Magpie by Elizabeth Day

Friday, Oct. 28, 2022--San Antonio

Magpie by Elizabeth Day is a story that is told and then retold from the perspectives of two of the main characters.  As the book continues, it is possible to realize why the story is believable in both versions and the reader comes to know which version is closer to the truth and why.  There is suspense, concern, frustration, etc., as aspects of the story are revealed--a controlling mother of an adult child, a bipolar character who functions well as long as medications are taken, a couple wanting a baby so bad that they go through IVF and consider the doctor's recommendation of either getting a surrogate or consider adoption.  I enjoyed the twists and turns and the tension that built up.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.

Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer

Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022--San Antonio

Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer is the second of two books in a series.  I read the first book (entitled Less) two years ago because it won the Pulitzer Prize, but I wasn't impressed for reasons that can be read here.   This second book got great reviews and since it was available for the Kindle through the library, I decided to read it, too.  I am happy to report that for me this second book is much better than the first.  It picks up 15 years after the breakup with his older poet lover when his former lover has died, when Less is having money problems but seems to have some new opportunities, but also when his relationship with Freddy (his new lover) through all these years may be running into trouble.  Less and Freddy have continued to live for free in his old lover's cottage in San Francisco, but upon his death, back rent is due.  Plus Freddy has taken a job a a college in Maine for a year, so they are living apart.  This new book covers the adventures and learning experiences that are a part of each of their lives.  Freddy, also a writer, leaves his job to go to a small island to write and to think through what he wants out of his life.  Less is traveling across the country in an old van to provide introductions for another better-known author who is apparently nearing the end of his life and insists on some detours.  Then Less continues after that tour with a theater company that is presenting one of his minor works on a theater tour based on an entire reading of the chosen story on stage with minimal props.  This tour involves Less having to return to the South where he grew up with great fear and anxiety due to being gay, provides him some insight on how audiences seem to appreciate his story, and gives him an opportunity to try to reconcile with his father who abandoned the family when Less was young.  It's not necessary to read the first book before reading this one and, as I said above, this is a better book in my opinion.  I gave it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022--San Antonio

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura is a short novel that was on the long list for the National Book Award in 2021.  It takes place at the United Nations' International Criminal Court (which I have visited with a friend who worked there) in The Hague.  It's the story of a woman who has taken a one-year appointment as an interpreter at the court to see if she will like the job and the city--if it can become her permanent home.  Her father is deceased and her mother has moved to Singapore.  She has never had a "home" city and New York where she has been living is too expensive and her work there is not satisfying nor lucrative enough for her to remain.  The novel covers her whole year in which she makes a few friends, proves herself capable of performing the job, becomes very involved in both the trail of and as a personal translator to an African President accused of crimes against humanity, and falls in love with a married man who is separated from his wife who has taken their two children and moved to Lisbon.  The book deals with the intimacies involved in all these relationships--with friends, with colleagues, with work clients, with her relationship partner--and the strains that are a natural part of being intimate with such persons within one's life.  It's a good book.  I rated it 4 stars out of 5.

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022--San Antonio

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott was the winner of the National Book Award in 2021.  As a novel, it addressed two aspects of the lives of Black people in American--the recurring tragedy of Black men being murdered by cops or, if not, being arrested and going to prison at an unjustifiable rate for unjustifiably long sentences, and that laws may have been passed to try to make lives for Black people equal to those of whites today, but that lives of Blacks are not equal to those of whites--that Blacks living today suffer from injustices that have been ingrained in society since the time of slavery and that it is unfair for whites to say otherwise.  As a white person, this book clearly made sense of the dilemma faced by Blacks living today and the need for Black parents to have "The Talk" with their children, especially their male children.  It was uncomfortable at times to read this book, and I found myself setting it down more often than I do with other novels.  But I always came back to it because I realized how well it is written and how important it was that I read all of it.  As with other readers, I found myself confused and wondering at times who was who and what was what.  The last chapters, however, bring it into focus.  I rated the book 4 1/2 stars out of 5.  

Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022--San Antonio

Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson is about two former college acquaintances (not close enough to be called friends) who meet years later at the airport when their flight to Europe is delayed.  One has become a known writer.  The other, who was a long-haired man from a poor background, has become successful enough to be flying first class and invites the other to accompany him to the first class lounge to wait for the flight using an extra pass he has.  From that point to the end of the book, the successful man takes the opportunity to get a story "off his chest"--one which he has told no one else and which accounts for his success in life but includes details that he has kept secret due to their making him feel guilty and ashamed.  It's an interesting story of a person who has thought of himself as good and nice, tells of the an instance when his actions seemed to have confirmed this, but includes later details in which he is afraid that maybe some of his actions contradict what he has believed about himself.  He then leaves it up to the author to decide what to do with the story.  It's a short novel (about 200 pages) and a fast read.  I didn't want to put the book down.  I gave it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.