It’s been a very busy start to fall. We’ve been splitting and stacking our wood for our wood furnace. The weather has been beautiful and warm, making the work fun and enjoyable. But all that outdoor time made me more tired at night so my reading has slowed a bit. In September, I finished reading my BOMC club August selection which took me a month to read, as well as listening to three titles from my audiobook library.
I read this because this was one of my Book of the Month Club selections for August . It’s a good beach read about relationships, family and self-discovery. There are plenty of interesting characters and settings to escape to. I’m not a huge fan of adult romance books, but I found the unlikely chemistry between Alex and Poppy to be well portrayed and the style of of the story is told, kept me interested and engaged most of the time. It you are a fan of adult-romance or looking for a light and easy beach read, you’ll probably like People We Meet on Vacation. 3 stars.
This was a beautifully written story which is based on the horrific events as recorded by ancient historian, Josephus. It is the story of how 2000 years ago, 900 Jews held off the Romans at Masada. It is the story of four women and how their lives each lead them to this mountain in the Judean desert. Hoffman brings to this story to life through Yael, Revka, Azizah and Shirah, the dovekeepers, they are the secret-keepers. Four very complex, independent and resourceful women who fight for their survival.
This is a wonderful Audible original. Beautiful music and very interesting to listen to, this short memoir of Yo-Yo Ma’s Beginner’s Mind is a nice quick listen.
This is an intense book that includes topics of relationships, expectations, teenage depression, self-harm, sudden death. I didn’t love this book like many other reviewers seem to have. It’s the first book of Picoult’s I’ve ever read and she is good at creating an engrossing and suspenseful story which kept me engaged until the end. But I found that some of it was unbelievable and not everything added up. 2.5 stars
It’s been a busy couple of months and I have been listening to a bunch of really great selections and read a bunch too! I am really enjoying my Book of the Month Club selections and the Literati Book Club as well. I highly recommend them both; however, if you are looking for a club that has online book discussions – Literati is your place to look. They have a great app as well so whether you are on your phone, iPad or computer, it’s a very easy site to use. Literati has a bunch of different book clubs where authors or celebs have selected the book. Each one has a theme like Austin Klein’s Read Like an Artist, Cheryl Strayed’s Wild Reads. I’ve been in Kelly McGonigal’s Joy Collective but just switch to Susan Orleans’ Private Collection. If you want to leave one club for another, you simply make the switch online before the 17th of the month. (FYI: I don’t get any thing for recommending these in any way shape or form. I just like their services. )
Here are my reviews for my June-July Reads and Listens.
“This is the great horror of life: that mistakes are forever, and cannot be undone. You can never truly go back, even if you want to retrace your steps and take another route. The path has already disappeared behind you.”
How well do you know the people around you? In this day of social media when appearances seem to be everything, can you trust what you see. Con artists,grifters and narcissists are real and this is the story of some of them. The story touches upon themes of friendship, mental illness, and trust to name a few. It’s a wonderful psychological thriller and the narrators Julia Whelan as Nina and Lauren Fortgang as Vanessa do a superb job. A great listen!
“…it is sad, of course, to forget. But it is a lonely thing, to be forgotten. To remember when no one else does.”
I just finished listening to this book and now that it’s over, I loved it. While I was listening to it, I felt it was slow in parts, but interesting enough to continue. I thought that the author had drummed a few things in, repeating things a few times more necessary perhaps, to get the point across on what it must have been like for Addie to experience. But if you can keep push through it, it’s worth it. This is a beautifully written story rich with interesting characters. I found it a bit confusing , listening to audiobook, since the story skips around in time and keeping things straight in my head took a little more focus on my part. But all in all, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to those who have a little patience and enjoy finding the devil in the details. Julia Whelan does a fantastic job with the narration. She is becoming. favorite narrator of mine. 3-1/2 stars.
“Until recently, I didn’t think that humans could choose loneliness. That there were sometimes forces more powerful than the wish to avoid loneliness.”
I was sucked into the story from the moment I opened the book. Kazuo Ishiguro is a beautiful writer who masterfully brings us right into the world of artificial intelligence with introducing us to Klara, the main character and narrator. Klara provides an interesting and unique perspective. The book touches upon many themes: relationships between humans and relationships humans have with technology; grief; social inequality, just to name a few. I highly recommend this to anyone – it’s a beautifully written book and has such an interesting perspective on what the future could bring.
“Increasingly at Southern airports, instead of a “good-bye” or “thank-you,” cashiers are apt to say, “Have a blessed day.” This can make you feel like you’ve been sprayed against your will with God cologne. “Get it off me!” I always want to scream. “Quick, before I start wearing ties with short-sleeved shirts!”
I enjoy David Sedaris and his stories about his life and family. Sedaris describes any given situation so that you feel as if you are right there beside him. I’m not a political person so when I hear comedy start to talk politics I tune out, particularly these days. I’ve had too much of the bashing from all sides, so those two short parts weren’t my favorite.
But since I am a second generation Greek-American I especially enjoyed hearing stories about his Papou and Yaya and all his Greek experiences! I could listen to him talk about the Greeks for hours and I’m sure I would be in stitches laughing. Calypso has a little bit of everything and it’s good to hear some up-to-date material from Sedaris. Sedaris’s books always make me laugh.
“How were you supposed to change- in ways both big and small- when your family was always there to remind you of exactly the person you apparently signed an ironclad contract to be?”
