{read: baseball and life}: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach is a slow starter but once it picks up momentum, it keeps rolling until the end. I put it down after about 150 pages and wasn't sure if I'd pick it back up again, but I kept wondering what would happen to the characters, so I decided to finish it and, surprisingly, it's ended up in my favorites list and with a four-star rating. At its heart, this is a story about what you do when the things you planned and hoped and worked for don't happen, told through the story of three college baseball players, a high school dropout, and a college president. How do you deal with defeat? How do you move on to the next stage, and how do you even figure out what's next? The characters of Henry, Pella, Schwartz, and Owen are all very believable and I found myself rooting for them. They showed growth throughout the book, but it was in small, lifelike spurts.

There were also several passages in this book that I made me say, "Yes! That's it!" It made me reflect again on the fact that the best fiction carries truth at its heart. Harbach and his characters gave words to the same things that I've thought or felt but not been able to express so eloquently.

I do have two criticisms to offer. The first is the use of the word "freshpersons" instead of "freshmen." This alone was almost enough to make me stop reading. Luckily, Henry moves on through college and its use becomes less frequent, but it was very jarring to me. It sounded pretentious and threw me out of the story every time I saw it on the page.

The second is the way the situation with Affenlight was resolved. Without giving it away, I'll say that I saw it coming a few pages before and think it was the easy choice. While it may have been a realistic resolution in terms of the plot, I expected better from Harbach by this point in the book. He had already surprised and delighted me a few times and I thought I could count on him not to take the easy out. That being said, this is definitely still a book worth reading with an excellent, pitch-perfect (baseball pun not intended) ending.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (Little, Brown and Company, 2011)
My rating: 4 stars

{read: another great debut novel} Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner

I listened to the audio version of Vaclav & Lena, and I was immediately drawn in by the male reader. He does an excellent job bringing Vaclav to life. This story of two Russian immigrants, ages 10 and 9 and 11 months, could also be titled "What Was Wrong With Lena." Vaclav and Lena are best friends - in fact, they are each other's only friend. Vaclav plans to be a magician and Lena will be his "lovely assistant." Rasia, Vaclav's mother, has taken an interest in Lena since her aunt and caregiver leaves Lena home alone all the time in an apartment filled with dirty clothes and dishes, cigarette butts, and no food. Each night, Rasia feeds Lena dinner, walks her home (pretending that her aunt has called to ask Rasia to walk Lena home) and tucks her into bed with a bedtime story. But one day Lena doesn't come to school when she is sick. When Rasia goes over to check on her that evening, she doesn't come home until 5 a.m. the next day and Lena is gone - turned over to Child Protective Services because of what Rasia saw.

Fast-forward to Lena's 17th birthday, and the two meet up again. Lena is obsessed with finding her parents so she knows where she comes from, but as her relationship with Vaclav progresses, bad memories surface. Vaclav's solution is both sweet and perhaps a bit naive.

I really enjoyed this audio book. Although I thought the first section and the last section were the most compelling, I was intrigued enough to find out more about Lena and Vaclav to keep reading through the slower middle section, and it may have been a change of narrators that made it less interesting for me in the middle.

Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner (The Dial Press, 2011)

My rating: 4 stars

{read: debut fiction} Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

Dr. Jennifer White used to be a hand surgeon, but she retired when she began to show symptoms of Alzheimer's. This stunning first novel is told from her point of view. Sometimes she remembers people and their names in the beginning of the book, but mostly these things have left her mind by the end. Complicating matters is the murder of her best friend and neighbor from three doors down, Amanda. Amanda's body was found with a head wound and the fingers on one hand severed and missing. Another neighbor saw Jennifer go into the house and she is, at the very least, the last person to see Amanda alive. But despite the repeated questioning of police, Jennifer doesn't remember anything about the murder. In fact, each time they question her they have to break the news to her again that Amanda is dead.

One review that I read said that if one of the goals of literature is to allow readers to inhabit worlds and perspectives that they would otherwise not be able to access, then this novel is outstanding, and I agree. The writing is very fluid, and although Jennifer's level of awareness and sense of time change frequently, I didn't find the story hard to follow. The complex relationships between Jennifer and her husband and Jennifer and Amanda are well developed, as are those with her own children.

