Book Reviews From the Vault: The Atomic City Girls

I had a lot of mixed reactions while reading The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard. Find out what elements made me feel this way.

Once in a blue moon, there comes a book that is misleading. It directs readers on a different path that the one it promises to go on. However, if the book is written well, readers can easily look pass that flaw. We will examine this notion with The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard.

When hearing the title, The Atomic City Girls, one can assume that it is about everyday women working in Atomic City (aka Oak Ridge, Tennessee) during World War II, right? Well, it is true that the story takes place in Atomic City, but it focuses on TWO WOMEN and TWO MEN – the women being June Walker – an 18-year-old country girl – and Cici Roberts – June’s roommate who tries to find a wealthy husband. The men are Sam Cantor – an alcoholic Brooklyn Jewish physicist who oversees the lab that June works at – and Joe Brewer – an African-American construction worker. June and Sam have a turbulent affair, and there is also a security breach.

In addition, when readers think of Atomic City, they would think of the atomic bomb and the debate about its justification as discussed in beginning philosophy classes. Well, this novel barely does that. In fact, it barely shows the women working on the parts that would make up the bomb. I get that Beard was trying to emphasis the social aspects of working in Atomic City, yet it would have made more sense to have the characters question their work more so than they actually do. Characters also barely talk about the bomb’s moral implications. Whenever they do, it is mainly black or white. Even Glass Houses by Louise Penny had far more interesting discussions on the notion of sacrificing people as a way to save more lives with the Coventry Blitz conspiracy. Beard could have had the characters discuss the complex implications about the bomb, yet she decided to show most of them have soap-opera-like drama.

Moreover, some other characters can be interpreted as shallow. Here is an indicator of how flat and insipid they could be. Throughout the novel, Sam bonds with a minor character named Max about their dissonance with dropping the atomic bomb. However, during the novel’s second half, Sam is shocked to find out that Max, despite his stance against the bomb, believes that it was always inevitable that the United States would still drop it on Japan. Sam is so furious to hear about this that he calls Max a liar! What? I think Sam was drunk, but why does the book have to treat grey area as appalling? Most debates are hardly black or white.

There was also an overemphasis on some characters, specifically Joe. I completely understand why Beard created Joe. She wanted to demonstrate the differences in class and race treatment at Oak Ridge. The book hypes up Joe as an important part of the story, for its summary says this:

“Across town, African-American construction worker Joe Brewer knows nothing of the government’s plans, only that his new job pays enough to make it worth leaving his family behind, at least for now. But a breach in security will intertwine his fate with June’s search for answers.”

If one actually decides to read it, they will find that Joe’s story only overlaps with the others towards the last third, and that lasts about 5-10 pages tops. I comprehend that it was the author’s intention to deliberately segregate Joe from the rest of the main characters. I honestly wanted to care about Joe’s subplot, yet his story felt like it belonged in a different book. It also did not help that I barely cared for the characters involved with his story because I only wanted to see how he interacted with June, Sam, and Cici, and that barely happened.

Despite the misguiding, this novel had some interesting characters, especially June and Cici. June starts off as a naïve country girl who initially presses a button as part of her work and later becomes a secretary to Sam. Overtime, she learns the purpose of her work and becomes more confident about herself, and she even expresses conflicting thoughts about the bomb. Cici is probably the most developed character out of the main four. She acts like a Southern Belle, but she is really a sharecropper’s daughter trying to marry into money, and she will stop at nothing. Even though her actions can easily be interpreted as villainess, readers will know exactly what her motivations and circumstances are. Spoiler alert: she does get her comeuppance in the epilogue.

In addition, I enjoyed the research. I liked the effort that Beard put into making Atomic City and the people accurate. This is especially true in the beginning of the book when June is first introduced to the lab that she would be working in, its dress codes, and the security clearances that she has to go through. The book also contains photographs taken in Atomic City while the Manhattan Project was still going on as well as a timeline of the project that coincides with the story’s events. Too bad I did not read the physical copy.

