The Ski Jumpers
Peter Geye

The Ski Jumpers is a gem of a book. As always, Geye delivers beautifully written, sensitive material. In this novel, Jon is facing early onset-Alzheimer’s. He’s also been harboring a family secret for years and decides it’s time to come clean with his longtime wife (and arguably, soulmate), Ingrid. As Jon and Ingrid travel to their daughter and daughter-in-law’s home for a visit, Jon opens up to Ingrid. As a boy, Jon and his brother Anton were ski jumpers, like their dad, known as “Pops.” Jon has gone on to become a successful novelist and Anton owns a seedy bar. Jon and Anton have fallen out of contact, but when Pops passes away, they reconnect. It’s clear from the writing that Geye knows a thing or two about ski jumping himself, and in fact, he was once a competitive ski jumper. I’ve never paid much attention to ski jumping, it’s not a sport I follow, but that’s not required to enjoy this book. We hosted Geye for an event on October 1 and the thing he said that has stuck with me (and likely will for a long time) is, “I quit ski jumping at 19 and regretted it, but having quit that and knowing the pain of quitting stopped me from ever quitting writing.” Thank goodness.

The Last Chairlift
John Irving

Recently I took a road trip to St. Louis and back. I figured this was the perfect time to listen to the The Last Chairlift, which clocks in at 900+ pages, or 32 hours and 45 minutes. It was a good choice! Admittedly, I’m still not finished listening to it (round trip to St. Louis is 24 hours.) Our narrator is Adam, the son of a skier named Rachel, better known as Little Rae, and an unknown father. The book is about family (especially those unconventional but loving), coming of age, wrestling (but not really as most sports in books aren’t really about sports), ghosts, aging, writing, and loyalties. While Adam is an only child, his cousin Nora is close enough to him to be his sibling. Nora’s longtime girlfriend Em, a pantomimist who chooses not to speak, is like a sister-in-law. As the book progressed, I was reminded of Chelsey Johnson’s novel, Stray City, in that the characters of the LGTBQ+ community feel like what’s normal and Adam, who is heterosexual, seems a bit of an outsider. I like books that cover years, and The Last Chairlift definitely does that. Irving has a charming habit of having a number of names for every character that is in no way confusing: for example, Elliot Barlow = The Snowshoer = The Little English Teacher. The nicknames keep the reader on his/her toes about all the elements of characters. Every character gets a deep dive from Irving. For book groups that choose to read and discuss this book, I guarantee no one will complain, “I wish the author had told us more about Character X.” All the details are included. The narrator of this audiobook is a good one (and if you speed up the pace to 1.1, you can save a bit of time without losing the quality of the voice .)

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones

I’m reading/listening to The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. Often I alternate between reading print and listening to audio, and this is an ideal one in which to alternate. Each chapter contains a long piece on a particular topic/slice of history, a piece of poetry, and some short bits of history for context. Often photographs are included. I like listening to the longer pieces, especially because they are narrated by their author, but I like to see the shorter pieces (and of course the photographs) on the page. Our Current Events book club will be discussing this in November and I’m anticipating a good discussion about American history. If you’ve heard there’s been backlash to The 1619 Project, know that the criticisms were primarily aimed at the original 1619 Project that was published in the New York Times, not this book. Those criticisms, too, I think will lend themselves to discussion. (Should we throw out the baby with the bathwater?)

One Hundred Saturdays
Michael Frank

This is the best book I’ve read recently!

In 2015, Michael Frank had a chance meeting with Stella Levi at a lecture on Nazi Fascism at NYU. Levi, who was born in 1923, is a Holocaust survivor. Over the next six years, Frank and Levi met on many Saturdays, and she slowly revealed the story of her life to him.

Levi grew up in the Juderia (Jewish quarter) on the island of Rhodes. The daughter of a successful businessman, she passionately wanted to follow in her older sister’s footsteps and receive an education. At the age of 14, she placed a packed suitcase by the front door of her home as a symbol of her intention to do so. Her stories of her early years reveal a close community and family. That changed with the arrival on Rhodes of the Fascists who would ultimately destroy the community and send 1650 people, including Stella, her sister, and their parents to Auschwitz.

The sisters survived the ordeal; their parents did not. The stories of this part of Stella’s life are harrowing and important for us to read, internalize, and remember.

