Mattia Goddard

This was my first novel written in verse and I was captivated.

I see why The Poet X won The National Book Award.

It is nothing short of brilliant.

And beautiful.

And heartbreaking.

I know only peripherally about the warring cultures she writes about but I felt her struggle. Daily battles with her mother, her classmates, her faith, her body.

Parents, have your teens read this book.

There is no cursing, no sex. Just real teen angst that on some level every person can relate to.

I chose Elizabeth Acevedo for the 52 week reading challenge- the prompt was A Book by a Caribbean author.

I found this on my daughter's bookshelf.

I am so glad I picked it up.

This is why I love reading challenges.

More character study than mystery, I chose this book to fulfill the Reading Prompt “Shares my Name” - The Next Time You See Me, written by Holly Goddard Jones.

I am so glad I did. Such excellent storytelling with a cast of outsiders and outcasts in a small southern town whose stories thread together into a complex but intimate tale. Loss, heartbreak, squandered dreams - all culminating into violence and betrayal.

It opens with a missing woman and spirals from there. The author writes well- whether in the voice of a middle schooler, a tired old factory worker, a sad schoolteacher. So many good threads in here.

This book is 10 years old and it's a gem. Highly recommended.

I picked up this collection of short stories to fulfill a reading challenge prompt. Specifically a Book about Mythology.

Cassandra has always been a favorite of mine. I love a character that can see the future. This particular version of Cassandra is sly and witty and full of that feminist rage you'd expect at knowing her truly awful plight in life. If you recall any Greek Mythology- you know her story is not a happy one.

But this set of stories moves quickly on to many different types of women and their pieces of life with their small humiliations and general inequalities.

Some of the stories are fantastical in their unspooling. Others are funny or just plain weird. One in particular, my favorite- called Friday Night- is frantic in its delivery. A two page story that is one long sentence. And wow does that work. Talk about driving the point home.

I love Gwen Kirby's writing. I see so clearly all that she describes and I found myself thoroughly immersed in these women and girls, and sometimes men, and the situations she put them in.

If you like short stories, women-centric narratives, and well drawn characters- add this one to your list.

I just finished Station Eleven- a decidedly un-Christmasy read written in 2014- that is Get This- about a Pandemic.
This pandemic was far worse than the one we experienced in 2020.

This one felled society.
Imagine so many people dead so fast that in a few weeks time there is no more electricity.
No more gasoline.
No more air travel, space travel.
All of it. GONE.

This book is brilliantly crafted- the Post Technology World that Emily St. John Mandel has drawn has been so clearly and accurately illustrated.

Is this what our world would be like if 99% of the population died?

And yet for all this doomsday plague horror- somehow, some way, this story is beautiful and soothing.

I think perhaps because the reader learns that in the face of such inestimable loss, what truly matters is our collective humanity. The beauty is in how those left after the Georgia Flu has run through the planet, decide how they will move forward, how they will connect, how they will live.


I felt inexorably pulled into this post-pandemic hellscape -into a future that somehow elicited no fear just profound appreciation for our collective human experience.
Highly Recommended Read.

This book was just what I needed after a November of somber reads. A Holiday Read I grabbed off the end cap at Target- and it was such fun. Not my usual fare in any way shape or form- imagine a steamy Hallmark Movie in book form with two famous moms thrown in for comic relief and star power. I liked the ingenuity of this story line- the children of a famous female rock duo attempting to reunite their mothers- CLEVER PLOT. Then add in two main characters both likable with their own interesting internal narratives and now we have a STORY!

This was my first Tessa Bailey so I was not prepared for her steamy sex scenes- so ya know- here's your heads on that front. The female lead- Melody is particularly well written and has some great, funny dialogue and one-liners. And again -the aging rock moms are cool too- solid snappy dialogue between them. The reality tv-streaming show concept worked well here -probably because unlike other similar plot lines it wasn't scripted or edited. It didn't get in the way of the story.

If you enjoy second chance romances, set during the Holidays this one is for you. And of course, you can't beat the NYC setting at Christmas.

