Swift River (Essie Chambers) – Ryan bought me this for Christmas, and I didn’t know it was a “Read with Jenna” pick until I searched for it to get the spelling correct for Essie Chambers’ name. Truthfully, I’m a little weary of past / present storytelling, but I still manage to fall into these types of novels again and again. Swift River’s present is 1987, where Diamond tips the scales at almost 300 pounds, almost friendless, and definitely the only Black person in Swift River. As the summer unfolds, she learns to drive, navigates her relationship with her white mother during the legal process of declaring her missing Black father deceased, and learns about her family and her heritage through a series of letters, both current and historical. It’s a sweeping story of race, matriarchal relationships, trauma, and legacy, but it’s also a quick, tightly woven story. A truly wonderful beginning to my reading for the year.
Wicked (Gregory Maguire) – This is a re-read for me, but honestly, I barely remembered most of the details. I’ve seen the musical twice since reading, and I couldn’t remember which parts of the story were found in the novel and which weren’t. The book feels much more subversive than the musical, with Elphaba presenting as a more conflicted and less confident character even as the story progresses. The story feels important right now, like The Handmaid’s Tale, though I relate more to the feeling of the powerless than the empowered.
Husbands & Lovers (Beatriz Williams) – Told in the format of present, past, far past, this story had a little bit of everything. A single mother with a hidden pregnancy. An ex-lover who skyrocketed to rockstar fame. A modern-age influencer fiancee. A World War II refugee and British colonizers in Egypt. Israeli spies. Dead husbands. Cheating husbands. A death on Machu Pichu. Old money and the new money and power of social media. However, it all came together and worked for me, especially as an escapism type of book. Who doesn’t love a little post-war gin and tonic afternoon cocktail culture?
Blacktop Wasteland (S.A. Crosby) – This heist tale hides some critical questions behind the intoxicating power of being extraordinarily good at something essentially extraordinarily dangerous. Beauregard wants, desperately, to be the steady, law-abiding man his father never was, but he’s plagued by financial pressure that reluctantly brings his old self, Bug, back to the forefront of his life. He’s a renowned getaway driver, a master of building and navigating anything at all to do with engines and driving. “One last job,” taken against the wishes of his patient wife, turns into an even bigger job. And just like that, Bug takes over Beauregard’s steadily built existence and sucks him into a life that endangers himself and his family. Is the love for your family enough to pull you away from a life that endangers them, even when it makes you feel like you’re doing what you’re made to do? Crosby examines the familial cycle of violence and impossible choices, mirroring Bug’s childhood with the choices his own young children are forced to make. Beauregard isn’t entirely sure whether it’s better to stay or leave, and there aren’t any good answers found within this powerful, beautifully written story.
James (Percival Everett) – It’s possible I read Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but I don’t remember it if I did. (I also don’t completely remember the stories in probably one hundred Sweet Valley High and The Babysitter’s Club books, and I *know* I read those, so…) So, I came to James knowing it was a retelling but not having deep knowledge of the original story. I honestly believe that’s not an issue when reading this book. (I do plan to read Twain’s version soon, but my to-read stack is vast, so I can’t promise anything.) From what I understand, Twain’s Jim is a strong character, but this retelling deepens that by making Jim a self-educated man. The slaves in James speak two different versions of English, standard dialect and an exaggerated southern dialect they believe helps their white enslavers feel better about themselves. When Jim realizes he is going to be sold away from his home and his family, he runs, and Huck Finn runs with him. As the “adventures” unfold, the reader sees how slaves are bound not only by bills of sale but by a strict code of whiteness and blackness, a code that keeps knowledge unseen, even when it is obvious to the reader. Much like Hamilton and Wicked, this book looks at the way stories are told, shifting perspective to understand that history basically tells the side of the story experienced by those with power and control of the narrative. Jim struggles with truth, knowledge, and the power of a hard-won pencil that may have the ability to help him claim his own agency and name, even if he needs to use other means to secure his freedom. I sped through this, enthralled by the questions raised — and settled — with biting satire and a hard look at the stories we know, even if we aren’t always conscious of knowing them.
By Any Other Name (Jodi Picoult) – Full disclosure…I go back and forth with JP books, because depending on my own state of mind, I feel a little emotionally manipulated by them. I read this for a book club, and I’m so glad I did, because I loved the deep dive into the life of Emilia Bassano. I took a Shakespeare class in college and remember talking about the possibility that he didn’t write all of his plays. At the time, I think we volleyed around ideas about who the playwrite actually was. I don’t remember talking about a collective of writers, but I also have a mind like a sieve, so it’s possible we did and I completely forgot. One of the highlights of this book, for me, was the way Picoult looks at the progress and lack of progress made throughout time AND the way she shapes two different stories I cared about. I usually find myself racing through either a past or present perspective to get to the other, but this time I genuinely felt invested in both stories. I appreciate the way the stories show how people have to constantly make choices in their lives, and how the breadth of those choices shrinks or expands based on social class, gender, and race (anything that separates people, truly). There were some misses for me, like some of the fighting between Andre and Melina, and some of Melina’s choices seem to belie her character development. Overall, I loved this and think it’s a perfect discussion type book, especially when talking about historical perspective and gatekeeping in certain industries.