Happy Monday! I’m coming to you a bit sleepy from my busier-than-average weekend. It was one filled with friend time, reading, dog snuggles, newborn cuddles, and football, so it was a pretty lovely weekend! Just give me all of the coffee today, please and thank you. 🙂
Last week I finished three books. I had to speed through my last book because it was due to the library on Saturday and I couldn’t renew it. I don’t mind paying library fines, but I also didn’t want to hold onto a book too far past its due date for the people waiting in line. I know how that is!
Books Finished
Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson (★★★★★) – Oh, boy. This book destroyed me, and I really wasn’t expecting it to touch me in such a deep, profound way. It’s a story about friendship, following three women who meet at West Point and form close bonds that last far beyond their time at the academy, even as they’re split across the world once they graduate. It’s a story above love, with all three women tackling romance in vastly different ways. And it’s a story about the realities of war. These women joined West Point right before 9/11 happened, never imagining they’d be called to war. It’s a brilliant exploration of military culture, what it’s like to be a woman in the military today, and the endurance of friendship. These women are deeply flawed and many times not the greatest friends to one another, but they’re there for one another when it counts. And isn’t that the reality of friendship? We’re not always our best selves, but when it matters, we show up. I loved this book so very much. Even days after finishing it, I’m still thinking about the characters—the sign of a truly great novel.
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare (★★★★☆) – Ah, the “duke falling for his governess” trope. This one never gets old for me! Alexandra, whose main passions include astronomy and clocks, becomes the governess for Rosamund and Daisy. Chase, a man whose only passion seems to be bedding women, is now the guardian of these two girls and doesn’t know exactly what to do with them. All he knows is that they need to be educated so they can go away to school in the fall. The story is sweet, sharply feminist, and had me laughing out loud. I loved the build-up to Alex and Chase’s romance—and all the mischief the two young girls got into.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb (★★★☆☆) – I enjoyed this book, but I found certain aspects a bit problematic. The book details Gottlieb’s work as a therapist, including several of her clients’ stories, and the therapy she’s doing after going through a breakup. As someone in therapy right now, I thought the book was a wonderful thesis on therapy and what it’s like from a therapist’s point of view. I loved getting a glimpse into the way other people approach therapy, like the man who answered calls during his sessions or the woman who removed items from her purse when she arrived. The author states up front that many details of her clients’ stories have been changed or re-attributed to protect their identities, which is completely understandable. But it really lessened the impact of these stories because they weren’t real. They were made-up situations with fictionalized dialogue. So much of the book revolved around these stories and a part of me wonders if writing a novel, rather than a memoir, would have been the better approach. As it was, I spent more time wondering what aspects of the stories were true and what were made up, and it affected how I viewed the people and the work they were doing. However, even saying all that, I would still recommend this book and I can definitely understand why people are raving about it. It just didn’t meet my expectations.
What I’m Reading Now
The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas – My current audiobook read! This is the third book in the Lady Sherlock series and it’s been so lovely to dive back into Charlotte’s world again. 🙂
Up Next
I finished Maybe You Should Talk to Someone on Sunday evening and held off on starting something new. My romance for the week is going to be Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, a book I selected from Book of the Month a few months ago. Alongside that, I’ll be reading Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow.
What are you reading?
I’m also reading “Beyond the Point” and am loving it! I had the hardest time putting it down last night but knew I would regret staying up past my bedtime if I did. I am glad today is a vacation day for me so I can read. I’m treating it as a shouldless day so will do lots of reading and go to a movie (Just Mercy). I also finished “The Dearly Beloved” which I LOVED!! It was so well-written. I can’t believe it’s a debut. I think you will really enjoy it.
UGH, four more weeks until I get Beyond the Point. I but that request in SO long ago. I should have just requested hard copy – they almost always come faster. I can’t wait to read it… in February.
I see what you are saying about the therapy book! Like, how much of this is actually realistic?! It does sound like an interesting topic though.
I am reading Running with Sherman. I lost a lot of reading time since we were out of town – I never read as much as I want when we travel! Even when we go see family and sit around doing nothing. Ugh. 😉 But now I am home sick and read quite a bit this am. Ha.
I really enjoyed your review of the Gottlieb book. I keep seeing it everywhere and your perspective really gives me pause, because I would find the “what’s true, what isn’t” questions very distracting (and wouldn’t be able to avoid them, I think).
I am (still) reading Song of Solomon and just started listening to The Family Upstairs.