A Palindrome: A Universal Theme of Life, Growth, Maturity, and Agedness Book Review

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

I’ve read plenty of memoirs in the past from both celebrities and ordinary people. A lot of these people tend to write about their life when they’re of old age. This makes sense as one gets older, they usually spend time looking back on their life. Only a chunk of them have the urge to write it down and share it with others. Some might even write multiple memoirs like author Robert C. Jones. His book A Palindrome: A Universal Theme of Life, Growth, Maturity, and Agedness is the subject of our review.. It’s a nice autobiography, but I found it to be less interesting and more confusing than A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led.

A Palindrome: A Universal Theme of Life, Growth, Maturity, and Agedness sums up what the reader needs to know about this book. It’s a memoir, in which Jones looks back on this life through the 4 themes mentioned in the title. He also ties the blandness of his name Bob to how he made an impact on the people around him.

Here’s what I like about the memoir. Majority of it covers his childhood, which is only a sliver of A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led. I enjoyed reading the stories involving Jones’s time up north. I really got a sense of the environment and the loving and eccentric people around him. I also liked the tales he tells about his friendship with the elderly Lebanese neighbor Grace. She seems like she would be a wonderful person to talk to. I felt for him when he discussed his feelings when she passed away. In addition, I like how Jones gives even more details about stories he first covered in A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led. For example, he first mentions the story about being hit by a car while on his way for his first day of school in A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led, yet it’s only briefly mentioned. In A Palindrome, he elaborates on that experience a little more. It was nice to hear more about what happened. 

Outside of childhood, I liked Jones’s ode to social distancing. That phrase usually has negative connotations (especially within the last 5 years), but he puts a nice spin on it in his poem “On Social Distancing.” He’s more than happy to do that when he’s dealing with people he doesn’t like. He’s perfectly fine with being alone.

However, I didn’t find it as interesting as A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led. This is mainly so because it was less cohesive. There was a framing device of the averageness of the name Bob and every Bob is unique, yet outside of the introduction and a few lines dispersed throughout the book, it’s not very consistent. While I was reading it, there were times that I forgot about the whole Bob name thing. Say what you want about A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led, at least it had an interesting framing device that was clear and present. I only wish the one for A Palindrome was just as precise. In addition, A Palindrome had some of the same poems that I first read in A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jones included those again because he didn’t have enough pages.

Finally, I was confused at one section of the book. At one point, Jones discusses the funeral he went to as a child. Then suddenly, he goes into another funeral with four old men that are supposed to be Jones’s childhood friends, and they watch a video of the dead guy talking to them. I had a lot of questions during that section. Is the dead guy supposed to be Jones himself? Is this supposed to be how he wants his funeral to be? Was this a deleted scene from one of the Richville books? I wish that there was a better transition and a clearer reason to why he had it in there.

A Palindrome: A Universal Theme of Life, Growth, Maturity, and Agedness by Robert C. Jones is a fine memoir. It’s got some nice stories of him growing up and fun poems. However, it’s not as interesting nor cohesive as his previous one, for its framing device is not as developed as it should be. It doesn’t help that it has sections, in which I was baffled as to why they were there in the first place. Like I said in the A Life Well Bred, A Life Well Led, I would only recommend it to those who love reading materials from local authors.

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The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket Book Review

There are plenty of books that have been cited as an influence to other works. However, what people don’t realize is that any material can inspire other stories, regardless of how good or bad it is. An example of this is Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket published in 1838. I can see its influence on several nineteenth-century writers, and it works well as an adventure tale, but its ramblings bring it down.

Normally, this is where I would give my summary of the novel, but it actually does that with its full title. Here it goes: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Comprising the Details of a Mutiny and Atrocious Butchery on Board the American Brig Grampus, on her way to the South Seas, in the month of June 1827 – with an account of the Recapture of the Vessel by the Survivers; Their Shipwreck and Subsequent Horrible Sufferings From Famine; Their Deliverance by Means of the British Schooner Jane Guy; Their Brief Cruise of this Latter Vessel in the Antarctic Ocean; Her Capture, and the Massacre of Her Crew among a Group of Islands in the Eighty-Fourth Parallel of Southern Latitude; together with the Incredible Adventures and Discoveries still farther South to which that Distressing Calamity gave Rise. Thanks, Edgar!

