2020 Yearly Recap

This is my best reading year, by just the numbers, that I've ever had! I almost hit 150 books--Goodreads has me at 147 for the year. I'm really impressed and proud of myself. If I hadn't stopped doing audiobooks for a lot of the year--dang Covid--I would have gone over and above that 150 mark. Of course, a lot of these books this year were middle-grade novels or books I read to the boys, so many of them were super quick and easy, but I'm still taking it. 

I also love that I really loved a lot of the books I read. Some years I look back and I think, I really didn't love anything I read this year. Not so for this year. This was a great reading year in all aspects. I'm not sure what made it so great--partly that I had a lot of time to read with a new baby and lots of nursing, partly that I read a lot of books suggested by the Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide and they are usually winners, partly that I felt free to read whatever sounded good and didn't try too hard to read anything too hard or fancy since there was a global pandemic happening and my stress levels were high a lot. For whatever reason, this all worked. 

I'm hoping to continue this trend for the new year--although I do want to work through that stack of books on my bedside stand I've been meaning to read all year!

Best of the year: Stamped from the Beginning

Best non-fiction: The Library Book, The Priesthood Power of Women

Best fiction: The Dutch House, Lovely War

Best romance: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, The Happy Ever After Playlist, Beach Read, Things You Save in a Fire

Best mystery: Truly Devious trilogy

Best middle-grade: A Long Way from Chicago, Merci Suarez Changes Gears, When You Reach Me

Best audiobooks: Sleeping Giants, Daisy Jones and the Six

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

I've had this book on my to-read list for over THREE YEARS, and I've checked it out from the library at least five times. And even once I started, it took me so long to read it. And I REALLY liked it! I don't know what was my issue with this book, because it was cute, and loving, and magical--for some reason, I just couldn't get through it. It's obviously meant for middle-grade readers, which is probably my problem. But I bet Dane would love it. I might check it out for him. The book is about Luna, a girl who is given magical powers when she accidentally drinks the moon as an infant, and a lot of other different characters who come together throughout the book. There's a tiny dragon, a swamp monster, a witch, an insane woman, and some very good people who work together to defeat the bad people. I thought the message about the Sorrow Eater was really pertinent--she had so much sorrow within that she spent her whole life (centuries) trying to make everyone else sorrowful. 

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

This book reminded me so much of the book Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier--creepy big house, sketchy people you're staying with, mist and fog everywhere--but had the added bonus of being set in Mexico and with a Mexican protagonist. That made it so much more interesting and appealing! I absolutely loved this story--it was labeled as horror, which made it seem definitely not up my alley, but it was just creepy, not gory or awful. I think the thing that made this book work was the plucky protagonist, Noemi, who travels to visit her newly wed cousin a few hours away from her home in Mexico City, and finds out some really awful, creepy stuff is going on. Noemi is tough and not afraid, even when things start to get really awful, but in a believable way. I really liked her and I started to get worried that things wouldn't work out for her. I was impressed by the author's creativity and how she came up with this idea for the plot; I didn't see the main plot reveal coming. I just wish it hadn't ended exactly the way it did, romantically--I did not want it to end that way. But overall, a pretty darn good book. 

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell

I feel like Gladwell likes to try and turn things on their head to make a point. In this book, he does that, but he does it with some really creepy topics that made me stomach squirm to listen to. I did not like hearing in such explicit detail about the Jerry Sandusky case, about the gymnastics doctor who was convicted of abusing hundreds of gymnasts, and about Brock Turner. Gladwell came dangerously close to trying to exonerate all of them--or at least, to exonerate the people who believed them at the time and took a ton of convincing to believe they were actually guilty of what they were. That was just something I didn't like about this book. I did appreciate his point--that we, as humans, tend to believe rather than doubt, because if we didn't, human communication would not work. And that's why cases like those above take so long to prove. But I wish he had used some less awful cases and spent less time trying to make them seem like they were innocent. 

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

I really liked Ready Player One. So I just randomly happened to see on Goodreads that there was a sequel that had just come out, so I immediately checked it out from the library and listened to it on audio. It was basically the exact same thing as Ready Player One, just slightly less enjoyable because it had already happened before and the characters were all slightly less likable for not being the underdogs any more. So definitely not as fun as the first, but still worth a listen for the excellent narration and fast-paced fun plot.

Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things by Josh Clark and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant with Nils Parker

I've listened to the Stuff You Should Know podcast, off and on, for almost a decade. That's pretty amazing. They've been going since maybe 2008, and I listened to them religiously for a long time until I discovered audiobooks and became more interested in listening to books. I still will turn them on when there's an interesting topic, but Josh and Chuck can turn any topic, no matter how boring, into something worth listening to. I love Josh and Chuck--I feel like I know them--so I wanted to support them so when I heard they finally had a book coming out, so I preordered it and promptly read it when I got it. I thought it was pretty interesting--each chapter was just a writeup about a different topic, in the authors' voices. It basically seemed like each chapter was a podcast episode from them. But I'll be honest, I prefer hearing them talk. The book was fine, just not amazing. But their footnotes were hilarious and made the whole thing worth it.

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

I'd gotten a few recommendations for Jessica Simpson's autobiography, and when I heard she was the narrator for the audiobook, I finally checked it out. I am a sucker for celebrity memoir audiobooks that are read by the celebrity themselves. I love hearing their own voices. This book seemed like a therapy exercise for Jessica, and I was definitely rooting for her all the way. She seems like such a normal person (albeit one with extremely expensive tastes) and I liked hearing about her childhood and her progression into extreme stardom. She was a great narrator and she got choked up at the sad parts and it really made me feel for her. She definitely has more to her than I had thought (I guess I'd judged her!) and I am happy for her and her kids that she has turned herself around by recognizing her alcohol addiction and getting into therapy.

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

I loved this book so much in the summer that I came back to read it again in December. I was telling my friend Carly about it and trying to get her to read it, so I read it again myself because it sounded so good. I think I liked it more as an audiobook--the narrators were so good. But definitely still worth the read and so much fun and cuteness.

A Better Man by Louise Penny

It has been such a long time since I've listened to a Gamache book, and it took no time at all for me to be sucked back in to Three Pines and the world of Armand Gamache. I love Gamache so much. Some of Penny's descriptions have gotten noticeably stale, as this is the 15th book in the series--she loves to describe the characters in the same way every book. Gamache has his kind but intelligent eyes, Clara has paint in her hair. But then again, that makes sense; it's part of the magic of Three Pines that they remain the same and are the same people you see every time. The mystery in this book, about a woman who was found murdered in the river behind Three Pines, was gripping, and Penny did an amazing job again creating the setting for the book with the river overrunning its banks. I breezed through this audiobook. Even if some things are getting old, I will always come back for every Gamache story.

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

This is one of the most fascinating and mind-blowing I have read in a long time. I listened to it, actually, or else I would have been underlining things on every single page and I would have so many more things to say about it than I have right now. I have thought about this book at least once a day since finishing it six weeks ago; so many of the stories he told and the points he made are so fresh, even when he was talking about things that happened three hundred years ago in America. The main thing he made me believe was that the only thing wrong with black people is that we think there's something wrong with black people--and I never really understood what that meant until he explained it throughout the book, over and over again. He started at the beginning of our American history and used five crucial American thinkers and how they dictated and represented the racist (or anti-racist) ways Americans thought and have thought at the time. I could not believe all of the parts of our history that he wrote about that I did not know or which I'd never understood in the way he shared. Like, the fact that after the Civil War, in the beginning of Reconstruction, there were black Congressmen from the South, who were slowly pushed out by the South as they reclaimed their hold over Black people through Jim Crow and anti-voting laws. I had no idea. I feel ashamed that I didn't know about all of the Black activists who have been making a difference to change political and public opinions for centuries in our country--I knew many, but they were represented here in such a more complete way that I learned so much. This book was definitely the best book I've read/listened to all year, and I feel like I might buy a copy so that I can read it again and remember better what I've learned.

My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

I absolutely, totally loved My Lady Jane by these same authors, a few years ago, and I really liked the sequel My Plain Jane. I loved how they did a fantastical, funny, irreverent retelling of historical figures or fictional characters. So I have been looking forward to the third book in this Lady Janies trilogy for a few years now. And it was incredibly disappointing. The story was really pretty boring, I didn't love the characters, and I felt like there were some really boring high-minded "tolerance" sections where a character preaches about how people have been so mean to the native American tribes. I totally agree, it just really grated how they decided to talk about it in this book. Definitely not even close to the other two books.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

This was one of my favorite books I read this year. I heard about this on the What Should I Read Next? podcast and immediately bought it for myself for my birthday. I knew it was going to be a hit because I am always, always interested in books about books and libraries. Orlean covers such a wide scope in this book--the book is mainly about the LA Library fire in 1986, but she dives deep into the history of libraries in general, the history of library fires, the history of the LA Library in specific, the biography of Harry Peak (the suspected arsonist of the LA Library), and what the LA Library is like now. It was amazing and was some of the best non-fiction I've read in a long time.

Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide by Grant Hardy

Austin tried to get me to read this so long ago and it sat on my bedside stand for way too long. I kept meaning to and not managing to get around to it--but once I did, I found it so interesting! I thought this book gave a whole different way to read the Book of Mormon, and gave me so many more insights into the three main narrators or writers of the Book of Mormon. Hardy analyzes what we can figure out about Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni, from what they include, what they leave out, and the way they write. A lot of what he discusses is pure speculation, but it's very interesting to consider and really helped me to imagine them as humans. He also provided a lot of deep textual analysis of important sections to help discuss the prophets, but I'll admit that I did skim a lot of those sections--I didn't have a ton of time to dedicate to this book and I wanted to be able to finish it. I feel like this was really worth the read, though, and I'll remember some of his insights for a while to come. 

Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt

I really enjoyed this nonfiction book about biases and how we can tell where our biases are. I liked how Eberhardt included her own personal experiences alongside research which she has conducted and other research, and how she discussed how these things apply for police and for other people. Unfortunately, I'm reviewing this so long after reading it that I can't remember any more specifics to write! Dang it.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

Another nursing Newbery read, and I liked this one way more than I expected to. When I started it and realized it was set in the Middle Ages and the main character was this peasant/serf boy, I really didn't want to read it. I guess I thought it might be like The Midwife's Apprentice, which wasn't my favorite book by any means. Plus, the Middle Ages is just a depressing time. But this book had a lot more adventure and excitement in it than I expected, and I found myself dreaming about it last night, so I definitely got more out of it than I thought I would. I wouldn't say I loved the characters--Crispin never seemed to have any personality--but I thought the plot was fun and exciting and I was able to understand a little more of medieval culture just from seeing how entrenched the religion was in these characters and the way things were for them, so it was worth the read. 

The Christ Who Heals: How God Restored the Truth that Saves Us by Fiona Givens and Terryl Givens

I absolutely loved the Givenses previous book, The God Who Weeps, which I read in 2013. My mom said she wanted us all to read their next book, The Christ Who Heals, for her birthday. I slacked a lot and didn't get a chance to finish it before we discussed it, but I did finish it this past week, and it was also really good. Both Fiona and Terryl Givens are incredibly smart and well-read scholars, and they are so interesting to read because they do such a good job incorporating references from history and from all throughout the scriptures and Mormon history and doctrine. This book describes all the aspects of our understanding of Jesus Christ and how our belief in Christ differs from other Christian faiths--and why that difference matters to us. I underlined so many fantastic parts in here that it would be hard to add them all, but I thought this was an incredible faith-promoting book.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

I feel like this book would be a great read-aloud book with the boys, especially if you're trying to learn about American history. A good Fourth of July book, maybe. I read this because it was a Newbery winner, but I actually enjoyed it a bit more than I was expecting. I definitely got caught up in it, and I could see boys who had learned about Paul Revere and the Boston Tea Party in school being so excited about this book. There were a few things that dated it--a negative reference to black people really turned me off--but it was written in 1942. Otherwise, it stands up and is a great illustration of what life was like in Boston during the lead-up to the American Revolution. I felt like I was there, the details were so well-done and thorough. 

Don't Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life by Anne Bogel

Annie Dillard said, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing." And Anne Bogel says that if we spend time stressing and overthinking, that is what we are doing with our lives. We should not be doing that. I really enjoyed this quick and thoughtful book about how to think more clearly and make quicker decisions. I felt like a few of her points seemed to really coincide with advice we are given in General Conference, in a secular way. 

A few things I loved from this book:

• Your thoughts can be your enemy or your ally. Your thoughts are connected to your health and well-being, and paying attention to what you think about is key. 
• Deciding what your major values are can help you with making decisions. Our values can also influence what we choose to keep before our minds (like books, issues, news, etc.).
• "Our lives should reflect who we are and what we care about." "Our lives reflect what we persistently think about. Where we choose to place our attention directly affects the way we experience the world around us and the people we become... Your life is the creation of what you focus on--and what you don't." "It all depends what we choose to focus on."

