The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date: May 1, 1992
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, usually harbors its residents for only a little while. Not so Rose Clinton, a beautiful, mysterious woman who comes to the home pregnant but not unwed, and stays. She plans to give up her child, thinking she cannot be the mother it needs. But when Cecilia is born, Rose makes a place for herself and her daughter amid St. Elizabeth’s extended family of nuns and an ever-changing collection of pregnant teenage girls. Rose’s past won’t be kept away, though, even by St. Elizabeth’s; she cannot remain untouched by what she has left behind, even as she cannot change who she has become in the leaving.
When Rose discovers she’s pregnant, she knows that she needs to get out of her marriage. She doesn’t love her husband or want to be married anymore and she doesn’t want to be a mother either. She sets off from California to Kentucky for a home for unwed mothers. She doesn’t tell her husband or her mother she’s pregnant or where she’s going – lies. She tells the nuns at the home that her husband died – a lie. Soon the lies are piling up.
I dug deep into my TBR shelves for this book. I loved Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House and have been meaning to read more of her books. The Patron Saint of Liars, which is her first book, did not disappoint. Patchett is a master of character development. I liked how each of the main characters had their own section in the book and their own unique voice. I felt like I knew them inside and out.
Highly recommended.
June 12th, 2023 in
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Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Publisher: Penguin Press
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him.
Then one day, Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will finally learn the truth about what happened to his mother, and what the future holds for them both.
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and the power of art to create change.
In Our Missing Hearts, the United States government has convinced the public that all of America’s problems are China’s fault. Asian Americans of all descent are routinely harassed and assaulted, just like Muslims (or anyone who looked Muslim) were harassed and assaulted after 9/11. The government has passed a law called PACT (Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act). Anyone found in violation of that act, which is basically doing or saying anything that could be construed as anti-government, can have their children removed from their home permanently. Asians are especially under scrutiny for violations.
Bird, a twelve-year-old boy with an Asian mother and a white father, hasn’t seen his mother in years. Bird isn’t sure why and his dad says they just need to forget all about her. But Bird is on a quest to find her and find out why she left.
I know that I’m in the minority here but I was a little disappointed with Our Missing Hearts. I loved Ng’s previous two books and I was hoping to love this one too. I found the pacing to be too slow for a dystopian novel. I also wanted the ending to pack more of a punch. I did appreciate the social commentary – sometimes it seems like we’re not too far from enacting PACT in real life.
This was my book club’s pick for May and we all pretty much felt the same way about it. But from looking at the reviews online, we are the only ones in the world who didn’t love it. You should probably read it and make up your own mind.
Other books I’ve reviewed by Celeste Ng:
Everything I Never Told You
Little Fires Everywhere
June 8th, 2023 in
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Sex and Vanity: A Novel by Kevin Kwan
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: June 30, 2020
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can’t stand him. She can’t stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can’t stand that he knows more about Casa Malaparte than she does, and she really can’t stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin Charlotte.
The daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and a blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton, where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again. Soon, Lucie is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment building, and, ultimately, herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world—and her heart. Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View, and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.
Sex and Vanity bears a lot of similarities to Crazy Rich Asians but it mostly takes place in fabulous Capri and New York. Lucie Tang Churchill, the daughter of an American Born Chinese mother and white father, is invited to the wedding of her friend Isabel Chiu to Dolfi De Vecchi in Capri. It’s a multi-day affair with ultra–rich people from all over the world, not just Asia. Old money is forced to associate with new money, which can lead to some humorous interactions.
Lucie comes to Capri with her older cousin Charlotte as her chaperone. When they arrive they are put in the wrong hotel room – Charlotte had requested one with an ocean view. Rosemary Zao, an extremely wealthy woman from Hong Kong, overhears Charlotte complaining and offers to switch rooms with her, saying:
“…we come from Hong Kong, where our flat overlooks the harbor. And we have a house in Sydney, in Watsons Bay, where we can see whales do backflips, and another beach-front house in Hawaii, in Lanikai. We get to see the ocean till we’re sick of it, so this is nothing to us.”
Charlotte and most of the other wedding guests find Rosemary to be extremely gauche and are put off by her. To make matters worse, her son George is on the strange side and hardly speaks to anyone. Because of this, he seems mysterious to Lucie and she finds herself simultaneously repulsed by him and attracted to him. After an embarrassing incident, they part ways and don’t see each other again until several years later.
When George and Lucie meet again, Lucie is engaged to Cecil Pike, a world-class snob and social climber. Somehow Lucie can’t see it. I had trouble believing that Lucie, who is down to earth and not materialistic could love Cecil. And their sex life was weird. It seemed more like an arranged engagement to me. As you can probably guess, Lucie begins to have doubts about Cecil once George shows up in her life again.