While Poe was better known for his poems and short stories, this novel has had an impact on writers. The scenes involving the fantasy island with the natives are so racist that they would have been in H.P. Lovecraft’s fantasies. The adventures the main characters go on are similar to those found in Jules Verne novels like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In fact, Verne actually wrote a sequel to Poe’s novel in 1897 titled An Antarctic Mystery. Finally, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym shares some similarities with Herman Melville’s 1851 classic novel Moby Dick, especially with how both take place on the high seas and involve isolation. Even their opening lines are almost identical. The former begins with, “My name is Arthur Gordon Pym.”

Call me crazy (as well as Ishamel)! At the same time, just because authors have cited it as an influence on their work doesn’t make it any better than it is. It’s filled with lots of ramblings. These include how certain ships operate, penguins (though I love those animals), and how black the natives were. At one point, the book brings up that even their teeth are that color. Poe keeps the ramblings to a minimum in the first half, but once the remaining crew members get on the Jane Guy, this rears its ugly head to the point that the novel loses momentum. I understand that it was published in a newspaper in two parts in 1837, which certainly explains how Poe fell into the trap of many nineteenth-century authors by writing like they’re getting paid by the word. And the irony to all of this is that the book itself is less than 200 pages.

Reading this novel reminded me of my experience with Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl. I wondered why both existed to begin with, and there was plenty of racism. At the same time, while those two are products of their time in many ways, I still enjoyed the rides I went on.

With The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, I liked the adventures the main character went on, the macabre tone, and the ambiguity regarding how real it is. It was interesting to see how Arthur and his friends dealt with a mutiny, famine, and a massacre because he wanted to be on the high seas. I also found it fascinating that he went through all those ordeals, and he remained positive. He even hid in the brig for a long time. Arthur and the title character from Candide by Voltaire should get together and share stories sometime. In addition, there’s a scene in which the men on the Grampus see a ghost ship. It was written in a way that one would expect from Poe. Moreover, I liked the overall framework of this supposedly being a true story told by Pym to Poe himself. Readers are never really clear if it’s authentic because the supernatural elements are combined with a lot of nautical knowledge. On top of that, the novel ends abruptly, so one does wonder, “What was the point?”

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe certainly exists. While I’m still not sure what the point was, I appreciate how it includes so many genres all in one story. I enjoyed the adventures and the supernatural parts. And of course, I can see how it influenced the tales to come. However, it would have worked better if it rambled less. I would only recommend it to diehard Poe, Lovecraft, Verne, and Melville fans. It truly proves that a story can be impactful despite its flaws.

Before I go, I want to let everyone know that I recorded the latest episode of the Adapt Me Podcast recently. Kristin Battestella – co-host of the Women InSession Podcast – and I will talk about how we would adapt this novel. Keep an eye out for the link.

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The Road to Yesterday: A Memoir Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given an advanced reader’s copy of this book from SparkPoint Studio in exchange for an honest review.

Grief memoirs can go many ways. It can help people overcome sadness from the tragedy that occurred. It also creates windows for readers to see what it’s like for those going through a certain type of event. However, some can be sensationalized and can only work for so long. Luckily, today’s book The Road to Yesterday: A Memoir by Maryellen Donovan does the former two. It’s a realistic look at one woman’s journey to overcoming grief after losing her husband in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

As told to Gina Frangello and Emily Rapp Black, The Road to Yesterday: A Memoir is about a 9/11 widow who rediscovers joy and finds love again after the violent loss of her husband. On a sunny Tuesday morning, Maryellen’s husband Steve Cherry lost his life in the 9/11 attacks, rocking her to her core and forever changing her family. Her life and love for Steve was all she could ever hope for. In the wake of his death, she was inconsolable. Ultimately, she decided that she had to stay strong for her two young sons. Even when she was in the grip of hopeless despair, she found solace in deep faith and the belief that, with the support from her family and friends, she can find happiness once again. Her journey to a happy ending had a variety of obstacles like cancer, family conflict, and even more loss, yet she found a way forward despite all of the setbacks she encountered.

For those expecting an account of 9/11 from the eyes of a widow, it’s not that. Maryellen talks a bit about it, especially her thoughts and feelings at the moment she found out about her husband’s death. Instead, the focus is how she moved past the tragedy and began to experience joy and live life again. 

With that being said, it will certainly resonate more with people who remember when the 9/11 attacks occurred, especially if they lost someone to that event. My only experience with it was 8-year-old me watching the aftermath of the one plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. My mom immediately turned off the television to prevent me from seeing more of the horrors of that day. I eventually found out what happened.

