Tag Lisa See

Books I read in 2023

Walkie Talkie Book Club Leave a comment

41 books this year, listed below in the order I read them. You’ll notice some authors appear more than once (Abby Jimenez, Lisa See, Emily Henry), some are work-related, and all the books with an * designate that we read them for Book Club (7 books and a yearly plan completed in 2023!).

Enjoy the list, with a few thoughts as they come!

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Linda Holmes is a podcaster I enjoy listening to (Pop Culture Happy Hour) and this is her second novel. Good stuff!

The Guest List by Lucy Foley *
Our first book club book of 2023 – and a suspense-filled one it was!

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
Predictable and fun.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Haunting and memorable. So good.

Layover (short story) by Emily Henry

Last Circle of Love by Lorna Landvik
Love me some Lorna!

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry *
You’ll notice lots of Emily Henry – again!

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters by Priya Parker
Learned about this through podcasts. Great podcast during COVID times and great instagram all the time.

Love Poems for Anxious People by John Kenney
A silly and delightful little book.

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay
Told in letters – great fun!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Great story… an author that is solid.

Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty
I listened to this and didn’t find it wonderful

The Dry by Jane Harper *
Book in a bag – Great suspense!

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Saw this author at RPL – great book, great to listen to her.

Atomic Habits: An Easy Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart
Pre-release read – suspenseful!

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
Haunting depiction of addition; made his death seem even more sad because of reading it.

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradahl
Met this author in Rushford – inspiration for our Supper Club Tour!

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
I love J. Courtney Sullivan books… great characters.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Another Jimenez book… another winner!

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Listened to the audio… what a horrible childhood.

My Antonia by Willa Cather *
What a treat. Listened to the audio and read along. Great book recommended by ChatGPT!

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide for Caring for Self While Caring for Others
Work work work… and a great book for the work we do.

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
I love Lisa See books. I listened to this one and it was sort of plodding but good characters.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
What a delight. So unexpected. So good.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald *
Another delight and filled with books books books! Lovely story!

Happy Place by Emily Henry
Another Henry – good stuff.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Predictably good.

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
A light fluffy read.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear *
What a good one this is… want to read more!

The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel
I love Poeppel books and this is no exception! Great fun story.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
So glad I finally got to this, although those WW2 books are difficult.

The Lake House by Kate Morton *
Book club! Ghosts and suspense…

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck
I didn’t love this, but it was ok. Supposed to be “harry met sally-“esque, but just ok.

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell *
Complex families…

The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman
A podcaster I listen to and a delightful holiday story!

My Christmas Curse by Joan Gable
Found it on my Kindle…

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Ah… good stuff.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek
Work work work…

The Better Half by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans
What a delight! Loved this book. Very fun.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
A nice holiday treat…

Catching up on Book Talk

Walkie Talkie Book Club Leave a comment

Cover of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan:...

Cover of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel

It seems that I haven’t written about the books I’ve read lately!  I do post quick little reviews on goodreads (it’s just so easy to keep that site updated and write some thoughts) so I’ll recap here…

Reverse, chronological order 🙂

House Rules – I’m currently reading this book, after attempting to listen to the audiobook.  I was given the book and its heft made it pretty easy to grab the audiobook that was sitting on the shelf at the library, in order to replace my Harry Potter listening time!  But, oh!  How awful it was to listen to this book, narrated by four individuals, and told at a painfully slow pace.  Sometimes I thought the disc must be done but it was simply a pause – between sentences or paragraphs or chapters.  No matter.  Ugh.  So I picked up the book and have been ripping through it!  It is a fast read and I’m sure I’ll finish it tonight or in the morning. It’s hard to put down.  Isn’t it great when a book grabs you like that?

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – I have loved books about the Far Eastern culture for a long time.  Probably at least since I returned from my visit to South Korea, if not before. Lisa See has written some great books about the Chinese culture – in America and coming to America in recent history and in a more historical China. “Snow Flower” ia the first of Lisa’s books to make it to the big screen (I believe I’m right) and I am excited to see it. (I may have to make a trip to the Cities if I want to see it in the theatre!  Durn limited releases!) This book is about Snow Flower and Lily, who are matched as laotong or “old sames” as young girls. They communicate to each other mostly through the “women’s language,” nu shu, written on a fan.  The match is made so that one girl may rise up and the other may learn the ways of those lower than her.   A good read about these two women through their lifespans – one reaches 80 years.  I look forward to reading Lisa’s newest book – Dreams of Joy – a sequel to Shanghai Girls.  Yay!

The Girl in the Garden – Kamala Nair, an author who grew up in Rochester, wrote a charming and sweet story about a girl whose troubled mother brings her to her home village in India for a summer. Now an adult, Rakhee writes the story of the Girl in the Garden to her fiance as she returns to India to obtain resolution for the secrets that she learned as a 10 year old during that fateful summer.  I am also fascinated by the mid-Eastern culture and have read a lot of books set in India.  This was easy to read and a sweet story.

Olive Kitteridge – A book club pick that was lukewarmly received.  It was good.  Not great. Not gonna be something I will remember a year from now (well, maybe the fun time we had at book club not discussing it will be remembered!). But it was well-written and kept me reading, looking for Olive in the short stories.

Second Thyme Around; Stately Pursuits; Highland Fling – These three books by Katie Fforde were light and fluffy and predictable.  Good summer fare, but again not great.  I think in another post I listed other similar authors that I would recommend before Fforde (Jane Green; Marian Keyes, Maeve Binchy) . Of these three books I would recommend Second Thyme Around as the most interesting.

I think I’m about caught up.  I will remember this spring/summer as being very full of Harry Potter, and now I’m done talking about that.

After I finish House Rules I will pick another book from my ever-growing pile and will let you know what’s next!  I encourage you to be my friend on goodreads and let me know what you’re reading!

Off to read!