I listened to the audiobook, which was voiced by award winning audiobook narrator Xe Sands. Sands does a great job at giving distinctive voices to June and Cici. With June, she gives a whispering kind of voice that grows confident over the course of the book and enough twang that is not stereotypical. With Cici, Sands provides true Southern Belle charm with her sophisticated husky vocalization, which sucked me into her despite her evil ways. While Sands does a good job at voicing Sam, I did not find much distinction with Joe. Joe almost sounded like every other male character besides Sam. Maybe that is the reason why I could not connect with his story.

Overall, The Atomic City Girls is not the worst historical fiction novel that I have ever read, yet it is not the best. I admire the research that Beard put into it and the developed characters, but those are the real distractions from the 1940s soap opera that plays out with most of them. It also does not help that I felt misled while listening to it and that some characters and plot points were overemphasized. If I were to recommend this book, I would suggest it to people who are interested in World War II, specifically the involvement of everyday women and the making of the atomic bomb. Preferably, I would advise people to read The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan. At least, that book actually focuses on the WOMEN and THEIR WORK in Atomic City.

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The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America Book Review

Imagine waking up on a spring morning. What is the first thing you hear besides your alarm? It will probably be a bird chirping or trilling. At first, it sounds pretty pleasant, maybe even lovely, but sometimes, the bird’s calls will become so annoying that you would want to send your cat outside just to shut it up. This is the feeling that I got when I read The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America by Matt Kracht – a parody of bird identification guides. This love-hate relationship rubbed off on me in a very good way as he provides information on and relates to the birds that he mocks.

The book is divided up into seven sections: how to use this book, the birds, tips for watching birds, four seasons of bird watching, extinct species, bird feeders, and keep your own bird journal. Each part is pretty informative, which balances out the belittling Kracht does against these flying creatures. 

The biggest and funniest section is the one about the birds themselves. Kracht devotes two pages to each bird. These contain a funny name, a description, and a wonderfully rough sketched illustration of the bird done by the author himself. The love-hate relationship shines the most in the names that the author gives to them. Kracht states in the first section that he identifies the birds not based on physical traits, but on who they are on the inside. The best example of this is for the crows, in which he labels them as “Damn Crows”, and the description is mainly how they just go caw caw caw all day.

Another hilarious section of the book is the four seasons of bird watching. This features maps of North America during spring, summer, fall, and winter. Each map shows the reader where the birds reside. For instance, the stuck-up coastal birds will stay in the eastern United States, while those dangerous and evil loons mainly reside in Canada.

If I have to nitpick on one thing, it would be how the names that Kracht gives to the birds can become predictable pretty quickly. A lot of them involve butt, sh*t, and stupid, yet some of them are justified like with the Eastern and Western Kingbutts (Kingbirds) because of how they always have their backs straightened like a king looking down on his people. 

All in all, The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America by Matt Kracht is a love-hate letter to bird watching. It is clear that the author is extremely knowledgeable with the subject and genuinely wants to help other bird watchers (or birders if you want to be specific). At the same time, he knows that these animals can be extremely annoying in one way or another, so what better way to make fun of them than a parody on bird guides! I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy bird watching, those who would like to go into that hobby, and to those who have a lot of birds in their backyard. 

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Book Reviews From the Vault: Richville, Another Tale of Travail and Treachery

This novel was a challenge in a way that I never would have expected. When I work on reviews, I usually look at what other people have said on Goodreads and Amazon. However, no one has evaluated this book, and this remains true to this very day. So enjoy the very first review of Richville, Another Tale of Travail and Treachery by Robert C. Jones.

Full disclosure: The author of the book that I am about to review is a patron at the library that I work at. All of the opinions stated in this review are solely mine.

For all of my book reviews up until this point, I read what other people have posted to gather up and solidify up what I think of them. However, this review will be unique since no other person has discussed the book Richville, Another Tale of Travail and Treachery by Robert C. Jones online. In other words, I will be the first to review this Hallmark-movie-for-older-people book.

The plot revolves around a group of people in the town of Richville as they try to find the culprit who has assaulted some of its members and has stolen valuable items, especially America’s first silver dollar coin and a teapot engraved by Paul Revere. This book is the second installment in a trilogy. The first book is titled Birth of a Tradition: Tales and Travails From Rural Richville. This is not the first time that I read the second novel in a series before the first (to be fair I had no idea that The Daughters of Ireland by Santa Montefiore was part of a trilogy until I did some research).

