Author: Haze

Book Review | Murders and Metaphors (Magical Bookshop #3) by Amanda Flower

Posted August 29, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Murders and Metaphors (Magical Bookshop #3) by Amanda Flower

January means ice wine season in the Niagara Falls region, but the festivities leave Charming Books owner Violet Waverly cold, still reeling from a past heartbreak. Little do either Waverly women know, the ice wine festival will turn colder still when Violet finds Belinda in the middle of the frozen vineyard – with a grape harvest knife protruding from her chest.

Belinda grew up in Cascade Springs, but she left town years ago after a huge falling-out with her three sisters. One of those sisters, Violet’s high school friend Lacey Dupont, attends the book signing in the hope of making amends with her sister, but Belinda and Lacey end up disrupting the signing with a very public shouting match and Lacey quickly becomes the prime suspect in the sommelier’s murder.

Violet is sure Lacey is innocent, and to keep her friend out of prison, Violet asks for guidance from her magical bookshop. The shop’s ethereal essence points her to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, but what have the four March sisters to do with the four Perkins sisters? If she can’t figure it out, Violet, herself, may turn as cold as ice.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge


The Reason

Third in a series. The first is Crime and Poetry, the second is Prose and Cons.

The Narrator(s)

Rachel Dulude. Still all good! I’m really enjoying her narration.

My Thoughts

I’m going to quit while I’m ahead. I really love the idea of this series; the magical elements, the bookshop and all the books, the smarter than average animals, the cozy mystery, the romantic tension… But I’m getting more and more annoyed with the MC, Violet Waverly, because she keeps doing (and saying) stupid things. I like the romantic tension but it feels a little forced this time. And the fact that all these murders are happening in a small town like this; we are running out of victims and suspects, and if it’s not the usual suspects, it’s going to be the new characters, which makes it too obvious.

Oh, I don’t know. I love the idea and all the elements of this series, I just wish they were put together better. Feeling a little sad about it, but I do think it’s smarter to quit while I’m ahead and still enjoying what I got out of the books.

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?

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Book Review | Prose and Cons (Magical Bookshop #2) by Amanda Flower

Posted August 29, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Prose and Cons (Magical Bookshop #2) by Amanda Flower

Magic, books, and cats collide in a village near Niagara Falls in the latest Magical Bookshop Mystery from the author of Crime and Poetry .
 
In Cascade Springs, New York, Violet Waverly and her grandma, Daisy, are the proprietors of Charming Books, where the power of the written word is positively enchanting…
 
October in Cascade Springs means tourists are pouring in for the annual Food and Wine Festival, and Daisy hopes to draw those crowds to the store. She asks Violet and the local writing group, the Red Inkers, to give a reading of the works of Edgar Allan Poe in the shop’s back garden to entertain the revelers. Everyone eagerly agrees.
 
Yet their enthusiasm is soon extinguished when Violet discovers one of the writers dead during the event. After the shop magically tells Violet she’ll need to rely on Poe’s works to solve the murder, she enlists the help of her trusty tuxedo cat, Emerson, and the shop’s crow, Faulkner. But they must act fast before someone else’s heart beats nevermore…


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge


The Reason

Continuing with a series I enjoy!

The Narrator(s)

Rachel Dulude. Still all good! I’m really enjoying her narration.

My Thoughts

I love that each book focuses on one “book theme”; the first book featured Emily Dickinson, this one featured Edgar Allan Poe. Their works provide the clues to solving the mysteries that the MC, Violet Waverly, has to figure out. However, I sometimes feel like it’s a bit of a reach and the clues don’t really do anything to help Violet. Or else Violet isn’t very good at solving the cases. She still makes stupid decisions, which I forgave in the first book, but that are starting to annoy me in the second book.

I do love the cat though. Emerson is the best cat and I love him. There are a lot of good things about this book. I love the ensemble characters. I love Chief Rainwater. I love Grandma Daisy. I love Sadie and Lacey, and I love Lacey’s husband for his food and making me hungry through the page. I love that there’s magic and books and smart animals. It’s a fun read.

