How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang
272 pages

What’s it about?
 Lucy, twelve, and her androgynous sister Sam, eleven, wake to find their father has died in the night and left them orphans. Sam insists that Ba have a "proper burial" like Ma showed them.  For this they need two coins for Ba's eyes- and the right spot.  Procuring two coins is not easy and they soon find themselves on the run.  Throwing their father's body on the back of a horse they get out of town as fast as they can.  The unforgiving landscape of the American West is the backdrop to this story.

What did it make me think about?
Looking through Lucy's eyes we see a different American West than we usually read about.  An American West that is both beautiful, and harsh.  Westerners that rob the land, and love the land.  White westerners that are assured of taking what they want, and those of Chinese descent or Native American descent that have no recourse.  What an interesting and illuminating perspective Ms. Zhang shares with us.

Should I read it?
 A. Pam Zhang writes so beautifully.  "They've nearly reached the foot of the mountains, one week later, when the rib in the sky thickens.  Wolf moon, rarest kind.   Bright enough that after sunset and seat rise comes moonrise.  Silver pries their eyes awake.  The blades of grass, the bristles of Nellie's mane, the creases of their clothes- illuminated." I often found myself re-reading paragraphs so as not to miss anything.  The first 20 pages or so were a little slow but the story picks up.  Lucy and Sam were memorable characters and I loved the way Ms. Zhang shed light on Ba's story,  Very lyrical and inventive writing. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a more literary book.
 
Quote-
"What could almost make a girl laugh is how Ba came to these hills to be a protector.  Like thousands of others he thought the yellow grass of this land, its coin-bright gleam in the sun, promised even brighter rewards.  But none of those who came to dig the West reckoned on the land's parched thirst, on how it drank their sweat and strength.  None of them reckoned on the stinginess.  Most came too late.  The riches had been dug up, dried out.  The streams bore no gold.  The soil bore no crops.  Instead they found a far duller prize locked within the hills: coal."

If you liked this try-
Driftless by David Rhodes​
​The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
News of the World by Paulette Jiles

9 stars

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland
304 pages

What’s it about?
 It is 1934 in Atlantic City and the Adler's are spending the summer, as they spend every summer, living in the apartment above their bakery while renters inhabit their house at the shore.  Joseph and Esther are happy to have Florence home for the summer from college, while their older daughter Fannie is on bedrest with a new baby on the way.  Florence is training to swim the English Channel later in the summer, while also helping to entertain her niece Gussie and new friend Anna.  Anna has just  arrived from Germany.  When a tragedy befalls the family everyone must pitch in and help.

What did it make me think about?
 When is the sequel coming out?  I need to know what happens next....

Should I read it?
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.  Somehow it seemed old-fashioned and yet that was what I liked about it.  It was almost comforting to get so lost in these three generations of characters and the world they inhabit.   Despite the initial tragedy- this is book about family, love, and hope.  Pick this one up if you want to get lost in another place for awhile!  ***It would also make a great gift for Grandma as there is nothing offensive in this book at all.

Quote-
"Esther stiffened.  Mothers today were so much more demonstrative than those of Esther's generation had been.  She wasn't sure what it got them, other than whining children."

If you liked this try-
The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman
Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

9 stars

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
291 pages

What’s it about?
 This work of historical fiction takes place in Dublin during the flu epidemic of 1918.  Julia Power is a nurse, working in an overcrowded and understaffed maternity ward in the city center.  As the story begins Julia arrives to work and is told to take charge of a new room.  The room has been converted to house maternity patients that arrive with influenza.  For the next three days she will work tirelessly in this small room with both patients and two extraordinary women.  Dr. Lynn is the first female doctor that Julia has ever seen and Bridie Sweeney is a volunteer.  Both women will open Julia's eyes to a Dublin she was unaware of.

What did it make me think about?
 Irish history.  Caregivers.

