Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (NetGalley Review)

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (August 13, 2019)
Description from the publisher: 

Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's a total pro at other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew―even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...and it means risking it all―the only job she’s ever loved, and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.

I quite enjoyed How to Walk Away last summer by Katherine Center, and was excited to read her latest this summer! Things You Save in a Fire did not disappoint, it lived up to it's predecessor and in some ways exceeded my expectations.

From the first pages I was drawn in by Cassie's inner monologue, and the witty dialogue she dishes out with her fellow firefighters. She is immediately likeable as the hero of this story: fierce, strong, hard working, yet so very vulnerable. The reason she has to leave Texas goes beyond her ailing mother, and makes for a dramatic opening scene in the book which hints at something that has shaped her entire adult life. That the process of confronting her trauma didn't hinge entirely on a romance was absolutely refreshing. Though, I absolutely adored the sweet and slightly cheesy romance with the rookie! If you are looking for a sweet romance, you will be completely satisfied! And if you also enjoy complex family relationships, there is definitely something there, too. The journey of forgiveness and understanding with her mother, as well as a mysterious harasser within the fire department, was so compelling and thought provoking.

"Maybe you need to find something new to add to your life, instead of just clutching so hard to the past that you strangle it."

Upon reading the acknowledgements, I realized that Katherine Center's husband is a firefighter and thought that was pretty cool. She must've had the absolute straight scoop and it was certainly interesting to learn a little bit about what it might be like inside a fire station. Also, if you read How to Walk Away, you might recognize Cassie from the early part of the book!
Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review - as well as my local Seattle bookstagrammer community for the hard copy from our book swap!

Gravity is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty

Gravity Is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty
Publisher: Harper Books (July 23, 2019)
Description from the publisher:

Twenty years ago, Abigail Sorenson’s brother Robert went missing one day before her sixteenth birthday, never to be seen again. That same year, she began receiving scattered chapters in the mail of a self-help manual, the Guidebook, whose anonymous author promised to make her life soar to heights beyond her wildest dreams.

The Guidebook’s missives have remained a constant in Abi’s life—a befuddling yet oddly comforting voice through her family’s grief over her brother’s disappearance, a move across continents, the devastating dissolution of her marriage, and the new beginning as a single mother and café owner in Sydney.

Now, two decades after receiving those first pages, Abi is invited to an all-expenses paid weekend retreat to learn “the truth” about the Guidebook. It’s an opportunity too intriguing to refuse. If Everything is Connected, then surely the twin mysteries of the Guidebook and a missing brother must be linked?

What follows is completely the opposite of what Abi expected––but it will lead her on a journey of discovery that will change her life––and enchant readers. Gravity Is the Thing is a smart, unusual, wickedly funny novel about the search for happiness that will break your heart into a million pieces and put it back together, bigger and better than before.

This was one of those odd books that was not at all my kind of read for about 90 percent of the pages, and I adored the last 10 percent. I am a big supporter of DNF'ing (did not finish) books that I don't enjoy, but sometimes there's a mystery that I want to get to the bottom of and I just keep going. The mystery in Gravity is the Thing is indeed solved, and with a magnificent sucker punch ending that completely changed my thoughts on this novel in the final few pages. So, I'm having a bit of conundrum on my overall opinion...

First, here's what didn't work for me. The story is told in a dual timeline, present day with revealing glimpses to the past that slowly reveal how Abi came be a single mother. Normally I really love a dual timeline, yet the structure of the past timeline utilizes Abigail's yearly 'reflections' (her responses to each year of chapters she receives from The Guidebook) which are written in  'stream of consciousness' style. She learned this particular technique during a class she took with her long lost brother, so it makes sense to employ, yet it is all over the place and just didn't flow. The present day sections are not much improved, even setting aside the absurd plot device that brings her together with her current love interest. The storylines seem disjointed and I felt as if so much could have been eliminated to improve the pacing. Whole sections are dedicated to Abigail reading several different self-help books and applying their advice in her everyday life. These were cute asides, but had nothing to do with the plot or character development and felt tedious. I would have liked more development with her love interests, of which I didn't feel terribly invested. 

