Category: Uncategorized

February 2023–Part Two

March 1, 2023

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams (Length: 322 pages) This romantic comedy is closed door, super cute and features the friends to lovers trope. Here, it’s an NFL QB and his ballet teacher BFF from high school who have been madly in love with one another IN SECRET for years. Yes, it’s totally unbelievable but because this is so well-written, with characters who have actual depth (my sweet spot for rom coms!) this actually works very well here. This will be one of my top ten books of the year for sure. A great vacation read.

Book #2:

Babel by R.F. Kuang (Length: 557 pages). Another B.O.T.M. (Book of the Month) pick that I’m VERY happy I picked. This is literary fiction (ie, you must have all brain cells operating while reading) set in 1800s Oxford England. A bit of magical realism featuring translators of foreign languages mingles with a historical thriller which grapples with colonialism, racism and the meaning of language all told via the magic of “silver working.” Essentially this is the manipulation of silver bars which power society for the benefit of the wealthy class. This is very well-written, obviously, and is very deep (ie, the brain must be turned ON to understand this). There are lots of footnotes so I don’t see how this works well on audio but the footnotes aren’t 100% necessary for the book so perhaps the audio (all 23 hours of it!) works sufficiently well? I found the plot to be propulsive and very memorable, and while it’s not a fun popcorn book, I’m very glad I spent the time and brainpower to read this book. It gave me a lot to think about and I will remember this in several years.

Book #3:

No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder (Length: 336 pages). I wish this would be assigned reading for every college freshman, but given the way this country is heading in its book-banning frenzy, that will NEVER happen. As the subtitle indicates, what we don’t know about domestic violence can kill us. I’m very familiar with the crime of domestic violence given my past and current career and even I learned quite a bit about this epidemic. This is not a dry academic treatise thanks to the author’s inclusion of many accounts by victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. The tone isn’t that of a lecture but instead is a very thought-provoking exploration of what we as a society MUST know about domestic violence. The scale and escalation of this horrible crime is frightening but this book truly empowers us to try to halt its progress if we decide to care. And, I really hope we do. A must read!

Book #4:

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (Length: 386 pages) This EXCELLENT mystery is my book club’s pick for next month but I just couldn’t wait to read it. The structure of this is totally unique . . . a mother looks out her front window and sees her son commit a murder and wonders what she could have done to prevent it. The next day she wakes up and it’s actually the day PRIOR to the murder, and the following day she jumps back into town even further. The construction of this novel really works, it’s very well-written, the plot absolutely makes this book impossible to put down and the central mystery is believable. I will say that there are lots of clues throughout that make this solvable before you finish, but I just enjoyed the ride and enjoyed the resolution. This is like a puzzle that you don’t want to finish because you’re enjoying the process of completing it. A great vacation read!

Book #5:

The Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams (Length: 322 pages) . I listened to this on audio and it’s adorable! I don’t recall how it came onto my TBR but I saw that it was available from my library and that it’s the first book in a series so I tried it. I knew it would be a winner 10 minutes in, which is the best feeling. This is a cozy murder mystery set in the fictional town (I assume?) of Miracle Springs, North Carolina, and it features a group of 4 women who ultimately form a book club and secret murder solving club while enjoying the baked goods of one of the women. There are a few murders which need to be solved but this is primarily a book about friendship. Yes, it’s a bit cheesy but it’s a true cozy mystery and if you’re in the mood for that type of book this will fit the bill. All of the 4 main characters have depth thanks to their backstories, so you quickly come to care about them. The central mystery is not deep or difficult, a la the cozy, but it works here. I will absolutely continue on with the series, most likely in audio since this is so easy to follow and listen to. Let me know if you will too!

February 2023–Part One

February 15, 2023

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Never Lie by Freida McFadden (Length: 285 pages) I listened to this one and I LOVED the narrator here. The plot of this thriller is easy to follow and it’s absolutely propulsive. The main characters are Tricia and Ethan, relative newlyweds who are house-hunting and end up getting stuck in a home they’re touring in the middle of nowhere. The house is a bit creepy, with evidence of someone else living there but they know the previous owner (a psychiatrist) was allegedly murdered. The novel switches between the viewpoints of Tricia and the dr who is presumed dead. Now, you definitely have to suspend disbelief with this novel, A LOT, but it’s a fun ride with a few twists and turns I never saw coming. This would be a fun vacation read.