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?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books That Give You the Best Glimpse of Me

Posted August 26, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 16 Comments

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 Posts I’ve Written That Give You the Best Glimpse of Me 

My blog is less than a year old and I don’t feel like I’ve got a lot of posts that give you a good glimpse of me. Maybe in a couple of years’ time I’ll have more to choose from, but for now, I’m going to share ten books that have somehow shaped me or meant something to me.

This is so difficult because obviously there are a lot more than ten books that have shaped me and/or meant something to me, but I’ll try to choose the best representations.

Top Ten Books That Give You The Best Glimpse of Me

  1. The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie – I got this book as a gift when I was 11 years old and I’ve been rereading it regularly since. It was one of my favorite books as a child and it’s still a favorite now. It’s not very well-known, but I recommend it as often as I can to anyone I can! I loved it because it showed me how strong girls and women can be, that they can make waves in a man’s world even when everything is stacked against them.
  2. A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin – I read the first book right before I got diagnosed with cancer at 19 years old, and I bought the next two books right after. It got me through a tough time. Obviously, it’s really good and I think I would’ve loved it even if I wasn’t going through cancer. This series was my go-to answer for “If you could only bring one book with you to a deserted island…” for years. I cheated because it’s a series, but still!
  3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – I remember the first time I read this book; it was a long weekend and spent it all reading this book. I read it while having meals, if I remembered to eat. I fell asleep with the lights on because I kept reading until I couldn’t stay awake anymore. I woke up and immediately went back to reading. I’m not sure if I took a shower until I finished the book. It was so intense, I could not stop reading and I just needed to know what happened next. I’ve reread it many times since and I still love it.
  4. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo – This book is the closest representation to my history and culture I’ve ever come across and I love it. It’s set in Malaysia in the 1900’s and it reminds me so much of my family and the superstitions I was brought up with. It’s also just a really good story and I love it!
  5. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown – Maybe better to say, everything by Brené Brown. I love her work and everything she puts out really helps me become a better person. I learn a lot from her books, and I’m still learning to apply the lessons.
  6. Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. MontgomeryYou’ve heard me talk about these books recently because I’ve been rereading them. I just love them because Anne is such a happy, magical-thinking, kindred spirit, and it’s so wholesome and always gives me such a happy outlook to life. Rereading them has brought back a lot of childlike wonderment for me.
  7. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins – These books are darker, but somehow they mean so much to me because of stuff I went through. Although I love being happy and optimistic, sometimes bad things happen, sometimes people hurt you, and sometimes life is unfair. This book helped me understand that although some things are out of my control, I can still choose what I do with what I have. I love them more now than when I first read them because every time I reread, I discover something more meaningful.
  8. Thirst series by Christopher Pike – Christopher Pike was one of my favorite authors as a child and I read everything he wrote. I preferred his books over R.L. Stine even though Stine is apparently more popular. Previously known as The Last Vampire series, Thirst is still one of my favorite vampire stories.
  9. Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster – Also a recent reread, and one that gives me so much nostalgia. I mentioned in my recent review that this book helped shape a lot of my own journaling style and irreverent nature in my journals. It also makes me wish I had more penpals! Bonus: The Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsch were also great because that’s when I learned to talk irreverently to God too. 😂
  10. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron – I love the whole idea of morning pages, because journaling. But more than that, a lot of what’s in this book feels really healing and cathartic to the artist within me. I’ve gone through this book a few times and sometimes I’ll listen to the audiobook, and even when I don’t do the exercises, it just makes me feel encouraged and supported.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Sunday Post | What Have I Gotten Myself Into

Posted August 24, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 12 Comments

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. 

