Lora Terrill

Thank you for joining me here!   (Reminder: the page numbers I list here reflect the number of Kindle pages, not paper pages.)  I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Funny in Farsi  by Firoozeh Dumas (Length: 210 pages).   I love memoirs and this one is a winner! The writing style is truly funny and engaging, and i enjoyed reading about a young Iranian woman growing up in California for much of her childhood. I loved her depictions of her family (especially her father with all of this money-saving quirks) as well as the stories of family vacations, going to school and meeting her French husband. This is very much worth a library check out. There is a sequel of sorts that I’m interested in reading next, and I’ll keep you posted here if I read that.

Book #2:

All the Money in the World by Laura Vanderkam (Length: 254 pages).  My husband and I each read The Millionaire Next Door before we got married over 18 (!) years ago, and the philosophies espoused in that book have absolutely informed how I think about money. However, new year, new budgets make me always interested in learning about different financial philosophies. I read that this book is a good one for book clubs as it elicits interesting discussions about how people feel about money, so I decided to check it out. As I was reading this, I found that I had already read this a few years ago, but I continued reading it and learned more the second time around, so the reread was worth it. This book isn’t dry at all, thanks to lots of real-life examples. This is not a how-to book, but is more helpful with regard to framing you think of and value money. It is absolutely worth a read (and would, in fact, be a fun book club choice!).

Book #3:

The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum (Length: 386 pages).  I ADORE this book! I’ve read (and reviewed) this author’s young adult novel What to Say Next, so I was excited to read this one. The protagonist is a strong female lawyer. The writing is retrospective and prospective which makes for interesting reading. There are strong themes of workplace sexual harassment and family deaths (cancer), plus the plot is fast-moving with excellent character development. This is not your run-of-the mill chick lit as the plot (and the writing) are memorable. Worth purchasing as you’ll want to loan it to a friend immediately after finishing this one.

Book #4:

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare (Length: 379 pages).  A book club friend recommended this one, and since I trust her taste, I immediately picked it up. This is a fantastic book! The beginning is a bit slow, and VERY stressful as it has to do with a young girl in Nigeria being married off to a much older man in her village. Adunni is an incredible protagonist, with a unique narrative voice (her English improves as the book progresses, so the writing changes to reflect her increasing grasp of the language). The writing is beautifully descriptive, and the dialogue is wonderfully evocative of this culture. The plot is fast-moving beginning in the middle of the novel. I also enjoyed learning so much about the Nigerian culture. I absolutely would recommend this novel!