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I decided back in June, that it was much easier for me to share a quarterly (ish) book review post, than trying to keep up with what I’m reading monthly. It’s as much about letting books accumulate as it is about having the time to read and then actually write something about the books I’m reading. My to be read pile is growing infinitely larger, so I’m trying hard not to purchase any reading material these days. I have picked up a few things from the library, I have several things in my audible queue already, and I have a fairly large stack of previous BOTM selections that have been ignored for too long. The good news is, Polly is getting pretty good at independent play and I can get more than a few pages read at a time!
LOCK EVERY DOOR by Riley Singer
★★★ | Thriller
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
I’m conflicted about this one. I liked the main character a lot, I thought the setting was really cool (I love books where the place is a character in the story) and I ultimately liked where the story ended up. I didn’t love the ending they alluded to before the real resolution — it felt too much like a cop out. All in all, a pretty solid psych thriller.
THE WHISPER MAN by Alex North
★★★.5 | Thriller
After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town. Featherbank. But the town has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed “The Whisper Man,” for he would lure his victims out by whispering at their windows at night.
I’m a sucker for a good thriller and this one didn’t disappoint. There were so many characters and converging story lines, that I didn’t put this one together until the very end.
RECURSION by Blake Crouch
★★★★★ | Science Fiction
Memory makes reality. That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. Neuroscientist Helena Smith already understands the power of memory. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent. As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it. But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?
I’m going to be thinking about this book for a LONG time?! Let’s count the reasons why, (1) I didn’t think it could compare with Dark Matter, but I liked this one even more, (2) I read the whole thing in about four hours — it was unputdownable, (3) It had everything I want in a single book — intrigue, mystery, thrills, romance, family stories, compelling characters — so much to love, (4) I’m honestly blown away at how Crouch’s mind even works. How does one come up with such complex story lines?!
THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt
★★★★★ | Fiction
Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don’t know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by a longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into a wealthy and insular art community.
I’ve been avoiding The Goldfinch, because it seemed so long and so literary and who has time for that? It turned out to be magical and I’m not sure why I put if off for so long. The storytelling is brilliant — you are wholly invested in Theo’s story and will waffle between cheering for him and wanting to smack the back of his head. Honestly, most of the characters were insufferable and hard to root for, but that was part of its charm, maybe? The art history student in me loved the underlying story of art and its impact and I read an equal amount of internet articles about the painting, as I did pages of the actual book. P.S. The audio is also amazing — I alternated between the two.
Favorite quote(s) from the book: “It’s a secret whisper from an alleyway… an individual heart-shock. Your dream, Welty’s dream, Vermeer’s dream. You see one painting, I see another, the art book put it at another remove still, the lady buying the greeting card at the museum gift shop sees something else entire, and that’s not even to mention the people separated from us by time… it’ll never strike anybody the same way and the great majority of people it’ll never strike in any deep way at all but — a really great painting is fluid enough to work its way into the mind and heart through all kinds of different angles, in ways that are unique and very particular. Yours, yours. I was painted for you.”
THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood
★★★★★ | Fiction
More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results. Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.
This is the quickest I’ve finished a book in months and the first time this year I didn’t have to renew a library hold. Atwood is a genius and I might have loved this one even more than A Handmaid’s Tale. I think reading this without having watched the television series would have been a completely different experience (If you were planning to do both, I would suggest reading the first book, then watching the series, then reading this book). I loved already knowing who these three characters were and was fiercely cheering them on, from the moment I recognized their stories. Both books are hard to read (content wise), but if you’re a fan of STRONG female leads and crazy plot twists — I highly recommend both.
A HOUSE IN THE SKY by Amanda Lindhout
★★★★ | Memoir
As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself visiting its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth.” On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road. Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda survives on memory—every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity—and on strategy, fortitude, and hope. When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman kept in chains, in the dark.
This memoir is heartbreaking, yet beautiful. It tells the story of a Canadian journalist and her fifteen months of captivity, after being kidnapped in Somalia. Consider this your trigger warning — violence against women plays a huge part in Amanda’s story.
OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon
★★★★★ | Epic Novel
In 1945, former combat nurse Claire Randall returns from World War II and joins her husband for a second honeymoon. Their blissful reunion is shattered when she touches a boulder in an ancient stone ruin and is instantly transported to 1743 Scotland, a place torn by war and raiding border clans. Will Claire find her way back to her own time, or is her destiny forever linked with Clan MacKenzie and the gallant James Fraser?
I read this book back in 2016, but just recently listened to the audio version. I’d like to eventually read the entire series but I needed a refresher and Davina Porter (narrator of the audio) is MAGIC. You can see my original review here.
THE HATING GAME by Sally Thorne
★★★★ | Contemporary Fiction
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude. Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.
I downloaded the audio version of this one, one a whim — it was short, contemporary, and got great reviews — but I was shocked by how much I loved it! You will be 100% invested in these characters from the very beginning. Lucy’s voice and stream of consciousness is PERFECT, and while it is predictable, it’s also adorable. I can’t wait to read more Sally Thorne.
THE FLATSHARE by Beth O’Leary
★★★.5 | Contemporary Fiction
Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met. After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly colored mold on the walls counts as art. Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet. Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes – first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more. But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea…especially if you’ve never met.
Tiffy reminded me so much of Lou from Me Before You — quirky, hilarious, and larger than life! I liked this one a log, even though the narrators in the audio version had to grow on me. The interactions between the main characters were so much fun — especially their notes and text messages — I wonder how much more effective that was in the written novel. A cute, quirky, perfectly predicable, modern love story.
I’ve also got a huge stack of infant/toddler books itching to be reviewed and a pretty long list of recent podcasts I’ve been listening to — are you interested in seeing reviews of those, as well?
