A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

 

Title:  A Wrinkle in Time

Author:  Madeleine L’Engle

Narrated by:  Hope Davis, Ava DuVernay, Madeleine L'Engle, Charlotte Jones Voiklis

Publisher: Listening Library

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 27 minutes

Source: I used my monthly audible allotment from Amazon.com for this book.

What book would you like to see adapted for the big screen?  I had not read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle when I was young, but I did read it with my kids before the movie came out a little less than ten years ago.  It was good to reread it again for the Classics Buddy Read with @dees.reads in March.

Meg Murry’s father disappeared years before and her family waits for his return.  Neighbors whisper that he abandoned his family, but his wife and kids believe it has something to do with this work.  One night a strange woman visits Meg’s home and invites her, her brother Charles Wallace, and her friend Calvin on an adventure to find her father.  Will they find him?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I enjoyed reading the physical version with my kids last time around, but it just didn’t really click with me this time around. 

·       The audiobook had a good narrator and I enjoyed that Madeleine L'Engle also discussed how hard it was to get this book published.

·       This is a young adult fantasy, science fiction, and coming of age story.

·       It was published in 1962 and won the Newbury medal in 1963.

·       I liked the time travel through the universe.  The tesseract and explanation were intriguing.

·       This is the first book in a series, but I have never read the other books. Have you?  What did you think?

·       I did love how this was great story of the power of love.

·       This book was referenced in the last season of Stranger Things, and it was fun to read it after watching that.

·       I liked that Meg was a strong female character who thought differently but was very gifted in math.  I felt like her and Charles Wallace may have been on the spectrum.

Overall, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle did not engage me this time around, but it is a unique young adult novel with a great female lead.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

 

Title:  My Friends

Author:  Fredrik Backman

Narrated by:  Marin Ireland

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 22 minutes

Source: Review copy from Simon Audio.  Thank-you!

What is your favorite book featuring friendship?

Louisa is a young orphan and artist with a goal to see one of the most famous paintings in the world, “Of the Sea.”  Many people didn’t notice that there are three kids on a pier in the painting.  After finally getting to see it on display, Louisa meets a man she assumes to be homeless in an alley, but who is the dying artist.  This sets Louisa on the path of learning about how the painting came to be and about the friends on the pier.  Will Louisa finally find “her people?”

My thoughts on this novel:

·       My Friends by Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite reads of 2025.

·       I love Fredrik Backman’s humor and talk about the hard things in life such as child abuse, death from cancer, abandonment, etc.

·       Backman has a way of completing capturing childhood and how much friendships mean to us.

·       The beauty and wonder of art are also themes.

·       Another important theme is how kindness can help others to value themselves.

·       Louisa’s best friend Fish has committed suicide, and she is trying to deal with that as well as finding a pathway out of the foster system.

·       Part of the story is a travel story where two characters travel together, Ted and Louisa, and have an adventure.  Ted tells Louisa stories of the past and the artist as a child.

·       I loved Ted and Louisa’s dynamic together.

·       Marin Ireland is a great audiobook narrator that kept me intrigued.

·       This was a coming-of-age story.

·       The kids in the story from the past were all from the poor side of town and around the age of fourteen.

·       The mystery kept me intrigued.  How get the artist get the paint for his famous picture as a poor fourteen-year-old?  How did he become famous?  What death or event is foreshadowed that takes these kids over the divide from childhood to adulthood? 

·       My Friends is a beautiful story.  It’s hard to explain the beauty of the story as Backman is such a unique and wonderful writer who really writes about the truths of life.

Overall, My Friends by Fredrik Backman is one of the best books of this year.  It’s a beautiful, unique, and ultimately uplifting story about friendship and life.  I highly recommend it.

 

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal (TLC Book Tours)

 

Title:  The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth

Author:  Barbara O’Neal

Narrated by:  Andi Arndt

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 59 minutes

Source: Thank-you to Lake Union Publishing for a review copy of the paperback book as part of the TLC Book Tour and thank-you to @netgalley for audiobook review copy.

