I had a good month of reading in February. I got 13 books read. Of those only one was "below average" in my eyes, "The Turn of the Key", yet it is generally a high rated book. So don't go by my views on it. It's hard to pick favorites from this month. I always like my Cork O'Connor reads - so "Heaven's Keep" would be one. "Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend" started slow but ended up being one I'd put there along with "The Lost Vintage". But honestly it was a great month.
I read several different genres as I usually do. This month I will say all of the books delivered a message of one sort or another to me. In my reviews I sometimes touch a little on those, but sometimes I don't. The great thing about reading is that it speaks to each of us in different ways. My lessons, my preferences, my likes and dislikes probably won't match up with yours. But books open up so many things to each of us. Hopefully my summaries will help you find a book or two that speaks to you.
"Tending Roses" by Lisa Wingate
A story of family, community and what is important in life. Kate, her husband, Ben and their infant son, Joshua are selected to go spend some time with Kate's Grandma Rose a few weeks before Christmas. They are the perfect ones to go as Ben can work remotely and Kate is still on maternity leave from her job in Chicago. Rose lives on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks and as she has gotten older, the family begins to make plans to transition her to a nursing home. It is Kate's job to help get her ready for the ultimate reveal of the plans.
This is not a "one story" book much like real life. There's the struggles that Kate and her immediate family have - mainly financially based. There's also the extended family and the problems they have between them. Grandma Rose is also not the easiest person to deal with - a little opinionated and willing to share those opinions whether you want them or not. Through the time at the farm though Kate begins to see the wisdom of Grandma Rose and also learns a little about Rose's history. Most of all Kate learns that life is more than material things - that the important things in life are people and the experiences we have with those we love.
"Heaven's Keep" by William Kent Krueger
I am hooked on this series. Cork O'Connor is a character that is believable and I enjoy following his life through the ups and downs. Book #9 has a lot of downs for him as his wife, Jo, is a passenger on a small charter plane that has disappeared from the sky, Cork sets about trying to determine what happened - helping search for the plane, being dad to his kids, especially Stephen, and trying to keep life going without Jo there as his love and support.
As in all of these books I try to determine who are the good guys and who are the bad. I sometimes get it right, but not always. Mr. Krueger almost has me paranoid when reading his books - questioning almost every one that comes into Cork's life. His stories remind me that there is usually more to a person than what you might see or experience. Like real life, things are never simple nor do they always work out the way you want them to. Every book in the series has a different story and is very cohesive.
The only drawback to this series is that so far there are 17 books, with another due for publication this year. I'm restricting myself to one per month to make it last longer. 😀
"Memoirs of An Imaginary Friend" by Matthew Dicks
Budo is Max's long time imaginary friend. Existing for 5 years, Budo is one of the oldest imaginary friends around. Max is a 8 year old boy that is on the spectrum and he relies on Budo to help him in several situations and Budo is also his best friend. This is life with Max and his family from Budo's perspective.
Even though this book has gotten many good reviews, I was unsure why when I started reading. About 1/3 - 1/2 of the way through though, I understood why people like it so much. The first part of the book establishes the people involved - Max's parents, teachers, kids at school, etc. and what everyday life is like in Max's world. Through Budo, we get to know Max and the things that make him happy and scare him. We also get to know Budo. In his world he can see and talk to other imaginary friends and travel on his own, Each imaginary friend is limited by what their human has made them, but Budo is lucky in that Max gave him feet and created him to look a lot like a human. The only drawback to being an imaginary friend is that when your human stops needing you, you fade away. That is Budo's main fear - that Max will no longer need him and he will be no more.
While this is a whimsical story, it is also a deep story. It deals with a lot of things that I think most humans deal with, especially when it comes to fear. It is a sweet tale of friendship and the true love that values another person over oneself. I am glad I stuck through the first part of this one. It was well worth it to come out on the other side.
