Let's Talk Books: An Untamed State

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay (5/5 stars)
What it's about: Mireille, her husband Michael, and their baby boy are visiting family in Haiti. As they back out of Mireille's parent's driveway on their way to the beach, a group of armed kidnappers swarm the car and take Mireille. For thirteen days she is held hostage by a group of men led by a man who calls himself 'The Commander'. As her husband pleads with her father to pay her ransom, Mireille attempts to forget the woman she used to be and struggles to become the person she needs to be to survive.

What I thought: This book consumed my life for two days. From the first sentence I was hooked into finding out what happens to Mireille. Gay's writing made me feel every hopeless moment of Mireille's thirteen days as hostage and every painful minute of her recovery. The structure of the book weaves between Mireille and Michael recalling past events from their relationship to their current day situation. Usually I find these back stories to be overdone and tiring, but like a boxer who needs a break between rounds I found myself needing some time in the corner to re-energize my heart before diving back into the main plot line. An Untamed State reminded me a little bit of Emma Donogue's Room, but with more detail into what happens after freedom (I'm sure that's in part to Room being told from a child's perspective). Gay did an excellent job describing how difficult and painful Mireille's life was after she escaped. An Untamed State is definitely not for everyone. I think the subject is difficult for...well, anyone human. It's still haunting me.

Let's Talk Books - The Paying Guests and Elizabeth is Missing

Books have been an important of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was grounded as a kid it wasn't TV that was taken away, but books and library visits. My love of books came from my Dad and Mom. I don't think I've ever seen my Dad without a library book in his hand and my Mom always had her portable CD player with her around the house listening to audio books. I was in a reading slump a few years ago, but after joining two different book clubs I feel like I'm reading more than ever. I miss the days of working at Barnes and Noble and being able to talk about books on a daily basis, so I thought the next best thing would be to bring my book ramblings to my blog. Shout out to my friend and fellow book club member Beth for encouraging me to start this!

This year I have a goal to read 40 books and to tackle the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist. You can learn more about the Prize here. I'm taking a page (er, CD?) out of my Mom's book and am trying do more audio books. I've had great luck so far with audio books this year and it's helping me to finish more books.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (3/5 stars)
What it's about: It's 1922 and Mr. Wray has passed away, the two Wray sons have died in the war, and Mrs. Wray and her daughter Frances have no other option but to convert the upstairs to an apartment and take on lodgers to make ends meet. Enter Leonard and Lilian Barber, a young couple who become the paying guests. Frances develops a crush on Lilian which quickly turns into a love affair. Both women try to hide the affair from Mrs. Wray and Leonard, which of course doesn't go exactly according to plan.

What I thought: This was my second Waters book. I read Tipping the Velvet last year for book club and really liked it. I didn't love the characters as much in The Paying Guests. I found Lilian to be insufferable for about 80% of the book. Part of this probably has to do with the audio version I was listening to (she did a great job at making Lilian's voice as annoying as possible every time she cried out to Frances) but I wanted to shake her and yell "Grow up!" every time her name crossed the page. No one seemed to really grow, improve, or even change throughout the book which made it seem a little bit exhausting to read. It was like listening to a friend tell you about a series of terrible decisions they made and when they got to the end of the story they said, "I guess that's it. What's for dinner?"

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey (4/5 stars)
What's it about: Maud can't remember she's already bought canned peaches. She can't remember if she's eaten or where she lives. Sometimes when she looks into her daughter's face she struggles to figure out who she is. But there's one thing that Maud, despite her dementia, never seems to forget. Her friend Elizabeth is missing. As she tries to put the pieces and handwritten notes together she's reminded of another woman, her sister Sukey, who also disappeared from her life years prior. The book flows back and forth between present day and Maud's memories of her sister's disappearance.

What I thought: I was immediately sucked into Maud's story and her observations on how people treat and see her. They were so beautifully written that at times it was heartbreaking. I liked her interactions with her daughter Helen and her granddaughter Katy. I could feel Helen's frustrations in answering the same questions over and over and  I could appreciate the humor that Katy felt in some of the same situations. I enjoyed the Elizabeth story more than the Sukey parts. I wanted less detail when she looked back and more detail as she searched for Elizabeth, but I'm sure she did too. The book reminded me so much of my Grandmother who also had Alzheimer's. Some of the last visits with her I can remember involve her asking me and my brother what grade we were in repeatedly. I don't know if this book will get the attention it deserves with Julianne Moore's recent Oscar win for Still Alice fresh in everyone's mind, but it's definitely worth the read (or the listen).