Swimming to Elba by Silvia Avallone

This story centers around two best friends: Anna and Francesca. Each of them have a bad home life, but in different ways; Anna's father goes missing for days/weeks/months at a time and has run ins with law enforcement, while Francesca's father abuses her and her mother. They have grown up together and at the age of 13 (going on 14) they are exploring the power their newfound curves give them. Suddenly, they have a falling out and the girls' lives go in different directions. Anna has her first boyfriend, while Francesca becomes cold and friends with a lonely girl named Lisa, but only to bully her. They see each other around town, but neither are brave enough to reach out to the other until tragic accidents occur.

I had high hopes for this book. It's set in Italy and the premise of the story was that they were going to go to Elba (which is a ferry ride away from where they live) to leave their lives in Piombino and each pursue their dreams, but it seemed to fall flat and incorporate too much of the other characters' lives.

Also, I think I am officially waving the white flag for my creative book goals for the year, since I'm now three months behind and do not have time in the foreseeable future to read those books on top of my book club books. The motivation (and time) is just not there.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Even though this book is short, weighing in at about ~160 pages, it felt long and took me a week to read. This was another book for a different Meetup group. The book is divided into two parts and the first part centers around the main character, Tony, and his friends in college. Six pages into it, the word pretentious was flashing in my mind because just reading it and seeing these young men act like know-it-alls because they were in college was frustrating. Anyway, Tony dates this girl Veronica, who ends up to be crazy and a tease, and she dumps Tony to go out with his friend Adrian, who is the smartest out of all the friends and is practically revered by everybody. But he then abruptly commits suicide. In part two, Tony some thirty or so years later, receives notice that Veronica's mother had past and left him five hundred pounds and Adrian's diary. However, when he goes to pick up what is willed to him, they do not have the diary because Veronica has it. Tony does not know how to contact her, so he gets in touch with Veronica's brother who gives him the contact information he needs. When he does finally contact Veronica, she plays coy (still playing mind games with him) and tells him that she burned the diary, but gave him a copy of a page of it. He is perplexed and intrigued and continues to pursue contacting her and she finally reveals a long-held secret at the end of the book.

Talking about this book was more interesting than reading it. I do not consider myself a deep reader, but others in the Meetup are and said how there was so much symbolism and philosophy sprinkled throughout the text. I think I did understand it better after the Meetup, but that still did not make it an enjoyable read.

Blame by Michelle Huneven

Blame was a book for one of my Meetup groups. It's about a lady named Patsy who is a professor at a college and has a drinking problem. One day, she wakes up in jail (again) after having too much to drink (again), but this time, something's different. The police tell her that she hit and killed a woman and her daughter while pulling into her driveway. She goes on to serve four years in prison and talks about her experiences there and finding AA. After she gets out, she struggles to piece her life back together again, but meets Cal, a man many years her senior who woos her (and almost anyone) instantly. Now, the book jacket plainly alludes to the fact that it was not Patsy who killed the people in her driveway, but someone else. The whole time, the reader knows this, and it is admirable to see Patsy change her life so drastically when it is predicated on this murder, but also sad to see how much Patsy tortures herself over their (accidental) death. Overall, I did not enjoy this book and it was frustrating at times to read because Huneven never used quotations marks. Not once! So some dialogue it was hard to follow who was saying what to whom.

The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson

Joe and Ella have been married for three years with two children from Joe's previous marriage when Joe drowns while taking pictures of the ocean. All this time, Ella thought that Joe's ex-wife, Paige, left him and the children without wanting any more to do with them, but she appears at Joe's funeral and more than one truth comes out. As Ella is dealing with Paige's new presence in her life and reclaiming a presence in her children's lives, she discovers that the store that Joe owned is less solvent than she was led to believe and is near financial ruin. Facing a war on two fronts, she leans on Joe's family to help her make sense of all this news. Along the way, she learns that the story Joe told about Paige isn't the whole truth.

Recommendations:
If you liked when two women came together for a common goal, like in Love Anthony by Lisa Genova.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

This book was my choice for one of the Meetup groups I am part of. The story is told from the point of view of 14 year old June and is set in 1987. Her beloved uncle Finn dies young and "unexpectedly" and there is a man at the funeral that her family avoids. June has an older sister named Greta who seems to know everything before June does, but doesn't try to explain what is going on to her. Eventually, June finds out that Finn had AIDS and the mystery man is Toby, Finn's longtime boyfriend. June finds out that not all initial perceptions of people or situations is true, and learns more about Toby as they bond together over their shared loss of Finn.

Recommendations:
If you liked Eleanor & Park because of the 80s references.
If you liked The Death of Bees or The Silver Star because of the sisters' relationship.

