February 3.0

The Holdout by Graham Moore
If you like a good legal thriller, this is your book! Maya is a successful criminal defense attorney, working in Los Angeles, but ten years ago she was the infamous juror who convinced the rest of the eleven jurors to set free a young black man accused of killing a white teenage girl. Switching back and forth between the trial time of 2009, and her current life where she is accused of murdering one of the former jurors, yeah...this book keeps you turning pages. I've read so many mysteries that often I have it figured it at some point, but not this book. It is a well-written, thoughtfully constructed story - highly recommend. (And if you like historical fiction, his previous book The Last Days of Night, was fascinating as well - a legal battle amongst Edison, Bell, and Tesla)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
HOW did I miss this group growing up??? I don't even remember it on my radar as a kid, but maybe because my face was buried in Nancy Drew, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Betsy, Tacy, and Tib? Regardless, this is a classic for a reason, and if you've never read it, it is worth your time. It is the story of the American dream in the days of old, of deprivation and hope, of sacrifice, of family, of love. Francie Nolan leads this story, the child of Irish and Austrian descent, growing up in the tenements of Brooklyn, seeing her Irish tenor father descend into alcoholism, watch her mother fight for her children's education, experience the death of her own dreams, and the birth of new ones. I dare anyone to read this and not feel this young girl's life, deep within your heart.

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
This is a short book meant to be used in a classroom, so no, not the best listen, but some great learning on racism, white privilege, etc. It is often a very uncomfortable book, as it forces one to look at our own biases and past actions, to reflect upon our behavior and prejudices and ways to change it. But more importantly for me, it gave me explanations on WHY we should change it. Each chapter ends with journal reflection questions, that were impossible to complete when listening in a car but would be a fantastic exercise if I was still teaching. So, to all my teacher friends, this is a book that would be highly useful in any classroom.

The Yellow Bird by Jennifer Rosner

Having won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and excited to read a different story of WWII, I was ultimately left a bit disappointed. A mother and her little girl hide from the Nazis in Poland, forcing the parent to make untenable decisions about their future. The story involves an imaginary bird, music, and well-researched history about how Jewish children were hidden during the Holocaust. Yet I found myself wanting more - more tension in the beginning, more depth to the characters, less descriptive details. I did find the final third of the book to be more compelling, and appreciated the realistic ending.

The Regrets by Amy Bonnaffons
This is a weird book; there's no other way to describe it. Or maybe quirky, but that's too milk toast. How about ghost porn? Yeah, I told you it's weird. Three characters: a young man who dies, but can't cross over; the quirky girl he falls in love with, and a third young man who gets between their hot sex life. Yeah. Weird.

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
Because I'm traveling to Edinburgh this spring, I was told to read this mystery series as it all takes place there. Starting with the first book was perhaps not the best choice. Somebody's killing off young girls, and it's a slooooooow march to finding out who, as the author takes lots of time to introduce us to this grizzled, tortured detective. I can see the potential for the series, so perhaps I'll check out the most recent, but this one was marginally written and rather boring.

February 2.0

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Who hasn't wanted a 'do over' in life, the idea of Groundhog Day, going back and getting it right? But what if your life was all mixed up, waking up each New Year's Day in a new year, but not exactly in the right order? As in, your 21 year old brain in your 40 year old body, or returning to 1982 when you had just been in 2015? That is what happens to Oona, as chapters shows us her life out of order. Each New Year's Eve party brings Oona a new year, a new age, new problems, new desires, new people, and new learning. The one constant in her life is her mother, a colorful character who makes sure that any life philosophy is not dripping in saccharine sweetness, but based in humor and authenticity. I could not stop turning pages, waiting to see where Oona's life would take her next and kept imagining all the 'what ifs' of my own life. This is a fun read, but it also makes one stop and consider our own life choices. This would be a fantastic book club choice as the options of discussion roads are endless.

Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
If you want to be profoundly moved, enlightened, and inspired, read this book and then put it in everyone's hands you know. "If you believe poverty is a choice, then you try to stigmatize and punish it, rather than focusing on interventions to ease it." In this book, the husband and wife writing team delves deeply into American despair, exploring the causes as well as some solutions. "More children die each year in the United States from abuse and neglect than from cancer...We shrug as millions of children undergo trauma in ways that harm and unravel our social fabric - and then we blame the kids when things go wrong. Some species eat their young; it turns out we are one of them." Yes, this book will break your heart, yet it will also educate you, make you question what you thought you knew was right, and force you to examine old biases. It will also show you heroes who gave their abusers grace and others who healed their own heartaches by healing others. This book is a must-read for all Americans, especially for those who will vote in 2020.

