Monthly Book Review: June 2023

Four books this month!! and quite a variety. In order of most to least favorite - 

One Night on the Island by Josie Silver is about finding oneself where you least expect it. Cleo is a London dating columnist (think Sex and the City) sent by her editor to a remote island to self-partner (a term coined by Emma Watson). Cleo sees one other passenger on the boat taking her to the island. Turns out both Mack and Cleo are on Salvation Island for solitude yet stuck in the same lodge due to a reservation mix-up. Amidst the tension, they find a way to tolerate each other. Cleo finds warmth and belonging amongst the islanders. Mack starts to come to terms with the fact that life is not turning out how he designed. Warm, romantic and fun. Loved - A++

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan is the latest book by one of my favorite audiobook narrators. The story follows Sewanee (or "Swan" for short), a former actress who is now an audiobook narrator. There's a lot going on here, but it all works. A freak accident caused her to lose one eye and the related guilt/shame impacts all her decisions. She has a close relationship with her grandmother for whom she feels protective and responsible, especially since her father is a bit of a flake, She has a one-night stand with a charming Scotsman that she can't forget. She's given an amazing opportunity to narrate a romance book with the #1 male romance narrator, Brock - a genre she started out in but now hates. The anonymous banter between Swan and Brock is witty and sexy. The behind-the-scenes peek at the audiobook industry is fascinating. The only thing that felt a bit forced was the best friend relationship. A+

The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton follows three women in 1935. Three stories in one about Helen, a heavily pregnant local waitress, Elizabeth, a New York socialite whose family lost everything, and Mirta, a Cuban newly wed to a man with a reputation in New York and Florida. The Labor Day hurricane of 1935 (the strongest to ever hit the United States) is the ticking timebomb that drives the intersection between the women. This was an easy, good read.

Search by Michelle Huneven was recommended by a church friend. This is about a search committee at a Universalist Unitarian Church in California. According to Wikipedia, UUs " assert no creed, but instead are united by their shared search for spiritual growth". Search details the long, intense process of searching for a new minister and the snarkiness that accompanies a diverse panel of stakeholders with their own failings and biases. I didn't love the interspersion of food (main character is a restaurant reviewer) - fell flat for me, like she was trying too hard - I don't recall a single dish. I did love the back-and-forth amongst characters regarding what they were looking for in a minister and why, as well as the main character's introspection about her own biases. 

TBR List

• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• Well Met by Jen DeLuca
• 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
• Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
• The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen 
• Blue Love: Blue Valley High by MJ Fields 
  

Monthly Book Review: May 2023

May was not my best reading month - two books that were meh.

All Adults Here by Emma Straub seemed promising, especially with a quirky beginning, but it just didn't jell for me. Astrid witnesses a terrible accident one morning - a school bus kills someone she doesn't particularly like on the way to the hair salon. Turns out there was an incident years prior with one of her sons that biased Astrid against the woman. With her death, Astrid starts thinking about what kind of parent she's been and her own legacy. I was looking forward to more depth on unpacking this as well as parenting adult children (something I've found challenging myself). However, there are so many characters - Astrid's partner, her daughter who is about to be an unwed mother, two sons, one of which is an actor with a 13 yo daughter with her own incident so sent packing to Astrid's, daughters-in-law, the daughter's former high school flame and a rekindled female relationship. And reflections on Astrid's first husband who died. That's a lot of relationships to manage and it all gets watered down for me. I may have been looking for too much so perhaps a good light read if that's what you expect.

I was really looking forward to In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. Serle wrote One Italian Summer, one of my top 10 reads of 2022. Like Adults, this starts out promising - a story of friendship and fate. Dannie is a high-power NYC attorney with a plan and timetable for everything ... career, marriage, family. Bella, Dannie's childhood best friend, is more laid-back, glamorous and artsy. One night Dannie has a dream so vivid and clear that is five years in the future, but she doesn't recognize the apartment or the guy in her life; she just knows that she's happy. She revisits the dream several times but is unable to recreate the magic. Fast forward four years when she meets THE guy - and it's Bella's new boyfriend. I expected it to get juicy from there ... unfortunately it does not. Another potential light summer read; I guess I'm looking for deep thoughts and nuanced perspectives in my books.

Thanks to a couple of Audible sales I've loaded up my to-be-read list - better get cracking!

TBR List

• The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
• One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
• Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
• Search by Michelle Huneven
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• Well Met by Jen DeLuca
• 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
• Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
• Blue Love: Blue Valley High - Senior Year by MJ Fields

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!