Sex and Vanity has Kwan’s trademark snarky footnotes throughout, which I loved. It also has some serious things to say about race, which surprised me. Since Lucie is mixed race, she feels like she never quite fits in anywhere – she’s either too Chinese for white society or too white for Asian society. She experiences hurtful microaggressions because of that too.
I didn’t realize until after I read Sex and Vanity that it’s a tribute to A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. I’ve never read that book but now I want to. Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed the escapism in to the lives of crazy rich people that Kwan offers. Highly recommended.
June 5th, 2023 in
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Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies by Michael Ausiello
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: September 12, 2017)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
In this evocative and gorgeously wrought memoir reminiscent of Rob Sheffield’s Love Is a Mixtape and George Hodgman’s Bettyville, Michael Ausiello—a respected TV columnist and founder and editor-in-chief of TVLine.com—remembers his late husband, and the lessons, love, and laughter that they shared throughout their fourteen years together.
For the past decade, TV fans of all stripes have counted upon Michael Ausiello’s insider knowledge to get the scoop on their favorite shows and stars. From his time at Soaps in Depth to his influential stints at TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly to his current role as founder and editor-in-chief of the wildly popular website TVLine.com, Michael has established himself as the go-to expert when it comes to our most popular form of entertainment.
What many of his fans don’t know, however, is that while his professional life was in full swing, Michael had to endure the greatest of personal tragedies: his husband, Kit Cowan, was diagnosed with a rare and very aggressive form of neuroendocrine cancer. Over the course of eleven months, Kit and Michael did their best to combat the deadly disease, but Kit succumbed to his illness in February 2015.
In this heartbreaking and darkly hilarious memoir, Michael tells the story of his harrowing and challenging last year with Kit while revisiting the thirteen years that preceded it, and how the undeniably powerful bond between him and Kit carried them through all manner of difficulty—always with laughter front and center in their relationship. Instead of a tale of sadness and loss, Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies is an unforgettable, inspiring, and beautiful testament to the resilience and strength of true love.
I actually watched the movie Spoiler Alert (starring my BFF Jim Parsons) first and then liked it so much I decided to read the book. Spoiler Alert is Michael Ausiello’s memoir of the time he spent caring for his husband Kit when he was dying of cancer. He also flashes back to moments over the course of their fourteen-year relationship. It’s actually quite funny in parts and of course incredibly sad in others. It’s a true testament to the power of unconditional love. Recommended.
June 1st, 2023 in
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Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Publisher: Ecco
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
Tova works the night shift cleaning the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Her husband has passed away and she needed something to fill her time. She forms an unlikely friendship with a giant octopus, Marcellus who lives at the aquarium. I was skeptical about a book where one of the main characters is an octopus but it works. Marcellus’s chapters are narrated in the first person and I felt empathetic towards him and his situation. He doesn’t want to be trapped in an aquarium.
Tova’s son disappeared several years ago under mysterious circumstances. Marcellus, who is extremely observant, actually figures out what happened to him. The way he communicates with Tova is so clever it seemed realistic.
Remarkably Bright Creatures was May’s selection for my book club. We had so much to talk about. This book brings up issues of grief, motherhood, friendship and much more. Highly recommended.
You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar
Publisher:Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: January 12, 2021
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Now a writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and host of The Amber Ruffin Show, Amber Ruffin lives in New York, where she is no one’s First Black Friend and everyone is, as she puts it, “stark raving normal.” But Amber’s sister Lacey? She’s still living in their home state of Nebraska, and trust us, you’ll never believe what happened to Lacey.
From racist donut shops to strangers putting their whole hand in her hair, from being mistaken for a prostitute to being mistaken for Harriet Tubman, Lacey is a lightning rod for hilariously ridiculous yet all-too-real anecdotes. She’s the perfect mix of polite, beautiful, petite, and Black that apparently makes people think “I can say whatever I want to this woman.” And now, Amber and Lacey share these entertainingly horrifying stories through their laugh-out-loud sisterly banter. Painfully relatable or shockingly eye-opening (depending on how often you have personally been followed by security at department stores), this book tackles modern-day racism with the perfect balance of levity and gravity.
You may know Amber Ruffin from her appearances on Late Night with Seth Meyers or The Amber Ruffin Show. While she lives in culturally diverse New York City, her older sister Lacey lives in Nebraska. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is a collection of racist incidents that Lacey has experienced living in the Midwest. It’s supposed to be a humorous take on these events but it mostly just made me mad and ask myself, “Why are people so stupid?” Most of these stories are about overt, unmistakable racism. People have no shame. I might have chuckled a few times but mostly I was rolling my eyes. And I’m sure Lacey has hundreds more stories that didn’t make it into the book. I understand why the stories try to be funny – it’s like if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.
