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So little time, but so many books this month! I'm not sure how it happened, but I have 8 reviews to share. Maybe it's because they were all page-turners that I couldn't put down. My reads this month span the genres--I've got fantasy, an epic novel, literary fiction, a couple of thrillers, a biography, and a women's fiction novel.
If I had to pick a favorite, I don't know that I could!
Do you ever think that if you had chosen a different college, a different spouse, or something else, how different your life would be? In The Midnight Library, a young woman, thinking about ending her life, gets a chance to revisit aspects of her past, to see if things would be different if she had made other choices. Guided by a librarian, who was one of her former grade school teachers, she opens The Book of Regrets and is asked to choose a regret that she'd like to revisit. And so the adventure begins, always ending up in the library after to recap with her guide. There are some great life lessons here, including learning to be satisfied with the life you're in.Black Cake is a fascinating epic novel that tells the story of two siblings who learn about their mother's past after she dies. She leaves them a recording, revealing a big secret from her past and asking them to share a black cake together. The story moves between the past and the present, and black cake figures prominently throughout. The book spans generations, from the mother's Caribbean origins to modern day life in the US. It's a big book and covers a lot of ground, which at times left me a little overwhelmed. I've never had black cake, but it seems an apt metaphor for this story. There's a lot to unpack, but it's a good story nonetheless.
Written in more of a poetic style than a narrative, The Swimmers tells the story of a group of swimmers. It reminded me of my experience at my own pool, the same people every time, swimming laps, participating in aqua fitness classes, or merely floating on pool noodles in the dive well while socializing. The story shifts to focus on one of the women, who is losing her memory and is placed in a long-term care facility. This was an abrupt shift and I didn't see it coming--in fact, until that point, I wondered where the story was going. It also broke my heart. Even though this is a short read, there is ample food for thought. I loved the Otsuka's previous book, The Buddha in the Attic, which also features the author's beautiful writing style.
I could not put down The Violin Conspiracy, an immersive book about a young black violin prodigy, who against all odds, pursues his dream to be a concert violinist. His mother discourages him, telling him to get a job to support her. But his grandma believes in him and gifts him his great-grandfather's old violin. Thanks to his high school teacher, he begins to move forward, obtaining a college scholarship and meeting the professor who would become his mentor. When he discovers that his beat-up old violin is a priceless Stradavarius, the story really begins to take off. He has to deal with claims to his violin from family members and another couple who says the violin belongs to them. All this while trying to succeed in the world of classical music where pervasive racism exists. When his violin was stolen before the international Tchaikovsky competition, I decided to forego sleep and finish the book. What a wild ride!
When a young, aspiring writer takes a job as a groundskeeper at a small college in rural Kentucky, he also enrolls in a writing workshop, a benefit of his job. He meets a visiting writer, a young Bosnian-American woman, and falls in love. They could not be more different. He is struggling to find himself, with a sketchy past of drug use, living with his grandfather, and troubled uncle. Her parents are Muslim, his relatives are evangelical Christians. The story takes place in 2016, during the contentious election, and their differences become more glaring as Groundskeeping goes forward. I could not put this book down. No, it's not a heart-pumping page-turner, but the way the author writes made me want to find out how it ends. The writing is exquisite, the kind of writing that makes you savor every word on every page. Wonderful.
Having grown up in the 1970s, this memoir of a young man coming of age in that era, immersed in the counterculture, immediately caught my attention. He was one of 6 children, raised in a traditional Catholic family. He doesn't fit in as he struggles with his sexuality and his alcoholic father is verbally abusive to him. His mother is too worried about her husband's infidelities to defend him. At age 12, his adored older sister introduces him to LSD and his life is transformed. When she and her drug-dealing boyfriend move to Arizona, he follows them. What comes next is a wild ride of drugs, adventure, and some harrowing situations as he grows up in this alternative world. I was amazed that he was able to remember everything in such detail and part of me wonders how much is fact vs fiction. Rush is a very talented writer and The Light Years reads like a novel. Highly recommended.
I wasn't sure I wanted to read Full, but was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the pages turned! This is the story of a social media influencer and self-proclaimed foodie who has a big secret--she is bulimic. When she attends a 6 week wellness retreat, her illness spirals out of control. Even worse, she has a troll who has figured out that she isn't being truthful to her followers. This is such a timely book--with an uptick in eating disorders, the author gives this illness the full treatment. She also exposes the deception of so many social media influencers and the impact they have on vulnerable followers. Amazing how well she balanced both topics and made this a really engaging read! I would warn anyone who has an eating disorder that this book may trigger symptoms.
