Historical Fiction: Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari

Historical fiction readers know that reading books in this genre is a great way to learn about the past. Even though the main story may be fiction, or even fictionalized using real figures from history, the opportunity to learn is there, and I have often become curious enough to do more research and find out more. This was the case with Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari, a story set in mid-1990s Israel, while also telling the story of two would-be lovers in the 1950s.

The Situation: Before Zohara received a phone call that changed everything, she was a graduate student in New York, fast approaching burnout as she struggles to finish her dissertation. This is why she is actually vacationing in Thailand when she answers her sister Lizzie's call, the one that informs her that their mother, Saida, has died. Zohara quickly packs up and flies home, reuniting with a sister she has felt distant from; a now nearly adult nephew, Yoni; and a house full of memories of both of her parents, and the tension she always felt growing up there. 

The Problem: Returning home to grieving family and friends, while also attempting to manage her own grief and complicated feelings about her mother, is a difficult task. It seems Zohara can never say the right thing to her sister, and while cleaning out her mother's house, she begins to find small items and clues about her mother's hidden past, specifically from when she first came to Israel from Yemen, including a series of tapes where Saida recorded herself singing. Meanwhile, tensions outside of the house rise as peace negotiations commence, but car bombings and other terrorist activities increase. Zohara is not sure she is prepared for the answers to all of her questions, especially as they begin to contradict everything she thought she knew.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a historical fiction novel set in Israel, mostly around Tel Aviv in the the mid-1990s, while also telling the story of a young Yemeni Jewish man in the 1950s, shortly after Israel became a nation, and he and his family came into the country from Yemen. For Zohara, returning home means confronting the things about her childhood that caused her to leave her home country, including her feelings of abandonment when she was sent away to attend an elite boarding school as a teenager. But things become more complicated when what Zohara remembers turns out to not be the full truth. Meanwhile, protests continue as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process continues, and Saida's early days in Israel are revealed through chapters told by Yaqub, bringing to light a complicated past that Zohara never knew.

My Verdict: As I mentioned in the introduction, I enjoyed learning more about the history of Israel, especially in the context of a young Yemeni Jewish man, as well as a 30-something woman returning home after her mother has died. The way the story behind the story unfolds is masterful and keeps the reader engaged. And the same can be said for the history of Israel and the conflict with Palestine as it leads up to key historical events. While Zohara, Yaqub, and Yoni's stories all have their interesting points, I often found myself annoyed when the narrative switched from one to the other, as is often the case when a book has more than one character as the focus. But overall, historical fiction readers will enjoy this one.

Favorite Moment: There are several moments when Zohara is confronted with her own selfishness, but there is one in particular where someone (who is not her sister, who calls her out often) is direct with her, pulling no punches, and it proves to be effective.

Favorite Character: Nir is a local shop owner who helps Zohara with some translation, and he is not only helpful, but also honest without being mean.

Recommended Reading: The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan is another historical fiction novel set during World War II as Japan was invading Malaysia, and explores one woman's desire to be more than a housewife, and a decision that helps bring conflict and oppression to her country.

Goodreads Choice Awards 2024 Final Round

The final round of voting is now open for the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards. The choices in each award category have been cut down from 20 to ten, and it is time for readers to put their support behind their favorite titles...granted they are still in the running.

Unfortunately, it looks like Danzy Senna's Colored Television did not make it to the final round for the Favorite Fiction category, but both I Hope This Finds You Well and Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop did, so my vote for the former remains.

For Favorite Historical Fiction, five of the seven DSNs that were originally nominated remain, which means half of the options available are books covered on this blog...I am thinking for the first time ever. While The Bullet Swallower and The Storm We Made did not make the top ten, Xochitl Gonzalez's Anita de Monte Laughs Last did, and I have given it my vote once again.

