Let's Bust a Recap : What Alice Forgot

Well I finally got around to reading What Alice Forgot. This is my second Liane Moriarty, but the first book that piqued my interest in her. Since reading The Hypnotist's Love Story a couple years ago, I have actually accumulated all her books for my home library, and I was determined to put What Alice Forgot on my 2023 book list after stating I would for sure get to it in 2021 after I so thoroughly enjoyed The Hypnotist's Love Story.

Ha. Good one, Hannah.

What Alice Forgot opens with our protagonist waking up on the floor of a gym after falling off her bike in spin class. But wait, why is she even in a gym? She's 29 and can't be bothered to work out. Her husband is madly in love with her and they're about to have their first child together. 

Not so. We, the readers, quickly learn along with Alice that not only is it no longer 1998, but Alice is in the process of divorcing her husband, the father of their three children. Alice can't remember the last ten years of her life and she certainly can't reconcile this new reality that her husband wants nothing to do with her and her sister is acting like she is a major burden with the way Alice feels about them. From here, Moriarty weaves together this narrative of Alice's amnesia with her sister Elisabeth's journal entries about Alice's strange injury and their childhood neighbor/adopted grandmother Frannie's letters to Phil about it as well. The result is an unputdownable and unforgettable story of remembering what's most important in life and how to cherish and protect the relationships that mean the most. 

I loved it. I laughed at Alice's reactions to the three children she couldn't remember, and Moriarty managed to make me feel, right along with Alice, that I didn't want to know how such a lovely marriage could have fallen apart...but needing to know: how could it?? My heart hurt for Elisabeth as she navigated her infertility and tentatively stepped back into her sister's life when Alice needed her. And I couldn't get enough of Frannie's letters to Phil. Who is Phil? I thought the way Moriarty twisted the stories of these three women together and their responses to the different losses in their lives was beautiful. Her writing pulled me in and I couldn't stop turning the pages until I reached the conclusion. 

Admittedly, the closer I got to that conclusion, the more stressed out I became about how it was all going to end, but Moriarty stuck the landing and I promptly took the book to my mother and told her to read it too. What Alice Forgot is certainly not Great Literature, but it's the perfect beach read and, if you're anything like me, the story will stay with you long after you turn the last page. 

The question is: which Liane Moriarty book do I pick up next?

Let's Bust a Recap : Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

To close out Library Week here on the blog, we're talking about the last library book I have in my To Be Blogged pile (for now). The 1970 classic Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 

(Sidenote: I just Googled National Library Week and it was actually April 23-29 this year. So we're only a month late and actually, that's perfect because that's the week the movie came out.)

And instead of pulling a cover image for the book from the internet, I snapped a quick photo of my movie tickets with these adorable tumblers they were handing out with the tickets at the theater because I 100% checked this book out from the library in anticipation of the new blockbuster adaptation that came out at the end of April. (Tumblers pictured with my iced strawberry-watermelon lemonade because your girl is not much of a drinker.) 

I remember going through a real Judy Blume phase with my best friend when we were in fifth grade. We were the exact demographic for her books, and I spent a lot of time that year under my comforter with a flashlight and a Judy Blume book when I was supposed to be sleeping. As soon as I saw the trailer for the film earlier this year (or maybe even at the end of last year), I knew I'd be grabbing a girlfriend and going to see it, and naturally I needed a refresher with the book before I went. 

In this quick, middle grade read, we meet 11-year old Margaret Simon who is moving from New York City to the New Jersey suburbs right before starting sixth grade. Sixth grade. The wonderful time in a girl's life where she's starting to navigate the tricky terrain of first bras, kissing boys (or thinking a lot about it), and *gasp* puberty. Added to the drama of all this, our protagonist Margaret has been raised without religion because her mother's strict fundamentalist parents cut her off for marrying a Jew, and Margaret's parents don't want to push any religious affiliation on her telling her she can decide that for herself. This leaves Margaret confused and for a school project, she decides to study different religions hoping to find the one for her. The book is peppered with Margaret's frank prayers which typically begin with, "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret." 