"The Matriarch:Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty" by Susan Page
In some ways what you saw with Barbara Bush was what you got. But in other ways she was an enigma. This book does a good job of showing you both sides. She was a woman who would speak her mind not holding back but could also be diplomatic about it. She often came across as the supportive wife who stood in the background nodding her head. That was not who she was. She was the supportive wife, but she didn't stand in the background when it came to giving advice to her husband. Publicly she did not show that side, but she was a smart woman who often was more savvy than her husband when it came to who to trust and the hard decisions. Barbara Bush also was not the sweet grandmother who stayed home and baked. In fact, she never baked. And while she loved her grandchildren, she also had standards she expected from them. She never stopped exploring different issues and was open to changing her mind about both issues and people.
This was an interesting look into the life of only the second woman to ever be married to one president and the mother of another. Mrs. Bush opened up her private journals to Ms Page and they had several interviews. I didn't always agree with the views or policies of any of the Bushes but I did enjoy this glimpse into the woman Barbara Bush was.
"you think it, i'll say it" by Curtis Sittenfeld
This is a nice collection of short stories about love and life. There are 10 stories and they all deal with relationships, not only of the romantic nature but just in daily life with others. They all offer a perspective that is interesting, have truth to them but yet there is satire. They are all engaging and have characters that are very much believable in believable situations.
This is the fourth book of Ms Sittenfelds that I have read. There's only been one that I didn't enjoy - her modern retelling of "Pride and Prejudice". She is a great story teller and even though I don't share all of her belief's or views, I still enjoy her stories. I read this while we were in California during their lockdown which meant there wasn't a lot to do outside of playing with the granddaughter at home. This was perfect for during her naptime.
"The Turn of the Key" by Ruth Ware
A psychological thriller that I didn't find that thrilling. I had high hopes for this one and ended up disappointed. But this book is generally rated high by other readers, so may be one you enjoy.
Rowan is a young woman who applies for and gets a job as a nanny to 3 children out in the country. Maddie is 8 and is a very calculating if not evil girl, Ellie, 5, who has a good heart but follows her big sisters lead and the baby Petra. There is also a 14 year old, Riannon, who is at a boarding school. There were all kind of flags - the amount of nannies that had passed through in the past few years, the high salary they were willing to pay and the story of the house being haunted. For some reason Rowan really wanted this job. Very shortly after Rowan was hired Sharon and Bill, the parents, left town leaving Rowan in charge. Not only was she dealing with 3 kids that she really did not know, she was also living in a "smart house" full of technology that she was not familiar with at all. No spoiler here in that we know right away that someone ended up dead and Rowan was the one found guilty. The story begins with her in prison waiting her sentence of death to be carried out.
The story is told as a longgggg letter to a lawyer telling her side of the story, Here is where one of my issues first arose in that it is such a long detailed letter about all sorts of minor seeming details. In fact Ms Ware knew that would be an issue and even addressed it as Rowan saying that she knew it was long and full of details but Mr. Wrexham, the lawyer, needed to know it all to understand. But seriously a 300 page letter?! Outside of that, I knew where the story was headed - I had figured out all of the "shockers". Not all in detail but enough to know what the big revels were going to be. In fact the section where the big reveals were made, I was dozing off. Who does that if it is a real thrilling thriller? The only redeeming thing as I got to the end is that the reader is left with making their own ending. That may be a big turn off to some people but I like being able to come up with my own ideas and endings.
As a side note - this is inspired by "A Turn of the Screw" which I don't know anything about other than having heard the title, and after reading this won't pursue learning more.
"Sold on a Monday" by Kristina McMorris
This is a historical fiction based on a "viral" photo from the 1940's of 4 children sitting on a porch in Chicago with the sign "4 Children for Sale". Ms McMorris had discovered that the photo was staged and the unintended results. While her story didn't follow the truth, she took that and came up with her own version.
In "Sold on a Monday" we meet Ellis - an aspiring journalist who is set covering society events while he longs to be a true journalist. In his job, he is responsible for taking pictures of the events he is covering. He often would take personal pictures on the same roll of film (remember this is the 40's before digital cameras). On one trip as he is going home, he has to stop to let his old car recover from the trip. While he's waiting he snaps a photo of 2 boys with the sign "2 Children for Sale". He doesn't know but Lily, a secretary to the Chief, ends up seeing the photo and giving it to her boss. The chief wants a story to go with it, but before the story runs, the original photo and negative are accidently destroyed. Ellis is to go take another photo but when he gets there, the boys are gone - not sold but with their family. He stages a photo with 2 other kids. The rest of the story is what happens after this.
