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Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.

Review:  

Sabaa Tahir has got to be one of my favorite authors, having written the wonderful fantasy series, An Ember in the Ashes.  Even with magic, and fantasy settings like the afterlife, the author always made characters who were full of relatable emotions of longing, love, anger, and heartache.  When the series was over, I wondered what Tahir could possibly write next.

Well the wait is over.  And Sabaa Tahir goes in a completely different direction by creating a world so realistic, it's sometimes hard to want to delve into it.  But, All My Rage, her latest novel, has many of the same traits as her fantasy series, with characters full of the emotion.  This book was a tough read, with domestic violence, child abuse, rape and many other horrible things.  What makes it worth reading, though, is the hope we have for the characters, Sal and Noor, do have a better life.  With wonderful performances by the narrators, this was a beautiful book.  Expect to cry!

What I Liked:

Characters:

Sal's parents run a motel in the tiny, California desert town of Juniper, and it has seen better days.  This is mostly because Sal mother is very sick, and his father copes by being constantly drunk.  Even though Sal is a high school student, he does everything he can to help out at the motel.  But his anger at his father seeps into other parts of his life.  

Noor is also in high school, having come to the U.S. when she was a small child.  She was the lone survivor of a deadly earthquake in Pakistan.  Her uncle brought her back to America and put his dreams on hold to care for Noor.  Others might consider her fortunate.  But her uncle is a bitter, cruel man who constantly reminds her she should feel grateful for him rescuing her.  Sal and Noor used to be best friends until about a year ago when Noor confessed that she was in love with him, and he didn't return her feelings (awkard!).

Even though both of these young people have difficult lives, there are some caring adults who do try to be there for them.  I really liked that Sal's mom helped Noor understand her Muslim culture.  And Sal had other adults ready to listen when he could open up, including the young leader at the local Mosque.

Story:

Both Sal and Noor go though a lot in this book.  The author always is joking on social media that she loves to put her characters through Hell.  Well, she certainly did that. If you had a safe, stable childhood, it might seem unrealistic for these characters to have so many terrible things happen to them.  But people do have these types of childhoods, dealing with unstable family situations, racism, and hopelessness.  The shining light at the end of the tunnel is that both Sal and Noor do want to change their circumstances.  But, even with all the best of intentions, Sal and Noor are still just kids.  They make some terrible choices that just compound their problems.

Narration:

The story is structured with the alternating points of view of Sal and Noor.  And the narrators do a fantastic job with both the angst and the joy of being teenagers.  For most of the story, Sal is full of rage and Noor is rather beaten down by life.  But when some good things happen to them, they finally get to express their character's astonishment at the beauty in life, as well.  There is a brief section when the point of view is seen through Sal's mother which is really lovely.

Trigger Warnings for Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Rape, and anything else you can think of.  This is a very heavy read!

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  March 1, 2022

Author:  Sabaa Tahir

Genre:  YA Contemporary Fiction

Audio Publisher:  Penguin Random House Audio

Narrators:  Deepti Gupta, Kamran R. Khan, & Kausar Mohammad

Audio Length: 10 Hours, 24 Minutes

Print Publisher:  Razorbill

Print Length:  384 Pages

Source: Libro.fm

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  This is a very moving, but hard to read book.  I loved the characters, and hating when bad things happened to them.  Ultimately, this was a book about survival and had a hopeful ending.  I highly recommend it.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

In her first novel inspired by a true story, Jane Green re-imagines the life of troubled icon Talitha Getty in this transporting story from a forgotten chapter of the Swinging '60s
 
From afar Talitha's life seemed perfect. In her twenties, and already a famous model and actress, she moved from London to a palace in Marrakesh, with her husband Paul Getty, the famous oil heir. There she presided over a swirling ex-pat scene filled with music, art, free love and a counterculture taking root across the world.
 
When Claire arrives in London from her small town, she never expects to cross paths with a woman as magnetic as Talitha Getty. Yearning for the adventure and independence, she's swept off to Marrakesh, where the two become kindred spirits. But beneath Talitha's glamorous facade lurks a darkness few can understand. As their friendship blossoms and the two grow closer, the realities of Talitha's precarious existence set off a chain of dangerous events that could alter Claire's life forever.

