The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Read by Steven Rowley

11 hours, 23 minutes

Published 2021 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Publisher’s Summary: 

Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed.

So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of "Guncle Rules" ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting--even if temporary--isn't solved with treats and jokes, Patrick's eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you're unfailingly human.

My Thoughts: 

More bullet point thoughts, as I desperately try to catch up on reviews!

• Maisie and Grant are precocious. Too precocious? Nah, it worked here because they were also so vulnerable and mostly behave exactly in the way you'd expect 9- and 6-year-olds to behave. 
• Patrick has shut down, emotionally. He can afford not to work, so has isolated himself, following the end of his successful sit-com and the loss of his partner, Joe. He is charming, fun, and sarcastic. He is also deeply insecure about aging and what people would think about him if they really knew him. 
• The relationship between Patrick, Maisie and Grant is delightful. They, of course, help him as much as he helps them. Here is a man who's been living on his own for four years. Now he is not only not alone, he is clueless about how to deal with children. It's no surprise that he figures it out in his own way; getting there is both fun and heartwarming. 
• There's a not unexpected battle with Patrick's sister, a re-entry into acting, and an ending that I was expecting, all of which made the book feel fuller. 
• This is one of those books that I feel benefited from having the author read it. Rowley is Patrick.
• Recommended by my sister, repeatedly. She was right, I did enjoy this one a lot. In fact, I'm waiting right now for the sequel on audiobook and have plans to read more of Rowley's work. 
• Would I recommend it? Yes, it's one of those great palate cleansers I so enjoy, that manages to be light but never fluffy. 

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell

Read by Daisy Donovan

6 hours

Published August 2017 by Knopf

Publisher’s Summary: 

We are never closer to life than when we brush up against the possibility of death.

I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's astonishing memoir of the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life. The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter--for whom this book was written--from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life's myriad dangers.

Seventeen discrete encounters with Maggie at different ages, in different locations, reveal a whole life in a series of tense, visceral snapshots. In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, O'Farrell captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself.

My Thoughts: 

It's been some time since I finished this book so I'm going to just stick with the notes I made about it when I finished it. 

• This is a sequence of near and not-so-near misses. It's shocking how often O'Farrell has had brushes with death in some way. It started with that childhood illness and ends with her own daughter's medical condition. At 16 she jumps off a harbor wall; but, because of childhood encephalitis and an inability to sense where things are and her place among them, meant she was unable to surface on her own and had to be rescued. At 18, she went for a walk during a break from work and encountered a man who appeared to be waiting for her; she manages to get away but later finds out the man has killed another young girl. Later she is on a plane to Hong Kong that almost crashes and her description of what it was like in that cabin is vivid. The chapter on one of her many miscarriages is superb and heart wrenching. 
• O'Farrell sometimes tells the experience in the third person, which makes it feel less like her own life and more like a story. But they are excellent stories and it's easy to accept them being less personal feeling. 
• I'm a big fan of O'Farrell's fiction and her ability to make readers feel like they are part of the book. This book gave me the same feeling. 
• Daisy Donovan's reading is excellent. 
• Would I recommend it? Definitely. But that recommendation comes with a trigger warning. There are a lot of things here that might be upsetting to some readers. 

Life: It Goes On - May 31

Happy Sunday! It's sunny here this morning, but too wet yet to get outside and work. We've been getting some nice rains this past week, largely during the night, which is lovely. My plants are flourishing. Which, of course, inspired me to buy more.  The Big Guy just shook his head when I came in with another dozen on Friday. Still the cheapest therapy money can buy! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali and I started Sarah Water's The Paying Guests. 

Watched: So many NCAA softball and baseball games, including both Nebraska teams. I also watched five episodes of the latest, and last, season of Emily in Paris. Last night we went with friends to see the movie Tuner, starring Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall (who I had previously only known as "the boy" in Bridget Jones: Made About The Boy). I didn't know anything about the movie when we went and was wondering what my friend had gotten me into when the movie got very tense; but we really enjoyed it. 

Read: A Lesser Light by Peter Geye. It's a biggie so it's taking me a while. 

Made: Grinder pasta (as seen on Applesauce and ADHD's social media). It made a huge batch so we got three suppers out of it and a lunch! 

