October Read: Starling House by Alex E. Harrow

 

I'm enjoying reading books that are equal parts fairy tale/gothic/slightly spooky/fantasy. It could be this time of year, when the night creeps in earlier, and the air is cool enough at night you just want to huddle on the couch and be cozy.

Starling House fit the bill, and while I wasn't quite sure what to expect, I was willing to take the ride. There's a lot going on here.

Opal lives in Eden, Kentucky-a small town limping along and prone to bad luck. Opal and her teenage brother Jasper live in room twelve of the local hotel. It's the only home they've had for years. Opal struggles to make ends meet and her one desire is to get her brother out of Eden. She'll do anything--lie, steal--to keep him safe and his asthma under control. Their mother died tragically years before in a car accident, where Opal survived, but remains haunted by leaving her mother to die. 

Then there's Starling House, that oh so very strange mansion surrounded by woods and closed off by a big metal gate. Sometimes there's a light in the uppermost window, but no one is ever seen coming and going. Opal walks by the home frequently, and is a bit obsessed with it and the legend of the author who built it- E. Starling. 

One day Opal finds out who lives there, when Arthur makes an appearance at the gate, warning her to leave. He's a disheveled young man who looks like he's battling something ominous. Opal is intrigued. She wants in. Arthur reluctantly offers her a housekeeping position, and Opal can't resist.

Starling House is unlike anything she could have imagined-the house itself is alive. It shifts, it reacts; it is helpful and sometimes it's not. Opal and Arthur get to know each other, but very slowly. Arthur is fighting literal monsters in order to protect the town of Eden.  The house is sitting on a horrible, horrible secret that only Arthur, as the Warden of Starling House, can destroy. Unless it kills him first. 

Ooh, there are layers in this novel. Home is a huge theme--the hunger Opal has for a home of her own-a place to feel safe. Home also means someone to come home to, which Opal and Arthur both desperately need. The town's horrible history of bad luck and tragedy, directly linked to the Gravely family and their coal mining operations and greed. Poisoning the ground for profit. A young girl creating a world that will protect her and punish those who used her. The strength of friendship and a made family. 

I loved the mix of fairy tale and horror. Opal is one tough cookie who never gives up on her desire for a home and a place to keep Jasper safe. When evil arrives in the form of Elizabeth Baine she is torn between protecting Jasper or giving up the secret of Starling House and betraying Arthur. 

I don't want to say anymore because this is a book that needs to be experienced. I'd say there's plenty to discuss in a book club setting. 

Thank you to Tor for an advanced copy to read and review! 

Rating: 4/6 for an intriguing novel about dreams, monsters, home, and a haunted town. The monsters in your dreams can be real! 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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October Read: Starling House by Alex E. Harrow

December Read: The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

 

This was my third book for the Iowa High School Battle of the Books. While it was the shortest novel out of the three, it took me the longest! 

I enjoy suspenseful, thriller fiction, but I hadn't read any of Megan Miranda's novels until this one. My hopes were high...and darn it all they were a bit deflated. 

Arden Maynor became an overnight sensation as a small child when she disappeared from home one night and days later was found clinging to a storm drain in a drainage ditch. The story was that she was sleepwalking and was swept away by rainwater, and somehow miraculously survived days trapped in this drain. Arden and her mother became famous. 

Now the twentieth year anniversary is coming up, and Arden is now Olivia, living miles away from Widow Hills. She's an administrator at a local hospital, and still, to this day, her memories of what happened are fuzzy. She only wants to forget. That fame twisted her mother, who Olivia stopped speaking to a few years back. Now she is notified her mother is dead, and a box arrives with her mother's paltry collection of things. 

Olivia has trouble sleeping, and finds herself once again sleepwalking-and one night, she wakes up outside and stumbles on a body in her yard. WHAT? 

That's where this thriller starts ramping up. It takes a while for the action to get moving, and that was frustrating to me. Olivia is the ultimate unreliable narrator, because she just can't remember anything about the past, and she's chronically tired and drinks wine to help herself fall asleep. So is she paranoid, or does she have legitimate concerns when she feels like she's being watched? Living in a house out in the sticks, with only one close neighbor also adds to her sense of isolation. 

It was only after I'd finished the book, and discussed it with another person who also read it, that I began to think "okay, it actually was a better than I thought read." Before that, I was not that thrilled with it. The end seemed rushed, after the slooooow build up of action. Not only are you trying to figure out what the heck is going on in present time, but there are bits and pieces of the story of Arden's rescue from twenty years before sprinkled before chapters to help you get a better picture of what happened. It is important to read those!

