Book Review – Page 4

My Lady Jane

I recently started watching My Lady Jane on Prime and enjoyed this quirky, alternate-history take on Jane Grey’s story. As someone who’s read Philippa Gregory’s Tudor novels, I was familiar with the real history. Then, as the credits rolled, I noticed the series was based on a book. You know me—I’m usually a “read the book before watching” kind of person (okay, except for Bridgerton). Naturally, I grabbed the book and devoured it in just a few days. It was an absolute delight—lighthearted, clever, and guaranteed to make you smile. Sometimes we adults feel guilty about reading purely for fun. Ignore that guilt and pick up this book if you want pure entertainment!

Afterward, I returned to the show, and I have to say, it didn’t disappoint. I don’t need adaptations to be perfectly faithful; I just want them to tell a great story, and this one delivered. It’s a shame Season Two was canceled, but at least the book tells the full, wonderfully weird alternate history.

Just finished my 25th book of the year!

The story follows Rose, who has always put her family first, often at the expense of her own needs, driven by a desire to honor her late father. A trip to Paris prompts her to reflect on what she truly wants, and the rest of the book captures her journey to find the courage to pursue it. I loved the Persian cultural elements, drawn from the author’s own life, which are beautifully woven throughout the story. The supporting characters, especially her mother and sisters, are excellent. My only critique is that Rose sometimes behaves more like a teenager in Paris than a woman in her thirties, though it can be seen as part of her late blooming. It’s an easy read with a happily-ever-after ending.

It’s been an amazing reading journey so far, and I’m already diving into the next one. What are you reading currently?

Short Review of an Epic Novel

This fantasy novel is not for the faint of heart. With hundreds of characters, a myriad of gods, and numerous kingdoms, you really need a supercomputer in your head to keep track of it all. It’s simply amazing how the author has crafted such a complex, rich, and magnificent world. I was able to focus on Kuni, Mata, and a handful of other characters, and that was enough for me to fully enjoy this incredible story. I particularly loved how it explores one of my favorite themes: what makes a good ruler. I’m looking forward to diving into the second book soon!

The Caretaker: Book Review

The Caretaker is A.X. Ahmad’s debut novel, though I read it more than a decade after its release. Ranjit Singh, a disgraced ex-military officer from India, is living in Martha’s Vineyard during a cold winter, struggling to make ends meet while taking care of his wife and daughter. He works as the caretaker for a senator’s house. When the heater in his own home breaks down, he moves his family into the senator’s empty house, without his permission. They are attacked in the middle of the night, and so begins the adventure.

I love how the author intersperses Ranjit’s past on the Siachen Glacier with his present circumstances. Ranjit’s Sikh faith keeps him grounded as his life falls apart. The African American senator and his wife are written well; you can almost imagine reading about their lives in the newspaper.

The disabled veteran is another wonderfully fleshed-out character. My only nitpick with the story is regarding Ranjit’s wife, Preetham. I wish we saw more of her to better understand her depression and loneliness.

All in all, it’s a great debut thriller.

Where Waters Meet

This is the author’s first book in English, and I believe she has added richness to the language through her writing: “Auntie Mei dispensed the truth sparingly, as if it were a tube of toothpaste.” What a great way to describe someone who is used to a life of hardship when even toothpaste was a luxury.

This is the story of a mother and daughter, spanning China and Canada, and moving between the present and the past. We learn about the daughter’s sacrifices early in the book. The mother’s sacrifices, however, are revealed as the story unfolds, with the biggest revelation saved for the end.

The bottle the daughter finds in her mother’s memory box—what a shocking story lies behind it. And the photo of Meng Long… I loved how the author reveals this story piece by piece.

“For himself, the last bullet”—this quote appears early in the book, and only later do we discover the circumstances under which it occurred.

We have to wait until the very end to get to the bottom of the toothpaste. Recommend for fans of historical fiction who enjoy a slowly unfolding drama.

