Ponder: Don't Let the Forest In

Don't Let the Forest In ©2024 by CG Drews is a #1 best seller in Teen & Young Adult monster fiction per Amazon. I did not even know there was such a category. This book was a real page turner for me, despite the category — or most likely because of it. I chose this young adult book because I enjoyed the author's adult novel You Did Nothing Wrong which I recently read and reviewed 10/9/26. I gave You Did Nothing Wrong four stars and will similarly give Don't Let the Forest In four stars as well.

My reading choices this October have most certainly leaned toward the macabre, probably because I have Halloween on the brain. This leaning is weird for me. I am a "merry witch, Casper the Friendly Ghost, or smiling pumpkin" type of gal. This book is definitely none of those. Although it is chuck full of monsters, I could not help caring deeply for the characters and their struggles. These are teens in their senior year of high school and the stresses put on them, above and beyond the academic and social ones, are tremendous. I felt like I wanted to defend them and comfort them.

All the while I was reading Don't Let the Forest In, I kept visualizing how this novel would make an awesomely illustrated animated horror movie. I was about to scan some of the illustrations from the book to show what I meant and realized there were only a few in the book. Those of monsters were not at all what I had pictured. The text in this book is so vivid, my mind was filled with curling, coiling, twisting images of vines and tendrils and claws, slender and graceful while deadly. The teens longing, affection, and defense of each other ran painfully deep.

The setting takes place at a boarding school in Virginia. Andrew and Dove, twin siblings, and Thomas are the main characters and share a sort of a three-musketeers-type camaraderie. Andrew is an incredibly talented author whose strength lies in writing macabre fairy tales with monsters. Thomas is an incredibly talented artist who generates illustrations that bring these gruesome tales to life. These monsters live in the forest which is on the other side of the fence from the school. When the monsters begin to cross that boundary and seek satiation among the students and teachers, Thomas and Andrew take it upon themselves to act as protectors and fight the beasts. An intense plot keeps this book moving due to nightly monster battles. However, the emotions and relationship among the characters was also a real draw for me. A nasty, vindictive teacher, an abusive bully, and gender identification struggles add the spice to the story in the same way hops plays a key role in beer production. The resolution was not what I expected.

I rate Don't Let the Forest In four stars, deducting only one star because the novel may favor a limited audience. I could not put it down; it was riveting and sad. If you are curious... no, it did not give me nightmares. 

  ★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

I generally do not read Amazon reviews until after I have read a book to prevent the reviews from influencing my blog post. If you read this book however, and wonder how to interpret what really happened, this review on Amazon for Don't Let the Forest In is an excellent clarifier. I cite only the opening paragraph here, but the four star review is worth looking up after you've read the book.

Ponder: Anatomy of an Alibi

I read First Lie Wins, the first adult novel of Ashley Elston, in September of 2024 and rated it five stars. So enamored with this author, I followed on by reading two of her young adults novels in October of 2024, The Lying Woods and This is Our Story, rating them five stars and four stars respectively. I was excited to see Elston had a new adult novel Anatomy of an Alibi ©2026 and I am pleased to declare that after relishing it and devouring it within a day and a half, I rate Anatomy of an Alibi five stars as well.

In murder mysteries a rare, but not unheard of, plot is where Person A agrees to murder Person B's spouse/partner/relative/lover in exchange for Person B returning the favor and offing Person A's desired victim. Other than this secret agreement, Person A and Person B have no connection to each other.  The murders occur at a time when each person has an alibi that he is somewhere else. Anatomy of an Alibi is a slight twist on this theme. 

Camille suspects her husband is up to something no good and she wants to spy on him to learn what that might be. She is kept under such close scrutiny by her hot-shot, wealthy, lawyer husband, Ben, that she cannot break free to investigate. But what if she found someone to pretend to be her and fooled her husband into tracking that person in some innocent activities instead, leaving her time and a chance to snoop? Maybe Camille could find something that would invalidate her prenup? 

Aubrey is haunted by the circumstances ten years ago around a hit-and-run accident that killed both her parents when she was sixteen, leaving her grieving and destitute. The man incarcerated for the crime believes himself to have been framed and contacts Aubry from prison to tell her this. Anxious to learn the truth, Aubrey, dresses in a wig and the fancy clothing of Camille. Armed with Camille's credit card, iPhone, and car, Aubrey puts on a show in a distance town, acting as a decoy to Ben, thus giving Camille a window of opportunity, while Aubrey does some poking around of her own.

From the book flap...

Except the next morning Ben is found murdered. Both women need an airtight alibi, but only one of them has it. And one false step is all it takes for everything to come undone.

The book has many characters beyond the main ones of Camille and Aubrey, but the author does a great job of keeping them straight and giving them distinct personalities and traits. Wealthy powerful daddy has many of the police and officials in his town in his pocket. Husband Ben and brother Silas are stuck under grinding thumb of wealthy, powerful, crooked daddy. Does Ben's law firm partner Hank have ignorance of shenanigans or motives of his own? The story is revealed in scenes titled before and after the alibi; they are clearly labeled in the chapter headings by time and speaker and so the sequence of events is easily followed.

Who is lying to whom? Who is not revealing all they know? The tension during interviews and confrontations is palpable. There are multiple plot twists. I really, really, really enjoyed this book!

