book review – The Wobbly Table Blog

TELL THE WOLVES I’M HOME

I wish I could properly thank the neighbor who left a copy of Tell The Wolves I’m Home in our Little Lending Library.

June Elbus is a character I’ll remember forever. While I take periodic breaks from writing thorough book reviews, I knew I needed to share her with the world.

The focus of the story is 14-year old, old soul, June. She’s different from the kids her age. She likes to escape into the woods and pretend she’s living in the middle ages. Preoccupied with work, her parents aren’t as involved with her as they’d like and her older sister, Greta went from being her best friend to a stranger. The only person she connects to is her Uncle Finn. The two are kindred spirits who share an appreciation of classical music, tea and regular visits to the Met. Their tender relationship gives the book so much heart.

After the devastating loss of her Uncle to AIDS, a stranger walks into her life changing the fabric of it forever. The mysterious man is Toby, Finn’s partner. She thought she knew everything about her best friend. Shocked and hurt that such a big part of his life was a secret to her, she tries to grapple with the fact that Toby knew so much about her for years. As the two people who knew and loved Finn most, a slow-burning friendship blossoms between them. They’re able to grieve and piece each other back together again by sharing stories of Finn. Their relationship becomes a secret of her own.

I tend to prematurely judge stories from an adolescent perspective and stash them in the Y.A box along with Harry Potter and the Nicholas Sparks stories. I’m so glad I didn’t put TTWIM in that category because it belongs on every bookshelf. Regardless of age, I think readers will take a lot from this story and easily be able to recall the confusion and nostalgia of their youth. Of how painful and beautiful life can be at every stage and how important it felt to be seen by someone, really seen for the first time. It’s a love letter to the safe people in our lives.

I did a lot of highlighting and marking up inside the pale bluish-green cover, a sign of it speaking to the soul. June is written with such love, she’s a poet and a romantic and is emotional and messy and likes what she likes and doesn’t apologize for it. I felt very much like her at 14; always observing from the periphery, not wanting attention but wanting to be seen. It was refreshing to not be fed the angsty, shallow boy-crazy teenage girl troupe that gives the demographic such little credit.

An excerpt depicting how thoughtful June was towards her Uncle Finn:

“I understand how just about anything in the world could remind you of Finn. Trains, or New York City, or plants, or books, or soft sweet and black-and-white cookies, or some guy in Central Park playing a polka on the harmonica and the violin at the same time. Things you’d never seen with Finn could remind you of him, because he was the one person you’d want to show. “Look at that,” you’d want to say because you knew he would think it was wonderful. To make you feel like the most observant person in the world for spotting it.” – June

Tell the Wolves I’m Home will fill your heart and break it multiple times. It’s an untraditional love story about grief, family dynamics, chosen family and forgiving yourself for things left unsaid. It reads so honestly to life. A part of me describes the story as a tragedy, another as a poignant coming of age tale about hope. There’s no big shiny bow tied at the end. Nothing’s worse to me than a lukewarm book. Some of the best stories will leave you feeling deeply, whatever that may be. This made me feel a lot of things. Maybe it’ll shake something loose in you, too?

DECEMBER READS

A December book review is my version of an end of year recap. Each time I look back at a book, I remember the headspace I was in at the time of reading it.

Tan France’s memoir kept me occupied in line for my first covid vaccine.

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake was eaten up on the crisp new Kindle I received on my birthday camping trip.

The Silent Patient grieved with me on a solo plane ride to my late aunt’s service.

The boundaries I learned from How to Break Up With Your Phone still cross my mind many months later, especially into the New Year.

My memories cling to the pages lightly coloring each story with a unique shade leaving a shadowy bookmark inside. Before I knew what shape The Wobbly Table would take, I was certain I wanted to share book reviews. If not for my love of reading, my love of writing would feel underdeveloped; incomplete. Together they satiate my hunger for words.

Cheers to the first post of the year!

For the Black Mirror audience: Sometime in the future a DNA-based dating program matches couples based on genetics. The pairings are supposed to indicate people’s perfect partners by a swab of saliva and the click of a button. Fast forward ten years since its launch and the company rivals all other dating sites and is a household name like Apple or Windows.