Finally, Stella tells of her long post-war life. This part of the book is poignant, for the dreams and aspirations of the 14-year-old who desired an education were not the lived experiences of the survivor of the camps.

The book relates brutal experiences, but Stella’s indomitable spirit gives hope to her story. The survivors of the camps are dying of old age, but it is crucial that their stories do not die with them. Don’t miss reading this book—it may well be the most important one you read this year.

A World of Curiosities
Louise Penny

I’m a huge fan of Louise Penny’s series of mysteries featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Québec Sûreté. They’re mysteries, yes, but the appeal to me is the psychological insight into the characters and the growth and relationships of the continuing characters across years and cases.

This, the 18th book in the series, takes place in Three Pines, as do many of the books which have preceded it. Three Pines, an isolated village in Quebec, is populated with a variety of inhabitants, many of whom have discovered the town after the wider world has let them down.

A case from the past of Gamache and his second-in-command (and son-in-law) resurfaces in this latest book, threatening the tranquility of Three Pines and the lives of several of its inhabitants.

To say more would reveal spoilers, which I’m not going to do. I will say, though, that the book is a worthy addition to the series I’m so fond of.

Note: This book will be released November 29.

The House with the Golden Door
Elodie Harper

I bet just about everyone who reads The Wolf Den, the first book in this trilogy, will rush to get The House with the Golden Door. Now I’m distraught that the third book isn’t going to come for a while.

The first book has a bittersweet ending for Amara, a woman born free in Greece but sold into slavery and bought by a pimp in Pompeii. The second book explores more about the lives of enslaved and freed women and men in Roman society, their precarious positions if supported by patrons, their friendships, and their desperate desire to keep families together. Amara is a strong but flawed woman in an impossible situation, fighting to stay safe and doing her best for those she loves. But doing one’s best isn’t always enough.

The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett

There was a town in Louisiana so small it didn’t appear on any map. It was founded by a fair-skinned Black man who set out to cultivate a community of others like him, so that after a few generations everyone looked white. But people in neighboring towns all knew, and mistreated the citizens of Mallard accordingly. Twin girls were born to a descendant of the founder. They were inseparable and physically identical, but they had different personalities. They branched off in different directions as adults.

The characters in this remarkable book are so finely drawn that we care deeply about them and feel like we’re getting a taste of what it would be like to be in their situations. We forgive them their sins and rejoice in their successes.

Once I got into the book I saw that the book’s cover is brilliant. I can’t imagine what it would be like to write like Bennett: I only wish I had designed the cover.

Seven Days in June
Tia Williams

This is the perfect follow up to The Vanishing Half. While Seven Days is light and sexy and lacks the gravitas of Vanishing Half, it has some of the same themes, and it makes you smile as you glide through the somewhat related story.

Eva is the author of a series of erotic romance novels about a witch and a vampire. Eva has debilitating headaches, a precocious 12-year-old daughter, memories of a crazy childhood, and writer’s block. She has no time or energy for a man in her busy New York life. Or does she?

In an interview with the author in the back of the book I learned something I wished I’d known as I read it. The author is speaking from experience when she describes the pain of chronic daily migraine headaches. I never realized how awful they are and am amazed at William’s overcoming them to become the accomplished author and woman she certainly is.

The Revolutionary Samuel Adams
Stacy Scott

To be really honest, I picked this book up thinking it was about John Quincy Adams. I was looking for a change of pace in my reading, and thought the American Revolution might be just the change I needed. I was right. This is mainly because I know so very little about the facts. What was it about American History in school that made it all so forgettable?

'To have a villainous ruler imposed on you was a misfortune. To elect him yourself was a disgrace." This is a quote I came across in the first two pages, and I have to tell you, I was immediately hooked. Samuel Adams was a pamphleteer, speaker, organizer, and 'democratic' pain in the a** (against the British) who almost single-handedly brought together the people of the greater Boston area to protest, and eventually actively resist the imposed British Colonial Government. He was one of the major organizers of the famous Boston Tea Party, which I shame facedly have to tell you, I knew only the barest of rumors that have come to us, represented as history. The truth of it is VERY different. I wonder what he would think of the bungled mess that passes for our politics today? I also wonder what he would think of the squandering of his courageous efforts, and the efforts of the other men and women, who risked their lives and fortunes to create this country? And just as a sidebar, I think he'd approve wholeheartedly Ukraine's valiant resistance.