Getting back to the memoir itself, I felt for Maryellen. She found the love of her life when she was 25 and lost him nearly 10 years later. It could have been a book about how she wallowed in grief and then found happiness, but she balances out the sadness with joy. After Steve dies, she discusses how she met him and how he made her feel in spite of the fact that he was (unhappily) married at the time they met. Once they were wed, he showered a lot of love and affection for her, especially when he recorded a batch of songs that were about her shortly before his passing. This packs a punch once the timeline shifts back to after his death. Even though I knew no one that lost their life in that terrorist attack, I was invested in seeing how things would turn out for her.

The toughest part for me to get through was her account of her second marriage. About a year after Steve’s death, Maryellen marries his stepbrother Russ. They connected soon after 9/11, but it was only hindsight that made her realize that they went too fast, and their relationship wasn’t going to work out. Even though Russ was a nice and friendly man, he was dealing with his own trauma as quietly as possible, and she needed the love that she got from Steve. I wanted her to have the happiness she deserved, but it was clear that it was never going to be from his stepbrother. Even one of her sons remarked years later that she and her second husband felt like roommates. Luckily, she was able to come to terms with Russ, but at the cost of another tragedy.

The best part of this memoir is how much self-awareness and hindsight Donovan possesses. I knew that she came out on the other side because it was clear that she spent plenty of time exploring and reflecting on the actions taken after Steve’s death. There were parts where she compares what happens in a movie to what actually occurred in real life. She uses these kinds of examples when she’s describing her honeymoon with Russ and when her eldest son Brett got married. They say it’s a great time to write down your story when you can look back at it objectively, and that’s what Maryellen did.

The Road to Yesterday: A Memoir by Maryellen Donovan is the kind of grief memoir that people can get invested in even if they barely have any experiences with 9/11. What the author went through was horrible, but I’m glad that she had the support she needed to find joy and happiness again even if it wasn’t entirely obvious. In addition, I love how she’s realistic about what she did, both good and not-so-good, in order to find the will to live again. I would recommend this to anyone who’s lost a loved one and is looking for outlets to express their grief with. The Road to Yesterday: A Memoir is out now, so grab it wherever you get your books.

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249 Books* Ranked From Worst to Best

*I know that some are adaptations and original movies, but that’s besides the point.

Wow! I’m now approaching my 250th review. I’ve been grateful to have this website and to review books and movies of many kinds. I plan on continuing to post reviews as long as possible.

Just like before, I will rate each of the 249 books that I have reviewed on this site. These are based on the ratings that I gave them on Goodreads, Letterboxd, and IMDb, but some have changed since their initial postings.

Here is the chart that I used to rate^ them:

* = Bad

** = Meh

*** = Decent

**** = Good

***** = Great

^Note: The books within each rating are only in alphabetical order.

Now, let’s begin!

*

**

***

****

*****

And there you have it! Let me what you think via Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or email!

Join me as I post my 250th review next week! It’s a memoir about a woman who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks and how she found joy and happiness again.

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Interview with Patricia Leavy

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Hello Everyone,

We have something special for you all on Book Reviews by a Chick Who Reads Everything today. We have award-winning author Patricia Leavy on today. She is the author of the new book Cinematic Destinies. You can see my interview with her down below.

Emily: What inspired the “Red Carpet Romance” series?

Patricia: It started during the pandemic when we were in lockdown. Like so many others, I was bored at home, binge watching movies, double fisting potato chips, and filled with existential doom. I’ve always turned to creative writing in difficult times, so I decided to write a romance novel. I wanted to escape to someplace joyful, romantic, and creative. Someplace affectionate where you could hug and kiss people without fear of killing them. Due to the pandemic, I was thinking about the big questions of life, and so I decided to write a novel following a group making a film about the meaning of life and living together in seclusion. Jean Mercier is an eccentric and controversial filmmaker. He curates an unexpected cast and invites his philosopher friend, Ella Sinclair, to join them for the summer. Since the film is about the meaning of life and I was writing during a global pandemic, a philosopher seemed like the natural choice. When Ella arrives on set in Sweden movie star Finn Forrester is instantly enchanted by her and they fall in love. That’s the first book in the series and it’s called The Location Shoot. When I wrote it, I never intended for it to become a series, but I loved the characters so much that although the lockdown was over, I wanted to continue. So next came, After the Red Carpet and finally, Cinematic Destinies. To me, the series is about what it means to live life and to do so well. It’s about love, the search for beauty, becoming who we’re meant to be, and the magic of art.

