In 2022, I’m setting monthly reading goals. You can see the 9 books I picked to read in March here. (April’s book choices are coming soon!) Here are 4 books I finished recently…
Note: You can follow along with the books I finish this year and my star ratings over on GoodReads. Also, books are rated on a 1-5 star scale. I basically won’t finish a book if it’s one star (not worth my time!) and I’ll rarely give a book a 5-star rating unless it was just absolutely amazing or life-changing.
Jesus Everlasting
I struggled through this book. It’s interesting because in prepping for this review, I read the Amazon description of it and that’s not at all what I realized the book was supposed to be about. So it missed the mark for me.
It felt like it was kind of fluffy, some of the attempts to modernize the Biblical stories felt off base and out of context, and it just lacked the depth I was hoping for.
However, I know not every book is for everyone and certain writing styles hit different people differently… so maybe you’d love it!
Verdict: 2 stars
The London House
I’ve loved the other Katherine Reay novels and was excited about this one. There were parts that were interesting and I learned some new things about WWII, but it felt like the book skipped around a lot and was hard to follow (and I saw a number of Amazon reviewers said the same thing).
If you enjoy WWII novels and you like epistolary novels (much of the book was told through journal entries and letters), then you might enjoy this novel.
One thing I would have loved was to hear more about her research and to hear what parts of the book were based upon true facts. I felt like there was a lot of research that had gone into the book I just wasn’t sure what was fact and what was fiction.
Verdict: 3 stars
Come Sit With Me
This book is a compilation of chapters written by different women on the topic of friendship and loving others well in spite of our differences and disagreements. I felt like it’s such a needed topic in this day and age where there is so much division and struggling to have conversations with people who believe differently than us.
I resonated more with some of the writers than others and it felt like there was some repetition, but overall, I really appreciated the message of how to stay when it gets tough in a friendship, loving well, forgiveness, and kindness even when it’s hard.
Verdict: 3 stars
The Last Bookshop in London
I really enjoyed this WWII novel. It is a slower-paced novel but I love how it develops and how it showcases what it was like to live as an every day citizen in London during the war. It was a different perspective than any other book I’ve read about WWII and it really made me think what it would have been like to stay back behind while so many left to go fight and all of the sacrifices those who stayed behind made.
There are also a lot of literary references in the book, so if you love slow but well-developed novels, if you love literary-themed novels, and/or you love WWII novels, I think you’ll really enjoy this novel.
Verdict: 4 stars
Have you read Middlemarch by George Eliot? She has some of the best insight that I’ve ever read into how people think and make decisions in this novel. It’s long but so worth it.
I haven’t — thanks for the recommendation!
I’ve read so many good books lately. The last one I listened to on audible was The hundred years of Lenni and Margot. I loved it because not only was it a great story but the voice actors were just lovely. Some others that were amazing: A woman is no man; American Dirt; The Book of Lost Names.
Thank you so much for the recommendations!
I’m pretty sure I read Dear Mr. Knightley years ago after your review! I had a hard time with London House too, and it’s possible my review is one of the ones you saw. I found all the characters pretty unlikable and continuing cycles of dishonesty and pain.
Have you read “Unbroken” (Laura Hillenbrand)? Incredible story (nonfiction) and excellent writing.
YES!
Unbroken is SO good! One of my favorites.
You should read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Such a WWII book! Resonates long after you read the last page.
I started the audiobook a few years ago and struggled to get into it. But I need to try again with the book!
I’m still slowly reading through A Seat at the Table. Speaking of books, I happened to see your Say Good bye to Survival Mode book at our local library… And we live in a little town.
Oh fun!!
The Last Bookshop in London was one of my favorites from last year!
Such a great read!
I just read Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult. It knits together several threads that I enjoyed.
Thank you for sharing!
I like Katherine Reay’s books a lot, but The London House was a disappointment to me and I didn’t even finish it. Some Amazon reviews described how I felt, too. It skipped around too much, the characters were not all well-developed and I didn’t really like them. The research seemed good but not the story. Her other books are worth reading, though, in my opinion.
I wanted to like it so much because I love her other books, love epistolary novels, and enjoy WWII novels!
I recently finished “Everything Sad Is Untrue” by Daniel Nayeri. It’s his memoir — told from the perspective of a young boy — of his family immigrating to the US from Iran because they were going to be killed for being Christian. It is absolutely LOVELY! Well-written, wistful, funny, heartbreaking, and thoroughly enjoyable. I savored every page. My only regret is that I read it so fast, and now I’m done. Highly highly recommend!
Thank you so much for the recommendation!
Love this book. My 12 year old thought it was great, too. I have recommended this to others, too.