GentleRain – Page 35 – Cannonball Read 17

A Disappointing and Weirdly Removed Second Book in the Trilogy

Early Warning by Jane Smiley

June 16, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

I’ve read the first book in this trilogy (Some Luck) two or three times and really enjoy its structure and descriptions of farm and internal life. I therefore read this second book with interest, but I don’t think it was as good as the first one and I don’t think I would reread it. I’m still going to read the third one because these are transporting and feel like you’re watching a soap opera, so it’s good train commute reading. Not bad enough to stop […]

Two books that I think would be great for young readers but I have personal mixed feelings about

Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley

Apple Crush by Lucy Knisley

June 13, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

Stepping Stones and Apple Crush are middle-grade graphic novels that follow Jen, a city girl whose parents have gotten divorced. Stepping Stones covers the immediate aftermath of Jen’s mom moving them to a farm in the country with her new boyfriend Walter. Jen has to learn how to get along with her new step-sisters, especially Andy, who is bossy and a know-it-all. The conflict between Jen, who is struggling with math, and Jen, who is using her good grades to try to be perfect for her dad, […]

“When the thing that is scaring you is already Jesus, who are you supposed to pray to?”

Cruddy by Lynda Barry

June 13, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

Lynda Barry is best known for her comics work, but I also really love her two illustrated novels (Cruddy and The Good Times Are Killing Me), which it seems to me are somewhat overlooked (or maybe I was too young when they came out to notice their cultural impact). All her work deals with outsider teens who are dealing with abusive parents and societal alienation with no one to help them. Cruddy is a very bleak, blackly comic novel. I like the journal-type format that it uses, as […]

“[She] knew that this was her life. Better to be immersed in it than to see it from afar.”

Some Luck by Jane Smiley

June 9, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

I really enjoy this book and I think this is my second or third time reading it. Some Luck follows the Langdon family, who start off as farmers in Iowa. Each chapter is one year in their lives, and that concept makes this book very readable, as it moves along at a fast pace. This is the first book in a trilogy and covers 1920 to 1953. I think the thing that makes this book more than a gimmick is Jane Smiley’s beautiful prose — there are […]

There’s Always Room in My Life For Middle Grade Mysteries

The Bell, The Book, and the Spellbinder by Brad Strickland

The Chessmen of Doom by John Bellairs

June 7, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

I got these books by mistake since I confused them with John Bellairs’ other middle grade gothic horror/magic series starring a boy being raised by his grandparents. I cut myself some slack for this one, especially since I also read this Johnny Dixon series as a child and the titles were familiar. I do still want to do a re-read of the Lewis Barnavelt series, so I’ll have to get my hands on those soon. My idea in getting these was to read the series from […]

“I felt that I was now old enough to become fussy and spinsterish if I wanted to:” A Gentle Post-War Comedy of Manners

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

June 3, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

This is a fast read but it has a lot of depth to it. I enjoyed it and it was the kind of book that surprises you and is counter to what you were expecting, in a good way. Excellent Women was a little outside of my normal reading pattern in that I’m not always a literary fiction type person, but this turned out to be more of a comedy of manners novel than the literary accolades suggested. And it’s good to broaden one’s reading […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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