This is the best that I can summarize the story since the plot is slightly hard to follow, for it focuses more on the characters. However, I can easily look pass that because there are so many colorful characters. Most of the them are given a backstory even if they are not all that important to the story itself. Some of their backstories even take up an entire chapter.

The characters that stood out to me were Petey Snodgrass Jr, Malcomb Baldridge, and the members of Thank Goodness I’m Alive and Kicking Club. Petey is the main protagonist. He is a complete history nerd (shy and awkward in all) as well as the town scholar who believes that the past should be revered and that traditions should be maintained. Outside of those traits and beliefs, he is sort of bland and sometimes gets lost in the character shuffle. On the other hand, he was probably written that way to allow readers to put themselves into his shoes. In that sense, I can relate to Petey since I am a history nerd myself.

Malcomb is the 90-ish man who lives on the outskirts of the town and comes from a family that steals various valuable items. He stood out to me because after getting caught stealing and sent to jail for two years, he tries to redeem himself in the eyes of the community by returning some of the stolen goods. At the same time, he also wants to restore and renew the family’s reputation with his three great-granddaughters. Through all of this, Malcomb goes back and forth on the decisions he has made in the past, especially if he could have been the one to end that streak.

Then there are the members of the Thank Goodness I’m Alive and Kicking Club, who are essentially the seven dwarves from Snow White. Each are defined by a trait like one is grumpy, another one is romantic, and there is one who farts a lot. Yep, farting is a character trait in this book! To be fair, there are some people that I know who have uncontrollable gas, so it checks out. I like seeing these members interact with each other whenever they show up because I know that they are going to clash one way or another with hilarious results.

There are two reasons why I said the book was essentially a Hallmark movie for older people. One is that like many Hallmark movies, especially the holiday ones, the book contains lot of melodrama, favors idealism, and has a rose-tinted narrative. The latter two are exemplified by the novel’s love of anything pertaining to Richville’s past like the festival that has gone on for over fifty years. The other reason is that most of the older people (50 or older) are more traditional in their thinking, particularly when it comes to the past, and are do-gooders. Basically, they are the heroes. Even Petey, who is supposed to be 40, has a worldview similar to the elders of the town. On the other hand, most of the younger people are categorized as rambunctious, mischievous, and intending to do harm onto the community. In other words, they are the villains. This is especially true with Malcomb’s great-granddaughters, yet they do bicker amongst each other on how to get the information regarding certain objects. It always amuses me whenever the villains get into arguments with one another. However, Malcomb is in his 90s, and he is just as mischievous as his great-granddaughters. For the most part, the book idealizes old people and their values and stereotypes the young people as threats to said values.

Overall, I would recommend this book to older readers, especially those who value the preservation of the past. I feel that younger readers might not like the book as much because there is a lot of exposition, not a whole lot of action, and has portrayals of young characters in a mainly negative light. However, I will not discourage young people from reading it. Keep in mind that is the second book in a trilogy. I hope to see how the next book Richville: A Chance For Redemption In a Town Without Pity unfolds and to take a look at the first one to provide more context.

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Once Upon A River Book Review

Every now and then, I will read a book that is good in every way but one. That aspect will bug me so much that it makes me like the overall book less. This is a dear shame, yet I cannot excuse that element. This is the case of Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield.

Once Upon a River begins on Winter Solstice in 1870s-1880s England. On that day, as people tell stories at an ancient inn near the river Thames, a wounded man holding a still little girl bursts into the building. After some time, the girl miraculously comes back to life, but no one knows who she is, where she came from, and who she belongs to. Three families believe that she is theirs. They are a wealthy family whose daughter was kidnapped two years ago, a farming family who recently found out about their eldest son’s liaison and believe the girl is their granddaughter, and the parson’s housekeeper, who believes she is her sister. Heartbreak occurs as the girl cannot be everyone’s. Secrets among the families are revealed before the identity of the girl is known.

Let me start with what I adore about this novel. I enjoy that it is a fairy tale. In a lot of those stories, the impossible happens, and there is always a happy ending. Once Upon A River has the girl who is brought back to life, and it has several happy endings, but they are not what you think. It is disappointing that some reviewers had to warn others that it is a fairy tale like it is a bad thing. Fairy tales are not just for children. They touch everybody regardless of age.

