2021 Page Turners Book Rankings

 Page Turners Book Rankings for 2021

1.  American Dirt                                         Jeanine Cummins            4.4

     Ordinary Grace                                       William Kent Krueger     4.4

2.  Anxious People                                        Fredrik Backman            4.1

3.  We Are Not From Here                            Jenny Torres Sanchez     3.9

4.  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks     Rebecca Skloot               3.8

5.  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd                Agatha Christie                3.7

     Pride and Prejudice                                  Jane Austen                     3.7

6.  The Night Watchman                                Louise Erdrich                3.5

7.  The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop            Fannie Flagg                    3.4

8.  The Mountains Echoed                            Khaled Hosseini               3.2

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez

August 3, 2020 Original Post

"We wait, all of us, for the beast to wake up again. We watch as it sleeps, unbothered, unhurried. It doesn't care that my heart is racing. That my mind feels dizzy from the heat and hunger. That my body is prickly with sweat and readiness. It doesn't care that we're dying, literally dying, to get as far away as possible from the places we love but that have turned on us."
               -Pequena, from the novel

I am very familiar with this author who writes for a young adult audience; I know her personally and have read 3 of her novels previously. This book, however, is SO timely and so intense, I think it would be an important read for everyone, from age 15 up to all adults. We read and hear of the plight of immigrants in our country and see images that make us wonder what happened to the America who invited "your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" (from The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus)  Through the eyes of three Guatemalan teens, we are drawn into the struggles and emotions of these refugees.

These young people are living in fear of violent gangs that run rampant. Danger seems to be around every corner. Pulga, Chico, close enough to be his brother, and Pequena, Pulga's female cousin, have family who love them in Puerto Barrios but they decide they must run to save themselves. They set out on an extremely perilous journey through Guatemala and Mexico, mostly via La Bestia, the train called "the Beast" because of the number of people who have lost life or limbs to its ferocity. These muchachos must survive so much cruelty along the way but occasionally are met by compassionate people running shelters. It takes real desperation and determination to keep them going.

The author uses what I would call lyrical prose. Pulga and Pequena alternate telling their very emotional stories, expressing themselves in a powerful, sometimes poetic way. I became totally involved with the characters, almost wishing I could help them on their way somehow. Ms. Sanchez also uses magical realism, especially in Pequena's mind, to lift the narrative to another plane.

The novel, of course, is written in English but in a number of places there is Spanish dialogue. This was interesting because I could challenge my mediocre knowledge of Spanish in trying to translate. More often than not, the author helps out with the context.

This is a captivating story of survival, although it is difficult to read in parts---sad and scary, at times. Short chapters and great intensity made it a page-turner and I can easily rate it a 5.

Updated October, 2021

Our Page Turners finally met to discuss a selection we had planned for spring. It was postponed because of our reading of American Dirt. We felt the subject matter was too similar to read so soon after it.  Much of our discussion centered around a comparison to that other novel. We also talked about the appropriateness of this book for youth. (We thought it was and that young people would find it readable and engaging.) We agreed We Are Not From Here elicited intense emotions and that the author's use of figurative language is very compelling. Our leader even read an excerpt to illustrate the lyrical quality of the writing. 

The group's average rating was 3.9. 

The Passing Storm: A Novel by Christine Nolfi

 

"Secrets were corrosive, especially when they were bottled up for too long. Rae knew this from bitter experience---her own secrets had weakened her relationship with her late daughter and tested her father's love and his patience as he reluctantly learned to live with them."

       -from the novel

A novel I selected from  Amazon First Reads, The Passing Storm was quite good. There was enough mystery to keep me engaged and even a hint of romance toward the end. I rated it a 3.

Rae Langdon lives on a 40-acre farm in Ohio with her aging father. It is getting harder and harder to maintain the property, particularly when they are both grieving the loss of Rae's mother and teenage daughter, Lark. Both family members were victims of seemingly freak accidents. In fact, the reader does not know much detail about Lark's death for quite a while.

Quinn Galecki is a teenage boy, close friend of the deceased Lark, who has neglectful and abusive parents. He is offered refuge by the Langdons, much to the displeasure of his father when he finds out. 

As intimated by Rae in the quote above, the story is built around several corrosive secrets---her own and others, including Quinn. These are revealed gradually as the plot progresses.

A Conspiracy of Mothers by Colleen Van Niekerk

 ""A tremor had always run beneath the surface of their family. With all the ills they'd suffered, she had simply assumed it was the result of hardship. Instead, everything they were, everything she had become, rested upon a conspiracy of mothers."                 -Ingrid's thoughts, from the novel

I chose this title as my free book for September because the setting of South Africa was one I haven't experienced and I can certainly identify with mothers, since I am one. The plot sounded pretty interesting and the small number of ratings were good. I will be generous in rating it a 3 because I didn't enjoy it all that much. There were things to like about the novel but too much magic realism, a literary element I am easily confused by and don't really enjoy.

