Magical realism is my absolute favorite genre to read and it was a perfect background to Jeanie’s story. Jeanie inherited the family trait of being able to speak to the dead for a limited time after they die. I love that the book isn’t centered around this though; it’s really about Jeanie figuring out what she wants her life to look like, despite seeming to have it all. She has a husband who loves her and is set to have…
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan 2/5 StarsThis book has a great setting and sense of place. It really makes me want to visit Scotland for my next international trip. That’s about all that I enjoyed about the book though. I didn’t like Nina or the fact that no one in her love triangle could express anything clearly. Everyone in this book is wimpy and can’t make a decision for themselves. Nina was even forced into her big…
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy 5/5 StarsCharlotte McConaghy has delivered another wonderful book about so much more than it seems. I absolutely loved Migrations and was eager to read Once There Were Wolves as soon as it came out. The obvious subject of this book is Inti leading a team that is rereleasing wolves into the wilds of Scotland, but it is also about family, love, civilization, trauma, and survival. What lovely pages to get lost in. I…
The First Actress is an absolutely wonderful (fictional) story about Sarah Bernhardt. I had first heard of her in my high school drama class, but aside from her sleeping in a coffin I didn’t remember anything about her. While many liberties have been taken, I think the reader still has a good idea of who Sarah Bernhardt was by the end of the book. From the beginning, I was hooked. The writing flows easily and while I may not agree…
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 4/5I almost didn’t make it though Piranesi. I wanted to stop about halfway though, but when I reread the synopsis it made me want to keep going. The middle bits drag. I’m glad I did finish, and I really enjoyed the ending, though I wasn’t blown away by it. I had a general sense of Piranesi’s situation and was correct, though the details about characters at the end made it special. The Puma Years by Laura…
This book was a little slow to start for me but once it did… hold my baby and clear the calendar. I was suddenly and violently sucked into this book and it was so nice because I’ve had a difficult time getting really into books since the new year (March now). Most of the book takes place in Bombay in 1914 and 1915. I haven’t read a book set in India in a long, long time and I don’t think…
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 4/5 StarsThis book follows Diana Bishop, a witch with a long family history but one that she tries to shun due to the circumstances surrounding her parent’s death. She is an academic taking a sabbatical at Oxford when she encounters a spellbound book and can no longer avoid her use of magic. She also meets Matthew, a vampire, and fate keeps bringing them together no matter how much she tries to avoid him.Overall…
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy 5/5 StarsThis book is about so many different things (climate change, love, relationships, birds, working on a ship, the ocean) and the story is told in such a beautiful way. A woman finds a boat to help her track the last migration of the Arctic tern and along the way we get the back story of how she met her husband and how she grew up. We see her growing as a pre-teen and teen and…
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier 3/5 StarsI was excited to read this after reading this in the book summary: “Around the turn of the 19th century on the eastern coast of England, young Mary Anning is struck by lightning. Afterwards, she discovers she possesses a rare gift—the ability to “see” and locate fossils buried deep in the cliffs near her village.” I thought this would have a magical realism element but Mary does not actually have any special ability to…
I was so excited to find out that Samantha Vérant was coming out with a first-to-me fiction book. I loved her memoirs, Seven Letters From Paris and How to Make a French Family, and knew that a novel by her about cooking and France would be great. Sophie is a chef in NYC until her life falls apart: she loses her job at a Michelin-starred restaurant and just weeks later her grandmother in France has a stroke. She jumps on…