Happy Monday! I had a full, happy weekend that involved a puppy playdate, pool time with my mom, a 5K walk in a favorite park, a writing date with Mikaela, and finally (FINALLY!) starting Ted Lasso. Two episodes in and I am hooked. I can’t wait to watch more episodes today!
I’ve been on an abandoning streak this month and last week, I added two more books to my stack of abandoned May reads: Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey, a f/f romance that just wasn’t keeping my attention. I thought about powering through but I was so bored by the plot and annoyed by the characters so I gave it up. The other book was Minor Feelings: An Asian-American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong, which I tried listening to on audio but it was just a bit too literary for my tastes.
Thankfully, the books I did keep reading were great reads: 4 or 5 stars! I guess this is why I feel no shame about abandoning books. Why read something that makes reading feel like a chore when I could be reading something that I love?!
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (★★★★☆)
This was such a fun YA thriller, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. This novel follows Stevie who has just started at Ellingham Academy, a private boarding school in Vermont for “the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists.” Stevie has come to the school with one plan: to solve the cold case of what happened to the wife and daughter of the founder of Ellingham Academy—they were kidnapped in the 1930s and never heard from again. Unfortunately, midway through her investigation, someone turns up dead on campus and Stevie has a new case to solve. This novel was really fun and propulsive. I liked that the author made Stevie a bit of a bumbling “detective,” which is to be expected because she’s just a kid. I didn’t know where the story was going, which is always fun for me, and I thought the ending was pretty excellent. There’s a love story interwoven in this novel and, y’all, I’m not here for it. It seems like a love triangle might be emerging (maybe? I hope so?), and I just want Stevie to see the light because this guy ain’t it.
The Maid by Nita Prose (★★★★★)
This book has been getting all of the buzz and I’m here to say: It’s 100% warranted. This book was excellent in every sense of the word. Nita Prose created a world with fully developed characters that I couldn’t help rooting for, most especially Molly Gray, the maid at the center of the story. This book is being categorized as a thriller but it’s really so much more than that. It’s about Molly, a hotel maid who has just lost her grandma—her only family—and is trying to make it through each day as best she can. She’s a little different (maybe she’s on the spectrum?) and takes her job very seriously. One day, while cleaning the room of one of their VIP guests, she encounters a dead body in a bed and soon becomes the prime suspect. Molly completely stole my heart from the very beginning of this novel and I found myself wanting to just give her a great big hug with every terrible thing that happened. She’s such a lovely character, someone who is so true to who she is because she doesn’t know there is any other way to be. And the way other hotel staff step up to help her clear her name made me so happy. This is a thriller, yes, but it’s mostly a heartwarming story about friendship, family, grief, and being yourself no matter what. I loved it so, so much.
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (★★★★☆)
I picked up this slim collection for The Unread Shelf Project’s May prompt: read the shortest book on your shelves. At just 108 pages, it fits the bill and I read this in spurts over a few days. It’s one you could probably easily breeze through in one sitting, but I liked taking my time with it. Written during the centennial anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, The Fire Next Time consists of two letters: one to his nephew and one to the American people to caution them about the reality of racism. So many times, I had to stop and take in a sentence because it was just so powerful and impactful.
“It is not too much to say that whoever wishes to become a truly moral human being (and let us not ask whether or not this is possible; I think we must believe that it is possible) must first divorce himself from all of the prohibitions, crimes, and hypocrisies of the Christian church. If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”
What I’m Reading This Week
- All the Feels by Olivia Dade (e-book) – Olivia Dade’s romances never let me down, and I love that her female main characters are always plus-size. We need more body diversity in our romances! I’m about halfway through this romance and loving it.
- Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Souleika Jaouad (audio) – This book is a heavy one (about a woman who gets diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer at age 22), but it’s incredibly well-written and really hard for me to put down! The audiobook is read by the author and you can really feel her emotions as she reads. This will be a 5-star read, I’m sure of it.
- Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (print) – I’m not sure right now is the best time to be reading this book, which takes place in the 1970s and involves a Black nurse working in a family planning clinic, but I’m going to give it a shot. I’ve heard great things about this book; I cracked it open last night, so I don’t have much to say about it just yet!
What are you reading?
I was thinking of reading “The Maid” but now I definitely will after reading your review. I”m glad you are liking Between Two Kingdoms. It was so so well-written. I had heard that her cancer is back which is just so awful. 🙁
I finished “Empire of Pain” which was a great non-fiction book about the opioid crisis and the family behind is. Now I am reading “Lessons in Chemistry” which I highly recommend that you read. It’s had a ton of buzz and I can see why. It is so hard to put down!! I want to read “Take My Hand,” too, especially after listening to the author interview on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live!
It’s so sad to hear that Suleika’s cancer is back. 🙁 She wrote such a powerful memoir. Maybe my favorite book this year!
I need to push Lessons in Chemistry up my list!
I’ve literally never heard of any of these books, so when you say a book is getting all the buzz, I sometimes wonder how we cultivated such different places to get book recs!
I need to take some lessons from you. You are so enthusiastic about the books you read and I am rarely as excited about a book as you are. Maybe I’ll just go around reading books as you finish them and throw off the shackles of my own TBR.
That is so INTERESTING to me! I heard about The Maid on all of my bookish podcasts + all over Instagram. I’d love to know where you get your book recs!
I am so excited for you, you have all of Ted Lasso to look forward to! It’s a wonderful show.
I’ve been on the waitlist for The Maid for a long time, so I’ll be interested to read it for myself. As for Between Two Kingdoms, I read it and liked it but I couldn’t help but feel for her boyfriend. I thought he was a bit of a saint, actually. I can’t imagine that level of caregiving for someone who he practically just met. I can’t imagine that level of caregiving for anyone, actually. It is pretty incredible. That is what stands out for me.
Oh man, I felt so bad for Will in Between Two Kingdoms. The amount of care he gave to Suleika was outstanding. Being a caregiver is so, so hard and he was truly a saint. It’s hard because I can’t fault Suleika for feeling the way she felt – she’s just being brutally honest and it’s hard to be a selfless individual while going through treatment that is making you so sick and weak – and I also can’t fault Will for feeling the way HE felt. There are no winners or losers here. It’s just a hard situation all around.
I really loved the Truly, Devious series, but I, too, hated the love story. It was way less good than the rest of the book(s) & just seemed uncompelling & unnecessary. But the rest was so good that I didn’t mind much. I want more Stevie!