Category: What I’m Reading

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1. We Were Liars

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SUMMARY

A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.

A revolution. An accident. A secret.

Lies upon lies.

True love.

The truth.

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MY REVIEW

I’m not even sure why I put this book on hold at the library. I think somewhere I read an article on “must reads for the summer.” Considering it was middle grade/young adult, I had high hopes for this novel. In addition, in the first few days I carried it around, multiple people mentioned they had heard good things about the book, and did I know it was turned into a miniseries as well? (I did not).

The plot does make for a fascinating read. Four friends continue to meet each summer on a tiny island just off the east coast. But something happens to one of the four in which she loses her memory and no one is willing to tell her why.

Ultimately, the depth wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I read one review that used the word “cringy,” which I thought was a perfect description for a novel geared toward the very generations that would use that word. It felt a bit to “soap opera” with deep dark secrets and family feuding; when I finished reading it I was not surprised at all that this had been turned into a show. It has all the drama elements necessary for good watching.

If you are someone who needs lots of drama to keep you turning the pages of a book, then I would recommend this to you.

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2. How to Age Disgracefully

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SUMMARY

When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards.

The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.

When the city council threatens to sell the doomed community center building, the members of the Social Club join forces with their tiny friends in the daycare next door—as well as the teenaged father of one of the toddlers and a geriatric dog—to save the building. Together, this group’s unorthodox methods may actually work, as long as the police don’t catch up with them first.

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MY REVIEW

My husband recommended this book to me, as he knows my penchant for older, curmudgeony narrators (I’ll give you a rundown of my favorites sometime in a 2026 newsletter). The first chapter is fantastic. In literary terms we use the phrase “in media res” meaning to start a story in the beginning. But actually, the first chapter happens chronologically at the end of the novel. The author throws the reader into the middle of chaos, ends the chapter, and requires the reader to slowly work their way through the plot in order to watch the issues build.

Pooley creates a lively and loveable cast of senior citizens for her story. While the plot does have its twists and turns, the overall arc is fairly predictable and the reader has confidence in how the novel is going to end before the author actually gets us there.

This is a pleasant, light-hearted, straight-forward read. If you enjoy (or even appreciate) older, curmudgeonly readers as I do, than I recommend this book as worth your time.

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3. SUMMER ON LILAC ISLAND

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SUMMARY

Broke and newly unemployed, Gigi Jenkins is heading home to the horse-and-buggy Mackinac Island that she once couldn’t wait to leave behind. She’s going to be spending the summer with her mother, and she’s not sure what that close proximity will do to their already fraught relationship. Almost immediately, they find themselves in a battle of wills, and they agree to play matchmaker for each other. Both women are certain that the other couldn’t possibly understand them, so surely these potential connections will fizzle out before they even begin.

Misunderstandings, interference, and near-misses are skillfully wielded. Gigi and James circle each other through the curse of small-town encounters–cornhole tournaments, church fundraisers, and lakeside run-ins–and a fresh nemesis-to-lovers plot plays out. Meanwhile, Eloise feels sparks for the resident-for-the-summer Scottish author that she never thought she’d feel again.

But the greatest love story of the summer is the one between Gigi and her mother, Eloise. As they navigate the world as two single women, staying up late to wait for each other to get home from dates and helping each other pick out outfits and draft texts to their respective suitors, their strained relationship starts to heal as they transition from mother-daughter to confidantes and friends.

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MY REVIEW

I believe I first became interested in this novel through an online “summer reads” recommendation by Schulers Book employees. I do love a good seasonal fiction story; I’ve been known to fall prey to more than one Christmas novel in December (hoping it will soften my otherwise Scroogish spirit). And summer reads should be read…well…in the summer. Add in that the novel takes place on Mackinac Island, a charming place I have visited a handful of times, and I was all in for this novel. I placed my holds early and was pleasantly surprised that my name came up in the queue well before the end of summer.

Overall, it is a lovely novel with enjoyable characters and a plot that keeps the pages turning. But if I had to flavor the novel as if it were an ice cream cone (perhaps sold at Sadie’s on the island), it would be vanilla. The characters were quite predictable, and the plot was fairly straight forward with a few minor twists and turns thrown in. And while I love Mackinac Island, there was just too much of it. Too much description, too much history; the main character continues to explain how she feels claustrophobic on the island, and after reading the novel, I did a bit as well.

