Tag: Quick Lit

Quick Lit, Reading, Reviews

A Quick Book Catch Up

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Hey friends! How’s 2022 treating you so far? To be honest, January smote me. We could not hit a homeschooling groove, the weather was very cold for where we live, my toddler became a climber extraordinaire, and the shiny, fresh new year vibes were simply not there. Our family of seven capped off January with our first case of Covid-19. All of February felt like trying to run through quick sand. Now it’s March, it’s spring where I live, and glimmers of hope shimmer in the corners of my vision. I’m happy to see the bend and the road and the new season ahead. Today, I’m jumping in for a few quick book reviews from this past season. I hope you’ll see a book that sparks your attention and would love to know what you’ve been reading to start 2022!

Winter Reads 2022

New Release Literary Novel – The Lincoln Highway – I wanted this to be more like A Gentleman in Moscow, and it wasn’t, but the writing was still splendid. In this book, Amor Towles delivers a classic American Dream on the road novel set in the 1950s that combines Huckleberry Finn and The Odyssey in a strangely adventurous, humorous, philosophical way. Throw in lots of Shakespeare references and it’s hard to believe this could be a page turner, but it was! Not quite as much as this next book on the list, though…

New Release Page Turner – Finlay Donovan is Killing It – I think of this as an adventure rom-com book (if that’s a thing). A seemingly average single mom finds herself accidentally involved in a mafia as the hit woman she never meant to be, and adventure ensues. I imagine Sandra Bullock in the lead role for this novel that reads like a movie. Yes, you have to suspend reality as you read, but as a light and fun read, it checks all the boxes. (Side note – def a PG-13 rating on this one) The sequel is a little cringier at the beginning but rights itself by the end to become almost as fun as Book One.

Vintage Novel – A Town Like Alice – I’m so glad I read this well written novel of one woman’s journey across three continents during and after World War II. The characters were strong in hard circumstances, yet still remained believable and human. It was originally published in 1948, and there are some politically incorrect terms I would love to see edited in a new edition, but setting those aside, I found it to be one of those stories that inspires strength in my own life.

Warm Blanket Book – Miss Read’s Fairacre series, books 1-3 – Not sure how I made it this far into a life filled with tons of British literature without reading Miss Read, but that is now remedied. Her books are very character driven, not a whole lot of action, but insightful when it comes to human nature and community, and so cozy and wholesome. I wish I were Miss Read’s neighbor.

Read Aloud with the Kids – The Wind in the Willows – We laughed a lot through this book, and enjoyed knowing this was what C.S. Lewis chose to read in bed after an illness. We could see some similarities in his Narnia books to this novel about a set of animal friends who live like humans and have strong characters. There were some chapters that were more enjoyable than others, but for the most part, we really liked this book. Now we’re at loose ends for a new read-aloud to start and taking all suggestions!

Nonfiction – Adorning the Dark – This book is rich and thought provoking, though my brain sure would have like each chapter to be a little more obviously connected and chronologically laid out in the grand theme of the book. Still, as a collection of essays about the creative life of a Christian, it’s a great book. I was particularly drawn to the ideas about longing for a home and a place to belong, and might start looking for rocks on the side of the road like the author if I’m not careful!

Parenting book – Why Motherhood Matters – I heard September McCarthy on a podcast years ago, and then saw this book a few weeks ago at the library and snatched it up. It was a timely refocus at the beginning of the year on purposeful parenting. If you’ve read any of Sally Clarkson’s books, the parenting ideas and approach are very similar, but I appreciated the direct and succinct presentation of the author’s parenting principles. Sometimes books on the ideals of motherhood can leave me feeling weighed down with a feeling that I’ll never achieve anything, but this book instead reminded me that as a parent, you have the ability to direct certain things in life and it’s never to late to start new ways.