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

Ponder: You Did Nothing Wrong

All the while I was reading You Did Nothing Wrong ©2026 by CG Drews I kept visualizing how this novel would make one terrifying horror movie. Descriptions were gross but the narrative was engrossing and I read the book in a day and a half in two sittings. I am not a fan of horror movies but I can tolerate horror books since I can skim over the too intense parts. The mystery in this book was strong and the characters complex and indecipherable. I had to finish the book to see how it all came out. The ending was not to my liking but I have to admit the final pages fit in with the genre of the book. Horror movies do not always end happily ever after.

The basic plot line is that the main character single mom Elodie with her six-year-old son Jude, who has autistic traits, move in to a Victorian house that Elodie's newly wed husband Bren is renovating. Bren loves Elodie deeply and truly; he exhibits love as well as patience for Jude. Elodie is obsessed with being a good mother, having come from parents where she was ignored, unloved, and unsupported.

The house itself appears to be a character in this drama... maybe. Both Elodie and Jude assert that the house talks to them and wants them out. Bren loves the craftsmanship and challenge to transform the house into the beauty it once was with elegant woodworking, wallpaper, furniture and lighting. A construction zone, however, is full of hazards for a young, difficult child. Compound that with an anthropomorphic house that hates them, or is perceived to hate them. Are the threats real or delusions of Jude or his mentally imbalanced mother? 

What did other readers think of You Did Nothing Wrong? These are the ratings on Amazon and Goodreads. Less than one third of the Amazon readers thought it was great.

This is not a book to make you smile or feel good. This macabre tale is not my usual taste in literature or movies but I could not put it down. I deducted one star because it most certainly is not the taste of the majority. Portrayals of fears and suspicions, as well as depictions of ominous, dangerous settings

used foul, putrid, disgusting metaphors (blood, slime, pus, yuk!) were hard to plow through. I skimmed a lot these phrases under the rationale of, "Ok, ok. I get the idea". Due to intriguing characters, suspense, several climaxes, and plot twists — despite the abundance foul descriptions —  I thought You Did Nothing Wrong was well written, if not at all pretty or soothing. Maybe consider it for a Halloween read?

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Whistler

Whistler by Ann Patchet ©2026 was the October pick for a bookclub I frequent. It is said that Ann Patchett is a "master of character-driven literary fiction". That may be all well and good but I like a plot and I had to work hard to find a point or direction or conflict in all the verbiage of this novel. Motives were absent, weak at best. The setting was basically high brow city or upper middle class suburbs, and I could identify with neither. Country clubs, mimosas, museums, brunches, cocktail parties lacked enough familiarity to me to draw me into this book. Contrary to the 4.5 stars from 45,483 Amazon ratings and 4.3 score from 220,839 rating on Goodreads, I did not enjoy this book at all. 

The novel centers around the adult main character Daphne's relationship with the second of her mother's three husbands. There are two stories about accidents within the novel, both told in retrospect: one is a fall from horseback in a remote location and the other is a car veering off a mountainous road. Finally! Some action that could excite me! Beyond these two diversions I was bored with this book.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Ponder: Spectacular Things

Spectacular Things ©2025 by Beck Dorey-Stein is one of the Reese Witherspoon selections and I usually enjoy her picks but not this one. This novel was drawn out. I did plod on and read the entire book only because the first chapter was captivating and posed a very interesting premise. 

Two sisters, Mia was always a giver, and the other sister, Cricket, was always an acceptor have. Note, I called Cricket an acceptor not a taker.  Both sisters care deeply for each other and sustain a very close relationship. The opening conflict is that Mia needs a kidney and Cricket is a good match. Is Cricket capable of assuming the role of giver? The scene then flashes back to their childhood years and continues chronologically. The reader needs to wait until the final pages of the book to learn the resolution.

PROS:

• The characters are well developed but this does not mean I like them.
• The characters' actions are decided for good and not out of revenge or evilness or selfishness. I found some of the decisions unwise but this lent interest to the plot.
• A great deal of the setting was in Maine so the weather challenges added depth to the story. 
• There is a shocking occurrence about a third of the way into the book.

CONS:

• Soccer is the all time, all day, all consuming focus. My eyes glazed over with all the emphasis on training and physical discipline to be the best.
• Not all relationships in the novel are heterosexual. I am not a homophobe, but this type of interaction is beyond my ability to empathize. Introduced late in the novel, it does nothing to advance the plot.
• The overall pace was slow and soccer seemed to assume the role of a Johnny-one-note.

I vacillated between my rating of two or three stars. Two stars correspond to Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it. Three stars corresponds to Better than average; not a waste of time. Well, I did finish it but it was a waste of time. This book seemed atypical of Reese's selections.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Ponder: Two Sandra Brown Books

During Frank's and my recent trip to Sacramento, I did a quick read of The Standoff by Sandra Brown. My brief review of it was within my post of that trip. The Standoff  was worth three stars. Repeated here is the review of The Standoff.

I read a decades old uncomplicated book ©2000 by Sandra Brown. It was fast action plot —a hold up in a gas station convenience store with one of the hostages being a pregnant young woman about to give birth. There were no parallel timelines to juggle and the characters were limited in number. I finished it in an afternoon. The Standoff got me out of my recent inexplicable reading slump. 

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time 

Encouraged by a successful if not exactly stellar read, I took Smoke Screen ©2008 another of Sandra Brown's books, with me on a recent trip to Colorado to visit my son and his family. On the plane and at the airport I was a captive audience otherwise I might have abandoned the 500+ page novel. Twice a character is found in bed next to a naked dead person; he/she is equally naked and has no recall of what happened. The basic storyline is that there was a fire in a police station and there is suspicion it was set to cover up some secret. The naked bed scenarios are an attempt to snuff out anyone who might reveal the secret.

