Four Days, Four Books

 I know this book-a-day trend will not continue. I know this because I am not even close to finishing any of the books I am currently reading. I am 52 percent finished into The One and Only Vivian Stone by Melissa O'Connor; 13 percent into both The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens and Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen.

But this post is about the books did finish. 

 

 

 84, Charing Cross Road

by Helen Hanff 

 4.25
Cute, funny, witty. Not as emotional or touching as The Correspondent but an interesting  look into that era (1949-1968), made even more interesting because it’s true.

 

 

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

by T.J. Klune

5.0

I’ll eventually write the review but right now I’m listening to T.J. Klune read his acknowledgements and he broke me. I love him more than I did 2 minutes ago. Just a taste of what he said is that he wants to be the anti-J.K. Rowling.

I will say, the book is delightful & narrator Daniel Henning is very talented.

Well, I haven't written the review yet. I love this book, though, almost as much as love Cerulean Sea. A new character who joins the magical youth, David, is as endearing and quirky as the rest of them, and is running a close second to Chauncey as my favorite. I like the direction Linus and Arthur's character's have taken and I also like that we get more of Arthur's backstory which explains a lot about the hows and whys of what is happening now.

I am looking forward to part three of this captivating and enchanting series, and I do hope he plans on more than a trilogy.

 

Close Your Eyes and County to 10

by Lisa Unger 

 3.25
Not my favorite Lisa Unger book, but it was good.

Usually, it’s the characters that keep me interested in a story, or maybe a mix of characters and plot. In this book, I really didn’t care that much about any of the characters (maybe teen daughter Violet) and the story was too long. However, the theme of social media and technology and how they touch and influence every part of our lives was very interesting, and would make good book club discussions, probably. 

Bottom line: Yes, I would recommend it with the caveat of don’t expect the usual hold your breath, psychological thriller you get from Lisa Unger. I did read it in one day, so it definitely was not boring.

 

 The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club

by Martha Hall Kelly 

4.0

Martha’s Vineyard isn’t the first place that comes to mind (for most people) when they think of World War II but as we learn in this book (or are reminded) there was plenty of war-related activity there. The many ways it affects the Smith family — in particular sisters Cadence and Briar — in their personal lives, their family business, how they view the war are the themes of the book.

It’s told in a dual timeline— 1942 and 2016. Finding out exactly how the two connect (we have an idea) is a slow burn, but it is a satisfying conclusion. 

Challenge: Completed, and Then Some

 I read 115 books last year and, yes, even I was surprised by that. My original goal was 26. When I met that fairly early in the year I increased it to 33. When I met that, I just didn't increase it again. The last five or so books got on the list because of Lake Effect snow.

Yes. Lake Effect Snow. Because of a band of the nasty stuff that cuts through part of my route to work, I was allowed to work from home for two days (an advantage of working for compassionate nuns) -- December 30 and January 2 -- and needed some kind of background noise to keep me awake. Not that audio books are "background noise," but if I had turned on the TV I would have watched Rachel learn the results of the pregnancy test and heard her say, "That's a risky little game," for the 1,463,922 time. It's one of my top five favorite episodes. Anyway, these are the books that got me through those two days of working by myself in my apartment, and the rest of those weird two holiday weeks.

 

The Favorites

by Layne Fargo

 4.5
I listened to the whole thing in one day. Interesting characters. Multi-layered plot. The audiobook has several narrators and is very well done. It’s also not a typical romance with all the mushy gushy, lovey dovey  stuff. I’m not normally a romance reader (although I have read a few this year) but there is so much more to this story than the romance. Highly recommend.

 

The New Couple in 5B

by Lisa Unger 

 3.75
Not as good as I wanted it to be but it’s Lisa Unger, and she’s always worth reading. 

I did like the main character although she was a little naive sometimes, concerning certain characters.

 

Under the Tulip Tree

by Michelle Shocklee 

 

 4

I really liked it. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that the “big reveal” or surprise or whatever you want to call it (It’s not really a twist, per se.) seemed too contrived.

I absolutely love Frankie, the 100-year-old formerly enslaved woman who is telling her story - starting at age 6 - to a reporter.

 

The Heiress

 By Rachel Hawkins

 4 

Very twisty & fun. 

(I guess I didn't want to go overboard with the praise.) 

 

 

As for physical books, well, book:

 

Return of the Spider

by James Patterson

 

 4.5
Exactly what you would expect in an Alex Cross book, which is exactly why I have read the previous 33. Well, 32. I didn’t know what to expect with Along Came a Spider, which introduced us to Gary Soneji. Soneji makes a comeback in this book, hence the title.  But didn’t Soneji die in a previous book? No spoilers. You’ll have to read it to find out how he still manages to mess with Alex and Sampson. 

It seems to me that Alex is about to go through some major life changes related to the soul searching he’ll be doing after the Soneji discoveries. It will be interesting to see how, as a mental health professional, he handles the effects this will have on his mental health. And Sampson’s.

In my review of last year’s The House of Cross I mentioned Alex’s grandmother, who has been “ninety something” for the duration of the series while his kids continue to age. Others must have mentioned that, too, because Patterson does address it in a satisfying way.