How do you communicate with friends?  Emails, texts, social media, or old-fashioned letters?  I would say all the above for myself.

Victoria is going through a divorce.  She and her husband had seemed closer than ever until he ended it all for a much younger woman.  Fifty and suddenly alone, Victoria must get a job fast to survive. She gets a job as a companion to Mariah, a young woman with an injury who is going to travel the world tracing the footsteps of her mother’s last unfinished project in London, Paris, Morocco, and India.  Her mother, Rachel, was a good writer, and she also left behind letters she had written her sister.  As Victoria and Mariah make their journey, they learn more about Rachel and themselves.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The audiobook had a good narrator and was interesting to listen to.

·       I liked Victoria’s character growth throughout the novel.

·       I really disliked Victoria’s ex-husband.  He seemed to want his cake (new younger wife) and eat it too (keep his ex-wife on string.).  I kept wondering why he didn’t get in trouble for not paying his alimony.

·       Why can’t Victoria’s family change their tradition of skiing every year as a family so that Victoria gets to have a family Christmas at least every other year?  It’s strange to me that this is a family tradition since Victoria doesn’t ski or snowboard.

·       Rachel was killed in a mas shooting while grocery shopping with her daughter.  Mariah survived but can no longer snowboard (she was an Olympian) with her handicap.  The PTSD from this tragic even still impacts Mariah.

·       A handsome middle-aged photographer, Henry, accompanies them on the trip.  He is a father figure for Mariah (one of Rachel’s ex-boyfriends), and a love interest for Victoria.

·       I liked how both Victoria and Mariah had a coming-of-age storyline as they came to terms with their new realities and worked towards moving forward with new dreams.

·       I loved the descriptions of all the different countries, foods, and cafes.

·       I didn’t see how the cafes, countries, and Rachel’s story were all linked until the very end.

·       I am close to Victoria’s age of fifty and she gets picked on by her kids for being old and treated as an old lady a lot on their trip.  I suddenly felt very old!!

Overall, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal was a great story with unforgettable characters, growth, and travel.  I enjoyed it!

Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery

 

Title:  Jane of Lantern Hill

Author:  L.M. Montgomery

Narrated by:  Lauren Saunders

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 1 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

Have you reread any childhood favorite books lately?  I haven’t read Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery since my teen years, and it was a job to read it again this month as part of the What the Dickens Book Club.

Jane Stuart lives with her grandmother, aunt, and mother in a sad and cold mansion in Toronto.  She discovers that her father is alive, and he wants her to visit him for the summer in Prince Edward Island.  Her world opens and is alive in PEI.  Why did her parents separate?  Will Jane find a way to live a happy life?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved how Jane figured out how to cook, clean, and garden on her own and enjoyed doing it.  She enjoyed the small things of life and was a sensible girl.

·       This was a hopeful story that is written for younger audiences (tween and teen).

·       I loved the mystery of the parents’ (Andrew and Robin) relationship both as a kid and reading it again now as an adult.

·       Jane ages from eleven to thirteen in this book.

·       Grandma is a true villain in this book.  How lonely and sad Jane was growing up in her cold home.  I wonder if this character was based on anyone that L.M. Montgomery knew?

·       As I’ve come to expect from L.M. Montgonery the novel had beautiful descriptions of nature, the ocean, Prince Edward Island, the house.  I loved that the lantern hill house was “alive” and had “magic.”

·       It was also interesting reading the difference between Toronto (cold, dreary, etc.) and Prince Edward Island where everyone is loving.

·       This was a coming-of-age novel as Jane really grows up on the island.

·       The cats and dogs in the novel were delightful.

·       This novel was published in 1937 and was set in the 1930s, later than the Anne books.  It was interesting that cars and airplanes are mentioned.  Jane’s dad is a WWI veteran.

