I’m rereading books from my long ago compiled favorite books list to see if they should make my Top 100. This is a slow moving project, but one that this list maker enjoys. So, I first read this book when it came out in the 1990s and I remember being blown away by how good it was. I saw the movie they made with Billy Bob Thornton and was less than impressed, but I’m going to give that another try while the book is fresh.
Two brothers and one of their best friends happen upon a plane crash with a dead pilot and $4.4 million inside. They agree to a simple plan. One of them will take the money home and keep it for six months and if no one comes forward claiming it then they’ll divide up the money and go their separate ways. Obviously if that had happened there would be no book. What did happen was one bad decision after another that left the narrator, one of the brothers, hurtling toward the point of no return. He had a wife with a baby on the way and while he threatened to burn the money to keep the other two in check, it became obvious to everyone that he would never do that.
“Greed is what’ll get us caught,’ she said.
What’s so great about this book is that the moral questions are timeless. There is a depth to these characters because they are not criminal masterminds, they are just normalish people in small town Ohio. And parts will make you uncomfortable. Quite a few parts probably. As I reread this, I realized that three of the most disturbing parts didn’t even register in my memory, although I have no idea how I could have forgotten them.
The money, by giving us a chance to dream, had also allowed us to begin despising our present lives.
Will their plan work? It’s simple after all. As a reader you need to know what happens to the money and Smith escalates, shocks, and has you questioning what you would do at every turn. I don’t think that many thrillers will make it on my Top 100 list, but this one hits differently
“What we’ve done is horrible,” Sarah said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re evil, and it doesn’t mean we weren’t right to do it. We had to save ourselves.”
I finally finished my second book for this challenge. I really need to pick up the pace. Since I sort book donations at the library and frequent bookstores I decided to start this challenge with countries that cross my path organically, we’ll see how far that gets me. The fiction book showed up in my quarterly TBR box and the memoir came through the library donations.
A memoir by Kyoto Mori telling of her trip back to Japan after living in the US since college. This took me a while to finish. I had a hard time getting into it, but the last half was good. The first half was a lot of looking back at her childhood in Japan before her mother committed suicide and her father remarried. The second half interspersed those memories with what was happening on her trip more smoothly and I found myself picking up the pace as I finished.
I liked getting to know the traditions and stories. Her father’s family was in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. Her grandparent’s lived in the country in poverty. Even the way her family interacts with her and each other was an interesting observation.
Her relationship with her father was a recurring theme and I totally got it. Reading some of the other reviews that was a complaint by many, but I thought it made sense. If your father was the big reason that you left, going back would color all of your interactions with family.
The book is a collection of stories with a central location, the Nakagyo Kokoro Clinic for the Soul in Kyoto. The clinic can only be found when a person is struggling with life and the doctor only ever prescribes one thing, a cat!
Such a charming story with each chapter the name of the prescribed cat with a picture. Cat lovers will like the sweetness of a cat being able to cure all ills. A fun magical fiction book for Japan.
***
That being said here are four books I’ve read and liked in the last few years that were set in Japan.
My goal is to read a fiction and nonfiction book set in and written by someone who was born in that country. As recommendations have trickled in I realized that it’s the ‘born in that country’ part that is going to make some books not work. I’m excluding the immigrant experience. It wasn’t my intent, I just didn’t really think it through in those terms. I’m not going to change the rules at this point. Maybe I’ll do a spin off challenge for that.
I read 12 books on January, a little bit of everything. Five nonfiction is a pretty good start to the year.
Five Star Books
On Freedom by Timothy Snyder. Nonfiction. This is such an important read. “In dehumanizing others, we make ourselves less free.”
These are not the most profound thoughts of On Freedom, but they are the most relevant to today. If you have an interest in the fascism we are seeing today read On Tyranny. If you want a more nuanced discussion about how free we really are as a nation, read his latest On Freedom.
