Pages

9.29.2023

Looking Back: Books

Now that the third quarter is drawing to a close, I thought I would do a quick review on some of my favorite books for the quarter! In the third quarter I read a lot since I did a lot of hiking and bikepacking and driving. However, because of this, most of them were audiobooks. I also DNFed a lot of books, maybe because they were (mostly) audiobooks, and I don't always get hooked at the beginning and I tend to then lose focus and so I end up just giving it up. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. As most of you know, we reread this book as part of Engie's book club, and it was great to not only read it again, but do to so with a group of people who had so many different views. I had a great time getting into the details and discussions of this book and it was just as good this time as it was when I first read it when I was a child. (5/5)

Good For a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World by Lauren Fleishman. To be honest, I did not know much about Lauren except that she was behind Picky Bars, but I really enjoyed this inside peek into the world of elite running. Lauren not only talks about the difficulty of being a woman in a mostly male sport (or at least one where the males are more prized), but she also gets into some of the eating disorders that the young runners had and it was very eye opening. I also read The Longest Race by Kara Goucher recently and was appalled at some of the things that were done to some of the elite running women.  (5/5)

I Feel Bad About My Neck, And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron. This book was recommended by Nicole and Elisabeth (<---new blog link here!) and it did not disappoint! Thanks ladies! Ephron talks a little about her past in a very funny way, but a lot of what drew me to this book is that it is a very real glimpse into the things we (women) experience as we get older. She talks about menopause and how she feels about her purse, how she depends on coconut oil, and the conversations with her sister about combatting hair thinning. I know that some of these things are on deck for me and I appreciate being able to giggle about them rather than dread them! (4.5/5)

The Likeness by Tana French. I am trying to read and give away books on my bookshelf (as always) and this was one of them. Some of them are pretty crap (random thrift store buys or Little Free Library finds or free on the street finds - I can't resist) but this one was good. French writes detective novels and this is #2 of the Dublin Murder Squad series. I thought I had read another book by her and liked it, but I don't see proof of that on Goodreads, so it appears that I did not read #1 of the series, but this did not make me like the book any less! (4/5)

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makaii. I went into this book highly doubtful, as I DNFed her other book The Great Believers. However, I really enjoyed this one. I would call it a cold case type of book, which I do think is right up my alley, so maybe that is why this one drew me in when the other didn't. Basically it is about a grown woman who goes back to her alma matter to teach a course and ends up getting tangled up in trying to solve a murder case that happened when she was at school there. It is similar to the show Serial, where they convicted one person but are now going back to review the details to see if perhaps the person they blamed is innocent. (4/5)

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett. My favorite Patchett books are her essays: This is The Story of a Happy Marriage and These Precious Days. Similar to Ephron, she talks frankly but humorously about her life and how she got to where she is now. However, her fiction is sometimes not bad too! I do find her a bit hit and miss; I liked State of Wonder and The Dutch House but did not love the Magicians Assistant or Run. The Patron Saint of Liars is about a woman who goes to a home for unwed mothers with the plans to give up her baby, but after living there for a while starts to think of things differently. (4/5)

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth. Oh man, this one will make you cringe! It is about a woman who I would say is on the spectrum, Fern and her sister Rose, who is not. Fern's sister has been taking care of her for years due to having a difficult mother growing up. Fern is happy doing her daily routine, working out, working at the library etc. When Rose is having trouble getting pregnant, Fern decides to help her by getting pregnant for her. Things do not go as planned and we learn that a relationship between sisters is not always what it seems on the surface. (4.5/5)

Stealing by Margaret Verble. This book was highly praised by Lisa, and it was a good one! It is about a Cherokee girl growing up in the 50s (?) in the Louisiana bayou. Things were difficult for Native Americans then (even more so than now) and she was taken away from her family and sent to live in a Christian boarding school, where things were not better than they would have been had she stayed with her family. It is disturbing and it will make you mad. One thing I did not like about this book was the abrupt ending. I wanted a resolution or a solution, and I did not get it. For that, I am docking .5 stars. (4.5/5)

The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin. This one is all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. Okay, maybe more like drugs, jail and redemption. I am not going to lie; I had no idea who this woman is, but she was the ghostwriter for Desmond Tutu's book and The Sun Always Shines, which I enjoyed. The first chapter had me railing against her, as she dragged her three year old from place to place in an effort to score drugs. I wanted to slap her! Then she gets arrested, and chronicles life in jail, which I do find fascinating. When she finally gets out, it is a struggle to manage life, try to find a job, not break parole, find housing, and stay clean. She finally does all of this, becomes a successful writer and even gets to meet Oprah and the Dali Lama in the end! So yes, it is a feelgood "rags to riches" kind of story, but I enjoyed hearing the ins and outs and some of the struggles that people face in a world that I am not part of. (recommended by Beckett - thanks!) (5/5)

DNFed books -- China Rich Girl by Kevin Kwan (paper), The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy (audio), The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham (audio), The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (paper). 

What were your favorite books of the third quarter? What books have you DNFed lately? 

22 comments:

  1. This has been an awesome year for reading! I'm in the middle of Yellowface, which is delightfully living up to its hype.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I liked Yellowface too, but it was a bit like The Plot, which I actually liked much more. Thanks for the recommendation on Mama Love; I really enjoyed that book!

      Delete
  2. Such a great selection! The Likeness is one of my favorite books -- and Tana French is one of my favorite authors. I recently read I Have Some Questions for You and liked that a lot as well. One of the best books I've read recently was The School for Good Mothers which broke my heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do like to read a bit of this, a bit of that, that's for sure. I feel like I may have started the first book of the series, In The Woods, but maybe my loan expired? I am not sure but the characters kind of felt familiar to me! I just looked at The School For Good Mothers - wow, it really got some conflicting reviews! I just borrowed it and will have to see what I think!

