Book Report - April, May, June

Hello everyone! Here are the things I read during April, May, and June of this year. I had spells when *all* I did was read, and then others where I'd be a week between books because I couldn't decide.

But here you go, in no particular order.

Maybe You Should Talk To Someone, by Lori Gottlieb. This was an interesting and well-done book, in my opinion. 

Lori Gottlieb is an therapist herself. But when her boyfriend - who was making plans to get married with her - informs her that he doesn't see himself as someone who has to be a parent for 10 more years (her son is eight years old) - her world is turned upside down. And guess what? She turns into someone who needs a therapist to work through it! 

The book works because she tells the story of not just her own experience as a client of a therapist, but her work as a therapist, using "case studies" of some of her own clients. (No real names, etc. used - she is a professional.) As a result, we get an idea of what therapists actually do, and the careful road they need to follow in order to help people with intimate life problems, while also managing to keep a professional and clinical distance. But she also shares how she behaved much like her own clients when visiting with her therapist, Wendell, who is unlike any of the other colleagues she is used to being around. 

I liked this book because it was honest, sometimes funny, and showed how therapy is designed to actually help people, but not solve all of their problems. More it is to bring people to realization of their own behavior and how changing or adjusting it can make a difference. But it not only guides people to help, it gives them tools to make it work.

Gottlieb is not unwilling to admit that she was often a difficult person for her therapist to deal with, and that there were plenty of times she had unrealistic - and somewhat immature - expectations of what he could/would do for her. The inclusion of herself as a recipient of therapy makes the book both more readable, and more relatable.

Eggsecutive Orders, by Julie Hyzy. This was an interesting and entertaining Easter mystery. Olivia Paras, the Executive Chef at the White House, is excited for two reasons: her mother and grandmother are coming to visit her in DC from Chicago, and the White House Easter Egg Roll is coming up. But her plans are interrupted when an NSA official dies after eating at the White House. Olivia and her staff are sent home when it is suspected that it someone in the kitchen was involved.  

As Olivia tries to both get her staff back in the kitchen and entertain her guests,  she also tries to figure out what could have happened.  

This was entertaining to me because I have some personal experience with what it's like to work in the government at higher levels, and also because I recognized a lot of the locations.  I completely got it wrong trying to determine the killer, as usual, and there were some funny moments as well.

The Group, by Mary McCarthy. Oh boy, I can certainly understand why this book was considered so shocking when it was first published!

The story follows a group of women who were friends and/or roommates who graduated from Vassar in 1933. Mostly from well-to-do, "respectable" families, they have ideas of who they want to be, what they want to do with their lives, and how the world should be. There are of course, the marriages to young men who have good families and bright prospects, but there is also gender politics, premarital sex, socialism, Communism, lesbianism. And of course at the time of publication, these were not things that were a) discussed much, if at all, in polite society, and b) certainly not things that "good" girls with good educations thought about, much less participated in! (As far as most of society was concerned.)

Reading it now, it's actually kind of quaint but also sad. Women - at least on paper - have so much more in life to expect, do, and be now than what was considered acceptable back then. But some things have not really changed, maybe they are just more subtle in presentation. 

I'm glad I read this book, having heard about it for most of my life, and knowing it was a cultural and literary touchstone.

The Foundling, by Ann Leary. This book was inspired when the author learned that her grandmother had been a secretary at the kind of institution in the book. 

Mary Engle is excited when she is hired to work as a stenographer at a women's institution in rural Pennsylvania. Spending her early years in a Catholic orphanage before her father took her to live with an aunt,uncle, and cousin in Scranton. The Nettleton Home is advertised as a safe haven for "feeble-minded women of childbearing age." From what the public sees, it's a place that rescues women who have made mistakes due to hereditary factors. Once the women are past childbearing age, they can be released,  since they can no longer pass on their bad genes to pollute society.

Yes, the institution is all about eugenics. 

At first, Mary thinks she has landed in a perfect place with a perfect job; until she meets Lillian Kraus, one of the inmates who was also at the orphanage with her as a child, and who she recalls as being smart and quick-witted. 

The longer Mary works for the institution's director, the more she thinks something might be wrong. When she realizes others have doubts, she decides go try and help Lillian.

