Category: #myreadsmonday

One of the most common phrases I’ve seen used to describe Stay With Me is “stunning debut novel”. I hate to be cliche, but seriously, this is a stunning debut novel! Stay With Me follows the lives of Yejide and Akin, a young Nigerian couple who are suffering from fertility issues.  Four years into their marriage with no children, their lives take a stunning turn. They each separately attempt to address the problems in their marriage, with devastating results. This novel asks how much is too much when it comes to making sacrifices for the sake of family.

Stay With Me is told from the perspective of both Yejide as well as Akin. The story moves back and forth through meaningful junctures in their lives, highlighting the complex, often highly fraught choices they make. Set against the backdrop of Nigerian political unrest, this novel is an incredible look into the lives of two people trying to reconcile their preconceptions of what married life should be with what their marriage actually becomes.

I think part of the draw of this novel is the way it takes your hand as it dives headfirst into Nigerian culture and gives this forthright portrayal of lives that are so different from a typical American existence. Some of the twists and turns this novel takes are gritty, dirty, and unyielding; these character’s choices  are driven as much by cultural norms as by their own moral foundations. They have some very tough choices to make; you may or may not agree with them for a variety of reasons, but you can recognize that their cultural influences weigh heavily in their decision-making processes.

Stay With Me is a vivid, beautifully heartbreaking story that in the end still leaves room for hope. It is raw, real, and challenging. Full of love, tradition, family, hope, deceit, and loss, it will make your heart ache for the circumstances of Yejide and Akin’s lives. How do you define love? How far would go for those that you love? How far is too far? Can you come back from devastation? What might await you on the other side?

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, rather than reading a print copy; the narrator is ‎ Adjoa Andoh, who also narrated Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as well as The Power by Naomi Alderman. Andoh’s lyrical voice breathes life to Yejide’s story. Listening to the novel made the tragedy of Yejide and Akin’s tale so much more substantial and authentic for me; I didn’t have to imagine their Nigerian accents, Andoh presented them for me. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version if you can!

I remember seeing this YA novel when our library first cataloged it last summer. The cover caught my eye, and I thought, “That book looks interesting!” I kept putting it off; you know how it goes… too many books, too little time. A few months ago, I decided I’d try borrowing it as an audiobook through the Overdrive app, but kept finding it not available. I finally bit the bullet and put it on hold, and was thrilled when it was my turn to listen!

The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee is an amazingly fun, rollicking, romp of a tale! As the main character Henry “Monty” Montague says near the end, “We’ve had an adventure instead of a tour.” He’s not kidding. This book is like an exciting, crazy cross between a Diana Gabaldon Lord John novel, The Princess Bride, and Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.

Henry Montague has always been a bit of a wild-child rogue, and he’s hoping the fun will continue on his grand tour of Europe before he’s expected back in England to take over his family’s estate. Monty’s thrilled to be traveling with his best friend and unrequited crush Percy; he less thrilled that his sister Felicity is along for part of the journey before she’s to be dropped off at school. Monty sets the plot in motion by a split second decision during a party at Versailles, and things go off the rails from there. Highwaymen, alchemists, stowaways, pirates, hidden family secrets, sinking islands…and more!

I have to say I’m really glad I chose to listen to the audiobook version of this novel! Narrated by Christian Coulson (who played Tom Riddle in the movie of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) it was named one of the top ten audiboooks of 2017 by the American Library Association. It was a finalist for the 2017 Audible Best Audiobook of the Year, and was Audiofile Magazine’s Best Audiobook of 2017. Coulson’s dashing British accent portrays perfectly Monty’s somewhat flippant, sometimes haughty, always loveable character. If you can get the audiobook I highly recommend it!

If after you read The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue you find yourself hoping for more, never fear! Mackenzi Lee has written a second novel due out this October all about Felicity Montague! The Ladies’ Guide to Petticoats and Piracy is set to be released on October 2. You can bet I’ll be listening to that one as well! I hope Monty and Percy make an appearance!

I loved this book. Looooooved this book! When you meet the main character Tom Hazard, you learn right away that his life is rather extraordinary; and it would have to be if one is 439 years old! (I’m not giving away any secrets here, don’t worry.) Tom may look like a typical 41 year old man, but the places he’s been and the things he’s seen are enough to fill multiple lifetimes.

How to Stop Time moves back and forth through different periods of Tom’s long life, from his present-day iteration as a history teacher in London, all the way back to his early teens with his mother in rural Suffolk, England. I was worried this novel would be some sort of odd rehash/offshoot of The Time Traveler’s Wife, but it’s totally not. It’s so much more than that! This story stands strong on its own two legs and takes you on an extraordinary journey to discover what it means to live and be loved.