Emily: What inspired Cinematic Destinies in particular? Will there be any more installments?

Patricia: Each book in the trilogy inspired the next. The second book, After the Red Carpet, sees Ella and Finn building a life together and starting a family in the shadow of Hollywood. After I finished that book, I wanted to explore the lives of those three children when they were grown up. How would the public fascination with their parents’ love story affect them each and their love stories? Ella was always fascinated by what love might look like and feel like over a lifetime, so I also wanted to know how that unfolded for her and Finn. Finally, what ever happened to Jean, the filmmaker that brought them all together in the first place? What does it mean to create art for a lifetime? How might one look back? All these questions inspired Cinematic Destinies. Although it’s hard to let go of characters I love so much, there won’t be more novels about them. I feel like the trilogy is complete and I’m happy where they are. That said, there are years between After the Red Carpet and Cinematic Destinies and I’ve always seen scenes from those missing years in my mind. I see the potential for writing a collection of novellas or short stories that may include these characters.

Emily: The book focuses on Finn and Ella Forester’s three adult children Betty, Georgia, and Albert and their journeys to find love and happiness. Which one do you relate to the most and why?

Patricia: In different ways, I relate to each of them. I’m an artist like Georgia and I’m shy like Albert. But if I had to pick, I relate to Betty the most even though unlike her I am a total hopeless romantic. Betty feels the most different from her family of origin and she went off to New York to create her own life. I relate to that a lot.

Emily: You have published more than 50 books. What made you want to write?

Patricia: I’ve loved writing more than anything since I was a little girl. When I was really young, I would recite stories which an adult would type and then I would illustrate them and bind them with old wallpaper scraps and glue to make them “books.” I have one in my desk drawer that my mother saved in a plastic storage bag. I was six when I made it. To me, storytelling is magical. There’s nothing better than getting lost in a story world, especially one that you’re creating. I try to write things that I think could do some good in the world—stories infused with hope.

Emily: What is your writing routine?

Patricia: I write every single day—weekends, holidays, vacations. I don’t write all day every day, but I do write every day. It’s different depending on what else I have going on, such as promoting a book. On weekdays I usually write every afternoon after attending to other work obligations. On weekends and vacations, I usually write in the morning, although my idea of a good vacation is also sitting in a café somewhere writing. I just spent two and a half weeks in Denmark and Sweden. I spend most of the trip writing in little coffee shops and museum cafés.

Emily: What was the easiest scene to write? What was the most difficult?

Patricia: The easiest scenes to write were the ones with Ella and Finn because it’s my third book about them and I know them so well. Aside from that, I’d say when Georgia arrives at the inn in Iceland and sits and chats with Jean and Michael and then Roo joins them. Jean was the first character I created in this series, and I know his voice. I knew exactly how I wanted the scene to unfold, and it just flowed out of me. The hardest scene to write was Albert and Ryan at the party. I don’t want to spoil anything for readers, but that scene required a lot of sensitivity, and it was important to me to get it right.

Emily: One of my favorite scenes is when Georgia and Roo watch various movies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. What are some of your favorite films to see with your significant other?

Patricia: Thank you. We watch a ton of movies, all kinds. We love biopics about artists like Bohemian Rhapsody and Love & Mercy. We also enjoy thrillers like The Fugitive and Juror #2. I adore rom coms, so we watch all the new ones as they come out and rewatch the classics. My all-time favorite movie is Cinema Paradiso, but the downside is that it has me sobbing for days.

Emily: Where do you see the characters after the story ends?

Patricia: Happily living their lives.

Emily: I run the “Adapt Me Podcast,” where a guest and I talk about books that have never been adapted and how we would go about it. Who would you cast as the main characters?

Patricia: That’s so hard. I could imagine many actors in these roles. Given their age in Cinematic Destinies, I could see Rebecca Gayheart as Ella and Kiefer Sutherland as Finn.

Emily: What are some projects that you are working on now?

Patricia: I have a nonfiction book, part memoir part guidebook, called The Artist Academic coming out in October. It’s the first book I’ve written of this kind, and I’m excited to share it. My next novel comes out March 24 and it’s called Twinkle of Doubt. It’s the second book in a big series I’ve written called The Celestial Bodies Romances which follows the healing love story of a novelist and federal agent. For people interested in the series, the lead title Shooting Stars Above is available everywhere books are sold. I have many other romance novels that are already written and waiting to be rolled out and I’m currently working on a novel about a pop star.

Emily: Where can people find you?