This novel made me think about things that I don't usually ponder: how can we best care for Alzheimer's patients while respecting their dignity? As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly frustrating for the patient, the caregivers, and the family members, who can be denied a chance to say good-bye if they keep putting it off, thinking there is more time.

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011)

My rating: 4 stars

{read: World War II fiction} The Katyn Order by Douglas W. Jacobson

I've started to seek out some World War II novels that tell the less-publicized stories of the war. One great example of this is Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum, which explores the role of Nazi sympathizers and what people will do to survive. Another is Resistance by Owen Sheers, which focuses on what happens in a Welsh village after all the men disappear one night and the Germans occupy the village.

The Katyn Order focuses on the Warsaw Uprising and the Katyn Order, which was signed by Stalin and authorized the execution of 20,000 Polish military officers, lawyers, and other educated people. When the bodies were discovered, Russia and Germany each blamed it on the other country. The protagonist, Adam, is searching for a copy of the order to have proof that Russia was the aggressor.

I found this book hard to put down, despite the war atrocities and cruelty that occurred. The romance is a secondary story, and Jacobson brings the fear and desperation of the 1940s to life. He doesn't hesitate to let bad things happen to characters that you like.

The Katyn Order by Douglas W. Jacobson

My rating: 4 stars

{read: new fiction by bestselling author} State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

This had enough plot twists to keep me guessing and enough description of the Amazon jungle and its tribes to keep me interested even while nothing much was happening. I liked it better than Run, but I read Bel Canto so long ago that I can't compare it to that (although I remember also liking Bel Canto better than Run).

In State of Wonder, Dr. Marina Singh is a scientist - a former doctor-in-training - who goes to the Amazon jungle to confirm the unexpected death of her colleague and to get an update on a drug that Dr. Swenson (her former teacher) has been developing for years. Along the way, she loses her luggage two times, battles maternal urges, and learns to practice medicine with almost no supplies. She also learns a surprising truth about the medicine under development and its implications. There are cannibals, a battle to the death between a snake and a human, poison arrows, live births, still births, and hallucinogenic mushrooms and tree bark with mysterious properties, not to mention lies galore (both implicit and explicit) and screaming nightmares. There's also a love story or two thrown in for good measure, as well as some footloose and fancy-free bohemians. What's not to love? I read this in the summer and enjoyed it, but it would also be a good book for the icy months of winter since it's set in a hot, tropical climate.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (Harper, 2011)

My rating: 4 stars

{read: Family drama} The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore

This is a warm, realistic story about what happens when three grown children and their families move back in with their parents for the summer. Each of the children has a crisis at hand, although they don't all share their true reasons for their extended visits immediately - or even tell their parents when they're leaving. Lillian has come with her two children (infant Philip and Olivia, who is three and five-eighths) after learning that her husband cheated on her while drunk at the office party. Stephen and Jane, who is pregnant, arrive for Stephen to have a weekend away from NYC where he works at home in their apartment. They get stuck there after Jane (a workaholic and the family's breadwinner) is confined to bed rest for the remaining 10 weeks of her pregnancy. And Rachel decamps to her parents' house after a miscarriage in the very early stages of pregnancy that has come after a bad breakup with her footloose and fancy-free boyfriend. How the children resolve their problems - and how their parents endure them while they do it - is enjoyable to watch. You root for them to succeed and find whatever happiness they can.

The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore (Reagan Arthur Books, 2011)
My rating: 4 stars

{read: memoir? fiction?} Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman

This is written as fiction but it felt more like a memoir to me. After the tragic accidental death of his wife, Aura, Francisco Goldman writes this nonfiction novel about her life and their relationship. If you’re like me, the term “nonfiction novel” seems like a contradiction. Either it’s true (nonfiction) or not true (fiction). Perhaps I got too caught up with trying to label this book. I was struggling with trying to remember that it was fiction and trying to figure out HOW it was fiction -- what was true? what was made up? -- but then I just decided to go with the flow.

Overall, this book left me feeling depressed. Perhaps that shouldn't have been a surprise, given the subject matter, but I was hoping for more. I wanted to like Aura but came away with the impression that she was dominated by her mother and her mother’s ideas of how she should live and what she should be and do. Aura also came across as immature, but maybe it’s just because she was in her early 20s and she was still figuring out who she was. I wanted to like Francisco, but in some ways he also seemed immature, even though he was several years older than Aura.