I can’t recommend both of these books enough. On Tyranny will get you started. At just over 100 pages it packs a punch with little time commitment. I loved the graphic novel adaptation. On Freedom is longer and takes more time to absorb, but is so worth it. I almost gave up on On Freedom because it felt a little too textbooky, but once it got past that it was gold.
The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick. Fiction. This was my book blub read this month and we all really liked it. Four women form a book group to read The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, thus giving themselves the name the Bettys. This is the early 1960s so women’s role were different and although each of them were married, they each were constructed by things out of their control. Can a woman ‘have it all’?
It focused on the bonds between the women, and ALL women. It explored what these friendships mean through these book group meetings with the fun cocktails, even if sometimes the book didn’t get read by everyone. Hey, it happens! There’s plenty of drama to keep you turning the pages making this a fast, satisfying read.
I loved that it was a good mix of women I did and don’t know. And a range of ages too. The essays were written by different people so there was a mix of writing styles too, some choosing a more biographical approach and other leaning into their personal connection with person. Let’s lift each other up. Our country needs it now more than ever.
4 1/2 Stars
The Art and Life of Hilma af Klint by Ylva Hillstrom and Karin Eklund. Nonfiction. A 64 page biography about someone who I didn’t really know anything about. And now I know about her and have seen her art, but I also know what was going on in the world in the late 1800s/early 1900s with spiritualism, homemade ouiji boards, thoughts on communicating with spirits, theosophy, alchemy…. It was so much more than I thought it would be.
Hilma af Klint really thought that the spirits were showing her the secrets of the universe. So she painted it. But no one wanted to see them until decades after her death. Now they hang in the most prestigious museums in the world.
4 Stars
The Onion Came First by Elinor Wilder. Paranormal romance. STEM Meets Supernatural is right on the cover. Annelie is a neurodivergent numbers gal from Wall Street. Reed is an alpha wolf shifter. They both become neighbors in the Claw Ridge Mountains. I loved how Annelie found a place and people who felt like home. Could you love a wolf? One that did math with rocks that it brought to your porch? Somehow Reed made that work🔥
I love this book and it’s not just because my friend wrote it, her first novel. Not only did it feel like a love story between Reed and Annelie, it also felt like a love story to and for neurodivergents and the people who love them.
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren. Romance. The duo Christina Lauren has become a favorite of mine in the last few years. I’m a little later to the party so there’s a huge backlist, yay for me!
In the Soulmate Equation two people who barely tolerate each other are matched up as the perfect couple based on their DNA. She’s a single mother barely making ends meet and he is the creator of the matchmaking science. I thought this one was funny and sweet, a perfect escape from the news.
Sandwich by Catherine Newman. Fiction. I finally got around to the book most of bookish friends of a certain age have already read. It’s definitely for the woman who can understand what hormones, or lack thereof, can do to person and for the men who love them! You’ll feel seen even if Rocky is a bit much.
I like people who can be a bit much. I usually find them fascinating and Rocky was that for sure. The book takes place over a weeklong vacation with her husband, two grown kids, one girlfriend, and her two elderly parents. It’s a vacation they always take and the familiarity brings memories, both bittersweet and painful. I can see not liking this one if Rocky is too loud, too liberal, or too narcissistic for you. But for me, I found an underlying truth to this stage of life and Rocky made me feel a little less like a hot mess myself.
The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton. Romance. This was a sweet debut with likable characters. The main characters agree to pretend to be dating even if the pretend doesn’t seem so fake.
Vincent is prepping to fly to the moon, yes, a real astronaut, and Amerie is trying to start her own business. Was it the most believable story? No.the engagement and her moving in with him only days after meeting were both pretty crazy. BUT I was still invested and enjoyed their journey.
The Midnight Lock by Jeffery Deaver. Lincoln Rhyme series #15. Thriller. No lock is going to stop the Locksmith 🔓. He likes to break into women’s apartments and watch them while they sleep, leaving clues all over that he’d been there. Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sacks and crew are back and ready to catch the bad guys! I love the team, the science, the twists and turns, NYC. It all works! It’s best to start at the beginning with The Bone Collector.
