HOMEGOING

 HOMEGOING

by

Yaa Gyasi

    Homegoing is Yaa Gyasi's debut novel, winning the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Novel, the Audie Award for Literary Fiction and Classics, and the American Book Award. It was also shortlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, and nominated for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the International Dublin Literary Award, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal.

    In light of all these accolades, it feels presumptuous (and perhaps a tad pretentious) of me to say, but I did not like Homegoing. I very decidedly did not like this book. Part of intense dislike might be unfortunate timing: I undertook Homegoing shortly after completing There There. There are similarities between the two, and those are the parts that I disliked in each; perhaps my dislike is even more intense toward Homegoing because I had just "endured" the same experience with There There. 

    But, like There There, Homegoing feels like a literary fiction wanna be. The modern literary fiction appears to be one that has a plethora of characters and spans a large time frame and/or vast areas. I think the first book like this that I read was The Overstory, by Richard Powers. The Overstory has actually become one of my favorite modern novels; but, when I initially encountered the first part of the book, the part where the reader is introduced to the nine disparate characters, it felt like a collection of unrelated short stories. Other books that I have recently read that are similar to this - with a number of main characters and tracing through time and/or area - include Disappearing Earth, by Julia Phillips, The Weight of a Piano, by Chris Cander, and the abovementioned There There, by Tommy Orange. It might be clever how the authors weave through locations and times, eventually connecting up the multitudinous characters, but as a reader, I found the experiences to be confusing and frustrating.

    And, unlike these novels, Homegoing has at least fourteen major characters. It spans from the eighteenth century to present day, and involves, at the least, Africa and multiple locations in the United States. It felt to me like Gyasi looked at the format of award winning modern novels and decided to make hers even bigger and broader.  But, in addition to this breadth, it felt like the book jumped back and forth; you might be in civil war America in one chapter and back in the African slave trade in the next. 

    I found it all very confusing, and I could not get beyond the frustration to appreciate any redeeming literary value that the book might have. Perhaps this says more about my lack of literary sophistication than about the book; nonetheless, it is my honest opinion of my experience with the book. And, my plebeian opinion does not recommend this book.

ONCE A CROOKED MAN by David McCallum

 ONCE A CROOKED MAN

by

David McCallum

    I have long been a fan of David McCallum, the actor, and of mysteries. So, I was excited when I heard about McCallum's debut novel, Once A Crooked Man. It is a crime novel. Nonetheless, the characters, the plot, the writing - none of it appealed to me, and I found it difficult to get through. I was very disappointed.

THERE THERE By Tommy Orange

 THERE THERE
by
Tommy Orange

    There There is the debut novel by Tommy Orange, winning the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the American Book Award. It was also shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist.

    The book is centered around Oakland, California. It follows twelve different Native American characters and culminates in the Big Oakland Powwow.

    I have mixed feelings about There There. Much of the time, I did not like the book. It seemed to me to be a literary fiction wanna be. I found the ending to be predictable, and when I reached the end of the book, it felt abrupt and not well wrapped up. There were so many characters that I had difficulty keeping track of them, although this may have been exacerbated by the fact that I was listening to the audiobook.

    On the other hand, there were some interesting and thought-provoking parts: for example, when grandkids who were being raised by their grandmother wondered what made the grandmother an Indian; what was it about her that others who met her knew that? Also, Orange did a good job portraying the plight of the modern, urban Native American. Hence, it was even more poignant when it was evinced that the modern day plight, as depicted in culminating events, was carried out by the modern, urban Native American.

 OCEAN PREY

by

John Sandford

    I am a longtime fan of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series and his Virgil Flowers series. I feel like I begin every Sandford review like this, but it is true, and I believe that knowing this should help potential readers who consider my review. I feel like I've been here for the long haul, even sticking around when I suspected either one or the other of the series took a wrong turn and was headed down the drain.

    So, once again, I was delighted to have the opportunity to read and review an advanced readers copy of Sandford's latest book, Ocean Prey, the thirty-first installment in the Lucas Davenport series. I was even more excited to learn that the book is also the thirteenth installment in the Virgil Flowers series. Two of my favorite detectives in one book!

