What I’ve been reading….
Because I read and adored The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by
Gabrielle Zevin, I was wildly excited to see that they had made a movie of it
last year. (Bonus, it stars Kunal Nayyar, best known for his role as Rajesh Koothrappali
on The Big Bang Theory.) I haven’t watched it yet, but I decided to see what
else the author had written in the meantime. I found All These Things I’ve Done, a YA novel about a young woman in the
future who is the daughter of a Russian American chocolate manufacturer, the
Balanchine family. It’s sort of a mob situation as chocolate and coffee are
illegal in the U.S.. Her parents are long gone and her older brother suffered a
traumatic brain injury sometime ago, while her younger sister is a genius, and
her grandmother is dying. Anya is trying to take care of everyone and keep it altogether.
It’s intriguing as the situation progresses, if a little melodramatic. Sadly,
the performance of the book was a little one note on the audio recording. I
might have enjoyed it a lot more if I’d been reading a physical copy. I gave it
just 3 stars.
The Death
of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware - This one is worth a solid 4 stars.
Fascinating, engaging, kept me guessing a good bit, and very well read by the
actors. A thriller and the first book I’ve read by this author, it did not
disappoint. Hal is a tarot reader on the Pier. She took over the booth to make
ends meet after her mother was killed in a hit and run, but it hasn’t been
quite enough and she borrowed money from a loan shark. Things are looking quite
dark when a letter arrives about an inheritance. Hal figures it’s a mistake,
but the details fit enough that she might be able to claim enough money to get
her out of the dangerous hole she’s in. It’s worth a shot, but she doesn’t take
into account the emotional toll of suddenly having a long lost family, or what
some other people may be willing to do to keep things the way they were.
Paper
Cuts: A Secret, Book, and Scone Society Book by Ellery Adams. It’s
always a pleasure to pick up the latest in this series. I had pre-ordered it
and devoured it in just a few days. I’m a bit sad it’s over. Nora runs a
thriving bookstore in Sulphur Springs, a resort town in North Carolina. Her
friends are three local women who have had heartaches of their own but come together
to support each other and all are thriving. Then a ghost, or two, arrive from
Nora’s past. One is the woman who her husband left Nora for years ago. The
woman, Kelly, has come to make amends and ask a favor. Nora pushes her away but
then regrets. She knows Kelly is sick and dying. She decides to go talk to
Kelly but it’s too late. Kelly has been murdered, putting Nora and her
boyfriend, Sheriff Grant McCabe, on opposite sides of a line as Nora is the
main suspect at first. It’s a great story with wonderful characters and
details. I highly recommend this book and the series. 4.5 stars.
I’m still processing Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy
Family Relationships by Nedra Tawwab, and reading The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of
Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.. The latter is a dense book and I have
underlined a LOT. (Don’t worry, this is a personal copy, it doesn’t belong to
the library.)
I’ve been enjoying leafing
through Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and
Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) by Diane Ladd and
Laura Dern, and reading some of their conversations. Though I often don’t care
for books about celebrities, I find the ones in their own words can be
illuminating and this has a central theme that I was interested in.
For light-hearted fair, I’ve
picked up Whose Body? by Dorothy L.
Sayers, a favorite mystery author of mine. It’s an old book and I may have read
it before but if I did, I don’t recall, so it’s a good time to pick up a Lord
Peter Wimsey mystery and this is the first in the series.
I’ve also just gotten The London Séance Society by Sarah
Penner in audio for my drives. So far, it’s quite intriguing. She wrote the
very enjoyable upmarket Lost Apothecary.
I’m sure this one will be no less diverting.
Anyone reading anything good? Let us know in the comments.
