Hi. How is everyone doing? Happy April. This past week I was busy officiating a national U12 tennis tournament with a team of refs. We had as many as 300 matches in three days so it was long days but a good competition. I’m glad it’s over now and I can rest up from a head cold I picked up there, argh. I hope to catch up on visiting blogs this week and to see what all of you are reading.
Meanwhile we are closing on the sale of our prior city house on Monday, so we are done with that, which is a big relief, and we can move on with country living, yay. The only trouble is that with the new address I lose access to the city public library system and they don’t allow non-residents to check out ebooks and audiobooks, argh. The city inventory is far larger than rural libraries have. So my question is: what sources do you use to get ebooks and audiobooks? Is Audible worth getting or something else? I appreciate your suggestions, and now I will leave you with a couple reviews of what I finished lately.
This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs / Little Brown / 368 pages / 2023
I thought this novel was good fun and ripe for springtime reading. I wasn’t going to miss out on Susanna Hoffs’s debut novel. I remember her days as a rocker with the group the Bangles back in the 1980s, yay. This story — about singer, Jane Start, age 33, who scored a hit song ten years ago and is left trying to find her way musically and after a bad breakup — has plenty of charm, romance, and musical atmosphere that makes the reading go down as quickly as maple syrup. Along the way, there’s many song references and literary ones too that make it feel like cultural catnip for those with youths in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
As it starts out, Jane is a washed-up singer, having once had the one-hit wonder back in the day, but now is left to sing at a bachelor’s party in Vegas to earn money, when her manager offers Jane her place in London to stay and try to work on some new songs. Along the way, Jane meets an Oxford professor, Tom, who gives her heart a whirl and she gets back on the musical radar when an iconic star asks her to play the old hit song onstage with him for an upcoming concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She must contend with her inner stage fright demons as well as hidden baggage about Tom that she finds out about long after she moves in with him. Will she fall apart onstage and hit the skids in her love life offstage? You will have to check it out to see.
It’s an entertaining story that blends romance with musical creativity and ambitions. There’s also various side characters that keep it lively from Pippa Jane’s manager to a heartthrob pop singer named Alfie. I’m sure parts of it and a couple characters might seem familiar or cliched, but there was enough for me with its turns and heart that kept the story appealing. It slightly reminded me of the movie Notting Hill with its U.K. relationship … mashed up in a blender with a bit of the musical angst of Daisy Jones but with the undertone fun of Tom Perrotta’s The Wishbones. Kudos to Hoffs for adding an entertaining one to the musical genre mix. I always love these rock-‘n-roll stories, and apparently Hoffs recently discovered she loved writing fiction, which she talks about in the Acknowledgments, so perhaps we’ll see more.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Little Brown for giving me an advance copy to read and review. This novel comes out Tuesday April 4.
The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr / Coach House / 224 pages / 2022
I was impressed by the telling of this story about a Black closeted-gay porter (RT Baxter), who is working on a train trip across Canada in 1929. All the details of his job — how he must serve the array of needy passengers and has little moments for himself or to sleep — play out and make this feel authentic.
Baxter, originally from the Caribbean, is trying to save enough money working as a porter to be able to go to dentistry school, but he must pay his employer for the meals onboard and calculate any demerits he might get while on the train, such as three missing towels will be marked against him. He’s trying to keep his job, but it’s not easy.
The cast of other porters is colorful; they kid him and have his back, while the passengers are an assortment of people, looking for all kinds of help. Baxter puts up with a lot from them, along with the everyday racism from people of those calling him George — and to get this and do that. A few though take to him and tip him, which helps his chances to go to dentistry school.
Baxter is a gay man who remembers fondly relations he had with Edwin Drew, a porter instructor he knew, while he also has two other gay encounters while on the trip (just a slight warning). It is an interesting character study, but sometimes it seemed a little episodic and like glimpses of Baxter more than a full tale. Still what I liked most perhaps was the details of the trip, the historical aspects, and the authenticity with which the author makes us feel this character’s life at this moment on the train as an overworked Black porter. Kudos to the author for winning Canada’s Giller Prize in 2022 for this novel. We are proud that Suzette Mayr lives and works and grew up in our home province of Alberta.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these and if so, what did you think?