My criticisms of the book are:

• book was too long
• too many characters, many of them not well developed
• plot was too convoluted and took too long to evolve and resolve
• sex scenes were way too explicit

Once home from the trip I continued read to the end in order to learn the secret. The secret was not at all worth my effort to complete the book. It is kind of a shame because I often like this author's books. Smoke Screen was terrible and I gave it only 1 star.

★☆☆☆☆ Awful but I read most or maybe even all of it

Ponder: Tailspin

I read Tailspin ©2018 by Sandra Brown on my flights to and from North Carolina for visiting QuiltCon last month. Perhaps the title might indicate that this was not the best topic for in-flight reading, but it was a real page turner, kept me engaged, and made the time in the air go quickly. A boring book and a cramped airline seat do not make a good combination, so I was very fortunate I had Tailspin to read. Sadly, no, it did not made the leg room any more spacious, but I was absorbed in the novel and did not notice so much.

According to the book's front flap synopsis

Rye Mallett is a fearless pilot with a reputation and a deadline to uphold. When he's asked to deliver a mysterious black box to Dr. Lambert, he doesn't ask questions. After a sabotage attempt on his plane, he's greeted by the mysterious Dr. Brynn O'Neal. Rye finds himself irresistibly drawn by the intrigue surrounding his cargo...and the alluring Brynn. Soon, Rye and Brynn are in a treacherous forty-eight-hour race to deliver the box. With everyone from law enforcement to hired guns hot on their heels, they must learn to trust each other to protect their valuable cargo–and their lives–from those who would kill for it.

Finding out what the mysterious cargo is and why its delivery is time critical, despite horrendous weather conditions, kept me curious. The pilot Rye regarded the transport as a mere delivery transaction and couldn't care less about its contents... until all hell breaks loose. I have read several other of Sandra Brown's book and they have the right mix of fast-paced adventure and smoldering romance. I general rate them around fours stars, very enjoyable but not classic literature. The following three Sandra Brown titles about which I happened to write blog posts.

• Out of Nowhere ©2023 about a mass shooting at a county fair in Texas and its aftermath
• (see post 10/21/23) ★★★★☆
• Tough Customer ©2011 mediocre, but moves quickly, minimizing exposure to creepy villain
  (see post 9/17/14)★★★☆☆
• Low Pressure ©2013 involves tornado obscuring crime scene evidence
  (see post 9/2/13) ★★★★☆ 

Shortly after completing my first Sandra Brown book back in 2013, Frank noticed that an e-bay auction item for 30 of her books, a mix of hardcovers and paperbacks with the current bid at $12.50 was closing within 16 minutes. The coincidence was so uncanny we figured it was word from above. Frank put in a last minute bid and won them all for $15.50 + $12 shipping. For less than $30 we got 30 books. This deal even beats the $0.01 books on Amazon, since each of those has $3.99 shipping. I just remembered that he'd done this when I reread my post from 9/2/13. These are the novels from that eBay bargain that I have left to read. I am so glad I rediscovered these on shelves in our garage.

Tailspin was a fun read that had a strong premise which was maintained and resolved to my satisfaction. I also enjoyed the multi-dimensionality of the two main characters. Their growth at the end of the story pleased me as well. Perhaps the sex scenes could be a bit too graphic for the sensitivity of some gentle readers, so I rate Tailspin four stars.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: In Her Defense

I found the premise of In Her Defense ©2026 by Philippa Malicka intriguing and thought-provoking, a psychological topic I'd been curious about understanding. Anna and Bonamy Finbow have become estranged from their adult daughter, Mary, and blame her therapist. Per the front flap of the book.

The whole country has been riveted by the trial: Beloved TV star and national treasure Anna Finbow, standing in court, accusing her daughter’s therapist Jean Guest of brainwashing her daughter Mary for her own financial gain. Jean insists Mary’s traumatic memories arise from her upbringing and her time studying at a prestigious art school in Rome; wounds only Jean’s therapy can heal. But as the trial unfolds, it’s Augusta “Gus” Bird, Anna’s former employee—a seemingly insignificant bystander, a nobody—who holds the key to unraveling the tangled web of lies and deceit.

If you can tolerate reading about smoking, heroin snorting, the stigma of lesbianism, and the deprived conditions within an artists' colony, juxtaposed with child abuse and the entitled wealth of an elite crowd... then this book might appeal. Plowing through these unpleasant topics to get to the core of the central conflict made this book a difficult read for me. What really are memories? Chapters about the court trial alternate with chapters about remembrances or interactions that gave background. The trial chapters were engaging but I wish I could have skipped the other chapters. I would have liked more discussion about repressed memories versus false "recovered" memories. The novel fell short in this area. In Her Defense was a disappointment for me. I rate it only one star but I did read it through to completion to learn of the trial resolution.

★☆☆☆☆ Awful but I read most or maybe even all of it

Ponder: Gone Before Goodbye

Gone Before Goodbye ©2025 by Harlan Coben  and Reese Witherspoon  is a creative, engaging novel which intrigued me enough that I stayed up until 2:30 am one night to finish it. I was not familiar with Coben and this is Witherspoon's first novel, so my choice to read this was not author driven. The book starts out relaying the actions of three surgeons — Maggie, her husband Marc, and Trace — friends throughout med school and internship, who work in combat zones, neutrally attending to the injuries of whoever needs it, whatever side of the combat and whatever age. According to a loose quote from the novel, they aim to save all lives, good or evil, and let God sort it out in the end.

Maggie is approached to perform surgeries on undisclosed but extremely wealthy clients, for which she is promised to be handsomely rewarded. There is a strong emphasis on being discreet to a point that borders on cloak and dagger. Maggie is a well developed character; Marc and Trace not so much. Maggie's father-in-law, amusingly named Porkchop, leads a motorcycle gang and owns a restaurant for bikers. Belying the stereotypical biker persona, he is very level headed and capable and loves his daughter-in-law Maggie to the nth degree, being very protective of her as well.

The settings of the story are exotic and extreme from desolate war zones to luxurious towering skyscrapers. Here is the plot per the front flap

Maggie McCabe is teetering on the brink. A highly skilled and renowned Army combat surgeon, she has always lived life at the edge, where she could make the most impact. And it was all going to plan ... until it wasn’t. Upside down after a devastating series of tragedies leads to her medical license being revoked, Maggie has lost her purpose, but not her nerve or her passion. At her lowest point, she is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy, as well as absolute discretion.

Halfway across the globe, sequestered in the lap of luxury and cutting-edge technology, one of the world’s most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance. Desperate, and one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take this job, Maggie enters his realm of unspeakable opulence and fulfills her end of the agreement. But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself—or she will be the next one who is ... Gone Before Goodbye.

I felt the ending of this book was abrupt and did not tie up a few loose ends I would have liked addressed.  Maybe I rushed the dénouement, missing a few details I could go back and seek. Or perhaps, I was enjoying the read enough I wanted it to keep going. A reviewer on Amazon voiced this same concern that I did, so I think the claim of loose ends is valid. The approach may be intentional, keeping the reader wanting more. For this minor shortfall I rate Gone Before Goodbye four stars instead of five but still would encourage it as a worthy read.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Remain

It has been quite a while since I have read a book I truly enjoyed. Finally, my drought is broken! I give Remain five stars. Remain is co-authored by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. Sparks is well known for this love stories, most notably The Notebook (1996).  Shyamalan's talent shines brightly in the 1999 movie The SixtheSense. I was beginning to lose interest in Nicholas Sparks but I am so glad I gave him yet another chance and read Remain, a love story with a supernatural twist.

Remain is the story of Tate Donovan, an adult man depressed at the death of his sister and tainted from an unaffectionate childhood. Remain has the classic features of a love story in Sparks' inimitable style, coupled with the tension and uncertainties of Shyamalan's talents. A successful architect, Tate comes to Cape Cod to design an elaborate summer home for a wealthy college friend. He stays at an old, ornate but deteriorating house, once a thriving bed and breakfast, but now closed. The setting can be quaint, but also eerie. A special relationship develops between Tate and a woman called Wren despite Tate's cold upbringing and polluted attitude about love. I hint at no spoilers here. Read it for yourself. I enjoyed it immensely.

Nicholas Sparks is a very prolific author and I have read all of his books and written a blog post about nearly half of them. I do not know if I grew tired of him, if each novel became too predictable, or if he changed his writing style, but never-the-less, he fell out of favor with me as a desirable author. However, I think I still persisted in reading his novels because of some pernicious obsession that once I had a perfect score going, I did not want to mess it up.  There is a psychological term for that feeling — loss aversion.

Here is a list of all Nicholas Sparks' novels in order of publication date. The ones with stars in front are novels I reviewed in my Wander Or Ponder blog. There are a clickable links to these posts at the end of each line.  The other ones, noted with a preceding series of asterisks, I read most likely before I started blogging. I published my first WanderOrPonder post on 8/20/13. Among the reviewed books, I noticed I gave only two or three stars. Although I have no proof, I believe I liked Sparks' earlier works better, hence my determination to read all his books. Sparks' first novel, The Notebook, though short, was great.

 1.   ************ The Notebook ©1996

 2.   ************ Message in a Bottle ©1998

 3.   ************ A Walk to Remember ©1999

 4.   ************ The Rescue ©2000

 5.   ************ A Bend in the Road ©2001

 6.   ************ Nights in Rodanthe ©2002

 7.   ************ The Guardian ©2003

 8.   ************ The Wedding ©2003

 9.  ★★★☆☆ Wokini ©2003 02/23/17

10. ★★☆☆☆ True Believer ©2005 10/23/22

11. ★★☆☆☆ At First Sight ©2005 10/23/22

12.  ************ Three Weeks with My Brother ©2004

13.  ************ Dear John ©2006

14.  ************ The Choice ©2007

15.  ************ The Lucky One ©2008

16.  ************ The Last Song ©2009

17.  ************ Safe Haven ©2010

18.  ************ The Best of Me ©2011

19.  ************ The Longest Ride ©2013

20. ★★★☆☆ See Me ©2015 04/01/16

21. ★★★☆☆ Two by Two ©2016 12/19/16

22. ★★★☆☆ Every Breath ©2018 11/18/18

23. ★★☆☆☆ The Return ©2020 12/27/20

24. ★★★☆☆ The Wish ©2021 10/18/21

25. ★★☆☆☆ Dreamland ©2022 11/22/22

26. ★★☆☆☆ Counting Miracles ©2024 10/06/24

27. ★★★★★ Remain ©2025 (this post, 2/13/26)

Remain, with five stars was a real winner for me. I will most likely read the next Nicholas Sparks book whenever it is published. Gotta maintain that streak!

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

Ponder: The Black Wolf

My first read of 2026, The Black Wolf ©2025 by Louise Penny, was unfortunately a real loser for me. Goodreads rated this novel 4.2 stars (23,1776 ratings) and Amazon readers rated it 4.4 stars (13,076 ratings), so I expected my enjoyment to be commensurate. Nevertheless, I rate The Black Wolf a dismal one star. What a bummer of a way to start the new year!

Louise Penny has been a favorite author of mine and I have read all her novels. I revel in the serenity and the characters in the secluded village of Three Pines. Although these characters did make cameo appearances and lead detective Armand Gamache seemed to work remotely from the village as much as possible, the local people and setting seemed to be only a feeble homage to satisfy readers' desire for these features. This was not a murder mystery with precisely developed characters, motives, clues, and alibis but rather a huge, impersonal, international plot of a politically motivated power grab.

There were too many people with titles and political positions for me to follow. Even if I had created a chart or list as I progressed through the book, none of these persons were assigned a personality in depth. Each identity was not sufficient enough for me to align myself with either rooting for them or loathing them. Also the plot was too expansive and disjointed. I do admit I was very biased by my present disgust of the Trump administration's tactics in promoting domestic and international turmoil. This novel, rather than engage me, upset me, and was the opposite extreme of providing an enjoyable reading experience. I completed The Black Wolf but I rate it only one star.

★☆☆☆☆ Awful but I read most or maybe even all of it

I am rethinking my intention of reading all of Louise Penny's books. I realize an author needs to grow and not churn out the same story over and over. But I am also learning that I prefer a "whodunnit" with quirky characters and a plot I can follow. If that makes me an immature, politically ignorant reader, so be it. Reading should be for pleasure. I still prefer dessert over the main course. I suspect this author is "growing" in a direction that diverges from my preferences. Here is a quick review of my rating of her past books. Near the end of my 1/28/25 post on The Grey Wolf  are the blog post links for my review of each of these novels. 

Ponder: My Friends

 My Friends ©2025 by Fredrik Backman is a story about the lives of four teenage friends who spent a summer of laughter together, despite the depressing home situation of each. Three are immortalized in a painting depicting three figures sitting on the edge of a pier, a painting which sells for an exorbitant sum of money. The painting was created by the fourth in their group. I was looking forward to enjoying this book since I read A Man Called Ove, also by Fredrick Bachman which I rated 5 stars in my 10/31/17 post reviewing it. Furthermore, 37800 readers on Amazon rated My Friends 4.6 stars and 253,400 readers on Goodreads rate it 4.4 stars. Despite these accolades, I was very disappointed in My Friends. I rate My Friends only 2 stars. To minimize the effort I put into the review for a book I rated so poorly, I present these AI summaries of the characters within. 

Louisa is the 17-year-old artist protagonist the novel, who is on the run from her foster home after her best friend, Fish, dies. She is creative, rebellious, and carries a postcard of a famous painting called "The One of the Sea," which becomes a central symbol of the book as she meets the reclusive artist behind it. The story intertwines her present-day journey with the past lives of the four teenagers who were the subjects of the painting.

The four teenagers associated with the painting:

• Joar is the group's "muscle and heart," a boy shaped by violence who is fiercely loyal to his friends
• Ted is one of four childhood friends who bond over art. He becomes a teacher, but his life takes a turn after an incident at school. He then becomes a friend and father figure to Louisa, a young artist, and is involved in the book's main storyline about art, friendship, and loss.
• Ali is a character who leaves the friend group because her father is in debt. She later becomes a skilled surfer; her story contributes to the themes of trauma and healing explored in the novel.
• The artist is the creator of the iconic painting "The One of the Sea". He is referred to "the artist" throughout and only near the end is his name revealed.

Scenes of laughter amidst teenage loyalty and bonding abound and are enjoyable. But the heart breaking situation of each of these characters seems to have an overriding air of dystopia for me. Violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, emotional abuse, bullying, and poverty to me were too pervasive to be neutralized by a summer's worth of escapist frivolity and mischief.

The book has two main timelines: present day Luisa, recently aging out of a foster home and the summer about twenty years ago shared by teenagers Joar, Ted, Ali and the artist. The two timelines intertwine as an adult Ted is telling Louis the story of that summer. The poignant theme of friendship and loyalty is to be commended, but I struggled with all the misfortunes above which these attributes were to rise. To me the glow of good triumphing over evil was buried under the darkness of the dystopian lives when those friends were not in each other's company. There were several twists in the book where the reader was led to believe something dire had occurred. The later revelation of the true situation made me feel the author was being cruel to the readers in misleading them.

I really forced myself to read the final third of this book. That says something for the author's skill in having me bond with the characters. I wanted to know how lives turned out, even though it was painful for me to doggedly persist in reading this novel to the very end. The psychological downers for me in My Friends seem in keeping with my erratic relationship with this author. I'd forgotten I had also read Anxious People by Fredrick Bachman and sadly rated it only 1 star in my 7/7/21 post reviewing it. Feeling angst when I read is not a desirable emotion for me. Feeling suspense is acceptable but not within a pervasive atmosphere of hopeless acceptance. Cope without hope is not read-worthy. 

 

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Ponder: The Life Impossible

The Life Impossible ©2025 is the second book I have read by Matt Haig. In my post for 7/6/21, I reviewed and rated Haig's Midnight Library ©2020 only two stars. But everybody deserves a second chance, right? Wrong! I also rate The Life Impossible only two stars, which for me, translates to, "Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it". So what were those redeeming features?

1. The main character of the story, Grace, is a retired math teacher in her seventies. The novel has several mathematical references and terms such as the Fibonacci sequence, positive and negative numbers, some calculus terms, etc. I could relate to Grace's age, retired status, and technical background.
   
   
2. I learned a new vocabulary term, anhedonia which is defined as the inability to experience pleasure from activities that were once enjoyable.
   
   
3. The premise was interesting and had promise. Grace was left a house on an island by Christina, a previous teaching colleague of hers. She lived alone and had no other ties so why not explore this option, adding an experiment to her now mundane life? And how did Christina die or did she just disappear or perhaps go into hiding?
   
   
4. There were passages that prompted deeper thought. This particular one resonated with me as I ponder my decluttering efforts. Here is one example passage from early on in the book:
   

   The word "era" entered my mind and did not leave. I thought about how you entered a new one [era]. ... How you need to create a distinct break with what has gone before. In geology it is often after an extinction, isn't it? The Mesozoic Era ended with the mass death of the dinosaurs via a meteor. I was wondering if I was starting a new era or if I was taking too much with me. This is the challenge of life, isn't it? Moving forward without annihilating what has gone before.

The novel seemed as if the author was looking for opportunities to insert pithy phrases rahter than tell story. Disco dances, song titles, music groups were often listed throughout an entire paragraph to generate a feeling. Not knowing what many of them were left me bored, missing the sensation I was meant to feel, and merely skimming the paragraphs. The plot was random. I will admit the title was appropriate. Not to reveal any spoilers, but where else but in an impossible life on a unique island can you gather together, ecology rants, species preservation, dishonest politicians, greedy real estate developers, scuba diving, aliens, glowing light, other planets, mind reading, telekinesis, grief, guilt, gambling, goats, lobsters, snakes, cormorants, and flamingos? I will not be seeking out other books by this other, even with his accolade of being a New York Times best seller. For me The Life Impossible was

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Ponder: The Listeners

The Listeners ©2025 by Maggie Stiefvater was the selection this month for the Good Books club at my local library. It is set in West Virginia in the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor during WWII. A very luxurious hotel is asked told to house diplomats from enemy countries as a holding type detention camp. Staff must serve the very people who may possibly responsible for the death or maiming of their loved ones. It is a powder keg type situation.

Maintaining the luxuries and handling the tempers is the hotel manager June. Establishing and handling the security of the hotel is Special Agent Tucker with two other G-men. Both June and Agent Tucker  rise from humble beginnings, and yet each is quite capable of navigating the complexities of luxury, wealth, and tact. The cast of characters is large, and many of them have more than one name, so following along requires concentration; it was not an easy read for me. Plus the author's style is one of creating suspense via confusion, rather than via intricacies of plot. The premise was good. The characters were multidimensional. The setting was bizarre. An enjoyable plot twist near the end made me pleased I had stuck with the book. 

Intertwined throughout there was an air of fantasy flowing waters from springs at the hotel that seem to have healing or hurting powers. The water made me think of the plant Audrey II from musical Little Shop of Horrors and its insistence to "Feed me." Another idiosyncracy of the hotel was the abundance of live snails that abounded. The hotel had turned the (gross?) presence of the snails into a namesake signature, incorporating carvings of snails into pillars, on fountains, and along railings throughout. After reading the book I was curious about this snail oddity. Apparently, snails are very prevalent in West Virginia due to its climate and eco system. I even found a book published on this very snail topic. 

There are currently 168 native land snail species confirmed from West Virginia, 11 of which are endemic (more than any neighboring state). Eighteen species are restricted to the borders of West Virginia and Virginia along the Ridge and Valley region.

If you would like a slow, closeup visual of snail activity, in addition to the book, check out this YouTube video.

There are more than 150 kinds of land snails in the “Wild and Wonderful” state, ranging from the size of a quarter to the size of a pinhead.

This book was an odd combination of characters, nature, and fantasy, making it a truly creative novel to explore, but one that may not be to the taste of some readers. I do not regret reading it, but I will not be seeking out other works by Maggie Stiefvater. On Amazon, The Listeners was rated 4 stars, with only 50% of the readers giving it 5 stars. Although it got high literary ratings, per the book club discussion, I rate The Listeners three stars.

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time

West with Giraffes

West with Giraffes ©2021 by Lynda Rutledge is a fictional novel based on the true story of the cross country transport of two adolescent giraffes in 1938 from Brooklyn to the San Diego Zoo. These two giraffes had miraculously survived a horrendous hurricane at sea during their journey by ship from Africa. Although the ocean portion of their trip is not part of the book, the overland truck version is fascinating none the less.

The setting is the tail end of the Great Depression which ran 1929-1941; many of the associated traumas and misfortunes set a bleak and challenging backdrop. Dirt poor, teenager Woodrow Wilson Nickel's work ethic and outlooks on life, animals and honesty stem from his experiences endured during 1930s Dust Bowl in his home state of Oklahoma. This young man drives the precious cargo over many difficult to negotiate landscapes. The year 1938 falls within a period of Greenbook guidance for discriminated blacks amidst sundown town attitudes for negroes.