In Favorite Science Fiction, I will have to pick a different book to vote for as Beautyland did not make the final round, and neither did Cebo Campbell's Sky Full of Elephants. So I will put my support behind Scott Alexander Howard's The Other Valley, a book that takes an interesting look at time travel. 

It seems that Vanessa Chan's The Storm We Made and Cebo Campbell's Sky Full of Elephants also did not garner enough votes to make it to the final round for the Favorite Debut Novel category, along with Morgan Talty's Fire Exit. But just like with the Favorite Fiction category, Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is holding strong. 

For the two young adult categories, Bethany Baptiste's The Poisons We Drink is no longer in the running for the Favorite Young Adult Fantasy category, but both Where Sleeping Girls Lie and The Reappearance of Rachel Price remain in Favorite Young Adult Fiction, and I have voted for the former.

And when it comes to nonfiction, looks like I can no longer vote for There's Always This Year in the Favorite Memoir category, or Madness in the Favorite History & Biography category. Oh well, such is the nature of the competition.

Of the original 22 DSNs that were nominated, only 13 remain, and a few have a decent chance of winning their categories.

The final round of voting closes this Sunday, December 1st, with the winners being announced Thursday, December 5th. Happy voting!

Contemporary Fiction: Colored Television by Danzy Senna

After reading the premise for Danzy Senna's Colored Television, I knew the journey through this book would most likely be bittersweet and maybe hit a little too close to home, especially in its exploration of the writer's journey and how lonely, tedious, uncertain, and also unforgiving it can be. Add to that the subject of being biracial in America, and I assumed this novel would be full of moments of uneasy tension, but with the potential of rewarding revelations.

The Situation: To see it on paper, Jane is living the Hollywood dream. She lives in one of the architectural marvels of Los Angeles with her artist husband, Lenny, and her two kids, Ruby and Finn. She is a non-tenured faculty member at a local college, but once she turns in the manuscript for her second book - which has been ten years in the making following the success of her first one - she is sure to be promoted. But if anyone were to peel back the layers on Jane's life, they would see that the house her family is currently living in is not theirs, and neither is the wine collection she and her husband keep drinking from. While Lenny keeps insisting on making unsellable art, the family can only afford to stay housed for short periods, with this year in one place being a welcome moment of stability. But after using her teaching sabbatical to work on her book, she is ready to turn it in, and perhaps finally move into the stage of life she has been dreaming of.

The Problem: Unfortunately for Jane, the book does not turn out to be quite the saving grace she was hoping for. But living and working in Los Angeles means she can do what so many writers have done before her, and that is turn to Hollywood. When she manages to secure a meeting with Hampton Ford, a major figure in the producing world, things are looking up as they begin working on a TV comedy series all about being biracial. A contract for the show could mean finally living in her dream neighborhood, while also putting an end to Lenny's idea of moving the family to Tokyo, where he feels his work is really understood. As Jane searches for her voice as a writer for TV, things seem promising, right up until it becomes clear that they are not.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a work of fiction set in and around modern-day Los Angeles. Jane is a biracial woman who married Lenny, a Black man, and the two are raising a family, reaching for both stability and success, while also holding onto their own integrity as artists. While Jane certainly envies the success of the man whose house she is currently living in, she and Lenny both look down on those who turn to Hollywood for their golden ticket to fame and relevance. But Jane finds herself doing exactly that after all of her hard work on her book does not pay off as she hoped. With thorough exploration of the biracial identity, including the struggle to fit in, and the tendency to adopt the speech and interests of those around her, the book also portrays Jane's struggles as a mother, wife, teacher, and writer.

My Verdict: Some readers may have the desire to put this book aside after the first 50 pages or so, as I did, but I encourage them to push through it and continue. For me, both Jane and Lenny were pretty unlikable (judgmental, self-righteous, condescending), and it was to the point that I wondered if this was a case where the protagonist was actually the villain. However, as the story progresses, it becomes an interesting look at one woman's struggle to follow up the considerable success of her first novel with what her husband has called her "mulatto War and Peace." The book showcases not only the frustrating subjectivity of the publishing world, but also the uncertainty and vulnerability of writing in general, as well as how easy it is to claim the label of "misunderstood" for yourself, while vilifying anyone who does not appreciate your work, along with those who do find success.

