It’s January and well, my Best Reads of 2019 post didn’t quite become a reality. Never fear, I’m here for you with a list of books to start your year off right. (Okay, fine, it’s my Best Reads of 2019 in disguise. Just go with it, okay?)
Let’s just get to it.
The Book That Made Me Want to Run Away and Live in a Swamp
Title: Where the Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens
I finished this book last night but my heart is still with Kya and her swamp. This was a beautifully written book—part love letter to the marsh, part mystery, part love story, and more than a little bit of a survival story.
Kya is the Marsh Girl, having raised herself in the swamps and backwoods, closer to and more trusting of animals and insects than people. Everyone she loves leaves her. Everyone.
Y’all, just read this. Appreciate the lyrical writing, the quiet but engrossing tale of Kya and her marsh. You won’t be disappointed.
Number of Ugly Cries: 2
The Book That Made Me Glad I’m Not on a Reality Show
Title: The Book of Essie
Author: Meghan MacLean Weir
Essie has spent her life growing up in front of millions as the youngest daughter of her TV evangelist parents.
And now she’s pregnant.
Plagued with horrifying family secrets and walking a thin line between keeping herself safe and keeping her mother happy, Essie’s plan is dangerous. With the help of a boy from her high school who hides his own secrets and a reporter, she just might be able to save herself and her baby.
This story was beautifully-written, compulsive, and heartbreaking. It explores family secrets and how the pull of fame and celebrity can corrode our morals. Mostly, it speaks to a young girl whose love for her unborn child is more powerful than anything else.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Number of Ugly Cries: 1
The Book That Made Me Appreciate Authors of Historial Fiction
Title: Becoming Mrs. Lewis
Author: Patti Callahan
I’ll admit to being a bit nervous when I started this book. I am an admirer of C.S. Lewis but I knew next to nothing about his wife. Before reading, I haven’t read A Grief Observed (that should be italicized but I have no idea how to do that) or watched the movie about their marriage.
But I LOVED this book. Love it. From the very first pages, I related to Joy and her struggle to be both a writer and a mother, something I feel an internal pull with constantly. When we meet Joy, she is young and married with two young boys. Her marriage is not happy. Her writing is not going well. She’s not a good housekeeper. But she’s a new Christian and passionate about what that means.
Callahan clearly spent hours upon hours researching Joy Davidson, a brilliant writer in her own right, and best friend, and eventual wife to, C.S. Lewis, or Jack, as his friends called him. Their love story is long and complicated. It’s not easy or pretty and yet is beautiful to see how it unfolds and how God guided these two opposites together, first as dear friends and then more.
I oftentimes feel as those books written for the Christian market come across as too “Pollyanna” and gloss over the hard parts but this book did not. I felt this story deeply and the last few chapters felt like a punch in the gut. The writing is so beautifully done, the insight into Joy’s life, her thoughts, and her work is handled with care and love. Was Joy Davidson perfect? No, and thank God for that. She, again and again, struggles with the same sins–past and present–but it is that very struggle that brings her closer and closer to God.
5/5 Heartfelt Stars
Number of Ugly Cries: 3
The Book That Reminded Me Why Books Written by Neurodiverse Authors are So Important
Title: The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily
Author: Laura Creedle
As a mom of two autistic sons and another son with dyslexia, I’m always interested in books featuring neurodiverse characters. This book did not disappoint.
Lily has severe ADHD. I found her character so well-drawn. I loved getting to live in her brain. The author herself also has ADHD and I felt her voice added an authenticity to Lily.
Lily is a mess—incredibly smart but with very little impulse control. School is torture for her and she finds herself getting into trouble without even trying. Lily was the sort of character I wanted to hug. Nothing else, just hug and let her know she is okay.
Abelard is on the autism spectrum. Highly intelligent, he lacks all the social skills you would expect. He felt very authentic to me as well. I’d give him a hug too but he wouldn’t like it.
Abelard and Lily begin a relationship first though text messages. They share a love of literature, they play chess together, they watch movies, they connect. Both feel so very different normally, together, they feel normal. Add in an absentee father, a specialized school that’s a state away, and possible brain surgery, and it’s clear these two teenagers have a lot on their plate.
I found the pacing to be perfect and it compelled me to keep reading. At times, I was frustrated with many of the adult characters for their lack of understanding. And the ending was a bit of a cliffhanger for me. But it looks like I’ll have to read the next book in the series.
All in all, for the thoughtful portrayal of neurodiverse characters who are beginning to find their independence, this is a solid read.
4/5 Stars.
Number of Ugly Cries: 1
The Book That Made Me Want to Live with Wolves
Title: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstances
Author: Ruth Emmie Lang
Weyland Grey is a strange boy. He has a pet pig. He lives with wolves. Oh, and apparently, he can control the weather.
