What a month with books! While I finished nine books in February, I actually had six books that I DNFed this month – six! I am no stranger to putting a book down when it’s either not right for me, or just not the right time. But even for me, six is a lot! I think that shows a little bit about my state of mind – I have no patience whatsoever right now for something I am not enjoying. None. Zero. I generally don’t list the books that I DNF as often times, I am more the issue than the book and I just don’t feel that is fair to the book or the author. Of the six there were two that I have marked to try again at another time.
But here are the nine that I finished, and mostly really enjoyed.
More or Less Maddy – Lisa Genova
More or Less Maddy is one of the best books, if not the best, I’ve read regarding mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. Lisa Genova weaves us through the tale of Maddy Banks, a stressed out and depressed college student at NYU who winds up with an antidepressant prescription after a very low, low. She soon is sent into a tailspin of mania that is not only nail-bitting and frightening but completely believable/relatable as this is a very current timeline. Her delusions contains desires regarding Taylor Swift, the Era’s Tour and a host of other cultural mentions that could be plucked from a current episode of a TV magazine. Inside Maddy’s brain it is truly terrifying and I found myself gasping and praying that someone would help this girl find her way to balance. The outside cast of characters was pretty average and displayed a mix of denial, control and fix-me syndrome. The story of Maddy was so real to me that at times I wondered if this was more of a non-fiction portrayal than a novel. Our mental health is one that is so often overlooked and can be as fragile as any bone, ligament or organ. Genova demonstrates this vividly and empathetically in a way I have not yet seen. So well done and heart breaking.
🍷🍷🍷🍷1/2
What Happened to the McCrays – Tracey Lange
What Happened to the MCrays is a family drama that has great character development and really will tug at the heart strings. I was immediately drawn in with mentioned of Spokane, WA, hockey and then upstate NY – all areas and topics I am familiar with. I was a little worried early on that there was too much of a Beartown feel to it, but the path veered in another direction quickly and I was left to enjoy this one. Kyle McCray has returned home to upstate NY from Spokane after a medical emergency with his dad has forced him to come back to care for him. We quickly learn that he has a failed marriage to Casey and even though we can see that there was a deep love between them, something happened. This one will give you all of the feels. I did enjoy this on audio and believe it added to the story.
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The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams
The Reading List was a pick for one of my in person book clubs this month and it had also been on my own TBR for some time. It’s always fun to read a backlist book instead of just new ones, so I was excited to get to it. I will admit that it took me a bit of time to really sink into the story. But once I did, I was hooked. Widower Mukesh and young adult Aleisha are our main characters and they couldn’t be more different. Mukeesh is sad and lonely and desperately looking for a way to connect with his granddaughter. Aleisha, also lonely, has taken a summer job at the library and comes across a list of books inside of To Kill a Mockingbird. She start to read from the list but at the same time meets Mukeesh who is looking for a new book to read. It is all quite deeper than that, but I don’t want to spoil! It is a heartwarming tale, also with burst of sadness and loss but one I won’t soon forget. I was pleasantly surprised and glad I finally fit this one in!
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Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy
This is one that I think I may have enjoyed a tad more if I had read the physical copy instead of the audio book. While I enjoyed this somewhat character driven literary fiction novel, at times it was a bit much for me, This may very well be a me problem as I am feeling emotionally drained, we just watched LA burn to the ground a couple of weeks ago and the rest of the country is burning to he$$ in a hand basket as well. So perhaps I should have put this aside and stuck to rom-coms and pure outrageous thrillers. I did enjoy it and once I truly got going it was easy to continue but for me it lacked something to push it into rave-land. Was it very good? Yes. Was it absolutely great as I keep hearing? I don’t think so. Still worth a read. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance Audio copy of Wild Dark Shore. It will be available on 3/4/2025.
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Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old – Brooke Shields
Being close to Brooke Shields age (she is a bit older than I am), I have seen her mature throughout my own life. I was curious to hear her story as she enters the empty nesting years. There was a pretty non-obvious sales pitch for her new business, Commence, which I did check out. She talks about a community for women but I never found this community after searching. And I find myself to be a pretty good internet sleuth. I shouldn’t have to search hard for this – should I? (If you find it, let me know). I only found some social media pages of her speaking to an empty, hollow room with no conversation. I did get sucked in and ordered her hair products but after 22 days they still haven’t arrived. I *think* they may finally be on the way after a few terrible interactions with their customer service, which is clearly outsourced by a third rate provider. I did enjoy the book, but the business she’s promoting has not been great so far. (Edited from when I first wrote this – It is now 1 month and 4 days since I ordered – I have some products but not all. They need to figure this all out if she is going to make it with this product line. Tiny bottles and the shipping and service is horrendous).
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Famous Last Words – Gillian McAllister
Great premise and great start. In fact, the beginning and end of Famous Last Words were 4+ but the pages in between were at times hard to power through. There was a lot of speculation and I guess a lot of setting up – but it was a lot! Camilla wakes up on the morning she is to return to work as a literary agent from maternity leave and her husband has left for the day. She’s perplexed but powers through getting her now 9 month old Polly off to daycare for the first time solo. Within a few hours her entire life has changed drastically and there is no going back. At just a tad over 300 pages, this is a fairly quick read, but you will have to have a little patience to let the slower burn of the middle get set up for you. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Famous Last Words will be available on 2/25/25.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
Dream Count – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This is beautiful writing but I found the story lacking, especially the second half. It was slow and difficult to get through. I hope others enjoy it more than I did. This was a NetGalley advanced digital copy that I received in exchange for my honest opinion. Dream Count will be available on 3/4/25.
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This is a Love Story – Jessica Soffer
This is a hard one to review. Overall I found this to be a very difficult read. While the subject matter (a dying woman) is difficult, it was the writing style that made it so hard for me. I’ve seen it described as “An intimate and lyrical celebration of great love, great art, and the sacrifices we make for both.” I don’t know if lyrical celebration is completely the right description for me when it comes to the writing style – I found it as a mix of stream of conscientiousness and stream of memory in an odd run-on way. It was hard to read and a challenge to get through. I will say that this is more than a love story of two people, it is a story of the love for Central Park and NYC – and that there is what saved me and made it at all worth continuing.
Some people will love this (perhaps even find it poetic?). Some people will not like it at all. I fall in the middle and that alone was disappointing as it was a highly anticipated release this year for me. Thank you to Dutton Books for sending me an advance copy. This Is a Love Story is now available.
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Wolf at the Table – Adam Rapp
Now this is a book I should have DNFed. I think the reason I kept going was two fold. 1 – It is a train wreck that I just couldn’t look away from but I absolutely should have. 2 – Whoever wrote this book summary did the author no favors. It is so far off from description that I kept going to see if it would ever match the book. I am pretty sure that blurb writer did not read the book. Or because of my #1, he just didn’t know what else to say. The end.
🍷🍷 (feeling generous)
