Stephany Writes

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (9.11.23)

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (★★★★☆)

Mia’s father is missing. He took her younger brother, Eugene, to the park, and only Eugene returned, bloody and in a panic. Eugene is disabled, however, and cannot speak so the mystery remains: Is Mia’s father alive and hurt in the park? Did a freak accident happen and he’s dead? Did he just take up and leave his whole family and life? That’s the mystery at the heart of this novel, but this novel is not a mystery. It’s a complex family story about racial identity (Mia is Korean-American with a white father and a Korean mother), the disability community and how we treat those who are so-called “nonverbal,” the theory of happiness, and being the sibling of a disabled child. Kim sets this story in the summer of 2020, and the pandemic is a full-fledged character in the novel. For me, I liked the way different parts of the pandemic were included in the story, but YMMV. There were times when I found that Kim got a little bogged down in the details of the story she was trying to tell, but mostly, I was in awe of how she weaved so many complex plotlines so effortlessly. I loved this story and this family. I ached for them as they tried to find out what happened to their father. And I love the emphasis on the disability community, specifically the nonverbal community, and how all of us can be doing so much better by them. A novel I certainly recommend! (hardcover from Book of the Month, 2023)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (★★★★★)

I reread this beloved classic with a whole bunch of other bloggers, and it was such a delightful time! I originally read this book for the first time in 2018 and I was astonished at how much I forgot in just five short years (or long? I mean, there was a whole pandemic in the middle of those years). Francie Nolan is such a beloved character to me, though, and I enjoyed following along on her journey from a young girl living in poverty with her parents and younger brother to a young woman on her way to college with a sweet beau by her side. This book remains one of my all-time favorites. (paperback, 1943)

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone (★★★★☆)

Ariel Pryce and her husband are newly married, and she joins him on a business trip to Lisbon. But the first morning they’re there, Ariel wakes up alone. Her husband is gone. There’s no note and he’s not answering his phone. What happened to him? And what will Ariel have to do to get him back? This thriller was a good one, and I found myself on the edge of my seat as I tried to figure out exactly what was going on. I liked all the twists and turns the book took and thought the final reveal to be so satisfying. However, I want to give a trigger warning that there is so much violence against women and sexual assault in this novel (including an on-page rape scene). All in all, a decent thriller that I would recommend if the trigger warnings aren’t dealbreakers for you. (library audiobook, 2022)

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.31.23)

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (★★★★★)

Man, I loved this book so much. It was the kind of book that was so easy to sink into, even if most of the characters weren’t totally likable. There’s Stan and Joy, a married couple settling into their golden years. They’ve retired from their tennis coaching academy, but things are starting to feel a bit stale for them. Their four children are all grown up with their own lives and barely remember to call or come by. Joy’s desperate for a grandchild, but none of her children seem interested in giving her one. And then Joy disappears, and all signs point to Stan’s guilt. Half of the Delaney siblings don’t believe their father had anything to do with their mother’s disappearance, but the other half aren’t so sure. The story takes us back and forth in time: a few months ago when everything was normal but Stan and Joy had a stranger living with them for a while, and then present day when Joy is missing and there’s an investigation into her disappearance. I found the whole story propulsive and just plain fun. I enjoyed this family, even if they are kinda awful, too? It’s hard to explain. But I loved the story very much. (hardcover from Book of the Month, 2021)

Just My Type by Falon Ballard (★★★★☆)

I enjoyed this contemporary romance and bonus: It counted for the “J” category for my A-Z reading challenge! The story is about Lana and Seth, high school sweethearts who broke up during their first semester of college. Seth suddenly shows up at Lana’s job where she’s a dating and relationship columnist for an online magazine. They haven’t seen each other in 12 years and it’s a shock to her system. And then the two of them are pitted against each other in a competition for the magazine, with the winner getting a coveted columnist job. The enemies-to-lovers trope is one of my favorites in romance, and this one was excellent. I enjoyed Lana and Seth’s banter, and the way they slowly began to mend fences as they went through their competition together. This story was also a sweet love story to Los Angeles, and I thought the ending was perfection. (library e-book, 2023)

Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi (★★★★☆)

Food has always been Kwame Onwuachi’s great love, and that’s why he has spent his whole life working toward his goal of being a successful restaurant owner. He has competed on Top Chef, opened his own catering company using money he raised selling candy bars on the subway, and even opened a talked-about restaurant in Washington, D.C. that eventually failed in a spectacular fashion. In this memoir, Kwame details his life growing up, including the time he was sent away to live in Nigeria for a few months when he was in sixth grade, which is also where his love for the culinary arts grew. From there, Kwame talks about all the different jobs he juggled as he tried to make his cooking dreams a reality: working as a chef on an offshore drilling rig, working in a kitchen with a toxic work environment, and more. Kwame also touches on a lot of racial issues and how the way he looks has affected his own life and career. I thought this was a well-paced memoir and I learned a lot about a chef I know very little about! (library audiobook, 2019)

What are you reading?

Programming note: I will be taking the month of August off blogging. I’ll still be around, commenting on your blogs and such. I’ll be back on Monday, September 4th!

