The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
Published January 2020 by Random House Publishing
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
A solitary ship captain, drifting through time.

Nia Imani is a woman out of place. Traveling through the stars condenses decades into mere months for her, though the years continue to march steadily onward for everyone she has ever known. Her friends and lovers have aged past her. She lives only for the next paycheck, until the day she meets a mysterious boy, fallen from the sky.

A mute child, burdened with unimaginable power.

The scarred boy does not speak, his only form of communication the haunting music he plays on an old wooden flute. Captured by his songs and otherworldly nature, Nia decides to take the boy in to live amongst her crew. Soon, these two outsiders discover in each other the things they lack. For him, a home, a place of love and safety. For her, an anchor to the world outside of herself. For both of them, a family. But Nia is not the only one who wants the boy.

A millennia-old woman, poised to burn down the future.

Fumiko Nakajima designed the ships that allowed humanity to flee a dying Earth. One thousand years later, she now regrets what she has done in the name of progress. When chance brings Fumiko, Nia, and the child together, she recognizes the potential of his gifts, and what will happen if the ruling powers discover him. So she sends the pair to the distant corners of space to hide them as she crafts a plan to redeem her old mistakes.

But time is running out. The past hungers for the boy, and when it catches up, it threatens to tear this makeshift family apart.

My Thoughts:
I requested this from Netgalley but for the life of me I can't remember why. It's not entirely uncommon for me to not remember what a book is about when I start reading it but I when I started reading this book, it wasn't even something that I would normally choose. Sci-fi? Me? Still, I have read and enjoyed sci-fi and Jimenez pulled me into his story immediately. Or, should I say his first story. Because The Vanished Bird is not so much a novel as a series of closely connected short stories that Jimenez will bring full circle by the time the book ends.

For a while, though, we're not so certain where the book is going. The book begins on the planet Umbai-V, where we first meet Nia when she arrives there to pick up a harvest and she first meets young Kaeda. Her ship arrives on the planet every 15 years, although only a few months has passed for her between visits. He is smitten and when she returns 15 years later, the two of them make love. It feels like we're reading a love story; and we are, but not the love story we're expecting. Because, of course, Kaeda is aging more than 15 times as fast as Nia. And Nia's heart will soon belong to the young boy.

So when Fumiko makes her a job offer, Nia chooses trying to save the boy over the crew which had become her family and sets out with a new crew. Fumiko thinks the boy make have a power she is certain the corporation she has spent her life working for will exploit for profit. While she has spent 1000 years helping the corporation dominate the universe, she will not stand by quietly and watch them destroy the boy.

Now, as a person who hasn't read much sci-fi, I can only guess as to how true fans will respond to this book. But I believe it will give them everything they want in a sci-fi novel - space travel, world building, time travel, a whole lot of science, and a lot of action. But the book's strength is in the fiction part of that genre name, in its characters and their relationships. It's a book about incredible greed and incredible love. About the power of one person and the power of connections.

So while I can't remember what made me request this book, I'm certainly happy that I did. It's reminded me that it's good to go out of your comfort zone; there are good stories to be found everywhere.

Life: It Goes On - March 29

It's been dreary and rainy and chilly here much of the past few days. It's certainly not helping anyone's mood. On the plus side (and we've got to work really hard to find the bright sides whenever we can), it's not winter. We're not literally stuck in the house. Miss H headed off to a state park on Friday and went hiking with her camera, looking for signs of spring. Friday evening the three of us hopped in the car and drove across town to pick up burgers and fries from one of our favorite burger joints. Yesterday it was warm enough part of the day to throw the door open and I'm hoping to be able to do the same today as the sun is shining this morning.

Last Week I:

Listened To: I finished Cokie Roberts' Capital Dames and I'm well  into Tracy Chevalier's A Single Thread. When they sent half of our department home to work and those people are in charge of the phones, I find myself able to listen to books at work and I'm loving it. I'm really going to miss it this week when I move to my new job. Although, as a newbie, I won't be essential personnel any more so I may not have to go into the office any more and I'll be able to keep up with my book listening.

Watched: The Big Guy, Miss H, and I decided to have a movie night last night. Miss H wanted to watch something funny so we watched The Spy Who Dumped Me starring Mina Kunis, Kate McKinnon, and Sam Heughan (everyone's favorite time-traveling Scotsman). It's pretty violent for a comedy but we also laughed a lot.

Read: I raced through Joy Castro's Hell or High Water which was a tough read in many ways and not entirely what I expected. I'll finish Denise Mina's Conviction today. This one was recommended by a bookclub member who heard about it on the radio. Unless it falls about in the last 100 pages, I'll definitely be looking for more of Mina's work.


Made: Pork chops and mashed potatoes, mashed potato soup, cabbage and sausage soup, tacos, and chocolate chip cookies. There's been a lot of cooking going on in my kitchen this week because our pantry is so well stocked thanks to BG being one of those people who are now terrified of being stuck at home without enough food.


