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Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.
As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.
“For someone who loved words as much as I did, it was amazing how often they failed me.”
“You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough.”
“You were real to me. Sometimes I thought you were the only real thing.”
My Thoughts
I didn’t enjoy this book and at times, I even wondered what the point of it was. I expected it to get better but it never did, and when it ended, I was like, “that’s it?”. It was the most anticlimatic ending I’ve ever read in what is supposed to be a mystery thriller. It’s not even really a mystery or a thriller, it’s not very mysterious or thrilling at all.
It started off really slow, and I struggled to keep reading but I kept going because it was the last book for the reading challenge I was doing. It got better in the middle and I had high hopes it would keep getting better, but it just kind of fizzled out at the end.
Now I understand that this book is very Shakespeare centric and I’m not very well-versed in Shakespeare, so that could be the reason that I’m not getting it. However, I am a firm believer that stories should be able to stand on their own, otherwise this is just a companion book to Shakespeare, or something to that effect.
I was originally inclined to be slightly generous with my rating and review, but the more I think about it, the less I like the book. It’s only getting 2 out of 5 stars for me.
My Rating
⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
When twelve-year-old Anne Shirley came to Avonlea, she quickly won everyone’s heart. Now, she’s five years older, almost a woman, and about to embark on a new adventure: becoming the teacher in her old Avonlea school. It’s an exciting year as Anne struggles to win over all her students, welcomes two new members to her family, and feels the first stirrings of love.
I started Anne of Green Gables and loved it and just had to continue with the series!
The Quotes
“Well, we all make mistakes, dear, so just put it behind you. We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.”
“One can’t get over the habit of being a little girl all at once.”
“The future is yet an untrodden path full of wonderful possibilities.”
“Of course, I knew there are no fairies; but that needn’t prevent my thinking there is.”
The Narrator(s)
Beth Kesler. It was a bit of an adjustment coming from Rachel McAdams in the first book to a different narrator, but I ended up really loving Beth Kesler’s voices for the characters and the narration.
My Thoughts
What I love about this book is the children; Paul, Davy, and Dora are all wonderful to read about, and I love witnessing Anne’s interactions with them. I think the best thing about having children in your life is that they help you see the world with childlike wonder, and that’s the best thing about this book too. I also really love Miss Lavender because even though she was an older woman, she was still so childlike and sweet.
Now that I’m older, I feel like there’s no reason to stop being childish and carefree just because you’re all grown up. I know there are people who disagree, but I’ve been serious and somber as an adult, and I’ve been childish and playful as an adult, and I can tell you I’m much happier when I can be childish and playful. Mind you, when I say childish and playful, I don’t mean immature and irresponsible. People need to know the difference!
I also love that Gilbert and Anne are friends in this book, although we don’t see as much of Gilbert as I want. But there’s still the next book to look forward to!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever . . . but will the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she’ll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind. Anne is not like anyone else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special—a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreams of the day when she can call herself Anne of Green Gables.
I was just casually browsing the Audible Plus catalog and came across this book, narrated by Rachel McAdams. I love this book and I love Rachel McAdams and I was just curious, so I listened to a sample. And just kept going!
The Quotes
“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
“The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and storytellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.”
The Narrator(s)
Rachel McAdams. I love listening to her voice, it’s so distinctive! And so expressive too! I thought she was such a wonderful voice for Anne.
My Thoughts
This was one of my favorite childhood books, but I honestly thought I had read it enough for now and wasn’t planning to come back to it for a while. I sampled the audiobook just to see how Rachel McAdams sounds as Anne, and ended up getting sucked back into the wonderful nostalgia of childhood.
I love this world with Anne; looking through her eyes, falling in love with Green Gables and with the Cuthberts, being so happy about simple things, always looking out for kindred spirits, letting the imagination run wild and free. Oh! It makes me want to live there permanently! And it makes me wonder why I don’t.
Why can’t we keep falling in love with our homes and the people around us every day? Why can’t we be happy about the simple things? Why can’t we keep ourselves open to kindred spirits? Why can’t we let our imagination run wild and free once in a while? I used to do it all the time, but I have forgotten to hold on to the magic the longer I’m an adult. Anne keeps my inner child alive and reminds me that even though I’m older now, there can still be magic in this world. I want to bring that magic back.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Relationship Freebie (Pick a relationship type and choose characters who fit that relationship as it relates to you. So, characters you’d like to date, be friends with, be enemies with, etc. Bookish families you’d like to be a part of, characters you’d want as your siblings, pets you’d like to take for yourself, etc.)
To be clear right off the bat, I don’t actually want a relationship with many of the mothers featured in these books (some are great but most are not!). I was having a hard time thinking of books with characters I’d like to be in some kind of relationship with, especially mother/daughter relationships, so I thought I’d just do books featuring mothers regardless of whether they’re good or bad.
Surprise! There are a lot of bad mothers in fiction… and nonfiction. Also surprise! There seems to be a lot of Asians with complicated relationships with their mothers.
Top Ten Books Featuring Mothers
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – A couple of different but equally complicated mother/daughter relationships represented here. I watched the show but haven’t read the book. The show was really good, but so intense and heavy too, and it makes me a little scared to read the book, but I will eventually!
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – Someone said about this quote from the book: “Even I, in public, was a beloved child. Once her period of mourning for Marian was over, she’d parade me into town, smiling and teasing me, tickling me as she spoke with people on the sidewalks. When we got home, she’d trail off to her room like an unfinished sentence, and I would sit outside with my face pressed against her door and replay the day in my head, searching for clues to what I’d done to displease her.” about how it made them realize that you can be a well-cared-for child, but still be unloved, and that alone made me read the book.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong – This book is presented as a letter from a son to his mother who cannot read. It’s also presented as fiction but the feelings are so raw and real, it wouldn’t be hard for me to believe it was all true. I read this recently and I love how beautiful and lyrical it is.
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin – I haven’t read this one but I am fascinated because it’s written in second person POV and I’ve heard a lot of praise for it. I’m a little averse to reading books about complicated relationships with Asian moms in general because it’s a little close to home for me, but maybe my curiosity will win out.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – Same deal as the above for why I haven’t read it, but sort of worse. I couldn’t even finish the movie because of all the feelings it dragged up.
Room by Emma Donoghue – A mom and her child locked in a room for the first five years of his life. It was so powerful and painful to read. And I loved the movie too.
From Cradle to Stage by Virginia Hanlon Grohl – I just found out about this book last week and have requested a hold from my library! It’s from the POV of mothers to famous rock stars and I’m excited to read it!
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy – Well, this one was painful, and I guess the other side of the coin of how mothers to famous people can be horrible too.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – Ooh, just realized that Brie Larson acts as the mother in this film adaptation as well as Room. This one is a little more lighthearted than Room, but still covers some sensitive topics.
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher – I just found out about this new book from T. Kingfisher and I’m excited to read it! All I know is that there’s a lot of reference to the protagonist’s mother in the description, so I’m just assuming that it fits the topic!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings.
And Not Enough Books From The TBR
Last week I posted about how I was so stoked about doing so well with reading from my TBR the week before. I finished 4 out of 5 books I meant to read, and I thought that this past week I would surely be done with the last one, but guess what? I’m not!
I got sucked down a rabbit hole of nostalgia reading my favorite childhood books. First it was Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster, and then Anne of Green Gables, and now I’m on to Anne of Avonlea, and there are more books in the series and I’m not sure if I can stop!
Funny story, I didn’t even really intend to read Anne of Green Gables! I saw that there was a version of the book on Audible narrated by Rachel McAdams and I love Rachel McAdams so I got curious and clicked to listen to a sample. And then just kept on listening. And when I finished Anne of Green Gables and saw that Rachel McAdams doesn’t narrate any of the next books, I found another narrator and kept going anyway because I love Anne so much!
My poor single final TBR book I was supposed to read for my challenge (If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio) has been sadly neglected for the whole week. But I swear I’ll read it this weekend! I’ll put Anne aside for now.
Another thing I’ve been thinking about; I posted 9 book reviews this past week, and I am simultaneously proud that I managed it, and worried that it’s unsustainable for me in the long run. I have a bit of a compulsion to write reviews of the books I’ve read before I can consider myself finished with them, and sometimes I feel guilty about moving on to the next books if I haven’t finished reviews of the last ones. To the extent that I’m negotiating with myself to read fewer books so that I’m not constantly behind with my reviews.