Patricia:

Website: www.patricialeavy.com  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenWhoWrite/  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patricialeavy  

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/PatriciaLeavy

Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Patricia-Leavy/222280294

Cinematic Destinies by Patricia Leavy is out now. You can get it wherever you get your books.

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Cinematic Destinies Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given an advance reader’s copy of this book from SparkPoint Studio in exchange for an honest review.

Romance novels can be predictable. I’ve talked about this in my review of I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella. However, it’s not inherently a bad thing. Sometimes, readers want feel-good stories to balance out the sad and mopey ones. At the same time, for a romantic story to be good or even great, they have to have substance – something that readers will think about long after they’re done with the book. Cinematic Destinies by Patricia Leavy falls into that camp. Some people might predict the outcome beforehand, but it contains a lot of substance and touching scenes.

Cinematic Destinies is the third book in the “Red Carpet Romance” series. Legendary actor Finn Forester and his wife philosopher Ella Sinclair Forester met on location for the making of Jean Mercier’s film Celebration. The world has been entranced by their fairy-tale romance since Finn proposed to Ella on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. As the couple now prepares to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, they wonder if their three children will ever find love. Eldest daughter Betty is in a medical residency program in New York City and has convinced herself that distancing herself from her emotions is the key to success. Youngest son Albert – a recent college graduate – is trying to find his footing in Boston while struggling with his identity. And, there is Georgia. She’s a free spirit, a spitting image of her mom, and an actress following her dad’s footsteps. Georgia has recently been cast in Mercier’s final film, mysteriously titled Beauty. When she arrives on set, sparks fly on set with her co-star Rupert Reed aka Roo. Is history repeating itself? How has growing up in the shadow of the world’s most iconic love story affected each of the Forrester children?

While Cinematic Destinies is the third entry in the “Red Carpet Romance” series, I haven’t read the other two, The Location Shoot and After the Red Carpet. Nonetheless, it can be read as a stand alone because it gives plenty of background information about what happened with Finn and Ella. That’s why I didn’t feel lost while reading it.

How predictable is Cinematic Destinies? I saw many plot points coming like the second-act breakups and third-act makeups with all the three adult children. At the same time, I didn’t feel cheated knowing that because the book’s intention was to make readers happy, and it succeeds on that.

What surprised me was how much introspection there was on Finn and Ella’s part about their relationship and how they raised their three kids. They are not as sentimental as one would think. For instance, they often wonder if their highly publicized romance created high expectations for their children to find love. They want their kids to find happiness with a special someone, yet they never really told them the full truth of how they achieved theirs. In addition, Albert struggles to come out of the closet to Finn due to growing up with cameras all around and his love for his dad. Finn wonders if he has truly been a good father because of this. 

Unlike the previous two books in the series, Finn and Ella take the backseat, so Betty, Albert, and Georgia can drive the plot. I found Betty’s and Albert’s stories to be the most interesting, for I can relate to them in various ways. The former buries her emotions while working in a medical residency even though she is fond of Khalid – her roommate and fellow resident. As mentioned earlier, the latter is struggling to come to terms with his sexual orientation. It also doesn’t help that he’s in a relationship with a guy named Ryan that he wants to keep private despite his boyfriend’s frustrations. 

While I noticed that Georgia and Roo’s romance followed the patterns one would expect in a romance novel, I still found them to be cute and charming. They have a lot of chemistry, which is seen by everybody around them, especially Jean Mercier aka the pseudo Francis Ford Coppola. Also, they had some adorable scenes while they traveled around Iceland during the breaks in shooting. However, during that sequence, I thought, “Ok, something has to happen. They can’t be this happy for this long.”

And of course, it went down the way I expected it to.

Even though the storylines with Betty and Albert were more engaging, my favorite scene in the book involved Georgia and Roo watching old movies together. They see Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This touched me because I actually watched the latter with all the guys I dated, including the man that became my husband. However, I became confused when Roo mentioned that it was banned by religious sects. As far as I know, it wasn’t. It was actually another movie, Monty Python’s Life of Brian. 

Cinematic Destinies by Patricia Leavy is a very good romance novel. While there are parts that were expected in a story like this, I was surprised by how deep it could get. I love that it shows how Ella and Finn’s whirlwind of a romance affected their children in different ways in their search for the one. Also, any story that references Monty Python will always have a pass in my book. I would recommend it to those who love fairy-tale romances and stories that involve actors, cinema, and coming into one’s own identity. Cinematic Destinies comes out tomorrow, September 9, so grab it wherever you get your books.

