a Look at a Book

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams

I didn’t realize until partway into the book that this is actually a sequel-ish to another book I’d read: The Dictionary of Lost Words. It overlaps a bit with some characters, and the dictionary itself makes an appearance. But the main characters are different, as is the main plot. I appreciated the nuanced ending: this wasn’t a neatly packaged, all loose-ends-tied-up ending, and that was so very fitting for the story!

Peggy is a voracious reader who works in the Oxford Press bookbindery along with her twin sister Maude. They are young adults, yet Maude is not quite able to be fully independent, and Peggy feels a strong sense of duty towards her, even while the gravitational pull of the women’s college threatens to upset their equilibrium. However, even before anything happens with Peggy and Somerville College, World War I invades their lives, and most of the men who work at the press are off to fight in the war. 

The story itself is multi-layered: the backdrop of war, a couple of love stories, the continued growing up of the sisters, and the courage to dare to break free of the social mold that Peggy has been placed in by being a “Town” instead of a “Gown.” 

All of the layers, as well as some plot twists that I wasn’t expecting, made this an overall satisfying read for me. I listened to the audio version, which wasn’t great when it came to a couple of love scenes that didn’t fade-to-black as quickly as I would have liked. (see caveat below). But I appreciated that the author didn’t package so many messy themes as neatly as some other authors have done. 

Content Caveats: a couple of fade-to-black love scenes that don’t fade quite early enough for my taste. I wouldn’t call it a “chaste” read or closed door. A sprinkling of explicit words, but some of them, like the British “bloody ____” don’t feel quite as off-putting to my American cultured brain. Descriptions of war injuries and death.

Listened to this as part of the Book Girls’ Guide (BGG) Decades Challenge.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Completed as a prompt for the Rory Gilmore challenge: one of the books that was a popular contemporary of the Gilmore Girls show. 

The first-person narrator and his best friend Luo are sent to a remote mountain village to be “re-educated” during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During their time there, they meet the daughter of the local tailor and they both, to an extent, develop a crush on her. More than that, though, they discover a hidden stash of forbidden books and drink in all the knowledge of the world that they had never before heard of or known. They share these novels with the “Little Seamstress” and it changes all of their lives. 

While it was an interesting cultural read, I was disappointed by the ending. It felt abrupt – not like an ending at all. In that way, and by the nature of the ending, it felt oddly similar to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which I reviewed in my last recent reads post. Not my favorite read certainly, but not awful, either. 

Content Caveats: mentions of making love and some skinny dipping, along with some other things the boys learn about love and sex through the novels they find. Some mentions/allusions would go over the head of some younger readers. Since it is through the eyes of a somewhat ignorant teen boy, it’s not what I would call graphic; more matter-of-fact. Still, use discretion before recommending it to a younger reader.

Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham

This is a young adult fiction book about the little-known Tulsa Race Riot, which I read for the Book Girls’ Guide Decades Challenge. This race riot is so little known, in fact, that it was wiped from historical records as much as possible and students growing up in Tulsa didn’t hear about it in classes at all. 

At first the present-day voice (Rowan) sounded too juvenile for my taste. But I quickly got drawn into the mystery of the skeleton that she found on her family’s property as well as the story of Will, Joseph, and Ruby. 

The author did an excellent job of weaving the stories together, leaving the alternating chapters as cliffhangers so that I wanted to keep reading. It was a little jarring at times to switch between the timelines and frustrating because I’d have to wait another chapter to find out what’s next in either the present or the past. That’s one reason why I quickly tire of dual-timeline stories if I read them back-to-back.

Since the main characters are all fictional, things ended up being woven together a little more closely than, perhaps, they would be in real life. But it was a very honest depiction of life in Tulsa in 1921, in both parts of town, as well as the reality of racial problems in the present. While honest, it was still hopeful and pointed toward the grit and goodness of many people, despite the horrific events caused by white Tulsans on May 31st-June 1st, 1921. Overall, it was quite well-written, and I can recommend it to most readers! 

Content Caveats: some expletives in present-day chapters, depictions of violence and murder, racism

The Tech Exit by Clare Morell

It’s exactly what the subtitle says: a practical guide for families. 

I read this after listening to an interview with the author on a podcast. It doesn’t say much statistically that I didn’t already know after reading Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation (reviewed here). However, the statistics about tech in school, which might surprise you, absolutely match what I saw as a teacher! It also named some resources that I had not heard of for helping families keep their kids tech-free.

I also really appreciated that she addressed parental phone/tech usage, because data clearly shows that parental phone usage is also really negative for kids’ development. While the advice is simple, many would find it challenging to live by, simply because smartphones have made their way into so many aspects of our lives.

She mentioned two books that I have read and still think about even a few years later, which I recommend to you as well: Reclaiming Conversation and Digital Minimalism (both reviewed here). 

The Tech Exit is a worthwhile read – possibly a must-read – for anyone who is a parent (or grandparent!), no matter the age of your child(ren).

Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

I read this for the Friday Night Readers’ Rory Gilmore challenge: reading a kids book that is mentioned at some point in the television series.
After reading this, I do believe it was a re-read for me, though I couldn’t tell you at what point I originally read Encyclopedia Brown. I read it in one sitting, and got better at figuring out how he solved the mysteries/crimes as I went, despite how tired I was while reading before bed. 🙂

Since it’s more episodic than a regular chapter book narrative, it’s well-suited for a quick chapter-a-day read-aloud in a classroom as a transition activity and/or a family read-aloud before bed. The reading itself is fairly simple; the deductive and inference skills required to think through each case might require readers to be a bit older than the reading might imply. Or not – perhaps your first or second grader is just the right age to figure it out! Depends on the kiddo 🙂

The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis

I tried to read this for the Book Girls’ Guide Decades challenge, but I didn’t like it enough to finish it. I’m likely in the minority in not loving this book; it has so many positive reviews online.

I probably read about two-thirds of it, but it just left me with an “ick” feeling. I wanted to know the mystery of the art, but I didn’t like what went on in the characters’ lives in either timeline. Specifically, it was all the cheating and flirting with people outside of their (supposed-to-be) monogamous relationships. It just didn’t sit well with me.

Learning about Grand Central Station and how it used to be amazing in its heyday was the main reason I picked it up, but those parts weren’t central (ha) enough to the storylines to be enough to overcome my dislike. Oh well.