Monday, October 4, 2021

Mini-Book Reviews: September 2021

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I received a copy of Three Sisters, Damnation Spring, and Running is a Kind of Dreaming from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

September was full of good reads! I was lucky to get my hands on a bunch of library holds. In fact, so many books came off my hold list that I had to let some of them go. I also vowed this month to work on my NetGalley shelf. 



Do you remember the movie Single White Female? That creepy, stalkerish movie about two female roommates? We Were Never Here is a variation on the female friendship theme. Two best friends since childhood find themselves in a compromising situation that ends badly while traveling in Cambodia. A year later, in Chile, it happens again. When the women return home, they vow to move on. But guess who shows up to remind the other of what happened? This book was terrifying and I couldn't put it down. The gaslighting and manipulation were epic. Buckle up for a wild ride! 




I had given up on Reese's book club and here I am recommending my second Reese's book in a row. Looks like she's making better choices. The Paper Palace came highly recommended from one of my favorite book bloggers and I was not disappointed. In fact, I couldn't put it down and when I did, I couldn't sleep! The story of a woman's connection to her childhood lake house takes place over 48 hours. As she struggles to make a decision between staying with her wonderful husband or leaving him for her childhood friend, the author deftly flashes back to her childhood. A child of divorce, her flaky mother had multiple relationships that affected her upbringing. Yet, it was her mother who made the observation that led her to ultimately make her choice. The story starts out slow, but don't let that keep you from reading this incredible book. Beautiful writing, so much wisdom, and just enough snark to keep it from getting too serious.


Three Sisters
is a true story, told as historical fiction by Heather Morris, and takes place during WW2. It just seems that there are so many Holocaust stories--this is definitely a unique one! Three Slovakian sisters become Nazi prisoners and 'fortuitously' end up together. I don't use the term lightly because they each experienced their own terrors as prisoners. They end up in Israel, at the start of a new nation. I knew nothing about this and it was fascinating to read about. I also read The Tattooist of Auschwitz and this narrative is very similar. While it feels light on details, the author manages to tell the sisters' stories with respect and sensitivity. A must read. Due out on October 5.



The Husbands
was kind of a modern day twist on The Stepford Wives. The main character, a lawyer, mom, and wife, is trying to have it all. Her husband doesn't 'get it'. She nags him and he just ignores her. They look to buy a home in an exclusive neighborhood where the women have it all and the husbands are compliant and passive. Sounds ideal? Or creepy? The story was ok until about 2/3 of the way in when it took a strange turn. I considered DNFing at that point, but I was too far in to quit, so on I went. This was such a frustrating read--who would want to be friends with any of these women? 




A young girl has to take care of herself and her dog after her mother disappears. She doesn't want anyone to know that she's alone, so she continues her daily routine. Her neighbor, a hoarder, befriends her. What develops is a sweet friendship that endures throughout the rest of the story. Don't get me wrong, there were so many painful, gut-wrenching moments in this story that I had to pause and take a deep breath before I could continue. What a beautifully written story. A Million Things will stick with me for a very long time.





A logging community in the 1970's Pacific Northwest becomes deeply divided over environmental concerns, an epidemic of birth defects and miscarriages, and destruction of the beautiful creek that runs through the forest. The writing was so beautiful and realistic that I was carried into the story. It starts off a little rough but once I found a groove, I had trouble putting it down. I loved the main characters; their heartbreaks hurt my heart too. Damnation Spring will stay with me for a long time. 





I'm a sucker for a coming-of-age book and The People We Keep did not disappoint. A teenage girl, abandoned by both her parents, takes her neighbor's car and hits the road, making coin by singing at small bars along the way. She makes friends and bad decisions, running when things get too complicated or comfortable. There are a lot of entertaining characters but there are also some sketchy situations that she has to navigate. A truly wonderful read that I didn't want to put down when it was done. 





