That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

 

Last year's Big Summer was the first Jennifer Weiner book I'd read and I enjoyed it very much. That Summer has completely different characters, but Cape Cod plays a big role in this novel, too. 

Diana Scalzi is fifteen years old and has the world ahead of her the summer she spends on Cape Cod, nannying for her mom's friend Dr. Levy. She even meets a boy named Poe who just graduated from Emlen, a private boy's school that is the place to send the sons of the wealthy and powerful. They spend time on the beaches, getting to know one another. Diana is smitten, and believes Poe is, too. 

Until one night, at the end of the summer, when Poe gets her drunk, and rapes her. It changes Diana forever. Revenge comes back years later, just when she thinks she's able to let go and move on. However, Diana finds out revenge isn't that easy.

Diana "Daisy" Shoemaker is married to Hal, an older, handsome lawyer. Their daughter Beatrice is a teenager who recently was kicked out of Hal's alma mater, Emlen. Daisy is the woman who keeps the family running--always putting Hal's needs before her own. She keeps getting the wrong emails-emails for another Diana. Soon they form a friendship and begin meeting each other for lunch and dinner. Who is this new friend, and what does she want from Daisy?

Yes, you guessed it--Daisy's friend is none other than Diana Scalzi. Whatever Diana has planned, she never planned on actually liking Daisy and Beatrice. Does she continue on her path of revenge, or walk away before confronting Hal?

So I've got to admit I was not expecting a story about a teenage rape and the drive to avenge. I didn't really read any blurbs about the novel, so that was surprising. I much preferred Big Summer--it was a much more solid plot This plot seemed a bit thin and there wasn't much driving it forward. I was hoping Daisy would stand up to Hal in a really big way, but had to wait a long time for any kind of tough Daisy. 

It wasn't a bad story; I was just underwhelmed and had hoped for more. Warning there is a rape scene in this novel (it is not graphic) so if this is a sensitive subject for you this may be a tough read. 

I'll keep reading Jennifer Weiner and hope her next novel is a bit different than That Summer. 

Rating: 3/6 for a novel about a woman who is haunted by her tragic past and cannot move forward until she confronts her rapist. In doing so, she finds innocent casualties in her drive for revenge. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

 

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This memoir has gotten a lot of buzz in the book industry the past few months, but that didn't make me want to read it. I happened to watch CBS' Sunday morning news and they interviewed Michelle Zauner. That did the trick. Then I had to read it, and luckily it was 50% off at B&N so I snagged it. 

Michelle's mother is Korean, and Michelle's father is white. She grew up feeling a bit lost in between, but absolutely loved all of the Korean foods, stories, and family history her mother shared with her. Very rocky teen years full of rebellion and depression created a wedge between Michelle and her mother that was hard to overcome. 

The news that her mother had cancer rocked Michelle's world, and she promptly packed her bags and flew back to Eugene, Oregon to help care for her during treatment. 

This memoir is about Michelle's grief, and how she climbed out of it with the help of her boyfriend Peter, her Korean family, and her memories of her mother. So many regrets, to be sure. But also gratitude for all her mother taught her about her Korean roots, resilience, and the importance of family-whether it's the one you are born into, or the one you make. 

I absolutely loved all of the Korean food descriptions and how many memories came from those special dishes. Michelle's grief is heartbreaking and anyone who has gone through losing a parent understands completely her highs and lows. 

Michelle Zauner is also well known for her musical abilities--she's the lead singer in the band Japanese Breakfast, which is getting a lot of buzz, too. 

I found this a thoughtful and touching memoir from a woman who takes ownership  for her part in a loving but oftentimes difficult mother-daughter relationship. 

Rating: 4/6 for a memoir about loving and losing a parent, and the gifts they leave behind. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. Michelle's band Japanese Breakfast has albums available on iTunes, Amazon, and other music stores.

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Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

A very cool, windy, and gloomy Sunday gave me the chance to read the e-book of Someone We Know, and I discovered Shari Lapena. 