Review:

When I think of the 1960's, what comes to mind are hippies, drugs, and rock & roll.  It was the rise of the young adult as the most sought after consumer.  In Sister Stardust, we see the 1960's through the eyes of  nineteen year-old Claire.  She's a young, innocent teen trying to make it in swinging London, when she gets caught up in the lifestyle of the most famous rock stars and jet setters of the era.  It's an intoxicating world of hedonism, rock music, sex, and lots and lots of drugs.   This book was really fun.  It was easy to see how Claire could be swept away to exotic Morocco where the party never stops.  I loved how Claire was figuring out who she was, but still remained herself throughout some pretty wild times.  This book would make a wonderful summer beach read, or listen.  With pitch-perfect narration by the talented Fiona Hardingham, I thoroughly loved every moment of it. 

What I Liked:

Setting:

Who wouldn't be drawn into the glamorous scene of rock stars and free love, especially when one has grown up in a repressive bland small village in Dorset, England.  At first, Claire is just excited to be an independent young woman in London.  While she started to have small moments of freedom, she was still subjected to the scrutiny of older adults.  From her employer who dehumanized her by only calling her by a number, to the matrons who ran the boarding house for young women, Claire was judged harshly if she ever stepped out of line.

When she meets a young man who has ties to the music business, she meets some of England's biggest rock stars who whisk her off to Morocco.  Marrakesh has become a haven for European expats who love the exotic city, and make it their personal playground.  Anything goes in the palace taken over by Paul and Talitha Getty, a real-life glamorous couple of the time.  There are parties, drugs, and orgies.  But many of the people are there to escape responsibility, and  the expectations of others.

Characters:

Claire is a wide-eyed innocent, but she is hardly a prude.  She is escaping the confinements of her life in England by saying yes to everything.  But she is also an astute observer of the other people in the Getty palace.  She quickly goes from being in awe of these famous rockstars to seeing them as regular people with flaws.  But she maintains her caring nature, always aware that this moment will be fleeting, so she better make the most of it.

The hostess of this non-stop party is Talitha Getty.  She is the stunningly glamorous Dutch wife of Paul Getty (son of the richest man in the world, at the time).  Claire immediately falls under Talitha's spell, and they soon become close friends (and maybe something more).  

One of the things that Claire and Talitha have in common is that both of their mothers died when each was a young girl.  Claire's mom was hit by a car, and Talitha's mother never got over being a prisoner in Java during WWII.  She, and her mother, faced starvation, beatings, and worse, in a Japanese prisoner camp.  And her mother never recovered.  

Maybe that is why Talitha medicates herself nightly with alcohol and drugs.   Claire is so mesmerized by Talitha that she starts to do (and take) anything Talitha tells her to.  This soon becomes a friendship with dangerous undertones.

Story:

This is a classic cautionary tale of the excesses of rock stars, and the jet-set.  Parties become orgies, people get precariously close to overdosing on drugs, and relationships are put to the test.  Claire never wants the party to stop.  But as things get more and more out of control, can will Claire be able to step away?

Narration:

I think Fiona Hardingham is my favorite audiobook narrator of all time!  Her crisp British accent is perfect for the young Claire.  But she can also do a credible cockney accent, or a laid back Dutch socialite.  Hardingham's performance brings so much to the enjoyment of the audiobook, that it is a treat to listen to. 

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  April 22nd, 2022

Author:  Jane Green

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Print Publisher:  Hanover Square Press

Page Length:  304 Pages

Audiobook Publisher:  Harlequin Audio

Narrator:  Fiona Hardingham

Audiobook Length: 8 Hours, 51 Minutes

Format:  Audiobook

Source:  Public Library

Recommendation:  This is an amazing book!  What everyone thinks the 60's were all about: Sex, Drug, and Rock-n-Roll.  This would make a fantastic summer read.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this audiobook from Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria

It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro "Prieto" Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's powerbrokers.

Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1%, but she can't seem to find her own...until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets...

Twenty-seven years ago, their mother, Blanca, a Young Lord-turned-radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.

Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream--all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

Review:

It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel.  With such a complete world, compelling characters, and a story set amid the backdrop of Hurricane Maria, this book pulled me in and wouldn't let me go.  Not that I wanted to.  I was really drawn to Olga as she must navigate the world knowing that her mother didn't feel that being a parent was important enough.  If only her mother would have actually left, Olga could have had a chance to move forward.  But, Blanca (her mom) keeps tabs on Olga and her brother, sending them letters criticizing them for not doing what she feels is important with their lives.  This sets up Olga, and her brother Pietro, for a lifetime of problems.  

I really loved Olga's extended family (especially her cousin Mabel), and all the layered family dramas that went with it.  But the story really focuses on Olga and Pietro.  Both are proud of their Puerto Rican heritage, but emotionally damaged by their mother's psychological manipulation.  Do they feel Puerto Rican, or American?  Can they be both?  Or and they neither?  With their mother constantly undermining their confidence, they are left confused and unable to find their own dreams.  This book looks at how we relate to our parents expectations.  How can Olga and Pietro ever realize their own dreams when their mom is cynically manipulating them for her own agenda?  

The production values on this audiobook were top notch.  There were several narrators, which enhanced the listening experience for the reader.  I would caution that there should be a trigger warning for sexual violence.  It really took me by surprise and was upsetting to listen about.  Although it was essential to the story, a heads-up would have been appreciated.  This was a deeply compelling book that I hope others will read.

What I Liked:

Characters:

Olga, although quite successful, is drifting through life.  As a wedding planner in New York, she works exclusively with wealthy families to plan over the top weddings.  This is grating, as she ignores subtle, passive racism, ("You work so hard for a Puerto Rican!"), but she powers through in order to achieve the comfortable lifestyle she has made for herself.  This is a not so subtle snub to her mother, who is all about power to the working class.  

But Olga is also a caring friend, who will drop everything for someone having a difficult time.  As far as romance is concerned, she adheres to her mother's advice not to rely on any man ("It's a trap!", her mom would say).  But that leaves Olga very much alone.

She often talks out her problems with her brother, Pietro.  Pietro is a U.S. Congressman, pursuing a path that he thinks his mother would approve of. But he is also holding on to a secret.  He's gay, and being blackmailed by corporate bigwigs.  Will he ever be able to do the work he and his mother want, to improve life for the people of Puerto Rico? While I understood that he didn't feel that his family or community would support him if they knew he was gay, I was a bit surprised that he didn't come out the moment he was being blackmailed.  It would have solved a lot of problems for the character.  But, I do know some people have a very hard time accepting their own feelings.  

Blanca is Olga and Pietro's mother.  The author did a good job of getting me to hate her, but also understand why she was not the mothering type.  Some people just aren't meant to be parents.  Usually, it's a man who runs out on his kids (not the case here).  But Blanca feels that motherhood, for her, is keeping her small.  She has big dreams for creating Puerto Rico's independence from the U.S., and children will only get in the way.  I would have had more empathy with Blanca if she didn't keep undermining her children's self-esteem.  By writing such damning letters at critical moments in Olga and Pietro's lives, she is claiming the rights of a parent without any of the responsibilities that go with it. 

Puerto Rico:

Puerto Rico could be considered one of the main characters in this book.  As the characters who live in New York keep saying, Puerto Ricans are American Citizens. But most mainland American's don't see them that way.  The people of Puerto Rico also see themselves as apart from the United States.  So Olga and Pietro are stuck.  They aren't American enough for some, but since they were raised in New York, they don't feel entirely part of the island, either.

This book also highlights some of the atrocious ways the United States has treated the Island over the last 200 years.  While they are Americans, they don't have any representation in Congress.  They have a Governor who is appointed, not elected, and don't have much of a say on how the island is run.  This was all too apparent during the crisis that occurred after Hurricane Maria. Even though I did follow this event when it happened, it was really eye-opening to read more about it. 

Trigger Warning for Sexual Violence

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  January 4, 2022

Author: Xóchitl González

Genre:  Literary Fiction

Audiobook Publisher:  Macmillan Audio

Audiobook Narrators:  Almarie Guerra, Armando Riesco, Inés del Castillo

Audiobook Length:  11 Hours, 22 Minutes

Print Publisher: Flatiron Books

Page Length:  384 Pages

Source:  Libro.fm

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  This is a strong debut about family expectations, and a person's hopes and dreams.  I highly recommend this book.

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Synopsis (from Goodreads):

It's the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them? 