Before I go, I want to let you know that I had the opportunity to interview Patricia Leavy for the website. The transcript will be posted this Wednesday.

Also, I will be posting my 250th review next Monday. To mark this occasion, I will rate each of the 249 books that I have reviewed on this site, including this one. Be on the lookout for it this Friday!

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Adapt Me Podcast – The File on H.

Hi Everybody!

The latest episode of the Adapt Me Podcast is up right now. In it, returning guest Dash Silva and I discuss how we would adapt The File on H. by Albania’s leading literary figure Ismail Kadare into a movie/musical. We talk about its universal and specific at the same time while having lengthy diatribes on Dua Lipa and Shirley MacLaine. Check it out at this link!

In the meantime, I have a review of the book itself, so check that out too!

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In Deadly Company Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given an electronic advanced reader’s copy of this book from SparkPoint Studio in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good murder mystery. I’m always intrigued by crime, the culprit, and how the narrative plays out. Also, I like dark comedies. The more absurd the situation, the better. Today’s subject In Deadly Company by L.S. Stratton combines these two genres to make a pretty good story with satirizing Hollywood, a relatable protagonist, and a twist that truly came out of nowhere.

In Deadly Company is about a woman’s attempt to process what happened to her boss. A year after organizing a blowout birthday celebration that ended in the death of her nightmarish boss Xander Chambers, Nicole Underwood thought she was setting the record straight by agreeing to consult on a feature film based on her story. However, on the L.A. set, she watches in frustration as executives sideline her experiences through inappropriate casting and frequent and bizarre script changes. Nicole is haunted by the events at that party and visions of her deceased boss. Xander had been unfit to run the company his mother – famed entrepreneur Bridget Chambers – had founded and built to Fortune 500 status until her untimely death in a car accident months prior. After being Bridget’s favorite assistant, Nicole honored her mentor by staying to keep track of Xander and his partying ways. When he wanted her to organize a wild bash, Nicole saw a chance to probe the people closest to the Chambers family and learn if Bridget’s car cash was truly a tragedy. Despite wanting to be the best assistant possible, Nicole couldn’t have foreseen the terrible consequences of her actions.

The novel shifts back and forth from the past and present. The former focuses on what led to the disastrous birthday bash, and the latter highlights the trials and tribulations of Nicole consulting on the movie based on her version of events. Despite how dark it could get, I enjoy its humor as it satirizes Hollywood and how it chooses to adapt true stories. For example, they cast a famous star – a light-skin black woman – to play Nicole in the film, yet they look nothing alike, especially with Nicole being dark-skinned. It’s like casting Zendaya as Quinta Brunson (from Abbott Elementary) in a biopic. Nicole also expresses dismay at the script changes. These border on purely insane through Nicole’s eyes. On the surface, they change what she knows is true, but deeper down, they threaten to expose her carefully crafted narrative.

Although the story is briefly told by two other characters, it’s Nicole’s point of view that readers follow. They will immediately like her because of how relatable she is. She spent years working as Bridget’s assistant. After working for Xander, she wants to get out. After all, Bridget gave her a lot of praise, so she remained loyal to her. I felt for Nicole, especially when she was being triggered by possibly seeing Xander everywhere she went. I would be too if my boss looked and acted like Donald Trump Jr. In many ways, she is the victim of a one-percenter family. At the same time, she is not exactly innocent. This makes for a more interesting read since it makes her actions have more weight. There’s also more understanding as to why she wants to get her side of the story out there.

Of course, I have to mention the twist. It truly did come out of nowhere. At first, I wasn’t sure how it fit into everything prior. However, the more I thought about it, the more the pieces of the puzzle came together. Go read the book to find out.

My only complaint about the book is how rushed the romance was between Nicole and Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a self-described con-man and the boy toy of Anna Chambers – Bridget’s sister. They start off awkward enough at the birthday bash since Nicole gave him a different name the last time they met. In spite of that, they end up spending time with each other before the real tragedy occurs. However, since there was a year between the unfortunate event and when the movie is being made before they meet again, they reunite with no real problems despite the baggage they both carry. And soon after, they are a couple. It would have been better if their romance was more developed with more scenes showing off their chemistry without distracting readers from the main plot.