Enjoyed: Zoom time with my boys last Sunday and with my siblings, their spouses, and my parents yesterday.  Do you think "zooming" will become a verb after this in the same way the "google" became the verb to mean looking something up on the internet? We agreed to do the same thing again next weekend because, let's face it, none of us will be busy.

This Week I’m: 

Planning: Do you remember how I used to say I was excited to have a week with nothing on the calendar so I could really plan to get somethings done? I'm sort of over that now. Work will continue on 40 Bags In 40 Days even though I can't actually get rid of anything right now, what with being unable to drop off donations and the garbage service telling us not to throw out too much right now as they are working with fewer employees.

Thinking About: Spring. I finally got around to decorating for spring/Easter and I'm starting tomato plants today. I'm thinking it's about time to get the patio set up so it's ready to use on warm days. I was super excited to get my package from Red Cedar Works with my cute little Easter conversation box. You'll also see there's a floating shelf with it which I was planning on hanging in the powder room. But now that I've seen it, I'm thinking about what other places I might like it. Maybe I just need a couple more?

Feeling: Confused. So much of what I see in my feeds is people talking about what they're getting done in this unexpected time home. Which makes my brain think that I've got to be doing the same. But I'm still going into work. So while I have the extra time of having no obligations on the calendar, I don't have days without end to play with.

Looking forward to: The days when it is warm enough to eat outside. Then Mini-him can come over and eat dinner with us on the patio at least. It's so weird to make a big meal and not have him coming over.

Question of the week: How are you holding up?

Nothing To See Here by Kevin

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson
Published October 2019 by HarperCollins Publishers
Source: checked out from my local library

Publisher’s Summary:
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help.
Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.
Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?

My Thoughts:
Lillian has had a crap life. Her only hope to get out of it was her intelligence which enabled her to get into an elite high school. Unfortunately, that was, literally, sold out from under her. The reality of life after she gets kicked out of the school is overwhelming and Lillian gives up. Instead of making a great life for herself, at twenty-eight, she is still living in her mother’s attic. Who could blame a girl for jumping at the chance to help an old friend who’s offering you a salary, free room and board, and an entirely new wardrobe, even if it means taking care of children bad attitudes who might burst into flames at any moment?

Maybe because the twins have lived an even worse life than Lillian has, she has much more empathy than anyone else in their lives. Lillian has spent so long living down to expectations that even she is surprised when, after a very rocky start, she starts to win over the children and learn how to manage their combustible tendencies. Like all kids, it doesn’t take Bessie and Roland long to figure out that Lillian might just be the only person around who really cares about them which surprises Lillian as much as it surprises the kids.

I’ve seen this one around and heard good things about it but I couldn’t imagine that a book about children that burst into flames would appeal to me. But then Care (of Care’s Online Book Club) reviewed it and enjoyed it; if Care likes it, I always know there’s a good chance I will as well. And, truth be told, I do enjoy a quirky, dark comedy now and again. So when I saw it on the shelf at my library, I picked it up. It’s not a long book and the reading was made much faster by the fact that I was enjoying it so much. It’s funny and weird and tender. The ending is spot on.

Not sure a book about children who start on fire is for you? Imagine instead that Bessie and Roland are two children whose father has abandoned them, who are inconvenient for the people who should be caring for them, and who have some behavioral issues which require special handling. Then imagine them being assigned the most ill-prepared person to care for them who actually does end up doing just that – caring for them.

Inland by Tea Obreht

Inland by Tea Obreht
Read by: Anna Chlumsky, Edoardo Ballerini, and Euan Morton
Published August 2019 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: checked out from my local library

Publisher's Summary:
In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives collide. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life—her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home.

Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Nora’s and Lurie’s stories intertwine is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel.

Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht’s talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely—and unforgettably—her own.


My Thoughts:
I listened to this book, as you may have noticed from the list of readers; but I don't recommend it. It's not that the readers don't do a fantastic job. They really are incredibly good. But, unless you're sitting on your sofa or just walking and doing nothing else but absorbing what you're listening to, I'm not sure you'll appreciate this book in the way it should be appreciated. At least, I don't think that I did.

There are two excellent stories in this book. Lurie is telling the story of his life to some named "Burke." He is an immigrant from Ottoman Herzegovina who father died when he was just six years old. He spends the rest of his life surrounded by characters who aren't doing him any favors, from Coachman, who has him stealing bodies from graves, to Donovan Mattie with whom he soon becomes an outlaw. Lurie can see the dead and their desires and a marshal who will not give up pursuing him mean that Lurie can never settle down. His life is one of adventure.