I’m so glad I got the chance to read this summer novel in the summer. And I hope it enlightens more people to visit this island set back in time, with all of its charm and grandeur.

For those of you looking for a sweet, simple summer romance novel, I highly recommend this for you.

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4. The Patron Saint of Liars

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SUMMARY

St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, usually harbors its residents for only a little while. Not so Rose Clinton, a beautiful, mysterious woman who comes to the home pregnant but not unwed, and stays. She plans to give up her child, thinking she cannot be the mother it needs. But when Cecilia is born, Rose makes a place for herself and her daughter amid St. Elizabeth’s extended family of nuns and an ever-changing collection of pregnant teenage girls. Rose’s past won’t be kept away, though, even by St. Elizabeth’s; she cannot remain untouched by what she has left behind, even as she cannot change who she has become in the leaving.

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MY REVIEW

I’m not even sure why I reserved this particular book at this particular time from the library. I have wanted to read Ann Patchett for some time (ssshhh–don’t tell others I hadn’t read any Ann Patchett up until this point). I will join her throng of followers in confirming she is a talented writer. Her characters are deep and complex and well-thought out. I loved how the novel changed in point-of-view to three different characters.

The novel left me thinking about the definition of villain. Rose is not meant to be liked, although there are aspects of her we can empathize with. While she’s not a good person, she’s not evil. And given the time stamp of the story (1960s) and the location (rural Kentucky), I wonder how much agency Rose had in her own story. Did she truly have the ability to choose what she wanted to do in life, or was she limited by her gender, level of education and socioeconomic status?

This novel is a slow read for sure. Patchett puts this fiction stew in a Dutch oven and sets it on simmer for quite some time. The reader will need to commit to continuing to read even when the plot offers nothing new or exciting on the horizon. But it is worth the read at the end. And I’m excited to read another Ann Patchett–perhaps The Dutch House will be my next one down the road.

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Author Highlight:

Cindy DeBoer

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SUMMARY:

What happens when you’ve reached all your earthly goals and you’re only twenty-eight years old?

What if you’ve realized the American Dream, and although you’re pretty confident it’s all a big blessing from Jesus, you still feel miserably lacking in purpose and fulfillment?

What makes a reasonably well-off American Christian family walk away from their perfectly scripted life—prestigious careers, dream home, lake house, nice cars, kids’ sports, frequent travel, perfect church, tons of family and friends—and follow God to the ends of the earth? How would any young family have the courage to leave all the things the world tells us to strive for and instead choose a life of intentional simplifying, serial downsizing, and two major moves overseas?

Cindy’s memoir chronicles their family’s unorthodox Christian journey that began as a result of praying in earnest: “Lord, help us to live what we say we believe.” Follow along as the DeBoers, a typical average suburban family, finds the courage to subvert a safe and comfortable life for a risky and riotous ride that led them to far, far better things.

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MY REVIEW:

I met Cindy for coffee back in late fall of 2024 when I was trying to figure out how to launch my life as an author. Someone I had been working with in the writing/publishing world connected us two, believing we had quite a bit in common. What an understatement. Cindy and I only planned on having coffee and meeting each other for an hour, but our conversation lasted far longer and extended to the point where we both apologized that we had to leave.

Cindy has an amazing story that most of us only dream of; she and her husband sold everything and moved their entire family to Morocco, believing they were called to do more in this life than simply live the American dream of amassing wealth and status. (Side note: I won’t even change peanut butter brands in my home because I’m afraid of rocking my kids’ world too much. So there’s that.)

Fair warning to all of you readers: this book makes you think. Cindy writes about things that haunt all of us, such as “elusive perfection–always reaching for something that’s just outside my reach.” You’ll empathize with her tiredness. “So very tired of trying to get everything right. I just wish I knew how to let it go.” While most of us can’t imagine actually acting upon that feeling, she does, and–spoiler alerts–finds it’s the best, most rewarding, life-changing decision she’s ever made.

