Historical Fiction: The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

A mystery, spanning 80 years, and centered in and around the New York Public Library and the family who took up residence inside of it. That is the overall premise that drew me to The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis. As a book nerd, I naturally have thought about what it would be like to live in a library or bookstore. What Davis has done is thought that idea through, while also adding a mystery that involves the theft of rare books.

The Situation: Laura Lyons and her husband Jack have been living in the apartment located inside of the New York Public Library as part of Jack's job as the library's superintendent. Laura's small children, Harry and Pearl, immediately took to the stone lions out front, Lenox and Astor, but have a hard time with living within the quiet and peaceful environment that must be maintained for both serious patrons and tourists alike. Laura also misses their life in the country, but when she is accepted into the Columbia Journalism School, she imagines a new kind of freedom for herself. Eighty years later in 1993, Sadie Donovan is working as a curator for the library, and while she is the granddaughter of Laura, whose writings have recently gained significant interest among the public, she has kept the connection to herself. And when rare books begin to go missing, much like they did when Laura lived in the library in 1913, Sadie is determined to find the thief, but is afraid that her connection to the past may cause fingers to be pointed in her direction.

The Problem: In 1913, the first book to go missing is a first edition of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. The stealing of rare books is nothing new, as some attempt to resell them for a tidy profit, while others only wish to add them to their own personal collection. For the New York Public Library, losing one rare book is terrible, losing more than that is a travesty. Unfortunately, more books begin to go missing, and since Jack is the superintendent, he will ultimately be held accountable. Meanwhile, Laura is attending graduate school, making friends while attending meetings in Greenwich Village held by radical feminists, and discovering that she wants more out of life. This, added to the recent thefts, puts a strain on her relationship with Jack. When Sadie must deal with the thefts in her own time, they threaten the career she has built for herself, while only adding to the mysteries in her family's past. If the thief is not caught soon, it may be more than only rare books that end up lost. 

Genre, Themes, History: This is a historical fiction novel that takes place during two points in time, 80 years apart. In 1913, Laura is the wife of the New York Public Library's current superintendent. With their two small children, they live in the apartment located inside of the library, but the close quarters inside of the big city eventually prove to be somewhat suffocating, and not only for Laura. In 1993, Sadie is a curator for the library's Berg Collection, a job she absolutely loves, but it is not without its trials, especially when one of the diaries of Virginia Wolf goes missing. She knows there was some sort of scandal that forced her grandmother and her family to leave the library 80 years ago, but she does not know the specifics, and prefers to keep anyone else from looking too closely. Both women value their independence and ability to make their own choices, but both things are much easier for Sadie to hold onto than Laura. She loves being a wife and mother, but she rankles at the idea that she is not to be anything more. While the apartment inside of the New York Public Library did exist at one point, Laura's family and their story is fiction. But rare book theft is of course a reality.

My Verdict: When I started the book, I was absolutely delighted that it focused on and also took place mostly inside of the New York Public Library. I had the pleasure of visiting it myself in 2013 and I know what I imagine to be life inside of it does not come close to reality. I was skeptical that I would be interested in both Laura and Sadie's stories, but both mysteries were intriguing and engaging, and both heroines were interesting and fully realized. It was maybe about two-thirds of the way into the book that the story began to unravel for me, somewhat. While I enjoyed Sadie's story throughout, something about Laura's story did not fit together quite so neatly. Also, it felt as if Laura was searching for freedom to be who she wanted, which was mostly a woman of her own means, but instead of being allowed to choose what path to take, she was still only given a few options as to what direction to go in. I am not sure if I am making any sense there, but it felt she was only given the illusion of a choice. As for the two separate and interesting mysteries, they certainly kept me guessing, and helped to smooth over some of the rougher spots in the novel.

Favorite Moment: *spoiler alert* When Sadie successfully plays a part in recovering two of the stolen books from a book shop.  

Favorite Character: Mr. Babenko, who works in the library's bindery, has sacrificed the health of his hands for his work. Ultimately, this is a point of pride for him, but I love his good nature and his commitment to books.

Recommended Reading: I recommend The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate. More books, more history, and another plot split between two points in time.    

Goodreads Choice Awards 2020

For the most part, it is the month of November that is associated with the Goodreads Choice Awards. However, it seems this year the party is getting started a little early, and I for one am fine with that. Time for readers to pick their favorite books of 2020 as voting will remain open through November 8th for the first round.

