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Air date: April 14, 2024
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
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JESSICA:
Hi, this is Jessica Russell. I’m the assistant director of collection services at Sno-Isle Libraries. And welcome to Book Buzz.
Today's two reading recommendations include a story that spans 30 years and another that spans centuries.
First, we’re going to hear from Amanda, library associate for Library on Wheels, for a moving tale of friendship. Over to you, Amanda.
AMANDA:
This is the story of Sam and Sadie. It’s not a romance, but it is about love. “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin takes you on a journey through the lives of two friends.
We meet Sam and Sadie in a crowded train station one winter morning. They haven’t spoken since they were kids because one of them wrote down their hours spent together on a volunteer form, 609 hours to be exact. But, this chance meeting ignites a fresh start to their friendship. You learn what happens as the novel alternates between flashbacks and the main narrative that follows them creating computer games and founding a gaming company.
I really enjoyed following Sam and Sadie through thirty plus years of friendship. There are times you are celebrating their accomplishments, crying with them through loss, and other times irritated because of simple misunderstandings. But this is the beauty of the book — they are flawed individuals with real emotions. Being able to watch from the outside as two childhood friends navigate their relationship through adulthood is intriguing. They become your friends because you can relate on a personal level. You will be thinking about Sam, Sadie, their families, and their friends long after you finish the book.
Gabrielle Zevin weaves a beautiful story of friendship and rivalry, fame and creativity, betrayal and tragedy. And our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
JESSICA:
Thanks, Amanda! This sounds perfect for gamers, but you don’t have to love video games to enjoy it.
Next, let’s hear from Kim, library associate at the Snohomish Library, for a tale that unfolds over generations. Take it away, Kim.
KIM:
“North Woods” by Daniel Mason is genre-bending. Referred to as historical fiction, but with a touch of magical realism, it uses epistolary form to transport us through time, but not space. The reader comes to know a single bit of New England soil and the traumas, joys and secrets of those humans, animals, trees, insects, and spirits who've passed through 300 years of time there.
Mason's esoteric prose can be challenging. However, the effect is the portrayal of time constructed like a puzzle, with each event fitting into the notches of its neighboring one, interconnected hints and clues left behind by all characters intertwining with each other across time. There are escaped Puritan lovers, later, escaped captives leaving their narratives, a tree baring delicious fruit found by a soldier turned orchardist, who's daughters leave their secrets, found later by a cougar and a human trafficker. A painter and poet bury their forbidden love with the beetles, who carry the spore that will one day kill the forest of chestnut trees.
We are conveyed, piece by piece, into the present, connected to all that has come before and leave with a profound sense of both our own mortality and immortality.
JESSICA:
Thanks, Kim! Sounds like a compelling mix of characters and I love a story told in letters.
Our recommendations this week are: “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin and "North Woods" by Daniel Mason.
Join us next time, when we’ll explore more great reading recommendations — interesting books you can find at your favorite local bookstore or at your local library.
Until then, I’m Jessica Russell from Sno-Isle Libraries.
Thanks for joining us for Book Buzz on KSER.
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Join us each Sunday as Sno-Isle Libraries staff discuss the latest buzz-worthy titles on our weekly radio program, Book Buzz.