I liked this story. It was written is a style that gave me the feel that it was written in the 40's. There was a feel of innocence and morality to it that doesn't exist anymore. Not that every character was snow white by any means - but just a "golly gee" feel to it with a sense of wanting to do what is right even when what you have done is wrong. I also like that as you get into the book, you understand the title has more than one meaning. No real surprises and an expected ending, but worth the read.
Kate is a California girl with a French heritage. She is a sommelier at a triple star restaurant in San Francisco and is down to her last chance to pass the Master of Wine test. The Master of Wine is the original somm test in England that the Master Sommelier test in America was modeled after. To help her prepare for the test, her mentor, Jennifer, encourages her to go visit her family in France during harvest season. While there Kates friend, and cousin in law, Heather, asks her to help clean out the basement of the house. In their cleaning they discover the hidden wine cellar full of very valuable wines that were hidden during the French occupation. The mystery is that the most valuable wine from that time that should be in the cellar is missing. Switch to France during WWII and at the end of most chapters is a journal written by Helene - a young lady who lives through the occupation and some how is related to Kate and her family. The questions are who is this person, how is she related and what happened to her. There are other plot lines - romances, family, and always food. Don't read this when you are hungry!
There are a lot of books about WWII - and a lot that are written in the dual time line. While there are other books about France and England during this time, I haven't read as many, so this one offered a little different perspective than most of the ones I've read. It did have a little feel of Nightingale just because it was in France. But it is a different story. I got a real sense of every day life for Helene and the choices her and her family had to make. The modern day story was interesting too. The life around the vineyard, the romances and the decisions they face. I also like the double meaning of the title in this one - it can refer to the wine or to that time period in the family history. A nice read.
"Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
This is a historical book about an event I was unaware of happening, the Osage murders. The government wanted to put the Osage reservation in Oklahoma on worthless land but in so doing they ended up on oil rich land. The result was that the Osage Indians became the wealthiest people in Oklahoma in the 1920's. Needless to say this resulted in jealousy and also evil people who wanted in on the wealth. A way for a non-Osage to get this money was to marry into the family and hope you outlive the Osage you married. This is the plan behind the Osage murders. At the time of these murders, law enforcement was not standardized and there was no real FBI. Because of these murders and resulting investigations, the FBI became the organization it is today.
I started this book as an audio-book, listening to it while I was on the treadmill. Due to traveling to California I didn't finish it before it had to be returned to the library, so I checked out an e-book and finished it. It is interesting learning how all of this fit together and helped feed into J Edgar Hoover and his "vision" for the FBI. It was also a little sad reading how the Osage were treated by our government - not only as a tribe but as individuals. History is there for us to learn from and this tells an important story.
"The Family Upstairs" by Lisa Jewell
On Libby Jones 25th birthday she receives the letter she knew would be coming. She is now the recipient of the trust fund her parents had set up when she was a baby. Libby is in hopes that this meeting with the lawyer will result in her finding out who her birthparents were. Libby not only finds out that information, she also finds that she is the sole inheritor of the estate, including her birth parents house, worth millions. The house has been sitting empty for years and is need of some repairs but is in a desirable area of Chelsea. The inheritance is the beginning of Libby's search for her siblings she did not know she had and for the truth about what happened when she was a baby that resulted in her being placed for adoption.
This was my first Lisa Jewell book and I will read more. I liked the story she told and the way she told it. I was always trying to figure out where the story was going but at the same time enjoying her taking me there. I didn't figure everything out but at the same time there were no real surprises. It all fit together nicely. I like when I don't have to make sense of some big twist in the plot line - where what happens fits the characters personalities. The books ending leaves things a little open. As I've said before, I like a book with an open ending so that was an added bonus on this one.
