The Great Alone

Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2018
Pages: 448
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam War a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America's last true frontier. 

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska—a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.

Review: Read this if you're looking for a book that will absorb you into its world.

I began this with some level of skepticism wondering if Kristin Hannah could write another book on par with The Nightingale. She did. There are only a handful of authors who pull me inside their novels as an unobserved observer/participant. 

I cared about these characters so much, and was sad to leave them behind. They'll stay in my thoughts for some time, I'm sure.

I was reading Kristin Hannah novels before I started keeping a reading journal, and she consistently writes wonderful novels. Make her one of your go-to authors too.

Other Kristin Hannah Novels
Angel Falls
Summer Island
The Four Winds
The Enchantment
The Nightingale
The Women
True Colors

Need to Know

Author: Karen Cleveland
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2018
Pages: 304 (9 hours audio)
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: In pursuit of a Russian sleeper cell on American soil, CIA analyst Vivian Miller uncovers a dangerous secret that will threaten her job, her family, and her life. 

On track for a much-needed promotion, she's developed a system of identifying Russian agents, seemingly normal people living in plain sight. 

After accessing the computer of a potential Russian operative, Vivian stumbles on a secret dossier of deep-cover agents within America's borders. A few clicks later, everything that matters to her - her job, her husband, even her four children - is threatened.

Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she's facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust?

Review: I don't remember any other book confronting me with so many ethical questions so early on. What would I do in this same situation? Would I really?

This novel is gripping, especially within the first couple of chapters. I had to stop the CD, give myself a break, and get back into the real world several times. A few discs in, my anxiety over these situations and characters calmed, but the novel still moved full-steam ahead.

The ending, wow, the ending. The whole book was worth it for the last paragraph of the epilogue alone.

I'm sure the hard back book would be good, but listening to the audio brings another element into the story. It's one of the reasons I like listening to mysteries and thrillers so much.

I don't often watch movies based on books. Read, rarely, but this one could be very good. I'm pretty sure I'm going to watch it.

Other Books by Karen Cleveland:
Published 2019, Keep You Close

Sisters First

Author: Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2017
Pages: 256
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Born into a political dynasty, Jenna and Barbara Bush grew up in the public eye. As small children, they watched their grandfather become president; just twelve years later they stood by their father's side when he took the same oath. They spent their college years watched over by Secret Service agents and became fodder for the tabloids, with teenage mistakes making national headlines. 

But the tabloids didn't tell the whole story. In Sisters First, Jenna and Barbara take readers on a revealing, thoughtful, and deeply personal tour behind the scenes of their lives, as they share stories about their family, their unexpected adventures, their loves and losses, and the sisterly bond that means everything to them.

Review: Fast, light, and easy to read, that's how I would describe this book. What better book to start over President's Day weekend? 

Fair or otherwise, I expected Jenna and Barbara to come across as spoiled and entitled, but in reality it seems as though they had a relatively normal childhood, even given their birth into a "political dynasty."

The chapters regarding 9/11 were poignant. They're about my age and I know how 9/11 affected me. It was interesting to read the first daughters' perspective.

Toward the end of the book, each delved into her own political leanings which I could have done without, but should have expected.

As a whole there could have been more substance, but it's still an interesting and worthwhile read.

Manhattan Beach

Author: Jennifer Egan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Scribner, 2017
Pages: 448
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men.

Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works in the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father's life, the reasons he might have vanished. 

With the atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan's first historical novel follows Anna and Styles into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men. 

Manhattan Beach is a deft, dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world.

Review: I've read many books set during World War II, but few that took place in the United States and certainly none with a female working in a naval yard as the main character. Sections of this seemed far fetched, but that's the beauty of fiction. It was an interesting novel.