The Best Fiction category starts off strong with four DSNs making the cut. This category is always tough, and this year is no different with My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, and Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, which will appear in a post in late November. My pick is easily Russell's dark and unsettling My Dark Vanessa, which follows the story of a woman, now in her 30s, as she attempts to reconcile the relationship she had with her 42 year-old teacher when she was only 15. It is certainly upsetting, but Russell's writing makes it worth the trouble.

Best Historical Fiction also has some stiff competition, with Lisa Wingate's The Book of Lost Friends, James McBride's Deacon King Kong, and Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half. Though all three books are strong contenders, my personal choice will be Deacon King Kong. I love Wingate's ability to bring her readers into the past, while also linking it to a separate narrative set in the present. And Bennett's tale of two sisters dealing with the racism of a post-Jim Crow America is engaging as well as fascinating. But something about McBride's colorful characters in 1960s Brooklyn will always stick with me. 

I am usually lucky to have one book in the Best Science Fiction category, and this year I managed to get two in there. Both The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez, and Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi are up for the award. Both are fantastic, but I must go with Jimenez. He presents a future where Earth can no longer support life, and space travel has been more or less conquered. It is one of those books that is just shy of 400 pages, but has so much going on that it felt like it was longer, and I still wanted more.  

One title made it into the Best Horror category, and that is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. When a young debutante heads off to a small town in 1950s Mexico to check on her cousin, it is clear that something is going on in the strange house she is staying in, and the family her cousin married into is certainly hiding something. It was not one of my favorite books of 2020, but I certainly understand the appeal. 

I would recommend both Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett and Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford to anyone looking for a great memoir or autobiography. One is the story of a young man seemingly fighting against destiny to overcome his childhood of being raised by an abusive mother, while longing for the attention of his ex-con father. And the other is about a young girl's experience of sexual assault and the cover-up that followed at one of America's most elite boarding schools. As far as my vote for Best Memoir & Autobiography, I choose Hollywood Park, as Jollett's writing is both lyrical and haunting.  

The post for Caste by Isabel Wilkerson will appear in early November, and I am so pleased to be able to vote for it in the Best History & Biography Category. Both eye-opening and upsetting, Wilkerson outlines how the U.S. operates like a caste system, with slavery as its foundation. It may be hard to believe, but through research, interviews, and personal examples, Wilkerson makes a solid case.

Robin Ha's Almost American Girl is absolutely delightful. This nominee for Best Graphic Novels & Comics tells the story of a young girl whose world is turned upside down when she goes to Alabama for vacation from her home of Korea, only to be told after she gets there that she and her mother are never going back. Confusion, anger, culture shock...it's all there, and Ha's beautiful illustrations and writing capture a tale both hopeful and despairing.   

Russell's My Dark Vanessa makes its second appearance in the Awards, this time in the Best Debut Novel category, and I am all too happy to vote for it twice.

Oh young adult fiction, how I adore you. And the same can be said for the DSNs that made it into the Best Young Adult Fiction category. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson, and One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus are all worth picking up. But I have to give it Acevedo as she once again gives us a compelling story told completely through poetry. 

And finally, we come to the last category with Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. It should be no surprise to anyone that both Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins have been nominated. And while I loved the former, I was pretty disappointed in the latter. It felt like an odd choice to have an entire book focus on Coriolanus Snow, the devious and plotting president from the first three Hunger Games books. And Adeyemi's follow-up to Children of Blood and Bone was pretty much what readers were hoping for, which for me makes it the obvious pick. 

With 19 books across 10 categories, the DSNs have made a pretty good showing in the opening round of this year's Goodreads Choice Awards. And of course, when the second round begins, readers will see the write-in votes added to the mix.

Happy voting!

Contemporary Fiction: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Today I will be covering the second novel from Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half. Honestly, I bought this one on a whim. It was one of those Amazon purchases I made quickly, before I could change my mind, because I knew this book would be somewhat of a trial for me to work through. 

The Situation: Desiree and Stella Vignes are identical twins born in the small southern town of Mallard: a town founded specifically for light-skinned black people, so light in fact, that many of them could pass for white. After losing their father to a lynch mob while they are still young, the two sisters will grow up under the watchful gaze of their hardworking mother, Adele. But after being forced to drop out of school, something they both enjoy, and made to work cleaning houses, Desiree decides enough is enough, and manages to convince Stella to leave for New Orleans. When Desiree returns to Mallard 14 years later, it will be as much as a surprise as the day she and her sister left, but now she has a small child with her. The people of Mallard are having a hard time believing the little girl to be Desiree's daughter, mostly because her skin is so dark. And as many questions they may have about little Jude, they have just as many about Stella.

