[more of a note to myself, rather than a review worth reading]: Killing Custer was a pretty good mystery, a pretty good way for white people (like me) [more of a note to myself, rather than a review worth reading]: Killing Custer was a pretty good mystery, a pretty good way for white people (like me) to learn about indigenous history with white folks slaughtering them (Custer's time) and (today) police assuming their guilt and the tactics used to harass them into confessions etc. The Irish Catholic priest and the Arapaho lawyer are the team that solve the mystery. The two women who leave the reservation leave for very different reasons and are vulnerable and strong in different ways. The priest is a surprisingly interesting character: he is a recovering alcoholic. I did object to the ONE LINE in the book where it says that the Catholic Church was invited on to the reservation to teach their children. Other than that, it is a pretty good book that was interesting as well as entertaining. I would recommend this book to friends, yes....more
[more of a note to myself, rather than a review worth reading]: It was an interesting book in a few ways. It was about a women's book club that invite[more of a note to myself, rather than a review worth reading]: It was an interesting book in a few ways. It was about a women's book club that invites a man to join. Some of the women have been friends for years. Two of the women are going though breakups, one of which is a lesbian who left her girlfriend because she found out that her girlfriend was listening to her very personal stories and then WRITING the stolen story and selling them for profit and fame. There are dogs that are taken to dog shows by at least two of the club members. Grigg, the one man, is really into science fiction and had never read a Jane Austen book.
The youngest club member, Allegra, is the daughter of one of the other members. She is a skydiving, live life on the edge person who ends up in the hospital during the book (and also in a story within the story), but her mother is a take-no-chances person. The book is about relationships.
One reviewer wrote: "Karen Joy Fowler's funny erudite novel proved to be a surprise and a delight, a tribute to Austen that manages to capture her spirit."
Rape is part of the women's stories. [I am convinced that sexual assault is part of real life for almost all women by the time they are in their mid-40s, so a book without rape or sexual assault would be complete fiction]
I like the 6 chairs, all different, on the cover of the book and at the section changes that represent the 6 members of the club.
As a reader, I was never sure which character was doing the writing -- it often refers to "we" and sometimes "I" but calls everyone by their names and third person pronouns. As a reader my guess is that the chapters with the most detailed information is the "I" and is the last person's perspective shared.
I am not all that familiar with the books by Jane Austen, so the list in the back of the book was somewhat helpful. I took that list and then created a timeline out of it -- kind of surprised that the book did not have it done already but it was a good exercise.
Hmmmm. I did not know much about Austen but learned a bit more from the book. And am not at all interested in reading Austen more -- but then the time period is not interesting to me maybe?
Kind of cool: In this book, some Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (1929-2018) books are gifted from one book club member to another book club member. At first they are set aside and not read. But then later, they are read and appreciated. ...more
I really liked this book. My reading group friends liked it less than I did. I totally understand where they are coming from when they thought it was I really liked this book. My reading group friends liked it less than I did. I totally understand where they are coming from when they thought it was a little over-simplifying things. [add more later]...more
Such an amazing book -- not sure where to begin. Maybe with the honesty of the characters. The main character is haunted by a ghost at work, haunted bSuch an amazing book -- not sure where to begin. Maybe with the honesty of the characters. The main character is haunted by a ghost at work, haunted by the felony crime that she committed as a young person in love, haunted by the years she spent in prison and in solitary, and (of course) haunted by things we are all haunted by. Even with all these ghosts, the book is funny, and loving, and about community.
The wanna-be Indian woman situation is so important to this story, as is the Native American cop character. So unique a story for a book yet incredibly relatable to even someone like me (white middle-class woman from Illinois).
This is the first novel that I have encountered that includes the COVID-19 pandemic and the events in Minneapolis after the murder of George Floyd as part of the story. These real world events were felt all over the world and needed to be covered in great books like this one to help us process these traumas in the loving and community-embracing way they are treated in this book.
I think that I would even recommend this book for YA readers as well, though there is some adult content (drinking, married life sexual cuddling, a book with a sentence that kills a reader and traumatizes another person, a drug-addicted mother who ignores her daughter,and trauma that takes a long time (a lifetime) to recover from.)
I am white cis female in my 50s, with a library degree. My favorite books are teen fiction, books like "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Librarian of Auschwitz." This book is one of my favorites for sharing with adults and a few mature young adults. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE including the the real-world Native American bookstore in Minneapolis, MN. ...more
"You Truly Assumed" is a very good book for teenagers and the adults that care about them, especially kids experiencing hate comments and the adults w"You Truly Assumed" is a very good book for teenagers and the adults that care about them, especially kids experiencing hate comments and the adults who are interested in a few model conversations of how to support their teens during transition times in their lives.
There is a terrorist attack in the U.S., the person responsible ends up being a white male but Islamophobia rears its head. The main characters are 3 muslim high school students about to go off to college, female, black, cis. They live in 3 different communities and situations. The book weaves the characters together very well.
* The character development is really outstanding. Even the side characters are developed and very human, even the people that make mistakes and do harm. * The description of the emotional challenges is also quite amazing. For instance, the absent father Tommy is given some words to express his internal emotions. As another example, one of the girls has a boyfriend but is not sure she wants it to become a long-distance relationship when they go off to different schools next year.
I am white cis female in my 50s, with a library degree. My favorite books are teen fiction, books like "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Librarian of Auschwitz." This book ranks pretty high on my list of books that I would recommend for a good YA collection. ...more
I loved this book. I learned a lot about the internment at Auschwitz from this YA novel -- even though I am a middle class, well educated, 57 year oldI loved this book. I learned a lot about the internment at Auschwitz from this YA novel -- even though I am a middle class, well educated, 57 year old white female, there was a lot I had not internalized enough.
At the same time, I was also reading a few other books that complemented this book extremely well. [I should list the other books. The other books were adult fiction. Both were historical fiction the Tatooist of Auschwitz. The other was about the internment of Chinese people in the United States and had the word hotel in the title. I hope I can come back and edit this later.]...more