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.19.23)

The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve (★★★★☆)

Short synopsis: It’s October 1947 and after a summer-long drought, out-of-control fires break out around the city. Grace’s husband, Gene, has gone to help with the firefighting efforts, leaving her alone—five months pregnant and with two toddlers. And then a fire breaks out in her town, and she has to flee with her kids, unsure where to go, what her home will look like when she returns, and if her husband is okay.

This book was engaging from beginning to end. The beginning chapters take us into Grace’s life as it is now, which is pretty sad, honestly. She’s in a loveless marriage and feels trapped, especially when she learns she has another baby on the way. After the fire breaks out and Grace has to leave her home with her kids, the story really picks up and I found myself fully engaged through all the twists and turns that happen to Grace as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life and move forward while taking care of her children. She’s unsure where her husband is or if he’s even alive, which makes things both more complicated and less so. (More complicated because being a single mother in the 1940s was a difficult prospect; less complicated because she got to experience life without being trapped in a loveless marriage.) I loved Grace’s character so, so much. She was such a strong woman and did whatever she has to for her family. Her evolution throughout the novel was stark, and it was so lovely to witness. (library audiobook, 2017)

A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin (★★★☆☆)

Short synopsis: Kitty Talbot needs a fortune. Or rather, she needs a husband who has a fortune. Left with her father’s massive debts, she has only twelve weeks to save her family from ruin. So she leaves home and heads to London to find herself a titled gentleman. She doesn’t expect to encounter Lord Radcliffe. The worldly Radcliffe sees Kitty for the mercenary fortune-hunter that she really is and is determined to scotch her plans at all costs.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. This was our July book club selection, and while most of my friends enjoyed the book (and we had a good discussion about the roles of women and needing a husband in order to achieve wealth!), it just wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t find Kitty to be all that likable, nor did I feel the chemistry between her and Lord Radcliffe. This is a completely closed-door romance, too, which may appeal to some of you, but tends to bum me out (ha). I like a little steam with my romance novels! It’s not a bad book by any means, and is a debut so some of the lackluster writing is to be expected, but I was just hoping for something different. (library e-book, 2022)

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell (★★★★★)

Short synopsis: In 2017, Kim’s 19-year-old daughter Tallulah disappeared with her boyfriend, leaving behind their infant son. Two years later, her daughter still missing, Kim finally gets a break in the case.

This was such a satisfying thriller! The novel is broken into two timelines: 2017 when Tallulah originally goes missing and 2019 when her case is reactivated. Both storylines were so intriguing, as they both revealed important details that helped me unravel what was happening in the story. The pacing in this story was top-notch and it was just so well-written and propulsive. I’ve read quite a few of Lisa Jewell’s books and this one, by far, is a standout. (library audiobook, 2021)

ABANDONED – The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

I read a little over 100 pages of this novel, and I was just bored by it. The plot wasn’t very engaging and I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. I wasn’t curious about the plot or what was going to happen to these characters, either, which is always my sign to abandon a book. Win some, lose some.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.11.23)

Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley (★★★☆☆)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2022

Short synopsis: Follow an eclectic group of people with almost nothing in common except their commute as they discover how a chance encounter can blossom into much more. There’s Iona, the larger-than-life magazine columnist. Sanjay, the nurse with the heart of gold. Emmie, the quiet girl who’s always reading a book on the train. And Piers, the man who almost chokes on a grape and changes the course of all their lives.

There seems to be an influx of these types of books lately: multi-generational people coming together for a specific purpose. I’ve read more than a handful of them lately, and they all truly hit me in my feels. Loneliness is an epidemic, and these authors are trying to remind us of the humanity of the people we live next to, commute with, and work side by side with. I loved the cast of characters in this novel and how different their stories were. (With a large cast of characters, it wasn’t hard to differentiate each story, which is a feat!) Some of them had such beautifully redemptive arcs! My main issue with the book, however, was that the pacing was a bit off. Near the end of the book, the plot started to meander and it felt like the author was trying to figure out the best way to end the book so she just kept writing until she found it. Which could work in some cases, but with this novel, it just felt boring. A tighter edit could have helped. All in all, a feel-good story that could be a great palate cleanser in between more difficult books.

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak (★★☆☆☆)

Print • Library • Thriller • 2022

Short synopsis: Mallory has just finished rehab and is looking for a fresh start. She gets a job as a live-in nanny for a five-year-old boy named Teddy who loves to draw. Soon, though, his drawings morph from cute stick figures to sinister images—drawings well beyond his years. Mallory has to wonder: Is a supernatural force drawing these pictures, and what do these pictures mean?

Oh, goodness. This book was a trainwreck. It was hyped up big time on one of the bookish podcasts I listen to, and I was so excited to read it, but the writing just did not work for me at all. Let’s talk about the good: Mallory. I loved Mallory’s character so much and appreciated the way she was written. (Men writing thrillers often do not write female characters very well.) Also good: All of the drawings in the book. It’s a must-read in print because the illustrations definitely take the book to the next level. Now the bad: the ending. A well-done thriller is only as good as its ending and this one was particularly bad. It had characters changing their behaviors in an instant, a convoluted story that made no sense, and a very problematic reveal at the end. This is not a book I was a fan of, but YMMV, of course.