Ooooh, so twisty! The Golden Couple is the story of a marriage in trouble and the wife's attempts to save it. She hires a therapist, who is highly recommended in spite of losing her license due to her unconventional methods. The problem for the therapist is that this couple has too many secrets. The wife does reveal her infidelity during the first session, but that is all she shares. The therapist has some secrets of her own as well. So does the husband. The deception and all the sketchy characters in the story made me uncomfortable, which is how a good thriller should feel, am I right? And just when I thought I had it all figured out...
What are you reading? Do you have any good recommendations for me? What's your favorite genre? I do love a good literary fiction read, but it's always good to mix it up. But I'll read anything that grabs my attention!
I can see what you mean about picking a favourite! All eight of them sound so intriguing. Thanks so much for these reviews, Wendy.
ReplyDeleteMy first pick would be "The Midnight Library". I have often thought about how different our lives would be if we had taken different decisions at some point. I also love the captivating story of "The Violin Conspiracy".
I liked Adharanand Finn's book "The Rise of the Ultra Runner" so much that I ordered another one of his books, "Running with the Kenyans". Documentary-style stories about running are my favourites!
I really enjoy Finn's writing! Even his features in magazines are engaging.
DeleteOMG, seriously Wendy, stop reading so many great books! Haha! Of course these are all interesting and will add them to my list. The first book I would read is The Midnight Library. I too wonder how my life would be different if I would have done things differently in college. The second one is Full. These social media influencers drive me crazy and it makes me wonder how much of what they write is true. I get that they have a large following and that is why companies reach out to them but at the same time that turns me off. I rarely believe anything they say. Anyway, thanks again for these recommendations!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy some of them! Full was a surprise to me-I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did.
DeleteOooh! I love book reviews. These all sound really good, but Full is especially intriguing to me. I'm going to see if they have it at my library. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt comes out on Friday, so hold tight till then!
DeleteOoh The Midnight Library sounds gooood! I think I would enjoy that one. I'm working on getting my kindle library built up again so I may add this to my wish list!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely enjoyed The Midnight Library. I mean who hasn't thought that had they taken a different path that their life would be so altered!
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed Black Cake - I know what you mean, though, there was so MUCH to the stories, wasn't there. I have just finished some great books, reviews to come soon ...
ReplyDeleteBut don't you want to try black cake now?
DeleteYes, I do! Although really it's plum pudding when it comes down to it!
DeleteThere are many on the list that I want to read. I have to add them to my wish list at the library.
ReplyDeleteI just finished the Alice Network - just ok.. a little too long and I think there are other better war-related books.
I liked the Alice Network--fascinating!
DeleteI always appreciate your reviews and love the range of genres. I will definitely be adding a couple of these to my list! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI hope you found something to read!
DeleteI don't know how you read so many books! It usually takes me about a month to get through one (or at least a few weeks). But I guess that's better than not reading at all which is what I was doing a year ago!
ReplyDeleteExactly! And some months are better than others for reading. I picked a lot of good ones and those fly by!
DeleteI have not read any of these and they all sound fantastic! Bookmarking for future reference thanks. How do you have time to read so many?
ReplyDeleteI read before I go to bed. Plus we had pretty bad weather this month, so I was stuck inside a lot.
DeleteI was captured by each one of these reviews! I'd probably choose Black Cake and The Violin Conspiracy but they both sound sooo deep! I've recently finished Siya Kolisi's book Rise! As your son plays rugby, this might interest you and him! Siya is the Captain of the South African rugby winning team at the last world cup. He is also the first black captain of the team.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that recommendation! I'm off to check it out. I think he might really like it.
DeleteThank you for your book reviews and recommendations! I always write the books down for future reading and share with my sisters too. I've read a good number of the books that you have reviewed in the past. I do like your selection variety.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I liked all the books this month. What are you reading?
DeleteThese all sound great, especially The Golden Couple. I love a good plot twist!
ReplyDeleteThat book was the twistiest book I've read in a while!
DeleteI read one book by Matt Haiog (one of the free ones from Kindle Firsts) and I loved it.
ReplyDeleteThe book I'm reading currently is ok. Usually I'm also reading a lot of non fiction at the same time, so the novels tend to take me time; I only read them before I sleep at night, which doesn't garner a lot of pages usually. The subjects have been interesting lately, oddly the same ones for a couple of books -- cloning, genetically enhancing people, artificial intelligence. The writing has been ok. But not enough that I stop reading them.
It's interesting that you read more than one book at a time! I can't do that. I'm all in, I guess.
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