4 stars
This book has been on my TBR pile since it's publication and I am glad to have finally read it. The Blair family of northern California includes four children, a loving pediatrician father and a narcissistic mother who moves into the shed in order to do her art. This book follows the various members of the family in the present, when they are reunited after the youngest James mysteriously returns and in different stages of the past. It has an interesting narrative style. In the present day segments it follows one of the children but when it delves into the past it changes narrators constantly as it attempts to show certain situation from multiple points of view. I wouldn't normally like this style but I think it works for this book. The characters are so deftly created that they become very real. I did feel like this book was building up to something but didn't quite get there. The ending felt a little anticlimactic but I enjoyed getting to know this family during different time periods in the Silicon Valley. I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
our endless numbered days by Claire Fuller
5 stars
Peggy is an eight year old child with a professional pianist for a mother and a father who repeatedly leads her on disaster preparedness drills. As her father becomes increasingly obsessed with survivalist techniques and her mother leaves for a concert tour, Peggy finds herself being dragged deep into the woods after being told that the rest of humanity has been destroyed. For nine lonely years she is alone with her father in a decrepit cabin without realizing that civilization has marched on without her. I found this to be a completely fascinating story that delves into the human psyche and the nature of survival. Beautifully written with devastating descriptions of hunger and loneliness, this book will stay with me for a long time. I received an eARC of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Get in Trouble: Stories by Kelly Link
3 stars
I am always at a loss on how to rate short story collections because I always find myself drawn to some stories and not others. This collection starts very strong with "Summer People," which is probably my favorite, about a young woman who is tasked with caring for an unusual house with creepy occupants. I also liked one titled "Origin Story" but some of the others were hard to get into and I always find that if a short story take pages to orient the reader than it might not be worth the effort. Overall, I loved some stories and would recommend this to frequent readers of short stories collections. I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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