Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

Imagine your best friend has been brutally murdered and you are discovered covered in blood, hers and your own. And what if you can't remember anything about what happened? Do you believe your friends and family and a whole small town that say you must have done it or do you not?

This is what Lucy is facing. It has been five years since Savannah's tragic death and a popular true crime podcast has decided her unsolved case is the perfect content for their new season. And the podcast's host, Ben, is known for solving mysteries that the police have abandoned. Does Lucy hope he uncovers the truth, or should she be afraid it will condemn her once and for all?

This book was such a quick read and so much fun! The flashbacks to Savannah made me wish she was my best friend. And her grandmother, Beverly, is a national treasure! At eighty years old, she officially has no more fu cares to give and is living her life to the fullest. She is absolutely hilarious, and her granddaughter clearly inherited her stand-out humor and sarcasm.

The mystery at the heart of this story kept me guessing, and the flip flops and twisty turns had me holding on with all I had. And yet, it wasn't dark like so many of these thrillers are. I prefer humor and this book delivered that, lightening the mood just when it was needed. I really liked this book and I think you will, too, SmartGirl!

 

The In-Between by Hadley Vlahos

Hadley Vlahos is a nurse and a very popular TikToker, which is how I found her. A hospice nurse, she shares stories of what she's learned from her patients and demystifies the hospice process for her viewers. In The In-Between she writes about her experiences and the patients who have had the most impact on her.

We read about Sandra, the woman who lives in a gorgeous mansion who is dying of breast cancer, and of Albert, the man living in a tent under a bridge with kidney failure. We meet Reggie, a man with liver disease caused by a lifetime of alcohol abuse, and Elizabeth, a young yoga teacher with lung cancer despite never smoking a day in her life. There is a patient with dementia, one with skin cancer, one with heart disease, and two with brain cancer. We meet patients with lots of loving family to care for them and some with only one or none. Some of her patients are happy to receive her help and others don't see the point of her. Some she spends days or weeks caring for, and others only a few hours.

What does a "good death" look like to you? Hadley leads her readers to find those answers for themselves while giving some insight into the process of dying that some people may not have experienced. She's very young for a hospice nurse, a profession that typically attracts nurses looking for a change of pace after years in other nursing fields, but she falls in love with the connections she is able to make with her patients and the good she can do at one of the most important moments of their lives.

This book was very sad. And it was also sweet, and heartwarming, and comforting. Of course I cried. When don't I? But they were good tears. Hadley tells her stories in a very uplifting way that inspires hope. 

 

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

 

The first book club book of 2024 is The Housemaid by Freida McFadden and it is a great start!

It's always a daunting task to choose the book of the month. There is so much pressure to choose one everyone will like and that will also have enough meat for a good discussion. It was my turn to pick, and I was thrilled to find that I had chosen well.

Millie is a recently released convicted felon in desperate need of a job and a place to live. When she sees the ad for a live-in housekeeper, it seems like the perfect arrangement. She will be well paid and also have a secure, if tiny, small attic bedroom and bathroom all to herself. She will need to cook and clean and babysit a little girl, but she's looking forward to working hard and seeing the results of her efforts.

Nina is the woman who hires Millie. She has been happily married for a decade to a very handsome, very wealthy man who adores her. And yet, something just isn't right. Millie can't put her finger on what seems off, but she needs the job enough to not look too closely. Until she has no other choice...

This book was a quick, enjoyable read. I flipped the pages more quickly than I have in a while. One night it was so compelling that I had to make myself close the book. I like to read in bed before falling asleep, but on this particular night, this book was having the opposite of the desired effect. I could feel my adrenaline rising with each twist and turn and my choices were to put it away or stay up the rest of the night to finish it. I had work in the morning, so it had to wait. 

I'd love to discuss character development and story arc, but I would be a terrible book friend if I gave away any of the secrets. And I would never do that to you, Smart Girls! I'll tell you it was exciting enough that I had to give my husband a play-by-play each day as I read it. There was just too much excitement to keep it to myself! No spoilers, but I'll leave you with this one quote:

I'd say there's at least a twenty-five percent chance she's going to murder me in my sleep if I get this job. But I still want it. 

