meg reads and reads

Title: 11/22/63 Author: Stephen King 11/22/63 is more than 800 pages long, which sounds like a commitment until you're several hundred pages in and wondering how you got there so quickly. Jake Epping is a high school English teacher whose friend Al introduces him to a portal hidden in the back of his diner. It leads to the same moment in 1958 every time, and Al has spent years thinking about what could be done with it. His answer is ambitious: stop Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating JFK. There are rules. Every trip begins at the same point, only two minutes pass in the present no matter how long you're gone, and going back again resets whatever you changed the last time. Al also warns Jake that the past is obdurate. It resists being changed. Jake makes one test run before committing himself to the much larger task ahead. One of his first stops on the main trip is Derry, Maine, not long after the events of It . Richie and Beverly turn up briefly, and Derry is about as welcomin...

Title: World's End Author: Upton Sinclair World's End was my very first introduction to Upton Sinclair, and it absolutely will not be my last. It is a compelling coming-of-age novel that captures the upheaval surrounding World War I with remarkable historical breadth while never losing sight of the people caught inside it. What makes the novel work is its protagonist, Lanny Budd. Because of his birth and upbringing, Lanny has access to worlds that rarely intersect. Growing up on the Côte d'Azur as an expatriate American, he is equally at home in French salons, English country estates, German castles, and conversations with servants and peasants. Through his eyes, starting as a thirteen-year-old in 1913, we watch society stubbornly deny the impending conflict right up until it ignites, and then navigate the stark realities of surviving it. Sinclair's political leanings are well known, but he resists reducing the conflict to heroes and villains. He weaves in competing per...

Title: The Women Author: Kristin Hannah Kristin Hannah's The Women opens with a description of a wealthy estate. The scene is clear, but the prose feels uninspired. Phrases like "a world unto itself" and "twilit evening" come across as cliches, failing to set a vivid or engaging atmosphere. So we didn't get off to a good start. Unfortunately, it didn't really get better. While some readers might prioritize intricate plots over writing style, I think that, while plot is obviously very important, I also value prose that's fresh and avoids overused expressions. Generic descriptions can make the story feel flat. It's important to note that Kristin Hannah is a bestseller, and the story itself is compelling. However, if you, like me, prefer clear, concise writing that paints a picture with its words, this book might not be the best fit. The descriptive language doesn't quite deliver the evocative power it strives for.

Title: The Valley of Amazement Author: Amy Tan I read several unfavorable reviews of The Valley of Amazement. However, I am pleased to say that I completely disagree with them. This book has love, loss, tragedy, humor, birth, death, pandemic, and much more. For the most part, it follows the life of Violet, a biracial young woman who, through an act of deceit, ends up becoming a courtesan.  The historical context is what I found particularly fascinating. This is largely because I read it during another global pandemic. The book vividly (and accurately) discusses the Spanish flu and its aftermath. The parallels to today's COVID-19 pandemic were striking. In short, I found the book to be engaging and interesting to read. The main characters--sometimes victims of others, sometimes victims of their own bad decisions--were likable and sympathetic.  I, without hesitation, give this book five out of five stars. ------------------------------------- QUOTES: "To save myself, I destroyed...

Title: The Road Beyond Ruin Author: Gemma Liviero I hated this book. This was my December pick for Amazon First Reads , and I so  wish I had gone with something different. I'm usually a huge fan of historical fiction, but this was just not good at all. I'm a fairly intuitive reader, so I usually have a good idea of where a plot is headed before it gets there. I'm usually happy to be surprised. This, however, is only the case if the plot twist is well-executed. This book has a few twists, but they are so poorly thought out that it makes what could have been an outstanding novel absolutely terrible. The twists don't even make sense. My advice to this writer is that if you're going to write from multiple perspectives, at least be consistent with your characters' thought processes. This book would have been far better if only told from the perspective of one or two people, probably Erich and/or Rosalind. If you want to surprise your readers, make it a su...