Book to screen: Nine Perfect Strangers

A few years ago, I read Liane Moriarity's Nine Perfect Strangers. Having read several of her books before (The Husband's Secret, Truly Madly Guilty, Big Little Lies), I was familiar with her witty dialogue and fast-paced plotting. Nine Perfect Strangers was true to form until about halfway through when it 'jumped the shark' and got weird. I wasn't alone in my opinion. So yes, I was surprised when Hulu picked up the mini-series, which is chock-full of famous actors. The series starts off similar to the book, but quickly turns weird and takes a completely different direction than the book. It was even weirder than the book, if that is even possible. I don't mind offbeat stories, but this was just a mess and completely disappointing. In fact, we stopped watching it, so I don't even know how it ends. I just stopped caring. 

Coming up: a running memoir! Running is a Kind of Dreaming, to be released today, is a gorgeous memoir of a psychologist who relives his traumatic childhood and subsequent descent into madness while attempting a 200+ mile ultramarathon around Lake Tahoe. It's a compelling read. I'm almost finished with it and will share a full review next Tuesday. 


I'm sure you heard that IG and FB were down yesterday...


What have you read this month? I can't pick a favorite because I liked all of the books I read this month. How lucky is that? Have you seen Nine Perfect Strangers? Or read the book?

I'm linking up with Kim and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics.




22 comments :

  1. I love your mini book reviews, Wendy!
    Seems like you got a great pick this month(except The Husbands. I haven't heard of Nine Perfect Strangers and now I think I don't need to.

    I just finished "In the Sea There are Crocodiles" by Italian author Fabio Geda. It was published in 2010. With the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan it has become very relevant again. It's a true story about an Afghan boy who is left alone to fend for himself at the age of 10. His journey is heartbreaking but fortunately has a happy end.
    Nonetheless, it makes you wonder how many more children are in this same plight right now.

    Looking forward to your review of Running is a Kind of Dreaming!

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    1. We will probably be seeing some of those children here, so your book sounds very relevant!

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  2. Love love your reviews. I'm an avid reader and am always looking for new books.

    Ever read any Diane Chamberlain? She's my latest addiction.

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    1. I haven’t but you’re the second person to recommend her to me!

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  3. My most recent book was “How to Stop Time” which is supposedly being made into a movie. You never know how that will turn out, sorry you were disappointed by the adaption of the book you read (which I haven’t read).

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  4. Some fascinating looking books there! I have to say "Roots" was my stand-out book of September, very engaging and hard to put down.

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  5. A beautiful review of interesting books.
    Three sisters sounds exciting.
    My last book was "The Etruscan People" by Mario Torelli.

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  6. Thanks so much for those reviews! Haha - I love that tweet about "books are still working" :) It also seems like people got a lot more work done yesterday since most of social media was down.

    Thanks for linking up with us, and apologies that I don't have a post today as my blog was down last night :(

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    1. Was your blog down because of the big outage? What a strange day.

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  7. Thanks for sharing these! Ive been reading alot of books by Elin Hilenbrand. I just finished 28 summers which I really liked.

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  8. I'm putting A Million Things on my TBR. I loved What Alice Forgot but read a few other Liane Moriarity books that were duds. I'm not saying that I will never read anything of hers again, but I'd need a really good recommendation to even try.

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    1. 100% agree!!!! Let me know what you think of A Million Things. That one got me in the feels.

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  9. I also really enjoyed "we were never here" and could not put it down. I never read 9 perfect strangers but I did watch the show. It sure did get kind of weird but the characters were so good and really drew me in!

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    1. I think I would have liked it better if I hadn't read the book. Melissa McCarthy was awesome, but Nicole Kidman was just creepy.

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  10. I agree, The Husbands does not sound great but the rest of these do. I actually liked Nine Perfect Strangers, although from the sounds of it I wouldn't like the mini-series. BTW Liane Moriarty has a new one out- seems like you're not a huge fan, but this one sounds like a good one.
    Can't wait for the review of the running memoir- I already know I want to read it!

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    1. I actually loved Liane's other books. Nine Perfect Strangers was a letdowon.

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  11. Wow, so many great books! I added them to my list. If I ever go on a long trip then I will have plenty of books to read.

    Thank you for linking up with us!

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