Children's Books, Quick Lit, Reading, Reviews

A Summer of Espionage {Quick Lit August, 2020}

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Hey friends! Time for an update on summer reading! And, a confession: I got sucked into a TV show this summer. If you know me, you know I watch TV pretty much never (sports excluded). But this summer has been weird for everyone, and I’m no exception. The strangeness of this summer in a pandemic during an uncomfortable pregnancy is probably what led me to All Espionage All The Time in my entertainment choices. I can see now that I’ve been looking for an escape from the mundane and unpleasant. Plus, sports were cancelled. So, below you’ll find what I’ve read lately, the TV show that I watched all five seasons of since May (insert horrified expression on my own face here), and what we’ve been reading in our family. Bonus at the end – the nonfiction I hope to read this fall.

Novels

Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook – I’m right in the middle of this one and it’s showing lots of promise! Edith Graham seems like an ordinary spinster school teacher in 1948, but when she decides to head to Germany to help rebuild the school system there, she’s recruited to use her position as a front for hunting out former Nazi officers. Her code to let the Office of Strategic Services know about her progress is her recounting of recipes. So far, I really like this book!

The Black Swan of Paris – Quite a page turner about a glittering star who flies under the radar and, mostly against her will at first, uses her talent to aid The Resistance in Paris during World War II. Perfect if you’re having trouble focusing on a book but you would love to be in the middle of one (we all have those seasons of life, don’t we?). Four stars.

My espionage reading started further back this summer with Code Name Helene, a more gritty novel than the other two featured this month but very compelling. [At the time of my review of this book, I felt the language too strong, but the writer actually explained her choice words usage at the end of the novel, and her reasoning made sense.] 3.5 stars.

The Vanishing Half – Not about espionage, though definitely about a missing person. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it — violence, betrayal, lies, gender identity issues, substance abuse… it was all very dark and built on an already very weighty topic in a heavy time — but I read it because I wanted to dig in further to the racial strain my country is under right now and the healing we’d like to move toward. Literature helps me think through issues. 2.5 Stars.

TV

Alias – There. I said it. I watched all five seasons of a show from twenty years ago this summer. Watching Alias started out as a way to distract myself on the treadmill, but then the plot gripped me and the Bristows and friends/enemies kept me company on the couch elevating my legs (circulation issues during pregnancy are the pits!), in the kitchen, during laundry…I had to know what happened next! All the seasons are on Amazon Prime right now, don’t say I didn’t warn you about the whole story grip thing. Also, it’s not rated G. I watched it when the kids were otherwise occupied.

What We’re Reading Aloud

The kids and I are now halfway through Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of Nimh, and it’s sloooow going. We want to know what’s going to happen to Mrs. Frisby and her family, but it’s taking so long to even find out who the rats are and we still don’t know what Nimh is! But we’re committed and should be finished in the next two weeks. Next up we’re doing either Harriet the Spy or Little Lord Fauntleroy. Votes for which I should pick?

Jeremiah is reading The Last Battle at bedtime to the whole family and wow, I have not re-read this book in forever. It’s like it’s brand new to me. All Narnia books are a delight.

What the Kids Are Reading

Isaac (9) has become a huge fan of the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques. Parents take heart – this kid wanted nothing to do with letters or numbers when he entered kindergarten! Ella (11) is loving Nancy Drew books and The Rose Legacy Series by Jessica Day George. Violet (6) and Lydia (3) want to read and re-read The Princess in Black Series by Shannon Hale, and even though the books seem so long, they’re actually very enjoyable read-alouds for one sitting. I love LeUyen Pham’s illustrations.

What My Husband’s Been Reading

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates – I picked this up for my husband, who is a reader without the time to browse around for books, and he liked it but thought it a bit drawn out. 3 stars.

Nonfiction I’m Reading/Plan to Read

The Call of the Wild + Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child’s Education and Wild + Free Handcrafts – I’m still in the middle of these books because I am a slow nonfiction absorber, but I’m enjoying the reminders of how kids and parents can learn together in harmony and without checklists. As for the handcrafts, most of them look beyond me, but they also look so beautiful, I’m willing to try them even though I’ll probably go crazy in the process!

