Share Your Shelf-April

It's the first Thursday of the month which means it's time to share what we read the month prior. Between all the blogging and all the life-living, I didn't read as much as I would have liked. Here's how April looked-

The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd

This was our book club selection for May and I mostly enjoyed it. The author normally writes contemporary romantic fiction, and she couldn't quite get away from that style as much as she needed to in this book. Overall though an interesting read about a historical figure previously unknown to me. Here's a bit of trivia for you-George Washington asked to be a pall bearer at her funeral. 

The Indigo Girl is a work of historical fiction based on real life horticulturalist Eliza Lucas, who learns  how to grow and extract dye from indigo plants on her family's South Carolina plantation. 

Eliza is sixteen when her father leaves her in charge of his three South Carolina plantations. Her father was mortgaging the properties to further his military career and soon her family is in danger of losing everything. When Eliza learns how much the French are willing to pay for indigo dye she thinks this might be the answer she's looking for. 

Eliza finds allies in an aging horticulturalist, a married gentleman lawyer and a slave with whom she makes a dangerous deal. He'll teach her how to make the 1000 year old dye and in return she'll break the law and teach him to read. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I continue to try for a classic each month and in April it was Jane Eyre. My favorite thing about reading these classic novels is the precision of the language and the deliberate word choice.  That alone usually makes me bump up my rating, and while this novel met that criteria the storyline here wasn't my favorite. My daughter told me she read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys which is something like a prequel to Jane Eyre and she liked that much better. 

The novel Jane Eyre follows an orphaned girl, Jane, who endures a harsh childhood before becoming a governess at Thornfield Hall. There she falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester, but discovers he's hiding a dark secret that upends their relationship. 

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 

This is an older book (1989), one that was extremely popular when it was released, yet somehow I missed it. I had a one year old in 1989 so Goodnight Moon was likely more my speed. 

The Remains of the Day won The Booker Prize that same year, and was made into a feature film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. This is also one of the books mentioned in The Correspondent and I'm working my way through that list this year. 

The story is told in the first-person narration of an English butler named Stevens. Stevens lives and has worked as a butler for more than thirty years in a stately home called Darlington Hall. In 1956 he takes a road trip from Darlington Hall to the west country of England, with his primary purpose being a visit to Miss Kenton, the former housekeeper who left twenty years earlier to get married. 

Stevens has received a letter from Miss Kenton, and believes it hints that her marriage is failing and she might like to return to her post as housekeeper. Though Stevens never says so outright, the reader knows without a doubt he has held on to repressed romantic feelings for Miss Kenton. 

Much of the novel is comprised of Stevens's memories of his work as a butler during and just after WWII.  He's an  unreliable narrator who lies to himself most of all, yet he's also a likable character which is not an easy balance for an author to achieve. 

Upon Lord Darlington's death the  house is sold to an American gentleman (Mr. Farraday) and Stevens realizes he is unable to interact with his new employer in the way  Mr. Farraday would like. He needs to learn to banter. 

"Perhaps it is indeed time I began to look at this whole matter of bantering more enthusiastically. After all, when one thinks about it, it is not such a foolish thing to indulge in-particularly if it is the case that in bantering lies the key to human warmth." from The Remains of the Day 

The voice of the butler never wears on the reader and the writing is exquisite. Stevens is stoic and ever proper in word and deed, but it's what's left unsaid that feels so profound. Feelings of regret, of love lost or missed altogether are written about in a way that's subtle, but the reader feels them nonetheless.  

The novel is quiet and moves at a very gentle pace. I liked that. It's not anything like most of what we read today, and while not a lot actually happens, the story is poignant. When I turned that last page the emotion lingered. 

This won't be everyone's cup of tea (pun intended) but it's definitely mine. Five stars for me. 

'What is pertinent is the calmness of beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, it's own greatness, and feels no need to shout it." Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day 

Hop over to (Slices of Life) or (Not In Jersey) to see what others are reading. 

Share Your Shelf-September

Hello readers, bloggers, friends, and lurkers. Do people still lurk on blogs? That used to be a thing where someone would read your blog but never comment, but I don't know if it's still a thing. For the record, I don't mind if people want to read without commenting. 

