Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: July 5, 2022
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.
Even though this book is about gamers, you don’t have to be one to appreciate how wonderful it is. I’m definitely not a gamer in any way – Candy Crush and Wordle are the extent of my gaming experience. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is more about the relationship between the two main characters, game designers Sam and Sadie, and their friend Marx and what happens to it when the video game they design becomes a massive success. The characters are well-drawn and complex. It’s character-driven but still has an out of nowhere twist. This is also one of the few books that have made me ugly cry. Luckily, I was in the privacy of my own home! I chose this book because John Green recommended it and he did not steer me wrong. I also highly recommended it.
May 8th, 2023 in
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Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher
Narrator: Carrie Fisher
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Release Date: November 01, 2011
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Infused with Carrie Fisher’s trademark incisive wit and perfectly poised on the heels of Wishful Drinking’s instant New York Times best-selling success, Shockaholic takes listeners on another rollicking ride into her crazy life.
Told with the same intimate style, brutal honesty, and uproarious wisdom that placed Wishful Drinking on the New York Times best-seller list for months, Shockaholic is the juicy account of Carrie Fisher’s life, focusing more on the Star Wars years and dishing about the various Hollywood relationships she’s formed since she was chosen to play Princess Leia at only 19 years old. Fisher delves into the gritty details that made the movie – and herself – such a phenomenal success, admitting, “It isn’t all sweetness and light sabers.”
Shockaholic was a quick, fun listen. As usual, Carrie Fisher pulls no punches and tells it like it is. She has a very long section about her friendship with Michael Jackson and thinks there is no way he could be a pedophile. I didn’t realize they were such good friends. That section might be a little troubling, depending on what your thoughts on Jackson are. She also talks about getting electroshock therapy for her depression and other mental issues and how it’s helped her. I think her honesty will help people going through the same thing.
Fans of Carrie Fisher and/or Star Wars will enjoy this book. Recommended.
Other books I’ve reviewed by Carrie Fisher:
Wishful Drinking
The Princess Diarist
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
On the eve of her fortieth birthday, Alice’s life isn’t terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn’t exactly the one she expected. She’s happy with her apartment, her romantic status, and her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning, she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her sixteenth birthday. But it isn’t just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush—it’s her dad, the vital, charming, forty-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?
This Time Tomorrow is an interesting take on time travel and has elements of Peggy Sue Got Married and Back to the Future as well. Even so, I found it to be original. Alice wakes up on her 40th birthday discovering that she is 16 again. Her father, who had been dying in the hospital in the present time, is his spry younger self. Alice’s fervent hope is to change the past so that her father can live longer and happier in the present. Is that even possible and if so is it a good, idea? You’ll have to read to find out!
Emma Straub is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. Highly recommended.
Other books by Emma Straub I’ve reviewed:
Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures
The Vacationers
All Adults Here
May 1st, 2023 in
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Rachel to the Rescue by Elinor Lipman
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Rachel Klein is sacked from her job at the White House after she sends an email criticizing Donald Trump. As she is escorted off the premises she is hit by a speeding car, driven by what the press will discreetly call “a personal friend of the President.” Does that explain the flowers, the get-well wishes at a press briefing, the hush money offered by a lawyer at her hospital bedside? Rachel’s recovery is soothed by comically doting parents, matchmaking room-mates, a new job as aide to a journalist whose books aim to defame the President, and unexpected love at the local wine store. But secrets leak, and Rachel’s new-found happiness has to make room for more than a little chaos. Will she bring down the President? Or will he manage to do that all by himself?
I picked up Rachel to the Rescue because I was looking for something light and cheerful. (Also, it has Rachel in the title!) Luckily, this hit the spot. Rachel Klein has a job at the Trump White House taping together all of the documents that the president rips up after he reads them. One drunken night, she accidentally replies all to an office-wide email in which she criticizes Trump and his ilk. She is promptly fired the next morning. As she is leaving the office on foot, she’s run over by a car and wakes up later in the hospital.
When Rachel finds out who ran her over, that opens up a whole can of worms that could involve the president. She takes a new job working for a muckraking journalist who mainly hired her for the dirt on Trump. She tries her best to stay above the fray but it’s not always possible. Meanwhile, her personal life is actually going pretty well – her roommates set her up with a great guy and she has very loving parents.
