How the Light Gets In

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was a much needed return to what we love most about Penny's Gamache series. I do miss the straightforwardness of the stories from earlier in the series, but I think it's a tribute to Penny's trust in her readers that she's willing to break the mold and try new things. I especially loved imagining Christmas in Three Pines. Maybe next year? :)

Happy reading--

(Book 111 - 2019)

The Poet X

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautifully written and read. I love the fire in Elizabeth Acevedo's writing. She gives voice to the unseen in a poignant and raw way.

Happy reading--

(Book 110 -2019)

Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved)

Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Compelling but convoluted. There were great sections, but I found myself just wanting to be finished at times. I read this because Kelly Corrigan was interviewed on Bowler's podcast, and they had a great conversation, but the book isn't a must read unless you read a high volume of books.....oh, but I do love the title.

Happy reading--

(Book 109 - 2019)

The Moment of Lift

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Towards the end of graduate school, I got in my head that I wanted to work for the Gates Foundation in Seattle. I set up a meeting with a contact, who at the time oversaw the global philanthropic efforts of the Foundation, and thought I could, at least, get an internship that eventually could turn into employment. While the contact was glad to offer career advice and look at my resume, he explained that there was no place for me at the Gates Foundation. They did not hire newbies. They hired the best of the best - people who were at least ten or fifteen years into their already distinguished careers. What stuck with me though were his comments about how if he didn't do his job well, people died. If he did do his job well, people still died, but at least there would be more that lived. The weight and magnitude of his and the Foundation's work hit me hard as I realized again how desperate so many people's lives were.

Fast forward nearly nine years and enter this amazing book. Gates' book caught me by surprise because she articulated so clearly how many ways there were to start improving lives around the globe. It is the people who do not seek power who are often the most qualified to lead. I'd vote for Melinda Gates for a high political office in a heartbeat. I still feel a bit at a loss for how to contribute to making the world better when the stakes are so high and the losses so great, but I feel more empowered than I did before. It's small things in and around each community that are a start towards lifting others and finding more humanity in each other. And as she so deftly describes, it is well worth the effort.

Happy reading and happy lifting--

(Book 108 - 2019)

The Beautiful Mystery

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am clearly a Louise Penny devotee, but this one was not my favorite. It was just Gamache and Beauvoir in a monastery...the whole time. The last few chapters were just as gripping as her other books, but this one was without the sense of place and community that makes Three Pines and this series what it is. I still think you need to read it for how it affects the coming books, but maybe power through at a 1.5 or 1.75 so you get through it a bit faster.

Happy reading!

ps. All the talk of Gregorian chant and how music development has happened over the centuries made me think of my music major roommates and all my friends who took Humanities 101 in college. Most people, like Beauvoir, were not too enamored with these early musical offerings.

(Book 107 - 2019)

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Some parts are a bit dramatic or too simplistic, but I liked the coincidences, the subtle book and entertainment references, the inclusion of trivia nights (something I loved to do in my 20's) and falling in love, the passion for books, and the honesty about loneliness, anxiety, and the need for family. This book is both lighthearted and honest. I didn't love it quite as much as Marisa de los Santos' Love Walked In, but it has a similar vibe along with the more recent Evvie Drake Starts Over. It also had Eleanor Oliphant vibes without the stress that Eleanor's story gave me. Something in this also reminded me of the Jimmy Stewart movie "Shop Around the Corner". I'm not sure why, but I think I need to go watch that now.

Happy reading and happy bookish living-

(Book 106 - 2019)

Home Work

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews Edwards
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Julie Andrews is one of those people whose voice has been one of the soundtracks of my life. How often have we hummed, sung, or listened to one of the iconic songs from Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music? So, it was especially enchanting to have her talking in my earbuds for a few days about the Hollywood years of her career. This second memoir spans from the 1960s into the 1980s. While I am thrilled to have heard her read her book, I am sorry to have not had a hard copy in my hands so that I could have seen all the pictures she included in her book.

The reason I didn't rate the book higher is that the book dragged occasionally. I got tired of hearing about the ups and downs her husband had in his work and wished the writing style would vary a bit more from "this happened and then this happened and then this happened". I do think Julie Andrews is a delightful human being, and I cannot wait to put The Sound of Music on again soon.

Happy reading and happy singing-

(2019 - 105)

The Deal of a Lifetime - Round 3

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started a little early this year on my Christmas book reading and movie watching. I just needed a little bit of the magic a bit sooner, and I love Backman's way of describing the world and the people in it.

Happy reading and happy magical living--

(Book 104 - 2019)

Lift - Round 2

Lift by Kelly Corrigan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes you just need more Kelly Corrigan in your life. I so appreciate her thoughts on life and motherhood. She's the best.

Happy reading-

(Book 103 - 2019)

Daisy Jones & The Six

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Daisy Jones & The Six is a really well written story with clever narrative style moving between all the members of the band, not to mention their managers, significant others, etc. That said, while I would give it four stars, I didn't actually enjoy reading it. Personally I struggle so much with the life stories of people who live riotously - partying endlessly, doing drugs, drinking away their days - and then expect us to feel sympathy for the hard situations they find themselves in....so with that in mind, you can see why I tired of the details of Daisy's escapades or the band members talking through their drug use. I just have no interest in it.

What I do have an interest in is the creative process and how great art - music included - gets made. Years ago I had a powerful discussion with a book group about whether great art can be created without maker of the art being messed up in some way. We were reading a fictional story involving Hemingway and never settled on an answer. The list of my very favorite writers and creators is replete with men and women who suffered tragedy, battled addiction, lived during extreme strife, and so on, and then used those issues to create masterful works. I don't have a set answer on whether it's necessary, but Daisy Jones & The Six is an interesting addition to that conversation.

Taylor Jenkins Reid can write very captivating characters, and I appreciated the nuance she gave to each relationship, especially Billy and his wife Camilla. The focus on her was refreshing. So, with all that said, this is a book that I think would be great for some readers and totally off the mark for others. The audio version is excellent with a full cast of characters to help organize all the many people that move in and out of the story. There's no doubt that a major studio will want to make this into a movie or miniseries soon.

Happy reading--

(Book 102 - 2019)

ps. Jenkins Reid wrote one of my very favorite books called "One True Loves" (*Loves is not a typo). I read it every summer.