"Stars Above" by Marissa Meyer

I was so happy to get back to the Lunar Chronicles world with this collection of short stories. As I discussed in my review of "Fairest," Meyer has a gift for unveiling backstory in a way that stays true to the characters in the main series. This collection of stories follows in that vein, showing how the characters we know from the Lunar Chronicles came to their lives at the start of the series, or what happened to them after.

The standout story for me was "The Little Android," a retelling of "The Little Mermaid." In the vein of the Lunar Chronicles, though, our mermaid is an android working on rebuilding and renovating star ships, who falls in love with the human in charge of her projects. It stays true to the Hans Christian Anderson version, so don't expect the happily ever after from Disney. Mech6.0 will remind readers of Iko, and invoke questions of sentience and personality that were touched on in the main series as well.

"The Keeper" and "Something Old, Something New" will delight fans of the series, as they take place before and after (respectively) the action of the main series, giving new glimpses into characters we know and love. "The Mechanic" was particularly disappointing, as it's just Cinder and Kai's meeting from Kai's point of view - with virtually no new information or insight from the perspective flip. Rebecca Soler returns for her stellar audio narration, and overall this is a worthwhile story collection for Lunar Chronicles fans.

Verdict: Affirmed for fans of the series. Some of the stories have been published previously, but the collection was a nicely rounded set of stories for those looking to revisit this world.

"Stars Above" by Marissa Meyer, published February 2nd, 2016 by Feiwel & Friends. Audio narration by Rebecca Soler, published February 2nd, 2016 by Macmillan Audio.

"The Swans of Fifth Avenue" by Melanie Benjamin

FTC Disclosure: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I checked out the audiobook from my library through Overdrive.

In my junior year of high school, we studied Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." I was wowed by Capote's masterful use of language and his ability to wrap me up in a story I wouldn't otherwise have picked up. We also watched the film "Capote" to get a sense, though fictionalized, of the man behind the book and how involved he became in the case. I have been intrigued by Capote himself ever since.

Enter "The Swans of Fifth Avenue," and the opportunity to get another glimpse, again fictionalized, into a different chapter of Capote's life. During and after the publication of "In Cold Blood," Capote was a high society darling, a fixture on the New York City social scene. He befriended the most beautiful, powerful women, gaining their confidences and attending their parties and vacations. He later betrayed them by revealing their secrets in a short story published in Esquire. This novel tells the story of his intimate friendships with these women and the falling out over the story. 

Benjamin crafts her novel out of the truth, building lives and personalities out of the public records left behind by these women. She also helpfully includes specifications on what she fictionalized and what is documented truth at the conclusion of the novel. Shining above all is the relationship she portrays between Babe Paley and Truman, providing glimpses into both of their innermost thoughts about the other so the reader can see how these very different people formed the perfect odd couple. 

Cassandra Campbell and Paul Boehmer do the narration on the audiobook, though as the novel features a close third-person narrator, I found the dual audio to be a bit confusing. Campbell's portrayal of Capote's nasaly drawl was a bit grating at times, but otherwise the audiobook was an enjoyable format for this novel.

Verdict: Affirmed - for readers looking for a gossipy summer read complete with scandal and betrayal, or a glimpse into NYC's elite in the late 1960's to mid 1970's.

"The Swans of Fifth Avenue" by Melanie Benjamin, published January 26, 2016 by Delacorte Press. Audio narration by Cassandra Campbell and Paul Boehmer, published January 26, 2016 by Random House Audio.

"Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

FTC Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the published in exchange for my honest review.

If you have kids, you may know Amy Krouse Rosenthal for her children's books. You may not know she also writes charming memoir-ish non-fiction for adults. Her newest, "Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal" came out last week & was a delight and ponder this morning in my favorite coffeeshop.

Krouse Rosenthal's first memoir-ish book, "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" collected witty, endearing observations about the author's typical, everyday life. She emphasizes that she has not had anything extraordinary occur in her life that would typically result in a memoir. Instead, she chronicles the quotidian thoughts and experiences to which much of middle class America can relate. That was back in 2005.

Now, over ten years later, Krouse Rosenthal has returned with a similar sentiment in a new format. Her first book was alphabetized entries; her new book is organized, textbook-style, around thematic subjects you'd find in school. Textbook here has a double meaning: the book takes author-reader interaction to a new level, inviting readers to text certain messages to a specified number while they're reading for accompanying sounds, to participate in a poll, or to share an experience or suggestion with Krouse Rosenthal and other readers. The book's website houses readers' submissions and the text responses in case you're not able to text from your own phone. If I'm being honest, I vacillated between thinking the texting was gimmicky and enjoying it. But the music composed for the end notes was beautiful and quite fitting, so it left me thinking of the text participation on a good note.

