BPL Book Bingo: Harry Potter, Fred Chappell, and the Cat Sitter

Reviews by Jeanne

This year, Bristol Public Library and the Avoca Branch Library offered a Summer Reading Program for adults in the form of BPL Book Bingo.  Participants had a bingo-type card except that in place of numbers were categories such as “Read a book written before 1900” or “Watch a movie based on a book.” I had intended to just read enough for one or two bingos.  Instead, I ended up doing “Blackout Bingo,” i.e., completing all the squares on the sheet, even though I had to stay up way past my bedtime to get all the reading done.  The reason I became so enamored was that it got me out of my reading rut and enticed me to make inroads on all those books I had always meant to read but had put off reading.  Here’s a sample of three books I read for the challenge:

Family Gathering by former North Carolina Poet Laureate Fred Chappell satisfied both the requirement for reading a book of poetry and my pledge to myself to sit down and read something by this North Carolina author. The title sets up the theme of the collection: family gatherings, warts and all.  There are portraits of individuals of all ages, from young Elizabeth who is “Priss-proud in her finery and bored/Bored bored” because the grownups aren’t admiring her to Grandma Settle, who pages through the photo albums and reveals the dim past, back before “the wars arrived, and all the lads/Were handsome, tall, and brave, and none was dead.” Satire, humor, and pathos await the reader, rather like the classic Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters.  

Even though I count myself a Harry Potter fan, having read all the books, visited the amusement park, and seen most of the movies, I had not read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  Not only were the reviews on it a bit mixed (some loved it, some loathed it), but theatrical scripts are not among my favorite choices of things to read.  Still there was that square which asked me to “Read a play,” so I decided to give it a try.  I was pleased to find that I wasn’t nearly as bothered by the format as I had thought.  I believe it’s because my familiarity with the J.K. Rowlings’ magical realm enabled me to visualize settings and people, and part of my enjoyment became thinking of ways certain scenes could be staged. As for the story itself, there were parts that I liked very much indeed, but there were others that made me a bit sad—yet I could see why this or that might have happened, even if I didn’t like it.

Finally, I chose The Cat Sitter and the Canary by Blaize and John Clement to fulfill my “Read a book in a series” requirement.  This was much more my usual fare (cozy mystery with a kitty or two), and I had read all the others in the series to date.  Dixie Hemingway works as a pet sitter in picturesque Siesta Key, Florida where she encounters murders on the basis usually found in such series; that is, at least one a book.  The series was begun by Blaize Clement but continued by her son, John, based on conversations they shared before her death.  The books have been just a bit uneven since, sometimes relying very much on a checklist sort of events.  This one involves finding a dead body in a client’s home and a mysterious tourist who seemed to have lost his key to his rented house.  The writing was smoother than in some entries and there were signs that upcoming changes may shake up Dixie’s world.  I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see for certain where things are going.  I may find it’s just what the editor ordered to keep the series fresh.

The exciting news is that BPL Bingo is returning this winter!  Starting January 2, you can pick up a Bingo sheet at Main or Avoca to participate.  We do have some small prizes to award for those who accomplish enough tasks to get Bingo.  The game will run until February 28, giving everyone extra time to win--er, read!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Reviewed by Jeanne

Ove is surrounded by idiots and incompetents. He tries to buy a computer called an iPad but the idiot salesclerk keeps saying that it’s not a computer, it’s a tablet.  People keep bringing cars into the neighborhood despite the signs clearly stating that no cars are allowed.  The world is falling apart.

Or so thinks Ove, who is a man of unbending principles. He is aghast when new people move in, driving a car with a trailer.  Or rather, attempting to drive, because the trailer is scraping against Ove’s house.  Obviously, this is another idiot with no idea of what he is doing.  The man is accompanied by a little foreign woman whose opinion of the man’s driving abilities—or lack thereof—mirrors Ove’s. 

This makes him dislike her a little less, the author tells us.

So begins A Man Called Ove.  Readers have been divided over this book:  some absolutely love it, some don’t see what all the fuss is about, and others feel about Ove the way Ove feels about everyone else.

I had intended to read the book some time ago, but just hadn’t gotten around to it.    I had my doubts, I admit.  Ove didn’t sound like a very endearing character and I was a tad concerned by the cat on the cover.  Sometimes that does not bode well for the cat.  Did I want to read a book about an irasciable Swede? Then my BPL Bingo card said “Read a translated book.”  That was just the little push I needed.

Count me among those who were charmed by the book.  Sure, Ove is a difficult character. It’s not just that he seems to be from a different era: Ove never fit in.  He sees the world in black and white, right and wrong.  He can be very rigid in his thinking.  And yet, there is a core of decency about him, even when he’s raging at the electronics salesman, which makes you think he’s not irredeemable.  He can be kind, even as he complains. I could also see some of the older generation in his situation, people who have always been self-sufficient but now who have to struggle against impersonal treatment and pushing buttons on phone to communicate what should have been a five minute conversation with a human being.

My suspicion when I started was that Ove would suddenly turn into a totally different character by the book’s end, jovial and expansive.  I’m glad to say that didn’t happen.  Maybe he did change, or maybe just my perceptions about him changed; whichever, it was believable.

I liked the way the author gradually revealed parts of Ove’s life. It helped me to understand the forces that shaped him, even as he remained true to his core personality.  There were so many interesting characters too, but I hate to try to describe them because I don’t want to give anything away.  Ove is best discovered by each reader.

So, yes, I am glad I read the book. My fears were laid to rest.

Also I checked the end of the book to make sure the cat survived.

Note:  The library also carries the movie.  It’s in Swedish with English subtitles.  There were changes made, but overall, I found it quite enjoyable. That fulfilled another Bingo square:  watch a movie based on a book.