I picked this book as my Book of the Month club selection and was excited to read another novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, as I really enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six and I had seen other great reviews about Malibu Rising–initially. Malibu Rising was just okay to me – a quick beach read at best. For multi-generational family story, that was based around the Riva family of 6 – I found most of the characters lacking in depth other than Nina and Kit. Jenkins Reid captures the essence of Malibu and transports you to its beautiful sand, surf and people. I just wish overall, there had been a little more substance.
“Being drunk never changes a person, but it does grant their shadow selves free rein to step forward.”
Beautifully written while taking on tough subjects as forgiveness, transitions, trauma, abuse and racism. Michele Harper brings us into her world from rough beginnings into the world of emergency medicine. You don’t have to be a nurse, EMT, doctor or anyhow related to the medical profession to be able to relate to her stories. I read this book because it was the July book from my Literati book club as part of the Joy Collective which focuses on “books that explore our capacity to find hope, courage, and belonging.” This book certainly accomplishes all of that and so much more.
“Hadn’t the hummingbird been a kind of miracle? Hadn’t it diminished us not to see this as a miracle and protect it?”
I wanted to like this book more than I ended up once I finished. I have not read a lot of climate change fiction, but I think there must be others that are more riveting and keep you at the edge of your seat because the stakes are so high. I didn’t experience that with this book. The characters aren’t particularly likeable which may be why i didn’t feel as invested in what happened with them.
The climate change issues mentioned specifically are issues which we see and feel already today: extinctions of animal species, wildfires, pandemics… We can imagine these more because we are already living through them versus having the author paint a picture through his words of a post apocalyptic world. I found the writing to be very choppy which may be why when listening to the book it was difficult to follow at times and lacked a certain flow.
Zenodotus puts The People We Keep on the #Marleywoodlflmustreadlist
The People We Keep is a story about people and the the decisions we make and how they affect our world and the world of those we touch. Allison Larkin does a wonderful job in introducing us to April and her world – showing us who she is to her very core and the people she let’s into her life. We care deeply about April and what is going to happen to her. Larkin does an excellent job over putting as much thought into the other characters, Margo, Ethan,Carly, Robert and Justin. My son went to IC in Ithaca, New York and Larkin nailed her description of this beautiful town at the foot of one of the Finger Lakes and how the people who have spent any time there love it so and migrate back. Knowing this I felt a sense of familiarity reading the other places April encounters, despite having never visited those places. I loved and cared April and her world. Well-written and easy to read, Allison Larkin created great characters with such depth, that I was swept up in April’s life journey and taken back to the 90s.I highly recommend this book. 4.5 Stars!
“It’s funny about love’, Sophia said. ‘The more you love someone, the less he likes you back.’
‘That’s very true,’ Grandmother observed. ‘And so what do you do?’
‘You go on loving,’ said Sophia threateningly. ‘You love harder and harder.”
I really enjoyed this book and I can see myself picking up and rereading it again and again. The relationship between the grandmother and Sophia is priceless. This book is beautifully written and the descriptions of their island will transport you to their world and put you right next to them, smelling the salty air and seeing the amazing beauty which surrounds Sophia and her grandmother. Tove Jansson’s reflections about people, relationships, and connections to nature, are ageless. There is so many levels to this book – it’s a must-read. 5 stars!
I read this book as a recommendation from the Book of the Month club. The title sounded intriguing to me as I glanced over the selections of the month. I also enjoy and appreciate a good short story. A well written short story can pack a punch in just a few pages. Evans accomplishes this is a number of her short stories – my favorites being King Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain, Alcatraz and Why Won’t Women Just Say What They Want. The title story and novella, The Office of Historical Corrections, is an interesting premise but I found the characters to be somewhat predictable.
It’s been a very busy spring and start to the summer and admittedly my head has been in a book or listening to books. The more I listen to books, the more I want to read physical books, not just the ones on my Kindle. I like the feel of a hardback book on my lap, the feel of the pages as I turn them. Recently, I joined two book clubs that send you physical hardback books. I don’t live near a local bookstore – independent or otherwise, so I have found my recent membership into these two clubs to be helpful in introducing me to new books and authors.
Book of the Month Club was my obvious first choice, since I am very old-school. This was the club that my Mom was a member of way-back-when. I remember the box showing up as a little girl – like a gift in the mail! I thought it was the coolest thing, still do. My first book sent to me was The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. I wrote a review of the book in my post Reading & Listenings – May 2021.
The other book club I am a member of is Literati which I discovered through my Instagram. Literati has a number of different clubs within their website and the books are selected authors, celebrities and people of interest. I am currently in the Joy Collective hosted by Kelly McGonigal. The focus of this group is : ” Rousing page-turners steeped in the science of our human brain…The Joy Collective will help you to discover actionable strategies to bring more joy, compassion, and resilience into your life. Feel connected to something bigger than yourself with books that explore our capacity to find hope, courage, and belonging.”
So far I have read the June pick of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. I was sucked into the story from the moment I opened the book. Kazuo Ishiguro is a beautiful writer who masterfully brings us right into the world of artificial intelligence with introducing us to Klara, the main character and narrator. Klara provides an interesting and unique perspective. The book touches upon many themes: relationships between humans and relationships humans have with technology; grief; social inequality, just to name a few. I highly recommend this to anyone – it’s a beautifully written book and has such an interesting perspective on what the future could bring.
What I like about the Literati Club which I think BOMC could do a better job is Literati makes you feel like you are part of a book club complete with discussions and questions to think about. Both have websites and apps but again Literati’s seems to be more engaging, particularly the ability to post a question to the group or make a remark. where as BOMC is simply more about selling the books as opposed to building a community discussion around the books.
The July pick for Literati’s Joy Collective which I have only just started yesterday The Beauty of Break by Michele Harper
