Short Thoughts on Recent Reads

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. More than I anticipated. Probably because I felt the time travel was more fantasy than hard core sci-fi.
My book club all really enjoyed it, and it lent itself to a lot of discussion and pondering.

View all my reviews The Conservative Heart: How To Build A Fairer, Happier, And More Prosperous America by Arthur C. Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I would consider myself more conservative than liberal in most cases until it comes to social justice issues. This author was recommended to me by a family member who mentioned he was the keynote speaker at this year's National Prayer Breakfast. This book was the only one by him that my library had, so I read it. I agree with much of what he says. I don't know that I agree with his stance on the Tea Party being the salvation of the Republican party - I could be wrong with my interpretation of his writing, but that's what I walked away with on his Tea Party mentions. However, I think there are good takeaways for both political parties on how to more effectively communicate and way to truly help the poor in our communities.

View all my reviews All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung


I waffle about the fairness of rating memoirs. I've found I don't love them as they tend to leave so many questions unanswered, they are generally not linear, and focus solely on what the author wants to share and not on what the reader may want answered. This one is no exception.
However, it did raise many questions and points to ponder regarding interracial adoption and let to some interesting discussion when my book club met.

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Beezus & Ramona - Beverly Cleary

Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book aloud with my kids (6 and 4yo). They loved it. My 6-year-old son - who can be somewhat ambivalent to read alouds unless they're pictures books - loved it. We typically do chapter books at lunch and picture books at bed. He consistently brought me this book to read at night too.
We learned a lot of good vocabulary. I don't remember Ramona being such a brat (with little discipline) when I read the books as a child myself, but it provided a lot of good discussion.

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The Summer Wives - Beatriz Williams

The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this novel of complex relationships, the story moves between three different decades on a tiny island off Long Island where the wealthy go to summer.

The narrative and the characters were all fascinating. Due to some of the subject matter, parts where hard to read. However, the connections between everyone on the island - the wealthy and the working class together as well as among the groups themselves - kept me coming back for more. If you like historical fiction, multiple narratives, and complicated relationships, this is probably a book for you.

Notes of Caution: a lot of drunkenness, rape, abuse, open door scenes

I won the ebook version via a Goodreads Giveaway. Thanks!

To read more of my reviews, visit https://mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com/

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Of Literature and Lattes - Katherine Reay

Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In this book, we return to the fictional Chicago, Illinois suburb of Winsome. Alyssa has returned there as a last resort. The Silicone Valley company she worked for is being investigated by the FBI, and no other companies there will hire her. So, she returns to her childhood home and all the relationship issues included in it. At the same time, Jeremy has relocated to Winsome to open the coffee shop of his dreams and be closer to his daughter. All is not roses there either.

I was looking forward to returning to Winsome. This isn't necessarily a sequel to The Printed Letter Bookshop (which I really enjoyed), but it was helpful to have read that one to have more context for Alyssa.

I really wanted to love this book, and I just didn't. I didn't enjoy any of the characters, and there seemed to be a lot of repetition in informational details about some of them. Additionally, there were random characters that were just thrown in occasionally with very specific details about them. I'm assuming to set up for a third book in Winsome, but it just irked me a bit to have tidbits dropped and no follow through.

Also, the whole plot and relationships and drama seemed to happen really quickly. I did like some of the interactions between Alyssa and her mom, but then other interactions seemed to come from left field.

I felt overall there was a lot of telling and not so much showing when it came to everything in this book.

Not my favorite of hers. I loved some of here other books much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I received a complementary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.


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What I've Read Recently

Loves Music, Loves to Dance by Mary Higgins Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hadn't read any Mary Higgins Clark before. When she passed recently, I borrowed a few of here books from a friend and just got around to reading one.
Wow. There were a lot of characters to keep track of. I liked the story and how it came together though. I can see how Clark is considered a master of her craft.

View all my reviews Heroes for My Son by Brad Meltzer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this quick read and will be buying it for my kids' bookshelves. There are several people this book inspired me to look into further.

View all my reviews Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cute, fun book. I enjoyed all but one of the characters. Thankfully, he and his swearing didn’t show up too much.
The climax was...awkward and not my favorite. But the resolution after redeemed it some.
And bonus fun: The book is set in Omaha with recognizable landmarks and features.

View all my reviews My Mrs. Brown by William Norwich
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a slow book for me. I started it three times before I succeeded in reading it all the way through. There's not really anything I can pinpoint disliking about it. I just didn't enjoy the reading. Part of me wonders if there was some deeper message in it that I just missed.

View all my reviews Who Was J.R.R. Tolkien? by Pam Pollack
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought it was a good biography. I learned some from it myself.

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The Woman in the Window - AJ Finn

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Probably more 2.5 stars for me. I'm not a huge fan of unreliable narrators (I think I'm just over it as I liked the first few I read) and saw several of the twists before they were revealed. That being said, several in my book club really enjoyed it.

Anna suffers from agoraphobia and spends her days watching old movies, watching her neighbors, drinking, and helping where she can on an agoraphobia chat room. One evening she glimpses a scene she shouldn't have through her camera lens and it all starts unraveling.

If you read this book, I recommend devoting at least a good hour to get into it. I was so confused from probably the first 60+ pages because I was reading in small chunks. Once I sat down and read for an extended time, it began to come together for me.

The old movie references meant nothing to me as I hadn't seen or heard of most of them. However, if you are a classic movie buff, I can see that having an appeal.

There were a few twists that I didn't see coming until right before they were revealed. However, others I saw pages and pages away. If unreliable narrators are your thing, you might like it more than I did.

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Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book - as did everyone in my book club. I still think Salt to the Sea is my favorite of hers, but this one is a close second.

Sepetys definitely deserves her title of "Seeker of Lost Stories." She explores history through narrative of topics we definitely should have all heard about in school lessons. This book covers the dictatorship of Franco after the Spanish Civil War (My history instruction was so bad that while I had heard of Franco I didn't know they had a civil war.). It shows the economic disparities, gender inequalities and baby selling (?!?) that all happened under Franco's regime. All cushioned in a fascinating story of American boy meets Spanish girl and learns from her. I especially enjoyed the true oral history transcripts and news articles sprinkled throughout.

5 stars. I'm fairly stingy with those. So...read it!

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