Multiple agents told Cindy that she has a beautiful story that must be told…but it is rare that agents take risks on memoirs written by little known authors. Hollywood stars can have their life story written by a ghost writer and will publish millions of copies (I’m looking at you, Savannah Guthrie). But a religious woman from the midwest who has 1,000 Facebook friends? They passed on her, every time. So she did the brave thing and self-published.

If you enjoy her memoir, help her out and pass the good word far and wide. Or, even better, buy a few extra copies to distribute and help launch this midwestern mom and her important story.

PURCHASE:

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1. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

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SUMMARY:

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on a mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.

But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome” dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.

That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town…and change it forever.

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MY REVIEW:

Wow. Talk about life imitating fiction. I had just posted my own short story about a community banning books–which was based on a library in my community facing a similar situation–when I received an email from my library letting me know this book was on hold. Honestly, I don’t even remember placing it on hold or where I saw the book in the first place.

This story is an all-true tale of the war we are currently waging against those who are afraid and want to ban open-mindedness and discussion, and those who believe it is the very definition of freedom. It’s a story of fitting in, feeling left out, of those who want power they will do just about anything to get it, and those who live in fear each and every day.

If you side with Lula Dean, then this book is most likely not for you. But if you find yourself snickering with Lindsay when she swaps the books under the book covers, and you find yourself cheering for Beverly and all those who allow their mindsets to be changed (and freed) by what they read, then go ahead and place this book on hold. Or better yet, buy a copy and pass it on to other friends when you are done.

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2. Three Days in June

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SUMMARY:

Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.

But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.

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MY REVIEW:

I ended up purchasing this book because I wasn’t going to get a library copy before I left on vacation, and as library books make me unnaturally nervous (losing one goes on your permanent record, you know), I felt much more comfortable taking a book I own on a two-week vacation to Europe.

While it packed light (even for being a hardcover), I was a bit disappointed to find it was only 178 pages long. What? It should be clearly labeled as a novella and not a full-fledged novel. Due to its short length and my world’s longest layover (7.5 hours!), I was able to read the entire story in one day. My initial concern is that I would have nothing to read in Europe, but as it turned out, I read exactly zero pages in Europe. Between the busyness of the days and the difference in time zones, my brain did not have the energy to read the entire time I was there. (The other book I brought about Lisbon I began reading on my marathon layover–8.5 hours–on the way home).

While it was short, Anne Tyler wrote a lovely story. The plot is nothing complicated–her daughter is getting married and her ex-husband unexpectedly has to stay at her house–but Tyler doesn’t drive up the drama or make it anything it shouldn’t be. There are many emotions involved with weddings, but at no point does Tyler make it into a soap opera. The entire novel is read in a quiet to medium voice.

If you are looking for a quick, simple read, this is an absolute thumbs-up from me.

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3. Two Nights in Lisbon

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SUMMARY:

You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone―no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new―much younger―husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

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MY REVIEW:

I purchased this book earlier in the summer as I planned on reading it while my family vacationed in Portugal. However, our jam-packed days and my exhausted brain in the evening led me to read exactly zero pages while I was there. I was disappointed, as I love to read novels based in my location when I travel, but I was excited to begin reading it when I arrived home. (I did see this book when I visited Livraria Bertrand, the oldest bookstore in the world which just so happened to be located in Lisbon. So fun!)

It took me longer than I anticipated to finish this book, especially since it was an engaging mystery. Jet lag and the immediacy of duties and responsibilities once I arrived home post-vacation left me little time to read. So I was glad the plot was engaging; I picked it up and read a few chapters with every free moment I had.

As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of mysteries, often because I am so critical of them (which is probably why I will never write one myself). This one paced well and left me hanging until the end of the book. Skim readers beware: there are a number of names of different individuals involved in attempting to solve this mystery, so a cheat sheet of names and roles might be helpful. If I had one criticism of the novel, it was that the epilogue was too full of information and explanation that I wished had been scattered a little more through the plot so that we could have sown the benefits ourselves instead of having all of it simply handed to us.

This mystery gave me the vibes of John Grisham or James Patterson, but I would recommend this novel to anyone. AND if you’ve been to Lisbon (like I now have), there are a few great references to localities that you might be able to place in your mind. Even better.