Favorite Moment: In nearly every meeting Jane has with Hampton Ford, she attempts to go for a certain look with her outfit, but always seems to get it wrong, perhaps showcasing how out of her depth she is. 

Favorite Character: Jane's son Finn is a delight, and might be the only truly misunderstood character in the book.

Recommended Reading: I recommend R.F. Kuang's Yellowface, or Rainbow Rowell's Landline. 

Nonfiction: First in the Family by Jessica Hoppe

The full title of today's book is First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream. In this book, Jessica Hoppe explores in detail her journey through addiction and ongoing recovery, and what it took as the Latinx daughter of immigrants to openly face, and be able to talk about, what was happening.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book that opens with Hoppe admitting to being an unreliable narrator, and that the story will come in fragments. She will talk about her birth in San Antonio, Texas, but also reach back even further to her mother's early life in Honduras and how her parents met in the U.S. The details of her addiction and relationship with Alcoholics Anonymous (commonly known simply as AA) also comes in fragments, as does her complicated relationship and feelings about her story, her family's story, and the struggle to acknowledge it all, much less talk about it openly. Hoppe rounds everything out with research and the history of AA, as well as America's war on drugs, and also colonization.

My Verdict: This book is all the things a memoir should be: honest and with a great deal of research behind it. Hoppe did the work of going through her family's history, as well as interviewing those still living, even if the memories may be uncomfortable. The book confronts both the lack of stories from diverse voices regarding addiction and substance abuse, and the narrative this country has written regarding minorities and the war on drugs. There are moments early on in the book that felt less honest and genuine: moments when it seemed that the flawed idea of "the American Dream" and the myth of the exceptional minority were to hold all responsibility for Hoppe's experience. Later, there is deeper discussion of the research and history Hoppe discovered, even into the founding of AA, that is interesting and probably not widely known. 

Favorite Moment: At several moments, Hoppe points out just how easy it is to tell lies about yourself, and at the time, whole-heartedly believe them. 

Recommended Reading: When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey is an in-depth look at the crack epidemic of the 80s and 90s, as well as a reevaluation of what happened. 

Goodreads Choice Awards 2024

It is certainly one of my favorite times of the year, even though this year this event totally snuck up on me.

It is time for the annual Goodreads Choice Awards! Yes, it is the time when readers cast their votes for their favorite books of the year, and there are always surprises, upsets, and quite a few "oh yeah, of course" wins. First things first, we gotta take a look at who has been nominated.

In the Favorite Fiction category, there are three DSNs who have earned a place among the nominees. If there was a sub-category for workplace fiction, both I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, and Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum would fit into it. They have made the cut, along with Danzy Senna's Colored Television (blog post coming later this month). All three are certainly worthy, and after much deliberation, I will give my vote to Sue's I Hope This Finds You Well. Anyone who has ever worked in an office will relate to many parts of this book.

For the Favorite Historical Fiction category, this blog may have a record with seven DSNs nominated. This is always a tough category, and this year will be no different with Kristin Hannah's The Women, Xochitl Gonzalez's Anita de Monte Laugh's Last, Percival Everett's James, Vanessa Chan's The Storms We Made, Kate Quinn's The Briar Club, Elizabeth Gonzalez James' The Bullet Swallower, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia's The Seventh Veil of Salome all nominated. It is a stacked list for sure, and I only choose Anita de Monte Laughs Last after the most careful of considerations. Quinn's The Briar Club is a close second, and Hannah's The Women is not to be brushed aside either. 

There is one DSN that made it into the Favorite Fantasy category, and that is Meg Shaffer's The Lost Story. Two young boys get lost in the woods, only to emerge six months later, completely changed. Only one remembers what happened, but it changes the course of both of their lives. Personally, I hoped for more from this story, but I understand why it is popular. 

