Books You Loved: October

Whitehead, Colson "The Nickel Boys" - 2019 After having read his first Pulitzer Prize win "Underground Railroad", I was thrilled to hear that Colson Whitehead received this award for the second time. Deservedly, very deservedly. Since I really enjoyed his last book, I knew I'd have to read this one, as well. It certainly was worth it. This is not only a story of a young black boy growing up in the sixties or a book about what happens to young delinquents when they get caught. No, this is the…

I received an uncorrected proof in paperback of The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama through the Goodreads Giveaways program for FREE earlier this year. I've wanted to read a novel by Gail Tsukiyama since the mid to late 1990s, so I was thrilled to finally read one of her novels this year! Below is my honest, unbiased review of The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama. I truly enjoyed reading The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama!! The Color of Air is a work of historical fiction set in Hilo, Hawaii…

I received a finished paperback copy of Assault and Pepper by Leslie Budewitz through the Goodreads Giveaways program for FREE. Below is my honest, unbiased review of Assault and Pepper by Leslie Budewitz. Assault and Pepper by Leslie Budewitz is cozy mystery novel set in Seattle, Washington. It's the first novel in 'A Spice Shop Mystery' series. I really enjoyed the plot, storyline, characters, and flow of this cozy mystery novel. I didn't guess whodunnit and why until the very end, which…

I love reading historical fiction. I am also fascinated by almost anything pertaining to the Romanov Dynasty. So with that said, I couldn't pass up listening to the unabridged audio version of Romanov by Nadine Brandes and narrated by Jessica Ball. Listening time for Romanov by Nadine Brandes is 11 hours, 2 minutes. I truly enjoyed listening to Romanov by Nadine Brandes. It has a great storyline, good writing and plot development as well as good characterization. Romanov is told through the…

I finished listening to the unabridged audio version of Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer in August of this year. The contents presented within Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town made my skin crawl and my blood boil. I knew going in that this nonfiction book was going to be a rough read based on the topic of rape. But just how rough was an entirely different matter altogether. Rape is such an ugly crime. It’s also one of the most…

BE WHO YOU ARE. I read George by Alex Gino for Banned Books Week last month as this middle school novel has been the number one banned book in recent years. George by Alex Gino is a phenomenal novel! The writing is marvelous, poignant, and timely. The storyline is very engaging. I love the characters for this novel. George by Alex Gino deals with LGBTQ themes. In fact, many of the top ten most recently challenged books have LGBTQ themes to them. Below is the summary for George by Alex Gino…

I learned about The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull in July through BookClubbish as this novel was their August book club selection. I loved attending their online book club meet up in July via Facebook Live, so figured why not read their August book club selection? I love reading historical fiction novels and The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull fit the bill in spades on this front. Also, the idea of reading a novel about the Windsors, Vanderbilts, and a royal scandal sounded…

Nonfiction That Lived Up To the Hype: When Breath Becomes Air

Summary: I live for detailed, dialogue-filled narrative nonfiction like this, especially when it also comes with interesting questions about ethics in tech! This is the story of the founding of Instagram, with a narrative based on numerous interviews with employees there and at Facebook. And, because Instagram was so quickly acquired by Facebook around the time... Read more »

Zadie Smith’s Intimations in Review

This is my first book by Lesley Kagen but will not be my last. This is such a good book. It's a very cute quick read with a lot of intense things going on also. It starts out with Elizabeth Buchanan telling a story about her and her two best friends. The setting is the summer of 1960 and these three girls are eleven years old. Just old enough to be kids and be finding themselves. Their innocence is so sweet in this book. Some of the things they say made me laugh so hard. They are three…

Trip, Jonathan, Jack...which one was he? He had a different name for each woman he was seducing. How did he keep his names and his stories straight about who he was? Hopefully he will slip up one day. One slip came out when Johnathan's wife, Holly, had a friend tell her that her husband saw Jonathan on a flight to Los Angeles. Really? He said he was going to San Francisco. We follow Trip, Jonathan, and Jack as he sets up three women and uses them for his advantage and for helping him…

Becky Farwell was brilliant in math and made money during high school tutoring friends either for money, clothes, or shoes. Her life wasn't easy, though. Her mother had died, and she was left taking care of her ill father so she felt she couldn't go to college. What she did do was help her father with his failing business and work as the town's treasurer. She does some shady things with the town's money because she had developed a love and obsession for art, and you know art is expensive. We…

How could a discussion at a book club turn out to be deadly? It can when the book club members discuss how they would kill their husband if he were having an affair, and then someone's husband turns up dead. Despite the dead husband and the trial transcript that was at the beginning of each chapter, the characters were comical. The things they said on the witness stand were unbelievable. We find out about each woman from eight months before and then leading up to the fateful book club night…

Lucy is a popular author and one with a history. Her little brother disappeared when he was three when he was with her. He has never been found, and they suspected her. Lucy also has an imaginary childhood friend, Eliza, who has made herself famous in Lucy's books and who Lucy hears talking to her and giving her advice even today. But...Eliza has run her course, and Lucy takes her out of her newest novel. Was that a wise decision? Lucy finds out it is not a good idea because her agent won’t…

It is 1939 - We meet Eli Rosen and his wife Esther who were hard workers, but then the German occupation happened and changed everything. Maximilian who was supposedly their friend betrayed them by joining the Nazi party and thought nothing of his betrayal of Eli and his family. We follow what happens to Eli and his family - of course it is heartbreaking. It's 1946 - We move to post WWII and what Eli's life is at this time as he lives in an American Zone camp for displaced persons with his…