tfpjr492's reviews
25 reviews

inspiring mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Bulletproof Barista is a mystery novel, which combines the narratives of a coffeehouse operation with a television show production. Those two themes alone make for interesting reading.

The coffeehouse, Village Blend, has been owned and operated by three generations of the same family. A divorced couple manages the business. The ex-husband is responsible for sourcing the coffee beans or “cherries,” while the ex-wife is responsible for roasting the beans and operating the shop.

“The Village Blend . . . prided itself on using Grade 1 beans - specialty shade-grown coffee sourced by Matt and his importing business from small farms and cooperatives around the globe. They were then roasted fresh in small, custom-designed batches by me, the shop’s master roaster.”

The television show production is a significant operation including cast, director, camera operators, sound and light technicians, grips, assistants, makeup specialists, costume managers, and property managers. They all require food and beverage services.

In all of this activity, the author introduces many characters and a murder mystery. It is the coffeehouse manager, Clare Cosi, who unravels the mystery. This book is recommended for those readers, who enjoy a fast-paced tale with many plot twists.

Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson

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challenging funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

•• S P O I L E R • A L E R T ••

Normal Rules Don’t Apply is a collection of short stories, some of which are loosely connected by characters and events. Far more interesting are several themes, which are prominently interwoven in the stories.

Life-changing and abnormal or seemingly random events form one of those themes. Franklin, who considers himself unlucky, gets an abnormal tip at the racecourse. One of the horses tells him in the voice of his deceased stepfather to bet on him. Franklin wins a tidy sum.

A senior citizen leads a very orderly life; perhaps his life is too orderly. His life is disrupted by a periodic cosmic event. An intelligent and efficient secretary meets an untimely death. Her spirit starts the afterlife in an unaccustomed state of confusion.

A retired school teacher habitually faces life with a smile and positivity. She has been divorced for 15 years. Her two adult children are present in her life, but detached. She is active socially, but her last attempt at romance occurred 3 years ago. She has been deserted emotionally. The antidote to her loneliness is a miracle.

Franklin gets a glimpse of one of his lives from the perspective of the multiverse. His current life shows exceptional promise. His luck runs out when the periodic cosmic event intervenes.

All of the stories are enjoyable and thought-provoking. This book is recommended for those readers who enjoy a challenging escape from reality.

Grant by Ron Chernow

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challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

Grant presents the amazing life story of Ulysses S. Grant. It is better than fiction because Grant’s life was an intricate mix of fate, strength of character, keen intelligence, family dynamics, and a good-hearted temperament.

When Grant was commissioned in the Army, he was swept up in the events of the War with Mexico. It was a formative experience as he learned military logistics, combat tactics, and leadership.

Eventually, he resigned his commission, and he attempted to provide for his family with a succession of businesses, which were all utter failures.

At age 38 fate intervened when he was swept up in the events of the Civil War. He rejoined the Army as a colonel. His combat tactics were aggressive, opportunistic, and relentless. He won battles and he came to the attention of President Lincoln at a time when other generals seemed timid by comparison.

Grant’s defeat of Confederate General Robert Lee, effectively ended the war. Grant offered Lee generous terms of surrender at Appomattox, and those terms aligned with President Lincoln’s plans for reconstruction.

After Lincoln’s assassination national events ultimately led to Grant’s election to two terms as president. Although there were no more military battles, the peace was violently turbulent with the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the South. Grant fought the political battles of Reconstruction with some success. His administration was marred with scandalous corruption, which did not involve him directly.

Grant returned to private life, and he lost his family’s finances in an ill-advised venture. He managed to recover with the completion of his memoirs just prior to his death. This book is recommended to those readers who can slog through a lot of details. The life story is astonishing.

Paper Names by Susie Luo

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Tammy is the main character in the book “Paper Names.” She is a mere fourth-grader when her parents move the family of three from China to America. The parents struggle with limited income in their new life, and Tammy has a tempestuous relationship with her father.

There are times when Tammy suffers physical abuse from her father. She speaks about one incident.

“I didn’t cry. I didn’t even blink. I stared him down until he took a step backward.”

Tammy is no ordinary girl, and her father knows that she has special qualities.

“She had a ferocious curiosity beyond her years. And a stubborn will that impressed him as much as it ignited his temper.”

Tammy puts those skills to good use as she excels in school, attends Harvard, and gets a law degree. The journey is difficult, but the family pulls together despite the strains. It is in Tammy’s young adulthood that the story’s pace quickens and her personal challenges grow.

This book is a quick read. It is emotional, and it provides plenty of insights for reflection, particularly regarding social status. It is recommended for those readers, who enjoy a tale with strong family characters.

Content Warnings

The Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This novel presents a multi-generational family in the present time plus some episodes of ancestral struggles with slavery. There are many themes. The major themes are family troubles with drug addiction, alcoholism, and lost romance. When the layers of these problems are peeled away, the common factor seems to be the self-isolation of a family member. The strength and resilience of the whole family pull the individuals through their difficulties.

