Review 602: Strata: Stories from Deep Time

Strata: Stories from Deep Time by Laura Poppick
My rating: not-rated

The book is a bit more information dense than I was hoping for. It is readable, but you probably need a strong desire in reading about geology, deep time and stratigraphy.

The book is organized into four parts, Air, Ice, Mud and Heat.

I got through much of the section on Air, that contains a discussion on the GOE short for Great Oxygenation Event, or Great Oxidation Event. Scientists are having difficulty in determining when exactly this took place, and how. The rocks have to tell the story since this was such a very long time ago. The evidence is still there, but fragmentary, difficult to decipher. Opinions differ on what the rock is revealing. The details of this are interesting to some extent.

I image the rest of the book will be at the same detailed level and my interest just isn’t sustaining that deep dive at the moment. Perhaps I will attempt the book at another time, but for now I am leaving it here, partially read.

Review 601: The Way People Run

The Way People Run: Stories by Christopher Tilghman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A book of six short stories that are well written. They surprised me, as I enjoyed this collection more than I typically do with short story collections. This book is an exception. I am probably being generous with my rating, but in the genre of short story collections for me this one stands out as better than most.

While a few I really wished they were a start of something more, several others were fine leaving off where it ended, they felt complete. The six short story titles are:

• Something Important

• Room for Mistakes

• The Late Night News

• A Suitable Good-bye

• The Way People Run

• Things Left Undone

These all have a male protagonist. Family was a strong theme in these stories, often with the man seeming to be unsettled and not knowing where he fits in his life. He seems to be floundering, struggling in some way.

The subject matter wasn't the cinch with these stories, no, it was the writing style. How well the characters were quickly developed and felt fully formed and relatable in some way, even though I'm not that gender nor in those situations. Seems like I should search out some of Tilghman's longer works.

Review 600: None of This Is True

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book takes place in London, two women meet when they both are celebrating their birthday at the same pub. Turns out they are both exactly the same age, born not only on the same day, but in the same hospital. Alix Summers hosts a podcast about successful women who changed their lives. Josie Fair convinces her to do a podcast about her life on the cusp of change, although not successful she does have an intriguing story to tell. They call it “Hi, I’m Your Birthday Twin”.

Josie’s life is weird, while Alex’s life is fairly typical, married with two young children. Their only problem being that Nathan sometimes goes on drinking binges and ends up not coming home. Josie’s life is one no one would want. Her relationship is highly questionable as it began when her husband was a middle age man and she a teenager. Yet they marry? And all these years later still are married. It’s unfathomable.

They have two girls, both grown. One had left the house at 16 and the other keeps herself locked in her room playing video games and only eats soft foods. Something is definitely off in this family.

Josie is a manipulator and convinces Alix to do a podcast about her life. Given the title of the book you know not to trust everything she is saying.

I listened to the audiobook was had many narrators, sound effects and a great production. It added another dimension to the book. This is a creepy thriller that has tension throughout the book.

I read this for multiple challenges. I seem to be succumbing to these challenges, and well, it did give me a diversion from some of the serious books I’ve been reading.

Review 599: The Wreckage of Eden

The Wreckage of Eden by Norman Lock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the language and writing style of the books in this series: American Novels. This is the 5th book, I have not read all of them, and do not intend to, they are all standalone books. They all evolve around American writers, so far in the 19th Century. This one has Emily Dickinson as a character.

The book is written like it is speaking to Emily, perhaps as a letter to her. Robert Winter, a US Army Chaplain of the Lutheran faith, who is in love with Emily, although he does not say it so plainly. Winter asked Emily to marry him but she refuses, staying put in her Homestead with her Father. Yet they remain good friends, she writing to Winter, and him visiting her whenever he is in Amherst.

While I do like the language, it is not direct at times. It does obscure meaning occasionally, and yet I feel like this matches the time period a little more closely than our language of today.

Despite all that I do like, a large part of the book is taken up with Robert Winter serving as a chaplain in several wars or skirmishes. First it is with the Mexican War, then The Mormon Rebellion, and finally with Harper’s Ferry. The descriptions of some of these war scenes and what is taken by these periods of violence were not pleasant for me. Otherwise this was wonderful.

So what should have been a quick read, as this was not a long book, for me was not. I set it aside often. Although I also was away on a work trip then a vacation but I could have found time for the book if I found it more engaging. Perhaps the book deserves a bit more than my rating of 3.5 stars, so I’m rounding up.

Review 598: Wildfire Days

Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West by Kelly Ramsey
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

This memoir details working as a hotshot and being a woman. Oh, and also being about a decade or so older than most hotshots. Kelly Ramsey found solace in pushing her body beyond the limits in physically. She combined her love of working outdoors with fighting fire and the elite hotshots were perfect for her for going the extra.

The book covered not only fighting fires, but also her relationship at the time and her father who was an alcoholic. book we have Ramsey’s personal life, such as her relationship Josh who was also a firefighter, but not a hotshot. We also get extensive details about her father and growing up. These personal details does make her a more fuller person on the page. Certainly being away from home for weeks at a time doing exhausting work takes a toll on relationships. It’s an unusual job from the regular 9-5 where you come home every day.

The subtitle implies some focus on the “burning American West” but that was only incidental as they were the fires Ramsey and her crew were battling. There was one fire she didn’t fight and that was one that threatened her home at the time. But there was little information about fire in general, just sparse moments.

This seems to be my year of reading these types of books, the second for a memoir of being a hotshot, and a fictional tale of a fire that blows-up written in the 1940s. I have another book or two on my docket of fire related books, next one is another woman hotshot. I’m interested in how their stories compare.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.