1.) 'Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost
This is the 2nd book in the Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Series. I read the first book last year in December for my book club. The story was cheesy albeit Christmasy. This series has become an inside joke in our book club. I had to keep reading. LOL.
From Goodreads:
When a body turns up in the dumpster behind Caroline’s Cupcakes, the store’s owner is the main suspect. Everyone in town saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, the murder weapon is Caroline’s custom-designed butcher knife. But Holly White knows that her best friend isn’t capable of murder. Now, just ten days before Christmas, Holly’s up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans. Juggling extra shifts at her family’s Christmas tree farm and making enough gingerbread jewelry to satisfy the crowd is already more than she can handle. Add in her budding relationship with the sheriff, and Holly’s ready to fly south until springtime. But her mittens come off when Caroline is taken into custody. Can Holly wrap up the case in time for Christmas?
This is exactly what it purports to be. A cozy Christmas mystery. A whodunnit wrapped in peppermint and marshmallow. The story picks up one year after the first book left off. It is Christmas once again in Mistletoe, Maine. I liked this book more than the first book because I already knew the characters and the town. I loved the introduction of the new character Libby. Mistletoe gets more interesting each year and clearly more dangerous. Holly White the main character is annoying, as always, but I enjoyed several of the side characters so it balanced her out. (I cannot with adults who use the word "tummy" to describe themselves. The "tummy" count for this volume was eleven just like in book one. Cringe. Please use the word stomach if it is an adult speaking.)
Mistletoe was as festive as always. Christmas sights, smells, and treats were around every corner. As was the danger. Holly is once again the target of a murderer as she tries to clear a friend of a crime they didn't commit. This book is lighter on the romance than the first book. Come on...give us a little more Sheriff Gray. But it's a fun holiday tradition now to read a Christmas Tree Farm Mystery book each year. Schmaltzy yes... but this is a good book to read with a cup of hot cocoa by your side.
My Rating: Cheesy but Christmasy.
2.) Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
This was my book club's pick for December 2023. I loved it!
From Goodreads:
An unforgettably romantic novel that spans four Christmases (1914-1918), Last Christmas in Paris explores the ruins of war, the strength of love, and the enduring hope of the Christmas season.
I especially liked that this novel was set in World War I rather than in WWII. There are so many WWII novels. It was a nice change.
The story spans the four years of England's involvement in WWI and unfolds in epistolary form...through letters and telegrams...exchanged between Evie Elliott and her brother's best friend Tom Harding (and a few others) who is currently fighting on the front lines in France. I loved the epistolary format and I loved Evie and Tom. They were wonderful and their voices were believable. I was rooting for them! The writing was engaging. I was hooked right from the start. Like other readers have said, this actually isn't a particularly Christmasy novel, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It could be read at any time of the year.
This is not just a love story. War is revealed with all of its disillusionment, propaganda, and atrocities including the heartsick women who were waiting at home and finding ways to contribute to the war effort. This story of friendship, love, and hope was beautifully written.
My rating: Compelling and poignant
3.) Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron
I am a seasonal reader so give me all the Christmas books. This was free on Audible and it was Christmas-themed so I took a chance and read it.
From Goodreads:
Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted. Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane’s fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again?
This is my kind of cozy English Christmas mystery! I thought it was fun. When I started the book I didn't realize that it was Book #12 in a series called The Jane Austen Mysteries. It wasn't necessary to read the other books in the series to enjoy this one but the main character, Jane, does allude to people and events from the previous books.
In this series Jane is an amateur sleuth who seems to find herself in all kinds of murdery predicaments. I enjoyed the setting of Vyne House and the delightful cast of characters most of whom were real historical figures. The writing was great and the dialogue was witty.
This was a Christmas treat. I loved spending the Yuletide season with Jane Austen and her family. It was very interesting reading about all of the traditions and festivities that occur during the 12 Days of Christmas (the span between December 25th and the coming of the Magi on January 6th; the Feast of Epiphany) in the 1800s. I loved the descriptions of the lavish food, house parties, games, and clothing and even the details of the cold manor houses.