Review:

I really enjoy mysteries, and the series called The Thursday Murder Club is quickly becoming a favorite.  The first book introduced us to a group of retirees who are not sitting quietly in an old folks home.  These four solve murders!  

The second book in the series, The Man Who Died Twice, continues the adventures of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron, as we learn a lot more about the people in this group.  What was hinted at in the first book is confirmed:  Elizabeth was a spy for MI-5!  This story encompasses murder, spying, and a healthy dose of personal antics on the part of the group.  I loved it.  

What I Liked:

Narration:

Leslie Manville does a superb job as the narrator of this series.  She knows how to show each character's personality and seems to have a lot of fun with the various British accents.  She also knows how to slowly build suspense, and this book gave her plenty of opportunities to do that.

Characters:

I read this book just as I was watching the latest season of The Great British Bake Off on Netflix.  So, when I read the book, I instantly equated several of the characters with people on that show.  Here are my picks for who should play the characters, should this become a television series:

Elizabeth:  The clear choice for the assertive former MI-5 spy of course is on of the judges, Prue Leith.  I love this character!  Elizabeth is a smart, no-nonsense former spy who is not content to sit on the sidelines, watching the world go by.  She wants to continue to solve crimes.  But she also has to (and wants to) take care of her husband who has dementia.

Joyce:  This character seems mild-mannered and quiet.  But Joyce has a lot more depth to her.  I see Val Stones from GBB Season 2016.  I loved Joyce's patience with the other members of the group.  And she is not one to be underestimated!  She often finds to solutions to problems the gang encounters.

Ibrahim:  Ibrahim is the quiet, introspective former psychiatrist.  Although he is way too young, I would love to see Rahul the winner of the 2018 season of Bake Off in the role.  Like Ibrahim, Rahul is very quiet and shy, but also very smart!

Story:

I really liked that we saw more of who the four main characters were, particularly such a complex character as Elizabeth.  She is both incredibly kind and amazingly brutal (when she needs to be).  While she is the epitome of the caring partner to her husband, she also has no qualms about putting her friends in danger, or even killing someone. 

Ibrahim is also quite a complicated character.  At the beginning of the book, Ibrahim is the victim of a crime.  This leaves him really shaken.  He begins to suffer from PTSD.  Now, Ibrahim is a retired psychiatrist, so he knows what is happening to him.  But that doesn't prevent his brain from suffering.  I really felt for this character, but also for his friends who have a hard time knowing how to help him. 

The murder, itself, is quite a who-done- it.  There are several possibilities, each stranger than the next.  It's quite a thrill ride to be sure.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  September 28, 2021

Author:  Richard Osman

Genre:  Mystery

Audio Publisher:  Penguin Audio

Audio Narrator:  Lesley Manville

Audio Length:  11 hours, 50 minutes

Print Publisher:  Penguin 

Print Length:  336 Pages

Review Format:  Audiobook

Source:  Random House Audio

Recommendation:  Start with the first book, and then dive into this fun mystery.  You will want to spend all your time with these wonderful pensioners.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The squad you love is out of time. Prepare for the thrilling finale in the epic, best-selling Aurora Cycle series about a band of unlikely heroes who just might be the galaxy's last hope for survival.

Is this the end?
What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course.
Wait. . . . Not. So. Fast.
When we last saw Squad 312, they working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally.
But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the te4am has one last chance to rewrite thirs. Maybe two. It's complicated.
Cue Zila, Fin, and Scarlett (and MAGELLAN!): making friends, making enemies, and making history? Sure, no problem
Cue Tyler, Kal, and Auri: uniting with two of the galaxy’s most hated villains? Um, okay. That, too.
Actually saving the galaxy, though?
Now that will take a miracle.

Review:

The end of a book series comes with mixed feelings.  We want to finally have all the character's problems resolved, but we're also sorry to see them go.  I have really enjoyed the Aurora Chronicles, but Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.  It has been a really fun series filled with diverse characters and lots of humor.  Listening to the audiobooks as been (mostly) delightful, as the voice actors who narrate are wonderfully expressive.  As I listened to the final book in the series, Aurora's End, I again loved the humor, the characters, and how it is wrapped up.  I was a little mixed about some of the sound quality of the audiobook.  Also, although this is an action series, the battle scenes go on for far too long.  This actually slowed the book down.  But, even with these caveats, I really enjoyed this book and found it to be a worthy finale to the series.