·       This story seems scandalous for the times that it was written with the parents being separated and talk of divorce.  Grandma and her aunt made me angry with their meddling in Jane’s parents’ marriage.  The ending is the dream of every divorced child in the vein of The Parent Trap.

·       The ending was good, but abrupt.

·       This is a stand-alone novel and was one of the first L.M. Montgomery books I read because of the movie.  I just recently rewatched the movie after I finished the book.  It strays a lot from the book but was still enjoyable.

·       I enjoyed listening to this book on audiobook and the narrator had a pleasant voice.

Overall, Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery is an inspiring and charming comfort read.

Go Tell it On the Mountain by James Baldwin

 

Title:  Go Tell it On the Mountain

Author:  James Baldwin

Narrated by:  Adam Lazarre-White

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 45 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Libby

What is the worst birthday you’ve had?  I had a couple in a row where I had the stomach flu and then hypomesis gravidum when pregnant with my daughter. This pales in comparison to John Grimes birthday in Go Tell it On the Mountain.

John Grimes is celebrating his14th birthday and struggles with his faith over the course of a day.  The book explores the complexity of his family.  Set during the depression in New York City, will John find his morality and purpose in life?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book as part of the Classics Buddy Read for June with @Dees.reads.

·       Go Tell it On the Mountain was James Baldwins first published novel in 1953.  He was thirty years old when it was published.  He did well as this novel has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English language novels.

·       This seems to be a semi-autobiographical novel as much of it is based on Baldwin’s own life.  He was born out of wedlock to an unwed mother.  His mother never told him who his biological father was.  She married a Baptist preacher.  He and his father had a difficult relationship.  He didn’t like that James like to read and had white friends.

·       This is complex story of an unhappy family.

·       This was a very well written novel, but also a very bleak story.

·       This was a coming-of-age story for 14-year old John Grimes, but it also delves into the past of his father, Aunt Florence, mother, and grandmother.

·       It was interesting look at the struggle between faith and living the life you want to live and faith versus sexuality.  As part of their faith there was no cards, music, dancing, etc. and it a struggle for the young people.

·       John’s mother Elizabeth had a tragic love story with Richard, John’s biological father.  He was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.  It broke him and caused his suicide.

·       John’s father, Gabriel, is a pastor, but greatly struggles with following his faith and avoiding sin.  He drove me insane.  He judges Elizabeth for having a child out of wedlock, something he himself also did, but never acknowledged.  The hypocrisy and double standard for sexual morality of women versus men was astounding.

·       The audiobook had a great narrator with a deep voice who was perfect for the preaching sections.

Overall, Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin was a bleak, but well written coming of age novel about the struggles between faith, racism, and sexism.

Pickering Place by H.M. Jones

 

What is a debut novel that you loved?

Chloe Mora is eighteen years old and has grown up in a small town in Iowa.  Her Tia Miranda has had surgery on her foot and could use help from Chloe getting around Boston.  Chloe can also use the opportunity to visit colleges.  She has never left home, and this will be quite the adventure.  Will Chloe find herself and love?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book last month for a March pick for the JASNA Northwoods book club.

·       This was a modern retelling of Northanger Abbey. 

·       I enjoyed the great introduction where the author describes her love of the original novel.

·       I enjoyed that Chloe Mora loves all things paranormal like Twilight.

·       It was an interesting modernization of Northanger Abbey.  It kept all of the elements of the original story and brought it into modern times.  The General Tilney character, Mr. Bath, sends Chloe back to Boston on her own on a train with no money or cell phone.  This gave the same vibe as Catherine’s dismissal in Northanger Abbey.

·       I enjoyed Michael and Mindy Bath and their friendship with Chloe. 

·       This was a quick read.  I could call it a coming-of-age novel and a romantic comedy. 