 

 

 And Kindle:

 

Nineteen Minutes

by Jodi Picoult 

 

 4.75
I decided to read this book because I watched an interview with the author talking about it being banned in some schools. 

This is exactly the type of book that teenagers and their parents should be reading! You want to know how and why school shootings are happening? This book will tell you. And I don’t believe it will give your child ideas about how to be violent or be a bully, but I do believe it may lead them toward being more empathetic or at least not as mean.

Banning books that paint a realistic picture of high school life is not the answer to anything.

 

 

The First Witch of Boston 

by Andrea Catalano 

 

 4.25
I wouldn’t have guessed that the spiciest book I would read this year be set in the 1600s. It was good, though. 

The story is about Maggie Jones, who is tried for being a witch, basically because she’s an intelligent, outspoken, passionate, unapologetic woman in a Puritan community in Massachusetts. 

Several parts of the book made me think, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

 

 

So far this year I have read four books: 84 Charing Cross Road, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, and The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club. Reviews to follow soon (I hope).

 

I am currently reading: The One and Only Vivian Stone by Melissa O'Connor (paperback, #over40bookclub),  The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens (audio) and Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Kindle).

 

I have been informed that my January Book-of-the-Month Club selection has just arrived (Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston). I haven't started December's yet! I swear, cross my heart, the next book I start will be a hardcover. Now it's in writing. I am obligated to do it. (That's how it works, right?) 

 

 

  

Going Back to 'Back in My Day ...'

 

I decided I’m going back to how I used to choose books when I was 9-years-old. 

Pull one off the shelf at the library (or the Scholastic Book Fair), look at the cover, maybe a couple of pages on the inside. If it gives me good vibes I check it out (or buy it, or have a parent buy it). If I don’t feel anything, I put it back.

I have a vague recollection of knowing what a book review was in Scholastic News and book “information” in Highlights magazine, but I don’t remember putting much weight on either of those factors when choosing books. It wasn’t until 6th grade when Nancy Drew entered our atmosphere that word of mouth meant anything to me when choosing books. Even then, it was more of an image or status thing than a book quality thing. My mom bought me a couple of Nancy Drew books but all of the cheap, knock-off Robin Kane books. Know what? Robin Kane was much better. Sadly, the girls reading Robin Kane (I wasn’t the only one) were teased relentlessly. Sorry, but, “The quality of the writing is far superior in the Robin Kane books, so we’re getting the better deal in every way” just doesn’t cut it coming from an 11-year-old.

Nancy Drew to Freida McFadden is a long and odd jump, but here we go.

So many books and authors these days are over-hyped. I don’t even know how to define or describe over-hyped in a way that it would make sense in this context other than you hear so much about a book or an author that you feel as if you have no choice but to read the book because it’s the best thing that was ever written. But you started reading it and it’s just OK at best. Is that because your expectations were too high? Is it because the book really isn’t as good as people say it is? Is it good, but there’s something seriously wrong with you? Is it good, but just not your cup of tea? 

For example, if I hadn’t heard or read anything about Freida McFadden would I have picked up a few of her books just because the covers intrigued me? You bet. And I still would have stopped reading after I realized most of her plots are the same. The last book of hers I read, I figured out the ending on page 5. But people love her. In my opinion she’s over-hyped but, because people know I’m an avid, voracious reader I felt almost pressured into reading a few (OK. Seven.) of her books. 

But now? Well, Give me Karin Slaughter or any of the Lisas* any day. 

(I should point out that I’m not a book snob. James Patterson is one of my favorites and he churns ‘em out just as fast as Freida does. I only read two of the New York Times 100 Most Notable Books of the Year. Only 31 others are on my TBR list.)

I’m not just picking on Freida** because she’s an easy target. Some books that are supposedly the best ever written are big snoozefests as far as I’m concerned. 

One example: “Moby Dick.” I listened to it on audible and literally used it as a bedtime story. It would put me to sleep in less than five minutes. I don’t remember if I ever got through the whole thing. Frankly, I don’t care.

Definitely not a snoozefest, but also definitely not for me: If “Mrs. Dalloway” is the best thing Virginia Woolf ever wrote, I won’t be reading anything else of hers. That thing gave me such anxiety I returned it to the library (via Libby) after about ten pages and seriously considered taking a Xanax.

A more current book I DNF’d is “All the Colors of the Dark.” Someone told me it gets better after about 100 pages. Sorry, but if you can’t grab me in the first ten pages, I’m out.

Usually.

I will stick with an author I like, but that’s another story for another time.

The point is, although I love to give my opinion on books and I think every person who reads is entitled to give their opinion on books, I’m not going to listen to anyone’s opinion to choose the books I read anymore. 

I will read reviews and discussions and watch tik toks and reels afterward, though, because discussing a book with a like-minded reader is almost as fun as reading the book.

*Gardner, Jackson, Jewell, Scottoline, Unger

**I would like to clarify that I don't have anything against Freida McFadden. Actually, I've read more of her books than anyone else's this year. It's just that, after reading all those books, I've decided she's not my thing. Will I go back to her? Probably. Do I look down on people who like her? Abso-freakin'-lutely not! I don't care what anyone reads as long as they're reading.