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

In The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, Mika is a young woman who never stays in one place for long. If she moves every six months or so, never making any permanent connections, then no one will ever discover her secret. The only rule she breaks is in making internet videos where she pretends to be what she really is- a witch. No one would ever believe it is real magic, but then someone sees through the facade. This leads her to break more rules, sharing her secret with a ragtag, makeshift family who is trying to raise three young witches of their own.

I thought this book was a sweet read for the spooky season. I've always loved books about witches, and this one was cute. More family drama/ found family than magic spells, I think this one could be enjoyed by most. There are definite feminist views expressed, which I really like, and it kept the romance aspect of the story from pushing it too far into saccharine territory. If you're looking for a cozy read for Halloween, this one is pretty good.

 

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

There are very few authors about whom I can say that I've read all of their books, but Sarah Addison Allen is one of them. I love her sweet tales of magic in real life and Other Birds does not disappoint. First, we meet Zoey, freshly graduated from high school, she is spending the summer before college hoping to learn more about her mother who died when Zoey was a child. She has moved into her mother's condo on Mallow Island off the coast of South Carolina, more than a thousand miles away from where she was raised in Oklahoma. The small condo community is populated with a strange cast of characters that include a hermit, an award-winning chef, a henna artist, and a mean old busy body who gets angry when people make any noise at all. Zoey is determined to get to know her new neighbors, but when one of them suddenly passes away, it changes the entire dynamic of the group.

Also part of this tiny little community is a reclusive author no one has seen for years, tiny birds named Dellawisps that rule the roost, an invisible pigeon, and several ghosts. The magic isn't as prominent in this book as it has been in some of Allen's other novels, but it was still a fun element that gives the reader a little break from the real world. I am a big fan of this author, and I will always auto-preorder anything she releases. I hope she continues to write for many years to come.

 

The Maid by Nita Prose

In The Maid by Nita Prose, we meet Molly- sweet, innocent, unusual Molly. A young maid at the fancy Regency Grand Hotel, Molly doesn't understand a lot about the world. She frequently misses social cues the rest of us take for granted and she is obsessive about rules, etiquette, and cleanliness. She enjoys her job and works hard to return every space to "a state of perfection." When she discovers a guest dead in his bed, she faints right where she stands. She faints again when she is charged with the guest's murder. What follows is a quirky who-done-it that is absolutely adorable.

Molly is different, but that doesn't stop the reader from connecting with her. Each of the other characters in the book are wonderfully drawn as well. Molly's recently deceased Gran is exactly the grandmother we'd all love to have; Molly's work nemesis is fun to hate; and the hotel doorman and dishwasher are both so sweet. This was a very quick read and a fun mystery with no gore or anything else that I sometimes find difficult to read. Add this little gem to your list.

 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

In Bonnie Garmus' Lessons in Chemistry, we meet Elizabeth Zott, a budding chemist in early 1960s California. Struggling to be taken seriously in an exclusively male lab, she meets Calvin Evans who is on track to win a Nobel Prize. They are the perfect couple until something goes terribly wrong and Elizabeth is left jobless and alone with a child to raise. Since no actual lab will take her on, she agrees to host what will become the most successful cooking show of its time. As she lifts up her viewers, mostly housewives, she wants more for herself as well.

I absolutely adored this book! Elizabeth is a fantastic character brimming with grit and wit. And Garmus' excellent writing doesn't stop at her main character- each supporting cast member brings something special to the story, not least of whom is Elizabeth's dog, Six-Thirty. While I was frequently furious about the treatment Elizabeth receives from the other scientists she encounters, I loved the way she handles herself. This book is inspiring as well as entertaining and I hope you'll add it to your list.

 

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

In The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin we meet the most wonderful cast of characters. Lenni is a seventeen-year-old terminal patient who has been in the hospital for a very long time. When she meets eighty-three-year-old Margot under mischievous circumstances, they become fast friends and vow to tell, and paint, the stories of their combined one hundred years. 