I felt like this book gave me more motivation to live more true to myself and to not waste mental energy worrying or thinking about things that I shouldn't be. I'm glad I bought a copy to be able to revisit it because that's the sort of book I want to be motivated by again and again. 

These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I hadn't read this book out loud before to the kids because I was sure they would find it boring. It's Laura all grown up, teaching school and being courted by Almanzo--why would they care about that? But I was wrong--they LOVED this book and were excited for more. I think the stories about going on long buggy rides with the horses were fascinating to them. I personally loved reading about Laura's experiences teaching school. I loved being able to get those details and be able to picture what it was like for her, particularly because my great-grandma Emily Myres was a schoolteacher in Canada in very similar circumstances--maybe 40 years after Laura, but not much had changed. I loved that connection for the kids. This book ends with Laura being married, and I'm not planning to read The First Four Years with them. We're starting Farmer Boy instead, which we skipped when we were going through originally. 

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Another Newbery winner. I've been reading them on my phone slowly while nursing instead of checking Facebook or Instagram the last few weeks, and it has been refreshing. I know I read this one at least once as a child, but I had no recollection of it. I liked some parts of this book, and didn't like others as much. I thought learning about the language of the wolves, and the way wolves interact and work together as a pack, was fascinating. I especially liked reading the author's note at the end about how she learned all of this about the wolves by visiting Alaska and learning about them there. I thought all of the things that Miyax does to survive were amazing, and I was very impressed with her knowledge and ability to survive out there. I thought all of that was worth the read. But I was really disappointed in the backstory about Miyax and why she was running away and especially in the ending where she finds her father. I don't know that there was anything really wrong with them--it just felt really sad and depressing. The whole book kind of a little bit felt like cultural appropriation as well. Plus, the dialogue was distractingly slow. Also, you don't learn that her English name is Julie until like 2/3 of the way through the book (right?) so why is it titled Julie of the Wolves? Why not Miyax of the Wolves? But overall, worth a read and I can imagine any animal-obsessed child would love this book.

More to the Story by Hena Khan

When I heard about this book--a modern retelling of Little Women about a Muslim family in America--I immediately jumped on it. I love Little Women, and I love retellings about different races or backgrounds from the original story. And this did not disappoint. I loved this story about four sisters who are brought together by one sister's illness and how their experiences as Muslims in America inform their lives. I thought they were such a sweet family and I really liked each of the characters. Jameela, the main character, seemed very realistic to me--she made mistakes, had to learn to fix things, but seemed to think very much like a real twelve-year-old. Also, I liked how the storyline of Jo chopping off her hair had a real purpose and a real modern-day counterpart in this story. It worked very well and I loved this adaptation.

The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox

This is a Newbery award winner that I read from the library while nursing, and I didn't really enjoy this one. I feel like a lot of the Newbery winners prior to this decade are focused on historical fiction to help kids learn about some aspect of American history, and this was the one focused on the slave trade. It's about a boy who gets kidnapped and forced to sail on a slave ship so that he can blow his pipe and force the slaves to dance and exercise so they stay in better condition on their journey back from Africa. The book definitely exposes the horrors of the slave trade and how awful and inhumane it is in every way. But I really can't imagine a kid reading this book and enjoying it at all. There's no feeling like the main character triumphs or like he has any power to make any decisions at all to make a difference, so it just felt really dark and scary the whole time. The book ends with the slavers being discovered by the authorities and then somehow at that exact same time a huge storm coming upon them and wrecking the ship and somehow everyone else dies except the boy and the one slave boy he is able to save, and then they somehow swim to shore and then are discovered by an escaped slave who has connections to get the slave boy to freedom somehow? It was confusing and didn't seem super believable to me. Basically, this is maybe the first Newbery winner that I am not interested in owning a copy of to keep on our shelves.

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I've read a bunch of Kate Morton's novels, but they were all like 6 or 7 years ago. I was trying to find a good book to read for our book club in November, since we haven't had a book club meeting for a long time, and I thought of Kate Morton and decided to try reading her most recent one. I really liked it... until the last 5% of it where everything started to fall together and I was really bugged by how everything ended up. Kate Morton does an amazing job of writing about different timelines and different characters, and in this book she surpassed herself by including a huge number of characters that were all related to the mystery in some way, over 150 years of this story. I really enjoyed the different timelines, although I think it was hard to keep it straight (and I bet if you didn't read it quickly, it would be even harder). My only real complaint is how everything ended--I feel like there wasn't enough detail about the ending of the contemporary storyline (like how did she end with her fiancee?) and Morton didn't answer enough about how the original murder happened in the first place. I should probably write more of my impressions so that I remember everything better for book club, but I don't have the energy to do this right now. Despite the disappointing ending, the rest of the book was good enough that I'm glad I read it. 