      Delete
  3. Thank you for participating in the ATGIB book club. Your voice was very much appreciated!

    I thought Stealing was really good, too, but also docked it because the ending was so puzzling. I'm not even sure I really understood what happened!! I listened to it as an audiobook and it was very well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually read Stealing as a real book! I do think that when listening it makes such a difference depending on the narrator, which makes me think that as an author, you must really have to consider that in your decision, as people could hate the book just for the audio!

      I really enjoyed participating in the ATGIB book club and can't wait to see what the next one brings!

      Delete
  4. I just finished anxious people, a book that I had for over 2 years and forgot about the plot. It was surprisingly good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought Anxious People was good, but preferred Man Called Ove and Beartown. You know what is funny; I just looked it up to see what other books of his I read and realized that he is younger than I thought he was! For some reason I pictured a man in his 60s, but he was born in 1981!

      Delete
  5. I'm so glad you liked the Ephron! I've read lots of really good books this quarter: all the Lucy Barton books, Emma, The Dutch House, Unraveling, Bel Canto, You Think It I'll Say It are the ones I rated really highly. Oh, and I did reread I Feel Bad About My Neck and Calypso, both of which are five star reads for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved the Ephron! I like how she is self depreciating but in a funny, fun way. I also like Sedaris, although I prefer some over the others; I like how he is also self depreciating, but also kind of sees the funny things about life and society that we may normally miss. He had one story where he was in Paris (I think) standing in line and got asked for money but he talks about how you try to avoid eye contact and things like that (which we have all experienced) but how awkward you feel etc. I read the Incomplete Quad in high school and thought it was so frank and he talks about taboo things so freely. I actually went to see a reading of his and it was exactly how I thought it would be.

      Delete
  6. My stepmom just recommended another Nora Ephron book to me, Heartburn. I have the audio book on hold at the library. I just finished listening to Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett, which I loved. Read/performed by Meryl Streep.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have never read Heartburn or even heard of it so I look forward to hearing what you think! I have Tom Lake on my loans shelf but have not started it yet. I am glad to hear that you liked it AND that it is Meryl Streep reading it; that is great. I listened to Go Set a Watchman, which is the 2nd book of To Kill a Mockingbird, and it was read by Reese Witherspoon and I thought that was perfect, as she has a bit of a southern accent and it just fit!

      Delete
  7. Man, I loved I Have Some Questions for you. So very different from her first novel!

    I also enjoyed ATGIB and the ensuing discussion we had. And I recently read The Good Sister. What a wild ride that book was! I loved it.

    I have Good for a Girl and The Longest Race on my TBR list - I want to listen to those on audio, so I hope I get around to them soon. I've heard such great things about the Mama Love book, but anything involving prison/jail time is triggering for my anxiety, so I don't know if it's for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wouldn't say that Mama Love focuses mainly on the jail time part of it, but it is definitely in there, so if that is disturbing for you, you are probably right about skipping it. Instead, you could read Admission, if you haven't done so already, as it is also about rich white people doing bad things. :)

      Delete
  8. I just recently finished I have Some QUESTIONS for you and I really liked it too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was surprised that I liked it as I barely could get into her last book. Sometimes the second book is better than the first (but not usually) so I am glad that I gave it a chance!

      Delete
  9. Oh! I have Boys from Biloxi unfinished on my Kindle. I generally love Grisham books but this one I walked away from and I haven't made it back. This summer I reread a bunch of my favorites, I tend to love fiction romance although in full transparency I skip through the love scenes b/c I don't care and don't want to read that part. I want to check out the Nora Ephron book now! I was literally having the conversation last week about how NO ONE talks about menopause!!! I finished a book last night titled Metamorphasis that is written by a friend of mine. She shares her journey through divorce, knowing Kate personally I really loved it and appreciated hearing more of her story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nora talks about menopause and almost makes it funny, even though it's not funny! I also read one called Hot and Bothered and found so many little tidbits in it that I broke it down to my brother and he was like, "wow, now I know why my girlfriend sometimes acts the way she does" (she gets really bad hot flashes and can't sleep etc.) so I was not only glad to learn but glad to impart new knowledge on a man, so hopefully he can understand our pain a little bit more.

      I like romance to a certain degree although they feel so canned sometimes. I mean, how many boy meets girl, boy hates girl, something changes, they realize they like each other but can't say it to the other one, something bad happens, and finally they realize they are in LLOOOOOOVVVE books can you have?! A lot, I guess, and people keep reading them!

      Delete
  10. This is a good set of books! I did not love the abrupt ending of Stealing but still gave it 5 stars. I would have liked some sort of resolution but I guess she is leaving it up to the reader. I have read all of these except the last one which is on my hold list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess she did leave it up to the reader but I prefer things be wrapped up without my help.

      I also know you like character driven novels but I think those may be hit and miss for me. I need a plot!

      Delete
  11. Well, I've read two of these- ATGIB of course and also The Likeness, which I enjoyed. It sounds like I would like the Nora Ephron book too. AND, I have Stealing from the library right now, but I might have to return it unread because I'm engrossed in the latest Robert Galbraith mystery.
    Oh- I also want to read the Lauren Fleishman book. I heard Kara on a podcast talking about her book, and I agree, there were some eye-opening stories there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you would enjoy the Fleishman book; I mean, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but it is interesting and informative. I also have the Deena Kastor book on hold right now, per your recommendation, and am looking forward to reading that.

      You would like the Ephron book and if you have not read This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett, it is also a collection of memoir-type essays and I think you would like it too!

      Delete

Thanks for commenting! I love to respond to comments, so please check back soon for my reply!