Reading for Me

February’s first reading challenge asked for a book of speculative fiction. I must admit that the term was not familiar to me, so I turned to a trusted source: Google. That’s where I ran across this definition from Wikipedia. “Speculative fiction is a broad category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, nature, or the present universe.” Okay…..so something somewhat far flung was in order. Since I was moving into a genre that is well off the beaten path for me, I decided to pick up a copy of The Martian and give it a go. I managed to finish the work and enjoy the adventure along the way.

In case you are not familiar with the basic premise, The Martian tells the story of Mark, an astronaut who finds himself left behind after a Mars mission is aborted and he is presumed dead. Through skill, good luck, and sheer determination, Mark manages to be reunited with his crew despite attempts by the Red Planet to kill him.

Normally, I am not a fan of this type of writing. I thought this was going to be the case for the first few days of reading as well. I struggled through terminology and getting a sense of the challenges being alone on Mars would present to an astronaut. Once contact was re-established with NASA in its crudest form, I found myself drawn into the story and rooting for Mark’s survival. I suppose that exploring the impact of a failed mission on everyone involved — Mark, his crew mates, administrators at NASA, as well as the rest of mankind who watched events unfolding helplessly — made the story much more enjoyable. The fast pace of the novel also helped keep me moving and rapidly propelled me to a satisfying conclusion. If this is what speculative fiction is really all about, I’m on board. I don’t think I’ll turn to it very often, but now that I have had a good experience, I won’t be as fearful to make a return visit to the form.

What’s next in my reading challenge? This one was fun…..I’m to read a book with a bird on the cover! I selected First Comes Love by Emily Giffin on my last visit to the bookstore. I just started reading the novel this afternoon, so I don’t have too much to share yet, but I can tell you that I am already invested in the story and interested to see where these events are going to take me. Now we just have to see how attending a state music conference impacts my reading life this week. I’ll be in touch again next Saturday!

I began listening to Katie Couric’s latest memoir while driving back to West Texas after spending the holidays with my parents in Arkansas. At 15 hours, 27 minutes, Going There was more than enough material to get me back to Texas and provide listening for several more hours during the month.

I have long been a fan of Couric’s work, especially on The Today Show. It was enjoyable to hear stories of her early career peppered with meeting her beloved Jay, the births of their girls, and the grief that came from Jay’s battle with colon cancer. I’ll admit that I was also intrigued to hear about the embattled times at CBS News – specifically The CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes — as well as her perspective on the ultimate downfall of Matt Lauer. I was not disappointed.

I did feel that the memoir was just a bit too long. I appreciated all of the stories and enjoyed hearing Katie’s voice again. However, I wonder if she would have been better served by publishing two separate works. As the reader approaches chapter 75, I found myself wondering if this was just an attempt to be back in the spotlight again. Really? Is it appropriate to talk about oneself for this long? (For the record, the memoir continued for over 20 more chapters!)

Was the memoir entertaining? Yes, most certainly. However, I also found myself just ready to reach the end of a personal saga much sooner than Couric decided to bring to the work to a fitting and appropriate conclusion. I think the audio book was quite good, but I do recommend that the reader give themself permission from the beginning to turn the story off when they have reached the point of satiation. There can always be too much of a good thing.

Let’s start with a warning. I have been very slothful about blogging my reviews of books recently. I suppose I have enjoyed reading a bit more than writing about my thoughts. On this chilly Saturday afternoon, it seems like the perfect time to play a little catch up. I apologize to those of you who have subscribed to this blog for the three posts you will (hopefully) receive in rather rapid succession.

On January 29, I finished my final reading challenge book for the month of January. Where the Crawdads Sing represented a book that is the basis for a 2022 movie release. The film by Sony Pictures is currently scheduled to be released on July 22, 2022.

I had high hopes for this novel. Everyone had been raving about what an amazing story it was. By the time I finished it, I simply said “ehhh.” It wasn’t horrible; I just found some of the plot points confusing. Kya was a black girl? I didn’t grab that fact until well into the novel. Does it matter to the plot? Not really. I think the bigger issue was the abject poverty she faced, not the color of her skin. I was rather offended with her race became such an issue of contention in the novel. Why had this not been a theme throughout if it was going to be so important? I also found the time shifts abrupt and unseemly. I understand that Owens was using a familiar literary device. I just don’t think it was effective. Rather than building suspense and unraveling the mystery gradually, the constant shifts of scenes and settings only made me seasick.

I’m not going to rule out reading other works by Owens. I’m hearing from others who were also let down by Crawdads that they really enjoyed reading some of her other works. I’m just happy to know that I am not alone when I give this work a disappointed thumbs down.

At the beginning of the week, I finished my second novel of the year. I had heard great things about Malibu Rising. It should have been a great match for me. I was familiar with the geography of the city by the sea. I am always a big fan of family dramas. I absolutely HATED this book!

Malibu Rising tells the story of the dysfunctional Rivas family. In many ways, it is actually a blending of two intertwined stories. In the 1950s and 1960s, you have the tragic love story of Mick and June. They seemed to be a match made in the Heaven. Then, Mick finds success and realizes he was not “meant to be” in a monogamous relationship. In the 1980s, we follow the lives of Mick’s four children — now grown — as they figure out how to deal with their feelings about their parents and how to navigate the uncertain waters they now find themselves in. On paper, this should have been the perfect book for me. I found myself constantly frustrated with Reid’s writing and her attempts to be literary by constantly shifting between the major plots.

The novel was not a complete bust. I found myself rooting for the four Rivas children. Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit were beautifully rendered characters. If only the story had simply centered on their troubled relationships. However, the inclusion of so many minor characters as well as the previous generations of the Riva family made this book much weaker than it had to be.

I cannot tell you the number of times that I nearly put this book down, never to be finished. Somehow,I managed to plug away and make it to the end. When Mick meets his adult children and they are all forced to face their past failures, Reid’s skill as a writer finally came through. There might be hope for this author after all. I found a few paragraphs in the final few pages of the novel worthwhile and beautifully written.

June had given her children this box packed to the brim with her own experiences, her own treasures and heartbreaks. Her own guilts and pleasures, triumphs and losses, values and biases, duties and sorrows.

And Nina had been carrying around this box her whole life, feeling the full weight of it.

But it was not, Nina saw just then, her job to carry the full box. Her job was to sort through the box. To decide what to keep, and to put the rest down. She had to choose what, of the things she inherited from the people who came before her, she wanted to bring forward. And what, of the past, she wanted to leave behind.

Malibu Rising, 357.

For what it’s worth, I give this novel a hard pass. I don’t think it is worth the effort. Maybe it wouldn’t be bad as an audio book if you needed a simple diversion and there were no other options available. But there ARE outstanding family dramas to dive into and enjoy immensely. Skip this flippant journey through the hills of Malibu and go for another family saga instead. You’ll be much happier that you did!