Where did we go? What did we do? Whom did we see?

Do you know where Sunny Juliet was on Monday?

 

First, a little book stuff --

 

My Sunday evening bedtime book was America for Beginners, by Leah Franqui, a fairly light-hearted fictional tale of multicultural America that manages to address some heavy themes in an entertaining manner. It is a make-you-laugh, make-you-cry novel with a road trip as its centerpiecer, and what could be better to read the night before I embarked (“Sunny, stop that barking!”) on an ambitious one-day road trip of my own? I came back to it Monday evening, at home again, and reached the last page Tuesday morning. I loved the book, the characters, and the way they learned about each other almost in spite of themselves.

 

Here's the thing: Unless it is a review that leads me to a book, I don’t read reviews until after reading the book and forming my own opinion. Then sometimes I’m curious and wonder if other people found the same delights or food for thought or glaring faux pas – whatever I found in a particular book – that I did, and that’s when I search out reviews.

 

From Goodreads, I more or less expect mostly personal and subjective responses, although at times there is a deeper take, but whatever different readers have to say, it’s always interesting to see what they liked and disliked, what they found to admire or criticize. If a review is badly written there, I take it with a grain of salt, not having had high expectations.

 

It's different when I look to Kirkus reviews. Kirkus has been around since 1933 and has always had a high reputation. If you look up ‘Kirkus’ on your phone, you’ll see a list of questions “People also ask” about it, one of them “Is Kirkus reputable?” The online answer is “Kirkus is a credible, industry-renowned resource among authors, publishers, the media, booksellers, and readers.” A Kirkus review is a Very Big Deal for an author.

 

Since 2005 Kirkus has been reviewing self-published books but only if paid by the author to do so. Established publishing houses that send books to be reviewed do not pay a fee. Neither the paid nor the unpaid reviews are guaranteed to be positive. Well, sure – they wouldn’t be reviews otherwise.

 

The Kirkus review of this book I found delightful was not itself delightful at all. The reviewer had not been charmed, as I had been by the novel. Fair enough. But why? The reviewer called the book “tolerable, if not utterly original,” certainly deserving some kind of “damning with faint praise” award. -- But was the reviewer saying the book is “utterly original”? I doubt that was the intention, and yet the effect points in that direction, so my suspicions were aroused by the reviewer's misuse of "if not." The author is accused of “road trip-novel cliches.” Such as? An example is given for the criticism that the author over-explains characters’ inner lives. Okay, I guess the reviewer and I simply disagree on that one. 

 

Let me be clear. My big problem with the Kirkus review wasn’t that the reviewer and I disagreed. It was that the review itself seemed amateurishly written, no better than anything any random reader might post on Goodreads and not as good as some to be found there. This is a Kirkus review? I read a few more Kirkus reviews of other books and found all too many of them disappointingly brief and lacking textual support for opinions rendered. 

 

Foreword magazine, published nearby in Traverse City, Michigan, also reviews books, many from small presses, some by self-published authors. Reviewers’ names are attached to the reviews, which are generally longer and, I find, more in-depth than what I’m seeing on Kirkus these days. While applauding Foreword (and yes, I do know the publishers), I have to wonder if anyone else has noticed a decline in the quality of Kirkus reviews. Is something going on there? I asked a published author this morning (Wednesday) what he thought of Kirkus reviews, and his answer was, "Not much." 

 

The foregoing discussion, you will have noted, is more a review of reviews than of the novel that kicked off my musings, but feel free to comment on either. For myself, I am eager to read more of Leah Franqui. 

 

So yes, Sunny Juliet and I went on a road trip.

I hope you recognize this.

 

Somewhere near the approach to the Mackinac Bridge from the south is a big billboard that reads, “Same state. Different state of mind.” Rarely have I driven across the Mackinac Bridge without the Artist, and almost always there was a dog with us. First Nikki, then Sarah, except for that one post-Nikki, pre-Sarah trip when we took the ferry from St. Ignace to Mackinac Island. All of which is only to say that the entire U.P. is as saturated with memories for me as Leelanau County, where I live. 

A MUST stop for me

Sunny's first visit

 

A pause along U.S. 2...

...for sharing time.

The pickle barrel! Grand Marais!

I parked Sunny in the shade in Grand Marais and quickly took care of my town errand, then drove us out to Coast Guard Point, where I let my girl get her paws wet in Lake Superior water while I relived memories of picnics, naps, reading, and conversations in our folding chairs -- days of contentment the Artist and I shared with first-Nikki-then-Sarah at that dear spot. 

Some things in Grand Marais are the same, others different. The Lickety-Split ice cream place is now the Sherpa Shack, but Arbutus is still where it was the last time the Artist walked around it, dreaming boat dreams.

Then it was east on H-58, past the old two-track (entrance now so grown over!) to Jim Harrison’s writing cabin on the Sucker River, past the old fisheries building on the other side of the road, past School Forest, past this, past that…. Reaching the end of the pavement, I was surprised not to encounter washboard. Ellen had told me the road was “pretty good” (my next destination was the Uglyfish Baking Company, latest joint endeavor of author Ellen Airgood and her husband, Rick Guth, both formerly of the West Bay Diner in Grand Marais and before that, for Rick, as the Earl of Sandwich), and indeed the drive had never been so easy, but I wasn’t sure what to make of that. It didn’t feel or look familiar at all. Like the paved portion west to Munising, road long more of a safari track than anything else, this segment to the east now seemed almost – to me – dismayingly civilized.

Can this be H58?

Ah, yes!

THIS is the U.P.!

You can't miss it!

I had no trouble at all spotting Ellen and Rick’s little trailers on the other side of Muskallonge Lake State Park. How wonderful to see these dear people and to catch up on each other’s lives! Other than being much too short (there is never enough time with friends!), our visit was lovely, and I was very glad to have made the quick trip north. It’s good to talk Michigan, talk outdoor life, talk books and business, even to talk ticks with good friends.

Ellen!

Remembering the beginning: the Earl of Sandwich!

Today's kitchen

Me and Rick, photographed by Ellen

My new cap!

Note to readers: If you find yourself north of the bridge and west of Newberry, stop for coffee and a brownie with Ellen and Rick. Visit the gift shop in the smaller of the two trailers (the larger is the Uglyfish kitchen) and buy a mug, t-shirt, billed or knitted cap to take home with a bag of cookies and jar of maple syrup. And Ellen’s books, for sure – for yourself, if you haven’t had the treat of reading them yet, otherwise for someone you love. Ellen will be happy to write a dedication to you or your favorite reader.

Life Up North

Back home in Leelanau well before dark, I was happy to see my little apple trees blossoming. Same state, different state of mind. Two beautiful peninsulas. Michigan! Isn’t it wonderful?

My little blooming apple tree at home