    Ocean Prey begins as a Davenport book. A fancy boat stops and picks up a diver in the middle of the water off the coast of Florida. An off-duty member of the U.S. Coast Guard witnesses the suspicious activity and calls it in. The Coast Guard is in pursuit, but the men on the boat kill the pursuing Coast Guard members and get away. The subsequent investigation stalls, and U.S. Marshall Lucas Davenport is called in to do his thing. When Lucas runs into difficulty, he calls in his longtime friend and associate, Virgil Flowers.

    I think Ocean Prey is one of the best prey/Lucas Devenport books. Although Sandford usually does a good job at leading the reader step by step through the investigation, this seemed more apparent in Ocean Prey. Ordinarily in prey books, when Lucas enters a case, it feels like everything moves at a rapid fire pace. Here, however, Lucas's investigation seems to proceed at a slower rate, and obstacles impede his investigation. I am still in shock over one such impediment (a spoiler which will remain unnamed); I both dislike and deeply respect Sandford for making that move. But, the obstacles and the seemingly slower pace make Ocean Prey feel more realistic. I also think Ocean Prey is one of the best Virgil Flowers books. I am not a fan of Frankie, so the same old Virgil working a case with Lucas in Florida (i.e., far from Frankie) makes it an outstanding Virgil Flowers book. 

    Quite simply, Ocean Prey is outstanding - one of Sandford's best books ever. Highly recommended.

    

THE TOWER OF NERO by Rick Riordan

 THE TOWER OF NERO

(The Trials of Apollo #5)

by

Rick Riordan

    The Tower of Nero is the fifth and final installment in Rick Riordan's The Trials of Apollo series. In some ways, it seems a long time since we learned that Apollo (the Greek god) was ousted from Mount Olympus, landing in New York City as the awkward mortal teenager Lester Papadopoulos. But, even after he and Meg, his young demigod "master," battle their way across the country, the adventures of the first four books seem to have come and gone in a snap. Now Apollo/Lester and Meg return to New York to face Nero. Will they be able to defeat him, and will Apollo/Lester be able to reclaim Delphi?

    I am a big Rick Riordan fan, and The Tower of Nero does not disappoint. Like all the Riordan books that have come before, this finale is well written, clever, engaging, and action packed. And, it amazes me that, after all this time, Riordan can still make me laugh. 

    Rick Riordan is the master of myth, and I cannot wait to see what he does next. Highly recommended.

MOONFLOWER MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz

 MOONFLOWER MURDERS

(Susan Ryeland #2)

by

Anthony Horowitz

    Moonflower Murders is the second installment in the Susan Ryeland series by Anthony Horowitz. Like its predecessor, Magpie Murders, this installment also involves a book within a book. And like its predecessor, it is a smash!

    Susan Ryeland had retired from publishing and moved to a Greek island with her boyfriend, Andreas. One day, the Trehearnes appeared. One of the Atticus Pund novels on which Susan had worked - Alan Conway's Atticus Pund Takes the Cake - portrayed a murder that had taken place at the hotel that the Trehearnes ran in England. Their daughter, Cecily, read Conway's book, concluded that the wrong person had been convicted and jailed for the crime, and then disappeared. Susan returns to England to assist in locating the missing Cecily.

    Moonflower Murders is delightful. It is well written and engaging; clever and convoluted. Susan Ryeland is not my favorite of Horowitz's characters; nonetheless, I soaked up every word. 

    Anthony Horowitz is clearly one of the best classic mystery writers of our time. I cannot wait to read more of his work.

    Highly recommended.

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig

 THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

by

Matt Haig

    In The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, we meet Nora Seed. Nora was going through a rough patch in her life. In fact, she hated her life and wanted to die. When she took steps toward that end, Nora ended up in the midnight library, a place "in between." The books in the midnight library are all the possible lives of Nora Seed, lives that might differ from Nora's "root life" because of decisions that she made. Nora is able to visit all these alternate lives; however, as the librarian explains, you cannot take out the same book twice.

    One of my favorite things while studying philosophy was thinking about other possible worlds, and this book kept taking me right back there. The Midnight Library is a treasure. I thoroughly enjoyed this creative, refreshing reading experience.