The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion - Volume 8 - by Beth Brower - Audio book on Libby AND print book

Oh, my this one is as good as the last! I'm so sorry to have reached the end of the series, so far. Apparently Volume 9 is being written right now...Can't wait to read the next develoopments. But it will be good to take a break. This is the first one I've listened to instead of read, and it became an obsession for too long! I'm ready to take a break from being tied to my Airpods.

This volume mostly takes place at Stonecrop, Duke Islington's estate that is idyllic. There is such beauty in the descriptions of both the place and of the friendship of the four main characters that I want to capture somehow. I will wait until my hold on the actual book becomes available and read it. I think I will like that better... I like to pause and read beautiful passages, and that's harder to do on an audio.

The specter of alcoholism is becoming more pronounced as Pierce confronts his stepfather, an alcoholic. I found myself wondering if Emma's attachment to Pierce is going to be problematic...or will she inspire him to change? There was a lot of HARD emotion in this confrontation...still plenty of lightness too, but it was a very hard episode to swallow.

It was a delightful (mostly) vacation to immerse myself in this story, but I am ready to clean house, welcome the Riskedahl's as houseguests, and get back into my world. It's been challenging with Leonard having a very bad cold and cough...I have not been the doting wife! I will do better now that this story is a wrap! 

A couple of weeks later...April 11, 2026

This book became available through the library, so I took the opportunity to actually READ it rather than LISTEN to it. And, as good as the narrator is, I MUCH prefer the reading. I can slow down to consider the poetry, and re-savor the biting humor, and easily see where I am. I missed A LOT, I noticed, in the listening. Still, it was good to have the comparison. When Volume 9 arrives, I will purchase it so I can mark the most poetic and beautiful lines. I wanted to capture many in this volume, but couldn't because it's the library's copy. Sigh.

One repetitive couplet in this was: Fount, ree and shed are gone, I know not whither, 

But in one quiet room we three are still together. Emma changes this second line to:

But on one quiet hill we four are still together.

Coleridge? Whitman? I'm not sure. Also plenty of Shakespeare. But Brower captures perfectly MY kind of joy in nature as Emma describes being at Stonecrop. She feels utterly like HERSELF. So powerful!

After returning to London, Emma describes her time away this way:

These long days out of doors feel like coming home to a place to which I've always held the key, but was told it should be put away. But, oh! There has been sovereignty of self in this place--of body, of spirit, of the intangible magic which sews the two together. To shout and run. To lie in tall grasses and watch the wind play the sunlight both true and false. To feed the building threat of rain and watch it crash to earth from the tenuous safety beneath a tree rather than from behind a window. 

I am, I suppose, satiating a long drought. 

My childhood soul has been left too long abandoned.

How do I best find it in London?

At times I feel my body has betrayed the girl I was, growing past the lithe limbs hewn in independence. We are to be fit for the purposes of adulthood, I know this. Childhood anticipations are traded with the shouldering of heavier things. But these days, these stones-tossed-in-tall-grass days, have stretched my muscles, recalled past forms, and I am remembering how it is to feel, to follow the instincts of something young yet ancient. To step outside the province of maturity and marvel. 

Wow...this excerpt captures my exuberance during a happy hike, and helps me recall that I was created to find JOY in this life. 

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

 This book was so amazing that I immediately ordered a copy for Melissa! She has started a little book club with Dawson, Coralett, and Gabe. Next they are reading Theo of Golden. Another great choice...

I loved this book so much. I'd heard a lot of hype about it, and it surpassed the hype, actually. My book club read it, and we ALL were so impressed by it and had a lot to say about it...the guilt Sybil felt, the way she grew and developed over time, the goodness in so many of the characters... 

My own copy of it has not yet arrived, so I had to borrow a copy and read it in a day, which was okay, but I'm ready to read it again at a more reasonable pace. I really wanted to contribute to the conversation we were having about it in my Ridgeview ward book club, so I was happy I could to that. A delightful chat,  for sure.

Both Shirla and I wondered if Sybil had had an understanding bishop or of the gospel, would she have had a different way of reacting to the tragedy of the death of her son? We all loved her relationship with the troubled young man in the story. It just reaffirmed my desire to do good in the world. And to reach out more to those I love...

I'm curious about how Melissa will respond to the thread of adoption in this story and how Sybil finally connects with her half-siblings...

You Are Here by David Nicholls - Audiobook on Libby - 8 hours

 This book was part of a list of books that were "heartwarming" and similar to my obsession with Beth Brower's books. So I took a chance and listened to it. It IS heartwarming, and the writing is delightfully witty and crisp. I guess I mean the dialogue is witty. 

The narrator is British and some of the words and allusions were lost on me. But there were enough that were so clever and so fun that it was a fun listen. The story moved along in an interesting, introspective way that I related to. I mean a lot of the feelings of loneliness, relationship struggle, struggle to be authentic, etc., felt very true. 

The only caveat is that although it's fairly clean, not too spicy, there are parts where the language, particularly F-bombs take over. Not fun, but not too distracting. I really enjoyed both of the main characters, because they were so hapless, vulnerable, and open to change. 