Young man Bo D has a young daughter, whom he loves dearly. The daughter’s mother has pushed him to give up drugs, which have become a daily habit. His self-isolation leads to a disappearance over several months. Can the family find him before he self-destructs?

Altovise and Fletcher were students participating in local civil rights protests, while their romance bloomed. Everything changed when a non-violent protest was violently disrupted by the authorities. Altovise spent 30 days in a crowded, dirty jail. When she gains her freedom, she decides to end the romance and move out of Georgia. After 50 years of self-isolation, she returns to the old neighborhood. Can the family help Altovise and Fletcher rekindle their romance?

Any author of a family tale has the challenge of developing complex family dynamics without boring the reader with mundane events. This author keeps the story moving by weaving together numerous characters and plot lines. The book is recommended for those readers, who enjoy expansive family dramas.

Content Warnings

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This novel recounts the romantic tribulations of a young lady in seventeenth century Netherlands. The main character Griet is a sixteen-year-old girl, who must take a job as a maid to art painter Johannes Vermeer. Her primary duty is to clean Vermeer’s studio meticulously. She is the only household member that he will allow into the studio. Her other duties include household laundry, daily errands to the market, and assistance to the other servant/cook - all of which make for exhausting workdays.

Power in the household is spread among the family matriarch, the wife, and Vermeer. The wife takes an immediate dislike to Griet.

After the first week the matriarch comments on her work.

Ah, you’re a cunning one, girl. You know whose pot to spoon from. Never mind, we can do with a bit of cleverness around here.

That is an understatement. The household is beset by pettiness, jealousy and deceit. Vermeer seems removed from these issues, as he retreats to his lonely studio to paint. Griet’s character is reserved, observant, compliant, and conscientious. She is an ideal employee.

Griet is a willing student of Vermeer’s painting techniques. He explains the complexities of color. She has a natural eye for color, so Vermeer entrusts her with more responsibility for preparing the color paints. He does this secretly to avoid arousing the jealousy of his wife. As they work side-by-side, Griet develops unrequited romantic feelings for Vermeer. He will never enter a romantic relationship, because his sole passion is the art of painting.

The plot thickens when a customer of Vermeer commissions a painting and specifies that the subject of the painting is the lowly maid Griet. Suffice it to say that Vermeer exploits Griet’s devotion, so that he can finish the painting.

The storyline plods to a predictable, even certain climax; nonetheless, the reader cannot help but feel the intensity of Griet’s emotions. The author adds a satisfying conclusion after the plot climax. This novel is recommended for readers who want a deeply emotional tale notwithstanding the cruelties, which the powerful visit upon the powerless.

Content Warnings

The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indriðason

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This crime mystery features three different suspicious deaths. The main character Konrad is a widower and retired police detective in Reykjavik, Iceland. In the first case he reluctantly agrees to help grandparents find a missing granddaughter. He tracks down the twenty-year-old granddaughter, but unfortunately, she is an apparent victim of a drug overdose. Konrad immediately informs his friend, a current-generation police detective. The two of them collaborate quite effectively to investigate the circumstances of this tragedy. Over the course of that investigation, the reader comes to understand that retirement has not dulled Konrad’s investigative instincts nor his abilities in dealing with some of the uglier aspects of human nature.

The second death occurred more than thirty years ago. A twelve-year-old girl drowned, when she apparently tried to retrieve her doll from the Pond. The investigation was closed and the event was forgotten. A current-day psychic believes there is more to be discovered about this tragedy, and she knows Konrad. Both of their fathers were partners in dubious enterprises during challenging times. Although Konrad does not believe in the paranormal, he collaborates with the psychic. The two of them struggle to find clues from the past. Why did the police close this investigation so quickly?

The third suspicious death is the unsolved stabbing of Konrad’s father years ago. Of course, this is the mystery that haunts him continuously. He does uncover important details, but is this case related to the other two cases?

This story will appeal to readers, who tolerate dark subject matter. There are many threads to challenge the reader’s attention, but the short chapter format makes the reader’s task somewhat easier. The book is recommended for avid readers of the hard-boiled genre of crime mystery novels.

Content Warnings

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This story presents many themes: friendship, death, memories, changing urban neighborhoods, the clash of youthful dreams with harsh realities, resilience, and the end of childhood as a girl of color. Wow! That is a lot for a reader to absorb. The major theme is grief. The story feels more like a long novella than a short novel.

The narrator, August, is an anthropologist, who studies death across cultures. She ends the first chapter with the below passage.

In eastern Indonesia, families keep their dead in special rooms in their homes. . . . the dead remain with them, dressed and cared for each morning, taken on trips with the family, hugged daily, loved deeply.

Does that passage preview the narrator’s struggle with grief? As an eight-year-old, she is in denial about the untimely death of her mother. After moving from Tennessee to Brooklyn, her protective father confines her and her younger brother to the apartment. Slowly he allows them to experience the neighborhood on their own.

