What I’m Reading (10.30.23)

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Library • YA/Mystery • 2022

Short synopsis: When one of the most popular girls in school, Brooke Donovan, is found dead, all signs point to her boyfriend. But Alice Ogilvie doesn’t believe it, and she’s going to try to find out the real culprit, just like she’s a character in an Agatha Christie novel. 

The premise of this book is a little silly, but I do love a good teenage mystery novel. Teens solving crimes that professional detectives cannot! You really have to suspend your belief with some of the plot points and characters, but overall, this was a fun novel. The crux of the novel is this new friendship forming between Alice and one of her classmates, Iris Adams, and I really loved how their relationship developed and deepened. Some of the novel was a little over-the-top, but it didn’t bug me too much. It’s not a novel I’m going to recommend to everyone but if you’ve read and loved the Truly Devious series, give this one a try!

When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal (★★★★☆)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2019

Short synopsis: For the last decade, Kit Bianci has believed her sister died in a terrorist train crash. But then she sees her on the news, very much alive and living in New Zealand. So she books a flight to Auckland, determined to find her sister.

We picked this book for our October book club, and I was unsure if I would enjoy it. I told myself I only had to give it 100 pages and if I wasn’t feeling it, I could abandon it. Boy oh boy was I wrong! I flew through this book and enjoyed it immensely. It was a book that was so easy to read and I was just so invested in all of the characters and their lives. I wanted to know how everything would come together! While I thought the ending was a little rushed and everything tied up a bit too neatly (hence the 4-star rating), I still think the author did a great job with this novel. It also really made me want to book a trip to New Zealand right away!

If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook (★★★★☆)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2023

Short synopsis: “Gerry Williams’s funeral was a shit show.” So begins the story of a family grieving the loss of the patriarch of their family and reeling from a revelation during the eulogy. 

I do not know how this book came onto my radar (Lisa, maybe it was you?), but I’m glad it did because I really enjoyed this novel! It doesn’t have a very high Goodreads rating (3.5 stars), so I didn’t have very high hopes. I love family stories like this, though, and I thought the way the author discussed grief and loss to be utter perfection. We follow this family in the week after the funeral, as they are all grieving the loss of Gerry in a multitude of ways. There’s the way Ellen, his wife, is handling it. The way his kids are handling it. And the way his grandkids are handling it. There are also a range of interpersonal issues happening around their grief. There was a coming out plotline that I thought was so beautifully written. What I really loved, and what I think the author captured perfectly, was this subplot of one of Gerry’s daughters going on a date with someone she met. She kept harping (silently) about all these little things she didn’t like about her date—he wore too much cologne, for instance—and wondering if those are dealbreakers. And I find myself always doing the exact same thing when I’m on a first date with someone. It’s all those little things that turn me off immediately, and I have to remind myself to slow my roll and give them a chance. It wasn’t the point of the book, of course, but it was just so perfectly written that I couldn’t help but feel a kindredness with the author. All in all, this book was a good one. Am I going to remember I read it in a few months? Probably not. But it was a fine read that kept my attention.

What are you reading?