Review: Carmen and Grace by Melissa Coss Aquino

Synopsis: Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since they were little girls, more like sisters than cousins, survivors of a childhood marked by neglect and addiction, and a system that never valued them—for too long all they had was each other. That is until Doña Durka swept into their lives and changed everything, taking Grace into her home, providing stability and support, and playing an outsized role in Carmen’s upbringing too.

Durka is more than a beneficent force in their Bronx neighborhood though. She’s also the leader of an underground drug empire, a larger-than-life matriarch who understands the vital importance of taking what power she can in a world too often ruled by violent men. So, when Durka dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances, Carmen and Grace’s lives are thrown into chaos. Grace has been primed to take over and has grand plans to expand the business. While Carmen is ready to move on—from the shadow of Durka and her high expectations, and most of all, from always looking over her shoulder in fear. She’s also harboring a secret: she’s pregnant and starting to show, and desperate to build a new life before the baby arrives.

But how can Carmen leave the only family she’s ever known, this tight sisterhood of women known as the D.O.D, a group of lost girls turned skilled professionals under Durka’s guiding hand, all tightly bonded in their spirituality and merciless support for one another—especially now, when outside threats are circling, and Grace’s plans are speeding recklessly forward.

~ ~ ~

This one packs a punch!

Two girls, living in the Bronx's Puerto Rican community, find that their lives take a turn - for better or worse is a matter of semantics - when the benevolent, mother-figure and protector, Dona Durka takes them under her wing. But Dona Durka is a hardened drug boss, and their girls are part of the DOD - Daughters of Durka, a sisterhood of street-toughs, banded together by friendship, loyalty and culture. It is only after the death of Dona Durka that two of the girls - Grace and Carmen - must make a decision - to stay or go.

This is a powerful debut novel that explores the complexities of sisterhood, culture and upbringing, of loyalties and the ties that bind. No decision is easily made and all decisions have consequences, not just for the self but for others.

Definitely a must read!

Review: The Monarch by John Jennings

Synopsis: Fisherman, publican, father - his influence reaches throughout North East England. Meet Jerry Compton. a friendly man, a just man, a reasonable man. The fairest of his profession.

The Monarch, a modern masterpiece, is a searing portrayal of 1990s Northumberland, England and the North of Ireland. It is also the intimate story of the Swaddle family, at once drawn together and ripped apart by its unique position at the core of Northumbrian society in the aftermath of the Miners' Strike, Ireland's Troubles and industrial and agricultural decline. Throw in a young Irish woman and her young family for good measure to further expose the regions' issues whilst hopefully choosing a path to success and enlightenment. Will they succeed and embrace the coming century, or will they succumb to the negative fatalism so typical of many of their forbears.

Marrying traditional English and North Eastern dialects with a free and elaborate style, the author employs realism and streams of consciousness to portray North East England and Ireland in a way that resonates with audiences today and far beyond.

A family saga set in the north of England, with patriarch Jeremy Compton at its centre. A story filled with humour and heartache; a social narrative of an area that suffered significantly from both industrial and agricultural decline; a story of survival in spite of it all, not necessarily a pretty story with the usual hearts and flowers happy ending.

I think if you are a bit of a fan of "Eastenders" or "Coronation Street", then this one is definitely for you.

Review: You Will Have A Black Labrador by Nino Gugunishvili

Synopsis: Love, memories, family, enduring friendships, cooking, movies, dogs, travels, hairstyles, and saying Yes to many No’s in a witty, yet often sentimental, journey of self-discovery…

You Will Have a Black Labrador is a collection of semiautobiographical essays forming a narrative about a modern Georgian woman. Her stories range from the search for a perfect romantic partner to exploring food as an integral part of the Georgian culture. 

Many of the vignettes center on childhood memories or weird family traditions, such as the way family members stay connected no matter if they’re deceased or alive. One essay reveals how making a simple omelette can change your life; and that No can be the most powerful word in any language. She shows us, too, that a haircut can be a tribute to the movies you love as well as a path to your freedom; and how owning a dog always brings unexpected experiences. 

In this poignantly humourous collection, reality mixes and interferes with an imaginative world in so many surprising ways.

Short stories and contemporary literature are two genres I have never actively sought out. I don't mind a modern biography or even lengthier autobiographical memoirs - but the shorter style I gave a wide berth.

However, late last year I was introduced to a number of new authors, writing both contemporary fiction, memoirs and short stories - and loved what I was reading. Nino Gugunishvili was one of those authors. Her book - From My Balcony to Yours - a collection of covid lockdown anecdotes - resonated (read it - you will find it will with you too!). And this currently collection of vingettes, with her quirky sense of humour and heart-felt warmth and understanding of family, will also hit the spot.

This is just the perfect book for a lazy Sunday afternoon, with a good coffee (something else we have in common) and a comfy pair of socks!

About Nino:

Nino lives in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her educational and professional background includes film, television, and journalism.

Author Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NinoGuguni

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ngugunishvili

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NinoGugunish/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14276355.Nino_Gugunishvili

Hillbilly Queer by JR Jamison

Synopsis: J.R. Jamison spends his days in a world of trigger warnings and safe spaces, while his trigger-happy dad, Dave, spends his questioning why Americans have become so sensitive.  Yet at the height of the 2016 election, the two decide to put political differences aside and travel to rural Missouri for Dave’s fifty-five year class reunion. But with the constant backdrop of the Trump vs. Clinton battle at every turn, they are forced to explore one formidable question: Will the trip push them further apart or bring them closer together?