I also liked how Setterfield effectively weaves all the stories into one common thread. This is especially true as it is revealed that one character actually brings all of the families together, and it is not the girl. Reviewers are also correct that it jumps from one character to another, but I was able to follow it all like how a river meanders and flows into one way.

Now here is the part that rubbed me the wrong way. Setterfield likes to be verbose. There were plenty of instances, in which something that could easily be described with one sentence was detailed with at least one paragraph. It was as if she liked to hear the sound of her own voice. This really irked me because as she would go on, I would think, “Ok, get on with the story!”

It did not help that my frustration with this digression occurred at the beginning, in which Setterfield would mainly talk about the power of stories and storytelling. The beginning is often where many readers form their opinions about the book, whether they are doing it consciously or not. All in all, Setterfield’s habit of doing this was the lone aspect of Once Upon A River that prevented me from voting for it for Best Historical Fiction in the 2019 Goodreads Awards.

This is such a shame because Juliet Stevenson – an English actress from films like “Truly, Madly, Deeply”, “Emma”, and “Bend it Like Beckham” – narrates the book, and she does a wonderful job! Even though there are some male characters that that sounded very similar, most characters are fully realized voice-wise. Stevenson really shines when she is voicing characters with truly distinct personalities like Lily White, the timid housekeeper; her cruel and controlling step-brother Victor; the noble Robert Armstrong, a biracial farmer who has managed to make a living despite the prejudice he has encountered; and Jonathan, the innocent son of the innkeeper who has Down’s Syndrome (even though it is not referred to that way).

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield moves like a gently flowing river. For every tributary it encounters, the story immediately blends it in with the main theme with both ultimately following one path. However, it is too impressed with its storytelling abilities, which made me enjoy it less. If I were to recommend it, I would do so for readers who like fairy tales and gothic fiction as well as to people who have read Setterfield’s previous books like The Thirteenth Tale. However, I would give this warning when referring unfamiliar readers to this novel, and that is to be patient. It likes to meander up its own source, especially at the beginning. If you are able to go with the flow, then you might like it more than I did.

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Book Reviews From the Vault: Buy My Book, Not Because You Should, But Because I’d Like Some Money

I get a lot of requests to review books by various authors. Buy My Book: Not Because You Should, But Because I’d Like Some Money by John Marszalkowski was my favorite because it was the very first inquiry I got. It also helped me to open more doors in the book reviewing industry, and I could not be more thankful. It brings me a great pleasure to say these words again: and now for something completely different: a memoir written by an average person with an average life so far with a non-linear structure.

When one reads a memoir, it is usually written by a celebrity or a person who’s had an extraordinary life, and it has a beginning, middle, and end. But has anyone read a memoir written by an average person with an average life so far with a non-linear structure? Has one ever thought that this was possible? John Edward Marszalkowski has successfully filled that gap with his humorous, self-deprecating debut book Buy My Book, Not Because You Should, But Because I’d Like Some Money.

As a father with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and co-host of the podcast “Who Are We to Podcast?”, Marszalkowski describes his experiences with and opinions about work, life, politics, finance, the fifth dimensions, etc. But don’t expect that he wrote this book for the readers (well he did that to a certain degree). He mainly wrote it to get his life story out there.

I did not know what to expect when I first received this book. In fact, when I found out about this book, my fiancé thought that it was about finance. And boy, we were wrong to a certain degree.

While reading it, I never knew what to expect from each page, yet the more I read it, the more I was excited to see what was going to unfold. I mean, there is an entire chapter written in German; I tried to decipher some of it thanks to my four years of German in high school. Furthermore, there is an entire chapter written by Steve Keiller – one of Marszalkowski’s dearest friends and the other co-host of “Who Are We to Podcast?” – because he wanted to. It was as if Marszalkowski imagined himself as the announcer from Monty Python’s Flying Circus saying, “And now for something completely different” before each chapter started, or maybe in the case of the German chapter, “Und jetzt für etwas völlig verscheiden”. Additionally, most of the chapters end with a worksheet that reflects on what was discussed. I could not have asked for a more engaging book than this.