The Lazy Genius Way – I’m pumped to read Kendra Adachi’s first book. I’ve been a big fan of her podcast for a few years now, and if her book is as full of practical and clear headed ideas as her podcast is, it will be a winner.

That’s all for this update! What’s on your fall reading list?

Quick Lit, Reading, Reviews

Winter Reads – January 2018 Quick Lit

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Hello! Welcome to January Quick Lit, when readers around the web recount what we’ve read recently. I’m linking up to this event at Modern Mrs. Darcy. Be sure to join in the fun and get way more book recs than I can ever give you!

2017 has come and gone, and already is becoming a blur. I finished with the lowest number of books read in a year probably since I learned to read in kindergarten. 2017 was a different kind of year. However, I did manage to read several books to round out 2017. My last “Books I have Read” update was in September! And two of them definitely qualify as being very wintery in theme. Here’s the quick lit run down.

Fiction

News of the World – 3 Stars – This is the story of an older man living as a sort of newspaper-reading gypsy in the post-Civil War midwest. He begrudgingly takes charge of a recovered German-American child that had been captured by Native Americans. The book has good characters and a vivid setting. I would have liked it better if it had been longer, I think, more detailed and more developed. Also, parts of the storyline was too hard for me to handle (children being stolen from their parents …hard stuff). I might have gotten taken in too easily by the cover and title on this one. It’s a great title, right?

Anna and the Swallow Man – 1.5 Stars – I still have no idea what the point of this book was. It started out very like The Book Thief or a similar WWII account set in Europe, but man did it veer into left field after that. It was bizarre and eerie. I even tried doing some research on this one and came up with no answers. People who are giving it good reviews, please tell me what in the world it’s about! And why you like it! As of right now, it’s not one I’d recommend.

Salt to Sea – 4 Stars – Fascinating, historical, well-researched and based on facts, and even includes some very likable characters…also, it’s a page turner. The details are stark and unflinching, though. I actually had a hard time sleeping after reading this one. I think if you in general like WWII books, you will like this one, but I will say it’s hard to stomach in places, as most WWII books set in Eastern Europe are. Ruta Sepetys is an incredible writer. I felt like I was a freezing cold war refugee in Eastern Germany while reading this book. She makes everything come alive. It’s an excellent novel by a great writer about an event I was completely (blissfully) unaware of before, but it’s not a cozy or comfortable read.

You Bring the Distant Near – 3.5 Stars – A great YA book that put Indian-American family life into new perspective for me, especially when it comes to families with daughters. I appreciated the hopeful and bright tone of the book. Not necessarily plot driven but very well written and a beautiful book.

Nonfiction

Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World That Loves to Be Noticed– 5 Stars – This book goes to the core of so much I wrestle with these days. Most of these questions or struggles go back to motives. I can’t say this book suddenly gave me every answer and made life easy, but it shook my thinking patterns out of their ruts. Here’s my favorite part of the description of the book:

We may be “wasting” ourselves in a hidden corner today: The cubicle on the fourth floor. The hospital bedside of an elderly parent. The laundry room. But these are the places God uses to meet us with a radical love. These are the places that produce the kind of unhinged love in us that gives everything at His feet, whether or not anyone else ever proclaims our name, whether or not anyone else ever sees.

I will be reading this book again.

That wraps up this quick lit edition! I’m currently in the middle of five (yes, five) books, so February’s quick lit could be quite the lineup. Assuming I can actually finish those books before my library loan runs out…Happy reading!

For more Quick Lit reviews on Miathereader.com, just click the Quick Lit tag under the title of this post. I hope this site helps you find a great read!

Quick Lit, Reading, Reviews

Quick Lit! What I read in March/April/May

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Time for Quick Lit! I’m linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy today as readers from all over the internet discuss what we’ve read in the past month. I’m a little behind, so this is my March/April/May. Hop on over and see what other readers are reading!

In the past couple of weeks we’ve featured the chapter books my kids (ages 7 and 5) have been reading and the middle grade novels I have loved lately. Now, it’s time for some adult books! Yes, even though novels like The War That Saved My Life and When You Reach Me are my new favorites, there are some grown up books I enjoyed in March, April, and May.

