Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Far more depressing than I expected it to be. I guess I hoped for a bit more adventure and the formation of unique family and friends groups, and what I got was harsh reality. That was probably good for me, but I can’t say I exactly enjoyed this read. It’s more like I survived it and worried myself to death in the process.

Pages: 320

"The Invasion of Tork" by Claire Davis and Al Stewart

Tork is a homeless young man with green hair.  Adam is a handsome but cocky know-it-all who has been forced to volunteer at a homeless shelter.  Tork struggles with mental illness, but his intelligence and humor win over Adam and his bad attitude.  Well-written and moving in its depiction of Tork's problems, I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.  82 pages (Kindle edition).

The Absent One: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The second Department Q novel finds Detective Carl Mørck working at solving a two-decade old brutal murder of a young brother and sister.  His investigation brings him into contact with a wily homeless woman and some of the most powerful captains of industry in Denmark.  How will he and his unlikely team, Assad and Rose, are pulled into an intricate puzzle of a mystery that makes the book very hard to put down.
432 pages, translated from Danish

"Twelve Days" by Isabelle Rowan

In this follow up to "A Note in the Margin", John, David, and Jamie are still running the bookstore Margins and are getting ready for Christmas.  David continues to deal with the repercussions of living on the street and is trying to rebuild his relationship with his son with the help of John.  Jamie is worried that he's going to be alone forever and feels especially bad that this will be the first Christmas not spent with his mom.  I was glad to read about all three men and how they've progressed since the first book.  The ending was especially touching.  64 pages (Kindle edition).

"A Note in the Margin" by Isabelle Rowan

John McCann has taken a one year leave of absence from his job in the Australian corporate world to manage a small bookstore called Margins to get his stress under control.  One of the store's regulars is a quiet man named David who occupies a chair all day in the used books section.  At first, John wants to get rid of him and the reading chairs, but the store's owner's son, Jamie, has befriended David and talks John into leaving him alone.  David is homeless, something John has never had to deal with, and it makes him uncomfortable.  But one very cold night, John's humanity starts to reemerge when he lets David spend the night on his couch.  John soon realizes that beneath the scruff and dirt is a talented artist and sensitive man who needs help to get his life in order.

This was a wonderful story about the power of friendship, patience, and love that wasn't always an easy read.  David's homelessness and what he does to earn money are tough to read.  He has been horribly abused on the street, and it has caused him to run away whenever he feels scared or stressed.  He trusts no one, but John and Jamie do their best to convince him that they won't hurt him.  My only complaint is that the story was told from multiple points of view, and it was not always clear whose view the author was taking which sometimes confused me.  However, it was still a compelling and well-told human drama.  276 pages (Kindle edition).