Challenge Accepted and Completed

Powell's in Portland, August 2015

In December, the leader of our online book club posted a genre challenge. I sort of forgot about it, and she posted a reminder last week. As I perused the list, I realized that I actually had satisfied each one, except for young adult, a genre I generally hate. I browsed the Kindle Unlimited YA offerings the other day until I found a novella that didn't sound too bad. Now, I'm finished with the books and will post a brief review of each. (I read all these and more this year.)

1. Contemporary Fiction. I read (and watched) Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, which I discussed in some detail last week in this post. I gave the book 3 stars on Goodreads.

2. Historical Fiction. I finished up my lengthy Victoria Holt (aka Philippa Carr) binge with Daughters of England. Though this book was last in the series, it wasn't last chronologically, and I still enjoyed it a lot. Holt expertly weaves history with fiction to create believable plots and characters. The stories are inseparable from the history, as political events drive beliefs and behavior (same as now, even if we are unaware in the moment). I am used to Holt's abrupt endings, though I find that they are discordant with her meticulous storytelling otherwise. Four stars. 

3. Fantasy. The Gunslinger by Stephen King satisfied this genre. I found the novel to be ambitious, as it was clearly a setup for the next in series (good example of why I am not fond of series where each book does not stand alone, as Holt's do), but it only works well if you go on with the series, which I did not. I tried ~ I began The Drawing of the Three ~ but it was so gory and gross that I DNF. I gave Gunslinger 3 stars regardless for King's high quality writing. I don't have to enjoy plot and/or characters to appreciate his wordsmithery.

4. Science Fiction. Another Stephen King novel goes here: 11.22.63. I watched the miniseries first and mostly enjoyed it (discussed at the end of this post), and then at Roy's recommendation I read the book. I absolutely loved it! The descriptions were so lush with detail that I really did feel like I was back in the 1950s and early '60s. The butterfly effect was fully in play too, with several iterations of "what if," and I am always up for that sort of thought experiment. I highly recommend this epic novel (800+ pages, so set aside some time). This book received a 5-star rating from me.

5. Mystery/Thriller. I grabbed The Date by T.H. Murdock last week from the Amazon First Reads pile, and I'm glad I did. I gobbled up the whole novel in one day because it was that compelling. Murdock expertly layered in the suspense, shifting suspicion from one character to another, until the reader was completely hooked. I literally couldn't put it down until I knew whodunit. Another 4-star winner.

6. Romance. Love at the Lake by Julie Milo fit this category as well as one in another challenge. I gave it 3 stars for attempting to tackle the weighty subjects of dyslexia and adoption in an otherwise fluffy novel, but it didn't do either all that well because so much time was devoted to the fluff. I'm not one of those who hates "pure" romance novels (without any mystery or other element), but I need more of a plot than high school angst over whether or not a boy/girl likes the other boy/girl. Note: the characters were 23 years old, but still acted like teens.

7. Nonfiction. At a library sale, I found a "coffee table book" titled Love of Goldens by Todd R. Berger and had to get it for my daughter and son-in-law, who have a golden retriever (Rory). I love goldens too now! I gave this book 5 stars for the wonderful photos and adorable vignettes.

8. Biography/Memoir. I finished Peter Gethers' Norton the cat trilogy with his second book (read out of order), titled A Cat Abroad. While this middle section of Norton's life was enjoyable enough to get a 4-star rating from me, it wasn't as compelling as books one and three. The first book was our introduction to baby Norton and how he impacted the author's life, and the third and last one was exquisitely sad as we had to say goodbye to our sweet kitty friend. Abroad was exactly as titled ~ Peter takes his kitty on all sorts of trips, which were fun adventures, with vivid and descriptive writing, but I couldn't appreciate all the French language jokes, and it was not as emotionally gripping overall.

9. Literary Fiction. I read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans for my online book club, and it fits this genre. This book began in the most tedious way by flinging a boatload of characters at the reader (18 in the first 16 pages!) that were impossible to keep track of until later in the story. I kept going however and eventually became intrigued by the threads tying all these people to the main character. I also liked that the MC was cranky and unlikeable, but she was still interesting to read about. Three stars for this.

10. Young Adult. Incantation by Alice Hoffman is categorized as YA, so I chose it because I liked her writing in the past. What can I say about this book? It was about a family of Jews in Spain around the time of the Inquisition. Absolutely awful, yet fabulous writing. I'm glad it had fewer than 100 pages because idk if I could have read more about this terrible time. I gave it 5 stars, and I think it's important to be reminded about how evil humans are to one another, since we can become numb to the news. I haven't created labels for young adult or magical realism, but I think historical fiction plus fantasy will do for this novella.

11. Horror. In general, I avoid horror novels and movies, except when there is a promise of a solid story along with the gore/scariness. The Fourth Wife by Linda Hamilton delivered. I found this story to be fresh and intriguing, and I was fascinated by the relationships among the sister-wives. It was "gothic" in a way and full of creepy ghosts, despite being set in a 19th century house in Utah, not a crumbling old English mansion. Four stars.

12. Poetry or Short Stories. Odd category mix, as these are two very different genres. I read Poems for the Lost Because I'm Lost Too by Exurb1a, and I found the writing highly relatable even though the author is a young guy in Eastern Europe. His themes of existential angst, isolation, and meaninglessness resonated with how I have felt off and on over all the years of my life. He went off into the weeds a bit with his forays into the supernatural, and I skimmed those sections, but overall... yeah. Liked it! Four stars.

As a side note, I am not being hypocritical with my high ratings of most of these challenge books after complaining repeatedly that people rate books too highly ~ I read many books recently that merited 2 or 3 stars, but I focused on the better ones for these mini-reviews. For example, in the poetry category, I gave 2 stars to another book of verse, but why mention it when I can recommend Poems for the Lost?