Dear Bookclub,
Anna Quindlen's "After Annie": if the Hallmark channel had a baby with a YA novel, this would be the result. Quindlen's apt descriptions of family life, well represented in her columnist career, earned her a Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. That gift carried this novel. We relished her characterizations of friendship, sibling depictions, childhood views and spousal relations steeped in the trying circumstance of death and loss.
By the end, the novel became bogged with a lot of activity that checked boxes. That shading felt designed for a younger audience with less life experience than our more mature group. Feeling irritable about this book, I decided I was tired of reading predictable. Predictable can be soothing and I do enjoy my 'junk' reads, just not for bookclub. Seeking validation from reviewers, I was surprised to find positivity. Books that are terrible are not usually reviewed. More and more, I feel that a kindness prevails when a book is reviewed. Here is one example:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/anna-quindlen/after-annie/
In wanting to credit the author of this review, I couldn't find one. Realizing I skim Kirkus Reveiws without knowing its purpose, I did a little 'research':
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkus_Reviews
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| Virginia Kirkus http://shareclips.net/index-168.html |
And I did find an author of a terrific piece on reviewing, Gregory McNamee. Please check out his thoughts on "What I've Learned Reviewing 7,500 books for Kirkus":
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| https://www.gregorymcnamee.com/ |
McNamee's books, listed in his website, boast a wide variety of subjects, mostly regarding the Southwest. In scrolling through his work, I half expected to see one of my favorites, "Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon". Alas, it is not his but in the spirit of going off the rails, I must include it in this blog:
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https://www.grandcanyon.org/products/over-the-edge-death-in-gc-1-20-20739
My suggestions for an upcoming read:
"The Feather Thief" Kirk Wallace Johnson *chosen
"The Friday Afternoon Club" Griggin Dunne
"The Light Eaters" Zoë Schlanger
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
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