What DID work for me, however, was the writing - there were some absolutely lovely and astute passages amid what felt like ramblings. And, the plot threads that Moriarty pulls together in the end to solve the mystery of Abigail's missing brother, are so well done. The reveal was so poignant and it just broke my heart. In the end, the absurdness of The Guidebook, and the gathering of characters who received the chapters, was needed to deliver said ending. I just think she could have drawn straighter lines to get there. Overall I wouldn't give this a hearty endorsement, because it took too much work to get to the resolution. I'd recommend this for readers who might enjoy stream of consciousness philosophical musings on self help.
Many thanks to Harper Books for a complimentary copy for review!

Books I Read in June

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
This was an utterly absorbing, stay up late turning the pages courtroom drama! Not only is it an unflinching dissection of modern parenthood, and how we can never truly understand each other’s complex experience, but a whodunnit that had me guessing until the very end. This is what I expect from thrillers, yet they don’t seem to deliver- perhaps I should read more courtroom dramas?

Almost Everything by Anne Lamott
I am admitting that, until now, I have not consumed any of Anne Lamott's work. The spiritual woo-woo is just so. not. my. bag. However, I think all of us can use a little soothing and hope in these ridiculous times and it's been a little stressful in my little corner of the world. I figured this would be as good a time as any to give her, and Notes on Hope, a shot. One of the reasons I don't jive with self-help style books is that I find them to be just stating the obvious but in a pretty way. Certainly Lamott falls into this category for me, but she was so darn funny and she states the obvious in a profound, not just pretty, way. "Expectations are resentments under construction." Dang.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Circe was one of absolute favorite books last year and I'm glad I finally got around to reading her first novel! This was just as readable and compelling as Circe, and I'm beginning to think I need to read more Greek mythology. Or is it just Miller's amazing storytelling? This account of Achilles and the Trojan war from the perspective of his companion and love, Patroclus, lends so much humanity and heart to the tale. I'd say I loved Circe a smidge more for her searing one liners and inherent feminism, though!

The Perfect Fraud by Ellen LaCorte
This was a decent summer thriller, not amazing but a breezy read. Full review here.

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
I spotted this on the paperback picks shelf at the library and I'm so glad that I FINALLY read a graphic novel for adult readers. Certainly I have enjoyed a smattering of middle grade, and enjoyed them immensely. But this was on a completely different level, the emotions and perspective that Bui brings to her family story is downright visceral. It's a heartbreaking story about migrants, trauma, and family. I can't recommend it enough. 

From Scratch by Tembi Locke
Thanks to the buzz around this Reese's Book Club pick, I decided to listen to this audio book and it was lovely, and sad. Her vivid descriptions of young love, Italy, and food were lovely. Her story about losing her husband to cancer when their daughter was only seven broke my heart. It hit close to home, too, because I lost my own father (to a heart attack) when I was only seven. It made me ache for her daughter, for childhood me, for her as a mother, and for my own mother. The relationship with her Sicilian mother-in-law is especially touching and beautifully hopeful in the end.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
The only other book I've read by Gilbert was Eat, Pray, Love (shocker!) and I didn't care for it, for the same reason many others did not - it screamed of privilege and I'm not big on those 'stating the obvious' type of books. (See above re: Anne Lamott.) But, oh man, I am so very glad I put that aside to read City of Girls. I have such a hard time getting into the details of why I love a book when I LOVE IT SO MUCH. All the platitudes apply: vivid characters, sweeping sense of place, a propulsive story, etc. etc. At nearly 500 pages I burned through this in just a few days. This coming of age story is reminiscent of one of my long ago favorites: Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk, mashed with a recent favorite: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Gilbert just infuses such beautiful self awareness and 'HELL YEAH' into her characters - it's going into my all time greats, no doubt.

"When I was younger, I had wanted to be at the very center of all the action in New York, but I slowly came to realize that there is no one center. The center is everywhere - wherever people are living out their lives."

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell
I enjoyed O'Farrell's most recent fiction novel, This Must be the Place, and picked up her memoir after hearing so many (correct) rave reviews. Her 'Seventeen Brushes with Death' are harrowing, lyrical, wrenching and also life affirming. So often she brought me to tears or heart pounding fear with the terrible hardships she's suffered and I had a GREAT DEAL of righteous anger on her behalf - seriously, her story about birthing her first child is rage inducing, and the treatment by the other children when she returned to school after a life threatening illness is just terrible. I also did some googling after reading (always the sign of a great book) and she didn't set out to make this for public consumption, but an account of her life for her daughter who suffers terribly from life threatening allergies. To show her that we are all suffering in some way, so close to death an any moment. She didn't even take an advance on the book, well only one pound for legal reasons, in the event she did not want to publish. It's just all around remarkable.