What You Wish For by Katherine Center

 I like to support local, so when I found out that an author I recently read lived near me, I jumped to read as much of her writing as I could.

And by 'near me', I mean in the same great state of Texas,  and even better, down South near Houston and visits Galveston to have book-writing getaways and I LIVE IN HOUSTON AND GO TO GALVESTON FOR STAYCATIONS AND DAY VISITS.

So we are practically besties.

Oh, who is this local best-friend writer?

Katherine Center, author of some of the happiest writing ever to have been written about unhappy events. 

Her latest novel, What You Wish For, was no different for me. The book is a testament to resilient and optimistic thinking, to overcoming your own emotions and mistakes, but she covers some of the heaviest stuff out there. I felt that with her novel How to Walk Away, and it is no different with What You Wish For. 

I promise no spoilers in these posts, so I won't get into exactly what the heavy stuff actually is, but each time another piece of the puzzle fell in place, my  heart broke a little more. And then the main character, Samantha, would speak or think or act and my heart would magically mend itself back together again. And break again. Katherine writes about some of the toughest situations with the most optimistic of feelings. It's beautiful when it comes together like that, because to me, that IS life. The bad, the ugly, the heartbreaking and then the picking back up of oneself and just smiling through it. 

It reminds me of how I often quote the book 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' to my kids when faced with what seems to be insurmountable obstacles (virtual schooling, cancelled playdates, a mean friend); we can't go over it, we can't go under it. We just have to go through it. So, lets get through it - with a smile. 

Did I also mention that Katherine Center is besties with Brene Brown? Which, again, practically means that I'm also besties with Brene Brown because she too is from Houston and how could we not all be part of one big, happy friendship circle? 

I discovered this fun fact when, during this stay-at-home time, I stumbled upon a live podcast with Brene Brown interviewing Katherine Center. They touched on their lasting friendship, vulnerability in writing and how KC named a character in one of her books after BB. I was smitten. 

But, back to my point. I tend to get off topic. 

The book. What You Wish For. I listened to it on audiobook, which I have just discovered some people think is cheating if you then say that you read the book. I call BS on that, because if you are listening to it, having someone else reading it to you, using your fingers to read it in Braille or probably a dozen other ways that I have not thought of yet, you are reading. You are taking in the written words of an author, and that is reading. 

Which is an interesting point, seeing as Samantha is an elementary school librarian (a dream job of mine, and she reinforces that belief in me!) and is told by one of the parents that reading comic books is not "real reading". To which, Samantha couldn't agree less, insisting instead that reading is reading and should be enjoyed. KC writes one of my favorite lines of the book  - that this kid deserves not a secret shelf away from his parents for his comic books, but an entire "secret cabinet of Garfields". I love Garfield.

A lifelong reader, I remember reading Archie and Veronica as a child. I remember months of reading nothing but joke books and Ripley's Believe it or Not. Which further whet my appetite for reading, leading me to RL Stine, Sweet Valley Twins and The Babysitters Club. The road continued, and widened in high school, to include Fahrenheit 451, The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar. Then I went to college, majoring in English Literature and all of a sudden the road encompassed the entire world of books, and nothing was left out. See, comic books can be gateway books. They can help to show a reader how fun reading can be. They can be leading the horse to water and then having that horse drink the whole damn lake. They can also be reading in and of themselves, and that may be the only book a reader ever enjoys. And that is OKAY. Because, I don't know if you realize it, but a comic BOOK? It's still a book.  

So, I listened to it on audio and I loved the narrators voice. Occasionally the narrator doesn't fit with the story and it's distracting but this narrator, Therese Plummer, is perfect to read the story aloud. I spent most of the my next few days fitting in the story whenever I could, soaking it all in. 

I found myself with 30 minutes to spare one day and I knew I needed a workout, but really wanted to finish the book. I hopped on my Peloton for a scenic ride, plugged in my headphones and biked through the French Countryside while listening to the last few chapters. It was a perfect way to end the book. 

While I may be biased, seeing as how Katherine Center and I are both living in the suburbs of the fourth most populous city in the United States, so we are obviously superclose,  What You Wish For is a book worth reading for anyone who has loved, wanted to be loved, or wondered if they were ready to be loved. 