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

I had never heard of this book and had no idea what it was about, but I checked it out as an e-book as a part of my quest to read all the Newbery award winners. I read this first, before any of the other Newbery winners I'd checked out, because it was incredibly short and I knew it would be fast to get through. Despite it being so short and fast, I thought it packed a lot of punch and had quite a lot of meaning behind the story. It was set in medieval London, while the plague was going through, and follows a boy, Robin, who is struck by some malady (not the plague, I think?) where he can't walk or use his legs any more. His parents have both left him to go fight in a war and serve the queen, and he's supposed to be working as a page at some castle, but he instead is taken up by a priest who helps to nurse him back to health, and he eventually makes a huge difference in a battle against the Welsh and saves the castle and is reunited with his parents. The whole message of the book--and the meaning of the title--is that you just have to keep trying and working through things and eventually a door will open, or a way will open up to you to do what you need to do. There was also the idea of "Anyone can NOT do it," which Robin thought when he thought "I can't do this!" I really liked that idea and I think that's a great message for a kids' book. I also really liked the setting of medieval England and picturing that time and era. 

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

This book took me by surprise. It's like 95% a normal story, realistic fiction about a girl in her normal life in New York City in the 1970s. But then you start to figure out there's time travel involved. I thought this story was just brilliant, and I absolutely loved it. I don't know why I haven't heard more about it... I really liked the way the author wrote and how she tells the story, I loved the main character and how she develops and learns where she needs to be kinder to everyone, and I was so impressed with the twists that I didn't really see coming with the time travel. I also loved how she incorporated A Wrinkle in Time throughout this book, with explicit references to time travel and kind of as foreshadowing for what is coming. I definitely would have loved this book as a kid and I really am happy that I read it!

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

I REALLY liked this book. I thought it was so good and I basically liked everything about it. The format, in a kind of poetry/rap writing, was super enthralling (and made it quick to read); the characters were sweet and believable and struggling with real things; the plot and the basketball were fun and exciting. I basically blazed through this super fast because it was so easy to keep going and because I didn't want to stop. I loved that the main character, Josh, was dealing with things that were super important (like his dad's health) and not so important (like his hair getting cut when he didn't want it to), although they felt really important to him. The story felt earnest and real, and I was surprised when the ending turned out devastating, but with a hopeful turn. I thought this definitely deserved the Newbery and I know my boys will LOVE it when they get older. 

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

I've had this book on my to-read list for a while, because it sounded so cute and so good. And it definitely was. I read this quickly in one evening because I didn't want to put it down. The story is about Zoe, who receives a letter from her biological dad who is in prison, and her efforts to get to know him through letters, and later, to help him get out of prison for the crime he didn't commit. I loved Zoe's character, how she was super into baking and really committed to developing this skill, and how she was determined to do something about Marcus being in prison once she found out about it. I also really liked how this book addressed racism in policing and the court system in a real mild way, without preaching a ton about it, as Zoe learns about it and has her mind opened up to it along with our readers. And it also addressed Zoe struggling with her relationships with her best friend and her mom, in a realistic way. Definitely a great book I want to have on our shelves. 

Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman

I thought this book was good. That's about as strong of a response I can give to it. I liked a lot about it--the two authors seem fantastic and fun, and I want to be friends with them; I loved their candor and honesty about their experiences in this long-lasting friendship and how they worked to save their friendship when things started to go south; I liked their communal voice and the side jokes they threw in to their writing. But it definitely started to drag after a while. I think I wanted a little more research-based discussion about friendship--that's kind of what I was expecting--but the book seemed to be almost solely about their relationship with a few studies referenced here and there. And maybe I didn't want to read about how their friendship started to sour, and how important it is to save friendships, because maybe that hits a little too close to home with something I'm not very good at. I definitely enjoyed their perspective and it made me want to be better about putting in the effort to prioritize friendship more. 