A Man Called Ove – Yes, I jumped on this bandwagon, and I’m pretty glad I did. Imagine an adult version of the Disney movie Up. Ove is an elderly, grumpy man who lives in a row house in Sweden. At first glance (and in the first few chapters), you don’t love him. You think he’s kind of beastly. But keep reading. This book is at times hilarious, often thought provoking, and ultimately quite a tearjerker, but in a good way. You might rethink how you feel about the elderly curmudgeons in your life (if you have any). (Side note on colorful language: this one has a fair amount).

The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir – If you liked The Summer Before the War, I can’t think of a more similar book. It is set in a small town before World War II (I know The Summer Before the War was WWI, but both have the looming gloom) and gathers characters from gentry to very poor, very young to very old. It was fairly good, but I was expecting to like this book more. The amount of issues squeezed into this one historical novel overwhelmed the story and my attachment to the characters. (Soapbox moment: Dear Modern Novelists, We know you are passionate about many things, but please don’t try to deal with all the issues in one novel. Just pick one, for the sake of your readers’ sanity). Still, it was the kind of book I usually enjoy as far as setting and characters go, though not worthy of the comparisons to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Tell Me Three Things – If you’re feeling like you could use a light, beachy, YA read with a chick-flick feel but also a bit of substance, this one’s for you. The characters and the plot with a smidge of mystery make this a quick page turner. The element of dealing with grief is actually very good; it’s insightful and heartfelt, very honest, but not drenched with sorrow. It’s more of a this-is-every-day-life perspective on grief a few years after losing a loved one. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. However, I’d rate this book at a PG-13 level. It has all the not-so-innocent stuff you might encounter in a movie like Ten Things I Hate About You or Never Been Kissed, so proceed with caution if you’re thinking of handing it over to your young adult.

My Mrs. Brown – Very reminiscent of Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I can’t really sum it up better than the publisher’s blurb, so here it is below. It’s one of those books that I would say “reads like a movie.” A great beach read for women who don’t enjoy a typical romance novel but would like a fairly fluffy but not terrible and sometimes even thoughtful novel for vacation.

Sometimes a dress isn’t just a dress.

Emilia Brown is a woman of a certain age. She has spent a frugal, useful, and wholly restrained life in Ashville, a small town in Rhode Island. Overlooked especially by the industries of fashion and media, Mrs. Brown is one of today’s silent generations of women whose quiet no-frills existences would make them seem invisible. She is a genteel woman who has known her share of personal sorrows and quietly carried on, who makes a modest living cleaning and running errands at the local beauty parlor, who delights in evening chats with her much younger neighbor, twenty-three-year-old Alice Danvers.

When the grand dame of Ashville passes away, Mrs. Brown is called upon to inventory her estate and comes across a dress that changes everything. The dress isn’t a Cinderella confection; it’s a simple yet exquisitely tailored Oscar de la Renta sheath and jacket—a suit that Mrs. Brown realizes, with startling clarity, will say everything she has ever wished to convey. She must have it. And so, like the inspired heroine of Paul Gallico’s 1958 classic Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris, Mrs. Brown begins her odyssey to purchase the dress. For not only is the owning of the Oscar de la Renta a must, the intimidating trip to purchase it on Madison Avenue is essential as well. If the dress is to give Mrs. Brown a voice, then she must prepare by making the daunting journey—both to the emerald city and within herself.

Timeless, poignant, and appealing, My Mrs. Brown is a novel for every mother in the world, every woman who ever wanted the perfect dress, and every child who wanted to give it to her.

The Hamilton Affair – Meh. I didn’t love this. The narration style was a bit dry and though the telling was mostly chronological, it still felt fairly disjointed. Alexander Hamilton’s history is fascinating, though.

Shoulder The Sky – More D.E. Stevenson. I just love her. Other review on her work here and here.