Enjoyed: I had Friday off work and I used a good chunk of the day to start working on my office. I made such good progress that I was inspired to continue this weekend. I'll finish today, having gone through every single thing in that room. I am getting rid of so much in there and feeling so much lighter because of it. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: I need to finish up the furniture painting outside and then I'll be focused on getting some small projects done inside in anticipation of being the location of a bridal shower for Miss C being hosted by my sister and sister-in-law. Nothing like an event at your house to push you to get things done you've been putting off! 

Thinking About: June is Pride Month and I'm thinking about books to read and events to attend in support. 

Feeling: Accomplished. 

Looking forward to: Another quiet week on the calendar. 

Question of the week: What book have you read recently that you are recommending to everyone? 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Read by Lesley Manville

12 hours 26 minutes

Published September 2020 by Viking Press

Publisher’s Summary: 

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves
A female cop with her first big case
A brutal murder
Welcome to...
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?

My Thoughts: 

Both this book and the Netflix adaptation where recommended to me by my dad; it was the last book he ever recommended to me and I would have read it, whether or not I thought it was something that would appeal to me. As you know, my dad was an avid reader; he was also an avid viewer of Netflix movies and series. When he discovered that the book that his care home's book club was reading had been adapted for Netflix, he decided to make it a read/watch combo. I'm glad I took his recommendation on both the book and the adaptation, which stars Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, and Pierce Brosnan. 

The older I get, the more I enjoy about older people, especially those who are living their best lives, being useful and clever and not just accepting that it's time to sit back and get out of the way. This group of friends combines their skills (and the smarts to get a police woman to work with them) to not only solve the murder, but to save the peace of the retirement village for all of the residents. It's surprisingly funny, I loved the characters, and it was twisted enough that I never saw the ending coming. Which, of course, I know is not that rare, but still 

I highly recommend the audiobook; Lesley Manville's reading is marvelous. I also highly recommend the adaptation, which is never weighed down by its all-star cast, who all shine, and stays true to the book. 

So Far Gone by Jess Walters

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

Read by Edoardo Ballerini

8 hours, 20 minutes

Published June 2025 by HarperCollins

Publisher's Summary: 

Rhys Kinnick has gone off the grid. At Thanksgiving a few years back, a fed-up Rhys punched his conspiracy-theorist son-in-law in the mouth, chucked his smartphone out a car window and fled for a cabin in the woods, with no one around except a pack of hungry raccoons.

Now Kinnick's old life is about to land right back on his crumbling doorstep. Can this failed husband and father, a man with no internet and a car that barely runs, reemerge into a broken world to track down his missing daughter and save his sweet, precocious grandchildren from the members of a dangerous militia?

With the help of his caustic ex-girlfriend, a bipolar retired detective, and his only friend (who happens to be furious with him), Kinnick heads off on a wild journey through cultural lunacy and the rubble of a life he thought he'd left behind. So Far Gone is a rollicking, razor-sharp, and moving road trip through a fractured nation, from a writer who has been called “a genius of the modern American moment” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

My Thoughts: 

I first started reading Jess Walter's work in 2010, when the publisher offered me Walter's The Financial Lives of Poets for review. I still newish to blogging and thrilled to accept almost any book that was offered to me, but I'd already learned not to have high hopes for books that were offered to bloggers with small followings. That book took me completely by surprise; I was impressed with Walter's ability to find humor in the roughest of times and his ability to make a really tough time readable and believable. 

I didn't hesitate, then, when I was offered his 2012 novel, Beautiful Ruins, for review, which became in big critical success. In 2020 I listened to his novel, The Cold Millions. Here's what I had to say about that: 

"We love some authors because we know what to expect from them. Walter is different; I love his books because they are all so different. And yet his writing only gets better and better."

Nothing has changed since then. Although the plot of this book is completely different from his other books, I think the writing here is better than ever. The characters are real people, the relationships feel real, and the nothing here that seems unbelievable. There are heroes, but no super heroes; there are villains, but they seem like people we've all seen on the news and social media lately.  are made that feel completely true to the character who makes them; no one here is perfect, but not all of them are ready to admit that; there is humor, grit, tension, and real emotion. 

And if all of that weren't enough to recommend this book, I highly recommend the audiobook version. Never pass on the audiobook when Edoardo Ballerini is reading it.