I loved this novel about a small community in Monterey, California. I think I expected something more industrial from the title – Cannery Row refers to Monterey’s cannery district, where most of the men of this town make their living. But it’s also an ode to the natural beauty of coastal California, something that really…
Brideshead Revisited was written during World War II by Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh. Brideshead reflects many aspects of his life, from experiences at Oxford, his friendships with the British aristocratic set, and his military service. He published his first novel in 1928 at the age of 25. Also around that time he was married, then…
In July, life felt a little bit more normal — I was able to take more time for myself and even went back to working regular hours. Since we couldn’t go on our vacation in June, we’ve planned a trip to California around Labor Day. Coastal drives, sunsets on the beach, and wine tasting —…
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is ten books from seasonal TBR lists you haven’t gotten to yet. It was interesting to go back through those lists, and see which books I’d read, which I no longer had interest in, and which ones I imply haven’t gotten to yet. Here are…
I’ve read 65 books so far this year. Of these, StoryGraph characterizes my reading as predominantly “emotional”, then “reflective”, “funny”, “mysterious”, “light-hearted”, and “informative”. My most frequent categories of books are romance, historical, contemporary, memoir, and literary (as categorized by StoryGraph, which isn’t necessarily the way I’d categorize each book). I’ve read more nonfiction than…
I loved this novel about a strong, opinionated woman in the early 1960s who is a chemist, a single mother, and the star of a cooking television show. This sort of novel could easily become trite but it never did. Elizabeth Zott has to deal with sexism, harassment, and assault, as she navigates the world of science…
This year I signed up for a challenge to read more books about the environment (hosted by Gum Trees and Galaxies). I haven’t read too many yet this year, but I read these two in June and July and it made sense to write about them together. Both books are pretty impossible to “review” in…
I appreciate books that are hard to categorize because they cross genres. Not surprisingly, this debut novel by Blitz Bazawule, a musician, artist, and filmmaker, does exactly that. The Scent of Burnt Flowers tells the story of a young Black couple, Melvin and Bernadette, who flee the United States in 1966, after a violent altercation with…
June was a tough month. My father is dealing with a lot of health issues, and we had to cancel the vacation we’d been planning for months. But there are always positives even when times are challenging — my job has been really supportive as I’ve needed a lot of unexpected time off, my sisters…
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is books on our summer TBR list. I’ve already written about my summer TBR in this post about the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge. My summer TBR list, with what I’ve read so far, is below. Normally at this point in the summer I’d be much farther along, but June…
If you’re looking for a big fantasy/horror novel you’ll get lost in for a while, this is a book to consider. It combines elements of many other stories — a gothic mansion in the Scottish highlands, a school for “unusual” children, a tormented villain, and brave heroes, both young and old. It’s one of those…
I always love the beginning of summer, and this month saw the release of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide, volunteering at my library book sale, and planting my summer garden. I was in the car more than usual, so between that and gardening, I leaned heavily on audiobooks this month. What I read…
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Based in Romania, reading all over the world. Mostly fiction, some memoires and a little bit of poetry.
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The literary journeys of a 20-something, bilingual, elementary school teacher.
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