Last month I never put together my reading wrap up, so this month I will have a double whammy. I really have slowed down my reading vs the beginning of the year. I am still at a good pace but I just haven’t had the kind of time that I have had to devote to reading that I have had in the past. That is okay. I still finished eleven books in a two month period – not too shabby at all! I just read when I can / when I want to and stick to whatever I am enjoying at the time. I still am hoping to have more completions on my original 2021 Reading Goal list, but I see that I likely will not finish all of them.
With that said, here is what I read over the last two months. There were some pretty good books and nothing too terrible, so I would call that a success!
Taste: My Life Through Food – Stanley Tucci
On a dark day of the Covid pandemic when my family thought we were all going to loose our minds, we discovered the Stanley Tucci CNN show, Searching for Italy. It became a bright spot in some otherwise very dark days. We watched, we binged, we watched some more. We dreamed of a day that we would travel again, or at the very least, drive down to our favorite Italian restaurant and be treated to the wonderful aromas and foods that I didn’t have to cook myself. I was a little nervous before reading Taste that it would just be a rehash of the show, but it really wasn’t. There certainly was a bit of an overlap, but overall, it was fresh material. Well done, Mr. Tucci, well done. Thank you for being a bright spot for my family during an incredibly crappy time. Not only do you get 5 🍷s, but I added a slice of pizza. I very much enjoyed Taste in audio form, read by Stanley Tucci himself.
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Thick: And Other Essays – Tressie McMillan Cottom
This collection of essays is by far the best book I have read addressing race thus far. It should be a must read for all. Cottom is a magnificent, gifted writer that brought her stories to life in the pages of this divine book. Not only does she so eloquently describe her personal experiences that display the state of race today, but specifically captures what it is like to be a woman of color. This was a library book for me and I will be purchasing a copy to reread over and over. If there is one book from my lists this year that I hope everyone will read, Thick is it.
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There Is Nothing For You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century – Fiona Hill
In case you have already forgotten, Fiona Hill is the whip smart foreign policy expert that was a key if not the key witness in the first Trump impeachment hearing. I decided to read this book through the audio version, narrated by Hill herself, which was lovely. Her book was so much more than just about her time working in The White House, it closely examined her upbringing in poverty and her way out and closely examined correlations between Russia, how she grew up in northern England in a decaying coal mine community and modern day America. I have to admit that there were times that it got a little slow for me and a bit too policy/economically focused – however that is what the book is about. Ultimately, it was deeply fascinating and I hope that many read it.
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Girls Like Us – Cristina Alger
I love a bit of a mystery/thriller with a female lead that isn’t bat-$hit crazy or a drug addict. There doesn’t seem to be a ton of them, so when I do find one and it is well written – Wala! We have ourself a great book! Nell may toss back a drink or 3 here and there, but overall she is what I am looking for when I read a book with a female lead. Strong, smart, driven and devoted to find truth. Nell is an FBI agent that returns to her hometown in Long Island after her father’s death. She has not had a good relationship with him and his death brings many questions. As she is there, a young woman’s body is found and it it is linked to a previous earlier murder quickly. Nell joins the investigation only to begin to suspect her father is somehow connected. This one kept me turning the pages. I’ll be looking to devour more of Alger’s work in the near future.
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Heard It in a Love Song – Tracey Garvis Graves
Heard It in a Love Song is a quirky romance that is very predictable and moves at a comfortable pace and rhythm. Told in varying viewpoints and timelines, Layla and Josh have both recently left relationships – Layla is divorced and Josh is a separated single dad. They are both finding their way in healing, life and love. I normally do not gravitate too much to the chick-lit romance genre, but I am finding that I need a break from the very intense books right now and this was a perfect, light, lovely read for me. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy. Heard It in a Love Song is now available.
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Billy Summers – Stephen King
Over time I have not read very much of King’s work. However, being that I tackled two of his very long books in 2021, it feels like he has played an important part in my reading year. After loving 11/22/63 on audio, I decided I would add the new release, Billy Summers, to my Audible library as well. I thought this book was well done and gave me a chance to cheer for a “hero” that really isn’t a guy you would normally classify as one. Billy Summers is a hired assassin by profession but finds himself in such a quandary that it is impossible not to cheer for him. There is a bit of time jumping as we visit Billy’s youth and tour in Viet Nam and really get to know his whole story.
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Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family – Robert Kolker
Hidden Valley Road was a book club pick for me that I am pretty sure I would not have read otherwise. I had seen it pop up occasionally prior and it never really interested me. It was however, fascinating. The Galvin family have 12 children and six of them are schizophrenic. They resided in Colorado Springs so there were references made throughout the book from all over Colorado, many of which I know well. This was a big part of the draw for me as so many connections were made to places and people that I know or know of. Overall, a devastating story that is very difficult to get through at times.
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Going There – Katie Couric
This is a tough one for me. While I wouldn’t call myself “a fan,” I have liked Katie Couric over time. I remember many a day, particularly in my college years that she helped me start my morning as I listened to her on The Today Show while I ate a bowl of cereal or scrambled to get dressed and make it to class on time. In my early parenthood years I caught more of her as morning tv became a more regular part of my routine in my home for some time. I always did notice her ability to be completely goofy and also be a serious, no nonsense journalist – a trait many women in journalism have not been able to completely find the balance of. I really have not kept tabs on her in more recent years so I didn’t know much of her story of the last five to ten years. I wanted to love this book but if I am totally honest, much of it left a bad taste in my mouth. I did listen on audio which was read by Couric herself, so it was nice to hear her cheery voice again. But there were many parts that didn’t sit well with me and I may have been better off not reading it. With that said, I am very much an advocate of people being authentic and owning their truths, and I do think she does that here. I may not just like all of those parts of her very much – but that is ok! One thing was very clear, she is done with other people’s B.S. and she is ready to lay it on the line.
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The Night She Disappeared – Lisa Jewell
When I first began reading Jewell’s work, she quickly became a favorite author for me and I was drawn to her dark, creepy stories. I have to say though that as I have torn through her titles, I have not been as invested as I once was. This one was o.k. for me and I did like it, but I expected more. I once met Lisa Jewell at a book signing and heard her speak. I found her delightful, funny and engaging and I will likely still read her books. This one was just too unrealistic for me to keep me completely captivated.
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The Maidens – Alex Michaelides
The Maidens was a selection from my 2021 Reading Goal List. I had really enjoyed Michaelides earlier book, The Silent Patient, and was very much looking forward to this one. The ties that connected the story to Greek storylines was a bit much for me and overall fell flat. I pretty much predicted the outcome within the first ten pages and while that isn’t completely unusual and I generally don’t mind that occurring, I was not fully entertained in getting there. I know that many of my reading friends really enjoyed this book but for me it was just okay.
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Slightly South of Simple – Kristy Woodson Harvey
I was really looking forward to this one and hoping to complete Harvey’s whole series but have decided not to continue with her other books. In this first one of the Peach Tree Bluff series, you will meet a single mom who’s husband was killed on 9/11. I just still really have a hard time with fiction that centers on 9/11 and that may have been its demise for me. If I had known that was a focal point prior, I may not have even read this book. There’s a cast of characters of her grown adult daughters and their various love interests and everyone has so much drama and puts up with so much nonsense. I had hoped it would be some light, fun, relaxing chick-lit but overall it was just okay with little substance. The author’s writing and the book in general reminded me a bit of another very popular beach-town writer that also doesn’t keep me turning the pages for long.
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Book(s) of the Month: Taste and Thick
