March 2, 2024

Monthly Book Review: February 2024

I am over the moon that it's finally March! I am anxious to start seeds and dahlia/canna tubers over the next two weeks. This has been called the "lost winter" here in the Twin Cities - it was 60 degrees today and no snow in sight. Only one book for February - 18 hours. I will definitely be reading something shorter next.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee chronicles four generations of a Korean family in Japan. The story was rich (though extremely long), with themes of discrimination, perseverance and honor. The title of the book references a popular gambling game, similar to slot machines. It was very educationnal. I had no idea that Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and that Koreans living in Japan were treated as second class citizens. It was difficult to become a Japanese resident and Koreans had to register as "special permanent residents". They felt shame in abandoning their country and giving allegiance to their oppressors yet had no voting rights in South Korea.

TBR List:

  • Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
  • The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
  • A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K. Runyan
  • City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Life Worth Living by Miroslav Volf, Matthew. Croasmun, Ryan McAnnally-Lins
  • Blue Love: Blue Valley High by MJ Fields 
  • Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
  • Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
  • The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
  • The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer
  • Outlive by Peter Attia, Bill Gifford

February 1, 2024

Monthly Book Review: January 2024

Happy 2024!

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami was a sweet Audible exclusive to kick off the new year.  Tsukiko is a single professional in her thirties who likes things the way she likes them and is fond of routine. One day, she meets a former teacher at the bar. He is significantly older, and she calls him Sensei partially out of respect and partially because she can't remember her name. What follows is a deepening friendship over sake and old-fashioned love story. I found the description of Japanese/Tokyo culture just as interesting as the budding relationship.

I have a love/hate relationship with Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. A sort of backstory to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Farrell's writing is beautiful and vivid - every inner thought and character nuance explored. It was a bit of a slog, yet worth it in the end - I thought about giving up at least twice but so glad I didn't. Absolutely loved the narration - that's what got me through the rough spots.


TBR List
  • Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
  • Blue Love: Blue Valley High by MJ Fields 
  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
  • Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
  • Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
  • The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
  • The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer

January 1, 2024

December 2023 + Year in Review

Two books to round out the year and both were excellent. 

Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi is the story of Sitara, a young girl orphaned by the Afghanistan communist coup in 1978. She is “saved” while the rest of her family is slaughtered. She lives a comfortable but anxious life, then thirty years later a chance meeting gives her an opportunity for accountability. My favorite part of the story follows how she is sheltered by an American diplomat and her mother, and how they are able to get her out of Afghanistan and become family.

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau was so good it ended up tied for 5th place in the year’s top 10. It's a coming-of-age story set in the 1970's. The title character is a 14 yo summer nanny for the daughter of a therapist who is treating a famous musician for drug addiction. The family is completely different from her own - no perfunctory rules, no judgments, no structure. Her eyes are opened and there’s no unseeing the racism, discrimination and other societal tensions surrounding her. The real star of the novel is the young daughter Izzy who acts and speaks with complete abandon, the way a child should. My favorite excerpt “Until I met Jimmy, I hadn’t understood that people you love could do things you didn’t love. And still you could keep loving them.”

Year in Review

I read/listened to 30 books in 2023 and here are my top 10:

  • Carrie Soto Is Back
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures 
  • The Midnight Library
  • Lessons in Chemistry 
  • The Golden Couple
  • Mary Jane
  • The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion
  • One Night on the Island
  • Vacationland
  • Pineapple Street 


December 5, 2023

Monthly Book Review: November 2023

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Unless of course it's not ... I love Christmas but am keenly aware that for some it is a very difficult season. If you're reading this, I hope you have the love and support you need regardless of your current "spirit". 

I started reading Violeta by Isabel Allende and Frances Riddle but just couldn't slog through it. I gave it about 4-5 hours then decided life's too short to read bland books. I loved Allende's The Japanese Lover (10/10) and liked Long Petal (7/10) so this was super disappointing.

