I, much like Katherine C., somehow made it this far in life without having read this American classic. It has never been that I didn’t want to or didn’t intend to. Perhaps I was afraid of not liking a classic. Or perhaps, much like the concept of cleaning out my closet, eating more greens, and timely filing of taxes, reading To Kill a Mockingbird has had a permanent place on my back burner. Until now….thank you fellow Kathryns for pushing me over the edge.
Image from Katherine C’s Instagram
Fall is here! Welcome changing leaves, cool air, delicious smells, and all things pumpkin (like it or not)! Oh, and welcome scary stories. Now’s the perfect time to curl up with a spooky read fit for fall. So, that brings us to our October book choice, Descent
by Tim Johnston. You may or may not have heard of this one, but if you’re looking for a thriller, THIS should be next on your list.
Published just last year, this thriller of a novel, put simply, is about a small family who travels to the Rocky Mountain for vacation when tragedy finds them. The son and daughter take and early morning trek through the local trails, but only the son returns. It sounds fairly basic, right? However, having already read a few dozen pages into it, this story has so many layers that it reads like a classic, page-turning, beautifully complicated, mystery favorite. But NPR put is more eloquently:
“A good genre writer might have turned this into a conventional suspense novel, making us worry about the missing girl with every page that goes by — but Tim Johnston has written a book that makes Gone Girl seem gimmicky and forced. I worried about the missing girl with every page, yes. But I also suffered every torment felt by her family, father, mother, brother, and those linked to the family. So this is a thriller plus!”
We’re excited to read this one! And we hope you’ll read with us. And let us know what you think… per usual, share with us on social media using #booklymark 🙂
I’ve finally finished our September read and my final opinion of this one is FAR from where I thought it’d end up.
To Kill a Mockingbird has been on my list for a long time. But for reasons too long and boring to explain, it was never covered in any of my English courses. I’ve been hearing for years about what a classic it is, and I’ve always wanted to cross it off my list. I’m very glad I finally did.
However, it took me a lot longer to get through than I thought it would. Truly, it wasn’t until about 200 pages in that I started to like it. Those first hundreds of pages were entertaining, yes. But they seemed aimless. Meandering stories of a young girl and her brother going on playful adventures in the summertime. Although, with the scene set for such a childhood, it makes what happens in the later half of the novel that much more powerful. It just takes a little while to see what all those stories are leading up to… 200 pages to be exact.
But as soon as I hit the trial of Tom Robinson I was hooked and breezed through those last 176 pages. And the story was made all the more beautiful by the narrator. To view the events of this book through the eyes of Scout Finch is to see the world from a lost perspective. Beyond the obvious themes of racial injustice, prejudice, fear, and hate, it was the loss of innocence that I thought was written most powerfully.
“How could they do it? How could they”
“I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it—seems that only children weep. Good night.”
As I’m sure was Lee’s intention, Scout is the personification of childhood innocence, and by default reminds me of my daughters. That pure view of the world that we’re all born with is precious. But it’s hard to raise children, day by day, and know they won’t live all of their days with such a kind view of the world. Sadly it ends. I CAN wait to see that day arrive. When the world eventually chips away at their childhood. At least when that day comes maybe our world will be a kinder place than it is now, and hopefully they’ll keep a little faith in people. I hope to raise optimists.
“Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things… Atticus, he was real nice…”
His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me.
“Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”
All-in-all… I loved this book. I didn’t think I would at first, but the evolution of Scout’s story was so universal and significant that I came to the end wanting to read it all over again. If you haven’t read this one yet, definitely give it a try!
It didn’t take me long to love this book. The first 50 pages were a bit slow, but once I got to know the characters and the story line started coming together, I was hooked.
Avis, Bashkim, and Luis are the center of this tale. Three people who don’t know each other when this story begins, but whose lives become intimately entwined by the end.
The book opens with Avis, stark naked while discovering her husband’s been cheating. And while that’s by far the most awkward moment of this story, all three characters have many moments of vulnerability, forced to come to terms with the parts of life that leave us gasping for air.
I did guess the ending, but this wasn’t the type of book where a big plot twist is the whole reason for reading. We Are Called to Rise is about the characters–their losses, but more importantly, their triumphs.
If you didn’t read along with us this month, be sure to add this one to your TBR pile. And have a tissue or two handy.
Image from the 1962 film “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Um, it’s September. We’re not sure how that happened. But, none-the-less fall is upon us (almost)! Which also means that school is back in session, so we’re in the mood for a classic. We’re sure you’ve all seen the back to school commercials lately. Anyone else craving a shopping spree for school supplies? No? Just us? Okay.
Anyway, let’s get to the point. For September we’ll be reading the required-reading staple To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee!
Most of you are probably very familiar with this book and/or have already read it, but not all of us are/have. So, bear with us as we go through a little Mockingbird 101.