This all works because the non-linear structure allows Marszalkowski’s ADHD to ramble all over the place. As another reviewer mentioned, each chapter is its own standalone segment. This permits readers to jump around as much as they want to or to read it in a more conventional way. There is no preference.

Another aspect that works is that Marszalkowski pours out his heart onto every page. He gives his honest opinions on various topics regardless of what anyone else think despite that some of what he said flew over my head (*cough the fifth dimensions). Moreover, he offers the sincerest thanks to the people that have helped him throughout the years. I thought the chapter about him finding a sense of community with the help of Anna Van Deusen – a youth church choir director – in spite of him on the verge of losing his religion as a teen was very poignant. Throughout high school, I went to my church’s youth group because of that sense of community although I was not all that religious.

In spite of all the praise that I give, I will admit that Buy My Book, Not Because You Should, But Because I’d Like Some Money might not be for everyone. Some readers might be confused and/or taken aback by the memoir’s structure and would want to read a more conventional autobiography. However, if readers are willing to give this memoir a chance, they will not be disappointed as it is something completely and wonderfully different.

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Book Reviews From the Vault: You Can’t Spell America Without Me, The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody)

Since today is Presidents’ Day, I want to share with everybody my review of You Can’t Spell America Without Me, The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody) by Alec Baldwin and Kurt Andersen. Writing this review immensely expanded my comfort zone because it is political satire, which can age pretty quickly. At the same time, I had a lot of fun composing it, so I hope you enjoy it!

Comedy is subjective and can age very quickly. Not everybody will laugh at the same lines and gags, and it may become stale within 5 years. This is especially true with political satire. It relies on poking fun at politicians – both the ones that people will forget in due time and the ones that will transcend time. Donald Trump clearly falls into the second category. He is no stranger to being lampooned by people like late-night talk show hosts and Saturday Night Live (SNL). Speaking of SNL, they decided to cast long-time host Alec Baldwin to play Trump when the 2016 presidential elections took place. This had gotten so much notoriety that Baldwin and writer Kurt Andersen decided to bank on that by writing a book parodying the first year of the Trump Administration, called You Can’t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody), and I have mixed feeling on it.

Let me assess the positive and negative aspects about this book. I will start with the positive. There were a lot of parts that made me either laugh or at least put a smile on my face. These included the photos (like the one with Baldwin as Trump eating a slice of chocolate cake with one hand, holding a smartphone in his other hand while watching Sean Hannity), chapter titles like “If I Acted ‘Presidential’, I’d Lose My Special Powers” and “I Never Panic”, and the running gag of him talking to “Mitzi” (a SIRI-like device) and having her remember song titles that he made up along with adding copyright logos. “Trump” even takes shots at the authors themselves, in which I found assuming in its self-awareness. In my opinion, the best part of the book is in the “Is Jared a Fredo” chapter, where “Trump” asserts that he has to communicate the truth to the people through social media regardless what the facts actually say. At the end of one section, he lists some of his theories that he has tweeted before declaring, “That’s what I tweeted the last couple of days. And no, I do not need to change my supplements and vitamins” (p. 206).

It is pretty clear that the authors gave a lot of thought into making this a quality parody.

And now, let’s move on to the more negative aspects of the book. Since it is a parody, it is not meant to be taken seriously, and yet, how Baldwin and Andersen (the latter had been making fun of Trump since the 1980s) characterize Trump feels too real. In other words, it literally feels that Trump could have actually written this book with or without ghost writers. There were plenty of times that I had to put my views on him aside and try to enjoy the book. I had to do something similar while listening to the audiobook I am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert when he was still on The Colbert Report. It was easier in that case since Colbert was playing a character that was based on conservative pundits, most notably Bill O’ Riley. It was mostly harmless because those commentators were not in as high profile of a position as Trump. Because of the book’s authenticity, I have a feeling that a lot of readers will automatically forget that they are reading a satire on Trump. If I was reading in 2018, I guarantee that I would not have the same problem.

Overall, You Can’t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody) is a really good book written by people who have internalized Trump’s behavior and turned that into comedy gold. At the same time, Baldwin and Andersen portray Trump so realistically that it could make readers pretty uncomfortable. I recommend this to people with a warning: put your opinions aside on our 45th president and read it, and if you feel like laughing at him while reading it, do it for your own sake!

