A Quiet Flame - Philip Kerr

There's a very thick thematic feeling that drapes itself over these Bernie Gunther novels and A Quiet Flame is no exception. When we last left Bernie Gunther, he was boarding a boat for Argentina in the un-esteemed company of Adolf Eichmann. Having eluded summary execution by an Israeli hit squad, Gunther is happy to be alive, even if he is using a borrowed name and identity.

Upon arrival in Argentina, his alter-ego's status as a former doctor gets him hauled before Juan Peron himself. In giving up his true identity to save himself from medical entanglement, Bernie finds himself recruited in another direction. It appears a teenage girl has been kidnapped and Bernie has both the detective skills and former-SS pedigree to find her.

Having been hired by the Argentinian secret police, Bernie sets about interviewing his old comrades in an attempt to find someone capable of kidnapping and murdering a teenager. This leads him to finally solve a similar case he worked on in 1932, before Hitler became Chancellor and the country well and truly started on a path to annihilation. In the meantime, an Jewish-Argentinian bombshell asks for help finding some missing Jewish relatives who were rounded up after entering the country illegally.

With acerbic wit and dark humor, Bernie ping pongs his way through one hypocritical situation to the next. No one is unscathed, even himself and he comes to terms with the enormity of the German collective crime, and his part in it.

Having very little historical knowledge of this time in Argentina (I haven't even watched the Evita movie) I found the plot here terribly fascinating. Excuse me while I go scour the bowels of Wikipedia until my curiosity is satiated. And really, bowels is an appropriate word when it comes to the figures involved in these stories.

4/5 Stars

An American Marriage - Tayari Jones

A few things about me. I'm a Libra. I like balance. I like when everyone gets along. I want people in love to stay in love. I want people who fall out of love to consciously uncouple. I like to pick sides. I like when the side I pick is right and honest and fair. I like to root for someone. I want the person I root for to be worthy or principled. So in comes this book and it made me deeply uncomfortable because I couldn't fall into the patterns I like.

Roy and Celestial are married. They had a rocky romance and have had a rocky first year of marriage. On their anniversary, they visit a local hotel where Roy's mother worked when she was pregnant with Roy. He intends to tell Celestial that his father, Big Roy, is his father in love and name, but not in blood. And Celestial, who is feeling out of place with Roy's intense mother, is not having it. So they get in a fight. And then they make up. But when another guest at the hotel is raped, Roy is blamed and gets sentenced to jail.

The next few chapters are told through letters back and forth between Celestial and Roy, in which we see their marriage start to break down under the strain of their circumstance. By the time Roy's mother dies, Celestial is certain she doesn't want to be an inmate's wife anymore, and her childhood friend, Andre, becomes more than a friend. When Celestial tells Roy she can no longer be his wife, Roy gives her the cold shoulder.

Two years later, Celestial's wealthy parents have continued to fund Roy's appeals which are successful and Roy is released from prison. Having not spoken to Celestial in two years, he doesn't know where their marriage stands. Boo Celestial, she's left him behind and moved on with the next warm man, not staying true to her husband even though he encouraged and inspired the work that has made her so successful. I'm team Roy all the way at this point. Until.... dammit Roy, he gets released and spends two days in the bed of a local woman. THEN he goes to his wife.

And while he's driving to Celestial, we learn that he wasn't faithful to her during their first year of marriage. Well NOW I'm team Celestial because Roy is a dog. And Andre... well I see him as a usurper, until he asks, "Don't I deserve to be happy?" You know, people asking honest questions is hard to fight. So now we have a very messy triangle, which is not a triangle at all but a circle of Celestial and Andre with Roy on the outside. I do feel bad for Roy. His entire life has been thrown off track and messed up. And for what?

Ultimately the book asks big questions about how we move on and make something of our circumstances, as unfair as they are, and what we do with the expectations of the older generations. There is enough unfairness to go around in this book that everyone gets sprinkled. I thought it was well written and I listened to the audio and I really enjoyed the narrators.

4/5 Stars. 

Black and Blue - Anna Quindlen

October is apparently Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I was unaware, but I'm glad I did read this book and the light it shines on issues of domestic violence. I think Anna Quindlen used a soft hand in presenting Fran Benedetto and the issue of domestic violence in that she never appears to judge Fran or her reasons for staying. She details Fran's decision to stay with her abusive husband in numerous ways letting the conclusions fall where they may. And it presents a pretty bleak picture of the options for women in that situation.

When I was younger and thought myself much smarter, I would have been one to ask why a woman would stay with an abusive husband. Now that I'm older and have children of my own, I can see what would leave a woman feeling she had no options. And I appreciate Quindlen's slow evolution of those facts over the life of the novel.

Once Fran and her son, Robert are safely aware from Bobby and living in Florida under assumed names, the narrative started to drag a little but there was always a sinister undercurrent of when would Bobby catch up with them, because I never had any doubt this would occur. But what made the novel fall a little flat for me was the ending and how it seemed to all happen due to some decisions made by Fran which she felt were empowering, but really led to placing herself and her son in danger. Would Bobby ever hurt Robert - no I don't think so. But would Bobby's influence over Robert be equally destructive? Yes.

Additionally, I know I'm not supposed to feel sympathy for the abuser, and I do not, but he's painted as a clear psychopath in the book despite a supposed evolution into violence over time.

A chilling read that really delves into the nuances of domestic violence and its aftermath, Black and Blue was a well written, if somewhat flat story.

3/5 Stars. 

