REVIEW: Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

 

This was the first Whitehead novel I read, but it's the fourth that he had published.  School is out and 15 year old Benji spends the summer of 1985 in Sag Harbor, a hamlet in the Hamptons, for the entire summer with his brother, Reggie. This novel chronicles the summer months of 1985. Benji and Reggie essentially escape their all white prep school in Manhattan for the SANS part of Sag Harbor. 

This is not really a coming of age novel, but more of an identity growth novel.  What does it mean, to Benji, to be black and wealthy in the mid-80's? What does it mean to go to the Hamptons? He is often seemingly torn by the white culture and his identity as a Black Man.  He finds himself encountering aspects of Black History - WEB Dubois and other aspects - finding that he does not know all about them and being afraid to ask for fear of not Black enough or proud enough of his Black heritage. The Black kids that work with Benji at the local ice cream shop debate whether Martine (their boss, who is from the Dominican) is Black or White or something else. 

I loved reading about the experiences that Benji had growing up in the same places that I did and I found myself laughing at a few of the things that the boys did - one of which involved a BB gun and nearly shooting ones eyes out.  Well worth the read!

Links I love

 

For the first week in August, I was in Cape Cod! WE found Tim's Books - the place pictured above - in Provincetown. 

Here are some of my links:

1. 1.  EMA head in Maui resigns.
2. Tarot cards as a writing tool.
3. Best five travel books.
4. Reading multiple books at a time.
5. NYC bans TikTok on government devices.
6. Commentary on Bradley Cooper's decision to wear a prosthetic.

I have a areview coming up this week!  Promise!  It's just been wicked busy coming back from work. 

Links I love

 

Hello! Yay - we made it! Next Sunday I likely won't have a links because my family and I will be on vacation in Cape Cod.  Hopefully this means more reading and more reviews when I get back! Last weekend, I hiked Mt. Osceola and am nearly halfway done in bagging my 48 4000 footers in NH!

Until then, enjoy! Next Sunday, I probably won't have a links page since we'll be on vacation. 

1. Mom is proud of her child's response. 
2. All the golden retrievers.
3. Four biggest warning signs before a heart attack.
4. Trump charged for trying to block transfer of power.
5. 2023 Booker longlist
6. Paul Reubens dead at 70.
7. Petting other people's dogs can boost your own health.
8. Pick your favorite Lisa Frank and get a book recommendation at the same time.
9. Henrietta Lacks wins an historic battle over stolen cells
10. Twitch streamer is charged with riot.

REVIEW: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

 

When talking to my fiancée about this doorstop of a novel, I usually begin by calling it a "kind of sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula."  In this novel, we follow the stories of an Oxford Professor, the Professor's student and the student's daughter as they all attempt to find Dracula's tomb. The story begins in 1972 when the daughter finds letters that the Professor wrote in the 1930's. The Professor is convinced that Vlad the Impaler - AKA Dracula - is undead and is still wandering around, and he wants to hunt him down. During the course of his search, the Professor disappears, prompting a decades long pursuit of him and research on Dracula, including where is tomb might be. 

What I appreciated was that, even at 700 pages, the books is pretty well paced. It doesn't drag and it doesn't move too fast.  Kostova's alternating between viewpoints is very effective as well.  Even though the novel seemed to focus more on the history of Vlad the Impaler , she didn't make the story full of gore - it was pretty tense at points.  Not quite scary but neck pricks for sure. It was definitely an ambitious novel but I enjoyed the writing style and it wasn't typical for a vampire novel.  Very plot driven.  I would definitely read her next novel.