Welcome to the Stacks
Fostering the love of reading, here are several reviews from myself.
Looking for grade-level recommendations for your kiddo? Click here
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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Lessons in Chemistry is in the running for top pick of 2022 for me! I related to Elizabeth Zott so much (if you are an Enneagram 1, you will too!). Set in California in the 1960s, Elizabeth Zott is a gifted research chemist who is incredibly self-aware (but also self-assured at a time when females were frowned upon for acting so) and also quite immune to the conventions of her time. This book explores the beautiful flaws of being a woman who is passionate about work when life takes a detour. I loved reading the imperfectness of Elizabeth's character and how she wrestles with her own feelings vs. what society expects her to feel about seasons of her life. The audiobook is fantastic and has an interview with the author at the end that is not to be missed!
Without a Hitch by Mary Hollis Huddleston
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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A great summer read! A hilarious account of a young woman's days and weekends working in the wedding and events industry for Texan elites. I laughed out loud so many times.
Clutterfree with Kids by Joshua Becker
Star Rating: ★★
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This is a miss on my part as I was hoping for a book about learning how to influence "the clutterers" to be "clutterfree". This book is not that. This book is written for those who identify they need help in this arena. If you already prioritize a "less is more", "experience gifts over tangible gifts", and "more stuff = more time needed to handle stuff" way of life, then this book is just clutter to you. However, I fully support and recognize many people want help in this area. And, for those people, this is a great handbook to help you rethink your habits.
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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Mary Jane - ahh, such a good book. I know there are so many coming of age stories but this one is my favorite. Mary Jane, raised in a prim and proper, county club member home is 14. She takes on a summer nanny job for a neighbor and ends up having an eye-opening summer to other ways of living. It's set in the '70s anf if you're of a certain age, your imagination will be filled with images while reading this great summer novel.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Star Rating: ★★★★
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Such a Fun Age is an interesting book. It is set on immediately diving into the plot, where a young, Black woman is wrongly accused of kidnapping while babysitting a white toddler. The story goes much further into the relationship Emira has with her employers from there and is not centered on this singular event. But, it does provide a satire of polite prejudices that are explored within the story. I enjoyed this story a lot, especially the sticky widget that is the transactional relationship of someone being employed in your home.
Indistractable by Nir Eyal
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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Indistractable is a really important book and I wish it was recommended reading for Juniors and Seniors in high school. I learned some great tricks on how to find traction and eliminate distraction..and the connection between the two. In a post-pandemic world where there is an increased lape of attentiveness, I wish everyone would read this book. Indistractable is essentially a handbook full of tips and tricks on building attentiveness against internal and external triggers.
The best of this book? It's logically laid out for one type of learner. But--it starts by stating that if you prefer to learn a certain way, then it leads you through a different order to read the book. How radically inclusive!
The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Star Rating: ★★★
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The People We Meet on Vacation was okay, but I couldn't help but think of how much it was basically a rewrite of When Harry Met Sally. It's cute, it's a light beach read, it's got some spicy parts...but it's just alright.
The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle
Star Rating: ★★★★
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The Royals Next Door is a little more spicy than I usually pick up. But, it was a great fun beach read!
The audiobook was a saving grace so no one could see the title :)
The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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The Year of Yes was a book club pick and I am so happy it was proposed as a pick because it is a great book! The audiobook is SO recommended because Shonda Rhimes intertwines recorded speaking engagements she has given with parts of the book where she discusses what we don't see backstage right before and after.
Shonda Rhimes is a force in Hollywood. And yet, it was so comforting to read how someone so public and so accomplished is also introverted and prefers to stay out of the limelight. Just because she is IN the limelight and gives speeches, doesn't mean that is what she thrives on. And so, she tried to say yes to everything for a year and this is her journey of growth while still holding a space for herself when needed.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Star Rating: ★★★★
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Crying in H Mart was a great audiobook. Michelle Zauner is found mourning the loss of her mother while in H-Mart, trying desperately to conjur up her favorite meals that her Korean mother did not have written recipes for. All to taste, all to smell, nothing written. I enjoyed reading the tale of food being comfort with her mother and for her mother once she died.
