Welcome to the Stacks
Fostering the love of reading, here are several reviews from myself.
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The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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It's always so refreshing to read a book where the plot is woman-centered but not revolving around a love interest or a child. While The Alice Network is a bit of a slow start for me, I really enjoyed this fictional book based on very real women who were daring spies in WW1. The book encompasses WW1 and WW2. My favorite part that really resonated is "Lili. So Eve had Lili, and I had Rose. "All these flowers." "There are two kinds of flowers when it comes to women, " Eve said. "The kind that sit safe in a beautiful vase, or the kind that survive in any conditions...even in evil. Lile was the latter. Which are you?"
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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I really love books set in the South. This is set in Atlanta and Louisiana, so it's right up my alley. An American Marriage beautifully explores social mobility and questions if you can really climb the social ladder without your home and roots haunting you. For me, this is a deeply relatable topic and I enjoyed reading about it through someone else's perspective. The plot is much like the setup of Hamilton in that the plot is revealed upfront and you're left to explore the colorful details of the story itself.
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman
Star Rating: ★★★
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Here me out on this. This book needs a sequel. I feel this book was so slow to start and then, within the last 20 pages, all the things come together. And then the book just ends! It's a great story focusing on mental health. But, really, the more interesting part (to me) is what happens after you work to acknowledge your baggage. And this book stops before Eleanor can work through that. So, give us a sequel, please, and let us see Eleanor as she works through her healing! She is a witty character; I have no doubt the sarcasm in the trauma healing would be great reading.
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Star Rating: ★★★★
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It is not often that the physical book and the Libby audiobook become available at the same time. But, the stars aligned for this one right as I headed to Hilton Head, SC. Reading this while in the lowcountry was amazing. The book describes the scenery perfectly. The narrator wasn't my favorite but I did enjoy reading "along" with her in the book. I also felt that, while the story was overall amazing, the author could do a better job with specifics as she jumps to different points in time.
All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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Emily Giffin is one of my favorite fiction authors because she has a way of creating a fun and light story perfect for a summer read. This book though surprised me...in the best way! This book originally presented as straightforward about social media but it really turned and had more twists than I was prepared for. But, as a parent who doesn't have teens (yet), this story of wealth and privilege captivated me on what ends up happening while also making me silently hope for landlines and motorola razr phones without cameras to come back before my kids are driving!
Quiet by Susan Cain
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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I read this book twice, back to back. It's outlined to take the reader through the parts of history and reflection on the subjects of introverts before leading you into a self-reflection ending. There is so much data packed into this book that grounds everything in the last section of the book. So, upon finishing, I immediately wanted to re-read it. Like you sometimes watch a movie again after knowing the ending so you can see the parts in the beginning and how they play into the ending.
I initially picked this book up to read as an effort to understand one of my children, who I think is an introvert. In reading Quiet, I came to identify that I myself am actually incredibly introverted, but with a tremendous toolkit for coping at work and in social settings. Chapter 9 in particular solidified it for me. If you think you might be introverted or "introvert extrovert", I implore you to read through for the first 9 chapters and see if you also have a lightbulb moment.
Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
Star Rating: ★★★★
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As easy read and great for summer or vacation. A much needed comic relief for the Class Parent (and maybe a note of sympathy for other parents to take it easy on the Class Parent?) I giggled so many times at the hilarity of the class emails in here and maybe even fantasized a little about the ability to be that blunt. Thankfully, I have not had the level of drama this book has in my 7 years as a Class Parent!