In Deadly Company by L.S. Stratton is a good murder mystery and dark comedy. While it’s gruesome at times, it can be quite funny, especially when it’s making fun of Hollywood and its treatment of true stories. Nicole is a complicated, but sympathetic character that readers will easily root for even if they don’t agree with all of her actions. Also, what a twist! I would recommend this to people who like the television shows White Lotus and Succession as well as movies like the Knives Out series. In Deadly Company will be out tomorrow, September 2, so go grab it wherever you get your books.

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The File on H. Book Review

Lately, I’ve been trying to read more works by international authors. Earlier this year, I dipped my toes by looking at Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami – your favorite author’s favorite author. Recently, I had the chance to read The File on H. by Ismail Kadare – Albania’s leading literary figure. It’s a fine novel with elements that work and aren’t as effective.

Translated from French by David Bellos (which was initially translated from Albanian by Jusuf Vrioni), The File on H. is a satire about two American scholars researching Homer in Albania. In the mid-1930s, two American men voyage to the Albanian highlands, the last remaining nature habitat of the oral epic, with the world’s first tape recorder in hand. Their mission is to discover how Homer could have composed The Iliad and The Odyssey without ever writing them down. Their research puts them in the middle of ethnic strife in the Balkans. It also doesn’t help that they are mistaken as spies by the local government, and as a result, they are placed under surveillance. Research and intrigue move quickly until a Serbian monk threatens to put an end to the project.

I knew about the real-life story that inspired this novel prior to reading it. When I was in college, I took a world history course. In it, I learned about how Homer composed his two masterpieces. What we know about the oral tradition comes from Milman Parry and Albert Lord, who traveled to modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1930s to study oral traditional poetry and record native singers performing lengthy epic songs from memory. Because of this research, it became clear that Homer didn’t single-handedly pen The Iliad and The Odyssey. Those stories were most likely passed down from poet to poet verbally.

With all of this being said, I felt underwhelmed by the sections involving Bill and Max – the Irish-American scholars aka the sort-of Parry and Lord stand-ins. Both men were bland outside of their interest in the Homeric question. There are some mentions about Max’s argument with his wife before he left for Albania, but that’s never fleshed out. On the other hand, Bill developing glaucoma was interesting since it leans into the notion that Homer was blind. I like to think that Bill was so invested in hearing the Albanian poets in the highlands (who didn’t always have the best of vision) that losing his own eyesight was a result of his own excessive empathy. The best part of these sections were Bill and Max getting excited about the research they have done and what’s to come. As someone who finds historic resources as a job, that rang true, especially when they go into academic speak. Nonetheless, knowing the real-life story makes this fictional one a bit of a let down.

Additionally, this book is not exactly funny. It is, but it’s less ha-ha funny and more dry. It’s a satire on the Albanian government and their misunderstandings with people that want to help preserve their oral traditions. However, I get the feeling that because it was translated not once, but twice, some things were lost. It would be interesting to read it in Albanian to get the full scope, yet I would have to get around to learning it first. I’ll have to consult pop singer Dua Lipa since she has Albanian heritage.

Despite my grievances on the oral tradition parts, I still enjoyed the book because of the section involving the government officials. Kadare was known to criticize Albania’s communist government, and it shows when he originally published The File on H. in 1981. Many of the officials are narrow-minded and paranoid. The interactions between them and the scholars were amusing. I enjoyed the Governor the most, who rules over the town of N —. He reminded me of Ambassador Trentino in the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup. I even imagined his dialogue was spoken by Louis Calhern – the actor who played Trentino. My favorite part of these sections was when the Governor reads the report that one of his spies resigned because he…fell asleep on the job briefly.

While I love the Governor, my favorite character was actually Daisy – his wife. She’s so miserable in her marriage that she imagines starting an affair with one of the American scholars. I know that she isn’t the most nuanced character in literature, yet I was drawn to her, especially in her attempts to seduce Bill just for her life to be more interesting during that week.

The File on H. by Ismail Kadare is a decent book. Even though I’m glad that someone used the real-life event of Milman Parry and Albert Lord researching the Homeric question for a fictional story, I wasn’t overly impressed with the execution. The only thing that was interesting about the scholars was how invested they were in the research. On the contrary, I enjoyed the parts involving the Albanian government officials. They were ripe for satire even if reading it in its original language would’ve made it funnier. Despite my issues, I would still recommend it to readers who like satirical stories about the government and Ismail Kadare. I know Dua Lipa would love it. She’s already read his 1970 book The Siege. Although Kadare didn’t quite impress me with The File on H., I still want to read more of his stuff.

Before I go, I want to let everyone know that I will be recording the latest episode of the Adapt Me Podcast very soon. Returning guest Dashiell Silva and I will talk about how we would adapt this novel. Keep an eye out for the link.

