Review 196: Better Luck Next Time

Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a fun historical novel. The book is set primarily in the 1930s in Reno at The Flying Leap ranch, catering to rich women staying to get residency and their quickie divorce. This is something Reno is known for in the past, back when if you stayed in the state for six weeks you could establish residency and apply for a divorce that would be settled fast.

The story is told through the lens of one of the ranch hands Ward, looking back 50 or so years later. He is talking to someone who found a photograph with a group of ladies that stayed at the ranch one summer. Ward retells that summer’s adventures, which were many, and turns out to be momentous for him. You do have to suspend disbelief that someone could remember with such details all that happened and conversation and everything such a long while ago.

The book has a campy sort of feel, at least at first, with the antics and colorful language. I enjoyed the sentences and phrasing, a way of putting things in a unique style. I did say this book was fun, but that campy fun part did diminish as the book went along, with the tone and all being more serious. Feels a little uneven with it starting out being light-hearted and laughing along the way.

Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers/Custom House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 195: Being Henry David

Being Henry David by Cal Armistead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A teen wakes up in New York City and doesn’t know anything about himself, not his name, where he lives, anything. The only thing he has is a few dollars in his pocket and a book, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, so he names himself Hank. The story is about Hank finding himself and coming to terms of who he is once his memory starts returning.

What’s interesting is that the book in his hand provides something for him to seek, he goes to Walden Pond in Concord, MA makes a couple of friends, and manages to find shelter, food and clothing. While on the train there he read all of Walden (really?) and afterwards discovered he could recite passages perfectly. Amazing kid.

If you take out the references to Thoreau, which was more in the beginning of the story anyway, you’re left with the kid with amnesia. It was okay, not spectacular. There’s a bit of a romance and about runaway kids. It felt like the author was hoping to introduce young adults to some of the ideas of Thoreau, and a few other transcendentalists by this approach. Perhaps it works that way, the book would probably work better for a teen than it did for me in any case.

Oh, there were some hallucination scenes where Thoreau himself appeared. That was weird.

The audio narration was done well, no problems there at all.

Review 194: You're It!

You're It! On Hiding, Seeking, and Being Found by Alan W. Watts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

15 sessions, or talks. Although two are broken into to parts, so one could say it's 13 sessions.

session 1: Spiritual Authority (heard this talk before)
session 2: Mysticism & Morality (portion)
session 3: The Game of Yes and No
session 4: On Zen
session 5: The Art of Controlled Accident (part 1)
session 6: Uncarved Block, Unbleached Silk
session 7: An Introduction to Hinduism
session 8: Oriental Philosophy in the West (part 1)
session 9: The Art of Controlled Accident (part 2)
session 10: Oriental Philosophy in the West (part 2)
session 11: Introduction to Buddhism
session 12: The Veil of Thoughts
session 13: Mind Over Mind
session 14: What is Reality
session 15: Not What Should Ne, Not What Might Be, But What Is

I've heard many talks by Alan Watts for many years. For me many of these are repeats, but with his lectures they hold up to multiple listening. I find it relaxing and calming. Perhaps not for everyone, and he isn't a spiritual advisor, philosophy and some teachings of what is Hinduism, Zen, etc. as in the 60s this was new to the West. Of course some of his thoughts are flawed, as we all are, and he would be the first to admit it. Take it or leave it. I enjoy the humor.

Here's one of his sayings: "You cannot lift yourself up by your own bootstraps. It's impossible, you cannot do it. You cannot physically lift yourself from the floor."

Review 193: The Four Winds

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had high hopes for this book but was disappointed. Many years ago I read and thoroughly enjoyed Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and looked forward to another take on the Dust Bowl, Great Depression and migration of farmers to California searching for a better life.

The beginning of this book gives us the early life of the main character, Elsa who was unloved by her family presumably because she wasn’t pretty and been sick with Rheumatic fever at age 14. Elsa desires much more than being a spinster, taking care of her parents, and attempts to take charge of her life. Those early years in the book, along with the family life on the farm are not easy, and they only get worse as the drought remains with becoming more frequent and severe.

Once the decision to leave for California is made the rest of the book became too reminiscent of Steinbeck’s. Although we have a single parent instead of a multi-generational family trekking over to the golden land of California, the main story line is so similar I nearly stopped reading to go re-read the original.

Another aspect that bothered me while reading was the naming of things. Calling out, well this is the Dust Bowl or, this is the Great Depression, we know and it was awkward to read these labels. This was being shown and there was no need to tell it as well. There was a line that was hopefully cut or changed before publication (I read an advance review copy). This is a modern phrase coming from immigrant Italians who used the line “more power to you,” a phrase I highly doubt anyone from the early 1930s, but definitely not these characters.

The book was overall depressing, as were those difficult years. There isn’t much to enjoy, or hold onto in the book, with a few exceptions. The bright spots for me were the town librarian and the hairdresser, who looked beyond the clothes and saw the person.

The book also felt overly long, as there was a lot of repetition and similar scenes. There is a good book in here, but not the one I read. I had hoped for another take on this time period, and there are some slight differences, but not enough. If you haven’t read Steinbeck’s book, do yourself a favor and go read that one instead.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Previously Read books by Kristine Hannah:

• The Great Alone - 4 stars
• February 7 to 18, 2018

Review 192: A Crooked Tree

A Crooked Tree by Una Mannion
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having a string of 4 star reads lately. 

A summer to remember. This book takes us into the lives of Libby Gallagher and her four other siblings, struggling after the death of their father and mentally absent mother. It’s the last day of school with all of them stuffed into the car heading home. The mother, Faye, and one of the younger sisters Ellen are arguing and about art camp. Having enough Faye leaves Ellen by the side of the road, miles from home with darkness coming on.

As a middle child you can see why Libby took the role of family worrier. She is the focal point of the book, the viewpoint, and we see her world that starts here, at the beginning of summer. While their dad and mom were divorced before he died, they are morning him a year or so later. The mother has a not-so-secret affair going on with Bill, which none of them have met except the youngest as that’s his daughter. The oldest kid, Marie is the mother figure but she’s about to turn 18 and head out on her own. The only boy, slightly older than Libby has been secluding himself in his room like their mother. It’s a fractured family and Libby feels like its on her to take care of them.

When Ellen returns to the mountain where they live, battered up from jumping out of a car, the girls take on the role of trying to fix this. Libby doesn’t want adults involved, she keeps things from people, fearful of the reactions and results. She trusts her best friend, but when it looks like she broke their confidence Libby shuns her and their friendship becomes tenuous.

The story has momentum, and you feel the worry thick on the pages. This summer changes the family. The book is set in the early 1980s and you do get that setting, with the bands mentioned, and other cultural backdrops, as well as no cell phones to be in constant contact with each other. It was a different time.

The book isn’t an intense thriller or much of a mystery, instead it is about teens grappling with the family they have, and specifically one teen, adjusting to the world that she inhabits.

Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.