A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña (★★☆☆☆)

E-Book • Libby • Contemporary Romance • 2022

Short synopsis: Kamilah is looking to put her family’s Puerto Rican restaurant on the map and save it from closing in their gentrifying neighborhood. Liam’s family’s distillery business has been nominated for a national competition and everything he’s ever wanted is in his grasp. Kamilah and Liam are former best friends turned enemies due to a long-ago feud, and when their meddling grandfathers get involved, telling them they have to get married to keep their businesses intact, they have to figure out how to keep their life’s work without losing their hearts.

If the synopsis for this book sounds very complex, that’s because it is. I had the hardest time writing a synopsis for this book! Why do these grandfathers want their grandchildren who barely like each other to get married? I CAN’T TELL YOU! It was never fully explained in the book, other than they might be matchmakers who see the potential in a relationship between Kamilah and Liam? I think?! This story had the potential to be great (I love a good foodie romance novel!), but it was rife with plot holes and disappointing character decisions. I never felt true chemistry between Liam and Kamilah, and it’s hard to understand why they liked each other so much when they didn’t really have much in common. A pretty mediocre romance, unfortunately.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.3.23)

The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Libby • Nonfiction (Essays) • 2022

Short synopsis: Recounting the wildest tales of racism from their parents, their siblings, and Amber’s nieces and nephews, this intergenerational look at ludicrous (but all too believable) everyday racism as experienced across age, gender, and appearance will have you gasping with shock and laughter in turn. 

This book was so hard to read, and I don’t blame anyone for choosing not to read it. Amber and Lacey do a great job of trying to insert some gallows-type humor into the book, but they also allow space for the hard stuff to be the hard stuff. This is their second book, their first one is mostly about Lacey’s experiences with racism while living in Nebraska and working in corporate-style positions. In this book, we get stories from their parents, their sisters, and some of their friends. It’s not a fun read, but it is an important one. I am committed to reading these uncomfortable books because it’s the very least I can do as someone doing the work of antiracism.

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Contemporary Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: Sally and Noah meet on the Saturday Night Live-esque showed called The Night Owls. Sally is a comedy writer on the show while Noah, a successful pop musician, is the guest star. After a fun week together of collaborating on sketches, Sally develops a massive crush but someone as hot as Noah wouldn’t be interested in her, right? Two years later, they’re in the middle of a global pandemic and they start emailing each other.

This book was so sweet. I just loved it! The book was broken up into three sections: the week that Noah was hosting TNO (2018), the email messages Noah and Sally sent to each other (summer 2020), and their reunion in California (2020). Each section was so different from the other and just so interesting! I loved following Sally and Noah through a “typical” week of working on a SNL-type show. (It sounded so very exhausting!) I’m not someone who watches SNL regularly, but I will watch clips on Youtube here and there, so I have a passing familiarity with it and it was fascinating to learn more about the process of how a show like this gets made. When the novel moves forward in time and switches formats, I wasn’t sure how I felt about things but I quickly got sucked in. I’m learning that I don’t mind a Covid subplot in a story; perhaps because Covid didn’t affect my life in any life-altering ways (which is such a privilege, I know!). It’s interesting to see how authors use it as a plot device. Anyway, I really loved the emails that Noah and Sally exchanged and the way they flirted with each other but in a very cautious sort of way. Flirting is so scary when you don’t know if the other person reciprocates your feelings! The final section where they finally reunite (Sally takes a long road trip to his house in California, rather than flying) was really sweet and I was just gaga over the two of them. I love how this was a later-in-life love story (they were both 39, so not over-the-hill by ANY means but most romances involve people in their twenties so this is an outlier) and the way they communicated with each other. It was just everything I wanted!

Have I Told You This Already: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham (★★☆☆☆)

Audiobook • Libby • Nonfiction (Essays) • 2022

Short summary: Lauren Graham opens up about her years working in the entertainment business and shares personal stories about everything from family and friendship to the challenges of aging gracefully in Hollywood.

Oh, it breaks my heart to give this book such a low rating because I love Lauren Graham so much. But this essay collection was just not very good. It felt chaotic at times, boring at others. I found the humor to be a bit tired. Another reviewer mentioned how Lauren just seemed sad in this essay collection, and I had the exact same thought. From the publication date, I assume she wrote this book not very long after her relationship of 11 years ended, and there’s a part of me that wonders how different this essay collection would look if she had more space from that devastating breakup. There were some really strong essays (she seemed to be especially great when talking about her life in Hollywood) but mostly, it wasn’t as introspective as I wanted it to be and there were some problematic essays (like spending time at “health camps”) that she didn’t fully address. Like, I understand that being an actress means maintaining a certain weight in most respects, but I wanted her to further interrogate her feelings on the matter. All in all, not an essay collection I would recommend unfortunately.

What are you reading?