What We’re Reading: Moonglow by Michael Chabon

Title: Moonglow
Author: Michael Chabon
Genre: biography, fiction (both, believe it or not!)
Read Great Things 2020 Categories: book with a one-word title, bildungsroman (maybe)

Why did you choose to read this book?

I have read four of Chabon’s other novels; I liked three of those very much and hated the other one (Gentlemen of the Road). I think The Yiddish Policemen’s Union is my favorite of his novels.

My sister-in-law gave me her copy of Moonglow last year, so I read it.

What did you like about it?

I like Michael Chabon’s enormous vocabulary and he chooses his words carefully. Even though I regularly consult a dictionary while reading his books, I find him to be an engaging storyteller; also, I learn a lot of new words!

Moonglow: A Novel by Michael Chabon

Chabon set out both to write a novel and tell the story of his grandfather’s life in Moonglow. He is deliberately ambiguous about what is fact and what is fiction in the book. Periodic footnotes lend a feeling of historical accuracy, while vivid details of his (unnamed) grandfather’s life make it clear that this is a work of fiction.
The premise is that Chabon’s reserved, quiet grandfather opened up to Chabon on his deathbed, tongue loosened by the drug Dilaudid, which he took to ease his pain. The grandfather told stories of his life as a boy in a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood; espionage work during World War II; meeting his wife, a war refugee from France, in Baltimore; his arrest and time in prison; and his life-long obsession with space travel.

Chabon interweaves these stories with his mother’s recollections, his memories of his grandparents, and his own research. He creates a gripping story of his father’s difficult, tragic life and the beauty and love that nonetheless go along with the travails.

Does this book remind you of another book?

A man researching his family’s past echoes The Nix, which was the best novel I read last year. The requirement of a dictionary at hand reminds me of reading Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher. Chabon’s storytelling reminds me of Jonathan Franzen’s novels.

Is there anything noteworthy about the book?

Moonglow was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Critics Circle Awards.

With what feeling did the book leave you?

I was satisfied when I finished the book. It is kind of a long book and I laughed out loud multiple times; I may have cried once or twice as well. The graphic depictions of life in Germany toward the end of World War II were heart-wrenching. I am heartened to read about people who have overcome much greater tragedy and suffering than I have these days.

Who else might like this book?

I think this book would appeal to a range of readers: people interested in memoir, biography, literature, or the history of space travel; fans of Michael Chabon; engineers or future engineers; and people in the military would benefit from reading this book.
By the way, I have left out a lot of major details about this book.

With what would you pair this book?

Model rockets, like the ones I built, painted, and launched with my father!


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What We’re Reading: Wrecked

Title: Wrecked: An IQ Novel

Author: Joe Ide

Genre: mystery, street lit

Why did you choose to read this book?

cover of Wrecked: An IQ Novel, by Joe Ide

This is the third book in the IQ series, which features protagonist Isaiah Quintabe (“IQ”), a small-time, self-styled private investigator from East Long Beach, California. I enjoyed the first two books—IQ and Righteous—so I picked up the third.

There are several traits of the main character I appreciate. IQ, motivated by the memory of his older brother Marcus, who was murdered, pursues justice rather than greed, often accepting token gifts, like a handmade Christmas sweater (in Southern California!), in lieu of money from his clients. He is also a critical thinker and careful planner. He is skilled in reading people and memorizing small details about people and his surroundings. These traits define IQ and drive the plots of the series’ books.

In Wrecked IQ becomes embroiled in a mystery and becomes attracted to his client Grace, who hires him to find her mother, whom she has not seen in 10 years. The plot and its many subplots cover IQ’s business relationship with his mismatched partner Dodson; a complicated backstory that slowly reveals itself, and encompasses family secrets; WSSI, a paramilitary U.S. government contractor, whose employees have histories of torture and cover-ups at Abu Ghraib; and a love story.

What did you like about it?

Isaiah Quintabe is one of my favorite fictional characters. Wrecked presents bigger challenges for IQ to navigate than the previous books in the series. (Spoiler alert!) The opening pages reveal tough-talking ex-military thugs brutally torturing a victim (It’s IQ!), hoping to beat information out of him. The thugs work for the CEO of the international security firm, WSSI, which provides the advantages of cash, trained killers,and security clearances. WSSI and IQ are in pursuit of the same person. Who will prevail?

Joe Ide has a knack for revealing characters through dialogue. One example is Junior, a drug dealer, speaks as if he “swallowed a dictionary sideways,” misusing big and obscure words to comic effect. Dodson’s wife Deronda, the several brutes—Jimenez, Hawkins, and Owens—from WSSI, and many others populate Wrecked with distinctive voices.

Did it remind you of any other book, or a movie?

The first detective stories I enjoyed were Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown books. Using evidence at hand to solve mysteries fed my appreciation both for books and for applying critical thinking skills. As a child, I fantasized that I, too could be a successful detective. Maybe that helped drive me to a career as a librarian: I help people use information to solve their own problems and answer their own questions.

Was there anything noteworthy about the book?

There is a rumor that Ide is in contract with Alcon Television Groupto develop a television series around IQ.

With what feeling did the book leave you?

Frankly, I have enjoyed each book in the series less than the one that came before it. Ide’s trick of revealing how a problem was solved—after the action that depended on having solved the problem—wears thin. Rather than a feeling of suspense-then-relief, I experience bewilderment followed by a magician showing me exactly how easy it is to make a building disappear. I also found the love story between Isaiah and Grace to be little more than a plot device.

I hope the next book in the series, Hi Five, is better. I’m not ready to give up on Joe Ide yet, and definitely not ready to give up on IQ.

To whom would you recommend this book?

Fans of gritty mystery writing will probably enjoy this book.

With what would you pair this book?

Let me recommend an old film noir flick, The Third Man, released in 1949, which features protagonist Holly Martins bumbling through an investigation into the circumstances around an old friend’s death. Based on a novella by Graham Greene, it is a whodunit with a surprising twist and the story resolves through successively-increasing climaxes.

Observe how the film’s suspense is maintained while information is revealed to Martins and the viewer at the same time. Contrast that with how Wrecked keeps secret information about IQ’s investigative tactics until after the story plays out.

New Fiction! Hooray!

Did you know that the library has a nice fiction collection?

We purchase new novels, graphic novels, books of poetry, and short story collections a few times per year using funds from our Durham Tech Foundation Campus Fund Drive account.  We think that pleasure reading is important and fun!  We also appreciate hearing your requests.  If you have a book to recommend to the library for our collection, please let us know in the comments below or send us an email (library@durhamtech.edu).

Check out our current display downstairs for the month of September for our new arrivals.

Photograph of a book display featuring fiction books

You can also search for titles in the online catalog if you have a favorite author or series that you enjoy reading.

Here are some of the new titles:

Among Others by Jo Walton

Astray by Emma Donoghue

Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories by Sherman Alexie

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Fire in the Streets by Kekla Magoon

Have You Seen Marie? by Sandra Cisneros

The Humanity Project by Jean Thompson

Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace

Mary Coin by Marisa Silver

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volumes 1 & 2 by Ursula Le Guin

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell

The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories by Ann VanderMeer

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Curl up with a new book and enjoy!