The cautionary tale is told from the perspective of five couples who used Match Your DNA’s services. For one of my first forays into sci-fi, I was impressed with how quickly and deeply I fell into the storyline. For the longest time, I associated the genre with space, robots or some dystopian universe that was lightyears from what reality looked like. I would timidly convince myself that I didn’t have wide enough an imagination to resonate with them and that only when they’re projected onto a screen could I fully lose myself in that kind of world.

The One was a perfect example of not judging a book by its genre, or in this case, by its title. It resembled more of an episode of Black Mirror than the drama I was originally expecting and was not at all far-fetched from the direction that social media and dating apps are headed. It cleverly explores the ethics behind technology, science and social responsibility and the implications of having such life-altering information at your disposal.

The author did a superb job examining the ways dating is completely thrown out of whack and how a service that may initially sound well-intentioned can go awry. Love is a high-stakes game, even when the outcome appears to be clear.

I guess I like Sci-fi now?

4.5/5 mugs

For the introspective: The short story takes place within a 24 hour period where a young women visits her grandfather for the holidays in a current-pandemic world.

The reader is dropped into the anxiety and isolation that came in the beginning of quarantine. For me, the feelings were a little too fresh. And now that a lot of places reopened and vaccines have allowed social interactions to be more commonplace, it simultaneously felt pre-dated. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a feel-sad story from time to time but this one was a hard one to relive. After reading this, I realized that I need more time before I consume other pandemic-focused media, especially when it serves as the mechanism for moving the plot along.

Like many relationships, the dynamic with her Grandfather is noticeably stifled without the cushion of having other family around. Her atrophied dating/social skills bleeds into other relationships as she reconnects with a boy who lives in the neighborhood.

It was an important time capsule of the heightened uncertainty of Covid and the toll it takes on relationships. But it lacked something that I can’t put my finger on. I’m not sure if the short story format helped or hurt the story-telling. With that said, I likely wouldn’t have been compelled to finish had it been a full-length novel.

1.5/5 mugs

NOVEMBER READS

A recent reading slump almost prevented me from writing this post. Work picked up significantly, social festivities marked up my calendar and to be fully honest, the book I was in the middle of this month felt more like a chore than an escape from life’s busyness.

Not long ago my expectations were to suffer through novels I didn’t like for the sake of finishing them.

My perspective changed after a conversation I had with my brother. He’s always been an avid reader; a quintessential English major turned English college instructor. His ranging bookshelf included The Goosebump series to classic American literature to British Romanticism. I marveled at them like trophies. He told me once “there’s too many good books out there to not prioritize the good ones.” Hearing it from him of all people gave me the permission to stop and start over fresh when I needed to.

I admit to losing sight of my reading oath this month. The first couple chapters of Devoted by Dean Koontz were promising enough. Before I knew it the plot branched into multiple dizzying storylines.

The genre started out under heartwarming magical realism about a dog and a mute boy with a special connection. It’s what drew me in. Then it took a turn into a dark sci-fi about an evil man transforming into a beastly super villian until it morphed into some kind of bad action movie including hitmen and a secret evil corporation. Believe it or not, all of that unraveled within the first half of the novel.

The deeper in I got, the more I avoided picking it up.

I missed joy-reading. With the extra push from my brother’s wise words, I let go of expectations and walked away nearly 400 pages lighter.

Reading should be for enjoyment and enlightenment— not responsibility.

By closing one book, it freed up the time to dedicate to a new one worth keeping up with. My brother was right, there really are endless good stories to get lost in. Some you have to hunt for like treasure, some that find you just when you need it.

For the travelers: My favorite social media accounts, blogs, and newsletters all have something distinguishable in common: a love of story-telling. I’m drawn to vulnerable captions that shed a light on someone’s mind. Words hold power. They can transform mindless scrolling to a genuine connection; a stranger or acquaintance into a complex human that we may share more in common than we realize.

