Tackling My TBR List!

How it is already the end of February? Between work stuff *waves hand around*, a vacation to Disneyworld, illness and general wintering, I know I’ve been absent, but I HAVE been trying to plow through my TBR pile, so here’s what I’ve been reading…

–Marissa

A Mother’s Instinct by Barbara Abel was a must-read after seeing the trailer for the upcoming movie with Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. Though short, this packs a punch of grief, creeping dread, suspicion and a final twist when two neighboring families (and besties) have two young sons the same age – until a horrifying accident changes everything. I’m eager to see the movie adaptation of this one!

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston was fast, satisfying, and exactly the kind of read I wanted to lose myself in for a minute! I love a secret identies, idyllic life, what goes on behind closed doors, caper tale, and this scratched all those itches! Evie isn’t her real name, but Ryan might be the real love of her life – so what happens when your job and your heart collide, and who knows what and who knows who…. this was a solid read (and Reese’s Book Club pick) and I was here for it!

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin is the second in the Rachel Krall (a wildly popular true crime podcaster) novel series, and this time features an influencer, a man behind bars, the murder of six women, a convention of influencers, and a lot of red herrings. I listened to this one, and enjoyed that format for this one in particular!

Forever Home by Graham Norton had to be an audiobook listen, since the British television presenter reads it himself (so good!). At its core, this is a family drama about the second wife of Declan, who is well at odds with her stepchildren over the house she lives in when Declan falls gravely ill. This is definitely giving more family drama than suspense, genre-wise, but I enjoyed it.

The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (married author duo) should just be subtitled “if we fictionalized a breakup between Taylor Swift and her college boyfriend and the songs they wrote together, then got them together”, you’d have it. This was cute and frothy, but didn’t stick in my mind long after I finished the last page.

Languishing by Corey Keyes was a must-read, because that 2021 NYT article about Languishing hit every.single.note for me when it came out, and this non-fiction work was going to unpack that more. But sweetbabyjesus, this was boring and gave me no actionable nuggets on how to not-languish. I struggled to get through this one (maybe because I was languishing?!). Sigh.

The Women by Kristin Hannah has been EVERYWHERE since it’s early February release, and with good reason, because it was FANTASTIC. I grew up watching M*A*S*H every afternoon, and this novel, though set in Vietnam, highlighted the army nurse experience of Frankie McGrath, and I could PICTURE it from my M*A*S*H lens. Frankie rashly joins up as an army nurse when her brother enlists, goes to Vietnam and experiences the war while making lifelong friends, falling in love, and become competent at her job. The entire second half of the novel is her experience upon returning home, which is equally heartbreaking. A few twists, but mostly just an engrossing tale of war from one woman’s point of view. Don’t miss this one.

After Annie by Anna Quinlen is quiet, beautifully written women’s fiction about how a family – and a best friend – cope when Annie Brown dies suddenly (it happens on page one, this isn’t a spoiler). The rest of the novel unpacks how they cope, move on, don’t move on, and what an influence Annie had on every person in the story. Lovely.

Why We Read by Shannon Reed has the subtitle of “On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out”, so this was total catnip for me. Reed collection of essays gives warm hug vibes, laugh out loud humor, and deep dives (and not so deep!) into literature, teaching, and yes, why we read. I lovedloved this one!

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman was an audiobook listen that knits together two stories in my mind: one about a cult and a mother and daughter caught in its web, and one about Nathaniel Hawthorne, love, and magical realism. As with all Hoffman novels, the prose flows, the story captures you, and you just float with it no matter how odd the description may be. This is definitely also a love letter to readers and lovers of literature and the power of stories, which I appreciated.

The Teacher by Freida McFadden felt like required reading because, like Colleen Hoover, this seems to one of only two authors in the entire universe that exists for some people – and she is also churning out titles every five minutes.😛 I mean, this story about two married teachers and a student who gets between them, was fine – quick to get into, easy to read, a couple of twists, the end. I’m sure I’ll read another one of hers to try and understand the hype, but overall my vibe was, it was fine.

Fourteen Days edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston sounded like SUCH a cool premise – a crowd-written novel by big names (Grisham! Ng! Gabaldon!) about an apartment building in NYC in the early days of COVID lockdown. By egads, this didn’t do it for me and I ended up skimming.

More by Molly Roden Winter was a FASCINATING memoir about Molly and her husband Stewart’s decision to open their marriage to other people, relationships, and sex. Obviously, this memoir isn’t for those who don’t want to hear about *sex things*, but I found it engrossing and thought-provoking (while knowing it is SO not for me!).

I’ve Tried Being Nice by Ann Leary (yep, wife of Denis Leary) is a collection of essays ranging from learning to play tennis to loving dogs to walking red carpets to empty-nesting. This has a bit of everything and is written in an easy, warm, honest style.

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering is told from two perspectives: Billie and Cassie, who were once best friends but have drifted apart. Cassie is rich, an influencer, and a new mother; Billie is single and hurt not to be part of Cassie’s life anymore. It was super easy to get into this novel and I was captivated by the alternate voices and the ratcheting up of tension over one action that changes to the course of their friendship. Not so much a thriller, but so engaging nonetheless.