It was published in 1960 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. This book has become one of the leading American classics, receiving numerous awards and continuous notoriety. The story it tells is based on an event that Lee observed in her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936 when she was just 10 years old. Overall it deals with public attitudes toward race issues in the 1930’s.
Nelle Harper Lee was born in Alabama in 1926, where she grew up. In the late 1940’s she moved to New York city where she developed as a writer. After a failed first draft in 1957 (Go Set a Watchman, since published in 2015) she found success a few years later with To Kill a Mockingbird. Although, she was quite surprised at the book’s fortune.
“I never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers but, at the same time, I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I’d expected.”
— Harper Lee, 1964
And as you know, the rest is pretty much history. Fame, fortune, controversial sequel, yadda, yadda. It’s rare you find someone nowadays who hasn’t read this one. But if you haven’t it’s probably been on your list for a long time. It’s definitely been on ours. So read with us and finally cross it off your list! You in??
Oh! And don’t forget to share with us on social media using #booklymark 🙂
Back again, to review our August beach read: We Are Called to Rise.
Admittedly I finished this book a little while ago and I’ve read two books since so some of the details are a little fuzzy. But overall, I liked this one. I do think I had some high expectations going into it. I’d heard from a few people who’d already read it that they really enjoyed it, and the description intrigued me. I love books where diverse lives intersect, for better or worse. Speaking of which, if you haven’t read Bright, Shiny Morning you should definitely put it on your TBR list.
Anyway, like I said, I went into this with some high expectations, and I don’t think they were quite met. But I guess I’m a tough judge. I liked the book but I didn’t love it, and I think I was expecting to love it. There were just a few things in the way of me falling in love with it: the story was interesting, but a little predictable, and the characters were well-written but I didn’t feel like all of their stories were fully told.
The mother son dynamic between Avis and Nate was odd. And I feel like there wasn’t any closure there. What happens to Nate? To his marriage? Does his poor wife stays in the relationship? And I thought Roberta was going to be a bigger character but she seemed to just function as a bridge for different characters. I feel like she could have been left out of the story all together. And why bring up Luis’ father and uncle? I’m not sure why that story line came into play without any true end.
Overall I finished it feeling like the book told small parts of many wholes that didn’t add up to a complete story. I feel like it should have been longer or shorter. But even still, it was an enjoyable read for sure. I loved the details of Las Vegas. As I’ve been told by another (former) Vegas resident, it’s very true to life in Sin City. And I really felt like I could see the characters’ lives as I read their stories. And McBride has a way of telling you a lot with a few words. Her telling of Avis’ loss of her young daughter in a page and a half was so beautiful and heartbreaking I almost put the book down. As a mother of two little girls it was almost enough to stop me from reading any further… “And then she puts her hands in his hair, lays her cheek on the ice cream, and says, as clear and sweet as those ice-cream truck chimes, ‘Good daddy.'” I live moments like these every day, and she captured their fleeting magic perfectly.
It was a few moments like those when I’d find myself wondering if there’d be ANY happy parts of this book. Some of it got very sad and hard to read. But I’m glad it pulled through! The happy ending was just what I needed.
So, if you’re looking for an entertaining story with a heartwarming ending to take on your next vaca – this is a good one!
Lettering Image by Katherine C.
Hello and happy beach read month! We’re here to announce our book for August: We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride. The author is a community college teacher in Las Vegas, and this book is her first novel.
Published in April 2015, We Are Called to Rise tells the story of Avis, Bashkim, Luis, and Roberta. Four very different people living very different lives in Las Vegas. These lives—a young immigrant boy, a middle-aged housewife, a military veteran, and a social worker—all converge into one uplifting story. Or so we’ve heard. It seems to us like it might be kind of like a literary version on the movie Crash. We’ll have to read and see. But the few people we know who’ve read it have loved it! So that bodes well.
“This is a story about families—the ones we have and the ones we make. It’s a story about America today, where so many cultures and points of view collide and coexist. We Are Called to Rise challenges us to think about our responsibilities to each other and reminds us that no matter how cruel life can be in a given moment, it is ultimately beautiful to live, and live fully.”
From the reviews we’ve read, this book should both test and restore our faith in humanity. We can’t speak for you all, but we’d really like a restoration of our faith in humanity. It seems like people put so much negativity out there these days. This could be a chance for a few feel-good moments. Even if it is fiction, we’ll take it.
Well, there’s not much else to say about this one. We hope it’s a quick, fun and entertaining read, and we hope you’ll read along with us!
And one more thing, here’s a fun playlist to listen to while reading along…
Oh! And don’t forget to share with us on social media using #booklymark, pleeeeease 🙂
First of all, I’m happy to be back as an active member of the bookly club. I’ve been decidedly absent in my time studying for my boards and as I figured no one wanted to hear my critique on “Radiology Cases: Emergency Medicine” or “Medical Physics” – I was laying low.