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4. Sandwich

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SUMMARY:

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It’s one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.

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MY REVIEW:

Good news: this might go into my top-10 favorite read of all times.

Bad news: this book is geared toward a very narrow crowd. I’m specifically looking at you, middle-aged women. Those of us who might be raising late-teen to early-adult children, who simultaneously love them at their current age and desperately want a tiny body to snuggle.

Sandwich is a simple story told in Cape Cod, Massachusetts at the same weekly rental cottage where this family has vacationed for decades. It holds all the memories, the traditions. And the narrator, a 54-year-old woman, is caught in complexities of her own age and her family’s stage of life.

The first paragraphs of the first chapter captivated me and never let up. There’s an overflowing toilet in the rental cottage, adult kids calling from outside the door, “I can smell it! It stinks!” and a quick moment to note how his biceps look sexy in his t-shirt as he plunges.

I empathized with Rocky for almost the entire book. The dynamics of raising adult children, of loving their independence and wanting to smother sunscreen on them. Waking up every day puzzled by changes to her body and why no one explained those things might happen. Of finding that decisions she made earlier in her life only dig a deeper groove of regret into her brain.

It’s a story of family, of making sandwiches for the beach, of trying to understand your kids as adults, of becoming comfortable with your body and your age and who you were and who you want to be. Of daily recommitting to love your spouse, even though neither of you are anywhere close to the naive kids who pledge to love each other eternally.

This book is about the messiness of life, but it particularly resonates with the mid-40s to mid-50s female. As one character summed it up perfectly, “It’s so crushingly beautiful, being human.”

I will offer a fair “heads up” to those who choose to read this book: Newman is real and honest in her portrayal of Rocky, the matriarch and narrator of this story. She uses language and raw, vivid physical descriptions. If you are a squeamish reader when it comes to either of those, I might steer you clear of this book.

But for all my midlife friends out there who need a deep self-reflection into their soul, this one’s for you.

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1. Turtles All the Way Down

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Summary

Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Pickett’s son Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

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My Review

After struggling through my last two books, I was ready for a book which I wanted to dive into and never return.  Reading had been hard, and I wanted to make it easy, effortless again.  For me, the middle grade/young adult genre almost always does that for me. 

I have been a long-time fan of John Green. While he is most likely known for A Fault in Our Stars, I personally preferred Looking for Alaska.  I had seen this book advertised on in the young adult section at Strand Bookstore on my recent trip to NYC; when I saw that it was available for immediate pickup at my local library, I went over that very day and claimed it. 

In short, I began and finished this book on the same day.  It captivated me the way I hoped.  The characters were real and believable; Aza is clearly struggling with her own personal issues, but that does not discredit her friends Davis and Daisy from their  equally real problems and daily struggles.  Through this Green paints an important picture that no one’s life is perfect. 

In the same way that Shu beautifully captured the difficulty of understanding an eating disorder in Louder than Hunger, Green walks the reader through the world of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. 

I would highly and readily recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of young adult.  And I just learned that it is also a movie, and I love to watch movies based on books because I love to remind myself how the book is always better than the movie.  Every time. 

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2. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

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Summary:

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies’ motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.

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My Review:

I chose this book because I had seen it on a stand in a local bookstore in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia while on vacation. It turns out that I had read another of Siminson’s books years ago, The Last Stand of Major Pettigrew. I don’t remember any of the details of that book, but I do remember enjoying it.

What I enjoyed most about the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club was the time period in which it was set. Post World War I was a fascinating time globally, but especially England where the warfront was a much closer geographical reality than here in the States. Add in the complicating factor of gender, where the post-war story is told from the perspective of women, and you have a delicious plot. Similar to World War II and Rosie the Riveter, women in the 1920s were asked to fill in roles while the men went away to fight. They offered their employable skills and appreciated being part of the workforce. However, after the war, the men returned and all was expected to fall back to normal. But how can you go back when you’ve tasted freedom and experienced independence?

I found the historical gender rules of the day to be fascinating, especially in high society. Chaperones and propriety were the main concern of the day. But thrown in a few women wearing chaps, goggles and helmets, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm.