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Honestly, I didn't really like this book. But I guess that goes along with the fact that I don't really get the Bachelor either. This book was basically telling the story of a girl who becomes the Bachelorette and her experience filming the show--except that she's overweight and has to deal with a whole lot of crap from awful people about her weight as the show goes along. I think it was empowering and very good to raise awareness about how one-sided and not representational those shows really are, and I was happy that Bea ended up happy at the end. I loved how confident she was, even as she also had to deal with a lot of body image issues (which every single woman in America deals with, no matter what size we are). But I really didn't like the many different romances she had going on as part of the show--none of them seemed at all believable--and I especially didn't feel it with the person she ended up with. I basically did not believe it at all. But again, I think that goes along with how I don't believe the romances on the real Bachelor, and this was just reading that in book format, and I was rolling my eyes the whole time. I ended up skimming quite a bit of the show parts because it was making me so annoyed. 

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

I kept seeing this around and thinking it sounded somewhat interesting, recommended over and over and over, until I finally decided just to jump on board and read it. I read it on my phone in short bursts (this is working for me lately, since I don't have a lot of concentrated time to sit down and read) and I thought the story was really compelling. I really admire Gottlieb's honesty and bravery in sharing her journey through therapy, and the stories she told about her patients' transformations and journeys were even more worth reading. I really loved all of her patients she talked about after you learned everything they were going through and their efforts to be better and make it through their struggles. I also liked learning a little bit of armchair psychology through it and to see what it was like to be a therapist and what it was like to go to therapy. I can totally see why people say everyone should go to therapy--it sounds like it would actually be kind of fun to have someone to talk to like that. 

Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev

This is the sequel to Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, and I loved it almost as much as that one. This book was about Trisha's cousin Ashna, who was a minor character in the first book, and follows the basic storyline of Persuasion--Ashna and her high school boyfriend were separated by her father, and now, twelve years later, they are thrown back together as partners on a new cooking show and Ashna has to start letting go of the walls she's built up over the years. I really loved the idea of the story and how well Dev incorporated the Persuasion storyline. I also loved how she included this backstory of Ashna's about her mother trying to come back into her life and trying to apologize for how she's left her alone for so many years, and how she addressed some serious issues. I was just a little turned off by some of the less believable aspects of the story--like Ashna has panic attacks any time she tries to cook anything other than her father's recipes? Yet she's been a chef at her restaurant for the last ten years? I don't buy it. I also felt like Ashna and Rico's misunderstandings were a little juvenile and could easily have been handled by either of them saying ANYTHING to communicate... but I still really enjoyed the book and how they fell in love with each other all over again. Definitely a fun read and definitely an exciting ending. I would love to read another one of these if Dev writes any more. 

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

This book was RIGHT up my alley--a Jane Austen, P&P rewrite, set in modern times with an Indian family in California. What's not to love? It also didn't do too much to force the original story on this new timeframe--it just included the original disliking and then having to overcome and rethink what they had thought of each other. I also loved that the woman, Trisha, was the really prideful and obnoxious Darcy character, and the man, DJ, was the Lizzy character. The writing was solid and didn't distract from the story, the characters were lovable, and I tore through this book like nobody's business. Totally loved it and I was super happy to find out there was a sequel which I immediately checked out and read.

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

I read about this book a while ago, and thought it sounded promising: it's about a Chinese-American girl named Ever who is forced to go to a Chinese camp in Taiwan for the summer so she can connect with her roots, and she gets there and finds out the camp has a reputation for creating plenty of relationships because all the kids hook up and fall in love there. You basically have the whole plot right there--there are going to be some hijinks and escapades and you know there will be a love triangle, plus a lot of exposure to Taiwan and Chinese culture. This book was very cute and you really wanted to root for Ever to be able to throw off her parents' ridiculously high expectations for her, and for her to find herself. She starts by going a little bit too crazy, but learns what she actually wants and begins to try to do her own thing. I felt like there were a few of those forced-not-real miscommunication things between her and her love interest, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great look into life in Taiwan. It also addresses some of the racism that Asians and specifically Asian-Americans face, which is something I have been thinking a lot about lately with the current civil rights movement and my hometown and high school having a high Asian population. And it made me want to go visit Taiwan, if the Sevys move back there someday.