I gotta say, I am proud of myself for managing to have five DSNs nominated in the Favorite Science Fiction category, as it will always and forever be a genre I struggle to connect with. Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino, The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard, Annie Bot by Sierra Greer, Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell, and The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley all made the cut. For me, the winner would be Beautyland, but it will certainly have a hard fight against Jeff VanderMeer's Absolution. 

Five books made it into Favorite Debut Novel category, four of which are already nominated in somewhere else. Joining Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, The Storms We Made, Sky Full of Elephants, and The Ministry of Time is Morgan Talty's Fire Exit. This time I will be voting for Hwang Bo-Reum's novel, set in a neighborhood bookshop in South Korea.

The only DSN to make it into Favorite Young Adult Fantasy is The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste, and intense and imaginative story set in a world where brewing love potions may be a lucrative business, but also a dangerous and illegal one. And for the Favorite Young Adult Fiction category, we have The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson, and the dark academic mystery Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. It may not be my favorite YA of the year, but I will give my vote to Where Sleeping Girls Lie, mostly for its inventive and intriguing boarding school setting. 

Only one memoir from the blog made the cut to be nominated as a Favorite Memoir, and it is Hanif Abdurraqib's There's Always This Year. And I am thrilled to see Madness by Antonia Hylton earn a place in the Favorite History & Biography category, as it is as fascinating as it is informative. 

And there we have it readers. Twenty-two DSNs stand proud and ready to receive your votes as you pick out your favorite books for this year, at least from those listed by Goodreads. As usual, I am surprised by a few omissions, as well as a few inclusions. And then there are those authors who I am used to seeing be included, but are not, despite having a book come out this year. Readers are always looking for their next favorite author, and I certainly will be investigating some of the nominees that I previously failed to take notice of. 

With voting for the opening round closing on Sunday, November 24th, be sure to make your voice heard. 

Science Fiction: Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell

Being able to squeeze in at least one more science fiction novel before the end of the year is a win for me, as I know it is a genre I can often neglect. Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell first grabbed my attention due to its title, and the premise, as you will soon understand, was more than a little interesting, and I had to know where it would lead.

The Situation: Up until a year ago, Charlie Brunton was serving time in prison for a crime he did not commit. Now, he is a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University. His situation is certainly strange to believe, but what is stranger are the circumstances that allowed it to happen. Before Charlie made it out of prison - where he was broken out, not released - every white person in the U.S. suddenly walked into the nearest body of water. And what remains is a very different country, with a population of people that encompass a wide range of reactions and feelings about what happened. Charlie enjoys being a professor, and would have continued to do it if not for the letter he received from the biracial daughter he never got to meet.

The Problem: Sydney has spent the year since "the event" isolated in her home in Wisconsin, after the rest of her family walked into the lake. While she does not know him, or trust him (or even like him), Charlie was the only person she could think of to reach out to. He is the only person she could look to for help in reaching a place where she believes other members of her family now live. But as the two of them travel south, neither of them is truly ready for what they find. Every region and city operates a little differently, and when they reach what is now the Kingdom of Alabama, Charlie and Sydney will have to re-evaluate what they know about America, the event, and themselves. 

Genre, Themes, History: The book has been tagged as science fiction, speculative fiction, dystopia, and even fantasy, while also including a decent amount of magical realism. Naturally, race is a theme as the book attempts to imagine what this new world looks like, how it operates, and how people would feel. But the reader also gets to see stuff like what Campbell imagines airports and air travel would look like, something I was certainly interested in as someone who loves to travel. Even everyday things like a trip to the local Wal-Mart is a different experience, as is a day trip to a beach. And then there are the people, whose reactions are as diverse as they are, as everyone continues on in various ways. While Charlie has his own complicated feelings, Sydney struggles even more, and must make her own difficult journey regarding grief and identity.