The plot progressed slowly as befits a historical cozy mystery. The actual solving of the crime was secondary to me. I just liked being in Jane Austen's world and immersed in British country life at Christmastime.
My Rating: Good! I enjoyed the festive spirit.
4.) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
It's hard to believe but this is my first Hemingway. I'd read the book The Paris Wife all about Hemingway's first wife Hadley but nothing written by the man himself. I was excited to read this book over Christmas Break.
From Goodreads:
The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.
After finishing Hemingway's first novel written in 1926; I was left feeling a little meh. His writing is spare and flat with spartan sentences. The dialogue could be maddening. It was also extremely repetitive. Drinking, ennui, eats at a café, more drinking, more ennui, another café, some fishing, some bullfights, and pining for Lady Brett Ashley. There wasn't much plot. The novel is about a group of aimless and disillusioned expatriates living in France after WWI. This is the Lost Generation...the first generation of people to have lived through a world war. They saw the most horrific combat and are left to tell the tale and to pick up the pieces of their lives. They are uncertain of their place in the future. They try to fill the void with drinking and self-destructive lifestyles. This novel is loosely based on Hemingway's life and people that he knew.
I think he did a good job of capturing the listless aimlessness of that generation. I could feel the physical and mental exhaustion as they wandered from France to the Basque countryside to Pamplona trying to find meaning in life. Trying to feel something. Pursuing pleasure.
Jake, the main character, is an American newspaperman and writer living in Paris after he has been injured in the war and left impotent. He has a group of fellow expatriates with whom he spends time and also travels with; particularly his unrequited love interest of Lady Brett Ashley, who is written to be a 1920s feminist symbolizing the spirit of the roaring 20s but comes across as a lonely wanton alcoholic. Idealized and yet deeply flawed. Their co-dependent relationship is basically the plot of the novel along with Hemingway's thoughts on masculinity. Lady Brett Ashley is also loved by nearly all of Jake's ex-pat friends with whom she has a multitude of affairs. Jake seems to be the quintessential Hemingway hero...a struggler who mainly struggles alone and finds only fleeting moments of happiness. The rest of the novel reads like a rustic travel guide of interesting landscapes and locations with some outdoorsy and highly descriptive activities thrown in...fishing...bull fights...in between more drinking and eating.
I appreciated the way Hemingway juxtaposed the incompatibility of the decadence of the Roaring 20s with the disillusionment of the Lost Generation who were home from the war and struggling to find a new normal having been deeply affected by war. The jaded hollowness. It was palpable. Despite my appreciation, I didn't love this novel and found it to be slow and mostly overrated. But I still would like to read a few more Hemingway novels like A Farewell to Arms and A Moveable Feast. I want to know what it is about his writing that labeled him one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. I didn't see it in this novel.
My Rating: Okay
5.) The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up by Andy Cohen
From Goodreads:
Andy Cohen has taken on the most important job of his life―father― and boy (and girl!) does he have a lot to say about it! One of Andy Cohen’s most momentous years starts off with a hangover the morning after an epic New Year’s Eve broadcast. But Andy doesn’t have time to dwell on the drama, as his role as media mogul is now matched with the responsibilities, joys, and growing pains of parenthood. This fast-paced, mile-a-minute look behind the scenes of living the so-called glamorous life in Manhattan now takes firm aim at life at home. With a three-year-old son, Ben, and a daughter, Lucy, born in May, stories of late-night parties are replaced by early mornings with Ben, drama at the play-ground, and the musings of a single dad trying to navigate having it all. All this is set against the backdrop of constant Housewives drama, hijinks behind the scenes at Watch What Happens Live, a revolving door of famous faces, and a worried mother (and newly minted grandmother) in St. Louis. Buckle up, bottle up, and get ready for a laugh-out-loud and surprisingly poignant look at the ways in which family changes everything and the superficial gets very real. Watch what happens!