The Problem: When Desiree had to convince Stella to leave Mallard when they were teenagers, she had no idea her sister would then leave her while they were working in New Orleans. Both girls always had the ability to pass for white, and it did not require much effort. Given the right circumstance, many people would assume they were white without either one of them saying a word. So when Stella made the decision to pass over, it was not all that difficult, or even surprising. But it would be a secret she would have to keep forever, from everyone, and never again make contact with anyone from her past, including the woman who looks exactly like her. It is only after her own daughter, Kennedy, has grown up and began performing on stage that the past begins to haunt her. It seems Kennedy's life has somehow intersected with Jude's, Desiree's daughter. And now the careful and fragile lie that Stella has maintained all those years is in danger of being exposed.   

Genre, Themes, History: The is a fiction novel that takes place between the years 1968 and 1988, though it jumps back and forth through time between sections. There is plenty going on here, the most obvious of which being race relations, identity, and the idea of passing. Also included are explorations of gender, and the mother/daughter dynamic. The twins are identical, and though they run away together, their lives take different courses. Stella decides to pass for white and disappears for good, and Desiree marries a dark-skinned black man with whom she has Jude, a girl whose skin is so dark she is teased with names like Tar Baby, and ends up returning to Mallard. When each of the twins' daughters grow up, their paths cross with only one knowing the truth. All of the issues in this book are complicated, though almost every character will search for the simple answer, claiming it is out there and easy to hold onto. Stella wants to desperately maintain her lie, despite the effort it takes, the pain it causes, and how it effects her daughter.

My Verdict: As I already said, there is a lot going on in this book. It is not only about a black woman passing for white and the identical twin that returned to their hometown, though I almost wish it had been. There are many points in the book where I felt like there was too much to keep track of; too many issues and threads to follow; and ultimately, not enough resolution. But of course, that is also how life is. The characters are complicated, nothing is straight-forward, and Bennett captures the feeling of confronting someone with the truth, expecting all to be revealed and resolved at once, but instead it is all followed by confusion, sometimes anger, and more lies. Of all of the people that will lie to us in our lifetime, it is perhaps the most problematic when those people come from our own family, the people we are supposed to trust the most. I am not all that fond of the ending, and I would have preferred more focus on Desiree and Stella, and Jude and Kennedy. But it is an interesting story that will keep the reader guessing.

Favorite Moment: Jude experiences a revelation after she has moved away from Mallard that I think is really well-done. I do not want to get more specific for fear of spoiling it, but I think readers will know it when they find it.

Favorite Character: Early may be a bit of a wanderer who cannot stay in one place for too long, but he treats Desiree and Jude well, and is even able to get past the obvious disapproval of Adele.

Recommended Reading: There is not a book quite like this one out there, and I have not read Bennett's previous book, The Mothers. So I will simply recommend Dread Nation by Justina Ireland for those interested in a YA adventure set in post-Civil War America.

Young Adult Fiction: Dear Justyce by Nic Stone

Nic Stone may not have intended to write a sequel to Dear Martin, but those of us who love that book are glad she did. Dear Justyce follows a character that shows up in the first book, though some readers may not remember him. Through letters and flashbacks, a new story unfolds from a young man who grew up in the same neighborhood as our previous protagonist, but whose life has gone in a very different direction.

The Situation: Vernell LaQuan Banks Jr., or 'Quan,' is currently in the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center on a murder charge. Mistakes were made, choices were made, and through a series of ill-fated events, a police officer is dead and all signs point to Quan. Now Quan is writing letters to Justyce McAllister, who is currently finishing up his first year as a pre-law at Yale. Quan has to know: Both he and Justyce grew up in the same neighborhood, even went to the same schools; so how did they end up in such different places? Quan begins the story when he was younger, and he feels the night his dad was arrested is the night when it all began. Granted, things were not the best before that, but they were better. Afterwards there is the first arrest. Then came the second. Followed by a third that would stay on his record, and the fourth that established the course of his life. Quan does not want to be the guy to blame fate or destiny, but what else is he to call it when no one ever expected anything different?

