A Mother's Reckoning by Sue Klebold

Well.  This was slightly less fun to read than the last book.  The Columbine Massacre happened when I was in grade 11 and I was a year younger than the killers themselves.  It's a very strong memory for me - I remember where I was when I heard about it and I remember how much we discussed it in my own high school in the days after.  It, for me, was a marker in my life.  Kind of like knowing where you were when Princess Diana died.

This was not an easy read but I have to give Sue Klebold props.  What could have been a sensational book about what it was like to live through the events from he inside, it was more about raising children, dealing with loss and grief and understanding and recognizing what may have contributed to the events.

Sue Klebold talks about it at great length and I think it's valid, but there can be no one cause for something like Columbine - it's a series of events, illnesses and circumstances that add up to a horror show.  People want there to be one reason so that it's an easy problem to solve, but life doesn't work like that.

Her narration of her son's life was a bit terrifying to me - he had a nice life, with better than average (albeit according to Sue) parents who raised him progressively and were involved.  

That said, there are some gaps - things were brushed off as typical teenage behaviour that were not and no one understood the depths of despair that Dylan was in.  There were a few warning signs that were overlooked but honestly - I don't know that I wouldn't have also chalked them up to the same things that Sue and her husband did.

I think the take away that is the scariest is that this could really happen in any family, if situations aligned themselves.  It makes me terrified to have kids (not that it's on the table right now) and I don't know how people do it and books like this don't help that anxiety.

This book is all from the perspective of one person, but I think that credit is due to Sue Klebold - she doesn't try to explain away her son's actions or justify anything.  She does search for answers and consults with many experts on mental health to understand how something like this could have been spotted.

Overall, this was a well researched, heartbreaking book.  I'm glad I read it but I don't know if I'd recommend it - it's a hard read and I don't know if you learn enough at the end for it to be worth it.  I guess the biggest takeaway is that you can never know, so watch and ask when you notice something off.  And then ask again, and again and again.  

Urg.  I don't know how to rate this one.  I guess four early interventions out of five?  With so many caveats and astrixes.  I definitely need a palate cleanser now.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

You guys.  I love this series.  Yes.  It's a YA series and it's super confusing with everyone's names but I don't even care.  I read the first one, Red Rising, two years ago on a trip to Toronto and I was obsessed - it was dark and funny and epic.  the second book in the series, Golden Son, was uber confusing since I couldn't remember who the hell anyone was.  Still, once i got the hang of it, again epic.  This third and final chapter came out in mid-February and I dropped what I was reading to be able to start this one right away.  Thankfully at some point in the last few months I had re-read the first two so I wasn't as bewildered as I could have been.  

I honestly can't believe that one author could keep so many little pieces of plot going - everything has significance and it all ties together.  At times it's a bit frantic and it's 90% ridiculous but I was so into it, it worked.  

I think part of what is so excellent about this series is that it's so political and it's realistic (or as realistic as a futuristic scifi novel can be) as to the give and take of diplomacy and war.  You can't be 100% good in wartime - sacrifices are made.

At one point, I actually had to put the book away.  I thought a key character had been killed off and I just couldn't handle it emotionally.  That alone speaks to the readability of this series - I'd recommend it to anyone who likes scifi but loves an epic tale.  Seriously, so fun.  I kind of want to read it again.  Five enslaved human races out of five, and let's hope the aryan race never rises again.

The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee

I appear to be on a non-fiction kick of some kind.  It's weird, I sometimes seem to get really into one topic and I'll read everything I can on that topic - I did it at one point with Henry VIII, with the Fundamentalist Mormon Cult, Evangelical Christianity/Quiverfull cults, and North Korea.  So, when a new book comes out on any of these topics I am all over it and I was very excited when this title came across my desk.

I've read a few other memoirs by people who have escaped North Korea but this was the first by someone who enjoyed a relatively privileged life there before they left.  I think the largest difference is that this is the first time I've heard someone talk about their strong desire (and attempt to make plans) to move back.  Obviously, this plan never happened and I can't think it would have ended well, but still.

Another thing that struck me was how easy their family lead their double life as stand up North Korean citizens and also ran a successful smuggling business - and how there was no conflict of interest in their minds.  Obviously, I have never lived in communism but this is a common theme I've heard of from people who have.  It seems that "communism" (and I don't think we can really call North Korea communist, but that's another conversation) in practice can't meet the needs of it's people adequately and the need for a grey or black market is part of the system - it's how the people get their needs met.

