There There

Sometimes a book gets so much hype - too much hype - that there's no way it could ever live up to the reviews and critical acclaim. Sometimes, though, it's just that good. There There is a book for the ages.

(Damn, I sounded like Aristotle or something for a second there...)

Really, though, all that hype was for good reason and they'll be teaching this book in high school and college English classes for years to come.

The fact that it's Tommy Orange's first freaking book? That's not even fair.

There There is a book that combines the stories of what Orange calls "Urban Indians" - Native Americans living in or stemming from Oakland, California. It's about what it means to be an Indian in a place where there's nothing to connect you to your heritage. It's about what ties us all together, even when no clear string remains. It's about the good, the bad and the violent realities in so many lives. 

And, it's told in incredible prose. 

It's hard to tell you plot here, because it really tells character stories by chapter. We meet, we move on, we revisit, we revise. It all comes together in explosive fashion but, for me, it was really more about the journeys they took to get there and the way Orange can take your breath away with a sentence so complex, yet so simple, you don't see it coming.

If there's a con in this great novel, it's a small one. Orange tells so many people's stories, you almost need a chart to keep them straight. But, the way he advances each narrative makes all of that worth a page or two of confusion every few chapters.

Look, I'm not going to say anything more profound than the critics have said about this incredible book. It was on nearly every "great book of 2018" list. I will say that it's accessible, meaningful and thick enough to stick to your ribs. And also deep enough to break your heart.

Little Fires Everywhere

I hate how long it's been since I read this book and I'm just now sitting down to right about it. I read this weeks ago. But, as the title suggests, life is about little fires. And, so far in 2019, they're everywhere.

This book has been on my list for a long time, as someone told me it's a "must read." Someone else described it as a "teen version of Big Little Lies." What it was for me, ultimately, was a story about those who choose to suppress their deepest desires and those who choose to let it all burn in order to feed that voice inside.

The book begins in the same place where it ends, with a family's home burning to the ground. Instantly, the author reveals the most likely arsonist. She happens to be the teenage girl who lives inside. While the pages in between describe what led up to that moment, it ultimately brings you back to the same conclusion. What you learn along the way is motive - not just of the fire starter, but also of two families with very different reasons for why they've ended up where they are.

This book tells complex stories about families, choices, passion, decisions and what holds us back from following the path we most desire. It's also about the way we choose to judge others for making the choices we're not brave enough to make. It's about mothers and daughters, too, and the complex relationships between the two.

Someone told me this book was too slow for their taste. I didn't feel that. While I wasn't dying to get to the next page, I was enthralled enough with the characters that it kept me interested. On Good Reads, I gave it 4 stars, but 3.75 is probably more accurate. It's more of a slow burn than an inferno.

Inseparable

I'm out.

I never do this - or I haven't in a long time - but, I quit this book halfway through. I just couldn't get through another page.

Who cares, right? I mean, life's short - if you don't like a book, don't finish it. Still, as a good Irish Catholic girl and someone who minored in English in college, I feel guilty about not finishing something that I started. That guilt, though, isn't enough for me to waste any more time.

Many of you will look at the title and subject matter of this book and say, "Geez, lady, what did you expect?" On its surface, a book about the original Siamese twins who came to America as "freaks" in the 1800s doesn't exactly sound like a rollicking good time. But, this book was widely praised - and, how could you not be interested in two men who were paraded around like chattel, only to eventually own slaves themselves? The lives of these two men is fascinating to me, but this book took way too many historical breaks and broke up the fascinating direction of their lives.

I don't mind a little historical context built in to provide color and understanding of their lives. But, every time the actual story of these twins got more interesting, we took a detour that sucked the energy and inertia right out. I tried even skimming, just to get through. Even the skimming bored me.

I'm fascinated enough with the lives of these men, I'll probably try to find some Cliff's Notes version or an Atlantic article or maybe go see their fused livers in Philadelphia (for real, that's a thing.) The book, though, will go back to the library with a bookmark stuck smack dab in the middle.

The Deal of a Lifetime

Damn you, Fredrik Backman, you remarkable genius.

If you're one of the people who faithfully reads my reviews (and, I know there are some of you - which I think is totally cool and weird and awesome), then you know of my deep love of Fredrik Backman. Everything he writes is magical. Everything he writes leaves me in tears. The last two years, his books are among my favorites. They're among my favorites of all time, in fact.