As I mentioned the setting is South Africa, 1994, with much of apartheid still rearing its ugly head and the first democratic election looming. The plot involves 3 mothers---Rachel, who is dying of cancer; Yolanda, her daughter and mother of Ingrid, quoted above; and Elsa, mother of Yolanda's former white lover, Stefan. Each of the mothers plus Ingrid and a hired hit man narrate alternating chapters, giving multiple perspectives to the story. 

Yolanda, an artist suffering from PTSD and living in Virginia, has been estranged from her family for years. In South Africa, Rachel has raised her granddaughter, Ingrid, who has long thought her parents were dead. Yolanda "hears" her mother calling and returns to her homeland, only to find both Rachel and Ingrid missing. The only conspiracy that I really understood was that of Elsa, going to extreme measures to protect her son, the unlawful father of Ingrid. (It was illegal for races to mix.) I must admit those efforts made for the more exciting parts of the book.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 

"The presence of a humorous heroine means that Pride and Prejudice can unite in one character two of the author's most treasured aims: amusing the reader and imparting moral points."              

             -from the introduction by David M. Shapard, regarding protagonist Elizabeth Bennet

Does a book club need to read at least one classic every year? Maybe. This one was suggested for 2021. As the leader of Page Turners some 13 years, I have always tried to finish each book club selection. This one had me wondering if I wanted to break that habit! I felt I was slogging through the first half but then began to like it a bit more. I began to think of all the books in my queue that I really WANT to read and yet I felt compelled to finish this one. I rated it a 2.

I did come to like Elizabeth, sometimes called Lizzy. She was a spunky one, independent enough to seem ahead of her time. Her sister Jane was likeable, as well.

My eBook was an annotated version so it included footnotes about the language usage and historic significance of some references. I saved the notes to read last and actually enjoyed them more than the novel itself! 

---------------------------

Page Turners had an enthusiastic discussion with several members finding interesting points to make about the characters, plot and themes. A question offered by Penguin Classics had us thinking of how Hollywood and television have borrowed the premise of two people with a mutual dislike finally becoming romantically attached. Think Hallmark movies!

One participant reminded us that Bridget Jones's Diary was an updated version of P and P. I DID enjoy that story.

The fact that Longbourn, the Bennet property, was entailed, meaning it could only be inherited by a male relative, remined me of "Downtown Abbey," the setting of which is actually some 100 years later.

It was mentioned that Austen's style and somewhat archaic language was off-putting to some. One of our members related it to reading Shakespeare---challenging but worthwhile if you can get into it. 

The group's average rating was 3.7 with half the group voting 4 or 5---a surprise to me. Personally, I am looking forward to anything but classics in the next few months!

Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

"Everything disappoints us sometimes. Everybody disappoints us. Men let women down, women let men down, ideals don't hold water....I think we expect too much. Simple as that. And the only thing that lets us down is our own expectation.  I used to pray to God for an easy life. Now I pray to be a strong person." 

                           -Father Tom Griffin, aka St. Kawasaki, from the novel

This is my third novel by Mr. Krueger, but the first of his Cork O'Conner series. It was a page-turner, for sure, but I must rate it a 4 because it didn't quite measure up to the quality of Ordinary Grace or This Tender Land, which I loved.

Each of Krueger's novels I have read are set in or around Minnesota and two of them have involved native Americans in a significant way. I am learning things about the native cultures of the area and about the injustice often faced by these people.

Corcoran "Cork" O'Conner is the former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota who cannot seem to get investigating crime out of his system. When the town judge is found dead seemingly by suicide---or not---and a young boy disappears while out delivering newspapers, Cork cannot help getting involved. The more he snoops and questions townsfolk, the more he uncovers---dishonor, graft, treachery...and murder!

In the process, he finds himself at risk, as well as people he holds dear.

I look forward to reading Cork O'Connor, book 2!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 3

 "Between life and death there is a library. And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices...Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?"

                              ---Mrs. Elm, the librarian from the novel

Nora Seed is contemplating suicide when she is transported to The Midnight Library of the book title. The quote above provides a hint at what happens there. In times in her life, Nora aspired to be an Olympic swimmer, a glaciologist, a rock star, a wife and mother, and she has given up on each goal and even failed "to be a truly good and truly happy person," in her own mind. Nothing has given her lasting happiness and she is in despair as she faces a dark future.

The librarian, Mrs. Elm. shows Nora The Book of Regrets which holds every regret she has ever had in her life. And she can choose a path she regrets and, seemingly try to undo it. Yes, it was pretty hard to believe a person could move in and out of different phases of their life. Closer to fantasy than fiction, in my opinion. One character Nora meets who is experiencing the same thing she is, says this, "I have encountered a few other sliders. That's what I call them. Us. We are sliders. We have a root life in which we are lying somewhere, unconscious, suspended between life and death, and then we arrive in a place. And it's always something different. A library, a video store, an art gallery, a casino...." Sound weird? Yeah, I thought so.

I finished this book because I was just curious enough to want to know what happens to Nora. I will rate it a 3---I sort of liked it, didn't love it. It was unique, I must admit.

I almost feel like recommending the book to a couple of friends who are physicists. Quantum physics is mentioned several times for example, "The many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics suggests there are an infinite number of divergent parallel universes." Wow! Totally over my head!

Good luck with this one!