The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas , Robin Buss (Translator) (audiobook)

genre: fiction

One does not make the decision to read this book lightly. This massive doorstop of a novel looks overwhelming and, having been written in the 1840, one has to wonder if there is any way to translate the original 19th century French to modern English in such a way that one would honestly want to power through over 1300 pages.

Turns out, this book is a classic for a reason. I DID want to power through. I made the important pivot to listen to an audiobook version instead of holding it in my hands. I knew I would have more time to listen than to sit and read and I was worried about my attention waning. This was the perfect choice for me. Even listening at 1.7x it was over 44 hours. You do have to know all this in your head before you start.

We don't know the Count at the beginning because, in fact, the Count doesn't actually exist. Who DOES exist is the earnest and very-much-in-love Edmond Dantès. This young man is an excellent sailor, a trustred friend, and when we meet him, he is returning home from a voyage overseas. He is eager to reunite with his love, Mercédès, who is anxiously awaiting his return. At this time, France is in political turmoil as Napoleon is plotting to return to power and men must choose where their loyalties lie. And thus the Count's origin story begins when he is caught up in a plot laid by three jealous and power-hunger men who ensure that Dantès ends up in a prison cell for actual years. And while our young hero is in jail, his pain and grief and rage turn into a resolute desire for revenge that will not stop. When miraculous circumstances lead to Dantès transforming into the man named the Count of Monte Cristo, that optimistic and innocent young man dies and the man that is left behind sees himself as the hand of God, destined to mete out punishments and enact the justice that he feels fits the crimes committed against him.

Because it was originally a serial, the chapters are good bite-sizes and it's super readable. In between all the plot and machinations of the Count, there are some really big and deep ideas here about justice and forgiveness and what is worth living for. Evil is so blatantly evil and it feels like everywhere you look, characters are weak and focused on the all the wrong things. There are certainly a lot of plot threads that have NOT aged well, especially those concerning slavery and opioid drug use, which caught me off guard. But when you let your brain acknowledge when this was written and then just lean into the time period, there is so much going on here that it's honestly sometimes hard to keep straight. You'll have CHAPTERS AND CHAPTERS of what must surely be a completely unrelated plotline and then somehow BAM. There's the hand of the Count AGAIN. As much as I'd occasionally get bored during these interludes, I did always enjoy when things tied back in again.

By the end? While there are so many literal villains, I also found that I cared about so many of these characters. The young woman who just wants to be with who she chooses, the grandpa who wants to use his voice to help the ones he loves most, the young man who has never forgotten the stranger who helped his family. I wanted to know how their stories ended! The last couple dozen chapters are like a giant showcase showdown of WHAT IN THE WORLD?? as all of the Count's plans come to fruition - and not always in the ways he'd anticipated. I appreciated HIS growth as a character as well, learning how to be not just a friend but someone who can truly let get of his deep and heavy pain.

It's a wild ride. If you like stories with disguises, untold wealth, hidden caves and mysterious poisons, secret plots, public revelations of one's darkest secrets and the kind of love that can stand the test of time, then hear me out. Read this book.

The Other Girl by Annie Ernaux, Alison L. Strayer (translator)

genre: memoir

This book is a letter to the sibling that the author, Annie, never knew. A sister, who lived and died before Annie was born, was not someone she was able to ever have a relationship with but whose existence took up a huge invisible space in Annie’s family. Sparse and literary, Annie’s reshaping of her childhood based on this information is so resonant, this book fairly zings with Annie’s desire for place and validation. Well done.

The Blue Fox by Sjón

genre: fiction

Rare as a blue fox is, the hunter is determined to make her his. Living in the wilds of 19th century Iceland, the hunter and his community scrape away at a harsh life and the skin of the vixen he hunts is highly valuable. But in this short novel, the idea of “value” is explored when a naturalist living off the land shows how he has cared for a woman he invited into his life.

I read this book without even reading the description, only knowing that it had won the Nordic Council Literature Prize, and that it would probably be depressing. I was not wrong, it is both dark and upsetting. But also, the naturalist is such an example of a compassionate heart that I can’t say that the dark overcame the light in this instance. I finished it feeling like one person can actually make a real difference in someone’s life.