So, this sweet little book - while actually considered a novella - is worth a quick mention, even though I read it in less time than it would take to watch an episode of This Is Us (which also - always - leaves me in tears.)

Backman's story is about the deals we make. What we're willing to trade. What it takes to become something better than what we are. It's the story of a man sick with cancer who meets a little girl dealing with the same. What can he offer her? What is he willing to give up in order to better someone else?

It's a quick read (65 small pages, many of them illustrated.) It's sweet, it's simple and it's powerful. And, if you've read everything else he's written already, it's a nice little snack to tide you over until his next book is released later this spring (Read this synopsis. I'm crying already.)

Becoming

"I wanted Barack for our family. Everyone else seemed to want him for our country."

That, my friends, struck me. Of all the things Michelle Obama explains in her book, the struggle between what Michelle Obama needed from her husband and what the country needed from him will most likely stay with me. How do you reconcile your husband's ambitions - ambitions to literally be the most powerful man in the world - with the power you yourself have worked so hard to gain?

What can I really say about this book that hasn't been written about nearly ad nauseam? When books come out that are this highly-anticipated, the suspense is sucked away in the pre-release press. Still, I found myself surprised and moved by the story of Michelle Obama's life - and most of what moved me happened before she moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Despite most of us not knowing a thing about Michelle Obama until the first presidential campaign, the true meat of this book happens in the decades before. It's truly her life story, and most of what made Michelle Michelle happened in a small apartment on the southside of Chicago. In detailing the story of her family's history and her constant striving to be the best, you begin to understand the whiplash she felt when she was thrust into the political spotlight. So many times throughout I tried to imagine how it must have been for this Harvard-educated over-achiever to be expected to take an ornamental, backseat role as First Lady.

You also have a first-person understanding of the barriers the Obamas had to break. The hate that came with that. The people who tried to tear them down simply because of who they were. The fear they must have felt knowing of the threats made against their children. And, the superficial way in which this educated, professional woman was judged, all in the name of politics.

"A sitting congressman made fun of my butt," she writes. "I've been hurt, I've been furious. But, mostly, I've tried to laugh this stuff off."

I'm kind of a DC nerd and I'm borderline obsessed with the the idea of life in the White House, so I naturally devoured the chapters about those eight years. What they had to pay for, what it was like to see screaming crowds outside and not hear a thing through bulletproof glass and life with a staff of many dedicated to taking care of your every whim... But, I related much more to Michelle as working mom. She gets real about infertility, the struggle to feel like you're still you, despite now being someone's wife and someone's mom... All of that is what felt the most real and accessible - and, drew me closer to the life of this woman I can't help but admire.

This book is much deeper and denser than other "celebrity" biographies. It's an inside look at the White House, sure. But, more than that, it's a look at the life of a powerful woman and how much of herself she had to give up - and reimagine - to truly accept what's next.

The Cabin at the End of the World

I've spent much of the last week of 2018 scared out of my mind.

That's due, in part, to watching Bird Box on Netflix on New Year's Eve. Just before that, I read this book - also about the possible end of the world. Horror isn't usually my bag, but this book was well-reviewed and on my list. Little did I know I would devour it in two days and have trouble sleeping both nights it was on my bedside table.

You know what's worse? The further away I get from it, the more it scares me.

But, sometimes that's what we're after, right?

The premise of this book is what drew me in. A little girl is playing quietly in the yard of the cabin her family is staying in, deep in the remote woods of the northeastern United States. A man approaches and befriends her and you've seen enough horror movies to know something is about to go horribly wrong.

As the situation escalates, the man says to the girl that nothing that's about to happen inside the cabin is her fault.

I hesitate to say too much about what actually does happen inside that cabin. The suspense of what the group of strangers brings forth and everything that happens next is what makes this book such a fast, compelling, terrifying adventure.

But, I will tell you this: twice while reading this book, my husband walked into the room and asked what was going on. I was staring at the book - mouth agape - in utter disbelief about what was happening.

It reminded me of why I consider myself "indoorsy." This book did a lot to confirm my fears of cabins and the outdoors in general.

If you read it like I did, you'll find yourself second-guessing EVERYTHING. You'll make up your mind about what you believe, then you'll change it two pages later. It's wonderfully written, in that it takes hold of you from the get-go. It's terrifying in that it doesn't exactly tie up in a bow and leaves you wondering about the future, what's real and what sacrifices you would be willing to make if everything was on the line.