I found this book to be charming. I liked that there wasn’t too much drama, apart from Rachel trying to figure out who ran her over and why. She and her boyfriend never fought – it was nice. As far as romance goes, it’s extremely chaste. That may be good or bad depending on how steamy you like your books. Also, it takes down Trump in many ways so if you’re a fan of his, you definitely won’t like this book. I personally thought it was really funny. Recommended.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
Narrator: Dave Grohl
Publisher: HarperAudio
Release Date: October 5, 2021
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Read by Dave Grohl. Features excerpts from five never before heard demos performed by Dave Grohl and an original story exclusive to The Storyteller audiobook.
So, I’ve written a book.
Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities (“It’s a piece of cake! Just do four hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!”) I have decided to tell these stories just as I have always done, in my own voice. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I’ve recorded and can’t wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child.
This certainly doesn’t mean that I’m quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it’s like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters…the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement.
Dave Grohl has lived a fascinating life. Most of his stories are about crazy things that have happened to him on the road with one of his bands. It’s pretty amazing he is s so successful today, he had some pretty rough times in the beginning. He had real bravery to keep going when most people would have thrown in the towel. He also had a couple of what he would even admit, were lucky breaks.
I love that Dave is still completely down to earth. Even now, he’s amazed that he’s friends with Paul McCartney and other famous musicians. I wish he would have written more about his time with Nirvana, but it actually was a pretty short time in the grand scheme of his career. And he doesn’t even mention Courtney Love’s name, which I thought was telling.
This book was a joy to listen to because Dave is such a positive person. He’s downright bubbly and not jaded at all. He’s a great dad too. There aren’t many personal stories but it’s clear he loves his family. This was a great road-trip listen for my husband and me.
The Editor by Steven Rowley
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
After years of trying to make it as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally sells his novel to an editor at a major publishing house: none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie–or Mrs. Onassis, as she’s known in the office–has fallen in love with James’s candidly autobiographical novel, one that exposes his own dysfunctional family. But when the book’s forthcoming publication threatens to unravel already fragile relationships, both within his family and with his partner, James finds that he can’t bring himself to finish the manuscript.
Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, and she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to head home to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. Then a long-held family secret is revealed, and he realizes his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the page…
From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus comes a funny, poignant, and highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever–both as a writer and as a son.
James Smale has written a novel about a son’s relationship with his mother. He sells his novel to a major publishing house where the editor is none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She recognizes that his novel is autobiographical and pushes him to come up with a more authentic ending. In doing so, he must confront his mother about the past.
Even though this book is called The Editor, it’s more about James’s journey as a son than about Jackie. It’s also about James’s relationship with his siblings and with his partner, Daniel. I have now completed my goal of reading Steven Rowley’s backlist before his next book, The Celebrants comes out in May. I highly recommended The Editor.
Other books I’ve reviewed by Steven Rowley:
Lily and the Octopus
The Guncle
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
When you sit down with Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride.
The magic of this novel is in the read, and we don’t want to spoil it by giving away too many details.
We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can’t live without.
For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion Lily, who happens to be a dog.
Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.
I chose Lily and the Octopus because I loved Steven Rowley’s The Guncle and I wanted to read more of his work. Lily and the Octopus is his first book and it’s quite a bit different from The Guncle. It’s about Ted and his dog Lily. Lily is Ted’s best friend – they know each other inside and out. One day Lily wakes up with an octopus on her head. Ted must figure out how to get the octopus off. That’s all I can say without spoilers. I will say that it is definitely a story for dog lovers (which I am not – don’t judge!) so even though I did enjoy it, I think I would have liked it even better if I was a dog person.
April 17th, 2023 in
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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher:
Publication Date: March 2, 2021
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
Klara is an Artificial Friend – a life-sized doll with artificial intelligence designed to be a child’s companion. She reminded me of the robot on the old show Small Wonder. She’s different from the other AFs on the shelf at the store. She’s more insightful and is starting to develop emotions. She is chosen by Josie, who she instantly connects with.