Book #2:

The People we Keep by Allison Larkin (Length: 367 pages). This is my book club’s February pick and follows April, a 16 year-old girl with a rough home life on her journey to find a better life with found family, musical success, etc. I found the first third of this book VERY disturbing (April has a romantic relationship with a 27 year old) and the author never seems to fully address how dangerous this is, especially as she’s told us, the readers, how naive and unequipped April is to deal with the real world in many respects. I did want to keep reading to find out if April ends up okay so I did finish the book, but overall, I’d say don’t read this book. I’m not happy I did.

Book #3:

A Court of Mist and Fury  by Sarah J. Maas (Length: 641 pages). Well, the first one sucked me in enough that I HAD to borrow this book from my 17 year-old daughter. There is a new love interest in this book (not misogynistic and way more likable than Tamlin in book 1) AND I think the writing quality in this book is much better. (Many fans think this book is the best in the series, for what it’s worth). I did enjoy reading this book and I definitely want to continue reading on to find out what happens next. In this installment I loved learning about yet another “world”, in this case, the Night Court and its nearby city, Velaris. The supporting characters that we met in book one are more fully fleshed out here and the love story isn’t quite as cheesy. (However, the love scenes seem to me to be too graphic for the tween demographic, but maybe I’m just clutching my pearls re: this?). I’m already beginning the third book in the series so I’ll post my review here; I did try to listen to the third book on audio but my attention kept drifting. With this series I think there’s too many characters to keep track of for my brain to be able to listen to this.

Book #4:

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (Length: 384 pages) This was a very atypical murder mystery (reminds me of the movie “Knives Out”), and on the whole, I rather enjoyed it. The narrator is one of the Cunningham brothers who is with the rest of his family marooned at a family reunion in a snowy chalet in Australia. Think a locked room mystery. The narrator also happens to be an author best known for his books where he analyzes OTHER murder mystery writing, ie, 10 Easy Steps to Write Crime Novels, and the narrator refers to these steps throughout the book itself. The structure of the novel is what makes it interesting. I will say that this isn’t a “popcorn” thriller because the reader does need to keep all of the various characters and their relationships straight for this to make any sense. For that reason, I didn’t reach for it as often as I might otherwise (I typically read 3 different books at the same time). But ultimately I do recommend this, if only for how interesting the narrative structure is and for the mystery at the heart of this novel. It’s clever and fun, and it’s worth a read!

January 2023–Part Two

January 31, 2023

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

The Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (Length: 556 pages) Reader, know thyself with this book. This is a sweeping crime family saga set in Delhi, India . . . it’s the Indian Godfather. This is the first of a trilogy, so it ends on a cliffhanger, but before we get there, there’s beautiful writing, a pulse-pounding plot (here and there, with some SLOW parts in the middle), and overall it’s hard to put down because you want to find out what happens. BUT, it’s incredibly violent, you won’t like many (if not most) of the primary characters, the descriptions of poverty and the hard lives of some of the characters can be hard to stomach . . . if you can handle all of that, it’s absolutely worth a read. I’ll pick up the second book in the series when it’s released because I don’t think I’ll forget what I’ve read in the this one, and I do want to see where the author goes from here.

Book #2:

One Day in December by Josie Silver (Length: 394 pages). This lovely rom-com was the palate-cleanser I needed after the aforementioned crime novel. I LOVE this book! I’m finding I’m a Reese Pick’s fan, so I knew I’d enjoy this book about two people who catch a glimpse of one another on a bus/bus stop in London, and then find their lives intersecting throughout the following decade. The characters have depth, the romance at the center is the opposite of cheesy (which I adore!) and the writing is very memorable. This is absolutely in the top 10 of rom-coms for me, and you won’t be disappointed if you take a chance on this novel.