Tom’s gone on some amazing adventures over his 400+ year lifetime, and the chance at love in his latest life has him facing some tough questions. Tom has to decide if he’s going to stick with the safe way of living that’s stood the test of time (quite literally) or if he’s going to be brave and take a chance on what a world with love could offer him.

Any Strictly Ballroom fans out there? This book made me think of the famous line from that movie, “Una vida con miedo es como la vida medias.” (Translation: “A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.”). Tom may have been alive for a long time, but has he really been living? Is he strong enough to recognize the difference and do what it takes to break free from what binds him? You’ll just have to read the book yourself to discover the truth.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones: This book is devastating…but in a good way. You barely have a chance to meet newlyweds Roy and Celestine before their life is thrown into chaos and disarray. Sentenced to a 12 year prison term for a crime he didn’t commit, the novel unfolds partially in an epistolary form before transitioning back to a first person narrative that switches between Roy, Celestine, and their friend, Andre.

Reading those first hope-filled letters between Roy and Celestine will make your heart ache; you feel the depths of the injustice they are forced to endure. The tone of their letters change as the years go by. You see these characters growing, shifting, and learning more about their lives both as separate people and as a husband and wife.

How do you reconcile the past while moving towards the future? Sometimes this isn’t a smooth process. Sometimes it’s one step forward, two steps back. Roy and Celestine’s journey is heartbreaking and beautiful. It’s real, ugly, passionate, and compelling. There is no fairy tale ending here, just three people struggling with what it means to be alive, in love, and committed to that love in the present day. Do they reach the tipping point where their bonds of love no longer connect them? You’ll have to read it and judge for yourself.

I readily admit I’m a sucker when it comes to a post-apocalyptic romp of a story, and The Wolves of Winter didn’t disappoint! Kudos to Tyrell Johnson on this exciting, suspenseful debut  novel, and extra bonus points for weaving in an intriguing government conspiracy! Not only has a nuclear winter descended on the McBride family in their isolated outpost, but hints of tremendous government cover-up are reaching out to touch their lives.

The Wolves of Winter‘s main character, Gwendolyn (Lynn) McBride is a young woman who is struggling to find her place in the cold, nuclear winter world. She dreams of chocolate while doing her best to trap and hunt and help her family survive. A chance encounter with a stranger and his dog open her eyes to the hidden machinations of the government as she learns the role her own family may have played in the larger disaster that society has become.

I have to say I thought this book could have gone south, really fast. I had concerns over the handsome young stranger coming in and turning this into some sort of winter themed bodice ripper. I was so relieved it didn’t go there! Lynn is strong and not afraid of sticking up for herself, her family, and others who need help.

The Wolves of Winter could exist on its own as a stand alone novel; but I know I’m not the only person out there who hopes Mr. Johnson has plans to further the story of Lynn and Jax. I want to see how high the vast government conspiracy goes! I want to see Lynn being a bad*ss! I want to see Lynn find some peace and happiness (and maybe a bar of chocolate) come into her world. Please write a sequel (or two!)

Let’s set up this novel: A shut in. Agoraphobic, experiencing life through the panes of her window, keystrokes on her laptop, and the swipes of her phone. She’s going through a rough time, remembering happier days, and maybe (definitely) drinking too much, especially since she’s medicated. One day she spies something from her window that rocks her cloistered world and makes her question herself over and over. She’s determined to figure out what is real, but she’s got to get the answer right before the truth catches up with her and its too late! I don’t want to say any more and accidentally spoil your enjoyment of this dark and twisty tale, but be prepared; once you get going with this book, you won’t be able to put it down!

This thrilling, page turning story is infused with a noir mood using references to Hitchcock and some of the best film noir that Hollywood ever put out; not to mention other classic films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Airplane, Casablanca, and Rosemary’s Baby. After you read this book, don’t be surprised to find yourself wanting to bone up on some top Hollywood noir.  (For a complete list of all movies mentioned in the novel, you can thank Billy Parrott of the NYPL for compiling this list: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/10/13/woman-window-watch )

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn is a fast moving thriller with a deliciously satisfying plot twist that I didn’t see coming! This book will keep you flipping pages to find out what’s what; and even when you think you’ve got it figured out, just wait because it’s not over yet! I often hear people say they are looking for the next “Girl on the Train” or the next “Gone Girl”… look no further because this is it!