Door Stop Novels
Friday, March 29, 2024
Nonfiction: Madness by Antonia Hylton
Friday, March 22, 2024
Science Fiction: Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
While it is not the first science fiction book to be covered in 2024, Marie-Helene Bertino's Beautyland is the first book to be covered on DSN that was published in the new year. I was drawn to the idea of a seemingly ordinary person being tasked with reporting their observations to another civilization somewhere far out in space, while living out their life here on Earth. What kind of observations would they make? And would whoever they are reporting to find them interesting, or even care?
The Situation: Adina Giorno is born on the same day that Voyager 1 is launched in early September of 1977. Though the birth almost kills her mother, both of them make it through safely, and continue their lives as best they can in Philadelphia. Adina understands that she is different, even without the observations of the people around her telling her so. She is somehow aware of life on a distant planet, but when a fax machine appears, she is able to tell them everything she observes about human beings and how they operate. The communication is not one way, but the responses she does receive are short, and somewhat unhelpful. In this way, Adina will continue to live her life, and report as much as she can, while understanding little of it.
The Problem: Growing up as the only child of a single mother in the heart of Philadelphia would be hard enough without also being an extraterrestrial. Fitting in is difficult, and while Adina knows she is not like her classmates and the people she is growing up around, it does not change her desire to belong. As she moves from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, the human experience continues to confuse and astound her, and soon, simply sharing her findings with the beings back home is not enough. Are there others like her here on Earth? And how would human beings react if they were to know the truth? Would they even believe it?
Genre, Themes, History: This is a science fiction novel set mostly in Philadelphia and New York City, and beginning in 1977 when Adina is born. As the story progresses and Adina grows up, the passing years are marked by important moments in history and what Adina observes as the humans' react to them, as opposed to actual dates. There are no chapters necessarily, but the book is divided up into five sections, with the narrative in those sections broken up and divided in small chunks, most of which are less than a page long. Even though she is not human, Adina experiences the very real human emotions of love, joy, the need to fit in and be accepted, sorrow, disappointment, despair, and grief. The book answers the question of what would a being from another planet think about the way we live here on Earth?
My Verdict: This book fits into the science fiction category simply because Adina is not of this Earth, but has been tasked with reporting on what she observes as she grows up around humans. Other than her communications with the beings on her home planet, her experience is not too different from what most experience living in North America. The character of Adina is making observations about humans that she finds interesting or confusing, but while she is making them as someone of a different species, they entail many things that human beings have wondered about themselves. For me, I related intensely to her observations of how humans communicate with each other, endlessly saying one thing while meaning another. It is an original look at the human experience that both critiques it, and asks honest questions about it.
Favorite Moment: *spoiler alert* Adina loses out on an acting scholarship for college to another student, who them ends up becoming a lawyer, and not an actor...because of course she does.
Favorite Character: While Adina may not quite understand it herself, I can see why her strangeness and aloof nature would draw some people in. Her inability to understand most human behaviors causes her to meet most interactions with a refreshing honesty and unintentional humor.
Recommended Reading: I recommend Erin Swan's Walk the Vanished Earth, though it is a very different type of science fiction novel that looks at a possible future for Earth as human beings race to find an alternative, while life on the planet becomes more difficult.
Friday, March 15, 2024
Historical Fiction: The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
Honestly, how could I bypass a book with a title like today's pick? The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James was listed in the new releases in January on Goodreads, and I simply had to know more. The fact that it is also set in and around south Texas and Mexico, and deals with future generations being made to pay for crimes of the past, caused me to pick it up and actually read it, in the hopes that at the very least I would find a good adventure.
The Situation: It is 1964 in Mexico, and Jaime Sonoro has enjoyed incredible success and fortune as one of the country's most famous actors and singers. Things seem to take an ominous turn when two things find their way into Jaime's life: one a book, another a person. Despite warnings from his father, Jaime begins reading the mysterious book, which tells the story of Antonio Sonoro, the man known as El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower. In 1865, Antonio set out on an ill-fated trip to Houston, Texas to rob a train, promising his dubious wife that he will return with wealth and riches. But when the adventure turns deadly, Antonio's new mission becomes one of revenge.
The Problem: Unbeknownst to Antonio, he was born with a debt to pay, as generations of Sonoros had been ruthless and greedy, often taking what is not theirs, and making those around them pay when they demanded more. When a strange man called Remedio enters Jaime's life in 1964, it soon becomes clear that he may not simply be a kind older man with a gift for healing. The more Jaime reads of Antonio's life, the more he feels that things are not as they should be, and that something has gone wrong. Even so, Antonio's story full of murder, theft, and intense revenge against the three men that turned him into The Bullet Swallower draws Jaime in. And it is soon clear that the book found its way to Jaime for a reason, linking the fate of the two Sonoros men.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a historical fiction novel set mostly in 1865 in both south Texas and Mexico, but also in 1964 in Mexico. In 1865, Antonio Sonoro leaves to rob a train, but instead nearly dies twice, ends up roaming the land looking for revenge against three Texas Rangers, and earns a reputation as a dangerous bandit. In 1964, Jaime learns of the history of Antonio Sonoro, The Bullet Swallower, for the first time, and begins to see a link between the two of them. Antonio's story is a picture of life and politics along the Texas/Mexico border in the mid-1800s, while Jaime and his father must wrestle with the idea of generational trauma, and how one generation could be held responsible for the sins of the past.
