I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy and am active on Goodreads here.
Here's what I've read in the past month-ish!
Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
Elin Hilderbrand is one of the authors who I've read every book, add every new one to my TBR, and put a library hold on it months before it is released. I've enjoyed some more than others, own a handful (bought after reading them from the library) and look forward to her new ones. This was the first to solely take place off Nantucket, on St. John's Island in the Caribbean. I partially read this in Vegas where it was 80° so the weather was similar to the book but not HOT and it made for a nice, lovely read. I appreciate that she is now doing some series because I like seeing characters develop and how their lives change over the course of a couple books. It wasn't life changing but it was a fun and enjoyable read. 3.75 stars
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Oh Anne. I read the whole series 25ish years ago but not since, although I've seen the excellent 80s tv movie multiple times in between. The copy I read this time was one gifted to me by my parents for Christmas when I was 7. I put rereading this off mainly because I did NOT like reading Pride & Prejudice 10ish years ago and found it pretty hard to get through. But I finally picked this up and enjoyed it so, so much. Anne is just such a delightful character and Avonlea seems like such a lovely, wonderful place filled with mostly lovely people. I look forward to reading the rest of the series again, eventually. 4.25 Stars
Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict
I knew very little about Andrew Carnegie before reading this book, other than I had heard his name associated with libraries (and I think his foundation funded some PBS programing when I was a kid?), I also haven't read many books that take place during the Civil War, even though that wasn't a main part of this story. So it was an interesting (fictional) story of a time period I don't read much about and a person I knew basically nothing about. 3.25 Stars
The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser
I love these Vanderbeeker kids. This is the second in a middle-grade series but I just read them for myself. Like the first book, the 5 siblings team up on a project, working together for what they feel is the greater good, changing some adult perspectives along the way. They also live in Harlem in New York City and I really enjoy that as a location. I would probably try to read these out loud with Luke in a few years, I can only hope my boys will have the kind of bond these kids seem to. 3.75 Stars
Bella Figura: How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way by Kamin Mohammadi
I've read quite a few Scandinavia set culture-ish books in the last couple years so branching out to Italy felt like a good way to learn more about another culture. It's a memoir about her time living in a small village in Italy to escape something (a bad breakup? A job ending? I forget.) in London (again, I forget). It made me very interested to go to Italy and see if I like vegetables more there and if olive oil is really as magical as it seems to be. But then, Italy was already on my bucket list. It was fine but clearly not super memorable. 3.25 Stars
A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying for Life by Tara Button
I really appreciated this one, about living in a way to have less impact on the environment, by making purchasing choices to throw less away and encourage companies to make their items last longer. I kept spewing facts from the book to Matt (I'm sure he super appreciated) and it left me more energized to do what I can to throw less away. I think every one should read this because you need a lot of people speaking out to really change things. 4 Stars
The Late, Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow
This is one I've reread many, many times and I so enjoy it. Molly has died (as the title implies) and she's watching over her loved ones from heaven (or some version of it) as her people on Earth cope with her death. There is also a bit of a mystery around how she died, if someone is at fault, and there is a detective trying to put all the pieces together. I may mostly like this for sentimental reasons, because I've read it so many times, but I also have liked it from my first read, I don't know what it is. It is set in New York, there is that, and it has made me cry more than once. 3.75 Stars
My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper
I knew who Ellie was from The Office and the first season of Kimmy Schmidt. I enjoy a humor-ish celebrity memoir and always am up for behind the scenes on The Office. I could relate to a lot of her childhood stories, seeing as she grew up about the same time as I did, also in the Midwest, also Catholic. She drug her siblings into doing shows for their family (guilty) and liked to play outside (same). I laughed out loud more than once and found it a really fun, nice, enjoyable read. 3.75 Stars
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
This is historical fiction, set in Seattle during World War II, when Japanese-American citizens were put in internment camps after Pearl Harbor. This follows the story of a young Chinese-American boy who befriends a young Japanese-American girl right before she is forced to move away. It's a sweet story told in flash backs as the boy, now grown, a widower, with a grown son, is taken back to that period in time. I've read a lot of World War II books but this was a different look at it, something that happened in America that I had no idea of. 3.75 Stars
Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World by Emily P. Freeman
I like the idea of this but sometimes found her writing to be too flower-y for me to make much sense of it. That pretty much sums it up. 3.25 Stars
The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz WilliamsAnother reread but one I've only read once before and long ago enough that I forgot most of the details. I read all of Beatriz Williams' books too and knew I really enjoyed these earlier books of hers. Vivian is living in New York City in the 60s when she receives a suitcase belonging to a Violet Grant, who she discovers is her long-lost aunt that Vivian never knew existed and that nobody in her family had heard from in decades. The story flashes between the two times periods, as Vivian tries to discover who Violet was and what happened to her. It reminded me why I enjoyed this book series so much. 4 Stars
Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff by Myquillyn SmithI love a good home book especially one that tells me to get rid of things while also helping me make my house more cozy and "finished". Myquillyn is somewhat well known as The Nester and does a lot of home things (I don't follow her anywhere) and in this book she walks, step-by-step how to "quiet" a room, and then gradually put it back together to have a space less cluttered by more "finished" without sacrificing style. I finished this book but didn't immediately return to the library because I want to try this with at least one room in our house (I'm thinking my office) first. For all I've read about minimalism this was refreshing because not all things are bad and you can have a cozy, welcoming home without going overboard on the stuff. Loved this one. 4 Stars
What have YOU been reading lately?
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