August Reads

A little late, yes, but here are my August Reads thrown together in one big ol'blog post, in the order that I read them. A quick recap:

Favorite, a FIVE STAR read: A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler 

Alternate Side

Anna Quindlen

What goes on behind the door of a person's home we may never truly know. Marriage, family, finances, anger issues. We can never know what someone else's marriage is like on the inside, and even both people in a marriage see it differently. Each family is totally different, and usually our own family dynamic is one we barely understand. Finances can be a tough subject for anyone, whether its because we have too much money, or not enough. Anger and personality issues can go unnoticed or unheeded for years, until they are forced to be dealt with. 

I enjoyed the book for the subtle turns it took through the characters lives, and I love AQ's writing, but I also was annoyed at times. It seemed that the characters greatest problem was affluence. They had problems seeing the world outside of their bubble. Maybe that was the reasoning behind the author using something so simple as a parking space as a catalyst for anger? Once we become so accustomed to getting what we want, or to paying for the things we want, can not getting something create a storm of anger? Is our problem not having enough money, but having too much (entitlement)? The story itself was a little slow, and focused too much on those who have too much, but overall it was a good book. 

Deadly Waters

Dot Hutchinson

This a somewhat cliched take on a females navigation through the testosterone filled world of college and college bars. It reads like a "I am woman, hear me roar" mantra mixed with a good old-fashioned Agatha Christie whodunit. If you are in need of a female empowerment/thriller, this is an easy read. 

Three Wishes

Liane Moriarty 

I've read this previously, but I find Liane Moriarty's books to be fun reads, and this is no exception. I tend to grab one of her books when I need something I know I will enjoy, but don't want to get sucked into.  This book touches on parts of the three sisters lives that they hide or are ashamed of, but it seems as if these aspects are just bits and pieces, not the whole of the women. Rather than make this a book about the dark side of adultery or motherhood, it is more a look at relationships and family in general.

A Good Neighborhood 

Therese Anne Fowler

Oh this one made me think, made me feel and stuck with me for so long. 

I believe that people are put in our lives for a reason and while we may not know of that reason right away, eventually we will see it. The same is true, I also believe, for books. Sometimes a book is placed in our life to show purpose or a connection. When I placed this book on hold at my library, I had no idea what it was about, only that it was recommended by multiple members of one of my book clubs. I didn't know I would be reading a fictional account what is shown on my local news channel  - family troubles, affluence, race, class. 

The author seems to be asking - what is a good neighborhood? Is it a community with people who have similar tastes, earn similar incomes, who look similar to you in a house that also looks like yours? Is a good neighbor one whom agrees with you about the big things, the little things, or everything? 

This was a book about the little choices we make everyday that lead to the bigger ones that are forced upon us. A butterfly effect of choices. There were times in this book I physically cringed, making a shocked gasping noise between gritted teeth as I willed a character to change their ways. I wanted to reach into the books and shake the characters. I wanted to cry out to stop them from making the next move. I could almost taste the bad decisions. The characters are flawed in a way that I could identify with, to recognize in myself or others. This book kept me up nights reading and stayed with me for far longer. Definitely a must read. 

Between Sisters

Kristin Hannah 

While I normally love anything Kristin Hannah, this one fell short of the mark. Maybe because I don't have a sister, so I don't fully understand the sister dynamic? I don't know. The story was very well -written, as I expect from a KH novel, but it felt predictable.

Double Dexter

Jeff Lindsay

I am a huge fan of the Dexter TV series and will admit to binge-watching it a few years ago. But I had no idea there was a book series, so the moment I found out, I snagged the only one available through my online library. (My physical library is still closed to patrons!) Unfortunately, the book did not live up to my high hopes. This is one of the only times I can think of where the book is not actually better than the movie (or TV show, as it were).  

Daring Greatly

Brene Brown

I could listen to Brene talk all day every day. She makes me want to go back to college and use my undergraduate Psychology degree for a research masters that could change the world. Because that is what I feeling she is doing - changing the world one study at a time, one human psyche at a time. If you ever get the chance to read or listen to her, do it. It will be worth every second of your time.

I listened to this book while taking my neighborhood runs (okay, okay....walks) and I would stop to grab my phone and jot down notes. I remember standing on the sidewalk, mumbling under my breath about how true it was, how very simple and true it was, when I copied down that "Cruelty is cheap, easy and chicken shit."  Talk about playing it straight! Brene doesn't hold back when she feels something and has the science to back it up, and this particular quote hit me hard. People can be so cruel, especially online where they have the ability to hide behind a screen and a fake name. But I can't let those people who use the easy, cruel way out to not face their own lives to prevent me from doing the things I want and should do. Be vulnerable! Be scared - and then do it anyway! 

I also was shocked to discover that some of the techniques my elementary school child used in class was also used as an example of growth mindset. Specifically - "three strengths and a growth". This is a process of seeing the good in something, even if it didn't turn out as well as had been hoped. It is about recognizing how great something is, even if it wasn't perfect. Perfection is not the end goal. We should be looking at our life and relationships with a positive lens and always with the desire to grow to be better. I have this sentiment on a wall print in my home to remind me everyday - Live by Grace, Not Perfection. 

Last year, during virtual learning, my third grader used this process to discuss her classmates writing. She had to write two things she liked about their writing and one way they could do better next time. I was able to hear her work through this in person and I could see how it was helping her navigate using feedback as a tool. It taught her not only how to listen and evolve with constructive criticism, but also how to phrase things so they come kindly instead of cruelly. It was beautiful to see, and I was amazed that an 8 year old could grasp a concept that seems foreign to some adults. 

Dear Edward

Anne Napolitano

As a flight attendant, I love to read books about flight. I'm proud of and love my career choice, and I know that many still regard it as a sought after career. It is interesting to see how the outside world views my job. This book fell short in understanding the flight attendant life, using a cheap stereotype plot line for the flight attendant that is attention grabbing, but is not based in reality. 

While I did not particularly like how the flight crew was portrayed in this book, I did however love the book. The writing style was very smooth and interesting. The author switched between characters, giving the reader an introspective look inside each of the characters minds. I loved focusing on one main character while also highlighting the secondary characters. In real life, every person is a main character in their own lives, and it is no different in this story. It was a fantastic read. 

Ask Again, Yes

Mary Beath Keane

The book is engaging and interesting, but it feels familiar. It's been said that there is no such thing as a new story - they have all been told. It feels like while I haven't read this particular book before, I have read the story. It is well written, and the characters have some depth to them. While parts of it are predictable, that's not really what I mean here. It just feels familiar. I can't place exactly why, though. 

Where the good stuff begins....

 Five months ago, at the beginning of a Stay-at-Home quarantine that seemed like it belonged more in one of my dystopian novels than in my real life, I decided that I would post book reviews. This might have come after I re-read a book that I had no recollection of ever reading, but my Goodreads account assured me that I had, in fact, already read it. Maybe, I thought, book reviews will help me to keep track of my reading better? I always have been better on a test when I read the material as well as handwritten the notes. I secured this website, jotted down quotes from the book I was currently reading (Daisy Jones and The Six) and thought of numerous ways to tell the story behind the story. 

On a side note - does anyone else get really good ideas while mowing the lawn? I'm not a shower thinker, like so many claim to be, but any kind of landscaping or lawn work really seems to get my brain moving

Then it was five months later. I've read dozens of books since Daisy Jones and the Six, and after each one I've had very good intentions of putting into writing the way the books made me feel. The thoughts that were swirling in my mind, the emotions they brought out. 

But, nothing. Crickets. 

I could blame Corona. That's the mantra in our house when we don't like some aspect of what seems to be our everyday life. Online schooling? Stupid Corona. The water park/library/mall is closed? Stupid Corona. The kids annual summer vacation to their Grandparents house canceled? Yep. Stupid Corona.

Part of my non-writing is due to stupid Corona. Stupid Corona has me feeling cooped-up and useless. I know that keeping up the morale and attitude of the two tiny humans and one other huge human who live in my house is a big job - one I am good at, one I can do with some teeth-gritted patience and a well placed pun. It is a worthy job, but not one I want to do everyday, for as long as this Groundhog day lasts. 

But I still will blame stupid Corona for my non-writing, for it is much easier to blame a faceless virus, a beast in virus clothing than to say the ultimate truth. Which is that I started many book posts but I was scared to finish them. Scared of what, I couldn't really tell you. Scared, maybe, that my writing would go unnoticed by the majority, lost amid the thousands of other people doing the same. More scared, maybe, that it wouldn't go unnoticed. Scared that I would start something that would make an impact, that people could connect to, that would go noticed and reviewed - and I then wouldn't be able to deliver what they expected, or it would be mocked or degraded. 

I decided today to just start. Just make that first move. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to be good. It just needs to be done. A start, in whatever direction that may take me.

So, this is my blog. It's a blog about books that I've read - and I use the term 'read' to define any way that I immerse myself in a book. My kids may read the book to me. I may listen to it on audiobook, or only get halfway through and decided not to finish. Physical books, kindle books, overdrive. All get the same treatment, for it is all writing that someone decided was important enough to be put out there, in whatever way the reader chooses to read it. 

This is a blog about books. It's a blog about the joy of reading. It is a blog full of personal emotions. I truly believe that some times people are placed in our lives for a purpose, and we may not know those reasons for hours, or months or years, but we will eventually understand as to why they were placed there. Books are the same for me. Books I read when I was 15 I can re-read again at 39 and they are still relevant - sometimes in different ways. The Catcher in the Rye was one of my favorite books in high school. It still is a favorite, but I read it now, in my so-called 'middle ages' with less head-nodding of 'Yes! Me too!" and more  head-shaking cynicism. 

I am a lover of the written word. I love to write it and I love to read it. In college my major was English Literature, for a I knew from an early age that words have power and meaning to me that I needed to explore. My  double major was Psychology -  understanding people and emotions is a fascinating way to see the world in a new way. 

But my writing won't be perfect. I'll misuse words, dangle participles, write incomplete sentences and  use hyphens way more than is necessary to most people. I'll mess up over and over again and I'm sure people reading this will need to correct me. I'm not perfect, I don't claim to be and I don't want to be. What I will do is my best to convey honestly what each book I post means to me, what I think about the story and the writing. What I felt when I started, and when I ended. You don't have to agree with me. In fact, I don't expect you to. The not agreeing is where the good stuff begins.