What We Read in May

First things first, I guest posted over on NGS’s blog as part of her 20th Anniversary guest blogger series and shared the 20 ways blogging has made my life better - and my intro includes an explanation for my (very odd) blog title!

May was another solid reading month for me. I finished 9 books! I had a work trip to Napa at the start of the month which meant lots of plane reading time. I’ve kind of given up on working on planes because I can’t get my VPN to work which means I can’t open any files so I just keep up with emails on my phone and let myself read for pleasure.

Best of the month: 

The Seven Year Slip was an easy breezy book with a bit of magical realism. The protagonist inherits her aunt’s NYC apartment and discovers that sometimes when she enters the apartment, the clock turns back 7 years. I don’t always like time travel but it worked for me in this book. The Other Side of Disappearing was a 3.5 star book that I rounded up to 4. The protagonist was forced to grow up early when her mother abandoned her family, forcing the 20-something protagonist to take over the care of her half-sister. Their mom left because she fell for a scam artist/hustler. In this book, the sisters team up with a podcast duo to find out what happened to their mom. Fat Talk was my book club’s May selection. We had a really good discussion about the book. There are some controversial topics in the book but that’s what makes for a great discussion. James is a retelling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective. I loved this book and gave it 5 stars but I don’t understand why it’s described as ‘uproariously funny’ in the publishers blurb - do not read this for humor. I found the content very heavy. Last but not least, Congratulations, the Best is Over was another 5-star read! It’s a collection of essays that made me laugh out loud which is really saying something because books rarely make me LOL. He covers both light and heavy topics with a healthy dose of humor. This is his 2nd collection of essays and I preferred it to his first (but also liked his debut). 

Just ok to meh:

Competing Devotions is a book I read after it was recommended during an Ezra Klein podcast about balancing work and caring for a family. It was a little too academic and I don’t know what I was supposed to take away. Trust was ultimately too cerebral for me. It’s about a man who worked in the finance industry and was criticized for how well he did during the stock market crash of 1929. I liked but didn’t love The Lonely Hearts Book Club. It was good but I would have to look up the plot line. The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control was just ok. I liked the premise of the book but it felt overly long and then the last 2 chapters were something like 9 principles to remember and 11 suggestions or something to that effect. It reminded me of this bank conference I helped organize 10+ years ago when I worked at a different company. At the closing lunch, the head of my division (which was a person my retired friend and I did not care for to put it lightly) closed out the conference with a text-heavy series of slides with something like ‘the 14 things to takeaway from this conference.’ Who can remember 14 things? Most humans can’t. Unless you are constantly referencing something, at most you can maybe remember 3-5 things. So this book end on a meh note and I couldn’t tell you any of the things I was supposed to take away and apply to my life. I did take away the general theme that it’s ok to be a perfectionist and she points out how you don’t encounter men who refer to themselves a ‘recovering perfectionist’ or something to that effect and yet women do this All. The. Time. (I have been guilty of saying this as well but will not say that going forward.) 

DNF:

I abandoned the buzzy book, Everybody in My Family has Killed Someone at about the 10% mark. I didn’t like the narration style which included breaking the 4th wall. Sometimes I like that style; this time I did not. The book opens with the protagonist’s sibling showing up at his house with a body that needs to be buried (it happens right away so is not a spoiler). I could not even wrap my mind around this as an enneagram 1. Do NOT come to me to help bury a body is what I am saying. I am not that kind of ride or die friend because that kind of task would haunt me and I do not want to go to jail for assisting in a crime. 

The boys’ reading:

Taco has gotten over his obsession with ‘The Circus Ship.’ I love that book but reading it daily can kind of ruin it for a while. Paul has kind of fallen off the wagon of reading together and instead wants to read Dog Man and Wimpy Kid books on his own. It’s great that he can read on his own but I really love cuddling up with him with chapter books! Late in the month I did talk him into reading book 7 of the Dragon Masters series which he really enjoys. We can read them in 2 sittings so we fly through those books. We had read one chapter of Harry Potter but decided to pause that book until he’s a bit older and heartier in terms of intense content. 

Did you read anything great in May?

What We Read In February

Here we are, a week into March, and I’m just getting around to recapping my February reading. Oof, February reading was a big, fat MEH. I read 6 books and only enjoyed 2 of them. 

My reading:

I did have 2 successful reads. The Whispers by Ashley Audrain is her sophomore novel. Similar to her debut, The Push, it focuses on the dark side of parenting/motherhood. At a bbq, the neighbors overhear a mother screaming at her child - months later, he falls from his 2nd story window. Is the mother involved/to blame? I didn't like this as much as The Push as it read a bit more like a gossipy Liane Moriarty book, but I still found it enjoyable/interesting. Traveling Mercies was another "faith exploration" book for me. I enjoyed Lamott's musings on faith. She doesn't exactly strike me as a stereotypical Christian if that makes any sense? Not that all Christians are cut from the same cloth. But she's liberal/progressive and she seems like someone that liberally swears, for example. So it was very different from the other "faith exploration" books I've read. 

And then there were the meh books. My Brilliant Friend was the Cool Blogger Book Club selection for February. NGS does a great job of hosting an online book club and her questions added to the reading experience - but I just plain did not like this book and won't continue in the series! But that's what makes books interesting - they can illicit such diverse responses/reactions! Shiner had promise but it was such an uneven reading experience. Parts of the book felt like a 2-star read, others felt like a 4-star read. I thought I might round it to a 3, but the ending didn't redeem the book. It's set in Appalachia and is about the family of a religious fanatic (he uses snakes in his services to give you an idea of what I mean by religious fanatic). You, Again was a modern day retelling of When Harry Met Sally. I shouldn't have read it because, like Nicole (Hi Nicole!!), I'm of the opinion that that work of art can't be approved upon. Lastly, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop was a weird little book set in Japan. It had promise as it's about a struggling 20-something that goes to live in a bookshop with her uncle (living in a bookshop sounds like a dream) but it was just a little too weird for my liking. 

The boys' reads:

Paul and I finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (he loved it and we enjoyed watching the 1960s Gene Wilder book adaptation) and we also read a Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot which is #16 in the series. It's kind of strange to start towards the end of the series but it didn't seem to impact the reading experience - we started there because he received this book for Christmas. I told Paul that this was basically a retelling of my childhood experience with sports as Greg, the protagonist, is NOT athletic but is required to try basketball. Like me, the only basket Greg makes is for the other team!! We have since started the first book in the series and I can already tell the series improves with each book because Greg is kind of a jerk in book 1. 

How was your month? Tell me it was less meh than mine!!!

What We Read in September

September was a really great month of reading! I read 8 books and 5 of them were 4 or 5 stars! Here’s how it shaped up. 

Favorites:

You can’t go wrong with any of these! I’ll start with my favorites. All That is Mine I Carry With Me might have the worst title of all the books I’ve read this year but title aside, it’s amazing. It’s written by a former attorney which I have found make excellent authors. A wife goes missing and her husband is the suspected killer. This was a page turner for me. It will make my top books of 2023. Under the Skin is non-fiction that explores the marked difference in health outcomes for Black people in America. It’s also a contender for my best books if 2023 list. Go As a River is historical fiction set in Colorado. A tragic thing happens to the female protagonist and the books follows her life across the ensuing decades. This also may make my top books of 2023. I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn alongside a whole bunch of bloggers through a book club hosted by NGS. The book held up to my earlier reading although I don’t know how this is classified as middle grade/YA given the very hard and heavy subject matter. Lastly, Happiness Falls is about a father that goes missing while on a walk with his non-speaking autistic son. Overall I enjoyed this book although I felt it drug a bit and I could have done without one of the themes of the book. But it was still excellent. 

Pretty good:

These were excellent pallet cleansers amidst some of my more heavy reads. Both fall in the romance/rom-com category. 

Did not work for me:

I have no idea how this book ended up on my holds list. I think it must have been written up in Book Page which is the free monthly magazine I get at the library. The Guest Lecturer is about a female economist who is laying awake in her hotel room, thinking about the speech she will give the next day. She imagines John Maynard Keynes, a famous economist, is with her. I should have abandoned this book but it was short so I kept reading. Bad decision. 

The boys’ reads:

The Clean-Up Crew is a book that Taco picked out at the library to bring home. He is obsessed with garbage trucks so this was a hit with him. He keeps asking for it so we need to check it out again.

Charlotte and the Rock was the best picture book we checked out for Paul. It’s about a little girl who wants a pet. Her parents aren’t keen to have a pet so they get her a pet rock. But is it just a rock? Read on to find out. 

Did you read anything great in September? 

What We Read in June

June was a pretty good reading month. I read 8 books and liked many of them - I just didn't like the favorites as much as months past. This is a wordy book post, so settle in... We are at the half-way mark for the year and I've read 46 books. It seems unlikely that I'll read 100+ books as I have the last 2 years but that is totally fine. I don't set a numeric goal for reading because I don't want to read books for the sake of hitting a numeric goal.

Favorites:

My favorites for the month were mostly lighter types of reads. Mika in Real Life is about a woman who gave her daughter up for adoption when she was a teen, but now her daughter has tracked her down. Life hasn't turned out like Mika expected so she tries to reinvent herself to impress her daughter. It was a heart warming kind of read, if a bit predictable. I'd classify this as "romance plus" as there's more to the story than the romance storyline. Georgie All Along was highly recommended by NGS so I was excited to check it out as I've liked the author's other books. Georgie moves back to her hometown after her boss retires from her Hollywood role and she's a bit adrift about what to do. Then she meets the reformed former "bad boy" and brother to her high school crush. I liked that the author mentions that Georgie's mom has Rheumatoid Arthritis and suffers from flares - it's kind of nice to normalize the autoimmune disorder I have (which, in my experience, many are unfamiliar with). Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is a graphic memoir about a woman's experience working in the Oil Sands in Canada (mostly in Alberta, I think). This was recommended in the BookPage magazine that I pick up each month at the library and it gave me some insight into what it's like to work in the oil industry, especially within a work camp type of set up. I was vaguely familiar with the concept as there are work camps in my home state of North Dakota. I thought she did an excellent job of illustrating what life was like. She moved there for 2 years to make enough money to pay off her college loans so she could pursue her true passion, which is illustrating/drawing. Lastly, I read The Celebrants by Stephen Rowley. I adored his novel, The Guncle - it was one of my favorite books the year I read it. His latest novel isn't as good as The Guncle was, but I still really enjoyed it. It's about a group of college friends that loses a friend shortly before college graduation so they make a pact to have sort of "living funerals" so they can hear all the ways they've impacted each others' lives while they are still alive.

Middle of the road:

These books were more along the lines of "just ok." We Should Not Be Friends is Will Schwalbe's memoir about a friendship he develops in college with a person that couldn't be more different than him. I read this right after I read the RBG friendship memoir so I think it suffered from comparison to that gem of a book. The Half Moon is Mary Beth Keane's latest novel. Her last book, "Ask Again, Yes," was one of my favorite reads the year I read it. This book was good, but not as good as her last novel. I did appreciate the examination of the impact of infertility on a couple, though. That's another topic that has become more normalized in recent years, I think. 

Lastly, Invisible Kingdom was a book that I had high hopes for as it's about the author's journey to getting her autoimmune disorder diagnosed/treated. I have a bit more to say about this book so it deserves its own paragraph. As someone who has dealt with having RA for almost 10 years, I was excited to check this one out, but her story was so different from mine since her diagnosis was not at all clear cut, nor was her treatment path, so it didn't resonate like I thought it might. I was also a bit put off by her comments about the use of antibiotics causing/leading to her having an autoimmune disorder. I was a pretty sickly child and was on a lot of antibiotics. For example, in 6th grade I was so ill with a sinus infection that I was hospitalized as I really needed stronger IV meds to fight the infection. I don't view my antibiotic usage as optional. Nor do I think there is evidence that antibiotic use leads to autoimmune disorders. Could be it be a factor? Sure. Are antibiotics overprescribed? Probably. Also my kids have been on antibiotics quite a bit for non-stop infections - have I made them susceptible to an autoimmune disease because I followed their doctor's recommendation to prescribe antibiotics? I hope not, but we are always making the best decisions with the information that is available to us. Clearly, autoimmune diseases are a sensitive topic for me and I'd prefer to avoid of a line of thinking that even suggests the ill person might have brought their disease upon themselves. I did appreciate this quote from one of the people she interviewed, though: "With other diseases it's this kind of external thing you're fighting against. If you have cancer, you can fight your cancer. But if you have an autoimmune disease, what are you fighting against? Do you fight against your own immune system? Are 'you' your immune system? Are you the organ under attack? Who are you?" And overall, I appreciated that the author brought more attention to autoimmune disorders.

The book I didn't like:

Well for the second month in a row, my least favorite book was "Girlhood" by Melissa Febos. It was an examination of what it means to be a girl and how we are treated as a gender. It seemed like it would be great, but the execution didn't work for me as I got bogged down by her research or inclusion of things like Greek Mythology (something I have zero interest in, to be quite honest). If would have DNF'd this if we weren't reading it for book club (I try to finish every book club). Interesting, it has a 4.26 rating on goodreads and the other person I know who read it gave it 5 stars. It was not loved by most in my book club either. It read more academic than we were expecting. 

Abandoned Books:

I abandoned The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane around the 30% mark. It's historical fiction set in the late 1800s. I had heard about it on a "From the Front Porch" podcast episode last summer but did not realize it was set that far back - that's an era I don't feel especially drawn to so I'm not too surprised it wasn't a fit.

What Paul read:

Paul has been asking a lot of questions about Kindergarten so we have checked out A LOT of Kindergarten books! I think we've checked out about 20 picture books about kindergarten. We've probably reached our limit on this genre but I figure the best way to help with his concern/anxiety about this change is to read about it! Other than that, the only book read on repeat in June was "The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read" which was a sweet story. 

Did you read anything great in June?

Books We Read in May

May was a pretty prolific reading month for me - I read 8 books. It helped that I had no evening commitments during my work trip to Denver so I did lots of reading in the evening during that trip. 

My reads:

These were my favorites! Dinners with Ruth is a memoir about the friendship between NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg and RBG. They were both trailblazers in their respective fields so it was an inspiring read. I've already told you about A Heart That Works - it was a heart-breaking, cry-inducing read. Their son was Will's age when he died so it really hit home for me. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is J. Ryan Stradal's latest book. He writes books set in Minnesota as he grew up here. They have a kitschy vibe to them but I like them! Trigger warning for infertility. There are other triggers but it would be a spoiler to share, so if you are a sensitive reader, do some research. If We're Being Honest has been on several summer reading lists. It's a debut novel about a family gathering for the patriarch's funeral. It's a character driven novel about family secrets. Symphony of Secrets is the sophomore novel by Slocumb who is now known for writing "musical thrillers." I don't know that thriller is the right term to use, though, but it is suspenseful. This novel is about scores of music that were stolen from a black composer. I didn't like this as much as his debut but still enjoyed it. Lastly, Romantic Comedy is an excellent romance that will make my best books of the year. It's mostly set on an SNL-type of show. Much of it takes place during the pandemic but I thought that aspect was handled really well. 

These were less successful reads for me. Vita Nostra is a book I never would have read if it wasn't chosen for book club. I struggled through this book and ultimately did not give it a rating on goodreads because I am not the intended audience for this book. I'm looking forward to our book club discussion tonight, though, as some in our group loved it. Happy Place is Emily Henry's latest romance and probably my least favorite of her 4. As an enneagram 1, I found the plot of the book completely unrealistic/unbelievable. I can not imagine breaking off my engagement AND NOT TELLING MY BEST FRIENDS. There were other plot lines that didn't work for me either. I had a great exchange with Stephany, who is an enneagram 9. She liked this much more than me as she could relate to the protagonist.

The boys' reads:

Paul's reads stand out the most this month (Will reads the same books over and over so nothing new/novel there). First off, this was our favorite picture book. It has some Spanish mixed in. We read this so many times and Paul has asked for a copy for Christmas. It's about a handsome cat that is walking around with 9 kittens (gatitos in Spanish). There is some counting in the book and lots of humor. I could read this one over and over again. The cat has such swagger!

Now for the less successful read. We've been slowing working our way through Stuart Little. We both enjoyed it until the final 3rd of the book. This is a spoiler, but the book was published in 1945 and it seems like there should be a statute of limitations on spoilers for books? Skip ahead if you don't want the ending spoiled. In the book, Stuart is looking for his bird friend, Margalo. I assumed, since this was written for children, that she would be found. But she wasn't! It ended so abruptly and was so very dissatisfying. Also the book did not age well as there were references to smoking/cigarettes. Here's Paul's review which he dictated for my goodreads review: "That's it? All that and he doesn't find Margalo? You've got to be kidding me. Fiddlesticks." 

What chapter books have your kids enjoyed? The classics we've read haven't been super successful (Socks, Stuart Little, Mr. Poppers Penguins). What was the best book you read this month?

What We Read in January

January was a decent month of reading for me. I read 7 books which is on the lower end for me, but I had a ton of social plans during the month which cut into my reading time. Also, in the past I would read during both of Will's weekend naps but now I spend one of them working out so I can hit 3-4 workouts/week. Plus most of what I read was very heavy and heavy books tend to slow down my pace of reading. Lastly, after several months of multiple 5-star reads, I only had one 5-star read this month so my reading didn't feel as stellar but was still quite good! Here is how our reading shaped up.

Good/Great: 

My favorite of this bunch was "All the Broken Places" by John Boyne. It's technically a sequel to "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" but if you haven't read that book, you would likely still enjoy this book. It follows the life of the daughter of a Nazi commandant and looks at culpability. "The Midnight Library" was our January pick for book club. I re-read it since I didn't remember much from when I read it in November 2020. When I read it for the first time, I felt pretty meh but I was 9 months pregnant and expecting a baby during the peak of the pandemic so I wasn't in the right mindset to ponder existential thoughts. I liked it more this time around and we had a good discussion about regrets and roads not taken in life. "The Four Treasures of the Sky" is historical fiction set in the Western part of the US in the 1880s. It focuses on the horrific treatment of Chinese immigrants and is VERY HEAVY/SAD. "Solito" is another heavy book - it's a memoir of the author's journey from El Salvador to Arizona at the age of 9. I had to keep reminding myself that the child makes it since he's alive and writing this memoir. "And Yet" is a beautiful collection of poems that focuses on the experiences of women and mothers. You could read this in one sitting. 

Meh

Neither of these books worked for me. "The Midcoast" is literary fiction set in Maine. It's the examination of a family that pretends to be something that it's not (they exude wealth but it's all based on lies/dishonesty). "The Ingenue" had promise as it was about a young piano prodigy. But overall it was a miss for me. The protagonist is around my age in this book and I didn't understand some of the decisions she made/how she dealt with challenges in her life. 

Paul's Reading:

These were our 2 favorite picture books from January, both from repeat authors that we love! I highly recommend both!

Paul and I have started to read chapter books and most have worked well but Socks by Beverly Cleary was a bit of a miss. I have such great memories of reading Cleary books but hadn't read this one. It wasn't as good as her Ramona series and I think the content went a bit over Paul's head. It's about a couple who gets a cat - and then the cat is kind of benignly neglected when they have a baby. This book hasn't aged well either as it talks about the post-partum mom needing to go on a diet... I'm really sensitive to talk of diets/body shaming/etc since I was so very critical of myself from an early age. So we'll be putting this in the little free library as I don't plan to read it to Will down the road. 

Did you read anything great in January? 

Best Books of 2022!

2022 was a stellar year of reading for me. As as type this post, I've read 112 books! Every year, I parse through the books I've read to come up with my "best of" list. Some years, it's easy. This year it was hard because I read so many wonderful books! I think my reading has been boosted by new recommendation sources. Some book recommendations have come from Nicole (Hi, Nicole!) and other bloggers like The Gilmore Guide to Books and Novel Visits. But I also get a ton of recommendations from my favorite book-related podcasts which are Sarah's Bookshelves Live (who introduced me to the 2 book bloggers above!), Currently Reading and From the Front Porch. I also belong to the Patreon community of those 3 podcasts and find the $5-7 I pay each month well worth it! 

I targeted selecting 12 favorite reads - but ultimately landed at 13 as I couldn't cull this list any further! 

Top book of 2022

Hands down, "Lessons in Chemistry" was my all-time favorite book of the year. I've recommended it widely because it's the kind of book that surely will appeal to nearly everyone. So far, everyone I know who read this book also enjoyed it. It's about a woman working in a male-dominated environment in the 1960s. She is treated abhorrently. But she persists. Trigger warnings do abound, though. Don't let the cheeky cover trick you into thinking this is "light" fiction. It has a light, humorous tone but the author is delving into HARD topics. But what I really love is that this is the debut novel of a woman in her 60s! Isn't that phenomenal? It's been picked up by Apple and will be turned into a tv show which I plan to check out. 

In no particular order, here are the other 12 best reads of 2022! 

1. All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien. I tore through this book during our Mexico vacation. A murder of an 18yo man has happened in the Vietnamese immigrant community in Sydney in the 1990s. But no one is talking. The older daughter who is a journalist comes home and takes it upon herself to figure out what happened to her brother. This is definitely a heavier read but was incredibly well-done. 

2. Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong is a book about grief. It's about a rags-to-riches half-Chinese family that builds a fashion empire in NYC. They appear to live a charmed life until one of their daughters tragically dies. The other daughter is left to sort through the pieces and discover family truths. 

3. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. Guess what, this book is about death/mortality, too! I guess that is a heavy theme in my reading this year. Lenni and Margot are an unlikely pair. Margot is 83, Lenni is 17. But they both reside on the terminal ward of a hospital. This novel is about the relationship between these 2 women. It is sad but beautiful. 

4. Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach pairs well with Kaleidoscope because the topics are so similar - a sister is dealing with the aftermath of her sister's death. It's told in second person narrative - the narrator is speaking to her sister before, during and after her untimely death. 

5. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I am a huge TJR fan. I do not know how she cranks out these books on an annual basis. I know one person that did not like this (Hi NGS!) but I found it unputdownable! It's about a tennis player that comes out of retirement to defend her grand slam record. The protagonist is incredibly unlikeable which is usually a kiss of death for a book for me, but I still loved this so much. 

6. Book Lovers by Emily Henry. This is my favorite of the 3 romances Henry has written. I loved the snappy dialogue which was reminiscent of Gilmore Girls. What I liked best is that the conflict in this novel did not stress me out and was believable. Even though romances always have happily ever after endings, the conflict sometimes really stresses me out! Can you tell I am conflict avoidant? 

7. Corrections in Ink by Keri Blakinger is a memoir about the author's time in prison after drug charges. She was an elite pairs skater that falls from grace and makes some horrible decisions in college. It was an interesting inside look at life inside a prison, especially for a female. 

8. Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott was such an endearing and relatable collection of essays from a woman who, like me, struggles with anxiety. I would hand this book to any booklover who is preparing to send a child out into the world/to college because it talks about how to let go of those you love. In Philpott's case, the letting go process is complicated by the fact that her son has a neurological disorder. 

9. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith. We read this for book club and everyone loved it. In this book, Smith travels to various landmarks and monuments such as Monticello, Whitney Plantation, Angola Prison and a Confederate Cemetery. He looks at the roots of slavery, the impact it's had on our nation, and the extent of the truth these monuments provide. Smith is a poet so the writing in this book is particularly beautiful. 

10. Fight Night by Miriam Toews was an unexpected hit for me. It's narrated by 9yo Swiv. Swiv lives with her mom and her elderly, frail grandmother. She gets into trouble at school and ends up being homeschooled by her grandmother. Swiv is so feisty and delightful, and her grandmother is equally likeable. 

11. Love and Saffron by Kim Fay is a slim epistolary novel of just 208 pages. It follows the lives of 2 women who become pen pals in the 1960s. But their relationship becomes so much more as the book unfolds. It is such a beautiful and heart-warming novel. I didn't want it to end!

12. Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka is a heavy, difficult read but worth checking out. It's about Ansel - he's a serial killer on death row and is 12 hours away from his execution. As the hours tick by, his story is told by 3 women impacted by his life: his mother, his wife's sister, and a homicide detective. Americans are kind of obsessed and intrigued with serial killers; this story hands the narrative to those impacted by the terrible actions of a terrible man.

What were some of your best reads of 2022? 

What We Read in October

October was a more "normal/average" month for me in terms of volume. I read 7 books. 4 books were 5-star reads and another was a 4-star read. There were only 2 "just ok" books this month so it was a successful month!

Best reads:

All of these books were excellent! Carrie Soto is Back is Taylor Jenkins Reid's newest release. It's about a tennis pro who comes out of retirement to defend her grand slam record. This book made me want to learn to play tennis and that is really saying something since I generally avoid sports that involve balls. Ha. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was such a nostalgic read for me as much of it is set in the 80s/90s. It's about 2 best friends who develop video games, but you don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this (I'm certainly not - I haven't played video games since I was a child but boy did I love the original Nintendo and the Mario Bros games back then!). All My Rage is technically YA but I would only let a mature teen read this. It's about 2 teens of Indian descent living on the margins in CA. Trigger warnings abound! Corrections in Ink is a memoir about the author's time in prison. She was a pairs figure skater that competed in nationals but she falls from grace and ends up using drugs and dealing heroine in college. It was an alarming inside look at womens prisons. Lastly, Bad City is a stranger-than-fiction book about the dean of the school of medicine at USC. He was found on the scene of a young 20-something overdose but nothing comes of him being on the scene where there is meth and all manor of other paraphernalia. It's about all of the cover-ups that resulted in this awful person leading a medical school and practicing medicine. It also uncovers some other controversies at USC. Man that school has had some series issues in the last several years! This book got 4 stars because it drug a bit at the end when the author went into things that were happening at the LA Times. The other 4 books were 5-star reads!

Meh/Just Ok:

The Roughest Draft is an enemies-to-lovers romance that was pretty good, but was needlessly long and drug quite a bit at the end, which knocked my rating down to 3 stars. The Book of Goose was loved by a reliable recommendation source but I just didn't get the appeal. It's about a female friendship in the post-WWII era of France. But it felt flat for me and was a 3-star read.

The boys' reads:

The boys really enjoyed reading the Halloween books that I pulled out on October 1st. Will especially loved the Little Blue Truck Halloween book since it has flaps! He is all about books w/ flap or touch and feel books. Here are some other gems we got from the library!

Dear Abuelo was something I randomly pulled off the shelf. It's a collection of letters from a little girl who immigrates to the US from Mexico. It's a very bittersweet book about adjusting to a new country.

I found out about this book from my subscription to Can We Read (highly recommend this substack newsletter! I get so many recommendations from it!) Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue is the first in a series about a little girl whose mom is a super hero. It's a chapter book but there are pictures throughout so it held Paul's attention. I requested the other books in the series. I love picture books but am enjoying introducing Paul to chapter books! 

We love Julie Donaldson (she's best known for Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo). So I requested everything she's written. This was our favorite of the ones we're read recently. A little monkey lost his mom, so the butterfly is helping him find his mom. Is it this elephant? Is it this parrot? They finally find the dad at the end and the butterfly says - why did you tell me your mom looked like you. As a butterfly, her babies look very different since they are caterpillars. Donaldson's books are so fun to read because they all rhyme! 

Did you read anything great this month? 

What We Read in August

August was another strong reading month for me - I finished 9 books which is about average for me! Yes, that is a lot of books, but I think I may be a faster-than-average reader and I read for at least an hour/day, but sometimes more! It was a excellent month of reading - 8/9 got 4-5 stars, only 1 got 3 stars (Cultish). 

My reads:

These 5 books were my absolute favorites of the month. True Biz (4 stars) is an owned voices book about a school for the deaf. I'd read this one in print because there are drawing of different ASL words/phrases that add to the reading experience. I did not realize that cochlear implants were controversial. This book really educated me on the deaf community while also entertaining me. Because it's focused on a HS, it can have a YA feel although it's not specifically written for a YA audience. Kaleidoscope (5 stars) would be a great companion read to Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance as it's another fiction novel about grief. Book Lovers (5 stars) was a delightful romance. I appreciated that the conflict in the novel was different than other romance novels I've read. The conflict in romance novels can stress me out, even though I know it will be resolved since romance novels end with a happily ever after. The conflict in this novel did not stress me out, though, and felt more relatable and not manufactured. Waiting for Eden (5 stars) was a slim novel that really packed a punch. It's about a soldier who was gravely injured in combat and just barely survives. It's narrated by a fellow soldier thta didn't survive the same battle; he's waiting for Eden to pass over to the afterlife. I don't know what they were thinking when they chose the cover, though. It does not convey the depth and difficultly of this story - it looks like the cover for a romance IMO. Lastly, Where Hope Comes From (5 stars) was a beautiful collection of poetry about loss and resilience. Giving 4 books 5 stars is not typical for me, but I have become more generous with 5-star ratings because why not? It's the best way to convey that I really loved a book. 

This last set of books were 4 stars with the exception of Cultish. Cultish was a little bit meh for me. I think the book could have been a long-form article instead of a book, though. It felt a bit wandering at times, and some of the "cultish" topics were kind of tangential. I guess that is why she chose Cultish for the title. The author does have an interesting backstory as her dad grew up in a cult but escaped as a teen. 

The boys' books:

The best book of August was this delightful book, A Mouthful of Minnow. A turtle goes hunting for some fish, but then a family of minnows, including their nana, swims into his mouth. What is he to do? I think I need to order this book for my parents lake home. My dad is a big fisher so I think he'd appreciate the story and the theme of the book is perfect for a home on a lake. I found out about this book through the Indiebound Kids List. If you have young readers, I HIGHLY recommend using this site. They post kid recs every other month and break them out by age. I always request every picture book from the library. Some are bigger hits than others, but it takes so little time to read a picture book that there isn't really any downside to reading something that we don't end up loving. I never would have found this book otherwise! They also do a monthly post for adults and I get great reading ideas from that, too!

We also really enjoyed this little book about the backstory of how the show "The Wild Kratts" came about. It talks about all the rejection the Kratt brothers faced before they found their home at PBS. And here's a fun fact - my colleague/mentor went to college with Chris Kratt! Paul is such a huge fan, I'd love to take him to a live Wild Kratts show sometime if one ever comes to the Twin Cities.

Last but not least, I am thrilled to say that Will is more into book lately. Phew. Picture me breathing a sigh of relief. I've been getting some board books for him at the library and he was obsessed with Mighty Moms. We read 4 books to him before bed every night and there were many nights when he read this book 4 times. When we finished he'd look at us and say, "mas." Who can say no to that? We also own the author's other book, Mighty Dads, which is very cute.  

Did you read anything great this month? Any 

What We Read in May

Let's talking about something more fun that covid - reading! May was a stellar reading month for me. I read 9 books and none of them were duds/"just ok." Everything was 4 or 5 stars! I mean I gave a whopping 6 books a 5-star rating! I have sort of loosened my requirements for giving a book 5 stars, though. It's the best way to communicate that I really loved a book and think others should read it. I used to be pretty stingy with 5-star ratings. But I couldn't tell you why! In 2021, I gave 19 books 5 stars and in 2020 I gave 13 books 5 stars. So far in 2022, I've given 11 books 5 stars! 

Here are my 5-star reads which are very diverse!

Goodnight Beautiful is a page turny thriller type of book which is a genre I don't read much of! 

Empire of Pain was an excellent narrative non-fiction book about the (evil) family that significantly contributed to the opioid crisis. 

Lessons in Chemistry is one of my favorite books of the year and I'm certain it will make my top 10 of the year. I loved the characters in the novel, but especially the dog who is a prominent character in the book. And I'm not even a dog person! This book deals with heavier topics, but there is also levity and joy. I especially loved that this was a debut by a 65yo woman! 

Notes on an Execution has alternating narrators - a serial killer on death row and 3 women who were impacted/tangential to his life. It was incredibly well-done but it's a very heavy book. 

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is a novel about grief, written from the perspective of a younger sister mourning the sudden death of her older 16yo sister. 

Love and Saffon was a delightful epistolary novel which makes it a perfect summer read in my opinion as it's so tough to put down. My only complaint is that it was too short as just under 200 pages. 

The next set of books are 4-star reads and were also great! Trigger warning of domestic abuse for Finding Freedom. 

Paul's reading:

We read a lot of great books together in May, all of which came from the library of course. These are the ones that were read multiple times.

Book Hog is a really cute book about a pig who loooooves books and then discovers the library where he learns to read. 

I have Elisabeth to thank for highlighting The Odd One Out. She talks about books on a nearly weekly basis in her Friday post and I always pull up my library account and request everything they liked. This is a fun search and find book. 

John's Turn is by one of our favorite authors, Mac Barnett. We will read anything by him. This book is about a boy dancing at his school's weekly talent show. It was a sweet, heart-warming read.

Wild Baby is about a mischievous monkey. We jokingly said the baby was Will. We are working on reading all of this local author's work as all of her books have been hits!

What did you read in May? Do you rate books? If so, are you stingy or generous with your ratings?

What We Read in March

I had another solid reading month in March! I read 10 books but several books were on the shorter side so that is likely why I achieved a double-digit month of reading! I continue to read more non-fiction that usual. Over 1/3 of what I've read so far this year is non-fiction! Here is how my reading broke down!

Fiction Reads:

My favorite fiction reads were The Nothing Man (thriller) and Piranesi (cross between fantasy/mystery). I was the outlier in my group of friends and did not love A Psalm for the Wild Built. I also did not care for How High We Go in the Dark (so dark and the linked short story format didn't work well for me) or The Girl Who Reads on the Metro (story line was not at all believable). So overall, my fiction reading wasn't the best in March since I only really really liked 2 of the 6 books.

Non-Fiction Reads:

I enjoyed all 4 of these books! The Story of the GBBO made me nostalgic for the earlier seasons of the show. I miss Mary, Sue and Mel so much! The Day the World Came to Town was a very endearing book and it makes me want to seek out the play that was inspired by the book. Invisible Child was excellent and heart-breaking. It chronicles the experiences of a family living in poverty in NYC.

Paul's Reads:

These some of Paul's favorite books from the month. We read all 4 multiple times. Phil and I liked "See the Cat" best but were happy to re-read all 4 (that is not always the case - some of Paul's favorites are not books we enjoy, but it's not about us so we will re-read things even if we didn't love them). 

What was your best read from March? What books are your kids enjoying these days?

What We Read in January

 My reading got off to a strong start in January. I gave 2 books 5 stars and my first read of February is going to be a 5-star book, too! I am typically kind of stingy with 5-star ratings but I am working on changing that because it's the best way to communicate "you should read this book." I read 9 books - 5 non-fiction and 4 fiction. That is an atypical fiction/non-fiction split. But my reading is dictated by what eBooks become available at the library! I don't know what my split was for 2021 because I didn't track my reading outside of Goodreads.com. But in 2022, I'm tracking it in a spreadsheet provided by a book podcaster so I have more insight into what I read. And I'll still track on goodreads since I like the social aspect of that site, meaning I like seeing what others read and how they rated it. 

Fiction reads:

All of these were great, but I gave 5 stars to Pony (YA novel that has Western vibes - I'm glad I was motivated to pick this up by Meredith of the Currently Reading podcast. R.J. Palacio is an auto-read author for me now!) and When the Stars Go Dark (excellent literary mystery - trigger warnings for sexual assault, kidnapping, childhood trauma. McLain was in the foster care system and a survival of sexual assault so she handled the topic with such authority and care). 

Non-fiction:

These were all solid reads, except Welcome to the GD Ice Cube, which is my February book club book. The author writes about time spent in Norway and Alaska during her 20s. I think I am too old for this book as I had a hard time with some of the decisions she made/situations she put herself in. I wish I had read The Sum of Us more slowly - like over the course of 3 weeks instead of in 5 days. The book talks about the false idea that equality is a zero sum game, or put more simply, a pie - meaning improving equality for some takes things away from others. The Comfort Book is a fast read with quotes and passages about taking care of yourself and your mental health. I highlighted several quotes and might write a post about them in the next month or so as there were some really good nuggets of wisdom.

The boys' reading:

I failed to take any photos of the boys' reads last month! We checked out some great books from the library, though. Paul's favorites were the Pete the Cat books I checked out on a whim. He has asked for more. He enjoys the show on Amazon Prime, too, which is very cute! 

Will enjoys books at naptime/bedtime, but otherwise it's pretty hit or miss and I have the most luck getting him to sit still if there is something to touch or flaps. Dear Zoo is still his favorite! Phil changes the ending of that book to the zoo sending them a kitty instead of a dog when he reads it! Ha. We are solidly team cat in this house!

What did you read in January? Anything you'd recommend? Are you stingy with 5 star reviews?

Picture Books We've Loved Recently

I talk a lot about what I read on this blog and while I mention the kids' reading in passing, I thought it would be fun to highlight books Paul has loved lately! But first, I thought I'd talk about how I find books for him to read, which is a combination of research and serendipity! 

This post focuses on what I've been finding for Paul. Will likes books, but I think he is slightly less interested in them than Paul was at this age, but maybe I am misremembering? We read to Will daily, but outside of bed/naptime, the book needs to be interactive with flaps and things to touch to hold his attention. Which is of course completely normal and something his pediatrician mentioned at his one-year appointment when I mentioned he isn't as interested in books as Paul was. Hopefully with time he'll be more and more drawn to books!

How I find books for the boys:

First off, while I do buy books for the boys for Christmas and birthdays, most of the books we read to Paul come from the library. I haven't counted, but Phil will tell you we own hundreds of kids books. He's probably right. We have received most of the books as gifts, though (books are the best gifts for kids IMO!). At my baby shower, my mom and sisters asked that people bring a book instead of a card - which is the best idea ever in my opinion and something I think I may have suggested to them after seeing other do this. I love when I come upon an inscription in a book from my baby shower! Most of the books we own have been read multiple times, especially the board books. But many of the picture books get re-read as well, especially the ones that are upstairs in Paul's room as that's what he chooses from at bedtime. 

But as Paul has gotten older, he's less interested in re-reading a book unless it's something he really really loves, and that is impossible to predict. For example, “Santa” bought him 2 chapter books for Christmas, which he hasn't taken interest in yet, and 2 Mo Willems books, which he has read once... So I am kind of 0/4 on picking hits for Christmas, but hopefully that will change with time. So it makes the most sense to get books at the library. But how do I select what I check out? 

1. Indiebound.org This is a super helpful website for readers of all ages! Every month they post an Indie Next List which is a selection of new releases that were recommended by independent book sellers. I look at this every month to get idea of what I would like to read. But they also post a Next List for kids every other month. It's organized by age (picture books, Middle Grade, YA, etc). When they post a new list, I request every picture book.

2. Local bookstores. We have a fabulous local kids bookstore called "Wild Rumpus" that is another great source for books. When I bought the kids' Christmas books, I picked up book they publish with kid book recommendations and I requested pretty much every book the recommended from the library. But they also have a section on their website with bookseller recommendations. 

3. Newsletters. I subscribe to a number of book-related newsletters. Can We Read by Sarah Miller has been a great source for picture book recommendations. She has a paid subscription newsletter, but I subscribe to the free one at this point.

3. Serendipity. After I have grabbed our holds from the hold shelf, I will wonder through the kids section and grab books that catch my eye. I typically come home with 10-20 books for Paul. There are lots of misses, but there have been some wins, too! Sometimes we read a book and think - how did this get published, though!! Like some are laughably bad. 

Great books we've read recently:

Andrea Beaty/David Roberts Books: If you have young children, you've likely heard of these books. They are EXCELLENT but what I especially enjoy about them is that they rhyme! Rhyming books are my absolute favorite to read. We've read the 3 above, but also Sophia Valdez, Future Prez which might have been my favorite of the bunch!

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett/Jon Klassen: I discovered this book from the Can We Read newsletter. It's about a little girl who knits sweaters for all the people in her community and then just keeps going and knits for vehicles, animals, houses, etc. We own 3 books by the illustrator (The Hat Books) which are excellent! Paul got really excited when he saw a character from one of the hat books in this book!

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein: This falls under the category of books I enjoyed more than Paul! It's about a father who is reading classic children's books to his son, but his son keeps interrupting to warns the character about what is to come - for example he tells Chicken Little to not panic because the sky is indeed not falling. Paul wasn't familiar enough with the classic stories to see the humor in the book, but I greatly enjoyed reading it, and he asked me to read it multiple times so must have enjoyed it, even if he didn't fully understand it!

Negative Cat by Sophie Blackall: This is about a family that adopts a cat from the shelter, but the cat is kind moody. But then they figure out that the cat loves being read to. It's based on a true story of a group of elementary students that went to cat shelters to read to cats. How sweet is that?

I could go on and on, but I'll stop there! I'll close by saying that I'm pretty envious of my boys' access to the library. I grew up in a tiny town of 500 people and we did not have a public library! There was obviously a library at school so I checked out tons of books during the school year. But in the summer, I did not have access to a library! We had lots of books in our home and I always got books for Christmas and birthdays and could talk my mom into buying books at B. Dalton at the mall. But it's not the same as having a library where I could have checked out hundreds of books over the course of the summer! I really amped up my usage of the library in the past year and now Paul will ask me to request books from the library. He loves it when a book has pictures of other books by the author on the back or on the dust cover. He will tell me which ones we have or have read by that author and tells me which ones to request from the library. So yay libraries!! When our kids are older and I feel less spread thin, my goal is to try to get a seat on the library board! 

Have you read any good kids books lately? Are there any sources of book recommendations you would recommend? 

Best Books of 2021 + Superlatives

Wow, what a year 2021 was for reading. I managed to finish 129 books. This is not typical for me! Pre-kids, I would read around 80 books/year which is still a lot, but I've read over 100 the last 3 years. I think the pandemic is partly to blame for my higher reading count. We've been very conservative and have done very little for the last nearly 2 years, which leaves more time for reading. I also read A TON while nursing Will during the first 3-4 months of life. I don't know how I could read in the middle of the night - that would be way too stimulating now. But I guess I was so tired that reading on my kindle while nursing him didn't prevent me from falling back to sleep easily! 

I never set a challenging reading goal for myself - I set my goal at 60 books on goodreads because I don't want to focus on the quantity of books read or put pressure on myself to read as much as I did in years past. But if I had to guess, I would say that I will likely read over 100 books again in 2022. I typically go up to bed around 8:30 and read until 9:30, so I still get about 45 minutes of kid-free time with Phil before going up to read. As Paul's bedtime gets pushed back, it will compress my evening reading time, but until then, I'll probably keep reading at the 100+ book rate - we'll see!

It was hard to pick my favorites, but I narrowed it down to the 12 books in the picture below. 4 were non-fiction/memoir, 8 were fiction. 

Instead of talking about what each book is about, I thought I'd instead take page from Sarah of Sarah's Bookshelves, a podcast I discovered this year and absolutely love! She does a superlatives episode for Patreon members and it's a fun way to talk about books. So here are some superlatives that I borrowed from her/came up with on my own.

Most Surprising Read of 2021

The Guncle by Steven Rowley. I am probably selecting this because of recency bias as I recently read it. But it was so good! It's about a gay uncle who takes care of his brother's kids for a summer. Their mom has died from cancer and their father goes into rehab to treat an addiction to pain pills. This book combined humor with grief and substance. I want to read more by this author. I had heard good things about this book, but books that are described as funny as often misses for me but this one definitely wasn't. It wasn't a laugh-out-loud kind of funny - it was more so full of wit. 

The runner-up was Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson. This book was recommended so many times on podcasts but I thought surely I would not enjoy a book about kids who spontaneously combust when they get angry! But I loved it! It was another book full of wit.

Best Crowd Pleaser of 2021

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune was loved by so many and was worthy of all of the praise it received. It's full of magical realism which is usually something I'm not a fan of, but it worked in this book. 

The Most Disappointing Book

I really disliked The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris. This could have fallen under the least deserving of the hype category as well. I was so confused for a good chunk of this book and then so disappointed with the ending. I wish I had abandoned it!

The Book I Thought I would Love More Than I Did

I thought I would love Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune since I loved his previous book, The House in the Cerulean Sea but it ended up being "just ok." Nearly the whole book takes place in the confines of a tea shop so it felt a bit drawn out and longer than it needed to be? I felt that way about a lot of books in 2021. It seems like many books could be 50-100 pages shorter?

Most Deserving of the Hype

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner was all over the place and totally lived up to its hype. It's a memoir about the author's experience of losing her mom to cancer. It's a reflection on how she processed her death and their complicated relationship. 

Least Deserving of the Hype

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee. So this wasn't  super hyped, but I did hear about it on several podcasts and I felt like many of my goodreads friends read and loved it. Not me. It's about a May-December romance where the woman is older than the man. He is just slightly older than her daughter and is a pop star that her daughter loves. I just felt like the premise was so unrealistic. She was 39 and her love interest was 20. I just can not relate to falling for a 20-year old. She also made some really questionable decisions - for those who have read this book, I'm thinking about the scene on the boat that the paparazzi capture on film. 

The Book I Didn't Like That Other People Loved

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. I was so surprised that I did not love this book. It was right in my wheelhouse but I felt completely meh about it. I think the fact that I've never seen/read Hamlet might have contributed to my dislike of the book? I gave it 3 stars so it could have been worse but I was expecting this to be a 5-star read and I know several who absolutely LOVED this book.

Pick a superlative to answer or tell me what your favorite book(s) of the year was/were!