Anyway, let's talk books. It's the first Thursday of the month which means it's time to share what we read the month prior- aka September. If you'd like to add a link of your own or find out what others are reading, hop over to the host blogs (Memphis Bridges, My Joyful Life, Slices of Life, and The Other Side of the Road). 

I put a bunch of books on hold at my local library about a month ago and somehow most came in the same week. Bother. Several were only on loan for two weeks because they're new or extra popular so I tried to read those first. I'm famous for checking out books that have to go back before they're read and I was determined not to do that this month. 

I record what I've read on Goodreads and use their star system, more or less. My star system is probably on the harsh side. I'm stingy with the 5* ratings and if I give a book 5* then it's a book that's memorable for me. 

I give a lot of 3* reviews, which to me means overall a pretty good read, some flaws or cliched writing that bothered me, and while I enjoyed the read it's probably not a book I'm left thinking about later. I typically never give 1* ratings because if a book feels like a 1* book I'll mark it DNF. 

Okay, here we go-

1. Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is one of those books that left me with mixed feelings. I love Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing style and that shines here as it does in all of her books. I really enjoyed the parts of the book that dealt with the thrill and danger of space travel, solving the problem at hand, and also just the mystery of space itself. I wanted more of that. 

I should have paid closer attention to the tag line -A Love Story, because this was definitely more love story than space tale. And it's a sapphic love story which is not my cup of tea. I didn't know that going in or I likely would not have picked this one up. 

The book centers around the character Joan Goodwin, a fictional astronaut in NASA's Space shuttle program in the early 1980's. I read that Jenkins Reid based the character of Joan on the real life astronaut Sally Ride. The story starts with a crisis (you might say disaster) involving a malfunction aboard the space shuttle.  Goodwin is working in Mission Control as the spacecraft communicator and will need to talk with the astronaut tasked with landing the damaged ship. The story then backs up and primarily focuses on the lives of the astronauts and the events that occurred in the lead-up to the disaster. 

I struggled to rate this one because I had mixed feelings when I closed the book. I read a review where the reviewer said they 'wanted more of Joan the astronaut and less of Joan the girlfriend'. I feel the same. 

2. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

This was our book club selection for September and received favorable reviews from all. I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did, because the way the story is told you have a key piece of information from the very beginning. The author did a good job filling in the details in a way that was engaging.  

The Berry Pickers is the story of a Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia who travel to Maine to pick blueberries in the summer of 1962. Their youngest daughter Ruthie disappears from the field one day,  and her disappearance naturally traumatizes the family left behind.  

The story is told from two perspectives. Joe is Ruthie's older brother, and at age six was the last one to see Ruthie before she disappeared. The other voice belongs to Naomi, a young woman from an affluent Maine family who grows up with an overprotective mother, and a father who is a judge by profession, and is a mostly kind but somewhat aloof father. The dual storyline worked very well. 

The Berry Pickers explores themes of family, grief, trauma, and cultural identity. My favorite read this month and I gave it four stars.  

3. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall 

Have you ever read a book where you know from the very first page it's going to break your heart? Well that's Broken Country. You know a lot of sadness is coming your way, but you keep reading because you need to know how it all turns out in the end. 

This book has been super hyped (it's a Reese Witherspoon book club pick), and I'm always a bit leery of over hyped books. I thought the writing was excellent. The novel centers around a love triangle, and while there's obviously more to it than that, this triangle is at the heart of the book. I just really didn't care for two of the three parties involved in the triangle. While I had tremendous sympathy for Beth, I struggled with so much of her behavior which I will describe as pretty crummy, that I found her hard to like. Three stars for me. 

4. The Champagne Letters  by Kate Macintosh

I like historical fiction and really enjoyed this one. I also like champagne and we've spent some time in the champagne region of France, so the setting felt familiar.  The Champagne Letters  is a work of historical fiction set in Reims France in the 1800's, with a second but related modern day story line set in Paris and Reims. 

The storylines follow Mme. Cliquot and then a modern day Chicago woman named Natalie Taylor who has run away to Paris following her divorce. Natalie finds a collection of the Widow Cliquot's published letters in a book stall beside the Seine, and she uses these letters as inspiration for starting a new life. Her escape to Paris takes a very unexpected turn and Natalie is forced to make a choice-return home or fight for her future. 

I loved the twists in the modern day story, the setting for both, and the champagne talk. There's a movie based on the life of Widow Cliquot that was released in 2023 which I haven't watched yet, but it's on my list. I gave this one 4 stars. 

5. Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

A really interesting and original topic, one that definitely makes the reader think. The plot is centered around an accident that happens in a self-drive vehicle. Have you been in a self-drive car yet? I've been in a friend's Tesla which had this feature and I have to say it's a little freaky. 

While on their way to a lacrosse tournament in their self-driving minivan, the Cassidy-Shaw family, with 17-year old Charlie behind the wheel (but on autonomous mode), and other family members distracted by their phones, are involved in an accident with fatalities and injuries. 

Who is responsible-the distracted teen? the parents? AI? You find yourself thinking about this technology from a couple of different angles,  and the accompanying storyline where hidden secrets are revealed definitely held my interest. 

Four stars for me. 

6. Nightshade by Michael Connelly 

Hubs and I had a road trip this month and we always try to listen to something on Audible when we travel. When I asked him what he wanted to listen to he said, 'nothing educational' lol. We often listen to non-fiction or a very lengthy biography when we road trip (hey, we're a captive audience) and those can sometimes get heavy. A friend mentioned she'd just read this Michael Connelly book and enjoyed it so we opted for that. 

I have always liked his writing and loved The Lincoln Lawyer and his Bosch series especially, so knew it would be a good choice. We both enjoyed it. 

The plot centers around a disgraced LA county sheriff (Stilwell) who is sent to work on Catalina Island as part of his 'punishment'.  When the body of a woman with a streak of purple in her hair is found weighed down in the waters of Catalina Harbor Sheriff Stilwell is called into action. Besides the Jane Doe murder there are additional crimes to be solved,  including the illegal beheading of a buffalo, and the theft of a marble statue from a men's fishing club. Are the crimes connected and if so, what's the connection? 

The story unfolded at a nice pace and you were rooting for Sheriff Stilwell throughout. He's a very likable character and a new one for Connelly. I imagine and hope there will be more stories where he's featured in the future. I gave this one four stars. 

So what did you read in September? 

Share Our Shelves-January

It's the first Thursday of the month which means it's time to share what we've read the month prior. Just a note (or possibly a few paragraphs) about how I rate books using the Goodreads five star system. 

I'm extremely stingy with five stars. If I give a book five stars I have absolutely loved it and continued to think about it after the cover has been closed. It's a book that will probably be added to my list of all time favorites.

Four stars for me means it was a great read. 

Three stars is good, but maybe not memorable. It likely had some flaws that bothered, but still not a bad read. 

Two stars is unfortunate and I should have probably quit before I did. 

One star. I don't think I've ever given a book one star because if it's that bad I'm sure I've put it down before finishing. 

Also, I hesitate to rate memoirs because they're someone's lived experience and it doesn't feel right to rate that. 

Now for what I read in January-

Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed by Maureen Callahan

Whew. This book. If you're a Kennedy fan you likely won't be after reading this one. This isn't a book I would have grabbed on my own, but my sister gave it to me to read and once I got started it was hard to put down. I can't remember a book that made me as furious as this one. 

I will say this is billed as non-fiction, but the author takes a good many liberties in posting internal conversations she wasn't actually privy to. Casting this as non-fiction might be a stretch…calling it an historical re-telling feels more accurate. 

Honestly there was so much absolutely awful behavior it wasn't necessary to add imagined or supposed dialogue. The dirty deeds stand on their own. If social media had been around when some of this had been happening I doubt the family would be as revered as they are in American culture today.

This book isn't about politics at all. At times I felt like I was reading a tabloid but wow, some truly despicable stuff has been perpetrated by the men in this family. The book features nine different women very negatively impacted, some in fact having their lives completely ruined, by various male members of the Kennedy clan. Some of the stories-crimes-escapades I was more familiar with than others, and some I'd forgotten about until I read them re-told here. 

I'm not sure of the author's motives, but I feel like she wanted the stories of these women to be known and heard. Almost without exception the women were cast as 'they did it to themselves' or 'they knew this was what it meant to be married to a Kennedy' while the men take zero percent of the blame or responsibility. 

While not everything presented as fact is indeed a confirmed fact, you still come away feeling kind of sick to your stomach. At least I did.  

The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu

Another book my sister recommended and thought I'd like since I taught school. I will say upfront there is some language and lots of the expected progressive point of view expounded upon, so if you don't have the stomach for that you might want to give it a miss. 

If you've taught school, particularly high school, I think you'll nod your head a lot, laugh a little, and will relate to much of the humor and inner workings of a high school as told from the faculty point of view.

The story begins with a substitute teacher dying (of natural causes) in the faculty lounge on a school day, and his death being discovered by a young new teacher. The substitute had been a teacher at the school for decades before retiring, and then returning as a sub. Each chapter following his death features one of the faculty members recounting their own personal experience and interactions with the sub, almost like a series of short stories. I enjoyed the format very much.

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis

I have read and loved a lot of C.S. Lewis's writing, but had never read The Great Divorce until now. This is a relatively short, allegorical tale of a bus ride from hell to heaven. You'll need your thinking cap for this one. 

In the tale anyone can take the bus, any one can stay in heaven, but sadly in the end most opt to return to the 'grayness' below. They're unable to give up the very things that prevent them from accepting heaven. The characters have a myriad of excuses as to why, and wow this book makes you think. I will definitely be re-reading it from time to time. 

The story begins with the main character at a bus stop where the bus is taking people to heaven. They begin in The Valley of the Shadow of Death so not quite hell, and end up in The Valley of the Shadow of Life, so not quite heaven. This person goes on to encounter a variety of characters responding to the opportunity to remain in heaven or return to hell. The word divorce is used in the sense that there is a choice to be made and there's no middle ground. There is a complete division between heaven and hell. 

Absolutely loved it and still thinking about it today. Five stars for me. 

The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle

Let me just say from the beginning I loved the setting. The story begins with Stella and her antique dealing husband (Adam) hopping around Europe ending their tour in Paris, and about to head back to their home in Atlanta. There's an explosion and in the aftermath Adam is missing. Is he dead? Is he/was he the man he said he was? All questions to be answered as the story progresses, with the backstory revealed one chapter at a time. 

When I read books like this I scratch my head at how little fictional married couples seem to actually know about each other. About their work, their pasts, their family dynamics...all of it. And they don't seem curious about it either. I know people try and often succeed to keep affairs hidden, but criminal activity? Maybe I'm too much in my hubs business lol. 

There were some holes in the plot, and some unbelievable bits, but overall it was an enjoyable easy read. Three stars for me. 

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adriennne Young

I don't remember how I ended up reading this one, and didn't know what I was getting in to when I picked it up. Magical realism isn't for me. There's some time travel in the book which was at times hard to follow, and it wasn't until the end I felt like I finally understood the timeline. I thought the writing was lovely and that's what kept me reading til the end. 

June Farrow is determined to get to the bottom of her mother's disappearance, and at the same time end her family's 'curse'. When she steps through a mysterious door she begins (or continues) a journey through time, discovering secrets about both her past and her future, and the choices she must make that come with the knowledge gained there. Another three star read for me. 

So what have you been reading lately? 

This book party is hosted by Joanne, Marilyn, Jenn, and Tanya...hop over to any one of their blogs to add your link and see what others have been reading. 

Share Your Shelf-December

Kicking off the new year with a book post. It's the first Thursday of the month which means it's time to share our shelves and what we read in December. Before I do that let's talk Goodreads. Are you on Goodreads? If you're not, how do you remember what you read and who wrote what? 

I enjoy participating in Goodread's reading challenge each year, and in 2024 my goal was 34 books. I read 44, a mix of historical fiction, non-fiction, memoir, contemporary fiction, and mystery/legal thriller. I always struggle to answer the question, 'which one was your favorite', but those near the top of that list would be Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, and Foster by Claire Keegan. 

Now on to December. Back to December? Whatever, here's what I read in December, fewer books than other months but the holidays didn't leave a lot of open space on the calendar. 

I'm linking this post today with the Share Your Shelf girls-Joanne (Slices of Life), Marilyn (Memphis Bridges), Tanya (The Other Side of the Road) and Jen (My Joyful Life). 

1. Joy To The World: Daily Readings For Advent by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon was a preacher in the mid 1800's, and this collection of daily short readings taken directly from his sermons still rings true today. Some of the language feels 'old', and after reading day one I wasn't sure I'd like it, but am so glad I stuck with it as I ended up loving it more each day. He made me think, which is what I want in an Advent devotional. I gave this one 5 stars. 

2. The Lost City Of The Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas Preston

Hubs and I listened to this one on Audible as we were driving here there and everywhere during the month of December. We both enjoyed it. Mostly. The author got a little 'preachy' in spots toward the end, but overall this true account was really, really interesting. 

This is the story of a project by some documentary filmmakers (Steve Elkins and Bill Benenson) who used a technology called LiDAR to search for archeological sites in the Mosquitia region of Honduras. The Mosquitia region was one of the last scientifically unexplored places on earth, and basically I knew zero about any of that, including Honduras. The author, Douglas Preston, has written a number of fiction books, but has also written for National Geographic and The New Yorker. The story flows and was very readable. Listen-able? 

Elkins search was inspired by rumors of a lost city called La Cuidad Blanca or The White City, mentioned by Spanish conquistadors back in the 1930's. The stories and rumors surrounding this 'lost city' talked about a pyramid topped with a giant stone statue of a monkey god somewhere in the Mosquitia region, and this book tells the tale of Elkins and his team's attempts to locate and unearth it. A privately funded LiDAR survey showed complex archeological sites under the rainforest, and Preston (the author) accompanied the group of scientists, geologists, archeologists, videographers, etc to investigate and verify the findings. 

A fair bit of the book deals with the hardships (that's putting it mildly) of jungle life including a disease called leishmaniasis several of the group contracted and continue to deal with still today. Let me just say, reading this book confirmed my suspicion that I'm not cut out for jungle life. Have you ever heard of a snake called the Fer-de-Lance? Well they're a fixture in this particular part of the Honduras rainforest and they cause more human deaths than any other American reptile. Details of their trek into the rainforest were gripping and I am always fascinated by people who live lives of exploration, adventure, and risk. I gave this one four stars. 

3. The Southern Criminal (Joe Hennessey Legal Thriller #2) by Peter O'Mahoney

I like a legal thriller and enjoy this series featuring the lawyer Joe Hennessey. The books are set mainly in Charleston, but the author also mentions the Upstate, which is the part of SC where I live, and I enjoyed the references to familiar spots. This is the second of six in a series and I will probably read them all. I think the individual cases in each book stand alone, but Joe Hennessey's personal storyline is a thread carried through at least the first three books, maybe more.

In The Southern Criminal a high profile lawyer is charged with murdering his wife and Joe agrees to join the defense team since he owes the lead attorney on the case a favor. There's a side story playing out too, as Joe also agrees to separately defend a well known folk singer on drug charges. These two cases intersect, the plot lines are interesting, and the characters well-developed. There's a great deal of corruption, back room dealing, and shady lawyering (not by Joe) along the way, as well as the continuation of Joe's personal tragedy storyline (his ten year old son was murdered 20 years prior). Bits of that story are parceled out and it sounds like Book 3 (The Southern Killer) will tell much more. Joe is a likable lead character and this is a genre I enjoy. I gave it four stars. 

So what did you read in December? 

What's one book you're really excited to read in 2025? 

Three Days In June by Anne Tyler is one I'm looking forward to. I love her writing and the plot appeals to me. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy coming out in March sounds really good too, and  The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff is also on my to-read list. I  love a generational tale. Frederik Bachman has a book coming in May that I'll be waiting for, entitled -My Friends.

My to-read list is long, and I could go on, but I'll leave it there for now.

Will you be participating in any book challenges this year? I will definitely set a Goodreads goal for 2025, and this year I'm also considering the 52 book challenge. I might give myself a bit of latitude on that one, but it sounds like fun. 

New year, new books...happy reading everyone!