Two women, each dealing with grief in their own way. A small beach town in Alabama where everyone knows each other. A coffee shop that's the hub of the community. This novel is about the importance of being seen and known, accepting truth, and stretching our comfort zone.
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, written by Robert Dugoni
I often avoid books all my friends are raving about because my expectations are too high, but the plot summary of this novel intrigued me and I gave it a try. I'm glad I did. Its written from the perspective of a grown man reflecting on his life, decades of time influenced radically in both positive and negative ways by the fact he was born with red pupils. It's a story of devoted parents, a healthy marriage, lives damaged by addiction and abuse, unhealthy relationships, and friendships that span decades. There are characters deeply devoted to their faith and others questioning or abandoning it, dysfunctional homes and the happy ones people find refuge in, people who never conquer their demons and those who find redemption. Heads up for those who, like me, prefer closed door romance in their reading that there were a few spots I skipped over in this book.
p. 147, The school required that skirts extend to one inch above the knee, but to me it seemed Mickie's skirt inched higher each day. I heard one of the lunch ladies admonish Mickie for "showing too much leg".
Mickie retorted, "I wouldn't be showing any leg if they'd let us wear pants like the boys."
The Illustrated Book of Sayings: Curious Expressions from Around the World, written and illustrated by Ella Frances Sanders
This second book by Sanders is just as amusing as her first. Each page focuses on one expression, written in the original language and in English, and elaborates on it in one paragraph.
Lifeboat 12, written by Susan Hood and narrated by Bruce Mann
Based on the true story of Ken Sparks, this middle grade novel is about a 13 year old boy shipped from London to Canada for safety during WWII. The boat he's on is hit by a torpedo, leading him and several other people to go from relaxing on a luxury liner to fighting for survival on a lifeboat at sea. I've read a couple of Hood's picture books and enjoyed this first novel of hers.
Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World, written and illustrated by Ella Frances Sanders
This fun book focuses on one word at a time - stating what country it comes from, what part of speech it is, defining it, and giving a one sentence comment about it.
The Mountain Between Us, written by Charles Martin and narrated by George Newbern
Having recently enjoyed another of Martin's books, I looked for an audiobook of his while on a road trip and this was the only one available. It's the story of a man and woman who meet in an airport and end up on the same charter flight when all the regular flights are canceled. Their plane crashes in snowy mountains, so the book is filled with their attempts to stay alive in a very remote location. It's also, I'd say primarily, about love, demonstrated through integrity, commitment, honor, and words. So much love. Books rarely cause me to cry, but this one did me in.
Passing, written by Nella Larsen and narrated by Robin Miles
I've heard about this 95 year old novel multiple times and it happened to come up as available immediately when I was looking for an audiobook. On the surface, it's about two light-skinned black women, one living true to who she is in Harlem and the other passing as white with a racist husband who doesn't know the truth. Friends in their youth, a chance encounter as adults brings them back into each other's lives. While the story is certainly about race and identity, it's also about the measures a person will take to get what they want.
Remember Us, written and narrated by Jacqueline Woodson
This short novel is inspired by real events, the burning of a New York neighborhood in the 1970s. Written through the lens of a girl in middle school, it's an exploration of memory, of realizing that the people and circumstances of our life right now are in the process of becoming part of our past, of changing and disappearing. It's also about belonging, of knowing who you are and appreciating people for who they are. I enjoyed it and listened to the whole thing at once.
When Crickets Cry, written by Charles Martin
A young girl in desperate need of a heart transplant. A man with a past he's trying to run from. This novel, although hard for me to follow at the start because of alternating timelines that weren't clearly delineated, pulled me in. This story, which I heard about on What Should I Read Next?, episode 91 - The books you can't stop recommending, had layered plots and characters - deep love, total devotion to a cause, doing the wrong things for the right reasons, caring about people right where they're at. Although categorized as Christian fiction, I appreciate that it wasn't preachy.
p. 113, But I was learning that getting well and finding healing are two very different things.
p. 235, Hope is not the result of medicine or anything that science has to offer. It is a flower that sprouts and grows when others pour water upon it. I think sometimes that I spent so much time worrying about how to protect and strengthen the flower - even going so far as to graft in a new stem and root system - that I forgot to simply water it.
p. 246 (speaking of a hospital), I loved this, the feeling of absolute and eternal optimism, the feeling that no matter how bad or not matter how dire the circumstances or predictions, that until death has been declared and the sheet rolled up over the patient's eyes, that even beyond the flatline, anything is possible. Beneath the undercurrent of even the direst of predictions, hope lives here. It creeps along the corridors, hangs from every corner of every room, and speeds down every gurney in search of a soul in need.
p. 293, "I guess sometimes it's got to hurt before it can get better."
I nodded. "Hearts are like that."