For years I’ve followed a joyful flight attendant with a vibrant feed. Taylor Tippett speaks from the depths of her heart for 100k+ of her following.

Words from the Window Seat was born out of her desire to spread kindness to strangers on her flights. She’d write an uplifting note and tape it on the window for a passenger to find. The messages were shared via Instagram accompanied by a personal story or lesson from the friendly skies.

The book is a compilation of her pay-it-forward project. It’s three-parts self-help book and one-part memoir. A tender pep-talk close out the chapters like a comforting episode of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.

She reflects on becoming a flight attendant, mental health, healing from broken romantic and familial relationships and she shares a sprinkling of travel stories she’s collected over the years.

With someone with a unique and worldly perspective, I would’ve loved to dig deeper into her off-the-clock traveling. When a friend returns from a trip- especially somewhere I’ve never been, I tend to ask so many questions. I’m fascinated by delicacies, traditional customs, hidden gems and surprising misconceptions about popular cities. And surely I can’t be the only one who wants to know the juicy details behind the first class curtain. Maybe that can be saved for another book.

The cloud-covered paperback was a refreshing segway into reading for joy again. Although at times formulaic and advice-driven, Words from the Window Seat was a quick feel-good read that’s as accessible to her following as to a stranger roaming a bookshop.

4/5 mugs

SEPTEMBER READS

Reading in the fall/winter months is a special kind of satisfying. The sun sets sooner, and the chill in the air offers more reason to hibernate indoors. Sleepiness falls on me when I read in bright sunlight. Pool or beachside reading wasn’t something I caught onto. To me, it should feel like I’m watching a movie; curled up with a blanket draped over me and a candle flickering from my periphery. Add rain to the mix and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing. You’d think it’d be easier to nap under these conditions, but lately all the books I’ve picked up have been too engaging to put down without a fight. An upswing in consumption lends itself to this time of year. October has some big shoes to fill.

For the reflective: Jedidiah Jenkins is a writer, entrepreneur and enigmatic personality that I stumbled upon on Instagram. His adventurous photos in exotic locations are what first drew me in, and his unique perspective and soul-touching words are what kept me around for years. Many of his vulnerable captions lingered in my brain long after closing the app. I read his debut memoir, To Shake the Sleeping Self about his travels from Oregon to Patagonia with a smile plastered on my face and adrenaline in my bones.

His follow up book, Like Streams to the Ocean, is a candid collection of essays on matters of the ego. It was akin to sharing a late-night dinner with a friend and closing out the restaurant with empty wine bottles on the table. He dedicates a chapter on family, home, friendship, love, work, death, and the soul. Jenkins seamlessly blends philosophy and poetry – it’s as if words roll off of him with no effort at all (I’m sure that wasn’t the case, but the best writers create the illusion). He can articulate familiar ideas into something brand new and shiny coloring everything around him with depth.

In one chapter, he talks about his childhood home. Most of his formative years were spent in a Nashville farmhouse that got later turned into a restaurant. He describes the surreal experience of visiting and seeing people eat in the same place where he would watch his Grandpa make donuts. He tenderly portrayed the visit in a way that felt as though I was there with him, like those memories belonged to me too.

My only regret was renting a copy from the library first. I had to resist highlighting, notating and dog earring passages. Instead I wrote page numbers and quotes in my notes app to remember them for later. I plan to purchase a copy of my own so I can mark it up and lend it out. His writing is meant to be shared and revisited whenever your soul needs a hug. Not to mention, the cover of Yosemite would make anyone smile when glancing over at their nightstand or coffee table.

4.5/5 mugs

For the hurting and healing: Coming off the heels of her latest novel, Verity I knew I had to go down the Colleen Hoover rabbit hole. Luckily for readers, she’s produced almost two dozen books in her prolific career.

It Ends With Us, is a story depicting different kinds of love: the purity and eagerness of a first love, the strained love of imperfect parents, the platonic love of a best friend, and the love of a beautiful whirlwind romance that turns dark slowly and then all at once. Lily Bloom is at the center as she navigates through the complicated relationships in her life that for better or worse, shaped her into the person she is today.