Which reminds me of the Victor Hugo quote that sits for all time under my senior picture in the school yearbook. "The greatest of virtues is to know that we are loved for ourselves, or rather, to be loved in spite of ourselves." 

Truer words.  

Book Bundle Book One: The Taliban Cricket Club

I tend to read in groupings. 

Back in  March 2020 when the world halted and the word "pandemic" became an everyday term, I binge read book after book on pandemics. Some of the books were based on true events (As Bright as Heaven) while others were fantastical (The Passage and The Dreamers). A series on a vampire type creature that emerged after a virus ravages the world? Read it. A novel about a deadly virus we first see in a London theatre, and a troupe of actors who afterwards travel the country bringing the joy of stories to those who are left? (Station Eleven) Read it.  

---- Side note. One of my favorite quotes of the year is from one of these pandemic books, The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. "This is how the sickness travels best: through all the same channels as do fondness and friendship and love." Wow. If that doesn't sum up 2020 right there! Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled program. ----

I do the same with authors. Recently, I discovered one book by Blake Crouch (Recursion), and when  I finished, I immediately searched out other novels I could find by him and dug in (Dark Matter). Same with Matt Haig (The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time).  

But then a friend told me about a service our local library offers. I can call the library and they will put together a book bundle for me. The bundle can be determined by genre, author, style - really anything you want, they will pull books for you to read. I decided that this would be the perfect way to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. 

Wanting to get out of the science fiction kick (rut?) I had been in lately, I chose for the books to be historical fiction. 

'I want to try something new,' I told the librarian on the phone. 'I love historical fiction, but I'd like to stay away from my favorite authors. I have read most every Erik Larson, Phillipa Gregory and Marie Benedict book out there. So, let's try new authors. And no WWII. The more obscure, the better.'

They definitely delivered on that request! Out of the books I received, two were by authors I recognized, but one I had never read (Barbara Taylor Bradford), and the other I hadn't read since my Literature courses in college (Willa Cather). 

I've been reading mostly on my kindle app, so these books were a bit daunting. It's easy to start a book when you have no idea how long it is, but intimidating when you see its true heft in person! I chose to begin with an average length book, with an interesting title and background I was only slightly familiar with. 

Enter: The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari.

To sum it up quickly, the book is written in the view of a woman (Rukshana) in the mid 1990s in Afghanistan. She had attended college in Delhi, and returned to Afghanistan to be near her family and continue her work in journalism. When the Talib took control, she went from being a woman with a voice and a brain and a pen to just another female in a country determined to keep her down.

At times, this was a tough read. There are public executions, and discussions of past executions and punishments. The entire book has an underlying current of fear and anxiety running through it. While the main characters themselves are optimistic thinkers, with views beyond their country and the regime they live under, it feels that the entire book is laced with fear. I really felt that every moment could be their last. 

My 11 yo saw the cover and asked me what I was reading. I tired to explain it. "There is an evil group who took over the government of a country, oppressing the women and scaring the people. Those who talked back, or did something they didn't like were killed or severely punished. Silenced. There was no such thing as freedom of speech. Women had to cover themselves from head to toe in a burqa, with only a tiny area from which to look at the world." 

"Could they even see out of it?" he asked.

Rukshana had touched on that in the book. It was hard to see out of, merely a thin slit of mesh for their eyes, and they had to practice walking up the stairs without tripping over the long robes, but also without lifting them enough to show even a glimpse of ankle - an action that would get women punished.

 

My son and I talked about oppressive governments and googled current and past events. One thing I love about kids who are readers is their drive to know more, to understand more, and to apply it to other books or to life. 

While the feeling of fear and control did permeate the book, I would say that the overall theme of the book focused more on resilience and perseverance, on the ability of humans to overcome.  And I learned a bit about cricket in the process. I would not normally have chosen a book such as The Taliban Cricket Club, but I'm glad it was picked for me. I recommend it for anyone who (like me) was too young or too sheltered or naive in America in the 90s to understand what was happening in Afghanistan.