So, I am on the fence with this one. I will probably read another Megan Miranda novel to see if this was just an off read for me. It's definitely a book you will have to discuss with someone else, and pick it apart. There's a lot going on here, and a lot of dots to connect. 

Rating: 3/6 for a thriller that has pacing problems, and an unreliable narrator that makes it feel like you're walking into walls trying to piece it all together and follow the story. That may be deliberate on the author's part, but I found it to be a bit too much. It's an interesting look at how the media can affect a life and the damage it can do to ordinary people. 

Available in paperback, ebook, and audio. 

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December Read: The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

I am a fan of Jojo Moyes. I've read most of her novels, which are usually contemporary. She's written a few historical novels, and I love them just as much as the contemporary novels. The Giver of Stars is an historical novel focusing on a group of ladies who created quite a stir during the 1930's, and all these decades later, their stories are popping up again. I'm talking about the horseback librarians of Kentucky. These were some badass women. 

There is another novel out, that I've reviewed--as a matter of fact, I said it was one of the best novels I'd read in 2019, and it still is--The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek. Click on the title and you can read my review from May. It is also about the horseback librarians of Kentucky, but this novel is quite different from Jojo Moyes' novel. There has been some kerfuffle about both authors writing about the same subject mere months apart, and how similar the novels appear to be. Well, I've read them both, and enjoyed them both, and I can say they are pretty different stories. 

The Giver of Stars has the delightful Alice, an Englishwoman who's been swept off her feet by Bennett Van Cleve, the handsome son of the local big-wig owner of the mines Mr. Van Cleve. She's married him and traveled to Kentucky to begin a new life far away from her old life--and she couldn't wait to escape the doldrums of her strict life in England. However, life in the small town of Baileyville is not at all what Alice expected, and she's just puzzled at Bennett's inability to seal the deal with her. She's pretty naive, but even Alice knows something is not right. People are expecting her to have a baby, and it's just not, er, happening.  Sitting in the big house, with nothing to do, Alice is becoming desperately unhappy. 

Until the day of the town meeting, when it's announced that a library service is coming to Baileyville, and volunteers are needed to deliver books to folks around town and up into the mountains of Kentucky, to those who live isolated, and often very poor lives in the harsh rural areas of Kentucky. Alice jumps up and volunteers, much to the anger of her father-in-law. She's bored, and has nothing to lose. 

Alice begins her journey from bored housewife to horseback librarian with the help of Margery O'Hare, a smart, self-sufficient, tough as nails woman who runs the library and knows the mountains of Kentucky like no one else. The two women soon become fast friends, and as other women join the library, it becomes a safe haven for Alice, who's home life is increasingly dire.

The cast of characters is outstanding. There are so many, yet it doesn't get confusing. Sven, Margery's steadfast partner, is a strong, solid man determined to wed Margery, even though she's completely against marriage. Fred, a gentle man who owns the property the library sits on, is quiet, loyal, and a shoulder for Alice to lean on in rough times. The other librarians: Izzy, Beth, Sophia, and Kathleen are all amazing ladies each in their own way, struggling to survive in a world that doesn't value education, strong women, or free thinking. Mr. Van Cleve is the bad guy--determined to shut down the library and bring Alice back around to behaving like a proper wife should. He's a real ass. 

The time frame of the novel is roughly a year; there is a lot that happens to the town, to Alice, Margery, and the other ladies. I enjoyed it all, and I loved the final chapter, which gave the reader a peak into the future. After spending time with Alice and the ladies, I was invested in their happiness, and I needed to know what happened after the story ended! 

So yes, read both novels. They are both very different; the only things they have in common are strong women and the pack horse librarian theme. I loved them both. 

Rating: 5/6 for a strong cast of characters that came to life swiftly and completely. A novel about the role of librarians in spreading literacy and changing lives during the Great Depression. Plenty of action. romance, and danger to keep you involved!

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson

I've been a bit behind in my reading this year. Books are so much a part of my life, it's hard for me to imagine not having them within easy reach whenever I want one to read. This wonderful book reminded me that so many people love books and reading, but often times don't have access to a library, much less afford a trip to a bookstore. 

