Three Stars

Best for:
People who like their mysteries best when they don’t start with a murder.

In a nutshell:
After going on a first date to a hypnotism show, Melody starts to remember things from her childhood.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I’ve enjoyed her books this year, and I find the audio versions are great for longer runs.

What it left me feeling:
Not much

Review:
This book is not bad. It feels different that Jewell’s other work, but it still has that telltale jumping back and forth through time. However, everything is from Melody’s perspective, instead of having multiple chapters from other perspectives.

Melody’s first childhood memory is of her father rescuing her from a fire when she was nine. Skipping ahead, she is 33 with a nearly 18-year-old son. What happen in between? And what happened before? Melody doesn’t date much, but agrees to go out with Ben, who takes her to a hypnotism show where she is called up to be a volunteer. She passes out, and from then on starts having these very vivid memories from when she was very young – 4, 5 and 6. Memories that don’t involve her parents.

What they do involve are a whole other life, which starts with two parents (different form the ones she had at age nine), and a baby sister who dies within a couple of days of birth. Much of the book looks at how grief impacts everyone it touches, and how parents deal with the death of a child.

Jewell challenges herself in that she is spending much of the book writing from the point of view of a very small child. What would that child think? How would they view things? And how can Jewell write it so we see what Melody does but also understand much more than she does?

As I said, this book is a bit different, but it is interesting.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it

Three Stars

Best for:
Those interested in a very intimate look into the life of a queer actor.

In a nutshell:
Author Page shares his journey as an actor who has come out as gay and then as trans.

Worth quoting:
N/A (audio book)

Why I chose it:
I wanted to hear Page’s story through his own words, and not an interpretation via the media.

What it left me feeling:
A lot.

Review:
CN for hate crimes, sexual abuse, sexual harassment.

I’m so happy that Page had this opportunity to tell his story, but I cannot say that this was a book that I enjoyed reading. It felt more personal than the usual memoir (and I’ve read literally dozens of memoirs, so I am familiar with the range of what is usually shared), and there were aspects of it that were so very graphic. I absolutely appreciate and understand that Page’s sexual relationships with others have been critical in his journey, but I don’t really ever want to read graphic sex scenes in any book — memoir, fiction, non-fiction (also film and TV – and I know that’s a me thing). So to have multiple such stories in a book made it challenging for me. I stopped and briefly considered just not finishing it, but between those graphic bits there was so much that Page shared that I felt like I almost owed it to his experience to finish it.

Page has experienced a lot of trauma in his life – from people in Hollywood, from strangers on the street, from his own family members. It’s frankly amazing to think that he was able to find the strength to be who he are, given how publicly he lived his experiences. He discusses his closeted relationships with other women when Page was still perceived as a woman, then publicly being out as gay when so many people feel the need to comment on the sexuality of others (including a priest who passed him an inappropriate note on a plane), and then publicly transitioning to a trans man. It’s a lot for anyone, and Page has managed to come through it strong. He shared so many stories of things that impacted his dysphoria that I’d never thought of, like the costumes he was required to wear in films.

I did find it hard to follow the time line of his life, as Page tells his stories in a narrative order that makes sense for him and his journey, but that isn’t linear. I’m not overly familiar with his work, so references to films and TV I think probably make it easier to follow for people who do know his work well.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it

Four Stars

Best for:
Anyone who enjoys wildly random, hilarious, honest musings about life. Especially relevant to those of us in our 40s, as there are some cultural touchstones she references that made me feel like the embodiment of that Leonardo DiCaprio meme where he’s pointing at the TV.

In a nutshell:
Writer Irby once again brings her special style of self-awareness and observational humor to what I find to be a whole lot of utterly relateable essays.

Worth quoting:
“Your jam is always gonna sound like your jam, timeless and relevant even if the youths fail to appreciate it.”

“How do the properly hydrated among you get through the goddammed day? Are you just pissing in those Thinx panties all the time?”

Why I chose it:
I’ve enjoyed her previous work.

What it left me feeling:
Amused.

Review:
Irby is a talented essayist and screenwriter (most recently involved with ‘And Just Like That…’ which I know might cause some folks to step away from this book, but I promise the book is good). She writes about some very mundane, run-of-the-mill topics but manages to make them borderline hilarious.

The first essay in this book is a great reminder to just own it when you like something, and who cares if other people think it’s ‘basic’ or whatever word the youths are using these days. Excellent. Solid start. And it continues along from there weaving in pop culture and anecdotes from Irby’s life. A solid essay involves her discussing what she would change in the plots of different Sex and the City episodes. Another she discusses all the ways her bladder lets her down (there is a LOT of talk of urination, defecation, and other body horrors – one chapter is literally called body horror – so do keep that in mind). A highlight is the essay where she describes when she almost died of anaphalaxis while trying to remove gel nails (that she didn’t really want in the first place) at home.

Irby and I are the same age (early 40s), so it’s possible some aspects might be not as relevant to younger people. But that’s fine, as not everything has to be for everyone. I can see myself rereading some of these essays, and I know I will be giving this as a gift to at least one person this holiday season.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep / Recommend

Four Stars

Best for:
Fans of books about families with serious challenges to overcome and issues to resolve.

In a nutshell:
Lorelei loves Easter. Until her youngest son dies by suicide one Easter Sunday, pushing a family already on the brink over the edge.

Worth quoting:
N/A (Audio book)

Why I chose it:
I’ve enjoyed her mystery / thrillers and saw reviews that said this one was a little different.

What it left me feeling:
Hopeful.

Review:
CN: Suicide, ill mental health (specifically hoarding)

Lorelei has four children with her husband Colin – Meghan, Beth, Rory and Rhys. We learn early on that Lorelei has a love of Easter – it’s her holiday, and she loves hiding easter eggs. We also get an early glimpse into what eventually devolves into serious mental illness – her need to gather up the foil wrappers from the candy for some amorphous future need.

Using her usual style of jumping back and forth through time and providing us the perspectives of multiple characters, Jewell tells a story of a family torn apart by the suicide of the youngest child Rhys. How a family can drift apart, how new bonds can form, and how betrayals don’t have to be the final word in a relationship.

Jewell does a lovely job of showing the mental illness challenges of Lorelei as she struggles with her inability to discard or dispose of anything. How it impact her relationships with her children, her husband, and her later partner. It’s heartbreaking to read but I appreciate how Jewell shows how it impacts loved ones while also caring for the main person who is harmed by it: Lorelei herself.

As other reviews note, this is not the same murder mystery thriller one finds in Jewell’s other books, but it still feels like a Jewell book, and it is well worth reading.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it.