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

This book came highly recommended by those who like epostolary novels, which I do. However, this one is too short and its allusions are too obscure for me to appreciate. Still, it was an enjoyable, charming, and quick read. What's also interesting is that it begins in 1949 and goes through 1969--an incredibly important time span in MY life. I enjoyed some to the cultural things going on, though there wasn't much of that; mainly at the beginning when the British folks had rationing, and the New Yorker could order them food.

It was so sad that this author, Helene Hanff, the writer of the letters to the amazing and charming British bookseller, never made it to London to visit this beloved place in person. Her letters brought her close to the workers there, and even their families--it was so sad she never got there in person. I also enjoyed their descriptions of the books and their creamy pages...The prices were amazing for these collectors' items...it was fun to read about those aspects... 

I am definitely a book lover, and the worlds it creates for me...especially at this time of my life when I have time to enjoy them. I am becoming more discerning, too, and really appreciate a good read as opposed to most of the fluff coming out today...

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion - Volume 7 - by Beth Brower

 This Volume 7 takes up exactly where Volume 6 left off, namely Emma and Pierce's KISS! And what it means, and how do they move forward? It's a sweet and often funny discussion, and sometimes very poignant. This story also features a little more about the Pirate, and his extraordinary abilities in journal making. He's also marginally kinder to Emma.

This journal culminates with a shocking incident when Emma and Islington are caught in each other's arms when he stumbles, and much is made about why they are found this way. It's absurdly funny, and the result is that Islington claims to be Emma's guardian after she reaches "her majority."

We also learn more about young Hawkes and his amazing scholarly abilities, as well as his uncanny and intuitive ability to help out where and when he's needed. We learn about his relationship with Emma's father, though not too much. He's willing to tell her more, but prefers she not ask, so she doesn't. I sure hope we learn more about this fascinating character in Volume 8!

Emma is reading Plutarch in this volume, and there are also more Shakespeare and Emerson quotes. She's definitely a student of the classics, which makes me want to get into these more, as well as Wordsworth. I'm following several Instagram accounts where Brower claims to be working on Volume 9, but isn't yet able to announce a publication date. It's clear that her many fans, like me, are waiting anxiously for more news of this enchanting character. 

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

 This was a selection by someone in my Monterey Book Club, and I'm glad I waited to get it from the library, because it isn't one I would ever want to give away or reread.

That is not to say, though, that there isn't some merit to the book. I liked how it shared the complexities of the way politics and the U.S. government work. Mary McLeod Bethune is a black academician who becomes a civil rights leader and a good friend of Mrs. Roosevelt. There was a lot I didn't know about the Roosevelt family, for example that Eleanor was related to Teddy and was a Roosevelt herself before she married Franklin.

I also knew that there was speculation about her having a lesbian relationship and marital problems, and this book took that theme and ran with it. It got a little tiresome to read about some of these problems. What was interesting to me, though, was the way that Eleanor supported Civil Rights causes and tried her best to persuade her husband to support them as well. I also learned more about the New Deal and its sweeping legislation. 

What is disappointing, though is the total lack of credible citations or sources or bibliography. In the end notes, both authors claim to have read hundreds of articles, etc., yet there isn't one citation. So it's kind of impossible to separate fact from fiction. 

The authors also claim that their own black/white relationship grew as they discussed difficult racial issues as they co-authored this book. However, the racial aspects of the story are not particularly nuanced. They did do a good job, though, of reflecting the oft-made mistake of whites wanting to make decisions for blacks, and of token black appointments with no power or authority. That was felt authentic and unfortunately true. 

One of my neighbors said she disliked the book so much she couldn't even read past the first couple of pages! She doesn't even want to attend the discussion, which makes me wonder what she's all about. She checked in with me to see how I liked it, but I hadn't begun it yet... Now I'm curious to see if it's the sympathetic portrayal of blacks that got to her or what??? It will be interesting to find out!

The Unlikely Thru-Hiker by Derick Lugo

 I was sold on the hype on this one, on Amazon, and I was between book club books, so I went for it. The purchase supports the AT, so it also felt like a good cause.

I love hiking books! Obviously. This one was lighter than most, and enjoyable. The perspective of being the only black hiker on the trail was a novel one. He was also a true novice, non-hiker, who succeeded in finishing the hike. These are commendable. He focuses more on his fellow hikers than on any of his own injuries or struggles. Maybe he didn't have too many? He described some challenges, but he doesn't dwell on them like many other author-hikers do.

One thing that struck me was how well he described the through-hiker culture. He was willing to step off the trail to attend some hiker celebrations that were held along the way, and it reminded me of exactly what Eli has described to me as Burning Man culture. You barter, you trade, you give away, you accept, you love, you don't judge, you help others along their way.

He does have some moments of appreciating the profound beauty around him, but that isn't his focus. As a New Yorker, his appreciation of the outdoors is child-like and charming. Lugo is a part-time comedian, and always takes a light and comedic tone in his interactions with others. He's also relentlessly positive, and earned his trail name of "Mr. Fabulous." It's not great writing or great humor, but it is a fresh and enjoyable read.