Above all, Krouse Rosenthal excels at capturing the random thoughts and feelings we all have as we go about our daily lives, and in celebrating the quirk and whimsy and serendipity that surround all of us. Reading her books reminds me to enjoy the tiny, happy moments in life, and "Textbook" encourages you to celebrate some of them with her and others.

Verdict: Affirmed. This and "Encyclopedia," are fast, enjoyable reads for someone looking for a break from deeper, depressing works & for something that may encourage a new spring in their step.

"Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, published August 9, 2016 by Dutton Books.

"Spinster" by Kate Bolick

FTC disclosure: I received a copy of this book through Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review. I checked out the audiobook from my library through Overdrive.

Back in July I read & loved Rebecca Traister's "All the Single Ladies." Craving more reflective, feminist non-fiction, I decided it was finally time to get back to "Spinster," a book I had requested from Blogging for Books when it originally came out. I unfortunately got waylaid at the time with school and work and such, and then stupidly left the book in DC when I went back to NYC. Luckily, my hold came in on the audiobook just as I found the print copy, and good reading times were had by all.

Kate Bolick reflects on her own life and her great literary influencers in "Spinster." The novel is mostly memoir with some literary criticism thrown in. She structures her reflections on her life around discussions of the great literary women who have shaped her personal development - Neith Boyce, Maeve Brennan, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edith Wharton. If you're only a little familiar with these ladies, or maybe even haven't heard of them, don't be scared off. Bolick does a great job contextualizing them in both their own time and her own life, quoting from their work, sharing their biographies, and basically making sure readers understand why and how they impacted her.

At the heart of the book, though, is Bolick's gradual decision to reclaim spinsterhood, and revel in being an unmarried woman. Along the way she gives readers an intimately personal look all aspects of her life - personal and professional, and how various encounters and milestones shaped her outlook. Skimming the reviews on Goodreads, it seems the people who were disappointed with this book expected it to be something that it's not. Bolick's book is deeply personal, reflective, with a literary frame. If you're looking for broader cultural discussions, turn to "All the Single Ladies." If you'd like a more introspective examination of one woman's decision on how to live her own life, this is an excellent memoir.

Verdict: Jury's out - Just make sure you know what you're getting into. If you're not interested in learning about historical literary ladies alongside deep introspection, this isn't going to be a book for you. If that sounds like your feminist cup of tea, though, this is an excellent book.

"Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own" by Kate Bolick, published April 21, 2015 by Crown. Audio narration by Kate Bolick, published April 21, 2015 by Random House Audio.

Listening Lately: 8/4/2016

In the lead-up to the bar exam, I was cramming all day and breaking only to walk the dog. This made for some great audiobook listening time. I read through these three titles in the week before the bar & would recommend all three as good summer reads. Bonus points for all because they'd make great book club picks as well.

"The Girl from the Garden" by Parnaz Foroutan
I studied Persian in college & am always on the lookout for novels set in/around Iran. Here, Foroutan tells the story of a Jewish family living in Iran in the early 1900's, as remembered by its sole descendant who now lives in Los Angeles. The framing device was a bit clunky at times, but the story told in flashbacks was beautiful and heartbreaking. Rakhel and Khorsheed are two sisters-in-law trying to make their place in their husbands' family. Rakhel has been unable to conceive, and thus give her husband his long-desired heir. Khorsheed is able to get pregnant, and their close friendship while living in such close proximity makes Rakhel's burden that much harder to bear, pushing their family to drastic measures to find a way forward.


"A Bollywood Affair" and "The Bollywood Bride" by Sonali Dev
I had read such great things about this romance-literary fiction crossover that I was excited when I saw my library had its audiobook in stock just before the bar. Dev excels at telling the stories of Indian families straddling life in India - both traditional and modern elements, with life in the US. She brings out the points where the cultures clash and how Indian expats make their own community and bring their own traditions to the US. "A Bollywood Affair" is the story of a woman, married at 4 to a husband she doesn't remember, who is in the US to get an education and earn her husband's respect. Her brother-in-law travels to the US to find her and secure a divorce for his brother before his new wife, who he married at an appropriate age, gives birth to their child. "The Bollywood Bride" tells the story of a famous Bollywood actress who travels back to the US for the wedding of her dear childhood friend, even though it means confronting people she has not seen in decades due to family secrets she wants to keep hidden. Both novels have a romance at their center, but delve far more deeply than a traditional romance novel into the familial and cultural issues that drive the plots. These would be great bridge books if you're interested in trying out romance, if you want to have your book club dip a toe into the romance waters, or if you're looking for literary fiction with strong love stories at the core.

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling

There will be spoilers for the original seven in this review, but I have whited out spoilers from "Cursed Child."