Should I read it?
Any fan of historical fiction will enjoy this novel.  I particularly enjoyed the characters Emma Donoghue created in this book.  The novel reminded me in ways of The Wonder or Slammerkin (both earlier works in the same genre by Emma Donoghue).  The fact that the story takes place during the last flu epidemic serves as a reminder that we have been this way before.  It highlighted the similarities we face, despite all the progress made in the last 100 years.   Maybe most importantly it reminded us of the importance and heroism of so many caregivers.  What must it feel like to write a book and at its conclusion have this eery pandemic arrive and shed a new light on your story....
​ 
Quote-
"It felt colder inside the hospital than out these days; lamps were kept turned down and coal fires meagerly fed.  Every week, more grippe cases were carried into our wards, more cots jammed in.  The hospital's atmosphere of scrupulous order- which had survived four years of wartime disruption and shortages and even the Rising's six days of gunfire and chaos- was finally crumbling under this burden.  Staff who fells ick disappeared like pawns from a chessboard.  The rest of us made do, worked harder, faster, pulled more than our weight- but it wasn't enough.  This flu was clogging the whole works of the hospital."

If you liked this try-
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
​Saints For All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

8 1/2 stars

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
336 pages

What’s it about?
 It is 1982 and as the clock strikes midnight Oona Lockhart will turn 19.  Suddenly Oona faints and awakens in 2015.  She still feels like her 19 year-old self but she is definitely in a strange place and in a strange 51 year-old body.  She soon learns that every year on December 31st she will wake up at midnight in a different year at a different age (and you guessed it) the years are not chronological.  

What did it make me think about?
 What an interesting idea...  What would we think if we got to travel back and forth in time?  "If her future wasn't malleable, why put limits on the present?  So she said yes, yes, yes, and sometimes she wished she hadn't, but mostly she was glad she did."

Should I read it?
In this story Oona bounces back and forth through decades and selves in a quirky, entertaining novel.  I would liken it to a lighter, shorter (maybe less literary) Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.  In many ways this novel takes itself less seriously, which makes it is just a bit more fun....  I enjoyed this one but what kept it from being a better book was Oona herself.  Couldn't she have made some better choices?

Quote-
"While technology had been her umbilical cord to the world in 2015, this year's Oona was happy to disconnect from screens (not that she had a choice).  The novelty of convenience was replaced by the familiarity of the analog:  going to stores instead of shopping online, hailing taxis instead of ordering Ubers, using landlines and pay phones instead of her cell.  It was nice to see people out and about living their lives rather than curating them for the Internet or hiding behind their devices."

If you liked this try-
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
​All Adults Here by Emma Straub
​The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

​7 1/2 stars

Afterland by Lauren Beukes
404 pages

What’s it about?
 Three years after a pandemic kills 99% of the men on the planet, Cole is lucky enough to have her 13-year-old son Miles still with her.  They had been visiting the United States from their home country of South Africa when the virus kills her husband and leaves them stranded.  Cole must now find a way to keep Miles safe until they can manage a way home.   

What did it make me think about?
 My first thought was "I wish this novel had come out a year earlier" as releasing it during an actual pandemic makes is feel a little too close to home.  "Did they pick it up right there?  On the fingerprint reader, which she's never seen wiped down?  Or was it the elevator call button at the park hotel they's paid extra for so they'd be first through the gates?  Jabbing a pin code into the credit card machine at the restaurant?  The handrail on the Incredicoaster?  Or passed hand-to-glove from Goofy to Chewie to the kids?  All she knows is that within a few days, all eight of them came down with the flu."   I am sure this was a futuristic novel when it was written, but a few months later some paragraphs are eerily familiar... 

Should I read it?
Lauren Beukes writes a great page-turning novel.  From time traveling serial killers, to man killing viruses- Lauren Beukes creates a world full of interesting characters in very fast paced stories.   Her characters often have an edginess to them that I really enjoy.  In this story Cole and Miles grapple with an intrusive government, a megachurch bent on reform, and even some violent feminists as they try to make their way home.   I would highly recommend this one!

Quote-
"He doesn't want to go home.  All his friends are almost certainly dead.  Not the girls, obviously , although who knows?  "

If you liked this try-
​The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
The Power by Naomi Alderman
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

​9 stars