When I started this post last week I proudly said I've been doing book posts every Tuesday all year (2.5 months going strong!). Then we all got sick and for DAYS. So this post is making it up on Tuesday, but barely. Sometimes I just need to get something done for me that makes me feel like a human and not just a nurse to sick people. Be thankful germs can't be spread via the internet. Here's the other book posts the past month:
I'm on Goodreads often, to add to my TBR, mark off books I've finished, or just to see what others are reading (because I really do want to know what everyone is reading).
Now I'll try to make these actually quick.
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Sci-fi, slightly dystopian. About what would happen if we had to accelerate our space program in the 50s and 60s and women got to be astronauts. The cover says it's like Hidden Figures which I haven't read but did enjoy the movie. Except women aren't just calculators here (although they are that too). I mostly enjoyed it, we did a lot of space museums when I was a kid so that has fed my interest in it. 3.5 Stars
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux
I remember reading an abridged version of Little Women that I got in my Christmas stocking when I was 7ish? 8? I've read the full book at least once since (and in the last 10 years). This book looked at the culture at the time it was written and how much it has influenced literature since. I liked Little Women but it was never a childhood favorite of mine but I still found this interesting. 3.5 Stars
Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner
I read another book of hers and enjoyed it enough to try another one. This one was set in Hollywood in the 30s, on the set of Gone with the Wind (not the first book I've read that is partially set on that set even though I've never seen the movie, or read the book). Told in that popular two time frames model with a story in current day (or near it) and then an decades earlier where there is some minor mystery being solved. I really did enjoy it but did feel a bit similar in beats, but not in actual story, of her other book I read. 3 Stars
The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture by Haley Stewart
I really enjoyed this one. I read many books about minimizing possessions and living with less; it's a favorite topic of mine. This one took it from a Catholic perspective which, as a Catholic, I appreciated but it's not SUPER Catholic. It does quote some encyclicals and Popes, St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), etc. I appreciated that it took on the impact on our environment and not just having fewer possessions for fewer possessions sake. 4.5 Stars
Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss
This book was delightful at times - there were multiple times I turned a page to be greeted by a cover of a book I hadn't thought of in decades. And of course the Baby-Sitters Club was mentioned multiple times, I have fond memories of reading those. But then there was a lot of political commentary thrown in which had NOTHING to do with the books being discussed. It was very strange and very much a turn-off. 2 Stars
Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
I read this whole series over 20 years ago and not since, I figured it was high time. Most of my knowledge of Anne comes from the excellent PBS mini-series in the mid 80s (we watched those many times when I was a kid). Not a lot happens in Avonlea and giant chunks of time are skipped over in Island but reading them still felt like being with kindred spirits. Very enjoyable. 4 Stars
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede
This is the incredible, real story, of a small town in Canada who let a lot of planes land there on 9/11 when the American airspace was closed. Thousands were stuck there for a couple days and the people of Gander went out of the their way to be very welcoming and helpful during what was a very scary time. Made me feel a lot better about the world. The book wasn't super well written (someone had corrected multiple grammatical errors in my library copy) but the story is fascinating. 3.5 Stars
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
I felt similarly about this one. It's based on the true story of a man who was a prisoner but also the tattooist at Auschwitz, how he survived, and what it was like. Horrifying but also so moving to see how people kept their dignity and human-ness as much as possible when in the midst of the worst possible circumstances. 3.5 Stars
Canary Island Song by Robin Jones Gunn
I've read almost all of her books, many multiple times. This is a mostly stand alone novel about a woman who travels to the Canary Islands, off the coast of Spain, to visit her mother and other family she hasn't seen in a long time. OF COURSE it ties into the Christy Miller saga (as pretty much all her books do) but reading this isn't necessary for understanding those and vice versa. 3 Stars
Amanda Wakes Up by Alisyn Camerota
I had a lot of thoughts about reading this one, almost put it down but glad I stuck it out. A woman becomes an anchor on a Today like morning show except on an imaginary, new network where they are trying to tell both sides of the story. That gets a little out of hand (and is acknowledged as so) but I did appreciate how much the book emphasized that our country is split politically but we probably have more in common than we think. We need to find that middle ground more instead of just trying to be so split. It gave me a lot to think about. 3.5 Stars
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
A re-re-read but one that is SO delightful. I wrote a whole review of the series here and it really is just some of the best YA. I love Lara Jean's relationship with her Dad and sisters the most but there is plenty of (fairly clean) teen romance too. 4.25 Stars
Chapter books with Luke:
Toy Dance Party: Being the Further Adventures of a Bossyboots Stingray, a Courageous Buffalo, and a Hopeful Round Someone Called Plastic by Emily Jenkins
A chapter book I read to Luke, the second in a series. Toys come to life when their owner ("Honey") isn't around. I think some of it goes over Luke's head but he briefly named some of his favorite stuffed animals after some of these characters so I think he really did enjoy it. 3.5 Stars
What have YOU been reading lately??
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