My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Title:  My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Author:  Fredrik Backman

Publisher:  Atria Books

Date Published:  June 15, 2015

Genre:  Fiction, Contemporary

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-  Elsa is a very observant and wise child. Mentally, she is beyond her years. Elsa and her grandma are best friends, and grandma is full of moxie. They live in an apartment complex with a cast of unique and quirky characters. Grandma loves to tell Elsa stories about the Land of Almost Awake. Grandma sends Elsa on a quest, where she must deliver notes to different people in the building, but Elsa has to find the notes in a sort of treasure hunt. 

-  I adored this book! The characters are so well written and thought out. At first they don't seem important, or they are portrayed a certain way, but as the story unfolds, each character becomes endearing and relatable. 

-  It was interesting to read an adult fiction book from a child's perspective. There were some heavy subjects, and I enjoyed seeing them through Elsa's eyes.

-  Backman is a master storyteller. The way his stories unfold and connect is genius. I have loved every book of his that I've read. 

-  The emotions this story elicits were deep and heartfelt. I laughed out loud, I grieved, I was sad, angry, torn, melancholy, etc. In the end, I felt a hopeful joy. This was pretty much a perfect book for me. 

-  I read this for book club last month, and we had a very engaging discussion about various things. It was a lot of fun. 

My Thoughts in a GIF:

The Liz Taylor Ring

Title:  The Liz Taylor Ring

Author:  Brenda Janowitz

Publisher:  Graydon House

Date Published:  February 1, 2022

Genre:  Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-    Lizzie and Ritchie have a romance for the ages, much like Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, but Ritchie's gambling problem causes trouble in paradise. After a 9 month separation, Ritchie gives Lizzie a big-a diamond ring. It is similar to the one that Burton gifted to Taylor. Flash forward a couple decades and the children of Lizzie and Ritchie all have different stories about what happened to the ring, so no one knows what to think when the ring suddenly shows up again. 

-    The story starts out great. I was highly invested in the family and the mystery, but I slowly lost interest. Towards the end, I felt like circumstances and happenings were convenient and unimaginative. 

-    I loved all the Elizabeth Taylor references, and I loved Lizzie and Ritchie's relationship. 

-    The book made me want to watch all the Elizabeth Taylor movies.

My Thoughts in a GIF:

The Cartographers

Title:  The Cartographers

Author:  Peng Shepherd

Publisher:  William Morrow

Date Published:  March 15, 2022

Genre:  Adult Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-    The Cartographers was one of the choices for my Book of the Month subscription. It caught my eye out of all the picks, and I'm glad I chose it. I'm not sure I would have read it otherwise. 

-    Nell loves maps, and so do her parents, and everyone else she knows. Nell is also on non-speaking terms with her father, which is majorly sad when she gets a call from a family friend that her dad has mysteriously died. While going through his office, Nell discovers an old gas station map. It was among a box of other maps that started the feud with her father. Nell doesn't understand why he would keep such a worthless map, especially after their fight over how worthless it was. Nell starts digging into the past, and she slowly discovers a mystery surrounding a family secret and a town that doesn't exist.

-    The story is a very s l o w build. There were times when I had to push through so I could get to the next good part. The mystery and discoveries kept me interested, and there were moments where the pacing was more exciting, but I struggled through the slower parts.  

-    I don't read a lot of magical realism, so this was new and unique for me. I enjoyed the overall story and "what if" factor. It definitely got the imagination going. 

-    I felt like the whole book is a love note to all map lovers. I really liked the way the characters talked about maps and their importance. The question, "What is the purpose of a map?" kept coming up, and I loved all the answers. I will never look at maps the same way. 

My Thoughts in a GIF:

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Title:  The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Author:  Gabrielle Zevin

Publisher:  Algonquin Books

Date Published:  April 1, 2014

Genre:  Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-    I don't have the adequate thoughts or words to describe how incredible this book is. It's amazing!

-    A.J. Fikry is a grumpy widower who is set in his ways. He owns a small book store in a small secluded town. His highly sought after and highly valuable book by Edgar Allan Poe gets stolen, and it starts a chain of events that changes Fikry's life for the better. 

-    I loved Fikry. His character development was heartwarming and gave me all the feels. I loved his interactions with Maya, Amelia, and everyone else.

-    The emotions! I cried, I laughed, I got frustrated, and everything else. I was so immersed in this story.  

-    This book is a champion for books. There are so many wonderful quotes and messages for book lovers. There were so many times I wanted to stand up and yell, "YES! EXACTLY!" 

-    I don't know what else to say. Read it! It is amazing! Thank you Jenny for recommending it. I wish I had read it sooner. 

My Thoughts in a GIF:

Lies, Love, and Breakfast at Tiffany's

Title:  Lies, Love, and Breakfast at Tiffany's

Author:  Julie Wright

Series:  Proper Romance 

Publisher:  Shadow Mountain

Date Published:  November 6, 2018

Genre:  Romance, Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Rating:  ⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-    I told myself I wasn't going to read any more of the proper romance books, but then they released one that is highly influenced by Audrey Hepburn. *sigh*

-    Silvia is an up and coming film editor in Hollywood. She is determined to make Hollywood a more female friendly and equality friendly place to work, which would be easier if her boss wasn't a slacker and a jerk. Silvia's old boss, Ben, saves her and her job one night, and Silvia decides to notice how appealing her ex-boss/kinda friend is. Silvia's life has been mildly influenced by Audrey Hepburn and her movies. Her glass eye is even named Audrey. 

-    I loved the quotes at the beginning of the chapters. I knew them all! 

-    Silvia's relationship with Audrey Hepburn was a little weird for me. She wasn't really a fan, she was just a look alike with cancer in common. Silvia's grandma was the true Audrey Hepburn fan, who appreciated Hepburn and her work for it's amazingness. 

-    Speaking of the grandma, I wish the book had more about her. Grandma was the most interesting part of the story. She was my favorite character, and her story interested me way more than Silvia's. 

-    Besides the Audrey Hepburn parts and the grandma parts, I was bored. The romance and the story just weren't doing it for me. 

My Thoughts in a GIF:

Apples Never Fall

Title:  Apples Never Fall

Author:  Liane Moriarty 

Publisher:  Henry Holt and Co.

Date Published:  September 14, 2021

Genre:  Adult Fiction, Mystery

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-    Stan and Joy Delaney have recently retired from running a prestigious tennis school. They have four adult children with very different and distinct personalities. Each of them could have become famous tennis stars, but they left the sport to pursue other things. One day, Joy disappears, and the only thing she left was a text message that is absolute gibberish. Her family is very concerned, but they are hesitant to call the police. After various clues and evidence start to pile up, Joy's disappearance is considered a murder, and the number one suspect is her husband. 

-    Moriarty is an expert at dangling that carrot in front of the reader. She lets us smell it and get a little taste, and we continue to chase that carrot on a stick with eagerness and anticipation. I love it!

-    I was hooked and obsessed with the story from the very beginning. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about the story and eager to return. I was so enthralled with the family and their individual lives. 

-    I love the humor that Moriarty sprinkles in between the suspense. I was giggling out loud during certain parts. The family dynamic and the relationship between Joy and Stan is so relatable, and I love that Moriarty makes it so real and something we can laugh about. 

-    I wish I could talk more about the story without giving anything away. The ending! Oh the ending! It was hilarious, heart warming, and angering all at once. 

-    Spoiler Alert! <Savannah is a total psychopath! She needs to go to prison and be away from society. There are no excuses for the things she is doing.>

Trigger Warning: Heavy Language, Child Neglect, Divorce, Infertility, Sex (nothing explicit), Domestic Violence

The Husband's Secret

From Goodreads:    At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

My Thoughts:

-    Holy crap!! Wow! This book is just. . .wow!

-    This is my third Liane Moriarty book, and each one has blown me away! 

-    This story is filled with heart wrenching situations, and you don't know what the character should do, and neither do they. I kept asking myself what the right thing to do would be, and I don't know. I still don't know. I have no idea what I would do in Cecilia's situation. It would be awful.

-    It took me about 80 pages to really get into the story. I was struggling to figure out who was who, but once it got going, I couldn't stop!

-    I love all the Aussie lingo, like the petrol station. 

-    This book gave me a huge craving for hot cross buns. I'm going to figure out how to make them and have them for Easter. 

-    I didn't know Easter was held during Australia's autumn season. Anyone know more about this?

-    I'm not sure how Tess was effected by John-Paul's secret, and I'm not sure she was even needed in the book. Tess and her husband and cousin were ridiculous. I still enjoyed reading about them, but I thought they were ridiculous. 

-    The ending! It is an ending that will keep you thinking for a long time. I darn near cried! 

-    There is a lot of heavy profanity in this one, more than the other Moriarty books I've read. There is a lot of deity swears and f-bombs. 

Still Alice

Goodreads Synopsis:    Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and her relationship with her family and the world--forever.

At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease that is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Judith Guest's Ordinary People.

My Thoughts:

-    Wow! I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I thought for sure I wasn't going to like it, but I ended up liking it a lot. 

-    I loved that this was written from Alice's perspective. I was completely immersed in her story and struggles.

-    There were a few F-bombs that I didn't appreciate, but I think that was the only issue I had with the book.

-    No one close to me has experienced Alzheimer's disease, so I haven't thought about it much. I knew it was a horrible disease and what it did to people, but this book brought a lot of emotion and reality to the disease for me. It helped me understand how awful going through something like this can really be, and I love that about reading and books.

-    When I get immersed in a book, I think about it when I'm not reading, and it finds ways to effect my normal life. I panicked when I forgot something, and I started noticing how much I rely on my planner, Google calendar, and my phone. I started worrying about forgetting my daughter's names, and what will happen to me when I get older. I want to cling on to little moments more.

-    The writing was great! I didn't feel like I was reading at all. I was just absorbed into the story.

-    The copy I read had the movie cover, and I hate movie covers! Why do they even make these? Who buys them?

-    Great book! I'd recommend it to anyone. I'm really glad my book club chose this.