Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Title: Malibu Rising

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Publisher: Ballantine Books 2021

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: MMD; Seasonal TBR

Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come rising to the surface.

I dove into this book really hoping for another Daisy Jones and the Six or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. With this book, we get a really good story, but it didn’t quite hit the 5 star mark for me. Right away, I was drawn into the world of early 1980s (and then 1950-60s) Malibu. I wanted to learn more about the Riva children and how they came to be at the places they were in their lives. I wanted to really submerse myself in the atmosphere of Malibu at the various time periods. We get some of that. In flashbacks, we get to see what happened with Mick and June and the snippets throughout the children’s lives. And we get one big final confrontation between Mick and his children. Unfortunately, the book the left me wanting more. When we get to the last chapter, I was just a bit taken aback at the abruptness of the ending. I felt like we were just getting into the meat of the various characters. I wanted to sit with them longer. Ultimately, I felt like nothing had really been resolved and I wanted more. I cannot deny that Reid writes a propulsive story with interesting characters. I just wanted more.

My two side annoyances:

• I really disliked how they dealt with Kit’s big identity revelation. Or really, how they didn’t deal with it. I felt like it was thrown to give a “complication” to her character, but was really a cheap afterthought.

• From the very first page, I thought the fire would figure more prominently into the story. I kept waiting and waiting and it didn’t come into fruition until the last chapter.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Title: Behold the Dreamers

Author: Imbolo Mbue

Publisher: Random House 2017

Genre: Literary Fiction

Pages: 416

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future.

However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades.

When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.

Our book club selection for July… and I was very underwhelmed by this story. Let’s start with the good points. I enjoyed the look at Cameroon culture. In fact, those sections were the only ones that I really loved reading. Clearly the author has a love for the people of Cameroon and it shows through the writing. I also enjoyed the interplay of the family in the first half of the book. I found their struggles compelling. Unfortunately, the second half the book begins to show the fractures in the family and I was very annoyed. I was not a fan of Jende and his sexist bullshit. Combine that with the actions of the Edwards family and I really disliked all the characters in this novel. Per the summary, this book is supposed to heavily involve the economic collapse, but it seemed like an afterthought. I forced myself to finish this book, but I wasn’t at all excited about it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Title: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Author: Alison Bechdel

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin 2006

Genre: Graphic Novel; Memoir

Pages: 232

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; Women Authors; Bingo - 5 from TBR

How I Got It: Library loan

In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail.

Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the "Fun Home." It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

Going in, I didn't really know what to expect from this novel.  I was expecting a straight forward memoir, but instead got a wonderful mix of literary insight and family memories. Following Bechdel's narrative feels almost like an intrusion on her private self. She bares all as we move from her early childhood to ruminations on sexuality and the complexities of family and identity.   In many ways, it reminded me of Persepolis.  Instead of making an entertaining version of life, the reader gets an honest brutal look at life and growing up.  Definitely a powerful read.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Title: And the Mountains Echoed

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Publisher: Riverhead 2013

Genre: Literary Fiction

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: T4MC - Set in 1900s; ebook; Eclectic - 2013 book; Book Bingo - 2 from 2013

How I Got It: iPad Read

Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.

Years ago I read The Kite Runner and I was absolutely devastated by that novel.  It tugged at every heart string I had.  While this novel doesn't live up to The Kite Runner, it still is a beautiful piece of work.  Immediately I connected with Abdullah, his pain and joys.  It took me awhile, but in time I came to also love Parwana.  Really, all of the characters had something to offer.  I never felt like there was a villain and a hero.  Instead Hosseini gives us a group of real people, people with flaws.  The writing has this lyrical quality that I just can't get over.  Each sentence flows seamlessly to the next one (even the not so pretty sentences).  I found myself lost in the world, yet there is something that held me back from being completely immersed.  Still...  a beautiful novel.

Heading Back East...

It's Spring Break in Indiana and that means drinks and parties...  Oh wait!  Wrong life!  Spring Break means time with the family and more importantly the boys.  I'm flying back to spend 12 whole days enjoying their company and trying to keep warm (April in Indiana is NOT warm).  We plan on having the boys' birthday party (late), trips to Science Central and possibly Putt Putt, and lots of family dinners...  Very exciting stuff!  Plus, I have some big news that I will be sharing with everyone.  Look for it soon!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Title: Garden Spells

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Publisher: Bantam 2008

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 290

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Witches and Witchcraft; New Author; TBR Pile; 52 Books - Week 8

How I Got It: I own it!

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys—except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

I am including this book in my witches and witchcraft challenge, but it's a bit of a stretch.  The Waverleys are witch-like.  They know things and have very specific gifts, but they don't do spells or have unlimited powers.  I see them more as natural witches, in tune with nature and the rhythms of the earth.  That said, I absolutely loved this book.  It's a great story of two sisters finding their places in the world.  It reminded me a lot of Practical Magic, but a much better version.  I felt very connected to Sydney on an emotional level.  I desperately wanted her to find her way in the world and be content.  And Evanelle is a hoot!  Such a great character.  The only thing I didn't love: the quick ending.  You know someone is going to appear before the end of the book, but the appearance and then wrap-up seems a bit too convenient.  I would have liked a bit longer for the conclusion.  But overall, I adored this book.  I want to get to Allen's other books...

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Title: The Forgotten Garden

Author: Kate Morton

Publisher: Washington Square Press 2008

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 552

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: T4MC - About a family; Genre - Women's Fiction; Women Authors; TBR Pile

How I Got It: I own it

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book—a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-fi rst birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled.

Our February book Club selection and I freaking loved it!  It's a gorgeous novel tracing the exposure of a huge mystery.  I love Morton's writing.  Even attempting to follow multiple narrators, I didn't have any problems.  Morton seamlessly transitions between times and narrators.  I was with each of the characters throughout.  Speaking of characters, I was in love with all of them.  Well, that's not exactly true.  Rose and Adeline were definitely the villains of the piece.  Of course, Rose is unintentionally a villain, but still her reversal towards Eliza makes her a suitable villain.  I felt very connected with Cassandra and Nell and Eliza.  There was something about those three characters that just pulled me straight in.  And the mystery kept me guessing for most of the book.  I admit that I figured it out before the big reveal, but Morton's storytelling kept me engaged throughout.  Amazing book.  Now I must add Morton's other books to my TBR list.

What Makes a Family?

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about this question.  What makes a family?  Is it just blood?  Do we include friends?  What about all those step and half relations?  Where do we draw the line?  What's our criteria for claiming family? We we look at blood, I have a pretty small family.  But then start adding all the half and step and suddenly my family tree looks more like a family bush.  But do I really claim all those people?  There are definitely branches in there that I don't really keep in touch with.  There are branches that I wish I didn't keep in touch with.  And there are others that I love and see often.

But it's not just about who's related to me.  There's all those friends.  Some of who I would claim over many of my blood relatives.  Many of those friends are the ones that have been there for me.  Often they are the ones I turn to when everything gets too much.  They are here, not out of family loyalty, but because they want to be here.  It's a choice.  In many ways, that's more important to me.  I think the families of the 21st century are going to be by choice, not necessarily by blood.

My immediate family (the boys and myself) has been going through a lot lately.  We are living in a place of limbo.  We don't know what the future holds.  But I do know that I'm grateful that I have them.