This was a quick read, and that's a good thing, because I couldn't put it down. I've read quite a few domestic thrillers, and I'll admit, I was a bit burnt out. However, I had never read Shari Lapena's novels, and once I started reading, I quickly got over my blahs about domestic thrillers. I've even made plans to read the rest of her books over the summer. And I've already told my sister she needs to read them. It's been a busy Sunday. 😀😀

Anyway-back to the story. Raleigh is a sixteen year old boy who gets a thrill out of breaking into neighboring homes and hacking into people's computers. He doesn't do it to find information, but to hone his skills as a hacker. Unfortunately, a friend leaves a text that his mom finds, and all hell breaks loose. And this is the tip of the iceberg in a neighborhood where a missing wife is found dead in the trunk of her car; affairs are rampant, and there's a cold blooded killer lurking somewhere in the midst of it all. 

Raleigh's parents Olivia and Paul Sharpe are horrified their son has been breaking and entering. He's promised not to do it again. That's the least of their worries, of course. 
Amanda Pierce-a beautiful, flirty, neighbor has been reported missing by her husband Robert Pierce. She said she was meeting a friend for a weekend shopping trip but never came home. The friend said they never had a trip planned. Suspicion quickly falls on Robert, and he definitely is a utter jerk and a total creep. But does that make him a killer? Other neighbors are quickly pulled into the mystery; Becky and Larry live next door to Robert and Amanda, and hoo boy Becky is tangled up in Robert's web.  What does she see out her windows?

Then there's Glenda, her husband Keith and her teen son Adam. She's so worried about Adam! He's been binge drinking, and she doesn't know what to do about him. Oh, the neighborhood seems to be falling apart. 

This thriller ping pongs around from couple to couple, each one falling under suspicion in the investigation. Truth and lies swirl around, and you just can't tell who may be guilty, until the end. There isn't any one person who is very likable, and certainly all are guilty of keeping secrets--some pretty darn big, too. 

I throughly enjoyed this novel. It's been a long time since I've read so quickly and in a few hours. A big thank you to Penguin for offering me the chance to discover a new author--and NetGalley for providing an ebook copy for me to read. 

4/6 for a domestic thriller full of twists and turns, revelations, and a whole lot of suspicious people. Add Shari Lapena to your summer reading list! 

Available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook. 

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Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid

One last book for November. It's a sobering non-fiction look at the disturbing disappearances of thousands of Indigenous women along a stretch of highway in Canada. Called the Highway of Tears, this road travels through some pretty desolate places, in between very small communities and towns. 

These disappearances, some over fifty years old, are a national crisis that, hopefully with this book, will be getting some much needed attention and funding. Reading the stories of these young women--most of them teenagers, disappearing and never found, broke my heart, and made me pretty angry at the same time. Their families knew something was wrong, and when they would report their loved ones missing, the police often brushed off their claims, saying the girls ran off on their own, or were troublemakers--prostitutes. In reality, these were young girls who were ignored by law enforcement because they were Indigenous, and that meant they weren't important enough to look for them. 
All of them had dreams to attend college, become forest rangers, psychologists, mothers, artists. They had so much life ahead of them. 

Families spent years searching and begging for help, and often got nothing in return. A few learned of the fates of their daughters and sisters: their bodies were found; stabbed, beaten, left in ditches or off the side of a desolate road. Thrown away like garbage. No one has ever been arrested for these murders. So many unanswered questions. So much heartbreak, the kind that destroys families. Poverty, culture, prejudice, and hundreds of years of oppression certainly play a big part in this outrageous lack of justice. The madness of it all is that it continues on, in 2019. Young women continue to disappear on the Highway of Tears at a consistent pace. 

This was a fascinating, and disturbing look at a national crisis that highlights the continued dismissal of Indigenous people. The utter lack of respect for them as human beings with the same rights to safety and protection as the rest of us is maddening and absolutely shameful. 

Rating: 5/6 for a detailed look at the dangers of the Highway of Tears, the continued dismissal of Indigenous people's safety and concerns for missing loved ones, and the hope that their voices are finally being heard. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid