Yesterday, it was 70 degrees when I went to work, then some storms blew through and it was snowing and 30 degrees this morning, bringing to mind Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote: “Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour”. And how!
But, the calendar keeps flipping, and I’m still reading, so let’s get into it!
–Marissa
The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives by Elizabeth Arnott (a GMA book club pick) takes place in 1960s California and features Beverley, Elsie and Margot who were all… yep, you guessed it… married to men who committed murder. When new murder begin happening (no, it’s not their husbands), they decide they are best qualified to investigate, intervene and bring a female perspective from their unique standpoint. This definitely weaves in suspense, female guilt, and the society of the 1960s and woman’s place in it. I liked it!
Quiet Girl in a Noisy World & Everything is Okay by Debbie Tung are two graphic novels I decided to check out on our new graphic novels database, and of course, both spoke me to as someone who values, quiet, solitude, and doing my own thing. While my own introvertedness doesn’t begin to rival Tung’s, a found these warm, charming, sympathetic and easy to read.
It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica takes place on a Wisconsin lake with a brutal double murder during a family holiday. We have one child who slept through the attack, and another missing, which weighs heavily on Courtney, aunt of the children and sister to one of the slain. This has a before-and-after structure and is told from multiple points of view, and I found it a quick and and entertaining psychological thriller. Kubica tends to be super hit or miss with me, but I would put this one in the hit category!
The Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser has been EVERYWHERE this month, and that always makes me wary, but this one lived up to the hype for sure! Of course, everyone knows Cinderella’s story from her perspective, but what about from the perspective of the “wicked” stepmother, the aforementioned Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley? This is told from Ethel’s point of view and yes, includes the ball and the stepdaughter and the crumbling estate she is grappling to keep a hold of. It took me a bit to get used to the actual prose, but then I could NOT PUT IT DOWN. I absolutely devoured this and loved it to bits. Highly recommended!
The Girl Who Read on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury is a slim French novel (obviously!) that I listened to, a lovely narration. Juliette watches those on the Métro every day and notes who is reading what, and then becomes entwined with a mysterious “book matchmaker”. This has some magical realism, some grief, and the vibes of Amélie – but ultimately, is a love letter to books and those who love them. I enjoyed this.
The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez was an “omigod I gotta read it right now!” read because she is one of my favorite romance authors. She does an amazing job of blending swoony romance with real “stuff”, plus punchy, pithy dialogue and just enough tension and trouble to make you worry, even knowing there is a happy ending just around the next page. This time we have Larissa and Chris, who seemed destined, except that Larissa is… dating Chris’ best friend. I’ll say no more, except to say, you’ve GOTTA READ the entire Jimenez canon!!
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout is another quiet, contemplative novel, this time taking place in Massachusetts (rather than Maine). This standalone novel features 57-year-old Artie, a beloved teacher, husband and father who is grappling with loneliness, disaffection with the world, and then a secret that threatens to shatter his whole world. This slim novel packs a punch, and I savored every page spent with Artie and Strout’s luminous writing. At 224 pages (and due out in May), this is an easy, gentle read.
This Land Is Your Land by Beverley Gage is a nonfiction book from Pulitzer Prize winner Gage, who embarks on a roadtrip around America to visit 13 quintessential sites relating to US history, from Washington’s Mount Vernon to Philadelphia to the Alamo to the Jim Crow South and even Disneyland. Her tone is light but filled with fascinating bits, contradictions, observations and quite a lot of history that the lay American may not know or remember. I found this a great piece to pick up and read a chapter here, a chapter there, and I learned a lot, whilst enjoying it!
A Good Person by Kirsten King is what I call a “car crash novel” – awful, but you can’t look away. Lillian refuses to be broken up with by Henry, so when she places a hex on him and he winds up dead, things spin out. But the thing is… Lillian is DEEPLY unpleasant, a narcissist, a psychopath, a horrid friend and absolutely insufferable (hence the car crash part). Of course, it’s already been optioned for film. 😉 This was fast and frenetic and horrid and hilarious and not for the faint of heart for unpleasant people!
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