I do want to give a content warning that one of the characters in this book has Down Syndrome and it is really hard to read about how the world of 1866 viewed folks who are (and this is actually a quote from the book) “made according to a different recipe from the rest of us.” The book redeems itself, in my opinion, with how it ends but it still won’t be a good choice for all readers.

Two Lives of Charlemagne by Einhard and Notker the Stammerer

 genre: history

This book is two different volumes written in the 800s about Charlemagne.  The volume by Einhard is a more factual account of Charlemagne's life and experiences, especially important because Einhard was a contemporary and friend of the king, so he did have an eye on Charlemagne's inner world.  Notker's volume is mostly full of anecdotes that even my brain had a hard time believing.  Luckily, the scholarly introduction to the book even tells us that most of this stuff is made up. HOWEVER, even knowing it's made up, you DO get a pretty good idea of what life was like over 1100 years ago.  The church was so vitally important.  Red heads were feared.  God and the universe always punished bad people in horrible ways (like a church bell falling on you and squishing you flat).  Women were viewed as property but also, sometimes had a brain.  This is a direct quote, translated from the Latin, by Notker the Stammerer, "It is the way of all women to want their own particular plan and solution to take preference over the decisions made by their menfolk."  HELL YEAH, ha ha.

I do like that this book gives you an idea of Charlemagne as a person AND as the giant he became in the minds of future generations.  He really was just a dude who was good with a sword and loved learning.  THAT is a good thing to know.  Also, this made me laugh.  This was by Einhard, who would know, "Even then (Charlemagne) continued to do exactly as he wished, instead of following the advice of his doctors, whom he came positively to dislike after they advised him to stop eating the roast meat to which he was accustomed and to live on stewed dishes."     It tracks that the Holy Roman Emperor would ignore his doctors if they told him to eat healthy. I just love that Einhard felt like this needed to be written down in this document that he was intentionally writing for posterity.  

I feel like unless you are interested in the subject or in period literature in general, you should just not read this. 

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

genre: contemporary fiction

On the outside, Polly's life might look pretty dreamy.  She's got an amazing husband and a good job teaching literature at a private high school.  She has good friends and a community that cares about her.  But, and we know this, just because someone's life looks dreamy doesn't mean they aren't grieving and in this case, Polly is carrying some heavy grief.  Not only is IVF not working and childlessness is like a dark cloud but Polly's dad is slowly declining in a heartbreaking unawareness.  Her book club, the three friends that have walked through it all with her, are the rock she stands on, so when she does a DNA test that has surprising results, she knows where to turn.

This is a fast and rather lovely story of yearning and loss and finding a way to be at peace with what life throws at you.  Polly's relationship with her mom was an interesting thread, as was the DNA test and the book club friends.  It just didn't make me work too hard and there are a lot of likable characters plus the writing never annoyed me.  Maybe her husband is too perfect to be true but I kinda loved him so good for her.  Four stars for how often I was happy to pick it up.

Roots of Hope: a Memoir by A.V. Neidermyer

genre: memoir

I have really found myself drawn to women's stories lately - not stories ABOUT women but the real stories that women write about their own lives.  I know I lean towards historical diaries and autobiographies, as I like to imagine what my life might have been like centuries or even decades ago.  But when I saw this memoir of a women who is essentially my age, sharing her story of both abuse and hope, I knew I wanted to give this book a try.

I honor what the author has overcome.  I want to hug that young girl and take care of her the way she deserved.  It's almost more than one can bear, as a reader, to understand how horrifically the author was treated by those she had the right to count on for both love and care.  Her home life, her path through mental health care and the power of her own conviction and resilience made this a fast and engaging book. I felt so grateful for those who DID see her and watch out for her, even if it felt like there were crowds of people purposely always looking the other way.

The fact that she came out the other side as such a grounded and loving human being is a testament to the power of the human spirit.

If you also appreciate stories of triumph over unthinkable odds, I truly recommend Roots of Hope.

