Review 121: Our House

Our House by Louise Candlish
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was looking for something to take my mind off the latest developments in the world. Things have been a bit crazy! This book did that job to some extent. It did help me to relax. And at times I became engrossed in the story. I wouldn’t say this was a great book, and the middle of the book really bogged down for me. It felt like the book easily could have cut out 100 pages and would be a better book. At times I only continued on reading, not really out of interest in the story, but solely due to the location, taking place in London. Silly reason!

The way the story is told in three view points. There is current time, Bram’s story as word document, and “Fi’s story” as a transcript for an episode of The Victim. The format is okay, but at some point I wondered if it would be a good read to just get her story first, as if you are the one listening to a show. I guess if the book was really good, that would be an interesting exercise, but no way now.

The ending of the book did not disappoint, so there’s that.



I received a free copy of this book at a library conference. I was not required to write a review, but felt like it and, of course, the above opinions are my own.

Review 120: A Strange Stirring

A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s by Stephanie Coontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A good follow-up to The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. This book looks as the response to Friedan's book at the time, and a few of the changes since then. It is also a critique of the book, such as Friedan was just writing to white middle-class women, that left many women out. There was some background on Friedan that was interesting as well.

Review 119: Upstream

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Mary Oliver is a poet and these essays of hers are poetic. I believe she writes metaphorically even here in these essays, to get across her meaning. She shows she is taking in nature, in all ways. Perhaps she did or did not actually kiss that oak tree "every first day of spring for the last thirty years." Or eat those turtle eggs. Maybe? Or not. Does it matter? Oliver is showing us her wild youth and how she continued in this way, and that it gives her life and meaning.

My favorite parts of this short book are in the third section where she discusses Emerson, Poe, Whitman and Wordsworth. These are about Oliver herself, but also about the writers as well, and their works.

The last essay, "Provincetown" is a nice tribute to the town he lived in for much of her life. Yet it feels less crafted then most of her other essays.


A partial on her take on Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman:

The twelve poems of the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass consist of one huge and gleaming Alp followed by a relaxed undulation of easily surmountable descending foothills. The initial poem, “Song of Myself” (sixty-two pages), is the longest and the most critical. It is the Alp. If the reader can “stay with” this extended passage, he has made a passage indeed. The major demands of the poem are here established, the first and essential lesson given in the first half-dozen lines:

I celebrate myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. 

I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease … observing a spear of summer grass. (pg.27)

In these lines the great work is begun, and the secret of success has been given. And what is that great labor? Out-circling interest, sympathy, empathy, transference of focus from the self to all else; the merging of the lonely single self with the wondrous, never-lonely entirety. This is all. The rest is literature: words, words, words….
      (Pages 96-67)

Review 118: Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art

Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The title of this book explains how a master con man was able to sell many, if not several hundred, works of forged paintings. He learned the rules of provenance that makes an art piece more or less valuable depending on what happened with the art piece since it was created. The con man, John Drewe was quite sophisticated and had an excellent memory and ability to shift the conversation towards his needs. The painter, John Myatt was perhaps taken in by him, or not, it feels like the authors were biased towards him, not too critical in his part of this fraud.

The details of this case are fascinating, one of those tales where fact is stranger than fiction. The writing style wasn't as readable as fiction, and could have used slight improvement, on occasion got bogged down, as there was repeating information at times. Overall decent read.

I must admit to astonishment how Drewe was able to keep putting off the court after he was finally caught. Doubt you could get away with that in the U.S. In the end his term in prison did not seem to match the crime, way too short. And what about the forger, Myatt? Well now his paintings are “genuine fakes” and can be worth some money. The author’s don’t go into how these two “rewrote the history of modern art” and maybe that was what I found missing. In any case it is worth reading if you are interested in true crime or the art world.


Listened to the audiobook.  Didn’t like the narrator too much, but as the book went on she grew on me.

Review 117: Iphigenia Murphy

Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Being 15 you don’t seem to have a lot of options. Yet the main character here, Iphigenia Murphy decides to change things. Her home life is full of abuse. If she isn’t ignored she’s being hurt in many different forms. Iphignia, or Iffy, has a plan and carries it out. She leaves to go look for her mother, her drug addicted, mentally ill, homeless mother that is likely living in Forest Park. So Iffy buys a tent, sleeping bad, food and other supplies and goes to live in the park as well, to find her mother.

Along the way Iffy meets other people and creates a new, weird life living in this park. No it isn’t safe, and she gets a benefactor who is worried about her and the dog Iffy adopts.

The time line in the book isn’t long, although three months in the life of a teenager is longer than it would be for me. Living in a tent in a park would definitely make it longer.

The people Iffy meet are other people who have problems as well. They have a fast bond and quickly trust each other. Perhaps this is what it’s like when you’re homeless, or seemingly without anyone else who cares about you.

Iphignia definitely had a hard life, but she changed it, actively figured out a way to change it, albeit in an unusual way. She is a strong young woman that grows stronger during the book.

The writing is decent. It felt like the book was stumbling a little in the beginning, but by the time Iffy was staying in the park for a while it picked up and the book read better.

This book feels like it may be for young adult, but it also is a troubling book. Then again sometimes teens are facing tough situations.



Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 116: Thunderhead

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



What a book! Often book two in a series is never as good as book one, but this one I think surpasses the previous. I enjoyed the first book well enough, but this one, I very much enjoyed. It does end where you now cannot wait to read the next book in the series. For me, I usually need a breather in between, but I doubt the wait will be very long before getting to the final book in this series.

There was a few moments when it seemed like I knew what was coming next, well almost. Shusterman didn't always go exactly the predicable way. There was enough surprise that made sure the book was exciting. And the action never let up. The Thunderhead is very much a character in this book, and a few times I thought it was telling us too much, but I'm glad we got that point of view. This is not a thin book, but it is a quick read.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration is spot on.

Previous books in Series: Arc of a Scythe:

• Book 1: Scythe - 4 stars
• Read June 18-20, 2018

• Book 3: The Toll - 4 stars
• Read July 28-August 13, 2020

Read all books in series via audio