Through the stories of people who meet Weyland along the way, we learn how this extraordinary boy grows into a man and touches the lives of those around him. I couldn’t put this one down. The writing is full of wit and charm and these are characters you want to have over for dinner or a barbeque or maybe track wolf packs with.
But mostly, this is part love story, part coming-of-age story, part adventure story and all parts wonderful and weird, It left me with a smile and those are books I love.
Rating: 5/5
Number of Ugly Cries: 1
The Book That Made Me Cry. A Lot.
Title: The Dearly Beloved
Author: Cara Wall
There was something beautiful and moving and challenging about this book that made me enjoy and struggle through it on a visceral level.
Set in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, this book introduces us to Charles and Lily, James and Nan, two couples who met when both men are called to minister at a Presbyterian church in New York. The four of them view faith and God very different. While James and Charles are easy friends, Nan and Lily are not. Charles sees a God of hope, James is a man of action. Nan is the minister’s daughter whose world is shaken. And Lily doesn’t believe at all. The author doesn’t point us to the right or wrong way, only shows us people and what they believe.
It’s also a story of friendship–the hard ones and the easy ones–and love–the hard parts and the easy parts. This felt like a window into the most intimate part of these characters. As they grow and stumble and find ways to move on, we readers are right there with them.
This was a book I’ll remember for a long, long time.
Stars: 5/5
Number of Ugly Cries: 1 (It was more a very long sobbing session when I finished it. I haven’t cried that hard over a book in a long time.)
The (Audio)Book that Rocked My World (Cause It’s about a Rock Band. Get it?)
Title: Daisy Jones and the Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
As someone who doesn’t love audiobooks, it takes a great one to get me interested and This. One. Is. Amazing.
Daisy Jones is a child of the 60’s and 70’s, troubled, beautiful, insanely talented. As she embarks on a singing/songwriting career, she is matched with The Six, a rock group with their own claim to fame. Daisy and the lead singer, Billy, begin first as rivals, then tentative friends, and then something more but never enough. See, Billy is married and after getting sober, he is devoted to his wife and kids. Daisy is a loose cannon, selfish, unpredictable, self-destructive, and definitely not sober.
Told from multiple points-of-view, from Daisy to Billy to every member of The Six, this book is riveting to listen to because it sounds so, so real. You love and hate these characters, long to search for their music to hear the songs they’ve written, wish you could see them in concert, and yes, yell at them in disgust and triumph too. This is a how a rock band came to be and how a rock band fell apart.
Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook!
Rating: 5/5
Number of Ugly Cries: 1
The Book That Lived Up to the Hype
Title: Things You Save in a Fire
Author: Katherine Center
Believe the hype, peeps! This book was SO good.
A bad*** woman firefighter ✅
Her sick mom✅
A sweet man firefighter who she may have ALL THE FEELINGS FOR ✅
A full-time job proving her worth to her new team✅
Throw in a little sadness, romance, forgiveness, and hope.✅
And my friends, you have THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE by Katherine Center. (Who, incidentally, lives basically in the same city as me and as a fellow writer, I will now be my goal to meet her.)
I enjoyed everything about this book and was sad when it ended. Cassie, the rookie, and crew were vivid characters on the page and I miss them already. I may or may not be referring to some of their hijinks when April Fool’s rolls around this year. Just sayin’.
Can’t wait for Ms. Center’s next book! (Also, let’s do lunch, okay? 😉)
6/5 stars (Yeah, SIX stars)
Number of Ugly Cries: 2
The Book That Gave Me ALL THE FEELS
Title: The Flatshare
Author: Beth O’Leary
It’s no great surprise that I LOVE a good rom-com read. And THE FLATSHARE by Beth O’Leary did not disappoint. Tiffy just went through a tough break-up (finally) and needs a (cheap) place to live; Leon’s brother is in trouble and he needs an infusion of cash to help. And thus, the scene is set for our two heroes to…share a one-bedroom apartment, even a bed, without ever seeing each other.
Okay, it sounds contrived but I promise, it works.
The two have opposite work schedules and don’t meet for months. Instead, they communicate by post-it note. Tiffy is a larger-than-life character who makes me want to go shop at vintage stores. Leon is a hospice nurse who is kind and sensitive. He CRIES in public in this book and I love him for it. I love a “beta” hero. Alpha heroes are okay but in real life, we’d probably murder them in their sleep because they are way too “extra,” as the kids say.
This book made me laugh and sigh. O’Leary also tackles emotional abuse/gaslighting in a thoughtful way that’s not expected in a rom-com. It added a deeper layer to the story that kept my interest. Add in quirky, lovable side characters, prison phone calls, an over-the-top ex-hippy, and a lot of crocheting and it all came together for a great read.
Contains: Mild steaminess, some language, and adult situations. PG-13 rating.
5/5 stars
Number of Ugly Cries: 0