The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

genre: true crime

There are a lot of people in this world who LOVE art.  We flock to museums and mansions, cathedrals and galleries just to feast our eyes on the beauty that other people have made: paintings and sculptures and housewares.  But for Stéphane Breitwieser, looking at it is not enough.  He has to HAVE it, in his hands and then in his home.  So he steals it.  He steals so much art that soon the attic of his mother's house is full.

This is the feels-too-crazy-to-be-true story of one of the world's most notorious art thieves and how he finally got caught.  The writing is succinct and interesting.  I felt like I could tell what was real from what was a guess.  I appreciated the author's notes at the end, explaining how he was able to gather all the information he needed to even piece this story together.  Also, it kinda broke my heart.  His kind of obsession can impact generations of people, right?  Historical treasures are a communal gift to us and our children and when people ignore that pact we all make with each other, it's so upsetting.

This was an interesting read.

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larsen

genre: history

While I cannot actually imagine having to be in Churchill's shoes during the early years of World War 2, I know have a much better idea.  This LOOONNNGG book is a detailed look at Churchill and his close family and confidants during his first year as Prime Minster.  We experience with the horrors of the Blitz and the genuine unknown of if America would ever enter the war and given Britain the help it so desperately needed.  We see the world through the wide eyes of his 18 year old daughter Mary, both her desires to serve the county as well as to flirt and dance and live the big life any other 18 year old wants.  I liked that we were reading primary source material and while sometimes I didn't care about the love life of such and such minister - overall I appreciated remembering that war happens ON TOP of life - not instead of it.

I learned to much.  This part of the war was always a little vague in my mind but now I feel far more educated.  I found myself reading parts of this book out loud to my husband (also a history buff) because I was constantly being surprised.  I had to keep reminding myself that THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW THE WAR WOULD END.  These people did not have the blessed gift like we do to start this story and know that it all turns out ok.  I am so grateful to these world leaders - quirky as they were - for bringing down Hitler's fascism and creating a safer world for us to live in.  May it continue for my children's children to enjoy.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (audiobook)

genre: science fiction

Murderbot is a self-aware Security Unit.   He's been hired by Preservation to protect the crew who is surveying a new planet for possible terraforming.  He's just not all that particularly interested in doing a thorough job of it - not since he managed to free himself from the programming that could control him.  So when things go very wrong, Murderbot's range of choices is far larger than it would be otherwise.  When the crew notices he's not like other Security Unit, things get more  complicated than Murderbot would prefer.

This was a great listen.  It's super short but the narrator is excellent.  Murderbot is a lovely blend of cranky old man,  a moody teenager and a soap opera obsessed introverted uncle.  The interplay of the human team with this AI robot feels pertinent to me and even though the plot didn't necessarily super interest me, I loved the story, if that differentiation makes sense.

When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén , Alice Menzies (Translator) (audiobook)

 genre: contemporary fiction

Bo is in the sunset of his life.  His solitary days in rural Sweden are broken up by the carers who come by to help him, visits from his son Hans and interactions with his beloved dog, Sixten.  When Hans breaks the news to Bo that he no longer believes Bo can care for Sixten and that he'll need to be re-homed, it's devastating.  And Bo won't stand for it. 

As we view the world from Bo's eyes, the eyes of someone whose body is no longer in his control, we slip back and forth in time as his processes what's happening around him. We learn about his wife and Han's childhood.  We experience Bo's early life with his own father and mother and slowly see the ways that Bo has tried so intentionally to be his own man.

I know that stories that center old men are not usually my cup of tea.  In fact, I usually won't even try them at all unless forced by extenuating circumstances.  But somehow when I read a tiny blurb about this book that had won the Swedish Book of the Year Award and the Adlibris prize for both Debut and Fiction of the Year, I decided it was worth trying.  I am so truly glad that I just gave in to that impulse because today, when I finished listening to this story on my way to work, I was audibly crying my eyes out with the beauty and care of this novel.  Despite some of the harsh circumstances we read about, it is compassionate and grounded.  It makes you think so deeply about aging and regret and generational patterns.  It transports you to a small Swedish town where neighbors watch out for each other and animals are like family.  I saw so much of myself in Bo's musings, as he looks back at how he interacted with his family and realized ways he could have done better - the depth of that pain and the desire to make it right.  He's a cranky old man but oh how he loves his people and his dog with such depth.

I highly recommend the audio - the way this man says the Swedish towns and names made all the difference in my mind as I listened.  This is a five star novel for me, absolutely.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab (audiobook)

 genre: horror/vampires

Told in three time periods that eventually wind their way together, this is a story about hunger and passion - the kind that can drive you do things you'd never imagine yourself doing.  Let's just say it out loud - it is a vampire story.  Through and through.  I chose it because I loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and because I needed a "spooky" story for a book challenge I'm doing.  For me, it fits that idea of "spooky" because there is so much blood.  I'm struggling with how to describe it because on the one hand, it was so repetitious that sometimes I literally rolled my eyes.  I know there are only so many ways to talk about a vampire drinking blood, but I honestly got sick of hearing it.  It's a bloody and violent book.  There is a major plot hole that still annoys me.

Also, though, I did always want to keep listening.  It's not UNinteresting.  I like stories about women taking their lives into their hands when Patriarchy shoves them in a box.  I like stories where things come together in ways you can't anticipate.  I don't read a lot of Lesbian books but this was believable, from my point of view, and it was interesting to imagine how women who love women would have managed their lives during other generations.

