"Imagine if all men took women seriously. Education would change. The workforce would revolutionize.." — Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry Goodreads Synopsis: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s... Continue Reading →
My Favorite Read of December 2022: The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner
"Sometimes what you want is given to you in a way that is so very different from how you had pictured getting it." — Susan Meissner, The Last Year of the War Goodreads Synopsis Elise Sontag is a typical Iowa fourteen-year-old in 1943--aware of the war but distanced from its reach. Then her father, a... Continue Reading →
Favorite Read of November 2022: How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior
Life can be generous. It can heal the heart and whisper that it’s always possible to start again, never too late to make a difference. It asserts that there are many, many things worth living for. And one of those things—one of the most unexpectedly joyful things of all—is penguins.-Hazel Prior, How the Penguins Saved... Continue Reading →
Favorite Read of October 2022: Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
Words matter, in fact. They're not pointless, as you've suggested. If they were pointless, then they couldn't start revolutions and they wouldn't change history. If they were just words, we wouldn't write songs or listen to them. We wouldn't beg to be read to as kids. If they were just words, then stories wouldn't have... Continue Reading →
Honorable Mentions for September 2022
My favorite book of the month post was about Book Lovers. But the choice was so tough that I had to add a second post with honorable mentions. Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a wonderful fantasy novel based on Chinese folklore. Even though Spain is on my travel bucket list, I haven't read many... Continue Reading →
Favorite Read of September 2022
The ones that speak to me are those whose final pages admit there is no going back. That every good thing must end. That every bad thing does too, that everything does. That is what I’m looking for every time I flip to the back of a book, compulsively checking for proof that in a... Continue Reading →
My Favorite Read of August 2022
“Libraries are like a net, there to catch those of us in danger of falling through the cracks.” Freya Sampson, The Last Chance Library Goodreads Synopsis June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships... Continue Reading →
My Favorite Read of July 2022
Just when you think this war has taken everything you loved, you meet someone and realize that somehow you still have more to give. Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea Goodreads Synopsis While the Titanic and Lusitania are both well-documented disasters, the single greatest tragedy in maritime history is the little-known January 30, 1945 sinking in... Continue Reading →
My Favorite Read of June 2022
She knew that love was the answer, but it was more than love- or rather more than the marshmallow kind of love that people understood when they thought of the word. Sometimes love meant you had to take the hard line and had to force people to do things they didn't want to do. Dale... Continue Reading →
My Favorite Read of May 2022
“All this time, I've been afraid of my ability, when instead I should have been regarding it as a treasured weapon.” Namina Forna, The Gilded Ones Goodreads synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone... Continue Reading →