Weekly Recap #138: Week of 1/12 – 1/18
/34 Comments/by Suzanne
It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
I’m still enjoying the calm before the storm this week, as most of my office mates are out at various pre-tax season trainings or are otherwise prepping for our upcoming busy season. I think we’ll have one more quiet week before things really take off. Quiet weeks mean lots of reading time so I’m currently reading my 10th and 11th books of the year right now. I still have four January ARCs to read, down from the 17 I started with in December — but then in keeping with my goal to read more of the books I own this year, I’m aiming to really scale back on how many ARCs I request per month. I think I have 9 for February and only 6 for March so I’m slowly but surely getting myself under control, lol.
Not too much else has been going on. That lovely warm weather spell we had been having here snapped a couple of days ago and now we’re back to winter with its snow, sleet, and cold temps. I had spent many of my afternoons last week out walking and listening to audiobooks but now I’m back to hibernating in my reading room until spring. Have I mentioned how much I hate to be cold?
I also opened my Netflix app for the first time in a few months because the new season of Grace & Frankie dropped last week. I love that show so much! It just gets funnier and funnier every season, and Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are just pure gold together.
My son’s indoor soccer league started back up this week too so we have a game to go to this afternoon. After that, I’ll be fitting in some blog hopping since that’s another of my goals for 2020.
I think that’s pretty much it for me. Have a great week, everyone!
WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK
- [12 Jan] Weekly Recap #137: Week of 1/5 – 1/11
- [13 Jan] A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison ★★★★
- [14 Jan] Top Ten Tuesday – My Reading/Blogging Goals for 2020
- [15 Jan] Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE EXTRAORDINARIES by TJ Klune
- [16 Jan] How Quickly She Disappears by Raymond Fleischmann ★★★½
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK
UPCOMING REVIEWS
STACKING THE SHELVES
TOTALLY RANDOM
Review: HOW QUICKLY SHE DISAPPEARS by Raymond Fleischmann
/12 Comments/by SuzannePublished by BERKLEY on January 14, 2020
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 320
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Raymond Fleischmann’s debut novel How Quickly She Disappears is a powerful story about loneliness, grief, and obsession. Primarily set in a small town in Alaska in 1941, the story follows Elisabeth Pfautz, a woman who becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her twin sister, Jacqueline. Jacqueline went missing without a trace twenty years earlier and the lack of closure is something that has troubled Elisabeth for years.
Elisabeth’s life really gets turned on its end when a mysterious man named Alfred Seidel is imprisoned for murder and refuses to talk to anyone except for Elisabeth. When she goes to see him in prison, he tells her he knows where her missing sister is and that she’s alive and well. He will gladly tell her everything she wants to know about Jacqueline… in due time and in exchange for a few favors. As suspicious and outrageous as this sounds, Elisabeth is desperate for any news about her sister and so she plays along. And play she does, as the two of them begin a mental game of cat and mouse.
Will Elisabeth get the answers she so desperately wants? And if so, at what cost? What is Alfred’s endgame?
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I was drawn into this story immediately, both by the author’s vivid descriptions of the remote Alaskan landscape and by Elisabeth’s emotional plight. I felt sympathy for Elisabeth’s situation right away. The loss of her sister is of course devastating, but I also felt for her because she was so alone. It’s hard enough to move away from everyone and everything you’ve ever known but imagine doing so and then not being welcomed to your new home with open arms. The story is set during WWII and so, being of German descent, Elisabeth and her husband, John, were unfortunately given the side eye more than once by those around them. Couple that with the fact that it becomes apparent early on that John isn’t the most attentive husband in the world, and it’s easy to see why Elisabeth feels so alone.
In addition to creating a sympathetic protagonist, the author also uses one of my favorite tools for historical fiction, the dual timeline presented in alternating chapters. Fleischmann lets the story unfold for us from Elisabeth’s perspective, with one timeline in the present following her cat and mouse game with the suspicious and mysterious Alfred, while the other timeline follows her at age eleven and shows us the lead up to Jacqueline’s disappearance and the immediate aftermath. I really enjoyed following the twists and turns of each timeline and watching the pieces of the story fall into place.