You are probably either an Andy Cohen fan or you're not. You know what you are getting into when you read a book written by him. I enjoyed it. I liked his first book Most Talkative the best but this was more of the same dishy, celebrity and Bravo-lebrity tea sharing along with his new role as father thrown into the mix. This book starts right after the infamous New Years Eve broadcast with Anderson Cooper where he went on a rant about the mayor of NYC and goes through New Years Eve of the following year. It is his diary. It's his day-to-day activities in 2022.
This is an easy fast read. I liked the POV of a wealthy celebrity living in New York City and all that comes with that lifestyle. He has some good stories about his celebrity friends...John Mayer, SJP and Matthew Broderick, Anderson Cooper, and all the Housewives. I enjoyed the name dropping, juicy details, and celebrity gossip. It's fun pop culture with all of the behind-the-scenes scoop especially about the Real Housewives.
His commentary on life is humorous and self-deprecating and also wild and occasionally raunchy but he has a kind of endearing vulnerability that makes him likeable. Especially now that he is a parent of two small children. His perspective on parenting was interesting and mostly entertaining although at times cringy.
I thought this book was light-hearted and entertaining. If you're an Andy fan you will like it...if you aren't... you won't.
My Rating: Entertaining
6.) One Minute Scripture Study in the New Testament by Kristen Walker Smith and Cali Black
From Goodreads:
Can you really have quality scripture study in just one minute a day? Join Latter-day Saint authors Kristen Walker Smith and Cali Black for 365+ daily devotionals that will walk you through the entire New Testament in just one minute a day! You'll dive into these ancient scriptures in fun and engaging ways through stories, personal applications, and quick and easy takeaways that you can ponder on for the rest of the day .One Minute Scripture Study in the New Testament is the perfect book for Latter-day Saint women, teenagers, and even families to create strong scripture study habits without needing to spend a lot of time or getting too overwhelmed. Come closer to Christ with us as we dive into the New Testament together, just one minute at a time!
This is my 2nd year of using their One Minute Scripture Study's daily devotional books. Last year I read the Old Testament guide and this year I read the New Testament guide. Both were incredibly helpful. I loved the daily insights, takeaways, and personal applications. It's a great resource and supplement to the Come Follow Me curriculum.
My Rating: Good.
7.) Old Christmas by Washington Irving
From Goodreads:
A charming volume of old English Christmas traditions written by famed American author Washington Irving.
I loved reading these essays about traditional English Christmas celebrations in the 1800s. So fun to read especially during the holiday season.
My Rating: Delightful.
8.) The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
A friend recommended this book and then my book club picked it as our book for January 2024. I love a good personal development book in January. Thumbs up from the book club. Everyone liked it and we had a good discussion.
From Goodreads:
"Who am I becoming?" That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren't pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: "Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life." It wasn't the response he expected, but it was--and continues to be--the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you'll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.
We live in a world that is obsessed with hurry. When people ask how I am doing, I almost always say busy! I like being productive. I like having a full life but I don't enjoy feeling rushed and stretched too thin. Living in a constant state of busy eventually culminates in me feeling weary, exhausted, and burnt out. I appreciated the author's call to slow down. I need regular reminders to be intentional and present. I need reminders to put my phone down and to rest and to connect with those around me. January was the perfect time for a reset and this book did just that.
The author discusses the importance of 5 spiritual disciplines:
1. Silence
2. Solitude
3. Sabbath
4. Simplicity
5. Slowing
Most of these seemed obvious and yet this book gave me so much to think about. I'm still thinking about it weeks later. Especially how slowing down and eliminating hurry pertains to my spiritual life. This is a religious and Christian based book. John Mark Comer is a pastor so know that going in. He says, "We are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion." "This new normal of hurried digital distraction is robbing us of our ability to be present...to God, to other people, to our world, and to our souls." "For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it." I liked the balance of theology with practical takeaways for eliminating hurry in our lives.
