Three books I've read recently.
Last Night in Montreal is a novel by Emily St. John Mandel, whom I mentioned in Tuesday's article about authors I'm obsessed with.
When Lilia was a small child, her father kidnapped her in the middle of the night and drove her across the Canadian border into the United States. They spent the next decade driving together, criss-crossing the US over and over, never staying in any one place for long, frequently changing their car, their appearances, and their names, fleeing the investigator undoubtedly following them.
When Lilia was sixteen, her father met someone with whom he wanted to settle down, but Lilia was restless. Life on the road was all she knew; it's what felt normal and right to her. And so she went off on her own, but checking in regularly with her father and his new wife.
Last Night is a story about secrets and obsession, and about how they destroy lives. Chapters set in the current time alternate with chapters from the past. Questions—such as, why did Lilia's father take her away?—remain unanswered until the very end of the book. Although everything is wrapped up in the end, this is not a story with a happy ending. It's a masterfully-written book that will haunt you.
The Book of Delights is a project by Ross Gay, a challenge he gave himself, to spend a year writing a daily essay about something something delightful. The result is a collection of 102 essays.
I wish I could say this book was a delight to read. Some of the essays are nice, and a few are legitimately delightful. The one I like best is #87, "Loitering."
But my disillusionment with the book came early. Essay #17 was about a very disturbing dream Gay had. If he had just mentioned the disturbing part and moved on, it wouldn't have been so bad. But he repeated the phrase (including the verb f***ing followed by the person you'd be most ashamed of doing that to) four more times.
In fact, several of the essays were ruined for me by the repetition of objectionable words. If use of distasteful words is not your cup of tea, you'd be better off skipping this one.
Life as a Teenage Superhero by John Bucholtz. I'm not particularly into the whole superhero genre, but I loved this book. It is the "Episode 1 Pilot" for the series The Guardian Chronicles.
High school student Corey McGregor notices on returning home from school that his dad's car is in the driveway. That's good, because he has some exciting news to tell him. But as he gets closer to the front door, he realizes it is splintered and hanging from one hinge. He enters the house calling and searching for his dad, but no one answers—his dad is not there.
He hears footfalls downstairs and goes to investigate, and finds someone dressed as Shoto, a villain from a comic book he follows. Shoto knows who has taken his father and promises to help, though Cory doesn't believe he can trust the villain. Shoto leaves and is replaced by Slipstream and Blur, two heroes from the PLH—the Pacific League of Heroes. They promise Cory they'll protect him and find his father.
They also tell him a secret—his father works for the PLH.
There are more secrets and surprises revealed throughout the fast-paced, action-packed book. Sometimes the bad guys seem undefeatable, and there are tragic setbacks, but comic relief grants us respites, and the ending vindicates Cory. I read this on the Kindle app on my phone at my husband's physical therapy appointments. Totally worth the read, for readers ages 10-110.
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