Father’s Day | Book Chatter

Morning coffee in the backyard. Hello, friends! How are you doing? I’ve been doing these “whatnot” posts for almost 30 weeks now. At the 30 week mark I am going to title them by date. Now that we are moving back to being fully open, the week number in the title makes the year seem so darn long. Just letting you know ahead of time.

This week my area of Southern California is experiencing a heat wave. Yesterday was 109 and today it’s supposed to be close to that at 107. I feel for my daughter! Campers arrived this week and she will spend a large portion of her time outside and by the pool. Since there is an official heat advisory and the UV numbers are quite high, I hope the city keeps them largely indoors and in the shade.

Tonight my book club meets in-person and outside to discuss Go Tell It On the Mountain. I really enjoyed the writing.

My son is home for a month or so. The one added benefit to him being home is he enjoys home projects. He has already installed a new ceiling fan on my patio and he took all my rusted plant racks and painted them. You can see his work below.

Painted plant racks/shelving.

As for reading, I finished Summer Darlings and the review is scheduled for this Friday. My review for Go Tell It On The Mountain should be up on Monday. I am now actively reading The Last Thing He Told Me and my next 10 Books of Summer Book, Before She Disappeared.

With more people in the house, I really need to figure out some quick easy meals to make. We have been eating out a lot lately. I would love to take some time today to plan that out so I can hit the market and prepare some meals for the week.

Our dental appointments are early Saturday morning and then after that we don’t really have anything big planned. Father’s Day is up in the air. Not sure what we will do for that yet. It is nice that both kids are here for that though.

Is it super hot where you are yet? I am still a pleasant person at 105 temps but when it goes over that I get a little short-tempered. I am not a fan of bugs either and with the heat, we get our fair share. To get our walk in before it gets hot the pup and I have to head out at 7:30am. I do love how crisp the air is then.

Give me an update on you. What are you reading or watching? We saw In the Heights and it was quite good. A feel-good movie.

Father’s Day
By Simon Van Booy
Harper, Hardcover, 9780062408945, April 2016, 304pp.

The Short of It:

A quiet non-traditional story about a father’s love for his daughter.

The Rest of It:

Harvey is just a young girl when her parents are killed in an accident. After the accident, Harvey is placed with Jason, her uncle, who was recently released from prison for a crime he committed as a teen. The two have a lot to learn and with the help of his social worker, Jason learns that fathers aren’t perfect and that the love of a child is something you have to hold dear.

I really enjoyed this story even though I found it to be very different from what I’ve previously read by this author. The language isn’t as poetic as his short story collections. The story is told plainly but the tone and quiet nature of the story really appealed to me.

I enjoyed reading about this unlikely pair. Jason is a little rough around the edges but charming and remorseful for his past actions. He comes across as very genuine and sincere. Harvey is mature and wise and the two seem to understand each other, which makes the story work so well.

In the end, all the pieces come together and what you have is a satisfying read.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher via Edelweiss.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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