The first novel looks fun; I’m glad you enjoyed it, as well as you did the award-winning one. I finished two books since you last posted—Nightcrawling, and My Sister, the Serial Killer. I rated both 4*. Nightcrawling was gritty and heartbreaking, while My Sister…was dark fun. Now I’m reading an ARC of Alice Hoffman’s latest, TBR in August (I think). Happy April!
Thanks Carmen. You seem to be a reading roll – great! I’ve read the Serial Killer one and liked its dark humor. The Nightcrawling one might be too much or too dark (?) for me. I look forward to hearing about the new Alice Hoffman novel. April should be good and by the end of the month all the snow should be gone. We plan to do one trip mid-month to check on my parents in Calif. so that will be nice. Hope all is well in Conn. I see the men’s college team just won the national championship. Wow. Enjoy your week.
Weather-wise California has been in the news so much this winter, so stay safe and hope your parents do too. Yes, UConn Men won the national championship. I usually don’t follow sports news closely but I was glued to it this time around. They’ll probably have a celebration parade coming up. You are on a reading roll too! It’s nice that I finally got my reading mojo back. Have a safe and fun trip!
Thanks Carmen. We have a couple more weeks before the trip so have more organizing time at the new house.
UConn seems a power house in basketball! A little state that makes big waves in college hoops 🙂
I’m glad your reading mojo is back — you always have good tips on books to pick up. I have been too busy this week but I better get back on it. Happy spring!
I have found a good source for ebooks is subscribing to kindle unlimited. Also kindle has many classic novels at no cost or under a $1.00.
A great choice of books. I would enjoy reading Susanna Hoff’s first novel. She has so much insight into what it was like to be in a band and congratulations to her on her novel. The Sleeping Car Porter is a important part of history and that novel interests me as well. The picture you posted of the barn and the country setting looks so nice.
Thanks Kathy. These books were pretty good. And I looked into kindle unlimited though some of the content looked a bit like sci-fi or romance books, not sure if they offer other good stuff too. I like being on Book Bub and seeing the Amazon deals for $1.99, some of those deals are really great. But it’s still tough giving up the city library card for the newer books. Hope you have a great week.
I have always lived close to a big city, and that has given me access to the many libraries in and around the city. But there is also a statewide system that brings books to those living in rural areas. My friend moved recently to Fayetteville, Texas, and her library was able to get a book she wanted to read through the statewide system, though it took three months. I wonder if Canada or your province/territory has something like this. I was also able to get library cards in areas I worked. Maybe that would be a possibility. I wonder if you can buy a library card for a small yearly fee. I did that for many years before the Houston Public Library allowed non-Houston residents to get a card.
The Sleeping Car Porter looks like a really good read. It’s new-to-me, so I thank you for sharing it with us, Susan.
Thanks Deb for your ideas about the library access etc. These rural areas I think are all linked in what library books they can get, so I’m going to try it for awhile and see if I can get a good inventory. If not, I will think of a new plan. I am still a member of HPL (Houston) but things are a bit hard to get. I can be a nonresident of print books in the City here — but just not digital books. Hmm. I will try the rural system for awhile to see.
The Sleeping Car Porter is a historical look at Black train porters in the 1920s that opened my eyes a bit. And it won Canada’s top literary prize in 2022. hmm. Enjoy your week.
Getting books to read is so changed from the past, when libraries only ordered a certain number of copies of a book. It wasn’t easy at all to read new books then, and in fact it is easier now, though one still has to wait for library copies (digital or not). I’ve become too impatient and simply buy kindle editions! A kindle book is cheaper than a meal at a restaurant, and fills much more time.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks Mae. Good to know. Some kindle editions are very cheap so I do buy some, especially the ones featured on Book Bub for $1.99. I’ll try out the rural library system for awhile and see if I can get anything.
Once again, a beautiful photo of snowy Canada. I’m particularly fond of photos with barns, and this one looks quite nice.
I’m sorry you caught a cold. Several of my friends/neighbors have had terrible colds this spring, but we’ve been lucky so far.