I had the same urgency in reading it as though it was a thriller or mystery. Unlike Verity, this book doesn’t fall under either category yet the tension built up from the first chapter stretched it’s way to the final pages. Colleen Hoover is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors for that reason. Her writing style is gripping and vulnerable and addictive all at once. She melds romance with heavy subject matter adding layers of humanity that ground her stories to reality. Certain chapters were particularly difficult to get through. My heart broke in a million pieces then somehow got put back together again. The book portrays the courage to love and the courage to let go. Lily’s story will stay with me for a longtime.

Trigger warning: contains emotional and physical abuse

5/5 mugs

For the broken: A bone chilling novel about the aftermath of three mothers/childhood best friends who experience the worst night of their lives when their high school aged sons don’t all make it home after a sleepover. One son ends up dead, one in a debilitating coma, and the other is left too traumatized to speak needing psychiatric attention. Detectives, lawyers and doctors wedge themselves in their lives as they investigate the crime scene and continue to poke at the women’s broken hearts.

The mothers shared grief and their longing for closure is enough to pull some relationships closer and some further apart as each family tries to figure out what really happened the night of the accident.

The tragedy is heavy and unexpected amongst the backdrop of a gated suburban community. I am not a mother, but the sense of loss and heaviness that these three women face is palpable and expressed in such a raw way.

Before Lucinda Berry began writing fiction full-time, she was a former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. Her writing is so real you can touch it making it even harder to put down. I desperately needed closure.

The Best of Friends doesn’t have a happy ending. It doesn’t make you feel good by any means but some escapes don’t need to. Some are meant to shake you emotionally and take you to a place that you’re grateful to only read about and not experience first hand.

Trigger warning: contains gun violence and trauma

5/5 mugs

JULY READS

A local bookshop guide and a pair of reviews on highly buzzed about suspenseful thrillers.

My soon to be twenty one year old sister-in-law spent the last ten days with us as we traipsed through the Bay Area. Her visit made summer feel like the one’s I had as a kid, filled with ice cream consumption and long days under the sun. Of course we had to show her the tourist traps and sweeping views that her southern college town doesn’t offer.

Lucky for me, she initiated visits to all the local bookshops I had been side-eyeing. Together, we browsed the aisles with glee, knowing full well we both had a queue of novels waiting at home. It never hurts to look. What better souvenir to take home than a growing pile of stories?

Here’s a short list of old and new bookshops I highly recommend if you’re in the area:

Bookshop Santa Cruz, Downtown Santa Cruz – make sure to read the framed newspaper clipping located by the register. It uncovers the charming history of how the owner’s love story and shop came to be. It’ll make any purchase you make with them feel warm and fuzzy.
Abbot’s Thrift Store, Downtown Felton – I dedicated part of an earlier blog post to my love of this thrift store. Their comprehensive and organized selection puts some bookstores to shame
Two Birds Bookstore, Capitola/Seabright – the owner’s two adorable dogs, Tio and Marshmallow greet you at the door adding to the coziness of this independent shop. The owner’s are just as friendly! Their unique offerings of Knick knacks make an excellent spot for curated local gifts
Green Apple Bookshop, San Francisco/Inner Sunset – located in one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city, the small unassuming storefront has shelves stretching on forever like magic. A welcomed and memorable surprise for first timers. Founded in 1967, it’s been repeatedly voted the best bookstore in the Bay Area by SF Weekly and The San Francisco Bay Guardian

For suspense-seekers: A decade after her daughter went missing, a mother finds out the heartbreaking truth behind her child’s disappearance and how the power of closure can both heal old wounds and create new ones.

Lisa Jewell is undoubtedly a compelling writer. The tangled mystery stared off strong. It was a quick and enthralling read until I hit a couple snags towards the middle. I couldn’t ignore the plot holes that pulled me out of the story as quickly as it had sucked me in.

Without giving too much away, I found the character’s half-baked, and the big twist far too unlikely. I also wish the synopsis on the back cover didn’t give away as many poignant details. I found myself hypothesizing way too early on (why I avoid film trailers these days).