The ending did surprise me, actually, and although it really was too long, I'm still giving it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 since apparently I liked it enough to stick with it through so many hours (18!  But I listen on 1.75x)

The Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb

 genre: contemporary fiction

Curtis Wilson has made it to the top of his game as a cellist with his single-minded focus and insane discipline.  So when he's dragged out of a concert hall by the FBI as a result of his dad Zippy's poor decision making, it does not go down well for him.  As with most of his life with his father, Curtis has had to deal with the consequences of an existence dependent on the availability of drugs to sell and staying on the good side of bad people.  When things fall apart - they fall apart really ugly.

This book has some mystery, some suspense and three primary narrators.  As we switch between narrators, we see the story from the eyes of Curtis and Zippy as well as Zippy's girlfriend Larissa.  We follow the three of them from the streets of Southeast DC to Lincoln Center to the backwoods and safe houses as they try to escape from what's coming for them.  I found the plot to be believable up until the very end and then I had to stretch my imagination a bit, even though it surprised me and I didn't NOT like it.  It just went way out there.  The superhero side plot was an interesting twist and I appreciated the trajectory of Curtis's life just as a study in how sometimes, the kids who deserve to go big actually GET to.  I read this for Adult Battle of the Books and I'm excited to discuss it more with my friends.

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

 genre: historical fiction

The Mountains Sing is a story of Vietnam.  It is Hương and her Grandmother, Diệu Lan, trying to survive in Hà Nội during the Vietnam war and the stories that Diệu Lan tells Hương of her own childhood before the invasion of the Japanese during WWII.  This story is told during multiple time periods, back and forth in time, as the past crashes into the present and Hương's youth is so deeply impacted by the choices of the women in her family who came before her.  

I was absolutely dropped into a historical Vietnam in this book - both the Vietnam from the time when I was a baby and the Vietnam of my grandparent's youth.  It is such a vibrant and deeply traumatic place.  I learned about large Vietnamese events in the context of this one family - the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the political unrest and social upheavals.  I read about how one girl, her mother and grandmother were affected by the decisions made by those in power.  There were a lot of names to keep straight but I got there (I forgot there is a family tree at the front of the book!).   I felt so much grief along with Diệu Lan as she tries to hold her family together through ridiculously horrific trials.  There is so much resilience here.  There is, yes, so much generational pain but there is also the healing that can be found in the stories of our own family.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (audiobook)

 genre: magical realism

In this novel, written like a mix of autobiography and historical documents, we learn about what happens to our society when, in the middle of the 1950s, thousands of mothers around the United States suddenly turned into dragons.  This “dragonning“ created a host of motherless children and communities heavy with a kind of grief that had nowhere to go. Of course, in this very tight lipped time period, any uncomfortable thing was covered up and quickly became taboo.  For young Alex, her life absolutely has a before and an after with consequences that will reach until the end of her life. This is a coming of age story. It is a "what if" story. It is a magically realistic look at what can happen to women when they’re in a box for too long.

I loved this. It is lush and wildly believable, the narrative style feels so authentic. I loved how it makes us think about the rules - both stated and unstated, for women in America during this time.  I also appreciated thinking about the way in which they managed to break free or their very personal choice to stay.  Sometimes it was repetitive but not enough to give it less than four stars.

A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings (audiobook)

genre: memoir

I found Tia on Tik Tok right around when the Shiny Happy People documentary on Netflix came out.  Her own personal experience from within the fundamentalist Christian movement made for some very interesting and heartbreaking content.  A Well-Trained Wife is the story of her early life and how that primed (groomed?) her for being the wife of a man who truly believed that women are designed by God to be inferior to men.   Her husband's language and way of holding Tia down was so discomfiting and hard to listen to.  His violence, both physically and emotionally, really makes you think about what can go on behind the closed doors of families who seem to have everything together.  But the more Tia tries to be the BEST wife so she can make her husband happy, the more that whole concept breaks down.  Being perfect, doing everything PERFECT, still isn't enough to keep her safe.

The last portion of this book, about her healing, is powerful. SO powerful.  It is such a testament to the capability of therapy modalities and, even more so, human resilience.  Her internal journey is as important as the momentous choices she makes to find safety with her kids and I honor it.  Listening to the way that the Patriarchy and Christianity are used to put women in a box is INFURIATING.  Like, makes me want to light something on fire with my rage.  And the fact that women can literally be complicit in this abusive system is so hard to wrap your brain around.  But Tia helps us understand how it can happen.  Her writing is sometimes a bit flowery but I usually liked it.  I think it could've been edited a tiny bit more to tighten it up but otherwise, this was a captivating listen.

The River's Daughter by Bridget Crocker (audiobook)

genre: memoir

Bridget Crocker grew up along the Snake River in a trailer that was small but at least felt like home.  The river and the woods nearby were her world but when her mom decides that she's finished with Bridget's step-father, life takes a pivot that will lead to both abuse and an inner strength to get herself where she knows she can feel stable: out on the river.

This memoir is both about Bridget's traumatic upbringing as well as her journey to becoming a river rafting guide and outdoors-lover.  Her story covers continents and cultures and the kind of white water that requires a skill set that Bridget starts to acquire.  It is hard to read about how many of her relationships are toxic and even her own decisions sometimes were super painful, but her stories are interesting and unique.  I never knew how much there was to know about being a river rafting guide, but having myself run the Snake River on the same stretch that she guided, I liked what I learned.  The ending is SUPER rushed, almost startling, but it didn't ruin the story.