What I Liked:

Characters:

With six main characters, it would seem difficult to give each of them their due.  The book focused mostly on Tyler, Scarlett, Zila, and Fin.  I liked this because the other books were more centered on Aurora and Cal.  We learned so much more about how Zila thinks and why she is so reserved, in particular.  Zila is one of my favorite characters, and it was great to see her come out of her shell.  And there are major developments int the relationship between Scarlett and Fin!  Tyler shows a side of himself that is quite unexpected.  But as the story continues, one can see how this came to be.

Book Series Recap:

I so appreciate that then beginning of the book has a recap of what happened in the two previous books!  When you have book series, I often find that I need to re-read the previous books so I won't be lost when I read the next one.  But, the authors bring the reader up to date on what happened so you can jump into the action without thinking, "who was that person again", or "Why are they at that place"?  It makes the experience so much better.  I wish more authors would do this.

Story:

The story takes place over multiple timelines.  I think the authors did a wonderful job of keeping everything logical, so it was easy to follow.  Without giving too much away, the story shows some of the characters at different ages, and it's fun to see how they changed as they got older.

What I Was Mixed About:

Audiobook Quality:

While I enjoyed the overall quality of the audio narration, for some reason one of the voice actors sounded like they recorded their lines in a closet.  When Steve West (who plays Cal) spoke there were strange echos that were not part of the story.  Just the quality of the sounds made it clear to me that he recorded his part separately from the other actors.  Hearing Cal was something I was really look forward to.  But with the sound quality so off, it was all I could focus on.

What I Didn't Like:

Story: & Pacing:

The story meandered around with various battles, again and again and again.  Part of that was built into the structure of the book.  But beyond that, there were too many epic "Final" battles.  Some editing would have given the book a faster pace, which is what this novel needed. 

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  November 9th, 2021

Authors:  Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Genre:  YA Science Fiction

Audiobook Publisher:  Listening Library

Audiobook Narrators:  Kim Mai Guest, Jonathan McClain, Lincoln Hoppe, Donnabella Mortel, Jonathan Todd Ross,  Erin Spencer, Steve West

Audiobook Length:  15 hours, 6 Minutes

Print Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers

Book Length:  512 Pages

Source:  Penguin Audio

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  Even though the novel meandered around, there was still the signature humor and humanity in each character.  A worthy end to the sereis.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

From the co-creators and co-hosts of the Peabody- and Pulitzer-nominated podcast comes this unflinching, illuminating view of prison life, as told by presently and formerly incarcerated people.

The United States locks up more people per capita than any other nation in the world--600,000 each year and 2.3 million in total. The acclaimed podcast Ear Hustle, named after the prison term for eavesdropping, gives voice to that ever-growing prison population.

Co-created for the Radiotopia podcast network from PRX by visual artist Nigel Poor and inmate Earlonne Woods, who was serving thirty-one years to life before his sentence was commuted in 2018, Ear Hustle was launched in the basement media lab of California's San Quentin State Prison. As the first podcast created and produced entirely within prison, it has since been globally lauded for the rare access and perspective it contributes to the conversation about incarceration.

Now, in their first book, Poor and Woods present unheard stories that delve deeper into the experiences of incarceration and share their personal paths to San Quentin as well as how they came to be co-creators. This unprecedented narrative, enhanced by forty original black-and-white illustrations, reveals the spectrum of humanity of those in prison and navigating post-incarceration. Bringing to the page the same insight, balance, and charismatic rapport that has distinguished their podcast, Poor and Woods illuminate the full--and often surprising--realities of prison life. With characteristic candor and humor, their portrayals include unexpected moments of self-discovery, unlikely alliances, and many ingenious work-arounds. One personal narrative at a time, framed by Poor's and Wood's distinct perspectives, This Is Ear Hustle tells the real lived experience of the criminal justice system.

Review:

I have listened to the podcast of Ear Hustle (prison slang for gossip) for several years, and really appreciate what the podcast is trying to accomplish.  The podcast is made inside San Quentin State Prison, in the San Francisco Bay Area.  With raw language and topics ranging from food and music, to lockdowns to prison sex, this is an authentic portrayal of prison life.  It is it challenging to listen to at times, but it certainly opened my eyes as to the very human lives of those paying for their misdeeds.