A true child of the Harry Potter generation, I picked my reserved copy of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" up at midnight and started it as soon as I got home. The fact that I fell asleep 100 pages in speaks to the fact that I'm not the energetic high schooler I was when "Deathly Hallows" came out, and that the bar exam was earlier the week and I still haven't fully recovered from that ordeal.

So I finished the last two-thirds this morning, and my feelings are decidedly mixed. As I noted in my Goodreads review immediately after I finished, this series was an enormous part of my childhood & I'll likely continue to be eager for new installments, and consume them in whatever form they take, problematic as they may be. And in that sense, "Cursed Child" fulfills its responsibilities. We're back in this magical, surreal, bewitching world, with the characters we know and love. For the most part, they behave like the aged versions of themselves that I had envisioned. Ron's dialogue is particularly good, as is McGonagell's. We get a new adventure with the new generation and friendship takes center stage. It's lovely. 

The original seven were inspired by Rowling's grief over her mother's death, and that grief and love of a child for an absent parent is inseparably woven into the main series. Now we have an older author, an established parent with three children in contrast to the single mother of a young daughter coping with her own grief who penned the original series. The change in life circumstances is apparent in the new installment, focusing heavily on parent-child relationships from the parent's perspective. We see both Harry reflecting on his trouble relating to his son Albus, and Albus reflecting on his trouble with his famous dad. We knew this was going to be the central relationship in the story & it felt like the truest element. I'm not a parent myself, but it seems a natural progression given the course of Rowling's life and how heavily it influenced her first books. On the whole it is this theme that allows for adequate comparison of this installment with the rest of the series, and that makes this play worthy of inclusion. 

But there are some problems. And this discussion of the problems necessarily involves spoilers, so highlight the next paragraphs if you've read the book and/or don't mind being spoiled. Stop here if you don't want to be spoiled (especially if you're reading on the mobile device, because I'm not sure whether the white-text spoilers will display as white text on the mobile site). Know that I'm glad I read it, but felt it didn't quite live up to the main series.

First, Draco. Building off my previous comments, Draco did not feel realistic. He starts the play in an uneasy position with Harry, much as we left him in the epilogue. They can be civil for short periods, but that pretense falls apart with extended time together. Then, their sons disappear together for a second time, and in just a couple pages of dialogue they have decided to be friends for their sons' sake. I believe this is the type of thing parents can and will do for their children. This just should have taken longer. At least Ron's discomfort and inability to let the past die easily feels true. 

Second, and most critically, this play has plotting issues, especially in light of the rest of the rest of the series. One of the things that makes the original seven such a joy & a masterpiece is Rowling's careful and diligent plotting. Most notably, she lays the groundwork for the horcruxes in "Chamber of Secrets," but there are also countless smaller bits throughout - seeming throwaway characters who pop up later with renewed significance, a certain diadem that takes on new meaning once readers know what they're looking for, etc. 

Delphi is an aberration. There is nothing from the original series that led us to believe Voldemort had a child. And that's a pretty big reveal, for someone who knows her world and her characters as well as Rowling. She knows their histories and their futures, but she left us no clues to this massive reveal. Further, the point in the timeline into which it is was inserted, at the Malfoy Manor before the Battle of Hogwarts is incongruous as well. We saw Bellatrix then, when the gang was briefly held prisoner in the basement, and there was no reference to a current pregnancy or recent birth. But if Bellatrix were to have had Delphi prior to the Battle, she should have been either fairly far along in a pregnancy or have had a baby somewhere in the house. 

If this was something Rowling had been planning all along, I cannot believe she would not have laid some small detail there for readers to find and ponder. Its absence makes it seem to me that the other two playwrights approached her with vague ideas of Voldemort's daughter and time travel, and how cool it could look on a stage rather than a screen, and she shoehorned their ideas into the existing timeline, instead of adhering to the histories she has already written for her characters. When the plotting was such a central feature of the original books, its abandonment here is conspicuous and disappointing, a disservice to fans who followed her breadcrumbs so closely they were able to identify all seven horcruxes before the publication of the last book. 

Third, and finally, there are distracting technical issues. I understand fully that this is a play intended to be seen live, not read on the page. But the playwrights, Rowling included, also knew the vast majority of fans would be consuming it as words on a page, so it is not unreasonable to hold them to the expectations inherent in producing a new printed, written installment in the most popular book series in history. There are moments where the other playwrights' writing pokes through in the stage directions. Most notably, on pg. 249 (of the US edition) there is a stage direction "This is almost a Spartacus moment" that is so out of sync with Harry Potter-style writing that I had to put the book down and Google. Luckily, it is the only such direct reference, but its significance bears discussion.