I also liked reframing the Sabbath as a verb rather than just a noun. “The Hebrew word Shabbat means ‘to stop.’ But it can also be translated ‘to delight.’ It has this dual idea of stopping and also of joying in God and our lives in His world. The Sabbath is an entire day set aside to follow God’s example, to stop and delight.” It is an invitation to rest and worship. I liked the author's view that worship can be anything that "...indexes our hearts towards grateful recognition of God's reality and goodness." That can be church but it also can be a walk outside, a Sunday nap, a swim, a good meal, and spending time with family and friends.
I think there is value in slowing. I also think that it is extremely hard to do. I think there is value in quiet but that also requires intentionality. I don't think either of those come naturally in the culture in which we live. As someone who struggles with meditation... I liked the author's definition which is that in the Jesus variety of meditation you don't just empty your mind...you fill it with scripture and truth and the voice of the Holy Spirit.
It was interesting to ponder on what our fast-paced lifestyles are doing to us psychologically. What touching our phones over 2000 times a day is doing to us psychologically. It was a good reminder to reprioritize.
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life."
My Rating: Insightful. But the "I'm so relatable" pastor voice got a little bit tedious by the end of the book
9.) Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
I am always instantly drawn to a book title that has the word lake in it. I also am the mother of three daughters (and one son) so the idea of a mother talking about her life with her young adult daughters definitely appealed to me. I also loved The Dutch House so I planned to read this book and savor it as a special treat in January.
From Goodreads:
It's spring and Lara's three grown daughters have returned to the family orchard. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the one story they've always longed to hear – of the film star with whom she shared a stage, and a romance, years before. Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.
I'm starting out 2024 with a 5-star read! This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. It is a beautifully written family drama. A mother reflecting on her life and the choices that she's made that brought her to that cherry farm and to her marriage and ultimately to her daughters. It's funny and smart and also a little wistful. The characters are well-drawn and interesting. This is definitely a character-driven novel but that isn't to say that *nothing* happens in this book. There are some surprising revelations sprinkled throughout the novel. So maybe there isn't any edge-of-your-seat-action like you would find in a popcorn thriller but I usually think those kinds of books are overrated anyway, and this book IS interesting. Lara's life story as she relates it to her daughters is propulsive and unfolds in a lovely way. The past and the present timelines flow beautifully into one another with Patchett's gorgeous prose leading us on.
The sense of time and place was palpable. Spring on a cherry farm in Northern Michigan during the COVID 19 lockdown. Lara's grown daughters have returned home during the pandemic. They are all in their 20s. To help pass the time while picking cherries, Lara's daughters ask her about her life, particularly the time that she dated a guy who would become a famous Hollywood star. Each daughter has her own complicated feelings about being at home during the pandemic and having her life interrupted.
I always love children's surprise (my own included) when they find out that their parents lived full and interesting lives before they were born. I love reading novels about parents/children relationships and particularly parents/adult children relationships. Even more so when they are loving and not dysfunctional. Healthy family relationships don't have to be boring and this novel certainly wasn't. I also love a mid-life/mid-marriage novel that is also loving and flourishing. Family relationships and dynamics that aren't dysfunctional can still be interesting, entertaining, and even great literature. I was immediately hooked and invested in this family right from the start. I also craved cherries...both sweet and tart! I don't think that I will ever look at or experience a cherry farm in the same way again.
I thought that Ann Patchett did a tremendous job writing about complicated mother/daughter(s) relationship(s). She doesn't have children but she nailed that mother/daughter dynamic!! I laughed out loud so many times and highlighted different passages. These days I am often a bit wary of diving into a book about mothers and sisters having lost my mom and having difficult relationships with my sisters after my mom's passing but this book didn't dredge up the hard parts and I wasn't thinking about my roles as a daughter or a sister. In reading this book I definitely related to the mother and reflected on my own relationships with my three daughters (and son).
I loved the closeness of the parents and their grown children. I have that and I want it to continue. Tyler and I want to continue having the kind of relationships with our children where they want to come home to visit and we have fun as we talk, laugh, and tell stories from their childhoods and our own.
