October 2024 in Books

October was a decent reading month, a nice mix of books of all types.  Here's the rundown:–

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife - Anna Johnston - fiction - five stars - This was a cute book.  Frederick Fife is an elderly man who has fallen on hard times, he's about to be evicted from his home because he can't pay the rent.  He is at the park when he sees a man in a wheelchair who appears to need some help, but then an accident occurs and Frederick has now been mistaken for the man in the chair, Bernard Greer.  He tries to explain the mix up, but no one pays attention and he takes up residence at Bernard's nursing home where he begins to make friend and help those around him.  A very sweet read.

Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother's Life - Kao Kalia Yang - biography - five stars - The story of the author's mother Tswb, a Hmong from Laos who becomes a refugee after the US leaves Laos.  Her family survives wandering in the jungle for several years until she meets the man she marries.  His family decides to leave the jungle and go to a refugee camp.  After many years, they are able to emigrate to the U.S., but Tswb never sees her mother again.  Tswb's story is difficult from beginning to end, life in America is a struggle as well, but they are able to raise kids who go on to college and help to support them later in life.  Excellent read.

Spy School Goes Wild (Spy School, #12) - Stuart Gibbs - juvenile fiction - five stars - The latest Spy School book sees Ben Ripley kidnapped, along with his nemesis Murray Hill.  They're being taken to Africa to perform slave labor for a construction project as punishment for foiling the Chang family's plots.  Ben manages to escape, and when reunited with his team, thwarts Chang's most recent scheme.  I thought the premise of this one was pretty interesting (in terms of Ben getting kidnapped).  These books are always a fun read.

Here One Moment - Liane Moriarty - fiction - four stars - I really enjoy Moriarty's books, but this one was a little bit of a disappointment.  The premise is that a woman on a flight starts predicting when people will die and from what.  Most people think she is just a kooky lady, but when the predictions start coming true, people start to freak out a little bit.  It was interesting to see how people reacted to their predictions, tried to change their fates, etc.  I enjoyed the characters a lot, but I wasn't crazy with how the book resolved itself.  It was a bit of a let down, I was expecting something better, although now that I'm typing this I remember I felt similarly about Apples Never Fall.  I'm thinking Moriarty needs to think through the full plot of her books a bit more.

Brooklyn (Eilis Lacey, #1) - Colm Tóibín - historical fiction - four stars - This is an older book that has been on my list for a while, but the author recentely wrote a sequel, so I figured I needed to finally ge around to reading the first book.  Eilis' family in Ireland has fallen on hard times, the kids have slowly left home to find work away from their hometown.  With few job prospects, Eilis' sister arranges with an Irish priest in Brooklyn to have Eilis move there and work in a department store in the U.S.  I enjoy immigrant stories and this one was good.  There's not really a particular plot arc, it's just her story, but I really enjoyed the character of Eilis, her experiences, thoughts, etc.  I'm definitely looking forward to the next book.

I Cheerfully Refuse - Leif Enger - fiction - four stars - I read and loved Peace Like a River a couple of months ago, so wanted to try something else from Enger.  This is is his most recent book.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, I guess something more like the previous book and this was not that.  Still a very good story, but a very different genre.  This isn't quite post-apocalyptic, but something along those lines.  Society/governmenet has broken down, the climate has changed significantly.  The main character, Rainy, is on the run due to circumstances that he has just kind of fallen into following the loss of his wife.  The book covers his journey around Lake Superior, those whole help and do not help him, and how he heals from the loss of his wife.  I felt like this book was a little less focused than Peace Like a River, but still quite good.

My Side of the River - Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez - autobiography - four stars - Elizabeth is the daughter of Mexican immigrants.  She, and her brother, are American born, and when her parents tourist visas run out, they return to Mexico to renew them, leaving Elizabeth and her brother in the care of a family friend.  Unfortunately, the visas are not renewed.  Elizabeth navigates staying in the U.S., depending on the kindness of others, to complete high school and then college.  After graduating from college, she brings her brother back to the U.S. as well.  Elizabeth's story is is a difficult one, and she is pretty honest about it.  I wa a little put off by the style in the latter part of the book.  She seemed to have a huge chip on her shoulder which was off-putting.

Hera - Jennifer Saint - fiction - three stars - A retelling of Hera's story.  This one was a disappointment, more like two and a half stars rounded up.  Saint tried to paint Hera as a strong character who doesn't want to marry Zeus, but does because she knows she can't not.  She plans to somehow be his undoing, but this plot line fell flat.  Hera never really was able to carry this out and it just made her sem weak.  Also, it seemed like Saint felt compelled to be exhaustive in her mythology and cover all of the women Zeus impregnated.  This got repetitive.  I really just never connected with Hera, she wasn't a sympathetic heroine at all.

Favorite book this month was The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife least favorite was Hera.  I still have lots of books lying in wait.  Hoping to put a big dent in the TBR list before the end of the year.  Right now I'm reading and loving The Lion Women of Tehran.  Please do share what you have been reading!