Happy Monday, friends! I have great news to share: my passport renewal was approved and I should get my new passport sometime this week. I never ended up paying for the expedited passport, and now I’m glad I waited because it turns out that I didn’t need it after all. Woohoo! Niagara Falls trip is a go.
Last week, I finished four books! A very good reading week for me, indeed. Three of those were five-star books. Have I become more lenient with my rating system this year? I’ve rated 17 out of 42 books five stars—40% of my reading this year. (!!!) Am I just picking books I know I will love? Am I being less critical of what I read? Who knows!
Here’s what I read last week:
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (★★★★★)
I read 70% of this book last Sunday and even stayed up late to finish it because I had to know how it would end! It was a fantastic dystopian novel, even though the setting felt more real life than an unimaginable future. Hannah lives in a post-pandemic world (a pandemic that rendered women who were diagnosed with the disease infertile) and now, abortion is fully illegal. What’s more, only the most serious convicted felons are imprisoned in this world. Other convicts are instead “chromed,” in which their skin is genetically altered to match the class of their crime for a period of time. Yellow is for low-class felonies and red is for murder. Hannah is a Red, as having an abortion is considered a murderous offense. This book was so propulsive and there were so many great twists and turns. It was published in 2011, so the plot feels oddly prescient for what’s in the news today. It has a pretty low Goodreads rating (3.6) and normally I wouldn’t read a book with such a low rating, but I’m glad I gave this one a try because I really, really loved it.
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (★★★★★)
This book took me almost the entirety of April to read, as I read it very slowly and carefully. This book is truly a masterpiece and such a unique way to tell the history of Black people in America. There are 80 essays from 80 different Black authors in this collection. Each essay covers a five-year span of history starting with 1619 and continuing through to 2019. The essays are short, maybe just a few pages long, and each writer takes their own unique spin on their essay. Maybe they discuss an important court case at this time, or an important Black figure, or how their own history intersects with that of someone born hundreds of years before them. The book is broken down into sections spanning 40 years and at the end of each section was a poem, some of which I skimmed and some of which touched me incredibly deeply. All in all, this book is an excellent addition to an anti-racism library and I encourage everyone to pick it up.
“But the past is close. The slave codes of 1705 are close. The past is filled with people who carried out evil acts with foresight and determination, supported by the complicity of their peers. It contains progress but just as many reactionary entrenchments of old power. White supremacy became the norm in America because white men who felt threatened wrote laws to foster it, then codified the violence necessary to maintain it. They can maintain it with the same intention today, if we allow it.” (p. 81)
The Lemon Sisters by Jill Shalvis (★★★☆☆)
Brooke and Mindy Lemon used to be close when they were younger but after Brooke was in a helicopter crash that almost took her life, she changed, left her hometown of Wildstone, and hasn’t been back in the six years since the accident. All of that changes when Mindy arrives on Brooke’s doorstep, frazzled and with her three kids in tow. Mindy needs a break from her life. Her husband works all the time and she’s worried he’s cheating on her, and being the sole caretaker of three children has caused a mental breakdown. So they decide to switch places for a few days: Brooke will take care of Mindy’s kids and Mindy can take a break. Brooke decides to go back to Wildstone with the kids and it’s there she has to come face-to-face with her past—and the guy she left behind. This story is quintessential Jill Shalvis, who is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. It’s more about the women and the issues they need to work through than the romance, which many people might appreciate. I did love the themes of marriage after kids and asking for what you want, as well as healing from trauma and finding your way back to yourself. This would have been an easy 4-star read from me, but there was some fatphobic language that rubbed me the wrong way so I docked it a star because of that.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (★★★★★)
Well, the reviews were right: This book is a gem! It was such a delightful read with characters who were so easy to root for and an ending that made me smile. When Lillian receives a letter from her best friend Madison, asking her for a favor, she decides to drop everything and help out her friend. What Madison needs is for Lillian to take care of her twin stepkids who will be coming to live with her. Oh, and um… they might have a propensity to burst into flames when angry. The fire doesn’t hurt them, but can wreak havoc to the people and world around them. What I loved most about this book were the twins, Bessie and Roland, who are two sweet children who have had an unlucky lot in life and just need someone who is going to be in their corner. Lillian was also a character I really loved, especially her take-no-shit demeanor. All in all, an excellent read that will have a place on my favorites list.