Warriors of the Storm - Bernard Cornwell

I remain constantly entertained by Uhtred and his references to goats droppings, turds and all things Danish insults. By now I've figured out Cornwell's formula for these books:
1) Uhtred is involved in a minor skirmish
2) Based on the skirmish he perceives a greater threat to Wessex/Mercia than the West Saxons/Mercians
3) He argues his point to the West Saxon/Mercian leaders who are too influenced by priests insisting they "Pray the Danes Away" that Uhtred goes a little rogue
4) Talk talk talk, strategy strategy strategy
5) Big battle, lots of insults, references to shield walls etc
6) Victory and begrudging respect from those in #3
7) Hint of big bad guy for next book

And listen, I'm reading the ninth (ninth!!!) book in this series because the formula works. It's comforting, and, even at 50, Uhtred is a babe (in my mind - he likely has no teeth and is scarred from acquiring syphilis). But I digress.

In Warriors of the Storm, Mercia has a new threat from the Norse, who, finding the Celts inhospitable in Ireland, have decided to try their hand at Mercia. Why should they succeed where others have failed? Well, they can't because we know who was king after Edward and that would seriously mess with history. So in the meantime, Uhtred has to save everyone, and he's the best at it.

I always like when people underestimate Uhtred. That Aethelflaed does it here was a nice change as she's always been mostly on his side (when she's not in his bed - get it girl!). Anyway, Uhtred wins and the bad guy in vanquished, and there is some smart state craft done by the guy everyone assumes is only as good as his sword arm. 

4/5 Stars. 

The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss

This book took me just over a month to read. Logistically, big books that aren't on a Kindle are hard to lug around sometimes. I made a lot of things in my purse become non-essential just to fit this 1,000 page behemoth into my bag. But alas, it was worth it.

I've really enjoyed the first two Kingkiller Chronicle's so far. Based on the blurb on the first book about Kvothe I know there is a lot more story to tell. I'm thankful that The Wise Man's Fear helped push the story along. I thought it dragged a bit at the beginning and I was worried I was about to spend another 1,000 pages of Kvothe's time at the University and his somewhat petty squabble with Ambrose. But thankfully, Kvothe decided to take a well earned sabbatical from the University to attempt to engage a patron.

He ends up stepping in it quite a bit, which is his usual, but we learn a little more about the Chandrian or The Seven as their called in Ademre, a taciturn warrior community of people who are known for their sword craft and mercenary skill. He also takes us to Severen where he falls into the service of the Maer, a rich noble with little restraint on his power. And, of course, we get to me Felurian, who's beauty has bewitched men unto death. But not Kvothe of course. It's always interesting to see how he will get out of things, but he always does, because he's very good at very many things. Which, can kind of get old sometimes, but then he usually makes a mistake and you realize he is very young and very foolish, despite his abilities.

I fear Rothfuss may be falling into the trap of being in love with his world to the extent that the books grow to an ungainly size and need to be split up and then the writing takes forever. But just as I know I'll wait as long as it takes to read Winds of Winter, I'm all in on the third book in this series. Whenever it gets around to being published.

4/5 Stars. 

Beautiful on the Outside - Adam Rippon

Adam Rippon is a national treasure who must be protected and celebrated.

Lighthearted, witty and exceedingly fun, in Beautiful on the Outside, Rippon uses his trademark humor to tell the story of his introduction to skating and the trials and sacrifices made by his family to turn him into an Olympic medalist.

In the book he answers some questions, such as why did I see his sweet mug EVERYWHERE during the Olympics (he didn't say no to any media requests) and what he tells his Tinder dates (advertising). In any case, Adam pushed himself hard and strove for success. Underneath all the cheekiness, he's actually a very driven athlete who just happens to have a killer smile. When he was broke and eating free gym apples, Adam made a choice to keep pursuing skating and became an elite athlete on his own terms. This included coming out as homosexual when he decided he was ready and it helped propel him to live authentically and as his best self for the Olympic Games.

I stayed up late last night watching his Dancing with the Stars Routines and he has such a beautiful grace in his movements. I'm glad he's saying yes to so many amazing opportunities because I love his sense of humor and the way he seems to never have met a stranger. If you've read the book, you'll understand how much I laughed during one DWTS exchange he had with the judges in which the guest judge asked him about this amazing red and black suit he wore for a number, and Adam quipped back that he took the suit from the Judge's dressing room before the show.

I'm so happy Hachette Books picked me to send this lovely book to.

4/5 Stars. 

A Woman is No Man - Etaf Rum

This book.

Cycles and cycles of cultural violence. Generational violence.

From Fareeda, to Isra, to Deya. What does it take to break a cycle? What does it mean to break a cycle?

And so many things are broken in this novel. Hearts and bodies and minds.

Etaf Rum absolutely slays in A Woman is No Man. She gives voice to the stifling and suffocating effect of generational and cultural expectations.

Told through varying points of view first from Isra, then her daughter Deya and finally from Deya's paternal grandmother Fareeda, we see how an original violence experienced by Fareeda, expelled from her home and homeland in Palestine, learns to live under the harshest of conditions. Tragedy leads her to dig into the cultural belief that daughters are a burden and sons are to be celebrated.

In devaluing the worth of daughters and women, Fareeda sets the conditions for her son Adam to be brutally cruel to his new wife, Isra. When Isra and Adam are dead, Deya must grow up under Fareeda's rule, constantly being reminded that as a girl, she has little worth.

This book is about Deya finding her voice and reclaiming her worth. The cost is heavy to break the cycle of violence in her family. But if not Deya, then who? Deya's struggle comes from someone within the culture (not from a whiteness-centered point of view), straining against the restraints of expectation. Underneath is an abiding love which causes her to consider all the ramifications of seeking her own path.

A Woman is No Man leaves a lot of questions unanswered - gives characters grace they may not deserve, but is up to the reader to decide to what extent it is given. It is perfectly drawn and perfectly imprecise. A real heartbreaker of a book.

4/5 Stars.