Reading Roundup: April 2020

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

This is a big, sprawling book that covers a lot of different characters and two different time periods. In some ways this works and in others it doesn't; some aspects of the book, especially the historical parts, felt underdeveloped. It took a while to really get into it, but by the end of the book I was absorbed in the story and had a hard time letting go of the characters.

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

This book seems like it should have gotten more buzz than it did last year. It's a complicated story about race, violence, and family legacies. The author alternates focus between two families who are intertwined as victims and perpetrators in different ways throughout the book. There aren't easy answers to any of the questions raised by the book, and I thought Cha did an excellent job leaving things realistically open in the end.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

I knew this book was going to be terrible, but I wanted to read something trashy and escapist for a few hours. However, it was even worse than I expected. Not only was the plot unbelievable and the characters stereotypical, but the conclusion of the story was so over-the-top grotesque that I still don't want to think about it.

Stories We Never Tell by Sonja Yoerg

This was a free Kindle book for the month, and I actually put aside for a while because it was too slow to get started. I tried it again, and it was still slow and uneven in tone. It took until the middle of the book to realize that it was meant to be a thriller, and even when the plot shifted to suspense, it still wasn't very compelling. I decided to finish it just to find out what happened, and it never did get better. 

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

This was a perfect little book to read for a few hours on a quiet Saturday afternoon. I thought the main characters were both well balanced between realistically flawed and charmingly aspirational, and their romance had the same balance. This was fun to read because it felt like two actual humans falling in love and trying to work out how to stay in love and make things work.

The German House by Annette Hess

I checked this out as an e-book through Overdrive and didn't realize it was a translation until I was several chapters into reading it. I've read plenty of American authors' versions of twentieth-century Germany, some quite good and some not, but it's quite different to read a German author's take on the same time period. This was an engrossing, complicated book and I'm still thinking about it nearly two months later. Although there were a few loose ends that didn't get tied up and some rough prose that might be a translation issue, I would recommend this book.

Love and Other Ways of Dying: Essays by Michael Paterniti

I'd written down this book on my 'to-read' list years ago and never got around to it. When I picked up a copy from the library, I realized that I had already read a few of Paterniti's articles in various magazines. I re-read them all, and his other essays, and enjoyed every one. Sometimes his style is a bit too self-consciously ornate for my taste, but this is still an excellent read.

Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil by Melina Marchetta

Marchetta apparently usually writes for teens, and I could tell because the teenage characters were the best-written ones in the book. This book was an interesting mix of family drama and thriller, and I thought it fulfilled both aspects quite well. If you like British shows like Broadchurch, you will probably enjoy this book.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

I picked up this book based on its many strong reviews, despite the fact that the plot didn't really intrigue me. I nearly put it down after the first few chapters because they are pretty gruesome (if you or your kids can't handle realistic animal death, don't read this). However, I'm glad I persevered because this book only got better as it went along. There were still a few gruesome parts, in keeping with the realities of nature, but the writing was delightful to read and I loved the way everything came together in the end. I can already tell this is going on my 'best of the year' list.

Phoenix Song by James Goldberg

This was a wonderful poetry collection--I love James's use of language in providing concrete images and his ability to weave scriptural allusion into scenes of everyday life. I read this as an e-book, but think I would like to buy a print copy to make it easy to re-read and ponder the poems.

Movies

Onward

There were some great parts in the movie and some mediocre parts, and mostly the kids and I felt like one viewing was enough. We didn't hate it, but we don't really want to watch it again. Perhaps if we were a bit more into some of the 'nerd culture' referenced in the movie we would like it more. It just felt flat and was surprisingly unemotional for a film about kids dealing with the death of a parent.

A Silent Voice

Some friends suggested we watch this movie together on Netflix. I'd never heard of it before and might not have chosen it without the suggestion from a friend. There were some parts that were a bit confusing and might have made more sense if I had a better understanding of Japanese culture, but generally I enjoyed watching it. Watching together while chatting with friends about it was a great experience.

Bridget Jones's Diary

After watching about twenty minutes of this movie I thought "why have I never watched this before?". Yes it's a totally ridiculous movie, but it's filled with excellent actors and has a heartwarming ending. I'm afraid that I can relate a little too much to Bridget in many ways, although I sadly have no hope of ever winning over Colin Firth.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The kids hadn't seen this before, and it had been a long time for me too. They all remarked several times about how weird it is--it's a strange mishmash of really awful villainy, star-crossed lovers, and terrible attempts at comic relief (the gargoyles were a very bad idea). The animation is gorgeous and so is the music, but I was left wondering why anyone decided that this particular book would make a good Disney movie.

A Hidden Life

This movie requires patience to watch--although the plot is fairly high-stakes, the way the story is told is leisurely and focuses as much on the setting as it does on the characters. It's a visually gorgeous movie, and the story made me think deeply about conscience and choices.