Stevie Szabad, Author

July and August Stevie’s Book reviews of her summer, Enjoy!

Heading away at the start of the month for a trip to Europe then cruise home. I need to prepare the e-reader; taking Kobo this time, my new one is smaller and therefore more travel-friendly than my Kindle, which I usually take to try to cut down the backlog of freebies I put on it from Bookbub.  So, I’ll start with Kobo and one I actually paid for,

• “Held” by Ann Michaels. The cover says it is a Booker prize winner, and because it’s so short, maybe perfect for the week before holidays? And I feel easily influenced at the time of purchase. I begin. Now, I’m used to being confused at the start of a time-jumping, multi-character story. Patiently, I continue; it’s a short book. But there’s only so much I can take, life is short, too! And this book is painful to get through, so I admit, DNF. I think I will need to look up how the Booker prize does their awards. Maybe by how many obscure words the author uses? Winner here, then. Great read for amateur lexicologists or etymologists. (Yes, I looked up these words.) I enjoy a new vocab addition as much as the next avid reader and sometime writer, but Michaels overdoes it to the point of word snobbery. Maybe the author is really a failed poet? I’d mention what the story was about, but after more than half into the read, I’m afraid I must be too simple-minded to figure it out. If you try this one, please let me know if you liked it – I’d be curious to know why.

Time to find something better to enjoy on my holidays! I love reading in the afternoons on the cruise ship after lunch, before cocktails (or with).

But. Mid-July and I’m in Belgium visiting a son who just moved there. I’ll come right out with it. My father passed away back home while I was here. Sudden? Not really, he’d been living a quieter and slower life with progressing dementia, in long-term care. He went peacefully, in his sleep. Arrangements are all pre-planned, brother is there. My family visit here, then cruise home across the Atlantic, will continue. Still, one is never fully prepared for grief. Reading and the quiet time away before the onslaught of executor duties is appreciated.

• Of course I’m in the middle of an extremely emotional book when I get the news of my own father’s death. “The Four Winds” by Kristen Hannah. What is it about reading about calamity in other lives – these ones struggling in Texas through the dust bowl years of the 1930s – that seems to help one through their own trying times? I keep imagining my own grandmother in such truly depressing circumstances; she was a farm wife then in the Canadian prairies also. The writing was so good I was overwhelmed with emotion throughout. I am reminded to be grateful for my own life. Grief after all makes us human. I must be human.

Time for something different.

• Sure found it in “Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy. Modern family: dad, 2 teens, a child. Caretakers on a remote Antarctic island when a woman washes up from a shipwreck. Yep, the author makes this believable, even with all the mysterious elements. Unusual writing style that took time to unravel – who is speaking now? How is this happening? Why? What is the mystery, who’s not telling the truth? Quite engrossing, enjoyed this one despite the ending, understandable as it was. Brave writing.

Home for August. Responsibilities await. I need inspiration and always find it reading adventure/explorer stories and picked this from my non-fiction list.

• “Dead Mountain” by Donnie Eichar. The Dyatlov Pass incident. If you’ve never heard of it, you must google before you try this book. (Yes, spoilers are required for this story.) That and try to be patient with all the Russian names and place names. Very satisfying research and approach with the dual timelines and possible new explanation for the “incident” (I did mention you need spoilers to understand this book, right?)

I’m ready for some easier fiction now! How about one I picked up on my travels this summer.

• “The Sea Captain’s Wife” by Beth Powning. What a page-turner! I blitzed through it. 1860s, New Brunswick sea-faring community – ship builders and sailors and family and lucky local girl gets the handsome, sometimes home, mostly away husband, a ship’s captain. Does she go with him or stay home? Lots of adventure in this book, lots of drama. Enjoyed the ride. One curious note about the writing style – the whole story is told from the single point of view of the wife. I realize I’d become used to the multiple POVs in most of the fiction I read now. It was a nice break.

And now August is over. What a summer. Bring on September – I always enjoy the old back-to-school vibe (even in my 60s 😉

And keep on reading 😉 And if you haven’t tried Michele Sabad’s Books, please take a look.