My Verdict: With such an ambitious (and for many, incredibly contentious and uncomfortable) plot, I was surprised to find that this book was less than 300 pages. Granted, it would be impossible to include every imagined or possible scenario following an event like the one suggested here, but I wanted to see even more of the different parts of the U.S, and see more communities and industries and how they operate. Campbell's style of writing is lyrical at times, and then overelaborate in others, with the story and plot coming second to character deliberation. But what is certainly clear is that being alive in this suddenly 'post-racial' country is a complicated matter, and that the struggle with identity continues, as does the desire for community and connection.

Favorite Moment: The description of the Mardi Gras festivities is fun and illuminating, and wonderful picture of joy and community.

Favorite Character: Sailor, a pilot, is on a mission and will not be deterred, although he is not as stubborn and cold as he first appears to be.

Recommended Reading: I recommend James by Percival Everett, which is a retelling of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 

Young Adult Fiction: Sunrise Nights by Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro

It is no secret on this blog that I am a big fan of Jeff Zentner's books, so it should not be a surprise that I have finally come around to talking about Sunrise Nights, a young adult novel he cowrote with Brittany Cavallaro. A mixture of poetry and prose, the book follows two teens across three separate nights, over the course of three years.

The Situation: Jude Wheeler loves photography, and has since he was a young kid. He has a good eye, and it is the one thing that allows him to feel in control. With his parent's splitting up, retreating to his camera gives him solace, and it is the reason he is attending Harbor Arts Camp in Michigan. It is also where he meets Florence, a girl who loves dancing, and knows she is good at it. Thing is, she is losing her eyesight, and it is all but certain the her time as a dancer is limited. When the two meet, they proceed to spend the entire last night together - known at the camp as Sunrise Night - by exploring the town, only parting at sunrise after they make a pact: no contact for the next year. Not even through social media. And they will meet up next year at camp.

The Problem: Both Jude and Florence manage to stick to their agreement, but simply meeting up the next year at camp proves to be more complicated than it sounds. Quite a bit has happened to both of them over the last 12 months, and neither of them is ready to be completely honest about it. When a misunderstanding threatens to undo the bonding they have managed to do in just the handful of hours they have known each other, it is not clear what the next 12 months will do to their relationship, and what their last Sunrise Night at camp will bring. 

Genre, Themes, History: This young adult fiction novel is a collaboration between Zentner and Cavallaro, and takes place over three separate nights, each one 12 months after the previous one. Split almost equally between poetry and prose, with the prose being mostly conversation, Jude and Florence proceed to get to know each other exclusively during what is known as Sunrise Night at the Harbor Arts Camp in Michigan. Since the campers are allowed to stay up past their usual curfew, though they must check-in at predetermined times, Jude and Florence explore the city, ending up at a bowling alley, diner, coffee shop, arcade, and even a Target. As they take turns being the first person narrator, Jude and Florence tell their story, while they also learn about each other.

My Verdict: I opened this book at a time when I was kind of lamenting my inability to find YA books like this in 2024. Clearly, I am either not looking hard enough, or my search method is flawed, because this book is exactly what I was hoping it would be. The format is a welcome change, and while I am always quick to admit my struggle in reading and understanding poetry, what is found in this book is accessible, fun without being vapid and cliched, and the conversation is smart, witty, but also believable. Jude and Florence are two teenagers whose worlds are changing a little quicker than they may like, and they only get to catch up with each other for one night of the year. It is an interesting concept that the authors pull off well. 

Favorite Moment: There is a reoccurring character that shows up at one point during each of the Sunrise Nights, and every encounter is funnier than the last. 

Favorite Character: Jude Wheeler is a lot braver than he thinks he is, as he never would have met Florence if he had not gathered up the courage to approach her on that first Sunrise Night. 

Recommended Reading: I recommend Zentner's In the Wild Light, his most recent solo YA novel.