Spoiler: I read mostly blogs! And! I loved them. It was a delight to read about your lives, and I feel so grateful for this wonderful blogging community. I did not comment as much as I should have, but I read everything in my feedly every day-- what a joy. I will miss opening that tab and seeing so many unread posts.
When the Body Says No by Gabor Mate: The idea of this book is fascinating, but the book itself left a little to be desired. *Audio
Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner: This was funny and sweet, and I think I meant to read it last year but have been on a Libby hold forever **Audio
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: I loved this although the CBBC had mixed reviews. *Kindle
Mother Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon: This was adorable, and I loved it. *Audio
Happy Wife by Meredith Lavender: This was a rare Read with Jenna that disappointed. **2025
Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum: Loved this. She is a fun read all the time-- so gossipy and clever. I still laugh a little when I think of Pippins Cottage Home and our visit to Hill House Home last summer *2025
Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson: I really liked this. The tl;dr is WE NEED MORE HOUSES, but I loved the variety of historical examples and the smart but still approachable commentary. *kindle *2025
Count My Lies by Sophie Stava: This was a great twisty thriller with fun characters. *Audio
The Names by Florence Knapp: Suzanne mentioned that she was reading this, so I snagged it from the walk in section at my library and devoured it while the girls were at dance-- SO GOOD YOU GUYS. *2025
The Black Wolf by Louise Penny: Oh yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I got into these books when Minnie was tiny and would only sleep in the Ergo and I walked and walked and walked around my neighborhood 3 times a day. I love this series more than any other. **2025 **Audible
BTM 10
Book books: 3
Kindle books: 2
Audio books: 5
2025 books: 6
BTY 167
Book books: 87
Kindle books: 15
Audio books: 71
2025 books: 109
I loved The Names, too! It will make my best books of the year list. It was so sad and upsetting but so well done. I was expecting an author note about their experience with domestic violence because the author wrote about it with such authority!!
ReplyDeleteagree completely re: the names
DeleteAbundance is on my list as of yesterday! Twins! I LOVED Mean Moms and the Joy Luck Club (how different are those two books!). I read the Mate but I might be conflating it with another of his books. I do like his writing, although sometimes I feel he veers into victim-blaming territory, although that may be me projecting my own feelings about certain subjects.
ReplyDeleteyes exactly-- he was even like, I am not victim blaming and then just VICTIM BLAMED for the rest of the book
DeleteOoh, I've heard mixed reviews of the last two Louise Penny books. I'm only up to book 10 in the series right now so it will be a while before I read Black Wolf.
ReplyDeleteThe Names sounds interesting!
I am all in on that whole series-- she can do no wrong
DeleteI really liked Joy Luck Club, too!
ReplyDeleteI was going to read the names, but I have reached my quota for domestic violence this year so passed on that one...
it is really disturbing
DeleteYeah, I'd love to read The Names, but I recently read a book for my IRL book club that I didn't realize was going to be DV heavy and I spiraled a bit. I think I'm out for a bit!
ReplyDeleteI think that's a lot of books for not a lot of books in a month. I'm plodding away at a book on my Kindle so I haven't finished an ebook since (consults spreadsheet) OCTOBER which means my book count is low low low. Oh, well. I'm reading BIG BOOKS this year.
the ezra klein book was slowing me down, but I just decided to commit
DeleteI keep seeing The Names, so that's definitely high on my TBR. My hold for The Black Wolf just came in, and I'm excited!
ReplyDeleteyay1 HOPE YOU LOVE THEM BOTH
DeleteYay! So glad you loved The Names!
ReplyDeleteI am listening to Night Film and it is so good I bought a copy for my dad for Christmas.
I think Gabor Mate's work is absolutely brilliant- I wonder if When the Body Says No resonates more if you have or have family members with serious chronic illness? My mother has MS and my sister has lupus and this book spoke to me so much. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and The Myth of Normal are also great reads
ReplyDeleteMe always: Different people respond to the same book differently, we can all disagree on a book's relative merits and still be friends. Also me: OH THANK GOD YOU LOVED THE NAMES TOO.
ReplyDeleteMy brother in law went to university with Gabor Mate's son and I know way too much about the family to be able to read any of Mate's books with any level of objectivity.
I love The Joy Luck Club so much I barely had to reread - I could almost recreate it whole from memory.
Lots of good titles here that I've not heard of. I appreciate your suggestions and reviews so much. The Names sounds good. I'm holding off on sad and disturbing till after the holidays.
ReplyDeleteThe only book I have read of these is The Joy Luck Club, which I also really liked. My husband read Abundance, and we saw Ezra Klein talk about it live, but I don’t do well with non-fiction. I just put The Names on hold at the library, thank you for that.
ReplyDelete