Starlight Book Review – Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers

Cover of Modern Lovers by Emma Straub centered on a medium light red-orange background with Starry Night Elf avatar in lower right hand corner | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 2010s

Published 2016

Trigger Warnings – Smoking/ Drinking/ Death and Suicide/ Sexual Content

3.75/5 When I planned for my reading for the 2010s in the Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), my original choice ultimately did not meet this SRC’s criteria. Click here for details on this SRC. As 2022 neared its end, I considered myself fortunate that my book club chose to read Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers, a book published in 2016.

* I read Modern Lovers prior to the hubbub with author Straub and a Houston area school district. Any comments on this event with Straub will not be posted.

“Friends and former college bandmates Elizabeth and Andrew and Zoe have watched one another marry, buy real estate, and start businesses and families, all while trying to hold on to the identities of their youth. But nothing ages them like having to suddenly pass the torch (of sexuality, independence, and the ineffable alchemy of cool) to their own offspring… Back in the band’s heyday, Elizabeth put on a snarl over her Midwestern smile, Andrew let his unwashed hair grow past his chin, and Zoe was the lesbian all the straight women wanted to sleep with. Now nearing fifty, they all live within shouting distance in the same neighborhood deep in gentrified Brooklyn, and the trappings of the adult world seem to have arrived with ease. But the summer that their children reach maturity (and start sleeping together), the fabric of the adults’ lives suddenly begins to unravel, and the secrets and revelations that are finally let loose—about themselves, and about the famous fourth band member who soared and fell without them—can never be reclaimed… Straub packs wisdom and insight and humor together in a satisfying book about neighbors and nosiness, ambition and pleasure, the excitement of youth, the shock of middle age, and the fact that our passions—be they food, or friendship, or music—never go away, they just evolve and grow along with us.”

Modern Lovers seemed a great choice for the Back in the Day SRC. Straub wrote a book about characters looking both back in the past and forward to the future. At moments in my reading, I wondered how Straub managed to write a book on the precipice of time. The characters, Andrew in particular, irritated me. Sometimes, I didn’t care much about anyone in the book and that’s reflected in my rating. I would probably pick up another Straub book but there are other authors I want to read first.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers

Cover of Book – Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue – centered on a rusty orange background with the “Starry Night Elf” Logo in the lower right hand corner | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Set in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 2000s

Set in the Year 2008/ Published in 2016

Trigger Warning –  alcoholism,/ drug abuse/suicide/potentially upsetting scenes regarding American immigration

4/5 I spied Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers a few years ago and placed the book on my To Be Read (TBR) shelf. It pleased me when I learned our book club would read it last year. Furthermore, it thrilled me that this book was set in 2008 and that I read it for the Set in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC) since most of the action happens in the Aughts.

Click here for more information on this SRC.

“Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future… However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades… When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.”

I read this book with my ears, tuning in to listen to the dazzling reading of Prentice Onayemi. Onayemi pronounced names of characters and places, which pulled me into the story. I enjoyed hearing Neni sing in particular. I found the hopeful tone encouraging and the text rich. Some parts dragged for me, though; the pacing slow and almost ominous. As someone who remembers the 2008 crash, I knew something bad remained ahead for the characters. Otherwise, while not shelved on my Top 9 of 2022, I felt Behold the Dreamers deserves a nod as one of the better books I read. Also, I think I would try another Mbue book.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle

Cover of Book – Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead – centered on a medium green background with the “Starry Night Elf” Logo in the lower right hand corner | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Set in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 1960s

Set in the Years 1959-1964/ Published in 2021

Trigger Warning – Death / Murder / Drugs / Sex / Language / Crime / Racism

3.8/5 I saw numerous rave reviews of Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. When my book club announced Whitehead’s 2021 novel as its read in August, it thrilled me. Whitehead’s works long held places on my To Be Read (TBR) Shelf. So now I endeavored to remedy that as well as read this for the Set in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). Click here for more information on this SRC.

“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked…” To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home… Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time… Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn’t ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn’t ask questions, either… Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the “Waldorf of Harlem”—and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes… Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs?… Harlem Shuffle’s ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It’s a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem… But mostly, it’s a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.”

A gifted storyteller, Whitehead sets his scene and characters in clear focus. I felt I could easily see Ray, Elizabeth, and Freddie, among others in Harlem Shuffle with great precision. This book transports the reader to the slick underbelly of New York City. I enjoyed the audio with Richard Barenberg narrating. Did I care much for these characters? Well — not really. Yet, I understood why Ray might just be slightly bent. Yes, I think Whitehead’s other works might remain on my TBR Shelf as well.

Please check out this review from Joyful Reads With Joy [IG] by clicking here.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend

Cover of Book – My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante – centered on an ‘old army green’ background with the “Starry Night Elf” Logo in the lower right hand corner | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Set in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 1950s

Set in the Year 1950s/ Published in 2011

Please visit the My Brilliant Friend Book Trigger Warnings (BTW) Page by clicking here.