·       I liked the multi-cultural aspects of this book.  It was nice to learn about what it was like for Chloe being of the two “brown” girls her age in her small town and the delights of going to a large much more diverse city.  Although there was a minus to this as a book club member pointed out that the Spanish phrases were use incorrectly in the dialogue.

·       The dialogue was very stilted.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but the writing seemed amateurish with one-dimensional characters.  This read like a first-time author’s work, that holds the promise for more interesting work in the future.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

 

Title:  The Sweetness of Water

Author:  Nathan Harris

Narrated by:  William DeMeritt

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 10 minutes

Source: Purchased from Amazon.com with physical book checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library.

What flowers are blooming in your area?  I was happy to return home from Michigan last week and discover daffodils blooming in my yard.

At the end of the Civil War in Georgia, two brothers, Prentis and Landry have been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, but they don’t know where to go or how to support themselves.  George Walker finds them on his land and offers them a job with a decent wage to help him clear land and to plant a peanut field.  This act sets the town against George and his family.  George and his wife Isabelle are mourning the loss of their son Caleb in the Civil War.  When Caleb returns home and is labeled a coward, the Walkers must make a stand and find a way forward.  Caleb has a forbidden love with a childhood friend and fellow soldier, August.  Will the Walker family and Prentis and Landy be able to navigate reconstruction to live in a better world?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was the April pick for the Page-turner’s Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  It provided a great discussion for book club.  I enjoyed the discussion, and it furthered my enjoyment of the book.

·       This novel was also an Oprah Book Club pick in 2021.

·       The novel was slow moving for the first half, but the action really picked up in the second half.

·       It made me really ponder what happened after the Civil War.  Society had gone through a giant upheaval.  How do you go back to “normal?”  What is the new “normal?”

·       This novel was character driven rather than plot driven.  The characters were all very interesting.  How far will you go to do what is right?

·       I felt like this was a coming-of-age story for Caleb, Landry, and George.

·       The novel had beautiful writing with rich language.

·       The Sweetness of Water was author Nathan Harris’s debut novel.  It was an excellent book and so well written, it was hard to believe it was a first novel.

·       I loved how all the main characters had to find courage to move forward.

·       I liked the ending.  It was positive, but realist.

·       Trigger warning:  The climax had brutal violence that was heartbreaking. 

·       This was an excellent audiobook.

Overall, The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris was a beautifully written, deeply moving character study set during reconstruction. 

Lonely for You Only by Monica Murphy (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @blackstonepublishing for the review copy of Lonely for You Only by Monica Murphy.

Did you have a favorite boy band in your teenage years?  Would you want to meet the lead singer from that band as an adult?

I loved New Kids on the Block as a preteen and young teen.  I loved Joey McIntyre at that time.  I don’t know what I would do if I met him as an adult.  I would probably awkwardly have nothing to say to him.

Heiress Scarlett Lancaster is turning eighteen.  Her father hired a famous singer for her party and is keeping it a surprise until the big day.  Scarlett is hoping for Taylor Swift or Harry Styles, but it turns out to be Tate Ramsey, her young teenage crush from the now defunct band, Five Car Pileup.  Tate’s life as a teen heartthrob had spiraled out of control, but he has successfully been through rehab and has been clean for three years.  Now at twenty-one, he is ready for a comeback.  After a steamy kiss at the party is caught by others and goes viral, Scarlett and Tate decide to start a fake relationship to both get what they want out of life.  Will this fake relationship turn into love?

What I loved about this book:

-        This was a fun and enjoyable story.  I love stories of the rich and famous and this seemed almost ripped from the headlines with a rich heiress and has been boy band member.

-        Fake dating is one of my favorite romantic tropes.  In this book it’s also combined with angsty slow burn with some spice at the end.

-        Tate and Scarlett were a case of opposites attract. I enjoyed it as their relationship developed and they both developed as people.  They both brought out the best in each other.  This was a coming-of-age story for them both.

-        Dual point of view so you were able to get the story from both Scarlett and Tate’s side.