Traveling through the rural, sun-beaten landscapes of Missouri the two meet people along the way who challenge their concepts of right and wrong, and together they uncover truths about their family’s past that reveals more than political differences, they discover a lesson on the human condition that lands them on the international pages of The Guardian.

Hillbilly Queer is an enduring love story between a dad and son who find that sometimes the differences between us aren't really that different at all.

" ... sometimes one has to go back to find their true selves ..."

This for me was a story one one man's journey "... to decide what is important to keep in our lives and what is important to let go .." as he traverses the back roads of Missouri with his 72yo father, Dave, who is on his way to his 55 year class reunion.

Jamison reflects not only on his father's life but on his own, growing up where, although he knew he was gay, it wasn't geographically or culturally permissible to acknowledge this openly - that fear of non-acceptable within the "good ole boy" community and of the social consequences of doing so.

That fact that this memoir coincided with the election that saw Trump come to power was, for me, a non-US citizen, neither here nor there. I guess I was able to compartmentalise the political aspects - everyone is entitled to their own political views and many families hold opposing, and oft time polarising views - nothing new there - I guess it was just that in this instance, it was a bit more public. Maybe others are reading more into this than I am.

I read it for what it was - one man's journey of discovery, acceptance, and most importantly family.

Review: Angelino Heights by Adam Bregman

Synopsis: When Dalton Everest, a naive school teacher with a crackerjack, free-form way of expressing himself, forms a fast friendship with Nathan Lyme, a charmer who’s cagey about his employment, everything Dalton knew of his previous life is swiftly upended.

Set up by Nathan to fall hard for Melanee, a frequently drunk French girl and former purse snatcher, Dalton ends up in a pickle and then, paranoid out of his wits, is ultimately chased through the streets of downtown L.A.

Angelino Heights is a crime novel obsessed with Los Angeles. It traipses across the city from a crooked pawn shop in Cudahy to a secretive mecca of modernism protruding from a hill in Pasadena to the old timey dive and themed bars, where its protagonists drink up the atmosphere of old L.A. 

Firstly - apologies to Adam for my tardy review. Secondly - what a great read!

I love noir! And this is a compelling tale of a solid citizen's flirtation with the dark side that has ultimately led to where they find themselves. Bregman takes his reader on a mystery tour of the seedy side of Los Angeles as we follow mild mannered school teacher Dalton Everest as he is slowly seduced over to the dark side by one Nathan Lyme. 

The reader never really discover's Lyme's motive in his selection (or targeting) of Everest as his partner, accomplice, patsy, fall-guy . Nor do we ever really discover what made Everest so susceptible to Lyme's charms, for Lyme does manage to have a certain hold over those in his immediate sphere. 

However, I strongly suspect that it all boils down to that need to walk the fine line between good and bad, a flirtation with danger; and like the old style sobriety test, some just never manage to stay on that straight line.

LAPD Detective Orlando Talbert sums it up nicely, "... they sure don't make crazy white dumbfucks like they used to ..."

Review: From My Balcony To Yours by Nino Gugunishvili

Synopsis: Who would have thought that Global Pandemic, Self-Isolation, Cluster, and a Lockdown were to become the trendiest words in 2020? Who would have imagined the world would freeze and people would stay home shattered with fear, panic, uncertainty towards their future?How do we adjust to this changing reality, when none of our questions have answers when plans turn upside down, things get totally out of control?

In her new book: “From My Balcony to Yours,” author Nino Gugunishvili shares her personal account during the first several months of the COVID -19 global pandemic in the form of short stories and observations.

So utterly relatable - personal, humourous, emotional, compact.

A series of small observations as one woman documents her life during covid lockdown from March to September 2020. Nino writes of all the emotions she experiences, emotions that will be familiar to us all - from acceptance and contemplation, to fear, anger, apathy, anticipation. Her stories will touch everyone in some small personal way.

Nino describes covid as a "... noisy, unwanted neighbour you have to share your apartment with ..." whilst also acknowledging that " ... there were more dramatically things happening ...." around the globe, even more poignant when reminiscing about her childhood. And then there is one line that will resonate with us all - "... socks are my best friends ...".

This charming tale will find a home with all readers for we all have this one great shared experience wherever we are in the world. A must read!

Review: Melting in the Middle by Andy Howden

Synopsis: Long-listed for the Exeter Novel Prize, Melting in the Middle is a literary comedy about redemption and second chances, played out amid the madness of modern life.

Set against the backdrop of a modern day "David and Goliath" story, a middle management, middle aged man must come to terms with changes not only in his business life but in his personal life. Will he succeed - only time - and his persistence - will tell, especially when a spanner, in the form of an enigmatic and contradictory young woman, is thrown in for good measure.

This slow moving tale of one man's attempts to keep his life and career afloat makes for interesting read. At times, it almost seemed as though the workplace was being used a metaphor for some sort of dystopian society where it was a case of survival of the fittest (maybe I am reading too much into something that is not there).

Our hero, for want of a better word, a big fish in a little pond, finds himself merely one of a school in a large pond. To keep his head above water, he must fall in line with the new management protocols or else find himself on the scrap heap. But Stephen Carracas is a survivor, he goes from being "axeman" and "lackey" to back to the top of his game, and along the way comes to terms with events in his personal life.

I would not have normally picked this up but was offered a complimentary review copy, and I did enjoy reading it.