Nora's life is not. Although she has felt "unbounded" by her husband's moving them from town to town, she is, when we meet her, settled and is fighting to stay that way. She is fighting with her husband, with her sons, with the bad-guy cattle king who is trying to take everyone's land. The thing is that Nora can't leave Amargo because the spirit of her daughter is there, a spirit Nora talks to regularly; Nora is certain that Evelyn's spirit will not come with her if she has to leave. Nora is not a likable character and you know how fond I'm growing of unlikable characters. She is heartless with her children, rude to her neighbors, and not entirely reliable.

"Nora had gone to considerable lengths to steel herself for the life into which she’d followed [Emmett]. This had required hardening…. Even if she had wanted to remain soft, the work would not allow it. Two people at full strength could barely manage all the chores of a homestead: plowing, sowing, raising fence. And if Desma, if her own mother…were hard women, then Nora must be, too. It must never be said of her that she had succumbed to the trials of her life and had to be gentled back to some easier state of existence."

Unlike some books with dual story lines, I was equally engrossed with both. Will Lurie be caught? What will become of his friend, Hi Jolly? And who is Burke? I'd tell you but you really need to read the book to find out and to learn about how Obreht has used a little known bit if U. S. history to create this part of the book. But then we'd go back to Nora and I really needed to know what secrets she was hiding, where her husband and sons had gone, if she could manage to stop alienating those around her long enough to find water, and what in the world was the deal with the beast her son, Toby, and Emmett's niece, Josey, kept going on about.

Somewhere around half way through the book, though, I began to get antsy about how these two stories would come together. And I waited. And I waited. Guys, the book is almost done before that happens. Then things just start happening at a breakneck pace and the book ends in a way that had me, at the time I listened to it, feeling like Obreht had not been sure how to end it and come up with something of an easy out. On retrospect, I'm not sure that's the case but  then I'm left wondering what in the hell happened at the end? Which, I suppose, is a preferable feeling.

The book is filled with really interesting characters, although I was left wishing that more had been made of some of them. The landscape and settings come alive and I'm not making it up when I tell you that reading about that drought and the family running out of water had me feeling parched. Obreht writes beautifully and I loved her descriptions of people and places. Is it a perfect novel? Maybe not but the more I think about it, the more I like it and the fact that Obreht managed to write a Western that had untraditional central characters, especially Burke.

Life: It Goes On - March 22

Last week we, in Nebraska, were just starting to feel the effects of CoVid19. I was scared and my anxiety was on high. And I had no idea what was coming. We have not yet reached the point that so many of you are already at but it feels like we are not far behind you. Miss H worked in a restaurant and is now out of a job; fortunately, she had not yet moved. The rest of us continue to work. My campus is almost entirely empty but we still need some people to go into the office; I'm one of them. There's a part of me that wishes I could just work from home but another part of me that very much appreciates still having some routine. They're doing a great job of keeping the place very clean and I feel, as much as I can right now, safe.

From what I've learned this morning, in watching a lot of really smart people, we are probably looking at life this way for another six weeks before the virus starts to slow down. That's a really long time for me not to get to seem my parents or my kids in Minnesota or my great-nieces and great-nephews who are growing up so fast. But it's a small price to pay to keep all of those people I love safe. I'm so hoping that you will all feel the same way.

Last Week I:

Listened To: I've been listening to a lot of music this week. I found I couldn't stay focused on podcasts. Friday I did finally download a book. We'll see if Cokie Roberts can keep my focus.

Watched: Friday night we watched what we thought was a video released by Lin Manuel Miranda of a performance of Hamilton. It turned out to be a video that was taken without permission and I feel a bit guilty about watching it. On the other hand, it was the perfect distraction. Last night we watched Frozen 2.  Have any of you watched it? We thought it was so dark and the plot too complicated for young children.

Read: I'm having trouble focusing on books as well and really having to push myself to read a few pages at a time. The book I'm reading now, Hell Or High Water, is a library book which now doesn't have to be returned any time soon and I may set it aside for a bit as it's really dark. I'm thinking something lighter would be better.

Made: My own disinfecting spray with Clorox, my own Clorox wipes, and my own hand sanitizer with rubbing alcohol and aloe vera. I may not be able to control the outside work, but my house has never been more germ free!

In the kitchen, today I'm making pork chops in the Instant Pot. I'd almost forgotten I had it, to be honest.

Enjoyed: Take out pizza last night. We're so stocked up on food but we're trying to find ways to help out local businesses.

This Week I’m: 

Planning: On catching up on 40 Bags In 40 Days. It's another thing I couldn't stay focused on last week but I'm back on it this weekend and I've knocked out five bags so far in two days.

Thinking About: We've got some plans to move some gardens and that work can get started this week with warmer temps.

Feeling: Grateful to my parents' neighbors who are watching over them and treating them like the precious jewels that they are. Also feeling grateful to Mini-me's employers who allowed him to step away from work while this virus is a threat; he is immuno-compromised and I've been so worried about him.

Looking forward to: Family FaceTime tonight with all of my kids.

Question of the week: What ways have you found to keep your sanity through all of this?