First, other book posts in the past month:
Book Love: What Alice Forgot | Book Love: I'd Rather Be Reading | Book Love: Where We Belong | Managing My Reading Life
Books Luke Likes (5½)
And now, everything else I've been reading lately.
A River of Stars by Vanessa Hua
I saw this title and I completely blanked on what the book was about or that I had even read it, so that's a pretty good indication for how that went. A Chinese woman gets pregnant by her (married) boss and he sends her to America to have the baby so the baby can be an American citizen. She's staying at a house filled with other women who are in similar circumstances. Is this a thing?? Then pregnant lady goes on the run a bit and is in hiding. It was...interesting but clearly forgettable. 2.5 Stars
One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both by Jennifer Fulwiler
I really enjoyed this one, of a Catholic Mom of 6 kids who is trying to find the time to write a long dreamed about book but also raise all her kids without going crazy. I could relate to the Catholic-ness and wanting to be more than just a Mom, as if that's not enough, but also have something you do for you. 3.75 Stars
The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White
I reallly enjoyed their last joint book (The Forgotten Room - one of my favorites of 2016) so I was excited to read this one - about 3 different passengers on the doomed Lusitania. I didn't like it as much as The Forgotten Room but still enjoyed it. I didn't know much about the Lusitania before, other than it sank a few years after the Titanic, and it was interesting to read about. 3.5 Stars
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
A reread, when I needed something to read on my phone during bottle feedings and none of my holds were coming in. I enjoyed it again, especially the parts about The Office. 3.5 Stars
The Towering Sky by Katharine McGeeI don't know why I keep reading this series other than the premise is really intriguing. A 1,000 story tower has been built over much of Manhattan (but not all of it??, not entirely clear on that). The richer you are, the higher you live. This is the 3rd and final in the series (1st, 2nd) and I thought I needed to read this one to see what happened but it turns out I barely remembered what happened in the first two. It was...ok. I still have the same problems with the core romance that I've had since the first and that probably really hurt my enjoyment. I really don't know what to think about it. 2.25 Stars
There Are No Grown-Ups: A Mid-Life Coming of Age Story by Pamela Druckerman
This is basically a collection of essays on growing up. She was writing in her early-mid 40s and I'm not there yet but still found plenty to relate too, pretty much that none of us really know what we are doing and we are mostly making things up as we go. Which is how I feel about so many things. It was easy to pick-up and read an essay as I had time. 3 Stars
Ignore It!: How Selectively Looking the Other Way Can Decrease Behavioral Problems and Increase Parenting Satisfaction by Catherine PearlmanI had high hopes for this solving all our parenting woes with our oldest but it is mostly for ignoring fits and how ignoring them will make them stop, eventually. Which makes sense. But I also can't ignore everything he does that I don't like because then he would continually gorge himself on candy and food right before supper. So, still trying to figure how to best apply this to my life but I do think the strategy is mostly sound even though ignoring is REALLY hard sometimes. 3 Stars
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
This was another adoption story, I feel like I've read multiple lately. A daughter is unwanted in India and put up for adoption. An Indian-American couple adopts her and takes her back to California to live. It tells the story through the eyes of the birth mother, adoptive mother, and the adopted daughter. It's very different from our adoption stories but I still could relate to a lot of the feelings and I do enjoy a book that helps me see adoption through a different angle. I don't think you have to be involved in an adoption to enjoy this one. 3.75 Stars
Rush by Lisa PattonI know very little about sororities and this book was all about a specific (fictional) one at the University of Mississippi. Told from multiple perspectives - an incoming prospective member, a former member who is over seeing "Rush", and a maid at their sorority house. I did not recognize all their rushing terms and understand what they were talking about all the time and the book seemed to kinda wander all over the place, how it ended didn't feel like the same book that I started, but it was interesting, in a "reading about different cultures" kind of way. Sorority life is apparently much more intense in the South, or at least fictionally more intense. But felt appropriate to read in the fall. 3 Stars
I Shall Be Near to You by Erin Lindsay McCabe
This one was about something I had no idea was a thing - there are at least 250 documented cases of women disguising themselves as men in order to fight in the Civil War. This was the story of one woman who didn't want to stay at home while her new husband went off to war. It's at times graphic and made me a little squeamish to read while eating lunch on more than one occasion but I haven't read much previously about the Civil War and this was a very interesting and different look at it. I liked this one, as much as you can like a sometimes graphic war book. Also, slight language warning, it is war. 3.5 Stars
What have YOU been reading lately? Tell me in the comments!
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