This is Ear Hustle is the story of how the podcast came into existence.  It chronicles the lives of the two main creators of the podcast, artist Nigel Poor, and now former inmate Earlonne Woods.  I liked this book because of the honestly of the creators.  These are not saints, and they work hard to make sure that this is not a story filled with complaints or asking for pity.  They are just showing us on the outside how prison affects not only the offender, but their families as well.  But be warned:  there is a lot of raw, explicit language and descriptions of violence in this book.  If you have been a victim of a violent crime, I would think this might be a trigger, and you should not read  it.  But for others, I highly recommend this book.  

What I Liked:

Audiobook Narrators:

I really think if you want to read this book you should listen to it as an audiobook.  This book is narrated by the two hosts of the Ear Hustle podcast.  Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods have a wonderful rapport that I think would be tough to understand by just reading the words off the page.  Trusting others in prison is hard  and their easy banter masks years of work learning about each other, and understanding each other's motives. It's a really fascinating working relationship.

Impact of Prison on Families:

Regardless of how one feels about people in prison, one has to feel compassion towards the family members of the incarcerated.  While the children, partners, and parents of prisoners did nothing wrong, they are still paying the price of the prisoners poor life choices.  There's a lot of anger, guilt, and sadness playing out in these family dramas.  I was riveted by the stories of visiting loved ones in prison.  It's not a simple process, and families have to jump through a lot of hoops in order to spend any time with their people in prison.  It's especially hard on children.  I really felt for the mothers who have to bring their kids to a prison in order to see their fathers. 

Humanity of Prisoners:

Generally speaking, the hosts of the podcasts do not share how their interviewees got to prison.  While their goal is not to gloss over the crimes that were committed, they feel that divulging that information would cloud the interview.  I agree.  The podcast and book simply show what prison life is like.  It's up to the reader to identify with the prisoners humanity, or not.  I would say that prisoners do pay a heavy price for their crimes.  Loss of any control on their lives, restrictions on how they spend their day, and limited access to their families are just a few of the ways the prisoners lives have changed.  But prison can also bring order to the chaotic lives of the prisoners, which some find helpful so they can reevaluate their life choices.  

What I Was Mixed About:

While I liked the book very much, I felt like something was missing from the topics in the book.  There is only one section on the impact of crime victims.  Yes, I know that this book is focused on the prisoners.  But I would have appreciated some acknowledgment of how their crimes have impacted the victims of their criminal activity.  I know this is not the goal of the book, and that is why it was mostly left out.  But, if I am being honest with myself, it would have made it easier for me to connect with the prisoners if I knew they understood and had remorse for how they hurt their victims.  

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  October 19th, 2021

Authors:  Nigel Poor & Earlonne Woods

Audio Publisher:  Random House Audio

Audio Length:  10 Hours, 18 Minutes

Narrators:  Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods,  & Lt. Sam Robinson

Print Publisher:  Crown Publishing Group

Book Length:  304 Pages

Genre:  Non-Fiction

Recommendation:  This is a hard-hitting account of life in prison and gives valuable insights into the challenges that inmates face.  I highly recommend this book.

Please Note:  I received an advance audio copy of this novel from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

’m crawling around on the bathroom floor, picking up pieces of myself. These pieces are not a metaphor. They are actual pieces.

Twenty years after the publication of her iconic Shutterbabe, we re-meet Deborah Copaken at her darkly comedic nadir: battered, broke, divorcing, dissected, and dying—literally—on sexism’s battlefield as she deliriously scoops up what she believes to be her internal organs, which have fallen out of her body, into a glass Tupperware container before heading off to the hospital for emergency surgery . . . in an UberPool.

Part cri de coeur cautionary tale, part dystopian tragicomedy, Ladyparts is Copaken’s irreverent inventory of both the female body and the body politic of womanhood in America. With her journalist’s eye, her novelist’s heart, and her performer’s sense of timing, she provides a frontline account of one woman brought to her knees by the one-two-twelve punch of divorce, solo motherhood, lack of healthcare, unaffordable childcare, shady landlords, her father’s death, college tuitions, sexual harassment, corporate indifference, ageism, sexism, and just plain old bad luck. Plus seven serious illnesses, one on top of the other, which provide the book’s narrative skeleton: vagina, uterus, breast, heart, cervix, brain, and lungs. She keeps bouncing back from each bum body part and finding the black humor in every setback, but in her slippery struggle to survive a steep plunge off the middle-class ladder, she is suddenly awoken to what it means to have no safety net.