What I’m Reading This Week
- Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz (print) – This is our May book club pick and I’m about 100 pages in. It hasn’t really grabbed my attention yet, so we’ll see how it goes.
- Feel the Heat by Kate Meader (e-book) – My current romance, which I’m also not fully invested in yet. Might be a downer week for books!
- Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (audiobook) – I’ve decided to give the Truly Devious series a go, after reading some great reviews. YA set at a private boarding school in Vermont? Sign me up!
What are you reading this week?
April
LOL maybe all these books about friends needing their friends to stop their lives and care for their kids are causing your pregnant dreams?!
Stephany
Haha – maybe you’re right!
Jenny
Wow, these all sound interesting. I keep hearing good things about Nothing to See Here but haven’t read it. When you described When She Woke as a dystopian novel my first reaction was, it’s not my thing- but your review makes me want to read it!
I’m about to start the latest Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) mystery, which is 900 pages and will probably take me at least a week to read- I don’t read as fast as you! I don’t have anything lined up afterwards- I’m going to see if my library has When She Woke.
Stephany
It would take me quite a long time to read a 900-page book! Probably a few weeks at least. I get so intimidated by books of that length that I rarely read anything over 500 pages. It’s a bad habit of mine!
NGS
I have two weeks to read my book club book and it’s just sitting there on my shelf, taunting me. I don’t want to read it. *sigh* This will be motivation for me to get started!
Stephany
Don’t you hate the books that you just don’t want to read but know you have to for some reason? Ugh. I hope you got through the book club book okay!
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
I am THRILLED that you loved “Nothing To See Here.” It is such a quirky book but I was so glad my friend convinced me to read it. I love the voice of the author and want to read more of his work. He is good friends with Anne Patchett so I should have known he’d be a great writer! She’s recommended his work before in her non-fiction essays or mentioned his work?
I ended up abandoning “The Paris Bookseller” at around 30%. I knew of another person who read it and wasn’t impressed but decided to give it a shot. It just felt a bit vapid to me and I told myself life is too short to read something meh. Now I am burning my way through “Goodnight Beautiful.” Man it is so well done! Next up I will read “Empire of Pain” which is about the Sackler family that played a huge part in the opioid crisis. I watched Dopesick which is an excellent scripted documentary about that family but I’m excited to read a book about them, too. They were truly horrible, greedy people.
Stephany
Nothing to See Here was just so charming! I am so glad I gave it a chance, too, because it was nothing like I expected it to be. I want everyone to read this book!
Nicole MacPherson
Nothing To See Here was so creative and interesting!
I’m reading Birth – on your recommendation! I’m enjoying it but yeeeeeeeeshhhhhhhh some of the descriptions! I felt actually faint, reading about a DIY C-section.
Stephany
The section about the DIY c-section was a LOT, wasn’t it? I can’t believe a woman was able to do that AND live to tell the story!
Kim
I am so glad your passport came in! Yay!
When She Woke sounds really good! Boo to the fatphobic language in the other book. WTH. When was it published?
I am reading The Good Sister. I think that is what it’s called. LOL.
Stephany
The book with the fatphobic language was published in 2019! Way too late to have that kind of language in the book. The author should know better by now. Ugh.
Anne
Given last week’s news, I’m not sure I could read When She Woke right now. Siggghhhh… (Sob)
I’ve seen so many good reviews of Nothing to See Here and I’m always tempted but I just don’t think it’s my type of book. I guess I could try it and see how it is… I just hate (still) DNF’ing books. I might have to get over that one of these days.
Oooh, can’t wait to read your review of the boarding school book(s)! I have always loved stories set in boarding schools; my parents stopped threatening me with one when they realized that I thought it sounded awesome! LOL
Stephany
I’m glad I read When She Woke when I did because there’s no way I could handle reading it now! Ugh, ugh, ugh.
I didn’t think I would like Nothing to See Here either, but it was SO charming. But maybe “charming” isn’t your kind of book, ha?