“A Place for Us” is a book that can touch your heart as easily as it can sink its teeth into you. It hurts, it reminds, it hopes for better. It explores a family trying to figure out how their histories, religion, and individual identities can co-exsist, sometimes at devistating costs. The book’s title is borrowed from a line of the musical “West Side Story” (I admit to singing it internally each time I picked it up). Like the Romeo and Juliette re-telling, the roots of “A Place for Us” are grounded in a forbidden love, but this is not…
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
A thrilling, in-depth expose on the multi billion dollar tech start up Theranos. I had heard bits and pieces of this story when Theranos was initially outed but I was blown away by this thorough examination of the deception, secrecy, and manipulation that built a silicon valley tech company valued at its peak at 10 billion dollars. Days after finishing I still cannot stop talking about this book and I recommend it across the board to anyone and everyone. So if you haven’t read this one yet, bump it to the top of your list. I mostly listened to the audio version…
The One-In-A-Million-Boy by Monica Wood
This is a delightful book. Over the past couple of years I’ve read a number of novels which follow the grouchy-old-person-finds-life-again trope and so I was a little hesitant going in. However, this book offers a unique perspective and message about the realities and opportunities of life. Ona is 104, she lives alone and rarely chooses to interact with others. The exception to this is her Saturday visits with the 11-year-old boy scout who comes by to help her with tasks around the houses. This eccentric boy (whose name we never learn) easily wins her over and a beautiful relationship…
Best Books of 2018
Two posts in one day! I’m trying to start the year out right, and what better way than to recap my favorite books from 2018? As a review from last year I finished 61 books, abandoned 10 (!), and added 57 to my to-read list. Below are my favorite 13 with 2 honorable mentions. Contemporary Fiction Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman Read my Review Castle of Water By Dane HuckelbridgeRead my review The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh *Honorable Mention* How to Walk Away by Katherine Center Read my review Historical Fiction The Great Alone by…
Update
Hey everyone! It’s been a minute. After our big move to another city, things over here at mamashomebookin definitely fell off the wagon. I didn’t stop reading, but I did stop posting lengthy reviews and while it has been a much needed break, I also noticed some negative side effects. When I was posting regularly both the quality and quantity of the books I read was much higher. Even though it was taking a lot of time and effort to write the in-depth reviews and navigate wordpress (something I still really struggle with) it was actually making me a better…
How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
I keep saying that contemporary fiction isn’t my thing, but I sure have read a lot good contemporary fiction this year. I definitely think I’m coming around to it because this book was delightful. It started out fast and strong and I was always trying to sneak a few minutes here and there to get back to it. This book is about survival, forgiveness, strength, love, resilience, and growing up. Margaret Jacobsen is a beautiful, successful 27 year old MBA graduate about to become engaged to “the love of her life”. On the eve of her engagement her pilot boyfriend…
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
This is a quick, entertaining non-fiction read perfect for those who feel a bit stuck or lost in their lives. I always appreciate an author who will be very candid about their struggles and who also inspires me to live a better life. Rachel Hollis is the CEO of the wildly popular website “The Chic Spot”. She is an incredibly driven, self made woman whose grit and sheer determination have made her the successful woman she is today. In her memoir Rachel is brutally honest about the trials and failures that have helped shape her life paradigm. Told in the…
Lilli De Jong by Janet Benton
Ah, Lilli De Jong. You are a fantastic book. So good that I almost gave you 5 stars. This novel had everything I love in it. Strong, intelligent female protagonist, history, complicated family relationships, an impossible problem, and the will to do the right thing. I am so predictable, but I don’t care, I could read this stuff all day every day. The story begins with our protagonist Lilli only a few short weeks away from giving birth. It’s the late 1800’s in Philadelphia and Lilli is unwed, abandoned by her lover, expelled from her Quaker community, with not much…
Hunted by Meagan Spooner
I am a sucker for all things “Beauty and the Beast”. I will never get tired of it. It has always been my favorite fairy tale I and love reading all the variations authors take on it. That said, this was not my favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling (I think my favorite is still “Beauty” by Robin McKinley). There was so much I appreciated about it but I didn’t connect with it like I had hoped to. I LOVE the idea of this book. I loved Yeva’s (Beauty’s) wanderer nature and yearning for something “more”. She was highly spirited…
A River of Stars by Vanessa Hua
I really wanted to like this book. My interest was peeked when one of my favorite book bloggers put it on her list of top Summer new releases and the premise grabbed me immediately. Unfortunately, despite its promising synopsis, the novel never really found its rhythm and the reader is left to slog through a couple hundred pages of fairly boring and frustrating material. A River of Stars follows the journey of a young Chinese woman (Scarlett) who find herself pregnant with her Boss’s baby. An early ultrasound reveals the baby to be a boy and her Boss (who has…