Book #3:

Remarkably Bright Creatures  by Shelby Van Pelt (Length: 362 pages). I ADORE this book! This was my book club’s January book club pick and all 10 of us LOVED the reading experience. This is set mostly in a small aquarium in a town on the shores of Washington state. The novel features Tova, an elderly cleaning woman who cleans the aquarium in the evenings, primarily to stay busy as both her husband and her son have passed away. The other major character is Marcellus, an incredibly intelligent giant Pacific octopus who has a talent for escaping his tank. The supporting cast of characters are all very interesting. This novel reminds me of Fredrik Backman’s writing where all of the characters and subplots magically come together in a very realistic way (although in this novel it’s a BIT far-fetched but not so far that I wasn’t able to just go along with it). The writing is strong, and I couldn’t put it down. All of us said we read this in a day or two, and many of us immediately started researching this incredible octopus.

Book #4:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Length: 432 pages)  I’ve wanted to check out this teen fantasy series (of 5 books) for years but I finally was inspired to pick up the first book once a few of my coworkers started reading it. My older teen daughter has had all 15 books (they’re interconnected via worlds and characters) for a while and discusses them on BookTok so I just had to ask nicely to borrow this on. 😉 I will say this reminds me of the Twilight series in that the central romance is a bit cheesy, but what this book features is fantastic world building. I was immediately hooked by the author’s descriptions of the various “courts” in the fairylands and I didn’t read this with an eye towards the Beauty and the Beast retelling that the author allegedly based this on. Instead, I got a more Lord of the Rings vibe here. There were a few plot inconsistencies, but they weren’t bad enough to stop me from reading further; they absolutely were distracting however, and a more discerning reader than me may be even more annoyed. I absolutely understand the appeal of the series and I have already started the second book in the series and I’m enjoying that one even more. I am told that the writing quality increases with each book so that’s promising.

Book #5:

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita (Length: 304 pages) This is a mystery/thriller with a unique premise–it’s primarily set within one building in Alaska which houses the town’s entire population (200 plus condos). There are LOTS of plot twists, many quirky characters, and the tone is very creepy and unsettling, much of which is thanks to the setting . . . the dark Alaskan winter and the giant building (with its various tunnels and connected dilapidated outbuildings). This is well-written and had enough going on to keep me interested. It’s a very fast read, with short chapters (yay!) and the author sets this up for sequel(s) so I will definitely keep reading this author in the future. A library check out for sure!

January 2023–Part One

January 16, 2023

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Float Plan by Trish Doller (Length: 263 pages) This rom-com is such an under-rated gem of a book! It’s well-written, with a propulsive plot and it’s set in various islands of the Caribbean, so it’s so much fun to tag along as a reader. The premise of the story is a young woman decides to sail from Florida to Trinidad after her fiancée commits suicide. She uses his original charts and plans to take the trip that they had planned together before his death. Because she’s a sailing novice she picks up a crew member along the way, an Irish hunk named Keane Sullivan. Yes, Keane is perfect, seems too good to be true and yes his “fatal flaw” is a nothingburger. But we know all this and we’ll enjoy the ride regardless, because the descriptions of the various islands, including their food and culture, along with how sailing really works, all elevate this novel to one of my all-time favorite romances. Check it out!

Book #2:

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Length: 394 pages). Louise Penny is the rare auto-buy author for me (Fredrik Backman is the other), and I have to say that this book, #18 in the Inspector Armand Gamache series set in gorgeous Three Pines, Canada, is my favorite thus far. The central mystery is intricately-crafted (per usual), and is primarily set within Three Pines, and features all of my favorite residents, which is a big reason why I love this book so much. There are trigger warnings for child sexual abuse (none of it is graphic, but it is alluded to) and it absolutely furthers the plot. This can also be read as a standalone if you’re interested in checking out the series (which starts out slow but by book 4 the series hits its stride. Check out the Three Pines series on Amazon Prime too–it’s well-done and while each pair of episodes is based on one of her books, the plot resolutions are different than the books themselves so don’t worry about plot spoilers.

Book #3:

Dating Dr Dil  by Nisha Sharma (Length: 373 pages). I don’t remember how this book came onto my radar but I really enjoyed this rom-com written from the East Asian perspective. The trope is the male protagonist, a cardiologist, believes in arranged marriage because love is “physically bad for the heart” and the female protagonist wants a love-based marriage like her parents enjoyed. They both have a financial incentive to get married; the female gets the house her mom built and the male gets his community center financed. There is the standard miscommunication issue here and this is VERY open door and steamy. Well-written, with decent character development, I’ll remember this one for a while because it’s sufficiently different than other rom coms out there. I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars if I had to rate it.

Book #4:

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (Length: 289 pages)  I listened to this one and it finally clicked for me–I’ve tried reading his books before and didn’t think they were funny, but for some reason hearing him read his work out loud did the trick. At times hysterically funny (his chapter “Standing by” re: characters in an airport had me laughing so hard that I cried) and thought-provoking and just plain interesting, this book of essays is fantastic. I adored it and I’m already queuing up more for my future commutes. I’m late to the party but I’m so glad I’m finally here.

December 2022–Part Two

January 1, 2023

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (Length: 366 pages) This is a well-written rom-com with a unique premise. Florence Day is a ghostwriter for a beloved romance writer who is hired to finish out that author’s multi-book contract. Florence can also SEE ghosts, having grown up in a family-run funeral home. She can also see her ghostly hot editor, Benji Andor, and they spend a magical week together after Florence’s dad passes away. This is witty, charming, and strong character development. This is a rare bird among rom-coms in that it’s actually memorable. I absolutely recommend this!

Book #2:

The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock (Length: 464 pages). This novel is part adventure, part family saga–lighter on the adventure part, to my disappointment, and it’s about 100 pages too long. I never had the urge to go back and pick this up to read, but once I did, I was glad I did, for whatever that’s worth. This is a well-written saga told just as World War 11 was winding down, and is set in the Evertell home/property just outside Savannah, Georgia, and it was also the home of the “stone” from the real-life Lost Colony of Roanoke, Virginia. Again, I wish it was heavier on the adventure parts as those are what kept me reading, and overall, I’m glad I picked this one up. It’s worth a library pick at least.

Book #3:

June, Reimagined by Rebekah Crane (Length: 283 pages).  This rom-com was an Amazon First Reads, which is always a crapshoot lately, but I enjoyed this romance set in Scotland. A college junior, June, escapes her life in Ohio after her brother’s death, and meets a brooding, grouchy Scottish, hunk, etc. This is a bit deeper than most rom-coms and the characters are interesting, if thinly-drawn. I give it a 3 out of 5 starts ultimately because this romance suffers from the same issue that I have with many rom coms . . . if the characters would simply TALK to one another, the issue plaguing each and every relationship in this book, they wouldn’t have the problems they do. I won’t remember this one in a month but it was an easy and enjoyable read.

Book #4:

Mothertrucker by Amy Butcher (Length: 283 pages)  I adore this book! This is a non-fiction account of a feminist literature professor from Ohio (who is also a victim of ongoing domestic violence) who tags along with Joy “Mothertrucker”, the only female big rig truck driver on the infamous Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Joy herself is also a victim of domestic violence, and the author uses gorgeous writing to draw parallels between their lives living in such different places, as well as drawing from the beauty of the landscape they drive through on their journey. I highly recommend this book!

Book #5:

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena (Length: 363 pages)  I listened to this one on my commute, and I was hopeful it would be a better listen than the last Lapena audiobook I reviewed a few weeks ago. This one is about spoiled rich kids who as adults are looking to divide their inheritance from their uber-wealthy parents. Their father was an emotionally abusive pyschopath and their mother stood by and watched. And apparently psychopathy is partly genetic which makes all of them (along with others) prime suspects after both parents are found brutally murdered after a family Easter dinner. The narrator in this book is much better than the last Lapena book I listened to, so that was a better start. The underlying mystery here is decent, but the author’s reveal of the murderer almost fell anticlimactic, as once again, no clues are given throughout for the reader so the reader is just along for the ride. Without that emotional investment, the ending isn’t as satisfying as other murder mysteries. Perhaps this is just what this author does, so lesson learned for me as I am looking for something different with these reads. All told, however, this was an entertaining read and I don’t feel like I wasted my time reading this novel.