I’ll bet you are very relieved to be finished with the sale of your previous home. It’s always a good feeling to not have the worry of things falling through at the last moment. Selling a home is one of the most stressful things I’ve gone through (5 times in 25+ years) and I hope to only do it one more time. As far as audiobooks, I recommend Libro.fm. It’s similar in format to Audible, but a percentage of the cost goes to a bookstore of your choice. Here’s a link, if you’re interested:
https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm135882
Thanks Lesley. This a photo of our barn in back but it needs some TLC and fixing up along with a list of other things around the house.
I’ve had this bad cold now for almost a week Ugh. My first sickness in over 5 years. I hope it goes away soon. We are so relieved the house transactions are over. It was stressful. And now we can just enjoy the summer & fix up things as we go along. We love being rural now! And do you find you can get newer books on Libro? I’ll check the site and see what they offer. Good tip. I’m weighing options. Hope you have a nice Easter.
Glad you closed on your house…but so sorry you’re losing access to your public library system. I don’t know what I would do without mine. And how fun that Susanna Hoffs has written a novel. I’ve always loved her music; I’ll have to check out her new book. 😀
Thanks Lark, the old house deal is done! And if you’re a Hoffs music fan, I think you’ll like her book. It’s a fun one with a splash of romance.
I think I’m going to try the rural library system and see if the inventory will be sufficient. I don’t think it will be but I will supplement it! Happy Easter.
The Bangles as an author? Yes please, how fun! Putting it on my TBR list now.
I use audible but just the one credit per month ($15, I believe). The system is easy.
Thanks Helen. I think I might try audible. They have a trial use for 2 months free right now – so I’ll give it a whirl. I think you will find the Hoffs novel as fun — just enough music, romance, & wit for a light fun read. See what you think.
I didn’t know much about either of those two books and, as always, appreciate your thoughts.
I get most of my books, ebooks, and audios through the public library. The island has its own library, plus I also have access to the county library system. Given all the bad publicity FL and books is getting, I find the county system to have just about everything I want and the wait periods are fairly reasonable. The island library is very receptive to buying books on a patron’s request – that’s how I got Foster by Claire Keegan. The island library also gives me access to hoopla, which I use primarily for audiobooks. That’s an expensive service, so not many libraries use it and many offer only a couple of borrows per month. Our new library in CT is okay for physical books, but does not spend much money on digital resources, so I don’t use them as frequently.
I’ve used audible seemingly forever. There are more and more audiobooks lately that are audible exclusives. I’m on a plan where you pay for 12 credits upfront to use over the course of a year. I much prefer the flexibility of doing it that way, plus it’s slightly less expensive per credit. I also have an account with libro.fm, but have mostly used it for gifts.
I also love one of the local CT bookstores… and have given myself permission to buy more books. Good luck!
Thanks JoAnn, this is really helpful information for me. Once I change my address this week with the big City library system, they will disallow me from their digital inventory, which is massive and has always been my go-to source. I think I plan to try the rural library system to see what I can get digitally, but I don’t think it will be large. I’m also trying out Audible now (1 credit a month) and just got the new Makkai on audio. I still will be able to use the City library for print books. Hmm. Your libraries seem excellent (in spite of DeSantis, lol) and you have a lot of good options for getting books. I will update what I find out about the rural system. Enjoy your week. Happy reading.
Good to hear you have finalised the house sale – that must be a huge relief. My library doesn’t have a very good selection either, so I am depending on my Audible subscription. Audible has the biggest selection of audiobooks, but Scripd may be a valid alternative, depending on how many audiobooks you get through. Scripd has (in theory) unlimited use, but you get blocked for the rest of the month if you read too many of the expensive books. Unfortunately, “too many” is unspecified, which makes it difficult to plan. With Audible you get one book per month, but they also have a free library with many of the popular classics. Besides from audiobooks, I am unable to give advice. Most of my reading is done via audio.
Hi Stargazer, yes finally being done with the house sale is a great relief. All that work is over, though still unpacking boxes and need furniture. But the house sale is the best. Good to hear where you get your audios from. I just started a two month free trial of Audible – didnt know about their free library so I will investigate. I need more than one audio per month, right? But I will also try the rural library system to see what I can get. Bummed about giving up the city’s digital access. Argh. Might check Scripd. Thanks for the info!