The book is so relatable and heartfelt and funny. The turmoil and angst every girl experiences during that challenging time of life is mirrored right back to her in those pages. Leading up to the release of the movie, I saw comments all over the internet from women who loved this book and shared it with their daughters and couldn't wait to go see the movie together. For three generations now, Are you there God? It's Me, Margaret. has been the book for girls to read when hitting puberty. Consequently, since its publication in 1970, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. has been on the American Library Association's list of of the 100 most frequently challenged books because of its candid discussion of menstruation and—the horror—its depiction of a child being allowed to choose her own religion. 

On the flip side, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. was selected by the New York Times as the Outstanding Book of the Year in 1970, Time included it in its list of All-Time 100 Novels in 2010, and Scholastic has this book on their 100 Must-Read Books for Kids. 

Personally, I think this is a great book for mothers and daughters (and sisters and aunts and grandmothers and girls) to read together. It brings up a lot of important talking points on several uncomfortable topics, and if you have a daughter (or granddaughter or niece or goddaughter), and you're having a hard time figuring out how to broach some of these subjects, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. gives you a natural way to do it. 

As for the movie, my sister-in-law Caroline went to see it with me and it was phenomenal. I told Caroline (who has not read the book) that it was the best book-to-film adaptation I have ever seen. Abby Ryder Fortson is Margaret and I will never again picture Margaret Simon without picturing Fortson's face in my mind. We laughed, we cried; it is a total girlfriends movie in the best way. 

So yes, I'd recommend Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. but my recommendation comes with the direction to read it with a girlfriend. Laugh, reminisce, commiserate. If you want the young woman in your life to read it, read it with her and be ready to discuss it. This book is meant to remind you you're not the only one and for that reason, it's better shared. 

What can we talk about in the comments? Embarrassing puberty stories? Ehh, maybe not. ;)

Let's Bust a Recap : Howl's Moving Castle

I guess this week we'll be catching up on all the library books I've read so far this year. Last year, I confessed to you that I wasn't a library user partly due to the fact that I'm a very slow reader and it seems like a bad idea to give myself the pressure of a deadline in reading anything. The bigger reason I haven't been much of a library patron up to this point in my life is that I have a veritable library of nearly seven hundred unread books in my own home (not to mention all the books we own that I have read and love to re-read) so why would I need to go check out more books??

I don't really have a good answer to that question except that readers gotta read, am I right? The book club I'm in has been going strong for about two years now and I blame them entirely for my newfound love for my local library. 

But Howl's Moving Castle wasn't even a book club selection so how did we get here? I'm so glad you asked; let the saga continue. Because I still use my husband's library card (I should really get my own), he gets all the e-mail notifications when books I've placed on hold are available for me to pick up. So when he realized I'm now an expert at gaming the online system and making the librarians do all the work of finding the books I want and getting them ready for me, he asked me to put a hold on Howl's Moving Castle for him. He watched the movie earlier this year and decided the book would be worth reading. 

But how did you end up reading this book, Hannah, and will you ever get to the actual recap for the love? Fair question. After a few weeks of Cody talking about how he thinks I might like the book and he'll let me know if I should read it once he finishes—but not actually making progress on the book himself—my Type A kicked in and I suggested we just read it out loud together. Voila, there you have it.

So mid-March found me reading this 1986 children's fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones aloud to my husband. Fun times. 

In Howl's Moving Castle, we meet Sophie Hatter who is the eldest of three sisters living in the town of Market Chipping in the magical kingdom of Ingary. Because of her oldest-child-of-three status, she is doomed to a dull life while her two younger sisters have much more exciting futures ahead of them. But when 18-year old Sophie is turned into an old crone by a jealous wicked witch, she finds herself on a crazy adventure of her own. She treks out of the village to the mysterious moving castle of the infamous Wizard Howl and demands to be his housekeeper. What follows is a jumbled mess of a story involving lost wizards and princes, deals with fire demons to try to break curses and contracts, sisters using spells to switch places, and a little bit of romance, too. The story truly is chaotic and hard to follow, but I think the main takeaway is that you can make your own way in life rather than just accepting the fairytale destiny assigned to you.

