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What are you reading?
Great Or Nothing – Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, Jessica Spotswood – 3***
This re-imagined Little Women set during World War II began when Jessica Spotswood posted a story idea she found daunting on Twitter. Her fellow authors joined with her to flesh out this story where Jo is queer and working in a factory, Amy has run away to join the Red Cross in London. With four authors, the four sisters had more equal roles than in the original work, which really focused on Jo. And, while the time frame is World War II, this is NOT a soldier’s story, but of how the women left behind dealt with their fears, and rose to the challenge of supporting those fighting overseas.
LINK to my full review
The US National Figure Skating Competition has been on all week ... thought this was appropriate.
Beautiful On the Outside – Adam Rippon – 3.5***
Memoir of Olympic medalist and self-proclaimed America’s Sweetheart Adam Rippon. Gosh this was fun! Rippon details his life growing up as the oldest of six children, and the sacrifices his mother made to help him achieve his dream of making it to the Olympics. From his childhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania to the independent Adam being too poor to eat anything but the free apples at his gym, he covers it all with grace and humor, while sharing the life lessons he learned. Rippon is more than just a pretty face (and the world’s BEST spinner), he’s also a thoughtful and assertive spokesperson for LGBTQ rights. I’ve always loved his skating, but now I love HIM even more!
LINK to my full review
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle – Matt Cain – 3***
A 64-year-old postman about to retire decides to make one more effort at finding his lost love. This was just delightful. My heart went out to Albert and I loved watching him bloom as he slowly made efforts to truly connect with the people on his route, and to begin searching for his lost love. Once Albert comes out of himself a bit he learns that many other people have struggles and face heartaches of their own. He learns much about compassion and friendship, and learns to open up and live rather than just exist. He certainly deserves his HEA!
LINK to my full review
Strangers On a Train – Patricia Highsmith – 4****
Two men meet on a train, and one is an alcoholic psychopath who proposes a plan for two perfect murders that will solve all their problems. It’s a wild ride. The suspense comes from one man’s clever and persistent pursuit of the other, not just as an accomplice to murder, but as a best friend. He behaves like a love-sick boy, and his careless actions are bringing an equally determined detective closer and closer to the truth. Will they truly get away with it? If not, who will get blamed? Who will crack first?
LINK to my full review
Last Night At the Telegraph Club – Malinda Jo – 4****
I really liked this YA work of historical fiction that focuses on the Chinese-American experience during the McCarthy Red-Scare period. Lily is a typical teen of the era, but somewhat naïve. When she stumbles on a book depicting a lesbian relationship she is puzzled, intrigued and excited. Coming out in this time period was not easy and fraught with danger. Though Lily starts out naïve and unsure, she shows herself to be principled, compassionate, and willing to stand up for herself. I really appreciated the author’s note at the end which detailed the history of the era.
LINK to my full review
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket – John Boyne – 3***
Eleanor and Alistair Brocket are perfectly normal, and that is what they want. But their youngest child, Barnaby, is decidedly and obviously “different.” This is a fable and a children’s adventure story full of improbable and exciting adventures but teaching a lesson about acceptance and compassion and courage. The entire story is a lesson on tolerance.
LINK to my full review
An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed – Helene Tursten – 3***
Book two in a very short series featuring nearly-90-year-old Maud and the people who irritate and annoy her and deserve what they get. This picks up where the first book left off, and the plot alternates between her current trip to South Africa and memories of past encounters, where she got even with those who crossed her. Maud’s an astute observer and prides herself on being a quick thinker. And, of course, who pays any attention to a little old lady?
LINK to my full review
: One L – Scott Turow – 3.5***
Subtitle: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School. Turow wrote this memoir just after his first year of law school, and it was published before he had graduated. I was very interested in the psychology of his experience. Turow and his fellow , all high-achievers when they arrived, were thrown into a competitive atmosphere where they felt pitted against one another, with the result that many of them began to seriously doubt themselves and became suspicious of their colleagues. The stress – both external and self-imposed – was palpable.
LINK to my full review
I just started
, by Stephen Graham Jones. This is the second book in a series, so I’m hoping that I can read this as a standalone book, since I didn’t read the first. It definitely seems labeled Horror for a reason. Only 2 Chapters in and getting Creepy.