I think this book would be extremely helpful to people who think they aren’t racist but still commit micro-aggressions without even realizing it – like the woman in the grocery store who put her hand in Lacey’s afro. And since it’s marketed as a comedy book, your friends won’t be suspicious when you gift them a copy.
Even though I didn’t find it laugh-out-loud funny, I did find it to be an engaging read. I finished in one night, which is rare for me. Highly recommended.
May 25th, 2023 in
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The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
Translated by: Stephen Snyder
Publisher: Pantheon
Publication Date: August 13, 2019
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around Publisher’s Description:
On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses—until things become much more serious. Most of the island’s inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.
them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.
The Memory Police is a stark, dystopian novel about an island where the Memory Police are slowly disappearing objects from everyone’s memory. Only a few select few can remember these forgotten items and those who can are enemies of the state who disappear themselves. When a woman discovers that her friend is one of those people, she hides him under her floorboards.
There is never a backstory given of how the Memory Police came into power or what their objective is. None of the characters even have names. My friend who lived in Japan for years said this style is quite common in Japanese literature. This would usually be frustrating for me because I like good world-building, but for some reason, I enjoyed this book anyway. It’s definitely disturbing but in a good way. It was a selection for my book club and led to a great discussion. People either loved it or hated it. Those are always the best meetings. It’s boring when everyone agrees!
Recommended.
May 22nd, 2023 in
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Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: September 14, 2021
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
The Delaney family love one another dearly – it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other….
If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?
This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.
The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after 50 years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?
The four Delaney children – Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke – were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.
One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.
Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure – but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.
I read this book when it first came out but somehow neglected to review it. I decided to listen to the audiobook to refresh my memory of the story and I’m happy to say, it was just as good the second time around.
Apples Never Fall is told in classic Moriarty fashion. Something big happens in the first few pages – in this case, Joy Delaney, the mother of four adult children has gone missing. The prime suspect in her disappearance is her husband. Then the book alternates between the recent past, when a stranger knocks on the Delaney’s door and the future where the police are looking for Joy. The stranger, Savanah, is a young woman who says she’s running away from her abusive boyfriend and Joy invites her in. Savanah stays with them up until right before Joy goes missing. Could she be involved?
In the meantime, all four children are harboring secrets of their own. There’s a lot going on in this book and it’s all expertly woven together. I just love Liane Moriarty. Highly recommended.
Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: December 7, 2021
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Renu Amin always seemed perfect. But as the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, she is binge-watching soap operas and simmering with old resentments. She can’t stop wondering if, thirty-five years ago, she chose the wrong life. In Los Angeles, her son, Akash, has everything he ever wanted, but he is haunted by the painful memories he fled a decade ago. When his mother tells him she is selling the family home, Akash returns to Illinois, hoping to finally say goodbye and move on.
Together, Renu and Akash pack up the house, retreating further into the secrets that stand between them. Renu sends an innocent Facebook message to the man she almost married, sparking an emotional affair that calls into question everything she thought she knew about herself. Akash slips back into bad habits as he confronts his darkest secrets―including what really happened between him and the first boy who broke his heart. When their pasts catch up to them, Renu and Akash must decide between the lives they left behind and the ones they’ve since created, between making each other happy and setting themselves free.
By turns irreverent and tender, filled with the beats of ’90s R&B, Tell Me How to Be is about our earliest betrayals and the cost of reconciliation. But most of all, it is the love story of a mother and son each trying to figure out how to be in the world.
Renu’s husband of over thirty years died almost a year ago and she’s decided to move from Illinois to London. Her son Akash comes back from Los Angeles to help her pack up the house. Akash has secrets and so does his mother. The book flashes back and forth between the present day and the past, making the characters well-developed and providing context for where they are now. This book brought out strong emotions in me – that’s usually a good sign. Akash is self-destructive but sympathetic at the same time.
My son gave me this book for Christmas – he knows me well! Recommended.
May 15th, 2023 in
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The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: April 13, 2021
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be…dangerous.
When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple.
Fern’s mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.
I just love reading books that have neurodivergent characters. They have such an honest, refreshing, and usually humorous take on the people and world around them. In The Good Sister, that character is Fern. Her sister Rose wants to have a baby but can’t so Fern decides to get pregnant for her…without telling her. As you can probably guess, this was not the best decision.
This story had twists that kept me guessing and was thoroughly enjoyable. Recommended.
May 11th, 2023 in
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