The Problem: Quan wants to be clear: He made decisions that landed him where he is. But there are others who have made similar decisions - some even worse decisions - whose consequences were not nearly as bad, simply because they did not look like him. Boys who look like him, who grew up where he did, are easily ignored, blamed, and dismissed as delinquents. Quan wonders if things could have been different if he had received more support, if people were not so ready to believe he was capable of only the worst. The path that led him to where he is feels predetermined, and almost impossible to go against, so why not lean into it? But when Justyce enters the picture after finishing his first year in college, he has a plan to change things. It was his letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that inspired Quan to begin writing letters to him, and after their months of correspondence, he insists on standing by his friend. 

Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult fiction novel that follows 2017's Dear Martin. Stone was ready to leave Justyce McAllister alone as she felt good with where his story ended. But after a correspondence with some readers, she decided to write about the black boys who do not end up going to Ivy League colleges in the end - the ones who either stay where they are, or end up in jail, and not necessarily because the punishment is fitting for the crime. Dear Martin readers will not only recognize some of the characters from the previous book, but also Stone's stylistic, almost lyrical prose as Quan tells his story. Going beyond simply varying the sentence structure, simple phrases are often laid out in a way that will cause a reader to stop and think. Is Quan simply following his destiny? Was there ever a chance that things could have been different? If Justyce escaped, why couldn't he? And why is the justice system, and so many other systems, so ready to give up on him, when all it could take is for someone, anyone, to believe in him?

My Verdict: I read this book in a day. Less than 12 hours. And it is not because it is an easy read. There is a lot going on in this thing, and I can see why Stone said in the author's note that she had a difficult time writing it. I even had a difficult time writing this blog post. What I love most is the writing style. From the letters, to the snapshots, to the actual narrative, things start off interesting and they stay interesting. Quan is the type of kid that society quickly gives up on, but I refused to give up on his story, even when things looked their most hopeless and desperate, which was often. From the start it was clear that Quan was going to have a hard road. The term 'uphill battle' is appropriate, but also not quite strong enough. His story says a lot about the world we live in and how it treats people like him, and it is a must for any Dear Martin fan. It is an example of the power of belief and hope, as well as perseverance and courage.   

Favorite Moment: There is something about the way Quan describes the playground that he used to run to, with the rocket ship that he would climb inside. The rocket ship shows up a few times, until Quan must eventually describe what the playground looks like without it. 

Favorite Character: Justyce may be one of the bravest young characters I have read about in quite awhile. He is willing to enter what amounts to a lion's den for a friend he is not even sure he can save.

Recommended Reading: I recommend Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi, and of course, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.        

Graphic Novel: Displacement by Kiku Hughes

Graphic novels do not get the attention they should. They are a wonderful form of storytelling for pretty much any genre. Today I will be discussing Displacement by Kiku Hughes, the story of a teenage girl who is transported back in time to when her grandmother was forced into an internment camp for Japanese families living in the United States.

The Situation: Kiku is a 16 year-old girl following her mother around while on a trip to San Francisco. While her mother attempts to find the house Kiku's grandmother lived in before she was forced into an internment camp, Kiku simply wishes their trip were over and the two could return back to their home in Seattle. But as Kiku waits for her mother outside of a shopping mall, a fog rolls in and transports her to a different time, though the same place. It does not last long. In fact, it is short enough for Kiku to convince herself it was a dream. But then it happens again, and this time there is no question that what Kiku is experiencing is real. Now she wants to get out of San Francisco more than ever. Believing she has left what she refers to as the 'displacements' behind in California, Kiku relaxes at her home Seattle, while the nation is preparing for the 2016 presidential election. And as Kiku's mother frets and scowls over the speeches of Repubican candidate Donald Trump, Kiku is once again displaced to the 1940s, and this time, she may be there awhile.

