This was an OK month of reading. I was able to get a lot of books in, and some pretty good ones, although no five star ratings this month. Here are the recaps:
The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan - Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller - memoir - four stars - The book tells the story of Ahmadi-Miller's flight from Afghanistan following the Russian invasion/Afghan Civil War. Ahmadi-Miller's family was well to do and worked with the British. She tells about life prior to the Russians and how it changed. Her mother left before things got very bad for. medical treatment, and Ahmadi-Miller and her remaining siblings were smuggled out after. Their journey out of Afghanistan was one thing, but then there was a bit of purgatory as they waited to be able to join her mother due to a lack of travel documentation/passports. Very good read.
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants - Malcolm Gladwell - nonfiction - four stars - I listened to this one on Spotify. In this book Gladwell discusses underdogs and what actually makes them special. This was a book about embracing your challenges, and that to do so often leads to great success. For example, many of successful entrepreneurs are dyslexic. Gladwell posits that they succeeded not in spite of, but because of this challenge. That it forced them to behave differently and act differently. Another really interesting premise and I enjoyed the different examples Gladwell provided.
Jane and Dan at the End of the World - Colleen Oakley - fiction - three stars - This was a cute book. Not bad at all, but not necessarily particularly substantive. A really good palate cleanser. Jane and Dan are at the fanciest restaurant in CA for their 19th anniversary meal. Everything goes awry when Jane tells Dan she wants a divorce...she saw some texts on his phone...and Dan tries to explain that she misunderstood, but then chaos ensues. Terrorists take over the restaurant. This is kind of a cute mid-life crisis story with some interesting twists and turns. Quick fun read.
The Homemade God - Rachel Joyce - fiction - one star - I rarely drop books halfway through, they have to be really bad, and this one was. It's about the children of Vic Kemp, a famous artist who dies shortly after. marrying a much younger woman the kids suspect was just after his money. At heart it's about the relationship the kids have with their father and apparently breaking away from it, but the kids are so annoying, it's a whole lot of introspection of ridiculous people, none of which you like for them to just discover he was a bad father. Waste of time.
L.A. Women - Ella Berman - fiction - three stars - The story of two women in LA whose lives intersect. They are at the same time friends, rivals, muses, encouragers, but their lives take on very different trajectories. The story is told looking back as Lane is trying to discover what happened to Gala who has disappeared. I feel like the story was searching for a strong storyline/thread. Some parts really had me looking forward to what came next, and other parts just fell flat. Add to this that neither of the main characters was particularly sympathetic, and you get a book that is just OK.
With a Vengeance - Riley Sager - detective - three stars - A murder mystery. Anna Matheson has assembled all those she hold responsible for the destruction of her family on the very train/railway that was taken from her family. Her plan is to turn them all over to the FBI at the conclusion of the ride, but things go wrong as the passengers start to die. It was an interesting premise and I think it could have been very good, but it was overly twisty. It was a little bit of a whiplash effect. I love a good twist or two, but at some point it got to be too much and took away from the impact of what could have been.
Ten Incarnations of Rebellion - Vaishnavi Patel - fiction - three stars - This one definitely did not live up to my expectations. I really enjoyed Patel's earlier books, retellings of Indian mythology. This one was very different. It imagines that India never achieved freedom from Britain and the society that emerged. It's a revolution story, but just wasn't as well developed as I thought it should be. A really interesting premise, and flashes of excellence, but whereas a lot of times I think books should be shorter, this one I think needed more fleshing out.
The Maid's Secret (Molly the Maid, #3) - Nita Prose - detective - four stars - Another Molly the Maid story. This one focuses a lot on Molly's Gran's backstory, told in a journal/diary that she leaves for Molly. The book is given to her against the backdrop of some more upheaval at the Regency Grand. An Antiques Roadshow type production is taping a show there, and the staff have been invited to bring items for appraisal before the actual taping starts. When Molly's item is discovered to be worth millions, things get a little crazy. Fun read.
Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy - fiction - four stars - Dominic Salt and his children are caretakers at a remote island which houses a seed bank to help repopulate the world with plants. In this dystopian story, the world is changing, sea levels are rising, the island is no longer stable and the seeds must be moved. As the Salts prepare to move the seeds, a mysterious woman, Rowan, washes onto shore. She is searching for something, and they are wondering what her motives are. This was a good one, I enjoyed how the characters and relationships developed, excellent storytelling.
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly - Anthony Bourdain - nonfiction - four stars - I listened to this one on Spotify (biographies/memoirs are some of my favorite books to listen to). This covers Bourdain's early years, how he started as a chef, where he trained, etc. It's fascinating to hear about how restaurants get started, the things that go on in the kitchen, etc. This focuses on Bourdain's pre-television years. A really interesting read. There was one part that stuck out in particular, when Bourdain discusses the suicide of a sous chef. Really interesting book.
Isabella's Not Dead - Beth Morrey - fiction - three stars - Another disappointment. Years ago Gwen lost contact with her best friend Isabella. She decides she wants to reconnect and goes about trying to locate her, unfortunately Isabella has cut ties for a reason and is not easy to find. I thought this could have been interesting, but at the end of the day the reason and conclusion of the reason why Isabella left just seemed a little ridiculous to me. Meh.
It's hard to pick a favorite this month. There isn't a book that clearly stood out. The Handmade God was definitely my least favorite. Any five star reads for you guys?