The story starts years later when August returns to her old neighborhood in Brooklyn because her father has passed away. The setting triggers childhood memories, especially of her three girlfriends. The group of four shared confidences, future dreams, and milestone experiences as they grew up together from pre-teens to teenagers. Eventually, the four friends go their separate ways. During her return visit, August happens to meet one of those friends on the subway. It is curious, that the chance meeting seems like a one-way conversation with the friend doing most of the talking. Also, August cuts the conversation short, when she leaves the subway at an early stop. It is as if August wants to keep the memories unchanged. Maybe she just wants to keep the good memories close, and the difficult memories sequestered in a more distant space.

When she was young, her father arranged meetings for her with a grief counselor. Ultimately August was able to manage the grief of her mother’s death because she moved forward on her life path. Her mother was unable to do that, as she was haunted at the end of her life by the memory of her dead brother. The reader is left to ponder if August is affected by her grief in ways that neither she nor even the author can understand.

The sadness of the story is nicely balanced with the high points of young friendships and the resilience of human nature. This book is a great read for those times when a reader seeks subjects for reflection.

What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

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challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

It seems that this is two books combined into one. The first book, “What an Owl Knows,” appropriately describes the incredible capabilities of owls. Take for example, Great Gray Owls, which have evolved into superb nighttime hunters. Great Grays hear their prey 12 to 18 inches below snow, and they can pinpoint their location for a quick and effective pounce. In addition Great Grays have exceptional vision due to several traits, not the least of which are their large eyes. Their eyes are 3 percent of their body weight. The author makes a comparison with human eyes.

My orbs weigh in at just .0003 percent of my poundage. If my eyes were in similar proportion to my body … they would be about the size of an orange and weigh almost four pounds.

The author does a good job of presenting many more details regarding the attributes of owls. She also confronts the common notion that owls are not as intelligent as other birds.

It’s true that a large part of owl brains is dedicated to scanning and to sensing in their dark environment. But doesn’t that give them their own breed of genius, an amazing capacity to navigate their night world with a skill and deftness we can only imagine?

The other material in the book could be organized into a second book, “How We Know about Owls.” The author brings to life the hard work of the many professional owl researchers. Read the book to learn how a disabled musician unlocked the mysteries of owl communication. Read the book to understand how creative owl researchers use the newest technologies to unravel the complexities of owl migration, to sort out the endangered species and much more. Read the book to be inspired by the tenacity of the dedicated owl researchers, who find a special joy despite their frustrations and hardships.

Overall the scientific details are presented in a way that fascinates as well it illuminates. The author humanizes the search for knowledge. If the reader seeks an engrossing nature journey, this book will entertain.

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Charlotte (Charlie) Gates is the managing editor of a New York-based ladies magazine with a targeted audience of affluent women. She has dedicated 12 years of her life to this magazine, and she has worked her way up the management ladder with several well-deserved promotions.

In her personal life she is dealing with some recent misfortunes. Two years ago she divorced her cheating husband(Eric). Now her young son (Keegan) has died. Charlie is struggling to cope with difficult emotions - grief, hurt and anger, as the reader can understand from her internal dialogue at her son’s funeral.

I was angry that he showed up at all. Eric had visited Keegan only once since he . . . moved to Chicago. What right did he have to fatherly grief. . . . that’s MY son.

To add to Charlie’s troubles, her employer will restructure the business - she will lose her job. Her previous editor has an opportunity - write a history of a leading Louisiana family including the unsolved disappearance of a young boy 30 years ago. Meanwhile Charlie has been having dreams of children disappearing, and recently she had a dream of a boy who fits the circumstances of the Louisiana family. Charlie’s life has been turned upside down. The author makes an effective appeal to the reader’s sympathy with Charlie’s internal dialogue below.

Can I help a boy who has been dead for nearly thirty years? But there is nothing else for me. So why not try? . . . Misguided though it may be, I have a purpose now. I’m going to Louisiana.

The Louisiana family and the estate manager obstruct her inquiries into the disappearance of the boy. Charlie finds some solace in an unexpected, uncertain romance with the estate landscaper.

Despite her recent setbacks Charlie perseveres. She is smart, tough and she has a well-developed instinct for using effectively either gentle tact or frank confrontation. Sometimes she displays an endearing trait. Her thought process bumbles along at a somewhat slower pace than the reader’s thought process. This trait is evident when she is sizing up other characters or misjudging appropriate attire.

Charlie is at her best when the story pace quickens, and plot twists surprise both her and the reader. At some points she seems almost reckless. At other times she engages in episodes of self-criticism. Maybe it is a mechanism for dealing with high stress; it does give the reader a reason to think about self-criticism.

The plot rolls to a nerve-wracking climax. The whole story brings the reader to a new view of a mother’s love for her child.

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tfpjr492's reviews 25 reviews

tfpjr492's reviews
25 reviews