Monthly Book Review: September 2020

Three books in one month and an early post - winning at life! At least for today 😉

I had high hopes for Isabel Allende’s A Long Petal of the Sea because I loved The Japanese Lover. My review for Japanese Lover - LOVE!!! Great story, stupendous writing, wonderful character development. Read / listen now! 

Long Petal was my sister-in-law's September book club read. It was hard for me to get into and I did not like it as much as I had hoped. It is the chronicle of Victor Dalmau's life from a young boy in Spain to Chilean immigrant and beyond (the title is a reference to Chile). It read (audio version) almost like a documentary with actor portrays thrown in for emphasis. The history on the Spanish Civil War and Chile was very interesting and I loved Pablo Neruda's poetry. 7 out of 10.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley was a Reese pick and at one point while reading I thought 'I'm going to ignore her recommendations going forward'. But then ... WHAM! I was pleasantly surprised. The story bounces between the day before the wedding on an island off the Irish coast and the day of the big event with several characters' perspectives and backstories. Many mysteries are billed in the style of Agatha Christie and fall flat, but this delivered for me. 8 out of 10 because I figured some things out early on and it wrapped up a little too quickly at the end.

My sister-in-law recommended Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. A delightful memoir of Woodson's childhood and how she came to understand her Black identity. I wish I had the ability to recall the details from my childhood this well. 9 out of 10. My favorite excerpt from her "How to Listen" chapters - "Write down what I think I know. The knowing will come. Just keep Listening."

Another excerpt that really resonated with me was in the author's notes - "I am often asked if I had a hard life growing up. I think my life was very complicated and very rich. Looking back on it, I think my life was at once ordinary and amazing. I couldn't imagine any other life. I know that I was lucky enough to be born during a time when the world was changing like crazy and that I was part of that change. I know that I was and continue to be loved I couldn't ask for anything more."

 TBR List

• The Stationary Shop by Marian Kamali
• American Royals II: Majesty by Katharine McGee
• Blindness by Jose Saramago
• September by Rosamunde Pilcher

Monthly Book Review: August 2020

Does anyone else feel like August was simultaneously the longest and shortest month of this year? 

I started How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi as it is on my to-be-read list as well as my new book club’s read for the month. Maybe it’s because I’m still processing Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi  Coates from June (it’s that good and powerful) or that I wanted to completely escape, I just couldn’t get into it. So I decided to give myself grace (the same grace I invoke when indulging in a cookie or two because I went to Pilates that morning) and got lost in Kate Morton‘s The Forgotten Garden. I love Kate. She creates ethereal stories that expertly intertwine characters from different times. Nell found herself on a ship to Australia as a young child and ended up living a charmed life until her “father” reveals the truth as she’s about to be married. Nell seeks her truth, but fate intervenes. Nells granddaughter Cassandra picks up where Nell left on years later only to find her own truth in the process. 

 

TBR List:

• A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende 
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson