What We Read in September

September was such a blur that had you asked me what I read during the month, I couldn't have told you without looking at my goodreads account. That is often the case but was especially the case last month since I traveled so much! Overall, the month was "just ok" in terms of my reading. I read 6 books, bringing the number of books read in 2024 to 74. Here is how my reading shook out. 

Good to great

You, with a view is a romance that was recommended by Stephany. It's about a granddaughter that discovered that her grandma had some secrets in her past that she doesn't learn about until her grandma has passed away. The book involves a road trip which made it extra enjoyable for me. The Guncle Abroad is a sequel to The Guncle which is a book I absolutely adored. I enjoyed being back with these characters but didn't like it as much as the first. After loving Rufi Thorpe's latest book, Margot's Got Money Troubles, I decided to read some of her back list and started with The Knockout Queen. It's a coming-of-age story about 2 teens that live next door to each other. I love that Thorpe's characters are so very "voicy." How We Named the Stars is a book I heard about on Sarah's Bookshelves Live. It's an owned voices coming-of-age story about 2 college roommates that are discovering who they are/their sexuality. Humor Me is the sophomore novel from Cat Shook. This one features a protagonist that works on an SNL-type of late night show. I enjoyed it while reading it but had to remind myself what it was about when reflecting back on my month's reading. 

Did not work 

I was drawn to read Absolution as it was about a group of expatriate wives living in Vietnam with their husbands/families in the early 60s when the conflict in Vietnam was escalating. I usually love character-driven novels but this one just did not work for me at all.

The boys' reading

We pulled out our fall books which Paul seems to have sadly outgrown. :( But Taco has really been enjoying them, especially Room on the Broom and Pumpkin Soup.

Paul has mostly been reading Wimpy Kid books. We are reading The Getaway together which is about a family vacation gone wrong. He also likes to re-read the various Dog Man books we own over and over and over so we are really getting our moneys worth on those books!!

Did you read anything great in September?

What We Read in August

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What We Read in July

July was such a whirlwind month with 3 work trips and the start of the Olympics which took a large bite out of my reading time. Many nights, I sacrificed 30-45 minutes of reading time in favor of watching the Olympics but that was a worthwhile shift in time usage! Here is how my reading shaped up for the month. I read 7 book and nearly all of them were great!

Best Books:

Summer Romance (5 stars) by Annabel Monaghan was an excellent romance featuring a single mom 40-something protagonist. Conflict in romances can stress me out but that wasn't the case with this novel. 

Sandwich (4 stars) by Catherine Newman was an excellent book about the sandwich generation, meaning the middle-aged years when you are caring for your offspring and your aging parents. I loved this book but would have loved it even more if I was in a different stage of parenting. The protagonist is nostalgic about the young kid stage of parenting and sometimes it was hard to wrap my mind around missing the things she misses - like my current "touched out" stage of parenting. I do recognize that I'll miss these cuddles someday but I do yearn for more personal space. I still love the book, though, but if you have older kids and/or are menopausal/post-menopausal, this will really speak to you!

Same As It Ever Was (4 stars) is the sophomore novel by Claire Lombardo. I really liked it but felt it was a bit long at 512 pages. But I am amazed that this single, childfree author so accurately captured the challenges/emotions of raising small children. This is very character-driven so avoid this if that is not your jam.

Margo's Got Money Troubles (4 stars) is what I would describe as a "voicy" book meaning that the protagonist is quirky and she does not hide it. It's about a single mother that is impregnated by her college professor. Her father is involved with the WWE and has a history of opioid abuse. It's a book that made me think about how situations that look terrible on paper are actually not so terrible when you examine them more closely. 

I would love to know who recommended Wandering Souls (5 stars) to me. I mostly use a TBR tag in Libby to keep track of what I want to read. I wish I could make notes about the recommendation source - but to my knowledge, that is not possible. This is a slim novel (I think less than 250 pages) about 3 teen siblings who flee Vietnam during the war and eventually settle in the UK. The story is told from numerous points of view, including the siblings' deceased younger brother. It's heartbreaking but such a well-told story. 

Pretty good and did not work:

The Wealth of Shadows (2 stars) sounded like it would be right up my alley as it was about the economic warfare that was deployed during WWII to end the war - like cutting off supply lines for Germany, for example. I wanted to like it but dear God, I was so bored at the end that I debated abandoning the book at 90%! If I do not complete a book, it goes on my abandoned shelf, so even if I read 90%, I do not count it as read - and I did not want to do that so I slogged through the last 10%. I know of people who will mark something as read even if they abandon it at 25% but my enneagram 1 personality can not wrap my mind around that. Nonetheless, this was not a fit for me, but I am an outlier as it has high reviews on Goodreads! What really set me off was the reaction of the economists when Pearl Harbor was bombed - they were thrilled because that meant that the US would get involved in the war which meant there was a higher likelihood to the war ending. But how can you celebrate something that resulted in a catastrophic loss of lives??? 

Wavewalker (3 stars) was a solid 3-star book but it got a bit long for me. It's a memoir about the author's childhood spent sailing around the world with terribly neglectful parents. I did not need detail about all of the different stops they made during the voyage - I think she could have trimmed 50+ pages and still done their voyage justice. All that said, we had a great book club discussion about this book. 

The boys' reads:

The boys' reads have been a bit lackluster lately because we have not gone to the library as often. Instead we are often doing something outside. But the library will be there waiting for us when cooler weather hits. Paul and I have read a few more of the "Dragon Master" books which he really enjoys. We are on book 10. Taco has been really into the Bruce books by Ryan T. Higgins which I adore!!

Did you read anything great in July?

Hot Takes on the NYT Best of the Century So Far List

Earlier this summer, the New York Times shared its "Best Books of the 21st Century So Far (gift link)". I love books and I love lists so I was excited to check it out. But I have to say my reaction to the list could be sort of summed up as a sad trombone "womp womp" kind of sound. I have read 27 books on the list but can't say I loved many of those 27. I should not be surprised because award-winning "high brow" types of books often don't work for me. Maybe I am not smart enough to enjoy them? Who knows. Others in my book club had more success with the list and I joked that it's probably because of their liberal arts college education. As an aside, I have a colleague who is always talking about the superiority of liberal arts colleges and I am 99% sure she knows that I did not go to a liberal arts college. 

I recognize I am very late to the party of talking about this list, but better late than never, right? Here are the 27 books I have read along with my quick thoughts/spicy takes on those books. I'll bold the ones I really liked. 

1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - How was this number 1? I didn’t like this book and would have abandoned if I wasn't reading it for book club (sorry, NGS!!). 

2. The Known World by Edward P. Jones - This won the Pulitzer so unsurprisingly I did not care for it. In my goodreads review, I noted that I didn't care for the really large cast of characters and the non-linear timeline that moved backwards and forwards in a confusing manner.

3. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - I liked this book but did not love it. 

4. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - Meh. This is a dystopian novel which is a genre that I generally don't care for. 

5. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - I liked this one and gave it 4 stars (which seems like an inflated rating in hindsight) but didn't feel compelled to read any other books in the series. 

6. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - I loved this book and remember flagging so many of the passages. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking memoir about losing her husband and dealing with her daughter's health crisis. 

7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy - I loathed this book and gave it 1 star which is really saying something! It's dystopian and I remember long stretches of dialogue with no identifier to indicate who was talking. 

8. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - I really liked this book and learned so much about the dynamics between Japan and Korea which I was completely unaware of. 

9. Evicted by Matthew Desmond - I liked this book although "like" seems like the wrong adjective to use when the topic (housing stability) is very heartbreaking. 

10. Atonement by Ian McEwan - I didn't love this when I read it in 2007 but my tastes have changed so much that I don't trust 26yo Lisa's view of the book. I would consider re-reading this one. 

11. Americanah by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie - I really liked this book about a Nigerian immigrant living in the U.S. 

12. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward - I gave this book 4 stars so must have really liked it but I do not remember much about it - but I read it when Paul was about 7 months old so it's not surprising that I don't remember much about it.

13. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - I liked but didn't love this book.

14. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - I really liked this slim novel by an Irish author. 

15. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - Meh meh meh. Way too long. 

16. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - I loved this graphic memoir about growing up in Tehran during the Islamic revolution.

17. Trust by Hernan Diaz - This novel told in 4 parts was a very uneven reading experience for me - I nearly abandoned it during the first section but stuck around as people raved about the 4th section. It was good but not great IMO.

18. Runaway by Alice Munro - We read this for book club otherwise I wouldn't have picked it up. It was just ok (sorry, Nicole! I know how much you love Munro!).

19. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - Another 1 star book. 

20. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai - I loved this book! It's about the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the 80s. 

21. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout - Another book that I adored. I flagged so many passages fo this book.

22. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid - I gave this 2 stars as I did not care for the detached writing style and the magical realism plot device. 

23. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - I adored this book about a male/female friendship. 

24. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones - LOVED this book about a marriage disrupted by the wrongful imprisonment of the husband. 

25. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters - Infidelity featured prominently in this story line and that was the kiss of death for me. 

26. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - I liked this more than I like most dystopian novels but I didn't love it like others did and I've come to realize that St. John Mandel is just not for me. 

27. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - I have loved every Patchett book I have read - except this one which I gave 2 stars. I read it back in 2008 so I do give some side eye to 27 yo Lisa's opinions on books, but I remember disliking it so much that I can't bring myself to re-read it. How was this the most beloved book by Patchett? My favorite of her works is Commonwealth. 

Out of the 27 books I've read 11, were successful but I'd probably only include The Great Believers, Olive Kitteridge and An American Marriage on my list of the 10 best books of the 21st Century so far if by "best" we mean most impactful. Other books I would include on that list are

- Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

- And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Housseini

- This is How it Always is by Laurie Frankel

- When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi

- The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

- Tiny, Beautiful Things Cheryl Strayed

It’s also worth noting that of the 11 books I really liked, 10 were written by women. I have certainly noticed that books written by men are often less successful for me. I am not sure what the gender breakdown was for the NYT list but would venture to guess the majority were written by men. 

***

So, can we still be friends? What did you think of the NYT list? If your views differed greatly from mine, that is helpful info as I might be your anti-book twin meaning you might want to avoid books that I love! I felt that the NYT list that was crowd-sourced from readers was far a better list with more titles that had me nodding my head. 

What We Read in June

First off, Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends! 

Now onto the topic at hand - reading! I lucked out and had an incredible month of reading. There was only one sort of disappointing read. Most of what I read I rated 4 or even 5 stars! I read 9 books in June, bringing my 2024 total to 52. I don’t set a goal for number of books read as I don’t want to ever focus on quantity over quality. Last year I read just below 100, the previous years I read over 100. We will see where this year shakes out! I have included children’s books that I read out loud to Paul in the total but I spend hours reading them so figure they should count, too. 

Best of the best:

After Annie is Anna Quindlen’s latest character-driven novel. It’s about a family grieving the sudden loss of their young matriarch. I didn’t love this as much as Every Last One but it was still a very good 4-star book. The Wives was raved about on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live and lived up to the hype (I gave it 5 stars). It’s a memoir written by the wife of a man who enlists in a special ops unit of the army. I gifted this to my sister as part of a gift to acknowledge her family’s cross country move. I can’t wait for her to read it so we can discuss it, hopefully in person! It gave me better insight into what her life has been like (her husband is in the military.) I gave it 5 stars. Real Americans was also raved about by Sarah but her co-hosts did not care for it. This was another 5-star read for me. It’s a multi-generational novel about a family that flees from China. I thought it was so well done. This is another character-driven novel. The last 2 books, Yours Truly and Just For the Summer were my first foray into local author Abby Jimenez’s catalog of work. Both books are set in the Minneapolis area which made them extra delightful for me to read. I really enjoyed both and they filled my need for something lighter with a happy ending. I think I preferred Yours Truly but both were great.

Other mostly great reads:

Colton Gentry’s Third Act is a romance novel about a country music star that speaks out about gun control after losing his best friend to a mass shooting at a musical festival, putting an end to his career as a country musician due to the backlash. I really liked this but not as much as Jimenez’s. The People We Keep was an excellent book about a young teen in a situation of neglect that goes out on her own after a conflict with her father. It’s a found family kind of novel. The Secret Book of Flora Lea is a historical novel about the children that were sent into the countryside of England during WWII. A child goes missing and this book is about the sibling’s search for the missing child as an adult. I liked it but historical fiction hasn’t worked as well for me lately. River East, River West was my least favorite read of the month. It was another rec from Sarah’s Bookshelves Live so not all of her picks work for me. It’s set in Shanghai and is told by dual narrators. It’s sort of a coming-of-age story which are hit or miss for me. I didn’t like the mother or daughter in this story so that made it harder for me to enjoy this book. 

The boys’ reads:

Paul and I have not been reading together as much lately because he would rather read graphic novels on his own. Below he is reading a Geronimo Stilton book at the library. It’s fun to see his love of reading take off but I would like to get back to reading some chapter books together! 

We did finish the 3rd Paddington novel that we were gifted at my baby shower. These were very delightful reads! 

Taco is mostly into picture books but will still pick out board books at bedtime occasionally. Board books are far shorter so it’s not the worst thing when that happens. Ha. So we will keep his board books out for now but I think I will winnow down the collection to our favorites and find a new home for the ones he isn’t drawn to. The picture book we read the most in June was The Gruffalo which is a favorite of mine, too!

Did you read anything great in June? 

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 April

After some lackluster months of reading, April was really great! Finally! I read 10 books but 2 were chapter books I read with Paul and 1 was a middle grade novel I read to see if it would be appropriate for Paul. I am still counting them because the read-alouds took a good number of nights to get through - probably 1 week each as we read about 1 chapter each night since the chapters were long - and the other middle grade was 300 pages or something like that, although I read it in probably 3 hours. More about those childrens'/middle grade books below, though! 

Best books:

I had far more hits than misses this month. Berry Pickers is a debut novel I learned about from Sarah’s Bookshelves Live. It’s about a Canadian Native American family that travels down to Maine each summer for berry picking season. Their daughter goes missing and the story is told in a dual narrative format. It was an excellent 5-star read. Come and Get It has very mixed reviews but it ultimately worked for me. It’s set on a college campus and it about relationships between students and teachers, power dynamics, and so much more. While You Were Out is a very sad memoir about a family’s history of mental illness. Research triggers on this if you are a sensitive reader. The River We Remember is a literary mystery about a deeply disliked man that is found dead. It manages to pull together a lot of themes like the impact of war and the poor treatment of Native Americans - but it pulls it off and the writing is beautiful. Amazing Grace Adams takes place in one day and features a post-menopausal woman at her wit’s end who is trying to get to her teen daughter with whom she has a strained relationship (for reasons that are revealed through the novel) so she can deliver a birthday cake. It sounds like an odd premise but it somehow works.

Less successful:

There were some misses. Day by Michael Cunningham is a novel that looks at a family on a single day in April in 2019, 2020, and 2021 so it’s obviously a pandemic novel. It’s another marriage in crisis type of novel and while the prose was beautiful at times, it didn't completely work for me. I felt like I was held at arm's length and didn't "feel" the pain expressed in the pages if that makes sense. Frozen River is the latest historical fiction novel about a female heroine by Ariel Lawhon. I liked it but I didn’t love it and felt like it dragged a bit. It’s about a female midwife in the 1780s. It’s Goodreads average rating is around 4.5 so I am the outlier in not loving this book (I gave it 3 stars) - but historical fiction is not my jam these days.

Exploratory reads:

Lastly, I read a middle grade novel called A Rover's Story to see if it would be something I could read to Paul. He is very into space and this novel is told from the point of a view of a Rover that goes on a mission to Mars. Ultimately I've decided to hold off on reading this as it has a heavier storyline for one of the scientists that works in rover NASA lab. It is totally appropriate for middle grade but I think 6 is too young and it might cause some stress/worry. In a couple of years when he is actually in middle grade I would totally read this with him or have him read it on his own. I can't say what it was that gave me pause because it would be a spoiler but message me if you want to know if you are considering this for your child. It is an excellent book, though! 

The boys’ books:

Paul had gotten REALLY into chapter books lately. In April we read 2 Paddington books that are part of a boxed set I received for my baby shower! He found Paddington’s antics very entertaining and he got to watch the first Paddington movie the weekend I was in ND for the funeral - it sounded like he liked it but not as much as the book (yessssss! Books for the win!!). Next he has decided he wants to try the Harry Potter books so we started the first book at the end of April. I imagine it will take us a month+ to read it. I love picture books but I really love snuggling up and digging into a chapter book! Paul can be a sensitive reader so we will see if he’s ready for the plot line of the HP books which can be intense. I haven’t read HP since my first reading of the series which I started in 2004 so it’s like I’m reading it for the first time! I have never watched the movies but maybe I will finally watch them with Paul as we finish each novel.

Taco’s tastes are really changing, too! He seems to be making the shift to picture books from board books which I AM HERE FOR!! His favorite right now is ‘The Circus Ship’ by Chris Van Dusen which he adorably pronounces ‘the shircus ship’. He is also loving the Bruce books by Ryan T. Higgins which are also a delight! He was slower to warm up to books so it makes me so happy to see his love of reading grow! 

This is my go to book for first birthdays or baby showers when you are asked to give a book instead of a card. I give picture books early because new parents tend to get a ton of board books but I want to contribute to their future library! I love reading picture books we received for the baby shower because there is often a note to "Baby Segner" (we didn't find out Paul's gender).

Did you read anything great in April?

What We Read in March

My reading was all over the place in March but ended on a good note. Overall I would say my reading year has been kind of ‘meh’? I’ve read some good books but not many are knocking my socks off. But hopefully things improve from here.

Best books:

Why yes, my best books of the month does include a book set during the winter holidays - Three Holidays and a Wedding. I had hoped to read it in December but it didn’t become available in time from the library. It’s a romance set in a year (2000) when Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan all coincided with each other. It was a cute/fun read. The Road to Dalton was a quiet novel about the intersecting lives of the residents of a small town in Maine. It definitely falls firmly under character-driven but that is my jam. Family Family was a great novel about adoption. I would actually recommend reading the author’s note before reading the book (the author and her husband adopted their daughter). I especially loved the quirky main character, India. The Collected Regrets of Clover is about a death doula who is focuses on helping her patients leave this world in peace but uses her job to avoid dealing with her own issues. It’s kind of a coming of age story.

Not so successful:

I didn’t exactly dislike either of these books, they just didn’t meet my expectations. Banyon Moon is a debut novel that had great promise as it was a multi-generational story about a family from Vietnam. But ultimately it took on a bit too much IMO. Dixon, Decending is a fictional telling of 2 black brothers climbing Mount Everest. Much of the book takes place off the mountain as the elder brother struggles to process and accept happened on the mountain. It was good but not as good as I was hoping. 

Paul’s reads:

We finished the first book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which Paul enjoyed. He received books 2-4 from a friend for his birthday but we took a pause on that series in favor of a Roald Dahl book. We are about half through James and the Giant Peach, which is a weird little book. I read it as a child but have no memory of it. I’m always shocked by how children’s books start - like in this one, on the first page, James’ parents get eaten by a rhino that has escaped from the zoo… Um what?? I guess Paul’s already a bit conditioned for that kind of start since Disney also loves to kill off a parent in the opening scene. 

Have you read anything great lately?

What We Read in December

I had a very strong reading month to end the year. I read 10 books, which is higher than normal for me but I was isolating for a chunk of December when I had covid. I would wear a mask around Phil and the boys but it was so uncomfortable that I would go to bed in the guest room when the boys were both down and forego watching a show with Phil. Here is how my reading shook out for the month. 

Faith-related books

I'm going on what you could describe as a faith journey so I am going to break them out in a separate category since they don't really fit in the others. In December, I read All My Knotted Up Life by Beth Moore and Leaving Church by Rachel Held Evans. Moore's is a memoir. She experienced childhood trauma at the hands of a trusted adult so that was hard to read about. Then she was essentially kicked out of the Southern Baptist Church because she spoke out against Donald Trump. I am not Baptist so had no idea they ousted her. Oof. Evans died in 2019 from complications of an infection that put her in a coma. It was weird and sad to read this book. She was also raised Baptist but ends up becoming Episcopalian. 

Best books 

No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister is based on the quote "no two persons reads the same books or sees the same picture." I would describe this book as linked short stories from the view of the various people who were impacted by this book in ways both small and large. Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly is about a marriage that is falling apart - but then the pandemic hits and they flee to their second home in Maine where the couple tries to pretend all is fine in front of their children. This pairs well with my final and favorite book of December: You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith. Smith's book is a memoir about the ending of her marriage. It is a very heart breaking read. I swear I haven't intended to read books about marriages in crisis. It's just the way my holds worked out (I exclusively read books from the library so what I read is based on what is available). 

Pretty good to OK books:

Search by Michelle Huneven is a book that multiple podcasters raved out. It's about a Unitarian Universalist church that is looking for a new pastor. If you've been on a committee of some sort that needs to make a decision, this would probably be a good book for you to check out. Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman is a rom-com about two people who were child pop stars but come back into each other's lives. I had to go back and read the synopsis to remember what it was about, though, so it was not a memorable read. I Will Find You by Harlan Coben was a pager turney thriller about a man that was imprisoned for killing his toddler son. But his son is spotted by the father's SIL. Is he really dead? It required the suspension of disbelief to some extent but was still a great read. Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak is something I read because it was set over the Christmas holiday. It was written in 2017 but is about a family that is quarantining as one daughter is working in a country hit by a terrible virus. It was solidly "just ok." I read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride after hearing a lot of buzz about it. It's won the National Book Award which seems to be a kiss of death for me. I liked it more than I thought I might have when I started it, but I didn’t love it. There were so many characters to keep track of!

The Boys' December Reads

We read a lot of Christmas books in November/December. The book I read the most was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We quote from this book a lot, like "oh the noise, noise, noise" or "and they've feast and they'll feast, and they'll feast, feast, feast, feast." The repetitive phrases really stick with a person. Paul can recite an impressive amount of this book!

Taco got some Mickey lift-the-flap books that he is really enjoying! 

And I found this list of most borrowed books from my library super interesting. All 10 of the most checked out juvenile print books are Dav Pilkey books. Mr. Pilkey is doing ok. Sheesh. Paul is very into Dog Man books. I don't love them personally, but it's not about me. If they bring Paul joy that is all that really matters. My parents never restricted what I read and I won’t for my boys either. He got 4 Dog Man books for Christmas and was thrilled about that! 

On our last trip to the library for the year, Paul found this book about chess. He is totally obsessed with chess right now and is determined to beat daddy. 

I'll be back tomorrow with my best books of 2023. Did you read anything great in December?

What We Read in November

Yay! It's December! I read a lot during November but I was home bound with sick family members for quite a bit and had flights to and from NYC earlier in the month. I finished 9 books! 

Favorites:

These are my favorites of the month and I'd recommend them pretty broadly. It was an Ugly Couch Anyway is a collection of essays with a through line so it reads like a memoir. There are themes of faith in it. It is not preachy, but I mention that for those who don't want any mention of Christianity in their reading. Faking Christmas is a light, easy-breezy romantic comedy that helped put me in the Christmas spirit. Kill Show is a fictional oral history (similar to Daisy Jones and the Six) about a couple whose daughter goes missing. They agree to let a producer make a reality TV show about the search process (which is absolutely BANANAS and something I think most sane people would not agree to). The Many Lives of Mama Love is a memoir about a women who steals/commits identity theft to fund her drug habit. The Museum of Failures is the latest by a favorite author of mine (Thrity Umrigar). I didn't love it as much as her past novels as it ended a bit to tidily for my liking, but it was still a great read.

Pretty good:

I didn't think I was going to read Yellowface but I got sucked in by all the buzz. It didn't really live up to the buzz for me, though. The main character was just SO INCREDIBLY UNLIKEABLE. Everything's Fine was an uncomfortable read about a mixed-race/mixed-politics relationship - a Black liberal woman and a white guy who voted for Trump. It's another one I read out of curiosity. How to Stay Married is a memoir about a marriage in crisis. The wife cheats on the husband - this is not a spoiler, we find out right away - and he divulges all the gory details of their marital conflict, but with a very HEAVY dose of humor. Too much humor, IMO. This one also has major major themes of Christianity and is very anti-divorce. I mean no one is pro-divorce but there are marriages that should end in my opinion... so don't read this if you've gotten divorced or are strongly contemplating it. To be clear, my marriage is as healthy as a marriage can be when you have young children who have been sick for months at a time... I did not read this for marital advice. I read it because I am nosey and kind of like to be the fly on the wall in other people's lives at times. Lastly, Now is Not the Time to Panic is my selection for my book club. I didn't like it as much as I thought I might/hoped I would. It was fine. 

The boys' reads:

Paul had some really successful reads in November!

First, The Mysteries of the Universe which, as the cover and title suggests, is a book about outer space. It has beautiful 2-page spreads with photos and a paragraph about the concept such as supernovas, black holes, the planets, solar eclipses, etc. I actually learned a lot reading this. My earth science education in high school was a bit lacking.

We also finished reading Kate DiCamillo’s first children’s novel, Because of Winn Dixie. It is a HEAVY novel but I think a lot of it went over Paul’s head. It’s a heart warming found family - including a dog - kind of story. We liked it so much that are are currently reading The Tale of Desperaux. I do the chapter book reading and Phil often listens in the background. I've gotten some raised eyebrows and "what are you guys reading?" comments over the content of both books (the mom abandons the daughter in the first book; there are lots of detailed discussions of a dungeon in Despereaux). There are big words and heavy themes. But Disney movies kill a parent in nearly every movie it seems... so I think Paul will be fine with this heavier content, all in all. TL;DR - your mileage may vary with these books. 

How was your reading month? 

What We Read in July

I had a great reading month in July! I finished 8 books. I had a lot of plane travel between trips to St. Louis and San Francisco so that is when I got much of my reading done. I was hoping to work on my Delta flights but my VPN does not cooperate with Delta's free WIFI! I did not read much during my lake vacation as I opted to play cards/games with family instead. 

Best Reads

I was going to try to pick a few favorites from the month but it felt like picking a favorite child! You can't go wrong with any of these books. Stealing is an owned voices heavy fiction novel about a Cherokee child who is sent to a residential school. It's as heart breaking as you can imagine. In the author's note, she talks about how it was hard to get this published because of disbelief over the storyline - until the truth of what happened at residential schools came out. Drowning is a propulsive page turner about a plane that crashes in the ocean off the coast of Hawaii. Do not read this if you are afraid of flying! Rootless was another heavier read about a Ghanaian couple living in London. It focuses on sacrifices of motherhood and how it can impact your identity. Good for a Girl is an excellent memoir by a professional runner. She talks about how coaching and body/weight expectations do not take female health, specifically menustruation, into account. The Rachel Incident is a coming of age novel about an unhealthy/co-dependent relationship between 2 friends. Sometimes I struggle with coming of age novels because I don't have patience for the bad decisions people often make but I loved this one. Pineapple Street is another great summer read. It's about rich people behaving badly but they have redeeming qualities. Lastly, The Book of Lost Friends is historical fiction about previously enslaved people trying to reconnect with their families. 

A Meh Read

I only had one "meh" read and it was The Marriage Portrait. I adored "This Must Be the Place" and "I am I am I am" but I am finding I do not like her historical fiction. I did not enjoy Hamnet AT ALL. I slogged through it because I had heard such great things. So I did not plan to read The Marriage Portrait - but then it was picked for book club so I had to read it. I liked it more than Hamnet but was glad when it was over. It's beautifully written but I was not drawn into the story and was reading to get to the ending which is never a good sign. I hope O'Farrell goes back to writing modern fiction!

