The Marriage Portrait: A novel by Maggie O'Farrell

Kindle edition 

Another Real Simple magazine recommendation. Here's what Real Simple had to say:

"...brings to life Lucrezia de' Medici, a free-spirited young duchess in 1550s Florence. She's thrust into a marriage when the groom's intended bride, her older sister, dies suddenly. Her survival depends on whether she produces an heir. This is a riveting tale about one woman's fight for autonomy."

I started this book on my kindle on May 16 and finished it on May 26.

I had mixed feelings about this book. The thing that made me so-so on it was the tense. At times it was as if a narrator was telling the story. At other times it was Lucrezia telling the story. It was a little awkward for me switching between the two.

The overall story was interesting. It seemed to take a little too long to really get to the story. In hindsight, the context and history of Lucrezia was needed, but it could have maybe been hurried up a little. The writing is rich with details and layers. Lots of descriptions of things. I especially liked the scene with the tiger and Lucrezia. It was detailed and vague. It was textured and lovely. I wanted more of it. There were a lot of things that left me longing for more information. Maybe that wanting was the point. So much during this time happened behind closed doors. Information wasn't freely available to Lucrezia, or women in general. Maybe the author was creating that tension in how she wrote this story. It certainly was palpable.

While the ending was dramatic and traumatic (at times), it was mostly (not entirely) satisfying. I wanted more. I was curious about a few things with Lucrezia's sister in law, Elizabetta. What happened with her? What is Lucrezia's husband's past, and what happened with is future? I'd like to have learned more about Lucrezia too. I wonder if after what happened with Lucrezia if her mother had any regrets. Or any of her family.

And very interesting historical fiction book, with lots of positive reviews. While I liked this book, it isn't at the top of my list.

 Post written on May 28. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

Kindle edition

This is a gem from the Real Simple magazine reading recommendation list sort of by mistake and I only just realized it right now! There is another book called the Do-Over by Suzanne Park. This is not that book. Oopsie!

Well - in re-reading the synopsis of the other Do-Over, it sort of sounds similar to this one, but the characters and situation is different. I'll add this other Do-Over to my reading list.

I started this Do-Over (by Lynn Painter) on May 14 and finished it a quick 2 days later on May 16. I really didn't want to put this one down.

This one is about a high-school girl, Emillie, and her bad bad Valentine's Day that, through some crack in reality and time, she gets to live over and over again. Imagine some random smattering of Parent Trap, 13 Going on 30, Groundhog Day, Freaky Friday (you get the idea) and you get this book.

Emilie is dating one of the "popular boys" at school and she is so excited for their first Valentine's Day together. She has it all planned out. You know the saying about the best laid plans... Well, her plans don't go as planned. And something happens so she can relive this day and maybe try and make it right. Except she doesn't know what "right" is. So without fear of the consequences, Emilie tries all sorts of things to make it right. But, perhaps, her thoughts on what is "right" aren't quite... right.

SPOILER ALERT: If you don't wan't to know too many details, STOP READING NOW.

So, on one of the Valentine's Days, Emilie says F#@k it and throws caution (and potential consequences) to the wind and tries something radically different. She puts on some uncharacteristically Emilie leather pants, takes her dad's Porsche (without permission), puts the pedal to the metal (and gets a ticket and the car impounded), says whatever she wants (and confronts the resident mean girls at school), breaks up with her boyfriend over the PA system at school for all to hear, walks out of her science class with her cute lab partner, and goes on to have the time of her life. Consequences be damned.

You know what they say about the best paid plans... Well, this day of consequences ends up... having consequences. Lots of them. And maybe one of them ends up in Emilie's favor.

I LOVED this book. It was heart-breaking, relatable, fun, hilarious, exciting. I highly recommend it.

 Post written on May 25. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Total Power (Mitch Rapp Book 19) by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills

Kindle Edition

I'm a total Mitch Rapp fan. I'm always so excited to read the next book to see what Mitch gets into next. And I'm always sad when I finish it so fast and have to wait until who knows when until the next one comes out. I'm (thankfully?) a bit behind on these and there are a few more out currently so I won't have to wait quite so long for the next one.

I started this book on May 7 and finished it on May 11.

I love these books. Some of them seem a little too real and I wonder in the back of my mind if they give bad guys too many ideas of bad things to do. Do bad guys read these books? Maybe.

This one has to do with the power grid in America and a plot to take it down. Not for a day or two. Or even a week or two. But take the whole thing down. Period. For a year or more. This bad person has the knowledge and access to do it. And he's attempting to find the highest bidder (or any bidder) to lend support / take the lead to do this.

In typical government fashion, the red tape, the bureaucracy, the ancient technology, the dispersed systems, the bickering politicians, the too-many-to-number agencies involved all lend to the chaos and inability to really do anything. This seems about right and based in reality.

Enter Mitch Rapp. He can do something. And he does something.

This is a fast read. I usually read before falling asleep, but with any of these books, instead of helping me get to sleep, they amp me up and make me want to read all night to see what happens. I notice I get anxious, my heart-rate increases, I try to read faster and faster to get to the next thing that happens in the book. But I don't care. I love these books.

  Post written on May 25. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Just Like You: A Novel by Nick Hornby

 

Kindle Edition

Yet another book from my growing list of recommendations from Real Simple magazine. I started this book on May 1 and finished it on May 7.

