Rebooked

I had a great reading month in January. Here were my favorites.

Flesh by David Szalay: LOVED. I can see why this won the Booker Prize. So smart and restrained but with so much to say.

Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson: LOVED. A charming and hysterical memoir of raising children.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders: IMPRESSIVE. Finally got around to reading this modern classic

Bread of Angels by Patti Smith: BEAUTIFUL PASSAGES. Smith writes so well about living a creative life but I’ve liked some of her other memoirs more. Try M Train!

Winter by Ali Smith, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai and Fair Play by Louise Hegarty were all really good and completely different from one another. Read Winter is you want dreamy minimalism, Loneliness if you want a torrent of beautiful words and Fair Play if you want something clever and experimental and you like mysteries.

A Marriage at Sea was intriguing for awhile but then quite dull.

And to my surprise I really enjoyed Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry despite not being a fan of hers. Now if she can only eliminate a few words from her vocabulary—murmur and wriggled (as in in and out of clothing) for starters☺️

What did you read in January?

July reading roundup:

Favorite overall: The Hopkins Manuscript - I simply can’t believe this searing sci-fi novel was written in 1939 and not last week. Beautiful writing and plot which moved in unexpected (and chilling) directions. Thanks to for getting me to read it.

Favorite re-read: The Remains of the Day - a wonderful, poignant, funny, and so sad book.

What did I read?: The Last Samurai - a modern classic that makes you feel really dumb and really smart at the same time. Someone needs to explain this book to me!

Pleasant and Diverting: Frankie - a surprisingly good story of the life of an Irish woman in the NYC art world of the 1960s. Goes down easy.

Best series: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion - perfect charming bedtime reading. On to Volume 3!

Best on Audio: Murder Takes a Vacation: Total fluff but lots of fun.

Fine but forgettable: Bug Hollow - getting a lots of love from others though so you may love it! How to Read a Book - trying to be too many different things at once

What was your favorite read in July?

I read eight books in June and here’s what I thought:

Audition – Wound up really loving this mind-bending mother/son story once all the smart folks in book club talked through some of the stranger bits with me.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. I – This fictional journal of a young woman in London in 1883 is witty, light and charming. Looking forward to the rest of the volumes (I think there are six or seven). Thank you to Paperback Summer Reading Guide for the rec.

Great Black Hope – A lot to love here, especially when the story left NYC, even though I wanted to shake the main character much of the time. Would recommend reading this on the page. I did the audio and it really bogged down for a while in the middle but thanks to a fantastic review by I persisted and was very glad I did.

Days of Light – Loved the writing but not the story. The main character, Ivy, goes on a spiritual journey as we follow her throughout her life and it just didn’t make sense to me. But beautiful writing!

Ms. Hempel’s Chronicle – This 2008 novel about a middle school teacher told in a series of short story like chapters was lovely and a little bit quirky.

It’s a Love Story – I really loved Monaghan’s first novel Nora Goes off Script but haven’t liked anything she’s written since until this one which was delightful on audio. It’s a romance with nothing particularly clever or new but Monaghan is very funny and writes likeable characters. A perfect beach read.

The Cranes Dance – Picked this up because I loved Howrey’s book They’re Going to Love You (read that one!). This is a ballet story about two sisters and if you are a dancer you’d probably love it. Howrey (a dancer herself) writes beautifully and the main character’s voice was compelling but the dance stuff got a bit boring and the sisters’ dynamic didn’t really work for me.

Shopgirls – A big disappointment. Blau’s novel, Mary Jane, was a delightful surprise for me last year but this new novel about a young woman working in a department store was clunky and totally blah. And a hideous cover.

What did you read in June?

I read 9 books in May. Here’s what I thought.

The History of Sound: Excellent, excellent, excellent. Short stories loosely linked in setting, theme and tone. The type of controlled, introspective writing that I adore.

Run For The Hills: Perfect on audio. Kevin Wilson writes the best poignant, funny stories with just the right amount of sappy. I predict this will be one of the big books of summer 2025.

The Correspondent: A lovely epistolary novel.

Season of Migration to the North: A really excellent and challenging modern classic set in Sudan and translated from the Arabic. Great discussion with book club.

Theft: A modern novel set in Tanzania that I understood much better for having read Season of Migration.

Ladies’ Lunch: Compelling short stories. My first title from Paperback Summer Reading Guide.

The Carousel: Picked up this slim Rosamunde Pilcher novel to read as a relaxing bedtime book and it was perfect. Lovely setting, undemanding story, satisfying plot.

You Only Call When You’re in Trouble: I’ve read a number of books by Stephen McCauley and always have the same reaction. They’re just sort of blah. Perfectly serviceable but nothing to really grab hold of.

Tilt: The only book I read in May that I really didn’t like. Only finished it to see if something interesting would happen. Spoiler, it didn’t.

I read seven books in February and liked them all. Here’s what I thought:

Stone Yard Devotional - This lovely Australian novel about an unnamed middle aged woman taking a pause in her life to reckon with her past while staying at a remote convent was my favorite kind of quiet read. Warning: absolutely do not read if you are bothered by mice! Trust me!
Back After This – loved this one on audio read by the author. It’s a charming and funny Nora Ephron-esque rom com about a podcast producer who reluctantly agrees to work with a romance influencer who sets her up on 20 blind dates for a new podcast. Big surprise, things do not go well.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man – this 1912 pre-Harlem Renaissance novel was astonishing. I had never even heard of it but was blown away by how modern it felt.
Three Days in June – not my favorite Anne Tyler (that would be Breathing Lessons) but still a solid read.
The Strange Case of Jane O. – I loved Walker’s previous books but I’m not really sure what this one was trying to do but it held my attention.
A Month in the Country – another quiet read which I liked a lot, especially the ending.
The Mighty Red – I have to admit I’m not a huge Louise Erdrich fan. This one felt very choppy to me and I didn’t really care about most of the characters.

What was your favorite read in February?