So Many Buddy Reads

Last week I mentioned that I joined this book community that does a lot of buddy reads. Well, the inevitable happened; I got caught up in the excitement of shiny, new things, and I signed up for so many buddy reads, and now I’m contemplating my life and all my questionable life choices. 😅

Don’t get me wrong, I love buddy reads and buddy reading and book discussions and all that come with reading, but now I just have the added pressure of doing so many within a certain time frame. Which might not even be a bad thing, except I signed up for so. many. chonkers. And I don’t know why I do this to myself!

The chonkers:

  • 11/22/63 by Stephen King (which I managed to finish last week, whew! One down!)
  • Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • The Stand by Stephen King

And these are just the chonkers. I also signed up for several other regular-sized buddy reads!

To be fair, there’s a pretty good timeline for each of the buddy reads and I’m quite sure I can get them done in time. Most of them are books I’ve been wanting to read anyway, and there’s more motivation to read them when they are buddy reads, so I am pretty excited about them but I’m just also nervous!

I’m also going to curb my enthusiasm for all the buddy reads! I’ve slowed down a little now, and I’m sure once the excitement has worn off and I’ve finished some of these buddy reads, we’ll be back to our regularly-scheduled reading. 🤞

All the happy things:

  1. There is a Little Free Library near my neighborhood and I scored some really great books! I’m a Dragonlance fan and I’m so stoked I found Preludes Vol. 1 to 5! Vol. 2 is mismatched but I’m still really happy about finding the books at all!
  2. We’ve been making homemade avocado milkshake and it’s so yummy! I even added some cocoa to it a couple of times and it’s good either way.
  3. I’m up-to-date with my book reviews! I’m very happy and just a little surprised that I managed that again this time.
  4. I made some chili oil and have been putting it in everything! I didn’t choose the spicy life, the spicy life chose me!
  5. A bunny has been visiting my garden and it’s been so lovely to see it lounging around.

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery – I was surprised with the trajectory of the book series because it’s been a while since I read them. I expected more of Anne and Gilbert but this book focused on Anne being a teacher and her relationships with her young charges. I’m not complaining! I loved it! I’m just also looking forward to more Anne and Gilbert!
  2. If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio – I ended up really disappointed with this one. Perhaps someone who’s more familiar with Shakespeare will enjoy it more, but I personally think that books should be able to stand on their own regardless of their sources of inspiration.
  3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King – This a reread, and I remember loving it when I read it the first time, but this time around, it was even better because it was a buddy read and I enjoyed reading other readers’ thoughts about the book!
  4. The Girl from the Other Side Volumes 1-3 by Nagabe – This is a new-to-me manga. The link takes you directly to the website where you can read it for free. I’ve only read up to Vol. 3, which is up to Chapter 15. I’m loving it and really looking forward to reading more!
  5. Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower – I came across this book when looking for bookish books for my reading challenge. This one is a series with a magical bookshop and I’m really enjoying it so far!

Books I’m reading:

  1. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris – I meant to read this last week, but didn’t get around to it. I have to read it this week because it’s for my in-person bookclub and we’re meeting this weekend!
  2. Prose and Cons by Amanda Flower – The second book in the magical bookshop series!

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

Other than the books I’ve already started, I also plan to continue reading The Girl from the Other Side up to Volume 6 this week. There’s also a buddy read for Solaris by Stanislaw Lem starting this Monday, and it’s relatively short so I can probably finish that too.

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Book Review | Crime and Poetry (Magical Bookshop #1) by Amanda Flower

Posted August 23, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Crime and Poetry (Magical Bookshop #1) by Amanda Flower

From Amanda Flower—who writes the national bestselling Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries as Isabella Alan—comes the first in the new Magical Bookshop Mystery series.

