Category — Book Reviews

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from March.

Greenwich Park (Katherine Faulkner): This was a super quick read. I figured out the plot early on, but I still had fun seeing it unfold. The best moment is the last line in the book. She totally got me, and it was a great twist.

Mouth to Mouth (Antoine Wilson): I wrote about one of the central questions in the book last month. It was a mindblowingly good read. This is the sort of book you want to read with another person so you can discuss. It asks the question: what makes someone a good person? As humans, should we always help another human? If we do, should we be rewarded? And does the wealth of the individual matter? For instance, if you save someone poor, would you feel like you deserve a reward? What if it was someone extremely rich? A great book asks questions and then steps back and lets you think. This one does just that.

Good Rich People (Eliza Jane Brazier): This book was bananapants in the best possible way. It reminded me of Samantha Downing, so if you like her, you will probably like this. It’s creepy, terrible people doing creepy, terrible things. I was totally glued to the story.

The Paris Apartment (Lucy Foley): I feel the same way about every Lucy Foley book. They are engaging, page turners BUT I figure them out very early on and then feel irritated as they unfold. The opposite of how I felt reading Greenwich Park. So I raced through the last third because I wanted to confirm and move on. Yet I know I’ll put her next book on my to-read list, too.

The Appeal (Janice Hallett): Definitely will be one of my top 5 books from this year. I loved this book so much that I bought it plus her next book before I read one page. You can read it from cover to cover like a normal book, OR you are trying to solve the crime by reading through emails and text messages as the lawyers are doing in the book. It is so much fun to see it come together, and now I want to re-read it to see all the clues that were in front of my face the entire time. Totally brilliant.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from February.

Reckless Girls (Rachel Hawkins): Summer is coming up, and this is the perfect beach read. I mean, yes, I read it on my sofa, so clearly you can read it on a sofa, too. But it’s a great thriller, speeding you through the plot line. Are there thing you will guess way ahead of time? Of course. But that just makes it an even better thriller because it lets out some of the tension.

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions (Mario Giordano — author +
J. Maxwell Brownjohn — translator): This is the first book in a series. (Thank you, Rebeccah, for the recommendation!) It took me a little time to get into the story, but once I did, I fell in love with the character of Poldi and wanted to spend more time with her. And go to Italy.

Piranesi (Susanna Clarke): I’ve read this before — and reviewed it before — but this time I listened to it as audio book. Is it possible that it was even better this time around? Maybe — Chiwetel Ejiofor has a voice that falls somewhere between sexy and relaxing. ChickieNob and I paired listening to the book with walking videos in Greece. We would get completely lost in the story and forget to stop walking.

The Violence (Delilah S. Dawson): This was incredible. It was one of those books where your brain gets confused after you stop reading and you can’t remember what is real for a moment. Sort of like Age of Miracles. It’s not an easy read because at its core, it’s about abuse. But it’s an important read. This book will stick with me for a long time.

The Invisible Library (Genevieve Cogman): Another first book in a series with a lot of complex world building. If you like Jasper Fforde but often feel frustrated by how much random, distracting, unexplained stuff exists in his stories, this is the book for you. Everything makes sense because everything fits together. I have a feeling I’ll like future books in the series even more because this one slowed down a lot to explain how the world works. But it’s super clever.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from January.

All of Us Villains (Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman): Hunger Games with magic and no main character (so you have no clue who will win) — that is how I keep describing this book. It also isn’t as bleak as the Hunger Games. The sequel is coming out next year, but it’s totally worth reading this first book now.

The Club (Ellery Lloyd): All of the pleasure of White Lotus without the stomach-turning close-ups. (Anyone who has seen the show knows exactly what I mean.) It’s terrible rich people at a terrible rich-person resort doing terrible-rich person things. I devoured it. Lots and lots of twists.

Taste (Stanley Tucci): So… this is a bit of a mixed bag. I loved the book while we were listening to it. He is a fantastic narrator, the stories were entertaining, and he made me want to eat. Constantly. After finishing the book, my cousin told me something that made me see the stories in a completely different (not very good) way. So take this audio book a little like Instagram; enjoyable to look at as long as you remember that there are piles of dirty laundry out of the frame.

The Maid (Nita Prose): I liked this book. It isn’t much of a mystery; you kind of know everything super quickly, and the one “twist” wasn’t much of a twist. So don’t go into it thinking you’ll get a mystery. You’ll get a character sketch. If you like the character, you’ll probably be happy with the story. (That was how I felt.) If you don’t like the character, there isn’t much else there.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from December.

My Lovely Wife (Samantha Downing): This book was bananapants, in the best possible way. It’s about a suburban husband and wife who… murder people. WAIT! Before you reject this book, it is such a bizarre and interesting story filled with wonderfully terrible people. Downing makes you want to keep returning to the story to find out what happens next. This is my second book by this author, and she is great at creating horrible, fascinating characters.

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill (Sophie Hannah/Agatha Christie): Hannah does an amazing job of sliding into Christie’s style and resurrecting Poirot. It was a clever book with a classic Poirot reveal at the end. Totally enjoyable if you already enjoy Christie.

Not a Happy Family (Shari Lapena): This was my first book by this author, and it was kind of the verbal equivalent of potato chips. Even though I guessed the murderer early on, I felt compelled to keep reading and reading and reading. It’s a super quick read because the sections are brief. It would make the perfect beach read because it’s easy to jump in and out of the story.

Good Omens (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett): ChickieNob and I listened to the audio version while we walked. Martin Jarvis is amazing at doing voices. I always knew which character was speaking from the first second of the chapter. And the strange thing is that the voices he did — many years ago — matched the voices of the actors from the recent television show. Bizarre.

Dava Shastri’s Last Day (Kirthana Ramisetti): One of my favourite books of the year. It’s about a woman tech giant who is dying and decides to announce her death a day early so she can read the obits. But… she learns that instead of basking in her accomplishments, people discuss her secrets. And now she needs to make peace with her kids who learn about these secrets while she’s still alive. I had to slow down towards the end because it is a painful read about loss. But the book is also filled with hope and love. Because family can be complicated, and while you will not always like the characters, you will love them and hurt for them. A lot of tears reading it — but good tears.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from November.

As Good as Dead (Holly Jackson): This was the third and final book in a trilogy. I’m so impressed by this first-time author. This final book was a little rough in places, and I didn’t find all of the choices believable. But she wrapped up everything, and she wrote something fascinating — similar to Serial, which inspired this series.

The Man Who Died Twice (Richard Osman): His first book (and the first book in this series) was one of my favourite books last year. This book is one of my favourite books this year. Quirky, wonderful characters. A good mystery. A very moving ending. There were so many times I laughed aloud. I’ll buy the third one in this series, sight-unseen.

The Hawthorne Legacy (Jennifer Lynn Barnes): This was also a book in a series. I also read books this month that weren’t part of a series, but they weren’t enjoyable so I’m not going to mention them here. Anyway. Another series, and this was a second book just as exceptional as the first. Maybe more exceptional because she skillfully reminds you of everything you read in the first book while you read the second — not an easy trick to pull off without being annoying. It meant that I never felt like I had to work hard to remember things. Well done.

What did you read last month?