The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Chosen by locally famous Westie baker Roberta, the teachers and friends book club selection for October is The Historian. Roberta chose this older book, that we already have a copy of at WHHS, since it is about Dracula.  Fitting to have it be just before Halloween.  Our plan is to meet at Transylvania in East Haven/Branford. 

Now, this book is LONG.  It's long and has tiny little font.  It is not a book you can sit and read in an hour or even a night. You have to make the commitment to tackle it, a little at a time if need be, but stick it out.  

There is a TON of history.  I know more about the Ottoman Empire, Byzantine architecture, and of course Vlad than I will ever need.  It was fascinating from a historical standpoint.  And seriously, we think Vlad was some ancient ruler; he and Columbus were around at the same time!  I actually read a theory (when I fell down the rabbit hole about this) that Columbus was carrying Vlad's earthly remains to the New World so they would not be stolen/desecrated (dude was beheaded, what more could you do to him?, but I digress...).  

Anyway.

So Vlad as in Dracula the undead guy is the focus of this novel.  A professor becomes obsessed with finding his tomb to see if it contains a body, finding and falling in love with one of Vlad's descendants.  Then his mentee takes up the search, along with the professor's daughter.  They also have a daughter, who then continues the search.  They wind their way through primary source documents like maps, letters, and journals piecing together where Vlad went and why, and where his body might have ended up. 

All the while, their efforts are thwarted by a possibly undead vampire reference librarian.  He might have been my favorite character.  

So, would I recommend this?  Maybe.  If you want a longer read that's going to last you, if you like European/Middle Eastern history, or you have a strange obsession with Vlad/Dracula: definitely.  Casual beach read? Certainly not. 

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not reflect those of WHHS or WHPS.

Pines by Blake Crouch

Welcome to the 24-25 school year! 

This book is the Teachers and Friends Book Club choice for September, chosen by Mackrille's Mrs. Tirollo. 

Acid trip.

This was made into a very popular series on maybe Netflix, maybe Prime.  I'm not sure, nor would I try to watch it.

I'm still not really sure what was happening.  In a dystopian future, a little town lives secluded from the outside world, everyone is happy, very Stepford Wives-ish.  

Ethan is a special agent.  His colleagues were sent to Wayward Pines to investigate a disappearance, but now they are missing too.  Ethan awakens in the hospital after a car accident, with partial amnesia and his personal items missing.  He can't seem to get in touch with his wife and son back in Seattle.  

What follows is a weird, time traveling, spatial circus.  There are killer kids dressed up as clowns, giant bird-human hybrid monsters, and really bad dialogue.  

Hard no. 

Curious what the rest of the group thinks of this...

A reminder all opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not reflect those of WHHS or WHPS. 

The Golden Couple by Hendricks & Pekkanen

I honestly can't remember who gave this to me.  So, if it was you, I'm sorry for forgetting and sorry for not being a fan!

To be fair, I liked it until the plot twist.  After that, hate.

Marissa and Matthew seemingly have it all: he's a hot shot corporate lawyer and she's a boutique owner on the school PTA.  They have a son, a big house in a DC suburb, and nice cars. 

But, Matthew goes away on business and Marissa has an affair.  Marissa decides to confess, and the couple start seeing Avery, a therapist.  It would seem though Marissa's affair partner is not giving up on her so easily. Avery herself also has a clouded past that threatens.  Strange things happen, perhaps tied together.   

I thought it would tie up neatly, and I would have been satisfied with whom I believed to be behind it all.  Yeah, the plot twist just ruined it.  It all goes lightning speed after the twist as if the authors had a deadline to meet and rushed the end.

So this is a whodunit style novel, and as such I don't want to spoil.  I will say THE DOG LIVES.  As soon as the rescue pittie appeared, I was DREADING if he would be OK, but he really is just comic relief.      

A reminder all opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not represent WHHS or WHPS. 

Walk This Way by Geoff Edgers and Total F*cking Godhead by Corbin Reiff

Today's review will be of two musical biographies/narratives.  Two that might not go together in your brain, but definitely do in mine.

Music has always been an important part of my life.  Growing up, music was never not on.  From my Mom listening to smooth adult radio like Barry Manilow while she cooked or cleaned to my Dad blasting WPLR after a long day in the auto shop to me on my little first shelf system countering them with what we now call The 90s.  I didn't really have a genre--I'd listen to anything and still do.  Grunge, hip-hop/hip-pop, rap, pop, country, rock, didn't really matter as long as it spoke to me.  Same today.  

Aerosmith and Run-DMC's collaboration on "Walk This Way", bringing together legends of arena rock and up & coming rap stars, became an epic.  That silly video, when MTV made the hits, was one you waited for in the rotation.  That intro riff is recognizable from the first note.  You don't need the fancy new radios that tell you the song.  Everyone knows it from my Dad's generation to my son's.  