The Problem: Kiku finds herself as one of the many that were forcibly removed to internment camps in the 1940s after the events of Pearl Harbor. Completely alone and only 16, she must lean on the kindness of others to get her through in both a time and place she does not know. And though the food is inedible, and the authorities are less than gracious, Kiku finds herself adapting quickly and more easily than she thought she would. If there was one thing she wish she could get over, it is her hesitance to reach out to the family who lives next door, which happens to be her grandmother and her great-grandparents. In her actual life, Kiku never knew much about her mother's mother, not even her real first name, much less her history and struggles. Now she is one door down, and she still cannot bring herself to reach out. Kiku's displacement has left her scared and uncertain, wondering if she will ever return to her own time; if she will get the opportunity to meet her grandmother; and if history will be bound to repeat itself in her own time.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a graphic novel set mostly in Japanese internment camps during the 1940s. The reader follows 16 year-old Kiku as she moves across time, experiencing for herself what her grandmother went through as someone forced away from their home, and into an internment camp. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many Japanese, German, and Italian residents were forced into internment camps all across America. Some were hastily built, which meant they were often not properly insulated, and less than ready to be inhabited even after the people arrived. Before the displacement that will leave Kiku in the past for the better part of a year, she recalls overhearing the television as Donald Trump lays out his plan to regulate the immigration of Muslims, mandating that a registry be kept for all Muslims entering the United States. Though it is nearly 80 years later, parallels can still be drawn between then and now. It is a story about the importance of learning our history, and the power of memory.

My Verdict: The illustrations are well-done, clean, and simple, while also powerful and at times haunting. Inspired by Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, Hughes explores the pull of the past and the lessons it can teach us about our present and future. What is nice about graphic novels is that they can relay a story with their vivid illustrations, using less words, and therefore be read quickly, often in one sitting. However, sometimes details get lost, or it seems like something is missing. I did not feel like I was missing out on anything with this story. The confusion and fear Kiku experiences over the injustice she is faced with is intense, and even seems somewhat magnified as she belongs in the present day, not the 1940s. What I am possibly the most pleased with is the potential for this story to encourage readers to look for more information on the internment camps of the 1940s, and also evaluate for themselves the current policies regarding immigration.

Favorite Moment: *spoiler alert* When Kiku is able to bond with her mother over her experience.

Favorite Character: At the first interment camp she is sent to, Kiku is assigned a room with Aiko, a determined woman who takes many risks to stand up against what is happening.

Recommended Reading: Naturally, I recommend Butler's Kindred, either the novel or graphic novel adaptation. Also, I recommend The Train to Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell.     

Contemporary Fiction: Truthtelling by Lynne Sharon Schwartz

Often I choose the books for this blog through research and recommendation. Today's selection, Truthtelling: Stories, Fables, Glimpses, was sent to me ahead of publication, and I am thrilled to be able to cover a book before it comes out, as that is extremely rare for me. I also do not often cover short story collections, so this was a nice change of pace.

Genre, Themes, History: As mentioned, this is a short story collection, and every story occurs in and around New York City, following various city residents as they live their lives, or attempt to. With 25 stories, a few or as short as a couple of pages, and the longest comes in at 27 pages. Each one focuses on a fairly ordinary person who has either entered into a certain phase of life that has brought about some sort of realization, of they find themselves in a slightly odd situation that they have a hard time reconciling. "Return of the Frenchman" is a shorter story of barely two pages that simply relates a woman's chance encounter with a Frenchman that she first met at a party years before. Then there are slightly longer stories like "I Want My Car," which involves an increasingly confused and agitated man whose ex-wife keeps coming up with reasons not to return the car she borrowed from him. And then there are some stories that go a bit further, such as "Public Transit," in which a woman is concerned for her own mental well-being due to her increasingly erratic behavior while riding public transportation. The collection is all about New York, and all about human behavior in the big city.

My Verdict: I was excited to tackle a short story collection for a change instead of the longer narratives I usually gravitate towards. Naturally, with 25 short stories, there are going to be some that simply are not as engaging as others. For me, there are maybe only four or five of them that stood out, while the others sort of blend in with each other. Some of them were lacking in plot, while others were lacking in resolutions. The stories seemed to simply end, almost with the understanding that the character's lives will continue on as before, and what the reader saw was one snapshot of a less than ordinary circumstance. Fortunately, the standouts really stood out, such as "Career Choice," "Near November," and "Fragment Discovered in a Charred Steel Box." For those that enjoy Schwartz's work, this collection will probably be enjoyable enough, and it is an interesting overall look at society in general through the eyes of a few peculiar people.

Favorite Story: I enjoyed "Career Choice," which involves a woman's plan to marry a wealthy older man, but her surprise comes after her plan succeeds.

Recommended Reading: As I said, I do not read many short story collections. For today, I recommend Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds, which tells stories involving school kids as they head home.