I was in the middle of Hillbilly Elegy, but I picked up Howard’s End off the shelf the other night when I was pacing around with Lydia  because it was small enough to hold and pace at the same time. I guess you could say I’ve fallen into Howard’s End and I can’t/won’t get up. It’s worth a re-read!

What have you read lately? Got any summer reading lists? I’m contemplating not making one at all this summer and just being whimsical about it. Yep, that’s sounding pretty good right now. But I do love lists, so we’ll see! Happy reading!

Reading, Reviews

January Quick Lit- Winter Reading Update

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It has been so long since I posted a book review! I’m excited to get back into some quick-lit reviews, and I’m linking up with many other reviewers at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

I read slowly through the month of December, distracted by Christmas movies and holiday goings-on. I don’t know that we’ll ever have a more beautiful Christmas season. It was purposeful and planned out in ways that gave us white space to be sporadic. We saw all of our family at one point or another throughout the month, and saw lots of each other, too. And I have to admit, it was so much fun to decorate our fixer upper. We didn’t do a whole lot, but a white house just lends itself well to my Christmas nostalgia. Even so, January came with a sigh of relief and putting away all the Christmas decor felt like giving myself permission to truly rest in this season. I got an electric blanket for Christmas and a huge box of tea from Amazon and now winter is the time for reading.

The Snow Child – If you are a lover of fairy tales written for grown ups, you’ll like this book. And I’m not talking about fairy tales written for the Young Adult audience, such as Cinder or Beauty. Eowyn Ivey writes about a couple who are older, beyond their child-bearing years, but still long for a child. I don’t think I would have appreciated this book at a younger age, but the tender aching nature of the main characters combined with their will to survive and love no matter what touched me deeply. Ivey masterfully writes about her home state and its beauty and pain. I enjoyed this book even more than To The Bright Edge of the World, and that’s saying something.

The Broken Way – Ann Voskamp’s deep thoughts and way with words demands a slow, thoughtful reading pace. This one took me about two months, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I still feel like I need to read it again. Voskamp moves further into her ideas of communion with God through gratitude that she presented in One Thousand Gifts and explores the truth that suffering and brokenness is a path that everyone walks at some point, but that God can use to bring us to deeper beauty and oneness with other people and Him than we could imagine. Any description I write of this book will barely scratch the surface – it’s a must read.

The Baker’s Daughter – There’s got to be some D.E. Stevenson in my reading list every winter. This book was my cozy, post-holiday party pick. The plot is fairly simple – a wealthy but unhappy young lady (whom the rest of her acquaintance considers verging on being an old maid) becomes a housekeeper for an artist. She wants to escape the drudgery of life in her father’s and stepmother’s home. Of course, she does in some ways and doesn’t in others.  As usual, Stevenson’s character driven novels set in Scottish villages draw me into the lives she describes in her book. I always, always think of L.M. Montgomery’s characters when I read D.E. Stevenson. Their vim and vigor and no-nonsense approach to life combined with kindness and a thirst for more in life makes them pretty much my favorite type of characters. (Important: this book is not to be confused with The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy. Completely different books!)

A Gentleman in Moscow – I’m still in the middle of this one, and loving it so much more than Amor Towles’s first book, Rules of Civility. Count Rostov is the main character, and his life in the grand Metropol Hotel in Moscow on house arrest starting in the 1920s is the surprisingly compelling setting. Philosophical yet humorous, the small setting does not limit the epic Russian nature of this novel. I am learning all kinds of things about Russsian’s evolution in the 20th century. If you have an e-reader, I highly recommend reading this book on it because being able to highlight and look up people and terms I am unfamiliar with has definitely enriched my understanding of this book and of Russia. I can’t help but compare this book with The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but with much more likable characters and sweeping scope. The characters who populate the Metropol are so real to me as I get close to the end of this book. I suppose I can’t truly recommend it until I read the end, but so far, it’s wonderful.

Up next is a huge stack of holds from the library that all came in at one time. I love/hate it when that happens. But at least it means lots of new reviews will be going up soon! Until then, I hope you enjoy some winter reading and tell me all about the good books you discover.