One of the elements that has made the series endure is its lack of dated elements - though we have a clear timeline with years, the lack of technology and pop culture references prevents the books from getting mired in a specific moment, so readers of all ages can read them unbound from the details that would typically place a work in a specific period. So a Spartacus reference stands out like a sore thumb, and made me, a reader who admits to only a basic understanding of what exactly that references means, feel left out and confused by a world that previously had been entirely accessible among its own pages. Rowling's writing is, of course, full of allusions and inspirations from countless mythologies, but those are bonuses to those who study them or bring such knowledge with them. Picking up on them is not necessary to one's understanding of the story. A stage direction in the sparse text of a script with a direct reference that goes over some readers' heads or prompts them to put down the book for a quick Google is leaving some of us out. And that's a bad feeling, one that Rowling avoided for seven books, whether intentionally or not. It makes it clear that this is a different type of work, and sets it apart from the original seven in an unfortunate way.  

On a much smaller note on the stage directions, there were several that seemed to direct how the audience was to feel at a given moment. For example, "VOLDEMORT comes through the back of the stage, and across it, and walks down into the auditorium. He brings death with him. And everyone knows it." (p. 294 of the US edition). Maybe the direction is referring to the actors on stage, but given that Voldemort has descended from the stage into the audience, that seems unlikely. Such a blanket description of the intended mood in theater struck me as either presumptuous if intended as an actual direction for the actors, or alternatively failing to show the reader of print rather than tell. 

See,that specific spoiler-y example is also a direction immediately prior to a scene cut, though it's a scene cut that doesn't actually change place or time from the one preceding it. So it would seem a cut made only for the dramatic tension of the reader of print. And if some decisions are already being made for the sake of the print reader, more attention could have been paid, confusion avoided with the addition of an extra stage direction or two, and more atmosphere built rather than simply stating the hoped-for feeling exists. 

I'm grateful that Rowling is providing us with more from the world of Harry Potter, and perhaps my expectations were unreasonably high. But I'll also argue that Rowling earned our high expectations in delivering an unparalleled fantasy series with a reach unlike anything that came before it, and then meticulously guarding her intellectual property and making careful decisions about how and when to expand the series and its surrounding world. It's a shame that there are parts of this story that distract too much to fully include it on the same level as the original seven.

Verdict: Jury's out. I'm happy I read this, and glad it exists to some extent. But more care could have given to devoted readers on a number of levels, and the incongruities are frustrating. I'm still hopeful, though, that the Harry Potter fandom will pick up on something that laid the groundwork for this that I simply missed.

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling, published July 31, 2016 by Arthur A. Levine Books.

"The Fireman" by Joe Hill

Joe hill's "The Fireman" was a terrible book to read in the final countdown to the bar exam. It was too compelling, too intriguing, too good at keeping me on the edge of my seat. So, it'll likely make a great summer read for anyone not trying to stay motivated in the home stretch of bar prep.

The world has been beset by a plague called Dragonscale, where the infected develop scale-like markings on their skin until they spontaneously combust. No one knows where the infection started or how it spreads, and people are panicking. Harper is a nurse who spends her days caring for the infected. She made a suicide pact with her husband in the event they become infected.

Harper's plans change, though, when she learns she's pregnant and becomes infected in quick succession. Now she has to figure out how to survive long enough to give birth to her child. Rumors are circulating of a man who has learned how to control the Dragonscale so that he does not ignite, and that he might even be able to control the fire and use it for his own purposes. Harper sets out to find the Fireman & figure out how to live long enough to give her baby a chance at life.

Joe Hill is Stephen King's son, and the influences are apparent in the best ways. He writes a tight thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. It's got horror elements, but in the sense of King's "Under the Dome," where the paranormal is a pretense to examine humans & our responses to panic as the true villains. Though it's a horror thriller by genre, the action-packed sequences were my least favorite, and the book would have been stronger if it had minimized those to focus on the interpersonal dynamics.

Harper is a wonderful protagonist - strong, determined, and believable. Kate Mulgrew (from "Orange is the New Black" and reading & narrating her own excellent memoir, "Born with Teeth") does the audio narration and truly brings Harper to life. I could not think of a better match, and highly recommend the audio format specifically. Harper finds a cohort of like-minded individuals, and watching her navigate among the various personalities is the true core of the novel. Mulgrew's distinctive voice gives the reader the clear feeling of being inside Harper's head, evaluating the other characters and the world around her as she does.

Verdict: Affirmed. If you're an SFF fan looking for a fast-paced summer read, definitely check this one out.

"The Fireman" by Joe Hill, published May 17, 2016 by William Morrow. Audio narration by Kate Mulgrew, published May 17, 2016.