Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards

 genre: historical fiction

In medieval Bruges, the Church is the scaffolding on which a life is created.  And if you want to be close to God, you'd better have a man with some kind of authority to be your guide.  For Aleys, who is raised on the stories of female saints, Jesus is more than a tale.  He is a real presence that she soon realizes she needs to dedicate some part of her life to - but its not as though a medieval woman can just go ahead and do what she wants without everyone around her having an opinion about it.  And the weight of some opinions can lead to disaster.  

The lovely book centers, first and foremost, women who have a desire to have their own kind of relationship with a divine being that feels tangible to their own lives.  Aleys is a gorgeously written protagonist.  She is passionate and capable and her journey as a religious person is such an intriguing one. While Christianity is no longer my spiritual home in the way it once was, my grandmother prayed to the saints for me and my heart still knows the pathways of belief in a divine being.  There is so much of value in this pages that reach toward the realms of miracles and saints and things we cannot understand but dearly want to.  I loved the focus on the written word and how it is so powerful that popes and kings lost their minds over common people having access to it.  Canticle is a slow read, and while there is definitely plot there is mostly Aleys's inner life and the inner lives of the men of the church that have power of her mortal body - but what you come to realize is that no one has power over Aleys's beautiful soul.

I, Medusa by Ayana Gray (audiobook)

 genre: mythology, fiction

What we do we know of Medusa?  She has snakes for hair.  She can turn a person to stone with her eyes.  But how did she get to this place?  What is HER story?  This is an origin tale about power and powerlessness, set on islands and in cities, in castles and temples.  It is about fickle Olympian gods and simpering lesser gods and mortals with seemingly little to offer except service.  It is about priestesses and sisters and finding your own purpose. 

It got a little repetitive for me, as Medusa has to face her own rage over and over again, sometimes managing it well and sometimes really making her own life harder, but I liked that we could understand her motivations.  As a coming-of-age story, we are watching Medusa learn some really hard and upsetting lessons about body autonomy and consent, shining a sharp contrast between those who can get away with hurting others and those who just have to standby and either watch people get hurt or get hurt themselves.

This was an interesting re-telling and if you enjoy Olympian Myth stories, I would recommend this one.  The audio is solid.

Homeschooled: A Memoir by Stefan Merrill Block (audiobook)

 genre: memoir

Stefan’s early life with his parents and brother is practically idyllic. He knows he’s loved, he feels safe and secure, the world is a good place. But then, near the end of elementary school, they move from Indiana to Texas and his mom’s way of looking at reality starts shifting. She stops trusting institutions and starts mourning the loss of her little boy. And so she pulls him out of school and starts doing something that is still fairly eccentric: she homeschools him. And this is when Stefan’s life takes a turn that he and his family will never come back from.

Wow. I listened to this book in one stretch on a car ride from Maryland to New York and I was engaged from beginning to end. Engaged, horrified, stunned, all of it. His mom isn’t a horrific “abuser” but you can just watch the trauma and the disorganized attachment manifest itself. It is a hard look at homeschooling and the absolute necessity of making sure kids are protected from parents who willingly or not really can hurt their kids in all kinds of ways. If you liked Educated, I think you’d like this. Author reads his own audiobook and he did a fine job.

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran (audiobook)

 genre: speculative horror

While Noon hasn't lived in Mercy in years, it was home for her entire childhood. Devastated by a hurricane, it is now awash with a red algae bloom and people are disappearing. Does some kind of monster lurk under the bloom or is the bloom itself a monster? Alone with her mom on their shrimp trawler, they sail the coasts shrimping and keeping their eyes out for Noon's lost father and brother. Noon, though, feels something off inside and it's not just the itch on her skin. Her relationship with her mom, her otherness as the child of Vietnamese immigrants, her female body - something is brewing beyond the storm on the horizon.

Oh this is way more of a horror novel than I'd anticipated, ha ha. There is nasty, creepy stuff happening in here and I had to really stretch my brain to go with the flow, so to speak. I really liked the audio, I will say, listening to the mom's Vietnamese helped me imagine both her and Noon so much better. I appreciated the immigrant aspect and Noon's desperation to belong to herself. It's a bit mysterious, a bit upsetting, and NOT for everyone. There is a LOT of inner dialogue that sometimes get repetitious and it's on the cusp of being an adult novel but it definitely more young adult overall. But it is unique story from a unique perspective and while it's not necessarily my cup of tea, I was definitely interested enough to listen to the end.

In Limbo by Deb J.J. Lee

genre: graphic memoir/coming of age

I picked this up off a table at the library advertising books from a Korean perspective.  And while the author, known in America as Deb, lived the first three years of her life (while as an adult the author goes by they/them, in the book Deb uses she/her) in Korea, she then immigrates to American with her family.  This separation from her extended family and her family's native culture is at the swirling heart of this novel about mental illness and the pain of not knowing how to feel like you belong anyway. The art is powerful as Deb struggles to figure out where she can find peace on her own terms.  Her relationships are tricky, especially with her mom, and I wish I'd gotten to know more about her mom's own issues.  Clearly something is going on there.  