Chris Cornell's death impacted me in a way I can't really explain.  I was not a huge Soundgarden or Temple of the Dog fan, but just the same, "Black Hole Sun" and "Hunger Strike" were songs you turned up on Radio 104.  And one of those videos was an acid trip, the other haunting.  A few days after Cornell's death, we attended the Guns N Roses concert at Hershey.  They played "Black Hole Sun" without any intro or post commentary.  Just a tribute via Cornell's music.  It was so moving.  

So, I think you can see why I chose to read these back to back.  Walk This Way was given to me by Mr. Joe Winters (you might also have seen us dressed up as Run and Steven Tyler) and Total F*cking Godhead by Mr. Mark Consorte (who started teaching right about the time "Black.." was first on MTV).  And as an 80s baby who came of age in the 90s, music means everything. 

I'll be adding both of these to our collection when we return.  

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not represent WHPS or WHHS. 

Into the Attic Darkly by Robin Cannon

You may know Robin Cannon.  She is a retired WHPS elementary level teacher and still resides here.  She reached out to our Teachers and Friends Book Club to read and discuss her book Into the Attic Darkly this month.  This is not a book I would have picked up, which is kinda the point of a book club--read and discuss what you might not've yourself.

This is a whodunit mystery, with some serious generational trauma thrown in.  Dan is a hot shot lawyer and Ellen is his social climbing wife.  They have two boys, Tom (who mostly narrates in first person, but sometimes it abruptly switches to 3rd) and Eddie, plus their nanny Dulcie.  Eddie is in need of mental help and is sent away after a violent outburst nearly ruins one of his parents' dinner parties.  Dan and Dulcie have an affair, which Tom discovers and documents via photos (using the camera Dulcie gave him...).  Dan is shot dead and Ellen dies of a heart attack (or poisoning...) on the same day.  Tom is blamed, but is innocent.

So first the title.  It's literal in that the two boys like to play in the spooky attic.  It's also figurative in that the dark attic is where Eddie, Tom, and Dulcie all seem to retreat mentally (and to an extent physically) when things go sour.  

Second, there are all kinds of abuse going on here that isn't easy to read.  No, these parents aren't beating their kids senseless or starving them or anything like that, but a license to breed argument would be supported with their words and behavior.  Why bother having children?  

Third, I didn't care for Dulcie.  I know she is only half the guilty parties in the affair, but.  I found her insincere and just...I don't even know, but I did not like her at all.

There are quite a few nods to the local area in the fictional town, the biggest being the Rivoli.  If you don't know what that means here in West Haven, Google it.

I'm interested to hear what my book club has to say and from the author.  I'll be adding this to our collection come next school year.

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not reflect those of WHHS or WHPS. 

Mistress of All Evil by Serena Valentino

I am back from my trip to England.  I spent a long weekend with my sister and her family at Lakenheath AFB. 

This Disney villain series was highly recommended by several of my Disney obsessed friends.  They are billed as back stories and what happens after the movies, all intertwined in-universe style.  I had purchased the set for the WHHS Library, as the vendor reading level is on the younger side but with a range of interest age.  I've had trouble keeping them on the shelf because they are so popular.  Naturally I wanted to read one, so I chose Maleficent of Sleeping Beauty.

I hated it.  

I'm sorry, but this was terrible.  I'm actually sad to have read it, because I almost feel it's ruined the character for me.  

I do not see the allure.  The tale does not match what we know about the character (and I'm not buying the in-universe style: we know when the fairy tales are set, you can't change that).  The writing itself is definitely for 11-12 age, which means many of our lower-level readers can access it, but for me, I felt I was reading something way to simplistic for the subject.  

Back to the shelf this one goes, not the display.

A reminder all opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not represent WHHS or WHPS. 

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Continuing my summer reading theme of books recommended by others, I am absolutely shook by this book.  I reviewed Hannah's novel The Four Winds during the Rona here, and I admit to being a bit skeptical as she seems overly wordy sometimes.  This was suggested by another client in my hair salon, and when I posted the picture our Board of Education Chair replied she loved it.

I did too.

It is slow to start.  Meredith is the heir to a very successful apple orchard, mother to two college age daughters (both attending highly selective universities) and married to her high school sweetheart Jeff (although their relationship is more friend than lover these days).  Her parents live nearby, and she visits her doting but ailing father Evan and exceptionally cold mother Anya regularly.  Nina is the younger wild child, currently a journalism photographer in Africa.  When Evan passes, Anya seemingly goes off the deep end.  Doctors think it's just grief, but Meredith thinks dementia is setting in.  Evan's final request is that Nina and Meredith convince Anya to tell a fairy tale story from long ago.

It isn't until Anya starts telling the fairy tale does the story really begin.  I was honestly getting annoyed with Meredith and Jeff's marital woes, and Nina's, I think, Australian, boyfriend.

But then, wow.  Anya tells a fairy tale that devolves rapidly into what her daughters realize is an autobiography of her youth in Stalin's Leningrad.  And their mother is NOT who they think she is.  I can tell you, as a mother, parts of this story had me sobbing.  Ugly crying.  And the plot twist at the end?  Shocking.

This is a definite recommend from me!

A reminder all opinions on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not represent those of WHHS or WHPS.