But I don’t think that makes sense. I want to read more, not less. And I don’t want my reason for reading less to be because I’m not writing reviews fast enough! So I’m trying to change my mindset about writing reviews at all. I definitely still want to talk about the books I’ve read, I’m just maybe going to see about doing so in a way that doesn’t take up so much time.
All the happy things:
I’m getting so much better on my runs! The difference is barely noticeable in any measurable way, but I feel the difference and I think that’s the important thing.
I heard from a friend I’d been missing, which is one happy thing, and she introduced me to a book community that does a lot of buddy reads, another happy thing!
And so I signed up for a few buddy reads for books I’ve been meaning to read. More happiness!
I made crispy pork belly again! It’s been months and I’ve been craving it!
I’ve been singing a lot more recently.
I’ve also been tinkering on the piano more recently. Getting in some practice and learning some new things.
Honestly, the nostalgia from reading my favorite childhood books have been making me so happy.
The Books
Books I read last week:
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky – I thought it was great! I loved the way the evolution of sentient life was shown over time.
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster – Ahh, nostalgia. One of my favorite childhood books I will never not love.
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery – Another childhood favorite. And it was narrated by Rachel McAdams which made it even better!
Books I’m reading:
Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery – What can I say? I wanted more of Anne!
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio – I’ve made progress since last week, but still have more than 50% to go! I’m going to try to finish it this weekend!
Biggest priority is to finish If We Were Villains. And then I’ll also be reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, because it’s my in-person bookclub BOTM and I totally forgot about it!
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
When Jerusha Abbott, an eighteen-year-old girl living in an orphan asylum, was told that a mysterious millionaire had agreed to pay for her education, it was like a dream come true. For the first time in her life, she had someone she could pretend was “family.” But everything was not perfect, for he chose to remain anonymous and asked that she only write him concerning her progress in school. Who was this mysterious gentleman and would Jerusha ever meet him?
This is one of my favorite childhood books but I have never listened to it on audio. And then I find out that Julia Whelan narrates it! Of course I had to listen!
The Quotes
“I think that the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people’s places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding.”
“I believe absolutely in my own free will and my own power to accomplish – and that is the belief that moves mountains. ”
“It’s much more entertaining to live books than to write them.”
“It isn’t the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh—I really think that requires spirit!”
The Narrator(s)
Julia Whelan. The GOAT.
My Thoughts
As I was reading, I’m aware of how times have changed and how Daddy-Long-Legs would probably not be a wholesome story for modern times. However, I love this book too much to get too woke about it, and I think sometimes we have to take into account that stories that come from a different time than ours will play into thinking that is different from ours and it’s necessary to not erase them.
Having said that, I just really love this book for so many reasons; I love that it’s so funny, I love that Judy Abbott has such a wonderful sense of humor, I love that she’s honest about herself and her flaws, I love that she discovers herself and stays true to herself, I love that she makes friends and learn new things. I love so many things about it. I love that it’s epistolary; it really ignited my love of writing letters and journals, and it also helped me to develop a irreverent voice for my own journal-writing because of how irreverent Judy is.
I should also mention that another one of the things I love about it is the cute illustrations, but since I’m listening on audio this time around, they don’t come into play. But also, since I’m listening on audio and Julia Whelan narrates it, what I lose out in illustrations, I gain in Julia Whelan’s narration. So it’s win-win either way!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A race for survival among the stars… Humanity’s last survivors escaped earth’s ruins to find a new home. But when they find it, can their desperation overcome its dangers?
WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life.
But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind’s worst nightmare.
Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?
I have heard so much praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky but I haven’t read any of his books. People say this is a good one to start with, so I started with this.
The Quotes
“That is the problem with ignorance. You can never truly know the extent of what you are ignorant about.”
“A life lived entirely at the whim of another is no life at all.”
“This will be the first of a thousand worlds that we will give life to. For we are gods, and we are lonely, so we shall create.”
“Sometimes all it takes, to crack a problem, is a new perspective.”
“The elegant and sophisticated way of life that the spiders have built for themselves has always been strung over a great abyss of barbarism, cannibalism and a return to primitive, savage values. After all, they are predators at heart.”
The Narrator(s)
Mel Hudson. No complaints, she was great!
