Sunday, September 1, 2019

Book Reviews August 2019

Lady In The Lake by Laura Lippman.  I really enjoy Laura Lippman’s novels, and this was a good one.  It takes place in the sixties, and the main character, Madeline Schwartz, is on the verge of exiting her marriage and housewife life.  She had always wanted to write, so finagles her way onto the staff of a Baltimore newspaper, more or less as a secretary.  She becomes involved in the discovery of a dead body, and pursues the case even though – because the dead woman was black – the police want to write it off as a suicide.  Maddie investigates and annoys people on all sides of the case.  She is interested in the truth, and in setting herself free with it.  It’s a good read.

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani.  I did not like this at all.  It’s a fictionalization of the horrible case in NYC where a nanny killed two young children.  I don’t think Slimani adds anything of interest to the story.  Her nanny lives in France, and slowly unravels, but since you know the outcome from the beginning, it is a painful slog.

Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.  I loved this novel and thought it was brilliant.  First, it is a compelling read, despite the fact that the characters aren’t hugely likeable.  In the first two-thirds of the book, you follow the newly separated Toby, a hepatologist and father of two young children as he navigates his new life as a divorcee.  Toby is angry at his ex, Rachel, and the reader is treated to explanations of all she has done wrong.  Meanwhile, he is also dating with apps and, as the parent with a more flexible work schedule, taking care of his children.  I should add that Toby’s tale is being told by an old college friend, Elizabeth, who is going through a midlife crisis of his own.  Even though Toby is a bit of a jerk, it is still a really compelling read, but when Brodesser-Akner gets to the Rachel section, the structure of the book was so amazingly conceived.  When you read of what Rachel is going through, it totally changes all that you learned from Toby in ways that I think are really specific to women’s experiences.  Elizabeth’s situation adds to this too.  It makes you realize all that women are still up against, and it is done so cleverly.  It really seemed to me to be a modern day Mrs Dalloway, and so poignant when you take into consideration who is doing the telling and why.  I highly recommend.

Last Child In The Woods by Richard Louv.  This is a book about how children today are so much more separated from nature (in the U.S.) than at any time in the past.  He writes of how children used to have a lot of wandering time in nature, and how now – because of development and safety and electronics – this has changed for the worse.  He investigates connections between ADHD and lack of time outdoors, and explores the idea of “nature deficit disorder” in children today.  It was interesting, if a bit long.  It’s already over ten years old, so he doesn’t address climate change issues, which definitely have an impact on his topic.  I was hoping it would be more along the lines of parenting advice, and it really isn’t that kind of book.  He does do a good job at examining the programs people are starting to try to fix the issue, including outdoor classrooms and nature perserves where kids can dig and play, etc.  

The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda.  This is one of Miranda’s many YA novels, and it was good, if a bit overly action-packed.  Kelsey is a high schooler with a mother who is paranoid because of a kidnapping incident in her past.  She has been raised to always expect the worst and to know how to react when it happens.  And the worst keeps happening!  From car accidents to home invasions to spending time in a panic room:  Kelsey experiences all, and most with the help of the boy she is interested in from her math class.  It was a suspenseful read and I’d recommend it to those in the mood for some suspenseful YA fiction.

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