We Need to Talk: A Memoir about Wealth by Jennifer Risher
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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We Need to Talk: A Memoir about Wealth should be a bestseller. This book covers middle class people getting massive options from Microsoft and then more options from Amazon, ultimately amassing a huge wealth and retiring before 40. But, Jennifer Risher still details everyday consumer purchase decisions like what stroller to buy with other mom friends.
This book covers how people deal with money. How people handle gifting or loaning money. And you know what? Whether it is $8 or $8,000, I promise you the same emotions are there. It was so interesting to read the accounts of surprisingly practical "everyday" money problems...and especially interesting to read about how money truly doesn't solve every problem.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Star Rating: ★★★★
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The Hate U Give is noted a YA book but it feels pretty heavy for my YA readers as of right now. When they are teens, I suspect it will be subject matter they can understand. Overall, I loved this book but it is not an easy read. But, I only had to read it. I don't have to live it. Imagine living this life as you read it. Because it is happening every day. It is all too common a story in our country.
The audiobook narrator is fantastic. A great job with tone and inflection and little character nuisances that I wouldn't have picked up on paper.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Star Rating: ★★★★
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My daughter wanted to read A Wrinkle in Time and I realized I had not read it myself nor had I seen the movie. So, I listened to it on Audiobook. Very cute story and one I probably would not have appreciated as a child, to be honest. A classic tale of about good vs. evil and the power of love but through a visually different story lens.
Educated by Tara Westover
Star Rating: ★★★
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Educated -- while this story is worth telling, I had a hard time getting why everyone was so obsessed with this story. Tara Westover's story is one of many. I'm glad it is out there and I hope it gives hope to people in a similar situation by seeing that education is freedom. This is not new information though. Jefferson said "Education is a passport to the future" and Mandela said it is "A powerful weapon you can use to change the world". So, while this is an important reminder of the known fact, I thought the overall storytelling was just okay.
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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Hidden Valley Road is the true story about a family in Colorado Springs in the 1950's of 12 children, six of whom were diagnozed with schizophrenia. Incredibly, this family goes on to be the best case study for understanding the biological nature of this mental illness.
This book was a book club pick and I am glad I was alerted to it. I don't discuss this much, but my brother is a person with schizophrenia. It's very hard for people to understand if they have never had an upclose seat to the illness. Hidden Valley Road not only brings this illness to light but also discusses the way the other siblings process and deal with being in a familal relationship like this.
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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At first, I thought The Paper Palace was going to be about a mid-life crisis of a mom stuck in her life. Thank goodness I kept going! It's totally not that book.
It goes back and forth and all around the span of 50 years in a woman's life and her years spent at her family's cape house, the paper palace. Fantastic read.
Majesty by Katherine McGee
Star Rating: ★★★★
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The sequel to American Royals! A very fast read. Did not end how I expected it to or really wanted it to but still SO good and entertaining!
The Lion's Den by Katherine St. John
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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A friend recommended this book after I read The Last Mrs. Parrish and this book delivered! The Lion's Den is so good! Super light and perfect beach read. I enjoyed the audiobook while running errands and cleaning things and dreaming of being on a yacht...just maybe not with this drama! It was a great escape and Katherine St. John is brilliant in her visual storytelling.
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Star Rating: ★★
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If you're old enough to know Fatal Attraction and Single White Female, the first part of this book was definitely going that way. I was going to be annoyed if that's all this book turned out to be. The the script gets flipped and it gets interesting. But, then the ending fell flat (for me). It was just an okay book for me, personally.
The Wreckage of my Presence by Casey Wilson
Star Rating: ★★
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I did not know who Casey Wilson is but the title of the book was hilarious to me. I love a self-depracting personal memoir.
Turns out she is an actress and writer of some mildly funny things I have seen and this book is on par with my opinion of her work to date. While I was really hoping for a Chelsea Handler style account of short stories, The Wreckahe of My Presence came up short.
But, I will give her credit for having the whole first chapter being an ode to being a "bed person" and living life in the horizontal position. She makes a solid case.