The Splendid and the Vile: A Sage of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
"If some of what follows challenges what you have come to believe about Churchill and this era, may I just say that history is a lively abode, full of surprises." Erik Larson is the master of taking a period in history, juicing it up with details of people and happenings behind the scene, and making the reader think about that history in a new light. This book is another humdinger that will make your jaw drop, will have you saying 'wow' out loud, and write down inspiring quotes over and over again. For instance, "...when I remember all that has gone wrong, and remember also all that has gone right, I feel sure we have no need to fear the tempest. Let it roar, and let it rage. We shall come through." Damn, this man could lead and inspire, like no other yet he was far from perfect. (he's got some quirky personal habits, that's for sure, and his well-known racism and elitism is quite disheartening)  This book tells the story of that first year, the worst year of the Blitz, where thousands died, women and children and ordinary people, who all stood on the side of the Channel and told Hitler NO. I absolutely loved this book and anyone who loves history will as well.

The Antidote for Everything by Kimmery Martin
You know when you need that entertaining read, but not saccharine sweet or too fluffy? This is the book that will satisfy that desire. When a hospital network decides to stop treating gay or transgender patients, the action begins. Georgia, a doctor who bucks the stereotype and is a female urologist, and  Jonah, the gay family doc who's losing all his patients due to this new rule, have been friends for a decade.  Through questionable relationships, the loneliness of  being perceived as different, the complexity of their childhood pasts, and their tendency for stupid silly humor, Jonah and Georgia are simply the best of friends and each other's chosen family. And when Georgia meets her soul mate in Amsterdam, she finally starts to see a future that includes love that might last. But of course the feces hits the fan back home when Jonah and the 'religious freedom' movement begins to hurt their patients and the doctors themselves. I could not stop turning pages of this book; the author's voice is so engaging and the characters so compelling that I felt like I was in the middle of a familiar world, yet one that I wanted and needed to be fixed. Ultimately, this is a story of friendship and love, that also has a few things to say about the direction of 'religion,' the relationships among doctors in their world, and the terrible hurt that comes from hatred directed at people that society perceives do not 'fit in.'

The Dark Corners of the Night (Unsub #3) by Meg Gardiner
Do you like the television series Criminial Minds or Mindhunters? If so, you will like Meg Gardiner's Unsub, of which this is book number three. Do you need to read the previous two to enjoy this one? Nope - but it doesn't hurt. This time around the story is set in urban Los Angeles as the Midnight Man terrorizes the city, killing parents but leaving the children alive. FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix is back with her team of investigators, trying to unravel whodunnit. While I enjoyed this one, it was not as good as previous books, in my opinion. The characters seemed more shallowly developed, maybe because they were so complex in earlier books? I was completely engrossed in the hunt for the killer, particularly in the geographical profiling which was fascinating, but at times the story gets stuck in the weeks of the psychological aspects and the chase in the end...good grief, it just went on and on and on. Ultimately, I was satisfied - just thought perhaps a little more editing could have made the story more tight and crisp, which is what I love about a good crime novel.

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica
Having enjoyed other thrillers by Kubica, I was excited to get my hands on an early copy of this one. Told through a variety of characters, it is the story of a young family in disarray. Rocked by infidelity and school expulsion, Sadie and Will move their two children up to a coastal island of Maine where Sadie works as a doctor, Will teaches college, their two boys try to fit into their new school lives, and Imogene, Will's niece who lives with them, all try to heal their numerous wounds. The perspective changes our viewpoint of the characters and makes us wonder...who is a reliable narrator, who killed the next door neighbor, and what happened in the past to create this chaos? My problem with the story, ultimately, was that it all felt a bit messy for me - some implausibility of plot twists, some "I saw that coming" story lines, thinly drawn characters were motivations were not fully developed (except for Sadie), and writing that just did not compel me to want to keep reading. I finished it, but ultimately was left unsatisfied. Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

February

Things in a Jar by Jess Kidd
Oh my, this is a weird and wonderful book, full of weird and wonderful characters: Bridie, the red-headed Irish detective who can 'read' the dead: Bridie's seven foot tall maid rescued from a circus; the disreputable freak show owner who will do anything for a new specimen; the snake woman with a heart of gold; the titled father missing his 'child,' and Christabel, the 'child' in question who Bridie must find/rescue/release? The underbelly of Victorian England is not pretty - it is dirty, ugly, dangerous. It is a place where freak shows will kidnap children to put on display, where people wind up dead due to medical experimentation, and where things in jars can cost a pretty penny. Jess Kidd is an extraordinary writer who takes all these weird and wonderful ingredients and mixes them into a spectacular story.