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen was right up my alley. Avery Chambers is the anti-therapist. She's developed an unorthodox method for helping people overcome their issues in 10 sessions and she gets all up in their business to accomplish this. Enter the Bishop's, the "golden couple" who ostensibly need Avery's help to get past Marissa Bishop's infidelity. The story follows the couple's sessions, Avery's inner dialogue and backstory as well as Marissa's backstory. Nuanced and juicy with great characters and surprising twists. Definitely in the year's top 10!

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson is about three women - Georgiana, the spoiled younger sister living off her trust fund; Darley, the older sister who didn't sign a prenup and is madly in love with her husband; Sasha, married to Georgiana and Darley's brother Cord and definitely not part of the 1%. The Stockton's are old money rich and the siblings' parents, especially mother Tilda are used to things being a certain way. The Stockton's are very close (though as the story unfolds, they don't really know each other) and Sasha very much feels like an outsider. All three women face their own challenges in their journeys to discover who they are and what wealth means to them. Very good, explored progressive ideas without getting too deep or preachy. I loved this excerpt from Sasha when describing her family as compared to her husband's ~

"Her own family was a restaurant booth - you could always scoot over and make space for one more. Cord's family was a table with chairs and those chairs were bolted to the floor."


I loaded up with Audible's recent 50% off sale so my TBR list has gotten VERY long.
  • Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
  • Blue Love: Blue Valley High by MJ Fields 
  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
  • Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
  • Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
  • Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
  • City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
  • Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
  • Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
  • The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

November 3, 2023

Monthly Book Review: October 2023

As predicted, there was no September book review. We took a two-week road trip from MN / WI to the Blue Ridge Parkway starting in NC and driving north. We toured the Biltmore Estate, the National D-Day Museum, Appomattox Court House and Monticello. We fit a lot in and stayed in a new place almost every night. It exposed differing travel preferences between my husband and I so suffice to say we will not likely undertake that ambitious of a trip again. My main takeaway is that the Parkway is a must-see - I loved the mountains, exposure to new places and people, and general comradery amongst fellow road trippers.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus definitely lived up to the hype. I wanted to be sure and read this before the Apple TV limited series came out and I finished just in the nick of time. Elizabeth Zott is a science geek lacking social skills (so probably on the spectrum) living in a midcentury male-dominated profession (let's face it, the world was male-dominated in the midcentury). She's no-nonsense, ambitious and curious - my favorite type of person! The story is quirky, funny and educational. Elizabeth grows up with a lack of love, boundaries and structure, she eventually finds a like-minded genius scientist and a dog named six-thirty with whom she can settle down in their unconventional version of normal. Then life throws some curveballs, and she ends up with a TV cooking show because of the complex and nutritious school lunches she makes for her daughter. The banter between Elizabeth and Walter, the other single parent at her daughter's school who happens to run a TV station, caused numerous laugh-out-loud moments. The TV series veers a bit from the book but so far very enjoyable. 

I was excited to read Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia while on my recent Mexican vacation. The premise is an independent socialite from Mexico City, Noemie, is dispensed by her father to see if her cousin, Catalina, is being taken advantage of financially by her new husband's family. Noemie finds Catalina in a web of odd family dynamics and a house with wallpaper that moves. Sadly, it was like wading through sludge - I wanted to like it and stuck through to the end, but honestly it was a huge waste of time. The narration was bland, the characters lacked depth and the story line was convoluted and drawn out. Maybe the upcoming Hulu limited series will be better than the book.

TBR List

  • Violeta by Isabel Allende, Frances Riddle
  • Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
  • The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen 
  • Blue Love: Blue Valley High by MJ Fields 
  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
  • Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
  • Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
  • Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

September 12, 2023

Monthly Book Review: August 2023

Another four books AND a radio program - reading badass! Summer is effectively over and currently on a two-week roadtrip to North Carolina & Virginia so I think the streak is likely over.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis is a historical fictional novel that tackles women’s societal roles in 1913 and 1983. Sadie is the granddaughter of the Lyons who once lived in the New York Public Library (the lions from the title is a play on this and reference to the famed figures in front of the Library). Laura Lyons is a dutiful wife and mother who longs for so much more. Sadie doesn’t know much about Laura other than what she published - Laura mysteriously left her family and moved to London as a relative recluse. Their stories intersect when Sadie is a curator at the Library and books start to go missing; ironically the same thing occurred in 1913. A good, not great read. 

