Mini Book Reviews: February 2024

Disclaimer: I received copies of The Road from Belhaven, My Side of the River, and Wandering Stars from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my review. This post contains affiliate links.

February was a great month of reading for me. While I work on getting through all my NetGalley prereleases, I also was able to fit in a couple of books that I wanted to read. I'm happy to say that all 3 NetGalley books were great and my personal selections were too. If I were to recommend a book that everyone will like, I would pick Kristin Hannah's book, The Women. I believe this may be her best book yet. Ann Patchett's Tom Lake was my favorite, though. 

There's nothing better than a month of good books!

I loved this sweet story about a misguided, naive young woman raised on her grandparents' farm in rural 19th century Scotland. She has inherited the gift of seeing certain incidents in the future, which leads to some questionable choices in her life. She falls in love with a young farm helper who takes a position as an apprentice tailor in Glasgow and follows him, leaving the farm. This starts the chain of bad decisions that had me shaking my head! The Road from Belhaven is a quiet story, but you know I love a coming of age story and the historical setting made this a very enjoyable read. 

My Side of the River is a coming-of-age memoir of a young woman raised by her Mexican immigrant parents in Arizona. Her parents were denied their visa renewal, returning to Mexico with her brother, and forcing her to pursue her education and manage independently while living in a less-than-ideal situation. I wanted to take her under my wing! The author does a great job of sharing her plight with the reader without self-pity or judgment. Her story helped me understand the difficulties and prejudice that immigrant children face despite the opportunities afforded to them. This is such a well-written book and in light of current immigration issues, is timely reading. 

Ann Patchett has never let me down. In Tom Lake she tells the story of a mother of 3 grown girls who lives on a cherry farm in northern Michigan. The girls, who recently returned to live with their parents, beg their mother to tell the story of a famous actor she once worked with and dated. As the story unfolds, the reader also learns about the girls' lives as well as the father's life. Some of the details were a surprise to me which made this an engaging read.  This well-written, multi-layered narrative incorporates coming-of-age, family dynamics, and youthful naivete. As I read the story, it also took me back into my past, reminding me of my life before responsibilities. This may be my favorite of all her books.

Kristin Hannah is one of those authors whose books never disappoint. The Women is the story of a young privileged woman who decides to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps after her brother dies while in Vietnam. Upon arrival, she is overwhelmed and terrified by the chaos and carnage but quickly becomes a skilled combat nurse. She develops a camaraderie with her fellow nurses and physicians, making lifelong friends. The second half of the book is about the young nurse's reentry into civilian life. Besides being met with hostility by people who were angry about the war, there was denial that women were even in Vietnam. Her mother wishes she would just move on and her father is ashamed of her. Slowly, she starts to fall apart, battling PTSD and addiction. This was such a well-written story. The effort of the author to make it feel authentic was reflected throughout the book. I could not put this one down. 

A few years ago, I read There, There, the author's amazing debut about 12 Native Americans struggling with their identities and their journeys to the Oakland powwow. It was a book that opened up my eyes to the modern-day plight of Native Americans. In Wandering Stars he revisits these characters and their predecessors, offering a little history as well as the aftermath of the powwow. You don't have to have read There, There to read this one but it would help provide context. Even though I knew the backstory, I found the first half of this book a little hard to follow. I was fascinated and heartbroken by the telling of the attempts to colonize the native people and children. The story shifts to the present, following the ancestors as they cope with modern day pressures. The author's prose is just beautiful and he does a good job of providing history lessons in the format of a novel.

What a beautiful book! North Woods is story of a house in the woods and in twelve chapters, of the different people who inhabit it over a period of two centuries. I loved most of the stories and in particular, the story of the two spinsters. This could have been a whole book on its own. Actually, I hated to see the chapters come to an end and wanted to read more about the characters. I marveled at the author's creativity, both in conceptualizing such a book and in each of the stories. He is a gifted wordsmith and his writing transported me to the house. This is a book meant to be savored. 

What are you reading? Have you read any of these? Do you like historical fiction?

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