3 1/2 Stars
The Dream of Water by Kyoka Mori. Memoir. This took me a while to finish. I had a hard time getting into it, but the last half was good. The first half was a lot of looking back at her childhood in Japan before her mother committed suicide and her father remarried. The second half interspersed those memories with what was happening on her trip more smoothly and I found myself picking up the pace as I finished.
I liked getting to know the traditions and stories. Her father’s family was in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. Her grandparent’s lived in the country in poverty. Even the way her family interacts with her and each other was an interesting observation.
Her relationship with her father was a recurring theme and I totally got it. Reading some of the other reviews that was a complaint by many, but I thought it made sense. If your father was the big reason that you left, going back would color all of your interactions with family.
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider. Comics. I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider is a perfect gift for that capacious reader or writer in your life. It’s for readers, writers, poets, and those who want to understand them better. So, do YOU judge a person’ bookshelf? I judge only if they don’t have one!
I’ve finished my first country and while it took a little longer than I anticipated I feel like I’m off to a great start. My nonfiction book was written by an Arab born and raised in Israel and the novel’s main storyline was the prejudice against migrants with many chapters coming from her perspective. So, I liked that both books helped me see Israel from the eyes of someone not in the majority.
My goal is to read a fiction and nonfiction book set in and written by someone who was born in that country. As recommendations have trickled in I realized that it’s the ‘born in that country’ part that is going to make some books not work. I’m excluding the immigrant experience. It wasn’t my intent, I just didn’t really think it through in those terms. I’m not going to change the rules at this point. Maybe I’ll do a spin off challenge for that.
That being said here are three books I’ve read and liked in the last few years that were set in Israel, but not written by someone born there.
Too Far From Home by Naomi Shmuel – a children’s book about a girl who was born in Israel to two immigrant parents. A good book about prejudice and belonging. 4 stars
Dawn by Elie Wiesel – This is the second in the Night trilogy and a profound look at the evil of war. 5 stars
On September 11 I participated in one of the Day of Service events. The Cleveland State University arena was packed with volunteers who packed meals to be distributed by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. I was part of the clean up crew and by the time I got there at 11am they had already packed 290,000 meals! It was amazingly organized and I hope to participate again.
I also had tickets to see The Notebook musical at Playhouse Square that night at 7:30, so I decided to spend the time in between just exploring downtown Cleveland. I found an outdoor music performance while I ate and went to the library to charge my phone. I read in a church park and did some list making. I mostly walked. I met Jason for drinks and dinner before the show. It was a great day.
I listened to Lethal Prey by John Sandford This is #35 in the Lucas Davenport series (I’ve read them all) and #19 of the Virgil Flowers series (I’ve not read all of these). I like both of these detectives separately, but together they are perfection if you like police/FBI procedurals. The bad guy in this one was a cold, cold woman who made me look around and wonder what seemingly normal people I know are just offing people who get in their way.
I also listened to Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. This is the first in the Throne of Glass series and I will probably continue with the series. It’s about an assassin forced to compete in a series of tests against the worst of the worst where there will be only one winner and many will die. She’s the only female, and a teen at that. This fantasy series is addicting like the author’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series, but so far there’s been no hot fairy sex. And I okay with that!
What I’m currently reading
Waking Lionsby Ayelet Gundar-Goshen is my fiction pick for Israel and I really like it, but it’s not something I’m racing through. An Isreali doctor hits man with his car and watches him die. The wife of the man tracks him down a has a proposal for her to keep quiet about it.
I’ve read 92 books this year so far.
What we watched
For family movie night we watched I Am Legend. I’d seen this post apocalyptic movie before but had blocked out most of it. There were tears, hiding behind pillows and stress. That was all from me. My two guys loved it.
What I made
A cousin sent me a recipe for Stuffed Pepper Soup and I made it for the first time. I loved it and it was so easy to make. Don’t know what’s taken me so long.
Plans for the weekend
I’ve got an online reading club meet up at 1:30 and may have to go in to the library to facilitate a donation, but other that that it’s laundry! What about you?
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done one of these. But as fall weather rolls in, so does my desire to jump back on here and gab about books, movies, and maybe Gage too. I miss it.
Challenge: This week I started a new challenge I’m calling Reading the World. The post is here and I’m looking for recommendations for books from other countries. Here are recommendations I need today…Fiction books written by and set in Pakistan, Poland, Sierra Leone, Vietnam. And nonfiction books by people from and set in the countries of Afghanistan, Canada, Columbia, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Trinidad&Tobago, and Egypt.
I started the challenge with Israel because I had both a nonfiction and fiction book. When I finish I’ll move on to Sweden because I have both books ready to go.
Finished this week: Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas. I love her historical romances, but this first of the Bow Street Runners series was not a favorite. I love her so much that I’ll still pick up the second one.
I’m listening to Lethal Prey by John Sandford, the 35th book in the Lucas Davenport series. This one also has Virgil Flowers and I love them together. The murderer in this one is pretty cold. Makes me look around at some normal looking people with suspicion.
Movies: Jason and I watch Sinners this week. What a weird and compelling movie. I both loved the original storytelling and didn’t care for the twist, lol. And for family movie night we watched Escape Room on Netflix. We like escape rooms, just not ones this deadly. We all liked the movie though.
TV: We’re working our way through The Middle. I think we’re on season 5 and we all love it, Gage especially. Jason and I watched the first episode of the Great Bristish Bake Off. We’re in a pool that Jason won last season so he’s under some pressure to do well this time too.
Puzzles: Today I’m hosting a puzzle swap at my house. I’ve been having an informal Little Free Puzzle Library on my porch since January and needed to clean out the 70+ puzzles that have been acquired. This is the 1000piece+ table.
This weekend: So far it’s been fairly quiet. I see lots of laundry in my future today and most likely a family game. What about you?
I’m back! I’ve been unable to use my blog for weeks but think everything is okay now. Bloggers know how frustrating this can be. I haven’t used my blog as much as Instagram these past few years because I wasn’t able to use my own photos. I still haven’t entirely fixed that problem but did manage to get this one on here so there is hope.
On September 1st I embarked on a new challenge. I’m calling it Reading the World and I’m going to attempt to read a fiction AND nonfiction book from every country in the world.
I’ve been toying with the idea for a few years and finding a few people attempting to read one book from each country on Instagram gave me the push I needed. I’m going to use the current UN list of 193 countries, but am opening to reading the territories too if books are recommended, but it’s not a priority.
I need your help! The rule (made this up myself) is that the author must be from the country and the book must be set in the country. There’s wiggle room for sci-fi or fantasy where the setting is fluid. Please recommend favorite books! I combed my shelves and pulled out this stack, once I have one fiction and one nonfiction from a county it gets read. The only one I had to start was Israel, so I’m currently reading there.
Send me any recommendations and especially these since I already have one book. I need nonfiction books for these countries. I’m partial to memoirs, but anything is fine. Canada, Afghanistan, Japan, Poland, Nigeria, Sweden, S Korea, Trinidad &Tobago. I need fiction options from Sierra Leone and Pakistan. I’m open to kids books too, sometimes those are my favorites!
I’ll be on here more since I’ll be tracking my progress. I’m excited for this challenge and excited to blog more. I’ve missed it.
These books about defense attorney Michael Haller set in Los Angeles are part of the bigger Harry Bosch series. I’ve watched the Bosch series on Amazon, but haven’t read the books. I I’ve also watched the Lincoln Lawyer series on Netflix. I’ve loved both of them. There are only 7 books of the Lincoln Lawyer so far and I thought I’d start there. Once I started I couldn’t stop!