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen was super entertaining. The story toggles between Ava Wong and her one-time college roommate Winnie. Ava is being interrogated about her relationship with Winnie and how she got caught up in a Chinese counterfeit purse ring. Winnie is narrating her side of the story. Who to believe? Is one, the other or both just as fake as their bags? Good or bad, I did buy counterfeit bags 20 yrs ago - and may have done so recently but not intentionally, but it was nowhere near the scale two were operating on.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman was a BBC Radio show with an all-star cast (Benedict Cumberbatch, Natalie Dormer and James McAvoy to name a few). This fantasy story follows Richard and Door in London Below to determine who killed Door’s father and who has hired hunters to find them. Loved this - great escape and excellent narration. 

The Guest by Emma Cline was on a lot of summer reading lists. It follows Alex, a young grifter, and her late summer escapades across Long Island. I really disliked it - total waste of time and I should have quit it but kept thinking it would get better. Spoiler: it didn’t, at least not for me. 

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner is set with a backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Sophie is an Irish immigrant and “mail order” bride with a tragic past. She marries Martin, a widower who is supposedly a traveling insurance risk assessor, and grows to love his young daughter, Kat.  One day before the earthquake Sophie receives a call from pregnant Belinda Bigelow and learns she may not really be married and Martin may not be who he says he is. The women’s lives are in danger as Martin may be responsible for murder, fraud and bigamy. The story follows Sophie’s quest for the truth - for her as well as for Kat. I loved the generosity of the women involved and the satisfying ending. 

TBR List

  • Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
  • The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen 
  • Blue Love: Blue Valley High by MJ Fields 
  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  • Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

August 1, 2023

Monthly Book Review: July 2023

Four books again this month - on a roll!

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is by the same author who wrote Dear Edward. They have similar themes - finding oneself among tragedy and "family" being what and who you make of it, not just what you were born into. A very layered story of William, born in a family where he isn't seen or loved, but basketball becomes the touchstone for all his future relationships. He moves from Boston to Chicago for college and finds a place in the Padavano family of strong women and a warm and unmotivated father. All four sisters impact his life and he theirs profoundly. But nothing is a straight line. Not as good as Edward, but definitely satisfying.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is about identical twin sisters, Desiree and Stella, from a small town in Louisiana. All members of the town are light-skinned black, so light they could pass as white. The sisters move to New Orleans where Stella vanishes one day. Years later, Desiree returns to her hometown with her daughter, Jude, who is so dark it causes a stir. Eventually Jude ventures out on her own to California, where one night she sees a woman who looks exactly like her mother. It couldn't be, could it?! And this woman's daughter is definitely white. A tale of becoming comfortable in your own skin. Literally. This showed a lot of promise, but it never resolved the sisters' break up nor deep connection between the two families I longed for. It was so-so.

The Midnight Library Matt Haig was recommended by my bestie and will definitely be in my top 10 for the year (if not top 5). "The only way to live is to learn". Nora Seed is a woman who cannot catch a break - she's lost her mom, her main job, her side job, and her cat. What next?! Nora is stuck between worlds and in the Midnight Library she can check out lives unlived - try out who she would have been had she made different choices along the way. Who hasn't imagined "what if?". The audiobook narrator is actress Carey Mulligan and I could listen to her narrate a cereal box. A MUST read, especially anyone who feels that the world would be better off without them in it. A++

Well Met by Jen DeLuca is a bit trite and predictable. I thought I might need a palette cleanser, but it was a bit too soapy for me. It also turned rated R in a nanosecond - I'm not a prude, but it happened three-quarters of the way through and seemed unnecessary by that point. Likely a decent beach read. 

TBR List

  • The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
  • Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen
  • The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
  • Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
  • Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
  • The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen 
  • Blue Love: Blue Valley High by MJ Fields