My Thoughts
I went in not knowing what to expect. The book description doesn’t really give away any specific details so it was mostly just an abstract idea for me going in. I ended up really loving it! I love that it features spiders as an evolutionary species, and that they are a matriarchal society. It was so interesting seeing the way their culture and beliefs evolve, it was so interesting to see them evolve into sentient beings!
To be clear, a whole lot of nothing happens until the end, but the during all the “nothing” that happens, we see a lot of subtle learning, growth, evolution, change. It’s so fascinating! I am very curious about the next books and where the story will go from here.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A tender, laugh-out-loud debut romance about a woman who ends up in over her head after a little white lie . . .
When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA 1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to find that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family and pack up Sam’s apartment with his prickly best friend, Adam Berg. After all, it’ll only take four weekends . . .
But Adam doesn’t want Alison anywhere near him. Forced to spend long hours with the grump, and his monosyllabic demeanor, Alison decides she must put her people-pleasing abilities to the test. She will make him like her. And after awkward family affairs and packing up dilemmas, the two form a tenuous friendship . . . if “friendship” means incredible chemistry and tension between them. Can Alison come clean and finally embrace the life and love she’s always wanted? Or will her little white lie get in the way of her new, unexpected romance?
I needed an author debut in the second half of 2024, and this fit the prompt and sounded fun.
My Thoughts
I like that the author wasn’t afraid to tackle difficult topics like breast cancer, mastectomies, breast reconstruction, and other normally TMI stuff that comes with these. I love how candid she got with the issues Alison faced, and the feelings she went through and are still dealing with. I thought it was handled very bravely and gracefully.
The love story itself was really cute too. I love the chemistry between Alison and Adam, and I really like them together. However, I did feel like the story was a little convoluted and there was some unnecessary drama. All in all, I enjoyed the story very much and finished it in one sitting. It was just the light-hearted read I needed.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.
A book buddy of mine has been singing the praises of this book and its series. I was going to read it eventually but I moved it up the timeline because of her. And also because it fit a prompt for a book challenge!
The Quotes
“After everything that’s happened, how can the world still be so beautiful? Because it is.”
“They spent the first three years of school getting you to pretend stuff and then the rest of it marking you down if you did the same thing.”
“All it takes,” said Crake, “is the elimination of one generation. One generation of anything. Beetles, trees, microbes, scientists, speakers of French, whatever. Break the link in time between one generation and the next, and it’s game over forever.”
The Narrator(s)
Campbell Scott. He did a great job, but I think it was just hard to understand on audio because of the story itself.
My Thoughts
I think in general scifi and fantasy on audio can be hard to follow especially if they have a lot of made-up names and terms. I was confused for a long time in the beginning and it took me a while to even realize Jimmy/Snowman was talking about Oryx and Crake even though those names are on the title. I thought he was talking about a friend named Craig and a girl named Aurix (some variation of Aura/Aurora?). Still, it was pretty engrossing and I wanted to know more.
One of the things that stood out most to me was Oryx’s backstory because child trafficking happens a lot in the world where I grew up, and it was interesting to see her POV about her childhood. There’s a lot to think about with this book, for a lot of reasons, and I think that’s the genius of the author. Atwood is so good at writing dystopian worlds and getting us to think about all the what-ifs. I am excited to read the next books in the series and find out more about this world.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Women can be heroes.When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
I love Kristin Hannah’s books and I love Julia Whelan’s narration. I also needed a book with a palindrome on the cover.
The Quotes
“The women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn’t quite yet ready to hear it, and their story began with three simple words. We were there.”
“Women can be heroes.”
“The old white men who run this country are scared. And people do stupid, ugly things when they’re scared.” She leaned close. “But they’re counting on their power and our fear.”
“Maybe that was why people built walls: to look away, to ignore anything they didn’t want to see.”
The Narrator(s)
Julia Whelan. It’s no secret I love Julia’s narration in anything! This one was another beautiful one.
My Thoughts
This book pulls you in and doesn’t let go. I had so many feelings as I was reading it, mostly anger, and fury, and sadness, but also hope. So much hope. I hate that the women were treated so unfairly, I hate that there were so many scummy men, I hate that it was so difficult to find mental health help in the days where it was so important to get that help. With every page, it just got more and more heartbreaking to read and I was sure it wouldn’t end well. But it ended the way it should, and I’m happy with that.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