Where can I sign up for this tour?

Do they take middle-aged moms?

I love books where the setting is almost a third character, and this was one such book.

Tara, after a traumatic senior year, has graduated from high school and is ready to wipe her slate clean. Silas wants to connect with his roots by tracing his moms’ journey through India. Both are junior guides for a pilgrimage tour with rising high school freshmen.

Tara and Silas’s relationship is fairly mature for two eighteen-year-olds. The food they eat throughout the trip is one of the highlights of this novel. I can almost smell the fragrance of ginger and other spices as the author describes the delicious street food. Warning: do not read this book while you are hungry.

One tiny nitpick: I wish we learned more about Tara’s mother’s motivations and the reason for her father’s lack of support for his girls.

Recommend for lovers of YA contemporary romance.

Dark and twisted

This book reminded me of the Lord of the Flies, another novel filled with unsympathetic characters. This is a dark book, and our protagonist Alys is selfish and cruel, a hard person to root for.

Alys is only sixteen for most of the story, and some of her sense of survival is understandable. I turned the pages like I was reading a horror novel, afraid of what mad scheme Aly would embark on next to save her skin.

The novel, set in the Henry VIII Tudor period, highlights how little power women had in those times, pitting them against one another to win the favor of the lord of the castle. It was a difficult time to be a Wise Woman.

Can I tell you a Funny story?

I love reading Emily Henry novels, and I liked Funny Story a tad better than Happy Place, my last Emily Henry read.

Emily Henry created two wonderful, flawed characters in Daphne and Miles. Her writing makes us fall in love, along with her protagonists. Michigan comes to life in this book, and I want to visit the lakefront beach on a beautiful summer day and dip my toes in the cold water.

Recommend it for contemporary romance readers.

Favorite quotes

It’s a library, Daphne. If you can’t be a human here, where can you?

So many decisions I made were based on the fear of what could go wrong, instead of my hopes for what might go right.

My Happy Place

My happy place is when I am reading a book. I love Emily Henry’s ability to make us feel her character’s joy and pain. Her language is pure poetry.

The best second-chance romance novel, in my opinion, is Persuasion. Written two centuries ago, we still connect with Anne Elliot and Captain. Wentworth. Their motivations make sense, and their love for each other seeps through the pages.

In Happy Place, while Harriet and Wyn’s love for each other is apparent, their reason for breaking up does not quite make sense. I also did not understand Harriet’s reason for abandoning her dreams after all these years of hard work. So, for the last part of the novel, I was yelling at Harriet (in my head) for making the wrong decision.

In a historical romance, the kind I write, it is easy to come up with reasons why the couple cannot be together. Society and culture put up many barriers. In the modern day, the reasons depend on the individuals themselves, so I wish we got more of why Harriet let Wyn go after eight years of being together.

Still, a wonderful and warm novel for a cold winter day.

Book Review: Atonement

We live in an age of impatience. We want our news in fifteen-second chunks, at the moment it happens. We make up our minds instantaneously without being able to reflect on things.

But nature takes time: to grow, to heal, to fruit. An avocado tree you plant today will take ten years to flower and fruit. This book reminded me of a time when we could stare at the sky for hours, instead of at our phones, and observe the sun making its way across the horizon.

Briony’s atonement for her deeds as a child takes an entire lifetime. I am not even sure you can hold a thirteen-year-old accountable for her actions, but in her mind, she is guilty. Her penance takes all her life.

I was a child living in my mind, making up stories to interpret the real world, and I understood Briony very well. Through her immature worldview, she deciphers what happens and arrives at the wrong conclusion. Her actions harm an innocent’s man life.

In Atonement, there are no happily ever afters in the real world. But in her imagination, Briony can conjure a better place. Isn’t that what is magnificent about stories? They lessen our pain when everything becomes unbearable.

When you have time to watch a snail crawl across the sidewalk, pick up this book and savor it.