My Verdict: Well, I wanted an adventure, and I certainly got one. Antonio roams all over south Texas in an effort to find the three men he wants desperately to kill, and it is not a quiet or generally peaceful journey as he attempts to hunt them down. There is trouble at every small town; almost every encounter with every group of people, no matter how big or small, ends badly; and despite how very wrong the trip had gone from the start, Antonio is undeterred. The link between Jamie and Antonio is revealed slowly and carefully, as is the fate of each. It is not easy to get readers to extend grace towards selfish and unlikable characters, even if they are the protagonist, so some may struggle to follow Antonio's journey and understand his choices, while also enjoying the story.
Favorite Moment: This book is full of stubborn characters. These are people who see the obvious danger in their choices, but forge ahead anyways, only to often be surprised when things go wrong. Given how awful some of these people are, I thoroughly enjoyed when things did inevitably go wrong.
Favorite Character: Hugo, Antonio's brother, does his best to get Antonio to abandon the train robbing mission and return to his loving wife and family, and it only earns him insults and derision.
Recommended Reading: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is a very different type of historical fiction novel, set in the 1930s when people were leaving the Texas/Oklahoma region for what they believed to be a better future in California.
Friday, March 8, 2024
Young Adult Fiction: Arya Khanna's Bollywood Moment by Arushi Avachat
Friday, March 1, 2024
Contemporary Fiction: Family Family by Laurie Frankel
Friday, February 23, 2024
Nonfiction: Into Siberia by Gregory J. Wallance
Friday, February 16, 2024
Historical Fiction: The Women by Kristin Hannah
Readers are rejoicing as author Kristin Hannah returns with another historical fiction book, this time focused on the Vietnam War, and more specifically, the women who served. The decision to read The Women came easily, and having read three of Hannah's other novels, I knew to expect nothing less than an engaging story stacked with fully-realized characters.
The Situation: It is 1966 when 21 year-old Frances 'Frankie' McGrath hears four words that had never been said to her before: "Women can be heroes." At her brother's going away party before he is sent off to fight in Vietnam, Frankie stands in her father's office, looking at his "Hero's Wall," and makes the decision to put her newly acquired nursing degree to use in the war. Her parents may not agree with her decision, but Frankie stays resolved, and after excelling in basic training, Frankie lands in Vietnam, greeted by the noise, smells, and near-constant chaos that is life as a nurse in an area that is often under attack. Frankie realizes that her nursing degree did not quite prepare her for this, but she must catch up and learn quickly.
The Problem: As trying as serving in Vietnam is, it is only the beginning of Frankie's story. After coming face-to-face with missing limbs, unimaginable burn scars, and bullet wounds that make her faint, as well as sick and wounded Vietnamese, many of them children, Frankie comes home to hostility and anger. Her parents are still upset with her for deciding to serve, but it seems the rest of the country is as well. When she is not experiencing outright hostility, then she is ignored, with her own fellow servicemen declaring "There were no women in 'Nam." For Frankie, the fighting does not stop when she returns home, and there may be no returning to the person she was before.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a historical fiction novel that focuses on the Vietnam War, beginning in 1966, and continuing through 1982. The first part details Frankie's time as a nurse in Vietnam, after she decides to sign up and follow her brother's example. The second part involves Frankie's return home after serving for two years, and the less than welcoming greeting she receives from the public, including her own family. For many, Frankie was part of the war that America wanted to forget. After witnessing incredible horrors over seas, Frankie returns to protests and resentment, as well as a lack of resources for women like her who served. Her struggle to return to some sort of normalcy is exactly that: a struggle. And there are moments when it looks like she may not make it.
My Verdict: This is the fourth book I have read by Hannah, and so far she has taken me through France in World War II; the darkness of the Alaskan winters in the 1970s; the Dust Bowl of the 1930s; and now the Vietnam War. This book is an incredible account of one woman's noble, and also naive, decision to serve her country, and everything that came from that decision. The descriptions of Frankie's time in Vietnam are vivid and often disturbing, while not being unnecessarily gruesome, and the hurt and anger she feels when she is pushed aside upon returning will resonate with anyone whose contributions and sacrifices for a cause have been forgotten, especially women. Hannah mentions in the author's note that this was a labor of love, and I am certainly glad she decided to stick with it.
Favorite Moment: For some reason, I appreciated the descriptions of Frankie's living quarters when she was in Vietnam. I have been overseas many times, and it is amazing how quickly someone can get over a less than ideal living situation when there is work to do.
Favorite Character: Barb is another nurse who serves in Vietnam with Frankie, and the two remain good friends even after returning home. Barb shows up for Frankie and helps her through nearly every major crisis, despite living across the country and taking a different path after serving.
Recommended Reading: Of the four novels I have read by Hannah, I still think the best is The Nightingale, but my favorite is The Four Winds.