When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole was a fantastic book club selection for this month! Sydney grew up in a beautiful Brooklyn brownstone, but now her mother is in very ill health and Sydney is worried that the neighborhood is changing in a suspicious way. Neighbors who have lived in their homes for decades are suddenly disappearing; the new pharmaceuticals research lab will be opening soon; and the real estate agents hoping to get owners to sell are getting more and more aggressive.

While this is a thriller, I learned a lot about gentrification and the terrible way that real estate and home ownership has been set up for some people. I did feel like the "thriller" aspect of the story took a little too long to get into motion, but otherwise I couldn't stop reading. There were twists I saw coming from a long way away and others I never would have guessed.

This book led to some interesting conversation and I would recommend it for book club.

Add it to the ever growing list!

 

What I've Heard- The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting

I have been on a real Brene Brown kick lately and The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting was a wonderful quick listen. Brene talks a lot in her books about belonging versus fitting in and one of the best points she makes in this book is that home should be the place where our family feels like they belong the most. We can be silly and vulnerable and not worry what others will think in our homes because it should be filled with love and acceptance.

She also makes it very clear that we can't expect behaviors from our children that we aren't performing ourselves, specifically self-acceptance and the ability to overcome our own shame. When we show ourselves love and compassion, it translates to our children.

This book was a great addition to her body of work. 

 

What I've Heard- Greenlights

Matthew McConaghey just has one of those voices. It's gravely, but not rough. It's low, but casual. It's just gorgeous and listening to his memoir Greenlights is a real treat. McConaghey shares stories about growing up in rural Texas, getting his first acting gig, traveling the world- often to unusual destinations-, living the Hollywood life, and meeting his wife and starting their family. It is filled with lessons learned the easy or hard way, but always with a sense of humor and a healthy dose of perspective.

I've read reviews calling this self-indulgent or vain, but it is a memoir. It is supposed to be about him. There were, admittedly, a few cringy moments, but show me someone whose life doesn't have those and I'll show you a fibber. He even includes the naked bongo story! The theme throughout the book is that if we work hard and do the right things, Green Lights will light our way.

I found this audio book engaging and very difficult to turn off at the end of a bike ride. It was inspirational and interesting. Add it to your next road trip playlist!

 

The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes by Ruth Hogan

In Ruth Hogan's The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes, we meet Masha, a woman overwhelmed by the death of her small child twelve years ago. Surrounded by supportive friends, she has found a way to function within her grief, but not to move on from it. She spends all her free time either in the local public pool, imagining what it must feel like to drown or walking among the headstones in the cemetery. It is here that she comes to meet an eccentric woman who isn't always in control of her words that she calls Sally Red Shoes. Sally helps her see life in a completely different way.

This book if filled with lovely characters, quirky and strange as some of them may be. Grief is a hard story to tell, but I appreciate that Hogan makes it clear that there isn't a right amount of time to grieve and that it comes and goes in waves. She doesn't shy away from discussions of death, but still adds a sprinkle of humor to soften the blow. I liked this book and I think you will, too.

I'll leave you with this bit of wisdom from its pages:

However fit, fabulous, rich, double-jointed, brilliant, brave, funny or fastidious about cleaning our teeth we are, we are all going to die.

Your problem is that you are too lazy, too scared or too stupid to spend the time leading up to your death living. Really living. Do something!... Preferably for someone else.... The clock is ticking.