Moloka’i

Moloka’i by Alan Brennert is a well-researched historical fiction novel covering the time period that Hawaii became a state through World War II. It focuses on the establishment of  a leper colony on the island of Moloka’i. 

Leprosy and the treatment of the disease in the past is a fascinating but gruesome topic. This book also explores the Hawaiian/Japanese connection and the horrifying internment of Japanese Americans after the war. 

This book was recommended by Te Fitz in Mexico. I was able to get it for free through Kindle Unlimited before I canceled the subscription that came with the new device my kids got me for my retirement!

The Covenant of Water

So my performance with The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese should win me an award for “taking the longest time to read an interesting and compelling book”! Along with Cutting for Stone, his previous bestseller, this author was recommended to me by my physical therapist friend Sue. 

Fun fact: Sue actually found, not just a type-o, but a factual error, in this book, and contacted the author online about it! It had something to do with specific names of bones in the leg. Nerds of a feather ;)

Anyway, whenever I read long books like this one and especially when it takes me f o r e v e r to read, my inner editor always emerges. I’m probably being too judgmental because this book is beloved, but for me the transitions between people and time periods felt awkward.

I loved that I learned a bit about India reading this book—its history and British colonization. I also loved being immersed in the feelings and perspectives of the iconic main characters, especially Bug Mama. Finally, I loved dragging this book with me through the last months of my teaching career. It was like a warm embrace returning each night to this story after grueling days at work. 

This is how long it took me to finish this epic novel. In the end, I just bought a digital copy so I could finish reading it in peace without CLAMS harassing me.

 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. There’s something about her writing style that I love AND hate. It’s easy, like comfort food. It has a certain appeal but isn’t nourishing. I liked this story  more than Malibu Rising, but I’m not inclined to indulge in this author again.

Little Monsters/Wild Game

Adrienne Brodeur is an author with a connection to Cape Cod. I started reading her memoir, Wild Game, which oddly enough documents her unorthodox relationship with her mother, while I was waiting for her novel Little Monsters to become available. I like her writing style which is descriptive but not overblown. 

Finally Little Monsters arrived on my kindle, and I took it to jury duty on December 20, 2023. (That’s a story for another day! Warning: it involves a transvestite lawyer drunk driving, and an overcrowded, pre-holiday courthouse.) 

Fast forward to Saturday of the glorious MLK long weekend, I finished reading about the hellishly dysfunctional Gardner family on a day that began with a blustery thunderstorm that morphed into a balmy, windswept, blue-sky day.

Now I can get back to Wild Game: My Mother, Her Secret, and Me and reawaken some “mama trauma” of my own.

What makes this book so disturbing is that it recounts a true story. The people are real, and their actions are appalling. Here is the author's mother’s obituary from the Cape Cod Times.

Two Women Walk Into A Bar

Two Women Walk Into A Bar Is a very short book by Cheryl Strayed that memorializes her relationship with her mother in law. It was offered free to Prime members in Kindle, and I read it in less than an hour. Strayed’s is definitely the style of writing I aspire to, and this short memoir reminded me of the QuigleyWorld blog posts I wrote about my parents’ deaths. 

The kids gave Stu and I a StoryWorth subscription for Christmas this year. I’m excited, and a little intimidated, to get started. Maybe writing will sustain me after I retire next year. God I hope so!

Malibu Rising

 

What’s the hype about Taylor Jenkins Reid? Maybe I chose the wrong book to read first. Malibu Rising was just okay; it was a quick read, but I wasn’t wowed by the writing style, characters or plot. Meredith suggested Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Maybe I’ll try one of those next summer. 

Fairy Tale

Too long! If there is another world you get to by climbing down a spiral staircase in a backyard shed, I hope it’s more interesting than the one King has created.