When I was growing up I loved listening to my mom and her siblings reminisce, laugh, and playfully argue about their childhoods and tell their stories with their parents all sitting around the table at the lake house. It was one of my favorite parts of childhood and where I felt so loved and safe. Listening to Lara tell her story felt a little like that again.
I loved the dynamic of the three sisters...all three are different and yet each is appreciated and celebrated for who she is. They understand, love, and support one another...something that didn't happen in my own family of origin...but is happening with our children. Just like Lara's daughters, each one of my three girls are very different and yet each one adds something special to our family that we wouldn't have otherwise. (My son also.) We learn from each other and expose one another to new ideas and ways of looking at the world and it is wonderful.
I loved this book. I get that character driven novels aren't everyone's jam. It is reflective. It is heavy on the Our Town stuff. It is definitely an homage to Thornton Wilder's play. That didn't matter to me. I am not into theater nor Our Town and I still enjoyed the story. I also get that it is an idealized pandemic story. They are safe out on their cherry farm and that wasn't everyone's experience. My husband is immunocompromised and we spent over 400 days isolating from others with our two youngest daughters at home. But there were pockets of peace and joy in the bittersweet. Moments we wouldn't have had if we weren't in a pandemic lockdown and likely won't have again. I also understand that not everyone has a loving family. So it is definitely a mood-driven novel and can have a few triggers but most are fairly gentle.
I enjoy a look-back-on-your-life story. I loved the themes of family, contentment, choices made, and paths chosen. It's a satisfying portrayal of family, marriage, and love. This is great contemporary fiction. I found it absorbing and a book to be savored.
My Rating: I loved it!
Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
On parenting...
“I look at my girls, my brilliant young women. I want them to think I was better than I was, and I want to tell them the truth in case the truth will be useful. Those two desires do not neatly coexist, but this is where we are in the story.”
“When I go down the hall and find Maisie and Nell asleep in their twin beds, I see them both as they are and as they were: grown women and little girls.”
“People with children are attuned to the inherent sexual possibility of an empty house.”
On raising teenage girls...
"When I asked what was wrong she said "nothing" in the same voice one would say 'Go fuck yourself!"
"I don't remember ever looking at my mother this way; like I could eat her down to the bone, then wipe my bloody mouth on her hair. Emily was genuinely frightening and at the same time I wanted to laugh at the sheer lunacy of it all."
"I could say that to Maisie...but not the other two!"
On the pandemic...
“I understand that joy is inappropriate these days and still, we feel what we feel.”
“In joy we may wander off in our separate directions, but in sorrow we prefer to hold hands.”
On swimming in a lake (my favorite activity)...
"I drop beneath the surface and open my eyes. It's as if someone bought up all the diamonds at Tiffany's and crushed them into dust. Then spread that dust across the water so that it sifts down evenly. Filtering through the shards of light that cut into the depth. We are swimming through eternity."
10.) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
This book has been everywhere and so hyped. It's my 2nd Taylor Jenkins Reid book. I had high hopes. It looked intriguing. It was and it wasn't. I don't love her books but I don't totally hate them either. They hit at a meh level for me.
From Goodreads:
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
This is the rags to riches story of a Hollywood starlet that rises to fame in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s to become one of the most famous actresses in the world. When the story begins she is an aging star who wants to tell her story. She selects a relatively unknown writer, Monique, to write her biography. The narrative alternates between Evelyn telling her story and Monique's life. It wasn't your typical historical fiction/dual time line book. It started out as one thing and then the plot twists into something else.
Evelyn's Hollywood life is salacious and scandalous. She is an interesting and complex character and not always a likeable one. She could be selfish and manipulative but I did feel empathy for her most of the time and I understood her motivations even if I did not agree with the decisions she made. Monique, on the other hand, wasn't necessary. She was underdeveloped and her chapters did not hold my attention. Celia was also a weak character who we are supposed to really care about and I didn't. I found her to be petulant and annoying. The only supporting character that I actually liked was Harry Cameron. I wanted more of him and less of the other husbands (and Monique and Celia). I loved his friendship with Evelyn and wanted more of their story.