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is definitely one of my top reads of 2019. It's going to take a pretty amazing read to knock it off the #1 spot. Yes, I've still got 6 months to go, but it's such a good story! I'm not sure where I first saw this novel; I think I was reading an email from Sourcebooks (the publisher) and spotted it. Sourcebooks always publishes the best books! From there, I ordered the book from my local B&N. It's taken me a few weeks to finish, but not because it wasn't interesting. It was just so darn good. 

Cussy Mary Carter lives outside of Troublesome Creek, Kentucky in 1936. Poverty is overwhelming for the folks; coal mining kills the men, and food is hard to find. Cussy is one of the local Pack Horse Librarians, part of a WPA project created by FDR to put people to work during the Depression. The librarians rode horses and mules up and down the Appalachians, through all kinds of weather, to deliver books, newspapers, and handmade scrapbooks to schoolchildren and families. She lives with her father, a coal miner suffering from lung disease, and lives a very isolated life because she's blue. As in blue-skinned. 

Cussy and her father suffer from a disease that turns their skin blue. Unknown at the time, it is a genetic condition of the blood. What folks around Troublesome Creek see is a woman who is different-not white-and therefore shunned, treated badly, and treated as lesser-than in everything. Cussy, however, is smart, educated, beautiful, and tough as nails. But a lifetime of being singled out, left out, and treated badly have left their mark, and she yearns to be able to fit in, find love, and be accepted. 

This novel is about Cussy's travels as a librarian; the people she meets on her route--hard working, good people who don't see Cussy's skin color, but see her as she is, and appreciate her work bringing them a bit of the world every week. The local doctor is eager to study Cussy and her father, and figure out why they are blue skinned, but Cussy is reluctant to be poked and prodded, until Doc makes her an offer she can't refuse. And when it looks like Cussy finally has her wish to fit in come true, it comes with consequences that she didn't expect. 

Kim Michelle Richardson has written a novel that is steeped in local lore, history, and well developed characters. It was oh so easy to slip into Cussy's world. All the little details-food, clothing, housing, and the books. The author skillfully weaves it all together into a novel that was hard to put down! You will want to explore the world of pack horse librarians (or book women, as they were called) after reading Cussy's story. NPR has a fantastic look at this WPA program.  

Rating: 5/6 for a wonderfully written novel about pack horse librarians in Kentucky. Cussy Mary Carter is a character you won't soon forget. This is your summer novel to read! 

Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audio. 

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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson

The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper

Well.  I'm a few days late getting this read and reviewed for my September reads, but better late than never!  I had a friend recommend this to me.  She knows I love Sara Addison Allen and that wonderful genre of magical realism.  And she was right about this one, too.

Lily and Rose Martin are two sisters who grew up on the family flower farm in Kentucky.  Rose's daughter Antoinette is ten years old and on the severe end of the autism spectrum.  She also has an amazing ability to heal.  As in, putting her hands into dirt and making flowers bloom, touching birds and healing broken wings.  She can hear the music of the earth and every living creature.  She can't talk, but her mind is as clear as a bell.  Her body doesn't obey her mind, and what others see as a profoundly challenged child screaming and biting is in actuality a frustrated child limited by the physical prison of a body that won't obey her commands. The only problem is that when Antoinette really goes in deep with her healing, it causes severe seizures that are in danger of killing her. 

Rose takes care of the flower farm, and finally calls Lily home after years of exile.  Rose is dying.  She's had a heart condition since the day she gave birth to Antoinette, and her time is running out.  Lily must come home to take care of Antoinette and the flower farm.  Rose is not willing to put her daughter in harm's way by trying to cure her heart condition.  It's time to say goodbye.  

Seth, Lily's childhood love, continues to live next door, and has taken part ownership in the flower farm to help Rose.  He's got a connection to Antoinette that helps keep her anchored and calm.  When Lily arrives, Antoinette is angry, frustrated, and definitely not a fan of Lily.  

Geez, this sounds like an incredibly sad story.  It is sad, but it's also pretty wonderful.  It's all about family, friends, love, sacrifice, and understanding.  I for one loved peeking into Antoinette's personality, and seeing the person she really is inside that physical body.  Rose and Lily love each other, but have lots of issues.  And Lily's love for Seth has never faded, but she's afraid to trust him again.  

I haven't even mentioned Will...the doctor who lives next door to Lily and is competition for Seth.  Oh, he'll break your heart.  

Flowers, magic, flower lore, healing, love.  The sister bond.  What a lovely little gem of a book.  

Rating:  7/10 for a novel that has many compelling characters; a story line that may require tissues, and a cover that was hard to resist.  

Available in hardcover and e-book.    

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The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper