Quick Lit June 2021 Archives

Parable of the Sower

by Octavia Butler

I revisited this modern classic for the first time in over a decade this month! I'm stunned once again by how modern Butler's 1993 dystopian novel feels today. This series—a planned trilogy that was never completed—is the most realist of Butler's fiction. The setting is California, 2026, where a Black teenager named Lauren struggles for survival in a world gone to pieces, ravaged by climate change and drug abuse of epidemic proportions. Despite the overwhelming and terrifying obstacles she faces, Lauren isn't ready to give up yet, and bands together with a group of fellow travelers to head north in search of rumored safety, with the hopes of founding a colony for her Earthseed religion. Utterly gripping, and a great introduction to Butler's work.

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

From the publisher: "Best-selling author Alexandre Dumas—who also wrote The Three Musketeers—tells this heartbreaking yet heroic tale of Edmond Dantes who takes revenge on the men responsible for his unjust fourteen-year imprisonment, keeping him from the woman he loved and the life he was supposed to live. The Count of Monte Cristo is a must-have for any home library or literary aficionado." The companion audiobook narrated by Bill Homewood has an impressive 4.7 rating! Meredith surprised me by raving about this on episode 11 of What Should I Read Next, because I'd always thought of it as a dry, dusty classic. Since then I've discovered lots of her fellow readers who adore it. They describe it as a darn good story, about a man thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit and his quest for retribution.

Father of the Rain

by Lily King

Vanity Fair calls King's breakout novel "A story of high drama in the court of Nixon-era New England aristocracy . . . You won't be able to stop reading this book, but when you do finally finish the last delicious page and look up, you will see families in a clearer and more forgiving way."

Morningside Heights: A Novel

by Joshua Henkin

From the publisher: "When Ohio-born Pru Steiner arrives in New York in 1976, she follows in a long tradition of young people determined to take the city by storm. But when she falls in love with and marries Spence Robin, her hotshot young Shakespeare professor, her life takes a turn she couldn't have anticipated. Thirty years later, something is wrong with Spence. The Great Man can't concentrate; he falls asleep reading The New York Review of Books. With their daughter, Sarah, away at medical school, Pru must struggle on her own to care for him. One day, feeling especially isolated, Pru meets a man, and the possibility of new romance blooms. Meanwhile, Spence's estranged son from his first marriage has come back into their lives. Arlo, a wealthy entrepreneur who invests in biotech, may be his father's last, best hope."

Anne of Manhattan

by Brina Starler

Even though numerous readers I trust gave this ode to L.M. Montgomery’s classic three stars, I couldn't resist seeing for myself. In this Anne of Green Gables update set at Manhattan's fictional Redmond College, Anne is shocked when her old nemesis Gilbert Blythe appears in her class on the first day of school. She didn't know he'd transferred from Berkley to be closer to his ailing father after his cancer diagnosis—and if he gets to pick up where he left off with his longtime redheaded crush, so much the better. I enjoyed seeing how Starler updated these familiar characters for the 21st century (I wanted more of the heavily-tattooed Fred Wright!), but I'd hoped for a more robust plot. The audio version is highly listenable as narrated by Carly Robins.

The Hollow Inside

by Brooke Lauren Davis

From the publisher: "Seventeen-year-old Phoenix has spent much of her life drifting from town to town with her mom Nina, using their charms to swindle and steal to get by. Now they've made it to their ultimate destination, Mom's hometown of Jasper Hollow. The plan: bring down Ellis Bowman, the man who ruined Nina's life. When Phoenix gets caught spying on Ellis, she spins a convincing story that inadvertently gives her full access to the Bowman family. As she digs deeper into their secrets (and begins to fall for daughter Melody), she finds herself entrenched in the tale of a death and a disappearance that doesn't entirely line up with what Mom has told her. But there's even more to this story Phoenix doesn't know. Who, if anyone, is telling the whole truth about what happened? Debut author Brooke Lauren Davis explores the murkiness of right and wrong, of choices and consequences, of heroes and villains, in an eerily compelling and thought-provoking small-town saga."

Mend the Living

by Maylis de Kerangal

From the publisher: "In the depths of a winter's night, the heart of Simon Limbeau is resting, readying itself for the day to come. In a few hours' time, just before six, his alarm will go off and he will venture into the freezing dawn, drive down to the beach, and go surfing with his friends. A trip he has made a hundred times and yet, today, the heart of Simon Limbeau will encounter a very different course. But for now, the black-box of his body is free to leap, swell, melt and sink, just as it has throughout the years of Simon's young life. 5.50 a.m. This is his heart. And here is its story."

Broken Horses: A Memoir

by Brandi Carlile

I've long enjoyed Brandi Carlile's music but knew nothing about her personal life (unless the simple fact that she's one of The Highwomen counts). I was on the fence about trying this one, but I'm so glad I did: the audio was superb. Each chapter flows beautifully into a song—or more often, two. Because Carlile draws heavily from her life experience when writing lyrics, this format works beautifully: her stories leave you hungry to hear the music, which often captures the experience she just wrote about in prose. After talking to numerous friends and fellow readers, I'd be inclined to pass this up in print, but the audio version was exceptional. So you know what to expect: the last 90 minutes of the audiobook consists of all those songs together, as a bonus chapter.

Quick Lit June 2021