Elisabeth’s growing obsession with Alfred’s game both thrilled and frustrated me. It starts her on a downward spiral, basically taking over her life and causing her to make some horribly bad and downright reckless decisions. Elisabeth’s obsession had me quickly turning the pages to find out what was next in Alfred’s manipulative little game, but at the same time, there were moments when I just couldn’t believe she was actually willing to do some of the things he was demanding of her. When she starts neglecting her own child and putting others at risk, I honestly started to dislike her a little.
Along with my growing frustration with Elisabeth as the story progressed, there were also some moments at the prison where I really had to suspend disbelief to get through. I keep telling myself it’s the 40’s and maybe prisons weren’t as strict back then about prisoners and visitors and the contact they’re allowed to have, but it still had me shaking my head a bit.
My issues with the book were quite minor though and overall I still found How Quickly She Disappears to be a riveting read. It’s atmospheric, suspenseful, and it packs an emotional punch as well. I was really impressed with this debut from Raymond Fleischmann and look forward to many more novels from him.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
The Dry meets Silence of the Lambs in this intoxicating tale of literary suspense set in the relentless Alaskan landscape about madness and obsession, loneliness and grief, and the ferocious bonds of family …
It’s 1941 in small-town Alaska and Elisabeth Pfautz is alone. She’s living far from home, struggling through an unhappy marriage, and she spends her days tutoring her precocious young daughter. Elisabeth’s twin sister disappeared without a trace twenty years earlier, and Elisabeth’s life has never recovered. Cryptic visions of her sister haunt her dreams, and Elisabeth’s crushing loneliness grows more intense by the day. But through it all, she clings to one belief: That her sister is still alive, and that they’ll be reunited one day.
And that day may be coming soon. Elisabeth’s world is upended when Alfred Seidel — an enigmatic German bush pilot — arrives in town and murders a local man in cold blood. Sitting in his cell in the wake of his crime, Alfred refuses to speak to anyone except for Elisabeth. He has something to tell her: He knows exactly what happened to her long-missing sister, but he’ll reveal this truth only if Elisabeth fulfills three requests.
Increasingly isolated from her neighbors and imprisoned by the bitter cold and her own obsession, Elisabeth lets herself slip deeper into Alfred’s web. A tenuous friendship forms between them, even as Elisabeth struggles to understand Alfred’s game and what he’s after.
But if it means she’ll get answers, she’s willing to play by his rules. She’s ready to sacrifice whatever it takes to be reunited with her sister, even if it means putting herself — and her family — in mortal danger.
About Raymond Fleischmann
Raymond Fleischmann’s debut novel, How Quickly She Disappears, is available now from Penguin Random House (Berkley Books). Fleischmann has published short fiction in The Iowa Review, Cimarron Review, The Pinch, and Los Angeles Review, among many others. He earned his MFA from Ohio State University and has received fellowships and scholarships from Richard Hugo House, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and others. He lives in Bloomington, Ind., with his wife and three daughters.
Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE EXTRAORDINARIES by TJ Klune
/26 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is THE EXTRAORDINARIES by TJ Klune. I’ve always heard good things about TJ Klune’s books so he has been on my list of authors to try for a while now. I just mentioned in my goals post earlier this week that reading one of Klune’s books was a priority for me in 2020 so I was thrilled to then find out he’s actually has his YA debut coming out this year. It sounds great too. I was sold as soon as I saw the Fangirl meets Renegades comparison.
THE EXTRAORDINARIES by TJ Klune
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
From Goodreads:
Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. TJ Klune’s YA debut, The Extraordinaries, is a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves.
Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?
After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life).
Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl meets Marissa Meyer’s Renegades in TJ Klune’s YA debut.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