relationships, art, music, murder, a long-term plot, and family secrets. It is descriptive and ominous. The reason why Scarlet and Blue are on the run, and how they survive, makes it a unique story.

If you enjoyed author Jennifer Murphy's debut novel I Love You More, you may also enjoy this page-turner.

Light from Uncommon Stars is Ryka Aoki's debut novel - a blend of fantasy, science fiction, artificial intelligence, a demonish deal and the beauty of music. I became invested in the story and in the three main characters, Katrina, Shizuka and Lan whose storylines revolve around one another brought together by chance and fate.

It covers themes about gender identity, runaways, non-acceptance, acceptance, painful experiences, actions taken that can't be undone, and found family. Despite these heavy real-life issues it is interspersed with humor, kindness and hope.

This is a strange yet surprising book about friendship and taking chances. Take a chance and pick up a coy of Light from Uncommon Stars.

Together by Luke Adam Hawker is told and drawn in beautiful black and white pencil sketch illustrations in this graphic novel. The story follows an older man with his faithful dog at his side as he navigates the maelstrom of the Covid-19 pandemic. The book communicates with few words and detailed imagery about how the pandemic isolated communities changing the course of people's lives. We get a peek into how people contend with this issue within a cross-section of their homes to see how life carries on despite obstacles, setbacks and the fear of unknown outcomes. Working and schooling from home, separation, loneliness, new priorities, and finding ways to connect become a new normal.

You can read through Together quickly or slowly savor it by reviewing and interpreting the images on each page. Despite the topic of the book, I wanted this book to be longer, to know more about the man and his canine companion. Despite its brevity, I recommend it as a quick read and think that it will appeal to those who enjoy graphic novels and a hopeful story.

I begin at the end by reading this last novel, Silverview, by author John Le Carre as my first foray into his extensive stable of books. I was not disappointed.  

Julian Lawndsley buys a book store on the English shore, leaving his hectic life in the city behind him. A rather unusual man, Edward Avon, wanders into Julian's shop one day casually advising him on an idea for the store. Seemingly at random, they bump into each other next at a local cafe whereby Edward informs Julian he knew his father when they were at school together. This seems to cement the beginnings of a friendship and a circumspect mentorship between them. Avon has a wife and a daughter but their relationships appear fractured. Further behind the scenes, something subversive has happened. Avon appears to be at the center of an investigation taking place by Domestic Security.

The story is told from different angles, time-frames, and makes us work at paying attention to the details so that we can piece together the story. Is Avon a con artist? A spy? Who else in his circle is aware of his actions? Who else is complicit? How will this end? I can only imagine that these might be the type of questions someone in this business might need to wade through to get answers.

An afterword by LeCarre's son, Nick Cornwell, is included. In it, he tells the reader that he has not been privy to more information about his father's real-life spy career than the general public already knows. His role in getting his father's book published posthumously is to let it stand on its own merit. 

Chapter One opens with a captivating sentence: "Stranger, whoever you are, open this to learn what will amaze you."

Author Anthony Doerr has created a novel that is vastly different from his last major work. This one stands unique on its own. Reading this book required a time commitment; however, the narrative easily flowed along and pulled me into the stories of Konstance, Seymour, Zeno, Omeir, Anna and, of course, the book within a book, Cloud Cuckoo Land. From Constantinople to Idaho to Korea and to the future, Anthony Doerr's new novel is an invitation to "time travel", to connect the dots on how an ancient manuscript can play a role in so many lives. During the course of centuries, the main characters within the pages endure hardship, heartbreak, exploitation, disappointment, strife, war, love - basically, life. People who have endured these challenges inspired others around them to learn and to wonder and to crave understanding. I found this book to be intriguing and philosophical.

The author's note says that this novel is intended as a paean to books. This is the best kind of tribute.

For fans of Anthony Doerr and those who enjoy reading an uncommon novel.