Paul's Reads

We had some great reads in July. There were 2 fun friendship-themed books. First, We Are Going To Be Pals! which speaks to the symbiotic relationship between rhinos and egrets. Paul already knew that egrets help Rhinos get bugs out of their ears! Surely he learned this from Wild Kratts (that show is pure gold). Secondly, Sasquatch and Squirrel. Sasquatch lives in a quiet and somewhat lonely life until squirrel shows up. But what can these two do together when they have such different interests? Our non-fiction read was an excellent book about Orcas! I learned SO MUCH from this book, like how pods are formed, how Orcas mate with others outside of their pod, how big a baby orca is, how the baby orca gets fed, and the list goes on! And then I got to show Paul a picture of an Orca that SHU saw during a whale watching tour in Vancouver! Kid non-fiction is the best because there are lots of pictures and bite-sized, interesting facts. 

Did you read anything great in July?

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?

What We Read in February

We are a week into March and I'm finally getting around to my February reading recap! February was a decent reading month for me in terms of volume - I read 8 books which is great for a month with 28 days! I had a lot of plane travel during the month so that's part of why I read so many books in the midst of a short month. Overall I've been feeling a little bit "meh" about my reading so far this year. 2022 was such a stellar reading year for me so I feel like I'm sort of set up to be disappointed? At this point last year, I had read 3 5-star books and my average rating was over 4 stars. This year my average rating is about 3.8 and I've read 2 5-star books (which I didn't love nearly as much as the 5-star books from last Jan/Feb). But, I've also been busier than ever at work which has left me feeling a little depleted in general so surely that's a contributing factor. 

Favorites:

These were my 3 favorite books, although I can't say I'd broadly recommend them to everyone, especially the first one. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett is a very quirky book that is - stay with me - narrated by the ghosts of the towns' graveyard. I generally don't love speculative fiction but I loved the voice in this book. The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake is a historical fiction novel about a female understudy to a surgeon in the late 1800s. This is the first book in the series, though, so it doesn't wrap up tidily. Tell Me Everything by Erica Krouse is part memoir/part true crime expose about a sexual assault case at UC Boulder. Trigger warnings abound! I had trouble sleeping one night after reading this book.. the subject matter is upsetting. 

Excellent Light Reads:

I've read a lot of heavy content lately so I needed some light, happy reads! Enter these 3 romance novels. And yes, I read a Christmas book during the month of February. The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan was light and delightful. It's set in Edinburg, Scotland which sounds like the most charming city! In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer was a fun romance set in NYC which is one of my favorite cities. Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin is set in a bookstore in Denver. This was my least favorite of the 3 romances but still a fun, entertaining read.

Meh:

The last 2 books were popular with others but my general feeling about both was "meh." I was told to go into We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves pretty blind. So I don't want to say much about the book to avoid spoilers for others who check it out. It was just a bit "out there" for me. The Bandit Queens was the first 2023 release I've read this year. The husband of a woman living in India disappears and the women in her community assume that she killed him - and now some of them want help killing their husbands. The story felt a little too over-the-top for me and there was SO MUCH SWEARING. Admittedly I am a bit of a prude when it comes to swearing. I can tolerate some swearing but it felt excessive and unnecessary in this book.

Paul's Reads:

We absolutely LOVED The Wolf Suit. It's a graphic novel but is short enough to be read in one sitting. It's so delightful so I highly recommend it! It's about a sheep that wants to go out in the woods to pick berries, but he's afraid of encountering a wolf - so he sews a wolf costume. Hilarity ensues. 

We also enjoyed these 3 books that I randomly pulled off the shelf at the library. Poopsie Gets Lost is about a kitten that wanders off and gets into all kinds of trouble. We are partial to cat-themed books in our house since my husband is a HUGE fan of cats so this was sure to please. The Last Rainbow Bird is stunningly illustrated. In this book, they are trying to find the "rainbow" bird which is nearing extinction. Walter Had a Best Friend is about shifts in friendship. Walter and Xavier were the best of friends... but then Xavier starts to play with someone else. Walter feels hurt, sad, and confused but then at the end, he meets a new friend with similar interests. 

Have you read anything great lately? Is your reading year off to a great start or a bit lackluster like mine?

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?