A story about eugenics, social pressure, muckraking, corruption, and the Prohibition, based on the author's research on the time and place where her grandmother had been employed.

An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good, by Helene Tursten. Maud is a woman in her late 80s who lives by herself in a rent-free  apartment (part of a family inheritance) in a lovely part of the city. The other tenants in her building know her, but she mostly keeps to herself. Others think her a quiet, perhaps doddering old woman.

In this book of five stories, Maud faces several different dilemmas. But we immediately learn that when Maud comes across someone she thinks or knows will give her trouble she ... deals with them. As in, killing them. And because she's an old lady, people seldom suspect her at all.

These stories were really entertaining. Maud is quite the character - she does not suffer fools gladly, and is completely unapologetic about all of it. I loved these stories, they were amusing for all the wrong reasons.

The Librarian of Burned Books, by Brianna Labuskes. I really wanted to like this book, but several chapters in, I'm just not interested.  So at least for now, it's a did-not-finish.

Apples Never Fall, by Liane Moriarty. This one was a disappointment to me. Usually Moriarity gives us a compelling story with a twist that surprises at the end. This one just didn't seem to land that way for me.

Joy and Stan Delaney have sold their tennis academy and are retired after years of success in the tennis world. Their four adult children are out on their own and though they are a close family, everyone is surprised when Joy just completely disappears. As time goes by and they hear nothing, it looks more and more like Stan may have killed her - but is that even possible?

And what about the young woman who appeared out of nowhere months before and was taken in by Joy and Stan? Where is she and what is her story?

I was expecting more from this book.

Buried In A Book, by Lucy Arlington. When Lila Wilkins is let go from her job as a journalist, she worries that finding a job at 45 years old will be impossible. When she applies for a job at Novel Idea,a literary agency, she is pleasantly surprised to get it, and decides she will work extra hard to become a full-fledged literary agent. 

But when a homeless man dies in the reception area on her first day, and a coworker suspects it was murder, Lila begins to try and piece things together. Then she receives some threatening letters,and things get pretty intense. Is she the next victim? 

This was interesting and a good start to a series.  I'll definitely read the second book to see how things continue.

Every Trick In The Book, by Lucy Arlington. I don't usually read series books right after the other, but this was available at the library,  so here we are.

Lila Wilkins us now a full-fledged literary agent at Novel Idea, with her dream house and feeling pretty lucky and content.  She has been working extra hard for the inaugural literary festival, and is looking forward to it. 

But when a Lila is nearly attacked by a threatening man attending the festival, things take a downward turn. And when a visiting agent is murdered, Lila is convinced the same person is responsible. 

I have to say that I thought this was another good story, with multiple layers. The secondary characters are interesting enough that you pay attention,  and though this is basically a cozy mystery,  a lot of the story is more "regular" than in some cozies. not worry though, there is still a lot that requires a certain level of suspension of disbelief!

Crowned and Moldering, by Kate Carlisle. Shannon Hammer and her crew are getting ready to start working to renovate the Lighthouse Mansion, now that the Historical Society has given their approval.  When they go on location with the new owner, a mystery writer who is also Shannon's possible boyfriend, they discover bones which prove to be a human skeleton. 

Worse yet,the skeleton turns out to be that of Lily Brogan, a popular and well-liked girl who went to school with Shannon, and was the sister of one of Shannon's crew. Lily disappeared suddenly, and the police at the time assumed she had run away to get far away from her abusive father.

As the investigation goes on, more and more suspects emerge, and Shannon learns some learns some secrets about quite a few of her friends and acquaintances.

I enjoyed this read.

The Cracked Spine, by Paige Shelton. This was a book I'd put into the category of fine. Not really good, not really bad, just fine.

Delaney Nichols uproots herself from her home in Wichita,Kansas after she is a victim of spending cuts at the museum where she had been working. She accepts a position at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. Besides adjusting to a whole new place and co-workers, she also tries to figure out her new boss. And when his sister is murdered, things just get weird.

Like I said, this book was a decent read, and I could see things picking up as the series goes along. I did like the premise, it was just hard to feel a lot for the characters right away.

Vera Wong's Unsolicitied Advice For Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Vera Wong owns a tea shop in the Chinatown area of San Francisco, where she has one regular customer and fond memories of running the shop with her husband the years. Her son is grown with his own life and career, and seems to ignore all of his mother's advice, much to her annoyance. 

