Well, my blogging seems to come in random spurts. I will post a blog post and feel like I’m finally getting the wheels turning again, and then, you know…life happens.
I have just two more blog posts on book reviews, and that will finally catch me up to where I am in the present day. I’ve got seven more books to review today!
Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday
Synopsis: Most days motherhood often looks like bottomless piles of laundry; a sink full of dishes; sleepless nights; and unshowered, nonstop, endless days. If that’s all there is, then no wonder “Grumpy Mom” sometimes sneaks into your heart and home.
If you can relate, you’re in good company—Valerie Woerner gets it and has experienced Grumpy Mom more often than she’d care to admit. In Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday, Valerie shares what she’s learned so far about sending Grumpy Mom packing and embracing
My Review: This is my #1 book of 2019. It for sure goes into my top 5 favorite books I’ve ever read. It honestly changed how I feel about motherhood and mom-ing. It was hope and deep conviction, too. I get 100% of the books I read from the library, but I bought this one as soon as I had finished it and I now have it on my shelf. SO GOOD.
The Walk (Book 1 & 2)
Synopsis: What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.
My Review: I felt like this book was a brainless pleasure. It was compelling enough to keep reading, but not entrancing enough to pick up every book in the series and devour them right away. I found the characters endearing and I do want to know what continues to happen in the rest of the series! Both books were a FAST read, which made it enjoyable. Its also not predictable at all, and he meets all kinds of different people along the way.
The Year of Living Danishly
Synopsis: Denmark is officially the happiest nation on Earth. When Helen Russell is forced to move to rural Jutland, can she discover the secrets of their happiness? Or will the long, dark winters and pickled herring take their toll?
My Review: I love reading about other cultures, and especially how they live the mundane parts of life and how they parent. I found this book fascinating. The author does determine that people in Denmark do indeed seem to be the happiest and most content people she has ever been around. It’s fascinating to me, though, because from what I have read, they are also one of the coldest and darkest countries, and one of the least religious. Overall, this book was good and fascinating, but it didn’t convince me to move to Denmark!
The Zero-Waste Lifestyle
Synopsis: Trash is a big, dirty problem. The average American tosses out nearly 2,000 pounds of garbage every year that piles up in landfills and threatens our air and water quality. You do your part to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but is it enough?
In The Zero-Waste Lifestyle, Amy Korst shows you how to lead a healthier, happier, and more sustainable life by generating less garbage. Drawing from lessons she learned during a yearlong experiment in zero-waste living, Amy outlines hundreds of easy ideas—from the simple to the radical—for consuming and throwing away less, with low-impact tips.
My Review: Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m terrible about trash. I don’t recycle. I needed to hear some of the tips in this book! Some of it was practical, but some of it was also very radical and I will admit that I rolled my eyes a couple times throughout this book. Still, it did teach me some thing that I did not know about trash (did you know that America ships our trash overseas?) and it inspired me to be a little bit better about reducing my consumption, reusing what I have and recycling when possible. I still create trash. But this was a good starting point for me.
The Flatshare
Synopsis: Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…
My Review: I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this book, since I’m not a supporter of male/female roommates or living together, etc. It’s kind of the premise of this book. But I ended up actually really enjoying this one! Tiffy and Leon are “roommates”, but they never even meet. Tiffy has just gotten out of an abusive relationship that she didn’t realize was abusive (I believe the term is “gas lighting”). Leon is fighting for his brother to get out of jail. They are completely different and it’s totally unlikely that they will fall in love. And yet, I think that we all know…they do. The journey to falling in love is one that starts with letters and notes back and forth in the apartment, and turns into something real eventually. I think I liked how the couple was able to build a relationship without having a sexual relationship first. It was cute. I recommend.
Ayesha at Last
Synopsis: Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn’t want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses
When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.
My Review: I loved this book! As I mentioned above, I love books that focus on different cultures and their traditions, and this one did not disappoint. It was a strong juxtaposition between the traditions of a culture and the emergence of new traditions without immigrant culture. I felt like I could relate on so many levels as a third culture kid. Ayesha has grown up respecting the ways of her Muslim culture but struggles with wanting to push back against some of the rules that are set against her. I do recommend this book, especially if you have any interest in other cultures of the world!
Summer of ’69
Synopsis: Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century! It’s 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother’s historic home in downtown Nantucket: but this year Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, a nursing student, is caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests, a passion which takes her to Martha’s Vineyard with her best friend, Mary Jo Kopechne. Only son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother who is hiding some secrets of her own. As the summer heats up, Teddy Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, a man flies to the moon, and Jessie experiences some sinking and flying herself, as she grows into her own body and mind.
My Review: Um. I didn’t “get” this book. I know many, many people love Elin Hilderbrand, and many people love this book. It was…alright. A cute enough story with enough characters that they criss-crossed and created drama. However, I think that if someone without the clout of Hilderbrand had written it, it wouldn’t be as possible. I dunno. Perhaps if I had been alive during the Summer of ’69, I would have found this incredibly relatable and nostalgic. But, since I was not alive during that time, I didn’t love this book.