The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

 

The movie version of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin was filmed on Cape Cod this past summer. Not surprising since the setting is the fictional Alice Island off the coast of Massachusetts. I heard that scenes were shot at Parnassus Books on Route 6A in Yarmouth and other locales. I was looking forward to reading it during our Christmas break in the Florida Keys, but Covid had other ideas and grounded us on Cape Cod. I’m glad I had this book to keep me company during my isolation period. 

Although hokey and overly cutesy in spots, it was an enjoyable and quick read. Can’t wait to see what the guy from the Big Bang Theory does with the cantankerous bookstore owner main character! Added bonus: I discovered the movie version of another book by the author and watched it on Prime Video. Conversations With Other Women stars Helena Bonham Carter and also entertained me during my dreary but relaxing winter break week!

Summer Into Fall 2021

 Blame it on Covid Fatigue. 

My ability to concentrate as well as the speed and rate of completion of my reading seems to have taken a turn for the worse. I have always enjoyed historical fiction, but these four books were all disappointing to varying degrees and in different ways.

First of all, I never even began this highly anticipated depiction of the lives of Puritan women in early America because Elaine said it was boring. After looking over the reviews on Amazon for Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit, I may give it another chance!

Next, I managed to get through the very short, 58 pages of Resist: A Story of D-Day by Alan Gratz mostly because I wanted to clear it for distribution to my fifth graders. (After receiving many bonus copies from Scholastic books.) Sadly, none of my students seemed enthused about the book, other than noticing one of the chapters titled “Pee Break.” Sigh! The author has written several other books about World War II including his most popular, Allies. Even though I don’t teach this time period, I thought it would appeal to more of my kids.

I was so looking forward to reading Monticello by Sally Cabot Gunning because I loved her trilogy of books set during the American Revolution and I wanted to learn more about Thomas Jefferson, who I admire. This book was such a big dud for me that I think I skimmed my way through the last third of it, nodding off to sleep every time I attempted to be done with it. In my humble opinion, Gunning should stick to telling stories about fictional characters during historical time periods.

Last, but by no means least disappointing, was The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah. This wretched account of a woman’s hardships during the Dust Bowl in 1930’s America was tedious, formulaic, and repetitive. Again, I cheated and downloaded the audiobook to listen to (some) of the last chapters because I didn’t have the endurance to stumble through the last exhausting bits of the story. Now I don’t know if I’ll ever attempt to read Hannah’s longer and more celebrated World War II story The Nightingale.

           

Dishonorable mentions go to: The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson that I will someday (maybe) finish reading. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern that I couldn’t get into even though I loved her book The Night Circus. 

Downloaded and never opened: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian, The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews, Writers and Lovers by Lily King, Circe by Madeline Miller, Normal People by Sally Rooney (I watched the first few episodes on Hulu instead), and Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout (The audiobook did not hold my attention even during a walk in the neighborhood).

And, drumroll …. Nonfiction: The Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door by Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire, How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendo, and White Fragility by Robin Deangelo.

Finally, at some point before the end of the school year, Elaine and I need to read and discuss Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum for our educator evaluation goal.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

 I’ve been trapped in the abyss that is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami for months now! One of the weirdest books I’ve ever read has been oddly comforting and has provided companionship during the long winter/spring season of full-on remote teaching. Many a night when not another particle of sentience existed in my frazzled brain .... I looked forward to climbing into bed and falling asleep to the escapades of the downtrodden main character, Toru Okada. 

So, this book has become a metaphor for my weird life, entering my 60s, pining away for a lost love from long ago, yet oddly hopeful about the next chapter of my life. I finished reading it today—July 8, 2021, a day before my youngest child turns 25. A quarter century of child-rearing and muddling through a life that wasn’t what I planned but richer and more interesting than I ever could have imagined!