I wanted to like this more than I did. Then She was Gone didn’t live up to the expectations of it’s promising introduction. An unsatisfying ending sealed my 2/5 star rating.

2/5 mugs

For fans of Clue: The Guest List kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. The plot is simple: a beautiful young couple weds on a remote island. It has all the ingredients for disaster: An equally adored and envied couple, a mischievous bridal party, family drama and a barrage of secrets that tie them together.

Each chapter is told from a different guests perspective as I teetered between who can and cannot be trusted. The Guest List sunk it’s hooks into me from the very beginning with the atmospheric location and ominous weather playing as important a role as the characters themselves.

The eerily fun novel covers the span of a tense forty-eight hour period, successfully portraying the claustrophobia of the island. I had the role of both a passive reader and an active wedding guest adding to the immersive murder mystery experience- one I haven’t felt since my annual Halloween viewing of Clue.

The non-stop sleuthing made the big reveal worth all the sleepless nights and tired mornings.

5/5 mugs

MARCH READS

My March reviews include a pretty lukewarm review and the warmest review to date! Contrast is good. In life and in bookshelves.

For the Hallmark channel lovers: Fixie Farr is too nice for her own good. She solves other peoples’ problems with little thanks in return. That is, until an earnest man at a coffee shop insists on paying her back with a series of IOU’s.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The main character lacks self-respect and is a stark contrast to the selfish, unlikable supporting characters. I Owe You One is a modern-day Cinderella story. Evil siblings? Check. Missing parental figures? Check. Prince Charming in a suit of armor? Not quite…but a fitted three-piece suit? Check. Unfortunately, the stories been told and the characters fell flat. I would have appreciated more nuance and depth to the characters to get my brain turning. The shallow plot left little to the imagination leaving the 400+ pages hard to justify.

2/5 mugs

For the people-watchers, the stargazers and everyone in between: I absolutely adore this author’s Instagram account. I have been a fan for years, and I was so excited to attend the kick-off for her virtual book-tour. Needless to say, my hopes were high for her second book release. I pre-ordered it a month in advance, and I never pre-order anything.

I wove My Inner Sky into the sweetest part of my nighttime ritual. I’d light a candle, and curl up with the book during Golden Hour, a West facing window and the Santa Cruz Mountains were my backdrop. Each section of her book is dedicated to a different time of day, and so it felt especially appropriate. It was cozy in all the right places, thought provoking and funny in others. I imagined catching up with an old friend and not needing to glance up at the clock. As easy as it would’ve been to get lost in her stories till the wee hours of the morning I had to limit how far to read ahead. I savored every last drop.

Her readers are taken along a journey through her solo travels, her battle with a rare disease that temporarily paralyzed her while in a foreign country, heartbreaks, and her biggest love affair of all- New York City. All of which are part of her emotional and physical healing journey (not to mention her trippy experience with ayahuasca deep in the Redwood forest). Her vivid storytelling adds color and life into every page.

If I could equate this book into a pie chart it would be equal parts whimsy, heart, loss of connection and reconnection with more magic sprinkled in than any book I can remember reading as a child. If you follow her Instagram account, you’ll see her signature illustrations pop up throughout. I think younger Amanda would’ve appreciated them too.

It’s as though this woman has lived multiple lives in her thirty something years on this planet. I’m not just referring to where planes have taken her or the time she spent in hospital beds and then relearning how to walk. Or even the immense skill she developed as a New York Times Best Selling author. The thing I’m most drawn by is her ability to view the world with such empathy and presence and the way she can articulate them in such a poetic way. She puts herself in the “path of magic.” She’ll write about the most delicious sandwich at a bodega, her subway rides through the city and the migration of birds that stops her in her tracks. They’ll make you want to stop too. Instead of wanting to let the world harden me up I rather nurture my sensitive heart. Celebrate it. Her book is a celebration of big feelings- even the ones that are uncomfortable or seemingly mundane.

Please order one for yourself and another for someone who could use a hug and extra good company. It’s best when shared.

5/5 mugs