This book is sweet and comforting and lovely and heartbreaking. Lenni has far too few stories, but she makes the most of the days she has, forming friendships and getting right to the point of things. Margot's stories are full love and loss and she becomes the surrogate mother Lenni, and maybe also the reader, needs.

I adored this book. Add it to your list today.  

 

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson features the story of a family grieving the loss of their mother, Eleanor. The family has been fractured for years and part of Eleanor's will includes a voice recording of her sharing her life story with her children, Benny and Byron. The story takes them back to the Caribbean island on which Elanore was born, to London where she went for her education, and finally to California where she raised her family. The number of surprises revealed rock Benny and Byron's foundations and lead them to question all they ever thought they knew about their mother and about their own lives. The only thing they have left of her is a single black cake in the freezer, a family tradition about which they are finally going to learn.

The number of storylines Wilkerson introduces could have been dizzying, but she expertly weaves them into a beautiful tapestry of family history, tragedy, love, and secrecy. I adored this book! I was so heartbroken by the loss and the forfeited opportunities. The writing was absolutely beautiful. I was thrilled with the way all the little ribbons of stories braided together and nothing was left dangling at the end. This was Wilkerson's debut novel, but I can't wait to read more of her work.  

 

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

I am going to admit right at the beginning of this review that I have historically not been a fan of Jodi Picoult. I read a couple of her books years ago and didn't enjoy them and so swore off anything by her in the future. It is the reason I was so reluctant to read this book, The Storyteller, for so long. I saw all the good reviews from friends and finally decided to give it a try.

I am so glad I did.

Sage is a baker who keeps mostly to herself while still overwhelmed with grief after the death of her mother three years previous. When she unexpectedly becomes friends with a nonagenarian named Josef in her grief counseling group, she begins to open up a little more to the world. When he confesses the most heinous secret possible, she has to decide if she should tell or grant him the unusual favor he asks of her. How many years must pass before we are no longer the person who committed a crime? Can the good we do ever outweigh the bad? These are the questions Sage has to answer.

As hard as I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, it is simply not possible today so please read on at your own risk.

=======================================================

This book is told in three parts. The first and last sections are Sage's story and her dilemma, but the middle part focuses on the harrowing experiences of Sage's grandmother, Minka, during the holocaust. As heartbreaking and difficult as Minka's story is to read, it is beautifully and compellingly written. I couldn't stop reading; I couldn't look away. There were, however, several moments when I had to put the book in my lap and sob. Picoult doesn't shy away from describing the horrors experienced in the concentration camps. She delivers the blows with merciless precision, as well she should. When atrocities such as these are part of reality, it is our responsibility to genuinely and honestly look at how they happened so as to watch for risks of repeat in the future.

Minka's story was my favorite part of this book, but the sections told from Sage's point of view aren't as enjoyable. I didn't care for her character very much. I also didn't really care for the ending. It left so much to be desired. Unfortunately, these sections force me to drop rating from five to four stars, which I think is still pretty good considering. This book was wonderful. I'm so glad I read it.

 

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

In Fiona Davis's The Lions of Fifth Avenue, we meet Laura, a wife and mother in 1913 whose family is living in the recently opened New York Public Library. We also meet her granddaughter, Sadie, eighty years later who is a curator at the same library. The two never met but Sadie is intrigued with her grandmother's reputation as a famous feminist essayist. When books begin going missing in Sadie's timeline, she is surprised to find that there were also book thefts at the time her grandmother and mother lived in the library. She dives headfirst into the mystery with the hope of rescuing some of the world's most important pieces of literature.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I was very curious where the mystery would lead us. Davis did an excellent job balancing the two different timelines and points of view and each chapter ending had me wanting to keep the pages turning. I loved reading about turn-of-the-century feminism and the challenges that women of the time faced in their desires to pursue their own passions. I also enjoyed hearing about the NY Public Library and now it is on my list of places to visit. This was my first Fiona Davis novel, but I can't wait to read more!