This series is addicting if you like courtroom drama. The writing is good and the plotting is stellar. There are twists that you don’t see coming. Mickey Haller flies high in some books and lands low in others, but always manages to land on his feet and right the wrongs that happen in the justice system. I’m cheering him on because he has that bleeding heart, albeit one that needs to pay the bills. I flew through these in a few months time.
That being said, they are part of the larger series, so you aren’t privy to the happenings of those books or the years that went by. In some of the books quite a bit of time had passed and you just had to pick up where it was and know your questions might not be answered.
And the Netflix series, while drawing some storylines from the book, really doesn’t follow it closely. Some of the side characters are considerably different too. I enjoy both print and screen versions so that’s okay.
Considering how much I loved these I probably will start the Bosch series soon and this might get wrapped up in that series. Time will tell.
I think all but the first have been 5 star reads for me.
This YA dystopian trilogy is not one that I’d consider in my wheelhouse, but sometimes when you open yourself up to something new, great things happen. This is what I said about the books when I read them…
When I started reading this one I hated it. I disliked Todd and I didn’t understand why some of it was written phonetically. By the end I still had the phonetic question, but Todd turned into a character that I loved. Todd is being raised by two dads in Prentisstown, a town in the New World made up only of men, when he is forced to flee for reasons he doesn’t understand. He is the last boy in town. As he escapes he finds what he thinks is a girl, but doesn’t understand how this can be since all of the women were killed by the Spackle in the war. And he is accompanied by his faithful dog Manchee whose thoughts you can also hear.
The unlikely threesome run for their lives and the chase takes them to new towns with facts long hidden from Todd and astonishing to the girl, Viola. The men and women they encounter change their view of the world and shed light on the inclinations of people that is truly alive and well today. Manchee, my favorite character, is all things a good dog is, loyal, clever, and loving.
This may not sound like it’s in your wheelhouse and I get that. I remember reading all of the rave reviews when this came out 12 years ago, but didn’t think it sounded like something I’d be interested in. I was wrong. I got sucked in and the book kept it’s hooks in me the entire time.
The appeal of the first book of the series lay in large part with the relationship between Todd and Viola as they learn to trust each other to stay alive. This book has them separated most of the book, so it’s the hope they’re holding on to and the trust that they have in each other that sell the story.
Todd is being kept captive, watched, and groomed by the man he’d spent all of the first book trying to escape. He also is being partnered with Davey Prentiss, the same Davey who has been trying to kill him. Viola is put in a hospital for and run by women and when she recovers must figure out what is going on in the town and how she can reach Todd. The two end up on opposite sides.
I loved continuing the journey of these two teens and hope that the next book brings them the happy ending they deserve, but I’m skeptical. Way too many of the bad guys seem to survive and desperate times call for desperate allies, so it’s hard to say what lines will be drawn and crossed in the finale. I look forward to finding out!
This last book brings the same fight for good, with Todd and Viola doing much of it apart. Todd is with the Mayor who grows more powerful every day. Viola is with the women healers who are fighting the Mayor for control. A scout ship from earth brings reinforcement and weapons, but on a small scale. The Spackle get their own, prominent storyline so that we can see what gifts they can bring to the peace process. There is a lot going on.
And I was rivetted for all of it. There was a ‘resurrection’ and a rebirth and the end was not what I expected, it was better. I loved the short story that ended the series and how it added to and closed the trilogy.
Who should read it? Dystopian/Sci-Fi lovers, YA readers, and those who want to immerse themselves in 1724 pages of top notch storytelling.
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson. I started reading Heather Cox Richardson’s daily posts a few years ago. As a history professor she can give historical context to what’s happening politically. She is a must read if you want to understand the state of the country. This goes for both sides of the aisle. Her perspective may not be yours, but truth doesn’t take sides, and it shines through.
“The key to the rise of authoritarians, they explained, is their use of language and false history.”
So many people are being misled right now with blatant attacks on truth. Scary times are ahead if enough people don’t wake up to what’s happening. Highly recommend.
The Promise of a New Day: A Book of Daily Meditations. Do you read daily meditation/inspirational books/journals? I love them! I’ve been reading this classic for awhile and was a little sad to come to the end. Not religious but sometimes spiritual, it was a positive way to start the day. Originally published in the 80’s these thoughts are still relevant to lives today. This came though our book sale donations and I’m so happy I brought it home.
All My Friends Are Dead. A link to a little bit of the book I put on IG. This is such a cute book. If you see it, make sure to pick it up and take a few minutes to read through it. I guarantee at least one chuckle.
4 Star Reads
How Reading Changed my Life by Anna Quindlen. This is is one of those lovely books to sit down with for an hour in a comfy chair with a cup of tea. I love her stories of growing up being a reader and what books meant to her. By reading this it somehow put to words my own feelings regarding books and the home we make for ourselves in them. It’s only 84 pages.
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. Jason and I have loved the Lincoln Lawyer series on Netflix so I thought I’d give the first book in the long series a try. As usual, Michael Connelly is a master.
Courtroom drama ✔️ Family issues ✔️ Innocent man in jail ✔️ Life or death situations ✔️
I really liked it and will most likely continue the series when I get my hands on book 2. Have you watched the series or the movie with Matthew McConaughey?
Galatea by Madeline Miller. This little gift book is a 56 page novella that would go well with a collection or look great on a shelf or table. Based on Ovid’s Pygmalion myth.
Pygmalion creates a real woman from a marble statue he sculpted himself. Told from the woman’s perspective this was a liberated take the unnamed statue and the distasteful man who created her. I thought it was everything a grown-up myth should be.
Jackpot by Nic Stone. I’m a new Nic Stone fan. Rico Danger spends her days working to keep her family afloat and attending a high school where she feels alienated for being so poor. When the gas station she works at sells a winning lottery ticket she decides to try and find the lady who bought it. Enter Zan Macklin, son in a wealthy family with lots of expectations. They two go on this lottery ticket hunt together, growing close in the process.
Things I loved…Rico and Zan were cute together. I liked seeing his crush on her wear her shields down a bit. I liked Rico making friends. Pretty much I loved it all until…
Things I didn’t like…the end! No. Just no. And that’s all I’m going to say about it.
The Thursday Murder Club. Four residents in a retirement village form a club to solve old cold cases that the police couldn’t. There was a LOT going on in this book. I listened to it and did occasionally get lost, but I’d rather have that problem than there being too little to focus on. I thought the ‘pushing eighty’ club was brilliant and loved each of the members. I’m undecided about continuing on. Have you read it? Yea or nay?
3 1/2 Stars
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler. I picked up one from Anne Tyler I hadn’t read since she’s one of those authors I love. Her stories are always about real relationships with all of the ups and downs.
We meet Michael and Pauline right before Michael is shipped off to war in 1941. The marriage was a rocky one, but three kids in they’d found a rhythm. They even held it together when their daughter ran away. It wasn’t until they were older that the bond crumbled.
I was a little bored for a while and almost gave this one up, but there was just enough there for me to keep going and I’m glad I did. It’s a solid family saga.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. This is a memoir of the year after author Joan Didion’s died. The night he died their daughter was spreading in the hospital ICU. Can you imagine? There were some insightful thoughts in this National Book Award Winner. I think it would be a good recommendation for anyone going through their own grief journey.
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. Alcatraz Island. If you’ve ever visited you know its isolation. You also know that there were many families that lived there to support the prison. Can you imagine living on an island with the worst of the worst?
It’s 1935 and Moose has just moved there with his parents and sister. He finds some friends, but his life is very much affected by his sister, who in today’s world would be diagnosed with moderate autism. Since both of his parent’s work Moose is often in charge of his sister. It’s not always easy to put her needs first, but then his friends become hers.
This is a middle school or younger book and the beginning of a trilogy. I think this is a great book for any kid who has a sibling with autism or another disability. I think it would help them feel seen. And who wouldn’t think it would be cool to live among the convicts?
Stacy's Books 