Books I’ve Liked

I’ve decided to only share my recommended reading since it’s been almost two complete (weather-related) seasons since the last reading report.  EGADS!!!

I have been reading up a storm.  I’ve checked out many books that were not memorable, or that I did not get through the first chapter or so.  I’m sorry to all the authors who take awhile to get to the action.  I do not have the stamina nor the interest to suffer through interminable pages before my interest is captured.  I’ve left all those experiences off this post!

The books listed below were all enjoyable in one sense or another. Some were lighthearted romances, while others just blew me away.

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk is a historical novel intertwined with a modern story that conveys the story of the removal of the Chinese from California in the late 1800’s.  Given today’s political turmoil about allowing or removing refugees from our country, it was timely to be reading about a situation that might be repeating itself shortly.  This is a well written story, with great detail, emotion, and character development.  I read it in a few days or so.  Too busy reading to write any posts!

Jodi Picoult writes good stories.  However, I still object to her tendency to bring in a new detail to end the story.  With Small Great Things, this was also the case.  Yes, it’s worth reading. It’s thought provoking, good for discussions, believable, and well written.  However, the little detail she throws in at the end would have been so much more interesting if she had incorporated it into the actual story.

LaRose tells a story of a man who accidentally kills his neighbor’s son, and his own son’s best friend, while deer hunting.  To make up for this terrible mistake, he and his wife give their son to the other family.  This is an amazing story about each member of both families and how they cope.  It’s an entirely new story line that’s fascinating, well written, and believable.

Yes, a cookbook has made it to the Recommended Reading report.  Anthony Bourdain wrote Appetite: A Cookbook for his daughter, and it’s a conversational account of how to make the recipes they enjoy together. It’s well written, and easy to grasp and follow. I will admit that I did not finish reading all the recipes, but I fell in love with the book nonetheless.

This Jewelry Making book is very helpful in breaking down different techniques, at a high level, but still with enough detail.  The topics I knew a little bit about were explained well.  That led to my comfort level in understanding techniques that I have not tried yet. I checked this out from the library, but may actually buy a copy later.

The Story of Beautiful Girl had been recommended for our now defunct book club over and over again, and we kept rejecting it. The story description was just not appealing: two runaways from a mental institution leave a baby in the hands of an older woman before they are taken away.

Yes, that’s the basis of the story, but it is so much more.  I will admit that there are some details where I felt I had to suspend reality, but then again, life is often stranger than fiction, so I need to give those parts of the story room to be possible.  I know I am not giving you more incentive to read it, but I think you just need to go with blind faith, like I finally did, to give this book your attention.

There are more comments in the complete list below.

All these books were good.  No bad reviews this time!

Recommended Books Since September 2016

Title	Author	Rating
Love and Treasure	Ayelet Waldman	Good story, well written, B+
Elizabeth is Missing	Emma Healey	Enjoyed it
The Ladies Room	Carolyn Brown	Very light-hearted story, but still enjoyed it
The Dressmaker	Kate Alcott	Good
Everyone is Beautiful	Katherine Center	Good writer
The City Baker's Guide to Country Living	Louise Miller	Enjoyed it
Appetites: A Cookbook	Anthony Bourdain	Excellent - written the way you would share recipes. Good recipes. Good instructions. What else do you need?
Small Great Things	Jodi Picoult	Very good - but the usual twist at the end (not a fan of that tendency)
The Invention of Wings	Sue Monk Kidd	Very good. Well written. Good story.
LaRose	Louise Edrich	Very good. Good story, good characters. All believable. New subject matter and story line for me. Would recommend it.
The House on Main Street	Shirlee McCoy	Light romance but enough of a story to keep me interested & read the 2nd in the series!
The Forgotten Garden	Kate Morton	B+ worthy. Good story, believable. I think I read this one pretty quickly.
The Girl Who Wrote in Silk	Kelli Estes	Captivating. I think I devoured this in a couple of days. Recommend it!
The Complete Photo Guide to Jewelry Making	Tammy Powley	Great reference & explanations for different types of jewelry making. I got this from the library, but may actually buy it too.
The Cottage on the Corner	Shirlee McCoy	The 2nd book of the Apply Valley trilogy. Still good. Nothing serious or thought provoking, but enjoyable.
The Story of Beautiful Girl	Rachel Simon	Very good book. Different kind of story, new story line. Kept me reading and reading. Finished quickly.