Turning her Harlem home into a commune to pay rent and have childcare, she trades her life as a bestselling novelist to apply for full-time corporate gigs that come with health insurance but often not scruples. She gets fired from a health magazine for being unhealthy; laid off from a PR firm for rushing home to deal with a child’s medical emergency; and sexually harassed out of her newspaper column, only to be grilled by the FBI when her harasser is offered a plum job in the White House.

Side-splittingly funny one minute, a freak horror show the next, and quintessentially American, Ladyparts is an era-defining memoir for our time.

Review:

I find reviewing memoirs to be a bit difficult.  How do you review someone's life?  But I will say that author Deborah Copaken has filled this book with humor, and brutal honesty.  She also raises important issues about corporate culture, healthcare in America, and in particular, women's health issues.  At times the author uses shocking imagery to demonstrate just how disgusting it is to have reproductive organs.  But then she also shows the immense power that we have to create life.  I listened to the audiobook version of this book, narrated by the author, herself.

What I Liked:

Narration:

Who better to narrate this memoir than the person who wrote it!  Deborah Copaken does a terrific job of using her voice to evoke the raw emotions of some truly traumatic events.  She was the perfect choice to narrate this book.

Honest Portrayals:

The author spends the first part of the memoir discussing how her marriage collapsed, which I didn't particularly enjoy.  But it's a set up for the meat of the book, which is how it is to be a single parent scrounging for health insurance in New York City.  Her whole mission in life is about making sure she has health insurance.  This may seem extreme to those of us who have good health coverage.  But for many people, it is a very real struggle.  This means taking jobs where she is over-qualified, or severely under-paid in order to get that all important health benefit.  And often, Copaken must compromise her values, as when she worked for a pharmaceutical company, using her writing skills to push medicines.  

She is also honest about dating and sex as a single person.  She makes no apologies for needing the human contact that sexual encounters provide.  And she finds a way to do that without the entanglements of a committed relationship.  But she didn't start out with those expectations.  She shows the process, which is often filled with wrong turns and heartbreak.  

Women's Health Issues:

The author has had some truly horrible health issues to deal with.  She's starts out having a hysterectomy, and then many things go wrong.  I can't begin to spell all the procedures she has had to endure, but, if you read the book, she describes them in graphic detail.  As many woman know all too well, Copaken's symptoms were often dismissed by her doctors, and her concerns were not addressed.  At times, their neglect brought her to the brink of death.  

While this may seem unappealing to read about, I found learning about her health issues to be instructive.  It also goes to show you that people really need to advocate for themselves (and bring a back up person to assist).   Copaken often does everything right, but still has issues with the quality of her care.  A bit depressing to be sure, but I also admired her determination to get what she needed from her doctors.

Healthcare in America:

The heart of the book is about why it's such a bad idea to tie healthcare to employment.  As a freelance writer, Deborah Copaken has been quite successful and has made a reputation for herself as a strong advocate for women.  But as successful as she has been in her career, she has struggled over the years to find adequate health coverage.  When you have children who need checkups, shots, and so forth, and you also have significant health issues, this becomes the number one consideration in accepting a job.  What I find sad for Copaken is how much more could she had achieved if she didn't need to worry about healthcare coverage.  Think of what we are losing from our Creatives in American society because they are shackled by this burden.