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Movie Review

I have seen plenty of movie versions of well-known novels in my lifetime, and the film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn directed by Elia Kazan is definitely one of the better book-to-screen adaptations. This February marks the 75th Anniversary of the film’s release, and I will take a deep dive into why it is a very good adaptation of the novel by Betty Smith.

Published in 1943, the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has stood the test of time as it contains empathetic characters, a realistic portrayal of a turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, and willingness to show that life is not always fair and that one must persevere through the hard times. In fact, it was one of the one hundred books listed to compete for the title of “America’s Favorite Book” in The Great American Read.

When I found out that the novel got a movie two years after its publication, I was initially worried. A lot of the films from that period tended to sugar coat a lot of aspects like crime, death, and even childbirth because of the Production Code. Luckily, the movie works its way around the code, especially in the scene where Katie is in labor. As Katie lies in bed while Francie reads some of her essays, the bedframe is back towards the camera, but it mainly focuses on the closeups between mother and daughter. Moreover, the look of the film is pretty realistic despite everyone looking clean. The main characters’ clothes look pretty raggedy. Aunt Sissy’s wardrobe is a little more glamorous, yet ridiculous at the same time with a too-tight corset and a long feather in her straw hat.

Another strength of the flick is that it revamps the structure of the novel. The constant complaint that contemporary reviewers make of the book is that it is framed in a very awkward way. It starts off with Francie at age 11, and then for some reason, it transitions to when Johnny and Katie first met and progresses in a linear fashion until Francie is 16 and off to the University of Michigan. In the movie, it simply takes place over the course of a year when Francie is 11 and ends when Katie accepts Officer McShane’s marriage proposal.

With that new structure, the film had to condense and cut many aspects. For example, there are plenty of scenes, in which Francie gets taunted and bullied in the cramped school, and the teachers don’t do anything about it because of a so-called hierarchy. The movie reduces this to a scene, in which Francie expresses thoughts unrelated to the subject being taught, and the teacher straight up ignores her. While the extent of Francie’s unhappiness with the school in her district is reduced, the point still remains, so nothing was lost. In addition, Katie has two sisters – Sissy and Evie – in the book. Evie and her family (including her whiny husband Willy) are eliminated from the movie because they barely contribute anything important to the story. And let’s face it, Sissy is a more interesting character than Evie. These are why I can see how it got nominated for Best Adaptive Screenplay.

The strongest aspect of this movie are the performances. Since the novel is a character-driven one, the film version would need actors to capture the spirit of the people they play, and this delivers. Dorothy McGuire plays Katie with frustration, practicality, and hope. Frustration in that she has to work all the time because Johnnie cannot provide for the family due to spending money on liquor. Katie has to be practical to show that Francie can always find a way to survive, and she displays hope in that Neely can grow to become a better man than his dad. All of these aspects make McGuire look tired and a lot older than she should be. (Fun fact: she was only 15 years older than Peggy Ann Garner – the actress who played Francie). Additionally, James Gunn won an Oscar for his portrayal of Johnnie, and it is not hard to see why. Gunn pulls out a terrific performance of a dreamer who fears the reality of being a husband and a father. He exudes charm whenever he walks into a room. I could not take my eyes off of him whenever he was present. During the scenes, in which Johnnie becomes more self-destructive, Gunn becomes more sympathetic and knowing that death is coming. Here is another fun fact: producers warned Kazan of casting Gunn in the movie because of his alcoholic past, but Kazan noted that that would add more to the realism. What a great choice!

In spite of my praise, I do have to complain about one thing: the music during the opening credits. The score transition among the credits was jarring. It is as if they tried to slam so many songs of the time period in limited amount of time. As the movie progressed, the interpolations got better. I am not going to complain about this too much since this was Elia Kazan’s first movie. Not everything is going to be perfect on the first try.

Overall, the film version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn captures the spirit of the book perfectly. Even though I had my hesitations of it being made during the Production Code era, I thought that they did a good job of working around it. Kazan captures the essential aspects of the book effectively with the realistic look and great actors. It is good to know that the movie version stands the test of time as much as the novel does.