Back to the Chronicle, some fucked up shit lurks in the mind of Haruki Murakami; oh but the way he strings words together! Or is it his translator that has the way with words? I was hooked when I read Men Without Woman, a book of short stories that introduced me to the quirky characters and unusual yet ordinary plot events from Murakami’s imagination. 

I can’t begin to summarize the Chronicle better than this excerpt I lifted from the last page of the ebook that has inhabited my kindle for so many months, in 21-day intervals!*

“THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II. In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo.“

* First download was January 12, then February 4, March 2, March 26, April 18, May 12, and finally June 25. That must be some sort of Overdrive record!

The Nickel Boys

I love Florida. Actually, let's rephrase that, I love a boy who lives in Florida. Not a boy from Florida and certainly not a boy associated with the horrors in the book The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead which is a fictionalized version of true events that took place at a real Florida reform school for boys during the course of the 20th century. Deeply troubling, this recommendation from Lisa caused me to ponder profound questions about race, discipline, and punishment that I've already been wrestling with, as well as to research the actual circumstances the book is based upon.

What's love got to do with it?

Abuse at the hands of those who are supposed to nurture, protect, and TEACH, is somehow worse than regular ole' garden variety abuse because it involves the misuse of power and is delivered sanctimoniously in the form of lessons learned or some sort of misinformed guidance.

The abuse the boys—many of color and from low income families—suffered at the hands of the teachers and administrators at the school was cruel, interminable, and life-changing, but Whitehead weaves together a narrative of redemption and reflection within the backdrop of the school's awful history. News accounts documenting newly discovered unmarked graves on the property are the latest shocking details to emerge regarding this shameful story.

Following a catastrophic storm, a new investigation begins at Florida’s Dozier School for Boys

On a side note, I watched an interesting 60 Minutes episode about Whitehead's writing career. He is the author of The Underground Railroad on which the 2017 series is based. I'm looking forward to reading his 2021 novel, Harlem Shuffle, which is supposedly a follow-up to The Nickel Boys.

And, that boy I know in Florida? He's an old high school friend who I recently reconnected with after our 40th class reunion. He comes from a lot of different places, and I love how he tickles my brain! I wonder if he has read this book.

Dear Martin

My educator daughter Camille recommended that I read Dear Martin by Nic Stone. In the midst of the social justice crisis our country in currently experiencing . . . again, it is extremely important for those of us with privilege because of our skin color to read widely and deeply on the topic. 

While I really, really, really love the subject matter of this book, I really, really, really don’t love the writing style. 

It is a very quick read, and while it delves into the inner thoughts of the main character, it really only addresses the issues of race on a surface level.

Side note: I LOVE that I have two daughters who recommend books for me to read. 😍

Between Shades of Gray

 “You’re reading it for fun?” my friend asked incredulously when I told her I was reading a book about Lithuanian refugees dragged from their homes to a work camp in Siberia by Soviet soldiers in 1941. There’s really no explanation for why I’m reading Between Shades of Gray by Rita Sepetys, except that I like historical fiction, I wanted to learn more about this time period, and it got good reviews on Goodreads. 

"Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both." —The Washington Post 

The book is a New York Times bestseller as well, and I thought maybe it would be a good suggestion for students of mine interested in World War II. According to Amazon, this young adult book is intended for readers aged 12-17. Maybe... but deeply disturbing graphic descriptions of harrowing living conditions, inhumanity, and sexual references make it inappropriate for my fifth graders.

Told through the eyes of 16-year-old Lina, deported with her mother and brother because of her father’s politics, this story is bleak and heartbreaking. It paints a wretched picture of  “Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region.” Details of the devastating conditions and harsh treatment of the prisoners reflect an unsettling account of "what happens to the innocent when world leaders and their minions choose hate and oppression." —Susan Campbell Bartlett, Newbery Honor-winning author of Hitler Youth

The movie adaptation, Ashes in the Snow, is an equally stark but beautifully filmed narrative of how, “One girl’s passion for art and her never-ending hope will break the silence of history.”