I've read 45 books (changed my goal from 50 to 45). Only one I really struggled to get through and think I skipped most of it ( West With the Night by Beryl Markham).
Of the other 44 there were really obvious standouts.
All these books I loved and some I REALLY loved. If a story stays with me, I know it was told well, and it had the right amount of plot to keep me interested enough to invest part of my brain to remember. Here are my thoughts on each - in no specific order of like.
By Fiona Valpy
This is another WWII book told from a bit of a different area. The family escapes to Casablanca - which apparently a lot of Europeans did. I laughed and I cried my way through this book. It's beautifully written with the present and the past.
The author bounces you between two characters in two different time periods. What I liked about it is that I never felt lost. I felt always connected to both characters and didn't feel confused.
By Heather Webber
This book came recommended to me from my friend Heather. Her recommendations have never let me down before, and this one was no different.
Another magical book. The main character has to come back to bury her grandmother and decides to stay and keep her grandmother's cafe opened. The story is told in a way that makes you want to go to Wicklow and eat some of the pie sold there. Beautifully told with a solid plot and characters.
By Jean E. Pendziwol
This book kept me engaged the entire time. It's a great story told in way that slowly unfolds. It has a mystery element to it and I found myself without a clue how it was going to end.
By T.J. Klune
You have to have an opened mind and like "fantasy" books to like this one. The children are creatures and if that's not your cup of tea, then this book you may not enjoy.
Thankfully, for me, this is my cup of tea and I loved Loved LOVED this book. It's such a wonderful story and message about being ok with stepping out of your comfort zone. The characters are all loveable and you want nothing more than to know more about them.
The sequel to this book is coming in 2024.
By Kristin Harmel
If I had to pick a top 3, this would be in it. Another Heather recommendation and another book I fell in love with .
A woman in WWII starts working for an organization that transports Jewish children out of France and safely into another country. She starts writing down their names so that perhaps they can be reunited with their families after the war.
I love WWII stories and this one was so heartwarming under horrible circumstances. The characters were all well defined and the story reveals itself slowly and in a very thought out way.
I closed this book and just sat thinking about the bravery, the courage, the foresight that these characters had.
By Lisa Jewell
Whoa. Lisa Jewell does it again. She can tell an intriguing story that keeps you hooked and causes you to stay up way too late to read "just one more chapter".
I had no idea where this book was going and I really wasn't sure how it would end. It gripped me from the first chapter and kept me hooked throughout. You cannot go wrong with a Lisa Jewell novel.
By Alison Ragsdale
This was an accidental read for me. Amazon served it up as a "If you liked that, you'll like this" and it was free so I decided why not? And I'm glad I did.
It's a lovely story about finding yourself after tragedy. Making hard decisions for yourself in order to move you forward. I found I fell in love with all the characters in this book and had that warm, loving feeling after I read it. It starts sad, but made me smile in the end.
By Barbara Kingsolver
This Pulitzer Prize winning novel really dug into my soul. It's a story about addiction in a very poor part of our country. The main character swears he won't become an addict like his mother, then due to an injury he does. I found myself yelling at him telling him to NOT take that pill from the doctor.
I found I got mad at several characters. I was leery of several characters. And I fell in love with some characters.
This book stuck with me. It was a book club read for November, and I still find myself thinking about the characters and wondering how they are today. By the way, it's fiction.
By Matthew Perry
This was my pick for January 2024 book club. I choose it after Matthew Perry passed. I had bought this book when it was first released and there it sat on my TBR list. Then he tragically died. It felt like the right thing to do. I wanted to hear his story.
I know reading bios that the "stories" are all as true as the author want you to believe. But man did he struggle. Reading this on the heels of Demon Copperhead made me feel like I was an addict. I felt that unless you've been in those addictive shoes, you couldn't possible understand. I have a stronger understanding of the struggle, but I can't even imagine.
His candid stories of his addiction and how he struggled really hit home for me. Showing that vulnerability for him must have been hard. He was my favorite "Friend" and I felt bad for the life he lived as an addict.
By Judy Blume
If you're a girl and a preteen in the late 70s, you probably remember reading this book when it came out. It was all the rage amongst my girlfriends. One read it and swore it had all the answers about getting your period. Of course it didn't, but what did we know? They rereleased this book and did a movie last year and I wanted to read it as an adult.
It hits different as an adult. Not the greatest story, but it was heartwarming and really took me back to my childhood. That's why it's on my list this year as a favorite. It's a classic to me.
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