Book of the Month: April 2018

Offered Books:

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Circe by Madeline Miller

The Oracle Year by Charles Soule

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Well

Selected:

Circe by Madeline Miller

Others Purchased:

None - yet

Madeline Miller's expanded look at Circe, famous from Homer's The Odyssey is one of the best damn books I have selected from Book of the Month.  While this sort of novel isn't anything new (and one of my selections from later in this year is another expanded take on a minor character from the Trojan War, to show how often they pop up), Miller does a fantastic job of not only 'filling in the plot' to justify a look at this character, but telling a wholly original story using characters that many are at least somewhat familiar with without it feeling out of place amongst the many stories of the Greek Gods.

That is quite the needle to thread, and Miller does splendidly.  From her humble beginnings in the house of the titan Helios to her banishment to the Isle where she has her famous meeting with Odysseus, Miller makes Circe a fully realized character - one who you cheer for even as she turns slightly villainous for part of the novel.

Like The City of Brass, this is a hard novel for me to go into too many details on - I don't want to spoil any of the plot - but I was fully behind it winning the Book of the Year award.  I will say that any character from the Greek mythos - no matter how small or large - that appears in this novel gets a deepening of their character through Miller's writing.

Another thing that Miller accomplishes is making Circe's long seclusion on the island of her banishment interesting.  If any part of the novel had the potential to drag, it was then, but Miller keeps the reader engaged throughout and makes them forget that so much of the action occurs in a single location.  And when they do move from the island, it feels earned.  The ending to the book is bittersweet and well done.

I cannot recommend this book enough.

5 out of 5

Author Links:

Madeline Miller

Book of the Month: March 2018

Offered Books:

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs

Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Other People's Houses by Abbi Waxman

Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan

Selected:

Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan

Others Purchased:

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Rainbirds follows Ren Ishida as he travels to Akakawa following the murder of his sister, Keiko.  While there, he ends up not only tying up his sister's affairs, but also falling into her life as he ends up taking her job, boarding in her old room, and interacting with many of her friends and acquaintances.

So, this is an odd book.  If it wasn't already noticeable by the description, there are contrivances aplenty to get Ren into 'place' for the story proper to start, and Goenawan accomplishes this smoother in some parts than in others.  In fact, it feels as if the book meanders a bit getting to this point - but on purpose.  Losing his sister has hit Ren harder than he even realizes, and while Goenawan is very noticeably moving this character to certain points for the story, it weirdly feels appropriate, as Ren needs someone guiding him.

However, once the plot is in swing, Goenawan maintains that meandering feel for Ren, as he flashes back to his childhood with Keiko while also living a shadow of her life in Akakawa.  He's trying to learn why Keiko was murdered, but this plotline isn't pursued with urgency as Goenawan instead explores Ren's feeling of loss.

This is a 'heavy' book, subjectwise.  There are few moments of humor, and Ren's various interactions with the other characters always has a tinge of sadness about them - Goenawan rightfully maintains this throughout the novel - in a way, there is no true catharsis as such a thing would be almost impossible given Keiko's youth and the tragedy of her death.

Ren is a great character and the story is told through his perspective, but the other characters he interacts with are well written also, and Goenawan accomplishes the rare feat of having the character's thoughts give a full characterization of the people he encounters without 'knowing' too much about them.

I would recommend this book - but it is not light reading.

3 out of 5

Author Links:
Clarissa Goenawan
Emily X.R. Pan