Kazuo Ishiguro doesn’t do much world-building in this novel, which I found a bit frustrating. It’s set in an unspecified, dystopian time in the future. Josie is sick but with what we don’t know. Gifted children are “lifted” but it’s never really explained what that means or why. We don’t find out why the world is a dystopia now. Even with all of that said, I still enjoyed this book. Klara was a great character who made astute and sometimes humorous observations about the humans around her. This book also reminded me a little of the movie Ex Machina, although not nearly as violent. And I loved that movie.
This is the first Ishiguro I’ve read and from what I’ve heard, his other books are even better. I’m looking forward to reading them.
Recommended.
April 13th, 2023 in
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Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Day: April 13, 2021
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
The history of the Sackler dynasty is rife with drama—baroque personal lives; bitter disputes over estates; fistfights in boardrooms; glittering art collections; Machiavellian courtroom maneuvers; and the calculated use of money to burnish reputations and crush the less powerful. The Sackler name has adorned the walls of many storied institutions—Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, but the source of the family fortune was vague—until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing a blockbuster painkiller that was the catalyst for the opioid crisis.
Empire of Pain is the saga of three generations of a single family and the mark they would leave on the world, a tale that moves from the bustling streets of early twentieth-century Brooklyn to the seaside palaces of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Cap d’Antibes to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. It follows the family’s early success with Valium to the much more potent OxyContin, marketed with a ruthless technique of co-opting doctors, influencing the FDA, downplaying the drug’s addictiveness. Empire of Pain chronicles the multiple investigations of the Sacklers and their company, and the scorched-earth legal tactics that the family has used to evade accountability.
A masterpiece of narrative reporting, Empire of Pain is a ferociously compelling portrait of America’s second Gilded Age, a study of impunity among the super-elite and a relentless investigation of the naked greed that built one of the world’s great fortunes.
Read this book when you’re in the mood to be pissed off. It’s the story of the Sackler family, who almost single-handedly started the opioid crisis. The methods they used to make sure that people were addicted to their drugs are astounding. They really are no better than street drug dealers. Actually, worse than street drug dealers because they duped patients and doctors into thinking their drugs were safe, while raking in millions and millions of dollars.
This book was packed with information but highly readable. It’s one of the best narrative non-fiction books I’ve read.
Highly recommended.
April 10th, 2023 in
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Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: January 17, 2023
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Set during the partition of British India in 1947, a time when neighbor was pitted against neighbor and families were torn apart, award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel brings to life the sweeping story of three sisters caught up in events beyond their control, their unbreakable bond, and their incredible struggle against powerful odds.
India, 1947.
In a rural village in Bengal live three sisters, daughters of a well-respected doctor.
Priya: intelligent and idealistic, resolved to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a doctor, though society frowns on it.
Deepa: the beauty, determined to make a marriage that will bring her family joy and status.
Jamini: devout, sharp-eyed, and a talented quiltmaker, with deeper passions than she reveals.
Theirs is a home of love and safety, a refuge from the violent events taking shape in the nation. Then their father is killed during a riot, and even their neighbors turn against them, bringing the events of their country closer to home.
As Priya determinedly pursues her career goal, Deepa falls deeply in love with a Muslim, causing her to break with her family. And Jamini attempts to hold her family together, even as she secretly longs for her sister’s fiancè
When the partition of India is officially decided, a drastic—and dangerous—change is in the air. India is now for Hindus, Pakistan for Muslims. The sisters find themselves separated from one another, each on different paths. They fear for what will happen to not just themselves, but each other.
Set against the backdrop of The Indian Partition in 1947 that created Pakistan, three sisters are also searching for their independence. Priya wants to become a doctor, like her father, virtually unheard of for a woman in the 1940s, Deepa falls in love with a Muslim man, which as a Hindu herself, is strictly forbidden. Jamini walks with a limp and wonders if she’ll ever get married and have a family of her own. And she happens to be in love with Priya’s fiancé. When the result of the partition is widespread violence, pitting Muslims against Hindus, their family is torn apart.
This book has it all. Richly developed characters and a fast-paced plot that had some surprising turns. I also learned a lot – I didn’t know much about the history of The Indian Partition.
I chose this book because I loved Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s book Oleander Girl. I’m happy to say I loved this book too. Highly recommended.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)
April 6th, 2023 in
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