Despite the muddled plot and confusing cast of characters, Cody and I did enjoy Howl's Moving Castle. Jones' writing is laugh out loud funny and somehow charming even though her novel could have used some serious focus. I still haven't watched the critically-acclaimed movie adaptation that came out in 2004 which prompted Cody to check this book out from the library in the first place. According to Cody, he wanted to read the book because he enjoyed the movie but thought the book might fill in some of the gaps (as is always the case). But then after reading the book, his verdict is that both the film and the book have their strong points, but ultimately both have messy, abrupt conclusions that Need Work. It turns out that Jones ended up writing more books for a Howl Series, but we probably won't seek those out though I may still watch the film at some point. 

All in all, I don't think I'd find myself recommending Howl's Moving Castle to just anyone, but it is entertaining and would be a fun read-aloud with kids. 

But to come full-circle: are you a faithful library patron? And do you have a great local library near you? Ours is wonderful, and in case you were wondering, I currently have one book checked out (that I haven't started yet) and am waiting for three holds to come in (one being Stephanie Garber's upcoming release that I mentioned on Monday). 

Let's Bust a Recap : Stephanie Garber

Well, hey there. Long time, no see. Let's take stock, real quick: I managed one post at the tail end of March and then completely missed April. I think we're about twenty books behind in this blogging endeavor, but today I'm planning to cover major ground and offer you a five-for-the-price-of-one post because for all of April, I fell down a Stephanie Garber sized hole and read all the books she's had published to date. Were any of these books on my list for the year? Absolutely not. Are they even on my never-ending unread shelf? Also no. Have I already placed a hold at the library for her upcoming release in October later this year? Yes. Yes I have. Let's do a quick paragraph on each of her five books, and then we'll wrap it up with some of my overall impressions. And yes, we'll probably be delving into some spoiler-y territory since we'll be talking about a series of books. Reader beware. 

First up: Caraval. This was Garber's debut novel published in 2017. All of her novels to date are fantasies marketed to the Young Adult crowd. They're all set in the same world so Caraval is our introduction to that world, and of all five that I've read, this one still stands as my favorite. In it, we meet teenage sisters Scarlett and Donatella Dragna who have had a Hard Life because of their abusive dad. Scarlett is set to be married in a few weeks and is determined that the marriage will fix all of her and Tella's problems because they'll be able to get off their tiny island and away from their jerkweed dad. But then she finally receives an invitation to Caraval, the legendary, once-a-year performance where the audience gets to participate in a magical game of epic proportions. She's been writing to the Caraval master for years, hoping to be invited, and now, just weeks from her wedding, she's finally gotten the much-coveted invitation. She has no intentions of doing anything that could possibly hinder her wedding, but once Tella finds out about the chance to go to Caraval, she employs the help of a young sailor to basically kidnap Scarlett, and take them all to Caraval. Once there, however, Scarlett gets separated from Tella. She then finds out that Tella has been taken by the Caraval Master, Legend, who has made finding Tella the objective of this year's Caraval. Scarlett gets swept up in the treacherous game and must discern between what is real and what is just an elaborate performance in order to save her sister. 

The second book, Legendary, was published in 2018 and picks up right where Caraval leaves off. Caraval was from Scarlett's perspective, but in Legendary, we follow Tella on the next Caraval adventure. Shortly after the completion of Caraval, Scarlett and Tella learn that there will be another Caraval performance almost immediately, in honor the Empress Elantine's birthday. (Or something. I can't exactly remember if it was her birthday or her Golden Jubilee or what. But they're having another Caraval because of the empress.) Tella has made a secret deal with a mysterious criminal. But in order to get the information she needs, she has to win Caraval. However, this Caraval performance seems to be more than just a game. Tella learns that the fabled Fates she grew up reading about are real and starting to escape from an enchanted deck of cards. Tella has to decide if fulfilling her bargain with the Prince of Hearts and finally being reunited with her long-lost mother is worth risking the Fates going free and destroying Caraval forever. 