Juana and Lucas and Juana and Lucas: Big Problemas by Juana Medina

I had heard several times about this cute early chapter book and finally checked it out to read with Graham. We read both books in just a day each (they are so short--each only took us about an hour) and both of us loved them. They are so cute, about a little girl named Juana living in Colombia, who has to learn English in the first one and whose mom is getting married in the second one. I thought Juana was such a sweet character (clearly autobiographical based on the author) and it was so great reading a book set in South America, with a normal little girl living a normal life, learning English and doing things that our kids do. Graham said he wants to go to Bogota after reading this, which I never had considered doing until reading this book too, but Juana makes it sound magical! It was absolutely darling and gets bonus points for adding diversity to our bookshelf. I want to buy them and keep them at our house. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Of course, while I was reading all of the lesser rewrites and fan fictions of Pride and Prejudice, I had to read the real thing too. The thing that always stands out when I read P&P is that it doesn't feel all that romantic to me. It feels so comedic. People think of it as purely a romance, because of all the love for Mr. Darcy, but when you actually read it, there is so many funny one-liners and side-eyes at the characters and so many hilarious observations about what they are doing and what they are like. I absolutely love that about this book. Every time I read this, I wish I could be as witty and wry and wise as Jane Austen and write something this hilarious in a modern-day style. Not a rewrite of P&P, but a social commentary in such a funny way. I know that many people do that these days, but nobody gets it like Jane. 

An Assembly Such as This and These Three Remain by Pamela Aiden

I have read these books several times now and always want to revisit them whenever I get into a Pride and Prejudice mood, which strikes me every year or so. After re-reading Unequal Affections, these were up next. I didn't bother to read the middle book in this trilogy, where Darcy and Elizabeth aren't even in the same place, but just read the first and third. I felt annoyed by Darcy's overly romantic feelings for Elizabeth this time (how many times can his breath "catch" when he sees her?). It just didn't feel realistic at all to me. Maybe I am way less emotional and romantic than the average person, but I am pretty sure people don't usually think this way. But whatever, it was still a fun read. I also wondered why the author paced the book the way she did--including Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth and all the transformation that comes afterward all in one book, when the second book had literally nothing interesting in it? I'm not sure I get it. This is total fluff reading but the kind that I love.

Unequal Affections by Lara S. Ormiston

You know me... I'm a sucker for any and every Jane Austen retelling. They are usually a 50/50 spread of enjoyable and disappointing. But this one really holds up. I read it a few years ago and thought it was so good that I bought a copy to keep, because I knew I'd re-read it. It's the story of what would have happened to Lizzy and Darcy if Elizabeth had accepted his original proposal. How could they have still changed enough as characters to accept each other and realized how wrong they had both been originally so that they could have been happy at the end? Ormiston does a great job of really sticking to the characters and showing their development as the novel goes on, and I really loved that. Definitely a comfort read. I might be about to head off on another Regency binge, if I can find ANY time to read the next few weeks with virtual learning, etc...

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is the first time I've read this book aloud with my kids, and I just love it so much. I love how the boys really respond to these stories. They really loved any parts where Nellie Ingalls gets her comeuppance--like when Laura snatches the candy away from her. I was SO CLOSE to wanting to go visit the actual town of De Smet, SD, this summer, on our drive to Utah, but I just didn't feel like driving an extra couple of days with a new baby and considering COVID was a good idea. But someday we will go!

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

I think I've read a higher percentage of Bill Bryson's books than any other author alive today, haha. I just love everything he does, and I love his funny, self-deprecating style, and his simple and easy-to-read prose. Every time I hear he has written another book, I just go get it. I really enjoyed this one, a compendium of information about our bodies and medicine and physiology, but it was slightly terrifying to listen to and to realize how little we actually know about how our bodies work and about how little medicine can do in many situations. But Bryson did an amazing job just writing about the most interesting stuff having to do with our bodies, and I really loved learning about it. It was like a very easy-to-understand crash course in anatomy instead of taking Anatomy in college. 

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner

Well, it's a rare book that I can check both the "Jane Austen/Regency" and "WWII" labels for the same book... but this one does. It takes place during WWII times but it is a fictional account of the beginning of the Jane Austen Society trying to save her home in the tiny hamlet of Chawton and make it into a Jane Austen museum. I was especially interested when I heard about this book, because I actually WENT to Jane Austen's home in Chawton last summer--although now I wish I'd gone around the town more and explored it. I loved this story and thought it was great how the author incorporated random interpretations of her books through her characters' thoughts into the story. I am starting to get annoyed with every single book having to have a gay "best friend" in it--even this one. I'm pretty sure 75% of the books I've read this year have had that. I think it's great to have representation but I'm annoyed with people just doing things to be on-trend, and this is definitely a trend.