For the most part this was a page-turner for me. I did want to hear Evelyn's story. I also thought the novel had an interesting setting and time period. It was entertaining to read about the glitz and glam of Old Hollywood and the lengths that people would go to for fame.
I don't love a number trope in a story like "The Seven Husbands... It got old. Around husband number five my attention began to wane and I was like, "Good grief. There are still two husbands to go..." and I felt the urge to skip ahead or skim their chapters. I didn't but the urge was there. Seven is a lot.
This book definitely has an LGBTQ+ plot line that I wasn't expecting. It's hard to look back on that time period with its lack of tolerance and acceptance. It was definitely sad to see the lengths that people had to go to hide who they were and who they loved.
All in all, the book was only okay for me. I didn't love the twist and felt that it was weak. There were a few plot points that were brought up like they meant something and then they didn't. I kept waiting for a bigger reveal that never came.
This book has a lot of 5 star reviews but it didn't live up to the hype for me.
My Rating: Okay, but nothing spectacular.
11.) Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
From Goodreads:
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
This book was the Goodreads winner for Best Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction in 2023. I've heard it mentioned everywhere including Booktok, Bookstagram, and on several podcasts. It's the first book in a duology. Book two has just come out. In this novel a war is raging through England due to the actions of two ancient gods. The world is in unrest and the human realm has been pulled into the fight with everyone taking sides.
The two main characters, eighteen year-old Iris and nineteen year-old Roman, are rivals and competing journalists, reporting on the war. The plot is a play on You've Got Mail but with magic, gods, and war. The main characters get to know each other and fall in love through the exchange of letters through two magical typewriters. Roman knows who he is writing to but Iris does not.
This is fantasy rooted in our world but with magic. The vibes are WWI but with mythology (not Greek or Roman... which is what I was hoping for) and multiple warring gods. Most of the time it reads like a WWI wartime love story. I'm not quite sure what to categorize it as...historical fantasy? Or the newly coined romantasy?
I liked the two main characters but I kept being taken out of the story whenever their ages were mentioned. I think the storyline would've been better if they were both in their early twenties. Being in their teens didn't ring true for me. I also wish that there would have been more character development. More time to build up the emotional connection and the romantic tension. I also liked the side characters who became found family: Marisol, Attie, and Keegan. But I have the same complaint about them. I wish they were more developed.
I thought that the world building and mythology needed more explanation. It needed more vibrancy. The writing was thin. The war element of the plot was also underdeveloped. I think we needed more time in the war zone with Iris and Roman. I felt very little anxiety for them. The town that they were staying in and what was happening there and even the frontlines lacked tension. It didn't feel high stakes. It didn't have me worrying that everyone was going to die. It's war! Shouldn't I be more concerned about them? Even the twist was fairly low excitement. It was clear that this character would take a bigger role in some way. I also wanted more of the backstory of the original owners of the magical typewriters with a more in depth reveal of this particular magic. Maybe in book two?
This is YA fantasy heavy on the romance and low on the spice level. My teenage daughter would probably love it. People have gone nuts over this book. I thought it was okay. Likable characters and a quick read. But to me it was a little low stakes. I may read book two but I'm not compulsively running to grab it.
My Rating: Okay. A YA fantasy/romantasy starter book.
12.) Not That Fancy by Reba McEntire
From Goodreads:
The best things in life are really not that fancy. This photo-driven book featuring all-things-Reba invites you to get back to the basics of fun, food, friends, and family. In her first book in over two decades, actress and country music legend Reba McEntire takes you behind the scenes and shares the stories, recipes, and Oklahoma-style truths that guide her life.
I love me a celebrity lifestyle book! They are my favorite kind of palate cleansers. This was just what it purports to be. Reba sharing some good down home country wisdom, stories from her life, family pictures, snippets from her friends and siblings, recipes, and more.
I enjoyed the peek into Reba's life. Her childhood growing up in Oklahoma. Seeing how she spends her free time and who she spends it with. What food she likes to eat. Her Christmas traditions. What her best parenting tips are. I especially liked that she talked so freely about her faith in God and how her relationship with God has guided her and been a comfort to her throughout her life. That's not something that you often hear famous people talk about so openly. Refreshing.