4/5 The announcement that the book of the month in my book club would be Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, Neapolitan Novels #1, greatly pleased me. This and other books within this serious came up on recommendation lists a number of times. Set in Post-World War II (WWII) Naples, I knew I might read this for the Set in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). Click here for more information on this SRC. The prospect of reading something by the enigmatic – pen name only Ferrante also appealed to me.

“A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.”

My Brilliant Friend, a rich novel in sparse prose, paints a vibrant picture of life in a rough Naples neighborhood. Early on, I saw narrator Elena and friend and rival, Lila. Ferrante rendered a full painting in vivid color. The violence and the anger made this work an edgy read for me. I already shelved the other three Neapolitan Novels on my To Be Read Shelf but I still need a little breather from this intense first volume.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Justin Deabler’s Lone Stars

Cover of Lone Stars by Justin Deabler on a medium blue background | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

4/5 When Gulf Coast Reads (GCR) announced they selected Justin Deabler’s Lone Stars as their 2022 book, I imagined I might read this novel. The GCR designation led Lone Stars to becoming the book club read for October. The title tipped me off that this book likely took place mostly in Texas. While I decided against counting this towards any of my Stellar Reading Challenges (SRC) this year, this book works well as parts take place in the latter part of the Twentieth Century as well as the 2000s. So if you’re seeking something for the Set in the Day SRC, you might want to check this out, Gnomies.

Learn more about GCR by clicking here.

Click here to check out more on the Set in the Day SRC.

“Lone Stars follows the arc of four generations of a Texan family in a changing America. Julian Warner, a father at last, wrestles with a question his husband posed: what will you tell our son about the people you came from, now that they’re gone? Finding the answers takes Julian back in time to Eisenhower’s immigration border raids, an epistolary love affair during the Vietnam War, crumbling marriages, queer migrations to Cambridge and New York, up to the disorienting polarization of Obama’s second term. And in these answers lies a hope: that by uncloseting ourselves–as immigrants, smart women, gay people–we find power in empathy.”

I knew early on in my reading of Lone Stars that Deabler and his main character, Julian Warner, were around my age and that his parents, Lacy and Aaron, were contemporary to my own mom and dad. I found this both a realistic and relatable read. A few things threw me, such as name changes for the bedroom community where Julian grew up and not being informed of when certain events took place. In some ways, things seemed neatly tied up while others loosely dangled to the point of wondering about a sequel. I liked the family saga and the genealogical bents of Lone Stars but I wanted Julian to learn a little more about his roots.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Isabel Allende’s In the Midst of Winter

Cover of In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

4/5 I read my first Isabel Allende book between undergraduate and grad school. Allende’s style appealed to me — the great storytelling with the spice of magical realism — to the point in which I continued checking out her books from my local library. In fact, I even read In the Midst of Winter twice now. Originally, I read In the Midst of Winter in 2017, discovering both its relevant story and lighter dashes of magical realism. More recently, I read this Allende work again for my monthly book club.

“New York Times and worldwide bestselling “dazzling storyteller” (Associated Press) Isabel Allende returns with a sweeping novel about three very different people who are brought together in a mesmerizing story that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil… In the Midst of Winter begins with a minor traffic accident—which becomes the catalyst for an unexpected and moving love story between two people who thought they were deep into the winter of their lives. Richard Bowmaster—a 60-year-old human rights scholar—hits the car of Evelyn Ortega—a young, undocumented immigrant from Guatemala—in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn. What at first seems just a small inconvenience takes an unforeseen and far more serious turn when Evelyn turns up at the professor’s house seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant Lucia Maraz—a 62-year-old lecturer from Chile—for her advice. These three very different people are brought together in a mesmerizing story that moves from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil, sparking the beginning of a long overdue love story between Richard and Lucia.”

I appreciated In the Midst of Winter both times I read it. During that nearly five year gap between my two readings of In the Midst of Winter, I read other stories about plights similar to Evelyn’s. While reading In the Midst of Winter back in 2017, I wondered if Allende was trying her hand at writing a mystery as well as a memoir. Still and all, she worked her enchantment in this book. Evelyn and Lucia won my sympathy early on but I came around to rooting for (shipping even) Lucia and Richard. While well written and clear to read, some of the subject matter greatly troubled me. Readers seeking magical realism might want to give Allende’s earliest works a try. Yet, I recommend at least one reading of In the Midst of Winter to anyone who seeks to understand contemporary critical issues.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers

Cover of Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty | Image Source: Goodreads

3.6/5 I read one of Liane Moriarty’s books prior to the pandemic; I might someday post a a Starlight Book Review (SBR) of Big Little Lies. When Nine Perfect Strangers became the latest read in my book club, it pleased me that I would revisit Moriarty’s Australia. Also, I returned to my first bookish love – Fiction in this SBR.

“Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever?… These nine perfect strangers are about to find out… Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be… Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer—or should she run while she still can?… It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question….”