If you have questions about this book, don’t miss the chance to see Francisco in person. Tour information is here, and he will be at Next Chapter Bookshop in Mequon, Wis., tomorrow (Wednesday, June 8).

Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman (Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 2011)
My rating: 3 stars

{read: fiction} Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

An alligator-wrestling tourist trap in Florida, a dead mother, a sister who's dating ghosts, and a grandfather who was exiled to a retirement home after biting a man - what's not to love about this coming-of-age story?

Ava Bigtree wants to follow in the footsteps of her famous alligator-wrestling mother, Hilola Bigtree. She wants to swim among the Seths (their name for the alligators, who are all named Seth), but her family and Swamplandia!, their tourist trap, are both in decline. After Hilola dies from ovarian cancer and the World of Darkness steals all the tourists, things aren't looking good for the Bigtrees. Her brother Kiwi escapes to the mainland, her sister begins to date ghosts, and her father leaves to raise money to fund his plans to upgrade and save Swamplandia!

Russell has a way with language and crafts some sweet sentences. Although I felt stuck in the swamp in the last third of the book, she wound up the story in a way that seemed believable and not too pat.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Knopf, 2011)
My rating: 3.5 stars

{read: fiction} When the Killing's Done by T.C. Boyle

If you've never given a thought to what happens to the steaks, chicken legs, and pork roasts before they end up neatly trussed and packaged in your supermarket, I'd encourage you to pick up When the Killing's Done. This novel explores what rights animals have and whether humans should interfere with nature to protect native species and the environment, even when it means the mass murder of another species.

The two main characters who butt heads over this last issue (Alma Takesue, a National Park Service biologist who wants to preserve the environment at any cost, and Dave LaJoy, an animal rights activist opposed to the murder of animals) bring to life the tough choices that people face once they start to think about these kinds of issues. Once you know, you can't not know.

In the end, Dave comes up with a creative solution to thwart Alma's plans. Without giving the ending away, I think that it creates a sense of balance with a hint of irony. Although the history and descriptions were a little long-winded in the beginning, the plot picked up speed as the book went along. I enjoyed the story and the way it brought to life the issue of animal rights.

When the Killing's Done by T.C. Boyle (Viking, 2011)
My rating: 3 stars

{read: vampire fiction} The Radleys by Matt Haig

I confess that the vampire craze has passed me by. I tried to read the popular Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer but couldn’t make it halfway through the first book. The fascination with blood-sucking vampires is just something that hasn’t bitten me. However, I did enjoy this book about current-day vampires living in London, trying to be just like the neighbors. British author Matt Haig brings to life the struggles of a family that just wants to be “ordinary” like the other neighbors. The parents have abstained from blood-sucking, whether it be each other’s blood or that of ordinary humans, despite the ill effects it causes: headaches, weakness, rashes. They just don’t feel well. But they (especially the wife, Helen) think it’s more important to abstain than to feel healthy, so they do. In fact, they’ve been abstaining so long and so successfully that they’ve never told their children that they are vampires. Although their son suffers from rashes and abnormally pale skin that burns in the palest sunlight, the secret must be kept -- until their daughter decides to become a vegetarian. She can’t understand why animals always run away from her and think maybe this will help. Unfortunately, depriving herself of all meat has a tragic side effect. When a boy starts to molest her at a party, she bites his hand to get away … and then she can’t stop. Before she knows it, she’s killed him and ripped him apart, eaten his flesh. Horrified, she calls her mother. Her parents rush to the rescue. And, of course, they end up confessing their secret to their children.

The plot unwinds from there as the parents try to keep their daughter safe from the authorities and all four struggle to figure out how to mesh their “normal” lives with their vampire cravings. After all, how long can you really deny who you really are?

Although I’m not a vamp lit fan, I enjoyed this quick read because some of the plot twists were surprising and yet felt exactly right. The characters were easy to identify with, and it was a pleasant trip into another world. Isn’t that what all good books should be?