The front flap summary of West with Giraffes does an excellent job of summarizing the contents of this novel. Rather than reinventing the wheel I repeat it here.

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.

The remarkable story of the two giraffes' ocean voyage prior to their cross country trek is recounted in a history for the San Diego Zoo. It was at this site that I finally saw a photo of the vehicle and the customization required to carry those giraffes. I had been conjuring up pictures of my own throughout the book.

Little did anyone now that in September 1938, during the final few days of their trip, these animals bound for San Diego would encounter what was then the most devastating hurricane to hit the upper East Coast, killing nearly 700 people. ... The 130-foot storm-ravaged cargo ship finally reached soggy and mangled Brooklyn on September 23. ...
What happened on that ship during the storm is almost too crazy to be true. Imagine waves so severe that a rhino is tossed overboard. Along with the rhino, the food for the giraffes was lost as well. The crate containing the female giraffe rolled and rolled until it shattered to pieces. She was presumed dead while every precaution was taken to protect the male. Amazingly, one of the crew saw the female giraffe move, so they covered and protected her as the storm raged on.

The story is narrated by Woody, the teenage drive. Initially I found his language difficult to read but I became accustomed to it and this presentation did add a depth to the tale. Woody is rather self-deprecating and this aspect also contributes to the charm. The gruff, but kind and generous, demeanor of Woody's boss is pretty awesome, and makes the recounting even endearing. Poverty, illness, cruelty, and discrimination are each present, but they are addressed very well. A tiny bit of budding romance thrown in sweetens the plot. There are two timelines in this novel: present day where Woody is in a nursing home, furious writing down the story he has to tell, and the past event of the journey. Not so sure at the beginning, I soon came to realize I really enjoyed this book — the plot, the characters, and the enlightened history that subtly educated me without bogging down my reading.

The dedication of West with Giraffes reads

To the real hurricane giraffes

The introduction Woody writes to his story within a story reads

“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…”
                                              —Woodrow Wilson Nickel

The giraffes were renamed by the local children of San Diego. Lofty and Patches lived at the zoo for nearly 30 years and produced seven offspring, contributing significantly to the zoo's growth.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Migrations

Last month I went to my third meeting of a book club I recently joined.  The assigned book for discussion was Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy ©2020. Migrations is about Franny, a woman who sets out to follow the migratory path of the Arctic Tern from the north pole to the south pole. My initial reaction was, "Really? This sounds like a dull book with loads of scenery ad nauseam and very little plot. And, come on, how much character development can birds have?" But, I was determined to give this every-other-month book club a fair chance, and so I soldiered on. 

An additional impetus to not give up on this novel was a convincing action initiated by the group leader, Carol. She emailed out a list of 19 discussion questions a week before the meeting. I scurried to finished the book, re-inspired by my curiosity. Here are two of the questions.

Question #2: Discuss the novel’s first lines: "The animals are dying. Soon we will be alone here." How does the disappearance of wildlife in mass extinctions shape the characters and plot? What are the similarities and differences between Franny’s world and our own? Would you describe this novel as dystopian? Why or why not?

Question #6: Franny says: "It isn’t fair to be the kind of creature who is able to love but unable to stay." Why does she have so much trouble staying, even with the people she most loves? Did you find that aspect of her character sympathetic? Right before their car accident, Niall tells Franny, "There’s a difference between wandering and leaving. In truth, you’ve never once left me." Do you agree?

What? All the animals are gone? Why can't Franny stay with someone she loves? What car accident? Who is Niall? (I later learned that Niall is a Scottish name that stands for champion and does fit this character). How do wander and leave compare? There must be something more to this book than ice and snow vistas as far as the eye can see. Besides, I might learn something about this Arctic Tern, which I did.

Per a Wikipedia article on the Artic Tern: 

The Arctic tern is famous for its migration; it flies from its Arctic breeding grounds to the Antarctic and back again each year. The shortest distance between these areas is 19,000 km (12,000 mi). The long journey ensures that this bird sees two summers per year and more daylight than any other creature on the planet. ... It migrates along a convoluted route from its northern breeding grounds to the Antarctic coast for the southern summer and back again about six months later. The birds follow a somewhat convoluted course in order to take advantage of prevailing winds.... The average Arctic tern lives about 30 years and will ... travel some 2.4 million km (1.5 million mi) during its lifetime, the equivalent of a roundtrip from Earth to the Moon more than three times.

As well as interesting things about the bird, I learned interesting things about myself reading this book and participating in a book club. When a book is selected, the library does not normally have enough hard copies to supply all the members. Some members have Kindles and others listen to the book on tape, borrowing an audio version from the library. I downloaded the app Libby and tried listening to the story. I was too distracted. My mind would wander and I would suddenly realize I had missed a large portion of what had been said. I am very much a visual, not audio learner. I bought the book from Amazon, used and inexpensive. It came without a dust cover, just a solid navy blue front and back cover. Oddly enough, I needed that visual enticement, encouraging me to read the book. I found find an image of the cover on my computer, printed it, and wrapped it around the book making it much more appealing and palatable to read. Weird, huh?

Migrations is not a book I would have chosen to read on my own but I am pleased that this book club selection pushed me beyond my comfort zone. The story does go beyond my stereotyping image of a nerdy birdwatcher sitting for hours quietly out in nature in hopes of catching a glimpse of some rare feathery creature. Fanny, in order to follow the migratory path of the tern needs to become a crew member on a fishing vessel.  Some of the experiences and dangers she faces reminded me of the reality TV shoe Deadliest Catch. Per the Wikipedia post on Deadliest Catch:

The show emphasizes the dangers on deck to the fishermen and camera crews as they duck heavy crab pots swinging into position, maneuver hundreds of pounds of crab across a deck strewn with hazards, and lean over the rails to position pots for launch or retrieval, while gale-force winds and high waves lash the deck constantly.