Ithaca
Claire North

This is the fourth book I've read recently where the author has taken a snippet of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, as the starting point of her tale. Claire North has done a brilliant job of expanding on some of the less explored characters in Homer's work, mainly Penelope, wife of the famous Odysseus. She was condemned to wait eighteen long, weary years for the return of her husband from the Greek victory at Troy. We're privy to her thoughts, her loneliness, and yes, her temptations. North narrates the story largely through the voice of Hera, Queen of the Gods, wife of the mighty Zeus. Interestingly, it must be said, Hera has frustrations, jealousies, and temptations of her own, in her marriage with the often neglectful and self-absorbed King of the Gods. For me, it was interesting having Hera, whispering confidentially to me, over my shoulder, a running commentary, her uncensored estimation of the actions of 'the mortals'. Often scoffing at their foibles and flawed understanding, of the roles the Gods had mapped out for them; which is a polite way of saying the mortals were being messed with at every turn by forces beyond their control. Interesting too, was discovering who was more subject to human flaws and jealousies, and who seriously strove to attain the ideals and genius of the Greek notion of Virtue, and why. I think this was one of the best books I've read in the last three years.

The Boy and the Dog
Seishu Hasep

I'm between books! What I mean is, I have no all absorbing, primary book of interest underway just now, and I feel sort of 'at sea.’ The reason is that a couple of days ago I finished, The Boy and the Dog which is shortly coming out in the English translation. It's a curious post-earthquake and tsunami tale about a lost dog seeking to be reunited with a young boy. Simple enough in its structure, and I was beginning to feel it was a work of Young Adult Fiction; but NO!! The dog, named Tamon, spends time with several people while on his quest to find the child, and it becomes apparent that he's helping the people he encounters just as much as they're helping him. Enough so that I'll argue the tale is a modern day folk tale of Buddhist pilgrimage, of a reincarnated spirit, making its way towards spiritual resolution and fulfillment. My pallid description here might sound banal and maybe even commonplace, but the tale has resonated with me, in a remarkably intimate manner. To such a degree, that I wonder if this period of aimlessness, in seeking a direction in my future reading, isn't an unconscious need to take time to digest and meditate on, the lessons I've had encountering Tamon. If you're at all a 'pet person', and you know, in your bones, they're spirits living alongside of us, sharing our lives, you'll enjoy this book.

Note: this book will be available November 15

The Hungry Brain
Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat
Stephan J. Guyunet, Ph.D.

Dr. Guyunet thoroughly and concisely reviews all the factors that contribute to overeating and presents these solutions:

Fix Your Food Environment
Get rid of tempting, calorie-dense foods that are easy to grab at home and work; by reducing availability, your cravings will subside. Limit the amount of visible food on counters/tables/desks, especially snack foods that are too easy to grab and eat quickly. Minimize your exposure to food advertising.

Manage Your Appetite
Choose foods that send strong satiety signals to the brain but contain moderate calories; these foods have lower calorie density, and higher protein and/or fiber content, and a moderate level of palatability (examples include fresh fruit, vegetables, potatoes, fresh meat, seafood, eggs, yogurt, whole grains, beans, lentils.)
 
Beware of Food Reward
Calorie-dense combinations of fat, sugar, starch, protein, and salt can trigger cravings, overeating, and unhealthy eating habits and lead to eating past the point of satiety. Instead eat simple foods that are less calorie dense.

Make Your Sleep a Priority
Restorative sleep has a major impact on eating behavior. Spend enough time in bed. Ensure your room is completely dark. Keep your bedroom cool. Only use your bed for sleep and sex. Circadian rhythm affects sleep quality and is regulated by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day

Move Your Body
Exercise increases the number of calories you use, making it less likely you will overeat. Physical activity helps maintain the lipostat (fat thermometer) in the brain which encourages a naturally improved level of leanness.

Manage Stress
Give your threat response system the right cues to prevent emotional eating. First identify if you are a stress eater, then identify the stressor(s) (examples include work, money, health, caregiving, relationship conflict, lack of social support). Try to mitigate the stressor by making a plan or embracing mindfulness. Replace stress eating with another activity (talk to a friend, read, exercise, take a bath, garden, have sex). Remove comfort food from your environment.
This book is for you if you want a thorough scientific explanation of why the author recommends the above strategies to outsmart overeating.

Note: a version of this review was published in a recent edition of the Park Rapids Enterprise and is used with the permission of the author.