Mercy House by Alena Dillon
Evelyn was 'given' to the Catholic Church by her father, in return for her brother's safe return from WWII. Trained as a nurse, and now in charge of Mercy House in Brooklyn, a refuge for abused women. Sounds so ordinary, doesn't it? But you've never met a woman like Sister Evelyn, who will face down any dangerous situation in order to give someone a hand up, who has faced demons in her religious life, and who now faces the fight of her life as a bishop of the church looks to shut her down. I fell madly in love with Evelyn, and each of the young women who live at Mercy House: the sassy prostitute, the gentle girl who escaped her abusive home, the tough girl whose drug-dealing boyfriend terrorizes the house, and a quiet girl who knits. The women in this House will give you inspiration that yes, right matters, honor and truth matter, and good wins.

Still Life by Louise Penny
As a lover of a good mystery, how have I missed the famous Louise Penny? Still Life is the first in her long series about Inspector Gamache, in Three Pines, Quebec. A retired teacher, beloved friend and all-around lovely human, goes out for a snowy walk and winds up killed by an arrow. Whodunnit? Gamache and his team come to the scene, a small town outside of Quebec, where everyone knows each other; it is peopled with intriguing characters such as the son of the wealthy landowner, a famous sculptor, the gay owners of the local diner, the cranky old woman who speaks home truths.  Louise Penny is a master at plot construction, character development, and tension. I could spend weeks in Three Pines, and plan to as I slowly work my way through this series. Highly recommend if you like a captivating mystery:)

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
Do you ever need a palate cleanser of a book? When the news gets too disheartening, the weather Is just plain ugly, and life looks rather bleak? If so, I highly recommend this one. It's not my usual genre (yep, sweet romance - who knew?!) Sam and Tate meet in London as Sam is a college student, and Tate is about ready to begin her life at Sonoma State. A hidden secret in Tate's life throws her into the world spotlight, and fourteen years later she and Sam find themselves on the same film location...you can see where this is going, right? Yet it didn't matter - it is a sweet, well-told tale of young love, betrayal, family secrets, and hope in the future. Just what I needed, at this moment in time:)

Middle England (Rotters' Club, #3) by Jonathan Coe
Do you ever wonder, as I do, what the hell happened in this world a few years ago? European countries turning right-wing nationalist, England saying 'good-bye' to the post WWII world of the European Union, and America electing a reality tv star to occupy the oval office? Well, this book will explain it all. It follows a middle class English family, living in Birmingham and London, from 2010-2018, covering the influence of Brexit from beginning to end. Yet, it is not political, per say; it is a deep dive into family/friend relationships and how our shifting views of immigration, the economy, the government, all play into our feelings for one another. It is snarky, witty, informational, highly addictive. Middle England won the Costa Award of 2019, best book written in the UK - well deserved.

A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2) by Brigid Kemmerer
Did you read A Curse So Dark and Lonely? Do you like YA fantasy? Books that take you away to another world? If so, this series is for you. I like the fact that it has one foot in real life (ie. Washington DC, where the real-world characters originate) and then the fantasy world of Emberfall. In the first book Curse, it's basically a Beauty&the Beast retelling, but with a girl who deals with cerebral palsy and who gets very good at knife-throwing. Yeah, I kinda loved Harper. But in this spectacular sequel, the story focuses more on Grey, the head of the Guardsmen who disappears at the end of Book 1 and has a few secrets to deal with this time around, as well as a new love interest. This is literally the best escape from the dreary world of impeachment, corruption, and medals of freedom being given to racists. Highly recommend!

How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones
An award-winning and talented poet, Saeed Jones grows up as a poor black boy in the south, and on top of that, he is gay. Between Saeed's own challenges, combined with his family's dysfunction and health issues, this should have been a compelling read. However, I wanted to hear more about Saeed's own struggles in his childhood and youth, and those seemed skimmed over to me. Too much on his sexual experiences, some involving rape and abuse, and some jumping around with time lines lost me. Beautiful writing, but a memoir that missed for me.