Monthly Book Review: April 2023

Happy May Day! I vaguely remember dancing around a maypole as a child, but not sure what it's all about so Wikipedia to the rescue -

May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.

So there you have it, but let's reflect on April for this review. I read 2.5 books - .5 because I discovered a book started late last year but never finished as I was organizing my Audible account. Yay!

Two books deal with memory, highlighting Alzheimer’s/dementia family members, and the third is billed as a mystery/thriller. Hmmm...

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is about best friends (more like frenemies) who vacation at an Italian villa with a legendary past. There was a murder in the 70's among a group of vacationing friends while two (or three) try to make an album. The stories bounce between the vacationing girlfriends and the 70's group consisting of two stepsisters, their mercurial musician (married) boyfriends and a drug dealing musician wannabe. I found this to be really predictable and trying too hard to be a Kate Morton story. There was a small twist I didn't see coming that was interesting, but not enough to redeem the entire book for me. And the end presents a did-she-or-didn't she scenario that I just didn't care enough to think it through. I give it a C.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult was like two stories in one. The first half follows Diana, a New Yorker who takes a trip to the Galapagos Islands just as the world is shutting down for COVID. There she is forced to relax and just be, and predictably she forges a relationship with a rough-around-the-edges local man and his angsty daughter. I really enjoyed this half ... the switch to the second half seemed like a record scratch. I was miffed at first, but like many of Picoult's books you're supposed to wrestle with the everyday dilemmas. I don't want to give to much away, but the second half has Diana questioning reality, reconciling with her past, and deciding if the plan she had for her future is relevant.

“…the reliability of memory and how it fails us … The Japanese believe that it takes three generations to forget. Those who experience a trauma pass that along to their children and their grandchildren, and then the memory fades. To the survivors of a tragedy, that’s unthinkable. What’s the point of living through something terrible if you cannot convey the lessons you’ve learned? Since nothing will ever replace all you’ve lost, the only way to make meaning is to make sure no one else goes through what you did. Memories are the safeguards we use to keep from making the same mistakes.”

The found half-finished book is Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore. This was a slow burn and my favorite of the three. Set in Owl’s Head, Maine

“You aren’t owed anything, not really. Because the universe doesn’t work like that, the universe doesn’t make everything even for us”.

TBR List

• All Adults Here by Emma Straub
• One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
• The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
• Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
• Search by Michelle Huneven

Monthly Book Review: March 2023

March was an excellent reading month! My neighbor recommended The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg and it was delightful. Sookie Simmons is a middle aged woman from coastal Alabama with a complicated relationship with her eccentric, over-the-top mother. She consternates over a registered letter - though lengthy, that whole bit had me hooked (nothing good comes by registered mail … it may be another lawsuit against her mother) then discovers she is related to the Jurdabralinski’s of Pulaski, Wisconsin. The alternating storylines of Sookie and other Point Clear, AL characters vs. WWII life for the Jurdabralinski’s provides the perfect yin-yang tension. I loved learning about the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Flagg also wrote Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café so that gives you good frame of reference for the delightful quirkiness this book celebrates.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt will for sure be in my top 10 reads of the year. The story alternates between Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus in the Sowell Bay, WA aquarium, Tovah Sullivan, a widow who cleans at the aquarium, and Cameron Cassmore, a young man from Modesto, CA needing meaning and purpose. The intersection of their stories is clever and heartwarming. This is billed as a recommendation for those who loved A Man Called Ove and I completely agree with that comparison.

TBR List

• Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
• Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
• All Adults Here by Emma Straub
• One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
• The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
• The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
• Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
• The Joy of X by Steven Strogatz

Monthly Book Review: February 2023

Late and only one book. A VERY long book at that. I was drawn to The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki because I loved her other books, The Accidental Empress about Sisi of Austria and The Traitor's Wife about Benedict Arnold's wife. This one completely missed the mark - not sure if it was Pataki's writing or the subject. I never fell in love with Marjorie - she just flitted from one privileged circumstance to another, albeit she seems to have been very charitable. Both Marjorie and Pataki think she’s a pretty big deal. Her early life was painstakingly detailed and the last 30 plus years were whizzed through. Here are the highlights —Marjorie Merriweather Post was the designer and original inhabitant of Mar-a-Lago, the now infamous home of Donald Trump. She was the only child of C.W. Post, inventor of Grape Nuts and other Post cereals. Her first husband was Ed Close (grandfather of actress Glenn Close through his second marriage) and her second husband was E.F. Hutton. With Hutton, Post became General Foods and acquired a number of brands, including Birds Eye Frozen Foods (at Marjorie's insistence), Maxwell House and Jello-O. Her third husband was Democrat diplomat Joseph Davies, and they acquired significant Russian art pieces while Joe was ambassador to the Soviet Union. She married and divorced a fourth time and had three daughters (actress Dina Merrill was the youngest). Sprinkle in a few references to the yacht Sea Cloud, one husband calling her "mumsy" and A LOT of famous names casually mentioned, and I've saved you 14 hours and 30 minutes. You're welcome. One thing I did appreciate was how business minded she was and that it was a shame she spent most of her life as the woman behind a man vs the CEO and president she should have been.

TBR List

• Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
• Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
• All Adults Here by Emma Straub
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg
• The Joy of X by Steven Strogatz

Monthly Book Review: January 2023

Three books this month and a bonus because it turns out I read two in December and forgot to review one of them. Classic “better late than never”.