Real Simple described it as a witty rom-com.

"Lucy is a 40-something white mother of two. Joseph is a 22-year old black aspiring DJ. When they meet at the London butcher shop where Joseph works, they're caught off-guard by their feelings for each other, and nearly as baffled by their awkward courtship as their wide-eyed friends and family are. [This book] is a sweet and funny testament to the wonderful things that happen when you allow yourself to follow your heart."

Yes, that does describe the book in a nutshell. However, I wasn't as enthralled and engrossed in this book as I thought I would be. The writing style seemed disjointed and rather cliché at times. The dialogue felt forced and it was difficult to tell who was saying what.

I thought this would be a fun, witty rom-com, as the Real Simple review said. It fell short and flat for me.

Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough

 

Kindle Edition

Another from the Real Simple recommendations list (yes, each month I look at the "what we're reading" section in Real Simple magazine and usually pull one or more of the books they recommend into my "to read" list on my phone).

I started this on April 25 and finished it on April 30 - another quick read.

Real Simple said this:

"Lauren Hough has endured more than most of us in 10 lifetimes, and she reels it all... from her globe-trotting childhood in an infamous cult to her time in the U.S. Air Force to her eye-opening experiences as a bouncer and cable installer. Hough bravely and compellingly shares how our search for identity can be searingly awful, wickedly funny, and totally worth it."

I'm not a cult expert or even a cult novice. I know next to nothing about them let alone how to leave them. This book was really interesting. It's presented as a collection of essays, and that presented a few issues for me. Some of the content seemed repetitive and the book itself didn't follow a linear timeline. I guess because - essays. Different and the same topics can be part of more than one essay, and they were. The book still held my interest and had me shaking my head in disbelief in many of the essays. Thinking, "how could that happen?" and "holy shit" multiple times.

The glimpses Hough offers into her experiences in the cult and outside it show aspects of life that most of us haven't even thought about or imagined, let alone lived. That she's been through all of the travails and nightmares this life has brought her is a testament (maybe?) to the human spirit and about how much shit some can endure and still keep forging ahead.

 Post written on May 3. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Diamond Head: A Novel by Cecily Wong

 

Kindle Edition

I learned of this book in Real Simple magazine and voila! was able to get it without a wait on my kindle from my local library. I started this book on April 17 and finished it on April 21. A quick read.

I really enjoyed the time-skipping aspect of this book and the storytelling. It follows members of several families and tells their stories and how they became intertwined. This is NOT a time-travel book. It looks at each person and shares their story going back in their personal history.

This book is about relationships, choices, family. It spans 1800s China to 1960s Hawaii. There's so much about the book that I enjoyed. However, the ending; I didn't love the ending. It was too abrupt. Maybe I was too invested in the characters, too invested on learning what else would happen. The ending left me wanting more. Maybe that's good? Maybe that was the author's intent? But it was disappointing. 

A short synopsis: Rich man (Frank) "saves" poor girl (Lin); marries her and eventually takes her to Hawaii. They live a lavish life. Before Lin is able to get pregnant, a concubine gives them their first child, a son, Bohai. When in Hawaii, Lin gets pregnant and has a 2nd son. We learn about Frank's and Lin's histories and come to know their two sons as well. Bohai, their first, is a-typical. He comes to marry Amy and they have a daughter, Theresa. The author weaves this concept of how soulmates are linked together by an invisible red string tied to them both. Some people are able to find their soulmate/intended easily, not making any knots (complications) in their string along the way. When a person does make mistakes, make wrong turns with relationships, etc., their strings get knots. With too many knots, it becomes harder and harder to untangle them.

The characters in this book have many knots, many twists, and many turns. The author provides a lot of context about each character and gives detailed insights into their knots, twists, and turns. Maybe too much? For me, no. It is a meandering book that paints a very detailed and personal picture of each of the characters. It definitely pulled me in. As I mentioned before, the ending was disappointing. I wanted more.

Bottom line, I really liked the book and the depth of each of the characters, the vivid pictures, the complicated relationships. I just wanted a better ending (a more satisfying ending).

Post written on April 28. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Because of Miss Bridgerton: A Bridgerton Prequel by Julia Quinn

 

Kindle Edition

Yes, I jumped on the Bridgerton bandwagon (books and series) and loved every minute of it. I started this book on April 13 and finished it on April 17 and loved every minute of it.

This book introduces us to the generation or two before the family we know from the Netflix series. We meet Billie Bridgerton (the older sister of Edmund of Violet & Edmund Bridgerton). This is her story.

Typical (and I don't mean that negatively) of Julia Quinn's stories, we learn of Billie's life and how she fell in love with, maybe someone unexpected, though not really unexpected all that much.

I loved the opening with Billie and the cat. It was pretty funny and I could totally visualize how it went down. It reminded me a little of one of the old Anne of Green Gables episodes from the PBS version when Anne hurt her ankle (fell into a well, I think?). Regardless, I really love Julia Quinn's writing style, her character development, and the storylines in each of the books.

I got the last 3 Bridgerton books in a combo book on my kindle and was sad when I finished what I thought was the last one. Then realized that the 3rd book in the combo was one I hadn't read yet. Then realized it was the prequel-ish. And now know that there are a treasure trove of other books by Julia Quinn just waiting for me (and you!) to read!

Post written on April 28. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.