 

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

It's February and even here in the Sunny Southwest, it's a bit chilly and gray. What could be better for that than a super fun vacation read?! (Other than an actual vacation, obviously.) This month's book club pick is Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation and it was great! Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college, and they've built a tradition of going on summer trips. Some of those trips have been on a shoestring budget and some have been quite luxurious, but they've all been memorable and fun until the last one when something terrible happened and they didn't speak for nearly two years.

Henry makes us wait a really long time before revealing what happened, but the tension is well-woven throughout the story without being over the top. Poppy and Alex are both wonderfully drawn characters, and they are joined by a darling crew of people they meet along the way. Poppy is funny and sarcastic while Alex is tightly controlled but comes loose with Poppy's prodding.

I really liked this book. It was cute. It was fun. It got me through a few dreary winter days dreaming about how it is time to plan a Girls' Trip. This book would be great for reading by the pool or at the beach this summer, but there is really no need to wait. I really think you're going to like it no matter where you read it.

 

The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley

Being brutally honest about oneself is rarely easy, but that is the requirement in The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley. Monica owns a struggling cafe in London and when she finds a small notebook left behind on one of her tables, she opens it to determine the owner. What she finds is a journal entry outlining the Authenticity Project: write your story, be completely honest, then leave it for the next person. The eclectic group of people who end up adding to the notebook are fantastic. We have an elderly artist, a mommy blogger, a gorgeous traveler, a tired nanny, and a few others thrown in for fun.

Would you do it? Would you write out your truest story of yourself and then pass it on for someone else to read? Some people do it every day on social media. Some people are anonymous about it and others stand smack in the middle of the spotlight and never fear the opinions of others. Then the question is: who reads it? Total strangers who will never know you in real life are very different than the neighbor who lives down the street.

I really liked this book. The characters were flawed, but aren't we all? There was love and kindness and a sense of community I crave, especially in these times of social distance. I know some people struggle with a book with multiple points of view, but I think this one is handled well and the voices are distinct enough that it isn't difficult to keep up with the narrators. I hope you like it!

 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid features Evelyn, an old-Hollywood movie star who is finally ready to tell her life's story. She summons Monique, an unknown reporter from a local magazine, to her lavish New York apartment and offers up all of her juiciest secrets with the understanding that they will only be published after her death. With seven husbands, there are plenty of stories to tell and Monique can't believe her luck. Once Ms. Hugo begins, she won't stop until it is all told.

This is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. Reid is a masterful storyteller with fantastic pacing and excellent character development. Just like everyone else in Evelyn's life, I quickly fell in love with her spirit, her drive, and her love for the family she created for herself. Seven husbands is certainly a lot, and not all of them were good, but there was a lot of love and affection in her life.

This book wasn't at all what I expected, but it was so much better than I could have hoped. I have heard that the audio version is fantastic and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Long library waits usually mean good things!

 

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell is a mystery told from three persepectives: Saffyre, a teenage girl trying to heal from a childhood trauma; Cate, the wife of Saffyre's therapist; and Owen, the very strange, anti-social single man who lives across the street with his aunt. When Saffyre goes missing, there is a lot of speculation of who could be responsible. There have been street attacks on young women in the neighborhood and Cate's daughter is quick to cast suspicion on Owen. He certainly does look guilty, but only time will tell.

I enjoy books written from multiple perspectives, especially with such different characters, because it gives the reader the opportunity to view the contrasting sides of the story. It goes back to the idea that no one is a 'bad guy' in their own mind. The individual motivations make all the difference. Jewell handles this well with distinctive voice and well-fleshed characters.

I liked this book, but not a lot. The characters weren't particularly likable and it felt slow to me. I wasn't overly motivated to pick it up. I had high hopes for it at the beginning, but somehow it fell flat. Other members of the book club enjoyed it more than I did, so maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace for this one.

 

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!