The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow

genre: fantasy

Owen Mallory has studied the life of Sir Una Everlasting ever since he was old enough to know that it was a choice.  Una is the knight of Dominion's legends, she is the woman who saved the country and reminded soldiers for centuries who and what were worth dying for.  So when an ancient manuscript lands in Owen's lap that tells her story in the hand of someone who witnessed it, it feels like an actual dream come true.

And he's not completely wrong.

Because time in this book is a slippery thing.  So slippery that it can become hard to know what happened when.  For Owen and Sir Una, there is both time and memory but can their paths ever cross without tragedy?  Owen is determined to find out.

I genuinely enjoyed this beautiful book.  I love that it is an adult fantasy with adult feelings and problems.  I loved the gender-y romance with a large and complex and wicked strong and capable person still having feelings for a skinny scholary bookworm.  I believed all of this.  The time travel stuff is a LOT and enough for a time slip novel, it is a bit hard to keep things straight, but it was SO worth it for me to do so.  I feel completely for the romance here and the plot twisted the perfect amount to keep things interesting but never feel TOO much.  

If you like dragons and time travel and lady knights and ancient books, I do recommend this one highly.

A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman (audiobook)

genre: historical fiction

Life on a station in western Australia is mostly a very solitary existence. At a time when sheep are your livelihood and school is conducted over the wave radio, Warren, Rosie and Matt have each other for company. As they grow, there is boarding school and of course there are the helping hands around the property but mostly there is home, Meredith Downs station. When tragedy strikes their family like lightening, everything that matters collapses into the most essential and even that feels broken. Inside this black hole, choices are both made and not made and the consequences could be the final breath to make everything fall down permanently.

OH THIS BOOK. It was so hard to listen to sometimes I almost had to stop. It was that painful and uncomfortable. But I am so genuinely glad I stuck with it because there is also so much humanity. There is a reality here that I couldn’t look away from and the journey from beginning to end left me exhausted but also fulfilled. People are horrible and people are so beautiful. Humans commit horrible wrongs and humans survive horrible wrongs that they’ve done or had done to them and humans sometimes don’t know how to survive well and humans sometimes make things right in the best ways they can.

It will make you sick and make you cry and stitch you back up. This book is not for everyone. But I’m glad I pushed through my discomfort because although I’d wondered if the author could salvage any good from all the sadness, she absolutely did.

This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum (audiobook)

 genre: contemporary mystery

Joy and Benny have got a good thing going with their podcast This Story Might Save Your Life.  It's a huge hit and their following has gotten huge, so much so that it's gotten a little overwhelming for Joy, who lives with severe narcolepsy.  When Joy and her husband Xander aren't home one morning when Benny comes over to record, it feels like it must just be a miscommunication until it is clear that they are truly missing. Benny is soon desperate to find out what happened to his best friend and her husband.

This one snagged me from the first chapter. There are a few little tropes in here but for the most part I just had no clue what was going to happen next, in the best way.  I am SO glad I did the audio, the podcast episodes were a fun narrative device.  The writing never dragged and it felt just tight enough.  I appreciated reading about a character with narcolepsy and thinking about how that would impact one's life on a moment to moment basis.  This never felt like a thriller but it was a solid mystery for me and kept me invested from beginning to end.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (audiobook)

 genre: science fiction

When Earth needs to save itself from the aliens that have already nearly destroyed it, it looks to the children to find a new commander.  The child they think can complete the task?  Ender Wiggins.  Precious Ender who is capable of so much and whose training will run the razor's edge of breaking him.

I read this book LONG ago, as a teen and LOVED it.  So many good twists and you get SO invested in Ender and what is being required of him.  This time, on a long road trip, I listened to a full cast audio version with my two 13 year old sons.  I had hoped they'd like it as much as I did and they LOVED it as well.  They were surprised by the good twists and reveals, they cared about Ender and his friends, and I loved that at the heart of this story is the decisions we make: who do we want to be?  How do we want to show up in the world and how do we want to handle what is asked of us?  Motivation and Intent plus Behavior - all of these things make up our character and it's so clear what Ender is made of, despite what he has to DO.

Excellent production.  I love that I get to give it five stars again 30 years later.