Rushing home to sit by her ailing grandmother’s bedside, Violet Waverly is shocked to find Grandma Daisy the picture of perfect health. Violet doesn’t need to read between the lines: her grandma wants Violet back home and working in her magical store, Charming Books. It’s where the perfect book tends to fly off the shelf and pick you…

Violet has every intention to hightail it back to Chicago, but then a dead man is discovered clutching a volume of Emily Dickinson’s poems from Grandma Daisy’s shop. The victim is Benedict Raisin, who recently put Grandma Daisy in his will, making her a prime suspect. Now, with the help of a tuxedo cat named Emerson, Violet will have to find a killer to keep Grandma from getting booked for good…


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge


The Reason

Now that I’m finished with the 2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge, I thought I’d try to make a dent on the other reading challenges I signed up for. This was a bookish book, and it’s a series, so there’s lots more bookish books to read!

The Narrator(s)

Rachel Dulude. I love her! It was smooth listening all the way! I especially love it when she narrates the cat’s meow; it makes me believe it was a real cat!

My Thoughts

Seriously, this book hits all the right spots for a witchy book lover! There’s a magical bookshop, there are magical books, there’s a resident crow and the most adorable cat! There’s also a birthright legacy passed down from grandmother to granddaughter in regards to taking care of the bookshop, and I love everything about it!

There’s also a murder mystery to solve, of course, and I just love how the story unfolds.

It’s not perfect; there are still characters making bad decisions, some things happen too conveniently, and I have issues with one of the characters – Audrey, the victim’s daughter – being so vilified, due to personal beliefs. However, this is meant to be a light-hearted cozy mystery, and so I’ll take it the way it was meant and not analyze it too deeply. It’s actually really well-written and I really enjoyed this book. I plan to read the next books in the series too!

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?

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Book Review | 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Posted August 23, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

11/22/63 by Stephen King

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. Unless…

In 2011, Jake Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, sets out on an insane — and insanely possible — mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Leaving behind a world of computers and mobile phones, he goes back to a time of big American cars and diners, of Lindy Hopping, the sound of Elvis, and the taste of root beer.

In this haunting world, Jake falls in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald…


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge


The Reason

This book is a reread. I read it a while ago and remember loving it but not much else. I watched the film adaptation a couple of years ago and wanted to reread then but didn’t, and then I found it as a buddy read recently, so I thought why not.

The Quotes

“When all else fails, give up and go to the library.”

“I’m one of those people who doesn’t really know what he thinks until he writes it down.”

“If you’ve ever been homesick, or felt exiled from all the things and people that once defined you, you’ll know how important welcoming words and friendly smiles can be.”

“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.”

The Narrator(s)

Craig Wasson. Okay, I don’t know if it’s a narrator issue or a sound engineer issue, but the volume inconsistencies were painful, literally, to my ears. The narration and the different character voices were great, in themselves, but there were parts where the characters shouted, or spoke harshly, and they were loud and painful! If I turned down the volume, I couldn’t hear the quiet parts well. If I turned up the volume, I had to brace for pain. It was not fun.

My Thoughts

The audiobook wasn’t fun because of the volume issues, but the story itself was amazing, and I think I love it more the second time around! Partly because it was a buddy read; reading with others and having discussions about the book help me notice details I otherwise wouldn’t have noticed, and make me think about things more.

Also, funny enough, while I’m still unhappy about the volume issues with the audiobook, I feel like listening to it this time around actually helped me notice some things I didn’t before, especially with some of the theme and repetitions in the story. It’s interesting because I usually notice things more on print and miss a lot of details when I’m listening to a book, but I think when things get repeated so many times, and if the narrator emphasizes those parts, I definitely take notice.

This audiobook was a 30-hour chonker but it was such an incredible journey. I got so much more out of it this time, and I’m definitely thinking of rereading it again eventually because I believe there’s still more to get out of it!

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?

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Book Review | If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

Posted August 23, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

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 the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #13: An academic thriller )
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge


The Reason

I just needed a book that fit the last prompt for the 2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge and this was the most available to me.

The Quotes

“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?

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Book Review | Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Posted August 22, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

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.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Classics Club


The Reason

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?

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Book Review | Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Posted August 22, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

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.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Classics Club


The Reason

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?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books Featuring Mothers

Posted August 19, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 25 Comments

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

  1. 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!
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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!
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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?

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