Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
We Are All Good People Here (3 stars): So much happens in this book. It is the story of two women who meet in college in the early 1960s. It follows their lives all the way to when they have kids of their own, and the kids’ lives, too. There are a lot of issues the book addresses including racism, anti-semitism, anti-war (Vietnam) and feminism. The women weave in an out of each others’ lives for a while but then end up back together like when they were young, though not close in the same way. I enjoyed the wide range of historical times covered in this book and liked the characters but didn’t connect with it as much as I usually do with stories that go over such a long period of time like this one did. Liked it but didn’t love it.
Say Say Say (3 stars): Say Say Say is the story of a caregiver named Ella. While the book has many musings about relationships and grief and loss. Overall, I didn’t feel like the novel was long or deep enough for me to connect with it the way I usually like to. But I really loved the parts that revolved around her caregiving. The small bits of deeply intimate life you glimpse into as a caregiver, the ways in which you care and also struggle with how/when to care all felt really realistic and touching to me.
Because You’re Mine (3.5 stars): I don’t usually like twists in my mystery novels. They often feel like the author assumed the reader was stupid and came up with a completely implausible twist. Or it was so easy to tell that I could guess the twist. Or the characters are so dislikable that I don’t even care about the twist. This book, however, did none of those for me. The characters were each flawed but also likable in their own ways. The twists (and there were several) were not easy to guess, for me, and yet reasonably believable. I didn’t care for any of these characters all that much but I really enjoyed the story. If mystery and twists are your thing, you will like this one.
No Happy Endings (3 stars): This author was new to me. I haven’t read her previous books, i don’t follow her on instagram, nor have i listened to her podcast. I wasn’t sure how to rate this book. I felt like while there were several touching parts to it, and some gold as well, but overall I didn’t come away with that much. She has endured unspeakable grief between losing a baby and her husband weeks away from each other. The book did a great job of showing both the deep grief and the incredible joy life can bring. Life is complicated, you should make sure to make the most of your days, we don’t get happy endings but complicated, beautiful and textured lives. I admire the courage of the author and her honesty and I am truly happy for her. Maybe I just read this book at the wrong time and didn’t connect with it as much as I could have. If you’re a fan of her work, I am sure you will love this book.
All the Water in the World (2.5 stars): I should have DNF’ed this book. I could tell at around 10% in that I wasn’t connecting with the book and neither of the characters were resonating with me. And yet I kept reading to see if something would make me change my mind. Alas, it wasn’t so. Sometimes it’s the wrong time for a book and I can’t tell if this was one of those. Either way, this book didn’t really work for me unfortunately. If you’ve read it and liked it, I’d love to hear what made you love it that maybe I just missed.
And there we go, an ok week of reading. Here’s to a great week next week.
Books I Read this Week 2019 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2019 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
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