Second Quarter {In Books}

This quarter proves that I am both bibliophile and human. Compared with the six books I read in the first three months of the year, this quarter I've barely squeaked out two! Life, man. Here's the run down:

Eyes in the Water

Monica Lee Kennedy [website]

This is the second book in the Parting Breath Series, preceded by The Land's Whisper (which I tripped all over myself to tell you about last quarter). Having read a few other authors/books before getting my hands on this sequel as soon as it was released, it's safe to say that this author and series remain cemented at the top of my list for all-time best writing and storytelling. Whether or not fantasy is your usual genre of choice (it's really not mine), these books are just that good and trancend genre in terms of being able to expertly entertain a very broad audience.

As Monica herself described it, this novella is a whip of a read, which I was [not surprisingly] immediately sucked into and finished in a day. The writing was phenomenal again as expected, and like a fangirl English dork, I sent excerpts of paragraphs and sentences that delighted my word brain to Monica, and was all, "I love how you crafted this sentence! Oh and this one! Wait, this one too!!!" She was lovely and so gracious about my gushing, as usual. 

I also geeked out a good bit about her recap. How a writer re-hashes the events of the previous book(s) in a series has long been a source of mild annoyance for me; I both understand how necessary it is to remind readers of previous events or get new readers up to speed (think Harry Potter) but I always end up skipping paragraphs and thinking snobbishly, "I know, I know already! I'm a loyal reader!" But Monica navigated the start of the second book in a way I had never seen before. It was so refreshing and interesting; the original themes and characters were so well tied in to the new storyline, while still bringing in clever references to the first storyline that I'd briefly forgotten. Without re-stating the first book, Monica somehow managed to remind me of all the important details that brought the whole of the first to the forefront of my memory and seamlessly connected the two books. It was incredibly well done and I was duly impressed.

I admit that I panicked a little when I realized I was halfway through the book and knew there was just so much left to the story that it could not be resolved in the too few pages that were left. I breathed a huge sigh of relief though when I learned that the third and final book is both her favorite and the longest. [Score!]. As for what the second book focused on: it was a small segment of adventure consisting of a journey and ordering the characters to achieve a specfic goal. Like the first, it wrapped up beautifully at the end, leaving all the room in the world to continue the adventure and save the world from the overarching problem while still delivering a wonderfully satisfying ending that resolved the issues at hand and established important roles and relationships for the main characters.

In sum, it was soul-lifting to be back on the trail again with the real-seemig characters of Darse and Bren and Colette;I will try hard to bide my time with other books that will hopefully be half as good until I can get my hungry hands (and eyes!) on the third and final Parting Breath book when it comes out this fall.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Chris Cleave

I couldn't believe my eyes and luck when my Kindle's "Suggested Reads" section floated me another World War II Era novel. It had good reviews so I was excited to jump back into my favorite genre and get lost for awhile. It took my much longer than anticipated to get sucked in to this book due to the episodic nature, though I was invested enough by the second half of the book to finish it during our last camping trip. Overall, I'm conflicted and still trying to figure out how I feel about the whole read a week later. 

I very much enjoyed the unique prose and witty dialogue; set in England during the Blitz, it addressed many important themes like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, class, racism, and learning disabilities. I appreciated very much that these were all brought to the forefront, but I was slightly disappointed in that it seemed like there was apt description of, but not adequate (or realistic) enough resolution for, each of these problems. It seemed like they were placed in the storyline with good intentions, but maybe in trying to include so many important issues, none of them were given the justice they were fully due.

As for the rest of the content, I think I have a love/hate relationship with how the book was set up. The chapters were episodic and somewhat independent, each advancing chronologically by a month or two or switching between main characters.  The connection between them felt a little tenuous at times because much of each chapter was driven more by introspection than action. There was action, of course, but rather than following a major action event from start to finish or trying to tie up what one would assume to be the central problem of the chapter, the writing revolved around the character's inner thoughts and reactions and sometimes over-analysis of (or even lack of reaction to) a specific situation. This was an interesting take on character development and a new-ish way to demonstrate things like the shock, or grief, or disorientation caused by different events. But even with all of this, some of the characters seemed somehow lacking in their overall development...? Maybe? I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. 

Occasionally a main event in one chapter would be resolved in the next chapter or two by a reference back to it in passing. Again, a different sort of approach to have something focused on so heavily in a character's mind and for the reader to become so invested in it, then move on to another topic in the next chapter and have the first event treated somewhat casually. I wouldn't say it's good or bad, just very different and a matter of a reader's preference. 

A few symbolic themes running throughout the book did seem to either hang without closure or be hastily discarded at the end (the jam jar, for example). And the end itself felt somewhat abrupt and slightly confusing to me, leaving a lot of questions up in the air. I actually read it a few times over in case I had missed something.

Yet I also have the sense that it was maybe intentionally done--that in concert with the author's demonstration throughout the novel that war is not a tidy affair, neither is the outcome for those who have experienced it; even in favorable "endings" not all hopes and plans turn out as intended and things remain up in the air. Again, I'm still mulling over my takeaway from this book though, and even if it's intentional and even if the writing was interesting, that doesn't mean that I had to like everything about it. 

As far as my recommendation...I enjoyed the writing and appreciated the unexpected approach to character's vantage points.  If you're good with appreciating the first 3/4 of a book, chewing on the unique but enjoyable style of the writing itself, and you understand that the ending might be a bit of a let down (depending on your personality) then go for it. I will also warn that there's a fair amount of graphic description when it comes to some of the injuries or events that sort of sneaks up on the reader at first--but it is war, after all. If you're just looking for a really well-done World War II novel that resonates with your heart and pulls you along from start to finish, go for the Nightengale or All the Light We Cannot See.

The Road to Jerusalem
Jan Guillou

I'm literally three pages into this book so I can't comment one way or another; the series has decent reviews so I'm willing to give it a shot until I can feast my eyes on Monica's third book. Apparently there's also a TV series based on the books--you smart people have probably heard of it but I live under a rock, so shhh, no spoilers! Anyway, if I get into the reading of it, maybe the TV series will be an option to fill the Downton hole in my heart that no other TV show has managed to assuage.

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I hope it's been a good quarter in books for you--tell me if you've stumbled upon anything good lately!