Admittedly, On the Run was a bit of a tough read to jump back into but, unless you have been living under a rock as of late, almost painfully poignant. Social media is the greatest blessing and curse of our generation. It simultaneously brought our collective youth and desired youths to a sniveling pile of filtered selfies and self congratulations and has given a voice to the historically silenced and marginalized population. In doing so, it created a national conversation/uproar about justice, race, and that truth that we hold to be “self-evident.” We are all created equal.
We are all created equal. But it is abundantly clear that we don’t live in a time or a society, that allows us to stay that way. We all come into this world the same way, but from that moment our directions change seemingly based on nothing more than the darkness of our skin and the zip code on our address. This is a concept that I “get”, but as a white girl, its a concept I clearly don’t really “get.” Alice Goffman shares that vantage point. In many ways, it was interesting to be keenly aware that Goffman was very much an outsider on the world she was reporting on. It gave her a “fly on the wall” prospective, less impassioned by personal experience or pain. However, I think that was also a downfall of the book.
I agree with Katherine C. in that the book read a bit like separate articles without a magic thread piecing it all together. That in combination with the heavy topic made it difficult to tear apart. I will say that with all the sorrow and tragedy that has befallen this planet in the past few months, I wish for us all to find a little more understanding and a little less fear. Perhaps its publications like Goffman’s that can help in that movement.
I’m glad I read this book. However, I don’t know if I liked it as a book. The format seemed to be lacking. It felt like reading a series of articles. It was very well written, well researched, the subject matter was rich with important insights, and I felt like I learned a lot. But I felt like I was reading a textbook instead of a book.
Granted, a lot of my nonfiction exposure thus far (outside of undergraduate and graduate courses) has been with authors like John Krakauer who spin an interesting narrative through their book. But in On The Run Goffman recites her findings and supports said findings with necessary evidence. Essentially, the book seemed to lack a certain passion and personality that I was hoping for. And as a result I never fully connected to the author or her subjects. But I guess it makes sense… this book is literally an anthropological study in book form. Much like a documentarian she keeps her reporting scientific and observational.
I think what I would have preferred was if the Methodological section in her appendix were introduced in the very beginning. Because as I was reading I felt myself disbelieving some of her stories. I would wonder, why would these people trust a girl like this? How much did they know she’d be retelling? How unaffected is her data if she’s seeing it all from the lense of white privilege? Do her parents know she’s watching Gangs of New York at 2am in a neighborhood like 6th Street? I think hearing more about the evolution of her study and the relationships she built would have given the stories and data more credence at the offset.
Even though this book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, like I said, I’m glad I read it. So often we look at the issues with our country (racism, sexism, religious prejudice, hate crimes, terrorism, etc.) and feel helpless. Or at least I do. But in this case, Goffman presents a tangible look into why some lives are the way they are. Personally I’d never thought of the fact that at the same time black Americans were achieving their legal rights to full citizenship, the federal government declared war on drugs and crime. Ipso fact0: the prison boom. And the fact that a lot of these young men don’t have legitimate government ID’s is another issue I never thought of. It’s further evidence as to why a lot of men (and women) in this community struggle to hold jobs and live a law-abiding lifestyle. I do wish Goffman hovered around the family issues a little more. It seems the men and women (boys and girls) in this community, and I suspect in many other low-income communities, find themselves parents at such a young age. And this adds to the struggles. As it would, and does, for anyone trying to provide a good life for a child. Why are so many young people becoming parents so soon, and so frequently? This seems to be another big part of the puzzle I’d like to learn more about.
All in all, I’m glad I checked this one off the list. Especially now. But I wish the sequencing was a little better organized and that the stories of her subjects were more fluid and easy to follow. I recommend you put this on your to-read list. But maybe read it in sections as you would an article series.
After reading this I can’t help but feel increasingly more frustrated with the systems in place which perpetuate these issues. And our lack of capacity for change. Hopefully the most recent deaths (both civilian and police) are, in the least, opening blind eyes to the fact that we have big problems in this country. We need change…. not “again,” but anew. America’s never been “great.” Not for anyone but the few and mighty privileged. But I digress. I’ll just leave you with this quote that this book kept making me think of:
My thoughts exactly.
I read Perks a long time ago, sometime during my middle school years, and while I remember liking it, that’s about the only memory I have. When we chose it for our May/June read I was eager to re-read it but anxious that it wouldn’t hold up to all the “I loved that book!” comments we received.
Thankfully, it did.
Admittedly, it took me a bit to get back into it, but once I fell back in love with the characters I was hooked. Via letters to an anonymous friend, Charlie navigates becoming a teenager–something we all can relate to. Shy and quiet, he’s not the most popular kid in school but he soon finds a group of friends that welcome him and make him feel at home.
A shy and quiet teenager myself, I was surprised Charlie and his friends didn’t have more of an impact on me when I read it in middle school. While I wasn’t quite as rebellious as he was when it came to drinking and smoking, I struggled to fit in and questioned myself, much like he did.
Full of all the angst and humiliation that comes with adolescence, this short and sweet book packs a punch that will leave you feeling all the feels.
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