The Radleys by Matt Haig (Canongate Ltd., 2010)
My rating: 4 stars

{read: short stories} You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon

You Know When the Men are Gone, a book of short stories by Siobhan Fallon, shows what life is like for soldiers and families at Ford Hood, Texas. Full disclosure here: I don’t usually read short stories. I don’t like them. There isn’t enough space for the characters to develop, for plots to run their course, for me to connect with the story. I picked this up on the recommendation of Dave Mallmann from our lit fiction book group. Dave is also a buyer for indie bookstore Next Chapter Bookshop in Mequon, Wis., and gets to read books ahead of their publishing dates. Thanks to his tip, I knew to read this as soon as it came out. To my pleasure, I found that Fallon, an army wife herself, has written a loosely connected book of stories that feel real.

While part of me felt like it was my patriotic duty to read this book (if men and women are going off to die for our country and their families are suffering innumerable hardships stateside during their multiple, increasingly frequent deployments, surely the least I can do is read a book of short stories about it), I found myself enjoying it. Characters from some stories are picked up in other stories later on, which gives a loose sense of connection throughout the book and creates a sense of the Fort Hood community. One of my favorite things was the endings: The stories aren’t all neatly tied up in little bows, and yet they don’t end mysteriously either, leaving you wondering what the hidden meaning is supposed to be. Some end messily, some end happily, some end sadly. The characters are believable and you see the tough choices that all of the members of the families face, whether they’re wives, soldiers, or children.

This is a quick read, and I’d definitely recommend it to short story lovers or anyone who wants to give the genre another try.

You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon (Penguin Group, 2011)
My rating: Five stars

{read: fiction} -- Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon

The hip trend in novels these days (Great House by Nicole Krauss, Day for Night by Frederick Reiken) seems to be to combine several seemingly unconnected stories into a novel and then--the reader hopes--bring them all together at the end in some unexpected way. If they don’t connect, it feels like false advertising. A novel is different than a book of short stories, even if they are loosely connected, as in You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon (review to come on this one!).

In Await Your Reply, author Dan Chaon does this better than any others I’ve read recently. He manipulates time and character in three different stories while exploring the murky world of identity theft. I had a small inkling of where he might be going but was still surprised when I got there. I read the final pages three or four times to try to put all the pieces together, and I wanted to start again from the beginning to find all the clues I had missed the first time through.

The story starts with Ryan, who is being rushed to the hospital because his hand has been cut off. We also meet Lucy, a high school student running away with her history teacher, and Miles, who has been searching for years for his missing twin brother and keeps coming up just one step behind. The curiosity to see how these disparate stories connect kept me turning the pages as the suspense began to build.

If you’ve read Great House or Day for Night and come away wishing for a stronger connection among the various characters, if you felt as though you invested valuable time and energy trying to put the puzzle together only to find out that the pieces you’re working with came out of three different puzzle boxes even though they all had cows in them, you won’t be disappointed by Await Your Reply. Chaon delivers on the implicit promise to bring the narrative together and ends the book with a punch. Daniel Pink (bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind) called it “a brilliant book.” I agree.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon (Ballantine Books, 2009)
My rating: Five stars

Welcome to {th}ink!!

Welcome! {th}ink is a breath of fresh air to help you move beyond your usual work/family/life routines. We offer a fun, easy approach to craft projects that you can actually finish in your spare time, as well as candid reviews of a wide array of fiction, mysteries, and memoirs. Come {th}ink with us!

Erin Young
Hi! I'm Erin, and I'm the co-author of {th}ink. I will share my thoughts on the books I'm reading -- what's good, what's so-so, and what you shouldn't even waste time trying to read. When possible, I'll also include upcoming author appearances for books I review. I'm a magazine editor for a nonprofit educational association, and I spend my spare time reading, playing with our two mastiffs, volunteering at the Elmbrook Humane Society, and watching movies and football.




Alicia Markey
Hi! My name is Alicia and I am the co-author of {th}ink. I will run more of the crafty end of the blog. As a Graphic Designer, I spend most of my time on the computer. I enjoy crafting by hand, but have limited free time. Most of my time outside of work is spent with my adorable one year old, Aaron, and my husband, Shawn. We enjoy an active lifestyle and are always on the run. This blog will provide busy moms, or any busy individual some creative short projects. Well, the projects might not be small, but we will take our time creating them step by step! I hope you enjoy the journey.