But life takes on a whole new angle when Vera comes downstairs to her shop one morning and finds a body. When the police seem to not do their job properly (which of course Vera knows, being a fan of detective shows and CSI), she decides to take matters into her hands and solve the murder. 

Vera is great. She does her thing, confident in the knowledge that her way is the right way. People get really frustrated with her antics, but end up doing her bidding. The way she collects suspects and is able to change their lives for the better is a really fun read.

This book kept me reading,  wondering, and entertained.  The characters are a good mix, and even those of us who do not have Asian mothers know someone like her. I highly recommend this book for a fun and engaging visit to Vera's world.

Five Tuesdays in Winter, by Lily King. A really nice selection of ten short stories, all different. I have to say that the first and the title stories were my favorites.

The Tobacco Wives, by Adele Myers. When Maddie Sykes' mother drops her off at her Aunt Etta's and leaves to find a man to love, Maddie has no idea what is ahead for her. Before her father was killed in World War II,  Maddie used to spend a month every summer with her aunt in Bright Leaf, NC. Etta is a seamstress, well-respected and the go-to person for the Tobacco Wives - the wives of the tobacco company bosses, who are the social leaders in Bright Leaf. Maddie loves her time with Aunt Etta who has taught her all she knows about sewing and design.

But in 1946, when Aunt Etta gets the measles right before her busiest time of year- The Gala - it falls to Maddie to take care of all of the work involved. At fifteen years old, Maddie isnotsureshecan handle it. Arrangements are made for her to stay with the Winston's- considered the top of the social ladder. Mrs. Winston - Mitzi - is thrilled to have Maddie stay with them, and even creates a sewing studio where she can work. Mr. Winston is the head of the tobacco company. 

When Maddie inadvertently comes across documents detailing the negative effects of tobacco on human health, she realizes that Mr. Winston, with the assistance of the town doctor, plan to ignore this information and promote smoking. She has to decide what to do, considering the ripple effects it could have on the town, and most importantly on her family.

This was a good book and a great story. I gave it only 3 stars because the whole time I was reading, I kept thinking that something was missing. I'm still not sure what, but I couldn't feel like the story was whole.

Here's To Us, by Elin Hilderbrand. I have this feeling that every summer I should read a book by Elin Hilderbrand; I'm not sure why, but such is my life. 

This book takes us to a few days when Chef Deacon Thorpe's family members come to the beach house on Nantucket Island to scatter his ashes. Deacon was a larger than life figure, married and divorced three times with three children - one with each wife.  He was among the first of the TV celebrity chefs. Sparks fly, since most of them never spend time together,  nor do they wish to. 

Thebook is interesting,  since the characters are being forced to be together at a time when there are very heightened emotions, znd they are receiving bad news besides Deacon's death. 

I've enjoyed other books by this author more, but thus one was still very readable.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna. Mika Moon is a young witch living in England. She never knew her parents who died in India when she was young. She was brought to England and raised by an older witch named Primrose. Well, Primrose was her legal guardian, but governesses,tutors, and nannies raised her. And so Mikahas never felt that she fit in anywhere.

When she sees an ad looking for a tutor to three young witches, she decides to take the chance,  and ends up at Nowhere House,with her three young charges and an assortment of other interesting characters who live and work there.

Mika finally starts to feel like she belongs somewhere when she learns something that throws everything into doubt. So she needs to decide if it's worth taking a chance or if she should leave again.

This is a lovely story about making your own family, as well as understanding how those who cared for you in the past may have been trying their best. I enjoyed mostly everything about this book.

This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett. This is a group of short stories, most/all previously published. But they are lovely altogether,  and there a a couple that will stay with me for a while, I'm sure.

Well worth reading.

The Stone Circle, by Elly Griffiths. When a recent set of bones are found at an archeological dig where ancient young bones are found, it seems mysterious. When both Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson both receive cryptic notes resembling ones that arrived in the first case they worked together, how can it be a coincidence?

This is a pretty good installment in this series,though I think I'm beginning to find some of the other characters more interesting to read about than the main characters.

*****

So there you go. Let me know what you've been reading these days, I love suggestions of things I may just not know about.