Americosis vol 4 … a review

Last year, I wrote about Americosis, and then again followed it up with vol 2 and vol 3. I nearly missed Vol 4, as I was away on holiday and although I knew it was going to come out around the time of the POTUS elections, it slipped my mind. Just as well, because I ended up reading it just as the new President got sworn in.

The characters in this book sort of pick up where they left off. As one would expect, this book goes heavier on the plot of Sanchez’s visions and the elections with him and Archer vying for votes. As this sub-plot takes centre stage, the mirroring of reality and fiction becomes clearer. The tension level is high, the drama is much more tightly knit. The Erica part of the plot is also getting less fluffy and more meaty, as she drifts between solving past mysteries only to come up against new ones. All in all, great writing.

What did jump put at me though, is that the language in this edition was a little too foul for my taste. Not that that is any different from reality and all the names that were thrown at Clinton and Trump, it made reading some of the chapter a little hard. Another very short read delivered by Wilks, and if you haven’t gotten into it yet, the four books back-to-back will take you only a couple of days to get through. I might do that, as I wait for vol 5!

Americosis vol 3 … a review

Lat year, I wrote about Americosis, and then again followed it up with vol 2. Vol 3 took a wee while to turn up and it had been on my mind. So when author Haydn Wilkes got in touch, I said yes to reviewing the latest instalment of the series. I had to skim through the last few pages of the previous book to tune my head in again.

The characters in this book sort of pick up where they left off. Now what is crazy is that watching some of the snippets of the Presidential election drama in the US, it is almost easy to believe that this book is based on true events. I mean, are candidates not seeing visions and almost needing psychatrists? I think so! The story of the savior, the presidential candidate, and the human virus carrier are intertwined again, but this book was more election than the other two subplots, which I liked, because it meant that there was less ‘jumping about’ between chapters.

It does end on a cliffhanger, and unlike my prediction, we still don’t know who the people are going to vote for. Again, writing this up with the Season Finale of Amrica all over my newsfeed, it seems surreal. The human virus storyline does not progress very much at all, which is a wee bit disappointing because that was really hooking me in. But I guess that’ll keep me waiting eagerly for the next part/

A very short read, this is a good series to get into. If you wait until it finishes, the whole series read back-to-back on travel time will be a full length book sized read! Enjoy.

A Thousand Acres … a review

I read this book by Jane Smiley for three reasons. It came recommended by my friend Liz, who knows my style well. I also had to read something for the April Motif Challenge, which was ‘Read a book that has won recognition or a literary award’, which this book has. It won the 1992 Putlizer. And the final reason was that I hadn’t read anything set in America for a while. And I was thoroughly impressed!

This books spans the lives of three sisters of the Cook family. Their father, Larry Cook, is an ageing farmer who decides to incorporate his farm, handing complete and joint ownership to his three daughters, Ginny, Rose, and Caroline. When the youngest daughter objects, she is removed from the agreement. I loved this part of the novel, where this event sets off a chain of long lost dark truths and forgotten lies. As a family, their true dysfunctionality comes to light. There is some very dark bits to be unearthed as well, which I wont speak of here because that would spoil it for you if you wanted to read it. There is also a subplot around the eldest daughter Ginny and her troubled marriage and difficulties in bearing a child.

What I was interested to know was that this is a modern day retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Now, to be honest, I think I read that play over ten years ago and I cannot remember anything. But this book has meant that I will have to go an reread that again, now. So while I go and do that, you be sure to pick this one up.

The Secret Life of Bees … a review

What a book! What a tremendous piece of literature that I had not come across until now. I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough, if you haven’t read it, you must do.

Set in 1960s South Carolina, this book is the coming of age story of 14 year old Lily Owens. She is white and her nanny of sorts, Rosaleen is black. When the latter gets into trouble for being vocal about black peoples’ rights and ends up in jail, Lily decides to do the inevitable – leave her abusive father T Ray and escape with Rosaleen. The only place that they know to go to is to August Boatwright’s  honey bee farm. This is from the only semblance of Lily’s mother’s life she has, a honey jar label with a black Mother Mary on it.

The honey farm takes these fugitives in and so begins Lily’s journey of self-awareness, love, honey harvesting, religion, and lessons of people reading. The greater part of the book shows the entwining of Lily and Rosaleen’s life with those of the Boatwright sisters – May, June, August. There are many instances of racism but none of them are as horrible as, say, The Bluest Eye. Rather, the distinction between white and black is presented through Lily’s eyes and is a poignant reminder of the differences that are made by man.

The book also has a happy ending. There are times when I thought that once the entire truth about why Lily’s mother was in Tiburon would come out, they would both be maybe sent back to the police or even worse, back to the father. And after all, the father was looking for his daughter in anger. But the book brings a lovely resolution at the end. So for a tender account of love and life and colour, this is one of the most uplifting books I have read. Must read!

Americosis vol 2 … a review

A few months ago I wrote about Americosis, which I liked a lot. Now volume 2 is out and I was surprised that it came out so quick. I believe the author may have lined it up earlier? Anyway, as with all such books (and TV series!) I tend to go back to the former and skim through a few pages before I start reading the next part. It sort of tunes me in.

The characters in this book sort of pick up where they left off. The story of the savior, the presidential candidate, and the human virus carrier and mix and supplement each other. But to me, the book was a little lopsided. I’d said in my previous review that the Savior story appealed to me the least. But it seemed to have the most footage in this book. I may have to swallow that complaint later on as I have a feeling that this story will be centre-stage.

But like I predicted, the presidential candidate seems to be losing it, calling another man Antichristian in one of his speeches no less! I really like the character of Erica, the psychiatrist and will be looking forward to reading more of her in the next parts. The human virus bit also kept me entertained, even if I felt that I would have to wait for the next instalment to see how it really slots in.

All in all, at a very short length, this is a nice thriller series to pick up. I have a feeling the author won’t disappoint and I like the simplistic lucid style of writing – perfect for a travel read!