-        I love that Tate wrote Scarlett songs and thought it was very romantic.

-        This story was very light and easy to read during a stressful work week.

-        I think the cover of this novel is beautiful.

-        Fitz Lancaster, Scarlett’s Dad, is a reformed (?) older playboy and he was a very fun character.

-        I did not realize this is part of a series of the Lancaster siblings until I noticed this online.  The book worked so well as a stand alone that I didn’t realize while reading it that it was a part of a series.

Things I didn’t like as much.

-        The foul language used at times could be jarring.

Overall, if you are looking for a fun, light new adult romance with a great premise, I recommend Lonely for You Only.

Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews

 

Do you have a bucket list?  I have an informal one of places I’d like to visit, but I have never written it down.

Jodie Boyd is stunned when she learns that her older sister, Bree is dying from cancer.  Bree has always been larger than life, traveling around the world, doing all of the things on her bucket list as an influencer.  When Bree passes away, still in her twenties, her family is heart broken and also deeply in debt from her doctor bills.  It is discovered that Bree made a deal before her death that will erase the family debt if Jodie finishes the items on Bree’s bucket list and documents them on social media.  Jodie is soon out of her comfort zone out in the world on social media trying to finish the items.  Will she find what she wants from life and maybe true love on the way?

I enjoyed this very unique story.  While it was a love story, it was also a coming-of-age story for a twenty something young adult.  What exactly does Jodie want in life and what exactly is holding her back?  It seems that her sister Bree knew her better than she knew herself and was helping her from beyond the grave.  I enjoyed every step of Jodie’s journey.

I enjoyed the thought of getting Instagram messages from someone that you loved and lost throughout the year after their death.  It reminded me of P.S. I Love You, but Bree’s love is for her family and not a romantic partner.    This book was an honest look at the ups and downs of grief.  Grief that Jodie feels, her entire family feels, and that her friend Kelly Wong feels at the loss of his father.  Grief is different for everyone.

Favorite Quotes:

“And when the moon rose over the snowdrifts it wouldn’t be rusty orange.  It would be golden yellow.  The color of hope fulfilled.”

“Grief was like weather:  It had it’s seasons and moods, and it could always take a turn for the worse.”

“But knowing and understanding were two very different things.”

Book Source: Review Copy from NetGalley and Kensington Publishing.   Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Suddenly That Summer by Lori Handeland (TLC Book Tours)

 

Do you have any summers that stick out for you in your past?  I definitely do.  2001 was the summer I stayed at college and had a blast.  1988 was a summer we went on a family trip to Washington DC.  I also went to church camp . . . and caught headlice.  I remember both being very hot and dry summers.

In the summer of 1967 in the small Wisconsin city of Willow Creek, two siblings are about to have their lives changed forever.  Billy has enlisted in the Army and finds his world altered by his tour of Vietnam.  His sister Jay has her world changed when one of her three best friends decides she no longer wants to be friends.  A newcomer to their conservative town, Paul, brings anti-war sentiments that don’t match anything that Jay has heard from anyone in her town.  As she starts to receive disturbing drawings from her brother Billy, she starts to wonder, is Vietnam really the just war to end communism that she has been led to believe?

Suddenly That Summer is an intriguing book.  I really liked the alternating chapters telling both Billy and Jay’s points of view.  The harsh realities of the war in Vietnam are juxtaposed against Jay’s summer and her changing views on the war in Vietnam.  I also like how this is visualized on the very nice cover of this book by having the girls with a seemingly happy summer on the top with their shadows being soldiers in Vietnam.

I loved how both Billy and Jay have a coming-of-age journey through the novel as they both try to work through the expectations they have been taught by family and their town, and what the realities are in their ever-changing world.  I really liked the ending of this book.  It also has great questions at the conclusion of the novel and would be a great book to discuss at a book club.

Book Source: Review Copy from author Lori Handeland.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the TLC Book Tour. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.