When I went to write this post, I felt like I read more than I actually did in February! I started and stopped a few books, which definitely held me back. Oh, and it’s a short month! Going to use that as my official excuse 😉
GREENWICH PARK by Katherine Faulkner
3/5 Stars
Okay so. This is a thriller and I don’t know why I keep trying thrillers thinking I’m going to like them, when I just don’t think the genre is for me! It reminded me a lot of The Hunting Party, so if you enjoyed that you might also like this. The novel is filled with quite a few plot twists as friends navigate marriage, pregnancy, and (of course) secrets. A group of friends from college are experiencing marriage and, now, pregnancy together. One of the pregnant women befriends a single mom from her prenatal class… and that’s where things really heat up!
LAZINESS DOES NOT EXIST by Devon Price
3/5 Stars
Devon Price wrote this book after their post on Medium of the same name went viral. I had high hopes of this being a fantastic read and it was okay, but I think it was tough having just read Four Thousand Weeks. I couldn’t stop comparing the two and I loved Four Thousand Weeks, so the bar was set pretty high. Laziness Does Not Exist talks about how we’ve been programmed to deem certain behaviors and traits as “lazy” and that it, well, doesn’t actually exist. I appreciated certain chunks of the book, but found myself struggling to accept other sections. (I understood what they were saying and maybe it’s just that I still do think that laziness does exist to a certain extent.) Personally, I think you could probably get away with just reading their essay and skipping the book. (But definitely read Four Thousand Weeks because it’s amazing.)
BLACK CAKE by Charmaine Wilkerson
5/5 Stars
Wow I think this might be a contender for one of the best books of the year. Black Cake is a sweeping novel covering multiple generations and family secrets. I don’t even know where to begin and really nothing I could say could even do it justice. (Frankly I went into the book blind and I’m glad I did! I was hooked from the very beginning.) It’s so beautifully written. There are many characters, which I usually find overwhelming and challenging to feel a connection to each one equally, but Charmaine Wilkerson did it brilliantly. It opens with two adult estranged siblings are brought back together after their mother passes away and leaves behind a voice recording telling them the story of her life that they did not know. I think the analogy of the traditional Caribbean black cake recipe is perfect for this book: all of the different components coming and blending together from a recipe memorized and passed down through the generations to create something beautiful. PS this would be a fantastic book club pick!
READ WITH ME
Great suggestions! Thank you for always being honest about your reads!!
Happy Monday!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
you publicly rating and critiquing books seems sorta of troll-y, no? if you can’t accept public criticism, perhaps you shouldn’t publicly criticize others.
Reviewing a book is different than trolling and harassing a blogger almost daily for a decade. I was hoping that now that you know that I know who you are Janine that you’d stop harassing me. By all means, continue but just know that it’s no longer done anonymously.
I enjoy thrillers but Greenwich Park wasn’t what I hoped it would be. It was a quick read which I appreciated, but it was much more tame than I was expecting
I definitely need to read Black Cake!
Super disappointing to hear about Geenwich Park but I’m still intrigued.
I look forward to these posts every month!
Hi Carly, I just finished The Beautiful Life of Eudora Honeysett and it was wonderful. I think you would love it!! It gave me Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine vibes, but I liked it more. Happy reading!
I loved it!