The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott

I included the whole long subtitle there to show why I was intrigued by this book and why I thought it would be a fun book to listen to on our drive home from California. It turned out that it was only moderately interesting and really started to drag. The first few hours of the book were fascinating, about George Remus and his youth and how he got started as a bootlegger. He seemed like this larger-than-life character. However, once he got arrested and went to jail, the rest of the book seemed like a long repetition of him whining about his life and getting "brainstorms" and yelling at people. Karen Abbott really seemed proud of the fact that she was including all this real-life dialogue which was included from the actual court transcripts involving George Remus, but I feel like it would have been better if it had been a little shorter and didn't go into quite as much detail. It definitely went too long.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

We listened to this on audiobook on our drive to California and then finished it on our way home to Texas. The boys both loved it. I love how silly Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is, and how many fun adventures she has, and how magical she seems. It's such a fun book for kids. I want to read the sequels with the boys. 

The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan

I loved the setting of this one too--it's hard not to love these Scottish romances with so much beautiful scenery to imagine. This book was set on the tiny (as far as I can tell, imaginary) northern island of Mure off the coast of Scotland. I kind of imagined it being like Iceland. That was the best part of this story--I just didn't really care for the romance of the book, though. I was super bored by Joel and could see no reason why anyone would be attracted to him. Just because he had this damaged past doesn't explain him being a total jerk. I started reading the sequel to this one and just got tired of the Joel issues and stopped. But I liked this first one and thought it was cute. (I have to wonder, though, if Jenny Colgan knows that it takes more than just knowing how to cook to run a food shop... it seems like in this book and in the Cupcake Cafe one they just open it up and everything goes smoothly.) Overall, a fun read.

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

This is actually the prequel to The Happy Ever After Playlist, and I didn't love it as much. It's the love story of Sloan's best friend Kristen, before the motorcycle accident that changed the trajectory of Sloan's life, and it's cute and fun, but the whole premise of the book felt forced. Basically, Kristen finds out she can't have kids, and then spends the whole rest of the book refusing to tell anyone or to show the boy she likes that she likes him because she knows he wants kids. It was one of those fake conflicts that could be solved by just a little communication which I hate in books. But the characters were great. 

Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan

This was another super-cute, super-fast book by Jenny Colgan. I loved how cute and happy-go-lucky this book was, about a girl who got fired from her job in London and decided to open a cupcake cafe because she was an amazing baker. I felt like it seemed a little unrealistic how easy it was for her to get started, but it's okay, because it was super cute. Overall, a perfect vacation read.

The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan

Last year I listened to The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan, and I really loved it. But I never read any of her other books because the library didn't have any audiobooks of hers, and I didn't want to waste time reading them instead of listening to them. But while we were on our trip, I went down a Jenny Colgan rabbit hole and read some more of hers. I really liked this one, the sequel to The Bookshop on the Corner; it was a different enough plot and had totally different characters that it felt like a fresh, new story. I really like the setting of the Scottish countryside and I liked the complications of the new characters and family that Zoe was dealing with. 

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

This was a fascinating memoir by Trevor Noah. I realized reading it that this was the most exposure I've ever had to South Africa, which is probably super sad. I knew that Apartheid was bad and Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and got out, and that's about it. I really should learn more. But that's why this book was so fascinating, to learn a little more about Apartheid and about the villages that Noah grew up in and the world he lived in. And it was so interesting to think about how he grew up in that world and somehow is now the host of The Daily Show. I think that would be a really interesting story to find out how exactly he moved from one to the other. I thought his mother seemed like an amazing, tough person, and I liked his portrayal of her. This made me so much more interested in Trevor Noah altogether. 

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

I'll be honest--I absolutely LOVED this book. I thought it was so cute. This was one of those books that the audiobook format probably helped me love this book more than I might have reading it, because it forced me to listen to it slowly and not speed through or even skip ahead to find out what was going to happen. I loved how cute the two main characters were, and how their romance progressed, and how normal they both seemed. My only real complaint about this book was the number of f-words, again. I feel like this would have been just about perfect if it hadn't been for the language. I'm not super overwhelmingly picky about language, but this went over the top. But I loved the story so much it was worth it to me. 

China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

These are the two sequels to Crazy Rich Asians, and I liked them less than the original. The swearing really started to bug me by the end, and I felt like the author just kept trying to come up with more and more wild displays of wealth to shock the reader without adding much to the plot. I liked Astrid's plot throughout these books of the trilogy, but I was disappointed that Nick and Rachel weren't as involved. I don't know if I would read another one after these; I felt done with them.