What I was Mixed About:

As much as I liked this memoir, I do have a bone to pick with how she discussed her ex-husband.  Her ex-husband was diagnosed with high-functioning Autism (what we used to call Asperger's Syndrome).  And this colors all of her commentary about whey the marriage failed.  I didn't like that she blamed all of their problems on Autism.  She even had statistics to make the point that (apparently) most marriages between neuro-typical people and people with Autism end in divorce.  Perhaps that's true, but I also think each situation is unique.  She mostly focused on the fact that her emotional needs weren't being met by her husband.  But she never addresses if she was meeting his needs.  Obviously, these two weren't compatible over the long-term.  And she shows how she really made an effort to be understanding of his personality.  But it still troubled me that she blamed the end of their marriage on something her ex had no control over.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  August 3rd, 2021

Author:  Deborah Copaken

Narrator:  Deborah Copaken

Print Publisher:  Random House

Page Length:  480 Pages

Audio Book Publisher:  Penguin Random House Audio

Audio Length:  16 hours, 37 minutes

Genre:  Memoir

Source:  Penguin Random House Audio

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  I found this memoir to be very powerful, and I highly recommend it.  

Please Note:  I received an advance audio copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Review:

I listened to The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, as part of my book club, but also because I received a copy through Penguin Random House Audio's reviewers program.  I didn't quite know what to expect.  Was the story a fantasy, or a contemporary fiction?  It was all that and more.  

As a young woman lingers between life and death, she is transported into "The Midnight Library" where she can reflect about how her choices shaped her life.  She is given opportunities to open new "books" of her life, where she makes different choices, to see if she would rather life that life.  She's a scientist, a rock star, married with kids, married without kids, and everything in between.

Is this really happening?  Or is this just her mind cycling through many fleeting thoughts as she is dying?  We don't really know.  I found this book to be a thoughtful reflection on depression, our life choices, and the regrets we all feel.  It was also really fun to see the different versions of Nora, and the unintended consequences of her decisions.

What I Liked:

Narrator:

Carey Mulligan adds so much as the story's narrator.  This novel centers around a British woman, so having her lovely accent made Nora a much more believable person to me as a listener.  Plus, Milligan is very good at acting out all the characters.  There are different versions of many of the people in Nora's life.  But I never felt confused by all the characters.  She made each one come to life.

Premise:

If you could make different life choices, would you?  What if you had said yes to that person who wanted to meet for coffee?  What if you had pursued that dream of being a musician?  On the surface, Nora likes the idea that her life would have been better if only she had made different decisions.  Since her current life seems very bleak, this also only reinforces the guilt she feels that she is responsible for her misery, and also for her brother's messed up life.  Filled with so much regret, it's no wonder she is depressed.

Themes:

As Nora tries out different versions of her life, she see that not only her story has changed, but the people in her life also have different outcomes. But is she responsible or are they?  This theme of responsibility, and accountability, continues throughout the book.  It seemed to me that she was certainly responsible for her own choices, but never had control of how others reacted. 

There was message that although the grass is always greener in your neighbor's yard, no life is perfect.  Every life Nora chose had good points and bad.  Even in situations where Nora seems to "have it all", she deals with pressures, and disappointments. She also starts to realize that maybe her first life wasn't all bad.  

Characters:

Nora is a woman dealing with depression, and is full of regrets.  At the start of the book, she can't help but feel her life is beyond repair.  She blames herself for everything that has gone wrong with her life, and for any bad thing that her loved ones experience.  With so much unhappiness and guilt, it's not surprising she considers suicide.  As she considers all the different lives she could have, I found myself empathizing with Nora.  Haven't we all thought "if only" we had made more of an effort, our lives would be better?  I think we all have those thoughts at various moments.

Multiple Life Stories:

I loved all the different versions on Nora's life.  Who doesn't dream of being a rock star?  Or an Olympic champion?  Or living a quiet life as a winemaker (okay, maybe that is just a California dream)?  Each story was compelling as Nora has to first, figure out where she is, and what her new life is like.  How does she do this?  Mr. Google, of course!  But, often, she pops into another life right in the middle of something important.  I really enjoyed the story where Nora was a rock star. She jumps into that life on stage, in the middle of a performance!  This sounds like an anxiety dream (nightmare) I often have!  

The stories also show that each life comes with a set of challenges that never let her be completely happy all the time.  There are always problems.  How you deal with them is what determines if you can remain satisfied with your life, or not.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  September 29th, 2020

Author:  Matt Haig

Audio Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio

Audio Narrator:  Carey Mulligan

Audio Length:   8 Hours, 50 Minutes

Print Publisher:  Viking Press

Page Length:  288 Pages

Source:  Penguin Random House Audio

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  I truly entertaining novel.  This was fun, but also bittersweet and thoughtful.  I highly recommend this book.