Anyway, this was a well written book by a woman who has lived an incredible life and has shown herself to be tough as nails - she's about my age and now I feel like a schmuck only speaking one language and complaining about my life.  So thanks for the public shaming, Hyeonseo Lee.  Four illegal South Korean pop CDs out of five.

Bonk by Mary Roach

I am a terrible book reviewer, i've been meaning to write this post for like, six weeks.  Anyway, ages ago I read Bonk on the recommendation of a book club chum.  This is a really engaging review of how science has chosen to study sex.

Everyone loves reading about sex.  I mean, come on.  It's so fun!  Mary Roach understands this and you can tell - she loves talking about it.  Her commentary, while always professional, is witty and observational.  I loved her footnotes - they were arguably the most interesting little side bits and I definitely looked crazy laughing to myself on the bus.

Mary Roach has written other books, one about the science around paranormal investigation and one around death.  I have put both of these on my list - definitely worth a read.  Five glass dildo-cameras out of five.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

I started this book right after reading Station Eleven and that was a mistake.  Brooklyn’s prose just didn’t hold up.  Although, to be fair, Station Eleven was a hard act to follow. 

Brooklyn centres around the story of Eilis, a young (early twenties?) Irish girl who leaves her family in the early 50’s to seek out better opportunities in America.  And she did.  It was really straightforward!

I think if you suggested this book as a novel for a Catholic church book club, you’d have a winner on your hands.  The church features prominently and you can tell that the author himself is “of the people” (I can say that because so am I, haha).  He really nails the RC factor.  What I can’t tell is if everyone in the 50’s was really this pious or if that’s just the way Colm writes ‘em.  Like, what 20 year old girl is checking everything with her priest?  I don’t think my own Oma did that and she’s both a big RC fan and of the same era as this character. 

What made this book only ok was that it tells you exactly what’s going on.  There is never any subtext.  Most of the writing was along the lines of “She thought this was what he was thinking.  She was wrong, he thought this.  Then they went to the beach”.  I mean, obviously the author did a better job than me, but you never had to wonder what was going on or what people were thinking.  He really just spelled it out for you.

Overall, this was pleasant and forgettable – the fantastic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or the Namesake does a much better job of bringing the pre-hipster Brooklyn or the immigrant experience to light.  I can actually see how this story would make a better movie than book – the lack of narration would lend it a bit more mystery and gravitas.

It was fine.  I give it three Saturdays at confession out of five.  Now let us all turn to our neighbours and offer a sign of peace.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven is the best book I've read in 2016!  It's also only the second, so we will see how long it holds top spot.

That said, this was truly and excellent book.  Recommended to me by my good friend and Librarian extraordinaire, I also received this one for Christmas.  It tells the story of the collapse of society after an epidemic that kills 99% of the population.  Going back and forth through time to before the outbreak and after through the eyes of about a half dozen different characters, it examines how people survive and thrive.

The book centres around the heart attack and death of a famous actor performing King Lear in Toronto, on outbreak day one.  From there, we are taken to twenty years later and a band of roving artists performing shakespeare across the wasteland and their experience with a village of extreme religious fundamentalists.  Back and forth, it jumps through various points of time through a few perspectives as they all move to pull together a final portrait of a dead man.

This book was both a delight to read but also made me want to tell everyone about it - and let me tell you, I don't do that all the time (I read some embarrassing crap).  I think I have awkwardly promised to pass my copy on to a few different people, which should prove to be awkward as they all come calling over the next few days.

I'd give this book five out of five post-apocalyptic car-corpses.  If the end times come, I am going to not do too well, I like my conveniences I have learned.

The Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie

The first book of 2016!  Technically, this was mostly read in 2015 but this is my blog and I make the rules, so it counts I say.

Anyway, coming out of the holidays I was desperate for some relaxation and so I picked the least challenging book from the stack I received at Christmas.  Christmas sets me up for months!

This was a fun, easy read about four sisters who end up over time becoming various mistresses to Louis XV.  It's based in fact but obviously, heavily fictionalized.  I love a good saucy historical novel so I was pretty excited to get into it.  What I liked was that it was well-researched and you could tell that the author did more than a cursory google search.

I also liked that the sisters were all well written without being overly saccharine - they were still products of their time and in some cases, weren't the most likeable of characters.  The book would have been a lot duller if they were all various copies of each other without any sharp points or bad decisions.

Books like this make me think I could do this - write a book or at least a short story that at once appeals to modern audiences but while still being respectful and truthful to the source material.  I am sure it's easier in my head than it is in reality though, haha.

Anyway, The Sisters of Versailles was a great start to 2016 without being too depressing, so I give it three and a half slut-shaming tabloid rags out of five.  On to the next!