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

I had previously read Maine by Sullivan and was mildly impressed by it. When I heard about this book, it sounded like a lot more interesting of a plot line and it did not let me down. The story spans over fifty years, from the beginnings of the tagline "A Diamond Is Forever," to the application to pro-marriage, anti-marriage, affairing, struggling couples. There are four couples featured throughout the book, plus Frances Gerety, who came up with the line. One couple has been married for thirty years and find out that their son has left his wife for another woman. A second couple lives in Europe and she leaves her husband for her lover. The third couple struggles to make ends meet, but love each other dearly. And the final couple doesn't believe in marriage. The story revolves around how diamonds are the connecting thread through all of the couples.

One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper

This book revolves around the character of Silver (his last name), a has-been one hit wonder, who was diagnosed with a fatal heart condition, has a pregnant teenage daughter, and an ex-wife who is getting remarried soon. He decides to forgo the surgery to save his life, as he determines that the life he had been living since his divorce is not one he wants to continue to live (and not because the ex-wife's fiance would be performing the surgery, which he would do if Silver wanted it). I thought this book was really good. It showed a lot of growth of the characters both as individuals (grappling with difficult life decisions) and with each other (Silver setting out to be a better father and improve his relationship with his daughter). I thought the ending was a little confusing, but I would love it if someone could clear it up for me!

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This book revolves around 8 year old Scout, her brother Jem, and her father Atticus while he defends a black man that allegedly raped a white woman. It is definitely a coming-of-age story where Scout realizes that everything is not as she thought it was and how people behave in unexpected ways. Also, there is a "mysterious" boarded-up house where "Boo" Radley supposedly lives. When Scout and Jem walk home from school, sometimes they find "gifts" in the crook of a tree, such as two pennies, a pack of gum, and a broken watch.

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving: A Novel by Jonathan Evison

I felt like this book was like last year's (personal) sleeper hit The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this since I had never read anything by Evison before, but it was well done, although I think the ending could have been more complete, but that is just me. The story goes that Trevor, a 19 year old with muscular dystrophy, needs a caregiver and in comes Ben, a man with a sad past who is trying to make a go of the future. Trevor has his routines of going to see a movie every Thursday, eating waffles at every breakfast, and watching The Weather Channel every morning. Ben starts an exercise with Trev where they mark all of the unique road stops on a map, just for something new for him to do. Trev's semi-deadbeat dad (who seems like an okay guy) flies in from Salt Lake City to see him, but Trev wants nothing to do with him. Trev's mom goes out of town for a conference and it is at that point that the two men take a roadtrip and meet an unforgettable cast of characters, all while being followed by someone in a Skylark. The book flashes back to what happened to Ben and how that affected him, which was a nice touch.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I was on the hold list for what seemed like forever at the library! Finally, I got the book and it only took me a couple of days to read since it is so short. The story centers around Charlies, an introvert who is beginning his first year of high school at the start of the novel. He is shy and unpopular and concerned about how and where he will fit in, along with concerned about his sister who always seems to be choosing the worst guys. Early in the school year, he becomes friends with Samantha (Sam) and Patrick, who are step-siblings. Charlie soon has a crush on Sam, but she is very emphatic that nothing will ever happen and she will not see him "that way." Charlie goes on to date a girl named Mary Elizabeth, who is part of the group, but in a game of Truth or Dare, he ends up kissing Sam, who he believes is the "prettiest girl in the room," leading to an end to his relationship with Mary Elizabeth. As the year progresses, Sam dates a guy named Craig, but eventually Charlie learns that Craig's cheated on Sam the entire time they dated. Craig is pressured by his friend Peter to end it with Sam since she is taking the relationship a lot more seriously than him, and he does. Charlie also mentions his Aunt Helen rather fondly throughout the book, but an incident awakens the true memories of Aunt Helen, which land him in the psych ward. His friends and family all come to visit him while he is in the hospital, and he is eventually released.

Room by Emma Donoghue

Room is told from the point of view of five-year-old Jack. The story is very Jaycee Dugard-inspired. Jack's mother (forever referred to as "Ma," her proper name is never revealed) is lured to help a man (known as "Old Nick") find his "missing dog," or so Old Nick tells her, when she is 19. She is then kidnapped and held in an 11' x 11' soundproofed garden shed which is called Room. Old Nick holds her and rapes her, leading her to bear a child who is stillborn, and then she has Jack a year later. She tries very hard to make Room an environment for a growing boy, but when Jack turns 5, she tells him hard truths, like what happens "in TV" is actually real (instead of letting him know the truth and not understand why he couldn't partake in it). With this knowledge, she comes up with a plan to save both of them and that requires Jack to be "sick" and then "die" from the sickness, leaving Old Nick no choice but to remove his "body" from Room. While en route to a burial spot, Jack escapes from the rug and is rescued, and helps lead the police back to Room to save Ma. The rest of the story is about Jack adjusting to life Outside of Room and dealing with all it has to offer (such like what happens when one "pets" bees). It was a very good story, I can see why it's been so popular.