Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written, but it’s due to a combination of things: work has been rather chaotic with some unpleasant issues I’ve been caught up in dealing with, leaving me feeling drained, as well as being that time again when I start reading Silver Birch nominee contenders, which I can’t tell you about. I also blame Riley, as he wants to sit on my lap any time I’m in my reading chair, impeding my ability to type. Now it’s nearly 8pm and I’m finally sitting down (without Riley!) after a long and busy day, so this will be brief, although I have two books to mention.
The first is my book club selection for today’s meeting, The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. This Reese Witherspoon Book Club recommendation clocked in at 859 pages in my large-print library copy, which is daunting even when there’s nothing else going on. However, I persevered and got through it and found that, once I reached the end, it was actually all worth it. This books tells the multi-generational story of Marilyn and David Sorenson, a couple who met and married young and had daughter after daughter after daughter and did their best to raise them all and keep their marriage going and keep their sanity. They seem to have the perfect, idyllic relationship and family, but no family is perfect and this one is no exception, containing a fairly complex level of dysfunction for just about all members. David and Marilyn have reached the stage when finally, after their last, late daughter has moved out, they are officially empty-nesters… which lasts about five minutes because an unexpected guest is thrust upon them, a heretofore unknown member of the family who turns up (mostly) unexpectedly and shakes up the already fragile relationships between parents and children, sister and sister, husband and wife, and mother and father. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll stop the summary here. I will say that all of the members of the book club thought this was far too long, that we didn’t need so much back-story for every character, including each of the four daughters as well as Marilyn and David, and the unexpected visitor. It was also confusing, as it flipped back and forth in time, not only for one story line but for all of them! My book club members didn’t love this book, but it generated such great conversation that, by the end of our time, we agreed that it may have been “the most fun we ever had”.
I also finished a super-quick, super-creepy read this morning, We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin, a combination cult/apocalyptic/horror/conspiracy thriller centred around a family who may be the target of conspiracy theorists convinced that they are not just members of a Satanic cult but that the grandfather, former 70s-rock-band member Nathan Russo, may be the leader of said cult. This book opens with Meg and Justin driving their daughter Lily to university when a tan Mazda carrying several skinheads distracts Meg by peering out their windows, ogling them and trying to film them. Meg loses control of the vehicle and Justin dies as a result of the accident. A few months later, Meg returns to work at the Secret Garden, her bookstore that was a gift from her parents when she and Justin agreed to take it over decades earlier, after Nathan stopped playing and became something of a recluse. But her first day back is anything but peaceful. She finds creepy comments under her Facebook posts, then a strange customer behaves bizarrely in the children’s section, muttering threats and curses under her breath while seemingly searching for or trying to confirm something. Meg doesn’t really think much about it until strange things begin happening to Lily as well, and she begins to come around to her father’s way of thinking that they are always being watched. When a major incident occurs at the Secret Garden, she can’t deny the possibility that her father may have been right all these years, and she begins to also understand how difficult it is to carry on living your life when you don’t know who to trust. This was an unputdownable bit of something different, as I don’t read many conspiracy theory/doomsday/apocalypse books. Come to think of it, a few titles come to mind that I’ve read and enjoyed, like The Leftovers by Tom Perotta and The Rapture by Liz Jensen. This one reminded me of The Rapture meets Rosemary’s Baby. Anyway, it’s not one I would necessarily recommend to everyone, but it was exactly what I needed. Now I’ve got to read some more Silver Birch contenders, so I may not write for a while.
That’s all for tonight. Happy Spring!
Bye for now...Julie