I have so much compassion for Deb and for all those for whom belonging feels like an elusive fantasy that can only happen for certain people.  I know I've been in that space myself but my struggle was not so dark and deep.  I'm so glad Deb is still here to tell this story and give hope to others who feel this same kind of pain.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (audiobook)

 genre: contemporary fiction/thriller

When Rowan washes ashore on a remote island not far from Antarctica, she can hardly believe she's alive.  The island IS remote - but it's not empty.  A father, Dominic, and his three children are caretakers of the lighthouse and while there used to be teams of researchers using this island as a base - they are no longer there.  With tides reaching ever higher and storms that can break even the strongest spirit, Rowan knows staying on this island isn't sustainable - but what in the world to do about it?

I wish I'd known that this was the same author as Once There Were Wolves, because I would've listened to it sooner.  I adored the writing in that book and this one did not disappoint.  I felt like I was there on that wild island, watching as our changing climate brings the kind of destruction our planet maybe cannot come back from.  The plot wasn't fast moving - but it didn't drag for me at all.  There were so many questions that weren't answered how I'd anticipated.  It's very character driven, as we experience the present and learn about the past through the eyes of Rowan and Dominic but also the children.  It is heartbreaking (truly) and surprising and sometimes incredibly moving.  There is death here, and loss and a wild desire to save what can still be saved.  It is not for the faint of heart, this book, but it made me feel deeply and the audio was truly well done.

Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben (audiobook)

genre: contemporary thriller

For Maggie McCabe, being a surgeon was the culmination of every dream.  But to be a surgeon alongside her beloved husband, Marc? Helping refugees and other truly unfortunate people in the most underserved of places?  That felt like a gift - until it wasn't.  And now being a surgeon is no longer a choice for reasons both beyond her control as well as squarely on her shoulders.  When an old acquaintance comes to her with an opportunity that might make her feel like herself again, Maggie really wants to take it, common sense be damned.

And there is a lot of that in this book - "common sense be damed."  Maggie is trained for Army combat, so she has skills beyond her competence in the OR, but still sometimes I got too much of her stream of consciousness that left me with so many questions.  But here is the thing - this is the kind of story that has a thousand questions right from the get go and it does a good job of leading you astray, telling you just enough to keep you interested.  While I feel like it was not particularly well written - often quite wordy and bordering on cheesy, it DID hook me.  Like, I listened to it in about a day and a half.  I liked the secrecy and the searching for answers.  The ending was confusing - I wasn't positive I understood it all until I looked it up - and definitely a twist, but I can't say it's not satisfying.  This is NOT the sort of thing I usually listen to but I appreciated the fast pace and plot twists.

Dancing Into Battle: A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo by Nick Foulkes

 genre: history

What did I know about Waterloo before I read this book?  Literally as much as I could glean through the Abba song.  Embarrassing, I know.  But NOW?  I've got it!  I understand why it matters so much and I understand why it is a turning point.  I genuinely enjoy social history and this is a perfect example: yes, it is about the Battle of Waterloo, but probably two chapters are about the battle itself.  Mostly this book is about all the people who are involved and how they are all woven together.  It's about British society and being an ex-pat and how by 1815, war was like...an aristocratic past time.  It's fascinating and horrible.  It is hard to wrap one's brain around how complicated communication was during this period - how you'd find things out days and weeks after the fact or how in even one day's ride you could hear seven different "true" accounts of the same experience.  

The author's tone is sometimes sarcastic in a way I enjoyed.  He's clearly British in how he rips his own to shreds but then explains why they are all adored anyway.  I think I can appreciate now how so much of the British "vibe" can be traced back to this one particular window of time.  If you enjoy history centered around individuals and the roles they played in big world events, I think this is worth reading.

33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen (audiobook)

 genre: historical fiction

An apartment building can be like a kingdom unto itself.  In the Belgium capital of Brussels, 33 Place Brugmann is filled with people from all stages of life.   On the cusp of what will become the second World War, suddenly WHO you are and WHERE you are from and WHAT you think about the Nazis is suddenly going to matter very much.  Told from the points of view of many different residents, life in an occupied city is deeply complex and our main characters find themselves making moral decisions with far reaching consequences on an almost daily basis.  

I tried this in paper form before quickly deciding a full-cast audio might do better to help me keep all the different narrators straight, and I was definitely right.  I have read so many different books about this time period that I appreciated this one's focus both on Belgium and on the intricacies of civilian life among both majority and minority groups.  Some narrators made me so uncomfortable, it's so hard to know who to trust sometimes and while you just want everyone to be a kind and aware helper, there are always people who side with the antagonists.  That's just the unfortunate world we live in.   The writing easily kept my attention and while the ending is a bit abrupt, I found myself always eager to spend time in this building, seeing the world through the eyes of its unique and memorable characters.

The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten , Alison McCullough (Translator)

genre: magical realism

The Ferryman, Nils Vik, has lived his life on the water.  Up and down the fjord his boat has traveled, ferrying people for every kind of circumstance and the stoic Nils has stood as witness to everything from birth to death.  So when he knows his time has come, he takes one last trip, gathering the ghosts of those who were a part of his life for decades or for one unforgettable journey.  He remembers the way their stories wove with his own to create the tapestry of his long life.

This spare and meaningful story ends so tenderly.  The excellent translation captures the stark beauty of the landscape and Nils's absolute knowledge of where he belongs - on the fjord, in his boat, with his people.  You can imagine him so easily, at the helm, and then when we get snippets of who is inside, it's so moving.  I definitely recommend the audio for pronunciations and for the gruff voice of Nils's beloved dog that joins him on his final crossing.