Review: The Drowning Woman

Whoa, what a ride this one is. Quite possibly a Perfect Thriller. This novel starts out with our protagonist down on her luck, and I mean DOWN on her luck. It's bad. It's also a scenario that is altogether plausible in the world we live in today. Robin Harding draws a pitch perfect examination of homelessness, but before long, we are swept up into new and fresh chaos.

We know this is going to be messy for our protagonist. It just takes a while to see how. One of the bits I really appreciated is that this protagonist is not an idiot and she doesn't make stupid mistakes.

We get two POVs which I love. What was brilliant here is that neither POV... wait, I can't finish that sentence. No spoilers.

Harding peels back the layers not slowly, but masterfully. It's not until the very end that we the reader realize how this will play out. And it is brilliant.

I couldn't put this book down.
Plus I have it in hardback and it is a GORGEOUS cover.

Beautifully narrated and quite brilliant world building, imagine my surprise when I got sucked into this audio book.

I left the High Fantasy prompt of the 52 Book Challenge for the end because it's not a genre I usually gravitate toward.

In this story, Chefs have special powers in their world and are prized but held captive for their abilities. While there is lots of magic and talk of edibles and enhancements, there is also much that is familiar, almost old fashioned, about their world. There are gated cities and people wearing wigs, not much indoor plumbing- no electricity, a princess that loves to ride by horseback, and neighboring kingdoms with a tenuous peace on the verge of erupting.

I especially enjoyed the characters. All regular folks- a teen girl, a middle aged chef, her elderly grandmother- lots of talk of royal alliances and family bloodlines and the 5 Gods that rule their world.

Clearly, there's a sequel coming because it ends unfinished with the promise of so much more to come.

Perfect for those that love solid world building, magic and magical creatures.
No sex and no cursing whatsoever in this one so definitely appropriate for younger advanced readers. There is violence but it's not graphic.

Prepare for heartbreak but also for compassion and self reflection. Neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi's story is tragic in that not only did he die young, but there's a sad irony in realizing that the esteemed doctor had become the patient shortly after a decade of medical school.

Paul takes this opportunity to examine life's meaning. When faced with his own mortality, after years of balancing and caring for the mortality of his patients, he turns all that lived experience inward. And there is profundity here. He died before he finished and his wife, also a doctor, wrote the epilogue. That is also a heartbreak, but thankfully it gives the reader some much needed catharsis.

I can definitely say that while this was a great book that had me thinking deeply about my purpose and how we look at death here in this country- I'd be lying if I didn't say I am READY for the two Christmas themed reads I have cued up next!

BIrd by Bird has been on my radar for years and I am so glad I finally picked this book up. This is the 25th anniversary of its publication, and her advice about life and writing is as relevant today as it was when she first wrote them.

If you watched Ted Lasso and you remember when he said “Bird by Bird” but you didn't know what it meant- here you go. It's from Anne Lamont's famed book and that story is worth the read. Plus so much more.

She packs in so much wit and wisdom I plan to go back through my copy with a highlighter. It's that kind of read. And I'm not usually one for those kinds of books.

This is a special book. Chosen for our book club for some lighter fare, we were all besotted with this teenage bowl dust surviving narrator. Set amid the backdrop of Hitler's march across Europe in 1938, this story chronicles some truly epic pieces of American history-most of which we had read little about. The hurricane that hammered New England, the devastating Dust Bowl, the Great Depression and central to it all- the real life story of the two African giraffes rescued then shipped across the Atlantic. Here the author creates a delightful story for the characters on this improbable cross country journey. With a beautiful narrative voice, she puts the reader right in that flatbed truck, safely along for a wild ride. Highly recommend this one. Good clean literary fun.

I've just completed a most beautiful literary journey. It's as though I myself am now returning from the 1930s town of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. What a world James McBride has created! Winner of many accolades including the National Book Award, this book is full of the most delightfully fleshed out characters- each and every one. McBride does not hesitate to give his readers a quick side story about just about all of his cast of characters. It works precisely because his writing is lyric and lovely. There is xenophobia here-and nationalism- all as a precursor to World War II- but there is also human kindness and generosity and the understanding that we are all the same. Our wants and fears and dreams- our humanity binds us together. It is heartbreaking and heartwarming. This writer is a master storyteller. If character driven novels are your thing- this book is for you.