In the conclusion to the Caraval trilogy, we get dual perspectives from Scarlett and Tella. Finale was published in 2019, and picks up a couple months after the end of Legendary. In this one, Tella is in the middle of a love triangle with Legend and Jacks. Scarlett is in her own weird love triangle with Julian and her former finacé. And their mother is back in their lives, but bedridden because she got released from the magical deck of cards from the last book that she's been trapped in for years so she has to regain her strength. Yes, the Fates got released and are wreaking havoc, but no, Scarlett's and Tella's mom is not a Fate. In this "final" installment, Tella and Scarlett have to work together to overcome a power-hungry Fate who wants to take over the Elantine Empire and reduce every human in the world to a mere object for his sadistic entertainment. It's a whole mess, but never fear: it all works out flawlessly in the end. 

Next up, we have Once Upon a Broken Heart published in 2021. Even though the Caraval trilogy was concluded in Finale, Once Upon a Broken Heart picks up shortly after Scarlett's coronation as empress. In this first installment of Garber's second trilogy, we are introduced to Evangeline Fox who makes a deal with the Prince of Hearts to stop the wedding of her one true love. But, of course, making a deal with a Fate is never as straightforward as it seems and Evangeline, naturally, finds herself in a mess. Scarlett and Tella decide to send Evangeline to the Magical North to participate in the coronation of the prince. This is actually less of a coronation and more of a bachelor-style ball where the prince has to find a wife before being crowned king. Enter love spells and vampires and a whole lot of drama with Jacks. Apparently, Evangeline is the key to a magical arch that either contains something really good or really bad. Should she try to open it?

Lastly, we have Garber's fifth offering The Ballad of Never After published just last year in 2022. In this one, the love spell has been broken but now Evangeline has been cursed and the only way to break the curse is probably to open that enchanted arch from the last book. So even though she has promised herself she will never trust Jacks again, she finds herself working with him and Chaos (the OG vampire) to find the magical stones that will allow her to open the mysterious arch. And MAJOR SPOILER: at the end of this book, the prince (who is legally Evangeline's husband in case I forgot to mention that, and who's name I cannot for the life of me remember at this moment) steals all Evangeline's memories. ALL OF THEM. 

So yeah. It's a lot of drama. 

The poet W.H. Auden had a theory about the five stages of mature reading. According to him, "For an adult reader, the possible verdicts [we can pass on a book] are five: I can see this is good and I like it; I can see this is good but I don't like it; I can see this is good, and, though at present I don't like it, I believe with perseverance I shall come to like it; I can see that this is trash but I like it; I can see that this is trash and I don't like it." 

Stephanie Garber's books fall squarely into the "I Can See That This Is Trash But I Like It" category. 

Is her writing good? Objectively: a resounding no. You can spot her influences a mile away and her prose reads like a heartsick middle schooler wrote it. She herself has said that she spends most of her time thinking about how to torture her characters or make them kiss. Every resolution is impossibly convenient—even for a fantasy—and the end of each book is a hot mess that somehow comes to a pretty tidy conclusion. Her writing, sadly, does not improve throughout her books. (And I have to add, her use of similes and metaphors is downright cringeworthy.)

But could I stop reading them? Also: a resounding no. These are total popcorn books. No nutritional value, usually gets stuck in your teeth, but highly addictive. 

Would I recommend this series? Eh, probably not. But will I be reading A Curse for True Love when it comes out in October? As soon as the library has it. Stay tuned.

Eleven Years

 Happy Anniversary, husband of mine!

Holding your hand is my favorite.