It has been such a busy two months for me that I am a bit behind in posting what I have read. And because of that, here is a double whammy – two months at once! I did read quite a bit even though we had so much going on. At the end of February we went on a very long ago planned bucket list trip to Hawaii. It was 100% absolutely amazing and we had the very best time. While there I didn’t read as much as I thought I would, we were on the go most days exploring. But I did have some down time at the beach and pool of course, what trip to an amazing tropical island would be complete without at least a little beach reading?
Shortly after returning in March we left again for an amazing adventure in Italy to visit our youngest child who is studying abroad in Florence. The timing was less than ideal due to the above mentioned planned vacation and originally we were not going to make this trip. But after many weeks of searching I found a great deal through Costco Travel of all places and booked it right away. The big pieces of cost, being able to take time off work and finding a house sitter feel into place and we decided to go. Minus some long plane rides, there was very little time to read while in Europe. We were on our feet all day, every day and by the time we stopped at night I pretty much collapsed from exhaustion.
Between those two trips I did have a work trip that included two, four hour plane rides so there was a good deal of airplane reading all across the board!
I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to make both of these trips. Hawaii was planned for a very long time and we were really looking forward to it! Italy was very spontaneous and it was such a new experience to make sure a long journey with so very little notice and planning. As busy as I was, I dove into a few great reads in February and March, but there were a couple of duds too. Four books that I completed were on my To-Read: Published Before The New Year list and three were on my 2019 New Releases To Read List. Not bad at all! Here is what I read!
February 2019 Books I Read
The Lost Man – Jane Harper
This was the third Jane Harper novel that I have read. I really loved The Dry and Force of Nature and The Lost Man was very good as well. I did get a bit lost myself in the geography of the Australian outback of Queensland and felt how unforgiving the land was. Harper is very gifted in weaving location and environment into her stories. This one felt a bit darker than the other two as the mystery of how the third brother wound up dead literally in the middle of nowhere and how the remaining family members dealt with the grief of losing one of their own.
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We Were The Lucky Ones – Georgia Hunter
I absolutely fell in love with this book. I am not sure what is holding me back to give it the coveted 5 🍷’s, but it was close. I did have a wee trouble keeping some of the characters straight (there were a lot of them!) so that is probably why it is a 4 and not 5. This is a true story of the Polish Jewish Kurc family and everything that happened to each one of them before, through and after World War II in Radom, Poland. I was absolutely devastated emotionally and drained thoroughly to read of their journey and kept holding out hope that indeed they would be the lucky ones in the end. It is a book of complete devastation and yet hope and survival but there are definitely descriptive, horrific events to read of. I am grateful to have learned more in depth about what happened particularly in Radom, some of it is very difficult to read, but still needs to be read and is important. Bravo to the author for sharing this truly unforgettable story. I enjoyed We Were The Lucky Ones on Audible, but it would be a fantastic read the old fashioned way as well.
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The Dreamers – Karen Thompson Walker
This was a new release that I wound up getting from the library on the Lucky Day cart shortly after it was published. Taking place is a very small college town outside souther California, people are falling asleep and not waking up. There’s a lot of who and why and lots of wondering how and as brain activity is studied we learn that these sleeping people are dreaming in a very heightened state. I did enjoy this book, however I would say that the first half was GREAT and the second half fell a teeny short for me as it got quite depressing, leaving it without 5 🍷’s.
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You – Caroline Kepnes
I fell in with the masses and binge watched You on tv this winter. After completing the series I picked up the book. I have to say that I liked the book better than the series and found Joe to be even creepier than on tv. It felt strange liking creepy, obsessive Joe, for a bit anyway. Overall the book is entertaining and I may read Kepnes’ next one.
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All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir – Nicole Chung
All You Can Ever Know is a touching memoir as Chung recounts her birth, adoption and her life as a child, teen and adult. Born to immigrant Korean parents and severely premature, she was placed for adoption due primarily to the cost of medical bills. Her story recounts the love of her family that adopted her and all of her struggles as she tries to find her place in society as an adopted Korean American. She eventually begins a search to find her birth parents and that brings another level of balance as she is about to give birth to her first child at about the same time. I kept thinking I really don’t believe I could have gone through that as I was about to have a baby – it is all just so emotional to begin with and everything she was dealing with probably brought her emotions to the Nth degree. I listened to this on Audible and while I did enjoy it, I may have liked the readable book in this case better.