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One Day in December Book Review

I usually don’t read romantic holiday stories. They tend to get really corny and clichéd, and they are very predictable. In other words, they feel like Hallmark movies. If I were to read one, I would be making fun of it right off the bat. Recently, however, I discovered a romantic holiday book that I unironically enjoyed! That book was One Day in December by Josie Silver.

One Day in December revolves around Laurie, who normally does not believe in love at first sight, but instinctively finds the man of her dreams one night. Unfortunately, her bus pulls away before anything else can happen. Laurie spends a year looking for the mysterious bus boy until they are reunited at her Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah introduces her to her boyfriend Jack. Quickly, Laurie realizes that Jack is the guy from the bus. What follows is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities (like me not posting in December), and destinies reconsidered among Laurie, Sarah, and Jack.

What makes this novel stand out among the others in its genre is that it has meat and self-awareness. When I say meat, I mean the story has depth. The book is told through Laurie’s and Jack’s eyes. This allows the novel to see both sides of the coin, especially the shock of seeing each other for the first time since the bus episode. Readers are also allowed to see how each reacts to the other’s relationships as well as how they see each other over ten years. In addition, the book is aware of how ridiculous the situation is. Even though it is a little contrived at the very beginning of the novel, Laurie discusses how silly it is to fall in love with your best friend’s significant other. At the very end, Jack and Laurie admit that if they acted upon their impulses in the beginning, their story would have been really dull.

Additionally, the book is highly addictive. I read about 30-40 pages almost every night because I wanted to see how Laurie and Jack deal with the various situations at hand. During that time, I never felt bored.

On the other hand, a good chunk of reviewers complained about how predictable the ending was. Spoilers: Laurie and Jack finally end up together! I honestly did not have a problem with it because it was satisfying. If they did not, I would have thrown the book against the wall and never read it again. 

Overall, One Day in December is a wonderful romantic holiday book that will keep readers on their toes. I would definitely recommend it for those who like more in-depth characters and self-awareness in their light holiday stories. I am sure that anybody who reads it will unironically enjoy the book as much as I did.

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Book Reviews From the Vault: A Man Called Ove

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman contains one of the most memorable curmudgeons in modern literature. Check out why Ove works as an anti-hero here!

In many books, there are protagonists, who may come off as despicable, crabby, picky, etc., in other words, an anti-hero. Readers love to hate them, yet making these characters the protagonists forces the them to see from their perspectives, especially as to why they became the way they are. This can be extremely effective if done right. The title character in A Man Called Ove (pronounced O-vay) by Fredrik Backman is very much that anti-hero, and the way the author portrays him is successful, allowing him to be charming while retaining that pigheadedness.

This is where I would normally describe the plot in my own words, but when I was looking at reviews on Good Reads, I found the best description of A Man Called Ove from none other than Nicholas Sparks (yes, he seriously commented on Good Reads). This is what he said:

“This novel, set in Sweden, tells the story of Ove, who can best be described as a curmudgeon. The story takes place after the death of his wife, and shows how healing can occur with the unlikeliest of people, in the unlikeliest of ways.”

Although he is 59 years old, Ove deals with everyday situations like any stubborn old man would, whether he is trying to buy a computer, or giving driving lessons to a pregnant Persian immigrant, but there is more to him than his single-mindedness. In between the stories of reluctantly helping other people, the novel flashes back to Ove getting taken advantage of by fellow railroad workers and insurance salesmen as well as meeting Sonja – the only person that he truly cared about. Ove and Sonja get married, but tragedy strikes not once, but twice. Obviously, one tragedy is Sonja dying; I will not spoil the other one. All of these events reasonably make this protagonist not trust of other people, bitter, and of course, curmudgeon.

This all works because Backman weaves Ove’s backstory throughout the novel in a stream-of-conscious kind of way. For example, when Ove learns that the “men in the white shirts” are planning to take his neighbor Rune to a home due to his Alzheimer’s and his wife Anita’s supposed inability to take care of him, the book goes into an explanation of why he hates those men in the first place.