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This book was truly delightful from start to finish, and even if the story closed up a little more neatly than I personally prefer, sometimes in this life we all need a happy ending.

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3.  Our Last Days in Barcelona

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Summary

Barcelona, 1964. Exiled from Cuba after the revolution, Isabel Perez has learned to guard her heart and protect her family at all costs. After Isabel’s sister Beatriz disappears in Barcelona, Isabel goes to Spain in search of her. Joining forces with an unlikely ally thrusts Isabel into her sister’s dangerous world of espionage, but it’s an unearthed piece of family history that transforms Isabel’s life.

Barcelona, 1936. Alicia Perez arrives in Barcelona after a difficult voyage from Cuba, her marriage in jeopardy and her young daughter Isabel in tow. Violence brews in Spain, the country on the brink of civil war, the rise of fascism threatening the world. When Cubans journey to Spain to join the International Brigades, Alicia’s past comes back to haunt her as she is unexpectedly reunited with the man who once held her heart.

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My Review:

Our Last Days in Barcelona is the fifth book in a series of fiction books set in Cuba. My husband and I were fortunate enough to visit Cuba in the fall of 2016 before tensions once again arose between our two countries, all but shutting down the border for American tourists. Cuba is a beautiful and complicated country, and even in my short visit there of only a few days, I left part of my heart there. I read the first book, Next Year in Havana, and was immediately hooked on the plot which was largely historical fiction about Castro’s rise to power, the violence that tore the country, and the heartbreak between those who fled and those who stayed. The next books in the series have followed the same family, although they have greatly differed in topic and therefore my interest.

This novel was not my favorite in the series. I have owned it for some time but finally decided to read it as my family is traveling to Barcelona this summer. While there is a base of historical fiction in this novel–Cleeton always does her research–this one was a little too “beach read-y” for me. Lots of complicated romantic relationships, “longing” and whispers and glances and soft touches. And unfortunately the feminist in me cringes when a woman who is escaping a bad relationship and finally tastes her own freedom and independence simply lands in the arms of a new man.

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​If you enjoy a good romance and want to learn more about the Cuban-Spanish historical relationship, I would highly recommend this book.

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4.  It’s All or Nothing, Vale

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Summary

No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing is fencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was . . . until the accident.

After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number one: Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that.

But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?

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My Review:

As I have mentioned previously, my favorite genre is middle grade fiction. Recently, I had been introduced to novels in verse and have come to appreciate how other titles I recently read offer a full, worthwhile narrative tale in a concentrated amount of words.
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Unfortunately, It’s All or Nothing, Vale didn’t live up to the level of my previous middle grade verse novels. It just felt that Arango was working too hard to sell a heartbreaking tale, and I just never deeply connected with the main character. The plot felt to me too stereotypical with a character wanting to overcome an obstacle. Overall, I found I didn’t care much about the plot, the main character or what happened to her. It just all felt flat.​
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The novel did offer a fascinating look into the world of fencing, and it did provide the reader with a strong cultural angle. It is also a quick read, as many novels in verse can be.
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Overall, I simply cannot recommend this book, as I just believe there are too many other books and not enough time to read them all. If you’re interested in a novel written in verse, I would instead recommend Enemies in the Orchard by Dana VanderLugt or Louder than Hunger by John Schu.

I was traveling oversees with my family for two weeks during the month of June, which did not leave me much reading time. I’ll add what I read to my list next month, but for this newsletter, I’m giving you a highlight list of some of my favorite reads from a genre I created (I have yet to see it in a bookstore, although I would read every book in this section).

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FAVORITE READS WITH QUIRKY NARRATORS

I love a good quirky narrator, and I find I’m drawn to one who is probably on the Autism spectrum. I love how they see the world in black-and-white and how they dissect everyday social behaviors as if it were a science experiment. My first book I remember reading in this genre was Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The plot was quite serious, but I was enamored with Christopher John Francis Boone and how we only read the story through his perspective.

Below are my top 4 favorite fiction novels and 1 nonfiction memoir with Quirky Narrators. As I mentioned in my introduction, this is not an official genre as far as I know, but I would love to see a turnstile or a small bookshelf with more of these stories. The world needs more quirky narrators.

