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 August.

Still Life (Penny Louise): I am a late arrival to Penny Louise, but I make up for it with passion. We’ve already started making French Canadian book-themed meals for dinner, finding recipes for every food mentioned in the pages. The world is lucky to have good books, and this is the best kind: when you want to go to the place in the pages because you love the people and stories so much. I’m only at the beginning of the series, but I can’t wait to get to the later books because I’ve heard they get better and better, and I already loved this one a lot.

The Box in the Woods (Maureen Johnson): This is a hard one because I loved the first books in the series. I was sad when the series was over. And then, suddenly, it wasn’t over! There was going to be another book! But this is maybe a case where the series should have ended where it ended. I liked it enough, but I never felt like I was in western Massachusetts. The situation didn’t feel believable. I spent a lot of time thinking, “But why didn’t they just…” and that is never a good sign with a book. BUT I still enjoyed it so much more than many other books. So worth reading, but not the same level as the other Truly Devious books.

Tokyo Ever After (Emiko Jean): This book made my heart happy. Great writing, great characters, great location—everything added up to a truly enjoyable read.

The Other Passenger (Louise Candlish): The writing drew me in—and I’ll definitely read more by this writer due to the strength of the writing—but the plot twists are pretty obvious. It didn’t detract from the reading enjoyment. Maybe it’s the opposite: it didn’t detract from the enjoyment, but I kind of wished things had been a little more surprising to add to the enjoyment.

The Last Thing He Told Me (Laura Dave): This book received so much buzz that I probably held it to an unrealistic standard going into the reading experience. But it was just okay. It was solid. I liked the writing, but I never believed the choices the characters made. Not because humans don’t make these sorts of choices but because I didn’t believe THESE humans would make these choices. I sort of felt like I was getting a story about random neighbours, even though I should have been closer to the characters due to the first-person narration.

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 July.

The Dark Vineyard (Martin Walker): This is the second book in the Bruno series, and it’s even better than the first story, which introduces you to the town and its inhabitants. Now you know the people and have the lay of the land, and Walker takes you on a deep dive into wine making… and… murder. They’re lighter mysteries—your brain won’t spend a lot of time focused on solving the case because it’s too busy enjoying the food, people, and scenery.

The Maidens (Alex Michaelides): If you know anything about therapy, psychology, or human nature, you probably will not enjoy this novel. But if you can set aside everything you know about life and people, you will thoroughly enjoy this second novel by the author of The Silent Patient. I say that even though there are too many plot points that don’t move the story forward or wrap up too quickly. Okay, maybe a better review would be that this is not a well-written book BUT I enjoyed the process of reading it.

The Magician King (Lev Grossman): ChickieNob and I listened to the audio book version, and it made me want to go on a walk every afternoon. I think this book (and the whole trilogy) should be required reading in high school. It makes me sad when people quit after the first book and never get to witness Quentin’s transformation. This book is my favourite in the trilogy, and it means so much to me that my favourite line in it hit ChickieNob in the same way, too.

Moonflower Murders (Anthony Horowitz): A great book by one of my favourite authors? Yes, please. This was such a fun story, and the way the mystery wrapped up in the end was perfect and brilliant. You probably need to read the Magpie Murders to understand everything in this one, but that’s a plus in my book.

The Secret Bridesmaid (Katy Birchall): I am completely stunned by this book. Someone told me to put it on my TBR, and I did. It’s not the sort of thing I normally read, but I LOVED this book. It was so sweet; a great celebration of friendship. But it’s also a masterclass in conversation. Seriously! There were so many times when the main character needed to have a hard conversation, and she navigated them all perfectly. There’s even a breakdown of how you comfort a person towards the beginning of the book that literally spells out, “Step one,” “Step two,” “Step three…” I love this book so much, and I’m going to recommend it to everyone.

The One (John Marrs): This is a book that gives you a lot to think about. It was a decent Netflix show and a better book. It’s easy to pick up and put down, and it’s designed in such a way that it’s easy to keep the stories straight and always feel compelled to read another chapter. There are some pretty disturbing twists, but all of them make you think about the intersection of technology and humanity.

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 June.

People We Meet on Vacation (Emily Henry): I adored this book. I am normally not a fan of books or movies giving us the ins and outs of someone else’s friendship. It’s kind of like listening to the details of someone’s dream. But this friendship book was fantastic. I cared deeply about both characters. I laughed aloud so many times. (It was the same kind of laughter I got from reading Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall—snarky, perfect bon mots.) I cried. I can’t wait for her next book.

Ace of Spades (Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé): I waited a long time for this book. I heard about it many months earlier—before it had a Goodreads listing so I had to write it down in my bullet journal so I didn’t forget to check for it. It was billed as “Gossip Girl meets Get Out… but gayer.” It was the first of two books I read—back-to-back—that both billed itself as like Get Out (see below). How did it hold up to expectations? It was a solid book clearly written by someone who was not from the US but was setting their book here. (Meaning, it really didn’t feel like a book from the US.) But it was thought-provoking and scary, and I tore through it in a few nights. I’ll definitely read this author’s next book.

The Other Black Girl (Zakiya Dalila Harris): It billed itself first as “Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada” and then changed the listing to “Get Out meets The Stepford Wives.” Neither description really works, but that’s okay. Some books defy comparison. This one was a 5-star for me despite there being HUGE plot holes. Like super huge things that aren’t explained and don’t make sense. Even with those plot holes, I loved this book and couldn’t wait to get back to it each day.

The Guncle (Steven Rowley): There were points where I was laughing and points where I was crying and points where I was laughing and crying at the same time. This was a very sweet book about continuing to live after loss and whether we can really help each other mourn. The book made me feel good, and I loved all of the characters.

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 May.

Every Last Fear (Alex Finlay): I chose this book because the author is from D.C. The book is not set in D.C., so it made zero difference. (Note to self: setting is probably more important than author’s location.) I guessed the ending pretty early on, but I still enjoyed getting to that end. It was a quick read.

The Bookshop on the Corner (Jenny Colgan): This book made me happy every minute while I was reading it. Isn’t that so rare? Where you feel good just from reading someone else’s words? But I did—I felt happy reading this book.

Defekt (Nino Cipri): This is the second book in the LitenVerse (Finna was the first), and the author performed a rare feat: a second book even better than the first. It was a weird, wonderful follow-up to Finna, making me love the first book even more. If you like the idea of a Scandinavian Narnia in a fake IKEA, this book is for you.

Eliza Starts a Rumour (Jane Rosen): I loved this book right up until the ending, which feels awful to say because the ending was the point of the book. But the ending felt… not part of the first 80% of this book. And I’m not sure I would recommend it to others because I think some would find it very upsetting. So why am I putting it here? Because I liked the author’s writing a lot, and I would give her future books a read. But go into this one with a massive heads up.

The Woman in the Window (A. J. Finn): I was promised more twists. This book did not deliver because you can see the twists coming from super far away. But it was such a quick, engaging read. I tore through it in a night or two. It lacks thriller depth and creativity, but it has thriller pacing perfection.

Bruno, Chief of Police (Martin Walker): This is my favourite new series. (Well, new to me. The books have been around for a while.) I feel like I’m in a small town in France while reading it. As the chief of police in a small town with very little crime, the main character is more often taking care of his chickens, playing tennis, or chatting with the local townspeople. It mentally transports me, which is high praise during the pandemic while we can’t travel.

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 April.

The Magicians (Lev Grossman): ChickieNob and I listened to the audio while we did our daily indoor walk. This is one of my favourite books, so it made it easier to carve time into every afternoon to exercise because I knew I was going to be spending time listening to the adventures of my book friends.

A Game of Cones (Abby Collette): This is the second book I’ve read in her Ice Cream Parlour Mystery series. I adore this series. I like every character. I like that she throws in a Hebrew or Yiddish word here and there. Is the plot believable? Of course not—it’s a cozy mystery. But reading it was a true pleasure. I liked every minute I was with this book.

Her Dark Lies (J.T. Ellison): I didn’t rate this book on GoodReads because I didn’t know how I felt about it. It had zero plot twists. Everything you think will happen, happens. I didn’t understand what she was doing with this. It was like the romance equivalent of a mystery in the sense that you knew everything that would happen, and there were no surprises. But, at the same time, I devoured the book. It was like… a paper soap opera.

Murder in G Major (Alexia Gordon): Another cozy mystery—this one set in Ireland with paranormal elements. If you like cozy mysteries, this is a perfect cozy mystery. Loved the characters, the town, and the plot. I plan to read the whole series because the first book ends of a cliffhanger.

The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien): I’m still rereading Lord of the Rings every morning in 15 minute increments. And I love it. Of course.

Good Girl, Bad Blood (Holly Jackson): This is a sequel that may be even better than the original book. A warning: it has a really dark twist at the end. But the only thing I would change about this book is the title. It’s a terrible title, right? For a really amazing book. I cannot wait for the third book in this series.

The Good Sister (Sally Hepworth): This is another book that I didn’t rate on GoodReads because I didn’t know how I felt about it. Once again, infertility plays a role in the plot in Hepworth’s book. It’s super read-able in the sense that you’ll race through it. But a bunch of pieces of the book made me feel squicky. I’d be curious how other people felt about the book.

What did you read last month?