Finally, I am getting to my review of the book. Migrations is slow to start but picks up speed and had me very engaged. It gave me great pause for thought about a wanderlust. Franny wanders from her mom and from Niall but this does not mean she does not love them. I thought of a particular parallel to this as a woman who loves her husband and children dearly but still desires the draw of a career thats take her away from them. The suffering and drama in this book is real and well conveyed. There is a whole cast of characters, a subset of which is on the fishing boat, that are intriguing with hints of an undiscovered depth. There was a human and animal pathos throughout the novel that pierced my heart. Although Migrations is not a selection I would have chose for myself, reading it enabled me to fully experience one of the strengths of participating in a book club, both for the choice of book and discussions about it. I rate this book four stars based on its thoughtful theme, wide range of fascinating characters, and unique topic. I found the plot only weakly relatable to me personally, but do acknowledge that I did not need to be an animal enthusiast to gain enjoyment and growth from this book.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: By the Book

Jasmine Guillory is an author whose romance books I read when I want something light and frivolous. By the Book is the eighth book I've read by her. Her first three books I gave three stars each, her next three books also three stars, her seventh book only two stars, but her ninth book, Flirting Lessons, I abandoned after one and a half chapters and so zero stars for it. But with this, her eighth book, I became re-enamored with the author and I give By the Book four stars.

The plot in By the Book is that Isabelle, a young professional, currently working as an editorial assistant at a high profile New York publishing firm, aspires to become a book editor, or perhaps even an author in her own rite. Eager to get ahead, she volunteers to personally contact a famous celebrity, one of the firm's problem clients, and facilitate his submittal of behind schedule drafts of his memoir. Beau lives in a mansion in Santa Barbara. The man may be jaded and disagreeable, but the silver lining in that cloud is that a few days in California would be luscious reprieve for Isabelle from the cold, slushy, bitter winter in New York City.

What are the demons in Beau's life that make writing his memoir so difficult? In addition to the subject matter, what are the writing skills he struggles with that are contributing to his writer's block? Isabelle is precisely the feisty, yet patient and understanding, person Beau needs to help him out of his slump, personal and literary. The writing tips and motivational approaches are a bonus to the text of this novel.  The romantic entanglement is predictable, but the process in getting to the inevitable outcome is oh so enjoyable. 

I'd read those first seven books of Jasmine Guillory within August, September and October of 2022. Here are excerpts from those three blog posts.

• 8/30/22 (three-romance-novels) Was it rocket science? Hardly, especially not with a book published about every ten months. But I still gained some insight into other life experiences. I rate each of them three stars.
• 9/12/22 (three-more-romance-novels) There were intimations about other peripheral characters that make me wonder if perhaps more books are coming. I rate each of the above books three stars. They were a fictional romp that were worth the enjoyable time investment.
• 10/26/22 (ponder-drunk-on-love) There is no association with characters from the first six books and I found that absence a bit disappointing. ... [two stars] I think I will hold off on Jasmine Guillory's future books for a while. I may be saturated or she may be morphing her style to something less attractive to me.

I am glad I did not hold off on Jasmine Guillory's books since I chilled with relaxed reading time and  gained a few writing tips while enjoying this romance novel. I give By the Book four stars. My rating seems in keeping with the 3,500Amazon readers who rated By the Book an average of 4.2 stars. Perhaps they represent the limited audience to whom I refer in my rating.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Vengeful

Vengeful ©2018 by V.E. Schwab is the second in a two-book series themed villains. I am a fan of the author V.E. Schwab. When I reviewed the first book Vicious ©2013 in my post for 8/14/2024, I eagerly awarded it five stars.

[Vicious] was nasty, vindictive, and full of misguided motives — all reasons it should have been disturbing to read — but it was a real page turner for me.

Unfortunately my opinion of Vengeful is far less favorable. There were too many new characters and a myriad of location changes. Tens of timelines, inconsistently measured in weeks or days or hour or years and jumping about in seeming randomness, were confusing. Guidance for writing dual timelines is that each should be as interesting as the other to keep the reader engaged in both storylines. Rather than urging me on to see what comes next, I finally had to ignore the time jumps just to get through the book. Had this not been a library book I would have been sorely tempting to tear the pages apart and put them in chronological order and sub-sort by character groups. What a disappointing hodgepodge! Even if ordered chronologically, I felt the uneven character development and the non-existent path for their growth were severely lacking.

The overarching plot is that EOs, people who possess Extra Ordinary power due to having been revived from the dead, are hunted by other EO's and the government to methodically eradicate them as evil or scientifically study them as specimens. Victor, Eli, Sydney and Mitch reprise from the first book. It is Sydney and Mitch I would have liked to see morphed and brought to a resolution but I was left hanging. Instead too much focus was placed on other new villains like Marcella and a mad scientist who were very flat, boring, nasty, and hateful. One redeeming line from the book is this quote from Douglas Horton.

If you haven't read the first book Vicious do not bother with this second one Vengeful. If you have read the first book Vicious, still do not bother with Vengeful.

★☆☆☆☆ Awful but I read all of it