In addition, the novel allows Ove to grow as a human being. When I say this, I don’t mean he was completely changed like Ebenezer Scrooge was at the end of A Christmas Carol. Ove is still an inflexible old man by the end, but overtime, he learns to enjoy life and the people around him. This is most pronounced in a scene, in which Parveneh – the pregnant woman whom Ove taught how to drive – finds a note from him. It reads, “You’re not a complete idiot”.

George Newbern (Bryan MacKenzie in the Steve Martin version of “Father of the Bride”) narrates the audiobook. I thought that Newbern did a great job. He voices the main characters with great distinction. For instance, Ove is vocally characterized with a gruff, while Parvenah is voiced with an assertive Parsi dialect. Some of the supporting characters were not quite as distinct, which got me confused on who was speaking at times. However, I will let that pass since it is most important to give distinct voices to the main characters.

A Man Called Ove is a wonderful book, and I would recommend it to anybody. It is fascinating to read stories centered around overall unlikeable characters, but when done right, they permit the readers to understand their circumstances and maybe even express sympathy. This novel achieves that and more.

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The Four Sworn: Summer Solstice Book Review

Full disclosure: I was guided to this particular title based on the recommendation of a good friend of mine in exchange for an honest review.

Writing a sequel to a book is never easy; it can make or break a series. The author has to create more situations for their characters in order to allow them to develop. At its best, a sequel can be just as good as the first because it understands the essence of the original story and adds on in meaningful ways. At its worst, a sequel can simply be a retread of the first novel without comprehending what made the story unique in the first place. In the case of The Four Sworn: Summer Solstice by Lenore Sagaskie – the second in the Four Sworn series, it is certainly one of the better sequels that I have ever read.

The Four Sworn: Summer Solstice reunites readers with Abby, Sara, Joe, and William as they investigate a series of disappearances of girls who are Potentials – young witches coming into their full powers who have not yet decided on which path to take. In the meantime, they continue to deal with their increasing elemental powers as their popularity in Feyland wanes, and information regarding Abby’s daughter emerges.

In this volume, readers are introduced to many new characters, including Rory and Marie. Rory aka Aurora is a Potential trying to decide on which path to take – the Light or the Darkness – while also trying to figure out what she wants to do post high school. I enjoyed the gag of animals following her everywhere vying for to become her familiar. She befriends Abby as they take pottery classes taught by Joe with some assistance from Sara. Marie is Rory’s grandmother and guardian. She is kind and protective of her granddaughter; Rory’s mother disappeared when Rory was very young. Both characters are well-developed, and I could easily imagine them as I read much like with the main characters in the first one.

As for the main characters, they evolve in more ways than one. Abby continues to struggle with her fire powers as well as caring for Dan after Thaddeus attacked him in the last book. Joe and Sara encounter uncertainty in their relationship, and neither is sure on how to talk to the other. As that occurs, Sara’s neighbor’s new boyfriend tries to hit on her, and it puts her in a paranoid state. As for William, he spends more time with Dan and even befriends Abby (Fire and Water getting along get it?). While it seems that all of the main characters get some chance at development, it is clear that the female characters have evolved more than the male ones. This is not a complaint; it is something that I have noticed. I am sure that Joe and William will have more of a chance in the next volume.

The strongest aspect of this volume is that there is more of a balance among the plot, characters, and environment as there is more story than in Spring Equinox. In the first book, I felt that the plot was pushed to the wayside for characters and the atmosphere. In this one however, there is a concrete plot, which got me intrigued from the beginning to the end. There are a lot of subplots like Rory trying to figure out what she wants to do, Sara with the neighbor’s boyfriend, and the news about Abby’s daughter, and most of them pay off.

Even the writing has improved from the first one. Throughout the first volume, various characters will express their thoughts about something as they perform some action. A lot of those thoughts that they have are predictable to the situation, which makes Sagaskie’s use of this technique verbose at times. She uses it in this book, but not as much and when it is necessary.

Overall, The Four Sworn: Summer Solstice by Lenore Sagaskie is a pretty good sequel. In fact, I enjoyed this one more so than Spring Equinox. This is more plot-heavy, but Sagaskie makes good use of it along with developing the main characters and introducing new interesting ones. Fans of the first one should enjoy this one. Summer Solstice has now gotten me excited for the third volume whenever that is coming out.

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