Tuesday Book Review

Four-star review of The Wedding People by Alison Espach

I enjoyed the humor sprinkled throughout this story  of a depressed woman, Phoebe, whose meeting with the people attending a wedding in Newport makes a difference in her life. The casual references to sex seemed gratuitous to someone of my generation. Otherwise, I liked many of the characters and they all were well-described, with quirks and foibles. I listened to the audiobook and the descriptions put me in every scene. The ending didn’t resolve everyone’s story, although Phoebe was more hopeful about her future. I wish I cared more about what that would be. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review of Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

This Korean novel was as much a treatise on the philosophy of choosing a job that can make you happy as it was a fictional story. The writing style was sometimes awkward, but that could have been the translation. Yeong-Ju isn’t happy in her IT job or her marriage. After her divorce, she opens her childhood dream of a bookshop in a quiet neighborhood. The shop evolves over time into more than a bookstore but also a meeting place with a coffee counter and book clubs. The friendships that develop among the characters was one of the more interesting parts of the book.   

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review of Kingdom of Tomorrow by Gena Showalter

 

This novel is the first of a fantasy duology that starts with the usual story of a woman with abilities she knows nothing about and a powerful (and handsome) man who may or may not be trying to help and protect her. Arden only knows her own homeland called Ourland and joins a training program to give her mother a better life and becomes entangled with High Prince Cyrus Dorian. Lots of plot twists later and Arden still has questions about Ourland and Theirland, how they came to be. I’m intrigued enough to read the second book.

Tuesday Book Review on Thursday

Three-star review of Lincoln at Cooper Union: the Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President by Harold Holzer

I listened to the Audible version of this scholarly book about the speech Lincoln gave in New York that launched his path to the White House, the type of book that tells you what it’s going to cover, covers it, then reiterates what it covered and finally gives a version of the speech, which Lincoln revised and re-presented many times. Yes, I learned a bit about the politics of the time and even a little about the man who became our 16^th president, but it was a rather dry accounting mainly of his whistle-stop tour of New York and New England. Obviously, Holzer did his research into the records of the time, although they weren’t expansive. The speech itself centered on whether new states coming into the union should be regulated as to whether they be free states or ones admitting slavery, an important topic. Listened to for a book club. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Five-star review of All Systems Red: the Murderbot Diaries 1 by Martha Wells

 

There’s a reason these books are so popular and spawned a TV series. This isn’t your normal science fiction. The humor alone is unusual. The Security Bot who calls itself Murderbot has a great sense of what’s absurd about humans, including the survey team it was assigned to, and about its predicament. This novella is fast-paced and a fun read. I loved Murderbot and all the members of the team. Each character is well-rounded. I’m looking forward to reading more of the series and hope it maintains this level.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Five-star review of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This story went from the cliched romantic triangle between a poor girl who doesn’t know the powers she possesses, her childhood friend and a handsome and magnetic powerful man to something much more sinister. Alina and her friend Mal grew up as orphans under the benevolent watch of a nobleman. When they leave they become soldiers but crossing the shadow fold, a dark and mysterious area between Ravka and the sea, Alina releases the magic inside her. She is selected to be one of the Grisha and catches the eye of the Darkling. Alina’s character arc is off to a good start in this book. I loved that many names are echoes of places in Russia and are vividly described. I’ll continue this series to find out what happens next.

Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I laughed in many places as I read Eleanor’s story even though she’d had a traumatic childhood and the results, combined with possible neurodivergence, left her at thirty as a lonely office worker in Glasgow. Much of the humor came from Eleanor’s lack of knowledge about some of the stupid and silly things people do. It sometimes felt like she’d come from another planet as she learned about some of society’s quirks because of her growing friendship with Raymond, an IT guy from her work. I listened to this on audible and kudos to the narrator for the voices and accents she gave both the female and male characters. Eleanor’s arc worked beautifully. Although I could guess where the story was going and the twists in the story, the ending was quite satisfying.