Banned Book Prompt- my choice was Looking for Alaska. I am not the target audience for this story but I'm certain my 13 year old self would've thoroughly enjoyed it . This is quite the cautionary tale. The underage drinking, the dangerous consequences, the complicated pranks- it ends quite unglamorously- and that is something our teens need to read and hopefully think about. If you have a teenager- give them this book.

This book was a breath of fresh air. I laughed out loud repeatedly. I felt like Seth Rogen was talking to me the same way his dialogue unspools in his films. No filter, no edit just straight talk and wow does he cover some topics. There are several famous people in this book that he straight up wrecks. To be fair- sounds like they deserved it. There were so many song and movie references that I knew and loved that I had such a good time reading about Seth's life. This was a blast.

This one is a gut punch. I'm late to the table on this one so this isn't news- everyone knows that the story behind the ICarly star's life is bad. How bad? Well now that I've joined the other 2 million people who have bought this book I can safely say she was abused by her mother- mentally, physically and psychologically- and in none of the ways I am familiar with abuse. Her mom was a messed up individual on so many levels. At the end of this book I was just so glad Jennette McCurdy had figured out a way to wrestle herself clear of the demons her mother so effectively had given her. This is one powerful story. Shocking and sad and thankfully by the end, hopeful and restorative. If you can take heavy subject matters- I highly recommend this book. Lots of triggers though so tread carefully.

I've not read much Nordic Noir and this one I picked because of a reading challenge prompt. I am so glad I did. I love the moody, brooding, dark, cold landscape and the salt of the earth, hardworking, straightforward, blonde characters that populate this tale. Murder is uncommon in these towns and this unsolved serial killer case took a devastating toll on these townspeople in particular.

This is a big book with Scandinavian names that I had very little idea how to pronounce and generations of folks to keep up with. The timelines and narrations jumped around and yet I was able to follow easily. Largely I think because the author takes him time to tell this story. This is not rushed. When you think it's over and all is explained AHA! No it's not! The story takes interesting turns. Nothing outlandish and all perfectly executed. I finished this book happily satisfied at having gone on this Scandinavian journey.

More Nordic Noir for me in my future- most definitely.

Zevin is a gifted writer. I know this because she has given us 400+ pages about two video game creators. And I know very few women readers who play video games or care at all about video games- and yet here we are- so many of us loving this book. It spent 48 weeks on the NYTimes Bestseller List and I say again- they are Video Game Makers... now normally I would never, ever pick up a book about such a topic. This time, however, it was recommended by enough people that loved it- women like me- that I knew I needed to read it.

I tell you what it is- it's a triumph about the lives of two young, brilliant friends with lots of baggage. This story tracks their lives- successes, failures, tragedies, loves from age 10 to 40(ish).

I took my time with this one, allowing the story to wash over me. Beautiful, complicated characters that will stay with me for a long time. Fantastic read.

This book is a delight. Three generations of women brought together first by disease, then by murder, chaos and secrets. The grandmother in this story- Lana- is a gem, a real Type A ass kicker, but classy! So when cancer knocks her down not only does she lose her mojo, but she has to rebuild her relationship with her family. This is one where I actually LIKED THEM ALL- all three of the women. That hasn't happened in a while. Too long really.

I was rooting for Lana and I loved her amateur detective moves. This story is not scary, not dangerous, not sexy. It is the story of a complex crime, buried in a small town that this trio of women have gotten embroiled in. Great debut novel, perfect palate cleanser after several of my dark Halloween reads. People die- but it somehow manages to have a feel-good comedy vibe. Ok, maybe a dark comedy vibe.

This one has several elements that immediately interested me. Murder at an amusement park- YES. Female detective-YES. High body count - YES. Plus- Jennifer Hillier added in a creepy clown museum- so much perfect Spooky Season fodder. I had such fun reading this!

New detective arrives in Seaside and immediately sets to solving a brand new homicide that morphs into much larger missing persons cold cases. Nothing like a creepy amusement park as the backdrop for sex crimes, stalking and murder. This is a good old school thriller. Satisfying read, solid conclusion.

Perfect for Spooky Season- I chose this for our October Book Club that met on Halloween. Talk about creepy. This one tells a small quiet story of childhood but as the narrator reveals his history the reader slowly horrifyingly realizes what this kid does not. Told with brilliant tension and a childlike calm -this book is the type of horror not with supernatural ghosts or devils -but simply the horror that reveals the evil that men can do.

This book does a solid job of starting as one thing and slowly evolving into something altogether different. I particularly enjoy stories with past timelines where the narrator travels back to high school. These were the days of InSYNC and cheer squad tryouts- before cell phones became ubiquitous and the world was not under constant surveillance. Those were easier times- for teens getting into trouble and criminals getting away with dirty deeds. Fast forward to modern day and this mother daughter duo finds themselves at a crossroads. I listened to this one on a long solo car ride- not my favorite way to absorb a book but a really great way to pass the miles. This one is a good mystery- full of secrets- and a great ending.

Talk about surprises! This book absolutely tripped me up not once, but twice, in VERY clever ways. Hats off to the writer- I love it when that happens. This book winds the reader down a fun, twisty path of secrets and subterfuge and confusion. I thoroughly enjoyed the different points of view and then the wild way the writer resolves all of the mess that she so beautifully created.

I am in love with SA Cosby's worlds and My Darkest Prayer is another brilliant, albeit less polished installment. It's an early work and shorter than his more famous later books, but it crackles just the same. First and foremost, what I love about his stories is his setting. Having spent so much time in Virginia, I love to read about ole Newport News in just about all of them. I went to high school in the Blues so I know exactly the areas he's referencing and it's a thrill that never gets old. Then his relationships. He has such a poetic, and at the same time, real way of describing his characters- their appearances, their back stories, their choices, their actions. All of it.

This protagonist is so powerful- a biracial undertaker- plus a whole lot more- but that's not for me to say. That's for the reader to discover. I loved this undertaker story- my first and I learned a lot about the business. I pass SA's books to any & all folks I meet who love the crime genre. If you haven't read him yet, you must.

This book grew on me and by midway I was invested in finding out how Bambi's opera ball was going to turn out. There is a scene in this story where 100 wealthy women attend a luncheon. That entire chapter is absolute gold. I loved it. I enjoy stories that deal with the ultra rich and the bizarre lives they lead. Lives so unlike our own. The author wrote with nuance about their fashion, their homes, their staff, their outrageous shopping- all so interesting sometimes bordering on shocking- how many facials can one woman have in one week? There is an emphasis on philanthropy which is essential to so many causes in our world. I found that part of the book to be an interesting layer. Well done with this one.

I picked this one up upon my daughter's recommendation. She read it in grad school recently and extolled the virtues of its stark, descriptive prose. It is 55 pages and yet tells an absolutely devastating story of forbidden love. I haven't seen the movie- of course I will now, having read this incredible work. I had an ulterior motive- I also knew it would fit one of my #52booksin52weeks prompts- Under 200 pages- check. brilliant, powerful storytelling- check. This is the gold standard of short stories.

This book is 200 pages of train wreck perfection. I could not tear my eyes away from these characters and their petty thoughts and high school dramatics. It opens in spring of 1992, the year I graduated from high school. The height of Bill Clinton's Gennifer Flowers accusations and post-Anita Hill hearings. The first page took me right back to those days. If you're looking for a short fast wild read and you remember high school pre-internet, pre-cell phones- get this one from the library- it's there. This was published way back in 1998 and while the politicians are old and Some are out of power- the stories of these characters are as prevalent then as they are now. HIGHLY recommend. This author is new to me and now I've just added five more of Perrotta's books to my pile...