"Tidelands" by Philippa Gregory
It has been a while since I read a Philippa Gregory book. This is the 9th book of hers I've read and 6 of them have been about the British royalty. While "Tidelands" does have King Charles as a minor character of sorts, the story is about Alinor Reekie, her family and the area of England that they inhabit. It is the 1600's and Alinor has been deserted by her husband. She and her 2 children, Alys and Rob, are left to deal with life on their own. Alinor is a resourceful woman and she and her children are hard workers in a land that isn't that easy of a place to live, the Tidelands. The area is called that because it changes and shifts with the tides that come in and out. This is also a time in history when there is a movement to overthrow King Charles. He is in an exile of sorts while his wife is in France in exile. The movement results in citizens taking sides and people actively working on both sides, even in a small place.
The pro of this book is the interesting story of Alinor and the times she lived in. The acceptance and non-acceptance of society not based on the person you actually are, but the circumstances you find yourself in. The con is that I felt like I was reading the same passages over and over. Ms Gregory made the Tidelands a big part of the story, almost like it was a character. There are very detailed descriptions of the land, over and over again. At first I liked it but by page 200 or so I was over it. The second book in the series was released late last year and I will probably pick it up some time to see what happened in Alinor's life past the Tidelands, but I'm not rushing out to buy it. I might have expected too much but I say this was a low average to me.
"How to Find Love in a Bookshop" by Veronica Henry
Nightingale Books is a quaint little bookshop in Peasebrook England. Julius began it when Emilia, his daughter, was just a baby and over the years it became a place where the people could come and enjoy their time. There they could visit, get advice, find some wonderful books thanks to Julius' recommendations and find a willing, kind person. When Julius passes away, Emilia comes home and takes over the bookshop. She is quickly back into the Peasebrook life but is also faced with a financial tangle that Julius had left behind. Through Emilia and the bookstore, we are taken into the lives of several of the customers of Nightingale. The one thing they have in common is their love for the bookshop.
There are more characters in this book than I can remember. They each have different love stories and while some of their lives overlap, for the most part the only connection is Nightingale Books. Reading this book reminded of the movies Love Actually and He's Just Not That Into You. It hops from chapter to chapter to a different persons story and ties up nicely in the end.
Ms Henry has written scripts for British TV and to me her writing reflected that style a little. I enjoyed this book. It's a light nice romance.
"The Chicken Runs at Midnight" by Tom Friend
A baseball story that is really a man/family/faith story. This is Rich Donnelly's story - childhood, young adulthood, adulthood, husband, father and baseball player/coach. This is the story of his daughter Amy and the relationship they had and sometimes didn't have. This is the story of his faith and the ups and downs. There is a lot about baseball, but not a lot about the actual play on the field. Rich was connected with several teams as a player and mainly as a coach. His dream had been to coach 3rd base and wave the winning run home in the World Series. In this book we follow him as he pursues that path. Along the way he gets married, has 4 kids, loses his faith and his family for a while and starts on the way to regaining that faith, One of his kids is a daughter, Amy, and Rich doesn't know how to relate to her even as she is begging for him to. He finally has his eyes opened a little bit, but not until after Amy has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.
The title of this book comes from Amy. It's a nonsense statement that she's not even sure why she said. As the story progresses, the family thinks they know where it came from and why. This realization is what brings Rich back to God and opens his eyes as to the person he was and didn't want to be.
I like this book overall. It's real, not sugar coating things or making excuses. I can't say that I liked Rich that much but in knowing his story, I could understand some of his actions. I do struggle a little with some of the views about God and His hand in things. It's hard to explain because I do believe that God does care for each of us even in what may seem as the trivial things of life. But I also don't always understand how that is manifest. What helps one person in their faith is sometimes what hurts someone else in theirs. How I've tried to reconcile it in my mind is that God often lets things take their natural course, a course he helps us come to, then He helps us to open our eyes and see what we need to see to help us draw near to Him. I'm not sure I explained that correctly, but this book made me think about those things. A good book even for non-baseball fans.
Happy reading to you all!
Comments