On the whole, I liked many facets of Nine Perfect Strangers. I enjoyed a number of the characters. In fact, I found Frances somewhat meta, maybe a reflection of Moriarty. I also liked that this seemed to be a contemporary take on an Agatha Christie mystery. Yet, I deducted some stars for two key reasons – too many points of view and length of the story. I do plan to pick up another book by Moriarty but I doubt Nine Perfect Strangers will ever be my favorite of hers.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People

Cover of Anxious People by Fredrik Backman | Image Source: Goodreads

3.7/5 Fredrik Backman’s works regularly fly off the shelves at my library branch.

I noticed most, if not all, Backman titles, some not-so-Nordic Noir-ish, in recommendations for books set in Sweden when I researched books I might read for the Read Around the World Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC) in 2021. Yet, I leaned into another SRC before I let literature lead me to Sweden. I remedied that, however, when the book club I belong to chose Backman’s Anxious People as its June read.

“Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths…”

I really didn’t get into Anxious People until about halfway through the book. At first, I couldn’t locate characters who passed what I refer to as the “Dad Test” (evoking sympathy) within me as a reader. When I reached the halfway mark, I began to see softer, more appealing sides of these characters. After that, I rapidly read the rest of Anxious People. I appreciated the encouraging message Backman made through these initially difficult characters. I particularly liked octogenarian Estelle by the end of the book. Anxious People brought these characters together in this one incident; creating a catalyst for these people not so… well, anxious. I knocked off some points in my rating for the slow start but, I also have added other books by Backman to my To Be Read (TBR) Shelf.

Gnomies, which Fredrik Backman book do you recommend I add to my TBR Shelf?

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge — Spot #30 — Massachusetts

3.8/5 In an earlier Starlight Book Review (SBR), I mentioned that I became part of my library branch’s book club. Just this month, I attended an in-person meeting of this book club for the first time! This meeting focused on Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome. Not only was this my first in-person meeting, it was the first time I read Ethan Frome as well. I’m grateful this book was both short and worked as a book set in Massachusetts for the Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). With January 15 looming, I delved into the bleak, dim setting of the Commonwealth.

If you would like to check out my previous book club SBR, take a look by clicking here!

“The classic novel of despair, forbidden emotions, and sexual undercurrents set against the austere New England countryside… Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious and hypochondriac wife, Zeena. But when Zeena’s vivacious cousin enters their household as a hired girl, Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent.”

This book was so very sad. I was told by another book clubber and blogger that Ethan Frome wasn’t Wharton at her best. I would be remiss, however, to not point out how completely enveloping this lean work turned out to be. I could feel the snow, the cold, and the biting bitterness wafting off of Ethan’s wife, Zeena. The glimmer of hope that was Mattie Silver, Zeena’s cousin, seems almost as cruel an affliction as any of those suffered by Zeena. A glint or two of the affection between Ethan and Matty reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. So, my feelings are rather conflicted about Ethan Frome; I found Ethan and Matty compelling and the atmospheric writing did take me to a cold, fictitious Massachusetts town. Still, I was not happy with the conclusion of the book and, at times, wanted to throttle characters. All that aside, I would read other works by Wharton.

Oh, and check out this review from Rae, the aforementioned friend and blogger here!

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Sophfronia Scott’s Unforgivable Love

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge – Spot #5 – New York

3.8/5 During the pandemic, I donned the hat of “virtual meeting moderator” and joined one of our branch’s book clubs in the process. Our book of the month earlier this year just happened to be Sophfronia Scott’s Unforgivable Love, a book set in Harlem and Westchester County, New York. Thus, this 1940’s take on the French classic Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses, became my read for the Empire State in 2021 Across the USA Reading Challenge.

In this book, Sophfronia Scott leads us to 1946 Harlem in time to see Jackie Robinson break the color line and circle among the elite citizens. Bored, beautiful, heartless heiress Mae Malveaux looks for diversion and to stir the pot. She’s sought after by many a guy including handsome and determined Valiant ‘Val’ Jackson. He sees a way to wedge his well-shined shoe in the door when Mae strikes a bargain: seduce her innocent, virginal young cousin, Cecily, who is engaged to Frank Washington. Frank values Cecily’s purity. If Val succeeds, Mae will “spend the night” with him. Yet, the woman Val desires the absolute most is Elizabeth Townsend, an upstanding, churchgoing woman, and loyal wife.

While Les Liaisons Dangereuses is not my favorite narrative, I felt Scott related the tale well. She beyond satisfied my “literary visit” to New York as I felt I glimpsed a place… and a time… I did not know. Scott shed glorious light on Harlem, the characters’ church, and the sprawling estates on Westchester County. I also appreciated her passages about the baseball games and Jackie Robinson. The time spent in North Carolina also provided much depth to a number of characters. So, if this French classis is to your liking, I strongly recommend it. Also, prepare yourselves for some… ahem… spicy scenes. – sne