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Anywhen Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Book Publicity Services in exchange for an honest review.

There’s no denying that the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969 was one of the most celebrated music festivals in history. It brought tons of people together to listen to the most popular acts at the time like Joan Baez, Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Jimi Hendrix. Books and documentaries have covered the three-day festival, but ironically, there’s not a whole lot of fictional stories about it. Even in that small pool, how could a novel about Woodstock stand out? Beth Duke answers this question in her book Anywhen with…time travel! Anywhen is a lovely novel that wholeheartedly embraces the music and historical period, tackles the differences between the past and the future, and contains three-dimensional characters.

Anywhen is about a woman who travels back in 1969 to meet her ancestor that attended Woodstock. Baezy (rhymes with Daisy) was born in 2069, the 100th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. That year, a wave of nostalgia swept through her society. Raised on the sounds of Joan Baez, Santana, and other Woodstock icons, Baezy dreams of experiencing the festival firsthand. When time travel arises in 2101, she jumps at the chance, packing her bell bottom jeans and peasant blouse for the ultimate adventure. But, she has another reason. She wants to surprise her great-great-great grandmother, Kelly Adams. Kelly wasn’t the typical Woodstock attendee. In 1969, she works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She’s on the cusp of a groundbreaking career in artificial intelligence, work that would shape the world that Baezy lives in. Her future family reveres in her contributions, yet Baezy is able to meet Kelly before the latter becomes a legend. The moment Baezy arrives, the difference between 1969 and 2101 is astonishing. Woodstock is everything she imagined and more, yet her journey becomes more than the weekend filled with music. She finds herself in life-altering situations that she never would have foreseen. 

Before I go into the review, I have a little connection to Woodstock. My dad tried to go to that festival with his brother/my uncle from Ohio to New York State. Unfortunately, they gave up when they found out about the traffic. I loved how this was referenced in the beginning of the book, when Kelly and her friends were trying to get to where the festival was.

I can see why my dad wanted to go. The festival was intended as a place where everybody could come together and enjoy great music, and Anywhen sells that to a tee. Whenever the characters talk about the next musician who’s going to take the stage or listen to a song being performed, I could feel the excitement and joy radiating through the pages. In addition, Duke clearly did a lot of research with which acts came on during which days, the people who were present as spectators, and what actually went down at Woodstock. My only gripe is that the novel spends a little too much time in 1969. This is weird to say since it’s Woodstock, yet Duke sets up the time travel part right from the beginning. It made me think that there was going to be more of a back and forth between the past and the future.

Speaking of which, I love the world building between the two. In 2101, society eliminated war, hunger, and poverty and developed the best medicine and technology possible. People eat nourishment cubes, have literal spirit animals, and wait until the age of 35 to have their reproduction cycles and to be matched with their soul mates. In 1969, the Vietnam War and sexism raged on, but free love and expression were all around. Since Baezy is from the future, she doesn’t think too much of her society, yet she likes the idea of being matched with their destined partner. However, her thinking and way of doing things gets upended at Woodstock, especially when she loses her nourishment cubes. Despite that, Baezy finds ways to enjoy herself like eating chocolate and falling in love for the first time. I love how this book shows that the future is not always better than the past.

And of course, the best part of the novel was the characters. They were distinct and fleshed out. Baezy is smart, but naive. All she wants to do is to visit her relative who attended Woodstock. Kelly is also intelligent, but she’s stubborn and disinterested. To be fair, when her boss tells her that all she has to look forward to is marriage and having kids, Kelly has a right to be angry, for she’s extremely diligent and dedicated to her work. On top of that, Woodstock is the last place she wants to be. So, when Baezy shows up, Kelly wonders who she is since she talks funny and has limited experiences. This results in a clash between the two. But, my favorite character was Jack Warren. Jack is a math teacher and Kelly’s friend. He’s looking to go to Canada to avoid the draft, but he may have some doubts, especially when he meets Baezy.

Anywhen by Beth Duke is a good book that explores Woodstock through time travel. Duke makes the famous music festival come alive with her words and descriptions even if the novel stayed there for much longer than needed. Additionally, I love how the book explores the ramifications of the future and the past and truly tests which one is better. Plus, the characters were wonderfully defined. I would recommend this book to readers who love reading about time travel, female innovators, and Woodstock. There should be more fiction books about Woodstock, for there is so much to explore with it beyond what’s out now. 

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