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The Last Child – John Hart
I have had The Last Child on my To Read list for some time and this was probably the 3rd or 4th time I picked it up from the library. Thankfully it was a paperback so it was the perfect choice for one of my trips. Johnny Merriman goes on a deep search to try and locate his missing twin sister Alyssa who pretty much vanished into thin air. For some reason this story reminded me a little of Stand By Me, but I am not sure how similar they truly are. Johnny is pretty alone except for Detective Clyde Hunt who also has never stopped looking for Alyssa. It is a bit dark but I did find it well written and I will likely continue with the next in the series, The Hush. I got through it pretty easily on a few plane rides and a day at the beach.
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Atomic Marriage – Curtis Sittenfeld
Atomic Marriage was free on Audible a few months ago. I downloaded it and listened to it and I have to say that I had to try about seven times to get through this VERY short audio book. You would think that I tried so many times that I would have loved it in the end but that is not the case at all. Here’s what I got out of it. Heather’s marriage is on the rocks. She met author of Atomic Marriage Brock Lewis and thought he had the answers and wants to turn his story into a movie. He winds up being very strange. The end.
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March 2019 Books I Read
Daisy Jones and The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
I am a Taylor Jenkins Reid fangirl. Ever since I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo last year, I have devoured all of her books. To say Daisy Jones was my most anticipated new release of the year would be an understatement. I had it reserved at the library as one of the first to receive it but the release date was while we were on one of our trips. What is a girl to do? Buy it on Kindle of course to start on Day 1! When I began reading the book I was a tad nervous at first. The oral history interview style of the book took me a bit to get used to and enjoy. Once I did, I was golden. But it was a little bit of a rocky start. As a gal that lived her young years knowing every word to every Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty & Rod Stewart song, this book about a fictional rock bank in the 70’s sat close to home and my heart and made me fangirl even more. Reid has stated that much of the book was inspired by Fleetwood Mac and the rocky relationships between Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham as well as the soon to be doomed marriage of Christine McVie and John McVie. I urge you to fire up Rumors or this inspired Spotify play list as you crack open Daisy Jones and The Six.
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The Banker’s Wife – Cristina Alger
The Banker’s Wife was probably a little “lighter” than my normal mystery/thriller/crazy book – perhaps because it didn’t have that intense creepy element that I usually wind up with. Annabel finds out her banker husband Matthew has died in a plane crash in the Swiss alps and is immediately faced with figuring out if she really ever knew her husband at all. The story intersects with Marina, engaged to the son a of presidential hopeful, and is uncovering evidence related to the bank where Matthew has worked. The stories of course intersect and a cast of characters involved lead this to be a tad predictable but I did enjoy it and it was perfect for long plane rides. I could very well see this being made into a movie.
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Do Not Become Alarmed – Maile Meloy
Do Not Become Alarmed follows the story of two families that take a cruise vacation together and the children go missing on a day excursion. I am going to cut to the chase. I didn’t like this book. I am rating it 2 🍷s because I finished it, and even that feels generous. It was riddled with bad choice after bad choice made by pretty much everyone in the book – to the extent where it felt completely unbelievable. If this had not been a selection for one of my bookclubs I would not have completed the book.
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She Was The Quiet One – Michele Campbell
Normally if I finish a book I don’t like I will still give it 2 🍷’s just for the finish. Not in this case. This book was so disturbing that I couldn’t really find anything to tell you that I liked. I am not sure why I finished it, but I did.
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Travel Reading – all 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Since we were traveling to two different places, I did a bit of travel reading this winter. Here were our favorites:
Maui Revealed – Andrew Doughty
The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook – Andrew Doughty
Rick Steves Rome 2019
Rick Steves Best of Italy
Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany
🥛 DNF – Just couldn’t keep going
It’s Always The Husband – Michele Campbell
I read Campbell’s She Was The Quiet One first, and as you already know I didn’t care for it at all. A friend that had read both (and also didn’t like the prior) told me to still give this one a try and felt it was much better. I put it down at 25%. I just am not a fit for her writing style and perhaps I just couldn’t get over my dislike for the other so soon.
My February & March Books of The Month:
We Were The Lucky Ones
Daisy Jones and The Six
What did you read this month?
If you like my February & March book list, you may like some of my others if you are looking for something to read!
What Should I Read Next – Favorite 4 & 5 🍷 Selections
My Books to Read List for 2019: Books Published Before the New Year
My Books to Read List for 2019: New Releases
2018 in Reading & My Favorite Books of the Year