On Gold Mountain –Lisa See – 4****
Subtitle: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of a Chinese-American Family. This is See’s “biography” of her family, starting with her great-great-grandfather, Fong Dun Shung, who immigrated to America (“The Gold Mountain”) in 1861 as an herbalist / healer working for the railroad. In chronicling her family’s story she also explores the history of immigration policy / discrimination in the U.S., particularly in regards to those of Pan-Asian origin. Very interesting and readable.
LINK to my full review
Fox & I – Catherine Raven – 4****
Subtitle: An Uncommon Friendship. Alone in the world, and self-isolating in a cabin on a remote piece of land in Montana, Raven “befriended” a fox. I loved this memoir of finding friendship in an unexpected way, and of the healing power of connecting to nature and to another being.
LINK to my full review
Small Wonder – Barbara Kingsolver – 3.5***
This is a series of essays Kingsolver wrote in the year following the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. Kingsolver can come across as preachy, but she also writes elegant passages about the restorative power of connecting with nature. There’s plenty of horrible in the world still, but reading this book of essays reminds me of those things will can help relieve the terror, fear, anguish, and find joy and hope again. I read this as a book, and it’s due back at the library now, but I think this is a collection that would be good to have handy to read a chapter or two every once in a while
LINK to my full review
My review for Marcie Gill and the Caravan Park Cat by Monica McInerney
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Opposite of Everyone – Joshilyn Jackson – 3.5***
I really like Jackson’s books. I love her quirky Southern characters, with their colorful sayings and folk wisdom. I frequently want to shake some sense into them, and more often want to sit down with them over a few glasses of wine and just get to know them better. However improbable the many coincidences, I bought this story hook-line-and-sinker. There is more than one broken character here, but they learn to rely on one another and take steps toward healing.
LINK to my full review
My review for The One and Only Dolly Jamieson by Lisa Ireland
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished my 2 books and they were called both called The Bodyguard by Katherine Center and Finding Perfect by Colleen Hoover
E Is For Evidence – Sue Grafton – 3***
Book five in the “alphabet” series has PI Kinsey Milhone dreading a not very merry Christmas; she’s accused of insurance fraud and finds herself out on her own trying to clear her name. What I love about the series is the time frame – no cell phones or computers. Kinsey has to rely on her wits and good old-fashioned leg work to ferret out the information she needs. There are a lot of characters, most of whom are suspects, and enough twists and turns to keep this reader guessing right up to the reveal.
LINK to my full review
High Tide In Tucson – Barbara Kingsolver - 4****
Kingsolver was already a successful novelist when this collection of essays was published. She relates her thoughts on family, home, politics, nature, social issues and personal responsibility with humor, compassion, wit and integrity. Her training as a scientist is evident, as is her talent as a poet.
LINK to my full review
Bookish And the Beaast – Ashley Poston – 3***
Book number three in the Once Upon a Con series can easily be read as a standalone. Rosie Thorne, high school senior and geek girl bookworm, and Hollywood bad boy Vance Reigns, who plays the villain in the Starfield movies, are the lead couple. It’s a YA romance, full of the drama of homecoming, friends, frenemies, gossip, the pitfalls of social media, and a bit of Comic-Con nerdiness thrown in. I can certainly see the appeal for the intended audience.
LINK to my full review
The Four Winds – Kristin Hannah – 4****
As she did in The Nightingale , Hannah uses female characters to tell a bit of the history of a time and place. In this work, the timeframe is 1920s to mid-1930s, and the place is America, specifically the Great Plains and California. I loved the three central women in the books: Elsa, her daughter Loreda, and her mother-in-law Rosa. Very reminiscent of Steinbeck’s masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath
LINK to my full review
**Please bear/bare (?) with me. I feel like I'm clear but I've had a couple seizures last night so I may get things jumbled.**I finished reading The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. I thought it was 5 stars. I really enjoyed the mystery and the twists and turns. I know it didn't get the best reviews so I'm glad I didn't read them before the book or I might have passed it over. Now I'm reading Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat. There is a bit of a dark side - now I'm even more intrigued.
Coffee & Books
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Lori Rader-Day (other topics)Charlie Donlea (other topics)
Jennifer Snow (other topics)
Carol Cassella (other topics)
Ana Reyes (other topics)
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