This Tender Land
by William Kent Krueger
This historical fiction novel is so well written that it not only tells of the sad (poverty of the Great Depression) and shameful (Native American boarding schools) reality of the 1930s in America, but brings it to life with incredible characters and the spirit of adventure. Highly recommend this book! (And thanks, mom, for the recommendation!)
The Guest List
by Lucy Foley
Possibly last on my list of books this year. Yes, I got wrapped up in it and read it quickly to the end… but ugh. The characters are all annoying. The plot swirls with the turbulent weather and the author doesn’t seem to know where it’s going to land. There are a bunch of big moments that end up being nothing. Its one saving grace is that it takes place on an island off the coast of Ireland. 2 stars at most.
The Last Thing He Told Me
by Laura Dave
I couldn’t put it down, but that doesn’t mean I liked it. I was into it at the beginning, but like all poorly concocted mystery books, it didn’t add up. Characters are able to jump to conclusions that make no sense, but somehow they’re smart enough to figure it out and the reader is supposed to say “ohhhh!” There are grammatical errors, the end was ridiculous, and the more I think about it… it was just straight up bad.
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens
Possibly my favorite book of the year. It was a story that pulls you in all directions – love, family, self-doubt, resilience. Delia Owens is an excellent writter and incredible storyteller. Her knowledge of the setting shined, adding to the authenticity. Technically it was a murder mystery, but that wasn’t the real story. The real story is about loneliness and the strength some people need just to survive.
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
Another great book! One of those stories you think about while you’re not reading it and long after you finish. It’s kind of sci-fi and is definitely philosophical. It dances around highly intellectual concepts like multi-verses, but the author shapes it in a way we laypeople can understand: regret. The writing was simple, but the message was powerful. “Never underestimate the big importance of small things.” – Mrs. Elm
The Giver of Stars
by Jojo Moyes
A great story and even better character development. The book provides a solid glance into true events during the Great Depression through an emotional tale about the pack librarians of the Kentucky mountains. It’s a story about love and hardship, but ultimately about the power of girlfriends. Can’t beat that message!
Dragonfly
by Leila Meacham
I liked this book because of the writing and character development. It was hard to put down once I got going, as I became all-consumed by the story. With that said, this shouldn’t be the only book one reads about WWII. It’s historical fiction, but it focuses on the Nazi resistance from within the regime. The main characters all found the “good Nazis.” Yea right. I did enjoy it, but let’s not forget WWII was really, really bad.
Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
Short review: It’s fine. Longer review: It’s good. Not great, although I can’t really think of anything to call out about it. There’s good character development – some of whom are interesting, others who are annoying or unrealistic, and then the boringly normal ones. I guess that was purposeful by the author to draw comparison between lifestyle choices. But who cares? Don’t we all make decisions and others judge us for them?
The Storyteller
by Jodi Picoult
Heart-wrenching. Honestly, I’m not sure there’s much more to say. I didn’t love the book, but that’s only because it was so difficult to read. This book exemplifies the difference between quantitative and qualitative. We all know the number of Jews who died during the Holocaust (it’s 6 million FYI), but sometimes hearing one story is the most powerful way to understand.
Daisy Jones & the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
You can finish it in a day – if you find it interesting enough to continue reading. It’s written in interview format, so imagine reading Spinal Tap. I didn’t like that. It was so superficial – which we are as human, so I get that with the first person narrative – but it left me saying “so what?!?” most of the time. Luckily I was on vacation and needed a thoughtless read that I could skip through as I pleased. It that regard, it was perfect.
The Paper Palace
by Miranda Crowley Heller
I loved this book. It was extremely well written, had excellent characters who were fully developed, and an interesting ending that left me wondering if I actually know what happened. It’s such a unique story, yet somehow just feels like life. Beautiful setting and narration. All around, a great read.
The Searcher
by Tana French
Slow moving murder mystery – if that’s a thing? I thought I’d read a couple more books by the end of the year, but I couldn’t get through this one. The first hundred pages took a couple weeks. It got moving a bit in the middle, but then the mystery was solved and the rest of the book felt unimportant. I may give French another chance, but this was a poor first choice.