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1. The Rosie Project

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Summary

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.
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Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don’s Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

2. The Cactus

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Summary

Susan Green is like a cactus: you can’t get too close. She likes things perfectly ordered and predictable. No surprises. But suddenly confronted with the loss of her mother and the unexpected news that she is about to become a mother herself, Susan’s greatest fear is realized. She is losing control.
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Enter Rob, the dubious but well-meaning friend of her indolent brother. As Susan’s due date draws near and her dismantled world falls further into a tailspin, Susan finds an unlikely ally in Rob. She might have a chance at finding real love and learning to love herself, if only she can figure out how to let go.

3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

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Summary

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than…. fine?

4. The Clementine Complex

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Summary

Unremarkable legal assistant Gary Thorn goes for a pint with his coworker Brendan, unaware his life is about to change. There, Gary meets a beautiful woman, but she leaves before he catches her name. All he has to remember her by is the title of the book she was reading: The Clementine Complex. And when Brendan goes missing, too, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Clementine to get some answers.
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And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to find some answers and hopefully, some love and excitement in this page-turning, witty, and oddly sweet story with a cast of unforgettable characters.

5. Look Me in the Eye

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Summary

Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother in them)—had earned him the label “social deviant.” No guidance came from his mother, who conversed with light fixtures, or his father, who spent evenings pickling himself in sherry. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on.
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After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS, for whom he created their legendary fire-breathing guitars. Later, he drifted into a “real” job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be “normal” and do what he simply couldn’t communicate. It wasn’t worth the paycheck.

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It was not until he was forty that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himself—and the world.

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1. The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist

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Summary

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist recounts the story of how Mississippi propelled two Mississippi doctors—Dr. Steven Hayne, a medical examiner, and Dr. Michael West, a dentist—to the top of the state’s criminal justice apparatus. Then, through institutional failures and structural racism, these two built successful careers as the go-to experts for prosecutors; their actions, based on bad evidence and bogus science, resulted in countless flawed convictions and led many innocent defendants to land in prison. Some of the convictions then began to fall apart, including those of two innocent men who spent a combined 30 years in prison before being exonerated in 2008.

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My Review

This had been on my bookshelf on my library app, and I just decided to pull the trigger. Who chooses to read a title with the words “Cadaver King” in the title? Why, the daughter of a funeral director.

While I don’t often read nonfiction nearly as often as fiction, I do enjoy ones that find a piece of history that I might not have known about and tell its story. It was a difficult read for a number of reasons: 1) the writing was very data-driven. It often read less like a story and more like an academic report. 2) the topic is stomach-churning. There were stories of toddlers being murdered and black men being lynched and shot. All under the large umbrella of racial injustice in the South, primarily Mississippi. And we’re not talking about the 1800s or even the turn of the century. These stories took place all the way through the 1990s. It brought me back to reading “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson.

But the history of the profession of the coroner/medical examiner is a fascinating one. As to whether or not you should read this book, I’ll let Temple Law department suggest it best: “If your interest is in forensic evidence, read this book; if it is in criminal justice, and in particular the interfaces of race and justice and expertise and justice, read this book; and if you simply want to read an oft-ignored but compelling aspect of American history, read this book.”

2. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

Summary

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

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My Review

This one also came from my bookshelf on the KDL app. I happened to click on a few too many books I had wanted to read…and they all were on hold at the same time! I knew I had my work cut out for me, so I committed to reading at every free moment I got.

Aven is a loveable character from the minute you first meet her. The fact that she has no arms makes you want to pity her, until she lets you know early on she does not need anyone’s pity. Thanks to her parents and their determination to raise her as a normal child, she is quite independent and self-sufficient. Bowling must have done her research, because no moment in my reader’s mind goes unexplained as to how a girl with no arms might handle a particular task or situation. And our heart goes out to her when she feels no other choice than to eat in the bathroom, lest she be the staring topic of everyone at her new school.

I did think the bringing in of two friends who were also outcasts to be sweet, and again, we got to learn more about Tourette’s Syndrome through her friend Connor. It just read a little too simplistic, too easy for me at times, like it was a PBS after-school special. There’s problems, but they’re not too big. There’s a mystery, but it’s quite easily solvable. And Aven makes friends, but they are also outcasts.

Overall, it does make for a super-quick read with a pleasant ending; I would easily recommend it to any middle schooler or even a late elementary student who is a high reader.

3. Louder than Hunger

Summary

It’s 1996.

13-year-old Jake Stacey lives in the Chicago suburbs with his mum and dad. He loves musicals, rollerblading and his grandmother (who takes him for drives in her big red car). But he hates school where he is bullied and ostracised by the other kids and worse, he is keeping a secret: inside him is a Voice, which tells him to exercise more and eat less. The Voice tells him not to trust anyone, tells him that the Voice is all he needs.

When Jake’s worried parents take him to Whispering Pines, the Voice tells Jake not to co-operate with the staff who want to help him to get better. But the staff are keen to show him that he doesn’t have to listen to the Voice, that he can build a different life for himself if he can just find it in himself to silence it …

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My Review

I wasn’t planning on reading this book, but when John Schu literally handed me a signed copy at a luncheon during the Michigan Reading Association conference, I decided to make it my next read. I knew from hearing John speak that this novel was only semi-fiction; it was based upon his life and some of his struggles in adolescence. The paperback version had just come out that week, so that is why we were all given a copy.

I brought it home, prepared to tackle a 500 page novel, only to be pleasantly surprised that it was written in verse. I have now read a few middle grade novels written in verse, and I think they are simply lovely. If you haven’t read anything in verse, consider it “accessible poetry.” It tells a story in prose form, but with fewer words it slows the reading pace down and asks the reader to take in every word. The novel still reads quickly, especially due to the heartbreaking story of Jake (a.k.a. John Schu) and his eating disorder due to the voice that tells him he is worth nothing and doesn’t deserve to take up space.

It’s a heavy topic, but I’m a firm believer in wanting to bring these important topics to the middle grade level. They are living it and experiencing it, so they should be given fictional material to read about it. This could be a fascinating book to read with your adolescent as I guarantee it will provoke worthwhile conversations.

4. The Lager Queen of Minnesota

Summary

The Lager Queen of Minnesota is about two generations in a Midwestern family—starting on a farm, with two sisters who have no desire to be farmers. Helen, the younger, go-getter sister, wants more than anything else in the world to make beer. She finagles her way into taking over her husband’s family’s failing soda business and builds it into a thriving beer company by single-handedly inventing light beer. Her older sister, Edith, shares none of this grand ambition, even as her pies are named third-best in the state of Minnesota. Unfortunately, being a champion pie baker does not earn her a fortune, or even a good living. Enter Diana, Edith’s beloved granddaughter, who grows up trying to help Edith make ends meet—and in the most roundabout way possible, becomes obsessed with making a series of the best IPAs the Midwest has ever seen. But just as she is about to open her own brewpub, the fates converge and she is forced to turn to the unlikeliest cadre of amateur brewmasters imaginable—Edith’s cohort of grandmother friends—to save her brewery before it’s DOA.

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My review

I chose this book in order to lessen my stack of unread books on my nightstand. My stack is tall, and some days it taunts me that I will never read all of them. But I’m a sucker for free, or very cheap, used books, so I find that I take them into ownership more frequently than I read them, hence the large stack.

Interestingly enough, this is my second “food based” fictional novel I have read this year (Funeral Ladies of Ellery County was the first). I’m not sure I can exactly remember how this book came into my possession; I do enjoy a good beer, especially a dark porter or stout, although I muss confess my body tolerates alcohol less and less these days. I did enjoy it as a lighter topic read; I learned quite a bit about the brewing industry and what goes into different beers.

While the characters and my interest in them kept my motivation early on, I was between ⅓ and halfway through the book before I actually began to understand what the plot might be. I do love a good “braid” or “strand” novels where the author tells seemingly different stories, only for the reader to trust there is a common connector. Stradal forces his reader to the very last chapters for the ultimate resolution.

5. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Summary

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

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My review

My eye caught this book on a teacher’s desk where I was a guest speaker for the day; the title just sounded like something I wanted to read. Just as you should not judge a book by its cover (although we all do), I will now add that you should not choose a book simply based on its title.

In my own haste to put this book on hold and begin to read it, I failed to see any of the obvious markings on the cover and spine clearly marking it as a mystery. So perhaps I was the only reader in the history of this book to be surprised when a man was found dead in the main character’s garden. I also did not realize the book would be about collectable and valuable postage stamps despite the clear-as-day-picture on the cover.

Needless to say, I had some unpacking and repacking to do in terms of my expectations as I read this book. I have also stated that mysteries are not my favorite genre, and even within mysteries, this one read so much slower than some of my other recent mystery reads (Good Girl’s Guide to Murder or Vera Wong). This read more like an old-school, Sherlock Holmes type of murder, so the pacing didn’t match my hopes or expectations.

Flavia is an absolutely wonderful character, and you can’t help but fall in love with her wit and charm, although as a parent, I would strongly argue against the case that she is only 11 years old; her language and mannerisms place her at least a few years older, even if she was uniquely mature for her age.

If you love a Sherlock Holmes type mystery, then I believe you would love this book. If you were hoping for an enjoyable fiction read that did not involve a mystery, then you should have looked much more closely at the cover.

6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Summary

In a vase in a closet, a couple of years after his father died in 9/11, nine-year-old Oskar discovers a key…

The key belonged to his father, he’s sure of that. But which of New York’s 162 million locks does it open?

So begins a quest that takes Oskar – inventor, letter-writer and amateur detective – across New York’s five boroughs and into the jumbled lives of friends, relatives, and complete strangers. He gets heavy boots, he gives himself little bruises and he inches ever nearer to the heart of a family mystery that stretches back fifty years. But will it take him any closer to, or further from, his lost father?

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My Review

When I am traveling, I often enjoy reading a book that takes place in the same location. I find it brings me feel more deeply connected to the book, and at times, if the book offers specifics about the location, I appreciate knowing exactly where the story is taking place.

I brought this book with me on my trip to New York City over spring break. My mistake was in thinking I’d have time to read in NYC. While we were not as adventurous as some can be, we did average over 10 miles everyday, exploring the city during the day and attending Broadway shows at night. I was thankful our hotel had comfortable beds, because I found myself crashing hard for both a midday nap and for a full-night’s sleep in the evening.

When I returned home, I began to tackle this book by Jonathan Foer; I knew it was related to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and while I had watched it unfold in my living room as I watched the Today Show starting well before the attacks at 8am, I was still curious to know stories about those who lived in NYC or who lost someone in the towers.

I was impressed Jonathan Foer was able to write this novel less than 5 years after the terror attacks. I find I need time to process significant, traumatic events in my life, especially something such as an entire fictional novel surrounding that unforgettable day and its aftermath.

Unfortunately, I struggled through much of the novel. While I would normally tell people that I love a good, quirky narrator, perhaps even one on the Autistic Spectrum, I did not sync with Oskar or his narrative voice. I could not place how old he was, although he mentioned to a therapist that he was pre-puberty, but his language and knowledge make him more of Savant Syndrome with his cognitive level.

The actual use of text and pictures make this a unique novel. Foer does not always break up dialogue onto different lines; sometimes he writes them one after another and so it is the reader’s job to decode the conversation and to distinguish who is speaking when. Intermixed with Oliver’s story are a series of letters his grandfather wrote to his dad before his dad was born, but those are only differentiated by the date at the beginning of the chapter. Interlaced are random pages of pictures and even pages with only one line on them. It requires the concentrated reader, and as I identify more as a skim reader, I had difficulty following.

I wanted to like this book more. I told my husband when I was at page 167 that I might have abandoned this book had I not wanted to offer a full review. Selfishly, I wanted it to tell more about the story of 9/11, when really it was just the story of a child who was struggling mentally and emotionally with the death of his father. The story of the mystery key and the people he met along the way didn’t captivate me. I read somewhere that it had the label “trauma fiction,” which I believe is a good fit.

This isn’t for all readers. I felt that it was a combination of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (which I should re-read) meets Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye.