Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

 

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun read. A man dies in Vera's tea shop and she takes it upon herself to solve the murder. She does this by befriending the suspects, making them special tea, feeding them food that sounds amazing, and giving out advice in her demanding, no-nonsense, Vera way.

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Why We Sleep

 

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sleep is more important than anyone would think. I do think we've come a ways since this book was published (maybe because of it?). Walker does a great job of recounting numerous experiments that show how important sleep is and all the ways we cheat ourselves of getting the whole benefits of sleep. I loved his ingenious and imaginative (and specific) ways we can educate and practice sleep hygiene. If there was one thing he didn't cover as in depth as I wished was why we vilify sleep as a culture--the person who wakes up early and works late in the evening is always more admirable than the one who wakes late or leaves early. But at least he makes an airtight case for those of us willing to buck the system and sleep a full eight hours!

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REM sleep, was clearly needed in order for us to heal emotional wounds.

Reality and perceived reality were no longer the same in the "eyes" of the sleepless brain.

Never definitely on or off, the brain of a narcoleptic patient wobbles precariously around a middle point, teeter-tottering between sleep and wakefulness.

We, and not the rotating mechanics of planet Earth, would not decide when it was "night" and when it was "day".  we are the only species that has managed to light the night to such dramatic effect. 

Miracle Creek

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was impressed by the depth and breadth of this mystery/trial story. A hyperbaric chamber has been blown up with patients inside, resulting in death. The problem is nothing is at it seems. Kim does a credible job of convincing the reader of the guilt of one character only to reveal some new secret that changes points to a whole new suspect or discredits all the previous assumptions. But besides being a great crime drama, Kim also explores issues such as immigration, fertility, racism, and sexual exploitation. She tackles autism and other disabilities and the challenges of being a parent of a nontypical child--the exhaustion, the guilt, the frustration, the relentlessness of it. But she also captures the community that can spring up among those experiencing the same difficulties--the support and also some of the competition and envy. But she also ties in how hard it is to just be a parent, how you show love and how kids recognize it (or not).

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But what he hadn't known, hadn't expected, was that this linguistic uncertainty would extend beyond speech, and like a virus, infect other parts: his thinking, demeanor, his very personality itself.  In Korean, he was an authoritative man, educated and worthy of respect.  In English, he was a deaf, mute idiot, unsure, nervous, and inept.

Good things and bad--every friendship and romance formed, every accident, every illness--resulted from the conspiracy of hundreds of little things, in and of themselves inconsequential. 

Anxious People

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I might be being generous. I felt like this cutesy telling of a bank-heist-hostage situation was all over the place. There were flashbacks, and witness statements, and more flashbacks and backstories and more flashbacks. Maybe it was me but it was hard to keep it all straight. Especially since there were also mistaken identities, flashback tie-ins, and missing persons. And new persons hiding in the bathroom. It ends nice, but the first part emphasizes everyone's problems and anxieties and made me a little depressed myself. Maybe another time in my life I would have enjoyed this but as it was, it was just a little too much--too twisty, too cutesy, too quirky-corny.

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Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I have read about Manhattan Beach is how much research Egan put into this book. The good news is that it reads as though she researched to write instead of writing to show off her research. There is a lot of information, but it is organic to the story. The plot covers the story of Anna, the daughter of a former dancer and bagman with a disabled sister. WWII comes and her father disappears and Anna goes to work in the shipyard where she becomes obsessed with being a diver. The story itself is a bit disjointed and meandering but the story as a whole seems to focus on the body and the ways it holds up back and propels us forward. Moments when we leave our body behind and become something outside it. How different bodies can accomplish different things and how we are often captured by the way our bodies look. What our bodies can do through will and grit, and how the spirits of those we love can inspire us.

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The Personal Librarian

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I felt like this was one of the most fully-formed fictional historical novel about a real person. Benedict and Murray did a great job of imagining what it must have been like to feel like an imposter in a position that was both exhilarating (running in circles with some of the most powerful and rich men in America) and perilous (see above). I loved how they captured both the anxiety she must have felt, but also how confident and self-assured she must have been to make the deals she did and run in the circles she did. She was a woman who could think outside the box and that allowed her to do more than her circumstances would seem to allow. Thank you Marie and Victoria for introducing us to a lady who didn't let one aspect of herself define everything about her, but used her gifts and knowledge to soar as high as she did.

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Force of Nature

Force of Nature by Jane Harper
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Australian environment strikes again. This time a group of women go on a corporate outing into the wilderness and one goes missing. She happens to be an informant for Aaron Falk, financial detective, so he and his partner go to wait to see if she turns up. It was just ok. All of the women were awful, and Alice, the missing camper, was the worst. I didn't really care who killed her or why. Once again, the only redeeming factor was the Australian outback which seems equally fascinating and beautiful. Turns out finace is boring even when murder is involved.

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