The Good Widow by Liz Fenton, Lisa Steinke - What if you found out your husband died in Hawaii, but you thought he was on a business trip in Kansas? And he wasn’t alone. I’d obsessively try to find out out what happened. Not sure I’d go with the other party’s significant other though. This drew me in right away and had a twist I didn’t see coming. Not top 10 worthy but a good read.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis - Based in NYC, it begins in the Gilded Age with a very young model for sculptures gracing buildings and mansions all over the city. The loss of her mother and a scandal leads Lillian to take refuge as a private secretary to the daughter of wealthy industrialist, Henry Clay Frick. Fast forward to 1966 where another model, Veronica, is stuck in the Frick mansion for a cold winter weekend with a young associate archivist. Veronica and Joshua follow a scavenger hunt laid out by Helen Frick 50 years prior. Here’s where it gets a bit sketchy for me - the scavenger hunt is somehow related to a diamond that went missing and Veronica is anxious to steal the diamond once found to secure a safe home for her impaired sister. Oh and there’s the mystery of Mr Frick’s death and Lillian’s potential involvement. Not as tidy as I would expect but a decent read.

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid was REALLY good and definitely lived up to the hype. This is the read to beat the rest of the year. Carrie is the hard-ass, retired greatest tennis player of all time. Her record is about to be beat. Can she make a comeback and stave off the next generation? I love her inner dialogue, the progressive timeline with training and matches, and the wonderful relationship with her father and coach Javier, also a former tennis great. This is my sixth Reid book - Daisy Jones & The Six is a hotly anticipated movie - and by far my favorite. I think Carrie would make for a hot must-see weekly streaming series.

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee - Solène is a thirty-nine year old mother taking her teenage daughter and friends to a boy band concert. What results is a steamy, complicated ride. “What if your teenager’s fantasy was your reality?” The audio book is read by the author and she has a very sultry voice. I hear this is being made into a movie with Anne Hathaway. 

TBR List

• The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki 
• Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
• Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
• All Adults Here by Emma Straub
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg
• The Joy of X by Steven Strogatz

Monthly Book Review: Nov/Dec 2022 + Year in Review

I went to create the December/year end post and discovered that I forgot to do a November post. Oops!

Only one book in November - We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, a true story about a Jewish family from Poland. Over 90% of Europe’s Jews were killed during WWII, but Lucky Ones chronicles the stories of the Kurc family who survived - parents Sol and Nechuma, their five children, Genek, Mila, Addy, Halina, their partners and Mila's young daughter, Felicia. I loved getting to know each one and what they had to do, where they had to go to survive and reunite - from Paris jazz clubs to Poland's ghettos, a Siberian gulag, and Rio de Janeiro. 

Only one book in December as well - A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell. This is the true story of American Virginia Hall who fiercely fought for France's independence via espionage and sabotage. It was a tough read - long and like listening to a Netflix documentary (albeit a good one), but I really wanted to know more about the woman who defied convention and the patriarchy (as well as a disability - she was an amputee) to become the most highly decorated female civilian of WWII.

Year in Review

I read/listened to 30 books in 2022 and here are my top 10:

• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
• The Last Think He Told Me by Laura Dave 
• Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
• Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge
• The Good House by Ann Leary
• The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
• The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
• Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer
• One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
• Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson

Would love to know what you thought of any of these and if any recommendations for 2023.

Happy New Year!

Monthly Book Review: October 2022

We travel to Phoenix, Arizona at least three times a year to see kids & grandkids. You would think spending at least three hours on an airplane would be conducive to reading, but sleep is often the priority with early morning flights (looking at you 4am wake up alarm). So only one book this month, but it was a really good one. 

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle is a love letter from a grieving daughter to her mother set in Positano, Italy. The audio version is read by Lauren Graham (aka Lorelai Gilmore) which I loved. She definitely embodies One’s Katy Silver, but it is so much fun to hear her recite a love of coffee and a few other quintessential Gilmore Girl references. I felt transported to Positano and surrounding areas (e.g., Capri) … the salty air, blue water, steep hills, fragrance of lemon, taste of fresh watermelon all enriched the story and made me want to add this region to the Italy trip I am planning for 2023 or 2024. Katy Silver finds herself alone, leaving her husband behind, in Positano taking the trip she had planned with her mother and best friend, Carol, who has just died. She is immediately befriended by the family running the Hotel Poseidon and another guest. Soon after she meets another American “runaway” and finds they have a great deal in common. The present and past collide and a startling discovery forces Katy to reckon with how present she has truly been (or not) in her life up to this point. As well as what matters most. Serle’s storytelling is playful and heartwarming - I will definitely be looking at her other titles. Solid A. 

TBR List

• We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
• Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
• A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
• Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
• The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
• The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
• The Good Widow by Liz Fenton, Lisa Steinke 
• The Joy of X by Steven Strogatz

Monthly Book Review: September 2022

The Secret Life of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw is scandalous and insightful. Each chapter features a distinct story, raw and vulnerable, from a black woman’s (or girl's) point of view. Some are sad ... a woman and her best friend rendezvous ever New Years Eve while the best friend laments not being married ... and others are mournful ... a grandmother reading her granddaughter's diary learning that the teenager has a crush on the pastor's wife. My favorite is a mistress’ rules for her suitors. 

I chose Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson for two reasons - my favorite genre, WWII fiction, and author of one of my favorite books, The Gown. Set in 1940's Italy, Nina and Nico, never having met before, must leave their lives for the countryside with Nico's family in order to keep Nina safe. Their lives are soon consumed by farm chores (Nina is a city girl), small town judgment, and Nazi persecution. The bonds Nina forges with Nico's family and Nico's insistence on helping others are a heartening balance against the terrors they all face.

TBR List

• Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
• We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
• A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
• One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
• Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
• The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
• The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
• The Good Widow by Liz Fenton, Lisa Steinke 
• The Joy of X by Steven Strogatz