 

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

In The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, we meet Caroline, a woman whose marriage has just self-destructed and who has decided to take her anniversary trip to London alone. When she arrives, she feels the long-buried stirrings of her obsession with history reviving. One small found object leads her on a quest for information about an apothecary from two centuries earlier. As the reader, we have the advantage of meeting Nella, the apothecary from the 1791. Told in alternating chapters between Caroline in the present day, Nella, and also a young woman seeking Nella's help, we watch as their stories fold in upon one another.

This was an interesting read with lovely characters. There were a few that I wish we were able to get to know a little better, but over all they were well-written. The story idea was good, but I felt like it could have had more... meat. This book has been highly promoted and has received a lot of good reviews, but it didn't deliver quite what I was hoping. When it arrived, I was surprised that it seemed a bit thin and after reading it, I feel like it could have used another hundred pages or so. The story could have been much better fleshed out; it could have used more details about the apothecary and her poisons that she uses to help women. I liked this book, but I was a little disappointed.

 

When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal

In Barbara O'Neal's When We Believed in Mermaids, Kit and Josie are sisters two years apart. They grew up wild and untended on a beach in northern California. Their parents were passionate and inattentive. Now grown, Kit has made a good life for herself- she is a successful ER doctor and she surfs and takes care of her mother. They are both shaken when the see Josie's face on the news half a world away from where she died years before. Kit is now determined to find out if she's seeing ghosts or if, just maybe, her sister is still alive.

This book was a quick, entertaining read. It wasn't perfect and there were flaws, but I really liked it. I read this for book club and it supplied plenty of good discussion. I would recommend this for a vacation read- the beaches and traveling to a far off destination make it a great addition to your carry on.

 

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it is no surprise that our book club pick would be romantically inclined. The Proposal begins with Nik (short for Nikole) very publicly receiving an unexpected and unwelcome proposal of marriage. When Carlos, an unknown witness of the proposal attempts to help Nik out of the sticky aftermath, a friendship is formed. Carlos and Nik are cute and neither one is in the market for a relationship, but a little fun never hurt anyone, did it?

This book was cute and a fun little page-turner. There are moments when it gets quite steamy so keep that in mind whether that is something you enjoy in a book or not. The characters in this novel are all pretty great. Nik's friends and Carlos's family are fun to read. This would make for a great vacation read.

 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is about Nora Seed, a young woman whose life is falling apart. Her brother isn't talking to her, she's lost her job, and her cat just died. Heartbroken and feeling hopeless, Nora somehow finds herself in a magical, and infinite, library that is filled with books that are nothing but the lives she could have lived. Every decision we make, large or small, leads to a completely different possible existence and Nora is being given the opportunity to face her regrets and choose better. What if she'd gone to Australia with her friend? What if she'd stuck with swimming and pursued her Olympic dreams? What if she hadn't backed out of her wedding at the last minute? So many possibilities. Where would she be now if only...?

This is a book I've seen called the best of the year by person after person on blogs and other book nerd pages that I follow. The reviews are so positive that it made it difficult to even find a copy; many places were sold out just before Christmas. Once I finally got my hands on it, I was really excited. Book nerds almost always love books that are set in libraries and this library was filled with parallel lives.

What could be better?!

Unfortunately, I didn't love this book as much as I had hoped I would. Maybe it was all they hype surrounding it that raised my expectations too high. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened. I liked Nora and I loved the idea of exploring the "road not taken" as it were, but it fell flat for me. It lacked depth and texture in a way that I can't exactly articulate. I wanted more and it felt like it was almost there, but not quite. Like plain frozen yogurt when what you really crave is a triple dip cone of premium ice cream.

I will say that I enjoyed all the little sprinkles of philosophy scattered throughout the book. Nora is a philosophy major and a big fan of dropping quotes into conversations. And the lives we get to watch her live are interesting, even if they aren't exactly the right lives for her. I just wanted more. It wasn't the right book for me, but over 100K reviewers on GoodReads can't all be wrong. It's worth your time.

I'll leave you with this short, but very important, quote:

The only way to learn is to live.