Category: Favorite book of the month

My Favorite Read of March 2024: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes

Title: Someone Else’s Shoes

Author: Jojo Moyes

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

Publication Date: February 2, 2023

Words of Wisdom:

“when we’re low, it can be easy to see everything through a prism of negativity. Human beings are remarkably bad at understanding other people’s motivations, even when they know them terribly well. We write all sorts of inaccurate stories in our heads.”

― Jojo Moyes, Someone Else’s Shoes

Goodreads:

Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope–she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.

That’s because Sam Kemp – in the bleakest point of her life – has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag–she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.

My Thoughts:

In typical Jojo Moyes fashion, Someone Else’s Shoes deals with serious issues while making you laugh. Nisha and Sam couldn’t be more different. But, getting a taste of each other’s words makes them reevaluate their own. A wonderful celebration of the power of female friendship.

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March Catch-up Post: Favorite Read and Anticipated Book Releases

I had issues posting back in February, so I missed my favorite book of the month and new releases for March posts, then I just didn’t get back to it. So, I thought I would just do a combined, abbreviated post.

Favorite Read of February 2024

This novel tells the true story of a boat carrying children evacuated from Europe during WWII, that was hit by a torpedo. One lifeboat is left stranded in the ocean for days. The story follows the events on the lifeboat and the family members left behind who are fighting to continue the search. This is why I keep going back to WWII novels, there are so many different angles and stories that there’s always something new to learn.

Anticipated releases for March 2024

Click on books for the goodreads link

My Favorite Read of January 2024

“Humanity is awful, angry, and violent. But we are also magical and musical. We dance. We sing. We create. We live and laugh and rage and cry and despair and hope. We are a bundle of contradictions without rhyme or reason. And there is no one like us in all the universe.”
― T.J. Klune, In the .

My reading for 2024 has started off with a bang. I read a variety of genres, so it was difficult to compare. I Untimately, TJ KLune’s writing style puts him above the rest.

Book facts:

Title: In the Lives of Puppets

Author: TJ Klune

Publisher: Tor Books

Publication Date: April 25, 2024

Goodreads Synopsis:

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots–fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

My Thoughts:

I held off on reading this for a while because I had seen a negative review. But, I realized within the first chapter, that Klune could write anything and I would love it. His writing style just speaks to me. I love the way he casually weaves humor into his stories and uses dialog to develop his characters. The bantor between Rambo (a needy vacuum) and Nurse Ratched (a psychotic health monitoring machine) was some of the best I’ve ever read.

At the end of the novel there was a note from Klune alluding to the fact that the novel was not what he had intended to right. As I looked into this I discovered that he had originally written Vic as autistic, but there was dispute among sensitivity readers, and it was ultimately changed. Obviously, I haven’t read the original version (which I’m sure was wonderful, because everything he writes is) I think it works better this way. Vic is the only human amongst robots, so I think it makes more sense to show characteristics, and let the reader draw their own conclusions.

My Favorite Read of December 2023

Goodreads Synopsis

Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses: The Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is holding a cooking contest–and the grand prize is a job as the program’s first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the competition would present a crucial chance to change their lives.

For a young widow, it’s a chance to pay off her husband’s debts and keep a roof over her children’s heads. For a kitchen maid, it’s a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For a lady of the manor, it’s a chance to escape her wealthy husband’s increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it’s a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.

These four women are giving the competition their all–even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together only serve to break it apart?

Reasons I loved the book

It’s no secret that I love WWII fiction, but there were a few things that made this one stand out:

  • While the characters experience a lot of hardship, as a whole this was a feel-good story
  • The focus was on the women’s friendship, not a romance
  • It has recipes!

Check out the rest of my favorite books of the year here

My Favorite Read of November 2023

Goodreads synopsis:

The latest historical novel from New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, inspired by the true story of a woman physician from 15th-century China—perfect for fans of See’s classic Snowflower and the Secret Fan and The Island of Sea Women.

According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.

Reasons I loved this book:

  • Though fictionalized, Yunxian is a real person with a fascinating life
  • It was interesting learning about early easter medicine
  • Lisa See is a master at writing female relationships

My Favorite Read of October 2023

A little late this month, but I’m excited to share this one.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A riveting new novel about an indomitable young woman in Virginia during Prohibition.

Most folk thought Sallie Kincaid was a nobody who’d amount to nothing. Sallie had other plans.

Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.

Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.

You will fall in love with Sallie Kincaid, a feisty and fearless, terrified and damaged young woman who refuses to be corralled.

Reasons I loved this book:

  • Walls is always good at writing strong female portraits, through fiction and memoir. Sallie is a woman before her time who survives in a man’s world.
  • I read a lot of books set in WWI or WWII, but haven’t read as much in the years between. It was an interesting time because the world is at a precipice of change. Women are still very oppressed, but are starting to gain power.
  • The characters are complex and the reader’s perception changes as Sallie matures and evolves as a character.

My Favorite Read of September 2023

Goodreads Synopsis:

A riveting tale of unfathomable success great joy deep pain, and redemption that can come only from above. From a working-class background in North Carolina to a job as a cook and club singer in Nashville to his “overnight success” with his smash 1986 album Storms of Life–which launched the neotraditional movement in country music–Randy’s first three decades are a true rags-to-riches story. But in 2009, this seemingly charmed life began a downward spiral. His marriage dissolved, he discovered that his finances had unraveled, and his struggles with anger led to alcohol abuse, public embarrassment, and even police arrest in 2012.

Then, just as he was putting his life back together, Randy suffered a devastating viral cardiomyopathy that led to a massive stroke which he was not expected to survive. Yet he not only survived but also learned to walk again and, in 2016, accepted his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame by singing the hymn that explains his life today: “Amazing Grace.”

Filled with never-before-told stories, Forever and Ever, Amen is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at dizzying success and the miraculous road to restoration.

Reasons I loved this book:

  • I have been a Randy Travis fan from the beginning of his career, and there was so much I didn’t know about him.
  • It’s an inspirational story of strength and survival.
  • You get to see Randy’s sense of humor and a side of his personality the public doesn’t always show.
  • It’s a piece of country music history.

My Favorite Read of August 2023

Goodreads Synopsis:

Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing…
Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth.

Reasons I loved this book:

  • It’s hilarious!
  • Despite her flaws, you can’t help loving Vera
  • The suspects are all likable, and the murder victim is deplorable
  • Delicious food and tea descriptions
  • Found family

My favorite read of July 2023

Goodreads Synopsis:

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….

Reasons I loved this book:

  • It’s a beautiful combination of whimsical and heartwarming
  • A delightful cast of diverse characters with unique backgrounds and personality quirks
  • Found family trope
  • I loved how Mika looks at people through the lens of nice vs. kind
  • It’s a great model for making social change in small steps

My Favorite Read of June 2023: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

“Please try to remember that books aren’t always an escape; sometimes books teach us things. They show us the world, they don’t hide it.”
― Sara Nisha Adams, The Reading List

Goodreads Synopsis:

Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in the London Borough of Ealing after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.

Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.

When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list… hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again. 

Reasons I loved this book:

It celebrates that a great book can mean different things to different people.

I love a intergenerational friendship story.

I learned more about Indian culture.

I love creating my own book lists.

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