This was an easy and enjoyable read. I am not a big country music person nor a die heard Reba fan but I do like her and think that she is a genuine person. My kids and I used to love her sitcom! I think all Reba fans and country music fans in general will enjoy this book. My only wish it that she talked more about filming her sitcom. That show was hilarious!
A funny, warm, and entertaining book. I read it right before she sang the National Anthem at the 2024 Super Bowl. Go Chiefs! It made her performance extra fun and I wondered if her giant belt buckle was her Dad's. I bet it was! IYKYK :)
My Rating: Fun!
**Edited to Add**: On Goodreads everyone was raving about the audio version that contains a whole bunch of extra interviews at the end so I had to check out the audio version on the Libby app. The extra interviews were AWESOME! My favorite was a recording of Reba, her brother, and her two sisters talking about their childhood and growing up together. Golden! I could've listen to them talk all day.
There are also interviews with: Dolly Parton, Ronnie Dunn, Kix Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Daigle, Vince Gill, Luke Bryan, Kristin Chenoweth, Carly Pearce, Tony Brown, Terri Clark, and Hillary Scott.
Because of the awesome interviews I am now bumping my star rating up another star. (I wish they would've interviewed Reba's son Shelby.) I think that would have been an interesting interview!
13.) The Librarian of Crooked Lane by CJ Archer
This was my book club's pick for February 2024. I knew nothing about this book or the author. Perhaps that was the problem. From the get-go I felt like I was reading a second or third book in a series rather than the first. There was all of this backstory that it seemed like I should know about but I didn't. It was perplexing.
From Goodreads:
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she’s descended from magicians, she’s skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she’s just an ordinary girl who loves books. She seeks the truth from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won’t be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books. War hero Gabe is gifted with wealth, a loving family, and an incredible amount of luck that saw him survive four harrowing years of a brutal war without injury. But not all injuries are visible. Burying himself in his work as a consultant for Scotland Yard, Gabe is going through the motions as he investigates the theft of a magician-made painting. But his life changes when he unwittingly gets Sylvia dismissed from her job and places her in danger. After securing her new employment in a library housing the world’s greatest collection of books about magic, Gabe and Sylvia’s lives become entwined as they work together to find both the painting and the truth about Sylvia’s past before powerful people can stop them. But sometimes the past is better left buried…
This is a cozy fantasy historical mystery. I liked the alternate universe of London in the 1920s but with magic. The world of the artless and magicians was fairly interesting. I felt like this book promised more than it delivered. This series is a spin-off from the author's other series called Steele and Glass which I haven't read. That answered my discombobulation. I think that you need to read that series first in order to have a better understanding and appreciation for this new series which is set in the same world with many of the same characters. The author gives very little background information on the secondary characters and it feels implied that you should already know who they are.
I don't usually love cozy mysteries due to their low stakes which always makes them a bit dull. This was no exception. There were a few things that I liked about the series like the time period which was post-WWI. I thought that the author did a good job of incorporating the challenges of the time with all of its collateral damage and ramifications. She did a good job of acknowledging and incorporating those details from that time period. I loved the concept of the Glass Library and the description of the library. I also liked kindly man who ran it. I wish more of the story took place there. It was an interesting and unique setting. I also liked the characters of Sylvia and Gabe despite their being underdeveloped. They had potential. But the secondary characters were awful. They were more like crazy caricatures. The character of Willy was beyond obnoxious.
The plot started out interesting. Sylvia is trying to figure out the mystery of her family. But then that storyline didn't progress. What we were lead to believe would be the focus of the book...wasn't. Then I thought that the plot would focus on a librarian that works in a magical library... also no. Sylvia is very rarely there and almost never working. The plot was actually about solving the mystery of a stolen painting. It didn't hold my attention. It lacked excitement and suspense. Also for a book about magicians there was no magic actually done in the story. It's just talked about. So weird. The writing was also simplistic and the pacing was slow. It is a basic plot with an anticlimactic ending to a lackluster mystery with a subtle bit of romance and no resolved character arcs. It felt like this first book in the series was wedged into the storylines of the previous series. Perhaps if I would have read the author's other series set in this world I might have enjoyed and appreciated this book more. As it stands I don't plan on continuing with the series.
My Rating: Meh.
14.) Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan
From Goodreads:
For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She’s found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger. On her return home, Sewanee discovers one of the world’s most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book—with Brock McNight, the industry’s hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee doesn’t buy what romance novels are selling—not after her own dreams were tragically cut short—and she stopped narrating them years ago. But her admiration of the late author, and the opportunity to get her grandmother more help, makes her decision for her. As Sewanee begins work on the book, resurrecting her old romance pseudonym, she and Brock forge a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of anonymity. Soon, she is dreaming again, but secrets are revealed, and the realities of life come crashing down around her once more. If she can learn to risk everything for desires she has long buried, she will discover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never believed would be hers.
This was such a fun book! I loved that the story was set in the world of audiobooks and was about two audiobook narrators. Add that it is written by an actual well-known and much beloved audiobook narrator...Julia Whelan. The meta-ness of this book was off the charts! A book written by an audiobook narrator about an audiobook narrator and you can listen to this on audiobook narrated by the audiobook narrator author herself! LOL.
For me the best parts of the book were the behind-the-scenes look at the audiobook world. Fascinating! I was unaware of all of the prep work that goes into book narration. Add to that the audiobook narrators fandom, the online boards, the fan conferences, the Oscar-type awards for audiobook narration, and the rules about outing narrators from their noms-de-plume, and the future affects of AI on audiobook narration to name just a few interesting topics that were addressed. Give me all of the insider information! The author's notes at the end were so interesting!
I also really like the plot and the characters of Sewanee (despite her terrible name) and Nick. I thought they were both interesting and had depth. I particularly liked some of the side stories especially the one about Sewanee's grandmother. I wanted a bit more of Nick's backstory though especially his life with his aunt. It could've been an interesting subplot. I loved that the female main character wasn't a *typical* romance novel beauty but actually lives with a disability after a devastating accident. You don't see that often in a romance novel or rom/com. I thought that Sewanee and Nick had good chemistry and fantastic banter. The romantic tension was well done.
But again for me... the best parts of the book were the peeks into the audiobook world AND the hilarious nods to all of the different tropes and clichés of the romance genre. Julia Whelan lovingly pokes a little fun at the genre while also honoring the genre and its fans. The chapter names were superb! I thoroughly enjoyed the humor and the witty innuendoes. There is some spice so know that going in but I thought this book was more than just a romance novel. More like romance plus aka more like an Emily Henry novel. I thought that this book was great fun!
My Rating: Enjoyable!
15.) Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
From Goodreads:
Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it's her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage's collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it's picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne'er-do-well husband Nora's life will never be the same.
The morning after shooting wraps and the crew leaves, Nora finds Leo on her porch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a proposition. He'll pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. The extra seven grand would give Nora breathing room, but it's the need in his eyes that makes her say yes. Seven days: it's the blink of an eye or an eternity depending on how you look at it. Enough time to fall in love. Enough time to break your heart.
This looked like it would be a fun book and it was. It was a nice light read. It was just what I wanted at the time. I loved the premise that a writer of Hallmark style TV movies ends up with a Hallmark style movie romance of her own. I especially loved that she was an older single mom with two kids! Not the norm in romance novels.
I enjoyed the setting of Nora's small but charming town and her well-lived in house with the tea house in the back yard. It was all so warm and cozy. I loved the author's descriptions. I really liked the characters of Nora and her two children. They were awesome. Leo...he was alright. LOL. Is miscommunication my least favorite part of a romance novel? Yes, but without it most romance novels would have no plot. I enjoyed it. I liked that it was romantic and not open door spicy.
My Rating: A cute romance!
